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| August 11, 2011 News |
| Factory Pilot: Gary Carlton - An American in Europe - WSK Euro Series Zuera Report |
| Article by: garycarlton.us |
For 2011, American karting star Gary Carlton will be the lead driver for the Chiesa Corse operation in the KZ1 category aboard factory-prepared Zanardi/IAME package. eKartingNews.com has partnered with Gary to help produce segments over the course of his time as a new factory driver. Working with him on forum blogs, race-event journals, photos, video footage and more, viewers will be able to see first-hand what it is to be a factory driver for one of the top European teams in karting.
To follow his progress throughout the season, visit the official EKN Gary Carlton Page in the Features section.
Carlton made his first journey to Zuera International Circuit in Spain for the WSK Euro Series finale. The race would be Carlton’s first in a month before he takes another break, heading back home before heading to the CIK World Cup event in Genk, Belgium. Despite not showing the results they hoped for, Carlton and the Chiesa Corse group scored two finishes in both finals, a feat that has escaped them all season.
 | Gary Carlton
(Photo: IAME) |
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
I was really excited to wake in the morning knowing I did not have to work in the CRG Factory but instead flying to Zaragoza, Spain for the final round of the WSK Euro Series. I had never seen the Zuera circuit before but from what all the drivers had told me and the videos I had seen, it looked awesome. Also it had been just over a month since I had stepped foot in my Zanardi/IAME kart and as always I was itching to get back to driving.
My mechanic Blaz picked me up out front of the CRG Factory and we headed to the Bergamo Airport. Once at the airport, we met up with the lead IAME KZ Engine tuner Gigi, who would be flying with us. While waiting to board our flight, we all got caught up on what everyone has been up too and grabbed a quick bite to eat. Our Ryan Air flight was direct to Zaragoza and went without any problems. I love flying with Ryan Air because they cut out all the BS that goes with flying. You show up with your boarding pass printed out from home and your seat is what ever you find when you get on the plane. They make it stupid simple and don’t make such a big deal about all the small stuff.
Once we arrived in Zaragoza, we went to the rental car place to get our car and picked up Birel driver Sauro Cesetti, who was on the same flight as us. It was a nice short drive to the track and once inside the paddock, I could already see the top of the new Scuderia Karting trailer standing taller than all the rest. Dino had been telling me about the new trailer that Scuderia Karting was building to host the Chiesa Corse team and once inside I was blown away. They only received the trailer four days before it headed out the shop so everything had yet to find its permanent home, but it was beyond impressive. It has two full length working levels due to its roof being able to lift up once parked in position. It has all the bells and whistles for anything a racer would need at the track along with X-Box and Playstation 3 in the office. I have been extremely lucky when it comes to racing trailers in my career. From the Trackmagic Trailer, to the PCH Trailer, CRG trailer, and now this thing, you really cannot get much better. But the best thing about it was the tent was already up when I got there because of the race they had the weekend before. Score!
I was able to locate a bicycle and take it out on the track to try and get a feel of where the track goes. The track was massive with huge sweeping corners and really fast straights. There was only one tight corner on the track but even on the bike you could tell it had a great flow. The only thing I could say negative about the track was the facilities around it. There was really no infrastructure around like most European tracks. And being it was out in the middle of nowhere on a flat plane, the wind was really strong and from what everyone was telling me, it had been like that for the past two weeks.
Once we finished up the work of getting all the karts ready for Wednesday practice, we headed to our hotel. Our hotel was dead center in the city of Zaragoza, which is a really neat town filled with many things to do unlike most the cities we usually stay in. Even though you are there only to race and not go and take on the night life, it is always nice to stay in big cities. With the bigger cities you have more options for food and there are always people around to give it an upbeat atmosphere along with neat architecture to see. After a great dinner, we headed back to the hotel and I called it a night as soon as my head hit the very flat hotel pillow.
 | The new 'Scuderia Karting' hauler to host the Chiesa Corse squad
(Photo: garycarlton.us) |
Wednesday, July 27–Friday, July 29, 2011
This round of the Euro Series saw us having 15 Free Practice sessions spread over three days. Each day we would get five sessions at 15 minutes long which would be more than enough track time to get everything figured out. In our case, the more track time the better in the situation that we are in with developing our package.
