2008 Events
WA State TitlesWhitemans Park - WA - 24th-27th January 2008
Well... the rumours are true... Perth is a beautiful place!!! And the Whitemans Park R/C track was definitely a more technical track than we expected.
After a couple of laps around, we were able to see where the focus needed to be and also accepting and following set-up advice from a particular local certainly helped aswell.
We got to the track after lunch on the Thursday to a full line up of drivers including Ian Haley, John Grupillo, Martin Wolhuter, Chris Russell, Justin Millan, Craig Laughton, Brad Smith, Gavin Newman, Rohan Martin, Steven Drygalla, Logan Bruecher, Jarrod King, Dale Smulders and many more local and interstate drivers.
Practice ran smoothly all afternoon, giving Steve Toon some time on the track to work out which set-up to run, and it also gave John Grupillo the chance to have a play with the "T1A", and although not quite set-up correctly for the track or for John's driving style, he ran it smooth and fast... and as he stepped down from the rostrum he uttered the trademark comment we have heard so many times now... "That thing just floats..."
Friday brought us to the beginning of the actual event. Having had a late night, we all somehow managed to not hear our alarms and completely missed the drivers meeting and concourse judging by about 10 minutes. This had not been in our plans! Controlled practice rounds started as we arrived, giving us time to set-up and get organised. The few changes made in our set-up improved the over-all performance and handling. Unfortunately, computer hiccoughs brought everything to a standstill in the afternoon leaving the drivers to decide whether or not they were willing to forfeit 2 qualifying rounds and get an early night.
After a relatively relaxed evening of gluing multiples of tyres, and not really getting the early night we had intended.
It was now obvious that everyone had adjusted to the track as the lap times had vastly improved, as we, and a number of guys were doing under 37's. Steve found his groove, and even the "whoops" were barely causing any concern for him. Things were leading up to a fantastic finals day, with Steve Toon and John Gruppilo playing leap frogs with their over-all positions of 4th and 5th going into the semi's. After all 6 qualifying rounds, Steve won out for 4th placing and John dropped down to 6th after missing his last qualifying round.
Sunday was yet another gloriously hot and sunny day in Perth, and despite the heat and glare of the morning, all the drivers, pit-crew and spectators were ready and waiting for the racing to begin.
Having watered the track right before our semi was to begin, meant a good start for all. The line-up began with Ian Haley, Steve Toon & John Grupillo... The sound of the engines revving filled the air, and then it was the humming idle as they waited for the signal...
"BAAWOOOOOOOOGGHHAAAA!!!" They took off...
Just as Ian Haley braked for the first turn, with Steve Toon right up his rear shock tower, their was a tangle of 4 trucks, just behind Steve. As the tangle cleared we saw John Grupillo being taken in with a broken front arm. Being the determined driver he is, John fixed the arm and got back out there, but unfortunately suffered a run of bad luck and didn't make the A-main.
Ian and Steve had a clear run for the first few laps, and things looked fantastic, the Panther Pythons were certainly a good choice of tyre and were hooking up perfectly, until the glue let Steve down and we had to replace a tyre. Having only lost one lap Steve got back out there and was catching up his place, when yet another tyre came unglued. He chose to stick it out and we all thought he would finish his semi on foams.
The A-Main final was never a given. When the line-up was printed, it was anyone's guess who would end up on that podium at the end of the day. The brief warm-up period made it clear that the drivers were tense, then they took their positions on the grid, and a 10minute was called. So another 10 past with everyones nerves starting to subside by the time they were back on the grid. Again ... the revving engines... the humming idles...and...
"BAAWOOOOOOOOGGHHAAAA!!!" It was on!!!
Starting at the back of the pack in 8th position was not Steve's preferred place to be, but he managed to avoid any tangles and moved into 2nd spot before the end of the 2nd lap. He cruised around in 2nd behind Ian haley, with both of them making it look like childs-play.
Around the 20 minute mark, you could see that the track had taken it's toll on everyone's tyres, and there was plenty of falling over to be had, with which at the 30 minute mark, Steve ended up with a broken ball-end on his steering.
His pit-crew (being John Grupillo and Brendan Flegg) managed to get him fixed and back out on the track in under 2 minutes. Although now down to 4th position and chasing lost laps, he managed to get back online and climb up into 3rd with still more than 5 minutes to go... he kept it cool and controlled, and brought it home...
Congratulations to all the Truggy drivers. It was definitely a good dose of quality racing, and most certainly a track that could not be classed as an easy drive.
A special note to John and Brendan; without whom Steve may not have pulled back 3rd place. Not only did they pit for us in the Main, but they hung around all day, despite their bad luck. Also, despite John having a severe migraine and suspected sun-stroke.
John was never-endingly helpful through-out our entire stay in Perth... and was kind enough to take a click-happy tourist down to Scarborough Beach to take some photo's of the Indian ocean, before racing us off to the airport to leave a beautiful sunny Perth to head home to rainy old Sydney...
