Whilton Mill, Club Meeting
24th/25th Nov 2007

Kasia finishes Championship in 
3rd place 

This years Whilton Mill Club Championship went right down to the wire for Kasia.  Having missed two meetings due to clashes with the Super 1 Championship, Kasia was, this weekend, fighting for 3rd place.

A win in Heat 1 was an excellent start, for Heat 2 Kasia started in 18th place, and was up to 8th at the end of the first lap, crossing the line in 5th place by race end.  In Heat 3 it was another stunning drive from 11th on the grid, taking the chequered flag in 4th place.  This good showing in the Heats gave Kasia a front row position (P2) for the Final, next to Brett Wykes, the 2007 British Champion.

For the Final we took a bit of a gamble and put one of our best engines on, but unfortunately did not get the carburettor settings perfect, as a result it took off like a rocket at the start, but quickly overheated. Kasia managed to hold her second position for 9 laps, and bring the temperature partially under control, but in the last three laps her top end revs dropped off, and she lost a couple of places, crossing the line in 4th place, and also reaching her target of finishing in the top three overall in this Championship.  


 


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Picture by Paul Mabbutt, Pixelero.co.uk

 

Whilton Mill, Club Meeting
27th/28th Oct 2007

A Second Place trophy 
after a hard weekend

With 30 cadets taking to the grid for Saturday's practice this was set to be a busy weekend, but as is often the case Saturday was mostly cloudy and overcast while Sunday's forecast was for heavy showers, so Saturday's testing would be of little help for race day.

Come Sunday and the forecasters had it right, very blustery with scattered showers.  With Kasia leading the grid off in pole position for the first heat we were hoping for a high finish.  However, we had underestimated the wet and slippery track and Kasia initially struggled for the first lap or so, and finished the race 7th place.

For heat 2 we had it all to do starting in 21st position (with more grip this time).  Kasia was up to 12th at the end of the first lap, an excellent achievement which she built on to finish in 6th place at the flag.

In heat 3 Kasia turned a twelfth place start into a finish in 6th place (we felt a pattern was developing), but when we looked at the lap time data found that Kasia had twice set, the second and once the fourth fastest lap times for each heat (no mean feat considering  we had both of the 2007 British Cadet kart champion and the 2007 AbKC Cadet kart Champion on the grid. 

Kasia qualified 6th for the Final, with a lot at stake given the positions in the Club Championship, as after last months disappointments, any mistake could put her out of contention in the closely fought battle for the top three slots.

Just before the final started, the drying track was given a boost as the sun came out for the first time all day.  On the rolling lap, ahead of the race start Brett Wykes the current club champion had to pull off the track due to carburettor failure, and after a good start Kasia quickly made up places by lap 4 it was Hazz, Ross and Kasia out in front exchanging places several times per lap all the way to the flag.  It was clear that any one of them could take the win, at the line it was Hazz followed closely be Kasia, who also set the fastest lap in the final.

 

One of the heats on a damp 
but drying track


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Kasia checking the data logger for split times, lap times, speed, temperature 
and revs


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Whilton Mill, Club Meeting
22nd/23rd Sept 2007
Given our strong performance at this track in July we were hopeful of a repeat performance.  Saturday testing was dominated by carb testing to select a carb to replace our beloved 136 that cracked at Clay Pigeon, a week ago.  With engine and carb selected race day started with a strong performance from Kasia in heat 1, who took second place just 1.3 seconds behind Brett Wykes the MSA British Champion.

For heat 2 Kasia started at the back of the grid of 28 cadets (23 Comer and 5 WTP engines), with good pace she made her way through the pack, but with just 6 laps per heat there was limit to the progress she could make, crossing the line in 11th place and setting the 3rd fastest lap time for the heat.

Another strong performance in heat 3 saw Kasia take 5th place and set the second fastest lap time of the heat, with 3 good heat results behind her Kasia started in 4th on the grid for the 12 lap final.

At the start of the final we thought that our carb gremlins were back, with Kasia being slow off the line and loosing several places in the first 3 laps, by lap 5 she was mounting a challenge and in retaking one of her lost places she was clipped into a spin by another kart making a move on both of them.  On the grass at 90 degrees to the track, Kasia had to wait until a chain of karts had flown past before rejoining.  Where upon she made a determined drive to finish in 10th place (8th of the Comer cadet class) and setting the 3rd fastest lap time of the Comers.


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Super 1 Round 6
Clay Pigeon Raceway, Dorset
14th, 15th and 16th September 2007

The Final Round of Super 1

Following our good performance in Round 5 we were hopeful of a repeat performance in this our final round.  In Friday practice Kasia was very quick matching the times of the front runners and when rain came in the afternoon she was second quickest in our group.  We were all very excited as with this sort of pace we could score highly at this round.

