I will try and help where I can, my experience is with SL1 tyres, and have found little difference in wear on tyres compared to running on asphalt. The major difference is that the tyres do not feather and feel smooth and hot when you come off the track.
Come race days, the track does get faster during the meet, ie times between the Sugar City meet and this morning are a second slower (did rain earlier in the week, and it was 13 degrees so it took a bit to warm up), by lunch the times were getting quicker again.
The track it self is about 80% new surface and is fairly grippy, it has 6 low speed corners and the very long straight. From my own experience I have a lot of push in corners on SL1 tyres. After the cyclone, the lap times dropped, so it may have been sand blasted but who knows.
As for wet weather definately stay off the racing line, a good wet weather asphalt set up will work on concrete.
It is not much different in regards to setup to racing on concrete, all depends on your style, the only changes I make to the karts when racing at Rocky or Townsville, are really in regards to slightly lower tyre pressures, rear track and gearing. If you have never raced on concrete, don't panic the track is smooth, grip is good and the racing is great.
le on May 7, 2010 at 22:48
Dont wanna give to much away but when i first dropped my kart on the track i had way to much grip (almost two wheeling) and was dialing it down to find speed as for tyre wear it makes the tyres act strangely you dont get the normal tyre wear pattern a set of reds almost look like dunlops after a weekend but thats just the smooth surface of the track doing that as for the track itself its very fast an kind of unforgiving if you stuff up which makes it a great drive not many passing points to....
Thanks for the feedback guys, anyone else got feedback for the mackay surface?
le on May 10, 2010 at 6:33
the new section of the track is quite smooth like foot path concreate is reeally grippy but offline is horrible the old section that is in the centre is extremely corse and very very grippy makes ur tyres really bite in and the lift you get is huge
Gerry Brookes said:Thanks for the feedback guys, anyone else got feedback for the mackay surface?
Might have to recant some of the above comments, Supercheap round 2 racing at Mackay, I know my lap times were 1.5 seconds faster than sugar city, and the SL1's were actually looking feathered after a race rather than polished.
There were some unbelievable times posted by some of the faster drivers, so big fields and lots of practice prior to racing equals extremely fast track at Mackay, and some awesome nose to tail racing (all beit exhausting).
For those wanting a really good Leopard Heavy setup, talk to Brenden Neilson (doubt he will let the secret out till after the states), he had that thing singing, was truly awesome to watch.
Thanks for the feedback.
Anyone else have feedback from mackay?
Rod Lansdowne said:Might have to recant some of the above comments, Supercheap round 2 racing at Mackay, I know my lap times were 1.5 seconds faster than sugar city, and the SL1's were actually looking feathered after a race rather than polished.
There were some unbelievable times posted by some of the faster drivers, so big fields and lots of practice prior to racing equals extremely fast track at Mackay, and some awesome nose to tail racing (all beit exhausting).
For those wanting a really good Leopard Heavy setup, talk to Brenden Neilson (doubt he will let the secret out till after the states), he had that thing singing, was truly awesome to watch.
we have found the new track has more grip than bitumen on both mg rubber and sl1. the track is nice and smooth apart from the old part of the track but that is only a small section. the tight bottom corner coming onto the straight has absoultly no grip and feels like the kart is floating i no it sounds weird but you will no what i mean when you go round it. if you got any specific questions just ask ill try and answers as good as i can
what are you talking about matt theres heaps of passing points you just have to have balls lol not trying to have a go at you or anything
Matt Hibble said:Dont wanna give to much away but when i first dropped my kart on the track i had way to much grip (almost two wheeling) and was dialing it down to find speed as for tyre wear it makes the tyres act strangely you dont get the normal tyre wear pattern a set of reds almost look like dunlops after a weekend but thats just the smooth surface of the track doing that as for the track itself its very fast an kind of unforgiving if you stuff up which makes it a great drive not many passing points to....
we raced last weekend - first time there. - one on reds, one on yellows. Luke (on yellows) said there was one or two corners where the grip level was a little different to the rest - maybe explained by the different concrete as stated previously. Both the boys loved it, passing on almost every corner (I was concerned it would be one line) and the track got faster as the day progressed. We took grip out of the rear on the Leopard - and set fastest times of the weekend. The clubbie kart - put smaller hubs on the rear to lose grip ....went great. A few spots of rain (bugger all) saw lap times drop immediately by 6 tenths.....so a wet track may be scary (pray for no rain).
