Buying a kart (2nd Edition)

Posted on by
Reply

This comes up a lot on the forums so I thought I would update the articles I wrote on this in February and March last year! So what do you need to consider?

It is worth pointing out firstly that, if you are new to karting, you aren’t going to take all of this in straight away – it’s hard to write a guide that doesn’t bamboozle newcomers but is complete at the same time! Read it, learn from the forums (Karting1.co.uk is a very friendly place for noobs to ask questions), talk to some kart owners at the track, start to build up an idea for what you want – things might be a little clearer when you return!

1. What class of karts are raced at your local track or what are your mates driving?

Even if you have no plans to race now, you should bear this in mind. Why find that you need to replace everything in 9 months once you are bitten by the bug and want to start racing? Visit the local tracks on a practice day and chat to the other owners – you’ll find they have much more time to chat on a practice day compared to a race day. Ask everything and anything but bear in mind that everyone will have a different opinion – what works for one driver will not necessarily work for you! Contact the local kart club to get some expert advice and ask if they run open days where potential new owners can test drive a kart – why turn down the chance of a free go? Of course, if you already have mates who are owners then this may well answer this question for you.

2. Set your budget

Before you can go about finding the right kart, you need to set your budget. A Formula TKM kart from 2009 will start at around £600, a RotaxMax-engined kart nearer £1000 (if you are considering Rotax, you need to know that the engines must be sealed by a licensed engine builder if you are considering MSA racing). You can obviously spend more and look at much newer karts. You will also see older, cheaper karts around, many of which will be described as TKM 100cc karts. The key is whether the kart has a Tal-Ko BT82 engine – if not, you are looking at a much older engine for which part availability may be limited, as may your race options.

When I use the term ‘TKM’ from here on, I mean Formula TKM…

3. I’ve picked a class but how do I buy the ‘right’ kart?

Your options will be to buy a complete kart which just needs you to add fuel or a rolling chassis (everything except the engine) where you must source the engine parts yourself. The benefit of the former is that you can arrange to meet the seller at the track and test everything for yourself. With the latter, you can more easily perform a visual inspection (of the chassis without the engine mounted) but you won’t get to feel how it handles and, when buying the engine, you will really want to see it running to be sure it at least fires up ok.You may also need to source the carb/exhaust/starting system separately.

4. I’m going TKM, what engine type should I get?

You have three TKM engine options: Direct Drive, Clutched, TaG (Touch and Go). Direct Drive is the cheapest and simplest but the downside is that it needs a push start – either doing it yourself (and then jumping in) or having someone to do the pushing. If you can overcome this (it’s easy once you know how, apparently!), then you’ll find troubleshooting a whole lot simpler. Bear in mind though that, if you spin out on track, the engine will cut out and you will need to push start yourself once again. A clutched engine uses a centrifugal clutch and requires an external starter. If you spin, the engine should not cut out. Both Direct Drive and Clutched engines will have either cast or CNC-machined cylinder liner ports. Cast ports were used on the older engines. CNC-machined ports feature on engines after serial number 6500 (and all TaG engines) although you cannot use the engine number alone as a guide as the previous owners may have swapped the parts around. CNC-machined engines are generally considered to be better and command a price premium.

A TaG has a touch-button start system using an on-board battery. The wiring loom for TaGs has seen numerous upgrades, each more reliable than the previous version – you will want to know the age of a TaG engine and also whether the loom has been replaced at all. Because of the loom and battery, there are some tuning modifications to the TaG engines to offset the excess weight.

Engine prices for Direct Drive engines will fall into one of three categories: non-CNC £250-£350, CNC £500-£600, an ex-Super 1 (the national race series) engine (with some proof to back up any lofty claims) £750-£1000. Bear in mind that a new Direct Drive engine costs £1200, a Clutched engine £1300 and a TaG £1650.

