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phil
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Re: Welcome to the Rotax Masters Forum

Post by phil »

Perhaps the weight being at 381 for WCC is partly to blame for poor turn out then? How are the grids for that class down south?

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SteveO
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Re: Welcome to the Rotax Masters Forum

Post by SteveO »

I don't think the weight is really an issue regarding WCC attendance. I think it's the cost, the travel, and the 3 long weekends spent away from family that hurts it.

It would be nice to be consistent with the WCC, but I think the average weight of our CKRC Masters drivers is closer to the 395 lb weight limit. That weight definitely allows more flexibility and doesn't negatively handicap the heavier drivers.
Stephen Orton

Dan Lazar
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Re: Welcome to the Rotax Masters Forum

Post by Dan Lazar »

Hi All:
Greetings from Wi-Fi on Banff ave...
It's a sign of the times. You see it on the ski hills too. To attract new hopefuls to the Heavy class I see the all up weights go up and hopefully the kart weights go down. Tho' we may not be at liberty to modify the legal numbers to suit our purposes and call it what we want, other than club purposes....
From the T&T marshalls post I see just a reshuffling of the deckchairs into the heavy class to keep the boys together laptime wise..The Rotax Sr grid count goes down....
But ... will the big scale numbers get NEW possible members excited about getting their feet into it. Remember that being lapped in the WCC brings out the black flag. Not exactly a good thought for a newbee to go WCC...
Cheers...

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John Kwong
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Re: Welcome to the Rotax Masters Forum

Post by John Kwong »

Phil,

Both Gatorz and FWT had about 24 Masters entries in their respective championships. For us to have 12-14 regular Masters class racers and 21 registered for the whole championship is stellar. Most people do not realize how successful of a club we really have. Many club events across Canada will only have single digit entry numbers for any of their classes. It is only at the larger events that many competitors get to race against grids approaching 20 racers.

John K
John Kwong___CIR Realty___403-714-5583
www.johnkwong.ca
http://kartopractor.weebly.com/

Mark
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Last Name: Hillier
City/Town: Calgary

Re: Welcome to the Rotax Masters Forum

Post by Mark »

phil wrote:The only question I have on the weight is, when & why did we steer away from the RMC rules on this, which is 381lbs
I think the answer to that is that most people here were over that weight. On the one hand, I think we should accommodate the members. On the other, we have used conformity with RMC rules to keep mojo tires when it would clearly be in the interest of the membership to ditch them in favour of a more economical choice.

So we sometimes adhere to RMC rules and sometimes we don't. The class seems to work well with the weight we have now but I think that as an organization, we should either align ourselves with RMC or not. This picking and choosing is confusing.

Just my $0.02 worth.
Mark Hillier #44 VLR Senior, Shifter

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SteveO
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Re: Welcome to the Rotax Masters Forum

Post by SteveO »

Just for curiousity, I'll take an informal poll and see how many drivers have to add weight to their karts to make the Masters minimum. If the vast majority have to, it might be worthwhile considering the WCC weight.
It surely wouldn't hurt our backs if the lifting was easier.

As for the Mojo tires, the West Coast Kart Club does not run the Mojo's in their club events, and thus the drivers that could & should be competing in the WCC do not, as after the weekend they have a set of tires that they will not use again. So for that reason, it makes sense to me to stick with the WCC standard. That's a contributing reason why very few of our huge 4-stroke class did not race the WCC event in Calgary this year.
Stephen Orton

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John Kwong
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Re: Welcome to the Rotax Masters Forum

Post by John Kwong »

What we have with a successful 4 cycle class and a successful Masters class is completely to our own credit and nothing to do with ASN or WCC organizers(not Joey) who have not listened to what the racers of these classes wanted in Western Canada at the regional level. With the entry numbers we have, we can be leaders here instead of waiting for other smaller clubs to come around and lobby ASN. For example Saskatoon followed our lead as to weights for 4-cycle. For Masters and 4-cycle, our club racing has had far better turnouts than the WCC regional racing so let`s serve our members first. Like Steve said a quick informal poll will make clear if the class needs to make any changes.

John K
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http://kartopractor.weebly.com/

Mark
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Re: Welcome to the Rotax Masters Forum

Post by Mark »

SteveO wrote:As for the Mojo tires, the West Coast Kart Club does not run the Mojo's in their club events, and thus the drivers that could & should be competing in the WCC do not, as after the weekend they have a set of tires that they will not use again. So for that reason, it makes sense to me to stick with the WCC standard. That's a contributing reason why very few of our huge 4-stroke class did not race the WCC event in Calgary this year.
I think we need to ask ourselves where the majority lie. I'm a club racer. That's not to say that I won't travel, but it's difficult for me and, as John has pointed out, we have some of the largest grids around so the extra cost to travel just to race in smaller grids doesn't seem to make sense to me.

A small percentage of our members compete seriously in the WCC. The ENTIRE membership could benefit from a less expensive tire -and those who want (and have the extra budget to do so) can buy a set of Mojos to practice on before they go to WCC. To continue to use Mojos at the club level is just the tail wagging the dog.

The real problem with having to buy a set of tires for WCC lies with the 4-strokers and not the Rotax guys anyhow. If you are competing in Rotax at WCC, you need a new set of tires for the weekend anyhow and there won't be much left to them at the end, so it makes sense. When a 4-Stroke might use 2 sets of tires for an ENTIRE SEASON (and 1 set is often enough if you miss a race here and there), it's a complete and utter waste to buy a different set for 1 weekend. The WCC people out east still don't hear this and while I get they need the revenue, they're not getting the 4-stroke guys AT ALL, so they really need to wake-up.
Mark Hillier #44 VLR Senior, Shifter

Joey Guyon
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Re: Welcome to the Rotax Masters Forum

Post by Joey Guyon »

I'm glad the masters forum is getting so much discussion. A lot of healthy chat that will help educate the local membership.

Also some good feedback for WCC, which we might want to continue in an other thread (I think there is one started already).

The best point so far is from John Kwong. We all must remember that we have the most successful club in the country and only need minor tweeks (especially when we are exploring for a new circuit), we don't need to follow the clubs that have torn each other apart.

The weight of Calgary Masters came as a middle ground a few years back when they were running 405 in the USA and we had a few 420's kicking around. We felt an elevated weight from 381 and borrowing the "Age" allowance for drivers 195 and up would help mould the class.

As for the discussion on tires, I think it would be devastating on many levels to consider changing from our current regs. The current benefits I see from the mojo in Rotax classes is:
-Long lasting compound, of average grip (any grippier and some folks are going to suffer in the rib department... trust me masters)
-Good supply chain for fresh, available tires
-Budget racers are actually SAVING money with the Mojo. High end local racers are THROWING AWAY good ones that are being used by other racers in the club, be it Rotax Senior, Masters or even 4 stroke now!

I would respectfully ask that any serious discussion involving a change in tire supplier include me (Overdrive).

Back to your regularly scheduled program!

JG

Mark
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Re: Welcome to the Rotax Masters Forum

Post by Mark »

Joey Guyon wrote:
I would respectfully ask that any serious discussion involving a change in tire supplier include me (Overdrive).

JG
But of course !

Frankly though, for right now at least, we have bigger fish to fry than the price of tires. Once we've secured a long term future for the club I think it's a discussion that bears having in a proper venue (like a class meeting).

Meanwhile, we have one season left - lets just race !
Mark Hillier #44 VLR Senior, Shifter

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