Jeff,
I suppose that Bill Clinton didn’t inhale or have sex with that woman? I love how people can listen to an argument and just assume that the individuals running it have the racers best concerns in mind….it boggles the mind. I am an unbiased outside observer looking in. I am also the 2003 CSC Tag Sr Champion going away! I ran a rotax and thought it was a great package. There were only 3 of us from colorado that ran at RIGP for the largest Tag event in the country. I am basing my opinions off of those 2 very independent events.
In Rock Island, Biland arguably had the best driver lineup with Matt Champagne, Sam Walls and Christ Thode – 2 National drivers and one very good local driver. Rotax probably had the second best driver lineup and more karts in general….rotax had Michael Johnson (factory driver) and Wade Van Hooser (F3000 driver). The RIGP track is setup to favor the rotax motors in DRY condition as it is a wide open .8 of mile track with a total of 6 (90*) turns and the rotax’s qualified better than the Bilands. IT RAINED, which slowed the track down and put more emphasis on the bottom end power. I met with most of the rotax drivers and mechanics before the race and most of us decided to raise the rear gear 5-7 teeth. I did normal chassis adjustments just like all other front drivers at RIGP so there really wasn’t an advantage in chassis….it came down to driver and motor. Guess who won? It went Biland, Biland, Biland, Rok and then myself (rotax). The 3rd place biland kart came from like 25th starting position – and he wasn’t even a good driver. Matt and Sam are 2 great drivers and they would have been in the top 5, probably top 3 in the dry but there were 2drivers that weren’t even top 10 drivers who passed us.
My point is this and I’ve stated it before. Rotax’s should win at GJ and IMI….Bilands should win at Bandi and Steamboat. Guys, I won by over 7 seconds at GJ and IMI – it wasn’t fun. I got lapped at Bandi – it wasn’t fun. My motor was strong and I made some changes at Steamboat which made me competitive – by far the best race of the season