Track Tac

Moving a driver up for weight?

J

jtrent64

New member
One of our Drivers is currently in a JR 1 Cage Kart class. She seems slower than most, and is very heavy. We struggled getting enough nose weight, and actually had to add 5 LBS to the nose.

She is 45 pounds over the mininmum weight of 310(she just scaled at 355). Our Jr 2 class minimum weight is 350, where she is in a good spot.

Few other things, next year she will have to move to JR 2 for because of her age. Second, in JR1 there are 15 Karts, in JR 2 there are 5. Third, we run Treaded tires.

We are thinking about moving her to JR 2 so she can be a little more competative, I just don't think she has been able to keep up by carrying an extra 45 pounds.

Any Opinons?
 
how do current lap times compare too the jr2 class.
If they are similar may be worth a look.
Restrictor size will change of course which could yield a bit more power.
maybe you could change plate and hot lap with them.
 
That is a good idea, we may try the hotlap and see how she feels.

I will check times. We can't run electronics, so I have to manually stopwatch it.
 
We have moved kids up early because of weight many times with never an issue however in all cases the kids were ready to be moved up, as mentioned confirm lap times to see if there with-in reason, if there close moving up racing with only 5 will probly help out, However don't be to quick to blame it all on the weight disadvantage plate racing is all about MOMENTUM if your little driver is out of the throttle at all it's going to show up big time.

Good Luck !!
 
Both my drivers are heavy the son was ready to be moved and did very well the daughter how ever was not ready and driving in Jr2 scared her and we put her back in Jr1 move her up and let her make up her mind.
 
We were around 35 pounds heavy in gold plate, so I moved my son up to an amateur adult class, and went from being a lapper to winning his first heat race. Like was said before, just try some practice and decide for yourself.
 
You're lucky you only had to add 5lbs to get good nose weight percentages, lol; we had to add 16 in a Jr Sportsman 2 champ just to get within sight of adequate nose. As a result, we scale 35-38 pounds over minimum and have a really odd setup to keep the kart from pushing (high left, humongus cross), which allows the kart to be competitive. Do look at setup, as there may be something there for her; fortunately for me the previous owner of the kart had a son who was also big and muscular and hence heavy for his age, and he and the local Rage dealer clued me in that the chassis (Rage jr sportsman champ) liked high left and lots of cross with a big driver when you can't get enough front weight. There may be improvements out there for you in a somewhat unconventional setup, as there were for us.
 
The simplest and easiest solution is to call the race promoter and tell them the weight situation. Register your daughter this week in the Jr 2 class and make sure you change restrictor plate . If you are running Mini E, I am sure they will let you move up no problem, there are already several kids running high classes than what the age rules state.
 
Double E, we are at Mini E, talked to Roger last night and we are going to go ahead and move her up.

Outrider, she is still a little light in the nose, I want to add more. I have been creeping her cross up to see if it helps, I may bump it up some more. It is a Rage Sr. Champ.

When you say high Left, humongous cross, where would that number be?
 
We had the exact same issue with my sons Jr sportsman champ. Last year I was able to run up front at 38 pounds over (no lead at all). Over the winter I had to put in a bigger seat for him and on opening day this year we were terrible, lapped and fighting for last position. We were now 48 lbs over and I threw in the towel, thankfully the track let him move up 1 year early into the next division. Right out of the box he was fastest on the clock, but still needs to learn how to race and pass the "big boys"

Here's what I learned last year that worked: get the kid as low as you can, lay 'em right down. Move the seat and motor as far left as you can. Pull the LR wheel in. run bigger stagger. I also moved the RR wheel back and that seemed to help a bunch. It's all about keeping that extra weight from getting on the RR
 
With the Mini E track there is lots of banking and the corners are tight. Get your weight on the left side to around 58-60% . Our nose weight was 44% with cross between 52-54% when we ran that class. Get your nose weight correct by adjusting the washers on the spindles. Don't forget to change restrictor plates. The rest will be up to you on air pressure. Any other specific questions PM me, I will help you out.
 
jtrent64 said:
When you say high Left, humongous cross, where would that number be?
Click to expand...

The last two races since making the big changes (mostlly to the seat position, which was already as far forward as possible) handling has been fine. Left is 58 - 58.2%, Cross is 66%.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top