Any Dirt Track Kart Drivers among us?

Chat about Formula 1, V8's, Indycar etc
Forum rules
Please be careful about posting results in threads discussing current sporting events.

Where possible can the first person to start a thread on an event add *spoilers included* (or similar) to the thread title so that all discussion on the event is kept in one place and readers are aware that the content may contain the results.

User avatar
Quincy
Posts: 1700
Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2006 1:30 pm

Any Dirt Track Kart Drivers among us?

Post by Quincy »

Our local car club is tossing up the idea of creating a dirt track for kart racing. . .

I would like to hear thoughts of current/former dirt track racers! :aussie:
balls & boobs. . .
pab
Posts: 2486
Joined: Mon Jan 03, 2005 11:40 pm

Re: Any Dirt Track Kart Drivers among us?

Post by pab »

Ah, I knew I knew your name from somewhere :).

My reply pasted from the iRacing forums:

That would be me.

I race in AIDKA sanctioned races with the Adelaide Dirt Kart Club.

Image

It's a lot of fun, plenty of time is spent sideways, and what's not to like about getting dirty (except for the cleanup afterwards of course)? Dirt karting seems to me to be less about having the best and latest (most expensive) gear and freshest tyres and perfect setup, and more about the driver, which is something I appreciate (although, having good gear is obviously always a help).

Adelaide are holding their promotion day this Sunday (December 5th), drives will be happening between 9.00am and 12.00, with food etc afterwards. Anyone who'd like to give it a go is free to come along, I'll do my best to get you a go in a kart (I work out of the back of my yellow VW Kombi, which makes me easy to find at the track). Luke Annett will also have his motion rig there for the day giving people drives in iRacing which should be fun. Anyone thinking they might like to come along, PM me to let me know to look out for you.

En-J also races, and was at the meeting a week ago where the photo above was taken, unfortunately, he blew his motor before we could get any pics of him :(

The only thing your club should consider is maintenance, if it's going to be anything more than just a place have have a spin for fun then you'll need a water truck and grader to keep the track in reasonable shape to run the sort of specs we run. AIDKA is limited to SA, WA and NT (although I don't believe there are any laws that mean it has to be this way), I believe there is a form of dirt racing in NSW and QLD which uses normal slick tyres on the karts, and they just let the track pack down and go black (takes on rubber so much that it starts to look and handle like a tarmac track), which probably wouldn't need quite so much in the way of maintenance equipment, but IMHO, if you were going to do that you may as well make it a tarmac track right from the word go.

Is the plan to make it a serious race track or just a place for a bit of fun Quince?
PB
Radioactive Race Engineering #16 / Lightning Karts KT100s #61
User avatar
Quincy
Posts: 1700
Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2006 1:30 pm

Re: Any Dirt Track Kart Drivers among us?

Post by Quincy »

lol, thanks pab, I knew you'd chime in :) guess you checked iracing first ;)
Does your kart fit inside the kombi!! f#&king love kombi's!!! :nod:
balls & boobs. . .
pab
Posts: 2486
Joined: Mon Jan 03, 2005 11:40 pm

Re: Any Dirt Track Kart Drivers among us?

Post by pab »

I have to take the sidepods and wheels off to fit it in, but yeah it does (only takes me a few minutes to get them back on when I get there in the morning). A mate of mine stole a skateboard off his son and put a bracket on it so all we need to do is put the front crash bar of the kart on the skateboard and wheel the kart in from the back. Transporting the kart around in it is gradually taking it's toll on the poor old thing though (the odd bump and scratch, and dirt everywhere), I plan to start a restoration within the next 12 months or so, when that happens the kart will have to be in a trailer.
PB
Radioactive Race Engineering #16 / Lightning Karts KT100s #61
User avatar
NeilPearson
Prize Winning ARSE
Posts: 7278
Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2006 11:31 pm
Location: Neil'sville
Contact:

Re: Any Dirt Track Kart Drivers among us?

