Driver Journal James 'Adam' Pell - J. A. Pell & Son Motorsport - #66

Driver Name
James 'Adam' Pell
Driver Number
#66
Team Name
J. A. Pell & Son Motorsport
Facebook
@JAPellAndSonMotorsport
Instagram
@japellandsonmotorsport
Website
https://www.japellandson.co.uk/motorsport/
Primary Sponsor
https://www.japellandson.co.uk
Photography By
Paul Babington & Various Others
Cover Image & Info - Updated 26/08/2021

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Since 1998 J. A Pell & Son have been involved in the world of Motorsport. Itโ€™s a great family orientated sport and hobby, which incorporates our business and itโ€™s core values perfectly. Not to mention a fantastic wind down from the world of general life and work! You can follow the journey of โ€˜J. A. Pell & Son Motorsportโ€™ on and off the track.

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Competitor at Bayford Meadows Kart Racing Club

KartingForum.co.uk
Founders of KartingForum.co.uk
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Our Original Driver Journal Entry - Posted 19/08/2020
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First test day at Bayford Meadows after 13 years. The old man and my best mate โ˜

In a bid to give everbody a bit of insight about myself, guess I'll get involved! ๐Ÿ˜

The Beginning....
First name James (After the old man), but everybody calls me by my middle name...Adam (Long story). Where did it all start? Growing up around Motorsport as kid I was either Karting, short oval racing with family, glued to the TV watching F1 or Touring Cars. Thinking about it, playing various kinds of racing games too. I remember as a kid having a go in a Kart on holiday, done pretty well and the bug bit. We started Karting around 1998 quite religiously, spending most weekends getting track time in. Starting off in rental Karts at 'Brentwood Karting' and then progressing onto being an owner driver, in a Zip Cadet some time later. Brentwood was great, though the 'old' track is now gone and has been replaced/upgraded. Here's my short and probably boring story ๐Ÿคช

The Test Day?!
I got the opportunity to go for a test session in a Comer Cadet, at the time with a 2 stroke W60 engine. It was at Rye House, dark...raining..never driven the track before or the class of Kart on offer. Things were nearly called off but the old man assured the fella all will be fine. He was thankfully correct and both myself and Kart left the track in one piece. Great fun and I would imagine a big smile from ear to ear, from myself and the old man.

ZIP Kart, Thanks Mr Karting!
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Circa 1998 I would think - 7/8 years old - What's HD?โ˜
'Mum & Dad' financed the first Kart and got me into the seat. We bought the ZIP Kart from the late and great Martin Hines, Mr Karting! I remember the day very well still. Such a great fella and really made us feel at home around the shop, nothing was too much bother. A few hand shakes later and a "Enjoy the Kart kid" from Martin, we picked up our first proper taste of Karting. The memories started being created and the legacy began! We was regulars at local tracks such at Rye House and Bayford Meadows. Ended up completing my ARKS test and getting a club license.

The Search For Power!
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Circa 2001/2002 - 10 / 11 years old โ˜
I remember Cadets was great, but I was always heavy. The search for more power a new buzz began! We skipped Mini Max and progressed into Junior Rotax. I remember it was a time where TKM was very much in the forefront of Karting classes and the 'new' Rotax classes were very much up and coming. Being quite young and going out in a Junior Rotax was quite an eye opener, the power felt very much alive and kicking. Again, a great opportunity came up and I test drove a Junior Rotax on an Eglem chassis from the late 'Trackside Karting' at Bayford Meadows. Same again, very apprehensive attitude from all parties involved due to my age. All went well and we ended up getting a new Eglem Chassis and Junior engine. Still no racing? Nope still not entered any races yet. I was always ahead of my classed due to size/weight. Cost was a major issue. And in all honesty I used to love going open practice the day before a race meeting and having such a masterclass in driving from other kids on track. We held our own, good times!

Still Got A Bit Of It :sneaky:
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I still have a caliper from the Eglem Chassis with a picture in it. A great photo frame if you every find the need for one....

Senior Time...
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Circa 2003/2004 - 12 / 13 years old โ˜
Again we jumped a class early, really early! This time I was getting a few coaching sessions from a fella (I can't remember the name, so sorry) and we opted to go for one of their ex race engines and a new 'Go Kart' chassis. They had a workshop in Leyton, East London which was right on our doorstep. It was a nice Kart, but I did prefer the Eglem. Anyways, another learning curve with the Rotax Senior. Still not racing due to being too young for the class and financial restrictions. But still holding our own and having a blast! Turning a few heads and up turning some eyebrows for all the right reasons on occasion.

