Another two rounds, another two podium places for myself during the month of March at Teamsport Bristol. Unfortunately I was unable to climb any higher than the third step, but it was another two small trophies for the cabinet!
TopGun unfortunately didn't run as smoothly for me as Round One, where I was able to lead the race from start to finish after starting from pole. For this round, I started a little further back, and was fighting the kart the whole time. After only ending up 4th of 8 in the warm-up, I had realistic expectations for the race but with Round One runner up Bayani starting on the front row, I knew if have my work cut out for me giving him any hassle.
A Teamsport staffer of 'advanced' ability was joining us at the back of the grid, with the aim being to finish ahead of him. Unfortunately I fluffed the rolling start, got hung out to dry around the outside and then got involved in a messy collision which put me toward the back and already behind the staff member. From there on it was abit of a non-event as the positions stabilised for the last two thirds of the race, with me keeping equal distance to the guy in front as well as the one behind me. I was relieved to cross the line eventually in 4th place but was promoted to 3rd as that spot was taken by a 'ringer' who wasn't competing in the series proper. The next round will feature an 'expert' member of staff, and it will be very interesting to see if Oliver, myself & any others can keep him behind us. With a bit of luck, I'm hoping to again be in the fight for a podium position- fingers crossed!
The second race I took part in at Teamsport in March was a Grid Members Open GP event, consisting of a practice, 4 Heats, & Semi-final & final. 8 drivers took up the challenge, with a young guy named Krystian Matuszkiewicz looking the favourite to take the win after the early practice laps.
Heat 1 saw me starting dead last, but I made a great start & was up to Third after a few laps, where I stayed until the chequered flag fell. Race 2 saw me starting from pole where made the most of my starting position & stormed off to a commanding win.
For Heat 3 I was starting 2nd, and after getting an okay start I pulled off a beautiful overtake going under the flyover- before taking my second win of the night. Things were looking good for the semi final, all I needed was a top 3 finish in my final heat to guarantee myself pole.
The 4th & final heat saw me start 5th where my luck finally ran out & I was involved in an accident at the first comer. I was dead last! After some opportunistic overtaking I clawed my way back up to 4th, but I ran out of laps as Krystian took a commanding win- the a Finals were going to be close!
When the grid for the Semi-final was announced, I was a little disappointed to see that Krystian had just edged me on points to start from pole, & to be honest I'd rather have started 3rd where you are on the 'inside' line as opposed to my grid slot on the outside. The other frustrating thing for me was that Krystian had clearly had a decent kart for the last heat giving to his winning margin, and for the semi-final he was given the same kart again as it was at the front of the que. It sounds abit like sour grapes, but I felt it did take away from that lottery element that rental karting brings that he was able to race in the same kart he'd just used. But as they say, you make your own luck in racing!
As expected, young Kristian disappeared from pole, whilst I had my worst getaway as I was distracted by the guy in third spot almost jumping the start, and found myself again down in about 5th position. I managed to get myself back up to third by the end of the race, a long way behind the front two, meaning I'd at least be starting from my preferred grid position behind pole. I knew that if I could keep out of trouble on the first lap of the final, I'd have a shot at the win.
As we sat on the grid for the nights final race, we all stared at the overhead gantry, waiting for one light, two lights, three lights, four lights, five lights - Green! And it's Go, go, go! Kristian, myself and the racer to my right in second all pulled away together, right under the bridge, then into the double left hander leading to the up-ramp. We'd missed the carnage going on behind, and after only one whole lap the three of us were already well over three seconds clear!
For nearly ten minutes, we all circulated together, with never more than a second separating us. The problem was that we were so evenly matched over each lap there were hardly any opportunities to overtake. I found myself going quicker into the long fast right hander at the bottom of the circuit, and into the hairpin left coming off the flyover, but in the traction zones I was losing out to the lighter weight drivers ahead. Krystian was keeping a cool head at the front, & it became apparent that only a mistake as we approached the back markers would change the final standings.
As it turned out, once again Lady Luck wasn't on my side, as first Krystian then the guy in second breezed past the first backmarker within moments of catching him, where as I ended up catching him in the worst place possible, where I was completely baulked as he paid more attention to where I was than where he was going. I waited for the inevitable mistake, and within a few corners he'd completely missed his braking point coming off the flyover, and I nipped by without leaving the racing line to begin my pursuit of the top two- would there be enough time to catch them?
With only a handful of laps to go, I ate into the five or so seconds they'd gained on me, but just as I got back to within a second I saw the checkered flag being readied, & knew that it wasn't to be my night. Krystian crossed the line for the deserved win, as I took the final step of the podium.
All in all I had a good nights racing and generally I was pleased with my results, even if fate had decided to play me a few cruel hands. I congratulated Krystian, and vowed that next time out, for the third and final round of TopGun, I'd be fighting at the front once again
Round 3 of TopGun takes place on Tuesday 29th April
Happy karting!
Ben
