LG ZB FALCON WINS FEATURE RACE AT PUKEKOHE PARK
Hi all after an action-packed first round at Pukekohe! The season has kicked off with quite a bang (literally!) with a grass-cutting, wall-hitting start to the weekend, a massive team effort to repair the LG ZB Falcon on Saturday night, and a very successful fight back over the three races resulting in a win for Sunday’s feature race.
As the race weekends are now effectively compressed into two days, it places a greater emphasis on preparation, organization, and teamwork, all of which got tested to the full over the course of this first meeting of the championship.
TESTING
Saturday’s first test session was spent bedding in the new control brake package, trying some different suspension settings, and generally “getting our eye in”. We were 8th fastest on old tyres and confident of being right on the money when the time came to run new tyres. In the second practice session we decided to do a “dummy” top 10 shootout lap, where you have about two thirds of a lap to warm the tyres and brakes, and one flying timed lap to decide the top 10. This was new territory for us, but had to be tried sooner or later! The car came on song nicely and we were heading for the fastest lap of the session, but as I came over the “hill” onto the front straight, I got a little wide and on to the grass, crossed up and speared into the Armco barrier on the inside of the track. The damage to the car was substantial, and after quickly assessing it, we decided that we would forgo trying to patch the car up for qualifying, and head offsite to start repairing the car for race day. With our panel and paint sponsor Transvisual’s new chassis machine awaiting setup, we enlisted the help of good mate and former team member Greg Gordon. Greg was able to pry the keys off Paul, the new owner of Greg Gordon Panelbeaters, and the boys got stuck in to effect a suitable repair in the timeframe possible. Later that night, everything was pointing in the right direction and as the Transvisual and Isignit crew had pre-prepared a full set of spare outer panels (courtesy of Affordable Partsworld) last week, they were fitted on Sunday morning making the car look almost brand new!! Thanks to all the helpers who pulled off this mean feat!
RACE 1
Because we had forfeited qualifying we were obliged to start from the rear of the grid, position 25. As some of you may know, sometimes in the face of adversity I find an extra surge of speed, and so it was for Sunday’s racing. After the 12 laps we had gained 15 positions to finish 10th! Our race through the field gave us loads of attention both with the Pukekohe commentators and also on TV3’s coverage – the crowd loved it!
RACE 2
Starting where we finished race 1 (10th), we once again scythed through the field to finish 5th ! Obviously as you get further towards the front the car/driver combinations get better and better, and more difficult to pass.
RACE 3
A full reverse grid based on total points accumulated in races 1 and 2, we started 18th, and after an epic battle with several other championship favorites we won the race!!
OVERALL
We finished the weekend in fourth overall, only 3 points off third, a great comeback considering many onlookers thought the car was effectively written off on Saturday afternoon. A great team effort and it bodes well for the rest of the season, with the car and driver showing impressive speed, and the crew really working well together under the new leadership of Richard “Sarge” Knowles from
FEEDBACK
We have had excellent feedback from the crowd, sponsors, media, and team supporters about the team’s presentation this year. The LG ZB Falcon keeps getting a big ‘thumbs up’ as being the best-presented NZ V8 in the field. Also good to see that it looks as stunning on TV as it does up close! Also, our great looking LG ZB Gridgirls were hugely popular with a never-ending queue of fans wanting to take photos.
SUZUKI SWIFT CUP
Congratulations also to our LG Motorsport team mate William Bamber who won this round of the Suzuki Swift Cup!
NEXT UP
We will continue the never-ending development and maintenance on the car prior to the next round at Ruapuna,
Posted: Sun 08 Nov 2009