David’s Diary – Pre Bathurst
After a lot of hard work following our drama at the recent opening state championship round, the MTAQ Racing team will head to Bathurst this weekend for the Federal Tyres Excel Challenge.
I am sure when the locals first carved out the Mount Panorama scenic drive that overlooks Australia’s oldest inland settlement in the early 1930’s, they didn’t envisage it becoming sacred ground. The Mount Panorama Racing Circuit is our MCG, our Suncorp Stadium, our Rod Laver Arena. It is the mecca of Motorsport in this country and one of the most revered stretches of tarmac to be raced on anywhere in the world.
There is a reason every driver that takes it on, can’t get enough – It is special. It’s 6.213 kilometer layout is an immense challenge. when first touring the circuit, even at road speed – what strikes you is the elevation. From Pit straight at the foot of the Mountain, to Brock’s Skyline at the top – the Track climbs nearly 850 meters. Then – you plunge down the other side to the famous Conrod straight. It is terrifying, it is exhilarating. It is the creator of legends, and the breaker of hearts.
To be able to take our little team to Bathurst, and represent MTA Queensland, our members and our sponsors is something special. It isn’t everyday you get the chance to do it, so ourselves and 54 other Excel racers will go hard to be the King of the Mountain – in Excel land at least, in the first time Excels have ever been invited to the Mountain. It is a great opportunity to continue to get the MTA Queensland brand more widely exposed on a national level, and show ourselves as true, innovative leaders in the Automotive industry by supporting events such as this.
The best Excel teams in the land will be there, coming from each state of the country – including a big contingent from WA, and front running cars from NSW, VIC, SA, and 15 Queenslanders including us. Without a doubt, it is the toughest and most competitive Excel field ever assembled. 55 cars is the grid capacity at Bathurst, and there is another 30-odd on a reserve list that missed getting a start.
After a fairly fraught start to the year, we have had to work very hard to overcome the damage sustained at round 1 in Warwick two weeks ago. I cannot thank the MTA Institute trainers enough for their support, assistance and encouragement in getting the car back and ready to race. It has been an insane start to the year, and the hours the team has put in has been huge.
We will be dark horses come the weekend, but I am confident we can put on a great show. Our aim is two-fold. Firstly, get through the weekend without any dramas, damage, breakages etc and bring the car back home in as good a condition as possible, given again we have a tight turnaround time to our next meeting three weeks away. Our second goal, is to get into the Top 10 overall for the weekend. I think that would be a solid weekend’s work and give us a good morale boost for our 2nd Queensland Championship round.
It is a tightly packed start to the year, but once we get past the next Queensland event, we have three months off and am looking forward to a breather as we have had had an enormous workload already this year.
The Bathurst races is also our first TV event for the year. The races will be live-streamed over the weekend at www.bathurst6hour.com.au and will also have a highlights packaged shown on SBS, and Fox Sports in a few weeks. Jump on and have a look and hopefully you will see a familiar black, yellow, red and orange beast near the front!
