13/10/2008 - S1 Finale at Buckmore Park

At last after a very long season it was the finale of the Super 1 championships. Again, as has been so much the case this year, Dean had not visited Buckmore before so had to learn the circuit on Friday. One thing that struck us quickly was the way the circuit was surrounded by trees which stopped the top end of the circuit getting and sun exposure or wind. After the first few sessions the track dried out and this gave everyone to get some real testing in. Later in the day Dean put on new tyres and he managed to get within a few tenths of the pace, as set by his team mate Ryan Cole. The other strong point was Dean was on a new chassis for the weekend and took to it very quickly. The new JKH seemed to suit his style very well.

Saturday started the same as Friday with having some damp patches at the top end but these failed to dry out all day. A lack of wind meant that times were never close to slick times until qualifing in the early evening. Deans pace wasn't bad during the day but he didn't feel too confidant going into qualifying. Due to numbers there was only one qualifying session for the 28 drivers. Dean managed to qualify a suprising 12th and set a very respectable time.

After qualifying the scrutineers decided to check front rim widths and requested that all senior drivers remove one wheel and then tyre and present this to be checked. After the checks four drivers were found to be outside the maximum width as stated in the rules. The scrutineers decided to let them get away with this irregularity which in many peoples opinions was wrong. A rule is a rule, why check and then let them get away with something that was found to be outside of the rules. It put a very sour taste in the mouths of people and to make matters worse the MSA rules require a £320 appeal fee to be put down to have a hearing which may or may not have the outcome changed. The thing is the scruts are happy to throw out drivers running a slightly illegal engine timing, giving an advantage or not yet something that is again a rule but they haven't got the presence to stand up against gets let through. Thats a true kick in the teeth to the guys who have been punished for small irregularities with engines and timing earlier in the season.

Come Sunday Dean was looking forward to his heats. In the first heat it was very damp in places and Dean had guessed on a setup for the conditions. It turned out that the guess was spot on as he went on to set the third fastest time and finish 8th. He was however gutted as he was a little higher up when he was forced wide at a corner by his team mate and two to three karts passed him. Still it was a steady result. In the second heat he started at the back and really struggled to make an impression. A saftey kart single file period during the race hampered his progress and meant he finished a lowly 20th. In the 3rd heat he started 3rd. He quickly found himself scrapping with Ryan Magennis for third during the early stages only to be caught by Randal Lynn. Randal passed Dean and dropped him to 5th. This gave Ryan Cole a chance to try and pass Dean within the remaining two laps. He tried a move after the start finish line which wasn't really there and again rubbed sidepods with Dean. A bit of a lunge but it happens. At least Dean wasn't easy to pass all weekend. He finished 6th and set again a time only few tenths off the pace.

For the final he was gridded 9th. This was his best qualification for a final ever. He got a good start and got into 6th very quickly. By the second lap he then got into 3rd which was pretty amasing but then the safety kart flag came out which quickly turned to a red flag. Two karts had gone off into the wall and by the time we came round to them again they had moved which really didn't justify the red flag as they both seemed fine. At the restart Dean was gridded 8th. This time going into the first hairpin he got fired and ended up off the track. He tried to get restarted quickly but failed and ended up two laps down before getting going again. He finished in a lowly 14th. We were all gutted for Dean as he was going really well to get into third and was looking like he was on for a great final result, his best to date. Sadly it was not meant to be and thats racing.

Thanks to Flex for the brilliant season and to my family for helping me and supporting me all year. My dad has been great and sadly there was no seed this year but things are looking better ad my pace overall has definately improved since the summer break. All I can say is bring on next season and S1 at GYG!

5/10/2008 - TKM 0 Plate at PFI Cut Short

Bang on in the middle of the busy three week period Dean was at PFI for the annual TKM 0 Plate. He had never been to PFI before so had to learn the circuit on Friday practice. We arrived on Thursday night to be met by a locked gate which wasn't impressive at all but anyway Friday morning gave us a chance to view the facilities and I have to say they are very impressive! The dummy grid area is very efficient and the multiple viewing facilities make it a pleasure for mechanics and spectators. As for the circuit its not liked by many but Dean really enjoyed it and commented that the surface was like no other he had driven on before. It made the tyres squeel like indoor kart tyres.

On Friday Dean began the first few sessions gently, trying to learn the layout and lines. There was a few damp sessions which provided entertainment but no more shall be mentioned of those, only that some of Deans lines were very comical! Anyway by the end of the day he was within a few tenths of the fastest time set that day which wasn't bad going at all.

Saturday was much of the same but for some reason Dean seemed to struggle to find his pace again and just couldn't find a balance with the kart. Then later in the day he discovered that the chassis had snapped and was cracking elsewhere too. The 06 JKH had done a lot of racing and taken some battering so it was expected to snap at some point but it was a shame it had to be this weekend. After testing finished the kart was welded up by John Mills kart shop and it was prepped for the following race day. While chatting in the evening it was discovered that Dean had used a set of tyres from the previous weekend at super one Clay Pigeon which he tested with there and had problems with them there as well. It gave a more positive feeling to the day as it really had been one event after another.

