It’s race week everyone! I’m looking forward to seeing you all this weekend and wanted to share a couple notes and updates ahead of Sunday.

This weekend for races 3 & 4 we will be competing on Track “B”

Ahead of Sunday please review the following so we can all be aware of what’s going on:

  • Rain Tires: 
    • Garry Lobaugh had given all of us until this past Monday, May 9th to purchase rain tires for the season. We’re still going through tremendous production and supply shortage and I fear there may not be an opportunity to acquire them at this point.
    • Normal conditioned race tires are aplenty.
    • In the event of a damp or wet track, the Race Director will leave it at the discretion of the drivers to make the call on Rain Tires or not.
  • Request for Review: 
    • Requesting review of any race official’s decision or an on track incident must be made in writing within 30 minutes of the driver being informed of the offence or the incident or the end of the race, whichever is longer.
    • Comments or suggestions can be submitted on the same form and provided to the Race Director via email or in person after the event. Please address to: perez.alec@gmail.com
    • Forms are located in the Scoring Box.
  • Retirements:
    • If a driver suffers from a mechanical failure or a race ending incident the first response should be in regards to safety. If you have retired from a session please safely exit the kart and seek guidance from the nearest track marshal who will assist you to a safe zone until the session is complete.
    • If a driver retires from the race, recovery of their kart does not to take place until after the session is complete unless the kart itself is a hazard, marshals will help clear the incident.
    • Anyone that is not an employee of Michiana Raceway Park is not permitted on track during a live session. It creates an additional hazard on track and puts others in danger, regardless of why they may be entering.
  • Safe Re-entry
    • If a driver is off track during a race, they must re-enter in a safe and responsible manner, meaning it is not acceptable to re-enter the track directly in front of other karts that are traveling at full speed. It heightens the danger for all parties involved. If you’re in the grass or gravel and waiting to safely re-enter, it must be once a reasonable gap is available in order to make entry. We don’t want this to become an issue that requires discipline so we will stay observant of it and repeat this topic at the driver’s meeting.
  • Grid sorting
    • If a driver plans to drop out of the race it’s going to be required that you let the Race Director know in as far of advance as possible so we can sort the grid appropriately for the remaining field in a timely manner.
  • Scrubbing / Warm Ups 
    • Though we have a very skilled field of driver in all classes of this event, scrubbing tires in any session of the day is prohibited.
    • Drivers are given 1 out lap at the race start followed by a formation lap to generate heat.
    • On cold or wet days drivers will be permitted 2 out laps followed by a formation lap to generate better heat.
  • Safe Equipment
    • Please ahead of your first session of the weekend. Carefully inspect your equipment before entering the track.
    • That includes but is not limited to:
      • Brake Cables
      • Throttle Cables
      • Bumpers
      • Chain Guards
      • Wheels & Nuts
      • Ballast Weights
    • The loss of equipment on track that can comprise the safety of the driver and other drivers will result in a black flag for that driver.
    • Understand that if staff or the Race Director asks to inspect equipment ahead of or following a race session, it is to ensure the safety of yourselves and others. We’ve all caught debris at some time or another and I’m certain that none of us would describe the experience as a pleasant one.
  • Weight Scales:
    • In the event a kart does not make weight on the first attempt, the driver and their kart may take one attempt at rescaling after all other competitors have weighed in. If after the second attempt the competitor is still light, they will be disqualified from that race.
    • Karts will be weighed as they completed the race and arrive at the scales. Any parts that have fallen completely off of the kart any time prior to arriving at the scales will not be included in the karts final weight. This includes but is not limited to bodywork. Exceptions will be made for header wrap, decals/numbers and air filters. However, these items must be replaced prior to the kart competing again.
  • Safe Conduct
    • Please keep hands on the wheel at all times. Good or bad, we all have a reason to wave a fist in the air during or after a race. The point is not to let yourself become a passenger (even if only for a moment) in your own kart by taking your hands off of the wheel completely. It’s not safe for the driver or others on track.

UPDATES:

  • Tire Regulation:
    • Starting June 12th, Race Day 3 of the 2022 season. MRP will be continuing with the following discipline:
      • Tires that are used for qualifying must also be used for all races that day.
      • Tires will be marked before Qualifying and then verified after Race 1 & Race 2 to confirm all participants are following this regulation.
      • The simple logic of this regulation is to ensure the most equal playing field possible within our league.
      • The tire used in this league is the Hoosier R 70 compound and it has to have been purchased from MRP directly.
  • Rotax Heavy Class:
    • Will invert the top 6 positions for the 2nd race along with the other classes moving forward.
  • Race Start Procedures: **Everyone has been following this format but I just wanted to clarify for newcomers**
    • 1 Out Lap + 1 Formation Lap
    • Race Start
    • Race End- After you cross the finish line, that begins your in lap. Proceed to pit lane for weighing.
  • Calendar and Layouts: Listed is an updated schedule with our track layouts for the season. We will have them updated on our Event Page as well.
    • May 1
      • Track A
    • May 15
      • Track B W/ Horseshoe
    • June 12
      • Track C W/O Horseshoe
    • June 26
      • Track A
      • Race 1 – NO INVERSION
      • Mid- Season Championship Race 2 – Double Points
    • July 3
      • Track B  W/O Horseshoe
    • July 17
      • Track C W/ Horseshoe
    • July 31
      • Track A
    • August 21
      • Track B W/ Horseshoe
  • FORMAT & SCHEDULE
    • Gates open at 7:30 Eastern Time Registration ends at 8:30 am.
    • Race tires to be purchased from MRP Pro shop
    • Practice starts at 9 am. Drivers must be registered to practice.
    • Practice 1 & 2 – 9 AM – 10 AM (7 MIN Practice Sessions)
    • Drivers Meeting – 10:10 AM – 10:35 AM
    • Qualifying 10:45 – 11:15 AM (5 MIN Qualifying Sessions)
    • Session 1 – 11:15 AM – (15 Lap Sessions)
    • Lunch – 12:30 PM
    • Session 2 – 1:00 PM – (15 Lap Sessions)
    • Day End 

That’s what I have ahead of this weekend. I will address a lot of these points during our drivers’ meeting as well. Keep in mind we try to limit the meetings to 30 min so if we do not have time to address everyone’s questions please submit a request for review form and we can schedule a time to discuss the matter or address in the following briefing.

Thank you everyone!

Alec Perez