|
 |
Road Atlanta 2004 WKA Nationals Race Recap
by Riley Will
Saturday Race 1
After less than 10 laps total practice I lined up for the race not sure what to expect. I got the hole-shot and promptly spun the kart in turn 1 killing the engine. When I came to my senses with all my competitors doing their best to avoid me, I was still coasting backwards. I cranked the wheel to the left, grabbed the clutch, spun the front around and had just enough momentum to drop the clutch to bump start it once. It fired and I was on my way slicing through traffic. I had no idea what position I was in aside that I battled Jimmy Long for a few laps until making it stick. Dicing with Jimmy was good as he showed me where I was being far too cautious, especially through traffic. At the flag I was almost 22 seconds clear of 2nd place and set the fast lap of the race. Ambient conditions were quite cool so I don't think this was a lap record.
Happy to have finished and finished first we went back to the trailer to look at the data. We found that my gear ratios were not 100% and went about changing them. Rocky Stargel suggested moving 3 gear (turn 5) 3 KM lower along with lowering 5th and 6th. I was in 5th for 11 seconds and 6th for only 1. These changes made the kart faster and much easier to drive. We also put even bigger jets in the carbs for Sunday race 2, as the engine seems to like more fuel and lower EGT's. Everything inside the engine looked great upon inspection with no detonation and a coffee brown color to the pistons. With more fuel the kart definitely accelerates faster.
Sunday Race 2
Well after sleeping in and finding that practice got shortened, I missed all practice. Not ideal as I wanted to scrub the new tires and bed the new brake pads in a little, Oh well. After Saturday's turn 1 miscue, I was sure to take it real easy especially with the new tires. At the start I was 4th into turn 1 and promptly got passed 3 more times to put me into 7th. Johnny West was charging and by turn 5 was in the lead. I did not want him to get away. So, exiting turn 7 going onto the back (fastest) straight, I got on it and passed 3 karts going into 10a. I got a good drive from 10b to the bridge and lined up 2nd place for the exit of turn 12. At this point Johnny had about 20 kart lengths on 2nd place. I passed second place as we exited turn 12, ran out 5th gear (212 KM) going into turn 1, rolled through 1 and was on Johnny's bumper going into turn 3 where he exited the race with a mechanical failure. It turns out that there was a piece of lead on the track, which damaged his front brake rotor and caused him to lock up. So with Johnny out, I just wanted to be smooth and consistent and make sure I didn't get caught up with any lappers. This proved good and we won. The scoring sheets were confusing, either I won by 30 seconds or a lap +30 seconds. Either way it was a great result and I was really proud of my team’s efforts. I would like to give special thanks to Rocky Stargel (tuner), Ward Wilson (Mechanic), Ryan and Dylan Clay (pit men). |
 |
|
