02/28 Ron's Going Away:

Our buddy, Racer Ron Rink is heading back stateside. So we had a little get together in his honor. After some great food and conversation at Ron's place, we all set out to the local go-kart track for one last race.

Qualifying went well enough. I managed to put down a fast lap early in the session then hung back to grab so video of everyone else. In the middle of filming a lap with Ron, I accidentally spun him out a bit. My bad, dude. Cy and Jason both went on to set some blazing fast times and qualified First and Second. Myself and Vinny following closely in Third and Fourth.

For the race, we all managed to get away clean on the start. I think Jason, got a little bogged down off the line but was all over me by lap 3. Jason carried some great speed from the final turn and all the way down the front straight into T1 where he made a beautiful pass on me. In the middle expressing how impressive it was, Jason, introduced me to the inside barrier of T3! (Great Video clip, BTW) That's how we play folks, "rubbin's racing"!!!
; P

So after my massive loss of momentum, Ron comes from no where and blasts by me into 3rd. Not quite content to just let the guest of honor step onto the final podium spot without a fight, I try to apply a little pressure. Eventually it pays off and Ron tries a bit too hard into one of the final bends and spins himself out. This gifts me back 3rd place. A short while later I get a little nudge from Vinny to let me know he's interested in my 3rd place medal as well. I drove a bit more defensively using a few back markers to get a bit of a gap between myself and Vinny. Fortune smiled on me again, as Vinny ran his kart out of gas and was shuffled back in the lineup.

Cy had checked-out from lap one and was no where to be seen. Cy took the checkers easily followed by Jason and eventually myself. Ron and Reese brought home 4th and 5th! All in all a great evening out!

We all wish Ron and family all the best and can't wait to run into him again either in the US or back here in Europe!

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