Joe Harrison - Smokin Joe Racing

Last time out was rounds 7 and 8 of the British Champs at Shenington. At the start of the weekend I knew that I would be at a disadvantage because I haven't tested at Shenny for over a year whereas most of the field raced the week before at the Superprix.

Practice was quite confusing as the kart was hard to set up right for the wet conditions, but by the last practice we ended up 6th in my group so was looking forward to qualifying. Sadly however, as I went out the pits to start qualifying my visor slammed shut when going over a bump which resulted in my helmet steaming up so about 2 minutes in I couldn't see anything🙄🙄. This resulted in a poor qualifying again.

For the only heat on Saturday, I was starting towards the back of the field and before I could even cross the line, the usual carnage broke loose resulting in someone spinning into my line resulting in me losing about 5-10 places before the line oh and also a drop down, so I retired to save my tyres and engine. (And of course nobody did anything about the terrible starts again👍👍).

The second heat on Sunday was better as I started at the back again but made up ground to be just outside the top 10 but when I came into the pits the kart was incredibly hard to push but my dad then realised that the clutch had snapped which showed us that we could have gone even quicker.

Final 1 was terrible, as I was making up ground from my starting position whilst sticking with my team mates but about 5 minutes in, I went with my team mate around the outside at the first corner but the person who I was overtaking came into my line and clipped my wheels resulting in me going about 4 feet in the air then into the tyre wall, race over! 🙄

Final 2 went very well however as I started nearly last, but on the first lap a huge roadblock happened on the exit of Stratford but I managed to miss it all for once, until someone who was in the crash came across the track straight into me resulting in my left hand side of my bumper dropped. I still managed to finish 15th on track but 18th with the penalty which from right at the back of a field of 34 wasn't that bad.
A Huge well done to my team mates:
Zak Oates for 1st in final 1 and second in final 2
Lewis Wadley for coming 2nd in final 2
Charlie Webb for 3rd in both finals
As well as everyone else in the team
A massive thank you to...
Maurice my old cadet team mate and his Dad Cecil for coming to watch me even though the results weren't amazing. 😔
And precision racing for another weekend at the British Champs.
Good luck to everyone at the TKM festival, hope the races are just as exciting as last year.

Had a great time at Cadwell watching Rob Welham Racing in his F1000 last weekend.
After having great pace to put himself deservedly on pole position, Rob unfortunately had nothing but rotten luck for the rest of the weekend with a part of the rear suspension snapping whilst he was pulling away in 1st! However he came back stronger the next day as he started 16th and ended up finishing a respective 5th position, to put him 5th for the final race of the weekend. But unfortunately his luck struck him again as after making up ground and being in 3rd position, he came down the start finish straight with his engine on fire to end his weekend. Luckily he was out of the car before the flames spread closer to him which was probably a little bit of luck on his side.
Although this post has been about the weekend at Cadwell I would also like to say a massive thank you to Rob for being my mechanic at rounds 5 and 6 of the British Champs at Fulbeck. He knows how to drive a car fast and he knows how to set up a kart fast as well and he knows how to make me have a laugh when I feel really down, but he still doesn't know how to eat an ice cream properly. 😂😂👍👍

Happy fathers day to the legend. Thank you for being the best dad in the world (and the best at getting p***ed drunk at karting) Love you lots.

Last weekend we were at little Rissington for the 3rd and 4th rounds of the Motorsport UK TKM British Championships. 38 drivers were competing.
This time instead of being on my snapped Tal-ko I was on my new ARC which I had only been in for one practice day before hand!
The practices were OK as I had mid pack pace but was a little annoyed as I felt I could do lots better.
In qualifying I finished p16 in my group after I got a drop down so was very annoyed with that and I still felt that something was not quite right with the kart.
Heat 1 was bad as I got yet another drop down which put me down to p18. After Saturday my Dad spotted that I was losing 4 tenths a lap from gripping up on the dog leg and that my front track was 35mm further out than it should have been!! 😲😑😑.
After racing finished on Saturday, Dad did the alterations to the kart, so I was hopeful for a better day on Sunday as the kart issue had been resolved.
Sunday practice and the kart felt much better and I was looking forward to racing with some better pace.
Unfortunately in my second heat which was on Sunday morning, my air box came off mid race which gave me a mechanical. This unfortunately put me in the repercharge where I finished in a comfortable 3rd, so was promoted to the main Final 1, but near the back.
Final 1 was good as I started in 31st and finished in 22nd with some strong pace. Final 2 however was bad, worse than bad as I went from 22nd to around about 12th on the first lap but half way through the race... BANG the engine cut out and I had a DNF. Not a great weekend for my points for the championship. 😕Dad has stripped the engine since and found it had catastrophic damage internally. 😭😭😭

