GPG has a bunch of motorsport enthusiasts and a bunch of us every now and then race something somewhere so this is the place to share your stories! I shall start:
This Thursday night I went kart racing and I last raced in April in that place - but in a different track - and then in May in Rio so I was excited for tonight, as I hadn't done anything for way too long. Before the race I told the main guy that I felt I was going to be like Lewis tonight but didn't know if for good or bad. The place runs a system of 3 20-lap races where you start in back/middle/front packs and final results only matter to qualify you for the main and final race. There are no blue flags, only yellow flags and very rarely a penalty given (drive through). Onto the races now:
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Race 1: kart felt alright, nothing special but nothing bad either.
I started in 7th out of 10 and right off the bat started overtaking. On lap 3 I was 6th and on lap 5 I was in 3rd place and closing in the top 2 and just as I go make my move for P2 on lap 12 I get spun out by a backmarker on a tricky left hander and drop to 6th almost 7th on lap 13. 5th place is very distant but I start making my way through the backmarkers and then on lap 19 I make the move for 5th and almost get to 4th but the finish line came too soon. I was unhappy with the spin but almost pleased with the recovery.
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Race 2: Kart felt ok but a little rough on the steering
I started on P1 and kept it that way throughout the race. 2nd place was right up there with me the whole race but P3 came in 16.2 seconds behind, almost a lap down.
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Race 3: The steering felt awesome and the kart felt a bit loose, I was very excited
I started in 8th (out of 8 this time) and was very keen on making the best of my kart. By lap 3 I jumped to 4th place and on lap 5 I get to 3rd, very strong pace attacking 2nd but... on lap 6 I am going around the outside of p2 but he's struggling with a backmarker, he steers towards him pushing him to the barriers and I get my tires locked and am launched up the barrier, smash my knees on steering bar and cut my right hand on wheel.
I was pissed but still on it, hadn't lost a position. Then the very next lap I get f-in spun off by a backmarker as I attempt my move at the start/finish line, the bastard locks up my left rear and steers right as I hopelessly try to correct it. I lose 2 whole damn laps and drop to 6th! So now I am far more pissed than the first race because this kart really felt very nice and light but now I had to settle for only salvaging something. I resume hammering down the track and start lapping
sub 16s consistently - I actually did a 15.671s lap which placed me 4th best of the place (including racers) for the week - when the average laptime for the winner was 16.707s. Unfortunately all I could do in the remaining 11 laps was unlap myself once and finish in 6th, 1 lap down and actually pushing my kart between 5th and 4th but we crossed the line before I got ahead.
So race ended, I was severely pissed that I got royally screwed again, injured on both right hand and my banged up right knee, while the people that caused the accidents didn't even receive a warning. Now I have no idea where I will start race 4.
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Feature race: Kart felt ok, steering was a little lighter than my first kart but not feeling as good as the kart for the previous race
So in the final race I start from 4th and 2 of the 3 guys ahead of me (p1 and p3) are very good, short, and difficult to overtake. In the first couple of laps I worry more about ensuring I open a gap to the driver behind so I can start driving in a different line to pass people. In doing so I fall back for about 3 laps but then I see I got a gap to P5 and start pushing. In 2 laps I am on P3's butt (he started 2nd and lost a spot to the fastest guy) and quickly get by him on lap 5, now sights set on not getting screwed up by anyone and winning the damn thing.
On clean air without traffic I am lapping 16.0-16.1s but then I go under 16s again and on lap 8 I am right there with the top two guys who are still keeping a strong pace but I have the advantage of not worrying about anyone behind me nor fight for a spot. I make quick work of the backmarkers and take no risk until on lap 9 I get to the left hander after the flatout section (last left turn) and I come in wide and keep a good speed through the corner and swing from right to left, then right to take a sharp corner into the start/finish, passing both p1 and p2 on the inside and off into the distance, making sure I keep some room to my left just in case someone tries to spin me.
Now that I am in 1st and happy with the race so far I go on about opening a gap and trying to lap as many people as I can without getting into risky situations. It all goes smoothly until lap 19 where I get by a backmarker who tips my rear left but luckily he didn't have much speed of the corner and I held off my kart with a drift. Then I get to the guy who took me out on race 1 and I am very tempted to pass him as he's painfully slow but given how erratic his driving was I chose to just settle down and ride off his ass to the finish, a good 5s ahead of 2nd place and almost 16s ahead of 3rd.
I was joking when I mentioned driving like Lewis but it turned out to be a very eventful night with a lot of accidents and getting screwed (but unlike Lewis I didn't cause anything :P) but on the flip side I drove the best I've driven in many years and finished the night winning the race that mattered with fastest lap of the night making it even sweeter. I was even told by the marshalls to drive my victory lap and then one marshall stopped me to give me his checkered flag so I could take another victory lap!
Here's the map of the track: