Rissington 3rd/4th September

This weekend we travelled to Rissington for the Midland Championship weekend.  Ethan's laptimes were better from the start of the weekend and he got to grips with the track fairly quickly. 

The heats were difficult, Ethan had a bad start in one and spun trying to overtake in another.

In the final he started 27th on a full grid and gained three places to finish 24th.  There was a definate improvement in his driving however at the end of the final Ethan felt he had let himself down and not tried hard enough. 

We stayed for the trophy presentations with a very upset Ethan who has always wanted a trophy so badly.

To Ethans absolute surprise he won a novice trophy,  I dont think we will ever forget his face as he collected it.  He came back to stand by us absolutely thrilled and was so focused on the trophy he didnt even hear when the last award of the day was being presented for best presented kart. 

All his cadet friends were stood around while a picture was held up and number 69 was announced as the winner.  Everyone looked at Ethan but he still didnt click that it was him until his name was announced.  An emotional Ethan was awarded a large trophy and presentation picture by Tom Harvey.

So we came home with two trophies and a very happy nine year old.  Ethan cannot wait to get back in the kart in two weeks at Llandow and this time he will no longer be a novice driver.

Llandow 21st August

Had a great weekend at the track with Delta Karting. Got a personal best lap time of 53.41, this is still quite far off winning pace but it means Ethan is in the mix a bit more.

The weather was fine on the Sunday so there were not too many changes to set up.  The kart seemed to work well all weekend.  Ethan achieved his best finish during the second heat finishing in 3rd place and although we still did not come away with the trophy he wants so badly the general feeling was that there was a great deal of improvement. Overall he finished 5th. 

Since the race we have also had some testing days at Llandow and Llwyncelyn and are hoping to race at Rissington this weekend. 

Glan Y Gors 7th August

This was a real eye opener for us.  Doing a race weekend elsewhere was really different to Llandow and an all round good experience.  We arrived late afternoon on Friday and were shocked to find very little place to park as the car parks were packed - This is never the case at Llandow even if you turn up 5 minutes until the race.

We set up camp and had a look around.

Everyone was so friendly and helpful and Saturday practice was very strict meaning Ethan only got a total of 1 hour track time.  By the end of the day at a very different track Ethan was about 3 seconds off front running pace. 

Race day on Sunday was also fun - we struggled with set up a bit only having had to do it at one track.  Ethan got bumped off track a few times by more confident yellow plates but he didnt let him bother him and got on with the job at hand. 

It was a full grid of 30 with reserves waiting patiently for their turn.  Ethan had not really driven in a full grid but again it didnt bother him. 

By the end of Sunday Ethan was two seconds away from the front runners and given more track time we believe he could have been alot quicker.  He found the devils elbow corner very difficult and struggled to find a good line through it all weekend - he could have made a second up here.  His Mychron was quoting a theoretical front running pace.  At the end of the day he finished 3rd place comer novice and whilst there wasnt a trophy for this we believe he made excellent progress.  Next race Llandow - 20th August.

Race van

We have been working on getting beds in our van - Here are a few pics of what we have done so far.

Llandow 24th July

Despite wanting to practice every weekend unfortunatley Llandow has had events on all weekend since the last race meeting so we havent been able to work on things.

We decided to practice both Friday and Saturday before the race on Sunday.  This meant by Sunday after working on set ups and driving lines we were able to take over a second off Ethans laptimes. 

All in all this was a fun weekend and although Ethan is still not as fast as his other novice friends he does enjoy every single second at the track (whether he is on it or not)  He finished 8th overall with much better laptimes than at previous races.  He is however dissapointed not to have had a novice trophy yet but Llandow does only have one novice trophy for the whole race meeting. 

