NEWS – Mid State of Ohio Kart Club (MSOKC) Race No. 4 last Sunday was our first night race of the season. We arrived a bit early to break in the engine we had to have rebuilt for Peter after it experienced a broken cylinder head during Race No. 2. We also needed to try out the new axle we put in Conor’s kart after the one he had been using was slightly bent during an altercation during Race No. 1. Soon after we arrived at Circleville Raceway Park (CRP), in began to rain. We managed to get both boys out for one session prior to this, so our early start was not a complete loss. It would continue to rain on and off right up to the 5:00 PM start time.
PRACTICE – The track began to dry after a few brave souls went out for open practice on rain tires. To make up time, regular class practices were limited to one session. Peter’s engine ran flawlessly and Conor’s new axle has no adverse effect. After practice, it was announced that the format would be shortened to six-lap heat races and an eight-lap feature (as opposed to eight and ten respectively) to beat the rain that was expected later in the day.
SPEC 100 PIPE – The random draw had Peter starting from pole position in his first heat race. He timed the rolling start perfectly and led easily through the first few corners. He extended his lead over the next few laps, recorded the fastest lap of the race in the process (46.80 seconds), and won by a comfortable margin. Starting last (fifth) in his second heat race, Peter took it easy through the first few corners, but was able to make a pass for fourth in Turn 4 on the first lap. He gained another position when the kart in front of him made a mistake in Turn 4 on Lap 3. He pushed the second place kart to the finish, but finished third. A first and a third earned Peter the pole position for his feature, which got underway just after dark. He got away well again and led easily for the first two laps. While pulling away, it was his turn to make a mistake in Turn 4. The time he spent in the grass dropped him to fourth place with quite a bit of distance to make up. By Lap 6, Peter had caught the leading group. He made well timed move for third in Turn 5 on Lap 7, but couldn’t make it stick, and finished fourth.
80cc SHIFTER – There were seven karts in Conor’s class on Sunday. Conor timed the standing starts in his class perfectly all day, starting with his first heat race in which he started fifth. He was up to third by the Turn 1. He made another pass for second in Turn 3 on the first lap. He was obviously faster than the leader and was all over his back bumper for the first few laps. He went side-by-side with the leader through Turn 4 on Lap 3. These two had a drag race down the back straightaway with Conor on the inside for Turn 5. He left his braking a bit late, locked his rears, and ended up in the grass with a stalled engine, which is where he stayed to the finish. In his second heat race, Conor got another great start from third to maintain his position. He made a pass for second in Turn 5 on the first lap and set out for the leader. The leader had put on new tires for this race, so Conor could not quite track him down and finished second. A seventh and a second had Conor starting fourth for his feature. Another great start had him up to second by Turn 1. He was able to close the gap to the leader by the end, but finished second.
NEXT RACE – Mistakes cost both boys better finishes on Sunday, but both were pleased to have the pace to run up front, particularly Peter in his relatively new class. It was also fun to have some of Peter’s friends in attendance on Sunday. Our next race is MSOKC Race No. 5, which is another night race on Saturday, June 25, 2011, at CRP. Peter is in Italy until mid-July, so Conor may try his hand in both his kart and Peter’s kart.
Bill
p.s., The electronic timing system was a causality of the weather on Sunday, so there are no lap times and lap charts posted on MyLaps.com.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Video of Henry from MSOKC Race No. 2
There is a nice on-board video of Henry's second heat race from MSOKC Race No. 2 posted on YouTube:
He's in the No. 2 kart just in front of the camera man. There's a lot more action than the write-up below would have you believe. The three-wide passing attempt going into Turn 5 on Lap 3 is impressive. Too bad he couldn't make it stick...
Bill
He's in the No. 2 kart just in front of the camera man. There's a lot more action than the write-up below would have you believe. The three-wide passing attempt going into Turn 5 on Lap 3 is impressive. Too bad he couldn't make it stick...
Bill
Thursday, June 2, 2011
MSOKC Race No. 2 – May 22, 2011 – Conor Gets a Win and Henry Fills In
NEWS – For Mid State of Ohio Kart Club (MSOKC) Race No. 2 at Circleville Raceway Park (CRP), Peter was out of town competing with his crew team at the Midwest Scholastics Rowing Championships in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Henry is home from Providence for few weeks prior to returning for a summer internship in the Biology department at Brown University, so he filled in for Peter. Conor made room for Race No. 2 among all of his high school graduation activities. Race No. 2 was scheduled to feature a combined feature race for the 80cc, TaG, and Spec 100 Pipe classes with a rolling start for everyone and 20 laps instead of 10. While the feature race did get under way, it was cut short by a late afternoon rain shower.