By mid morning Saturday our lap times were dropping back and were mid field at best, we tried various set up changes thinking the problem was the increased levels of grip (a combination of very sticky rubber and hot weather).  We finished Saturday practice a lot less happy, but hopeful for Sunday that was forecast to be a colder day with rain in the afternoon.  

In the opening race on Sunday we were still lacking pace, and this really should have given us a hint to the problem, but with Kasia having had a few hard impacts on Saturday and in Sundays first race her ribs were very painful so we initially put the lack of pace down to her discomfort (despite wearing a rib protector and being wrapped in bubble wrap under her race suit !)

After a very difficult day Kasia finished the final in 21st place, far lower than we had expected.  

In the overall championship 19th place was shared by three drivers with the same score (Kasia being one of these), and due to the method of separating tied scores Kasia finished in 21st place from the 35 Cadets who entered Super 1

Following further discussion within the team, on Monday evening, we decided to strip and check our Carburetor, and on careful examination the root of our problems was found below the welch plug as part of the casting body at the end of the low jet needle had 2 hairline cracks, damage that was inadvertently caused during re-building the carb on Saturday morning.

 

 Kasia with Sean from Pitts Racing

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Super 1 Round 5
Warden Law, Sunderland
24th, 25th and 26th August 2007

Our strongest performance 
at Super 1

Entering this weekend we hoped that the 2 long journeys we had made earlier on in the year to practice in club meetings at Warden Law would pay dividends, and thankfully they did.

With three days of hot sun, broken cloud and changeable wind speed and direction, the track cycled from slippy to grippy as the days went on and it was clear that this changing situation was catching some people out.

Following the 2 days of testing we had a reasonable set-up and had selected our 2 race engines.  In heat 1 Kasia and Brett Wykes (who is currently 4th in this Championship, and has now won the Stars of Tomorrow title) made an early break from the pack with Kasia shadowing Brett for 8 of the 9 laps, once the last lap board was out Kasia dived up the inside of Brett into the first corner and led that final lap until she ran wide at Gas Works Bend to finish a few corners later in 2nd position 0.16 seconds behind Brett, though with this being our highest heat finish at Super 1 we were all very happy. 

Starting her second heat from 23rd on the grid, this race would be all about making up places and by the chequered flag Kasia was up to 15th place and 4th fastest on the track.  For her 3rd heat Kasia managed to work her way up to 8th.

With Kasia starting in 9th place for the final, the grid of 29 cadets lined up for their last race of the weekend.  The start straight runs into a winding complex of 4 corners and it was pretty much a given that not everyone would get through all 4 corners, with incidents at corners 1 and 3/4, Kasia was forced to back off and dropped back to 16th from where she set about a determined drive to come through the field and finish in 9th which is her highest ever finish in a Super 1 final.

We are grateful to Sean from Pitts Racing for all the help he gave us throughout the weekend, including the excellent preparation of our race engines and to Martin James for the help and guidance he gave us earlier in the year when we tested at this track.

 

Shenington, Club Meeting
18th/19th August 2007

Our best result ever 
at Shenington

This months club meeting also played host to the TKM "O"-Plate with over 100 entries.  While the club funds will have welcomed the additional income it meant that for Saturday's practice there would be 12 classes running in 6 minute sessions, with an early close to allow the TKM "O"-Plate meeting to run two of their three heats, with the rest to be completed on the Sunday.  So all in all Saturday testing was of limited utility with Cadets getting just 4 sessions two dry, one damp and one in torrential rain.  Kasia was well off the pace in all but the last session, possibly do to a problem with the carb or engine we were running.

Sunday started dry after overnight rain and in heat one Kasia stormed off to establish a dominant lead of some 12 kart lengths, only to be taken out at the esses while lapping a novice driver on the last lap, dropping her down to 8th place by the flag.

For heat two Kasia started in 16th place on the grid of 23 cadets, by the close of lap 2 she was up to 5th place, crossing the line in 3rd at the end of the race and posting the fastest lap.  For a wet third heat, we went out on intermediate tyres, but either the tyres or the pressures were not up to the slippery conditions and Kasia was struggling for grip throughout the race crossing the line in 7th place

Starting 6th on the grid for the final Kasia drove a good race, and by mid distance she had to fend off the attentions of Julian Davies last years club champion to finish the race and collect the 3rd place trophy for the Comer Cadet class.

