TeamVodafone 1-5th 

 

 

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Sunday 16 June 2008                                                                                                                                                 Jason Clarke wins his first Main Final for TeamVodafone1-5th at England Park Raceway

The morning started out well for the team with both Trent and Jason in their respective cars 888 and 88 posting reasonably good times on the board. R3 of qualifying saw Trent put Car 888 into P3 on the time sheets. At end of qualifying, both TeamVodafone1-5th machines made up 2 of the top 10, P3 Car 888 and P8 Car 88.

R3 saw great dice between both TeamVodafone1-5th cars as Jason and Trent were trading blows at each other with their respective lap times virtually for 15 laps it was like a see-saw until Jason had to pull out of the fight due to rear brake calliper issues. Due to a minor collision late in the run, this gave Trent a run just short of 27 laps in 10 minutes.

In the warm up R4 of qualifying, Trent driving Car 888 suffered a major blow with a spectacular accident flipping and rolling the car 5 times suffering substantial damaged to the right rear of the car.

The team had their work cut out for them to repair car 888 for the main race, unfortunately the team did not have the time to access the car fully as it was only afforded minimum time to just repairing the damage with that the team finished with 3 minutes to spare prior to the 5 minute warm up period of the main race.

 John Hamon and Russell Grenenger occupying the first two spots on the grid decided not to run in the main race, so that elevated all cars on the grid up two spots. In the warm up for the race both TeamVodafone1-5th cars were showing good signs early as to setup and speed.

Car 888 got a fantastic start off the line, holding down 1st position and gapping the field by the end of the first lap. With brake temps on Car 888 starting to reach their operating range Trent started to fell the rear brake pinch a little. This is an issue that is not ideal as it can snap the rear of the car around without too much notice and at times when you may not expect it. On the 3rd lap this issue started to cause serious problems for Car 888 causing the car to spin at one of the deceeleration points off the main straight sending the car off the track. With Trent deciding to try and press on and deal with the issue so he could finish the race. Jason managed to get through the field of cars in front of him and take the lead. Once Jason took the lead he was able to consolidate that and build a gap on the field.

Buy the end of the race Trent had managed to get Car 888 from being 5 laps down to back within half a lap of second place and with Jason 2 laps clear of second place. All in all this wasn’t a bad result for the team as Trent said, it gave Jason his first main race win which was well deserved and secondly it allowed the team to further develop strategies as to how to deal with issues that can arise in a race without having to retire the car.

Saturday 14 June 2008

Gallery has been updated with NSW Titles pictures

 

Saturday 19 April 2008

Video can now be viewed in Gallery Section. Dial-up BEWARE

 

Saturday 15 March 2008                                                                                                                                                   Race Report for TeamVodafone 1-5th,  Day 1 at the South Australian 1-5th Championships: 

The day started quite well for TeamVodafone 1-5th. Morning practice saw Trent do a shake down of Car 888 to ensure the changes made from yesterday’s free practice were positive. Although the car lacked a little race pace early the team made a couple of changes in the gearing of Car 888. Round 1 proved to be a very average round for Car 888 as Trent could not achieve the balance required in the tyres to maintain a consistent run.  

The team made another couple of changes to the gearing plus to the tyre selection for Round 2. This proved to be quite positive as we have started to achieve the consistency and balance in the car we had been looking for. After Round 2 Trent put Car 888 into P5. Again a minor change was made to the Car 888’s roll centre for Round 3. Trent had good pace early and was projected to improve his run substantially but around the 4 minute mark into the race Trent unfortunately had two spins and due to this thought that he had destroyed his run and bought Car 888 back to the pits. After Round 3 Trent was placed in P8. 

The team then prepared the Car 888 for Round 4, this was the teams best run to date in Adelaide as Trent had driven a virtually faultless run and Car 888 was running very consistent in it’s lap times until the last lap where Trent unfortunately spun Car 888 coming onto the back straight as he got onto the dirty line entering the straight. This spin cost Trent 2 seconds even though he recovered the car from the spin quite quickly this cost him from placing the car into P6 after Round 4. 

Adelaide is the first event to run the new rule where the Top 6 drivers go automatically into the Main Final. The team has made a couple of small changes to the car overnight to prepare Car 888 for the finals tomorrow, Sunday March 16.

Car 888 is the only car that the team has fielded for the event as Jason Clarke who drives Car 88 could not attend due to prior commitments.  

Photos can now be viewed in the Gallery Section.

Tuesday 26 February 2008                                                                                                                                                  A dear friend of TeamVodafone 1-5th is not well:

Today TeamVodafone 1-5th learned one of our dear friends Margaret Murdoch has been diagnosed with breast cancer and we sincerely wish Margaret and her family all the very best wishes through this time and that our prayers and thoughts are with her and the family.

