Senna Discovers He LOVES Driving In The Rain!
Race Weekend Intro:
The March 18th and 19th race at the McMinnville, Oregon track was the first round of the Oregon State Karting Championship Series (OSKCS) and there were a lot of changes from the previous season. Over the off-season, we decided to work with Blackstar Motorsports and work on leveling up Senna’s karting experience. There were many reasons why we decided to join the team. We’ve established that Senna is improving as a driver but maybe there’s more refinement to be had. Also, we wanted to eliminate other factors that would prevent him from progressing with his performance and his kart’s performance. Although I’m still the mechanic and coach we are also tapping into top-level knowledge of team principal, Hatch. Hatch has national-level experience and we believe his input and experience will help Senna get to the next level.
Saturday Arrival and Free Practices:
We arrived at the track around 9:30 on Saturday morning. Blackstar Motorsports had already reserved a spot and it became apparent that the team was going to be pretty large with lots of drivers participating in the event. Since there were many trailers to be organized, we had to wait for more of the team to get together to decide on a pit layout. Once we got organized, we began to unpack and work on setting up our own areas to tune and prep the karts.
Practice started around noon and it would shuffle through the different classes. The configuration of the track is known as the “new track in the clockwise direction.” The track was green and cold from very little use during the off-season. Senna did run wide in the warm-up lap but then was able to get a hold of it for the rest of the session. At the end of the session, Senna was over a second and a half off of the leaders on their fastest lap. Hatch observed Senna’s session and concluded that there was some driver tuning that needed to be done as his apexes were off. We changed the caster to be all the way back, to allow for more initial bite to get the kart to turn. The steering would be heavier however, it’s not that much different to indoor racing but still not as difficult.
Having looked at the weather for the race, we knew that any changes that we made today were going to be nullified as rain setup changes but we still needed to focus on the day
Sunday Arrival:
We arrived at the track around 7 am to unload the trailer. The drive to the track was nice because we carpooled with fellow racer, Joe Filipanko, who also represents Racing For Beginners. The morning started off dry with a little bit of sun, but the forecast had rain expected later in the afternoon. The driver’s meeting started around 8 am and then after 9 am, engines could start up. Our morning was getting the karts ready for the first session to see where we were at. No changes were made to the kart for the morning.
Free Practice 1:
Senna went out for the first session full of confidence but we were still off the pace compared to others in his class. Unfortunately, he was off by over a second and a half again and we were trying to figure out if it was Senna, the chassis, or the engine. In any case, we needed to figure out something. Fortunately, he had no offs and the kart was in good condition. When Senna weighed in, he was 331 lbs. There was very little fuel in the tank, therefore, this meant that Senna had gained some weight over the winter. We removed a 10-lb weight from the back of his seat, the one closest to the engine. This would help with the overall balance of the kart from left to right but this would also have consequences later.
Free Practice 2:
To start off the second practice, Senna did improve a little but so did everyone else. The gap was still about the same from the front runners but slower drivers closed the gap on Senna. Hatch had watched Senna’s driving and found nothing really wrong with his driving other than threshold braking going into the penultimate corner. Hatch checked with other drivers to get some feedback on Senna’s driving and all came back that Senna’s driving is fine, so it had to be the kart chassis settings or the engine. By the end of the session, the clouds started to roll in and we could see an occasional drop hit the track. We knew it was only a matter of time before the heavens opened up and kart changes were going to need to be made. His weight at the end of the session was 324 lbs.
Qualifying:
Before qualifying had started, and during the lunch break, the heavens did indeed open up. However, rain race tires were not permitted till the race officials made the announcement. As the rain came down, fellow team coach, Gary Baldes, approached the race officials easily convincing them to call the race an official rain event. Then the paddock came alive with activity to get the karts set up for the rain. Fortunately, we had an extra set of rims and in anticipation of the rain coming, we had rain tires at the ready and would take less than 5 minutes to get them swapped over. During this time we also narrowed the back end from 54.5 inches to 53 inches and widen the front by adding 20mm spacers to the spindles. Also, we put on the laser snipers and added two squares of positive camber and pushed the toe out one square.
Senna went out and had an early off because he was not used to the rain tires. In fact, this was the first time he had ever driven in the rain! Eventually, he would find his groove and start to make moves here and there on fellow competitors and drivers that were not in his category. Unfortunately, he was only able to muster a fourth-place position because of traffic and still experiencing kart issues. After the session, he weighed in at 324 again and he gained some weight because of the wet weather.
I asked Senna if he liked driving in the rain. His response was a devilish smile and he shook his head in agreement. He LOVED racing in the rain. That was something I had not expected since he had not experienced such a thing before.