Post by NeilPearson »

might want to talk to schuey97, he did a total of half a race, then gave up for sucking!
User avatar
Rots
DiscoStu
DiscoStu
Posts: 4602
Joined: Thu Dec 16, 2004 8:42 am
Contact:

Re: Any Dirt Track Kart Drivers among us?

Post by Rots »

NeilPearson wrote:might want to talk to schuey97, he did a total of half a race, then gave up for sucking!
... and then used that to flame everyone here for not having any race experience!

(ignoring the fact that many arse's do in fact race in some form of motorsport)
User avatar
Quincy
Posts: 1700
Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2006 1:30 pm

Re: Any Dirt Track Kart Drivers among us?

Post by Quincy »

So pab, is the fundamental difference between tarmac and dirt karting the tyres?
balls & boobs. . .
pab
Posts: 2486
Joined: Mon Jan 03, 2005 11:40 pm

Re: Any Dirt Track Kart Drivers among us?

Post by pab »

Quincy wrote:So pab, is the fundamental difference between tarmac and dirt karting the tyres?
In the form of dirt racing that I do, basically yes. As I said, I believe there is a form of dirt karting in NSW/QLD that runs a standard slick tyre on dirt, but AIDKA clubs run a groved dirt tyre, primarily a Burris tyre, but there are also other brands starting to move into the market.

Image

http://www.lightningkarts.com.au/index. ... roduct=383

Dedicated dirt kart chassis are also generally built with more flex than a bitumen kart to generate more grip on the dirt, but having said that, there are plenty of people (En-J included I think) who use a chassis designed for bitumen on the dirt successfully.

AIDKA rules generally allow slightly more 'work' to be done to an engine than AKA do, and use a different airbox/airfilter and exhaust system on KT (clubman) karts, but again, whether that affects you or not depends on whether you guys plan to run this as a serious club affiliated with one of the karting associations, or just for some fun for the members.

AIDKA rules (if you're interested and can manage to stay awake while reading them) are here

PM me if you're keen to talk about this directly and perhaps we can get a phone call going if you like.

PB.
PB
Radioactive Race Engineering #16 / Lightning Karts KT100s #61
User avatar
Enforcer-J
Posts: 6512
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2005 11:16 pm
Location: right on your A.R.S.E.

Re: Any Dirt Track Kart Drivers among us?

Post by Enforcer-J »

I think pab's summed everything up nicely.

Dirt kart racing would have to be the cheapest form of motorsport there is after sim racing. It takes a lot of ongoing work to maintain a track though so you'll need the equipment and volunteers to keep things up to scratch (even for a non official club). It might be worth contacting one of the AIDKA clubs pab linked you too and get an idea of the type of track surfaces that work. Adelaide for instance has a lot of clay in it whilst others are mainly sand based. Both have the positives and negatives as far ar drivability, wear, hardness and preperation are concerned.
So yeah, my point is there's a lot of effort involved in creating a dirt track but maintaining it will be the testing part. If you've got enough people interested in it though, you're halfway there :yes:

While I'm here, I thought I'd share a few happysnaps I took the other weekend whilst my kart sat in the pits :S

pab
Image

pab again
Image

These two had an awesome battle with #15 finally sneaking through
Image

The big boys
Image
User avatar
Quincy
Posts: 1700
Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2006 1:30 pm

Re: Any Dirt Track Kart Drivers among us?

Post by Quincy »

Thanks guys, for the info. . .

I'll pass it on.
balls & boobs. . .
doug99
Posts: 608
Joined: Sat Oct 13, 2007 4:17 pm
Location: Dubbo

Re: Any Dirt Track Kart Drivers among us?

Post by doug99 »

I think Forbes used to have an oil-soaked dolomite track with concrete in the corners - I have been told nobody liked it because everything got filthy and the wear & tear on gear was too high. People would either come to Dubbo or Lithgow to race.
User avatar
wobblysauce
Seen it, Done it, Invented it!
Posts: 10489
Joined: Thu Aug 25, 2005 9:53 am
Location: On an Island in the south

Re: Any Dirt Track Kart Drivers among us?

