Friday 30 November 2018

Unofficial BRKC Practice #1

Sunday 25th November


Wow. I have got a lot of work to do..

If I’m to come away with any kind of respectable result from the 2019 edition of the BRKC, then my recent trip to Formula Fast made it very clear that I still have a very long way to go in a very short amount of time. 

So let’s get the excuses out of the way shall we? Firstly I haven’t driven at Formula Fast since January 2017, nor would I claim to be all that familiar with the circuit’s Sodi karts, having spent most of the year driving Biz Karts at Castle Combe & TeamSport Bristol. Secondly the group I was in was made up of very quick drivers, all of whom had already had around 40 mins of track time before I even arrived. Finally, I’m still nowhere near my target ideal weight for January (and there weren’t many drivers running at the minimum 90kgs on this particular night). On top of that I had been hoping to try wearing contact lenses on track for the first time, but a delay at the opticians meant I couldn’t get my prescription in time. Bugger.

Anyway, as far as excuses go I think that covers a broad spectrum. Now, on to the negative stuff; I was just way too slow, both in terms of time taken to re-familiarise myself with karts/circuit and in terms of actual lap time. Now, I can come up with all the excuses I want but the cold hard fact of it is I wasn’t quick enough. My biggest disappointment was coming away from each session bottom of my group in terms of best lap times. Whilst I wasn’t the slowest driver in attendance, my failure to break into the 31’s was a bit of a downer (my best lap being a 32.021 in my final session) & I was left scratching my head as where another half a second could be found.. Advice is welcome! 

Positives? Well, over the four 10 minute sessions I managed to knock about 6/10ths off my best lap, having driven one of the karts twice so there is *some* improvement there..
Also, whilst BRKC ‘19 is now only seven weeks away I do plan on making another trip up to Milton Keynes just before Christmas so as to continue my quest for improvement. This will equate to the most ‘practice’ I’ve ever had for the championship & I’m so determined to come away from Formula Fast in January with my head held high. Combined with a diet/workout routine I’ve been working on for the last few weeks (and a bit of vision enhancement) I’m sure that things will start to come together to form a more overly positive picture..

Watch this space..

Monday 12 November 2018

Q & A

A fun interview I did for a local Motor Club, for their monthly newsletter..

Question - What is your earliest motorsport-related memory?
Answer - Probably playing Nigel Mansell's World Championship game on the Gameboy, or watching (slightly bemused) as my childhood friends acted out the previous weekend's F1 race in the school playground!





















Q - Do you have any motorsport heroes?
A - For sure, I'd have to say Michael Schumacher, Sebastien Loeb, Colin McRae, Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso

Q - What have been your favourite F1 seasons?
A - Uh, lets see - 2000, 2006, 2010 and 2012.. which as a Ferrari fan haven't all ended in the best result but those years probably had the best racing, with multiple teams winning etc.

Q - If you could attend an F1 race anywhere in world where would you go?
A - Tough one.. maybe Australia, or the USA
Q - And who would you take?
A - My fiance - and my old man!



















Q - Have you ever tried 'sim' racing and/or are there any 'racing' games you are currently playing?
A - I've had a go at Project Cars and Assetto Corsa.. I'm currently playing Forza Horizon 4 and F1 2018 (still!) but both will soon have to make way for Red Dead Redemption 2! I've never tried a full-on sim but it's on my to-do list

Q - Do you have any favourite motorsport vehicles?
A - Yea, I mean the 2000 F1 Ferrari was a beautiful and historically significant car.. The Brawn GP car that Jenson Button won his title in, the 2001 Ford Focus WRC with the Martini livery that McRae drove - They're all amongst my favourites























Q - Your current road car?
A - A Subaru Impreza, and a Citroen C4 Cactus
Q - And your dream road car?
A - The Ferrari 458 Speciale!

Q - If you could sample any car currently racing (excluding F1 & WEC) what would it be?
A - Hmm, probably something rally-related.. The Peugeot 208 World Rallycross car, or the Citroen C3 WRC - I think they'd be awesome!

Q - Can you remember the first time you went karting?
A - Absolutely, it was a my brother's friend's birthday party at an indoor circuit in Portishead, near Bristol. I must have been about 13 and I was hooked from that point on!

Q - Your current helmet?
A - Bell RS7 in 'falcon red'
Q - Racesuit/Gloves?
A - Alpinestars

Q - You've done your fair share of 'experience' days - are there any you'd recommend?
A - Oh definitely - Thruxton is a good one, it's such as fast circuit and they have a lot of modern supercars so that's cool. The cream of the crop as far as I'm concerned though is Palmersport, which isn't cheap but it's easily the best 'circuit' day I've done, and Phil Price Rally School in Wales - I couldn't recommend either highly enough!

























Q - What are your racing plans for 2019?
A - The British Rental Kart Championship (in January) is gonna be the big one, after that who knows? Possibly some more outings in the Castle Combe Adult (Karting) Championship, and one or two Covkartsport rounds, I should think


* * * * *

Friday 9 November 2018

Countdown to BRKC 2019

We are only 10 weeks (!) away from BRKC 2019 & while to some that might seem a long way off, for those intending to have any kind of success (or even improve on previous showings) preparations will have already began. 

I’m not just talking logistically (transport, hotels etc) but for me personally I intend on being in the best shape possible for the event, which given Christmas is somewhere in between now & the 18th of January is going to be a challenge in itself! What that means for me I cutting down on what I’m eating, not taking sugar in coffee & tea and getting back into a routine of going to gym a few times a week. On top of that, I fully intend to ‘swot up’ by watching footage from previous year’s events, as well as (hopefully) attending a couple of ‘arrive & drive’ sessions at Formula Fast before 2018 draws to a close.

The main reason for all the above, still some 2 months + away from the event? In all honesty, whilst I’ve enjoyed BRKC at Formula Fast, my result have always been average at best. I’ve never won a heat race. I’ve never made the semi finals (31st overall being my highest position) And whilst that may seem unlikely to change again in 2019, given that the format, the venue & the karts are the same as they have been for the past few years, the one thing I can influence is me. 

So you heard it here first. If I turn up to Milton Keynes in 10 weeks time weighing 90kgs & struggling to hold on to a kart for 20mins, you’ll know I only have myself to blame! Whilst I’m not expecting this preparation to be easy, not an I expecting my results to dramatically improve, as long as I can come away from BRKC 2019 knowing I’ve put the maximum in to it I’ll know I’ve done all I can to have a successful (and hopefully still fun) go at it!

I’ll see you at the track
Ben