Posted on 1.17.2014 - 3:04:43 by Brian Yue
CKK July 1st, 2013 - Main Race
The weather of the day was quite random as it rained on and off throughout the day. The track was dry with fair weather during qualify session, with the luck of getting a very well handled and fast kart, I got my fastest lap during the session.
The weather changed to heavy rain during the CKK Group A sessions and the group shared their amount of the unpredictable weather with the rain on and off. The track then became dry when the time came for us to start our Heat 1 race with a few damp patches.
Heat 1 proceeded with very light rain at only parts of the track which made it very tricky to drive as the grip of the track varied at different locations of the track. It was difficult to identify wet patches with naked eyes for the rain was not heavy enough to show visible wet patches, but at the same time the damp track was very slippery due to the slick tires that we were using, which we need to drive in caution. With that said, I finished 4th for this heat.
Random rain continued as Heat 2 begins. Performance of the kart continued to be great, but there was only a little that I can do and tried my best to maintain my position as 4th. I spun during lap 4 on the turns and recovered, but was dropped significantly in position. Engine was not performing as well after the spin, but it was not significant for the track condition. Sensing that heavy rain would soon arrived as the termperature dropped significantly near the end of the race, I increased my pace to shorten my gap as much as I could. Heavy rain eventually arrived at the last lap where some drivers spun and I finished at 9th for this heat.
Heavy rain continued taking place during the final race. I have opted to switch my kart with one of the racers where it ended up to be a big mistake where engine performance was definitely NOT the key to the race. I had a lot of difficulty making a turn as it constantly understeers. Although I have a lot of straight line speed, but perhaps with my weight disadvantage and the kart itself under rain condition, I lost a lot of time during cornering. I finished with a disappointing 13th.
That's it for this Race 5 report, more to come for races from (um...) 2013, stay tuned!
