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Martyn 'Major Kerbage' Lyell competing in
TKM
TKM was born in the late eighties as a reaction
to the growing cost of 100cc racing. It wasn't an instant hit, but
as it gradually grew it became one of the UK's most successful classes,
and with its specifically homologated chassis, hard compound tyres,
and TKM BT82 engine the class largely remains unchanged. At the
time of their introduction they weren't seen in a particulary good
light. The BT82 didn't sound anywhere near as good as the 100cc,
and certainly didn't shift like one. Rather ironic that in today's
karting environment TKMs are considered the most 'proper' of karts
amidst the saturation of the MAX.
The TKM BT82 has hardly changed in nearly
20 years!
In the current UK karting scene of over complex, and over expensive
karts it seems remarkable that the simplicity, simply astonishing
affordability, and arguably superior driving experience of a TKM
has been taken over by the Rotax MAX. And with the growing economic
problems in the UK, TKM may just offer a real solution to credit
crunched karters.
The Rotax MAX FR125 - Like it, or hate it,
the MAX changed everything!
TKM no longer enjoys the massive grids of its yesteryear but it
still manages to produce the goods when it comes to drivers. Jake
Ball, in his first KF2 race (KF Winter Series) out of Junior TKM,
won convincingly against some of the worlds best young drivers.
Sam Blake, just out of a successful debut season in Junior TKM,
also grabbed victory in the UK's premier junior class – KF3.
So what's the deal? Why isn't TKM THE class every budding junior/senior
driver wants to compete in? We ask some of the most successful ex-TKMers
why TKM was so good, and why they think it might not be relishing
the success it could be.
Jack Dex has just moved from Junior TKM from
Junior MAX, and in his first major Junior MAX race finished 3rd
at the Rotax Shakedown. He now currently lies 2nd in the overall
Junior Max Super 1 Championship. This is what he had to say about
the class. “When I first started proper karting in 2003,
Junior TKM was the only well supported junior class. There were
good grids at Shenington and Whilton, which is why I bought my first
tkm kart. TKM was the most popular class with huge grids and some
very high quality drivers. This was very good for me as I could
learn how to drive fast and about race craft. However in the 5 years
I raced Junior TKM, every year the grids dropped as Rotax became
more popular.
Jack 'The Beast' Dex on his way to 3rd place
in the Junior TKM S1 Championship
I believe TKM is a real drivers class and you do not have
to have a huge budget to do well in it. You can have both very enjoyable
and very competitive racing in it from club level to super one level.
The power to grip ratio in TKM is perfect and I believe this is
the only modern class that had got this balance right. The low grip
makes it very fun whilst hard to drive, so your driver skills are
brought along massively by the class. This is shown by the success
ex TKM drivers have had in other classes. Eg. Jake Ball in KF2,
Sam Blake in KF3, Edd Brand in Junior MAX etc.
However after competing in TKM for 5 years and with grids getting
to low, me and my Dad decided we had to change class. I had achieved
what I wanted in the TKM S1 in 2007 and believed I needed a new
challenge and some more competition for 2008. With Junior Rotax
grids 50+ for S1 and Jnr TKM dropping to 28, it was clear to see
where to go. This is a shame as in my opinion TKM is the better
class as well as cheaper.”
Is TKM just suffering from a serious image problem that is hemaraging
the flow of drivers into the class. I once asked a young Rotax driver
who stated he was leaving karting. He answered “Too expensive”,
but when I suggested he try “TKM” he looked at me as
I was some sort of nut. What seems like a perfectly rational idea
to me appeared to scare the young lad.
Gary Catt also recognises that the allure of good
looking CIK chassis has helped Rotax, but he also heaps praise on
what made TKM such a great class. “For me, TKM, when I
did it was a great class. It was the only budget class back then
so it didn't have any competition from other classes. This is why
so many people wanted to do it.