 


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Picture by Paul Mabbutt, Pixelero.co.uk

 


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Picture by Paul Mabbutt, Pixelero.co.uk

 

Clay Pigeon, Club Meeting
11th/12th August 2007

More testing ready for Super 1

Kart racing has been run at the Clay Pigeon circuit near Yeovil in Dorset for over 40 years and this was our first visit to the track as part of our preparation for the last round of Super 1 this year.

The 815 m track is quite twisty yet surprisingly fast and flowing with gradient, slight camber and many good locations for viewing.

Having spoken with the local drivers it seemed that a good lap time for the Comer Cadet class was in the mid to high  39 seconds depending on track conditions.

We were again running with Martin James as driver coach for Kasia and on the Saturday morning track walk he showed us what in his words was "the most heavily used tyre wall in karting !!!!!" on the outside of turn 1 a very fast flowing left-hander and key entry to the double apex corner Billy's Blind.... more of that later.

There were 24 Cadets on the grid during practice a mixture of local drivers and visitors, like us in preparation for Super 1.  With 10 minute sessions we had loads of track time and within 3 runs Kasia was lapping in under 40 seconds.  Martin worked corner by corner with Kasia to find the optimum lines to maintain the speed and momentum that is so vital in this class.

For Sunday's race meeting 19 Comer Cadets took to the grid, starting in 5th place in heat 1 Kasia made a blistering start existing the third corner in 3rd place for the next 3 laps the top three were swapping positions with Kasia briefly taking the lead in the closing laps local knowledge paid off as several drivers found ways round Kasia who eventually crossed the line in 7th.  

For heat 2 Kasia started in 13th place, in the mad dash for the first corner several karts in the mid pack collided and with nowhere to go Kasia ended up in the tyre wall Martin had warned us about.  The race was red flagged while the ambulance attended those injured.   While re-griding for the re-start we noticed a bent track rod on Kasia's kart, but decided that it was still drivable and again she brought it home in 7th place following the re-start.

Following another 7th place finish in the 3rd heat Kasia started the final in 6th position, falling back in the opening corners and having to fight her way back, while running as part of a tight 4 kart train, one of the karts clipped a kurb on the entry into the esses went airborne and on landing precipitated a 3 kart collision resulting in all three going off onto the grass.  Kasia managed to brake hard and stay on track, from where she went onto take 6th place at the flag.

So we had achieved our goal of learning the circuit and having gained at least race knowledge, but for sure Super 1 will be very difficult at this track.

 



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Kasia, Martin & George, 
pleased with first heat result 


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Kasia in good company, surrounded by 4 of the locals who are also running in the National Championships

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Whilton Mill, Club Meeting
22nd/23rd July 2007

Our strongest weekend ever 
at Whilton Mill

This was the first club meeting to run on the newly extended track, now 1050 m long, with some challenging new corners, which in keeping with the rest of the track have both gradient and camber for the drivers to deal with.

Saturdays testing was wet, and made all the more interesting by the amount of mud being brought back onto the track as drivers had offs and spins as they adapted to the new corners and waterlogged conditions.  As well as new track some key parts of the existing tarmac had been replaced and this again changed the characteristics of the grip levels in some key corners.

We were helped this weekend by Martin James, who worked with Kasia on the racing lines as I prepared the kart, this combination along with an absolutely fantastic race engine prepared by Pitts racing meant that this was our most successful Whilton weekend ever with Kasia netting 180 of the maximum 196 points available (to anybody winning all three heats and the final). 

Sunday's race saw 26 karts form a mixed grid of Honda, WTP and Comer cadets with Kasia taking 2nd, 4th and 2nd respectively for the Comer class in the three heats and 2nd in the Final.  

 

Kasia leading the first heat going into the new hair pin "Ashby" the penalty for getting this fast downhill off camber corner wrong is evident in the foreground !


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Kasia in Parc Ferme awaiting post race scrutineering


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Kasia with a well earned 2nd place trophy


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Warden Law, Club Meeting
14th/15th July 2007

More testing ready for Super 1

With the 5th Round of Super 1 to be run at the Warden Law circuit near Durham at the end of August we set out this weekend to get more experience of this track by competing in a club race there.  In typical fashion the Friday night drive was long and hard (6 hr), upon arrival we settled into a night of blustery weather (the circuit is next to a wind farm !).  Little changed for Saturday's practice session with strong winds blowing up the main straight being a deciding factor in gearing selection.   With 4 classes running on Saturday there was plenty of track time available with Kasia and a fellow Super 1 competitor Sam Webster both quickly developing knowledge of the circuit, gearing and set-up.

