|
Tobia Kipper Racing: Round 2: Perth Barbagello, Western Australia |
|
|
|
|
Tuesday, 27 March 2007 |
Tobia Kipper Racing ventured to the Wild West, some 3400km from the team’s “home base” Melbourne Victoria, to race in the second round of the National Championship at Perth’s Barbagello raceway, Western Australia.
With Driver Kipper having been born and initially raised till the age of 4 in the sunny West, this would be the closest thing to a “home race”. Friday morning saw the Formula Ford field line up for the days sessions being Practice 1 & 2. both sessions would be used to come to grips with the tight and tricky WA circuit, with Kipper posting a respectable time in session 1 placing him 9th fastest with the front of the field being made up of seasoned Formula Ford campaigners.
“I was reasonably happy with that, we were suffering a little with
oversteer, and an overall lack of grip, but that is to be expected here
at this track” commented Kipper.
Saturday would be all about Qualifying, and the importance of track
position here was going to make it a struggle for the team “ we made
some changes overnight to settle the car down, so we will see if that
was the right way to go” said Kipper. As the session started, Kipper
was rolling out of pit lane mid pack with the “green” rubber ready to
put his head down for that all important flying lap! The field was lead
out by team mate Ash Walsh, who was out to set a blistering time early
on with his new rubber. As it turned out Ash got his lap in on his
first flying lap, whilst Kipper was aiming to maximize his car for lap
2 as traffic was playing a part but as Kipper was approaching turn 7,
the final turn Ash had thrown it all away and exited the track into the
sand trap bringing out the red flag.
“It was a case of what might have been” said Kipper “ I was on my good
lap, and unfortunately it didn’t count due to the red flag situation
and that cost me up to 6 tenths from what we can tell” added Kipper.
With the session restarted once Ash’s beached car was retrieved, Kipper
had to then dig deep on what was now slightly used rubber to post a
respectable time, coming away with the 12th fastest time in official
Qualifying.
Race 1 was held in warm conditions in the middle of the day, with
Kipper starting from the outside grid slot in position 12, it was
always going to be important to make a good start and quickly get over
to the inside line to keep out of any trouble in turn 1. Having got a
good start Kipper jumped up the order to 10th on the first lap, and
looked to have the measure of the next group of cars infront. “ I was
basically just keeping my nose clean here, as it’s very hard to pass
here in Perth” commented Kipper. With John Magro aggressively blocking
at every opportunity Kipper was happy to wait for a mistake from the
BRM driver. By lap 9 Kipper had moved up to 8th position, and was
chasing Magro and Glen Wood ahead with the margin always less than a
car length. It was here that Luke Wood made the brave move to pass
Kipper down the inside into turn 1, with Kipper sighting him in time to
give him some racing room. “ I basically gave Wood enough room fo! r
his car down the inside into turn 1, but held the outside line thru the
turn and we were wheel to wheel through turn 2 and 3, but on the
approach to 4 which is the left hander up the hill he turned down on
me, and I had to where to go!” quipped an unhappy Kipper after the
race. Kipper then Spun to the infield recovering in 15th.
Sunday brought Race 2, and was always going to be a struggle having to
start so far back, but once again Kipper made up some spots through
solid driving, finishing the race in 12th, giving him a better chance
at the points for the final race of the weekend.
Race 3 brought about some great racing right through the field, with
Kipper trading lap times with the leading bunch, and the entire field
racing within half a second of each other it was always going to be
difficult to pass.” The changes we had made to the car had really
helped, but we were limited by our track position, so the aim of the
game was to not make any mistakes, but profit from anyone that did!”
said Kipper after the Final, finishing 11th.
Kipper and team now look forward to racing at one of 2 tracks he has
tested at previously, Winton Raceway, over the weekend of the 18th-20th
of May.
Stay tuned to Network 7 for all the latest Formula Ford action, with
broadcast times to be announced via the Formula Ford website.
http://www.tobiakipper.com
|
