Karting tips post: Braking, Slowing down to going quicker ("Braking for dummies")

OK, so even I was confused writing that title, but fear not, I know what I speak off... kinda?? regardless I shall try and share what knowledge I think I have and here comes some braking and karting tips flying at yo faces! For all you advanced folk keep your faces in the WandiSport direction for some tips on Trail braking.

So you wanna look all fly and shizz locking your brakes just before you turn? and you may have seen me do it at hooton in my latest vid, if not make sure to check it out, if not for the karting then do it for pendulum's TARANTULA (the music in the background) 

Truth is it aint all about lookin' fly. in fact locking up is a very unefficent form of braking. I could explain the physics behind it but id much rather you took my word for it, later on in your racing adventures you will learn "Trail braking" which includes a little bit of locking up.

Karting post: My Video from hooton!!

Howdy, its been a while hasn't it? Ive missed you all but I'm back! and here's the video from my day out in hooton, also gone are WandiWednesdays! unfortunately neither you nor me has the time for some midweek racing goodness so its changing to a weekend thing! let me know if you have any name suggestions in the comments section, but here's my videos from hooton enjoy.

Be Well ----------------------- Mustafa S. Wandi

Karting Tips post: Direct Drive vs TAG/Clutch (Part 2 TaG/Clutch))

Part 2, TaG/Clutch
Just need to quickly clarify that which engine you use is dictated by the regulations of the championship you wish to run in, if you wish to do open races or the TKM series you can choose what to run.
So same as before ill try and give a brief simplified explanation of what they are. First lets talk about the clutch, most kart clutches (shifter karts aside) are Centrifugal, to explain centrifugal force try to imagine a conker at the end of a string and as you spin the other end faster and faster the conker becomes further and further away from you. That in mind, lets move on how the rear axle is connected to the engine. this time its not connected directly to the crank, it is connected to a clutch drum that spins on the crank freely.

Inside this drum we have a TAB/HUB this has parts that expand under that centrifugal force we talked about, it has big metal conkers inside that expand and hold on to the drum (Labeled below). thus we have a connection between the crank and the rear axle and therefore POWER. We get the centrifugal force by spinning the crank (just like spinning the conker) and increase/reduce the amount by increasing/reducing throttle.

Karting Tips post: Direct Drive vs TAG/Clutch (Part 1 Direct Drive)

So you've worked your butts off either doing actual work or persuading your parents into buying you a racing kart, but which one do you go for? Here's a little karting tip.

Allow me to give you a quick brief of what Direct drive (often called DD) and Touch and Go (TAG) karts are, first off is DD, this is where the the rear axle is directly connected to the crank shaft of the engine, Confused? don't worry ill clarify with a picture

Picture from Karting1.co.uk posted by Joe Higham

The Crankshaft is the Shaft (duh! right?) that spins because the pistons in the engine move up and down and thus we get POWER, or acceleration would be more accurate. now when this shaft is connected to the the rear axle via that big golden thing called a sprocket it means as you spin the rear wheels you spin the pistons in the engine. And if you haven't figured it out yet that is how you start a direct drive engine, you push it until you gather momentum and the engine should start, (you also need to block the air intake (missing from the picture) so the engine can fill with fuel and you remove your hand when the engine turns over. so lets make a list of Good and bad stuff about such and engine.

Wheres my Cinamon BUN??

Some of you may have noticed that there was no bun this week, that's due to 2 reasons
1, I was very busy
2, much more excitingly I have been working on my own youtube project and the Video Thats More Fun Than A Cinnamon Bun shall now be WandiWednesdays!!

I will releasing a series of videos about kart set up as soon as all my parts arrive, for now im releasing F1 videos, Today is MONACO BABY!!!! the first video is currently uploading to you tube and should be up on you tube and on WandiSports (er here...) Either later on today or tomorrow.

I'm very exited about this because i have been trying to start a you tube channel for a long time and now i have finally found a way to link my blog and the you tube channel.

Be Well ----------------------- Mustafa S. Wandi

F1 and Karting: Fitness and Health in motorsport

Karting gets you fit? Nope, other way round! you should be fit for karting. Actually allow me to amend that statement as it implies only fit people can race, that is not true, ill be proof of that, ill change my statement to Karting should encourage you to become fit.

I can be proof of this as only until very recently i cared very little about what went down my gullet, i was unhealthy on a whole other level, but now i follow a strict(ish) diet and exercise programme (which i shall share in my next post next week) and in 2 weeks have lost 6kgs.

So why does this benefit you in a sport where all you do is sit down and push some pedals? becouse karting is much more than that (motorsport in general infact), driving is very much like golf, seems pointless to viewers but those who participate hunger for perfection, the perfect corner, then lap, then race, then technique i could go on. And karting is hard, you may think you can get away with not caring about your health an perhaps you can... for 1 lap!! (Click read more for full Post)

F1 POST : Mercedes Front DRS (controversial or creative?)

