e-KMI.com The Racers Edge

International Karting Industry Buyer's Guide

GO KARTING!
A Guide To The World's Most Popular Motorsport.

Kart Expo International

THE RACERS EDGE

ROTAX MAX NATIONAL TECH DIRECTOR GOES TO AUSTRIA
By Scott G. Evans

For two solid days, I was as nervous as a long-tailed cat in roomful of rocking chairs! I couldn’t quite figure out why because, though I feel like a country boy most of the time, I’m no Goober when it comes to travel. I was raised in the metropolis of Chicago, I have traveled and lived all over the United States and parts of Canada, and feel as though I have enough experience in the worldly ways to survive anywhere I choose. So, why was a little ol’ trip to Austria bothering me so much?

I am writing this to you from a hotel room at the Bayrischer Hof in Wel, Austria. I am here, on assignment, from SSC Racing, Palm Springs, California, for part of my training as National Technical Director for the Rotax Max Challenge series in the States. Wels, or more correctly Gunshirchen, is the home of the Rotax-Bombardier factory. My hosts, Manfred Weissgaerber and Helmut Voglsam, along with their colleagues and support staff are providing me with an excellent insider’s look at the workings of one of the world’s most famous engine manufacturers. The insights and experience that I gain from this trip will help to launch the “Challenge” as a series within America, providing a solid, proven avenue for kart racers wishing to participate in a slightly larger venue... the world! But more on those specifics later. Back to my journey for now!

I, of course, had to apply for a passport ahead of time, book a flight overseas, make proper arrangements so that all would be fine on the home front before I left. All these things were done and I had to listen to the guys at work gush over the fact the Scott G, Evans was actually going global. It may not seem like much to those of you who do it as a matter of fact, but for me it was quite noteworthy. I had even participated in these discussions, kidding around about this and that and actually felt quite comfortable with the idea. But about two days before the trip, I acquired some sort of ill-defined uneasiness with the whole concept. Nevertheless I forged ahead, finalized plans, went to the airport and got on that plane to Dusseldorf, Germany, the first stop before landing in Linz, Austria.

The flight went well, albeit mostly in the dark. I got some uneasy sleep over the Atlantic and woke up in time to see us cross over the British coast near Liverpool. I was a little surprised to see a rather mountainous area, dusted with snow, and crosshatched in a haphazard pattern with what looked like roads. I watched out the window as we crossed over into continental Europe airspace and finally a southerly turn across Germany into our destination. So far, so good!

Still, I was half expecting some gentle, good-natured man to tap me on the shoulder, wake me up and say, “Son, you didn’t think this fantasy could last, did you?” But no one came to upset my dream and soon we were landing in Dusseldorf. I wandered around, half lost, in the airport looking for a way to burn up the two-hour layover before the flight to Linz. Then, as I sat marveling at the concept of half-naked women on the front page of the newspaper (what’s up with that?), I was brought to a grim reality.

Apparently, I had eaten something on the airplane that was bringing about a full-blown allergic reaction from my body. My ears burned, neck, face and arms filled with hives and my throat constricted. This has happened to me once before – maybe ten years ago – after having eaten some canned crabmeat. I has since sworn off crabmeat and had no more problems. My mind whirred. No, I had not eaten any crab on the flight, but there had been some cocktail shrimp. I never had any problem with shrimp, nonetheless there was no argument with the current circumstances. I wandered up and down the aisles of the Dusseldorf airport, looking every bit the part of an American Werewolf in Germany, searching for a pharmacy where I could buy some life-saving antihistamine.

Finally, my search in vain, I inquired at the Lufthansa counter if they knew where I could find a drugstore nearby. No, she replied, but based on my dire appearance she agreed to contact the first aid officer at the airport. He soon arrived, made a phone call to a doctor who agreed to dispense a pill that would help me. Alas, my connecting flight was only thirty minutes away by now and a conference with the pilot affirmed what I already knew – I would be missing that connection. I asked the airline to call ahead and notify my contact in Linz that I would be late getting in and settled in for a long six-hour wait for the next flight.

Well, I made it through, although two days later my body was still fighting the effects of the unknown poison. I have the friendly and cooperative people of Dusseldorf to thank for my rescue, especially the first aid officer, Rolf. If I never see you again, I still owe you a big favor. Danke. Meine Herr!

So, the next day, after Helmut had graciously waited at the Linz airport for my arrival and Manfred had come to get me for my ride from Bayrischer Hof to the Rotax factory in the morning. I was ready to go to work… disaster averted.

The Rotax Max engine package truly is a quantum change in karting as we know it. It is a 125cc, two-cycle, water-cooled, reed valve engine, meticulously designed, manufactured and assembled to produce almost perfectly equal engines across the board. Rotax supplied all the engines for last years World Finals in Puerto Rico and as a precaution, ran those fifty engines across a dyno prior to distributing them to the competitors. There was less than 0.2kw difference in power output from the lowest to the highest.

