Sometimes the biggest steps forward start with saying yes before you're completely ready.
Just three weeks before Kartmasters 2026, we made the decision to do something completely different.
After years of racing Honda Cadet, Sawyer would step into Micro Max and take on one of the biggest karting events of the year.
New kart.
New engine package.
New driving style.
And some seriously tough competition.
We knew it wasn't going to be easy.
Three Weeks To Prepare
Kartmasters wasn't something we'd been preparing for all season.
The decision was made just three weeks before the event, which meant we had very limited time to get Sawyer comfortable with a completely different package.
Moving from Honda Cadet to Micro Max isn't simply a case of jumping into another kart and driving it the same way.
Everything feels different.
The power delivery is different. The braking is different. The way the kart needs to be driven is different.
Sawyer had only managed a few days of testing before arriving at PFi for four days of racing.
There was another challenge too.
Weight.
In karting, every kilogram matters, and despite working hard in the weeks leading up to the event and doing everything we reasonably could to reduce weight from the kart, we still arrived around 2.5kg over the minimum.
Against some of the best Micro Max drivers and teams around, we knew that wasn't ideal.
But we'd entered to learn.
And we were going to give it everything.
A Difficult Start
The weekend didn't exactly begin according to plan.
Engine problems meant Sawyer missed three of the five practice sessions on the opening day, while another was affected by rain.
That left us with very little meaningful track time before qualifying.
Not exactly what you want when you're learning an entirely new kart.
But things quickly started to change.
Finding The Pace
As Sawyer became more comfortable, the speed started to show.
In qualifying he put the kart P6.
Before the event, we'd quietly said that a top-ten qualifying result would be something to be really pleased with.
P6 exceeded our expectations.
Then came Sawyer's first ever Micro Max race.
Starting sixth, he worked his way through to finish P2 on track.
Unfortunately, contact from behind on the final lap damaged a rear bumper mounting. The bumper subsequently came away on the in-lap, resulting in a disqualification.
It was a frustrating way to lose a fantastic result.
But there was one positive we couldn't ignore.
The pace was real.
Proving It Again
The next heat gave Sawyer an opportunity to show the first result wasn't a one-off.
Starting P6 again, he raced his way back through to...
P2.
This time, the result stood.
Across the event, Sawyer also recorded multiple fastest laps.
For a driver competing in his first Micro Max event, with only a handful of days in the kart beforehand, that was probably the thing we were most proud of.
We hadn't gone to Kartmasters expecting to fight at the front.
We'd gone to learn.
Instead, we discovered that we could compete.
The Wild Card
One of our favourite moments of the entire event actually came away from the results sheet.
During the weekend, Sawyer was described as the "Wild Card" and "one to watch."
For a young driver stepping into a completely new class against experienced Micro Max competitors, hearing that meant a lot.
We'd arrived relatively unknown in the class.
By the end of the weekend, a few more people knew who kart 27 was.
Why We Took The Chance
It's easy to stay where you're comfortable.
But motorsport is about progression.
Sometimes you need to put yourself into an uncomfortable situation to find out what you're capable of.
Kartmasters gave Sawyer the opportunity to race against new drivers, learn a different style of kart and experience another level of competition.
There were problems.
There were frustrations.
There were moments when things didn't go our way.
But there was also genuine front-running pace.
And, most importantly, there was a huge amount learned.
Three weeks earlier, we weren't even planning to be there.
Four days later, we left knowing we'd made the right decision.
That's racing.
And that's another chapter in the TwoSeven journey.
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