Karting!

18th March 2011, 23:42

When I was young I had a chance to do Karting, but unfortunately my dad fell ill with MS so was unable to do so.

Without being big headed, I have been told that I do have a good level of natural talent.

Now,i'M NOW 19 and have some money saved up and I now have the chance to do this kind of thing as I have a way of transport and a small amount of support. Obviously looking to start at club level and Trent Valley Kart Club seems to be the best local organisation.

There is about 7 rounds each year, but don't have to attend each meeting. I was just wondering if anyone has had much experience in karting?

What I want to know is:
Engines - how many I need, how often a rebuild is needed?
Tyres - how many sets would I need over the year?
Anything else I need to be aware of?

19th March 2011, 00:22

all depends on how many races you intend on doing mate. when i did it for a year we had 3 engines one cart and 8 sets of tyres wet ,inters and slicks.

some tracks take it out on the cart more than others T-side is one of the worse as its full throttle for most the lap.

others you can get away with one engine and one set of tyres with no wear and very little service needed.

I only lasted a year as you suddenly realise that natural talent when thrashing your mates is not enough when 12 year old kids piss all over you with there dads and big budget backers helping out.

19th March 2011, 10:05

Any tips for Teeside then as I'm karting there next weekend

19th March 2011, 10:49

Yeah i was thinking of having a couple of engines. And the main track would be trent valley.

Either try and start karting at club level or continue turning the vtr into a track car...

I had a couple of races when i was 15 and got 6th and 4th, but using someone elses kart.

19th March 2011, 15:17

I've done a bit of Kart spannering over the last couple of years. The club championship we were running in (North West, IIRC) restricted you to one set of tyres for each event, so that obviously set the number of sets you would need for the season.

As for engines, One to run with a spare on hand would be advisable, but at the cost of some people's engines (into the thousands) this just isn't possible for some.

Chassis wise, some of the top guys bin a chassis after as few as 3 rounds as they feel they go too soft after this, so you can pick up a good nick 3 weekend old frame for not bad money. Beware of cheap chassis which are a couple of years/seasons old as they're a lot more likely to be a: tweaked and b: old and soft.

19th March 2011, 16:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by KamRacing

Any tips for Teeside then as I'm karting there next weekend

what day you there mate im there on sunday at about 9am,

and as you come around the first massive corner there is a chicane if you get the first corner right you can go full throttle keeping it straight through the middle saves about a second a lap.

and on the top corner go flat out but stay on the green tarmac as its very very grippy and you will fly past every one using the inside line.

19th March 2011, 16:49

I used to race in minimax when i was younger, so pretty rapid karts. but had to give up due to money issues. It just got too expensive, each yeah changing the safety rules and that. you buy a helmet, then next year they want a new one with a different number on it, even though your old helmet was the dogs.
At club level i would use the first year to test the water as you don't want to be spending money that YOU don't actually need to spend. at club level take a set of slicks and a set of wets to each race. if it is definitely going to be wet take at least 2 sets of wets as they burn up pretty rapid. And one engine for the season with a spare engine. then lots of spares, clutch, gear sets etc. Whatever you do don't do the classic mistake of taking spare parts from the spare engine. as when you come to needing it it will be missing bits and you're fucked.

23rd March 2011, 02:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by KamRacing

Any tips for Teeside then as I'm karting there next weekend

I was part of the Motorsport club up there a looong time ago. Bloody awesome crack and some brilliant competition. Haven't karted in years though

It depends on what track layout you're doing and whether you're using your own karts or theirs. But if it's the international layout (I'm doing this off the top of my head btw) provided things havent changed you'll start on a right hander, so pray you get positions either 1st, 4th, 7th etc because you're almost straight away into a chicane and then a left-then-right hander double hairpin. That should leave you in a good position for straight with a sweeping 180 deg right hander, and with the carnage well behind you.

Best place to really get your lap times low is to master the highest point of the track (you'll know it when you see it). It's a cracker because the 'technical' racing line isn't actually the fastest way up it. My suggestion would be to go medium pace for a couple of laps in the qualifiers just to soak in the elevation and camber at that bit. If you're trying to overtake a particular tricky chappy I'd maybe have a few passing moves planned around there, you can make great use of the camber to catapult you ahead.

yada yada lol

Edit:

Presume you've seen this but the left most part of the track is the elevated part whereas the rest is pretty much level so you can plan your racing line in good time - just that elevated bit you'll have to learn on the fly