Here’s Zac Walvin’s diary from the Tillotson T4 Nations Cup event held in Spain a week ago.
It has taken a few days, but I wanted to review all the footage and timing to give you all an accurate assessment of the weekends racing.
After only 6 sessions of practice, the first mission was timed qualifying. With a lap of this wonderful circuit at just over a minute and the timed session only being 6 minutes, qualifying with a clean lap was going to be tough. My group had a 35 karts field, all on the track at the same time for quali. As expected, I struggled to get in a clean lap. By the time the whole field was out on track the first minute and a half was already gone. Result was P19, respectable in such a quality field but nevertheless frustrating as I know I was much faster in practice.
Next up was the first quali heat 1. The kart felt great and I got a fantastic start. It was a tough race, but I moved forward as I had hoped, making up 5 places to a P14 finish.
Quali heat 2 saw me starting from my original timed quali position of P19, and again I got a great start. I moved through the field and was able to get clear to P14 again to start chasing down the leading train. The lead train was some 13 karts long! I led the rest of the field from (P14) with that lead train in front of me. I was slowly reeling them in, which was difficult due to the tow effect 13 karts creates, until I had an assisted spin (the post-race driver penalties shows a penalty was awarded to the offender as his nose cone was in the drop-down position) pushing me back to 28th. No time to dwell, I pushed on again passing more karts to recover to 24th. The net result was down 5 places from quali. Frustrating indeed as that undid all the good from quali heat 1. I now had some work ahead of me in quali heat 3 and the superheat to get a good position for the final.
Quali heat 3 was another P19 start from the original timed quali and again I had a great start. I was determined to make up as many spots as possible to give myself a shot at a top 10 finish in the final. I had a fantastic race and pushed hard making up 6 positions with a P13 finish. I broke into the 1.06’s which was what I needed to stay in touch with the top 10.
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The combined results of the quali heats saw me move up to a starting position of P16 for the Superheat. Not as high as I had hoped, but the spin in quali heat 2 hurt me badly. Nevertheless, I was still heading forward and not backwards. The start was a bit tougher this time being on the outside of the track, but I knuckled down, had a good clean race and managed to make up another 3 spots with a P13 finish.
The accumulated results gave me a P15 start for the final. I was on the inside again and the top 10 were closer in my sights then they had been all weekend. I got a blinder of a start and made up 9 places in the first sector. Unfortunately, that is where any chance of a top 10 finish ended. There was a major accident between the front runners at the next turn and as I eased off slightly to avoid it, I was clobbered from behind shooting me off the track and relegated to last place. I rejoined at the rear of the field to be greeted by a yellow flag with no overtaking, with a red flag to follow. The race was stopped. The decision was made (rightly or wrongly) to restart under yellow in our post incident positions rather than a full restart with our original starting positions. Rear of grid start! Yay! I may have been a little annoyed at this which translated into some good driving making up 13 positions (a few due to karts retiring) to recover to a 22nd finish.
Not the number I wanted to see but after the disappointment subsided, I feel like I accomplished a great deal in a quality field of drivers from all around the world. I showed that I had the pace to be running up the front. I was never going to win but I was focused on a top 10 finish. As they say, that’s racing, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I moved forward confidently in every race; I didn’t touch another kart in any races, and I only went backward through no fault of my own. I can live with that.
So that’s a wrap from the T4 Nations Cup. Did I love it, absolutely! Will we be back for another shot, I hope so. This type of racing is the future of 4 stroke. There’s no doubt. The chassis is fantastic, the engine is pure quality, and the tyre choice was spot on for the package. The event was so professionally run and an absolute pleasure to compete in. All I ever want is to race hard, fast and clean. T4 Tillotson Racing embodies that. We met some great people over the 4 days at the track. I hope to stay in touch with you all and hopefully see you again next year.
I have had so many wonderful people help me along on this journey, The list is long, and I thank you all. To everyone that followed us on socials and the live streams during the weekends racing, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. The support was overwhelming, and it spurred me on to do my best.
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