PRACTICE – We thought that having Henry fill in for Peter would provide us with some extra time to experiment with tuning our Spec 100 Pipe kart. It certainly did, but we went the wrong way during Henry’s second practice session. We ran the engine way too lean and ended up sticking the piston and potentially ending the day for Henry. Fortunately, one of the local engine builders came to our rescue and loaned us an engine for the remainder of the day. We tried a new part in the carburetor of our 80cc Shifter kart and Conor was fast right out of the trailer, so we made few additional changes except for bolting on a set of gently used tires after his practice sessions.
80cc SHIFTER – We were optimistic about Conor’s chances based on his practice times on old tires. Conor started his first heat race from the fourth position (of six). He gained two positions at the start and ran in second to the finish. His lap times on new-ish tires were about half a second slower than his practice times, which had us scratching our heads. We made a few chassis adjustment for Conor’s second heat race, in which he started third. Conor made an excellent start. When the pole sitter got away a bit slowly, Conor dove to the inside and he found himself in the lead going into Turn 3. He couldn’t quite pull away from the second place kart, but managed to lead comfortably to the end for a heat race win. A second and a first earned Conor the pole position for the combined feature. Rolling starts are a new thing for the 80cc Shifter kart class and Conor timed it perfectly. He led easily through the first few turns. The second place kart over-cooked it going into Turn 5 and went into the grass after running into the back of Conor. Conor extended his lead over the next lap or so while the rain intensified. After the red flag flew, Conor was awarded the feature race win based on his starting position.
NEXT RACE – Peter’s crew team’s performance in Oak Ridge qualified them for the Scholastic Rowing Association of America National Championship Regatta in Camden, New Jersey, this past weekend. In Camden, they advanced out of their heat race into the semi-final (top 12 teams in the nation), but couldn’t manage to qualify for the final. They were on pace to advance when one of the boys hit a goose with his oar! It was fortunate that Henry had the engine problem in our Spec 100 kart, because if it had not been him, it would have been Peter in the next race. Speaking of which, the next race is MSOKC Race No. 3 on Sunday, June 5, 2011, but the Bruce Brothers Racing team will be previously occupied. That is the day Conor will be graduating from Upper Arlington High School. He will graduate with an International Baccalaureate diploma, which is a two-year educational program for high school students that provides an internationally accepted qualification for entry into higher education and is recognized by universities worldwide. Conor had decided to attend The Ohio State University in the fall, which suits me just fine. That makes our next race MSOKC Race No. 4 on Saturday, June 18, 2011, and our first night race of the season.
Bill
p.s., Lap times, lap charts, and results can be found at http://www.mylaps.com/results/showevent.jsp?id=659630
Monday, May 23, 2011
Pictures from MSOKC Race No. 2 – May 22, 2011
Henry is home from Providence for a few weeks (see picture below - click to enlarge) and filled in for Peter this past weekend while he was away competing with his crew team at the Midwest Scholastics Rowing Championships in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. He struggled a bit with mechanical problems but had fun in the process. Conor had an excellent day with a heat race and feature race win. A full race report will follow. Peter and his teammates in the Boys Freshman 8 boat (see picture below - Peter is fourth from the left) qualified for the Scholastic Rowing Association of America National Championship Regatta in Camden, New Jersey, next weekend. More on that later, too.
Bill
Bill
Monday, May 16, 2011
MSOKC Race No. 1 – May 8, 2011 – Fast and Furious
NEWS – The start of the 2011 Bruce Brothers Racing season was Mid State of Ohio Kart Club (MSOKC) Race No. 1, which was a qualifying format event at Circleville Raceway Park (CRP) on Sunday, May 8, 2011. Yes, this was Mother’s Day. Being on the MSOKC Board of Directors, I have some say-so regarding the season schedule, but I was out of town for the meeting at which the schedule was finalized. Needless to say, I would not have voted for a race on Mother’s Day. Laura was not feeling well, so she stayed home for some much-needed rest. Peter graduated a class and came to grips quickly in our reconfigured Spec 100 Pipe kart after we sorted out a significant mechanical gremlin. Conor has a rebuilt engine and gearbox for our 80cc shifter kart and was fast all day.
PRACTICE – It was nice to finally see the sun shine last Sunday after an unusually cold and wet Spring in central Ohio. Both boys had had one opportunity to break in engines and practice prior to Race No. 1. On Sunday, Peter went out for open practice to get in a few extra laps while Conor was content with his pace. Regular class practices went well for Conor, but Peter came to a stop on the second lap of his second session. The engine would run, but would not rev high enough to even engage the clutch. This sent us into a tailspin, but fortunately there was lots of help to be had.
