CCKC ‘22 - The final round

And just like that, it’s already November!

Thankfully my anti-rain dance worked at the weekend and I managed to avoid getting absolutely soaked at the final round of Castle Combe’s 2022 Karting Championship, although the track was still very greasy for most of the afternoon, and ironically I actually performed better when the circuit wasn’t almost dry ..

Around 60 drivers entered the final round, with drivers in the top 50% of the championship standings racing in the afternoon -

I’d just scraped in being ranked 27th overall before the final round, and consequently avoided the heavy showers that hit the area earlier in the day.

As usual, the event would be made up of a practice session, several heat races and a ‘final’ for all drivers. The staff had good fun scaring people into thinking they had arrived late due to the clocks going back the night before, and overall I think everyone really enjoyed the day!

Practice went ok, and after picking up some useful tips from the encyclopaedic Oliver Bayani, I lined up 2nd on the grid for my first race -

The wider, wet line around the outside of turn one was going to be in use for most of the afternoon, and I made a cracking start to the race, going around the outside of pole man Seb Miller into the first right-hander. Seb, on the inside and subsequently on the greasy tarmac, slid sideways into me on the exit of the corner, but I survived while he had further contact and half spun. In the end I won the heat by a few seconds, much to my surprise!

My second heat saw me start 4th and finish 3rd, as I made a move around the outside of Shane Lucas through turns 7 and 8 -

So far, so good (again, against expectations).

Things started to go downhill in my 3rd race when, starting 4th but having another fantastic launch (I think I was up to 2nd after turn one), I then spun after turn 2, dropping to 5th (i.e. last) place. My pace however was good and by the end of the heat I had caught and passed Mark O’Grady, who was in with a shout of finishing in the overall top 3 for the ‘Masters’ category this weekend.

For my 4th and final heat, I again lined up 

2nd on the grid, made (another) good start but then got squeezed into the wall and dropped to 3rd. I was able to stick with the driver in 2nd but then rather than settling for third and taking the points available I made one of my worst errors in recent memory:

I made a much better exit out of turn 2 than the driver ahead, and pulled ahead of him as we approached the top hair bit, but on the outside. Rather than staying on the racing line however and taking the wider wet line (as I had in my previous races), I wrongly decided to ‘shut the door’ as soon as I was ahead, moving to the inside of the track. As soon as I hit the brakes I knew I’d been over ambitious.. The kart slid uncontrollably, feeling like it was accelerating rather than slowing down. I awkwardly bumped into Seb, who was leading, and in all honesty was lucky not to receive a black and white warning flag. I got again, now 5th, and crossed the line on rear bumper of the driver in 4th. 

The results from my final two heats undid the good points scored in the first two, which meant I found myself lining up 7th on the grid for the ‘B’ final, where the top 2 would then progress on to the back of the ‘A’ final grid. By that point in the day I was beating myself up a bit for the silly errors I’d made, and in all honesty my heart wasn’t really in it. I lost two positions on the opening lap, getting squeezed towards the inside wall on the approach to turn one, and from then on I just generally lacked the confidence to ‘send it’ at any point, given what had happened in my 4th heat (despite the fact the track was now dry in most places). I eventually finished in 8th position, well clear of 9th and on the back of a train of three or four other karts, but I was glad when the chequered flag was shown. Sometimes, I guess that’s just how things go ..

Still, the drivers in the ‘A’ final put on a good race (I was particularly pleased for Jamie Higgins, who had driven well all day and was right in the thick of it) and it was fun witnessing the end-of-season trophy presentations once the final points had been added up. A big congratulations go to all of the winners, and a big thanks to all the Castle Combe staff, who ran yet another slick event and kept a tight ship -

I’ll look forward to seeing everyone again when the 2023 season gets under way!

Next up for me is the annual British Rental Kart Championship event in January, taking place at the excellent Formula Fast circuit in Milton Keynes. Hopefully the ‘23 version won’t be postponed like this year’s was, but what will be, will be!

Until then, take care -

And have fun :D

Ben

British Rental Kart Championship

So, BRKC 2022.. An event of two halves for me in every sense of the word!

First up was practice on Friday, and this more or less went to plan just getting familiar with the karts, circuit and pit stop procedure. I drove karts 10 and 13 and both felt ok, and so was able to more or less set competitive, consistent lap times.

With the luck of the (heats) draw, I found myself with two races on the Saturday, and two on the Sunday, which I was thankful for ..

In my first race (driving kart 15, I think) I qualified 3rd which I was pleasantly surprised with, and subsequently crossed the line in 3rd when the chequered flag fell twenty minutes later -

Now, if someone had offered me that the day before I’d have bitten their hand off, but in reality I should have finished in 2nd place and therefore I was a little disappointed, although I only had myself to blame ..