Sold Up!
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Circa 2006 / 2007 - 15 / 16 years old โ˜
Sold. As I got older I found myself getting a part time job, going out with 'mates' and in general not having time for Karting. We had a good run and it was time to move on. Karting kept me on the straight and narrow as kid. Some of my best memories was from the days of Karting.

Fast Forward >> 2019
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2019 - Old :( โ˜
At 17 life moves on and I really got into my cars, owning various things over the years. Fast forward a few years and I bought my dream car around 2012, a Ford Focus ST225. I loved it, it was my pride and joy. After 7 years of owning it and making some great friends and going to many many shows and meets. The time had come, back to Karting we go. I can confirm 300bhp and Karting are very different, but once you get the Karting bug you will NOT loose it. It's their for life. Car got sold. Tears all round.

Snapped!
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2019 - Bayford โ˜
What made me go back to Karting? The smell, the buzz, the memories....my little ones. Oh and Paul Babington's snap above . We went to a few meetings at Bayford to watch...it all come flooding back. Long story short; I got home and Paul snapped my little one looking over at another little one in a Bambino. I wanted to make the some memories I had as a kid, with my kids. Car sold. Workshop built with the old man. Kart bought. Soon we swap the scooter for a Bambino too kid!

KartingForum.co.uk
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2019 - The internet โ˜
Upon trying to get back into Karting I noticed there was a void for something new, fresh and unique. KartingForum.co.uk was born! You get what that's all about, you're here right?!

The Return!
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2020 - Super secret headquaters โ˜
Started off again where we left off! With the car gone it allowed me to go ahead and own a fantastic example of a Tony Kart with a Senior Rotax from NextKarting (Great firm, highly recommended). J. A. Pell & Son Motorsport was born! Since we have been out on the track for a few sessions and getting back into the swing of things. If I can get into some club racing next year at Bayford and Lydd, I'd be over the moon! For now we (I lol) concentrate on dropping some timber and getting some consistant times. Race craft is still back there somewhere, but I have so much to forget in terms of bad habits. It seems to hurt more now at 29 than it did as a kid too? ๐Ÿค”

Where From Here...The Legacy
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2020 - Happy place, Bayford โ˜
Well as far as I'm concerned KartingForum.co.uk is here to stay and help people and the industry where possible. Maybe in 5 years I'm going to look back and say 'Good effort, but no trophy'. But as I have proven, you can make some wicked memories without winning a trophy, it just depends on who you wish to share that journey with. I'm here to help anybody where I can, so please contact me/the forum if that's possible. We'll see how things go and I thank you all for getting onboard with this little project.

Karting wise, I intend to get in shape and become some what competitive again. Club races next year? I hope so. I also want to get my little ones into Karting if they wish to, we'll see when the time comes.

Well, that's my journey spanning the last 20 years and with loads more to come! Big thanks to all that was a good influence and assistance over the years, great times! I'll keep this thread updated with all the latest happenings and goals. I'm sure I will update this post at some point, bound to be a typo or something I have missed.

Welcome to my Driver Journal......

โ˜โค
 

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Great Story Adam! Like you, my journey began with a race day for my birthday but at an indoor karting track in Bristol. I'm way too heavy to get back into it now though, but want my son to experience it too. I've just bought a practice kart to see how he gets on, and if he's looking like it's worthwhile pursuing, my car (near mint VW Corrado VR6 Storm) will be used to finance something a bit more competitive for him to go club racing in Honda cadets for a year or so, but I'm already thinking CKC GX200 Series nationals! They say parents live their childhood dreams through their kids eh..... Just trying to remember to keep it fun for him and not put any pressure on.
All the best for JAPell&Son Motorsport ๐Ÿ‘
Thanks man, much appreciated! As you well know, it's a great sport to keep kids on the straight and narrow. Well worth the time, money and effort!

Things change and time does move on, however it's great when you get a chance to repeat your own past and it help the next generation. You'll miss the car, but Karting with your boy will fill the void I'm sure.
 
Day before another lockdown...Tier 4 ๐Ÿ˜ซ?
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Well I got lucky again and managed to book a test day at Bayford for December 19th, right before BOJO announced we are going into the new Tier 4. :(

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Had a really good day as always! First time out in the wet for about 15 odd years?! A bit of a shake down for myself and the Kart. A month away out the seat, 1st time in the wet for years, new Mychron, rebuilt brakes and a rebuilt rear end. But all went well!

The track was wet, but not wet enough to warrent a new set of wets of a wet suit. Setup wise I went all out on the front. All in on the rear. 15psi in a set of half worn wets. Left the tracking and camber alone as I don't have a set of lasers yet. It felt pretty good, had the inside wheel lifting and grip was decent off the rubber. When I transitions onto slicks I put the fronts back in but left the rears in all in the way. Going from a 180mm wet rim to a 210mm dry rim, I thought it should just balance itself out. And it felt pretty good still. May of been able to knock the rears out the 1390mm? But rear grip felt good.

