[Jim Derrig]

Remo’s wicked fast.  Go Remo!

[Jim Derrig]

Q:  Ham, Ros, Bottas

R: Ham, Ros, Bottas

[Jim Derrig]

Lotus Elise.

[Jim Derrig]

thanks again Greg for doing this!

Q:  Ham, Ros, Bottas

R:  Ham, Ros, Riccardo

[Jim Derrig]

Q:  Hamilton, Rosberg, Riccardo

R: same

[Jim Derrig]

Crapp.  Race after race I’ve expected Hamilton to crawl out of the hole he’s seems to be falling into and race after race something happens to him.  I’m giving up and going with Nico, which means, of course, that the bad luck will finally go away and Hamilton will dominate Monza.

Q–Ros, Ham, Bottas.

R–Ros, Ham, Bottas

Riccardo’s having a heck of a season, but I don’t think that can overcome the Renault’s deficiencies at this track.

[Jim Derrig]

Well, if you take out Riccardo and Alonso, I got the finishing order just right.  :)

[Jim Derrig]

Holy cfap.  Can Hamilton’s luck get worse?  Catching fire in Q1?  Really!!!!????

[Jim Derrig]

Qualy:  Ham Ros Vettel

Race:  Ham Ros Vettel

[Jim Derrig]

Q:  Hammy, Rosberg, Riccardo

R:  Hammy, Rosberg, Riccardo

I just can’t shake the belief that overall Hammy is a better driver than Rosberg and eventually will reassert himself.  In the meantime, Rosberg keeps proving me wrong.  :)

Regarding 13″ wheels, the primary reason them now, as I understand it, is to keep brake size down and limit cooling, as otherwise they’d have monster brakes that a driver could stand on all day long without worries, and the organizers want brake conservation to be part of the race (e.g., Hammy at Montreal this year).

[Jim Derrig]

Q  Hammy, Rosberg, Alonso

R  Hammy, Rosberg, Alonso

[Jim Derrig]

Two words:  No torque.

More words:  Must be blueprinted because stock production tolerance are absurdly poor, so you have to add about $500 to the price.  Still, there’s a ton of them out there and you might want to try it as used ones can be found cheap.  I’m 190lbs and find them fun but not very quick off the line.  You might be too much.  We have a guy who runs a KT100 in our TaG class, at a 320lb total weight versus our 390.  It ain’t even close.

Another possibility:  A complete, rebuilt 28hp Leopard system for $1000.  http://www.italianmotorsusa.com/collections/used-items/products/used-leopard-engine-kits

I believe that’s a turn-key package.  All you need is an axle sprocket.  Rebuild cycle is roughly 20 hours, but that is a LOT of hot lapping.  I’ve seen some big guys (like 250-260) turn decent laps in them.

[Jim Derrig]

Ditto the GX390 option.  Believe is it cheaper than a world formula but more than an L206.  Should be bulletproof.

Regarding tires, it depends on the set up and how fast you are going.  Plus, at your weight you are putting a load on them.  i’ve seen very good long-term results from MG reds and would definitely give them a shot.  Just watch out for the first lap, because they are super slippery until the release agent wears off.

[Jim Derrig]

Agree you are on the large side (okay, WAY on the large side) for kart racing.  All those little guys you pushed around on the football field in high school?  This sport is their revenge.  If you want to stay 4-stroke, look at the Briggs World Formula.  Much stronger than a chronda or L206.  Pricier too, I’m afraid, but as a drag racer I’m sure you are familiar with the proportionate relationship between $ and horsepower.

[Jim Derrig]

Thanks Greg.  Canada was a helluva race, eh?  Haven’t seen anything from Mercedes about what suddenly caused both their cars to lose power on the same lap and my guess is that it was a one-race gremlin that will not gift another race to a competitor.

[Jim Derrig]

Quali:  Hammy, Rosberg, Riccardo

race: Hammy, Rosberg, Riccardo

[Jim Derrig]

You should add Seattle.  Obvious software community, 4 local kart tracks and even if you live downtown it’s about 30 minutes to the slopes.

Hot tip:  Lynden/Bellingham WA.  SIMA kart track and Mount Baker ski area practically next to each other.

