Joanne (jofabby) has excellent momentum here as in essence the petition is the lead in a campaign for change. It is good that you are a focal point to gather such data.
As the campaign grows, we do need a catchy handle for it …. Bodywork Integrity Regulations for Karting (BIRK) may be appropriate ? Suggestions please.
As this campaign grows we also need a multi-pronged approach;
/a/ Impact Zip commercially. Yes their chassis may be a best seller and winner, but we can hurt them by reducing their sales. Thus as any newbies on the forum (or at kart meets) ask for ‘what kart to buy’ don’t just steer them clear of the Zip Storm, but take effort to point out the dangers of the nose fairing issue.
/b/ Impact Zip’s engineering reputation. If Zip are so intransient to correct their nose fairing design as it hasn’t been proven to be unsafe, then that is a dangerous attitude to have. If (say) they discovered a manufacturing defect in a batch of their chassis that were prone to snap under load … would they sort it ?, or would they try and blag it through as ‘it hasn’t been proven to be unsafe’ ?. You see I will never myself buy, or recommend a Zip chassis as I do not trust the company. No trust, no sales.
/c/ Help Scrutineers help ourselves. The MSA has asked Scrutineers to check the integrity of nose fairings, and as part of the process they do inspect bodywork and their mountings anyway. This is experience based and can be arbitrary at times. I suggest a stronger approach. The Scruitneers (and karters) should be issued with a card/plastic template which the class of kart’s nose fairings is measured against. If the fairing is too deformed then you don’t just fail scrutineering, but perhaps the nosecone is confiscated until the end of the race meet.
/d/ Issue Scrutineers a bodywork integrity tool. A simple calibrated linear (spring) plunger could be devised; e.g. similar to a hand held weighing scale. A nose fairing would pass scrutineering where the plunger is pressed against the visually weakest point and the bodywork does not deform with (say) 20 lbs of force. The 20lbs here is an arbitrary figure, but a test based load value could be regulated by the MSA. This wouldn’t mean that all fairings would need to be inspected at scrutineering … just the visually damaged ones.
Suggestions /c/ & /d/ would not just apply to Zip Stormers, but all karts in all classes. Whilst the current focus, quite correctly, is on the Zip Storm, I have seen so many battered nose fairings which are flimsy and readily are effectively ramp shaped under slight deformation.
/e/ Help Marshalls help ourselves. If a Marshall sees a kart being lifted by (say) more than wheel height, then the kart which caused the lift should be called into the pits under a Black/Orange disc flag to have it’s nose fairing inspected for damage. If okay then the karter can return to the race. This suggestion may sound harsh, but it is safety related on suspected mechanical damage.
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