500cc world champions Wayne Rainey, Eddie Lawson and Kevin Schwantz, along with three-time US Superbike champion Doug Chandler, spent Wednesday testing for the Superstars of Super Karts race, one🌳 of the support events at this July's US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca.

While Rainey and Lawson have raced Super Karts sev✱eral times on the 2.238-mile, 11-turn road course in the hills outside Monterey, California, it was the first time Schwantz and Chandler had driven the high-performance karts anywhere.

"I've been trying to get these guys (Schwantz and Chandler) into a Super Kart for a while," s𒀰aid Rainey, a three-time world champion (1990-92) who lives in Monterey. "I think they ♔were impressed."

"That was a lot more fun than riding a bike around here," admitted Schwantz, the 1993 world champion. "I didn't much care for this track on a bike, but these Super Karts are a kick to drive here. I was smiling tꦡhe wh♋ole way around the track."

"People look at these Super Karts a𒁃nd think they are cute little toys, but they haul butt around here," according to Lawson, who should know: The four-time world champion (1984, '86, '88 and '89) set the Super Kart lap record at Laguna Seca in 2003 of 1 minute, 23.875 seconds.

That's an average speed of 100.864 mph and faster than the quickest ever two-wheel lap of the circuit, of 1min 24.833secs set by Ducati's Troy Bayliss during the 2002 World Superbike eveಞnt.

Chandler, who won t🌼hree US Superbike Championships (1990, '96 and '97) and competed in 54 GPs from 1991-94, also enjoyed his first taste of Super Karts.

"Driving a Super Kar🤪t around here is completely different than racing a motorcycle. These karts have so much more grip than a bike through the corners," he said. "It is going to take some getting used to, physically. But this is just a good opportunity for us (Rainey, Lawson, Schwantz and himself) to get toಞgether on the race track again."

The 250cc Super Kart machines feature semi-enclosed bodywork and rear w♛ings and reach speeds of up to 140 mph at Laguna Seca.