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British University Karting Championship 2015 Review Part 5/6- Round 3: Llandow

KOKS Racing arrived at Llandow circuit in an upbeat mood. The B-team were doing well, there was signs of promise in the C-team and the weather was beautiful sunshine.

For me personally, things were looking good as I was promoted to the B-team after one of the drivers couldn’t make it that weekend. I was also going for my first top 10 finish since I missed out by just one spot last time out at Buckmore.

QUALIFYING: 18th (53.397)

It was an unnatural feeling setting off at the front of the grid for the start of the qualifying session but I immediately got comfortable with the kart and I felt like I was going well since all the drivers that were overtaking me were driving for their respective university’s the next day so I thought I got a good result.

However, I was in session 6 with one of our C-team drivers and once the results were published, I was extremely surprised to see that I was all the way down in 18th. My team-mate from the C-team out qualified me by a tenth and found himself in 13th, so he did a good job but now I felt what it was like being out qualified by the so called “slower” team. He was anything but slow! 

I knew where I was losing time. Most of it is the heavy braking into the last hairpin as well as my approach to turn 1.

Since my race was last I had time to have a look at some of the starts and see where I can gain, as well as lose, positions. This left me in high hopes for the race!

RACE: 13th (8th in class)  

The day for the B-team was poor. Two of our drivers didn’t have good results so it was down to me to see if I can salvage something from a poor 18th.

As the lights went green, my side of the grid had an awesome start in comparison to my team-mates side of the grid. In fact my side had such a good start that I was clear of my team-mate before we even reached turn 1. I was looking good, but I was too cautious in avoiding an incident so heading down into turn 5 and 7 I left massive room on the inside allowing all of my hard work at the initial start go to waste.

Once things settled down I was getting passed a couple of slower drivers with my team-mate right behind me and lapping quicker, although I did not realise this at the time! I was comfortable with the kart again, perhaps too comfortable as suddenly I get a tap from behind going into the hairpin. I turned around and saw a black helmet. “God damn those bandits wearing hire suits” I was saying to myself. Well...when I say I said that, what I mean is shouting “YOU FUCKING WANKER!!!” followed by a gesture of “what the hell are you doing?!”. I regained my focus and managed to gap the guys behind a bit while overtaking a couple more slower drivers.

When it was getting towards the end of the race I turned around to see that no one was on my bumper so I started to push to see if I could get any more positions. I was thinking to myself that “I must surely be in the top 10″. The chequered flag came out and I was happy with the consistency as well as the race craft during the race.

I got out of the kart and found out that I finished 13th. I was disappointed since I thought I got a solid top 10 but due to ineligible drivers I was 8th in class so I did get my first top 10 result! Although it was a hollow one, as it turned out that it was my team-mate who was the person who tapped me at the hairpin. He was quicker than me at that point in the race so I was disappointed that I didn’t recognise him. If I did I would of let him through. We apologised to each other and moved on since it was a mistake to be learnt from by both of us but mainly myself. 

My result turned out to be the B-team’s second best result of the day, which is disappointing for us as we were targeting top 5′s if not podiums. The B-team finished overall in 11th at the end of the day, which is poor considering the team got 3rd at Rye House and 6th at Buckmore. We still had a chance of getting a top 5 in the championship, so it’s onto the last round of the season at Whilton Mill!       

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British University Karting Championship 2015 Review Part 4/6- Round 2: Buckmore Park

Round 2 out of 4 of the British University Karting Championship was held at my personal favourite track, Buckmore Park.

When we arrived on a cold Thursday morning, the track was damp from the previous night’s rain but it was cloudy and there was a high chance of heavy rain during the day. I was again in the C-team and all I was wanting to come away with was a race finish after my accident at round 1.

QUALIFYING: 13TH (1:05.117)

I was fairly confident of doing well in the session since I know the track fairly well but my lack of experience in damp and greasy conditions cost me another top 10 place on the grid, only missing out by 2 tenths. 

I was not the only driver racing for KOKS in session 4, as the B-team driver, who beat me to the seat (and KOKS Cypriot Bandit), was also in the session. This was going to give me the perfect opportunity to show to the team captain that I deserve a place on the B-Team.

Straight away my team-mate got a black flag because he forgot to put on his gloves. Yes, you just read that, he forgot to put on his gloves!!! I was laughing all the way through the first two corners but once I finished laughing at how mentally challenged my team mate was, I got down to business. 

With me using my new tinted visor, which is worth half a second, I felt good in the first 10 minutes. The front end was very responsive and I got really comfortable, however once the times got reset and the green flag was shown to indicate the start of qualifying, it started to rain. I was doing ok but I had a problem, which was the visibility. As it was getting darker, it was harder to find some of the braking points and more importantly the flags! I managed to cope however and was impressed with my first performance back after the accident.

