CKRC 2014 - Round 3 - 20 April 2014

The third round of Cheshire Kart Club 2014 Championship took place on Sunday 20 April. With 5 Hondas racing, Samuel was given 2nd, 1st and 3rd for his random grid starts.

He had a very close first heat with Kai Hunter, exchanging the lead a number of times; Samuel crossed the line in second place 0.2 seconds behind but claimed the fastest lap of the heat with a 42.75.

Heat two and Samuel lead most of the heat but again, very close racing and he crossed the line in second place 0.1 seconds behind Kai.

During the lunch break Samuel was interviewed by a film crew from Super1 TV Productions.

Third heat and again, Samuel lead most of the heat and this time the times were even closer with him and Kai virtually side by side crossing the start finish line. Samuel claimed the fastest lap again with a 42.54 second lap.

Samuel started in second place in the 12 lap final. And once again, the racing was very intense with Samuel gaining the lead on lap 4 - him and Kai crossed the line at the same time but Samuel gained the advantage and stayed in the lead until lap 9 when he dropped back just 0.08 seconds. He pulled it back on the penultimate lap and set a new Championship lap record of 42.31 (and also track lap record!) Kai gained an unfair advantage on the next to last corner of the last lap, pushing Samuel off and was subsequently disqualified; Samuel took the win and the top step on the podium.

Collectively, the CKS team had a great racing day - as well as the Honda Cadet win, Ross took home the IAME Cadet, Nathan the Mini Max and Aaron a second place in the Senior Rotax final.

CKRC 2014 - Round 2 - 16 March 2014

Round of Cheshire Kart Racing Club Championship and the Cheshire Oaks Trophy and Samuel started with maximum points from round 1 the previous month. Through all three heats he dominated the field with a 7 second lead in the first and a 14 second lead in the second heat. Even after starting 4th in the third heat, Samuel had moved up to second by the end of the first lap but after a tustle in lap two, of which he came of worst, he dropped to 4th place but by the 5th lap he'd regained his lead.

He crossed the finish line with an impressive 17 second lead but he actually set his fastest lap time of the day in the second heat with a 43.13 which meant he had taken the fastest lap of the day and set another season lap record for the track.

Here he is on the podium along with the top Honda Novice and the Comer winner.

CKRC 2014 - Round 1 - 16 February 2014

The first round of the Cheshire Kart Racing Club 2014 championship took place on 16 February. It was rather cold - typical February weather! The random grid placings placed Samuel at different grid start places across the three rounds however he finished in first place for each of them with progressively quicker times - 49.79, 45.42 and 44.72.

In the second heat he finished a clear 5 seconds ahead of the next placed driver and set the fastest laps in both heats one and two.

In the final he started first and finished first with a 6 second margin to the second placed driver and in the fastest time of the day (setting a new season lap record) with 44.27. The final wasn't without drama - in lap 7 he dropped back to 2nd place but pulled it back by the tenth lap.

And here he is on the podium with his first place trophy

Cheshire Kart Racing Club Championship Presentation 2013

The Cheshire Kart Racing Club 2013 Championship presentations took place on Saturday 18 January. Samuel collected the Honda Cadet title and was presented with the winners trophy inscribed with his name (he is the first Honda Cadet winner!), a trophy to keep and also a large colour print of him on track.

Cheshire Kart Racing Club Championship - Round 10

Busy weekend!  Samuel raced at Cheshire Kart Club round 10 in the Championship and he went into the race with a slim 8 points lead in the Championship.

In heat 1, Samuel started 3rd on the grid with the Comer Cadets, finishing 2nd in the Honda's and 5th overall.  Heat 2 he started 4th and finished as 2nd Honda again with a 47.27 second lap which, considering the time of year was not too bad.

In the final he won the Honda Cadet race, improving his lap time with 44.84. Here he is with his first place trophy:

And with his team mates - Jordan took top Honda Cadet Novice and Aaron took top Novice in his class too!  So a good weekend for CKS!

With winning the race, Samuel has actually won the Honda Cadet Championship at Cheshire Kart Club!  He will be attending the awards ceremony early in January to collect the Championship trophy!

Straight after the trophy presentation we had to go to Three Sisters race track in Wigan for another presentation......

Cheshire Kart Racing Club - Championship Round 9

Another weekend, another race!  This time Cheshire Kart Racing Club Championship round 9.  Three Hondas racing with six Comers.  Samuel's random grid positions behind the Comers meant that he started in 6th place for heat one (finished in 3rd - 2nd for Honda) then 7th for heat two (finished in 5th overall, 2nd for Honda) and then for the final heat he was placed 7th again and finished 6th overall but in first place for the Honda's.  He almost took the fastest lap in the third heat of all the Cadets - just 0.01 seconds behind!

Going into the final, he was second on the grid for the Hondas and managed to finish in first place and third overall and set his fastest time of the day - 43.86!

