NEWS – For Mid-State of Ohio Kart Club Race No. 12 a week ago Sunday, all Conor had to do to clinch the championship in his class was to show up. Peter however, had work to do to win the championship in his class. Race No. 12 was a reverse-direction (clockwise) event at Circleville Raceway Park that featured qualifying instead of the normal heat race format. While chilly mornings have become the norm here in Central Ohio, it was downright cold that morning.
PRACTICE – The first practice session for everyone was a bit of a comedy. There was so little grip from the cold tires/cold track combination that more karts had spins than not – some as they were leaving the grid area. Peter started on the tires he raced on last time with the intention of switching to a slightly better set that we had in the trailer for his second session. We had one last set of new tires in the trailer, which Conor would race on after practicing on old tires. We didn’t learn much in the first session other than nobody was breaking any lap records. In the second session, Peter pulled into the pits after only one lap with what he reported as a bad vibration. We checked a few things, including the tire balance, made a few changes, and sent him back out to practice with Conor’s class. The problem seemed to be fixed, but he was still a bit off the pace, so we decided to make a gear change for the qualifying session,
SPEC 100 PIPE – There were again only four karts in Peter’s class. During his qualifying session, Peter’s first lap was again off the pace. His second lap (of three) was almost a second and a half faster. He must have dug deep for the third lap, because it was another half second faster and good enough for pole position. Everyone else had improvements during their three laps, but none as dramatic as Peter’s. Peter knew that the start of the heat race would be important. He got a bit of a jump on the kart on the outside of the front row (his main rival in the championship), but the flagman waived off the start. On the second attempt, it was Peter’s rival who got the jump and the start was waived off again. There is a little-used rule that says, if the start is waived off twice, the front two rows are inverted for the next attempt. For whatever reason, the race director decided to invoke this rule. The green flag waived the next time around and, after qualifying on pole, Peter ended up going around the first turn (Turn 10 in the reverse direction) in fourth place. His main rival tried unsuccessfully to make a pass in Turn 9, which let Peter slip by into third. Peter got a good run out of Turn 5 and made a pass for second going into Turn 4 on the first lap. He duplicated that maneuver on Lap 3 to move into the lead. On the same lap, Peter’s main rival tangled with the third place kart while attempting a pass and lost five seconds or so in the process. They ran in that order to the finish. The results up to that point meant that all Peter had to do to win the championship was to not finish last in the feature. At the start, Peter held the lead and his rival made a pass into second (after starting third). The first three were nose to tail for the first few laps before Peter began to edge away. Peter set the fastest lap on Lap 9 on his way to his sixth feature race win of the season in this class and clinching the season championship.
80cc SHIFTER – While it would have been nice to send Conor out with a win to go with his second consecutive season championship in this class, one of the younger guys did not cooperate. He also had a new set of tires, which he used to out-qualify Conor by several tenths of a second (45.133 to 45.506). Conor responded in his heat race by turning his fastest lap of the season (44.895), only to be outdone by the younger guy (44.807). These two were in a class of their own and finished first and second (out of nine). Conor was once again in the 44s during his feature race, but the young guy lowered the bar once again with a 44.694 – easily the fastest lap of the year in this class – in spite of the conditions. These two once again finished first and second. Like Peter, Conor also finished the season with six feature race wins – five of those in his class and one in Peter’s class when he doubled up for MSOKC Race No. 3.
NEXT RACE – That’s it for the 2012 season for Bruce Brothers Racing. Twelve wins, two championships, and a clean sweep at the Commercial Point Karting Classic – you can’t ask for a whole lot more than that. Thanks to everyone who has supported us this season. Conor is beavering away at his second year in the Mechanical Engineering program at The Ohio State University and continues to be involved as a member of the Buckeye Bullet electric-powered land speed record vehicle team. Peter is focusing on his studies as a Junior at Upper Arlington High School and is a key member of the Varsity Crew team. His boat will race in the Head of the Charles in Boston this weekend, which is largest two-day regatta in the world. Laura and I will meet there to watch Peter row and spend some time with Henry, who lives and works downtown just minutes from the Charles River. Life is good...
