Round 2 - Whilton Mill | Club100 Junior Northern Championship
Six weeks after my first race weekend at Silverstone, I was back in a Club100 kart, this time at Whilton Mill.
It’s a brilliant circuit and one Club100 visits regularly, so a lot of the experienced drivers know it inside out. That was always going to make things tough for me, and it will probably be the story for most tracks this season. The positive was that I’d driven Whilton Mill once before on a (very wet) academy day in early February, so I at least had a decent mental map of the place. This weekend, though, most of our running was expected to be in the dry, so getting the dry lines right quickly was going to matter.
This time I could attend the Friday test sessions, which meant proper seat time before race day.
Friday testing (and a near miss)
I almost missed the start of testing entirely. We set off from Scotland thinking we had plenty of buffer, but Easter holiday traffic and roadworks had other ideas. Despite aiming to arrive well before drivers’ check-in opened, we rolled into the car park about five minutes before the drivers’ briefing.
After nearly eight hours in the car, I was straight into my race suit and out for familiarisation laps.
With the quality of the field, I was keen to get up to speed quickly and show I could compete. I pushed a bit too hard, though. I was arriving too fast into too many corners, ruining exits, and I spun more than once. I finished the first session 27th of 29.
Session 2 was only slightly better. I improved by around half a second, but I was still 27th.
Times aren’t everything, and even the messy sessions were useful. The track time mattered, and the camera footage gave us something solid to work with.
Reviewing footage: two clear areas to fix
That night at the hotel, my dad and I went through the footage and compared it with a couple of track guides from experienced drivers. Two things stood out straight away.
- Exits from Christmas and the lines through the next two corners I was trying to open the corners too much when they could be taken much straighter and, in places, flat. A cleaner approach here would save time without taking any extra risk.
- Turn-in on the tighter corners My turn-ins were a bit hesitant. I needed to be more decisive on entry, get the kart rotated sooner, and then be back on the throttle earlier.
Not everything was bad. I actually felt fairly comfortable through the last few corners, so I knew there were sections I could build on.
Race day: early start, changing weather
Club100 race days are incredible, but they start early and they are long. I was at the track shortly after 7am to get settled, focus on the day, and grab some breakfast.
I’d been watching the forecast and it looked like we might get a bit of morning rain before it dried out. I was hoping the rain would stay away, but by the track walk it started lightly… then turned heavier. Not ideal.
I’d driven Whilton Mill in the wet before, but this was different. It wasn’t quite as drenched as the academy day, yet it was wet enough to make me question how the sessions would play out.
Our group ran last for practice, which helped. The rain had stopped and the track was clearly starting to dry. It was still a little damp at first, and everyone’s times were slower than Friday, but the grip came in quickly and lap times dropped dramatically as the session went on. I finished 18th of 25 in the group, and I was genuinely pleased. I already felt more comfortable with my lines and braking points.
Qualifying: a big step forward
By qualifying the circuit was completely dry, and this was my chance to test the changes we’d been working on.
I eased my way into the session, building pace rather than forcing it. By my fourth lap I was already a few tenths quicker than my best Friday lap. I kept chipping away at it, then found a big improvement of about nine tenths on lap seven. I held roughly the same pace for a few laps and then found another three tenths on my final lap.
Overall, I was nearly two seconds quicker than my best Friday test lap. That put me 35th out of 51 and meant I’d start 13th on the grid in the Pre-B Final. I was really happy with that and felt like I finally had something to race with.
Pre-B Final: first-corner drama (again)
On the formation laps, my whole focus was surviving the first two corners and then seeing what I could do from there.
I started on the inside for the left-hander at Turn 1, which quickly becomes the outside for Turn 2 before the field stretches out on the long drag uphill towards Christmas. The plan was simple.
- Stay tight to the inside at Turn 1.
- Leave enough room at Turn 2.
- Get a strong exit and go racing.
As we crossed the line I hugged the inside. So far, so good. Then at Turn 2, I thought I’d left enough space. I remember hoping the karts on the inside would stick to the kerb… but there was contact, and I spun onto the run-off.
It happened again.
The small mercy this time was that I wasn’t stuck in the grass. I got turned around quickly and rejoined after the pack. I was 28th of 29 (another driver behind also spun), and suddenly it was a recovery drive.
I’d lost around 15 places, but I needed to make as many back as I could. The first lap was chaotic for a few drivers, and I picked off positions as others had their own incidents. By the end of lap one, I was already up to 24th.
Over the next few laps I kept catching and passing, eventually finishing 20th. It wasn’t what I’d hoped for from where I started, but as a recovery drive I was satisfied.
More importantly, I was starting to feel properly comfortable. Amazingly, the corner I struggled with most in testing, Christmas, was quickly becoming my favourite overtaking spot.
B Final: a better start, one costly mistake
For the last race of the day, the B Final, I lined up 18th.
This time, I started on the other side of the grid. The question was the same: could I survive the first two corners and actually build a race?
I gave space through Turn 1, kept it tight through Turn 2, and made it through cleanly. I even gained a couple of positions. By the end of lap one I was 15th.
I kept pushing forward, making a few more overtakes (especially through Christmas) and I got up to 13th at one point. A slightly mistimed move gave one position back, but I was still in the fight.
With a few laps to go, I was still under pressure from the kart behind. I decided to attack again to relieve the pressure, but a little overconfidence into my new favourite corner led to a small lock-up and another spin.
I rejoined in 17th and held it to the line, including a drag race to the finish.
It was a strong drive with some great overtakes, but one small mistake cost me three places.
Takeaways
Overall, I was happy with how the weekend went.
- I made a big step forward in the dry and qualified much stronger than Friday suggested.
- I felt more at home in the kart, especially in the areas we targeted after reviewing the footage.
- I proved I can race forward through the pack, even when things go wrong early.
Now the focus is to keep building confidence and consistency. Next month we head to GYG for Round 3, and I’m looking forward to carrying this momentum into the next weekend.