Round 3 - Ruapuna - Round Results

Dale completed Round 3 of the NZV8s Championship at Pukekohe in 7th place overall - an awesome result for Dale and the team, reflecting the hard work everyone put in over the weekend. Dale now sits at 9th place overall in the Championship points table, with 300 points.

Dale's results page can be found here:

http://www.dalewilliamsracing.com/race-results

Official Results:

http://www.nzv8s.co.nz/pages/9/results.htm

Round 3 - Ruapuna - Race 3

Dale just finished Race 3 here at Ruapuna in a fantastic 6th place,
after putting in an awesome drive to round of the weekend in style.

Dale started at 14th place on the grid, and after the first attempt at
a rolling start failed the race was underway. Dale quickly moved from
14th to 4th place and held out all but the most experienced
competition to maintain his position throughout the race, finishing
6th from a field of 24.

The team and of Dale's supporters are stoked with the result of the
race and the overall round. It has taken a bit of time in the car, and
a lot of work from the SCG Racing team, but now Dale and the
Stabicraft Ford Falcon are finishing where they want to be: up with
the best.

Dale's fastest lap time was 1:32.380. Dale's race time was 24.302s
back from 1st place (but Craig Baird maintained a huge lead).

Round 3 - Ruapuna - Race 2

A cooler day today, with more cloud about and a bit of wind, the track
here at Ruapuna isn't quite as fierce.

Dale finished race 2 in 9th place after an awesome start, and a really
solid drive. A moment of distraction saw Eddie Bell get past Dale
when he took a corner wide, but that was the only moment anyone came
near after the start. Dale held his position for the remainder of the
race, and put in some good lap times, faster towards the end.

Dale lost a wing-mirror in a clash on one of the first corners of the
race, but it was recovered by a friendly race official and reattached
before lunch ;-)

Dale's fastest lap was 1:31.683 In lap 6. Dale's final time was
17.139s off 1st place.

So it's a few hours wait now, before the third and final race of the
weekend, the 20 lap reverse-grid race.

Round 3 - Ruapuna - Race 1

Dale finished the first race here at Ruapuna this weekend in 11th
place after working his way through the pack from 18th off the grid.

There was plenty of action out there on the track today (as always!),
but it was a hot track today too, 112 degrees on the surface! A few
incidents in front and to the side of Dale left the car in a bit of a
mess, but nothing too serious, thankfully. Dale lost a few spots and
had to work to get them back when a crash ahead forced him to slow to
go around.

Dale did a great job out there today, and the team is happy with the
result. If qualifying had gone a bit better, then maybe we'd be inside
the top 10, but just outside it in a field of 25 is a good result none
the less.

I'll update this a little later too, with more details, as they come in.

Round 3 - Ruapuna - Qualifying

It has turned into a really hot day today, Dale must have been boiling
in the car during qualifying! After making it through to the top 20
qualifying round in 19th, Dale qualified in 18th position in the second.

The tyres contributed, but Dale is still not feeling 100% today, which
is making it difficult for him to drive at his best.

Dale's best time was 1:32.604, in lap 5. That's about 1.1s off the top
10 times.

So with the qualifying sessions over the team is now focussing on Race
1, starting at 4:25pm this afternoon.

Round 3 - Ruapuna - Warm Up

Its a beautiful sunny Saturday morning at Ruapuna today. Looks like
we're in for another hot and dry day.

Dale just came in from the warm up session, with pretty good times.
His best lap time was 1:31.916, which puts him 14th fastest. It's a
really tight pack though with only 0.8s difference between 3rd and
14th place.

So the team is happy with the car setup so far, and I don't think
they'll be changing too much between now and the 1st qualifying
session in a couple of hours time.

Round 3 - Ruapuna - Testing

Dale and the Team SCG Racing crew had a good day's testing today at
Ruapuna. With incremental gains being made every time they get the
Stabicraft Ford Falcon on the track, we're starting the weekend really
positive about the racing ahead in round 3.

Dale is a little under the weather today, but hopefully he'll be
better tomorrow after a good night's rest.

