It's been a mixed summer in the UK so far this year and the damp track of round 3 had given way to pavement cracking sunshine for round 4 of the kart Championship as the light and heavy weight drivers once again took to their karts for wheel to wheel action. To spice things up a little bit, Teesside had also invited a guest driver to enter this round in the form of Bradley Philpott, an experienced driver who had raced in the Championship before, more about that later.
As per usual there were also some new faces and after the obligatory driver briefing, we were karted up ahead of qualifying. Adam Delmont had a kart with a puncture and I had one with an engine which would need restarting not long after leaving the pits. By now, it was really warm and the breeze which came from leaving the pits was more than welcome though I also noticed that my kart was exceptionally slow off the line, by the first hairpin I was almost last. That was of course with the exception of 2 drivers who appeared to have bundled into each other.
I took the opportunity to pull to the side and get the marshal to restart my engine, from here on in I was running in relatively clear track which allowed me to push really hard. I was determined to get a good grid position this time out as I get on well with the full circuit.
From here on in it was an uncomplicated session, finding little snippets of extra time in some corners but not in others. As it turns out, everything came together on the last lap with a time almost 0.5 seconds quicker than my next best. This put me in P10 on the grid, had it not been for the guest driver(s) I'd have been P8 and in a great position to capitalise. Other Championship regulars were around me with Callum Jenkins just in front and Calum Cleat just behind, the start was going to be interesting.
Race 1
Off the start there was the usual bunching and bumping, but that can't be helped as 34 competitive drivers try and squeeze through a tight series of corners. Being 10th meant I was off to one side at least and managed to get a clear run through the first series of corners, I'd managed to gain a few places and kept a tight line into the first hairpin to avoid any collisions. By this point I was ahead of Callum Jenkins and the pack was racing hard towards the esses, heading into the back to back hairpins I had to jump on the brakes early as my pedal was a little long and I didn't have great confidence in the stopping abilities of my kart.
This meant I was slowing earlier than those around me, ultimately resulting in a tap at the rear from Callum, sending me into a half spin. Fortunately I caught it and there was obviously no intent from Callum, either way he apologised after the race and no harm done, a racing incident.
From this point in I was holding my own, back down to where I started but putting in a good pace until Calum Cleat and Robson Jenkins caught me. While I wasn't stoked about this, they're both great drivers and as you'd expect we had a really good battle over a number of laps, swapping places through the laps. That was until... PUNCTURE! In the years I've been driving at Teesside I've never had one in the race, gutting.
After trundling my way round the rest of the lap I made it back to the pits and duly changed karts, but the damage was done 11th to 31st in one fell swoop.
With 2 laps left my focus was on getting the kart warm for the next race, I figured I'd be at the back somewhere so it was worth making the best use of the time on track. After looking over my shoulder I saw 2 karts catching me as I left the bus stop, as it turns out this was Mike Weddell and Bradley Philpot, though I couldn't tell how fast they were catching me so I kept my foot in to get through the esses. Mike made his way past on the entry and then, before I knew it I was off the track with all four wheels in the air as I unceremoniously shoved aside by the second driver.
That was it for race 1, a lap down almost back of the field for race 2, but at least I'd get chance to pack in some good overtaking in th second race of the day, right?
Race 2
As predicted for the start of race 2 I was near the back, 31st out of 34 to be precise so I knew this wasn't going to be a high scoring round before we got started. Then, waiting to start an engine stalled, "not again" I thought as the marshal kept the engine running for me off the back row while the race got under way.
As per usual, chaos ensued off the start and I got bunched in a load of traffic as we got off the grid but as in race 1 I was on the inside and made a chunk of places as everyone fought to get through the first corners. Through the first hairpin and into the bus stop I held my ground and it was the same through the rest of lap one, seeing me climb to 19th place.
I was happy with 12 places on the first lap, heading through lap 2 I gained another 3 places to hold 16th; perhaps I was going to get some decent points after all. Then we got onto lap 3, I'd managed to pass Karl Parkin who was clearly having kart trouble as he's normally up the front (he'd later retire from the race) and coming out of the bus stop, BOOM, chain snapped!
As my kart slowed down the back straight my initial thought was that one of the engines had gone, but as I pulled to a marshal, I could hear the left engine revving as I applied the throttle. I was told to limp back to the pit and change karts, again.
There's nothing more to say than that really, it's wasn't just me who had kart issues this time out with a number of drivers falling down the order as they changed equipment. This will definitely be a dropped round and the pressure is now on to make every remaining round count.
