Early Start
As always there was an early start to the day and the obligatory "car selfie" as I embarked on another morning of racing at Teesside Karting. This season though it's an even more difficult start to the day due to the lightweight class running on track first, with an 8:30 start time!
I'm trying my best to smile in the picture, honest!
Coffee was key to the journey and with the man in Greggs doing the honors (Costa was shut) and trying to sell me half the shop at the same time, I blasted up the A1 and A19 to arrive at a suitable 7:30am.
Wet Track
Fortunately the heavy rain that had been forecast earlier in the week had failed to materialise in the morning. By the look of it though, it had made an appearance in the middle of the night and as such I arrived at the circuit to discover the exit of the "front D" looking more like a swimming pool than a go kart circuit.
Wet weather was to be the story of the day, we did have a light shower just before the drivers briefing but the circuit was already sodden and so that made absolutely no difference.
It has to be said, the team at Teesside did an amazing job to clear some of the water, this huge puddle was no longer present by the start of qualifying, so credit where it's due.
Qualifying
They can't get rid of all the water though and on certain areas of the circuit there were still large puddles and wet patches. Having never driven in wet conditions at Teesside previously I always knew it was going to be a tough day at the office, but above all else it was a chance to experience something new and learn from it. If you've never driven a go-kart in the wet before, it's a lesson in car control above all else.
It was like driving on ice, more so in some areas than others and it seems knowing where you can push the limits is the name of the game. Control the oversteer get get a beautiful drift in some places and fighting understeer in others, you have to hunt for the grip; I've never taken such a wide range of lines trying to better my time.
Whatever I was doing seemed to be working though, looking at the times available on Alpha Timing, I improved with each lap nailing a 1:37.98 on the last lap of the session. Okay, so I was still a way off the front row, but in my first wet session on slicks, I don't think I did too badly.
Race 1
Cold brakes, cold tyres, warming weather and an engine which cut out on the grid, not the ideal start to the race session. I've been told before that you can restart your own engine if it's the one on the right which fails, while this was the case, I didn't want to risk it being dead for the start. With the marshal doing the honors, I just had to keep blipping the throttle level on the engine so not to get a jump start.
With all 33 drivers lined up and ready to go, the Union Flag saw us on our way. Off the line I had a great start, Teamsport Leeds drivers Owen Burton (p15) and Robbie Lowe (p12) were on my left with James Bourke on my right. A good drag let me work my way ahead of them and a few others, tucking in behind Ben Stuart into the front D, at this point I was up to around 11th. On the drag down to the first big stop there was a lot of jostling for position, drivers out breaking themselves and losing traction on cold tyres, coming out of the corner I was met with at least one driver facing the wrong way, another couple of places.
Safely round the first hurdle, the "bus stop" was next, a fast jink right into a hard left before climbing and dropping right over a crest. At this point the pack was still very close, some drivers were allowing more space than others given the conditions. Turning into the first right it was pretty much single file and then just as I was about to make the apex for the second part of the complex, whack, a heavy hit from behind on a very wet corner put me backwards into the pack.
Sitting there I had little option but to let the field past as they went both sides. Position 8 to position 25 in one corner! Great! Spinning it back the right way, I could see I wasn't last, so that wasn't the end of the world. I know the circuit reasonably well having battled with Owen Burton, Adam Delmont and Karl Parkin among other last season, but the battle was on to try and get a top 15 finish for a reverse grid advantage.
It
's difficult not to let the red mist take hold in the middle of a race, you feel like you've been wronged and want revenge. It was as much of a challenge to keep focused on the kart race at hand as it was to drive in the wet, so I set about catching the pack. At the end of lap 1 I was still 25th, pushing hard in the wet, it was difficult to know where the grip would be from lap to lap. Using other drivers as a reference I could gauge where to push harder, holding a long slide through the first left kink or taking less curb through the esses.
By lap 4 I had gained 7 places, a mix of other drivers making errors and just sticking a move down the inside. Super, we're on track, until lap 5 that is. With more grip slowly appearing, I was starting to push harder, desperately trying to make the top 15. Leaving the esses I was too greedy on the curb and unsettled the kart during braking for the left hand hairpin ahead. With a twitching kart, I foolishly tried to turn in rather than waiting for the kart to settle down and round I went.
With hindsight I should have jumped out the kart and pushed it back onto the circuit, but with a stalled engine I needed a marshal to restart it, dropping me to 32nd of 33 with a huge deficit. Of course it's never over until the flag, but with such a gap to the pack, I was only able to salvage 30th in race 1, an awful start to the season.
Race 2
The second race of the morning didn't yield much in the way of success either. Starting in P30 it was always going to be tough. In essence, my second race was a case of "get your head down and push on" I had nothing to lose.
It turned out to be another tough race, on a drying track I should have known that conditions would improve and I could push harder, but off line into the braking areas there were still a lot of wet patches. For me this made it really tricky to make over takes stick, off line to get the inside line but then not being able to scrub enough speed to make the apex.
I certainly learned some valuable lessons though and if we face another wet race this season I know I'm in a better place to compete at the front (so long as I don't get driven into again). P30 to P23 in the second race, +7 places was okay and obviously as I got nearer the front it was harder to catch and pass drivers, but all in all a disappointing start to the season.
Results
All the results are available on Alpha Timing: SG Petch Sprint Championship R1 Results
SG Petch Sprint Championship Round 1 Video
Video courtesy of Ben Stuart
Race 1
Race 2