5. What make of chassis should I get?

This is all a matter of personal preference. If you are buying from a manufacturer or trader, you can test drive the options and see what feels best. You may find it really boils down to availability of spares – is there an on-site shop at your preferred track and, if so, which manufacturers parts do they stock? Will you be buying replacement parts direct from the manufacturer or looking to buy used from eBay? There are plenty of options but you’ll find that OTK (a brand that encompasses the TonyKart, Kosmic, Alonso and Exprit brands of kart) parts are by far the most commonly available in the used markets.

6. Where should I buy?

You have a few options here. You can buy new or nearly new karts direct from the manufacturer. Obviously, this is the most expensive option but you should be confident of getting a decent piece of kit. You can buy from a trader – they are generally very helpful in making sure you get something that suits you, you’ll have some comeback if you encounter problems in the short term and, if they are based at the track where you drive, you’ll have a source of assistance in those times of need (and there will be plenty). You can buy from an individual – either through contacts i.e. the local club, via one of the big two UK kart forums (www.karting1.co.uk and www.karting.co.uk – the latter tends to have a more active ‘for sale’ area) or via eBay. Avoid eBay if possible – that’s the place where the karts that haven’t sold anywhere else end up. It’s a great place for spares but not necessarily for karts and engines. You may also see retirement packages up for sale from time to time; these can offer very good value for money and the spares can prove to worth their weight in gold in the long run.

7. How do I avoid buying a dud?

If you are new and do not have expert friends, it’s very hard to be certain. Buy from a trader would be the easy advice. You need to ask the right questions but, even then, you will ideally need to visually inspect the kart and then test drive it.

8. What questions should I ask?

  • What make, model and year is kart?
  • Where/when was the kart last used/raced? (you can lookup the previous results on the club’s result page and check for DNFs if you are as paranoid as me but also be a little wary of a championship winning chassis – they won’t necessarily have had the easiest of lives)
  • Is the engine Direct Drive, Clutched or TaG?*
  • What is the serial number of the engine?*
  • When the engine was last rebuilt and by who? (you can verify this with the rebuilder)
  • Does it have a cast or CNC-machined barrel?*
  • How many hours since the last rebuild? (a TKM engine needs a rebuild after 8-10 hours and cost between £300-£400!)
  • On what bore is the engine? (TKM engines have a range of bore sizes, the maximum bore size for a Junior TKM engine is 51.40mm, for a Senior TKM engine it is 54.75mm. The point here is that, if the engine is on it’s final bore, it may be needing a new barrel at the next rebuild and that’s not cheap)*
  • Is the chassis straight/when was it last checked?
  • Does the chassis have any cracks/re-welds/rust/flattening? (yes to any of the above will heavily impact the value of a chassis)
  • What size rear axle does it have? (30mm tend to be found only in older karts, 50mm is the standard nowadays, converting from one to the other will cost extra)
  • What sized seat is included? (if it isn’t your size, you’ll be needing to buy one before you get out on track)
  • In what condition are the tyres?
  • What is the condition of the bodywork?
  • Exactly what spares are included?

* TKM specific questions – I am sure there will be other questions specific to other classes, it’s just that I cannot help you with them!

9. What are the essentials?

You will need:

  • An external starter (if going TKM Direct Drive or Clutched)
  • A kart trolley – to push your kart from the pits to the track
  • A data logging system (Mychron or Alfano) – the Mychron 4 is generally recognised to be the best of the affordable bunch
  • Some fuel cans, preferably different colours (one for mixed fuel, one for unmixed)
  • Fuel filters

10. What spares do I ‘need’?

You will want spare:

  • Tyres
  • Hubs
  • Sprockets
  • Chains
  • Carbs

You might want to consider spare:

  • Axle
  • Bodywork
  • Stub axles
  • Track rods
  • Bearings

11. What about perishables?

  • Chain lube
  • Carb cleaner
  • Brake cleaner
  • WD40/GT85
  • Engine oil
  • Brake fluid
  • Fuel hose
  • Mechanics gloves
  • Cable ties
  • Hose clips
  • Nuts/Bolts

12. And tools?

  • Spark plug spanner
  • T-Bar socket (for wheel nuts)
  • T-Handle Hex/Allen Key set
  • Ratchet spanner set
  • Snippers
  • Screwdrivers
  • Hammer
  • Rubber mallet
  • Metal ruler

Feel free to post questions or suggest improvements 🙂

Dad drives Clay!!!

