Friday 28 November 2014

Winter approaches..

It was a chilly November evening when thirteen karters took to the grid for Chase the Ace Round 3 at Teamsport Bristol in Avonmouth. Round 2 Winner Zac Venn would be starting at the back of the pack with Oliver Bayani on pole. He'd have Dan Healey beside him for company. I myself lined up in an improved 6th place, just behind Tommo Davis & Krystian Matuszkiewicz.

The track had been very slippery since the beginning of practice (where again I had been 6th fastest) but apart from a spin on my out-lap for qualifying, I was hopeful of a strong finish starting inside the top 10. As the lights went green, I got away cleanly without gaining or losing any positions, & tracked the guys infront before an early yellow flag saw everybody take the pits apart from Olly & Dan. As they fought, I was able to close up behind them as the race was again interrupted by yellow flags. Zac pitted from the rear of the pack & emerged a lap down amongst our top 3 battle, before I took my first stop to try & cover off Krystian. Unfortunately he was able to lap faster than me & maintained his position ahead. Another spate of yellow flags saw me get caught out for a second time as I was on part of the track furthest from the pits & therefore unable to take any advantage. I pitted for a second time in the hope of being in the thick of things near the end, but I could already see that Krystian was pulling away, & a few laps later Tommo emerged from the pits just ahead of me- and that was pretty much my race run.


I managed to stay within a second or so of Tom for the final 20 minutes of the race- but Krystian was able to pull clear to a solid 4th place finish. Dan Healey took the chequered flag after 45mins, whilst Oliver Bayani brought out the red flags around the half-way point when a wheel fell off of his kart whilst he was on the flyover!! Luckily he was ok & the wheel managed to not hit anybody or anything. Ollie managed to finish third after a late tangle with another driver, maintaining championship position ahead of Zac, who came home just behind me. Sam Slater completed the podium positions.


Chase the Ace takes a break for December, with the next round scheduled for January. Thanks again to Martin Savage, Andy Collins & the others at Teamsport for putting on another smooth members event, I'm sure to be there again by the end of the year!






The BRKC 2015 event is now only 6 weeks away, I've finally managed to get a hotel booked & all the last minute details are gradually being taken care of! It's looking like it's going to be a fantastic weekend of karting against some of the best drivers from the UK & Europe- the BRKC serves as a qualifying round for the Kart World Championship event! After the disappointment of missing out on a place in the semi's at the '14 race weekend, I'll be looking to pull my finger out this time!! I may even try & fit in a trip to the Autosport International show the weekend before- you know, for inspiration!


Whatever racing you have planned for the Christmas period, remember to keep safe & keep it fun!


Until next time,


Ben

Monday 10 November 2014

November Update

It's been a busy few months here at Bejc Motorsport, so I thought I'd post abit of an update seeing as how I've been neglecting this blog for a while. What with work taking up a lot of time & a holiday in Majorca just recently, karting has taken a bit of proverbial back seat- however, the last couple of months havnt been completely devoid of racing, & November, December & January are looking pretty promising!

Since my last post, I've raced in a couple of members events at Teamsport Bristol, taking a podium at a race night a few weeks back & also ranking in the top 10 of Bristols fastest driver seedings. Unfortunately I missed the first round of the Chase the Ace winter series as I was away, but with four other rounds (to include two drop rounds) remaining, there was plenty of time to get back into the the thick of it.It's been a busy few months here at Bejc Motorsport, so I thought I'd post an update seeing as how I've been neglecting this blog for a while. What with work taking up a lot of time & a holiday in Majorca just recently, karting has taken a bit of proverbial back seat- however, the last couple of months havnt been completely devoid of racing, & November, December & January are looking pretty promising!

Since my last post, I've raced in a couple of members events at Teamsport Bristol, taking a podium at a race night a few weeks back & also ranking in the top 10 of Bristols fastest driver seedings. Unfortunately I missed the first round of the Chase the Ace winter series as I was away, but with four other rounds (to include two drop rounds) remaining, there was plenty of time to get back into the the thick of it.

I've also been preparing for the upcoming BRKC event in January, being held for the second year at Formula Fast in Milton Keynes. Brad Philpot has been doing an amazing job hyping up this event, with over 100 drivers having registered for the series. What with deposits, travel, accommodation, booking time off work etc still to be sorted, I'm sure this annual event will come around in no time at all- to say I'm excited would be a huge understatement. To have missed out on the semi-finals this year by only one place was gutting, so this January I'll be looking to redeem myself.

Round 2 of Chase the Ace took place on 28th Oct, with Zac Venn taking victory after overcoming Dan Healey during the race's pitstops. I had a fairly positive race after only recording the 7th fastest time (out of 14 drivers) in practice but then only qualifying 11th after the one-lap session. For the race itself I had a fantastic kart & after getting a good start & taking positions around the outside on the first lap, I was able to really attack & keep pace with IronMan winner Matt Horgan for the first part of the race.

It was really fun being able to come up behind other karts & have the confidence in my own to pull off great passing moved, & I was also able to start ahead of Round 1 winner Oliver Bayani, who had started from the back of the grid as rules dictated. Through an early yellow flag period I decided not to stop & pushed on with what was a great kart beneath me. After my first stop I emerged again behind Matt, who I followed through the back markers before making my second stop fairly early on. Matt stayed out but I could tell from his track position that he was losing time to me, & when he emerged from his second stop I was marginally ahead, before pulling away slightly as we approached the final five minutes of the race.

I was up to 4th at this point, behind only Oliver (who had yet to make his final stop) Zac & Dan, but then things started to become unstuck as I came up behind Krystian Matuszkiewicz. I didn't know it at the time, but Krystain was actually a lap down- & likewise I think if he'd known we weren't racing for position he wouldn't have fought with me, but try as I might I couldn't get past him. Oliver emerged from his final pitstop moments after the 5-minute board went out, slotted in between Krystian & myself, then a lap later muscled his was past into third place. I was frustrated to say the least, although my concern now was Matt Horgan, who had crept back up behind me. With only a few laps to go, he took advantage of another failed attempt by myself to get past Krystian, bumping me aside onto the main straight before a frustrated half-spin by myself whilst trying to re-take the position was the nail in the coffin for my podium hopes. I crossed the line in 5th place, behind Zac, Dan, Olly & Matt- who did apologise after the race for the contact.

On a slightly more positive note, I did end up with the 4th fastest race lap time, which made up a little for the disappointing practice & qualifying. My congratulations go to Zac & a thankyou to all the other drivers for a fun night of racing!

The next round of Chase the Ace is on 25th November, where hopefully a top-ten qualifying position, a good kart & some wind behind me can net me a solid result for the championship.

I'll be sure to update soon with regards to the BRKC, and full results from that next race at Teamsport Bristol.

Until then, safe karting!

Ben