2010 Results & Reports
Castle Combe
Worst weekends racing I have ever known. After a very promising outing at a club round at Dunkeswell we went to Castle Combe full of confidence and looking forward to a good weekend.
Boy were we in for a shock, after a final check over the kart we were ready for free practice. We headed out on to the very bumpy track and started to try and learn the track, after a few laps we started to hit a few problems , firstly the a bolt in the steering support came loose from all the bumps and vibrations so i had to back of then when I checked the data logger noticed that the temperature had shot up to 80 degrees which was to hot.
So we headed back to the pits and tried to sort our problems . After adding a second radiator to help cooling, adjusting the carburettor settings and altering the gearing we were ready for qualifying, or so we thought.
We started qualifying slowly looking to build up speed and have a good qualifying session , after a lap I started to build up speed but after a lap noticed my temperature had risen to a massive 108 degrees so had to end the session and head back to the pits after lots of head scratching we found the problem , the engines internal water pump had failed.
So the pressure was on to make the races on the Sunday, we stripped the engine to find an awful mess where all the oil and water had mixed due to the pump giving up, so we cleaned the mess and replaced the water pump and all the seals, we then checked the piston and as feared the massive heat had cracked the piston badly. So we changed the piston and the rings, we had to alter the carburettor to help run in the new piston. After a very long day and an engine rebuild we headed back to the hotel very tired.
We turned up at the track thinking things could not get any worse after another check over of the kart we were ready for race one where we would start from the back of the grid after not being able to set a fast lap in qualifying , out we headed for the rolling lap and straight away I noticed that we had a problem I had no power from the engine thus ending our weekend and unfortunately our season.
We have decided to split with our current chassis manufacture ADE of Gloucester and our now assessing our option for next year.
Boy were we in for a shock, after a final check over the kart we were ready for free practice. We headed out on to the very bumpy track and started to try and learn the track, after a few laps we started to hit a few problems , firstly the a bolt in the steering support came loose from all the bumps and vibrations so i had to back of then when I checked the data logger noticed that the temperature had shot up to 80 degrees which was to hot.
So we headed back to the pits and tried to sort our problems . After adding a second radiator to help cooling, adjusting the carburettor settings and altering the gearing we were ready for qualifying, or so we thought.
We started qualifying slowly looking to build up speed and have a good qualifying session , after a lap I started to build up speed but after a lap noticed my temperature had risen to a massive 108 degrees so had to end the session and head back to the pits after lots of head scratching we found the problem , the engines internal water pump had failed.
So the pressure was on to make the races on the Sunday, we stripped the engine to find an awful mess where all the oil and water had mixed due to the pump giving up, so we cleaned the mess and replaced the water pump and all the seals, we then checked the piston and as feared the massive heat had cracked the piston badly. So we changed the piston and the rings, we had to alter the carburettor to help run in the new piston. After a very long day and an engine rebuild we headed back to the hotel very tired.
We turned up at the track thinking things could not get any worse after another check over of the kart we were ready for race one where we would start from the back of the grid after not being able to set a fast lap in qualifying , out we headed for the rolling lap and straight away I noticed that we had a problem I had no power from the engine thus ending our weekend and unfortunately our season.
We have decided to split with our current chassis manufacture ADE of Gloucester and our now assessing our option for next year.
Round 1 Silverstone
Not the best start to the season
After only picking up the new kart on Thursday, time was always against the team to get the kart set up for the race. We arrived at Silverstone on saturday morning to bright sunshine and beautiful hot weather (this is what proved to be our downfall). After a few final adjustments to the kart we were ready for free practice in the afternoon. After spending the day sorting out lots of teething problems we left the track fairly happy.
Race day Sunday morning and after a last minuite check over the kart we headed out for our last free practice session, after a few laps the kart was feeling good so I decided to push a little more, after one more lap the worst thing could of happened, the enginge had overheated. After heading back to the pits we had a mad dash to repair the damage, we had to miss qualifying which meant we would be starting from the back of the grid for the next race.
Race time was upon us and it was time to see if we had sorted our problems, starting from the back of the grid. I had a great start picking up a few places before we arrived at the first chicane, there was contact in the middle of the pack and I managed to pick my way through a few more places. I started to catch the pack infront of me lap by lap but then the heat got the better of the engine again ending the race for me.
A few good things came from the meeting, kart seemed to handle well and the engine seemed strong.
Thanks to everyone who helped over the weekend and a big thanks to Nicki who learnt a lot and was a big help all weekend.
Got a few weeks to get the kart ready for Pembrey, in Wales where we will be looking for a big improvement from the last round.
After only picking up the new kart on Thursday, time was always against the team to get the kart set up for the race. We arrived at Silverstone on saturday morning to bright sunshine and beautiful hot weather (this is what proved to be our downfall). After a few final adjustments to the kart we were ready for free practice in the afternoon. After spending the day sorting out lots of teething problems we left the track fairly happy.
Race day Sunday morning and after a last minuite check over the kart we headed out for our last free practice session, after a few laps the kart was feeling good so I decided to push a little more, after one more lap the worst thing could of happened, the enginge had overheated. After heading back to the pits we had a mad dash to repair the damage, we had to miss qualifying which meant we would be starting from the back of the grid for the next race.
Race time was upon us and it was time to see if we had sorted our problems, starting from the back of the grid. I had a great start picking up a few places before we arrived at the first chicane, there was contact in the middle of the pack and I managed to pick my way through a few more places. I started to catch the pack infront of me lap by lap but then the heat got the better of the engine again ending the race for me.
A few good things came from the meeting, kart seemed to handle well and the engine seemed strong.
Thanks to everyone who helped over the weekend and a big thanks to Nicki who learnt a lot and was a big help all weekend.
Got a few weeks to get the kart ready for Pembrey, in Wales where we will be looking for a big improvement from the last round.