Action Packed Racing in AMC, Round 2

6-7 April 2013, Malaysia

Fresh from Round 1 , once again Jon is participating in AMC Rd2 being held at Sepang International Karting Circuit again. The Team is going to try out some new set-ups this time and Jon is in a good mood for some action packed racing. It was all good from Friday practice till Saturday morning practice as Jon was able to post the 3^rd fastest time. Then disaster struck in Qualifying when Jon’s kart has tire pressure issue arising from a miscalculation by the mechanic. With his best effort, Jon can only qualify at position 17^th from a full grid of 34 drivers. Nevertheless, Jon is confident that he will be able to fight to the front as he knows he has the pace.

Unfortunately, in both the heats ( 1 and 2 ), it was first corner mayhem and Jon was not able to avoid them. By the second turn, he had dropped to the rear of the grid and only able to finish at 19^th and 22^nd respectively. Looking at the bright side, Jon’s kart was not damaged, just some tire marks and dents. Based on the points system,  Jon would have to start from 20^th in the Pre-Final. In order not to get into the first turn pile-up, Jon decided to back off, take a look and see strategy. True enough, another pile-up at turn 1 but this time, he was able to avoid by running into the grass. From then on, it is action packed racing after just dropping one spot to 21^st position.

With 20 laps to complete the race, Jon was able to overtake 14 drivers and finished at 7^th. This great result had given Jon the opportunity to challenge for a podium spot. In the Finals, Jon was determined not to get into the first turn mayhem again. There were some tussles and jostling for positions but he was able to keep his position until turn 2 where he was climbed from the rear. Luckily Jon only lost 2 spots from the incident but the front 5 drivers has already pulled some gap ahead. It was action packed racing again all the way to the end with Jon trading places between the drivers in position 6^th to 9^th. In the end, Jon ended his race at 8^th position though his race pace would have put him in 5^th.

No podium spot this time but it has been a wonderful racing experience for Jon to chase from the back. The team went home with some good memories and better understanding of the kart set-up from this round.

For sure, next time round, the target will be a podium spot!



At the Finals, Jon at Position 7th on the starting grid.

more pictures of the race can be viewed here…