Round 7 - Manfeild - Race 3

!! NZ Production Racing Series Championship Winner (Class B) 2007 - 2008 !!

Well that was an awesome way to finish the season! Dale finished 1st in his class again, and 2nd overall, so a convincing win for the round overall this weekend and also the year. Congratulations Dale!

Also congratulations to Simon Sceats, who took out the championship in Class C, the 4wds.

The car is now being pulled apart under the supervision of Motorsport NZ's technical services team, to check everything for compliance with the rules. They wanted to pull the turbo out but that's a major job on this car so that'll have to be sealed and checked back in Auckland.

We're off to the podium for the presentations now, so hopefully i'll get some good photos to post a little later on.

Round 7 - Manfeild - Race 2

The rain came at just the right time for us this morning, and with a race in hand Dale has won the championship!

He had an excellent race, driving really well in the wet as usual, and came in 1st place Class B and 4th overall. It was a long race, 12 laps, and Dale was in the first three for most of it. Another great result though and now Dale is so far ahead in the points table he doesn't even need to start the last race!

Overall race time was 17:22.217 (5th place was 17:22.715 Scott McKelvie, 2nd place in class B 17:49.162)

Dale's fastest lap 1:25.821 in lap 8 & 11

So there's one more race to go this afternoon, at 2:05pm, and then we can celebrate. The team has got to be proud with the final results, truly the reward for a lot of hard work.

Round 7 - Manfeild - Race 1

Dale finished Race 1 in 1st place in his class (7th overall). He had a good run, pretty clean but a small incident at the hairpin with Michael Modgill left some white paint & a little panel damage on the car.

Dale's fastest lap time was 1:20.317. His overall time was 10:52.547 (8th place 10:53.734)

The team's going to do some minor setup changes this afternoon, then we'll call it a day. It's another great result for Dale, with only 2 races left in the season the end is in sight!

Round 7 - Manfeild - Qualifying

Dale just came back in after a great Qualifying run, out in 1st position for his class, and only 1 second behind the 4wd cars. It looks like the latest work on the car is paying off, so well done team!

Dale's fastest time 1:18.709 in lap #2 (2nd fastest in Class B: 1:19.844 - Mike Modgill).

Everyone's pretty happy with the way the car ran so there's nothing much to change before the first race this afternoon at 2:35pm.

Round 7 - Manfeild - Testing

Back in Manfeild again for the 7th and final round of the NZ Production Racing Series. We're racing this weekend with a few improvements, not least of which is the new Diff, but also a larger exhaust and a little more power c/o our friends in Napier & the UK, Ecutek (http://www.wrcdevelopments.co.nz/).

This weekend has a different lineup of classes than usual, with the Production Racing taking centre stage, along with the V8 Development Series. There's also the Pro7 RX7s, OSCAs (with a few nice Corvettes & a Jaguar), along with other classes from the Tier 2 Motorsport classes.

It's a beautiful sunny morning here today, forecast for 28 degrees, so its going to be a warm one.

There's three testing sessions today, with the first we've just had @9:30, then 11:40 and 2:30pm. There's also a sponsor's Hot Laps sessions this afternoon at 4:30 (so hopefully I might actually get out on the track today!).

The first test sessions saw the return of our Manfeild 'glowing brake' syndrome :-( Straight after the first lap or so & the brake rotors were fully glowing. After a few more laps they were so hot they ceased on, so Dale had to cruise back into the pits.

When he got in the brake dust was on fire the rotors were so hot! So there's some work to do on the brakes...Hoodie & Dodge have them in pieces on the floor at the moment.

Oh and the other casualty this morning was young Mr Hood, with a nice crack to the forehead (c/o a hospitality truck closely parked during the wheel alignment). So he's been to see the lovely folks @St John for a nice big plaster, which he'll be sporting for the rest of the day. (no sympathy till Renee arrives though!)

Round 6 - Teretonga - Race 3

Well it could have ended up much better, but we're pretty happy with the overall result anyway. One slip in the back end on the first corner cost Dale his lead and in the end the overall race win. Mike Modgill took maximum advantage of the slip and drove really well to hold onto 1st place.