Honestly though, consistent as all hell, plenty of grip, and much better to race on (and as a venue) than many of the bitumen tracks we have been to over the years..... If you don't go to the states cause "it's concrete, not bitumen" you will kick yourself....
Yes Luke kart did look good in leopard but he was using the NEW MG Yellow tyre which i was told will be the new tyre for Leopard come 1st July where as Shay, Cian and Brooke was using the current tyre. The new ones are flat like the MG Reds and just by watching Luke's kart had better turn in then the other guys and was able to carry more speed into the corner.
The question is: Which tyres are going to be used for the states?
The track is excellent.
John Lane said:we raced last weekend - first time there. - one on reds, one on yellows. Luke (on yellows) said there was one or two corners where the grip level was a little different to the rest - maybe explained by the different concrete as stated previously. Both the boys loved it, passing on almost every corner (I was concerned it would be one line) and the track got faster as the day progressed. We took grip out of the rear on the Leopard - and set fastest times of the weekend. The clubbie kart - put smaller hubs on the rear to lose grip ....went great. A few spots of rain (bugger all) saw lap times drop immediately by 6 tenths.....so a wet track may be scary (pray for no rain).Honestly though, consistent as all hell, plenty of grip, and much better to race on (and as a venue) than many of the bitumen tracks we have been to over the years..... If you don't go to the states cause "it's concrete, not bitumen" you will kick yourself....
Thanks for all your comments and feedback on Mackay guys, it confirms what i had thought as for many years we owned a kart hire track that was concrete and it was great fun. We might even see some 2 wheeling action at the states if the concrete holds the rubber well.
Lance Mayes said:Yes Luke kart did look good in leopard but he was using the NEW MG Yellow tyre which i was told will be the new tyre for Leopard come 1st July where as Shay, Cian and Brooke was using the current tyre. The new ones are flat like the MG Reds and just by watching Luke's kart had better turn in then the other guys and was able to carry more speed into the corner. The question is: Which tyres are going to be used for the states?
The track is excellent.
John Lane said:we raced last weekend - first time there. - one on reds, one on yellows. Luke (on yellows) said there was one or two corners where the grip level was a little different to the rest - maybe explained by the different concrete as stated previously. Both the boys loved it, passing on almost every corner (I was concerned it would be one line) and the track got faster as the day progressed. We took grip out of the rear on the Leopard - and set fastest times of the weekend. The clubbie kart - put smaller hubs on the rear to lose grip ....went great. A few spots of rain (bugger all) saw lap times drop immediately by 6 tenths.....so a wet track may be scary (pray for no rain).Honestly though, consistent as all hell, plenty of grip, and much better to race on (and as a venue) than many of the bitumen tracks we have been to over the years..... If you don't go to the states cause "it's concrete, not bitumen" you will kick yourself....
lol agreed
luke caputo said:what are you talking about matt theres heaps of passing points you just have to have balls lol not trying to have a go at you or anythingMatt Hibble said:Dont wanna give to much away but when i first dropped my kart on the track i had way to much grip (almost two wheeling) and was dialing it down to find speed as for tyre wear it makes the tyres act strangely you dont get the normal tyre wear pattern a set of reds almost look like dunlops after a weekend but thats just the smooth surface of the track doing that as for the track itself its very fast an kind of unforgiving if you stuff up which makes it a great drive not many passing points to....
