The weekend started quite well, it was the first race with a fully functioning dash which actually makes quite a difference. Although you can drive the car to a point just on feel, there is so much noise and vibration from everything that its hard to tell sometimes exactly what revs the car is pulling and when to change gear. After quite a woeful qualifying session (I was 2seconds off the pace), I pulled into the pits with a lot of questions. My dad mentioned that my car wasn't sounding as "throaty" as the other cars out there - had my never-ending carby problem returned? - sure did, again I was only getting 3/4 throttle.
With a new spring in the carby, and some older tyres from the previous round, I attacked as best I can. Some of the guys had become faster, and although I had the back portion of the track down into hungry mastered I was being let down into Karussel (Turn 1). Given I was sitting in the same second bracket as 3rd place down to 7th (57seconds). I did manage to finish the weekend in an overall 4th, which for me was a personal best.
The consolidation was keeping my wits about me and not letting the red mist take over. 6 Formula Fords crashed out over the weekend, I had a slight tap but kept the car on the black stuff, which was a bonus knowing there was no extra's to spend on the car. I came out and learnt a lot, about me and my cars limits and it feels like the engine is letting it down in parts. Once I get a chance to strip it down, rebuild the engine, and make some adjustments the way I want it I'm sure there will be some fast times to ensue.
On a side note, its been a personal goal to keep my weight down (lighter is faster), and its been made a lot easier by Nutrition Warehouse & Jetts Fitness. Having lost over 10kg's now since the start of the year, its become apparent that athleticism is important in this sport, every kg counts and the fitter I am the quicker I seem to be able to react mentally, and the less sore I am after every race.
Stay Quick.
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