Luke, Toby & Will @ PFi

Of course when you have a weekend off its only right to pop up to PF and see how the lads are getting on isn’t it?

Watching the look on your driver’s face as they see the Lincolnshire International circuit for the first time is something else, to see the joy after the first session makes you realise why we love this sport that continues to be a “rollercoaster” of emotions for all involved, we had Will, Luke and Toby here for the first round of the Winters and they were certainly in the mood to go racing.

With the wind of Storm Desmond (no comment) blowing from behind the bridge the run along the start line straight was causing pain to those in clear air and if you knew how to get in the tow then this was going to be a good weekend, with Luke there to help test the latest generation Matt Charters special and Toby running Iame and Honda this was certainly going to be a busy one, with BRK supplying awning space for the lads during the course of the weekend we had a great vantage point for learning and development.

For Will who has in his first year won the F6 Cadet championship this was a vertical learning curve but as always he took it in his stride, with advice from Luke, Alex Eades and Toby he had the lap sorted before he left the covered dummy grid, and returning 7 mins later the Paul Fletcher circuit had a new super fan, we had work to do of course and with 7 secs to find after session one we set about the data and off we went to watch the others on the evens grid.

Luke, Toby and Alex pretty much had the practice to themselves, in the top four of their group generally all day, it was a simple case of making “sweet” the setup and just getting Toby to continue his familiarisation with the Project One kart, in the Iame Toby was showing well but has been running in engines toward a very hectic 2016 programme, still able to mix it up with the best he was enjoying the day and of course twice the amount of karting!

Not long after lunch and we had got Will down to 3.5 secs off the top lads, with the setup now being discussed in earnest we made some adjustments to cogs and tyres and this brought us the times that we were looking for, Will wouldn’t be at the back and he was overtaking more experienced drivers so we had done enough to go racing, and with Luke, Alex and Toby comfortably in the 1.09’s we felt we had a good chance of trophies, at which point the hotel bar beckoned!

Sunday Race Day

At “PF” things happen a lot quicker than you expect, standing with a fresh cup of coffee at 0800 with a few things to finish off is simply not going to work! luckily we were ready but watching the panicked rush from those who were used to the laid back 0930 for 10am kick off was entertaining to say the least, with the drivers brief done we were stood on the dummy grid before the bacon went cold and then just as quickly timed qualifying was underway, PF is a machine and when it happens here it happens well, if you are not ready it goes without you and with this number of entrants it has to be so, it’s just a great feeling of organisation, we are lucky that we race at CKC who do a pretty good job of running the show but the PF machine has to be experienced first-hand to understand what we mean.

Timed qualifying was a little unfortunate for the boys, no stories of being “loaded” etc. simply right place wrong time and a lack of experience, Luke simply hooked up in traffic and didn’t create a gap, ending up mid order he had a task to deal with traffic but we had a good chat and he was up for the fight. Toby made an unusual minor error and got left behind by the train, unable to avoid the headwind his times were off and leaving him placed in the 20’s sadly, Will kept up but with his experience growing just needed consistency which was to come later on. In the back 4 but able to go racing and that’s all that matters on the first visit of course.

I wandered off to take in the racing and left the guys to the day’s events, I watched the lads through the pre and with Luke placing himself in P3 for the final it doesn’t take much to realise how far he has come along now, Toby quick but out of place in mid order final place had found the traffic and wind a hard task but was there and gaining ground, Will had made the B final and with a change at the last minute was flying, if we hadn’t been held up at the beginning I think we could have made the A final but there you go, a great effort from Will who is going to be so much quicker in the future and of course has a new favourite track!

And then came the rain!!!!

As we all stood and watched the finals one by one all we could do was wish the track to dry, Alex, Luke and Toby were all willing the sun to appear but typically it stayed wet until the previous heat and we started with a few dry patches, the setup gamble failed but was a worthy attempt and Luke ended up mid order with Toby in front by several places.

A disappointing conclusion of course but on the whole a great weekend, Luke and Toby proved beyond doubt they are worthy of the front and Will just enjoyed the experience, we expect to see him back at the end of January for round 2. Alex Eades was a great benefit to the lads and despite letting Luke buy all the Starburst sweets was a likeable personality to work with and smiled all weekend.

Ah the ups and downs of karting, we regroup prep the karts and move on of course, no lessons to be learned just experience and that’s what is going to bring these lads the wins they deserve.

Many thanks to Olly and Kj for the team entertainment and possibly the funniest picture of all, Luke and Alex stay off the Starburst! Toby stop hiding the Crunchie/Wispa bites! and Will ……..great driving especially in the Final, brilliant to watch