David Pittard Motorsport

News on Davids Career, Race Reports and General Media Attention

The annual Kart Masters Grnad Prix was held at the PF Internatinal ciruit in Grantham from the 31st of July to the 2nd of August. With over 48 Drivers in the Senior Max field the weeke nd was going to be a tough one for David. Last time at PFI David and the team had sorted the majority of the problems by the final and kartmasters was llook ing good.

Friday practice was split into 3 practice sessions and timed qualifying. David managed to set times in the top 15 on old tyres and rthen qualified just outside the top 10 in qualifying once the control tyres were isuued out. But DAvid hoping for at least a top 5 was very dispointed "I got turned around on the 1st lap in QUALIFYING!!! which set me back from the rest of the pack so i couldn't get a tow and also due to no testing on new tyres like others I now had a slight bit of understeer that could hav cost me a few 10ths which would have put me in the top 5 easily"

These grids put David 18th and 16th for the heats and with saturdays weatehr unpredictable anything could happen. In the 1st heat Rain clouds loomed over the dry track. As the gird marshal called 2 mins the rain came and after a slight hesitation on the tyre call David had to go out on the wet track on slicks as there was no time to change tyres. However other ignored the warning and changed tyres and set up and were allowed out. David however had a good race kept it on the track and finshed 2nd out of the slick runners and 19th overall but was given a pentalty for cutting the track on the 1st corner after out braking himself leaving him last.
The 2nd heat was much better as the conditions stayed consistant and a full wet set up was needed. David put his unfortunate result behinf him and produced a mega drive from 16th to 10th in the first lap! As other drivers who followed David spun trying to keep with him David climbed to 5th.

This put David 27th in the Pre final. David managed to make use of the 1st lap mayhem and then in an univentful race finsihed up 17th.
Yoour finishing position in the pre final determined your grid position of the grand final. David Again made the most of the 1st corner mayhem to move from 17th to 10th. With the pressures set to come on later David struggled with grip over the 1st 2 laps but was still the fastest man on track whilest in traffic!!! The race was looking good upuntil after the 3rd lap. "I just out braked myself into the 1st hairpin and when about 1/2 a kart length wide and suddenly this kart appeared and when straight right over the top of me. THis pushed me wide and i dropped back to 17th but this inncident had damaged the raidator so i had to pull in overwise i would hav seized the engine"
"This was a very dispointing end to weekend but had we been able to complete the ful race distance I think we could have finished better than just in the top 10".

Shennington was another surpirse. Due to the recent success Shennington was suppose to be another step forward. But something was very wrong at the weekend. In the Dry David was very slow and everything we changed made no difference how ever with an unpredictible weather on Sunday anythign could happen.

In the 1st heat David used his race craft to move upto 9th from 16th even though we were 1/2 a second off. The 2nd heat was really good. It rained very heavily just before the 2nd heat and a quick change of tyres and David was easily as quick as all the front runners to bring it home in 4th. In the 3rd heat David was baulked by slower drivers but managed to finish up in 10th from being as low as 15th.

In the final it tipped it down and " I was feeling confident as it tipped it down but I made a bad start. I went for the inside but clipped someones wwheel pitching myslef into a spin" After the 1st lap the red mist settled down i go tmy head down and managed to climb upto 9th with dry gearing so if when had the right gearing on and not spun i think we could have won"

Saturday practice proved to be another great days etsting with Ddavid setting the pace all day adn things were looking good for race day.

In the 1st heat something was wrong as David duly produced a 5th from a 5th place start . In the 2nd heat it was much better as David was stil a little bit slow and finsihed again in the top 6. In the 3rd heat David was bang on it and came from 12th to 5th in the 1st lap and then finishing 3rd to put him on grid 3 from the final.

In the final David made the most of his inside grid slot to get into 2nd at then push the leader aroudn the 1st 2 laps. "i pushed the leader to try and get a gap from the rest of the pack and my plan was to overtake at the end as we set the kart to come on at the end but it didn't stay on long enough so I slightly lost time and wasn't close enough to make a move".

"It was a positive weekend but I was very disapointed finished 2nd now i will be ready for kartmasters and shenny"

After the issues that had been plagueing the engine since May it was a great surprise and relief that on the saturday of the 4th of july they seemed to have gone. "We were fully lit!!! on the pace of number 2 seed in Senior Max and catching where as last month we could barely stay in his slipstream for a lap" . Saturday afternoon was used to run a newly rebuilt engien from kestrel kart which limited testing time.

