Becca makes it look so easy A few of us from the Reading office went karting in Camberley last night. Our team consisted of myself, Becca, Paul, Simon and Chantelle. Andy provided moral support and the paparazzi effect.

Given our performance during a previous outing (last place from the very beginning of the race), we weren’t optimistic. We were kitted out in the regulation overalls, and received a safety briefing from a novice race “director”. The practice laps went well though I did get stuck coming back into the pit lane (it’s a narrow gap, ok?)

The 150-minute race was soon underway with Becca out first. She came off the grid in fifth position, and stormed off around the track. On her third loop, she achieved the team’s fastest lap at 30:03secs. Unfortunately, shortly after this she was shown the black flag for not stopping at a red light and had to go into the pits for a one-minute cooling-off period and a telling off from one of the marshalls.

Simon was next out of the pit lane, and he turned out to be a great asset to “Team Barkeley” as he weaved in and out, pushing us up to sixth place. He also managed to get another black flag point, at which point we decided to actively try to get ourselves thrown off the track.

I was out next. I held off a few aggressive (male) drivers, overtook several karts, got myself a warning for bumping and maintained our sixth position.

Paul was up next. His previous karting experience took place on his stag weekend apparently, and he forgot his glasses at the time. This did not bode well. However, despite Paul’s characteristic self-deprecation, he did a sterling job out on the track and also took the accolade for best helmet hair.

Becca’s friend, Chantelle, took the wheel next. She turned out to be every bit as competitive as Becca, and did us proud. Girls can be good drivers too.

We were ranked eighth overall, out of 12. A very respectable place, considering the amount of petrolheads on the track who obviously spend an unhealthy amount of their free time there.

Jo Jamieson