SPEC 100 PIPE – By the time that Peter’s new class was called to the grid for qualifying, we still had not sorted out the problem. Everything that could be changed without removing the engine from the chassis was changed. With the help of others, we finally decided to take the engine off and eventually found a broken wire between the coil and the ignition unit. Peter missed his qualifying session, but two other karts in his class also had problems, so a make-up session was allowed. Peter qualified fifth out of eighth karts in his class, just 0.4 seconds slower than the fastest qualifier. At the start of his heat race, the inside row got going much more slowly than the outside row, which resulted in Peter dropping to sixth on the opening lap. Peter locked up the rear brakes and had a half-spin while attempting an inside pass in Turn 3 on Lap 4, which dropped him another position. He ran the last few laps in clean air and lowered his best lap time to 46.962 seconds in the process. He inherited a position when another kart had mechanical problems, which resulted in a sixth place finish. The combination of Peter’s qualifying position and heat race finish earned him the fifth starting position for his feature. At the start, Peter managed to get out of line to avoid what was again a slow-starting inside row, which allowed him to maintain his fifth position on the opening lap. He gained a position when another kart had a half spin in Turn 3 on Lap 4. On Lap 8, he set up and executed an excellent pass on the approach to Turn 5 at the end of the long straightaway. He ran in third to the end for a podium finish in his first outing in the Spec 100 Pipe class.
80cc SHIFTER – Except for some fresh components, we started the 2011 season pretty much where we left off at the end of 2010 with our 80cc shifter kart. The class champion from last year has graduated to the SCCA Pro Formula Enterprise Series (http://sccaproracing.com/series.php?ID=fe) along with two of Conor’s competitors from previous years. We put new tires on for Conor’s qualifying session, and while he looked good, he reported that he was not able to put a complete lap together. As a result, he qualified second out of six karts in his class, just less than 0.1 seconds slower than the fastest qualifier. Conor made an excellent start for his heat race but couldn’t manage to get past the pole-sitter. He seemed to be content following the leader for the first few laps but turned it up a notch for Laps 5 and 6 (of eight) hoping to force the leader into a mistake. Conor did record the fastest lap in the process (45.479) but ran out of laps and settled for second. The start of Conor’s feature was almost a carbon copy of his heat race start except that Conor may have gotten a little bit better start than the pole sitter. With the frustration of his heat race still in mind, Conor tried an early move to the inside going into Turn 3 on the opening lap. He later reported that this surprise tactic would have worked had he not changed his brake bias towards the front. Conor once again settled into second, but it became quickly apparent that a chassis adjustment we had made prior to the start of his feature was working – he was all over the leader from the very start. Conor was able to stick his nose in several times at several places but the leader was doing a through job defending. On Lap 6, Conor got a good run through Turn 9 and was setting up for a late apex into Turn 10 when the leader come over into Conor’s path. The leader’s right rear contacted Conor’s left front, which lifted Conor’s kart onto the back of the other kart. Both karts ended up in the infield, and while the other kart was stranded with damage, Conor was able to continue. He lost about 10 seconds in the process and dropped to fourth. Unsure about damage to his kart, Conor took it easy at first. He was able to reel in the third place kart by the end but finished fourth. Conor again had the fastest lap, which was about a second faster than the eventual winner.
NEXT RACE – While Peter’s problem was frustrating and Conor’s incident was unfortunate, both could have been worse and we were generally pleased with our performance during Race No. 1. We’ve not quite figured out all there is to tuning the exhaust on a Spec 100 Pipe kart, so there is still more performance in store for Peter. Conor’s kart is running well, but we have a few things to try on it as well. MSOKC Race No. 2, which will feature extend feature race laps (20 as opposed to 10) for some classes, including both Peter’s and Conor’s, is Sunday, May 22, 2011 at CRP. Peter will miss this race as he has taken up the sport of Crew (http://www.uacrew.org/) and has a regatta in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, that weekend. I wish I could say that Laura was feeling better, but her participation at either event is questionable at best. She has since been diagnosed with pneumonia and has been (i.e., is supposed to be) confined to bed rest. Some Mother’s Day present…
Bill
p.s., Lap times, lap charts, and results can be found at http://www.mylaps.com/results/showevent.jsp?id=652870
PRACTICE – It was nice to finally see the sun shine last Sunday after an unusually cold and wet Spring in central Ohio. Both boys had had one opportunity to break in engines and practice prior to Race No. 1. On Sunday, Peter went out for open practice to get in a few extra laps while Conor was content with his pace. Regular class practices went well for Conor, but Peter came to a stop on the second lap of his second session. The engine would run, but would not rev high enough to even engage the clutch. This sent us into a tailspin, but fortunately there was lots of help to be had.
