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Clipsal - Round 1 - 2011

I was excited to be heading to Adelaide for Round One of the Australian V8 Ute Championship where I would be racing the Ice Break, Real Coffee - Ice Cold Holden and it went fairly well to plan.

Manfeild Goes To Plan

After the Timaru round I towed the Ute North to the Western Motor Group workshop where the boys started the general preparation for Manfeild. We decided that the complete rear end diff, axle assembly etc doesn’t deserve to sit in our Ute any more. I think we may use it as an anchor on Dan Hayes sail boat now. With a big knock to the bank acc we had a new diff and drive shaft mounted in the Ute that would hopefully be more faithful than Dan’s new boat anchor.

I headed South excited to get back to Manfeild and race on my home track again. I stopped off at the Gallagher Group HQ in Hamilton to show off the Ute. Hotlaps around the building were suggested but we thought it was safer to let people sit in it for photos instead.

I stopped off in Taupo to see some mates before carrying on to the track to set up on Thursday. The weekend started off well - and after running the new diff in and bedding brakes we were happy with the speed we showed in practice session 2. We carried that form through to Saturday morning and put the Gallagher/ENZED Falcon on pole. It was a good way to kick off the round and gained full points.

I pulled 12 in the marble draw for race one. This meant race one was probably going to be the tough one for the round. I had a ripper start and ran down the outside to turn one picking up a few positions. From there I picked them off one at a time before I had to chase down Andy Waite for the lead. I caught him on the final lap and managed to slide through to the lead through the infield section of the track. It was awesome race and clicked up another 75 points. Race two’s grid is a reverse of race one so I started from grid 3. I claimed the lead on lap two and held on to the chequered flag. With full points in race 1 and 2 I started the final from pole. I pulled a gap before the safety car came out late in the race. Caine Lobb (the series points leader) and I had a fight for the lead running side by side for half a lap before I managed to edge ahead and claim a clean sweep for the round!

It was a great weekend and exactly what I needed to close the points gap in the championship and have any chance of retaining the number one.

I have a few weeks now to get organised for Taupo and round one of the Australian championship. I look forward to Clipsal where I will be racing the Ice Break, Real Coffee, Ice Cold Holden Ute.

Thanks for your support,

CPRacing Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas,

Personally I can’t believe its this time of the year again. I have been so busy I’ve only just realised it is Christmas tomorrow because people have started asking me what I‘ve got for

them! They are dreaming!

Pukekohe - NZ Round One

Round One of the New Zealand V8 Ute Championship didn’t go totally to plan. . .

I was excited to debut the Gallagher Falcon. It was looking awesome and when we rolled out for practice session one on Friday morning it was going even better than it looked! Friday was good and as the day went on we made a few improvements with the set up and we were happy with our pace. In the afternoon I had some fun scaring a few people in the Hot Lap session which was a good way to end the day.

Saturday saw qualifying and race one ahead. I put it comfortable on pole which was a great way to kick things off. I can’t say it was all rosey from there! I started from the front and pulled a gap on the opening lap of the first race before disaster! When you are doing 220kph into a 60kph hairpin brakes are quite useful… A loud bang from the rear end before the brake pedal went spongy under my foot wasn’t a good feeling! The front left tyre locked and I sailed straight ahead off the end of the back straight and found myself parked in the gravel trap with my head in my hands. I was gutted to say the least! Luckily I got towed out and managed to roll around for the remaining laps and salvage a few points for last place. We found the flange on the end of the axel housing had broken away and rotated around which ripped the brake hose off. The Gallagher - Western Motors crew worked hard to fit the new rear end so we were back in the game for Sundays races.

Sunday was a challenge. We started race two from last and I made my way through to 7th, not without a bit of excitement. I ran wide through the turn one sweeper and the engine stalled so I lost a couple of positions but won the Citizen Watch for the ‘Time out’ biggest moment of the weekend so I guess I have to look at the positives in those situations and it is a pretty cool watch.

Race three I got my ducks in a row and pulled it all together. With the average points haul in race one and two I started from grid 11. The Gallagher Falcon didn’t miss a beat and we carved through the field to the lead for a couple of corners but couldn’t hold onto it with the grunt the Holden has. It was good to end the weekend on a high and show we mean business. I came away from the weekend in 4th place in the championship. I’m confident that we will be fast at Ruapuna in Christchurch so I’m looking forward to closing the points gap.

If you can make it along to Round Two of the NZ V8 Ute Championship, I look forward to seeing you there.

Round One of the New Zealand V8 Ute Championship didn’t go totally to plan. . .

Gold Coast round win and Pukekohe

The last four weeks seem to have been some of the busiest of my life and its been awesome! From the best track in Australia, Bathurst, to Hamilton Island with Ice Break for the UCB conference onto my new favourite track Gold Coast and now I am in NZ for round one of the NZ Ute Championship at Pukekohe.

The Gold Coast round in the ‘Ice Break, Real Coffee, Ice Cold’ Holden Ute was unreal! It was pleasing to roll out of the trailer and be on the case straight away which set us up for a strong weekend. Qualifying 2nd was a best so far this season and put me in a good position to capitalise and take win number 2 thus far. Going into race two which was the reverse grid race I knew with the points I had I needed to stay in touch with Johnson and Seiders. I draw 9 from the marble draw so I started in that grid position. The Ute was fast and I was feeling more comfortable and took the opportunities when they presented themselves charging down the inside into turn 3, the new hairpin by Red Rooster, pasting both drivers that were closest to me on points for the round which was great and gave me a buffer heading into race 3. I started from pole and got away cleanly but Johnson got a run on me down the beach straight. I didn’t need to risk the round win for another race win so settled for 2nd and took my first round win for Ice Break Racing. I was confident I was capable of doing it and the team has put a big effort in to keep improving the package so I was very happy to get the first one under my belt.

I am now sitting in my motel room in Pukekohe looking out at the blue sky which is great to see after the torrential rain I could hear last night. This morning I will have a qualifying session in the Gallagher Group Ford Ute. I am happy with the way the Ute was going in the practice runs yesterday and I’m looking forward to bolting on some green tyres and laying a hot time down! We had fun yesterday taking Steve from Gallaghers, Shaun from ENZED and Phillip from Cranium Signage Solutions for hot laps yesterday afternoon. It should be a good weekend with a race this afternoon and two tomorrow. Keep your eye on TV3 in NZ to catch some of the action over the weekend otherwise get out to Pukekohe and find me in the pits and say Hi!

The Ute is look better than ever and going just as well so I’m looking forward to the season ahead.

Thanks to everyone involved for making this possible!