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All good stuff! It may seem like overkill for a local event but it will help reduce the shock in August. I know I was completely unprepared and blown away at our first national by the parc ferme, scruiteenering and post-tech rigor. It is comforting to know extreme measures are taken to keep people from cheating and trying to destory the nature of spec, sealed engine racing.
Tom,
We followed the Mojo recommendations (9-11psi). We didn’t see any difference between the low and high.
Hey Mike,
This fan will be watching to see if that speedster you have can hang with the tax’s. If I can’t spot you in the crowded field I’ll just follow my nose to that foul smelling bean burner. :cheers:
Charles,
I couldn’t agree more.
When we switched to Mojos I had our MG setup. I put the Mojos on and we were more than 3 seconds slower. I swithed to the setup on the little Mojo sheet and gained about two seconds back. From there we tweaked a bunch of things one at a time until we got another second back putting us close to where we were on MG’s. All the while the tires never degrated, and I started with a year old used set of Mojos! A hundred laps later I found if I changed back to an earlier setup we were turning the same laps times we posted earlier in the day. We find the tire much better for tuning than either the MG’s or Bridgestones.
Currently, I’m thinking I won’t need another set of Mojos until the Nationals. You gotta like that. :sun:
I send all my best wishes to Coleton (mom and dat too!). I’m glad to hear he is fine. Nobody wants to see anybody get hurt even though we know the nature of this sport includes some risk. I hope to see him back on the track soon.
tealemm,
If that was the only point you were making then I would say I agree with you when personal issues are at stake. However, what better forum (pun intended) to discuss non-personal issues within the Colorado karting community than on this forum. One topic of much interest to the karting community is excessive noise. I don?t know who you are (your user name is non descriptive and you haven?t put your name on your post) or who the driver of the number 5 kart is. I don?t have a personal issue with you or that driver but if I had seen the driver of that kart in the pits I would have been more than happy to share my perspective with him. Since I had no authority to do anything but express my concerns about excessive noise I didn?t take time to quit what I was doing to seek this person out. I wasn?t overly concerned. I certainly wasn?t any more concerned than the hundred or so other people at the track discussing this issue.
The Colorado Karter is a great place to discuss the issue of excessive noise in general. In this case, we have a specific example created when someone chose to show up in a public place with that kart and publicly proclaim through their behavior that excessive noise is acceptable. I didn?t start this discussion. I simply added to the discussion this driver (whoever he is) started when he took that kart on the track. While I am not obsessed with this issue I will gladly go on record as saying the level of noise from that kart should not be tolerated. How long do you think Jim could keep The Track opened if karts ran at that noise level everyday? Speaking from personal experiences I know it would not be very long. It would be a real shame if a lot of people lose out because of the behavior of a few. That is my only point on this matter. I have no other dog in this fight so to speak. If you or someone else feels different about this issue, or the same for that matter, share your perspective. That is what this forum is for ? to share ideas openly, debate issues, challenge the status quo, etc. This is exactly the kind of discussion that leads to the betterment of the karting community. No one should feel personally attacked by a healthy discussion of an issue that they are a part of. If they do then they need to toughen up or get out. :cheers:
Barry,
I haven?t met you but from everything I see and hear you run a great team. Keep up the good work. I?ll introduce myself to you next time I see you at the track. Congratulations on getting Kyle on your team. It should be good for you, Colorado and Rotax.
tealemm,
What???? I?m not sure what you are complaining about or who your complaint is aimed at. You might consider editing your post or otherwise clarifying your point of view if you want others to continue the dialogue with you.
I wondered what all those extension chords in the infield were for. I still wonder how many people are going to show up an hour late for the first kart race in Colorado in 2007. You snooze, you lose.
Boy, you opened a can of worms. All the Denver Rotax guys have gotten together and are doing a rain dance as I type. I overheard some sort of chant about finally being able to race amongst themselves. :loony:
Awesome! Everyone within a hundred miles will be ducking for cover fearing the mother of all tornadoes is about to hit. 😯
I?m certain I will be able to hear that from my house. I?ll volunteer to respond to the siren if I can use the Tommy gun against any would be predators. :argue
As an alternative, you might be able to get a cheaper solution if you can get the engine out of the #5 shifter kart that was at The Track yesterday. It is rumored that it was heard all the way up in Wyoming! However, it burns oil so you might want to avoid it at all cost. 😕
Oops. My mistake. I didn?t get a close look at the engine you were running Jim. I heard someone say it was a Vampire. It makes more sense that it was the Rotary Axiro 50. We saw one of those at the FWT last year racing against a pro driver in an ICC. I can only imagine how quickly you go through brake pads and tires. But what a rush it must be! I want one of those things.
