SecretKartRecipe

New Tires!

2011-02-06T00:06:00.000+08:00

Jon just delivered Two Sets to me! That is = to 4 fronts and 4 rears, woohoo.

Empty Budget

2010-07-23T14:09:00.000+08:00

Says it all. Unless some monies dropped from the sky.

Race Seven 2010 - Simple Things

2010-07-18T20:43:00.002+08:00

Track F

Following the last practice session where I could not turn right, I went back and had a thought about it, decided best way is to align the front of the kart. So the first thing when I reached the track is to get Jason to align the front using the Sniper Alignment Tool. Found that the camber and toe is completely out for the left of the kart.

With that done, I changed the front tires to a pair of lightly used MG Yellow bought off Jon, but found out I did not have a race at all.

During qualifying, found the kart was bogging down at all the low speed corners, but it was kind of on and off and knowing my spark plugs are getting old, I changed that once back into the pit. As qualifying was on a wet track, and it started raining more, I did not go out for more testing. My best timing of 1:05 was nearly 6 seconds off pole.

Come Heat 1, I went out and suffered the same situation, but I did finish the heat. Back to the pit, I mentioned it to Jason, and we checked the Power Valve. Found that the gasket is covering the small hole which is meant for exhausting the gases from the Power Valve. That must have happened as I had cleaned the Power Valve just before Qualifying. With the hole covered, the PV is not able to close, and my low end suffered. Graeme mentioned, simple things, and very true. A simple gasket installed wrongly ruined my race. And why did I not realize it sooner? Anyway, with the rain pouring down and no wet tires, I skipped Heat 2. So it turned out I did not have a race at all.

Just in case any reader is wondering why this is race 7. This is race 7 on the calendar, just that I don't have enough funds to join all of the races.

Turning Right

2010-07-03T23:55:00.071+08:00

Today, had to pick up Jon at 6:30 am in the morning, that means waking up at 6am to drive from Jurong to his place. But at least I have company this time going to JB rather than the radio for a change.

This practice, I have bought along the repaired cable for the magnetic sensor used for timing. It was ripped out during my bad shunt a while back. The previous trip, the cable did not work due to it not being grounded, this time, it WORKS! Now I have timing, and I can see how I am doing. Thanks to Karen for getting the cable repaired! That saved me around SGD35 before shipping.

It started raining lightly just as I was putting my helmet on. But it was very brief, and I waited only 10minutes for it to clear and the sky remained overcast and the temperature cool for the remaining session.

My timing as ok for the first session, I am not sure how the cool temperature is affecting my engine as I do not have a temperature sensor. That sensor is out of order for a year now.

On the second session, I found turning right a problem, especially on the downhill and the corner before the pit. I guess after the timing i posted on the first session above, the tires is starting to give me issues. Talking to Jason, he suggested that I narrow the front wheels. That I did, and I found it has gotten worst instead. So he next suggested that I remove the front torsion bar, which was removed, but I did not test as I decided to call it a day as we were running out of petrol.

There is a post on this on Jon's blog titled Wrong Can Be Good. Where he suggested that I have hardly done any setup changes to my kart. I have rebutted this before, saying I need to be consistent with my driving first, then setup change second. Also, I am starting to realize I am a driver that forces the kart to work, so much so that I am insensitive to the kart not behaving as it should. This I have to improve, else I will never get the maximum out of the kart.

Recently, in an article, there is a comparison between Senna and Mansel when they were teammates and Button and Lewis where they are now teammates. The comparison was their driving style, one likes the car to be setup nicely where the other do not mind the car sliding round a little. We are not world champions, but i think the comparison may be the same for me and Jon.

Race Five 2010

2010-05-23T21:13:00.001+08:00

Track B

Installed the new MG Yellow I bought off Benz and qualified 6th.

Before the start of Heat 1, I visualized how I am going to start and I did exactly that, just that it was a false start, the green flag did not drop. On the second try, I bumped into the kart in front just at the last hairpin before the start and finish line and my kart stalled. Since my starter is not working, I was stranded, by the time my kart was started using the external starter, I was already 1 lap behind.

Heat 2, I started from the back and had the best race of my life so far. At the first corner, I was up two position, then I left just enough room for Leo to squeeze through on the right, and found myself trapped between 2 karts, and Leo came in and hit my front right tire, causing me to lose speed and drop 1 position.

After that, it was a blur, I was overtaking karts after karts, and not even knowing who i was overtaking, I was just concentrating very hard on overtaking. Once a space is created, I just went for it, no hesitation at all. Out of 13 racers on that day, I finished the heat 6th. I have already caught up with Jon who is 5th, but found my tires have overheated and just could no longer find the pace to overtake. Setting the kart up with very high tire pressure to have early performance, I am paying for it near the end of the race. Talking to Jon, he is right in a sense, I could have easily overtaken the guys at the back with a less aggressive pressure setting. But its a great experience, just wished I could have overtaken Jon, heehee.

It Rains!

2010-05-06T20:03:00.000+08:00

Got my magnetic sensor cable back from a friend, and was really hoping that it works so that I can start to do some practicing. But it did work at all. Louis troubleshoot it and found that the cables are not grounded. Hopefully, it is still a cable issue and not a head unit problem. I really need to know my timing, else practising is quite useless.

Luckily, it rained.

Once the rain stopped and the sun popped out, I was already in my kart and headed straight out. Have not drove in the wet for ages. Really had fun, and only spun once. Maybe I was being too careful with the throttling, braking was find as I was braking earlier to prevent the rear wheels from locking. But with the sun being that strong and puddles of water in most sections, the track turned into a dry, semi-dry and water-logged track. At my corner(180R), you can even see the mist from the evaporating water. Trully appreciate the difficulties in driving in such conditions, with the conditions changing with every single lap.

Front tires was peeling off in this session, once I could not get the front to turn in without wrestling the kart, I decided to stop.

Impromptu Race

2010-04-17T20:32:00.000+08:00

Supposed to be practise day. But turned into a 2 Heats impromtu race of 10 laps each and I dont feel I accomplished much except to get some race craft experience.

First Heat started from pole as it was decided by birthday months. Finished 2nd after being overtaken by Leo and he pulled away easily.

Took out my magnetic sensor cable to see if I can make a new one in SG rather than buy one which is quite expensive.

And the kart cannot be started from the push button. Need to be cranked up. Looks like I would need to spend more $ again.

Shrinking Budget

2010-03-19T17:03:00.001+08:00

After less than 3 months into the new year. I have already used up a big chunk of my budget.

If you all remember, I broke the clutch in December last year and decided to go for the '09 clutch. That and the cost of installing it took 25% off.

Then I had to replace the chain as it was elongated. That took 2.5% off.

First new set of tires for both races took 12.5% off. The 2nd set of tires I have bought is taking 11.2%.

Thats for a grand total of 58.3%.

And if I add in the miscellaneous like storage, petrol, track fees, race fees etc I have already used up a grand total of 69% !!!

And Karting is acknowledged as the cheapest form of motorsport? I guess when you have the means, somethings are cheap no matter how you look at it.

Race Two 2010

2010-03-07T20:12:00.002+08:00

Settings are exactly the same. Just that during Qualifying, tire pressures are pumped high. Higher than what I have used before, but seems to have given me a good time.

Out of the 13 karters, only 2 front runners turned up for this race. James and Leo. And it would seem after Race One and this race, Allan is now running in front with his timing quite close to Leo's.

Prepared the kart by taking off and cleaned the power valve. May have used too coarse a sandpaper to clean it, the scratches are quite deep. Topped up the radiator and found it leaking from the top. May have been damaged by the hit from Allan Smith in Race One. Took it off for Jason to repair but he was too busy with Louis and Leo's kart, that means qualifying is out for me. Graeme heard about my predicament and he loaned me a radiator from his unused engine! Thanks bro!

Interesting Qualifying, went out for my usual 5 laps, came back in and saw I am 5th. Just 0.06 seconds off Jonathan in 4th. But the time was disqualified as i was underweight by 0.1kg! There was still 10 minutes left for Qualifying, I quickly took the prepared petrol from Jonathan's canister and topped up 3 liters and off I went out again. Doing an additional 4 laps with a timing of 53.52, exactly 0.2 seconds off my first timing dropping me to 6th. On reviewing the Qualifying Time sheet. Instead of 5 laps, I did 6! I was sure my fuel was enough even with doing 6 laps, but a lot of factor can contribute to that 0.1kg.

So I qualified with the same time as Graeme! We made a deal, he took the point and I took the position.

Heat 1. DNF!
After 4 laps, my exhaust broke! Luckily (Or unluckily), Jason had a used spare which he said has only been used a few times. That is another chunk off my racing budget for this year.

Heat 2.
Starts from 11th. And guess what, finished the race 4th. That was also due to Graeme, James and Ivan dropping off. Hit my fastest timing of 52.63 seconds on the 5th lap. That goes to show that the kart is able to hit a very good time. Now, its all up to the nut sitting between the steering wheel and the engine to do it consistently.

Learning to Drive

2010-02-22T21:41:00.002+08:00

Know what? I have been saying this for the better part of 1 year. I have to learn how to drive the kart. The fact is, I don't know how to go about doing it.

Talking to people at the track is not much help.

Trying to find information on the net invariably leads to how to setup your kart instead.

And now, there is a huge problem, I cant find out my time. After the huge shunt last December, my cable for the magnet to the Alfano got ribbed off. Its now with a friend of mine, asked her to find out the cable type and see if she can build a new cable for me.

I was sent a video of me entangling with Tony and Alan hitting me and flying off. But from the video, I saw how I took that corner, and was instantly behind Tony's back. I guess learning to drive now would be learning how to break a corner down into parts.

Entry
Rotation
Apex
Exit

And remembering each and every details of what is happening. In each and every corner.

Race One 2010

2010-02-07T23:17:00.005+08:00

Track C - Full Track
Qualified 10th.
Heat 1 finished 8th.
Heat 2 finished 6th.

A few top drivers did not attend, so finishing in the points may be due to that.

Only hit below 59sec one time on Heat 1 Lap 4. And kenna hit by Alan Smith in Heat 2 Lap 3 after entangling with Tony. My front left bumper got stucked in his rear right wheel.

Tested with rear sprocket at 80 teeth, but felt the engine really struggling at the end of the long uphill straights. So changed to a 78 as well as a new chain as old one is stretched at certain location. Was "advised" to use a 80 teeth instead for the next race.

Rear Width Track 138.5
Rear Hubs 95mm

Front Hub 90mm
Front Left 10mm spacer
Front Right 10mm spacer

Tires MG Yellow 10psi/0.7bar

Main Jet 165

Front Sprocket 12
Rear Sprocket 78

Fixing the clutch

2010-01-28T20:44:00.002+08:00

First trip in to Plentong for 2010

Got my new 2009 spec clutch delivered from Kartpartsuk. My old clutch was totally shot, had to be welded a few times before I can drive. Not only was the new clutch replaced, Jason also replaced all the fuel line to as he said, original Tony Kart.

Counted the chain used, was a 106 using 80 tooth rear sprocket. Same chain for 78 tooth sprocket. Looks like 106 is the sweet spot for chain now. Darn, I bought a 102 chain.

Adjusted brake position to reduce the lag. Meaning, when I step on the brake, there is less movement before the brakes actually does its work. Hopefully, it will give me a better feel on the brakes.

Adjusted throttle stop positioning as well. After the throttle is all the way down, I felt the cable can still be pulled a little more. So adjusted the stop nut so that the pedal can go down a bit more.

After that, it was just cleaning and cleaning. There is a citrus cleaner from 3M that looks interesting, will try it to see if it can clean out those tires marks.

Anyway, with the new clutch, does not mean its better. There are still a lot of reports on the 2009 spec clutch breaking. Have to re-look into my braking. Maybe the Rotax Max cant allow me to brake so hard like the other engines. Cant have this new clutch breaking on me this year. It took a 25% chunk off my karting budget for 2010.

Next Race. 7th February.

Buckmore Park

2009-08-18T20:21:00.002+08:00

http://www.buckmore.co.uk/content.php/000

Was supposed to go for the Praction session sometime in July, but I have to cancel it due to my trip to UK being cancelled. Tough. I booked the Praction on a Friday, and I got the email on the following Monday from my company that my trip has being cancelled.

Anyway, what is a Praction? Well, its a Practise with Tuition given. You pay the same price, go round the track, but you get information on how you are driving etc. I managed to get to Buckmore eventually today, but there were no more Praction or 45 minutes session available anymore, and I had to settle for the 30 minutes session, meaning I lost some monies in the process as the booking is not refundable.

The track is well run, the karts are well maintained and it has metal bumpers which prevent damages to the karts as well as keeping the occupant safer. You could even adjust the seat forward or backward using a lever like in your own car. Wow. May be standard in UK, but from where I came from, where we have to prop cushion, its a wow factor. Before going to the track, you have to arrive 1 hour early to get fitted with driving suit, helmet and your timing device. Then shown a video on the dos and donts. The meaning of flags etc.

Then, it was another 30 minutes of waiting for the other session to finish, before its our turn. I say its really a waste of time waiting for 1 hour.

What can I say, have not driven a 390cc for such a long time, the chassis is really heavy due to the metal bumpers and the stuffs to make the sit move forward and backward, so you don't feel the kick when you accelerate like those in Plentong. Anyway, enjoy the pictures and my timing sheet.

Changes

2009-08-10T23:18:00.002+08:00

As stated in the profile. This blog used to be shared by 4 who enjoyed karting. As in anything with life itself, this blog is now only updated by me K[p].

Out of the 4, one has totally dropped out of racing.

I now share a kart (the Gillard) with Des, but with the impending birth of his 2nd child, I dont think I will see him in on the track for sometime to come.

As for the last one, he has decided to setup another blog in July 2008. You can find him at velocita-karting.blogspot.com. You can find more articles on that blog regarding starting to kart in Singapore/Malaysia. I am trying to add that link and others to this blog, you will know when I figured out how to do that.

New Beginnings

2009-07-26T01:33:00.006+08:00

Right. There were no updates for the pass few months. And I hope to change that.

I was away working in Norway for the last 6 months. And there was no karting at all, nada, zilch. But my kart was loaned out to a friend to race and came back with a blown engine which has already been repaired up to a tune of $1,200. My My My, no karting done, but still paying and paying and paying.

What I have been doing the last 6 months was a lot of reading. Reading up on kart setups. Reading up on the Rotax Max FR125 engine, which IS the engine on my kart. And during the repair, found out it is a year 2007 engine. Reading up on maintenance. Reading up on gear ratios. Etc....etc...

Now that I am back. I hope to apply those that I have read and learnt on my kart. There will be one more trip in August to London, which is smack right on the date of the 7th race of the season. Once I am back, I will have to run the engine in, and hope to prepare it in time for the 8th race in September.

In the meantime, I will think of what I want to acheive before this race, and immediately after that. I know I can drive fast, but I need to be more consistent. And also always learning ways to drive even faster. Priority is still in my driving and racecraft, and I will learn setup along the way.

I hope to improve this blog as well. Looks really stale to me. And I will use it as a record for all my races that I join.

Keep tune.

Tires going to give

2008-11-02T07:08:00.002+08:00

Finally I managed to do some karting. But after the last post asking when I am able to kart, I did in fact do 2 sessions including yesterday in Plentong. And 1 more very short session in Yanai Karting in Yamaguchi Japan!

Yanai was memorable as it was a public holiday in Japan on 13th October and it became a sports day with Inoue-san's family! I also test drove a Nissan GTR! Albeit, its a remote control car. Heehee. The kart was using 100cc Yamaha engines, I did not find out what was the exact model, I think SC perhaps. The track from the picture on the website was a little bit technical,

When?

2008-08-12T23:17:00.001+08:00

When was the last time I karted? Hmmmmm

I think it was June 21st! Thats a LOONNGGG time ago.

I have seen the new track, looks like a fast track. But what the heck, backside itchey. Maybe not this month as well. Most prob early September?

Speeding Rocks!

2008-08-04T19:32:00.001+08:00

corresponding post from VK

3 Aug 08, 5 more days to the Olympics, I finally visited the new track
at Plentong.

Where the previous track is located just by the side of a main road,
this new track is hidden away.
It's like if you want to get to something good, you have to seek it.
You will have to venture. You will have to drive through about 4Km
of dirt track

And mind you, it took us about 15 mins to complete this dirt track.
There are stones, and humps, and pot holes to deal with.
So do not think you're driving in some stages of WRC Rally... because
if you do, I am quite sure there are no Service Parks at the end of the
'stage' to repair damaged suspensions or radiator been hit by stones.

Upon reaching the track, it's all buzz again! Buzzing with flies!

Because this area was a fruit farm, the flies still lingers on.
There was no one there as yet at about 10.15am.
We were suspecting that if anyone will come in at all!

But before we got started, there was one group of 4-5 persons
who arrived and ready for fun karting.
Then steadily throughout the afternoon, there are groups who
came in and karted. Interestingly, I believed now I am not the only
crazy ones along with my friends!

I did not take any picture of the track itself, as it has been posted
in few forums, and one of those is located at:
http://kartingedge.com/forum/index.php?topic=260.0

The tarmac is smooth. The track wide. So we are ready to go out
once again! Today, the boss had put forth this configuration of the
track for us to try (path is marked with red dots)

The distance of this particular configuration is about 1.1Km.
Once you exit from the pit, it's something of a hairpin which I
marked as Turn 1. If you are not from the pit, Turn 1 is wide 180
degree right turn. At this turn, I will need to carry as much speed
as possible for the long straight.

