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Kihikihi = 13th May
 
Must have been the 13th!!
The first race was great!!! Off 1 against current 1nz, and had a good start, holding on to him for the first part of the straight, ending finishing 3rd. The car felt good, engine sounded great.
They do say the engine runs well before ............
With a lap to go in the 2nd run, the engine started to make a noise?
At first I thought it was someone else???? But when I slowed down for the yellow, the noise was real loud, obviously me.
Into the pits I go, the engine still running, oil pressure good, temp good etc.
The bonnet was taken off, no obvious problem, but not a good noise.
The car was put on the trailer, bugger, how come you run your last race without realising it is your last race!
 
The head was taken off on Monday morning to see what the damage was, we were hoping to still make the speedfest at Huntly.
 
Broken piston, damaged valve, not enough time to get fixed in time for Thursday!
Bugger!!!!!
 
So, the end of the season has arrived for us.
Time to focus on the wedding!!!!!

Kihikihi = 12th May

Reece ran this meeting, 4 finishes from 4 starts, he had a good day.

30/3/08 = Kihikihi

Race 1: grid 3
Okay start for the day, but was swamped by the pack, but felt fast.

Race 2: grid 2
Won the start, first into the corner. I was leading until 2 laps to go, when I was unfortunately passed by 1nz and 9a (ex 1nz). Bugger and damn. Still felt fast!

Race 3: grid 5 (1/4 lap down)
Well, now punished for some good racing, I was no pushed back. Struggled to catch the cars ahead, only making slow progress, but the car felt good and I felt fast, some aggressive cornering was good.

Next meeting
Kihikihi 12 and 13th april
Shared meet with Reece

29/3/08 = Huntly
 
Race 1: grid 8
Off grid 8 for this race, after a bad start that resulted in me falling back to 9th, I then managed to get back up to 7th place for the finish. The car felt good, no miss and no overheating.
 
Race 2: grid 4
Really happy with this race. I managed to hold onto my position for the entire race, absorbing some pressure from behind and then leaving them behind. A bit of contact with 1nz result in a lost nut from my right front wheel rim, but no other damage. Sorry Shaun, perhaps trying to be too aggressive????? The adaptable shock was put back onto the car, the first time for the season. Try it out for the last heat.
 
Race 3: grid 3
After a dodgy start, this race became the highlight of the night and perhaps the season. After loosing 2 positions at the start and loosing ground, I caught up to 32a and 46h, then wondered "how to pass" and "can i pass". I used the shock as the car seemed to have a push coming out of turn 4. It worked really well as this is where I managed to pass both 32a and then 46h one lap after each other, and then I took off and left them behind. The car felt really good! I felt really good! Car felt fast, I felt aggressive.
 
Overall:
Great night of racing, and a great time!

Waikaraka Park - NZ Minisprints
 
The field of 25 cars was split into 2 groups, red and blue group. I found myself in the red group, the bigger group with 13 cars and consisting of several strong competitors.
 
After studying the group I came to the conclusion it would be very hard to direct qualify through my group.
 
I drew grid 12 for the first race and struggled to pass any cars, finishing 11th. Was disapointed with myself, and decided I needed to go harder. The next 2 heats were much improved, faster lap times, better lines and better results followed. I qualified in 8th position, the first 8 from each group went through to the finals.....YEAH!!!
 
We made some changes to the car the next day, in the hopes of doing well.
 
I drew grid 12 (yep again) for the first heat.
I drove well, coming home in 14th place, both loosing places and passing some cars. The car felt odd...heavy to drive, struggled to move the car around the track.
 
Second heat of grid 2. Managed to win the start and was first off the blocks, being passed by grid 1 on the outside during the corner, but unfortunately a yellow came on, a pile up of minisprints. On the restart I again won the start and was first into the corner. I managed to finish in 4th. Started to have problems, the car would not idle, missing, and wanting to stall.
 
In the last heat I was on the back, and was desperate to move forward. I drove aggressively, making some passes, there was several yellows, and I struggled to keep the car running clear. I finished in 8th. The engine reved 8.2 in this one.
 
Overall - 7th equal!!!!!!!
An improvement from last years 10th.
 
Oops, the engine is a bit damaged! At the engine builders at the moment, hopefully back later in the week ready for racing on Saturday at Huntly.

Waikaraka Park = 2/2/08
 
Well, really not much to say!
 
