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"Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us" - Hebrews 8:1 |
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At the Track ...Hi everyone. This is Kev’s account of the Australian Title in Alice Springs: Australian Title, 2010
Well it was a quick trip up to Alice Springs and I arrived in the evening. It was suppose to be a two weekend affair with the Northern Territory Title the first weekend then the Aussie Title the Easter weekend. However I was involved with a funeral in Colac and therefore had to forfeit the first event. This is one that we have gone well in over the last two seasons and it was a chance to go even better. After getting settled into the accommodation Red Dust had organised, it was off to the track for Friday night practice. With the new PMP car still not repaired after the Hamilton accident, I took the old car up as it usually goes well at Alice. The practice went well and all was ready for the Saturday night of racing. The format is three heats each on the Friday and one heat and a C main, a B main and then the feature event. I attended Easter Church at the Alice Springs Baptist. I drew pole in the first heat, which was not what I really wanted. Usually everyone is so toey that it is the hardest event to get started. However everyone was good and it got away with the first attempt of a start. The outside car got the jump and lead into the first lap with me in second. He held this for two laps when he got a hit from the car behind which forced him up to the fence. A line of cars went past and at the end I finished fifth. This was still a good result and I was happy, as it was a very strong field. Next out I was in tenth position at the start. Another good start and all was going well until a vibration in the car forced me to pull infield. This meant we had a DNF which is not a good thing in this event. The cause was found to be the chain. Fortunately we had three new chains with us as Steve had made spares for this event. Our third heat had us out of position eleven. Again we got a good start and were holding our own when the chain disintegrated, leaving us again on the infield with another DNF. Already we realised that our attempt to emulate last year was gone. You cannot afford to drop a single heat in this type of field, so there was a little dejection as we went home that night. On the Sunday I put a lot of time into trying to sort out why the chains were failing. With a new one fitted it was back to the track with an almost late sign-in. Anyway the last heat for us had me out of position three. With a great start I jumped into second position. However, coming off the turn four I thought I saw a yellow light and so I slowed up. After Hamilton I was most likely too cautious. Three cars went flying past and I then realised it was a light in the pits and not a track indication. In an attempt to get back the places lost I went too hard into the turn and spun the car to a stop. This caused a restart and as I was the cause of this, I had to go to the back of the field. In the end I finished in front of a couple of cars in eighth place. The result was that I had qualified mid-field for the C main. There was no chance of advancing further so caution was thrown to the wind and and the little car was flying. The racing was excellent with much better cars being held off. However halfway into the race another car climbed my inside rear wheel and again the chain flew to pieces. That was that and I sat out the race on the infield wondering where it all went. Overall it was a very trying time and after last year when I went straight into the final, and Alice being a place where I usually go very well, all were expecting another good showing. So I attended this final as a spectator. It was a good race with plenty of action and controversy. It was very encouraging to be there as the Chaplain. People were keen to have me there in that role so it was not at all a total loss. The role of Chaplain is getting quite a bit of support these days as people seem to be willing to have someone there to support them at the speedway. Roll on next season and the next Aussie Title. We plan to have the PMP up and running for that event. If anyone is interested in getting into the Formula 500 class I have a car for you to buy. God bless you all.
_________________________ Past Updates Simpson, March 13th, 2010 Simpson, March 2010 Darlington, Feb 2010 Hamilton, 2010 November 2009 2009 Northern Territory Title Easter Weekend, 2009 March 21st, 2009 March 7th-8th, 2009 21st February, 2009 15th February, 2009 18th January, 2009 8th January, 2009 17th Decmber, 2008 11th November, 2008 26th May, 2008 1st May, 2008 1st April, 2008 14th January, 2008 2nd January, 2008 18th Apri 2007 24th Feb 2007 17th Feb 2007 1st Feb 2007 18th December 2006 27th November 2006 20th November 2006 |
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