Palm Beach International Raceway formally Moroso Motorsports Park

[rystar]

Had the opportunity to drive a rotax at this facility this week. Pretty cool track pretty much in the middle of a swamp. I know a few of you have done the 24 hr there but if anyone is in the West Palm Beach area you should stop by and check this place out. They are having a 175 lap enduro similar to the Robopong in a few weeks.

www.racepbir.com (http://www.racepbir.com)

[rct25]

Ryan,


What did you think about the Rotax motor? It was your first time driving one.....right?


Roberto

[rystar]

Yes, It was my first time in a rotax. Not sure this one was in the best shape but it seemed like there was more low to mid range power. It pulled out of the corners pretty good. Is this typical of a rotax?

[Jeff Salak]

I was wondering the same thing as Roberto.

Did it pull better than your Leopard?

[rystar]

Yeah, it seemed like it pulled better on the lower side to mid range but its kinda hard to tell for sure since I havent even driven this track before. Rotax owners, where does the rotax give its majority power?

[rct25]

Ryan,

I havent race a Rotax that much,only 2 times at South Bend and 1 at Norway for the Halloween race last year.
Yes, the mid range power is VERY good......it does not have the torque of the Leopard but if it is properly tuned, it can be as fast as a Leopard.

Maybe the Rotax experts on this forum can comment on this; Harrington??


Roberto

[Rick]

There seems to be some people who can make the Rotax very fast (setting pole at WKA Daytona, John Dixon at RIGP, Mason coming from behind to 3rd in Robopong, CIR junior team, MRP, etc). But from what I've seen, it seems to take more continual effort (especially on race day - things like changing jets, needles vs twisting needles) to make a Rotax fast. In my experience, it takes me way longer to tune the carb for a Rotax than it does for me to tune the needles on the Leopard. But then again, with the Leopard, it seems like all the top guys rebuild their stuff for every race (recurring costs and effort). I don't know if the top Rotax guys rebuild their engines all the time or not.

Also, with the Leopard, there are little tricks (as I'm sure there are with the Rotax). The special $500+ carb is one. Also the big aluminum radiator is another. With the RMAX challenge being more of a spec class than WKA, one would think that it is less of an arms/cash race than TAG. And that is very appealing. I just wish it was more user friendly. Hopefully, one day, I'll be able to understand it better and be able to do it all on my own. :redface:

The good (or bad) news for me is that most of the people in LA race Rotax or Shifters. TAG seems to be huge in Norcal. So I'm not sure what I will race when I move out there. I'll probably start with the Leopard and think about moving to Rotax eventually. Or maybe just go to stock moto! :thumbsup:

[D. Harrington]

Ryan,

The Rotax can be competitive with a Leopard at any track. The engine is somewhat "overcarburated" with the Dellorto VHSB 34 which can make jetting a challenge at times. However, this was done on purpose to improve reliability, which is one of the strengths of the Rotax. We have found(in Rotax Jr. & Sr) that once you find a decent setup on the carb, only minor changes are needed in different weather conditions. The biggest plus to the Rotax is reliability....you can go 50 hours without touching them....try that with a Leopard...:shakehead:

[Jeff Salak]

Dave, ever run a Rotax at Badger?

I dont think out of 30 Tag Masters out there, that no one runs one. My problem is I was thinking of getting one, but is that one track that just isn't right for a Rotax?

Thanks Jeff

[rct25]

Jeff,

I was one of many people that thought the Rotax couldn't touch the Leopard on a small, short track like Badger.

But look at the results from the PRI race last,a very small track, Jay Howard won with a Rotax over Rok TT's and Leopards. And overall, the other Rotax engines in the race. were very competitive.

Again, the secret of the Rotax is the carb and the power valve, so not many people can PROPERLY tuned a Rotax, the ones that are able to do it.......are fast.


Roberto

[Jeff Salak]

Roberto,

You will be running Badger Tag Masters next year? What engine are you running? Not sure what you have anymore.

Im not sure if I would be the type to figure out how to tune properly! LOL! Always wondering and fumbling around in my pit stall, scratching my head.

Jeff

[rct25]

Jeff,

I don't know about Badger yet; but I can tell you that I am racing TaG Masters at WKA on a Birel with a Rotax under the MRP program.

I hope that I can learn how to tune a Rotax next year.