Worked on the car all week, trying to find the source of the bad miss we had.
Replaced some leads, sparkplugs, battery etc.
Went out for heat 1 and the miss was still there, did 1 lap and pulled off.
Made some fuel changes, nil change.
Was given a dizzy exciter to try, oh my god..... it worked, no miss. 15 laps no miss, beautiful!
 
Thankyou Mark Edwards.
 
Next week...... wish me luck
Minisprint Nationals at Waikaraka Park.
Qualifying on Friday.
34 cars entered, 20 finalists.
 
Plan: Go hard!

Huntly = 21/1/08
 
The goal for this weekend was to be quicker and more aggressive going into the corners, as this was where I was loosing lap time and getting passed.
 
Race 1:
A random draw, off grid 13, the last grid of the field. I had a great start to this race, at the start I managed to go down the pole line into the first corner passing several cars, but unfortunately then things went wrong around me and another car was pushed across in front of me and I tried to avoid but contact was made, the result and badly damaged front bumper, thank god! I was sure there was going to be more damage. I managed to keep the car running, but unfortunately lost a few of the places I had gained. A great race, passed some cars, and finished in 7th place. My lap time for this race was on par with my usual lap times for Huntly. A very positive start, no miss!
 
Race 2:
Off grid 7 for this race, struggled in this race, the track was rough, the end result was I finished in 8th place. My lap time was not that impressive either?
 
Race 3:
More determined to get back on track for this race. I was off the front and wanted to see how long it took to be passed. Finished in 3 which I was very happy about. I managed to race well by making my car as wide as possible, and the reward..........a new personal best lap time!!!!!!! 
PB : 16.01secs..........0.63 slower than the fastest lap time for this race!
 
Kihikihi -  South Pacific Champs
 
Race 1: 
Off grid 8, middle of the pack. Not a bad lap time, but room for improvement. Unfortunately the engine got a bit hot and a there was a miss in the last 2 laps. Finished in 13 place. Tried to pass a car and as a result lost 2 places, damn it!
 
Race 2:
Grid 10. Finished in 11th. So far not the best day of racing. The car had a general miss, not to bad, but still a concern. A new problem though, being the faster car on the track and not being able to pass the car in front due to track conditions???? Something I am going to have to work on. Passed a car, it took me several laps to make the pass, then messed up and lost that place, damn it!
 
Race 3:
Off grid 13 for the final, the plan, have a good start and try and pass some cars without loosing positions. Big problem, the car would not take off at the start, felt like it was going to cut out, but then cleared? As I then went down the start straight a really bad miss started. The car would not let me rev out. At a certain rev it would miss really bad, effecting car handling. As this was a championship and the engine temp and oil pressure were okay I drove to finish. The most fustrating 20 laps of my life???!!! Watching car in front of you gradually get away that you could have passed. Usually it is me holding the car back, but not now, the car was holding me back. 
 
Next week
Waikaraka Park.....last run before the Nationals, lets hope we find the problem?

Huntly 12/1/08 = Hart Jewellers 30 Lapper:
 
I had been looking forward to this meeting for some time, a challenge?
 
We had 3 heats to give us the grids for the 30 lapper, the car did a total of 78 laps over the night.
 
Heat 1:
I was off grid 2 for this heat, yep, it was a marble draw, and yep, I do seem to draw the front row a lot!!!
I won the start and was into the corner first. As the laps went away I was picked off by the quicker cars and finished in 9th place. My fastest lap time was 16.40, a good start.
 
Heat 2:
I managed to finish where I started, 10th place. The track was starting to be rough, trying got find a good line was going to be a challenge as the night progressed, as a result my lap time was a smidge slower. A 3 abreast finish was very exciting, but damn it I was officially the last one over the line. As the race progressed I caught up to 46H Humble and 61p Golding, I applied pressure for a lap, but time was running out, as we came into turn 3 in the last lap 61p looked to go around 46h, and i dove up the inside of 61p to stay in the game, as we came out of turn 4 46h went a little wide and I was now up the inside of 46 and 61 all making a dash for the line, unfortunately I had to apply a bit of braking as I came out of the corner to ensure no contact. Damn, but a good try, even aggressive!!??
 