Post by wobblysauce »

unsure if I should post here but oh well.. as the track is Bitumen.

while at the local track Phillip Island Replica(760m) this week.. having a few races with some work mates.
some times.. only person I know from here that has raced on it is dUck, but the fastest of the group of the day was 46.663.. mine 47.606 had traffic tho Pb is 46.990(need to lose more weight as I was about 20kgs more then the fastest.)

I heard that there going to sell some of the older(slower) Champ Karts(I think it was 5) for around $3k, when new $7K+.

but any hoo.. wouldn't it be good if some one made a topic that held ARSE's Track times ...
Some play it safe on the merry-go-round, others go for the thrills of the roller-coaster.

ᕙ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ᕗ vs ლ(ಠ益ಠ)ლ

I have a joke for you. I have a prediction that you are going to walk into a bar, my prediction was wrong and your wallet is gone.
User avatar
Enforcer-J
Posts: 6512
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2005 11:16 pm
Location: right on your A.R.S.E.

Re: Any Dirt Track Kart Drivers among us?

Post by Enforcer-J »

wobblysauce wrote:unsure if I should post here but
Image

:p
User avatar
wobblysauce
Seen it, Done it, Invented it!
Posts: 10489
Joined: Thu Aug 25, 2005 9:53 am
Location: On an Island in the south

Re: Any Dirt Track Kart Drivers among us?

Post by wobblysauce »

well it is dirt tracking.. if you go off.. and quite a few do some how.. :rofl:
Some play it safe on the merry-go-round, others go for the thrills of the roller-coaster.

ᕙ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ᕗ vs ლ(ಠ益ಠ)ლ

I have a joke for you. I have a prediction that you are going to walk into a bar, my prediction was wrong and your wallet is gone.
User avatar
Speed
Posts: 1603
Joined: Sun Jun 26, 2005 7:14 pm
Location: Perth

Re: Any Dirt Track Kart Drivers among us?

Post by Speed »

Well after being reasonably sensible for the last 15 years Emjay and I have applied for AIDKA licences today.
I hope that I can keep dirt kart racing more about having fun than the level of seriousness I applied to the racing that I've done in the past. I'm too old for a lot of stress these days.

I bought a two kart trailer yesterday and I’m going to look at our first kart tonight. :)
We’re both going to be racing in the same class which is possibly playing with fire but the 125 light class is what appeals to us the most.
Push button start and pretty good bang for your buck power-wise and 20 hours between top end rebuilds.

We have 4 tracks within 3 hours and a race meeting pretty much every week so we'll have plenty of variety too. We do only plan on racing about once a month.
http://500px.com/Warren_Joyce" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
User avatar
Enforcer-J
Posts: 6512
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2005 11:16 pm
Location: right on your A.R.S.E.

Post by Enforcer-J »

Top stuff!

Id race 125 if I got back into it. Mostly because you dont have to worry about pushers!

I found once a month was good for the bank balance and the soul. More than that and all the work and organisation would get a bit tedious as it always seemed to take up a whole weekend which is why I took up mtb's.

But... I definitely miss it, you'll have a blast and the 125 class is generally tight so you'll always have someone to race :)
pab
Posts: 2486
Joined: Mon Jan 03, 2005 11:40 pm

Re: Any Dirt Track Kart Drivers among us?

Post by pab »

Wonderful Speed, great to hear, I have a very close relationship with the guys at Lightning Karts over here, if you have any questions at all let me know and I'll put you on to the guys who can answer them for you.

I've hardly raced at all in the last couple of years, but hoping to get back into it in a 125 this year (sharing a kart with a mate of mine).

Let me kow some feedback on the AIDKA Licence application process, I built it, it still has some way to go, but I'd be interested to hear any feedback you have.

