Perfect preparation

We headed to Crail for today's 3rd round of the summer endurance championship, not knowing what to expect as the kart hasn't moved for a month. Most of our rivals have been on the circuit on at least 2 occasions and it showed! XLB (Jack and Mark) and MS Kart (Noel) had both upped their pace. The start of race 1 was delayed as they couldn't get the timing system to work - Craig and I managed to get it sorted, and we than had a ten lap qualifying session, which we managed to lead by a tenth. Race one was on the short circuit and I managed to make a break at the beginning, handing over a 4 second lead (from XLB) to Ros after the half hour. However, somehow we came out 6 seconds behind MS Kart and it took Ros most of his half hour to catch and pass Noel, taking the flag 0.2 seconds in front. For race 2, on the long circuit, the grid is reversed so I stared last (of 24) but somehow managed to get up to second by lap 2 - it was all a bit surreal - the gaps just opened up in front of me :-) I then had to chase down Michael, who was partnering Craig, but I eventually got past him, and again handed over to Ros with 4-5 second lead. Ros always kept the gap to XLB around the 3 second mark, giving us another win. For race 3 it was back to the short circuit, and despite making a good start, got mugged by XLB and Apollo on lap 2. I managed to get up the inside of Scott in the Apollo kart and he turned in on me, but I managed to stay with XLB, whilst Apollo lost 5 or 6 places. So for the next 25 minutes Jack (XLB) and I were never more than a kart length apart - He got past me twice, but I was able to retake the place both times and I handed over to Ros with a lead, but only just. Again we lost out in the pit stop (walking up the pit lane slower than the others!) and it looked like XLB or MS would win as they were glued to each others bumpers. It had been sunny all day but with about 10 minutes to go, some clouds came over the sun, and immediately, Ros was able to start catching the 2 leaders. We don't know why, but our kart runs better in cloudy conditions. Anyway, Mark (XLB) and Noel were so busy racing each other that they forgot about Ros, and with 2 laps left, he got past them both. At the flag, the 3 karts were separated by half a second. Usually Ros doesn't have too much to do in the second half of the races, but today he was awesome!

The closest days racing we've had at Crail, which was only soured by the 57 kart of Milwalk crashing out in practice, coz of a fractured brake pipe, which couldn't be repaired.

Andrew and Jamie , who I worked with at Sky, had their first visit to Crail, and by all accounts, had a great day - both got quicker over the day and they got a feel for real racing.

For the F'sport kart team, a great day with Jack, myself and Craig all doing well - bodes well for Thailand!

A Black Day

Things started out badly at the Scotkart Race of Champions on Monday night, and they only got worse. It was evident from the start of qualifying that our kart was a bit slow - the best we managed in practice was a 30.4 when last time we were there, a 29.1 was our best (by Dom). We asked them to change our kart, but they wouldn't. No matter, we had still sneaked into second place and looked OK for the race. Neil started and got into first place where he built a lead of around 25 seconds. Fraser took over and when we were called in for our fuel canister change at around 50 minutes(the karts are gas powered these days) he still had a lead of around a second. We lost over 10 seconds in the change but Dom quickly caught the leader and passed him, only to be sidewalled by a backmarker(more of this kart latter). Sidewalling is the practice of turning across the nose of someone who is overtaking you forcing them into the tyres/plastic pipes that define the indoor circuit. It's not allowed but there are parts of the circuit that the marshals can't see. Dom was too eager to get going again and he pushed himself out of the tyres, which got him a black flag only 10 minutes into his 30 minute stint. As part of the black flag process, you also have to be stationary in the past for 30 seconds, so it's really a 2 lap penalty. So out I went and I pushed really hard. I lost count of the number of times I was sidewalled by one kart in particular. I got past it but I kept catching it every 15 laps or so and always had the same issue. I was back up to second and only 4 seconds behind the leader when again I caught the same kart. I knew he was going to try to sidewall me so when he turned left into me , I turned right and kept my foot down. This meant that when we went into the next corner (to the left) I was on the inside and he went off. The marshals decided I was to blame and black flagged me - my first ever in 6 years of racing. I had been out for 45 minutes, so Dom did the last 5 minutes or so, and we finished 3rd. That should have been that, but as I walked into the changing room, the 'driver' from the kart I had robustly passed confronted me about my driving standards! He seemed to think that sidewalling me was perfectly acceptable and that that moving to the left of the track approaching a left hand corner was the racing line :-) We nearly came to blows - apparently I had steam coming out of my ears. Thinking about it now, I'm embarrassed that I lost my temper, but at the time, I was ready to rumble.

I know we shouldn't have got so involved as we were racing against 'non-racers', and our kart was down on power (I posted our quickest lap of 30.00 against a previous best for me of 29.4 - a big difference on that track) giving us the 4th quickest lap time out of 9 teams, but when the flag drops, the bullshit stops and you just want to win. I wasn't the only team member to be pissed off by the whole event. Neil was so fed up he has decided that he will not be going back to Scotkart!

Still, it doesn't matter much - Less than a week to go :-)

The Countdown Begins

Only a week to go until we head off for the 24 hour race in Thailand. Today, I did the Raceland 90 minute endurance race, which was actually (for me) 120 minutes as I did all of the 30 min practice/qualifying and then the whole race. I managed to get pole position by a couple of 10ths from Brett/Lewis and by halfway through the race, I had a lead of about 30 seconds. Then it started raining, which made things pretty difficult, mostly due to not having a rain suit on - By the end of the race I was soaked to the skin, but I'd managed to lap the entire field so it wasn't so bad:-)
Tomorrow night (Monday), Neil, Fraser (Neils brother), Dom and myself are competing in some endurance race at Scotkart in Cambuslang - apparently is the final of the industry challenge - should be fun.
Then next weekend, it's the 3rd round of the ESKC endurance championship at Crail raceway. Each meeting consists of 3 one hour races, and in the first two meetings, we've had four first places, a second and a third, so we are hoping to stay in the top 3 in each of the races next weekend. This may be tough as a few of our rivals have been spending lots of time testing at Crail to improve their karts setup. Rumor has it that 2 teams have managed to do laps of 43.6 seconds! Our best ever at Crail is a 44.6, so next weekend could be hard work. And that will complete the preparation for Thailand.

Chris wins at Spa

I was going to write my usual diatribe about today's Super GP race meeting at Raceland, but not any more!

I first met Chris Hyman in 2000 when I tried my hand at Formula Palmer Audi - In 2001 we shared a garage a few times and we got on pretty well. I knew that Chris was heading of to New York for a shareholders meeting, so you can imagine my shock when the atrocity of 9/11 took place - it turned out that Chris had been in a lift on his way down to the ground floor when the first plane hit, and once he got out of the building, he saw a 'minivan', a couple of yards from him, crushed by falling masonry. We exchanged txt messages, so I knew he was OK, but his account of what had gone on was truly scary. It's worth noting that in his next time in the car, he put the car on pole! Well this weekend, he was racing at the world famous Spa circuit in Belgium. For Race 1 he qualified 3rd and finished 2nd - For Race 2 he put it on pole, but stalled at the start, eventually recovering to 8th. Starting from 4th in race 3, he 'blitzed' the field and posted a fantastic win on the best circuit in the world (IMHO). Couldn't have happened to a nicer bloke.

I managed a 2nd in the Raceland Super GP with finishes of 2nd, 3rd, 6th and 1st.

Happy Days.......