Another track that Lucas has not raced at apart from a club round so we were hopeful of a strong run but really did not have any way of gauging where we would be. Coming to the last couple of rounds of the Championship it's all starting to get closer in regards to points and final standings so we had to be mindful of that rather than just going for the win at all costs...
Friday Testing
We were hoping for stable weather conditions to allow maximum time to dial into the new track but this was not to be....a timetable of 7 sessions looked good for time on track but there did seem to be some drivers who were more interested in racing rather than testing so careful placement on the grid was required to try and ensure the opportunity to put in clean laps to learn the track and prepare for TQ on Saturday was maximised.
Testing went well but we needed to find a little.....something was missing from our last time out at the track and it was not the driver. The kart was not 100% so a bit of a workthrough and the putting of head together resulted in us coming to the conclusion that a certain aspect of the chassis was the only thing that it could be....even though it looked OK.
We found this before so nothing to lose and made some component changes and as we would find, this was the issue so great job by the team to work the problem to the solution!
Saturday TQ & Heats
The weather had changed considerably and it was pouring with rain, now, this could be a good thing as Dude's not averse to kicking a bit of r's in the wet.
Practice went OK 5th fastest within 1/10th of the main drivers ahead so happy with that.
TQ..... TQ is, as always, finding other drivers who are prepared to work to set a fast time and it's all good an well having a plan....but the plan has to work.
The plan was for Lucas and his teammate to go out and go for the time but unfortunately they were split up during the opening lap and never came together. Lucas towed up to karts in front, passed and then worked up to the next.
On the last lap it all looked like it could come together with another driver as their sector times were up on the P1 driver but unfortunately the other driver decided it was time to race...in TQ?....and went in on Lucas costing them 5/10ths and resulting in Lucas qualifying P5...so far from ideal unfortunately.
We had to wait for the placings to be calculated from both TQ groups which eventually placed Lucas P15.....a lot of work ahead but we have come from further back so focus and time to draw up an action plan.
Heat 1 (race 8 in the programme) Starting on P10 of the grid Dude was focussed on the job and was aiming for a minimum top 3 finish and the lights went out.....
Average start off the line but was on it and lap one gained 2 places, another 2 on lap 2...this was starting to look good. Lap 3 closed in nearly 1 second on the 5th place driver to enable another place gain on lap4, lap 5...yes another place moving him to 4th and only about halfway through.
Lap 6 brought another 2 scalps and into P2 behind Thompson and time to try and push away but the pack behind were still catching him so on lap 8 he went into the lead. Head down and tried to break away but this was never to be and coming round the last corner he was hit from behing by the O plate driver sending him off the track and dropping him to 7th......regained control and going into cafe corner hit again by 97 and pushed into 55 resulting in the 3 drivers loosing loads of places....mindless actions unfortunately by certain drivers meant a P17 finish over the line. Loads of work done, job nearly achieved but some factors are beyond the control of the driver. Major positives though, again showing he can make his was through the grid and lead races at a high level setting the 3rd quickest laptime only 1/10th or so off....onto heat 2.
Heat 2 (race 8 in the programme) Another P10 start and all to play for, points wise and also Pre-Final starting position tomorrow as a P17 start would be very hard work.
Cracking 1st lap making up 3 places and by lap 5 Lucas had made it to P5 but the on track racing started early and the driver behind went in on Dude which cost them time on the lead drivers. Lucas slotted in behind and began pushing the driver up to the lead pack and over the following 5 laps closed the 2.5 second gap to 0.2 seconds coming over the line in P6. Laptimes were again good, 2nd quickest only 3/100th of a second off the fastest which was set by the guy behind Lucas...so on the money we were.
Intermediate Classification This will give us our starting position for the Pre-Final (Final 1) which seemed ages to find out.......P14, far from where we wanted to be but all down to actions outside Dude's control and could have been much worse had he not done the job in the 2nd Heat......and so it was row 7 start.
