At the end of last year, WSKC revealed plans for a circuit/track extension.

Since then, there has been a few alterations to the actual planned layout but essentially it's still the same. Let's have a look at the plans below:

The initial "Approved Track Extension" looked really nice, although we have to admit, it may not have created any kind of overtaking opportunities with such a fast complex and then a kink into a long right hander. You would need to be alongside or past down the short straight to stand any chance of completing an overtake by the time you reached the kink.

The tweaked design adds two much slower corners in place of the fast left right. On the plan they look very similar to the existing tight right at the end of the start/finish "straight".

Only time will tell how these corners will work but we think they may create some "lunging" opportunities. The short straight in the middle of the two corners is only slightly longer than the gap between the double apex tight right handers we mentioned earlier.

At the end of the straight (which looks as if it will actually be shorter than the current straight) you have a left kink into an extremely long right hander, if your kart isn't set up right, you are going to lose some time here.

Your rear left tyre will be begging for this corner to be over!

The left hander immediately after this "loop" could see overtaking opportunities with karts staying on the throttle longer after the loop and aiming deep into the left.

We think the next combination of kinks and bends will prove a great place for overtaking. After the tightish left hander there is a right kink which will probably be flat out, followed by what will be a left followed by an even tighter left.

Braking will be tricky here as you will be trying to settle the kart for the tight left. We can see many drivers turning in slightly later for the first left to get the kart straightened up ready to make a move deep on the inside of the tight left hander.

These two corners remind us of the double left at Hooten Park or a more exotic example would be T9-T10 at Bahrain..

The example we have used above is assuming the club run the "Summer Track"

The "Summer Gearbox" Track looks ok, but could do without the two slow left and right handers at the start. We have came up with our own preffered "Gearbox Track" but obviously realise there may be safety factors etc to consider.

The obvious disadvantage of this is that you are shortening the straight for the gearbox karts. If the left right could be made subtle enough to be flat out, they would be real big balls corners (we imagine). The original track design would have worked very nicely for KZ and 250s but it's not the end of the world.

So what are your overall thoughts on the planned track extension? It's very difficult to gauge how the track will flow until you actually get karts out on track, but we can try!

Hopefully WSKC will comment on this post and give us all an update on how things are progressing

Review in progress. Stay tuned.

Plans have emerged for a new "Kart Racing Complex" which will be situated in the West Midlands.

The plans have not yet been agreed but are expected to go before a planning committee soon. If approved, it is expected to cost £3 Million.

The driving force behind the development is Roy Johnson, whos son, Roy Johnson Jnr has been competing in the UK and Europe for a number of years.

So, what do we think?

It appears as though the developer has big plans for the complex. The initial mock-up video shows a basic layout of what is planned. It's unclear how accurate this mock-up is, as we think the circuit looks a little twisty!

Below is a quote from www.expressandstar.com

Quote

Speaking about the effect the complex will have on the local economy, Mr Johnson said: “Me and my son are off to a race weekend.

“This will cost me £80 a night for me and my son for three nights in the hotel, £240. Then we will have to chip into the mechanic that will probably be another £150. Then I have got to feed the mechanic, feed my son, me, the missus.

“This is an example of a monthly race meeting which we are hoping to have. Some of the bigger teams have some eight people. That is eight people spending that, £4,000 plus.”

Mr Oliver added: “An event could bring in some £200,000 to the economy in just one weekend. One event a month and you are looking at £2.4 million.”

Mr Johnson said: “It will be a premier facility, aiming to be one of the best"

What we learn from this, is that the developer is expecting a certain type of customer if he thinks his estimations for the local economy are realistic.

For these figures to be achievable, it will have to rival PFI in both facilities, but also in its clients/customers for monthly club meetings.

If they do succeed in making this club attractive for these customers, it will be interesting to see how this will effect the numbers competing at PFI.

I'm not sure what will lure the big teams away from PFI, other than it's location, which may be preferable for many teams.

If the club fails to attract the client base it hopes, it will also be interesting to see whether this club would become more "Dad & Lad" freindly.

