| Its Finally Showtime! | ||||
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Hi all and after a delayed start to the summer, we have finally hit the race track. At this time I’ve raced at three meetings in three different states and haven’t I had mixed results. I was originally going to run the first three Parramatta Sprintcar meetings but with all that insurance stuff, the practice day plus the first two PCR sprintcar meets were canned and it looked like I would be a spectator at the season opener. Fortunately John Hart came to the rescue and offered me a ride in his #79 sprintcar. The car has all the right gear and I was able to quickly settle into what was a unfamiliar car but the night was full of small and annoying problems. I finished second in the 1st heat race but a leaking rocker cover dumped tons of oil on my driving suit late in the race. Not having a spare suit Andrew Scheuerle offered me his spare and while it was a little larger than mine I was still able to run the rest of the night. Well the oil leak was the first problem for a night I’ll rather forget. I was way out in front leading my next heat only to have my arm restraint from the borrowed driving suit get caught up into the steering wheel causing me to spin out in turn 1,then a loose coil wire fell off and I was out of the race. In the B Main again the John Hart car proved to be very quick and allowing me to move into the lead until the left hand rear tyre popped off the bead while going into turn 3 forcing me to crash into the tyre wall. And that was that for the night! The car was good and we were quick but just every time I went out onto the track something small went wrong. From Parramatta it was off to Bunbury and my first opportunity to race for Shane Krikke, for me its an all new team of guys with our crew chief Peter also being new to the team this year. I’ve known the guys for years, raced against them but now I’m working with them and that was a little different. It was all positive, we all got on well plus most of the other guys had been together for years, I was the new addition to the team. My plane left Sydney 2 hours late and it wasn’t until after midday before I arrived in Perth. Ryan Krikke picked me up for the 2 1/2 hour trip to Bunbury, the home of Bunbury Toyota and Krikke Motorsports. We went straight to the workshop so I could get the car set up for the nights racing. You know we had to fit up the seat belts, pedals and all that stuff for me before going to the track at 5pm. The car is all new and the first laps I did in the Toyota Genuine Parts/ Quick Race Parts Avenger was in the 3 hot laps before time trails. I set 4th quickest time and the car felt OK. I was comfortable in the car with only minor adjustments to the steering ratio, I was happy with the Avenger and set to go racing. Although I’ve raced Avengers for a couple of years our Quick Race Parts supplied car is the latest update from Avenger and there are a small number of differences but overall I was very comfortable in the new car.The motor felt strong and was lacking nothing in horsepower. We have two engines for this season so we should be on the pace all year. You know this is the first time in my career that I’ve just jumped into a new car without giving a hand in building it. In the heats were made forward progress with the car getting better in each race. The car was dialing into the Bunbury track with it being the best all night in the dash. I came out of position ten in the main event and set about working my way up into the lead, we didn’t have anything to prove and I wanted to stay out of trouble. I finished second after being tentative on lapping traffic on the final lap allowing Ryan Farrell to get past and take out the win. Second was not too bad as we just wanted seat time and it was my first night with the Krikke Motorsports team and I didn’t want to give Shane back a crashed car after the feature. Its like the first day at a new job, I just didn’t want to break the machine and upset the boss! We had achieved our goals and were looking forward to Adelaide for the Sprintcar Masters. I stayed on in WA on Sunday, spent time with Shane and the guys before seeing some friends in Perth. What can I say about Adelaide except it was a narrow track and I was a victim of circumstances. It was one of those nights but we did learn a lot. I set the third quickest time and I moved forward in the heats but in the main the Toyota Genuine Parts Avenger started fifth and thats where I finished. At least we got some valuable track time in Adelaide as the WSS hits the SA track in three weeks. I can’t wait for the WSS to start, as the Kirkke Motorsports team will be giving it a real shake up. Thats it from me and remember to say hello when my Toyota Genuine Parts, Quick Race Parts, Avenger Chassis, Bunbury Toyota, Krikke Motorsports, PWR Radiators, Revolution Racegear, Valvoline sprintcar comes to your local speedway. See you all soon, Robbie |