So that means Dale takes 2nd place for the overall weekend result. Still a good place to be, and as the points stack up Dale is looking really good in the overall results.

Best lap time: 1.09.158. Race time: 14:28.074 (3rd place:14:26.232)

With only one round left, in Manfeild at the end of the month this season's racing is almost coming to a close. The team is going to try and fit in a few more changes to the car before then though. There's a list a mile long, so we'll soon see whether there's enough time to fit it all in.

But now its time to head for the airport and home. For Robin it's the start of a long drive pulling the Zoom Zoom trailer back to Auckland...

Round 6 - Teretonga - Race 2

"I'm blown away, know what I mean!" Wind, rain & hail. Oh and did I mention the wind? :-) We arrived to find our camp in ruins this morning. The new Mazda tents were completely destroyed. Everything else was in disarray. The organ donor car survived without a scratch though!

It's been four seasons since then with warm sunshine, rain and even a good dumping of hail.

So Dale went out racing with dry tyres on, even though it got a bit wet by the end. But he had a great race, an awesome start, and kept right up with the Class C 4WDs. He led Class B off the line and never looked back. Dale finished 1st in his class, 4th overall.

There were a few incidents with other cars on the track, but thankfully nothing involving Dale.

Dales fastest lap: 1:09.434. Race time:9:26.147 (5th place: 9:36.050)

So we're working from a pretty bare camp ground for the rest of the day. The car setup is great though, so Hoodie & Dodge don't have to do too much work in the mud. Got a couple of hours to kill before the final race, so we'll be doing our best to stay out of the weather, and make the most of the sunshine.

Round 6 - Teretonga - Race 1

Well that was a fairly uneventful race. Dale had a good start but had a slip with the clutch, and then just couldn't catch Mike Modgill for the rest of the race. I think we'll be looking even harder for that extra horsepower next week.

Dale finished 7th place overall, 2nd in Class B. Dale's best time: 1:09.670 (in lap 2)

So we're packing up now and going to watch the V8s race. But we'll be in 1st thing in the morning, ready for the 2nd race at 9:35am.

Round 6 - Teretonga - Qualifying

It's a beautiful day down here in Invercargill today. The sun is out, and not much in the way of clouds about. A little disappointing for Dale, who was hoping for some more rain, but fine for the rest of the team :-)

Russell and the guys from Stocks are happy with the suspension setup (taking over from Grant this weekend), and everything else on the car seems pretty good too. Of course some more horsepower & the new Diff would have been nice, but not in time for this round unfortunately.

Dale qualified 7th overall. 2nd in his class. A bit of a change, as Dale has consistently Qualified 8th this year. Could signal good things ahead.

Best lap time: 1:09.384 (next fastest: Mike Modgill's Honda Integra with 1:09.220)

John is cleaning up the Red MPS (aka Organ Donor) beside our tent so the fans can have a sit in it. We should really have a salesman here to take orders ;-) Could make some spare cash with the commission!

We haven't got much to change before the 1st race this afternoon, at 3:15PM. So might have to go for a walk and enjoy the sunshine...

Round 6 - Teretonga - Testing 2

"Right, let's pull apart the Red one!". That's about how to sum up the end of the 2nd testing session. A bit of a suspension issue, and so we've cracked into our Donor car for parts (and we haven't even started racing). :-)

Dale said the car felt a bit better than this morning, but the times were slower all around.

We've just been standing in the cold wind & occasional spit, watching the V8s testing. A bit of action too with 2 V8s coming off the track and rolling in the same corner! Classic. There's a crazy setup here at Teretonga, where the support teams cars and pits are inside the track, so you have to wait the 20mins or so for the track to clear so you can drive out. So we're just standing here (while testing is red flagged) waiting and watching.

But we're off to the hotel soon, to get warm. Bright & early start in the morning, ready for the Qualifying session.

Round 6 - Teretonga - Testing 1

It's cold down here in Invercargill today, so its jackets all round. Cloudy, but only a couple of drops of rain so far.

