Time to recap from the BIKC Local Finals which took place on Thursday night

Feeling fairly confident about my chances of qualifying for the Regional Finals to be held in a month’s time, I was in good spirits after a day at work.

It was a strong line-up in the finals for the heavyweight category, many of whom I have raced again previously in a variety of championships and races.

The finals consisted of a 15 minute practice, 15 minutes of qualifying and then a 15 minute race, with the top 6 qualifying for the regionals.

In practice, things went to plan and, on a night when track conditions were not conducive to quick lap times in any of the races, I managed a new PB of 31.327s and finished fourth fastest amongst the finalists.

Unfortunately, that was to be the pinnacle of my achievements that evening.

For qualifying, in a different kart, I just never felt 100% comfortable. There was a massive lack of grip throughout the entire session, and I couldn’t get anywhere near the lap times of the leaders or even the lap times I had achieved in practice. I eventually qualified in 7th, one place behind the qualification spot I was racing for.

The race for me, was somewhat processional; I lost one position early on, although the drivers in 6th and 7th never really got away from me, I never had the extra speed to challenge them for position (although I did achieve faster laps than both 6th and 7th placed drivers).

At the end of the 15 minutes, I finished 24s behind the winner of the race, and 2.5s behind the final qualifier.

Whilst I was disappointed not to be progressing to the Regional Finals this year, I was actually quite happy to mix it with some experienced racers and to hold my own again in a race situation.

Onwards to the next races in my diary…