Who's racing at Norway this weekend?

[MPIGP - Phillip Gordon]

I'll be there for open practice Saturday morning before the race so if any of you guys have any questions on setup or want to do some lead follow sessions, I'd be more than happy to spend some time with you. If you can give me a call ahead of time so I can plan my time, that would be great. 847-456-1624 Thanks.

[MPIGP - Phillip Gordon]

FYI...It looks like rain Saturday at Norway so I am switching to Friday for practice then racing in South Bend on Sunday. If nothing changes I won't be there on Saturday.

[AJ Schalund]

Originally posted by CoolBreezeRacer@May 18 2006, 02:18 PM
FYI...It looks like rain Saturday at Norway so I am switching to Friday for practice then racing in South Bend on Sunday. If nothing changes I won't be there on Saturday.
1875




Hey i was just checking the weather for the weekend and they are calling for mostly sunny with a high of 75. If it stays that way it should be great weather for racing
weather.com for norway (http://www.weather.com/weather/weekend/60551?from=36hr_topnav_undeclared)


AJ

[Martin Lenick]

See you there.

[D. Harrington]

Brennan and I will be at Norway on Saturday. We are going to South Bend to race on Sunday also! I hope to see a lot of you guys out there!

[MPIGP - Phillip Gordon]

Dave.....see you and Brennan at South Bend on Sunday.

[Greg Shebert]

Hi Phil

I've got some setup questions...

I think that I am having some issues getting the inside rear to lift sufficiently in the corners.

I say this because I can pretty much follow other HPV guys into corners with the same speed they are carrying but find myself unable to keep up with them through the middle and exit of the corners.

This is most apparent on the slightly banked corner right before the tunnel. I lose 1 to 1.5 kart lengths on this turn alone. It is also apparent on turn 4 leading onto the main back straight.

I suppose there could be more than one problem - including the driver :).

If it is, however, a problem with getting the inside rear to lift, what should I do?

I've thought about redistributing weight - I'm 40% 60% front to back. I've thought about increasing the front track assuming that the castor angle and increased track will result in the inside front pushing down farther (while turning) and giving a little more lift to the inside rear. I've also thought about playing with tire pressure but am not sure if this will help.

I've seen most guys running wider than I am up front but not all. Nobody has as much weight bolted on as I do (35 lbs).

Any suggestions you have will be appreciated.

Thanks, Greg

[MPIGP - Phillip Gordon]

Greg

Are you running FZ's? or MZ's? How are they wearing? Are the fronts grooving or have a lot of build up on the inside? How are the rears wearing? It sounds to me like your kart is bound up and that's why you're losing time in the middle and exit of the turn. I believe you're on the right track. There are a few things you could do to get the inside wheel to lift and help the kart turn better. Adding seat struts, softer axle, shorter hubs or changing the width of the rear, wider or narrower, depending on where you are right now. Yes, you can add caster and change the front track, which will do exactly what you said, but I would leave that as a last resort. Work on freeing up the back to the point where it's almost too loose to handle, then work on the front to get the kart neutral. This approach will result in a really 'free' kart which is the fast way around Norway.

Next time you're going out to practice, shoot me a pm....maybe I can meet you out there. If I can see your driving style, it would help. Driving style dictates how you want to setup your kart. Some guys do all their braking in a straight line, turn in and drive all the way through the turn. These guys need more front end grip than the guys that come into the turn really hard, trail brake from turn in all the way to the apex, then drive out of the turn. Without the added load under braking, the kart would push.

[Greg Shebert]

Thanks Phil,

I would say my driving style is the latter. I tend to trail brake into the turns - maybe not quite all the way to the apex at every corner but definitely trail braking. In fact, that last banked corner before the tunnel where I am getting destroyed - no braking at all - I ease off the throttle a bit turning in and maintain about 3/4 throttle through the rest of the turn. Like I said - I can follow the rest of the guys in but they pull away mid corner through the exit.

I've got seat struts. I'm running MG Yellow - The wear is pretty even on the rears and the left front, the right front gets hammered though - a lot of wear on the inside of the right front. I've noticed that almost everyone suffers from this though and just figured it is a function of the track more so than setup.

The rears now are 14 1/2" to the outside edge as measured from the chassis. I do not remember what overall width that produces. I was at 14" and the kart was quite loose - i couldn't go flat out through monza without the back end wanting to come around (but, at the time, I was running the front end higher and it may be that the front just had too much grip and was causing the rear to step out - so many variables, so little knowledge & time :blink: )

I have no idea when I'll be out for practice - maybe not this friday but next?

-G

[MPIGP - Phillip Gordon]

Greg

Your right front wearing like it is tells me you need to free up the rear first then work on the front to balance it out. The way the back was when you said it was loose in the monza, may have been good. I would suggest going back to that setup and then work on the front to balance the kart. Dial out some caster, lower the front or move the hubs out in the front. Going flat through the monza is a good test for your setup.

Norway is hard on the right front because of the monza and turns 1 and 2, so if your kart is tight, the way a lot of the guys there like theirs, the right front will get hammered. The monza can be intimidating and it causes some guys to tighten up their karts for it, but that just slows them down at all the other turns. The key to taming the monza is the entry, if you move all the way right at turn in and hit the first apex down low, almost touching the grass, you shouldn't have any problems.

[Greg Shebert]

I'll give that a shot and see what happens. I'll put the rear back in a 1/2" and see if that helps free up the rear - it might pay off now that the front is lower.

I did try moving the rear out another 1/2" but was unable to really know if it was effective due to traffic.

I wish I had more practice time - race day is a tough time to experiment with all the folks on track. I love practice - no schedule, only a few people, all day racing for only the cost of a set of tires ;)

-G