It's been a long winter but February has finally seen the cobwebs blown off the racing kit as I prepare for the start of the 2019 Sprint Championship at Teesside Autodrome. After a year off, the Abarth name has returned to the Championship as car dealer SG Petch continued their sponsorship of the local karting series, now titled the SG Petch Abarth Sprint Championship.
As ever the titles will be hotly contested with seasoned drivers Adam Delmont, Karl Parkin & Ben Thornton returning along with some fresh faces too though the lightweight grid is looking a little bare this year. Before the season kicks off in ernest though, there was the small matter of the shakedown round, an opportunity for new and returning drivers to remind themselves of the format.
Another change for the 2019 season is the timings, with the Championship now running alongside the Pro Kart events. This new format is a breath of fresh air for the series, providing increased exposure to the drivers and sponsors through bigger trackside crowds and digital coverage. It was great to see the paddock so busy, even if it meant we were about 40 minutes late heading out on track.
For the taster round, all weight classes ran together without ballast regulations (though I ran full ballast) and after the usual drivers briefing, things got off to a smoking start in the pits. We'd all been seated in the dummy grid and while we were waiting to head out on track, a kart to my right began to smoke; only a little at first but within 5 minutes the driver was out an into another kart, definately not a keeper!
Qualifying
As we headed out of the pits onto the National Circuit at Teesside the sun was glaring down and it was clear that we'd have great conditions for racing. Over the last few weeks I've been doing a lot of fitness work to try and improve my stamina which is what has been letting me down while I build my racing experience and this was going to be the first real test of how beneficial it is. Being one of the first out on track there weren't really any karts to follow which would've allowed me to judge my performance, so the head went down and I focussed on my own job.
Having spent some time on Max Coates simulator at a Bennetts Renault event recently, I recalled some of the advice he'd given me about opening up corners and it seemed to really help. My driving felt much more fluid from corner to corner.
As usual, we lined up at the end of qualifying to be gridded up and I was stoked to be in 2nd on the grid, ahead of fellow lights Karl Parkin and Ben Thornton.
Race 1
The first race of the SG Petch Abarth Sprint Championship taster round got off to a flyer and while I managed to retain 2nd off the grid, I fell to third on the first lap before settling into what would be a race long battle with the top 5 drivers. Every corener or every lap would turn out to be nose to tail racing with places continually swapping, it really was a great race and I was really pleased to be able to keep pace with my competitors for the season ahead. It looks like the training has paid off!
I'd love to say more about race 1, but I genuinley have no idea what was going on behind us as we were battling so hard for so long. The only thing of note was a very close call with Karl as we headed into the front D side by side, Karl on the right and me on the left. I'd managed to get a run out of the final few corners and having been through those corners alongside Ben Stuart previously, I knew it could be done. As Karl said after the race though, when you have 2 drivers who don't want to give up, it's not goiing to end well and Karl took to the run off as he was carrying too much speed to take the left.
Race 2
As ever with race 2, we ran a reverse grid for the top 15 drivers and having finished P5 in race 1, I started P11 in race 2. As expected, all hell broke loose in the mid-pack off the start and despite some bumping, we all made it through the front D without too much drama. This is definately an area I need to improve on if I want to seriously challenge for a top spot this season.
A few laps in is where the real fun started however. Running in about the same spot I started in, there was an incident just ahead in the first hairpin which resulted in a driver spinning to the outside; this forced everyone to the inside and in the chaos that followed I was spun round. As we were only a couple of laps into the race this meant that I had to wait until almost all the field had passed before I could rejoin the track, I was now about 4th from the back of the pack, so roughtly 26th place!
Fortunately this was only a taster round so not the end of the world, but it gave me a great chance to see how I faired battling through the pack, I suppose it was lucky that it happened at the start of the race. What followed was an awesome 20 minutes of racing that gave me some great opportunities to practice my overtaking and late or different lines, but more importantly trying to stay calm under pressure and not overcook my racing.
In the end I managed to recover 13 places to finish P13 in race 2. While it would have been great to finish higher in both races, it's given me a real confidence boost going into the season ahead and also reminded me that my wrists need some strength work if I want to be able to push harder.
I didn't used to be a fan of the National Circuit, but it's safe to say that's changed. Big thanks as usual to the organisers at Teesside Karting and SG Petch!
