here's something that stuck on my head during the weekend race up till now...

Rear Bumper......

it says on the CIK book that's a must for safety reason.i agreed for safety no compromise...

what do u think?

Yeah that is true. But i don't see racers using them.

Last year at Macau, All FA drivers using it. Some of the Rok drivers use it too. 1 of them is me. I think i like racing with rear bumper. less damages if bumping people..

do you think it would promote bumping?

because if you ram someone from behind who has the rear bumper, there is no chance of flying over their wheel.

it does i think. "bumping is racing" forgot which movie i heard that from.

plus it looks good. in my view..

I think UK's solution was the best - the rear metal bar was made wide. Little added weight while really cutting down on climbing over. The CIK solution just adds weight making them have to raise minimum weight.

adding weight?yes..true!cause i saw senna using 'em for last weekend race..it kinda look heavy.

actually..last weekend race , it is advise to use rear bumpers.because apparently for AKOC races , its a must.because AKOC regulations is adapting the CIK book really well.if u know what i'm talking about...

Yep, for me I had to move my seat forward to have a nice balance. other then that, It feels the same..

Personally I don't like them because I think they promote bumping and sort of eliminate the idea of karting being an open wheel sport. There is no consequence for rough driving now. They are definately not catching on in the States. I've seen maybe one or two drivers all year with them. And also, they are kinda ugly.

Yeh im not a fan of them. Promotes bumping for sure and marshals dont seem to punish people that bump in our races so dirty drivers will come out on top.

Its more exciting to watch karts with inches to the wheel but with a bumper it takes away that bit of excitment.

If its for the aspect of safety, im not phased because I think neck braces would have to be made compulsory before bumpers.

Basically i dont want a bumper on my kart

I had a long discussion with Pak Samsul in Sentul during the AKOC race last month. Although I am a strong advocate for safety in karting, there must be some strong thinking about this before the rule is being implemented.

The idea behind the rear bumper is good and that's why CIK has implemented it. If you enter for a CIK event which is the either world or other championship, full CIK ruling applies right down to racing overalls, shoes, gloves etc. If you intend to enter these races then you have to follow the rules given.

In Asia, apart from the Asia Pacific championship, there are no other so called CIK races although All races must be CIK sanctioned. These races would be zoned either National or Asia. Zone races although CIK sanctioned would go according to the ruling set by the ASN concerned. If the ASN is pushing for full CIK specifications then even in National racing the rear bumper applies.

Take this scencerio in Malaysia where most of the karts are not of the latest homologation. Getting them to come for the races is already a problem. How do you enforced them to use the latest type of rear bumpers? It is either having more entries in the field or none at all since the karts will fail scrutineering due to the rear bumpers.

In Sentul last month, if AKOC were to imposed the CIK ruling fully, how many of the karters will pull out? Maybe Pak Samsul can give an answer to that. The Karting Commission of Malaysia has deliberated on this issue and we can only conclude that it will take time to follow the rules fully. Right now our concentration are on other safety issue like homologated racing overalls, shoes, gloves and especially helmet. These are the most urgent safety aspect. Rear bumpers like the present CIK ones does promote bumping and it will take a lot of policeing to make sure rules are followed.

Personally I think we should be more concerned with safety to the drivers and circuit should be a lot more safer to drive than to worry about the new rear bumpers. The present bumpers is sufficient for the time being.

I would like to hear your views on this.

James Leong

Yeh thats true... its hard to get bumpers on to drivers karts in asia if the karts they buy dont come with a bumper. There would be alot of screwing around to get bumpers on karts in asia and making sure everyone had one.

Maybe in 2 seasons time it would work... but if it isnt a forced rule in our races... then i would just leave it out.

Days of Thunder starring Tom Cruise.

The quote actually appears twice in the movie.

Cole Trickle (Tom Cruise) - The son of a bitch just slammed into me.
Harry the Pit Chief - He didnt slam into you, he didnt bump you, he didnt nudge you .... he rubbed you and rubbing, son, is racing!

Cole Trickle - Remember me (after slamming into rival's bumper)
Harry - What the hell is going on?
Cole Trickle - Just a little rubbing, Harry ... rubbing's racing!

The movie's a classic!

imho,

Decide and set a realistic cut-off date whereupon the karting community would have been given sufficient due notice on the bumper requirement.

Perhaps stagger implementation starting with countries where karters are using newer chassis, observe impact over a season and karter feedback and if overall impact is positive, it could be implemented to the rest of Asia in batches.

All this has to go hand-in-hand with sufficient policing to ensure that the bumper tactics are being penalised.