After practice we had time trials to decide the grid positions for the heat. After, I kept getting told how slow I was through a couple of corners (which I expected) so I wasn't expecting a good time. The field of other drivers was pretty handy too, almost certainly the most experienced field I've ever raced against - so I was pretty shocked to have stuck in on the front row! Turns out I did a corker of a last lap, breaking my personal best - nice!
Next was the heat, and I'm pretty sure that I couldn't run as fast as the other guys so I really wanted to get into first place on the first lap and then drive the widest kart possible. Unbelievably, I managed it. I ended up driving side by side for half a lap but I stuck it in the gap and then kept my head until the end of the race - pole for the final.
Finally the race. All I had to do was stay in front. I knew I didn't have the pace so if anyone got by me they'd be gone. So again I drove the widest kart - and that's how I won. The last 2 of the 15 laps lasted forever but I improved my personal best to 37.282.
So, 4 races this year (1 rental pro-kart race in the UK early last year), 2 second places and 2 wins. Not bad, but I need more experience and practice to be able to mix with the big boys (the fast guys in the expert class are doing 36.4s!). I've learnt 1 thing though: Karting is really hard! I need to work on my fitness and stop being such a lazy git.
If you want to play where's Wally you can see the results here (written in Japanese though, but my picture stands out like a sore thumb).
The grid for the expert class race
