Karting News Briefs


  3 December 2016

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  • PRO TOUR - Registrations are now OPEN for the 2017 Rotax Pro Tour season. To be eligible for the Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals or Rotax US Open prizes in 2017, or to secure a race number for the season, drivers must be registered. To see the up-to-date list of registered drivers, or to register yourself, click HERE.


  • F1 TRAINING - Newly crowned (and now retired) World Champion Nico Rosberg has revealed that doing more karting through the course of the year was a key contributor to his success in Formula 1 this season. "When I'm at home, I'm doing different sorts of training" Rosberg said in an interview on the team's YouTube channel. "Not everything I do is public knowledge... This year, for example, I did a lot of go-karting which I hadn't done in the past." More about his behind the scenes preparation are on Autosport HERE.

  • CLUB - Gippsland Go Kart Club will offer club racers exceptional value next year. The plan for each race meeting is to offer each class five races on the day. The club concluded it's 2016 racing with the November club day on Sunday. Racing will fire up again on February 26.

  • CLUB / TRACK - Speaking of Gippsland, most of the tyre barriers at the Morwell circuit are being reconfigured for next year. The current heavy car tyres (stacked and screwed four-high) are being replaced with lighter and more absorbant race car tyres which, because of their width, only need to go two-high.

    Above: GT3 and Supercar tyres will replace road car tyres at Tramway Park Raceway (pic - Steve Dansie)

  • INDUSTRY / TEAM - Patrizicorse is looking for a number of new staff members for next year. A leading kart distributor and racing team, Patrizicorse wish to fill one full-time and one part-time position with candidates who can commence on January 3rd. "Duties include race kart preparation, product distribution, dispatch and customer service" the organisation published. "Motorsport is a pressure cooker environment. Normal work hours will be in place however extra hours could be needed. Full time applicant must have Motorsport and mechanical experience as the job is hands on. Part time worker needs to be passionate about the job with the ability to learn all facets of the industry." Interested persons should email: michael.patrizi@ricciardokart.com

  • TEAM / DRIVER - Just days after winning the 2016 OK World Championship, Pedro Hiltbrand has split with the factory CRG team - and joined Tony Kart! "CRG thanks Pedro Hiltbrand for the collaboration of the past four years" CRG stated in a press release. Hiltbrand won the 2016 OK World Championship and European Championships (on CRG-Parilla) plus the KZ2 Super Cup and KZ2 Spanish Championship (on CRG-Maxter). Team Manager for Tony Kart Racing Team, Giacomo Aliprandi, said: “We are very pleased to work together with Pedro, he is an experienced driver and we wish to establish a winning partnership with him.” Pedro added: “I like any new challenges and there is no better than the Tony Kart team to face… I really want to keep on winning!”

    pic - CRG Press

  • CLUB / EVENT - Barossa Go Kart Club is holding a free “Tech and Driver Training Day” on Sunday January 15. It commences in the club's clubrooms at the circuit on Belvidere Road, Nuriootpa, from 11.00am. Designed for beginners and drivers with limited race experience, the day will include kart set up classes (covering such things as wheel alignment, wet/dry settings, gearing, axle & hubs, seat position etc) plus driving tips and how to survice your first race day. Participants are required to bring their own kart. Contact the club to book your spot.

  • ENVIRONMENT - I happened to be casually chatting with some karters last weekend about how this sport consumes thousands of tyres annually, and the various methods people use to dispose of their used rubber - most typically, it seems, hiding tyres in the household rubbish for streetside collection! The discussion moved along to the global environmental issue of used tyres and how that, for the modern day, it's surprising there is no requirement for the manufacturers or distributors to manage their collection and disposal. Perhaps karting might one day lead the way, stipulating that tyre supply contracts include some sort of collection and disposal system for used rubber via their retail network? Anyway, then this popped up on the ABC: a company is using a 'destructive distillation' process to produce a biofuel from old rubber tyres. Read the full article on abc.net.au HERE. Video is below. Granted, a kart tyre won't provide the same volume of 'tyre oil', but still ...from little acorns grow.


