Boil in the bag. Formula Fast, 5 August 2018

"Andrew, do you want to go out again?"
My core temperature is somewhere north of boiling point. My heart is a jackhammer, my breathing sounds like a donkey on its deathbed, and all of my bodily fluids now reside between my skin and the inside of my overalls. But I look into the enquiring face of the Formula Fast staff member, nod, and croak, "Sure."
"Okay. Jump in kart 16 for me then..."

Sunday 5 August 2018. It's 31C in Milton Keynes. Parts of Spain are in the mid-forties. And under the metal roof of British Rental Kart Championship venue Formula Fast it's like wearing a wetsuit in a sauna. As usual, the weather's playing a bigger part in proceedings than you'd expect for an indoor kart circuit. Just not in the way we're used to.

In early July, on a similarly scorching day at Red Lodge in Suffolk, I raced outdoors for the first time since 2016. Besides being enormous fun (great circuit, strong karts, excellent organisation by Covkartsport) and modestly encouraging (pace respectable, racecraft rusty) it was also the hottest race day of my life. Four weeks later, I'm remembering the hairdryer breeze on the circuit's back straight with a touch of nostalgia.

It's my first ever Super Sunday - three hours of all-you-can-eat karting - and it's fallen on Formula Fast's fifth birthday. Which means slightly more track time and an excellent burger courtesy of Formula Fast co-owner (and Gordon Ramsay fan) Phil Stanley.

With only ten drivers present for the start, there's a near-total lack of faff: we're directed down to the pitlane at 5pm, allocated a kart each and sent out. I'm conspicuous carrying my weighted seat and bum-shaped piece of lead - nobody else is bothering. It might still be five months away but for me, this is all about the BRKC; there's little point in running light. Having lost weight since January, I'm still underweight at 85kg with all of my lead. But it's close enough to be representative.

Without BRKC levels of preparation there is perhaps four tenths of a second covering the fleet of karts. During the course of the evening we cycle through them all.

There are some quick regulars about. Richard Jute and Gary Llewellyn have racked up some strong results in BRKCs past, and Lewis Manley has reached the final more often than not. The differences in weight are clouding the order, but from the outset it's clear that Lewis has a couple of tenths in hand over everybody else. I focus on nailing a quick lap straight out of the pits, as I'll need to do in qualifying, then finding and maintaining a rhythm. I try and do a better job of nibbling at the limit without overloading the tyres - something I always struggle with on this low-grip surface. And I work on my biggest weakness, which is carrying speed out of slow corners.

As the sessions roll by I take occasional breaks to neck bottles of water, and pile on the laps. Gradually the fog between my senses and my brain starts to lift. I adapt more quickly to the differences between karts, post quicker 'qualifying' laps, improve both raw pace and consistency. In my fifth session of the evening, I set a 31.591 - smashing my previous personal best by more than half a second - with a stint average laptime of 32.072. The circuit is very fast - Lewis sets a 31.3 during the same session, then goes faster still at the very end of the evening in slightly cooler conditions - but I'm pleased with my progress. We're not officially racing, but we all take a couple of opportunities to practise overtaking and defending.

The seventh session is one too many. My fitness is pretty good, but 95 minutes on track (170 or so laps) in stifling heat has taken its toll; it's a relief to shed my soaking overalls, sit outside in the relative cool, and munch a superb burger.

Today is part of my ongoing mission to rediscover my mojo and take my karting further than ever before. It's been fun of course. But even better, I can see - and feel - progress being made. My next outing is the BRKC 0-plate at South Coast Karting near Bournemouth, with a free BRKC spot up for grabs.

In the meantime, following Ruben Boutens' successful defence of his Kart World Championship title, I've been musing... but that's for another blog. Watch this space.