F1 car launch, McLaren & Ferrari

30 Jan

In the past days, 2 top F1 teams had launch their new cars for the 2010 season

McLaren, MP4-25

Ferrari, F10

Personally I cannot see much difference in the car itself.
Although the Ferrari F10 is said to be having a longer body, as it is
with the McLaren MP4-25 along with a lower ride height I am more
interesting in the human dynamic of these 2 teams.

Button and Hamilton. 2 champions driving the same car.
Who will come up tops? Will the 2 Brits still be mates at the end
of the year, if they can survive each other till then.
I hope they will for the sake of the team.
Yes, I'm a Mc fan

Alonso and Massa. Between these 2 competitive individuals
who had nearly came to blows previously. Will that happen
again, once Alonso demands 100% from the entire team to back
his charge for the championship?
Or will the Ferrari management have a soft spot for Massa,
after his awful accident in 2009, which pushes his status above
Alonso.

The machinery is providing us the excitements for the season ahead,
however, I reckon for these 2 teams it's the people who will
definitely provide some form of drama.

Let's see what the new F1 season with new cars will bring us.

pics from http://www.grandprix.com

Fit to Race

27 Jan 2010

It is imperative that for anyone who is serious in go karting
to be in a reasonable physical shape.
That's what I believe, at least.

Because, if one is not in the good fitness range then they are
in the losing end.

I'm definitely not very fit but I do try to swim or run weekly
to maintain a good aerobic tolerance. It helps me to maintain
focus when I am on the track with others racing.

It's all tied together for me now.
Karting requires me to exercise regularly, and exercise enables
to me kart 'better' which all in all means I am in a healthy state.
(at least I hope I am)

Which is why I enjoy these activities so much now, as compared
to when I first started I wondered out loud 'why do i pay to torture
myself!'

So, let's go racing, and let's get fit.


from http://www.karting1.co.uk/news/get-fit-for-karting/ :

By Karl Bickley Fit2Race
Karl is a professional motor sports fitness coach with high profile clients like F1’s Anthony Davidson, and karters like Alex Walker and Scott Jenkins

Each season as your Motorsport career progresses, fitness becomes more and more important. It is not just about being the best on the track, but also about being the best away from it. This however doesn’t necessarily means hours on a treadmill or sat in Gym resistance machines. With the recent British weather leading to lost track time, it’s the perfect opportunity to make gains in your fitness and conditioning in preparation for the season ahead.

To forge that all important championship dream, it is key to plan and execute a level of preparation to make sure you are able to push to the maximum and fulfil your potential right up to the chequered flag. It may often be the case that others are floundering as the day wears on and heats turn to pre-final and finals, and this is when your fitness can really make the difference and make you stand out above the rest. But only if you train the right way!

It is key to be logical and think specifics when it comes to your training? Like you analyse your kart and your on track performance, do you look back on a test, race or even season and think what gains you could have made in your own human performance? If not you should. Think about where you ache, or feel tired, what tracks were physically challenging and why and what you could do to improve.

The key elements to everyone’s human performance are physical strength and Muscular endurance, core function and cardio vascular capacity. Each element should be focussed on individually and time dedicated to improving each area when possible. This doesn’t mean spending hours in a gym, and a lot of the exercises you can do at home and can be very functional or even involve other sports. For example a racquet sport such as squash will work your whole body and massively work your cardio vascular system as well as working your reactions too.

Thinking outside the box whilst still taking into account the specifics of the way your body works in a kart will bring a whole array of exercises that will benefit you. Try to analyse what you find difficult or what aspects of your performance tire first, then try to reciprocate the movement in training using body weight or light weights and do high repetitions. Try to keep your training varied, push harder and try to squeeze a few more reps from each set and make sure you hold good technique. Make your training harder and work your CV system at the same time by reducing how much recovery time you give yourself between exercises, Tese principles will help your muscles become stronger and whilst remaining lean as well as enhancing your endurance. At the same time it will help keep muscle bulk and your weight down…. So effectively making your power to weight ratio better

For an example of a functional exercise, try recreating your driving position on the floor, or a bench. Lift your feet off the floor, and grab a weight plate or dumbbell in your hand and hold your position whilst doing full range turns through your “steering wheel” lock to lock, or in the same position turn left and right to maximise your core workout. The possibilities are endless!

