October 30, 2011 - KartSport Taranaki October Club Day

Took the karts out for a practice on Saturday afternoon to try and get things right for race day. No matter what we tried, the karts did not seem to perform as expected. The track had plenty of grip, so we had to tighten both karts up to get them to turn in properly. After a lot of experimenting and purchasing some longer hubs for Thomas, we had to settle for what we had.

The sky was clear, the track was good and the karts and drivers were even better! Thomas drove like I haven’t seen him drive before, and had some pretty good speed as a result. Zane Riddick and Dylan Frere had the better of him in Heat 1, but he came back to win the next 2 heats. Then he had two more second placings. This left him second for the day behind Zane by only 1 point. He was going so well in the GP, with him and Zane swapping positions a couple of times, before a wheel rub caused a half spin and he had to settle for third in the GP. Thomas also set himself a new personal best lap time of 33.013s, which is 0.286s better than his previous time set in August 2011. We are really looking forward to Goldstar 1 at Palmerston North this weekend and hope he can carry on with this performance.

Jessica also had a good days racing. She placed 4th, 2nd, 5th, 4th and 2nd in her heats, leaving her in third for the day and she recorded a 2nd in the GP after a good, solid drive. The kart wasn’t the fastest she had been, but she is now 7.5kg over the minimum weight limit for her class, which is a huge disadvantage for her. Her personal best is still 30.707 (set in January 2011) and the best she could manage was 31.750. She was third fastest kart (on paper) with some times putting her 2nd fastest. Brendon Jury was quicker by 1 second per lap, and a hard pace to match. A decision to move Jessica up to the Junior class will have to be made soon, as the weight disadvantage will only get worse as she gets older. Jessica isn’t competing in the Goldstar series this year, as it conflicts with a number of other things in her already busy schedule! Thanks to Warren Riddick and Maurice Frost for help in getting more speed from both karts.

November 5 & 6, 2011 - WPKA Goldstar 2011/12 Round 1 - KartSport Manawatu

We arrived at the Shirriffs Road track at around 11:30am on Saturday and unpacked and set up on our site. Thomas was itching to get onto the track and keen to get amongst it. The kart was reasonably fast so we only experimented with some minor set-up changes, unsure of the weather for Sunday. Typically, the rain turned up overnight and was fairly heavy on raceday. Thomas wasn’t phased at all by the rain, as he prefers the wet conditions to the dry. It’s also a good “leveler” for a lack of horsepower compared to some of the other teams.

He drew Grid 12 for H1 and managed to get past 7 karts to end up in 5th, which was an outstanding result. The next heat saw him off 6 and the rain was still coming down. Unfortunately, as Thomas was passing the kart in Grid 2 to take the lead, the front two had a coming-together. The nett result was that Thomas came off second best, with the engine stalling and the chassis suffering some damage. Some quick and innovative techniques were employed to straighten the chassis for the next heat, leaving it better but not great. Thomas battled from Grid 13 and ended up in 8th, fighting the kart the whole way. The next two heats were same again, with two 7th placings. Ultimately, we ended the meeting in 9th overall and the first Taranaki Cadet home, which was some consolation for our efforts. Thomas drove with real passion and commitment, which at times astounded us, considering the length of time in the seat and his age compared to his competitors. Due to a few average finishes, he then started from Grid 9 for the GP, but once again, got caught up in a crash and ended up in 13th spot at the end of the race. The weekend was good for us, and taught Thomas some tough, but valuable racing lessons which I am sure will only improve his pace and competiveness for future events. We are so proud of him for his attitude towards karting, his fellow racers and the determination he possess to get to the front. It should only be a matter of time before he gets the rewards he is looking for. Now we have to decide what to do with the bent chassis…..watch this space!

Thanks again to Maurice Frost from Supreme Kart Supplies and Warren Riddick for their constant help and support.

September 2, 3 & 4, 2011 - 44th Annual KartSport Hawkes Bay Blossom meeting

During the week, Maurice Frost overhauled the carburettor and gave the engine on Thomas’s kart a “once-over”. We travelled to Napier on Thursday night and stayed at Kennedy Park. Unfortunately, the unit next to ours was full of young partiers who didn’t go to sleep until 3:45am! This didn’t help with the sleep requirements for Thomas and/or Dad! We got to the track at around 9am and proceeded to get testing and tuning underway. The day was a mixed bag, with some gains and some losses in speed. We found the happy-median and put the kart away for race-day.

