A lap around Bayford Meadows

by Lee Pilcher

As you approach turn one it's very important to get over to the left-hand side of the track. A quick dab on the brakes should slow you down enough and then turn in late, aiming to apex about mid way around the kerb.

The kart should drift around the corner, and some correction may be needed. This is probably the fastest part of the track where there's not a lot of run off area, so you don't want to get this one wrong!

Hopefully you will have carried plenty of speed through the first corner and now it's full speed ahead down to turn two. This corner is really made up of three separate turns, the first part being the slight right-hander, which is then followed by the tight right-hander and then a slight left on the exit.

The first part should involve turning in early and then aiming for the outside edge of the track so that you are back on line for the tight right-hander. The aim for this corner should be to apex late so that you can straight line the left-hander and get a good run out of this corner, but watch out for people making lunges down the inside here.

At Turn 3 you should be looking to apex about half way around the corner keeping in mind that you are going to need to get back across on the exit to set yourself up for Turn 4. Your speed for this corner will need to be sacrificed, and you should exit the corner on the inside/middle of the track, to allow you to get a good run into turn 5 and onto the straight, using all the kerb on the exit.

Turn 6 is an awkward corner that involves sticking to the outside as you enter it and rubbing the brake whist turning. As the corner tightens slow yourself down enough to stay tight to the apex to get a good run into Turn 7. Turn 6 tends to invite people to dive down the inside, but this is almost impossible to defend against, it's often better to fall in behind them and re-overtake them as they slide wide at the apex.

Turn 7 and 8 is just a mater of making the corner as smooth as possible and trying to keep your foot buried.

Try to drift the kart around Turn 9 avoiding taking too much kerb as this will upset the kart's balance, the kart should then naturally drift to the outside on the exit, and there's a short straight before you have to brake hard for Turn 10.

It's important to get a good run out of this corner in order to get good speed along the straight, but beware of the tyre wall on the exit, which will punish you if you run wide. There isn't really any chance of overtaking here, and it's far safer to wait for the straight.

Using the Kerbs at Bayford generally doesn't help apart from on the exit of some of the corners. Ones to avoid are the inside kerb at turns 1, 5 and 10 as these all tend to spit the kart back out!

One of the most important things at this track is to try and be smooth and not throw the kart around too much, particularly in the infield section. And of course if it rains then all this goes straight out the window and it's just a matter of trying to face the right way.

Courtesy of Club100

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Buckmore Park Maidstone Road, Chatham, Kent ME5 9QG Track Length : 1200.00m

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