An Early Start
Sunday saw an early start in order to make it up to Teeside Autodrome for the SG Petch shakedown event. 35 drivers, 10 minutes quali and two races of 20 minutes would be the format, until we found out that there would be a reverse grid for the second race.
The idea was the top 15 pulled up on the grid for the start of the second race, then got out and changed karts, so 15th in the first race started on pole for the second.
The Qualifying Challenge
With everyone up for trying out the reverse grid format and a number of new faces milling around on the drivers front (me included) we headed out to our karts. The arrive and drive format of the Championship means no-ne has a set kart and while there are innevitably some who want a certain kart, the reverse grid puts pay to any kart advantages.
Leaving the pits was interesting, straight onto the track which is great, but then all the other drivers appeared to be streaming past me, no matter how hard I pushed, 2 laps in I was yellow flagged, pulled up and discovered that one of the two engines on the kart had stalled. But once that was sorted I seemed to hold my own to an extent, rescuing a P24 in qualifying.
After quali, there was a short delay in lining everyone up on the grid (if you've done a GP style event at a kart track you'll know what I mean) but that's hardly surprising when there are 35 karts to sort out.
Time For Racing
Finally it was time to get down to the business end of things and with a drop of the Union Jack race 1 was off. I had an okay start, but 35 rusty drivers into a tight, fast turn 1 would always lead to some contact and with a few drivers in front being nudged wide I gained a few places before the chicanes.
From there it was close racing all the way, with battles throughout the race. It was a great chance to test out some overtaking spots ahead of the championship which starts on March 13th 2016.
As a new driver to the series, the shakedown was a great opportunity to see how things work and get a feel for the experience of the other drivers. No-one was carrying ballast which will amke for an interesting spin on things at the first race too!
At the end of race 1 it was time to try out the new reverse grid, it was great to see lapped drivers pulling out of the way and the top 15 (me included) getting on the grid quite quickly. There was some confusion over who finished where, but with a print out on hand, we were all given our new karts reasonably quickly.
Hopefully the format is here to stay, starting second in race 2 was a great opportunity to learn from some more experienced drivers, as you'll see in this video!
All in, a great morning at Teeside and I can't wait for the first round, watch for more and if I can, I'll even live stream it!