There were a lot of drivers that did TKM because they didn't
have money or used it as a stepping stone from cadet to JICA. When
I won the Junior TKM British Championship in 1996 I beat drivers
like Jamie Green, Mike Conway, Ollie Jarvis, Mark Litchfield and
many more good drivers that were doing the class. The following
year all the good cadets went out of cadets into TKM because that
was the next step.
Obviously now this has changed. A lot more people do Rotax
Max and I think what helps this is that the Rotax classes use the
same chassis as the top classes like KF1, KF2 and KF3.
But the engines in TKM are (in my opinion) a lot more similar
to each other in terms of performance than the engines in Rotax.
When I won the Junior TKM Championship in 1996 and Senior TKM in
1998 I think we spent around £8000. It was a good family achievement
to beat very good drivers who were spending big big money. But in
this class money didn't buy you success because the engines were
all very similar. Today, I don't think you could win a British Championship
in any class for this amount of money because there are always others
spending more and more money to get the best kit and it makes a
difference. Whereas back then in TKM, if you spent £10k on
an engine it probably wouldn't be any quicker than anyone else's
on the grid. “
We asked Tal-Ko to give us there take on the situation, and Alan
Turney had this to say. “Tal-Ko's commitment
has always been to its customers and drivers needs. They are very
important to us and Formula TKM 2 stroke has catered for them very
well over the years by supplying very close cost effective racing.
It has produced many future champions in other karting classes and
of course cars & F1 etc. In TKM the drivers hone and develop
their skills, as winning in TKM is not all about the cheque book
as with most other karting classes. This is how Formula TKM was
born! There was need for controlled even performance, long lasting
engines, tyres that produced good grip and delivered same lap times
over there long life and easy to set up chassis.”
But can TKM 2 Stroke, and 4 Stroke exist together without
giving out mixed messages from Tal-Ko? - “I believe that
there is a place for both TKM 2 & TKM 4 and drivers now have
a choice. We try to equally promote both with sponsorship of many
club championships and other major events such as the Maxxis TKM
Festival which is televised and the Super 1 Championships. Last
years TV coverage of the Festival had a slot dedicated to drivers
from TKM who now race in cars. They were interviewed at Silverstone,
and all sang its praises as being the best class to start in teaching
them how to drive be it in dry or wet conditions.
Over the last 5 years we have seen many other classes appear
which has diluted all classes.
Many newcomers to the sport are pushed on to Rotax by some
dealers instead of the obvious TKM route. The great shame of it
is that many who went that way do not survive 6 months in the sport,
they simply find it way too difficult to set the karts & engines
up and way too expensive. They are blown into the weeds by the guys
who are prepared to spend the money and get the quick engines.
Many kart clubs have seen there overall entry numbers decline
(all classes not just TKM) over the last few years and we are now
seeing a resurgence of TKM at many tracks such as Clay Pigeon, Rye
House & Warden Law. All kart clubs say they want TKM to flourish
again as being the best class for novices and they will work with
us where possible to encourage this.
With the supposed current recession TKM is ideally placed as
it gives you the most amount of laps for your £.”
Maybe the CIK chassis, and faster lap times of Rotax make all
the difference, but TKM would have to fundamentally change it's
philosophy to compete on that level, and render the class pointless.
Sticking some sticky tyres on would make a TKM nearly as quick as
a MAX, but what would be the point in that?
Looks like I need an image improvement as
well! :)
It is clear that TKM can meet the criteria of awesome and affordable
racing but its image requires significant improvement with young
drivers. The truth is kids want the same CIK Maranello or Tony Karts
that are raced by the top drivers, and who can blame them for that!
I beleive TKM needs to have a radical rethink on how it will approach
promoting itself over the next few years to improve the image of
the class, while maintaining it's core philosophy of affordable
racing. Perhaps the economical climate will make drivers re-adjust
the importance they put on having a flash Italian chassis.... and
a resurgence of TKM could be just around the corner.
Alan Dove
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