I have not raced in EPEC but competed in the Honda Challenge, Warden law and Teesside sprint series last year and would say that particularly EPEC there is a lot more time to be found in other areas such as preparation and in particular pit work and driver changes and then the drivers (one team always has a fastest and a slowest) before engines can be said to be the main factor. For example within the sprint series results do not differ greatly when the weather changes and engines do not make that much difference in the wet.
Motorsport is never cheap and the nature of competition those of have more disposable income will always look to seek an advantage by buying the best equipment. I think the success of the Honda cadet at national level has had a significant effect on the price of the GX160 engine.
The top drivers/ teams who are said to have the best engines are out in the kart most weekends for almost all of the year therefore have built up considerable data on setup and developed the consistency which is required to win.
I know that it may upset a few but personally I think a lot of people look to blaming engines as a valid excuse which has generally become accepted as a valid reason for lack of pace against the top drivers whereas they may benefit from more bum in seat time refining their driving, setup, preparation and consistency.
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