Barossa Go Kart Club – Nuriootpa  – 30/7/2016

For this week’s update, I thought I would draw back the curtain, and provide some info from behind the scenes at a high level race meet.  I kept a journal that should hopefully provide an insight into the preparation, hard work, and dedication of the parents of up and coming race drivers.

Friday

4:00pm:  Preparation for the race meeting begins early.  Load the trailer, ready for the trip to the Barossa Valley.

4:05pm:  Fridge in trailer full of beer.  Packing for the weekend done.  Have beer to reward self for finishing this critical task.

4:15pm:  Realise the karts aren’t in the trailer.  May also want to pack some clothes.  Also get some tyres ready.  Have beer to commiserate not having finished packing.

7:00pm:  Finally finished packing (for real this time).  Can’t have beer though, as I had a beer earlier, and now I have to drive.

8:30pm:  Arrive at caravan park.  Unpack and settle in.  Have beer to celebrate getting there.

Saturday

5:45am:  Get up and have breakfast.

6:25am:  Get to petrol station for coffee.  Jim reminds me that I also need to buy control fuel.  Get fuel.

6:30am:  Set up and get kart ready.  Need more coffee.

8:00am:  Drivers briefing.  Start thinking about what we are having for dinner.  And what time I can have a beer.

9:00am:  First practice.

9:10am:  Look at times, realise Jim is about 7 tenths off the pace (8th fastest) and I have a bit of work to do.

10:04am:  Practice 2.

10:15am:  Look at times, see Jim has gotten 3 tenths quicker (6th fastest), but the guys at the front have gotten 2 tenths quicker.  Realise I have more work to do, and that I haven’t had a beer in, like, 12 hours.

11:10am:  Get kart on grid ready for qualifying.  Talk to other parents about important stuff like the weather and when they are going to have a beer.  Woah, check out the wheels on kart 63…

11:20am: Qualifying.

11:35am:  Check Times, see Jim has improved by another 3 tenths (Qualified in 6th).  Still have to find a couple of tenths to be competitive.  Need to find a couple of beers to relax.

1:20pm:  Heat 1.  Jim started in 6th, and managed to get a pretty good start.  He was up into 5th and held onto that spot for the rest of the race.

1:45pm:  Mechanic furiously to try and get a bit quicker.

2:40pm:  Heat 2.  Jim started in 6th again, and got a reasonable start.  He was passed in the first lap and dropped back to 7th.  He worked his way back up to finish in 5th.

3:00pm:  Racing done for the day.  Prepare kart for Sunday.  Have beer and talk about stuff – like how cool those wooden wheels were on that kids kart.  Yeah, they were cool.

6:00pm:  Have pizza and beer.  Watch people attempt to injure themselves while trying to ride Jim’s hoverboard.

8:00pm:  Have a couple more beers,  Talk to people about stuff that happened during the day, like those wheels on that kart, and the hoverboard thing and how we had a beer.  Good times.

9:30pm:  Scene deleted.  This content has been determined as unsuitable for anyone over or under the age of 18.

Sunday

6:30am:  Jim wants to get up and go.  It’s too early, the sun is too bright and the world is too loud.

7:00am:  Get to petrol station for coffee.

7:59am:  Look at wet track.  Try to sound knowledgable by suggesting it will dry out in time for our heat, so talk about the merits of leaving the kart with a dry setup.

8:00am:  Watch first heat.  See track isn’t drying.  Put wet setup on Jim’s kart.

9:05am:  Heat 3.  Jim started in 6th, and got a reasonable start to be in 5th after the first lap.  Over the next 20 laps he worked his way forward to finish in 3rd.

10:29am:  Track walk during the break.  Track still isn’t dry.  Talk about the merits of leaving the wet setup on the kart for the final.

10:30am:  Watch the first final.  See guys on wets pull out half a lap on guys on slicks after 10 laps.  Start feeling smug.

10:35am:  Watch guys on slicks start to reel in the guys on wets.  Start to think we may want to be on a dry setup.  (This was a really good race to watch – Well done the guys in TaG 125 Light).

10:36am:  Start setting Jim’s kart up for dry racing.

11:36 am:  Jim started the final in 4th place.  He got a really good start and was up into second place after the first lap.  He was passed and dropped back to 4th on the second lap, and was then involved in a 3 way battle for 4th, 5th, and 6th for the rest of the race.  He ended up finishing in 5th, with 3 tenths of second separating 4th from 6th.

Jim did really well.  His starts were much improved, and he was on the pace of the front runners by the end of the weekend.  We now have some work to be able to consistently maintain the pace, but  it looks like Jim can now start pushing to be further up front.

Thanks go out to Jim’s sponsor Iocane, and to CRG.  Jim would also like to thank his mum for all her support, and all the officials and volunteers.

I’d also like to thanks Christine, for not attempting to injure me this week.