Club100 season review with Racing Dean
All the action from the back of the grid, 2023 Club100 Sprint Season.
Welcome to this episode of Racing Dean where I’ll be breaking down my first season of Club100 heavyweight sprints. My name is Simon Dean and I'm also the founder of Karting Track Guides. (This website.)
I used to do a bit of go karting when I was a teenager, now I'm 42. I did a year of Junior TKM and two years of Yamaha so I thought I’d be in the mix. That said, when you start Club100, you get put into different categories. I’m in N-C3, Novice Category 3—the back of the back. Only the Class 1’s and Class 2’s can occupy the first two thirds of the grid. The Class 3’s are at the back.
Round 1, Buckmore Park
What a shock! I was reading the rules beforehand, and it's like, “four minutes “warm up” before your first heat.” That really caught me off guard, a total culture shock. I was racing round at the back for the heats and thought, “Oh my God, I am so much slower than everyone else.”
However, in the Final all of the other people who were the backs of the heats would be in the C Final, and I had a much better time. I'd finish 9th on track, but then demoted to 13th, because of a small collision on the last lap where I gained a place in a way that I shouldn't have.
This experience left me really humbled and ready for Round 2. Watch Buckmore Park Track Guides here.
Round 2, Shenington
Round Two was Shenington. I had never been to this track before and tried to learn it online using one of Rich Tea Racing’s videos about Shenington which is really helpful to understand the track. Also, I hadn't signed up for the 30 minute practice so no warm up and it was wet, so basically a tricky day ahead.
I went through the heats and was basically at the back the whole time. One of the heats I was doing quite well purely because loads of other people had crashed out and I was like, “Gosh, if I just keep the car on the black stuff, I'm gonna probably get a top 10 finish in this heat,” but I crashed so I would qualify literally second last in the C Final. However, in the C Final, I started to pick up some pace and was doing well, making up some places until someone crashed right in front of me. Nevertheless, towards the end of that heat, I started to feel like I had some pace. So that was really exciting race for me just in terms of feeling like I was progressing.
Round 3, Whilton Mill
Round Three was Wilton Mill, International layout. First time I'd been here as well. In the heats I was slow but kept out of trouble and had a surprise qualification of seventh in the C Final. This freaked me out because I wasn't used to being so far up the grid and I was just like, “Gosh, with all these fast carts, what am I going to do?” And what I did was I crash out on lap two so really unfortunate—I had this great qualifying performance, but then binned it by accident.
Watch Whilton Mill track guides here.
Round 4, Rye House
Round Four would be Rye House, which was the round that I was looking forward to the most because when I was a teenager Rye House was my home circuit. However, sadly I had a wedding so I would not be able to go.
Round 5, Clay Pigeon
A very very VERY wet Clay Pigeon Raceway.
Round 5 was Clay Pigeon and I had high hopes for this weekend. My dad lives in Somerset about half an hour from the track. So I went out for the Friday test to learn the track ahead of time. It was torrential rain, but I started to feel quite good. Club100 drive slicks in the wet and I was getting used to really hammering in the steering lock to get the kart turned.
I was feeling quite optimistic. Unfortunately, I'd had a cold and I just got rid of the cold before the practice but then afterwards, it just knocked me for six and I was actually too ill to race on the Sunday.
Round 6, Lydd
Lydd was one of my best weekend's of the season. I did okay in the heat and would qualify 4th in the C Final. The top four in the C Final go through to the back of the B Final. And indeed, I would qualify in fourth place and be added on to the back of the B Final which was fantastic for me. There I would be in the mix with some of the back markers and finished 21st in the B Final with a respectable lap time. Watch it here.
Round 7, Llandow
I had a pretty good weekend. I was able to do the practice. I was definitely not the fastest but I felt fairly well prepared. In the heats, I did okay despite being spun around in one of them. So I qualified 9th in the C Final and finished 9th too. That felt about right - I raced fairly well and that was sort of roughly where I belong.
Round 8, Ellough Park
Round 8 would be Ellough Park in Suffolk. This would be another weekend where I had good pace but a poor race performance. Once again, I qualified near the back of the C Final. After some mistakes in the heats, I was determined to race cleanly in the C Final, which I did, and managed to make my way back up to 7th. The great news was that I was able to lay down a pretty fast lap in the midst of all of this—a lap that was faster than lots of people in the B Final and a couple of people in the A Final. So overall I reflect quite fondly of this weekend as it was the first time when I felt that I had some real pace and could do some damage on the track.
Round 9, Wilton Mill National
Unfortunate penalties at Whilton Mill!
Round 9 was Wilton Mill National or “Zulu layout” and this weekend I would actually do the Club100 SP60 endurance on the day before, stay overnight and then do the Heavyweight Sprint's the next day.
I had the better day during the SP60 event, which consists of 15 min qualifying, followed by two 30 min races. My second SP60 race, which you can find here on Karting Track Guides was definitely “not bad,” about a second off the pace of the fastest guys.
Day two was also on the Zulu or National layout. This track format is a bit shorter, with a twisty bit in the middle with the corners named “Zulu.” Whilton Mill is still a great track, but I like this layout slightly less than the International track.
I had good pace in Heat 1, with a nice mini exchange with Jason Kirkham. In my second heat we were told that there's a particular hairpin where if you go on the inside you loosely have the right to that corner. During the SP60 I pulled off two great overtakes there, but when I tried to do the same during the Sprints, I had accidents both times!
This would mean that I qualified poorly for the final. After a fair start, I began making my way back through the field. But on lap two, there was an unfortuneate chain of events that caused a driver to spin right in front of me. I had no choice but to collide with him, which resulted in a 6 place penalty.
This was my worst result of the season, despite putting in the most effort to try and dominate the weekend.
Watch Whilton Mill track guides here.
Round 10, Buckmore Park
Round 10 would be Buckmore Park again, and I reflect on this as my best race of the season. It was wet and I think it transpires that I drive better in the wet especially if you don't try and have accidents. I kept it clean in all the heats and would qualify 3rd for the C Final.
Sadly, the pressure got to me and crashed on the first lap. The silver living was that I got to work my way through the pack and would finish 11th overall.
KTG has some great footage of where to over at Buckmore Park in the wet - watch it here.
Race season conclusion
Season Redux: I finished 50th overall, which equates to roughly a net 10th position in the C Final. My best result was 21st in the B Final. My best qualifying for the finals was 3rd in the C Final. I had a really great time over the course of the year and started to recognise more familiar faces around the pits as well as making some friends through Karting Track Guides, like James Johnson of Rich Tea Racing and Tom Angier of Mango Motorsport.
For 2024, I suspect I will still be a N-C3. But if I keep my nose out of trouble, I think I can put in a good show and hopefully get into C2 two for 2025.
Learn your tracks for Club100 2024 here or submit a track guide - race or hot lap - here.
