There’s no evidence to suggest karting would be bigger if it was only Rotax. As Rotax grew in the UK to become the overwhelming dominant force, licence numbers dropped.
I get that. And if there was only one brand competition among brands would go down and price would go up which would reduce participants. What I was getting at is that it’s the perfect platform if it was possible to only use one platform. From cadets to sr to (sort of) shifter. Reliable fast, or slow (for kids). Easy to tune. Perfect platform. DD2 is cool.
I understand the sentiment of having one big brand supporting the sport, but I think the minuses\risks outweigh the positives.
Not too long ago the Max program was on the chopping block at bombardier. With over 50,000 engines in circulation that’s a pretty big and real risk to the sport. EVO at the time was a painful experience for racers, importers and dealers.
Honda pulling support for the CR125 was hurtful too.
Briggs’ corporate upheaval was a scary moment.
I understand why these choices were made, but that’s also my point.
There’s a definite benefit to having large commercial brand participate in the sport, however it’s worth proceeding with caution.
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Maybe I am wrong but to me dd2 is pretty near perfect for someone that want speed without to much maintenance…I have less maintenance on my dd2 then on my basic briggs…no chain, 1 bearing to clean and oil, no clutch to wash or oil the bearing, 1 oil change once in a while. The only downside is tires go by freaking fast…it is more expensive to run but I love the maintenance free or almost of the dd2.
That sounds incredibly dull to me… Half the fun is chatting to engine builders about stuff. Again, this is largely a cultural thing. Sometimes ‘hassle’ is a positive not a negative. KZ is often an engine builder’s class. You have to broaden your idea of what people ‘want’. It’s not always the same and markets can be very diverse and weird.
From a media perspective, which is my side of the fence, classes like DD2 are devastating. There’s a reason karting media has all but collapsed.
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I know this seems weird but some of us really just like arrive and drive and really don’t want to experience the fiddling part of karting (tuning/wrench).
I find that stuff stressful and unfun. I’d rather drive and make vids.
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The two posts above this one are exactly why theres no such thing as “something that works for all karters”
Two views 180 degrees apart and both equally relevant in today’s karting world.
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I can relate to this. Then again I’m going to bring my FA out sometime this year and they can be maintenance queens. The Briggs was fun, but I’m ready for a change and honestly the carb issues I had with the 206 (Even after a new carb) bugged me. Don’t mean to bag on it, on average it’s still the least maintenance package across the board but figure if I’m having ballache and getting my ass kicked, I might as well make some cool noises and throw the kart around a bit.
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For me I’m anxious, generally. Racing involves a whole bunch of that if you think about it too much as well.
The idea of chasing setup seems super stressful in that you don’t have time between heats to waste.
When stuff breaks, that’s also stressful because you don’t know if you can get it fixed in time for the next heat. I’d rather hire a pro and if it can be fixed, yay. If not, it’s what it is.
One has to manage the stressors.
I agree, I don’t want to pass my time tuning or repairing and maintaining my equipment. I want to drive and become the best driver I can get, not the best mecanic I can be. That’s why I love rotax. I understand the pleasure you can have in mecanic and tuning but the vast majority of people I talk to at the track and racers all want the less amount of maintenance to pass more time on the track. BUT I would love to try a f100cc direct drive once! 
the sound is just out of this world.
As someone who currently races KZ (and has raced many engines), I have zero interest in DD2. The specific chassis is a huge turn off for sure. To be completely up front, I don’t support any of the rotax program. As far as KZ there’s not much that’s as raw and untamed as a KZ and as a long time karter I thoroughly enjoy throwing one around a track. I personally don’t think KZ is as high maintenance as most think if you’re just burning laps and not worried about being perfect on your tune. At a high level any engine becomes higher maintenance because you’re trying to get every last bit out and pushing it.
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It depends on the zone, though. Where I go it’s always mostly invited people who raced them, like 5 or 6 drivers. Meanwhile in Chile they are pretty popular, it even has a DD2 rookie class with 15 or 20 drivers, but that’s because the Rotax dealer sells the engine with a Birel chassis at relative cheap price and markets them as a mini sports car for less than $6000
I don’t know, but I do know we need an anything goes class, if you can fit it on the kart you can race it.
Exactly what I bought here. A Birel discounted price with dd2 motor.
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In kz what tire do you run? Are they the same as dd2?
Depends how you define stress. I can control my equipment’s performance. As a rental karter you have no control anything. You can’t use your intelligence, ingenuity or pretty much anything creative.
Each to their own obviously but its all about framing.
Some read low maintaince as good… I see it as utterly dull and devoid of culture. The Musak of motorsport.
I am being harsh just to counter the pervasiveness of the low-stress language. Dont take personally
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Many tracks will have an “unlimited” class as a local option. If not, they may add one if three entries can be found. This will vary of course. I put unlimited in quotes because the class is typically limited to 250cc two stroke and 450 four stroke.
On dirt oval there’s UAS Unlimited All Stars), it has the same displacement rules for max sizes, but beyond that it’s pretty open. You’ll see dual 100’s on methanol, CR250’s with the transmission hacked off to run a single gear, CRF450s, Aixro Rotaries, dual 125’s on methanol, freight trained duals with one engine in front of the other on a huge mount, JAWA’s… All kinds of interesting stuff. That said, the true performance of the karts does get a bit neutered by the nature of the tracks.
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Does culture develop on, or off the track though. I’d lean towards the latter and I think the culture develops around the on-track activities regardless of what’s strapped onto the chassis.
I think that the dd2 is a great class for club level. Easy too maintain. Gearing changes are quite a big jump compared too sprockets so you don’t have to change it as often.
Not as brutal as a KZ so anyone can jump in and drive them with a lower level of fitness. But faster than a rotax max
In my country it’s not really seen as a national level competitive class so the racing is cleaner as it is mostly older guys who don’t want to deal with all the egos and trouble that comes with the other classes
KZ in our area we run Le Cont SVC or whites. DD2 is non-existent basically here.