Winter Cup | Buckmore Park 2014 | Easykart UK

I'm not sure why this is happening but the last couple of races I really have seemed to be slacking when it comes to writing and getting this posts out. Sorry for all of you who read it, if there are any of you...

Anyway, on the weekend of the 8th - 9th November (ages ago I know) the final race of the Easykart calendar, not season, was held. This is a one off, non-championship, race known as the Winter Cup. It is generally looked forward to by most as pretty much anyone can win it. The winner gets to race with the "prestigious" Easykart e on their kart instead of a number. Unfortunately I didn't win this, so don't expect to find that at the end.

As you can see - missing the apex

We left on the Friday so that we could get a good night sleep before the weekend and, having eaten before we left, I was asleep almost as soon as we got to the room. I was exhausted. No idea why, but I was.The  aim for the weekend was, obviously, to try and win. If that wasn't possible a podium would be nice but barring that, no incidents.... (yet another) unfortunately, none of them were achieved.

Saturday, Practice day. Hoping for a dry track, at Buckmore, in late autumn was like wishing for a unicorn. Often done but not going to happen. The first 2 sessions were quite obviously going to be wets. I was setting some decent times and getting used to the track again, but it wasn't that useful. I seemed to be about on the pace.  Third practice there was a definite dry line around almost all of the track, with exception to the top 3 hairpins which were starting to dry but were still damp. I felt like I was flying around the track, missing most of my apexes but it felt great. I was really getting used to the track again and finding my lines. By the end of the 4th session I felt confident with my dry lines. The 5th session was my quickest session I think with the whole track pretty much bone dry, on the racing line at least.

Rocking that No. 8 Seeded number

Sunday, Race day. Having had a good sleep and got to the track on time, we were out for the warm up first. The track was soaked and slicks would be absolutely useless. Qualifying was fairly uneventful with me going back into my old ways of struggling for the speed.... I qualified 6th, 0.8 seconds off the guy infront. The heat was an ok race for me, I'd dropped at least 3 places off the start but had gained them all back plus one by the end of the 2nd hairpin. I was up to 4th and held my position for the rest of the race.
The Pre-final was the race where all the incidents happened. The track was close to being dry and most of the grid went out on slicks, however the top hairpin was SO damp that there was absolutely no grip. Only 7 drivers finished with 5 DNF's. I dropped down to 8th by the end of the first lap and but was up to 7th by lap 10. Unfortunately on the 11th lap I made a lunge down into the bottom/pit exit corner which didn't work, I nudged the guy in front and slowed right down, he managed to survive the impact but I didn't. Before I knew what was happening I had 2 karts hitting me from the side with one going over the top. I am so glad I was wearing my neck brace as otherwise I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have made it out for the final. My head and neck remained uninjured but the rear of the kart took a small chunk out of my finger. The rear axle was bent along with the steering column, track rod and nassau panel. Also a new steering wheel is needed as that got slightly shredded. We had about 25 minutes to effectively do a 2 hour repair. But we managed. The axle took a few hammer hits and the tracking was left unsorted (or tightened!).

Last official outing with the Koden - demoted to camera helmet now

The final. With a slightly bent rear axle and tracking that was definitely not straight I lined up on my grid spot of 8. By the end of the first corner I had made up 4 places and was in 5th, keeping up with Jenson Murchison infront of me. I finished the race in 5th place but felt happy with my driving as I had a decent gap behind me.

On later inspection the tracking had ended up toeing in a lot, almost at the edge of the sniper laser alignment thing's guide.

I should be moving up to seniors next year however, being a pygmy, I am 2-3kg below the minimum driver weight. With Easykart's recent move away from the MSA this should not be a problem as an exception clause or something should be put in to allow drivers in my position to be able to race without a stupid, and unsafe, amount of lead on their kart. Thank you Easykart UK, ACR and Club 100 for accommodating this.

Easykart UK 2014 | Round 8 | Ellough Park

How much more advertising is needed?
Birel and Club 100 and CZ chains

On the weekend of the 20th - 21st September the 8th and final round of the Easykart UK championship was held this year, as last year, at Ellough Park Raceway. Although I have been doing quite well all year I wasn't particularly looking forward to this round. Ellough park has always been a difficult track in my eyes, you either really get it - or you really don't. Last year I really didn't get the track.

Friday evening - travelling. We left on the Friday evening to hopefully get down and be able to get a decent nights sleep before Saturday, and so as not to have to get up at a ridiculous time. I was shattered so got into bed as soon as we got to the Premier Inn, asleep within  a minute.

Saturday - Practice. I was optimistic about Saturday, the weather forecast looked clear and that is the best weather to learn or re-learn a track in. Breakfast was the usual bacon and mushroom scenario in one of my favourite 'restaurants' - The Fox Burrow Beefeater. We arrived at the track at about 8:30 and were set up pretty quickly. I went for a track walk, expecting the track to be greasy as there was a lot of mist in the air, but it wasn't, it was bone dry. I went out in the first session taking it quite easy, trying to learn the track again. The second session I really started to go for it and went about 2 seconds quicker, still not braking as hard as I could, but the kart felt good, so I was happy. Throughout the day I got quicker and quicker, getting down to a 45.00 second lap but still half a second off the overall pace. We got back to the Fox Burrow to have dinner. We went back to the room to watch the highlights of the Formula 1 qualifying - Motorsport all weekend.

I'm too quick even for the camera.

