Karting Queensland published its November newsletter recently, and there was an interesting technical advisory article written by KQ’s State Technical Advisor (Shaune English) that’s worth considering.
TECHNICAL ADVISOR (Shaune English)
Is it Non-Compliant or Cheating
- Cheat: act dishonestly or unfairly in order to gain an advantage
- Noncompliant: someone or something that does not conform to an accepted model or standard
Inspections done in Scrutineering are to ensure compliance with the standards as set in the KA Manual or the Homologation Documents. While there are some who will push the boundaries as far
as they can (or further), the majority of breaches found in scrutineering can be categorised as:
- Ignorance of the rule – it’s amazing how many times I’ve been asked how wide a Kart can be as I’m measuring it.
- Poor Maintenance – yes, you should check there are no tears in the air filter.
- Accidental – forgot to measure the width after moving the tyres out.
Unfortunately, following a ruling of a breach of the Technical Rules I hear people saying that they have been labelled a cheat. Often, this is not the case and there is no deliberate attempt to break
the rules.
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For some reason, a mistake on the track is accepted but a mistake at Scrutineering is obviously cheating.
I am 100% in favour of finding and prosecuting people who deliberately break the rules in order to gain an advantage. They do not belong in any sport.
However, before you label somebody a cheat following a breach of the technical rules, consider the following:-
- Were they cheating or found with a non-compliant part?
- Did you know the rule they breached? (could it have been you?)
- Do you actually know what happened or are you making assumptions?
- How would you feel if you were the person found guilty?
The majority of people feel bad enough when they breach the rules – don’t make it worse and drive people away from the sport just so you can feel superior by giving others a label.
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