BIKC National Final

So, this was it. The big one. Some 18 months in the making. The very first British Indoor Karting Championship national final. No pressure then..

Full disclosure. I sucked at this event. It was hot, the circuit (at Teamsport’s Warrington venue) was insanely grippy and long, but above all else the level of competition was just incredible. After all, those invited from all over the country were the best of the best, as our event host reminded us in the pre-race briefing, and how right he was. That, combined with a small handful of drivers who one might consider ‘desperate’ (in that they’d just as soon put you in the wall fighting for 10th place then actually try and focus on catching the drivers ahead) made for a difficult but admittedly well-run event. I was knackered after the first practice session, so I knew things weren’t going to get any easier as the day went on..

Turns out I was right. Other than a 4th or 5th place finish (I can’t remember exactly) in my second heat there was nothing else to shout about in all honesty. I constantly seemed to find myself bottled up behind the same driver I’m every race, either directly behind him or in a train of karts which always seemed to allow the drivers at the front to break away, which was frustrating but it is what it is. I knew I was struggling before I had even driven a competitive lap and therefore maintaining position became my priority rather than moving forward, and even that didn’t always work out..

However, other than the questionable decision to again use rolling starts (as per the regional final) rather than standing starts, I couldn’t really complain- I was after all in the company of the very best indoor kart racers that the UK has to offer, and to represent the Bristol circuit in my weight category of definitely something to be proud of, even if the overall result was nothing to shout about. A huge congratulations goes to Sam Slater for winning the Lightweight category outright, and to Zac Venn for finishing on the podium in the Super Lightweight category - Both drove incredibly well all day and did a great job of representing indoor karting in the South West.

Anyway, enough from me! I’ll be sure to see you at a circuit in the near future

Ciao

Ben

BIKC Regional Final

That’s more like it!! After a slightly underwhelming start to 2021, I’m pleased to announce that having finished 3rd overall in the heavyweight class of the British Indoor Karting Championship’s delayed regional final, I have now qualified for the national final which is scheduled to take place on Saturday 5th of June at Teamsport Karting’s Warrington venue!

A field of 16 drivers took to an unfamiliar track to battle it out for a chance to qualify for the national final, and after a series of heat races where I managed to finish 1st, 6th and 3rd respectively, I qualified in third position for the ‘A’ final, where I was able to maintain position whilst pushing the 2nd-placed driver for the entire race (unfortunately without getting any real opportunities to make a clean pass). As nice as it would have been to have finished one step higher on the podium, it wouldn’t have made a world of difference to me with the top four going through to the final, but it was still nice to come away satisfied with my own performance- Particularly the heat one win on a track I’d only driven a handful of practice laps of previously. 

That's all I have for you this week. I'll be sure to post another update after the final - Until then, take it easy!

Ben

2021 is Go, Go, Go !!

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

Merry Christmas

And just like that, my racing year has come to an end. What a strange one 2020 has been, huh? 

Still, this year wasn’t all doom and gloom -

BRKC in January got the the year off on the right foot, before that weird period of March to June which feels like it didn’t really happen..

Following on from that saw me pick up ‘Rookie of the Day’ at Rapikart’s Hereford round, qualify for the (still postponed) BIKC regional final, and last but not least finish on the podium during an event held in heavy rain up at Castle Combe

That last race took the form of an ‘open’ Grand Prix event at the little Wiltshire circuit, which ran in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust (with a portion of each driver’s entry fee going to the charity). Three wins and a third from my heat races saw me line up third on the grid for the ‘A’ final, which is where I finished behind a dominant Billy Cockle, and Ryan Taylor. Overall, it was a satisfying way to end my racing year, and it's always a good experience to get out a drive in wet / changeable conditions, even if it does mean your kit needs a good clean afterwards!

Anyway, that’s enough from me -

I’ll let you get back to your mince pies and mulled wine now! Have a very merry Christmas and a happy new year, and I hope to see you all at a circuit somewhere in 2021

Take care

Ben

BIKC Regional Final - Delayed! *UPDATED*

This is obviously not the news I was hoping to have been posting today, but with England under lockdown again inevitably the BIKC Regional Final which was scheduled to take place at Teamsport Farnborough yesterday has been postponed for the time being. Once a new date has been confirmed (hopefully in early December) I will endeavor to post an update

Until then, stay safe everyone!

