"Because Race Kart" (theresidentracer)
09/16/2014 at 14:26 • Filed to: None
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"Because Race Kart" (theresidentracer)
09/16/2014 at 14:26 • Filed to: None | 3
| 2 |
As you may or likely don't remember I've been posting race reports from the races I do in kart road racing. Two weekends ago (Sept.6th-7th) we were at Summit Point Raceway. Yes, the track that appears on Jalopnik frequently because of those damn deer. No, we didn't hit any out there, and you don't want to (fatal). EDIT: Video hyperlinking isn't working...just click on the link to watch them.
For the first time, we got to race both days, as we finally had our stuff together. This time we fielded two karts, a sprint CIK kart, the kart I raced at VIR, and a sprint-enduro kart as pictured above. With a full fiberglass bodywork creating a drag reducing shape, this bad boy can go over the 100mph mark. I was piloting the latter, with my sister in the former. And this was also my first time in it. After some practice, we hit the track while the skies were not looking friendly. We weren't going to be denied a race right when we were gridded up so the engines began firing up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaMeAj…
I was the only one running a full pipe exhaust, so I was indisputably the fastest one out there. However the rain was on it's way, and on lap 4 the first turn was very greasy. A red flag was waved but a kart happened to be stalled there and became a victim to my error. The driver bailed out of the way and the gopro on his kart captured a different story.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjSzSi…
I got right up, feeling no pain whatsoever. Still never really felt any pain afterwards. But enough boasting, the only damage to my kart was a bent rear bumper rubbing on the rear right tire, we easily bent it back. The other kart only sustained front bumper damage, but the bumper was plastic so they easily fixed the damage too. We both made it out for the encore race since the first was red flagged. We eventually retired due to engine temps getting too high for comfort.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVhjQV…
The next day we were treated to sunny skies, and the race went off without a hitch. I was still the fastest out there, but once again the engine temp was too high, and I came into the pits twice to cool it. I was also having trouble with the wind pulling my helmet up, so I was straining my neck to look down. Quite annoying and painful I might add. But Sunday was a success. During practice the engine ran 14,900 RPMs. We don't have a way to measure speed on the steering wheel display, but using a formula we found out that at that RPM we hit a top speed of 97MPH. Not bad at all. Next race is October 11-12, same track and course. And it's shaping up to be even better than this one.
thedevilinside
> Because Race Kart
09/16/2014 at 14:37 |
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What do you think you'll be able to do to keep the temps down?
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Because Race Kart
> thedevilinside
09/16/2014 at 14:55 |
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Good question. The weather will be cooler/colder, so we'll have that helping us. We have several ideas. We are installing a NACA duct for air flow into the air filter, and we will have the engine angled rather than flat to get more air. In all honesty the temps may be fine where it was at, (490F max) but being revved at those rpms at those temps for about 20-30 seconds can stick the engine.