Had a go-kart race today with my auto-x people. This is something we annually to kick the season off. Last year there were 16 people that showed up, and we split us into 2 heats, slow and fast after our qualifying laps. I qualified 3rd and finished 2nd.
This year the Moran Bros came along with Denny and his wife, so the field was faster. After qualifying I was ..1. When our heat is called up we move into our karts. I keep the warm up lap slow and weave back and forth to get some heat in the tires.
The qualifying order is myself, Denny, Mike Moran, Angie then i forget who is after that. I get off to a slow start, but I hold the inside line into the first turn. Its a 40 lap feature race. Denny is right on my ass for the first 5 laps. He out brakes me into the last turn on lap 5 and moves ahead of me. I can't seem to get a handle on my kart. She's sliding everywhere, and feels low on power...or maybe its just me. Mike then gets right on my ass and pressures me to come into turn 1 too hard. I drift wide on the exit trying not to loop it and he shoots by. So 10 laps in and I've dropped to 3rd. Mike catches Denny 2laps later and they proceed to pull away.
I finally start gettin a handle on my car, the tires finally get up to temp and I'm able to start chippin away at their lead. Mike is pressuring Denny pretty good but he's remaining solid. Eventually we start catching lap traffic. Passing is not easy so if you can get to lap traffic and pass them on the straightaway thats ideal, but most of the time that doesn't happen.
Lap traffic seperates Mike and Denny and I've noticed Mike is a little slow coming out of turn one and through the esses. But he gets into turn 1 better than me. My only option is to outbrake him into the last turn which wraps around onto the main straight. My first two times are unsuccesful. My 3rd time I'm able to go in a little deeper than him and 'muscle' him out of the way. Now its on to Denny. Denny has put about 1 second on me. Doesn't sound like much but when we are running lap times within in .08 seconds of each other thats crucial.
I'm able to start placin my car better as I figure out where on the track there is the most grip. I'm able to catch him in less then 10 laps. We again et into lap traffic. One of these people we are lapping is Denny's wife Angie. This woman can drive! I'm afraid he's gonna get by then she is gonna block me. He passes her on comin out of th esses, if I don't get her by out braking into the last turn I can kiss the race good bye. I come in hard and get back on the gas, out braking her. She's able to make her car stick on the outside and hang with me. My kart gets lose and I drift wide. I slide up and bump her, and she bumps the wall then back into me. I'm able to get by, giving her an I'm sorry wave. Denny has been about 4 kart lengths on me. We are now on our own and I'm slowly catching him.
I have no idea how many laps are left but I know we are gettin close. I've closed in to about 1 kart lengths on Denny when we are comin into the first turn. I know if I can stick this turn I can have a shot to out brake him after the esses then make it a drag race to the finish.
Coming into the first turn, Denny swings the rear end as usual, a little excessively but he makes it work. This time is different. The rear end comes around too far and he doesn't have the power to pull out of it. In the middle of his slide, the lack of power causes him to oversteer and push into the inside wall. In less than a split second I was able to flinch and avoid him by less than an inch. I complete my lap as the leader to see the checkered flag waiving. A come from behind, last lap pass to win!!
We would have had a heck of a race to the finish. I was barely able to sneak this one out.
Denny, Mike and I are all the same weight. Our lap times were all within .08 seconds of each other. We were that close! All three of us lapped the entire field but ourselves.
A great day and a great race.
This year the Moran Bros came along with Denny and his wife, so the field was faster. After qualifying I was ..1. When our heat is called up we move into our karts. I keep the warm up lap slow and weave back and forth to get some heat in the tires.
The qualifying order is myself, Denny, Mike Moran, Angie then i forget who is after that. I get off to a slow start, but I hold the inside line into the first turn. Its a 40 lap feature race. Denny is right on my ass for the first 5 laps. He out brakes me into the last turn on lap 5 and moves ahead of me. I can't seem to get a handle on my kart. She's sliding everywhere, and feels low on power...or maybe its just me. Mike then gets right on my ass and pressures me to come into turn 1 too hard. I drift wide on the exit trying not to loop it and he shoots by. So 10 laps in and I've dropped to 3rd. Mike catches Denny 2laps later and they proceed to pull away.
I finally start gettin a handle on my car, the tires finally get up to temp and I'm able to start chippin away at their lead. Mike is pressuring Denny pretty good but he's remaining solid. Eventually we start catching lap traffic. Passing is not easy so if you can get to lap traffic and pass them on the straightaway thats ideal, but most of the time that doesn't happen.
Lap traffic seperates Mike and Denny and I've noticed Mike is a little slow coming out of turn one and through the esses. But he gets into turn 1 better than me. My only option is to outbrake him into the last turn which wraps around onto the main straight. My first two times are unsuccesful. My 3rd time I'm able to go in a little deeper than him and 'muscle' him out of the way. Now its on to Denny. Denny has put about 1 second on me. Doesn't sound like much but when we are running lap times within in .08 seconds of each other thats crucial.
I'm able to start placin my car better as I figure out where on the track there is the most grip. I'm able to catch him in less then 10 laps. We again et into lap traffic. One of these people we are lapping is Denny's wife Angie. This woman can drive! I'm afraid he's gonna get by then she is gonna block me. He passes her on comin out of th esses, if I don't get her by out braking into the last turn I can kiss the race good bye. I come in hard and get back on the gas, out braking her. She's able to make her car stick on the outside and hang with me. My kart gets lose and I drift wide. I slide up and bump her, and she bumps the wall then back into me. I'm able to get by, giving her an I'm sorry wave. Denny has been about 4 kart lengths on me. We are now on our own and I'm slowly catching him.
I have no idea how many laps are left but I know we are gettin close. I've closed in to about 1 kart lengths on Denny when we are comin into the first turn. I know if I can stick this turn I can have a shot to out brake him after the esses then make it a drag race to the finish.
Coming into the first turn, Denny swings the rear end as usual, a little excessively but he makes it work. This time is different. The rear end comes around too far and he doesn't have the power to pull out of it. In the middle of his slide, the lack of power causes him to oversteer and push into the inside wall. In less than a split second I was able to flinch and avoid him by less than an inch. I complete my lap as the leader to see the checkered flag waiving. A come from behind, last lap pass to win!!
We would have had a heck of a race to the finish. I was barely able to sneak this one out.
Denny, Mike and I are all the same weight. Our lap times were all within .08 seconds of each other. We were that close! All three of us lapped the entire field but ourselves.
A great day and a great race.