The straight is slightly upslope, and the speed will built up to its
max about half way or 3/4 way through it. From there, you have
to be ready for Turn 2, a very high speed right hander which is
still uphill.
Here, after my 1st session I had to tweak my rear end as it
fish-tail a bit no matter how I turn delicately. Session 2 was
much better.

Turn 3 come quick and fast. Another fast right hander down slope.
If you have balls of steel, a very good brake and good set up for
Turn 4, right hander hairpin, one can full throttle and brake at
the last possible moment and turn! COOL...! But, last I checked
it was not made of steel!

Anyway, if you brake too late for this corner you will more often
than not find you and your kart in the ditch. Don't believe, ask
Desmond.

After Turn 4, you will gently climb uphill again for Turn 5.
Look at the track layout, and you will see it's something a 300
degree left hander that will bring you back downhill. Here, it will
crucial to find the correct speed and line to take. Which after
trying and looking at over again, it's about 3/4 away from the
most inside line. This is the most challenging section of the whole
track. My neck hurts now I had never do round about so fast
ever before!

Finishing Turn 5, the section before Turn 6 is quite tricky as
there is a quick Left then Right before the very wide right turn.
Which is Turn 6, I reckon you will have to use all the available
track so that you can carry much speed into the pit section of the
track and the straight before Turn 7.
Turn 7 is deceiving. It seems wide. As a mater of fact, it is. But
because you think it is SO Wide, you tend to bring too much
speed into it forcing you to go too wide. I know, because I'm
guilty and nearly paid for it!

Oh, I did nearly went off as well at a very high speed at Turn 2.
I was already feeling hot and tired when we went for the 3rd
session at 1.30pm.
A blink of my eyes, and I was steering a second too late for the
corner.... Luckily for the wide track I managed to
recover to be on my way back to the pits and called it a day.

The track is fun. But well, karting is always fun, isn't it?

In a nutshell, this track is hidden because it will be a gem in time
to come when the rubber is laid down from more karts.
Since it's a relatively high speed track, one will get tired more
easily without feeling too much torque from the kart. Fatigue
will come from full concentration and the G force from Istanbul
like Turn 5.

So you think you can go fast.... try this @ Plentong!

Change(s) is Good

2008-07-12T15:24:00.006+08:00

i am quite the opposite from the KP's take on changing the setting
on the kart. of cos there are things which i'm uncomfortable in
changing, e.g. seat position.
basically, once the seat position is right and good, there is no need
to change it as 10mm lower may or may not help in the stability of
the kart. also not to mention, the hassle of moving the kart seat can
be take up quite a lot of work and a lot of time!

however, i will happily change engine jettings based on weather
condition, widen front tyre width setting when the tyres are going
botak, widening the rear tyre width settings if the rears are new.
& vice versa. this changes can help the kart to handle better and
it's simple to deal with.

the power of observation can and is a a powerful tools to be better,
Agreed!
but the advices of others have to be tried and then to determine
whether it is good & suitable for us.
else, we will only see what others are doing. and without trying it
ourselves, we will not know if indeed that's the one change
(read: improvement) that we are looking for.

however, every one has a different take on it. but KP's take is his,
and mine is well, mine. i'm not changing it.

jon

Zero Visitors

2008-07-09T20:51:00.002+08:00

Just checked the site monitoring I have subscribed to. And its reporting a big fat ZERO in the number of visitors here. Cool.

No Karting for me this July. Most probably in end August. And maybe we will have shifted to the new track. But with a new track, there will be even more confusion when it comes to kart setup. Lucky those who have coaches. Here, I have to learn everything practically by myself, just like how I learnt how to skate all by the power of observation and just going out to skate!

At the moment, I still believe the biggest setup that needs to be done is the driver. Once the driver is consistent, then move on to changing the kart itself.

You should, You should, You should

2008-06-28T01:40:00.002+08:00

Seems like there will always be lots of advice on how to setup your kart. Not that I am complaining, any advice that makes you go faster is always welcomed. You should change your jetting? You should change your final gear? You should lower your seat?

I have resisted all and just played with kart tire pressure only. In this respect, I am still a newbie, but in simple terms, you need to have your tires at the correct pressure for it to work at its optimum. For short races, best you start at a higher pressure as the race would be too short for the temperature to rise till it hits the tire's optimum pressure. For long races, best to start at a lower pressure else you will find late on in the race that your tires are losing its grip.

We can see in F1 where those teams that changed from Michelin to BS tires will struggle with managing the new tires. Which is a fact that I am facing. Why? Because here in Singapore / Malaysia, we do not have a constant supply of the same tires. I am using a set of Yokohamas now, and after this, I do not think I will be able to get another set. Most probably, I will have to switch to Mojos, and I hope we can get a steady supply of these.

Also last week, I have set down to create a list of data that I want recorded. Time to get a little bit more professional. In this respect, I would need to be able to measure Pressure, Temperature and Humidity. Any sponsors?

390cc Enduro Race Report

2008-06-27T00:12:00.003+08:00

21st June. Met up with the kakis and had breakfast at a new location. After discovering Grandpa, which is located in the bunch of shops right after bhp petrol station, we have been going there for breakfast eversince! This time, we were introduced to Kim's and I must say, the KOPI is definitely good! I believe not only must you kart, you must also know where to get your food as well! With the track moving to a new location soon, I will try to update on the nearby eateries there as well. Hopefully with my GPS up and running, you can get your GPS co-ord here too!

Thats for food, now back to the race! This time, our team members are made up of
Jon - Team Principle
Leo - Driver Uno
Des - WRC wannabe
KP - Spin too much

We started off drawing kart no.41, and from initial inspection, suspect the kart may not turn well. But when Leo started his timed qualifying laps, he hit a timing of 1:16:xx which was 1 secs faster than P2! We got P1 !!! Now THAT was a surprise as we thought P2 using kart 916 is the strongest kart.

When the race was flagged off, we can see that 41 does have speed as well, beating 916 to the first turn, and there after, Leo continued to build up his lead during his first 26mins. While we were discussing whether to bring Leo in as his timing was starting to drop from a consistent 1:18 to 1:19 and 1:22, when he suddenly came into the pit lane with his brakes smoking. We could hear him shout "Throttle JAM!", somehow, we were so surprised we spent 1 minute looking at his kart before I got into action by suiting up and jumping into kart 33. On hindsight, we should have gotten Leo to jump straight into kart 33 and not wait for me to suit up.

Now Kart 33 was handling well during the first 3 laps, in fact, I managed to overtake another kart. It does not accelerate well, but if you can maintain the revs high, it does go well. But our TP decided to call me in to switch back to kart 41, as I found out later, I was only doing laps of 1:21 to 1:22. In Kart 41, I had to relearn how to drive another setup again. I found the handling is not as good as kart 33, but its brake is solid. Also, there were no acceleration! Looking at how well Leo was getting on earlier, I can only surmise that the throttle line was not repaired properly, and I can hear the engine not reving up to its peak.

This mean I have to start defending! On the straights, I can see the karts behind have the power to overtake me, so I had to drive on the left and let them commit to overtake me on the right. Once they are commited, all I had too do was close the gap as turn 1 is a left turn, if they cannot get ahead of me, they will not be able to overtake. In fact, I had to rub tires with one of the kart. This I did for 3 laps, before I made a mistake at hairpin 1 and drove a bit wide, losing revs and not able to pick up speed to defend my line before the kart overtook me just in time. And our TP was waiting for me at the entrance of the pit lane, signalling that my race is over.

Leo hopped back on, and I was told Leo cannot take it when I was overtaken...heehee...I was also doing laps of 1:20 to 1:21, but I told our TP the throttle cannot be opened full, which Leo later confirmed when he came back in to change driver with Des.

All in, it was fun racing the 390cc again, and we can see what an enduro can do to a kart. 3 karts had brake fade, and in the final 10 minutes, the kart lying in 2nd had to come in via banging into Jason's kart as he has no brakes! That enabled us to move up from 5th to 4th.

Oh, did I mention our dear TP - JoN spun on his first lap out? Heehee, he still owes us lunch for that! As he did spin more than the Spin A Lot.

K[p] - Bumper sticker

2008-06-20T15:52:00.001+08:00

Saw this on the bumper of a car, modified it to this

"A bad day karting is still better than a good day at work!"

Strategies! jOn

2008-06-18T12:26:00.007+08:00

21 June, 10am, 390cc 2 hours Enduro Race @ Permas.

we will be having 4 drivers, KP, Des, Leo, and myself. the aim is simple. get more laps around the track than any other teams. if we are on par with the teams on number of laps, get in front of them! easy rite? haha not so.
our competitors are not so 'easy meat'. and since there are 4 of us, we will have to decide who will be the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th driver. also we will need to think when do we switch over, having the information of each full tank of petrol can last ~ 45mins.

having considering some or all factors, this is wat i have come up with: starting with the easiest.

Plan 1 :
all driver change over will take place at every 30min interval.
that pit stop will also include petrol top up.the only qnn is who to go 1st.

i will go for Leo. he can push almost any kart fast enough to give us a lead or a respectable position in the 1st leg. regardless of strategy, i will have him to go 1st and hope the kart we draw and his skill can be use to our advantage. i will not go on to say who's our next few drivers, as it will not be really important now. will have to play by ears.
==============================================
Plan 2: Longer stints, out of sync pit stops

1st driver will drive for 35mins. then change over with petrol top up.

2nd driver will go for 25 mins. change over will take place at 60min mark. no petrol top up!

3rd driver will drive for ~18mins or less. this is very impt and risky. we should be faster due to lower fuel load, and hope to gain some advantages. however, we do not know for sure if the engine will be using more fuel. pushing it very near the 45min mark is a risk.

4th driver will hope on at the 78-80mins mark. top up petrol and drive 42 mins! that should do it!
==============================================
Plan 3: Long mid stint.

1st driver will drive for 25mins.

2nd driver will hop on, with petrol top up. he will hit the track for about 40mins.

3rd driver will be on at approximately 65mins mark. likewise, he will drive for 40 mins with petrol top up durin pit stop.

last driver will be driving for 15 mins only with the change over at 105mins mark. the petrol top for the last change will be short with only less than half tank needed.
the idea of the longer mid stint, should the drivers can take it, have significant advantage. as other teams will stop during these times while we continue to pound the track.
==============================================

while these may 'look' like 'good' plans, it will only work better if we have an above average kart. our team of drivers will no doubt deliver no matter of the plan choose to use. but if the kart sucks, that's it! so, we pray for Good Luck!

K[p] - Last Race in Permas BIG Track

2008-06-17T16:50:00.002+08:00

Well...well...well...looks like we will get to race on the big track in Permas this coming Saturday for the 390cc Enduro. Which will probably be the very last time, probably, because look at how many times our Kallang Stadium has held its last game?

Anyway, it will be tiring on the big track, and jOn has plans for us to race 30mins at one go! At least Des and me are still quite used to the way a rental kart can handle, but if it does not turn well, it will have to be manhandled to turn.

K[p] - Home Track Going Soon

2008-06-13T10:51:00.002+08:00

The Go-kart track in Permas Jaya, Johor, Malaysia where I became seriously interested in the sport, will be demolished soon. The so called inner track is scheduled for demolition starting next week.

A short eulogy.
Started using the 80cc 2-stroke fun kart for 2 months, then preceeded to use only the WPP 80cc 2-stroke before they ran out of spares. The WPP is still one of my favs. So I was introduced to the 100cc 2-stroke Yamahas (dont know which engine version was this) before they too ran out of parts and was retired. But I probably only karted twice in these karts. Next up was the 390cc 4-stroke which we are still using till today and coming up next week, we are using these 390cc for the endurance race. In between popped in the so called Road Rats, which are actually 80cc 4-strokes Honda engine, and they could keep up with the 390cc if you drive them well. But if you have a good driver in the 390cc, you would probably lose 2 to 3 secs per lap. But hey, they are RM15 cheaper to rent!

Have not seen the new track in Plentong. Will post more when we do. And this time, we will prob try to name the corners so everyone knows which corner we are talking about rather than, turn 1, 2, 3, S-bend, U-turn etc.

K[p] - Front End Crash

2008-06-09T22:45:00.002+08:00

I just don't react FAST enough!

Whats the first rule about driving and avoiding something? You just don't look at it! Look at a tree, you will crash into a tree, look at the wall, you will crash into the wall, and STARE at the fun kart, you will crash into the fun kart. Good driver do not get into scraps. Remember that!

On the Gillard, finally found out its a 010 chassis. But still to find the year of manufacture. On wet, went too fast into turn 1 and spun twice! Spun at u-turn twice! Jeez. Time to sit back and rethink my driving.

Anyway, there is another enduro coming up on the 21st. This time using the 390cc, hope they are in good condition. Watch out for our team list.

wat goes around will comes around..

2008-06-09T14:07:00.006+08:00

8 June, Canadian F1 Grand Prix... BMW scores 1st win with
Robert Kubica! excellent win for the guy who does everything
to make himself competitive this season, not that he is
uncompetitive last season. but before the start of this season
he goes on a diet, making himself leaner so that he can move
some ballast to the front of the car giving the car more front
end grip.

yesterday win is deserving for a guy who 12 months ago suffered
a horrific crash, but only to have a sore ankle after that!
well done Robert! wat a win!

however, the highlight of the race was another crash... at the end of
the pitlane no less! red light, Kubica and Kimi stopped side by side,
but Lewis seeing the red light late, can't stop in time and hit Kimi's car.
sounds familiar? last race, Kimi hit Sutil's car when he can't brake
in time for corner after exiting the tunnel..

but Kimi has this to say: “Obviously, anyone can make mistakes, as
I did two weeks ago in Monaco, but it's one thing to make a mistake
at 200 miles per hour but another to hit a car stopped at a red light."

hey... Karma, my fren. CARMA!

and hey hey... wat did i say abt braking?

brake to be Fast

2008-06-08T12:59:00.007+08:00

It's quite incredible but it's true...
If you are not comfortable and not confident with your kart's braking, you're F(finished). With Engine not performing up to par, it will just mean that you will be slower. But if brakes are F then your entry will be too fast, pushing the kart too wide and then spending time at the same spot. Worse is to come, you generally lose time in getting power back on again and that is worse than just been slow!

gees... that's what happened when i got back out on the track for the 2nd time. Braking has to be done earlier and earlier over each lap. Brake fade? Tiredness? Tyre pressure? to be frank, it's actually just the bloody brake system!

I think I have lived with this cock up and FU brake system more than i should. It is time to change. People who had tried my kart always wonder how i brake before corners...I wonder myself too. Maybe I'm just too darn good! hahahahahaha

Tony gave up after 2 laps...well his is Brembo brake, mine is Bimbo
=X he just cloudn't 'handle' this soft brake.

kp, tried yesterday... and well, crashes heavily into a fun kart just after Turn 1. Can't slow the kart in time, he mentioned. That's one, he didn't spot far ahead enough to see the crawling fun kart in front of Des, who slowed too much too soon, and simply my kart can't brake & he can't react in time.

I guess it just go to show, enough is enough. Time to change.

On hindsight, during my 1st run, when the brake was newly bled, I managed to pull away from kp slowly there and then and that was with more weight on my kart, but his tyres were starting to slip too

Thus, yes, it does sound silly, better braking makes u go faster & it so darn bloody true!

Oh, I am now determined not to spend a second more than i need to behind anyone. Concrete very nearly flew into my helmet and smash my visor! And I realized that my suit is getting a lot of exhaust fumes. The odour stink out my room when i bring it out to hang eeeekkks good motivation to be fast!

K[p] - Kart Test

2008-05-31T23:56:00.004+08:00

Did not measure the cold tire, but hot pressure was 0.7bar, decided to pump them up to 0.8bar (hot reading), should have bumped it up to 0.9bar, but got distracted by improving my driving.

MUST REMEMBER, get my right leg OFF the pedal till I have lifted off the brakes, else I'm going to pay for some EXPENSIVE repairs on the clutch.

Another lesson, the road is very wide, learn to use all of it to find the best line. But always concentrate on your driving doing it.

Today was shiok, had a mini race with Grahame and Tony, on the u-turn saw a gap and tried to overtake Grahame but think I braked till the kart stalled. After starting, realised the front pair is stucked behind a few fun karters, decided to open up and try to catch up and catch up I did! When I caught up with the pair, Grahame spun out and it was only Tony and me, did finally overtake him and it was shiok! Keke...But always, must remember, clutch is EXPENSIVE!

K[p] - Weather Forecast

2008-05-30T23:37:00.003+08:00

Since the weather forecast was put up on the right, have not ascertained whether it is accurate or not. So, tomorrow's forecast is rain in the afternoon but should stay dry for the morning. Awww...good news for jOn but as a spectator I want a wet track to see people spin! Hee Hee.

We are going in at 8am tomorrow, which is sort of a Causeway 'No Drive' time due to the morning office going back/going to work in JB. Oh well, jOn's race starts at 10am, so have to go in at this time for breakfast too.

Will update how accurate the weather forecast is tomorrow on this tread.

