Another Podium For Jacob!

It was Formula Bambino Round 7 last weekend at Daytona Manchester.  There were 7 drivers in total and Jacob set the second fastest time in his first heat with a time of 33.805 seconds.  In his second heat he went faster (the track was warming up as it was really hot outside!) with a 33.393 fastest lap.

Combining the two times together, this gave him an average of 33.6 seconds and good enough for second place and a podium finish!

He's can only compete in one more Formula Bambino before he turns 8, so hopefully, he will do just as well in that as he has been doing recently!

Like He's Never Been Away!

Samuel was itching to get out on track after watching Jacob have a podium finish at Daytona Manchester in the Formula Bambino Championship yesterday!  After checking that there was an available space in one of the practice sessions, Jacob quickly changed out of all his race gear so that Samuel could wear it.  The boys are a similar height despite the age difference so seeing Samuel dressed in Jacob's race gear was a little confusing!

Samuel had not been on the track at Daytona Manchester since the Festival and presentation of his Cadet Championship Second Place trophy on 23 December 2012 so it would be interesting to see how he did especially as he's now racing outdoors and it is very different to being indoors!

After a few laps of literally bouncing around the corner from coming off the bridge, he settled in and managed to creep up to be the fastest driver by lap 12.  He dropped down to second fastest and then took it back on lap 39 (incidently he was driving kart number 39 too!) with a 28.440.

Which, managed to be the fastest time of the day!

He really enjoyed the session and his overtaking was the best we'd ever seen him do at the track - really smooth and no hesitation when trying to get past the slower drivers.  Not bad to say he'd not been at the track for almost 6 months!  Samuel said after the race that if he'd have been in his own suit, helmet, gloves and boots, he would have done a 27 second lap!!

He's next outdoors at Three Sisters in the IKR Championship next weekend and then the following weekend is his first MSA race!!

Jacob Makes It Three In A Row!

Jacob has managed to make it three in a row in the Formula Bambino Championship at Daytona Manchester!  And he now has a full set (1st, 2nd and 3rd) of the trophies!  A link to the Facebook post from Daytona Manchester is here.

He wasn't quite on top form but managed a 33.752 lap in the first heat and a 33.861 in the second heat.  The average of the two times meant that he'd completed in the third fastest time and therefore a podium finish!

He got changed after his race rather quickly as Samuel was itching to get out on track.  And there was a vacant spot...... more to follow!!

Jacob On The Podium Again!

Sunday 12 May was round 5 of the Formula Bambino Championship at Daytona Manchester.  Jacob was still the lap record holder!

He was in heats 2 and 4 along with other quick drivers and he just didn't look comfortable in his first heat and actually finished 4th out of the 5 drivers.

In his second heat he really looked a lot more confident and finished first.  However, we didn't know any of this until the announcements in reverse order following the race!  I didn't think Jacob had managed to secure a podium finish, but he actually managed to pull it all back in the second heat and completed in the second fastest time (average of the two heats) overall.

So here he is on the podium:

 And with his second place trophy which now has pride of place next to his first place trophy!

Samuel is back in action on Sunday 19 May at 3 Sisters in the IRK Championship.

Jacob Does The Double!

It's been such a long time coming that we didn't think it would ever happen! 

Round 4 of the Formula Bambino Championship took place on Sunday 14 April at Daytona Manchester and as Jacob had completed a rather good practice session the week before (he set a new lap record for the year!) and his football season is over, he wanted to enter it.

His first heat (two heats with the fastest average time of them determines where the driver finishes overall) he looked fast and managed to lap the other 3 drivers in the 15 minute session.  He looked not quite as quick in the second heat but still held his own.

Then its the announcement of the placings in reverse order once all heats have completed.  When the third place driver name was read out I knew Jacob had a podium finish but didn't know where!

Only first place!  AND he broke the lap record that he set the previous week by 1.3 seconds!!  Apologies for the blurry podium photo - I was shaking!