Sunday was a different story. the 1st heat david dropped many places due to new tyres changing the kart set up completely. 2nd heat David was a victim of a 1st corner incident in which davis was forced to crawl around to pick up points. In the 3rd heat David managed to make it up into the top 10 with the handelling improved. In the final David made use of the 1st corner mayhem to gain a few places and then hold station and set a slightly faster lap time. but over all a frustrating weekend

David headed for the Shennington Super Prix in order to test for the up and coming 0 plate champiosnships in september. THis would be the first time David had come to Shennington in a Senior Max.

THe week end didn't start well as both through friday and saturday practice handelling issues and engine issues plagued the day as well as mechanical problems that limited testing milage to try and overcome these issues.

But despite all thesse issues David managed to keep imself focussed and performed excellently in the final to come from 19th to 7th pulling off some awsome moves against much faster drivers as the isuues still stopped David from setting a fast time. " i could use my race craft to cut my way through the field  at the start. It was almost like the other drivers were still asleep" smiled David.

Hopes were high after PFI and a very sunny day greeted the competitors on saturday morning. But David started where he left of at the last kimbolton meeting. The morning of saturday was practice sessions and the afternoon was timed qualifying and the 1st heat. Timed qualifying couldn't hav got much worse. Still with the tyres going off after a few laps David set his fastest lap on lap 2 and overall qualifed 21st way below standard.

However in the 1st heat David race craft got him up to 14th place which was the best damage limitation he could. and with the reversed grid for the 2nd heat David would be much closer to the front.
THe 2nd heat started well for David as all the karts were loaded up and from 10th David came out the 1st corner 1st and battled with 2 other karts all race and he managed to snatch 2nd away on the last lap leaving him 12th for the pre-final.

David Just survived the 1st corner crashes to come out 13th and then climb to 10th ready for the main final. In the main final start David was knocked to 15th but with alot of set up changes the kart felt 1/2 decent for the 1st time all week end and David set on a charge to climb as high as 9th but then drop to 12th on the last lap in a bid to try and get 8th.

This wasn't a championship round so David still leads championship and now had a set up for when the championship returns in July.

David Pittard arrived at PFI circuit looking to take the challenge to the fast guys and to sort out the new chassis. Saturday was dry and David was on the pace of all the locals during the testing and was looking forward to race day.

 However Sunday dawned an awful day which it tipped it down. " I was a bit worried at first but once the 1st heat started i made sure i got roudn the 1st hairpina nd got my head down. David indured an intense battle 2 rivals for 1st but in the end had to settle for 3rd and setting the 5th quickest time of the race.
In the 2nd heat David jumped 13th places to secure 6th in horrid conditions that had worsened since the previsouse heat. "I braved it round the outside of the 1st hairpin but i couldn't see anything. Then suddenly out of the spray a kart appeared but i jammed on the brakes and slip onto the grass but luckily bounced off the marshall post and back onto the track!!! You always need a bit of luck"

 Unfortuantly after this heat the conditions were deemed too dangerous and racing was canceleld for the rest of the day. But David showed that he could have easily produced a top 5 resuklt if the finals were run and hopes were high for kimbolton.

Senior Max chmapionship leader David Pitatrd indured a hard fought week end due to handelling issues on his new Biesse chassis prepare by Kestrel Kart.

"Saturday testing was strange as we had some new develpment parts to try out and we couldn't get the tyres to stay on for more than 3 laps and the new brakes kept fading towards the end of the session which left us scratching our heads at the end of the day"

 Come Sunday David still had the same problem but the day started well as david converted a 10th place start to finish a solid 2nd but still not happy with the handelling. The second heat also saw forward progress 14th to 8th but with drastic changes to the set up made a small difference to the handelling. MOre drastic changes at the begining of the 3rd heat lead to nothing when the chain fell off 3 laps in putting David further back for the main final.

Fed up with the day David was determined to pull a decent result out the bag. With the un tested set up David lept up the order early on taking advantage of all the 1st lap chaos to come from 12th to 4th and with some aggresive driving closed the gap to the fastest lap and being closer to the pace than he had all weekend. "I was glad to finish the day on a high and even though I had a bad day so did all my championship rivals which means i have extended my advantage to 60 points which i am very happy with"

David now had a large championship lead and will be testing later on in the month to sort out the handellign issues.

David Dominates on FIRST Senior Max Debut

A cold day and damp track greeted David and the team at local track kimbolton, Stepping into Senior Max would be leap up as it is much more physical and the driving technics are completely different to junior max as are the tyres.

 David was unable to attened Saturday Practice as he had to collect his trophy from the Autosport show at the NEC in Birmingham from British GT champions Bradley Ellis and Alex Mortimer.

