2005 News...

Red Lodge, Covkartsport Junior Championship Race, 8th May 2005 - All Weathers!

This was my second race in the Covkartsport Junior Championship and it was at the Red Lodge circuit near Newmarket. There were 19 drivers present and the meeting consisted of 3 races, each of 12 laps of this tight circuit. This was another track I had never driven before and the weather was the key factor all day, going from one extreme to the other.

My 1st race was in race 1, and my grid position 7th. After my four laps of practice, there were several delays due to people being added to the grid and a number of kart changes. This went on for over 10 minutes which meant that the original 8 kart grid had karts with cold tyres, hot engines and some very warm drivers. When the race did finally start, the two that were added to the grid took advantage of the fact their karts were now better set up for the race and drove straight through the pack. This in turn caused a pile up on the first main corner in which I was involved as someone was shunted in front of my kart and I had no where to go. I ended up in 10th and never really got chance to catch up as the main field were allowed to get 2/3rds the way around the circuit before I was extracted from the other two karts in the pile up. So I suppose 9th could be said to have been a reasonable result !?!?

For the 2nd race, the weather changes significantly, with rain coming down in buckets. I was 8th on the grid and managed to get up to 2nd before spinning the kart twice on the same lap. During the 12 laps I lost count how many times I spun and I was glad to have finish 5th. My Dad said that the Russian judge gave me a 10 for artistic impression.

By the third race I felt I knew the track better. It had hail stoned in the previous race so the track was still flooded in parts and also a lot more greasy. I was 1st on the grid and the rain started again just as the race started. Apart from one corner where I lost the lead and then regained it, I held first place until the chequered flag. This was my second win in this championship and it won't be my last.

I finish the day 10th and I'm now 8th in the overall Junior Championship. The next race meeting is at Thruxton on the 5th June 2005. Its another track I have never driven before, but from looking at the Thruxton web site, it looks like a track which may suit my driving skills better.

Previous Race Results for this season.