We're starting a little earlier tomorrow, with the warm up at 9:40AM.
Then qualifying starts a bit later at 12:25PM.

Round 2 - Pukekohe - Round Results

Dale completed Round 2 of the NZV8s Championship at Pukekohe in 6th place overall. A great result for Dale and the team. Dale is now placed 10th overall in the Championship points table, with 189 points.

Dale's results page can be found here:

http://www.dalewilliamsracing.com/race-results

Official Results:

http://www.nzv8s.co.nz/pages/9/results.htm

Round 2 - Pukekohe - Race 3

Dale finished 15th in the 3rd and final race of the weekend at
Pukekohe. Dale struggled a bit for power, and got shunted from behind
into the car in front causing more damage to the bonnet & breaking the
front splitter down the middle. The fuel system held out for most of
the race though, which was good.

Dale’s fastest time was 1:03.536 (in lap 10).  The gap to 1^st place was 27.102s.

So there's a few weeks now for the team to complete repairs, and also
some testing to work through the car setup a bit more.

Next stop Ruapuna, in Christchurch.

Round 2 - Pukekohe - Race 2

Race 2 finally restarted almost 2 hours after it began. Dale fought
hard throughout and despite fuel surging issues he maintained his 8th
place position to the finish.

Six cars started from pit lane after repairs, but a number were still
out after the major crash on the 1st corner of lap 1.

He had a bit of contact with Michael Bristow at the hairpin which
damaged the front bonnet (again).

Dale's best time was 1:02.800 (in lap 9). The gap to 1st place was
13.411.

So the team are working hard now on the fuel system before Race 3,
which will start later than planned due to the long delay.

Round 2 - Pukekohe - Race 2

Race 2 started with a bang. A huge crash actually. Dale was clear of
it starting 8th on the grid, and fighting Eddie Bell for position off
the start line when behind them cars were coming 4 and 5 wide for the
first corner, which was never going to work.

A number of cars were totalled, three went over the 1st corner fence
and carnage ensued. After a safety car lap the race was red-flagged
and the remaining 16 (of 29) cars left unscathed have parked up again
on the grid.

We're waiting now for barrier repairs to complete over lunch, then the
race will be restarted. So stay tuned for part two of Race 2...

Round 2 - Pukekohe - Race 1

Wow, that was a great result from a pretty eventful race! After
starting at 19th position on the grid, Dale finished in 8th place.
There were a number of racing incidents but Dale managed to stay clear
of them.

His only real contact was during a battle with Eddie Bell (which
damaged the left-hand side panels and front guard).

The team is very happy with the result and the car was getting some
pretty good speed, hitting 240km/h on the back straight. It's a great
start to the weekend's racing. Race 2 tomorrow morning should be just
as exciting.

Dale's fastest time was 1:03.001 (in lap 11). The gap to 1st place was
8.291s.

Round 2 - Pukekohe - Qualifying

It's a beautiful warm sunny day out at Pukekohe today. Dale qualified
19th out of a field of 29. The times were tight with only a second and
a half separating the top 20.

The team seem to have worked through the fuel pump issues from testing
yesterday, but there may be a few more things to do to get the car
going a little quicker.

Race 1 is at 3:50pm this afternoon.

Round 2 - Pukekohe - Testing

Dale and the team spent the day testing today at Pukekohe, in preparation for this weekend's racing - Round 2 of the NZV8s Championship.  Dale made good progress through the day, while the team worked through some fuel pressure issues.  His first test run put him around 18th position, but the second run went better with his time putting him in around 12th spot.

I'm sure the crew will be working on the car right up until the first qualifying run tomorrow morning, and hopefully any remaining issues will be sorted by then.  

We're all looking forward to a great weekend out at Pukekohe, Dale's home track.  I'm sure he'll put on an impressive show, as always, so it'll be a good day out at the track tomorrow.  The weather forecast is for a fine day, so there'll be no repeat of his Round 1 Wet Weather driving from last season, but it's sure to be just as exciting.