In the race the leader, the guy in 2nd and I broke away from the others fairly quickly and I was able to comfortably stay with the second-placed driver as we came up to lap back-markers (a rare phenomenon in BRKC..). Sensing an opportunity to try an under-cut, I pitted but failed to notice one of the new / slower competitors in the pits ahead of me. Consequently, I ended up having a terribly slow stop and lost a chunk of time and with it my opportunity to gain 2nd place. By the time he’d pitted a few laps later I was several corners behind, and only just ahead of the driver in 4th, and that’s how things stayed until the end. So 3rd was a bitter sweet result but at least I was off to a good start ..

The 2nd and 3rd races were due to take place on an alternate track layout, which historically has never been kind to me, so again I was as surprised as anyone to qualify and finish 4th in my next race (driving kart 14), which turned out to be fairly uneventful, although I’ll admit I was being caught towards the end

My results from day one may well have led to a false sense of confidence, but none the less I felt I’d prepared well and therefore it was a bit of a reality check on Sunday when in my 3rd race (again on the alternate layout, which no one had driven prior to the weekend) I qualified stone-last in kart 10..

Yes, the same kart I’d felt so comfortable with on Friday. 

I didn’t feel like I did anything particularly wrong in the race but did think that the kart lacked a bit of acceleration. I only managed to gain one place by over-cutting the driver in 9th, but that was of little consolation. Turning my attention to the results of the following races, it appeared that both karts 10 and 13 were struggling a bit, so it was just my luck to draw kart 13 for my final race -

What are the chances? 

(No, seriously- Of the whole fleet, on my second day of racing I randomly draw the two karts I’d already driven on Friday?!)

I opted to re-draw a kart from the spares allocation and ended up with kart 8, which seemingly hadn’t been used all day. It was a risk but one that I felt was worth taking, especially considering my last race would be on the regular circuit layout..

As it turns out, I could only qualify in 6th place and finished 7th after being overtaken at the start of the race (by someone that had clearly under-performed in quali) and that, as they say, was that!

So, as stated, very much an event of two halves for me -

Whether I over-performed on day one or was flattered by less competitive drivers, or got unlucky with kart selection on day two I’ll never know, but I still had an awesome time and it was great sharing the track again with so many talented people from around the world (we even had drivers from as far away as Georgia, USA competing!)

Sadly, I missed out on my goal of finishing in the top 50, but there’s always next year ..

As always, a huge thanks goes to the team at Formula Fast and Brad Philpot for putting on such an incredible event, James Auld and the crew at Scruffy Bear Media, and a huge congratulations to the top 3 drivers: Sean Michael, Ruben Boutens and Lewis Manley - All unstoppable in their own way. A big well done to all of the other South West and Wales drivers too! We did the region proud :D

Catch you later

Ben

Formula Fast & Castle Combe

As previously mentioned, these last couple of weekends have seen me travel to Milton Keynes in order to practice for the upcoming BRKC event, and competing in the 2nd round of Castle Combe’s Adult Karting Championship-

The idea behind both of which was to re-acclimatise (as far as Formula Fast’s karts and circuit are concerned) and to sharpen my race craft (Castle Combe) ahead of getting out on track with some of Europe’s best indoor kart racers in a week or so’s time ..

Up first was Formula Fast, and unlike previous years I actually went into these practice sessions with a game plan(!), in that I didn’t just want to drive round and round in circles without any clear objectives, and I have to say I really feel like it paid off.. Only time will tell though I suppose !

The following weekend I joined a large number of local-ish drivers at Castle Combe’s outdoor kart circuit for what was sure to be a day of close, well-organised (as always) racing.

After a brief practice session, I scored the following results in my ‘heat’ races:

3rd, 3rd, 2nd, 2nd (From starting positions 4, 5, 2 and 1) which in turn led to me lining up in 4th place in the ‘B’ final, where I duly finished after briefly climbing to 3rd. Not a great result by any means but with zero heat race wins and some very fast (and light) drivers finishing ahead of me I wasn’t too disappointed -

As a means of getting ‘race sharp’ ahead of BRKC in a fortnight’s time it was the ideal preparation, and that event is what I’ll be fully focused on for the next two weeks ..

I’ll be sure to provide an update post-BRKC so do please check back in sometime after the 10th of April !!

Cheers

Ben

BRKC ‘22 Inbound !!

I know, I know- Things have been rather quiet here lately, but that’s all about to change! 

We are only one month away from the British Rental Kart Championship 2022 event, which is being held at Formula Fast in Milton Keynes, and I for one cannot wait to get back out on track there after the 2021 edition was cancelled due to COVID. 

It’s been over 24 months since I’ve driven at Formula Fast, so I figured it would be a good idea to make the journey over to MK for a bit of pre-event practice, which I’ll be doing on Sunday 20th March. Following on from that I intend to enter round 2 of Castle Combe’s Adult Karting Championship, scheduled to take place the following weekend -

I’ll be sure to post updates in the coming weeks, followed by a full BRKC write up!

Stay tuned, or whatever the relevant internet term is !!

Ciao 

Ben