Our intent on this site is to provide information
that might be helpful to the new kart racer. Although this site is
created
to provide information to other racers, we do not profess to be experts
in karting matters. In fact we know that there are many others that
would
be more qualified to provide this information. We make no guaranties
that
our information will work for you, but I will say that we are not
trying
to throw anyone off course with bad information. Our experience is in
the
Honda four cycle classes, and we have no experience in other areas of
the
sport. Helping new racers become competitive quickly makes the sport
more
fun and competitive for us all.
It is also an opportunity to publicly recognize
our sponsors and those that have helped us with our karting endeavors.
Much of it will be tainted with my personal opinions
about the sport. I also manage the Southern Interior Karting
Association
web site, which I try to keep as unbiased as possible, so this is the
place
where we can have our say. Hopefully this site will help you understand
how one family enjoys the sport of kart racing, and perhaps we can help
a potential new racer get started in a great activity.
Ancient History:
Our karting activities started in 1961 when John
and brother Mike, pooled summer job earnings to buy our first real
go-kart.
It was a new (old stock) go-kart made by Tats Gatley in Vancouver. The
kart was a precursor to his popular "Hornet" models and was quite a
heavy
chassis. We added an Al Charters built McCulloch MC-6 from Walter Bott.
Total price was $130 for the kart plus $50 for the engine. We then
joined
the British Columbia Go-kart Association so we could practice and race
at their track on Fell Avenue in Burnaby. We soon found out that our
kart
was too heavy to be competitive, so John built a new lighter chassis in
High School shop class using components from the Gatley Kart (wheels,
rear
axle, brake). The new kart came in about 95 pounds ready to run (no
bumpers,
nerf bars, bodywork, etc.). In those days there were no minimum weight
limits for the classes.
With the new chassis we entered a few races at
BCGKA,
Westwood's new track, and another new track in Richmond on Sidaway
Road.
We were able to share the kart as Mike entered the Junior class while
John
ran in Senior. Mike even managed to get a podium or two. We couldn't
afford
to keep up with the advancements needed to be competitive as new
engines
came out yearly, so we gave up and sold the kart in 1964. It was 34
years
before the karting bug bit again.
More Recent History:
Although John and son Gary had talked about trying
karting again for several years, it seamed out of reach as there were
no
clubs in the Okanagan area where we live now. Then we heard of the
formation
of a new club based in Vernon in 1997. This was all it took. We bought
an old Swiss Hutless rolling chassis from Ralph Oakes (he told us about
the new club, hmm). At this point we hadn't decided what class we would
get into as we still needed an engine. Gary and I wanted to
share the kart with Gary in the light division and me in heavy. We
were considering either a Yamaha KT100 or a Honda 4 cycle, while
leaning
towards the Yamaha because of our weight. Also, as the SIKA club was
having
some difficulty getting races going we wanted to check out the clubs in
the Vancouver area to see what class and club would suit us best. Gary
and I went to the coast one weekend when both the Westwood and Cultus
Lake
clubs were having races, in March 1998.
Of the two clubs the Cultus club was a lot smaller (having just
started,
itself) and a lot more receptive to helping new members get started. It
was also apparent that the Honda 4 cycles were the lowest cost to run
and
that you could have fun with them. When we walked into the pits at
Cultus
it didn't take long to meet Julian Grace, George Fellner, Russell Walsh
and John Rimschnider, who all gave us the sell job. We joined up and
got
a Honda.
Gary and John started racing the Swiss Hutless /
Honda 5.5 in 1998 at Cultus Lake with a couple of side trips to
Quesnel,
where they had just opened a fabulous new track. We shared the kart by
switching seats from large to extra large between heats. We learned as
the season progressed. In our first race we were lapped by everyone
(some
twice). By the end of the season Gary had won his first race and I
wasn't
last. The rest of the family were coming out to help in the pits and
cheer
us on. Gary's girlfriend, Terri, was a devoted time-keeper and
photographer
and documented our activities. Andrea (wife) and Christy (daughter)
were
there for support and Mike and his family were coming out to see what
we
were doing. As Mike lives in the Fraser Valley, race weekends at Cultus
became a family get-together. Mike and his son Alan were soon making
plans
to get Alan into a Red Baron Nuova kart for the 1999 season.
By the end of the 1998 season Christy also
decided
she wanted to give it a try. Gary thought that sharing our kart three
ways
would be too much work and decided to get his own kart, a used Birel
AR-4
from Williams Lake with a Honda on it. Mike held off another year
before
he too started racing his own kart, another Red Baron in 2000. We now
had
five Greggs all racing Honda 5.5's.
Even More Recent History:
Well, some time has past since this page was last
updated (about 3 years). You might say the team is winding down as far
as our racing participation is going. I'm (John) the only one left
committed
to race this year. Gary and Christy are at the stage where other family
duties make it unfeasible to devote the time and money to a race
season.
Though still interested, they have hung it up for a while. Alan is off
at college and pursuing his other interest, acting and stage
management,
and Mike's back will not stand it any more. We still have a good bunch
of folks racing Hondas at our local club (SIKA) and I still enjoy
getting
out and dicing with them. We don't take things too serious, but when
the
green flag drops.... well you get the picture. At the same time, Mike
and
I are still involved in executive positions with the BCKCA
regional organization as well as our activities with our local clubs.
