I woke up at 6:50AM today to get to the Daytona Sandown karting track, which was all the way in the South of London. But it was worth it. It was the first time I did a proper race with strangers; unlike the Potato karting event there were only 6 Potatoes+friends, and 24 strangers. After a 10-minute practice session we were off for a 40-minute race. That's actually quite long!
It was good to drive a proper combustion kart again. The karts weren't quite underpowered but were definitely not overpowered either, so it's always tricky to try and keep the power on. The track was very challenging and proved interesting and difficult to master even after 40 minutes of driving. The competitors came in all shapes, sizes and speeds, and with 30 people on the track I had pre-race worries that it would be a crowded affair, but the track was plenty long and there was lots of space for all of us.
I have to admit that after winning one of the Potato races, even beating Wills who loves racing even more than I do, I was rather overconfident before the race. This only got worse during the race as I ended up passing everyone all the time without getting passed myself, so for a while I thought I was in the lead. But I should have known better, as I did not pass Wills, and he wasn't even in sight. Turns out he was fighting it out with two other guys in close combat, and after that there was a 50-second gap until me. I did manage to climb from 8th to 4th and held on to it, so I guess it's not all bad.
After the race finished my hands and arms were shaking; it's quite hard work wrestling a kart into position, especially for an un-exercised person like me. Despite that I somehow managed to cycle home, which took about two hours, and now I'm completely exhausted. Great day.
Must do this more often!