Round 1 - Buckmore Park

New helmet design, new kart, new suit.

On 22nd/23rd March it was the first round of the Easykart UK championship, at Buckmore Park, as mentioned in my race preview. Not only was I looking forward to going to a new track but I was also keen to see if my new kart had given me any extra speed. We arrived at our Premier Inn on the Friday night to make sure that we were awake in the morning rather than, well, asleep.

Focused as ever

Saturday the 22nd of March was the official Easykart Practice day, and we were hoping to make some progress. However, as usual, we didn't get out for very long in the first session as we were rushing to get ready (adding fuel). I got out for about 4 laps though, which was good as it allowed me to learn the basic layout of the track, but Conways was rather slippy as it had been in the shade all morning, so couldn't dry from the previous evenings rain. Anyway that session ended with me having spun and hit the wall once, only damaging the rear bumper, and setting a very slow lap that was around the high 42 second mark. To put this into perspective the pole qualifying on Sunday was a high 39 second lap, and the conditions were pretty much the same. In the next session I was just about keeping up with Sam Faulkner for most of it - he may have been going slow, but that doesn't matter, I was keeping up with him!
The rest of the day went pretty much the same and I got a 41.3 as my fastest time. I felt OK with it but I was pretty sure that others were getting into 40 seconds.

Sunday the 23rd of March was Race day, the first one of the year. We arrived at about 8:15, set up by 8:30 and had the kart prepped by about 9:00, very efficient. Went out in the warm up aiming to just scrub my tyres in and not go to fast, when I found myself almost racing in a group of 4 people. I am unsure if they were doing the same as me or were just not getting their lines right, but I was deliberately 2 seconds off the pace.
As people who read my blog often may know, qualifying isn't one of my strong points, I think my highest qualifying from last year was about 17th, but this time it was different. I had managed to get a personal best qualifying position of 12th place with a personal best time at the track.
Thanks to my qualifying position I had a pretty good run at the first corner for the heat, but I was on the wrong side of the track. It had started to spit with rain just before we went out so some people were unsure as to which tyres to use, and some of them had to start from the back because they weren't on the grid in time. This allowed me to get up to 10th, I think, simply by having a gap in front of me. My race went pretty well and I was up to 7th when Sam Blower got past me, putting me down to 8th. We had a good battle for the rest of the race and on the final lap I overtook him by diving to the inside at Paddock. I managed to finish the heat in 7th place, my highest finish of a race and my best result for a heat.

The pre-final went OK, but it took me a while to get my line sorted. For some reason I was taking a racing line that was no-where near as quick as it was in the heat. It took me about 7  laps to get into my stride and when I did I was the 5th fastest driver out there. I finished the pre-final in 6th and, had I had 4 more laps, I could have finished 5th.
The final was where the weather turned against us; it started to snow. We went out on a brand new set of wets, but we didn't really know what pressures to run so it was a bit of guess work. I was starting on the outside in the wet, all I could think was that I was going to get binned (knocked off the track) going into the first corner. Luckily however, I didn't. I held my line and was up to 3rd after the first corner. I held 4th for most of the race, but then Mantas got past me and then I spun, putting me down to 11th. I was out of the top 10 and annoyed at myself. I was very lucky though as Jordan and Esmee, 1st and 2nd, were just behind me as I re-joined, so when I let them through I tailed them, this allowed me to fly past anybody who was moving out of their way for the blue flags. Using this tactic I got up to 7th place and stayed there.

It was a good race weekend, it proved that I was fast, I got my first top 10 finish by my own speed, not an accident (Shenington 2013). Also a congratulations is in order to Matas as he had a great drive to finish in his joint highest position of 3rd place, only his 2nd ever podium. Maybe I'll join him next time!

2014 Race Preview - Round 1, Buckmore Park

Coming up on Saturday 22nd of March and Sunday 23rd of March is the first race of the Easykart UK 2014 calendar. This race is going to be held at Buckmore Park which appears to be not only a very technical track but also quite quick, if you get the lines right. I know people will say that if you get the lines right at any track it is quick but what I mean is there are some long sweeping corners at Buckmore that can be taken close to flat out if the kart is set up properly.
Club 100 do some very good track guides for all the tracks that they visit and, as club 100 run the Easykart races, they have one for most of the tracks that we go to. The layout of the track seems to be split into two sections. The "top half" ,as I think of it, being quite tight and technical; and the "bottom half" being quite open and fast flowing, but not without some tight corners. From having a quick look at the track and watching many videos of the BUKC, Club 100 races and the odd easykart driver going around Buckmore, I feel that probably the most crucial corner of the whole track is going to be Symes Sweep as it is "a very fast, down hill right hand corner" and can sometimes be "taken flat, although a small lift may be required" as it then sets you up for Pullmans and Paddock corner. If you miss your braking spot and turning point at Pullmans it sets you up wrong for Paddock and forces you to lose speed, increasing your lap time.

note: these quotes are from the Club 100 track guide for Buckmore Park.

