Race Department v8 Supercar Round-up

By Benjamin Crooks | Jun 06, 2010 23:47 UTC | 242 Views

Round 4 - Oran Park 100km

Before the race I was really busy with university interviews and coursework in school so I had limited time to practice, then on Friday the week before the race I got some bad cramp in my calf, which meant I couldn't do any driving until Sunday. I used my setup from Surfers Paradise with more downforce and adjust the suspension a little to suit the more following nature of Oran Park.

During practice before the race I noticed how some drivers ahead of me kept a tighter line with more speed than I could and realised I was missing a trick. I added more camber and it seemed to work however I did not have much time to test the setup and went into the race risking it with the new set.

After qualifying in 3rd I wasn't expecting to beat Degreef after seeing his race test lap times, I felt that maybe my race pace would be a match for Johnson and I knew Simian usually has good race pace too so 3rd was what I expected as my best outcome.

Before the race I did a quick practice start in the warm up which helped me find out the best braking point for T1. Still I almost followed Degreef into the gravel myself but managed to keep it on track, just. After that I concentrated on gapping from Simian who was pretty much equal with me on pace, I saw Ben Buitendijk catching him up though so knew equal wasn't good enough to be safe.

 I tried to put in some fast laps but couldn't get much out the car or myself. After Buitendijk passed Simian I expected him to catch me but I guess tyres were an issue as I started to pull away instead. Lapping was pretty difficult, some drivers made some odd moves which I am guessing is down to the way the mirrors don't really work too well in this mod. I was weary of this so kept my distance and made sure it was 100% safe to overtake before making a move.

I was happy with the win at Oran Park which helped move me up the table and more into contention for the title.

Round 5 - Pukekohe Park 100KM

In the build up to the race I did not manage to get into a rhythm on this track, the style of the circuit did not suit my driving or the setup and thus I could only manage to get into 5^th place in qualifying. A Podium was the absolute best I could hope for, but nothing near what I would get.

There was a bit of confusion at the race start and I managed to get into 3^rd position but couldn’t keep up with Greg and Mike. I then had a good battle with Ryan Callan for a few laps swapping positions at the hairpin at the end of the back straight lap after lap. Finally I came off worse as I double downshifted into the hairpin and spun out; I rejoined the track in 7^th place and tried to make some more places up with James Johnson. However a few laps later my wheel seemed to loose connection with the PC and I had no control over the car, it crashed into the barrier and then into James Johnson and took us both out of the race.

I still managed to get 2 points from the weekend but it was a very pivotal moment in the season for me.

Round 6 - Phillip Island 150KM

Leading up to the race I only got to really start practicing the week of the event. I managed to get into the 33s the day before the event then got a PB during the practice session. Going into qualifying I was confident of the pole but couldn't hook up the lap. Then I had spent too much time on a set of tyres and taken all the grip from them without time to pit and complete an out lap for one last try.

I got a good start and managed to get side by side with Mike into T1 then closed him off in T2 to finish the pass. Then I began to hassle Greg until he made a mistake. I got a run on Greg on the main straight a few times but not enough to make the pass into T1. He also went a bit deep into the sharp hairpin at T4 but again I couldn't get in there.

There was a moment when I got underneath at Siberia but with these V8 mirrors I don’t think Greg saw me so I had to back off slightly to not cause an incident. Finally Greg made the error into T4 and I got under him, then closed it off into Siberia around the outside.

After making the pass I set about gapping Greg after that and managed to make 5 or 6 seconds. Then it was all about keeping the tyres cool as they wore away.

With the comfortable gap I decided to push a bit to see how much grip was left in the tyres nearly going too deep into some corners but maintaining control of the car. I finished the race with fairly good tyres compared to competitors which was a lot down to the way I went with the setup balance.

 I had a lot of fun battling with Greg and mike at the start of the race. I also managed to make up for the race at Pukekohe and got some good points in the battle for 3^rd in the championship.

Round 7 – Bathurst 200KM

Build up to this race was good with practice times in the 7s and 8s and a good race pace I was confident of maintaining my 3^rd position in the championship as Greg and Mike were now mathematical in touch however realistically on their own.

With problems on the day of the event I could not get home to practice qualifying laps so had to settle for 5^th place after entering the server during the official qualifying session and having limited running time.

My start in the race was terrible, I straight away lost out to the row behind me and managed to slot into 7th place entering Turn 1. I had the TC on and not enough of my foot on the throttle so got completely bogged down off the line as the TC tried to stop the wheel spin. I broke a bit deep on Gary and hit him as I passed so I gave the position back and had to follow for a few laps. Then coming into the chase I got side by side but it ended in disaster as he went on the grass and hit Ben ending both of their races.

However that got me 2 positions, then I began to hunt down Ryan. Despite many chances I couldn't really pass despite the long straights just lacking the confidence in the car to get stopped, especially against Ryan who is already a demon on the brakes. I could brake later than Ryan going down skyline but I had to keep tight for the first apex otherwise I would go onto the grass and then into the barriers. I was following Ryan with my eyes a bit too much and followed him off wide, only slightly but enough to ruin my braking and put me in the barrier, this caused a lot of damage to the cars suspension but I could manage however I was now at least a second a lap off of my ultimate pace despite the stability the damage added in some corners. As I got more comfortable in the car I began to catch Ryan and was 4.5 seconds off his tail before he pitted. That got me up to 4th, however during my practice runs lapping on my own I had not been able to stretch the fuel the full race distance so pitted a few laps later myself. It was a short stop so I got out ahead of Ryan with 20 seconds in hand due to his drive through penalty also. From then on my race consisted of catching up to the guys in front which I didn't think I would do and then Anders made a mistake so I was right on the back of him. He was again quite tough to pass but then I got aggressive for a moment. He made a mistake and I pounced. Confident in my grip I kept it around the outside for 2 corners going into the mountain section, knowing I would have the inside for the fast left handers and it paid off, It was really fair racing from Anders and one of my favourite moments of the race.

After this race I finished the championship in 5^th overall with 2 victories and 3 very bad races in comparison to the rest of my season.