Tuesday 26 February 2008                                                                                                                                                  Race Report for Round 3 at England Park Raceway for TeamVodafone 1-5th:

The morning practice session started off quite well with both Cars 888 and 88. Some minor changes were made to both cars since Round 2 and both cars responded well to the changes. Both drivers Trent and Jason commented that the cars felt more consistent.  

Heat 1 saw Jeff Hamon in his Trackside RC racer come out the box with lightening pace and set a benchmark of 27 laps in 10 minutes. Trent in Car 888 was on a similar pace early but around the 6 minute mark, Trent said, he felt that the car had gone away from him (lost its consistency). Jason on the other hand had a great run in Car 88. This was Jason’s first run on the PMT Eclipse Tyres supplied to TeamVodafone 1-5th by Greg and Maria Collins from Taipan Racing Australia. Jason’s comment on the new tyres was very favorable, he said he felt that the Eclipse tyre gave him more consistency earlier in the run but required the car to be driven slightly different to the previous Gandini tyres.  

Heat 2 saw Trent retire from the run early as Car 888 developed a similar issue to Heat 1 but slightly worse as he said the rear of the car was not allowing the car to track as it should through the corners, this issue affected the exit of the corners and required a lot more effort to drive and prevent the car from spinning when exiting the corner and feeding the power on. Jason again had a better run than Heat 1 and put a great time of 26 laps in 10.19 minutes. This was Jason’s first 26 lapper in 10 minutes at a club level. This was a fantastic effort by Jason as only 12 months ago he was just reaching the 24 laps in 10 minutes at club level. Jeff Hamon improved his lap count in the heat with 28 laps in 10 minutes, which was a fantastic effort at club level.  

Heat 3 for Trent and Car 888 saw some improvement but an underlying issue still remained in the car. Trent at least put a reasonable time on the board of 26 laps in 10.09 minutes. Jason improved his time once again with 26 laps in 10.15 minutes. During the break between Heat 3 and 4 both cars had some minor changes made to them to improve the drive out of the corners. These changes proved favorable in the warm up of Heat 4 but again small issues dogged Car 888 and on the 1st lap Car 888 lost its main drive gear due to picking up a loose stone from the track surface. Unfortunately there was not enough time to replace the gear set and get back on to the track to set a better time than previously set. Jason in Car 88 had a terrific run and was improving on his previously set times only to be taken out by another driver with some sub-standard driving etiquette. This unfortunately saw the retirement of Car 88 from that run. 

Both cars were prepared for the final race which is ½ hour in duration and quite demanding on the cars. On the starting grid saw Jeff Hamon on P1 with Trent on P3 and Jason on P4, had a ring in on the starting grid with the Wealth and Acceleration Group racer between Trent on P3 and P2. The race started and saw Car 888 clipped and spun by the WAG entry into the second corner. Jason in Car 88 missed all the action and managed to get the car into 3rd place. Trent in Car 888 managed to get the car heading in the right direction and put his head down and make some headway through the field getting the car back into 3 rd position until lapping a car at the rear of the field which unfortunately saw a minor race incident spinning both cars on to the grass. This held things up briefly and put Car 888 1 lap down on 1st and 2nd place.  

Again Trent managed to keep get his head down and unlap Car 888 on 2nd place and started to make some great headway to putting the car within short striking distance on 2nd place. Again lapping a back marker saw another race incident which unfortunately damaged the rear suspension on Car 888 and subsequently affected the performance and eventually Car 888 went 4 laps down on second place but still held onto 3rd for most of the duration. Car 88 had to come into the pits for some engine adjustments. The duration in the pits was about 100 seconds, but Jason knuckled down to get the car back into 4th position and making very good time. With about 2 minutes to go Jeff Hamon who was leading the race lost drive in his Trackside RC racer and had to retire from the race.  

This eventually moved the second place car into first place and Car 888 into second place with Jeff moving back to 3rd place on lap count. Overall TeamVodafone 1-5th was happy with the way the day finished placing 2nd and 4th but look forward to getting the cars back to the workshop to rectify the issues that had plagues the cars through Round 3.

(PICTURES WILL BE POSTED IN GALLERY SOON FROM R3) 

Monday 19 February 2008                                                                                                                                                  Race Report for Round 2 at England Park Raceway for TeamVodafone 1-5th:

Saturday night TeamVodafone 1-5th attended Round 2 at England Park Raceway. Trent Aquilina returned to the controls for the first time in 2008. Today Trent was driving T8 RC Race Engineering's 3'rd team car which is Car 8 the Asian Auto Spares entry. Car 8 is normally driven by David Miller but in place of David's late absence, Trent took over the controls. The first 4 qualification heats saw Trent and Eden sorting out some brake balance and drive train issues which only allowed the Trent to qualify for the 2nd final in 5th spot. But as Trent explained he would have rather sorted the car in the heats as to provide a good race car for the final, which is exactly what was provided to Trent.

