16. February 2010 by admin.

February 12 -14

Hi Sponsors, friends and supporters,

We flew to Palmerston North on Wednesday so we could get set up on Wednesday night ready for Thursday’s unofficial practise. Things started to go wrong when our plane got turned back to Christchurch with mechanical problems and we ended up arriving in Palmerston North in the dark.

We went to the track on Thursday morning to get ready and the rain started. It rained on and off all day so it wasn’t a very successful test day. As usual my car was really fast in the wet but we didn’t get a decent run in the dry.

Friday, February 12, official practise: Friday was a better day weather wise and we had 2 x 30 minute sessions. I was really struggling to put in fast times and I was about 1.5 seconds off the fast guy’s pace. On Friday night we changed the rear springs in the hope of settling the rear of the car down as it had been really loose on Friday.

Saturday, February 13, Qualifying: We had qualifying on Saturday morning and the Zero Fees Stealth felt better straight out the gate. After qualifying I was on grid 4 only 0.357 of a second off the pole time. This was huge improvement over Friday so we thought the car was right.

Race 1: I started on grid 4 and at the start I got into a real battle with the front cars. It only lasted a few laps and I started slowly dropping off the leading bunch which was really frustrating and I ended up 5th. The car had had a small miss and when we found a loose terminal in the wiring we thought we had it fixed.

Sunday, February 14, Race 2: I was on grid 5 for this race as another competitor had beaten my time in race 1. I knew after the warm up lap that the miss was fixed so I thought that the car would be good. Once again I battled with the front bunch for a few laps and then dropped away to finish 5th again. We went over the data and found that my fastest time was in lap 2 as it had been in qualifying and race 1. After going over the engine we thought we found a leaking inlet manifold gasket so we replaced it in the hope that that was our problem.

Race 3: I was on grid 5 again and once again got a good start but started to slow down after lap 2. I stayed in 5th pace until the end so at least I was consistent but not in the right position. We don’t know what the problem with my engine is and I’m really lucky that the guys at Toll Tranzlink are bringing the car home for us to sort it out before the final round in Taupo in 5 weeks time.

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12. February 2010 by admin.

Zoagn New Zealand Formula Ford championship

Because the meetings were only a week apart and we had a really busy week I have combined 2 reports.

Teretonga, January 15, 16, 17

Saturday qualifying; I came in after the first lap of qualifying to report that my car had started jumping out of second gear, with only 20 minutes to qualify I was sent back out to do as good as I could. I managed to qualify 6^th which wasn’t too bad so I was starting race 1 on the outside of the third row.

Race 1: When the lights went out I got a great start and headed off around the outside of the really fast loop passing some of the cars in front of me. As I was going around the car in third place he turned out and put a front wheel under my rear suspension and sent me off into the tyre wall at about 107 mph. The race was red flagged and I was carted back to the pits on the back of a truck with a really badly damaged car. After a visit to the ambulance to have my really sore checked out it was back to the tent to help with repairs. We got the car fixed and ready for race 2 and headed home to bed.

Sunday, Race 2: I was back on grid 7 for this race and as I started heading towards the front of the field one of the other competitors spun as I was passing him and he rolled back in front of me and took the left rear suspension off my car so it was my second dnf of the weekend. We repaired the car again ready for race 3.

Race 3: I was on grid 7 again and when we started once again I made up some places, I touched the back of one of the other competitors by accident going down the straight and I got a drive through penalty for it, so my bad weekend continued and I ended up 9^th, my only points for the weekend.

We had a really busy couple of nights getting my car ready for the next round as it was sorry looking sight.

Timaru Round 4, January 22, 23, 24.

We had practised on Thursday as well for this meeting and we had a real struggle getting the Zero Fees Stealth to handle in the dry. After the first session on Friday morning dad took the shock absorbers off to find that the right front one had been damaged internally in my big crash in race 1 at Teretonga. We fitted the old ones from last year and went out for the last session. The car was much better and although we had missed all the set up time because of the shock we thought we could get on top of it.

Saturday, Qualifying; We woke to rain on Saturday so we set the car up for a wet track. On the first lap, one of the other competitors put his car in the wall when he aquaplaned off the track. After a red flag period we went out again to finish qualifying. My car felt great and I just worked away at getting some good clean laps in, I ended up on pole position by 0.7 sec which is a good gap in Formula Fords.

Race 1: I started from pole but I soon realised that my car was understeering more than it should. I carried on and ended up getting 6^th which was a much better start than at Teretonga.

