A Brutal Weekend at Queensland Raceway

There is no point dressing this one up. From a racing results perspective, Queensland Raceway was a brutal weekend.

What makes it particularly difficult is just how much work went into simply getting the #7 SINOPEC TA2 Camaro there.

Following the significant damage sustained at Sydney Motorsport Park, the crew had put in an enormous effort to rebuild the car. Until Robbie rolled onto the circuit for practice at Queensland Raceway, there was really no way of knowing exactly how the repaired car would respond or whether there would be any hidden issues waiting to surface.

Thankfully, practice gave us some confidence. The car felt good, Robbie was comfortable, and we could finally start looking forward rather than back at Sydney.

A Personal Best to Start the Weekend

Saturday morning qualifying saw Robbie put the car 11th on the grid.

Queensland Raceway has never been one of Robbie’s favourite circuits, so P11 came with plenty of positives. More importantly, he recorded a new personal best lap of 1:12.026, placing him just 1.29 seconds from pole position.

With the car responding well and Robbie becoming increasingly comfortable, we went into Race 1 optimistic about what we could achieve.

And for the first few corners, that optimism looked well founded.

Starting P11, Robbie had already charged his way into 7th position by Turn 6 on the opening lap.

Then everything changed.

A car that had been forced off the circuit re-entered the track and made contact with Robbie, turning the #7 around and causing substantial damage to the front of the car.

The radiator, cooling box, front quarter panels, front splitter and brake cooling components were among the casualties, and that was only the beginning of the repair list.

Race 1 was over almost as quickly as it had begun.

Two Hours, One Very Big Repair Job

With only around two hours until Race 2, the crew faced an enormous task.

There was no time for anything other than getting stuck into the car and doing whatever was necessary to get Robbie back onto the grid.

Even as Robbie climbed back into the car, another problem became apparent. The radio connection into his helmet had been torn out.

While the field prepared to head to the circuit, a replacement radio system was literally being fitted into Robbie's helmet as the team raced the clock.

Having failed to finish Race 1, Robbie would start Race 2 from the rear of the field.

What followed was eventful, to say the least.

Robbie made quick work of a number of the cars ahead before the front-left tyre just clipped the painted inside kerb at Turn 5 and fired the car off the circuit. At almost exactly the same time, the Safety Car was called, putting us straight back on the rear of the field.

He worked his way forward again, only for the car to rotate again later in the race and eventually when trying to pass under heavy braking for P11 on the final lap, Robbie again put the car off track with half a lap to go.....a sign of pushing so hard to try and make up extra places. 

On Sunday morning, the crew discovered the front wheel alignment was 12mm out. In racing terms, toe-out can make the car more eager to turn into a corner, while toe-in can make it feel more stable in a straight line. Too much either way can make the car nervous, scrub speed and chew tyres. All of these little things can make a difference and when damage occurs take time to fix and/or recognize. 

Saturday ended with two DNFs. It was not the way any of us imagined the weekend beginning.

Sunday Pace Gives Us Something to Build On

Despite Saturday's frustrations, everyone arrived Sunday determined to reset and go again.

Qualifying provided an immediate boost.

Robbie was one of only two cars in the field to go quicker than they had on Saturday, improving again and closing the gap to pole to just 0.98 seconds.

The progress was there.

Unfortunately, Race 3 brought another completely unrelated problem.

Starting again from P11, Robbie radioed the crew to report that the engine temperature was climbing and he was forced to pit.

When the team inspected the car, they found something had travelled through the protective mesh across the front grille and pierced the radiator.

Yes, the brand-new radiator that had been installed after Saturday's accident.

The $1,900 replacement radiator barely did 7 laps before our weekend took another turn.

Another DNF.

Three races. Three failures to finish. And three very different circumstances.

Bringing It Home

For Race 4, the objective changed.

Starting from the rear once again, Robbie moved forward to 13th and then spent much of the race sitting behind a group of four cars.

Anyone who knows Robbie knows that patiently sitting behind a pack of race cars goes against just about every racing instinct he has.

But by that stage, we needed a finish.

We needed points, we needed to get the car home, and after everything the crew had dealt with across the weekend, sometimes discretion really is the better part of valour.

Robbie crossed the line and, in the only race he completed all weekend, recorded the highest Masters points result of the race.

The weekend's DNFs have unfortunately dropped him to second in the Masters standings, with circumstances largely outside his control having a very real impact on the championship.

That hurts.

But there were also some important things to take away from Queensland Raceway.

Across both days, Robbie was comfortable in the car and his qualifying pace continued to improve. Even more encouragingly, in the final race on both Saturday and Sunday, the #7 recorded the highest top speed of any car on the circuit.

So beneath a results sheet that makes for fairly ugly reading, we know something important.

We have a good race car.

Robbie is comfortable in it, the speed is there, and the crew continues to do an incredible job.

We have simply been on the wrong end of a run where incidents and problems have carried consequences far greater than a simple spin or lost position.

That is racing. It doesn't make weekends like this any easier, but it does mean you regroup, repair and come back again.

The Best Part of the Weekend

Away from the racing results, there was one enormous positive.

It was fantastic to have so many people join us across Saturday and Sunday to support Robbie, the team and the racing.

Seeing so many familiar faces, guests, partners and supporters at the circuit was a reminder that a race weekend is about far more than the position written beside your name at the end of it.

To everyone who came out, checked in on us, helped, supported the team or followed along from home, thank you. We genuinely love how many of you have grown to love this category with us.

Next Stop: Winton

We now turn our attention to the revised championship schedule, with racing continuing at Winton Raceway from 25–27 September.

From there, we head to one of Australia's great circuits, the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, where we will be part of the iconic Island Magic event from 20–22 November.

That is one we are particularly excited about.

For now, there is again a #7 race car requiring some attention back at the workshop.

Onwards and upwards.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support. We look forward to bringing you more updates soon.