Go Kart Club of SA – Monarto – 10/9/2016
This was the final round of the SA State Championships, so it was the last chance for everyone to have a good race before people start to change classes and begin preparations for next year. As Jim still has a couple more years in Cadet 12, we were keen to take the opportunity to see how we measured up against the best in the state, before some of them moved on to Juniors.
Preparation for an event like this is ultra important, so I began work on Jim’s kart on Thursday night. As per instructions from WIFA Racing I did absolutely nothing to the kart – well I did clean it a bit just so I felt like I was doing something.
Saturday started with Official Practice 1. We were in for a bit of a shock, as Jim managed to top the time sheets, and was fastest for the session. As per my current job description, I refrained from making any changes, and sent Jim back out for Official Practice 2. Jim’s lap times were pretty much the same as practice 1, and he was second fastest in the session.
Something was needed to be done before qualifying, so I grabbed my mechanicking hat and went to work.
The qualifying session was fast. Michael Yeo’s commentary was fantastic, and when he started calling out some of the lap times, I thought we were in some big trouble – The qualifying times were half a second quicker than practice, and getting very close to the lap record. Jim managed a blinder of a lap, and managed to grab pole position in an exceptionally close qualifying session. The first 4 kids qualified within 0.06 of second of each other, and 7th was within 0.3 seconds of the pole time.
For the first time, I can reveal the magic mechanicking that took place – I swapped the wheels over for a set that had new tyres fitted. Mechanicking level – Wizard.
The start for heat 1 was “interesting”, and Jim was in 4th by the first corner. An incident occurred later in the lap, and Jim was in 11th by the end of the first lap. He fought his way back to finish in 5th, and was promoted to 4th after a penalty was applied to another competitor.
Heat 2 was a fairly straightforward race. Jim’s kart was a bit slow in the first couple of laps, and he was dropped down to 4th, which is where he finished the heat.
A fair bit of analysis was performed on Saturday night, and the list of changes were prepared. On Sunday, we arrived at the track and made absolutely no changes to the kart.
Jim started heat 3 in pole, and got a reasonable start. The kart took a bit to come on, and Jim was in 3rd by the end of the first lap. Jim made a move to get into second, and had to pull out and 4th took full advantage to put a move on Jim and drop him back to 4th. Jim then set to work, got back into 3rd, then a couple of laps later moved into 2nd. Jim closed down the gap to first, and made a move with 3 laps to go to move into 1st. On the last lap, the more experienced driver made his move and relegated Jim to 2nd.
Jim started in 4th for the final, and fell back to fifth as he avoided some traffic in the first corner. He dropped to 6th after lap 4 after a good passing move, and was then at the bunch of 4 karts from 3rd to 6th. Jim’s kart took a bit of time to come on, and then Jim started to make his move in Lap 6. By lap 7 he was in 5th, Lap 8 in 4th, and by lap 9 he was in 3rd. There was a reasonable gap to 2nd, but there was still half the race to go. Jim caught and passed 2nd, and finished in that spot.
Jim did a fantastic job behind the wheel, and the kart and engine were awesome. I did nothing more than pull the kart out of the trailer, fuel it, put air in the tyres, and put it on the grid.
Jim would like to thank Iocane, WIFA Racing, EvoKart Australia, and his mum and sister for all their support. Thanks also to all the officials and volunteers, without whom Jim couldn’t race.
I would like to thank Dave Haak, and Anthony Mansell, from WIFA Racing and EvoKart Australia for all their help leading up to the race. Their support and advice has been invaluable, and has had a demonstrable impact on Jim’s improved performance of the last few months.
Finally, I’d like to point out that Christine did not even get a chance to have a go at me, as I was not allowed near the kart to change anything.
Current score:
JP -> 3 (Survived 2 weeks without hurting himself, use of Angle Grinder Persuasion, Ancient Spirit Mumbo Jumbo)
Christine -> 4 (Burn by exhaust, Degreasing of the eye, Magical Goggle Piercing Metal bit, Special Combo).