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Round 2 of the 2008 Australian Championship at Mallala, South Australia


The Builder concentrates hard in the challenging conditions…

Well, there is no doubting Adelaide needed rain, just not sure how come, after such an extended drought, it decided to break loose Truck Racing weekend !!!

With a pretty bleak forecast, steps were underway to prepare for what lay ahead. Festival Hire set up the Whiteline big top on the Wednesday, with more than normal pegging to hold it down in the wind. Terry, Al and David arrived in a weary state on Thursday from Auckland, however for Dave and Al they had been driving all night from Turangi to meet their Auckland flight.

Post Oran Park, even despite Bob the Builder’s 4 x truck wide manoeuvre down the main straight, the Cat Powered Freightliner came home pretty tidy. Maintenance wise the rear wheel bearings were replaced as they were worn; Mark manufactured a new sway bar designed to help counteract the wet conditions and a valve check was conducted. Other than that, she was loaded up and taken to the track Thursday when the crew arrived from Auckland.

Thursday night, the team headed to North Haven Primo and all hit the sack early. Feeling much more refreshed Friday started off with egg and bacon muffins then out to the circuit.


Racing was tight all weekend between Bob the Builder and Falk.

Friday three 20 minute practice sessions were scheduled followed by the media rides. The sessions were challenging as the rain just did not let up, so trying to determine whether the handling issues were due to the water on the track which made for slippery conditions or otherwise was made difficult.

One thing is for sure, Bob the Builder was the quickest he had ever been in the wet which was encouraging, mind you the lap times were 1.43’s which was extremely slow compared to the qualifying time he would achieve on Saturday where conditions were cold and windy, but the rain had eased for the qualifying session. Bomber’s Kenworth in the wet has always been very competitive, however, in the practice session was over 1 second slower than the Builder. The crew mainly fiddled with tyres, grooving the tyres, bar adjustments and replacing a front right brake rotor which had cracked.

Amongst our ride participants were the successful bidders at the Clipsal ASMF Charity luncheon and the South Australian Road Transport Association fundraiser dinner. Participating in a ride on board the Tank World John Falk Entry was captain of the Adelaide Crows, Simon Goodwin. The Association had 34 rides to get through and the conditions were terrible – hail, heavy rain and wind and by the time the rides commenced it was quite dark at the track. In any event some very excited and nervous participants put on overalls, helmets and went for one slip, slide ride I am sure they will never forget. Friday night the crew dined at the Sailmaster, retiring early for the weekend ahead.


Wonder if the rainbow holds a pot of gold for the Builder.

Saturday: Only one practice and qualifying was scheduled for the SuperTrucks, with the first session at 8.30. The track was extremely wet, with the big cat not enjoying or handling the conditions at all nor was the pilot. Compared to Friday, the handling was really bad with the Builder in excess of 1 second slower than main rival Falk with a 1.38 completing 8 laps for the session. On return to the pit the team review of the session would see adjustments to the sway bar prior to the qualifying session at 11.50 where conditions remained windy, cold but fine with the rain disappearing for a short time. Bob the Builder would do 8 x laps in the session, and would achieve his best lap and would win the pole sitter position in lap 6 with a 1.27.8440. Bob was the only SuperTruck in the 1.27 bracket, with closest rival Falk only .3633 of a second behind with a 1.28.207 lap time.

With qualifying over with the rest of the afternoon was free to check over the Cat Powered Freightliner plus do some of the set up required for Sunday. Part of the marquee set up was done, problem being flags, signage etc. has to be set up and taken down each night due to souvenir hunters. The team were back home early on the Saturday night for tea at Primo and again an early night for the Sunday event. We were up and about 5.30 a.m. and headed to the track – it rained the entire way there and had been steadily raining overnight which was not a good sign.


The builder hotly pursued by Falk in the mean green machine

Sunday: On arrival, the team prepared the SuperTruck for the warm up whilst the rest of us set up the marquee for our guests for the day. Angie and Brent provided invaluable assistance, with Mark’s partner Jakki helping out so too Mark from SAFF and Liam who is our technical guru for sound and visual set up. Rain hampered things a little, but we overcame all of that and the stage was set for a good day. The warm up session was scheduled for 8.30 where the Builder completed 7 x laps however, we were some 5 seconds slower than our main rival Falk with Bomber and Rose also putting in far better times than the Freightliner. The team were really struggling with what adjustments could be done prior to race 1. Computer files were downloaded to reduce the power from the big CAT – she just had no grip whatsoever – lots of horsepower not getting to the ground.

Race 1 was at 9.40 and the track was wet, wet, wet. Bob the Builder was starting out of 1 where he qualified with the Falk 87 entry alongside. The Falk team had worked late on the truck completely rebuilding braking systems, because with Falk and Bob starting alongside one another, the one hardest in the corner and the latest to brake would come off in front.

