Newbie TAG q’s

First, let me say that there no way a weight formula can equalize every engine for every track, the power bands are just too different between the motors. Some engines will have an advantage at certain tracks and not at other tracks.

Of the 2 cycle engines, the main advantage the Sonic, Comer, Vortex Rok and Leopard have is the wide rpm band. They can twist very high rpm when compared to the Rotax. (The Rotax has a rev limiter, the others do not) This gives them an advantage on tracks that have a slow corner relative to the length of the straight. Bandimere is a good example of that. The Rotax runs out of rpm on top but is too low in the rpm range off the slow corners. The others get a jump in the slow corners, the Rotax gets it back in mid range, then loses again on top. It makes for interesting racing though.

At a track like IMI, it’s another story. With no slow corners, the Rotax is almost unbeatable there. The Rotax can be geared to stay in its sweet spot the entire time and is almost a .5 second faster than anything up there. It is a similar story at Grand Junction but not quite as dominate. I call those two tracks Rotax friendly as they have less varience in the rpm requirements from the engine.

The Steamboat Track requires a great handling kart and a good driver to win. The engine package is less important there. The layout is such that just about any engine package can win there. It really comes down to the driver and kart.

At CRE, the high winder engines should have the advantage. The only good passing zone really favors the high winders. But since the CSC doesn’t go there, we will not know this year how the various engines do there.

One engine that has not done well in Tag senior is the Biland and I’m really sure why. It should do well, it has all the right charateristics to do well. Based on its showing in other parts of the country, it appears to weighted correctly. It may just be more a reflection on the quality of the drivers of the other engines than on the Biland itself. Colorado has some very good drivers running in Tag senior.

TaG has many engine choices. There are many reasons to choose one engine over another but something to consider. If one engine begins to dominate, TaG USA is going to give it a lead trophy and back in the pack it goes. So I would not make my engine purchasing decision based soley on which one wins. If I were going to race exclusivly at one track, then it may make sense to buy based on wining. Like I said, if I were going to race mostly at Bandimere, I would have Leopard. If at IMI, for sure a Rotax. One of the biggest things to consider is long engine life. Of the two cycles, the undisputed king is the Rotax, followed by the Leopard. The other engines have demonstrated less than acceptable engine life when compared to these two but they are working hard to improve. The longest of all is of course the 4 cycle Biland.

Other things to consider are your weight. If you are less than 175#, then you should look at the Rotax or Leopard as they run on the lighest weights. The Sonic and Comers are for guys who weigh more. In the case of my drivers, they weigh only 135# and we have almost 40# of lead on the karts. For us to run a Sonic would just mean more lead and I would never get any help lifting the kart! One possible advantage to running a Rotax, there are Rotax only events, part of the RMax Challenge series. You have more places to run a Rotax than any of the other engines.

The reason Sonic did well in in Dayton can be traced to one man, Todd Spaude, ( one of the very good guys in karting) owner of TS Racing, the importer of Sonic. They have been racing there for years and they know that track better than any one. The layout favors the high winders, TS had very good drivers in the karts, hence they did very well. The same combination was at the SuperNats in Vegas and they got spanked hard. Some days you’re the pigeon, some days the statue.

The Vortex Rok has a rev limiter, you reported they did not.

K-Dogg,
To answer your questions on Easykart:

1. Yes, this year there will be Easykart Spec. class racing (Easykart’s only
under Easykart rules) it is part of the class structure of WKA.
And thanks to George at CRE the Easykart class will be ran there.

2. Yes, the Easykart is competitive in the CSC. (Last years results are
posted on http://www.G-RPM.com on the Easykart page.

3. Modifications
Last years results by Easykart drivers: Bret Galegor, Dustin Courter,
Danille Dixon and Pat Searcy at club level and CSC events were
in Easykarts that were setup in Easykart Trim (in plain words all karts
would have passed tech at an Easykart event)
For non-Easykart rules races, (like CSC) yes you can run different
axels, pills in the front end, change out front driver, etc.)

The neat thing about Easykart is:
1. True Spec. class racing (Everyone on the same chassis, motor, even
same rear gear) A chance to really see who the drivers are and not
the bank account behind them.
And you will have spec. class racing in your back yard this year!

2. National Racing – STAR’s Easykart 125
Pretty good to show up to a national event on the back of the old
pickup truck and only have to pay $175 entry fee, plus a set or two
of tires, gas and oil.
Plus win either STAR’s East or West and get a all exspense paid
Formula BMW test (Training) with a shot at scholarships.

3. Easykart is part of the WKA Manufactures cup.

4. Compete in 3 Easykart events (WKA at CRE) and you qualify for
the Easykart Nationals, if you win the Montoya’s will send you
all expenses paid to the Easykart World Finals.

5. Easykart is in the rule book for SKUSA and TAG USA
It can be ran in CSC or club level.
Also to turn a Easykart 125 into a TAG Jr. all it takes is an inexpensive
restrictor in the header pipe (also approved by SKUSA)

6. Prizes

7. And last but not least………PRICE!
Even with the price change because of the VERY high Euro.
The Easykart out of the box ready to go to the track cost on average
$1000 less than MOST TAG packages.

We plan on making announcements about the Colorado Easykart program
in the next couple of days.
Stay tuned to The Colorado Karter for more information.

K Dogg,
I’ll be at IMI on sunday but not saturday practicing in my shifter. I have a Sonik TaG kart for sale that will be there if you want to check it out. PM me if you have any questions before then.