Sunday's race followed the clubs normal format with three heats to decide positions for a pre-final race, which in turn decides the starting grid for the final.  Sunday started warm and still, so again set-up changes were needed. The Billand classes (250 cc 4-stroke, Junior and Senior) also started putting on new tyres and this left loads of soft gripping rubber around the circuit, which can play havoc with the smaller lower horsepower Cadet karts and cause them to grip up and not released through the tighter corners on this track.

In heats 1 , 2 and 3 Kasia finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th.  The day had become progressively colder and windy, then two laps into the 12 lap cadet pre-final light rain started, with all cadets out on slick tyres there we some anxious moments but the rain proper held off and Kasia passed the finishing line in 2nd place just 0.14 seconds behind the winner.  An hour and a half later, the cadet final was held on a wet and greasy track, this was a particular challenge to us as we had never even tested on a wet track at Warden Law, so kart set-up, gearing and race lines were all unknowns to us.  Despite this Kasia had a faultless race.  Local knowledge would always pay off under these conditions and the final was led from the first corner by Connor Savage, with Kasia and Sam battling for 2nd slot, with the rest of the pack some way behind the lead three.  On the penultimate lap Sam made a dive up the inside of Kasia at the Chicane, ran wide causing Kasia to brake to avoid a collision, but this allowed Sam to re-gain his composure and take 2nd place.  Watching from the sidelines we thought the race was done, but as is so often the case in motorsport concentration is needed right to the chequered flag and on the last lap Sam, under pressure from Kasia, exited a corner too fast,  and ran wide over a small but lethal kerb that took his chain off thus allowing Kasia to regain and finish in 2nd place.


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Super 1 Round 4
Shenington, Banbury
6th, 7th and 8th July 2007

Summer has arrived ... At last !

Friday and Saturday testing went well and we were very pleased with Kasia's pace, often equaling some of the front runners.  For the last session on Saturday we chose to scrub in our Controlled Slick tyres with a 12 lap run, though disappointingly our times had dropped by over half a second.  Come Sunday morning there were rumours in the paddock that the cadet slicks that had been issued were faulty, many sets had worn through to the canvas after just a few laps, and upon closer inspection we found that ours too were worn through in several patches.  The organsisers called a special Cadet drivers briefing and it was decided that the whole batch of Dunlop tyres were likely to be faulty so the meeting had to continue with "open tyres, we reverted to using the tyres we had used for the 2 test days.

Though Friday and Saturday had been warm, Sunday was positively roasting.  The racing was typically hard, Kasia finished 19th, 14th and 14th in her three heats.  In the final despite posting a fastest lap equal to that of the 10th placed kart, Kasia slipped back many places when she was fired off the track and ended up going backwards up the grass embankment on Runway straight, re-joining at Bruno Chicane only to get hit again from behind, finishing in 26th place.

With just two rounds to go Kasia has moved up to 21st position in the Championship.

 

 

Whilton Mill, Club Meeting
23rd/24th June 2007

Wet again at Whilton !

Torrential rain was forecast for both Saturday and Sunday, yet Saturday's practice sessions turned out to be all dry.  However, all set-up gains from Saturday were useless as Race day on Sunday was wet or damp all day.  With a grid of 24 Cadets, the conditions were sure to be challenging.  In the Comer cadet class, Kasia had heat finishes of 3rd, 4th and 5th and a finish in 3rd place in the final was enough to raise her to 4th position in the Championship (allowing for 1 dropped round so far).

Next month Whilton Mill will open the new track extension, so it will be interesting to see how quickly each of the drivers learns this.

 


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Wildtracks, Club Meeting
17th June 2007

Kasia takes the lap record 
at Wildtracks ?

We were due to race at Shenington this weekend, but had a clash with other family commitments on Saturday, so found ourselves at a loose end on the Sunday and decided to go down to Wildtracks a local non-MSA track where Kasia did much of her early learning back in 2004 / 2005.  This was also a good opportunity to run in a newly re-built engine.

The club has continued to grow and had a field of 11 cadets for this weekends race, which was held in glorious sunshine.  With a 15 minute practice, three 12 lap heats and a 14 lap final there was plenty of track time.  Kasia, the kart and engine all performed excellently, her lap times falling each session. By the end Kasia had taken 1st in two heats, 2nd in the third heat and 1st in the final, also setting what we think may be the lap record of 31.85 s (looking back through the club results on the karting UK website the fastest previous lap posted  was 31.86 s by Sam Blake back in 2005 (the first full year the circuit was open).

