For my first Ironman Individual Endurance Race at Teamsport Bristol!
I'll be racing for 2 hours non-stop against other drivers at the fantastic indoor circuit on 29/3/13
Im raising money for PDSA which is an animal charity that my family have always supported, and Im looking to see whether I'll be able to go the distance..
Race report to follow!
Wednesday 27 March 2013
BRKC Hereford
Bitter winds and light snow greeted over 60 drivers who had entered the third round of the 2013 British Rental Kart Championship. The stage was set at Hereford Raceway for another day of fantastic racing, with the same questions on everybody's minds: Could Lee Hackett become the first driver to win three BRKC events? Could Sean Brierley put a stop to him? And could Rhianna Purcocks make the most of a home field advantage and get amongst the front runners?
Practice went fairly well as I got to grip with finely balanced twin-engine kart, readjusting my senses slightly as I got used to driving outdoors again after a six month break (its always surprising how much more grip there is compared to indoor) and generally trying to keep it on the black stuff, before lining up for my first Heat.
I started dead last in the that first heat, had a cracking start and managed to get up to 6th place by the time the flag fell a few laps later.
Typically, I had one of the top drivers starting behind me in my next heat, and after making a fairly good start I found myself defending from Sean Brierley for a couple of laps before he slipped past as we went under the bridge. Again, I finished 6th of 10, so at least I was being consistent!
Rhianna Purcocks was amongst the other drivers in my final heat, and after a couple of laps she was past me and chasing down the next driver. What fooled was a slightly bizarre incident as she went around the outside of someone at the switchback hairpins, before being run out wide and straight into the tyre barrier, right infront of my eyes. I managed to avoid the carnage, gained a couple of places and finished up 4th, which put me in the 'D' Final, starting 4th.
After a short break and a wander around the picturesque circuit, I watched the 'E' final before pulling on my helmet and gloves for my final race of the day. Starting right infront of me was Seans younger brother Liam, and behind me the quite frankly tiny Annalien Boutens. All in all the race was fairly uneventful for myself, unfortunately the same couldnt be said for Liam as he was involved in an altercation early on and dropped out of the running. I was soon past by Boutens and followed the top 3 over the line with only a few seconds covering all of us.
Overall I finished 41st of 57 drivers, about where Id expected to be if I was being honest, though it would have been nice to have broken into the next group of drivers. Unfortunately due to a mix up with my weight class I was unable to score points toward a heavyweight position so was competing 'overall' but thats of little matter as Im only planning on doing two rounds this year anyway
As usual, Herefordshire Raceway put on a fantastic event, with barely any disruptions, and once again we were provided with fantastic and equal machinery. Credit goes to the staff and marshalls for keeping us safe and well fed, and even putting up with a few temper tantrums along the way.
Lee Hackett was again untouchable, and still leads the standings from Sean and Connor Marsh. Full results and news can be found at brkc.co.uk
Practice went fairly well as I got to grip with finely balanced twin-engine kart, readjusting my senses slightly as I got used to driving outdoors again after a six month break (its always surprising how much more grip there is compared to indoor) and generally trying to keep it on the black stuff, before lining up for my first Heat.
I started dead last in the that first heat, had a cracking start and managed to get up to 6th place by the time the flag fell a few laps later.
Typically, I had one of the top drivers starting behind me in my next heat, and after making a fairly good start I found myself defending from Sean Brierley for a couple of laps before he slipped past as we went under the bridge. Again, I finished 6th of 10, so at least I was being consistent!
Rhianna Purcocks was amongst the other drivers in my final heat, and after a couple of laps she was past me and chasing down the next driver. What fooled was a slightly bizarre incident as she went around the outside of someone at the switchback hairpins, before being run out wide and straight into the tyre barrier, right infront of my eyes. I managed to avoid the carnage, gained a couple of places and finished up 4th, which put me in the 'D' Final, starting 4th.
After a short break and a wander around the picturesque circuit, I watched the 'E' final before pulling on my helmet and gloves for my final race of the day. Starting right infront of me was Seans younger brother Liam, and behind me the quite frankly tiny Annalien Boutens. All in all the race was fairly uneventful for myself, unfortunately the same couldnt be said for Liam as he was involved in an altercation early on and dropped out of the running. I was soon past by Boutens and followed the top 3 over the line with only a few seconds covering all of us.
Overall I finished 41st of 57 drivers, about where Id expected to be if I was being honest, though it would have been nice to have broken into the next group of drivers. Unfortunately due to a mix up with my weight class I was unable to score points toward a heavyweight position so was competing 'overall' but thats of little matter as Im only planning on doing two rounds this year anyway
As usual, Herefordshire Raceway put on a fantastic event, with barely any disruptions, and once again we were provided with fantastic and equal machinery. Credit goes to the staff and marshalls for keeping us safe and well fed, and even putting up with a few temper tantrums along the way.
Lee Hackett was again untouchable, and still leads the standings from Sean and Connor Marsh. Full results and news can be found at brkc.co.uk
Chase the Ace, The Finale..