I out-qualified my team-mate by 6 tenths of a second, which is a lot in a competitive field. So I was going into the race full of confidence while performing the sun dance.

RACE: 13TH (11TH in class) 

The sun dance did not work as it was torrential rain for the race. I was obviously nervous. I had the accident, still suffering from the concussion and I had only driven in these conditions once and that was in a pro kart a couple of months earlier. My start was poor as I found it hard to get confident in the conditions with the brakes. My team-mate on the other hand had a cracking start and filled in the gap which I should of been in and moved as high as 8th, although I didn’t realise this at the time. 

I had a good consistent race passing those who got ahead of me at the start and also battling with those who had spun early on in the race. The karts were aquaplaning on the start/finish straight as the rain kept pouring down, with the rooster tails getting bigger and bigger as the race went on. To make things worse, everyone was on slicks since there are no wets available. I kept my head cool and with two laps to go I thought I saw my team-mate coming around my outside around the esses but it turned out to be another driver taking 12th spot away from me. I wanted to fight back but I got lapped by the winner on his very last lap so I was the second person to see the chequered flag.

I was happy that I finished a race without spinning and my consistent pace but my team-mate finished 11th overall and 10th in class so I was disappointed but happy for us both at the same time. I was also very cold and wanted to warm up as I was shivering. 

Driving in those conditions was fun for the first 10 minutes but then I started getting condensation on my visor, despite it being half way up. My team-mate (The Cypriot Bandit) also had that problem as well as having a puddle in your eye when you went over the kerbs at turn one and at cafe corner (see the circuit map above). 

Overall it was a good result for the team and it was onto the next round in Wales at Llandow!!!    

[theredkartbandit-blog]

Motorsport Psychology: The mind after the accident

If you saw my last blog (if you haven’t, check it out now),you would know that I had a big accident in my first competitive race. I thought it would be a good idea to show you guys the psychology that goes on in a drivers head after a accident in the long term.

Lets start by going back to the actual accident. First off, I was slipping in and out of conciousness while the aftermath of the accident was going on. Once the accident finished, I remember wanting to get out of the kart so that I can turn it around, get pushed off and restart the race. The assumption would be that because of my desire to grab a result for the team but it was otherwise.

I knew I had a big crash. I was in pain. The reason behind the enthusiasm was simply to see if I was ok. This sounds ridiculous from an outside perspective, but I wanted to make sure that my pace in the kart had not dropped. This is probably one of the first things a competitive driver thinks after having a big crash, especially after a head injury such as concussion. I mean it’s not just motorsport where this occurs but across all sports, the first thing that a competitor thinks is “is my performance going to drop because of this injury?”. In the short term it’s obviously yes but in the long term it’s sometimes a question of whether you will return to the maximum performance that you were once at. 

My memory of the accident itself is none existent. My team mates were saying that they thought that someone had gone up the inside and taken me out. Whatever it was, all I knew was that I had a big accident and now suffering from a really bad concussion.The next day, the video was posted online.

I was suffering really bad from the concussion and I then saw the video. My first reaction, crying. Not because I was upset or angry but just plain confusion. My head was telling me that I went into the tyre barriers head on. The video was showing that I went side on. In hindsight, I’m thinking that the concussion was so bad that my head was confusing that accident with my little accident at the rye house test day at the very same corner. Then came the next stage of doubt.

When you see yourself with your head perpendicular to your body, you start to ask yourself some questions. “Is the accident my fault?”, “Have I chucked myself into the deep end here?”, “What the bloody hell am I doing?”. The next couple of days was just myself really asking myself these questions. I was a healthy 18 year old with my 19th just around the corner and I’ve just had a concussion through doing what I love. Is it really worth it? This is where you have a division between those who are weak and those who are strong. 

In this case, I would like to think that I was strong about this (don’t mean to get all arrogant and all “look at me aren’t I amazing (I’m really not)”). The majority of the strength came within the team itself. Everyone was supportive the next few days and made me start to believe in myself and made me believe that the accident was not 100% my fault (So if you reading this and you’re part of KOKS, thank you!!). This made me more confident but I was still concerned as to whether my pace had dropped off as a result of this accident. 

Luckily, the next KOKS society round was a week later at the same track, Rye House. By this time I was still suffering from a mild headache but I was good physically. Medically I should of not driven in this race, in fact I’m sure that if I went to the doctors about my concussion, I probably would of got a note saying that I shouldn’t race for a couple of weeks or so, but the uncertainty of my pace being affected got the better of me.  