Comments12
I will try and help where I can, my experience is with SL1 tyres, and have found little difference in wear on tyres compared to running on asphalt. The major difference is that the tyres do not feather and feel smooth and hot when you come off the track.
Come race days, the track does get faster during the meet, ie times between the Sugar City meet and this morning are a second slower (did rain earlier in the week, and it was 13 degrees so it took a bit to warm up), by lunch the times were getting quicker again.
The track it self is about 80% new surface and is fairly grippy, it has 6 low speed corners and the very long straight. From my own experience I have a lot of push in corners on SL1 tyres. After the cyclone, the lap times dropped, so it may have been sand blasted but who knows.
As for wet weather definately stay off the racing line, a good wet weather asphalt set up will work on concrete.
It is not much different in regards to setup to racing on concrete, all depends on your style, the only changes I make to the karts when racing at Rocky or Townsville, are really in regards to slightly lower tyre pressures, rear track and gearing. If you have never raced on concrete, don't panic the track is smooth, grip is good and the racing is great.
le on May 7, 2010 at 22:48
Dont wanna give to much away but when i first dropped my kart on the track i had way to much grip (almost two wheeling) and was dialing it down to find speed as for tyre wear it makes the tyres act strangely you dont get the normal tyre wear pattern a set of reds almost look like dunlops after a weekend but thats just the smooth surface of the track doing that as for the track itself its very fast an kind of unforgiving if you stuff up which makes it a great drive not many passing points to....
Thanks for the feedback guys, anyone else got feedback for the mackay surface?
le on May 10, 2010 at 6:33
the new section of the track is quite smooth like foot path concreate is reeally grippy but offline is horrible the old section that is in the centre is extremely corse and very very grippy makes ur tyres really bite in and the lift you get is huge
Gerry Brookes said:Thanks for the feedback guys, anyone else got feedback for the mackay surface?
Might have to recant some of the above comments, Supercheap round 2 racing at Mackay, I know my lap times were 1.5 seconds faster than sugar city, and the SL1's were actually looking feathered after a race rather than polished.
There were some unbelievable times posted by some of the faster drivers, so big fields and lots of practice prior to racing equals extremely fast track at Mackay, and some awesome nose to tail racing (all beit exhausting).
For those wanting a really good Leopard Heavy setup, talk to Brenden Neilson (doubt he will let the secret out till after the states), he had that thing singing, was truly awesome to watch.
Thanks for the feedback.
Anyone else have feedback from mackay?
Rod Lansdowne said:Might have to recant some of the above comments, Supercheap round 2 racing at Mackay, I know my lap times were 1.5 seconds faster than sugar city, and the SL1's were actually looking feathered after a race rather than polished.
There were some unbelievable times posted by some of the faster drivers, so big fields and lots of practice prior to racing equals extremely fast track at Mackay, and some awesome nose to tail racing (all beit exhausting).
For those wanting a really good Leopard Heavy setup, talk to Brenden Neilson (doubt he will let the secret out till after the states), he had that thing singing, was truly awesome to watch.
we have found the new track has more grip than bitumen on both mg rubber and sl1. the track is nice and smooth apart from the old part of the track but that is only a small section. the tight bottom corner coming onto the straight has absoultly no grip and feels like the kart is floating i no it sounds weird but you will no what i mean when you go round it. if you got any specific questions just ask ill try and answers as good as i can
what are you talking about matt theres heaps of passing points you just have to have balls lol not trying to have a go at you or anything
Matt Hibble said:Dont wanna give to much away but when i first dropped my kart on the track i had way to much grip (almost two wheeling) and was dialing it down to find speed as for tyre wear it makes the tyres act strangely you dont get the normal tyre wear pattern a set of reds almost look like dunlops after a weekend but thats just the smooth surface of the track doing that as for the track itself its very fast an kind of unforgiving if you stuff up which makes it a great drive not many passing points to....
we raced last weekend - first time there. - one on reds, one on yellows. Luke (on yellows) said there was one or two corners where the grip level was a little different to the rest - maybe explained by the different concrete as stated previously. Both the boys loved it, passing on almost every corner (I was concerned it would be one line) and the track got faster as the day progressed. We took grip out of the rear on the Leopard - and set fastest times of the weekend. The clubbie kart - put smaller hubs on the rear to lose grip ....went great. A few spots of rain (bugger all) saw lap times drop immediately by 6 tenths.....so a wet track may be scary (pray for no rain).
