Six tenths of a second. That was the gap between the third & fourth placed drivers after only two hours & two hundred plus laps of racing at Teamsport Bristol's annual Ironman event. Six tenths...
It had been a late decision to enter this years event, and so with minimum preparation & concerns over just how hot it was, I was more nervous than usual in the build up to the race. None the less, having taken part last year I had a pretty good idea about what to expect, & with some consideration going towards the right amount of hydration vs the need to use the bathroom mid-race, I was about as ready as I could be at such short notice.
The race would follow the same format as previous years- Five minutes of practice/qualifying to determine grid positions, then a two hour non-stop race with no mandatory pit stops. Of course, it was down to each driver to decide if they wanted to have a break or not, but for those at the sharp end it would likely be flat out from start to finish. Luckily, by the time the race start time drew closer, it had cooled off a little, & it looked like the track would be fairly slippy to begin with- although we knew as the fuel levels went down & the karts warmed up the lap-times would get quicker.
Eight drivers in total would make up the grid for this intense race, with a good mix of new members and experienced karters taking part. Matt Horgan (of TeamDKR) was favourite to win, although Luke Atherton, Drue Thompson, Aaron Smith & Michael Mandevil would all be looking to give him a hard time.
The practice/qualifying session went by in a flash, and although my kart felt okay I did consider changing it- until I saw that I had qualified in fourth, beating Luke by a couple of tenths. The only downside to this meant I would be starting on the 'outside' of the grid.
As the drivers made their preparations for the race ahead, I made sure to take on a bit of fluid as well as soaking my balaclava in cold water- the last thing I wanted would have been to feel dehydrated early in the race, & anything I could have done to stay cool would have only been to my advantage. I was more than a little envious however of one of the drivers who had rigged up a bladder-style hydration system with a drinks tube going into his helmet- what was I saying about being prepared?
As we made our way to the grid, with the karts awaiting us like chariots awaiting their riders, I turned back the cuffs of my gloves and double checked the air vents in my helmet were wide open- anything to get a little more ventilation. I made sure to wait until the very last moment to step into my kart, and slide myself into the hard racing seat that would be my home for the next couple of hours. Then, it was time...
Five red lights blazed bright as engine revs rose, & then it was go time! My getaway was good, but Luke's was better. I was immediately demoted to fifth, and held my line around the outside as the drivers filtered under the flyover, positioning myself on the inside for the next left-hand corner. Matt Horgan had made a clean break at the head of the field as everybody completed the first lap cleanly. Midway through the next lap, the yellow lights flashed briefly as one of the drivers got out of shape. I was snapping at the heels of Luke as he battled with Drue & Mike for second place. But moments later, disaster struck..
Now, the worst thing you can do is to ignore your own advice- & despite my experience from last year, my game plan going into the event & Andy Collins reminder about just how long the race was, I found myself being sucked into the battle in front, & within a lap I was sat with the nose of my kart buried in the wall under the flyover. In almost an exact repeat of the accident I had during a recent Open Members GP, I had half-committed to a move down the inside when I was caught out by the driver ahead moving suddenly to the right. My kart got out of shape, and before I knew it the whole field was streaming past me. The race wasn't even five laps old, & I was dead last. I swore at myself inside my helmet, not quite believing that I had been suckered into a mistake so early in the race. I didn't even get the benefit of an extended yellow-flag period to bunch the field, and by the time I was on my way again Id lost seventeen seconds. The top four were now over half a lap away, & my hopes of a podium were looking non-existent.
Within a lap, my head was back in the game, & I decided to turn a negative into a positive- I still had the whole race ahead, a good kart beneath me - and better to have a silly spin in the early stages rather than at the end. From this point on, I was going to go forward, not back. By lap ten, I had caught and passed seventh-placed driver Ashley Young, and set off in hot pursuit of event newcomer Jeremy Woodward, who himself was hunting down Michael Mandevil. As we approached lap thirty, I first overtook Jeremy & then Michael shortly afterwards for fifth place, before losing the position again briefly as we quickly pulled away from Woodward. Already I could see that we were taking chunks out of Luke, Drue & Aaron, & I tried signalling to Michael that we should work together to catch them rather than fight each other. Id have been happy to follow him in pursuit of the guys ahead, but somehow I ended up in front again & this time was able to pull away- whether he made a mistake or was already tiring slightly I couldn't be sure, but I was now comfortably in fifth, & maybe that podium wasn't looking so unrealistic after all. Matt Horgan, at the front of the field, was long gone.
Over the next twenty laps or so, I continued to gain on the group in front, headed by Aaron Smith. Suddenly, a gap of a few seconds vanished, as Aaron made a mistake, not losing a position but grouping up Drue, Luke & Myself behind him. Id been given a lifeline, and I told myself to remain calm and not make any rash decisions as before. As we approached lap seventy, Matt had now joined us as he came through a whole lap ahead, and I made sure to let him through without holding him up but without losing any time myself- the thinking being that he may help me forge away past the guys in front. I ran wide at half-throttle coming onto the main straight, allowing Horgan through but then staying immediately with him. If one of the other saw him coming & gave him space, then there would have been a possibility for me to slip through as well!
Matt however wasn't hanging around, and he was soon past Luke & Drue, before catching Aaron. Drue was the next to make a mistake, miscalculating in an attempt at passing Aaron & dropping behind Luke. It was then my turn- I lined Drue up as we went over the short straight with the grid markings, and stuck my kart up the inside, braking later and claiming the corner. That was what I had been attempting to do in the early stages, & it felt good to pull off the move on one of my favourite parts of the circuit. Drue must have then made another mistake, as he dropped further back toward Michael behind, & gave me abit of breathing space as I set off after Luke & Aaron.
