Weekend of 11 and 12 November

Karting had a very busy weekend on 11 and 12 November.  We went to the track for a training day, this time mixing with other club members.  The new drivers showed that they fitted in very well with the more experienced racers.  Once again the emphasis was on the “hands on” approach to get a feel for the karts, and now it is just about time to make a bit more sense of it from a theoretical point of view.  This is the next step for the team, so we will replace one maintenance session with a little bit of theory…why did that happen? ….what limits the performance I can get out of the kart?...why did my kart go backwards into the tyre barrier?  The answers are in the Physics of it, and I am sure the new drivers are keen to look at improving their driving from that point of view. The Karting Association was officially launched on the Saturday night after the training day, and that was well attended by Grammar karters and parents, new and old.  It was good to see Demitri and Con Stamatis there, with dad Jim, as Demitri got his start with Grammar Racing before striking out on his own, with brother Con starting up soon after. New President Roger Franzen acknowledged the good and dogged work of the supporters of karting to keep this rather demanding…but educational and fun… sport alive and kicking, and pointed to the need for further fundraising.  Those who have seen the sport close up know that while it is by far the cheapest, quality motor sport on the planet, it nevertheless demands significant resourcing, and we need to engage the parent body and indeed the world of business in our programs.  The potential good of this sport for our young men is enormous, and we want to make sure that the boys who need this sort of development and this outlet can continue to have these opportunities. Roger also referred briefly to the initiative of Terry Werner and Bob Alexander to see that every boy at Canberra Grammar School has a chance to get behind the wheel of a 4-stroke kart as part of a practical (there is the “hands on” theme again) driver education pre-L plate program. The idea follows simply from a basic educational tenet: “hear and forget, see and remember, do and understand”.  Our young men need to understand what is really behind the road safety education of courses such as the Road Ready program.  They need to feel that there are limits to adhesion, that, for example, braking distance charts tell a real story of physical limits which boys can explore for themselves with safety.  It is a very big undertaking, but can there be an endeavour more important for the safety of our young men?  The support of the school community will be needed in this, and we are all optimistic that this will be forthcoming. To cap off the weekend, a small but intrepid band went back to the track on Sunday in order for James Hall, Bob Poate and Hal Franzen to do the driving tests for their competition licences.  I am happy to say that all three are now fully fledged…insofar as a “P” plater can be…racing drivers.  Well done to them.  I suspect that we may have news of their first race meeting on the website in the very near future.

 

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