2022 KCV Round 5 Race Report

​Final Showdown in Uddevalla

The decisive round of an ultra-competitive Kart Cup West series championship was upon us. It all comes down to this after a long and bumpy ride full of highs and lows. From a slow start in Borås way back in April, to the podium glory of Lidköping, another podium performance snatched away from us in Skövde, and undiscovered bent chassis woes of Gothenburg, now it was back home to the Glimminge Ring for the decider. Going into the final round Deven held a razor thin grip on 2nd in the driver’s championship, but was at a huge disadvantage due to having to remove the worst result in the series from your points tally, as he was most likely going to be forced to erase 8 more points than his rivals around him. He would basically have to win and have 2 of the 3 drivers around him not finish in the final in order to hang on to his position. A realistic result and one to be proud of for the season would be to take home 4th in the driver’s championship.

Free Practice Saturday
Our man Deven was in good form, driving well with excellent minimum speed and low engine rpms higher than those around him, but the top end was letting him down badly. Again almost a second off the pace of the leaders, all at the back end of the straights, but this time the cause was known. The race motor was making its return, newly serviced, and so was a little tight, and thus the team were running it all through the practice day to break it in for the race day tomorrow. It was accepted and expected behaviour, so the mood was still one of quiet confidence as they packed in the gear prepping for race day the next morning. Data points were not lying.

Race Day Sunday

Free Practice 1 & 2 | 5 & 10 minutes | P8 & P7
The early morning session was cold and damp, so representative times were not being put up on the timing sheets. Quiet session trying to run in the motor. No panicking yet. The second session was expected to be better, but still the engine was refusing to breathe and give Deven the power he needed down the straights, about 300 revs down on where it should be. Deven was again top of the charts on the data in the corners but getting mugged on the straights by almost everyone. Still finished one better in P7 going into qualifying, but too far off the pace to be comfortable at all.

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Qualifying | 8 minutes | P4
The engine needed to come into its own in order for anything to be done here. The team knew that Deven had the pace to challenge at the very front of the pack here at his home track in Uddevalla. Deven knew that he should be there. He went out and showed it. The engine suddenly came alive. It was clearly visible as he burst out of the final corner on the out lap down the front straight and could barely hold the kart on track that there was a surge of power there he hadn’t had the benefit of enjoying all weekend until now. He jumped up immediately to P5 and lap 1 and then P3 in the early stages of the session. Then it was a straight up shootout for pole position between four Intrepid Driver Program Drivers, and there was less than tenth of a second in it for 5 excruciating minutes. In the end only 0.159s separated the four duelling pilots With Deven coming out on the back end of the lead group, and would start on the outside of the second row for the sprint heat races. It was an excellent performance that we all knew he was capable of with the right equipment underneath him and he showed he deserved to be at the front with that drive.

Sprint Heat 1 | 10 laps | P4 —> P6
Came away with a clean start and almost squeezed himself into 3rd as well, and hung on to the front three for the first flying laps. It soon became very apparent, however, that again the engine had lapsed back into its previous problems. Deven was losing out excessively on the straights, and now had all to do to defend for his life in the later laps as those behind sorted themselves out and started attacking forward. It was hard fighting, and in the end Deven refused to back down, getting a bit too aggressive in his defending. He crossed the line on the last lap, winning a drag race to the finish line still in 4th by less than one tenth of a second, but received a 3s penalty for changing lines twice on the straight on one of the later laps.

