Bob McMurray writes from the ToyotaRacing Series, Manfeild (NZ Grand Prix weekend - final round).......
Friday 1oth February 2012
It’s raining...it’s pouring....it’s getting very boring!!!!!
Amazing how the weather can change. Actually not so amazing as the whole TRS summer season has been like that.
A good evening yesterday at the Manfeild events centre.
Willie Lose did a great job MC’ing the NZGP dinner and Chris Amon, Peter Collins and Mike Clark kept the crowd entertained with some good Formula 1 chat.
Peter is not one to call a shovel a shovel when it’s a spade.
Very entertaining.
I do believe there is a sore head or two around today but thankfully no one in or around the TRS community.
Some good news from last night is that Kenny Smith will be driving in the NZGP this weekend. We were trying to work out how many GP’s that will be for him. Some estimates are around the 100 mark!!
Not really, but it must be a few...maybe 40 – 45?
The driver’s briefing this morning had an almost ‘end of term’ feel about it but there is still the feeling of anticipation and expectation as the big race of the weekend, indeed the season itself, draws near.
Qualifying takes another twist this weekend.
This is from the TRS website........
The New Zealand Grand Prix meeting will feature three Qualifying Sessions of 15 minutes duration with a 2 minute interval between each session. All cars are required to post a time in each of the three sessions.
Any car not able to record a qualifying time for any session will be given the slowest time plus 0.1 second recorded in that session.
The “Superpole” session three will consist of each car completing a maximum of 5 timed flying laps in one unbroken segment (excluding out and in lap).
The average of the fastest qualifying time from each qualifying session 1, 2 and 3 will determine the grid for race 3 (the NZGP), fastest average time to grid 1.
Starting Positions
Starting positions for Race One will be determined by the fastest lap time achieved in either the first or second qualifying session – fastest driver to the front.
Starting Positions for Race Two will be the finishing positions from Race 1 with the top six in reverse order.
Starting positions for Race Three will be as detailed in the qualifying format above.
There you have it. Plain and simple.
First session today started with a very damp track and all the cars started on wet weather tyres and they never came off.
Except for Josh Hill who had a couple of laps on slicks but survived a fairly lurid spin at the exit of the last corner. He came in to put the wets back on fairly smartly.
We ended the session with another Kiwi vanguard at the front with Cassidy, Leitch and Evans at the top then followed by Lucas Auer.
A few harmless spins to van Asseldonk, Serralles and a couple of others but no harm done today.
It looks as if the track is drying somewhat but let’s wait and see.
And while we wait here is a short intermission.
A lap of the track coming up now, and if you find this a bit boring then just scroll down to the next paragraph and you won’t have to read it.
So, rush across the start / finish line in 6th gear and wait until the marker board at about 50 metres before hitting the brakes and dropping through 5th, 4th, 3rd and into 2nd gear to take turn 1 at 82kph and grab 3rd gear on the exit and then as the turn unwinds get into 4th then 5th and brake again from 190kph, into 4th then 3rd before the quick left / right turn complex and accelerate again grabbing 4th before dropping yet again into 3rd, 2nd for the tight right hander on to the middle straight and foot hard down going all the way up to5th gear and 220kph before dropping down to 4th, 3rd and 100kphgoing round the long right hand turn and onto the back straight. Now, head down and foot down to get through 5th and 6th gear and 225kph on the long back straight.
If the wind is an easterly then perhaps even faster. Finally you get into the long, double apex right turn and hang on for dear life as you get through the last turn at 140kph and grab 5th on the exit and keep off the kerbs on the outside of the track. They can grab you and spit you out sideways and that is NOT recommended. Into 6th and there’s the start finish line again.
A busy old place and one the demands a lot of precision in placing the car on the approach to the turns. A good place for ‘racing’ though.
That’s it and normal service is resumed.
Sam MacNeil was a busy chap today as well with the TRS two seater car doing a good few laps and Sam seemed to be getting faster each time with just a little brake lock up going on now and again.
These boy racers….you can’t keep ‘em down!
Practice 2 of the day with a dry track and heavy, quite humid, overcast conditions.
While we wait for that the big bangers are on track and car 36, a big Camaro, is being driven by Grant Dalton of Emirates Team New Zealand fame. Of course Toyota figures fairly prominently in his sailing life but this powerful beast on track is a world away from the powerful sail boats. Perhaps not so far away when you look at how the boat handles and then the Camaro.
OK. Practice now on and Kenny Smith takes to the track in car 9.
I guess he will need a good few laps to get the feel of the car back into his brain.
One red flag but a very quick one as Siddiqi stopped and immediately got going again but the session ended with Bonifacio, van Asseldonk, Cassidy then Evans at the front with just one second covering the top 16 cars! Kenny Smith just one place off the back but 2 seconds adrift.
Not a bad start though.
More later……….
Bob
