Santa Pod Raceway Season Finale 12/13 October Review 2024
The CKGB 2024 season came to an end with the “Season Finale” at Santa Pod on 12th & 13th October.
This was the third event in four weeks, so numbers were a little down due to the usual Cyclekart attrition rate. Santa Pod was hosting a “Run What Your Brung” event on the strip for the Saturday and a “Straightliners” event on the Sunday which in addition to the cars and motorbikes also included radically modified mobility scooters, lawn-mowers, quad-bikes, etc. This gave CKGB the opportunity to have sole use of the “Live-Action Arena” for the whole weekend. Following the success of the “double-oval” track at Newark a few weeks earlier, this format was once again utilised for Santa Pod. The fast outer-oval included the infamous “puddle”, but it was possible to just skirt this without getting too wet. There were a total of 9 Cyclekarts and 9 drivers for the weekend, but not all were able to attend both days.
On Saturday there were 7 Cyclekarts and 6 drivers, but there were significant changes to many of the Cyclekarts, which needed testing and subsequent fettling. Consequently, Saturday ended up being a “Test & Tune” day, with drivers very pleased with the results and improvements. We then set off to the grandstands to watch some of the action on the strip.
Sunday saw some changes to line-up in our paddock with a total of 8 Cyclekarts and 7 drivers. Activities commenced with general practice, followed by a “gymkhana” style event, then a sprint and some pursuit racing. The gymkhana event comprised carrying a 5 litre container of water around a twisty course, however the container had 6 holes in the bottom so that the water leaked out as you drove round the course. The winner is the one with most water left at the end of the course, where the driver puts the container in a bowl so that no more water is lost. Drivers can elect to drive with just one hand, or can place the container on their lap, but then end up with soaking wet trousers. Subsequently, everyone decided to drive single-handed! The winner was Tim Wheater, whose unfair interpretation of the rules saw him drive round with the container upside down and the open top resting on his hand! This slowed the rate of leaking water, but it all ran down his arm! Additionally,we saw what he was doing so we turned the bowl at the finish upside down as well, which caused a lot of confusion and more lost water when he stopped at the finish line
Results for the “Aqua Autotest” and sprint are in the following tables:
NOISE-TEST RESULTS
The club has also started carrying out various technical checks at events, to gather data and ensure the handbook is being adhered to. For this event we used the club noise-meter to measure noise as some Cyclekarts had been a bit noisy at Newark. The club does not set a limit for noise, but many venues have a noise-limit, so its good to gather data on the noise we are emitting. The noise was measured as a peak reading and not an average reading. These were drive-by readings at approx. 18 metres distance. The peak noise was when Cyclekarts were accelerating away from the apex at the end of the oval.
The results are detailed in the table below:
SUMMARY
In summary the 2024 season has seen a significant increase in the number of entrants and also the number and variety of events that can be entered. There has been a lot of experimentation with venues, track layouts and activities. The new “double-oval” track will be retained for 2025, and we will add gymkhana style tests to our repertoire of activities as well.
Here’s to a cracking 2025 season!!
Best regards
Ian Fletcher
CKGB Events