Bill
p.s., Lap times, lap charts, and results from Race No. 11 can be found here.
PRACTICE – The first practice session for everyone was a bit of a comedy. There was so little grip from the cold tires/cold track combination that more karts had spins than not – some as they were leaving the grid area. Peter started on the tires he raced on last time with the intention of switching to a slightly better set that we had in the trailer for his second session. We had one last set of new tires in the trailer, which Conor would race on after practicing on old tires. We didn’t learn much in the first session other than nobody was breaking any lap records. In the second session, Peter pulled into the pits after only one lap with what he reported as a bad vibration. We checked a few things, including the tire balance, made a few changes, and sent him back out to practice with Conor’s class. The problem seemed to be fixed, but he was still a bit off the pace, so we decided to make a gear change for the qualifying session,
SPEC 100 PIPE – There were again only four karts in Peter’s class. During his qualifying session, Peter’s first lap was again off the pace. His second lap (of three) was almost a second and a half faster. He must have dug deep for the third lap, because it was another half second faster and good enough for pole position. Everyone else had improvements during their three laps, but none as dramatic as Peter’s. Peter knew that the start of the heat race would be important. He got a bit of a jump on the kart on the outside of the front row (his main rival in the championship), but the flagman waived off the start. On the second attempt, it was Peter’s rival who got the jump and the start was waived off again. There is a little-used rule that says, if the start is waived off twice, the front two rows are inverted for the next attempt. For whatever reason, the race director decided to invoke this rule. The green flag waived the next time around and, after qualifying on pole, Peter ended up going around the first turn (Turn 10 in the reverse direction) in fourth place. His main rival tried unsuccessfully to make a pass in Turn 9, which let Peter slip by into third. Peter got a good run out of Turn 5 and made a pass for second going into Turn 4 on the first lap. He duplicated that maneuver on Lap 3 to move into the lead. On the same lap, Peter’s main rival tangled with the third place kart while attempting a pass and lost five seconds or so in the process. They ran in that order to the finish. The results up to that point meant that all Peter had to do to win the championship was to not finish last in the feature. At the start, Peter held the lead and his rival made a pass into second (after starting third). The first three were nose to tail for the first few laps before Peter began to edge away. Peter set the fastest lap on Lap 9 on his way to his sixth feature race win of the season in this class and clinching the season championship.
80cc SHIFTER – While it would have been nice to send Conor out with a win to go with his second consecutive season championship in this class, one of the younger guys did not cooperate. He also had a new set of tires, which he used to out-qualify Conor by several tenths of a second (45.133 to 45.506). Conor responded in his heat race by turning his fastest lap of the season (44.895), only to be outdone by the younger guy (44.807). These two were in a class of their own and finished first and second (out of nine). Conor was once again in the 44s during his feature race, but the young guy lowered the bar once again with a 44.694 – easily the fastest lap of the year in this class – in spite of the conditions. These two once again finished first and second. Like Peter, Conor also finished the season with six feature race wins – five of those in his class and one in Peter’s class when he doubled up for MSOKC Race No. 3.
NEXT RACE – That’s it for the 2012 season for Bruce Brothers Racing. Twelve wins, two championships, and a clean sweep at the Commercial Point Karting Classic – you can’t ask for a whole lot more than that. Thanks to everyone who has supported us this season. Conor is beavering away at his second year in the Mechanical Engineering program at The Ohio State University and continues to be involved as a member of the Buckeye Bullet electric-powered land speed record vehicle team. Peter is focusing on his studies as a Junior at Upper Arlington High School and is a key member of the Varsity Crew team. His boat will race in the Head of the Charles in Boston this weekend, which is largest two-day regatta in the world. Laura and I will meet there to watch Peter row and spend some time with Henry, who lives and works downtown just minutes from the Charles River. Life is good...
Bill
p.s., Lap times, lap charts, and results from Race No. 11 can be found here.
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