Sunday - Pre-Final and Final
Practice Dude looked very racey in practice, coming through and 6th quickest only 8/100ths off fastest so confident we had the pace, just could he make up the places to put us in a strong starting position for the main Final?
Pre-Final The Pre-Final was something like 3 hours after Practice which is a lot of sitting around time so we needed to keep Lucas focussed....... On the grid on row 7 in the mid-pack.....we needed to move up quickly to ensure we didn't get in to any sqabbles mid race....we decided if we could get front 3 rows we would be in the race in the main final so this was the goal.....get to P6 worst case.
Lights out and monty start, coming off the hairpin on lap 1 Lucas had made up 9 places to put him in P8 but unfortunately his team mate, Luke Watts, was involved in an incident whichsaw him flip so a red flag was issued to stop the race. Thankfully Luke was OK and after a bit of team sprinting to bring another helmet Luke was able to take the restart.
2nd start and not as good as the 1st losing a place on lap 1....time to get head down and go to work. Progress was difficult this time, 1 place on lap 2 to get him back to his starting position of 14, another by lap 7, another on 8 but now he was starting to get into the swing of things and 2 on lap 9 and another on 10 but we were in the group that likes to race rather than work together to get the front and on lap 11 was relegated 2 laps to P11......plan was looking shakey, time to do something! Lap 12 in for another place, same on 13 and up to P9 with time running out so time to pull the pin and send it.....Lap 14...3 places up to P6 which was at the front of the group in which he was racing as the front 5 had broken away from the pack......and that's where Dude took the flag.......again delivering what was asked in a very hard race.
2/10ths off quicketst lap and on the debrief, data was checked and it confirmed what the Global Guru's had said on the way back to the awning...the kart had been a little out on setup whch was great news going forwards as if he could do that with the way it was we now knew 100% where we wanted to be on setup for the main Final....happy days!
Main Final
P6 row 3 start, we will take that from where we could have been and bearing in mind all Lucas had done to get himself there......now the biggie, no time to flinch just time to deliver.
Lights out and away, made up a place on lap 1 but a cautious first lap to ensure he didn't get mugged and now time to see where we can get. Lap 2 into turn 1 decided the P4 runner had had his time so went in and 1/2 way round made his way past the P3 runner at the hairpin moving in to P3 a little way behind his team mate Alex Eades. Now time close down the leading pair as the gap was 0.6s and over the next 2 laps Lucas closed to 0.1s and Alex decided to go for the lead.
The front pack was 8 karts now, spanned by 0.9s so this was going to be a close race as not all the 8 would be happy (except the leader of course) to stay in position for too long and so it was, on lap 7 Lucas was passed by 2 dropping to P5 so rather than show his hand he decided to push for a bit and have a breather in the train for a lap or two.
Lap 9 moved into P4, 11 into P3 and try to push away but it was not happening and the train was still there.....on the straight Thompson looks back and sees Lucas there so lap 13 he goes in on Eades and Dude follows him through....we are looking proper pacey here and we are willing Lucas to go for the lead, even getting a bit frustrated possibly, as it looks as though he could go whenever he wanted but Dude showed restraint and maturity and pushed Harry over the line to take P2 at the flag and bank the much needed points, get a 2nd step on the podium and also top rookie trophy. 3rd quickest laptime and quickest out of the front pack!
A great end to a hard weekend and two proper podiums in the last 2 rounds of the British Championship.....not too shabby eh.....still could have won both rounds but it's our rookie year, let's just keep the momentum into the last round at PFI and see where we can get.
A little summary of recent rounds
Buckmore Park - 2nd race there - P4, Top Rookie & 3rd Highest Points Scorer
Fulbeck - P5 and another S1 Trophy
Larkhall - 3rd race there - P2, Top Rookie & 2nd Highest Points Scorer
Shenington - 2nd race there - P2, Top Rookie & 4th Highest Points Scorer
Currently Lucas is in P4 in the British Championship Current Standings Table out of the 57 drivers entered and highest Rookie. He has surpassed the original goal of a top 10 finish and with a strong round at PFI could improve further.
