Go Kart Club of Victoria – 26/1/2017 to 28/1/2017

The first race meet of the year, and it was a big one to start.  The Rotax Pro Tour is a national level series, held over 6 rounds across Australia.  Round 1 was contested at the Go Kart Club of Victoria, or as everyone calls it – ‘ Todd Road’.

EvoKart had a good presence at the event, being represented in 3 classes.  Including Jim, there were 4 drivers from the EvoKart team in the MiniMax class.

Official practice kicked off on Thursday, and Jim managed to get through the 5 sessions without too much grief.  Unfortunately, he was a bit off the pace sitting around 14th at the completion of practice.

Qualifying was held on Friday morning, and Jim qualified in 15th.  This was to be his starting position for the first 3 heats.

Jim struggled in the first 2 heats, finishing 12th and 14th respectively.  It was decided to change his engine, so it was time for my world famous mechanicking skills to come to the rescue.

The engine was unbolted, electrics removed, and then it was time to remove some fuel hoses.  This is when Christine decided to pounce.  In a stunning move Christine managed to splash fuel into my eyes while I was removing the fuel line from the pump.  Big thanks to the WIFA Racing safety officer for supplying some water to wash out my eyes, although there was a bit of delay in finding water in the pits, as most of the eskies were full of beer and Canadian Club.

Somehow, the engine change was completed in time for the next heat – normally it takes about 20 minutes, but as I was having a cry after Christine struck, it took a bit longer.  The change helped dramatically though, and Jim moved up a bit finishing in 10th in Heat 3.

Saturday was the day for Finals, and Jim started the PreFinal in 10th spot.  We were hoping for a solid finish, to provide a good starting position for the final, and that is exactly what Jim delivered.  The kart seemed to have some decent pace, and Jim finished the heat in 8th.

On to the final, where Jim would be starting from 8th spot.  Jim got an awesome start and was into 5th by the end of the first lap.  He battled up to 4th but couldn’t quite hold the spot, finishing the final in 5th place.  An awesome effort, in his second outing in this class.

Jim would like to thank Iocane, WIFA Racing, EvoKart Australia, Haak Engines, and his mum and sister for all their support.  Thanks also to all the officials and volunteers, without whom Jim couldn’t race.

As mentioned earlier, Christine decided to make herself known very early on in the year.  The current score:

JP -> 3 (Survived 2 weeks without hurting himself, use of Angle Grinder Persuasion, Ancient Spirit Mumbo Jumbo)

Christine -> 7 (Burn by exhaust, Degreasing of the eye, Magical Goggle Piercing Metal bit, Special Combo, Epidermal Peel, Degrease, Rinse, Repeat, 98 Octane Eye Wash).