The Select Trucks Freightliner led the 14 truck field around for a warm up lap and then left the circuit, with one more warm up lap under the pace car and the race was on. The start was controversial with the commentator announcing that Falk had jumped the start and would most likely be pinged, with other witnesses verifying that Falk was half a truck length in front on the start, however, this was not substantiated or followed through with a black flag or time penalty so going into turn 1, Falk would lead Bob, Hewat, Zammitt, Bomberle, Rose, Waters, Coulter and the rest of the field. On lap 2 some excitement ensued when Zammit went infield on turn 1 under heavy brakes and was relegated towards the back of the field. Laps 3, 4 and 5 remained relatively unchanged other than the field had now started to come into traffic lapping the slower light trucks, with Zammit making a good recovery from the back of the field. Laps 6 and 7 remained unchanged with Falk taking out race 1 in the 87 entry, Bob the Builder in 1 in second, Hewat 81, Bomberle 60, Rose in 6, Zammit in 40 having made an excellent fight back, followed by 55, 96, 2, 3, 37, 18, 12 and truck 30.


Not so squeezy.

Race 2 was held at 10.55, with the track damp but with fine rain falling whilst the race was run. This, however, would be a short lived event, with the red flag shown three laps into the 7 lap event and for this reason was deemed not to be a race as 75% of the race had not been run. The stoppage was caused by Seton and Yardy coming to grief whilst cornering going off the circuit. Their position off the circuit was deemed to be unsafe causing the abrupt end to the event. This was a reverse grid race and had proven exciting prior to the stoppage with Bob having got up into sixth behind Zammit, Bomberle, Amorosso, Hewat and Falk and was gradually pegging them off one by one. The good sign was that Bob in the Cat Freightliner was achieving lap times better than Falk . So consequently, this race held for no points and it was decided that in race 3, the reverse grid start positions of race 2 would prevail. At 12 pm Bob the Builder would attend the marquee where Whiteline Racing’s resident m.c. Alan Marks took over proceedings interviewing him and yours truly. Our events would not be the same with out Als ever professional presence.

Race 3 was held at 1.30 and was over 7 x laps – track conditions were fine again but cold. Starting at the back, Bobby commented that Falk was already some three truck lengths in front at the beginning of the race, not phased, however, Bob would peg off the field, having got past 4 of the light trucks by the start of lap 2. In the meantime, Zammit in the 40 entry was making excellent progress through the field and was heading towards the pointy end, with only 2 light trucks to overtake, being the very quick spr of Coulter and the 18 Colin Degee entry. By lap 3 Zammit had hit the front followed by Hewat, Rose, Amorosso, Bomberle, Bob the Builder, Falk and the rest of the light truck field. Bobby had managed to round up Falk in the previous lap. Laps 4 and 5 would remain relatively unchanged, other than Bomberle, Falk and Bob had rounded up Amorosso, with Falk just nudging in front of the Builder once again with some serious touching up to the front left – our ROH rim was a colourful lime green, with a green autograph on our front left bumper also. The Falk hit to our left front was the end result of argy bargy between The Bomber and Falk.

By the start of lap 6, Beau Hewat in the 81 entry had got around Zammit, only to spin, seeing the seventh and final lap with Zammit winning, Rose 6 in second, 60 Bomberle in third, 87 Falk in fourth, 1 Bob the Builder in fifth, followed by 81, 2, 96, 3, 55, 18, 30, 37 and 12. Bob the Builder was by far the quickest out there with a 1.29.2011 on lap 6. Zammit who won the race, his quickest was a 1.31.1977.

The final race of the day for the SuperTrucks was the Superprix over 10 laps held at 4.20. Again starting rear of field and with a gap between the light trucks and SuperTrucks the green flag was dropped. The first lap was clean and by the start of the 2nd lap Coulter in the extremely hot on the pace spr had already taken the lead, in the meantime the Builder was busy pegging off light trucks only really making any progress by lap 6, where he was now in 7th behind Coulter, Waters, Zammit, Rose, Bomberle and Falk. Positions remained relatively unchanged when halfway through the final lap as the Builder was to overtake the Falk truck, just as Bob was alongside the Tankworld entry, Falk’s truck burst into flames.

Lucky to get through, Bob the Builder would complete the final stages of the race, finishing fourth in SuperTrucks, fifth in the race with the Coulter no. 3 light truck entry winning the race. Emergency crews were quick to the track to extinguish the fire bellowing out from under the bonnet of the Cummins Engine in Falk’s truck. The pole position and placings in the events for the weekend would see the Builder finish 2nd overall, with a very deserving Steven Zammit’s winning by only 1 point. In the series, Bob the Builder remains the leader on 96 points followed by Falk on 87 points. It was excellent to see Steve Zammit’s and his team bounce back from the terrible collision with the wall in Sydney in round 1and overcome issues in the earlier part of the weekend to take out overall honours for the Adelaide round.


Terry calculating computer files for the CAT engine.

