Friday night was the live BRKC Heats draw, with drivers being randomly selected from a pot & grouped for their respective races, of which there are 4 per driver, with up to 10 drivers in each heat. Points are scored based on finishing position, with 10 going to the winner, 9 to the driver that finished 2nd, 8 for 3rd etc down to 1 point for last place.
Heat 1 will take place on Saturday morning- for this heat I have been grouped with Lee Henderson, Annelien Boutens, Jack Woodfield, Nathan Bull, Arnaud Tinet, Joshua Morris, Thomas Clark & Matthias Grooten. This will be my first chance to measure myself against the competition, & by the end of this round of heats I'm already expecting some of the big guns to have come away with huge points.
Heat 2 is on Saturday afternoon, & will run on an 'alternate' track layout. This will be the first time anybody other than staff at the track have driven this configuration, so it's a bit of leveller for those who haven't had much practice- though I'm still expecting the top drivers to come away with a big points haul. The cream will always rise to the top, as they say! In this heat, I'll be racing against Piers Prior, David Longman, Callum Conway, Jake Cambell-Mills, Michael O'Brien, Chris Jennings, Harry Neale, Chris Negus & Kasia Brem.
Heat 3 will be early on Sunday morning, returning to the tracks original configuration- in my group this time will be Russell Endean, Tyler Mays, David Longman, Ed White, Kasia Brem, Piers Prior, Michael Woods, Anwar Beroual-Smith & Remigiusz Drzazga.
My last heat (& final chance to take as many points as possible) will be early on Sunday afternoon, again running on the 'alternate' layout. The other drivers in this heat are Chris Brookshaw, Matthias Grooten, Michael O'Brien, Oliver Boote, David Longman, James Martin, Arnis Kivitis, Arnaud Tinet & Mateusz Barsch.
Of course, all being well (& unlike last year) I hope to make it into the Top 30 drivers, therefore getting the chance to race in a semi-final later on Sunday afternoon.
The organisers for this years event have created a special trophy in memory of Kam Ho, who sadly passed away last year. Kam was active in karting & the BRKC since it's inception, & he finished in 28th position last year. The driver that finishes in that position this year will be awarded the trophy- it's certainly something I would be honoured to receive should I make it that far.
I feel that I learnt a lot of lessons during the event last year, which didn't really bare fruit until the final morning, so this year I'll be looking to get up to speed a lot quicker. I'm under no illusion however that the other guys (& girls) wont have also improved, so it's going to be tough but also a lot if fun. It will be great having Oliver, Dutch & Rob Allison there for the event, representing Teamsport Bristol in a way- & I hope they enjoy the experience as much as I do!
Until then,
Ben
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