|
Race Report - Winton Motor Raceway 1-3 August 2003
|
|
After the difficulties of the last race meeting we decided to reconsider our development path. We had little to loose after our recent outing so we changed the entire set-up of the car in a way we thought might better exploit the character of the latest Yokohama tyres. It seems we were right!
|
|
Practice 1
|
|
Having raced at Winton already this season, we were keen to see if we could improve on our previous performance. After only a few laps on a very green track, we started putting times down that were almost 3 seconds better than our last visit. I have to say I like this new set-up. We were able to make changes to the aero balance and do some benchmarking of tyre pressures and temperatures with some help from Andrew of Traction Tyres.
|
|
Practice 2
|
|
I got a little excited and spun on the out lap on cold tyres and unfortunately beached the car on a kerb in the esses. A quick push from the marshals had us underway fairly quickly with no damage. Now that the track was clean and some rubber was down, our lap times improved further. We were able to get all the data we needed for the weekend such as fuel consumption and final tyre pressures.
|
|
Qualifying
|
|
It's always a bit of a lottery. A couple of flying laps were red flagged and then I messed up one really hot lap on the last corner. The session ended under yellow flags before I could get back into the groove. We were in eighth place - not were I'd hoped to be.
|
|
Race 1
|
|
Made a fair start and moved into 7th spot behind Terry Clearihan. I kept on his tail until I started having trouble selecting fourth gear, which made it impossible to stay in touch. On the second last lap we got a gift as Terry spun out on turn 3 and went ploughing in the grass. We finished 6th outright and first in Silver Star.
|
|
Race 2
|
|
Another good start was eclipsed by the old fox, Ken Smith, who got a ripper and blazed past me. This was definitely not part of the plan so after the first couple of corners I applied some pressure. At turn 10, Ken slid wide and I was able to pass on the outside and chop across to protect the inside line. I saw Terry behind me and we had a couple of laps of quick running before he lost it under braking for turn 3. I was able to stretch out our advantage and really enjoy the amazing performance of these cars. Eventually Darren Hossack caught up after an early spin and I was instructed to let him pass rather than risk our Silver Star position in a dice, so we rolled out to 5th overall and first in class. In a sporting gesture, Mark Ellis let Terry pass him on the finish line to pick up some much needed points for the week-end!
Overall results. 40 Silver Star points to put us out to a 37 point lead. A really fun weekend with Rebecca, Sam, Garrett, and new team member Steve Davis.
|