Here he is on the podium with the rather large first place trophy:

And with Ryan from CKS and Troy who took top Novice for the Comers.

His next race is next week - 27 October!

Cheshire Karting Club Championship - Round 8

Round 8 of the Cheshire Kart Club Championship took place on 8 September with 13 Honda drivers in total.  This was Samuel's first race off his Novice plates and with the random grid positions for the three heats, he was placed on pole position for the first heat!  He dropped 7 places and finished 8th just 1.6 seconds behind the heat winner.

Heat 2 and heat 3 were better, starting in 6th place for heat 2, he made up 2 places and then three places in the third and final heat.  He was placed 7th on the grid for the final and maintained the place.

So no podium finish but it was a good race and experience starting within the pack rather than at the back as a Novice!

No blog post is complete without a photo so here is one of the stickers we bought from I Say Ding Dong - just so that the other drivers know who he is!

Next race is 22 September at Manchester and Buxton Kart Club!

Jacob and His New Kart!

Although Jacob has the Intrepid kart, we wanted another Project One so we sourced one and Jacob had a day testing it at Hooton Park!  Birthday and Christmas present all rolled into one!

He consistently knocked his times down over the day and managed to go 8.44 seconds quicker in his final session than he did at the start of the day!

And here he is with the kart:

Cheshire Kart Club - August - Top Novice Again!

Samuel took top Honda Novice again at the Cheshire Kart Club on 18 August.  He set a 43.77 lap in the first heat after starting 11th on the grid and finishing 11th out of the Hondas and Comer Cadets.  Heat 2 he did a 44.19 and finished 8th overall (3rd from 5 Honda's).

And in the final he went quicker and set a 43.87 finishing 3rd overall in the Honda's and top Novice.  Not his best time but still good enough to get on the podium and to take away a trophy!

He now has just one Novice race left before he can race properly and not start from the back each time.

Three of the boys came away with trophies - Garrett in first place for IAME and Alex with top IAME Novice - and they are all with Ryan from CKS.

Next race is 25 August!

Cheshire Kart Club - Top Honda Novice!

Samuel took part in his second MSA race at the weekend at a familiar track - Hooton Park - which is the home for the Cheshire Kart Club.  He'd had a good day practicing on the Saturday so was prepared for the race on Sunday.

As a novice he was placed 7th on the grid (at the back) for each of the 3 heats and also the final and the Honda's raced with the Comer engines.

Heat one he finished in 3rd place with a 43.24 second lap, heat 2 he finished in 5th place and did a faster lap with 42.62 seconds (which is his fastest ever at Hooton!) and heat 3 he also finished in 5th but the track was beginning to cool and he did a 43.07.

Despite the reasonable finishes in the heats, because he is a novice, he had to start the final at the back.  Samuel made contact on the first corner of the second lap and spun off and although he managed to get going again, he had a huge gap to the next driver.  He had a few more uncharacteristic spins before the checkered flag came down and finished overall as fastest Honda Cadet Novice and 6th in the Cadet class.

And here he is with his trophy:

The race results can be found here.

Next race is on 28 July!

Teachers Strike = A Day Karting For Jacob!

Teachers strike = a day karting for Jacob!  This was his first time on the track at Hooton Park in the Intrepid, which is now his kart as Samuel has graduated to a Project One.

Fortunately, Jacob is a similar size to Samuel so his wet suit fitted - typical that it rained on his first time out on track!  And for a change, it was Samuel who just had to sit and watch!

He really enjoyed himself and can't wait to go again!

ARKS Test for Samuel

Samuel took his ARKS test yesterday at Hooton Park.  He remembered all his flags and what they were for (including the cake one!) and he was watched whilst out on track by the examiner to make sure that he was competent.  Needless to say, he passed!

And no blog post should be without a few photos so here are some.

As it turns out, he wasn't well when undertaking his test which probably explains the hard eyes in the first photo!

The application for his MSA race licence has been sent and we are hoping he can race soon although he will be classed as a Novice and will race under black and white numbers until he is 'signed off'.

Round 3 - IndiKart Championship 2013 - Hooton Park

Round 3 of the IndiKart Championship at Hooton Park took place on 10 March.  Samuel qualified in 7th place from a field of 18 drivers and after the first heat he finished in 10th place.

The video below is from heat 1 and you'll see some rather quick reactions from Samuel as he manages to avoid other drivers' interesting driving techniques!


He finished heat 2 in 5th place which gave him an average of a 7th place grid start in the final.  He managed to finish 10th overall but still picked up 4 Championship points.

He's currently 4th place overall after 3 rounds.

On-board footage taken with a GoPro Hero 3 Black.

Round 4 is on 14 April.

Round 2 - IndiKart Championship 2013 - Hooton Park

Round 2 of the IndiKart Championship at Hooton Park was very very wet and cold.

