Driver Journal Team Thirteen Karting

Driver Name
Lee Maund
Driver Number
#13
Team Name
Team Thirteen Karting
Facebook
@TeamThirteenKarting
Instagram
@teamthirteenkarting
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Photography By
Jessica Maund / Busy Bee Photography
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Driver Name
Lee Maund

Number
13

Team Name
Team Thirteen Karting

Team Facebook
Team 13 Karting

Driver/Team Instagram
Team 13 Karting

Photographer
Busy Bee Photography

My Career

My motor racing career began back in 1987, with the purchase of my first kart at the tender age of 8. Competing successfully against modern day luminaries such as Jenson Button, Daniel Wheldon, Gary Paffett and Anthony Davidson I was crowned Welsh Driver of the Year three years running, as well as finishing on the podium at the Little Rissington club championship, at that time considered to be the most competitive club championships in the UK. A lack of funds led to the hard decision to concentrate on my career.

I returned to the motor racing environment in 2010, when a chance meeting with a member of the RAFMSA resulted in me captaining a team to the RAFMSA Speed Challenge Team Championship in a VW Sirocco. The following year I then took further honours, piloting my privately owned Honda Civic Type R to Interservice honours in the Individual Speed Challenge Championship against far more powerful opposition.

I then formed an Endurance Karting team at the my military unit. From its inception in 2012, I led the team, stationed at the smallest operational base in the UK, to an Armed Forces Championship win in only its second full season against the fully funded Army and Navy representative teams as well as dozens of individual RAF stations. After a relocation to Swindon during my first two years as an individual competitor in the Premier Karting Class (Essentially a military Senior Libre class), I won the Rookie Championship as well as several race wins against National standard opposition. We also recently pulled off a class win in the SWKC IKR meeting.

None of the accomplishments above would have been possible without the input of Steve Maund, former British Kart team member and current team mechanic, whose 40 year tenure in motorsport means that there is no-one on the grid with his level of mechanicing and setup experience. We compete under the โ€œTeam Thirteenโ€ banner, in celebration of Steve's race number that he used when competing.

The Kart

I have recently sold the โ€œTeam Thirteenโ€ Global Drone Surveys/Bearmach branded Kosmic Chassis in the Senior Rotax class and will be moving to a new chassis in 2020. Our motors are built by P1, giving significant waft...

Pop over and check out my Instagram or Facebook pages and give me a follow. Drop me a DM if youโ€™d like to offer us support for next season!

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Nice to hear all things are well fella! Great to see you back on the forum and the track too. Bet you nearly forgot what pedal does what?!

Hopefully a few more of those ๐Ÿ†'s this year :giggle:

What are your plans with Harri and Cadets? Going to try and get him testing late this year or keep him in the Bambino for as long as possible?
 
Well, we're into September and a few races have passed. Round two of the AFKC didn't go as planned. Despite winning two of the heats in the wet, we suffered tyre issues in the third heat and final meaning we finished off the podium. The Dragon Cup at SWKC IKR was a different affair, where I brought home the inaugural trophy and Harri finished second behind S1 and BKC pacesetter Morgan Weston.
We're just back from another AFKC fixture at Fulbeck. Despite some brake issues early in the day, we put that behind us to finish strongly ahead of the other Rotaxes on the grid. Unfortunately with the rules permitting a range of engines, we weren't in a position to challenge the KF2 that won the meeting.
Three meetings left to finish the year. Final round of the AFKC, as well as two turns of the handle at the SWKC IKR....
 
Well done fella, keep up the good work! ๐Ÿ˜(y) Still getting on well with that Compkart?!
 
Well done fella, keep up the good work! ๐Ÿ˜(y) Still getting on well with that Compkart?!
Loving it. Just the fact that when you make a change it's noticeable....
 
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Great stuff! How do you find parts to get a hold of? Quite easy I would assume?

Does the bassline setup differ far from the OTK?
 
Apologies for neglecting the updates, however we had a bit of a busy close to the season, as well as a rather hectic Xmas and New Year for all the wrong reasons!

