The MTAQ Racing team’s Queensland Championship season reached its crescendo over the weekend, with the team hitting the track for our 2019 Grand Final round at Morgan park, in Warwick. I am very pleased to report that it was another very good weekend for the team – primarily because we finally got our first race win and sealed our first seasonal accolade!

We had a very good lead up, with the car spending some time with our good friends at CNJ Motorsport last week and Kelvin and the team provided us with some great engine tuning gains, and some much needed extra power for the weekend – some time and effort that would prove vital over the course of the weekend.

Qualifying was slightly disappointing, ending the session in 3rd – missing pole by 2 tenths of a second. We had enough pace in the car to get pole, but it was a very tight session (top 7 cars covered by 0.5 seconds) and I didn’t quite get the lap perfect. I knew that we had a very good shot at that coveted Pole position and simply tried too hard and overstepped the limit in a few spots. Even so, it gave us an inside row 2 starting spot for the weekend, and with qualifying being so critical in this class now with the cars so evenly matched, it was a solid place to be.

Race 1 set the tone for the weekend, producing a very hard fought affair with the pace absolutely on the limit – resulting in a great battle for the lead. With the front 3 cars (including us) breaking away and then set about attacking each other “with vigor”. There were a few driving standards incidents amongst the front group (none of which we caused/or was our fault) that resulted in lengthy stewards hearings after the race to decide the final outcome. After almost 3 hours of deliberation and robust debate, we were confirmed as the winners.

It is so very pleasing to be able to finally sit here at type this, that we have achieved this milestone in our racing journey. It has been a long time in the making! It was a strange feeling not being able to really celebrate until the stewards had handed down their decisions, but it is nice to finally get that monkey off our back, as we have been so close for so long and have worked so hard just to stay at the sharp end in a class that is growing rapidly. It was a great to have the MTAQ car P1 !

Races 2 and 3, were without doubt the best 2 races of the year – certainly from the spectators point of view. Intense would be an understatement, with no quarter given and the front group again pushing the limits of the driving code. Some of the hardest racing I have been involved with – Fair, but very hard. By virtue of our Race 1 win, we started race 2 from pole and unfortunately I made a poor start, but was soon back challenging for the lead as the top 3 cars were again able to break away from the field. Then it was on, with the positions swapping near constantly for the duration. We ended up in second place – about a metre and a half short of the win in a side by side finish.

So we moved into Sunday’s double distance feature race, tied on points with state champion elect Cam Wilson for the round win. This time we got a blistering start and shot to the lead, and began to try and break away. We gave the car a few tweaks Saturday night and it was absolutely fantastic in the opening stanza. We built a small buffer and led the race comfortably up until half distance when a safety car was deployed to clear an accident – which allowed the field to bunch back up behind us. In the height of the ensuing battle, we got pushed wide and fell back to 7th, recovering to 4th at the end, after we lost further racing laps due to another safety car deployment. It was a disappointing end, as we had the race win and round win in the bag until the first safety car, and the car was terrific over the longer distance.

All in all, The weekend ended with us placing 3rd overall for the meeting – our 2nd consecutive round podium and another nice trophy for our collection. A solid way to complete our championship year and again show that our last round result was no fluke. We are a genuine race winning contender now, and again earned praise from our peers for our relentless approach and hard work.

In terms of the Queensland Championship, our points hauls from the last 2 events saw us rocket home and into 4th in the final standings, just a few points shy of 3rd. Considering we were languishing in 9th only 2 rounds back (off the back of a couple of non-finishes due to being driven into, and a mechanical problem) it is a very good recovery and our best seasonal position by a long way.

In more pleasing news, we also won the Queensland Racing Drivers Association (QRDA) Championship for Excels, which is the ‘championship within a championship’ that rewards consistency and average finishing position. The QRDA is the main association involved in state level motor sport, representing all classes and drivers for over 40 years. Each class has its own drivers championship, and is a very prestigious prize to win – and this year was our year, with trophies being awarded at the QRDA awards night in December.

It has been another season of improvement for us, and had we had some better luck earlier in the season we would have been in outright championship contention without doubt. We have had fastest laps at 2 of the 5 events, our best finishing and qualifying positions achieved, smashed our PB laps at every circuit we have been to, and our best championship finish overall. We also had what is universally recognised as the best presented, and best looking, car on the grid.

Thank you again for all the support and will see everyone soon!

Thanks
David Wood, MTAQ Racing Team Driver