Better and Better

Each time we went to the track we learned more and more. The local racers were a friendly bunch, always ready to offer advise and help with spares, tools etc. Eventually though, the old Zip had to be replaced. So back to the trusted Karting Magazine to look in the classified ads for a newer kart. A suitable replacement was found, it was a Voodoo chassis with a Komet K77 engine. It was the engine to have at the time but as always you always need more power to keep up with the guys at the front!!! At the time there were a few engine tuners that were around but we chose a guy from Birmingham. His name was Mike Fowler, so off we went to his home and his workshop (a small shed at the top of his garden). This tuning wizard gave us a beast of an engine. It came back from him, transformed. He had worked on the internal parts of the engine, polishing, honing, extra porting. I can’t recollect now how many ports it had, but i think it was about seven. 

 Back at the track, we noticed an improvement straight away. Laps times were coming down, confidence was growing. Still had to make sure it didn’t seize though!!!

Let me explain. These little 100cc engines were highly tuned. A rotary valve, two stroke with direct chain drive that revved at incredibly high speed. At the time, there were engines capable of revving at 20,000 revs per minute!!! Little screamers!!! Of course things do happen and things break. Unfortunately part of racing is you can get an engine blow up. Yes the whole engine can dissintegrate in a milli second.

This happened to our racing engine. All of sudden it just exploded. The piston had stopped in the cylinder, the conrod had then exploded through the crank case and out of the front of the engine. The top of what was left of the conrod had split into two, separated itself and then welded itself onto the other side. It was a mess!!! All part of the learning process.

I must mention at this point that Mum had given up her karting career!!! She was still assigned to making the tea/coffee and sandwiches. Although things were changing. We had a caravan. We now had the kart on the roof of the car and more space for tools and stuff in the caravan. More creatures comforts helped!! Still kart racing is a family affair. Mum was happy, being in the warmth of the caravan. She could watch us through the window. 

There were times racing at Shenington, that were hard for us all. The cold particularly. I can distinctly remember a very cold, icy December meeting. 

We had arrived at the track early to find the whole track covered with ice. Now kart racers are a hardy bunch. Race or call it off? that was the question. We all want to race but how can we get rid of the ice? Bearing in mind that some of the racers were farmers and knew tractors. A tractor was found, together with a huge tractor tire. No problem!! Just set fire to the tractor tire and drag it with a chain around the kart track, melting the ice. A few were skeptical but it worked. To watch a flaming, black smoky tire being pulled around by a green, John Deere was quite a sight. Around and around went the tractor and the ice began to melt. It was working. Hurrah!!! We could go racing. It was called as a wet race, so everyone had to race with their wet tires. At least we racers were all happy to be back on the track.

I also remember one particular race at Kimbolton. It was another cold December meeting. It had been raining and it was one of those days when you got absolutely soaked. Waterproof clothing didn’t seem to work that day. The cold set in and it was a miserable day. Now driving a kart is completely different in the rain. Your helmet visor fogs up, you can’t see where your going!!! It was always a job keeping a kart going. The water got everywhere!! The carburator had to be covered, to stop water getting into the engine. The ignition system also struggled in these soggy conditions. Inginuety was the name of the game. Various karts sprouted, different versions of the same thing. A device attached to the carburator that would hopefully keep the water from going inside the engine. Plastic boxes, tupperware boxes, contraptions that were buckets in a previous life!!! All strung together with wire and duck tape. DUCK TAPE FIXES EVERYTHING. 

Mum, was happy in the warmth of the caravan, probably not paying too much attention to the noise and action going on outside her window. However, she would be in for a shocking surprise.

The heat races and final had gone well. Mostly because of the track conditions and the abysmal weather, karts spinning off the track. My brother had won his first race!! He came into the caravan, his face beaming. Look Mum, look what i won!!! The look of panic on my mother’s face will stay with me forever. What, what am i supposed to do with that? she exclaimed. At this point I must tell you that for this special Kimbolton race in December, there was something special for the winning drivers!! Yep, a huge Christmas Turkey, feathers and all. Now this was a big bird, around 25lbs, being held up by it’s feet and paraded around the caravan and for anyone who wanted to see the winners spoils!!!! Get it out of here Mum demanded. Luckily for Mum, she didn’t have to pluck the feathers from the turkey. A local butcher plucked the bird for us and I remember that we ate well that particular Christmas.

So back to the racing. Success, spurred us on!!!! We were now racing, three weekends in a row. We now raced at a new track, Little Rissington. Or Rissy as it was known by the locals. The track was different to the other tracks because it had more fast sweeping bends, it had more elevation changes. One thing it had in common, was it was another airfield track. In fact the first time we went there i can remember the approach road into the track went across a runway. There was one time, the lights were on red and we had to wait for a small engined plane to go by. It was still an active airfield.

We never really got the hang of the track at Rissy. By that i mean something always seemed to happen. Maybe we were just unlucky. Parts broke on the kart, the engine. Or someone would push my brother off the track. 

At this point let me explain that each track we visited there was always the local, hot shot who didn’t want or like any newcomer coming to their track and beating them. If they could get away with bumping you off the track they would. Some were just dangerous drivers, thought nothing of punting you off at a certain turn. At the end of the day it was all part and parcel or racing. Race hard but try and keep in clean. These dangerous drivers usually got their comeuppance eventually!!!!

Time went by and it was time to change the kart again. This time though, we went for a new kart. A Zip Mirage. This new chassis immediately performed better than the old voodoo. More success followed. Winning at Shenington & Kimbolton. Results at Rissy were mixed. We had progressed enough that we were considered as real competition for the local hot shots!!! 

We had dispensed with tuner Mike and found another local tuner called Paul Carr. Now Paul had been a racer at Shenington when we first started. He came from a farm working community. Had progressed in his kart career but didn't quite break through into car racing and move on to greater things. He had back issues and had decided to give up racing and become a respected tuner!! Paul built up his business and took some of his customers all the way to both European & World Championships. Money was beginning to talk. By that i mean at the highest level of the sport. The world championships, a lot of money was being spent.

Back in the late 70's there was a young Italian driver called Felice Rovelli. His father was a flamboyant, millionaire businessman who wanted his son to win the world championship. So money being available he built a replica of the actual track, where his son was going to be racing. An exact copy of the Jessolo kart track in Italy. Complete with floodlights and a sprinkler system to replicate wet conditions!!! Of course after practicing constantly on his home built track, Felice was able to gain a huge advantage over his fellow competitors. Subsequently when he got to compete in the actual world championships, he won!!!.