The weather dawned fantastic on Saturday and Thomas drew grid(s) 14, 4, 7, 21. The track direction was clockwise and he tried hard all day, but got involved in a first corner accident in H1 (finished 17), got knocked off the track by another driver in H2 (finished 21), spun after getting a nudge from behind by accident in H3 (finished 20) and got into the crash bags head-first at 80km/hr after a wheel rub accidentally while being passed in H4. He managed to get straight back on the track and finished in 20th spot. He was complaining of a sore head (not surprised, due to the high-speed impact with the barrier!), St. John’s assessed him and said he should be OK to race on Sunday. He was sporting a nice bruise on his forehead which appeared whilst wearing his helmet, which proves how hard he hit the wall.

Sunday morning revealed some bent parts on the front of the kart (both stub axles and a tie-rod), so after $280 and some repair work, the kart was ready to race. Racing was in an anti-clockwise direction today and Thomas drew grid(s) 14-3-17. In H5 he managed to maintain his composure and drove to 14th place with no incident. H6 saw a very good start, but he lost 11 placings and finish 14th again. In H7, he maintained a steady pace, but a mistake by changing gearing in an effort to find more speed actually cost us speed! Thomas could only manage to secure 18th place. After the 7 heats, Thomas found himself in 21st place on the grid. After a good drive in the Final race, Thomas finished in 14th position. This position did not reflect how hard he had tried or how much speed the kart had. On paper, he was 12th fastest most of the weekend, but this did not translate into results for us. Thomas learned a lot about race craft and how patience is very important in motor racing. There was an excellent field of 23 karts, including 2NZ (Caleb Cross) from Christchurch. Thomas set a fastest lap time of 38.319s (he duplicated this in both directions over the 2 days of racing). This betters his last personal best at Hawkes Bay of 39.018s by 0.699s. All-in-all a good result and a massive learning experience which all helps in our need to improve and learn. Bring on the next event!

September 25, 2011 - KartSport Taranaki September Club Day

We didn’t get time to have a practice on Saturday, due to the weather being fairly average (wet!) and us having plenty of other things to do that day. The weather improved overnight and was beautiful and fine all day. Jessica ran her kart today, due to her being too injured to play hockey for her Taranaki team but able to drive. She only needed to complete the GP to finish 2nd overall for the GP points for the season. Thomas was fired up and ready to have a good day as well.

The karts seemed good following the tuning runs, so we hoped things were to bode well for the day. Thomas drew grid(s) 2, 3, 3, 2 and 4. The racing was in the anti-clockwise direction. Thomas tried hard all day, but could only manage 3, 3, 4, 2, and 3. This left him in third overall for the meeting, so we were all left scratching our heads somewhat. A combination of poor tuning choices by Robert and some setup issues caused this frustration. However, Thomas managed to place third in the GP which was a little more pleasing.

Jessica had a happy day, driving well and keeping things in place. She couldn’t match the pace of Brendon Jury and Bradley Podjursky, so had to settle for a string of third placings. The track was great and the weather was hot and fine all day, completely contrary to the predictions by the Met office! The next event is the October club day and we are hoping for some more success.

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August 28, 2011 - KartSport Taranaki August Club Day

After Thomas obtained his “B” rating at the July club day, we decided to enter him in the Blossom Meeting in Hawkes Bay. We leave for Napier on Thursday after work and should arrive at around 11pm. More on that later! We have had Thomas’s engine checked by Frosty and he found a few issues, so hopefully, the kart will be back on song for club day? After a quick trip to the doctors to get a big cut in his chin looked at on Wednesday, and now sporting a bandage big enough to cover Africa, Thomas is looking forward to this weekend. We are heading to the track on Saturday to run the engine and see how it is going to go. Fingers crossed!

The kart was Ok in the tuning run, but Thomas clipped a kerb and mangled a rear sprocket, which threw the chain. A new sprocket and chain later and he was ready for action. There were 4 cadets at the track today and Thomas had drawn grids 3, 2, 1, 2 and then started grid 2 for heat 5. In race one he ended 3rd after a tangle with Dylan Frere saw Dylan get relegated and Thomas promoted. A 3rd in race two was followed by three 2nd placings. After dropping his worst result in race 1, Thomas ended up tied with Ryan Jury on 9 points. Not sure how the points work, but we assume that the race win by Ryan in the second heat was the reason for Ryan finishing 2nd for the day. The engine is getting better and better and Thomas is driving well, pulling off some excellent passing manoeuvres, allowing him to get to the business end of the pack more consistently. Zane Riddick was still much quicker than us and won the day. We experimented with mixtures and gearing most of the day, and managed to adjust more grip into the kart, which allowed it to come off the corners so much better.

Thomas started on grid 3 for the 20 lap GP and put in a very good drive to end up 2nd. He and Dylan swapped position twice and this was a good battle from both of them. A very good day and Thomas managed to set his new personal best lap time in the GP of 33.299s (0.057s faster than previous time). We are hoping he can continue this at Blossom in Hawkes Bay this coming weekend?

June 3, 4 & 5, 2011 - KartSport Wellington WPKA Goldstar Champs

We travelled to Wellington on Friday morning, arriving at the track at 2pm. The weather was fine and the track looked great. The kids got into some practice laps within 20 minutes of arriving at Kaitoke. The pace was good, with Thomas getting to grips with the challenging track fairly quickly. Jessica also “dialled in” fairly swiftly and was putting in times that were respectable. After a few sessions, the karts were packed away in anticipation for a good practice session on Saturday. The only drama on Friday was when the muffler on Thomas’s engine lost a bolt and worked loose. Warren Riddick happened to have a spare muffler which we were able to borrow for the weekend...cheers Warren!

Saturday dawned fine and we got straight into practice at 10am. We tried many combinations of gearing and setup in order to get the maximum speed out of both karts. The only issues we had were with the JR kart. The brand new Horstmann clutch recently fitted proved to be faulty and machined incorrectly. It was stripped and replacement parts found after another brand new unit was robbed of a pressure plate (thanks to Maurice Frost of Supreme Karts!). After another run, the engine coil failed also, again “Frosty” came to the rescue with a new coil. It was fitted and a new spark plug installed and the engine was brought back to life.

We also purchased a new air box rain cover and fitted a new nose cone to Thomas’s kart in preparation for the Sunday event. After a good early night, we were ready for action on Sunday morning. The weather had turned bad overnight, so we were resigned to a wet day at the track. Thomas started well and ended up setting a 48.381s lap time in race 1 (his best for the day). After his good 5th in race 1, he made mistakes in races 2 & 3 ending up at the rear of the field. He bounced back to a 4th place in race 4, but slipped again in the fifth heat and had a spin again and finished last. Because we had not entered the series, Thomas had to start off the rear of the field in the GP, which was really tough. The weather was atrocious and racing was tough. He got up to 8th, before a coming together with another kart pushed him back to 11th where he remained. A shame, as his lap times were in the top 6 all day, but spins and a lack of wet-weather experience dictated his final positions.

Jessica drove well, but was again plagued by average grid draws. She battled all day with Ashleigh Stewart from Wellington and ended up finishing in front of her. We changed the seat in her kart to improve traction which made a big difference. Jess was not fortunate enough to be really quick, but once again a lack of wet weather experience cost her places. The kart had plenty of speed and the engine sounded very strong after having a new piston and ring the weekend before. Just another case of “trying again next time”. Jessica was lucky enough to receive $100 in a spot prize draw in the clubrooms after the meeting. We left Wellington at 7pm and arrived back in New Plymouth at 1:15am on Monday morning. A lot of cleaning of the karts is now required before club day on June 26 at Joll Street, Waitara.

June 26, 2011 - KartSport Taranaki Enduro Meeting and June Club Day

Following a very brief practice session on Saturday and due to the road we live on being closed between 1:30 and 5:30pm for running of a Special Stage of the Taranaki Rally, we had limited time to get the two karts set up. Both kids were full of the flu, which made the concentration levels fairly low. After only doing about 20 laps each, the karts were put away and we went home.

