Sanzaru Games Karting Championship - Race 6

Date	Aug 21, 2016
Track	Simraceway, Sonoma, CA
Configuration	Sprint
Total Drivers	11
Qualify Position / Time	P5 / :50.773
Heat Race 1 Position / Best Lap	P7 / :51.295
Heat Race 2 Position / Best Lap	P6 / :51.493
Main Race Position / Best Lap	P5 / :51.360
Points Earned / Series Points	130 / 895
Standings Position	3/19

Photo by Tony Leone, Dromo Photos — Photo by Tony Leone, Dromo Photos

Practice

I had a strong practice day, starting slightly off pace. Thanks to the data and coaching that I received from Wes, I was able to fix little problems here and there that chipped away at my consistency. At the end of the day, I was able to beat my qualifying time from Race 2 this year, which is a huge accomplishment.

Qualify

My first thoughts after finishing qualifying was that I wasn't pushing hard enough. However, my mechanic Wes told me that I pushed too hard because I got a little too excited over putting on new tires. Had I not overdrove the kart, I would have qualified higher up on the grid, a couple tenths faster. This comes to show that I'm still not quite there yet to get that perfect qualifying session in and compete for the pole position.

Heat Race 1

Once again, I overdrove the kart during the first heat race in an attempt to keep up with the leaders. As a result, I made a terrible mistake going into Tic Tac Toe and spun off the track for a short period of time. That gave an opportunity for two drivers behind me to drive by me and finish ahead, which will later affect my starting position for the Main Race.

Heat Race 2

My timing for the start of the second heat race couldn't have been more perfect. I was closing in on Enzo Prevost, who started directly in front of me, and a little incident happened where I was also able to get by Tom Dyer. I found myself in P4 for the first couple laps, until there was a red flag because a kart flipped at the sweeper after the Maker. Thankfully, the driver who flipped was alright, and he was able to participate in the Main Race at the end of the day. Unfortunately, I had to start back in P5 again, and the restart went horribly wrong for me. When the green flag was up, the outside row got a great run and was able to carry more momentum through the first corner than the inside row, where I started. I found myself in P6, and nothing changed for me after the start. As a result, I now had to start in P6 for the Main Race.

Main Race

For the Main Race, I continued to struggle with overdriving the kart. A couple times, I went for a pass, but lost too much of my momentum because I kept overslowing the kart. Carlos Calderon was able to get by me after I failed another passing attempt in one of the tighter corners. After that, it was a difficult battle between me and Carlos, and Carlos' many year of experience paid off, as I was never able to get around him in the end.

Full Results:

Current Standings:

Read about the other races from 2016 Sanzaru Games Karting Championship