And here he is with his trophy:

And the new lap record:

It wasn't all good news for the day though.  Samuel had round 4 of the Indikart Championship at Hooton Park but didn't even get as far as qualifying due to some mechanical issues that could not be resolved.  Still, he has round 5 in May to look forward to and next weekend he's competing at Three Sisters at Wigan in their first IKR Championship for non MSA drivers.

2012 Inkart Championship Festival - Daytona Manchester

Last Sunday was the presentation for the overall top three in the Cadet and Junior Inkart Championship at Daytona Manchester.  However, before the presentation took place, there was a Festival race for Cadets, Juniors and Parents.  Tom kindly raced for us in the parents race!

A slightly different format to the races than previous - a two lap qualifier would determine grid positions for each of the heats - fastest to go first.  Samuel, for the first heat started right at the back of the grid - probably due to the change in format and that he was behind a slower driver.   So here is the video from that heat and his grid start was pretty good!


After the three heats, he was placed third on the grid in the final and despite changing places with Jordan for second at around half way through the race, Samuel finished third and received another trophy!

And here is the podium for the Cadet, Junior and Parent (or designated driver!) race finals:

Tom finished second in his final and also received a trophy!

And then the presentations for the overall Championship - covering all 11 rounds from January to November.  Samuel finished 9 times on the podium including a first place and the total of all the points gained meant he finished second overall in the Cadet Inkart Championship!  The other two podium finishers in the Cadet class have both been karting a number of years so its quite an achievement by Samuel as his first ever go in a kart was only just over 18 months ago!  And he is the youngest out of the three by 3 years!

And here he is with Tom and their three trophies!

And there ends the 2012 karting season!  12 trophies in total, 10 indoor races, 1 outdoor race and 1 Championship trophy.  Not a bad haul for his first season of karting - hope it continues next year!

Samuel Round 11 - Inkart Championship

It was round 11 of the Inkart Championship at Daytona Manchester on 25 November and it was also the final round of the season.

Samuel was placed 5th, 1st and 5th to start on the grid in his three heats and he managed decent finishes to be placed third on the grid for the final.

The final was fairly static so here is a video from the third and final round as he starts 5th on the grid.



He manages to move up a few places and then gets a black flag for advantage by contact so he then has to drive into the sin-bin which moves him to the back of the heat.  So from 7th place he then manages to move up and finishes 4th.  Not bad considering there are only 10 laps in the heat and a lap is done in around 30 seconds if not quicker!  And its not an easy track to overtake on.


He starts in the final in third place and finishes in third.  Which means he's won his 9th trophy of the season from 11 rounds and takes second place overall in the Cadet Championship in his first year of karting - 18 months ago he'd never been in a kart!

Here he is on the podium with Saul and Jordan:

And with the Juniors and their trophies:

And Samuel and Jordan together!

The race report can be viewed by clicking on the link in the sidebar if you want to have a read!!

Samuel Round 10 - Inkart Championship

Another exciting Sunday morning on 28 October as it was round 10 of the Inkart Championship at Daytona Manchester!  There were 12 cadet drivers which meant more heats than usual although each driver only takes part in three prior to the final.

Samuel started on pole position for his first heat and retained it, taking maximum points.  In his second heat he finished third from a fifth grid start, and the third heat he started fourth and finished fourth.  So this meant he started fourth on the grid in the A final.

True to form he had a rather good grid start and managed to get past Jordan on the first corner into third place and held of Michael Burrows.

Here is the video from the final.  It's a bit longer than usual as the race was red flagged part way through due to Jordan's fuel cap coming off.  You can just about see Samuel as he's the one in black and the lights seemed dimmer than normal!


So he finished in third place which meant another trophy (he is getting awfully close to the 10 he needs to get for a trophy cabinet (I promised in February when he won his first trophy that I'd buy him a cabinet if he won 10 trophies, not thinking he'd manage it!)) and a podium finish!

One more round to go at the end of November and then that's it for the year - Samuel is currently in second place overall in the cadet championship.

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!

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.

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!

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:

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!

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!

Both Gone Faster!

