Rotax Grand Finals - Saturday Report

[Rick]

After four grueling days of on-track action in some horrible conditions, the main events of this year’s Rotax Grand Finals were put in the book today at the Kartodromo Viana in Castello de Viana, Portugal. The brutal weather continued on Saturday with intermittent hard rain being joined by high winds, making the racing rather treacherous at times. The sun only arrived, quite timely actually, for the opening ceremonies and driver presentations just before the mains. Team USA and Team Canada both battled through the days’ action, scoring several top-20 finishes, although no podiums and no top fives.

http://www.ekartingnews.com/images/content/6758.JPG
Justin Melton recorded the highest finishing position for Team USA with a 14th in DD2
(Photo: Super Kart Illustrated)

Junior

Kicking off the action this morning at Kartodromo Viana with their Prefinal, the Junior field was shaken up big-time with the arrival of hard rain just as the grid powered off the hot grid. Rolling the dice in the Service Park, only four drivers made the decision to bolt on rain tires for the session and their judgment proved crucial as they enjoyed an eight-second per lap advantage. Canada’s Tyler Wheeler was pensive of tuner Joey Guyon’s rain tire call before the race, but he was thrilled with the decision at the end of the 18-lap race, taking home second and a position on the outside of the front row for the main. Starting 21st, Wheeler led early before being run down by Jamaica’s Tim Stewart. After starting dead last thanks to his sixth place finish in the LCQ, Stewart was also on rains, a call made by his tuner Jamie Sieracki. With nothing to lose, Stewart stormed to second by the end of the first lap and then chased, caught and passed Wheeler for the lead. It was a huge win for Stewart and the entire Jamaican karting community.

The Juniors started off the festivities following the Opening Ceremonies, running on a wet track. However, the rain that stayed away for the Driver Presentations held off for the entire 20-lap race as well. The Canadians and Americans both saw their hopes flushed away early as the primary contenders had trouble. Starting from the outside of row one, Wheeler drove off in turn one at the start, losing a chain in the process, ending his run before it could even get started. Megenbier got a great start to jump from 22nd to 14th on the opening lap, but he would get assisted off the track at the curbing in the kink between turns two and three, spinning completely before continuing in 24th. The Grand Finals sophomore would push forward for the next 18 laps, eventually working back to a respectable 16th. Gennari was not as lucky, being involved in a first lap melee in turn four which put him well behind the field. The Florida driver would cruise around for the remainder of the race, posting a 29th place finish. The race was won by Belgian driver Jorrit Pex, who turned the fastest lap enroute to the win over the UK’s Jack Hawksworth and Austria’s Daniel Schellnegger.

[rct25]

From ekartingnews

Megenbier got a great start to jump from 22nd to 14th on the opening lap, but he would get assisted off the track at the curbing in the kink between turns two and three, spinning completely before continuing in 24th


This is racing at this level!

They did not stop the race. right?

Roberto

[Rick]

Were they supposed to stop the race?

[rct25]

Rick,

I do not know, can you tell me? :D



Roberto

[Rick]

I always thought that they only stop races (red flag) if one of the following conditions are met:

1. Weather conditions are too severe for safe racing.
2. There's an injured driver on the track.
3. There is an obstruction on the track.

Originally posted by CIKFIA General Prescriptions 2006
2.24 - Incidents An « Incident » means a fact or a series of facts involving one or several Drivers (or any Driver’s action reported to the Stewards by the Clerk of the Course or the Race Director or noted by the Stewards and reported to the Clerk of the Course or the Race Director for investigation), who :

-provoked the stopping of a Race in application of Article 142 of the Code ;
- violated these Sporting Regulations or the Code ;
- had jumped the start ;
- have not respected flag signalling ;
- have caused one or several karts to take a false start;
- have caused a collision ;
- have forced another Driver out of the track ;
- have illegally prevented a legitimate passing manoeuvre by a Driver ;
- have illegally impeded another Driver during a passing manoeuvre.

a ) It will be the responsibility of the Stewards to decide, further to a report or a request from the Race Director or of the Clerk of the Course, if one or several Driver(s) is/are involved in an Incident ; he/they must not leave the circuit without the Stewards’ agreement.

b ) If a Driver is involved in a collision or an Incident , and if he was informed of this by the Stewards within thirty minutes after the end of the Race, he must not leave the circuit without their agreement.

