F1 Mini-Series Round 1

Twelve drivers & four 'teams' made up the grid for the first in a series of F1-inspired races taking place at TeamSport Bristol over the summer. As mentioned in a previous post, I would be teaming up with the young Polish driver Krystian Matuszkiewicz under the banner of KB Racing- with the aim of winning the 'teams' championship & hopefully one of us finishing in the top 3 overall. Several other TeamSport regulars made up the other drivers & teams, including Jeremy Woodward, Andy George, Ben Winter & Brad Collins, & Zac Venn with Dan Healey.

The event format was a fairly straight-forward affair; a 20-minute 'knockout' qualifying session where only the fastest drivers remain at the end (very F1!) followed by a 30-minute sprint race with 1 mandatory stop & go pitstop. All drivers would be out on track competing together, & each would score individual points as well as 'team' points if paired with another driver.

As usual with these type of events, I knew qualifying would be key to getting a good result. With the race being only a half-hour long, there wouldn't be much time to fight through from the back, so I fully intended to do my best in order to help out my team-mate near the front of the field. I felt more confident at least with the qualifying format- I've never been great at single lap qualifying & this at least gave the drivers a chance to find a good rhythm in the karts that they would also be using in the race.

Each driver had his or her kart pre-allocated before the event. I found myself in kart #2, whilst Krystian was in #1. The rules stated that during the mandatory pit stop, you had to change karts, so depending on when you come in, you may get a 'cold' kart or, leave it late enough, one that someone else had just been using.

As it turned out, qualifying didn't go so well for me, with my best time only being good enough for 7th place, behind TeamSport returnee Dan Healey & just ahead of Jeremy. I took some consolation from starting on the outside of the grid as that tends to favour drivers starting further back. Krystian however had qualified an excellent 2nd, whilst Zac grabbed pole by over 1/2 sec in true Lewis Hamilton-style! Game on.

At the start, most of the field got away cleanly, apart from one driver who was tapped into a spin in the first few corners which brought out the yellow flag, allowing the field to bunch up for a rolling restart. I found myself behind staff driver Rebecca Steadman, with Dan in front of her & already looking to make his way to the front. After several laps testing Rebecca's defences, it was evident I wasn't going to get past even though I was marginally quicker (she was able to get off of the slow corners quicker than I was) I decided to pit & try to 'undercut' her- the idea being that whilst the drivers ahead are battling & therefore losing time, I'd be I'm clear air (hopefully) putting in good lap time which would allow me to leap-frog the drivers ahead when they made their stops. That's the theory anyway! Meanwhile, Krystian was giving Zac a run for his money at the front, whilst Ben Winter was also in the fight for the podium.

After my pitstop, I found myself in kart #14 & circulating in clean air- which although is generally an advantage, it does make it harder go gauge your pace relative to others. It did however seem that, lap by lap, I was matching Krystian & Dan, more or less, which I could tell by checking their position relative to mine on the circuit. After another short yellow-flag period, drivers started to make their mandatory pit stops, & I found myself climbing up the order.

From that point on my race was fairly quiet until about 15 minutes from the end, when Dan Healey made his stop & came out a couple if seconds ahead of me. I did my best to stay with him, aware that Zac was coming up to lap me having yet to make his stop. I'd felt that my new kart had been losing power a bit over the last couple of laps, particularly on the up ramp, & as we came off the flyover my engine almost cut out, before losing loads of power as I tried to accelerate away from the corner on to the main straight. I stuck my hand in the air & went off line to indicate I had a problem, Zac came past & just as the yellow flags came out again, my kart picked up & I was away again at almost full speed. Although I didn't actually lose any positions in the end, it did stop me from having any chance of staying with Dan until the end of the race.

