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SKCC Round 7 Race Report

9/28/2021

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Where’s your head at?

​A grueling debut season for the team is starting to wind down now, with the last round of the Southern Swedish Karting Championship Cup in Helsingborg, Sweden.

The route down the E6 is now becoming all too familiar, as the team caravanned their way down along the west coast of Sweden one last time for 2021. Väla Motorstadion was the host for the deciding round, and not being in contention at the top gave a more relaxed mood as the team arrived at the hotel.

An early bed and a hearty breakfast should have bade well for the coming day, where the weather had also agreed to play nice, with a crisp, sunny Fall morning giving way to a pleasant afternoon.

The track itself is a series of medium to high speed corners, where momentum is king and so is kart setup. Allowing the motor to breathe and lift off the inside rear a bit is essential to lap times.
​There was more in the car and the driver today than what we showed...

​Our man Deven was coming off his best result of the season and the whole team were hoping to keep that momentum through to a stronger finish to the SKCC finale. But again, as has been the case most of the season, there was no prior experience at the track for team or driver, so everything would have to be learned on the fly, with only 2 free practice sessions to try to dial in the driving and setup before qualifying.

The first FP session went as expected, sitting near the back of the 29 kart field, getting a feel for the track. Things were more worrying on the chassis setup side than the driving side at this point. There was an audible difference as the karts came flying through the fast right handed turn 1. The Grabko GP machine was struggling to hold revs under the load, while karts further up the field had more freely revving motors.

Notes were taken, consultations made, and in between sessions, the necessary chassis and gearing adjustments were made to free up the load coming through the corners. This made a good difference and with the kart in better working order for the track, it was now all focus on the driving.

After FP2, it was race engineer and driver going through the data, finding as much as they could to work on in preparation for qualifying. Given the circumstances, it was a decent result. The team would qualify in 23rd after all was said and done, the best qualifying positions achieved in this championship for the feisty little rookie this season.

However, the race heats are a completely different animal, and with 29 karts lining up on the grid, full commitment is required. It was clear directly from the start of the first sprint heat that Deven still hadn’t quite ridden himself of the demons conjured up in the previous rounds at Malmö and Klippan. His start was best described as gun shy. Far too passively he tiptoed his way through the start, allowing those around him to take advantage, and after the first half lap he found himself running 3rd from the back. He then proceeded to run a fairly pedestrian race, showing clearly that he had more pace than those around him, but not willing to commit to any passing moves to continue on up the field.

In the end he finished 24th after retirements and penalties, and was lucky not to have dropped more than one position.

The second sprint was almost a carbon copy. The Kid couldn’t muster the resolve to go for it at the start and suffered for it. This time he lost out even more and actually ran at the back for most of the race, again showing a clear pace advantage to those all the way up to 5-6 places up the field, but as soon as he caught the kart ahead he would adjust his pace accordingly, taking wide, swerving lines to avoid catching up and making a passing attempt. The 2nd heat ended with a 25th finish, and after the averaging of results, Deven would start 26th for the pre-final race.

There were some harsh words in the team tent between driver and race engineer and the team psychologist was brought in to consult as well. If the driver’s head was not in the right place, there would be very little to salvage from the race weekend.

The semi-final came and went, with no improvement, in fact it became even worse as Deven worked himself up under the weight of his own thoughts. A disappointing 27th place finish in the semifinal saw the team's results moving backwards in every consecutive race on the day for the first time ever this season, and after a best qualifying result, this was more than slightly disheartening.

It was time for the Team Principal to step in. Taking the young rookie off to the side to visit the Formula Nordic racing machine on display at the track , we don’t know what was said or how, but when the pair returned, there was a renewed glint of determination on the steely little face of a young racer again. We will probably never know what was said or how, but what we do know is that whatever it was, it worked.

​Having put ourselves in the position we did going into the final it was always going to be hard to rectify it. Starting 27th is no easy task to drive yourself up from, especially on a track where the start is not going into a hard braking zone to allow for a lot of passing.