So stepping intot he completely new formula with out any testing on Saturday, never driving the chassis on the newly surfaced track before and never testing the tyres and engine before, David turned heads by setting the 6th best time in only 3 laps practice. The 1st heat was run on wet tyres as well, starting 9th David survied the 1st corner crash to come out 3rd and eventually finish 5th. In the 2nd heat David started 9th again David dived tot he outside to gain 5 places and come out 4th. The quickly disposing of 3rd and 2nd and chasing down 1st only to be on his rear bumper over the line.

Starting the final off grid 2 David retained his position off the start and diving into the lead at the end of lap 1. After a challenge from Jake Parker at the start of lap 2 David was never troubled setting consistant lap time 2-3 tenths faster than the chasing pack and finally setting the fastest lap of the race and the ONLY one to dip under the 42 second barrier in the whole of the meeting.

"I'm delighted with the way Kimbolton went. I'm sure i have worried a few drivers this year and I can't wait to get out again" David is now joint leader of the championship with Jake Parker and will be contesting again at Kimbolton next month. Big thanks to Roy Powell, Martin Powell for all the set up, kart and engine and to James Mulley for setting up the kart on the Saturday.

Rounds 8 and 9 of the Stars of Tomorrow Championship were held at Shenington just outside Banbury.

On Saturday David put in a good performance to get 2^nd, 8^th, 11^th in the heats to secure a 5^th place for the A final out of the 52 other drivers in the competitive Junior Max class. “I got a good jump at the start and I managed to slot into 4^th but then it went a bit down hill. I got out the train and dropped to 8^th” commented David. David then fought his way back up to 5^th and stayed there to the end.

Sunday was full of mixed fortunes. The day started with frustration as David made up 16 places from 20^th to 4^th but was punted wide and dropped to 6^th in the final corner in heat 1. But not deterred David finished 3^rd and 8^th from 21^st again putting him on grid 5 for the main final. David stayed in 5^th for the first 3 laps but then gained 4^th and set on catching the leaders. He caught to the back of the group and got passed into 3^rd only to be demoted back to 5^th going onto the last lap. “As it was the last lap I made a move on 4^th place for the extra points going into the chicane. I out braked 4^th and got along side but he turned in like I wasn’t there!!!” Because of this the officials decided to exclude David from the race loosing all his points and dropping him to 13^th in the championship from 8^th.

How ever 13^th is a creditable position for David and his Dads family run team against the best in the country and David has shown what it takes to be one of the country’s up and coming stars. Next Year David is looking to make his sportscar debut in the highly successful Junior Ginetta championship that is shown on ITV 4 with the British Touring Cars. David is looking for local companies to help fund his motorsport career. If you are interested in supporting a Star of Tomorrow please don’t hesitate to get in contact by e-mail dav30@hotmail.com

David has been accepted onto the Silverstone Race Drivers Academy (RDA) which is designed to teach drivers all the aspects of being an elite Racing driver like Nutrition, Fitness, Psychology, Career Planning and Sponsorship Techniques. David will visit Loughbrough College once a month along side his A levels and racing. " I'm delighted to be acceppted onto the RDA. They will teach me all the aspects i need to reach my goal of being an elite racing driver and i can't wait to start!"

After leaving the Motorshow David now started to focus on the next big meeting on his racing calendar, the prestigious MSA Kartmasters GP at PF International. “Friday started badly and with very limited track time, getting a race set up quickly was critical. But once we had changed a few major things we were there or there abouts but still we weren’t bang on the pace” was David’s conclusion. 

Saturday didn’t start too well either with David starting on Grid 3 in the tricky wet conditions he was  down in last by the exit of the 1^st corner, after receiving a ‘knock’. “The kart didn’t have any front end grip so I didn’t have the speed to make up many places. I then got frustrated and spun myself and finished 18th”. After 2 dry heats and 8^th and 12^th finishes this put David on pole for the B final.

Saturday night wasn’t a happy one for David, Dad Graeme and Team Manager Roy Powell of Kestrel Kart, as David was very annoyed having only qualified for the B Final. This only made David more determined to pull something special out the bag… and that is exactly what he did. Starting the day with a win in the B final leading it from lights to the flag, but more pace was needed to compete with the top runners. “We changed jets and found 1000 rpm and that was what we needed along with a bit of luck we managed an awesome result in the Pre-Final. On the first lap I made 11 places then I drove really well to gain another 7 places, finishing 5th and an inside line for the start of the Grand final”.

