- Written by Jon Lee
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X30 Challenge 2015 (Round 3)
X30 Challenge 2015 (Round 3)
7 November 2015, KF1 Circuit
7 November 2015, KF1 Circuit
77 drivers from 7 different countries competed in round 3 of X30 Challenge.
It was a strange and troubled weekend for the team. On Friday, there were five practice sessions. Overall, Jon’s pace was almost 0.8seconds slower than the fastest driver. Upon further investigation, it was found that the carburettor was leaking thus loss of mid-range power. After rebuilding the carburettor with a new set of rebuild kit, the mechanic was still unable to solve the leak. Subsequently, the team borrowed another piece of carburettor and tested on the track, but it was leaking too! Finally, a new carburettor was installed & the leak was solved but there is only one more session left. So, for the last practise session, new tires were fitted but Jon was still 0.5seconds off the best pace of the day. A leaking front left tire was discovered while the kart was being cleaned thus explaining the slow final practice pace.
It was a strange and troubled weekend for the team. On Friday, there were five practice sessions. Overall, Jon’s pace was almost 0.8seconds slower than the fastest driver. Upon further investigation, it was found that the carburettor was leaking thus loss of mid-range power. After rebuilding the carburettor with a new set of rebuild kit, the mechanic was still unable to solve the leak. Subsequently, the team borrowed another piece of carburettor and tested on the track, but it was leaking too! Finally, a new carburettor was installed & the leak was solved but there is only one more session left. So, for the last practise session, new tires were fitted but Jon was still 0.5seconds off the best pace of the day. A leaking front left tire was discovered while the kart was being cleaned thus explaining the slow final practice pace.
On Sat morning, Jon only managed to qualify 5th. It was not so bad as his pace was just 0.27seconds slower than the pole time. In race 1, Jon managed to pass one driver only, thus finishing 4th to salvage as much points as he can. Before race 2, the carburettor was checked and recalibrated again. This time, it was found that the pop-off pressure was too high that resulted in leaning of the fuel mixture. While the team was having lunch, it started to drizzle and soon it was pouring heavily about one and a half hour before the race. The team took their time to set the kart properly for a wet race.
In race 2, starting from 4th, Jon did not have a good start and dropped one spot. By lap 5, Jon has overtaken three drivers but the leader has pulled away by about 1.5seconds. For the next 8 laps, Jon chased him down and reduced the gap to 0.7seconds but he was not able to improve further after that. Eventually, Jon finished the race at 2nd position. Not bad for a weekend filled with multiple issues. Overall, Jon was declared 2nd for Round 3 based on the points from race 1 and 2 thus extending his championship lead.
Round 4 to be held on the 21st Nov will be the penultimate round for X30 Challenge 2015. Hopefully, the team will not be facing any more carburetor and tire leak issues again and chase for a win this time.
