As many of you will know, post Bathurst, the trusty 3SGE engine required a bit of a freshen up. Saturday morning saw preparations for qualifying, which was to double as a run-in session for the new engine.
As a result, Dave was taking things very easy on the engine and qualified down in 18th position. All seemed well with the engine, so an oil change later we were ready to go for race 1. Engine builder ‘guru’ Ash Birks gave the all clear to drive normally for the race, so Dave was hoping to make a charge through the field.
Despite a poor start and missing a gear, Dave managed to slice through the field on the first lap and had made up 7 positions to be 11th at the end of lap 1. The following laps were just as frenetic, and Dave was happy to finish 8th at the end of the shortened 6 lap race. Just as satisfying was the fact that he set his fastest ever lap of Eastern Creek on the final lap doing a 1:52.09 – perilously close to the 1:51 region.
The video below is of the first part of race 1. The poor camera angle is due to continually checking the air/fuel ratios on the fresh engine and needing to see the instruments.
Sunday morning we had plenty of time to check over the car and make sure everything was ok for the following races.
Race 2
The start of race 2 was marred by two incidents. Firstly, Louis Chan lost control of his Civic through turn 1. Somehow everyone managed to avoid him as he ended up in the ‘sand pit’ on the outsite of the turn. His race was over. Then, one of the race rental Suzuki Swifts lost control under brakes approching turn two. He shot into the side of Greg Peters in the Gemini, and then forced him into the side of Phil Parsons in his Civic. All 3 cars were out of the race – with Greg’s Gemini so badly damaged that its racing days might be over.
A number of laps were then run under the safety car which allowed the field to compress. Dave was hopeful to pressure the runners in the positions immediately ahead of him when racing resumed. While he was able to comfortably hold 6th position to the end of the race, his Saturday pace just wasn’t there – perhaps due to being pretty soft behind the wheel!
Race 3 – Trophy Race
Dave resolved to pull his finger out for race 3. A reasonable start meant he was close behind Sean Budden in the Torana and setting laptimes that were similar to his times from Race 1. He was passed by Phil Parsons starting from the rear of the grid, and flying Jacky Yick who received a drive through penalty on the same lap.
However at the end of that lap, after closing the gap on Sean, Dave lost significant amounts of power and decided to come into the pits. Ironically, Sean also had some problems and retired.
Thanks again to Ashley Birks for his support over the weekend and of course to Al Palmer Repairs for his ongoing support of MY Racing.
