Friday was the Practice day for the weekend. Julian was able to log 82 laps of valuable seat time, where we were able to tune the kart for the upcoming weather conditions.
DAY 1
Saturday, the weather was wacky, to the point where every session, including practice, qualifying, and the race, you would have both sets of tires and a bunch of tools with you in the grid.
With two practice sessions in the AM, Julian ran the first on rains, and saw no reason to do the second since it was similar conditions. Julian ran very well, as he was the second fastest kart for the session which included all classes. His conditions were slightly better than the beginning of the session, but everyone was full wet.
Qualifying was chilly and damp, but it was mostly a dry track. There was an out lap, then just four laps to qualify. The three Rotax drivers went out on slicks, the one Jr. Supercan that's running with them was on rains, and Julian is set to leave last. He leaves the pit with a mechanical problem and we have to go out an help him. We get it fixed and send him on the way, however, an official notices a tube hanging off and calls to black flag him when he comes around. Just before turn one, I get him stopped, it's the overflow tube from the radiator, no big deal except that's another lap he loses (he was stopped after the Start/Finish).
He takes off again. Fastest lap so far is 1:06, Julian crosses the line on his first full lap... 1:04. He gets two more laps and drops to low 1:03, two seconds faster than the next driver (Jr Supercan on rains), 3 seconds faster than Punsalan, and six seconds faster than Killen. So in 3 laps, he makes a commanding move to take pole.
Heavy rain is coming, so the Officials forgo the "Heat Race" and go straight to the "Feature". The Feature becomes heavy rains, backing off to a drizzle for most of the race, lots of puddles. Julian starts on pole (addition of another HPV driver makes 5) and goes through turn 1 and 2 pulling away from the pack....until the Turn 3 U-turn. On cold tires, and anxious to keep his lead, he quickly spins around, ending in a position that's hard to turn around without touching grass and he loses a lot of time getting back on track. Julian gets going and passes 4th position, 3rd position, and then several laps later, passes 2nd position to be back to 2nd. Punsalan is a full straight away in the lead, but Julian is gaining on him! Punsalan has a quick spin! Now Julian, is less than half a straight behind. Punsalan is picking up pace now....and Julian puts it in the grass, to the point where an official has to pull it out. That's pretty much the end of his race as he drops to 3rd (2nd Rotax) and doesn't have enough laps to catch up.
In the end, his kart didn't run as fast as Punsalan's (checking lap times), so it wasn't likely possible to get 1st after the first spin. The mechanic didn't put enough tape on the radiator and he never went above 104 degrees when 140 is ideal. It was also a little too rich because of this. It was certainly tough to tune given the constant changing conditions. Right afterward, we threw more tape on the radiator for open-practice, and he ran faster laps Punsalan's best time.... Oh well.
Nonetheless, it was a huge learning experience and a great first race day all around.
Sunday looks like rain for the AM Practice, and possibly qualifying, maybe just wet or damp for the Heat, and possibly dry for the Feature. We'll see, didn't rain a drop on Friday and they were calling for it all day.
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Photo courtesy of Mike Punsalan
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