A HUGE well done to:
Lewis Wadley for winning both of the TKM extreme finals!
Zak Oates for coming second in final 1 and 1st in final 2 as well as gaining the lead of the championship.
And everyone else in the awning and in TKM.
A massive thank you to Precision Racing for another great weekend even though it didn't go our way.
See you next time at Fulbeck.

Last weekend we were at PF International for the first and second rounds of the Motorsport UK TKM British Championship!

With a total of 38 entrants, we had good hopes and an intent to finish in the top 10. Our goal looked very promising after the handful of practices where we were always in the top 7.

Qualifying was almost underway for my group and the nerves were building up until the end of my qualifying session where I finished p5 in my group (8th overall).

As I was approaching the first heat with lots of confidence to do well in the race and starting p6, the first corner was carnage, but somehow (for a change) I got through it and came down from the bridge in 3rd!!! After a few laps in 3rd my team mate (Zak Oates) passed me and I stayed on the back of him until I saw my number alongside a mechanical flag👎. As I came into the pits I saw that my rear bumper was on the floor but was still attached to the chassis which had snapped!!! 😳 We went to Bob at kartune (who I can't thank enough for welding my chassis 5 times now!!) to get the chassis back together.

In the second heat and starting 5th, I still felt confident but after getting into 4th on the first lap the top 3 had pulled away so I was stuck between two groups that were in the tow of each other and with a stupid mistake I went from 4th to 9th on the last lap.

With a DNF and a 9th I was very pleased to dodge the repercharge, but still started a very disappointing 25th on the grid for the 1st final. Unfortunately I found I had no straight line speed so was stuck in a scrappy battle instead of pushing forward so I was frustrated with what had happened to the straight speed. Only managing to gain a few places, up to 22nd.

Dad found we'd had carb issues so after sorting them out and starting in p22 for the 2nd final it felt quite a bit better, but unfortunately kept on getting people overtaking instead of pushing to the group in front so finished in a disappointing 18th when we should have been fighting for a top 10.

A huge well done to
Zak Oates for 1st in the final 🏆 (well done pal)
Morgan kidd for 2nd but then with an unfortunate drop down.
Jack Nicholson, Zak Bowen, Lewis Wadley, Charlie Webb, Jenson Davies, Aaron Lask, Adam Jones and the rest of TKM for taking part.
And to the Welhams for making time to come and watch and support me on the Sunday.

A massive thank you to everyone in Precision Racing for a great weekend on and off track.
See you next time for the next round of the British Championship at Rissington!

On Sunday we were racing as just Dad and lad at Rissington for rounds 3 and 4 of their championship. I wasn't able to make the Saturday practice day unfortunately, as Dad was at work.

In the 3 lap warm up we felt a bit off the pace but knew we could adjust the setup of the kart for qualifying.

Qualifying went well, I was just 2 tenths off 3rd place but as the times are so close, this unfortunately put me in 10th position to start both my heats.

After being annoyed with my starting position for the races, in heat 1 I moved up from 10th to 7th with some good battles and with pace for the top 3.

Heat 2 didn't go to plan, as half way through the race I went for a move but the other driver didn't see me and we ended up locking wheels in the dog leg, which sent us both off track and stuck on the grass for long enough to put me and the other driver in last positions. I ended the race in 15th after a drop down bumper penalty. 😒😒.

After these 2 races my dad realised that we still had a wet setup on the rear which will have slowed us down a bit. And would have also accounted for the poor handling of the kart! 🙄🤦

Final 1 I started p10 (on the outside). I got a terrible start as the outside row didn't keep up over the start line with the inside row! So after the 2nd corner I had dropped down to about 15th but made it back up to 10th.

