Wets to Slicks in 13 minutes. A how to

Racing between 4 drivers

#Well, this isn't actually a how to but it did happen. So don't expect to find any information or tips on getting an extra set of decent slicks here.#

The weekend of the 14th-15th September saw the final round of the Easykart season. A total of 20 drivers were racing and it was an eventful weekend. Harry Barlow had already wrapped up the Cadet championship but turned up to add the cherry on the top. Thanassi Barnicoat had the Junior Championship sorted but didn't risk racing, in case something happened and he lost his title. The Senior classes I believe were still up for grabs. Anyway, onto me. We, dad and I, arrived at our premier inn on the Friday after getting lost as dad took a wrong turn... it was a great place with a restaurant that seemed to go all over the place.

Battle between 3 Drivers. I am the middle one.

Saturday 14th September. Practice Day. We arrived at the track to find a space directly opposite our friends, Jacob and Matt Wardle. We were set up in plenty of time, kart sorted and signed on ready for the day. It started out as a damp track so I went out more to get a feel for the track rather than to get a good time. The weather was supposed to get worse throughout the day but it didn't, it got drier. So on the second session I went out on slicks. It was still slightly damp in some places but it was obvious that it would be a quick and demanding track. Quick as there were many fast corners and demanding because of the amount of bumps I felt round the track throwing me about in my seat. The day just got quicker and quicker. I managed to get a 47.2 second lap as my fastest, which was quick but not quick enough! I felt ok and looking back I think we should have been happy with it, but I felt the lack of a 46.something lap time was down to me. I felt sure I could get one but I wasn't sure how.

Me going round a corner - dry track

Me having gone round the same corner - damp track

Sunday. Race day. According to the BBC we were either going to get rain at 1pm, 4pm, 6pm or not at all. So we were hopeful. It started off as a dry track, so the warm up was fine, as was qualifying and the heat. However once the heat was over (I finished 13th but would start 16th) it was lunch and that just opened the door for the weather.

The Tyre. This may look like it has trread, but it doesn't!

By the time we were on the grid again it was a damp track, the weather was threatening to drop a bucket on us and I think everybody was hoping it wasn't. The track wasn't dry enough for slicks at the start and so the decision was wets. This is where the title comes from. I was out on track for 13 minutes and I was working those tyres to their death, quite literally although I didn't know it. I was up to around 12th by the first corner and battling for 10th by the second when suddenly I was spun. I was now at the back of the grid and chasing someone with a broken rear bumper, it was trailing along the ground. I like firework displays as much as the next guy but not whilst I am trying to race! I was now on a mission to catch up after he went in. Although in my head I was sure it would take only just less than a miracle to gain on Jess or Matthew. I was close at the end but not close enough. I finished 18th so down 2 places. The tyres looked OK but when they have been used in the dry you can't see much of the tread anyway.
By the time the final came it was a really damp track and I had to use the wet tyres. I was up to 16th almost immediately off the start and I was hoping it would go well. Up to 13th by the second corner and all looked good. However I then felt my grip going, or at least I realised I had to slow down a bit more than I wanted to to get into the corners. Most of the time when I was following someone I would try to take their line a little bit slower than them and my kart would just understeer massively. I couldn't get round any of the corners like other people could. After the race, with me finishing in 17th but last past the chequered flag, I looked at my tyres and saw how little tread there was on them, They would have been classed and dry-intermediates. Not even intermediates! there was so little tread on them. It was a wonder and proof of my driving capabilities that I :
1) finished the race
2) managed to keep up with the guy who finished just ahead of me

Next race/blog post will be the e-plate in November unless I have a training day before then. This year it is at Whilton Mill so if you want to see some racing just come along, but don't expect me to come 1st, that might happen next year but who knows!

The Curse of Glan-Y-Gors

The last corner. 

Unfortunately we have found out the my kart, or its previous and current drivers, are cursed. Whenever there is a race at G-y-G and the Easykart Junior kart number 17 enters, it never finishes the final in full working order, in fact it never finishes the final...

As the double header this year is at G-y-G, so quite a journey for us we decided to go up on Thursday afternoon, the weather looked miserable (heavy rain) so pitching a tent was not a good idea, we booked a travel lodge for Thursday night and had a little chef dinner and breakfast.

Our set-up and sleeping quarters

Friday morning we got up, had breakfast and traveled to the track, we weren't particularly early but early enough. It was DRY! We needed to get a front sprocket after I broke one at Whilton, and some more oil. We got set up and were out for the first session. It was more of a remember the track session rather than get set up sorted. I was going well, for me, not particularly quick and wrong lines but on track when I overcooked a corner and went spinning, luckily I didn't damage the kart. I got out for the second session as well but grip felt quite low, dad was wondering if the tyres were shot.  3rd and 4th sessions were uneventful with me quick in one but slower, feeling quicker, in the other. 3rd was faster. I had an uneventful day but feel I am struggling, in my driving not in getting the set up. I think I just need to think less and remember more, of what Richard has said.