Nevertheless, it was a night and day performance. Right from the start it was clear that the Kid was going to race and not just drive around the track. He got off the line and fought for positions, jostling his way through the pack and making up 2 positions on the start right away, but then getting unlucky to have to make evasive maneuvers to avoid a spin the sharp left handed turn 4, and losing out one position again due to that.

Taking tighter and more aggressive lines at corner entry, he was immediately well over a half second faster than his previous best times, and was bearing down on the kart ahead. Now within a second of the front runner’s times, he showed what he could do with the equipment he has underneath him.

Unfortunately, to his frustration, even though he was able to catch up to the #23 ahead of him quite easily, it was much tougher to get by. This time, though, his inability to make the pass wasn’t due to lack of trying. Lap after lap he just couldn’t get the exit out of the key corners 6 and 12 leading up to the long back and front straights to make a pass stick in the braking zones, and thus it was that a frustrating race ensued, and showed just what could have been had we had heads right from the start of the day.

Crossing the line in 26th in the final was another step sideways instead of forward, and was a somewhat disappointing way to end the 2021 SKCC Series given the form we shown coming into the weekend.

Chief Race Engineer, Dan Grabko, told it like is was. “More than half of motor racing is psychological, and if you don’t have your head right, you’re not going to get anywhere. We had a weekend where we came to grips with the mechanical setup quite quickly, but the driver mental setup was a tougher nut to crack. We finally did that, but the damage had been done. All credit to Big D for salvaging what he could in the Feature, but the incremental moving up the grid needed to happen in qualifying and the sprint races, not the Final. There was more in the car and the driver today than what we showed, and that is the disappointing thing. Fair enough if you give it your all and come up short, but when you know for fact that you have left performance on the table, then it is just a bit draining. Based on the data, a top 20 finish was well within our grasp today and we didn’t go out there and take it.”

With the final rounds now coming for the KCV Series as well, it is well and truly a wrap to the season soon, and preparation for the 2022 Championships are already well underway. Coming up next on the race calendar is Round 3 of the KCV back in Gothenburg, and then Round 4 the weekend after that, in Skövde. Due to prior commitments the team will not be able to enter the final round in Lidköping. 

Thank you for all your support, every like, follow, and message of encouragement are truly appreciated by the entire team!

Join the Journey, support #grassrootsracing, support Grabko GP!
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KCV Round 2 Race Report

9/27/2021

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This is the fight we were looking for!

​On the back of a few less than stellar weekends, it was time once again to head back to the familiar confines of the Glimminge Ring at Uddevalla Motorpark, our home track, for the second round of the Karting Cup West Regional Championship Series.

Mechanical issues seemly corrected, it was was up to our young gun to muster the inner will to trust in the race machine and compete further up the field.

It was a crisp morning, with Autumn in the air, and the first free practice session was a jumbled bag of engine setting testing and chassis setup. A low 59s wasn’t anything to shout about here, but it was just FP1, and we could build on that.

For FP2 gearing and carburetor setting were tweaked slightly and tire pressures raised. This gave us 5th best time of the session, and Deven seemed to be settling in better as the temperatures rose as the sun peaked out from behind the wall of clouds.

It was a chilly day though, and the brief respite from the grey was just that, brief, and the air had the feel of Fall - it wasn’t going to get that much warmer during the day. All this meant for the team was a cooler temp setup on the kart. Narrow rear wheel base, high tire pressures back, slightly higher gearing.

​So this is how we went into qualifying. Deven wasn’t able to quite get the best out of the kart, still struggling slightly to get into a groove, and making…interesting is the best way to describe them - interesting racing line choices at the key turns 4, 9 and 11. Extra wide entries here seemed to be causing him problems on exit in these key areas of the track and losing time. This proved vital as well, fighting for 3rd place in qualifying was exciting and a big step up from the previous weekends, but in the end we lost out by just over a tenth of a second, which was enough to see us 5th again after qualifying.