31st May Update
Weather forecast was ACCURATE! It was cloudy starting in the morning. And it started to drizzle starting around 11am with slight drizzle on off for the rest of the afternoon. But heard it was raining real hard in Singapore.

BLEH....

2008-05-27T17:26:00.003+08:00

wat a disappointing end to last race on 25 May.
just when i thot i can go and have some fun.
but at least i was game enough to race in wet,
albeit driving very slowly. i had fun
haha

but in the final 15 laps, i spun in the 1st lap
after that it was pretty much ALL downhill..
not much to add, aside that i was hit from the
back by Ivan when being lapped! darn it,
kenna lapped also kenna hit.

and well, my ribs is breaking into pieces liao
so either i need a bigger seat or a FreeM protector.
i reckon i will choose the latter. as a new seat will
set me back in terms of adjusting and setting it all
over again and again. not something i keen to do.
also it will mean i have to ask david to set it up.

well, somehow, i felt (and feelign now too) a bitter
anger inside me after sunday race.
it was that disappointing as i never beat
myself up after a race. understanding that anything
can happen. on last sunday, i just felt lousy. tsktsk
thankfully some bier subdued me.
with Lewis Hamilton winning in Monaco too helps
=)

do i look forward to racing in June? i dunno.
let's see.

K[p] Kart test after bent axle

2008-05-21T22:56:00.002+08:00

Kart feels like it is still the same after a change of axle. But I am still new to this, feels alright because I dont know what to feel!

It was like when I was bowling with house balls, I could hit 180 easily, and 200 was a common affair. But right after I bought my own ball, my score dropped to 120! Getting to 160 was a struggle not to mention 180 or even 200!

Same here in karting, I am just too used to the rental karts. Everything just seems better in the PDB that I dont know it may not be setup properly, but therein lies the job of setting up the kart properly. First off are the tires, I am using Yokohamas and no one else are using these. The rest are on Vegas or Mojos. Recommended pressure is 0.6 but it was pumped up to 0.75 by Ah Keong. I went out with it anyway, tires was ok, but after 8 or 9 laps of the big track, when I brake, the rear will swing out to the left! Setting or tires? That's for me to find out.

let's get moving!

2008-05-18T23:21:00.003+08:00

A week from the May 25th race, and practice we went

Had to have some practice run today, so that i can assess if my ribs are better, and yes, it's all good now!

Managed to have Kevin give me some tips, and am glad that i did learn something today. It seems every run I learn something.

At the end of the last run, while i was catching up with the boy, I suddenly felt that I was not able to feel the brakes before the uphill run at turn 4...brake pedal all the way down but it was not slowing like previously... hmmm gremlins of the brake haunt me AGAIN!

Returning to the pit, saw that one of my brake pad was dislodged from the brake caliper. Wat's me and with brake components!

And more scary was that my radiator was pierced by the metal piece that used to hold it upright. Luckily, there was no damage done to the engine. Running temp was still normal.
PHEW!!

Looking forward to the next race! When?

Look right....!

K[p] Bent Axle

2008-05-07T00:26:00.002+08:00

What a month.

I joined my first race in PJ since the fun kart race last year. But this is different. This time, I will be racing on a Rotax Max 125cc engine! After 2 weeks of scurrying around looking for tires, I managed to get some Medium Yokohamas from David. And qualifying in front of Tony and Jonathan after the first try was sort of surprising. But the kart is definitely sorted out and I think Tony and Jonathan are still trying to sort out theirs. But the race only lasted 2.5 laps! At the same place where I told Jonathan to try to brake late, I brake too late and hit the grass on the the left a little and the kart starting to go right, it was still under control until I felt the bang on the right. Tried to move off after that but found the chain has come off, worst new is to come, the whole axle is bent. Thats it, race over, and I started to berate myself over and over for getting into this kind of situation. Darn!

Worst is to follow, I think I got a viral fever. First time fever lasted 5 days! Just recovered, and not able to join the rest during their testing on May Day (1st of May). Or Labour Day, Labour Day do sound better huh, May Day sounds like a day where Help is needed. The Earth probably needs it though.

Some notes on race day 4th round. While trying to warm up the tires, and driving leisurely, my timing was a low 1.08! And when I did try to push it to get a good qualifying time, my timing was only a low 1.07! Only a second of difference? This is definitely something worth looking into. Something the Alfano should be able to show. Cheers!

Lose Yourself...

2008-05-06T20:25:00.010+08:00

"I continuously go further and further learning
about my own limitations, my body limitation,
psychological limitations. It's a way of life for me."
- Senna -

Sometimes, it's very very easy to be lazy.
Just sitting there and waiting for things to happen, waiting for things to better itself.
We wonder out aloud at others 'wah! so lucky', e.g. Newton is very 'lucky' to be sitting under an
apple tree, when he developed a very impt theory for us all. Besides luck, he had worked hard before that. He had been a thinker. He had been someone who pushes the boundaries of science in his time before luck found him.
Senna went out in the rain always to kart, he wasn't born the rain master...

On the other hand, sometimes it is not meant to be. No matter how hard one work and try, nothing comes to fruition. Full marks for trying, however Zero for everything else. Unlucky & unfortunate perhaps.

However, if one do not go for broke and give their all, the only thing we will think of is 'OUCH!' when & if the apple fell on our head

What am i saying???
It is likely we make our own luck. We can only wait for it and be prepared for it, when the moment comes, lose yourself in the moment. Let go, becuase you have already done the preparation. The future had been decided. Enjoy the rush. Feel the moment.
Cause you are in it.

cheers!

Remembering Senna

2008-05-03T17:47:00.008+08:00

May 1, 1994, was when the last fatality occured in modern Formula 1.
It is that of the great Ayrton Senna. F1 World Champion in 1988, 1990 & 1991.
One of his quote: "Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose."
Safety in F1 and many other motorsports has come a long way since. Just look at the horrific accident of Robert last year, and Heikki this year, their lives may very well have been cut short prematurely if it had happened decades back.

The death of Senna has inadvertently robbed us of the chance of him competing with a certain up & coming Michael. How interesting that would be!!

Talking about safety, I realized now how important is the rib
protector for karting, especially more so when my bloody seat was not set properly!
Sigh! On the last blog entry i mentioned, it was quite a 'rib breaking' race, and indeed I was not wrong. Thinking I needed more track time, I went for a practice run on May Day.
On the 1st run, during turn 2 leading into turn 3.... i can't breathe. My left rib was sort of killing me. It was pain, a sudden sharp pain. I had to let the throttle go. I tried again on the next corner, holding my breath as I went thru it it was better, but i knew i cannot do this for long. How many laps, how many corners can i go without actually breathing??? Not many, considering the temperature is climbing throughout the day.

All in all, the seating position was really way out. I was sitting too upright, and my body is literally moving out of the seat through corners. It is no wonder I always felt as though I am been thrown out of the kart. With this motion, my left ribs was in fact hitting the edge of the seat. Imagine the number of times i was hit in the 30 plus laps last sunday..

However, i did try to drive a bit more after the seat has been set. It was much much better, but alas, the damage of the rib was done. Any compression on the area hurts. The pain then restricts my breathing, and in turn my concentration on the track dwindled considerably.

Now, I hope my ribs can recover, I wish too my seat position is indeed really set to my liking. The next bit of setting is that of the carb jetting. Driving improvement will be of the throttling. Fitness definitely have to buck up too. May 2008. let's hope it will be a better race for me this month. No more excuses not to do better, not to do well.

27 April - trainings day

2008-04-28T16:23:00.005+08:00

27 April = SHIOK!! 28 April = aches and pains!!
woohooo

Well, as i predicted somewhat that this '1st race' of mine after 3-4 months is going to be tough, neck straining, and shoulder aching tough it is

Qualifying was not ideal. Basic front end setting problem. Wheels were put too wide and did not give much response. It felt like it is stucked in the corners...refusing to move and when it move it moved too much. So it's understeer then oversteer! steady lah! After adjusting it, it was much better. However, time trap had shut for qualifying liao.

1st heat, 10 laps. It was ok lah, still can survive. KP was in front of me...then I overtook Tony, but Steven overtook me and chased after KP... and somehow KP did the 'thing' I told him to try it during practice...what happened was that he skidded, Steven hit him, and that his race
ended in 2.5 laps. I did not see it all unfold, in fact i did not see KP until the next lap stranded by the side. My 10 laps ended with Tony overtaking me under the blue flag! But alas, it was non consequential.

2nd heat, 15 laps. This is neck wrenching...ribs breaking...somehow also stomach aching! During the closing stages, I was particularly moving my head as and when the corners come about...but I finished! importantt! It's a good start...2 points was awarded to me as there were a few racer being disqualified, and a few incidents. Well, this is motor racing which i realized one have to finish to have any chance. At times though, it is to try something spectacular so that one can be
brilliant...just like a fine line between a madman, and a genius.

Having said that, it's getting the basics (kart & technique) right 1st that counts most.
=)
till 25 May!

it's time again... Race day!

2008-04-20T18:23:00.003+08:00

yes, with the count down timer on our blog, i can now
know EXACTLY how long more before the next race
starts. as of now... it's a week or so.
how exiciting.

thinking of it, we can see how times fly by.

in the coming race @ Permas, my only aim is to have a
good race. result can wait. why i say that is not because
i do not want a good result, its just that in the previous
months, Jan-Mar, i had not been able to finished or even
participate in a race. so it will show... that i'm not 'race fit'
and not 100% race ready.
thus instead of pushing too much too soon, i just wanna
have an enjoyable day drenched in sweat!

ah..... Mr KP will be in his 1st race with his new kart too!!
his Rotax Max and kart chassis should be able to performed
to scratch.
just hope there will not be any incidents during the race for
the both of us.

also incidentally, 27 April will see F1 teams going to Barcelona
for the 4th race of the year. personally, it will be very interesting
to see if McLaren can bounce back after some disappointing
results. considering how they started the year with Lewis winning
in Melbourne.
WRC, Rally Jordan, will start this coming week. the spotlight there
will NOT be whether if the Citroen or Ford will come up tops, but
a certain Mr Mosley is going to the event... with the recent Scandal
surrounding him i suspect he may not be moving to many teams
motorhome.

last but not least, Formula D is on 27 Apr too!
go Colin go!

all in all, this week seems to be a very environmentally
UNfriendly week... however some many people is going to have
some very serious fun!

of setting & karting

2008-04-11T19:37:00.004+08:00

finally, after some months of waiting and pondering
i decided to get a brand new engine... for my Kart @
Permas!

Engine is a Vortex Rok. giving me a good 29+bhp, with
19.6Nm @ 10000rpm to boost. Not a lot of power if u look
at it as car specs, but boy oh boy, is my neck hurting after
only the run-in program.. (and i cannot continue with the race
the very next day)

At the same time, I had to replace my seat to a more fitting
ones as the current is a tad too big with me sliding in it towards
the end of every race.
quite satisfied with the result...
have not done any real timed run on the track, but i would think
with a good set of tyres, and some more set up works on the
front components, this kart should technically give a impressive
time. i said technically, b'cos it depends on the driver (me) too

well, now i'm looking forward to the next race, which sadly clashed
with Colin's Formula D date.
(and oh.... there will be another challenger kart on the way soon! )

K[p] Karting 6th April - NO SPINS

2008-04-11T00:46:00.004+08:00

Din have time to update.

6th April is a little significant, cause we are going in for kart test drive! As mentioned, my group did not materialize due to last minute urgent matters. And Jon's group of 5 became 2, and 2 cars became 3! So we were joined by Ist, Cindy and Jasmine. Actually I did not know Des was going in till I saw him in the morning, and its the first time I dont see him driving. Haha.

Before we hit the track, went to Grandpa's and made the mistake of ordering the Black Pepper Udon Noodle. It was hot! And all of it threatened to come back out after one session with the 390cc. Back to that in a while, when we hit the track, there was already a bunch driving the 390cc and boy, one went up the brick wall, another overturned after hitting the tire wall after turn 3 and a few crashes that totally smashed up the bumpers. Bad. When me and Des did go, my kart was very difficult to control and even scary to me. I did I did to much of the leaning forward in the kart thing and got really really tired, thats when the Udon threatened to come back out!

After that, test drove the PDL and it was good fun. Drove Jon's kart and found the vibration is making it difficult to breath! Now we know it is not the helmet! And Jon's kart was even scarier. Understeer everywhere, it still need some setting up! But the engine really ROKs!

Anyway, after it was all over, I realised that I did not spin once on the track! Not ONCE! Yahoo! A few times when I went over the limit on the 390 and the Rok powered kart, I though thats it, but i managed to steer out of trouble. And after all this, when Des and Jon went to my place to watch F1 Bahrain, guess what, Massa did not spin! Now, are we related? Haha.

K[p] Planner & Weather Added

2008-04-07T16:27:00.002+08:00

Wahaha...Many Thanks to Yinglin for helping to add the event planner as well as weather onto the blog. Now you know when is the next race for Jon or when is the next scheduled go-kart event.b

K[p] First Long Weekend

2008-03-30T13:28:00.004+08:00

Having my reservist and this is the very very fist time we get to book out on a Friday! Yes, same color but very different life. We get to stay in camp most of the time and book out on a Saturday late afternoon, or even Sunday morning! After so many siong in-camp, this is a good break.

Jon should be racing today in his new engine. Hope it ROKs. Maybe he will get some wet weather which he thoroughly hates....hee hee. Anyway, we should be in for some fun karting with a few first timers on the 6th April if they don't become wet blankets. But have a backup plan, if they do become wet blankets, should be watching the F1 race in Bahrain on telly then.

To answer JoNs question on why I do not like LH, well, its in the Heart. I don't see it in him. Very difficult to explain what Heart is, but just look at Kimi, Ayrton and Jenson. Look at what they have done for others too besides themselves. Of cos my driving cannot be compared to them, I spin all over the place! Hmmm...in this case, maybe can be compared to Massa...haha.

Sepang F1 - HOT!

2008-03-26T22:14:00.006+08:00

my journey to Sepang start out at about 4am on the Sat
1st, i had to drive to Jurong to get one of my colleague, Yane.
then to Telok Blangah to get Nic and his galfren.
and by the time we are ready to depart from WFF office,
CNA came and interview Yane, and me. just do it, and we can
all be on our way.

*ps. if anyone has the footage of our appearance on the news that
evening pls contact me! =P

since we did not have tics for the qualifying, we went to collect our
tics for the raceday. and Shop!! and i am very delighted to be able
to purchase my McLaren team Victory tee!

race day itself is HOT HOT HOT, and i have sunburnt skin to prove!
we had our lunch inside the grandstand area.
all this for a AFFORDABLE RM25....... and u have the privileges of
eating all these under a palm tree. how nice!

oh, once the F1 cars start their installation lap... passed right in
front of us the sound is soooo bloody loud!! in the end, had to fork
out 2xRM20 to get ear plugs! darn it!

the race was quite a bored. nothing like the incidents in Australia.
nonetheless, it was quite fun to see or TRY to see the car whizzed
us by at almost full speed!

F1

2008-03-16T12:14:00.004+08:00

if u ask me, i really do not think we will see any more spins
from Lewis Hamilton than it is from Kimi.

let's not forget that Lewis will be more adaptable to throttle
control than computerized traction control. as his years in
karting and GP2 will not be lost 'suddenly' after a year with
traction control.

now come the question, why KP do not like Lewis? i dunno.
maybe because Lewis drive (much) better than KP???? hahaha

but in all seriousness, this season will be the drivers competition
as much as the car design and computer prowess.
just look at Massa, his Ferrari's slower than Kimi right from the
winter testing. is his car different? or is it just skill? i think the
latter.

so.... with 2 F1 races back to back. I will have my own kart race on
30 march. hope the new engine will be up to scratch. and imptly,
i will be ready and prepared. losing track time in the last 2 races
really put me in the back foot in terms of physical and mental
readiness.

well, this is racing. and anything can happens. rain, crashes, last,
1st, pole or components failures... just hope the race will be just
good for me at the end of the month

and looking forward to my trip to Sepang too
=)

K[p] - It REALLY rained in PJ

2008-03-15T01:51:00.003+08:00

Oh Yes! It really rained in PJ on the 9th when me and JoN went in. Too bad thier Rats were not in working condition, so I took the fun kart which I have not taken in a very long while and absolutely hated it even though the track was soaking wet. Looked real comical in a yellow rain coat I bet.

But after that, took kart No17 out for a spin. This kart is attached with a 100cc IAME engine. Now, thats a I and not an L...haha. After two laps trying to warm up the tires on a wet track, I took it a few notch up and started spinning. Since this comes with a direct drive, the kart had to be pushed to start it up again. Have to really learn how to control a 100cc and above kart in the wet.

Looking forward to the start of F1 for the VERY first time! As this time, traction controls are OFF! Hopes LH starts to spin like crazy too...heehee.

K[p] - It Rained in PJ

2008-03-02T15:47:00.003+08:00

Supposed to go PJ on Saturday, but found out it was booked for a company from 10am to 4pm, which is practically the whole day! The guys at PJ wont have time to entertain us. So we postphoned it to Sunday, only to have someone escape from prison and caused a huge jam on the causeway! But I checked the webcam today and don't see much of a jam, probably everyone is staying away from it due to the huge jams reported since last Wednesday. But I pity the guys working in Singapore and staying in JB, they told me they reached home at 11+ close to midnight instead of the usual 9.30pm. And they have to wake up at 4am to catch the bus to work the next day!!!

