Tried out the demo.
Felt smooth and fun, but...
every time I was hit with an items my character would fly off the screen.
That's how it should be.
What I don't care for is the method of how it gets me back on track.
A 'blinking' Outrun-esque return to the track that completely takes a racer out of the moment.
In the best cart racer, the Mario Kart series, it's only the rarest of catastrophes that have you leave the screen entirely, then you're forced to endure a slowly descending cloud returning you to the field of play. It's a perfect tension builder. In more mundane crashes you're left to fend your own way back to the track, which is part of the challenge (and fun) of setting up a good defense.
Like I said, it's a dynamite game, but that one design point is a deal breaker for me.