Round 6 of the Club 2000 championship held at Red Lodge Karting took place on the 3rd June 2023. This weekend would see a double header with Round 7 following closely on the Sunday. It was also the weekend where Autism in Motorsport would host an extra race on each day, with the proceeds going to charity.
The weekend was definitely one of sunshine, however there would be tough lessons.
Qualifying
Qualifying was an uneventful session, although the 5 main contenders all set a time within 1 second which was fun. Riley qualified 3rd with a time of 43.296.
Heat 1
The first heat was relatively uneventful for the top 3, with positions remaining until lap 10 when the leader stopped. This promoted Riley to 2nd on the road. A post-race penalty then promoted Riley to heat winner. Setting his fastest lap of 43.096 on the penultimate lap.
Heat 2
Heat 2 saw Riley starting in pole position. Beaten off the line, he would spend most of the heat in 2nd place, until a recovering driver managed to sneak past on lap 8. Riley crossed the line 3rd setting his best time of 43.062.
Heat 3
Heat 3 was similar to the first heat, in that the top 3 remained unchanged throughout the race. Despite a drop down in front, Riley wasn’t close enough to gain a position. This is where the frustrations were beginning to set in. Consistently 7/8 seconds behind the leaders but about the same in front of those behind. The day was becoming a bit lonely. Another slight improvement on lap times with a fastest of 43.046.
Final
With the points totted up from the heats, Riley lined up 2nd for the final. Not the best of starts meant that he was down to 3rd by the end of the first lap. Like most of the day, the top three then proceeded as usual with Riley crossing the line 3rd overall and once again improving the time with a 42.932.
AIM Race
This race was an extra race with the proceeds going to charity. This race would also be the hard lesson.
After spending most of the day 7/8 seconds behind the lead 2 drivers, and about the same in front of the following pack, a plan was hatched. Riley wanted to let his friend behind through so they could battle out on track. Dad warned against this, but drivers will be drivers.
After starting 2nd Riley was beaten in to turn 2 putting him in 3rd. Coming out of turn 3 he thought his friend was behind and let him through. Unfortunately, it was not his friend. Try as he might, he could not get past and crossed the line 4th. In desperation to get passed he picked up a drop down and was further demoted to 5th overall.
Conclusion
Day 1 of the double header weekend had gone OK. A little frustrating and definitely a lesson learned the hard way. It was an enjoyable day and as we were camping time to reflect on those lessons and look forward to the following day.
Thank you as always to our sponsors, and after a visit to Demon Tweeks you will notice a difference next time!
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