Ronan did not race at Whilton in August so it's 5 weeks since we last raced. Saturday testing started wet and Ronan was on the pace. As the day dried we fell off the pace. We spent some time on Saturday evening working on the kart and rebuilding the carb ready for Sunday. It paid dividends as we found 5/10ths straight away. Ronan finished 9th, 7th and 7th in the 3 heats, giving a 5th place grid for the final. After a scrappy first couple of laps Ronan settled into a battle with 3 other karts for 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th places. Ronan dropped to 8th but battled back up to 7th and was pushing 6th place when a huge accident in the bus stop took out 2 karts from the leading group. Two further laps under waved yellows and two laps under rolling lap pace followed before the race was red flagged and finished with Ronan taking 5th.  

August 10th 2008

We received our race engine back in time for Kimbolton. Testing on Saturday was wet and Ronan, as usual in the rain was on the pace all day. Sunday was dry and with a freshly rebuilt engine we knew we would be off the pace on a dry track. Ronan drove well all day with 9th place in all 3 heats. Starting 7th in the final and finishing 8th was a good result in the circumstances.

July 30th & August 6th

We took the opportunity to do some testing at Whilton Mill during the school holidays. On the first Wednesday we ran a test engine most of the day to work on chassis set-up and carb adjustment. Ronan had a good day and set some good times. Then we used our race engine and it was slower than the test engine, so we obviously had a problem. The engine was sent for rebuild to our engine builder Force Motorsport. We tested again the following week using the test engine for more chassis set-up time.

July 27th 2008

34 cadets at Whilton Mill for round 7 of the club championship. A good first heat starting 3rd and driving well to take 4th place. Ronan drove well all day with some inconsistent engine performance and made places up in heat 2 finishing 11th, and again gaining places in heat 3 from a grid 24th start and finishing in 17th. Qualifying 14th on th grid for the 'A' final, and making a good start up to 12th on the first lap. 3 laps into the race and Ronan was holding 12th and gaining on 11th, then the engine gremlins set in and Ronan went from 12th to 23rd in the space of 4 laps. A disappointing end to what had been a good day.

July 14th 2008

Back to Kimbolton for round 6 of the Club Championship and 33 cadets racing. Ronan was racing on a Zip Storm chassis this weekend for the first time, so we had a very steep learning curve to get on the pace. Saturday testing looked promising and Ronan got within about 7 tenths of a second of the pace, but we lost time later in the day. We started on Sunday with a borrowed carb hoping this may be the problem. In heat 1 Ronan started 6th and finished 11th, dropping to 12th on lap 1 and getting back 1 place during the race. Heat 2 and a different carb again to try, Ronan started 12th and finished 11th. Heat 3 and we tried a different setting for the carb, which didn't work and saw Ronan start 22nd but drop to last on the opening lap, and only really getting going about half way through the race, as he adjusted the carb during the race. Ronan started 15th in the final and had a steady race making up 3 places to finish 12th. In the Club Championship Ronan is now 3rd, but 3 points cover the top 3. We have to drop 1 round score at the end of the year so this will probably be ours. One good point to take from the weekend is the new chassis which Ronan thought was great!

June 30th 2008

Ace & King of Clubs at Whilton Mill. A different meeting format with timed qualifying on Saturday, then 2 heats on Sunday, followed by a pre-final and then final. Ronan was driving for Kimbolton Kart Club (HKRC). Ronan was 11th in timed qualifying on Saturday. Each driver started in the same position for both heats depending on their qualifying position. Ronan finished 12th in heat 1 and 9th in heat 2. Ronan started 9th for the pre-final and finished 9th having a quiet race. Starting 9th for the final, and again no real drama finishing 12th due to losing speed during the race. Kimbolton finished 5th out of 15 clubs, so a good result for the club.

June 23rd 2008

Whilton Mill had 34 cadets racing, 23 of them were comer engines, 5 WTP and 6 Honda engines. All results are in class although all 3 different engines race together. Ronan finished 3rd, 10th and 17th in class in the heats. Ronan started the final 9th in class and finished in that position after a steady race. Ronan is now 4th in the Whilton Mill Club Championship.

June 15th 2008 - Ronan wins a heat again and leads the Club Championship

Dry weather at Kimbolton, and an important weekend as the two drivers in front of Ronan in the club championship were racing elsewhere. Ronan started 4th on the grid for heat 1. A good start and up to 3rd in the first corner, then up to 2nd through the bus stop. The leader had pulled about a 2 second lead, but Ronan caught and passed him on lap 4. Ronan was not challenged for the lead and won comfortably. Heat 2 saw Ronan start 9th and drive well to take 4th place. Heat 3 saw Ronan start 11th and move up to 7th mid race, but drop back to 9th at race end due to too much grip. Ronan started 4th for the final, and it was a close race for the 2nd to 6th places. Two laps to go and Ronan pulled off a great move into the bus stop to take 3rd place. On the last lap and Ronan was re-taken in the bus stop and pushed wide and lost 4th place as well, finishing 5th after a tough race. Ronan scored 123 points, and now leads the club championship by 31 points!

