It was another huge grid at Trent Valley Kart Club, and another trophy for Theo (8th overall) plus fastest lap of the day. It was a really challenging weekend, not only because all the top drivers in the country were there but also because of the extreme weather. We really had all four seasons in one day!
Testing went really well on Saturday, where we were able to find some big improvements in wet weather pace. But we didn’t think we’d need it for the Sunday as it was forecast to be dry (ha ha!).
Race Day started off wet, and we made a bit of a mistake with tyre pressures for 3-lap practice, but no harm done. For qualifying though we turned up with a full wet setup, only to find that the track had completely dried up on the racing line! Not good! Somehow though, Theo pushed his team mate to keep them both in the top 4, and then they switched positions and he managed to qualify in 3rd whilst in clean air.
Starting the Pre Final in 3rd, Theo got involved in a bit of a tussle from the start and ended up down in 5th. But he managed to battle his way up to 2nd, until another fast-charging kid came through. With a big gap now to 1st place, Theo worked with him to close the gap (with him setting fastest lap of the day in the process), and as they caught him up the 1st place driver started defending heavily. He got backed into the chasing pack and eventually managed to finish 4th.
Then the heavens opened, with heavy hail, some snow and then rain. Theo started the A Final in 7th on a very cold and wet track, with the the rain coming down. He initially got a good start and stayed in 6th place up until grip levels suddenly deteriorated midway through the race and he fell as low as 11th. But he adjusted his lines and battled through on the last 3 laps to get 8th place overall.
So we’re happy that we made more good progress, particularly in the wet, and achieved a fantastic result against a very strong grid.