Liam Vaughan soaked up a day of gruelling action at the Insurance Times kartfest.
I must admit I was nervous. As I entered the tunnel for the first time, it was obvious I'd never done it before. Yes, it was scary and there was a while there when I didn't think I would be able to perform.
But after eight hours of non-stop action everyone started clapping and cheering.
It was an awesome climax to a gruelling day.
Another successful Insurance Times karting event bonanza drew to a close last week with 250 sweaty insurance professionals tired but happy after thrashing around a race track in Milton Keynes for eight hours.
Over 20 teams entered the fray this year, with competition as fierce as ever and, according to regulars, standards at their highest yet.
Predictably, the semi-professional Hazelvine outfit were the convincing victors, notching up 344 laps and bagging the much-coveted fastest lap prize with a near-flawless 1:09secs.
Gerling came a close second, while the Primary boys laid claim to the most improved award, beating Aascent to the podium on the very last lap. Rumours of a ringer were casually dismissed.
Special mention should go out to the CRDN Cobra's who fielded one of the bravest contenders in the competition's history.
Pootling around the track at 15mph while the rest of the field whizzed past, the young lady looked like a granny who had accidentally taken the M25 slip-road the wrong way, and was faced with 80mph oncoming traffic.
CDRN were also top dogs in the Pit Stop Challenge with a time of 18.3 seconds.
Despite sponsoring the event for the last few years, Insurance Times Racing has barely registered in the top ten, so to finish in 7th place was a welcome respite.
Estelle Bibby of Primary spoke for everyone when she said: "It was an absolutely brilliant day and a great opportunity to network with some of the industry's great and good. Bring on next year!" IT
