January 2025
Having survived Christmas with no karting action, I felt I needed to get some practice prior to the 1st round at Shenington, however my karts weren’t available.
We arranged to hire a Birel kart from Racing Perfection. They are the UK Factory Rotax team for Birel ART, in the same way that Jade are the UK Factory team for the Birel ART IAME. The Rotax is a completely different engine, originally a 125cc which is down rated to meet the rules. I was really looking forward to the different engine as its always the key choice with drivers, IAME or Rotax, this was likely to give me a chance to try the opposition.
I was booked for a day testing on the 5th January at Whilton. Dad was still recovering from flu so when we met at the track in minus 2 and snow, things weren’t looking that good. I wasn’t sure we would be exploring the best a Rotax had to offer and really, the challenge was going to be to keep the kart going forward.
I wasn’t wrong, the first session was extremely cold, and long, 15 minutes, whilst not spinning too many times the challenge was just to get around. I was absolutely frozen after the first session! The carburettor was frozen, and the brakes were covered in snow and ice.
The day did gradually warm to a tropical 3 degrees, the track was so wet at the beginning of session 6 there was only me and one other driver on track. All we really learnt was how to drive in the wet - hopefully this will help me during the season as it did at least prove I can drive whatever the weather.
New 2025 Birel ART IAM Inter Kart
After using my existing kart as a cadet and into the inter category for 2 years, its had a few accidents and the chassis wasn’t quite as good as it could be. Although still giving reasonable speed, it was felt that now was the time to step into a new chassis. Birel Art last produced an update in 2022, so a step up to a brand new chassis, bodywork and brakes was a good move to keep me competitive. The kart benefits from improved aerodynamics, a stiffer frame and a new rear axle setup. I spent an afternoon at the Jades base, just outside Banbury, getting the kart setup. The new full carbon seat is a huge improvement both in comfort and fitment, I need a lot less padding to feel secure. New Mag-Alloy wheels are lighter and stiffer, im really happy with the new design improvements.
Winter Kickstart Shenington Practice Day - 18th January
The first round of the year was the Shenington Winter Kickstart. The weather running up to the event wasn’t great, but the Saturday was dry with light winds, just a little cold.
The plan was to use the Saturday to get the kart running and get used to the new setup, adjust anything that was needed and try and get up on the pace. The kart was quite good straight away - we made some minor steering changes but by the end of the day we were just 0.4 seconds of my PB, a time I set back on a warm day last October, so I was quite happy with that.
We had also been testing axles, there are 3 basic choices that give either less or more flex depending on the stiffness of the material. Between me, Alessandro and Philip we tried all 3: me on medium, Alessandro on soft and Philip on hard. There wasn’t much difference, but overnight we all changed to the softest, opting to find the most grip. The gearing was good, and the kart was a big improvement on the old kart.
Shenington Race Day Round 1
Sunday started cold and wet - whilst not actually raining, the track was wet and cold and the mist hung in the air. Our previous test day data was somewhat worthless in these conditions.
Practice
The short practice in the morning went ok, although our transponder wasn’t recording well, with only 1 lap of the 3 that we completed showing, and not showing the anything too useful for the timekeepers.
Heat 1
I lined up on the 7th row, 9th place for the start of heat 1. Whilst grid positions are random, I was really hoping for a better start position, in the end it didn't make a lot of difference, I soon found myself off the pace. We had opted for my worn wets and the track turned out to be a lot more slippery than I realised, the kart had no grip at all, so much understeer I was 2 seconds a lap off the pace and no matter what I tried I just couldn’t get the grip from the kart. We stayed on dry gearing too, which was a big mistake. The transponder continued to give errors on timing and position, we hire these so, I went and changed it at the time keepers’ request.
Not the best of starts for the day!
Heat 2
I started P7 in the second heat. The start was a mess, the kart behind was pushing me hard and as we went into the first corner, he hit the back, I stayed on track as he spun and caused chaos behind, I got away and the with full wets and wet gearing the kart was much more competitive. It had grip, would turn in and even had some pace on the straights. Although it seemed I was still a little slower than I needed I was only 0.4 seconds off my much more experienced teammate ,Will Heynes. Overall, I was quite happy with the heat, I managed to keep out of trouble and finished P11. Once again, the timing wasn’t working, so I was sent off for my second 3rd transponder. I knew however the damage was done, with my poor finish in heat 1 I was going to start the final near the back of the grid.
Sure enough after the final tot up of points I found out I would be in P14, one place behind teammate Philip Paterau, with only Seth Angus behind.
Final
The final saw me in P14. The weather hadn’t improved, if anything it was worse! As I sat on the grid, it started to snow!
Again, my start wasn’t the best, dropping to last, but I pushed hard to get into the race. In hindsight I think we should have changed our gearing again. The speed of the kart was good, and I was catching on every lap, it was just incredibly hard to pass in the conditions. I managed to pass Reian Townsend just before he had the misfortune to lose a chain and sideline him for the race but ! was having a great battle with Ethan Lucas. We kept swapping positions and on the last lap he went for another overtake, hitting my side pod. I stayed on track and he spun. In the end I managed to come in 13th, not a great weekend but it’s a very competitive class, had heat 1 been better, it may have been different. What was really pleasing was the lap times, in the final, the top 14 were covered by just over a second. The new kart was very good, I think we have some further changes to make which may show some improvements.
PF International - Winter Warmer
The weekend 1st and 2nd February will see a return to PF International. I am really still learning this circuit, it’s a challenge to get on the times. This will be my second race in the Inter class but I am really looking forward to it.
We are only going with a small team, again teammates Phillip and Alesandro will join me in the class. Alesandro is currently the reigning Waterswift Restricted GP champion and I am hoping I can pick up some tips from him as this will be the first time we have been at the circuit together.
As you'll see from my calendar, this is an extra event, as I need as much practice as possible. I’m hoping for dry weather!
