 |
944 Racing Association 944 Challenge Calder June 2008 |
|
|
Need a Forum Password?
Our Major Sponsor
Our Tyre Supplier
Member's discount offerred
Club clothing for sale
Check our TV coverage on Channel 31 Tuesdays at 9.30 |
Round 4 Points
944 Challenge Series Race report Report by Tony Westaway & Jocaro Motorsport Team Calder Park 21/22 June 2008 The weekend weather forecast was for rain periods and some sunny breaks, which was exactly what confronted drivers in the 944 Challenge series over the weekend. It was lucky that we had all been able to practice our wet weather driving at PI the previous meeting, as Calder provided some of the slipperiest conditions we’re ever likely to experience. In the wet the main straight and “Jane hill” were particularly treacherous, as was turn one, turn two, the kink, and pretty much the whole track apart the centre of the main straight. Friday practice was in the held in mixed conditions, wet in the morning, dry in the afternoon. The only consistent factor was the cold with four drivers from Jocaro suiting up. John Parkinson (JP), Vince Misuraca (VM), Gary McDermott (GmD) and Chris Lewis Williams (CLW). Tony Westaway (TW) joined the team for the first practice session Saturday morning that was held in wet and cold conditions with all drivers, particularly those who did not practice Friday, being well and truly conservative on their first outing. Times in the high 1min 20 secs not being uncommon. After his success at PI, the “rain master” John Goddard, was a notable absentee having an engine gremlin strike during the Friday practice. Qualifying got underway after an hour delay due to the clean-up of an MG that had seriously re-arranged the front end along the main straight wall after straying onto the slippery part of the circuit. We trust the driver is OK however the car looked terminal. With rain holding off and the track almost dry times tumbled quickly with Paul Greer (PG) setting a 1:07.88 ahead of John Morriss(JM), Paul Stephenson(PS) and our own Vince Misuraca (VM). Looks like that engine work has paid off. Remaining placings were Chris Lewis Williams (CLW) 4th , TW a disappointing 13th , John Parkinson (JP) 14th, MW 18th, Gary McDermott (GM) 20th but overheating problems affected his performance and were to plague him for the rest of the day. Race 1 Saturday afternoon was held in dry conditions however it was still extremely slippery of the line, with many drivers caught out on the drag strip and managing to put in three gear changes without actually moving. Those cleverer drivers who had managed to line up on the centre of the straight rocketed past the other drivers to arrive at the first corner for the normal 944 congestion and regulation spin or two. Luckily for those caught out at the start the race was red flagged (Also lucky that there were no incidents at the turn on to the straight as the red flag was not seen by a number of hard chargers at the rear of the pack). The cause of the restart was Dennis O’Keefe, who was not having his best weekend with suspension problems in practice putting him out of qualifying and gear selection gremlins stopping him at the start. He was still having “fun” though. Most drivers learnt the lesson about importance of track position in the restart, almost all griding close to the centreline. With the more consistent grip the restart produced the normal 944 scramble to turn one with the late braking heroics and congestion and some fantastic opposite lock work by at least two drivers. It seemed the race was over in no time, the remaining five laps after the restart taking just 7.00 minutes to complete. Paul Greer (PG) finished first, followed by PS and Robert Lange (RL). For Jocaro, CLW 4th, VM 5th, TW 12th, JP 13th, MW 17th and GMcD succumbed to the engine overheating problem with a DNF. Sunday morning the weather was still uncertain, it was certainly colder and intermittent rain showers were forecast. The Jocaro crew were busy changing setups, completing the pre race checks and enjoying warm cappuccino’s supplied by CLW, our catering manager. Race 2 started on a still damp track that was extremely slippery. Off the line most drivers had worked out where there was traction and the field headed down to the excitement of turn one. Safely through turns one and two, “Jane’s hill” was the next obstacle where traction was almost non existent. Richard Howe (DK) stopped in the pits to have a chat with race control about the level of grip and what could be done to improve it , they offered a number of suggestions which DK did not think would work, however the offer of a couple of furnace heaters at turns four and seven had merit. He rejoined to soldier on for a further lap. TW looped it at Jane’s Hill and had to watch the rest of the field go by, Michael Westaway (MW) spun at turn one (twice). Through the kink Michael Cullinan (MC) performed a number of pirouettes on the infield and the race was eventually red flagged when JP and the series newcomer, Ivan Klasan (IK) had a coming together at the start finish line. Sean Carter did a magnificent job of missing the green 89 car when it came to rest in the middle of the track. Position 1, Rob Lange, PG 2nd, Paul Stephenson (PS) 3rd, and for Jocaro, CLW 4th, VM 5th, TW 16th, MW 18th and JP a DNF due to damage sustained in the incident. After JP had given the Jocaro boys something to do between races (and CLW kept them fed) Race 3 was back to relatively dry conditions. The race itself was almost an endurance event compared to the earlier races, a whole 12 laps. Nevertheless it was fairly uneventful with RL 1st, PS 2nd, JM 3rd and the Jocaro team-mates swapping finishing positions, VM 4th, CLW 5th, TW 10th, MW 15th, JP 17th. However the real excitement came after the race when all cars were directed to the scales and five were found to be underweight. Jump Start penalties were also applied to cars 14 and 19. Waiting for 20 minutes to use the scales probably used up enough fuel to contribute 1 kilo, but 20kgs? This was all cleared up by the next race. Before Race 4 CLW served lunch to the Jocaro crew and drivers. The threat of a late shower of rain kept the drivers guessing about setup but eventually the clouds cleared and dry setup was the instruction for the last race of the weekend, giving the crew a little work to do. Race 4 was over almost before it started, originally scheduled for 6 laps it was finished in 4 after the red flag came out due to a stranded car at turn one. 1st RL, 2nd PS, 3rd JM, and once again VM 4th and CLW 5th for Jocaro. TW 13th, MW 16th and JP 17th Again it was a great fun weekend and although Calder as a track was cold, wet and slippery, the organisation and officials were friendly and efficient. Thanks to the boys at Jocaro, Mick, Luke and Darren for a great weekend. Calvin’s Tip: Next time your cars on the hoist check over the exhaust header collection pipe for any cracks – it’s easier to repair in the workshop than trackside.
