So we are fast approaching the halfway point in the Championship and what have I learnt so far?
This league will test the patience of any person.
As quick as you gain positions, you can lose them a heck of a lot faster!
These are Brentwood's best drivers, so even if you make 1 mistake, you will pay for it heavily, it takes no prisoners this league!
If you are in the Supers, you are already doing pretty well.
So, what delights did Round 5 have in store for us this week? Well it was certainly packed full of "action".
First up was Quali and the kart that I had felt awesome and it showed in the fact that I managed to secure pole, a position that I greatly miss and want to see much more of. Then naturally, Race Control decided they wanted to spoil the party by reversing the track for the heat (back to point 1 above about testing anyones patience!). Just because you have a kart that's quick 1 way round a circuit doesn't mean its quick round the other way!
So the heat got underway and I got off to a good start and myself and Liam was working together to pull a gap from the chasing pack. It was again on the penultimate lap, that I went a bit wide and boom back to point 3 above I lost the lead and took the chequered flag to finish P2. I was happy with P2 as it guaranteed good heat points for the Championship.
Heat 2 was up next and if you haven't already jumped to the video to watch the highlights, you may need to strap yourself in for it! The first attempt was restarted due to people going off which I managed to avoid but we went round again. It was on the 2nd restart that all the carnage happened. I ended up getting collected in the middle of it all and slammed into a barrier, with karts ending up on top of each other & spinning in all directions. The heat was red flagged and everyone was assessed and was found fit to continue, other than one kart that needed to be replaced.
It was probably one of the bigger incidents that I have been caught up in and is worrying when you see karts going up in the air with people looking like they were going to be thrown from it. I took a pretty big impact to the knee from where I was slammed into the barrier which was a bit sore for a few days after but other than that was in good shape.
So we headed back again for restart no 3 and this time it was a standing start. The kart felt good as it was revving on the line but just went nowhere and then the crazy train went through and there was nothing that I could do other than stay on the outside & hope for the best (never really a great option to be faced with). I survived and never ended up in the barrier so it was a bit of a mediocre start really but I was still facing in the right direction and hadn't lost out too badly.
Once I managed to clear Leon the kart just come alive and I was flying chasing down the front 2. If I could have cleared him quicker then I think potentially I could have had the win on my hands as the kart was rapid but the clock was against me and the best I could do was P3 but what a heat that turned out to be and I definitely needed a sit down after that one.
Next up was the A Final and due to my P2 & P3 results I was starting on Pole for the Final, at last, a decent round and one that I could be very proud of. So we headed out and of course it was a reverse track race, I know what I am doing on a reverse track but I still don't have as much experience racing a senior kart as I do a cadet kart so I can still make mistakes, so I would have preferred to have gone the normal way.
We headed off for a Rolling Start and I got a really good getaway, the good thing with starting on pole is P2 generally has more to worry about off of the start line than getting into the lead unless you get a poor getaway, they are trying to find a gap to slot in & defend their position, so this is a good time to get your head down and try to pull a gap to give you a bit of breathing space.
I did this well & pulled an initial gap, but as the race went on a made a few silly mistakes in going wide and at one point was half off the track bouncing around, this then allowed others to catch up and I lost the lead, then 2 laps after losing the lead the kart lost all drive so I had to pull off track and switch karts. As this was a mechanical failure I was reinstated to P4 which was the point that the kart cut out and could join the pack & restart (not the first time that this has happened to me in an A Final).
I rejoined the race in P4 but as the minutes were ticking down, there wasn't an awful lot that I could do with a cold kart, I tried my best to put the pressure on Ben in front of me but the kart just couldn't get me back up there, I was gutted, my first real chance at a Super League win was out of the window. The utter silence in the footage said it all.
The positives of the weekend:
I had 2 strong heat results which will give me great heat points for the Championship.
I finished in the top 5 of an A Final.
Gained myself the fastest lap of the day & took a nice bonus point.
Had my best Super League finish to date.
All in all, not too shabby but highly disappointing at the same time. Still we keep pushing & learning to make us better, we will see you again for Round 6.
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