The second 'kit kar kapers' event was held just before the summer break in the filton carpark by Concorde. Chipping Sodbury School had four cars up against numerous seagull based kits that had been built by other local schools. The event consisted of a series of 3 lap heats with 4 cars in each heat, leading to a runners up final & the main final.
While all this was going on, there were events for goblins in the centre of the circuit, so there was constant activity.
As with last years event, the circuit was very tight so overtaking would be tricky, but after a 1-2 finish last year, the school had high hopes for the event. It was the first time R-PodS had competed in a sprint & we knew the wide car was not suited to this type of circuit.
Team Fusion were hoping to have sorted their gear problems and the Wacky
Racer team were ready for their first experience of a sprint.
The tension mounted through the heats with Rotary Racer & R-PodS winning most of their heats. The Wacky Racer was doing well & managed one heat win, while Team Fusion were holding their own against stiff competition. The Wacky Racer made it to the runners up final, whilst both Rotary Racer & R-PodS were in the main final. As we expected, the final race came down to overtaking, both our cars had a poor start & were faced with two cars ahead of them. After some time they both made it past the second place car but couldn't find a way around the eventual winner, having to settle for second & third place.
Was is a good event? An unqualified yes. Very different to the usual racing and requiring very different driving skills. It was a bonus to get a best presented team award for team R-Pod, to go with their second place.
The Rockingham race was held on a weekday & as the school teams are mostly run by parents, this race was solely supported by Y-Pod? and a lone team member.
The car was virtually un-touched since the last race (only two days previous), apart from modifying the offending sprocket to make sure it didn't come detached again. We started well with a brief spell in the lead before being quickly overhauled by TSR-4+, there then followed a tedious plod around the oval in full sun, getting hotter & hotter. The Bentley team managed to overhaul us & we dropped to third place, but were hoping that they had pushed things too far & would suffer from battery fade at the end of the race.
As the laps ticked by & the heat increased it all became a tedious slog with no corners to think about or require any arm movement... at the end, the Bentley team were hardly moving but managed to creep across the line with a pit straight length of lead, so we had to settle for third. As in all racing there are loads of "if only" stories, but despite the tedium, we would have loved to have one more lap & a second place!
