The 2024 season has been very positive for CRG...
«Yes, indeed we have shined in all categories proving that CRG is working well by offering a product of the highest quality and always competitive in all circumstances. We won the Championship OK World Championship with Ethan Jeff-Hall, but we have performed well in every national and international, always seizing excellent results and often finding ourselves in a position to win.»
Today's karting is fought on the edge of hundredths of a second, just look at the gap between the first and last time of the finishers in a race to realize that they are all within a handful of tenths of a second. What is this leveling of performance due to?
«Easy answer: the tires. Hard tires are the worst thing in current karting. In the room of buttons are convinced that hard tires lead to lower costs, so they impose them in all categories. Unfortunately, this is not the case, and even the “pillion” eventually struggles to emerge because with these tires you cannot afford to pull a break or attempt a number without ending up off line. Obviously, in these conditions, it is very difficult to make a difference and the pilots do not have as much fun as they could. The thing we all know is that on hard tires you don't save anything. The soft tire offers performance as long as you see the small reference holes in the tread, while the hard tire has a drop drastic drop in performance after a few laps. We ourselves, when we do engine testing, have to change tires every shift because otherwise we end up not understanding anything. The hard tire is the current evil in karting and it is something that absolutely must be changed. Those in charge of the sport, unfortunately, do not understand it because they have no experience and knowledge of karting: they think they are doing good, instead they are doing harm to our sport.»
You manufacturers and tire makers, if you would, could give your negative opinion on the current tires, or wrong?
«Not so, unfortunately. We have no weight in these choices. I don't think any of us could ever speak well of these tires. I'll give you an example: the Maxxis is a very good tire and it surprised me positively. Dunlop, which makes great tires, has two types of tires: Prime and Option. Prime is a softer, higher performance tire, the Option is harder. What did they choose in KZ? The Option. KZ today is the queen of karting, and they go and put a hard tire that penalizes the show, increases costs and levels the values in the field by penalizing the drivers. This needs to be changed.»
Today karting is divided, more than ever, into two big blocks: the professional and the amateur. I liked, in my racing days, to compare myself with the best at the international level. Today the things have changed...
«I agree with this change and it has to stay that way. It was Oddino Domenichini (president of the FIK-ndr) who brought this forward, preventing official drivers from going to race among the Sunday racers who, by not getting results, might have drifted away from the sport. Based on research that we, the manufacturers, paid for, an 80-85 percent of our business is to the hobbyists, the Sunday racers. If you count that at Lonato, Franciacorta and Cremona every Sunday there are 150 drivers who ride and they are all at the amateur level, it adds up. And we have to defend this category that allows karting to still exist.»
How could one expand on amateur karting, which, at certain tracks and certain parts of Italy, is not facing a particularly bright period?
«Today's karting is physically very hard and economically expensive. In the United States, the most most successful is the Briggs & Stratton one-make with 4-stroke engines. Anyone can get to the track, run around all day without having broken arms and have fun. In my opinion, such a category would do a lot of good for current karting. Even a professional or a guy studying can have fun on the weekend without crazy expenses and having fun.»
With the advent of OK we have seen some one-brands go into crisis. How do you see this situation?
«Mah, single-brands are important for karting and for the manufacturers who, without them, might have problems economically as it provides that flywheel effect that the manufacturers need. Of course, OKN is a great category that costs less than, for example, X30 but offers performance clearly superior. Of course the X30 has suffered. Eliminating the one-makes from the Italian Championship was been a right choice, a natural separation.»
What do you think of the wheel covers that have been tried lately?
«I find them unwatchable crap, pass me that term. In fact, I refused to attend that test. E consider that I am a big supporter of the rear bumper, which if it had been there all those years ago would have saved Andrea Margutti and prevented so many other bad accidents. To avert the dangers it would be enough to modify the rear bumper by covering a part of the wheel in the rear side, so as to avoid the catapult effect. But, as usual, there is no competence at the international federation level and these are the results. The karts with fenders cannot be seen, they are a real crap. It is the first part of the tire that blows off in case of contact, but it seems they haven't figured that out...»
Next year CRG's team principal will be Jeremy Iglesias. What is this choice due to?
«Jeremy is a World Champion, a smart guy and well liked by everyone who, at the right time appropriate, knows how to talk to the technical and sports commissioners in addition to having a wealth of experience huge on the track. He was the ideal figure to work alongside Natalia and Brandon, who will remain with the the CRG team though under his direction. I am sure that Jeremy will be an important added value for our official team.»
edited by Pierluigi Mancini
«Yes, indeed we have shined in all categories proving that CRG is working well by offering a product of the highest quality and always competitive in all circumstances. We won the Championship OK World Championship with Ethan Jeff-Hall, but we have performed well in every national and international, always seizing excellent results and often finding ourselves in a position to win.»