 

 

Super 1 Round 3
Larkhall, Scotland
1st, 2nd & 3rd June 2007

Another tough weekend racing in the national Super 1 Series

This time 32  of the 35 Cadets in the Championship chose to make the long journey up to Larkhall in the West of  Scotland, the others presumably choosing to have this as their dropped round.  Following an 8 1/2 hour journey on Thursday we set about finding space in the paddock area and had time to walk the track ahead of the first day of practice on Friday.  Straight away the challenge was clear, with no single point to view the whole track, I would have to keep on the move to 2 or 3 vantage points to see Kasia's progress throughout the circuit.

Heavy rain was forecast for the weekend with severe weather warnings on the horizon, so we were surprised to see Friday as a hot and sunny day.  The JICA and Formula A classes soon set about laying down lots of rubber on the track which while normally being a problem for the Cadets, this time did not seem to affect our lap times too much.  Saturday too was dry, though rain threatened all day and it was a lot cooler.  The gripe with Saturday was the change to practice times, with Cadets getting just four 15 minutes sessions giving very little opportunity to test effectively.  By Sunday it was clear that rain was here with Kasia having 2 wet and 1 dry heats and a dry final.

The eye opener for us was just how much the track changed over the 3 days, needing constant changes to tyre pressures and gearing and I don't think we (along with several other competitors) really got fully to grips with this.  In the heats Kasia finished 16th, 15th and 14th respectively, often several places behind where she should have as a result of poor lines through the infield section allowing her to be overtaken on the two slow hairpins.

In the final having made a good start, Kasia lost places as she avoided a spinner in front of her and after 15 laps she finished in 23rd position, which is also her current position in the Championship at the half way point, with three round left to run

 

 

Whilton Mill, Club Meeting
26th/27th May 2007

A strong performance in wet and windy weather

There was close on a full grid of 30 cadets for Saturday's practice sessions.  Though the weather was quite pleasant, the recent work to start the new track extension must have left a lot of fine dirt on the track as everyone's times were about a second off the expected pace.  So as it turned out the Saturday sessions were just stand alone and no use for the race set-up as come Sunday it had rained most of the night and continued without let up all day.

Kasia made good progress during the three heats finishing 4th, 6th and 7th respectively with a strong 4th place finish in the final, all bringing in some much needed points towards this years championship, in which Kasia is currently in 5 th place.

 


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Shenington, Club Meeting
19th/20th May 2007

Heavy rain had been forecast all week for the 5th round of the Shenington Kart Club meeting, thankfully the forecasters didn't get it totally right and Saturday practice was mostly dry, with just a few scattered showers.  By contrast Sunday was a lovely day and just the weather we needed to use the race as a test session for our upcoming Super 1 race at this circuit.  Throughout the weekend we focused on selecting engines that suited the track.  Our pace on Saturday was good, just 1 or 2 tenths off the best racers there, however, by heats 1 and 2 on race day we were trailing by some 0.7 secs per lap, a change of engine brought an immediate improvement signaling that our original engine needed to go back to our engine builder for a some TLC.  In heat 3 Kasia was immediately on the pace and finished 6th of the Comers.  

Starting in 11th place for the final we were confident of making up places and true to expectation Kasia fought her way up to 5th position by lap 6, however, she was having problems getting a good exit out of the Wilkins complex (gearing we think) which while not adversely affecting her overall lap times gave others more experienced at the track the opportunity they needed to pass her.  At the chequered flag Kasia was the 7th Comer to pass the line, her fastest lap being 50.95 seconds identical to that of the winner Jake Dennis, and just 1/100th behind the fastest lap of the race posted by Julian Davies (who is currently leading the Shenington club championship), so all in all we were very happy with what we had learnt at the track

 

 

PFI, Club Meeting &
Comer Cadet "O"- Plate

5th/6th May 2007
We set out with the ambitious target of competing in both the national (Open) meeting for the Comer Cadet "O"-Plate and the normal Comer Cadet club meeting, both being held at the PFI circuit on Sunday 6th May.  For a normal club meeting you can expect 3 heats and a final with a turn around time between races of 60 to 80 minutes depending on the number of classes running, but with us entering both events we had 9 races to enter and the turn around time was as short as 15 mins, barely time to get back to the awning top up with fuel change wheels (we had to use controlled tyres for the "O"-Plate) and get back out again !

After a hectic day of testing on Saturday the "O"-Plate timed qualifying session was held at ca 16:30 to determine positions for the first heat on Sunday morning.  Kasia did well and started Sunday's first heat in 12th position in a field of 35. 

During the 3 heats for the "O"-Plate Kasia had mixed results never quite managing to get the results we felt capable of, still she did enough to avoid having to race in the B-Final, and qualified 18th for the pre-final, the results of which would determine positions for the "O"-Plate Grand final.