Sunday - Race. I went out in the warm up trying to scrub in my tyres but not destroy them, as expected.
Qualifying. Having had an OK day on Saturday, I was hoping for 7th at best out of the 14 drivers. To my surprise I came into the pits after the session to see my dad signalling 4th to me. I was amazed as, although it meant I'd be on the outside of the track for the first corner, it meant I had achieved more than I'd expected.
The Heat. I wasn't looking forward to the heat as on my inside I had some very fast people. By the first corner I was down to 5th place, however there was an incident at the next corner, pushing me back up to 4th place. The race was pretty uneventful for me after the first lap, having made a mistake and dropping a place to Mitchell White, I was chasing him all race but unable to overtake. Starting the pre-final in 5th could've been a good thing or a bad thing.
The Pre-Final. I held my position off the start and was keeping pace with Mitchell, unfortunately I couldn't find a way past so was stuck in 5th. Jonathan managed to get past me towards the end of the race, dropping me to 6th. Holding my position I managed to finish 6th.

Flying along the pit straight

The Final. Having not liked the setup  had for the pre-final, I changed it back to the set up we used for the heat. This turned out to be one of my best decisions of the year. I was able to make up a place on the first corner and just about kept pace with the front group. Although I was a few kart lengths back I was not dropping back. I was in 5th for most of the race until Esmee started dropping back as her neck was hurting - it was injured in an earlier collision. I made it past Esmee an up to 4th before the end of the race giving me my highest finish of the year. A good way to end a rollercoaster of a season.
Looking forward to next season, hoping I can stay in Juniors as 28+ kg of lead on a senior kart is just ridiculous.

Next stop - the E-plate.

Easykart UK 2014 | Round 7 Whilton Mill | Review

On the 30th and the 31st of August the 7th round of the Easykart UK championship was held. This year it was held at Whilton Mill and luckily the weather looked clear. I had been looking forward to the race at Whilton mainly because it is my local track, so not too much travelling, and some of my family were coming to watch.

Me with my Grandads and the kart

We dropped the trailer off and set up the awning on Friday night so that when Matt and Jacob arrived on Saturday (they were sharing our awning for Saturday) they could set up even if they were there before us.

Saturday - Practice day. We arrived before Matt and Jacob so we were pretty much sorted for the first session before they arrived. Matt and Jacob had recently bought an Easykart Junior, #70, with the intention of racing in Juniors next year. My brake pads were close to gone after Llandow and both myself and dad agreed that if I were to go out in the first session without new brake pads - I probably wouldn't survive the session. My first session gave me a low 48 second lap as my fastest, not very quick but as I wasn't going full on with the brakes I felt pretty pleased.

Bit of a gap between me and 3rd place

The second session was quicker but I was still quite a way off the pace. It wasn't until lunch that I got some tips from a couple of seniors who were set up behind us that I realised I was taking most of the corners too slow. In the next session I took the lines they suggested and took half a second off my lap time - getting it down to a 47.01 second lap - fastest.

Sunday - Race day. My mum arrived at the track before I went out for the warm up, Juniors were the last class to go out. I went out for warm up and did a 48 second lap - which was about as fast as I wanted to go on the new tyres.
Qualifying. Now this has to be one of the best qualifying sessions I have ever had. Not least because I qualified second, but because I felt quick. I got a 46.450 second lap - 0.110 seconds behind Esmee but 0.140 seconds ahead of Mitchell. I should have come in a couple of laps earlier rather than staying out as I pulled a couple of other drivers along a bit - might have had an effect, but it might not. I came in and all dad did was symbol "2nd" to me and I couldn't stop laughing inside - more out of nerves than anything. I had never qualified on the front row before...

In the background after being spun in the Final.

Attempting to weave my way back up after spinning out

The Heat. Having never been on the front row before I hadn't got much experience with holding the rolling starts. I always used to go whenever the person in front went. Anyway my start was close to perfect as I held my position and kept behind Esmee, at least for the first corner. We hadn't got the tyre pressures right so my grip was no where near what it was in qualifying. I held onto my position for a couple of laps but then Jenson made a clean pass on me and got through, shortly followed by Sam Faulkner forcing me to jump a kerb to avoid him. Unfortunately I spun and ended up down in 10th position. Having to fight my way back up from about a quarted of a lap behind 9th was not something I looked forward too. I finished in 6th so a few good places gained.
Pre-Final. In the Pre-final I jumped the driver in 5th on the start and kept on the bumper of Bailey Acton (4th) for quite a few laps. I chose my moment well and got past him cleanly and into 4th. I managed to hold my position until the last lap board was shown, at which point I started to brake slightly earlier to make sure I didn't spin out. This worked for most of the lap until the boot section, when Jenson came flying up my inside to take 4th position. I had a better line through the next corner but clipped a kerb, throwing my front end out and costing me speed. This unfortunately meant I wasn't able to reclaim my position into the last corner.

6th place on the rolling up lap

The Final. In the Final I was starting in 5th place so I was hoping that, so long as I could hold onto the group ahead of me, I could get lucky and get a podium. It was not to be. I was taken out on the first lap and dropped down to 11th place. I was not happy as such a promising day seemed to have been washed away. I was angry at myself and whoever knocked me off, but I had to get over it, I couldn't change it. My lap times were quick in comparison to the people infront of me, but I was quite a way behind so it took a couple of laps. Then I got stuck behind 2 guys and although their lines were pretty good, their braking was not the best. Finding a way past was more difficult than I expected. Eventually I got passed them and was up to 7th (2 other drivers had spun). I now had to focus on trying to close down a gap of about a third of the lap to the next two drivers. Although my lap times were quite a lot quicker than theirs the gap was just too large. In the end I finished 7th. Congratulations to Mitchell White on getting his first podium at the weekend - Hopefully I'll be on it next time.

Looking forward to Ellough Park for the next round.