Today's karting is fought on the edge of hundredths of a second, just look at the gap between the first and last time of the finishers in a race to realize that they are all within a handful of tenths of a second. What is this leveling of performance due to?
«Easy answer: the tires. Hard tires are the worst thing in current karting. In the room of buttons are convinced that hard tires lead to lower costs, so they impose them in all categories. Unfortunately, this is not the case, and even the “pillion” eventually struggles to emerge because with these tires you cannot afford to pull a break or attempt a number without ending up off line. Obviously, in these conditions, it is very difficult to make a difference and the pilots do not have as much fun as they could. The thing we all know is that on hard tires you don't save anything. The soft tire offers performance as long as you see the small reference holes in the tread, while the hard tire has a drop drastic drop in performance after a few laps. We ourselves, when we do engine testing, have to change tires every shift because otherwise we end up not understanding anything. The hard tire is the current evil in karting and it is something that absolutely must be changed. Those in charge of the sport, unfortunately, do not understand it because they have no experience and knowledge of karting: they think they are doing good, instead they are doing harm to our sport.»
You manufacturers and tire makers, if you would, could give your negative opinion on the current tires, or wrong?
«Not so, unfortunately. We have no weight in these choices. I don't think any of us could ever speak well of these tires. I'll give you an example: the Maxxis is a very good tire and it surprised me positively. Dunlop, which makes great tires, has two types of tires: Prime and Option. Prime is a softer, higher performance tire, the Option is harder. What did they choose in KZ? The Option. KZ today is the queen of karting, and they go and put a hard tire that penalizes the show, increases costs and levels the values in the field by penalizing the drivers. This needs to be changed.»
Today karting is divided, more than ever, into two big blocks: the professional and the amateur. I liked, in my racing days, to compare myself with the best at the international level. Today the things have changed...
«I agree with this change and it has to stay that way. It was Oddino Domenichini (president of the FIK-ndr) who brought this forward, preventing official drivers from going to race among the Sunday racers who, by not getting results, might have drifted away from the sport. Based on research that we, the manufacturers, paid for, an 80-85 percent of our business is to the hobbyists, the Sunday racers. If you count that at Lonato, Franciacorta and Cremona every Sunday there are 150 drivers who ride and they are all at the amateur level, it adds up. And we have to defend this category that allows karting to still exist.»
How could one expand on amateur karting, which, at certain tracks and certain parts of Italy, is not facing a particularly bright period?
«Today's karting is physically very hard and economically expensive. In the United States, the most most successful is the Briggs & Stratton one-make with 4-stroke engines. Anyone can get to the track, run around all day without having broken arms and have fun. In my opinion, such a category would do a lot of good for current karting. Even a professional or a guy studying can have fun on the weekend without crazy expenses and having fun.»
With the advent of OK we have seen some one-brands go into crisis. How do you see this situation?
«Mah, single-brands are important for karting and for the manufacturers who, without them, might have problems economically as it provides that flywheel effect that the manufacturers need. Of course, OKN is a great category that costs less than, for example, X30 but offers performance clearly superior. Of course the X30 has suffered. Eliminating the one-makes from the Italian Championship was been a right choice, a natural separation.»
What do you think of the wheel covers that have been tried lately?
«I find them unwatchable crap, pass me that term. In fact, I refused to attend that test. E consider that I am a big supporter of the rear bumper, which if it had been there all those years ago would have saved Andrea Margutti and prevented so many other bad accidents. To avert the dangers it would be enough to modify the rear bumper by covering a part of the wheel in the rear side, so as to avoid the catapult effect. But, as usual, there is no competence at the international federation level and these are the results. The karts with fenders cannot be seen, they are a real crap. It is the first part of the tire that blows off in case of contact, but it seems they haven't figured that out...»
Next year CRG's team principal will be Jeremy Iglesias. What is this choice due to?
«Jeremy is a World Champion, a smart guy and well liked by everyone who, at the right time appropriate, knows how to talk to the technical and sports commissioners in addition to having a wealth of experience huge on the track. He was the ideal figure to work alongside Natalia and Brandon, who will remain with the the CRG team though under his direction. I am sure that Jeremy will be an important added value for our official team.»
edited by Pierluigi Mancini
