GARAGE HOW TO DEAL WITH HEAT
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BABINGTON’S EURO SHOW IN THE HOTTEST RACE OF THE SEASON, SEAN BABINGTON TAKES HARD-FOUGHT DD2 FINAL IN SPAIN
W E I
V E R
2016 CIK ENGINES
THIRD TEST IN LONATO
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TALKING TO CALLUM ILOTT
SOS KART
THE TOOLS YOU NEED
PHOTO T.DECK
KARTING, EMOTION & PASSION
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CONTENTS
www.vroomkart.com
AUGUST 2014 - N. 8
info@vroom.it www.facebook.com/vroomkart twitter.com/vroomkart
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news 28
60
12
LATEST FROM THE MSA
14
MONDOKART - News & Previews
20
YOUR TKM GUIDE When does a child become an adult?
22
ROTAX MAX BEGINNERS TIPS Always fully charge - The battery p.2
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BIG BROTHER - 2014 TKM S1 SCHOLARSHIP A taste of glory
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ONE ON ONE Roland Geidel
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TALKING TO Callum Ilott
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VINTAGE - BM K MODEL
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SEPTEMBER RACING CALENDAR
race
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SUPERONE ROTAX SERIES RD.3
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ROTAX EURO CHALLENGE RD.3
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CIK EUROPEAN KZ-KZ2 CHAMPS. RD.2
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EASYKART UK CHAMPS. RD.5
56
CLUB 100 ENDURANCE CHAMPS. RD.5
60
LGM SERIES RD.6
62
SHENINGTON KRC CHAMPS. RD.7
64
TVKC CLUB CHAMPS. RD.4
72
technical side 26
FOCUS - New front bumpers tested in Germany
28
2016 CIK ENGINES - Third test in Lonato
66
GARAGE - How to deal with heat
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SOS KART - The tools you need at the track 5
BIG BROTHER 2014 TKM A TASTE OF GLORY LAST MONTH TKM S1 SCHOLARSHIP WINNER MATT ENGLAND WAS AT ROCK BOTTOM. COULD A TRIP TO SCOTLAND CHANGE HIS FORTUNES?
If you’d have told me after GYG I was going to set the track alight at Larkhall I’d have thought probably you were being kind. But what a lot can change in the space of one race meeting to another. After what I felt was a pretty poor show in Wales we went away to think things through, and as I explained last month, to go to Scotland in a positive frame of mind and with a fresh set up. We had stripped the kart to bare chassis and sent it away to Tal-Ko for a complete check-over. Armed with a new rear axle and some suggestions on revised settings the kart was re-built before our long drive North. It was decided to take the caravan to Scotland for accommodation which required some swapping around of equipment and then we were off. The journey up to Scotland was long and uneventful apart from some road debris ripping the caravan electric plug from the socket and trailing it down the motorway, requiring a short break at the services to fit a spare replacement plug together with a few cable ties to hold it in the broken socket. Never far from cable ties in the karting world! We had studied the track layout and watched some You Tube footage in preparation for our track walks. Arriving at Larkhall in the late afternoon, we soon had our awning facilities set up. But before we had a chance to light the barbeque, we were talked into a short trip to a local pub with some fellow competitors. We had experienced some rear bearing wear after the first three
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KM S1 SCHOLARSHIP rounds, which we puzzled over. Racing at Midland circuits such as Rissington, Shenington and Kimbolton, we had only experienced this level of bearing wear after a full season of racing at several circuits. However intelligence from fellow competitors informed us that both Rowrah and GYG have a tendency to be hard on bearings and that we were not the only competitors to have experienced this. It highlights one of the differences that arise from racing a wider range of circuits. You never stop learning, even when away from circuit for food and a beer. Friday testing was an opportunity to get used to the revised kart set-up and the track. Alan Turney spent a great deal of time advising on set up and lines and refused to let me change the gearing even though I wanted to add teeth. He insisted that I needed to drive smoothly with the correct lines so the track and sprocket came to me as this would reduce my lap times. He was right it did and as the day progressed I was pleased with the progress being made and the Tal-Ko Veloce felt well balanced. So far so good – and it hadn’t rained! Saturday arrived and we moved to control tyres and fuel for timed qualifying. Having not really achieved the results we expected in qualifying during the first three rounds, I was gob-smacked and so chuffed to find I had put it on pole! Not bad considering the majority of competitors had raced the track in previous years and we had only had a day on circuit. Starting from pole for the two heats I had mixed results with regards to our finishing positions having been the victim of some colourful driving from a competitor. Whist the offending driver was disqualified; it still meant I finished one of our heats near the back. Whilst this was disappointing, we took some satisfaction that we were once again, right near the top of the field on lap times.