Sunday, Race 2; Once again the rain came back so we had a wet race, I was on grid 7 as the times from the first race were faster than qualifying. At the start the car in front of me stalled so I got a slow start and a couple of laps into the race 2 cars in front of me tangled and I had to take to the grass to avoid them which set me back a bit. I set off after the front cars again and started picking them off slowly. When I got up to 3^rd I thought it would be impossible to catch the next car as he was so far in front of me but I was surprised at how quickly I caught up to him, the lead car was too far in front for me to catch but another lap and who knows what might have happened. My lap times were so good mum said she thought I must have webbed feet.

Race 3, I was on grid 7 again and at the strart we got into a real battle until the car in front of me missed a gear and the front 3 cars got a break on the rest of us. I battled away and at the end I got up to 4^th so it really was a much better result for the weekend.

I have climbed back to 4^th place overall now after dropping to 6^th after Teretonga.

My shocks are away being fixed now for round 5 so I should once again have a really quick car.

I was really lucky that one of dad’s friends Kevin Murdoch helped us for the 2 rounds as I sure kept the team busy.

It was pretty hard racing at Timaru as the weekend before I had gotten pretty knocked around in my big crash. Between sessions I lay on an air bed in the trailer and mum iced my back.

Once again thank you to you all for your help and support with my racing.

Regards and thanks

Damon.

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12. February 2010 by admin.

Teretonga, December 5 –6, 2009

Hi Sponsors, Supporters and friends.

To wind up the year we raced at the South Island Formula Ford round at Teretonga.

We practised on Saturday in brilliant sunshine which was really good after the cold wet weekend in Christchurch the week before.

Sunday morning dawned wet but not cold and by the time we went out for qualifying it had dried out and the sun was out.

My car was going really well with its new brake pads that Ernie at BNT had had made for me. I had a great day racing and finished with 2 firsts a second and a sixth. This happened when I crept forward on the grid and got a 10 second penalty which put me back from third to sixth.

Brendon, my 14 year old brother, also raced at his first car meeting and went really well, he ended up with the 4^th fastest time in the last race so he was very pleased with himself.

I have a break now until mid January when we have the Teretonga round of the National Championship.

I hope you all have a great Christmas and New Year and thank you once again for your help.

Regards,

Damon #87

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7. December 2009 by admin.

Hi Sponsors, friends and supporters.Round 2 New Zealand Formula Ford Championship.Ruapuna, November 27^th, 28^th, 29^th.

We spent Thursday setting up the tent in the pits as at the last moment we were told there was no practise on Thursday as the track was double booked. Late in the afternoon we were told there would be 3 20 minute sessions from 5 till 7 o’clock. The car felt pretty good but we still were not happy with the brakes. We put another set of pads in between sessions but I glazed these up and still with no luck. We cleaned off the glazing so they would be right for the first session on Friday and cleaned the car up and put it away.

In the first session on Friday, the brakes once again glazed up and I was really struggling with the car. We got a set of Carbon metallic pads to try in the afternoon session and once they heated up made a huge difference to the car. I was happy that we had the braking problem fixed.

Saturday, Qualifying

Saturday dawned really wet and cold so it was going to be a wet session. We set the car up for the wet and got ready. I went out and got the brakes warmed up before trying to hard but when I started to push harder my next problem appeared. I couldn’t get the brake bias far enough to the rear so I kept locking the front wheels. I qualified 5^th so it was better than I expected. When I got back we changed the pedal so I could get more rear brake in the wet and I was ready to race.

Saturday, Race 1

I lined up 5^th for this race but the inside line on the track was really wet so I got a slow start and went back to 8^th before the first corner. As my brakes warmed up, I could push harder and I got back up to 3^rd place, I tried to get into second but the other driver weaved on the track to stop me so I had to settle for second.

Sunday, Race 2

I was on pole for this race as I had set the fastest lap in race 1 by over 0.5 of a second. I got another slow start and went back a little but was helped by some of the other drivers tangling at the first corner. I climbed up to second and was really starting to push hard when I was caught out by my brakes all of a sudden working really well and my car turned in better than I expected and I had a little off and went back to 3^rd at the finish.

Sunday, Race 3

I started this race on grid 4 but once again I didn’t get the best start and I had to fight back from 8^th. By now I was used to the new brakes and could push really hard. I passed several cars going into the hairpin under brakes as they were working so well. I got back to 2^nd but the lead car had to big a lead for me to catch up. I settled for second in the race and this gave me second place over all for the weekend which when added to my second at Pukekohe has given me the overall lead in the championship. We will be testing some new brake pads in the next few weeks before round 3 at Teretonga to sort the brake issues and also trying to find why my car is all of a sudden slow to get off the line at the start.

I’ve got a club day at Teretonga this weekend which is a round of the South Island Formula Ford series so it will be a good test for the national round. I’ll be joined on the grid by my younger brother Brendon in his first race meeting in the 1987 Van Diemen that I started driving in 3 years ago.

Thank you for your help and support as without it my racing wouldn’t be possible

Regards

Damon, #87.

