REVscene Automotive Forum - GMR RACENOW! Challenge

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GMR RACENOW! Challenge

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Came across this on the WCKC website. $300 a day gets you a full day of racing in a 4 stroke kart on one of the best tracks in North America. All you need to do is reserve a kart through one of the six suppliers listed below by giving them a credit card for a $300 damage deposit and pay WCKC $300+tax on race day to compete.

I just reserved a kart with BBR Karting for May 12th. The WCKC season shedule can be found HERE.

Quote:

From October 1st and 2nd, 2011 forward, West Coast Kart Club will include the new series the GMR RACENOW! Challenge at Greg Moore Raceway! The series will run in conjunction with all scheduled WCKC race weekends from now on.

The GMR RACENOW! Challenge is designed to accommodate an individual or group that would like the opportunity to race without having to provide all of their own equipment. This is the first time that an official “arrive and drive” series has been offered at Greg Moore Raceway and the introductory price is only $299/day! This fee is payable on race day at GMR registration by credit card, debit or cash. No cheques please.

Drivers will experience the entire race day just as the WCKC members do; 3 x 10 minute practice sessions, 1x 5 minute qualifying session, 1x 12 minute heat race and 1×16 minute main event. The track configuration and direction will be the same as the WCKC membership is racing on that particular weekend. Each driver will race a similar chassis (represented by several reputable brands) that will be equipped with identically prepared engines. These are the same racing karts used by professional series all over the world.

In order to compete in the GMR RACENOW! Challenge, drivers must be at least 15 years of age (or turning 15 years old in the current calendar year) and must pre-register with one of the five kart dealers listed below. Kart availability is “first come, first serve”, so please book early with the kart dealer of your choice! A damage deposit of $300 is required when you book with the kart dealer. The damage deposit will be fully refunded if there is no damage to your kart. If you have booked a kart and you do not attend the race weekend that you requested, your damage deposit will not be refunded. However, if you cannot attend, you may transfer the booking to a friend by contacting the kart dealer before noon on the Thursday of the booked race weekend and providing the friends name and contact number. Your friend must attend and not damage the kart to have your damage deposit fully refunded.

BBR Karting, www.bbrkarting.com (604) 783-6474
CRG West, CRG West is Western Canada's source for all kart racing related CRG products, serving the popular kart racing circuit. In addition to representing the CRG line of kart items, we also carry Rotax Engines, Vortex Rok Engines, Vega tires, RK chains, Max (250) 979-8051
GBR Karting, GBR Karting / GBR Manitoba - Powered by Autosports Media Group (604) 724-0078
Interior Kart Center, Go-Kart sales and repair in Kelowna, Penticton, Vernon, and the Okangan Valley. We also sell go-kart parts and support Okanagan go-kart racing. (250) 763-9010
Racelab, Welcome To The RaceLab (604) 420-1160
Kart dealers will supply each driver with the following items:

Race prepared sprint kart including 94 octane fuel, spec tires and a transponder bracket.
Helmet, drivers suit, gloves and rib vest. Transponders will be provided by WCKC.
Fifteen minute driver briefing before going out on the track and a waiver form.
Please visit West Coast Kart Club for more details on our club and the track!

Rich

Hey Guys,

After a great weekend of karting and autox I thought I'd tell you all a bit about my Racenow Challenge experience.

We arrive at the Chilliwack track very early, people were just arriving or popping out of their motor homes. We took the time to do what all autocrossers do, walk the course. My memory of the track was pretty good, but I forgot just how fantastic the track is, I couldn't wait!

After a kinda lengthy registration process which is done by the same lady who is manning the food truck we met Blake who runs BBR karting. Our karts were brought out for us, we discussed the day and suited up. WCKC had a couple of their members go over some general track rules and do's and don'ts of the day ended by a drivers meeting.

Our 1st practice of the day was fairly early and the track was still fairly cool. I luckily fit my kart like a GLOVE, immediately felt comfortable. We were driving karts with a Briggs & Stratton 'Animal' engine which makes somewhere around 9hp. What surprised me is they felt pretty quick! I've driven a few pretty fast karts around GMR and these were still challenging. Due to the lack of power if you made a mistake on entry or mid corner the power wasn't there to pick you back up. You also don't arrive at the corners at a massive speed, meaning some corners are flat out, and let me tell you, it takes big swingers to keep your foot down in some of them.

After three practice sessions which were around 10 mins each we braked for lunch and gridded up for our 1st of two qualifying heats. The positions for the qualifying heats were set in a lottery and the 2nd grid was the inverted 1st grid. Neither of my two qualifying races went well.

As you can see from my video, I was black flagged only 1 lap into the race for two reasons. I was not aware that sticking a go-pro to your helmet was not legal and no one had told me warming your tires was a 'no no'. On my outlap i was fairly aggressive with weaving, which they didn't like. Luckily they took it easy on me because I was in the RaceNow Challenge. The 2nd heat is a bit of a long story, but there was a bit of a coming together with 3 karts before the green flag. Remember, the guys in this class are still noobs and accidents will happen. All the karts involved were ok but I finished a lap down due to my kart not starting.

The final is a 16 minute race, I started on the inside of the 3rd row in 5th place due to two poor qualifying heats. We got the green flag and everyone infront of me for some reason covered their outside line. I had P1 into the 1st turn and never looked back.

It was a fantastic day. Just over $300 for a full day of racing was spectacular. I showed up, drove and left. No setup, wrenching or tear down. Between heats I got to watch a bunch of good racing and think about my driving. BBR karting actually lent me a hand with doing some setup changes on the kart which made the Tony Kart chassis a dream to drive especially when the tires warmed up.

If you guys have any questions, I'd be happy to help in any way.

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rich

seems like a lot of fun. It seems you slowed a lot for most of the sweeping turns, would the cart have slid if you kept on the throttle?

but is $300 a steep price for a day? or a fair price?

smoothie,

You have to be very careful to not induce a big slide with the 4 stroke karts, they have very little power so you can't drive out with a slide. Think of it like spec miata racing, its all about momentum and line.

I've owned and raced a 125cc TAG kart and I can tell you $300 for everything including entry fees is fantastic. You don't need any sort of equipment even. For a full day of wheel to wheel racing, it can't be beat. That is actually VERY cheap for any kind of racing in my opinion.

rich