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Race Reports 2011/12 season |
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B Dog Web Design |
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New Zealand Formula Ford Championship Round 2 Teretonga January 12-15
Hi Sponsors and Supporters, Friday: We had two official practises. We had problems with the car missing in both sessions which limited my testing time by only doing 5 laps. Dad and George worked really hard on the engine to find the miss and they replaced all the electrics and finally got the car running ok.
Saturday: We got to the track on Saturday morning to find our tent on the other side of the road because of huge winds in the night. The car had fallen off the stands and the hoist had landed on the car. Our pit looked like a bomb had gone off, with tools spread all over the ground and parts everywhere.
Qualifying: We started the car in the morning and unfortunately the miss was back. Dad said to go out and see how the car went even though we knew it wasn’t going to be right. I qualified on grid 4 which was better than I thought with the way the car was going. When I got back to the pits Dad and George started looking for the miss again. They decided to pull the head off because they suspected it was a blown head gasket. Greg, my engine builder who works for Dad, came out to help. We found that it had broken a stud in the inlet manifold and number 3 and 4 cylinders were sucking air. The guys re-assembled the engine and got my car ready a few minutes before race one.
Race one: I got off the line really well and passed two cars which put me in second place behind the current New Zealand Champion. I followed him for 1 lap before drafting him down the straight and passing him into the loop. He then passed me on the next lap down the straight but I managed to pass him again into Castrol corner (turn 2). After that my car started to handle badly and I slipped back into second place. The car following me was gaining rapidly and he passed me at the last turn before the straight. I managed to draft him down the straight and pulled out to pass on the outside. I then went to turn in and hit the marbles and lost control of the car. The safety car came out and luckily I got going again and worked my way through the field to finish 7th.
Sunday Race 2: I arrived at the track and the rain was really heavy. Before I went out the sun had come out and we gambled on whether to set the car up with wets. I got off to a great start passing into first place and pulling away from the field. Two laps later the track had started drying up rapidly and the New Zealand Champion was now catching me. He got passed me down the straight and was gone like a rocket. Three laps before the race had finished the rain started pouring down and I thought if I pushed harder I could catch the car ahead. I started gaining on him very quickly but still finished second. Everyone was very pleased including me because it was my first ever podium finish.
Race 3: I got off to a very bad start nearly stalling on the line and falling back to 5th place I past back into 4th place at turn one. I then started on the hunt for 1st, 2nd and 3rd it took 5 laps before I got onto the back of the car ahead. I then pasted him down the straight and was hunting down second very fast. I got a great run out of the loop and was on a role up to Castrol corner. I pasted down the inside and the car on the outside turned down on me and flew off the track after hitting my front wheel. My front handling got disturbed which made it under steer really badly so I couldn’t catch 1st place. In the end I finished 2nd for the race, 2nd for the weekend and got my first spraying of champagne. Thanks to all my sponsors and supporters for all your help. Kindest Regards |
