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Gary's Corner |
2009
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This year we have created a new class namely the 390 Honda 13hp motor. This motor is modified to give us in the region of 22hp with lots of fun. Fastest kart in the 4 stroke series now. The drivers have got together and created a new club committee to run this years series. First 2 races were affected as a result of this shaky start.
We built up a kart from purchasing a 1996 Birel kart out someone's garage for R1000 after actually just wanting the breaking system. It cost us a lot more than that to get it race ready and looking spick and span, but this was all well worth it. We decided that being the first time we would be racing it, we had better get it to the track and sort out the setup etc. Quite surprisingly the Kart was basically ready as it was we made various adjustments to see if we could improve but we ended up basically as it was when we arrived. The kart was a little loose on the back wheels but we were not able to improve it. Still working on this one.
On race day we qualified 3rd on the grid, better than what we expected as we planned not to put in a too fast lap for the first race. We wanted to trail in the beginning as we were not sure about our performance with the newly built kart.
The race started and soon we were leading the pack. This continued to the end and we took the che3ckerred flag for the day. leading the pack by 5 laps. They even penalized us incorrectly for being underweight when we know this is impossible as we are over 5 kg overweight without any added lead. This is the second time that they have done this and we now will need to put someone at weighing to personally sort this out as the marshals are just not professional and cannot be trusted with accuracy of records.
The Kart took a bit of a beating as we collided with some of the new drivers as they spun off in front of us. The next race is at Kyalami on the 4th of April 2009. A little concerned about the new karts going round that track as there is little runoff and the karts are going faster. Very dangerous for me at the bottom end as there is no room for a mistake on the bottom corner as the brick wall is right there with some tyres. Take a look at the pics
Quite a nice turnout at the Kyalami track with quite a few new drivers on the scene. We decided to get a hired Kart team to come and race under the Baldwin Racing name this weekend with our previous years Kart and WF motors we still have. This turned out great for the team and they really enjoyed the days racing.
Clive and I qualified 3rd on the grid with Phil and Roland still beating us on the line. Will need to get our Kart that .5 seconds faster to get TQ. But once the race started we kept the pressure with some close racing for the first 20 minutes having the top 3 karts all within meters of each other until we had to stop the race after grant had an accident and had to be taken to hospital. We restarted the race and slowly crept to second place. Phil then had trouble with his seat and allowed us to make up some 20 laps on them. The race was all over and we were once again the winners for the day. That makes it 2 in the bag. We accept that if Phil did not have problems I do not think we would have won as they were clearly faster then us on the day. We will definitely need to get the Kart working better for us if we intend to keep the lead. Very tight racing and competition very tough I must say. Take a look at the pics
9 May 2009 (Bloemfontein)
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Webmaster: Gary Baldwin Last Updated: 06 Apr 2009