CKN Driver Blog: A Soggy End to the Weekend at ICAR for Kelsey Hann

This past weekend I was at ICAR in Mirabel, Quebec to participate in the second round of the ECKC series, it was definitely a very exhilarating couple of days for me! I set off Wednesday after school for my journey to another new track for a new adventure.

I arrived at the track on Thursday morning just in time to start practice and get a feel for the track. There were lots of people at the track who saw my video from Goodwood and talked to me about it. It was amazing how many people saw it and knew it was me, lots of people who still couldn’t believe it happened!

It was raining all Thursday but I was able to go out on track and get a little used to it and the wet conditions to prepare me for Sunday’s rain race! Later in the day the track began to dry up and I was really able to get a bit of a taste for what the track was like.

Friday had it’s ups and downs, as in practice I was struggling. This track had me all tied up, I really struggled with trying to figure it out. After multiple sessions out on track and some advice from some peers I was back out on track and feeling a bit better about Saturday’s upcoming race. By the end of the day I was beat, I had worked hard all day pushing for the better outcomes and at the end of the day I was starting to see them.

After a very well needed rest, race day was here and the weekend was all going by so quick. After I arrived at the track and began getting ready for qualifying, all the jitters come back. Just knowing how important this qualifying would be I knew I had to get down to business and get focused.

“Honestly I wasn’t overly upset with 8th, but at the same time I wasn’t satisfied with it either.”

As my session quickly approached I felt somewhat ready, or well as ready as I was going to be. So I set off for the grid and got in line for the so called chess game of qualifying. It’s all just a big chess game, where you’re gonna place yourself on grid, who behind, who ahead. But I set all matters aside and settled in for what was to come. As I was out on track I felt good out there, comfortable, but as I came in off track I had found out I had qualified 8th. Honestly I wasn’t overly upset with 8th, but at the same time I wasn’t satisfied with it either.

As the day carried on I raced my three heat races finishing fifth, eighth, and twelfth, I had some good races and some rough ones. This would put me not too far down the line, starting ninth in the finals the next day. When Sunday morning came, I arrived at the track seeing the dark gloomy clouds dangling above, it was just a matter of time now before the down pour.

Thankfully I was able to get some rain practice in Thursday, so I felt alright knowing the rain was on it’s way. While I awaited the rain fall, it finally came. It rained just a little at first, but by the time of my first final it was beginning to rain pretty heavily. Besides the rain I felt pretty good about the final, I had the inside line and just had to move my way forward. As my session started, I set off onto the track, difficult to see at first because of all the rain and it slowly got worse.

The green flag was dropped and we were off. After the start I had lost a couple positions, I had my work cut out for me. While I was moving forward and slipped into sixth there was a large gap between me and fifth place. I had traffic coming up fast from behind, with 3 laps to go I and couldn’t hold them off anymore and fell back to seventh position where I would finish in the race.

After a large down pour after my race, final 2 was then canceled for me so this would then end my weekend.

Overall I had a very successful weekend learning lots and discovering another new track. I have really been enjoying this ECKC series, it puts on some great races and they are always a joy to compete in! I must say I do enjoy playing the occasional game of UNO with my teammates as well haha.

Next up for me is the Maritime Regional Championship at my home track in Moncton. The pressure is on for this race as I have won it the past two years, but we shall see what the weekend has to bring!

That’s it for now!

– Kelsey Hann