Quote:
Originally posted by BoatOwner
top speeds are boring. A 125 on a kart track should feel a lot faster than on a road course. You're just a wimp for not liking shifters on a short track... pain my ass, get fit. 
Of course i'd like to try a shifter on a road course, but where?
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Boatowner, I'm going to join in here and help my downunder friend tassuperkart. I can understand what you mean by "top speeds are boring" if you mean going in a straight line forever. However, unless you are on a dragstrip, luckily there is a turn after every straight
It makes NO difference whether you are on a short or long course, every turn is a challenge, it's just that the turns on the long course are wider and alot of them are wayyyy faster than on a short course. I have raced my 100cc kart on both short and long courses, therefore I have the perspective of both. Both are fun and challenging in their own way...I just happen to prefer long course.
I just completed my SCCA school in a Formula Vee. Now, as with tassuperkart, I can compare long course in a kart and a Formula car.
The point is, and this is my opinion from having done both, approaching a turn on a long course doing 100mph+ adds much more of pucker factor versus 60-70mph on a short course. I'm not saying one is any more fun than the other, but in NO WAY is it boring at the end of a long course straight.
And to me a road course feels much faster and IS MUCH FASTER.
In regards to "You're just a wimp for not liking shifters on a short track": I could call a sprint shifter dude a wimp for not wanting to take his kart on a long course. But I wouldn't use the term "wimp", I would say there are some people that just prefer different types of racing. No big deal, different strokes for different folks. Really, though, I do think you were just funnin'
If I may say, you sound like you would be a great candidate to try a kart on a long course. It can be quite intimidating because of the higher speeds, but what a rush!!!! I don't know where you'd try a long track kart, but I might suggest contacting a road course kart club if you can find one and ask how you can try it out.
Do you have a kart? If so, it will be quite easy to get onto the long course. At least it is here in the USA!
From another of your posts, you said: "I can't imagine long tracks being nearly as physically challenging though." Both are physically challenging. Have you ever run a 100 meter race and a 10 K? They are both very physically challenging, but in different ways. Same with short and long course. On a long course you get longer straights and a chance (at times, if you are not wheel to wheel at the moment) to take a breather. I got more tired on the sprint tracks in 10 minutes than during a 30 minute long track race. But the long course is still VERY physically challenging.
"Driving at the limit through corners is where its at" Precisely, spot on, you are RIGHT
But this is true with BOTH short and long courses. But even more so on the long course, as if you miss your line and spin off the track, it takes MUCH longer to stop than when you do the same thing on a sprint track. It has to, the speeds are much higher.
"In long track racing though its more about the engine than the driver" NOPE! I raced this past weekend against a driver who had a better/faster engine. He would just pull away from me on the straight. So how did I beat him at his game. I got a better run on him coming out of the turn and drafted him down the straight. So he had a better engine, good, I'll use his power! Now if a less experienced driver has an engine that is wayyyyy faster than the better driver's, he will most likely beat the better driver. But with similar engines, it's the better driver who will win out.
It sounds like you have drag raced, but not done any actual kart racing??
Tom Stephens
www.kartfinder.com
www.tvracer.com