May 25th 2008 - Ronan wins first ever race in difficult conditions

Heavy rain was forecast for the May Whilton meeting, and they were right! Ronan showed real driving skill, and it produced Ronans first ever heat win. The first heat put Ronan at the back of the grid in 20th. Ronan drove smoothly and found grip where others couldn't, driving through to an 8th place finish. The second heat and a 4th place start. Ronan took the lead at the end of the first lap and just drove away from the pack, finishing with over 7 seconds between Ronan and second place. The 3rd heat and again Ronan drove well from 9th and moved into 3rd on the last lap, but a tangle on the last corner caused Ronan to finish 7th. Starting 3rd for the final, and again Ronan was leading by the end of the first lap and pulled away over the next few laps. Ronan was caught by another driver and passed with 3 laps to go. A great 2nd place finish. We found out in parc ferme that the winner had brought a brand new set of wet tyres before the 3rd heat, which gave him the extra grip in the final.

May 14th 2008

Kimbolton Kart Club have asked Ronan to represent them at the Ace & King of Clubs meeting to be held at Whilton Mill on 28th/29th June. For more information visit http://www.whiltonmillkartclub.co.uk/ .

May 13th 2008

A brand new resurfaced track at Kimbolton meant all new chassis setup. We made changes to the chassis after the Whilton Mill meeting to try and cure the excessive grip problems. A good day of testing on Saturday saw Ronan on the pace all day, so our problems seemed to have been solved.

On Sunday Ronan finished 2nd, 9th and 12th in the heats, with the 2nd place only 0.25 secs behind the winner. Ronan qualified 9th on the grid for the 16 lap final. A good start and Ronan was with the leading pack, moving up to 6th place by the end of lap 2. Ronan changed places a few times over the next few laps, ending up in 7th with 3 laps left. With 2 laps to go Ronan was back to 6th, then on the last lap 3rd, 4th and 5th places went into the bus-stop corner side-by-side, there was contact and one kart span out. Ronan up to 5th place and right under the rear bumper of 4th place coming into the last two corners, when he pulled off a fantastic move to dive up the inside into the last corner, and take 4th place. Another trophy to add to the collection! Ronan is now 3rd in the Kimbolton Club Championship.

May 3rd 2008

There were 43 cadets racing at the April Whilton Mill meeting. Chassis setup ready for the forecast wet weather caused us excessive grip problems as it stayed dry all day. Heat results gave Ronan 10th and 18th place finishes in the first two, then carb failure in heat 3 resulted in 20th. Ronan started on the front row for the 'B' final and took the lead in the first corner, pulling out a reasonable lead by the end of   lap 1. Excessive grip again caused the kart to slow, and by lap 3 Ronan had 2nd, 3rd and 4th place in close company. The lead changed 3 times in as many laps with Ronan retaking the lead each time. Ronan was leading coming to start the last lap when a tangle with 2nd place saw Ronan leave the circuit backwards and into a tire wall. Unfortunately that was race over and a non finish.

April 22nd 2008

With no meeting at Kimbolton in April, we decided to race at Shenington, where we have not been since summer 2007. 34 cadets were entered to race on the Sunday. Ronan had a very good day in damp conditions, with 3rd, 7th and 6th in the three heats, (the 7th place being a great drive from the back of the grid after the engine failed to start on the dummy grid) giving him a 6th place start for the final. The final was a great race over 11 laps with Ronan dropping to 9th on the first lap, then back to 6th on lap 2 where he stayed until lap 9, a great move saw Ronan up to 4th with 2 to go. A tangle with 5th place saw him back to 8th with 1 lap left! A fantastic last lap saw Ronan retake 2 places to finish in 6th and collect a well earned trophy.

March 24th 2008

Whilton Mill saw 55 cadets entered for this weekend. Ronan qualified for the 'A' final in 24th place, and again the weather changed just before the final, with everyone having to switch to wet tyres. Unfortunately a 1st lap incident saw Ronan get spun, and rejoin in 29th place. Ronan drove well to get back to 24th, but suffered again from an incident which resulted in a spin. But scoring well in the heats has seen a 3 place gain in the club championship.

WMKC Whilton Mill                  Was..   10th                     Now..   8th

March 10th 2008

Another good round at the March meeting at Kimbolton, Ronan qualified 6th for the meeting final but suffered engine trouble in the race. But has moved up in the Club Championship again!

HKRC Kimbolton                     Was..   5th                      Now..   4th

February 25th 2008

Ronan qualified 18th for the 'A' final from a total entry of 42 cadets. A change of weather just before the final saw the whole grid change to wet tyres. A great start put Ronan in 5th place after 3 laps, finally finishing in 8th after a great battle with 3 other drivers. Again Ronan has moved up in the Club Championship standings!

WMKC Whilton Mill                  Was.. 14th                      Now.. 10th

February 11th 2008

Following the February meeting at Kimbolton, Ronan has moved up in the Club Championship standings!

HKRC Kimbolton                     Was..   8th                      Now..   5th