One of the greatest challenge racers face is jumping from one vehicle to another and being competitive. The driver has to adjust his style, adapt to the conditions, and employ an entirely different skill set.
Young Daniel spent a week in electric karts at GPK, then jumped into a Honda powered ‘arrive and drive’ kart at Mosport Kartways. Lighter, less powerful…everything about the kart was different, and Demaras struggled.
Daniel’s times were in the midfield during early practice, but did manage to improve for final practice. The joy was short-lived, as qualifying saw Daniel start a lowly 6th; his worst qualifying of the year.
As the Ferraris screamed in the background, Daniel tried to salvage a good points finish. When a collision between two karts occurred right in Daniel’s racing line, he had to take evasive action. Off the track and into the grass to avoid impact, Daniel lost two positions as back-markers raced past him. A recovery drive saw Daniel reach a finish of 4th to bring home 5 points.
Senior driver Chris did little better. Although he is familiar with the track layout, and has years’ worth of experience under his belt, #16 still did poorly in the practice sessions, often at the bottom of the time sheets.
Demaras blew the start of his race, as a stalled kart on he grid blocked him from leaving the pits. When he did rejoin the karts on track, the green flag flew before the back of the field had caught up. Demaras was 100 m behind at the start line.
One on track pass saw Demaras improve to 5th position, well off the podium.
After the CRKC event, Daniel retuned to the team paddock, left to think back at the missed opportunity, and prepare his Briggs & Stratton Intrepid kart for Sunday’s race.