Roberto

[Matt]

Roberto,

Do you know the situation of DD2's at MRP? I was just curious because there's no point in just keeping ours gathering dust when we're only gonna run it at Norway occasionally with the TAG class and at open practice. So about how many might come out on any given race weekend? I know that my dad's buddy Henry's got one that he races from time to time if he's not running in senior so that makes 2 of us. Is there usually anyone else out there? Thanks,

Matt

[D. Harrington]

Matt,

There are usually around 4 DD2s running at MRP. They usually run with the shifters. Sometimes there are more.....I know there are a number of other people interesting in running this class out there....just takes a few more to get it really rolling. A few years ago there were only two Jr. Rotax....now we have 12-14 every week.

Dave Harrington

[Matt]

Thats kind of low. I talked to Andy at Jet and he said that there are a couple guys with DD2's out there that say Jet is a lot closer to them than MRP so hopefully something might start down there. Also, besides us, I know 3 other guys with DD2's but I'm not sure they'd be willing to drive all the way out to MRP constantly when Jet is just about an hour - hour and a half from where we live.

[Jeff Salak]

MRP isnt to far away either. Never been there but to me you would have a better chance of growing the class there with the existing guys they have there. In general there isnt alot of DD2's out there. With your 3 guys and yourself, that would make an 8 kart field. Not bad, fun to race. Sure would be more fun than racing the same 3 guys at Norway. Plus you get 8 karts going, you may have a few more come out and get the dust off!

I live in Libertyville, its 90 miles to MRP and 90 miles to Norway. Looks like you live in Wood Dale, its most likely 65 miles to both places for you. I think you might think, its in Indiana its far away! If you google map it I think you will find that your the same distance to both tracks.



Just my opinion!

Jeff

[Matt]

Well for us it's 60 miles to Norway and 110 to MRP. I think you're right though Jeff, seeing as there's already a track with a running DD2 class, it would be better to just go up there and race cause I'd also be able to transfer points toward the Rotax national series (Might come in handy if we ever go up to the FWT) instead of just going up to Norway to screw around. The problem is though that I also plan on running HPV heavy at Norway next season too so it's gonna be a pain in the a** to constantly go between tracks.

[rct25]

Matt,

Here is your answer to the DD2 class; 14 drivers on DD2's at the Grand Nationals last September.


http://www.mylaps.com/results/showrun.jsp?id=1315651



Roberto

[Matt]

Only 14 at Grand Nationals!!!!! :bugeye:
Jeez Jeff was right. These karts are sitting gathering dust. I know that this kid I race with named Ben went to grand nationals for DD2 not too long ago (Don't know if it was last year or 2 years ago) but he said there were about 25-30 of 'em.

[Jeff Salak]

Matt, not sure what I did when I googled mapped it the first time. Came out 90 miles. I did it again and its 135 miles. Sorry for bad info, your right.

If you go to MRP and get to know some of the guys in that class. May be able to get some of them to take a ride and go to Norway. Karting seems just about dead in some classes in Chicago area. DD2 from my knowledge never took off around here. Dont get me wrong they are out there. Think many were bought to have fun and not race.

The economy in general has kind of crippled the racing, in the more HP karts, in Chicago area.

[Jeff Salak]

This one is collecting dust in Orland Park!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/RM1-ROTAX-MAX-KART-SHIFTER-KART-125cc_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem35a4c0eb68QQitemZ 230397373288QQptZGoQ5fKartsQ5fHighQ5fPerformanceQ5 f

[Rick]

Only 14 at Grand Nationals!!!!! :bugeye:
Jeez Jeff was right. These karts are sitting gathering dust. I know that this kid I race with named Ben went to grand nationals for DD2 not too long ago (Don't know if it was last year or 2 years ago) but he said there were about 25-30 of 'em.

Matt,

I started racing in DD2 and the reason I switched to TAG was due to low numbers in DD2. It's a cool class and concept. Unfortunately, there's not that much of a following. If you want to race in both ROTAX and TAG events, buy a ROTAX FR 125. Before, it seemed that they were not competitive (as in going for the outright win in national events) with other TAG packages. But now, I think people have got the tuning down and they can be really competitive.

[Matt]

This one is collecting dust in Orland Park!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/RM1-ROTAX-MAX-KART-SHIFTER-KART-125cc_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem35a4c0eb68QQitemZ 230397373288QQptZGoQ5fKartsQ5fHighQ5fPerformanceQ5 f

Jeff, I unfortunately know that kart seeing as it belongs (well belonged) to one of my dad's buddies. Sad to see that so many people are forced to get out of racing.