You mean the CKNA Grand Nationals. It already exists and will have 500+ entries across only 8 classes the first weekend in October
Do they have international, too? I guess itās hard when Europe is tilly and US/Canada is Briggs.
Whatās the deal in South America? Whatās their affordable racing package?
Iād say for teens you get a lot more shit for driving a 4t. Itās an easy poking point and while I donāt mind, it does get old.
Thereās probably gonna be a lot more getting made fun of by others when youāre a kid, and unfortunately when youāre a kid thatās when that kinda stuff can get to you.
Even though I find posts like that funny, I still do my best to not spread them as I feel they do more harm than good. They just add to the ānarrativeā that 4t are jokes
You get a lot more mature adults on forums, so you tend to get mature answers. I think since youāre an adult youāre not gonna hear the negative stuff as much.
Itās the same thing with rental karting, thereās a stigma thatās its lesser than, or worse, than owner karting. When I raced rental karts originally I felt like I had to defend myself and justify rental karting when I was talking about it to other karters. In hindsight it was all a bit silly but itās real and it happens
I think people are the same here when we look at actions. People moan about new classes, but they do not act as such. We have tons and tons of options (we have multiple derivations of modern classes like Formtula TKM with TKM Clubman, then TKM Retro), and largely this is embraced by competitors. People say āthereās too many classesā but they donāt really believe it. Itās pluralistic ignorance to a certain degree.
Or shall I say people hold contradictory view points depending on how you ask thew question. If I ask āis there too many classes?ā people will say āyesā. If I say āshould one manufacturer have the monopoly on the UK karting market and leave thousands of competitors racing something they canāt afford/or donāt want to and multiple businesses out of businessā then they will probably say ānoā.
The difference between here and America isnāt so much our beliefs, but what we think itās appropriate to say out loud in public. In the UK we arenāt particularly culturally celebratory of success whereas Americans often areā¦ from my experience.
Ok so Iāll agree that Iām old and out of touch. I shall abide by yours and James viewpoint.
The solution to ātoo many classesā IMHO is to run many together. Mixed class racing is a hoot, especially when you throw in mixed conditions on a long race (iron man).
Mixed class racing degenerates when competition is high. Itās not the only solution of course, running under one set of technical regulations the manufacturers build to is the āultimateā solution, but the market rejected it for the most part.
On that note: @XanderClements giving a shout out to the 4-strokers race:
I guess Iām incompletely informed and it appears that there is support being shown
Had the same issue with R/C cars too, people look at it like āyou are a grown man playing with toys with other grown menā Usually when the question about cost comes up they walk away bewildered! At least in karts I can sit in it!
I try to show love!
To answer a few of the questions above:
- South America does have a crazy, Honda-like 4-stroke thatās somewhere in the ballpark of 15-18HP. Thing rips
- I think a lot of people confuse slow class hate with 4-stroke to 2-stroke hate. Itās no secret in motorsports that everyone that drives faster cars look down on slower cars, mainly on the fact that they are easier to drive. KA may look down on 206, but X30 looks down on KA, and Shifter looks down on X30. You can get that vibe in the Danny / AJ āDrivers are scared to race shifterā clip we have from an older happy hour.
Ultimately, though, the slower, lower budget classes are the breeding ground for our sport as easy steps out of rental karts. BUT, I donāt think they should have a uspks/skusa touring series. CKNA Grands is even a stretch, because while itās great to have competitions that race the best, the bigger the competition, the bigger the money that gets thrown at winning. And thatās the last thing that a lower budget, entry-level class needs. Highly paid, highly talented engine builders creating rocketships to win nationals that trickle down to end up at club races.
In my opinion, keep 206 at the club and regional level. 100cc at regional and amateur national. X30 / Shifter at national and maybe, maybe regional.
Initially, I disagreed with your statement but your rationale why makes perfect sense. Of course, if there was a motor claim rule it would discourage spending money for fractions of HP. Conversely, not sure why you are not in favor of 100CC and 125cc for club and regional, for some racers that is all they have time and money for but want to go faster than 206.
125cc is all but dead in regional series here because the trickle down cost to run it competitively as Xander mentioned. No one wants to run X30 on a regional budget.
I donāt think thereās anything wrong with having karts for guys to go faster in, but they are definitely a tough draw.
Open Tag would be a great alternative. But run older generations of motors. Donāt let the new gen X30s in. Faster class, cheaper costs because itās equipment no longer used at the national level. But if you run the new gen X30, some guy training for national races will come home with top level stuff and wax the field. And if thereās one thing Iāve learned in my time in racing, itās that numbers quickly die off when they feel like they donāt have a fighting shot at a win. Hence the creation of master and semipro / novice classes.
Thereās a whole other topic going on here. Can we get back to memes and funnies please?
Iāve also been back and forth on the claim rule. I think it makes sense at almost every level. BUT.
If we truly want an absolute peak, top level for karting where drivers can get their bills paid, you canāt discourage engine builders too much. Because you donāt get engine $$$$ to fund drivers in a spec classes. So while with IAME X30 dominating the land still has chassis manufacturers supplying pros with product, IAME doesnāt have to. Everyone runs IAME. Which means the only other funding to support drivers comes from what they bring. But if we were open, then engine manufacturers would pay or at least support the best drivers to run their product in hopes of putting it up front.
On the flipside, engine disparity could spread the races out further and make them less entertaining. And I think thatās a big selling point and competitive advantage when promoting karting as a spectator sport ā that we have more real, non manufactured passing and battling than most other car races.
I do need to split it up. Only fair since I started the diversion
In the spirit of memes, hereās an older one of mine thatās quite honestly a repost.
See also:
I think i am the " srwards are mad"