Saturday 15 February 2020

BRKC 2020

So, BRKC 2020. Where do I begin? After what I considered to be a decent pre-event build up in terms of on track practice and off track fitness training, and finally feeling like a I had a handle on the ‘normal’ Formula Fast track lay out, I then let myself down by qualifying badly in almost every one of my four heats, as well as failing miserably to get to grips with the ‘alternate’ layout. Rubbish

My second race of the weekend was by far the worst (although even then I did manage an on-track pass, so that’s something) having qualified 9th out of 10, which would have been 10th if not for one driver opting to swaps karts and therefore start from the back. To make matters worse in this particular race the seat mechanism on my kart failed during my (early) pit stop, resulting in my having to complete the race in a less-than-comfortable searing positions, arms and legs out almost straight, which wasn’t ideal. 

In terms of results, my weekend went as follows:

Race 1: Qualified 7th, finished 7th. Nothing to write home about.

Race 2:  Qualified 9th, finished 9th. Disaster, see above.

Race 3: Qualified 7th, finished 8th. Damn you, alternate layout

Race 4: Qualified 7th, finished 6th. However..

Just as I felt my motivation for karting dropping faster than an Alex Vangeen Coke can off the viewing gallery, as was the case last year I ended up putting in an above-average performance in my final race (sadly not reflected in the overall result) whereby I crossed the finish line in sight of a podium, at the back of train of four karts. The fact that the fella ahead in 5th and I had closed down the 3rd and 4th place drivers whilst simultaneously pulling away from the racer behind us is what I found particularly pleasing about this one race. The driver that finished ahead of me even admitted afterwards that he believed he only managed to stay ahead because of a slight power advantage on the straight, so it wasn’t all doom and gloom and I left Milton Keynes with.. well, not a massively positive outlook, but I wasn’t on a downer either so that’s something.

Other positives? Well, the sense of community that’s always prevalent at BRKC was in full effect, and there was a good contingent of drivers from the South West who all admittedly performed better than I did. I was also pleased with how my in-race strategy calls went, which might not have gained me much but also didn’t cost me anything as far as I remember, so that’s something too..

Who knows - maybe I just suck at karting. Or maybe it was because I forgot to put the official BRKC visor strip on my helmet..

As usual a big thanks go to Brad Philpot, Formula Fast, all the drivers and everyone else who made such an event possible. You’re all an incredibly talented bunch, and it was a pleasure to rub shoulder with you once again!

P.S Sam Slater, I haven’t forgotten I owe you a tenner ;-)





The 2020 edition of BRKC was won by Michal Grzyb, ending Ruben Boutens' six year winning streak

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