A year of success for One Engines
The tuner One Engines contributed to the many Drivers’ victories in 2014 by producing particularly efficient Vortex engines. In addition to the World Championship for Lando Norris in KF and Enaam Ahmed in KF-Junior, who also won the European Championship for KF-Junior using it. The young Dane, 31, Ole Haugård, the founder of One Engines, enjoys a well-deserved reputation for excellence in the sport.
How did you become a kart engine tuner?
– I began by preparing engines for my brother Rasmus Haugård, a very good driver in Formula A until 2004. When he stopped his career, I started to work for myself, first in Sweden, then with the Tony Kart Junior Team and then with Ricky Flynn Motorsport since 2010. The collaboration with RFM gives me very good conditions to test and develop the engines with its many fast drivers.
What is the secret of your success?
– In the field of engines, it is no secret: only work and determination can lead to victory over the long term. As a private tuner, I do not have the same facilities as the factories who can make changes during the season. I start on the engines early in the year and I compensate with meticulous assembly of the different pieces to produce efficient units throughout the year. Once I have made my technical choice, I use machinery to exactly reproduce my improvements on all of the engines that I prepare. This allows me to have sixty engines with very similar performance.
What is the most difficult aspect of your business?
– Human relationships with some teams and some parents are sometimes complicated. When a driver fails, it is tempting to blame the tuner or the engine and give in to jealousy. I know my engines perfectly. In case of a complaint by a driver, I can offer him another engine, but he must then use it, I will not exchange twice. Good collaboration is primarily based on trust.
How do you see the future of racing engines?
– First of all, we must say that the current KF engines are very good products that suffer from a bad reputation. They are very reliable and not as expensive as people say. I am enthusiastic about what is being prepared for the 2016 homologation which should see the elimination of the weaknesses of the current KF: clutch, starter, wiring harness and battery. The only subject that concerns me is the choice of carburettors. The float bowl models will be a problem for small teams and private drivers. They will have a lot of jets and will need a lot of experience to choose the right settings. Once the race starts, there will be no way to correct the situation as there is with the diaphragm carburettors with an adjuster screw.
(Extract of the CIK-FIA Best-Of 2014)
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