Xtreme Karting Facility – Pimpama – 17/10/2017

Firstly, apologies for the lack of updates over the last month.  There has been a fair bit going on, so It’s been tough trying to find some time to sit down and write.

The Race of Stars is a fantastic event held at a hire kart track in Pimpana near the Gold Coast in Queensland.  It’s great fun and they really turn it on as a spectacle.

We decided to head up early, and took a couple of days to have a bit of a holiday and visit some of the theme parks.  It looks like the kids have discovered the rides, so we will probably have to head back again in the near future.

On to the racing.  We had the kart pretty good, straight out of the box, and Jim was on it straight away in practice.  In the 2 practice sessions he held the 4th and 7th fastest times, which was a reasonable start to the weekend.

On Saturday morning Jim did well in Qualifying, putting it in 6th place.  This gave him a good starting position for both heats 1 and 2.

In heat 1, Jim had a few good battles, and ended up in 6th.  The same occurred in Heat 2, with him finishing in 9th.

Jim’s combined results had him starting Heat 3 in 5th Place.  He got off to a good start, and was in the leading bunch, but fell off the back and spent the race driving around by himself in 5th.

Sunday morning, the rain came.  We watched as the classes in front went out on wets, and then eventually the track started to dry.  For heat 4, the field went out on slicks, and Jim started in 5th.  The engine developed a bit of issue, and Jim was struggling with pace at the end of the straight.  He managed to finish in 9th.

With the points Jim had accumulated over the weekend, he earned a starting position of 4th in the final.  When we got to the grid it was damp, but the when they left the grid it was pouring.

Unfortunately, this meant we didn’t quite have the setup right, and Jim struggled with pace, finishing in 12th.

All in all it was a great weekend, and a great trip.  We came away with a few things to work on, but the on the whole Jim did really well and showed that he can be competitive at this level.  We will keep improving the stuff off the track, to give Jim the best chance on it.

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.

Yet again Christine was well behaved.  If I didn’t know any better, I might start to think it was me causing the problems all the the time.  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).