National

For this year’s National Finals, we are going to see a couple of important changes. These will make the racing both safer and introduce a tactical element to the Grand Finals that will add another element to the National Finals.

Race Starts

For the 2024 National Finals, we will change to standing starts for all races. The reasoning behind this is as follows: 

• In previous years, there have been multiple incidents following the rolling starts, some of which have resulted in race stoppages. 

• The use of electric karts in the Finals now eliminates the issues that are common with petrol karts leaving the grid. 

The process for starting races is fairly simple. Drivers will drive their karts from the pit lane to the grid, which is just after you exit the pits. They will form up on the grid and come under starters orders. The race will start using the start lights which have 5 red lights that will illuminate in sequence. Once the fifth light is illuminated, the lights will turn green, and the race will have started. Any drivers that jump the start will be penalised under regulation 3.2.4 and 3.2.5 and will be subject to penalty under power 3.4.1.4. 

Drivers will be responsible for ensuring that they start from the correct start box. 

Joker Lap

This is a feature that we will be introducing exclusively for the Grand Finals and it will bring a tactical element to the racing that will make it more exciting. The joker lap is based in Rallycross where it has been a feature for years. So how will it work?  

During the Grand Final, which will be run over 20 minutes, each driver will be allowed to take one joker lap. This will take around ten seconds off their lap and reposition them ahead of their opponents. The tactical use of this will be fascinating to watch as drivers will have to figure out when the best time to use their joker lap will be. 

How do they do this? Well on a lap of their choosing, the driver will pull into the pit lane. The driver will have to come to a complete stop in a ‘stop box’ at the entrance of the pit lane. They will then proceed into the pit lane where their kart will automatically drop to speed level 1. The driver will then proceed to drive through the pit lane using the designated route. Upon crossing a trigger line at the exit of the pit lane, the kart will return to the normal speed level and the driver will be back in the race. This means that the result of the racing will be a lot less predictable and should allow drivers to use their pace in the race. 

Speed settings

For the 2024 National Finals, we will be using the following speed settings: 

Cadets: Speed 4 

Juniors: Speed 3 

Lightweight: Speed 3 

Middleweight: Speed 3 

Heavyweight: Speed 3 

Whilst Cadets and Juniors remain unchanged from 2023. The move to Speed 3 for the remaining categories means that the drivers will have the torque boost available to them. An examination of the lap times from 2023 shows that there was very little difference between the Junior and Senior categories, so the pace will be largely unaffected. The availability of the torque boost feature will also promote better racing as drivers will have a choice as to when the deploy the boost. The boost will regenerate every 56 seconds, so will not necessarily be available at the same point on every lap. This means that the drivers will have another thing to think about.