Penalties & Problems

About 6 months after last using the Rotax Max Evo we decided to replace the piston and fit the engine back onto our CRG kart ready for the RMC event.

Friday’s practice was used to run the engine in plus a few additional test sessions. In the second session of Saturday’s official practice we fitted a new set of Mojo D2 tyres and I set the fastest time.

In Practice 3, the Maxima team went out on a new set of tyres and both drivers went to 1st & 2nd on the timesheets, with me in 3rd.

In Practice 4, the rest of the CRG team went out on new tyres, but at the end I remained the 3rd fastest driver of the day, just behind the 2 Sodi Kart drivers, with the CRG drivers behind me.

1. #227 56:10

2. #201 56.38

3. #206 56:44

4. #233 56:56

5. #215 56:69

(… 17 karts in total)

For Sunday’s warm-up, everything was going great and I went out for qualifying with high hopes. My lap time of 56:38 was good enough for P6 on the grid, 0.4 off pole position.

However, after qualifying the scrutineers checked my kart and accused us of having lubricant in the automatic clutch, an immediate disqualification from the session. Lubricant in the centrifugal clutch enables the engine revs to rise faster out of the corners and so (as an advantage) is against the rules. The scrutineers provided us no evidence and sent me to the back of the grid. Of course, we had absolutely NOT lubricated the clutch.

Starting from P16, I managed to make a decent comeback, finishing in P11. But the Pre-Final didn't start off very well as a Birel driver “brake tested” me, displacing my front bumper, which gave me a 10 second time penalty for what they call “drop bumper”.

At the start of the Pre-Final I had noticed something wrong with the engine. It wasn't pulling out of corners quite as well as it did the day before. We didn't know what it was so we just went out for the final.

Some penalties and DNFs from other drivers meant that I was moved up to 11th on the grid again, but in the final, it was a struggle to keep up with others and finished 10th.

It was only after the final we realised that the lack of “pull” from the engine was a problem with the clutch. The bearing was dry and that was the reason for the lack of power out of corners. After qualifying, when we were penalised for lubrication in the clutch, the mechanic had cleaned everything, but he didn't re-grease the bushing.

That problem after qualifying had cost me the rest of the day. It was disappointing, especially after Saturday’s practice. I was maybe on for a podium finish, but everything was against us.

Thanks as always to our sponsors Seara Sports and Sicily for their support. We’ll come back stronger!