The truly unique thing about the Max is the sealing process. Only authorized service centers are allowed to work on these engines and, when complete, the primary fasteners are wire sealed with a serial number to prevent any one from opening them for modifications. Not to mention that regular service is scheduled for only every fifty hours of use!

The premise is well thought out and quite noble, in my opinion. The idea of a low maintenance engine, comfortable for the competitor with reduced noise, emissions and vibration, and the performance equalized and guaranteed with spec sealing is a concept long missing from karting. – Indeed heretofore non-existent.

The elements that are strong points for the Max are the very ones that threaten to destroy 100cc karting in Europe and Briggs & Stratton karting in the U.S. The engines and rules have been tweaked to such a fine knife-edge that cost and reliability are the prime movers when considering either type of engine. The stories I am told about the CIK and 100cc engines sound disturbingly familiar to the flathead situation in the States. The more I listen to these gentlemen, the more I recognize their commitment to karting in general and the easier it was to be sold on the Max package. Development is underway to create a full-spectrum product line based on this engine with packages for juniors, novices, seniors, heavies and… I almost let the cat out of the bag!

Many of you have asked me and have been surprised to find out that I have never driven a race kart. Well, my fiends, I am no longer virginal in that sense. We took a one-of-a-kind, prototype kart with an unbelievable engine package out to their private test track under a bridge near the freeway and they convinced me to let my hair down and take her for a spin. I think I handled it pretty well and thank goodness I didn’t deposit the thing in the bushes. I was sworn to secrecy so I am sorry I can’t reveal any details about this kart and engine, but if I make my guess, it will cause a sensation when it hits the market. For now, I am just trying to wipe the grin off of my face.

Now, for some personal observations on the subject of Austria! The food is quite good, but it seems that most everything comes with a gravy of some type. I like gravy well enough, nevertheless, I refrained from eating at McDonald’s for fear that they would serve my Quarter Pounder, open-faced and smothered in McGravy. Then I had some wiener schnitzel, which turned out to be pretty much like chicken-fried steak, should have had some gravy and it came with jelly. Go figure.

I was ready to tear into the Austrian road system and, truthfully, I am still very thankful for our system back home. It is practically impossible to find your way around once you get in the heart of any city. The city streets are painfully narrow and poorly marked and seem to have no real discernible pattern of logic. However, I took a tour around the Austrian countryside and found the main highways well marked, if a little confusing, but well maintained, free of potholes and relatively uncongested. The numbering and routing system is a little like driving Michigan roads with Wisconsin numbering, but I managed to find my way back (to the hotel).

The people are very nice, most of them speak English of varying skill levels but never hesitated to revert to German in my presence. Being a pridefull bunch, they prefer to call their language “Austrian” but I am told it is pretty mush the same as German. I must admit to feeling more than a little intimated having no native language skills. At least now I know how a southern Hoosier feels once he gets north of Indianapolis.

The mountains and valleys are covered with grass. Wherever there isn’t a house or trees, there is grass. Who planted all that grass? Maybe it has been there the whole time, I don’t know. I didn’t see any livestock feeding on it so who in the heck mows all this stuff? Maybe I’ll set up a close-out pipeline for all you flathead guys to unload your engines in a couple of years.

The populace appears to be a very obedient group. I was waiting for a light to change at a pedestrian crosswalk with maybe fifty other people. There wasn’t a car to be seen for a quarter mile so I busted off across the street – against the red light. I was nearly knocked down by the collective gasp of horror!

Speed limits are controlled by photo radar and, in general, if you know where they are, the sky’s the limit on the autobahn. Most of the cars are familiar versions of the same cars from the States although almost all are European or Japanese. Many of the burn diesel fuel, in fact, my rental can was an Opel diesel and it ran quite nicely. There are hardly any pick-em-up trucks or SUVs. There are however quite a few American mini-vans as well as a great number of a special European “micro-van” of various makes.

So that’s it. In spite of my early troubles, I have to consider this trip a complete success. I am coming away from it with my horizons broadened to a great extent. I am coming home with a great deal of information and clarity of purpose and intent in the Rotax Max Challenge that I was lacking somewhat before. Many thanks to my hosts and my sponsor. And, if your are reading this, I made it through the airline food without incident on the way home. Maybe, I’ll just smuggle aboard an Austrian Slim Jim with a thermos full of gravy. I know I can survive that! Auf weidersehn!

Article Courtesy: The Inside Track

NOISE, KARTING AND YOUR HEARING
By Darrell Sitarz

Where there’s kart racing, there’s noise!

What is noise? In simple terms noise is sound. We are able to close our eyes to bright light, but if we want to shut out sound, we must resort to artificial means.

To indicate the strength or intensity of sound, we use a unit called the decibel (dB). The scale used is graded from 0 to 140-dB. This represents roughly the range of sound the human ear is able to hear.

A sound of 0 dB is so weak that it is practically inaudible, whereas a sound level of 120 dB is so loud, it causes pain in the human ear. The dB scale is logarithmic so it doesn’t add or subtract in the normal way. Add a 60-dB noise to another 60-dB noise and you wind up with a 63-dB noise. An increase of 10-dB means that the sound intensity has been increased 10 times.

