TaG USA announced the introduction of classes that appear to be based on OK engines…
Sounds cool but you need drivers on board with this kind of racing. Hard to do when culturally it’s a very different game now.
Also that third engines on the pics is an IAME Codasur 175cc. Wonder if its a mistake or they have plans?
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Wait there’s a 175 direct drive?
Edit… yes there’s is. 24mm carb though 
https://www.iamekarting.com/x30-codasur/
Bet that would wake up with twin 24mm carbs and alky!
Yeah it’s built for the South American market. For whatever reason they have their heads screwed on.
Serious question that might be dumb, what orgs follow TAGUSA rules?
F Series refer to them at least. ICP cup in the north west. Individual tracks here and there.
As to where this OK thing goes, I have no idea. I think it’s going to need to offer something other than lining up with a CIK class to catch on. Personally I love direct drive, but the masses really do not.
If it makes nabbing a good on an OK easier, I’m down 
It requires an extensive effect to pull off really. OK as a ‘product’ largely survives on its prestige status due to CIK competition. The actual product’s survival, while important, is completely at the whim of the governing body. KF was there, then it wasn’t, No one carried on racing it once it was dropped for OK.
I like the language they are using, but to get drivers to invest in it is a whole different ball game and drivers are not mentioned in the press release.
hmm i have mixed feelings on this, but mostly negative. itd be cool to be under the format of the “pinnacle of karting”, which might encourage more of the european guys to race here. i wonder if it’d be any different than x30, which is already a very international class and we don’t get many international drivers for that. im sure they’re fun to drive too.
it looks like an OK is roughly $500-600 more than an x30, i’m assuming they’re a bit more fragile and need more rebuilds, more tuning variables=less isolation of driver skill, and it’d further fragment the classes here when there are already a lot. aside from the coronavirus delays obviously, things are going really well for single gear senior classes with about that much power. we’ve got nice full x30 and rok grids all over, so i could only see this splitting things up more for not much gain by anyone as long as the other classes are still here.
I think, this is driven by Italian Motors. They recently released an X125T Direct Drive motor which looks a lot like the Modena OK engine.
Spot the difference.
And from my experience in the ICP Cup, there’s plenty of engine tuners there itching to tune stuff, nostalgic about the 90s.
I tend to agree given how tightly linked ICP and TaG USA seem to be. This will likely start as a northwest phenomenon, probably staying there for the most part.
I think it would be a smart move to base it on the 175cc Codasur motor. That motor looks like a BEAST. If you want to get people on board with DD racing, you need something to get people stoked. That motor would do it. We love displacement here in the US! Stock it has 5 HP more than a built 125cc OK motor, but the RPM is limited to 15,000. No power valve. SIMPLE. Set the class weight for a 185# driver.
What is NOT a smart move is “the engine builder will now have an opportunity get their talent back on track”. That means $ getting sucked out of your racing budget. That right there will KILL it.
Run the Codasur motor stock, with tight rules. Fixed cc. Controlled port heights. No maching of cylinder or head. Fixed pipe. Pick a gear, tune the carb, and race. With that much power…tuning may not even matter as much.
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I think alignment with Europe is one of the reasons for going with OK.
Cudasaur is a beast though no doubt. Separate topic, it have you found anyone selling them?
OK is not a national class. It is an International elite CIK class. I do not see how alignment with a European factory class structure will accomplish anything. It sounds logical , but what does it accomplish. Nothing.
Most of the drivers running OK are on pro or factory teams with per driver budgets over $100k per year. OK is in part structured to give the motor mfgs and factory teams a reason to participate in racing and R and D. That need not and will not happen at the National level and lower.
My understanding is that OK is run at different levels in Europe and is not exclusive to the events run by CIK.
I’m not saying I agree with the rationale of bringing it to the US though.
Not necessarily. We got F100 up and running partly because we wanted tuners back in. While it is very niché it certainly hasn’t ‘killed it’. Tuning is good. Develops a strong culture of racing. A lot of hidden benefits come with it too. The racing seems less disposable. It helps the engines are as simple as they come. This is a must for open tuning classes.
Rotax has sealed engines and no tuning yet that managed to have $25k engines here in the UK while people were spending a grand or two on a tuned TM K11b. There’s a lot of misconceptions about costs. The only benefit you get with non-tuned classes is they tend to be single-make and have a level of built in longevity on pistons. That’s usually their main selling point. It’s what helps build grid numbers.
But in terms of competitive cost? That’s dictated by a number of factors and in all of the non-tuning classes that have become successful, the costs often go stratospheric as teams and engine builders monopolise performance. They buy 100s of engines, match parts that work, and sell the rest. In the end no engine has been ‘tuned’ and only the big spenders have access to that many parts. It’s worse than open tuning because unless you can spend tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, you haven’t got a chance.
Exactly. It’s run nationally in a official capacity. Not sure it could work in the states though. It barely works here in countries that run it. Power valve needs to be gone and it’s haunted by the shadow of KF
Sounds like what happened with open ICC shifters back in the 90’s. I’ve heard tales of drivers or teams showing up at regionals & nationals with racks of engines. Unreal.
Rotax, at its height in the UK, saw engines being sold for £25k+. I think things have improved a little since then, but potential is still there for this kind of thing to happen again.
Are there any events scheduled for OK OKJ in UK going forward.
It would seem that it has come and gone in UK even the truncated Vortex only version.
Life span for the class 5? events in 3 years.
Nothing at the moment, and I doubt for the future. Motorsport UK gave ‘British Championship’ status to all the commercial classes so it’s conceded that a true British Champs with CIK engines won’t return. I’d be surprised if it does happen. Market isn’t there now.
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