Previous Editions of Latest News
The Kernohan workshop and depot is based there and was where all the development required from the last round would take place. A steering damper was fitted to overcome the steering vibration on the Wednesday along with a thorough check over. The engine camshaft was replaced by Terry “honey-bee” followed by the fitment of twin turbos and rebuild of a new exhaust system. The windscreens were also replaced. On the Friday and Saturday we received new files for the truck to suit a twin turbo for testing. On Sunday 18th January Bob flew back to Adelaide to have a few days home before the next round, leaving Dave, Jeff and Terry to finish off the last of the jobs before round 2 – with big hopes for an excellent showing at Manfield’s 3 km track.
Last practice would prove to be the quickest. However, Bob the Builder was looking for more acceleration out of the corners. This would become apparent all weekend, Bob was the quickest, especially into corners and would make a lot of ground, but was bogged down getting back out and Porter in particular would make the most of this. Saturday again the weather conditions were extremely humid. The first practice session was held at 9.25. Bobby’s Super Truck was improving in handling, however, it was slow at building up boost. The tyre pressures which are checked after each session were sending off confusing signals regarding the handling, but part of the reason for this would become apparent later in the day. The annual street parade was conducted prior to qualifying. The Super Trucks travel in convoy down the main street of Fielding and stop at the square in the city – here the township especially popular with children congregate, collect posters and signatures from their favourite drivers. As per other years, Bob, even being an Aussie proved to be a big hit and obviously has a strong following in N.Z. Fans from previous years were coming up with shirts and hats they had purchased from other years and were adding to their collection. Qualifying was marred by the weather conditions which would slow down the entire field due to the grease on the track made worse by the heat and rain. The team made 2 or 3 adjustments to the sway bars but it was still very slippery and the ‘builder’ actually became airborne at one point in spectacular fashion. The session was cut short due to the conditions, however, Bob did clock up the quickest time and secured pole position for race 1 on Sunday’s race day. Securing Pole attracts additional championship points to assist in his second position standing after round 1. Bob would qualify fastest with a 1.26.893 Andrew Porter current series leader was .162 of a second behind.
Race 1 at 10.00 a.m. was again very slippery. Middleton also sustained damage to the rear bumper when Malcolm Little shunted the Super Truck several times in the straight prior to the starters flag even going down!! The force of the shunts were so great all but two bolts were completely sheared off. Malcolm would continue these tactics in other races and has now become the centre of an official enquiry, in relation to an incident involving Abernethy, who has substantial damage to his Super Truck. Middleton again lacked the power out of the corners, but managed to finish 3rd. An inspection after the race found a collapsed back spring. I made mention earlier that the tyre pressures were confusing, the collapsed back spring would have meant the truck’s handling to compensate for this would have altered the tyre pressures all round. Times for this race were extremely slow, the quickest being well over the 1.33’s to 1.41’s reflecting the conditions, especially given Bob qualified in 1.26.893 ! The next three races, only two being championship races, would result in Middleton starting from the rear of the field with a 25 second time penalty as he qualified quickest. As a result the big guns coming from the back of the field would make racing a tad eventful and very exciting particularly wih three laps to go. Middleton made a move on Little and Abernethy going around a corner, but ran wide losing the advantage. Not contemplating giving up at the same corner, next lap Middleton would make the same move, but this time was successful. During the race Super Truck 15 would experience turbo stall. This is believed to be attributed to the fact that when the twin turbo was fitted the hoses into the intercooler are channeled into one single hose, when if it went into the intercooler through two hoses the air would travel freely. It is likely through this modification that we will gain 6 to 8 pound more turbo boost which should improve the response and acceleration. Whilst Middleton finished 2nd in race 2, he was officially the quickest truck on the field clocking up a 1.27.118.
Middleton grabbed onto the smallest piece of metal and again went into chase mode, weaving through the field to secure a third place. Again officially the quickest truck out there with a 1.27.650. Middleton would finish in 2nd place for the meeting, still retaining his 2nd place in the series behind Porter. Porter, when accepting first place, acknowledged to the crowd he was in for a battle with Middleton until he ‘broke his knob’ with Middleton holding up the broken knob for the crowd to see, resulting in an uproar at the track. The traditional burn outs were cancelled due to the bleak weather conditions. John Parker of Daimler Chrysler has arranged an intercooler for the Super Truck which the crew will fit prior to the next meeting. Again another great effort by the crew with much fun had away from the track, including Al from Goughs in Palmeston who had his 50th. Next round is at Pukekohe in Auckland Feb 13-15, so will touch base with you all then. Thank you to all for your interest and support – it’s important to our continuing success. Yours
in racing and regards,
Special thanks to Graham Blow (www.grahamblow.com) for images One and Three on this page, and to Euan Cameron (euan@cameronphoto.co.nz) for Image Two.
Previous Editions of Latest News Jan 04 Round 1: Timaru - New Zealand Championship December 03: New truck finshed with only weeks to spare before Timaru race!
|
Friday
30th January was practice day at Manfield.
The Super Trucks would be given three sessions to
sort out and set up their rigs for this track. Conditions were extremely
humid with heavy downpours in the latter part of the day. In
the first session, the Super Truck proved to be very sluggish
so the team modified the mufflers and fitted new air cleaners to
rectify this. The second practice was much improved
and the alterations made after practice one certainly produced a
more responsive result. Practice
three, again
on the sluggish side, changed the air filters for the 3rd time,
and in addition attempted another fuel file, but made the Super
Truck worse resulting in the team reverting to the previous fuel
file.
Saturday
the trucks put on a demonstration non-championship points race
for the spectators in the muggy conditions and fortunately
for our team whilst parading around it was discovered Super Truck
15 had a cracked left hand front brake rotor and a turbo bearing
on its way out. Sunday the weather was again a shocker –
pouring rain and forced the practice to be abandoned due to the
slippery and dangerous conditions. Each time the Super Truck races
would start so would the rain.
Race
3 again from the rear of the field proved highly entertaining for
the race fans –
Again whilst making a spectacular pass under brakes on a corner,
Middleton literally broke the gear knob! The positions he gained
he lost while he was forcing his fingers down the sock of the gear
lever to find something to grip onto to change gear.