Agreed. Not great racing at all. Should have been a penalty. Next race is at MCC…
No review on the bestblog thread? sad emoji
What amuses me is that overseas with the pushbacks and such it has become common place to just side pod someone out of the way. Really isn’t any different if you ask me. I’m not condoning Gavin moving Billy, but at the same time it wasn’t a full dump. He just assisted him with his entry speed a bit 
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If you’re “sidepoding” someone out of the way, it’s beacause you are already side by side, meaning that a move has been executed. This is different than a tap and take.
The consequences of a side by side contacts should be reviewed and the appropriate actions taken, if required. Nonetheless, putting both actions in the same category is wrong.
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So slowing down an apex is consequence free? The train tends to disagree.
rental racer perspective, of course.
So what happens in your races when a slower guy is holding up a pack? You guys can’t force him deeper to the actual limit? In my races you get your butt pushed until you either a) get going or b) move.
Caveat is you can’t just dump a guy. But you can boing him a bit and keep things moving.
Probably not. That’s gonna spin you, not him. Take it square.
I wasn’t racing this weekend, only Stars (and maybe some regional stuff) this season. And after watching a bit, I was kind of glad now to be out there given the carnage!
The defense to the bump-and-run is standing on the brakes as soon as you start getting pushed, but it’s not a guaranteed move.
If Gavin had hit him harder, I would be more on Billy’s side. But it looked very minor to me. And that’s how shifter racing always is. Remember Formal sending it from 6 kart lengths back and almost flipping over Morgatto last year?
When there is less consequence to defense, because you can just drop a gear and drive out of the apex, then KZ lately here has been more boring to watch in my opinion, because everyone just runs defensive all race long. It’s hard enough to get around someone white-lining in single-speed but with that huge power and the extra gears, I can’t imagine how tough that can be to fight.
Either way I’m not really picking a side because I feel bad that Billy raced him clean all race and did everything right. And I’m not mad at Gavin for going for what was a huge breakthrough win for him at the highest level in the last corner of the last lap.
I saw a lot of reactive defense and poor form in the other classes and didn’t see many penalties for those either. At times the racing felt a bit chaotic this weekend.
Not true, the sidepodding I’ve seen become common are the ones where you overdrive the entry and use the outside guy as a berm to make the corner. Otherwise with that entry speed and narrow line you’d blow the corner altogether if there wasn’t someone to bounce off.
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I was surprised to see the move coming to the checker in the shifter class given the skill level, even though they could white line easier. That move is what you do when you lack the skill and pace to overtake.
Since SpeedSportz is a regular on the TSRS calendar we have made quite a few trips there. I have seen more than a few people get nudged or punted on that corner. Between skill of drivers and the kink coming to the checker, completing the over-under to the checker can be iffy. Have seen similar moves at 6 and some at 11. But again, that is with lesser skilled and lesser officiated events.
Your rental perspective isn’t valid here, IMO. I don’t mean any offense by that, just that rental racing is skewed by overly tight tracks and overshielded karts. Moving someone become a neccesity to pass in rental racing.
In pure race kart world, it doesn’t matter what speed the leader chooses – it’s the overtaking kart’s responsibiilty to avoid contact. Now if the leader brake-checks the next place kart, they should receive a penalty also.
The ideal, and enforceable principle is NO CONTACT. Realities being what they are, every judge and series knows that “incidental” contact occurs. Incidental contact is contact that DOESN’T PRODUCE AN ALTERNATE OUTCOME.
Therefore, if there is contact that causes a position gain by the passer, or position loss by the leader, it merits a penalty. This is simple sportsmanship, and living by the rules of the game. If the rules of the game are changed to “have at it, boys,” then all bets are off and outcomes are survival of the fittest (and craftiest.)
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I hear ya. This doesn’t feel like a bump and run to me though. He slid under. I guess I’d have to be in the kart to feel if there was a deliberate movement but it looks subtle. Maybe the shifter guys don’t ride nose to tail at all and there’s zero contact, ever. Which would make the passing pretty challenging if you can’t get into each others personal space.
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10/10, send your cv to the FIA to be Race Director 
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Gavin says “it’s racing, there’s a lot of defending that goes on in racing now…and I don’t think that anything I did was wrong…”
He also paraphrases the Senna “if you don’t go for a gap that exists…” lol! He also points out that Billy has done the same thing in the past.
Billy talks about how he’s earned a reputation as a clean driver and how Gavin has an obligation to earn a similar reputation by proving himself to be a clean driver over time, how pros have to be role models for clean racing. He doesn’t agree with the officials’ decision that Gavin’s move was ok and he feels Gavin’s comeuppance will come to him in time if he continues to make similar moves.
Mattheus agrees with Billy that what Gavin did was wrong and he implies that the stewards have been irresponsible by sending a message to the field that moving people is ok. “If it was in Europe, you would get a penalty.”
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I didn’t read into it the same way.
I think Billy did a good job of not blaming Gavin while maintaining that he raced Gavin clean that whole day. He didn’t appeal it, and now knows what’s acceptable going forward. He talked about how the shifter category in many ways sets the standard for other categories, which I believe to be true.
Gavin also did a good job of explaining how much he respects Billy. That said, he talks about how he wasn’t going to leave anything on the table on that last lap to take the checkered first.
I’m not in the same karting universe as any of these drivers or most of y’all on the forum, but that obviously wasn’t the cleanest way to win for Gavin. He still won and it was one of the more timid bump and runs I’ve seen in awhile, but he clearly gained an advantage on the last corner of the last lap.
Either way, I’m stoked that it was a good race and I’m looking forward to more battles this season between these three.
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If nothing else, KC has me stoked to watch the next race and see what happens there.
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I think the drama is being inflated a bit on it all. We are all racers and we all know what comes around goes around.
A few buddies and I were discussing how before pushbacks, no one defended like that because you were guaranteed to be moved if you blocked. With pushbacks, there is less punting but more blocking because the lead kart is safer from a punt. Since KZ took away pushbacks, everyone is still driving like they are immune to the occasional shove and if the officials are cool with that, the drivers may have to change their tactics a bit back to the old ways.
There are only two people in karting who haven’t written extensive op-ed pieces on this move yet:
Gavin Bayliff and Billy Musgrave.
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