As we entered the final 10 minutes, the red flags were brought out by Healey's kart grinding to a halt through the esses. Unfortunately for his team-mate Zac, who had chosen that lap to pit & change karts as everyone was sat still! He was penalised & made to re-do his stop, but he had such an advantage over Krystian it didn't impact on his race. By the time the chequered flag came out, Dan had actually managed to climb all the way up to 3rd having started 7th, & I crossed the line in 5th having gained 3 positions during the race. I had Zac all over me for the last 5 minutes but I'd tried to make things difficult for him on the hope he may make a mistake which Krystian could capitalise on- of course I claimed after that I didn't know it was Zac I was defending against!

This is the final finishing order for the race:

1. Zach Venn
2. Krystian Matuszkiewicz
3. Dan Healey
4. Daniel Good
5. Ben Churchill
6. Rebecca Steadman
7. Mark Smith
8. Jeremy Woodward
9. Ben Winter
10. Jason Petherick
11. Andy George
12. Brad Collins

This obviously leaves Zac at the top of table after Round 1, with my team mate Krystian in 2nd ahead of Dan Healey, who is yet to commit to the whole series. The 'teams' points looks like this:

1. Blue Bull
2. KB Racing
3. GW Racing
4. Jecky GP
5. Relentless Racing
6. Gotham Team Racing


The next round takes place on Wednesday 17th June, where Krystian & I will again be looking to maximise points scoring in our bid to take the Teams Championship- watch this space!

See you at the track soon

Ben

KB Racing

This summer, alongside my attempts to progress in the TeamSport KartChamps competition, I have teamed up with Krystian Matuszkiewicz for the Bristol track's 'F1 Mini Series' a 4-round Championship with a Grand Prix style qualifying & race format, with drivers scoring both individual & 'team' points. Krystian & I will be competing under the name KB Racing & will both be looking to secure a good points haul at each round, with the aim of winning the Teams Championship!

Personally, I'm really excited to be teaming up with Krystian for the first time. It's been a real pleasure seeing him develop as a driver for the last year or so & he's now easily ranked inside the top 3 or 4 karters at Teamsport Bristol. Fresh from taking part in the Polish Rental Kart Championship, the youngster has shown an incredible turn of speed as of late, & I genuinely believe that in a short while he'll be dominating the too step of the podium in the same way that Oliver Bayani & Zac Venn have recently. Krystian is such a humble guy & immensely likable, & I'm looking forward to seeing what we can achieve together on track!

The first round is scheduled for Wednesday 13th May- I'll be sure to post a full write-up once the results are in. Go KB Racing!!

Until next time,

Ben

Kart Champs

Over the next few months, I'll be attempting to qualify for TeamSport Karting's annual Kart Champs competition, a nationwide championship taking place across all of their UK tracks with a Grand Final at the Reading circuit at the end of the Summer. No doubt the competition will be hot as usual with some fantastic prizes awaiting the finalists should they make it that far!

Here is a link to the Kart Champs page on the TeamSport Website, which explains the format of the championship for anyone interested in qualifying:

http://www.team-sport.co.uk/go-kart-racing-events/kart-champs/championship-format/

Driving Tips

Just thought Id share a link to this page on the Formula Fast Karting website, which makes for an interesting read if you're new to karting or if you'd like to improve your driving!

Full credit of course goes to the team at Formula Fast in Milton Keynes, home of the British Rental Kart Championship

http://www.formulafast.co.uk/driving-tips.html

Hope everyone is having a good week!

Ben

Silverstone Single Seater Experience

As a belated 30th Birthday present to myself (sad as that sounds) I decided to head to Silverstone last week to sample the circuit's single seater experience. I got myself booked in for a late afternoon slot & dragged my better half to the Northamptonshire track for a blast around the Stowe circuit- sadly the experience doesn't take place on the main circuit, but the smaller tack does still allow you to fully push the 1.6 litre cars to their maximum, all within sight of the iconic Silverstone 'Wing' building by the International Pit straight.

