This is one reason why Raja Razman is the best trainer/coach/mentor by far for cadets in Malaysia. He's even figured out a way to determine the transition point from fun karter to race driver.

Most of what Ryan learned he learned from Raja Razman....

I used this concept on a senior driver who won races before. He was complaining his kart handling is off allday.
I pretend to do some setup and ask him to try 5 laps. After 5 laps his feedback "Now its prefect"

Its good to try it, but I feel cadet drivers dont have to be technical minded yet. The overall speed and self confident level should be the deciding factor.

That's scary. Presumably that's one of the senior drivers that suffers from random brake failures when following another driver

Razman's point isn't about technical knowledge - it's about being able to feel what's happening and someone who's good can feel and decsribe what's going on without understanding why. I've been racing karts for 30 years and I'm still only average at setting up the kart but I am damned good at describing what it feels like to someone who is technical enough to decide what to try.

Greetings.

Back to the subject...60cc cadets.

But first, congratulations to all winners of the last weekend rd3 race. My son Brandon Lee and I had a wonderful time. That's the point, at this development stage drivers must enjoy the leaning experience with the parents support. Yes, some have serious plan for their children's future development in the sport but I am glad to see many cadets interacting freely. A bunch of good buddies off track but ready to battle it out on the track. Good for fostering friendship and sportmanship.

Though the race situation was chaotic (some mentioned elsewhere in this forum), with dry, wet and drying track conditions, set-up and tyres choice were challenging. Never got it right. Brandon managed 6 but the experience was invaluable.

60cc, let me share my views.
- This current cadet group is 'deep' into the sport.
- Using 85cc for 1-3 years
- Able to handle the power and speed.
- Some may have another year left in this category before moving on.
- Owning a few engines and at least 2 ready to race.

Questions.
- Are we looking at this same group and move them to 60cc?
- Are we helping them to migrate to Junior from 60cc?
- What about the current 85cc engines? Many in race conditions.
(sell them for fun kart rental?)
- More investment for 60cc engines, tyres, parts...?
- A dilemma for those with 1 more year left in this category, to stay or stop?


In my opinion.
Keep the 85cc and start the 60cc as a new category. here I think Alex Ritchie's suggestion is excellent about pooling engines and ballot during race day.[/quote]

[quote="Alex Ritchie"]
Over the two years there were a couple of good proposals to deal with the issues, but none were actually implemented:

(i) Appoint one organisation to supply all the engines. They would prepare and rent the engines, which would be allocated by ballot.
(ii) Legislate that all the engines were for sale at the end of the race weekend at a fixed price. This would discourage spending on exotic carbies, specialist builders and the like for obvious reasons.
(iii) Each driver had to contribute two engines into a pool. Engines would be allocated to teams by ballot. After the race engines would be returned to the owners for rebuild.

For the sake of the wallets and sanity of the parents I think a move to a touch and go engine policed in the same manner as the Rotax Challenge is the way to go - Baby Rok or Mini Max.

I have actually posted a reply in this column earlier but apparently did not get into it.

Referring to Ron's comment, the ASN has decided that there will be a 60cc class with either Comer K60 or WTP60. All this depends on the supplier, cost and availability of spares. Our neighbours Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines are running 60cc as with the rest of the world. Only we are running 85cc. The 60cc class will be a grassroot class for newcomers only starting at age 7. After a year or two, the driver can opt for the higher class of 85cc or the micro max class. The 85cc class with its current drivers will remain since they have the chassis and engines in the first place. There will be no talk about the present 85cc drivers going to 60cc. That was not the idea when this was proposed. So you parents whose child is in the 85cc class, dont fret.

Hope this clears the air.

James Leong

James, thank you very much for clearing the air. Hearing this for the first time after much enquiries. Even sent an email to the club but no reply. I am all for a lower running cost entry level class.

Hi All,

Firstly congrats on the new website. I presume that Mikko was heavily involved in developing this. Always seems to do everything possible to promote Karting not only in Malaysia but the whole of Asia.