Managed to keep it on the track the whole day and started off in the 1 minute mark laps and dropping to mid 50's on wets, then by the 5 session back on a 150 lap used set of slicks with wet patches in places, both on and off line. Ended up with a 50.20. My latest PB was a 49.60. So on a good day and a track with some rubber on, fresh tyres and some sun, would hope to get in the late 48's by now for sure. So....I'm getting there!

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So no PB's but was glad to get her home in one piece and gain some great experience in the wet. Then making the transition to a pretty much dry track towards the end of the day. Had a good chat with a few of the lads round the pits as always. Just packed up in time to watch everybody get wet as I left ๐Ÿค—

Oh forgot to mention, the day was nearly done before I got started. Was all ready for the first session and I had a catastrophic failure to a part of vital equipment....the zip on my suit broke. So a 'bush fix' later with a cable tie and some tape got me going ๐Ÿ˜ซ๐Ÿคช

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Also got a few new bits.....cover for the back on the MyChron while it's in storage and a new 0-30 psi Longacre gauge.

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Great stuff! Glad to hear you managed to get out for a shakedown before it all goes off again. We've got our first practice day (when I say we, I mean Jacob - though I'm sure I'll learn as much as him! planned on 2nd Jan, BoJo permitting. I'm also looking at the longacre pressure gauges too. Is a 0-30 psi gauge enough? Leading me onto my second question, what pressures do you generally run wet & dry? I was of the impression that 30-35 wet & 20-30 dry were the ideal range....
Thanks Adam.
 
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Great stuff! Glad to hear you managed to get out for a shakedown before it all goes off again. We've got our first practice day (when I say we, I mean Jacob - though I'm sure I'll learn as much as him! planned on 2nd Jan, BoJo permitting. I'm also looking at the longacre pressure gauges too. Is a 0-30 psi gauge enough? Leading me onto my second question, what pressures do you generally run wet & dry? I was of the impression that 30-35 wet & 20-30 dry were the ideal range....
Thanks Adam.
Thanks man!

I do like the Longeacre gauages tbf! Dry range down to 7psi upto 14-15psi. Same for wets! Though you'll find yourself higher in the wet to get some heat into them.

0-30psi gauge is great as it should in therory be more accurate than a 0-60psi. And of course you can easy do half psi changes.

Last time at Bayford I found 15psi all round pretty good in the wets. The when we ended up on slicks I was running 14psi front and 12psi rear. Temp was about 10*c, greasy track, old slicks (few months old 130 odd laps).

Bare in mind this is for Rotax not Cadet. Best advice is; find somebody in the pits with a similar setup and ask for a decent starting point. Generally the colder the higher the pressure. The warmer it gets the lower the pressure.

These tutorials is good for tyre help....


 
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Well we all still can't Karting boooooo :cautious: It's been quite cold lately so the Kart has been tucked away and covered up int he workshop, I've not been motivated if I'm honest. It needs a good clean and I need to refit the rear sprocket and chain etc, but other than that it's ready for it's first outing of 2021.

The old man got me a few sets of tyres for my birthday which was really nice. I decided to order some new tyre bags and get things in order.

I also tried a new technique for mounting tyres without a machine or tyre tongs. I had to scratch the rims up and this method avoids that. 2x carpentry clamps and a big ugly pair of hands :LOL:. I'll get a tutorial up at some point with some pictures with steps and maybe a video. It made mounting these Maxxis Sports a doddle and they were freezing cold and not plyable at all.

Back of the wheel in first. Flip it over. Clamp at the top and at the bottom as shown. Fold the tyre on the sides as shown and work the sides round with your hands. Once the top clamp ends up in the way, pop both clamps off. Tyre is now mounted!
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New suit ready to go for when we get back out to play! :p

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Sooo fingers crossed we get set free in April...well March 31st.... :unsure: :p

Test day booked at Bayford Meadows for 9/4/2021. Can't wait!

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Glad to be back! @97Lewis @Billywatts :p (y)

Just need to get some seat time in now and get my license again.


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Did you manage to get out on the 9th? How did you get on if you did?
Yes mate! Forgot to update here tbh.

Ended up being a few KG lighter which was great, need me more of that lol. Chasing late 48's now and slowing getting some race craft back.

Also manged to get out on the 23rd for another great days testing. Consistant low 49's all day, just can't crack a 48 yet.

I have completed the license pack and sent it off to Motorsport UK so hope to have that approved.

Whe you out next @97Lewis ? Next meeting is in a few weeks?
 

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