The last time we posted weโ€™d just completed the first round of the AFKC, so weโ€™ll start from there:-

AFKC

The second round of the championship took place at Rowrah, where in typically Cumbrian fashion, it tipped it down for most of the weekend. The Compkart really came into its own in these conditions and we were running at the front of the pack for most of the weekend. 2 heat wins followed, however a break during the 2nd heats and the final two races of the day broke the momentum somewhat. An issue also manifested itself where the handling was a bit off, leading to 2 offs in tricky conditions. Iโ€™m not impressed with the durability of the MOJO W5s, so the belief is that theyโ€™d gone past the point of offering optimum grip. We came home just off the podium, but with decent championship points.

Fulbeck

This one was full of incident and definitely a day of two halves. Practise went well on the Friday, although a downpour at the end of the day meant it was curtailed by a session or two.

With us sharing the day with 42 pro karts, there were substantial breaks between the practise sessions and the races throughout the day. Newer race rubber than our practise set yielded a few tenths so we were confident of a good day. Unfortunately the karting gods intervened in the first heat, where a jump from 5th to 2nd was followed by a tumble down the order thanks to arriving at several corners throughout the heat with no brakes. A recovery to 8th followed despite having a dropped nose penalty. Having made some adjustments for the 2nd heat we hoped that our fearless braking power had returned. Nopeโ€ฆ However, some judicious use of kerbs and sideways driving meant we brought the kart home 2nd, and me mentally drained.

Fortunately during the break we identified the issue and the 3rd heat was a more controlled affair. Another second put us on 3rd for the final where we drove away from the other Rotaxes to finish 7 seconds up the road. Unfortunately we had no answer to the KF2 which also competes on the grid, meaning 2nd was probably the best we could hope for.

Llandow

The weekend started pretty inauspiciously with our practise motor absolutely refusing to fire. Switching to our race motor for a practise day wasn't ideal but allowed us to hone the setup for the Saturday race day.

Cold temperatures and gusty wind welcomed us on Saturday and a competitive first heat saw us finish 2nd, although with no answer to the KF2 pace. The second heat followed much in the same vein with another 2nd. The third heat started badly, with us getting horribly swamped off the start, however we patiently worked our way to the front, the beneficiaries of mechanical issues to the leader.

Starting pole for the final we managed to get away and stay out of trouble, bringing home the RAF Premier Championship trophy and clinching the Armed Forces Karting Championship at the same time in the final race of the final round.

South Wales IKR

The SWKC IKR calendar was hit by COVID this year, but still allowed us to get out for a few rounds. Over the course of the year, we picked up the SWKC IKR title and the inaugural Dragon Cup. So a fair amount of silverware in the cupboard.

After such a successful year, and with Harri moving into Cadets, after 35 years I'm announcing my retirement from racing to concentrate my efforts where they're needed. I would like to say that it's been a hard decision, however the uncertain nature of the world at the moment & our successes over the past years has made it just that little bit easier.

I'd like to thank Steve Maund, without whose efforts & expertise we absolutely wouldn't have won ANYTHING. Jess, Harri & Millie for their support, especially when I've disappeared off for a weekend to compete. Caroline for the babysitting duties & her famous "care packages". ๐Ÿ˜‚

Thanks also to Global Drone Surveys & Media and Bearmach who have provided support over the years, as well as RAF Central Fund and RAF Motorsports who've provided assistance during my return to racing over the past decade. Thanks to kartingforum.co.uk for the love on socials too ๐Ÿคฃ

Finally, thanks to the often unsung heroes of karting, the officials & marshalls who give up their time to ensure we can go racing.

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Iโ€™m not impressed with the durability of the MOJO W5s,
Yeah they are quick way to spend ยฃ180 in a day :(:LOL:

Well done fella! Sounds like you had a good year after all (y):D

Thanks for taking the time to post and also all the time you spend on the forum helping members.

What are your plans for 2022 with yourself and little man?
 
In the process of sorting through my kit to move it on. Then it's full speed ahead with getting Harri's second-hand cadet kart ready for him to go out on. Because he's so small, we've already had to buy a new seat and foot-riser kit, and I don't think that's the end of the spending. We're going to see if he enjoys Cadets and go from there...
 
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In the process of sorting through my kit to move it on. Then it's full speed ahead with getting Harri's second-hand cadet kart ready for him to go out on. Because he's so small, we've already had to buy a new seat and foot-riser kit, and I don't think that's the end of the spending. We're going to see if he enjoys Cadets and go from there...
Great stuff! Hopefully a new adventure you can focus on trackside and make some memories.

At some point I reckon my two will want to get more involved and maybe get on the track. Until then though, I will keep at it myself as long as possible :D
 

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