Australian Karting Forum
Team Kartbook...
Driver... Fong.L...Australia
Number... 8.
Entrant... Kartbook readers of the World....
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Adam Willison on -
I raced there shortly after it was re configured for the State titles a few years ago. I've heard of alot of people disliking it but I thought it was a great track.
The first corner requires balls, a long high speed left hand sweeper like Port Macquarie that tucks into a tight right-left combo. The next corner is a slight right kink into a left that brings you up the hill. Roll speed is very important here as it leads you onto the back straight where there is a great passing opertunity.
At the end of this straight it bends around before the corner so braking can be a bit tricky. Also the track surface here is also 'old' and is quite slippery. The corner is tight and uphill so you need to attack hard on the exit to get a run up the hill. Exiting this corner it bends around to the right, it's a bit wierd as it sucks the kart onto the ripple strip which can hurt your run, but you also can't afford to fight the kart away from it.
And the final corner is a bus stop, right-left left-right. Good balance and smooth driving will help here. From memory, there were no kerbs you could attack.
I can't remember what times we were doing then but I doubt it would be the same, as there was alot of grip on the new surface (it was actually tearing up) but a Phoenix billy won there by .004's in Clubman Light ;-)
Hope this helps.
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Permalink Reply by Sean Morris on -
Hey Willo,
Track has been reversed.
Fongy, Bring your Balls
Hope that helps
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Permalink Reply by Johnathan Males on -
Pretty good description but try it around the other way as they've been running reverse direction this year. Local knowledge won't be a big issue. To finish first, first you have to finish :-)
Adam Willison said:I raced there shortly after it was re configured for the State titles a few years ago. I've heard of alot of people disliking it but I thought it was a great track.
The first corner requires balls, a long high speed left hand sweeper like Port Macquarie that tucks into a tight right-left combo. The next corner is a slight right kink into a left that brings you up the hill. Roll speed is very important here as it leads you onto the back straight where there is a great passing opertunity.
At the end of this straight it bends around before the corner so braking can be a bit tricky. Also the track surface here is also 'old' and is quite slippery. The corner is tight and uphill so you need to attack hard on the exit to get a run up the hill. Exiting this corner it bends around to the right, it's a bit wierd as it sucks the kart onto the ripple strip which can hurt your run, but you also can't afford to fight the kart away from it.
And the final corner is a bus stop, right-left left-right. Good balance and smooth driving will help here. From memory, there were no kerbs you could attack.
I can't remember what times we were doing then but I doubt it would be the same, as there was alot of grip on the new surface (it was actually tearing up) but a Phoenix billy won there by .004's in Clubman Light ;-)
Hope this helps.
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Permalink Reply by Adam Willison on
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New plan, ignore everything I said
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Permalink Reply by Adam Willison on
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Oi, I thought I shook that tag at Pucka!
Anywho, I have another chance to redeem that title this weekend lol.
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Permalink Reply by Luke Fong on -
Guys,
I have to hop in here. I have had a couple of very generous donations for the Tassie States.
Thanks to Ash Pollard from the Tyre Factory for providing me with a practice set of MG Reds for the Tassie states.
Also a big BIG shout out to my man Adrian Mozza Morrisby from Moonah Auto Parts Recyclers who is transporting my gear and myself to Tasmainia!
Without these guys it would be damn near impossible to get over there.
Thanks guys!
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Permalink Reply by Jake Spencer on
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does anyone know the gearing for CL at this club now that its in reverse?
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Permalink Reply by Luke Fong on
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Hi guys,
Here s the old kartsportnews report....
Hey guys, thought I would write a detailed report for tonight as we are home early from the casino.
Thursday got off to a tyrelicious start one could say. Session one, straight into the tyres and and bent the steering. Whilst removing the kart from the track, I was then t-boned by a bloke, who was looking straight on at me, rather than the track. My mechanic, Ratus, then proceeded to wheel the kart back, cursing and swearing not only at me, but the bloke that toppled me over whilst I was moving my kart. The day went well once we fixed everything in the front end, proceeding to get closer to some times respectable on old tires. We didn't put too much emphasis on getting a time though, we were concentrating on getting some consistency down pat, and we managed to achieve this quite well.
Friday dawned a new day and we had a go kart that could have passed as a speedway car. The kart was so loose that it was like driving in the wet. Ratus my mechanic and I kept talking and talking, and trying things here and there, to see if we could dial a little more grip in to the kart. We made a big change for the last couple of sessions (axle, seat, front and rear track) and it seemed to go a lot better.
Saturday morning dawned and qualifying was a schmozzole to say the least. I could not get a lap that was clear due to the fact that there was traffic that continually did not know how to drive in a straight line. We qualified 15th, which was better than expected. It was encouraging that the kart was much better after a seat position change and a hub change.
Heat one was probably not worth talking about. After being out of the seat for so long I didn't want to get into any trouble, and probably got bullied out of a few positions that I shouldn't have been. I was fast enough to run with the top 10, but I just wasn't being smart enough.
Heat 2, after a head beating from not only Ratus my mechanic and Matthew Hayes, some front end changes were made again to see if we could dial a little bit more grip into the kart. This worked and I was able to pass at will, moving from 15th through to 8th at race end finishing ahead of more fancied rivals Jordan Ford, and Christopher Hays.
We start off 11 for the pre final..., I'll check back in after the prefinal...