Arriving in plenty of time allowed is the opportunity to have a quick look in the GPR racewear shop & check out some of cars that were testing on the main circuit, before heading to the Silverstone Experience Centre to sign in & then sit the drivers briefing. I'd be out on track with 11 other drivers, & the circuit instructor did a good job of talking is through everything from the format of the event, to the circuit, driving techniques & the cars themselves. We were shown a couple of short videos & then after a quick Q & A we headed over to the Stowe pits complex. Here we were introduced to our cars (I drew no.8, in Orange & White) & made comfortable within the tight confines of the cockpit as the track staff busied around, tightening belts & checking everyone was ready to go. I must say that with all the activity going on, along with the friends & family of the participants taking photos, it did feel a little like being on the grid at the start of a Grand Prix, able it on a much smaller scale.

Eventually the pitlane cleared, & the 12 of us were left to fire up our engines (flick the fuel pimp switch, press the starter button) & head to the end of the pitlane. The cars were fitted with a 4 speed H-pattern racing gearbox which require only a flick of the wrist to operate, combine with a traditional 3-pedal set-up as you'd find in a normal road car. Although we'd been told during the briefing to be positive with our inputs, the car in front of me insisted on bunny-hopping along the pitlane, & I must say I stalled behind him as we waited to make our way on to the track. Thankfully there was no complicated start-up routine, & with a clunk of the gear lever, I was on my way!

The first 20 minute session would see all the drivers circulating under 'Safety Car' conditions, with small groups of cars following a RenaultSport Clio, which gradually increased it's pace lap by lap, on order for us to get used to the cars & the circuit. It was clear that even at these low speeds, the single seater cars could probably leave the Clio for dead on a circuit- and I was desperate to get going without the restriction of less-confident driver ahead of me. Before long we were back in the pits, before being sent on our way again- this time without the Safety Car & the opportunity to push as hard as we felt comfortable. Now, during the briefing, it was explicitly stated that we were to not exceed 5000 rpm in 4th gear, to only overtake on the left (on the straights, not in corners, only after the lead driver was shown a blue flag) & to generally give the other drivers plenty of space. But more on this in a moment..

I havnt driven anything like the Silverstone single seater for a few years, but I felt I was quickly up to speed- & before long I found myself out in front & starting to find the limits of traction through some of the tighter corners. Because of the revs limit, I was able to get up to between 85-90 mph on the main straight, but in too gear I was already going into the 'red zone' on the rev counter, with the green 'change-up' light glowing on the dashboard behind the minuscule steering wheel. A couple of laps later though, I was passed like a sitting duck on the straight as one of the other drivers came flying past me, either oblivious or ignorant to the rules set out by the  instructor. Expecting the driver to perhaps be pulled in, I continued at my own pace, matching the car ahead in the corners but dropping back on the straights as he put several car lengths on me. A few laps later, another car was weaving around behind me, again through the chicane & the slower hairpins- almost intent on having an accident before trying to pass me through the corner leading on to the main straight. As frustrating as I found this, I refused to let the red-most descend & with a wave on my hand I let him pass. I then recalled two of the drivers being a bit 'chummy' & competitive during the briefing, so I guess I wasn't surprised to find a couple of drivers out on track acting in that manner. I guess it's the same as at the kart track, when you sit through a safety briefing covering lights & flags etc before you get that one driver who ignores everything & just does things his own way. Never mind, I'll know for next time..

Before long, our session in the cars was up & we were recalled to the pitlane. It was huge grins all around as the helmets came off & stories were shared with friends & family. My long-suffering girlfriend Fiona joined me having been on photography duty on top of the pit building. After a quick de-brief, we were on our way home, arms still pumped from the experience & brains still at racing speed- I only hope some of the others were better at following the rules of the road than they were the rules of the track ;-)


Overall, I had a great time at the Silverstone single-seater experience. Is it good value for money? Well, I think thats subjective. For me, you get what you pay for, & at Silverstone the whole event ran smoothly & was very well put together. For other people, well- if you dont try it you wont know if you like it! Would I do it again? In an instant!

For more information on the driving experiences available at Silverstone, please visit their website

http://www.silverstone.co.uk/experiences/


See you at the track soon!

Ben