In preparation for Super One I need to visit the circuits that I don't normally race at and Clay Pigeon in Dorset is one of them.
I've never been here before or even been able to do some virtual laps on a simulator so this weekend was going to be invaluable as many drivers have raced here and my teammates have had many laps exposure on the simulators of their Management Agencies.
We arrived on Thursday evening and prepared for Friday testing in anticipation of the race weekend.
Out for testing on Firday it was really just a matter of learning the track and appropriate lines but after the initial session I felt at ease with the fast and flowing circuit. Over the next couple of sessions I was matching my teammates laptimes in my group and we were the quickest on track.
For the last session on Friday we went for a race setup on the kart with good tyres (as I'd been testing all day on old tyres) and I lit it..........4 10ths quicker than anything on track and feeling good!
Saturday Testing
I woke up Saturday and looked out of our motorhome window to see.....SNOW! Not what I really wanted but good for additional testing in different conditions with the new Zip Vanquish chassis.
We spent most of the day trying different setups to find what worked in the different conditions but it was hard as the track was changing every session. Overall at the end of the day I felt good and my team thought we had acheived some meaningful data and setups.
Sunday Race Day
3 x 7 minute + 1 Lap Heats and a 10 Minute + 1 Lap Final was the format.
The grids for the heats were randomly drawn and I got
Heat 1 - P14
Heat 2 - P20
heat 3 - Pole
The weather was much better on Sunday and the track was virtually dry but the officials would not call the meeting 'Dry' so it was a mixture of wet tyres on the grid and to be honest just pot luck if you got the right depth and condition tyre for the race.
Heat 1 was an average race with not making that many positions but it did enable us to rule out a setup which would be the norm for these conditions at a number of other circuits.
Heat 2 Aim...get to the front and make up as many places as possible so lights out and get to work. In on the kart in front and go, in and go and that was pretty much the modus operandi.
The track is short, 41 second laps so there's not much time to relax and by the time I got to the flag I'd made up 15 places finishing in P5 at the front of the 2nd group (as the lead group had broken away and put in a big gap).....happier with this though but needed to make some tweaks to the setup as the meeting was still not called 'Dry' even though it was bone dry on track.
Heat 3....rolling out to the grid for my last heat and just as we were getting there we heard an announcement over the tanny that the clerk had now made the decision and the meeting was 'Dry'!
Dad turns round and rushes the kart back to the awning as with only 8 minutes before we have to be on the grid a lot of changes need to be made to the kart.
Dad and Rob jump on the changes both working at opposite ends and the time starts to tick away. They change virtually every setting on the kart and with the help of my teammates mechanic, thanks Jake, we leave the awning and head for the grid with 'vigour' arriving with 2 minutes left prior to the end of the preceeding race, a major achievement and hopefully we are set to capitalise on my Pole start.
Lights go and I go, the race plays out but at about 1/3 of the way in I start to lose power which leaves me vulnerable and with a few to go other drivers start to go in on me. It's time to race so I go back in and try to fight for the win earlier than I'd want. Places are swapped and it's getting more and more difficult to mount a charge but thankfully I see the last lap board come out and send it in to 2nd from 3rd which I maintain to the flag.
When we get to the awning the power issue is investigated and it's found that my clutch bearings have failed and the wheels will hardly turn....good to find an issue so we can ensure it does not happen again.
Final
So my starting position in the final was not going to be ideal but it would give me the opportunity to work through and see how far we can get. Dad and Rob said there's no reson why we could not be in the mix but I had get going quickly (not a problem for me usually).
So I line up for the rolling start and my row does not seem to want to race as when I go over the line I'm already a place down in 15th so time to bring the pain.....first few corners I go in harder than a big lad pushes through a crowd at a 'bakery $1 all the cake you can eat sale' and by the end of lap 1 I've made up 8 places and am running in P7 and I'm in the zone and flying. The kart feels great, the engine is sweet so where's the next target.
Next lap and another two places up the board and into 5th. Another on the next lap and now in 4th but now there's a big gap to the leading trio and a lot of clear air no no drafting ot tow to help me.
Really is time for head down now so I focus and push and I start to put in fastest laps consistently quicker than the leading trio on my own and by lap 7 I'm on the back of the group and have bridged the gap to the pack behind.
Think quickly as it's a 10 minute race and we are only maybe 1/2 way through, I'm quick so let's send it in and see if we can break away...into 3rd.
Lap 9 and I make my move into turn 1, in hard and into the lead, now to make sure I nail the rest of the lap and pull out a 0.7 second gap...on one lap. I look round to see where I am and can see the gap so start to concentrate on lines to pile on some pressure.
Over the next 6 laps I stretch my lead to nearly 2.5 seconds, the kart is perfect, engine delivering and I'm in the zone. The clock is counting down so I back off slightly and manage my lead to make sure nothing goes wrong in the last couple of laps and take the flag to WIN with a lead of 1.82 seconds over a competitive grid with 4 British Seeded drivers and many Super One drivers.
As always a big thanks to ARC Audio Visual, Zip Karts, RPM Engines and Global Karting.