Kai, its not a wind up at all. I'm deadly serious and I will probably be proven right in the next few years. When the KF classes were launched a couple of years back, it was karting's best opportunity to slow or even regress the Rotax dominance. It didn't happen in the UK and going by the new initiatives launched by the CIK now for 'under 18 championships' etc... I would say that the KF classes are a failure on a global level too. It seems that most drivers in this country want to compete in a Rotax class. Its a fact that you can't argue with. Yes a minority would prefer not to, but in karting, minorities struggle to survive as drivers go where the grids are and clubs can't support classes below a certain threshold.
In response to your points Kai :
[Kai] > "The competition authorities then really might start to take an interest."
Well its an interesting one that. I had some dealings with the monopolies and mergers commission about 10 years ago with regard to the stock photography industry. Two behemoths - Getty and Corbis swallowed up almost all of their competitors, with Getty being particularly aggressive. It even affected prices. The commission told me that the situation was 'concerning' but there was very little they could do because too much had happened before they became involved and the industry was too small [its a lot larger than karting in this country]. There are already many marque restrictive forms of motor racing e.g. Formula Renault, Porsche Cup, Clios to name but a few at premier level. Neither Rotax nor the MSA would have any issue whatsoever with the monopolies and mergers commission in this country.
[Kai] > "However, this kind of thing would only serve to marginalise MSA-sanctioned events as I presume you mean that everyone else (without a Rotax) can go non-association racing; as they surely will."
What happened to all the 100cc owner drivers ? There were a lot of them. Those who are still racing migrated to another class [me included]. How many TKM drivers have migrated to a Rotax class over the last 5-10 years ? People are more likely to migrate class than leave the MSA racing scene.
[Kai] > "Variety is the sign of a healthy market; restriction and uniformity are signs of a dying one. Sure fringe “classes” will die off, and others will appear. But you cannot hand an entire market to BRP or anyone else."
Yes to an extent. Variety is sign of a healthy KART INDUSTRY and the competition may be better those buying karts and equipment, but it doesn't follow that a sign of a healthy racing scene. Good grids of good drivers and close racing is a sign of a healthy racing scene. That's what drivers want at the end of the day. Us kartists have already handed practically the entire market to BRP and we've made no effort to curtail our affinity to the brand.
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