The weather on Sunday had improved a lot overnight. After the Saturday session and the kids still feeling poorly, we were resigned to the fact that we were probably not going to see the sorts of results we were hoping for? Thomas started well, however, with a quick kart in the tuning runs, which surprised us and a few others as he was noticeably faster than everyone else. He started on grid 3 in race 1, but tangled with Dylan Frere and ended up last. He drove hard but couldn’t regain the ground needed. He then bounced back with a win in race 2 and a 2nd in race 3. This put him on grid 3 for the 30 lap final. Just before the race started the skies opened up and wet the track. A quick change to a wet setup followed and onto the start line. He drove well and pitted on lap 22 for his compulsory 1 minute pit stop. He got back onto the track and drove hard to the end and finished up the 30 Lap Enduro winner! Awesome drive from the little fellah! He was so full of the flu, he literally dragged himself out of the kart and got changed. He struggled to find spare energy to give his speech at prizegiving.

Jess started well, finishing 3rd in race 1. Then she ended up with a 5th in race 2 and a 3rd in race 3. This put her on grid 3 for the 50 lap final. After starting the race on slicks, the heavens opened up on about lap 5 or 6, so we brought her into the pits to change to wets and refuel. She went out again after a slowish pit stop and battled to the end. Jessica had a spin a few laps from home, which gave the team heart failure, but thanks to Maurice Frost being close to her and pushing her back onto the track (thanks Maurice!), she was able to continue. Matt Podjursky crossed the finish line after 50 laps and Jessica was 3 laps behind him and a further 5 laps in front of the 3rd placegetter. Well done Jessie, a good solid drive to get to 2nd in fairly poor and slippery conditions. Only 4 karts finished her race from the 6 starters, so we were very proud of her efforts. Had the pit stop been a lot faster, the results could have been quite different?

July 26, 2011 - Kart update

After a few weeks without any racing and making the decision to miss the NZ Schools Championships in Hamilton, the kids are raring to go at Taranaki July club day this weekend. We have spent some money repairing damage to both karts after the last few meetings. Jessica’s kart needed a new rear sprocket carrier, sprocket and a clutch overhaul. While the kart was in bits, we took the opportunity to fit a new rear axle to the chassis, as it had a bend of about 0.010” on the LH end. Unfortunately, Jessica has Taranaki Rep. Hockey commitments this weekend, so will not be competing.

We have spent some time on replacing some critical parts on Thomas’s kart as well. We have fitted new rear axle bearings, a new brake rotor and carrier and a new brake caliper. This should allow Thomas to drive a little harder. He has also had a new rear tech bar fitted and we have purchased some new rims and hubs. We have been looking for a new and quicker engine which we would love to fit to improve our current speed. The kart has also been corner-weighed to ensure the weight distribution is correct. A trip to the New Plymouth Library to get some reading literature to assist fine-tuning of the setup and driving styles will hopefully prove fruitful as well? We are hoping for fine weather this weekend after a week of snow and cold weather.

July 31, 2011 - KartSport Taranaki July Club Day

We arrived at the track in anticipation of a great day...but the best laid plans never seem to go right?! The kart was average in the warm-up, and with only 2 other karts to run against, hard to match the times. Thomas got ready on Grid 1 for the first heat but the kart stalled with a couple of corners before the start-line, which was frustrating. Then, in Heat 2, he started on 3, but was significantly slower that the others and finished 3rd. A bit more head-scratching and adjusting brought an improvement in speed, but not enough...another 3rd place. After lunch, we got stuck in and made some more changes and improved the speed of the kart for Heats 4 and 5, with 2 second-place finishes, leaving him 3rd in class for the day. A few more tweaks and the kart was pretty good for the GP and Thomas finished 2nd. He had a tangle with Ryan Jury on the last few corners from home, but was lucky enough to be able to get to the line before Ryan. So...it’s back to the drawing board for some more speed, and we are hoping to find this before heading to Hawkes Bay for the Blossom Festival in September, then back to Hawkes Bay for the North Island Champs in October.

April 23, 2011 - Practice Day at Waitara

Spent the afternoon at Waitara testing some different combinations of setup and gearing to see if we could squeeze any more speed out of both karts. We managed to find 0.3 seconds in Jessica’s kart and Thomas put in some solid and consistent times. Barney had his Rotax out on the track and had an enjoyable time also. The New Plymouth Mayor, Harry Duynhoven, came with us to the track for a few hot laps in the Rotax kart and did pretty well. He commented that “his VW wasn’t quite as quick as the kart” which seemed correct, as I have not known anyone to be able to spin a VW Beetle out like he did the kart! Just as I was to have a turn, the engine gremlins crept back in and we couldn’t restart it, so had to put it back in the trailer. It is now at Supreme Kart Supplies getting a wheel alignment, engine service and general check over prior to club day this weekend (1 May).