Once all the engines and pistons were run, I was able to open the beast up and get a feel for the track. The track has a great flow and a great combination of high speed corners. From the very first laps, I felt comfortable with everything and was really enjoying being back in the kart.
The big news over the three days of testing where the tires that Vega had brought for the weekend. Almost every driver had experienced huge blisters in both the rear and front tires, which started to set up some huge alarms with most of the teams. I saw one driver missing all the rubber on the whole inside of his left front tire after only doing five laps. So, with everyone bringing up many questions, we were supplied with a different tire that was supposed to cure all the blistering problems. Once everyone mounted up the new tires that had a white bar code on the side, the blistering stopped. But the problem now was that they were about eight-tenths slower than the other tires with zero grip after about three laps of running. Everyone hated the tire and it was decided to run the softer tire that had all the problems blistering, which I thought was a bit strange but I’m not one to judge the decisions of the big teams
In my opinion, Vega did a very bad job in not fixing the problem that should have been seen last month in La Conca. I’m not a Dunlop supporter but I think they kind of got the bad end of the stick. They had one race where they had problems with the tires and everyone went crazy and wanted to switch to Vega. Now two races in a row Vega has come with tires that have serious problems and big differences from set to set and everyone does not seem to get much on their case. Being only a driver, I’m sure there are many other things that go into the decisions on what tires we run but, being somewhat of an outsider looking in, it doesn’t seem right.
We spent most of the second day on the harder tires to carry out some engine tests and decided midway through the day we would try out the softer tires. Every race through the whole season, when we have the new tires mounted and ready to go we seem to encounter problems through the session and make it impossible to put them on. This race was no different. As soon as we though we were ready for new tires, we came up on some technical problems and missed the session. We chased this technical problem for four sessions and by the middle of Friday, we found the problem and finally were able to try out the softer tires. If someone didn’t know the problems we were having, it would be easy to think I was going out every session on new tires. It was becoming a little inside joke between Blaz and I if the tires would ever make it from the kart stand to chassis.
At the end of all the days of testing, we were able to carry out some good work with the chassis and found some good reliability with the engine. I was really enjoying being at the track and being back in the driver’s seat and was ready for the racing. Our speed was very average of what we have been all year but with some luck I thought a top-15 finish was in the cards.
 | The hauler is like no other, holding two levels inside with a movable top level
(Photo: garycarlton.us) |
Saturday, July 30, 2011
When I woke up, I had quite a lot of pain in my shoulder which was strange. I still have pains for my accident after a long weekend of driving but it was strange that the pain was so strong and in the morning. I stretched it out the best I could and came to the conclusion that I probably just slept on it wrong. The day would be a long one with having a Warm-Up session, Qualifying Practice, two Heats, and Final 1 to cap off the day. I love when race day finally arrives. As much as I like testing and developing new things, there is nothing better than wheel to wheel racing.
The Warm-Up session saw us running in a new piston. Being the session was only ten minutes long, we were not able to really carry out any tests but at the very end I was able to open it up and make sure everything was in order. Once back under the tent we checked everything over, took off the tires and made sure there was enough gas in the tank for three solid hot laps. After a quick check of the carb settings on the stand, we headed off the Parc Ferme to mount up the new tires for the Qualifying Practice.
I was a bit nervous going into the Qualifying Practice, knowing I had done so little runs on new tires. Actually over the three days of testing I had only gone on new tires once and with the Vega tires, the sweet spot is really small. I had heard from other drivers that two laps is about all you will get on the Zuera circuit for the tires to be at their best so I knew I had to get the lap in quick. Zuera is a very fast flowing track and the draft can play a huge part in getting a fast lap. Once everyone rolled out on the track I did my best to position myself the best I could to try and stay behind someone to get those extra few tenths. I was able to get behind a small group but once we started pushing, I could not keep up with their pace and after the first half lap, I had already lost the draft. The chassis did not have as much grip with the new tires as I would have expected and the engine performance was very average at best. After doing three laps, I could tell my split times where not getting any better and along with everyone else came into the pits and parked it. I was really disappointed with the result and seeing how far off we were from the front runners. After all the groups had run, I was classified 28th.
