The Day Kurch Died

Welcome To The Slump

Late summer of 2024 was some of the worst karting I had ever done at Torrance. Kimi and I were stuck at 28.2 for months. Naturally he was still several hundredths of a second faster than me. In the spring we were excited at the prospect of summer heat, hoping it would bring the grip of the gods on the track. If only. Everyone was running slower, the karts were just not cooperative. I’m not writing this to raise pitchforks at K1, it’s the nature of the beast when it comes to arrive and drive.

One of the pillars of my karting career was that there were no bad days on the track. An adage Kimi gave to me at the start of this whole thing. We weren’t just having bad days, this was a brutal, sweaty, slump. We were festering at Torrance, 28 second laps were hard to find. The 27 second summer I had planned was nowhere in sight. Unlike the actual Kimi Raikkonen, my partner in karting crime had no yacht to retreat to after a shit day. However, he did have a newly built sim rig.

Our last Kurch session was a humid Sunday morning. We were battling with what seemed like an endless onslaught of shithead teenagers trying to rearrange our spines. We limped off the track after our last race. That’s when he told me he was opting to pursue sim racing seriously and cut way back on karting. Who was I to argue with perpetual perfect conditions and vehicles in peak shape at all times? Not to mention getting more bang for your buck. As much as I wanted to give him shit, I couldn’t.

If at this point you find yourself saying “so he just brings you in and then abandons you?!” Listen, Kimi’s a good friend. I wouldn’t be here without him, he put up with a lot of my shit and taught me everything he knew free of charge. HOWEVER, that doesn’t mean he isn’t TRAITOROUS, ROBOT-HUMPING, TOOLBAG.

So, Kimi went off to be a living room racer. What was I gonna do? Well first thing, I tried sim racing. I sauntered over to World Of Racing on LA’s East side. This place has a fantastic reputation and some very plush rigs. The staff was lovely, the setup was incredible but… I fucking hated it. I know, I know, all you bastards love your sims. I know Verstappen swears by it. I KNOW. I left that lovely establishment woefully unsatisfied, which was in no way their fault.

I knew I wanted to keep karting, but I also needed a break from Torrance. It wasn’t just the karts, I was getting frustrated and driving like shit. I needed a fresh start and luckily there were several tracks I had yet to drive in So Cal. It was time to hit the road again. But now I was rolling solo. No Kimi for me to copy or poke with questions or yell at for getting me into this shit in the first place. Floaties were fully off now.