In final 2, (again starting p10) the exact same thing happened on the start, and I went down to 15th by the 2nd corner again. But with some good battles and a great last lap, I finished in 6th place (just one place off of a trophy 👍) with strong pace as well.

Well done to the top 3 and everyone else who was racing.
See you next time at the British Championships at PFI. 😁😁🏁🏁

Last weekend we were racing at Rissington as a dad and lad team. Saturday practice was dry all day, but unfortunately on Sunday it poured with rain just about all day!

We had qualifying, 2 heats and 2 finals.
In quali, at one point I was running about 6th fastest but then a lot of drivers put in a faster lap than me towards the end of the session. Came out with 13th (unlucky for some, but I'm used to it by now! 😂) out of 24 in qualifying, so this was my grid position for both the heats.

Heat 1 and 2 were OK with a few mistakes in the big braking zones and the difficult conditions kept me and my dad busy with the setup. Final 1 was very unlucky as on the first corner I got a puncture on the front right and on the next lap I got another puncture on the front left 😑😑👍. Final 2 was better as all my lap times were a tenth apart and I was catching the pack in front. I finished 13th, so just outside the top ten (which was our target) so I was a bit disappointed, but still enjoyed my racing.

Well done to:
Zak Bowen for trophys in both finals of senior TKM.
The whole of Precision Racing.
And everyone else in the paddock for some good racing in horrible conditions.

See you next time out on track!

Last race meeting we were at Kimbolton for our first time out in the kart in 2019 with the team. As we weren't there on the Saturday my first time out was the 3 lap practice which went ok.

Heat 1 I started p2 on a grid of 28 but as soon as we got to the first corner I was taken out from the side, but fought my way back from next to last to 17th with strong pace.

Heat 2 I started p21 and fought my way up Into the top 10 but I made a mistake and spun in the 1st corner so was really annoyed with myself.

For the final I started 20th with rain in the air and with some great battles throughout the race I finished 9th with a drop down, so was happy with my result.

Well done to my team mates:
Zak Oates for a fantastic 1st place
Morgan Kidd for 5th
Jenson Davis for 6th and Charlie Webb for great pace all weekend.

And a massive thank you to everyone in Precision for another great weekend at the track as well as Stu Stretton for the great photos!

For our last race meeting of the year we were at Kimbolton without any practice on the Saturday.
The 3 lap practice was very greasy and this continued into heat 1 where I started on the 7th row and whilst going through the field I was taken out on the first corner so ended up at the very back!
Heat 2 was just as bad as on the first lap someone spun off and I had no where to go so was gutted with the weekend so far.
After a close B final (where the top 4 went through) I was lucky to bag the very last place, because of my stupid mistake which nearly cost me my spot in the A final.
For the A final I started 34 out of 34 and after a long hard race I made my way up to 16th (also making the most places of the race, 18!). With some good, consistent lap times throughout the race.

A big well done to:
Zak Oates for winning the race
Morgan Kidd for 2nd
And everyone else in the team and on track

A huge thank you to Precision Racing for the whole of the season for helping me improve and I can't wait to see what I can do next year!

See you on the grid next year 👍👍

Sorry guys for not posting in a while as I've been having a bit of a rest on the off season.
I've had a nice family holiday in Cornwall, and a great day out at the NEC classic car show with my old karting mate Maurice and his dad Cecil. We had a lot of fun when we found a brilliant driving simulator, where I managed to get the fastest sector of the day and a top 5 laptime of the day!
I've had a few practice days at PFI since the end of the SuperOne championship, and was there again today.
Today the track had greasy conditions, we had good pace throughout the day as we were constantly changing the setup for the conditions. Unfortunately I was the only TKM on track but enjoyed the challenge of trying to keep with the mini X30's in the corners so a good day back at the wheel.
All registered and looking forward to competing in the British Championship in JTKM next year. 👍😊

After a disastrous round at GYG it was our final super one round of the year at PFI last weekend.

Friday practice started well as I was on the pace most of the time but qualifying went badly as I was on a great lap but on the last corner some one drove straight into my line, causing me to get a drop down so I qualified a disappointing 24th.

