I am currently working on several ideas based on encouraging greater attendance at, and participation in, Independent Kart Race club meetings in the UK.
I have a number of ideas..... but for now..... the simplest one.... and you know what they say about them.... is this;
Many sports (snooker, boxing for example) have ranking systems based on performance and results. So.... I am planning on creating an official IKR UK Rankings system for cadet, junior and senior drivers taking part in club based IKR events during 2019. In order for this to work sensibly, I need all IKR clubs to send me a link to their results pages, or send me pdfs of each final result, from which I can work out the rankings points for each driver in each class. Some classes will have 20 or more drivers, others may have 5 or 6. Obv, it is more difficult to win in a grid of 20 than 6, so the points earned at each round will be directly linked to the number racing. In a grid of, say, 23.... points from 23 to 1.... grid of 14.... points from 14 to 1.... grid of 6, points from 6 to 1, and so on. Drivers will earn points based on each IKR event they attend.... and ALL IKR events will be "Ranking Events".
One issue I can foresee is that some IKR clubs run "libre" classes... for example .... "senior two stroke"..... which can be both x30/max/tkm or "cadet" etc.
I am thinking that for a class to warrant "Rankings Status", there must be at least 4 drivers in that class taking part. In the event a club runs a "libre" class for all senior two strokes for example, or an Iame/Honda grid, I will only be able to award points where I can determine the number racing in each class on the same grid.
I then want to run an annual televised event as "The Indeoendent Kart Rankings Championship Finals", where the top 30 in each class are invited to a one weekend finals event, typically as part of an IKR club meeting rather than standalone, in order for the club holding this to benefit. This may involve holding these finals at more than one club if the numbers in each class look like bringing large entry numbers (so, for example, might be four classes at one meeting somewhere, four at another etc...... at the moment difficult to judge the potential for entries.
These finals need to be late enough in the year (I am thinking September) to enable the rankings at that point to be taken into account as a "qualification", although the final rankings will be decided on October 30th 2019 for 2019 as a whole, at which point I will present an award, maybe a certificate or glass etched award recognising the top three ranked drivers in the UK in each class, to be handed out at the Kartmania show.
Still very much a work in progress, but interested to get other views on how this could work.... but.... bear in mind.... let's keep it simple! Benfit to IKR clubs..... The More you race at IKR events, MORE points you can score. More IKR events you travel to do.... more the IKR clubs benefit from your support. Okay, so someone may have been doing one IKR event now does two/three IKR events a month to keep their ranking points at the max....? Well... in that case, more is being invested into IKR club karting..... and THAT is the point.
I am planning on setting up a website in the next week or so, ready for the new year. I have tried to think how I could fund my time, the website costs, trophies etc, in order to spend the time this will take to get this up and running as a recognised annual support structure for IKR events, and keep on top of it every week. Don't want to charge drivers/clubs at this stage.... so the simplest way I have come up with is by setting up a crowdfunding page? I guess that will demonstrate if there is a desire for such a thing amongst the karting community. If it gets little support then there is no reason to spend the time doing it. If it got a huge amount of support, perhaps with some sponsorship I could raise. then my plan would be for us to actually film IKR club events from time to time as funding allows, either as a live stream or post production edit, bringing more exposure to that level of the sport via our YouTube channel, currently the biggest dedicated karting channel in the world.
As I say, very much an idea (amongst others I have) for IKR karting in 2019, so at this stage just want some feedback from everyone.
Have worked out IKR club meetings are held at
Hooton Park
Rowrah
Larkhall
Fulbeck
Wombwell
Clay
Lydd
Rye House
Grampian Kart Club
Must be others I have missed? Can I ask the clubs to email me (alan@tdi-media.com) if they see this and want to be involved. I am looking at designing some posters you can put up to advertise your IKR meetings as "UK Rankings Events".
I have other ideas.... more than a few.... you know the ones..... those that the MSA should have thought about to develop club based karting in the UK from the ground up, not top down.
Comments invited.....
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