What I did to my chain! SNAP

Saturday was a complete contrast to Friday and also to Sunday, it was very wet. Well I say wet but it only really got wet in Qualifying, and you cannot go in to the pits and then back out. The warm up was simple enough, blast around for the full time as I wasn't on new slicks. Qualifying everyone could tell it was going to be wet, but not when. I think there was about 4 minutes of dry before the rain came, it was only a few spots but enough to make the slicks lose traction and heat. As qualifying isn't usually my strong point I didn't mind as I lost nothing, well no real positions. I was starting the heat in 20th out of 22 and managed to finish 18th after passing someone, James Hattersly, by taking a much quicker and grippier line. The Pre-Final I finished 17th but only as some people either didn't finish or got disqualified for being under weight. The final.... well. I didn't finish. I was up to around 15th or 14th but then my kart started to die, I was hoping to be able to limp it home, but I couldn't I thought it was the carb that was the problem but it was actually a broken reed block, not good! We didn't go and get it checked till Sunday morning, so  no warm up...

Sunday as all ready stated, was dry and things looked hopeful. We were up bright and early and sorted, not. We went to see Andy about the kart, he said the kart was fine but the carb was broken. He also said he would fix it ready to be picked up at 9:30 in time for the warm up. We picked it up, same problem. One of his mechanics then took a look, told us our battery was pretty low, as they all do... WE WILL NOT BUY A NEW BATTERY!! but anyway he showed us the broken reed block and we had to buy a new one, no warm up for me. I had to go out in qualifying on brand new slicks. I managed to wear a hole in the fuel line thus destroying my chances and making me only qualify in 2nd last, and barely use my slicks. The heat I had newer slicks on than everyone else so more grip, but I managed to clip Jess on the 2nd lap and spun myself putting myself down to 2nd last, again. it didn't affect Jess. I finished the heat in 18th but due to new rules had to start in 21st, you get points for your qualifying position and heat position and they are added together to work out your pre-final start position. I finished the Pre-final in an amazing 14th place, I just hoped I could use that well in the final, knowing that if I finished it I would change personal history, I didn't. At the first corner someone spun out and I had to go around the outside, finding myself once again in 22nd place I had some work to do. I was up to around 15th place with 5 laps to go and closing in on a group of 5 ahead of me. I went ever so slightly too fast around the 1st corner and barely touched the kerb. But it was enough to take my chain off and end my weekend with yet another DNF in the final. Ahh well.

On a lighter side Whilton Mill has been confirmed as the track easykart is using for the E-plate in november!

Lesson 2 : GO FASTER!

Me checking the MyChron

On Wednesday 10th July I had a training day with Richard from Spellfame at Whilton Mill, using the international circuit. This is the second training session I have had with Richard, the first was in October I think.
We arrived early, about 8:30 and got everything set up. We went and paid, I got a green wrist band to show that. After that we went back to our area and made sure everything was where it should be. Richard arrived soon after and, after getting his needed bacon butty we went for a track walk. Dad said he would get the kart sorted first. Richards was showing me the lines as the last time I had driven the circuit, in relatively dry conditions, had been October. I found out, before I had even sat n my kart, that my driving style is all wrong. I drive a wet line or a wet style instead of a dry one. I square off all the corners which, sometimes, is ok but I do it all the time. My first aim for the day was to beat my time from the double header last year, fastest time of 50.3, which is terrible. My first outing I made it out of the dummy grid and realised the kart wouldn't accelerate. it got out of the dummy grid fine, but then stopped. I couldn't get the engine revving. I choked the engine a bit, everything just to get it back to the pits. I had to stop at the cut through on the back straight. We realised it was the carb so we changed it. The new one worked fine. I managed to get out in the second session and complete around 10 laps before Richard called me in. I was making good progress but I needed to be a lot smoother. he said I was quicker when I wasn't trying too hard. The next session was much of the same except I was going quicker. We didn't change much on the carb or in fact the kart. All that changed throughout the day was the tyre pressures, they went down, and the amount of fuel as we needed to keep topping it up.

Me not quite getting wide enough. Should have most of
the kart over the line.

Much better.

Once I had got my line pretty much sorted Richard said that I needed to use a lot more of the track, and use the throttle to power out of the corners and, ,somehow, adding more power reduced my under steer. Throughout the morning I was slowly but surely reducing my time, I was into the mid-low 49 seconds at lunch time. We had bacon butties for lunch. After Lunch we only had 3 sessions left. I managed to do my quickest rolling lap in the first session after lunch, which is the fastest I have ever been round Whilton Mill International Circuit, of a 48.74 second lap! I was using the whole track as Richard said, being very smooth with my turning and having no middle ground between braking and accelerating! Thank you very much Richard, I hope I can use the techniques I have learnt from you in my future races, and hopefully get results in the top half more often!