Karting: Jinonice

I always like a race, especially on karts. Matt visited me in Prague, which presented a perfect opportunity to go head-to-head. Unfortunately, despite being May, we were not blessed with good racing weather. We overcame this problem by selecting an indoor circuit. So, Matt, Marek, a student of mine, and I went by bus to the end of one of the lines in search of this racetrack. Initially there was nothing to be found, just a few warehouses...

However after a few minutes we found a sign and located the correct warehouse! However there was noone to be found, just an empty hall to greet us upon our arrival. Fortunate we had a Czech speaker, as what followed was an important conversation with the newly-appeared owner. A poorly-translated safety briefing followed, mainly about non using the pedals together, then it was time to suit up (ok, so there were no suits, just helmets) and get in the karts.

Although I was last out of the pit lane, and some way behind the other two, I seemed to be doing a good job making up that distance. Each lap I checked the position of the others, and they seemed to be getting closer and closer. After a few laps, which were taking about 40 seconds each, I was right on the tail of the other two. Now the hard part, I thought. Overtaking.

Overtaking, and in fact karting in general, has never been my strength. Black flags in the US, Cyprus, even France plus destroying my own camera in Germany have left me frustrated and feeling like a big loser. Could this time be my time, finally?

I tried and tried to line up my kart with the back of the one ahead. It was difficult to see who was driving it. It didn't matter. Soon he would be behind me, I thought. As we raced down towards the final corner ahead of the finish line, I saw a gap. Too small. And again, the next lap. I tried to compensate by cornering better in the preceding turns. Wasn't working. How could I pass these guys and show them who's boss?

Taking inspiration from Michael Schumacher, I used the same place on the following lap to go inside, under-braking into the final turn to pass my opponent. A bit dangerous, but I straightened out okay and managed not to damage the vehicle. I think it was Matt. Ahead of him, Marek was no problem to pass. We were soon signalled in for the end of our ten-minute allocation.



Fortunately we had booked two turns. This time, I would be better, faster, stronger! Unfortunately Matt had some mechanical problems, but there was no excuse for Marek as we finished and got the print-out from the second session of the race. Fastest lap, fastest average lap, top of the podium...... ME! At last!