Our TKM TAG motor was performing well, but we did start to have some clutch slip because excess chain lube had got into the clutch drum. This was easily sorted by taking the clutch drum off and giving it a good clean. But it does show you need to be more careful spraying the chain with lube when it has a clutch compared to when it is direct drive. Sunday morning practice saw some other drivers following me round to observe our lines, evidence that the time sheets showed us to be setting some quick times in the race across all sectors. That felt good. The first final saw me get dropped back in the action but then able to work back to fourth when the leaders took each other out on the last lap. So fourth spot for the second final and I sat there in fifth with the lead pack until about half way through the race when…BANG. I had a massive thump at the rear into the last corner costing several places.
It was a carbon copy of Saturday’s incident and the same driver at that. Who said lightening never strikes twice? So it was off the Clerk of the Course, but this time we were in the victim’s chair, the assailant once again being excluded from the race. As we drove home from Larkhall, we were pleased with our progress. My pole position qualifying time remained the fastest time in TKM Extreme for the whole weekend and we were in the top three on lap times in the final which confirms that our set-up changes have had a positive effect. It also gives me more confidence to know that I can quickly learn new circuits and lines. Next stop Rissington, one of our home circuits and only just down the road for us. I really do want to shine at this one and I know now I have the ability and equipment to do so.
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THIRD CIK AND MANUFACTURER’S TEST SESSION IN LONATO (I)
CONTINUING TESTS FOR 2
After the test that we published in the May issue of Vroom, we continue with the tests that are involving the CIK-FIA and manufactures aimed to define the new engines for the 2016 homologation. REPORT M. VOLTINI - PHOTOS D. PASTANELLA
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R 2016 ENGINES
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THIRD TESTa The new engines for 2016 homologation have been tested for the third time, once again in Lonato. Besides the decompressor, the ignition system has also been tested
lways at Lonato, they held the third session of tests with KF engines with the latest innovations. Don’t forget that the most important innovation is the use of decompressors, that is, valves mounted on the cylinder head that allow for push start without the use of any other devices. So, as a consequence they contemporarily allow you to do without a series of problematic components that have brought the KF class to its present catastrophic situation: we are talking about the centrifugal clutch, battery, wiring and electric start. All elements that All elements that right from the start have only created problems for KF engines, without actually giving any real advantages. Among other things, the function of these small valves was already tested during the second test session, and in this third session the only new innovation was Parolin’s: on the FIM engine, in fact, the manufacturer from Veneto, Italy, has mounted in the place of the automatic spring decompressors a type with manual control. Practically speaking, decompressors used to be mounted on the Ciao mopeds; the driver manoeuvres it by revving up. It is quite a simple system and being manoeuvred by the driver (in this case Gabriel Sereia from Brazil), it gives start even easier. The others here were Vortex combined with Tony and driver by Karol Basz, Iame and a Zanardi driver by Giacomo Rossi and TM with an Art driven by Julien Darras. This time only as spectators this time were HHC and PRD experts: in fact, the Cik ha sled to believe that VROOM UK
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ONE ON ONE
ROLAND GEIIDEL
After celebrating the 10th
EVER GROWING SUCCESS
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anniversary of the Rotax Max Euro Challenge in 2013, currently one of the mustrace series in the Rotax international calendar, we touch base with organizer and RGMMC supremo Roland Geidel, who tells us the secrets behind the ongoing success of his creature. REPORT S.MURTAS / PHOTOS RGMMC P.O.
Let’s start from the beginning. Why and how did you take the Euro Challenge off the ground? “I’ve been in karting well before actually starting up with the Euro Challenge. My son James used to race himself since he was 6, and we were already part of the karting community. I came to know that at Rotax they were looking for a coordinator to manage the international series for their new 125cc engine. I was introduced to Rotax by an Austrian friend and that’s how it all started back Above, Euro Challenge in 2004. The series was 10th Anniversary conceived on 4 rounds – as celebrations closed the 3rd round at PF it is today – across Europe; International, UK, in the first in Pomposa (Italy), July 2013. Roland, Lynn then in Eindhoven (Holland), and James Geidel put together a party to in Bruck (Austria) and in celebrate this fantastic Braga (Portugal).”
“Immediately. I was convinced it was going to be a success from the very first moment I was offered the opportunity. Of course I didn’t know about all the different aspects and challenges that do arise in any start-up project, but I was a strong believer in the Euro Challenge from the word go.”
It was a brave decision back then, as Rotax success was still all to be built… “True. After the first season where we traveled to different tracks, it was clear to me that in order to make the Euro Challenge into a success we had to have our team of people working consistently on the series. So I started employing Clerk of the course, technical people,marshalls, in order to allow for consistently high standard.”
