2023 Red Lodge Karting Club 2000 Round 2

On February 4th, we would find ourselves back at Red Lodge, taking part in the second round of the Club 2000 championship. For us this would be a chance to build on what we learned the previous week at Bayford Meadows with Ambition Motorsport. With a large entry which included 8 Mini Max and 102 across all classes the day would be run slightly differently. This would be our first time using Mojo slicks so it would be a day of learning for both.

We left the setup well alone. What was applied at Bayford Meadows seemed to work well for Riley so we didn’t change anything. We applied the Muc Off Anti-Fog at the start of the day after learning from the previous event.

Qualifying

Due to the size of the field, it was decided by the organisers to forgo the usual 3 lap practice and dive straight in to qualifying. This didn’t faze Riley and he set off on his way. Each lap he went faster and on his final lap of the session set his best time of 47.464. This was good enough for 2nd in class, quite comfortably.

Heat 1

The first heat would almost set the tone for the day, a good start saw him keep his second place. Consistent lap times, which kept improving through the session, saw him drive to a 2nd place finish (3rd Overall) with a best time of 44.89 set on the penultimate lap. We were extremely happy to have been 4 seconds clear of 3rd place who we have previously been very close to.

Heat 2

Ctrl+C Heat 1, Ctrl+V for heat 2. This heat was almost a copy paste of the previous heat. Consistently improving lap times with a best of 44.576 on the penultimate lap and nearly 2 seconds clear of 3rd after getting slowed overtaking a back marker. Not a lot to say other than some great driving once again.

Heat 3

See heat 2. Talk about a day of consistency! Once again, just driving off in to the distance securing second (3rd overall) place with a 5 second gap back to third. Times consistent again, with a best of 44.287 on lap 9 of 11.

At this point it was really clear that everything we had learned the week before from Bayford Meadows with Ambition Motorsport was paying off. The consistent quick driving was showing through.

Finals

With the day going as well as it was, last up was the finals. All that was needed was the same again. This wouldn’t be the case, after watching another lightning start, in turn 3 a tap to the rear sent Riley in to a spin and sat on the edge of the track. Losing around 9 seconds getting off the kerb/grass and back on track, now would be a test of strength.

After taking a couple of laps to clean off and warm up the tyres, the frustration was channelled and the hunt was on. Running 0.5-1 second a lap quicker than the main pack in front of him, a lap later he picked off the first kart. 2 laps later he picked off the second. Watching him drive at this point was something else, he was unsettling the kart on the final corner in the same way that the fast juniors and seniors do. He crossed the line 5th in class, 7th overall with a best time of 43.932 just 2 seconds off the kart in front.

The result didn’t match the performance which was a shame. There had been so many positives through the day, the consistency, the times, the driving. If it hadn’t been for the first lap incident it would have been a perfect day, but if that incident hadn’t happened, he wouldn’t have driven as hard as he did in the final. So, we look at the positives as we get ready for Round 2 of the BMKC Winter Series in a couple of weeks.

As always, a huge shoutout to our sponsors who help. A big thank you must also go to Ambition Motorsport for their training the previous week which was definitely carried over.