Interestingly in lap 7 when Falk and Bob were really challenging one another, both did their quickest laps for the race in 1.29’s just prior to Falk’s Cummins engine letting go. There is a decent break between this round and our next round which is at the Barbagallo Raceway in Perth 1 – 3 August, 2008. The Whiteline Racing CAT powered Freightliner will be in Perth end of July to be part of a customer day at the premises of Dura Lite the provider of intercoolers to our team.

Packing up post Adelaide is always a big affair because of the corporate arrangements. This coupled with the fact that some of the other teams equipment and trucks will remain in Adelaide for transport to Perth has meant there has been a shuttle out to Mallala to collect all of the gear, with Bomber providing some assistance here also. After the racing yesterday, the presentation was held in our marquee and the atmosphere amongst all the competitors was amazing with the place abuzz. The teams ate and had a few drinks together for the prize giving ceremony. After we left the track the team, together with Rob Waters, Debbie, Brett and Lorenz from the No. 2 team of Bajeema racing joined us for a meal at Carmines in the Port.

Monday the crew all bar Al who flew out of Adelaide headed to Mallala to collect the rest of the race gear, with Terry and Dave heading back to New Zealand Tuesday morning.

Prior to the next round, the diff will be removed as in the last race it appeared to let go intermittently, so whilst we have the time up our sleeve it’s a good opportunity. In addition, Mark will review the set up for Perth last year and adjust everything back as there have been some radical not tried before set up experiments to try and find the Builder grip. We’ll go back to basics and start all over.

Preparations for Perth will begin almost immediately for what is always one of the favourite meetings for all the teams.

Yours in racing and regards,
Shaz

Photos: All truck action photos courtesy of Marshall Cass, and Angie Matheson for the people shots….

The Trans Tasman Series dates are :

12th & 13th January, 2008 – Timaru
5th & 6th April, 2008 – Timaru

The Australian Series is scheduled as follows:

26th & 27th April, 2008
Oran Park – Sydney

17th & 18th May, 2008
Mallala – South Australia

2nd & 3rd August, 2008
Barbagallo – Western Australia

30th & 31st August, 2008
Oran Park – Sydney

1st & 2nd November, 2008
Mallala – South Australia


CAT vs. Cummins, the Builder keeps Falk at bay.		Falk turns in on the Builder leaving his signature on the front left rim and bumper.

Bob, Beau Hewat and Steve Zammit in race mode…



Dave and Al hard at it in between races.		Terry in the thick of it.

Al, Mark, Dave and Brent dealing with the lack of grip in the back end.		Al loading up truck tyres.

Done and dusted, that’s it for another round - the crew de brief.		Brent had an early morning and a late night to help crew.

Angie was kept flat out all day setting up and taking all of the ‘people’ photos.		Barb and Gary at the track to support the team

Andy, Dori, Sean and Kim make it a family affair.		Jakki lending a hand in merchandise.

Chez and John trackside.		Mark with Gary and Brent discussing the ‘grip’ problem that plagued the No. 1 Cat Freightliner all weekend.

Long time best buddies Bob and Gaz.		Mark was still smiling despite a tough weekend in the office !!

Al preparing the cab for the Builder.		Terry heading off to his viewing point for the next race.

A fast growing Cook family at the races.		Frank and Margi Lenzi rugged up for the wintery race day.

Shaz looks up to Whiteline Racing’s resident m.c. Alan Marks.		Sue and Klaus out to cheer on Bob The Builder.

Mates George and Peter Hewat enjoying catching up.		George and Pete help Shaz rise to the occasion.

Charlie Barbaro Adelaide Truck Wholesalers and son Chez Adelaide Sign Design take some time out with Bob the Builder.		Bobby always takes time out for ‘little’ followers.

Laim, resident Whiteline Racing audio/it roady with Dad and helper Mark.		Bob and Nat catching up at the races.

The wonderful crew from Blanco catering.		Margi, Barbi, Barb and Nat make for a glamourous table.

Friends and family of Adelaide Truck Wholesalers braved the wintery conditions.		A real family affair, Raylene, Leah, Julia, Bridie, Brannan and Wyatt at race day.

Len and Georgie take time out to catch up.		Logan from Aquatek and his Dad enjoyed race day.

Margaret, Coby and Trevor make it a family day at the races.		Ellen and friend Elli put their heads together.

Paul, Tony and Shane ensuring they have a good time.		Bob the Builder and Mr. Cat Johnno Holliday check the race schedule.

Bob the Builder being interviewed by Al as guests enjoy lunch.		Bob explaining the state of affairs.

Al homes in on Shaz for some answers.		A long time supporter of all kinds of motorsport, John Scotcher with partner Margaret trackside.

Good mates and names sakes, Barb and Barbi.		Bob, Frank and Len catch up.

Doug Parke of Gulf Western Oil and John Holliday of Caterpillar catch up.		Bobby mingling with the little fans.

Sisters, Leah and Raylene trackside.