EKN Trackside - 2012 Rotax Grand Finals - Team USA

Jerry Brown · Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 7:18 pm Post subject: wolrds,nats and those things

I read the thread -and re-read it and read it again...... Man,I have to chime in. I watched every single practice I could, Every Heat and every race at worlds -I saw no Driver in the Jr or Sr class leave anything on the table out there. DD2 and DD2 Masters almost the same.

I watched these drivers through the year, raced with many of them, practiced with almost all of them. Raced Nationals with all of them, FKCS with many and My home track is OGP.

There is no level of competition that I am aware of in our country that exceeds that present at a LOCAL race at OGP - the Canadian team are frequent visitors as are drivers from MANY other states and countries - The level of compettion in the FWT surely rivals that I saw in Portugal and I can not Imagine anyone anywhere from any country working harder than these guys did to prep for this race. I saw these drivers do THOUSANDS of laps in those karts (very few wet) prepping for the event - most of them are champions in other series as well as Rotax nats and the level of competition they bring leaves me in awe of their abilities.

there were almost 280 drivers from 53 countries - the best of the best - we sent 16 - we were 7th in point standings in the nations cup - HELLO - In my humble opinion thats pretty damn good - Even our dream team of NBA stars can get a good scare out there on the world stage. Every Single driver we sent was a threat to win - We have and had the talent and the desire - we got very little from lady luck this year and we had a few wet drivers out there that are incredible in the wet with the PROPER TIME to set up the equipment - Formal is part FISH - that kid in the wet at NATS was something to see.

We keep working -We keep growing them - we keep doing what dedicated serious karters like the Rogero's and Askew's (and MANY others) are doing and America's time will come - soon.

Jerry Brown

Santino Ferrucci · Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 5:00 am Post subject:

Me and Santino here. We are reading this stuff you guys are writing and nobody is on the boat. First off, we know a lot of these kids having raced in England and just finishing our first year of kf3. Fact is guys, TRUTH IS, they are better racers. We,learned this from racing there full time. it cant be candy coated.

The level of the Rotax worlds compared to a kf3 is on an itlaian club level at best. In the first heat Santino ran he was shocked at the contact, getting taken off twice, once being spun into a 360 on the straight. That doesn't happen in KF and was shocking. So the style was to be super aggressive, more than normal. Passing wasn't a problem as portimao is a great racers track. passing required precision as most of the times after the pass you had to go up hill. it was a definite separator of skill. Just like KF you pass and protect. I don't know what Jim is talking about with gear for passing and such. You cant bandaid Not being able to carry exit speed when passing. this is a problem in america, passing cleanly and not losing any momentum. We ran a 70 sprocket, the lowest so we didn't have to worry about getting hammered on the straight. So with a small gear he had to pick his passing spots wisely, pass cleanly and carry the momentum.

We have said this before about passing. One of the differences in Europe is that when we pass here (euro) we don't lose more than a tenth a pass. If you are losing more than that you made a bad decision and the karts you passed are going to be on your tail. In Rotax as KF the lap times are similar. It's the losing 4-6 tenths a laps that gets you stuck with the dogs.

As far as conditions changing, that's racing. A kart is a kart and rain is based on ability way more than set up. Portimao was the grippiest track, when wet, that we have ever been on. It was the same for everyone. We raced the CIK Europeans in France and the first time he was on slicks was qualifying and the rain conditions were not the same twice. We get 4 short session in the CIK races. One session is enough to learn a track and a few laps in the wet to find the grip is also sufficient. Karting is a great tool when used properly and when you move to cars you get very little time if any to test. So if you can't learn a track quickly then you are done. The kids that test f1 on Friday morning are in an f1 car sometimes for the first time and are expected to light it up never testing it. That's pressure. We know a few of the kids that have done it.

So there are no excuses to be made. The performance was disappointing to say the least. I wish Santino got a chance but a steward with an agenda ended that. If it wasn't for Don Formal we would have never checked the reeds so at least it ran for the two heats. Thanks Don. Now with the worlds coming to america the kids can do thousands of laps if that helps but it doesn't help race craft. Our kids need to race abroad or practice passing. Lunge (or dive bomb) in really deep passing keeping momentum to get lost afterwards. There are many tricks we learned and can be taught. Santino taught Juan Carrera some in Florida and it paid off for Juan.