At the start of the Grand Final, David made good use of his inside grid position to slot into third and make a break with Lee Napolitano and Bill Cowley. “I worked with Bill and Lee so we could get a gap from the rest of the pack. But once Lee took Bill I tried to follow through and keep with Lee but I wasn’t quite close enough”. But a few laps later David used the slipstream and managed to out break Bill into the first hairpin. “I tried to pull away and break the tow but I had a scrappy lap and Bill slipstreamed passed me again”. After that David was just too far back to make a pass on Bill and as David was being closed in on by Matt Mason on the last lap some defensive driving was necessary from David to see off Masons attacks and ensure he took the final podium place and the magnificent prizes that came with it.

David will now have a Junior Ginetta test session, is £100 better off and has some very magnificent trophies as well, all as a result of the prizes given by the event sponsors MSA, Ginetta and TVKC.

As an added surprise bonus David was awarded with the Nick Lowis Memorial Trophy for Driver of the Day. “The driver of the day award was really special because I didn’t expect it at all and it is a real honour to be chosen from all of the other drivers.”

He is now looking forward to the highlight of the year where David will be setting off to the Genk circuit in Belgium, where he will be looking to get more podiums under his belt and be looking for that first win in the ‘Stars of Tomorrow’ series. Leaving in the words of David, “Bring on Belgium!!!”

My day started very quietly. I met up with Jack Clarke a front running Formula Palmer Audi driver and Ashley Guymer. They briefed me on the aims of the day and generally what was going on. The MSA have started a new campaign to get people into motorsport and I was there to help promote the new ‘Karting for a Fiver’ scheme which is part of the ‘Go Motorsport’ initiative.

The “Go Motorsport” scheme is trying to get people into karting and introduced to motorsport. There are three main aspects to ‘Go Motorsport’ – driving, marshalling and spectating.

By about 11 more people started to take interest in the stand. I was able to help the customers with the many queries they had and I made sure they all knew about the 'Karting for a fiver' promotion. “There were loads of people young and old wanting to know about the karting for a fiver scheme but as the promotion is only for 8-16 year olds I felt sorry for the older people because some of them were as enthusiastic as the little kids”

At lunch time Jack and I went exploring around the show. We looked at all the cars and managed to find the Chevrolet WTCC racing simulator. 2 laps around Brands GP, Jack and I... the race was on! In the end I managed to pip him by 2 tenths at the line.

When the stand was quite I had a chat with Jack Clarke about how he had achieved becoming a known racing driver and what his plans for the future were. I picked up some valuable advice from him in attracting sponsorship because he has been extremely successful in finding companies to sponsor him.

“So after talking to Jack and with new sponsor attracting techniques under my belt I ventured out to try and find marketing managers of the companies that were at the show. I gave them my CV and sponsorship pitches and just chatted to them about what I am doing at them moment and my future ambitions. Certainly a few companies I talked to seemed interested and fingers crossed they will support me for 2009”

'I really enjoyed it and hope to be going back next week' David said after the first day on Thursday and he volunteered to go back the following Thursday. “This time there was a new guy on the stand, Tom Gaymor. He has been very successful in Formula Ford, British F3, Sportscars and Indy Lights. He was a really good guy and I learned a lot from him as he is very experienced and successful in a very wide area of motorsport. I talked to him a lot about attracting sponsors and how to advance successfully when climbing the motorsport ladder.”

Thanks to Carolynn for asking me to represent Stars of Tomorrow and to Jack, Ashley and Tom for making the day really enjoyable and for the advice they have given me.

Not a bad week end after all….

David Pittard the Junior Rotax Max karting hopeful from Letchworth, travelled down to a surprisingly sunny Wales on the 29^th June to compete in the latest round of  the Stars of Tomorrow championship, the same championship that launched Lewis Hamilton’s career.

After 2 days of testing under the 16 year olds belt you would have thought a comfortable race set up would have been achieved but constant handling issues and a very wet Friday stopped David from reaching the top of the time sheets. “Worst of all, we were now going into race day with no set up at all. We guessed a set up for the 1^st heat where I was starting 2^nd but luckily we guessed right!”

Now with the set up just right David converted his starting positions into a 3rd a 9^th and 26^th (after a crash)  finishes in the heats to give him 19^th place grid in the A final, out of the 52 competitors. “After the crash, I felt I could have avoided it so I was disappointed but this only made me more determined to get a top 10 finish”.

A gutsy drive saw David climb 11 places in only 14 laps, even without the help of a 1^st corner pile up to achieve 8^th place. “I was very happy to climb that many places against the best in Britain and hopefully I have succeeded in doing some points damage limitation in the championship with a great drive in the final” smiled David.

Next stop on the BRDC Stars of Tomorrow calendar is on the continent to Genk in Belgium and with a new helmet design David says “I’m more fired up that ever for a win”.