For more information on your human performance, training and wellness why not check out fit2race.co.uk.

Smoothening It

25 Jan

Below is the pic of what I saw when I was getting into
Plentong track on Sunday, 24 Jan.
Some of the dirt track section now has some good tarmac
surface on it. Not really a road yet, do not know if it will ever be,
but at least I can say there are definitely much less potholes
to avoid towards the final stretch. Enjoy the smooth road ahead!!


Aptly, as per my blog title here, I guess I must clear up
something from my previous entry dated 17 Jan.

I wrote:
"Alan Lange did joined us in the fray with his monster
engine as mentioned.

At lap one or two, I guess he was one of the reason or 'the'
reason that caused both Leo and Graeme to go off. "

At the start of the entry, I did mentioned also

"I guess I will keep it short for this one for now.
I'm pretty beat."

But that is no reason to point an accusing finger
solely at Alan for the incident that happened.
What exactly happened is unclear, at least to me.
Note, the word EXACTLY.
Because I was some karts length behind the trio.
So from where I am, what I can made from it was that
Alan slowed near to the pits entry (engine problem
coupled with low grip tryes) Graeme and Leo probably
sensed that and went for it.

Basically, three's crowd. They maybe went for the same
piece of tarmac, Alan slipped and slided... incident
happened.
Likewise, I can't described the incident as the fault of the
drivers behind trying to overtake. We are Racing!

Anyway, I hope if you are reading this, incidents involving
karts normally have a combination of events happening
that caused it. Note, I said Normally, there are exceptions
of course.

One important point here for me to note is that for a race
everyone has to try to get the tyre make agreed on.
Once the green flag drop, everyone just go.
There is no time to think or react if the guy in front or
even behind is using a lesser grip tyres.
That is why I will be against the silly rule that Louis is
thinking of i.e. have to 1st three positioned driver of
the previous race to use Mojo D2 instead of MG
yellow in the next race.

How silly and dangerous that is.
Now, I think this incident just demonstrated its
potential recipe for crashes.

And had we forgotten why F1 and MotoGP all returned
to single tyre make?

Ah... Tony gotten front brakes on his kart!
Nice!
He spent almost..... many hours fixing it!
By the time, he started to hop into his kart I was
almost done for the day.

My day consist of me 'playing' around with my really
wasted MG tyres, and got some brake fluid replaced.
I will try to replace the fluid every 6 months or so in
order to get the equipment running in its best condition.
Perhaps every 3 months?

Then when the MG really gave up on me, I got some
Mojo D2 on. This is the tyre I need to get some real
track time on, because it is the ones which will be use
for the RMC.
Furthermore, James showed me something special again on
Sunday that it is possible to do a 45+sec lap with Mojo!
I think I can do a high 45sec with MG tyre, but when I use
Mojo it is about 47 flat !

Gees...

I knew for a long time even though I was feeling good
in my GP10 kart I still have some really serious work
to be done.

Time to get real serious and get things going... faster!

Below pic is when I was heading out. It does seems more
'tarmac' is been put by the side ready to give us a smoother
ride to our 'play ground'
cheers... and thanks for reading

AmTwin - Opening

25 Jan

On 23 Jan, there's a new outlet for us to 'shop' for
kart stuff.

AmTwin Motorcycle & Karts Supply
259 Jalan Besar (2nd Floor)
(S) 208934

Basically from my understanding it's their aim to provide a
one stop for karters with a wide range of services and
products.
Should there be anything you may need or want do let me
know as I know the owners, and hopefully they can assist us.

Price wise, I personally do believe they are or can be competitive.