Posted on by
Reply

They say that you should not judge a man until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes. Today I walked the mile although it would be more appropriate to consider me wearing their slippers – today was the day I got to race at Clay. Ok, so it was only a corporate thing in the Raceway’s arrive & drive karts but I learnt to appreciate what Junior does *so* much more – to drive Clay lap, after lap on the edge, not wanting to enter Billies too hot, taking enough kerb in The Esses, exiting fast but not too wide, getting The Hairpin spot-on, not losing too much momentum through The Horseshoe and nailing the Top Bend. To feel how rough some of the kerbing is on the exit of the corners I have been telling him to hit for the past year. And I was driving a much slower kart doing 44s laps!

There are some things that seem to run in the family – it wouldn’t have been a Team Karting Dad effort without the now customary black flag! It was an honest mistake – I was trying to pass another karting dad, we were side-by-side around The Kink, some mutual squeezing going on and I was focused on the amount of space he was leaving me (or not) to claim the entry into Billies. Made the pass, looked up and saw two karts facing the wrong way before The Esses and got a black flag for not spotting the yellow being waved on the kink. The drive-through proved a costly 28s delay too as we (my randomly drawn partner and I) lost by 5s 🙁

Anyway, it is fair to say I have learnt to appreciate even more what it takes to try to lap consistently, inches off of the floor in a bloody fast kart. I am tentatively looking forward to the Junior TKM Dads day (Dads drive JTKMs!) that we have lined up for next month – then I’ll be able to say I really have walked the mile in his shoes 😮

Race 7: Disqualified!?!

Posted on by
Reply

Since our ‘bumper’ day last month, I have been pretty vocal on my thoughts regarding enforcement of the rules regarding ‘incidents’; here, on Facebook and on the forums. Perhaps it was just down to my naivety in expecting your average ‘Arrive/Drive’ circuit rules to be at least the as tough in MSA racing. I’d like to think it wasn’t solely down to me but no matter – a club official spent some time during the briefing explaining that the club had read what was said and what actions were being taking to address this (marshals being given radios and calling in any contact witnessed) and then the MSA steward made a comment about not wanting people complaining after every race! I think that one was aimed squarely at me although, like I say, maybe that was just my naivety – it was the first time I had ever spoken to an official and half of the time I was one of a number of Dads complaining about the very odd decision to start slower karts ahead of faster ones! Who could have foreseen what was about to happen?

Junior was really looking forward to Heat 1 as it was his first ever start on pole. He looked like a natural leader on the warm-up lap 😉 but that was about as good as our day got 🙁 He outbraked himself into the first corner, ran wide and was overtaken by everybody except the novices. It was probably the worse defence of pole position you’ll see this season! Then the field bottlenecked into The Esses, a kart was spun and they carried on. A few laps later, Junior pulled in the pits. I assumed there was a problem only to find HE HAD BEEN BLACK FLAGGED!!! Until this point, I hadn’t even realised he had made contact with anyone, then came the chat with the MSA steward. The next part was a bit of a blur, Junior was stunned to the point of not being able to give any reasonable explanation to the steward, who told us why we had been black flagged rather than allowed to continue and an inquiry held after the race (I didn’t really understand this bit) and then proceeded to tell us about drivers at Buckmore Park who wouldn’t be racing next weekend because they would be having their licenses revoked (I understood this but even less). I admit that I had no idea if or what penalties could be imposed. At least I do now 🙂

With the benefit of the internet, I surmise that Junior was penalised under rule C.1.1.5:

Driving in a manner incompatible with general safety, and/or departing from the standard of a reasonably competent driver.

Now this seemed somewhat harsh, not only to me, but to every other Dad who had assumed we had experienced a problem only to find we had been black flagged. I’ll quote the driver who lost out  just to prove I am not making this stuff up:

“Was a racing incident, I tried to miss someone and slowed up a bit and ****** hit me, wasn’t his fault at all!”

