Post by bikeboy on Dec 7, 2008 11:17:21 GMT 12
After a normal vehicle check and complacence check which involved both one rocker cover and the carb to come off, we were though with out a problem and off to the infield,
After a long wait as the club battled to get the track ready, race one was upon us, I had drawn grid 10 in the draw of qualifying cups, which gave me grids 10, 20 and 2,
Race one did not start well, turn 1 came up pretty quick and a massive pile up containing about 8 cars was the result, I have no idea what happened near the front, I was on the brakes hard but still ended up underneath Tony in the 17R car and had another car on my rear end (I think Jeff Baron), the lights went red, as they should have with the track all but blocked, what happened next will be debated for a long time, but what is done is done, a lot of drivers got a chance to fix there cars, we all got a blasting by the red caps who could not find any driver or drivers at fault,
The restart saw all but the 82m car of Paul Managh make the restart, the track had dried out a fair bit by now and we were a little off with the set up, I lost a few places early but managed to miss 1nz and 9 a who got together in turn 3, the car came back to me half way though and I started to make time on the cars in front, but could not get close enough to do anything, the field was very close, result was 11th,
Race 2, and off grid 20, this was the race I need to make some places if I wanted to be near the top end of the results at the end of the night, race started and the pace was quick, I think I drove harder in this race than I have ever done before trying to get the outside line working, but it seemed the harder I tried, the slower I went, I only made one pass in this race and with not many retirements I ended up 16th, not what I was looking for but the field was very close and not many people made up a lot of places,
Race 3 and off grid 2, all night we did not have much time between races after the delays at the start of the night,
I got the jump on the 24w car into turn one but it did not take Phil Towgood long to get passed around the outside, I settled down for a driving lesson as flowing Phil always teaches you something, I got a another chance at the front when the yellows came on half a lap later and I got the lead handed back to me by the infield staff, Phil then proceeded to teach me another lesson 1 lap later by going around me in turns 1 and 2 again, I don’t think I really want that particular lesson again but I obviously needed it, I drove hard in this race trying to stay with Phil and keep the chasing field behind, there was a number of yellows in this race and every time Phil pulled away a bit form the start and just put a few meters me every lap, the 24w car kept the pressure on the whole race, putting the nose in whenever he could, but we kept in clean and we ran 20 laps very close, it was a good race and I was stoked to finish the night on a high,
I ended up 13th overall,
I read on here a while ago that to win saloon car titles you need to pass cars, and I failed to do that on finals night, I have learnt a lot and it think I am driving and have the car set up much better this year than last, the learning curve is still going and we will continue trying to get faster,
Big congratulations go to Brent on the Title, he runs a slick operation and is always near the front, and a huge respect to Dave McCallion, to come all that way, qualify though the repercharge, to get 2nz is awesome, thanks for making the title a true national one, also a congratulations to Terry Corbin for 3nz,
Thanks for reading, ill post the videos up when they are done,
Cheers
Scott Wilkins
Saloon 67m
After a long wait as the club battled to get the track ready, race one was upon us, I had drawn grid 10 in the draw of qualifying cups, which gave me grids 10, 20 and 2,
Race one did not start well, turn 1 came up pretty quick and a massive pile up containing about 8 cars was the result, I have no idea what happened near the front, I was on the brakes hard but still ended up underneath Tony in the 17R car and had another car on my rear end (I think Jeff Baron), the lights went red, as they should have with the track all but blocked, what happened next will be debated for a long time, but what is done is done, a lot of drivers got a chance to fix there cars, we all got a blasting by the red caps who could not find any driver or drivers at fault,
The restart saw all but the 82m car of Paul Managh make the restart, the track had dried out a fair bit by now and we were a little off with the set up, I lost a few places early but managed to miss 1nz and 9 a who got together in turn 3, the car came back to me half way though and I started to make time on the cars in front, but could not get close enough to do anything, the field was very close, result was 11th,
Race 2, and off grid 20, this was the race I need to make some places if I wanted to be near the top end of the results at the end of the night, race started and the pace was quick, I think I drove harder in this race than I have ever done before trying to get the outside line working, but it seemed the harder I tried, the slower I went, I only made one pass in this race and with not many retirements I ended up 16th, not what I was looking for but the field was very close and not many people made up a lot of places,
Race 3 and off grid 2, all night we did not have much time between races after the delays at the start of the night,
I got the jump on the 24w car into turn one but it did not take Phil Towgood long to get passed around the outside, I settled down for a driving lesson as flowing Phil always teaches you something, I got a another chance at the front when the yellows came on half a lap later and I got the lead handed back to me by the infield staff, Phil then proceeded to teach me another lesson 1 lap later by going around me in turns 1 and 2 again, I don’t think I really want that particular lesson again but I obviously needed it, I drove hard in this race trying to stay with Phil and keep the chasing field behind, there was a number of yellows in this race and every time Phil pulled away a bit form the start and just put a few meters me every lap, the 24w car kept the pressure on the whole race, putting the nose in whenever he could, but we kept in clean and we ran 20 laps very close, it was a good race and I was stoked to finish the night on a high,
I ended up 13th overall,
I read on here a while ago that to win saloon car titles you need to pass cars, and I failed to do that on finals night, I have learnt a lot and it think I am driving and have the car set up much better this year than last, the learning curve is still going and we will continue trying to get faster,
Big congratulations go to Brent on the Title, he runs a slick operation and is always near the front, and a huge respect to Dave McCallion, to come all that way, qualify though the repercharge, to get 2nz is awesome, thanks for making the title a true national one, also a congratulations to Terry Corbin for 3nz,
Thanks for reading, ill post the videos up when they are done,
Cheers
Scott Wilkins
Saloon 67m
