Previous Editions of Latest News
The Whiteline Racing, Cat Powered Freightliner, has just completed a great opening round having qualified pole, set a new track record and has brought home the first place trophy for the SuperTrucks for the weekend. A larger Dura Lite intercooler was fitted to keep the engine cooler and provide more horse power, the transmission was overhauled and routine maintenance was carried out from front bumper to rear. The crew from New Zealand, Terry, Jeff and Al, landed in Sydney on Thursday, and so too Bob and Mark from Adelaide. I arrived late Friday night to find a ‘highly spirited’ team. Friday, 5th May, 2006 The team repaired a faulty solenoid which was continually providing a flow of water to the intercooler cooling system. There was welding to the suspension parts attached to the diff which the team suspected may have a crack about to appear, again as a result of the accident in last year’s series. Buffed and prepared road tyres for racing. Running on-road tyres as opposed to race tyres was estimated to be costing 1 – 2 seconds a lap. Bob ‘The Builder’ described the handling to be similar to that of a tractor that’s lost it’s wheels – Farmer Bob! Friday night, the team were presented with their new crew uniform for the 2006 series, and a watch, in appreciation for their efforts and contribution in the Whiteline Racing, Cat Powered Freightliner taking out Australia #1 in 2005. Saturday, 6th May, 2006 Sunday, 7th May, 2006 In another twist, race 2 and race 3, the races where the quickest are penalized by being placed to the rear of the field, reverse grid, would have to attempt to negotiate the traffic in 5 laps, not the 8 scheduled – a pretty difficult task and sure to result in considerable damage. Practice session
(combined with Co-Driver’s race) – 8.45am Initially Bob ‘The Builder’ was only going to do a couple of laps, but came back to the pit after 10 laps and said he was ‘having too much fun’ to come in. Race 1 – 10.30am 8 laps Into turn one Bob ‘The Builder’ was forced to settle into 2nd position, when loss of radio contact with the crew resulted in a slow start – the crew give the signal that the race has commenced and to put pedal to metal. This would result in an exciting chase of the Bomber and by lap two the Whiteline Racing Cat Powered Freightliner had hit the front. 3rd, 4th and 5th lap would see his lead grow when in the 6th lap backed off due to an altercation between Seton and O’Connor which would result in a yellow flag and entry by the safety car. The final lap finished under the safety car. This race, Middleton would take out not only the race, but the track record with a 53.9333. Race 2 – 1.25pm Race 3 – 4.50pm During the race, Bob ‘The Builder’ had found a vibration had developed in the front end, which on return to Adelaide was found to be two cracked front rotors yet again, which, when fitted after race 1 were spares, with some wear and given the desperation of race two and three would have taken a hammering. The pole position, win in race one, 4th in the second and 3rd in the final race would result in an overall win for the weekend. Special thanks to Freightliner in Sydney for providing a vehicle for ferrying the crew, Goodyear Tyres for providing Marcus to take care of tyres and Trevor Page for helping to ferry crew from airports – we appreciate all that has been done. The Whiteline Racing Cat Powered Freightliner is en-route to Perth, where the ‘Builder’ will be involved in promotional laps at the V8 event to be held at Barbagallo 13th and 14th May, 2006. In addition, some promotional activities are being negotiated for Mallala on the 20th and 21st of May for Adelaide entries at a Sporting Car Event, with the next official race meeting in Adelaide 22nd and 23rd July, 2006. Yours
in racing and regards,
Previous Editions of Latest News Sept 05 Round 6: Oran Park – Australian Championship May 05 Round 5: Barbagallo – Australian Championship May 05 Round 4: Mallala – Australian Championship May 05 Round 3: Winton – Australian Championship April 05 Round 2: Manfield – New Zealand Championship March 05 Round 1: Timaru – New Zealand Championship
Aug 04 Round 3: Barbagallo – Australian Championship May 04 Round 1: Mallala – Australian Championship Feb 04 Round 3: Pukekohe – New Zealand Championship Jan 04 Round 2: Manfield – New Zealand Championship Jan 04 Round 1: Timaru - New Zealand Championship
December 03 : New truck finshed with only weeks to spare before Timaru race!
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As you may recall in the final round of the 2005 series, the back end of the Cat Powered Freightliner sustained heavy damage to the rear end in the final non-championship race held at Oran Park. As a result, the rear end was completely stripped where the chassis was found to be bent. This was straightened and re-engineering of the rear suspension and differential was carried out in order to accommodate disk brakes to replace the drum set up, thus now giving disk brakes front and rear.
Basically, the team experimented to ensure they were satisfied all the accident damage had been repaired, and played with settings trying to find what would work best for the Cat Powered Freightliner for the weekend’s racing given track and weather conditions.
Qualifying took place at 3pm where Bob ‘The Builder’ still found the SuperTruck taily, completing nine laps, with his best time in the 8th lap of 54.5204. This time would secure pole position, ensuring the Whiteline Racing Cat Powered SuperTruck would start off the front line in race one on the Sunday.
The morning was very dewy and provided greasy track conditions and as mentioned due to programming restraints and to add interest, the first co-driver’s race and SuperTruck practice session were combined. This lap time would be needed to ensure that adjustments to roll bar settings had resulted in a better handling truck, although it was difficult to gauge. Was it the track conditions when the sun emerged or was it the adjustments made that were effecting the current set up? It was decided to soften the back end bars slightly more but pretty well leave the set up as is for Race 1.
On return to the pit, the loss of radio contact would prove a further headache. In race conditions, the driver is so intense involved in the racing that prompting by the crew is required throughout the race, i.e. when to turn on fans, water to the brakes etc. In this race water did not get to the brakes as it should have resulting in the brakes becoming so hot, the front two rotors cracked and would need replacing before the next race. In addition there was some cosmetic work to be carried out to rear aluminum as a result of a tap from Zammit in the 1st corner. Marcus our Goodyear tyre fitter assigned to us for the meeting also removed the rear tyres to check the back brakes also, but were found to be okay.
Again from the rear and in the darkness of clouds that had come over the circuit almost to the point of needing head lights, the race commenced with all competitors exiting turn one unscathed. By lap 2 had moved into 5th, lap 3 into 4th, lap 4 into 4th and on the final lap snatched 3rd. Again the fastest out there, bettering the winner’s best lap by over a second.
The kiwi crew headed home Monday morning so too the rest of us to Adelaide.