After over a month out of the seat I found myself pulling on my helmet & gloves once more, as Round 4 of Teamsport Bristol's Chase the Ace Winter Series reached its penultimate stage.
Eleven drivers turned up on the night, with a couple of noticeable absences but also some new faces.
As things stood in the championship, young gun Oliver Bayani only needed one more win to be able to take the title, with Dan Healey looking secure in 2nd overall. After two fourth places finishes and a podium last time out, I sat third in the table, just ahead of underdog Lee Cooper. Making his Chase the Ace debut was former Teamsport employee & DKR driver Tommo Davis, who was sure to be right at the sharp end.
After the usual briefing and kart selection, the drivers made their way to their respective karts to begin the five minute practice session. This is also a good opportunity to get a feel for your race kart, but with such a short amount of time on track, you have to decide fairly quickly if you wish to change karts. As Race Director Andy Collins usually says, the 'spare' karts are spare for a reason. Last time out I switched karts and it proved to be the right choice, this time however, I felt confident that the kart I had chosen could get the job done. This was further vindicated when the session finished and I found myself to have set the second fastest time behind Tommo.
At this point, realistically I was hoping for at least a top four finish given how quick Oliver & Dan had been in the previous races, and given Tommo's intimate knowledge of the track & karts. I was at least certain Id be able to stay ahead of Lee Cooper.
Qualifying followed, with each driver getting just a single lap using the same kart to set a time. I was third to run, and although my run felt okay, I found myself 5th on the grid once the other drivers had completed their runs. The major surprises from the session were that series newcomer Scott Davies found himself 2nd on the grid, ahead of Tommo Davis, and I found myself one position ahead of Dan Healey. The only thing that wasn't a surprise was that Oliver Bayani grabbed Pole position for the fourth race in succession.
Despite still not getting the most out the one-shot qualifying session, I was still confident of moving forward during the 45-minute race. Scott Davies ahead was a bit of an unknown quantity, and the downside of having an odd-numbered grid position is that even though you start on the inside of the track, you very quickly find yourself on the outside of three consecutive left-hand corners. As we made our way to the grid, I ran through several first-lap scenarios in my head, and one by one, between back-slaps and thumbs up, we settled into our machines, making sure to get as comfortable as possible for the race ahead.
The Formula One style lights came on, each red light burning bright before all five lights held for what felt like an eternity. Lee Cooper almost jumped the start as the first light came on, and as they flicked to green the eleven karts surged forward, into the right hand kink under the flyover before the bottleneck. Although my getaway wasn't too bad, I found myself hung out to dry around the outside of the left hand corners, slightly put offline by Scott, who had a cautious start. Dan Healey capitalised and was past me by the time we crossed the line at the end of the first lap, but after making my way past Scott, I found myself right up under his rear bumper as we hunted down Lee Cooper in third, with Tommo and Oliver already edging out a lead at the front.
After a few laps, things seemed to be settling down, with Dan attacking Lee ahead of me, when a series of yellow flags brought out by some of the drivers further back led to a rush of pit stops. Dan was first in, and I made the decision to dive in a lap later to try & cover him, leaving Lee a bit of breathing space. As I emerged from the pits, I was surprised to find myself a couple of seconds ahead of Dan, but this was nothing compared to what happened next..
At the head of the field, Tommo followed Oliver into the pits, promoting Lee Cooper into the lead, but crucially they came out behind the drivers that had caused the yellow flags earlier. This was to prove to be a the crucial moment in the race. I found myself unexpectedly in close proximity to Oliver & Tommo, and couldn't believe my eyes as I saw Lee emerging from the pits a good few seconds down the road. As I settled into a rhythm following the pit stops, I left the door open for Dan to come past going under the flyover, but was able to stick with him as we carved through the back markers. Lee was already pulling out a lead over Tommo, who had made it past Oliver who was struggling a little.
Apart from a couple more yellow flag incidents, the race settled into a rhythm from here, with me & Dan chasing down Oliver for third through the back markers, before the two of them were fighting with me observing from a few kart lengths back. I was hoping to capitalise on any mistakes either made, but it soon became clear that they were pushing each other as they edged further away from me. Then, as I was heading onto the uphill section of the flyover, the yellow lights flashed on again. As I came off the throttle and rounded the corner at the top of the circuit, I came across a chaotic scene with karts seemingly scattered across the track. Somehow Dan ahead of me had managed to avoid the carnage, and as I cruised past, I saw that it was Teamsport regular Mike 'Dutch' Westhoff sat facing sideways, along with none other than championship leader Oliver Bayani!
After a hectic few laps following Dan through the back markers, before I knew it the five minute remaining board went out, and the last few laps went by without further incident. As we pulled into the pits, I was left to wonder where I could have ended up had I not followed Dan into the pits but stayed out as Lee did. He had somehow managed to leap ahead ahead of Tommo & Oliver and maintain a lead. Its clear hes on top of his game right now & took advantage of having a really decent kart. Mike Westhoff was left frustrated with his spin near the end, but not as much as Oliver Bayani I imagine!
As things stand in the Championship now, Oliver still has a comfortable lead, Dan looks secure in second but Lee has now edged ahead of me with his win. Its all to play for then at the final round in February. With Teamsport Bristol due for a New Year re-furb and a fantastic new fleet of karts, I'm literally counting down the days until I can get back on track there!
In the meantime, I'm off to the Autosport International show in Birmingham tomorrow, followed by the 2014 BRKC event next weekend.
2014 has well & truly started!!
