2008/2009 National Summer Series

2008/2009 National Summer Series

Round 1 Taupo


Round 1 of the 2008/2009 National Summer Series has been and gone. With some high hopes the result we achieved were not as well as we hoped for. I did qualify 5th which was a good start.

Race One
Race one was an absolute disaster, almost the worst possible way you could start a championship. We were on our warm up lap down the back straight at Taupo (the Drag Strip) when I changed to third and the gear selector broke. I tried to find other gears but there was nothing. We rolled to the start line and worked out I wouldn’t be able to race. So the marshals pushed me off behind the barriers and away the race went. Not the best start to the season.

Race Two
Race two we didn’t have any major issues just an annoying backfire at the start of the race. I started on 8th and managed to work my way up to 5th. I battled with Ryan Hellier all race and with one lap to go Ryan passed me. I didn’t mind as I’d planned on getting him back down the back straight. But this plan all turn to custard as the driver in 4th place Matt Stubbs spun out on the far sweeper causing both me and Ryan to take evasive action. Ryan got a better exit from that incident as he had the better line. So I managed to bring the Firewatch Car home in 5th. No to bad considering there were 24 cars but I would have preferred better.

 Race Three
Race two I started from the front row, grid 2. The first few laps I held my ground but was soon passed and I ended up in 5th place due to set-up issues. I held that position in the front group until the race ended. Overall a good finish


Overall the weekend was great fun with some good results but nothing that a bit of car set-up and car knowledge cant help to do better. Lets hope we do better next time.

Matt Gibson