Perfect Fit

If you're as old as I am, you might remember the pedoscope. It was an x-ray device used by Clarks to make sure shoes fitted correctly.

Back in the 70s there was no such thing as health and safety, and it seemed perfectly acceptable to stick a child's shoes and feet into a big box and fire x-rays at them to see skeletal toes wiggling inside shoes.

Thankfully Kate's latest kart-seat fitting didn't involve x-rays, but she did have to squeeze herself into a selection of seats whilst Ollie Hancock looked on. And even without a pedoscope, Ollie knew we had the wrong seat type and the wrong seat size.

Kate's been driving her kart in a rather bus-like position since she started owner-driving, probably a rental-karting thing, and after the umpteenth "gosh, that kart seat's very upright" comment, we thought we'd better get the seat adjusted properly. "Please let me fit your seat", Ollie said whilst coaching Kate at Whilton Mill last week, and so there we were at Ollie Hancock Competition (also the home of usedotk.com) getting the job done properly.

Two hours later and the correct seat was in the correct position. Steering wheels and pedals adjusted accordingly, and Kate now looks more F1 than 2CV.

We're at Bayford Meadows on Saturday, testing in preparation for the racing on Sunday, and I can't wait to see what effect the seat and seat position will have on Kate's lap times.

No need for a pedoscope or x-rays to work out Kate's perfect seat type and size. Thanks to Ollie, we now know Kate needs a Tillett T11VG, size Manetti (which is one size smaller than a medium/small).