It seems Junior found himself with nowhere to go when the pack bunched and a few drivers took evasive action. I would love to know exactly where Junior was supposed to put his kart in light of this but… the irony of having been so vociferous about not penalising contact and then becoming the first to fall foul of the new enforcement of the rules was not lost on me! It was very harsh but I could only take it on the chin and move on. I knew very well that my comments would put Junior in the spotlight. It was funny how, after last month, another Dad had warned me not to make a name for myself for complaining to the stewards and I admit that, at one point, during the conversation with the steward, I did find myself gauging whether there was any hint of retribution in his demeanour (there wasn’t!). He seemed like a nice bloke although I definitely left with the feeling of having been roughed up a little (I guess this is the intention!). Once we had got back to our pit space, Junior found his tongue and declared all of this to be my fault! Had I not said anything about last month, this wouldn’t have happened apparently. There is probably some truth in that (in so far as contact would still have continued unpunished) but I don’t play the blame game – we had a curt chat about what a team was and Junior had to decide whether we were staying for the remainder of the heats (as a team) or whether we were packing up and going home (as individuals). On with the day…

Heat two was almost as bad – we found ourselves behind a novice and they were racing closely when one of two things happened: the novice lost his back end in The Esses and we had nowhere to go except into him or Junior spun the novice in The Esses. Either way they took each other out. One driver had one view, the other driver had the other. I have mine but all that matters is that race observer didn’t report us as being at fault – things could otherwise have gotten much more, um… ‘interesting’!

Heat 3 was largely anonymous – we finished 6th in a pretty strung out field. Unsurprisingly, we started last for the final. I made a few setup changes and we actually made a decent start – passing the novices into/during Billies and were dicing at the back of the main pack. It was going really well – we gained and lost a place and were showing our best pace of the day and our fastest lap since September last year (still don’t quite get why we haven’t yet bested that having set it before we started racing!). Then our bumper snapped 🙁 There had been some minor contact a few laps earlier and my plastic ties had only lasted so long. Junior was shown (although didn’t actually see) the black and orange flag with a couple of minutes remaining and that was that.

A shitty end to a pretty shitty day. Our run of 23 races without causing an incident had come to an end just at the wrong time. I have no complaints about the strict enforcement of the rules although I sincerely hope that they will be applied in a consistent manner. On the plus side, I think our setup was good and we were pretty much on the pace at the end. Junior does need to improve his racecraft – I know that will come with experience. He also needs to be a little more sturdy in his defence – he is definitely considered a soft touch by some, who make the most of the knowledge that he’ll jump out of their way given any lunge into a corner. I think that regulation C2.3.3 sums it up nicely:

Gained an unfair advantage – You may not have actually made contact, but your position on the track may have unfairly impeded the other driver(s)

😉

Cost of day: £15 petrol, £49 race entry fee

Total spent this year: £1,716

 

The exhaust BBQ!

Posted on by
Reply

I have never cleaned my exhausts. To be honest, I tend to avoid any nasties that recommend the wearing of gloves/goggles, covering of skin, holding your breath etc (even Mr Muscle oven cleaner!) so I wasn’t ever really likely to go down the caustic soda route recommended by many. Consequently I hadn’t ever bothered trying to clean the exhausts – until one of my buddies told me he just put his on the BBQ! Unfortunately, I don’t have a BBQ so I sat patiently and waited for an invite to his next one 😉 I really wish I had taken a picture of the little BBQ, in the gloom, with a couple of TKM exhausts and end cans sat in it – it was one of those sights you’ll only see at the very bottom of the karting ladder :/

It’s been quite refreshing not having done a single thing on the kart for two whole weekends running! I have spent a few evenings on related stuff – the exhaust BBQ being one thing and yesterday evening was spent learning how to properly put up the awning! It’s a 6x3m awning that we (another Dad who I pit next to and I) bought from a bloke who had used it for his rally car. At £60 it was a bargain, despite the fire damage!!! Ok, it isn’t quite that bad although we will be the only ones you’ll see in a white awning with big brown marks over it! To date, we had only ever used it without sides. It turns out that we only have three sides and that we don’t have all of the side panels we’d like (it had been used 3m wide and 6m deep, we want to use it 6m wide and 3m deep) but we’ll make do (as usual).

