October 2024
Shenington 14-15th September
I must apologise, I missed doing my report in September, so this has become a bumper report with 3 events. I've had 2 events at Shenington and a trip back to PFI along with some testing at Kart Sim.
After returning to school, it was good to get back to the track at Banbury to meet up with all my teammates and be on track at Shenington. Next year I’m planning on a move of class, from restricted to Waterswift, which is the same kart but without any restriction, this means different tyres, more power and greater overall speed. With this I decided that our Saturday tests would be in this class rather than restricted, with the plan to race in restricted on the Sunday to support my championship.
The weather was great for September, and I ran the whole day in this new class on new bigger slick tyres, after setting my fastest ever lap, just to prove I was pushing hard, the used tyres I had borrowed finally gave up and I was sent spinning into the pit lane, fortunately sustaining no damage, I did manage however to match Alfie’s fastest time of the day. Alfie has been driving a similar kart all year, so I was really pleased to be racing him.
Dad changed the kart back to restricted in the evening and we started the day ready to take on the class, hoping the new found confidence and speed might transfer to the smaller class. There were 14 entries in the class, all experienced drivers so it was going to be a challenge for the day. For the first time, I started on pole for the a heat, its always challenging to lead the pack to the rolling start.
Heat 1
I led the first lap but was under massive pressure from teammates Alessandro Sarlas and Phillip Paterau, we battled hard, but I was losing pace to them, despite only being a few tenths behind them, I got overtaken and dropped to 5th, I think mainly due to tyres, I was on used and everyone up front had managed to save a new set of the two sets allocated for the year.
Heat 2
Starting in 6th meant I had a bit of work to do, I pushed hard setting a new PB for Shenington of 50.21s, the top time just 0.025 seconds quicker.
I managed to move up from 6th to 4th beating some of the quicker drivers and getting one of my best heat finishes at Shenington. With all the issues I've had with my engine since May, it felt like it was so much better with a new carburettor.
Heat 3
Starting 9th was always going to make it hard to move up the grid, even setting similar times to the leaders I couldn’t make many places, still only off the pace by 0.3s, I finished eighth.
Final
The combination of points meant a starting position of 6th on the grid, I got a terrible start moving me down the grid to 10th, Alessandro got a good start leading, but crashed on turn 7 pushing him down to 11th and behind me, as he pushed to catch and, in a bid, to overtake, he crashed into me, causing some damage and knocking me off the track, I recovered but could only make it up to 11th. Alessandro received a 5 second penalty for the incident and made it back up to 5th with no damage.
PF International Club Round 6
I’m still learning my way around the Lincoln circuit, so we headed back to PFI for the club round over the weekend of the 5th and 6th October, no Jade Karts, they were committed to the IAME world championships in Portugal.
Saturday had 5 test session, I had joined JPD motorsport as the only Iame Restricted in their team they would help over the weekend, a small yet professional team who have in the past help Jade when they are very busy.
It was a good grid of 18 drivers including all the British championship regulars, we are just learning, this is my second race at the venue as we prepare for the 2025 Kartmasters GP which will be held in August.
PF International Club Round 6 Qualifying Results
We didn’t make too many changes to the kart during the test sessions but mainly concentrated on improving times by improving my lines, Dad and Jason were coaching me but I was struggling to get every lap perfect, you need to use a lot of kerbs which I was finding hard.
Qualifying
I was 3 seconds off the pace down in the 1.08 seconds and just couldn’t get any quicker, I think we should have tried some gearing changes to find some pace but Jason was still convinced the slow lap times were down to experience rather than lack of pace from the kart, qualified 16th !!
Heat 1
Starting P16 I did finally break the clutches of the 1.08 laps and got a new PB of 1.07.7, I was pleased with making up a place too, finishing in P15. Finally, some progress. Just 2 seconds off the front runners now.
Heat 2
A better start, again from 16th saw me pushing up the grid, and racing with my long-time friend Louis Williams-Mabbs, he is well versed with PFI and knows how to drive, a good battle ensued and despite not getting the better of him I moved up 3 places to 13th.
Final
All this work, didn’t help my starting position in the final and I found myself back down in 16th as we lined up for the race.
It was quite an uneventful race and I was left on my own in just making up 1 place to 15th.
Despite the disappointing results, I felt I learned a lot more about getting a good lap around the circuit and when I come back, I think it will mean that I can really compete.
I received a lot of feedback during the day, mostly positive.
Shenington Kart Club Round - 9 October 2024
This was my first weekend in the new Waterswift class after our good run in testing I have decided to move up early and get the advantage of more testing, it won't affect the results in the WSR championship as only 7 rounds count and I have 8 completed.
Engine upgraded, new tyres and a kart setup for the higher speeds and increased grip, the downside is another 9kg of lead on the kart to meet the minimum weight of 110kg
Some of the other restricted drivers also joined the Saturday test session as they consider their next step in 2025.
Saturday testing was going well, although the conditions were very changeable it did finally dry enough to get out on the used slicks in the last session, the track was tricky in the rain and the surface became very slippy when the rubber had been washed off. Coming out of the pits I collided head on with a spinning driver causing significant front end damage to the kart.
Dad and Ross worked all evening, they stripped the kart to a chassis, jigged it, replaced all the bent bits and had it all back together and straight for Sunday morning. I cant thank them enough for the effort.
Sunday Warm Up
Only 5 laps for warm up in the damp conditions, my first opportunity to drive the kart, following the big crash. I managed to get up 7 places and get a setup that would be good in the wet for the first heat. the kart was as good as ever.
Heat 1
Starting 25th on the grid, I was 3rd on the IAME pack with all the ROTAX karts out in front was a new experience, I couldn’t even see the lights from where I was.
I dropped a place to 4th (in class) and moved up to 20th overall and was on the pace, given the conditions I was very happy with that, and Dad was impressed given that my dashboard was smashed in the crash, and I had no indication of speed.
The weekends main feature would be the weather, we were in the middle of a terrible storm, and it went from brilliant sunshine to monsoon at some points.
Heat 2
They split the grid start this time, so we didn’t catch and pass the ROTAX class, started P 24 – 2nd Waterswift, the mixed conditions again showing that some were much quicker and I was a bit cautious, I finished 26th and P6.
Heat 3
Starting 27th didn’t look too good. 5th in Waterswift, again with a split grid which helped, at least I could see the lights this time. In the drying conditions I had a great run, setting some better lap times, coming in 3rd behind teammate William Heynes, my best heat result ever, in any class. It was a great battle but then an additional penalty meant I gained an advantage,
Final
After the lunchtime downpour the weather changed to beautiful sunshine and dried the track for the final.
On new slicks for the first time all weekend. I would be starting back down in 27th hoping for a good start, I made it up as far as 23rd, but it was taking me some time to get used to the effort required from the longer race, I dropped back to 25th in the final two laps, just 0.5s of William Heynes who was on fire making a recovery from an earlier spin.
For my first time in the class I was really happy with the result, but I need to work on my fitness, the kart is much more physical when it has lots of grip, the wet track on Saturday and Sunday morning hid this a little but once dry, it’s a harder kart to drive and keep lap times good,
Calendar
Kart Sim Training - PFI Half term
Shenington Round 10 - 16th 17th November
PFI Festive Cup 30th November – 1St December
I will have Harley Allen joining following me at Shenington to capture media footage, photos and interviews for my 2025 sponsorship package, she is a young journalist starting out so it will be great to have her follow me throughout the weekend, giving an insight into what a weekend is all about. Look out for some footage on my socials soon.