Thursday, August 30, 2012

MSOKC Race No. 9 – August 19, 2012 – Back on the Top Step


NEWS – After a very enjoyable and rewarding one-off Commercial Point Karting Classic, Bruce Brothers Racing managed to regain some of the form we showed in club racing during the beginning of the 2012 Mid-State of Ohio Kart Club season.  Both boys had some difficulties during MSOKC Race No. 9, which was a reverse direction event at Circleville Raceway Park, but the end result was much more satisfying than other recent club racing results.

PRACTICE – After the CPKC, the setup on both karts had to be changed back to suit CRP – mainly gear ratio changes, a return to club-spec tires, and an axle change for Peter’s kart.  The intermittent ignition problem on Peter’s kart seemed to have been resolved during the CPKC by using a borrowed, used ignition unit.  I was subsequently told that these units either work or they don’t, and since Peter’s old one still worked, we elected to stick with it instead of buying a new one.  During practice, it worked just fine.  Both boys enjoy reverse direction events at CRP and both recorded competitive lap times during their practice sessions.

SPEC 100 PIPE – There were only four karts in Peter’s class for Race No. 9, and only three of those were regular competitors.  The random draw for starting positions had Peter starting from fourth in the first heat and first in the second heat.  In his first heat, Peter made a pass for third on Lap 2 and a pass for second on Lap 6.  He was not quite as fast as the eventual winner and finished second.  In his second heat, Peter maintained his position at the start and drove a very smart race for a heat race win.  He was not quite as fast as the second place kart (the winner of the first heat) but managed to keep the lead without blocking.  A second and a first earned Peter pole position for his feature race.  During the break, we made a few changes to the rear axle to improve on what Peter described as “binding up” in the corners.  Peter maintained the lead at the start of his feature, but it became immediately apparent that the problem was not resolved.  He managed to hang on to the lead for the first few laps, but then had to surrender it on Lap 4.  The other two karts passed Peter as the problem continued to worsen, and Peter pulled into the pits before the checkered flag.  The non-regular competitor waived post-race tech inspection, so Peter was credited with a third place finish.

80cc SHIFTER – Similar to Peter, Conor started from the rear in the first heat and towards the front in the second, but there were 12 karts in his class for Race No. 9.  A lot can go wrong during a standing start with 12 karts, so Conor took it easy at the start of his first heat.  He dropped a position at the start (from 10th to 11th) in the first corner (Turn 10 for reverse direction events), but was able to gain three in the next corner when three karts tangled.  He made a good run onto the back straightaway on the first lap and picked off another kart in Turn 4 for seventh.  In the same corner on the next lap, two other karts tangled in front of him.  This time, Conor had no place to go and had to come to a complete stop and get out and push before he could continue.  This dropped him to 11th.  It took him five laps, but he caught up and passed one kart on Lap 7 and another on Lap 8 for a ninth place finish.  He set the fastest lap of the race (45.281 seconds) in the process.  From the third starting position in his second heat race, Conor maintained his position at the start, made a pass for second on Lap3, and another for the lead on Lap 6.  A ninth and a first somehow managed to be good enough for pole position for the feature.  Conor made a great start, led every lap, and recorded the fastest lap in the process.  This was our first MSOKC feature race win since Race No. 5 on June 17, 2012.

NEXT RACE – It sure was refreshing to get at least one kart back on the top step of the podium (see picture in an earlier post here).  After the feature races were over for the day, we reverted to the previous rear axle set-up we had on Peter’s kart and sent him out for a few test laps.  From the sound of the engine, you could tell that the problem was still there.  We then changed the ignition unit to the one we used for the CPKC and sent him out again – and it worked just fine.  What Peter thought was the rear axle binding up in the corners was a slight misfire when the engine was under heavy load.  Unfortunately, the information I got about the ignition unit was apparently incorrect.   We will be buying a new one for MCOKC Race No. 10, which is Sunday, September 9, 2012, at CRP.  This event will feature qualifying instead of the normal heat race format to allow time in the afternoon/evening for the annual MSOKC Hog Roast.  There will be plenty of food for everyone, a variety of games, and a Powder Puff race in the rental karts for wives, girlfriends, and mothers of the regular racers.

Bill

p.s., Lap times, lap charts, and results from Race No. 9 can be found here.