Race 1

Saturday was supposed to be the "Rookie driving school" and 6 rookie teams showed up on a cold, wet gray day.  We were unable to get on the track though due to the persistent showers.  I was however, able to get the weights right on the kart and install fresh tires all around.  Those new Hoosiers look great with the white letters on the polished wheels.

Sunday was race day and started much the same.  Fortunately, things dried-up enough to get some short practices in and we started the heat races.  Normally, each class has a Heat 1, then a Heat 2, then a feature race.  The weather cancelled the feature races but each class got the heat races done so the points were awarded based on what would have been the starting order.

Normally, her class would be the Junior Sportsman class but because there are so many rookies, they had their own class of 4 drivers.  Lian drew the pole position for Heat 1.  She was passed by one driver during the race and finished second.  The start order was inverted for Heat 2 and Lian passed two drivers to take the lead (one driver elected not to race).  Here is a video of her passing the other yellow kart for the lead.

(Video removed)

Lian's times were much improved with the addition of new tires and her confidence was steadily improving as the heat laps went by.  Her best time in Heat 1 was 27.92 sec.  Her best in Heat 2 was 26.39 sec.  This was all without the benefit of any real coaching from anyone.  With temps in the low 40s, blowing wind and mist, she spent most of her off-track time in the car with her friend.

Here is a picture of her on the scales after the second heat.  I conservatively had the kart at 267 lbs, a full 2 lbs more than required.  She looks good with matching colors on her helmet!