For round 4 of The Kart Championship we went to Cumbria Kart Club in Rowrah. 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.
Rowrah was a great track, one that Riley really enjoyed driving. A very long drive for us, taking around 6 hours to get there. For this event, we hired a van from Enterprise as it saved us an hour at least being able to do 70 instead of 60 on the motorway with the trailer.
After a ‘mid-season’ break for the series, it felt good to be back.
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 using a custom circuit which helped. What was apparent was another general improvement in Riley’s driving. He’s been listening to Joe and both Pauls from Ambition Motorsport and when we race at Red Lodge, he really tries to apply and consolidate the learning. His pace was good throughout the day, often putting in similar or slightly better times than his teammate.
Saturday
As always, Saturday consisted of 2 practice sessions, qualifying and 2 heats. Practice 1 was a reasonable session with Riley setting a time of 47.807 which was good enough for 13th. Practice 2 saw Riley set a time of 47.018 which was 9th overall. The improvement across the grid means most people were within a second so it’s getting harder to crack in to the top 10.
As Rowrah has it’s own micro-climate, it did rain overnight but the track did dry by the time driving started.
Qualifying
Qualifying this round was tough. The entire grid bar one was covered by one second. The one that wasn’t within a second was less than a tenth outside. The track was slightly slower than earlier practice, but Riley set a time of 47.198 which was good enough for 16th. He was just over half a second off the pole time which is an achievement in itself. What was nice to see though was his fastest lap was at the end of the session rather than the start.
Heat 1
A fairly steady heat saw Riley maintain 16th until 2 laps from the end. On the last two laps Riley managed to pick up a couple of places crossing the line 14th. He set his best time of 47.276 on lap 6. Post race penalties did manage to bump him up to 10th which shows how close things were this weekend.
Heat 2
Although the start of Heat 2 was clean, at the first hairpin there was a big pile up. Riley was stuck on the inside and had to sit and wait for the track to clear in front of him. When he got going he was stone cold last. He kept his head down, and on lap 4 picked up a place before picking up another two on lap 8. Setting his fastest lap of 47.243 on the final lap, he crossed the line in 17th. A decent recovery drive for him!
Sunday
Once again it rained overnight, however the track did dry out again. The points from heats 1 and 2 determine where you start in the Super Heats. This put Riley 15th on the grid.
Super Heat 1
Super Heat 1 was fairly uneventful. Riley managed to do an overtake on lap 3 before getting overtaken a few laps later. This meant Riley crossed the line 15th, where he had started. Once again he set his fastest lap time of 47.460 on the final lap of the race.
Super Heat 2
A decent start saw Riley up to 13th by the end of lap 1. At the end of lap 2, disaster struck though. Coming around the final corner, Riley ended up on the kerb which in turn sent him hard in to the tyre barrier on the exit. Riley is OK, which is the main thing. After the race he had a trip to the medical team who were very nice and very helpful. Massive thank you to them for looking after him and checking him over.
The kart … not so lucky. Both tie rods snapped at the steering column, the steering column bent but worst of all, the front of the chassis bent to the point it couldn’t be straightened track side.
Our day was over. The only thing to do was pack up. This though, is where Riley showed real character. He wanted to stay and support his teammate Ellis Deeley in the final. So, we made sure the van was loaded up and ready to go, and watched the final supporting Ellis all the way.
Conclusion
This was our first visit to Rowrah, and before the accident it was rating highly on Riley’s list of favourite tracks. One of the resounding positives from the weekend though was the feedback on Riley’s driving and just how much it’s improved – both throughout the year and race on race. Riley works hard at putting in to practice the teachings when we visit Red Lodge and it’s really showing.
Overall, the weekend was positive. The accident was a shame, however, the character shown afterwards was second to none. The feedback received throughout was positive.
Huge thanks must go to Joe and Paul Weaver who were part of the Ambition Motorsport team again 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.
The kart is now stripped and ready to be sent to a specialist to be straightened. Hopefully we will be back for Fulbeck in July.
As always, thank you to our sponsors who help make this happen.
