A round review by the very modest Dave Rooney: So Saturday finally dawned and most of us were up early cos we were not sleeping anyway, in anticipation of the drama that was sure to unfold at round 1. SO a quick coffee and a quicker slap of the MRS bum it was off to the track. Many of the 92 entrants were able to take over most of the skid pan and we looked a scary bunch of serious racers at the race briefing until 30+ 2kcup rookies admitted they had not raced before or at Hampton Downs yet. Laughs of derision from the other race series were met with comments like when are the rest of your field turning up and how come your $50k series is only a few seconds a lap faster than $2k cars?. Anyhoo returning to the skidpan many had to get out their remotes to find their car as it looked like the parking lot at Pak n Save with so many jap shitters cowering from the punishment they were about to receive. Qualifying in 3 bunches of thirty cars was a good introduction to what was going to be a busy track all day. Transponders or a lack of them meant some guys were sweating and puffing hard after retrieving the returned transponders for their qual session and a few only managed one or two laps as a result. Some didnt work or were not fitted so some faster cars were relegated to the back of the first race for grid one. A few spins on turn one had a few bums puckering in the qualifying and following Justin Gorvett (#78FXGT) through the hairpin was highly entertaining https://youtube/watch?v=Yzcai18MWZE Another perennial entertainer all day was Mr Mudgeway senior. Pretty sure he flat spotted his front left in qualifying and then the front right in race one, then he out braked himself and flat spotted both rears (more than once) very early in race two so hoots of laughter and cheering rang out from the crowd (great to see the level of sympathy and understanding among the other drivers) everytime he came through the hairpin squeeling tyres, smoke, and a whole lot of sideways action and tank slapping. Oh my god it really was entertaining. Race one saw a great battle raging at the front between the VZR that WAS working, of Te Bhrett Carey and Dave Medricky in the silvertop levin #54 along with Wayne Scotts car driven by the Skudera Jason Friend. Mid race saw #222 Jason Quale pushing a bit hard resulting in a spin on turn one. Keith E#lliot did a good job avoiding the stranded Jason but did clip his back end resulting in new silver racing stripes all along the nice white Alfas side. This was not a problem but wehn a silver curren/celica had nowhere to go a full face wipeout removed any chance of another life for Brett Careys old 2k racer. A long saftey car period followed with many inexperienced racers not closing up the space between them and the car in front. There were also incidences of cars being passed during the yellow flag and saftey car periods. This is not on under any circumstances. Please be more aware. Finally underway again and the battles from first to last position continued at a hectic pace untill the finish. (dont know what else to write about race one) Race two had some seriously competitive lap times in the front cars with several dipping into 1:23s and a few into 1:22s off the front of the grid. Turn one was certainly interesting with 5 cars wide, following the green flag. Turn two was also 4 cars wide with all 44 starters round safely. By the hairpin people were beginning to hit the groove and the field was down to sorting out the men from the boys (or the stock from the cheaters as we like to imagine). Plenty of passing opportunities and with 50%of the 92 starters for the day capable of lap times only three seconds apart, racing remained fierce and competitive right to the final flag. 8 DNFs meant avoiding the 15% relegation zone was a close call for some near the back of race one. Promotion of the top six finishers from race one meant some quick cars had to start race three at the back of the grid in race three. All a bit confusing but being an unintelligent bunch no-one cared what was going on so it was all good on the day. That was untill the flag drops to start race threes reverse grid confused everyone with several stationary cars at their flag drop and more than one competitor trying to reverse back to his grid position after an incorrect jump start, with others starting correctly whizzing past. As usual carnage was avoided because of the 2kcup drivers incredibly slow reaction times and gutless wonder cars which dont exactly leap off the line. However note to self NEVER EVER under ANY circumstance reverse on the grid after race start. Race 4 Well the highlight here was Coca Rola, that car is being pedalled very quickly now by Dave Rooney who has possibly shown the biggest improvement from total race novice last season to hardened Ray Williams trained (via video link) master blocker and annoyer of actual fast cars Like the Tegs and Levins oh and the gas turbine powered Peugeot. It is said that it took a full 25 minutes for this race to settle with numerous dodgy passing manoeuvres being undertaken by the fast guys coming through. As well as battles at every apex for space by small groups of highly competitive cars across the blanket which could be thrown over the field. Post racing interviews tell a lot about how we all feel after the racing so check some out here https://youtube/watch?v=GS_1Wt8qK9w
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 05:48:46 +0000
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