It's Taken Me Three Years | Easykart UK Round 3 Llandow

Some close racing - even on the Saturday

On the weekend of Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th was the third round of the Easykart UK Championship. This year held at Llandow. It was the third round in 2012 that I attended my first Easykart Event, making this 3 years of Easykart for me and 3 whole seasons completed. Just wanting to thank everyone at Easykart for being so kind and helpful, it appears this kind of camaraderie is unique in karting, with everywhere else being closed awnings and the like. Also thanks to everyone who supports me back at base but is unable to come and watch me race. Thanks guys for making these years possible.

Calm as usual

Anyway, onto the race review.
We got up to the track Friday evening to drop off the trailer, then onto the Premier Inn for dinner and sleep.
Saturday morning we were up early as usual and were at the track by around 8:15 I think. With a drivers briefing scheduled for 10:45, and the first Junior session at 11:00, there was a lot of time to kill. We were set up by about 9:00 so I went for a wander to see who was about, and then a track walk. Having sustained a bent axle in the pre-final at Three Sisters I was running with a bent axle for the first 3 sessions. Unfortunately this meant that my braking was a lot worse and harder to control. I was really struggling into the big hairpin but I managed. During lunch we changed the rear axle and fitted some new brake pads. Although this meant I would have to bed the brakes in during the 4th session I wasn't too bothered, I had a decent axle so my braking should be a lot better. As it happens I set a time only 8 hundredths slower than I had in the previous session, and the track was starting to get slower. By the fifth session the air had warmed up a lot more so times were slower, but I set a pb of 45.2 - not as quick as Sunday but I was happy.
Saturday evening was a laugh. Having had food we sat with the combination of the Fox's and the Jerger's for a drink, orange juice in my case (Not quite on the alcohol), and ended up doing a lemon challenge of all things. Apparently eating the whole lemon slice, rind included, isn't normal.... When we got back to the room I was asleep in a couple of minutes max.

Modelling Career?

Sunday, Race Day. We arrived at the track to find sun shining. Actual sun! In Wales! It was a sign, I'm sure.... maybe. Anyway, warm up went well, setting times about the same as the Saturday but trying a lot less.
Qualifying was rather annoying. I went out and immediately I could feel the rear end slipping a lot more than normal. Admittedly on cold tyres this was to be expected, however it didn't sort itself out. I spent the whole session sliding around each and every corner, trying to get grip. Anyway, my run of 2nd place qualifying sessions has ended. I qualified 5th.
Heat. This has got to be one of the longest races I've ever done. A whole 3 laps! I made a lunge into the hairpin on Toby, and got past him. Unfortunately I caught Harry's rear bumper, pulling my front pod off my kart and giving me a mechanical. Luckily I was the only one to lose out, so no DSQ for me. However it did mean I would have to start from P14, right at the back of the grid.

Driver coach putting me to sleep?

The pre-final was a great race, from 14th on the grid up to 7th place. Overtakes were many and I have to say it was a very enjoyable race, even if I didn't get as many points as I would have liked. Finishing in 7th meant I had a chance, if not a very good one, of getting a podium. It would require a lot of effort though...
Final. The first start resulted in a rather large pile up with damage being done to most karts, luckily mine was only cosmetic, a few dents in the front pod. From the restart I held my position, and by the end of the first lap had made my way to 6th position. By this point the front 3 had pulled a bit of a gap, so overtaking quickly was a must. I was up to 5th by the end of the 2nd lap but with a fair gap to the guy in 3rd. Although I was quicker than 2nd and 3rd place drivers at this point, I was unsure if I was quick enough to catch up and overtake them both. Luckily I had the speed and the consistency to do so. Once I caught up it didn't take me long to get past them. Now I was into 3rd, as during my overtakes Jenson managed to get past. Fortunately for me, unfortunately for Jenson, his exhaust was loose and he was given a mechanical flag towards the end of the race. This promoted me to 2nd. I held 2nd for the rest of the race until the final corner, where I decided to go very defensive to stop Toby and anyone else behind him from cutting up my inside and stopping me from getting my podium. This plan didn't really work. I kept my podium but ran a bit wide, allowing Toby to creep up the inside and collect 2nd place by only 0.033s. I'm looking forward to the official footage to see how much space I had before that corner, and whether I'd have been able to take my normal line.

3rd step, only 2 to go

3rd place isn't something to be unhappy about. 3rd full year in Easykart, first podium, highest finish to date. Hopefully the first of many podiums.

It has been announced that Rowrah has been cancelled and removed from the Easykart calendar as not enough people signed up for it. It's a shame as its a new track for me. But on the bright side a double header at Whilton has been chosen as a replacement. Roll on Clay Pigeon!

