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Joe
The schedule is on ths site. As far as qualifying go, you will have to do 3 of the 4 races. We are still negociating with SSC over the exact number of spots but we should have at least 4 or 5 in Jr, International and Masters. All DD2 and Mini-Max who do 3 of 4 go.
We haven’t talked about drops yet.
On a personal note, I don’t think SSC will turn down any locals who have fully supported any of the 3 Colorado series. One of the goals of bring the Grands here was to increase participation in RMax. I can’t believe that they would be stingy about letting locals come to a race in their own back yard. I would pick your series based on what works for you and expect to be racing at The Track in August.
Obviously we hope that many racers will choose The Mile High Challenge as their home series. I hope we get so many that we have to break them out. I can tell you that interest is very high. Quite a few engine packages have been sold this month alone.
I’ve made it no secret that I personally would rather have seperate race groups for the RMax Challenge and that we all run Mojos. However, I also understand the economics of it all. They can’t have seperate race groups for 3 or 4 guys. Add to that some racers may want to run for the IMI/The Track club championship, you can easily see where the problems arise.
Having said that, we do need to get everyone on board as soon as possible. If we do have the enough interest, I’m sure we can have seperate race groups for RMax. They may have to combine the three classes, Junior, International and Master (or some combination), but at least we would be racing. Personally, we have no interst in running for the club championship. We view the club races as just a way to have fun. So, it is our intention to run Mojos at all RMax Challenge races.
I will tell you that it is my personal goal to get as many guys as possible qualifed for the grands and that they do well. I see no reason why we can’t get at least 2 or 3 guys in the top 10 of each class. After that, its a jump ball to win it. In order to do that, we need to run as much as possible on Mojos and at weight. Yes you can test a bunch on Mojos, but the heat of battle is where things really get interesting. You need to race the Mojo to get the most out of it.
A couple of personal suggestions. Talk with your fellow RMax guys. If you decide to run Mojos as a group, the issue takes care of itself. As Jim pointed out, you will be scored against other RMax guys and not where you finish in Tag. The weight thing does create a problem. Tag USA for senior and masters is 360/390. Rotax weights for the same classes are 365/405. The senior difference is not much (We will run at RMax weights) but the 15# between masters is. Again, I would talk with your fellow RMax competitors. Lets try to get everyone on the same page.
Tony
At this point, The Mile High Challenge is going to allow Rotax racers to use either Mojos or MGs. The reasoning is that since at this point we plan to run the Tag and the Mile High Challenge together, we did not what to hurt the chances of those who may want to run for the club championship.
On the other side of that coin is the desire to learn as much as you can about the MoJo tires and the kart setup for them. I can also tell you that the tire is a bit difficult to drive quickly. The tire does have a significant amount of grip but it will not take the abuse the yellow will. If you slide the kart around with the MoJos, you will quickly overheat the tires and the grip will go away.
At this point we don’t know exactly how many guys will be running the Mile High Challenge. But as Jim pointed out, if we start getting enough racers who want to run with the MoJo’s and it makes sense, he will separate them. I expect that will be the case at some of the Mile High Challenge races as racers come in from around the country for testing. I think the last race of the Challenge will be huge and have a large number of out of state racers.
Interest for the Challenge has been very high both locally and from around the country. Both Jim and I have received many calls from racers about the Grand Nationals. This year could easily be the biggest Grand Nationals yet.
Tony gave Nick 4 karts and a trip to Italy. I only gave him a trip to Colorado. See where we rate! But some things don’t change, almost all the Tony kart guys had one of my axles in them. I’m converting several of the cadets over to our brakes.
I feel for the heavy guys on the FWB issue. No matter what kart you are on, it’s an issue. I have on my desk right now parts sent to me from customers to use as patterns to put Wilwood or Magura brakes on thier karts. Just this week, I have received cassettes from Italkart, Interpid, Tony, (cadet and fullsize), GT and First Kart.
I’m doing both FWB karts (stub axles, and spindles) and RWB only karts. Crappy brakes are a problem or I wouldn’t be getting so many calls from all across the country.
The Mile High Challenge has announced its schedule, Rules are RMax including tires and as far as qualifying for the grands, untill SSC hands out the allocations, its kind of academic. I do know that all MiniMax and DD2 drivers who meet the minimum number of races for the series get to go.
@Mike Jansen wrote:
Global Warming…
Maybe Al was right….If it was global warming, I would have beach front property. The temp has been doing nothing but falling. This has been the wettest, coldest winter I’ve seen in a long time.
The only thing Al was right on was that he “won” the election for President.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve about had enough of this snow. I love to ski and think its great in the hills, but do I really need this much at my house?
