Hello! Been a while, hasn’t it?! As the UK’s current lockdown restrictions gradually loosen and with summer fast approaching, I thought it was about time I dusted off the ol’ race suit and helmet and got back out on track!
After almost six months without karting, the first round of Castle Combe’s Adult Championship seemed like the best place to kick off my racing year, in the hope that the still-to-be rescheduled 2020 BIKC ‘regional’ final would soon be announced also. A full capacity of 48 drivers descended on the small Wiltshire circuit on April 25th, for what was sure to be an afternoon of action-packed motorsport.
After a short practice session, drivers were put into a series of heat races to determine which final they would qualify for. For my first heat I lined up 6th on the grid and gained two positions in the race to finish 4th, but felt a top three finish was on the cards but for some robust defending. However, given how difficult it is to pass cleanly on this particular track I wasn’t too disheartened at this stage.
For my second heat I started from 1st position, got a clean start and lead from the opening lap through to the chequered flag under quite a bit of pressure from the driver behind. It’s always important to convert poles into wins when you are handed the opportunity to start at the front, and I was more than pleased with this result.
In my third race I was 5th on the grid, and this one pretty much summed up my afternoon: I lost out on the opening lap to fall to 6th (and last) position, only to then hang on to the train of karts battling for 3rd, 4th and 5th. With a lap and a half to go I made a move around the outside of the top hairpin to claw back the place I’d lost on lap one, and hung on in there until the chequered flag was shown. One to forget about.
My final heat saw me start from 2nd position and this was far and away my strongest race of the day. I got a great start to draw alongside the pole man as we approached turn one, then went all the way around the outside of him to take the lead. I ended up winning comfortably as those behind me fought one another. If only they were all this easy ..
The results from the heat races were then fed into Castle Combe’s state of the art computer system* which produced grids for the ‘finals’, with the highest scoring drivers qualifying for the ‘A’ final, the next group the ‘B’ final, etc. The top two from each final before the ‘A’ race would progress on to the back of the grid for the next final, so all is not completely lost if a driver hasn’t scored particularly well in his or her heat races. I would start from 4th place in the ‘B’ final..
Unfortunately this last race was a bit of a non-event for me, as I gained and then lost a position on the opening lap to cross the finish line a distant fourth, but well ahead of four other drivers in a kind of karting no man’s land .. It was a slightly disappointing way to finish the day and I was a bit gutted to miss out on a place in the ‘A’ final, but will happily admit that the earlier heat race results were of my own making, and that I had struggled a bit in my final with a slightly ‘slidey’ kart and therefore didn’t really have the pace to be in the top eight. Still, to be 12th out of 48 drivers..
Positives? Well, in terms of finishing position vs starting position I didn’t actually lose out at all, moving forward in two of my five races. I also found that in visualising how I wanted my race starts to go (once I knew my starting positions) helped a great deal in terms of calming any pre-race nerves, positioning my kart in turn one etc, so that’s something I’ll definitely be looking to do more of in the future. Overall the event was just a great way to blow out the cobwebs after not karting for so long, and as usual I’d like to thank the organisers for keeping things running smoothly all day.
Next up, it was back to Herefordshire Raceway in, er, Herefordshire for round one of Rapikart’s 2021 championship, which took place on May 8th. Similar in format to Castle Combe’s championship (with drivers competing in several heat races before progressing to a final), the main difference with RapiKart is that the field is also split up into weight categories, which makes things a little fairer for those on the slightly heavier side in that they don’t have to compete directly with drivers weighing less than 75-80kg..
I can hand on heart say that this event turned out to be one of the most miserable experiences I’ve had in a kart for a long time. Awful weather, below-par kart parity, some questionable driving standards and couldn’t-give-a-damn marshalling added up to a morning where I’d have rather been anywhere else, I’m sad to say..
Average heat results led to an average finishing position in the average ‘B’ final, in which I was overtaken under yellows without any penalty applied to the driver that did so, which pretty much summed up my day, so the less said, the better. Still, thanks go to RapiKart for organising the event, and if you’re planning on attending round two at Mansell Raceway I’m sure I’ll see you there. I just hope the weather is a little better ..
Anyway, that’s all the news I have for the time being. As stated above, hopefully there will soon be some confirmation as to when / where the rescheduled BIKC regional final will take place, but until then..
Thanks for reading!
Ben
* Computer system may not in fact be state of the art.. :P
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