On a night when champions were crowned, a new-comer stormed to pole position and the temperatures still hadnt risen much since last time out, I found myself back at Teamsport Bristol for the final round of Chase the Ace!
As usual, qualifying quite go to plan and I ended up starting 6th on the grid, lucky not to be 8th after a couple of drivers spun on their single quali laps, and after only managing 6th best time in the five minute practice beforehand, it was always going to be a case of damage limitation, with me trying to hold onto my 4th place in the campionship standings.
The biggest surprise of the session came with newcomer Mike Vowles storming to pole position
As the lights went out, I made a fairly cautious start to the race, not gaining positions as the track bottlenecks under the flyover, but not losing any either, and as things settled down into a rhythm I was able to hang on with the 3rd, 4th and 5th placed drivers. I was behind Darren Peirce who was already getting frustrated chasing the guy in front, so he dived into the pits early on, promoting me up a position.
Its a tactic thats worked well a few times for Darren, giving himself clear track and leapfrogging ahead as other makes their stops later in the race. Ive also benefited from this a few times but you really have to go with a decision to pit early, otherwise you can really lose alot of time in traffic, plus you need to have the pace to make the most of the clear track-something Darren unfortunately has in spades!
Id decided to stop abit further into the race, around lap 25, following abit of a fight with Lee Morris where again I was able to stay close to his rear bumper for a number of laps. Unfortunately after my stop i tumbled back down the order, emerging in 7th place, managing to fight my way back up to 5th before dropping two positions again late on, as an accident and drop in concentration led to two oppurtunistic moves by Oliver Bayani and Ieuan Laraman.
By the time the chequered flag fell on lap 74, 2 laps down on the leader, I was kicking myself for not making the most of the oppurtunites Id had, and also not having the pace to run consistantly with the likes of Lee and Darren. The only positive I could really draw was that I had eventually finished ahead of poleman Mike. My fastest time of the night had been a 36.423, over 1.2's off of race winner and Champion Daniel Morris best time, and with an average lap over a second slower-which left me with some soul searching to do once I got home that evening.
After the engines had long since been switched off on this cold finale in February, the scores were added up and the fantastic Dan Morris was again crowned champion, ahead of hotshot Oliver Bayani, just pipping Lee Morris on account of podium finsihes. I slipped to 5th overall behind Connor Taylor, and just ahead of Darren Pierce who hadnt competed at every round.
Overall 14 drivers had battled it out over six races, and my congratulations goes to Dan and all the other drivers for making each race thouroughly enjoyable. You are all pirates the lot of you!
Next up for me was my first outdoor race of the year, the BRKC round at Hereford, and it couldnt come soon enough..
As usual, qualifying quite go to plan and I ended up starting 6th on the grid, lucky not to be 8th after a couple of drivers spun on their single quali laps, and after only managing 6th best time in the five minute practice beforehand, it was always going to be a case of damage limitation, with me trying to hold onto my 4th place in the campionship standings.
The biggest surprise of the session came with newcomer Mike Vowles storming to pole position
As the lights went out, I made a fairly cautious start to the race, not gaining positions as the track bottlenecks under the flyover, but not losing any either, and as things settled down into a rhythm I was able to hang on with the 3rd, 4th and 5th placed drivers. I was behind Darren Peirce who was already getting frustrated chasing the guy in front, so he dived into the pits early on, promoting me up a position.
Its a tactic thats worked well a few times for Darren, giving himself clear track and leapfrogging ahead as other makes their stops later in the race. Ive also benefited from this a few times but you really have to go with a decision to pit early, otherwise you can really lose alot of time in traffic, plus you need to have the pace to make the most of the clear track-something Darren unfortunately has in spades!
Id decided to stop abit further into the race, around lap 25, following abit of a fight with Lee Morris where again I was able to stay close to his rear bumper for a number of laps. Unfortunately after my stop i tumbled back down the order, emerging in 7th place, managing to fight my way back up to 5th before dropping two positions again late on, as an accident and drop in concentration led to two oppurtunistic moves by Oliver Bayani and Ieuan Laraman.
By the time the chequered flag fell on lap 74, 2 laps down on the leader, I was kicking myself for not making the most of the oppurtunites Id had, and also not having the pace to run consistantly with the likes of Lee and Darren. The only positive I could really draw was that I had eventually finished ahead of poleman Mike. My fastest time of the night had been a 36.423, over 1.2's off of race winner and Champion Daniel Morris best time, and with an average lap over a second slower-which left me with some soul searching to do once I got home that evening.
After the engines had long since been switched off on this cold finale in February, the scores were added up and the fantastic Dan Morris was again crowned champion, ahead of hotshot Oliver Bayani, just pipping Lee Morris on account of podium finsihes. I slipped to 5th overall behind Connor Taylor, and just ahead of Darren Pierce who hadnt competed at every round.
Overall 14 drivers had battled it out over six races, and my congratulations goes to Dan and all the other drivers for making each race thouroughly enjoyable. You are all pirates the lot of you!
Next up for me was my first outdoor race of the year, the BRKC round at Hereford, and it couldnt come soon enough..
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)