Speed Freaks Down East
Karting is the greatest sport in the world besides F1.
A bunch of us went up to an indoor track in Boston this weekend and got sideways in a massive way. I finished in the middle of the pack (5th place), which was a satisfactory result for me, given that I’ve only driven competitive karts once before.
The top 3 drivers had done endurance karting last summer at Lime Rock, and had also taken the Skip Barber driving course. Their experience clearly showed, but I expect to drop as much as a second from my average lap time next time out.
Here’s the layout. We were on Track 1, which goes counter-clockwise:
(Note that the first straight is uphill, and the hairpin goes steeply downhill into a tunnel.)
The last time I went karting (outside London) I destroyed the left front upright early in the race as I came out of a hairpin and drilled my friend Juan, who was stuck in an accident of his own at the beginning of the straight. I blew a tyre in the process, and may have bent the frame, as well. It was awesome.
The Boston experience was better. I was much smoother around the track, hit all my apexes and breaking points, didn’t spin once, didn’t wreck once, and managed to bury two (2) to three (3) people in the wall and not get flagged for it. My only major technical flaws were slowing into a couple of turns I didn’t need to, and slowing excessively into the downhill corkscrew before the tunnel.
Part of the latter issue was that I was overly cautious when tailing people on that turn. I saw a lot of people spin and crash there, and I wanted some room to evade if someone wrecked in front of me. The strategy paid off several times, but it cost me a few painful hundredths. That I cannot and will not abide next time.
Another highlight of the experience was getting a first-hand view of Mika Hakkinen’s helmet from his 1998 Monaco Grand Prix win.
When I saw the display I almost collapsed in a violent attack of Stendhal's Syndrome. I recovered without major incident, but not before popping a painful and embarassing boner.
All told, it was a tremendous experience (the racing, not the boner), which brought me closer to my inner Nitro/Speed Freak.
This summer we hope to explore F1 Boston’s mile-long outdoor track (click thumbnail below), as well as do some six (6)-hour team endurance races at Lime Rock.
A bunch of us went up to an indoor track in Boston this weekend and got sideways in a massive way. I finished in the middle of the pack (5th place), which was a satisfactory result for me, given that I’ve only driven competitive karts once before.
The top 3 drivers had done endurance karting last summer at Lime Rock, and had also taken the Skip Barber driving course. Their experience clearly showed, but I expect to drop as much as a second from my average lap time next time out.
Here’s the layout. We were on Track 1, which goes counter-clockwise:
(Note that the first straight is uphill, and the hairpin goes steeply downhill into a tunnel.)
The last time I went karting (outside London) I destroyed the left front upright early in the race as I came out of a hairpin and drilled my friend Juan, who was stuck in an accident of his own at the beginning of the straight. I blew a tyre in the process, and may have bent the frame, as well. It was awesome.
The Boston experience was better. I was much smoother around the track, hit all my apexes and breaking points, didn’t spin once, didn’t wreck once, and managed to bury two (2) to three (3) people in the wall and not get flagged for it. My only major technical flaws were slowing into a couple of turns I didn’t need to, and slowing excessively into the downhill corkscrew before the tunnel.
Part of the latter issue was that I was overly cautious when tailing people on that turn. I saw a lot of people spin and crash there, and I wanted some room to evade if someone wrecked in front of me. The strategy paid off several times, but it cost me a few painful hundredths. That I cannot and will not abide next time.
Another highlight of the experience was getting a first-hand view of Mika Hakkinen’s helmet from his 1998 Monaco Grand Prix win.
When I saw the display I almost collapsed in a violent attack of Stendhal's Syndrome. I recovered without major incident, but not before popping a painful and embarassing boner.
All told, it was a tremendous experience (the racing, not the boner), which brought me closer to my inner Nitro/Speed Freak.
This summer we hope to explore F1 Boston’s mile-long outdoor track (click thumbnail below), as well as do some six (6)-hour team endurance races at Lime Rock.
posted by HAKKIN£N!!!!!!!!!!!!! at 22:21
4 Comments:
Nitro or 1:1 scale, I'll put you to the CFN wall any day of the week! You got nothin' on me.
that's a mother-humping lie and you dang well know it. I stand ready to get in on, be it 1/10-scale, karting, or around Hockenheim, any MF day, fool. Any mother-effing day.
Talk is cheap, bung-holes. When you have tasted the victory, drilled the inexperienced into the walls and taken your well deserved victory lap solo around the track, checkered flag held high, you will then know what it means to live!
That and "doin' it" with chicks.
-Nate Mitt Rooney, esq.
Son of a BITCH!!!!
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