The first time I went round the first part of Stadium flat out was a relief, although it was done with the track’s hire karts, it was good psychological progress and significant progress since I instantly grew confidence and saw that my pace had not dropped by qualifying 5th for that race. 

The next competitive race was at Buckmore, two weeks after the accident. I was nearly fully recovered from the concussion but it was raining, in fact for the race it was torrential! I would be lying through my teeth if I said that the accident did not affect my performance during the race. All I wanted to do was finish the race without spinning. It did not matter if I was the slowest guy on the track. I managed to do this and after that race, psychologically I fully recovered from the accident. 

It’s amazing to think how one accident could affect you for up to two weeks! Then again, motorsport is dangerous, which brings me back to the weak minded. The weak minded in motorsport are those who believe they won’t get hurt. Some of you will say that’s bravery but it really isn’t. It’s stupidity. If you go to your local karting circuit for an arrive and drive, there is always a disclaimer saying something along the lines of “If you get hurt it is the driver’s responsibility and not that of the company/owner of the circuit.”. Even before I started Uni, I understood every time I went karting, even with my mates, that there’s a possibility that I could get hurt. Why would I think like this? Because it makes it easier for me to psychologically get over an accident. Yes it took me two weeks but how many people do you find getting into a go kart at the same circuit while still suffering from a head injury from a accident the week before? Those who are not as ignorant to the danger element of the sport.           

[theredkartbandit-blog]

British University Karting Championship 2015 Review Part 3/6- Round 1: Rye House

On an grey and overcast Thursday morning on the 12th February 2015, there was a sense of excitement as we all chanted “WHAT A SHIT HOLE!” when we went through the gates at Rye House go karting circuit. Why the excitement? Because it was the first round of the British University Karting Championship: Rookie Championship. 

If you read my last blog (IF YOU HAVEN’T PLEASE CHECK IT OUT!!!), you would know that KOKS Racing were entering two teams into the Rookie Championship. I was racing for the “C” team and it had to said I thought we could of had a good day and potentially be in the top 20, maybe even the top 15!!! The previous day saw one of KOKS “A” Team drivers get his first win in the BUKC and the “B” team looked strong, so there was reason for why I was optimistic.  

The layout of the day went something like this: Each team has 4 drivers, there are 6 sessions and each team will compete in 4 sessions, which is decided by the organisers. Each driver will compete in one of the sessions, which consists of a 20 minute qualifying session and a 25 minute sprint race, with a rolling start!!! The best 3 results for each team are added up and the team with the most points wins the round!! 

What happens is that the qualifying sessions take place before a 15 minute break and then the races begin! 

The qualifying session is split into two parts, the first 10 minutes is practice (so basically the laptimes don’t count), then the green flag is waved to indicate that it’s the start of the second 10 minutes which count towards where you would end up at the start of the race.

QUALIFYING: 13th (44.217)

I was sitting in the kart getting ready for my first ever competitive qualifying session and I was nervous! “Am I going to be fast?” “I hope I don’t spin out!” “PLEASE DON’T STALL THE KART!!!”. All of these thoughts were going through my head but luckily I was the only KOKS member who was racing in session 4, so I had the whole B and C teams surrounding my kart and wishing me good luck, which helped my nerves quite a lot.

As I got going there was immediately yellow flags at turn 3, because some bandits decided that they wanted to waste a couple of minutes sitting the kart motionless while waiting for a pusher kart, rather then get use to the circuit conditions! Luckily it was dry and I was very comfortable with the kart. Although I was still struggling with the braking at turn 3, I knew I was doing well since I was keeping up with the guys who had their own suits and helmets.

When I got out the kart and I was told I qualified 13th, which I thought was a not bad effort for my first competitive session but then a member of the “B” team told me that I was within the top 5 for the first 5 minutes and my laptime in the first 10 minutes was faster than my laptime which got me the 13th slot on the grid, so I was frustrated but not too frustrated as I was only 3 tenths behind 5th place.

RACE 

So I started 13th, for my first competitive race and I was looking good to challenge for a top 10 finish. As my team-mates sent me on my way I was feeling the surge of adrenaline as the formation of the rolling start took place.

