Free Bankroll Racing



Race Report

This is a race report of the New Milton Pedalcar Grand Prix held on the 15 July 2007 from the viewpoint of our sponsored car, Free Bankroll Racing (car number 18). Here is the teams report.

The day started dry, an early morning was spent adding finishing touches to the pedal car for the race.

As the morning progressed the rain arrived, promising to make the track slippery and a little more entertaining.

As we arrived at the track the early morning rain had dried up leaving some hope of a dry race. We signed in and got the car scrutineered and entered the car into the holding area giving us a chance to eye up the competition cars and decide who was likely to be the biggest challengers.

The drivers briefing took place followed by a 30 minute practice session on the track giving us a chance to try out the track and bump a few cars along the way (Sorry Photosrule!). During this practice session the rain once again began to fall making some already slippery hairpins even more fun.

A motorbike display then used the track, very loudly zooming up and down providing the spectators with a warm up before the main event. After this the cars formed up on the grid and each driver was interviewed (A chance to advertise the Pedalcar Championship).

Lets Race!

By now it was approaching two o'clock and with the race about to start everyone cleared the track and the race was underway. We quickly progressed from our starting position of 25th to 8th after one lap, then 3rd and into the lead by lap three. We were able to build up a small lead in the first quarter of an hour which was held after the first pit stop and the lead extended up to the half hour mark. By now the rain had stopped and the track was drying out nicely providing more grip around the corners. Another driver change and it quickly became established who our main competition was, Gone Biking Mad!, Pattersons Banger and Pilleys Pedallers.

Problems

Our lead was maintained into the forty five minute mark and we made our 3rd change still maintaining a noticeable lead. Shortly into the forth stint we had a problem with the chain coming off. This small upset on such a fast circuit dumped us down to forth place but still in contention. At the hour mark we made another driver change and began the charge back to attempt to get us back into the lead.

The charge

New Milton Grand PrixWe caught up the third place car (Pattersons Banger) however overtaking them proved somewhat more difficult as we managed to touch wheels sending us up, over and into a heap on the floor. Having quickly picked up the car we once again began to chase the leaders. Two laps later we had successfully overtaken Pattersons Banger and moved up to third place and began to quickly close up the gap to second place. As we came within a few yards of Pilleys Pedallers in second place they got a corner completely wrong and ended up into the hay bales at high speed. This unfortunately took them out of the race promoting us to second place. At our next driver pit stop we had maintained second place however the leaders(Gone Biking Mad!) were now over a minute ahead. As we began to reel them in they got a penalty for overtaking in the pit lane. (Naughty!) They left the pit lane a few yards ahead of us and we able to overtake and build up a small lead.

The Final Quarter

We made another pit stop one hour and a half into the race and continued in the lead. However Gone Biking Mad! now began their charge and the lead was reducing as each lap progressed until we were overtaken and pushed back down into second place. A quick driver change for some fresh legs failed to close the gap as the leaders were flying around the track and had built up a lead of a minute or so.

The Last Charge

One last driver change with eight minutes left reduced the gap but by now there was insufficient time left. We narrowed the lead to around 30 - 40 seconds however time was against us as Gone Biking Mad! claimed victory with Free Bankroll Racing coming in a close second.

Final Thoughts

A fantastic day out, very well organised and a pleasure to have the chance to race around the streets of New Milton. Second place was better than we had expected at the beginning of the day and after the winners got drenched in champagne perhaps second place was better after all!



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