Ready, set, GO!
The whole Kwalee gang went go-karting at Mr Karting yesterday to burn off energy and build team spirit.
We were given a full safety briefing, kitted out with the complete overalls and helmets before hitting the track on Harbury Lane in Leamington Spa.
After a few warm up laps, the championship began. The heats commenced with surprisingly consistent driving from all.
Heat 1 opened with David showing how it’s done, taking victory closely followed by James. Then, embarrassingly, the second heat started with David instantly taking the lead after everyone hesitated at the start, unsure if the green light meant “GO”… I kid you not! David unsurprisingly left everyone trailing behind to take gold once more.
Joe soon flaunted his driving skills, as he came right from the back to 2nd place in heat 3, shadowing behind James in 1st. He overtook competitors in all of his races, becoming a clear contender for the final.
In Heat 4, Andrew “the dark horse” Graham took control. Starting from 3rd place, Andrew effortlessly snuck passed Lizzie and Mark to take 1st, beating David in 2nd. Andrew became David’s toughest competitor after he started in last position in the 9th heat but still won the race.
Lizzie’s competitive streak came out in heat 5 as she was given warnings for bumping her opponents, and using both the gas and brake pedal at once. This caused her to burn the brake cable, resulting in a measly 4th place after a replacement kart was brought to the track. James waltzed to the finish line, taking victory more than a second ahead of Joe in 2nd.
The sixth heat saw Andrew triumph as David took 2nd after a close battle with James. Alexei showed the biggest improvement, taking 1st place in heat 7 with Joe and Nick taking silver and bronze; unaware of Lizzie and Mark alternatively bashing each other’s karts at the end of the track.
David naturally took 1st in heat 8 and Andrew took gold in the final heat.
Jay oozed a chilled-out driving style; cruising around the corners of the track and Alexei came from nowhere to sneak into the final after taking victory in the penultimate race.
The final saw a close battle between David, Andrew, James, Joe and Alexei. Andrew set the fastest lap of the day at 19.57 seconds, but unfortunately could never pass David who finally went on to win the championship. Andrew humbly took 2nd, and Joe finished in 3rd.
Bruises, aching bodies and (in Joe’s case) missing skin, showed our competitive streaks, all determined to beat David. But alas, he stole the go-karting victory to proudly take his place on the top step of the podium.
Mick Cassio