Heat 3:
This was a much better race, I started off grid 14 and finished in 7th place. Passing some cars and making a improved lap time. The fastest lap time was also faster this race. The track was really rough, limited passing opportunity all around. In this race I managed to catch up to 46h Humble, I was really trying to pass him, attempting to make room on the inside, each corner was a bit closer, then a yellow came out, and there were not many laps to go so I new I was going to have to do something fast. As we restarted I thought....the car does not feel right, never mind keep going. With 2 laps to go I ran out of time, got up close, was yet again aggressive. I was very happy with how I had driven in this race. When I got into the pits and got out of the car, the car owner (dad) said, oops we have a problem. When the car owner says this, I become very concerned, he never says this. We had a flat right rear, my new right rear! My right rear has a bloody big hole in it! It is stuffed. No wonder the car did not feel right!!!!???? Oh well, spare on for the 30 lapper. And a new right rear needed.
 
30 lapper:
Off grid 4 for this race. Finished in 9th place.
Not the best race for me, but ironically my fastest lap time of the night came in this race?
The track was gotten even worse, but I managed to keep it on all 4 for the race, I did manage to see some bottoms of some other cars, so I thought I did pretty well. Yet again this race ran not stop, green to chequered. I was lapped by the top 2 with a few laps to go.
 
Overall:
My crew have asked why all of a sudden I am driving quicker and more aggressively. A few reasons, I have 4 shocks on the car that work. This means the car is handling much more to my liking. Another reason is track time, more track time means more confidence. I am constantly pushing myself to be more aggressive, it is now coming and hopefully with continue to improve.
 
Also of note was the loss of 71m Andrew Edwards, a fellow ex-minisprint competitor. This loss has made me think about my racing. I want to have no regrets, therefore I need to be faster and more aggressive and prove that I can be better. Andrew would certainly not want me to hold back. RIP Andrew. All respect.
 
Next week:
Huntly Saturday, 
South Pacific Champs on Sunday at Kihikihi

1/1/08 =  Rotorua - North Island Champs:
Car count: 21
Grids: 20, 10, 3
Results: 15, 11, ??to annoyed to actually look
 
A marble draw was taken with the hopes of being off the back, there were concerns re the car count and the ability of the group to get through the first corner. I was very happy with grid 20, I could see what was happening in front of me and hopefully avoid it.
 
Heat 1:
I tried to be aggressive off the back, knowing I had to make up as many places as possible. Unfortunately my fear of this amount of cars at the start had me holding back going down the start straight and as a result lost a place on the start. As the race progressed my confidence built and I made some great passes managing to finish in a respectable 15th place.
 
Heat 2:
In the middle of the pack! I decided to try to ignore my fears and go for it, better said than done?! In this instance I managed to follow through and had a great start passing grid 10 and into the corner first. In the end I managed to hold my position, loosing places to the fast group but also passing some cars as well, I was pretty happy with the effort.
 
Heat 3:
This was the heat to go for it, and make my front grid count. I was running really well, I followed grid 1 into the corner and was in 2nd place for several laps, then 3rd, then 4th. Unfortunately there was an incident in turn 1 and 2 which I managed to see, but the cars behind me didn't, the result was a yellow, which became prolonged as the order of the cars on the track became very confused, questions were asked as I felt I should have been further up the field, 2 cars in particular had not passed me but were placed in front of me, plus cars I had already lapped? On the restart I then got stuck behind a car that slowed and then pulled off. By this time the pack had gone and I could not catch them with the amount of laps left.
A discussion was had with the officials, who admitted they had made a mistake, a protest was lodged, but the official decision was they could not change the result. This meaning I finished 9th equal overall, but if you consider the points I lost in the last heat, I should have finished in 7th place, which would have been a great result!!!!
 
Overall:
It is very unfortunate when the officials make an obvious mistake which costs you hard earned points. I felt disappointed by my final official result, as I had had a good day, driving well and aggressively, making inside and outside passes. I think the officials forget that it is not all about the top 3?
I am going to tell myself I was 7th overall.
 
Next 
Waikaraka Park and the Hart Jewellers 30 lapper at Huntly.

1/12/07 = Rotorua - Bay of Plenty Champs:
 
Car count: 16
Grids: 1, 9, 16
Results: 12, 9, 11
 
Heat 1:
Off the front for this one! A bit nervous, I have not run this car here yet? Not sure what the car will do? Good start, I beat grid 2 off the mark and am into the corner first, except the car decides it does not want to turn into the corner! For the rest of the race, I struggle through turns 1 and 2, turns 3 and 4 are good? As a result my result was not good, my lap times were slow and my confidence took a hit? My lap time was over a second slower than the fastest lap time which was set by a returning to form 18h Cooke.
 
