The last few weeks have been really busy, like most people who want to go racing, I have to work full time and having a new job, new house and a new baby hasn't left much time to update the site! Through all of this though I have managed to keep going in the SG Petch Sprint Championship at Teeside Karting.
After a tough round two, which left me feeling a little disheartened, a break before round 3 was a welcome relief; giving me time to re-group and gather my thoughts after some pretty rough driving in round 2 race 2. Racing seems to be a funny old game, to me it feels like there are two types of racer:
- people who will be happy to stay at the local level, owning everyone on their favourite circuit
- drivers who want to go for the next level
Personally I don't see the fun in beating the same people on the same circuit, which the Championship addresses by varying the circuit layout, but I also want to move onto bigger things by gaining enough sponsorship for an entry to the BRSCC Ford Fiesta Championship.
SG Petch Round 3
Round 3 was an all round better day, granted it was another early start and driving up from South Yorkshire is a long drive, but Spotify gets you through it. Actually, that's a point worth noting, it's amazing what an impact different types of music can have on your mood, ahead of this round I was fully expecting to feel tense and nervous after round 2; but after driving up to Jimmy Eat World I had a clear head.
The weather had stayed clear for us again and a dry, warming track was our reward, heading out after the heavyweight class also meant that the karts had been fully warmed through. I have to admit I struggled in qualifying, with a kart which felt like it could do with some new tyres on the rear, however I was pushing harder after reading my Want 2 Race feed back for the first time since the competition last year. My areas for improvement were around car control and being more confident on the brakes, two things which I was conciously trying to work on; the latter of which I would learn more about in race 2.
Race 1 was a bit of a let down, after qualifying in 15th, I had a scrappy race 1 to finish in 14th, meaning second on the grid for the start of the reverse race. This would prove to be very useful indeed, okay so the start was difficult and after I was convinced I had seen a red flag a few drivers fumbled past, but from there I settled into the race, re-taking some of those places.
I also learned some valuable driving techniques, as I stuck with the lead pack, I was able to follow closely and understand where the faster drivers were making time and beating me, leading to some much later braking into some of the hairpins and better racing lines elsewhere on the circuit.
Looking at the data, I managed to bag the third fastest lap time in race 2 and will be looking to build on that in the next round I can attend (round 5).
Racing Updates
Remember that you can keep up with all my latest racing news on this website, or follow me on facebook for more photos and videos. I will also be live streaming the next round on Meerkat, which is available on my live streams page.
