ProKart California – Race 1, Buttonwillow
| Date | Feb 10, 2017 |
|---|---|
| Track | Buttonwillow Raceway Park, Buttonwillow CA |
| Total Drivers | 20 |
| Qualify Position / Time | P6 / :50.838 |
| Heat Race 1 Position / Best Lap | P9 / :50.439 |
| Heat Race 2 Position / Best Lap | P10 / :50.157 |
| Main Race Position / Best Lap | DNF / :50.180 |
Practice
Friday practice was short, thanks to the rainy weather. Our main objective was to simply learn more about the track and better understand the ideal 'rain line' in case the track is still wet the next day. I did a solid job at keeping my kart from going four off, which resulted in a successful practice day.
Qualify
The track finally dried out after a wet morning warmup session, which would have made qualifying more difficult for me because I didn't practice on slicks like the majority of the other drivers did. Out of 20 drivers in S3 and S5, I qualified in P6, surprising both the team and myself!
Photo by Tony Leone, Dromo Photos
Heat Race 1
My very first race start in a shifter kart. In my opinion, it could have been better if it weren't for my ongoing bad luck, but that's racing. When the lights went out, my launch was fine, but the driver in front of me didn't release his clutch until everyone else already did. I had to avoid hitting him, only to find myself getting hit by another driver who tried overtaking the entire field over the grass. Just when I thought the struggle was over, somebody dive bombs me in a corner and lost control of his kart, punting me off to the side during the process. I finished the heat in P9, which unfortunately wasn't the result I was hoping for.
Photo by Tony Leone, Dromo Photos
Photo by Tony Leone, Dromo Photos
Heat Race 2
Had another bad start when my clutch began to overheat. I fell back 2 positions and could only make up one spot late in the race, meaning that I had to start the main in P10.
Main Race
The main race made this whole experience both a weekend to remember, and a weekend to forget. When the lights went out, my clutch overheated once more, and I fell back to P19. However, a horrendous start didn't stop me from putting on a show at my shifter kart debut!
Photo by Tony Leone, Dromo Photos
After the first couple of corners of the race, I began to slice through the pack like butter, and worked my way back up to P10 in 7 laps. I found myself catching up to 9th place, but ended up misjudging a corner on the 9th lap and crashed out because I was too deep in the zone. My left elbow and right foot got pretty banged up, but I was able to shake off most of the pain by hopping back into a Rotax the next day.
That small error on lap 9 reminded me of a conversation I had with an instructor back at the Skip Barber Karts to Cars Shootout. He told me that getting very deep in the zone is a rare technique that can only be seen at an extremely high level of racing because the driver is mentally programming himself to maximize the limits of the vehicle and eliminating the fear factor.
I'd to thank my mechanic P.K., my dad, and the Aluminos team for supporting me this race! It was definitely a great learning experience, and now it's time to look forward to my next challenge: Sanzaru Games Karting Championship Round 1!