[Gary80]

As far as needing a special factory KF engines to gets results maybe true for some drivers but we certainly do not have special engines they are standard out of box engines and in both rounds we have achieved podium placings. Our engines have done two full meetings and over 6 months of heavy practicing before the races and to date we have only changed the piston and ring once.

And I think I am in a good position to compare the cost difference between the KF and rotax engines as I am currently paying the bills to keep 2 KF2 and 2 Rotax engines racing in there relevant series and to date i certainly know where the most money has gone.

I think no matter what series we run in it is all about enjoying and having a good time and meeting great people and last weekend I went to my first Yamaha race and the senior final was probably to best and closest race I have ever seen even though these karts are slower they are great to watch.

[James Leong]

I would certainly agree with Mike on the fact that each individual driver decides on the class they want to race. If you prefer KF2 or KF3 go ahead and buy the engines, do what you want. It is pointless to moan about other classes and bitch about it so much. Then this forum becomes a place for personal attacks. This should not be the case. The forum is the place for fruitful discussion to bring the sport to a better level than it is now.

I think for anyone to bitch about the non available races in KF engines in Malaysia is out of line. The onus is on the importer of these engines to organise the races or joint forces with importers of other brands to do the series. Do not expect the ASN or Clubs to organise these races free. The importers can get together and pool their funds and pay for the organisation of the races. It does not meant that just because you went and bought a few KF engines the ASN or Club is obligated to organise races in this class.

The running of the RMC/AMC is solely by Kartmore which brings the rotax engines into this country. I have paid a lot of money to get the series inscribed as well as to the club to organise the event and I would be a fool to allow other makes of engines to run in my series unless they contribute to the costs. Dont you think its fair?

James Leong

[Mike]

Hello James. You have certainly done well developing and building the rotax class to what it is today. That is the reason why I am still holding on to the Rotax engines that I own in the hope that budget and circumstances allow us to race the class again in the future.

We participated in the Max series in Kota Baru this year and it was most enjoyable for us.

Of course, with you being the importer of Rotax, no one in their right mind can expect you to invest and fund a racing event for a different make of engine, but I believe that the call to run a KF2 and KF3 class was made to KKS.

If I am not mistaken, the KKS is a club that is formed to promote karting for its members. In this instance, would the members have a right to request the club for a particular class be run? I ask this question in the believe that clubs are supposed to function for the benefit of its members? Of course if the members do not want it, then it should not be run, but what if it is otherwise?

This is just a question that I have and I do hope that you also see it as being in the interest of developing the sport locally as I am confident that you are always in the forefront of the development of karting in Malaysia as a whole and not only your own particular brand of products.

Lastly, to HK, we do have wonderful food over here in Malaysia. I do hope that you manage to come and race and enjoy the food. If however, even if you dont come and race, do contact me, and I will be happy to direct to the right places for some good food.

[mandyrek]

hello mike, can we run in your yamaha class? my son franco, runs in the yamaha here in the philippines and the kf3 in akoc. he read about the exciting races in your yamaha class. i just don't know if its limited to malaysians only. we always have a full grid in the yamaha class here resulting in good wheel to wheel racing all the time. besides being the cheapest, it also is the easiest to maintain, and a good training ground for the cik classes, which are all "self-tuning" classes. maybe, this is the class that would really develop the sport in asia.

and to james, i appreciate your effort in developing the sport thru the promotion of rotax in the region. our 125 classes here are actually open classes. we can actually use any engine that are to specs in the class. the reason why we don't have rotax drivers anymore is because johnny doesn't distribute them here anymore. but there is no ban in rotax engines. maybe, if there is somebody here who would bring in the engines, then the local karters would have more choices. it's common knowledge that the rotax is more powerful than the ROK, so i'm very sure if the engines are available here, people will get it. this is racing, who doesn't want to win anyway? any undue advantage, is always welcome.

[Mike]

Hello Mandyrek. We of course know Franco, he has been extremely competitive at AKOC in both the Yamaha class and KF3. I am sure that he will be a welcome and competitive driver in the Yamaha races in Malaysia.

As far as I know, (and this will need to be confirmed by the relevent authorities/organizers) is that this is a club race and technically what you need to participate here is membership in the club. I believe that the issue may be one of licensing with your own ASN.

I will make it a point to make sure that either Aaron or Ray gives you an accurate answer shortly. He can probably do so when he meets you in Jakarta next week.

Please do let Franco know that both Bryan and Natasha will look forward to racing with him again

[HK]

........

The running of the RMC/AMC is solely by Kartmore which brings the rotax engines into this country. I have paid a lot of money to get the series inscribed as well as to the club to organise the event and I would be a fool to allow other makes of engines to run in my series unless they contribute to the costs. Dont you think its fair?

