Quote:
Originally Posted by FFfan
We beagan karting in the late 90's and there were a couple of big teams such as O'Neil & Zip Young Guns with a presence the paddock but there was still a high percentage of dad & lad operations with a van or even estate car & an easy up even at Super One level.
Now you go the average clubbie kart meeting and the big teams are very much in evidence even there and cater for most of the drivers. I suppose its just reflective of the eveolution of the sport throughout and very little grass roots racing is actually a grass operation anymore.
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In terms of where this problem stemmed from, you're 100% right. Two things have 'evolved' here :
o Almost every single seater driver these days has started in karting. As Andrew said, in the 1970s and before, karting was a sport in itself and many/most single seater drivers began in FF1600 following an introduction at a school.
o To be competitive at club level in karting these days, you need to be with a professional team. They have the data and the wherewithal to get you on the pace right away. The dad and lad approach has been forsaken by most serious karters now, and it's only fools like me that seem to arrive in the paddock on race morning with a car and trailer... dwarfed by transporters, large awnings and big motorhomes etc...
Being part of a professional set-up, with mechanics and race engineers, becomes par for the course for these drivers from the moment they start... and as a consequence they all have clean fingernails and expect a similar, no, I should say, better experience as they scale the ladder.
Unfortunately, the genie's out of the bottle with that one.