Volkswagen Jetta TDI cup Karting Qualifier event

On Monday, September 21 I competed in the Volkswagen Jetta TDI cup qualifier in Boston, MA. The event was held at the awesome F1 outdoors track, which is one of the most challenging I have ever been on. It is also a very picturesque facility, with perfectly green grass and a lake in the middle of the track with a fountain. There were 19 competitors in the competition, and we were split up into 3 groups. Many of the competitors had years of karting experience, which put me at a severe deficit from the very beginning.

In the first session, I was just trying to get used to the track and the very fast CRG Rotax racing karts. After each session the Volkswagen staff would debrief us and give us something to work on in the next session. My second session is when things turned for the worse. I was coming around a very fast right-hand bend and setting up to brake hard for a tight left hairpin when my kart spun 180 degrees. I slid backwards through the grass and all I could think was "please don't hit the wall!" Well unfortunately, I did meet the wall with the left rear wheel at about 60mph. The force of the impact went straight to my body, resulting in severe whiplash and (as I found out later) a cracked rib.

After a little ice-time and some kart repair, I went out for my third session and found that my rib injury was resulting in very painful left hand turns. Turns 1 and 2 at F1 outdoors are a long, fast left hand turn and I began to lose a significant amount of time there strictly due to not being able to apply the correct amount of load onto my rib area. I came into the pits after the third session very disappointed in my performance. All I could do was focus on the fourth session and learn as much as possible.

I borrowed a rib protector for the fourth session and I went back out on the track. The judges said that they were going to be looking at our single fastest lap times from this session, so I went with the strategy of doing one lap as hard as I could and then nursing my ribs on the next lap. My goal was to break the 47-second lap time, which seemed to be the difference between the "kart guys" and the drivers with little to no karting experience. Those without karting experience were doing laps in the 47 second range, while the drivers who had years of karting experience were doing laps in the 45 second range with certain drivers able to put down laps in the 44's. The judges had said from the very beginning that they were going to be judging based on the experience levels of the drivers, so I figured if I was able to break into the 46's, I would be in good shape. My father was timing me from the side of the track, and by his calculations my fastest lap was a 46.7. He was signaling to me from the sidelines as to what lap times I was doing, and once I had turned the lap I had set out to do I had to slow down, as the pain in my ribs was excruciating.

Apparently the staff at Volkswagen thought that my performance over the day was not enough, as I was not selected to compete in the final driver selection event, although I am an alternate. Although disappointed in the outcome, I learned quite a bit over the course of the event and I will be able to use what I learned for future events.

I will have photos from the event up soon, so be sure to come back!

Go-Rally USA competition

Hello everyone!
I know it has been a while since I sent an update so I thought I would tell you about a competition I was in recently. I entered the “Go Rally Drivers search” that was put on by Ivor Wigham and the European Rally School in Starke, FL. This was a completely different type of competition, I had never raced off-road and I had never driven a front-wheel-drive car (which is the standard for beginners in rally) to its limit. I went to the first round just looking to have a good time. I struggled at first with the terrain and the layout of the car, but the instructor was very helpful and I quickly began to feel at home over the bumpy surface and in the unfamiliar car. I was told that there were almost 60 drivers who entered the competition. I felt that my driving during the first round was not the best I had ever driven, but nonetheless I received a call two days after the competition saying that I was being invited back to join the top 32 in the competition.
I went back to Starke, FL for the second round with a little more confidence. I felt that if Mr. Wigham and his staff felt that I deserved to be in the top 32, I should strive to win the competition. I focused on being smooth, not necessarily trying to be the fastest driver, but the most consistent. This strategy seemed to pay off for me because I was invited to compete in the top 8 competition!
The winner of the top 8 competition was to be based strictly on speed.I was quite nervous going into the competition. My competition was very steep and many of the drivers had much more experience than I did. The day started with an all tarmac stage on the race track at the European Rally school in a Mazda Miata. We were to do two hot laps on a track that we had never been on. During my run I greatly overestimated the capabilities of the tires, which resulted in a slow time and a penalty for setting one wheel off of the circuit. The second stage we competed on was an all gravel stage in a Mitsubishi Lancer. Again, my nerves played into my performance. I focused on being smooth, which I was. Unfortunately, I was much too smooth and again was not fast enough. The third stage was another all gravel stage, but was must faster than the second stage. For the third stage we were put in a VW golf that had been prepared specifically for this type of racing. I had a good run until a mistake broke my concentration. I was being smooth and fast, but during a downshift to first gear, I accidentally placed the shifter in the Reverse position (which is this particular car is directly left of first gear). Luckily I realized this mistake before I let out the clutch, but it resulted in me fiddling with the gear selector for a few seconds before I could continue on down the stage. Overall the competition was a great experience for me. I learned a completely different style of driving, I met a lot of great people and I had a lot of fun. At the end of the day, I ended up finishing 6th overall. I was disappointed with this because I felt that I had the capability to do much better, but I have to learn from the mistakes I made and move onto the next race.