One of the main drawing point of AmTwin is that they are
not too difficult to find. But one has to be ready to park at City
Square Shopping Mall and take a short walk to the shop.
Then the next thing is that we can grab the stuff (must pay,
of course!) immediately and use it the next day on the track.
That is in relatively to the waiting for it to arrive from somewhere.

All in all, I would say it's nice to have another alternative for
guys and gals like us who kart.

I was there on the opening... some pics..

1st level is mainly for Harley bikes parts.
2nd level... shopping for karters!



The new Arai SK6

Some karts on display. Should have more in time to come
CRG!Good Tillet Seats !
Sprockets


Painted Helmet Services

RK Chain Lube.
RK Chain

MiR Kart Suit
The talent behind all helmet painting... now doing it on the wall!
WOW!

Blurry Fast..

19 Jan

There are some details for races I realised I cannot piece
together after it.

So much can happened at the same time, and sometimes
nothing happened at all for the whole race.

For the 17 Jan race, I would think I had recalled what I
could. At least those interesting bits in the previous entry.

There are of course the ones which I had to battle extremely
hard at one of the hairpins to get past Graeme in Heat 1.
The first time I tried the move on him, both of us literally
went past the hairpin together.
Eventually, I had to back off slightly and let him go.
A few laps later, I had to move on him again at the same spot.
Braking as late as I can, making the move cleanly I went
past. Then I embarked to try to catch Leo.
He was just too far ahead already.

Heat 2 interesting moments were that in Lap 1 or 2 I tried
to overtake Graeme or Leo at the Spoon using the outside
line ... bad move. It cause me two places instantly!
Then I retook them (somehow, and I can't recalled who was
it!)
After or before that, the incident involving Graeme and Leo
occurred.
The interesting bit was that I overtook CK at the same hairpin
which I went past Graeme in the earlier heat. And I heard
loud screeching behind me, once I went ahead.

That is fun! That is racing! I think CK enjoyed it too... or not.

The rest of the remaining I was trying to concentrate fully and
pull away from CK. I did.
I was told I was slowing in the closing stage by Graeme and Leo.
I said 'no' then. Thinking back, I think I did slowed.
The timing show that. And that I was not throttling as hard or as
crisp for the corners already.
I could see that I was quite long way from CK, and hence there
was no reason to push all too hard.

At the last lap, the mechanics who were stationed around the track
gave me the thumbs up. I was glad.
But I just have to tell myself that I still have to complete this lap
to 'win'.
Then chequered flag.


One of the strange occurrence in this few 'races' were that I was
just using one size sprocket for the short or long track layout.

Anyway as the new season of racing is coming real soon, more
serious had to be done. Hopefully there will be more good news
here.

Keeping at it

17 Jan

I guess I will keep it short for this one for now.
I'm pretty beat.

Quite very happily, I managed 'win a race' in Plentong today.

Six of us racing, me, Leo, CK, Graeme, Tyler, Alan Smith and
supposedly Alan Lange with his Axiro.

Draw lots for Heat 1 starting position, and I started from 6th!

Starting order is:

Graeme, Leo, CK, Tyler, Alan, me

However, managed to finish second for Heat 1, closing in on
Leo during the final stages.
Had some very close racing with Graeme once again.
Which I reckon always define our friendship and massive
respect for each other. Brutal aggressive racing with each
other, but always room for each other in almost any situation.
Tyler was saying watching us in front of him, he thought we are
going to end up crashing very heavily..
No, we won't, my friend.

Since we are going with reverse grid for Heat 2, I am at the back
row once again. The starting order is:

Alan Smith, CK, Tyler, Graeme, me, Leo

Alan Lange did joined us in the fray with his monster engine
as mentioned.

At lap one or two, I guess he was one of the reason or 'the'
reason that caused both Leo and Graeme to go off.
Which in another lap or so, I managed to overtook Alan, then
CK for the lead.

Took the chequered flag 1st once again which is nice,
especially I had to do it from the back.

Although not a real race race, I am happy that some of the
hard work done previously is bearing some results.

