Far From Perfect: Round 1 Of The 2013 Club100 Sprint Championship

Round 1 of the Club100 Lightweight Sprint Championship was held on the 24th February at Buckmore Park in Kent. Here's my account of my day's racing.

Standing trackside at 9am with what felt like icicles forming on my face, I did begin to wonder why I'd exchanged hard earned cash to be here. Sprinklings of sleet and a stabbing wind made the near freezing conditions feel almost arctic. Many would have turned around, gone home and climbed back into bed. But not us racers, because as soon as we heard the bark of a 115cc engine and inhaled the smell of 2 stroke racing oil, all we wanted to do was go racing.

QUALIFYING

A succession of races from the various classes then led into the Lightweight Qualifying. The morning's bitter wind hadn't gone but at least the sleet seemed to have halted. Being the first time I'd sat in a racing kart for over 6 months, I felt a little apprehensive. To add to my concern, as I rolled out of the pitlane it became clear just how little grip was available to play with. But taking advice from the late Colin McRae, "If in doubt, flat out," so I was soon throwing the kart into turn one with a handful of opposite lock.

After a solid couple of warm up laps the kart felt good and grip increased, so I pushed on to see what I could do. Almost immediately I caught another kart and nosed alongside him. It turned out he hadn't noticed me and as a result fired me straight into the wall, my first "oh cock" moment of 2013! It was a fairly substantial impact that sent me piling into my own steering wheel, which I'm sure would have almost certainly bruised a rib or two had I not been wearing my rib protector. After confirming all limbs were still attached and that the kart was straight, I moved it into position to restart. As soon as I was rolling I had to forget about my impact and get hunting down that fast lap.

2 laps on I found some clear air and sliced through the corners, nailing my braking points and completing a smooth lap without any mistakes. Each one of my following attempts was hindered by traffic or yellow flags, so rolling past the chequered flag I knew that that lap had to be the one. To my suprise it placed me on Pole for the first race, with just under 2 tenths of a second advantage over 2nd place. Not a bad start to the day!

Racing towards the start line

RACE 1

Sitting on pole for the first race, I was a little confused as to why I was on the left side of the front row despite this circuit being clockwise. Failing to gain an answer it was then suddenly time to start and begin the rolling up laps. So cruising along on the outside of the front row (which I later found out WAS the wrong side, the grid in the pitlane did not reflect the actual grid!) we approached the start line and revs slowly began to rise. Screaming past the waved Union Jack we hurtled into turn 1, and as expected those on the inside were able to nose through. I exited turn 1 in 3rd but managed to squeeze back into 2nd through the infield. The following laps had me chasing down the leader, with there being several notable areas of the circuit where my pace was better than his.

Buckmore Park isn't the easiest circuit to pass on, with it's narrow width and flowing corners. But if you are going to pass, generally the easiest places are into turn 1 after stealing a tow up the hill, or in the tight infield with it's low speed hairpins. Unfortunately for me my Jack Daniels ribs addiction meant I was 7kg heavier than the minimum weight limit, so stealing a tow wasn't possible as my kart had to lug my pork filled butt up the hill. As a result, passing the leader in the first sector was much more difficult. But my confidence remained intact, as I felt I could bide my time, pull away from the chasing karts and then pick a clean spot to overtake for the lead.

As good as that plan seemed, it didn't account for one tiny problem; backmarkers. Our leading group of karts were soon to face the challenge of clearing lapped traffic; traffic that in some cases more closely resembled moving road blocks. Unfortunately for me, I caught several of these karts in sections where time was most easily lost. As a result my grip on the leader was loosened and he began to maintain a significant gap. To add to this, an early braking backmarker caught me by surprise into turn one, and despite my best efforts I was unable to avoid punting him off.

Caught by suprise: Punting off an early braking backmarker

This unfortunately was the final blow to my race, as the resulting penalty meant despite crossing the line in 2nd, I was relegated to 6th. Not what I'd hoped for, but there was always race 2 to redeem myself...

RACE 2

After my strong pace in the morning, I knew my target for race 2 should be to come out on top. So sitting P3 on the grid, a small amount of confidence had begun to brew behind my tinted visor. Rolling out of the pits I took extra care in making sure tyre temperatures were at optimum, to help avoid a repeat of the mornings poor start.

Despite my tyre warming efforts, accelerating up to the start line it immediately became clear that my kart wasn't going to co-operate as I'd hoped. Opening up the throttle I watched the surrounding karts creep forward  as my engine struggled to pull itself into the power band. As a result I fell back from the leader into turn 1, and was edged wide by fast accelerating karts behind. Falling back into 5th I was frustrated that my confidence had turned to desperation as I watched the leading pair edge away.

I was lucky to sneak back into 3rd after the pair ahead ran wide in turn 8. From here I began to regain hope that I could draw in the leaders and chase that win I so wanted. But this hope was short lived as I battled sluggish straight line speed, and almost immediately fell back to 4th after being out dragged into turn 1. To add to my misery, whilst chasing 3rd place I got greedy on the kerb of Cafe Curve, throwing me out wide and costing me time.

