THE START PROCEDURE
Additional situations you need to be aware of prior to any start also include the following :-
•The track must be clear of all karts from the preceding race before the next class is allowed to enter the track from the out grid.
•All karts must be under their own motive power before reaching the "No Go" line or the last kart must enter the track from the out grid before the last kart in the field crosses the "No Go" line.
•Any kart not meeting the above criteria cannot start the race and with the authorisation of the Race Director/Clerk of Course (RD/CoC) an Open Black flag with the kart's number must be displayed to that kart at or near the start/finish line before the race is started.
After a suitable "warm up" without excessive weaving, braking or speed, etc. the karts must slow and be settled in close formation at a steady speed BEFORE they reach the Red Formation Line.
Warming up the tyres before a race start.
The rolling start laps procedure (Rule J2.10) gives competitors the opportunity to do a faster warm up lap to warm up tyres.
The field should all be line astern, not passing anyone but weaving if they wish to generate heat in their tyres but not by weaving across the full width of the track. When the pole kart crosses the Blue Slow Down Line for the second time they must slow to formation speed as per J2.11 and weaving is no longer permitted and the field must form into close formation.
Warmed up tyres equals less accidents at the first corner!
Any kart that has been signalled to move forward by a race official to regain their allocated grid position because they lost their grid position through no fault of their own, MUST regain their allocated grid position BEFORE the leading karts reach the Formation Line, otherwise they must start from the back of the grid. The driver will usually raise their arm to indicate to a race official that they are out of position.
Any other kart out of their allocated grid position and not signalled by a race official to regain their grid position must start from the rear of the grid.
lf a competitor does attempt to regain their grid position and you start the race, you can advise the RD/CoC, who may decide to exclude the driver from that race instead of you calling a Judge of Fact (JoF) decision with a time penalty.
From the Formation Line the karts are to proceed to the Start Zone Line at a slow and constant speed that is approximately 25 to 35% of race speed as assessed solely by the judgment of the Starter and/or Race Director. ie. there is to be no weaving, accelerating, braking or avoidable contact with the kart immediately ahead or behind.
During a rolling start if a kart or group of karts have no legitimate reason for not being in close formation with the rest of the field DO NOT wait for them, start the race.
We often don't have the luxury of time during what can be a very full race program.
ln the winter months in particular you need to be aware that the daylight hours are reduced and this must be considered. Some tracks may have a curfew that must be observed.
As the starter you essentially have 3 choices as the karts approach the start :-
1.If all the karts are in the correct formation and at the correct speed you can start the race.
2.If any karts are out of formation or there are other problems, you can start the race and lodge a Judge of Fact report identifying the offending kart/s that did not respect the start procedure rules. This is the preferred option.
| 3. | If any karts are out of formation or there are other problems and you cannot start the race, send the field around for another rolling lap. |
In this situation you do not make any Judge of Fact reports but you can advise the race officials what the problem was so that they can attempt to signal this to the driver(s) on the next rolling lap so the issue is corrected when they next face the starter.
Option 3 above should only be used if there are multiple issues and starting the race would be manifestly unjust to the remaining karts who were in their correct position.
As a general rule this option should only be necessary once during a starting procedure.
Standing start and Rolling start procedures are described in Rules J2.8, J2.10 and J2.11. Please read and reread these to be fully conversant with them.
The RD/CoC will normally brief the starter and any assistants on the KZ2 standing start procedure before the event commences.
It is important that all parties involved in the KZ2 standing start procedure on the day, all have a clear understanding of their individual roles and objectives.
It is highly recommended that you learn from someone who has previous experience in the standing start procedure.
Standing Start Formation is shown above (Diagram #2) There are three key people involved, the starter, a person at the front of the field with a RED flag and a person at the back of the field with a GREEN flag. It is critical that these people with the red and green flags know what to do as they are providing you, the starter, with key information via their actions.
Gaps on the grid must always be left as gaps, this includes Rolling starts.
When the field is released from the out grid, the Pit Marshall should note any gaps on the grid and communicate this to both the Starter and Race Control.