[Alex Ritchie]

It's a slow day in the office. Outside it's been raining cats and dogs and I happened to browse the A1GP results for Eastern Creek. Suddenly I noticed some familiar names from the various Rotax series around th world.

Fairuz Fauzy, Team Malaysia's lead driver in Australia, was a stalwart in the Malaysian series for many years. In fact his father, Hj. Fauzy was the Malaysian Rotax distributor until 2006.

Wesleigh Orr - Rotax RM1 World Champion in 2004 and 2005 is now the rookie driver for South Africa.

Earl Bamber - 3rd in Max Junior in Lanzarote 2004 - is now rookie driver for New Zealand

Robert Wickens, the Canadian lead driver, was second in the Canadian RMC some years ago.

Satrio Hermanto - who was 9th in RM1 in Lanzarote - is now the lead driver for Indonesia.

Not bad for a realtively new series in the karting world. I guess it won't be long before we see Rotax "graduates" in F1!

[brakedisc]

They are not good enough for F1 if base on merit alone. Maybe pay to drive with smaller teams as test drivers or wait for 2nd driver to injured himself. But no, they are not good enough. Rotax max is hobby class competition so dont expect it to be on the top level.

[Jules]

Rotax max is hobby class competition so dont expect it to be on the top level.

I wonder if Brakedisc races in RMC? The World Finals for the RMC is where the top level of each country races against each other....

Rotax = hobby class? yes, but it goes further than that too cos otherwise TAG and KF1,2,3 wun have started to try stop the migration of drivers onto RMC.....

No, I dun work or sell Rotax.....just my 2 cents.

[RocK]

Rotax max is hobby class competition so dont expect it to be on the top level.

so which is the pro class for karting? Formula C with 32mm slide carburetor?

[Alex Ritchie]

They are not good enough for F1 if base on merit alone. Maybe pay to drive with smaller teams as test drivers or wait for 2nd driver to injured himself. But no, they are not good enough. Rotax max is hobby class competition so dont expect it to be on the top level.

We've had this discussion before. Just search the previous threads.

Anyway, to summarise my argument: to get to F1 you need to graduate from karting after the Junior years and start competing in junior formula cars, like Formula Ford or Formula BMW. Rotax Junior only started in earnest in 2004 when the first world finals for Junior Max began. This new series needs a few years to develop, so realistically the first F1 driver with any Rotax experience could only be from the 2006-2007-2008 cohort. They would only reach F1 (if indeed they do) in 2012-2014.

The youngest drivers in F1 now - Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Adrian Sutil, Nico Hulkenberg, Marko Asmer - all got out of karting between 2000 to 2003, so it is totally understandable why they did not do Rotax.

In any case the above only applies to the tiny handful of drivers who make it to F1. For thousands of others Rotax karting is a very serious hobby. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that!

[brakedisc]

That's right. Absolutely nothing wrong with having a hobby. Even if it is really serious.

[Alex Ritchie]

Wow...

[Mikko Nassi]

One thing to note in the progression of Rotax is that there are a few factory teams running drivers in Rotax events. At least Intrepid and Birel for example have a dedicated Rotax program.

[Alex Ritchie]

That's right. Absolutely nothing wrong with having a hobby. Even if it is really serious.

Your attitude reminds me of a small handful of Malaysian drivers. They have chosen to style themselves as "serious racers" - "We're serious racers. We race KF3. We don't race with Rotax hobby drivers".

Contrast that to Kevin Susilo. He will be racing KF3 in Europe with CRG this year. Yet he came all the way from Indonesia to run the Malaysian RMC Round 1. He won, but not by much. He had to work hard all weekend, had a lot of fun and he's kept himself sharp for the European season.

And, Nanin "Shogun" Indra-Payoong is racing KF2 in Thailand this year. Yet he went all the way to Japan to race in Round 1 of the Suzuka Karting Championship. He raced...you guessed it, Junior Max. Did very well too - 1st in Qualifying and 3rd in the Final.

Our Malaysian "serious racers" have climbed on a pedestal and set out a sign - "Serious Racers Only. We Are Too Good For Rotax". Meanwhile we Rotax racers are down on the track. having a whale of a time, enjoying fair, fast and furious racing and the camaraderie of the community.

We're busy preparing for what looks like an excellent Asia Max round in Kota Bharu. Meanwhile the "serious racers" are sitting on their hands, waiting for their season to start. I feel profoundly sorry for them.

[RocK]

"serious racers"

hey, lets have the names...

[Alex Ritchie]

My point is not to knock any particular persons, merely to point out that the distinction between "serious" and "hobby" racers is nonsense.

Any serious racer would race any kart he (or she) can get his hands on, as long as the racing is fair, fast and furious. There is no rule that says if you race KF3 you cannot race Rotax and vice versa.

[Jules]

My point is not to knock any particular persons, merely to point out that the distinction between "serious" and "hobby" racers is nonsense.

Any serious racer would race any kart he (or she) can get his hands on, as long as the racing is fair, fast and furious. There is no rule that says if you race KF3 you cannot race Rotax and vice versa.

well said...I will race ( finances & time permitting ) anything and even fun karts!

LOL

btw, to add to your list - look at Mitchell Gilbert...

[Gary80]

You are right Alex if you love karting you race anything. I am racing KF2 this year but I will still compete in Rotax which is a great series and I will do club races if I am available and I still race fun karts when I travel and find rental karts, the speed isnt important it is the size of field and competition thats important to me as long as I am behind the wheel of something.