Ross Nicol
GT40s Supporter
Yes I was at it again last weekend at Phillip Island. Nice weather but small grid only 7 runners in the final 2 races.
The lead up to the weekend was frantic with even more factory changes which left only one day to service the car, boy that was close but make it I did. I arrived at the circuit after the hour plus drive and set up in the paddock (no garage this weekend). Remnants of the setup for the bike Grand Prix, grandstand seating and extra toilets still not removed. Yes this is the track where Casey and Valentino were going at it a couple of weeks ago. The only worry I had was the 2nd gear synchro I hadn't changed, it proved not to be a problem.
Off to the office to do the paper work and only have to take my apparel to be checked by scrutineers.The car is under the targetted scrutiny scheme and gets the once over every 3rd or fourth meeting.Arrive at the pre grid for Qualifying and was surprised to see so few cars.The entry list had shown quite a lot more numbers.I found our later 2 cars were tied up by business failure and the Daytona during friday practice had consumed 2 rocker lock nuts, as for the other Missing cars I didn't find out what became of them.
So we made our way out all 9 of us and it wasn't long before I had a light blue P.....car making himself very wide in front of me and hampering my laptimes, so I wasn't surprised when I read his name on the side window one of my old sparring partners Garth Rainsbury. Anyway I got passed him and he got smaller in my rear vision mirrors just like a good P.... should. The 40 felt good and I was pushing on quite well.I did all the laps available until the chequered flag. I like to get as many practise laps in as I can and just rely on one of them to be a reasonable time.
Onto the afternoon first race and boy the sun had come out and it was hot! Garth had chucked in the towel (for mechanical reasons or maybe I scared him off) so we were down to 8 runners. I was 2nd last in front of the MGBV8 but actually had qualified with a 1min 48sec lap. It wasn't long before I had to settle for 6th place in front of one P...Gt3 and the MGB.
Sunday morning and the weather had turned a little. No real rain and no need for wet tyres. Robin in the MGB was back in Melbourne solving a software problem (his job for ANZ bank) so we were down to 7 runners for the 2nd race. That cheeky P...... car that I had beaten in the 1st race was trying to take my 6th spot on the grid but I wasn't having any of it.Anyway I blitzed him off the line and never saw him again. It's odd but for the first couple of laps the cars remain bunched and I feel I can hang onto them but after these 2 laps they leave me behind with their superior power. The P..... in front of me was 4 secs a lap quicker so I didn't have much hope in staying with him, although I did try for a while.
The last race on Sunday Arvo followed the same pattern and I was happy I had set a 1 min 47sec lap time in race 2 which is only a second off my fastest lap when I had the powerful engine in.This is due to the superior handling the car has now but I wouldn't say it's perfect yet.I took tyre temps and dropped the pressures in the tyres on the heavily loaded side of the car for this track. That evened out the temps across the tread and I was pleased that worked.
That was the final round of the Championship and I am now preparing to take the car to NZ (South Island of course) to race in the Southern Festival Of Speed in February. 3 Race meetings on 3 consecutive weeks should be good. A lot to do between now and then though.Thankfully the factory shifting is nearly finished.Hope you enjoy the 3 photos.
Ross
The lead up to the weekend was frantic with even more factory changes which left only one day to service the car, boy that was close but make it I did. I arrived at the circuit after the hour plus drive and set up in the paddock (no garage this weekend). Remnants of the setup for the bike Grand Prix, grandstand seating and extra toilets still not removed. Yes this is the track where Casey and Valentino were going at it a couple of weeks ago. The only worry I had was the 2nd gear synchro I hadn't changed, it proved not to be a problem.
Off to the office to do the paper work and only have to take my apparel to be checked by scrutineers.The car is under the targetted scrutiny scheme and gets the once over every 3rd or fourth meeting.Arrive at the pre grid for Qualifying and was surprised to see so few cars.The entry list had shown quite a lot more numbers.I found our later 2 cars were tied up by business failure and the Daytona during friday practice had consumed 2 rocker lock nuts, as for the other Missing cars I didn't find out what became of them.
So we made our way out all 9 of us and it wasn't long before I had a light blue P.....car making himself very wide in front of me and hampering my laptimes, so I wasn't surprised when I read his name on the side window one of my old sparring partners Garth Rainsbury. Anyway I got passed him and he got smaller in my rear vision mirrors just like a good P.... should. The 40 felt good and I was pushing on quite well.I did all the laps available until the chequered flag. I like to get as many practise laps in as I can and just rely on one of them to be a reasonable time.
Onto the afternoon first race and boy the sun had come out and it was hot! Garth had chucked in the towel (for mechanical reasons or maybe I scared him off) so we were down to 8 runners. I was 2nd last in front of the MGBV8 but actually had qualified with a 1min 48sec lap. It wasn't long before I had to settle for 6th place in front of one P...Gt3 and the MGB.
Sunday morning and the weather had turned a little. No real rain and no need for wet tyres. Robin in the MGB was back in Melbourne solving a software problem (his job for ANZ bank) so we were down to 7 runners for the 2nd race. That cheeky P...... car that I had beaten in the 1st race was trying to take my 6th spot on the grid but I wasn't having any of it.Anyway I blitzed him off the line and never saw him again. It's odd but for the first couple of laps the cars remain bunched and I feel I can hang onto them but after these 2 laps they leave me behind with their superior power. The P..... in front of me was 4 secs a lap quicker so I didn't have much hope in staying with him, although I did try for a while.
The last race on Sunday Arvo followed the same pattern and I was happy I had set a 1 min 47sec lap time in race 2 which is only a second off my fastest lap when I had the powerful engine in.This is due to the superior handling the car has now but I wouldn't say it's perfect yet.I took tyre temps and dropped the pressures in the tyres on the heavily loaded side of the car for this track. That evened out the temps across the tread and I was pleased that worked.
That was the final round of the Championship and I am now preparing to take the car to NZ (South Island of course) to race in the Southern Festival Of Speed in February. 3 Race meetings on 3 consecutive weeks should be good. A lot to do between now and then though.Thankfully the factory shifting is nearly finished.Hope you enjoy the 3 photos.
Ross