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Sunday of the City of Melbourne was set to be a cracker with the weather looking nice, well at least when I woke up. The day got off to a bad start scuffing the old man's ute (we call it Bruce because its looks like the vegetarian shark in “Finding Nemo”) in the car park at the motel on the way out. That happens I thought, get the bad luck out of the way early before a drive in the pre final.
Carby session went well, the carb-e-rat-or in dial, the driver half in dial for a couple of laps, and the billy kart was set. I had a driver tune up again from Matty Hayes, and Ratus J Evans just for the pre-final. The heavens opened up in the morning for the first round of pre-finals for the day, and it was a hard decision as to what tyres to head out with. The track was drying up fast, but we didn't know how much it would dry up.
Ratus made a last minute call and a mad rush had us changing from wets to slicks, with a tyre pressure change to the slicks also. The track had actually dried up so much that we were able to run on the full dry line. The only possible issue was tyre pressure, but having said that we managed to pick up a couple of spots from p11, with the third fastest kart on track!
Ratus J Evans, was quite impressed :-) . I got the big thumbs up from the old man as I came past the pits on the in lap. We had secured the top ten start we were looking for in the final!
The heavens opened before the final, and Ratus J Evans and myself, knew for a fact that we wouldn't have anything near the front guys to get going in this race, due to the fact that I am approximately 8 foot shorter than any other driver.
At the start I got bashed from pillar to post, and all I wanted to do is finish the race, so I just continued to get on track and hope to heck I could make it through the first few corners. We managed to finish the race, somewhere down the back, but hey, we knew that we need more laps in the rain. Too bad I don't have another 3 foot of height on me like D Sera, otherwise I would have been somewhere nearer to the pace, although when was I ever going to get near him?! Next time I'll remember to steal the white pages from the motel and anything I can get my hands on to make me taller in the kart! I must say, we were encouraged with the pace we put together in the dry, the kart was getting much better as the weekend got on.
I was only there at the weekend because I had really good support and help, of all of the people on the track at the weekend I count myself as one of the luckiest.
Some of the people I need to thank (in no particular order, just as they come to my head):
M.G Engines Bundaberg (Get your motors to him, you won't get passed in a straight line, trust me! If you want, call him on 07 4152 2228)
Custom Decals for an awesome sticker kit.
Ratus J Evans, Danton Evans, Roger Evans and Chris Walpoole for all their tender love and care, and I was only anywhere near the pace because of Ratus... His workmanship was second to none.
Matthew Hayes - The man who told me that I needed to grow testicles... Then ate his words once I grew some for the second heat. Thanks also for looking over the billy kart mate, again without you also we would have been nowhere near the pace.
Dad - for the use of his truck to tow the trailer down and being there to slap me into line when required.
KRA and Stevey Johnson for the sponsorship that got me through the gate and on the track in the first place!
Mitch Wilmot - Thanks for the transponder mate, I promise I won't make it awkward next time I pass you like you're standing still!
Wally Edwards - Thanks for the use of the pit shade mate, that was just awesome dude especially in the wet.
Colin Edwards - without your skills of a soldering iron, I would not have been able to use the motor I now call "Grunta-saurus-rex".
Sean and Jake Morris - Thank you very much for the motor rebuild, your investment was incredibly worth while. Apologies for not getting the wets off Jake, we ran out of time and had to put new ones on :(
Dean and Dave Foster, for the endless amount of parts that you supplied me this weekend.
This weekend has been unbelievably awesome and my sincere apologies if I have missed anybody off this thank you list.
It's people like you that make karting an awesome sport.
Thanks again, lets see if we can make the next big one happen now, Tassie states... :D
Fongy
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Permalink Reply by Luke Fong on
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After a less than favourable run in Tassie, it's time to start preparing for this year of 2011, and our first run will be in Midgets at Junior Top Guns(wait, I mean Vic Open at Todd Road in Clubman Light)...
I must say a huge and gracious thanks to the guys that did tip in to get me over to Tassie, and sorry I came home with one big fat DNF, but I guess that's just racing!
Latest rumor has it, I could be in a new kart this year? Arrow X1 Midget rookie kart looks like a hot option! Who else has a chassis suggestion for me? :)
Much love.. Fongy.
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Permalink Reply by Darryl Goodwn - BigDee on -
Ah Fongy
Now get serious and bring ya team to Eastern Creek Feb 5 and 6 Brian Farley Memorial.
Lets see how good we really are against the big guns.
Hope to see you and the regular Victorians racing.
Cannot wait to get into it..
BigDee
Luke Fong said:After a less than favourable run in Tassie, it's time to start preparing for this year of 2011, and our first run will be in Midgets at Junior Top Guns(wait, I mean Vic Open at Todd Road in Clubman Light)...
I must say a huge and gracious thanks to the guys that did tip in to get me over to Tassie, and sorry I came home with one big fat DNF, but I guess that's just racing!
Latest rumor has it, I could be in a new kart this year? Arrow X1 Midget rookie kart looks like a hot option! Who else has a chassis suggestion for me? :)
Much love.. Fongy.
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Permalink Reply by Luke Fong on
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If we have a kart by then Big Dee then hopefully we will.
Peter, what do you reckon, should we show these boys how us Mexicans do it?
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Permalink Reply by Darryl Goodwn - BigDee on
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Yeah common Peter
Get ya team together and see if ya can do any good against the best.
Looking forward already to calling "Fongy" Up for a chat lol
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