It's not clear from the article what the day to day running of the complex would involve. We imagine it will be an arrive and drive business through the week, with a club running a race weekend once a month. This model is common throughout the UK which circuits such as GYG, Dunkeswell, Three Sisters, Llandow, Rowrah, PFI amongst many others, all running this arrangement.

There are exceptions to this rule, but most of these are using land owned by either the MOD or on land used for a second purpose during the week. Examples would be Forest Edge (MOD) Rissington (MOD) Fulbeck (Private land owner with agricultural business throughout the week). As a general rule, the clubs who run a karting business throughout the week, are able to rely on the business for investment in the circuit and facilities, rather than relying on the income from entries etc. This means the club meetings at a weekend can run with relatively small grids without too much hassle.

A little bit off topic there!

So, will we see this circuit succeed? This project has big plans and clearly hopes to target the bigger, more "premier" clubs out there. We will try and follow the progress of this project to see whether it can make it from the drawing board to reality..

What are your thoughts on where Karting is heading?

Having been back in the seat for the last 6 years, I have seen quite a lot of unrest in the karting community.

The introduction of IKR (Non-MSA Racing)

Demise of Rotax

Boom of X30

Failure of KF/Introduction of OK.

To name just a few!

Going over all the classes available, what's right, what's wrong in multiple discussions over the years, it inevitably raises the question of where is the sport heading?

With current technology, are people less attracted to motorsport and karting? Would they rather sit at home wearing their Oculus Rift playing racing sims than get up at ridiculous times in the morning, after a week of prepping their gear to be on track for about an hour and a half in total?

Are there members of the younger generation who want to put in all the time and effort?

Is Arrive and Drive the future of karting?

Can Owner Driver karting survive but on a smaller scale?

Can it be revived with an entirely new model?

I'm interested to hear thoughts on the issue.

My own personal view is that Arrive and Drive series (Club 100, BUKC, Daytona Max etc) will gain in popularity. There is still a need for drivers to go fast, but without the hassle of owning and maintaining a kart.

Owner driver karting will continue to see strong grids in Cadet and Junior Formulas, because let's be honest, if you want your little one on "The Ladder to F1" you will pay a team to get him/her out on track.

Senior Karting?

I honestly don't know. It may just carry on struggling at club level, with LGM, S1 and the likes staying popular. 

KZ grids may continue to attract the remainder of the senior club grids.

I only have a limited experience of karting, mainly from a drivers perspective. We are hoping to get opinions from individuals from all areas of the sport. Hopefully, some well respected and highly experienced Team owners, Promoters, Drivers and representatives from various organisations.

I'm interested to hear from younger members, as that's what we are talking about here. Where do they see the sport heading?

I don't really want this to turn into a "What we need is these tyres in this class, and get rid of this class" unless it's part of an entirely new model for karting.

Please let's keep it constructive, we are not discussing a "Problem" here, we are discussing where we think the sport will be heading.

If users could give a brief background of their experience, it would really help.

Bio,

I have been racing on and off for 15 years. Started in non-MSA at Woodthorpe kart club in Honda C70 then 100 Clubman, 100 Standard (Water cooled), Senior Rotax at various circuits around the UK and Scotland and now KZ UK in Super 4.

Testing underway

Currently sat waiting for a closed BETA key........

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It looks as though FKS has gone into administration... 

Update

Kart Review UK have been in contact will Black Delta Studios over the last few months and we are pleased to announce that we will be publishing our review as soon as we get the thumbs up from Black Delta Studios.

We are participating in the Closed Beta testing stage this coming week but we are unable to release any images/videos of the game just yet.

The big news is, the game is due for Steam Early Access release on 4th June 2016!

This is later than the predicted "Q1 2016", but it is the first time a specific date has been announced.

Very nice details on the KZ

Awesome new trailer....

I wasn't really clear in my first post, but we want to know whats best for KZ at club level too. There is no point in pushing people into S4 when we don't have enough numbers to support more than a handful of clubs at club level. If you boost the club grids, hopefully the other series/championships will benefit.

I definitely agree with the class (especially IKR) being the best bang for buck.