Doug, I agree totally. We went through the same thing with motorcycles. People thought that loud meant more power. Dynos and race results proved otherwise. The only thing loud engines did for motorcycles was give the sport a bad name and eliminate many off-road riding areas. I would hate to see the same thing happen to karting.
We missed the race because we were at the track practicing. It sounds like it was an exciting, controversial, race. No doubt road courses make for exciting and challenging racing for drivers. In particular, kart racers can identify with road courses.
I?m glad Nascar includes some road courses. However, you can?t ignore the fact that for a spectator it is more difficult to watch all the action on a road course than it is on an oval track. The popularity of Nascar?s oval tracks over road course racing is largely due to the oval tracks being more spectator friendly. More spectators means more advertisers which means more revenue.
MX went through the same thing over the last generation. MX has been around for a long time but when someone decided to bring it into a stadium (birth of Supercross) the popularity and money increased exponentially. Supercross is more spectator friendly than motocross. Some purists don?t see Supercross as a legitimate form of ?true outdoor motocross? racing. The Supercross racers, promoters, teams and sponsors are laughing all the way to the bank.
I would also like to see one of more racers from Colorado make it to the world finals. It doesn?t matter what part of the state they come from. There are some great racers in this state and it will be nice to see that talent pitted against the best of the best in the country.
On a different topic, how nice was the practice yesterday at The Track? You think a few people had cabin fever? Oh my gosh! When we pulled up (just after the gates opened, I thought we were at a CSC event. If you didn?t get to The Track early then you were delegated to the back row for pit space. I don?t know what the final count was but there were more people on the track at any given moment than you see racing during CSC events. Kudos to Jim and the crew for keeping things running smoothly with so many people practicing.
It was also nice to see so many Rotax packages. There had to have been more Rotaxes out there than any other engine package. It must be a reflection of the excitement of having the Grand Nationals here this year. However, the hit of the day was clearly the new Vampire four stroke TaG engine. Anytime Jim took that kart on the track people stopped what they were doing to watch. That thing was ungodly fast. It was passing shifters down the straights and eating other Tag?s for lunch. It also had a very sweet sound without being too loud ? unlike the #5 two stroke shifter kart that damaged everyone?s ears between here and Wyoming. It may be time to bring out the db meter and start pulling noise abusers off the track. Everyone I talked to companied about that one particular kart.
All in all, a great day and a good sign for Rotax. Bring on Spring and some sunshine!
Nick,
I don’t know if your user name indicates a preference for KTM motorcycles or not. If so, welcome to the club. I’ve been riding and racing KTM motorcycles around the world for decades. In either case, welcome to karting.
Karting, as a whole, is not nearly as large or mature as motorcycle racing but it has come a long way! It is a ton of fun and I highly recommend making the punge. Colorado is one of the best states to get started in. You have many tracks, shops and fellow karters. They are all quite helpful.
As for where to start you can’t hardly go wrong. TaG is very popular in Colorado. I think the Rotax program is the best 2 stroke program going if you have any ambitions for racing at a national level. Rotax is currently smaller than TaG in Colorado but is growing. Especially since the 2007 Rotax Grand National Championship will be held here in Colorado. Even if you don’t compete, you will want to watch this event because there is nothing like it. The copetition is intense and deep. You can find deals on used Rotax or TaG karts any day of the year.
However, if you want to go new or get in on the future of karting check out the new four stroke TaG classes and engine packages. Just as happened in motorcycling, the evolution from two stroke to four stroke is going to happen very quickly – must faster than anyone in the industry understands or will tell you. Four strokes represent the future of karting available today. Just like in motorcycling, the new four stroke kart engines represent the latest technology, high horsepower, lower maintenance, higher reliability and a lower cost of racing over the lifecycle or the engine.
People like to make karting more confusing than it needs to be. As I said above, it doesn’t matter what you do you can’t go wrong. Jump in and have fun.