Do you think the series will grow even more in the future, or has it reached a level, which is difficult to surpass? “Mainly it will depend on the market and the overall economy of course. But in terms of number of drivers, we think we’ve found the right balance with an average of 200 drivers per meeting. Plus, we’ve had record entries iast year in round 2, usually less popular because of school exams and such, and entries have been steady also throughout the season so far. But I don’t think we want to grow much
achievement with the Rotax Karting community
When did you see the potential of the series?
Which has been your best season? “Difficult to say. Every season was a success in its own right. We set the bar higher every season, so objectives and goals are aimed at improving all the time. And this is why our series has become better and better over the years. Technology changes, teams, drivers and sponsors change priorities, expectations get higher and higher, and you have to be always ahead of the game.”
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RELUCTANT CHAMPION
Strong of an impressive record at international level, with several WSK crowns and a runner-up title in the 2012 World Cup to his credit, Callum Ilott almost passes unnoticed if it weren’t for his name popping up on the top part of the standings more often than not, reason for him sitting second in the European championship with one round to go. Reserved, polite, always carrying a big smile on his face, the Zanardi driver has become a European title contender after an hesitant start of the season, his second in KF category.
“Unfortunately we started testing quite late in the season, and with the new tyres our package didn’t quite perform as we wanted it to. Then, when it came to the races, we found out that the handling of our new chassis was quite different from the testing, and it took us a little to fix it. Our first outing in the WSK Champions Cup was quite tough, we didn’t have enough speed compared to the other. But then we came back managing to resolve some of the performance issues we had with the engine. In the end, we didn’t do too bad and conquered the 3rd place overall.” The WSK Super Master Series saw you as protagonist very early on... “We did well in the opening round in Sarno
where I finished 2nd in the final, then had some technical issues in Castelletto, but came back strong in the final round in La Conca, where I won both prefinal and final taking the title.” An impressive performance that you managed to repeat in the opening round of the CIK European Championship, held on the same circuit. “Yes, obviously our equipment is well suited for this track, I wasn’t fastest all the time but I definitely was always fighting at the top.” Being your second season in KF, can you give a word of advice about the change of category to those who race in KFJ at the moment? “I have to say that technically speaking it’s not so different. Once you get used to the front brakes it’s practically the same. The grip is also different, but the main thing is just the experience (or lack of it). The racing action in KF is a lot harder, particularly when you are the youngest one out there as I was. On the other hand, the first season is all about learning, so there’s less pressure to win.”
TALKING TO CALLUM ILOTT
With both feet firmly on the ground, Callum Ilott has impressed in the first part of the season for his consistent performance and results, fast becoming a major contender for the European KF crown. But make no mistakes, Callum’s determination is matched only by his cool, unpretending approach to racing. We caught up with the fast Brit right before a series of tests in preparation for the remaining part of the season. REPORT S.MURTAS / PHOTOS D.PASTANELLA
Was there one particular driver you looked up to last year?
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SUPER ONE ROTAX SERIES
RACE
RND.3 LARKHALL, 13th JULY 2014
THRILLING CHALLENGE IN SCOTLAND
For the halfway stage of the ABkC National Championships the Super One visited showery Scotland, the Summerlee circuit easily accessible from the motorway between Carlisle and Glasgow. It’s a challenging circuit, needing bravery for overtaking. At the top of the hill on the back straight, or into one of the hairpins is a favourite, whilst a last gasp move into the last corner can come unstuck. REPORT G.SMITH (TSR PRODUCTIONS) / PHOTOS C.WALKER (KARTPIX.NET)
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Right, Senior Max podium with Jack Bartholomew sided by local driver Kyle Fowlie, the two finishing in that order in both finals. Third on the podium, Gary Donnelly. Above, Junior Max Final 2 winner Sandy Mitchell. Left, Alex Quinn (12) and Dean MacDonald (11) took the MiniMax win in Final 1 and 2 respectively.
MINIMAX A sudden heavy shower just before the first final forced a quick move to wets for the protagonists. The Scotsman Dean MacDonald held pole position over Alex Quinn, Tyler Chesterton and Jonathan Hoggard. But Quinn snatched the lead at the start and thereafter was never headed, MacDonald failing to find a safe passage past. Whilst Hoggard held station in
third, Ed Hack bypassed the opening lap incidents to finish fourth, pipping Adam Smalley and Jack Young. An unlucky Chesterton only completed two laps. For the second final MacDonald swept past Quinn on the second lap and retrieved the lead twice, firstly from Hoggard and secondly from Young, who fell to seventh after receiving a five place penalty. That promoted
Smalley, Hoggard and Thomas Turner. Quinn was the unfortunate driver on the receiving end of the contact and fell to sixth. HONDA CADET With Kiern Jewiss on pole from Zak Rogers for the first final the former had to fight hard for the win against strong challenges from Harry Thompson and Myles Apps. Rogers faded to ninth whilst
Jenson Butterfield was placed last after a penalty. He stormed up to an impressive fifth in the second final where Mark Kimber took the honours. Thompson skipped past Jewiss to claim second with Apps on their tail. JUNIOR MAX A Welshman in Harrison Thomas and a Scotsman in Sandy Mitchell shared the front row for
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RACE
ROTAX EURO CHALLENGE RND.3 ZUERA (SPAIN) 20th JULY 2014
BRITS ON TOP IN SPAIN
In the hottest race of the season so far, with blistering temperatures of about 40°C, the Brits made a superb showing in all categories, as Babington, Webb and Wooder took the win in DD2, Senior and Junior respectively. REPORT & PHOTOS T.DECK (RGMMC P.O.)
