Moving Up in Class

   So you have won a few club events, maybe even a national or two and on slow days at the local track your driver practices in his 80cc and does well.  People are amazed at how well he/she drives at such a young age and phrases like "natural" are heard in whispers behind you.  Sound familiar?  
  As I have always said, "My favorite part about this web site is getting to talk to all the parents",  And can you imagine how shocked I was to find out that the bulk of the karting community did not think my driver was God's gift to the sport.  In fact most thought their kids were the next Jeff Gordon or Tony Stewart.  My point being that neither you nor I are the first parents to think our driver has the skills needed to move up in class from kid karts before the driver is of "legal" age..
    The rules in most sanctioning bodies (WKA, IKF, SKUSA, STARS, ROTAX Challenge) are very clear .... for the most part they say, "If the driver attains the age required for the class during the race season he/she will be allowed to race during that season".  Seems fair, I thought to myself, but my driver is only 6 and has been racing club races in the 80cc and MiniMax class for months.... and has even taken a few first place trophies home.  They will make an exception for us, especially when some of our friends "high up" in karting put in a good word for my driver.   And with that I contacted any and all karting associations so I could plead my case.  Most agreed that Danny was an exceptional driver and had no reservations with allowing him to race...BUT there was one and only one hurdle that stood between us and the "big time", it was the same every where we went.....insurance.   
    It seems that in their infinite wisdom the insurance companies have come up with the arbitrary age of eight for the level of maturity needed to race the cadet, jr. sportsman, etc... (nine for the MiniMax).  Why eight...who knows but that is the rules and no amount of logic, begging or pleading will change their minds. Of course you can always lie about their age, but that can back fire in a big way.  A good example is at our local track which is strict about the age limits, but after a lot of convincing we were allowed to practice there with the "big kids".  Soon after they held a race, and a few under age drivers came down from the central part of the state, lied about their age and raced.  While the drivers were not involved in any incidents several of the parents thought they were unsafe and complained.  Because of their actions, we are no longer allowed to even practice there, much less think about racing.
   The moral, your not the first nor will you be the last parent to want to race early....and before you go crazy trying,  realize many before you have tried and most if not all have failed.  So don't take it personal if they say no to your request, their hands are tied.  And remember that your actions at the track may impose consequences on innocent by standers. Our solution was to travel the state running club races and working on getting faster. I look at it as having over two years of seat time in this class before we even see our first sanctioned event, that's what I call an advantage. And if you hit the right club races you may find yourself next to some of the top drivers in the state.