For round 3 of The Kart Championship we went to Warden Law Motorsport Centre in Sunderland. 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 which we really are enjoying.
Warden Law was a great track, with some great facilities. A very long drive for us, taking around 6 hours to get there. On the way home, we stopped at Wetherby Services and it seemed like half of the Kart Championship grid was there!
After the drama’s of the previous Red Lodge round, the brakes have been completely rebuilt – both the caliper and master cylinder. We also had the engine rebuilt by GMS in time for this round.
Friday
Friday is practice day, and with this being our first visit to the track the aim was just for Riley to learn it. He has virtually driven the circuit on Kart Racing Pro which we believe really helped. What became quickly apparent was a general improvement in Riley’s driving. His pace was good throughout the day, our main struggle was tyres. We had 2 sets of practice slicks, which by the end of the day both were well and truly shot.
At the end of the day after watching Riley, Paul from Ambition wanted to try a set up change to help keep the kart slightly more planted. Dad set about trying to get hold of a set of used tyres for Saturday to prove out this change.
Saturday
After successfully finding some replacement practice tyres, the setup change was applied and the kart looked a lot more settled. For practice 1 there was an issue with the Alpha timing had an issue and didn’t record any times. Practice 2 saw Riley set a time of 51.946 which was 17th overall. The time was good but the whole grid bar one was covered by less than 1 second!.
Qualifying
This was a new tyre round, so qualifying would be the first real indication of where Riley sits as everyone will have bolted on their race engines and new rubber. Qualifying didn’t quite go to plan, with Riley setting his best time of 51.353 on lap 2 before getting caught in traffic. All was not lost though as this lap was good enough for 11th on the grid. We are sure he could have gone quicker though.
Heat 1
A slightly tentative start with front runners coming together saw Riley drop a place to 12th. This is where he remained until lap 4 when a recovering pole sitter managed to get through. With a very competitive grid a second kart followed the pole sitter through dropping Riley down to 14th. On the last lap though, Riley re-took 13th where he crossed the line. His best lap time was 52.010 set on lap 6.
Heat 2
A messy start by the grid saw Riley drop to 15th as they crossed the line. A couple of overtakes on the second lap and Riley was on the way up. Another overtake on the 4th lap and he was back to where he started. An interesting last few laps saw Riley drop a couple of positions before making them back up, crossing the line 10th. A DSQ in front bumped him up to 9th. Riley set his best lap time of 51.777 on lap 4.
Sunday
Sunday was wet, I think we would have had more success if we strapped a propeller, rudder and bow to the kart!
Super Heat 1
With the weather fairly treacherous, the decision was made that there would be at least 2 rolling laps at the start of the heats. Unfortunately due to the low speeds and conditions, we had a spark plug fail or oil up on the second rolling lap. This left Riley stopped at the marshal post 5 and a DNS.
Super Heat 2
For the second heat, we lined up 11th still. The directors were still doing the battenberg flag start to reduce the chances of a first corner pile up. This worked well and after a couple of people stopped or went off the track, Riley was up to 8th by the end of lap 1. Lap 2 saw a couple more overtakes putting him up to 6th with another overtake a lap later. What was nice is Karting TV did follow this little battle and streamed it on YouTube. Riley managed to collect another place and ran to the end in 4th overall. Best result in a heat at this level!
In very tricky conditions, Riley’s best lap time was a 1:10.827 which was set on the final lap. He did pick up a drop down penalty but had enough of a gap back to 5th to keep the 4th place.
Final
For the final, Riley lined up 8th on the grid alongside his Ambition team mate. Avoiding some first lap drama, despite being passed, Riley still managed to gain a place up to 7th on lap 1. The two Ambition karts then ran line of stern working together until lap 6 when a small mistake allowed Riley and another kart through. The lap charts don’t reflect it but Riley was having a great scrap with kart 45, with them overtaking each other throughout the laps. Riley held on to 6th when he crossed the line. Great result.
Riley set his best lap time of 1:08.755 on lap 9, towards the end of the final. Riley did get a drop down penalty which dropped him to 8th, however the final winner was later disqualified which promoted Riley up to 7th. Still a very good result.
Conclusion
As mentioned at the start, Warden Law is a great venue. During our first visit there, Riley really showed potential. This round, Riley really showed that he should be racing at this level. There was a big improvement in his driving and this was noted by people in the team. Riley has really worked hard to take onboard and put in place what is being taught. The brake pads actually lasted an entire event with meat left on them at the end showing that he’s no longer riding the brakes.
Overall, the weekend was incredibly positive, even if Sunday was tough due to the conditions. I think the plug failing on the out lap helped by giving a DNS rather than a DNF which altered the points awarded.
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.
