10/05/2026
Kind of a weekend of, if I hadn't have done it I would have kicked myself but as it panned out it felt like every time we tried something it was one step forward two steps back.
Friday practice required lots of caffeine after the overnight drive down from Newcastle to Winton. Car was unloaded and we set up for practice one. Car was a bit sluggish to start so after P1 Was run we took a trip into Wangaratta to source a new battery. We also swapped over the rear wheels to a newer set and we were set for P2. P2 was cut short by a bad vibration in the rear. The swapped over rear wheels were buckled. So the tyres were swapped onto the other rims as the grip was better from the tyres. P3 actually was pretty uneventful. We were loosing a bit of time coming out of a couple of corners, so the boost control was tweaked and the car was parked up ready for quali sat morning.
Quali went well for about 4 corners in my first flying lap, with an intercooler hose becoming separated from the pipe. So quali was done without boost. S**t happens.
Race 1. So with the pipe reconnected and supported we were ready. Boost control tweaked again and as we all rolled onto the pit straight for the start of the race we look up and no red lights! So are we going around again? Some people went for it, others like myself waited. Then just thought, send it. Almost immediately I had issues with a intermittent miss fire and the power steering cutting out. It took about a lap to realise that I could continue on but then about 4 laps in the clutch peddle started to fail. So I backed off and coasted to the finish. Yeah s**t happens.
The good news is that I had a spare master cylinder to fix the clutch issues, So that was installed and it didn't work. Just what you need a failed brand new part. Luckily I had another cylinder and this one worked. Slightly larger bore so firmer peddle but at least it worked and with the threat of being locked in for the night at Winton, we called it and headed out in search for dinner. Looking at the data the voltage was dropping to 6v as to why? We had no idea.
Race 2. It lasted only until the second warm up lap. The good news when we got back to the pits we were able to identify the issues from race one. It was a loose wire from the alternator that was grounding. Only this time it stayed grounded and stopped me dead. And that new battery, yeah that that was cooked too. It lasted one day. So we were down to using a jump starter to start the car. If I stalled it it that was it.
Race 3. And that's exactly what I did on the way to the dummy grid for R3. It nearly started with a push start, but with time ticking away I thought we were done for. Luckily Dylan saw me on his way to the dummy grid and after some frantic moments (not one of my finer moments) the car was restarted and off we went. At the dummy grid I apologised for my idiotic behaviour. And then the rain came. Lots of it. After all that, we were sent back to the pits for wets.
This time on the way to the dummy grid I didn't stall the thing and apart from a spin on lap 2 that cost me 9th spot, Race 3 was, lets say OK. Not quick enough, But I did finish.
Oh and no one used me as a launch pad!
Big thanks to Forever Green Windows for their continued support, Dylan for all the help over the weekend and Simon for painting the front end.
