2013 Season

[ethan99]

We are finializing our plans for next season and looking to get a sense of those considering shifter next season. Conflicting schedules aside, we would be happy to commit to whole CKRC series if 5 others are willing as well.

Lots of shifters out there, would be great to get a good size grid wanting to bang some gears with the same attitude as the current guys and Sr 4 stroke, just to have fun racing.

Know it involves supplemental regs and all, but we would also welcome the concept of different weights for various engines(so the guy with the ICC that knows what he is doing doesn't run away from the rest). Some testing would quickly figure out proper weights and we could start with ones already established. An interesting thing they do at SIMA is winnner adds weight each race in order to keep the field as tight as opposible. Think both of these things and maybe other ideas people have would make for good fun racing, not as much fun when everybody is spread out in a race.

Regardless of whether those things are considered, if 5 others commit to the season you can count on us on the grid.

Scott and Ethan

[John Kwong]

That is great to hear. The shifter class needs some new blood to get resurrected. Off the top of my head, here is who I think will continue on for next year racing in the shifter class:

1. Iain McLeod (Honda)
2. AJ (Pavesi)
3. Ben (Honda)
4. Terry Fucile (Pavesi)
5. Nils Jorgensen (TM)
6. Graham (TM)

The trick is to get everyone there on the same days. I rallied the troops for the last weekend in 2012 and we got a good turnout. I still have a TM K9B but no chassis.

John K

[Nathan B]

I will do my best to borrow a kart for a few of the shifter races.

[axle182]

Yep count me in for the full season. John, my second shifter will be up for sale. If someone doesnt pick it up, your welcome to run it. Chassis came back VERY nice from paint

Hopefully we get even more than 5 this season. The shifter class is so much fun

[Iain McLeod]

Hey,

I will run the races I can this season. I didn't race much last season due to all the rain, I just don't have the time to wrench on 2 karts in the rain then do all the clean up. If there are more karts I will certainly run the shifter more often too.

I like this idea of different weights for different classes of shifter. I think we will need some form of proposal to start from and this should be in place before the season starts. Does SIMA have any starting points? I would like to avoid the winners putting on weight, I think this can lead to people sandbagging through the heats then killing people in the finals. Sounds too much like NASCAR and I can't stand that crap (personal opinion of course). Another thing we can seek to standardize is tire compounds as this can even out the field, but this may be difficult.

I haven't heard anything about a class meeting, but it might be a good idea to get in touch with Terry Fucille and run this past him. I would have no trouble staying a few minutes late at the next club meeting on Apr 10 to discuss.

Iain

[Joey Guyon]

There is a new guy named Justin that will compete using Stock Honda.

Austin King will run DD2 or Stock Honda, sporadically.

Basically I think it's too confusing or too much effort to weigh the karts differently as we don't do tech.

If there was tech, these weights could be a starting point:
DD2 or Honda 4 stroke: 375
Stock Honda and TAG ICC: 385
ICC/KZ/FC/Mod Honda: 395

Keep in mind last season a DD2 won some races at 381...

At our club the shifter winner will be the best prepared and the least out of shape

If we start to have a larger turn-out, more fun to be had!!!

[gaircity]

Hey guys,
I'm a newly joined member who will likely be picking up a used shifter in the next few days. I'm totally new to the sport, and as such will be looking for direction on driving and maintaining. Just wanted to say hi and see what was happening! When exactly is the track open for practicing? The schedule isn't totally clear to me...

Where is the best place to get fuel for these things as well? I'm gonna need to pick some of that up.

Cheers,

Shaun

[Mark]

Shaun,

Group Practice sessions are normally on Tuesday and Thursday nights for members (called Test & Tunes -or "T&T" on the Calendar). Members can also take a short course and become certified to hold a key to the facility and practice whenever the track is not otherwise being used.

Any particular reason you chose the Shifter class to start off with ? This is karting equivalent of a Rookie jumping into an F1 drive and I'm not sure what the current rules are but in the past the club did not allow people to race shifter without prior experience in another class. Maybe someone better versed in the latest rule on that can chime-in.

A shifter is a beast of a machine and even those of us with a decade of experience find these to be demanding (physically and mentally) to drive. Perhaps Rotax might be a better place to get started ?

[gaircity]

Fair enough. that all seems quite reasonable.
I went to shifter because I found a steal on a near new shifter kart nearby that I was going to pick up. But i do hear you on the rookie to F1 concept. Is there a way to try it out with a loaner/rental kart before buying one? i have a pretty limited budget. I'm certainly open to suggestions. I think with a bit of practice i could get used to it quick. although i do have almost no idea what im talking about so...yah haha.

Hopefully i can get down to the track and give it a shot sometime soon!!!

shaun

[Mark]

Heheh, ok I understand.

If budget is limited then you probably want to avoid shifter as they tend to eat tires.

We do have a 'Try-a-Kart'' day that provides the chance to try a variety of machines before you buy. However, I don't believe a shifter has ever been available just because of the complexity, speed and cost to run one makes it prohibitive.

The best route to the sport is generally to start off slow and build up speed with experience. That would usually mean starting in 4-stroke and progressing to a 2-stroke class such as Rotax. 4-stoke is the slowest and least expensive way to go racing and forces you to adopt good driving habits and wring every last ounce out of the machine. A Rotax is about twice as expensive to acquire and will cost more to operate but gets you about 8 seconds a lap faster (quite a bit). Since everything happens a lot faster, it isn't always the ideal place for someone who is new to karting -but it can be done. Shifter is about 2 seconds a lap faster than Rotax but you have to shift gears on top of everything else that's going -it's manic.

So that's it in a nutshell. If you want tight racing on a budget, then look at 4-stroke; if you can afford to go faster, consider Rotax. Once you've got a handle on that then perhaps a shifter could be something to look at in the future.