"Today Preparation Determines Tomorrow's Achievement"

All for now. While I get some sleep and try to recollect some
interesting thrilling moments of the race.

cheers

Race Dates

12 Jan

At the start of the year, it's always very interesting to see
the race schedule and anticipate what it holds for the year
ahead.

Let's start with Plentong Club race schedule,
which also can be seen on http://www.permasgokart.com/date.htm

> Track B, C, E, F are with the spoon sections
> Track A, D, G, H are without the spoon sections

* 7 Feb, Track C
* 7 Mar, Track E
* 28 Mar, Track A (clash with Australia F1), out

* 25 Apr, Melaka (?)

* 23 May, Track B
* 20 Jun, Track D, out
* 18 Jul, Track F
* 15 Aug, Track G, out

* 5 Sept, Sepang (?)

* 17 Oct, Track H, out
* 21 Nov, Track E
* 12 Dec, Track C

There will be 2 away races, but I wonder how many will go.
As I noted above, that races of certain track layout that are
without the spoon sections. Implying they are only of long
straights follow by another long straights.
It is most likely I will be absent from those, since there are
not much to do for these race except to hold the steering
straight... I think.
Let's see how it goes.

Next up, Rotax Max Challenge (RMC), Malaysia
which has its schedule on http://www.kartmoreracing.com/2010/2010-race-dates

RD 1, 13/14 Mar, SEPANG
RD 2, 8/9 May, SPEEDWAY ELITE

RD 3, 12/13 June, SEPANG

RD 4, 24/25 July, PEKAN

RD 5, 2/3 Oct, MALACCA

This is a more serious race series.
The cost of racing in it do reflect it!
Any sponsors??

I need to think long and hard about this one.
Beside the cost involved, there is a consideration of the
time taken to be in this.
Time taken to be at the races, and the time taken to
actually prepare for it.
This is a national race, and one will not like to be at
the tail of of things.
If I do get things together for this series (i really pray i do)
I am determined to make the best of it all.

Will be keep my fingers crossed that everything will be well
for 2010 in all the races!

1st First

11 Jan 2010

I did see the chequered flag before anyone yesterday
when we had 6 karts racing together.

However, I am unsure if I can say that I actually won
a race, race.

Let me explain...

A typical kart race will have 3 parts to it, at least that
what we practice in Plentong.

To begin with, it's the Qualifying.
Just like most motorsports, anyone who grabbed the
fastest time during this period will start from pole position.
If you have the second fastest time, u start second from
the grid etc.

Yesterday, we drew lots to see who starts where.
Good old days of karting is back !
And I started in second.
Not too bad except that I will on the wider line prone to
being squeezed out of position at the very 1st corner.

Then, came the race itself.
Normally, we have 2 heats to settle a race.
Yesterday, we only have one heat.
So it's only half distance to what we would usually do.


One of the main reason is that we only can start close to
1pm when a fun kart event ended.
Thank goodness that we did not decide to race on 10 Jan.


The race started (about 3pm) when we have more than
the usual rolling start, and one of the reason is that Louis
kart had some problems and so we circled around the track
once or twice more.

Oh, the six of us in grid order are (if i recalled it correctly)
Graeme, me, Wai Chan, Kenneth, Louis, and a new guy
with a 100cc Vortex.

When we are going to start, I saw Louis sitting in his kart
and Jason was working on it near the pit area.
To be honest I did not know until very later that Louis did
managed to race after all.

I guess I just did not have time to be bothered about him
as the start is looming. Remember how I bitch about
how bad my start were?
This time it's not too shabby.

I managed to throttle well once the green flag is shown,
and I reckoned I could have forced a move on Graeme as
I think he went slightly wide on the hairpin.

But I elected to stay behind and see what will unfold.
It seems that after he adjusted his seat, the sweet handling
of the F.A. chassis had all gone!
So I thought I just had to get past him very soon
else I will be sucked into a battle of position with more
than just one kart.

