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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