Pushing hard: Despite my best efforts I couldn't catch the leaders

From here it was a race of damage limitation, with the leaders out of reach and unimpressive straight line speed meaning I was chasing points rather than trophies. Pushing as hard as I could I still lost another place, eventually crossing the line in 5th. (Somehow this turned into a 4th after the race - most likely due to a kart ahead receiving a penalty).

Despite the potential shown after qualifying pole, I ended up leaving Buckmore Park empty handed. The only thing I had to show for my weekend was a very sore back thanks to my morning impact (tyre walls aren't as soft as they look!) Nevertheless, it felt great to get back out racing. Lets just say I'm looking forward to proving myself at Round 2.

For those of you who'd prefer a video, here's my onboard footage of Race 1:

Round 2 of the CLUB100 Lightweight Sprint Championship will be at Bayford Meadows in Sittingbourne on the 14th April.

Need To Tame The Racing Itch? Limited Funds? Arrive And Drive Karting Could Be The Answer

Being one of the many victims of motorsport's tendency to eliminate those without a thick wallet, I've become a bit of an evangelist for affordable racing. So in the following post, I want to mention what I think is one of the best value for money racing championships in the UK.

Motorsport is a rich mans game. All the way from the 9 figure budgets of F1 teams down to the hundreds spent each weekend for club kart racing, drivers are often restricted not by their talent, but their wallet.

A season in a professional championship like British F3 can cost something in the region of £400,000. Even at rookie level a championship like the Mini Challenge Club Class can easily cost in excess of £10,000 per season, and that doesn't include the cost of repairs after a visit to the barriers.

Motorsport can be very expensive

But racing addicts do not despair, there do exist some far more affordable ways to get out racing in some fully fledged competitive championships.

Kart racing is amongst the most affordable form of competitive racing, and thankfully is also one if the closest, driver focused forms too. You might be thinking karting is for kids, but remember every single driver on the current F1 grid cut his teeth in karting. Some still do in the off season, with non other than 2009 F1 World Champion Jenson Button saying "there is no purer form of racing than karting." So it's not something to be dismissed before having a go in a 'proper' kart first.

Jenson says karting is the "purest form of motorsport."

One of the easiest ways to do this, is in 'arrive and drive' championships. They exist in great numbers across the nation, but perhaps one of the most competitive of them all is Club100. This championship uses machinery that has little resemblance to your average fun fair lawn mowers. Instead these karts are powered by full racing TKM Extreme engines, as used by British Championship drivers in TKM Extreme Super 1. Of course these Club100 engines are no where near as highly tuned, but they still offer some exhilarating performance characteristics that take skill to manage. Being direct drive they cannot start from a standstill, but once rolling they can achieve a 5-60mph sprint in something around 6 seconds. And they'll keep on accelerating up to about 75mph, which I can assure you feels much faster when you're sat an inch off the tarmac, bumper to bumper with some aggressive budget racers.

Both ex pros and novices can compete in full Club 100 grids

Add this impressive machinery to a field of proper racing enthusiasts, including some ex National level drivers and single seater winners, and you have a championship that offers some of the closest racing in the UK. Competing on circuits also used in the British Championships, you could be forgiven for thinking this championship will resemble the money pit that is modern motorsport. But in actual fact you can compete on each race day (comprising 2 rounds) for just over £160, which in motorsport terms is an absolute bargain. With 3 levels of championship, each tailored for different experience levels, ex pros and beginners alike get to mix it with drivers of the same level. Endurance and sprint championships also suit different driving styles. And with 16 of 22 rounds counting, there's flexibility to minimise travel costs and avoid racing at the inevitable couple of events located too far from home.

This championship can really force a driver to hone their skills, with all karts being (almost) identical, barring inevitable battle scars from earlier races. Kart consistency is amongst the best in the UK, so race results will almost always reflect driver ability entirely. And when it rains, there are no wets to find usable grip. Instead slick tyres are used in all conditions, so rainy days really sort the men from the boys.

Slicks in all weather - separating the men from the boys

But probably the best thing about this championship is the fact that it is an arrive and drive series, meaning as a driver all you have to worry about is driving. No maintenance costs, no place to store the kart is needed and most importantly, there are no bills if you bend it. In my opinion, there really are few better ways to race in a competitive championship at such affordable prices.

All things considered, I do want to emphasise that for many this Championship won't scratch all of the racing itch. With no chance of adjusting kart set-up and maintaining your very own machine, racers may feel a little disconnected from the whole experience. And more significantly, these are go karts and not cars on proper car tracks. But when you're counting the pennies and don't fancy entering a bottomless pit of service and repair bills, Club100 is the perfect answer to tame that racing itch. And for me it at least keeps me from taking out my anger on my poor little Clio....most of the time.

Taming the itch

I'll be racing in the 2013 Club100 Lightweight Sprint Championship this year, the progress of which you can follow on my Club 100 Race Days page. Round 1 is at Buckmore Park on the 24th February.