James Leong

Agree!!!! and after all Asia Max Challenge or Rotax Max Challenge is races for max engines only, there is no reason for other engines to run in the series.
By the way, the AMC, Euro max or Grand final of Rotax are becoming very important races all over the world.
That's why from the beginning I'm talking about having an Asian race which allow KF to race in Malaysia, but not letting other engines to run in the AMC series.

[HK]

..........Lastly, to HK, we do have wonderful food over here in Malaysia. I do hope that you manage to come and race and enjoy the food. If however, even if you dont come and race, do contact me, and I will be happy to direct to the right places for some good food.

Thanks.....!!

[mandyrek]

thanks mike! will see you guys in sentul next week. franco's looking forward to the races already. cheers!

[Alex Ritchie]

One can certainly learn a lot from this forum. We are running with RL karting and we have not been able to obtain any factory tuned or race tuned KF3 engines. I will be talking to the team pricipal of RL Karting today but would appreciate your source of this information where he has factory tuned engines so that I can obtain 1 as well.

The comment about RL Karting having access to factory-tuned engines and the independent tuners not having caught up with the factories yet was based on a nice conversation I had with Aaron Lim, son of the team principal of RL Karting {and driver for A1 Team Malaysia} on 20th July at the Elite circuit. He dropped by our paddock on the Sunday of RMC Round 4 to shoot the breeze with us.

The comment that Kartmore has access to factory-tuned engines was based on numerous conversations with James Leong, team principal of Kartmore Racing Services. You know how it is, old men forget easily, so I guess he wanted to remind me that he could get them.

I have found both to be fine, upstanding gentlemen, not prone to making sweeping statements...

...but that is not the point. The point is KF racing is open class racing. The most prestigious races in the world are KF races and I am sure they are the most fun to drive.

It does not matter two hoots what one particular driver is, or is not, doing in AKOC now. The point is that it has the potential to escalate into a very expensive series to run...after all every parent wants to give his child the best chance of winning and that means getting the best equipment and running it the right way.

[Aaron Lim]

Hi Alex,

Just to clarify some points. You may have misunderstood what I spoke to you about or possibly me being not clear on some issues (I would like to apologize if this was the case). What i was trying to explain on the 20th of July in Elite was that the way the current KF2/KF3 engines are built, the tuners have very little to do to make them any faster then the standard box engines delivered from the factory. This makes it very much cheaper on the end user as he does not have to send his engine to a specific tuner to get his engine done up. Our team RL Karting has been using box standard engines from the start of this year against the Thai and Philippine drivers who have some prepared engines from (Merlin, PDB, etc) and we do not see any advantage compared to ours. This will allow to private teams to be alot more competitive as they would know even with a box engine they would be competitive right away. The regulations only permit the tuners to alter the port heights very slightly. This is a good move from the CIK to curb the cost of karting with the new KF series. Also we would not have to worry about the problems with engines being faster every year as the homologation for the engine is done once every 3 years. So if you have bought a new engine recently, you won't have to worry about the engines next year being faster, etc. till the next homologation is done. And i've also heard that they might want to extend the homologation spend to longer then 3 years. This will even be better for karting.

[Mike]

As far as I know, in Malaysia only Kartmore and RL Karting have access to these engines, so you have to join either team or persuade them to sell you a couple of engines if you want to run your own team.

I really do not know about Kartmore and that is why I did not say anything about their ability to procure"factory engines", not wanting to shoot my mouth before confirming the facts.

What I was trying to get across in my post was that the KF3 class was not more expensive than Rotax and this was based on the premise that we have actually raced both classes. Now, that is a fact!

Motor racing is an expensive sport, do try to tell us something new. The cost can be controled by strict policing by the organizers and it has been obvious that this is now happening in Malaysia.

Just try a google on Christodoulou Rotax 2005 and you will find that high priced engines happen in every engine class.

Oil has the potential to reach USD 1k a barrel, Kart engines have the potential to run on water, and baby elephants can have the potential to fly by flapping their ears.

I guess that you are absolutely right on that point there is a potential for many things to happen. Sorry but I am more interested in what is happening to the sport now when I am participating in it. For the "what ifs", "maybe's", you could try the disney forum. Oh Yes! They do have a baby flying elephant. PM me if you want to know its name.

[James Leong]

I think this discussion on KF has gone a little too far and should now stop here.

I understand the views of Mike as to why the club should organise an event for KF as well as the club's view on why they dont want to.

I think a new series would augur well for our country in terms of those who has the KF engines and for those who would want to buy one too. However, cost being the major factor in organising an event like this, may I suggest that all KF engines importer or potential importer meet up and contribute to the cost of running a series and take it from there with KKS. I think this is better option than to wait for the cows to come home before a series is organised.

As I am the TM engine importer through Intrepid, I am prepared to contribute my share if others take up the rest. So why not put the money where the mouth is and get it started.

James Leong

[Ryan104]

moved post to new thread