Sitting here, writing this, I am patiently looking forward to driving my buddy Shawn Hill's F125 shifter kart this weekend. I have driven it once before. Badly. But it was a blast. The sheer speed at which things happen in a short wheel base, high power to weight machine like that is awesome. Then throw in, while auto-xing, that your head isn't much higher then the top of the cones themselves, and the sense of speed gets a boost again. It is all quite an assault on the senses. Quite the challenge. And, quite fun.
Running the Kart this weekend was all part of the plan developed at the beginning of this year. I was going to co-drive the kart with Shawn this next year, using the few events after Nationals to begin getting acclimated to it. It would be perfect. It would give him a co-driver to help with expenses, and driving the kart would help me round out my "training". What is my "training"? I hatched this plan awhile back. I decided what I needed, as a driver, was to experience completely different cars. Different drive-train layouts, power levels, and so on. Thus far, I have ran a CS MX-5 (RWD), STU Subaru STI (AWD), and, this year, STS CRX Si (FWD). Power ranged from close to mid 300's, to right around 100. Race tires, and street tires. Stock suspension, to triple adjustable coilovers. The final piece to my plan was a kart. It would be the fastest of them all, require the most focus, and be super fun as well. Everything else would be slow, by comparison. Which is exactly the effect I wanted.
So, what is the is the conundrum then? I had hoped, and thought, that I would do well at Nationals this year. I wanted to finish high in the standings. And I did. Higher then I thought I might, really. However, finishing 2nd, I feel like I owe it to myself to go back and try to get first. And I feel like, with another year of seat time, I could really get the car down. But the seat in the kart is only open for this next year. After that, it will be filled by Shawn's nephew. So it is now, or never. Thus, the conundrum. Do I finish my training, or return for another round in STS?
Thankfully, I have some time to decide. And this weekend will help in that decision making. Thus, I patiently, but eagerly, wait to run Shawn's kart, this Sunday.
Ah, the conundrum... That is a very hard situation indeed. I can tell you this John, it's harder than you think going from a kart to a car. Yes things slow down, but they also get worse. You (or I) expect things to do the same thing but they don't. It'll take a bit to get back into car shape after a kart (I suspect about 4 GOOD events). I've driven a Z06, S2000, JCW Mini and an Elise this year, and NONE of them felt right...
ReplyDeleteIt'll ruin you! Picture this... jump into a Z06 and floor it off the line, and think, damn, that was slow... Or take an Elise or S2000 through a 6 cone slalom and think, damn, that didn't transition well... it'll mess with ya! But... that being said... I wouldn't change it in a heart beat, these things are soooo much fun and absolutely the most challenging thing I've driven. Good luck with the decision, it'll be a tough one!