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| November 27, 2007 |
| Team News: Shockwave Karting Team - SKUSA SuperNationals Report |
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This November saw a return to the SKUSA SuperNationals by the Shockwave Karting Team. Explaining the 2 year absence was team principle Doug Welch “ With the team drivers off to college, it didn’t seem to make sense to attend an event of this magnitude without a first rate effort. So the decision was made not to attend until such time as we could put forth a first class effort.” So it was with a renewed focus that Shockwave Karting loaded the trailer and headed west to Las Vegas.
Shockwave would enter only two drivers, Jeff Welch in the highly competitive S3 (stock moto) class and Greg Welch in the equally competitive Rotax Senior class. These two classes are often the most competitive of the support classes. That was true for this edition of the SuperNationals and these two classes were second only to SuperPro for the number of drivers within 1 second of pole. In S3, there were 17 drivers within 1 second of the pole winning time while Rotax senior saw 13 drivers in the same 1 second envelope. The team had a simple goal in mind, qualify in the top ten and hope for good luck. At an event like this, turn one luck can often spell success or doom for the entire week.
After the Wednesday round of practices was complete, the team was feeling good about their chances. Both drivers had posted times in the last practice session well in the top 10 with Jeff at 6th and Greg in 7th, both only a few tenths off quick time. The team was looking forward to Thursday qualifying. First up was Greg in Rotax Senior and luck was not on his side. On his first lap, Greg clipped a barrier in the S-turn complex, damaging a front steering component. His session was done. Greg would be starting all the heat races from 37th position.
Jeff faired much better in S3. Posting a time good for 7th on the grid, Jeff would be starting on the inside of row 4. Usually the front rows get through the turn 1 cleanly so the team had high hopes. Those hopes turned out to be misplaced. The first two heat races on Friday resulted in incidents that would take Jeff out of the running. The first heat race ended in turn 2, the second in turn 1.
Greg’s Friday heat races went much better. Starting both Friday heats in the back, Greg was able to post two good finishes, 16th and 18th. It was beginning to look like racing luck would only shine on one team kart at a time. Thursday qualifying was Jeff’s turn, Friday heat races were Greg’s turn. What would Saturday bring?
For Jeff, he finally got through turn 1, then two, then three. Oh boy we had a race. Jeff spent the next 10 laps enveloped in a heated battle with 5 karts for 4th spot. At the stripe, Jeff held a 6th place finish in the final heat race. Only our imagination could tell us what might have happened if he had not had such bad luck in the first two heat races.
The 3rd heat race for Greg was a mix of good and bad. He was able to move up, but not like the first two heat races. He finished in 26th position. In the 3 heat races he passed 51 karts! His string of good finishes would give him a 15th starting spot for the main event on Sunday.
Super Sunday would find the team drivers starting in mid pack. Despite Jeff’s two horrible rounds, he would be starting in 21st. The main events were a long 25 laps, so there was time to move up. Jeff’s start was clean with only minor bumping and banging and he came through turn 3 in 22nd spot. Jeff put his head down and drove consistent and clean laps. Picking them off one at a time, he was able to move up and finished in the 13th spot. In the process, Jeff turned the 8th quick time of the race. The long drive home would give plenty of time for reflection as to what might have happened if the first two heat races had gone better.
Greg’s main event would start much better. Greg found turn one very friendly as he moved up from 15th to 4th! However, by the time they got to the long start/finish straight, we found a problem with our setup. We were geared a bit too low. It was great for pulling out of the tight corners but not so great for the long straight. Over the course of the race, Greg slipped backwards and finished the main in 11th spot.
As the team headed back to Colorado, it gave time for reflection of the week’s events. The teams primary goal was to have karts and drivers capable of running in the top 10 of the two most competitive support classes. That mission was accomplished. But for a bit of bad luck, the team could have had one or both drivers on the podium. There is always next year.
For more information on Shockwave karting karts and components, please see http://www.shockwavekarting.com or call 800-608-3457 |
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