Easykart 2008 Round 2 : Race Report

Rye House : 2^nd/31

Saturday

I didn't want to turn up on Saturday after my little rant about the price of testing the other week but I needed to run my rebuilt engine in so I came along with Firas ready to use the afternoon to do so. It was mega hot and sunny, which was awesome, but I had a headache again, which was not.

Nothing happened whilst running in the engine, it was pretty mundane stuff, but once I was done with that I thought I'd give it ten minutes to see where my pace was on old tyres...

"Wow... this engine is pretty... "perky" now isn't it? Look Firas, I'm pulling three kart lengths on people out of the hairpins! I must say though, what are these third degree burns doing on my right leg near the engine? It would appear my skin is melting... and why am I pulling 17,500 revs into stadium?"

We took apart the engine and all looked fine, so we were confused for a few seconds until Mark jokingly said "the engine builder didn't put a ten-tooth front sprocket on did he?"... well... he did! Obviously oblivious to the easykart regulations, and in the rush-job of "we just discovered we have an easykart engine that we need to use this weekend and it's all bent up inside, can you fix it please?" the guys that put my engine back together mistakenly whacked a ten-tooth on, which - thank Dog - we caught before my engine blew up. Oops!

Firas was in a league of his own again, but then his luck - or lack-off - struck when his crank shaft snapped in half! It was his third engine in 2 hours of running; added to the accusations flying around about the front sprocket mistake on my kart earlier, it was understandable when he got in a piss and said he wouldn't be competing on Sunday.

We headed home Saturday, neither of us in a particularly good mood - I was worried I was in for another weekend of spending money I can't afford to spend just to be struggling in the mid-field, despite knowing my engine was fixed - I couldn't get rid of the self-doubt that had crept in over the last month!

I needed a good nights sleep for this one, as I had barely slept the night before both the previous races and I could notice the difference. Accordingly, I got drunk to the point of slumping on Firas' dining table yelling "omg dude, has a chunk of my face fallen off? Honestly, I can feel it! A huge chunk has ripped off!" and shortly after he persuaded me it wasn't I stumbled to the guest room and passed out at about 11.30 to ensure I'd get a good 7 hours sleep.

Sunday

Firas generously brought me back to the track at 7am despite not competing himself (thaaanks) and hung around until after the first qualifying session so that he could assist me. We went for a walk around the track and he talked me through where I was going wrong and where I can pick up time with my set-up, which was invaluable.

Thanks to Heavyweight driver Tim Hill's company - Speedscreen (www.speedscreen.net) I was running my new stickers this weekend with my sponsors logos on. SpeedScreen Ltd have come up with some special prices for stickers to be custom made for EasyKart owners, varying from £75 to £125.

Qualifying

Phil gave me an awesome set-up for quali 1 and the kart was near-perfect straight away - my lap times were consistent and fast and it was obvious we had some very good pace, as I was following and gaining on the guys that usually make up the top 5. Part of me thought "ah, thank Dog, it WAS my engine for sure!" and the other half of me was thinking "hmm... what if I still end up 15^th or something..." then I remembered Firas' saying to me time and time again to just stop over analysing everything and clear my head out and drive blindly, so I did.

Quali 2 was useless as the track was a bit greasy now so I came in after only a handful of laps crawling around waiting to see if the grip would come back. I ended up 3^rd overall, four thousandths away from pole, so I was happy, but slightly resenting the fact that I never hooked up the perfect lap. The only place I felt I was lacking was pylon, I was unable to take it as Firas had instructed me to at good speed due to a bit of understeer. I didn't want any changes made however as I was very comfortable with the amount of understeer I had, and I felt if we made a change to give me a bit more turn in through pylon it could compromise us overall.

Pre-Final(A)

I was a bit gutted at the fact that we'd be racing in the wet as I still haven't had a fully wet race, and I don't have a wet set-up at all, so I would inevitably drop back away from the experienced guys I was amongst in the dry.

We were thinking about slicks as there was a dry line emerging on the track and the dummy grid hadn't been closed yet. We knew slicks would be the fastest choice overall although I would inevitably drop back for the first 5 laps or so. Phil and I, both reluctant to make the call discussed it, and we both agreed slicks would be fastest; I did at the last moment, however, decide to take the safe option and stick to wets. The way I saw it, if I went onto slicks and dropped down to 15^th, then I'd have to over take 12 people to get back up into position, which would be surely impossible considering how wet the circuit was off the dry line - I couldn't see any passes sticking as the instant I would get off the dry line I would lose all traction, therefore it would be best to stick to wets, and the worst that could happen was I would be in the same position as most other guys. Some competitors did swap to slicks, so it would be interesting to see where they'd come.