Anyway, this morning I was at PJ and it started to rain! I was wishing for rain for the last 3 months! If you need to know, I would rather kart in the rain now using the rental karts. So I quickly got them to bring out a kart for me and was in glee......and then.....I woke up!!! Sigh.

engine - the heart of a kart

2008-02-26T20:58:00.004+08:00

Since the bearing was found damaged in late Dec 07, the problem has not been resolved, only heartaches followed.

Because i had a rather good race in Dec 07, before the problem, i had 'high goals' for myself, and not being able to race really frustrates me! More so, when Andy @ Espace gave rubbish bearings which 'melts' when the Biland revved.

Anyway, that's in the past. Now I am looking for a new engine. Have to if I want to race again.

Maxter = a recommendation from David. It can give 20,000 rpm for a 100cc. With a high flow carburettor and direct drive, it is going to be fast. BUT, this engine seems to be a bit dated, so I'm not too sure. Also getting an engine from David may gather a lashing from Louis, so I may have to tread carefully. Cost $1200

Vortex = from Roland. This is a world beater, he said. Supposedly it's very good. Not too sure about this as wll, and the cost is over 2 times more expensive than the Maxter. Will meet Roland soon to ask him about it.

So, what heart will i get for my kart? I dunno yet, in the end, cost most likely to be the deciding factor. Eg. startup cost, and overall maintenance cost.

Stay tuned... as i'm very determined to race in the next one on 30th March. A heart transplant is not too far away

cheers

K[p] Gran Turismo 5

2008-02-25T20:19:00.006+08:00

Looks like the game will be delayed till late 2008 or even to 2009. But there is a Prologue version for you to wait till then. 40 cars in 5 racetracks are available. Just in case you think I am a console nut, I am not. I have not owned a console before until 2 months back when I bought Xbox 1 and is now happily drifting in Burnout. But I am a gamer, and i do follow what consoles have to offer for the last 15 years even though their graphics sux big time. But its definitely different now, what with HD games, the graphics is just muaaaaa. And I am anticipating the release of Gran Turismo 5. Hopefully by then, PS3 prices would be much more affordable.

Check out this link for driving simulator gameracer it is darn expensive though. But if you stay in Singapore or Malaysia, you can get it cheaper from australia. Combine that with a Logitec G25 wheel with handstiched leather, and its............., imagine I enquired the price for the wheel in April 2007 !!!

But for any sponsor out there, I still prefer a real kart though....HeeHee.

K[p] No Karts

2008-02-25T20:15:00.002+08:00

Looks like JoN still to resolve his engine problem, so effectively, both of us do not have a kart now. Anyway, we are heading to PJ this coming saturday. So if anybody wants to join us, they are more than welcomed. Which reminds me, WHERE is everybody? Used to have a big group of us going in to kart but now it is mostly just Jon and me.

K[p]

2008-02-24T20:09:00.003+08:00

Wow, no updates on the karting front for some time.
We did not update the race in December. Due to it being disastrous, getting karts that cant move or cant turn. Looks like we would have more fun racing shopping karts!!!

Now, Jon is looking for bearings for his 4 stroke engine.

As for me, I am looking for a kart to enjoy in. Any sponsors out there? Drop me a mail!!! keke.

Happy Chinese New Year

2008-02-07T12:42:00.000+08:00

Wishing all a prosperous new year.

happy new year!

2008-01-01T00:05:00.000+08:00

happy 2008 to all! may all be bless with good health and great
speed! hee

K[p] - Race Day 30th Dec

2007-12-28T14:50:00.002+08:00

I can only look forward to 2 races a year in June and December. And using rental karts where its condition is totally unknown, you could get a lemon and end the race even before you begin. Really hope it rains, will even the karts out.

30th December is race day! Hope to end in the top 6 and get some prize monies.

2008 targets

2007-12-17T16:49:00.000+08:00

it's almost there. Christmas is coming and a new year follow
soon after, so i guess it's not too early to set some form of
target for next year on the racing side.

1. finish constantly within the points.

2. lap 1.04 consistently. improved on the times is important,
so far my best as previously stated was 1.05+. hope i can shave
one second somehow.

3. one win. will be very tough, but a target and a landmark

am i looking forward to 2008 or what???!

=)

3rd race, good race. tyre is key. fitness is primary

2007-12-04T21:34:00.000+08:00

this is my 3rd race which unfolded on 2 Dec 2007.

this round i had more prep. managed to do a bit training like
swimming and some push ups. especially after the last race,
i found that i had no stamina and strength to finish the race
of 25 laps. i simply just struggle to hold on to the steering and
limped to the end. i want to be different the next race, and i
had 3 weeks plus to do myself some justice.

oh, one secret to be shared here on the last race... i was
unprepared, Yes... i had problems breathing... i have very
little training... i have difficulty breathing... cos i forgot to open
the top vent of my helmet!! FFFFF

anyway, this race i was feeling ready. ready to race. ready
to take on my kart and the track.

qualifying for me was horrendous. 1.08+ ! rubbish timing!
am i not ready? i went backwards on a good lap. the rear
end of the kart was sliding a lot.. i know the tyres were near
its end but i wanted to use it up to heat 1 then change for the
final 15 laps

anyway, i tried to have another go in the qualifying, but alas,
they turned off the timing monitor! sigh.. i resigned to start
from quite far back..

heat 1
can't remember much, except my crash with the French guy
named GUY.. this Heat 1 was actually quite bad for me, as the
rear end was getting from bad to worse. every braking point i
had to be more gentle, which means people catch me up at some
corners esp most hairpins. i was overtaken by Guy, then i overtook
him back, then he took the place again but i was on hot on his
wheels. his kart was not behaving well too. at the last lap of the 10,
in the inner hairpin, he was looking where i was while turning...
bad mistake.
that put him into the grass, seeing that i throttle hard!
but Guy oh Guy, he did the same and spun in the middle of the
track leaving me no room to move. i knew i braked hard, spun
and crashed heavily into his kart.
my race, at the last lap was finished. my rib hurt a bit. but the
impact was great, and i thot i never say this but i'm glad i wore
my rib protector else i will have a few broken ones for sure!

damage: NONE! only the side pod was badly dented, but Sam
did a good job in put everything nicely back together before the
15 laps.

Tyres changed. four brand new ones were on. and i did 3 laps of
scrubbing in before the race start. Totally awesome grip. every
corners, the kart go in and exit the way i want, the way i know
how. i knew although i will be starting from quite the back of
the field, i am roaring to go.

Heat 2.
this is one of the best race i ever had yet. and the best race for
those who came and watched. reason: the front runners were
the usual suspect. the mid field were make up of quite a few
new racer, and i can be consider at the back of this field. but
behind me was what make this race interesting. Leo, Sam,
Steven, Ah Pao. 4 experienced and quick guys at the back as
some misfortunes befall on them on heat 1 as well.

when the race is a go, i went. had to start overtaking. but i
took my time. bidding for the best chance. do not want to be
knock out for some silly mistakes. i can't recalled exactly when
and where i overtook the ones in front of me. but i can remember
i no longer looked at the board that tells me how many more
laps to go. i was really focused and concentrated on the kart in front.
i was that determined. i was feeling ready, and now i feel ready!

my real race started when ah poa tried to overtook me for 4 laps
and cldn't do so. it started after we overtook tony. i covered my
line all nicely, and with better acceleration. i slowed in the corners
and quick on the straight. he had no answer, no chance to overtake
me. then last lap... i suddenly was quite fearful, as ah poa
actually mounted on to tony's kart at his 1st attempt to overtake...
i was fearful that in his frustrations and eager to overtake me in the
last lap, i allowed a small gap which he took with it expertly...
yes, i shld not be fearful and fight. but i want to finish the races in
2007, and in 2008, let's fight!

=)

No more fun kart, except in the rain - K[p]

2007-12-03T11:16:00.000+08:00

Funny that Jon posted about karting in the wet. Traditionally, he hates to kart in the wet. But everyone needs to learn sometime or the other.

I have finally given up on the 80cc fun kart. The condition of these karts in Permas is very bad, still good for the occasional trill seekers, but definitely out for me. So is the 390cc, I took a kart last week and it would not turn left! The only fun kart left would be the so called road rat, a 6.5HP kart compared to the 5.5HP 80cc fun kart. But this kart is much faster, just slightly slower than the 390cc by prob around 1 or 2 secs, and much cheaper. Definitely value for money. Use them before their condition deteriorates.

Talking about wet karting. Now, i will just wait untill it rains, then jump into one of the road rat. Super fun. The wetter the better.

wet Wet wet, no, it's not the band

2007-11-19T21:45:00.000+08:00

from wiki

Karting in wet weather is extremely difficult, but if you master wet weather techniques, you can easily win by miles!

[edit] Steps

When you brake, hit the pedal in a short, sharp motion. This should be enough to get the rear tires to lock and bite into the track. A nice gentle push on the brake won't do it because it kills the kart. You want the kart to feel quite lively, and you need to get it working and biting so you can get a feel for the grip that is available. Also, you want to reduce the amount of time on the brakes and braking needs to be out of the way before you turn.
Remember that you are taking a wet line away from the rubber. Turn into the boot very late, and when you turn the wheel, snap it into full lock hard and fast.
Now the kart doesn't turn and spin. You turned the wheel so fast and it's like you shocked it into a huge under-steer. But, you are also getting maximum jacking effect from the front end and when the kart finds a bit of grip it will turn very sharply. Also, since the front end is sliding, it is slowing you down too, acting like front brakes.
When you snap that steering wheel round, you will naturally need to lean forward a little because turning the wheel will extend your reach. Lean forward and toward the outside of the kart. By doing so, you are taking weight from the rear and putting it over the front, which helps the kart to lift the inside rear wheel.
When you get the timing right, you will find the kart turns hard and sharp, and that's when you need to get your weight back over the rear wheels, get the steering straight as possible and accelerate away.
Introduce the power gradually, and feel for traction. Always try for as much traction as possible.

[edit] Tips

Driving a kart in the wet isn't all about being super-smooth and being frightened that the kart will bite you for pushing it too hard. In fact, when driving in the wet you have to be much more physical and much more forceful to drive with flair. Wet karting gives you even more opportunity than dry karting to let yourself go!
Forget about being ultra-delicate on the brakes and turning the steering wheel tentatively, stamp on the brakes to make the tires bite into the track, and snap the steering wheel around like you want to bend the track rods!
The "Wet Line" is the fastest line around the track in the wet the same as in the dry? 99% of the time the answer is no. I can't tell you the exact wet line for every track here, but I can give you a pretty good place to start. Take a look at your circuit before you drive and you can easily see the darker racing line covered in rubber, and you can see a lighter color where there isn't so much rubber. In wet conditions, the latter is exactly where you want your kart to be! Keep those observations in mind when driving. You will find you need to experiment using the wet line, and there will be more than one way round on a wet line. You have to go out there and feel where the grip is.
Most importantly, don't hurt yourself, and have fun!

[edit] Warnings

Stay off the rubber
When dry, the best grip is normally found on the normal racing line, where all the tire rubber gets laid down, giving you an even better grip. When it rains, rubber is super slippery, so you have to find a new line where there is no rubber. Normally it's around the outside of the corner.

Event, Puggol, TNP 18 Nov, my views, and replies

2007-11-19T19:40:00.000+08:00

Hi Ms Faith,

I had read with great interest your article on
the go karting event in our heartland, on 30 Dec.

However looking at the 'race track' layout, isn't
it quite a bore for competitve karters? The 'track'
consists of two long striaghts and two U turns,
therefore whoever has the fastest kart and the
lightest overall weigh-in will almost certainly win.

Yes, karting is about been speed but it is also about
braking into corners, both fast and slow corners, here
the layout do not have any fast corner(s) to show the
public what a kart is really capable of. Without more
corners, the idea of karting is been undermined. The
idea of overtaking, and on the striaght there is hardly
any opportunities to keep the specators excited.

I hope the organizers will rethink the layout, so that
the people will attend the event will entertained, and
then be interested in the sports.

Regards

------------
Hi Jonathan,

Thanks for the feedback, will definitely pass it on to the organisers. This being the first of many such events to come, I believe that everyone, from the organisers to the government bodies involved such as the traffic police, are concerned about public safety more than anything else. The organisers are limited by which roads are available for their use by this, as well as by how much inconvenience closing a road would be for nearby residents and businesses.

That said, this is just the starting point of a long runway, and I'm sure the road ahead will be an exciting one.

Regards,
Faith Teo
Assistant to Editor
(Projects)
The New Paper

-----------
Hi Jonathan,

just got word from the organisers. There will be tyre obstacles and other challenges involved, so it won't just be a straight stretch. Cheers.

---------

Hi Ms Faith

Many thanks for your replies.

It should be a quite a event then.

Do hope this will give many more people the good idea of

what karting is about, then just sit and drive.

cheers
----
the article mention:

IT'S all systems go for the K1 Karting Series of heartland go-kart racing events.

Graphics: Kelvin Chan

On 30 Dec, Punggol Way will be closed to traffic, and turned into a race track for a day.

It will be the first of more than 10 such motorsport events scheduled till July next year - all in heartland locations.

While professional kart races will be the highlight, spectators will also be able to catch souped-up race cars in demonstrations along the 1.5km stretch of road.

The Motorsport Experience, as it is called, will include both sprints and drifting.

And all this won't be happening on a straight road. The end of Punggol Way is a tight hairpin turn, enough to test the skills of the best of drivers.

The organisers, CS Racing, are creating a carnival atmosphere, to cater to the whole family. The public can try fun-carting, which involves slower go-karts.

The organiser's aim to educate the public about racing as a sport led the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) to lend its weight to the privately run events.

Mr Fan Chian Jen, SSC's deputy director of motorsports and corporate development, said the events are in line with the Government's aim to make motorsport big here.

RACING IN HEARTLANDS

He said the K1 series, spearheaded by CS Racing and Singapore Motorsports Association, came about after they approached the People's Association with the idea of taking racing to the heartlands

'It's a very commendable effort, and K1 will be seen in history as the seed that grew into a motorsport industry in Singapore,' said Mr Fan, 33.

'This education is very important. If the public participates in the K1 Series, they will get a first hand experience of what karting is. And karting is the starting point of motorsport.

'We want kids to learn about motorsport, and see that it's a sport like any other sport.'

So what's in store for Singapore racing enthusiasts in the near future, besides next year'sF1?

A feasibility study done by several government agencies explored the potential and consulted foreign race series owners and track developers. It culminated in the decision to build the Changi race track.

A tendering process for the track will be launched in May next year, and it is slated for completion in 2011.

'We want to introduce motorsports to the masses, and nurture young talents. We hope to have a Singaporean racer in the international races one day,' said MrFan.

It took F1 to wake up an otherwise languishing local motorsport industry.

'There is a lot of interest in the Changi race track, because it will be a big one... there is so much enthusiasm that a track is being built in Tuas on private money.

'Now, the public can look forward to world-class racing events that will be hosted in Singapore. We have a geographical and branding advantage.'

ACCESSIBLE TO MASSES

So, how accessible will the Changi track be to the average enthusiast with his souped-up saloon?

'The project is driven by the SSC, and it is our priority to make motorsports affordable and accessible to the masses. That was the consideration when we decided to build the Changi track. But it is a private venture, and has to be commercially viable,' said Mr Fan.

What about car racing on closed streets? After all, it is now going to be done for kart racing.

'There are pros and cons when it comes to a road race. It causes inconvenience to businesses and residences. There are risks because roads are not designed for racing and the curves are too sharp. There are a lot of safety issues,' he said.

'But we do see that a street race is a spectacular, exciting experience. If it happens in the city, like F1, the benefits the race brings need to be very big.'

2007-11-19T11:29:00.000+08:00

A race to forget

2007-11-06T21:07:00.000+08:00

4 Nov, it is the 2nd race that Tony and me are going to take part in.

but my race was in tatters before it begins.
since my birthday was on friday, some of my good frens decided that
i shld go drinking with them on saturday and watch the Big match
at Paulanuers. ended the session close to 1am.... slept at 2am... with
much alcohol in the system
good catch up session with frens, but i would think it'll be tough for
the race cos of the session. something gotto give, i guess

Sunday morning, i wanted to wake at 9am. but in the end, only woke
at 10.15am. have to make Tony wait for me for close to 30mins as
i'm driving him in... sign of trouble liao

reached the track close to 1.30pm, and boss told us that the race will
start in qualifying at 2pm. wat the!?!? cos, tony and i just had lunch
at Jusco before going to the track.

Qualifying.. managed to get about the same time. 1min7sec+ .
was 7 then fall back to 10th when there're a few late comers.
i was behind Kenneth.

