8H

Outdoor Karting @ Mariembourg, Belgium (Karting des Fagnes)
Onboard Action Cam 2023/06/06: 8H SOLO endurance race by Micha
SODI RT8 / 390cc
Track layout: Grand Circuit, 1366m
Driver: #MichaVerboeket
Driver weight with gear: 90.5-87.5kg (85+kg class)
Qualified: p25(?) / Finished p27 of 44 (p12 of 24 in class 85+kg)
My 2023 challenge: 8 hour karting race, #SOLO! And a challenge it was... #rain #rain #rain 🌧️🌧️🌧️. 60-70% of the full 8H were wet conditions 🏊‍♂️. 5 (!!) times from wet to dry to wet 😅. But I made it! Full solo race, without any breaks, no driver switches, and all fuel pit stops without any additional time 🥵. And as a bonus, I even finished midfield p27 of 44). Always pushing for #performance.
Qualification was rainy and wet. Not my best, but I qualified p25(?). I ultimately finished 27th in a field of 3 weight classes: -75kg, 75-85, and 85+. I was 85+ this race, and with 90.5kg at the start, on the very safe side including some additional ballast to cover weight loss, and some drinking bags and energy gells to make sure I could complete the full 8H without dropping below the 85 (my main goal was finishing the full 8H solo). You can see the weight differences very well, as some of the karts have accelerations and top speeds that were never possible with 15-20kg more that I was carrying 😇
At the race start I had a good #lemans style start, getting on the throttle early gaining an advantage over others. In corner 1 I gain 3 positions, lap 1 in total I gained about 5 positions if I remember correctly 😎. Good start! Especially corner 1 and 2 were very tricky conditions. Everybody ahead and behind including myself is looking tot he limit in grip, sometimes just over the limit and counting on each other to get through the corners. At the start I overtake OKT Kevin, Ron, Sam (?) Lap 1 for me was as much as possible protecting the inside, because when at the outside when getting bumped in the wet is most of the times a trip onto the grass and spinning 😅
Lap 5 you could already see some more dryer lines, and the kart in front of me has a bit trouble adjusting to the better grip and harder braking options, but @08;30 I find a moment with sufficient space to overtake positioning myself next to him at the beginning of lap 6 and getting step by step advantages in the first 2 corners.
Some of the karts had issues that they started stuttering in the slow corner turn #8 also going downwards a bit. My kart also had this issue which I found out during qualification already, but I could manage this by going extra wide and taking a bit faster entry speed into the corner than I would normally do, just to keep the revs up suffucient enough to make it through; although it did change over time and got a bit worse sometimes. Some of the karts here just broke down due to this issue in the rain, as you can also see first time in this video at this corner @09:30. And you can also still see me struggling with the kart e.g. @11:07 (and @14:25 and @17.43). Having passed the kart in front of me my lap times become instantly 1.5s quicker, and I get into the flow of driving my own times. For some time I was thinking to switch karts, as my start kart had its issues, but I decided to just focus on the 8H endurance and drive the full 1h stint with it before making a pit stop for a kart switch.
@18:35 a kart overtaking, making a mistake right after that and spinning in front of me in corner 2 😅
2 kart overtake me @23:30 and @25:35 but with the changing weather and track drying up I could keep up some laps after that. Lap 20 @31:35 you can see me trying some very different lines more on the limit of the grip and working the steering wheel. I am also cloing in on the other karts in front of me. @36:30 unfortunately it starts to rain again especially sector 2 and 3.. And so it continues until end of the 8h race. Last 10 minutes of the video 3 or so of other are having a moment going off track or spinning with the changing conditions 😅
Driving the full 8H race on my own #solo was quite the challenge, but what an experience! 💪
What should be my next challenge?! 😇
8 OKT-Racing teams on track (of the 44 teams in total).. almost 1/5th of the participants is OKT 😆 #OKTpower #orangearmy!
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Video with statistics overlay created using "Race Render 3" software, based on GoPro Hero 7 Black Telemetry and the timings provided by the track if GPS was not available.
PS: Don't mind the GoPro's GPS data (speed/location/…) in the video overlay, as the clouds did prevent a good GPS signal for this to work well). Timings are correct, from the official APEX timing system.

[@LeFollon]

Respect !

[@baggels]

Haha, i'm the guy at 9.30, lot of stuttering indeed. Awfull conditions but i learned a lot. My fine team of totally newbies finished last :). Did not know it was ok to make a team of one. Respect to you, after 30 min i was totally exhausted.

[@MichaVerboeket]

Thank you! It really was a challenge. It were perfect conditions to learn indeed and get the most out of your technique, that is true. And it doens't make much of a difference driving an hour in this rainy weather or 5.. 😎

[@moniquemiranda7289]

😓 Promo`SM