2007 Victorian Closed Titles
Saturday 1st & Sunday 2nd December 2007 (Portland Kart Club)
After an encouraging first year in Clubman Light we packed our bags and headed to Portland for our first state title in the form of the 2007 Victorian Closed Titles. Having never seen the track before and with a very strong field, our aims for the meet were to gain valuable experience, gauge ourselves against some of the best drivers in the state and to finish off the season with a good bit of fun.
Hitting the track early on Thursday for a bit of practice we soon discovered that Portland’s reputation as a high grip track was well deserved. After taking a couple of sessions to dial setup into the track and to allow Dylan to familiarise himself with the track, we set about seeing what kind of pace we would have for the weekend. In our first serious session we were pleasantly surprised to find that we had good pace and by the end of the day we were comfortably sitting in the mid 37’s. In fact by the last couple of session for the day, Dylan’s pace was sufficient for him to start playing with a few of the Rotax karts on track – though not a true indicator of pace it was none the less a hell of a lot of fun.
Setting ourselves on Friday to build on the pace we had achieved on Thursday, we arrived at the track to find radically different track conditions. Struggling for setup, we spent most of the day in the low 38’s and high 37’s. In fact it wasn’t until the final session of the day that we were able to recover our pace from Friday and get back into the mid 37’s.
After much nervous anticipation we arrived at the track on Saturday eager to finally get the competition started. Hitting qualifying with reasonable confidence Dylan set a solid best time of 37.731 seconds, despite lapping within a couple of tenths of the leaders the closeness of the field meant that Dylan qualified in 19th. Despite the lowly grid position Dylan found in good company with names like Chris Pratt, Dean Foster and James True all within a handful of spots.
With very strong race pace it looked set to be a very positive weekend and we approached Heat 1 with significant confidence. Unfortunately even the best laid plans can go awry and after a solid start Dylan was caught in a mid-pack argument and shunted wide on to the ‘bark trap’. Though he was able to keep his kart going and rejoin the track he found himself not only in last place by a margin but also had to suffer through the rest of the race with bark in his eyes, when due to a freak incident some of the bark was able find it’s way into his helmet. Despite the setback Dylan set some quick times and made his way back into 22nd place but ran out of laps to proceed any further.
Hoping for better in Heat 2 Dylan pushed hard at the start, unfortunately yet again caught out by incidents not of his own making Dylan was pushed wide and dropped back to 23rd place on the second corner. Recovering strongly Dylan executed some good passing moves to move into 17th pace. Despite having better pace than a couple of the drivers ahead of him, due to some good defensive driving Dylan was unable to affect any further moves. Despite not getting just reward for the pace he had as is so often the case in motorsport we could at least approach the Pre-Final knowing that we had strong pace.
Courtesy of his bad luck in the heats Dylan was stuck starting in 22nd place for the Pre-Final, getting a good start Dylan quickly moved up the pack and to 18th place and using his pace and ability under brakes well was able to continue his progress to finish the Pre-Final in 15th before running out of laps. With this strong recovery and good lead on setup for the Final we looked to the upcoming race with the possibility of a top ten position.
Holding his position well on the start, Dylan set about the task of picking his way through the field. Picking his way as high as 12th and with the kart still to come on, Dylan’s progress was rudely cut short when punted on lap 4. Suffering a bent axle Dylan soldiered on and finished in 17th place. Though disappointing Dylan was the first to admit that the weekend was well worth doing and proved to provide an invaluable experience for both driver and pit crew.
With this our last race for Season 2007, we will be signing off for a well earned break.