Ok, lets not select the new venue STRAIGHT away .
Ok, lets not select the new venue STRAIGHT away .
Well there is that but, whatever happens, DO NOT go to a place called "Ace Karting" in Walsall, tis utter pap!!Originally Posted by Lee
have to say it was a cracking day although, as mentioned, bloody cold haha. Also the hangover still hurts .
Nice to meet some new peeps and catch up with some others.
Cheers for the lift spud
......and to make the day complete some even turned up in their novas :D
I am the rep monster - give me all your rep and I will become all powerful and take over the WORLD!!!
Small Block Club Member #3
Yeah, hendrix commented that it was a png thing and only three novas appeared
I replied err hello its winter, novas and winter dont get on.
Fair play to ade for doing the slog from scotland in his SR, he will still be on the road as we type
(safe driving ade)
yeah it was good to see a few Novas today. Fair play to Ade for driving down in a Nova!
My Rebuild
They're over there with their new toys. Someone brought them in. No idea who bought them though.....
Right, now I'm fed I thought I'd do a proper mini report.
Well, the day started off pretty much as it was to continue. Without much grip!
Foolishly, as I live in the sticks I chose the most direct route, cross country. However this involved a fair bit of mileage on unclassified roads which were very untreated and undriven so I was greeted with pure white virgin ice. Not exactly a relaxing way to wake up!
Things should've improved once I reached the big smoke, but due to crap signposting I ended up in the suburbs where I could've sworn I passed Torville and Dean. Yes it really was that bad
Anyway, to the main event, and kart 18
Had myself a pretty decent kart for the practice so all seemed well, if a little tricky
Race 1, started 3rd but thanks to no acceleration dropped to 4th. Luckily though 2nd and 3rd had a bit of a coming together so i snatched a place back and luckily due to the fact that none of the karts were particularly quick managed to hold off Dar and take 3rd
Race 2, started from the back of the grid and thanks to a good start and a kart that was pretty good off the line was soon up to 2nd. Was managing to slowly catch Welsh Dan(?) when he spun out giving me the win
Race 3, 2nd on the grid alongside Dan, again got a good start and pipped him into the first corner. The kart was pretty quick and didnt handle very well but thankfully managed to stay out of trouble and hold on for the win, cementing my place in the final. Happy days!
Bit of a break then when lunch didn't turn up (another victim of the ice) and so onto....
The endurance, teamed up with Dan's brother Kagan in kart 2, I went out first for the qualifying and had a fairly abysmal time of it, resulting in a rather quick backwards excursion into the tyres and a caution board. Oops! Thankfully Kagan did a bit better and we ended up 8th on the grid.
Kagan took the first stint in the race and seemed to be struggling a bit with the handling of the kart and after 15 mins he'd had enough and i took over, heading out 3 laps down in last. It soon became pretty obvious why he'd struggled though, and on my 2nd lap I was back in, with a collapsed front right wheel bearing. Explained the dodgy handling earlier on. Back out in a new kart and managed to get into a groove and make up some places, and a couple of small spins. The kart started to pick up a misfire that got progressively worse but seemed to still be making up places and not getting caught so I carried on, finishing a reasonable 6th. Knackered but happy after a consistent drive. Could probably have had 5th but after putting a pass in at the hairpin the favour was returned with a shunt from behind at turn 6, leaving me pointing the wrong way. Unavoidable really as that part of the track was driven blind due to the low sun.
And so onto the final
Starting on pole with Dan alongside, the run down to the grid highlighted the very soft brake pedal. Didn't think too much of it considering the condition of the karts so off we went. Made a decent start and pulled myself out a small gap, then towards the end of lap 2 my throttle stuck open. Given the conditions this made things pretty tricky as I couldn't coast round the apexes and couldn't brake as late as i'd have like. After a quick gap check I decided I was pretty safe so took it a bit cautiously to try and avoid throwing it off. This maybe wasn't the best plan though as I soon had Lee right on my tail, travelling a lot quicker than I expected and so started a great battle which was to last right to the line, with a lot of place swapping, sideways action and surprisingly little contact.
Fortunately I came out on top in that one but I'd like to say a massive thankyou to Lee for a great dice and for organizing the day, and to everyone else that was there for making it what it was! In all there was very little between the lap times and a lot of people deserve praise for some great driving throughout the day
Unfortunately the same can't be said for those on the road as my drive home was delayed by a large collection of police cars and recovery trucks clearing the carnage! Seems the conditions didn't improve much!
As said before thank for a great day. and for any pic's of me as the one ive seen so far looks cool cheers Dan.
Im in the middle of loading up one of the vids (the main final with twin engine's).
Ive looked at some of the others and will put some up at a later date as the pc is being an ar5e at the mo.
Vid will be up soon.
Can i just add.
When i handed the kart over after 30 mins of running fine Rob took the wheel thats when the probs started.
1st time Number 1 engine switched off then the pull cord broke on start up.
2nd time Came in as the wheel fell off.
3rd time Came in as engine 2 conked out.
4th time Came in as engine 2 conked out again.
5th time Came in as engine 2 conked out yet again.
How many times does an engine have to fail before they give you another kart.
Last edited by Ernie; 07-12-08 at 09:46 PM.
Originally Posted by Ernie
Cant wait to see the vids from your funky little helmet cam bud
Im pretty sure you had my kart from the enduro. I properly cooked the brakes on it, bless it. By the end of the hour I was using the back end to scrub off speed, and the hairpin at the end of the back straight was properly scaryOriginally Posted by Sturge
Looks like i was lucky to not suffer with the sticky throttle when I had it.