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Karting News Briefs

20 December 2016

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updates, news and entertainment from the world of karting...

• XMAS HRS - IKD advise they will close for the Christmas/New Year break at 5:00pm on Wednesday, December 21. IKD will re-open at 8:30am, Monday 9th January 2017.
  
  
  
• XMAS HRS - The Karting Australia office will be closed from December 22 to January 8.
  
  
  
• XMAS HRS - Shamick Racing will be closing on December 23 and re-opening on Monday January 9. "Please call in store for all of your karting requirements prior to us closing. Shamick Racing would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy & Safe New Year."
  
  
• ROTAX RULES - A raft of bulletins have been issued this month regarding rule and component clarifications/homologations in the Rotax categories. Bulletins 7 through 25 cover issues such as clutch drums, ignition/wiring components, Jnr MAX cylinders etc. Access these via the Techincal Updates page on the Karting Australia website HERE.
  
  
  
• MEME - The world is a bit crazy... (courtesy of KartPulse).
  
  
  
• NEWBIES - "Racing Karts Are Brutal, Ridiculous, and You Need One Now. Better living through self-mutilation" reads the heading. This is a great article about the effort and thrills of Shifter karts for newcomers. Read it on Road & Track HERE.
  
  
• GIVING BACK - The Tasmanian-based AWC Motorsport Academy has donated almost $1000 to Ronald McDonald House. AWC promotions officer Stuart Lee told The Examiner that the donation was about giving back to the charity that supported their own (the family of Devonport’s Ethan Wyllie stayed at a Ronald McDonald House on the mainland while Ethan received treatment at the Melbourne Royal Children’s Hospital). Get the full story on examiner.com.au HERE.
  
  
• DRIVER - Vroom report that Jordan Lennox-Lamb has retired from driving. Instead, the 24-year old will manage a Lonato (Italy) based division of the British Fusion Motorsport team at international events. This team will field four drivers in OK & OK-J and use OTK Exprit chassis with GFR tuned engines. More on Vroom HERE.
  
  
• CLUB - The Oakleigh circuit in Victoria was closed on Monday, December 12. The club was allowing Formula SAE to use its venue.
  
  
• AKC - "5 Rounds To Glory" is the promo mantra for the 2017 Australian Kart Championship. Registration will open soon. (UPDATE: registrations open 7pm tonight, Dec 20)
  
  
• EVENT - IAME International Final 2017; once again at LeMans, October 15.
  
  
  
• USA GOES KA100 - The United States Pro Kart Series has added a new class for 2017 specifically for the IAME KA100 engine. A lucrative incentive program has been launched to kick off the new class - first 20 series entrants get a brand new engine for free; the first 60 entrants get a set of MG Red tyres. Outside of that, the engine will be available at an introductory price of US$1,595 (AUS$2,200) before it goes to regular retail of $2,295 (AUS$3,165). Locally, the KA100 retails for $3,150. This includes a payment (did someone say tax?) to Karting Australia on each unit, the exact amount of which is not public. Read more on ekartingnews HERE.
  
  
• CLUB v CLUB - Canberra, Dubbo, Grenfell, Griffith, Orange and Wagga clubs are all working towards getting their teams together for next years NSW Southern Zone Club Challenge. Each club can nominate up to three drivers per class to score points.
  
  
  
• TEKA - The Endurance Karting Association has released its 2017 race calendar (pending final approval from KNSW):
  • Round 1 - Newcastle18-19 February
  • Round 2 - Dubbo 1-2 April
  • Round 3 - Canberra 6 May
• Round 4 - Port Macquarie 10-11 June
• Round 5 - Eastern Creek 23 July
• Round 6 - Orange 9 September
• Round 7 - Lithgow 28 October
  
  
• EURO MAG - The final edition of Kartcom for the year is now available. Click HERE to download the 73-page PDF. Includes coverage of the World Championships plus other French/Euro karting events.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• TEAM/DRIVER - Spyder Racing has announced the renewal of the partnership between driver Billy Jacobson and Bosch Automotive for the 2017 racing season. The team will concentrate on the six-round Golden Power series, plus other selected events during the year.
  
  
  
• ITALY F100 & BUMPERS - A 100cc class has been added to the Italian Karting Championship for 2017. The ACI's National categories for 2017 are: Entry Level (6-8 years), Mini 60 (9-12 years), 125 ACI Kart Junior (11-13 years), OK-Junior, 125 ACI Kart, OK, 125 KZ2, plus new 125 KZ3, 125 KZ4 (older drivers) and 100 Amateur (100cc air and water cooled engines of the period). All categories will use the CIK push-back bumper. If the front fairing is out of position at the end of a race, the driver will receive a non-appealable 10 second (5 seconds for 60 Mini) time penalty.
  
  
• 2017 RULES - Dont forget the new KA rule book for 2017. It can be downloaded from the Karting Australia site via the links below. KA advise the final version will be available online on January 1 with the printed version shipped to State Offices shortly after.
  • 'Markup' version (showing changes) HERE
  • 'Clean' version HERE
    
    
• EVENT - Superkarts Australia will run a two round Superkart Championship Series commencing at Sydney Motorsport Park on March 4/5/6th, and concluding at Queensland Raceway, Ipswich on September 15/16/17th. The plan is to include a separate race slot for NGB Nationals style racing for the Rotax Max NGB classes and Stock Honda class.
  
