Dan Wheldon Gives us a Great Interview About Karting

Dan Wheldon took time out of preparing for the Indy 500 to have a chat with us about his karting days, and lets us in on a few karting secrets!

To hear him interviewed go to the Dan Wheldon Karting interview

Dan talks freely about kart cornering technique, braking and some other karting secrets that you simply have to know....so go listen to it now!!

Senna vs Prost on Karts on Video!

Ayrton Senna himself said that karting is the purest form of motor sport and you won't find any arguement from me on that one!

Karting1 have found some rare footage of Senna racing karts against Prost and other F1 drivers from 1993 in Paris Bercy. Other Drivers were Panis and Herbert. Also I've put together some analysis of Senna's karting techniques so you can get a feel for what made him such a fantastic karter. Senna was a multiple Brazilian kart champion and came runner up in the world karting champs a few times.

He was so keen to win the world karting title that he made several attempts even during his car career but never actually won it

here is the link to the senna karting video

Cadet Kart with a JICA Kart Engine!

Luke Ellery is Australia's top Junior Rotax kart driver.....but he also has a flair for doing insane things with karts!

First of all he is the inspiration behing the Karting Lock Ups movement in Australia, and now he has come up with an even more crazy idea.

Luke has gone and bolted a Parilla 100cc JICA motor to an old cadet kart chassis and has managed to drive the damn thing, both out on his street and then on the Oakleigh kart track....in the wet on slicks!

Take a look at the machine in spectacular action on video JICA cadet kart video

What the Fastest Kart Drivers are Doing with the Wheel

I spend most of my life working with and studying the fastest kart drivers around and I have found that they all have something special in common.

1. They are all extremely skillfull at controlling their kart under braking

2 They are pre-occupied with keeping the wheel as straight as possible especially on exits.

If you are fortunate enough to get footage of the guys currently at the top of the karting world, pay special attention to how they use their brakes, and how keen they are to minimise steering input, especially when exiting corners.

In particular look at Birel works driver Jon Lancaster, Tony kart's Davide Foret and Marco Ardigo.

You will find that they are able to brake with supreme accuracy, making sure they are getting maximum braking traction from the tyres, and if you look even more closely you can see how they make minute adjustments to the kart's steering wheel on the exits of corners, making sure they upset the kart as little as possible.

Now i know all this isn't much use to you without any actual karting footage, but lucky for you there is plenty of video at the karting1 website.

Davide Foret racing a Tony Kart
Jon Lancaster on a Birel Kart
Marco Ardigo Racing for Tony Kart
Various world class drivers at PF kart masters

Continously Variable Transmission for Karts

Having heard about the CVT system and seen a development version reviewed by karting magazine we got to test the final version of the innovative CVT for karts.

Built by CV Racing the CVT system for karts was designed to elimate all the hassle of getting the right gearing for your kart. Also it makes sure your kart is running at the ideal gear ratio for all situations.....It's quite a remarkable system because it means your kart will accelerate much harder and have a higher top speed, therefore greatly reduced laptimes.....

Also, it allows your kart engine to constantly run with revs at peak power, which is always lower than the maximum revs you would run at

So for example on a Rotax Max kart engine, you would run it at around 11,500 rpm instead of 1400. This means the power output is at a maximum, but the revs are much lower, vastly increasing the life and reliability of your engine.

See what it was like to drive on video with the CVT for Kart test

Wankel Rotary Engine for Karting Aixro

The Aixro XR50 is a remarkable kart engine. It uses Wankel rotary engine technology to produce at least 48hp, and is quick enough to compete with 125 shifter karts.

The beauty of the engine is that its as easy to drive as any regular non gearbox kart, and delivers torque all the way through its rev range. It provides a phenominal karting experience unlike anything I've ever tried.....it's just like being 10 years old and driving a 100cc kart for the first time!!

These days a typical high performance kart, a Rotax or Biland for example provides great grip and high corner speed, but tends to run out of puff at the end of the straight. But the Aixro continues to accelerate at the end of the straights, making your brain meltdown and panicking you into braking early! And for a 4 stroke kart, the sound it makes is awesome, much more satisfying for us 2 stoke kart addicts than you would expect. Anyway, if you get a chance to drive one please take it, but be prepared to lose interest in any other karts!



Check out video footage of me driving the Aixro rotarty kart at the Lydd circuit for karting 1