Despite really not wanting to spend any money off-track, I’ve had to replace the axle that I only bought in March, thanks mainly to the young chap who had forgotten what the yellow flag meant 🙁 You really should be able to send the bill to people who are completely at fault for breaking your kart but there we go…

Items purchase since last post: axle £72, exhaust cradle (the old one got broken as I didn’t use any rubber dampeners after aligning it nicely) £12, fuel pipe (£6)

Total spent this year: £1,652

Testing at Llandow: Junior’s new favourite track?

Posted on by
Reply

I had been trying to arrange some time to visit Nigel in the shop at Llandow so, even before our troubles last weekend, we were going to be testing there this weekend. Lucas had driven there once before – last May ahead of his ARKS test and, at that time, hadn’t really enjoyed the track; he was very inexperienced and it is a much harder track to drive well compared to Clay so I was interested to see how he fared now being considerably more ‘competent’! It was also the race weekend for Llandow Kart Club so it would give us a good measure of his pace on an unfamiliar track.

Having arrived a little late, we amassed a mighty two laps before lunchtime – missing the first session and then Junior stopping on track in the second. He said that he had just lost power and my first instinct was to check the carb. It was then that I noticed the fuel hose looked empty (a good reason why you should replace old, brown hose) and, when I blew some more fuel through, found it sprinkling out of a hole where the hose had been dragging on the track! :S The fuel hose was tied in place after that!

I had made some changes to the brakes; Junior reported my first change to have made them worse but the next tweak seemed to make the better and Junior actually said he had LOCKED HIS BRAKES!!! 🙂 The day went pretty well thereafter. We only managed four and a bit sessions because of the number of Bambinos taking part in the Llandow leg of the Bambino Kart Club Tour. I hadn’t actually realised there was such a thing at that age but it looked pretty cool – the kids do time trials rather than actually race. Anyway… we were continually changing the setup throughout the afternoon and knocked 1.3s off of our best lap to finish around 0.4s off of the pace. It was clear that Junior was something of a rolling road block at times but he was able to get a bit racey towards the end. Driver feedback was at a premium – Junior had a tendency to wander off to spend time with the other juniors, which was great for him, but it meant there was nobody to do the fuel, lift the trailer lid, help test the brakes etc and I even experienced a karting first: loneliness!!! Ok, it wasn’t as bad as that – the other Dads (whom I had got know from the last couple of rounds at Clay) are very nice but you don’t like to hang around whilst they are making setup changes on a race weekend. It’s just one of those things particular to race weekend – you are busy and aren’t too keen on giving anything away – I am the same at Clay. For the first time, I found myself phoning the wife just for a chat during a karting day!!!

In contrast to our last visit, Junior really enjoyed the track and, predictably, he wanted to come back and race on the Sunday (today), offering to fund his own entry which would have been fine had I not used said money to pay for this additional test day 😉 Having had to fund six car tyres, a service and a cam belt change in the past week, bonus kart funds were pretty thin on the ground!

So where we race next month will entirely be down to Junior. There are pro’s and con’s to both Clay and Llandow: I didn’t enjoy the last race day at Clay whatsoever, from heat one through to the final – it was the polar opposite of the March round and I felt a little let down by the officials. Then again, there is a really strong TKM community at Clay, Junior is keen to contest the entire championship, they sell ice cream and they have a tarmac road that leads all the way to the grid! Llandow, on the other hand, has an awful gravel car park that really does test your bolts on both kart and trolley. I honestly think you would need to budget to replace your trolley each year if you raced at Llandow regularly! Junior really enjoyed the variety that the track offered, however, and although he would definitely be the slowest driver there, that is not something that has ever really phased him. It would be something a leap into the deep end, as the next club round is also the Welsh Open but we’ll see what he wants to do.

Cost of day: £18 petrol, £6 bridge toll, £6 fuel for the kart, £40 practice fee

Total spent this year: £1,562

Race 6: This is MSA racing???