The Zoom Zoom race car has had a bit of work done on it this week. Monday/Tuesday was panel & paint c/o Ballantyne Auto-Paint - repairing the damage from Race 2 in Timaru (which made the national TV news last Sunday night, so I've heard!). We've also replaced the Turbo as the last one was down on boost last weekend.

Dodge gave up his last few days of work this week for a road trip. He flew down to ECUTek in Napier and picked up the Red Mazda3 MPS (which they've been using for computer testing) and drove it all the way down here to Invercargill. Why? Rolling spare parts! :-) There's no MPS' on the yard here in Invercargill, for us to sabotage, so we were forced to bring an organ donor. He quite enjoyed the drive by the sound of it. The MPS with a tricked-out computer is a real little rocket, apparently.

Dale had a good run in the 1st test session this morning, with the best times in his class. The numbers are close though, so no real surprises.

We've got another test session this afternoon at 1:50pm.

Round 5 - Timaru - Race 3

That was a great way for the team to finish the weekend, with Dale leading for a considerable period (but had to work for it all the way). He finish 1st in his class, 4th place overall. While there was plenty of wind around there wasn't much rain to speak of, just a sprinkling.

Dale's best lap: 1:13.908 in lap 7

We've pretty much packed up the camp now, and some of us are going to hit the road for the Airport and home. It's off to Invercargill for the rest of us, via Queenstown for a couple of days break. Alright for some eh!?

The official Race Results and times are available here. The full event timings are available here.

Dale finished the round 3rd overall on points, with the top of the points table looking like this:

Dale Williams: 1029

Steve Taylor: 928

Michael Modgill: 899

The full results table is available here

Round 5 - Timaru - Race 2

Boom! The hit came fast & hard right on the start line as Dale's car got used as a bumper bar when Grant Aitken's Evo9 came flying from behind, looking for a gap that didn't exist, smashed into Michael Modgill's Integra flew into the air almost rolling over. But Dale caught the car in time ;-) Unfortunately not only did it take Dale out, straight off the track, it blew the valve off the front right tyre, so he had to limp around the 1st lap into the pits.

The pit crew did an awesome quick change and got him back out on the track, but by that stage he was well back and had to fight from behind to come in 20th overall (6th in his class). Michael Modgill's car is a mess with all rear windows blown out, but he managed to carry on for the win in Class B. There was more carnage in the race too, so all the drivers have been summoned to a briefing@11:00am.

Poor little Zoom Zoom's always getting a taste of the hard knocks :-) Keep your eye out for the video on You Tube, I'll cut it up & post it as soon as I get a chance. It makes great watching.

Dale's best lap time of 1:14.088 in lap 4 shows the car wasn't really at full speed after the crash. There's still rain forecast for today so we may yet see a full wet race for the split grid Race 3 at 1:40pm.

Round 5 - Timaru - Race 1

Wahey! Another outstanding result for Dale, and a great race to watch. It was a little wet for the start, which worked to his advantage. Dale had a great start, straight up to the front pack past the 2 other class B cars, and gave the class C 4WDs a good run too.

Dale finished 5th overall, 1st in his class, showing once again how well Dale can drive the little Mazda3 in the wet. If it hadn't dried up we could have done even better. Bring on the rain tomorrow!

Best lap time: 1:21.583

Round 5 - Timaru - Qualifying

It's a bit damp and cool down here in Timaru this morning. No rain though, but we're still wrapped up in our Jackets.

Dale had an OK qualifying run, coming in 8th overall, 3rd in his class. There's not much in the times though. Dales best time: 1:13.262 in lap 6, behind Michael Modgill's Integra (1:12.999) and Steve Taylor's Civic (1:12.591).

We're taking it easy in the new Mazda corporate tents (very flash!) while the crew work on the car. We've got a few hours before Race 1 at 2:15pm. With any luck the weather will make its mind up and change for the better, or really rain (we're still looking forward to a good wet race).

This little character (very talkative) came to check out Dale's car and kept the team busy explaining all the details. An up & coming racing driver I'm sure :-)