"To solve the problem all classes of engine need to be equal and this needs to be done from the top prestige classes down to make any difference."
That won't solve the problem, starting with the fact that the majority of kart engines aren't highly stressed.
Essentially, a highly stressed racing engine is designed to last for a very short duration after which it breaks. So in F1, qualifying engines were designed to last 10 laps and after that things broke....and by that we mean pistons, con rods etc, not that performance tailed off a bit. But on the majority of kart engines, that really isn't a factor.
Besides, engine performance is really not a factor in most drivers performance. As is regularly pointed out, a legally compliant engine is mostly only a fraction of a second out per lap, and driving illegally over a kerb can make as much as a second a lap difference.
And once you take it to that level, what will you call driver experience and what is engine performance? Altering the exhaust flex length will alter the way in which the power is put down and alter the maximum revs available, do you declare all exhausts to be the same length, to the millimetre or do you accept that ta driver who can identify that he, personally, get get an advantage by optimising the engine for one corner and not another is a better driver than someone who cannot.
And once you have considered that effect, we move on to tyres. We accept that a change as little as 0.02 of a bar (0.25 psi) is enough to affect the performance of the tyres, to make the difference between good and bad grip for a top driver, yet a grid will probably have variations of 2 to 3 psi, more in the wet. Then there is the ability to alter track, caster and camber
If you decide to fix all these variables to a fixed standard will you also accept that the weight and size of a driver makes a significant difference. Formula Blue, where drivers of significant different weight often finish with very close times needs a different restrictor for every 10 kg weight difference, and an extra 17cc for the heavyweight's Maxi engine. Of course an advantage of the Blue engine over previous engines engines is that it is produced by CNC machinery, so the tolerances are tighter than some others.
But don't get the idea that kart engines are highly stressed except in a very few classes, classes whose drivers wish to play in the 'highly stressed' part of the arena.
What may be true though is that somewhere along the line, there is the debatable idea that one cannot be a good driver or a champion driver unless one races in that highly stressed class on the grounds that 'the fastest lap is a better driver'.
|
|
