The Karting Odyssey: BRKC 2019. Milton Keynes, 18-20 January. Preview

"I'm not afraid," said the rookie.

"You will be," said the veteran. "You will be."

January. Christmas is a fading memory. Spring is too far off to fathom. The most wonderful time of the year has given way to the most depressing time of the year.

But not in this corner of Milton Keynes. Here, in a chilly warehouse, the air itself is humming. It is 202 days since the 2019 edition of the British Rental Kart Championship sold out in a scarcely believable three hours. And it's finally, almost, here, riding a tsunami of anticipation the like of which we've never seen.

For most, the format is familiar. Three days of practice and competition. 100 drivers enter, one champion leaves. There are four heat races for every driver, semi-finals for the top 30 drivers after the heats, a grand final for the top ten. The prizes are spectacular: huge trophies and free entry to the Kart World Championship for the top three, plus £1000 cash for the champion. The team championship introduced in 2018 returns, as does the Kam Ho trophy for the highest placed driver over 40.

The numbers are huge. Through 27 practice sessions and 44 races, we'll turn over 23,000 laps in 36 hours of track action between Friday morning and Sunday evening. For drivers, staff, spectators and online viewers, BRKC is a marathon run at a sprint.

But it's more than big statistics and glittering prizes. It is, always, a feast for the senses: the tingle through the steering as your tyres fight for grip on the slick surface; the taste of a piping hot pizza or Bandit special on a freezing day; the spike of adrenaline as you descend the stairs to the pitlane; the hoarse, echoing roar of the karts overlaid with the stirring tones of the commentator; the nailbiting nerves as your loved one takes pole position.

The euphoria and boundless relief of a race win.

The 2019 entry list makes fascinating reading. Or terrifying, depending on your point of view. Eight of last year's finalists will be returning along with many of the regulars that have supported this championship since its early days. They'll be joined by a host of new names and faces. A total of 100 drivers - plus friends, loved ones and hangers-on - will converge on Milton Keynes from eight countries.

They include four of the top six drivers from last year's Kart World Championship and two dozen more indoor superstars from across Europe. There are tintop and single-seater race winners, British University Kart Championship frontrunners, former Super One race winners and the reigning TKM Festival champion. There are drivers who live karting, work at kart circuits, own their own kart circuit. There's even a former motorcycle racer. And, of course, there are the Formula Fast regulars. Drivers who pound this deceptively simple circuit week in, week out - every lap a dress rehearsal for the BRKC.

The standard here has always been dizzying. In 2019, again, it hits new heights.

Formula Fast, host of the BRKC since 2014, fits the championship like a glove. Its staff are old friends, its facilities excellent, its catering second to none. The circuit squeezes a lot of character into a relatively small space, and will change during the weekend - rounds two and three of the heats will run on an alternate layout. The karts, as usual, will be equalised to within a fraction of a percent across the whole fleet. I say it every year, and it's true every year: nobody works harder to make the competition fair. Phil Stanley and his team have been burning the midnight oil for weeks in preparation, as have organiser Bradley Philpot and several others behind the scenes.

Drivers have already taken to the track in the first of two unofficial practice days - new this year and extremely popular. Every lap counts, and if we're to have a new champion, preparation is everything. Ruben Boutens, reigning double world champion, reigning Belgian champion, and reigning five-time BRKC champion, stands undisputed as the finest indoor kart racer in the world. There are drivers who can match him for raw speed, but as yet, nobody has managed to compete with his work ethic on and off track, that incredible mental strength which enables him to find another gear under extreme pressure. He is beatable, but it will take the performance of a lifetime to do it.

Could it happen? I can't wait to find out.

BRKC 2019 will first turn a wheel in anger at 10am on Friday 18 January. Racing will start at 8am on Saturday. Live timing will be available throughout, with regular updates posted on Facebook and Twitter. The championship will be streamed live on BRKC's YouTube channel, filmed by Darren Cook and his excellent Scruffy Bear Pictures crew. And of course, it wouldn't be the BRKC without the dulcet tones of James Auld, our commentator.

In 100 households across Europe, the packing has begun; some will already have started their journeys. And the nerves, I suspect, are beginning to jangle.

Here we go then...