Heat 2:
Some set up changes were made after a group discussion. It was hoped this would improve turns 1 and 2. Off grid 9, in the middle of the pack. I was yet again happy with my start, holding onto my position in the end, and passing some cars on the inside? The problem was half as bad as previous run, therefore car easier to handle and my lap time improved, now under a second slower a lap?
 
Heat 3:
After a discussion some further changes were made, as I was off the back and wanted to make sure I had every opportunity to pass some cars. Mistake!!! the car was even worse than the 1st race? It would not turn in, and as a result I could not pass the car in front of me, but my lap time remained under the 1 sec limit.
 
Overall:
Very disapointed with myself, times were slow, car misbehaving, made a wrong judgement call and in the end came 11?
 
Next week Huntly
Reece will be behind the wheel!

17/11/07 = Gisborne Minisprint Invitation: 
Car count: 10
Grids:6, 1, 9, 3
Results: 9, 9, 7, 7
RPM: 7.8, 7.9, 7,8, 7,9
Lap times: 15.54, 14.98, 14.09?, 15.05?
Final result: 8????
 
After travelling a few hours down the road, we arrived at a gisborne to a sunny day.
 
Hot laps: 
It was great to get out there and blow some of the nerves away, except the car freaked me out when it reved 8.1, it has not reved this hard this season, and I was holding back???
 
1st Heat: Grid 6.
The race was terrible, the race started without half the field even in the grid positions, struggling to get into position on a very wet track. Also having great trouble getting the car to turn into the corners, very heavy, hard to handle and extremely hard work. As a result I finished 9th. Not a good start to the night.
 
2nd heat: Grid 1.
A good start! I tried to hang onto 14h J Bryant down the start straight only giving up the position on entry to the corner. I still need to work on my car confidence and entry speed. I had 3rd to a few laps and then went backwards, at one stage having to save the car from a fast approaching wall when at full throttle. Finished in 9th place as a result of loosing further places when saving the car.
Happy with my lap time, breaking into the 14sec bracket. A lap record was set in this race by B Edwards of 14.05secs!
 
3rd Heat: Grid 9.
After making some changes the car was no handling better, able to get her into the corners more aggressively. I caught up to 32a J Cossey, but then had trouble working out how to pass on this track? Finished in 7th place.
 
4th Heat: Grid 3.
Managed to good start, passing some cars on the inside down the back straight. Then I managed to hold 46H C Humble back for several laps, which again was a confidence booster, but damn it with 1 or 2 laps to go he passed me on the inside on the corner I was still having trouble with the cars handling.
 
Thankyou Gisborne for the invitation to run, it was a pleasure to run on a different and fast track.
 
Next week:
Waikato Champs at Huntly
Kihikihi on Sunday

10.11.07 & 11.11.07 = Huntly Meeting #3 & Kihikihi Opening / John Watkins Memorial Feature:

Huntly:

I was so looking forward to this weekend, just to finally get some track time in the new car.
 
1st heat: grid 6
I did alright in this race, spent some time getting used to the car and gradually increasing my speed over the race. The car was driving off the left rear going into the corners, so this was making it a bit difficult to be confident going into the corners at speed. I made some confident passes on the outside without hesitation which was a great confience booster. I was really happy to finish a race with no rain in sight!
 
We made some set up changes to the car and were ready for the 2nd heat, which I was of grid 3, but the .......car would not start and we missed the race. Turned out to be a faulty ignition switch.
 
3rd heat: grid 1
As we had not run the car in the second heat we left the car set up as it was. I needed to have a confident start and get her into the first corner well. The start was great, winning the start and first into the corner, but then unfortunately the fast cars passed me, but I managed to hold onto the group for the race, accomplishing a faster lap time than the first race.

Kihikihi:  

A very hot and dusty day at Kihikihi, but great to be racing.
 
1st heat: marble draw: grid 1!!!!!
Won the start and headed into the corner first, managed to hold the lead for a lap, when I was passed by 2 cars, pushing me back to 3rd, which I held for the remainder of the race, with much pressure put on me from behind.
 