Posted on by
Reply

As you may have gathered from my last post, our first race day off of novice plates didn’t really go to plan. The weekend began with one very lucky escape: Junior was carrying out the trailer light tests before we left home and then asked why there were no ratchet straps on the kart!!! I normally put the straps on loosely the night before and then tighten them up in the morning (I do this because so as not to stress the chassis for longer than I have to, whether this has merit or not I don’t know!) – I realised as I put the kart away that I hadn’t strapped it but decided to do it morning. I am so, so, so, so lucky that Junior spotted this – what might have happened doesn’t even bear thinking about.

Saturday was a decent enough day at the track. We were a little off the pace, maybe 3/10ths or so but I was content that the race engine would bring us a little closer. It was notable only for my getting sun burnt (again) and deciding to stay overnight at the George Albert Hotel next to the track in a bid to help me overcome jet lag having arrived from the US on the Thursday. It was nice to stay over for a few beers with the regulars although I would recommend the Karters Menu rather than the restaurant menu (or ideally, the Karters Menu then the white chocolate cheesecake from the restaurant menu 😉 ). I didn’t get any extra sleep though, as I didn’t nod off until 1:30am. The full English breakfast hit the spot however!

The first heat was a little disappointing; we started 2nd, quickly dropped back and then spent the remainder of the race fending off the lead novice. We got clipped once into Billies, as the novice flashed his nose down inside as Junior committed to the entry but he just ran up over our wheel and we continued unhindered. We made a couple of changes for heat two and we were doing ok until Junior allowed himself to be forced off on the entry to The Horseshoe on the penultimate or final lap. The driver that made the move had just performed the exact same move on someone else too. It was unfortunate but Junior should have held his ground and either let the karts come together – no point in letting yourself get pushed off! Both Junior and the other driver who had been persuaded off wanted to see the Clerk about it but nothing had been reported and it was then that we learnt any further action would cost us £110! 😮

Heat three saw the club make the ridiculous decision to put the slower, small Formula Blue grid ahead of the Junior TKMs. I still don’t understand why, it just seems like a stupid thing to do – why on earth would you start slower karts ahead of faster ones??? I asked the Clerk about it afterwards but he said that, having watched the race, he was happy that the JTKMs only caught one FB (conveniently ignoring the fact that the JTKM Dads had held back their drivers so that the Formula Blues had three-quarters of a lap head start!). It was an average heat – we comfortably held off the novices without ever really challenging those in front.

We started sixth for the final; last of the full license holders. It was a really good race. At least the first nine laps were. All bar one of the JTKMs were pretty much in a line. We weren’t falling off the main group but then we caught the Formula Blues(!), the pack got bunched up and we got clipped coming out of the Top Bend – the fastest part of the track. The kart behind stuck his nose up the inside (again) as Junior exited the corner and he got spun, hard into the tyres. He was as angry as I have ever seen him and I cannot really blame him – I bet the adrenalin is flowing when driving at 60mph a couple of inches from the ground and you are on the ragged edge, focusing on pushing the kart that tiny bit harder to make up ground. And he was driving a really good race. The fun didn’t end there though: there was no yellow flag initially as I tried to remove the kart from the corner exit. And when the flag was finally shown, someone ignored it and hit our kart hard. The bumper was bent into the tyre but I thought I had gotten away without any further damage until this evening when I discovered that the new axle is badly bent. I am still hoping the chassis is straight – I have taken some measurements and it looks ok. We visited the Clerk for one final time – nobody had seen us being spun and, although the MSA steward had witnessed the Formula Blue hit our kart under yellows, it wasn’t deemed worthy of any further action. Unless I wanted to part with £110…

So there we have it – I am still amazed at the contact permitted without even a word for the offenders. Is this MSA racing or maybe it’s just what is permitted at Clay? It wouldn’t be permitted in arrive and drive karting and I absolutely thought this would be officiated in a much stricter manner. Any initial perception I had that non-MSA racing would somehow be less ‘safe’ has gone straight out of the window. Where we go from here I am not so sure – Junior wants to complete the season at Clay and the TKM community there are amazing but I am feeling more than a little disenchanted with several aspects of racing at Clay right now. Maybe I just need to get over it – that’s karting, right? But is it??? Being ginger and headstrong doesn’t help either! Putting the camera on the rear of the kart is one option. Racing elsewhere is another…

