Moov2 Xmas Grand Prix

Team day out go karting

For the Moov2 2016 Christmas blow out, we took the team to Team Sport Go Karting centre in Eastleigh, Southampton. We gathered at HQ before heading off in convoy. A mix of nerves and excitement built as we arrived, checked in and donned our overalls. A short safety briefing and it was nearing race time. Being the geeky types, wearable fitness trackers were out in force and heart-rate comparisons were made before we started (70-100bpm).

A brief warm up followed by 15 minutes of qualifying laps where your best lap time determined your grid position for the main race. After qualifying Pete was the fastest, an important victory for him as he was particularly keen to beat me after coming second to my first the last time we went in 2008. I ended up starting 6th for the main event.

The track at Eastleigh is good fun with a nice balance of being short enough to get familiar with it but long enough to keep racing interesting. There's also a bridge immediately after a tight hairpin which takes you up over the track allowing a brief scan of the action below before hurtling back down a long, fast straight.

The lights went green and we all sped off the start line... immediately into a big pile up courtesy of an over-enthusiastic first corner by Joe! Fortunately I managed to swerve the mess that ensued and found myself immediately behind Pete. The red lights came on indicating everyone needed to stop whilst they untangled everyone. Pete turns around to see what's up and is surprised to see me already on his tail, grinning. Race on.

For several laps we were head to head as I tried to pass, the final large corner being my best chance at overtaking as Pete kept sliding out too wide and I'd get a sniff of first place before he'd be able to pull back into the racing line just in front of me. I was determined to get past and soon we were catching up with the tail end of the pack, he was hopeful he could get some traffic between us and I was hopeful someone would cause him to slip up. But we both kept getting past and he was still firmly in my sights. That is until I pushed a little too hard and slid out extremely wide narrowly avoiding spinning out. This lost me a few vital seconds and gave Pete the clear run to pull ahead. From this point he only got quicker and sailed through the final few laps to take the win ahead of me and the rest of the team. I maintained second throughout but had Steve and Mobin hot on my heels.

Final rankings for the Moov2 2016 Xmas GP ended:

1. Pete
2. Dan
3. Steve
4. Mobin
5. Ben G
6. Andrea
7. Jack
8. Joe
9. Lawrence
10. Ben
11. Josh

A great day had by all full of excitement with heart rate monitors reporting 180+ for the final race! We followed the racing with burgers at the newly opened Byron Burger in Southampton and a few festive drinks. One lesson I did learn this year is not to leave it until the last full working week in December to try to find somewhere to cater for 11 people on a Friday evening! Thanks to Byron for managing this at extremely short notice.

I thoroughly recommend Team Sport for their fantastic karting venue and superb team and also Byron Burger West Quay for great burgers, milkshakes and beers with ample space for large groups.

#adventblogging post 16 of 24 see the rest.