DD2 Still without a win in the previous two rounds, Championship leader Ben Cooper set the best time in qualifying practice. Andreas Backman dropped back to second place in the last seconds of the session but he underlined his good shape beating the likes of Abbasse, Kancsar and Lennox Lamb. In the heats Cooper was the man to beat. The Brit with Canadian licence was successful twice and completed his heats with a strong 2nd place taking pole for the prefinal. Swede Backman came out of the heats in a promising 2nd position and was able to assert himself ahead of Kancsar and De Ruwe. For Abbasse and Lennox
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Lamb the heats did not go according to plan. The two factory drivers crashed in the first race, which cost them important points in the heat ranking. But they were able to gain top positions in the following heats, Abbasse remarkably winning heat 2. Finally the Frenchman was classified 9th overall, while Lennox Lamb followed 5th. Also on top form after a difficult quali, Sean Babington ended up on place 7 in the starting grid and was supposed to be the great surprise for the finals. In the prefinal things changed. Pole sitter Ben Cooper was not able to tie in with his qualifying performance. Already in the first laps he lost ground and struggled to hold his
position. Finally he crossed the finish line 4th ahead of Abbasse and Kancsar, who found Cooper a hard nut to crack. On the other hand, Babington had a brilliant start and boosted himself to the top after only a few laps. During the remaining distance he was able to control the lead, taking the win by over 1�. Behind him Lennox Lamb and Backman were in good shape, securing places 2 and 3 in the end. In the final race Babington, Lennox Lamb and Cooper formed a trio, which set the pace throughout the race distance. They headed away from the rest of the grid easily fighting it out among themselves. Especially Cooper was quick again and grabbed the
ROTAX DD2 FINAL P 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 17 20 26 30
N 602 601 665 611 639 638 604 608 626 641 633 651 620 612
Driver Sean Babington Ben Cooper J. Lennox Lamb Andreas Backman Henrique Baptista Michael E Christensen Ferenc Kancsar Kevin Ludi Anthony Abbasse Bryan Eerden Martin Pierce (M) Tamsin Germain (M) Joshua Collings Patrick Pearce
NAT GBR CAN GBR SWE PRT DNK HUN CHE FRA NLD IRL GBR GBR GBR
CHASSIS Tonykart Birel CRG Tonykart FA Tonykart Birel Kosmic Sodikart CRG Praga Gillard CRG Flandria Kart
GAP 14 laps 1.209 1.252 2.199 3.269 6.084 6.400 9.076 9.465 11.383 16.540 17.940 -DQ
ROTAX DD2 CHAMPIONSHIP
Above, the DD2 podium. Left, final winner Sean Babington (602) leads the five-kart train that formed at the beginning of the final, with fellow Brits Lennox Lamb (665) and Cooper (601), Backman (611) and Baptista (639) chasing hard. After several disappointing results this season, the Tony Kart driver clinches a well-deserved win.
