OCTOBER
SOAR ELECTRIC GO KARTS
Off we all went to visit SOAR ELECTRIC GO KARTING at their massive new venue in Gillingham. See them at www.soarekarting.co.uk. It really is good.
A great turnout for a competitive evening. Once briefed we were all ready to rumble, or in this case whine. The whining was mainly the electric motors on the karts but as the evening wore on it was increasingly Stuart whining about how he had been bumped out of the way and was in fact the real winner. A bit like our own beloved Hamilton in that respect. Owen was the dodgy and aggressive Dutchman but Phil Ralph was George Russell!.
We had the usual briefing, nobody listened, but one the bright side, nobody was obviously pissed. Apparently a big no-no for driving ekarts. God knows why they don't apply that to normal cars, sorry?, oh, my mistake. Then we got kitted up in smooth hoodies of all colours and big helmets. As you can see below, all looking happy, all unaware of what was to come.
The plan was a Practice, a second round to decide positions in the Final, and then the Final itself. Easy, a few laps round to get the eye in, then a quick buzz round to sort out the grid, and finally, balls out for the big race.
WRONG! - All aboard for the practice......... round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round we went, left,right, tight left, tight right, up a ramp, round a U bend, tight left, tight right, down a ramp, and so on and so on, and that was one lap. There were I think 16 laps in the practice. By the end of that about 50% of GASS were totally screwed, arms aflame, arses bruised, necks stiff. The first wankers fell out.
Next up the fight for grid position, another 16 laps of that described above, except it was faster as we were getting the hang of it. Even sorer, arms, arses, necks, livers, knees. The second batch of wankers fell out.
Now the final, or rather two finals. Final one - the also rans, Chris, Wayne, Brian, Pete, Ollie, and Ron. Who finished in that order and look at the fine fellows they are in the shot below. Note Henslow has snuck up onto the first place podium with winner Chris and is for some reason holding a Nebuchadnezzar of Poo for no good reason.
Then came the real final. the actual thing, the Formula One, not the Formula 4. Big start, big race, lots of bumping, and the whining, as aforementioned. Phil Ralph took the lead and never looked back - clean air and all that bollocks. But back in the pack - my goodness it was interesting. Shunts, bumps, slides, whines, the race had it all.
And this was the final line up, Phil. Owen. Stuart (I wos robbed), and to be fair he probably was. Much in the way anybody who sticks by the rules is often robbed. Look at that body language. Owen, balls out, mansplaining, Stuart looking wistfully at the champagne and probably thinking "that Phil is a strong bugger, holding up that big full bottle with one hand". Still the group shot turned out well!
THE KING GEORGE THE FIFTH
Off to the re-opening of the good old KGV, the second spiritual home of GASS from years gone by, too numerous to mention, for a lovely dinner and a few pints of best British bitter. The pub looks splendid and offers some really lovely rooms upstairs in the fully refurbished character pub. Lovely winding staircases, four poster beds, mirrors on the ceilings (sorry, no, that is The Who'd'a'thought It in Grafty Green, for you mirror on the ceiling perverts). The KGV is a local pub run by local people.
Thanks to John and Diane for a lovely down home evening in a relaxing and traditional English pub, perfick!!
Long may it prosper!!!