My GoPro is pretty effed so unfortunately I have no video for my first win of the season last Saturday
Quick Synopsis (not really): On Saturday we were running the reverse track format with reverse heat races. Basically what this means is the track was run in the opposite direction to the usual, and instead of qualifying and a pre-final, 2 heat races were run to determine the starting position for the final.
The grid for the heat races was determined randomly for the first heat race and reversed for the second heat race, example: If I started first for the first heat race, I would start last for the second heat race
I was having a pretty rough day, what was usually my favorite and best track configuration was giving me problems. I managed to go 2nd fastest in practice, but I wasn't happy with the performance of the kart.
The first heat race was nothing special, started 16th and moved my way up to 11th, was struggling with speed through the corners and down the straight, so I had no clear area to pass people at and just had to follow the guy in front of me through on passes.
Afterwards a quick gear change was made to try and boost my speed on the straights.
The second heat race I started in 3rd position, but due to 2 false starts I was moved into pole position, and after the start I maintained first throughout the race. Unfortunately the gear change didn't do much, and although I won, I still felt like I was lacking power from the kart.
For the final I started in 5th thanks to my win in the second heat race.
5 minutes before we were set to grid, we decided to change the gear on the kart and hope it gave us the power we so desperately needed. (I was unaware of the gear change until after the race)
On the first lap the guy who started third was tagged up in front of me and I went by him, easy as that. Lap 3 I flew by the guy in 3rd down the straight simple as that, and this was when I realized, "wait, I have straight line speed", and then the chase was on. The top 2 guys had gapped us a little bit, but not as much as they thought they had. 1 lap later thanks to my superb straight line speed I was right on the bumper of the guy in second. I was able to catch a lot down the straight but I was also losing a fair bit through the corners. I bided my time and a couple laps later I had maintained a close enough gap where I was able to use my straight line speed advantage and dive the kart into the hairpin at the end of the straight, where I had noticed from the previous laps the guy in second was going very slowly into the hairpin. By the time the next lap came around I was already right behind the guy in first and going for a move down the straightaway. He went defensive and we got caught up on each other, sending up some tire smoke. The next lap though, there was nothing he could do. I had so much more speed down the straight than him, before he could even fully move over to a defensive position down the straight on the next lap I was already up his inside, he fought hard and I had to slightly cut over the grass at the kink in the straight in order to maintain my position, but after that it was a pretty simple race. There were 4 or 5 laps left, and after I passed for the lead a group of 4 karts had been formed behind me. They kept fighting for position, which allowed me to maintain around a 1 second gap through the infield of the track, and run away from them down the straight while they kept fighting. I maintained first relatively easy, and set the second fastest time of the race without a draft on my way to the victory.
The heats were pretty boring, but I'm really sad that my GoPro isn't working, as for me the final was absolutely stellar, and also my first win of the season, so it is sad that I have no recording of it, and nothing to share to you guys other than my words of what happened. I have been working on fixing my GoPro for a while now unfortunately, and in one way or another, I believe that next weekend when I am racing in the Coupe de Quebec at Mont Tremblant it should be fully functioning, so hopefully I will have a nice video or videos to share with you guys.
Unfortunately not updated yet, but it should be soon, once it is updated here is my proof that I did win:
http://goodwoodkartways.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/2016_TRAK_CHAMPIONSHIP_STANDINGS-2.pdf, just in case any of you think it is just a tall tale. Under Briggs Senior, Name: Alex Murphy
If you actually read all of that and are reading this, thanks