On the subject of 60cc Vs 85cc, my son, Liam has raced a few times in the KKS Cadet 85cc races over the past couple of years and is currently competing in the AKOC Mini ROK series. If I asked him now to "downgrade" to a Comer 60cc engine I know what his response would be.......and I don't allow my kids to swear! However, if he was just starting off in the sport and a 60cc category was available then I would have definitely put him in that class for all the reasons that others have already cited. e.g racecraft skills etc etc. (60cc with small tyres like they race in Indonesia & Europe would be best!)

I think James Leong's suggestion of 2 classes is the right answer.

However, at the age of Cadets I don’t think speed, racecraft etc are the most important. This sport, more than others, is all about character building. After always finishing in a podium position, Liam raced in AKOC Macau. He could not get his engine right and his chassis setup was all wrong. He came 6th and was fuming for days to come. My view? Stop moaning and get on with it. You have chosen a sport where you are dependent on equipment – Sh.t happens. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t spend a small fortune for him to come and lose. He comes to compete and win, but sometimes (and I hope not too often!) also to lose gracefully out of which I hopefully get a more balanced kid.

Cheers

Hey Rob,

Sounds like you have a extremely passionate son on your hands that is all about winning. Well in some ways that may be good, because Champions only have one thing on their minds, to win. So if he is already thinking that way, maybe its a sign.

If you're interested to run a CRG let me know.

Cheers

If all parents everywhere were told about how good karting is at character-building it would boost numbers more than anyone could imagine. Not even many in the sport realise how much karting can build a kid's character.

Agree with all your other points as well btw... no way will any kid downgrade .

This sport, more than others, is all about character building. After always finishing in a podium position...

hi rob! mandy here. you hit it right on. character building is what this sport will develop in our kids. personally, it developed a strong bond between me and franco. and i guess that what's more important. we've been racing in akoc for the past 2 years and i could truly say that my son's view of the world and his neighbors have changed. he's developed friendships from all over asia. it's fun to watch them between and after races when they play together and even if they just communicate thru sign language sometimes, these kids still manage to be friends with each other. hope to see you guys in sentul! the minirok grid should be interesting. last year, franco competed in cadet 60 and there were 23 of them! looking forward to fantastic racing in indonesia.

hello....mandyrek......i will see u in Sentul , hopefully!

hi rob G

you are 100% spot on.

in my experinces with cadets from all levels.

kart RACING improve one's character.

it bulids alot more then mention and physically too.

but i believe parents should always set an example on what to do when one is not doing well in the race.

the apporach to racing for cadet must be a happy experince win or lose, first or last. More importantly an educational and informative ones.
Cadets must understand why and where they are slow or fast.

Cadets with the passion to win - is the making of a good driver.
Cadets with the passion to win and goes all the way to achieve it - is the making of a champion.

wanting to win and learning how to win is 2 totally different thing. The latter is what is needed to be a champion.
i have seen cadet trying to win races for their parents but i think they(cadets) should do it for other reason also.

Cadets must understand that they must work hard to win raceS.
The bigger the engine/tyres the harder they work for it.
And the mechanic, parents and equipment must on par with driver.

so it means the faster they get, the rest must be able to deliver if not it gets boring or frustrating for them.

Thus 'good'(faster) drivers should stick to 85cc and rest learning the mentioned above should stick to 60cc until the whole package is ready to upgrade to 85cc.

For the 85cc cadets moving to 125cc JR classes, things get faster by 10 times....
it gets harder boys and girls..
FOR teams mechanic moving up JR ....good luck 10 times.
FOR parents moving up JR ....spent 10 times more too.

Hi Raja,

Yes you are absolutely right. The whole package has to work together. This means that the driver needs to be able to feedback effectively to the team on the performance of the kart / engine. Again, great experience for my son who is pretty shy.

Hi Mandy!,

Yes we will be there. Not sure I like the sounds of 23 drivers on the grid. Having 16 kids on the track is already enough to give me a heart attack! Also agree that this is great bonding between father & son. However not sure if the same is true for mother & son bonding. My wife saw Liam drive for the first time at the AKOC Phillipines race. She was completely petrified when she saw Franco & Liam "driving so close" (most would call it "racing"!!!). Her recommendation to Liam after the race was to next time allow Franco to go past so they could both have a more leisurely and safer drive! He must have looked at her for 20 seconds in amazement after which he just said "yes mum" and walked off. Needless to say mum will not be invited to the next race.

Cheers
Rob