German Winter Cup
Kerpen - 9th December 2007
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Testing – I arrived at the circuit on Thursday and was happy to see that It looked like a really interesting circuit with some fast sweeping bends, hard braking zones and some chassis breaking kerbs! The first day of testing was wet and the kart was brilliant I had loads of grip and was on the pace. The second day was dry and I was around 0.3 seconds off the fastest. I was surprised how much grip there was and really enjoyed pushing the kart and tires to the limit I knew I could have a strong result.
Qualifying – The race meeting would consist of three races with each driver's total point being added up from the three races. The Winter Cup champion would be the driver with the best results and therefore most points. Qualifying was wet and I managed to put in a 54.79 to take 2nd place out of the 32 competitors. This was a great way to start the day considering the competition included Bas Lammers, Rick Dreezen and some more top European drivers!
Race 1 – Starting on P2 for the first Race of the day and the track had dried out an awful lot. Half the grid went for slick tires and half on wet tires. We chose wets which was the wrong choice. I had an eventful race defending hard to try keep the slick drivers behind me. I eventually finished 7th the first driver on wets.
Race 2 – After finishing 7th in the first Race I had to start 7th for the second race. The track was now fully dry. I had a strong run to 5th position. I spent most of the race chasing the 5th place driver and managed to get past him on the final lap. 4th place driver Rick Dreezen was in reach but I ran out of corners.
Race 3 – We changed a few things on the chassis for the final race of the day and we found a couple of tenths. I got a good start from grid 5 and held my position through the first few bends. I managed to get into 4th place on lap three and from there pushed hard to finish 4th.
A 7th, 5th and 4th meant that I finished 4th overall. This was a superb result considering the level of competition and the limited experience I had on the Vega White tires and European circuits.
It was a real eye opener for me to race against some of Europe’s best but I am really happy to have come away with a strong result. It is a superb way to end a season full of highs and lows.
So this ends my 2007 season, 2nd in the British ICC Championship 4th in the German Winter Cup and first rookie in the British ICC championship.
This was always going to be a learning year for me so any results were just a bonus. I now believe everything is in place for me to challenge for the KZ2 European Championship and KZ2 WSK Championship.
There is a lot of work to be done but I am sure we will be fighting come the first round of the championship.
I would like to thank everyone for supporting me this year and I look forward to successful 2008 season with PDB Racing and Gillard Racing karts…. Oh and hopefully a lot of wins!
If you have any ideas or would like me to do something different with my website next year, maybe you would like me to write a daily blog when I am away at the Race meetings or something? If you do email your ideas through to me hawksworth4@hotmail.com
Have good Christmas and keep checking the website for news on my 2008 preparations.
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