Column

                                    by George Robinson

 The London Kart Show found its way to the new venue at the ExCeL centre and has to be a resounding success if the numbers through the door are anything to gauge it by. Twice as many visitors as last year and not at all difficult to find in spite of all the warnings I received, in fact the only thing that shocked me was the price of a round of drinks in that part of the world!

The JAG/Rotax stand was very busy throughout the show and even at the quieter times there were still people about. Most enquiries were from existing MAX owners, although these were interspersed with new interest. The DD2 was well represented with an MS Kart complete and ready to run on the KKC stand. Howard Lucas, the importer, was on hand offering helpful advice even if it was in northern speak. The MS has a lot of nice features and is very well finished, I drove one in Genk and thought it was the best DD2 kart I had sat in so far. I know Howard will be out with the kart soon, those hardy types take no notice of bad weather. Be sure to get in touch if you fancy a go and are in his part of the world.

There was also a Trulli DD2 on the central display, also looking very purposeful. Although the deal is not completely finalised I believe it is not betraying too much of a confidence when I say that these are likely to be handled by Clay Pigeon Kart Shop. Trulli, now allied to Swiss Hutless, supplied their chassis to the Junior class at the recent World Finals in Portugal and are dedicated to their production of a full range of karts for the MAX classes.

The JAG/Rotax stand featured Gillard’s version of their Charlotte chassis for DD2. This kart was exactly as you would expect from Gillard, purposeful, well finished and with plenty of seat stays! This will now become our test kart and I understand that we will soon be receiving a second example to keep it company. Early reports suggest that the new DD2 engines are more user friendly than before and of course the choice of different karts adds a new dimension to the product that was missing before.

The DD2 is certainly more demanding to drive than a regular MAX but equally, more rewarding, ask Michael Simpson who did such a good job to finish 2nd at the World Finals. Michael is certainly one of our top drivers here in the UK, I know he really enjoyed the challenge of racing the DD2 and took a little while to acclimatise. He must though have been properly at home when it came to finishing runner-up to Ben George who has been racing them all season.

I met Ben when we went tyre testing at Wackersdorf in Germany, one of the venues now decided for the Euro Challenge 2007. What a great circuit with lots of real driver quality requirement! A circuit that flows but that has no two corners remotely the same. I think the lap times were in the 52 to 54 second bracket. Hopefully that gives a taste of what to expect. It’s a long day to drive there but still very achievable.

The second previously uncertain venue for the Euro Challenge has also been confirmed as the A1 Speedworld in Austria. The series kicks off in March at Salbris. Roland Geidel has been building on the success of the 2006 series, I have to say again that the final round in Genk was one of the best race meetings I have ever attended in 40 years of the karting disease. Salbris is still one of the best circuits in the world today and I know that even more Brits are planning to make the trip.

Clay Pigeon are to run their Winter Warm-Up meeting for the Rotax classes as usual in February followed by the first round of the Super 1 on April 1st. Sounds like a handy day for Mr. Gullible here to stick his head over the parapet! Have fun everyone, I can take it.

2007 will see not too many changes to the now familiar classes and their structure. The Rotax factory are working hard to maintain their position at the top of the market. The commitment has never been stronger and the product has never been better so with a surprising lull in the arrival of the new TaG engines, the Rotax MAX will be the power unit without alternatives. The Rotax classes are now easily the strongest throughout Europe, with the possible exception of Italy.

This does not mean to say that the market can be allowed to stand still. JAG are constantly looking at ways to improve what they do. Product reliability is now better than ever and service agents will be receiving a new contract in the near future. There are plans to visit more race meetings this year than before and a fresh look at marketing and product support are being discussed.

The Vega Rookie Cup and awards were well received and look set to continue. The lucky winners will be visiting the Vega factory in Italy some time this year. This has to be a great incentive to have a crack at the Super 1 for the first time.

At the London show the old chestnut of time between service intervals came up again. I know that when the MAX was first introduced the factory advertised up to 50 hours as being an acceptable run time between rebuilds. It is now true to say that Senior engines are being serviced at least twice as often as this. Juniors are less stressed so may well exceed 30 hours and Minis only ever run at running-in speed so it is no surprise to hear that the bottom end of a Minimax has covered over 100 hours without a look-see.

The current conrod assembly is very good, some I have seen are more than 40 hours old in Senior use and still very good on ovality, twist and bend. Main bearings have never been a problem. The present type is probably the best with very few failures indeed. It is certainly a large enough bearing working in ideal conditions and never reaching its maximum rev limit.

The amount of end float that occurs in engines that have done some work is perhaps surprisingly great although it is not permitted to reduce this by shimming. However this end float does not compromise reliability. The plastic gears are very reliable and providing they are correctly fitted and lubricated with sufficient oil will give a long and trouble free life. Piston life is equally impressive and no concern should be raised if the black coating disappears from the exhaust port area very quickly. This seems to happen on some engines and not others and it may be that the edge of the port is slightly more abrasive on these but there is no loss of performance.

I have talked recently about exhaust systems but have only touched on their mounting. It is most important that the mounting does not allow the seal between exhaust and flange to be compromised during running. This can seriously affect the engine’s performance, particularly on Seniors where the correct operation of the exhaust valve relies entirely on exhaust back pressure.

The throttle cable is an item often overlooked, if it is not under tension at full throttle it will last for ages, to the extent that it is completely ignored. The cable assembly is very high quality at a low price. The majority of problems here are due to abuse, a sticking throttle is no fun and will seriously affect your cool. The most likely areas for attention are where the cable is held in its adjuster on the chassis rail. So many people tread on it by mistake and bend the bowden as it enters the outer cable. The other classic trouble spot is in the area of the metal elbow on top of the carburettor, it is a good idea to check this frequently and apply a smear of copper-slip grease to help its free running and keep the damp out.

Finally, I hope you have all remembered to drain the cooling system and refill with fresh anti-freeze. Oh and Happy New Year, have a good one!