Aaron Smith was using every trick in the book to keep Luke Atherton behind, but from where I was sitting it was clear that it was just a matter of when and not if it would happen. Around lap seventy, Luke finally forced his way past, cutting back on his racing line through the hairpins before the main straight, a move which was applauded by Aaron as he was passed- he was clearly enjoying the battle he'd been having up until that point. Luckily for me, I didn't have to wait long to get my own chance to pass, & I took it without asking twice. The running order was now as follows;
1. Matt Horgan
2.Luke Atherton
3. Ben Churchill
4. Aaron Smith
5. Drue Thompson
6. Michael Mandevil
7. Jeremy Woodward
8. Ashley Young.
After one hundred laps, I had fought back from dead last & made it up to third place overall! I wasn't done yet either- Luke hadn't managed to pull away, and within a few laps I was sat on his rear-bumper. Luke is clearly a very good driver, having competed alongside Andy Collins on a number of occasions & also raced in the Daytona 24hr Kart event in Milton Keynes. Ive raced him a few times at this circuit & on each occasion he'd always just had the upper hand. Unfortunately, tonight would be no different. Try as I might, I could not get close enough to consider a safe move. A banzai effort perhaps, but it was too risky given the positions we found ourselves in. Through the faster parts of the circuit, I seemed to have the advantage- through the fast right-hander after the main straight, going under the bridge and then coming into the downhill hairpin after the flyover- but in the traction zones, where it really mattered, he undoubtedly had the advantage. Everytime I thought I was close enough to have a go, he'd edge away a little. And so it continued, for lap after lap, until we'd left Aaron, Drue & Michael way behind.
It was during this phase of the race that I really felt 'In the Zone' - where every corner just flowed, I wasn't thinking about where I was braking or turning, things were just happening, & I remained focused on Luke just ahead of me. This is a phenomenon that doesn't seem to happen that often, but its almost like you enter a dream-like state (Michael confessed to me after the race that he had also been driving 'in a daze' & this I believe is another way of describing being in the zone- where things just happen without you having to think about it. The kart literally becomes an extension of your body, and you can almost just think your way around a lap) This continued like this for the next fifty laps or so, during which time Drue also got in front of Aaron, who fell back into the clutches of Michael. Luke & I lapped Ashley & Jeremy, never more than two seconds apart, before Luke seemed to find an extra gear, & started to edge away from me. I think Michael & Aaron had a couple of comings-together during this period, bringing out the yellow flags on one occasion, & I lost even more time to Luke then. Finally, after coming up to lap Jeremy again, Luke seemed to ease past without losing any time, where as I was baulked for half a lap. Luke was now secure in second.
With the 'Twenty minutes to go' board being shown, I found myself driving around by myself, and I was able to take stock of where everybody else was in relation to myself. Matt was likely to catch me again by the end of the race to lap me for the third time, Luke was too far ahead by this stage for me to think about mounting an attack, and Michael & Aaron seemed to be having their own personal battle at this late-stage of the race. Aaron would eventually come out on top, but after running in second for the first half of the race, I sensed afterwards that he was a little disappointed not to make the podium. My main concerns as the timer ticked down was Drue Thompson, who had cleared the other two and was, little by little, eating into my lead over him. With only twenty or so laps remaining, Matt lapped Drue & then me again, on his way to a dominant win. Both me & Luke commented after the race that it seemed like he was racing with two engines! In reality, he was obviously on a different level to the rest of us, & he'd taken advantage of starting on pole, before driving without any errors. My full congratulations go to him for an astonishing victory.
Only a few laps remained now, & Drue was right on my rear-bumper. I felt a couple of light taps from behind, but it seemed for once that I had the better traction despite my weight disadvantage, & I knew if I just drove cleanly for the last few laps he would have a job getting past. However, I started to tense up, suddenly aware of how close he was & how sorely disappointed I would have been if Id dropped to fourth after my charge from the back of the field. I started to tap the walls as we lapped together, losing a tenth here, a tenth there as Drue got ever closer. As we shot over the flyover, I could see the chequered flag being waved for Luke as he crossed the line for second, and I knew I was just a couple of corners from that final place on the podium. I completely missed my braking point for the first of the two hairpins, running wide but then covering the inside for the next right-hand corner. Drue had followed his normal line, & as we went through the final corner, he swept through on the inside as I ran wide due to the tight line I had taken. The chequered flag flew in front of us, he was accelerating hard alongside me...but I'd done it!! Third place after two hours of racing, with only six-tenths of a second seperating me from Drue. Incredible!
All the drivers returned to the pits exhausted- exhausted from the heat, from the concentration needed to race at this pace for two entire hours. Amazingly, nobody had stopped during the race to take a break, and full credit goes to all the drivers for managing to race for so long with so few mistakes- indeed, the number of 'yellow flag' incidents (including my own) could be counted on one hand. It felt really good to take that final step on the podium, after having really felt the pressure from Drue during the last twenty minutes. Looking back now, I cant help but wonder where I may have ended up had I not lost those seventeen seconds earlier in the race, but realistically it would've been very hard to beat Luke Atherton. Its like TT racer Guy Martin says; 'If Ifs & Buts were Nuts & Bolts, we'd all be scrap dealers!'
I hope youve enjoyed reading my account of the event as much as I have recounting it. This years Ironman event was a really well-run & enjoyable event for all. As always, my thanks goes to Andy Collins & the guys & girls at Teamsport Bristol, as well as all the other drivers for really pushing each other for the whole race
Please keep on eye on this site for more updates coming soon :)
Enjoy your racing!
Ben
