Round 5 – Cadwell Park – 16th Sept
Lovely & sunny, but windy. Not the best conditions to race in, but much better than rain !!
Qualifying
With the possibility of winning the Championship, the plan was to just make sure the engine was ok & we qualified 4th.
Race 1
Bob had an ok start, Louise Colin, Charles Morris & current Champion Simon Bateman took the lead & it stayed like that for 6 laps, until Charles pulled off. Bob was having a tussle with Don Thompson but lost distance for the last couple of laps & finished 4th.
When Bob came back in he said to me, “I had a senior moment & took to the grass” ……… turns out he’s not that senior, we had a front puncture & was lucky not to take to the grass & meet with the hay bails !!
Race 2
2nd row on the grid, again, Bob had an ok start. Louise took the lead from Charles & Simon, but unfortunately Charles didn’t make the 2nd lap, (he doesn’t have much luck at this circuit, even though he’s the current lap holder). Bob was having a serious scrap with Don Thompson & it was brilliant to watch, on lap 6 I didn’t see Bob or Don come passed the start/finish line.
Your 1st thought is, Oh no, they’ve crashed & you look for the Red flags, but Don pull into the pits & I asked him where Bob was. Turns out that Bob broke the engines big end & Don’s clutch went at the just after !! Louise took the win from Simon & then Tom Whyte.
Louise is now the 2007 Long Circuit Champion, but unfortunately she won’t be racing the 1 plate next year because she’s moving to 125cc karts.
So, final standings are, Louise is the champion, we finished 2nd from Simon. Tom finished 4th from Charles in 5th.
But you know what ……….. we’ll get it next year !!
Sarah.
Round 4 / British Superkart Grand Prix – 21st & 22nd July
We arrived on the Thursday eagerly watching the weather report for the weekend & we decided to take advantage of practicing on the Friday morning, which was a good idea because in the afternoon it rained & rained & rained, so we retreated to the caravan & stayed there for the remaining of the day.
Saturday 21st July
Rain !!
The schedule for the day was practice, timed qualifying & then 2 races. Due to the consistent rain & the state of the track all we could do was practice & qualifying in the afternoon. The track was still very wet for practice so Bob took his time & just did the minimum laps needed. For qualifying the track was a bit better, so Bob went out & felt confident enough with the wet set up & qualified 3rd for the 1st race Sunday morning.
That evening we took a muddy stroll to the clubhouse & watched one of the European kart drivers do karaoke, I have never seen a Dutch Elvis before & he was brilliant !!
Sunday 22nd July
Sunshine !!
The schedule was changed again to, race 1, race 2 & the Grand Prix.
Race 1
Bob had an ok start, but unfortunately only completed 1 lap, the engine seized, so we changed back to the Old Faithful, 2006 engine.
Race 2
Having not finished the last race, Bob started from the 5th row of the grid. He had a good start & came around the start finish straight in 4th & then gained places during the 10 lap race & much to my & Bob’s delight ……………………. He won !!
Bob’s 1st Long Circuit Race Win !! We’ve never jumped about so much when we met up in the parc ferme !!
With this result Bob secured Pole position for the 2007 British Superkart Grand Prix.
Grand Prix
I don’t know what was going through Bob’s mind when he was waiting for the lights to turn Green, but I was nervous just watching !!
Bob had a good start & took the lead up the hill, but our Championship rival Louise Colin come through the pack very quickly & before Bob knew it, Louise had taken the lead closely followed by Charles Morris and Bob was now racing for 3rd position with a former Grand Prix champion, Don Thompson, closely followed by 3 other drivers. Bob had a couple of problems with the gearbox & lost distance from Don. By now, Louise & Charles had a substantial gap from the rest of the pack, but unfortunately Charles had to retire & Louise took the win, from Don & then Bob.
Being on a Grand Prix podium with a bottle of champagne, there’s only 1 thing that you can do …. shake …. shake …. shake …… spray !!
So, a race win & 3rd in the British Superkart Grand Prix, I think that it was a very wet, but successful weekend. There’s still only 9 points between us & Louise going into the last round, back at Cadwell Park in September.
