The weather man said it would rain and it did, in part anyway. I set off from a cold and rainly Wakefield to the circuit where it was surprisingly dry, with most other drivers turning up saying the same thing, that it had got dryer along their journey too. I was thankful for this as I hadn't raced in the rain before and with round 4 missed and another one I wanted to drop, I couldn't afford a bad weekend.
Heavyweight Class
The heavies were just heading out on track as I arrived, there were some damp patches, but this didn't stop Liam Silkstone from sticking it on pole for the Leeds contingent. As the race ran there were a number of kart failures, but these things happen, it's motorsport, but by the end of race 1, Liam had retained his lead and been joined on the top step by Liam Moulden, another Leeds regular.
The reverse grid didn't help either driver though, with neither making the podium in the second race.
Lightweight Class
While the heavies got away without rain, as the karts were being refuelled we started to feel a few drops of rain. Initially we thought that was it, the clouds had passed us by and we would have a dry track, then the heavens opened to give the track a good soaking. It was by no means a river, but it certainly mixed things up as we went into race 1.
I probably should have taken the opportunity to try something new, something different in the changable conditions, but in the end I took a mid-field spot on the grid for race 1, P14. From there I had a steady race, gaining 2 places but then struggling to progress as I made ground through the corners but lost it down the back straight to the kart in front.
It was frustrating, but it also secured me a P4 slot on the reverse grid, I know I had to make something of it if I wanted a half decent weekend. Race 2 was good from the start, with those in front not getting the best start I was into P3 by the first real corner and hassling for P2 not long after. I had noticed by this time the the kart was twitchy on the brakes, snapping into oversteer, but this didn't stop me throwing down the inside at turn 5 to take second.
Shortly after, guest driver Bradley Philpot came out of nowhere to take P2 from me, but experience taught me to stick with him. A couple of laps later I was on the back of P2 again and in a 3 corner move, I managed to take the place out of Southbank and into the hairpin. Now the nerves kicked in, now in P2 I knew I could easily drop the place by running wide or out braking myself, I was constantly losing concentration by telling myself to concentrate.
Normally we'd have a clock counting down to the end of the race, today, it wasn't running, I had no idea how long we had left until the marshall held out the "last lap" board and around 52 seconds and one nervouse lap later, I had scored my best result in a race, P2! P2, I was in shock and even more so as the guest drivers results don't count, meaning that I go down as the winner!!!
Just what I needed to get my season back on track and proof that I can deliver results, I now need to build on it and deliver this kind of result in both races.
Image courtesy of Chris Perks Images
