More Karting Action: What NOT to do

IMAGES FROM www.cooperimages.com  – these are thumbnails, please visit www.cooperimages.com to see some incredible karting action shots, and order some of your favorites!!  I tried to paste the HTML to get these to link directly to cooperimages, but it did not work. 

Here is some great shots of some of the action this past weekend at the Infineon race.  Unfortunately, there were several injuries that day — probably the worst day I've seen ever in my short experience.  I think everyone will be OK tho, mostly folks shaken/beat up, and one broken leg.

Here is what happens when one tries to "invent" a hole that just doesn't exist.

2006 Karting Season

Well we are 3 races into the season, and so far, no broken ribs! 

We have had 2 local club races at this point.  First race was in the rain, which was fun, except I had motor problems*.  Second race was this past weekend, and it was a doozy!  My kart was the fastest of the field, and should have had the win, except that I blew a head gasket**.  I ended up 5th.  It was fun running at the top of the field, and spent most of the race attached to the leader's bumper.. .until.. well…. uh.  Let's just say that I learned alot!  Don't get greedy!

The big race of the year was the Kartsport grand prix.   http://www.kartsportgrandprix.com/  The best drivers from all over show up for a special 3 class race – yep, only 3 classes, the best of the best.  Well… let's just say they also let in some local "fodder" such as myself to help fund the $15k purse.  I learned a ton watching these guys SmOkE me on the track!  My kart was in top form, handling great, strong power… but they just were outdriving me about a tenth per corner.  That adds up to a whopping 1.2 seconds/lap, which at an average of about 60mph sets you back pretty quickly.  That said, I improved quite a bit over the course of the weekend, which served me well going into my next race.   Like I said, in my last club race I was poised to win… so now I have to learn about not being an idiot on the last lap.

 All my races have been at Infineon raceway on the kart track.  See some pics below of the action!

*motor problems = catch phrase for driver who makes stupid fuel mixture adjustments during the race and messes up the tuning of the motor.  I got totally lost on my low speed fuel mixture, and the kart was dead in the mid-RPM range.

**head gasket = another way to refer to the driver's brain.  Blowing a head gasket = driver is an idiot.