With the program being so tight together, it seemed just as we got back to the tent we were already headed back to Parc Ferme for the first Heat. I would start the heat from the 14th position and was hopeful to move forward at least 3-4 positions coming out of the first lap. When the starting lights went out, my kart was so stuck to the ground I almost stalled but was able to pull in the clutch quick enough to keep it running. I also noticed many drivers had the same problem as I, and by the end of the first lap I was still in the same position I had started. My pace was very average and both the kart and engine felt about the same as the session before. I was able to pick a few spots due to some guys crashing out and some overtakes. At the end of the Heat I was classified 10th.
The second Heat, I would start from where I finished the first Heat in 10th. I was hopeful with the changes that we made by trying a whole different chassis would help our performance to be able to keep up with the lead drivers. But lady luck came back to haunt me once again. As we rolled out for the formation lap, I had noticed every time I would open the gas pedal, the clutch would slip. I passed all the drivers in front of me and tried to get back to the Service Area as quick as possible. Once in the service area it was quick to notice that the clutch cable was just too tight and was engaging the clutch just enough to slip. Blaz made quick work of loosening the cable but now we would have to start the race from pit lane. The official stood in front of my kart waiting to release me after all the others had completed the start. He held me for what seemed like ages and once I was back on track, the others were long gone and I had a lot of catching up to do. Luckily, the other drivers in the back of the pack where fighting hard the first four laps of the race. This allowed me to catch back up and I was able to pick off a few spots by the race’s end where I was classified 15th.
 | The Zuera circuit is literally in the middle of no where
(Photo: garycarlton.us) |
Once back under the tent we had looked over the data and made some more adjustments to the carb and made a seat change for the chassis. Once in Parc Ferme, we mounted up our two new tires on the left side and I had a look around at the other driver’s tires. A lot of people were having problems with huge blisters in both the front and rear tires. I was happy to see my blisters were very mild and that we had some of the better looking tires than most. For Final 1, I would start from the 25th position and as always, was ready to attack from the second the starting lights went out. Knowing the problem I had from the first Heat with the tires sticking to the asphalt off the start, I made sure to rock my kart back and forth when I was stopped in my grid position. I was able to get a great start and with some drivers getting a very slow launch, it was really hectic coming into the first corner. I was able to position myself in a great spot and with some drivers coming together in front of me, I was putting together a great opening lap. By the middle of the first lap, I had been in the right place at the right time in almost every corner and found myself inside the top-15. Just as I thought we were going to have a great run from the back, I was plowed from behind sending me completely off the track. I was so angry that in almost every race, we have been just plain driven off the track for no reason. Once back on track, I had fallen further back than I had started and with all the dirt on my tires it took a few laps to get back up to pace. But once the tires were clean and I was able to catch back up to the group, I was really pleased on how the chassis felt and our pace was not too bad. We were able to pick off drivers one by one. Being that our finish rate during the Finals over the season has been extremely slim, I made sure I kept my hand always close to the air box holes on the straight. At the races end, I was very happy to see the checkered flag and finishing in 20th place. I know 20th place is nothing to be happy about but, being it was only the second Final we had finished all year and we were steadily moving forward the whole race, it was a small sign of improvement.
Once back under the tent we stripped the kart of the engine and started cleaning all the battle scares of the side pods. It was a long hot day at the track and my shoulder was feeling it. I will say I loved our new tent with the two swamp coolers inside. It just makes life so much easier when you come back to a clean, organized, and most of all cooled tent to carry out your work. Once the chassis was all clean and everything was put back straight we put the cover over it and called it a day.
On a good side note, my teammate Nyck De Vries had won his Final and clinched the WSK Euro Series Championship for the KF1 class. There has been a lot of talk around the paddock that Nyck is cheating with a bunch of different things. It’s really sad to see that people can’t just take the fact that his program is better than everyone else and label him as a cheater. The kid can drive a KF kart better than anyone and that’s the bottom line. Then put him together with a great engine and chassis, the results will always be there. I know the feeling of being labeled a cheater and I will say it really hurts when people think you win not because of your talents and hard work. I have a lot of respect for someone young like Nyck to always show up at the track with his head held high and not letting all these stupid rumors affect his performance.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
When I woke up in the morning, I was happy that my shoulder pain was not as strong as before and after a few minutes of stretching in the shower I was ready to go. I packed up my back pack with all my clothes and headed downstairs for breakfast. I was never really a big breakfast person until the past couple seasons and now it has become my favorite meal of the day.
