I beat my lap record by 1.61 seconds! (from last year)
 

http://putanginaka.net/photoalbum/20...s/DSC_4954.jpg

This past Saturday I finally got the CR125 Honda Shifter Kart out to the track up in Orange County, Oakland Valley Race Park.

It's been almost a full year since I've been in the kart.

I was so pumped up the first session I went out I broke the steering wheel throwing the kart around sideways... but in the end, having a broken steering wheel helped me go faster as I was being more delicate.

The last lap I did was 1.4 seconds quicker than my last year's record, 33.02 vs. 34.46. This is on a 1/2 mile track, and I know I can find another second in braking and being less sloppy.

And even better, I was able to beat Matt Jaskol's (2nd fastest shifter kart racer in the nation) fastest time(33.20)when he hopped in my kart and did a few laps. Sure he could have done a few more laps and laid down a laptime I wouldn't be able to touch, but he's been racing Karts since he was 8, and it's only been a year for me.

Feeling pretty good, the owner of the Kart is now thinking of getting me to do some races.

as they say... slow in, fast out... thats that extra few .1 of a second make a difference if you balance the fastest possible in, with fast out.

So far my fastest lap is .15 faster then my average slow in, fast out lap... but, i'm a fat guy in a slow kart... and on the back straights, those little 150 lb-ers smoke me.

congratts dutch 1.5s is quite significant!

it may help if you run sims like GTR before going out to the track :P

I'm one of the small guys in a fast kart ;)

Talked to a kid who's been racing at the track since he was a kid, and he mentioned that my kart(1998-99) were the fastest.

The owner and I always compare it to the Group B rally cars of the 80s.

The racing sim's on the PC might of helped a little bit over the winter, but I still think of those as entertainment.

The experience I carried with me from last season helped me the most this past saturday, not to mention the engine was running better than ever. And it's still a 9 year old Kart! Haven't even changed the piston, got to respect Honda motors.

What stinks is that there is only another open track day at OVRP in August. I am trying to convince the owner to bring the kart down to Englishtown Race Park in New Jersey where I hear A LOT of shifter's come out and play on their parking lot cone track.

anything over a second is BIGG in motorsports :) ..

theres a championship starting next month here .... lets see how i do ...
i've done some non pro karting ... this will be my first pro karting experience ...

soo the two things i've learned so far

1) dont be afraid to bang your opponent
2) dont roll over

:lol:

at the track, I have no chance of competing against the small guys who can drive decently, but i'm usually passing 90% of the field :) its rare that a person 100 lbs less then me is faster :P

good eye :lol:

probably a typo ;)

congrats on the result. karting is a lot of fun, but i haven't had the chance to do much yet :)

Thanks for reading ;)

Was a typo, I meant 34.46 ;) I have a telemetry for the kart with track mapping I can post when I have some time.

ok so now we take you as a Untrustworthy little 17 year old girl .. soo better post it soon :prr:

http://putanginaka.net/OVRP33.02.jpg

Comparing my last and fastest lap with my "2nd" lap in that same session.

I have a feeling the accelerometer and the speed sensor are a bit off because I forgot to reconfigure them after upgrading the firmware on the computers. I usually hit 80mph by the end of the straight and pull close to 3g's in the corners.

Lol. The OC, NY. Good job!

Yup.. home of Orange County Choppers..

Ahem.. Present company excluded I imagine. ;)

with the exception of Eric, it's safe to say I'm faster then everybody in my weight class... Eric is .7 seconds faster a lap then me, and 40 lbs down then me.

So are you complimenting me on my weight or pretending I don't exist? ;)