NEWS

At Wackersdorf everyone is trying not to go over the threshold of 108 dB to escape the penalties. Empiricism is essential in the field of noise management, which is pretty new to karting. Sometimes silencers are used together, the output decreasing, sometimes increasing, relying on opposing technical explanations without being persuasive. Here is a new line of research: packing the chamber in flooring! Although strange, it seems to work as the competitor in question, whose identity must remain secret, managed a fast time in qualifying. With beauty comes effectiveness ...

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The 32 drivers in KZ provided a great spectacle with a single qualifying session. Rick Dreezen (Tony Kart / Vortex) waited on the dummy grid and took to the track first, when half the allotted time had elapsed. The pack followed, everyone took care to warm up their machine and the first laps were so insignificant they didn't fall until 2 minutes before the end. Of course, then everything happened at a breakneck pace ...

Max Verstappen (CRG / TM) and Anthony Abbasse (Sodi / TM) shared the fastest laps, Jonathan Thonon (CRG / Maxter) then started to interfere, Marco Ardigo (Tony Kart / Vortex) and Fabian Federer (CRG / Modena) showed the tips of their spoilers, but the session ended with a superb duel between Verstappen and Jorrit Pex (CRG / TM). Max set his best time on the last lap, but there was a few hundred meters for Jorrit to respond, which he did beautifully with 47'' 873,'' a brilliant 0,115s faster than Max. Davide Fore (CRG / TM) also played his best card late in the session and is third with Ardigo fourth only 0.135'' from pole, while Charles Leclerc (ART GP / TM) climbed to fifth position at the last moment. Paolo De Conto (Birel / TM) finished in sixth place ahead of Abbasse. Yannick De Brabander (Maranello / TM) failed to start on the grid despite a change of spark plug.

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Cette histoire de bruit continue à retentir, d'abord dans la salle d'attente improvisée devant la commission sportive, puis dans les allées du paddock de Wackersdorf. Les pénalités ont commencé à tomber lors des chronos KZ2, retardant d'ailleurs le lancement des premières manches qualificatives. 18 concurrents ont reculé de 3 à 6 places, dont Felice Tiene qui perd la pole du groupe 1, Simone Brenna ou Marcel Jeleniowski parmi les mieux classés. Vu le mal qu'ont les équipes à gérer ce problème, cela est loin d'être terminé.

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There is beautiful spring weather with temperatures of 20 ° and sun for qualifying for the KZ2 European Championship at Wackersdorf, where the competitors were split into four groups. The Italian Felice Tiene (CRG / Maxter) was quickly ahead of the first wave with a time of 48'' 731'', 0.134" faster than his compatriot Nicola Marcon (Tony Kart / Vortex), while the Czech Jan Midrla (Birel / TM) was third by 0.214'' and the French Clement Da Silva (Birel / TM) 4th by 0.227''.

The Italian Simone Brenna (TB Kart / Modena) was long the fastest in the second session, ahead of his rivals by over two tenths, but Riccardo Negro (DR / TM), the Italian driver racing here under his German license, waited until the last moment to set an enviable time of 48'' 633, or 13 thousandths faster than Brenna. Alessandro Manetti (Praga / Parilla) eventually moved up to 0.153" behind Negro. Charles Fiault (Sodi / Parilla) finished 8th in the group, 5/10 off the fastest time.

The times didn't improve in the third session, headed by the Dutch Ricardo Romkema (Zanardi / TM) 48'' 818 ahead of the Swedish Douglas Lundberg (Maranello / TM), and another Dutch driver, the young Marijn Kremers (Birel / TM ) and the German Marcel Jeleniowski (CRG / TM), who was fourth by less than 5/100 off the leader.

The last session wasn't faster either, dominated by the Norwegian Emil Antonsen (DR / TM) on 48'' 787, 7 thousandths faster than Marco Zanchetta (Maranello / TM), Kristijan Habulin (CRG / Modena) and the New Zealander Daniel Bray (GP / TM).

The unofficial standings show Negro ahead of Brenna, Tiene 3rd, Manetti 4th, Antonsen 5th, Zanchetta 6th, Romkema 7th, Lundberg 8th, then Jeleniowski and Kremers 9th and 10th. The first French driver, Da Silva, was 15th. These results are straight from the timing and not indicative of any penalties distributed for excessive noise.

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Noise control is again a talking point, causing a major buzz in some areas of the paddock. The introduction of a specific procedure at Sarno for the World Cup in 2012 was cut short, but this time, the process is identical to that of last year, has been approved by the relevant departments of the FIA ??and everything seems ready to introduce sanctions, when noise is more than 108 dB. The system includes four microphones hanging from the bridge that spans the track at the start. The measurements are then processed in a scholarly manner (see full article here) and values ??are assigned to each kart, if possible, at each stage, in testing, as well as during races.

The schedule of penalties for exceeding the permitted threshold of 108dB, was reiterated to the competitors at the briefing on Friday morning:

- Up to 1 dB above the limit: 3 places in qualifying or 3 seconds in a race.

- Between 1 and 2 dB above the limit: 6 places in qualifying or six seconds in a race.

- Between 2 and 3 dB above the limit: 9 places in qualifying or 9 seconds in a race

- More than 3 dB above the limit: demotion to at least last place.

It seems that many karts in KZ and KZ2 are too loud, as it is true that the subject has been sidelined since Sarno. Loss of power or overheating causes changes in the exhaust system made quickly to reduce pollution. In this regard, the work done by Vortex in 2012 still seems the most successful of the field.

However, with normal hearing and a sharp brain, you quickly notice that the circuit configuration at Wackersdorf is very noisy: a shallow bowl, surrounding trees, nearby buildings, so all the noise is difficult to handle for spectators. Does this phenomenon affect the measurements? Those responsible at the CIK are not sure, but some competitors proclaim loud and clear otherwise. Maybe some will want to shout their dissatisfaction into the microphones when passing their opponents hoping to distort the measurements ...

Anyway, noise reduction is essential for the future of karting, the rule is the same for everyone and sanctions will be given. The measures will be displayed until the end of free practice, but only technical officials will be able to see them after that.

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