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Sandown 500

September 2002

With no trailer and no Paul, Bilstein racing were a bit down on resources. Even so we only had to worry about the F3 cars of PSC as there was no WRX. With loading up our luggage with pre-setup shocks and a few shims and pistons and a bit of Bilstein shock oil we had enough to get things handling.

The qualifying session at Sandown was the most nail biting all season with the grid positions scattered with slick and grooved tyres, no one could pick it.

Qualifying was exciting but the racing was even better, as usual we had to say that "the race has been the best F3 racing we have seen" (it just gets better and better with every race). In both races various teams had spins and contacts to leave a lot of battle-scarred cars and many teams going for the spares.

Troubles continued to plague PSC but they came away from Sandown with the two third places of Peter Hackett's.
Well, off we go to Phillip Island, Paul will be back but at this stage the Bilstein Racing Mobile Workshop will be ready for Indy.

Phillip Island

September 2002

The Bilstein Boys were at the track again with both F3s and GTP back to their normal program of racing, we were kept busy by the teams.

GTP

While qualifying a little way back with the Protecnica WRX the team clawed their way back with wheel bearings hampering the car from finishing, even still Wayne successfully managed the car to finish 5th overall for the weekend.

With data gained from testing at PI earlier in the year with PSC and Peter Hackett we had some good setups and were confident even without our trailer. Unfortunately we could only manage a couple of 5s with Justin qualifying in the top six for both sessions and Peter finishing 5th in both races, engine and electrics not helping the team's success.
The trailer is still undergoing repairs and our new shock dyno is on its way. We will have the trailer back for Indy, and we are looking forward to some sunshine and mixing it with the CART guys.

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Indy 300

October 2002

Well all bets are off for how far we would get, the trailer made it. Having not been to the circuit with these cars before we were looking forward to a busy weekend.
PSC had an up and down weekend with some good results and podium places and also some mechanical problems causing disruption to their game.

Peter had a slow start to the weekend but had thirds in second qualifying and the last race of the year with Justin right behind him after a massive shunt involving Cressey on the start line in race one.

The F3 cars are finished for 2002 with 2003 firmly in their sights, Bilstein Racing will continue to be at the tracks in support of the slicks and wings F3 racing.
With GTP getting combined with the Nations Cup for Indy the Protecnica WRX was going to be in high company.

As the weekend progressed the WRX team got faster and faster, starting in 5th from qualifying Wayne managed to gain a place each race to finish the weekend in 2nd overall. With a final standing of 5th in the GTPerformance Championship.
While the F3s get put away for the year there is one more for the Protecnica boys, Bathurst 24 Hour, 4 years racing in one day.

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Bathurst 24 Hour

November 2002

The first Bathurst 24hr happened, with a healthy grid size and machines ranging from a Monaro to Mirages, there was going to be lots of overtaking to be done! With Bilsteins on vehicles like the Magna, 350Z, Commodores (Future Tourers and GTP) and a WRX, we were going to be busy.

Bilstein Racing was largely helping out the Protecnica WRX but were on hand for support of anyone who needed it.
The race got off to a clean start with few interruptions from the safety car, with pit stops and position changes happening regularly and irregularly through the afternoon and night. The Protecnica boys managed a hub/caliper/disc change within 5 mins which saw the WRX quickly back onto the track, and a driveshaft/hub/caliper/disc in about 6.50 mins to stop a nasty vibration in the front end and the WRX to continue in the big race.

While things got closer to the pointy end, pit stop and safety car timing became even more critical. When things were looking good for Wayne to bring the car home, fuel troubles started to emerg with one lap remaining for the leading and highly dominant Monaro. With the Subaru coming in for a quick "splash" of fuel to keep it going, we all waited (breath held) as the WRX came down the mountain to cross the finish line 3rd in class and 8th overall in the inaugural Bathurst 24hr.

With the racing finished for the year for Protecnica, the car is being freshened up for the 2003 season and the team awaits the next outing.

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Formula SAE-A, Melbourne

December 2002

One of the other projects that Bilstein Racing has taken on this year, for the first time, was the testing and building of shock absorbers for the Universities' FSAE cars. Within 9 months these cars are designed, manufactured, tested and raced. This process starts in March and concludes early December, not a small task to say the least!

With two cars running Bilsteins, the rest of the field using various mountain bike shocks, it is the the first time in Australia that FSAE vehicles have used car like dampers. The shock absorbers designed were a small version of the F3 shocks used by Piccola Scuderia on their 2001 championship winning cars.

The event has a very different format to a normal race weekend as most of the lead up days are for static judging with some dynamic tests performed (noise, brake and tilt test). Each vehicle is looked at under close scrutiny by various judges including the famous Carroll Smith who comes downunder especially for the competition!

The racing starts Saturday with an acceleration test followed by a constant radius cornering test with the afternoon being an autocross event, all of which are one car at a time and all performed within a 150 x 50 metre bitumen area. The size ensured tight twisty action that a spectator or fellow competitor could follow from any side of the track.

While the variation in different tasks meant teams had to think about how the car was set up for each event, time has to be used efficiently to get the best results. Using custom made Bilstein Shock Absorbers the cars' handling was never a problem. With fantastic grip the UNSW team recorded the fastest lap time in the endurance event. Can you imagine an F1 car doing a quarter mile, endurance and economy run?

After a successful weekend with many teams enquiring about our unique Bilstein FSAE Shock Absorbers, Bilstein Racing has already started developing the 2003 version of the FSAE Damper.

Wakefield
It all started so beautifully...
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