Heat 1
Disaster struck during the warm up rolling lap! Kenneth was going
SO SO slowly that he is (thus we are) all half a lap from the leading
pack!
then we had to bunched up to do another lap. it was super slow for
all. and at the hairup.... my kart stalled. cannot start again!
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

luckily there's Heat 2 for me, but i will be starting from the tail end.
but no DNF for me yet

Heat 2.
Start Position 16!!! cool!!! most easy to park! hahahaha
2 rolling warm up laps. this time, everyone got it rite.
at the start of the race, i overtake 2 before turn 1.
somehow, after that i can do no more....
tony and kenneth were in front of me. within 7-8 karts, but try
as i might i just cannot move an inch nearer...
and i was sweating more so than the previous race.
my hands are more tired.... why???
oh.... Bier! the magic of bier and late nite at its best
anyway, i managed to finish the 15 laps
Tony, in his haste to overtake the little boy was taken out of the race
Leo had the same fate cos of the boy. Louis had his bumper Bump off
all because of the boy whose dad works somewhere high up in the
JW company.

next race, 2 Dec.
have to train for it. no more late nite drinking on 1 Dec.
prepare all item and equipment early.
aim:
qualify 1min 6 sec. the rest will follow from there, i hope.

Kimi is CHAMP!!

2007-10-22T11:49:00.001+08:00

The 2007 F1 Driver Champion is Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.
The title is decided on this last race of the season in Brazil. What a race by Kimi, but what a disaster for the McLaren team!
Lewis went wide off the track and rejoin at the tail end of the field at lap 1. Then he lost drive and gear somewhere in the next few laps...
All hope of a rookie champion was gone by then.
The only challenge to Kimi at that point of time is Alonso, who is driving quite slowly for his standard. One of the reason why is that will be he may be thinking where he wants and can go in 2008.
My hope for 2008 season will be one without any silly spy cases and
stupid politics, and have the cars and drivers speak for the sports itself.

Rivals unite?

2007-10-18T19:10:00.001+08:00

after Shanghai F1 Grand Prix, this Sunday Brazil race will be the
most interesting race of the season. And the most exciting as it is
the last race of the season.
oh why is it so? Hamilton DNF in the Shanghai means this:
he now holds only a four-point advantage over team-mate Fernando
Alonso and has a further three in hand over Kimi Raikkonen.

so the qnn is.... who are u rooting for?
Kimi? Lewis? or Fernando?
i like Lewis to win it in his rookie year but i do hope Kimi somewhat
nick it as he is, to me, one of the most natural driver/racer on the grid.
Fernando? with his big mouth i hope he can just put all the talking on
the track, and be humbled at the end of this season

i just can't wait for this race to be flag off!

Fun kart <50sec - K[p]

2007-10-12T11:32:00.000+08:00

Went karting alone on 5th October. Thought no one would be there, but there were 3 'Ang Mohs' from Ireland trying out the track, 2 ladies and 1 guy. I think they went for 5 rounds, and the last round, they even took my recommendations to go for the 390.

Tried out the 6.5HP fun kart number 45 with an aim to be in the top 8. First round went without timing, just trying out the kart seeing how it responds as well as changed my steering technique to a different one. In all the corners, tried to brake less and less, and on the 5th lap, I could even do without braking in turn 1 on this kart. After this, I just sat and relaxed and just thought about the track and all the things I have done...with the boss right beside me trying to see if I would want to buy a kart...heh heh.

Went for timing during the 2nd round. This time, I just stuck to how I want to drive the kart. During the last few laps, I found new meaning in "always look at where you want to go". After finishing the 10mins, I got out of the kart and was told my best timing was 49.75 secs !!! It was really great news! Exceeded my expectations. Time sheet shows I did go below 50secs in 2 of the laps. Hope I get a good kart in December.

30 Sept - 1st Race, 4th, 1 Sec, and a happy man

2007-10-02T01:39:00.000+08:00

yes, 30 Sept shld be marked as a significant date for Lewis Hamilton.
this shld be the race that see him almost confirmed as the F1 World
Champion in his rookie year. he finished 1st in a dreadful weathered
race on the Fuji Speedway. while he finished the race, Alonso crashed
out of the race, and very likely out of the championship contention.
2 more race for Lewis to finish still before he can claim the crown
from Alonso, and go for a long deserved holiday.

long lay off i had perviously too. and the 1st race was on the same
sunday of the Japanese GP.
the jam on the causeway was simply awful. sometimes i wish i
can fly.
but if i can fly, i will not be bothered about driving or racing,
will i? hahaha
drove Tony in too. it was nice to have him with me, as it will be
our 1st race of the year together since we got our kart.
when we reached the track, we relaxed by watching the wet race
unfold in Japan. then we ate our lunch prepared by Auntie.

the format is as followed.

Quali - any amount of laps, to get the best timing we can for the
starting grid.
for me, i managed to get a timing of 1.07+, tony had 1.08+
the rest of the guys in front of me is from 1.02 to 1.05, thus u can
say we are definitely not there yet. 7 on the grid for me, and 8 for
tony but there are 2 other guys who time 1.18. well, enough said
looking at their time

Heat 1, 10 laps.

everyone will form up at the grid depending on their quali time,
and then go for a One Formation Lap warm up together. the start
will be a rolling start.
it was fun. as i feel it is safer to do so as opposed to grid start.
the race was tiring, and all i wanted to do is to finish it. gain the
experience.
at one point of time, i saw there was 8 more laps to go i thought to
myself how the hell can i do that! but i did. i completed the
exhausting 10 laps under race condition. during the last 4 laps,
i managed to gain some distance of the guy in front. however,
due to lack of experience to fitness and kart finesse i cannot get
closer. but i managed to shave off more than one full second from
my Quali pace. and tis is one of the tangible improvement i see
from it too

Final race, 15 laps.

during the rest period of about 20 odd mins i think to myself.
how the hell can i managed another 15 laps. it's utter madness! it
IMPOSSIBLE, i cried to myself!
tony and i were contemplating to only do 10 laps at most or go
home there and then.
yes, we are that tired. but i think he was more so than me.
but then we go ahead.
the immediate problem i thought to myself is that i only bring along
my mercury visor for my helmet. and this race started off at about
6.30pm odd.
and yes almost half way thru, i needed to keep my eyes wide open
to see where the next corners are else i will be flying to somewhere
somehow.
at the start before even going into the race, i did a silly mistake and
whack into Leo's kart. damn. perhaps some nervousness...
here, there are 2 warm up formation laps. it was fun, but one had to
be careful not to be too close, ask Vettel he will know wat i mean.
the come the start of the race proper, wham bang!!! Steven and Sam
clashes each other and took each other out.
then i was 3rd. haha but before long, Leo came from behind and took
that position.
i gladly have him there as i clearly know he has much more pace than
me.
then i was fourth.
ah seng came and took that place from me too. well, no resistance
from me when i know there's only so long i can defend, but his
trye came off after he was in front of me for 2 laps. so fourth i
was again. it was a lonely race after that. as tony was quite far
behind me, and the front three i cannot see. so i was cruising along
after awhile just looking out for the leading pack to lap me...
now, i can tell you where i was position but in the actual race i was
thinking all abt finishing the race. it was that tiring. it was dark in
my helmet too i was extremely happy that i managed to do 25 laps.
it was a achievement. and a Fourth to show for.
cool! and looking forward to the next one
=)

25 Sept - Head Swinging Party !

2007-09-27T18:03:00.000+08:00

after a long lay off, i finally overcome my fear of doing something
extreme and went off to my kart again!
after almost 8-10 weeks!!

no adverse reaction. on the 1st session. phew
need and adjusted my seat one inch forward. i was toeing both
the brake and the accelerator.

after about 20 mins of adjustment to the seat, i went out on to the
track again. better feel. but somehow i reckon the brake is too soft.
hmmmm
after a couple of laps, coming into the pit i realized that the brake
component has been broken!!
wah, had been karting ard without much brakes! thankfully, there
was a extra brake cable. else i will be heading striaght into any of
the tyres barrier

3rd session, already feel tired. mainly from the neck. spin once at
Turn 1. boss did helped me to time my lap. it's fairly inconsistent.
timing is at abt 42sec.
my fault according to him are at Turn 1, 2 and 3.
too fast into turn 1, slow too much to regain speed for the next 2
turn. that is likely to cost me abt 1-2 sec, especially when i cannot
accel hard thru turn 2 and 3 before the long straight. lesson learnt.
application is another thing. HA

4th session, they gladly open the full track for me. not that i asked,
but they wanted me to practice!! i am happy to oblige. but i know
i will be slow as the neck is really starting to swing all around at
every single corner, and start to go back while accelerating, and
forward while braking! after about 6 laps, i stopped.

test session completed, i reckon.
today i wanted to test my body rather than the kart.
i think i passed. phew!

the following day, for the 1st time in my life, i felt that my neck
muscle ached!
wat a great feeling!
=)

Frustrations of unable to watch and drive

2007-09-18T10:41:00.000+08:00

Recently, SCV had been rather lousy in its F1 coverage.
feeling let down, and frustrated with the increase of price$ and
decrease in coverage, i HIT back....

Sep 18, 2007 on STI

SCV should start providing more coverage for Grand Prix races

I AM an avid fan of motorsports and am really thrilled to have
our own Grand Prix here next year.

However, I am upset that SCV had either refused or did not
acquire the rights to show F1 qualifying rounds (normally on
StarSports, 24) on the Saturday of a race weekend.

Firstly, with the dramatic increase of the cost of subscribing to
the sports group from SCV, I would expect them to be providing
customers with live coverage of sporting events, and not have
some re-run programmes on the time slot.

Secondly, with the Grand Prix coming to our shores next year,
shouldn't SCV start to have more F1 coverage in order to rouse
the interest of the public in the sports?

Over time, with more coverage, the massive event in 2008
should have a great local turnout, and more viewership.

http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Online%2BStory/STIStory_158708.html

August , a slOOw month - j0n

2007-08-31T14:26:00.000+08:00

yes, today is the last day of August 2007. and i reckon
it will be the only entry for this month.
should be more if we gotten to kart at Sepang, but we
never had a chance to have a taste of it. a shame.
the shame is not on us though, as we traveled over 1 hour
from our hotel in KL to the track. only when we arrived
we gathered the guy who run the rental kart is not operating
that day... and this is after i called him and inquire on his
availability only a week ago!
SHAME on U, whoever u are!!

if u have recollect, i had a neck strain, sprain or basically a injury
not too long ago. i recovered from it going on the trip. already
thinking and planning the days i want to go and test my kart
at PJ.

then disaster Stuck again! football game... then chronic back
strain and very likely herniated disc too! damn damn damn!
who says lightning will not strike twice...

this injury is bad. on the scale of 1-10, 10 been a very bad injury
i will have to rate it as 9.5. on the Saturday itself, when i first got
the pain, i had problem climbing the stairs to my place which is
on the second storey.
following day, waking up and getting off the bed took me like 5-10
mins.
the back feel wasted. it was painful (10) and standing up from the
bedside required both of my thigh to bring up my body. it was a
traumatic experience again. btw, i had such experience once in 2000.
the next few days had me in bed rest. had to. barely can walk proper.

everything we took for granted, like bending down while we brush
teeth, picking up something after we dropped it, or simply walking
became a chore to me. a tiring chore. a painful chore.

for treatment, i went to a chinese sinseh to massage my back,
and get it realign. it helps. then i also went to another chinese
doc who does acupuncture. his method is to draw the bruised
blood from the injured area, so that the 'bad blood' will not be
acting on the nerves which create the pain. it helps. a week later,
getting up from bed is natural. sunday, i went swimming. and it
helps too. cos by the time i got up i feel the back, though weak,
but stretched and relaxed.

at present, i am about 60-70% there. can walk better without
having someone glancing at me. driving, especially clutching in,
no longer bring a grimace across my face. but i had to be careful.
not to rush back into anything extreme.. and that also means
not bracing myself for a sneeze haha
====
Turkish F1 Grand Prix
Massa won. seems like schumi tutoring helps..
It was not as boring as the press might had put it.
but then since i was lying on the bed the whole day, that might
be the only excitement i got. hahaha
with only 5 races left, and only 16 points differences between
the top 4 drivers the season will indeed climax at its closing...
will Ferrari (kimi or massa) prevail or will the Silver Arrows
(alonso or hamilton) fires all the way to the top.
it will be interesting final 5 races. very interesting indeed.

Secret Recipe - K[p]

2007-07-31T18:00:00.000+08:00

The other side of the blog

Since there are no reviews of the food yet...click HERE to enjoy it. Or go direct to Cheese Cakes, or Chocolate Cakes.

Enjoy!

Preparations Halted

2007-07-26T18:17:00.000+08:00

SIGH
Sorry to start with a sigh, but it is indeed a sigh

Besides the rain that kindda put me into my 'sianz' mood
i am sianz cos of my neck.
it hurts, and my shoulder also hurt b'cos of it too.
tsk tsk
this pain comes about from my sunday football game, i could barely move my head to my right then, and there goes the plan to watch the German Grand Prix at Paulanuer.. sigh
watching the race at home last sunday was tiring too, the pain was rather overwhelming.

cos of the kart, i realised that i had to work a bit harder to maintain and build up my physique so that the kart will not be slowed due to my less than favourable strength and stamina.
But for now, that had to stop too.

it seems i only can wait now. wait for my neck to recover fully before i do any more work out. Which means i also must wait before i can kart again. I just dun want to rush and have the pain worsen and render me "useless" for a longer period than necessary. Else, the trip to sepang will be wasted. i wanna kart there. which means i have about 2 more weeks to recover fully from it. do pray for that.

so far, i had consult the chinese sinseh twice. the latest visit was on wednesday, 25 july. after the massage in the morning, which took close to an hour, i went home and rest. the pain is tiring me out easily. i slept.

do hope i can be back to 100% soon.
for typing this is tiring for me too.
but i must remind myself not to rush.
take the road to recovery step by step.
=)
====
German / European Grand Prix

well done, Alonso! thank you, rain! for if there's no rain in the last few laps of the race, Massa look certain to bag another win for Ferrari. But down came the rain on lap53, with 7 more laps. McLaren with Alonso in it, show that it is a better car in the wet, and went ahead of the Red car one lap later. this is not before they barged into each other. Good Stuff!

Better stuff is when both drivers traded words before the trophy presentation. Massa was incensed that Alonso suggested he purposefully wheel bang him in order to push him off the track...

well, anything goes in a race IN rain rite? heehee

The start was quite exciting too with the sudden and heavy downpour saw 5 car literally become boat and aquaplane off the track...
if i'm not wrong only Lewis Hamilton continues to race after.

Banged and torn - K[p]

2007-07-18T00:23:00.000+08:00

Whats up with j0n getting monosyllabic with his titles? Heh. Difficult to type with a huge bandage on the left hand 4th digit. Or is it the 3rd digit, is the thumb a digit? Nope, did not come from karting, came from soccer when the stupid goal keeper went for me instead of the ball. Banged my left ribs and now it hurts, remember the karting incident where I too banged the left ribs? Wells, its acting up again. And unluckily or luckily depends on how you see it, the same finger broke its ligaments about 3 years back. So its a good chance to make it straight now, but I think it'll still turn up bent, heh.

Saturday, did not want to kart, was there to enjoy myself watching people kart, people like j0N and Denis Lian. Big reputation. Denis that is, j0n, well....heeehee.

I wont talk about my timing, but i think its good to do the time attack around 4pm where it is cooler. I think we should eat and do shopping first next time, hor? Anyway, lots of traffic, I was thinking i might go below 48secs for the very 1st time! but in the end, nope, 2 390cc was spinning left right center...sigh.

jOn's kart is very very hot! look at the flame in the front, and look at the radiator on the left of the kart. BEWARE! first time i got into a water cooled kart and was not used to something hot on the left as well. Luckily, not burnt. First lap in it I tried to go slow, and the kart was prancing like a horse most of the time, but when you throttle it in, the kart is real smooth. So jOn needs to learn another technique now, keeping the throttle open while cornering, heehee, interesting to see. I was doing it on the 390 previously, but definitely needs more practise.

Here's something I learnt this week. While cornering, if you use 100% of your car traction, there is a max speed that you can go to follow the largest radial line. Of cos, you can increase the speed, but your radius will increase as well. To find the largest radius of the turn, you go late apex and turn, if you find you still have space on the outside, then you have turned in too early and the next time you come to this corner again, turn earlier.

HUGE!

2007-07-17T00:08:00.000+08:00

14 July, the day i did 2 fun things in a single day
SHIOK!! but absolutely drained when i returned home that evening from PJ.

in the morning, i started playing some football at about 9.30am. the game ended at about 11.40am. the game was actually not too tired itself. but the exhaustion comes from the heat.

i showered within the school premises and then proceed to drive to PJ.

HUGE jam from singapore immigration. and there's actually a LED board telling people that there's a 'Massive Jam Along Causeway' just before u reached the immigration structure. i'm wondering what the hell is that for? since I'm already here and i can SEE that there's a jam.
massive or not. it took me about 40mins to get from the Singapore end to PJ. meanwhile KP was mentioned he took about an hour.

reaching the track, i had to makan 1st. i was hungry again tho i took something before my drive to PJ. but apparently, the drive itself is rather exhausting.

test out the kart. this time on SL5, soft compound tires. the grip is Hugely fantastic! it just stick the kart to the track like glue!

1st session for me, was only 4-5 laps. getting used to the G that kart put me thru. my neck is especially straining over corners. slight vibration on the steering, and the brute strength
needed to turn the kart is rather tiring.