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Sprint Heat 2 | 10 laps | P4 —> P7
Having resolved the engine issue once and for all between the first and second heats through a carburetor cleaning regimen, the team were hoping for the best into the 2nd sprint heat. The penalty received in the first race had meant that we needed to finish strong if we were to line up in the front two rows of the grid for the all deciding Feature Final. But it just refused to go to plan. The idea was to tuck in behind the 3rd placed kart and see if we could follow him through as he attacked the 2nd place kart on the outside. Deven fully committed to this, forced himself to the inside at the start and was riding right on the rear bumper of the #121 as they rounded the first corner. Unfortunately they bogged down as they got blocked themselves going into the first hairpin at turn two. The #46 flew by on the outside from P7 right into P4 as everyone tried to steal the inside line from each other. The chain reaction that happened saw Deven lose 2 places instead and he had it all to do from 6th place again, and he was in a sandwich with a couple of drivers showing good turns of speed during this heat. He had a rocketship kart on the straights behind him, pressuring hard and an aggressively defending kart ahead holding him back. Not wanting to get another defending penalty, he tried instead to follow the other kart through to at least maintain his 6th spot and then try to chase down the 4th placed kart together as well. Unfortunately it backfired and the kart behind got through both of them and Deven wasn’t able to follow through and ended up 7th. Never got the momentum back in the remaining couple of laps to make another opportunity for himself. Really disappointing and Deven was in no mood to discuss it afterwards. He could feel things slipping away in not only the last round but in the driver’s championship as well.

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Final | 14 Laps | P7 —> P4
(P5 after post race penalty for sitting up on top of his seat before the front bumper inspection was concluded)
Here it was, the series had all come down to this. Things had not gone our way in the heat races, but the only race that counts is the final and here everything would be put out on the table for all to see. We would be starting 7th on the grid after the results of the sprint races. At least it was the inside line, but we would have to get off to a much better start, at least hold station, to get any real chance of taking it to the top three, who had had smooth sailing up front all day long. About 30 minutes before the race was scheduled to start, the rain started to come down. Out of nowhere, and not in the forecast at all for the day, suddenly dark clouds were upon the track pouring down a steady stream of rain. There were still 3 races to be run in different classes before, but it wasn’t a little 3 minute shower. It continued to gently rain on and off, and it was causing no end of unease in the paddock area. Tires went off and karts were held without wheels until the last moments, being alternatively set up with either wet or dry setting on the chassis.

When it came time to actually line up on the pre grid, it was a 60/40 mix of wet vs dry setups. The frontrunners had wet tires fitted but were fidgeting nervously with their wheel guns as they looked on to the track evolution happening before then as another class’ race developed. With only 2 laps to go it happened. The leaders were switching to slicks. This triggered a mad scramble from all but 2 teams to switch back to slicks. Grabko GP was prepared, and had everything they needed on hand in the pre grid to widen the chassis back out at the same time as they fitted the tires. It was smoothly done with only a slight hint of nerves. The team lowered the kart after double checking all the wheel nuts one more time, just as the steward signalled 5 seconds to engine start. Deven hopped into the kart and almost immediately started up the engine. they were off on the formation lap.

One of the teams had trouble with their wheel change and got out of the pre grid late, and was speeding around the track to make it back to the pack. Just as Deven had a week ago, he didn’t make it and was the whole of the straight behind when the start went off. This caused a hole on the outside of Deven for the 10th placed driver to attack, and it was a chaotic start. In the melee that followed Deven came out having gained one spot to 6th. He got another down the back straight who was on rain tires and was going to go on attack for the next one at the 2nd ’s’ section at turn 9. However, as they came down the back straight and into the turn 8 hairpin, it suddenly became apparent how slippery the track still was here on the back side where the late afternoon sun couldn’t reach it anymore. Suddenly Deven was sliding all over the place. Deven slid out wide but managed to keep the kart on track, but the two drivers in the field on wet tires easily slipped through here and got a march on Deven. At the same time several drivers were making evasive manoeuvres.

What had happened? Well a front wheel had come bounding towards the pack across the track! It was the kart that had gotten out late. The front right wheel hadn’t been bolted properly and had come flying off, through the grass, and right across the track as all the karts were passing down the straight to turn 9. Luckily all the karts were missed and the wheel bounded off up the hill and into the woods behind the track. 

It was a chaotic start to say the least and while Deven didn’t lose places, he didn’t gain any either, and was now stuck behind two slower karts, both on rain tires. There were still two corners on the track where they were the quicker tire, but the rest was definitely slicks. As long as they were close though they could go on attack in those areas. Deven had to pass the 6th places kart in front twice in the early part of the 2nd lap before he got by him and then tip toeing through the treacherous turn 8 allowed the other rain tire equipped kart in 5th place to gain more legs on him through the latter part of the first lap. He finally caught up to him at the end of the front straight at the beginning of lap two but again couldn’t make 3 separate passes stick until the turn 9 second ’s’ section was completed, and by this time the front 4 had really gotten a march on him.

