It's funny not having anything to work on during the off season. Not funny ha-ha but funny as in a fish out of water. At every season end for the past six years we would engage in the same ritual. Clear the trailer of everything, move it to our basement, and begin the tear down and build up process. Not this year though.
Those test days behind the wheel of that Rotax powered Merlin had one heck of an effect on us. We just couldn't see ourselves doing anything but that next season. But I should first define "we" as my son and I. My wife, who is also the chief financier and for the most part our voice of reason, is not 100% on board with this idea. And given the fact that the economy is pinching us worse than a fat guy in a speedo, she may be right.
The problem with this, and the reason why daddy doesn't have anything to work on this year, is that we sold EVERYTHING about a month ago. Yep, the kart and all of its spares along with specialty tools, clutches, engines, starters, fuel jugs and just about anything that was irrelevant to us in the Rotax world has been sold off to the highest bidder. All to free up cash and make way for the new chassis and engine.
The obstacle in this case is two fold. The first hurdle to clear is in the fact that the new rolling chassis costs more than we collected for the total lot of old equipment. Sold it too cheap you say? Maybe, but there is a significant difference in base costs of our old chassis verses the new one. And with today's economy you can't ask a king's ransom for anything. You darn near have to give it away and even in those cases you're not guaranteed anything. We happen to know someone selling two complete karts with dozens of spares at half the price we were asking and they still haven't gotten a bite!
The engine package is proving to be quite the hurdle in itself. It's more than twice the price of our old power plant and in general adds the cost of another kart to the equation. So we're basically going to have to lay out enough cash to purchase two karts (in our old world) to compete in this new arena with one. This is where my wife, their mother, and basically the CFO of Inch Hi Motor sports comes in. After all she is to us what ING is to Renault. What Vodafone is to McLaren. What Cher was to Sonny!
So where we stand today is still a guess. We've discussed the possibility of not going Rotax but instead, try TaG or maybe even go back to the HPV (Ehuum, KPV). The TaG would be just about even with the Rotax in regards to power, and the HPV has been home to us for three years so they both have their advantages. What neither option has is the marketing machine that stands behind Rotax and the opportunity to compete in the world finals every year. This year they were contested in Egypt!
But coming down from the clouds, the decision to pursue this particular class was fueled purely by grins. On both of our faces! He couldn't stop smiling from the time he came down pit lane to the time we gave it back to the dealer. And I was elated to be working with a power plant that was more similar to engines in my auto racing days.
Whichever road we choose, we'll keep you up to date on our decision. Have a great holiday and a prosperous and healthy new year.
