The talk of the town on Teesside this weekend was the Radio 1 Big Weekend event which was taking place just down the road from Teesside Karting and while that was the biggest thing for most people, for the drivers of the SGP Sprint Championship all the talking was of the weather.
After a lovely sunny day on Saturday, the heavens had opened overnight and I left the house on damp streets, not too bad, but as I traveled up the A1 there was everything from blue skies to torrential downpours. Things improved at the circuit with only the odd shower, but the track was very, very wet.
Having only raced on damp circuits before now, it was going to be an experience as we race on slicks whatever the weather and the biggest choice of the day was,
"Should I wear a rain suit?"
For those that don't know, these are plastic (or similar) suits which go over the top of a normal race suit and while they help to keep you relatively dry they can also make you very, very warm. Having debated for a few minutes while stuffing a Maccy's breakfast in my fast and getting caught in a shower, I decided to go for it; though by the time we were getting into the karts I was already starting to regret it!
Qualifying
The skies were clearing but the track was still wet as we headed out for Qualifying, there was standing water on the track and I was going to be happy so long as I didn't spin. To be honest, I didn't really have any adventures, I ran deep into a couple of corners and drifted round the long right hander of Southbank but apart from that Qualifying was uneventful as I found where the grip existed.
Chequered flag and I'd managed P16 of 35, can't say I was thrilled, but I'd learned a lot in that 10 minutes!
Race 1
We were racing on the National track without the "front D" in place which meant a fast sprint into a long right. In the dry this is normally a recipe for disaster with drivers vying for space on the inside, in the wet I was expecting it to be absolute chaos, especially with the spate of collisions over the last few rounds.
My start was terrible, dropping a handful of places off the grid though through turn 1 I was able to hold the inside line and regain some places. Through the rest of the lap I managed to pick of a few other drivers as they fought each other and by the end of lap 1, I'd only lost out on one place to Ben Thornton.
The next 4 laps were really competitive as I battled my way through the field from position 17. Overtaking was tricky as you were never sure what line other drivers were taking, when they were braking or whether they were just going to spin, but over the next 4 laps I managed to gain 5 places, up to P12.
The next stage of the race was status quo, over the next 5 laps I didn't make or lose a place, holding p12 until lap 11 when an incident for Siobhan Simpson lead to her dropping several places putting me up to P11. My final luck came on lap 13 with problems for Ryan Woodhead and Benjamin Oates allowing me to gain 2 places, while getting past James Aldridge at the same time allowing me to take 8th place on track.
I was now behind Darren Lowe and despite a final push of the remaining 6 laps, Darren found a little something extra towards the end of the race and managed to build a gap. I can't be disappointed though, 8th from 16th is a solid drive in a first fully wet race and gives me confidence that I can push hard in those conditions, time for race 2.
Race 2
Finishing 8th in race 1 meant that I had the luxury of staying in my kart for the reverse grid driver change. While it meant I could rest a moment, it also meant I knew my karts' characteristics for race 2, sometimes this is a benefit, other times not. The track was also starting to dry and as there had been no further rain, it was clear the circuit was only going to get quicker as the race went on; these drying conditions are ones which I have experienced before and they're not my favourite.
It seems they aren't the best conditions for some other drivers too with a number of drivers spinning in the first hairpin at the start of the race, possibly triggered by Samuel Richards. For once I was lucky to escape the incident and I've clearly learned from previous races where I have been involved in crashes.
While I wasn't spun out or put into the barriers, I did lose a number of places, ending the first lap in P11. By the end of lap 2 however I'd recovered 2 places and was running in P9 but this would be the story of my second race, yoyo-ing between position 8 - 11.
The next race is in just a few weeks and that's when we can probably start looking at the table taking into account dropped scores!
