Well.. the owner is a nice guy at Cherry Valley as was the race director. However, they didnt want to get into anything in fear of losing a customer and pissing people off. haha. So basically, there were no rules, barely had to make weight. Sometimes the scales wernt even out. I know for a fact, the guy who had the biggest problem with me(even tho i would help him out and got him more than 2 seconds a lap faster) was 20-30 lbs under weight. Bull••••. blah blah balh.. I believe i also started at 14 or 13. I agree, it is very late, but if you put enough effort into it, you can be running top 5 in the nationals. One of my good friends/ teammate started fairly late. He was his first national his 3rd year racing in the Yamaha Jr. Supercan. MAYBE it was Jr. HPV. dont remember.
Not sure what motor they use. Last time i was there a few years ago, it was primarily 4-cycle. Thats why we didnt go there often. Unless we wanted a complete day for testing and tuning since there was hardly anyone there. So, im going to assume they are Briggs 4-cycle. But i could be wrong. Im not too sure about Canada, but the US has really cut down on the 2 stroke motors because of the pollution nonsense. Most of the tracks around here are running mostly 4 stroke with a few 2s. I remember when i started it was the exact opposite.
Yeah the owner of my track was just a shady/sketchy dude and a prick. He was involved in some shady things and was a douche. He no longer is the owner. At my track there was no anarchy or anything.. it was one of the more popukar tracks but no one liked the owner. Well, if you bought you're way onto the team and were favourited, then maybe you liked him :nonono:. I only raced for 2 years, and like I said I won the championship in my first year and got a scholarship to be on the "National Team" in an air-cooled 2 stroke Maxter 125cc (started off in a 4 stroke Honda) and then IMO, I was totally ignored until I switched classes to SR. half way through the year and then I got more attention in the last 3-4 races. I actually got a mechanic to help set me up (cool guy) and was starting to finish way better. I already had a wicked setup (so much grip that I lifted 2 wheels in one of the sweepers.. wicked weight jacking effect lol) but he refined it a little. Also my driving style just got better as the year went on. Also, the "National Team" that I was on was more of a regional team. I did races across Ontario, but the National races didn't have a class for my karts. Rotax is the big thing up here.
I loved that track. Especially the concession track that was integrated into the regular track. That part of the track was what made the track fun. In the map in the link, you can see where we run by the dark racing line. We don't use the loopty stuff in the middle on the concession stuff to the left. The lower, furthest corner on the left side of track, beside the paintball stuff, was by far the hardest, fastest, most physically demanding corner I've done. I had to guess it's a 70-75 mph turn, at full throttle. Coming out of the corner you're pushing it right to the tire barrier that blocks off the grid for the concession go karts. You basically turned in and held on cause it was fast and awesome. In the rain was even more scary, but that's where I gained alot on people, aswell as some other coners.
Also, I don't mean to brag, but I was a little Jacky Ickx/Ayrton Senna in the rain. I was fastest in the rain at my track. One time, the weather was ••••. For practice, qualifying and the pre-final it was wet and I was fastest for all 3. Qualified 1st and Finished 1st in the pre-final. Then the weather instantly cleared up after our race. I checked the radar and it said another cell was on the way. I stayed on wets because I thought it was gonna rain. Well it didn't and I got screwed for the final. That was my most heartbreaking but fun weekend. Mosport is also a sick track. Not the Car track, but the go karting track there.. also not the DDT. That had HUGE elevation changes and wicked banked/blind turns. That was THE funnest track I've ever done.
Oh and when I was racing, 2 strokes still had the edge over 4 strokes. There were a lot of 4 strokes at the regional races, most likely due to the cost. My track was exclusively 2 strokes.
How fast did your karts go? Mine were clocked at 100 mph down our front straight, which was shorter than the back straight. It was posted on a website that had the timing and scoring for the event. Oh and here is my former track. You'll see the left part of the track looks almost exactly like Batavia's track:
http://www.raceforcanada.com/
Jeez.. I'll stop my nostalgia for now... Haha! All this talk of go-karts just got all that rushed back lol. I understand if no one reads it haha.
im out, starting a new job soon and going to be working like a madman to build my csvt for next year, sorry guys
Not even for grandprix kartways?? Come on dude, let me show you how good I am lol.
I might just go....... The things I'd do to race karts again