"You must be reading a different rule book to me, SimonS - 14.4.2 doesn't say any such thing!>
Indeed, I used the 2011 version, the 2012 version being elsewhere at the time. And as you point out, the 2012 version is slightly changed.
"Which says to me, that 3 wheels over the line is still on the track,"
Indeed it does. Leaving the track is a specific offence and occurs when all four wheels are over the white line.
However,"Repetition of serious mistakes or the appearance of a lack of control over the car" is not exclusively 'leaving the track'. You can make serious mistakes or have a lack of control while being entirely on the track.
Since 'hardened' areas outside the track are provided for safety, needing to use the safety features on a regular basis indicates that one is not in full control....or that one is deliberately infringing the rule about driving between the white lines.
The reason why karts need the extra clarification is simple, they are far more susceptible to losing control if they dip a wheel off the track than a vehicle with a much bigger wheel.
The kart section clarifies that regularly driving outside the limits of the track, without necessarily leaving the track is regarded as potentially dangerous.
They are two separate offences, one leaving the circuit, the other driving dangerously, connected by the fact that a condition of driving dangerously is defined by the white line.
It is a logical ruling. There are frequently height differential between where a hard surface and a soft surface begin. (The rules state that there must not be a height differential between the track and the verge, which is why the white line is normally a foot inside the edge of the tarmac, so that the tarmac outside the white line is the verge, not the interface between tarmac and the 'not tarmac' which often has a height differential for obvious reasons.) A kart stepping over this black to green interface is likely to lose control and possibly, probably, hit other vehicles.
There is a difficulty, I agree, that you have to read each word and weigh it. It is easy to make the assumption that the kart ruling 12.5.4 applies to leaving the circuit, since it refers to wheels off the track. It actually refers to dangerous driving, because of the hazards that apply specifically to karting without technically leaving the track.
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kerbs....unique event..... by 'rendall' (04 Apr 2012 @ 10:04)
