Karting again. Second again. 🥈

As mentioned at the end of the previous post, I took Teamsport up on their £18 Race Again offer after my last time there. For 30 minutes on track, I'm still impressed at that value. Anyway, this time I could muster only one of my nephews as a companion/rival, despite the fact that two of them plus a brother-in-law had bought the same vouchers. Still, he's a good nephew with a keen interest in — and desire to work in — Formula 1, so all's good.

This time out, there seemed to be more of a mix of abilities on track. That was pretty clear as soon as we got out of the pits and some people instantly ignored the yellow lights (used to test whether you'd been paying attention to the briefing), just shooting past everyone. 🙄 Cue those yellow lights turning to red and them getting a quiet word in their ears. Later on, those same people turned out to be mobile chicanes, lapping nearly 10 seconds off the pace.

Once we actually got up and running, it was clear that the track had even less grip than I remembered. Downstairs, it was a nightmare getting the kart through the corners. I lost count of how many times I either slammed into the outside (serious understeer) or lost the back end and half-spun (braking too hard, in an attempt to slow enough to make the corner). Getting a smooth lap, let alone a clear lap, was far from easy.

Perhaps more disappointing was the number of times I simply misjudged a send and ended up T-boning or side-swiping someone. I swear to god I was always at least 2/3 alongside before the braking zone, making my presence felt, and then braking later than them, but so often I'd still end up in their side. I couldn't explain it, which itself probably explains why I kept on making the same mistake. Maybe I just didn't pick up on them turning in across me. And maybe I just needed to learn patience. But when there are so many red flags, the lap's nearly 45 seconds long, and you've got only 15 minutes to bag a good time, you really need to dispatch the traffic ASAP. Just... you know... better than I did. 😂

I got my comeuppance at the end of that first session, mind. Trying the old switcheroo on someone at the hairpin/corkscrew leading up to the upper level, I misjudged their trajectory as they lost the back end and came right across me. Too slow to react, I gave them a hefty T-bone, came to a halt and was instantly rammed from behind, causing some wild, ragdoll whiplash (for me). That saw another red flag and me sitting in the kart in a world of neck pain and shock. I was there long enough that when we restarted, the session was over anyway.

Nursing my neck and shoulder muscles in the interval, I apologised to the guy I'd hit and checked the times. Amazingly, I was 3rd despite the inability to get to grips with the slippery downstairs. Less amazingly, I was a full 1.5 seconds off the fastest time, and 4.5 seconds off my best time from May. 😯 I guess that at least backed up how hard I was finding it getting grip.

For the second session, I made a mental note of the kart numbers of the guys ahead of me and clocked their helmets too. As the session progressed, I noticed they might be fast, but they had little regard for the circuit rules and red and yellow lights. The fastest guy in particular just kept on driving, albeit slowly, during a red light, just to get in some clean air or to talk to his mate (the front two were mates, it seemed). Call it sour grapes if you like, but I hate rule-breaking like that. It's just not good sportsmanship and it's the main thing I dislike about motorsport, in which it's rife.

But enough grousing. The end of this second session seemed to come quite early, but when we got back in the bar and checked the times, at least I'd moved up to 2nd place, albeit still 0.8 seconds away from first.

So the rule-ignoring ass-hat was annoyingly quick, but he had his own helmet, so I'm guessing he's at least a semi-serious karter. 🤷‍♂️

Maybe next time I'll make it to the top step, but it really depends on who else is there... obviously. There was a time when I was confident I could challenge for a win every time, but those days are gone. Anyway, it might not be too long before I get another go, as I'm currently organising a trip for the guys from work. Watch this space. 😄