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I got a phone call today from my dad who is currently at the ROTAX Grand Regional in Florida. We had four karts entered in the MiniMax class. Two of our karts took POLE!!! and 4th. The other two karts were in the top half of the 35 kart field (I dont know the actual positions.)
The ROTAX Grand Regional is the east qualifier for the RMAX Grand Nationals, so we are very pleased to have young Nick Neri at the top of the field.
For more info on Shockwave Team Driver Nick Neri visit http://www.Neriracing.com or http://www.shockwavekarting.com
We are excited for the race at Centennial this weekend, my dad is flying back sat. night so we can go. Hope to see everyone there.
Greg Welch
Just got back from Ocala late Saturday night and didn’t get to see the finals. Our driver, Nick Neri, did very well, coming in second in the main event. Cameron Carter did very well, over coming a sick motor to finish 7th. Bobby Ross after doing so very well in qualifying (4th) and the hests (2nd in all three) was crashed out in the main. This is a great story as this kid is new to karting and this was his very first big deal event.
Chris Grivin in junior also did well, over coming a poor qualifying effort, he continued to move forward all weekend and finished in the top 10.
Some of my overall impressinos of the event.
1. If you want close, fair racing at a very reasonable price, no question in my mind it’s Rotax. 35 racers all within a second of the pole in almost every class. Nose to tail racing all over the track. The vast majority of racers only had one engine and it was one they had run all season long. Clearly the motor was not the reason certain guys were winning.
2. You want laps, at the grand regional you got plenty of laps. A 10 minute qualifying session, 3 ten lap heat races. A 15 lap LCQ, a 20 lap per-final and a 30 lap main. All with a single set of tires. It was really a test of driver and machine.
3. A very good race director in Marshall Martin and excellent tech by Scott Evens.
4. Cut glass trophies, some of the best I’ve seen.
5. No big tents. It was mostly individual racers, a kid and his dad. Yes there were big time tuners helping customers, like Shane Shiply working iwth Arrows and Tim Lobaugh helping the Birel customers. But we were just there offering asistance and parts. (At no charge I might add)
6. Back to the racing. It was far and away some of the best I’ve ever seen. I’ve been to two big Rotax events and the racing is what it’s about. Unlike Stars, this racing doesn’t require a second mortgage on the house. No other engine package offers what Rotax offers.
I just noticed that I’m logged in a Greg. Sorry, I can’t change that but this is Doug wirting this post.
One more thing. I like what I saw in the DD2. This package should take off now that the RM1 has been ditched. The thing is fast, much faster than a Rotax now that you can put a really good chassis under it. I will be offering a chassis for this class very soon.
Curt
There’s not nearly enough info out there on it. Basically its a FR-125 engine with a different cylinder that delivers more power than the standard FR-125. It also has a two speed gear box with an ignition intrupt so you do not have to lift when shifting (but it is advised that you lift). The axle goes through the gear box so it does not have a chain. The clutch is an internal centrifical wet clutch so clutch life is much longer. The gear box is basically a high/low affair.
You do have the usual DelOrto carb so you do have to jet the thing. The gearing is high enough that on top, it should be just as fast or faster than most shifters. You gain a low speed range to yank the thing out of corners.
The main things it has going for it is that’s it fast, almost as fast as a full blown shifter. It is very low maintenance, the engines last at least 50 hours. There has yet to be a single reported failure of the engine due to a bent axle. I’ve looked at the internals and the axle is very well supported inside the engine. (better than a any current designed kart) There is no chain to maintain and no oil related mess.
Retail price of the engine is just under $3,500 and that is a very complete package including radiator, battery and pipe. The only thing needed in addition is the mount and a kart. A complete package is around $7,500. At Ocala, the DD2 were about .6 second quicker than the internationals.
Sounds very interesting to me. Keep us posted as information is released. This may be something worth looking into for 2007. As long as it has at least one gear to shift it would be an easy transition for us shifty hardcores that are struggling to make the change.
I am sure you would want to be extra careful with this around straw bails at the Greeley Grand Prix. Could get expensive if you were to wadd the axel hard inside the tranny area.Thanks,
Let us know when we can test drive yours. 😉The Track has been selling them all season.
We have six that come out to play all the time as well as the demo for renters.Jim,
What is the likelyhood of having enough DD2’s to have at least a club race class at the Track for them?
Of course, what are your thoughts about the DD2’s in the CSC? (I know, I know, another class etc. but had to ask!)
Doug: Thanks for the assessment. How would you feel if the DD2’s were on the track at the same time as Spec Moto? Too slow?
Good question Kurt. Not sure at this time. The DD2 is strong on top, every bit the Honda. The spec Honda would still be stronger off the corners so there could be problems with that. The relative strengths are in different spots of the track and it could make passing difficult.
However, lets look at trends. 2 years ago, our Pro class often had over 20 entires. That’s right over 20. Now, it can’t draw better than 5 at most events. How many are saying right now, that’s the class for me next year? If any thing, the class is dying. Spec Honda is going the other direction. Last year, only 3. This year, some of the closest shifter racing we’ve seen. Will that trend continue next year?
In part, I think that depends on what Stars does. If they adopt a Spec Honda class, look out, it will grow and quickly. If not, it will contiue to have pockets of strenght but not take over. And shifter sales will continue to flounder.
Who would go to DD2? The obvious customer is the Tag Master guy who wants to go faster, shift gears, but doesn’t want the brutal power or maintenance of a traditional shifter. He is not going to want to be on the track with a hot shot kid in a spec shifter. He will get lapped and the kid may not be a gentlman when he comes by.
Combining classes is NOT the answer. Eliminating classes is! No matter how you combine them, it doesn’t solve the root problem. It hasn’t worked in the past, why should it work now? We use to think that 3 karts made a class and that’s one reason we have so many. On a club level, that’s fine. But on the regional level, it’s counter productive. Its time to raise the standard of what makes up a class. If a class can’t draw 6 karts on a consistant basis, we need to give serious consideration to eliminating it on the regional level.
If a class can’t draw 6 karts on a consistant basis, we need to give serious consideration to eliminating it on the regional level.
Needs to be higher on a regional basis—10 karts
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