At the start of lap 2, he went very wide again at the 1st
corner. I was just trailing behind getting and hoping I
will have more speed to get clear of him at the straights
that follow.
I had. That was very near to 180R.
It was a close clean move which I guess both of us
enjoyed the racing.

ah.. it was not over though. Graeme had looked for way
to get past me again at the downhill section.
I could see from the corner of my eye that he was just
behind by my right taking the tighter line which would
blocked my entry for the hairpin. I move slightly to the
right to block him taking that line. However I cannot stay
there as I would compromised my own entry for the spoon
section.
So I had to moved back to the left in order to position
myself just nice enough for the turn.

I could just lose the position there and then to Graeme
with me moving back to the left...
It will be not too bad should I concede the entry there,
because it will be better to have a faster exit in order to
ensure the climb to the spoon will not suffered.

Just as I was doing so from my left eye I could see
Graeme was there already!!
Gees... how did he got there to there in a split second!

I just had to concentrate for the hairpin that is
coming fast. I kept the lead making the turn 1st.

Before end of that lap, I turned just to see how close
Graeme was. About one to two kart length away.
Some breathing space.

3rd lap, just as I was completing the spoon section I
saw a cloud of dust blowing across the track..
hmmm
Not a good sign recollecting the quite serious accident
not too long ago.
Checking my 'six', strange, no one in sight.

4th lap, downhill after 180R. Yellow flag.
It seems Graeme is out. So was Kenneth.
I was told later that Kenneth hit Graeme after Graeme
slided wide at the downhill hairpin.

At this point, I was thinking how many of us are left in
this race??
The answer is 4, including me, which is unknown
until the race was over.

The rest of the race came in a blur or without much
incident except that I had to lap Wai Chan who is
struggling in a race kart 'loan' to him by Tony.

All I know was that I just have to drive the rest of the
laps in steady fashion without the need to push too
much. That what I did. Upon completing the 15 laps
Tony did a huge wave with the chequered flag.
I pointed my left index finger.

Honestly, it is very nice to finish in front of everyone
else.
But I would not go as far to say I had won a race.
Perhaps I will just note that I am just a tad faster than
anyone else yesterday, and lucky that I was not in any
sort of incidents.

And 'things do get better' as compared to a week ago
at Kartright.

I will now take this cue and build a nice platform to
continue the rest of the year with...I hope!

There will be some news to come on here...
be on the look out.

Experience @ Kartright, Singapore

3 Jan

Today, I had a chance to get to go around on a race kart
in Singapore.
Believe it or not, this is the first ever for me.

The track fee for karting here is S$75.

This opportunity to kart come about quite late at about
1.30pm when Uncle Yee called to check if I'm interested.

Of course, I am!!

Although, overall at the end of the session which I did not
get too much time on the kart (Gillard with KF2 engine)
I rather wished I had not wasted the money.

The track is not too bad, it's however just too technical to
really enjoy the experience of karting.
A lot of people had told me that the track is very bumpy.
Now, I can tell you that it's BLOODY BumPy...!
It is a very low grip track.
With many tight turns, the kart has to be set to its "grippiest"
and run at a big rear sprocket for it to exit the corner nicely.

What I had on the kart that was offered to me has
quite a fair good power at the back, but the tyres were very
old (1 year) .
So you can understand why I felt it was a waste of time
running in such condition.

Not that I am not grateful for the chance to 'play' but
unable to push in the machine is not really pleasant.
More unpleasant was the fact that because of the
old tyres the rear brakes do not really seems to work at all.
Imagine this, I was putting my foot down on the brake
before and during the corners and it still travel forward
with no hint of slowing.
It's border line dangerous.
I had not driven in such manner for a long time.

I was sweating more than ever after only less than 10 laps.
It was extremely difficult to drive around with the super
hard tyres making the kart refusing to take any apexes.
Then it bumps.. then it cannot turn in.. then it bumps again..
This cycle just repeats itself over and over again until
I just have to pit in.

If I have to try this track again, I would bring my own
tyres for the track.
It can be interesting to drive in.
But one have to be ready with the settings, equipment, and
being physical fit.

Well, what a way to start 2010 because I reckon
things will get only better from here!