"Buckmore Park" courtesy of Club 100

Andy's suggested set-up for Buckmore (Junior)

Set up

• Carb seting start 45mins to 55mins low jet : main jet 83
• Exhaust flex 80mm
• Designated sprocket size: 86t recommended chain length 108L 

Dry set up

• 25mm front spacers on inside/ rear track 138 to 139.5cms 
• Tyre pressure dry range guide 9 to 12 psi. Always use the same pressure in the fronts and rears- look for a working pressure gain of 2 psi

Wet set up

• Full spacers inside front wheels - rear track 134 to 135cm
• Tyre pressures 16 psi grease, 20 psi wet and for monsoon wet 22 psi or even higher if day temp is only 1 or 2 degrees c

From my recent practice at Whilton Mill I am in high hopes for a top 10 finish at Buckmore, which would not only be a great start to a new season, new kart and new year, but it would also be my highest finish to date at an Easykart event!
There is yet another new points system for this year, probably because the system last year was not only confusing but put people lower down the grid on the back foot, as if you gained many places in the heat you would still have to start near the back. This year however you get championship points for the heat, pre-final and the final, however the points available in the heat are only half the amount that are available in each of the final and pre-final.

A new beginning - The first steps

On Wednesday 20th February 2014 I went for a track/test day in my new Kart, #83. This new kart was provided by my chief sponsor who, after lengthy negotiations over the festive period, agreed that a new vehicle was needed to help my chances in the coming season. As this season will be my last season in the Junior class I will only get to use this kart this season, however it should provide the reliability we need.

We arrived at around 8:30 and were set up by 9:30. We signed on and went for a track walk and were glad that the track was dry and grippy. As this was to be the first time the kart had ever been driven I would need to run the engine in and bed in the brakes for the first two sessions, but that didn't bother me. As there were so many drivers there on the Wednesday the sessions were split into four; Cadets, TKM and Minimax, Junior followed by Seniors. We were classed as TKM so we went out in the first junior session.

Getting focused

In the first two sessions I took it easy, not too fast along the straights and not too hard on the brakes. It felt as if the TKM and Minimax drivers were very quick as I couldn't compare myself to them, so I was hoping that when it came to the third session I would be able to keep up.

A quick note about tyres. Last season in Easykart we were using Easykart specific tyres which, although they work, aren't the grippiest and therefore not the fastest. This season Easykart is switching to new Vega SL4s. We first got to use these at the E-plate last November, and they are much grippier but supposedly have a shorter life.

In the third session I went out on the old Easykart tyres and I was just about keeping up with the TKMs and Minimaxs, but not able to pass them very easily or catch up quickly. I also found that I didn't have much rear grip and was sliding through many corners at much slower speeds than I was used to.

In the zone

Come the fourth session we had switched the tyres and I was now on the SL4s that had only been used at the E-Plate. It was a revelation! I was going through corners much quicker than many of the TKMs and Minimaxs, and in straight line speed the Easykarts, there were four of us (Jordan Sanders, Mitchell White, Matthew Rainbow and Myself), were so much faster than the TKMs and Minimaxs. I was able to take at least 1 kart on the straight up to the top of the hill - I think I passed 3 at one point just along that straight. It was electrifying. I have never felt so quick in my whole karting career. I was beginning to think it is how people at the front of the Easykart grid feel during every race/practice session.

The next sessions all went perfectly and I was one of the fastest people out there, generally equaling Jordan's laps. Unfortunately the mychrons weren't working very well and didn't seem to pick up one of the mag strips, but when I set it to 2 rather than 3 mag strips it still didn't pick up the correct times, maybe only one was working? Fortunately I had my MyTach watch which allowed me to see my lap times. My fastest lap of the day was a 47.73 second lap. I don't think this is my fastest time around there but the track was not quick so on a good day who knows what time I'll get.

Cleaning the kart and sorting out the chain

If this practice day was anything to go by this season should be a good one, but I don't want to jinx myself too early on. There would have been some footage of my driving around, but the camera disappeared during the last session and had been playing up all day, so no camera. Hopefully we should have a new camera by mid-season. Any suggestions for on-board cameras are welcome but we are trying to keep costs down, so nothing too expensive.

This is where the camera was

Also follow me on twitter @EGoesKarting for regular updates throughout race weekends.