A typically cold Wakefield Park in Goulburn was a great contrast to the scorching hot racing on track at last weekend’s Improved Production State Championship Races. 28 Over and Under 2 litre cars took to the grid for qualifying to fight for those all important grid positions.
Qualifying.jpg)
Fastest Lap: 1:11.92
Position: 17 (5th in class)
Dave was the last car out in qualifying, so took his time to get the car and tyres up to temperature (it was never going to happen quickly!) before chasing some fast laps. Ironically he would line up just behind old sparring partner Peter Street, who has upgraded the Pulsar for an O2L Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 2. (The Pulsar is for sale currently – if you know anyone looking for a race car to get started, please contact us!)
Given the conditions, Dave was happy with this lap being only a few tenths off his previous best at Wakefield park, confident that he would go even faster in race conditions.
Race 1 – 15 Laps
Fastest Lap: 1:11.52
Position: 17 (5th in class)
This was a fantastic and exciting race. Indeed, at the end of the race, less than 1.5 seconds covered positions 15 through 18. Dave was struggling again with the same problem he had at Oran Park. The car would bog down quite badly out of right hand corners. Unfortunately there are only 2 left hand corners, at Wakefield, so this was becoming a big issue. So big in fact that he would be regularly passed coming out of right hand corners, only to pass his competitors again later in the lap.
So bad was the problem, that Graham Bohm in the Mirage actually ‘helped’ Dave up the hill after he bogged down quite badly coming out of turn 2 trying to get past Sam Maio. The little tap was quite helpful for Dave to regain some momentum, however the poor little Mirage looked as though it had a fight with a brick wall… and lost. He did manage to finish the race, in front of Dave, and then effect repairs to allow him to race on Sunday.
There was plenty of excitement in this race, so I think I’ll let the in car video speak for itself. Look for the car bogging down out of right handers, and also the little extra touch with Graham going through turn 3 side by side.
Race 2 – 12 Laps
Position: 12 (4th in class)
Fastest Lap: 1:11.52
This race was another swashbuckling affair, with position changes left, right and centre (sometimes all 3 at once!) all the way to the chequered flag. There was also a fair deal of mayhem as the tight nature of the field became a little too tight! A safety car period brought the field back together before a dash to the line. An exciting finish in this race as Dave just manages to pip Bohm at the line. Also note in the video some great passing moves by newcomer Steve Dellis.
The video picks up the action just after the safety car:
Race 3 – 14 Laps
Fastest Lap: 1:10.77 (new pb)
Position: 17 (5th in class)
Dave made a great start in race 3 and managed to break away from the hunting pack of Mirages (Bohm and Dellis) that he had been racing with in the 2 previous races. He put his head down, determined to get past Sam Maio (Laser TX3 Turbo). Along the way he managed to hold out the recovering Macrae (RX3) for a few laps and set a new PB time at Wakefield – into the 10s at last!
He finally caught Maio and had a great dice for a few laps. Going very close to getting past on a number of occasions, but never unable to make the move stick despite having superior speed over a full lap. The downside to this dicing however was that it allowed the chasing horde to catch up and, predictably, Bohm managed to pass Dave coming out of (you guessed it!) a right hand corner.
A last lap attempt to set Bohm up for a pass down the straight was thwarted by desparate move by Dellis, attempting to take both Dave and Graham on the last corner. It was never going to work and he slid wide (fortunately both other drivers saw him coming and made room). Dave had to settle for 5th in class, again behind Bohm.
Overall this was a brilliant weekend racing, and really reminded us how much fun we have at the race track. Thanks to MAIO, Graham Bohm, and Steve for such great racing all weekend.
We must also again thank Ash Birks for his help with car preparation, and Geoff Fear and Ant McDonald for helping to get the car going on a very cold Sunday morning.
Finally, we wouldn’t be racing without the continued support of Al Palmer Repairs in Penrith. We ask that you continue to support MY Racing, by visiting Al for all of your repair and servicing needs.
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