May 1, 2011 - KartSport Taranaki April Club Day

Had an awesome day at Waitara today. The big news is that Thomas scored his first race win!!! He started fairly average, with a spin in the first heat and ended up 4th. Then he spun and stalled in heat 2 and ended up with a 5th. He bounced back and smoked the 5-car field for his first race win in heat 3. He was 2nd in heat 4 and 3rd in heat 5. This put him on grid 2 for the GP and he finished in 2nd place after a good race. He drove with real maturity and confidence all day, which was really encouraging. The hunt is on now for some horsepower to assist him to rack-up some more victories in future. We were ecstatic for him and he was also very proud of himself. He set a new personal best lap time of 33.356s. The fastest time by any of the 5 drivers in his class today was 33.163. He was only slower by 0.193s! The engine on Thomas’s kart is not a flash engine yet, so this is an excellent result. With some more horsepower, he has potential to do very well. Hard to believe a boy so small can squeeze so much speed out of the kart. Awesome!

Jessica also drove well today. She had some stiff competition from Brendon Jury, Brittany Riddick and others who cleaned up the field. Once again, she got smashed off the track by the same turkey who took her out at Taranaki Goldstar. I was really angry with this and spoke with the Clerk of the Course in an effort to try and get something done to avoid this senseless driving. It did improve after that, but if it happens again in future, I think I might have to get a bit stroppy and give this person a piece of my mind! Rubbing is OK, but deliberate crashing is for the Superstocks, not karts!

She couldn’t do better than 4th place finishes today, although she had some luck in the GP with Daniel Lundt breaking a chain and handing her his position. There were 5 regular competitors and 3 new unrated drivers today who were still getting to grips with their karts and this caused a few moments for the whole field whilst trying to navigate their way around these newbie's. Another solid day for Jessica and her best time today was 30.917 which is 0.21s outside her personal best. Simply a matter of keeping on trying to improve, she will get there.

May 21, 2011 - KartSport Taranaki Annual Club Prizegiving

Jessica, Thomas and Robert attended the KartSport Taranaki club prizegiving at Fitzroy School Hall. Thomas was the recipient of the awards for TBR, picking up certificates for 3rd in the Club Champs and 3rd in the Summer Series for Cadets. Congratulations to the Riddick family, with Zane collecting the Frost Family trophy for Summer Series points and the Hoffman's Family trophy for 1st place in the 2011 Cadet Club Champs. Zane will have to look over his shoulder in future, because during the prizegiving Thomas had his eyes firmly fixed on the spot on the trophy where he hopes his name will be engraved next season!

Brittany Riddick also won the Marshall Trophy for Summer Series points and the Bryan Family Trophy for the 2011 Summer Series “Best Lady Driver” which summarised her season to date. Well done to the Riddick's for their trophy haul, special thanks again to Warren Riddick for the number of hours he has put in for free to help us this year to enable some real gains in speed and skill. Congratulations to all the KartSport Taranaki trophy winners and we hope the Winter Series brings additional success for Team Boniface Racing.

May 6, 7 and 8, 2011 - WPKA Goldstar Round 4, Roy's Hill, KartSport Hawkes Bay

We loaded up and travelled to Napier today in preparation for a weekend in the “Bay”. It was our first visit to the ZM Raceway at Roy's Hill. Unfortunately, the rain started at about Dannevirke and didn’t really let up for the first 2 days. So much for sunny Hawkes Bay? We got the karts out of the trailer on Friday and set up for the wet track. The kids only got 2 runs each, and the results were not too great. Thomas bent a rear sprocket after going off on a few corners due to no grip. Jessica was not as unlucky, although grip was still a major issue. The decision was made to fit the new wets we brought with us and send them out again. The results were much better, but the weather was not going to play ball. We put the karts away and put the Ezi-Up up in anticipation for a similar day on Saturday (official practice).