Deans dad Steve had to leave that night to fly to Turkey on business so Gems dad Brian came down to help out and take the van and caravan back. On Sunday morning it was wet and it meant that Dean had to learn the circuit again due to the lines required to get basically complete a lap. It is a very odd track as you have to take every corner offline in the wet and have to be very patient with it. In three lapper Dean fell foul of the conditions so only managed one lap but it wasn't such a bad time he achieved. In the first heat he struggled with two corners and although on other corners he had the pace he lost so much time in these particular sectors and this halted his progress through the field. While in the awning getting ready for the next heat Gems dad popped his head into the awning to announce that his mum had died suddendly. At that point everyone in the Flex awning chipped in and helped Dean get packed up as soon as possible.

I would like to thank Brian Cole and the rest of the Flex boys for their understanding. Thank you to everybody who sent their best wishes to Gem and family. It really helped them get through the hard time. The funeral takes place a week on Tuesday.

29/9/2008 - Clay Pigeon S1 Rnd 5

After a long break Dean was due back at Super 1 last weekend. He had travelled to Clay Pigeon two weeks prior to this event in an effort to try and learn the circuit. He had used old tyres in that event but still managed to get reasonably close to the pace.

On Friday the Flex team worked on setups trying to optimise the karts. The conditions were fair and the hot weather seemed to suit the JKH chassis' more than the competing Tony Karts. Ryan Cole the other senior Flex driver managed to secure fastest times in the majority of sessions. Saturday was pretty much the same and again Dean and Ryan spent the day trying to find as much time as possible. Going into quali both were confidant they could top the times in each of their sessions. In the first session Dean ended up struggling a little and only qualified 7th in session. Ryan managed to qualify 4th in his session but both were disappointed with the results. The karts seemed to lack rear grip and after the sessions had finished it was obvious that the air temperature had decreased significantly and the track was not offering as much grip as previous sessions.

Going into Sunday the Flex team had discussed a few setup ideas to help the karts in the slightly cooler conditions and it was obvious early on that these worked. In the first heat Dean started on grid 11. After a few laps he soon found himself in 4th and chasing down the current GP plate champion Randal Lynn. It took a while to line up a pass but eventually Dean went for it and moved into 3rd. A gap was created which sealed the result and gave him his best heat result in S1 to date. In heat 2 Dean lined up 22nd. Again pretty quickly he moved up the order and by the 2nd or 3rd lap he had reached 11th. Disaster then struck when the throttle cable snapped coming up to the start finish line. Luckily Dean saw the problem pretty quickly and continued to drive the heat one handed while controlling the throttle. He was only 1 second off the pace driving like this although by the end of the race his thumb was pretty tired!!! He finished way back in 18th. Things weren't looking too great as the bad heat would force Dean to start further back in the final although he had one more heat to pull back a good result. In the 3rd heat Dean was gridded 4th. This heat was looking good and the team were hoping that he could push for the win as his pace had been good back in the first heat. At the start Deans row was forced wide and this backed up the karts going into the left kink. A kart then speared into the tyre wall at full speed and the race was red flagged immediately to deal with the situation. The driver seemed ok and a full restart was ordered. At the second start again Deans row was forced wide and this pushed Dean back down to 5th. The next lap he tried to chase down Bruce-White in 4th. Dean lined up a pass going into the first right hander and got alongside. Going into the corner the two touched wheels which sent Dean over Bruce-Whites sidepod and they both slid off. A mistake by Dean completely. He restarted and had to let the field through. He then got about getting his head down and catching Bruce-White again to pass him as they were both now a lap down. He did so and actually showed very good pace. It was looking like Dean could have finished in the top 4 in this heat which was very frustrating. Two bad heats and one 3rd and 7th in quali managed to put Dean 16th on the grid for the final. If the two bad heats had gone well then possibly he could have been looking at a grid of around 3rd to 5th which would have been an amasing achievement!

Anyway thats racing. At the start of the final Dean was on the outside but after the left kink it turned into the inside. He managed to miss the carnage at the first corner although ended up not making many places. He then struggled for a few laps while he waited for the kart to come on. It was a similar situation to the previous day in quali when the air temp had dropped a little and the tyres were taking longer to come on. Gradually the kart came on and Dean began to show some real pace. He managed to get up to ninth at best but ended up tenth after switching places with Ryan Magennis a few times in the closing stages. The result sealed a great weekend for Dean and actually gave him his best Super 1 finish ever.

Thanks must go to Flex Motorsport for their support and efforts. Since the summer break from the British champs Dean has really tried to improve his pace and work on his race craft and it seems to have paid off.