REVERSED 100 miles / 2H Endurance @ Genk - 2023/06/09

Driver: #MichaVerboeket
Driver weight with gear and extra ballast: 86kg
Team: OKT-Racing 7 (Micha + Geoffrey)
Qualified: p29, finished p18

Starting p29. Switched karts during quali, as we did not have luck in the lottery. A lot going on in the first lap. I am driving defensife lines going towards the insides of the corners as much as possible while also diving into some gaps that emerge. Others driving on the grass. Gained 5 positions lap 1. In lap 2 I gain another 2 positions. I got almost bumped off track into the sand at the hairpin (was my own fault leaving that much space) losing 1 position, but everything turned out well as he left enough space for me on the outside.
I quickly catch up due to the battles in front of me in lap 3. Gaining 5 positions in 1 action. I'm behind OKT Axel and Sam VP. Beginning of the next lap I make a braking error, and OKT Stef shows himself trying to overtake me @06:10. I am in a position now where the others (also behind me) have better karts, so it's a matter of time for them to overtake me back. I start getting bumps also from others at @07:05. I got bumped out of the corner, losing 3 positions which I take back again diving to the inside corner @07:24.

First 6-7 laps was all about technique and momentum, taking advantage of others batteling, but you'd seen clearly that my kart is not accelerating that well compared to others. @10:10 I start to decide to pit early as soon as was allowed (after 10 minutes). I try to do a few clean laps to make sure that I make the right decision. @10:47 and @11:08, especially @11:23 and @12:01 you see the ease they overtake and accelerate away from me. Sufficient proof for me, combined with the fact that 3 out of 4 karts/sessions earlier this Wednesday that I was also driving 1:11.3-4-7 laptimes instead of 1:12.8s (+1.1 to +1.4s slower with this kart), made me enter the pits. Also this race today the karts from last Wednesday were driving similar times where top 5 are 1.1-1.3 seconds quicker (1:11.5-7s). Top 14 was also ±1 second quicker then my kart. So, although the karts in the pits are likely not top karts entering this soon, there is a good chance that they are quicker then my current kart. So I pit, and switch karts. This second kart was similar 'bad' but in a different way. Look at the acceleration e.g. @22:03 when having a better exit and speed initially and then the other one pull away… 🤷‍♂️. I needed to get used to the little bit more nervous handling, and then I managed to get 1:12.5-7 laptimes tops.

@33:20 the race leaders start to overtake me. I was no use trying to defend with this kart, as you can conclude from the 6 karts overtaking me that next 2 laps, including OKT Dennis, and @37:00 OKT Jan.

I stayed out until the 1 hour half race time where the chance of a better karts was bigger (as the top karts had to enter the pits in max 60min allowed stints). I switched with my teammate Geoffrey who finished the second part of the 2h race.

After the first 10 minutes with the bad kart I managed to drive from p29 to p18. We also finished p18 in the end, so that was nice. We know what we are worth with more equal material. Next time better luck (again) at Genk 😇

PS: Yes, @14:05 I 3 times double-checked that the transponder was correctly fitted 😅.. We all know why, I think 😋

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