Having now completed three races at Llandow we decided that it was time to travel further afield so the next job is to complete the van so we can all sleep in there and get travelling.  We have now compiled a calender of events for the rest of the year at lots of different tracks that we hope will help Ethan gain experience.  So our next race is on the 7th August at Glan Y Gors

Llandow 19th June

Ethans first race back after breaking his arm was a difficult one.  Ethan after having three months off found it difficult to get used to things - especially the fact that his other novice friends had progressed so much.

We also suffered set up problems which meant that in heat 1 Ethan spun off and threw the chain and in Heat 3 the kart simply stopped altogther.  It was a stressful weekend for us all and Ethan despite pushing hard was still way off the pace.

In the final Ethan finished 5th out of 8.  His times although still way down were better for him and considering this was only his second race we are pleased with the progress he made.  Next race is Llandow again in July.  

No racing

Last weekend just before his second race, Ethan broke his arm playing football.  After a day in A&E last Saturday Ethan was most dissapointed to discover he wont race for the next six weeks.  As it is his right arm he was planning to get away with some schoolwork too but the teachers have made him write with his left arm!

Ethan will be two races behind most of his other novice friends when he returns to the track in May and they have already improved their laptimes on his.  It is a dissapointing setback to his first year racing but Ethan has always loved a challenge and we have no doubt he will progress quickly when he gets back into his kart.

On a more positive note it has given us the chance to start converting the new van into something that will suit us.  So we have decided to concentrate on that for the coming weeks. 

To race or not to race!

We were faced with a difficult decision for this weekend.  To race or not to race!  Ethan is keener than ever to get racing and we knew of a race this weekend in Glan Yr Gors North Wales.  Ethan would have happily gone however as he is on his novice plates we thought it would be better to practice and keep getting those laptimes down before going further afield.

If we raced constantly over the next few months Ethan would be off his black plates in no time, but this does mean he will be alot further forward on the grid when racing (ie in front of other novices) This may not be to his advantage as he is not at a level yet to be able to compete with any of the front runners.

So the plan is to race again at Llandow on the 20th March and in the meantime get plenty of practice in to improve the laptimes.

In other news we also bought a larger van this week, hoping to convert it to a small motorhome for us all to travel to races when needed.  It may be a bit of a squeeze but I am sure we will enjoy our travels in it.  Will post a picture soon. 

My first race - Llandow

Ethan was incredibly nervous for his first race at Llandow yesterday.  Especially not really knowing how the race started.  We decided it was be good idea to get some extra guidance so we were in the team tent with Delta Karting.

It was a stressful weekend, not knowing everything that had to be done and how the whole day would happen.  We were all kept on the go all day.

Conditions in the morning were wet and this added to Ethan's nerves.  There were nine novices on the cadet grid,  a few had raced before, others had alot more practice time than us.  Gary (Ethan's dad) asked him what his aims were for the race and were pleased to find he had realistic aims - To get into a 55 second laptime (something previously unachieved) and simly finish. 

In Heat 1 Ethan came 16th out of 21, Heat 2 18th of 21 and in Heat 3 16th again.  When the final came around the Honda and Comer's were split up meaning he was in a grid of just five Comer's.  With three yellow plates and another novice (with alot more experience) Ethan didnt fancy his chances.  He started in 4th and finished in 5th and set his fasted ever lap 55.96.  Conditions were by now dry.

Ethan's performance for his first ever race we feel was outstanding.  He completed his aims and now cannot wait to race again.

Ethan is just ahead here - No 69.

ARKS passed

Today Ethan passed his ARKS with no problem at all.  He was very nervous beforehand especially when we saw how wet the track was.  We made a few adjustments to the kart and Ethan sat his written test which he passed with absolutely no problems (which he should have done considering how many times he watched the 'start karting' DVD.

When he got out onto the track he did some reasonable laptimes and started to enjoy himself.  After a couple of hours on and off track he got that all important signature from the examiner and off went his race license application in the post. 

We are now all looking forward to his first race in three weeks time at Llandow.  Lots of practice beforehand.

This evening after a long day Ethan is spending some time relaxing with his Xbox.