Will, Zach & Sam @ Shennington
This weekend saw the Shennigton SuperPrix - with racing split across 2 days as well as the normal club round on Sunday.
The team pitched up at “Shenny” on the Sunday to a gloriously sunny day and as we set up the awnings and coffees the lads were taken on the duty trackwalk, with Zach already having done the previous day it was a matter of discussion and comparisons with Des providing clarity in the right places.
As always “Wilkins” and “Bruno” provided plenty of discussion in terms of the level of braking needed and also whether the track marks that remained from the previous meeting needed to be moved closer to the “Stratford” turn as well.
With Sam joining the gang for the weekend this was a great time for the lads to get to know each other and with the knowledge that we had two practices before the afternoons racing we were glad of the warm sunshine. The setups were agreed with the Spanners team back at the pits and with odds and evens sessions listed, the lads made their way to the grid for first practice.
Will and Zach's session was a straightforward affair with both seemingly happy with the first setup but Sam decided to come in after his third lap reporting little grip from the start….a short discussion about waiting for tyres and staying out made Sam return to the grid for session 2 determined to help set his kart up and enjoy the practice, Will and Zach enjoyed a level of improvement and both reported a better feeling, feedback is vital of course and this was to become a part of the weekends running!
H1 saw Sam off to the grid on his own as Will and Zach watched from Wilkins embankment, a steady session saw him toward the back but gaining ground, with some focus needed on the lines in general Sam was still having a great time but back in the paddock he knew there was work to be done and set about asking questions – a great thing to do of course if in doubt.
H2 was a proper little battle in the latter part of the grid, with Sam’s adjustments in place he flew off the grid and was chasing down the pack with Will when both lads ended up avoiding an incident in “Café” with Zach disappearing off to the top hairpin by now the lads had some catching up to do and they did not disappoint in any way, with Sam smashing his “Pb” pushing to stay with Will it was simply his inexperience that caused any gap to grow, but the boys caught up and as Will managed to drive past 3 of them, Sam found himself looking too hard for easy gaps!
H3 had all 3 lads out and with each one getting faster we saw strong performances from them, Sam now mixing it with more established novices, Zach pushing up into the yellow boards and consistently fastest novice now and Will still not quite on his usual pace but working hard to improve, his braking traces though were immense!
H4 had Sam watching the others and enjoying them homing in on new fast laps and playing with traffic, Zachs new livery was beginning to collect a few scars as well so the boys were certainly “getting it on” at Shenny
The lads were originally looking at the B final top 5 places but as they waited to start a couple of rows from the A Final were dropped into the front of the B and suddenly the lads had a massive task ahead of them.
A great effort from all the boys saw Zach take top novice of the weekend, Will get 6th and Sam take 11th in the B final from a grid of 15, each one improved times all day and the consistency looked amazing at first glance.
A group of young drivers learning the trade, having a great time supported by two siblings who didn’t realise they were at a kart meeting…….in particular one of the Souths largest gatherings too!
Many thanks to the boy’s dads and relatives for great support and patience, Gloria, Katherine and Sam’s relatives for refreshments, Ollie and Kj for entertainment and of course Will, Zach and Sam for some great driving and progress throughout, we have everything we need to get quicker so the next meeting will be a positive move in all ways!
Looking at the quality of photography recieved from TP this weekend, it looks like we may need a new team photographer as well - any volunteers?
Till then keep it flat