For the club races Kasia was having more success, with some strong heats (taking a win in the 3rd heat) she started in 3rd position for the final, to be held at the end of the day just 15 minutes before the "O"-Plate Grand Final.  Kasia made a blistering start moving up from 3rd to 1st by the second corner, having taken a tight line in, she exited corner 2 wide on the left hand side, another kart having taken a wider line in, and a tighter line out then started drifting towards her, there was slight contact, but with cold tyres this was enough to unsettle the back end of Kasia's kart, it stepped out and sent her into the middle of the track which precipitated a 10 kart accident seeing at least 2 karts in the air.  The race was immediately red flagged and thankfully all drivers were OK, not so their equipment though several karts including Kasia's were so badly damaged that they could not be repaired in time for the "O"-Plate Grand Final, nor the restarted Club final.

So all in all we left without a single point in the club championship (unlike most clubs TVKC only award championship points for the final not the heats) and we were unable to take our grid position for the "O"-Plate Grand final !

 

 

Super 1 Round 2
PFI, Grantham
20th, 21st & 22nd Apr 2007

Disappointment in the 3rd heat, made up for with a good run in the final

This was only our second Super 1 weekend ever, held at PFI, a track that we know better than 3-Sisters where the first round was held.  Running with Pitts Racing we spent much of Friday practice struggling to find rear end grip, despite using a set up from April's PFI club meeting, eventually we had it cracked, grip and gearing all sorted.  

Thankfully Saturday practice was held in similar weather conditions, though the track appeared to have become much more grippy, due to all of the rubber put down by the Formula A and JICA karts.  

During Saturday we tested several of our engines, selecting the two that would be signed on for race day. Throughout Saturday Kasia progressively reduced her lap times.  

On Sunday we were again astonished by the pace with which the meeting was held, there was hardly any time to turn the kart around between heats.  All cadets would run in 3 of the 4 heats. 

For heat 1 Kasia started 5th and finished a very credible 9th, heat 2 saw her starting 19th place and finishing in 13th, with very little time to turn around between heat 2 and 3 Kasia's Dad made an error that was to cost her the heat, having started in 16th Kasia had a good drive, but suffered a couple of incidents resulting in a finish in 16th place, however, at post race scrutineering she was found to be 400g underweight (minimum wt 97 Kg for Comer Cadets), due to us not re-fuelling between heats and was excluded from the results of that heat.... Lesson learnt, in two and a half years of racing we have never once been underweight, but the time pressure led to a mistake that must not be repeated.

We were sure that this would mean she had to fight for a place in the "A" final by first racing in the "B" final, however, the 4th heat (which we were not running in) saw several drivers with DNF's (Did Not Finish) after some big incidents.

The long and the short of it was, that we had done enough with points from just 2 heats to get the last guaranteed place in the "A" final P26, the remaining 4 places of which went to the 4 first finishers in the "B" Final.

The cadet "A" final was moved to the last race of the day as a result of an enquiry and protest into the incidents of the 4th heat.  Starting in 26th place, well behind where she should have started, Kasia quickly went about making up places, and the last few laps were a pleasure to watch as her and James Appleton battled swapping places and making up ground all the way to the flag.  Kasia finished in 13th place, from the 35 cadets who entered this round, we were happy that her fastest lap time of the race was identical to that of 2nd placed Alex Albon and only 2/100ths of a second behind the race winner Roy Johnson.

 


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Picture by Chris Walker, Kartpix.net
Warden Law, Club Meeting
14th/15th April 2007

We could not have wished for more, a win on our first race at the circuit !

In preparation for the Super 1 round at Warden Law we made the long journey to Warden Law near Durham, which with traffic delays and a stop off for food amounted to 6.5 hours.  The track and facilities were very good, and the staff were some of the friendliest we have met.  Due to this club meeting clashing with one of the rounds of Motors Karting Challenge numbers for practice and race day were down, but this was very useful as if gave us a tremendous amount of track time on Saturday and allowed us to improve our initial lap time by some 3 seconds over the course of the day.

While Saturday was pleasantly hot, Sunday turned out to be a scorcher and with 3 heats a pre-final and final there was again plenty of track time under race conditions too.  Kasia took a further second off her lap times on the Sunday and won 2 heats, the pre-final and the final and took several fastest laps.

This is most certainly a track to visit again is it fast and flowing, with many corners and is very technical with plenty of good overtaking opportunities, indeed the lead in each race changed several times within each lap, very mature driving meant that the races were a pleasure to watch, with only one involving a place change due to contact.

