What a night last night was at Development Club & even in the Advanced Sessions.
I’ve been volunteering my time at Brentwood Development Club since October last year & I’ve absolutely loved every minute of it. It’s helped me gain confidence in helping newer cadets come through the ranks & now that I’m starting to actually see some of these lads be kicked out of development club for being too fast, soon I’ll be wanting to slow them down!
I can honestly say that I felt so proud watching how far my little pal George has come tonight. I first met George at the beginning of the year at Development Club & after his first qualifying session (which was a tough one for him) he didn’t want to go back on for the second session, after a team talk I got him back in the kart & he come off so pleased that he had gone out again. Every week following that his times have become faster & faster. Last week was so close to getting on that podium but it just slipped out of his grasp at the last minute. This week he started 2nd on the grid but broke too late & spun himself out, he got straight back on again but was at the back of the pack, he could have given up then & got frustrated but carried on pushing with everything he had & was rewarded with his first podium… P2. Keep pushing & that top step will be next.
Clayton is another lad, again had a tricky start to the Development Club but has been gaining in confidence week after week and is now being rewarded with podiums.
When Development Club finishes I go out on track myself for some practice. This week was slightly different for me. I am taking part in Club100 this season and because of my size I need a weighted seat, Dan Lee kindly put this together for me as we had no idea what to do, so much so that my mum even got the wrong type of lead first time round, bless her she does try! So I got to go out with my new seat in a senior kart, not something I’d ever done before at Brentwood to test how it all felt.
I felt that the seat was still a bit slippy in places, especially around swimming pool so I need to get something in there to stop it sliding as that won’t be ideal for Club100. However I had a really positive result, topping the time sheets in the quali with a 34.579 and P1 in the race with a slightly slower time of 34.707. All things considering I was really pleased with that as my personal lap record is a 34.377.
The other great result and HUGE congratulations was for Alfie Slattery, again only recently banned from Development Club for being too quick and has not had as much success as his deserved in the League, was finally rewarded with his first advanced session podium & am really looking forward to seeing what he can do in the new season.
Excuse the helmet I was going back on track & was being shouted at to get back in the kart but had to get a picture with Alfie for his first podium, was great to share that with him & lovely of Jake to join in our podium!
Ellis Cox who has only been with us for a few weeks & competed at indoor tracks before also put in a great performance tonight, running in 4th for majority of the race but unfortunately was spun right near the end of the race but carried on fighting right to the end & managed to come back to a 10th place finish. Brilliant effort.
For the second session I was back in my cadet kart after testing out my seat in the senior and again had another positive session. My quali was a 34.545 which put me P2 and the race was a 34.404 so again both really close to my PB’s & finished up P2.
Double podium for the night & watching a load of the new cadets have a really successful night has certainly made up for the disappointment of last weekend.
Wishing Jack Williamson who I have been Volunteering with at development club for the past few weeks all the best for his weekend at the JSCC Scholarship Final.
It’s now onwards & upwards for the new season which starts next week & hoping to make the All Star Final this weekend, will keep you all posted.
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