Summer Shootout

Welcome back.  I managed to get a few days off for the race weekend so we set up the kart with a larger sprocket (66 tooth) and mounted up the repaired bodywork (more fiberglass) and off we went.  This was the season's second night race so there was excitement about that.  Lian made sure to stop by the dollar store and get some chemical light wands to add to the kart for the Feature race.

The class had 13 competitors this weekend.  With approval from the parents, the race officials planned to have all of them competing together rather than splitting the group into an A and B heat.  By this time, we had seen the entire group practicing together without any issue and we all had confidence in our drivers to be civil on the track.

Lian worked on the corner entry for "the hairpin" during practice and was consistently smoother through that corner without chattering tires.  This will pay dividends I believe.  Her mom even thinks that the tires were in better shape than expected - perhaps getting less abuse?  Anyway Lian reports that the right hander was more consistent than before.

For this practice, I quickly cobbled together a helmet mount for the video camera.  I figured if we could find speed in the right hander, maybe we could find speed in other parts of the track using video footage.  I reasoned that a velcro patch large enough to hold about 4 pounds would be able to hold the light little camera that weighs in at just over 6 oz.  Here is a couple of looks at the crude mount with a curved aluminum part to stick the velcro to.

Ahhhh, guess again.  In the very first practice, in the very first turn, the camera departed the helmet and disappeared in the grass.  Ooops...   Fortunately, it was not only easy to find with the grass freshly mowed but the camera still works!  Hooray, the gift from Lian's grandfather can still be a tool for a learning driver - as soon as Dad figures out a functional mount.  Back to the drawing board...




Lian drew a pill in the middle (they draw numbered pills to determine their starting position in the heat races).  She started 8th and 6th in the two heats and qualified 8th for the feature.  One of the kids near the front dropped out of the feature so Lian started the feature in 7th.

We applied the lights as before and there were plenty of lights shown in this group.  Here is a picture on the starting grid.

The kids all did a great job and the racing was very clean.  Lian had a great start and was a little quicker than the karts ahead of her.  She attempted a pass coming out of the hairpin but was cut off sharply enough that she had to get hard on the brakes and lost two spots.  She did pass one of those racers back though and finished 8th.  With everyone so evenly matched, it was amazing to see any passing at all!  I was very pleased that I didn't have to do any more bodywork!

Thanks again for reading...