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7. December 2009 by admin.

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17. November 2009 by admin.

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17. November 2009 by admin.

Hello sponsors, friends and supporters.

New Zealand Formula Ford Championship. Round 1. Pukekohe. November 6,7,8. 2009.

Thursday: We arrived at the track on Thursday morning in pouring rain to put the tent up. As we were putting the tent up dad slipped over and broke 3 ribs so it wasn’t a good start to the weekend.

We spent most of the day changing the engine over ( It took longer with dad out of action and just me to help Phil my race engineer ) as Phil had just finished freshening it up for the new season.

I still had time to do the last practice session of the day which was used to run in my new engine and because of the wet track I couldn’t go too fast anyway.

After we packed up on Thursday night Phil and I went to the Auckland Airport to pick up mum and my little brother Brendon. This was one weekend when I was really pleased Brendon was at the racing. He worked all weekend helping Phil on my car and it would have been really hard without him. On Sunday night he said to dad that he didn’t realise that car racing was such hard work.

Friday: this was official practice day and we had two practice sessions, one in the morning and another in the afternoon.

Saturday: Qualifying: I went out in qualifying and my car felt really great and ready for a good qualifying time. I tried several times to get a good slip stream in the head wind down the long back straight but no one wanted to help me out, so I sat at near the bottom of the list until with only a minute to go I set off on a fast lap by myself and managed to get up to 2^nd place without a tow and only missed pole by 0.1 sec. I was really pleased with this as it proved what I thought that I had a really fast car and the off season work had really paid off.

Saturday: Race 1: I started on the front row for my first time, on grid 2. I got really good start and led into the first corner. I led for most of the race but one of the other competitors made a really desperate pass on the last lap and because of a yellow flag at the hairpin I couldn’t re pass so I had to be content with 2^nd place. I was really pleased with this as my car felt really good and was strong until the very end of the race.

Sunday: Race 2: I was on grid 2 again and got another perfect start to lead into the first corner. I got passed on the long back straight but I wasn’t too worried as I had lots of car speed and would get back later. I tried passing several times but I got brake tested so I couldn’t pull off a pass. On one of the attempts I was going around the outside up Ford Mountain when the other driver pulled across in front of me and put his brakes on again. I had to brake and pull off the track at really high speed to avoid a huge crash and as a result I got pushed back down the order and only got back to 3^rd before the finish. The other driver got written warning for his trouble so hopefully there won’t be any more dangerous driving to contend with.

Sunday: Race 3: I was on pole for this race as I had set a faster time in the previous race than the qualifying times so this was another first for me, being on pole. I didn’t get such a good start this time and I was 2nd into the first corner but got into the lead on the way down the back straight and we started a real slip streaming battle for the lead. When I was in 2^nd the car in 6^th tried to get straight to the lead but only made it to 2^nd. He pushed us back from the leader and even though I was catching at 0.5 seconds a lap there weren’t quite enough laps left to bridge the gap to 1^st. In the circumstances I was more than happy with 2^nd which gave me second overall for the weekend.

With dad being out of action this was a really tough weekend and I owe Phil a really big thank you as without him I don’t know what we would have done to get the car onto the grid.

My car is now on it’s way to Christchurch for round 2 at Ruapuna on November 27,28,29. Hopefully we can continue with our good start to the season.

Best Regards

Damon  #87

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6. November 2009 by admin.

Hi Sponsors, Supporters and Friends!

The 2009/10 season has rolled around really fast: it doesn’t seem long ago that I was racing at Pukekohe at the end of last season.

During the off season dad and I have done a lot of work to improve the car.

We have fitted new Koni double-adjustable shock absorbers, which have made a huge difference to the handling. The bottom rails in the chassis have been replaced, as they were well past their “use by” date with lots of extra rivet holes, bends and dings along the length of the car.

We also took a huge amount of time to make new moulds and body panels to smooth up the airflow over the car and increase the straight line speed. This is the change that most people will see. We did lots of study about aerodynamics before we started and so far the results have been really promising in testing.

The car left for Auckland on October 29 and dad and I fly up on November 4 to pick up Phil Straver, my engineer, on the way. Phil was my engineer last year, which is really good as we all work well as a team and hopefully can continue with the good results that we finished last season with.

You will see from the photo of my car that I still have a space to sell on the tail section so if you know anybody that may like to advertise let them or me know and I may be able to help them.

I’ll send out my first race report after we get back from Pukekohe.

Race dates for this season are as follows:

Pukekohe, November 7 ^- 8

Ruapuna, November 28 ^- 29

Teretonga, January 16 ^- 17

Levels, January 23 ^- 24

Manfeild, February 13 ^- 14

Taupo, March 13 ^- 14

Regards,

Damon #87

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