We are back at Brentwood Karting for Round 5 of the Cadet Race League, what would today bring? Well to start of with there was an additional surprise, last week I finished 3rd overall but Roman who finished 2nd actually had a point deducted during the round so I was actually promoted to 2nd, so that was a nice surprise! The only down side was I was expecting a 2 place grid penalty and because of the promotion I was now facing a 3 place penalty.
Podium From Round 4
So, lets get back to the action from Round 5. We all headed out onto track and this week I was put in the 2nd Group, I prefer being in the 2nd group as the karts have already been out for a session and have started to get warm.
The kart that I was given, well there was no other words for it than TOTALLY AMAZING. It didn't matter what you did to this kart it just stuck to the floor, even when I clipped a barrier going into Paddock, it didn't budge off line at all and after the first practice lap I was confident that no one was going to beat me in this rocket. In the end I was over a second quicker than anyone on track, but this was just Quali and it's never over until it's over, so had to remain focused.
I got a great start to the race and it was all pretty straightforward for me really, this kart was just so good that no one could challenge me for the win. I think the only downside with the kart was that it didn't slide at all which made it a bit harder going into corners but had a comfortable 14.5 second lead to claim the win, with the fastest lap being 34.540 which I was confident wouldn't be able to be beaten today.
Heat 2 was up next and I was starting P12 on the grid. The past few weeks the rolling starts have been a real mess and I was hopeful that it would get off on the first time as Mikey & George were at the front of the grid, this week we only had 1 false start and this was because of chaos in the middle of the pack again.
I didn't get the best of starts, as I didn't think it would have got underway again due to the middle pack but it did, and I wasn't really ready for it. By the time we was heading down into Swimming Pool I had made up quite a few positions and now the charge was on to get to the front of the pack.
Over the next few laps I was making my way steadily up and settled into P5. This was the point that I hit a bit of a brick wall really and felt that there was no more that I could get out of this kart, Laurie who was in front of me was just pulling such a gap to me on the straights that I had no answer to it, other than trying to keep with him. The front runners were all battling for positions and it was only this that I felt was bringing me closer to them, nothing to do with my pace. The clock just ticked down too quickly for me to catch anyone really, so had to settle for P5, which wasn't a disaster but was still a little disappointed with it. Just makes it a bit harder work in the final, but as always up for the challenge.
Next up was the A Final and I was starting in P5 due to the grid penalty. It was set up as a Reverse Track, which I was pleased about. With my 3 place grid penalty, I actually felt this gave me more of an advantage than the 2 place penalty as I was starting on the inside of the grid which is prefereable on reverse.
So we headed off on the Rolling Start and the race was underway on the first attempt, going down into Paddock I kept as close to P3's bumper as possible as I didn't want to leave any room for anyone to slip in and push me backwards. Coming out of Paddock I had actually gained 2 positions and was running in 3rd. Still on a charge going into Bubba's again gained another position and was chasing down 1st place. As I was heading into Paddock I was hit from behind and sent wide, this was deemed an ABC in my favour and the position was given back and was now leading the race.
I remained in the lead for the rest of the race but it was a tough battle to keep that lead where I was being attacked by Mikey & Jude at various points and at 1 point we was all 3 wide going into Swimming Pool, that was a hairy moment! I crossed the line where I actually thought Kevo was waving the flag but he actually had a contact warning board for the karts behind me and thought that the race was over, thank god I didn't lift off as there was still a few laps remaining. I still held the lead and after what felt like an incredibly long race Kevo finally waved that Chequered Flag and I claimed my 4th win of the Season.
So maximum points secured this week again for the Heat win and the A Final win with an additional bonus point for Fastest Lap of the day.
Next week I'm back to facing another 5 place grid penalty, but as always am ready for whatever challenges I face and am pushing to claim my 3rd consecutive and final Cadet Championship at Brentwood.
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