Hello from yet another newbie!!!!
Looking to buy myself a Rotax Max, as it's meant to be the most popular, and I'll defo be able to get races. There seems to be an awful lot of different catagories, which to the un-innitiated seems most confusing. Can anybody give me a quick run through of what liscences, equipment etc I'll need to race at Llandow? I see this race acadamy...... What is that? Some tutorial?? cheers Jimmy

hey, nice of you to join , there seems to be a few of us new guys on here, i have a tkm kart yeh i seen the race acadamy somewhere but i did notice that it said it was for ages 8-16yrs

I have posted one of the Q&A's from the web site regarding the acadamy. Q4: I have 2 sons one is 20 and has been racing for 6 months now, the other is 8 and hasn't raced yet. Can they both join the race school. A: The Race Academy itself is designed for drivers between the ages of 8 and 16. However there are plenty of people willing to help all drivers of all ages with mechanical and racing advice. While i was up watching the welsh championship, i got talking to the treasurer (i think) Sheila Jones. She mentioned the acadamy and said it is aimed for 8-16 but they do get older people in it, and lets face it we are never to old to learn! As for the different catagories (i assume you mean in Rotax) i believe they depend on your age and your weight: Min Max :Age 11-16? minimum 135kg including driver at all times Junior Rotax :Age 13-16? minimum 145kg including driver at all times Senior Rotax :Age 16+ minimum 162kg including driver at all times . I will be running in this one, but i need to add about 21kg of lead to make me the right weight. Rotax 177 :Age 16+ minimum 177kg including driver at all times ( if i have any of this wrong please correct me, anyone) If you take a look at a messag i posted called " a questons only easy if you know the answer" It might help with your questions about licences and stuff, because i asked a similar sort of question. It will tell you what you need and i quick run down of the prices. Hope some of this helps, Emma

At the moment Llandow runs three Senior classes on a regular, well supported basis - Senior Prokart (also known as Senior Honda), Senior Prokart Heavyweight (same karts/engines as the regular Prokart class but with a different weight limit) and Senior Rotax. There are occasional Senior TKM 4 Stroke and Super ICC Gearbox grids but not every month. Senior TKM 2 Stroke hasnt been run regularly at Llandow since 2005. Race school is aimed at 8-16 year olds - if you want to join then fine but in my opinion your best bet is to find out when they are taking place - get your kit down there on the sunday morning and unpack ready for the afternoon. Nigel and Mark the examiners can offer advice and will usually hang around for the rest of the day so you can get half a day -*test*-('")ing in aftewards having picked up some tips in the morning. To be honest Ive never seen a Senior driver actually take part in Race School but its up to you - if three of you all joined together then it may be better.

What about liscences then?? And mandatory equipment. Also the Rotax engines are sealed..... Do they check this each race? How do you service the engines...?

To go to the track and practice you dont need a licence When you want to take the plunge make sure you leave plenty of time between taking your ARKS -*test*-('") and doing your first race as sometimes licences can take a month or so to come back from the MSA - especially over the winter when everyone is renewing theirs. You need to buy an ARKS pack from South Wales Karting Centre (about 40 quid) If you are over 18 you need to have a medical exam with your doctor - who has to fill out the relevant form in your ARKS pack Then you book your ARKS -*test*-('") (speak to Nigel in the Burger Bar or Mark Taylor first) - i think its about 70 quid Once you've passed your -*test*-('") you need to send off to the MSA for your licence - about 30 quid i think Once your licence has been returned to you you then join Llandow KC and pay your entry fee and start racing Dont send your licence off in december as you will have to renew in January - at the end of each season you have to renew your licence and pay the MSA even more money. Apart from joining the club and paying your monthly entry fee - all the above costs are mandated by the MSA, not the club Rotax's have sealed engines so if something goes wrong you have to send them away - there are several different tuners tho (i think) As for monthly checks at Llandow i wouldnt know sorry - Dan would know more

I've been informed that you cant actually service your own rotax max engine to stop self tuning e.t.c, hence why i went with senior tkm extreme so i could do everything myself with no added cost

Rotax engines are sealed by official authorised sealers and there are quite a few of them around, some with better reputation than others. The seal is never (read rarely) checked but you don't want to be caught without it or with it tampered when you come in for scrutineering having finished 1st, 2nd, or 3rd! :cry: Basically it was designed to stop tuning and make it a level playing field. It doesn't really achieve that but then that's another discussion that's taking place at the moment on UK-Karting 2Stroke Noticeboard. Vince, as Henry has already pointed TKM 2T hasn't been raced at Llandow since 2005 due to no (or low) entries! It is very popular in other parts of the country but not in Wales or the S-West! If you intend to start racing you need to pick a class that has support and good grids, or convince some more people to come join you! That doesn't mean you need to go and sell that 2T TKM, lovely machine to cut your teeth in and a lot of us love to hear the sound of a BT82 engine ringing around Llandow every so often, when you come to racing though... JimmyJam... can I make a personal, (I emphasise it is personal) suggestion? Funny as it is to you, will you get Hitler off your logo please? Some people won't find it very funny seeing his face here (or anywhere else indeed) and although I believe he was involved in motorsport in his days, he is "worst" remember for other things!