Ipswich Kart Club – 5/5/2017 to 7/5/2017
Round 3 of the Rotax Pro Tour was held at the Ipswich Kart Club in Queensland. We tried something different and flew to Queensland, rather than driving. Surprisingly we got there a bit quicker.
Practice was a bit up and down, but by the end of the Friday, Jim was about 8th fastest, so we still had bit of work to do.
Jim did well in qualifying and earned the right to start 6th in the first three heats.
Jim drove well in Heat 1, and a bit of luck helped him finish 4th. Heat 2 went well, with Jim again driving consistently and finishing in 5th. Repeat that for heat 3, and Jim had a pretty decent day on Saturday.
For his consistency on Saturday, Jim was able to start the pre-final in 4th. Unfortunately, the brilliant mechanicking changes resulted in the kart coming on too late, and Jim didn’t really have any pace until the end of the heat. He finished in 9th, but a 10 second penalty (for a front bumper infringement) dropped him down to 16th.
Jim had to start the final in 16th. He managed to work is way up a few spots to 11th, but couldn’t go any further. Unfortunately, the axle had shifted in the kart, jamming the brake on, slowing him down a bit.
We are starting to get the qualifying and heat racing right, we just need to get the changes right for the Sunday. Jim is driving well, and putting himself in the right places to take advantage when then things happen. We’ll keep working to eradicate these little mistakes and we should hopefully start to see the results pick up.
For those of you who only read this to see how I how managed to injure myself this week, there is some bad news – yet another week without any serious damage. That’s right, Christine has gone soft. I did witness another guy pull off a fuel line and get splashed in the face, so it’s re-assuring to know that stuff doesn’t just happen to me.
I am now due to earn a point, as Christine hasn’t hurt me for a while. I would have had it this week if my mechanicking had been a bit better and Jim’s axle didn’t move. So no point just yet.
The current score:
JP -> 3 (Survived 2 weeks without hurting himself, use of Angle Grinder Persuasion, Ancient Spirit Mumbo Jumbo)
Christine -> 8 (Burn by exhaust, Degreasing of the eye, Magical Goggle Piercing Metal bit, Special Combo, Epidermal Peel, Degrease, Rinse, Repeat, 98 Octane Eye Wash, Inappropriate Tool Grabbing).