Grabko Grand Prix were on hand for round 5 of the Gothenburg Gokartcenter Summer Cup as part of the team's continuing preparations for the forthcoming season. It was a brisk and overcast evening, foreshadowing a fast approaching Autumn, that promised lowering temperatures as the event went on into the evening. Rain was not a threat, but the prognosis was lowering grips levels as twilight approached, so the order of the day was to get a time in for qualifying as soon as possible. The team joined up with last season's Open GP Champion, EB Karting, for pre-race preparations, and the championship winning team was kind enough to provide transportation for both outfits. A big shout out and thank you to Erkin and his team for their hospitality! Grabko Grand Prix were out for the second test of the new season on Wednesday, after a positive return to action the week before. Week two was planned to be a qualifying simulation run through, so the order of the day was to get down to quick times as early in the session as possible, within 6 or 7 laps. That was the order Dan was given, and his focus was impeccable. The team was assigned kart 12 for the first run. Another known solid machine, although not really a team favorite, it is a stable and predictable platform, so a good basis for testing and getting good data. The team was back in Sweden and the excellent Gokartcentralen for the first official testing session of the 2016/17 season. Upon arrival a pre-session meeting with track officials updated the team on developments over the summer. There had been a delay at the manufacturer with the new improved gear boxes and electric motors of the new racing karts, so the delivery had been delayed by 4 weeks. The new date has now been preliminarily set at for the middle of September. In addition to this, the first round of the championship was now in danger of being cancelled if the new machines were not received in time. Series Directors promised to keep all the teams updated on the constantly developing situation. The Team's preseason program continued this weekend with a guest entry in round 7 of the K1 Speed Circuit's San Diego Challenge GP. Not really knowing what to expect from this series, the team was pleasantly surprised upon arriving to the circuit to find that the atmosphere was very friendly and informal. After checking in with the track officials, the race stewarts informed them that due to this being a summer round, not many entries were expected, and they were welcome to having inexperienced drivers take part to round out the field. After double checking the sporting regs for the series and conferring with the team, it was decided to register a second entry representing the admin staff as a thank you for all their hard work. Thus joining Dan in the hot seat for this race was Grabko Grand Prix's own Sara Grabko, PR Chief and wife of the driver and team principal. Needless to say, she was excited about the prospect of taking part, "I'm super nervous! My main goal is not to embarrass myself, and if possible do something positive for the team testing program. Most of all though, I just want to take the opportunity to go out there and have fun!" After the excitement and drama of the conclusion to the Championship, the team immediately began planning for the next. In addition to guest entries in the Gothenburg Summer Cup, the preparations for the 2016/17 season have included training camp and testing sessions in San Diego, California. The move to get so far away from team headquarters wasn't so strange, though, as it is the home of team Driver Dan Grabko, who took the opportunity to reconnect with family and friends in between the rigorous off season program. K1 Speed Circuit, San Diego was the site of the team's first of its limited on track testing, and all were eager to take full advantage of the opportunity. Grabko Grand Prix went into the session alongside Cobborama Karting, a local outfit the team has an established longstanding partnership with. The two team drivers are also friends privately so it was a jovial atmosphere as the team's prepped for their first of 4 runs. FINAL ROUND SENSATION!Yet another eventful race and an evening of mixed emotions for the team. Going into the day, our driver Dan was tied for 6th place in the Championship, only 2 points adrift of the coveted top 5 spot set as the team's goal for only its first full season in the series. Just ahead was the tenacious and in form Jörgen Haraldsson, who was going to be a very tough nut to crack. Jonas Svanberg, equal on points with Grabko, had recovered from his shoulder injury and was back on form as well. It was going to be a tall order but the team went into the round with its game face on. As previously reported, the team took part as a guest entry in the 2nd round of the Gothenburg Gokart Center Summer Cup. While meant purely as a training exercise, it gave the fledgling team it's first competitive taste of outdoor fossil fuel karting. The 1.01 km, 11 turn circuit combines an extremely long front straight with a fast mid-sector and a tight technical final section of track, allowing for several good overtaking spots and a choice of a few different racing lines through the flowing middle section of the track. With several familiar faces present from Grabko Grand Prix's main focus, The Gokartcentralen Open GP Electric Karting Championship, also competing in the series, such as Adde Motorsport, EB Karting, Lilleman Racing, Modin Motorsport, and Haraldsson GP just to name a few, the team at least felt a familiarity in the pit lane in the build up to the first qualifying session. Due to tight support race scheduling before this round of the championship, there were no free practice sessions prior to qualifying, so for Dan, it was straight into the deep end, with his first outing on this circuit in three years also being his first competitive drive on it as well! The team continued its preparations for the final round of the Gokartcentralen Open GP Championship this week with its last in-season testing session of the Championship. An open and virgin circuit awaited Grabko Grand Prix as they arrived in the paddock, and the pre-session briefing was simple this time around - drive as fast as you can! Kart 18 was assigned for both the reconnaissance and simulation runs by track officials, at the teams request, as they had an eye on gathering data on the effects on the racing line grip between the first session to the second. In the afterglow of round 9 of the Championship, Grabko Grand Prix came into this week's test on a high. Driver and team were justifiably proud that all the hard work and preparation they put in, as well as the learning and driving technics they experimented with, had paid off with a high quality performance, personal best lap times, and a best ever race result. Everyone in the team was well aware, however, that their work was not done. They had fought hard to get into the position they were in, but even after everything they accomplished, were 1 point worse off in there chase for 5th overall in the Championship. The team needed to do everything they could to see it through to the end. It was another drama filled and exciting round of the Open GP Championship at Gokartcentralen. The penultimate race of the season had everything a racing fan could ever want - controversial restarts, devastating retirements, and dramatic overtakes in the final laps. Going into the day there were several key battles for final Championship positions. Adde Motorsports was leading Scuderia Jacobi for the final top 3 spot with only 3 points going into the race. Likewise our own Grabko Grand Prix driver, Dan Grabko, was in a 3 way fight for 5th position, hungry to close the 2 point gap up to Hesus Autoport's Jonas Svanberg, with the extremely fast Jörgen Haraldsson of Haraldsson GP equal on points with Dan at 308. The other treat of the day was the return of last year's champion, Alonso Motors, back as a guest entry for this round. A welcome addition to entry list. |