Following the delay of a Rotax kart test, I have decided to enter the first round of the 2017 SG Petch Sprint Championship at Teesside Autodrome. With a new fleet of karts for the 2017 season, parity should be better than last year meaning that driver skill and fitness play more of a role.
New Karting Classes
New to the Sprint Championship for 2017 is the introduction of the "Clubman" class, this is designed to allow the previous years new entrants to have another step up, prior to entering the main Championship. From what is known to date, drivers in the Clubman ans Rookie classes are still eligible for the main Championship in either the lightweight or heavyweight categories.
New Race Times
For the 2017 season, the running order has been reversed, with the lightweights running first and the heavyweight class running second. This means the LW class will be on track at 8:30am on a race day.
Weekend Preview
The main contenders for last years crown all appear to have been busy over the winter period, with Liam Silkstone and Adam Delmont battling it out at Teamsport in Leeds. Owen Burton has also been busy with entries in the NKL among other things and in between getting married and going on Honeymoon, I have been in training to improve my fitness.
With the latest news being that round 1 is due to run on the International circuit, all attention will be on the weather as this is the only thing which could mean we run a shorter circuit.
Weather Update
Keeping an eye on the forecast is going to be key, currently the BBC Weather website is saying light rain for the morning at 8am before stopping at 9am. The changeable conditions could really throw the cat among the pigeons and will see drivers scrabble for grip, with times getting faster as the race progresses.
As ever, you can follow my progress over the weekend on my Facebook page and here on daveoldacre.co.uk.