lead for a few laps. Yet Babington did not give up: after some tough wheel to wheel action, Babington asserted himself in the lead and defended it bravely up to the finish. Behind Babington, who secured his best result of the season, Cooper took 2nd and defended the championship lead. Third on the podium was Lennox Lamb, taking 2nd place in the points table ahead of Backman, Babington and Abbasse. In the DD2 Masters classification Tamsin Germain was going strong and stopped the best time in the qualifying session, ending up on a brilliant 13th place overall. But the lady driver from the UK was
P 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
N 601 665 611 602 626 638 641 660 661 604 620 608 650 605 616
Driver Cooper, Ben - CAN Lennox Lamb, Jordan - ITA Backman, Andreas - SWE Babington, Sean - GBR Christiansen, Michael E - DNK Eerden, Bryan - NLD Vuillaume, Damien - FRA Kalesis, Filippos - GRC Kancsar, Ferenc - HUN Abbasse, Anthony - FRA Collings, Joshua - GBR Ludi, Kevin - CHE Santoro, Dario - ITA De Ruwe, Xen - BEL Fleischmann, Maxi - DEU
unlucky in the heats. She was involved in a collision, which forced her to give way to Martin Pierce. The man from Ireland was classified 19th after the heats, while his rivals Germain and Belgium’s Christophe Adams took positions 22 respectively 24. In the prefinal it was Adams taking the win ahead of Germain and Pierce. But the prefinal winner had to retire in the decisive race, leaving way to his opponents. So it was Pierce taking the Masters win ahead of Germain and Franck Rouxel. Senior Max - With over 50 drivers on starting grid, the senior category
CHASSIS Birel CRG Tony Kart Tony Kart Tony Kart CRG Flandria Kart DR Birel Sodi Kart CRG Kosmic Maranello Intrepid Praga Kart
GENK 33 50 22 55 28 46 32 24 16 44 25 43 27 49 31 29 29 48 3 36 19 45 24 41 4 27 5 22 10 39
LAGHI 31 50 32 48 30 47 33 49 29 52 28 44 21 42 25 46 24 22 26 41 23 45 3 27 14 40 22 43 20 24
ZUERA 31 52 33 50 32 49 34 55 30 44 20 47 21 43 23 37 25 40 29 46 8 27 24 45 26 39 27 28 17 35
represented the largest grid of the weekend. Stopping the fastest time in the first group (1:04.993), Luke Varley saw his hopes for pole fade when the second group proved faster. As many as seven drivers were quicker than Varley who finally had to be satisfied with 8th position. At the very top, Castelletto double winner Harry Webb set the benchmark inflicting an impressing 0.288 seconds to second fastest Zack Claman Demelo from Canada. The championship leading duo Edward Brand and Joseph Reilly were 3rd and 4th fastest, while Josh Price completed the top-5 positions. In the heats one
Dave Wooder (49) has quickly become a major force to be reckoned with at the Euro VROOM INTERNATIONAL Max in JuniorMAGAZINE category.
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POINTS 247 240 232 227 215 207 203 191 188 181 167 164 150 147 145
RACE KZ & KZ2 CHAMPIONSHIP CIK-FIA EUROPEAN
RACE
WACKERSDORF (DEU), 13TH JULY 2014 – ROUND 2
KZ THONON MAKES UP
ARDIGÒ BETRAYED BY HIS ENGINE
REPORT & PHOTOS D.PASTANELLA
REPORT & PHOTOS D. PASTANELLA
An impeccable race put in by the fourtime world champion who after an unfortunate exit from the scene in Genk makes up this time, he grabs a fantastic win that goes to his credit making him one of the favourites for final win. We can say that he will be there for the final sprint to be held in the last round in Sweden. So will Marco Ardigò, Jonathan Thonon, 4-times KZ World Champion, is once again on top podium step of this class after the second round of the European Championship hosted in Wackersdorf. Now, the Belgian driver, as from this year in force with Praga, is one of the favourites for title win together with Dreezen and Ardigò. Also Bas Lammers puts in a brilliant show on this occasion (above with Dreezen and Thonon during the Press Conference), his was a race all in attacking typical of his style. Opposite page, Ben Hanley (17) had a great scrap with Ardigò (1) but had to settle for 6th in the end.
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unlucky at Wackersdorf, a problem with his engine ruined his chances of getting important championship points, but the Brescian is ready both mentally and physically to give it all he’s got. Leading on him is another Belgian, Rick Dreezen who thanks to two wins is now championship leader. He’s the driver to beat. Out of the Italians, the most outstanding in Germany are Camponeschi fourth final place and Tiene who could have got a brilliant placing after his third place in prefinal. A bit of luck wouldn’t hurt for him too.
PROTAGONISTS
JONATHAN THONON The Belgian in force with Praga racing team, after a zero on the scoreboard in Genk, unfortunately while he was
fighting for final win manages to make up now and takes home an important win. Only eleventh in qualifiers, he is eight after heats, a placing that he keeps also for the prefinal despite having stopped fastest lap. But, it’s in the final that he is fantastic. He’s off to a good start and after a few laps he’s in fourth. Then Hanley and Lennox join in the fight, first he overtakes Ardigò who had touched Hanley and once in third place, in an only manoeuvre, he crosses the path line of the two leaders DreezenLammers both on the inside and there is a slight contact so he passes to lead and pulls away to grab flag first.
RICK DREEZEN Off to a fast start, Canardi standard bearer grabs pole position and row one start after heats next to Marco Ardigò,
proving that he has the speed and determination to fight for final win. In the prefinal, only Lammers leads on him over the finishing line, but the Belgian leads to believe that he had left the best for the final. In fact, he is off to a good final start as he storms away leading on the pack. Very determined Lammers presses him attacking on several occasions trying to overtake. There are continuous place swapping and this help their rivals to draw closer and when Dreezen touches Lammers at the second turn, Thonon slips through and he can do nothing but “accept” second place that, together with the one he got in Genk leave him at the top of the championship scoreboard.