Samuel had a difficult qualifying session and only managed one decent lap, however that was enough to give him 4th place.

He managed to stay in 4th for heat one and heat 2 so started in 4th for the final.  And finished 4th!

The top 4 drivers from the field of 16 were podium finishers so he got another trophy!

Footage below from his qualifying session and taken on a GoPro Hero 3 Black fixed to his crash helmet.



And with his trophy:

Round 3 is on 10 March.

Round 1 - IndiKart Championship 2013 - Hooton Park

Last Sunday saw the first round of 2013 in the Indikart Championship at Hooton Park - a week late due to the snow the previous week.

There were 18 Cadet drivers on the line-up and Samuel qualified in 7th place for heat one.  Here are the starts shown as a spectator and also from the GoPro Hero 3 Black camera fitted to his helmet.

Heat One - started in 7th place and by the first corner he was leading the race!






He finished in 6th place so that was his grid start position for heat two:




The final was the average of the two heat finishes so he started in 7th place:



He finished the race in 4th place (top 5 finished on the podium) with Lee and Alex from the Championship Karting team finishing in 2nd and 3rd, it meant that the team were all podium finishers!

And here they are on the podium along with 5th and 1st place drivers:

Round 2 is this weekend!

Mind The Mud (And Ice!)

Samuel had a full weekend at Hooton Park despite it being rather cold and frosty and it was the first time he'd been to Hooton since his third place finish in December.

Look out for the rather large patch of mud on the left hand side of the track - he ends up wearing most of it!

We had fitted a GoPro Hero 3 Black camera to his helmet for the full weekend and here is Samuel getting his nice clean suit muddy in his third session on the track on Sunday:



More footage to follow including some overtaking and his fastest session of the day (he's flat out through most of the corners!)

And yes, the GoPro is fantastic and the quality is amazing - it's just like being there!!

Hooton Park Indikart Championship and a Trophy!

Samuel took part in the final round of the IndiKart Championship for 2012 at Hooton Park on Sunday.  He had a good solid test day the previous day and enjoys the track when its wet so he was looking forward to the race on the Sunday.

He set the third fastest time from 18 drivers in qualifying which placed him third on the gird for heat 1.  The videos of his grid starts are not as spectacular as previous races because he is so near the front and has less overtaking opportunities but he's still quick off the mark!

Heat 1 grid start:



He finished in second place so he started in second for heat 2:



And finished in second place!  So he was second on the grid in the final:



And he actually finished the race in third place!

Here he is with his third place trophy:

This is his highest placed finish from the outdoor races he's had this year - all 4 of them!  And its fair to say that he is looking forward to the first race of the 2013 IndiKart Championship at Hooton Park on 20 January!

Third Outdoor Race - Hooton Park

Samuel completed his third outdoor race on Sunday 18 November 2012 at Hooton Park.  He'd had a good practice on the day before and the weather was a lot nicer this month than the previous one!

There was a field of 18 Cadets and following the qualifying session, Samuel started in 15th place for heat one:

He didn't have a particularly good start but the lights were already showing green, then turned to red and then back to green, hence his stop-go-stop-go start! Despite this he finished in 12th place, and had a better start in heat two:

He finished in 9th place which gave him a 9th place grid start for the final:
By the first corner he was up into third place but ended up loosing places when he was forced off onto the grass by another driver although Samuel managed to rejoin the race. He finished 11th overall.

Last outdoor race of the year is on 16 December.  Apologies for the light sabre effect - I can't help where the sun is place in relation to grid starts!!

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!

First Outdoor Race - Hooton Park

Samuel completed his first outdoor race in the IndiKart Championship at Hooton Park over the weekend of 15 and 16 September.  He had a reasonable day on the Saturday, testing and getting more used to his kart plus a lot more traffic on the track!

We were prepared for a lot of rain on the Sunday and although there were a few showers it was largely fine although windy.  Samuel didn't manage to do the two practice sessions due to technical issues with the kart and then trottle was sticking when he did the transponder test, but after that was rectified, the kart was in good shape!

A great grid start on the first heat - starting in 14th place out of 18 drivers - he managed to make up 4 or 5 places before the first corner and was holding his own until lap 5 when he tried to overtake on the outside, got pushed wide and hit the tyre barrier and knocked a marshal over.  Samuel and the marshal were fine but this meant he started at the back of the gird for heat two.

Two photos of heat two grid start:

On the photo above, you can just see Samuel (virtually centre of the photo) - the bloke in the centre with the black jacket is obscuring him!

And he can now be seen - all in black, again more or less photo centre.

He finished 11th in the second heat so then was placed 11th on the gird for the final.  He actually made up places again on the grid start for the final but because he's not yet got the same pace as the other drivers (this was his first outdoor race!) he lost what he'd gained.  But still finished 11th overall, just missing out on the points by a place!

Next round is 21 October.