March Madness

It's almost time for Round 2 of Teamsport Bristol's TopGun series, and since the last round I've been invited to take part in the ever-growing EKL kart series, as a member of one of the Bristol teams ran by my old buddy Darren Pierce. I'll be driving for the Bristol Bandits team at the two rounds scheduled to take place at the Clay Pigeon circuit in Dorset. I'm really looking forward to taking part in this competition, alongside familiar faces Dan Healey, Dan & Lee Morris and a few BRKC regulars. Karting outdoors is a world away from indoor rental karting & I'm really interested to see how I stack up against these guys!

For more information about the NKL, check out their website:

http://thekartingleague.co.uk/wordpress/

Since Round 1 of TopGun, I havnt managed to get back to the Avonmouth circuit for any practice, but I did have the opportunity during an overnight stay in Winchester to visit the Thruxton karting centre, where I was able to take part in an open practice session on a beautiful dry day-it would have been rude not too!

It's always abit of an adjustment when you go back to outdoor karting after a break, as everything is amplified-the grip, the speed you arrive at corners, the bumps on the track-it usually takes a few laps to recalibrate the senses a little. It didn't take me long to get a reminder of this as I ran wide coming out of the first corner on cold tyres & clattered over the serrated exit kerbs!

After a few laps if managed to find my groove and enjoyed attacking the  fast circuit as the tyres got up to temperature and my braking points & lines improved. All too soon my session was over and I cruised back to the pitlane with numb hands and a huge grin on my face. I had a nice evening of r&r planned with Fi at the the fantastic Marwell Hotel and I left Thruxton confident that when my first round of EKL comes around, I'll be ready for the demands of outdoor racing once more.

In the meantime, I have the next TopGun event to look forward to, and I'll be sure to let you guys know how I get on as soon as possible- if you're racing, I'll see you there!

Ben