The many Endurance Karting enthusiasts are well aware of the two most popular race formats for this type of event: the ones with the go-kart changes made during each pit stop, or the ones with a kart assigned by drawing lots at the start of the race that the team will have to manage throughout the entire event. Since the 1st edition of the 24 Hours Karting of Italy CRG has chosen to assign the karts to the teams and leave them under their management for the whole event.
In this environment there are drivers who are in favor of one choice or the other, so in order to understand CRG’s motivations in supporting the philosophy of not alternating all available karts, using driver changes, we have asked the event manager Marco Angeletti for the reasons for such choice:
“First of all, on the premise that both formats have pros and cons, it must be said that our choice was made by weighing some specific prerogatives of our event. Above all, CRG makes all new karts available to the teams and therefore the differences between one vehicle and the other are really limited. It is very different, in fact, when using a fleet of karts used for these events, because despite the pre-race reviews, it is very difficult to equate engines and chassis with several hours of use.
Furthermore, there are two other specific reasons to support our choice: the first is linked to the desire to test the reliability of our karts over such a demanding distance as this event is part of the activities to promote and develop our Rental products; the second one concerns the fact of allowing the team to manage their own vehicle, safeguarding it from unnecessary contacts, off-tracks and even from a stressful use of the engine. By assigning a kart to each team only, the ranking also rewards its reliability and the team’s ability to manage it, both important factors in Endurance races.
It should be noted that we do in-depth pre-race tests to assess the balance of performance of individual karts. Furthermore, our service area is professional and is able to solve any problems, even by relying on replacement karts. In other events we have used the kart change at each pit stop, but we do not believe it is necessary when the kart fleet is new. On the other hand, it would penalize the teams most able to manage the vehicle and who could find themselves in some driving stints a badly managed kart by an opposing crew. Furthermore, our conviction was also supported by the rankings of the first two editions of the race in which the first 3 teams reached the finish line in the same lap, with a gap of a few second onlys. It is a fact that the level of the top teams is very high and the most experienced drivers know how to manage the vehicle in an exceptional way during the race and depriving them of this possibility seems wrong to us, also because knowing how to manage the kart during the whole event has always been a prerogative of Endurance races. Every year we try to be more efficient with the assistance and with the tests carried out by our testers and we are sure we can provide all teams with go-karts capable of competing with minimal differences between them”.