BAS LAMMERS Lammers is the one who perhaps we have seen a bit unsure at Wackersdorf. He is quite determined throughout the weekend, he prefinal win grabbed with determination led to believe that the Dutch champion wanted to win at all costs. And this was confirmed right from final start: Lammers duels with Rick Dreezen, doping to be able to pull away immediately and leave those following behind to duel. Instead, he gets caught up in a group of karts and after a slight contact with Dreezen, Lammmers sees Thonon lead and he has to defend
himself from the rivals coming up behind m place.
OUTSTANDING
after the heats and then has another technical problem in prefinal and this ties him back to 27th for the final. He is the author of a fantastic final race gobbling up his rivals to grab seventh final place that almost tasted of victory... Wonder what might have happened if he had had a front grid start? Felice Tiene Crg standard bearer once again proved to have talent with grid three start for the final. He gets hit at the second turn and goes into a spin; he gets left behind and misses a chance of getting good results for himself and his team.
One thing sure, the great absentee of the final race is Marco Ardigò, after his win in Genk, Tony Kart standard bearer is very fast also in Germany and he’s on grid one after heats. He isn’t so brilliant during the prefinal and has to settle for fourth place. But during the final, he presses hard showing all his experience and after a few laps he takes himself up to second place, but he gets caught up in the fight between protagonists Lammers, Dreezen, Hanley and Lennox all duelling hard KZ FINAL P N Driver NAT EQUIPMENTS GAP and slips back to sixth. But 1 3 Thonon, Jonathan BEL Praga / Parilla / B'stone 25 laps worse still, his engine suddenly 2 9 Dreezen, Rick BEL Zanardi / Parilla / B'stone 2.513 NLD FK / Parilla / B'stone 3.333 betrays him leaving him parked 3 4 Lammers, Bas 4 14 Camponeschi, Flavio ITA Tony Kart / Vortex / B'stone 3.491 on the grass. An unexpected 5 8 Lennox-Lamb, Jordon GBR CRG / Maxter / B'stone 4.396 6 17 Hanley, Ben GBR ART GP / TM / B'stone 5.982 surprise that penalises him no 7 6 De Conto, Paolo ITA Birel / TM / B'stone 7.545 end. 8 5 Pex, Jorrit NLD CRG / TM / B'stone 8.254 9 39 Negro, Riccardo ITA Top Kart / Parilla / B'stone 11.100 Paolo de Conto, is lately the 10 11 Torsellini, Mirko ITA ART GP / TM / B'stone 11.286 protagonist of some KZ CHAMPIONSHIP STANDING AFTER WACKERSDORF (DEU) P N Driver NAT EQUIPMENT BEL QH BEL F DEU QH DEU F POINTS unexpected 1 9 Dreezen, Rick BEL Zanardi/Parilla 9 20 9 20 58 technical fault 2 1 Ardigò, Marco ITA Tony Kart/Vortex 8 25 10 0 43 3 3 Thonon, Jonathan BEL Praga/Parilla 7 0 4 25 36 too many, 4 8 Lennox-Lamb, J. GBR Crg/Maxter 6 16 1 11 34 with no time in 5 5 Pex, Jorrit NLD Crg/Tm 5 13 7 8 33 6 4 Lammers, Bas NLD FK/Parilla 0 8 8 16 32 qualifiers, he 7 17 Hanley, Ben GBR ART Grand Prix/Tm 4 11 0 10 25 manages to 8 2 Abbasse, Anthony FRA Sodi/Tm 3 9 6 0 18 9 20 Kozlinski, Arnaud FRA Intrepid/Tm 10 0 5 2 17 get up to 16th 10
11 Torsellini, Mirko
ITA ART Grand Prix/Tm
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2014 EASYKART UK CHAMPIONSHIP
RACE
RND.5, GLAN-Y-GORS, 20th JULY
Above, a close fight in Cadet among Harry Barlow (1), Euan Johnson (5) and Scott Huntley (45). Barlow leads the championship with 1607 points over Johnson and Huntley.
TESTING WEATHER IN WALES REPORT M.HAYDEN / PHOTOS S.HUNTLEY
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CADETS Qualifying was close with Morgan Wroot edging out no.1 Harry Barlow by 0.100s for pole position, with Scott Huntley slipping through in 3rd place a fraction later. Barlow looked dangerous with his top three times showing the most consistency, any of which would have put him on pole excepting Wroot’s one-off flyer. From the sun and heat of the early races, intermittent rain developed for the two finals by mid-afternoon. Barlow led from pole in the first final, but he
had an inspired Euan Johnson pressing hard from grid 3, from the closely following Huntley and Wroot. There was little to choose between them from the entire race, with Barlow hanging on for the win by 0.170s, with the next three just one second apart, as Huntley caught Johnson for the runner-up place in the closing seconds, ahead of Wroot. Harry Graham was several lengths further back in 5th place, with leading rookie Joe Sheppy in the top six.