The pusher kart gave the signal that the race was going to start. I was getting close to the bumper of the kart in front, and the lights went green and we were off!! The guys on the inside had a really good start but I wanted to make a lasting impact on my first race. We came into the fast stadium corner and then BANG! That was certainly not the kind of impact I was looking for!!!  Watched what happened here: https://www.facebook.com/kartbandit/videos/vb.214997038637691/553282464809145/?type=2&theater

Till this day I don’t know what happened. I saw the guy with the orange helmet on my inside go sideways and then my memory is blank. I remember gaining consciousness as I was rolling backwards towards the circuit and pressed brake pedal as soon as I could before I blanked out again! I then woke up a bit in the kart wanting to get out the kart, turn it round and get going again but I was in so much pain! I got out of the kart and was helped over the tyre wall, into the ambulance. I was in the ambulance for about 15-20 minutes. Still my memory of being in the ambulance is vague. In fact the first time I fully gained consciousness was when my team-mate popped his stupid little smug Cypriot (because he’s from Cyprus) face through the door giving me the two fingers and laughing his face off!!! Cheers for the concern!!

So that concluded my day’s racing. I have two theories about the accident, either I reacted to the guy in the Orange helmet going sideways or someone charged up my inside. I’ve been told that it was the latter but I’m not 100% sure. Oh well onto the next round at my favourite track at Buckmore Park!!! 

I am now doing the blogs every Saturday and Wednesday, so sorry you’re going to have to wait until Wednesday for my next blog, which will be an interesting one because it is not part 4!!! ;)

[theredkartbandit-blog]

Thoughts to Justin Wilson, his friends and family, and the entire IndyCar community.

[theredkartbandit-blog]

British University Karting Championship 2015 Review Part 2/6- Rye House Test Day

The second and final test day that KOKS Racing went to for preparation for the British University Karting Championship was Rye House on February 4th 2015. One week before the opening rounds of the 2015 season.

This was a crucial test day for the whole team that was there, since during qualifiers the B-Team got disqualified for the day which meant that they were going to compete in the Rookie Championship! During this time two members left. The vice captain was one of them due to surgery for a previous injury to his shoulder which meant he was out for the season and another was a reliable driver who was axed from the team as he wasn’t participating in the University Society races. This meant that two spaces were up for grabs in the B-Team!

With one of them already pre-determined before due to the driver having driven in the Rookie Championship the previous year, it was between several other drivers, which included myself, for the last seat within the B-Team. 

There were positions up for grabs in the C-Team as well, although this team was to become a rotational team since it’s purpose is for freshers to gain experience with the karts and race craft. For the A-Team it was a case of practising for their sprints and endurances, which meant practising their pitstops. 

The sub-team that I was with for the day included an A-Team member who happened to be the captain and another fresher although he was a third year student.

STINT 1: 15 - 30 minutes

Before I got into the kart I knew I was guaranteed a spot for the following week but I was in contention for the remaining B-Team spot. It was not a good start as I was pushed away I heard the engine come to life, only for me to be too eager on the throttle pedal and flooding the engine causing me to stall on pit exit. The track conditions was similar to Buckmore but the sun was shining down, meaning that the track was drying up quickly. Starting my first flying lap I went into the fast Stadium corner and was trying to apply advice from a experienced member of the team. He told me to just to lift off at Stadium and feel the grip on the outside of the corner. So I lifted off and then suddenly realised I was going too quick for the conditions and ended up in the barriers. Luckily it was only a minor contact, a different conclusion to the accident that was to come the following week (Check out part 3 of the review to find out what happened!!!).

Once I got going again, I was doing ok but I was struggling with the braking point going into the hairpin at turn 3. Unfortunately I spun at that very hairpin I was struggling with which was not great, especially after a consistent run by the team-mate before me. I was ok for pace but I was struggling with the conditions. When I came back to the pits I was frustrated with myself and was just staring at the lap times while talking to my other team mates while waiting for my second stint.

STINT 2: 75 - 90 minutes  

I got back in the kart, without stalling this time round and immediately I was faced with a much dryer track! I was a lot more comfortable as well as confident, however there were loads of yellow flags during the stint which meant it was hard to do consecutive flying laps without having to slow down. I managed to complete the stint without spinning, which to me was a relief as I felt ready and confident to be able to do a 25 minute sprint race without spinning on my own. 

When I got back to the pits however, I realised that I was only 3 tenths faster then my sub team-mate who went out in wetter conditions. I was 1 and a half seconds slower than an A-Team driver as well. 

TIMES:   

Stint 1: Best Lap Time - 58.864, Average Lap Time - 1:08.499

Stint 2: Best Lap Time - 45.670, Average Lap Time - 52.830

Overall I was pretty frustrated at myself. I pushed too hard, when all I needed to do was focus on myself rather then my team-mate’s performance. It was no surprise to me that I missed out (just) on the B-Team but I saw this as a positive since the captain wanted me to gain more experience in terms of race craft before promoting me.

