Feed Back for Future 2021 Race Season

[John Kwong]

I like racing every 2-3 weeks.
I like a mix of double headers and single races.
I would prefer double header races to be tied in with regional racing.

As far as coordinating the schedule with EDKRA. CKRC has other track users such as the AMRA and Try-A-Kart to contend with as well as trying not to schedule on long weekends or Hallmark holidays. With all of these considerations, the CKRC has always published their tentative schedule very early (end of December/early January) so that EDKRA and other western clubs can coordinate. Factor in a later start and wanting the season done by the middle of September and there are only so many weekends available. We all have significant investments in equipment that we all want to use in the short summer available. Other sports do not schedule around leaving time to do other things. Serious hockey players for instance train and play all year around. If you live karting, like I have for the past 40 years you want to be at the track racing whenever possible. If it is only one of your hobbies, there are “drops” that you can use to fit in family holidays or other commitments.
The Alberta Shoot-Out was born out of wanting a couple designated weekends that each club could count on having their respective members travel to race and have a good time. Turnouts for the ABSO has been great since the beginning. For club events, historically speaking, only a very small percentage of the club travels to race at other venues. Conflicting schedules are only part of the reason for club members not travelling. I believe the bigger reason is cost. As the largest club by far in Western Canada, I don't believe we should be sacrificing our local schedule for the small percentage of members who want to travel. If there are fewer conflicts that would be great but to have a completely conflict free schedule with the relatively short summer season while trying to avoid Hallmark holidays and long weekends is pure folly.
In the past 5 seasons EDKRA has hosted 3 major events each season to draw our members to. Those being the AB Shoot-Out, Summer Challenge and Western Rotax Championship while the CKRC has only hosted the AB Shoot-Out and the most successful round of the Rotax Championship in 2018. CKRC needs to create and host a major event at least once each season besides the AB Shoot-Out. Whether it is our own version of the Western Canadian Championships or even National Championships or Briggs & Stratton Canadian Championships. With ASN Canada now gone, we can call it whatever we want.

I like Sunday races but if some Saturday single races were incorporated into the schedule, I would like to see a later start with a BBQ/potluck incorporated into the event.

Tires - I don’t care which tires we run on as long as the price doesn’t go up each year for frivolous reasons such as bar coding, chemical make-up changes, etc. Bringing in the Vega dropped the price of tires from $313/set to $270. Competition is good. I have tested the Mojo D2 4.5/6.0 on my VLR powered kart and they are pretty equal.

John K

[dvelpel]

Just echoing some of the previous comments…

Enjoy the double headers but with a compressed schedule it did add a tole to the body, as John eluded it, it’s a passion and I for one want to be at the track as much as possible. Prefer Sunday racing, I'll keep that short.

Highly agree with John on getting another big event beyond ABSO to be hosted at our facility. Improves the visibility and marketability of the club and the track. Before COVID-19 (and picking up another kart) I was looking at attending at least one of the ABSO but scheduling didn't work out this year. Hopefully next year will work out better, as well aiming to attend ROK the Rio…

In regards to tires, I asked the question last year. Im up for anything that makes the sport more accessible and affordable for everyone. So that being said… if we are looking to move to different tires I would expect them to be either cheaper than what we pay now, or last longer so your overall TCO is lower. If they are more expensive, shorter life span… I think we are only supporting the vendor/dealers.

I would love to hear the response from the rotax team on the limited tire rule… I would be interested in supporting that for other classes as it add another dimension of tire management to the mix, as well the drive to reduce the TCO.

Not exactly sure on how to best articulate this but one suggestion I would have is around adding an additional race drop from the points or separating the ABSO points. It's somewhat of a circular or self-answering thought and im really on the fence about but thought I would bring it up. We have the ability to drop two races (aim to be the ABSO if you can't make it) to make it a fair points playing field, but it really gives people an additional opportunity to gain points and wipe away their lowest point score.. If you're not able to attend the ABSO those are automatically taken, if you're not able to attend a CKRC event you are in essence forfeiting those points… which makes sense, but really you're at a disadvantage if your only competing at a local level and "life" happens you lose those points. I get it in theory, and if we choose to split the points, in a local only event I don't know if we would support the ability to drop two races across the season, but when we add in a distance/ABSO race I think it skews the numbers. Or maybe a simpler way.. (and just random numbers)… if you run the ABSO you have 12 opportunities to score maximum points. If you're not able to run ABSO you only have 10 opportunities to score maximum points, even though it’s a local club.

Just my thoughts.

[John Kwong]

Hi Dan,

I believe with our 13 race season we allow 4 drops. 2 for ABSO and 2 local club races. The 2 local drops has always been in place.

John K

[dvelpel]

Hey John,

Good to know, thought it was only two out of the whole calendar, can disregard that rant then

[DaveC]

Thanks for the chance to comment Fred.

I kind of like the lots-of-double-headers over the last 2 seasons, but understand the concerns with those that race more than 1 class.
Starting later in May is also appealing -- I'm not sure I remember the last time the first race actually happened on the date it was scheduled for.
Having 1 double header a month that is not the same as the EDKRA's would be great for those that want to travel. I remember the year there was only 1 overlap date, that was great.
The ABSO is wonderful and I'd like to see it continue. When we added the 2 Warburg races to the championship we added 2 drops, making it completely optional to go.
If I had a choice of Sat/Sun it has always been Saturday ... I prefer to watch the races on Sunday.

