Driver Journal Sam Richardson - No Idea Karting

Driver Name

Sam Richardson

YouTube

My Channel

Photography By

Sam Richardson

I'm brand new to karting and only had my first seat time at Whilton Mill last month at an Arrive & Drive.

I'm also fairly new to motorsport in general and before Hamilton won Silverstone last year after the controversial clash with Verstappen, I had never even watched an entire F1 race let alone a season.

That race grabbed my attention like nothing before and ever since I've always looked for my next fix of any type of motorsport. Recently it's the WRC during the F1 off season.

I'm 28 and weigh 16stone(!) but my passion for this sport has already driven me to loose the weight so I can be faster on track.

On my first outing at Whilton I came 16th out of 21 places which I will take any day of the week given it was my first time and I was the only one there who hadn't been karting before. (slight embarrassment when having to raise my hand!)

My plan is to get as much track time as possible at different tracks around the UK and eventually run a test day at Club100 to enter their competitions. The ultimate goal is to eventually purchase my own kart and be a competitive driver in as many comps as possible.

I am documenting my journey on YouTube which you will find the channel link for above.

I saw a gap in the YouTube scene where no complete novice was documenting their entire journey from the beginning - I don't have a gopro or know how to record my laps for my videos yet (I will do shortly of course). I don't yet own any karting equipment or my own helmet - these are all things I will be doing and putting out there. If it helps any new starters in my position then my job is done.

Lastly a big shout out to Adam for this forum, it's where my journey begun and I will be shouting from the hilltops about it whenever I can.

I will update my journal and YouTube whenever I race next. I have Whilton booked again for 9th April to see if I can improve my lap time, then on 16th April I'm doing a Teamsport event with another YouTuber in Northampton.

Thanks for the inspiration guys!

 

[Adam]

Great start Sam! Good to see you got out on track in the end and began your journey. This is what this place is all about, it's fantastic to see it helping people like yourself even in a small way, enter into the sport.

Try and get as much testing done in between races as possible. Even if it's just an hour or so here and there every few weeks. It helps out bundles!

Onwards and upwards fella!!

 

[Sam]

I finally got my hands on my first ever GoPro so recorded a slightly rambling VLOG in the car to test out the quality and sound.

Most importantly it means I can now record my laps, which I'll be doing on 9th April at Whilton Mill. I want to welcome all criticism when I upload my laps, so I can learn as much as possible!

Hope you enjoy and subscribe to join me on my journey.

 

[Adam]

Great stuff! Thanks for posting the latest update fella

There is no substitute for seat time, try and get out every few weeks if you can

 

[Daver5]

Good stuff

Like you I've just got in to karting and am 16stone plus.
Although I've karted before and done plenty of track days in car and bikes the new to ne rotax is something else.

love it and wonder why I ever stopped

 

[Sam]

I wanted to see what it was like on the other side of the track this weekend so I became a marshal for a day at Rissington Kart Club.

It was bloody difficult stood out there all day in the same spot, freezing me nuts off!

Much prefer being in the karts

 

[DD2112kr]

I wanted to see what it was like on the other side of the track this weekend so I became a marshal for a day at Rissington Kart Club.

It was bloody difficult stood out there all day in the same spot, freezing me nuts off!

Much prefer being in the karts

I don’t mind marshalling, as long as your wearing thermals if your close to whilton mill I’m there on the 13th for club 73 which is a hire kart race, it’s a great series to practice race craft. We’re doing a much needed practice before hand as well.

 

[Sam]

I don’t mind marshalling, as long as your wearing thermals if your close to whilton mill I’m there on the 13th for club 73 which is a hire kart race, it’s a great series to practice race craft. We’re doing a much needed practice before hand as well.

Yeah rookie error on my part! Plus I should've worn 3 pairs of socks!

Whilton is my preferred track, I'm there on 9th, I struggle to make weekdays with work unfortunately, but just trying to get as much seat time as pos at the mo!

 

[DD2112kr]

 

[DD2112kr]

Just so you know that you can fit a kart in your car, and trust me I have plenty of advice on this