What a Sunday it was on 29 Nov for 'Go 2 Race' for the
6 of us who turned up hoping to get a good race.
None of us were disappointed with plenty of good nature
racing action even though the number of drivers was
indeed small.
Like Tony mentioned, 'respect all round on the track,
but aggressive action without any soft yieldings!'
Adding to that, the weather was just great the entire day.
Cloudy skies with sun blazing through it, dry throughout
which provided us the almost perfect condition for a race.
But my day ended with a cramp to the stomach in lap 4 of
Heat 2. Too much food in the stomach? Or not enough hydration?
Probably a combination of both.
It was so bad that I had to rest and arch backwards in my seat
to prevent further cramps before I can get out of my seat.
One thing that put a tiny smile on my face when I was resting in
my seat is that fact that I had a good lap time of 45.7s in lap 3.
Now, I can only wonder what will it be if I can continue. Which
I hope the lap times continuing to fall if I got past Louis and Tony
who were just in front of me.
Only can wonder now...That was the end, now for the start.
We did not have qualifying since there's only a handful of us.
So in bid to save some 'cost' and time, we draw lots.
Starting grid is, if I recalled correctly, KP, me, Louis, Graeme,
Tony & Thaddeus.
Heat 1 started just after 11.30am.
We had a few rolling laps, which is more than we all wanted.
But the lot of us wanted to get it right.
Once we did, the race was on its way.
Just as I was flooring the throttle to try to get ahead of KP, I felt
a nudge from behind. It was a good nudge, as it assist me to get
ahead of KP for the hairpin and took the lead immediately.
The kart was feeling good. Very good, indeed.
During the testing of the kart before the race, I was about to get to
45.9s at the 3rd lap. With that I know the kart is ready for a
good race ahead.
Back to Heat 1 action. I was going in lap 1 trying to get a good
rhythm for the rest of the 20 laps while also trying to see where
the rest of the guys were. I was just ahead from KP by about 2-3
kart length at the end of lap 1.
Not to eager to go all crazy yet, I was controlling my own pace a bit
for lap 2. As I was accelerating out from the hairpin at the bottom of
the hill, I turned to see how far/ close is KP to me now.
No one.... strange...
And as I turned to face front again, I saw a cloud of dust cloud from
130R, and there was someone being thrown off from the kart!!
Darn!!!
I slowed, and waved to the pits to the incident!
At that point of the incident, being retold to me, Sherry seeing it happen
from the pits area, and yelled. Loud scream!
Initially, Jason thought that someone was trying to rob her or something.
It was that loud a scream!
Red flag waved!
I was drive gingerly back to the pits and ran to see if things are ok.
By the time I was there, the driver involved in the incident was slowly
sitting up, and then stand to his feet.
A good sign. Moments passed, and it seems the driver is ok, and the kart
had only damage its steering column. PHEW
Only completing 1 full lap, we were going for a restart after everyone
is ready again.
Which finally got underway at about 12.30pm.
The starting position will be similar again.
This time I got only a slightly better start than KP and managed to out
throttle him after the hairpin.
My lead did not last long as Louis snaked in front of me.
His KF2 engine indeed has a better mid to top power.
After that, I was desperately trying to get past him as I can see that he's
a tad slower in the corners. Because of that, me and Tony managed
have a contact with his front tyres and my side pod at the Spoon.
I was slightly frustrated as everytime I got very close to Louis he will
get a bit ahead at the end of the straight just enough to have a
overtaking opportunities disappeared.
At one point, I even whacked his rear bumpers.
With every lap gone, unable to get past I could have been patient and
see what happen. That was not an option though as Tony is breathing
down my neck.
Then a small mistake at the foot of the hill, Tony got past me.
aaarrrgggghhh !
Not good, as now the problem doubled.
Darn.
Followed them for 2 or 3 laps, and I can see that I was faster than
both of them in pits area, and determined to make my speed counts
there I plan to overtake both of them when there was a opportunity
after the start finish.
It happened when the pair of them line up side by side to the outside
of the track after the start finish.
I saw it, and gun for the tiny opening for the hairpin.
It was going to be tight and it will be a gamble... I lost. I spun.
It was the same spot that I spun on Friday practice. AGAIN..!
I was going in too hot. I lost my discipline.
The entire field went past me before I rejoined the race.
15 sec gone... !@#!@$@#!@@!!
After that I was just pushing and overtook Graeme within
2-3 laps. Then catching up to the threesome leading by KP,
Tony & Louis.
At the last lap, I was virtually just behind the three of them.
Just wish I had one more lap. Or that I had not been too rash,
since Thaddeus had won this heat from the back showing that
it pay to have a little patience. Just a little should do the trick.
To take the positives out from all these, it's that from the Heat 1
I think I can see that my lap times were quite consistently
throughout the race. Meaning, I'm getting back into my stride of
race pace and the kart is working at the track nicely... finally!!
Now I believed I will somewhat much nearer to the front runners
than before, probably about 0.5 sec off instead of a full second off.
Still much more to learn!
Learning points for myself will be balancing both aggression and
patience during the race. Knowing when to push and overtake,
and when to hold steady.
Almost everyone had some fun, expect for Graeme having
his rib been really painful during both stages of the race.
He should be resting and get it healed soon, but he is determined
to see through the next one coming up on 13 Dec!
Cheers, mate!
Truly looking forward to the next race!
Before I end there will be many great pics coming!
Stay "tuned" !
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