Chain Reaction | Easykart UK 2015 Rd 5 Glan-y-Gors

See that kerb in the front? I don't like it

18th/19th July was the weekend of round 5 of the Easykart UK championship, this time at G-y-G. Last year was the first time I'd finished the main final at G-y-G so I was hopeful this year, especially after my performance at Llandow.
We arrived at the track Friday evening to drop the trailer. Then off to our B&B, the same as last year and the same room, to leave our stuff. The pub was full when we went for dinner so I settled for scampi and chips from the chippy opposite.
Saturday, Testing. We arrived and got setup in time, as usual, and got an extra screw for the carb in case we should have a repeat of Clay. The practice sessions were OK, I definitely wasn't the quickest out there but I was there or there abouts. I had some fun tailing people and working out where I was quicker and giving them the odd nudge down the straight. Some people, no names, seemed to feel a dive into the pits would solve the problem. Anyway, testing over, the Easykart Cricket/Rounders match thing occurred. The team I was on won, mainly because the other team couldn't hit the ball....

Starting the Heat in 10th place

Sunday, Race day. Warm up felt half decent, didn't try too hard on the tyres as usual but still did a 44.something lap - bit fast I thought but didn't feel I was going over the top.
Qualifying came and the kart felt under powered. I was struggling for top end and acceleration was about as good as on Saturday, so not a trade of acceleration for top end, just a lack of top end. Anyway I completed 2 laps in traffic, then had some clear air and decided I just had to go for it and try and make the most of what I had. Unfortunately on that third lap I threw my chain going slightly too far over the rumble strip on the pit straight. That signaled the end of my qualifying session. Somehow I managed to get 10th place out of 19 with only that 1 clean lap.

Throwing it into the first corner

Heat. This was a good race for me, didn't get into the top 3 or get into the same times as them, but I managed to make up places. I was in 5th place before the half way mark - that's under 4 minutes! The rest of the race was rather uneventful, only making up 1 place to finish in 4th.
Pre-final. We had a couple of false starts but eventually got going. I managed to get the jump on Toby in 3rd, and held 3rd for a couple of laps. Unfortunately a mistake from me allowed Toby past and dropped me to 4th. In my attempt to get back to 3rd I had a repeat of Qualifying and threw a chain on the same rumble strip. However I didn't go fully over the kerb so we assume the chain was a bit loose, rather than hit by the kerb. Anyway this meant I had to start the final from the very back of the grid, all the way in 19th place - such a long way from the podium!

See, 4th place. I can do well at GyG sometimes

Final. As usual a couple of false starts were necessary to make sure everyone knew where the accelerator was, then we were under way. I had made up 3 places by the end of the first lap and then proceeded to gain at least 1 position for the next few laps. I was up to about 9th position by half way, looking good for a decent finish, when I was tagged from behind and spun around. I got dropped down to 16th. Anyway I managed to gain places as before but could only manage 10th place as the field was so spread out. Looking at the "Sum Diff" on the timings it looked like, had I not been spun, I would have been on course to challenge for the podium positions as a kerfuffle at the front meant both Sam and Toby had to retire.
Ginetta, an Easykart UK sponsor, were at G-y-G as well. They were giving passenger rides around the track for 4 Cadets, 4 Juniors, 2 Lights and 2 Masters. Unfortunately I wasn't picked so no lovely pictures of that. Good to see sponsors taking an interest in the series enough to go to deepest darkest Wales to give competitors an experience of the next step on the motorsport ladder.

White Pods obviously improve aerodynamics!

Not our best weekend at Glan-y-Gors but definitely not our worst. Roll on Whilton Mill, Double Header!

Screw Loose | Easykart UK 2015 Round 4 Clay Pigeon

Nice and dry on Saturday

The 4th round of the Easykart UK championship was held over June 27th-28th at Clay Pigeon Raceway. Last year Clay Pigeon wasn't a great race for me, having struggled with tyres all weekend. This year I was hoping for better.
We arrived at the track on Friday to drop off the trailer, it was so misty/foggy that at the track you couldn't even see 20m in front of you! We then headed onto our hotel. Not much to say about Friday other than it was a good nights sleep.
Saturday, Testing. We arrived at the track to beautiful sunshine, a complete contrast to Friday Evening. We were set-up and signed on ready for the "official" Easykart Track Walk. Although I have been to Clay Pigeon multiple times the official track walk is always useful, sometimes showing me where I can gain time. The day went well, I seemed to have the pace and we were pretty confident on setup. We then went back to the hotel for dinner - steak as usual.

Qualy

Sunday, Race Day. We arrived at the track, and although it was damp it appeared to be drying. However just before the first warm up session the heavens opened and the track was soaked. I was fastest in warm up by 0.3 seconds, but that's warm up so not sure how much people were pushing.
Qualifying was good, I found grip and managed to put myself P2 on the grid for the 3rd time this season.

On the grid for the heat

The heat was good, I had a blistering start and managed to get into first by the end of the first corner. There's so much more grip on the outside! Anyway, I had a decent lead of about 1 second then my tyres started to struggle for grip. I had to change my line to try and find grip, however that didn't work out too great. I dropped down to 3rd after 2 laps of struggling for grip and held my position. Then, some laps later, Jenson's wheel flew off in front of me, promoting me to 2nd place. I finished the race on the road in 2nd, however after penalties I was promoted another place to 1st. I technically won the race!!!
Pre-final. The track had now dried off and me having to start from pole was rather daunting. I made a real hash of the start, losing 2 places by the end of turn 1. The rest of the race was OK, I got back up into 2nd for a bit but then Jenson appeared and I was back down to 3rd. I tried a different line near the end of the race, hoping to gain a bit of time, but it didn't work. I finished in 4th place.

Leading the heat - 2/3 laps in

Pole Position!

Now the final.... Oh the final..... what a great time for something to go wrong! As you can tell, something did go wrong. I had no acceleration or top end and struggled for the whole race. People were able to fly past me on the straight and also pull a gap out of every corner. It was so frustrating! How I managed to finish 8th I don't know, it was a real struggle. So that ended my weekend. It looked promising a lost screw stopped my podium chances. The loose screw was the one that holds the high jet in, having lost this my kart was seriously down on power.
Problems aside - on to G-y-G!