Round 4 - Phillip Island - 19-22 September 2013

[Topgear]

Surprising and disappointing end to the weekend...
No wonder competitors are hard to enthuise now days...

[jd yort]

Can someone fill me in with what went on down there. I have seen Natsoft results but what were all the problems Darren, Tony & Kerry had and what does that mean for the championship now?

[jd yort]

Ok this has filled in some of the blanks.
http://m.speedcafe.com/?p=191862

Go Tassie RS!!!!!!!

[Topgear]

From what Ive heard...

Darren and Kerry had noise issues, (something they have never had an issue with at any other race track)
They made numerous attempts to keep the noise down, but were black flaged in race 2 and told to pack up and go home!?
Darren even got totally off the throttle past the noise meter but rumour has it they (management) believe they were "taking the PI$$" and told to go home...
Dont know about Tony, looked like front spoiler issues...

Must say knowing the effort and expense that every competitor puts in to going to a race meeting I cant say im in a hurry to do a national round if thats how they treat people...
Poor Kerry has driven all the way down from QLD then told to go home...

[toranaracer]

Hang on a minute :mad:

What you are saying is not entirely the truth.

PM me if you want to know what actually happened behind the scenes.

Anyway well done to Bruce, Daniel and Bob on fantastic results.

We had an early engine hickup on Friday but managed to bring the car home for a change with the engine still running B), just need to get it out of a stuck second gear.

toranaracer

[loser]

Don't know the goings on behind the scenes and what actually happened other than Darren and Kerry being black flagged.
However, if it was noise related, Phillip Island are very strict on it now because they have to be. The greenies are constantly on their back about the noise. There's a rule and they are very strict on that rule.
Sandown is even worse again because of the close proximity to residential areas. So if they were noisy at the island, they'd want to be a lot quieter at Sandown.

On another note. Good for you Damo to keep going and great effort to come back after Friday.

Also a HUGE congratulations to Mr Bruce (Leo Wanker) Banks and the whole Wanker team. Great bunch of blokes and a very deserving winner. Keep up the great work.

[FalconEL]

I'm also not aware of the drama behind the scenes (and to be honest if there is any, we're staying right out of it). The issue with noise will always be an issue at places like PI & Sandown. The 95dB@ 30m drive-by has been in the CAMS Manual for many, many years, some tracks with noise problems police it a little more strictly because they have to due to EPA issues.

There is no conspiracy, the rule is in the book, we have to run at 95dB@ 30m and it applies to all. And noise will continue to be a problem as the years roll on.

I had no time for Twitter or Facebook updates, we had a bit on the whole time.......Shane finished an excellent 3rd in Race 1 in a conservative run, was chasing the leaders hard in Race 2 but fired off the track at Lukey Heights and into the gravel after a long brake pedal (self admitted driver error - and a costly DNF). We fixed the damage and rebled brakes for Race 3 and had a strong drive through the field from a rear of grid start to finish a terrific 2nd and was chasing Tamasi hard for the win. We were pretty happy with our pace on the weekend, we're now one of the fastest TransAm cars ever to lap PI with a 32.1 in Qualifying and could run in the 33's in the races fairly easily.

Congratulations to Bruce Banks for the Round win, the 56 crew are a terrific bunch of guys, and to all the other competitors who made it a really enjoyable weekend to be a part of as always!

It was excellent to share a shed with Damian Johnson again, you guys are a credit to the Series, and the speed from the Torana is amazing for a 3300cc car. 1.40's is super quick! In fact it was a weekend of achievement, a top effort by Bob McLoughlin and Colin Smith to get into the 36's first time at the track in their cars. Charlie got the 81 into the sub-40's also. Robbo was very quick with a 33 in qualifying. Disappointingly, Coxy had a front spindle failure on the Saab after setting his own PB.

Coming into the final round, we're currently lying 2nd in the Series points, only 22 points behind Bruce B.Banks Rx7 56 and looking forward to a great run down at Sandown in November!

[viper358]

Darren and Kerry's cars are in the same configuration as last year! How come the different readings and how come the adversarial response to Darren's attempt to go slow past the recording area! There were over twice as many entries for the NSW champs as the Shannon's National SS round! This kind of bully boy tactic won't enhance numbers! Why is the Moto GP given dispensation! They are regularly over 120db !!

[Nadz44]

My argument in regarding this is, were they told they were over the db limit during fri practice/ Saturday qualifying???

[FalconEL]

My argument in regarding this is, were they told they were over the db limit during fri practice/ Saturday qualifying???

Yes, competitors over the limit were told and given an opportunity to attempt to quieten the cars down.