The Final 2015 TW Steel Daytona DMAX Update and 2016 News

For those regular readers who followed my progress in the DMAX Championships last year may have wondered why there was no post about the final. Wasn't it the culmination of all the learning, crashing, and racing through my first competitive race season? Yes it was, and it was a really great end to the season. But the reason why I did not do a post was partly that I wanted time to reflect and consider the year as a whole and partly because I wanted to see how 2016 was going to play out.

Karting in 2016

The very exciting news about this year is that I have been invited to race in the championships again. Yes, this does mean there will be lots more mildly humorous tails of me "not winning" for you to enjoy throughout 2016. It also means all my efforts last year can be put to good use in trying to be a better driver this year.

The big theme for 2016 is improvement! I want to really push hard to get better final positions this year, you may well ask how I plan to do this? The answer is; in a number of ways but I won't go into detail here. It suffices to say I will be attempting to practice using a PS4, I will be reading and taking oodles of racing advice and I will also probably try various potions and methods to be more race ready. The finer points are yet to be worked out but I am sure you are all hoping whatever they are; they work.

Round 10

The last round of the championships was held where it all started; Daytona Milton Keynes. I make no bones about it, I do not get on well with this track. All the drivers have at least one track they can't seem to get the hang of and for me it is MK. That is not to say it is not a great track, it is probably one of the best on the circuit. It's complex, with fast and slow corners, a couple of intense straight sections and plenty of overtaking spots. But no matter how much I try and learn it, I never seem to build up a good rhythm there. I am going to tackle this in 2016 but for now let's assume I did not win the final.

Family Visit

One of the highlights of the entire season for me was the fact that my long suffering wife came along to watch and brought my 3 year old daughter and 1 year old son with her. It was cold, loud and not perhaps the ideal place to bring a toddler but it was magical. Waving to my daughter as we pulled away from the pits was certainly worth the fact that I was probably not very focused and may have made a few mistakes as a result.

The Race

The race itself was actually much like many before it. In terms of eventfulness it was not one to be remembered for on track happenings. It was brilliant, and I made a couple of good moves, but I also got overtaken a fair bit and really had a bad heat where I was just slowly dropping back from the back for the last few laps, it was almost like the kart had some issues but it was far more likely to have been my fault.

I will say that I did make some progress with the starts though. I didn't get quite so mobbed and managed to hold my ground a bit more thanks in no small part to lots of advice from my fellow racers.

Final Results

Overall I finished 14th in the Championships. I was generally very pleased with this result, I am happy to ignore that many of the people below me had done less races in total and as such had less points; it's the result that counts not what other people did. The down side was that my good friend and rival Faris Malik did beat me but I think you all new that was going to happen. In fact he was not there for the final but he had a race in hand over me so I went in knowing I needed rather a lot of points to beat him. He graciously celebrated via text when I told him the points and he deserved his place just outside the top 10.

The Experience

You may, be a little bored of me waxing lyrical about how much fun I had racing last year. If you are then please stop reading or jump to the last line because here it comes again! Karting is fun, in fact it's one of the most fun things I have ever done. You get to feel like a racing driver, its a massive buzz and it's accessible. Taking part in a championship where you do not even need to own a suit offers the a fore mentioned positives with so much more on top. Everything is turned up to 11, the driving is more intense, the karts are faster, the competitive element is an enormous buzz and the feeling of being a racing driver is 10 times what it is during a quick arrive and drive session. I really cannot recommend it enough, if you have read all this and are thinking about having a go, just do it! Book a round or two this year and come and say hi!

Onwards

So the 2016 season kicks of in Feb at the Milton Keynes circuit once again. I have lots of preparation to do and I am going in with a very positive mind set. This year I am hoping to avoid being last as often, this may hinge on someone slower than me being keen enough to take part in every race, in fact I rather hope that is the case. But even if everyone racing is equal or better than me I am going to make sure I go into every race prepared, positive and strong. How I come out of each race is something you will have to wait to read about but no doubt there will be some ups and downs and a few sideways moments to boot!