There are a few more things that team USA didn't do that other teams do but thats not the way team USA operates. As a team WE should have done a lot differently to have had better carburation and gearing. There will be no excuses next year for anyone and Santino hopes to qualify for the race as in his words "no junior is coming to the US and standing on top of our podium".

jim rogero · Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 5:28 am Post subject:

"That Driver Technique", someone didn't like and displayed their dislike? We were on a 70 gear also. My point was that the 70 gear may have been the gear "to not get passed on the straight away", but, when you were mid pack blocking it was hard to "keep the momentum off the corner". The team needed to "share carb information".. The USA Junior team all had Ebox information that was shared from the start, except you.
Juan Carrera, listened well, as he was called to the stewards office more than once, not sure how many penalties.
It's all good, just facts.

Santino Ferrucci · Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 5:38 am Post subject:

Jim..you are mistaken ..Carlton put an ebox on our kart Monday afternoon. Since nobody shared gear info or carb info, the only reason they used data was for breaking zones and driving. You have been around the block a few times more than me and are one of the best in karting so you know as well as I when you are looking at data for corners speed, entry and exit, plus straight line you can't learn anything if you don't know what gearing everyone is on.

I asked Gary to have each junior driver go out on a different gearing and same carburation so we could overlay the laps to see what may perform best. He said he would ask Jorge. I never heard back. So we worked with a British friend. We ran with him in qualifying and they were so fast they never got a clean lap and it was a clinic wathcing them pass and waiting for each other. i may have the video.

And it cant be said we were not team players. I asked Gary if Ashley wanted to qualify with Santino but never got an answer. Too bad. I KNOW Santino is a good team mate because that's what he knows form three years in Europe.

Santino Ferrucci · Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 5:44 am Post subject:

And your comment that "Juan listened well he was at the stewards a few times". What are you implying? Santino doesn't need to defend himself from that comment as his on track results speak for themselves. Revisit the US Grands results or the CiK European results. Whats the excuse in SB? What's your point?
Maybe instead of working against us you could have worked with him every practice session. I am sure there is a lot to be learned from a style he knows very well.

jim rogero · Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 6:08 am Post subject:

David Cole · Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 6:38 am Post subject:

Guys,

Please continue your personal discussion elsewhere. Thanks.

Moving forward, let's talk about the positive. The Rotax Grand Finals are coming to the United States.

If you can't race, are you going to come to New Orleans to watch and support Team USA? I bet a few hundred people on the sidelines and the stands cheering for them would be amazing to see.
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Santino Ferrucci · Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 6:38 am Post subject:

Yep you are correct I didn't ask you or your mechanic. We asked Gary as that's the protocol we understood. Gary didn't say to ask you, but that he would ask Jorge. Looking back, we both screwed up and should have worked better together. Donald Formal was a great source and we spoke to Tim and Chris Loball a bit. To be honest, the reeds breaking after the first session really kicked our butt. We lost a second and chased it through qualifying. Not so sure anything could have helped.

Not sure what is planned for karting next year. NO Wka for sure. All I can say is that he is very motivated to get to Nola.

jim rogero · Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 7:23 am Post subject:

The Rotax Grand Finals are coming to the United States. Smile

Jacob Curtis · Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 8:24 am Post subject:

Jim McMahon · Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 11:13 am Post subject:

So for NOLA will they run Margay's or do they have to run Sodi's?
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David Cole · Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 2:03 pm Post subject:

Joe Palmer · Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 3:28 pm Post subject:

It would be interesting if Tony Kart was one of the choosen chassis. The OGP team certainly know their way around the OTK products.

It should also be interesting to see how the europeans adapt to a circuit they have no experience with. They won't be completely "out to lunch", but at least they won't have the benefit of previous experience at NOLA.

Maybe they will select Marguay, TrackMagic, & Coyote? Let's see what they can do with those chassis.

Mike Zamora · Joined: 26 Nov 2008 Posts: 56