Unless I'm misinformed you have had one flip in 4 years? that's a pretty
good record .
SCCA's safety rules for karts are the most sensible of any karting
organization out there. no one else mandates a 25' safety margin and few do
as thorough of a tech inspection as SCCA. the kart sanctioning bodies could
learn a few lessons from SCCA
The reason F125 hasn't taken off is no one outside of SCCA knows about it
and for that matter not many even know that SCCA has autocross. Judging
from some of the comments on this forum it seems some folks want to keep it
that way, sorta the "big Fish in the small pond" type of thinking?
If you read rule appendix H.III.A , you can run adult clutch karts up to
125cc( assuming your region allows it) you just can't run them in the Tour
or National. Again it is the issue of how the karts have not been promoted
outside of SCCA . So yes even us older Walter Mittys can play in the parking
lot for under $2000.
I have a kid in FJ that gave up this season of oval racing (after two
consecutive track championships) to try something more challenging. So far
the experience has been excellent, safety is beyond my expectations and
everyone we have met has been very friendly.
Since this list seems to be largely subscribed to by those who participate
in the Tours and Topeka I can only hope we find the same friendliness and
comradarie at the Tour
rick
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Sirota" <msirota@isc.upenn.edu>
To: "David Hironaka" <daveds50@worldnet.att.net>
Cc: <autox@autox.team.net>
Sent: Saturday, May 13, 2000 9:09 PM
Subject: Re: F125 - It's not just about safety
> David Hironaka wrote:
> > most that i've met that are familliar with karts, will admit that
> > they are safer than you make them out to be. they also seem to be a
> > majority over the anti kart people.
>
> Okay, I'm an autocrosser who's familiar with karts (not shifters, but I
> spent a couple seasons in a 100cc 2-stroke clutch kart). And I'm anti-
> kart.
>
> Some of it has to do with safety, but not much. I agree that in most
> cases, karts will slide to a stop much sooner. On the other hand, I
> also agree that if there is going to be a collision with a fixed object,
> I'd much rather have a car around me. And I don't even want to think
> about Armco. I'll also remind folks that not every off-course excursion
> is the result of a spin -- sometimes throttles stick open or brakes
> fail. However, the core of my disagreement with karts in Solo II has
> little to do with safety.
>
> People who didn't used to autocross aren't joining our ranks because we
> now allow karts, and that was the original point. The experiment has
> failed. Let's move on. (It might not have failed hed we gone with the
> much less expensive, much more common, still very fun clutch kart
> instead of shifters.)
>
> The only compelling reason I can think of to keep them around is for
> kids. That's an awesome reason -- provided we can tolerate the very
> different safety rules, and we're willing to deal with the screaming
> mother once a kid turns turtle from hitting a cone just wrong.
>
> And you can talk all you like about the favored line being across the
> kerbs at your favorite kart track -- One kart has already gone over from
> hitting a cone, and it's not the last. I personally almost turned
> myself over several years ago from a simple driving error, and possibly
> a not so great setup -- no kerbs or other karts involved.
>
> To summarize, I'm against karts because there's no good reason for them
> to be in Solo II. The experiment has failed. I'm willing to stick
> with Formula Junior, so long as we keep a careful eye on it.
>
> Mark
>
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