Sarah.
14/07/07
Well, we’ve just got back from taking the Kart to the Vauxhall open day, it was a great day & if you didn’t come, you missed out on sitting in our kart & watching on-board footage of a 210 going around Oulton & Mallory (kindly provided by Phil & Louise Colin) !! Loads of other people did & they were impressed (I hope) !!
A Short Circuit racer, John Morrish came along, but was unable to bring his kart. He had lots of information & pictures & if you want any of this, please e-mail me & I’ll get some sent to you.
We’ve now got to check everything’s ok & pack up ready to leave on Thursday for a weekend of racing at the British Superkart Grand Prix at Cadwell Park.
Sarah.
Round 3 – Snetterton 1st July
For a change it was a Kart meeting, a mini Grand Prix I suppose. So we had qualifying & 3 races. Points were gained for the championship for all 3 races, but whoever won the last race, won the “O” plate.
What’s happening to the UK summer ??
It was raining all week, the Sunday morning, but as soon as we arrived at the circuit, it cleared up !!
Qualifying
We went out with the 2007 engine on qualified 5th. Bob couldn’t get the engine to pull going up the hill on the main straight, with the added fact that it was really windy didn’t help. So we reverted back to last season’s engine again.
Race 1
Coming along the start/finish straight, everything seemed ok until the lights went out & the “snetterton curse” took place !!
The Spark Plug Cap popped off & cut the engine off just yards after the line. Apart from that, the engine was ok !!
During that break, the plug was replaced so that it wouldn’t come off again !!
Race 2
Having not finished the 1st race, we were on the back of the grid, Bob had an ok start, but within the 1st lap the race was Red Flagged. Long Circuit Champion, Simon Bateman had collided with a 125cc kart at high speed & there was a lot of debris on the track. Lucky enough, neither Simon or the other driver were seriously hurt, but unfortunately Simons kart was bent & the bodywork was smashed, so he packed up & went home.
For Bob, this stoppage was a good time to send me running up & down the pit lane getting tools to put the old plug cap on & change the spark plug itself because he said that the engine wasn’t coming out of the corners quickly enough.
Race 2 – Re-start
Again, Bob had an ok start & came around in 3rd place & stayed there for 3 laps until Louise Colin had to retire from leading the race, Charles Morris took the win & Bob finished 2nd.
Race 3
Bob qualified front row & had a good start. Louise soon came up the pack & was racing for the lead with Charles & Bob was again in 3rd. Charles retired & Louise took the win & Bob took 2nd.
With the trophies awarded on points gained for the 3 races, we came home with a 2nd place trophy & according to my sum’s we are just 9 points behind Louise in 2nd place.
It’s the British Superkart Grand Prix at Cadwell Park in 2 weeks, there will be drivers from all over the world coming to race. It’s a great weekend’s racing & it’s a good social event.
Bob used to work for Vauxhall’s & has been asked to take the kart down for the open day on Sunday
15th July. There will also be a Short Circuit kart on display, so come down, have a look at some of the trophies we have won, watch some on-board footage, bring your camera & have a sit in the kart. It's a free day out, the gates open at 10am & close at 4pm.
See you there,
Sarah.
Round 2 – Oulton Park 16th June
I’d been watching the weather report all week & it said rain, then cloudy, then rain etc.etc !! & that was the form for the day !!
Qualifying
It had rained over night so there were damp patches all over the circuit. So it was decided that wet tyres were the best bet. We put the repaired 2007 engine on & qualified 4th.
We’d heard that some of the track was dry, but the fast part of the track was wet. So to play safe, the wet tyres were kept on, but as we were on the grid it started to brighten up, not good news when you haven’t got time to change to slick tyres !!
Race 1
Bob had an ok start, Louise Colin & Simon Bateman had gained a substantial gap to everyone else. Bob had a tussle with Tom Whyte & Dessie Black for 3rd. For the first time, I was praying for rain to save the tyres…… someone must have heard me...... it worked & for the last 4 laps it chucked it down !! Louise took the win from Simon by ½ second, from Bob & George Tomlinson.
