Qualifying
Position: 30th (11th in class)
Best Time: 1:27.05
After a relatively poor qualifying performance over his previous two events, Dave was determined to put in a better performance for this state round. He was hopeful that this would put him into a grid position that would allow him to challenge for some great class points.
The first few laps started well, despite the traffic with over 35 cars on the grid! Dave started to put in a couple of faster laps, when coming out of turn 4 changing to 3rd gear he lost the majority of drive to the car. Not knowing what the problem was, he elected to take to the pits, having already posted the mandatory 3 timed laps. Resigned to delay his resolution to qualify better until the next event, Dave set about finding the problem.
After having a bit of a think about what actually happened, it was concluded that the problem lay somewhere within the diff. Of course, Dave hadn’t bothered to bring his spare diff this weekend, however competitor Sean Budden came to the rescue with his spare diff. It had a taller 4.4:1 ratio (compared to 4.8), however it would do the job!
With about 3 hours to spare until race 1, Dave went about swapping the diff over. Much thanks to PB Motorsport team members Jim and Pete for their assistance during the process. With about 30 minutes to spare, we had the diff installed, and ready to run.
The fuel level was adjusted, Dave had a bite to eat, then got ready for race 1.
Race 1
Finishing Position: 24th (7th in class)
Fastest Lap: 1:25.44
Starting the race from 30th on the grid meant that it was very difficult… actually impossible, to see the start lights. So the start itself became a little bit of a lottery. With a taller diff, an untested drivetrain, and being unable to see the start lights, Dave was really starting to think how helpful a better grid position would have been.
Everyone else started moving so Dave followed suit as more than 35 cars worked their way into turn 2 at the end of the straight. When everything sorted itself out, Dave found himself locked behind old sparring partner Peter Sayers in the very wide (and powerful) L34 Torana SLR 5000. Despite several brave attempts, the Torana proved too much of an obstacle and lead Dave across the line by half a second 12 laps later.
The good news was that the diff held together and actually worked quite well in a number of places around the track. The car was parked in the garage, and ready to race again on Sunday.
Race 2
Finishing Position: 21st (6th in class)
Fastest Lap: 1:24.30
Before the racing on Sunday, a quick cursory glance over the car found a crack in the alternator housing. After determining that it still was working ok, and that it was highly unlikely to part company with the car we were ready to go for race 2.
What a fun race! This is what racing should be all about. In fact, instead of the usual race report, I’m going to let the videos speak for themselves. The race is broken up into 2 parts. In the first you will mostly see: Trevor Symonds (Blue Torana), Peter Sayers (Red Torana), Sean Budden (Silver Torana), is there a pattern developing here? In the second part, will be Mark Larmour in the Triumph Dolomite, and Peter Street in the Pulsar.
Enjoy…
Race 3 – Trophy Race
Finishing Position: 22nd (5th in class)
Fastest Lap: 1:23.95
After a sensational race 2, Dave was really looking forward to race 3. After doing a thorough re-check of the alternator, lunch was served and we watched a couple of races while waiting for the Trophy Race.
Dave made another strong start and after the first lap settled down, he was left chasing fellow Under 2 Litre competitor Adam Tipping in a Mitsubishi Lancer. During some traffic Adam made a couple of seconds break, and despite setting his fastest laps of the weekend, Dave was unable to bridge the gap.
That brought an end to a great weekend of racing. Unfortunately, Dave now has some work to do on the car before the next round at Wakefield in 3 weeks time. Hopefully a new diff and replacement alternator will be sourced before then!