The Stewards shall inflict a 10-second time penalty on any Driver having caused an Incident. If the Incident was caused during a Qualifying Practice session, they shall proceed to the cancellation of the three fastest times which he/she achieved in the session concerned. However, considering its serious nature, the Stewards may decide, instead of the 10-second time penalty, of a sanction among those provided for in the penalty scale of Article 153 of the Code.


From reading the rules, it seems they don't stop the race for inflicting contact or causing a collision (unless it obstructs the track or worse causes injury to a driver). They penalize drivers 10 seconds for infractions.

I didn't see the race so I don't actually know what happened. I only read the description from ekarting just like you did. I guess the final decision is up to the officials who were there. Whether or not the officials actually thought he was "assisted" off the track or not is not clear. I wonder if there's an official report that contains the number of penalties given out during the race. That would be interesting to see.

Personally I think the 10 second penalty is a great idea. I wish CIR would adopt the CIK FIA regulations and impose 10 second penalties for any infractions that their staff sees fit for calling.

[rct25]

From ekartingnews

Megenbier got a great start to jump from 22nd to 14th on the opening lap, but he would get assisted off the track at the curbing in the kink between turns two and three, spinning completely before continuing in 24th


This is racing at this level!

They did not stop the race. right?

Where is ALL the "no contact in karting" people to answer my question?
Gentleman, this is karting at the most competitve level; and without saying if you like it or not, this is the way it is in A LOT of places.

Roberto :D

[Rick]

I thought the rules would have covered your question on whether or not they stopped the race. But I guess that was the wrong question. What's your question? :dunno:

[MPIGP - Phillip Gordon]

Big Tim said there were no black flags for rough driving the entire event. Sounds crazy doesn't it? The same officials that docked a questionable jump start with I think a 25sec penalty, didn't throw one black flag during all that madness. All I can say is, if any of you guys make it to the world finals next year, practice your bump pass techniques and defensive driving before you go :4: The other thing is, those guys are crazy fast in the rain. Americans just don't get enough rain practice so they are playing catch up with those guys. Someone needs to step up and build a kart track with a sprinkler system, then have designated wet track practice days so we can better prepare to race on that level.

[rct25]

"All I can say is, if any of you guys make it to the world finals next year, practice your bump pass techniques and defensive driving before you go"

or any other karting event in the world.......

Lorenzo Mandarino is one of the most aggressive drivers in the Stars series; when I heard he was going to go to race in Europe; (Dave Harrington you can probably testify this) I told Dave that he was going to be fast and that he was going to do a good job due to his driving style.

This article is from March 2006:

http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=212750&FS=KART


and the results of his FIRST race in Europe out of 49 participants on his class:

http://www.federkarting.it/gare/campionati...Cclassifica.pdf (http://www.federkarting.it/gare/campionati/Open_Document2006/muro/ICCclassifica.pdf)

This is the driving style of the highest level of karting events; again I am not saying good or bad, it is just what it is.

Roberto

[Rick]

Phil: do you allow bump passing in the Master Pro Series?

Roberto: I understand your point. But I also don't think CIR is anywhere near the same level as a world championship. :blink:

I also don't see the skill in it at all. :dunno: In fact, I see new people in arrive and drives execute succesful bump passes on regulars on their first attempts all the time. I hardly ever see a newbie execute a clean pass on a regular at all. Simply not hitting the brakes and pushing someone who is already at the limit is just too easy. If passing cleanly required less skill, we wouldn't even be having this conversation because everyone would be passing cleanly. It would be the path of least resistance. Cleary this is not the case. ;)

If you really think the competition at CIR is on the same level with a world championship, or a level of competition that requires bump passes then just continue to execute bump passes. Personally, I think it's no where near that level. It's more like a friendly league game of softball, not a world series baseball game. So I'm not going to take out the catcher on the way to home base. I still want to be friends with everyone who races at CIR after the races are over. That's why I don't bump pass. B) Now if CIR was going to cut a $10,000 check for the winner, I might have to put some people into the wall. :agree:

Maybe I'll start bump passing everyone in the Master Pro Series next year! Can I start bumping people before the start of the race too? What do you think about that Phil!? Get that duct tape ready! :lol1:

[rct25]

Rick:

Karting is not just CIR or the Master Pro Series, Karting is all over the world.
Maybe your idea of karting is just those two places; what I am talking about it's karting around the world.
The examples that I am presenting is not Rick, Roberto,Phil, etc; you need to understand that I am talking about karting in general, indooor and outdoor.

