Racereport Borås KCV 1

We headed for the competition in Borås without any prior training on the track, neither in this class or any other class. Due to national tests in school we were also unable to participate in the friday training sessions. It was a really tough weekend for us, and it is clear that training is important to get good results.

We didn't have any prior experience of the track, so Tuva naturally conducted a track-walk the evening before the competition. The mechanic had to make som guesswork for the settings which turned out to be less than perfect. The first session was on a wet track. We've had some better luck with the settings on wet during training lately and it really suited Tuva who claimed P7 on her first laps on this new track. Really impressive! The question though is if it is going to dry until time running?

Second outing on this new track also provided valuable experience, however still on a wet track. We cut some tenths but so did also the others. P12 is still a great drive by Tuva, maybe, just maybe this will turn out to be a great day?

The track was constantly drying up, and when walking out on track during drivers meeting we felt it was going to be a dry track on time trial. We switched to dry tires immediately and felt pretty sure that we made the right choice. A lot of the other karts were not approved in the gate to track due to rear bumper width so it became quite stressful to enter. Tuva was among the first ones out on the damp conditions. She drove well but it came apparent that the settings were off and we didn't have the necessary experience. P15 was still ok though. The last lap Tuva felt she wanted to try pushing a little harder and went off in the first corner at high speed. She went backwards into the barrier and got a really hard shunt. She was quick up and out of the kart, but she looked shaken even though she gave a thumbs up. Naturally worried about Tuva the kart had to wait a bit until we were sure Tuva was ok.

Unfortunately Tuva got drawn to the first heat, less than an hour after the big shunt she had. After making sure Tuva was ok we did some adjustments to the kart since the track now was completely dry. Start from the back and gained some places but it didn't look the same as usual. Eventually Tuva raised her hand and elected to DNF. She felt ill and couldn't continue even though it was just a few laps left. A wise choice considering the crash in time trial. We visited the medics and they examined her neck and spine. Luckily they didn't find anything special but told us to take a long lunch break and make a decision for the rest of the day after that.

We had some luck that our second heat was after lunch. Tuva felt better with some food in the stomach and we decided that she should try to drive but stop immediately if she felt bad. During the lunch break we also changed brakepads since she complained about the breaks feeling bad.

Heat started good but after just a few corners she almost lost it and she aborted and drove into the pit after just one lap. Worried that she would feel bad I was surprised when I met an angry driver telling me she had no brakes at all when pushing. Back to the tent and tried to fix.

Two DNF in the heat meant that we started from last place. She had to make up to at least P17 to be allowed to drive the final, so it was a very determined driver heading out on track. A slightly causios start paid off when a few karts made contact. She drove well the entire race but didn't really had the speed. Looked fast on some places and less fast on others. Afterwards she was still unhappy with the brakes, even though they got better. Luckily she ended up P15, so the final were secured!

Trying to fix the brakes took some time and we didn't really have time to go through the rest of the settings. Another drive would have helped her a lot it turned out, but we hope next time on this track we will have more and better experience. Tuva started P31 and she was actually just relieved that she made it to the final. A better result seemed out of reach considering what happened during the day, but anything can happen in racing and it isn't over until the checkered flag. Tuva drove well but it turned out she was missing speed in the end of the straights so the passing became hard and almost impossible. Still she made some progress and ended P23 out of a total of 40 drivers. A great result considering we had never driven there before and all the issues during the day. But next time we hope for more...