ABkC News December 2001
Amendments to the Blue and Gold Book
After hearing from the CIK in mid
December that they will use the medium compound tyre in
the European Junior championships, the steering group and
MSA have agreed that the slick tyre nominated for the
Junior Intercontinental class will be the Bridgestone
YGB, with effect 1.3.02. The CIK is likely
to appoint one tyre manufacturer per class in the JICA,
ICA and ICC European Championships. Front 10 x 4.5 x 5, Rear 11 x 7.1 x 5, MSA moulded on the sidewall. The MSA will be bringing out an
amendment to correct the typo in N.14.7 (1.8mm not 18mm).
And the old style racesuits with CIK plus 3 letters will
be re-instated in the book (Figure N11) noting they
cannot be used after 31.12.2004. Tal-Ko have brought out an amendment
to the Formula TKM regulations to permit the use of
rev-counters like the Alfano which include lap timing.
Temperature sensors are not allowed though. Kart Licences
The sharp-eyed will have noted there
is now an International C category for karts. References
to upgrading refer to the 2002 CIK Annuaire, which is not
out yet, but the MSA tells me the rules are: Age 13 – 15: only an
International C will be issued. Any under-15
currently holding a B must renew as a International C.
ARKS Test Costs
Please note the cost of the ARKS Test fee in 2002
will be £56. A driving re-test is £33 and the
theory re-test £23. The Start Karting pack price
remains at £31 and remember the MSA now accepts credit
cards.
Kart Control Board
The launch of the system will take
place at the Autosport Show. Driver permit record
cards have already been printed, ready to sell to
drivers, and ready to receive signatures at participating
series and circuits. After a certain number of
signatures a driver may claim exemption from the ARKS
Driving test but will still have to take the theory test
in order to gain an MSA competition licence. Commercial
series or circuits will be able to apply for a promoters
licence under the scheme, which can also provide
insurance through the MSA brokers. Colin Hilton of
the MSA is chairing the KCB. The members are ABkC,
ARKS, BKIA, MSA, NKA, N4SKRA with circuit owner and
commercial series representatives. Our President,
Steve Chapman, has been co-opted on to the Board. AGM News
Russell Anderson was elected as
Chairman of the Association of British Kart Clubs when
Steve Chapman stood down after eleven years. In his
valedictory speech Steve referred to the Green Paper that
the embryo association produced as its goals back in the
early nineties, including mandatory intake silencers, one
tyre type per class, a heavyweight class, to encourage
4-strokes, reduce noise and to align the UK with the CIK.
“All these things have happened, and it makes me
very proud to see our kids doing so well in Europe,”
he said. “Many battles with the MSA were won,
some were lost. One victory was to have a dedicated
kart contact person at the MSA” he added, thanking
Paul Gladstone. He went on to thank many other
people who have supported and worked for the ABkC. Steve
Chapman was presented with a gift of a stainless steel
and brass combination weather station as a gift from the
clubs. He was then elected as a lifetime Honorary
President of the ABkC. His wife Rita was presented
with a rose bowl in recognition of her long-standing
support. Russell Anderson was elected Chairman,
Graham Smith as Secretary, Neil Hann as direct drive technical and Derek Price as
gearbox technical representatives. Paul Klaassen
again has special technical responsibility for Cadets.
Russell made it clear that he would be making more use of
sub-groups headed by these people to put forward any
necessary changes in regulations. He said technical
queries routed through the secretary or himself would be
logged and forwarded to the group leaders for any
necessary action. He also would seek a fresh
approach with the MSA. The members of the
direct drive section are Alan Bryant, Ian Rennison and
Tim Sedgwick, a new appointee from Trent Valley. The
gearbox section in the steering group comprises Mike
Coombs, Steve Clayton, Trevor Cryer and Malcolm Fell. All
the usual kart associations and championship organisers
also have the right to send a representative to the
steering group meetings. Russell paid respect to
the tremendous work and leadership made by the outgoing
Chairman, who received a huge vote of thanks from the
assembly. MSA News
Paul Gladstone, for the MSA, in his
summary for the year, said that the major issue that has
arisen is over the new EC22 European crash-helmet
standard. He re-iterated that it is a road
standard, and is not permitted for motor sport, although
the manufacturers will be producing them for the volume
markets and it will be harder to find the appropriate BS
standard Type A or A/FR for kart racing use. 250E News
Trevor Cryer summarised the great
steps that have been taken with the CIK to draw up new
250E and forthcoming ICE regulations. He said the
CIK understand that new 250E twin cylinders must be
affordable and added: “Next year offers the best
chance 250E has had in the last fifteen years.”
Four new engines are in prototype, two stand a good
chance of being homologated. Transponder timing and lapscoring in 2002
ABkC officials took the opportunity
to clarify the transponder timing regulations for 2002
onwards. If a club wants to have official timing or
timed qualifying then the AMB decoder must be sent away
to be certified. This is then valid for three
years. In addition the Chief Lapscorer must have a
Kart Timekeepers licence. To obtain one, first a
certificate of competency is needed, available from HS
Sports after training or demonstrating competence on
their lap-scoring application program. Then the
‘New Officials’ licence application form needs
to be sent to the MSA with the £20 fee and a copy of the
Certificate of Competency. If the club wishes to
continue with unofficial timing, as in previous years,
then the Chief Lap scorer only needs the certificate of
competency. O Plate Control Fuel
A discussion was held regarding
whether ABkC O Plate meetings need to have control fuel.
It was suggested that more entries would be received if
control fuel was not mandatory, but the opposing view was
that it is better to have less entries and be sure there
is no cheating. It was agreed that the steering
group would discuss the matter at their next meeting in
mid-January. In the meantime comment from clubs is
welcome, as on any matter. Racing for Buttons Promotion
After a request from Grampian Kart
Club, the association was tasked with producing a
promotional pack on “Racing for Buttons”, an
initiative from Cumbria Kart Club, who have introduced
150 primary school kids to karting through the scheme.
Club officials go round the local primary schools,
publicising karting and offering tryouts in a Cadet to
the kids with the best driver receiving a free ARKS test
and races. This has resulted in twenty new Cadet
members and six now progressing to Junior TKM. Abusive helpers and parents
Clubs at the Annual General Meeting
also sought to have the MSA Kart Sporting Committee
introduce means to ban parents or guardians who
demonstrate abusive behaviour at meetings. Questions
were put about courses in psychology for karting parents.
The MSA representative Paul Gladstone explained these had
been part of the “Fit to be a Kart Champion”
scholarship at Lilleshall. Paul added: “The
MSA has been asked to consider licensing youngsters’
guardians or mechanics at race meetings.” He
also explained that only the landowner can ban someone
and added: “The real downside of abusive parents is
that we are losing officials.” He and Steve
Chapman agreed to have the MSA Kart Sporting Committee
examine ways that anti-social parents could be banned
from meetings. Paul also agreed to have the MSA
look again at producing a novice kart licence, so that
competition secretaries could more easily distinguish
novices from long standing holders of National B
licences. Amendment to Constitution
Please add the following amendment
passed at the AGM to copies of the ABkC Constitution:- 6.7 Any affiliated club may make a
nomination for the post of Honorary President, the
election to be held at the AGM. The nomination must be
seconded by at least one other affiliated club. The
term of office is not limited and annual re-election is
not required. The Honorary President has the right
to attend the Steering Group meetings and General
Meetings but has no voting rights. Back to ABkC Site Index | Visit UK Karting |
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