Right now I can just about afford to run at S4, but in the coming years this will likely reduce. Being able to turn up at a track and race for £50 over two days, is spot on and is likely were I may end up sticking with.

Because Fulbeck is using the Dunlop it has a couple of benefits over being an open tyre.

1. Realistically, you can get two meetings (at least two days) out of a set of DFH and still set plenty quick enough times. Once you have two sets to use, one in practice and the other on race day, it means you really can buy one set of slicks per two meetings.
2. Because S4 use the Dunlop DFH, it means you (IKR competitors) can get one day old rubber for around £30-40 and still have a meeting left in them. If you take this route, it works out around £80 per two meetings, half the price of buying new! (This is a good option if you are really stretching the budget)

So personally, I would say the tyres being used at Fulbeck is right on the money. What is the tyre used at Forest Edge? I'm assuming Dunlop as it's an MSA club. If Forest were to run an IKR weekend would the KZ grids grow like it did at fulbeck? (It's a cracking circuit after all).

What could we do to boost grids further at club level? There seems to be a finite number of drivers in KZ. Just look at the strubby/Fulbeck IKR example. I have not been to Strubby in a few years so I'm not sure if they have a KZ grid.

Anyone race at all three maybe??

This post goes out to all of the guys currently running at club level KZ. I know Forest Edge and Fulbeck have a healthy grid of KZ.

What would you like to see change? If anything?

Would you consider running in Super 1 or would Super 4 with a bit more publicity and organisation tick the boxes?

As of this morning, another update/upgrade has taken place.

You may notice some areas have changed slightly and bugs have been fixed.

I originally posted this in the Super 1 poll, but we need to separate discussions about KZ in general, and the current S1 rules.

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In my opinion, there are currently not enough drivers to support two national grids.

It has to be either Super 4 OR Super 1. With only a handful of clubs providing drivers stepping up to either class, there just aren't enough drivers to support good grids at both.

The last few years, Super 1 attracted drivers who had never even ran KZ before, purely because it was the British Championship. The grids ranged from around 10-15, steadily decreasing towards the end of the year at around 10.

Unless, Super 1 can alter the rules so much that they attract NEW drivers, from other classes (OK, Rotax, X30 etc) then one championship will succeed, and the other will struggle.

It would be a shame to see Super 4 struggle to form a grid if Super 1 enticed current Super 4 drivers away, but we have to look at what will make the biggest, most cost efficient grid for the class.

On the flip side, the KZ1 class could cease at Super 1 and flourish at Super 4. The downside of this is the lack of structure/promotion/TV coverage. Ultimately reducing the attractiveness of the class.

If Super 4 could undergo some real changes in organisation, by either running with LGM or another series (not a club weekend) or by boosting the promotion side then it could become a great competitive championship for all budgets.

This Poll is not intended to confuse things further, it is intended to structure the feedback in a way that Facebook is not designed.

Click register at the bottom and then "Sign in with Facebook" This will not post anything to facebook, it just saves you entering any information. (We tried to allow guests to vote but It can't be done with the software.)

There are lots of polls & discussions happening right now on what is best for the KZ1 class at S1 level, bearing in mind this is the MSA British Senior Karting Championship.

We have broken it down to individual questions in a bid to make it clearer what drivers want.

Please remember that although we all want the costs to come down, this is the pinnacle of the sport and not a budget class.

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Thoughts?

I'm not so sure about the rear wing profile, it reminds me of the old A1GP cars. I'm all for increased grip, aero or mechanical so this should be hopefully be a big enough change for the engineers to extract some immense speed.

IF they can do this while reducing the dirty air produced then bring it on!

Future vision - the F1 car, 2017 style

06 Jan 2016

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As excitement builds around the start of the 2016 season, Formula One engineers and designers already have one eye firmly fixed on 2017, when significant changes to the F1 rule book will dramatically alter the appearance of the cars, making them both wider and faster. The exact regulations may not yet be finalised, but with the help of drawings from technical illustrator Giorgio Piola, we take a look at how next year’s machines could look if recent proposals come to fruition...

Some gorgeous looking engines in this class!