  • CLUB / TRACK - Combined Districts Kart Club advise the Lithgow circuit will be closed for practice from Saturday December 24 to Sunday January 1 inclusive. Outside of those dates, the track will be open for practice on weekends and available by appointment on weekdays. To make an an appointment, ring the track at least the day prior: 02 6351 4356.

  • VIDEO - the OK and OKJ World Championship finals from Bahrain, now both on YouTube:

    Above: Senior OK


    Above:
    OK Junior



  • SUCKER - If this is legit, it's pretty impressive! But suction to achieve traction is not new. It was done in Can-Am in the 1960s and F1 in the 70s (but subsequently banned in both):


  • INTERNATIONAL RULES - The CIK-FIA has instigated a new 'Rookie of the Year' award in 2017 for drivers in World and European Championship OK class competition. Drivers must be in their first year of racing the class, and be no older than 16. The World Motor Sport Council also confirmed:
    • Panta is the fuel supplier for the 2017 CIK-FIA Championships
    • Lecont* is the tyre supplier for "Category I"; 2017 CIK-FIA World and European Championships, plus the 2017 CIK-FIA Endurance Championship
    • Vega* is the tyre supplier for "Category II"; 2017 CIK-FIA World and European Junior Championships
    • Bridgestone* is the tyre supplier for "Categories III and IV"; 2017 CIK-FIA World and European KZ Championships, the 2017 CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy, the 2017 CIK-FIA European KZ2 Championship and the 2017 CIK-FIA International KZ2 Super Cup.
      *Subject to the approval of the CIK-FIA tyre homologation concerned

  • CHRISTMAS CADETS - To celebrate Daniel Ricciardo's 3rd place result in the Formula One World Championship, Australian distributor Patrizicorse is offering a huge Christmas Sale on brand new Cadet Ricciardo karts "Our DR-C28 900 is $2333 including GST. Either stock will run out or Christmas will
    come first. First in best dressed for the BEST VALUE GO-KART on the market, direct from Patrizicorse." Enquiries should be directed to orders@patrizicorse.com

    pics - Patrizicorse


  • TEAM / DRIVER - HDR Arrow Karts has announced Queenslanders Declan Fraser (Mackay) and Luke Grasso (Ingham) will headline a new X30 Squad for the team. The youthful duo will debut in the class in 2017. "We've always been the Garry Rogers Motorsport team of Karting in Australia," said Team Manager, Craig Doyle. "We are competitive, professional, happy and determined to win, but we also believe as a Team that we have a responsibility to develop new talent and provide them with a platform to shine. Over the last 10 years, I am sure that we've proven our determination to the industry quite clearly and well."

    Above: HDR Arrow Karts drivers, Luke Grasso #70 and Declan Fraser #23 (pic - Coopers Photography)

  • EVENT - The Ladies Cup is on again next year at Lithgow:


  • USA RULES - Briggs & Stratton has updated elements of the rule book for racing their 206 'factory sealed' 4-stroke engine in 2017. Click HERE to download (changes are in red).

  • POLITICS - Karting South Australia State Chairman Peter Fritz has resigned. The following statement was posted on the Karting SA site: "Folks – It is with regret that I have resigned last week as State Chairman effective 31st Dec. The demands of my work with the increasing requirements of SKC have meant that I can not spend the time on the chairman role that that it needs. Danny Miller will step in to keep things running until a replacement is elected. I expect that to happen early in the new year. So if you have ever thought “ I could do that better” and many of you have…. here is your chance. SLC will announce the election process over the next couple of weeks. I would like to say thank you to all the folks that have worked with in my roles of Executive Commissioner and Chairman over the last couple of years. See you at the track." - Peter Fritz

    Above: Peter Fritz (pic - karting SA)

  • INDUSTRY - CRG S.p.A. has appointed a new marketing and communication manager. Marco Angeletti (below) took up the role on December 1. He was executive director of the Swiss outfit RB Racing for the past three years. Angeletti’s role will cover all departments in the CRG company, including the racing team, rental range and sales network.


  • EASYKART - Easykart UK has rebranded as BirelART Series UK. While the series is rebranding, the karts and engines used will remain the same. The series is strictly for private owner-drivers; no teams or trade reps are allowed.

 

 

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