So Part 3 will be based on my first ever competitive race, driving for the C-Team for KOKS Racing. It turned out to be a rather interesting experience!

[theredkartbandit-blog]

British University Karting Championship 2015 Review Part 1/6- Buckmore Park Test Day

I arrived at a very grey and overcast Buckmore Park on November 5th 2014 with a slight sense of nervousness and excitement rolled into one. Excited because for one I earned a spot in the test day through being the first fresher to win the fresher’s race outright at the Kingston Original Karting Society (KOKS) for about 4/5 years, and also I was beginning a dream of racing on a regular basis. Also I was nervous because I never driven anything as quick as a club 100 go kart before, in fact I never driven a two-stroke go kart before in my life but the one good thing was that I raced at Buckmore a couple of times in the one-star open hire kart events so I knew where the track went!

When we got to the circuit it was damp. At this point I’ve never driven in the damp before, which didn’t help with my nerves but luckily we were allowed to have a track walk before the briefing. I was walking around with my sub team leader for the day which was the vice-captain, where he gave me some great advice and really made me feel more comfortable.

As I put on my bandit hire suit (because I didn’t have my race gear at this point) I was feeling the adrenaline. The rest of my team composed of an experienced third year student (who would eventually be on the B-team) and another rookie like myself.

FIRST STINT: 30-45 Minutes

The first stint was quite terrifying but in an enjoyable way. First I need to not stall it when being pushed off by my team mates (since club 100 karts don’t have starter motors or clutches this was the only way to start the kart). Luckily I managed to do this and as soon I got out of the pits I put my right foot to the floor and then I felt the awesome acceleration which almost put me into a spin!

The stint lasted around 15 minutes and for the first 10 minutes I was getting use to the kart and the conditions. I was surprised at the fact that I didn’t spin it once at this point until coming into the second hairpin the person in front of me spun and due to my inexperience and my high level of banditry I slammed the brakes in panic (I don’t recommend this!). I then experienced my first time of jumping out of my kart, while the other karts where going round the track (although under waved yellows), picking up and turning around the go kart so that a pusher kart could bump start me. I have to admit that when looking at videos on YouTube it looked bloody scary but in fact it was completely the opposite, probably because I was off the racing line but still it wasn’t as frightening as I expected.

When I got out the kart I was surprised to see that I was quicker than one of the experienced members of the KOKS team by 8 tenths, which I was completely surprised by but I was still 2 seconds, if not more, slower than one of the A-Team drivers.

SECOND STINT: 90 – 105 Minutes

When I went back out for my second and final stint, I once again didn’t stall when I was pushed off which was a relief to me! With the track drying I was starting to get more confident with the kart but I was pushing too hard too soon and made silly mistakes. I accidentally took out of the Oxford guys at the first hairpin after attempting an ambitious move, especially for a rookie! I then proceeded to spin out on the second hairpin once again but this time it was all by myself.

Although my consistency was not great, my pace was decent for a rookie, posting a lap time of 49.9 with an average of 54.7 was a not bad effort and saw me as the fastest fresher out of the team in that test session.

Overall it was a very good test session as I gained a lot of understanding from both on track experience and help from the older members of the team.

Hope you have enjoyed part 1 of my review, next up will be part 2 which is about the Rye House test day!!!

[theredkartbandit-blog]

WHY THE NAME?

Some of you will be probably asking why would I call myself “The Red Bandit”? Well as you can see from my first post, red is my primary colour. The reason behind why I want to dress in an all red scheme is because, while I was growing up (I’m 19), Michael Schumacher was always on my screen every couple of Sundays dominating a race in his bright red Ferrari and ever since then I’ve always wanted to race with an all red gear. My dream was made reality at Christmas last year (2014) when my dad said I had a budget to get everything from gloves to the crash helmet. Luckily I managed to achieve this!

As for the reason behind the “bandit” part of the name. Well, I was competing in my first competitive race back in February on a cloudy Thursday at the Rye House go kart circuit. I managed to qualify 12th out of 30, which I thought was pretty impressive given my lack of experience with both the Club 100 karts and the circuit, but on the very first corner of my first competitive race I had a major incident at the very fast right handed “Stadium” corner. I was left unconscious for a good minute before being helped out of my kart and over the tyre barrier. The team captain, has called me a bandit ever since then! Here is the video on the kart bandit facebook page: Ouch!!!

So there you are! These are the two main reasons why I call myself “The Red Bandit”. Hope you enjoy this post! Next up will be my personal review of my first season of the British University Karting Championship, which will be split into 6 parts starting with my first time in a Club 100 go kart at the Buckmore Park test on 5th November 2014. #GetWellSoonMichael