Super 4 British ICC Championship - Rissington (Round 2)
5th/6th May 2007
Saturday testing summary – After a disappointing start to my 2007 campaign I hoped that I would have finally kick start my season after a string of bad luck and problems that have so far halted my progress in the ICC class. The weekend got off to a poor start as we found out that the chassis was bent after an impact at a previous race meeting. Despite our best efforts to straighten the chassis it never quite felt right.
We worked hard through out the day to make the best of a bad scenario and posted some quick times lapping at 31.66 my best time. This put me in a confident mood for Race Day as I new I had a decent package.
Sunday Qualifying heats – With 46 drivers on the grid there were 5 qualifying heats in which I would take part in 3. I started on grid 4 for the first heat and made a reasonable start as I managed to make 1 position up into the first corner. I was right on the back of the front 2 but a small error cost me 3rd place to number 5 David Heathershaw. For the next couple of laps I sat in 4th before making my move on the 0 plate Tom Moore at the bottom of the long back straight. The front 2 were defending though which made it hard to find a gap. Eventually I managed to squeeze through into 2nd but with only a lap left I wasn’t able to find a way past into first despite only finishing 0.04 of a second away. I started P17 for the second heat of the day and made a good start up to 12th after the first lap. The kart felt good and I had plenty of straight-line speed. I kept my head down and was quickly into the top 10 before eventually reaching a solid 4th. After two good heats I new a consistent finish would be good enough to put me on the front row for the final. Despite pulling off the line well I got boxed in at the first corner and went back to 20th Over the next few laps I had a few close moments as I made my way into the top 15. We had made a few changes to the chassis and I was struggling to get the tyres up to temperature. Despite this I just managed to edge the GP plate Daniel Edwards out of the top 10 to secure another strong heat result.
Sunday Race – I started on the front row of the grid for the final after some good heats along side championship leader Sam Moore and Daniel Bourton. I was confident going into the final knowing that I had more pace than I had shown through out the weekend and that if I played my cards right then it should be a comfortable win. I drilled some heat into my tyres on the warm up lap as usual and ripped the strip of tape off my radiator as we began to line up on the grid. It seemed like an eternity waiting for all the karts to line up on the grid but whilst I sat on the grid I noticed my clutch go all loose. I didn’t have much time to react and as the lights went green my clutch didn’t bite properly and once it did I wasn’t prepared for it and my revs dropped at the engine bogged off the line big style and I was swamped by 10 karts. Once I managed to get up to speed I was sitting outside the top 10 and was lacking a bit of straight-line speed down the back straight. I managed to work my way back up to 7th before the red flag came out for an accident that had happened in the mid-pack. The race was finished and I was gutted with the result. It was race where I could and should have been fighting for the win had it not been for a silly problem. Despite this I though my team did a great job and it was a shame that we didn’t win. I now look forward to trying to get a strong result at the Shenington Stars round and finally try to get rid of my early season demons. Congratulations also to Sam Moore and AFR who won the final.
Jack Hawksworth
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