NO Animal engines at SMP

[lance9]

I just saw on the SMP website that they won't allow animal engines. Are they just trying to sell engine packages or are they not able to TECH ANYTHING?

[Mark Enderlein]

Lance,
Not sure. I know their intent is more tech this year. The animal engines did not seem as competitive as the WF engines. Don't know why they are not allowed. Mark

[chrismiller85]

Hey, i just wanted to explain the reasoning behind this. As far as i can understand, this was done because of how cheap the world formula engines are to maintain in relation to the animals. The animals can have much more done to them when rebuilt thus being more expensive and the fear was that, specifically in the junior classes, people were going to start going crazy on rebuilds like they did in the days of the flat head. The world formula can be competitive almost out of the box and last for a ridiculous amount of time without a rebuild(i know someone in WF senior last year who won multiple races and spent under 400 dollars on his rebuild and plans to not rebuild it before the season(neither do i), if you can get 2 full seasons out of a 300 dollar rebuild that means the format is working well).

Overall, the class was very successful and it would be a shame if it lost the current competitiveness and cheapness(3 sets of tires for the whole season and no engine rebuilds). Initially this may be an investment for some but after having a world formula engine i can say that it's worth it and it will keep costs down in the long run.

I really do want to hear what you guys think about it though.

[lance9]

Thanks for the reply, my point is- BUYING A NEW MOTOR WILL NOT KEEP (MY) COSTS DOWN. $1200 to replace something I already own? You do the math. Other clubs make JR classes run THE OEM cam, on gas. Let me know when the track gets new asphalt.

[chrismiller85]

No i completely understand what you're saying and agree, however last year if i remember correctly we only had 1 animal in my class and he didn't even come to all the races, in the heavy class i'm not sure how many there were but if any there couldn't have been more than 1 or 2(im not sure if you were one of them or if you raced at stockholm) because of how few there are it makes sense that SMP would do this to prevent people from buying animals to get a competitive advantage by spending lots of money on rebuilds. This is just a much simpler format and better for the club as a whole. For those 1 or 2 people that did race animals at stockholm last year it will be unfortunate but if you race for a couple years im sure it will pay itself off.

"Let me know when the track gets new asphalt"

Just curious if this means you dont race there because the track is too rough or...."

Thanks,
Chris

[AdamLecy00]

Chris is right, it does suck that you have to buy a whole new motor, but the goal of not allowing animals is to save money in the long run. I used to run animals and trust me the WF package is much cheaper. In my opinion you could be competitive with a WF right out of the box, as long as you have the kart setup correctly. I blue printed mine for a little over 300 dollars last year and I won a few races with it. I am still deciding whether I want to get it rebuilt for this coming season or not. Thats how long these motors can last. WF is easily the cheapest class I have ever competed in during my 8 years of kart racing.

[cschill]

Come and race dirt and you will have many other Animals to play with. Cedar Mills, Thnunderhill both have Aninmals classes ;D