Heat 1 went good as I was making my way through the pack but on the last lap made a mistake so it put me 26th.
Heat 2 wasn't good as I got a drop down on the warm up lap and struggled to find as much pace as I had in heat 1, so that was a bad end to Saturday.

Sunday however was a different story as I started 27th in final 1 and finished a whopping 11th with the fastest first sector of the race. 😁
The second final was extremely close as it was nose to tail from 1st place to around 15th. After a hard race I finished 13th after penalties with yet another fastest first sector of the day. 👍And my highest finishing position in an S1 final to date, finishing only 3.2 seconds behind the winner!

A big thankyou to Jake and the rest of Precision for helping me and mechanicing me on Friday and for an amazing year in my first SuperOne championship.
Well done to Zak Oates and Rob Welham for their awesome but unlucky weekends, Amy Duke and Lewis Wadley for a fantastic 9th and 10th in the extremes and the rest of Precision for a great weekend! Can't wait to do it all again!! 😁😁😁

Hope to see you next year.

Last time out we were at Rissington for our 5th round of super 1

Practice started really well as in the first practice I was 7th fastest and in the second practice I was 4th fastest so I was really happy with my pace!

Qualifying went even better as with one lap to go I was in 3rd but dropped to 8th on the chequered flag which is my best qualifying in Super One so far! 😁

Heat 1 didn't go well as it started raining when everyone was on slicks and I had a collision which I got a 10 second penalty for gaining an unfair advantage.

Heat 2 went even worse as half way through the person behind pushed me off on turn 1 and as soon as I got back on track I got spun out by another driver!

The pre final went bad as I got a drop down and finished 21st because of it.

And in the final we got the tyre pressures wrong which put us more than a second off of the pace so we finished second to last so not the best weekend for us after such a promising start!

Well done to Rob Welham for second and the rest of the team for getting good results with the team.

A massive thanks to the team for helping me a lot this weekend again.

See you next time at GYG.

Last time out we were at Kimbolton for the TKM festival with the team. Practice was a bad start as my kart was pushing on into corners and I was well off the pace.

Qualy was a little better as I settled with the kart enough to qualify p13 overall with a sticking brake caliper!

Heat 1 started bad as I went down to about 3rd to last but made it all the way back to 8th making around 2 places a lap.

Heat 2 went wrong as I got up to 9th but went off track and got back to the pack but had a collision on the last lap.

Heat 3 didn't go well either as I got up to 9th but got taken out on the 2nd or 3rd lap which then put me qualifying 4th for the Festival Cup final not the Elite final, so I was quite disappointed.

The festival cup was the only chance I could redeem myself so on the second lap I got into the lead and stayed there until the penultimate lap where I got a massive hit from behind and then was facing the wrong way, eventually finishing 5th to last, so not the best result for my first TKM festival. However, there are lots of positives to take forward to my next race meeting, and I really enjoyed the event.

A massive thankyou to all in Precision Race team for your help and support.

A huge well done to Joe Stockford for winning the O plate in TKM extreme
Zak Oates for starting 18th in the O plate a charging all the way back to 2nd place by a few hundredths across the line
And Rob Welham for 3rd in the O plate

See you next time at Rissington super 1. 🙂

Thanks to Stu Stretton for the pics. 👍

Sorry I haven't wrote in a while as I have been on holiday and been busy with other things!

Last time out we were at Shenington for the 4th super 1 round in TKM!

Practice was OK as I wasn't off the pace by a margin but still wasn't fastest👌👌😅 still practice went well!

Qualifying went really well as I qualified 13th out of 26, which is my best qualifying in super 1 so far so I was very pleased. 😊

Heat 1 was ok as there were good battles through out and I finished where I started.

Heat 2 didn't go to plan as after the first few laps my engine power went down and I had to defend, but got wiped out on the last lap so had a DNF which was a bad end for the Saturday!

The pre-final went worse as after starting 19th I got into 9th on the 2nd lap, then the person behind went for a move as I gave him room, but he half spun and went into me and landed on my legs and the race was red flagged. I was starting 24/26 for the final!

