SKCC Round 5 Race Report

​A Weekend to Forget

​It was a beautiful weekend for racing after the long Summer Break. Unfortunately for Deven and the team, our weekend didn’t match the weather.

The sudden engine trouble that began to plague the team before the break returned, and despite concerted efforts by the entire team, there was no solution in sight. Deven made a brave face in the midst of this, driving his heart out in spite of the machinery failing him at every turn.

Once coming up to temperature, the engine just stopped revving, causing the free practice sessions to become trouble shooting testing sessions, leaving Deven well off the pace going into qualifying. Carburetor issues were ruled out during qualifying as full replacements were also not helping, and ignition coil issues were the next on the list.

The highlight of the 2 heat races was the first two laps of the 2nd heat were Deven defied his own mechanical limitations, and raced an absolutely storming start, moving himself from the back up 8 positions in a courageous show of talent… until lap 3 when the engine came fully up to temperature and he was a sitting duck on the straights, with a motor that refused to rev past 10,000 RPM, on a spec that should be running at 13,000. It was as if he was standing still, and by the end of both heats he finished half a lap behind the lead pack.

Still, somehow, due to DNF’s and DQ’s elsewhere in the field, he would not start last in the semi-final, but rather 2nd to last - queue sarcasm. Another skillful and brave start saw him climb from 31st to 26th at one point in the second lap, but again was easily picked off after the beginning phase of the race on the front and back straights of what was a very good technical track that had almost everything, long straights, technical tight sections with lots of elevation change and off camber sections.

It would have otherwise been a very enjoyable track to drive, a chance for our young driver to show his meddle, had he the equipment underneath him.

There are a lot of racers out here that definitely would not have had such a positive attitude after such a frustrating, stressful, and chaotic race day.

​It had gotten so bad that on lap 12, with just one to go, the engine gave up completely cutting out going into turn 3, the entrance to a technical uphill section of the track that led to the back straight. Deven managed to get the engine going again, but then had gotten picked up by the leading pack having taken the checkered flag behind him. He followed them into the pits without taking the checkered flag himself, but due to 3 other DNF’s was classified 29th and would start there for the feature final.

Outright panic had ensued in the paddock in the team, desperate to find anything that could give Deven a chance to do something in the final. An engine change to the old specification motor that was well overdue for a full service was the only option left as all other avenues had already been exhausted.

So in went the old engine, at least it ran clean, if tired and out of any real pull or power at the top end. And just in time, Deven lined up, in the 2nd to last row of the field, hoping for something better to end a very humbling and frustrating day.

But it would all end up literally in an explosion that was a microcosm of the team’s fortunes in the pas couple of races.

Deven started well, but got caught out on the wrong line going into turn 2, and entered the tight curvy uphill sector 2 dead last, however, the motor was with him and he was able to keep up on the back straight and started hunting down the trailers in the back, plucking them off one by one. He had made his way up to 26th spot and had beat the next kart in the pack to the apex of turn 4 making a clean pass. However, the number 11 driver was not having it and tried to stick in going into turn 5, jumping the curb and losing control completely, smashing into Deven’s rear right and send him spinning off into the barriers.

The young driver kept his head and got the kart loose by shunting himself forward, but just as it seemed he was free and was going to get going again, there was a loud “bang!” and the clutch package blew itself apart into tiny little pieces, impacting the cylinder head and blowing a hole right in it, as well as smashing apart the chain guard, and start motor housing. The engine went into super high revs decoupled from the clutch and Deven and the track stewards did their best to turn off the engine, a 3 person concerted effort that drew applause from the crowd when they finally managed to get it stopped by choking it at the air filter.

This was lap 2 of 14, so Deven had a long wait ahead of him stand at the 2nd steward post to spectate the race. Did out young development driver sit down and sulk, ruing his back luck, and focusing on the negatives??

Not our little man - no. In an impressive display of sportsmanship, Deven spontaneously stood up, and cheered on each and every remaining driver in the race until the end, clapping and giving thumbs up as they passed by. This was noted by the race director, who gave Deven the Sportsmanship of the Weekend Award post race. It was a touching ned to what had been an extremely frustrating weekend.

Team Principal Dan Grabko had this to say, with a rueful shaking of his head - “I couldn’t believe it - he (Deven) just all of the sudden stood up and started cheering on the rest of the field. We’re very proud of the young man - there are a lot of racers out here that definitely would not have had such a positive attitude after such a frustrating, stressful, and chaotic race day that we’ve unfortunately experienced here today. To have the presence of mind and the enthusiasm to encourage his fellow competitors after such a horrible race day for him personally was actually quite extraordinary. On our technical side, we’ve had an old motor explode on us in the end and another that we need to have a full inspection of, which won’t be easy - we’ve only got a few days to get our house in order for Klippan next week, but we will do our best to get him a machine under him that he can go out there and fight with.”

Keep fighting the good fight, and we’ll see you next time! Join the journey, support #grassrootsracing - support Grabko GP!​