FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS

After a race where, even though the team matched its best ever result for the 3rd time running, the collective feeling was one of a wasted chance to finish higher up both in qualifying and the race. So, understandably, the mood in the entire squad during today’s test session could be best described as...focused.

This was especially true for Dan, who was disappointed at having lost his cool during the middle stint of the race. He came to today’s session determined to work on the mental part of his craft. Track officials assigned the team kart 8 for the customary reconnaissance run. Despite slower traffic on track, Grabko set about putting the kart through its paces, and giving good technical feedback on its behaviour.

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Kart 8 was a well balanced machine, no significant oversteer or understeer could be reported, however, while acceleration was satisfactory, top speed wasn’t in the top 20th percentile according to the data. Pedal feel was a bit soft but manageable on both the accelerator and brakes, so not much driver compensation was needed.

Due to the slower traffic, the team was only able to push for times a maximum of 2 laps in a row, but the track looked to be in good form and the warmer, wetter weather of April has arrived, further helping with traction on the circuit. Dan put in a good effort, clocking a 35.830 best time.

For the race simulation, Dan was allowed kart 11 - the same kart he drove in the last round for the race. So he was well prepared for the twitchy karts behaviour. While top stepped and acceleration were very good, oversteer was a real concern and limiting factor, as well as an oversensitive brake pedal. Having driven the kart so recently, Dan was able to get into a rhythm immediately. Determined to work on his mental focus, Grabko delivered, putting in his most consistent race simulation to date. Completing 26 laps, he whittled down his times from an already decent 35.954 on the second lap down to 35.389 by the 25th lap. He recorded the teams fastest ever average speed during testing with 42.05 kph being the official result.

The mood in the driver debriefing afterwards was considerably more upbeat than when Dan arrived for the session, and the team can go away taking a lot of positives from both the data gathered and the progress in performance. For Grabko Grand Prix the keyword moving forward is focus. Focus on the task at hand, Focus on consistency, Focus, focus, focus.

TEST SESSION RESULTS