Richo's Race Wrap - Clipsal 500

The pre season fitness training was hardly put to any use as the usual 30 plus degree temps did not eventuate. The relief of mid 20 degree days made the driver comfort levels very acceptable for this years running of the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide.

2008 was the 10th running of the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide and I was there for the inaugural running of the event in 1999. The statisticians tell me I am the only guy that has finished all 20 events. Something to hang your hat on… Perhaps. It is truly an awesome event and a great way to kick the season off. The Adelaide event was my first hit out with Ford Performance Racing (FPR) in 2007 and naturally I was gunning for a better position than 8th last year. Our cars have come a long way in an engineering sense in the last 12 months and many improvements have been made to both the chassis (handling) and engine performances that have lead us to become very competitive, particularly in the second half of 2007. So naturally we all knew that we should kick the season off on a high note and grab a result right from the outset.

There have been a number of significant technical changes to the cars for 2008. The first would have to be the front brake rotor. Last years front brake rotor was not up to the job. This year will see us go from the 46 vane ‘lightweight’ version back to a more similar to 2006 rotor that has 72 vanes. All this means better cooling under hot conditions and better braking performance. Another significant change is the ‘Sequential gearbox’. We have the option to use this or the standard H pattern model, but after testing FPR have gone with the Sequential version. This means that pulling back on the gear stick will go up the gears (1-6) and forward down the gears (6-1).    The early start to the season in 08 had placed a little more pressure on the team with regard to its organization and preparation for the first round of the Championship, but with the All Ford day in Geelong on the weekend before, everyone at FPR had done a resounding job rolling out both Ford Falcons for Adelaide in tip top fighting shape. The goal is always to kick start the season at the Clipsal 500 with a podium. FPR don’t necessarily regard the Adelaide street circuit as one of our most competitive, but it was clear from the outset that both of our cars had the potential to be right in the mix.

Practice...

The first event of the year means that all cars get to have brand new Dunlop control tyres to kick the season off. Practice 1 was all about evaluating some of the planned changes and seeing where we were in the scheme of competitiveness. The first session netted a 3rd for Frosty and 8th for me, the second session and we were 6th and 12th respectively. We decided to change the car back to a more standard setting for qualifying from the changes that we made in practice 2.

                                                                                               
Qualifying...

Again the qualifying for this year is split into 3 segments. In the first segment I had my fastest time removed due to jumping over the curbs at the first chicane. This meant using another set of Dunlop’s finest to record another time. In doing so we set the fastest time. The next segment for the fastest 20 cars from segment 1 also went quite well finishing up in 6th position. The final 10 minute segment for the fastest 10 cars did not go to plan and we finished up in 9th position. Traffic and not so good management from my part meant we did not set our time until after 7 laps. Frosty had a better run finishing in 3rd position.

Race 1...

The number 6 Castrol FPR Falcon made a great getaway from the line to jump a row into 7th place. During the course of the first stint it became evident that the rear tyre pressure was a little high as the car had a fair amount of oversteer. The guys made a change to the second set of rear tyres and the car was much better during the second stint. Both stops were excellent and we resumed in third position. At about lap 55 the car was starting to overheat the rear Dunlop’s and we slipped back after a bump from Whincup. This also allowed Holdsworth through. We eventually finished in 5th position. Frosty was leading the race and would have got the win if not for a late race safety car that put the field back onto his tail. Jamie Whincup was charging and forced his way past his team mate Craig Lowndes and then Frosty. Not a bad first race 2nd and 5th.

Race 2...

Starting from 5th position and with another great start slotted me straight into 3rd place. The car was definitely handling better than in race 1 and was being a bit easier on its tyres. We dived in for tyres on lap 28 and fuel on lap 34 to come out in an effective 3rd position. It wasn’t all plain sailing though. Entering turn 12 on the 42nd lap some water from a wayward drinking straw inside the car, impacted my eye and caused me to miss the apex and run into the gravel. Around lap 10 I had noticed that water was flicking through from behind my seat when applying the brakes. The water was hitting the inside of the screen and eventually at some point filled the in car two way radio located near the rear floor, with water, causing its failure. This prevented me from being able to communicate with the team. In the meantime Frosty had been taken out of the race innocently after Lowndes and Courtney came together. The race was won by Jamie Whincup from Lee Holdsworth and Cam McConville. We did manage to get some points from the weekend and finish in 8th place for the round. In the end it was incredibly disappointing to miss out on a great result, but the cars are fast and the whole FPR team is doing a great job.

Eastern Creek takes place in less than two weeks and we look forward to making a mends.

See you at the track.

Richo.