I’m going to keep it short as I have three meetings to catch up on over the last couple of weeks. This night didn’t run quite to plan but we salvaged a reasonable result in the end.
In the first heat we got taken out by a car that had spun out, I was going underneath him as he spun and as a result I got drilled hard in the right rear which punctured the tyre and I had to pull off. We found extra damage to the car and couldn’t make the start of the second heat race so we effectively got zero points for qualifying. That meant we were to start dead last in the feature. We managed to drive up to finish 5th in the feature. The video of the race is below.
It was a tough night at Palmerston North with all 5 Usa drivers competing along with the best from our country. We left Auckland at 7am to get down to the track on time. However we were a little late as we came across a bush fire on the side of the road just south of Waiouru. Luckily we had a fire extinguisher, some water and a spade and had it out before the fire truck got there. No road trip seems to go without some form of drama.
For time trails we were the second to last car out and by then the track had gone dusty and the drive gone from it. All we could manage was 11th quick which gave us no points so cost us badly later on. The way it worked out we were in the toughest group with 4 of the 5 USA drivers and some strong locals. Despite this we scored a 3rd and a 4th place in our 2 heat races. Normally this would put us in the top 6 shootout but we missed out because we were tied three way for points in 7th place. That meant I had to start from 9th in the Feature because of our poor time trial. The track was black slick and it was going to be hard coming from 9th.
We got a bad start in the Feature with Logan getting a bit out of shape in front of us to miss a car in front of him so after the first lap we were 10th. It was a game of inches with the track so slick I just had to keep the car under me and not burn up my tyre. By half race distance we were up to 8th and a yellow came out which was a shame cause the car was feeling better and better. The race went green and I could feel my right rear tyre shuddering badly through the middle of the corner so I thought it was either going flat or badly worn out. The problem is when you start so far back you have to fight harder and use more of your tyre to get past cars than the guys that are starting up front. About 3 laps from home we drove underneath Brindle then the next lap did the same thing to O’Conner to finish top Kiwi home in 6th. We were pleased with the result but most importantly we have found more speed on the slick tracks which will serve us well this weekend at the NZ title. Below is a picture of my tyre after the feature next to a brand new one which was what it was before the race. See you at the track tonight at Western Springs.
Hi everyone. Sorry for the lack of updates on my site. We have been working day and night on the car since Boxing night and I just haven’t had a chance to sit down and write anything. Since my last post we have raced 4 times, Dec 26th, 27th, 29th and Jan 1st.
