CUMBRIAN CRUISE

Another 4 hour cruise from the Midlands to Cumbria was the last 'practice meeting' before then next Stars round in two weeks. In good weather the circuit is a gem to visit and drive, but it has it's own weather system and by Sunday it was overcast. The track is up and down, with a couple of hairpins, so keeping momentum is critical. Mike knows from experience that you need to drive an agressive line through the flat sections, but be very smooth on the inclines. Mike said " It took Ash a while to adjust to the lines I was suggesting, but he improved as the meeting progressed." In the first heat As started in 9th and ended up in 10th, which was OK, but Ash had initially made good progress but then sadly got passed by his main rivals as they worked their way up, but good points for the final.

In the second heat Ash started in 3rd, and quickly made 2nd and then followed his team mate Matt Parry over the line for some good points for the final grid. The lap times were reasonable and Ash seemed to be getting to gripos with the track.

In the third heat, a top 10 finish would secure a good grid position for the final. Ash started in 17th, but ended up in last after the first lap. With most of the quick drivers already at the front, it would have been a struggle to get a podium, but to finish in 20th was a disappointing result, leaving Ash in the middle of the pack for the final.

The lap chart would indicate that in the final Ash was the 9th quickest, in a group which included Matt Parry. all 4/10th's off the quickest. The pace is there, but starting mid-pack Mike was concerned about the first lap carnage which might develop.

As you can see from the final graphic Ash started 8th. A better result in the final heat could have put him onto the second row. The graphic says it all, with most of the top 10 dropping well down the field from the start. Matt Parry survived and Ash initially jumped into 4th, but a number of drivers from the back took advantage of the mayhem at the front and made ground. Ash dropped to 15th and stayed there.

A weekend off and then back to Rowrah again to make full use of this weeks practice. The aim has to be a top 10 finish and hope that Ash will raise his seeded position from 14th. To conclude, Mike said "Provided Ash keep listening to my advice he will get smoother and therefore quicker. Only experience and track time will ensure that he misses incidents that can wreck his race or even his season. Ash has to realise that it won't happen overnight as most of his competitors have the advantage of 4 years more in the seat. We are making up ground on them, but still have a way to go before I can see Ash collecting a Stars trophy."

ANOTHER VICTORY FOR THE TEAM

Mike followed up his last success with another fine drive in the 2 hour endurance assisting the team to a 2 lap victory in over completed 300 laps. The track was slower than last time, so beating the lap record wasn't an option but Mike was the quickest driver at the circuit by 3/10ths second.

The team were in third when Mike did his first stint, pushing for 2nd and he returned the kart in 1st with a lap lead. For his second stint, the Kart was in second almost a lap down and he pushed it into a 2 lap lead, which the team held to the end.

Mike sends thanks to Ross and Craig owners of Drivingexperiencesdirect.com for the invite.

THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD TO ROWRAH

Thankfully Ash decided not to race at PFI last weekend, as Mike and he are off to Cumbria in a couple of days for this weeks club event and then back up there in two weeks for the next round of Stars. It'd a good job Mike bought a Turbo-Diesel car at the beginning of the season! Having looked at the PFI results, it looks like King and Parry will be the drivers to keep an eye on from the table below;-

MIKE TO GUEST AGAIN FOR TRACK DAY SPECIALISTS:-DRIVING EXPERIENCES DIRECT.COM

Mike received the email today from MD Ross Jones, to join their team once again on 7th May. This will be his first outing in the seat since they won three months ago by a resounding 5 laps in a two hour endurnce back in February. This is a team of professional track drivers pitted against 10 other teams who also earn their living either from coaching at Track days and others with years of circuit racing experience. At the last meeting Mike recorded the fastest individual 20 laps of the meeting and was just short of the lap record. So he has a tough record to beat. Later this month, subject to driver coaching commitments with Ash Hand, he will be assisting with one of their Track days in a range of cars which include an Aston, two Lambo's a Porsche and a couple of Ferraris. More details on their website shown below.

WHILTON - HALF DAY ON SUNDAY

Saturday practice was just like a month ago with Ash being the quickest on the stop watch. All was looking promising for Sunday, but again the weather forecast was hopelessly wrong, and the predicted rain never arrived.

The first of the heats at Whilton on Sunday, went far better than expected. As always Mike said to Ash to make 10 places and with Ash starting twenty third on the grid he doubled that to make 3rd. Following the rolling start Ash managed to capitalise on an incident ahead of him going into the first corner and a concerted effort with some masterful overtaking saw him claw his way up twenty places by the time the chequered flag went out. For once a stroke of luck at the subsequent scrutineering meant that the kart that finished ahead of him was disqualified from the heat for being underweight, thus promoting Ash into second place.

The grid positions for Heats 2 and 3 saw Ash drawn at tenth, although by the start of the second heat. Again Ash drove a skillful heat, pulling himself into third place by the final lap. Unfortunately when dropping down into Ashby bend on the final lap Ash took a line into the corner and exerted his authority to steal second place, but as the two karts exited the bend they came together Ash being impacted to the rear left corner, lifting the rear of his kart and the heavy landing distorting his axle. Unfortunately, the other kart involved spun out and was then further involved with the following karts making the contact look more severe than it was. Ash managed to make the finish line and take second place despite the bent axle.

