{"id":2035,"date":"2023-10-14T17:49:36","date_gmt":"2023-10-14T17:49:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/Home\/?page_id=2035"},"modified":"2023-12-01T16:13:59","modified_gmt":"2023-12-01T16:13:59","slug":"huntsville-2023","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/Home\/huntsville-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Huntsville Grand Prix 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"2035\" class=\"elementor elementor-2035\" data-elementor-post-type=\"page\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-b6e68ab elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"b6e68ab\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-ac18774\" data-id=\"ac18774\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fd90381 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"fd90381\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.22.0 - 26-06-2024 *\/\n.elementor-widget-image{text-align:center}.elementor-widget-image a{display:inline-block}.elementor-widget-image a img[src$=\".svg\"]{width:48px}.elementor-widget-image img{vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/IMG_2484-scaled.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-2030\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/IMG_2484-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/IMG_2484-300x225.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption class=\"widget-image-caption wp-caption-text\">Group lined up for photo shoot<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3fcfa52 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"3fcfa52\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/RonSueGP4-1024x768.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-2028\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/RonSueGP4-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/RonSueGP4-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/RonSueGP4-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/RonSueGP4-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/RonSueGP4.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption class=\"widget-image-caption wp-caption-text\">My wife and I dressed up in period.  We took first place for best dressed team!<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c7e9728 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"c7e9728\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"759\" src=\"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Screen-Shot-2023-09-12-at-5.52.46-PM-1024x759.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-2024\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Screen-Shot-2023-09-12-at-5.52.46-PM-1024x759.png 1024w, https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Screen-Shot-2023-09-12-at-5.52.46-PM-300x222.png 300w, https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Screen-Shot-2023-09-12-at-5.52.46-PM-768x570.png 768w, https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Screen-Shot-2023-09-12-at-5.52.46-PM.png 1432w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption class=\"widget-image-caption wp-caption-text\">Helmet on and running with the pack<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-dd8b93f elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"dd8b93f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/4A4C39CF-B4A2-4BE4-8CCA-83097C006F60-scaled.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-2037\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/4A4C39CF-B4A2-4BE4-8CCA-83097C006F60-scaled.jpeg 1920w, https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/4A4C39CF-B4A2-4BE4-8CCA-83097C006F60-225x300.jpeg 225w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption class=\"widget-image-caption wp-caption-text\">My faithful son Kurt who helped me keep running<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-580b77a elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"580b77a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"952\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/CD06DCA2-6A96-4C93-9A14-1EEB13CB6799-scaled.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-2039\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/CD06DCA2-6A96-4C93-9A14-1EEB13CB6799-scaled.jpeg 2381w, https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/CD06DCA2-6A96-4C93-9A14-1EEB13CB6799-279x300.jpeg 279w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 952px) 100vw, 952px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption class=\"widget-image-caption wp-caption-text\">Despite early disaster, still found moments of pleasure<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-66 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-6b4b7d0\" data-id=\"6b4b7d0\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-df60395 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"df60395\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.22.0 - 26-06-2024 *\/\n.elementor-heading-title{padding:0;margin:0;line-height:1}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title[class*=elementor-size-]>a{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-small{font-size:15px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-medium{font-size:19px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-large{font-size:29px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xl{font-size:39px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xxl{font-size:59px}<\/style><h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Huntsville Grand Prix #4, 2023<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a7d7dc4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"a7d7dc4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.22.0 - 26-06-2024 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<p>It was thrilling and very humbling to participate in this great event this year. I was one of about 46 cyclekarts that showed up for this event.\u00a0 What a magnificent collection of cyclekarts and builders.<\/p><p>I had barely finished my cyclekart in time for this event.\u00a0 I was up until late the evening before fixing the brakes and packing all the items for my pit.\u00a0 I was almost too excited to even get to sleep.\u00a0 I had dreamed and anticipated this event for one year now, ever since I attended GP-3 one year prior as an onlooker.