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International Karting Industry Buyer's Guide

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

Kart Expo International

Racewear is only one component of protection for drivers on the track. The other components consist of the kart, engine and the track itself. All four of these components must be properly in place to keep drivers from harms way. In part two of this article, we will discuss shoes, gloves, helmet supports or neck collars and rib protection. 

SHOES
Shoes of all types have been seen out on the track; tennis shoes basketball shoes, wrestling shoes, running shoes, hiking boots and even military boots. These are all better than no shoes, but the lack of style, comfort and protection that today’s karting shoes give the racer. The shoe craze, in general, has also hit racing.

You have high-tops, mid-tops, low-tops, heat transfer, speedfit, pre-formed soles, layered soles, multi-density soles, leather uppers, suede uppers, nylon uppers, hard tongues, soft tongues, ultra-padded tongues, and so on. Most karting shoe manufacturers use suede uppers, multi-density soles, padded tongues and Velcro closures in a high-top or mid-top range. Most karting shoes are great with the exception of the ones that incorporate the use of nylon fabric within the shoe. The important factor in shoes is the Velcro strap. This is primarily used to secure a good fit at the ankle, but offers a secondary use of holding down laces so they don’t get snagged.

GLOVES
Gloves are an integral component of karting racewear. As the shoes, gloves of all types have been seen at the track. Glove making in general is a science of its own with terms such as: belly leather, bias tape, clicking, cuff, fourchettes, gauntlet, grain, gusset, welt, and more. Then you have the types of leather which include: buckskin, buffalo carbretta, calf, chamois, cow, deerskin, Morocco, and pigskin. 

Karting glove styles of today differ only slightly from brand to brand. Sizing is determined by measuring around the largest part of the hand over the knuckles while making a fist, excluding the thumb. That measurement is the size. 7”= Extra Small, 8”= Small, 9”= Medium, 10”= Large, 11”=Extra Large, 12”=XX Large.

When determining brand preference, look at the seams, tug at them. Are they pulling apart? Do you see fabric unraveling? Do you see a lot of stitching? Is the Velcro strap secured adequately? Try on a pair slightly smaller than your current size and see if you can locate any failures in the fabric or stitching. Use your best judgment when it comes to fabric that is too thin for the back of the hand. Look for added protection on knuckles, palm, wrist, fingertips and forearm.
 

HELMET SUPPORTS
There have been many terms used to describe this item: neck collar, neck protector, neck support, helmet rest and more. The original term was “helmet support”. It was designed to protect the collarbone when a helmet was thrust forward in a crash. After using the device for many years, we have seen a drastic decline in neck-related injuries. Helmet supports today are a mandatory safety device for most sanctioning bodies in karting. 

There are many different colors, styles and designs in the marketplace. 360-degree supports are the most popular. Be sure they are equipped with a heavier density foam, not the sponge-like foam used in furniture -–this is way too soft and offers little if any protection.  Watch out for “”horseshoe-type” supports because these do not offer protection all the way around the neck and are usually made of the lighter density foam.

RIB PROTECTION
Rib protectors are somewhat new to the karting scene. These devices are worn under the suit around the mid-section of the torso. They work to help dissipate energy from the track during turns, in rough terrain and during collisions with obstacles and/or other karters. The energy comes through the kart to the seat and the seat in return delivers the blow directly to the ribs. The device absorbs energy into its plastic ribs or shell and distributes it over a large area, minimizing energy. The medium density foam absorbs even more energy, hopefully saving many days of pain and discomfort. These devices are not mandatory now, but should be in the next season or two. (Attention sanctioning bodies – open your eyes!) 

Most brands offer a vest-type product that as a plastic vertical rib over medium density foam covered in mesh, nylon and cotton. They offer Velcro adjustable straps and elastic back straps to help sizing. Some have antisub belts so they will not ride up, shoulder padding and so on. The things to look for are at least 1/8-inch thick plastic inserts, full protection from the front rib cage all around the spine, and a minimum of ¼-inch foam padding.

