harjun, tbh, as Erik said there, 500 is waay below whats needed. I've considered competing in the National Rotax Championship in Egypt but I didn't have the $. In Egypt, you'd need 6,250 Euros and then add another 2000 there for tyres, engine rebuilds, sprockets or any thing that needs maintenance or repair so you'd need around 8,250 Euros altogether to compete for a season. You'd have to see about racing in a lower karting series.
Also, I thought I'd mention, I've heard that buying 2nd hand karts is a big no no if you're planning on competing in championships. I mean, some sellers say stuff like "Came 2nd in last year's championship" or even 1st but more often than not, the engines are switched with an engine from a bad kart.
Just to let you know, I didn't get that info out of thin air, I've been talking to many of the National Rotax competitors over the last 5 years, some were champions and they all told me the same.
Drifting and racing are seperated, theres no other way to think about it. The key to achieving excellent drifting is to drift at high speed, big angle, correct line, smoothness of it and the technique used to initiate it. Racing is about focusing on going round a track in the fastest way possible, compromising it for race purposes to maintain a similair speed, pit strategy, being calculative of the situation you've been presented with (example: the driver ahead is 18 seconds ahead, 20 laps left, gain 18 seconds on the driver ahead in 12 laps so I have to go 1.5 seconds faster per lap so that I can spend the last 8 laps attempting to pass him) then comes in race craft where, as an example of it, you have to see where you're going much faster than the driver in front at which point on the track and take advantage of it to overtake him there.
So clearly, very different goals. True, there are drivers who are rough, and always do small corrections when exiting a corner like myself but I wouldn't define it as drifting because the aim is still the same, to set the fastest time possible, not the coolest drift possible.
I've never stated that Button is better than Coulthard, I didn't even compare them . Well, back in the years when Coulthard was in fact in a good car when he was with Hakkinen, sure, he won some races but often, Hakkinen would out perform Coulthard badly and of course, we all know how serious the rivalry was between Hakkinen and Schumacher.
well, tbh, as much of a good driver Raikkonen is, he just edged 1 point in front Hamilton this year and then Ferrari have been complaining all year about Raikkonen's commitment to the team (leaving the track early when the team would be studying data from the car) while Schumacher was known for staying with the team to times as late as 12 midnight, studying data with the team. IMO, Raikkonen just got lucky with the fact that Ferrari had a good car and besides, I'm sure Ferrari had some motivation in knowing that they were going to get Raikkonen and they knew how good of a driver he is.
Well, it all depends how good the relationship is between Hamilton and Mclaren and I'd say thats good but also theres the factor of how good a motivator Hamilton is. One of Schumi's talents was motivating the team to win and keep on winning. It also depends what kind of technical advice Hamilton can offer through testing for the team but Button is right. I mean, look at Mclaren over the last few years, they were nowhere, in 05, sure the Mclaren was a quick car but seriously lacked reliability and then in 06, they were nowhere compared to Renault and Ferrari. Its all about how good of a communicator, how much mechanical knowledge and motivator Hamilton is, thats something that can make a difference for a team between winning and losing.
Priority wise, maybe you should overclock your driving ability first before considering overclocking your gfx card, thats where the real work is needed.
well, I've just been talking to the event organiser and he told me the track is 1205 meters. The best lap with a 9HP kart is 1:14. I'll ask him how wide is it soon
Hi all! well, I was racing at a karting track over the weekend which was quite enjoyable so I was wondering if anyone here would be kind enough to recreate this layout in LFS?
Yep, Button definitely didn't state that Hamilton isn't good enough but he stated a fact that all racing drivers know and that if the car isn't good enough, you won't win races.
Still, for Button to go talking about that kind of thing, I think he's trying to mess with Hamilton's head by saying that "This was your chance and you blew it, you better hope you get another one but truth is, thats unlikely" so I'd say theres a possibility that Button is playing some mind games.
Well, according to what I've read, Kovalainen doesn't want to be a 2nd driver in a team so if Alonso would return, I'd say its pretty much definite that he'll leave and Mclaren would seem like the best option if he could get a chance to race with them.
well, from discussing with many other racers, the reason why they hated drifting was because of the people who did it. I've asked a lot of what they thought of drifting in itself, most didn't answer and some said that its impressive what some drifters can do. I agree with racers when they say that most drifters are a bunch of saddos or the kind of people who are vain in that looking cool matters more than appreciating the actual skill required.
