I knew it was going to be challenging going into my first SKUSA California ProKart Challenge race and the first race running the Mini Swift instead instead of the ROK. 19 of the top Micro drivers from the western states were entered and the race was being held on a track I had never been on before, the Buttowillow kart track.
I took the first couple practice sessions on Saturday to learn the track, and while we a bit of leaders pace, it wasn't too much of concern at that point...although, since a significant amount the the time gap was due to top-end speed, we probably should have started look into the issue a bit sooner... We qualified 15th out of 19 during the last session Saturday, leaving some work to do for race day.
By the morning warmup on Sunday, not much had changed...the top-end power just wasn't there and we made decision to sacrifice our qualifying position, start from the rear, and switch out the engine, with the hope of having it done in time for the pre-final. Unfortunately, we didn't make it, and instead would have to wait for the final to see what we had.
You can knock me down, but I get up twice as strong. - Lewis Hamilton
The final started out well, we made up 6 positions on lap 1 and sat in 13th, and held with the group in front in the tighter sections, but soon, even with the engine change, the power went away, and the tell-tale popping of a fouled plug could be heard. There wasn't much that could be done at the point, I drove it out the end, and i settled for a 17th place finish.