Oct Fastrack is out

[Tom Reynolds]

Just curious who has read it and what they think about the idea of women's kart weights dropping 20lbs for each engine package. Feedback would be great.

http://www.scca.com/about/?cid=44415

[Joe Ricard]

I think it is a great idea.

Women are on the average lighter than Men. They compete in thier own class KML. 20 pounds less lead to lift onto the kart stand is a no brainer. I would venture to say all KML drivers were carrying ballast.

Will it affect performance? probably.
_________________
Arrow AX-8/ Rotax Sr.

[Brian Garfield]

I'm sure I don't even have to comment, but I'll send a letter...

BTW, women will get faster and it won't be for what everyone will feel is the obvious reason. It won't be because the kart got lighter and gave it a better power to weight ratio. It WILL be because they won't be driving a tank and can steer and change directions faster with less effort.

That said, IMO, 20 lbs is NOT enough. Last I checked, all of the current women can run at 350lbs and they're still adding lead.

And finally, yes, I fully blame my current back issues on the weight of Lisa's kart.

Brian

[Marc Segal]

Brian,

Suzanne & I talked about letting Lisa drive Suzanne's kart when her kart broke. Suzanne had 50lbs on her kart and I think Lisa's had 85lbs on her's. There was enough room for 2 more 5lb weights on the back of Suzanne's seat but we would have had to drill a bunch of holes in the floor pan for the other 5 weights. Even if we were able to get all of the weights on the kart, we would have had to take off and put on 35lbs in between runs.

I have no idea how you were able to get 85lbs of weight on Lisa's kart???

I agree, 20 lbs less is not enough. The original rule was 350 lbs for women. That is 35lbs less than the open class.

I think we should go back to 350 lbs for women. A woman could weigh up to 140lbs and still be at minimum weight. That is reasonable to me.

BTW... My back hurts too and we had to get a special stand that helps us to lift Suzanne's kart and she ONLY has 50lbs of lead on it!

Marc

[Joe Ricard]

When the kart pilot and an average size man can't lieft the kart then I thin it is too much
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Arrow AX-8/ Rotax Sr.

[Christian Hubbell]

I'm a fan of lighter minimums for both KML and KM, in fact I'd be fine with no min weight.

[Bill Schmidt]

I was lobbying for 40 lbs, but I guess 20 is better than nothing.
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Bill Schmidt

'95 Trackmagic 125 shifter (Kawi)
'88 Red Devil F500 4-link rear (Rotax)

[Tom Reynolds]

20lbs was a safe first step. We have to provide ultimate speed that doesn't exceed intended speeds for karts at Solo and also wanted a target that the SEB would be agreeable too and I'm glad they passed the motion. Sorry if you feel short but maybe in a couple years the KAC can revisit it if performance stays in the desired levels. I'm just glad it actually happened.

I wonder why it went up over 350 in the first place.

[Vernon Head]

SEB asked KAC to do it. Something about how no other classes have different weights for women vs. open.

This weight thing is always going to be a problem in KM because no matter what you do, someone is going to complain. Same in the Junior classes.

[Marc Segal]

Vernon I think your theory about the change in weight is partly right. I also think the original rule was vague and shortly after Kristy Blunt ran open class at 350 lbs the rule was changed rather than clarifying the rule.

Tom... I see your point about ultimate speed. Im amazed how fast some of the junior classes are since they are lighter. The straight away speeds should be faster with lower weights. I don't think they will be so fast that the top speeds will be exceeded. Some cars are WAY faster in a straight line than karts. (Keissel, Mkee, Streilnieks, Huffman, etc.)

I still think 20 lbs is not enough though for other reasons not related to having to lift the kart.

Since the kart is designed to have a certain weight ratio from front to rear and side to side, it gets real difficult (or impossible) to get it right once you have to add much more than 15 lbs of lead. 50 lbs is ridiculous and 85 pounds is just plain stupid. Lisa's kart was breaking seat struts and the spindle bearings were completely worn out (or broken). Im sure the kart handles like crap.

The way the rule is now, the ladies class won't grow. It will actually shrink and probably go away soon. I think Lisa will leave the class and if there aren't at least 3 competitors, Suzanne will run open class or find another class to run in.

Suzanne & I will write a letter tomorrow. I think Dan Cyr was accumulating data regarding weights of men vs women. Hopefully he will write a letter too.

Marc

[Bill Schmidt]

According to this article
http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/healthcare/a/tallbutfat.htm

Average adult male in US is 191lbs and female is 164lbs.
That means our 385 rule for men ought to be 395lbs
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Bill Schmidt

'95 Trackmagic 125 shifter (Kawi)
'88 Red Devil F500 4-link rear (Rotax)

[Brian Garfield]

I know you threw a smiley on there Bill, but I'll just use your comment as an opportunity to state this:

Yes, we've had this discussion before... And the answer is that it doesn't matter what the "average" male or female is, it matters what the average size of the person *willing to drive a shifter kart* is. So, that should dump a lot of the 300lbs+ out of our averages and bring things back to reality a little bit. Just because the country is overweight, doesn't mean shifter karts should be heavier

[Vernon Head]

So Brian tell me. What is the average weight of a person willing to drive a shifter kart, and how did you determine that number?

[Marc Segal]

This is part of the average.

http://cdn.ebaumsworld.com/mediaFiles/picture/380399/653362.jpg

[Robbie Nelson]