My first taste of karting came when I was 11 at various indoor karting venues around where I live. I always loved every second, but it wasn’t until I tried the outdoor Sodi karts at QLeisure down near Brighton that I was first able to take note of, and improve my race craft. I spent some time at QLeisure developing my skills and learning the basics of racing. However, it was only when looking for another venue to practice at I found Daytona Sandown Park with their more powerful DMAX Karts.
Daytona Sandown Park
I immediately became hooked on them as their speed added a much higher element of race craft I had never experienced in karting before. I had to feather the throttle through the corners, learn to slide the kart to keep the momentum for the straights and even how to warm up and keep heat in the tyres on the colder days. It was a surprisingly huge step up from anything I’d tried before and I loved every second. To the extent of reviewing all my go pro footage in the days afterwards and making notes on all my possible improvements and errors for next time.
From here I attended many arrive and drives, topping the time sheets before being recommended after one session to enter one of their open races. Having topped a few of the weekly timing sheets I decided to do a tutoring session first which was a huge help in my control and maintaining a consistent pace in these karts. This was also an eye opener for me of how much of a difference good tuition can make as my average lap times immediately saw a massive improvement.
My first Podium (and win!) at Sandown Park
I proceeded to enter my first open race with Daytona Sandown Park. A 20 person grid with 10 minute qualifying and a 30 minute race. Until this moment I had only ever attended arrive and drives for karting and nothing truly competitive. Although topping the majority of my arrive and drive timing sheets I entered with low expectations, which where amplified when I arrived to see several people in all their own gear, custom helmets and sponsor stickers all over, whilst I had only the free suits and bits that you can borrow from the track for a session. My aim heading into the race was a top ten position. However, when I ended up lining up second on the grid after qualifying I was pretty shocked going in to the race. Not knowing my relative pace to first place I just wanted to defend my position and finish on the podium now that I knew that was possible. But as I followed the leader for the first 5 laps it started to become clearer that a win was absolutely possible and as soon as the opportunity presented itself I dived down the inside of turn 1. It was a fantastic back and forth between the two of us as we led the pack. And although I would go on to be much faster and improve my driving tenfold in the future, I still look back at it as one of my best races. The racing was respectful, aggressive and fair. after another 5 or so laps on battling I began to pull away and I was able to take the win in my first ever real taste of competitive motorsport. Even with it just being an amateur open race, the feeling was immense and one I had never experienced before. It was with this win that I proved to myself that I have a talent in motor racing and one that I truly wished to pursue and perfect to the best of my abilities.
I went on to compete in a number of open races in the following year. Making several (now) slightly cringe inducing edits of my races which I enjoyed to make at the time for my YouTube channel (All are viewable with some being tagged in this blog). I enjoyed every single one and learnt so much in my various battles and through man, many mistakes. Through some of my most frustrating races, like spinning on the first turn and recovering up the field to finish fourth. Or my early races simply not having the consistent speed to keep up with the front runners. My love for what I was doing never faltered and I can honestly say I loved every single minute. I was able to reach the podium several more times, taking home 6 more trophies. Before I came to the point where I was seriously considering entering a professional karting league. However when looking at my age and the cost, it seemed better and more sensible to start looking into starting my future in professional motor racing, which leads us to where we are now.
A video of some highlights and track tutorial of Daytona Sandown Park