Fast on Track, Slow in Writing | Easykart UK Round 2 Three Sisters

On the weekend of the 18th-19th April the second Easykart UK round was held at Three Sisters in Wigan. I know it was a long time ago but I'm sure that doesn't matter.... too much.
Wigan is a fair distance away so no staying at home this time. Having never been to Three Sisters before I wasn't too optimistic about getting a decent result (Podium) but it was still a possibility.
Arriving on Friday allowed us to be setup and pretty much sorted for Saturday before hand, this meant I could do a track walk and actually work out the circuit before going out. Having never been I obviously didn't really know the track. There's only so much you can learn from Youtube.
Saturday was quite simply about learning the track and trying to go a bit quicker than the majority of the others
After completely destroying the sprocket protector during the first session and throwing the chain, we decided to run with out a sprocket protector. By the end of the day I was running pretty well, seemed to be in the top 5 time wise so I was looking forward to Sunday. There were a few huge incidents with the air ambulance having to be called. Luckily all those involved in the incidents were OK, if a little bruised.

Sunday. Race Day. We arrived at the track, obviously, and were setup on time. Warm up was uneventful with me simply getting some heat into the tyres as per usual.
Qualifying. Now this was interesting. I was stuck behind a group of slower drivers but wasnt sure I'd be able to get through them in time to give me a quick lap, so  I decided I'd drop back enough so I'd catch them just after I'd completed the lap. This meant I'd be able to hopefully get the slipstream down the back straight but also be far enough back that they wouldn't compromise on my time. After a few good laps my dad started signalling for me to just go for it and push through the pack, so I did. A couple of laps from the end I had cleared the pack and set a few quick laps in. I came into the pits thinking I'd probably have qualified around 5th or 6th place but no, 2nd place was mine once again!
The heat was one of my best races giving me my highest finish in a race of 3rd, only losing 2nd to Jenson. Nothing really astonishing happened in the heat so not much I can say except good clean racing by all.
The pre-final was a bit more difficult with me struggling for grip near the start, I lost a place to Jonathan and was down into 4th place. I made an attempt at getting past but slightly misjudged it, jumping a kerb and going off the track. I made it back onto the track but was down in 5th and a fair way back.
The final, the big one. My aim for the final was to try and get 3rd, as 2nd or 1st seemed to be out of reach unfortunately. I had a blistering start, jumping from 5th to 3rd by the end of the first corner. Unfortunately, tyre pressures failed us yet again and I struggled for grip toward the end of the race. I was close to 3rd and 4th but a huge slide around the hairpin before the pits left me too far behind to catch up by the end of the race. A 5th isn't too bad I guess, still holding 4th in the championship but no podium yet. Llandow next!

Touching Distance | Easykart UK Round 1 Shenington

Well the first race of the season has come and gone. As the first round was at Shenington this year we didn't need to stay in a hotel. We arrived at the track early Saturday morning as we needed to pick up the engine from Andy's since it had been in for a full rebuild. We were set up and ready very early considering the first session was at 11 am. The first session + 5 laps I was taking it easy to run the engine in.

It felt like a pretty good day testing, seemed to be pretty much on the pace. I had some fun in the last session just racing with some of the others, not really concentrating on lines as much. It has to be one of my best test days to date. Hoping for good things on Sunday.

Our Setup

Sunday arrived and we, junior, were first out all day. Warm up went as expected, pushing it a bit to try and get some heat into the tyres, but not going full out so they didn't get ruined for qualifying.
In qualifying I only did 8 laps as my times didn't appear to be improving. This turned out to be a great decision as my fastest time from those 8 laps granted me my second front row start! I qualified 2nd.

The heat went ok, my start kept me in second and I managed to hold my position for just over 7 laps, at which point I unfortunately got overtaken. I finished the heat in 4th place so it wasn't too bad.

Front Row for the heat

The pre-final went pretty much without a hitch. I started 4th and finished 4th however there was a fair amount of position changing during the race. I was up to 3rd a couple of times but unable to hold onto the position whilst keeping with the guy infront.
The final was the big one, the one being filmed, the one for the trophies. Unfortunately I finished 4th.... again. Although this matches my best result to date I could have had 3rd. I was up to 3rd on the final lap but left the door open going into Bruno Chicane. This proved to be a huge mistake as Jonathan shot up the inside, held the position and defended the rest of the lap. If it wasn't for that stupid mistake I would have gained my first podium and my best result.
It was a good but irritating weekend and lessons were definitely learnt.

The Easykart Paddock

Looking forward to round 2 at Three Sisters in Wigan. Round 2 is ALSO being filmed so fun times.