Gee Pro Tour DQ A Warning To Others
TweetQueensland Junior MAX driver Mitchell Gee put in a great performance during the weekend’s Pro Tour round at Gympie. The Intrepid driver qualified fastest, won a couple of heats, grabbed second in the pre-final, then third in the Final. However, post-race tech inspection resulted in disqualification due to a rule infringement on a carburetor part.
"Unfortunately my son was charged for a carby infringement that we weren’t aware of and I would like to warn fellow competitors, as well as apologize to them and my son" Mitchell’s dad, Michael, told KartSportNews.
Michael has supplied KartSportNews with details in the letter and photos below as a warning to others to check their carburetors thoroughly, especially if they have second-hand parts.
I would like to take this opportunity to urge fellow competitors and parents to take the time to completely strip & measure every possible part involved in their Rotax carby.
As per World Rules, the techs have gauges & tools to measure exactly every part. Unfortunately these tools are not available at most engine builders’ shops.
Once you have your carby apart, either contact your local Tech or IKD to have the parts checked correctly, as from what I have found on the weekend at Pro Tour (from) speaking to several high profile and well respected engine builders, is that the particular part that we have been charged with would not have been measured in the process of setting up or changing to 12.5 specs.
All the builders stated they check the part number on the specific part (in this case, the emulsion tube) and if it matches, they fit the part.
Unfortunately for my son Mitchell, our weekend came to a devastating conclusion at the end of the final. After investigating further I found that the practice of drilling-out emulsion tubes was existent years ago. As the first J-Max I purchased was second hand, and came with this carby, we had no idea that 4 out of the 16 holes were not legal.
I have never had this part out of either of our carbys and both times at two different engine builders, this hasn’t been picked up as gauges & tools have not been available to check with.
Above: 3 of the 4 columns of fine holes in the emulsion tube are as supplied by Dell'Orto for the Rotax MAX
Above: But the holes in the 4th column were fractionally larger, as detected by No-Go gauges
I personally take full responsibility for this issue and feel totally gutted for my son who, as you can understand, is devastated. Through no fault of his own, and after driving the best I & others have seen, I can’t comprehend how bad he feels. Unfortunately, I have given Mitchell a 3-month holiday from the sport that he is devoted to and lives to do, which I will never forgive myself for.
To all our competitors & friends in the sport I hope as a result of this charge & suspension you don’t see me in any way different, as for the last 7 years in this sport both Mitchell & I have done nothing but try to bring the best to the sport in both our professionalism and manner.
So once again, please pull your carbies to bits and have them checked as I know how gut wrenching it has been to tell your son he has been excluded from the podium and given 3-months holiday.
And just lastly to Mitchell; I can’t start to express how sorry I am for what happened, but I know come Pro Tour at Warwick in July you will be ready and back up the front. You are a class driver who has suffered this year with our business not as successful as it needs to be for us to go to all the big meetings and now for your holiday from racing. Keep your chin up mate, come back stronger & faster.
Michael Gee
