Cadet race at Whilton Mill - 2008
26th October:
Once again, race day on Sunday followed a test day on the Saturday. Satrday had been cold but mostly dry, at least until the final session. Geri was not getting on well, while most drivers were 2-3 seconds done from their usual lap times, Geri was more like 6 seconds adrift of his best from last month. Geri was really struggling, he was simply the slowest kart out on track in all six sessions he did, the last one in light drizzle still on slicks. Clearly we had work to do before Sunday. At least Scrutineering was a breeze even if we did get told that rules had changed and we could not have 6kgs of lead bolted in the same place, the maximum was now 5kgs. We weighed Geri and his kart and came out at 103kgs (the limit is 100kgs) so we could safely swap out a 2kg weight for a 1kg weight. Maybe the 1kg weight loss would help!
Sunday came and brought with it wet weather. At least the clocks went back so we gained an hour extra sleep. To add to the fun, we were on our own for our first solo race day. First job for the day was too swap the kart over to wet settings and wet tyres, then send Geri out for the 3 warm up laps. We were standing inside the pitlane so could see the karts coming down into Pit bend, it was so slippery that no-one was getting with 6 feet of the apex. Geri was no different, and again he was still slow, complaining of absolutely zero grip.
Time to get some advice on tyre pressures - we were way out on the optimum. We also gave Geri a pointer or two, he was almost scared to turn the wheel into a corner for fear of losing grip and washing out. We told him to turn in earlier in the wet, if he understeered a bit he would still be nearer the apex than if he turned in at the normal point. We also told him it was important to be right under the bumper of the kart in front at the start, and not to lift off in the first corner! He was worried that hitting other karts would prevent him getting his licence signed - we told him not to worry as contact is normal.
Heat 1:
There were three other novices out today, two of them in the first heat. But of all the 40+ drivers, Geri was the only Honda again. For this heat, Geri started on the back row on the right, ie last, but one other kart started out of position behind him. After a couple of false starts, Geri had got it right, tucked right up under the 54 kart from the beginning. Rather than back off at the first corner and let everyone go by, Geri had made up a couple of places, half way round the first lap Geri had made up three or four places but was coming into Chapman where he went off nearly every race last time out. But Geri had learned his lesson, Chapman was safely negotiated and he was on a charge. Coming into Pits Bend, nearly all the drivers were frantically on full lock and running very wide round the corner, Geri had listened well and was running no more than three feet wide of the Apex with a lot less lock on, and a lot less understeer.
More places were gained as two karts dropped out on the second and third laps - Geri was leading the other two novices in the race by a big distance, but the next kart in front of him was also some way clear. Geri ended the race as first novice, and 23rd from 30 drivers - and just as well we checked his weight as he was guided in for weighing as he returned to the pits. With his wetsuit on and more fuel than yesterday, there was no problem with weight - he weighed in at 103kgs.
Heat 2:
Geri was back out in the second Cadet heat, once again starting from the back row. Once again, he got off to a great start. One place was gained almost immediately as one of his adversaries from Rogue Racing, Sean Rudge, lost his chain at the start. Another of Geri's adversaries from Aylesbury, Jack Macaulay, had started right up near the front but had been knocked off on the first corner. He rejoined in front of Geri, but as Geri passed the other two novices in the race, he then came up behind Jack and went sailing past him on the way down to Ashby. Jack was trying everything he knew to get by, but Geri knows how to defend from Jack! They dragged themselves up to another couple of karts and the four karts were running together, swapping places along the way. Disaster struck on lap four, Geri had pulled out a small gap on Jack and was looking a safe bet to beat him for the first time outdoors, but kart 82 spun in front of Geri going into Boot, Geri braked to avoid him and spun right round letting Jack through.
Geri didn't let the error get him down and went chasing after Jack. On the final lap he was visibly narrowing the gap, both drivers did their fastest race lap that lap, but Geri gained 1.2 seconds. Not enough, he was still two seconds adrift of Jack at the finish, but this time Geri was 21st from 29 karts. And once again, first novice home, although Connor Wood in kart 29 gained a place as another kart fell off on the last bend, so Geri only pulled a single point on him.
Heat 4:
By the time the Cadets ran their fourth heat, the rain was almost a distant memory. The track still looked wet, but two heats earlier the tyres had been changed to "open" rather than compulsory wets. Two karts went out in this heat on slicks, the track still looked slippery in the previous heat. We were tempted to send Geri out on slicks, but we thought Connor Wood was closer to Geri on points than he was and we couldn't afford to take a chance if Geri was in with a shout of best novice.
With hindsight, we made the wrong choice. Geri got off to a good atart and made up some places before slowly falling backwards again. The other two novices both got past Geri and then started to pull away, Geri still had two karts behind him, one passing Geri with a lap to go, the other was behind Geri coming out of Pits bend, but beat Geri to the line by 9/100ths second, leaving Geri last and with zero points from the heat.
B Final:
Despite the bad result in heat 4, Geri was still top scoring novice and would be starting 13th of 20 on the grid. Connor Wood was alongside him on the grid and looked to be Geri's main rival, the other two novices (Arran Mills and Luke Child) were further back - as was Sean Rudge who had been having a terrible day's luck.
The track was now dry and Geri's kart was put back onto dry settings and slick tyres. Another good start and Geri got the better of Connor, this was looking good. Arran and Luke were still some way back, but Arran was on the move and started to catch Geri. About half way through the race Arran caught up with Geri and simply drove past him on the back straight. It is frustrating that the Comer karts seem to have better top end than Geri's Honda. Slowly but surely Arran was pulling away from Geri and there was nothing Geri could do about it. At least the other two novices had got caught up in battles further back and were a long way adrift.
So Geri finished the B Final in 13th, the same place he had started. And second novice - so no trophy for Geri. Geri was a bit down, comparatively he had gone better in the wet than in the dry. This was his first time in any kart in three weeks, maybe that was a factor. We now need to consider whether to enter the November race or go away and test some more before racing again. We also need to get Geri some help with lines and setup as we just don't know enough to help him. And finally, we need to find a way of quantifying the performance of Geri and his kart to understand whether Geri needs to go faster, or his kart does!