An unsuccessful protest was lodged regarding the incident at the end of heat 2, and at that time it was found that an administrative error had resulted in Ash not being correctly signed on that morning for the meeting. In accordance with the MSA rulebook Ash had to be excluded from the meeting by the Clerk of the Course, so that bought about the premature end of the days racing. An unfortunate end to what promised to be another exceptional meeting for Ash.

Mike said that "Ash had bounced back from his disappointment at PFI the previous week and was convinced that another podium was a probable outcome as both the Kart and Ash were as quick as anything out there. It's PFI again this weekend and providing there are no administrative hic-ups, lets plan for another podium for Ash".

STARS CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE NOW AVAILABLE

Sorry that the table is so difficult to read, but here we have the top 20. There are over 50 registered and as you can see Ash is currently 14th and his team mate Matt is leading the championship. It's hypothetical, but had Ash not been penalised in Round 1, he could have gained another 30 points and have been 7th. Mike says "This is a clear indicator that if Ash keeps getting top 10 places in the races, and as others suffer similar bad luck, he can aim for a top 5 place."

THE NEXT RACE MEETING WILL BE AT WHILTON MILL THIS WEEKEND 26/27TH APRIL

Having won the meeting the last time Ash attended Whilton Mill, this meeting will be excellent practice for the June Stars round. Hopefully the weather forecast is fine, so we should be ble to make a sensible attempt at the lap record. Pictures will follow in due course.

THE NEXT RACE MEETING AT PFI WILL BE ON 4th MAY

Mike says "Our next race meeting at PFI in May will be another benchmark on Ash's progress. Following on from Stars this weekend, we have to get his time down to 49 secs dead, as Matt Parry his team mate achieved this time on similar equipment, and Ash was 4/10th's off." If time can be found mid-week at PFI, Mike thinks that for the next step, it would be useful for him to drive the track with Ash following, and then to do some practice overtaking moves to build more confidence. Pictures will follow. "Rowrah will be round 3 and we visited there once this season and it would be nice to get another club round in as Ash has very little experience there. Then in June off to Whilton for round 4 - where we can do very well as it's our home track. When I won Super 1 in 2006, I won all the heats and the final at that round, so hopefully Ash can get close to that and get us into the top 10 of the championship table."

STARS ROUND TWO AT PFI

Round two followed on Sunday, with the same format of three selected heats, a 'B' final and an 'A' final. Ash was slightly disappointed with his first round as the aim had been to get a top ten finish, but Mike said " There is a lot of pressure on you for the first round if you are regarded as a top driver. Ash has only been driving a year so I was pleased he won a heat and then made the 'A' final, he can build on this and aim for a top ten today". Well heat 1 Ash started 7th and ended up 10th - not the planned start as the track was very slippery and plenty of drivers were spinning off.

Heat 2 was next and this time Ash was 17th on the grid, and surpassed Mike's expectations by getting into 5th after the first lap and got up to 4th before once again a charging Andy King slipped past. Still an excellent result wih just one heat to go.

Heat 4, Ash started 11th and made one place, but that was enough for another 'A' final and a better grid position than Saturday.

On Sunday in the rain Ash was 12th quickest, better than on the Saturday, so more signs of progress and reinforcing his final position. On a slippery track those with more experience could take more of an advantage, and Ash was 1/10th from being in the top 10. In conclusion good progress has been made.

Ash started 10th in the final and on lap 1 managed to get bumped down the field to 16th, but over the next 9 laps recovered to 11th. Just outside Mikes predicion, but still a good second result. Perhaps in rounds 3 & 4 a top 10 will be possible. The championship table has yet to be produced, but we think Ash should be in a seeded top 15 position, which is a good base to work from.

STARS FIRST ROUND AT PFI

Saturday was overcast, but having seen Ash in practice on Friday, he looked to be about 2/10th's off the quickest, which indicated a top ten finish was possible provided Ash kept the Kart on the track and nothing fell off. With a field of 50 top young drivers the heats almost went to plan. Heat 1: 10th to 6th - 4 place gain and a good start to the meeting.

There were 6 heats, but Ash was next out in heat 4, missing heats 2 & 3, so a long wait of several hours. Ash was 6th on the grid and as you can see from the chart, drove through to record his first Stars heat win in only his second Stars race - impressive. Matt Parry his Ultimate team mate drove well from 14th on the grid to make it a 1-2 for the team.

Had Ash been able to count Heat 5, he would have been near the front of the grid for the final, but even with his penalty, he still managed to make the 'A' final, leaving a further 24 drivers to battle out places in the 'B' final. Mike was confident that Ash had the pace to win a 'B' final, but better to get straight into the 'A'. Mike was hoping for a 10 place gain, getting Ash to 14th and at the end of his first Stars final Ash managed 17th - gaining 6 places, and effectively beating over 30 drivers.

Ash then competed in heat 5 and was allowed to miss heat 6. This time he had his worst grid position at 22nd and over the course of the race managed to get to 6th before Jordan King just passed him on the 10th and final lap. Sadly Ash had missed seeing a yellow flag during his push and received a warning from the clerk and was subsequently disqualified from the heat and given a 4 point endorsement .

This is a graph showing the fastest laps for the top drivers, and on this evidence Ash was the 14th quickest 3/10th of a second off the pace of the quickest. He needed to be a 1/10th quick to break into the top 10.