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Wednesday, 11 October 2006 |
BATHURST 06
This week the TK Racing team, riding high from the win at Sandown, headed to Bathurst NSW to compete in round 6 of the Aussie Racing Car championship.
Having already visited the fantastic Mount Panorama Circuit earlier in the year, Kipper was going to be looking to extend his slender lead in the 2006 Aussie Racing Cars Championship.
Practice on Thursday started how most rounds this year have started, with Kipper leading the way with VIP Pet Foods hard charger Paul Kemal chasing, then teaming up in the later stages to post the 1st and 3rd fastest times for the opening session.
“We had some items we were going over, so we were using this session to
work on our setup for the race, and only later in the session did we
look at running in qualifying trim” said Kipper, happy with his super
consistent 3rd fastest.
A long wait followed, with the late afternoon sun greeting spectator
and racer for the all important qualifying session. Kipper rolled out
onto the track in P1 and produced a stunning lap on the first lap
banging out a 2 min 38sec lap to put him instantly on Pole.
“my plan initially was to just get clear of any trouble, as red flags
have been a real problem of late, so getting an early lap was always on
my mind” said Kipper
As it turned out, Kipper’s lap was outclassed soon after by an almost
amazing lap by senior driver P. Ward with a lap that was nearly 2
seconds faster.
Kipper remained on track for a front row spot, rolling off 2.38 laps
with the consistency of an F1 test driver at this, the most demanding
track in Australia. All the while doing this on his own out in front,
without the vital draft that is needed in this class…
“I made a small error on lap 5, and decided to have a cool off lap to
then look for a draft from the VIP car, but as it happens there was a
red flag due to Josh Hunt having a big moment at skyline, so I didn’t
get another lap” said Kipper.
This final lap proved vital as the fast guys that usually are running
with or behind Kipper got together in an amazing chain of cars nose to
tail to bump Kipper out of the front row.
“I just never got a chance for a lap with a draft, and that as we all
know is worth so much around here in these little cars.” Said a
slightly dejected Kipper.
Race 1 was cancelled due to the tragic accident between Mark Porter and
David Clark in the Fujitsu Development Race, with now only 2 ARC races
over the weekend, both on Saturday.
Saturday:- Starting from the 4th row, Kipper instantly disposed
of B. Ward on turn 1 and proceeded to chase after the leading pack of
4, but it was on lap 2 that Kipper made his first small error of the
year, which had him spin in the remaining dust and oil from the race
before.
“It was a silly mistake, I came into griffins bend fairly committed,
and I just got the left rear a little wide and spun” said Kipper after
the race.
Kipper dropped to 31st, and then charged back to an encouraging 17th
and showing what he is made of did a 2.35 lap, which was under the
existing lap record set by VIP’s Kemal at the Easter festival.
“The lap time shows our true pace, but I am gutted for my guys after they gave me a car that was really perfect for the win”
Controversy erupted in the paddock after the race, as 2 cars were
called to be looked at by the scruitineers and the Safety Steer car and
Mako Trac car being placed at the rear of the grid for race 2 the all
important final.
“For this weekend we were running a 1 piece long axle, as we have had
major vibrations with the 2 piece that is supplied with the car. As we
all know this track is super fast, and as a consequence also very
dangerous. If the axle was to fail at one of the many high speed parts
of the circuit, our driver could be seriously hurt, and this was not a
risk worth taking” a team spokesperson commented.
Kipper added further “ It is frustrating that outside forces have
changed the result of the championship for us, we still have a 100%
finishing record, however we will cop the penalty on the chin. The car
had no performance advantage with the 1 piece, it was simply a risk to
run an axle that is poorly designed with no ability to life the part”
Team TK Racing, having taken a huge hit in the championship stuck at it and worked on improving the car for Kipper in the final.
Kipper starting the final from last place (39th) in the 6 lap race,
raced with steely determination to carve up the field to end the final
in 16th, making up a massive amount of positions and setting some of
the fastest laps whilst cleanly passing the slower cars.
“It was really good to have the chance to charge through the field like
that, even though my championship challenge might be ruined, to be able
to cut through the field with Reif Corbett like that was great” said
Kipper
“I would like to thank a few of the senior drivers who made it easy for
me to pass when they saw me coming, guys like Nugget Campbell in the
Four and Twenty pies car gave me a clean run over the top, and I got a
wave from him also!” said Kipper happy with his effort in race 2
TK Racing now are 5th in the Championship and will not be holding
anything back for the last Round of the year on the Gold coast in a
weeks time….
“ we will be on maximum attack on the Gold Coast, so it will be great
to show the speed of the MAKO TRAC racer” quipped Kipper whilst packing
after the final.
The next Aussie Racing Cars meeting will be held over the weekend of
the 19th – 21st of October at the INDY 300 supporting the annual CART/
V8SUPERCAR event
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 13 December 2006 )
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