\u00a0 At that time, I knew deep down in my bones, that this was where I wanted to be.\u00a0 These were my type of people and I wanted to be a part of it.\u00a0 It was in my DNA; it was what gave me excitement in my life.\u00a0<\/p><p>So now, to actually be here and be an active participant after all the planning, researching, learning new building skills, and actually constructing a running and functioning Bugatti Type 13, I had arrived!\u00a0 It was truly a pinnacle moment of achievement for me.<\/p><p>Unfortunately, not all my dreams came true.\u00a0 I experienced significant mechanical issues and had it not been for my son Kurt, who came to be with me and help me in my pit, I would probably not even have run at all.\u00a0 Never-the-less, I only participated in two parade runs and two races.\u00a0 My second race ended with my transmission belt exploding halfway into my last lap and having to be towed back to the pit.\u00a0 I had practically brought along enough tools and spares to build another car, but did not have another belt, so it was game over for me.<\/p><p>I felt bad because I had a lot of family who had come to watch me and share in my joy.\u00a0 But now my once running cyclekart was kaput.\u00a0 What a disappointment.<\/p><p>But the greatest disappointment, in fact, one of the lowest times in my life occurred on Friday before the races began.\u00a0 After running practice laps and tweaking the car, we all gathered in front of the local bar in town for pictures after which we would all take a parade lap before retiring to the park for a dinner group gathering.\u00a0 Disaster struck as I started up my cyclekart after all the pictures were taken in preparation for the parade lap.\u00a0 I pull started the engine as I always had, but unlike anytime before, the engine revved up to full speed and took off without me inside the car thus becoming an unguided missile.\u00a0 After accelerating for about 50 feet and dragging me along and flipping me to my backside, it struck another cyclekart waiting in line for the parade to begin.\u00a0 The collision obliterated the other cyclekart&#8217;s rear wheel, and peeled off a good chunk of my knee and elbow skin.\u00a0 I have never felt so low in my life!\u00a0 To have this happen in full view of all my fellow builders and the public onlookers was the most humiliating experience of my entire long life.\u00a0 My fellow cyclekarter, who&#8217;s kart was now rendered unusable, was a supreme gentleman, few if any on earth could ever match.\u00a0 His understanding and unwillingness to accept compensation for my bad actions exceeded anything I could ever have imagined.\u00a0 Skylar, you are an incredible human being; I owe you a debt I can never pay back.<\/p><p>I so desperately wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear.\u00a0 I seriously considered packing up and leaving; I was too ashamed to show my face and pretend that I even belonged with this wonderful group of men and women.\u00a0 Thanks to my supporting wife, son, and others in the group, they showed me great compassion and so I remained.\u00a0 After getting some medical supplies, we went back to our hotel to literally lick my wounds both physically and mentally.\u00a0 Despite my physical pain, my mental anguish ran super deep and it kept me up all night.<\/p><p>When morning came, I was determined to participate and not screw up again.\u00a0 And so, with everyone&#8217;s support, I marshaled on and most fortunately ran without incident except for the tranny belt incident.<\/p><p>In retrospect, I was reminded how quickly life can be upended in a heartbeat.\u00a0 How wonderful compassion from family and friends can heal one&#8217;s soul.\u00a0 And how important it is we not give up our dreams even when the going get&#8217;s tough.<\/p><p>I also learned that building a cyclekart was just the first step in my cyclekarting experience.\u00a0 I discovered that building a cyclekart to run reliably and efficiently was entirely another level that I had not anticipated.\u00a0<\/p><p>After returning home, I literally tore apart the entire rear end and started over.\u00a0 Over the next 4 months I worked on implementing over 40 changes!\u00a0 And I&#8217;m not done yet.\u00a0 I still want to add fenders, complete the wiring, and fix the shoddy combing around the cockpit.\u00a0<\/p><p>Boy did I learn a lot as I rebuilt and tested each modification.\u00a0 I think I learned more in this stage than when I built the car originally.\u00a0<\/p><p>Now I have the car running reliably, strong, straight and pretty fast.\u00a0 I&#8217;ve had it up to 50 mph and can sustain about 47 mph.\u00a0 I have nearly ten hours running time now on the car and enjoy drives throughout my local community and up in the foothills.\u00a0<\/p><p>My dream of my Bugatti build turned out very different from what I initially anticipated; but I am very content to have arrived where I am at now.<\/p><p>This Bugatti project will continue to evolve over time, I don&#8217;t know that it will ever truly be complete.\u00a0 It will forever, be my first cyclekart love, and one that I will cherish for the rest of my life.<\/p><p>Now with my car running and my pride partially restored, I look forward again to next year&#8217;s Huntsville Grand Prix.\u00a0 I hope to run more events and especially look forward to intermingling with the great cyclekart community.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Group lined up for photo shoot My wife and I dressed up in period. We took first place for best dressed team! Helmet on and running with the pack My faithful son Kurt who helped me keep running Despite early disaster, still found moments of pleasure Huntsville Grand Prix #4, 2023 It was thrilling and &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/Home\/huntsville-2023\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Huntsville Grand Prix 2023<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"no-sidebar","site-content-layout":"page-builder","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2035","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2035"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2262,"href":"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2035\/revisions\/2262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gobugatti.pro\/Home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}