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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