Sunday 28 October 2012

Samuel's Second Outdoor Race - Hooton Park

Samuel took part in his second outdoor race on Sunday 21 October at Hooton Park.  He'd had a good solid practice day on the Saturday and was prepared for Sunday!  It was really heavy fog at the track - so much so that you couldn't see most of the track which was a bit worrying in the morning practice sessions as Samuel has a black suit, black helmet and black visor.....!

By the time qualifying came the dense fog had lifted and it was a glorious (but cold!) sunny day - the kind of sun that is really low in the sky and rather blinding!

He qualified in 21st place from 27 drivers and here is the video of the grid start with Samuel more or less camera centre (I zoomed in a little just in case!)  Just watch how many he manages to get past before he's lost in the engine smoke!


From this heat he finished in 17th place which meant he started the second heat in that place on the grid:


And he finished 16th which determined his placing in the final.  I didn't actually see his little skirmish with the back wheels of the kart in front as I was struggling to see with the sun right in my eyes and trying to video him but Samuel didn't actually realise what he'd done until we told him afterwards!


He finished overall 20th out of a field of 27 drivers which is not bad although his grid starts were good he just needed to keep the pace around the track.

Next outdoor race is Sunday 18 November and I'm not expecting the weather to be as kind!

Thursday 25 October 2012

Jacob's Fastest Session (So Far)

Jacob had his first race with Samuel on 16 October at Daytona Manchester - Samuel was already booked into the Tuesday evening session and as Jacob's football training was cancelled, we decided to take the risk of letting them both on the track at the same time!

There was no need to have worried as they were both fine - the last time they raced together was when Samuel was a Bambino over a year ago - so it was really nice to see them both on the track at the same time!

Out of 6 drivers (and some were quite a lot older than him) Jacob came 4th and knocked almost 0.2 seconds off his previous best time.

It was the first time he'd done a 30 minute session and he looked rather shattered when he came off track!


Thursday 11 October 2012

New Personal Best For Samuel - Again!

I'd like to say that we actually saw Samuel log his personal best on the track at Daytona Manchester on Sunday, however we missed it!  We were too busy watching all the other drivers, one of which I'm sure thought he was in a bumper car rather than a go-kart!

Samuel is still 4th on the board for the cadet and juniors but his new time is now 28.738 seconds - knocking 0.148 seconds off last weeks personal best.


Tuesday 9 October 2012

Bish, Bash, Bosh!

Jacob had another go in a cadet kart on Saturday at Daytona Manchester and managed to knock 0.5 seconds off his best lap from the week before, so he now has a 31.748 second lap.

He had a rather novel way of re-arranging the track:


Cold track + cold tyres = a spin!

Sunday 7 October 2012

Samuel - Round 9 Inkart Championship

Last Sunday was round 9 of the Inkart Championship at Daytona Manchester.  Samuel went into the race in second place overall in the Championship despite a rather inconsistent round 8 when he finished 5th.

From the random grid placings, he won the first heat, fifth in heat two and finished third in the last heat.  This meant he had gained 30 points and was placed in third place on the grid in the final.

He managed to keep the fourth place driver behind him for the full 20 laps although Samuel would have pulled away and challenged for second place, if the kart had been performing at its maximum, as he is usually a good half a second faster than the driver behind him.

So despite a few heart-stopping moments, Samuel finished third and here are the photos from the podium and also the video of the final:


 And the video:


Wednesday 3 October 2012

Jacob's First Cadet Session!

A short video of Jacob's first time in a cadet kart at Daytona Manchester.


He's only just turned 7 but he's too big for the Bambino kart and the Manager, Nick, has agreed to let him and two other Bambino drivers who are nearly 8 have a taster.  Once they have enough experience and are competent, they can then drive with the other advanced cadet drivers.  One of which is Samuel.  Which would make interesting viewing!

Jacob's fastest time was 32.12 which is not bad for a first time out.  So next time, he should go faster!

Incidentally, Samuel went in the same kart immediately following and set his personal best!

Tuesday 2 October 2012

New Personal Best for Samuel

Samuel had a good practice session at Daytona Manchester on Saturday and despite a lot of yellow flags during the session, Samuel managed to beat his previous personal best of 29.055 seconds.

Here he is with the updated board - 28.886 seconds.  Not bad when you consider that the three above him are at least two and a half years older and have been karting a lot longer!