I'm not sure what exactly happened at the start, but I got mugged way before we even got into stadium, losing two or three positions, but luckily I managed to get back into 4^th where I stayed for a few laps, until Sam Smithson passed me on slicks. I was following Steve Youle closely, knowing I had the pace to get by, but struggling due to the water of of the racing line. Steve made a mistake at the first hairpin so I passed him on the exit easily for 4^th, but he decided to try and take the pass back with a lunge from miles back that sent him straight on way beyond the apex of the corner and put us both off onto the concrete, losing us both two places. It was frustrating as I would then be stuck behind Steve for several more laps, unable to pass on the wet surface despite being significantly faster.

I followed Steve and decided I would make the pass at stadium as this was the only place with sufficient slowdown for an overtake, without braking required where coming off the dry line would penalise too heavily. I made the pass on the first attempt, but couldn't catch the four-wheel slide quick enough to keep a tight line throughout the middle of the bend and Steve would take the position back - I followed closely and was notably faster everywhere - under braking I was unavoidably tagging him, out of the corners I was pushing him, I knew I had to make the pass. I tried again each lap for the next three laps but every lap drifted out just a bit too wide, so when I received the final lap board I decided I was going to give it another go, but go in significantly slower, so that I would drift out parallel to Steve so that I could push him wide and regain traction before he could cut underneath me. It worked perfectly, although I sideswiped him quite heavily as a consequence of guess-work in regards to the water of of the racing line, which is what I put Steve's lunge putting me off the track earlier in the race to. I kept the position for the rest of lap, pulling away from Steve without difficulty and finished 5th. In hindsight, I still can't decide whether wets or slicks would have been best.

Final(A)

I was pleased to be starting 5^th considering the conditions in the pre-final and I knew that I had a genuine chance of challenging the guys in front of me as I was consistently fast and good on the brakes into the first hairpin.

I passed Ben King at the start as Steve Youle, who had qualified pole for the pre-final shot passed into 2^nd place behind Barnabe Pittingale. I knew I had to clear Ayrton and Steve quickly if I was to challenge Barnabe for the win - I couldn't afford to get stuck behind either as Barnabe would inevitably pull an un-closable gap to me. Unfortunately this is exactly what happened, to my frustration. I'm not used to running this high up, so when I do I get hesitant at making passes as I don't want to ruin the race for the front runners, then after quite a few laps I remembered, "oh wait, I AM a front-runner, and everybody in front of me is lapping slower than me - I could take my first win today!" so decided I wasn't going to stare at the back of Ayrton anymore. Damn the self-doubt thanks to two races of SHITE.

On lap 11 I got into Ayrton's tow down the main straight, tucked my head down and decided I would be making the pass into stadium this lap so that I could get on with my race for the win. I pulled out of Ayrton's tow and made the move up the inside into stadium - the back-end stepped out ever so slightly but I caught it and made the move stick and got on with chasing Steve Youle for a sequel to our pre-final battle! I was confident it wouldn't be a battle this time as I was three tenths a lap faster than him without having to worry about coming off the racing line - it should be easy enough I thought!

I wanted to pass Steve into the first hairpin as it was clear from following him that he had better bottom end than me, so onto the back straight I had a significant speed disadvantage. Accordingly, I didn't think I would be able to get close enough to make a move into stadium considering how little slow-down there is on the entry, plus Steve clearly knew I had him beat as he was desperately jumping and ducking down the straight to keep me at bay, and it worked! The frustrating thing was that I noticed coming out of the esses after stadium, Steve was gaining a kart length on me as I didn't seem to have as much traction as he did, which obviously made a move into the first hairpin look increasingly difficult.

What to do... well I was on his bumper throughout the lap... slower out of the last corner, faster into stadium, slower into hairpin one, but better on the brakes, slower into pylon, miles faster out of it. I figured I'd adapt my line through the last left-right so that I would compromise a kart length into the final corner, but boost my exit speed, combined with even more excessive jumping and ducking than usual so I could pass into stadium! I got soooo close, but just couldn't quite get close enough - I could see Barnabe now pulling away and deep down I knew it was too late, but I wasn't going to stop trying! Coming out of stadium and through the esses I saw Steve break traction for an instant, costing him probably half a tenth, but it was enough for me to only lose half a kart length this lap rather than a full kart going into the hairpin so I decided to plant the kart down the inside this lap and take 2^nd, which couldn't have gone better. The reality was that I had wasted far too many laps behind the slower Ayrton and Steve; Barny, along with my first win, had got away. Over the next 3 laps I reeled him in quickly, but could only get the gap down to 1 second by the time the checkered came out.

Well?

Man it's good to be back at the front - I didn't expect such a strong outing this weekend - I was targeting 5^th as I thought this would be realistic considering my engine was fixed and I had the expertise of both Phil and Firas at hand, but have the disadvantage of inexperience, no testing/budget etc, but it is clear now that I really should have won this weekend. Whilst I'm ecstatic with my best result yet, I am slightly full of self-hatred and loathing for not dispatching Steve and Ayrton quicker... I don't know when I'll be that strong again, and I know the kart deserved the win, as did Phil for his help, as did Firas for his, so I'm a bit gutted... yeah I'm a really bad loser, but hey, at least I get to call 2^nd place a "loss" this weekend!

Ross Fretten