Only Fools and Horses

If you watched the classic British sitcom 'Only Fools and Horses', you probably spotted Derek and Rodney Trotter whizzing around in their three-wheeled Reliant Robin. Back in the 70s and 80s, vehicles were taxed on the number of wheels they had, so canny car buyers went for the Reliant Robin to save money (not that Derek AKA Del Boy ever bothered to tax his three-wheeler). Three wheelers though, are never going to be as stable as four-wheelers. (We know because we have a three-wheel kart trolley and a four-wheel kart trolley, and we go for the four-wheel every time.)

The three-wheel Reliant Robin

And that's the point. Driving on three wheels is not easy. Which is why Tara Herm did an amazing job today whilst the BTK team practised at Traq. Kate Broadbent and Tara were driving the team's practice Prokart. It's a bit of a retro kart. A British-built 1980s Stratos with split rims and inner tubes for the front wheels and tyres. And the front-right tube was leaking, badly. Kate drove the first couple of sessions, and simply flew round the track. Who needs four wheels? In fact, Kate would probably fly round the track with just one wheel.

Then it was Tara's turn. This was her first drive in a non-rental kart. And after a few minutes the front tyre was practically off the rim. Things did look a bit bouncy, but Tara just soldiered on, with Kate telling her to brake later and later and harder and harder into the first turn. By the time Tara came into the pits, the front right of the kart looked like something out of the Flintstones. But what a drive. All credit to Tara.

If you haven't been to Traq, go. Terry's the owner, and he's amazing. We travelled light with spares (ie no spares), because we packed in a hurry (we're practising with Senior Rotax at Bayford Meadows tomorrow and we'd kind of focused on spares for that), so we had no spare rims, tubes or tyres for the Stratos. The amazing Terry loaned us a couple of front wheels and tyres, and we were back on the track with a vengeance. And Tara, loving the speed of the twin Honda GX engines, just got faster and faster. (Check out the video at the end of this post, showing Kate urging Tara to brake later and later!) Dad Michael couldn't resist a go too, and by the time he finished, the brakes were smoking and he was grinning from ear to ear.

Of course Kate had to scrub in the new slicks, so she screeched the kart round the track for 15 minutes before Tara got in.

What it did show though, quite clearly, was that four wheels are much better than three. And given a choice, I'd go for a Reliant Kitten over a Reliant Robin any day. (If you didn't already know, a Reliant Kitten is a four-wheel version of a Reliant Robin!).

And only fools and horses would drive on three wheels or turn up at a track without any spares!

The four-wheel Reliant Kitten