Hey guys
Just a bit of an update to let you know what I’ve been up to over the last few weeks, for those that are interested-
First up, following a fun night of racing at Teamsport Bristol I managed to qualify for this year’s ‘Kartchamps’ regional final, having finished 5th overall but 2nd in the ‘over 80kgs’ weight class after a 45 minute race. Unfortunately the date clashes with a holiday I had booked so it looks like I’m going to have to try again next year! Never mind.
On Saturday 18th I had my most competitive outing to date at Castle Combe’s Adult Karting Championship, taking two heat wins along with another 3rd place, before finishing 2nd to Ben Winter in my semi-final after getting caught up in some ‘kart bowling’ at the hairpin on the first lap! Thanks very much, that guy. One round in the series remains, taking place on 15th September.
On Bank Holiday Monday, I raced in the British Rental Kart Championship (BRKC) O-Plate event at South Coast Karting, near Bournemouth -The idea of the event being that the winner would race with the coveted ‘O-Plate’ once the BRKC gets underway proper in January 2019. The racing consisted of three 20-minute heats (with single-lap qualifying), followed by finals for all drivers, with the winners of each progressing to the back of the grid for the next final, until only the fastest remained.
Having never visited South Coast Karting before, my expectations of a decent result were fairly low, so I wasn’t putting any pressure on myself in order to just enjoy the event for what is was. As it turned out, I scored an 8th, a 7th and a 4th place in my heats (having started 12th, 6th & 4th) which led to me being positioned 8th on the grid for the ‘B’ final. Whilst I felt a win would have been an unrealistic expectation, I did at least manage to make up 5 positions to cross the line in 3rd once the chequered flag fell having pulled off some tidy overtakes (even if I do say so myself!)
A big thanks must go to George Lovell, Bradley Philpot and all of the staff at South Coast Karting for putting on a decent event on what for most people was an extra day off work-Good job all!
Finally, on August 29th, Teamsport Bristol had their annual ‘Iron Man’ 2hr solo endurance race. A total of 8 drivers took to the grid for the non-stop race, but would feature a ‘safety kart’ if any yellow flags were put out, which would act to bunch the field back up. I qualified 3rd, behind Csaba Penzes, who was making good use of having a well-sorted kart at his disposal, and the experienced Scott Vowles. As the race got underway it soon became clear I wasn’t going to be able to stay with the leading pair, but found myself in a bit of a ‘no mans land’ as I was also pulling away from the drivers behind.
Deciding there was nothing to lose I came into the pits to switch karts under the first safety kart period, and rejoined at the back of the pack. As the racing resumed Csaba and Scott again pulled away quickly, as I made my gradual way back up to 3rd.. and that was pretty much that. Apart from a period where I was able to stay with Scott after another stint under yellows, for the last 30 minutes or so I again found myself circulating in relative solitude. I crossed the line some 15 seconds behind Penzes once the 2 hours were up, finding myself the only driver along with Scott to be on the lead lap. A huge well done goes to Csaba, who didn’t let a lack of endurance experience affect his performance-Good job!
That’s about it for August-plenty of karting! With just the one round of the Castle Combe Championship remaining, my thoughts & preparations will soon be turning towards BRKC 2019, where having skipped this year’s event I’ll be hoping to improve on my previous results, during the depths of winter in Milton Keynes - Thermals required!
Take it easy
Ben
