IMPORTANT – PLUG-IN ISSUE UPDATE

It has come to light over the past two meetings at Cowdenbeath and Buxton that there appears to be an issue with the latest batch of plug-ins supplied.

Unfortunately, several drivers have experienced plug-ins snapping or breaking for no obvious reason. Following closer inspection, although the welds visually appear acceptable, it would seem that the weld penetration into the tube itself may not have been sufficient.

A batch of 30+ plug-ins has now been returned to TMR today for further investigation so the issue can be properly identified and resolved.

Our main concern at this stage is for any drivers who may have already replaced a broken plug-in with another fresh plug-in from the same recent batch over the past two weeks, as there is a possibility those units could also be affected.

If any driver has concerns regarding the plug-in currently fitted to their kart, we will happily carry out a direct swap. Replacement plug-ins will be supplied complete with five brand new bearings already fitted.

We are hoping to have new units available for the Skegness weekend. However, with this being a two-day meeting and depending on numbers, we cannot guarantee that every affected plug-in will be swapped immediately over the same weekend.

Going forward, all plug-ins supplied from TMR will have their tag seal numbers recorded against each batch, This means that should any issue ever arise again in future, we will immediately know which units belong to which production batch and can quickly identify or recall affected parts if required.  Rob Mitchell at TMR has personally offered his sincere apologies, and the matter will now be thoroughly investigated to ensure the problem is identified and resolved properly. Going forward every batch of plug-ins that are made will have one plug-in from each batch tested to destruction. They are making a jig so they can test them on their 30 tonne press as part of the quality control.

Unfortunately, Amy Havercroft was one of the drivers affected by this issue at Buxton, Amy attended A&E in York following the incident and has since been released, although she is currently on crutches with ligament damage.

Amy’s kart has now gone to Paul Heath’s for repair, and TMR will be covering the repair costs in full.

We can only apologise to all drivers affected by this issue and we are doing everything possible to resolve this issue. Stoxkarts Ltd.