and now for another completely random post
so we took the first steps into karting the last few weeks.
A few months back I started going to a enthusiast indoor karting track at the request of my coworker. I'd been to a few before, but was largely turned off because my weight made it nearly impossible for me to be competitive. Either I've gotten better at identifying and following racing lines with an emphasis on carrying my momentum or these karts are different than everything else I've run, but the point is I was able to turn very competitive times winning the majority of my races (based on fastest lap time during the session, not posiition).
I quickly grew frustrated with not being able to reliably improve due to equipment differences (this kart sticks, that kart slides, and that other kart has severe electric motor lag) and a happy coincidence of said coworkers gf needing a bday gift idea led us to schedule our first day at Jim Hall for last weekend.
We went and had an absolute blast! The staff was wonderful and we lucked out with an extremely fast and competent class. We were running 100cc sprint karts and they told us to expect low to mid-40s for the day, with <38 qualifying us to join the race series (which they don't expect most people to make until after the second day and/or some additional lapping/tutoring sessions) and the track record in the 35s. I quickly acclimated to the differences in outdoor race-spec karting (wow, do track surface changes and speeds twice as high really change things!) and was able to post a fast lap of 38.41 for the day, with my friend able to clock a (frustrating) 38.04 (and I give up 100lbs to him!). In fact, out of ~15 people: only 2 weren't able to break into the 30s and another 2 (with previous experience) were able to break into the 36s. Not too shabby for my first time on a real track.
Thanks to another luckily timed coincidence my second track visit wouldn't have to wait long. While I was begrudgingly holding my tongue on the bday surprise, I caught wind that SSC Racing (NA importer of Rotax engines and CRG Chassis) had begun running arrive-and-drive demo/trackdays with their selection of rotax karts (jr/sr/dd2) at moran raceway. Mags and I booked our spots for today to join coworker Ryan and his dad for a little father's day track time and we just got home after an awesome day out there. Moran is a monster of a track, nearly a mile long, with a miniture version of laguna's corkscrew and plenty of other elevation and camber changes to make it really interesting. I was impressed with the karts, and we all had a great day. SSC is really a class act, and we'll be heading back out to another one of their events soon.
Unfortunately, there was some bad luck leading in to the day and it reared itself again towards the end. We started with a miserable toothache for mags (she had an aborted root canal Weds, and is waiting to see a specialist this week to finish the job) and the bizarre mishap that saw the exhaust literally drop (and drag at highway speeds) off of Ryan's Dad's 81 Vette. Luckily mags was a trooper and the pain subsided, and more importantly wasn't aggravated by the karting, and Ryan's Dad just happens to be a mechanic/shop owner who was able to macguyver the exhaust hangers back into place.
On what would be our last session out, a pretty nasty collision happened and brought out the yellows. It was open practice at Moran, and we had to share the track with private kart owners and folks renting from the raceway itself in addition to the 5 total karts in our group. Thankfully traffic was light because of the holiday, and most everyone was courteous and in control waiting patiently to be waved by when it was safe. Mags did awesome for her first day in a race kart, on-line and always aware of a faster driver behind her to wave by at her earliest convenience. On her 3rd lap of the session, she noticed someone coming up very hot in the front half of the track. After she made it out of the second corner, a large and fast constant radius with a slight bank they called "carousel", she moved to the outside and waved him by. Somehow the moron locked up and got sideways and hit her from behind, making wheel to wheel contact and sending him literally flipping over her. She doesn't remember (not due to injury, it just happened so damn fast!) exactly how, but she seemed to take the brunt of it with her outstretched arm, and he ended up shiny side down skidding in front of her. He quickly extracated himself and even quicker made an ass of himself by bitching about her going slow and flat out ignoring her request for help exiting the kart as she couldn't put weight on her arm to pull herself up. Track staff came out to help, check her over, and get her back to the pits while the asshat continued his asshattery. All the while I continued running laps blissfully unaware she'd been involved until I pulled into the pits. She was icing her arm and was shaken, but mostly ok. We're going to keep an eye on it, but it's seeming like just a strain/bruising and nothing serious. Hey, she stopped thinking about her sore tooth and how many people can say they've been run over before?
After a few minutes the driver and a couple of his buddies came down to check on her and "apologize" which I thought was classy...until they flipped their story when I asked for his contact info. There was damage we were going to be responsible for and under the advice of Joe from SSC I thought maybe he would man up...he didn't. Apparently he and his cronies (who did all of his talking) were strangers to the idea of safely passing slower traffic and being in control of your vehicle. Huh In the end, karma's gonna work it out. He left the track soon after as his kart was in much worse shape.
All in all, we're really enjoying the sport and hope to get more involved as the year moves on. Mags would like to go take day 1 at Jim Hall so she can join Ryan and I when we return for their Day 2 and TAG Classes. After that I'd like to focus on getting some more track time and hopefully pick up a used demo/previous year race team kart from SSC at the end of the year. We'll use it to get even more seat time and when we're comfortable (and I drop my extra "ballast") we'll take a look at joining the Rotax series.
