NEWS – Our win streak in Peter's Spec 100 Pipe kart continued, but our streak of races without a mechanical ‘DNF’ (did not finish) ended a week ago Sunday during Mid-State of Ohio Kart Club Race No. 4 at Circleville Raceway Park. Our last mechanical DNF was when Conor’s clutch broke during a Great Lakes Sprint Series race in April 2008. Peter was back with us for Race No. 4 following the completion of his season of rowing with UA Crew. Henry, who is home following his college graduation, also joined us as a member of the pit crew. Race No. 4 followed the normal heat race format except that all classes used standing starts (like the 80cc Shifter class) instead of the normal rolling starts.
PRACTICE – About the only thing we did between Race Nos. 3 and 4 was to flip tires around and make a few repairs to the seat in Peter’s kart, to which we had to bolt an additional 20 lbs of lead to bring Conor up to the minimum required weight when he used it for Race No. 3. I also adjusted the brakes on Peter’s kart, which almost came back to haunt him later in the day.
SPEC 100 PIPE – Peter’s class was comprised of five karts for Race No. 4. He started his two heat races from the fourth and second positions, respectively. I thought that the three-disk dry clutch that we use would have an advantage during standing starts over the wet clutches that others in this class use, but this did not turn out to be the case. In both heats, everyone maintained their position at the start. In fact, everyone maintained their position throughout the entirety of both heat races. The karts in this class have become so close in lap times that there was no passing – the winner of the first heat finished last in the second and the last place finisher in the first heat won the second. The only drama in the heat races was when Peter had a half spin entering Turn 3 about midway through the first heat. It turns out that his chief mechanic forgot to tighten one of his brake pads, which caused the spin. The kart behind Peter had had a half spin while avoiding him, so no positions were changed. A fourth and a second earned Peter the second starting position for the feature. With everyone running lap times that were so close, we decided to make a pretty radical change in an attempt to give Peter an advantage. Everyone maintained their position at the start again. Peter got a good run through Turn 4 on Lap 2 and was able to make a pass for the lead entering Turn 5. The change we made had the desired effect, as Peter increased his lead slightly on nearly every lap and set the fastest lap time of the day (46.389 seconds) in the process. Peter is now three-for-three in feature race wins in this class this season with Conor having won the fourth.
80cc SHIFTER – There were nine karts in Conor’s class for Race No. 4. He drew the second starting position for his first heat race. One kart was slow to leave the formation grid in the pit area, which meant that the other karts had to sit on the starting grid for an inordinately long period of time before the starting procedure began. This seems to have caught Conor off guard, as when the green flag did fall, he made an uncharacteristically poor start. By the time he got fully up to speed, he had dropped to the tail end of the field. It turns out that his poor start didn’t make any difference. As he was working his way back toward the front, his right front wheel became detached in Turn 7 on Lap 6 and went rolling into the grass. When we got his kart back to the pits, we discovered that his right front stub axle had broken (see pictures here). This is an item for which we do not have a spare, so Conor’s day came to an early end.
NEXT RACE – Peter’s kart is ready to go for MSOKC Race No. 5, but finding replacement parts for a 10-year-old chassis from a kart manufacturer that is no longer in business was difficult. I ended up finding a pair of new spindle/stub axle assemblies for a similar chassis that, with a few modifications, seem to work on Conor’s kart. We’ll find out how well they work soon enough, as Race No. 5 is this Sunday, June 17, 2012, at CRP.
Bill
p.s., Lap times, lap charts, and results from Race No. 4 can be found here.
PRACTICE – About the only thing we did between Race Nos. 3 and 4 was to flip tires around and make a few repairs to the seat in Peter’s kart, to which we had to bolt an additional 20 lbs of lead to bring Conor up to the minimum required weight when he used it for Race No. 3. I also adjusted the brakes on Peter’s kart, which almost came back to haunt him later in the day.
SPEC 100 PIPE – Peter’s class was comprised of five karts for Race No. 4. He started his two heat races from the fourth and second positions, respectively. I thought that the three-disk dry clutch that we use would have an advantage during standing starts over the wet clutches that others in this class use, but this did not turn out to be the case. In both heats, everyone maintained their position at the start. In fact, everyone maintained their position throughout the entirety of both heat races. The karts in this class have become so close in lap times that there was no passing – the winner of the first heat finished last in the second and the last place finisher in the first heat won the second. The only drama in the heat races was when Peter had a half spin entering Turn 3 about midway through the first heat. It turns out that his chief mechanic forgot to tighten one of his brake pads, which caused the spin. The kart behind Peter had had a half spin while avoiding him, so no positions were changed. A fourth and a second earned Peter the second starting position for the feature. With everyone running lap times that were so close, we decided to make a pretty radical change in an attempt to give Peter an advantage. Everyone maintained their position at the start again. Peter got a good run through Turn 4 on Lap 2 and was able to make a pass for the lead entering Turn 5. The change we made had the desired effect, as Peter increased his lead slightly on nearly every lap and set the fastest lap time of the day (46.389 seconds) in the process. Peter is now three-for-three in feature race wins in this class this season with Conor having won the fourth.
80cc SHIFTER – There were nine karts in Conor’s class for Race No. 4. He drew the second starting position for his first heat race. One kart was slow to leave the formation grid in the pit area, which meant that the other karts had to sit on the starting grid for an inordinately long period of time before the starting procedure began. This seems to have caught Conor off guard, as when the green flag did fall, he made an uncharacteristically poor start. By the time he got fully up to speed, he had dropped to the tail end of the field. It turns out that his poor start didn’t make any difference. As he was working his way back toward the front, his right front wheel became detached in Turn 7 on Lap 6 and went rolling into the grass. When we got his kart back to the pits, we discovered that his right front stub axle had broken (see pictures here). This is an item for which we do not have a spare, so Conor’s day came to an early end.
NEXT RACE – Peter’s kart is ready to go for MSOKC Race No. 5, but finding replacement parts for a 10-year-old chassis from a kart manufacturer that is no longer in business was difficult. I ended up finding a pair of new spindle/stub axle assemblies for a similar chassis that, with a few modifications, seem to work on Conor’s kart. We’ll find out how well they work soon enough, as Race No. 5 is this Sunday, June 17, 2012, at CRP.
Bill
p.s., Lap times, lap charts, and results from Race No. 4 can be found here.
Posts