"I see new people in arrive and drives execute succesful bump passes on regulars on their first attempts all the time. I hardly ever see a newbie execute a clean pass on a regular at all. Simply not hitting the brakes and pushing someone who is already at the limit is just too easy."

Here is where you are completely confused;it is not even close to what you are thinking. The competition is SO close and you have 20 or 25 karts running so close, that you can not even notice when it happens.

"If you really think the competition at CIR is on the same level with a world championship, or a level of competition that requires bump passes then just continue to execute bump passes"

I can not remember the time when I bump passed you? Can you tell me when?
When I "bump pass", I do it to people that I know will "bump pass" me. Will J. ,Bob Z., Brian Z. ,Dave H. ,Paul R., etc.
But I also do not do it to people that I know would not bump pass me. Perfect example Peter J. or Greg; ask them if I ever "bump pass" them; and we always have great racing during the enduros in the heavyweight class.

"Can I start bumping people before the start of the race too? What do you think about that Phil!? Get that duct tape ready!"

You are talking about the Norway Halloween race, do you even remember that Connor W. was the one behind you at the start of the race?

Rick, I hope you get the big picture of what I am trying to explain here, and not just think about karting in CIR and/or Norway. It's not even about you or me; I think you are getting confuse with the point that I am trying to explain.

I hope this helps.


Roberto

[Rick]

Roberto, I agree with you that the racing is so close that it is hard to pass. I also agree that bump passes can be executed in such a way that it is hard to notice. The reason for that is we are all the limits of traction. One little push is all it takes.

Everyone respects you as a driver and thinks you're one of the best. People (including me) watch how you drive and they copy what you do. If they see you punting Will J. then they will think it's ok to start bump passing too. This snowballs into chaos and extremely aggressive and unfriendly racing.

I think we saw some of this last time at Peter J's event. There were 5 or 6 red flags. Everyone was hitting everyone else. Dave Mickelson even lost his temper! :blink: I think a lot of people lost their tempers. It really felt like a Ken J event instead of a Peter J event. There was even an a couple of incidents where I was sure a fist fight would have broken out. I understand that everyone that shows up is extremely competitive in nature. But we all have to face reality and understand that we are fighting for a glass trophy at an indoor track where no one is evenly weighted (get the scales as Roberto says! :D ). We are at the bottom rung of the organized karting competition ladder.

What ever you do Roberto, I will always think you are a good driver. I just hope that you'd see the benefits of setting a good example and tone for the "friendly" competition at CIR. We all can be cut throat and extremely aggressive. But then we probably wouldn't be good friends anymore. The friendships I've made with you, Martin, Peter, Dave, Erjon, and everyone else are much more important to me than a $50 trophy.

[MPIGP - Phillip Gordon]

[Phil: do you allow bump passing in the Master Pro Series?]

NO!! The primary reason for starting the series was to get away from the NASCRAP style of racing and offer a series that welcomed true 'open wheel' racers.

[Maybe I'll start bump passing everyone in the Master Pro Series next year! Can I start bumping people before the start of the race too? What do you think about that Phil!? Get that duct tape ready!]

I hope you're just kidding because I like you and would hate to ban you from the series.

Just to clarify, indoor and outdoor karting are two completely different animals in my books. My comments are focusing on just outdoor karting right now. What Roberto said is absolutely right. Do I like it? NO!!!! What happened at the Rmax world finals, in my books, was an embarrassment to karting. Maybe I have a pipe dream but I would like to build a series where we can race hard but live up to the true 'no contact' rule. Rick, in the 100 lapper at Norway, we could've driven the way Conner was driving, we had the fastest kart in the race. We didn't and we still won with 2 pit stops beating out teams that only did 1 pit stop. Point is, you don't have to drive 'dirty' to win.

[Rick]

Phil, I was kidding. I'm not going to risk permanently injuring someone by pushing them off the deep end of the Monza at CHMS just to win a race. You've seen me drive. Have you ever seen me purposely make contact with any other kart? I have no delusions of being the next Scott Speed. If I ever do make it to the Rotax World Championships (doubtful in the near future), I might re-evalutate and adjust my driving style. But until then, it's all for fun.

Actually, if I do make it... can I hire you to drive behind me and protect me from Martin? :lol1:

:hide:

















:wub: Just kidding.