125cc Sportsman Class In Victoria - Explained
The 125 SPORTSMAN class is a category that has been implemented by the Victorian Karting Association (VKA) for all events other than Open State Championships and Leopard or Rotax Promoter events.
It is quite likely that karters throughout Victoria are unclear on the background and intent of this recent decision by the VKA. This document is designed to assist with clarification of the background and intent of this decision.
BACKGROUND
The National body is often criticised for not taking action on important matters within karting, however this is an example of where this is not the case. At a conference last November, the National Karting Council devoted a considerable amount of time discussing the subject of “very poor and declining entries in 125 Open classes at many events”.
The following is a good representation of the current status of 125cc classes in Victoria. You will see that this is presented using ‘GRADES’ for the purpose of clarity. For the first time ever in Australian karting we effectively have a GRADING system, which has come about somewhat circumstantially but offers great potential.
- C GRADE – Restricted 125 classes where Leopard and Rotax engines race together. This is one of the recent success stories of karting with consistently strong entries
- B GRADE – Leopard and Rotax classes racing separately attracting “very poor” entries and in fact often not forming classes other than at major events. It is the B GRADE group that the 125 SPORTSMAN class is aimed at improving.
- A GRADE – A group of serious karters who now concentrate their racing on various combinations of the following major events BUT who have essentially stopped racing at normal events. These events are State Championships / Nationals / CIK Series / Pro Tour and all of these events are attracting consistently strong entries.
125 SPORTSMAN – Why is it needed?
As stated above this concept is aimed at improving the B GRADE group based and detailed below are some reasons why it is believed this class will achieve this goal:
- By combining 4 classes (Leopard Light/Heavy, Rotax Light/Heavy) into two classes the numbers per class will be strengthened
- Strengthening the numbers per class means karters will not have the ongoing uncertainty of “will my class form or will there be decent numbers and should I enter”. This dilemma is currently seriously effecting the confidence of karters to put in an entry to an event.
- 125 SPORTSMAN class runs to exactly the same regulations as 125 Restricted including the same MG Red tyres so the progression from 125 RESTRICTED up to 125 OPEN is simple and clear
QUESTIONS YOU MAY WANT ANSWERED
Q – Will the Leopard and Rotax engines be equal in performance
A – In WA and SA the 125 SPORTSAN class was introduced up to 2 years ago and they report the engine performance difference is not considered a problem by competitors. Recent testing at Oakleigh showed both engines provided 41.4 lap times. It could be a fact that the different power characteristics of the two engines may create more enjoyable racing by making passing more possible, in contrast to what can often be very much follow the leader type racing.
Q – Will I still be able to race at events where Rotax and Leopard race separately
A – Yes, any of the events listed above in the A GRADE group plus 5 promoters events in each state which the promoters of Rotax & Leopard can coordinate with clubs. In addition to this for this year the All Star Series and the Country series which have already started will remain as separate Rotax & Leopard classes, even
though to date they have attracted poor entries (Would you like to see these change to 125 SPORTSMAN to generate more entries?)
Q – Is this really going to be a solution to poor entry numbers in the 125 OPEN classes
A – At Open Race Meetings in Victoria between July 2010 and February 2011 average entries were: Rotax Light 2, Rotax Heavy 6, Rotax Medium 9, Leopard Light 7, Leopard Heavy 3, Leopard Medium 5. 125 SPORTSMAN may not be a perfect solution but there appears to be no clear cut perfect solution and one things is certain - if no attempt at change is made we’ll end up with the same result and same entry levels that we have now.
125 SPORTSMAN – A GENUINE ATTEMPT TO IMPROVE KARTING – SO GIVE IT A GO
The PDF version is on the VKA site HERE.