Ben

*Update*

Those who qualified have now been informed that the regional final has now been rescheduled for Monday 7th December - Keeping my fingers crossed the event will go ahead as planned. Wish me luck !!

*Update 2*

While the regional final in Farnborough is still going ahead next Monday, none of the drivers from Bristol who qualified will be permitted to attend due to (currently) being in a ‘Tier 3’ area..

Teamsport have advised an alternate venue/date will arranged ASAP, but in the meantime it’s just a case of waiting for better news sadly..

British Indoor Karting Championship

As promised, here is a pre-regional final update regarding this year’s British Indoor Karting Championship competition, in association with Motorsport UK

Following on from my qualification to the ‘local’ final, which took place on 13th October, I lined up alongside the top rental kart drivers from Bristol and the surrounding area in a bid to make the ‘regional’ final, scheduled to take place at Teamsport’s Farnborough venue on November 9th (not the 2nd, as I’d previously thought!) ..

For the local final, drivers would only be on track against racers from their own weight class, which made things pretty simple: Finish in the top three, and you’re through to the regional final. After a short practice/qualifying session I found myself lining up 3rd on the grid (out of 8 other ‘heavyweight’ drivers) behind Luke Chard-Maple in second and an on-form Andy Taylor, who stormed to pole position by a surprising margin. 

After a clean start to the race it soon became evident that the top 3 would not be challenged, as Andy, Luke & I pulled out a comfortable margin over the rest of the field. Andy, taking full advantage of a particularly sweet kart, and Luke swapped positions on a couple of occasions ahead of me, but through a combination of their relentless pace and a couple of mistakes of my own I fell back from them in the final third of the race, eventually crossing the line around 3 seconds behind, with Luke taking the win. As nice as it would have been to have taken victory on the night, after years of either bad luck, under-performance or scheduling issues, it’s nice to be able to finally say that, in finishing third at the local final, I’m through to the next stage of the competition formerly know as Kartchamps - Get in!

The plan now is to get myself over to Farnborough for a bit of pre-event practice (possibly with Andy in tow!) in an attempt to familiarise myself with the track and it’s (electric) karts, which from previous experience I know to be mega-torquey and eerily quiet..

Watch this space!

A quick update..

Following on from a 7th-place finish (3rd in class) at Teamsport‘s ‘Last Kart Standing’ event on Thursday, I’m pleased to say I’ve now qualified for the local BIKC final, which is scheduled to take place on Tuesday 13th October (format TBC)

Last Kart Standing was a fun event where, towards the end of the race, drivers at the back of the field were ‘eliminated’ on a lap-by-lap basis as the clock counted down.

As usual the Teamsport crew did a great job making sure everything ran smoothly, with further social distancing measures in place meaning everyone had a great time but were also safe in doing so. Thanks guys

The attending drivers were given a nice surprise a few hours in advance of the event, with the circuit announcing the debut of a new fleet of karts- Always a good thing! 

If you’re local and you’ve not been along to the circuit for a while, get over there and check them out!!

The weekend prior to the Teamsport event, I also raced in what was my first Castle Combe Karting Championship (CCKC) event of the year. After a slow start I was eventually able to pick up a win in one of my heat races, which helped me to qualify 3rd for the ‘B’ final, with the top two from that race going through to the ‘A’ final. After a clean start I was able to get past the driver in second place about half-way through the 8 lap sprint, and therefore secured myself a spot alongside the highest-scoring drivers from the heat races. Unfortunately although I was able to climb two positions in that race initially, I was then re-passed by my fellow ‘B’ final graduate, who in doing so pushed me so far wide the driver that had dropped to last place also came back past me. Bugger.

Although I was slightly disappointed to have not been able to hang on to the places I’d initially gained, it still felt pretty good to make the ‘final’ final in what is a very competitive championship which does benefit lighter drivers. With only a couple of rounds left in 2020 I’m not sure at this stage if I’ll race in the CCKC again this year, but who knows?

I’ll be sure to post another BIKC-related update in due course. But until then..

Ben