The sun came out about 1pm & dried the track enough for us to put slick tyres on for race 2.
Race 2
Again Bob had an ok start, Louise & Simon had a good lead from everyone. Bob was having a scrap for 3rd with Tom & Dessie but there was a problem with the engine, so to save pushing & chance it seizing, Bob backed off. With half a lap to go Simon was leading the race when his drive chain broke, so Louise took the win & Bob finished 4th.
With the trophies awarded on points gained for the 2 races, we came home with a 3rd place trophy & we are leading the Championship.
My “favourite” circuit in 2 weeks, Snetterton, 3 meetings there & no race finishes, let’s hope the bad luck ends !!
Sarah.
Round 1 - Mallory Park 20th May
Well, the weather man said it would be cloudy with the possibility of showers, he was totally wrong !! It was roasting !!
Qualifying
We went out with our new engine on, but after 3 laps, it seized. So to save time, we fitted our 2006 engine.
Race 1
We started on the 3rd row & had a good start, Bob went into the 1st long corner in 5th place challenging for 4th with Tom Whyte. The current Long Circuit Champion, Simon Bateman was in the lead from Louise Collin then Charles Morris. Bob was having a good scrap for 4th with Tom, unfortunately Louise pulled out on the 7th lap then Bob started to pull away from Tom & finished the race in 3rd.
During the break between our races there was a 2 hour endurance bike race, so we had a look inside the engine & everything was ok.
Race 2
We started 3rd on the grid & again had a good start. It was Simon from Charles, Louise & then Bob. Simon pulled in on lap 3 & from then on the positions stayed the same. Charles took the win from Louise then Bob & then Tom, with Bob’s average lap speed of 82.96 mph.
So, again with the trophies awarded on points gained for the 2 races, we came home with a 2nd place trophy & we are 2nd in the 2007 Championship with only 11 points behind Charles.
Oulton Park in 4 weeks, enough time for my sunburn to go & to sort out what happened to the new engine.
On a non Motor sport subject, I would like to say that my sister Karen, ran the Manchester 10k run on Sunday & raised £500 for a local hospital Cancer trust, well done sis !!
Sarah.
25/04/07
Well it's just over 3 weeks until the start of the new 210 Long Circuit Championship & I've heard that there's only 8 drivers registered for this year !!
Come on you Short Circuit guys, if you’re fed up rushing around for each heat, cleaning up the leaking oil, figuring out why your engines bogging down coming out of those tight Short Circuit corners come & have a go on the Long Circuit. It’s relaxing waiting for your turn to go out, having time to watch the other racing, then going out & going allot faster than you do at Short Circuit. We need more 210’ers out to keep the Long Circuit racing, if your not sure about it, come to Mallory in a couple of weeks & see what your missing out on.
See you there !!
Sarah.
20/03/07
We have had the dates for the 2007 season confirmed, unfortunately as per last year the proposed meeting at Silverstone was been cancelled & only 5 meetings have been arranged for this year. I’ll put the dates on the 2007 Calendar tab.
A new Short Circuit has been built just down the road so we are hopping to go testing in the next couple of weeks.
The Long Circuit Challenge isn’t looking very good for a 2008 season if we do not have more drivers. So, if you have raced before, put your leathers on, dust down those engines & get on the track. If you are worried you wont get off the grid, do not fear, I’ll give you a push off !!
Even if you have no kit or are thinking of starting karting, get in contact with us & we’ll give you advice on what you need & where to get hold of what is needed to get you racing.
Sarah.
10/02/07
Well, there’s not much to report apart from, yet again there are rumors that we’re going to Silverstone this year. If it is arranged, that should be a good meeting as it would be great to race at the home of British Motor Sport. We have an unconfirmed 2007 season race schedule with the 1st meeting to be in May, so we have plenty of time to prepare the kart.
Over the last few months a few ideas have come to mind on how to increase speed & reliability, just have to wait & see if they work !!
Sarah.
