7/25/05
TAG™ CLARIFIES LEOPARD TECH ISSUES
Antioch, Illinois — The decision TAG USA™ has made regarding the legality of the 2005 leopards will stand as printed. The methods in which the engines are to be teched remain unchanged. This method has been the standard with all the organizations in the USA.
“We at TAG USA™ refer to the PDF files as homologation papers, this may be wrong on our behalf as none of the engines are CIK approved only TAG USA™ approved using the forms that were designed by a sports group in the USA. The known engine submitted for certification did in fact come from Italian motors and all the specs that have been put in the rule book were from measuring and testing that I did over one year ago,” said Marty Casey of TAG USA.™
“In measuring the motors submitted for certification to TAG USA™, SKUSA and thru collaboration with WKA a common set of measurements were determined using the LAD tool. From these measurements a tolerance was set including room for manufacturing anomalies and tolerances to provide consistency within the TAG™ class structure,” Casey continued. “When I first started my TAG™ adventure some of the rules that I put in place stated no changes and if changes were to take place that they must be first submitted in writing from the importer and or manufacturer only. All the manufactures and importers had knowledge of this, even after the Biland problems at the SuperNats the forums went crazy and it was mentioned many times that the changes must be submitted first in writing before moving forward.”
Example the engines that were submitted must meet the specs that TAG USA™ inspected all the engines at and set specs for, this was done again to protect the karter from manufactures and or importers from changes that would make the current engines perform at a disadvantage.
TAGUSA™ has rules that must be in force first then the PDF files must be followed, this statement was brought up to me by an importer, I felt that they were right and posted it in the rule book. Remember it is stated in most of the organizations rule books that it is your responsibility as a competitor to know the rules, I would have to say by know that all the importers know the rules and should talk to the manufactures to educate them on the TAG USA™ rules.
“This is a statement from IAME that was sent to me from one importer as to how all this started and hurt one of the better engine packages within the TAG USA™ program,” reiterated Casey.
Leopard Exhaust Port Timing
RE: your e-mail dated June 20th 2005.
At the beginning of this year, we have been informed by Jim Russell that many Drivers and Tuners, racing in the Leopard 125cc USA-TaG Classes, have modified the engine exhaust pot timing, increasing it to the maximum dimensions, allowed by the Technical Sheet. To prevent drivers from modifying and abusing mechanically the engines, Jim Russell asked us to manufacture all the 2005 engines, in the Leopard 125cc TaG-USA version, with the max. allowed Exhaust Port Timing, shown on the Technical Sheet. Due to the importance of the decision taken by Jim Russell (and not by us), we invite you to get in touch with him to know his technical and commercial opinion on the matter.
Best Regards, IAME Spa – Bruno Grana
“With all this said I feel to better serve TAG USA™ and the TAG™ International program I will step back into the Technical Directors position as well as the current engine approval director’s position. If you have any questions they must still be sent to the corporate office of TAG USA™ and then they will be forwarded to me,” said Casey.
For more information, see www.tagracing.net.
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