The final also didn't go to plan as I got a drop down and once again had no power and finished 22nd.

A massive thank you to precision racing for helping me once again and for another great weekend
Well done to Abbi pulling, Ben Watson and Scott Smith for being on the podium.

See you soon for my 1st TKM festival this weekend at Kim Bolton. 😊

Last weekend was our first Shenington superprix. Friday practice started really well as I was one of the fastest all day in the JTKM's so I was very happy with my performance!

Saturday started with two practices where I was still at the front pack so I had a good feeling that I would definitely be at the front of qualifying but I messed up qualifying but still got 11th out of 45 which was still OK but not good enough for me.

The heats went ok with the first being very scrappy and with an incident in wilkins which put me in 12th on the line with the second fastest lap. Heat 2 didn't go as well as I was expecting it to go, as I was in a battle all race and dropped back but got the fastest sector 1 of all day.

The final had me starting in 15th where the start (3rd time) was absolutely appalling! I got brake checked, there were massive gaps and people cut the start! Unfortunately I finished 29th because of a drop down on the first lap.

Thank you to precision for yet another great weekend.
And a massive well done to my team mate Zak Oates on winning the E plate and the SP plate! 👍👍👍
See you at Shenington super 1 this weekend! 😀

Last weekend was our third round of the British championships.
This time we were at Rowrah which is one of my favourite tracks. After only having two practices that were both in the wet, qualifying got underway.

I started well, but with about 3 minutes to go, I spun at the bottom corner into the bark, when the track was at its fastest, so missed out on a good qualification. 👌👎👎👎 Unfortunately this put me last out of the 22 drivers in qualy.

Heat 1 was a great result as I got past 8 people from 22nd to finish 14th which was a great race.

Heat 2 was good at the start as I made 10 places in 2 laps until I got taken out at the bottom corner, and because I struggled to lift up the kart, it took me 2 laps to get back on the track but now I was hot-headed (and being my stupid self) I went into the pits and still finished 19th.

Starting 19th for the dry pre final on Sunday, I made around 3-4 places but got a drop down on the formation lap from the person in front which put me back into 19th for the start of the final.

The weather got worse and the final was wet again. On the first lap I lost a couple of places but pushed on making my way back up the field and had a good last corner battle with Ollie Dilks to get 17th (with times quick enough for a top 10!)

A big well done to Archie Strong for winning the JTKM's
Zak Oates for 5th
Zak Taylor for 6th
Lewis Wadley for 5th in TKM extreme
And Robert Welham for 6th
A big thank you to Caroline Welham for my surprise birthday cake 🎂😀 and thank you to the team for another great weekend 😀

See you at the Shenington superprix. 🏁

Last weekend was our second super 1 round in the TKM'S. This time we were at Clay Pigeon, a track I had never been to, so after two practices I had learnt the track but wasn't really on the pace.

In qualifying I got overtook by the fastest drivers and stayed with them for a few laps which made me think that I was going well, but found out I qualified 21st out of 23 which I didn't think was that good. After, I realised that as there was only 0.5 of a second separating the whole field, it wasn't too bad! 😁

In heat 1 there was a big pile up so I finished 18th after penalties and a few overtakes as well.

Heat 2 was really good as I started 21st again and made my way through to 18th with one overtake on the last corner, and one into the hairpin but I should have got one more place but just couldn't make the move.

The pre-final didn't go to plan as after the first laps my tyres lost grip and I dropped off but still got 19th.

The final went well as I made a few places on the first lap and was catching up with the people in front, and then on the last lap I was right behind Liam Hurrell when his back right tyre came off 😲😲!! Luckily I managed to turn away before it landed right where I was before so I finished 17th out of 23 with a dramatic ending!

A big well done to my team mate Rob Welham for 2nd place in TKM extremes and a big thanks to all in Precision Racing for another helpful and fun weekend with them. I feel like I am making good progress with the team and am really looking forward to Rowrah for the next round in a couple of weeks. 😀 🏁🏁

Junior TKM 2nd final at Larkhall SuperOne. 😜😎

This weekend was my first ever super 1 weekend ever. I was at Larkhall in Scotland for the first round for the Junior TKM's.

