Speed Freaks and Fancy Dodgems or how I survived the National UKLPG Karting Day

By Catriona MacLean, administrator, LPG Provida Ltd

On Sunday September 28 I found myself up at 6am – a time I thought only existed once during the day – ready to drive down with my team to the Birmingham Wheels Karting Centre for UKLPG’s first National Karting Day.

Nervously chatting all the way to Birmingham with my team for UKLPG’s National Karting Day, we were trying to distract ourselves from the fact that we had somehow agreed to throw ourselves around a track in what can only be described as fancy dodgems, competing against a group of fairly experienced go-karters.

The day was an interesting insight into the competitiveness of the lpg industry. Most people would think ‘lp gas metering products and lpg development’ and class it alongside Chartered accountancy – and yet I found myself surrounded by speed freaks who were, despite all the camaraderie and joking, obviously taking it all very seriously.
Organised with the intention of raising money for charity, I believe it was really a chance for a group of men to prove that, had they been given the opportunity, they too could have been competing with Lewis Hamilton and appearing on Top Gear.

I was not entirely surprised to find myself as one of only three women taking part and, as a complete novice, I felt that I was taking part in a bizarre hazing initiation – forced to wear a boiler suit before being thrown to the wolves in a machine that I found to be less manoeuvrable than my granddad’s tractor.
Split into groups of four, our team from LPG Provida consisted of complete karting virgins, with one exception. After listening to the safety talk for a few minutes, my anxiety level rose to a mixture of nausea, excitement and sheer terror.

The first member of our team was involved in a bump before he spun off on the last bend, which didn’t help. When I put on my helmet and gloves and got inside the kart, left the pit and put my foot down, I have to admit that I was screaming inside my helmet for the first lap.

I would love to say that I took to it with ease and found it exciting but, after only a few test laps, I noticed just how heavy the wheel was and how much strain it put on my wrists. And those karts are fast!

I cannot explain just how fast it felt, but I drive a 1.2 Corsa that complains when I put it in fifth gear – so it felt pretty darn fast to me. I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue but, as we had decided to switch every eight to ten laps, we were all scheduled for a couple more turns and I was determined to get to grips with my fear and not show myself up as a ‘girl’.

By my fifteenth lap I felt I was reaching a reasonable standard and feeling all smug that I had managed to overtake at least five people – until I was on the last corner of the track and was involved in a large pileup. I had been at the front and somehow had been spun off and bashed into by a couple of other drivers, all of whom had obviously used me as a safety barrier.

They carried on, leaving me to chase behind. By now, something strange was happening – my first instinct was to cry at the pain of being bashed around but I found that I was filled instead with an angry determination. I chased after them all with vengeance and fury.
Of course, I only managed to spin myself off again in my careless desperation to catch up, and I take responsibility for that. But a certain racer told me that the initial crash came about because someone nudged him deliberately, causing him to swerve into me and so on, but I’m not sure how much of that is truth. I think that perhaps there were some tactics involved, as his team was not in a ‘medal place’ at that point. Richard Smith - J’accuse!

Our team came last in the group – sixteenth – and Tim Houtby can lay claim to the team’s fastest lap. On the way home, there was much less chat – not out of disappointment at coming last but simply because we were too tired to talk.

I was left with a couple of pretty nasty bruises – one of which turned the most fantastic purple colour – and could barely keep my eyes open by the end of the day. Despite never having done it before, I don’t think we totally embarrassed ourselves – we came to have fun and on the whole that’s what we had.

After taking everything into account – the bruises, sore wrists and first hand experience of terror – would I have another go? Absolutely!

Pictures: Top - L–R: Jenny Cole and Cat MacLean. Middle - Richard Smith –J’accuse!

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