POST RACE REPORT - 3 Sister Race Circuit Wigan With the memories of our result in Rowrah, Cumbria now firmly in the past it was time to turn our attentions to the next challenge that awaited The 3 sister’s race circuit in Wigan. Wednesday 19th June would see the arrival of most of the team apart from 2 i/C SSgtAlex Gooch who would meet us at the circuit. The early arrivals, consisting of Cpl Tom Stringer & Sgt Terry Collom would immediately begin to sort out and pack kit. However the kart would be packed the following day as an important job needed to be done. Kart graphics. There was just the small issue of a hair dryer being needed to affix the graphics to the bodywork. Step forward Mrs. Kat Scott who lent us her hair dryer for the task. After 2 hours of painstaking work (and some burnt fingers) the Kart looked fantastic. Thursday 20th June would be spent making the long journey up to the track and begin to set up our temporary home on the side of the track. Once this task was complete it was time to turn our attentions to the Kart. Engines were fitted, wheels attached and varies other components tinkered with. Upon completion of the days task we were then greeted with the good news that we would not be staying at the trackside but at a TA centre about 30mins away, so a quick thank you to the Army Motorsports Karting Team & Huyton TA Centre for that. Later that evening SSgt Alex Gooch met up with the team. Friday 21st June would consist of a free practice day, so after an early arrival at the track it was all systems go with regard to setting up the kart. This was the 1st time the REME team had managed to get enough of the team together to conduct the Friday free practice session and they didn’t hang around. Various set ups were tested and some finer adjustments made. Things were certainly looking up with everyone setting consistent lap times and the Kart holding up very well to the task in hand. All in all Fridays testing could be considered a success. That evening the team would retreat back to the TA centre and relish the opportunity to get back on the track the following day. The team would also benefit from getting all their kit from washed by some old friends of Cpl Tom Stringers who had recently settled in Liverpool just 10 minutes down the road from our accommodation, so a special thank you to Brian & Barbara Walker for that. Saturday 22nd June Race Day would begin with the customary early start (who said Karting was a jolly). Upon arriving at the track, all the signing on process was quickly undertaken and scrutineering cards completed. Following a successful days testing, the team were expecting some good results, especially with the Corp Colonel making an appearance. Unfortunately, Saturdays practice sessions would not be as successful as the team would have hoped and matters were not helped with the ever unpredictable British weather. Bent steering rods were the order of the day and Cpl Tom Stringer even managed to bend a steering column after a rival driver decided that he would attempt a pirouette on the track. However with some speedy spannering and some even speedier trips to the spares shop on site, the team would have their Kart back in shape and following some adjustments the Kart was actually running at its best. With 5 drivers at the race and only 4 being allowed to participate, one would have to sit the race out. On this occasion it would be Ben Jeffery, and due to the absence of our chief mechanic WO2 Dave Hopkins, Ben would be running the pit lane. Not a job for the faint hearted. The job of qualifying for the race this weekend would fall to Cfn Ben White who would put the kart on 17th place on the grid. Ben would get a great start off the grid until he had a coming to with a member of the kartforce team. However, with no damage sustained, Ben would continue to make up places on his stint. Next in the hot seat would be SSgt Alex Gooch who would put in consistent lap times on his stint and keep the team in the good shape going in to the second hour of the race. Cpl Tom Stringer would be next up and would put in some barnstorming laps and pulling out some excellent overtaking maneuvers. At one stage, the team would be running as high as 12th place (on course for their best finish buy some distance). However lady luck would not be with us and the chain cover mount failed, resulting in being pitted by the marshals. Though no penalty would be imposed the kart would need to be repaired before it could re-enter the race. The decision was then taken to change drivers at this stage. Upon a quick repair (which would cost us 9 places), Sgt Terry Collom would get in to the kart and steam roller off in his trademark aggressive driving style (it may be aggressive, but it works). Terry would claw back some of the places lost in our unscheduled stop, but 9 places is a tall order for the best drivers out there. However a new concern would arise that due to the unscheduled pit stop, weight would be our new enemy. The decision was made to pit the car once more to avoid the possibility of the car being underweight. As such additional weight and a heavier driver would be put on to the kart. Step forward Cpl Tom Stringer who would take the reins again and power the kart home. After threatening to rain most of the race, the weather finally delivered and it began to rain. The rain however wouldn’t play such a decisive factor at it had in the previous race as it decided to come along lightly and only 10 minutes from the chequered flag. With the flag coming down the REME Karting Team had finished 19th. In summary, the REME Kart Team might feel slightly robbed of a potential top 10 result this weekend (through no fault of their own), but can however be extremely pleased with the way the drivers performed, how well the kart performed (when it was behaving) and the end result was still an improvement on the previous race. Still, onwards and upwards so they say. See you trackside, Arte et Marte
Posted on: Wed, 26 Jun 2013 20:15:30 +0000
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