David’s Diary Entry – Post Round 1 May 22, 2017

Well what a weekend!!!

The Debut race meeting for the MTAQ Racing team has been run and done!

We didn’t quite get the results we were looking for – we qualified 10th out of 20 cars, and in the 4 races during the weekend managed to finish 9th, 10th, and 9th with a 7th in Sunday’s main race. Which I think will put us 8th overall for the weekend.

All round a pretty solid effort, but it was very tough racing and I had to pull a lot out of the trick bag to get the car up into that position.

Unfortunately Friday practice was a total wash-out, which didn’t give us any time to play with the car, tune it in etc. and we also had a steering issue that was sorted out with some replacement parts. Sourcing those parts was an interesting challenge on a Friday afternoon, and I had to make a trip to Caloundra (from Warwick – about 600k round trip) Friday night to get them and fit them Saturday morning!

So after losing our test day last weekend, and our practice sessions on Friday of the race meeting, Qualifying on Saturday was the first full hit out the car (and me in it) had had to that point – and we still managed to put half the field behind us in a short (15 minute) session. I think that is a fair achievement! Like I said, we ended up 10th out of 20.

Racing is the best test session you can have and certainly during the 4 races, we found out a lot. We raced hard and was able to edge forwards over the weekend.

The car was noticeably down on power compared with the cars we were racing – it made passing and moving forward very hard work. The engine fundamentally is fine and it runs fine, but it has some little issue that is robbing it of power. We tinkered with it over the weekend but didn’t really make much inroads – It is something small that is making a fairly dramatic difference. That is ok –  we will find out what the problem is and sort it, I am confident we can get to the bottom of that quickly with some time in the workshop.

The car is still very raw as a race car having only really had a proper full hit out saturday morning. Certainly we have some engine power to find (and a fair whack of it) and tune the handling a bit, but over the weekend we were able to improve it a lot and like a good race horse I am better for the run too. Had to pull a lot out of the trick bag today to stay in the fight.

When you have a car that is slow in a straight line, you are vulnerable to attack – and certainly I had to dig deep to drag the car forwards in the races. Unfortunately I couldn’t make much inroads, but the 7th in the main race was about as good as we could do on the day, and I felt we got the maximum from what we had to fight with. I certainly have given the poor car an absolute belting. I had to drive the poor thing so hard just to keep up with the group i was racing, it certainly in need of some love in the workshop! The steering copped it the most, which we can fix easily. Despite a big hit up the backside in the opening lap of the first race, the car hasn’t sustained any cosmetic damage which given how tight the racing was, is very pleasing.

It wasn’t the result we really wanted (or I expected) but given how compromised we were with engine power, everything else seems reasonable and with some time in the workshop, a good tune and a proper test day, I think we will be very competitive at the next outing.

Considering we have taken a basic road car, built it up at the institute with our young engineers, and raced it without any effective testing – 8th isn’t to be sneezed at, but the potential is so much greater. I am very positive that we have only just scratched the surface in terms of speed.

The car turned plenty of heads over the weekend, and a lot of people ventured over to our pit garage for a sticky-beak, and everyone commented on how beautifully presented it was. The noticeable thing from when I watched this series last year, is that the level of competitiveness has gone up about 3 notches.. it is a lot more competitive than I thought it would be, but challenge is what we are in it for – and it will make pinching that first trophy a lot sweeter.

Now for the most pleasing aspect of the weekend!!!

Our team. Our MTAQ apprentices were absolute superstars, I cannot speak highly enough of them. Will, Elliott and Gerard were outstanding – working like experienced crew. Very dedicated, fun to be around, always thinking and coming up with theories for solutions, and very cool and calm in a very high pressure environment. We picked 3 absolute rippers when we recruited the team from the MTA institute, lead superbly by our crew chief John.

We threw a season’s worth of challenges at them in a weekend and they passed with flying colours. I cannot be prouder of the guys.

We all put in a big effort and we got the car out there and flew the flag, and now we can regroup, work away on the car, and come back much better.

Our next event is our major event in Queensland for the year at Queensland raceway for the Shannons series round – which will have a live online stream, and TV coverage. It is August 4-6!

Already thinking and working towards that date. We have some very cool social media activation ideas to run at this meeting, so make sure you follow us @MTAQueensland on social media.

We would like to thank our tremendous sponsors for their support:

Bennett & Philp Lawyers
ACM Parts
CBC Bearings
SP Tools
Castrol
MCA Suspension
Neta Tire Service & Sales
R&J Batteries
Kustom Vinyls

Find out more about the MTAQ Racing Team Sponsors here.

We are off to a solid start and looking forward to the rest of the season!

David Wood
Driver and Director of the MTAQ Racing Team

Read more about the journey of the MTAQ Racing Team here.