DynoDon
Moderator
That got your attention lol. Stay tuned and I will explain that shortly.
You all know the recent cheating problems with the seats in the clone head. It is only one of many foul play tactics that the builders/assemblers have laid on the AKRA in the last several years. As the engine became more popular and the competition between big name builders to be the best to purchase from, tactics to be the best seller began to challenge the sport. Every time a builder/assembler did something that went against the spirit and intent ruling AKRA had to design a rule so as to get it under control.
Each time that happened the tech inspector had to purchase a new tool to keep the playing field fair.
When the clone first came out and I became a board member I was getting phone calls from all over the country about non certified tech inspectors making ridiculous calls that disqualified many engines unnecessarily. So I created a video for everyone to be on the same page. It was the beginning of uniformity for the engine.
Things went really well for the first few years. Then big name builders/assemblers got involved. Rules began to change because of challenges by builders/assemblers. Along with rule changes came the increase cost of the engine. Builders/assemblers now needed to charge more for the additional changes to building the engine. Each time a rule was designed a tech tool was needed to control it. Now not only is the cost of the engine rising for the consumer but the tech inspector is incurring cost for another tech tool.
The tech inspector job is incredibly thankless and doesn’t pay well at all. He commits to his job weekly with travel expenses. If he has stayed up on the tooling to keep the playing field fair his cost for tools is in the thousands. Weather you believe this or not he is not liked by all. It is a thankless job.
His job is made more difficult when he is informed by promoters that he can’t do certain parts of his tech procedure. Thats one reason we have gotten in this seat situation. The other is the corrupted tech inspector who turns his head to the written rules.
I understand that there is a cost to reassembling an engine and not the average joe can do it. BUT, the average joe needs to know that tech is a part of racing like it or not. Removing the head, which is a BIG part of performance is a necessity. There are many issues in the head that can create some real horsepower.
I started hearing tech inspectors were being told not to pull heads by the promoters. Karters were complaining to the promoters about the cost to reassemble and promoters didn’t want to loose customers so they told tech to not pull heads. Stop and think about it. When was the last time you saw a head pulled at the track.? This gave an open door to the builders/assemblers.
You may be wondering why I am using builders/assemblers this way. You have builders who know they are assembling engines with illegal parts and then you have assemblers who call themselves builders who have no clue and just put one together after purchasing the head and other parts.
I for the life of me can’t understand how a supplier of illegal heads or a builder/assembler who uses those heads can possibly blame AKRA for the problem. I don’t think any of them have an impairment to reading unless they didn’t purchase a rule book. Wouldn’t one think that the builder/assembler would have enough knowledge of the rules to visually inspect each part he puts on the engine for legality. One builder told me that it was going on in the south for so long that when in Rome do as the Romans do.
June 1st is the date heads should be coming off for legality inspections. I am going to inform my certified tech to handle it the following way. Should they decide to follow my lead is up to them. If they find a head that is out of spec they will give a warning and document the individual and engine by finding the number stamped on the block. A warning is given not to bring it back. The engine number is to be placed on the tech forum for all certified techs to stay informed. If the engine number shows up again at a track it will be a disqualification.
What do you think the karting world would be like if all tech walked out for a month.? If you are a tech inspector reading this and you encounter a promoter that tells you not to pull heads on june 1, walk away and find a track that wants to treat ALL the participants fairly. Good luck and stay in touch.
Northeast AKRA Representative and Tech Instructor Don Gordner
You all know the recent cheating problems with the seats in the clone head. It is only one of many foul play tactics that the builders/assemblers have laid on the AKRA in the last several years. As the engine became more popular and the competition between big name builders to be the best to purchase from, tactics to be the best seller began to challenge the sport. Every time a builder/assembler did something that went against the spirit and intent ruling AKRA had to design a rule so as to get it under control.
Each time that happened the tech inspector had to purchase a new tool to keep the playing field fair.
When the clone first came out and I became a board member I was getting phone calls from all over the country about non certified tech inspectors making ridiculous calls that disqualified many engines unnecessarily. So I created a video for everyone to be on the same page. It was the beginning of uniformity for the engine.
Things went really well for the first few years. Then big name builders/assemblers got involved. Rules began to change because of challenges by builders/assemblers. Along with rule changes came the increase cost of the engine. Builders/assemblers now needed to charge more for the additional changes to building the engine. Each time a rule was designed a tech tool was needed to control it. Now not only is the cost of the engine rising for the consumer but the tech inspector is incurring cost for another tech tool.
The tech inspector job is incredibly thankless and doesn’t pay well at all. He commits to his job weekly with travel expenses. If he has stayed up on the tooling to keep the playing field fair his cost for tools is in the thousands. Weather you believe this or not he is not liked by all. It is a thankless job.
His job is made more difficult when he is informed by promoters that he can’t do certain parts of his tech procedure. Thats one reason we have gotten in this seat situation. The other is the corrupted tech inspector who turns his head to the written rules.
I understand that there is a cost to reassembling an engine and not the average joe can do it. BUT, the average joe needs to know that tech is a part of racing like it or not. Removing the head, which is a BIG part of performance is a necessity. There are many issues in the head that can create some real horsepower.
I started hearing tech inspectors were being told not to pull heads by the promoters. Karters were complaining to the promoters about the cost to reassemble and promoters didn’t want to loose customers so they told tech to not pull heads. Stop and think about it. When was the last time you saw a head pulled at the track.? This gave an open door to the builders/assemblers.
You may be wondering why I am using builders/assemblers this way. You have builders who know they are assembling engines with illegal parts and then you have assemblers who call themselves builders who have no clue and just put one together after purchasing the head and other parts.
I for the life of me can’t understand how a supplier of illegal heads or a builder/assembler who uses those heads can possibly blame AKRA for the problem. I don’t think any of them have an impairment to reading unless they didn’t purchase a rule book. Wouldn’t one think that the builder/assembler would have enough knowledge of the rules to visually inspect each part he puts on the engine for legality. One builder told me that it was going on in the south for so long that when in Rome do as the Romans do.
June 1st is the date heads should be coming off for legality inspections. I am going to inform my certified tech to handle it the following way. Should they decide to follow my lead is up to them. If they find a head that is out of spec they will give a warning and document the individual and engine by finding the number stamped on the block. A warning is given not to bring it back. The engine number is to be placed on the tech forum for all certified techs to stay informed. If the engine number shows up again at a track it will be a disqualification.
What do you think the karting world would be like if all tech walked out for a month.? If you are a tech inspector reading this and you encounter a promoter that tells you not to pull heads on june 1, walk away and find a track that wants to treat ALL the participants fairly. Good luck and stay in touch.
Northeast AKRA Representative and Tech Instructor Don Gordner