Cost of day: £15 petrol, £9 fuel for the kart, £35 practice fee, £49 race entry fee, £130 hotel bill

Items purchased since last post: Exhaust flex, wrap – £27

Total spent this year: £1,492

The Rant

Posted on by
2

Where to begin? Let’s start with driving standards: running people off the track, driving into the the back of them, causing an accident – all the sorts of things that your local A&D circuit will be showing you the black flag for and giving you a talking to as they call you into the pits for about the time it takes to dock you a lap for being a bad boy. That kind of driving style doesn’t transfer to owner/driver karting – the karts are fast and you can really hurt yourself. Unless of course you happen to think you are invincible. And not paying for your own repairs.

Which brings us nicely onto my second grievance – why isn’t bad driving penalised? It is in A&D karting, as it is in other forms of motorsport. Obviously the technology doesn’t exist to view video footage but A&D karting manage fine with a marshal on the problem corners. Obviously, with A&D karting, the roles aren’t the same – a marshal is not only a flag marshal but a Race Observer but what do the MSA Race Observers do? Aren’t they supposed to bring *all* incidents to the attention of the Clerk of the Course who has the powers to impose position penalties? They watch the novices closer too, right, as they have to check their driving and sign off after each race? So repeated contact would be duly noted and a quiet word had so that over-zealous habits could be curtailed? Um, nope. What *do* Race Observers do? Is this just a problem at my local club or is just the norm in MSA racing. Unless I am prepared to chance £110 for an appeal to the Clerk, of course. Junior was involved in two incidents at Clay today and the Clerk received report of neither. I can guarantee penalties would have been implemented had we imported my  local TeamSport marshals in for the day! Perhaps the self-managed element of IKR is better able to tackle this.

For my third and final grievance, I’ll be merging all of the above. So after being punted off at the fastest corner of the track through no fault of our own, I ran over to recover the kart which was parked dangerously on the exit of the corner. It needed to be removed from this most dangerous of places – the pit entrance was 15 yards away, the pit exit about 30 yards. The former would involve dragging the kart (remember it’s a Direct Drive) back towards to the corner. With hindsight, taking this option wasn’t the best idea although it was one of those ‘spur of the moment’ decisions that you make. As I was dragging the thing, I got buzzed by a bunch of karts at full chat and looked over to the Flag Marshal at the entrance to the corner to see… no flag whatsoever!!! I jumped out of the way and screamed politely at the Flag Marshal (as opposed to Junior, who I am sure shouted something which included the word “f*ck” in it but he’s never said it before and I wasn’t quite sure so it will go unpunished!) who then started waving his flag to some ironic applause from the Senior TKM spectators moments before a Junior Blue came through the corner on the ragged edge of losing his own back end and collected the back of our kart. Let’s just check the Blue Book in case the rules on yellow flags have changed since I last read them:

“Danger, slow down sufficiently to ensure that full control of the vehicle can be retained.”

It appears not! Suddenly no damage becomes a ruined bumper and a potential bent chassis. Thanks a bunch.

And who the Hell thought putting the Junior Blues in front of the Junior TKMs was a good idea in any case? Please explain the rational behind starting a smaller number of slower karts in front of a larger number of faster ones even though they are being caught inside six minutes having been given a three-quarters of a lap lead…

</Rant>

New decals (but for how long?)

Posted on by
Reply

Having arrived from the US on Thursday afternoon following a two week work trip,a race weekend is hardly the ideal kind of R&R to overcome jet lag. The trip meant that my kart preparation took place much later than I would have liked – I got the tyres sorted out that evening and spent today drilling the side pod bars, bending the nassau brackets to fit the much wider nassau, fitting the new bodywork and setting the kart up for the practice day tomorrow. At least the kart looks all shiny and new but you can’t help but wonder how long they will remain in that state!

