Saturday - race day

The day of the finals was here. A DNF in heat 3 had me starting 10th out of the field of 28karts. Not as high as I had hoped, but heck, I could race to the front from there! I had been in the top 5 for lap times all week, so I had plenty of laps to make up some ground.

Prefinal

The start of the race was again as aggressive as the previous heat races (if not more so). Everyone in the top 10 was not giving an inch through the first 3 turns...and I found myself getting shuffled back a few spots and running in 14th spot by the time we rounded the start finish for lap 2. I settled in and started to pass where I could to slowly regain positions. I was quick in the tight section of the track, but not making any real gains on the long straights. I made up as much ground as I could each lap in the tight section, and by lap 10 was up into the top 10. As I rounded the hairpin leading onto the long straight-away...the kart DIED! I pulled off into the grass and tried to get re-started with no luck! There goes another respectable finish!! After riding the gator back to the scales (for the 2nd time in TWO races!), we found that there was a problem with the carburetor. = This means I'm starting the final from DEAD LAST!

Final

Well, the start goes pretty smooth from last place :) And I waited until after turn 2 before I started trying to move up the pack. Unfortunately for me, the guy directly in front of me was racing like it was the last lap for the WIN! I experienced some of the worst blocking I had seen all weekend. He even managed to drive me off into the grass at one point to prevent me from passing...after about 5 laps of that, I was a good 4-5 seconds behind the entire field! It was a few laps before I could catch the pack and begin to make a few more passes. I made my last pass on the white flag lap that put me into 19th place, which is where I finished. A fair finished after what was some BAD LUCK for the previous 2 races. I would have traded that luck for earlier in the weekend - FOR SURE!

All-in-all, a great event, and some awesome racing. The racing was VERY competitive, and for the most part; respectful.

Friday heat races

Heat 2

Starting again from my 6th place...I lost a little ground during the start as our outside lane was again slow at the drop of the green flag (no due to the lack of me pushing Sean!). I lost two spots through the first two turns....but would battle back to gain one spot back before the end of the heat for a 7th place finish.

Heat 3

My start was a bit more aggressive on this heat. Every inch of space on the track was valuable through turns 1-3 at the drop of the green! I made a couple of quick moves through the first section of the track and had myself up to 4th place as we entered the first hair-pin leading to the long straight. And then my luck turned! There was a kart turned in the exit of the hair-pin...he was directly in front of me, and I had NOWHERE to go! BAM! I hit his right rear tire, and off the track we went. He fortunately drove off...I did not. = DNF in heat 3!

heat 1

4th place finish....I had to earn each of the 2 spots I picked up from my 6th place start!

qualify

Qualified in 6th place! Goal was top 5, so I missed by a few hundreths on my time....it was a solid result, and a good starting point for the heat races.

Let the racing begin!

HOT!

Practice day has come to a close. I ran in the top 10 in times for practice. Ready for qualifying tomorrow am. Temps in the 90's today, and the track temp was over 110F!! The heat was draining, but we made steady improvements all day as I slowly moved up the time charts. Scattered showers predicted for the balance of the week....so things will be interesting!

rain hit the tent

rain storms blowing through

Rain is cooling things off for the welcome dinner

ready for day 1

US Rotax grands

Day 1. Registration and tech done. Ready for the start of practice tomorrow. Time will tell how much work we have ahead of us!