KARTING RACEWARE SAFETY STANDARDS
As of today, karting has two options when it comes to safety standards for racewear: SFI and FIA. Both of these organizations offer specs that test the racewear to see if it will hold up under adverse conditions. I believe both to be average at best. There will be a day in the not so distant future when racewear manufacturers will be required to pass standardization tests in order to sell their gear as “certified”. Drivers will be better off and sport as a whole will see less injuries and deaths across the board. Manufacturers will need to come together if this is to become a reality. 

Remember the four elements of karting safety: kart, engine, track and racewear. Be fast, but be safe!
 

About the author: Darren Swisher has 17 years of experience in general apparel design, construction and manufacturing including 14 years in motorsport apparel. Swisher is based in Indianapolis, Indiana.
 

“WHO WON?” 
The History of Timing and Scoring

At the end of a close race, spectators and scoring personnel often ask, “Who won?” The answer to this question may not be clear, especially if the stakes are extremely high or the finish is extremely close. As technology is advancing at an unprecedented pace and drivers are investing more and more dollars to shave milliseconds off their lap times, racing has become more competitive than ever. This makes the job of the timing and scoring personnel even more difficult since the margins of victory are shrinking as the average top speeds of karts are increasing.

The job of tracking and timing karts in a race used to be quite exhausting, especially when there were numerous competitors or the race covered a long period of time. In the past, all timing and scoring was performed manually with a stopwatch and/or scorekeepers writing down the order of drivers passing the finish line. 

There were several disadvantages to this method of score keeping. The timer could lose track of competitors, times could be inaccurate, or officials could be biased towards specific drivers and be more generous on lap times. Drivers were not given lap times or positions until after a race and only if team members kept track with a stopwatch. Though inexpensive, this method was tedious at best and unreliable with a large margin for error. Manual timing and scoring are no longer options for many of the larger races since accurate race results are imperative.

A primitive automatic timing and scoring system was introduced around the year 1910 – when auto racing was beginning to come into full development and the call for proper time keeping grew louder and louder. In the first Grand Prix of Brazil, a garden hose filled with water was laid across the finish line. As each car passed over the hose, the resulting pressure would move a piston which was connected to a relay. The relay activated the time keeping equipment. This method, obviously, was unreliable due to factors such as air bubbles, fluctuations in temperature, and slow pressure recovery in the hose. Also, there was no way to determine if more than one car passed the line simultaneously. The only way the system would work was if one driver was far ahead of the rest of the field and crossed the finish line by himself. This scenario was very unlikely in extremely competitive races where the margin of victory was in milliseconds.

The next step in the evolution of timing and scoring was the use of photocells in races. A beam of light would track the passing time of the driver in the first position. Although extremely accurate and reliable, this method could only indicate when a driver passed through the beam. It could not identify the driver and if more than one driver passed the beam at the same time in a close finish, it could not determine who was the winner. In a sense, this method was just an electronic version of the hose method described earlier.

Since it was desirable to obtain lap times for all competitors and not just the leader, a push button electronic scoring system was developed. This system consisted of a keyboard with a button for each competitor. Every time a competitor crossed this finish line, that driver’s corresponding button was pushed. Although it was more accurate than manual timing, disadvantages such as biased scorekeepers and missed passings were still present.

In the early 1980s, the first transponder system was introduced. This was a momentous event in the history of timing and scoring. Since not the entire process was automated and there was no room for bias. All automatic timing and scoring systems work in the same way. Each competitor is given a transponder or transmitter which identifies that competitor in a race. At the finish line, there is some method, whether it is magnetic induction or radio frequencies, to determine which transponder passed by and at what time.

Automatic timing and scoring systems have since become extremely sophisticated with systems that can accommodate an unlimited number of competitors in a race with accuracy’s in the thousandths of a second. Race results are available immediately with customized results that can print out individual lap times, qualifying times, point standings and more. The results can also be broadcast in real time on television, scoreboards and Internet pages.

With the rapid evolution of technology in the racing world, new advanced timing systems are always being developed to keep page with our fast-changing society. As long as there is racing, there will be a need for accurate, reliable timing and scoring systems so there will never be a doubt as to “Who won?”
 

Article courtesy: AMB i.t.
 

END

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