What a Week Teething problems with the Outback Express WA 1 A-Z Rocket have left the team a little despondent but full of confidence after the first two meetings for the new car have yeilded little in the way of points in the chase for the Summer Series title. The team travelled to Kwinana for the opening night on Oct 25 brimming with confidence that the new car would deliver straight out of the box and while the handling of the new WA1 Rocket was very much to Robs liking, the car was suffering from down low grunt that the team chased all night Starting from position 18 in the first heat Rob pushed the car through to a creditable 8th place finish and his first points of the season. With that out of the way and the Car still looking pristine Rob ventured out for the second heat to a front row start and a second place finish behind the Ultratune Monaro of Murray Ivanow. The two results saw Rob start from position 4 for the feature and after a slow start Rob settled into third spot slightly adrift of the two leaders but clearly with good speed when the car was wound up. A last lap incident with the pursueing Giancola would see the WA1 make contact with fence and drop back to finish 8th. So much for the unmarked car would be Robs comment after emerging from the car at the transporter. With the car appearing to be better after some work during the week the team climbed aboard the team transporter on Saturday morning and travelled the 7 hours to Collie with the belief that the engine woes were cured and the weekend would produce a good points haul as the team always performed well at the South West venue. Boy! were we wrong as the car came in after hotlaps suffering the same problems from the previous week. The team worked feverously and traced the problem to the fuel pump / line. The team made some temporary modifications to the fuel system and Rob was allowed to do a couple of laps to confirm the problem was rectified. The car looked a different beast as Rob stood on the gas down the front straight for the first of his laps. Thumbs up as he rolled past the crew on the return lap. With little time before his next heat Rob stayed belted into the car as Frank looked over the engine dept to ensure that all was good. Having missed his first heat, Rob was keen to make amends and Rob drove away to take his first win with the new car. His next heat produced a fourth place finish and a position 10 start for the 25 lap feature. With the feature being the last event of the night it was apparent that the track would go away and the team set the car accordingly. When the green dropped Rob put the car up on the high line and had passed a number of cars though the first two turns and the back straight only to arrive in turn three to see cars spread sideways across the track and nowhere to go. Rob managed to avoid the other cars but glanced the wall with the impact bending the RH lower control arm and the crew watched as the car slowly made its way to the infield to take no part in the restart. And so ends a week to forget! The team wil now regroup and get prepared for the Esperance/ Kalgoorlie double header weekend on Dec 5/6 08 Look forward to seeing you trackside soon The Outback Express |
