Following a very difficult January meeting last weekend we were straight into the February meeting which was the penultimate round of the TVKC Winter Championship.
I am 2nd in the Championship entering this round and aimed to have a strong meeting to top the leaderboard going into the last round.
Unlike many of my competitors I can't attend the Friday test sessions so only have the 4 x 7 minute sessions to dial in for Timed Qualifying rather than the 1 hour plus 6 x 15 minute sessions available on a Friday.........so I'd be on the back foot but with my team we are confident.
Out for test 1 and the kart is handling very well, needs a few changes but so much better than last weekend when the questionalble de-icer was used which, it seemed, had completely changed the track characteristics. Credit to Paul Barnicoat and his team at PFi as they arranged for professional cleaning of the entire track prior to the meeting to ensure it was A1.
Anyway, only 3 sessions left to dial in before TQ and each session we made progress with Rob and my dad getting things spot on for the final session....on to TQ.
I was in the 2nd TQ group and it was all going to be about track position as although there were a couple of fast guys in my group that I could use TQ was only 7 minutes and as little as 5 laps.
I planned to go out with old teammate Theo Micouris (who'd been arguably the quickest in testing) and work with him to get our times.
Lights went green and we let the rest of the pack exit the pit lane before we set off.......4 karts left together, myself, one of my current teammates Ivan, Theo and Oliver Bearman, the main competition this year.
I thought we'd left a big gap that would allow us a few laps to hunt down the drivers in front and get out times whilst doing so but I was more than surprised when we caught them 1/2 way round lap 1....this was going to be hard. I looked back and had dropped the other 3 drivers so got my head down to see if I could get some times by working through the pack.......1st couple of laps were OK, buzzing around the sharp end, but after that I hit the front and my times tumbled resulting in me falling off the leaderboard...not good as this meant I was way down....it would turn out I was in 14th!
Urgent action required as 2.5 laps left so I dropped back a few places to try and hook up with Theo again but we were now in traffic and I just couldn't get on Theo's bumper for any length of time and with 2 laps to go hit the front again.....dropped back again and now had 1 lap to get it all together.
I left a good gap to the driver ahead and set about chasing him down to set a time, all was going OK with fast sectors but I closed on him so much midway through sector 3 that I did not get the full benefit of a tow down the straight......but still made P3 in TQ so not ideal but rescued what could have been a major issue in14th.
Sunday Race Day!
I checked the grids and I'd been drawn in Heats 2 & 3 starting both on the front row in P2....happy with that!
Starting in the 2nd Honda Cadet heat meant a long wait as one evolution of all classes racing had to be completed so my dad and I got the kart prepped then went to watch some racing. I watched the 1st Honda heat very closely to see if I could pick up anything on competitiors driving or track conditions and then it was back to get ready for my heat.
We left the pits and it would seem that the pole man was more intent on driving on the same piece of tarmac as me as he tried to run me off track at every opportunity but this allowed me to work my tyres well and get to where I wanted to be for the start.
Lights out and I nailed it, a reasonable start and pulled in behind the pole man following him through T1 and T2 setting up for the long T3 of the 'Loop'. Pole man leaves the door open on entry so I go up the inside and keep it nailed around the long uphill left hander and emerge off the bridge leading with a small gap.
I push as hard as I can on the opening lap knowing all the tyres are cold and this is when I have my biggest advantage. There's some squabbling behind but eventually #71 Max Herbert, the driver who won last year's TVKC Rookie title slotted in behind me so I looked around and we agreed to push away.
Head down and push to get away for the next few laps, onto the last lap and I keep an eye on if and when Max will try to make his move and cover anything he may try to take a great lights to flag win!
Heat 3
Again I'm on the front row, Red lights go out and away......I take the lead and try to get a gap. This works to a point but at PFi a lone driver cannot escape a chasing pack and soon enough I'm joined by Theo so a quick signal and confirmation and away we push.........and do we push!
When we cross the line taking the flag we have gapped the chasing pack by 7 seconds.....and another lights to flag victory which will put me on Pole for the start of the Final!
The final and lined up on Pole, lights go out and I nail the start. Same plan for the opening lap and manage to made a decent gap to the P2 driver of 0.6 seconds. Over the next few laps the gap closed, as expected and on lap 5 the P2 driver caught me.
I signalled to him to push away but he was having none of it and went in on me. Unfortunately his move pushed me wide which let the P3 driver through and dropped me off the pair. It was time to try and work back up to them so head down and get to work.
Working close and closer I got onto the bumper of the front group and with 1:30 left on the clock was waiting for the enevitable fight to start at the end of the race, feeling confident that I could improve my position and even steal the victory.......when unfortunately the red flag was given due to an incident at the chicane which left a driver motionless in his kart.
So the final positions were taken from the lap previous which meant I had finished 3rd, not a win but with 2 wins in the heats and a 3rd feeling strong.....it was a good weekend for me.
Points from this should put me equal leader in the championship so nearly hit the goal and going into the last round have it all to play for.
Good to work with Theo on track again and thanks to Arc Audio Visual, my dad for mechanicing, Global Karting for the advice, RPM Engines for the power, ZipKart for the Vanquish chassis and Chris Walker for the photos......now all I need is a sponsor to join me for our 2017 British Honda Cadet Championship campaign.....any takers?