The ACF crew finally had a day where it didn't snow a foot to get ourselves up to the F1 Boston facility in Braintree, MA for an afternoon of kart racing. The tensions were high with this being new turf for many of the participants. It was great to see some new faces and meet some new people. Our racers included Andrew E., Karen E., Genevieve E. (the Ellison clan was a dominant group not to be trifled with!), Rob M., Joe A., Peter G., Tom D., Jean-Yves C., Fred C., Michael B., and Sterling V. We lost Louise J. to illness, Alex SdB. to his son not feeling well, and poor Attilio lost a radiator hose or caught on fire or something on his way up route 95. We weren't happy to hear that news. But he and his kids did get home safely. We missed everyone who could not make it and hope to have more events so we can all get in on the action.
As we waited for our fearless leader Jean-Yves to locate the track, we signed our lives away and did some trash talking. Once we were all assembled, we watched a safety and procedural video to teach us all how to behave on track. Not that we ended up following any of those rules. But we did suit up for battle in helmets, full race suits and neck braces.
The format would be 4 races in total. The first three races would set positions for the final, trophy-deciding race based on points scored in the initial races. Rob M. and Peter G. showed some strong early pace. Joe A. must have sandbagged to lull us into complacency. Jean-Yves showed some good, consistent placement. And the Ellison clan also sandbagged a bit. Everyone got a feel for the karts and the track.
Round two saw Joe A. start to show his hand and speed. Rob and Peter stayed right up at the top of the timesheets. Andrew E. popped way up from his prior race (sandbagger!) and Tom must have run into a spin or some other challenge. Fred and Michael hunted for some more pace and Karen was not lucky enough to be in one of the faster machines for this run (there was quite a bit of performance variation in the karts, oddly). By now everyone was getting up to speed and the pack was getting tighter!
Round three's checkered flag went to Rob with Joe only 2 seconds behind. Andrew was only one more second behind and Tom just one more behind him! Peter, Fred, and Michael were each only one more second back per person. Great racing! The first seven places were only separated by 7.7 seconds! Now that is good stuff right there!
The final race saw some intense on-track battles - and a few penalties for bumping and causing spins - I know from my own personal experience in the "Sin Bin." There were some spins but the yellow flags were reasonably restrained. When the checkered flag finally flew, Joe A. was the first to cross the line for the trophy followed by me (Sterling), Peter G., Rob M, Tom D, Genevieve E, Jean-Yves, Fred, Andrew, Michael, and Karen.
An interview with our winner:
Joe said he was good at karting with his European race experience. And he wasn't kidding. I think this demands a rematch. Who's with me?