Driving the kart one of the best drivers of all times, on “his” track in Kerpen. A dream... come true!
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This story dates back a while, but still gives me chills. It began as far back as late 2006, when I saw Michael Schumacher’s kart tests in Lonato. Michael had just retired from F1 and had committed to spending a day on track to help with Tony Kart and Vortex product development. I couldn’t believe that a seven-time world champion could still be so deeply in love with karting. I remember thinking: “Alright, with an F1 there’s no arguing, I’d slam it into the pit wall. But on a kart, how would I do against Michael Schumacher?”. In other words: here is your average Sunday karter, potentially bald, about 1 meter and 80 tall, who trains on karts something like 10-15 times a year, right? How much dust would he have to bite in a challenge against the strongest driver of all times? Some time went by, but I had made my mind up - I wanted to make it happen. So, one day I decided to ring up Mister Peter Kaiser.
TKART director Yanek Sterzel in the shop with Peter Kaiser, Michael Schumacher’s dear friend. The company they founded with Thomas Muchow is called KSM, from their initialsRead more
In KSM, the company founded by Kaiser, Schumacher and Muchow, traces of the seven-time F1 world champion are everywhere: from his olf karts to his Ferrari F1Read more
“TAKE YOUR AVERAGE KARTER, WHO TRAINS HERE AND THERE: HOW MUCH OF A GAP COULD HE GET FROM THE BEST DRIVER OF ALL TIMES ?”
Kaiser is a close friend of Schumacher’s: together with thier buddy Thomas Muchow they founded KSM (Kaiser-Schumacher-Muchow). Besides, Kaiser has been in karting forever: he used to manage the shop at the Kerpen track (the one where Michael Schumacher was “born and raised”, competitively speaking), he has a real team that is at the forefront of major races, and he is the importer for Germany of Tony Kart, Vortex, ROK, Ibea and Vega products. Unexpectedly, Peter welcomed my wild proposal with unmotivated kindness and enthusiasm... something I still can’t explain to this day! What matters is that we agreed on the date and place: 15 April 2009, Kerpen. There was just a small detail that threw me off: the kart was going to be a Tony Kart/Vortex KZ. I shyly tried to plead my case: “I’ve always used non-shifters...”; but Peter wouldn’t budge: “Michael has never raced a KF in Kerpen, only KZs...”. End of story. The only concession I got was the possibility to do two stints: the first one “cold turkey”, without time to train; the second, six months later, after following a prep program suggested by Kaiser and Muchow. After my initial burst of elation passed, I was inevitably, assailed by doubts: I had driven a 125 shifter maybe twice in my life and now I was going to try Schumi’s kart - his very own. And backed not by “Joe, the mechanic”, but by Peter Kaiser and Thomas Muchow. Was I f’n crazy?!
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Utente che approccia per la prima volta il mondo del karting. Non ha mai avuto un kart proprio oppure lo possiede da pochi mesi. Gli mancano tutte le conoscenze di base ed elementari di questo sport e necessita di informazioni che gli permettano di orientarsi. Cerca risposte a domande come: come fare la miscela? Quali strumenti mi servono per gestire il kart? Quali sono le differenze tra la pressione di gonfiaggio delle gomme di un'auto e quelle di un kart? E come trasportare il kart in pista?
Praticante
Utente che pratica il karting da più tempo, gestendo personalmente il proprio mezzo. Conosce le nozioni di base di questo sport, ma desidera rimanere aggiornato sulle novità del settore e ricevere consigli per migliorare le proprie capacità di meccanico e pilota. Cerca risposte a domande del tipo: come installare sistemi di raccolta dati e leggere le informazioni base? Come gestire al meglio le pressioni delle gomme? Come affinare il rapporto del kart per migliorare le prestazioni? Il praticante potrebbe rimanere tale per tutta la vita, preferendo non affrontare questioni tecniche troppo complesse, ma continuando a migliorarsi e divertirsi nel mondo del karting.
Esperto
Si tratta di un utente praticante che non si accontenta delle conoscenze base di questo sport, ma vuole approfondire fino ai massimi livelli ogni singolo aspetto legato alla guida e alla tecnica. L’approccio è pressoché professionale. La discriminante è chiara: il praticante si ferma quando le attività relative al kart diventano complesse, come il cambio di un pistone o della candela, senza però cimentarsi in operazioni più avanzate come la lappatura della canna. L’esperto, invece, non si spaventa di affrontare questioni a complessità elevata, come per esempio equilibrare autonomamente l’albero motore o regolare l’anticipo.