The Hard Pill to Swallow
Introduction:
This race, marks the eighth round of the Oregon State Karting Championship Series. Senna was holding the 3rd overall in the championship with the difficult task trying to catch 2nd place. Luck and focus are going to be what will get him there. It’s still a chance but getting more and more difficult as the season starts to come to a close.
Saturday Setup and Practice:
The day started off late, with low key and low pressure to get to the track early. We arrive just before 10 AM because engines cannot start before then due to a city ordinance. We showed up before most of the weekend participants and was able to setup our pits with little interruption and with great efficiency. After our pit space was setup and organized, we setup the kart and sent out Senna for his practice sessions.
The race track for this weekend was the new track in the counter-clockwise configuration. This was a new configuration for Senna and we knew we would be on the back foot compared to our competition. As a result, Senna’s initial time gap from the leaders was about 1.7-seconds slower. We knew we were going to have our work cut out for us for the day. By the end of the practice sessions, Senna was able to close that gap down to under a second.
Race Day - Sunday Morning:
Unlike Saturday morning, we needed to get to the track early for registration, kart setup and prepare for his sponsors to show up. My goal for this morning before practices was to ensure we get the correct gearing as well as learning how to configure the carburetor for the day.
Sunday Practice 1:
First practice showed some improvement on time but we were continuously a second behind the leaders and 0.6 seconds off of the times put down the day before. The track was still green but still a surprise that others didn’t seem to suffer in the same way.
Sunday Practice 2:
The second practice session of the day showed some improvement. He was able to improve on his time and also close the gap on the leaders but was still showing around 5th place for the day. Something was still not right but Senna reported that the kart was fine and that he was making mistakes out there so the time to be found was with the driver. I left the kart settings alone and worked on cleaning and prepping the kart for qualifying.
Sunday Qualifying:
Qualifying was about to start. I asked Senna if he would like to start up front with the leaders or if he was like to start at the back and let a gap build so he has a clear track to concentrate on his own laps. He opted for the later and we placed him at the back of the grid, but just ahead of the LO206 Senior class. The group went out at a blistering pace and Senna was toward the back with a large 5+ second gap to happen. The first couple of laps, Senna was still behind the pace but was still showing improvements along the way. Then, as the session was coming to a close, Senna put in an amazing lap that put him in P2! This was totally unexpected, especially when he’s been behind the entire weekend till this point. Elated with his time, Senna finally had a smile on his face after leaving the scales with a 322-lbs. He had impressively beat out drivers who were normally faster and also improved his personal best as well.
Sunday Heat 1:
The first heat would start Senna off with him second on the grid, due to his surprising result in qualifying. I set his tire pressures at 11-lbs all the way around so they would come in more quickly. Senna’s start of the heat was great and he was challenging for the lead by turn one but was not able to over take P1. Half way through the race he lost a position and held P3 till there was two laps to go. Then in an epic move, in a corner that he has trouble with in the past, he made his move and gained P2 back and held it there to finish the heat race. Things were looking up for him. The leader of the heat though won by several seconds because of all the battling Senna was stuck in during the race. So we still had some things to do. Again, Senna showed smiles leaving the scales and still above the weight limit of 320-lbs. His final weight was 320 on the dot. I would add more fuel to his kart to help add weight to the kart to keep him within the regulations.
Sunday Heat 2:
The second heat would be a reverse-grid and would have him starting second to last. On the warm-up lap, Senna lost his concentration and ended up in the field to avoid an accident. Fortunately, he was able to keep the kart going and make it to the grid. The start didn’t go as expected and he was late on the throttle. This caused him to drop to P6. Senna was able to catch the group of drivers ahead of him but Jeff Lewis, from the senior class had caught Senna and passed him. This actually worked out in Senna’s favor because he was able to work with the slightly faster driver and catch the Junior 2 drivers. With all the shuffling going on up front, Senna was able to get his fifth position back.
Sunday Final:
Due to points, Senna was lucky to start off in third place on the grid for the final. After lining up for the grid, he had one of his famous starts and was able to get into P2 by turn one. He held that position until he made a big mistake the nine-ten-eleven-twelve complex (commonly known amongst the racers as the “Lightbulb Complex”). He hit the apex too early, which had him in the wrong position on the track, putting him off the racing line and allowing the other racers to catch him and pass him and even hitting him out of the way. He immediately dropped back to fifth place and lost all momentum out of the last corner, losing several seconds. Senna never gave up though, put his head down and focused on catching the leaders. He clawed his way back to the leaders by the end of the race and just missed out on overtaking fourth place by 0.046 seconds! At first I was disappointed but then realized that he was able to fight his way back to the leaders, made up ground on all of them and most importantly, he didn’t give up. He was not as forgiving to himself though but the disappointment would be short lived.
After Race Report:
After the race and returning home, I downloaded the video and watch his race. My neighbor Gary and I reviewed the video with Senna present. We discovered the reason why he was hitting his apexes so early was that he anticipated the kart’s oversteering characteristics for the corner. The kart was very loose at the back end causing oversteer in every corner. We were surprised that he could even drive the kart as well as he did, given on how bad the kart was setup.
At the time of the release of this update, I have since made some drastic changes to Senna’s kart and plan on doing some testing as soon as possible to fine tune those settings. These changes include lowering the rear of the chassis, installing a new axle bearing into the cassette and put it in the axle. I’ve also added the seat struts back in to help stiffen the rear, to reduce the flexing and in turn, lessen the snap oversteer that Senna was battling this last race. I’ve also changed the oil but still need to run the snipers on the kart to make sure the front end is aligned properly.
Senna has been running on old tires since the season beginning of the season. Even though we are coming to a close, with only two races left, I think we need to get new tires and also get new rims for him to help battle the racers who are slightly ahead.