Andrew Rackstraw may have matric exams to study for, but that certainly didn’t stop him from arriving at this past weekend’s Investchem Formula 1600 Championship Round 3 with ambitions to be top of his class – in racing, that is!
As the old joke goes, education is important, but racing is importanter…ahem.
Matric IS important though, so Rackstraw only managed a single practice session on Friday afternoon before returning to his books in the Southern Suburbs. Anyone who has ever tried to follow Rackstraw around Killarney’s karting circuit will know just how good he is, but any doubts from anyone else were quickly dispelled on Friday as he shot to the top of the time sheets.
As Rackstraw returned home to algebra and English literature lines, his competitors would have spent the evening with telemetry graphs and racing lines.
It paid off for Scott Temple, current championship leader, who pipped Rackstraw for pole on Saturday morning. Unfortunately, it was discovered after the session by Rackstraw’s team that the 1.6l Ford Duratec engine was not running at optimum temperature. That’s how racing goes at times.
Driver coach, Claudio Piazza-Musso of RDSA, prepared Rackstraw thoroughly for Race 1. Having the pace to win is one thing, but starting second on the grid and needing to drive around Temple is something different. Despite claiming the fastest lap time of 1.15.579, Rackstraw just couldn’t make a move on Temple stick and he finished second overall. The closing stages of the race gave the Cape Town faithful a true racing spectacle of close-combat racing in these oversized karts.
Refusing to play second fiddle twice in one day, Rackstraw used turn 1 of Race 2 to show Temple what the back of his F1600 looks like. With a smooth and beautiful display of driving, Rackstraw took the checkered flag and another fastest lap.