Heat 1:
Going into the first heat race, we didn’t really make any changes but instead talked about engine performance and race strategy. The race would start in the standing start format. Senna generally has fast starts but on this day, he would be passed by several people, tumbling down the starting order. Baffled by a dismal start, the heat would not start off as planned. As the rain continued to come down, Senna’s performance seemed to improve. Although he’s not with the front runners, he was able to improve his position from fourth to third as the carnage continued on the track. All the while, Hatch from Blackstar Motorsports was trying to figure out why Senna seems to be so far off the pace. He commented several times that something was not right but he couldn’t figure it out. Again, Senna would crawl his way back to third place, gaining a spot from where he started. His weight coming off the track was 324 lbs again.
Heat 2 - Reverse Grid:
Before the start of the second heat race, it was the decision to not make any changes to the kart. Making changes at this stage could make the situation worse for Senna and the rain setup seemed to be working throughout the buildup of the race. However, he would have to work on his starts. The LO206 Junior II and the LO206 Seniors would line up again for a standing start. Yet again, Senna’s start would be dismal as he got passed again by several racers from both classes. Gary and I decided we would watch his feet and the start process going into the final trying to figure out what he was doing wrong. The race became more chaotic as it progress as more and more drivers were spinning off the track in the wet conditions. Senna was able to keep his head cool and controlled and therefore he stayed on the track. Again, he was able to finish in second place. The trend was good to finish on the podium and although the kart was not performing as we’d liked, Senna was having a blast and enjoying the wet conditions. He stepped off the scales at 325 lbs. The rain seemed to be adding weight to the kart.
Final:
The final would have Senna start in the third position. As the two groups lined up for the final time, Gary and I paid close attention to Senna’s starting procedure. When the green flag dropped, Senna again started losing places and that’s when it hit Gary and me at the same time, “his clutch!” Senna’s clutch was not engaging and although his foot was lightning quick to get off the brake, the clutch just couldn’t engage the engine to move him forward as fast as the others. This could play a large part in his performance over the entire weekend, along with some other issues that I’ll discuss later in the conclusion. Senna wouldn’t make it but a lap later when he was just crossing the start/finish line when another kart, from another category, punted Senna at going over 45 mph, putting him into a flat spin and into the infield. Senna was out of the race. I ran down the fence line to check to see if he was okay and he gave me the thumbs up. I could tell he was upset but he knows this is racing. He stood at the infield for the entire final race. During that time though, the race officials were on the radios with one another and several of them saw what happened because it happened right in front of the start/finish line. When the checkered flag was waving, they also were waving a black flag. This means that the race is done but there’s a penalty for the race and the finishing order would be changing. Senna was able to drive the kart back onto the grid where we picked up his kart and brought it back to our pit area. The kart looked fine and nothing was bent or broken.
Conclusion:
The race ended on a low for Senna but we learned a lot about racing in the rain and that he loved it. Packing up was somewhat depressing but eventually, Hatch would pull Senna aside and reassure him that his driving is great. The kart needs to be looked at. Senna would finish in second to last place. They penalized the guy who spun Senna out and placed him behind Senna’s position. This was frustrating because it was a driver from a different class and therefore was meaningless to Senna and his final position. A podium was in his hands for sure but that’s racing. We’ve been on the other side of that luck too, so it’s something that we understand. On the way home, I asked Senna if he felt that racing indoors at Sykart was helpful or harmful to his driving in the rain. He said that his indoor racing skills helped him a dozen times or so to keep from spinning out. An answer I was not expecting but was happy to hear.
The following Sunday, Senna and I made a special trip to Hatch’s shop to have the balance of the kart looked at, the bend in the chassis, and also the engine and clutch. The weights were way off from the ideal position and distribution. The rear-to-front percentage had the rear weight percentage at 53% and we needed to be at 57%-58% for optimal performance. We removed some weights and relocated them to the rear on the opposite side of the engine. This gave us the correct ratio for the best performance. We also checked if the chassis was straight. The good news is that it was straight. The bad news is that we could not use that as an area to gain time on his competitors. Hatch also looked at the “bow” of the chassis and that was also within the recommended specifications. Lastly, we did a leak-down test of the LO206 engine which came back with flying colors. Then we looked at the clutch. It was a mess! You could see the high heat markings in the metal clutch housing, the shoes were showing a lot of wear and the springs could be swapped out for a better-performing spring for Senna’s racing class. This was an area that would help us gain time back too. So things are looking up and hopefully, we will soon have a kart that will be competitive with the front runners as Senna is a driver that deserves to be up there battling for the lead!