05.06.06: We arrived in San Antonio on Friday afternoon, ready to test and ready to see the new track. It was huge. The lap times for the Kid Karts were around 1.5 minutes. The track had also had a long straight. This would mean that we needed our new motor to rev as high as possible. Unfortunately, it would not be up to the task.
Friday Practice: Kennedy was able to adapt to the new track relatively fast. The grip levels were good and the kart was handling well. The problem was the motor. It was not turning the RPM's necessary to be competitive. The kart was about 5 mph slower down the straight sections of the track, which meant that we were losing precious time. Kennedy ended the day about 4 seconds behind the front runners.
Saturday - Round 5: The sky was pitch black and rain was pouring. We thought we were going to have a wet race. We were actually hoping for a wet race, as this would equalize the field and hopefully, put the focus on driver ability. It poured for 2 hours, then the sun came out. The track was dried (Thanks to a lot of hard work from the Race Promoter and crew)and the track was open around noon. Saturday practice started the same way Friday ended. Kennedy was still about 3.5 seconds slower than he needed to be. No matter what we tried, the motor would not rev. Kennedy qualified in 4th position, which was OK considering we had a problem with the motor.
Kennedy got a good start and was into second position by the 1st corner. This did not last long as he was passed in the first straight section by one competitor and then passed again on the main straight by another. Kennedy would spend the majority of the race in fourth place. His kart was slow on the straights and he banged on his steering wheel in frustration on more than one occasion. On the last lap, and almost the last corner, the competitor in 2nd place lost power and slowed to a halt. Kennedy finished the race in 3rd position. He was on the podium and would be receiving a nice shiny trophy. During post-race scrutineering, however, the 1st place finisher was DQ'ed meaning that Kennedy moved to 2nd place. We were happy, but still worried about the lack of pace.
Sunday - Round 6: I awoke to sound of a little one projectile vomiting. Kennedy had caught a stomach virus from somewhere and was extremely sick. We could not participate in the race. We went to the track and watched an awesome race between Garrett Madison and Dale Shockey. We packed up the trailer and headed back home.
The next round of the SWRC will be coming up Sept 9th. We may race at Katy GCKI in the meantime. Keep your eyes tuned to this space.
