2011/2012 Season Review

We finished of the year with Speedfest at Huntly, John Webster Memorial at Waikaraka Park, and the second Midget Invitation at Baypark

Our racing season was pretty much cut in half after we crashed out of the NZ Champs. It took us a while to get back to the track and by the time we got there we were off the pace with the fast guys and barely holding our own with some of the slower guys at times. The Honda Motor from Garage 9 definitely has the horsepower and when the track has suited us we have been fast. Although it’s the same Chassis and rolling gear we’ve had for years now the set ups we used to use don’t work anymore and we only started to understand that towards the end of the year. We lacked getting the power to the ground and having a stable car in the corners. Some of our bad luck was definitely my fault. Its frustrating hitting parked cars and breaking expensive gear in the process. Sometimes you have nowhere to go and it’s the same result. Mostly it is laps we need and for one reason or another we didn’t get as much as I was hoping for this season. 

I think as a Team we have learnt a few things about what we want to achieve and how to work together to make that happen. We had some fun times especially on the road to Harrisville and Baypark but overall we love racing and it’s hard to not have a good time.

This is a tough sport at the best of times but I can’t wait to get back to the track to try new set ups and get towards the front. Sponsors would make a huge difference to our Team but we will be back next year with or without sponsors support. Theres nothing better than sitting in the race trailer waiting to get out on the track to tear some mud up.

We have already started stripping the car back and talking about colour schemes for next year.

Thanks to Angus , Nick James, Ol Los, James Selwyn and  Dad for all your hard work this year and thanks to those of you that have followed us. Have a great off-season.

Joe Malone

I was excited about getting a little road trip underway.  It feels good hitting the road with the racecar on the back knowing your going to race. Palmeston North was rained off which meant a trip to the pub to have a few beers and talk racing with the rest of the group. I had had 3 or 4 but I think I saw Aaron Drever having a hug with Raymond Griffen. 

Sunday was a cold windy day but the sun came out so after a bit of wheel packing the racing got underway. First heat we were off 11 and came home 7^th without brakes. Heat 2 we started 4^th and finished 6^th again the brakes weren’t that good. This meant we started 14^th in the Feature but while we were getting into our grids 27s seemed to think he was 14^th as well and after trying a couple of times to take my rightful position I let him have it and started in 16^th. We had a great start and passed about 4 cars on the first l ap. It was a dry slick track with a bit of a cushion up I high through 3 and 4. My brakes still weren’t that great even after rebleeding them twice. It meant I had to pump the pedal before I felt them working how I wanted them to. I ended up spinning out a few laps from the end trying to pass on the bottom. It was disappointing not to get a restart and not to finish the feature but we made up a lot of ground and had a good time.  Harrisville Speedway has a great feel about it and I hope we can make it back in the future.

Check out the video from my incar camera: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2e6HTWZF6A

 Saturday 31^st March

We finally made it back to the track a few weeks ago for the Waikato Champs and the 40 lapper, which was being run on the same night at Huntly Speedway. The night started with about 25 cars but only the top 20 would go through to the A Mains after a randomly gridded heat. I drew grid 13 out of 14 in my group and had to come 8^th to transfer directly. We got up to 9^th but on a yellow I was told to swap with Patch Timmins and go back to 10^th. I went past the flag stand in front of Patch twice before the yellow, so this call I believe was wrong and ultimately Patch ended up coming home 8^th and I finished 10^th. That meant we had to go into the repacharge starting off grid 4, we had to finish 4^th to qualify.  We got 2^nd which got us through. We started off 18 in the Waikato Champ race and were moving forward when we crashed into a spinning car near the end of the race. The format for the 40 lapper was fastest off the back. Alvin Cobb was top qualifier so he started off the back and chose who started next to him and so on. We started 9^th but only 2 laps in struck a spinning car again with nowhere to go which broke the steering arm.

January 9th 2012

It has been a few weeks since we crashed out of the New Zealand midget Champs. There was a lot to do to get ready for the Huntly 40 lapper. The engine had to come out and we had to replace and fix a few parts. We were able to fix the fuel tank ourselves which sustained most of the damage. The 40 lapper was canceled due to rain so we started the car up in the driveway this past weekend just to check it was all ok before we headed to Patetonga for a test run. The motor all seemed sweet but there was more vibration than normal. So today I took the rear end out and its a got a bent shaft so now thats getting fixed. Hopefully after this we'll get some sun and take it to Patetonga for a skid before we race at Kihikihi on January 21st and then Bay Park hopefully on the 28th. 

Untill then Ill be watching the boys kick some ass at the Chili Bowl 

 Sunday 4th December 2011
We went to Huntly Speedway on Friday night knowing that qualifying for the NZ Midget Champs was going to be tough. We were in the first heat and the track was extra greasy. I started at the back and finished there. The last few laps I ran with the visor up after running out of tear offs. Heat 2 we started on grid 3. I screwed the start up and rode a wheel and had a bit of a tumble . The tail tank was punctured and fuel was pissing out everywhere so that was the end of it. We have a limited budget so when we get it fixed we'll come back and do a better job which shouldn’t be too hard.

 
 Tuesday 22nd November 2011
The team headed down to Huntly focused on going faster than the last 2 weeks racing no matter what the track was going to dish up. In the first heat we started on grid 11 and were up to 6th with one lap to go when I looped it up. The track had got a lot drier and I was trying to go faster which wasn’t the right thing to be doing. No restarts so on to race 2. We started grid 13 so we had two rough grids as there were only 18 cars. Anyway we got up to 4th and this time we stayed there. We didn’t start the feature which was disappointing but overall we were going a lot faster and more competitive than the last few weeks.
Were gonna skip this week at the Springs to ensure ourselves a crack at the New Zealand Midget Champs at Huntly on the 2nd. See you all there.

 Friday 11th November 2011
Its great to be back racing again after a season off. We raced at Huntly Speedway on Saturday who fitted us into their programme after being turned away from Western Springs on Opening night. If racings not on at Huntly then we would like to race at Springs but when we have the choice we would rather race at Huntly so it worked out good for us in the end.
Were still getting used to the car and playing with set ups that worked in the past and trying to adjust them to the way the car feels now with its extra horsepower. Were having fun and keeping out of trouble at the moment but we really have to get faster quickly as the NZ champs are only weeks away. The Huntly track has been a lot heavier than it was the last season we ran so we have to adjust to that too.
We were hoping to run at Kihikihi this weekend but unfortunately the engine needs some work before we use it again on the 18th back at Huntly so we’ve had to give it a miss. I’ve been really busy at work anyway so a week off isn’t so bad. 
 
 October 31st 2011
So here we are again at the start of another exciting race season. After having a year off we have managed to update our gear and most notably upgraded our engine from our Fontana to a brand new Honda 2.4L motor designed and built by Angus McLoed.  Our rolling chassis is the same Harris built.
We first got it started a few weeks back and had a play at Patetonga Speedway http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIvbnIrjvCw

 Huntly Speedway opening night 29/10/11
After skipping a season I think we were all a bit laid back and not really on the ball. The plan was to ease back into it and remember there is a whole season a head of us so bringing it home was the main objective. In the first heat we had the wrong gearing which made the car hard to drive in traffic. We went from G5 to finish 12th. Heat 2 we started 9th and after avoiding some spinning cars we finished 4th. Changing the gear set had made the car heaps easier to drive and we had qualified 4th for the night overall. The feature was over before it had really started after rain started on around lap 3.
Were hoping to play with set ups over the next few weeks and try and find what the new car likes. The new motor seems to have what it takes.