Kart man

Vince Zimmer wanted to make sure his son, Andrew, wasn’t glued to a TV or video games in his spare time. So he went in search of an activity, something maybe the two of them could do – good old father-son bonding. Andrew wanted a motorcycle, like his dad used to race. But Dad also got banged up riding motocross, so Andrew said his mom wasn’t going to let that happen to him. “How about go-karts? They don’t go that fast,” Vince Zimmer proposed to his wife, Melody. She agreed, and off they went.

Not only has it been a perfect exercise in bonding and quelling the need for the X-Box, but in four short years, karting has vaulted 13-year-old Andrew Zimmer of Horizon Middle School to a possible new career.

“I just like to go fast,” said Andrew, who wants someday to drive Formula One cars and become the first successful American in the class.

Lofty ambitions, but maybe not such a far-fetched dream considering what has happened in such a relatively short time.

This season will be Andrew’s fifth year guiding the karts around racetracks across the Northwest. He’s made a name for himself already, winning three championships in three classes in 2004.

The Zimmers got help from the Spokane Kart Racing Association, which has its own track at the Spokane ORV Park in Airway Heights.

“SKRA is a great group. They took me (us) under their wing,” said Vince Zimmer. “The people Andrew raced with helped him, too.”

Zimmer, 53, raced three years in the 125 shifter class but has since concentrated on helping Andrew advance.

With every lap on the track, Andrew went faster, according to his dad. In his second season Andrew ran club events in the Junior I (ages 8-11) and elevated to running International Karting Federation (IKF) Gold Cups.

“Andrew ran in the middle to the front of the pack,” said his dad. “It surprised me with how little seat time he had. He picked it up so fast.” At one race, Andrew beat a kid who is now one of the top racers in California.

By age 12, Andrew moved to Junior II, a 2-cycle kart and was competing against 15-year-olds. Andrew won the Tacoma Gold Cup and was third in his class.

In 2004, his fourth year driving, Andrew made another leap into the Super Kart USA (SKUSA) class. SKUSA are the elite drivers, Vince Zimmer explained.

“Andrew was bound and determined to make the next jump with the SKUSA karts,” said his dad, who tried everything he could to persuade his son that he was over his head and ought to wait.

After a slow start in March, Andrew cut the gap and finished third in a Tri-Cities race in June.

That launched a memorable season that would see him win the International Karting Federation shifter class, as well as titles in junior sportsman and junior super sportsman.

In 2005 Andrew has a new challenge: driving for Extreme Power Sports, a high-end chassis manufacturer from Italy. The team is based in Moxee, Wash., near Yakima.

Seth Ingham, another driver for the team recently acquired a scholarship to drive at the famed Skip Barber School. Ingham will crew for Andrew this July in Vancouver, B.C., when the team competes in a Stars of Karting race.

The Stars of Karting is a series owned by former Indy Car racer Bobby Rahal. It’s designed for “kids who have potential,” said Vince Zimmer. Another race the Zimmers will run is the SKUSA Super Nationals in Las Vegas in October.

Shifter karts are “a steppingstone” to higher levels of open-wheel racing according to Vince Zimmer. From karts, drivers generally graduate to time at the Skip Barber School, then to Toyota Atlantic, Indy Racing League or Champ Cars. Andrew’s dream is to drive at one of those levels, his dad said.

Vince Zimmer, who sells ski boats and sporting goods through his Spokane Alpine Haus locations on the South Hill and in Spokane Valley, says he can’t wait for the season to start. This comes despite traveling to 23 races in seven months, cutting severely into time usually spent at the family’s summer home on Diamond Lake.

It’s at the lake where Andrew practices his other loves, wake boarding and water skiing. The eighth-grader is also a junior black belt in karate and an avid skier during the winter.

He does all this while maintaining a 3.4 grade-point average.

For now, Andrew will concentrate on the immediate challenge of the shifter karts, which are powered by an 80 cc motorcycle engine and have a six-speed transmission. The learning curve in shifters is much more intense.

Shifter karts kick out 35 horsepower, require shifting gears and proper braking. Shifter karts also use the Grand Prix start, meaning karts go from a standing start.

At Pat’s Acres, a racetrack near Portland, Andrew clocked speeds of 80 mph.

“His mom hates the speed,” Vince Zimmer said.

Some shifter karts go even faster, reaching more than 120 mph when they run at Portland International Raceway. And all of this happens with the driver’s rear end just an inch off the ground or less in some cases.

Sometimes the karts flex enough to where they bottom-out and scrape the track.

The new ride is vastly different and replaces a 2000 model kart, Andew said.”How you shift your weight is so crucial,” Andrew said. If he moves his body the wrong way in a turn he can spin out. He has also learned that leaning forward makes his back ache.

His new kart is much faster than others he’s driven. So far, however, Andrew hasn’t had a lot of opportunity to work out the bugs.

If the past is any indication, he’ll have that under control in no time.