Late last term saw the second-round of the University Karting Championship at the Rye House circuit. Then was the first time that I'd been the circuit, and the first time I'd driven what I now know to be a 'Pro Kart'. As such I was pretty chuffed to have come sixth in the team endurance.
Today it was time to 'Return to Racing at Rye House'; three R's that are much more exciting than whatever they're supposed to mean in Government-speak. We've just got back from the third-round at the same circuit and in the same karts, and second-time around it was even more of a blast, even if it did take about 15 minutes for the blood to return to the extremities of my fingers after I'd finished my stint.
There's not really any way to recount a kart race on a blog in a way that's going to be interesting to people reading. So I'll restrict myself to saying that having qualified 7th as a team, I'd got up to 4th by the first corner, before falling back to 6th in the second. It's amazing how exhilarating a standing-start can be. 10 karts, all only a metre behind the one in front, accelerating away into a sweeping right hander is guaranteed to raise a smile. Sixth was fine, but I got into a two lap-long battle with a guy from Churchill college, which resulted in me getting a warning, before he punted me off on the fastest part of the circuit. Not that I've a problem with that, it was close racing and I could have just as easily done the same to him. Unfortunately I didn't have to time to lift off before I hit the grass, so pirouetted twice before rejoining the track, only to be penalised for driving off the grass. Such is life. This left us last and chasing the whole pack, but by the end of my 43 laps I'd got us back up to fifth, and on my penultimate lap I finally managed to break into the 43 second boundary having done solid 44 seconds lap all the way. I managed a 43:83, which was only 00:20 slower than our team's best lap. So chuffed with that!
After that Will took over for another 25 laps before Roy took us the rest of the way with his 57. He managed to get us to fourth as well, so only one away from that first podium. Can't be that far away.
Racing in the dark is extremely atmospheric, but bitterly cold, especially when you're grasping the wheel for dear life and your knuckles are in the wind protected only by millimetre thick gloves. But it's all part of the experience. But boy, did I look rough once I'd finished my stint. It's surprising just how demanding 30 minutes of racing appears to be! But I'm never going to get tired of that last sweeping right hander; it's worth the asking price alone.
Come the end of the evening I was being cajoled into taking part in next week's Varsity race at the same circuit, but on the next karts up, 'Club 100'. Seeing how I still find these one's a bit of a handful, I'm not sure. But although they're a handful, they're tremendous fun, and I'm not actually sure I can pass up the chance to drive something even faster seeing how much I'm enjoying al this. Watch this space.
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