Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Tales of times

9 March

I think it's always best to tell the race with the help of the time sheets.
And as usual, let's start with the Qualifying.

It was tricky qualifying for me. Mainly because I was struggling to
find the good limits for the Dungeon hairpin. unsure.gif
For the 4 quick laps, I was actually trying to find a sweet braking
point for the entry for each of these laps.
Different approaches but they all return about the same times.
Which is why I abort any more runs, hoping to have done enough
and saving myself and the kart for the race to come.
At this point I did not know where I will start, I was just hoping
for the upper half of the field will do. Thus, I was satisfied
to take fourth on the starting grid out of the 13 guys when I
returned to the pits. smile.gif

But starting at fourth, give me something to ponder about since
I will be on the outside of the race line. It will be very tough to
defend. So I will just to see what unfold in front of me, and
get as good a start as possible.
Work for it but hope for the best! wink.gif

A few interesting thing was that KP and Graeme actually qualified
with the same time. Here we are talking about the two decimal
places timing at 53.52 ! Amazing.  But since Graeme got the time
first he decided to get the points, while KP get the 'better position'.

Another is the amazing drive from James Lee again.
51.61 !  It is 0.7 faster than Leo who qualified second, and about
2 seconds faster than the rest of the field.
It is no wonder, I keep asking him for advice! nod.gif

Heat 1

The first heat was delayed due to a couple of things, which I cannot
remember what exactly now. I think it was a few karts had some
mechanical issues that need to be resolved.
However, I can clearly remember that the heat from the sun is just
immense. It was just crazy, which is why I kept drinking water,
and isotonic drinks. Else there will be every chance to be caught
out by the heat exhaustion and/or cramps. sweatdrop.gif sweatdrop.gif

 
Finally, we got a go ahead and off we went.
During the rolling start, Leo in second  place had a problem and
had to pull to the side and out of the race. With that, I actually had the
chance to roll with James Lee for the formation. Nice!
And what a view from the front row! biggrin.gif
 
When we are about to start, Jason who will dropped the green flag
for the start signal to us one more lap to roll which I presumed it's to
accommodate Leo. The mechanics thought they had solved his
electrical problems, however it was not the case.
During that time, Tony thinking it is a race start blazed his way
to the front, from ninth to first!!  Thankfully, he managed to sense
something was amiss, slowed and rejoined the formation.

My start was not too good. Perhaps there was some hesitation on my
part. I was ready to throttle but back off again, and there & then the
green flag dropped.  BUMMER! dizzy.gif mellow.gif
Thankfully, this mistake did not cause me much trouble other than
Allan Lange went through with James at the Dungeon hairpin before
me. I believed I was in 3rd place from lap 1 all the way to lap 15.

I know James will be fast and will just disappear from the pack, but
Allan was doing something special with his kart. I just cannot keep up
with his pace, and there's a constant gap through the spoon.
Some said he's using a better engine and so and so. Perhaps he is driving
a better engine, but I am sure that he is driving much better now.
Just look at his lap times, which shows a nice consistent times.
For his age, which is close to 60, he had showed something steely within
himself regardless of good engine or not!

Talking about engine, it will be soon before I had to swap mine for a
new one. The compression is not at its best, and that I may be doing
some good times in Plentong. But if I race this in RMC I will certainly
be murdered on the track without a hint of hesitation from the rest guys
on it. So another headache($) for me. huh.gif

Opps..  wasn't I supposed to talk about the race itself?
I was but this just about that is to it. Not one overtaking move had
been executed. What a strange race!!  Maybe why I felt odd or
'down'
During this heat and the next one, I actually realized I had having
a bit of low self confidence. Although I was very much concentrating
on trying my best to catch Allan Lange, I was also constantly looking
back to check for the rest of the guys behind. I kept thinking there
will be someone up in my arse. At some laps, I was even on the
defensive line. Not too sure if there's someone really near me,
but I think I should have more confidence in myself, and the kart. nod.gif
The one month away from the kart certainly did not help in this
respect.

Heat 2
Starting from 3rd this time, sure seems to be a good place to be at.
Inside line which I can defend if I start well just behind James.
I was looking forward to it.
 
BUT, I screwed my start slightly again.
This time round there was a consequence.
As I was trying to blaze my way to the 1st hairpin, Allan
in 2nd place actually gently squeeze me to my right.
Moving to my right to avoid banging him I actually went on to
a gentle concrete round kerb , and launched myself into the
air for awhile. shocked.gif
Again thankfully, there was no major incident for others from
my 'flying' start. Graeme told me after it seems I will flying back
down back on him! It does cause me to lose a place at the hairpin,
which I quickly retook it when Graeme's kart had a stuck throttle line.

The few laps after I was quite a bit concerned with the kart itself.
It seems to be slower.... or is it the heat which we are racing at
3+pm ?  Maybe a combination of everything.
During the next 5-6 laps, Louis and Tony were quite near me.
However, I was regaining a bit of pace and just managed to slowly
edge further ahead from them.
Another 2 laps or so, I saw Yellow flag near the pits area.
James was standing over his kart... he's DNF and without having to
fight for it, I was second!
Then I was slightly more motivated to try even more to catch up with
Allan. A heat win will be nice!
However, it was too much to do too late in the race.
Second place isn't too bad at all, but there was still something amiss
from the overall good result.

In any case, this is a good start for the 'season' which I managed
to fulfill my target I set out for myself.
May more of the same come! thumbsup.gif



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