Personally, I like both racing and drifting but I like them in their pure form, as in the actual sport in itself, not necessarily by the people who do either. I've come across many racers who were complete tw*ts and I've also met the same kind when drifting but as a sport, I believe each of them have their own challenges to truly perfect them.
ah yeah! I forgot about Coulthard but truly, Schumacher is more skilled than Coulthard so really, people like Coulthard and Fisichella are kind of irrelevant since they're not as good. I'd say that Coulthard or Fisichella might stand a stronger chance compared to the current race drivers but drivers like Alonso, Raikkonen, Hamilton and especially Button are quite skilled drivers so not having TC won't be a real problem for them. A driver I'd be worried about would be Yamamoto though , I'm sure he's gonna be quite a dangerous man on the track with no TC.
I'm aware that Damon Hill started late but that was in the last era, things weren't as expensive then and the age thing wasn't such a big deal then. Most F1 drivers in those days started racing in F1 when they were around 25 like Senna and some started older and some a bit younger but if you look now, Alonso started racing in F1 when he was 20 with Minardi in 01, Raikkonen when he was 22, Hamilton 21, Rosberg 20, Massa 21 and Kubica 22. There is only one exception and thats Heikki as he got his F1 drive this year at 26 but if you compare the age difference between those who entered F1 10 years ago and now, theres quite a large difference.
I believe that there is the possibility of getting to F1 at a late age but way I see it, for you to get in it, you'd have to be something really special and thats exactly what Damon was. True, he only won 1 championship but that was because he was surrounded by some other more experienced and world championship drivers like Schumacher and Villeneuve and ofcourse, he would've won 2 if it wasn't for Schumacher's suspicious move at Adelaide in 95.
My point is though is that you'd have to be someone who is on a completely other level and as you stated Becky, it took you 6 months to beat a time that Damon just jumped in and set. True, Damon would've definitely had a ton more experience in racing but still, that just goes to show you how good Damon was. I, myself, actually find it astonishing but thats Damon Hill for ya .
I agree, totally. I remember thinking 3 years ago how I thought it would be impossible for me to consider getting within 2 seconds of a WR and now often, I can get within 0.2-0.5 of a WR. True, that should mean I should really go for it and I think I will soon in the future but like I said in a thread I made a while ago about if talent exists. I think that the truth of the matter that it lies somewhere in the middle, I mean, you couldn't put David Beckham in an F1 car for a few years and expect him to be as good as Button although, we don't know how Beckham's mind works so maybe he would do good in F1 but most probably, he won't be as good as Button because Button thought about racing waay before Beckham so his way of thinking would suit racing. I still believe in the possibility that anyone can be as good as Alonso, Raikkonen or any of them if they really dedicate or to be realistic, devote themselves to the sport.
I know I can sound arrogant but that was not my intention, the reason why I mentioned that I equaled or bettered my competitors in those few karting races was to defend the fact that I have some ability. I know some people don't like the fact that some people can be obsessed with the concept of winning but truth is, its a natural human trait of all of us, its just stronger in some than others so yes, I always aim to win and I've always believed ever since the young age of 4 that I felt that I had something over my competitors, something that they don't have but while now, I realise that its not quite like that, I know that I have determination to go for it.
As I've mentioned in the other thread, I don't know if I'll get to F1 or not and if I don't, it'll for sure shatter me big time, I won't deny that but I would like to at least with the satisfaction that I really tried but F1 wasn't set out for me. I believe I'm still young so maybe I won't get anywhere this year or next year but I will keep on trying different ways to try and get in and until I and those who support me can't think of any other way, I will accept it and just leave it.
Tristan, I apologise for my harsh comments but like I said, your posts can be quite provocative and there was absolutely no call to bring on the subject here into another thread. I was at fault to have responded, I should have kept in my anger but please, in future, to avoid either both of us or one of us getting banned from here, don't swipe at people randomly because more than likely, it'll turn very ugly.
Anyway, returning to topic, I never said Kovalainen was bad, I just said that he wasn't anything spectacular. I mean, he's certainly not better than Alonso since Alonso badly outperformed Fisichella while Kovalainen only seems to equal. I just think that his young peers like Rosberg, Kubica and Hamilton are much better, especially, Rosberg. I mean, the Williams was absolute cr*p this year but Rosberg got some strong finishes. He kind of reminds me of how Webber was back in the Jaguar days, he would do impossible things in a cr*p car. I mean, if you really think about it, in history, the drivers who always won championships were the ones that did quite well in a bad car so Rosberg definitely did quite well in a bad car.