14th July 2012, Forest Edge Practice. It felt pretty good out on track when me and Jacob along with Thomas Bukman decided to walk it, we weren't actually getting a feel for the track we were just looking for bullets as during the week the MOD uses it for training, there were smallish bullets and larger bullets, one guy even found a training smoke grenade! I started to get into my gear when it started to spit with rain, we decided then to go full wets and for me to get my waterproof rubber outer boots on with my new TUZO motorcycle rain suit, the 1st practice for all classes was like a monsoon, the rain was so heavy you couldn't see with your visor on and you were lucky if you could get a lap time under 55 secs. It started to dry off so I went out in the next session, My watch wouldn't work under my rain suit so we didn't bother trying it, I think i was well off the pace but I still went out to learn the circuit. I had no major crashes and all went well, although I did take one turn to quickly as my Dad said 'try taking that corner faster, everyone else is.' so i did try it, i went wide and for a while I was off roading as if I was on a quad bike or in a rally car! Nothing got damaged except my backside as there were a lot of hills/bumps. My friend Sam Nicholas, another guy from Whilton Mill Juniors had his 1st race today and we tried to do some racing in the last 2 sessions, it didn't work, either I crashed or he spun or someone got in between us (He has a luminous green/yellow helmet and a blue suit). All in all Saturday went well.
15th July 2012, Forest Edge Race day! Practice went well, I didn't break anything and the kart was running well we thought, I only went out for 3 laps just to scrub in the new tires. Sam however scrubbed his in in 2 laps then thought he could just go full out, everyone was taking it steady but no not Sam, he wanted to get fastest lap, counts for nothing in the warm up. We both went on the weigh bridge, we both weighed 143.5kg and, as the minimum weight is 143kg, we were over although Sam did have a full tank of fuel and if he didn't add anymore the chances were he would be under weight and put at the back of the grid.Qualifying started well, i got to the back of the grid and had some clean air in which to set a good time, I got overtaken a bit but that didn't matter as it was just qualifying. When qualifying finished I felt really good and was quite sure I would be above 18th place out of the 30 Juniors that were there. We got the times, I saw my name at the bottom and thought 'What the hell went wrong?', I had qualified in 29th. Sam qualified at 24th which was pretty good for his 1st race. My racing has always been my strong point, not my quick laps, so i was thinking about the positives, i would get to practice my overtakes, I can only lose 1 place and Sam might spin!
As the heat started I lost a bit of time on the people in front from the rolling starts but I didn't mind. As I was driving I kept dropping further and further back so I tried different lines, no change, later braking, no change, everything I did either made no change or it made me slower, I was getting so frustrated. Towards the end i was getting blue flags waved at me so I started to slow and let the front runners past however two people who were following me were in the middle of that group so they got past as well, It was literally on the final corner when I let them pass so I had no chance to make the places up again.
The Pre-Final started well, I was on the back row again in 29th with a very fast guy next to me, he made up 18 places in the Pre-Final! I lost time on the rolling start and dropped quite a way back, not good. Pretty much the same thing happened in the Pre-Final as in the Heat. I did manage to get past some people but i then spun and they got past.
The Final was no better, I made up 7 places in the 1st corner so was feeling good however My engine cut out going into the second corner, it wouldn't start until i had lost 4 places. i was gaining into the chicane but yet again my engine cut out, I lost all my places then. Near the end i lost all grip and was sliding all over the place. I came in early because not only was i off the pace by over a second but i had no grip, I was just a hazard. And that ended my eventful weekend without any joy except all my new kit works, but not the carburetor. We are going to rebuild it hopefully in time for Whilton Mill!
