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Here is a photo of the track. As you can see, its right in the heart of town. The back drop is pretty good!
Nobody got to us yet, we’re still smiling!
Our home at the track for the next two days.
Greg on track.
The pit area is very nice.We are quick. After only two sessions on track, Greg was second quick, only .2 off. The track is very difficult to drive and is a surface unlike any we have ever seen. The setup is very different from any thing we’ve ever done. The good thing was our hosts gave us some help and it worked! We ended the day after only three sessions but our best was only .1 off. There are four of us within .2 Two of the guys in our class are going to the worlds next week.
Now Greg only needs to fine tune his driving and we should give them a threat. His MyChron data puts him under the track record by .2! (He’s off this theoretical best by .5, so he has some work to do.)
The kart is a bit loose but the track is changing fast. It is to be sunny tomorrow and that should bring the track to us nicely. Today was cool and overcast, only 66.
Tonight we are going out to dinner with the Rotax importer for central American and some customers. They tell me the place will be very good. I have no doubt.
One thing that is a bit different here, one of the team members has a security detail. He has a few guys who wear suits, ear pieces and have bulges under their coats. They stand off to the side but they don’t miss much.
I forgot to mention, our host runs in the MicroMax class. They are quickest, but only by a tenth. It should be a very good race.
That many tires requires a good size truck/trailer. Hard to hide that many items. What else was taken? Inside job?
Joe
In retrospect, we think the frame cracked at the summer shoot out on Sunday in the main. The kart slowed a bit during the main but at the time, we thought it was due to the front end contact Greg had with the kid who stuck his engine in front of him.
At a club race after that, Greg had trouble getting of the slow corner at The Track but he thought it was due to his using our practice motor. Now we think that it was the first indication we had an issue.
In Norman, the kart was running fine on Monday but not as well as we thought it should. While we laid down some smoken times, the kart wasn’t responding like it should but more importantly, Greg wasn’t as consistent as he usually is. He was off his theoretical best by a half second or more. Very unusual for him. At the shoot out he was off his theoretical best by only .002! Was it the driver? The kart? The motor? You question everything but no firm answers.
Before Norman, we stripped the frame bare and examined every weld. No sign of any thing unusual. Like I said, I think we had a very small hair line crack that didn’t finally break the paint until the LCQ on Friday.
By the way, since we had a welder in our pit, the word got around quickly that we could weld frames. Greg G. ended up welding quite a few frames, including a brand new CRG that had a seat strut break when they tried to bend it to fit a seat!
A very long week and way to little to show for it. On Monday, Greg was very quick. Starting WEdnsday we never worked harder for very little result. WE tried everything to get hte kart to come off hte slow corners. WE tried 3 different engines, two different brake systems, changed the chassis from full soft to full hard, nothing, zip, nada. It was like it had decided how fast it was going to go and that was it.
We were convinced that we had a cracked frame. But we had to prove to the officials it was cracked, not just suspect. I searched the kart over 3 times, Al, our tuner, 3 times, Jeff twice, none of found a crack. Just before the LCQ, I looked one last time. I found it. The cross rail behind the seat where it joins the 3rd rail by the motor, about a 1/2″ long just at the edge of the heat affected zone. I had looked at the joint before but it must have been hideden under hte poweder coat. It had finally flexed enough to break the paint.
We quickly stood the kart on its nose, Greg G. welded it up and we took off for parc ferme 5 minutes late. Al and Greg got it on track only to have another racer spin directly in front of Greg on the formation lap! This forced Greg off track to avoid and when he bounced it off the curb, it knocked the chain off. While Greg frantically got the chain back on, the formation was getting close to taking the green. Greg cut the track to catch back up but by then, the field was already in turn 1. In two laps, Greg not only closed the entire front straight, he passed three guys. YES, we had finally fixed the kart. It was flying. I have no doubt he would have passed the entire field had he had a chance to race.
