James & Will @ Forest Edge Testing

With CKC off limits due to Nkasta, James and Will both had their first experience of the wide and fast Forest Edge track on Saturday for practice.

The weather forecast predicted lots of rain and cold, so with the awnings up, the inters and wets were primed for use. Ethan’s experience of racing at the track helped the boys on the track walk and both boys got first-hand experience just how long the track actually is.

Not only was James at Forest for the first time, he was also out on a brand new Project One chassis so had lots to learn. Will is only just starting his karting journey and it was his first time at the track after a couple of practice sessions at CKC and Bayford.

With a cold, but dry track, both lads went out on a good setup with worn inters – instructions for the first session were focused on getting used to the track and getting their eye in rather than trying to achieve a great lap time out of the box. While others were spinning off, both lads did a great job and kept it on the grey stuff throughout the session.

The rain stayed away for the next three sessions and in each session both boys did very well, now working on speed and lines with the help of Ethan, both saw their lap times tumble. Then the rain and hail turned up in short sharp showers, not enough for a full wet weather setup but enough to provide more challenges to the boys on their worn rubber. It was a shame that we didn’t manage to avoid the rain as the boys were on for even better results.

Both did extremely well though across the day and showed that consistency and focus on the driving and lines was delivering results – they were mixing it up in the non-licenced cadets with plenty of overtaking, while others continued to be fast in a straight line before spinning off at every other corner, James and Will concentrated on their targets. Will’s next goal is more decisive overtaking and keeping his foot in a bit longer while James will be working to reduce his lap times even further.

By the end of the day, James had taken 10 seconds off his initial laps and was consistently in the 55’s while Will had also taken over 10 seconds off and was smack on the 60 second lap, another dry session would have seen that well under the 60 and at least another second off for James.

Great effort from both the boys on their first visit to Forest Edge and despite the biting cold conditions both went home smiling.