Motorkhana for beginners

[vh-holden]

I thought i'd start a new thread rather than it getting lost in my intro thread.

I'm still a beginner, having only done two motorkhanas (and subsequently, done two sets of tyres :D)

The ones i have done have been on a disused WWII airstrip south of darwin. It is a hard parked gravel surface, and i have a feeling there might be some bitumin in there somewhere. I can definately say that it makes smoke.

Motorkhana is basically weaving(and throwing) your car around witches hats in a certain order or pattern. You start in a garage - a rectangle of cones, and finish in another garage, generally next to the starting one. The timing starts when you start moving and stops when you come to a complete stop. There are time penalties for hitting cones and going the wrong way. i think they are normally 2 second penalties, which are added onto your time.

At the two i've been to, we did 5 or 6 courses, depending on the time. They get more complex and harder as the day goes by. The first course both times was just a slalom with a diamond at the top. you weave up the cones, then around the diamond then back down again. The harder courses are too hard to explain, so i'll just post these links

http://www.motorkhana-sa.com/Tests/tests.htm
http://www.motorkhana.com/faq.htm

I'm not sure about wear and tear on the car. My experience probably isn't a good indication as i tend to disappear up to the other end of the strip and "practice" my sliding etc. I should also mention that we had two drivers at the first one, so it was a double load on it.

Tyres are the biggest victim of the motorkhana.

So far the vh has trashed two sets of tyres, one set having 90+% tread at the start of the day, and wire showing at the end of it. Then again, there was a small pile of melted rubber left in the middle of the strip after most people had packed up and gone.

I'm also guessing there could be some engine wear, as i tend to drive the car at full throttle. Other people that actually rely on their cars don't abuse them as much.

And to lure you guys with decent cars, up here in darwin there are two guys who regularly compete. One uses a lotus exige for them. He also lapsprints, but competes in motorkhanas a couple of times a year. The other has been using his R33 GTR in motorkhanas for a while, but brought out the R34 GTR for the last one. Actually, he drove both in the last one, he wanted to compare them.

Another interesting entry at the last one was an XP falcon in mint condition. It was slower than the rest, but was still out there.

Then there is a mix of vt commodores, geminis, and varioud other cars.

That's all i can think of at the moment. I'll try and get some stuff into the media gallery.

[scat2k3]

Good stuff Adam.

Sounds similar in theory to the VB Challenge the V8 guys do in the utes.

Some of us have done this sort of thing at skid pan days too, and they are a real hoot. Wouldn't mind having a go at a fair dinkum one.

Definitely need good car control and plenty of skill for this form of track event.

Cheers,

Scott

[DaveHAT]

Good stuff Adam, please keep it coming.

I would be keen to give motorkhana a go at some stage and a trackchat motorkhana day at Wakefield would be a great day of fun for anyone interested.

Cheers.

[35R]

I've always wanted to try Motorkhana; we've done a simple version of it a couple of times at the skid pan days, and with the track being wet and slick, i guess it's a little easier on those tyres

[lautray]

I've always wanted to try Motorkhana; we've done a simple version of it a couple of times at the skid pan days, and with the track being wet and slick, i guess it's a little easier on those tyres
Yep... I recall getting my arse kicked by a certain cv8-r :cry: .

[vh-holden]

the ones i've done were very informal. no fees, no prizes and as a result, no insurance. they can be covered under cams, but i don't know if the vh would be allowed to run in that.