[RocK]

Congratulations for all parties. Sound like a great final round.

my engine this weekend was brand-new, out of the box without even a crank balancing.

Side topic. I have always presume a brand new engine's crank is already balance. whats the percentage of a new engines having benefit from another in-house balancing?

[James Leong]

All Rotax engines like cars are assembled on an assembly line. Crankshaft comes complete from the manufacturer. These are also assembled at the machining house. As with all assembly line, items are assembled as it is. They will meet the standard quality check but if you want optimum tolerances on your engine, it is advisable to have it stripped down even from the box to have the crankshaft balanced, all screws tightened with the correct torque. Running in should be at least 2 hrs for the new P8 cylinder.

James Leong

[mym]

Congratulation to all the winners and the overall champions. Do your best in the world finals and make Malaysia proud.

It's going to be sad not see James Lee racing next year as he told me that he is hanging his kart. His son will be driving instead but it will be the cadet class. James was very determine to be the champion this year. When were in Al-Ain, he was like a chimney. He quit smoking and build up his stamina just to race with the guys whom are generally almost half his age. Well James, it paid off. You'll be representing Malaysia in La Conca.

Afiq's bumper in the pre-final was . I've never been so disappointed after winning a race

On Sunday, as I was walking back from the "Hill", saw Afiq was fuming mad because of the bumper. I had to console him down a little and told him it's ok and told him not to worry as he got the pace. While walking back to the pit, I met up with John and we were talking about Afiq's bumper and Mikko's fate. We were smiling and I told John that it's more of Mikko's luck than Afiq's.

The KRS team worked very hard on the chassis set-up. The result was that all the 3 seniors had almost an equal pace. Somehow rather they had better pace than the rest when the whether was hotter. In fact one the team mechanic said with confidence after the warm-up on Sunday..."it's ok, wait for the track to get hotter, they'll be slower". True enough it happen that way.

As a spectator, kudos to the organisers (KKS & Kartmore) whom have done a very good job . I hope the championship and karting scene in Malaysia will get an even bigger support from the local karters.

As a parent, the sport is a way I kept my son away from the "unwanted things". Afiq has always wanted to race kart in his earlier age but somehow rather he only got the opportunity last year in the Junior. ROTAX is the only championship we knew. Afiq is still new and learning, so, he may have upset some of his fellow karters. On behalf of him and me personally please accept my apologies should he and I did such a thing. To Afiq's fellow karters (especially the season karters), please give him the support, the encouragement and educate him as he is very determine to be the best.

As far as I am concern I have chosen the right team for him. The team, the facilities and the environment suit Afiq and the family very well. Swiss Hutless Asia Pacific & KRS has given him the opportunity to develop and for that I'd like to extend my heartiest gratitude them. It was beyond my expectation to see him challenging reputable & experience drivers in Malaysia like Mikko, Ijaz, Imran, Fariz, James Lee and others as this is his 1st year in the senior and also has to carry 23Kg of ballast. What more to be selected for the Petronas Formula BMW Experience where I would say he is progressing very well only after a year of karting. The 07 WF exposure and followed by a race in Macau in Dec 07 really open up his eyes and changed him as a driver. Thanks to James Leong for a well managed team and for the opportunities given and also whom have directly or indirectly assisted Afiq all this while.. All I can do is only to try my best to support him and I don't know how long I can do that...

See you guys in the 2009 RMC. I am sure RMC is going to be better.

[Ryan104]

If your engine is illegal in the final after inspection, you dont get DQ from pre final?

I wonder why they made his engine illegal for the final round when he has won 4 of 5 rounds and is already going to make the world finals through asia max

[Mikko Nassi]

If your engine is illegal in the final after inspection, you dont get DQ from pre final?

No because there is no way to know for sure if it was illegal in the pre-final as well. If it was checked after the pre-final the problem could've been fixed for the final. He could've used a different engine in the pre-final as well (spare).

I wonder why they made his engine illegal for the final round when he has won 4 of 5 rounds and is already going to make the world finals through asia max

You think "they made his engine illegal" on purpose? It sounds like you're blaming the team of cheating on purpose. The atmosphere even after the DQ was surprisingly upbeat from both Ryan's side and Nabil's side. Nabil even shouted jokingly "you're on my spot!" when Ryan accepted the winner's trophy. There were no hard feelings at the track and nobody accused the team of cheating on purpose so it's a bit rude of you to do so without even asking for specifics first.

Nabil could've finished the race in 10th and sealed the championship and not even had his engine checked. Quite obviously there was no intention to cheat, just a mistake from the team.

[Mikko Nassi]

It's going to be sad not see James Lee racing next year as he told me that he is hanging his kart.

That's no good to hear!! James c'mon you've gotta defend your title!

His son will be driving instead but it will be the cadet class.

Then again that's very good to hear .

He quit smoking and build up his stamina just to race with the guys whom are generally almost half his age. Well James, it paid off. You'll be representing Malaysia in La Conca.

Hard work pays!

Somehow rather they had better pace than the rest when the whether was hotter.

This is a relief compared to last year on the Hutless Magic when I was fast on a no-grip cool track but when things heated up I went backwards no matter what we did. You have no idea how pleased I am to be on a kart that allows me to set it up to work in high-grip conditions.

As a spectator, kudos to the organisers (KKS & Kartmore) whom have done a very good job . I hope the championship and karting scene in Malaysia will get an even bigger support from the local karters.