Now it was the officials turn to get involved. They wouldn’t let us switch to the back up chassis after Tuesday unless we could prove a crack. We were stuck running it. In the LCQ, the officials made two mistakes. First, if a racer is forced to stop on the formation lap due to no fault of their own, the officials can hold the formation to allow the affected racer to take their position. That didn’t happen. Secondly, they decided to black flag Greg for cutting the track on the formation lap. The rule book shows clearly that the correct penalty is to dock the racer a time penalty of one lap. Such penalties are assessed after the race ends, not during. He should have been allowed to complete the LCQ, then assess the penalty.
At least we found the problem.
Italkart uses SKM components. Just about every kart shop in the area either has or can get SKM components. We get them all the time for Italkart owners.
You will also find that except for brake components, just about every other part on the kart is universal fit and other brands will fit and work great.
Be very careful when gaping the IW series plugs (or any other fine wire style) The small positive wire is very easily damaged.
Tom
About 13 or 14 of the K80 from the junior kart club are planning on racing this weekend at IMI. At least one micro max also. If anyone is interested in this engine package, this weekend would be a good time to check it out.
Thanks for the early heads up. This morning I heard on the radio this storm could be good for 12″ in the metro area Friday and Saturday.
I didn’t realize just how far into the barrel Stacey could go! Stacey, with arms that long I bet you don’t have to jump to dunk!
@stacey cook wrote:
Me to so we can be cheaper at GJMS 😀 :rotate: :clap:
I’ll settle for a fuel voucher!
We are doing customer support only at the local races. We do not intend to enter either Jeff or Greg at any local race. We will do enough RMax races to qualify for the Grands. We have not picked a home series yet.
Jeff is available for tuning this year. If anyone wants a SuperPro level driver as a tuner, give him a call.
Greg is also available for tuning help at most local races.
The question has been raised about possible changes coming over the next few months concerning Rotax and possible performance upgrades. Here is what I’ve been able to find out after talking with the two major importers of Rotax engines and the head of Rotax Max Challenge racing in the USA.
There is a new clutch upgrade available. We will have parts once they become available. Back to back testing has shown that the new clutch offers no performance change. This upgrade is to reduce failures of the clutch that have occurred primarily with master weight drivers. Senior and junior drivers have not experienced the rates of failure that masters have. I would not recommend that racers upgrade their clutch until they have a failure and then upgrade at that time. As a side note, we have never had a failure on one of our shop engines.
The other major change in a new cylinder. As most Rotax racers know, last year Rotax completed a cylinder exchange program. This program was a result of some cylinders being produced that did not meet specifications. As a result of that problem, Rotax is introducing a new cylinder where the ports are CNC machined to specifications. This move will result in cylinders that are closer to in levels of performance and will eliminate variances seen in the past.
This raises the legitimate question, will the new cylinders be better or worse than cylinders in the past. Rotax has introduced many changes over the years. I have a list of changes that are almost 100 items. Every change has been for two basic reasons, improve reliability and reduce manufacturing cost. The overriding concern is that a change does not impact performance. It would be foolish and detrimental for Rotax to introduce a change that would obsolete the 50,000 engines they have produced world wide. There is ongoing testing right now to make sure that the new cylinder offers no improvement in performance.
I have been told that the earliest the new cylinder will be introduced is March of this year but only after testing confirms that there is no improvement in performance. Early testing in Europe has show no improvement in performance. In fact, some claim the new cylinder is not as good as an old cylinder. This is more rumor at this point than fact. On one other point, I have no doubt that some dealers, for what ever reasons, will strongly recommend to their customers that they must have a new cylinder once they are available. I would be very cautious in getting caught up in this. I remember when the new airbox came out, there were claims that the new airbox was good for 2hp and you had to have one. But as we found out later, it made no difference at all and such claims were false. I strongly suspect that we will see a similar round of false rumors and sales pitches once the new cylinders become available.
I hope this clears up any confusion. If you have any further questions, please give me a call at the shop 303-781-7829.