Race Report from Sean Carter Friday Friday started off just the way we didn’t want it to, with a wet slippery track which meant the first practice was very difficult. Quite a lot of the guys showed up for practice but one of the obvious no shows was Rod Smith Racing, who only arrived at the end of the day. John Goddard looked to be in fine form coming off his great round at Phillip island but struck engine trouble late in the day and had to go home while Elliot Barbour blew a gearbox which was thankfully fixed by Rod Smith Racing for the Saturday. Andy Balodis also made an appearance on Friday and handed out some “Aim” lap timers which proved very handy over the course of the weekend. It was also great to see Barry Rowe returning to Calder park for the first time since his accident in 2006, he was even spotted driving John's ute around the pits (944 challenge car will be next I'm sure!), thanks for your help ad guidance Barry! Saturday Saturday began the same way Friday had, damp and slippery so I chose to miss the practice session as I believed it would clear up enough to keep the dry setup we had. This gave me a chance to watch the practice session from the pit wall. There wasn’t really a lot to see in the wet but as usual Robert Lange was making it look easy. Andy Balodis had some issues with a blown head gasket unfortunately ending his weekend and Elliot Barbour got back out there for a few running in laps for his new gear box. Steve Courtis was out there too gaining some valuable wet weather driving experience in the ex Dick Howe car. Dennis O’Keefe had his unfair share of issues for the weekend with a broken shock absorber ruining his morning Qualifying saw the track dry out nicely but a massive crash in the MG’s and a 20 minute delay didn’t help the nerves. Eventually we got out there and it was soon clear to me that my rear suspension was way too soft so I came into the pits and had it adjusted. This made almost a second of difference and managed a time of 1:08.6 which was good enough for 10th so I was pretty happy with that, especially when 4 tenths of a second is all that covered 3rd or 4th down to where I was. Robert Lange struggled to post a good time after his exhaust broke forcing him into the pits, this left the P1 spot wide open and it was grabbed by none other then Paul Greer, which was a brilliant result for him. Race 1 had it all, rain on the warm up lap making the start unbelievably slippery, some kamikaze style run offs into turn 1 and a red flag on the opening lap to cap it all off. It was the result of Dennis O’Keefe who had got stuck in first gear, adding to his already troublesome year! All was fixed though for race two. The restart was slightly less chaotic with only a few minor bumps at turn one. I managed to move up two spots for an 8th place finish, my best result for the year! narrowly pipping John Morris on the line who got a shocking start dropping him right down the field. Paul Greer managed to hold off the relentless attacks from Chris Lewis Williams, Paul Stephenson and Robert Lange to score his first win for the year, a brilliant result for him again! Sunday The same start to the weekend again as the rain came down on Sunday morning just to make sure we didn’t have any fun in race two. I got a dream start and was up in what I think was 5th by turn 1 only to be hit by Paul Stephenson, resulting in a spin, a nice size dent and a direct demotion to last place! I was able to carry on though and found my way up to 16th and all was going smoothly until the last lap coming onto the straight I saw two cars had collided in front of me; John Parkinson and Ivan Klasan. I don’t know what happened but it resulted in Ivan rolling backwards in my direction as I was coming through… There was about a cm in it and even at the mid range speed we were doing, I'd hate to think what happened if we’d collided. Robert Lange got past Paul Greer for the win, with Paul Stephenson rounding out the 3. Steve Courtis in only his second 944 race finished an impressive 9th in the conditions that can only be described as disgraceful due to the drag strip. Race 3 for me was about making up some places and I did manage to get a few back ending up in 11th spot. I didn’t really see much happen apart from another off by Ivan Klassan and a 3 car overtaking maneuver involving myself Ivan and Steve Courtis which to everyone’s credit worked out fine with no rubbing of panels or fall offs. Robert Lange came in first with Paul Stephenson and John Morris rounding out the 3. The quiet achieving Dennis O’Keefe climbed all the way back up to 6th! Surprisingly two penalties were applied to Paul Greer and Adrian Zadro! Apparently for jumping the start! Race 4 was a short one (red flagged after just 4 laps) but it had its moments with some good little battles down where I was but the main confusion was why the race was red flagged?? If anyone knows please let me know!! So an up and down weekend for me but still a good one, the car is currently at my work. Specialised body works in Sunbury where I’m repairing the damage on the rear ¼ panel then its down to 9+ Motorsport in Richmond, who helped me out on the weekend, for some tidying up. Thanks for reading See you at Sandown Sean carter # 28 |
|
|