Judging by the feedback during the past two rounds, it'll be rocking next year!

As a parent, the sport is a way I kept my son away from the "unwanted things".

No sport better than karting for that

Afiq has always wanted to race kart in his earlier age but somehow rather he only got the opportunity last year in the Junior.

Obviously when he was younger he thought about racing enough that he was already fairly quick in his first year! It's easy to spot drivers that have a certain amount of natural talent when they start and Afiq is one of them and there are a handful in Juniors this year as well - but that natural talent will only get a driver so far until you work hard to add to it because there are thousands of others with just as much natural talent. How hard they work on improving on what they already have is what differentiates them, and it's good that Afiq has realised this .

Afiq could've been right in the championship fight coming into the final round this year if it wasn't for one incident in Kota Bharu (judging from the video just an unfortunate crash) and a few technical problems - shows how harsh the Rotax points system is.

btw not one driver was able to win more than 1 final in the seniors! Shows how competitive it was this year.

Since this thread is so lovey-dovey already I'd also like to say a big thank you Yazid for all the videos this year!

[Alex Ritchie]

...so how about a 6 round championship next year?

[James Leong]

First of all, I would like to post a reply to Ryan104 on his comment. I think Mikko replied in the manner that is befitting of that comment. However, for his benefit I will let him know what and why the DQ. Nabil was DQ because of the squish clearance and not any other technical matters. The mechanic in charge when putting together the engine used the minimum clearance. It is always dicey to do that as it could give a different reading when very hot. It was a decision made by the team themselves and they took the risk. Even F1 teams do the same thing. The only thing is that you must be prepared to take the risk of losing it.

To Alex, I must say it is quite impossible to run a 6 rounds championship when the rest of the world runs 5 rounds. I will try to run another 3 round series championship to fill in those months when there are no activities. Let me think of something - maybe a KF race to benefit Ryan104!!!!

James Leong

[Ryan104]

Ok ease up Im not having a go just asking the questions as i wasnt there to see the race unfortunately though im interested to understand why. Well the team has made a mistake, and when your DQ i means you have gone past what is legal,its quite simple. Shame for the driver certainly, mechanic must have made an error, next time he should be more careful when the championship is at stake. My apology for not understanding that it is easy to go over the legal limit when making adjustments.

I will try to run another 3 round series championship to fill in those months when there are no activities. Let me think of something - maybe a KF race to benefit Ryan104!!!!

It seems my support for an open series (not KF series) has got to you in a negative way.

As for benefiting me,as you would know, I am a great supporter for all karting events in Malaysia for many years, so that is a poor comment to state just to benefit myself. I race in every possible event I can and engine doesnt bother me, though i dont like to see grids of 15 when we can easily make them bigger through planning classes efficiently. You make a 3 round series with 4 strokes and youl probably see me compete in it. This year i have had to sacrifice my rotax in order to try the KF series. I dont think you should make KF series as there is not enough KFs here, though why not an open series where you can get plently of drivers and make record grids.


Its a shame that I make comments that could benefit karting in malaysia, and i get knocked for it, best to keep my thoughts to myself.

[Mikko Nassi]

I know the Mumford's are all about karting, and I've often said for years now "we need more karters like the Mumfords."

Ok ease up Im not having a go just asking the questions as i wasnt there

Saying "I wonder why they made his engine illegal" comes across as accusatory rather than just a simple question. "Made his engine illegal" to me sounds pretty much the same as "they cheated." There is illegal and there is legal, but there is also blatant cheating and then just making a simple error - your comment implied blatant cheating.

Apologies if you just wanted to ask what the DQ was for.

Just to explain it a bit further - you can also get DQ'd for example for being underweight at the end of a race - obviously not intentional, but like the squish it was known that it would be checked after the race just as with the weight so it would've been just as stupid to run 5kg underweight as it was to have the squish set wrong. Likewise if you had the rear width over 1400mm at the end of the race it might've been a mistake rather than blatant cheating.

See you in Indonesia this weekend!

[Ryan104]

So i should have said "I wonder why they risked to have his engine on the limit" for the final round

What day you arrive in Indonesia? Should be fun, wonder who will leave there balcony doors unlocked

[Geoff Green]

To offset the "bad luck days" and to help those who have a "bad engine day" or are unable to get to one of the meetings (or one and half in our case!), what about holding 6 meetings for RMC and the 5 best points are used for championship placings.

[Mikko Nassi]

To offset the "bad luck days" and to help those who have a "bad engine day" or are unable to get to one of the meetings (or one and half in our case!), what about holding 6 meetings for RMC and the 5 best points are used for championship placings.

I've actually suggested this to James before as well . The Rotax points system is so that if you miss one race or screw up in one pre-final or final you're out of it.

[Geoff Green]

Well lets both bash him on the bonce tomorrow - I shall be down at the workshop around lunchtime.
Anybody else have any thoughts?

[Jules]

my 2 cents worth as a non competitor.....

Whatever system we adopt - it should be consistent to what the rest of the countries are doing and what Rotax allows.....as afterall - it is a standard racing system, with set spec-ed engines, equal tyres format which you are paying to compete in.

In the end, those who make it to the WF must be the by-product of the approved system - not something modified......which could dilute the championship & quality of field.

Once we start modifying it to suit what we think is correct - someone will ask why not take off the pre-final points....and so on!

well, as said - spoken as an observer....