We are already a quarter way into the 2024 Ignite season at Norway Motorsports Park at the conclusion of their 4th club race of the season. After the race a week prior, I knew my priority had to be sorting out the balance issue with my kart, and to find whatever way I could to get back to the top step of the podium.
I took some advice I had received from after Race 3 into practice in an effort to troubleshoot this ongoing oversteer issue, and thankfully, these new tricks worked like a charm. Despite not setting a time faster than third in either practice session, I got the balance of the kart almost exactly where I wanted it, and as long as I could keep it there, I would be in a much better place for qualifying and the races.
One thing I have neglected to mention so far this season is the drastic effect of a draft on this track. On a regular day the draft is still more noticeable than any other track I’ve raced at, but today with a massive headwind down the backstretch, it was like a pack of 2-strokes closing in on a sportsman. In any practice session or race at Norway, the last kart in the 3-5 car train is usually the fastest kart on the track. In qualifying however, they space out the field, and drafting is not allowed. With nobody having a drafting advantage, the playing field was now leveled, and I was able to take pole for the heat race by about a tenth of a second.
Come the heat race and I was once again starting on pole with James Recendez to my outside. Over the last couple of races and after studying some GoPro footage, I’ve noticed that James and I have two very different driving styles when running at the front. I usually take a more conservative approach and try to work with other people to separate the pack and make it a two or three horse race for the last few laps. James, however, is far more aggressive. He will take any chance he can to get to the lead, and then once he is leading, he immediately turns his kart into a brick wall. Even though that method usually doesn’t work in that person’s favor, the results this season would speak otherwise. So for the heat race, I decided to try it for myself and attempt to beat James at his own game. Sure enough, it worked! I won the heat race leading all but half a lap, setting myself on pole for the final.
Now came the final, and if I could just keep the lead for 12 laps, the Recendez reign of dominance would be over. I started the final on pole and kept it on the opening lap. Deploying my “brick wall” tactic once again, I was able to keep the lead for the first half of the race. Not long after, James finally found a way around me, sending me back to second. I knew with how strong the draft was I would have no problems staying with James ready to launch a counter-attack, but after making a small mistake on my own I lost second to Mike Stephenson behind, putting me in a very difficult place. I wasn’t sure I would have enough time to get back around Stephenson and set up a move on Recendez before the end of the race, but then, approaching two to go, Recendez’s kart broke down from the lead of the race. With Stephenson getting stuck behind the limping 77 briefly, I was able to sail past both of them and retake the lead with two to go. With Recendez out of the race and Stephenson out of time to make another move, I was able to cruise home to my second win of the season.
Even though I had won the race, though, it had felt like sort of a hollow victory to me. My goal of beating James Recendez on track had still not been accomplished, and I had kind of been gifted those two positions as a result of that incident. As I was debriefing with Jim Perry of CKT following the race, he reminded me of the old saying in racing that “To Finish First, First You Must Finish”. The fact of the matter is, as much as the driver makes the difference in the race, the speed and reliability of the kart are just as important. And coming from where I’ve been in past years, being able to say that I now have one of the fastest and most reliable karts on the grid is very rewarding to the time and effort I’ve put in to making it that way.