Please discuss here all your remarks and pose your questions about all racing series, except Formula One. Both technical and other questions about GP2, Touring cars, IRL, LMS, ...
hi,
i am a Die hard Kart racer. if it werent for stupid school and the snow in my part of town, i would be out at the track every day..
anyway, do we have any other kart racers out thierbe besides me?
I used to go indoor karting once in a while, then I realized it was kinda expensive - 12 minutes for 25 bucks.
I am a graduate of the Jim Hall Karting School Sprint Class, Day 1. I was the fastest recorded driver that day, although my friend unofficially beat me by a tenth. The funny thing was that we had extremely little experience in karting (just recreational), although my friend autocrosses. We were the fastest by about two seconds, and the instructor said we were top 15th percentile.
After that my friend bought a shifter kart... that thing is scary as hell. I have driven it twice (he lives in Irvine, me in San Diego) and I have gotten bruises every time. We went to Moran (where Scott Speed and a bunch of NASCAR drivers have raced).
Last time I went karting was January of this year but my job has kept me busy... I don't know when I'm going to go again, but I would love to drive my friend's shifter again. Unfortunately, his other friend (who owns a kart too) went crazy on it and flew into haystacks and ended up in the hospital. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't want anybody else driving it.
Bring back wider rear wings, V10s, and tobacco advertisements
Hey West, is Moran the track out in Beaumont? I've heard it's killer. I've driven a friend's kart at the track off the 60 freeway and Market street in Riverside a few times, but everyone keeps talking about the other track. How is it?
I haven't been to Adam's but my friend says it's a lot smaller and a lot more technical; hence he tires out much more easily there.
As for Moran... coming from somebody who karts once a year (if lucky)... going down the main straight is insane. My vision blurs. You're going 85 but it feels like 185. Then u drop down to fourth to hit the banked curve, awesome. I'm not going 100 percent cuz it's not my kart, but I've been in the dirt a few times.
A funny comment; my friend was talking to somebody who was a first-timer at Moran; he asked him how fast he was going and he said 150 mph; after that my friend just walked away.
Bring back wider rear wings, V10s, and tobacco advertisements
I haven't been karting since I was 10, but I've a race on Wednesday with the car club. Can you give me any advice? I have to beat Katrina for once!
Murphy's 9th Law of Technology:
Tell a man there are 300 million stars in the universe and he'll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he'll have to touch to be sure.
Tom, I've done a bit of karting in the past and all I can give advice-wise is to take it easy at first. Your arms will kill after just a few laps if you go too hard at first. Make the most of the pactice runs. Just learn the best lines and don't worry if people over take you at first. When out of the kart, keep your arms and wrists moving.
Karts scrub off loads of speed just by turning the wheel so no need to brake too much. You will be suprised at how fast you can turn in. Try this out in practice and don't worry if you go off when finding the limits, tyre barriers permitting.
Have fun!
ps. bounce up and down in the seat at the start to get better grip.
Also, it is easier if you are lighter so don't eat for two days before and take a large dump 30 mins before the race.
Also, it is easier if you are lighter so don't eat for two days before and take a large dump 30 mins before the race.
I'm sure not eating would be counter productive, but advice taken, I'll invest in some laxitive.
I'm quite light anyway (64kg) so that won't be a problem.
Tell me, is left foot braking effective on a kart?
Murphy's 9th Law of Technology:
Tell a man there are 300 million stars in the universe and he'll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he'll have to touch to be sure.
As for the technique, that is up to you... on slower carts I do it (even tho the officials tell you not to, and it may stall the engine), but the shifter kart is way too fast for me to do it. Chalk that up to lack of experience. There's enough grip on the kart, imho, that you can probably squeeze in a little bit of throttle without having to really use the brake to neutralize undesired effects.
Also remember that the karts are super light, so you can brake pretty deep into a corner. I use trail braking on some easy sweepers.
Bring back wider rear wings, V10s, and tobacco advertisements
My results:
1st Gary Gillespie, 14.23....................18 points.
