The first full race weekend of 2021 and it was in Daventry at Whilton Mill Kart Club.
Testing on Saturday went well, with the exception of my onboard camera going overboard but luckily the marshal found it for me so that was the first result of the weekend...lol.
Anyway, things were looking good being there or thereabouts even though we ran into some issues in the afternoon sessions so I felt good about Sunday.
Race-day and I'm really looking forward to this and thought I'd treat Jack Dex by accompanying him on one of his track walks, which I know made his weekend ;-) .
I've got to say a big thanks to Spike of Ssport Engines who went above and beyond on Saturday night to ensure one of my engines was at it's peak and Sunday he arrived early with it and a big grin.
So, random heats and I would start;
Heat 1 in Pole Position
Heat 2 in P18
Heat 3 in P32
It was time to make hay starting at the front and as I walked down the pitlane I noticed that over
half the grid had scrubbed in their slicks and wondered how long it would take for me to get mine on. We roll round for the sighting lap and we go, I lead into turn 1 and get my head down to the long run up hill to Christmas Corner....as I approach it I look behind and see I have a gap so no need to defend. I keep pushing and the gap continues to open so I don't look back and just concentrate on doing my job.
As I come round the last corner the digi-board shows the 'last lap' message and I take a look, no one to be seen....happy days. I slow down a tad and take the flag in P1...... good start to the weekend.
Heat 2 is going to be harder but I still need to do well as the 3rd Heat I'm right at the back. The lights go and there's the usual mellee in the mid-pack so I try and make my way around it as best as possible and this is the story of the race, bridge the gap, go in and on to the next one. By the time the chequered flag shows I've managed to get up to P5.... result, really happy, 13 places made up.
Heat 3 and I'm right at the back bar the novices so it's same game plan again except my main competition for the Pole position start in the final happens to be a couple of rows ahead. I've got the upper hand though as I've accrued more points and so long as I finish within 4 places of him I should grab the holeshot.
The lights go out and we go, there's a lot of bunching in the first few corners so I find a route through and after the first 3 or 4 minutes I'm through the midfield and it gets harder. The drivers at the front now are better than some and they have stretched the gaps so I just push unit I get to the next one, go in, then push again.
The last lap board comes out and there's a driver 4 or 5 kart lengths ahead, it's all about the points so I keep going and as we go into the last complex of corners he goes defensive so I take a wide line to try and get the run on him down to the last corner.
I'm just about to try something when he runs wide on the 2nd part of the corner so I pop it up the inside and finish P6, which after penalties was P5..27 place gain :-)
Now we are at the final and as hoped I'd secured Pole position and was surprised to see a driver on P2 that I used to race in Junior X30 and my main competition was behind me in P5. I roll round for the start and lead into the first few corners but the pack is very close, coming down the hill the driver in P2 is forced to go defensive by the pack behind and it offers me an opportunity to start to make a break.
So we are about half way through the race and I'm holding the gap but then the main threat managed to get through to P2 and clean air so I just tried to keep putting in consistent fast laps to maintain the gap....... there was a problem...... the P2 driver was bloody ballistic and he was slowly bridging the gap and within 3 laps had caught me, as he goes by I debate going straight back in but think I'll follow for a couple of corners to see where he's stronger......bit of a mistake that as it soon became clear that the answer was everywhere lol and he began to pull a little gap.
I had pushed the tyres very hard and thought the only way I'd catch him was to see if they will come back to me if I back it off slightly so for a few laps I tried to smooth things out and give them a breather... I'm running out of time so start to push again with only 3 laps left.
I'm very slowly gaining on him but every time we get to sector 2 he stretches the gap again and that would be the story for the final laps, I pushed, closed in in sector 1 & 3 but he managed the lead in sector 2 so I ended up taking P2 at the flag.
Very frustrating but I'm learning fast and am only improving every time out and nice to find that I've got the pace still since moving up to race with the 'big guns'.
Well done to Sam, deserved win and next weekend we are at Rounds 1 & 2 of the 2021 LGM Championship at PF International.
Big thanks to all the team that help me and enable me to get on track including;
JDR
Jack Dex
MS Kart
Ssport Engines
ARC AV & IT Solutions Limited