firstly what happened was as they approached the first corner my lad was boxed in, and given a little nudge from behind, i could see his backend rise up then he hit the inside kart throwing his front end up (his back end was already off the ground at this point).
it actually shows that karts can flip in other ways other than via a backward facing zip, just via wheel contact, he was lucky not to flip and in the same meeting a lad did actually flip but i think it WAS due to tyre contact.
i dont think anyone doubts the ramp effects of the zip bumper and i dont see how a damaged bumper is any more of a dangerous than a new one, you generally find that the zip nosecones end up with dimples/punctures in them where they have been riding the rear bumper of karts and the fixing bolts have penetrated the plastic. i really dont see what changing damaged ones will achieve, after all if a bumper is damaged in anyway then it shouldnt make it thru scruitneering in the first place!
i think what people should be focusing on is why it clearly states in the kart regs that bumpers should have a vertical face and these do not.
i honestly cannot understand that if it states this than why they are contradicting themself in allowing the zip bumper as it clearly doesnt!
and im sorry but the words "or being of an approved design" doesnt cut it for me. you cant state one thing and then put a loophole in the same paragraph, it doesnt make sense?
at the end of the day people have a choice, they can continue with the msa and try to get the nosecone banned on a saftey grounds but i think it will be hard to do, as stated this bumper is used world wide so i think they will take that into account, or personally go down the line of that it does not conform to the regs "approved design is a load of cr*p"
or abandon the bumper and change it themself, im sure that if you wanted to get a set of nosecone sticker in the fasion of the zip decal you could get them from the likes of kart david made up to fit a normal nosecone.
i either way now it has been brought to the attention of the msa/scruits you can bet that they will be insisting on the changing of bumpers for the slightest damage so its gonna cost people and zip will benefit in the short term. save the money and just change them now, the flat faced nosecones are more resilliant to damage anyway!
problem solved
dave
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