DNF, but still smiling…. Why is that!?!?
If numbers were anything to go by, the 2007 season is set to be a scorcher. 87 karts were entered for the first National Championship race of 2007. This would also be the very first race held at the newly opened Motorsport complex in Saraburi. The temperature climbed to over 43 degrees and took a heavy toll on both drivers and track. The newly laid asphalt started to disintegrate during the races and caused some concern, as well as limiting overtaking possibilities. Apparently the track will be resurfaced in time for the next race here. With both new classes and many new drivers there was plenty of action all around. Alexander Close was ambulanced away after his terrible Sunday morning accident, but thankfully joined the remaining heats of the day, bruised but none the worse. The 20 kart TAG Master grid gave plenty of excitement, as did the new SuperCadet class with intense driving. The nail biter of the day was though without doubt the ICA races and all credit must go to the Danish Schilling brothers for amazing driving, in a very strong and fiercely challenging field. Stay tuned for Round 2 in Korat….
Extreme Sports Cafe Racing Race Weekend Report…
Round 1 2007 - Thailand National Karting Championship.
With very little time to practice (read none!) over the off season Extreme Sports Cafe Racing turned up at Saraburi with realistic expectations.. The only thing that suprised us was how beautiful the setting was, and how great the track was also!
Limited Friday practicing had us 5 seconds off the current lap pace.. Not good.
On Saturday throughout the day we pushed and steadily improved to around 1m07seconds against 1m05 as the best lap time in the ClubMan class… Still not good enough, and a clear sign that we needed more time on the track.
Finally qualifying 7th out of 10 in the last session of the day, ready for Sunday’s heats.. and pushing all the way to the end of the qualifying session looking for extra speed…, we were reasonably happy with the work we had done so far.. But not ecstatic!
In the first heat on Sunday with some changes in the kart setup Stephen was able to chase the field, and made up two places to finish in 5th, setting lap times the same as the front runners and working through the field. To mid-field from the back and very low consistent 1m05 lap times this was a really good result.
On a track as hard to pass on as the wonderfully technical new Saraburi track that was a very happy achievement for the team, and the overtaking maneuver Stephen used to gain his final position is one that he is still smiling about on Tuesday!
Heading into the second heat confidently looking to finish in the top 3 the kart had problems starting and blew two starters on the grid. With a lot of help (thanks all) and a frantic bump start Stephen got out in time to try and chase the back of the grid ready for the start. Unfortunately the kart threw it’s clutch into the lake two corners into the warm up lap and it was all over..
Because of our DNS in the second heat we were moved to 9th on the grid for the final..
Stephen pushed very hard from the start of the final race trying everything to make some ground up in the early stages of the final.. After 4 laps and not being able to break through the field he pushed very hard straight-lining some heavilly curbed corners and the chain went on the kart… But, nothing ventured, nothing gained! However, we might perhaps regret losing those one or two points (that a low position finish might have yielded) later in the season.
So unfortunately that was a DNF for the first round of the Championship.
However, being of the same pace of familiar lead karts and drivers from last year in the first meet of the season is something we can be very pleased with…
We welcome ‘Age’, our new mechanic for this season. Age is incredible, actually having to be dragged away from the kart physically to take a break occasionaly. And the whole team is very excited about this 2007 season…
See you in Korat in April. We’ll be going for a trophy…
