Monday 05-12-2022 - 17:09

On Sunday 20th November the UWTSD Karting Team Participated in the British University Karting Championship Qualifiers at Whilton Mill, where over 1000 students across more than 55 universities competed to qualify for the championship. This year we struggled to get a team together but thankfully at the last minute, we gathered enough drivers to enter. 

 

  The team consisted of Matthew Jones, Will Ford, Toby Heathcote & Aeddan Senior.

  We arrived at a wet circuit at 7am. After signing on, Matthew the Team Captain led the track walk giving as much guidance to the new team members as possible. We were then given a safety briefing outlining how the day was structured alongside the safety protocols. 

  Throughout the morning the team ventured out onto the circuit in their respective groups. Each driver had a 20 minute practice merged into a qualifying session where the goal was to avoid getting any penalties and get the best possible starting position for the races ahead. There were lots of penalties due to the slippy conditions and our new team members managed to avoid being given one resulting in a higher starting position. 

Our starting positions were as follows:

Will (P18)

Toby (P28)

Aeddan (P22)

Matthew (P7)

  The Championship runs on full slick tyres in all conditions resulting in no groves to disperse the water making driving the go-karts very difficult in the wet. For our team, this was a new experience and struggled to find the grip out on the circuit. The Races were a 30 minute sprint race which was a long time. All drivers fought hard and tried their best in their races with signs of improvement. 

Will had a great battle with a few karts after being spun around. Bringing the kart home in (P30) after getting a 4 place penalty. 

Toby made up some positions showing some improvement finishing (P20) after penalties.

Then the rain decided to come out to play again. Aeddan raced in wet conditions finding it difficult to find the grip. As the session progressed he kept improving & getting quicker and finishing (P28) 

Darkness had now fallen and the track continued to hold water Matthew was in the last race for the team and needed a high finishing position for the team to qualify for the championship. After the second corner, he went from 7th to 2nd and then held the lead for a few laps to then battling for a hard fought 2nd place over the line. Unfortunately, Matthew was awarded a 5 place penalty after some contact. But a (P7) finish enabled the team to have enough points to qualify for the championship. 

 If you’d like to go karting with us sign up to the karting society where we are currently working on hosting some heavily discounted karting sessions for members of the society.