2nd session, i went out again. this time i think i managed about 7 laps? i cannot count. i was trying. after awhile, i had to concentrate on the kart itself. towards the end, the neck is really on the edge of breaking!! i kid u not.. the 1st right turn of the S, i feel the neck going side...still ok then. comes the hairpin... i have to breathe in deep for the pain that it was causing. 2 laps before i come into the pits, Denis Lian caught up with me. i then followed him, watching his line from 4 karts length away. interestingly, i did not learn anything new!!! hahaha not that i'm good, but i figured i was already tired.

Amidst all these, KP finally came out of his shell and gave it a go during my second run. His 1st timing using the 390cc 4 strokes is just over 49sec. Tho the timing was not ideal, the condition was neither 'perfect' too as the engine & tyres are still cold, straight out from the storage. His 2nd session did not go too well too as he has 3 other karts to deal with, 390cc. However, he did managed to do better posting a time of 48.67sec.

after he did his best time of the day, i set for my final run to see if i can smoothen my driving style for this kart. more imptly, to build a good relationship with the kart, have confidence in it. this time, i can only do about 5 laps. my neck is really really aching....

then KP went out for 4 laps in the kart too. i think he enjoyed it too,
i hope ;) (K[p]- YEEP! Enjoyed it tremendously)

conclusions for test session:
1. neck need brutal training. these G force thru the corners is no joke. in race condition, it will only be worse as everyone will try to brake later, and turn harder into corners. so that will need
some serious work out.

2. seating position. needs to be move slightly in front. seat needs to be cushion, probably by an inch or so. hope this will be enuff after i put on the suit, i needed to get....

3. throttle need to be smoothen. at the end of the day, KP made a discovery too that i had suspected. if the rev drop, and then been throttle hard again the kart will 'hop'. the torque
generate is HUGE. and this really needs to be worked. with this practiced, i will think i could have a good kart at hand

Spins

2007-07-09T21:17:00.000+08:00

oh.... i discovered something else on my
lone ranger trip on 8 July to PJ
during both sessions, on the time attack "mode",
i spun more than 4 times. at either turn 1 and
turn 6.
tho a little 'embarrassing' i did enjoyed it!!

let me explain...

most times, i'll go out on to the tracks with the
rest of the lads. we did our timed laps together, and
sometimes we race. so, as u can imagine there're very
little margin for errors. crashing into each other is not
fun. spinning and causing others to lose time or result
in a crash is not exactly friendly too.
hence, in all times, at least for me, i will be very focus.
also reserved at the same time. never have the kart to
the limit. period. just dun want to cause the unnecessarys,
if u know wat i mean

so wat happened during my 1st session was that, after
that hairpin, turn 6, i look backwards to check if anyone
else is behinnnndddd... left then right... eh!!
i forgot i am alone on the track... oh.... YES!
i own the track for the next 10 mins or so!
that's when all hell broke loose.
free. i'm free to push harder than normal (which is quite
dumb actually as i reckon i actually lost more time)
nevertheless, i enjoyed the freedom. the freedom that i can
KO myself in driving the kart madly & wildly, and shld there
be any nasty crashes, i only answer to myself...
not true, i might have to answer to Louis, the boss, too
=) hahaha =P
but who cares rite?

do not be mistaken that i detest karting with
the rest. i enjoyed it too immensely. then, sometimes
a change of pace, a change of environment... or simply
a change will perk things up a little
;)
-----------------------------------------------------
British F1

Kimi wins his second race in 2 weeks. well done, mate! well done.
only wish that u had more wins with the Silver Arrows of
McLaren.

still feel rather strange see you in the red overall, Kimi.
but sure good to see u on the top of the podium, again

not a Boring Sunday, 8 July - j0n

2007-07-08T18:13:00.000+08:00

today i woke up, 9am+
lying in my bed, i think to myself, wat's for today?
soccer at Eagle's Club tied in with Matt's baby's
shower or.... go PJ for karting? tough choice?
not really?

the traffic is fairly smooth today. managed to clear
both immigrations in abt 30mins. return trip takes
about the same duration too.

since i went in alone, i tried the route that KP lead
last week. nearly turn earlier than i should as there
are quite a number of GoodYear bill boards, which i
use as a marker
went Jusco 1st... for my kopi and ipoh chicken hor fun
not bad, in all it cost RM9+. but the kopi is a bit too
sweet, and the hor fun.... well i never like hor fun
in the 1st place. however, i like to try it anyway, and
it taste 7/10. hahaha

tried kart 916 today. wah liew... the tail-end always
swing sideways. torque is good, but the back tyres
practically cannot cope with the torque generated
by the engine. had to fight hard to keep the beast
in check. end of 1st session best time is 49something
not good.

spoke to this Jap guy who was there to kart as well.
but he was on 125CC, rented. his previous kart (88)
was sold to, u never guess it... DENNIS LIAN!!
whom i met just now, did not speak to though

2nd session, either there is more grip to the track
and tires or me getting used to it... time is better
at 48.82.

my initial plan was to go for another session, knowing
that i will definitely cut that time further to perhaps
a lowlow 48sec.

then, there he goes again. Louis, the boss, talk to me
again to get a personal kart. as it will be cheaper in
long term, and more improvement to karting skills
then i tried the kart.... 250cc, 4 strokes.
although, he told me that the tires were not too good
i did managed to go full throttle after 2 laps, as the
kart feel very very stable in braking and cornering.
so much so that i realised i was still on the throttle
thru all corners.. i stopped after 6 laps of test run.
the aftereffect?
my neck hurts from all the sideway Gs! i recalled
on one of the lap thru the hairpin, i felt my neck is
really strained..
WAHWAHAHA
but darn additive lor

wanted to try one more session of test run. but the
skies open up.. rain. the race is going to be delayed.
spoke to a few more guys, David, Yeo and some others
before i head to Jusco for a quick lunch and then home.

instead of having the usual, i went for KFC, 2 pieces
meal. less than RM10
eat with my hands. yumyum!!

one revelation i found out today really is this:
with the kart we rent to play with, we are in fact
racing against a couple of elements 1st before we
can set a good time.
kart condition.. tires... chassis stiffness... seats
it will be never to our satisfaction, and hardly can
be tuned out to our liking.
thus, i called for Stage SKR soon

Kart 456 - K[p]

2007-07-08T08:29:00.000+08:00

Courtesy of Charles. Taken during final run of the 390cc. I noticed my steering is already straight for turn 1 even before reaching the apex with the rear sliding out a little.

Johor Marshal training!!! - j0n

2007-07-03T00:10:00.000+08:00

well, here i am. the last to write, and hence u guess it,
it's cos i have nothing to write. and very much with
nothing to show for.
in fact, a plain simple nothing entry will do just fine.

nothing.

.............THE END..........
pls go read others blog somewhere. shoo shoo

hahaha

no,no,no... i do have something to say and it is: "it sucks!!"
the feeling that u think u can actually accomplished
something. u felt u can do it. then the end result is cos of
one's arse mistake.
ONE mistake, that's all. and that mistake is not from me.
darn it! sod it!
and i asked myself again and again, why oh why... why me!!!

since the details of the grouping and lining up on the grid has
been explained earlier, i will not go into that anymore.
EXCEPT that, nic, u are 7th on the starting grid lah.
how i can be so sure is i was 6th, and he is right behind me
on my right. poser....! hahaha

oh at this point, i have to add that kart is allocated to us
by a very ancient fool proof method --> Lucky Draw

kart 35. warm up lap>
turning is not too bad. slight oversteer. but tyre is cold, no
good grip yet. throttle hard on up slope... torque ok but not
fantasic. brake hard as david in front of me did the same.
hmmm brake bites with the tail swing slightly to the left.
which is good for this track.
overall i felt i might have a kart that might do something today
in this 'semi-final' i just have to keep it together.
i will. keep cool and focus and not let others push me into
mistakes or overtake me easily.

reached my start grid. i was actually fairly relaxed. just
keeping the rev up and not have the engine cool till it is dead.
look over to nic and tell him to do the same.. we waited for the
field of 12 to form up proper.
keep the rev up. think of the line i will go to when the green
flag comes down.
keep the rev up... since i'm on the left side of the track, i need to
somehow move from where i am to the right side of the track but
not losing any speed gain on the straight...

keep the rev up.... the last kart is positioned.. 10 laps. green flag
is up.. 10 laps.. 5.. 4.. 3.. 2.. 1 and the flag is down
all 12 engines sprung into a instant VROOM

kept to my plan, as i reckoned i did managed to launch rather fast.
i cut between the karts in front of me... jinxed to the right side for
the left turn.
turn left. good clean turn. no one forced me to the side & vice versa.
turn 2, right turn coming up.. i had to move to my left slightly.
i know kart 456 is just beside me but i believe i can past him..
then suddenly, i realised there's another cutting between him and me.
it was NIC! what the....!
the next second they were there, the next they disappeared to have
a little chat and tea on the grass before turn. ok less competition
that's not too bad.
focus... keep my focus. david is still in front of me. 2 others in
front of him
which means, after turn 4, i'm fourth. 2 places gained in less
than a lap
well done kart 35. game on! i coming to get u david. and i will get
past you! focus... up hill... i managed to close in from a kart length
to half kart length. this kart is one good baby! come on, let's get
uncle david out of the way!
then it happened... that POSER guy with a racing suit & cool helmet,
and a better kart spun while turning into turn 5, a right turn.
he was 1st then.
the way he spun, he was still facing in the right direction. david went
past him cleanly and by the time the space i needed to go past him,
that $#^#$#@ decided to start his race again. meaning i had the
option of crashing him by trying, or brake hard to avoid contact.
in the hindsight, i should crash into him and send him back to his
mother's womb. but of cos, i did not.
henceforth, i spun too. at the end of it i was facing the wrong direction.
i could have just did wat he did. do a power wheel spin to face in the
right direction to continue but i could not. the rest of the field is upon
that turn, meaning i had to wait. during the wait, the engine died.
$#%$&#$%@!!
hmmmm thinking of it, the four of us did managed to open up maybe
a 4-5 second lead then. judging from the time the rest come to the turn.
who cares rite? by the time i managed to get going again i was a
lap down. sigh
all i can do then is TRY to catch the last group to unlap myself and
not have the leader of race lapping me again.
sadly, i only managed not to been lap again.

i finished.... somewhere in the list.. perhaps last....
likely last. who cares.

since after that, i had nothing to do. i helped to be a marshal for the
next semi at the hairpin.
quite exciting. i waved many yellow flags. many spins.
then for the final, i was at turn 1. expecting to use the strength that
i reserved for the race to wave more yellow flags i end up with
nothing to do. good clean race.

so.... i did more marshal duties that day than racing
am i ready as a F1 marshal for the Singapore F1 or wat!
=====================================
F1 French GP.
Kimi finally wins again after his win in Australia this season
perhaps he was lucky, as massa was stuck behind traffic during
his outlap after the pitstop. and Kimi had a clean inlap before his pit.
the valuable seconds lost by Massa was the deciding factors.
result = Kimi won.
massa, my sympathies. not cos i like u as a driver, i really prefer
kimi style. but that very same day, i went thru something similar too!
while u believed u can win the race, i just believed i can do better.
or do something at the sharp end!
sigh
in the end, who cares..... when u dun win.

so, is it time for STAGE SKR?
i believe the time has come.

Johor 2007 championship - nEL

2007-07-02T22:30:00.000+08:00

Continuing the event writeup... after k[p]

80cc fun kart
----------------
Didn't prove myself in the time qualifying event to get myself a place in the final race. But manage to get myself in the starting grid position 12. I was in kart no. 2, on the first lap, I manage to squeeze myself into position 3, there was lots of collision going on from the front, back and side. Going down the laps, I manage to secure myself a position 2. Hopes are high, as I manage to stay in the position for another 2 more laps. Soon the kart I was in start to give me problems, after every turn the throttle will be switched off and it means that my kart will be gaining speed from 0 acceleration again. I dropped my position little by little. Towards lap 9 (another lap to last), I was holding position 9 due to engine failure. Unfortunately, on the last lap, the kart failed on me. That was a DNF for me.

390cc kart
-------------
As what k[p] said, the race was divided into 2 teams. I was in Team A, the first to go. 11 karts was line up for the first qualifying race for 390cc kart. I was in grid position 10. On the first lap, accident happened to my kart and the other. We were lucky that both of us aren't hurt and neither the kart. We quickly took the kart and move off. All along the 10 laps, didn't manage to catch up with any karts neither do I encounter any karts that overtook me. Manage to finish position 7. Unfortunately again, the last 4 positions are disqualified.

Fun, excitement.

Stay tune for the last poser...

Johor 2007 championship - K[p]

2007-07-01T23:27:00.000+08:00

Well, the day has finally arrived for racing! These are my accounts.

80cc fun kart
----------------
Supposed to start 16th on the grid, but found myself in 19th in kart 20. With kart 48 behind me. Don't know why it is still happening, but kart 48 is a much faster kart then the ones we are using. Once flagged off, kart 48 has already overtaken 5 or 6 karts even before the 1st corner!!!

For me, I took off and took the inside line for the first corner and found myself in 15th after the corner. From here, I was following till the hairpin where I again took the inside line again to gain 3 places. But the kart in front of me spun and turned 90 degrees. Outside line was full of karts, I got no where to go but slid to a stop beside him. With the cone right in front of me I got to be lifted out and found myself back in 19th. But from here on it was a case of attrition as karts started to drop and I ended the race in 11th.

390cc kart
-------------
Divided into 2 teams and I was in B. I still think B team is better as you don't have to race against the top 5 fastest karters. Was 7th on the grid. Again took the inside line and gained a place after the 1st turn. Was in kart 456, last week, this kart was quite fast and well balanced. But this time round, I found the kart to be oversteering too much with very little grip. Was following Carloz when he tried to avoid another kart and went straight into the tire wall in turn one. Saw another flying kart like nEL's. After the 2nd or 3rd lap, found myself in 3rd. With the kart handling the way it was, I decided to go easy. But during lap 6 or 7, I was behind Charles, and his kart is all over the track, I did not want to risk it and got overtaken by 2 karts instead. Ended 5th and qualified for the final.

During the final, again I drew kart 456. And again, someone spun at the hairpin again right beside me and got tangled up with my real wheels. Had to kick his kart off. Finished i think 9th place?

Stage SKR! are we ready? - jon

2007-06-26T17:27:00.000+08:00

beside all the happenings on the track and the time sheets
on 23 June, there was one thing which the four of us had to
decide.
it's important somewhat, and it happens when we returned
from our breakfast @ Jusco. while waiting for the rain to
ceased completely and the track to dry out. it did dried out
quite quickly, as there was this bunch of WRX goofs who went
out again and again while it's still wet.
goofs? cos they missed the turn into the track, not once but
TWICE! first, by turning earlier than they should have.
that's fine. understandable, cos it's likely their first. then when
they do the about turn from the small road on to the main road,
they sped away 'so fast' that they missed it AGAIN!

enuff of the goofs. while waiting, the boss invited us to drink kopi
with him. then he told us we should step up one level from where
we are now. i think i have to agreed. to 100cc or 125cc. yes yes,
we wanna go faster!
and he told us, we should have a kart. our very own kart! wah...
this proposition must think liao. and think hard.
continuing, he does have one good very good condition kart which
he will be willing to sell to us at a reasonably price too.
with our own kart we can enter into race in m'sia or anywhere.
we can conquer all the tracks! *EVIL LAUGHS*
ok, i'm being unrealistic and crazy here. hahaha

good of having a kart:
can enter race. can set up kart to own preference (tho there may
be 4 setups.) can push our 'standard' a couple of notches up

bad or not so good are:
$$$ needed to buying, maintaining, racing a kart none of us had
experience in it, so it's very much an uncharted water should we
decide to buy one.
then there's a square peg cannot fit into the round hole. 4 guys, and
only one kart! wat's the other 3 going to do while one is karting?
we will miss the fun of oil splashes, spinning, and crashing!

this may need more thinking. more planning. and $$$
and commitment should we decide on the path.

in the meanwhile, let's look at the generics of what we might be
getting for SKR.

-------------------------------------------------------
A Formula A kart, with a 100 cc 2 stroke engine and an overall
weight including the driver of 150 kilograms, can accelerate from
0-60 mph in under 4.5 seconds, and has a top speed of 85 mp
(140 km/h).

and why kart is so fun!
Karts do not have a differential. The lack of a differential means
that one rear tire must slide while cornering, this is achieved by
designing the chassis so that the inside rear tire lifts up slightly
when the kart turns the corner. This allows the tire to lose some
of its grip and slide or lift off the ground completely.