The other characteristics of sound is frequency… the number of sound waves per second measured in hertz (Hz), which the ear registers as pitch. The higher the frequency, the higher the pitch. Most noises we encounter on a daily basis have a wide variety of frequencies.

NOISE CAN BE A HEALTH HAZARD
The chief detrimental effect of excessive noise is loss of hearing. The ear is a very sensitive instrument, capable of translating sound between 16 Hz and 20,000 Hz into nerve impulses, which are interpreted by the auditory centers of the brain.

The perception of sound by the nerves takes place in the inner ear. The actual organ of hearing is a complex structure of hair-like cells which contain the auditory nerve endings. Excessive noise overstrains these cells and in time, they suffer irreparable damage. Unlike most other human cells, the hearing are not regenerated. Hearing loss caused by noise is permanent and incurable.

Noise has other negative effects on the human system, even after only a short period of exposure. The noise doesn’t have to be very loud either. The body subconsciously registers noise as a warning signal. All parts of the body are put on instant alert. Physically and emotionally, the body is reacting to the effects of noise.

There are about 20,000 hearing cells in each of your inner ears. Sound waves coming in from the outside set these hair-like cells vibrating. When that happens, the cells transmit the signals to the brain as sound. These cells are very specialized. Some react to high-pitch sound waves, while others to low pitch. The total pattern of signals is received by the brain enables you to tell different sounds apart.

But the human brain will not get the complete pattern unless all of the 40,000 hearing cells are in good working order. And these cells will not be if they are battered by excessive noise.

You can rest your eyes by shutting them, but you aren’t equipped with “earlids”, so hearing cell can never rest. Day and night, the hearing cells are always working. Sound comes in and is routed to your brain. This constant usage is hard on the cells, but excessive noise makes it even harder. The cells are totally defenseless when noise come thundering in – unless you do something about it.

Noise puts years on the hearing cells. It gradually wears them out until they break down and die, one after another. The fewer there are, the more distorted sound becomes. Worst of all, you won’t even notice what’s happening at first, because the brain fills in the gaps. But as more of the cells die, the gaps get larger and it becomes more difficult for the brain to fill in the gaps. You may hear someone talking, but you can’t quite make out what’s being said, especially if there is noise in the background. In a sense, you hear the rhythm of the music, but the song doesn’t sound very good because some of the notes are missing. When this stage is reached, you have an incurable hearing handicap.

KARTING AND YOUR HEARING
Constant engine noise, whether from a 4-cycle or 2-cycle engine, can and will be detrimental to your hearing and your health. The noise does not have to be at the 120-dB level – it’s constant, persistent noise that breaks down hearing cells.

What can be done? You have to protect yourself and excuses will not save your hearing. Admittedly, hearing protectors can feel a bit uncomfortable, but many people have poor excuses for not wearing them. Some kart racers say they cannot properly hear the engine while racing so they can tweak the carb. Shop owners say it’s a nuisance to put on hearing protectors when they are running an engine or grinder for a few minutes. And there are those who say the noise doesn’t bother them. This means they have already done damage to their hearing. Remember, excuses will not protect your hearing from noise.

The important thing in getting used to hearing protectors is to start gradually. They are bound to feel uncomfortable at first. It’s like wearing a new pair of shoes. If you increase the wearing time, day by day, you will become used to them and the discomfort will disappear. Before long, you will be more irritated by noise than by the protectors. This is a healthy sign that your hearing cells are working as they should.

Hearing protectors come in all shapes and sizes. The important thing is to choose the ones that comfort you best. The more comfortable, the more inclined you will be to continue to use them. There are two different styles that can be worn under racing helmets: Permanent and Disposable.

A. Permanent Earplugs are usually made of plastic or silicone rubber. Though they come in a variety of styles and sizes, they have one thing in common: they are intended to be used more than once. These plugs, when properly fitted in the ear canal, provide a good seal.

B. Disposable Earplugs are made of mineral down or foam plastic. They are intended for single usage and then discarded. Because of the materials, these earplugs can adapt to changes in the shape of the ear canal due to jaw movement; this is the most popular style.

Don’t think that hearing protectors are just for racers. When benchtesting an engine or working in a shop where loud noise occurs, wear an earmuff-style protector for the best safety. Remember that it’s constant sound, whether moderate or loud, that wears out hearing cells.

Hearing, sight, taste, smell and tough are the five human senses. Hearing combined with speech allows humans to communicate, learn and enjoy sounds throughout our lives. We must take precautions to protect our hearing, one of the most important of our senses.

Karting is only a part of life’s experiences, so take the steps necessary to protect your hearing. And, remember: it is never too late to begin.

END

View Past "The Racers Edge" Articles

Kart Marketing Group, Inc.
Post Office Box 101
Wheaton, IL 60189 USA
Telephone: 630-653-7368
Fax: 630-653-2637
Email: karting@msn.com

Back to Home Page

Neatconcept, Inc