Another large national event at Bira, with a total of 84 racers this time. The event unfortunately became marred with fuel controversies as the KAT started full scale fuel testing. Many fuel samples were found suspect or unacceptable, yet due to the variations accepted from various fuel suppliers, no action was taken.The fuel supplies will now be calibrated and strict fuel testing should be expected.

Free practice went well for Extreme Sports Cafe on Friday, with a few mechanical niggles and set up tweaks. We were comfortably on the pace at our second outing at Bira, which was reassuring.

Saturday practice was another matter. Stephen had one massive off in the morning while pushing hard and the kart setup did not go well as we tried to find some more speed. Several throttle cables broke, and overall engine power seemed down. So we persevered with different gearing setups to see what we could achieve.

It was not until the end of the day and qualifying that we were starting to get better results, and ended up qualifying in 11th place out of 13 on the grid. Our times at that point were about 2 seconds off the pole pace.

Sunday morning Stephen pushed hard into the first corner of the first heat and locked up his brakes thinking that there was going to be a massive first corner crash. Some people had jumped the start and the first corner was really ugly as karts all came together in the 180 degree left hander! Unluckily Stephen had misudged and ended up at the back of the pack, as with a bit of rally driving and other tricks everyone got through the first corner. This is one of the prices you pay for being at the back of the grid. Stephen pushed hard and was making up ground when his engine siezed at the end of the start finish straight, forcing hiim to retire. That perhaps explained some of the unpredictabl results we were getting on Friday…

So we changed to our spare engine. The difference was immediately noticeable.

In the second heat we were again at the back of the grid but managed to get up into 4th place from 12th on the first lap due to some really nifty driving at the first corner, making up for heat 1!

Stephen lost a place later in that heat to one of the faster front running karts that had been attacking him from behind for a couple of laps. He also had a spin which cost him 2 places while trying to out break an opponent.. But was fighting hard to make those places back when another throttle cable failure meant he had to limp back to the pits and retire late in the race.

So we were back on the back of the grid for the final race. With a new engine, totally checked over carb and throttle system we rolled out for the final at the back, again! Only to find a tack stuck in the right rear tyre of our kart, and a leak. Stephen had the right rear tyre changed with a practice one, so grip was now an issue on the fastest corner of the circuit.. Some negotiations with scrutineers ensued, but we were allowed to start the race..

In the final Stephen pushed hard all race, and climbed from the back of the grid (13th) to finish in 8th chasing Findlay Macleod right to the line for 7th.

Stephen said, “I was just happy to finish the race after all the problems that weekend, and was really enthusiastic with the new engine and kart set up. Making up so many places from the back was simply a bonus, and a lot of fun!”

This result has now placed us 10th in the Championship, and yet again taught us more about the unpredictable nature of motor racing. We are also proud to be able to say that we have always finished with points at every race meet entered, so consistency is one of our assets. We are a ‘No-DNF’ team!

Thanks to Bira and the Organisors and Officials, and the entire Extreme Sports Cafe Racing Team.

Results for the final follow..

Posted by admin on Wednesday, August 23rd, 2006 at 10:21 pm.