It's been a busy few months here at Bejc Motorsport, so I thought I'd post abit of an update seeing as how I've been neglecting this blog for a while. What with work taking up a lot of time & a holiday in Majorca just recently, karting has taken a bit of proverbial back seat- however, the last couple of months havnt been completely devoid of racing, & November, December & January are looking pretty promising!
Since my last post, I've raced in a couple of members events at Teamsport Bristol, taking a podium at a race night a few weeks back & also ranking in the top 10 of Bristols fastest driver seedings. Unfortunately I missed the first round of the Chase the Ace winter series as I was away, but with four other rounds (to include two drop rounds) remaining, there was plenty of time to get back into the the thick of it.It's been a busy few months here at Bejc Motorsport, so I thought I'd post an update seeing as how I've been neglecting this blog for a while. What with work taking up a lot of time & a holiday in Majorca just recently, karting has taken a bit of proverbial back seat- however, the last couple of months havnt been completely devoid of racing, & November, December & January are looking pretty promising!
Since my last post, I've raced in a couple of members events at Teamsport Bristol, taking a podium at a race night a few weeks back & also ranking in the top 10 of Bristols fastest driver seedings. Unfortunately I missed the first round of the Chase the Ace winter series as I was away, but with four other rounds (to include two drop rounds) remaining, there was plenty of time to get back into the the thick of it.
I've also been preparing for the upcoming BRKC event in January, being held for the second year at Formula Fast in Milton Keynes. Brad Philpot has been doing an amazing job hyping up this event, with over 100 drivers having registered for the series. What with deposits, travel, accommodation, booking time off work etc still to be sorted, I'm sure this annual event will come around in no time at all- to say I'm excited would be a huge understatement. To have missed out on the semi-finals this year by only one place was gutting, so this January I'll be looking to redeem myself.
Round 2 of Chase the Ace took place on 28th Oct, with Zac Venn taking victory after overcoming Dan Healey during the race's pitstops. I had a fairly positive race after only recording the 7th fastest time (out of 14 drivers) in practice but then only qualifying 11th after the one-lap session. For the race itself I had a fantastic kart & after getting a good start & taking positions around the outside on the first lap, I was able to really attack & keep pace with IronMan winner Matt Horgan for the first part of the race.
It was really fun being able to come up behind other karts & have the confidence in my own to pull off great passing moved, & I was also able to start ahead of Round 1 winner Oliver Bayani, who had started from the back of the grid as rules dictated. Through an early yellow flag period I decided not to stop & pushed on with what was a great kart beneath me. After my first stop I emerged again behind Matt, who I followed through the back markers before making my second stop fairly early on. Matt stayed out but I could tell from his track position that he was losing time to me, & when he emerged from his second stop I was marginally ahead, before pulling away slightly as we approached the final five minutes of the race.
I was up to 4th at this point, behind only Oliver (who had yet to make his final stop) Zac & Dan, but then things started to become unstuck as I came up behind Krystian Matuszkiewicz. I didn't know it at the time, but Krystain was actually a lap down- & likewise I think if he'd known we weren't racing for position he wouldn't have fought with me, but try as I might I couldn't get past him. Oliver emerged from his final pitstop moments after the 5-minute board went out, slotted in between Krystian & myself, then a lap later muscled his was past into third place. I was frustrated to say the least, although my concern now was Matt Horgan, who had crept back up behind me. With only a few laps to go, he took advantage of another failed attempt by myself to get past Krystian, bumping me aside onto the main straight before a frustrated half-spin by myself whilst trying to re-take the position was the nail in the coffin for my podium hopes. I crossed the line in 5th place, behind Zac, Dan, Olly & Matt- who did apologise after the race for the contact.
On a slightly more positive note, I did end up with the 4th fastest race lap time, which made up a little for the disappointing practice & qualifying. My congratulations go to Zac & a thankyou to all the other drivers for a fun night of racing!
The next round of Chase the Ace is on 25th November, where hopefully a top-ten qualifying position, a good kart & some wind behind me can net me a solid result for the championship.
I'll be sure to update soon with regards to the BRKC, and full results from that next race at Teamsport Bristol.
Until then, safe karting!
Ben
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