A few months back I started going to a enthusiast indoor karting track at the request of my coworker. I'd been to a few before, but was largely turned off because my weight made it nearly impossible for me to be competitive. Either I've gotten better at identifying and following racing lines with an emphasis on carrying my momentum or these karts are different than everything else I've run, but the point is I was able to turn very competitive times winning the majority of my races (based on fastest lap time during the session, not posiition).
I quickly grew frustrated with not being able to reliably improve due to equipment differences (this kart sticks, that kart slides, and that other kart has severe electric motor lag) and a happy coincidence of said coworkers gf needing a bday gift idea led us to schedule our first day at Jim Hall for last weekend.
We went and had an absolute blast! The staff was wonderful and we lucked out with an extremely fast and competent class. We were running 100cc sprint karts and they told us to expect low to mid-40s for the day, with <38 qualifying us to join the race series (which they don't expect most people to make until after the second day and/or some additional lapping/tutoring sessions) and the track record in the 35s. I quickly acclimated to the differences in outdoor race-spec karting (wow, do track surface changes and speeds twice as high really change things!) and was able to post a fast lap of 38.41 for the day, with my friend able to clock a (frustrating) 38.04 (and I give up 100lbs to him!). In fact, out of ~15 people: only 2 weren't able to break into the 30s and another 2 (with previous experience) were able to break into the 36s. Not too shabby for my first time on a real track.
Thanks to another luckily timed coincidence my second track visit wouldn't have to wait long. While I was begrudgingly holding my tongue on the bday surprise, I caught wind that SSC Racing (NA importer of Rotax engines and CRG Chassis) had begun running arrive-and-drive demo/trackdays with their selection of rotax karts (jr/sr/dd2) at moran raceway. Mags and I booked our spots for today to join coworker Ryan and his dad for a little father's day track time and we just got home after an awesome day out there. Moran is a monster of a track, nearly a mile long, with a miniture version of laguna's corkscrew and plenty of other elevation and camber changes to make it really interesting. I was impressed with the karts, and we all had a great day. SSC is really a class act, and we'll be heading back out to another one of their events soon.
Unfortunately, there was some bad luck leading in to the day and it reared itself again towards the end. We started with a miserable toothache for mags (she had an aborted root canal Weds, and is waiting to see a specialist this week to finish the job) and the bizarre mishap that saw the exhaust literally drop (and drag at highway speeds) off of Ryan's Dad's 81 Vette. Luckily mags was a trooper and the pain subsided, and more importantly wasn't aggravated by the karting, and Ryan's Dad just happens to be a mechanic/shop owner who was able to macguyver the exhaust hangers back into place.
On what would be our last session out, a pretty nasty collision happened and brought out the yellows. It was open practice at Moran, and we had to share the track with private kart owners and folks renting from the raceway itself in addition to the 5 total karts in our group. Thankfully traffic was light because of the holiday, and most everyone was courteous and in control waiting patiently to be waved by when it was safe. Mags did awesome for her first day in a race kart, on-line and always aware of a faster driver behind her to wave by at her earliest convenience. On her 3rd lap of the session, she noticed someone coming up very hot in the front half of the track. After she made it out of the second corner, a large and fast constant radius with a slight bank they called "carousel", she moved to the outside and waved him by. Somehow the moron locked up and got sideways and hit her from behind, making wheel to wheel contact and sending him literally flipping over her. She doesn't remember (not due to injury, it just happened so damn fast!) exactly how, but she seemed to take the brunt of it with her outstretched arm, and he ended up shiny side down skidding in front of her. He quickly extracated himself and even quicker made an ass of himself by bitching about her going slow and flat out ignoring her request for help exiting the kart as she couldn't put weight on her arm to pull herself up. Track staff came out to help, check her over, and get her back to the pits while the asshat continued his asshattery. All the while I continued running laps blissfully unaware she'd been involved until I pulled into the pits. She was icing her arm and was shaken, but mostly ok. We're going to keep an eye on it, but it's seeming like just a strain/bruising and nothing serious. Hey, she stopped thinking about her sore tooth and how many people can say they've been run over before?
After a few minutes the driver and a couple of his buddies came down to check on her and "apologize" which I thought was classy...until they flipped their story when I asked for his contact info. There was damage we were going to be responsible for and under the advice of Joe from SSC I thought maybe he would man up...he didn't. Apparently he and his cronies (who did all of his talking) were strangers to the idea of safely passing slower traffic and being in control of your vehicle. Huh In the end, karma's gonna work it out. He left the track soon after as his kart was in much worse shape.
All in all, we're really enjoying the sport and hope to get more involved as the year moves on. Mags would like to go take day 1 at Jim Hall so she can join Ryan and I when we return for their Day 2 and TAG Classes. After that I'd like to focus on getting some more track time and hopefully pick up a used demo/previous year race team kart from SSC at the end of the year. We'll use it to get even more seat time and when we're comfortable (and I drop my extra "ballast") we'll take a look at joining the Rotax series.