Race Recap: TRAK Race 9

I always get excited and a little bit nervous about racing somewhere new. Last weekend I got to race at 3-S Go-Karts on the notoriously challenging Schumacher layout. I only had one afternoon to practice before race day, so I knew it wasn't going to be easy.

Learning the Schumacher layout

3S is one of the trickiest tracks I have raced at. There are lots of tight corners and not much room for any mistakes. During practice I wasn't chasing lap times. My goals were learning the track, getting comfortable with the corners and hitting the braking zones.

I was having trouble getting off the gas and onto the brake fast enough, and that's when Coach Gavin figured out my pedal extenders needed to be adjusted because I've grown a lot since they were first put on 😂

After 5 sessions, things started to click. I couldn't wait to see what race day would bring!

Building confidence on the karting track

I qualified 12th in a strong field, and that left me with some work to do.

I finished 10th in the pre-final, but more importantly, I felt like I was racing against the drivers around me instead of just trying to hang on.

That gave me a lot more confidence as we headed out for the final.

A bit of chaos and a big opportunity

The final got off to a difficult start for the UltraKart team.

My teammate Tyson was injured in an unfortunate first-lap incident. I'm wishing him a speedy recovery, and I'm sure he'll be back at the track and stronger than ever really soon 💪

The incident also changed the race as I moved up a few places, but I knew holding onto those positions would be the hard part.

For the rest of the 18-lap race, I just focused on staying calm and hitting my marks. At 3S, a small mistake can have a big impact, so I focused on staying smooth. When the checkered flag waved I was still there, only 0.007 seconds ahead of the driver behind me.

P6!

It's my best race finish ever, and I'm really proud of how I drove.

Looking ahead

Last year I only raced at Goodwood. This year I wanted to get out to more tracks to become a better racer overall. There's still a lot I want to work on, but weekends like this one remind me that all the simulator sessions, practice days and hard work are worth it.

I can't wait for the next race, the KartStars Canada National Championship at the Hamilton Karting Complex!

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A big thank you to Team UltraKart and my sponsors: TDot Wraps, Glasslake Funding, NGD Services, Durham Wealth Planning Group and Clarke Engineering. Your support allows me to become a better racer by getting to new tracks and taking on new challenges ❤