Look at me - I'm all shiny and new!

Look at me – I’m all shiny and new!

I am hoping that they at least get through day one but I have know idea really what to expect – do people consider new decals as trophies?!? That would be kind of ‘scum of the earth’ low but I know they will get marked sooner rather than later – must try hard not hold that grudge when the time comes 😉

Birthday boy (year 2)

Posted on by
Reply

Junior knows not to ask for anything for his birthday – he had about 5 year’s worth of presents around this time last year! He also knows that he’ll get some stuff from various members of the family and it will be kart-related. Birthdays are the time when Junior can get some of the non-essentials that he would really like: last year it was a mirrored visor, this year it was… NEW DECALS!!!

There was a theme to Junior's birthday presents!

There was a theme to Junior’s birthday presents!

Junior had already gotten the nassau and bumper for Christmas so he got side pods and bars to complete the set, all fitted with his favourite British Racing Green decals. I had spent a long time designing decals; first a scarlet red variant of the Tonykart livery, then numerous versions on the British Racing Green theme when he said he wanted the kart to look like it had done when it originally made it’s debut for it’s previous owner. Then Junior saw the Caterham kart decals and instantly knew that was it. It was a bit of blow having spent so much time in Photoshop but it was what he wanted! It took a while to get the printers to nail the shade of racing green that we were after but eventually we were able to supply a pantone for it and we added a few customisations of our own, including the blue and white numbers now that we are no longer novices 🙂

I see that I didn’t add the cost of last year’s presents to the total bill although, inconsistently, I did for his Christmas presents!

Non-essentials purchased (not all by me!): kart decals (fitted) £120, side pods/bars £119

Total spent this year: £1227

 

Practice 16: No more practising

Posted on by
Reply

Things have changed. I know that it is too early to be saying this aloud but it really does feel like, in being so close to the pace last weekend, we’ve reached a milestone. We aren’t on the pace – that is the ultimate goal – but to have taken such a big step forward was hugely positive. I will be gutted if we don’t confirm this in the next round of the TKM Junior Championship at Clay (although all bets are off if it is wet!). My mentality has also shifted – we aren’t practising any more. We have always had to think twice about attending both days of the race weekends as we still needed the track time but now we will just be doing the race weekends.

It was Junior’s birthday recently and wanted to take his kart out so we were back at Clay for the fourth consecutive weekend! This time though we weren’t practising – we were TESTING!!! 🙂 I’d arranged to rent a Kelgate brake system from a friend in a bid to improve Junior’s braking into corners as he’d been losing a good couple of kart lengths into corners at the race weekend. To be honest, I wasn’t really in the mood for it – the 6am starts had taken their toll but the timing was right and it was his weekend after all. I didn’t set the alarm and we left when we were ready but still found ourselves at Clay by 9:10am. My mood was definitely much more relaxed – I just told him to go out and give the Kelgate a go.

Junior spun on his first corner of course! “Sorry” he said laughing as he was sat off-track just past The Kink – “I was just trying them out!”. During the morning he was getting on fine with them but I didn’t sense that he was driving any differently to how he drives with the OTK brakes. I wanted him to start pushing them to see if they made a difference – could he brake later? could he actually lock the brakes up now? I hassled him into pushing harder otherwise the day was going to pretty pointless (bar a couple of setup learnings). From there on things got a bit hairy – Junior was snaking a lot into Billies and The Hairpin and spun a few times. As the afternoon progressed, it was clear he wasn’t really enjoying himself although I couldn’t fault his perseverance. He found that, although there was much more range to the pedal, the effects were limited until a certain point, then the kart stopped hard. It was an interesting experiment although, in reality, he was never going to get it in one practice day and we weren’t ever likely to swap brake systems mid-season. We’ll focus on getting the most out the OTK brakes for now. At least the kart ran smoothly and we eeked a few final laps out of a set of slicks that settling into their new home at recycling centre by the time you read this.

Cost of day: £30 petrol, £7 fuel for the kart, £35 practice fee

Total spent this year: £988