PB.
PB
Radioactive Race Engineering #16 / Lightning Karts KT100s #61
User avatar
Speed
Posts: 1603
Joined: Sun Jun 26, 2005 7:14 pm
Location: Perth

Re: Any Dirt Track Kart Drivers among us?

Post by Speed »

Thanks Pab and EJ.

The licence process was pretty painless...I think the only issues we had were that it says that ambulance coverage is compulsory but then there is no requirement to add any details and we were asked for our kart numbers which as new members we don't have.
http://500px.com/Warren_Joyce" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
User avatar
w00dsy
The Senna of Hoppers Crossing
Posts: 24457
Joined: Wed Mar 02, 2005 2:41 pm
Location: incognito

Re: Any Dirt Track Kart Drivers among us?

Post by w00dsy »

Speed wrote:
The licence process was pretty painless...

sounds like the last event wasn't. How good are you at wiping your butt with the left hand?
User avatar
Speed
Posts: 1603
Joined: Sun Jun 26, 2005 7:14 pm
Location: Perth

Re: Any Dirt Track Kart Drivers among us?

Post by Speed »

Haha, about as good as I am typing with it. 8 weeks with a full cast apparently and I have to wait 10 days to get more xrays to see if I need surgery.
The upside is that I was very close to the pace of the top guys on my first meeting off "P's.
I was fighting for fourth in the final of a big meet over here. The guy in front of me was driving pretty defensively and I rolled it after clipping the windrow on the inside of the corner while trying to setup a pass up the main straight.
The front of the kart bit in and I endoed it and I broke my arm.

On a side note one of my brothers had his first meeting yesterday...on hi 61st birthday. :)

Here are a couple of photos I took for my FB profile. Really just having a bit of fun but I haven't done any photography for ages so I thought I could, so I would. :)

Image
Image
http://500px.com/Warren_Joyce" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
User avatar
Enforcer-J
Posts: 6512
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2005 11:16 pm
Location: right on your A.R.S.E.

Re: Any Dirt Track Kart Drivers among us?

Post by Enforcer-J »

Great pics :)

Hope you have a speedy recovery that sounds nasty :/ ive never rolled it fortunately but I ran over someone who did once :/ he spent a few days in hospital. The old man got an award one year for the most rollovers in a year with 4 haha.
User avatar
Speed
Posts: 1603
Joined: Sun Jun 26, 2005 7:14 pm
Location: Perth

Re: Any Dirt Track Kart Drivers among us?

Post by Speed »

Thanks

I had rollover in my first meet off "P"s 20 years ago when I raced bitumen karts. Hopefully yesterday's one was my last. :)

Ouch, 4 in one season must've been pretty disheartening.
http://500px.com/Warren_Joyce" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
User avatar
wobblysauce
Seen it, Done it, Invented it!
Posts: 10489
Joined: Thu Aug 25, 2005 9:53 am
Location: On an Island in the south

Re: Any Dirt Track Kart Drivers among us?

Post by wobblysauce »

Well your pics look the part.
Some play it safe on the merry-go-round, others go for the thrills of the roller-coaster.

ᕙ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ᕗ vs ლ(ಠ益ಠ)ლ

I have a joke for you. I have a prediction that you are going to walk into a bar, my prediction was wrong and your wallet is gone.
User avatar
Enforcer-J
Posts: 6512
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2005 11:16 pm
Location: right on your A.R.S.E.

Re: RE: Re: Any Dirt Track Kart Drivers among us?

Post by Enforcer-J »

Speed wrote: Ouch, 4 in one season must've been pretty disheartening.
He won a title that year so it didn't effect him much! An all or nothing racer if ever ive seen one
User avatar
VTRacing
Team Pedant (c)
Posts: 4651
Joined: Thu Oct 25, 2007 9:14 am

Re: Any Dirt Track Kart Drivers among us?

Post by VTRacing »

I hope you heal up well.

Plus, I think you're mad; rolling is much less painful when you have a roll cage around you...I've had six rollovers in my career.
:teach:
Post Reply