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944 Racing Association 944 Challenge Phillip Island May 2008 |
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Jocaro Motorsport Team 944 Challenge Series Race report Phillip Island 17/18 May 2008 Well it’s been a long time since the Jocaro 944’s have had to drag out the wet weather set-up for a race meeting. Friday practice was in the dry, with six cars in attendance for the weekend. A new driver, John Parkinson (JP) was there for his OLT, Brad Westaway was substituting for Tony to have a go at the 944 while the Charger engine is rebuilt (no Calvin, team Westaway is not going to three cars), Mike Westaway (MW) getting in some valuable track time, Vince Misuraca (VM) evaluating some new electronic devices, Gary McDermott (GM) fine tuning suspension settings and Chris Lewis Williams (CLW) chasing lap times. All that work come to nothing on Saturday morning when we were greeted with steady rain at 7.00am on arrival at the track. The race crew were busy changing all settings to full soft, front bars disconnected, rear bars disconnected, tyres inflated and rainx applied. Practise got underway in light rain and it just got heavier. There were plenty of exciting experiences out on track, notably two blue cars in the 944 group shared similar excursions into the kitty litter at the hayshed, both bringing out the red flag. Earlier in the week one of the blue cars had indicated that “96 kilowasps’ was not enough, but if they had been kept pointing in the right direction would have been plenty to secure a front row on the grid. Visibility was at a premium and those without operating window demisters resorted to the back of hand to clear a small area of the screen. Everyone survived the session without incident, CLW qualifying third, Tony Westaway (TW) sixth, VM ninth, GM eleventh, MW twelfth and JP fourteenth. Race 1 Saturday afternoon started in light rain with the track well and truly wet. All cars got away slowly due to the low grip but once again the 944’s provided plenty of action at turn 2, first to go was John Morriss in a nice slow spin at the front of the pack (one of many John enjoyed during this race), a little further back at the apex of the corner TW also completed a slow spin to the infield eventually becoming bogged.( TW would like to thank all competitors for their skill in avoiding him, and especially Paul Greer (PG) who took evasive action through the infield and finished with a nice 720 spin back across the track). The rest of the race was relatively uneventful with no major incidents or safety car period, the most notable performance (or bravery or skill or b----) being John Goddard’s second place. For Jocaro, CLW finished fourth, VM eighth, MW thirteenth, GM twelfth, TW fourteenth, JP fifteenth (Exciting first race hey John). Sunday morning the weather was more uncertain then ever, the track was still wet, there was intermittent sunshine and still the threat of rain. The race crew at Jocaro love this situation, particularly after a long night offering their advice to their drivers over a couple of drinks. Each driver contemplating a changed setup, wanting fuel consumption calcs and the windscreen cleaned. As the 10.00am Race 2 start time loomed a dry line developed and the decision was made to harden up the settings and adjust tyre pressures. Race 2 start was fairly exciting with a number of the midfielders being slow to get away and some very close passing manoeuvres completed by the backmarkers. GM tried hard to repeat his main straight incident from two seasons ago when he was sandwiched against the wall. Unfortunately during the race VM developed an engine miss dropping him to fourteenth in the results, JP broke a rear shock and did a very nice grinding job on the spring (DNF), CLW did a great job to secure third, TW fought from fourteenth to finish sixth, GM twelfth and MW crossed the line in tenth. There wasn’t much for the Jocaro crew to do during the break, apart from the shocker repair and to drag Darren off preparing the Calibra to perform a little PC magic on VM’s car. Once again CLW provided a smorgasbord lunch for the crew and drivers, and sundry supporters. Despite a couple of rain showers over the lunch period the track had was still dry for race 3. Again a good clean start, except for Robert Lange off pole. It’s not often that we see him being swamped off the start but its always nice to watch the way he carves back through the field and shows just how late you can brake and what speed you should maintain in the turns. The first time into Honda corner was again a bit willing with a couple of cars receiving touch-ups from those behind. TW certainly found it exciting with both Dick Howe (DH) and Paul Stephenson (PS) rounding him up across the hayshed and out of MG. Two laps later he passed DH when he ran wide at Honda and CLW and Elliott Barbour when they had a little disagreement at the exit to eventually finish fifth alongside Paul Greer. MW managed his usual spin at Honda mid race to finish thirteenth, GM broke a steering rack (DNF), VM continued to circulate but remained down on power (tenth) and JP finished in fourteenth. Again it was a great fun weekend and we were all quite happy not to have been invited to Dennis’s O’Keefe’s engine barbeque on Friday that put him out of racing for the weekend. Thanks Calvin, Mick, Luke and Darren for a great weekend. Calvin’s Tip: “rubber perishes with age”, its timely to check that all fuel hoses and clamps in the engine bay are secure and in good condition. It’s an area that is frequently overlooked and has significant consequences.
Provisional Results
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