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James · Joined: 04 Oct 2006 Posts: 46 Location: Oxford

Hoping someone can help me with this little dillemma. For my third year at Uni i can go abroad for a year, and i've narrowed it down to Penn State (Pennsylvania, US, 4 hours South West of New York) or the University of Newcastle (Sydney).

The only thing stopping me going at the moment is the thought of stopping racing, so i'm wondering what the chances are of me picking up racing abroad. Hopefully someone here has raced in these countries!

The basic idea i get is that Rotax is quite strong in Australia, and i want to continue with the class, so that initially would be the first choice. Could anyone tell me how concentrated in certain areas it is?
Would i have to travel up and down the East coast?
Are there many tracks/clubs concentrated around Sydney?
Can i race on a National A licence, which as far as i can tell also qualifies as an International C licence?

USA - Is there much Rotax there, or are they more about shifter karts? Is it much the same as UK, with local clubs?
Pretty much the same questions apply here as above!

If anyone with experience of racing in these countries could help or advise me it would be much appreciated, or even put me in contact with someone who could run me whilst abroad.

Thanks all

James (Rotax 89, WMKC)

Nik G · Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 10:23 pm Post subject:

I don't know about Australia or the US but to get an International C license i thought you had to have competed in 5 or 6 Nationa A meeting (Super1, Stars, Super 4). Not that would matter because the legislation brought in by the fia last year states that an international license does not allow you to compete in normal club or national meetings unless you are A) Paid
B) Entering an meeting with an international permit

Also most US racing (except WKA racing) isn't CIK-FIA affiliated. So you'd probably be better off just getting a license out their. Its only going to be medical anyway.

James · Joined: 04 Oct 2006 Posts: 46 Location: Oxford

Hmm cheers Nik, so basically i'll have to get another licence out there, whichever country i go to. The international permit sounds like it works for one race only, so no chance of me having one to let me race all year?

It's probably more hassle than it's worth, i'll look into getting a licence from either country, i'm looking more towards Australia at the moment, so shall search out some info.

13psi · Joined: 10 Nov 2006 Posts: 1

I have been racing for a year or so in California. All I did was send in my 50.00 to the Rotax people and got my license and I was off to the races. I have read about both the UK and Oz and getting started in racing seems like a big expense with a driving test? Come to California and race with the So Cal guys you can use my spare kart to get started.

bon15 · Joined: 10 Nov 2006 Posts: 4

james,
i live in tasmania, australia and have raced here all my life. although not based in new south wales, i have raced there many times nd i can positivly say that newcastle would be a fantastic location 4u 2 study and race! the track in newcastle itself is one of the biggest and most demanding of international standerd tracks. there are many tracks in and around sydney that are of high profile, namely: Eastern creek and Raliegh, both of which have held International CIK eventsin the past.
by the sounds of what u are looking for, aussie would be a great choice u!
hope this helps best of luck

James · Joined: 04 Oct 2006 Posts: 46 Location: Oxford

bon15, thanks for that, sounds awesome!

psi, california is not really an option for me at the moment, and is a fair distance from penn state, thanks for the info though.

In a bit of a rush, going to be away for the weekend but inevitably will have more questions when i get back! Hopefully could help you with your post aswell bon15.

Cheers guys
James

Ellery · Joined: 17 Nov 2006 Posts: 3

I live in Melbourne, Australia, we have the biggest fields down in Victoria, but Sydney isnt bad.
I think the tracks might not be up to the standard you are used too, but definatly more technical and difficult than the US tracks.
The competition on a national level is strong, Australia has not got the amount of money put into karting as Europe, but we still have gun drivers.
Check out www.kartsportnews.com foraustralian karting news, and the next time a big meeting is reported take a look at the pics.
Im sure you would enjoy the country too the people are nice.
Hope this helps.
Cheers.

James · Joined: 04 Oct 2006 Posts: 46 Location: Oxford

Thanks Ellery. What is the racing generally like at club level in Australia? Presuming i go to a big club such as Newcastle's, as far as i can tell Eastern Creek doesn't have its own club? Are there good grids?

Because i'll only be there for a year, and will be living in a flat (i imagine), there's no way i can really store and maintain a kart myself - would you know if there are any teams in the area who can do that all for me? Possibly an option might be even to just rent the whole kart from a team.

Would you know how much either of these options might work out as for me, per race?

Also i race a Gillard here, are there many in Australia? Which seems to be the most successful or popular chassis?