Jacob had a good round 8 in the Formula Bambino Championship yesterday at Daytona Manchester - his previous fastest lap was 33.811 and he knocked 0.3 seconds off to go 33.493 .  The board has not yet been updated so I can't show a photo of it - so that will follow!  He also finished fourth overall - just not quite making it onto the podium.

Then this morning Samuel had a practice session also at Daytona Manchester.  The track looked fast as Jordan had broken the lap record in the session immediately prior.  Samuel looked like he was doing well and managed to beat his previous fastest time of 29.561 fairly early on in the session.  So we were rather pleased with that!

Jordan however then broke the lap record (that he'd set minutes earlier) probably 4 or 5 times more!  The pace seemed to be rubbing off on Samuel as he then knocked in a 29.055 second lap - a good 0.5 seconds faster than he's ever gone on the new track layout!

So the morning ended with Jordan breaking the lap record a number of times and Samuel getting the second fastest lap to date - just outside 28 seconds. Not bad for a nearly 9 year old!

And here is a photo of the rather tired, hot and sweaty young drivers:

And the top 10 Junior board with Samuel in second place.

Samuel - Round 7 Inkart Cadet Championship

Last Sunday was round 7 of the Inkart Championship at Daytona Manchester.  Samuel had two second place finishes and a fifth in the qualifying rounds and was placed third on the grid in the final.

Video below of the start of the race - didn't manage to tape it all in one go as the camera battery died part way though!  Samuel moved up to second on the first hairpin and stayed in that position to finish second.




Here he is on the podium with the other Cadet drivers and the Juniors.

 And with his trophy

Samuel actually did his fastest lap to date too - he's now completed the new track layout in 29.561 seconds, knocking almost 0.2 seconds off his previous best!

He has now moved up to second overall in the Cadet Championship.  And we just have 4 rounds left in the season.

Jacob Formula Bambino Power Lap

Jacob got on the powerlap board following Formula Bambino at the start of July.

He's saying 5th place and giving a thumbs up just in case you were thinking he can't count!

Good Lap Time - Even Better Lap Time!

With the new track layout at Daytona Manchester came a new lap time board for the Junior drivers and Samuel has got his name in the top nine drivers:

15 July 2012 - 29.943 seconds

22 July 2012 - 28.878 seconds

And he went even faster on 25 July setting a 29.748 lap time - no photo of it on the board though as its only Sunday Club times that make it!  And he's the youngest on the board by at least 2 years!

New Track Layout at Daytona Manchester & Lap Record for Samuel!

The track at Daytona Manchester has been changed and today was the first time it was available.  Jacob had a Bambino practice session (its Formula Bambino tomorrow!) this evening so he could get a head start on the track.

Short video showing the new layout:



And a handout from reception:

Samuel had an Intermediate practice session straight after - only sessions available - and he set the lap record on the Intermediate 275 metre track - 17.418 seconds.  It was the first ever session of a Cadet so we are not sure how long he'll be the record holder for!

On the old track his fastest Intermediate time was 18.3 seconds and it was the same length and the lap record was around 17.3 seconds.  Not sure if this is a quicker track, or if he's greatly improved in the period between, or if he's adapted very quickly to the new layout!  We shall see on Sunday when he has a proper practice session (he's booked in for two) with other Cadets and Juniors on the Advanced 450m layout.

Samuel - Round 6 Inkart Championship

It was round 6 of the Inkart Championship on Sunday at Daytona Manchester.  Six Cadet drivers competed and after a few setbacks during the warm-up session and the three qualifying rounds, which Samuel overcame with steely determination and showed that he is a great competitor.  For the final he was placed third on the grid.

As in previous rounds, the start from the grid line was rather exciting and changed the lineup!

Here is the video from the final:


And the results - Samuel came second!  Here he is getting the trophy from Mark:

Podium finish for the Juniors and Cadets - Samuel is far left next to Aaron who broke the track lap record twice in his final race in the Juniors!

 And Samuel with his trophy!

Overall, he is still placed third in the Championship for Cadets although he has gained valuable points on the second placed Cadet.  Six rounds down, five to go!