PRACTICE – It was Conor’s turn to re-acclimate, as he had missed Race No. 9 while at the Bonneville Salt Flats helping a student-based team from The Ohio State University's Center for Automotive Research break the Land Speed Record for electric-powered vehicles. Both boys practiced on used tires and saved their new tires for the qualifying session.
YAMAHA JUNIOR – Peter’s qualifying time was only a half second slower than the pole position time, but the competition in this class is such that this resulted in a sixth place starting position for his heat race. Qualifying format events tend to be processional affairs and that was exactly the case for Peter’s heat race. Everyone completed the first lap in the same order in which they qualified and they ran in that order to the finish. In Peter’s feature race, he was able to improve one position during the start. He managed to keep the kart he passed at the start behind him for the full distance for a fifth place finish.
80cc SHIFTER – Conor’s class was split into two groups for qualifying. He went out third in the first group. One of the slower karts in the class had gone out first, but Conor allowed what he thought was a sufficient amount before taking to the track. On his third lap, which was his fastest, he caught the slower kart exiting Turn 10 and had to take evasive action, which cost him about a tenth of a second. He qualified third, but catching the slower kart ended up costing him a position – the margin being 0.057 seconds. Conor’s heat race was also a processional affair with everyone finishing where they started. Conor provided the excitement during his feature race. He bogged his engine during the standing start and dropped to sixth place in the process. He made a pass for fifth on Lap 2, fourth on Lap 4, and managed to work his way back up to third on Lap 8, recording the second fastest lap time in the process.
POWDER PUFF – Laura suited up in Conor’s garb for the Powder Puff race (see picture below – click to enlarge). This event has gained popularity since it was introduced during the Hog Roast event in 2008. There were 27 entries in 2010, which required four separate heat races. The top two finishers in each heat would transfer to the feature. Laura had never driven one of the rental karts at CRP, so she was at a significant disadvantage. She managed to work her way up to some respectable lap times, but did not manage to transfer to the feature. We’ll be sure to arrange some practice laps for her prior to next year’s event.
NEXT RACE – MSOKC race No. 11 is another qualifying format event at CRP on Sunday, September 26, 2010. Peter’s position in the championship is pretty well fixed, but Conor fell from second to third after Race No. 10 by the slimmest of margins. We’ll do our best to get him three clean laps during the qualifying session on Sunday.
Bill
p.s., Lap times, lap charts, and results can be found at http://www.mylaps.com/results/showevent.jsp?id=589263.
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