Many questions i know, thanks again all

Ellery · Joined: 17 Nov 2006 Posts: 3

Ey champ,

Newcastle is the hotspot for Australian distributors of the Gillards, They run towards the front at Newcastle, with the current aussie champ McBride winning the nationals in that kart on that track this year. The advice and setup you will get from them would be good I assume.

The newcastle track is around an hour and a bit drive from Sydney, I dont live there so I couldnt tell you the numbers on a clubday, but I think rotax numbers are around 10 or so? Its a great layout with plenty of steep sections and a crazy flip flop. go onto www.kartsportnews.com and look for the track maps, and take a look at newcastle taken via satellite.

also check out this site and talk to the distributor.

http://www.gillardkarts.com.au/

I run an Arrow and always have, they are the most popular kart, have huge amount running in victoria, but it seems that guys in Sydney stick to the european karts, generally because of the hotter weather.

If you got any more Q's post em'

Cheers.

Phil Parkinson · Joined: 20 Nov 2006 Posts: 1

James
Eastern Creek does have a Kart Club. It is The North Shore Kart Club. Web site nskc.com.au
Meetings are held once a month and we are the Home of the 2007 Karting Nationals which should see well over 400 entrants over Easter 2007.
If you get to Australia contact me re; Eastern Creek you will be most welcome.
Cheers
Phil Parkinson
Vice President NSKC

Roger Ruthhart · Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 5:00 pm Post subject:

The U.S. has an extensive Rotax program -- regional race series that qualify for the national runoffs. It is a well-organized and run program. Rotax karts can also compete in TAG classes in the US, which equalize all touch-and-go packages by weight etc. to allow Rotax, Leopards, Rok, Sonik, etc. to run together.

If you are just interested in racing locally, Pennsylvania is not a hot bed of karting. But there are a number of series in NY, NJ, etc. To further explore, you might take a look at the website of the World Karting Association at www.worldkarting.com

Or post more questions and I'll try to answer them.

Roger Ruthhart
Rock Island Grand Prix
Rock Island, Illinois USA
www.rockislandgrandprix.com

James · Joined: 04 Oct 2006 Posts: 46 Location: Oxford

Thanks again guys, Roger cheers for the info but i have decided on Newcastle now, just have to wait and see if i get in!

Phil that would be great, the more people i can contact in Aus the better!

Ellery have checked out all those sites, very helpful. If Rotax isn't the biggest class, which is? Is it TaG? Within TaG is there one engine that dominates or are all fairly equal?

Kart4fun · Joined: 08 Oct 2006 Posts: 404

James,
the most common classes in Australia are "Clubman" and "National J ".
both are Yamaha KT100 based piston port classes.
The "J " is a low power (10hp) class, but very competitive with several weight clases.
The Clubman is the KT100"S" motor class ( remember the "Champs of the Future" class in the '90's ?) using Direct drive bluprinted motors of about 18-20 hp. Again , very competitive and lots of hot drivers.
They have also just started a new "TaG" ( clutched and Estart) version of the Clubman, but i believe its a "stock" motor set up.

Rotax is very common and you will find plenty of racing if that is the way you want to go.

Aussie Bruce · Joined: 05 Oct 2006 Posts: 214 Location: France

Hey guys, what about the Leopard in Oz ?

I know they race Light and heavy in all states plus the Leopard Nationals.

And this is a real TaG machine, the forunner of the new X-30 which has a bit more grunt, 125cc, water-cooled, clutch, elec start, ...... and becoming one of the most popular machines in Europe (except for the U.K. where Rotax is still King and now being closely followed by Easykart (same parilla motor as the X-30 but air-cooled) ........

Bruce
_________________
C'mon Aussie, c'mon

Kart4fun · Joined: 08 Oct 2006 Posts: 404

Bruce,
for sure the Leopard is raced here, and seems to become more popular each year, but it is still far less common than the Max (which had a few years head start and a lot more promotion) .
I think James was looking for a "high numbers, competitive class" to race in at Newcastle, and i don't know if the Leopard is common up there.
Of course there are many others to choose from too, PRD Fireball, Biland, etc, But .. if you want regular mainstream competition , then you have to focus on the Yamaha or Max classes.

Bruce, on a completely different subject....
Have you ever come across a French 4 stroke kart motor called a "Cherban" ?
It was a 26bhp 160cc single with 4 valves OHC etc and odd in that it used a direct coupling to the axle (similar to the RM1)
It was introduced in the mid '90's but seems to have vanished since then.
Just curious as to what happened to it.