Anyone going to the A1 this weekend?I'm heading down ther on Sunday
Yes, i'll be there with the Huglin 360GT. Some VERY VERY last minute prep going on though... but Allan will do his best. We want pole, win and fastest lap. Nothing less.
So Allan will be driving trhe car? He's going to be a busy boy then. Isn't he supposed to be doing taxi duties on Monday as well?
Yep, Allan will do the final 40 minutes of the 1 hour on saturday. and then on Monday, it's the "secret" Knackered Nag/ Prancing Horse/Maranello Motorsport drive day at Phillip Island. Lark McLaren NOT running... it's sold. 550GTS now has passenger seat.... F40 LM GTE not running... in paintshop. 360 GT #2010 ex Veloqx running ( I'm pretty sure) Enzo ? and hopefully.... 333SP...yummmmmm
yes, but for the support events like us, Saturday is a far better day. Sunday is a 7 lap dash only. Friday is a busy day too.
Congrats to Allan, pole,4th race 1, 1st race 2, fastest lap both races. I'm sure Phil will give us a full report.
Yeah, what a weekend. Due to other things (classic adelaide prep/perth rally etc), I didn't hardly see Teds car during the repairs, and Teds sales staff and truckies actually put it all together after the crash repairs by File finish and Jim French. And they did a pretty bloody good job too... but there's so much that nneded doing that it arrived at the Creek still needing a bit.... basically 3 guys working till midnight on Thursday. Then on Friday, all went well until the end of the day when the car had two simultaneous problems.... Rocks from an earlier excusion got into the clutch, AND an cyber glitch materialised that was to prove a headache. We worked until nearly 1 am with rain running through the garage and us simply laying in it, removing the box and cleaning up the clutch, and then trying to sort out the F1 gear shift glitch, which was still there despite the clutch fix. So two midnighters on the trot, and some lateral thinking and a little help from charitable (VIC!) Ferrari owners later, the fat lady that was gargling in the wings was sent packing. We had a mega rush and actually made qualifying in the end, which we had all written off... and Allan duly stuck it on pole. Then later, in the race, Ted did a fine job under IMMENSE pressure from pole, managing to stay on the same lap as 15 Bathurst veteran Greg Crick in a car with a 200 BHP advantage WITHOUT the help from a safety car.... and Allan took the reigns from 26th position and 1.30 sec deficit after the stops. AMAZINGLY, there was no safety car for the entire race, and as much as Allan tried, the lead was too big. But given our status at 1am on Friday night, we gladly took 4th, and a lap record along the way. For Sundays race, Allan started from 4th and got to the front pretty soon, but the cyber glitch was still lurking and cost him the lead for a while, but he soon re-took it and had a great race with Crick to win in front of a respectable crowd. I worked it out that the crew members spent about 100 hours all up to get the car on track. And that's on top of all of us working through several nights and weekends in the build up to the event. A massively frustrating weekend, and a real rollercoaster of emotions for Ted Huglin and the ConChem team....
Conratulations to Alan.A superb race won by a superb driver.Phil is the Viper a quicker car than the 360?And was it just a matter of better driver on the day?The Viper seemed quite quick but ultimately Alan got the better of him.
Can't really say. The Viper was using Dunlops through a beurocratic cock up, and the control Michelins we were all (except the Vipers) given were a slow compound compared to our favoured Michelin, (which is good), but still not ultimately as fast as the Dunlop, but more durable. Obviously, Allan was at least half a second faster in the 360GT, and 2 sec in the race... but I think Allan would have driven the Viper faster on the day.... Yes. Go to Natsoft and check Allans race lap times/consistency... now consider there were 30 cars on track.... it was a VERY special drive from him. The guy delivers.... over 1 lap and over a race distance. He may have to return to the UK next year if he can't get a decent paid drive... it'd be a big loss to Aussie categories if he goes.
Phil what is your opinion on todays A1 race and the A1 Gran Prix in general?I thought it was ok just that the safety car driver probably got more lap time than any other driver.Sort of reminded me of Shanghai last October!
Fox 11 might show it during one of there programs but not sure for certain.Was there supposed to be Lambos there as well?
Ha ha! You obviously know very little about racing Ferrari's!!!!!. I've got about 45,000km of track experience preparing racing Ferrari's, and I've rarely seen much other than the race car and the hotel if I'm lucky. Were there other categories there then?? Seriously, I had a walk around and saw a little, but I was just too busy. We packed the truck and raced to the airport to catch a flight, so missed the main race.
Not exactly A1GP... but GT series races at Wakefield Pk this weekend (Nov 11-13), also a Christams 500km race there on Dec 9-11. Come out if you can, and give Ted a cheer. Allan will be in tassie driving a ute... i tried to stop him... you're only as good as the last drive you had... and this week Allan raced and won in a 360GT, then drove at Phillip Island a McLaren GTR, an F50, a 550GTS, a 360 GT and a 333SP... .....and now a Falcon Ute in Tasmania.... and he doesn't even own the shirt on his back... he's got a deal with Diesel clothing!!! oh well, not a bad week, until the ute.