The sudden realization, however that a podium was within the team’s grasp, was a shot of adrenaline for the whole team. The qualifying sprints would now be vital in the fight to move up positions for the grid placement in the Final. The starts would be key, as track position would prove to be decisive.

Unfortunately the first sprint race saw Deven bog down at the start after he misjudged the lights out and had to make a very short evasive maneuver to avoid the kart ahead which cost him. He thus wasn’t able to gain any places but then got in a fight with the quick number 96 behind him and lost touch with the 3rd and 4th placed karts defending his position. He eventually lost out to a tricky little turn 4 move that caught him out, and finished 6th. Not the best first race.
​All credit to Deven and to the team for putting in a solid, focused, and measure performance throughout.

The second sprint was much better. A clean run off the start and some clever heads up decisions through the first sector of track saw Deven clear through to 3rd spot on the first lap, and he was able to keep this position quite comfortably through to the end of the race, although never could quite make contact with the top 2 after the first segment of the race. It was a solid performance and a repeat of that would see the team achieving their first ever podium in a major series.

The tension was palpable in the team leading up to the Final. Due to other results, Deven would be lining up 5th again after his 6th and 3rd place performances in the sprint races. The start was good, but in the chaotic tussle and jockeying for position, he didn’t manage to get through to 3rd again, but 4th, the 3rd places #82 kart from Lidköping winning out on the start and pulling a small gap after lap 1.
Deven charged him down though and by lap 3 of 14 he was breathing down his neck, and it was bumper to bumper racing for the final podium spot for 10 laps. To say it was nail biting for the team looking on would be one of the understatements of the season. It was an intense period that seemed to last forever. Lap after lap Deven showed the consistency and focus needed to fight for a top place. At one point, lap 7 or 8, he managed to get a better exit from the fast turn one and got up almost alongside for the pass into turn 2 but couldn’t quite beat his man to the apex, and did the smart thing and §§didn’t dive in recklessly. At the same turn 1 the next lap, he was caught out by the slower exit of the #82 and bumped him from behind. This produced a warning from the stewards, but lucking there was no front fairing and the intense fight continued.

Meanwhile the pacy #96, who had gotten a less successful start to the race, had made their way clear of traffic and was also now bearing down on the two ahead, also putting in their claim for the final podium spot. Suddenly it was a 3 kart race for 3rd, all bumper to bumper racing, and all very nerve wracking.

Credit to the drivers, they raced hard and raced well, and in the end when they crossed the line, it was the #82 who just held on to 3rd spot. Our man Deven came home 4th, his best ever result, and even though in the moment tears were shed in frustration at being so close to glory, yet so far away, it was a real injection of positive energy that has been injected into the team with this result.

The Team Principal had this to say, “Finally! That’s what I have to say - The Kid showed he can do it on his day with the right equipment and setup under him. All credit to him and to the team for putting in a solid, focused, and measure performance throughout. I’m so proud of everyone involved, especially Deven, as he showed the determination, skill and maturity to go the distance today. He’s going to sleep well tonight I’ll wager. We’ve been waiting for this kind of end result to our toils for a very long time. We started slowly this morning in FP1 but didn’t panic, just methodically went through our paces and worked our way forward all day. Awesome drives by big D in the 2nd sprint and the Final. Nail biting to watch, but so exciting to be up there fighting, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
​
Deven was buoyant by the time the driver interviews came around, “4th place, baby! Love it. Should have had 3rd, but this is so cool as well, can’t wait to go again!”

And go again GrabkoGP shall, as in a week’s time it is the final round of the SKCC, this time in Helsingborg.

Follow us to find out how it goes! #grassrootsracing #grabkogp
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Göteborgs Stora Pris Race Report

9/13/2021

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​Another Rainy Day at the Office

The season has seemed to stall out after latest rounds of the SKCC which saw a dramatic engine failure and the discovery of a bent chassis in successive weeks to put a damper on the progress made in the first half of the season. The team has started to look towards development of the 2022 racing machine and seeing out the current season has been the order of the day.