Track Position or Going Faster? - jon

2007-06-24T17:04:00.000+08:00

June 23, do marked down this day
for this is the day for me and Nic to be earlier than KP.
but it must be said that he did have his reason for being
later than us... and it is Des and ringgit.
but who cares, we arrived earlier, KP!
=P

the 'objective' of karting is always to go faster and have
a fast time on the track. it is no different yesterday as Des
& Nic had to post a good time with 390cc, 49 sec or less,
for the race on July 1 (next sunday, tickets are on sale now,
please call us for it hahahahaha)

at the end of the day, Des, with kart 456 had a good time of
48.44sec, position 11 currently. i must say kart 456 is quite
a great kart to move around in on the track. it is torquey,
good high end speed and, rather well balanced into corners
and while braking.
needless to say i had my good lap time with that kart too.

while Nic, best time after 2 sessions, is 50.50sec, and his
position is not something we want to talk to him about... it
is something of national mourning...
which is why he decided to do fun kart, not 390cc, next
sunday. therefore a non-position with 50.50sec will NOT
bother him except the fact that he WAS the fastest with
a 390cc among us the last time round..

the only significant difference in him between then and
now is that he drive a Vios now. looking at how Toyota is
doing in F1 currently, i wonder if the curse of its very
disappointing performance had being passed on to Nic.
hehehe

then for KP and myself, we already had a lap time which we do not
think could be knock off the list. while i chose not to do a timed
lap at all, KP tried to better himself. and he did managed it with
49.27sec. position 17.

for this last session, it is a race and time attack all roll into one.
since i am the only one who did not pay the extra RM2, i told
them that i will be at the tail end of the group, while they can eat
up the track with their respective kart in front of me.
order at start: Nic, Des, KP, Me.

before i go into the lap times, i suggest anyone thinking of doing go
kart semi seriously like us to have a full face helmet.
apart from debris and tyres bits that can hit you in the face, there
is oil splashes too!!
since i was the last of the group, i had to endure 3 karts oil
splashes from the 3 of them... things a good fren will do. but i
never imagine have petrol splashing at my face is one of them!
=P
despite having a good track postion to roll start 1st, nic failed to
use it to his advantage. in lap 1, he span at turn 8 with the 3 of us
plus 2 more of PJ staff right behind him. thankfully, none of us hit
him while he stopped dead centre of the track. left and right we
went past him. phew..
then towards the end of the session, the 'Toyota curse' struck
him again. span at turn 2. des nearly hit him then. basically we
went past him twice. that's 2 meals treats, nicky boy! hahaha

but the real interesting observation of our, KP and i, lap times
during session 3.
nic had posted the times earlier. yesterday i was too tired to
be bothered. this morning looking at it and i asked him, 'is it
correct??'
i asked b'cos i was also constantly behind KP, but i was faster
than him all along? some lap i was faster than him by 2 whole
seconds!
how can that be? i did some research, and this might be why:
<Defending your Line

defending your line is not always appropriate. You will put in
a slower lap time when you are defending. If you are in
the lead, or in a short race, or near the end of a long race,
where it's essential that faster karts don't overtake or if you
only have to hold off your opponent for a few laps, then it's
sensible to defend. However, the best way to prevent
people overtaking is to drive faster than them, and
leave a gap behind you. While you are defending, you
are not catching the people in front of you. In fact, not only
will your opponent be held up, you will be losing ground to
the whole field, which is particularly damaging in an enduro race.>

so there u have it, the why i MAY BE faster than KP while
still be at the back.
it's a big MAY BE, cos i realised a glaring piece of info everyone
had neglected.
i was not in kart 97!!!!!!!!!

hahahahaha it might be one of the guys from PJ who went out
together with us that session
of cos, there's a possibility of a typo by nic. which cannot be
verified as he had sadly or happily discarded the time sheet.

but come next sunday, we shld only plan to do one thing. that is t
go faster and arrived earlier than anyone else at the finishing line.

as demonstrated by me and nic, 8:55am on 23 June at
Kranji MRT car waiting area
=) ;)

Karting @ PJ on 23 June - AfterMath [Nel]

2007-06-23T19:04:00.000+08:00

Today, finally for the first time, Jon and I weren't late and in fact we were on time to reach our meeting destination.

We reach Permas Go-Kart @ about 1030 hours. The traffic flow was smooth, might be due to the recent uproar happening in JB where most people are afraid of heading there. Soon after we reached, we found out there was a booking done by a group (whom we don't know where they are from) from 1130 to 1230 hours. We made our first track session before the group came. KP and I was on the Fun Kart trying out our timing. Well, it wasn't really fantastic for me with the fastest lap of 57.03 secs (can't remember what's after the decimal), and head for a small breakfast to pass that hour of booking. While having the small breakfast, rain start pouring, in fact it's a heavy downpour.

Getting tired. Jon will continue the rubbish in awhile.

The timing that was taken in the 2nd and 3rd session.

2nd Session
	KP	Des	nEL
Lap/Nr	456	34	32
1	54.95	50.37	52.28
2	50.86	51.29	51.54
3	49.95	50.07	51.10
4	49.67	50.71	51.36
5	49.27	50.24	51.03
6	49.39	50.14	51.46
7	50.60	50.28	51.03
8	50.51	50.27	51.41
9	57.94	50.33	50.79
10	Ceased	50.33	50.79
11	-	50.86	50.57
12	-	50.39	50.72
13	-	57.78	1:18.71
3rd Session
	Jon	Des	KP	nEL
Lap/Nr	97	456	34	32
1	49.94	51.73	52.92	1:30.33
2	49.23	50.55	51.04	50.50
3	48.41	48.62	50.43	51.28
4	48.60	48.44	50.53	50.99
5	50.92	49.65	49.90	51.31
6	48.78	48.46	50.44	51.36
7	48.43	48.89	50.82	1:40.41
8	49.38	49.26	51.06	51.35
9	49.89	49.82	50.88	51.37
10	50.24	51.11	51.09	Ceased
11	48.75	51.29	50.63	-

And here's the pineapple man of Permas. If you think the picture is small, please do click on the picture to view the full size of it.

>.<

Karting @ PJ on 23rd June - K[p]

2007-06-16T20:08:00.000+08:00

Ok, looks like after the last few weeks full of events, the 4 of us should make it to kart at PJ on the 23rd. Who ever wants to join, you are more than welcomed.

add on by jon:
normally aim to reach PJ Track by 11am.
which means we drive to meet at Krangi MRT waiting
area at about 10+am.
OR if only the usual party of lunatics are going, we meet
there directly at about 11am.

Karting will take as long as it takes... we need some good times
this weekend for next week 'race'
then off the either one of the Jusco for makan (read: S.R.)
and some grocery shopping then home sweet home.
nothing complicated... nothing dramatic....
only pure fun.

88,378 km & 6038 liters - K[p]

2007-06-14T23:43:00.000+08:00

Talk about going green, its exactly 3 years since I drove my N16 out of the showroom and have already clocked up more than 88,000 kilometers. Putting it in perspective, the circumference of the earth at the equator is 40,075 km as can be found here

http://geography.about.com/library/faq/blqzcircumference.htm

That would mean, in those 3 years, if I have kept going straight, I would have driven around the world. TWICE!!!

I keep a detailed records of my petrol usage as well, and the total is 6,038.32 liters of mostly RON92 petrol. That works out to 14.63 km/l. The rated fuel consumption of the new Honda hybrid is 22 km/l, if I were using that car, I would have only used up 4,017 liters of petrol instead, a huge 33% reductions! But when converted to $, i would have only saved $2,400 which does not cover the high cost of the car. Economics still rules.

I still think it is a catch 22 situation. If making hybrid cars so economical that everyone is buying it would mean less petrol used. And petrols are taxed. Which would make it a double whammy. Economies still rules.

going green? NAH!!!!

2007-06-11T17:59:00.000+08:00

actually, i do have a soft spot for Mother Earth.
you dun have to be a genius to understand why the
well being of the environment ultimately will affect
our very own being..
global warming, havoc weather, earthquake, tsunami etc
it's terrifying to think what would happens if one of these
day when Mother Earth decide enough is indeed Enough!
shuddering...

in fact, it's the same dread when i watched in horror
while BMW F1 driver, Robert Kubica, hit the concrete wall
at the Canadian GP at a speed of ~180Mp/h (~288km/h)
on lap 27. the Blue & White car then rebounded across the
track, rolled, and finally stopped against the guardrail on the
outside of the hairpin.

miraculously, he is fine. reports said that he only had sprained ankle.
i sprained my ankle playing football, while he can afford to crashed
heavily! all thanks to modern strict safety standard of the FIA.
hope to see u back in action soon, Robert.

on 9 June, i did something shocking too. i woke at 5.30am!!
for a 'treasure hunt' organized by AA Singapore with Des's
silver car. it's shocking cos i can wake up on time with only
3 hours of sleep earlier. shocking also..... because we did not
win anything at all!!!
boooooooohooooooooooooo
but Des did dress his car up nicely, well done, bro!
also, much thanks to Nic who is our home based internet
support! we woke him at 7.30am via phone and pester him
non stop all the way to 11am or so!

after the event, when we arrived back at the Old Police Academy.
Nic (black car) and KP (silver) arrived too to join us.
we stayed to watch our fren, Colin, drift and burnout his tyres
with red smoke with his cool red S15 to show... also there was
motorbike demo (yawn.... cos too many of the similar)
guys from PJ karting were there too to showcase what karting is
all about. always seems easy looking from outside, but as most of us
will know it is not...
so, how can we go Green? there's no Green coloured cars to begin with!
=P

my plane skidded today.... by jonathan

2007-05-23T18:33:00.000+08:00

my plane, actually no. it is my car that skidded today
under hard braking into before turning into the car park
where my mech wanted to buy his lunch.

but.... why did i called my car a plane?
and why is my mech with me in my car?

cos of this:
the wore bearing of the right rear tyre.
this wore part of the car produced a sound VERY similar to a plane
sound (eeeee...eeeeee.eeeeee) ... no kidding. and it get louder when
i get faster! so essentially, at some point of time i would really
thought i was in the air, but NOT! and that give me a massive
headache when i drive.

so today, i decided i cannot pretend any longer that i was flying with
a headache. drove down to my mech. he jumped in the moment i
reached his workshop and instructed me to drive around. he wanted
to have the 'flying' feeling too HAHAHA
actually more imptly, he wanted me to bring him to where he wanted
to buy his lunch.

and off we went. FLYING... diagnosis within 3 mins or less: wore tyre
bearing. enroute back to workshop, he suddenly said
"ah... turn here."
here being the carpark entrance to his fav kopitiam with his fav stall

and so i obeyed, jam down the brake hard, tried to turn left into the
carpark but, instantly i heard the tyre screeched.
oh, did i mentioned it was raining?
then i realised the car skidded, veered slightly to the right
though i was trying to turn left.
then, thankfully we stopped. dead stop. unhurt, both car and passengers.
my mech was like..... WAH... how come skidded??? kindda awakened
by that. i remembered he was yawning before he hop in and was
still yawning during our drive

i was more like.... hmmm FUN! as that was best noise my car can
generate and attracted all attention of the people in the coffeeshop
who dropped their forks, spoon, chopsticks and jaws etc.... HAHAHA

so, actually, it did happened afterall. my 'plane' did skidded!
=P

Singapore F1 layout

2007-05-14T13:55:00.000+08:00

pic from TNP, this will be the layout of our very own F1 Grand Prix
it will be a high speed layout from the looks of it, and i reckon
the best place to watch this is either from the corner of the Padang
(nearing to the Esplanade) or in front of the Esplanade (near to the
war memorial)

this where one can watch the cars slow down for the corners.
=)

been First.. by jonathan

2007-05-12T18:46:00.000+08:00

today, 12 May had been a day of First.

firstly, Nic drove his new Vios, with me as a passenger, into
JB for karting. the session was pretty last min as soccer
kakis decide not to play today and have a little fun on the
track instead.

then, it was another first. this is for KP. the first time he
went karting after being promoted to a FATHER on 28 April.
Asher, now you know where your dad been today liao, it's not
work he went to today! HAHA

then for me, it's the first time i got under 49 sec in a time
attack on the track. fastest at 48.38. it was at present the 9th
on the list. not bad for a bloke who drive an aged car. heehee

today, as mentioned is the first time some of my soccer frens
kart there. they tried out fun kart twice before promoting
themselves to 390cc. well, we know there will be incidents. the
usual spins, of cos. then one of them broke the front
steering rods. luckily, the damages only cost him RM60. PHEW!

on the same note, of accident, today had been the first time
since a long while that we (nic, KP & me) are not involved in
anything spectacular! but i do have bruises on my right leg,
but that's another story of the kart and me... you can call it
a bruising relationship. =| LoL

oh, last but not the very least, today is the first time we kart after
while but more imptly it is the first time we kart after F1 races is
confirmed in Singapore for 2008!
yes, we are a GO! =)

so, first isn't that bad after all.

cheers

Road Design Road Kills

2007-04-28T01:47:00.000+08:00

So many accidents on Singapore road in the last 2 weeks, including 3 dead Singaporean in Malaysia. The worst was the Vios which got so smashed up, even the roof was gone. 3 days later, I was driving on old Tampines road which is a small 1 lane road both ways and a small truck veered into my lane during a corner to overtake 2 bicycles. The thing is, the road is big enough for him to stay on it, he does not need to veer into the oncoming lane. I notice in left bends, instead of sticking to the side of the road, people are driving close to the lane divider, which just shows thier judgment really sux as the are afraid they will go onto the grass! You know, while driving in New Zealand, the roads are built such that during a left corner or bend, the road actually dips to the left, just like an oval race track, making it harder for cars to veer to the oncoming lane. Great design! Even in mountainous region!

To harp on road design in Singapore, those stripes which are supposed to reduce your vehicle speed should not be found in sharp bends, they are practically useless there, if the vehicle is fast, it is too late, and if they start braking during a turn, it might make the situation worst. And metals can even be found, just like the ones on KJE to TPE, when the road is wet, it can get bad as I found out a few weeks back. Made my car skid.

Found this website where road accident deaths are compared in SEA.
http://www.adb.org/Documents/News/2004/nr2004155.asp
Singapore had 211 in 2004, but Thailand had a whopping 13,116 next was Vietnam at 11,319 and Malaysia had 6,282. Now compared to New Zealand with 2006 statistics of 371, with the highest numbers in Cities, does road design helps?

With Great Power... comes Great Responsibility Part 2

2007-04-24T00:22:00.000+08:00

April 23, 2007, 11.53 am (Singapore time)

Man charged for causing death of sales agent during test drive
By Imelda Saad, ST Interactive Reporter

By ST Interactive Reporter, Imelda Saad

THE man who caused the death of a sales consultant two years ago while test driving a sports car has finally been charged with reckless driving.

Regan Lee Da Wen, 26, appeared at the Subordinate Court on Monday, 18 months after the fatal accident.

Lee was test-driving the high-performance Mazda MX-5 in October 2005 with sales agent 22-year-old Angela He Xueli seated beside him.

He was travelling along Upper Paya Lebar Road towards Bartley Road when he lost control of the vehicle.

The car hit a central road divider, crashing into a black BMW, then flipping over and colliding into an oncoming mini-van.

The crash killed Ms He.

Lee was expressionless when the charge of reckless driving causing death, was read to him.

Straits Times Interactive understands that civil suits have also been filed against Lee by the victim's family and possibly other parties.

Lee is now out on bail of $10,000.

If convicted under the Road Traffic Act, Lee could be jailed up to 5 years.

Speaking to Straits Times Interactive, Lee's lawyer, Julian Tay, said his client has been haunted by the incident.

Mr Tay said he is unaware if Lee's license has been revoked but said he knows that Lee is 'no longer driving'.

Lee's pre-trial conference has been set for June 18.

STI Report

News from some forum

Land Speed Record 'broken' by ME!

2007-04-06T12:17:00.000+08:00

Peak Readings from my Apexi RSM....
nothing is more important than the fact that it had
recorded my top speed at some point of time to be 2826km/h!!!

which is much faster than the speed of sound (300m/s) i reckon..
hahahaha

anyway, the funny part is over... the qnn now is that
'is my RSM bonkers???' it must be as there are no way my car
can go a mere fraction that fast.
hmmm

Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson has come under attack in the Malaysian parliament

2007-04-05T23:59:00.000+08:00

Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson has come under attack in the Malaysian parliament for labelling one of the country’s cars the worst in the world.

The BBC presenter has been filmed attacking the Perodua Kelisa with a sledgehammer before blowing it up.

But minister Abdul Raman Suliman defended the nation’s car industry, saying Mr Clarkson was like a football commentator who cannot play football.

He told MPs, Perodua had not received a single complaint from British owners.

He added that the comments were made merely to boost sales of the Top Gear magazine.

‘Soulless’

Mr Clarkson has voiced his frustrations with the small three-cylinder model in both magazine articles and on the Top Gear motoring show.

In one article, he said its name was like a disease and suggested it was built in jungles by people who wear leaves for shoes.

And on the show, he described it as “unimaginative junk, with no soul, no flair and no passion”.

He then smashed it, hung it from a crane with a one-tonne weight attached, before blowing it up.

Perodua is Malaysia’s second national carmaker and began producing small compact models in 1995.

With Great Power... comes Great Responsibility

2007-04-04T21:50:00.000+08:00

well, it started off with this person aka Dracon posted this on MyCarForum:

basically he is in sort of a fix when he cannot decide on a WRX STi or
Golf GTi.
looking for help from bros in the forum. he is a certain R.Lee.
and he is the one who did this:

smashed up this MX-5 in Oct 2005, and killed the sales lady there and
then. u can imagine the fire it stirred up on the forum!
esp so the police is still investigating the case, after more than a year.

thus, i say, people really do have to understand, with great power
comes with great responsibilities... any drivers driving any vehicle
have responsibility to other road users... pedestrians, bikers &
drivers alike.

so, drive carefully. be patient. think

17 March 2007 Crash report by K[p] & Heat Beat Rate

2007-03-22T19:23:00.000+08:00

Hello...This is my first post!