Once at the track, we uncovered the kart and made sure everything was in order before the warm-up. Again we would have to run in a new piston during the session and the very last lap I was able to get a feel for everything. Everything felt in order and going into the first Heat of the day, we decided to make no changes to the kart from the day before.
 | The city of Zaragoza was larger than most kart track towns on the WSK schedule
(Photo: garycarlton.us) |
I would start the Heat from the 14th position based on my Qualifying run from the day before. I was able to get a great launch off the line but a driver a couple rows ahead had stalled. With everyone trying to avoid the driver and me coming up with much more speed, the only option I had was to go all four wheels in the dirt. Once I finished my nice rally cross jump through the dirt, I had fallen back to last and lost the pack. It took a few laps to clean off the tires but once everything was back in order, I was able to catch up. While trying to make a pass coming into the very fast first corner, a driver swerved at me very violently, hitting me on the side. I wasn’t too happy with this so I swerved even harder back at him and sent the driver flying into the dirt. The driving that people are getting away with at the back of the pack is just ridiculous but it puts everyone in the situation to hit everyone or be hit by everyone. I ended up finishing the Heat right back where I had started in the 14th position along with a trip to the Stewards office to receive a notice I was being watched.
Since our performance did not seem as good as the day before, we made a few changes to the carb for the second heat. I would start again in 14th and after a rough first lap I was not able to advance my position. During the race our pace was a little better than before and I was able to pick off a few drivers. We finished the Heat in the 10th position placing us 25th for the start of Final 2.
After a quick look at the data and a quick bite to eat, we prepped the kart for the last run of the weekend. We decided to make no chassis changes and adjust the carb settings a little more. After a few runs on the stand and trying a few different combinations, we made our best guess and headed to Parc Ferme for the last time. Once we mounted up our new tires, all the karts headed out onto the track to set the grid. Again, we were starting too far back to have an umbrella girl. While waiting for the start, Blaz and I were making jokes that they were missing out on the best looking driver/mechanic combination. Once the girls left the grid, it was time to get down to business and before Blaz pushed me off, all I could think about was getting into the top 15.
I was able to get a good start and pick up the two drivers that started in the row in front of me. The first lap was another slug fest and I will be the first to admit, I was making a lot of aggressive moves that I’m not proud of. With starting near the back of the field, I have noticed I have lost my ways a little on being a clean racer, but it’s just the name of the game over here and is the only way you survive. By the end of the first lap, I had made up many positions and settled into a nice pace. I knew there many drivers starting near the back that were faster than I and when they came up behind, I did not give them much fight. When your only three laps into a 15 lap race and you know that the driver is easily a half second faster than you, you’re only going to hurt yourself trying to block them. You’re better off to let them go and try to stay behind them as they work their way through the pack. The whole race, I spent gaining and loosing places. Near the race’s end I found myself in the 18th position. I was pleased to see the Last Lap board and knowing we were about to finish two Finals during one weekend. Before the checkered flag, I was able to make a last lap pass boosting myself up to 17th.
Though our results are not much to be desired we did show signs of improvement throughout the entire weekend. We were able to finish every race, which was a huge plus and the first time we have done so all season long. We still have a very long way to go with the development of the program but after finishing two Finals on a tough track like Zuera, it was a little bit of a confidence booster.
Once we were released from Parc Ferme, we started tearing down the chassis to get it ready to put in the trailer. After a quick break to watch Nyck take another victory in KF1, we started tearing down the tent. My flight was Sunday evening so I had to bail out from helping the guys take everything down, which I felt bad about. I like helping the team as much as I can, but the way the flights were booked they would have to do it without me.
Once we arrived at the airport in Zaragoza, we got our bags checked in and grabbed an ice cream. The whole flight was made up of karters, who made the flight a bit more interesting. Once we landed, I hooked up with five-time World Champ Danilo Rossi, who was going to be my ride home from Bergamo to Desenzano. I have known Danilo for some time due to all my years racing with CRG and it was nice to catch up with what he has been up to. Just before 10:00 pm, we rolled up to my apartment in the CRG Factory and I jumped out of Danilo’s car and headed upstairs. Before I went to bed, I cooked a small plate of pasta for myself and thought about the weekend. Though it was nothing to write home about we were able to finish all the races and learned more about our package. After a long racing weekend I was happy to be able to crawl into my own bed and call it a night. |
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