He proceeded to do the only thing he could. Hunt them down like a stalking predator.  For 8 laps he chased, taking a 3 seconds gap to 4th place and chipping away at it. 3 tenths here, 2 tenths there, another 3 tenths. Half a second. 2 tenths. 1 tenth. Suddenly he was within striking distance, ready to pounce. Sure enough the mistake came ahead as Deven mounted the pressure. With two laps to go, going into the still wet and slipper turn 8 hairpin, the driver ahead outbroke himself trying to carry too much speed, and slid out wide. It was all the opening Deven needed. He accelerated past and was on his way. He had battled his way back into 4th position.

Now it was not nearly enough laps to try and chase down the top three and they had too much pace anyway in these later stages of the race, but Deven came across the line with a 1.3 second gap to 5th. It was a great fighting performance by our young driver.

The aftermath of the race is a different story. Deven lost his head a bit and decided to sit on the top of his seat to await the front bumper inspection. He never left the kart or made any attempt to leave the kart or touch anything on his bodywork or anyone else’s. He simply raised his bottom up to the top edge of his seat to sit… and was handed a 5 second penalty.

It was a black cloud and a final twist over a rollercoaster ride of a day. Another dubious penalty in the series and the gutted feeling from Skövde began forming in the stomachs of the team. However, a quick check by the statisticians as they ran the numbers and all was not lost. Deven would only lose one position in the race, being classified 5th instead of 4th, and in the driver’s championship, the one less point didn’t end up mattering for him, as he still was able to claim 4th position overall.

Well, what can we say, here? We are so proud of the way Deven has developed as a driver and you can just see there is so much more to come from him. As a team, we've got to continue to make sure he receives the best conditions and equipment possible to help him realise his potential. We’ve got one race left in our hectic September schedule, and it is another big one, the 7th and final round of the Southern Swedish Karting Championship Cup, down in Kristianstad in less than a week’s time. We really have to focus on everything going smoothly down there now to go out on a real high this season. The goal is to come home with a top 10 finish in the Final and a top 15 finish in the series. It is a tall order, but would be so sweet to achieve after all the hard work Deven has put in.”

​​~ Dan Grabko, Team Principal

I really think that was totally harsh. The penalty I mean, yeah. I never even got out of the kart and I never made a move to touch anything or anyone. It makes me so sad because I fought so hard to make that 4th place finish. I was doing so well after the first couple of laps, I could see him getting closer with every lap and I just tried to make sure I wasn’t overdriving, and hitting my apexes. That second hairpin on the back side was like ice the whole race though!! And then he slid there and I was through! Anyway, just really happy now after that. I still made 4th in the championship, even though I was 2nd going into the final round. Those guys didn’t have to take away any points but I did. I guess that’s the rules, but it feels wrong. I didn’t skip any rounds like they did. Anyway, big congrats to my Intrepid Kart teammates. They were fast today, and I got stuck fighting others behind them so wasn’t able to fight up there beside them. Engine issues, which is getting irritating to keep saying all the time, it sounds like I am trying to make excuses. But it is true. First heat I had no top end power and no revs. So I ended up getting a penalty trying to defend too hard because I had to cover the straight line speed everyone had over me. Would have finished behind them anyway. Doesn’t matter now, we made our goal today, which was to finish 4th in the driver’s championship, and I am proud of that. Only way I would have ended up higher today is if my teammates crashed out of the final and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone let alone my teammates. Thank you Leo for all the help this year and with the chassis and helping my dad figure out the engines in the end.”

​~ Deven Grabko, Racing Driver.

Grabko GP would like to thank its sponsors and partners, without whom we wouldn’t be able to compete at all:
Improx Customs | Profil #461 | The Techno Creatives | Dumpling X Sweden | Elevate: Bespoke IoT Platforms | Weret: Surf Watches from Sweden

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