For the karting on 17th March, I reached the place at around 10am with Edwin and his 2 friends. Before that, we were having Tim Sum at my favourite haunt and they were asking me how much is the 125cc kart. I told them the prices for 125cc (2 stroke) and the 390cc (4 stroke) and they were planning to go for the 125cc as it is more cost effective. I told them to try the 80cc fun kart first to know the course layout and get used to karting and all of them have never karted before.

On reaching the karting ground, they made up their mind to use the 125cc karts, all three of them. I picked out the 390cc kart number 34 which I had used on the 3rd of March and liked the way it handles, I thought I would use the slower kart and see how I do against the 125cc. Don't be mistaken here, the 390cc may have 265cc more but it is definitely slower. For comparison, the 900 meter lap record in a 390cc is 46.43 seconds, while in a 125cc it is 39.56 seconds. Thats a huge gap.

While we were going through our session, I was lapping the 125cc quite easily, and I found they were able to pull away on the straights very easily but I was able to catch up during the corners since I know the course and was braking much later. I did not see any of them spin, which was quite impressive for first timers in such a fast kart, but I guess that means they were not pushing the kart, which is a waste. After just one session, Edwin and his friends decides to leave, and that means I have to wait for Jon....again. Which turned out to be a 1 hour wait. Entertained by F1 grand prix in Melbourne.

When they did arrive, we quickly got to my second session. We did lined up with Des first, me second and the rest behind me. After going off, I overtook Des and lead all the way. 2 sessions and I did not spin even once, which is a record. LoL. In this session, during one of the laps, I was following nEL very closely and around turn 4, he seemed to have understeered and his front left wheel clipped one of the tires in the tyre wall and he sort of got swung around and his kart flew in the air, it was definitely higher than my head, I was concentrating on not spinning out while avoiding him, but the thought of a kart flipping over many times did flash across my eyes. I turned around and saw he was still in the kart, which was a huge relief.

On the third session, this time most of the newcomers decided to take the 390cc with June the only one in the 80cc fun kart. On the first lap after the form up, my kart spinned out at the hairpin, I realised my brakes were not as good as in the first two sessions. Which was confirmed later at turn 1 when my braking distance increased, forcing me to go wide. So for the next few laps, I was braking earlier to get around the brakes problem. On the last lap, I saw that Jon was just in front of me, probably 3 to 4 seconds ahead and I thought I could catch up and overtake as he had traffic in front of him. After turn 4, I saw June had spinned out at turn 5, and Jon went to the left of the track, I step on the brakes and turned right, which made the kart do a 180 degrees drift at a very fast speed. I know my rear tires would hit something, so I braced for the impact. When it came, it was HUGE. Pain shot through the left side of my ribs. After a few seconds, I got out of the kart and went under the tree for some shade as well as to straightened my body while I try to breath in to see if there are any sharp pain. There were none, but afterwards, I decided to go see the doc anyway. And like all GPs in Singapore, they just look and prescribe pain killers! Some advice like lungs may be lacerated and if I want X-ray......sigh, I thought he was the doctor, and he's asking me if i want x-ray. So far, I have only met one GP who will ACTUALLY look at your complaints, but he charges specialists rate. $70 a pop for consultation fees. And I do not take painkillers, I rather know the pain is there and if it is getting worse so that I can visit the A&E (accident & emergency) in the hospital. Any one wants Postan? I have like 40 tablets now.

Cut to the chase, had a difficult night as lying down was painfull in itself. So I lasted till Monday to visit the Polyclinic which was full of my accident records like internally bleeding eyeball, damaged knee ligaments, and I think I remember I had 3 X-rays in a year, on the 3rd occasion, they say I had too many, and referred me to the hospital. LoL. This time, yup, they referred me to the hospital again, they said left side rib injury can damage the heart as the heart is on the left side. Bloody GP on saturday did not tell me that now did he. In the hospital, all checks came out ok, heart ECG was normal, no broken bones spotted, but the doctor says he will send it for a more detailed analysis and call me if they spot any. And yeah, was prescribed Postan again. One funny incident though, while they were checking my blood pressure, the nurse said she needs to give me an ECG as my heart beat rate is on the low side. I saw the rate at 56, and I told her, oh, thats normal, my heart beat is usually at 52 to 56. And she said, oh, you athlete? With my body fats, I don't think so. LoL.

You know, if your heart beat is normal at 76, your heart would need to work harder, it needs to beat 10.3 millions times more than me in a year, imagine that, time to get on the threadmill y'all. LoL.

Still in pain. No more go karts for at least 8 weeks. Will be buying a rib protector though, had too many bruised ribs, better take care of em as they are protecting your lungs, heart...

F1 in Singapore? Yes, PLEASE!

2007-03-20T12:25:00.000+08:00

having the F1 race in singapore will be great!
beside, having a boost for the economy in terms
of tourism, F&B, Retailing..etc
this might also show the world that Singapore is
not Boring, ok?? =)

so, Please!, give us something to talk about.
showcase the isle, this isle, to the world!
=)

race might start at midnite singapore time.
this is to capture as much viewership as possible
from europe. so that advertiser are more willing to
pour money into the event.

----------------------------------------------
Story from Aussie F1 GP....
(story from grandprix.com, 19 March 2007)

Singapore goes to Melbourne

There was a sizeable contingent of officials from the
Singaporean government in the paddock in Melbourne
although they received rather less coverage than the
Minogue Sisters. Among the group was the government
minister in charge of tourism and several heads of
department. The delegation was not saying much but
it is clear that the purpose of the visit was not to
sign a contract as some stories suggested but rather
to see how Melbourne hosted its event and to learn
from that. Bernie Ecclestone spent two days in Singapore
on his way to Australia and while there is still no
contract in place all the signs are that a deal will be
struck within the next four weeks. If that is not the
case it will be too late for Singapore to grab a place
on the calendar for 2008.

Officially the government is not willing to get involved
in the project and is waiting for the private sector to
come up with a proposal but the reality is that the
government is strongly behind the race and will support
a bid that is being finalised by magnate Ong Beng Seng,
who owns Hotel Properties Ltd and controls a number of
important hotel franchises around the world in addition
to being heavily involved in retail and the restaurant
trade in Singapore. He has much to gain from boosting
Singapore's tourist industry.

In the middle of the negotiations is a Singapore-based
German businessman called Rainer Buchmann, who has been
working with Bernie Ecclestone for some years to make the
event happen but it is not yet clear what role he will
have in the final event.

The plan is for the race to take place at night,
probably on September 21 2008. This would be after
the last European race (at Monza) and would be "twinned"
with the events in China and Japan to make the movement
of F1 equipment from place to place as efficient and
cost-effective as possible.

This will mean that Malaysia will be able to retain its
race at the start of the year, linked to Australia and
Bahrain. We hear that the arrival of Singapore on the F1
scene has given the Malaysians a lot more vigour to keep
their race alive, despite the fact that it does not seem
to have done a huge amount for the local economy. A little
more investment will probably not go amiss.

There may in the longer term be a third Asian foray for
Formula 1 involving a second Japanese race at Suzuka, Korea
and possibly Abu Dhabi.

The only way that this will all fit into the calendar is if
the current start and finish dates for the F1 season are moved,
creating races earlier in the year as used to happen back in
the 1960s and 1970s when there were regularly events in January
and February. The teams will gripe and moan about that but with
teams testing cars for most of January and February it makes
sense to switch tests for races to maximise the income being
generated.
------------

pic from: http://backoftheenvelope.blogspot.com/2006/03/formula-1-in-singapore.html

Pic of Mass Destruction

2007-03-18T22:36:00.000+08:00

well, our blog has so popular that we had received a threat!!!
SCARY!

this is the threat message: nic, dun u dare put my kartin pics on!! will get auntie n uncle jon to hammer u.. then will ask tock to sit on u!!

actually in our possession we had an all time famous pic... and that's what have our life 'threatened'! hahaha so since we cannot show u the famous pic in fear of our life, i thot i show our 4 faces to u instead

=)

Karting Event on 17 March 2007

2007-03-17T20:36:00.000+08:00

The Meetup

17th March 2007

We got newcomers joining us other than the usual 4 of us on this eventful day. Welcoming June, Jonathan Sim, Marcus, valerie aka Ms Overturn (I can't remember her name actually, will update it when I get some info - thanks to jonathan sim for the prompt reply, name updated.), Daniel (joined us the 2nd time), Bernard (joined us on the 3rd of march) and Weiloon (joined us on the 3rd of march).

As the usual day started, kp always the earliest to reach Permas Jaya, while the others only started to meet up at 0930 hours. And of course, as usual, jon and nEL being the usual late comers (this time is due to nEL - cause of the delay).

Finally, we got to meet up at 1000 hours instead of the stated time. There we had a total of 5 cars creating the heh heh symptoms (which is heh heh, up to you to imagine). We only get to reach the track at 1130 hours. Well, changing of ringgit and some quick breakfast bites (alright, jon commented, it wasn't really quick) causes the journey to be 1½ hours.

The race begins at about 1200 hours, where the unexpected of the expected happens (expected there will be crashes, spins and all sorts of stupid things).

nEL's crash log

Firstly, nEL's accident then follow by kp's accident. nEL was the first to crash, but fortunately, the human is alright except for the kart's steering (which was later replaced).

The crash happened at point 4 (look at the map). When nEL was about to exited from point 4, the kart sway to the left (too much speed) and went out of the racing track. As on the side of the track there's still some allowance, but the surface was uneven. As the kart enters to the uneven area, nEL lost control of the kart as it is not able to get any traction and rammed into the tire wall. The kart flew up into the sky and landed 1 to 2 metres (it's not that far actually) infront of the impact spot, fortunately, it landed on the wheels and didn't overturn. At that point of time, kp was the nearest to me (was right behind me actually). He saw my kart flew right up to his head level. Fortunately, he missed my kart. Well, that's the accident for nEL (still in 1 piece).

kp's crash log

It happened at point 5. 3 karts was involved in the event.

place of the impactful incident accident = turn 5 (see pic attached, good map! =) ). the turn where i hit Lau HARD too a fortnight ago. talking about this, my 1st 10mins in the kart, i kept thinking about it and overtaking becomes quite a chore to me, more so than normal. the 'fear' was conquered on 2nd / 3rd set of 10mins.

now back to the crash. yes, it was a quite a Crash too, in the 2nd set of 10mins. was it the last lap that it happened? i cannot really recalled, i think it is. but wat i recalled was these:

i was following Nic down the straight downslope.. turn 1, 2 ,3 was fine.. at abt turn 4, Nic overtook June and perhaps Daniel before turn 4 for the upslope. well, to be frank, the fear i said that was eradicated is not entirely true! i was quite hastened to overtake both June and Daniel then mainly because the turn was approaching pretty fast for the uphill. lesson learnt previously was that, this turn for us who had kart more often is 'easy right' and full throttle all the way UP up UP.

however for 'beginner' (using the term loosely here, and being there myself too) they tend to struggle a bit. cos of the long straight before that will means one had to brake or slow down before the turn. after which, very quickly, plough down the accel to get as much power for the uphill run as possible quickly. sound easy, it is. BUT the timing of do all these is the real tricky bit.

likelihood, if one brake too hard, too long AND try to turn at the same time will result in a spin. sometimes if one power up the throttle too early while counter steering at it might also have u the honor of being a spinner.

by not overtaking June implies i will have to wait for my chance when the uphill present itself After we all make our turn safely. i had a feeling somewat she will spin. dunno why. which makes me actually somewat prepared and not following closely at all. thankfully, i did wat i did. as she did really spun... just as she was going up... to her right. she braked harder. she stopped. while i tried to move to the left and see if i cld actually continue without hitting her or stopping with her. NAH. i had to stop. my kart do not have enuff space to move forward. and when i stopped the front bumper just merely touches her rear bumper.

at this point both of our karts are still running. so, all she had to do was to steer left and she will be on her way and i will be on mine as well since i'm already facing toward the slope. hence, i just turned to my right and told June to just slowly steer as i mentioned. and when we spoke i can see that there was no 'immediate danger' of any kind. i.e. i dun recalled anyone coming at this turn.

then, it happened... i turned front and then back to June and see how she's doing with the steering. i saw KP coming at the turn at a fast speed..... so fast that i hardly had time to react to tell him to slow down.. the very next thing to me see KP approaching the turn is the he hit right into June!!!! Slam Bang! the impact is HUGE. i guess as huge as the one i crashed two weeks back..

darn.... wat happened next is that i think i saw/ heard June sorta scream... and KP hitting slightly on the steering wheel.

June was ok. since her kart's engine had died, and seeing no one around the tack any longer, i told June to get back to the shelter. while i go over and check on KP, who at this moment took off his helmet and was kneeling under the shade of the tree.. look bad. seems bad. his right rib is hurting him, but there visible bruise then.

i drove my kart back to the pit upon seeing Nic and Des going over to KP. later on, after resting for awhile, he and his niece&fren returned to singapore. and while at jusco, i called him and he told me that his check up with the doc turned out ok and monitoring is required.

Concluding the race

nEL's crash occurs at the first round of the game.
kp's crash occurs at the second round of the game.

Miracle happens on the third round, none of us crashed. Maybe it's due the 2 crashes in the previous round, all drivers started to notice the importance of safety.

Lesson learnt from the picture above... Never dump your helmets in this manner.

The aftermath

Heh, the same old place that we will go to, and your guess might be correct. It's Secret Recipe once again, with the same old dishes to be served. (better pictures coming up soon)

After meal, same old procedures, same old stuffs.

Well... the next karting event... to be updated again...

still blogging...

post created by nEL...
post edited by nEL again with Jon's comments added.

wat's the thrill? - jon

2007-03-12T00:10:00.000+08:00

it seems no one is writing leh.. dun fret tho... let me continue to spurt out some 'nonsense'

=P

but wat shld i go abt in writing here? how abt writing wat's the thrill in karting ?as it must be seemingly insane to some that we go karting as often as we can. and if they can understand the thrill of it, they might go 'I WANT TO KART too!!!!!!'

;)

the excitement of karting comes from the fact that you will be driving something that is going relatively fast on the straight as well as in the corners too. to me, it is the corners that provide the most thrill.. some might argue that the straight does that too but it's just full throttle and feeling the gush of wind onto your skin (which is really shiok too, i have to agree but...)

for karting, tackling corners should be the most exciting. as you need to react the several elements and if it is in a race situation it is where overtaking opportunities/ crashes will comes up.

let me try to put across wat it might entails in going into , at, then through the corner while karting... most often than not we will have to Brake before going into any corners while karting.

Note: it's braking BEFORE turning, else i'm 99% sure you will get a spin if u try to brake and turn as if you are driving your daily car. you have to decide when and where to brake, and that is determined by the speed you are at when reaching the corner Braking Point(BP). braking beyond the BP, you will find yourselves in trouble as you will find yourselves with lesser & lesser track to move you and the kart through the corner. braking way before the corner will lose you too much speed and that you will ask after the session 'Where's my Medal for Safety Driving?' and/or 'Did I come to a Road Safety Park?' =P

so the trick or technique is to get the balance of knowing where to brake, SLOW to a speed you are comfortable in bringing you through the corners as QUICKLY as possible..

it take some time to 'master' that and normally it also include getting used to the kart we use that particular day/session. beside braking, i reckon another impt factor is to decide/know wat's the best or quickest line across it. THE line is normally known as the Apex. it's supposedly the shortest quickest line. in normal situation, i reckon that will be about in the middle of the track. however, a more technical person will have to read the track, reviewing whether if it's a fast corner or a slow one. any turning point after this corner? and wat was before this corner? personally, the lesser the steering input, the faster the kart will be as it will not be 'swaying' from side to side.

so... karting or racing in F1 or WRC or Indy is not merely sitting comfortably in the car and 'drive around' it's also a thinking sports, and this has to happen fairly very quickly taking into account wat's in front / beside / behind of u.. one bad reading of the situation, with one bad decision can be really costly (read my 1st post)

;)

3rd March 2007 Accident Report - Jon

2007-03-07T11:54:00.000+08:00

ok, my bad.... both the crashes was mine!
=\ =|

one minor crash at the 1st round was because of late late braking to overtake bernard, lock up and drifted into Bernard's path.. he hit me on the rear.. luckily that was nothing serious at all... as it was at a relatively slow turning point (final turn before the start finish)

now, the 2nd BANG, all in 390cc. to me it was totally unexpected and the most serious i encountered so far. worse than the one i knock into KP's. yup, that was a knock and the one with Liau last sat is definitely a Crash! =

wat happened was that i was behind Nic... Nic went past Sham at the 1st/2nd turn and pull away in the str.. on the str i think he went past Liau too without fuss me, i had to be more careful before i overtook Sham, as he was weaving a bit on the turn. no prob tho.. after which, i was right behind Liau nearing the Turn 3 for the uphill. i believed he was at full throttle. so to be safe, i tucked behind him so that maybe i can attack him on the uphill run. this when it happened...

Brake, turn into the uphill run... (me: accel full for the uphill, Liau: sort of brake or simply slOOw...)

one moment i was about half a kart behind him, the very next sec i was into him at full impact.. it was rather scary, to be honest. luckily only my kart suffered damages along with my right thumb. shell shocked.... for me