True to prediction, the weather was rubbish on Saturday also, so we didn’t get the karts out of the trailer until about 2pm. Barney arrived courtesy of Air New Zealand, albeit a little late due to low fog. Once out of the trailer, the results were promising and we seemed to have a fair amount of speed in both karts. After a few runs each, we set the karts up for a dry track as per the forecast, and put all the gear away for the night. Donna cooked an awesome dinner, we had a couple of drinks and bunked down.

The wind got up severely during the night and destroyed most of the Ezi-Ups at the track, including ours! Bugger! The track had dried overnight and we got the karts ready for racing. The grid draws were not brilliant, but the kids just got on with things. Thomas had a good solid day and got to grips with the track quite quickly. Jessica also was going well, until about Heat 3, when we seemed to slow for the rest of the day. No matter what we tried, we could not find the speed required and fell backwards for the rest of the afternoon. Frustrating, but nothing seemed to improve our luck. Thomas ended up with a 13th, 9th, 12th, 11th, 14th and 13th in the GP. He obtained 45 points and ended up 11th out of 15 racers.

Jessica received 44 points and finished 11th overall. She was 11th in every race and she finished up 11th in the 2010/11 WPKA Goldstar series (16 competitors) with only the Championship round in Wellington on Queens Birthday Weekend (5 & 6 June 2011) left to run.

We were really proud of her for toughing out her first Goldstar series and we are looking forward to next years series with optimism that we will have a better year with both kids. Thomas has really improved and it looks like some “bolt-on horsepower” is the answer to his speed issues? Jessica just needs to become more aggressive and assertive in order to get past other karts she has more speed than. Bring on the next event!

May 29, 2011 - KartSport Taranaki May Club Day

The weather finally cleared after some rain mid-week and the track was looking good for club day. Unfortunately, we moved house this weekend, so no practice was had the Saturday beforehand. Jessica started well, but had tough competition from Thomas Joyes (Hamilton, current 1NZ), Matt Podjursky, Brendon Jury and Daniel Lundt. She tried hard all day, and finished up with three 5th places and a 4th, putting her in 5th overall on the day. She collected 19 points toward her season total and finished 5th in the GP. A solid day, but still struggling to find the form she had at the start of the year. More work for Robert before the WPKA Goldstar Champs in Wellington this coming weekend (5th June).

Thomas drove well, but lacked speed also and had to settle for four 4th places behind Dylan Bryant (Hamilton), Zane Riddick (he drove really well all day) and Ryan Jury. Thomas and Ryan got knotted together on lap 1 in Heat 5 which was a shame. Thomas did manage to get within 0.295s of his personal best time which was pleasing. A new engine is definitely required to allow Thomas to be quicker.....watch this space! Thanks to Warren Riddick for his help to counter our set-up problems.

April 3, 2011 - KartSport Hamilton Club Meeting (Race day)

Both kids started well, and put in solid performances all day. Jessica was on pole position in the first race and unfortunately got nailed by the driver behind her who had jumped the start. He got penalised, but the official who was sleeping on the first corner “missed” the incident and deemed Jessica had been the cause of the accident and sent her to the rear of the field. The damage to the rear of her kart was pointed out to the Clerk of the Course, who agreed it was the wrong call, but the race result stood. Jessica battled all day with Christopher King (Hamilton) and ended up completing a great passing move which was awesome to watch. If she continues to pass in this fashion in future, her results will improve dramatically. After 4 races of 12 laps, and the final of 18 laps (324 corners!) Jessica ended up in 12th position overall. Given the level of competition, that was very satisfying.

Thomas had a great day, and ended up making some death-defying, but clean and solid passing manoeuvres that he pulled off, but had me looking in the opposite direction a couple of times!! He is driving with a lot more patience and should be more competitive when we get back to Taranaki on May 1. The competition in the Cadet class was also fairly stiff, and he ended up finishing 11th (16 entries), right behind Zane Riddick from Taranaki.

All-in-all a great weekend of racing, a real pleasure to see the kids finish every race, amongst some top competition. They both completed approximately 126km of track mileage in 2 days, so were understandably tired and sore on Monday morning. The Hamilton track is a really good facility, we will certainly be returning to try our luck again in future. Thanks again to Warren Riddick for all his help, he really has helped us a lot to get nearer to the “pointy-end”. We are looking forward to Taranaki Club Day on May 1, then Hawkes Bay Goldstar Round 4 on May 8.