It's all been a bit of a rush since getting back to Auckland from the South Island, crack testing all components again, checking the engine and changing to Manfield specs,  some minor body work,  sorting out our best tyres and brakes, Fitting a larger water tank for brake cooling etc.

I have had a lot of emails sent to me from supporters. Many are from other competitors’ news releases and web sites with regard to our super results at Timaru. Some I thought were jokes and still not sure, but the bottom line is from the “others”' is “how lucky we are". Naturally I spent up large on Lotto tickets, then tried to contact Fred Dagg to write me a song with a bit of a motor race twist, still working on that.

To start with we transport our car on used wet style tyres, i.e. with grooves in them.  We fit these tyres every evening prior to putting the car away. We take the car to the dummy grid on used wet tyres to keep our race tyres clean. So, yes we did change tyres on the grid, as we do at each track without trackside pits. Nothing new.

It was obviously going to be a late choice of tyres to race on due to the weather. We took wet and dry tyres to the grid. Still not sure, we put two of each on making a late change quicker. Now, next you need to know at this time we are all in the same boat and can make individual decisions. Some competitors have mobile weather stations, have continuous reports from rain radar providers; some contact the airport, Coastguard and Air Force for information.

Timaru is possibly the only circuit in the world that has roads to the main gate from the North, South, East and West. My daughter, and Craig's wife, Louise was driving from town to the track and called up to say it was raining and following her! We had some time, spare people and mobile phones and so sent some spotters up these roads to check. Yep, it was coming.

Although still not raining, Craig does a lap, calls directly into the pits and we change to all wet tyres, much to the amusement and smirks of some others.  By now we feel sure it will be raining before long. The wets we chose were 'intermediate' tyres and even if it didn't rain immediately they would last unit it did, a safe enough decision. Some others did the same and it paid off for them as well.

Good planning, not good luck. But, a battery pack broke on one of our wheel changing guns and that messed up the time to change wheels, so we missed the pit exit by two seconds. Even if we had got out and done the form up lap we would have chosen to start from the pit road as we did in the race three the same day, still not good luck.

The race started and the leader is going for it. I was impressed by his speed in those conditions and could not believe he would “make it”. He didn’t; a spectacular crash opposite the pit area! The car slammed the tyre wall and bounced back on to the track, causing spins and crashes for others. The track is blocked for racing and the race is red-flagged. The competitors that didn’t have wet tyres on took advantage of this stop and pitted for wets, knowing that they would have to rejoin from the pit road. The cars that stopped on the race track at the designated control line start in the order they stopped in. That is the rules.

We all felt for Clark Proctor; he caught and passed Tim Edgell, and us, and crossed the line first. But, his car had not triggered the timing sensor and he lost a complete lap. Clark is a fierce competitor and supported our class, and helped many others with financial assistance with Metalman sponsorship. He is a master in the wet and loves this type of racing.  Some consultation; Clark won the feature race in a well controlled drive.

 We get the race win and valuable points, and catch up with the points lost at Round 1 at Pukekohe due to a gearbox failure. The race win gives us pole position for Race 2. We win Race 2 in fine style with Tim Edgell second and the Bell Ringer third. Craig has won two Porsche races and two V8 races so far for this meeting.

Race 3; and reverse grid procedure of 22 laps duration. To win we would need to pass a car a lap and that was not likely due to the superb competition. We started the reverse grid race from pit lane again to let the race settle and stay clear of any first lap concertina-style crashes.
A strategic plan; not luck.

Craig’s only request during the final was how many cars he needed to pass to win the day. This was changing each lap, with spins and crashes etc. Finally, 9^th was safe to secure the win for the day and he held 9^th place until the finish. Craig finished 3^rd in the reverse grid Porsche race to win the day in that class also; a happy chappie and two happy teams.
As said, we had a bad day at Round 1 and lost points, and we know how careful we must be until the final event. The pressure is now greater than ever.

Craig Owen, who built Craig’s BMW’s (with help) at Lyall Williamson’s International Motorsport outfit, is on holiday from the U.K., after working for Dick Bennetts at West Surrey Racing, then at Honda Formula One, including the Braun F1 car when it was being developed. Craig is helping with the recorded data from our car, giving us invaluable assistance and freeing up our Dennis a bit. We have heaps of little things to try, especially in qualifying, in an effort keep at the front.
A great weekend; hardly any damage and leading two championships with exposure second to none, even in overseas magazines.

Craig’s driving and the team’s hard work has paid off, and we have recovered from our first round problem, with help from others’ misfortunes, and/or over confidence. We now lead the NZV8 series with a 115 point lead, with two events and six races to go. However, I have been round long enough to realise that it’s not over “till the fat lady sings”

Until then………

All the best

Garry and the team

PS Racing