Getting Started in Karting - Part 1: Arrive and Drive

Although the Sport of Karting has been around over 50 years and is one of only 4 sanctioned by the FIA, the public remains largely unaware of the sport and or continue to have major misconceptions of karts and kart racing as a discipline.

Wikipedia has a number of articles on Karting including a good overview of Kart Racing :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kart_racing

There is also a neat Intro to Karting article on Autoblog.com.

To see some Live Semi-Pro karting racing action: see

• Supernationa XIII 2009
• Daytona Road Race (Warning large file!)
• Michael Schumacher Karting Test
• Fernando Alonso at Renault Roadshow

or search for Kart Race on Youtube

Traditional Entry to Karting

The traditional approach to getting into karting has generally been to buy a kart (engine and chassis) and joing a race league. But the steep learning curves, high up front costs etc can be a real obstacle for the uninitiated. Buying a used kart may reduce some of the up front expense but there is still the question of tools, transportation and expertise to campaign a racing vehicle with little prior knowledge.

Arrive and Drive

However, today their is a growing sub-category or karting generally called 'arrive and drive' karting where the race kart, tires, fuel and all even some gear such as helmets are provided. The would be racer simply has to join the race league, show up and drive.

With the lower power and speeds of these karts, and no need to store, haul, prepare and maintain the equipment this represents the best entry point into the sport available today.

Ontario

In Ontario, (Canada) there are several tracks that offer this type of racing and the list seems to be growing.

Among them: are:

• Cameron Motorsports, Hamilton
• Goodwood Kartways: Stouffville
• Mosports International: Mosport
• Innisfil Indy, Inisfil
• Erbsville Kartways, Waterloo

The leagues typically require you to sign up for membership (typically $99/yr or less after mid season) and then simpy pay a pit pass of $50 per event for racing.

Arrive and Drive Classes

Racing is divided into classes based on age and weight but is usually broken into:

• Cadet (or Youth) (8-12)
• Junior (or Teen) (13-17)
• Adult (18+)
• Adult leagues are usually divided further into Light, Medium and Heavy classes

Organization

Members have to go through an orientation process covering flags, safetly, rules and basic racing technique as well as read and get familiar with the sporting regulations . Some 'demonstration' or 'practice' racing is usually held early in the year prior to the start of the points season. Practice days are also available and encouraged for new members.

Events are usually held 3- 5 days a week on evenings and weekends. Club members have to join one of several 'Schedules' which repeat every two weeks. Members usually race a certain minimum number of events (~14-20) for the championships. Missed days can be made up on another schedule.

As the arrive and drive scene has grown there are increasing number of tracks offering entry level arrive and drive programs which are a step up from the Indoor Karting leagues and a step below the Club Level of Owner driver racing.

For more information, the internet or forums like canadiankartingnews.com or ekartingnews.com are useful resources. But the best source of information is often the local kart racing track.

For a list of Karting Clubs/Tracks in Ontario see the Club links here: http://www.nckc.net/links/index.asp

/FFJ

Whatever Happened to the CIK Four Strokes?

In March of 2002 the CIK FIA met to chart the future direction of International Karting.
A decision was taken to gradually phase in modern 4 stroke, fuel injected motors to to replace the environmentally and health unfriendly 2 strokes which dominated competitive karting.

The release from the CIKFIA indicated that a vote was carried to implement these measures starting with the top level K1 (KF1) category in 2005.

However these changes were later postponed.
http://www.karting.co.uk/News-CIKFIADecisionsDec03.html


Subsequently the idea of moving to a 4 stroke formula appears to have been dropped and instead a new 2 stroke formula based on "125cc long life electric start" engines was adopted in 2007 by the CIK "in conjunction with manufacturers and the CIK Advisory Group".

Since then there has been no further word on the move to a 4 stroke formula despite a number of manufacturers, notably Suter Racing, SwissAuto, Technique Engineering and Oral Racing having developed and produced engines based on the new 250cc DOHC 4 stroke formula.

The high level of pollution and toxic exhaust produced by the 2 strokes remain a grave concern for both environmental and health reasons. It is especially disturbing considering that a a large majority of competitors are children. As the 2 stroke TAG formula continues to grow, this becomes an increasing concern with more kids getting into the sport at an earlier age.

Also at risk are the mothers and fathers, sisters, brothers, grandparents, friends and fans who come out to races.

A recent article by Discover Magazine outlines the seriousness of the 2 stroke problem.

It is time the industry took a serious look at this issue and devise a plan to safegaurd the health of our young competitors, their supporters and the general public and phase out this current formula in favour of a cleaner and more eco-friendly one.

For those who would prefer to keep the simplicity of two strokes, stringent measures should be implemented to ensure a cleaner formula. This could be achieved via Direct injection technology or alternatives such as found in the Aprilia DiTech, BRP Evinrude ETEC or the envirofit retrofit kit. For the rest a planned, gradual move to a modern, cleaner, greener, lower maintenance 4 stroke formula seems to be the obvious choice.

/FFJ

Karting's Environmental Future

With the increased focus on green motoring, all forms of motorsports are under pressure to clean up their image.
Formula 1 is introducing KERS and integrating Bio fuels; IndyCar is already running on ethanol; Le Mans and ALMS teams s.a. Audi have have introduce cleaner, quieter Diesel engines (and are winning championships).

The one main form of Motorsport which remains on the outside is karting. Karting continues to be increasingly dominated by 2 cycle motors. The largest and fastest growing sector, the TAG format uses 2-cycle 125cc engines renowned for the strong acrid blue/grey smoke that they produce. This is not only an environmental but also a health concern as many of the racers are children. Equally crucial for the future of the sport is its public image.

A few years ago the CIK realizing the problem, proposed a move to a 250cc 4-stroke formula, but the major manufacturers rejected this move. Although a number of manufacturers started building cleaner, lower maintenance, high performance 4 -strokes, these have largely not being adopted due to resistance from the establishment. Karting has since lost its eco-friendly vision.

A recent post by the Southern Interior Karting Association - B.C. Canada (SIKA) highlighted the importance of addressing this issue and soon. The SIKA currently race on a temporary track in a parking lot. They approached the city for approval to build a new kart track. One of the first question they were asked was predictably: “How environmentally friendly is the sport? Noise? Does it pollute the air?” For 2007 they proposed rule changes to allow adopting of the new 4 TAG strokes (See http://www.sikaracing.com/Rule_changes_2007.pdf)
If the sport is to grow, gain support from the government, the public and major sponsors the environmental question will have to be answered and soon!

There are now at least four 250cc 4 stroke TAG engines being produced by major manufacturers that are on par with the best 2 stroke TAG motors (including the new CIK KFs). These include the Vampire, Oral, SwissAuto (SA250, Biland) and the Tech F1. The problem is a lack of adoption by the major sanctioning bodies who are offering no leadership in this critical area.

So far the only body to have approved these engines in North America is TAGUSA (http://www.tagracing.net/). In Canada these engines seem virtually unknown .
The ASN in Canada needs to take a serious look at this issue and provide some leadership to take the sport into the future on a greener and more sustainable path.

For more on the new 4 strokes, see my earlier 250 4 stroke blog at http://tokarter.blogspot.com/

/FFJ