As we didn't do the Friday practice day we were obviously going to be off the pace. After the second practice I was keeping with the pack but got binned which made me have less time on track.

At the start of qualifying my engine didn't start so I was half a lap behind with no grip but managed to get 17th which I was pretty annoyed at as I felt I could have done better.

The heats had consistent results of around 18th which made me start 18th for the pre - final the next day. Having started the pre-final in 18th I worked my way up to 15th at the finish. Got an amazing start in the final as I made my way up into 10th but then made a couple of mistakes and got bullied to 20th where I finished on track, but moved up to 18th due to penalties. An OK start to S1 and hope to progress through the year.

Thanks to Jake and all in Precision Racing for all the help and advice through the weekend. Well done to Daniel Butterworth for winning the final and all my team mates in the awning.

Loved the first round of SuperOne, just would have liked to have done better. Hope to see you at Clay for the next round. 🏁

Had a busy 2 weeks as I have driver coached 2 Honda Cadets who have improved massively since last time I have seen them. The next weekend I raced at Rissington for some practice before super 1. And this weekend I'm on my way to Larkhall for the first round of super 1 for the TKM's. I'm feeling a bit nervous but hope to do well this weekend. 🤞😊🏁

Last weekend we were at Shenington to race with the team.

Saturday practice had good pace and in the last three practices we ran our new engine in.

On Sunday we were confident that we could have some good results in the heats and final. Heat 1 we started P4 out of 34, our pace was strong as we got up to 2nd at one point but dropped down to 5th through the race. When the race had finished I moved up to 3rd due to penalties, a great first heat 👍👍!

Heat 2 we started 32nd and unfortunately our engine cut out on the first lap so we were half a lap behind 2nd to last 👎, I had strong pace throughout the race and caught back up to the pack to finish 22nd from half a lap behind.

Heat 3 was even worse as we started 13th but got taken out on the first lap and the race finished after 4 laps due to a red flag so I finished 30th 👎👎.

For the final I was starting 19th and it started to rain so I was very confident that I would do well. After 4 laps I had made 10 places to 9th with pace for the top 5 but unfortunately my engine cut out a lot causing me to spin off 3 times, so I finished 31st. Being gutted in the awning we found out that the carb had gone down so it wouldn't run at low revs, so that was why it cut out so many times.

A big well done to:
Rob Welham for starting pole for the final but had problems with the kart so had to retire.
Zak Taylor for finishing ninth.

And a big thank you to Precision Racing for a fun and helpful weekend

Hope to see you at the track soon. 😀

This weekend we visited Rissington for the first time with the team.
On Saturday practice, I started with good pace in the wet and improved to be one of the fastest on track! 👍

Race day came along and was a dry day. In the first heat I started 19th, made places up and on the last lap I went up the inside of 12th but they didn't see me and turned into me. I came out of the kart and landed on the back part of the kart 👎👎so a DNF and visit to the ambulance.

After the ambulance staff checked me over I was starting fourth for the second heat which started a bit side ways as I got punted wide in the first lap.

Heat 3 we changed the set up as we were starting 8th and still couldn't get the heat on the first lap resulting in another punt off.

Starting 19th for the final I was determined to do well. On the first lap I pushed really hard and made 4 places on the first lap with two more through the race. Unfortunately, we found out a few days after race day that half way through the final my engine had gone faulty so I lost one more place meaning I made 5 places in the final. We had thought it was my tyres going off, but it wasn't.

A big well done to
Zak Oates for winning the race
Zak Taylor for fourth
And every one else for some great racing. Hope to see you on the grid soon. 😄

This Saturday was my first time around Shenington in my TKM.
It started off with cold temperatures that gradually got a little warmer as my times gradually got quicker and quicker.
At the start of the day I couldn't get the heat into my tyres and was more than a second off the front runners👎👎,but in the afternoon we changed the kart set up and were only 3 tenths off the fastest!!!
Got up at 5.30AM the next day for a 6AM set off to find out race day was cancelled because of the snow! I was gutted as I was really looking forward to racing and seeing how well I could do.
Had a really good time with the team and got a lot of great advice from Jake in precision and also got my new team stickers on my kart. 😀
Hope to see you at the track soon!!