2008 City of Adelaide Titles
Well the 2008 City of Adelaide Titles at the Southern Sprint Kart Club have been run and won, and finally I had a meeting where the luck went my way!
I was racing in the locally well support Sportsman SA class, and we had less than ideal preparation in the lead up to the meeting; I hadn’t even sat in the kart in the month leading up and I was unable to practice on the Friday before the meeting because of work committments.
Arrived at the track on Saturday at around 7:15am to be greeted by 5 degree C temperatures, nothing like racing in the dead of winter!
The meeting was off to a slow start, and we didnt get on the track until after 8:30am after Drivers Breifing. Carby session was wet, full wet setup on the kart with quite a bit of standing water on the track. We bolted on our fresh Clubman motor that had previously been run-in by our engine builder and ran it rich for the carby session; 4 stroking it at the end of the straights and choking it into corners to make sure it had plenty of juice, especially important considering the wet track and the fresh (and hence still tight) piston and ring.
Race 1, we were well down in the race order and didnt run our 1st heat until around 12:30. The track was dry with minor wet patches off line, so it was full-dry setup for this race. Grids for the first race were drawn from a hat, I drew grid 2. One of the other fast guys Chris Seidel was off grid 3 and coming off pole was a new guy, fresh off P’s (Funny how that always happens, isn’t it?). On presenting to the starter I was able to get off to a blinder and was around 5 kart lengths in the lead going into the first corner, but because the pole man’s motor choked up it looked like I jumped the start - so they restarted it.. Aparently the commentator was going on about how I crossed into no-mans land (which I did) - but that seems to be one of the less-inforced rules in the sport at this point in time as virtually every driver in every class ignores it 
Start two, I was fully expecting the same result. I have worked out a good system for keeping my motor clear of excess oil and fuel in the rollup laps (which I’ll keep to myself, I hope you’ll understand ) so I made sure I was on my game for the start. Coming around the sweeper onto the straight we got the green early as in the previous attempt, and I skipped away early again. The guy who was on grid 1 bogged down as I expected and caused the rest of the field to be congested going into the first corner, allowing me to skip away early.
There was aparently a lot going on back in the pack as the drivers diced while I skipped to a 30m lead; which I held until the finish. Got the meeting off to a great start with a win in heat 1, our fresh motor really cracks!
Heat 2, off grid 15 (heat 1 grids reversed) and off to a killer start. Was in position 10 going into turn 1 but another driver caused an accident, which I had to take evasive action to avoid.. In doing so I went into the marbles and onto the dirt, but luckily I was able to get back on the track, in 14th position. Chris Seidel was unlucky, he ended up in the kitty litter and had a DNF for the race. I drove through some of the pack and was able to finish in 9th, catching the 8th place kart easily in the last lap before the flag.
Heat 3 was points based with the lowest points to the front. I was off grid 4 (I think.. it’s a little fuzzy), and the kart was handling strange. It was late afternoon and all the heat had gone out of the track, and our setup wasn’t adjusted to compensate. I was able to run most of the race in 3rd place, but the ill handling kart was tough to drive and keep the pack behind me, and I lost 2 positions late in the race. I settled for 5th, however I was on the 4th place karts tail and could have attempted a pass - however that would have put my, and his, race in jepardy. Thankfully most of the Sportsman SA field dont drive like that
Overnight I was in equal 3rd on points, which was so much better than we were expecting given our lack of preparation in the lead up to the meeting
Come Sunday, and again we were greeted by a cold cold cold morning! As we arrived, our trailer thermometer said 5 degrees C, and overnight there was a minimum of 1.1 degrees C! I really dont envy security guys at the track all night watching over all the competitors equipment..
Forecast for Sunday was once again for showers, and sunday practice was damp enough to need Wet’s, but not much standing water on the track this time.
In the practice session we were attempting to test some setup changes, but on wets on a damp track made it difficult; however the changes we made seemed to work and the kart was a dream to drive.
Sunday Pre-final was run in the early afternoon (yes, that long between practice and racing!) and after quite a bit of rain in the morning we were greeted with a drying track, leaving a difficult situation for the drivers and mechanics. The track was mostly wet, with some dry patches on the racing line - do you go for slicks or wets? The whole field bar 1 decided on Wets, which ment we were all on a level playing field at least.
I came off grid 4 (on countback I was equal 3rd, but the person in 3rd had more consistant results). I was being over-cautious for the entire race and finished 6th. Conditions were tricky, and I could have passed for 5th, but once again I wasn’t willing to cost someone’s race and my own for the sake of one place.
The final over 15 laps was run in the late afternoon and in the lead up we had some drenching rain which soaked the track. As was the theme for the weekend, it was drying for our race with some wet patches around the track but a drying race line. The field once again went out on Wet’s. I was off grid 6 after a dissapointing pre-final and went out with the attitude to have a crack and see what happens. I backed myself on the slippery track, knowing I can control a slippery kart better than most people I’ve met and threw my kart at the corners. It payed off, and I was up to 4th after the 1st corner, and 2 laps later Michael and another kart tangled taking the other kart out. Michael continued, and I was able to pass him quickly, putting me into 2nd.
Michael continued to pressure me for a number of laps with some well-placed nudges which helped me more than hindered to be honest; then Jordan caught up to us. Jordan and Michael diced for position and I was able to skip away about 15 meters. On the slippery track I was able to keep this distance for the majority of the race, until the last lap where they caught a few lengths back, but not enough to challenge my 2nd place. In this race, Mac was untouchable and won the race by the entire straight length - 130m, in those conditions he was blisteringly fast.
It was a great meeting and once again confirms to me that sometimes the layed back approach to racing is the best way to go about it!