So today we was back at Brentwood Karting for the start of the brand new season and to defend my Championship Title, so I was hoping for a strong start to the season.
I was out in Group A today which I don't always like, as being out first you go out in stone cold karts so you have to really work them before they warm up and the decent lap times start coming in.
So onwards to Quali. I was in one of my old favourite karts, kart 25. We have a good history me and number 25 but it went through a bit of a rough patch for a while, so I was hoping that it was back onto winning form. I qualified on pole for Heat 1 but I had a fast little Hamilton behind me!
I got off well from the line and Rory moved straight up into P2 closely on my tail. I managed to clear turn 1 without any issues and was pushing to build a gap, however the longer the race went on, it was clear that Rory had better pace than me. He took the lead of the race however, I managed to take this back going into Swimming Pool / Bubbas. A few laps later and a very sneaky dive-bomb down the inside caught me completely unaware and he was just off and there was nothing that I could do to gain the lead back. In the end settling for P2 but what a great battle we had for a few laps and was still all to play for in the second heat.
Heat 2 and I was starting from P11 on the grid. I knew that I needed a strong performance here and if at all possible a win to secure the 12 points that I needed for a heat win. The rolling start got underway on the first attempt and I was sticking to the back of Rory and following him through the pack, making really good progress and by the time we was at Bubbas I was in 5th position and climbing. Going down the start finish straight I made up more positions and was sitting in 2nd, closing down on the leader.
Once I was past Max I knew that I needed to put in some solid laps in order to build a lead from a chasing Hamilton (again!) and at the end of the race I was concentrating so hard on keeping the lead I completely missed the chequered flag and was extremely confused when I see all the Marshals waving yellow flags and not being able to see why the flags were out. I went through the chequered flag again which was now being waved by Kevo and returned to the pits, but I was completely unaware that the race had finished.
I was starting Pole in the A Final and had this because I put in a faster lap time than Rory, so again knew that I needed to get off the line really well so that Rory was kept behind me. I got off of the line really well and held the lead with lots of contact going on behind me, all fighting for position. With this going on I was left to build a gap and start pulling a lead. I managed to secure the win for Round 1, therefore I banked 38 points this week as I won a heat (maximum of 12 points), I won the A Final (maximum 25 points) and I also had the fastest lap of the day which earned me an additional point.
It was a really positive start to the new season but I now know that next week is going to be a difficult week as I am now facing a 5 place grid penalty, so will need to keep pushing hard for the best possible result.
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