 


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PFI, Club Meeting
31st Mar/1st April 2007

First corner incident in the final

This was the last race weekend ahead of April's Super One meeting at PFI, and as a result there was a full grid of 32 cadets for both test and race day.

Our testing on the Saturday went well focusing mainly on selecting two engines and a set up for the race.

In heat 1 Kasia sarted in 11th position, making good progress through the first few corners working her way up to 8th position, by mid race she was under pressure from behind and a couple of karts slipped through at various points around the circuit resulting in a 12th place finish.

For heat 2 Kasia started in 6th.  Her and Jake Dennis (S5) were again working well together, pushing each other along to make up places, eventually emerging in 1st (Jake) and 2nd place (Kasia) by lap 7, on the final lap approaching the first hairpin kart 33, broke very late (if at all !) and hit Kasia's rear bumper hard pushing her wide into 3rd place where she finished.  Though kart 33 was given a warning by the marshals, it was small compensation for the loss of position.

In the final heat, Kasia started in 29th place driving well off the line to make up 6 places in the first lap and another 6 by lap 4, finishing in 13th place.

The cadet final was due to be the second of the seven classes running, though due to on-going official protests (one lodged by another competitor on kart 33 !), we all had to wait until the last session of the day.  Starting in 8th place on a grid of 32, Kasia was in a strong position, perhaps not in reality for a trophy this week but at least for a top ten finish.  As the cadets crossed the line and the lights went to green there was the usual weaving for position.  The first corner is notorious and unfortunately Kasia received a tap from behind that sent her off the track backwards into the barriers, recovering into 32nd place she spent the next remaining 12 laps chasing the field finishing a very credible 17th given the circumstances.


Kasia, James and Helen started racing against each other a couple of years ago at Red Lodge and Wildtracks, though they now race at different clubs and different national championships it was good to see them together again at PFI


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Whilton Mill, Club Meeting
24th/25th Mar 2007

Back marker blues !

Saturday testing gave us more time to learn the set-up on the Intrepid kart and Kasia was competitive throughout the day, though it looked as if at least one of the regulars was sandbagging for the whole day.

For the first heat on Sunday Kasia started in pole, by lap 6 two karts had passed her, and on the final lap she was being challenged by a train of 3 karts, when she came upon a backmarker who did not respond as she had expected allowing the three following karts to slip thorough leaving Kasia in 6th place at the finish line.

For heat 2 Kasia started in 17th place, after a strong drive in which she was running as high as 8th she eventually finish 10th.  In the final heat Kasia started 10th and finished in 5th place.  Her performance in the heats giving her 6th place in the final to be contested by 30 cadets.

In the final Kasia was up to 3rd place in the first lap but was running in 5th place by lap 3, by lap 5 karts 1, 5 and 23 (Kasia) were all in a close train with Kasia visibly pushing kart 5 (Jake Dennis) up the hill.  Working as they were closing the gap on the front runners, however, in keeping with the theme of this race day on lap 9 of 14 the three of them came upon a back marker, as they all pilled through up the inside of Boot 1, the back marker decided to turn in early for the corner and collided with Kasia's kart which threw a chain and ended up on the grass.

It was a disappointing end to a fantastic weekend, but we remained happy with the continued progress Kasia is making.

 


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Super 1 Round 1
3 Sisters, Wigan
16th 17th and 18th Mar 2007
Our first ever Super 1 round was always going to be busy and a steep learning curve !
Friday's practice was much like any normal club test day, and mostly dry too.  Friday evening brought high winds and rain which kept most people in the paddock awake constantly checking to see if their awnings were still standing.

Saturday practice was much busier with much of the official business, such as signing on, collecting controlled tyres, controlled fuel, sponsors stickers, safety and eligibility scrutineering all in between our practice sessions.

By the end of Saturday we had selected 3 good engines, of which just 2 could be signed on, the weather forecast (snow, sleet and hail showers for Sunday), drove the final engine choice.  Saturday night again saw near gale force winds and indeed there was quite a bit of damage done by morning

Sunday's racing was wet, cold and windy Kasia's first heat saw her making a good start from P6, but after some contact at a couple of corners she began to fall back, finishing in 17th place.  None the less we were very happy to have that, our first Super 1 heat under our belts.

For heats 2 and 3 Kasia started P18, and in heat 2 had a marvelous drive coming through to take 12th place and posting the fastest lap of that heat !  Meanwhile in heat 3, a good start was compromised mid race by a loose exhaust manifold, but luckily she was able to finish the race in 19th position.