However, there are only 3 realities here ... 1) if you can't get volunteers we can't race so what they think is likely more important; 2) not everyone is going to be happy no matter what you do; 3) post the schedule in January and I'll be there.

Off topic ... the last set of Mojo D2's I bought (last August) were the same price as the last set of Vegas I bought (Joey must have had an ABSO fire sale going) ... and as John said the performance is quite similar (the D2 may be a touch faster) ... wear is not really clear though. With price parity for the 2 or 3 sets we need a year, I think aligning rules with our sister club makes a lot of sense for the Briggs classes. Let's just make a decision before we all have a half-used set of tires to throw away.

[phil]

I also support more doubles (my body will disagree, but follow along anyway). It does allow more racing in a season if someone wants to travel, and allows more flexibility from a scheduling standpoint. With single race days, it occupies more weekends, and limits the number of weekends available for Try A Kart, AMRA, and testing. I can only ever get to the track on weekends, and between Try A Kart, and the ban on testing on the Saturday night during double headers (another topic for discussion?), I am lucky to get one, or two test days in throughout the season. With single race days, and TAK commitments, it can end up being five, or six weekends in a row. We also run out of available weekends for TAK, and end up doing one on the Saturday before race day (sorry in advance for tomorrow). Another option, for those that can't race one day, or the other, is separate championships for the sat/ sun, and possibly up the race count to 12 local, with six of each.

Phil

[Tjfast]

I would like to add; people who race in 2 classes. Before I comment however I am aware that racing 2 classes is my choice and it is not something that scheduling should revolve around.

It would be nice to see some more consideration in the race schedule for those who race 2 classes. The most common combos I see are, Briggs Rotax, Briggs Shifter. I think it is possible with the number of classes we run to try to have 2 classes between the doublers. I think the best way to do it is to have a rotation of who gets the 2 class break. Having this accommodation might be helpful for those who want to run 2 classes, however, I'm sure that is a niche population. If the club decides to stick with what we ran this year for race layout I'm more than fine with it.

As for a Rotax tire limit, I'm not for or against since I don't see a benefit either way. It doesn't bring the cost down for those who are willing to buy new tires for practice. However, if the club decides that a tire limit will benefit the racing and the club then I'm for it.

And to comment on what John said. This club should try to focus on a large event other then ABSO. Evening having something like EDKRAs summer challenge would be nice. We could use the funds that would be used for trophies instead for cash prizes. I would much rather have a cash prize or shirt or hat or anything that I can use rather than a trophy. Would be nice to see some proposals for bigger events next year. We have an awesome track, race facility, and amazing race director and officials that we really could make something happen.
E.

[Casper6688]

As a part time racer and full time wallet , I thought that the mix of double-header / 1 day events was a great schedule . As for our program we spend a lot of time on the road driving to events , and the doubles are a little taxing , but it is nice to have the back-to-back as it keeps you in the zone a little longer .

I see a lot of elderly spectators coming to watch and cheer on their favorites racers , maybe its me , but those steps leading to the grand stand are pretty aggressive in nature and I have noticed that some, not all , have some problems with them . As well , was there ever any discussion with regards to a wheel chair accessible viewing stand ?

Tire rule for Rotax Masters , no real issues for me , with the amount I race , I could have a new set for every time I made it to the grid ..lol

Food for thought , with the VLR classes not really gaining much traction , could you have the VLRs run with a Rotax Heavy class , say 410 lbs . I'm not really too sure what the appropriate weight would be , but someone like John K. could probably cipher some numbers and come up with some weights . and, before the comments come , I know what some of you are thinking , and the answer is , 'I'm working on it'

anyway , the season has been great , lots of fun wrenching, watching , learning, and making a few laps .

*kudos to the patient lady who runs the scale , she did a good job of diffusing the situation after the Rotax Sr. final . Sorry I don't know her name .

[phil]

I see a lot of elderly spectators coming to watch and cheer on their favorites racers , maybe its me , but those steps leading to the grand stand are pretty aggressive in nature and I have noticed that some, not all , have some problems with them . As well , was there ever any discussion with regards to a wheel chair accessible viewing stand ?

There have been informal discussions around wheelchair accessible viewing areas, and it progressed, with the clubhouse having an elevator, and second floor viewing area, but the build was too expensive. I believe this should become a priority, and we should look into quotes for building a stand alone viewing area to the east of the grandstands, with wheelchair access, even if it isn't real tall. I also want to get a hand control kart, or two in the TAK fleet, which I have the approval for, but have lacked the time to complete. Possibly a winter project.

Phil

[Fred]

I regards to disable viewing it's a trade off between numbers and cost .. at the moment the amount of disabled visitors do not justify the cost .. we have however placed a viewing station up on the hill where the medics are located and they will help any elderly or wheel bound visitors if they would like to view from there. It is also possible to park a vehicle up on the bank too. Any requests for specialist viewing should be passed to the Race Director on the day.