Honestly though, consistent as all hell, plenty of grip, and much better to race on (and as a venue) than many of the bitumen tracks we have been to over the years..... If you don't go to the states cause "it's concrete, not bitumen" you will kick yourself....
Yes Luke kart did look good in leopard but he was using the NEW MG Yellow tyre which i was told will be the new tyre for Leopard come 1st July where as Shay, Cian and Brooke was using the current tyre. The new ones are flat like the MG Reds and just by watching Luke's kart had better turn in then the other guys and was able to carry more speed into the corner.
The question is: Which tyres are going to be used for the states?
The track is excellent.
John Lane said:we raced last weekend - first time there. - one on reds, one on yellows. Luke (on yellows) said there was one or two corners where the grip level was a little different to the rest - maybe explained by the different concrete as stated previously. Both the boys loved it, passing on almost every corner (I was concerned it would be one line) and the track got faster as the day progressed. We took grip out of the rear on the Leopard - and set fastest times of the weekend. The clubbie kart - put smaller hubs on the rear to lose grip ....went great. A few spots of rain (bugger all) saw lap times drop immediately by 6 tenths.....so a wet track may be scary (pray for no rain).Honestly though, consistent as all hell, plenty of grip, and much better to race on (and as a venue) than many of the bitumen tracks we have been to over the years..... If you don't go to the states cause "it's concrete, not bitumen" you will kick yourself....
Thanks for all your comments and feedback on Mackay guys, it confirms what i had thought as for many years we owned a kart hire track that was concrete and it was great fun. We might even see some 2 wheeling action at the states if the concrete holds the rubber well.
Lance Mayes said:Yes Luke kart did look good in leopard but he was using the NEW MG Yellow tyre which i was told will be the new tyre for Leopard come 1st July where as Shay, Cian and Brooke was using the current tyre. The new ones are flat like the MG Reds and just by watching Luke's kart had better turn in then the other guys and was able to carry more speed into the corner. The question is: Which tyres are going to be used for the states?
The track is excellent.
John Lane said:we raced last weekend - first time there. - one on reds, one on yellows. Luke (on yellows) said there was one or two corners where the grip level was a little different to the rest - maybe explained by the different concrete as stated previously. Both the boys loved it, passing on almost every corner (I was concerned it would be one line) and the track got faster as the day progressed. We took grip out of the rear on the Leopard - and set fastest times of the weekend. The clubbie kart - put smaller hubs on the rear to lose grip ....went great. A few spots of rain (bugger all) saw lap times drop immediately by 6 tenths.....so a wet track may be scary (pray for no rain).Honestly though, consistent as all hell, plenty of grip, and much better to race on (and as a venue) than many of the bitumen tracks we have been to over the years..... If you don't go to the states cause "it's concrete, not bitumen" you will kick yourself....
lol agreed
luke caputo said:what are you talking about matt theres heaps of passing points you just have to have balls lol not trying to have a go at you or anythingMatt Hibble said:Dont wanna give to much away but when i first dropped my kart on the track i had way to much grip (almost two wheeling) and was dialing it down to find speed as for tyre wear it makes the tyres act strangely you dont get the normal tyre wear pattern a set of reds almost look like dunlops after a weekend but thats just the smooth surface of the track doing that as for the track itself its very fast an kind of unforgiving if you stuff up which makes it a great drive not many passing points to....