However, with 4 major events left, there is still all to race for and the team will be continuing to do their all with the equipment and resources they have available to them for the remainder of this season.

And so it was that we arrived in Gothenburg at the Team 13 Motorpark on a late summer morning bright and early as the predicted rain just began to fall. It was going to be the first race of the season where wet tires had to be employed, and the lack of experience even testing in the wet showed for our young rookie as he went out for the 2 free practice sessions.

In a 23 kart strong field in the Formula Mini class, we were 19th and 20th, respectively, in the FP sessions, just not coming to grips with the lack thereof out on the track. An array of setup changes didn’t seem to have a significant effect on matters, and the old, hard rain tires were not helping matters either.
...there was just too much of a gap in single lap pace to really take the fight up the field...
​Into qualifying the rain intensified and it was a properly wet track going out of the pre-grid area. Early laps saw Deven up into the higher midfield briefly as he set his best time early in the session, but then couldn’t manage to improve upon it, spinning into the first hairpin and clipping the rumble strip curbs - clipping off his drive chain in the process and ending his session prematurely. This saw him plummet down the rankings and into 21st by the end of qualifying.

So another frustrating qualifying session, which has been an unfortunate theme this season, saw the team looking at another tough uphill battle in the qualifying sprint  heats to climb the grid for the semi-final race to come.

Sprint 1 saw our man drive a clean if uneventful race where he struggled to make any headway after a decent start where he was able to hold position. The 6 lap wet race ended with a 19th place finish after penalties and a DNF in the field.

Sprint 2 was a similar story, but this time out start was stronger, with Deven climbing 3 places into the first hairpin and able to hold 2 of those positions through the first lap. Lacking an real pace in the conditions, he fought his way to 17th after several drivers were not able to keep their karts on track, and along with penalty assessments, etc, the official result was 17th.

But there was just too much of a gap in single lap pace to really take the fight up the field, and it was defensive racing that was the name of the day for the inexperienced man, who just wasn’t on form on the day.
​Interestingly, the weather began to turn during the lunch break, and by the time the semi-final came around, there was a hard decision to make. All the karts came to the pre-grid area with rain tires bolted on, but the Formula Micro race going on just ahead of the semi-final showed that slicks were the way to go. The sun had come and the racing line was almost completely dry.

So it was a scramble to the pits to fetch slicks and bolt them on right in the pre-grid, just in time for the green flag by the marshals to release the field for the formation lap. All but one team sent out their driver with the dry slick tires, and it proved to be the correct decision.

Lap times plummeted by 7s on the dry tire, and the lone man out on track with the wets on was unfortunately left in the dust. For Grabko GP it meant just being able to cling onto the rear of the final pack of karts as Deven effectively limped home to a 20th place finish after the 8 lap race. In a short interview before the Final, Deven expressed his frustrations. “I’m not feeling good right now, and am sad about it. I just don’t trust the kart today. I’m afraid its going to just come out from under me, and I still have the clutch explosion from Malmö in my head as well, it feels impossible for me to be at my best today.”
Nevertheless, he came into the Final race, lined up in the 2nd to last row, with determination etched upon his little boy face. Fear would not get the best of him on this day. Getting off the line well on the rolling start, he took a couple of positions in the long sweeping first corner. However, he lost out on the approach to the first hair pin on the following lap, getting out-braked a bit too easily and conceding positions as a result. The net result being that he finished where he started the race, in 20th spot.

It was a disappointing day for everyone involved, but in retrospect, things need to be put into perspective. It has been a long a grinding rookie season for both team and driver, and the expectation to be on top fighting form every weekend can be an overwhelming prospect for a young man at the tender age of 9 years old.

