Don't buy that shit! - Track day report - 11/19/11 - First time out @ Apex

I haven't been in a Kart for over 4 years, and when I was in one I had very limited exposure to it.  I haven't been in any sort of track for almost a full year.  90% of my seat time comes from a Miata, and the other 9% is probably from indoor karting.  So I was in for 'a real something' when I went out for my first session.

First things first.  Stu Hayner held my hand through everything.  He installed everything on my kart, fixed my carb, fixed my brakes, hooked me up with a set of used tires, and when he found out both of my motors were KPV junior motors, he even took off one of the motors off of his other karts and put it on mine.  I'm probably forgetting something.  Most importantly, he gave me tons and tons of advice.  One thing that was stressed to me repeatedly was  "Don't buy anything!" That still rings in my ear.  I really don't need to buy anything.  Robert sold me everything I needed, trailer, safety equipment included. (thanks Robert!)

Before we get into details; here are stats:
"off's" - 4 or 5 times (lol)
"off's" that caused other "off's" - once (included in above figure)
Broken parts - 1
Time behind Stu's pace: 7 seconds (In a 43-45 second course. lol!)

I also found out my kart is good at shoveling up gravel, and how good gravel is for slowing down a kart.

I got there around 10AM, and by 11AM I was already out on the track.  I got about 60 laps in.  Kart seemed to handle pretty well, with a hint of understeer.  Stu was worried it might handle badly, because many of the components were from other karts, and because my steering shaft was bent.  It didn't matter though, there is nothing much wrong about driving with a bent steering shaft, and I'm not good enough to notice subtle differences in handling.  Or at least I think.

Turns out the kart handled just fine.  Slightly understeery, but thats good for a newbie like me.
The whole day was spent learning to drive the kart.  Took me many laps to figure out that I need to go fast enough for the kart to even get around the corner.  Took me many more laps to figure out that leaning out helps the kart turn.  Took me many more laps to figure out I can't turn my head enough with the neck brace I got.  And it took me many laps to figure out that noise and surge in acceleration in a particular left hander was my leg flinging out and pushing on the throttle cable (lol!)

Some memorable events.  I spun (completely due to driver error-forgot to put enough heat into the tires) on a left hander and was pointed the other way.  I saw two, three more people spin out trying to avoid me.  Oops. Bad spot to lose it.  Another idiot error:  I was trying to push it a bit and felt that I was going a wee bit too fast.  Momentarily, I thought "what if..?" and looked at that "what if" spot.  Off I went right into that spot, which happened to be a barrier after a gravel pit.  Scooped up a bunch of gravel and went right into the barrier.  Thank goodness for movable barriers.  No noticeable damage in any of my "offs," except I think I chipped my brake rotors a bit more.

I learned a lot.  A challenge for me is getting over the fear and trusting my kart.  You know those sections on a racetrack with lots of kinks and bends that lead into a slow corner with a hard braking zone, which series of turns can be taken flat-out if you do it properly?  There was one of those at Apex, which you probably know of, and it took me the third session to get the guts enough to try it flat-out.  I felt each time my kart would fly off the track.  Each time before the braking zone my kart would start a four wheel drift.  Kinda scary for a newbie like me.  But the kart will do it over and over again, as long as I ask properly.  Much of the high-speed corners can be taken with a simple lift of the throttle or a small jab at the brakes.  I always braked early and hard for them, like I was in a car.  Not only was it sometimes even harder to get around the corner that way, it killed my exit speed since my.. erm.. entry speed was so very very low.  No wonder I'm 7 seconds off.

However, in the beginning of the day I told myself I'll do a 50.  I couldn't figure out how to use the Mychron 2 unit that my kart came with, but I finally figured out that one of the digits that looked messed up was supposed to say "5," and that is when I figured out that I was hovering around 50.2 - 50.5s.  At least that is somewhat consistent, by Jerry standards.  (I'd stay within 0.5 seconds each lap on the Miata also.)

Can you tell if my eyes are open or closed?

I have so much to learn.  And the learning curve is steep. I'm so thankful that I am getting help.  Stu, thank you very much and I very appreciate all of the help.



What a blast.  It was so good to get time off work.  If I can practice at least once a month until March, I think I will be ready for my first race.  I know one thing for sure; This old kart is 100% sufficient for me.  I am not going to buy anything!