Bitter winds and light snow greeted over 60 drivers who had entered the third round of the 2013 British Rental Kart Championship. The stage was set at Hereford Raceway for another day of fantastic racing, with the same questions on everybody's minds: Could Lee Hackett become the first driver to win three BRKC events? Could Sean Brierley put a stop to him? And could Rhianna Purcocks make the most of a home field advantage and get amongst the front runners?
Practice went fairly well as I got to grip with finely balanced twin-engine kart, readjusting my senses slightly as I got used to driving outdoors again after a six month break (its always surprising how much more grip there is compared to indoor) and generally trying to keep it on the black stuff, before lining up for my first Heat.
I started dead last in the that first heat, had a cracking start and managed to get up to 6th place by the time the flag fell a few laps later.
Typically, I had one of the top drivers starting behind me in my next heat, and after making a fairly good start I found myself defending from Sean Brierley for a couple of laps before he slipped past as we went under the bridge. Again, I finished 6th of 10, so at least I was being consistent!
Rhianna Purcocks was amongst the other drivers in my final heat, and after a couple of laps she was past me and chasing down the next driver. What fooled was a slightly bizarre incident as she went around the outside of someone at the switchback hairpins, before being run out wide and straight into the tyre barrier, right infront of my eyes. I managed to avoid the carnage, gained a couple of places and finished up 4th, which put me in the 'D' Final, starting 4th.
After a short break and a wander around the picturesque circuit, I watched the 'E' final before pulling on my helmet and gloves for my final race of the day. Starting right infront of me was Seans younger brother Liam, and behind me the quite frankly tiny Annalien Boutens. All in all the race was fairly uneventful for myself, unfortunately the same couldnt be said for Liam as he was involved in an altercation early on and dropped out of the running. I was soon past by Boutens and followed the top 3 over the line with only a few seconds covering all of us.
Overall I finished 41st of 57 drivers, about where Id expected to be if I was being honest, though it would have been nice to have broken into the next group of drivers. Unfortunately due to a mix up with my weight class I was unable to score points toward a heavyweight position so was competing 'overall' but thats of little matter as Im only planning on doing two rounds this year anyway
As usual, Herefordshire Raceway put on a fantastic event, with barely any disruptions, and once again we were provided with fantastic and equal machinery. Credit goes to the staff and marshalls for keeping us safe and well fed, and even putting up with a few temper tantrums along the way.
Lee Hackett was again untouchable, and still leads the standings from Sean and Connor Marsh. Full results and news can be found at brkc.co.uk
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