IT HAS BEGUN!!!!!! yes im a bit late but still, every year we seem to have a team come out with thier sexy new design that just complies to regulations due to loop holes in the rules, 2009 it was the Double diffuser, 2010 is was the F-duct and 2011 it was the Flexi-Front wing and this year its Ross Brawn again with the contoversy, thats twice in the past 3 years, ey yay yay

So what is it this year? well ill keep it as simple as possable, all F1 cars this year have a Rear flap at the back which at high speed (when downforce is BAD!! and slows you down) the driver opens the flap and reduces rear downforce and thus more speed on the straights.

Here we see the flap closed (High downforce, Good for corners, Bad for Straights)

Here we see the Flap open (Low downforce, Bad for corners Good for straights)

(Click read more for full post)

Birel Chassis review (1)

I am still writing the health and fitness post so look out for that it should hit your faces around next week ish

However, i realized i have had my Easy kart for a while and i am yet to tell you wonderful people what its like, I (like some of you out there now or planning to do so) started with a cheap TKM kart (still have it) that i bought with my friends, between the three of us we each own a 33.3% share of it, and whilst it was the most amazing project to strip, repaint and rebuild it, the chassis was from an old MS KART and a bit of a hand full in the corners, but if you can get you hands on an old race kart, rebuilding it is an amazing summer project (summer is coming up so save up three of four hundred pounds if you can and DO IT, there are plenty of old
style tkm's out there.... (REVIEW IS BELOW CLICK READ MORE)

So my clutch exploded and stuff

As posted before i went to hooton park with my kart and have uploaded the pictures onto Flickr to check them out the links is:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/77033868@N03/   Racing karts are not toys! yup i learned to hard and rather expensive way, A friend of mine is rather handy with a camera (being a photography student and all) and having never driven a kart before i thought what's the worst that could happen if he was to give it a few laps. Just a quick side note and over the next few days i will be throwing some tasty new fitness and diet posts towards your computer screens so keep an eye out for that.   Now back to the main story and unfortunately the worst did happen, after a spin out our photographer was riding the throttle and brake at the same time (not knowingly of the damage it could cause ofcourse) generating a lot of heat in the clutch and eventually causing it to explode, blowing off the the blue thingy dangling off (which i later learned it to be an ignition coil) in the process. so 2 lessons 1, NEVER press the brake and throttle at the same time 2, Indoor karts and Racing karts are different animals, not everyone can drive a racing kart on the first go,   That shouldn't push anyone away from racing but try to practice on a slow kart first such as a single engined prokart or a direct drive engine. If you decide to jump right into a fancy racing kart then just remember to never push both pedals at once and don't be put off if you spin off I want to make it very clear that i do think ANYONE can drive and race a go kart and do so very well, but like any other sport you will struggle if you jump and skip a few stages, or put in a metaphor, you will struggle later on if you run before you walk. Now unfortunatly this all happened before i got a chance to shoot the video i promised you all so more delays on that but i shall keep you up to date on the karts recovery. and also in my next post ill upload some pictures of the remains on my clutch Be Well ----------------------- Mustafa S. Wandi

Delays, delays delays

I'm afraid due to poor weather write to you from my home rather than hooton, and the videos regarding kart set up will be arriving on a screen in front of you a little later im afraid, and whilst i hold you captive i wanna say ive had a change in heart about karthakain, he recently made a mature statement saying that he and sebastian must move on, vettel who indirectly called him an idiot and a cucomber (a common german insult regarding driving, has not responded so i no longer dislike the HRT driver, i now have no emotion of feeling towards him, i nothing him.
Be Well ----------------------- Mustafa S. Wandi

Sporting Personalities (The "dip")

Whilst this blog is made to share my jurney of motorsport, along the way i will share some of my opinion on sport. mainly on motorsport and F1 but these can vary to all sports.

I like to think I watch a lot of sport from football to Formula 1 to Karting, and I have noticed a very broad variety in sports personalities. Many professional athletes are commonly judged on how they react to certain scenarios.

Formula 1 shows my point here as drivers go on to win their first championship, you often see drivers slipping under the radar mid-season, for example Jenson Button in 2009 made a records matching start to the season winning six of seven raced, a record only achieve before by Michael Schumacher and someone else (dunno who).

However after that, Jenson only managed to average 6^th throughout the rest of the season, (though double diffusers may have had something to do with it) Jenson claimed he wasn’t happy with how unpredictable the cars handling had become. But commentators and analyst seemed to think Jenson wasn’t coping with the stress of leading the championship too well. Though he did comeback with an amazing storm through the grid at Brazil to take the championship, it’s this mid-season dip in performance I wish to talk about.....

I bought a kart!!!

I recently made a trip 'round to Bolton to buy a kart, ill keep this post short and sweet and ill give details when i post pictures and stuffs, the kart belonged to current EasyKart Junior drive Will Jeavons,

As you eagle eyed readers may have guessed , i bought an EasyKart,

For those who don't know, EasyKart is a project between popular Italian chassis manufacturers Birel and the American engine manufacturer IAME, they tried to make a series that is a step up from arrive and drive karting but keep the main basic principals, as everything is provided by EasyKart, and due to this costs have been kept relatively low.
....