2nd Craig Wilson, 14.30.....................17 points.
3rd Ian Wright, 14.34........................16 points.
4th Bruce Gray, 14.38........................15 points.
5th Tony Currie 14.38........................14 points.
6th Rowan Jardine, 14.54...................13 points.
7th Roland Proudlock, 14.62...............12 points.
8th Drew McLean, 14.71......................11 points.
9th John Kerr, 14.75...........................10 points.
10th Karina McLean, 14.80....................9 points.
11th Gary Wright, 14.93........................8 points.
12th Lewis Bowsher, 14.94.....................7 Points.
13th David Wilson, 14.99......................6 points.
14th Ross Carson, 15.04.......................5 points.
15th Tom Dawson, 15.06.......................4 points.
16th George Brown, 15.26......................3 points.
17th Bob Sloan, 15.59...........................2 points.
18th Ian Dawson, 16.94.........................1 point.
That's me in 15th, but only 0.3s faster and I'd have been 11th.
The worst part was one Bob Sloan (17th) who refused to let me past. I thought that was a little harsh seeing as it was lap times rather than positions that counted, but I'm happy enough. My dad had less luck coming last by a considerable margin.
Ow, my shoulders hurt.
Murphy's 9th Law of Technology:
Tell a man there are 300 million stars in the universe and he'll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he'll have to touch to be sure.
I hate blockers... they're extremely slow and they won't let you pass them because they're ignorant or just jerks.
I usually pull off Alonso/Montoya like waving when I get past one and jet away cuz I always push for the fastest time. I want to make the most of my 25 bucks and these guys are just ruining it. I think the best was when I got to the inside, going into a hairpin; the other guy turned his head to the right at the last minute and ended up going into the wall (indoor karting; it doesn't hurt)
Nobody is good at their first try, but now you have a better feel for the kart. Three tenths is probably not too hard to make up now.
I like that you get one point just for showing up. It's like that Simpsons episode when Bart challenges Todd at mini-golf. Lisa shows a ton of trophies to Bart, whereas his only one was "Everybody gets a trophy" award.
Bring back wider rear wings, V10s, and tobacco advertisements
Car club rules, my teammate pulled the gearstick out in my first autotest and we still got a point for showing up.
I was pleased with that day, but there was no room to overtake and Bob thought it was hilarius that I couldn't get past. I spun once in 40 laps which I was pleased about and had the best line of my group through all the corners, although the exit was often compramised by someone rejoining after going wide.
Murphy's 9th Law of Technology:
Tell a man there are 300 million stars in the universe and he'll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he'll have to touch to be sure.
I had a kart for a while and it was a blast. I went to Moran whenever I went. I did go to Adams once, though, and my brakes went out on me. I had actually been driving without them for a couple laps but being so inexperienced I didn't realize that they were totally gone. I took a corner a bit too hot, went over a ditch, nearly hit a lightpole, and spent a lot of money fixing the brakes. Then I sold it because I just couldn't pay for it and it was hard to set aside a whole Saturday once a month. Fun stuff, I'll definately get another when I'm an adult.
I've karted socially many times but only recently have I begun to take it a bit more seriously. Having joined the Motor Racing club at Birmingham University I now have the opportunity to get invloved with properly organised races.
So far we have had 2 team endurance events where my team (randomly picked) have finished 3rd and 2nd, both times I was in the top 5 fastest guys, which given the level of experience of some of the people in the club (One guy races in Formula Renault 2.0) I was quite pleased with, especially second time around where I was within .3 of P1.
Much as enjoy these events, nothing can compare to my first go in a 125cc 2 Stroke club 100 kart. The Uni enters 2 teams each year in the BUKC (British Uni's karting Championship) which uses this format. Having been picked out at our first social event I was invited to come for a test day at Bayford Meadows. It was a steep learning curve but I think I performed ok (no idea about times, our team sheet was lost, besides 1st priority was not to crash too often!) so with any luck I'll be asked back for a race in the B Team later this year (doubt I will be able to afford to enter more than one race anyway!!).