SENIOR LIGHT PODIUM WITH KIERAN GORDON ON TOP SIDED BY SAM MASSEY AND ROBERT NEWMAN. CADET FINAL WINNER HARRY BARLOW HOLDING THE TROPHY
With Barlow on pole for the main final it was all over for his rivals once it started to rain. “It started to rain at the start,” Barlow explained afterwards, “but I still had my confidence on the grid.” It looked easier than it sounded, with Barlow pulling away into a very big lead. He set the fastest race lap in the early stages of 56.990s (lap 3), then sat back and relaxed, before cruising to the flag with a five and a half second gap over Johnson in 2nd place, and his two shadows, ‘E’ plate Georgie Anker and Wroot. Huntley was a distant 5th, pushed hard by rookie George Evans. JUNIOR Esmee Hawkey is one
quick racer, and she showed her pace in what could be her final karting year, before moving onwards and upwards in the sport in 2015 if her current plans reach fruition. With pole for the pre-final ahead of Jenson Murchison we were set for a good race and so it proved. With the drivers taking to the track on slicks as a fine drizzle of rain fell, it soon became clear this would, barring incident, be a two driver race. Hawkey made a good start from pole, but she had Murchison tracking her for the distance. There was little between them on lap times, with Hawkey’s
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garage HOW TO DEAL WITH HEAT
MAKING THE MOST OF SUMMER Here is some advice on how to get your kart ready for the warmer temperatures, so that setup doesn’t suffer much even when track temperatures are Saharan. BY M. VOLTINI
U
ntil a while ago, the problem was finding a warm day for racing, several events have been held on wet tracks. Now, things are different (we don’t know if it’s for the better or not), the environmental temperatures are much higher, maybe they have gone up too much in a very short time. If we drink lots of liquid, eat a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables and wear lighter
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clothes and of course, put sun tan lotion to protect our bodies, there are some measures that ought to be taken for our kart, or things will be rather difficult. Let’s see what we can do to our kart, both concerning the chassis and the engine so that we can prevent it from suffering even when track temperatures are like those of the Sahara.
1 CARBURETION
This is always one of the most important things to check, even when we just go to the track for a bit of fun, but it is even more important to do so in extreme conditions: carburetion must be set according to environmental conditions therefore, also for the summer heat. In this case you get the opposite requirements: on one hand, the hot air is more refined, so carburetion must be “leaner”; on the other hand, you have to help the engine to stay cooler, so you should have carburetion tending to basically “rich”. The thing is that less oxygen goes into the cylinder, therefore, less petrol is required, and so we need smaller jets than what are usually used. But, let’s not just check the spark plug to see if we have the “right” when we check the spark plug, and we prefer 2-3 points more for maximum jet. It might be advisable to go back to the old habit, which is “lubricate” with your hand at the end of the straight, so that a good “spray” of petrol goes inside the cylinder so as to cool it a bit. Be careful no to leave carburetion “rich” at low revs (something that does happen even if you don’t change it): the risk is that during the early revs the engine seems unable to “free” enough and leads us to believe that it needs even smaller maximum jets, but as soon as you continue you may find that these sets are too scarce, with a consequences that are not always pleasant (well hardly ever).
2 COOLING
As we are talking about temperature, obviously it means that the cooling system must be accordingly set too. If you have an air-cooled engine, there is very little that can be done (just insist with a “rich” carburetion for a while) being careful with the air filter that’s rather prominent eliminates flow to the cylinder, while if you have a watercooled engine you can do a bit more to set it accordingly. The main change is to use a bigger carburettor, as big as you possibly can, so that the thermal surface of air is bigger. Also add lateral fins to the radiant
mass so as to channel the flow better, this operation is very helpful, also check the reeds, and make sure that they are straight and open. And if this isn’t enough (especially when we haven’t been able to change our carburettor for a larger one) this way not only does it gather more air, but the fins perfectly parallel in driving direction allow air to pass more freely. However, remember that it is physically impossible to expect the engine to stay at 45°C when the external temperature is also 45°C... To get a cooling system, that is stop heat, there must be a difference in temperature between the water in the system and the air that goes through the radiator, so draw up your own conclusions.
