For round 2 of The Kart Championship we went international! Well, OK, we went to Wales to Glan-y-Gors. This was our first time venturing to the track so our goal was to just keep improving throughout the weekend. Once again we were with Ambition Motorsport and see if you can spot a difference with the kart!
GYG was set in beautiful scenery amongst the mountains in North Wales, it also appeared to have it’s own micro-climate that the weather apps didn’t account for!
Before the event, we removed the pedal extension kit due to Riley growing, this was a key decision as it highlighted the throttle cable was frayed and needed replacing.
Friday
Friday practice is a new experience for us! We had requested the day from school as this is a new track that Riley has not driven before. Friday would be used to learn the track.
We had a few issues on the Friday, the new position of the pedals were not quite right, so a fair few adjustments were needed. Then a bit later, the engine was cutting out and restarting automatically. This was resolved with new fuel lines, in-line filter and a clean of the carb.
After practice was complete, the kart got a new look! Check out the pictures below, but this is something Riley has wanted since starting karting in the Honda Cadet days.
Saturday
Saturday morning was cold! So cold Elsa could have broken in to song! On the Saturday we were still struggling with the new pedal set up. First practice session was wet and using some very old wet tyres Riley did a best time of 57.662. After this session we decided to swap to another set of wet tyres which helped and brought the time down to 53.391 and mid-grid. This left us with a good feeling going in to qualifying.
Qualifying
The good feeling from 2nd practice didn’t quite translate in to qualifying. Although times improved with his fastest time of 51.724, this put him 17th, and last on the grid. Being last on the grid does mean one thing, the only way is forward! You can’t go backwards! The qualifying result determines the grid for the two following heats.
Heat 1
A good start and avoiding incidents saw Riley up to 12th by the end of lap 1. A spinner on lap 2 say him gain another position to 11th which he held for the next 6 laps before he dropped back down a place. After another spin in front of him, 11th was regained where Riley crossed the line. Setting his best time of 44.228 on the last lap of the race we were seeing further improvement.
Heat 2
The second heat was fairly uneventful with Riley picking up a place at the start. He held this place until lap 5 when someone spun in front of him allowing Riley to pick up another place. A decent lap time of 44.060 showed further improvement which is all the could be asked for. A very close (millimetre) dropdown saw Riley pick up a 5 second penalty but this did not impact his finishing position of 15th. A DSQ in front did promote him to 14th though.
Sunday
Due to noise restrictions, there wouldn’t be a warm up session and it was straight in to heats. We had some company for this with Grandad and Gill coming to support us. The results from Saturdays heats did bump Riley up to 13th on the grid for the next two heats.
Super Heat 1
The first heat of the day was tricky, with sprinkles of rain making the tyre choice very last minute. The choice to stay on slicks was right. Riley got caught up in a lap one turn one incident, although this only dropped him one place to 14th. An incident on lap 4 saw 3 karts go past dropping Riley to 16th. By keeping going, and an overtake on lap 8 saw Riley cross the line 13th, where he started. A post race penalty promoted him to 12th, and a reasonable time of 45.287 for cold damp conditions as well.
Super Heat 2
Not entirely sure what happened in this heat. The start was reasonable but on lap 2 Riley dropped 3 places. On lap 6 Riley was overtaken again putting him last on the road. The key here was to keep going. By keeping going until the end Riley crossed the line 13th. Lap time was good with a best of 44.124.
Final
For the final, Riley lined up 14th on the grid. Riley would get a reasonable start, but on the opening lap coming in to Devils Elbow he ran wide, this allowed a group of karts through putting him last on the road. All was not lost though this seemed to push Riley to drive with determination.
Consistent low 44 lap times was good, and a best time of 43.739 was great, until lap 7. Disaster struck and the left bumper bolt snapped. This resulted in a black and orange technical flag forcing retirement. A real shame to finish the event this way but that’s motorsport. We believe the bolt snapped coming out of the final corner after running over the kerbs. This was something Riley had done most laps and I think it was just too much.
Conclusion
GYG is a great track. For the driver it’s a challenge, the scenery is stunning, the facilities were great with tarmac in the paddock, a good amount of space and the cafe building.
The engine issues on Friday made us a little nervous, but the change in pedal positions was arguably our biggest challenge. There is some work to be done on the kart before the next race, with parts ordered from Kart Parts UK. Recent MSUK rule changes have meant that bumper catchers are ineffective due to the catching lip not being allowed under the bumper bracket. Might have to just cable tie it in place. Additional rules from FIA will see another tweak to the way the kart looks for next time out!
It wasn’t all bad though, we visited a new track, Riley got quicker and quicker over the weekend. Consistent improvements which is good. We also got to understand more about the set up of the kart and some changes we will be carrying on to future races.
Huge thanks must go to Joe and Paul Weaver who were part of the Ambition Motorsport team this weekend, Joe spent time coaching Riley and Paul really helped dad out with getting the kart set up, running well and ensuring the kart was right all weekend. Everyone in the Ambition Motorsport team is incredibly supportive of everyone and all the parents will help out where they can.
As always, thank you to our sponsors who help make this happen.
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