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Winton, Victoria
23 June 2002 |
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GT PerformanceThe Bilstein Racing support trailer was on the move again. This month Paul and Travers travelled down the Hume to Winton Raceway where they were met with tricky conditions cold and drizzle one hour, cold but sunny the next. The boys set to work on the Subaru first as the F3 was in good shape after two days testing at Phillip Island and another on the way back at Winton itself. After changes to Wayne’s car were made the Subaru headed out on the Friday for a few familiarising laps as Wayne had not been to Winton before. The car felt good and Wayne was getting to know the circuit better. By qualifying all was looking good until a spin and all too soon the session was over with the Subaru in 14th position on the grid, without posting a time even close to his morning’s best. With Sunday’s race starting on a slowly drying track it was
always going to be interesting. Wayne launched off the start and
quite quickly found himself in 5th place which he held to the finish.
Race two for the Subaru found Wayne on the third row of the grid.
After the lights went green and no paint swapping (not everyone
likes Subaru Blue) Wayne settled for a pleasing 7th which put him
one row back for the third and last race in GT Performance. |
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Formula 3Not to be outdone by three cars in three rounds of the Australian F3 Championship, this round Piccola Scuderia Corse also had a new driver. Justin Watt joined the team after James Cressey left. Justin fitting straight in with team, car, track all having never raced an F3 or at Winton, everything was new. A gamble on tyres in qualifying one didn’t quite work with Justin and Jeffery struggling for grip in the greasy conditions. The same couldn’t be said for qualifying two with much more grip and much happier drivers. Qualifying one’s bad luck continued into race one with both Jeffery and Justin starting from pit lane, both drivers moving though the field to be well placed at the finish including Fastest Lap and Lap Record to Justin. Race two saw Justin in Grid Position 5 and Jeffery in 10th. At the start things went from hero to zero for Justin with the fuel pump not wanting to play after 100 or so meters. For Jeffery things were better, with a fantastic hole shot and then some of the best dicing for position until a spin saw the number 9 car closing on the others until the flag. |
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Oran Park, NSW
5 May 2002 |
Formula 3When the first of two crates containing new cars turned up for the Piccola Scuderia Corse team, high hopes of a test session with at least one car before Oran Park were dashed with the realization that parts for both cars were spread across both consignments. Last minute, 2am mechanical assembly by the crew ensured the cars made Friday’s practice on time, along with two sets of custom made Bilstein shock absorbers. |
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A weekend of hard yards followed with brake, clutch and throttle cable problems preventing the drivers becoming properly familiar with the new cars. The Bilstein Racing service trailer was on hand to create whatever damping curves were required, but all too soon it was race conditions and that magical set up had proven elusive. Spins by both James Cressey and Jeffery Brewer provided some relief for spectators who were forced to watch a depleted field after a fuel cell test issue enforced by CAMS prevented 9 cars from competing. No such excitement for spectators as what was had at Symmonds Plains, but the impressive display by Will Power to win both races from pole was hard to miss. |
GT PerformanceThe Protechnica team were able to use Bilstein strut housings for the first time, as supplied in the recently released Bilstein PSS9 kit for Subaru Imprezza, which provides height and damper rate adjustment for road going Subarus.The quest to be the fastest car did, however, hinge upon the effectiveness of a new engine management system. This proved troublesome and slow. Even a different version emailed from England did not provide any advantage. Thus driver Wayne Boatwright had to make the most of what was available and was able to pull in a fourth place by the end of the day in race 3. |
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The Piccola Scuderia Corse F3 Team snatch pole position in a five-year-old car! Read more >> |
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Sunny Queensland is our next port of call and I
for one am looking forward to swapping beanie for Bolle, skivvy
for sun cream. With the F3s not going Scott Anderson’s Subaru
will be getting the most of our attention over the weekend.
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