2nd heat: grid 10
Managed to pass a few cars in this race, but was surprised to find my lap times were slower than the first race! The track had become very dusty and slick.
 
Overall I drew 5th equall with 55H Daniel Thomas, after a coin toss, I was off grid 5.
I was hoping to hold this postion or 6th, but things did not go to plan.
 
3rd Heat: grid 5
After what looked like a good start, the start then went completely away from me, I was passed by several car on the start straight and went backward very quickly. I was really annoyed with myself and focused on the car in front of me and figured if I could catch that car and pass him I would partially redeem myself. The car in front was 32a Cossey, who has shown a lot of speed, over a few laps I managed to chase him down and then looked at how I could pass him? I managed a really nice inside pass on him in turn 4 and then out ran him down the straight. I then left him behind to focus on the next car, but ran out of time. 15 laps goes quickly when you need the extra laps or yellows to come out!
 
Overall I got 9th, which was a very disappointing end result for a meeting that had early promise?
 
Next week Gisborne

03.11.07 = Rotorua Opening Meeting: 

Went to Rotorua, had some fun! 13 cars present, started of the rear all night.
 
Race 1
No go forward, still sussing out the track?
 
Race 2
After words of wisdom from car owner, and Lyndon Kendall, tried some different things. Awesome! No go forward but was keeping up with everyone and rubbing wheels. Great race! Ran out of tear offs?
 
Race 3
Not as good as race 2, did learn a lot about car and track. Looking forward to running car again down there at Rotorua. Really want to thank Morrie and Chris Greer for taking me down and letting me play in there toy, awesome people, awesome race car! See you at the speedway!
 
Reece

27.10.07 = Huntly Fireworks Meeting:
Well. What can I say. I hate the rain!!
Reece had 2 races before the weather turned wet and started to rain.
The first heat was on the wet side but the changes we made to the car over the week seemed to improve the car and he finished the race with a smile on his face.
The 2nd race the track was pretty drivey and the car started to mishandle a bit again, driving off the right rear down the straight and the left rear in the corners so some changes were made but were unable to see if these worked.
Next week is Rotorua, so hopefully the weather will be stable, as it is a long way to go for another rain out!

20.10.07 = Waikaraka Park Opening (Rained out early): 
Same story, different day!
One race went alright, had a few set up issues, and then it rained!! This car really does not like a wet track, everyone is going past me and I have absolutely nothing!
On the pro side, the engine is good, lets hope we get to use it soon to its full potential.
 
Next week:
Huntly, it will be Reece in the drivers seat for the first time this season in this car, and the weather looks promising.

06.10.07 & 07.10.07 = Waikaraka Park, Huntly & Kihikihi Practice:
A triple practice opportunity was taken up this weekend. The car arrived back from the engine builders on wednesday with a new head gasket. We arrived at the Waikaraka Park practice and Jacqui took the car out for a run, everything looking good until the bonnet came of a check, white fluid was all over the engine side of the bonnet, same as last week! There were few words said and racesuits removed. After missing 2 runs and having a discussion with the engine builder, we put the car out again with reece in it. A group decision was made and off to Huntly we went.
 
Reece was sent out for the 1st run and Jacqui the next. The car was not handling very well, driving off alternative rear wheels at different parts of the track, the car was also driving heavy. After a chat and a check of the car it was found that the steering box post was faulty, a temporary fix was made and the car was taken out by Jacqui. The car handled much the same though the car was much lighter to drive therefore making the set up more manageable. Reece took the car out for the last run.
 
Next day was kihikihi practice, on a gorgeous sunny day. We made some changes to the car in an attempt to solve the set up problems, with some success getting 4 runs in the car. In the end feeling much better about the car.
 
Next week is the 1st race meeting of the season at Huntly.

30.09.07 = 2007/08 Huntly Practice:
After a long off season, when time was tight, the car was finally ready to run. A new package this season, an aussie imported wide boy stealth (ex Brett Morris), a refreshened e13 engine, fresh panels and some great sponsors, have meant we turned out with a great looking car and package.
 
The weather was good, the car felt good and had a lot of potential, but alas, a blown head gasket spelled the end of the practice, with only 1 driver having the opportunity to run the car.
 
Next week is a triple opportunity to run the car, so both drivers should get plenty of track and car time next weekend.