SPEC 100 PIPE – By the time that Peter’s new class was called to the grid for qualifying, we still had not sorted out the problem. Everything that could be changed without removing the engine from the chassis was changed. With the help of others, we finally decided to take the engine off and eventually found a broken wire between the coil and the ignition unit. Peter missed his qualifying session, but two other karts in his class also had problems, so a make-up session was allowed. Peter qualified fifth out of eighth karts in his class, just 0.4 seconds slower than the fastest qualifier. At the start of his heat race, the inside row got going much more slowly than the outside row, which resulted in Peter dropping to sixth on the opening lap. Peter locked up the rear brakes and had a half-spin while attempting an inside pass in Turn 3 on Lap 4, which dropped him another position. He ran the last few laps in clean air and lowered his best lap time to 46.962 seconds in the process. He inherited a position when another kart had mechanical problems, which resulted in a sixth place finish. The combination of Peter’s qualifying position and heat race finish earned him the fifth starting position for his feature. At the start, Peter managed to get out of line to avoid what was again a slow-starting inside row, which allowed him to maintain his fifth position on the opening lap. He gained a position when another kart had a half spin in Turn 3 on Lap 4. On Lap 8, he set up and executed an excellent pass on the approach to Turn 5 at the end of the long straightaway. He ran in third to the end for a podium finish in his first outing in the Spec 100 Pipe class.
80cc SHIFTER – Except for some fresh components, we started the 2011 season pretty much where we left off at the end of 2010 with our 80cc shifter kart. The class champion from last year has graduated to the SCCA Pro Formula Enterprise Series (http://sccaproracing.com/series.php?ID=fe) along with two of Conor’s competitors from previous years. We put new tires on for Conor’s qualifying session, and while he looked good, he reported that he was not able to put a complete lap together. As a result, he qualified second out of six karts in his class, just less than 0.1 seconds slower than the fastest qualifier. Conor made an excellent start for his heat race but couldn’t manage to get past the pole-sitter. He seemed to be content following the leader for the first few laps but turned it up a notch for Laps 5 and 6 (of eight) hoping to force the leader into a mistake. Conor did record the fastest lap in the process (45.479) but ran out of laps and settled for second. The start of Conor’s feature was almost a carbon copy of his heat race start except that Conor may have gotten a little bit better start than the pole sitter. With the frustration of his heat race still in mind, Conor tried an early move to the inside going into Turn 3 on the opening lap. He later reported that this surprise tactic would have worked had he not changed his brake bias towards the front. Conor once again settled into second, but it became quickly apparent that a chassis adjustment we had made prior to the start of his feature was working – he was all over the leader from the very start. Conor was able to stick his nose in several times at several places but the leader was doing a through job defending. On Lap 6, Conor got a good run through Turn 9 and was setting up for a late apex into Turn 10 when the leader come over into Conor’s path. The leader’s right rear contacted Conor’s left front, which lifted Conor’s kart onto the back of the other kart. Both karts ended up in the infield, and while the other kart was stranded with damage, Conor was able to continue. He lost about 10 seconds in the process and dropped to fourth. Unsure about damage to his kart, Conor took it easy at first. He was able to reel in the third place kart by the end but finished fourth. Conor again had the fastest lap, which was about a second faster than the eventual winner.
NEXT RACE – While Peter’s problem was frustrating and Conor’s incident was unfortunate, both could have been worse and we were generally pleased with our performance during Race No. 1. We’ve not quite figured out all there is to tuning the exhaust on a Spec 100 Pipe kart, so there is still more performance in store for Peter. Conor’s kart is running well, but we have a few things to try on it as well. MSOKC Race No. 2, which will feature extend feature race laps (20 as opposed to 10) for some classes, including both Peter’s and Conor’s, is Sunday, May 22, 2011 at CRP. Peter will miss this race as he has taken up the sport of Crew (http://www.uacrew.org/) and has a regatta in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, that weekend. I wish I could say that Laura was feeling better, but her participation at either event is questionable at best. She has since been diagnosed with pneumonia and has been (i.e., is supposed to be) confined to bed rest. Some Mother’s Day present…
Bill
p.s., Lap times, lap charts, and results can be found at http://www.mylaps.com/results/showevent.jsp?id=652870
Friday, May 13, 2011
Peter on the Podium for MSOKC Race No. 1
Peter finished his feature race on the podium (third) last Sunday in his first outing in the Spec 100 Pipe class (see photo below - click to enlarge). Conor was the fastest kart in the 80cc Sifter class, but got into a tangle going for the lead late in his feature race. He recovered to finish fourth. A full race report will follow.
Bill
Bill
Friday, May 6, 2011
Video of Peter in Spec 100 Pipe Kart
Peter takes his initial laps in the reconfigured Bruce Brothers Racing Spec 100 Pipe kart during pre-season testing at Circleville Raceway Park - May 1, 2011.
Bill
Bill
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