Thursday 17th of April was a test day at Shenington, I went to it. I don't think there is another test day between now and the Easykart race at Shenington, so we went to simply get used to the track again, allowing us to focus on set-up during the race weekend. We arrived at just gone 9:00 expecting to start around 10:00, and the junior session did start at just after 10:00. However, as usual, we didn't get out for the first session. The gearing for shenington in an easykart was 78 teeth last season, but has been changed to 76 teeth for this season. As we hadn't got a 76 tooth sprocket we decided to put the 77 tooth one on, if only for the first session as the Spellfame shop was there.
The shop was open when we got to the track so we decided to quickly change the sprocket to the size we would be using on the race weekend. This took longer than expected so we missed the first session, but that didn't bother me.
Looking to overtake at least 1 of the trio
Having overtaken all three attempting
to pull away from Jordan Sanders
Throughout the day there were about 7 sessions for each class, each session being 8 minutes long. We put on the tyres that we had used at the e-plate, Whilton test and Buckmore practice day, so they were well worn, but still had a bit of life left in them. As was expected, in the first session, the easykarts - Jordan and myself - had the top speed over the TKM's and were about the same as the Rotax's, but the acceleration that the Rotax engines have is phenomenal. I forgot to set the mychron up for the first session so I got some 20 second laps... then set it to a pre-made Shenington and I got the same times, this didn't seem right. I checked the setting and there were no settings made for it.
Come the third session we put on the newer tyres that had only been used during the Buckmore race day - this gave me a lot more grip and I was getting times that were in the low 45 seconds, my quickest being 45.01 seconds. I gradually got quicker throughout the day finally getting a fastest time of 44.6 seconds. To put this into perspective the lap record for Easykart on the old tyres is/was 45.7 seconds, over a second SLOWER than my fastest of the day!
There are still a couple of corners that I need to work on but I feel very confident that a good finish is on the cards in 3 weeks time!
Recently I bought myself a Contour Roam2. Below is footage from the final session, more to be uploaded to both youtube and the blog soon.
Coming up on Saturday 12th of April and Sunday 13th of April is the second race of the Easykart UK season, also the first time Easykart has been to Three Sisters for a race meeting - I think. From what I have read on the Easykart UK facebook page Three Sisters is an extremely fast track and "... corner speed is what it is all about." So unless you keep your momentum going it will be difficult to keep up with the people in front. At Three Sisters, like at Shenington, you can get a lot of toe at along the straights - like DRS, ish.
Unfortunately there isn't a Club 100 track guide for Three Sisters, or at least not one that I can find, so all the notes and comments about the track will be coming straight from the notes on the Easykart UK Facebook page or from karting1's track guide. According to the karting1 track guide "THEmost important corner of the circuit is lunar" as it sets you up for the long start/finish straight, get this corner wrong and you are liable to be overtaken and lose time all along the straight - which nobody wants.
The kerbs seem pretty big - bent axles likely. After some spectacular fights at Buckmore, for example Sam Blower in the heat and James White in the pre-final, with people flying through the field Three Sisters should be a good race.
Recommended chain length 96 or 98 links (Must be a CZ chain!)
Dry set up
20mm or 25mm front spacers
Rear track 138cm to 139.5cm Depending on your driving style
Tyre pressures between 9 and 12 psi
Wet set up
Full 30mm front spacers
Rear track 134cm to 135cm
Tyre pressures:
11 psi grease
14psi wet
18psi MONSOON
Unfortunately I will not be at Three Sisters for the race weekend so it is unlikely that there will be a full race review, but if anything unexpected happens be sure to let me know and I might do a brief note about it. Next stop Shenington.
