It took 6 months of planning to enter a DDK team in the Buckmore 24 Hours, so I hope we can be forgiven for taking 6 weeks to post the results.
I should also apologise for the lack of fancy photos. Somehow none of us thought to take many shots, so we're limited to stills from my helmet cam and some blurry iphone snaps.
For anyone new to the thread, here are the basics:
- With the £10k for 10 years target hit early, we wanted to support the club's efforts to smash £15k instead.
- For many members, one of the many attractions of early Porsche ownership is the link to long distance racing classic events.
- So it seemed natural to enter a 24hour race, an endeavor to reflect the club's passion for petrol and power, to represent the endurance of the DDK.
- ...And in doing so raise more funds for Macmillan.
And that is how, early on the morning of Oct 12th, 6 nervously excited DDK supporters convened at Buckmore Park in Kent, ready to do battle with 33 other race teams, and the Autumn weather, for a day and a night.
23e Heure Racing's team consisted of 5 drivers: Feroz (yoda), Moggy (moggy), Wayne (rhdracer), Phillip Gaywood, and myself.
Feroz, Moggy and Phillip
Wayne talking me through the best lines
And on duty at our base in the paddock for the duration was our support crew. Our indefatigable Man Friday, Mike Usiskin.
Mike looking after the keys to Feroz's car
To prepare for the main event, we had entered 2 karts in July's Buckmore 3 Hours, and August's 6 Hours.
We ran in the top 1/3rd of the field in both those races, so were feeling quietly confident that we could do similar in the 24.
After attending the team captains' briefing though, it was time for a reality check.
This was Buckmore's first 24hour event in 25 years, and as such had attracted some serious attention.
Experienced, trophied karters had travelled from as far as France and Germany, and other teams included previous winners of the (karting) Le Mans 24hrs, along with pro drivers from the tin top world.
After the briefing I leveled with the others: "Let's just be happy if we are able to avoid going home with the last place wooden spoon, OK guys!"
At least Saturday had started dry. All week the forecast had been for nothing but rain, and none of the team had any serious wet karting experience to speak of.
In fact the sun dared to show through the clouds as we completed the practice session, after which Feroz qualified us 24th of 34.
As the clock ticked onwards, Moggy headed out to start the race for us.
At 2pm the red lights turned green, and 34 karts streamed past for the rolling start. From here on in we were on a 24 hour merry go round, with no choice but to grip on till the end!
Back in the paddock, Mike passed around mugs of coffee and then fired up the stove in the VW T25, which was on generous loan from London DDKers favourite mechanic, Chris Turner.
Our strategy was simple: 5 stints each, on a fixed rotation: Moggy - Wayne - Phillip - James - Feroz.
The lead teams were all running 2 hour stints - the approx max time you can go between fuel stops.
Less sure of our, erm, fitness - not to mention the weather - we were running instead stints of ~50mins.
The pace settled into a rhythm, and then it all became rather hypnotic...
Mike's cauldron of chilli started to bubble, and we all fell into some kind of hi octane ecstatic trance, backed by the high pitch whine of engines and screeching of tyres.
Quite honestly, we were all in seventh heaven.
Camaraderie off track was the DDK at its best. And the racing on track was fantastic. Fast, close, and gentlemanly.
Here's some video from my first stint. I spent the entire stint dicing with that Kart#7 . (Be sure to select to watch in HD, to make my gopro upgrade worthwhile!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oW7TuXZ8pI
When night fell I issued the team with green LED armbands, to help spot our driver out on track in the dark. That's the level of professionalism we employ when the DDK are racing
Well don't laugh, it worked!
Looked nice and dry in that video clip, didn't it. Don't let that fool you. In the night it started to rain. Heavily.
The karts are shod with slicks, and no they don't change them to wets if the heavens open. It's like racing on black ice, and doubly tiring, not to mention uncomfortable in a soaking wet race suit.
We were double stinting in the night, and the rain arrived just after Feroz took over from me at about 2.45am.
I rushed back to the warmth of Wayne's motorhome and, as I snuggled in to share a berth with Phillip (told you it was traditional DDK cameraderie
), the noise of the rain on the roof grew loud enough to drown out even Phillip's legendary volume snoring.
The rain did not stop from then until the end of the race. About 10am it got so bad that water started getting into the electrics, and they had to red flag the race for over 2 hours while they sorted the karts.
At least the red flag period provided a good time for us to all get together in the motorhome (heated, good skills Wayne!) and munch on gourmet fry ups provided by Mike (wolfing one sausage out of the pan for every one he served!).
When they restarted the race we were running in 26th. And it's at that point it dawned on me that if we were going to finish anywhere, I wanted it to be only one postion -
23rd of course!
Check me out, on a charge: that's what we call opposite lock!
When the chequered flag waved at 2pm on the Sunday, Feroz had positioned us perfectly for the photos, slotted behind the race winner:
A final check of the results and I was over the moon: 23e Heure Racing, running in kart #23, finishing in 23rd place... You couldn't script it any better!
For stat lovers, here's how we fared:
- We raced for a total of 21 hours and 27 minutes (taking into account the red flag period)
- We covered 941 miles
- At an average speed of 44.21mph, including pit stops
But really there is one stat that's more important than lap times or distance covered: How did we do for DDK's 10 for 10 initiative?
I'm buffed to chuggery to report that
we managed to raise over £4,000 in donations to the cause
Thanks so much to all those DDKers who donated.
Our justgiving page is still running, so if our efforts have promopted you to push that total further, here's the link:
http://www.justgiving.com/23e
And before signing off, I need to thank the team.
Spending a weekend together, out in the elements, working for a good cause, was an experience I'll not forget. Cheers guys
