Saturday 21 December 2013

Seasons Greetings!

Well, it's that time of year again, and I just want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!

As excited as I am about the festive period, I'm looking forward to January just as much. First up, I'll be lining up on the grid for the next round of Chase the Ace, at Teamsport Bristol, where I'll be looking to continue my momentum from the last couple of races I have done there. My sights are firmly set on another podium finish. I'll be sure to update here with full results.

Next up will be my annual pilgrimage to the Autosport International show at the NEC in Birmingham. I always enjoy wandering around the huge variety of racing cars on offer, and nothing gets me in the mood for the new season quite as much as visiting this awesome show!  

Finally, it's the one we've all been waiting for- BRKC 2014, at Formula Fast Indoor Karting! To say I'm looking forward to this event would be a massive understatement. My preparations for the race are in full swing, the hotel is booked, the diet unfortunately isn't going so well... Ha!

Hopefully I'll be able to post here on each day of the event, and again, I'll be sure to write a full post when the weekend is over!

So with that, I'll leave you all to it-have a great Christmas, and I look forward to catching up with you guys (and racing some of you!) in the New Year! 

Take it easy
Ben

Wednesday 11 December 2013

British Rental Kart Championship

The British Rental Kart Championship will take on a completely different format than previous years in 2014, going from a multi-round championship around the country, to a single karting festival taking place over three days at the recently re-opened Formula Fast Indoor Karting in Milton Keynes. 

Now some purists may argue that this change is for the worse, but I for one am properly excited for the event, and I'm sure that Bradley Philpot and the guys at Formula Fast will put on a great event. For those drivers on a budget, and with seemingly more and more rental kart series starting up, the BRKC event promises to bring together some of Europe's top karters on an even footing over one weekend in January.

Entry is only £130, with a top prize of £1000 and free entry to the Karting World Championship event for the winners. Although I am under no illusions about how well I will do, to just be able to race against some of these guys at such a fantastic venue will be well worth the experience. Formula Fast is renowned for having great kart parity, with Brad Philpot himself often performing equalisation tests, and with all drivers weighted to minimum of 90kgs, we could yet see some surprise results. Whatever happens, there is sure to plenty of stories and experiences to share once the dust has settled at the end of the weekend. 

The BRKC 2014 event will take place on 17th-19th January, if you would like further information please visit the following websites;

http://www.brkc.net/
http://www.formulafast.co.uk/

I'll be sure to update on my preparations for the event between now & then, in the meantime have a great Christmas and I'll catch you in the New Year :)

Ben

Another Season Draws to a Close..

I thought an update here was long overdue, and seeing as how we're only just over one month away from the BRKC 2014 event, now is a good time to get some new posts done as one season comes to a close, and 2014 beckons

First up then, an update on the racing. I managed to finish my season on a relative high, after taking a commanding win at the Teamsport Bristol Grid Members Open GP, which followed on from a podium place at the last Chase the Ace event. The CTA winter series is currently in full swing, with three out of five rounds already complete.

Young charger Oliver Bayani currently heads the championship, ahead of recently-crowned Castle Combe kart champ Dan Healey in second. With two fourth place finishes and a third at the last round, I find myself third in the championship, within touching distance of the top two. With only three out of five rounds counting toward the overall points, I'll be looking to secure third at the next round in January. Both Oliver & Dan are proving very rapid at the Avonmouth track, but I'm sure that if I can improve my qualifying performance and with abit of luck, I can mix it with them. Oliver especially never seems to draw a bad kart, so his luck must be due to run out at some point. Surely?
Chase the Ace returns for Round Four on 9th January, I'll be sure to post the results afterwards.

As I mentioned above, at my last event of the year I finally tasted victory again in an Members-only GP at Teamsport Bristol. What was most satisfying was that I was able to score maximum points in each session (Points were awarded for Pole & Fastest lap as well as finishing positions) and I particularly enjoyed the second reverse-grid race where, starting 7th and last, I was up to 4th by the end of lap one and ending up winning by about ten seconds. To cross the line first and then take to the top step of the podium felt good, as it was to carry through the momentum from the last Chase the Ace event. I even set a laptime that was only 0.025 seconds slower that Bayani had managed through the month of November. All of which has given me a bit of a lift going into the Christmas break, and a bit of added confidence for when the series starts up again. 

January is shaping up to be an awesome month, with the next round of Chase the Ace, followed by the Autosport International show and then the BRKC the following weekend. To say I'm excited doesnt even cover it!

Until next time..

Ben