The Team Principal was there to defend his own. “Look, we’ve got a good young kid here who has done everything we’ve asked of him this season so far. That he’s had a bad weekend of form can’t really be put squarely on him either. We’ve let him down as a team more than he has us this year, and he has always supported us with a smile, and we are going to do the same. He’ll be back in fighting form before you know it, and we just need to concentrate on making sure he has everything he needs to focus on that and nothing else. We’ll be back for the KCV in Uddevalla next week, and then the final round of the SKCC after that. That’s our focus and then development of next year’s platform has to be in full focus.”

See you next time! Join the journey, support #grassrootsracing, support GrabkoGP!
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SKCC Round 6 Race Report

9/6/2021

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​When it rains, it doesn’t pour?

So has been the story of the team’s main voyage into karting this season, that you knew it was going to be a tough weekend before you even loaded up your gear and got set off.

After the disappointing weekend that was Malmö, with a crippled engine and a blown clutch causing a dramatic DNF in the Final, the whole team felt drained. Then with the minor triumphs of the Uddevalla Karting Club’s MKC series in midweek, with a new power unit and a top 5 finish, things were looking better.

Still the races are coming thick and fast, and the energy levels were not optimal. Weather conditions were also making the weekend tricky to set up for. Forecasts of rain and then not, and then rain again, and then not again - made it difficult to predict how things were going to go.

During paddock tent setup, things took a turn for the worse immediately. A significant bend in the rear left chassis was discovered on unloading that was determined to not be new. Our young rookie has been driving with a bent chassis for at least 2 months it seems, which has definitely not helped them team post representative times or race results.

There was just no getting power down to the rear wheels.
With it being too late to do anything about it on site, it was going to be a rough one again. The racing machine would have to be sent back to the machining center after the race day for straightening, with the root cause of the out-of-shaped-ness not able to be determined. It was probably one of the early season shunts we were involved in, and then getting progressively worse with every little incident subsequent to the initial damage.

The only thing to help us out now would be weather. If it was damp and/or wet, the effectively broken chassis would have a more limited effect on the rear grip, which was basically non-existent and impossible to setup for on a non-straight frame.

Things seemed to be going our way though in the morning, when the team arrived back at the track. It was very damp, and the first free practice session saw about 40% of the field on rain tires, including Grabko GP. It paid off as well, as Deven showed good form and potential, driving his way up to 5th in the time tables for a long period in the session and ending up a very respectable 13th by the time it ended.

But the damp conditions were short-lived. The rain that hung in the air never came, and as the other classes made their runs, the track dried up. By the time the second free practice session was underway, it was slick tires being the only option in almost completely dry conditions.

And the back end just wouldn’t stick. Many heated discussions between race engineers and driver ensued, and floods of tears of and frustration later, it was decided that the team put in the best setup possible for rear grip, almost a wet race chassis setup, and then go out and fight at the back, and try to get through the race day, setting our own internal lap time and result goals.​
​Thus we entered qualifying with no expectations. Adding insult to injury, Deven had to abandon qualifying half way through as his throttle wire snapped right off during his 3rd flying lap. Starting position 30 of 31 for the qualifying heats then.

The first qualifying heat saw Deven finish a very positive 24th, though, after a race of attrition which saw 6 drivers crash out or otherwise not finish, and Deven missed the checkered flag, slowing down to make the pit lane instead of taking an out lap, thus letting by the number 42, M. Ribbnäs, whom he had successfully fought off the entire race to keep behind. It was a rookie mistake that shouldn’t be happening anymore, but it was that kind of day.

The second qualifying heat was not as lucky. Deven fought hard but could only produce a 29th position as he fought to control the fish tail of a kart he was driving. There was just no getting power down to the rear wheels.

