On a very wet winter day Lucas was the only driver at PF International to test the new Zip 2017 Honda Cadet chassis called the......... Vanquish
Designed to maximise the new Dunlop tyres for 2017 the chassis has been refined and extensivly developed during 2016. Lucas was asked to attend a test day to offer his opinion before final homolgation details are submitted.
A very wet day, which although not what we were hoping for, would be invaluable to both Lucas and Zip as proper wet testing had not been achieved as yet. Lucas was sent out on his first run and advised 'it's a new chassis which you've not driven before so take a session to bed into it'....well, 6 laps in and this looked like a winner!
Lucas was setting times in much worse conditions that equated to his fastest lap in the previous TVKC final, with no tow form other drivers on track or any other karts to catch or gauge from, this looked good.
Lucas came in after the session and was impressed, gave feedback to Grant (the chassis' designer) and Dan from Zip karts. Tweaks were made and out on to track for another session in the pouring rain. This is how the day progressed, feedback, refinements, trying different setting and dialling in the chassis.
On completion Lucas set times which were quicker than his fastest lap in the previous race meeting's final and drove consistently all day in poor conditions with lap times within 0.6s all day. Coming in at 15:45 after being on track since 09:10 the driver was.....well, soaked to the core but after a quick dry and warm up in the motorhome he was back in the garage debriefing and confirming the thoughts of setup and chassis.
Lucas would like to thank Zip Karts (Grant & Dan) for the opportunity to work with them, hope the feedback and data gathered from the day helps and look forward to working with them and the Vanquish in his bid to be 2017 Honda Cadet Champion.