The top scoring 26 cadets made it through to the A final, the last 4 places of which would be filled by the top 4 finishers from the 9 cadets in the B final.  Kasia's performance in the heats had been enough to secure her a place in 24th for the A final from where she quickly set about advancing through the pack finishing in 11th place just a fraction of a second behind Jake Dennis (who finished 5th in last years Super 1 championship), the last 5 laps or so being an excellent example of the "push technique" as Kasia and Jake worked together pushing each other past and away from other karts, showing that two engines really do work better than one at this circuit.  


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PFI, Club Meeting
3rd/4th Mar 2007
Kasia was drawn to start P3 for the first heat from a field of 28.  The first 2 corners at this notorious circuit saw the usual shuffling of places, with Kasia consolidating a 4th place during the end of lap 2, contact from behind (Kart 35, Jordan Houghton) in the complex just before the start of lap 3 saw Kasia's kart spun through 180o and stranded while the rest of the field passed either side of her.  Once the track was clear Kasia spun the kart round and set about making up as many places as possible (finishing in 20th place), but in reality knowing that with just 2 heats this weekend she would be in a difficult position for the final.  Unfortunately the track marshal had not observed the start of the incident so a protest might have been hard to pursue.

In heat 2 Kasia started in 26th place.  As soon as the Cadets pulled off the dummy grid for the rolling start, it started to drizzle, all had chosen to go out on slicks so lap times were some 10 - 15 seconds slower than in the first heat.  Kasia made up 10 places to finish in 16th position which put her in P23 for the final.

The final was held in heavy rain and all opted for wet set-up, starting well back on the grid we decided to take a bit of a gamble with set-up and gearing.  It turned out that the kart was very difficult to drive, under steering into the corners then suddenly gripping up at the front as the back broke loose.  We learnt from that and hopefully won't select that set-up in future, though Kasia did manage to make up several places to finish in 16th place.

 


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Whilton Mill, Club Meeting
24th/25th Feb 2007

Our first run out on the Intrepid

With our new Intrepid kart built up and ready we were eager to get to Whilton Mill, a track we know well, to test it out.

Saturday's practice was a mix of damp and dry / cold conditions and Kasia in the Intrepid was the fastest (and smartest !) kart on the track.

We had high hopes for a good result in Sunday's race, but weather conditions had worsened over night and all races where in full wet or damp conditions where we seemed to struggle to match our pace from the previous day.

In the heats Kasia finished 3rd, 5th and 4th in the Comer Kart class, with a 5th place in the final. So after 2 of the 11 rounds in this club championship Kasia stands in 3rd place.

 


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3 Sisters, Club Meeting
17th/18th Feb 2007

Now voted out favorite track

We ventured North on an almost 4 hour journey to the 3 Sisters, Wigan  on the Thursday night and just managed to get in before the gates were closed !

The journey was well worth it, and 3 Sisters now ranks as our favourite track, especially in the "Valley layout", the huge main straight (see below) lends itself toslipstreaming, then heavy breaking just before the entry into the uphill, undulating valley section.

With 2 days of practice available before Sunday's race we decided to stay with our Zip Blade and maximise our track time and learning, rather than venture out on our new Intrepid on a circuit we did not know.

We also had Martin James as our driver and set up coach.  He worked well with Kasia and her Dad throughout the weekend steadily decreasing her lap times.

By race day we were very confident despite a strong field of locals and others like us practicing for the first Super One round.

Kasia's starts in all 3 heats and the final were excellent, in every case she made up numerous places, running as high as 4th on the track from a field of 23.  In the final her pace was good, but half way through the 15 lap race she started to loose time and drop places, finishing in 12th.  We initially thought the high engine temperatures seen were a result of her not managing the carburetor  during the heat of the race, however, Kasia was vindicated when we returned to the awning and found that the left rear wheel was nearly 3 inches too far along the axle .... the result of contact in one of the corners.  This put loads of extra grip down and hence the kart was slow out of corners and the engine had to work extra hard.

We very much look forward to our next visit to 3 Sisters in March and the first round of Super One

 


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PFI, Club Meeting
3rd/4th Feb 2007

A key track for this year

This circuit will be an important one for cadets this year as it hosts the Cadet British "O" plate, Kartmasters and a round of Super 1, so we have chosen to do a club season too to ensure we get valuable track time ahead of these important events.

This being only our second race at this circuit and with many of the top cadets there, like us getting in track time, so we knew it would be a difficult race.

Kasia performed well throughout the heats, finishing in 16th place in the final from a field of 28.

We have decided to run with Sean Pitts of Pitts Racing in this years Super One, another big decision made at PFI was our placing of an order for the new Intrepid Cadet kart, which we hope to pick up in time for our next race at 3 Sisters in Wigan


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Picture by Chris Walker, Kartpix.net

 

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