- 01 Jul 09, 16:21#130224Back from last weekend's Formula Kart Stars round in Rowrah.
We arrived knowing we had the pace, and we were confident of making it into the A final for the 1st time this season after some rotten luck! All weekend it was incredibly hot, and the track was amazingly grippy.
Friday testing went well, I was fastest in my team all day, and at the end of the day I was abouy 0.2 off the quickest, and my theoretical from all sectors were amongst the fastest.
Saturday testing was much of the same, and as we geared up for quali in the afternoon.. we realised we'd been on the wrong front sprocket.. meaning I was an average of 6 teeth lower than anyone else, which meant I was extremely fast in a straightline, but slow acceleration.. so we were stuck.. we didn't know whether to move to what everyone was on.. or to stick with a setup we knew was pretty competitive.
We stuck with the setup, against the team manager's wishes.. and went for it. I was in Quali A, and I needed a top 10 to gain a place in the coveted A final. In the early laps of the 15 minute quali session I was on it. I was posting fastest lap times, and at one point of the session, for a few minutes, I was the new lap record holder! Unfortunately, my tyres gripped up very early on, after 4 laps infact, and I couldn't go any faster.. I ended up 6th in the session, and 0.15 covered 2nd to 7th, it was incredible. The second quali session was a little faster, and I ended 12th on the grid of the 24 strong field.. and the only member of my team to make it into the A final.
For the Prefinal, from 12th, I was taken out into turn 1, and was well back. We kept the gearing the same, which was poor in race conditions, as I was passed on the exit of the braking zones a lot, and I ended in a very dissapointing 20th position, but we knew that the final was a long race, and turn 1 always has contact at Rowrah!
Then, as we were putting on the Slicks in Parc Ferme, the rain came, and it came in style. It was torrential, and the track was almost flooded as we went out. Starting 20th, by the end of lap one, I was in 10th.. and I was on a mission. Unfortunately, I made a stupid error on lap 2, and I moved over to the braking zone (where all the grip was) and just slid off, it was so frustrating, I knew I was in with a shot of a good finish. I got back on and continued in about 20th, but then water got into the airbox and the engine kept stuttering coming out of corners, and I eventually had to pull in and call it a day..
It was dissapointing after the pace we showed on Friday and Saturday, but at least we made it into the A final at last, and now I've got a 3 week break until I'm next out. In this period I'll be in Majorca relaxing, making use of the fitness suite and trying to get into shape for the next round hopefully!