[Jim Derrig]

Great karts and well supported by Italian Motors (which basically is Italkart).  Definitely competitive with anything else out there.  You didn’t say whether you are looking to buy new or used.  My 2008 is still solid, rust free and straight as an arrow despite some, errrr, “interesting” driver errors that occasionally turn it into a lawn mower.  The only chassis part that has ever broken is a tab on one of the seat stays, which was fixed with a $60 welding job.

As for “local” support, the fact is that most kart chassis parts which you might actually break or need to replace (eg., axles, bearings, brake seals, side pods) are interchangeable and/or off-the shelf stuff.  And Italian Motors has free (!) shipping for web orders.

Engine parts are something else, but you can put any engine on an Italkart that you can put on, say, a CRG.  I’d be more worried that my engine had local support than that my chassis did.

Look at Fastech or IMUSA to investigate pricing.

[Jim Derrig]

I’ve marked the 6 holes in my seat that I use for the rain set up, which involves moving the seat forward and to a far more upright position.   Because the holes are marked I can move it pretty quickly.  Forward because while rear grip is nice, if you can’t turn you aint’ going anywhere, and slow on exit beats straight off the track every time. :)

[Jim Derrig]

You old guys crack me up.  “It was way better when I was a kid.”  Right, and there hasn’t been a decent rock band since the Beatles, either.

My personal experience with rough driving is that it’s not as black-and-white as you think.  “I’ll just punt this guy” often turns into “crap, I didn’t punt him and now I lost a ton of momentum by hitting him and there he goes off into the distance.”  90% of the successful contact i see is on the side pods, while wedging your way inside to pass on a tight corner.

The current bumper system works fine.  Agree that stricter enforcement of the rules would go a long way. Some of the contact is absurdly blatant and nothing is done.

[Jim Derrig]

Qualy:

Hamilton

Rosberg

Riccardo

Race:

Hamilton

Rosberg

Ricardo

Monaco is a unique track with a history of being a one-off race that shakes up the usual order.  Power advantage will mean less (Mercedes loses advantage) and aero efficiency also means less (usually an advantage for the Newey designs, i.e., Red Bull), but despite this I gotta stick with what got me here.

[Jim Derrig]

“Looks like this race specifically was close, but I believe a competitive class must have at least 15 entrants.”

Capo, no matter where you go you’re probably going to be disappointed with the participation level, which is no where near what it is in Europe.  Two reasons.  First, the U.S. is a huge, spread-out place without the population density you see in Europe, so there just are fewer people close to the local kart track.  Second, karting is to US motor sports as football (soccer) is to US ball sports–just not very popular, and nobody really can say why.

 

[Jim Derrig]

Weather counts.  Up here in the Pacific Northwest (think Seattle) we have world-level drivers but if you won’t put up with driving in the rain, you’re looking at a 4-month-long season.  We can and do race all year, but you have to be willing to get wet.

[Jim Derrig]

I experienced a similar problem this weekend, except that it happened while I was sitting P2 in the main (arghhhhhhhhh!).

Digital (key start) iginition.

Engine suddenly cut out.  Coasted off the track.  Chain okay.  Turned the key to restart and nothing.  Brought it back home.  Still nothing.  Thought maybe I stuck a piston but the motor turns free when rotated by hand.  So it is some sort of electrical problem.  The battery is strong and the “ground” is  there.  The Positive is feeding to the key switch and also to the ignition box.  There is current flowing to the starter and the bendix meshes with the ring gear and turns fine.

I have another starter so I’m going to put it in and see what happens.  Don’t see how a bad starter could cause the engine to stop during a race however.  I’ll report on my progress.

[Jim Derrig]

“I still haven’t heard any explanation on the rationale for switching from the former importer alignments”

Well, it sure wasn’t customer service.  Italian Motors did a great job.

I suspect is was simple jeolousy on IAME’s part:  IAME wants its own “IAME Cup” series to compete with the Rotax national series.  By co-opting SKUSA, IAME now has its foot in the door for a national TaG series with the X30 as the spec motor, which will be tied into the yearly IAME X30 International Championship event.  I think the Kruesher (sp?) interview made it pretty clear SKUSA will be going to the X30 as a spec TaG motor in the next 2 years.

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