Vortex RKZ

TM KZ10C

IAME Screamer 2

LKE LZ1

Maxter MS2

DEA FB-R5, FB-R7

Ryger 125 Revo

Modena MKZ

With added bling!

SGM SR216X

Senior OK Engines

Vortex DDS

TM S-Senior

IAME Reedster 4

LKE LK1 (LK-J Shown)

TE T101

Rexon HHC Ballerina

Teaser video.

Some really nice lighting going on.

At least we know the game will LOOK good. Let's just hope the physics are as good as the visuals!

Here is the stall at GamesCon 2015.

I have not really paid much attention to this series as this is the ultimate "Arrive & Drive" series for young drivers (Up to the age of 17).

The series is marketed as "The Road To F1". So there is no mistake which kind of clientele it is aimed at.

Entry Fees: 

 FKS Cadet and FKS Super Cadet

• Option 1: £25,000+VAT (retaining the kart & spares package)
• Option 2: £19,995+VAT (not retaining the kart & spares package)

FKS Junior and Super FKS

• Option 1: £35,000+VAT (retaining the kart & spares package)
• Option 2: £29,995+VAT (not retaining the kart & spares package)

*prices quoted include a discount for a one off single payment

So, including VAT for the Super FKS class, you are looking at £36,000 (without retaining kart and spares package) & £42,000 if you wish to keep the kart and equipment.

Here is what you receive:

• A dedicated, bespoke FKS Chassis complete with ancillaries for use throughout the season
• A computer ballotted engine at each round
• All their tyres
• All their fuel
• All event entry fees
• A dedidcated 6m x 4m awning
• Kart stored and transported between races. 

Your race chassis:

Each rolling chassis will also be provided with:

2 additional types of axles, 2 additional carburettors, kart trolley, FKS embossed steering wheel, engine wiring loom & exhaust, all engine ancillaries as stipulated by FKS, radiator & associated components, FKS kart cover, set of wet wheels, FKS Kart seat, Front & Rear torsion bars, FKS Data logger & transponder.

Your track time:

The Championship season consists of one pre-season test day followed by twelve rounds taking place over 6 weekends. Each race weekend will be preceded by and Official test.

Each competitor will receive a minimum of 80 minutes* of track time per race day and Official test day.

I am going to try and compare this to the costs of racing in Super 1. Rotax used as an example.

These are the bare bones of the costs. Each series will cost more than this but this gives us a comparison of the actual cost of competing. Both series will incur more expenses. (But they should be pretty equal between the two)

With both series you will have to take account of:

• Travel
• Accomodation
• Spares
• Breakages

It's hard to make a true comparison as both series will have additional expenditure but I can't help but think you could do a year of S1 for no more than £20,000 where as FKS will cost you £42,000 (THIS IS JUST THE ITEMS LISTED!)

If you are competing at this level as a youngster, chances are you will be running with a team. You will need to pay Team/Mechanic fees regardless of which series you are running in, hence the reason I have not included these prices in the comparison. I dare say you will be paying £6,000-£10,000 per season to a top team.

One big advantage is the pooled engines, in rotax you will pay silly money for a quick engine. I would factor this into the budget but it's hard to put a value on this without hearing from somebody mid pack of S1 telling me how much they spend on the engine. Engine re-builds will also increase costs in Rotax too.

It's also worth noting that I only used Rotax as an example. I dont really know the costs involved with engines in classes such as IAME cadet, Honda Cadet etc.

Is this series worth the extra outlay for the TV coverage, prize fund etc? Or is this series just a quick easy way of trying to push your kids up through the ranks if your wallet is big enough?

Also, is this series, with its extra exposure and media coverage actually damaging the sport with its "Road to F1" message, and it's age limit of 17? The SkySports coverage is on right before qualifying so no doubt gets a huge audience in comparison to more traditional series such as S1.

Thoughts?

We have continued to fine tweak the reviews section of the site.

Our plan is to continuously add more features but right now the aim is to get some new and exciting new products reviewed!

Round 4 - Larkhall - KZ1

Round 3 KZ1

Round 2 KZ1