By Tom Scott
Adaptive sports gets a fuel injection.
What is the most heart-stomping, adrenaline-inducing adaptive sport in the world today? Some might say rugby, or maybe basketball or hockey, but times are changing fast. Strap yourself into a kart and rocket to speeds in excess of 60 mph with your backside about 2 inches from the asphalt and your fond memories of competing in those other sports will fade fast.
Karting has a rich history, deeply rooted in motorsports. It’s also considered a “relatively” low-cost and safe way to introduce people to motor racing. Many professional drivers began their careers on kart tracks across the country, pruning their skills for a chance to compete on a bigger stage, such as Formula One. But thanks to adaptive technology, karting isn’t just for people comfortable behind a gas and brake pedal anymore, or for those embarking on a career in racing. Just as the industry has witnessed the emergence of more drivers using adaptive controls to compete in a variety of racing events, there are more recreational drivers with disabilities searching for a new sport to get their blood pumping. And karting delivers.
Italian Roots
The development of innovative hand control systems has allowed more people with disabilities to participate in the sport than ever before. The most popular of these systems was developed by CRG (originally known as ‘Kali Karts’), a kart chassis manufacturer founded in the late 1970s by three Italian racers (Carlo Vanaria, Roberto Vanaria, and Giancarlo Tinini). The inspiration for the control system was Formula One driver and 2-time CART champion Alex Zanardi. Zanardi’s return to racing after a devastating injury led to greater accessibility to the karting world, and motorsports in general. (CART, which stands for Championship Auto Racing Teams now known as Champ Car, is comprised of single seat open wheel race cars similar to Formula One cars but weigh 30% more.)
In 2001, Zanardi lost his legs above the knees in a crash during the finals laps at the first-ever CART race in Germany at EuroSpeedway Lausitz’s D-shaped oval track. After exiting the pit lane with just 13 laps to go, he lost control of his car and spun out. Another race car whipping around the track at 180 mph could not avoid Zanardi. The impact sliced his car in two.
Zanardi underwent intensive rehabilitation and was fitted with prosthetic limbs. Although faced with many new challenges, he still had a hunger for racing. Just one year after his accident, CART officials asked if he would be interested in finishing the final 13 laps at the track that nearly took his life; always up for a challenge, Zanardi agreed. Adam Schaechter, Zanardi’s former engineer who was in the pits the day of the crash, spearheaded the development of a fully-modified race car for him to drive at Lausitz. It featured a Reynard chassis; Ford Cosworth turbo V8 engine; higher-powered hydraulic brake system to compensate for Zanardi’s diminished leg strength; a metal box around the brake pedal so his prosthesis would not slip off it; a throttle control using stepper motors that would be operated by his left thumb; and a shifter with a motorcycle-style clutch lever attached. Just two years after his injury, the entire racing world watched as Zanardi got behind the wheel and conquered the final 13 laps at Lausitz with a very respectful lap time. He returned to full-time racing by 2004, and in 2005 in East Germany, he won his first World Series race since his injury.
Adrenaline Kick
Applying some of the knowledge gained from working with engineers on modifying CART racers, Zanardi and the CRG team developed a state-of the- art hand-operated brake and accelerator control system for karting that could be adapted for many levels of abilities and customized to suit a wide range of driver preferences, including a twist throttle (similar to motorcycles) or finger/thumb triggers configurations. The design, which had also been inspired by an American driver who mounted motorbike handle bars on a kart, is now being marketed and sold nationwide.
In an interview with National Karting News, Richard Valentine, president of SSC East (www.sscracing.com), a U.S. importer of the CRG controls, as well as a distributor of karts, engines, and kart racing supplies and owner of a New England karting facility, said, “SCC East is proud to bring this steering wheel to America and help make karting accessible to people, who despite their physical challenges, still crave the thrill of speed and competition. It’s just the beginning of what we are doing to open up karting to people with disabilities.”
United Spinal Association members tested out the new system at F1 Boston (www.f1boston.com), Valentine’s 106,000 square foot conference and entertainment/karting facility in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts. The facility includes two European-style indoor kart tracks and rents adaptive concession karts with Zanardi controls. It was the first time United Spinal member Timothy Ripley of Randolph, New Jersey, who was injured in a motorcycle accident, had ever tried karting.
“I was surprised how accessible the sport is. I got an adrenaline kick that I haven’t felt in 20 years. It was a blast. I wished I tried doing it years ago,” Ripley says.
The experience was so enjoyable that Ripley, who has a background in mechanical engineering and used to race motorcycles and sport bikes as a youth, purchased a used chassis and built a modified version of the CRG controls using a quad thumb throttle assembly and a brake from a Suzuki 600. Since the end of 2007, he’s been hauling his kart with a jet-ski trailer to Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey, where he competes in the Tag Masters Class. He has discovered a friendly community of kart racers there who are inspired by his enthusiasm for the sport and are always willing to offer their support, whether it is helping him unload his kart or prepare for races.
Although Ripley admits he hasn’t seen many people in wheelchairs karting in Jersey, he believes the sport is becoming extremely popular within the disabled community. “There’s a lot of people with disabilities across the country racing karts, it’s just not advertised much. I’m working on getting more people in wheelchairs to try it out here on the east coast,” he says.
So what’s the main appeal of kart racing? For Ripley it’s pretty simple, “It’s really the closest [a recreational driver] can get to Formula One racing. Adrenaline sports aren’t for everyone though. But as they say ‘once an adrenaline addict, always an adrenaline addict.’ I’m not 20 years-old and fearless anymore, so I do approach karting with some common sense and caution so that I don’t hurt myself anymore than I have already,” Ripley chuckles.
Karting is a perfect fit for someone with a background similar to Ripley, who had enjoyed working on and modifying cars and trucks before spinal cord injury. “That’s one aspect of karting that I really like. Everything is smaller, more compact, and easy to get to on a kart so there is a lot of work you can do on your own.”
Picking Up Speed
Ripley admits he was “slow as hell” when he began competing and it took him a while to figure it all out. Presently, he is running middle of the pack in most races at Raceway Park-not bad for a rookie!
So the million dollar question for some of you may be how much does karting cost? Ripley took the cheapest approach, spending about $4,500 on the used chassis and a new motor, around $250 on hand control parts, and $300 on a racing suit and helmet. “I had to take into account whether this would be something I’d be doing for many years. The sport can get expensive if you go out and buy the best of everything. If you can afford Zanardi hand controls which run around $1,000, and a new chassis I’d say go for it.”
Ripley has started appealing to karting venues and facilities in New York and New Jersey to offer concession karts with hand controls so more people with disabilities can try out the sport before investing in their own kart and gear. He has also started networking with others who are just as passionate about the sport, including a group of disabled kart racers in California that run the nonprofit company GimpSpeed (www.gimpspeed.com), who’s goal is to get more people within the disabled community involved in karting.
For more information on karting, please contact United Spinal’s Sports and Recreation department at 718-803-3782. There are also many clubs and organizations out there that can provide you with some great resources in your area. A few are listed below.
GimpSpeed.com—Provides info on karting for people with disabilities and purchasing hand controls and modifi ed karts.
SSCRacing.com— The complete karting company, is the exclusive importer for CRG chassis and Rotax kart racing engines.
F1Boston.com— The only two indoor race tracks in New England. Tracks and karts precisely scaled and engineered to guarantee you a real racing experience.
www.NKN.com/tracksclubs.asp —At National Karting News Web site, you can search for tracks and clubs in your area.
Tom Scott is staff editor.
