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RENTAL KARTING

ZWARTKOPS

ED MURRAY RACING

KARTING IN SOUTH AFRICA 2007

22.01.2007

What will it be for you?

National and Regional Championships in many regions offer all or some of the following MSA sanctioned categories mentioned below.

Age weight, location, budget, technical skills, aspiration, experience and ability all influence your choice of category. Other factors – peer pressure, political and personal issues can complicate matters further but I’ll leave that up to Dr. Phil and concentrate on the finite stuff.

One make formulae have the advantage cost wise for the simple reason that you can peg the technical specification and not spend money on further development with the rapid redundancy costing the end user when several makes of engine compete in a class. The costs in Formula 1 or Touring Cars would be a good point in case when compared to A1GP which is a one make series and costs a fraction of the price.

South Africa has mostly favoured one make formulae with respect to engines and tyres but in all the categories over 10 years old multiple chassis are allowed to provide choice and competition. Chassis and set-up have become a real science and every bit as important as an engine. Today a good chassis/set-up seems more significant than a substantial difference in power. Tyres influence lap times more than engines but fortunately all the South African classes are limited to one make and compound of tyre per specific class.

There is some sense in the order of things – starting at 5 with 50cc Cadette, 7-11 years 60cc GP Junior in each case one engine, one chassis and one tyre. At 11 things get a little more complicated when two options are offered – the Junior ROK or ROTAX Mini MAX. At 13 years the ROTAX Junior MAX becomes an option as well so between 11 and 16 years you have three options. At age 15 you can move on to Max Challenge, Super ROK or ROTAX DD2. What is the difference between ROK and ROTAX, how do you make the right choice?

The first part of the answer to this question is location - before deciding make proper enquiries as to what classes are popular in your region to avoid making a bad choice. Although the classes set out below have National Championship events (four in total) you could end up sitting out in regional and club events or being put into another class where you don't score points for a championship.

If your location offers you a real choice of classes then one needs to look at technical and cost issues. Technically the two engines have a lot in common – 125cc water cooled, electric start, centrifugal clutch, balance shaft, etc. Similar in cost, similar in performance so what sets them apart?

The Max Classes have been built on a philosophy that says that a level playing field and economical racing is achieved by having a handful of authorised service centers who prepare and seal the engines to a spec sheet that allows no blue printing or tuning before handing them over to the end user. The sealing system has been in place since 2000 and at all levels only sealed engines are eligible to race.

The Rok Classes are based on a more traditional approach and the competitor can prepare his own engine within a set of regulations and is not obliged to have his engine sealed. It can be argued that it is more economical if you can do the labour yourself and also that you can tune the engine within the regulations to hopefully gain an advantage. You may well end up taking your Rok to one of the karting engine experts who have years of experience to do this for you.

In both Max and Rok at National Championships technical checks can be done after the race to keep an eye on the ROTAX Service Centers and the Rok individuals.

While there is little to choose between Junior Rok and Junior Max, Mini Max needs serious consideration as a first step after 60cc GP Junior or before age 13 simply because the minimum all up weight is lower than the Junior Max and Junior Rok as well as the fact that the power is reduced (by means of simple removable restrictors) in an effort to provide a safer step into senior karting.

The choice of Max Challenge, Super Rok and ROTAX DD2 is a little different. Beside the sealed formula versus the open formula the differences are:

• Max Challenge and Super ROK are both non gearbox chain drive engines and the chassis used are the same with rear wheel brakes only
• The new Super Rok is more powerful than the well established Rotax Max engine see table below but costs 30% more to purchase
• The Rotax Max engine has an enviable record of reliability and a six month warranty
• The Super Rok will require more regular maintenance given that it revs to nearly 17 000 rpm whereas the Max is limited to 14 000 rpm
• ROTAX DD2 is a two speed, four wheel brake, direct drive class and certainly the fastest National Championship class. The engine is similar in cost to the Super Rok but the fact that the chassis has four wheel brakes makes the package a little more expensive. Maintenance costs are lower thanks to a 13 600 rpm rev limit and no sprocket and chains.

NATIONAL AND REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP CATEGORIES

REGIONAL/CLUB CATEGORIES