All in all it was 29th spot on the grid for the semi-final. Deven dug in and fought hard at the start, making up 3 positions in the first half of the opening lap, but controversy would ensue as it was the number 42 again, M. Ribbnäs, who made a brave attempt to pass around the outside of the turn 5 hair pin, and was forced off the track as our little man exited the corner, seeing his rival a too late to do anything about it. He drove on to a great result given the circumstances, securing 26th spot and a moving up a couple of rows on the grid for the final. However, it was parental self-righteous anger that was the talk of the paddock afterwards, as the drivers' moms' maternal instincts took over in a very emotionally charged and vocal “discussion” that ensued over the incident in the technical area post-race. Very eventful stuff.

When the dust settled, though, there was no penalty given by the racing stewards, it having been deemed a racing incident. Deven, being the sportsman that he is, did take it upon himself to graciously apologize to the offended party, citing that he was just driving the racing line and that he didn’t even see the kart coming up beside him until far too late to do anything about it, and that he was sorry that it happened. The racing officials obviously agreed with that viewpoint.

So 26th on the grid for the Final with the goal of holding that place in a broken race machine - not going to be the easiest thing to do. The start went and Deven was right there, trading positions back and forth in a a tough, but fair start to the race with drivers leaving room for each other and fighting hard. Deven came out in 27th place and held that position throughout the race, with the number 42 right on his tail again, unable to do anything to get close, and Deven drove a consistent and focused race. He was even catching the driver ahead with a chance to make up another position and finish 26th.
10 laps later and he was there, right on the tail of the driver ahead, but it was one thing to catch up and another to make the pass. And so it was, that Deven made one attempt and couldn’t make it stick in the quick turn 2 that sets up for the first hairpin, turn 3, exiting out onto the long back straight, and he almost ended up losing positions because of it. He now had 2 laps left to catch back up and make another attempt. He did catch up on the last lap, but this is where it all unravelled for him, unfortunately.

Having done all the hard work, he made a very ill-advised dive into the same corner, this time from at least 2 kart lengths behind, and it did not end well. He got up into the rear bumper of the driver ahead and took off their exhaust in the process. He half spun as a result and lost his hard earned position, limping across the line in 30th and ruining the race for the driver ahead as well.

Not a great way to end the day, especially after having worked so hard to even get where he had - to the limited result that would have been a small victory given the handicap he had dealt with all day.

But you live and you learn, and as the team packed up, dismantling the kart and sending the frame off separately to the machining center, it was a philosophical and reflective atmosphere that settled over the caravan.

Our Team Principal’s comments mirrored the mood. “We’ve got to take stock now and regroup. The start to the second half of the season has been really tough for us, with mechanical issues left and right, one after the other - even our race tent has let us down and broken - now the latest blow being the discovery of the bend in the chassis here at Klippan, and you have to say that we have had more than our fair share of bad luck. But you know what they say, ‘you make your own luck.’ I still believe that, and so doing things in the right way, staying positive, and not getting down on each other is going to be critical to turning this around. We are going to have a thorough inspection of the equipment and make sure we don’t have any of these issues when we come back to the track in Gothenburg in 2 weeks time, where we hope to be able to put in a more representative performance.”

When asked about the incidents in the semi-final and final, he had this to say, “Yeah, these were a couple of rookie things that happen sometimes. In the semi (final) we had a situation where a driver tries to pass around the outside, and our guy is driving the racing line. Ask anyone, in any class here on the grid, and if they are truthful they’ll agree. In the final that was a simple matter of a driver making a hot headed decision to make a lunge on the final lap, a decision that he regrets. No more to be said about that. All credit to Deven though, he is a sportsman through and through. He apologized for both incidents of his own initiative, and he's really more down about both of them than he should be. He’s a good kid and hopefully will learn from these.”

So there you have it folks, yet another #grassrootsracing adventure on the road that in #racinglife! See you next time!
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Grabko GP is a grass roots race team whose main focus is on amateur and young driver development, from first forays into karting, through amateur racing series, with the aim of one day culminating in the minor formulas and beyond. The team aims to promote participation in and love for motorsport while enabling the development of elite racing drivers.

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