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v
S.O.S. KART INSTRUCTIONS F WHAT ARE WE TAKING TO THE TRACK? GET YOURSELF SORTED OUT BEFORE RACING
The dilemma is there every time and, unless we have a truck where there’s plenty of room, it is very hard to decide what do we take with us and what to leave at home because what comes to mind is Murphy’s law: if I decide on one thing rather than another, in the end it is likely that we will be needing what we have left at home… Let’s start with the tool box, this is not chosen because it is the best looking but for being useful: the size is chosen depending on the number of tools or the number that we hope to have, bearing in mind that the tool box too, when closed it must be waterproof, and the removable shelf inside must have the connections with the main box in such a way that the inside 72
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doesn’t collapse under the weight of the tools (see details picture 5). Always keep some “odds and ends” readily available, this is very important, so have a series of departments where to put it in: most tool boxes have one, but not all of them have separate compartments when the lid is closed; a separate one is good because it isn’t always easy to find what you are looking for when everything mixed up when we open our toolbox. Let’s start with a “Casual visit”, bearing in mind that all the objects inside are fruit of a continuous evolution and selection over three racing seasons:
inside we only have the things that we need to do routine jobs and for solving various problems that could crop up when we are at the track: adjustment or repairing work after crashes or bumps on the curbs or against the protection barriers. In picture 1 you have the external view: foldable handgrip, transparent upper the cap so that you can see where the nuts and bolts, and the other things that you are looking for immediately, with a double hook for shutting. When you have lifted the transparent cap (opening picture 2), you can get to the departments of the nuts and bolts, which can be seen much better in pictures 3 and 4:
here you find a 1.5 mm diameter tin thread, useful for measuring squish height and for welding, maybe, an electric wire if it should break; some faston that is required for electric connection with start batteries and high tension bobbins; there are some false chain links for a (KZ) chain and some circlips for the pinion; you also have some adhesive strips for fixing the Starlane cables to the base without having to make bores; there are some self-locking nuts for fixing the wheels and some adhesive weights for balancing them. A small roll of Teflon is indispensable for sealing the water inlet and outlet connectors from the engine, a piece of retractable thermo sheath, useful for stable insulation of an electric cable that has been repaired or where the
FOR USE ... AND MUCH MORE! insulation is worn out. You must have a spare spark plug and its silicon pipette: these can be brand new or second hand, the important thing is that you have one. In the main box there are the nuts, screws and various washers, but not just thrown there: each part there in the compartment is a replica of another that is mounted on your kart, so that there is no need to adapt the part before using it? Now, on to picture 4: here we see the 2 mm cotter pins for the braking system dowels, caps and inserts for the wheel valves. A small bag of M3x6 screws that is required for fixing the reed pack, some powerful magnets, which are useful for seeing if the Starlane time probe is working properly and also for finding any metal part that may have fallen to the ground. In the adjacent department there are some beadlock, with relative spare O-ring and the key for fixing or removing them. Below there is the electric cable: it is for carrying signal of engine revs to the Starlane and also for emergency reparation work. At the side, a lighter always comes in handy… Below the lighter there is a hooked-shaped piece of wire, which is used to help you take out the petrol filter from Dell’Orto carburettors. In the last two compartments you find, on the left, a bit of “everything”, because you never really know what you might need (also for others, not just for ourselves), some adjusting washers for seats,
spacers for front wheels, a clamp for the accelerator and some caps for the exhaust and the engine induction manifolds. Open the box (picture 5) and we have all the tools that should always be available in case of need, in picture 6 we have the lodger that live on the “bottom floor”, not always used but very important… In picture 7 you can see all the tools needed for an emergency operation: they have been selected according to real necessity, you only find what you really need inside the box, or it would mean extra weight, it costs money and creates confusion… In picture 8 there’s the combination open wrench “second necessity”, the ones that you may need but not necessarily, and those which a of primary necessity that you can see in the plastic
BY REV
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PICTURE 5
REMOVABLE INTERNAL SHELF, THERE SHOULD BE CLUTCHES WITH THE BOX BODY TO PREVENT IT FROM COLLAPSING INSIDE. VROOM UK
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DARTFORD KARTING – OFFICIAL DISTRIBUTOR
www.kartstore.co.uk contact Maria at sales@kartstore.co.uk BAYFORD MEADOWS KC www.bmkr.co.uk contact Ian at info@bmkr.co.uk
SHENINGTON KC www.sheningtonkrc.co.uk contact Graham at Graham@sheningtonkrc.co.uk
BUCKMORE PARK – DARTFORD KARTING www.kartstore.co.uk contact Maria at sales@kartstore.co.uk
TRENT VALLEY KC www.tvkc.co.uk contact Clare at clare@tvkc.co.uk
CUMBRIA KC www.cumbriakrc.co.uk contact Malcolm at malcolmfell@yahoo.com
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