NXT GP Round 3
Emsburen, Germany
1 & 2 June 2024 | Track Length: 870m | Mechanic: Jimmy Onstenk, Team PitParts
On 1 & 2 June 2024 we headed to Germany for round three of the NXT GP Tillotson T4 Dutch Championship kart series and Kartbaan Emsburen, a small but technical track just over the border from the Netherlands in Germany.
Saturday | Training (3x 10 minute sessions)
As I learn’t the hard way in testing leading up to raceweekend, conditions in Emsburen can change in a heartbeat as the track can vary hugely between sessions due to the weather and from sand that blows in from the surrounding fields.
For this round, local regulations required the 2T races to be competed on Saturday which gave us a later start to the day and an extra bonus, the promise that the 2T drivers would lay down a lot of rubber and much needed extra grip on track,
During Friday testing my kart developed an engine problem that persisted throughout Saturday and meant I was well off pace after the first training session. Unfortunately a serious racing incident during a 2T races reduced the number of remaining training sessions from 3 to 2 meaning that there was very little track time to test the engine and setup ahead of race day.
Sunday
With 36 Tillotson Senior and Master drivers in total, track rules limited the number of drivers on track meaning that for the first time in the NXT series, the Tillotson field was split into groups and the start proceedure and race format changed - a single file rolling start, 2 qualifications, 3 heats, a second chance race and a final (top 28 drivers).
After a lot of work by my mechanic and team, we discovered on Saturday night that the engine problem was terminal but I was was able to borrow an engine from my team early in the morning so that I could still race. During the warm up the track was still wet from overnight rain and everyone breaking in new tyres, the session started out as a slip and slide run with drivers going off track at every corner in the opening laps. Needless to say the conditions meant that I wasnt able to get any feel for the new engine or set up!
Sunday | Qualification Groep 1 (8 minutes) – CET 11:35 / NZT 21:35
P11
Unfortunately just before quali I learn’t that the borrowed engine wasnt good and after setting out on track on my own, I lost focus and track position…. and after that everything went down hill - I overpushed to catch up with the rest of the field and with inconsistent lap times and every mistake on my mind, my fastest lap was only good enough for a P11 in my group (of 17 in the first quali 1) and well down the order overall.
Sunday | Heat 2 (10 minutes) – CET 14:11 / NZT 01:11
P14 -> P10 -> DQ
After quali I was assigned group C which meant starting in 14th in Heat 2. During the race I had some awesome battles but made a mistake by following another rookie driver who brake tested me in the hairpin and sent himself flying off track, earning me a 15 second penaltiry (albeit with no click bumber) that was later upgraded to a DQ without explaination or signing. DQ + no scrap points = Rookie championship over.
Sunday | Heat 3 (10 minutes) – CET 15:52 | NZT 01:52
P15 - P10 ->14
Sunday | Second Chance Race (10 minutes) - CET 18:32 | NZT 04:32
P9 (dead last)->P2
Following the DQ in Heat 2, I needed to drive the second chance race to qualify for the final, and as the only driver in my team to not make the final from the heats, I had serious work to do!
After a messy start , I charged from from last to 2nd within 4 laps and after finding flow with my kart, I was able to pull out consistent lap times (laps 5,6&7 : 39,171, 39.173, 39.178) and a fastest lap of 38,962 - good enough to qualify for the final (even with a 5 second click bumper).
Sunday | Final (10 minutes) - CET 18:32 | NZT 04:32
P25 - P16 -> P25
Another race with epic battles and no less than 10 overtakes to come from last up to P16 over the line. During the inlap I was taken out by a driver who I had been showing me his middle finger all race after I had passed him on the final lap . Although the incident was captured on the livestream and noted by the marshalls, the incident gave me a click bumper (5 sec penalty), which added to an yet another unexplained penalty for unsportive driving (5 sec), pushed me well down the order from 16th across the line to 25th in the final classification.
On the podium my team dominated the field - podium sweeps in the T4 Senior and T4 Senior Rookies, Tillotson Constructors Champion, and winners in the T4 Masters and T4 Mini classes - Awesome stuff and plenty to be proud of after a weekend to forget!!
Thank you to my mechanic Jimmy Onstenk, Team PitParts, my sponsors and to NXT GP and Tillotson Nederland for the organisation.