  
  
• EVENT - 2017 season kicks off with Junior Top Guns at Oakleigh where the prize pool is approaching $15,000. Accommodation discounts are available.
  
  
  
• NEWBIES - Places can be reserved in the Junior Sprockets program via a Chirstmas Gift Voucher.
  
  
  
• QUOTE - Quote of the month goes to my four-and-a-half year old neice. At the Gippsland Go Kart Club end of year presentation, MC Graeme Monds announces the next class as "tag one-two-five heavy" and Alice pipes up "he forgot three and four!"
  
  
• CLUB - The Ipswich Kart Club has received a grant of $35,000 from the Office of Liquor & Gaming to upgrade the sewer system at the track. This is stage 1 of the club's toilet facility upgrade. "We would like to acknowledge and thank the team of people who made this possible: Ian Mather, Simone Reardon, Tony Feather, Leanne Peacock, Maureen Capri and Scott North from Nexus Stratergies" the club published. "Without your hard work and determination this would not have been possible. The committee and members thank you all".
  
  
• SAVE - Extra 5% off a new helmet if you mention you saw the deal on KartSportNews. More about it HERE!
  
  
  
• SERIES - Dates and venues have been confirmed for the 2017 West Australian KZ Series (see below). This has traditionally been a hotly contested series, and with a $10,000 purse on offer, this is set to continue. Newland & Associates (precision machining and engineering) are on board as the new major sponsor. For the first time, every round will count towards the championship. "The Committee really wanted to reward those drivers who could attend every round and support all the clubs that support our series" the WA KZ committee said in a press release. "Another first for the series, we will offer a select driver from TaG Light to compete in each round of the series. The Arrive and Drive deal would be free for the lucky driver and hopefully unearth and help be a stepping stone for any up and coming competitors." Round 1 is at a new venue for the series, the Midwest Kart Club in March.
  
  
  
• INDY KARTS - These are the proposed track layouts for the Battle at the Brickyard karting event at Indianapolis, plus the Elkhart Riverwalk Grand Prix. The IMS track measures over 1.6km and Elkhart is almost 1km. The two "extensions" out of the Elkhart track are hairpins.
  
  
  
  
• INDUSTRY - Benik Kart will be expanding into the UK in January. Specialising in just Cadet-style chassis, the karts are manufactured in Italy and assembled in the USA. Benik now has distributors in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Australia. The Australian distributor is Pro Karting in Melbourne.
  
  
• FUTURE STARS - The motorsport.com website has ranked its 'Top 10 most exciting karting talents of 2016'. No Aussies made the list, but Kiwi Marcus Armstrong is 3rd. American Logan Sargeant is ranked number 1. View the full list HERE.
  
  
• EVENTS - The dates for two of Italian karting's long standing traditional events have been announced for 2017. Organised by Parma Motorsport at the South Garda Karting Circuit of Lonato, the 28th Andrea Margutti Trophy will take place on 24-26 March, while the 46th Trofeo delle Industrie will get on stage next 27-29 October.
  
  
• KART - Dark Praga, the brand's entry level kart for 2017.
  
  
  
• SOFTWARE - If you haven't already, there are important updates for MyChron5 to download. (From AiM SportSystems Australia) - "Firstly you will need the latest version of RaceStudio 3 (3.12.15) which can be downloaded from the software section of our website aimsportsystems.com.au  or via the cloud icon in your installed version. Next you will need to update your MyChron5 to the latest firmware. This can be downloaded via the Cloud icon in Race Studio 3. Please connect to your MyChron5 via Wi-Fi connection. Once connected go to the arrows icon at the top, then click on Firmware, then click on open update page. Click on Firmup and then click on Update device Version 1.22.94. It will take a couple of minutes for your MyChron5 to update. Please wait until the led lights stop flashing and the Mychron5 reboots and returns to the normal display screen."
  
  
  
  
  
• MEME - Accurate? If people stopped bitching and went racing... (Meme courtesy KartPulse)
  
  
  
• INDUSTRY - British Indycar driver Pippa Mann has joining forces with Top Kart USA to form Team Empower. Based in Indianapolis, the team is focused on showcasing and developing young female talent in karting. Pippa, a former European and World Championship Formula A competitor, previously raced under the Top Kart banner in her late teens. Team Empower will use Top Kart chassis in senior, junior and cadet classes. Pippa is expected to attend as many of the races as possible with her 2017 schedule, and is expected to be back behind the wheel of a kart herself later in the year.
  
  
  
• BLOW THOSE CANDLES OUT - Karting birthday cake:
  
  
  
• CIRCUIT - South Garda Karting (the Lonato circuit in Italy) reports an increase in participation for the second year running. In 2015, the circuit had 2,315 entrants contest 11 events (which was up on 2014 figures of 2,100 entries). For 2016, the total number of entries (still over 11 events) has gone up to 2,573 - an average of more than 230 drivers per meeting.
  
  
  
• Not quite all ages - but we get the point.
  
  

 

 

 

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