Larry is right. We already have all the data we need right in front of us if only we are willing to look at it. Rotax has allowed FWB for a year now. This is the second year the FWT has allowed them. The FWT is by far the most competitive series going. And guess what, there’s no difference. If anything, the RWB karts are slightly faster. All of the dreaded comments of the differences in driving line haven’t materialized on the race track.
We don’t need to study it, there isn’t an advantage, period. If there was, you don’t think the guys in the FWT wouldn’t have switched? For those concerned about mixing the two or adding weight, I strongly ask that you come to Florida next month and watch. You will see that your concerns are unfounded.
@jj wrote:
Reluctant because this would require more expense as I’d need to add these to my kart. Not really thrilled about the additional expense.
You don’t need to spend the money. In Rotax competition where they have allowed FWB for a year, there appears to be no advantage. In fact, the fastest guys have consistantly been on rear brake only karts. In Rotax, both karts run at the same weight.
@jj wrote:
One question though. Since I”m relatively new to karting I’m asking for clarification. In my experience the advantage someone may have with front & back brakes is the ability to brake into a corner rather than before.
Isn’t it true that rear only brake essentailly cause a tail skid situation if you brake through the corner?
Given a well setup F&R system doesn’t that allow for braking while turning with less chance for a braking spinout situation?This is where the driving styles are different. Actually, the fact that you can rotate the kart with the rear brakes can be an advantage in certain corners. A decreasing radius corner for example that has a full on throttle entrance and you have to brake at some point in the corner. A rear brake only kart has a strong advantage over FWB. A different example, a tight corner that is at the end of a straight. Here the FWB kart has the advantage. Over all, in terms of lap times on the track, rear brake karts might be slightly faster than FWB karts.
One of the reasons that FWB karts have been slower may be more due to the nature of the karts that come with them. Traditionally, only shifter karts have them. Shifter karts are designed for higher hp than TaG karts. Such karts are a bit on the stiff side for Tag karts. Most guys who run front brakes in Tag are running shifter karts. We are one of the few manufacturers that use a Tag kart and install FWB on them. But we still have not proven to be faster than traditional RWB karts.
@jj wrote:
The reason I said yes though is because I’m a pilot and value the safety factor of a second, backup system.
As so many have pointed out, here is the real reason and in my opinion, the main reason to allow them. Particularly at the master weights.
The front brake issue really draws out the passion in racers. Some scream that it raises costs, some claim it makes racing more safe and some less safe.
The more costs argument guys claim it “forces” you to spend $1,000 to upgrade your kart to be competitive. That’s nonsense. Rotax allows front brakes and we were one of the few guys in Florida running them and we were the fastest team running them. On Saturday when we qualifed 8th, .2 off pole, everyone in front of was rear brake only. So clearly you don’t “need” them to run in the front.
Rear brake only karts are less safe in that if your brakes fail, you have NO brakes. At least with a front brake kart, you still have brakes at one end if the other end fails. I get calls almost every day from guys with rear brakes only looking for some form of upgrade. As Greg pointed out, rear brake kart in Europe run at much lighter weights than we do, often down around #330. At the weights we run, 365 to 415, you are asking too much from the brake. Last year in Florida, Mike Wilson was using a rear brake kart to its fullest and the rotor exploded after only a few laps. The result was some broken ribs.
The argument of less safe is that the front brake karts will out brake the rear only karts and that is dangerious. This argument I really don’t understand at all. I always thought the idea about this was that we a RACING and that in order to pass, you out brake the other guy.
The Rotax guys realized that Champ Car gave them zip, diddly, nada, nothing for being at RA last year. In fact, they had to pay through the nose. Add to that the Rotaxians were treated like second class citizens to Motard drivers, that’s pretty low on the ‘ol totum pole.
Lets give Jim credit, he made the offer to Rotax pretty sweet. Jim offered them things they didn’t think they could get and if I know Jim, he will do this thing up right. Look for big time corporate sponsorship and perks like we have never seen at any level of karting. If anything, the lose of the DGP is better for us. There is still s certain level of corporate $$$ sitting out there looking to be spent, and a certain promotor we all know will work very hard to get some of them. Some are looking at this as a set back, I see this as a great opportunity. If anything, it has the potential to better for us with Champ Car gone.
LOL I wish. If you don’t own at least a prancing stallion, they aren’t interested in the likes of us.
You already “stole” the 22 from one kid, now you want the other kid???????????
Greg has been 45 and Jeff 22 for more than 11 years. If they won’t let us run what we brung, some one can kiss where the sun don’t shine. And trust me, from those that have seen it, its ugly!!!!!!!!
Besides, transponders don’t need a number on the kart.
