Does Karting Produce Dirty Drivers?
| by Mark Wicks | 31 August 2016 |
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Kartlink.com has just published an article titled "Is karting giving itself a bad reputation?".
The author offers the opinion that drivers fresh out of karting and heading to car racing are "considered to be ‘dirty’ and as racers to be generally undisciplined and have poor driving standards".
- You can view the full article on Kartlink HERE.
After chatting with a few car racers at Phillip Island the other week, I'd have to say there is an element of truth in that opinion about karters in Australia too!
Above: A bump from a rival sent Matty Smith off track at an Australian Kart Championship round earlier this year
pic - Mark Wicks, KartSportNews
Despite this being a non-contact sport, modern karts are actually designed to make contact - that's what the plastics are all about. The inherent safety produced by the bodywork means there is a lower chance of consequence if contact is made with another kart. It follows that drivers in the current era are rather blasé about accidentally nudging another, or bump drafting, or running someone wide.
When a karter brings this behaviour to cars, all of a sudden race cars start getting bent pretty significantly.
Unfortunately for karting, there are currently a lot of karters looking at the Hyundai Excel class. (Side issue: new race cars can be built for less cost than a new KA3/KA4 or TaG Restricted package; tyres are a little over $400 for a full set and, so I'm told, last for a bunch of race meetings with virtually no drop off. Karting has a serious problem when a car racing category is cheaper than a club-level karting class. But that's an argument for another day... back to the driving standards).
Some people involved in the Excel class shudder when they hear someone fresh out of karting is going to join the grid. "We really have to keep an eye on them" I was told. "It turns out some of them just can't drive was well as they thought."
I've had multiple people (mostly car owners) from multiple categories (closed and open wheel) over the years express a fear about karters joining their ranks because of what's perceived as dirty or overly aggressive driving. Hell, I've been accused of it myself when I had a dabble in car racing all those years ago.
So, do you think karting has a driving standards problem?
Cast your vote below (we've set this up so you can enter an answer, plus your own optional comment/opinion/feedback about the matter in the last box. If we get some good ideas or valid points for discussion, we'll publish these at a later date.)
- View the original article on Kartlink HERE.