The race was 1/2hr in duration and started with mixed results for Trent. He got Car 8 off the line cleanly but mid way through the first corner he was squeezed by two other following cars which resulted in Car 8 being turned around 180 degrees. By the time Trent turned Car 8 around the lead pack were entering the front straight. With the car now heading in the right direction the team was able to assess the body damage to Car 8 and see how it affected the handling of the car. On lap 3 Trent had managed to get the car back around the mid pack and decided to bring the car into the pits for some body repairs. After about 15 seconds in the pits the car was released by the team, this put Car 8 virtually 1 lap down but the time in the pits was well worth it, Trent later explained. After the 10 minute mark Trent had un-lapped himself and put 1 complete lap on the field. By the 20 minute mark Car 8 was ahead of the field by 2 complete laps which Trent then decided to conserve fuel to ensure he finished the 30 minutes. As in the 1/2hr finals you are not allowed to refuel the car, you are allowed 700 ml of fuel and no more. At race completion, Trent finished 2 and a half laps ahead of the field, he explained how happy he was with the car and that it was nice to have his first win for the season on his first race back for the year.   

Today Jason Clarke was the face of TeamVodafone1-5th with Trent driving the Asian Auto Spares Car. Jason with Car 88 had a very good start to the night with a very productive practice session. A few minor adjustments were made to the car during practice which provided the car with a little extra speed. By the end of race 3 Jason had qualified Car 88 in 5th position for the day which was a terrific effort by both Jason and the team. Unfortunately heat 4 did not go as planned with Car 88 developing what was thought to be induction issues with the engine, as the engine could not idle properly. After changing engine the intake gaskets the problem remained with the car. The team decided to change a spark plug on the engine and this fixed the issue. 

Jason started Car 88 5th on the grid for the 'A' main final. He got off to a great start missing all the carnage at the start putting him into 4th spot. After about the 5 minute mark Jason relinquished 4th spot as something had developed on the car to allowing it not to handle 100 percent. After a further 10 minutes the issue developed further when the lower ball joint separated from the left rear wheel hub. This cost Car 88 a reasonable amount of time in the pits, but with the super effort of the team, Eden was able to get car repaired and back racing again. Unfortunately Jason could not make all the lost time up as he was quite a way down on laps but after the repairs Car 88 showed the same speed prior to the mishap, which was a good sign as to how well the car retained its set up. With 2 minutes to go the damaged insert in the left rear hub let go and caused the same issue as earlier. This unfortunately saw the end of Jason's and Car 88's race. After the race Jason was quite upbeat about what had happened as he said apart from the issue with the rear left hub he was very happy with Car 88's performance and said we will go back and analyze what caused the issue and give it a red hot go in Round 3 on the 24th of February at England Park Raceway.  

Friday 08 February 2008                                                                                                                                                  TeamVodafone 1-5th welcomes Terry Russell to the team:

TeamVodafone 1-5th would like to extend a very warm welcome to our new team member Terry Russell. He brings to TeamVodafone 1-5th a vast amount of Public Relations and Event experience  and will manage all our future event demonstrations and media commitments.  

Tuesday 05 February 2008                                                                                                                                                  TeamVodafone 1-5th reveal new livery for 2008:

TeamVodafone 1-5th today revealed their new war paint for 2008, with some new sponsors on board. The new livery is a great enhancement to the 2007 livery. The fresh look gives the car a great appearance and definition on the race track. Both Jason Car 88 and Trent Car 888 commented that they can't wait to hit the track with their new look 2008 TeamVodafone1-5th BF Falcons.    

Monday 04 February 2008                                                                                                                                                  New look websites for TeamVodafone 1-5th and TeamVodafone for 2008:

TeamVodafone 1-5th today with TeamVodafone release their new look websites to the public. The new look websites will give the fans a greater experience when they interact with some of the new features on the sites.  

Sunday 27 January 2008                                                                                                                                                  TeamVodafone 1-5th 1st race report for 2008:

TeamVodafone 1-5th today had its first hit out in TeamVodafone1-5th BF Falcon Car 88 with Jason Clarke at the wheel. Morning practice went quite well with the car showing really good pace early. 

This pace followed through the first two qualifying heats with Jason posting a time of 25 laps in 10min.02sec. This time placed Car 88 well up the pack for a good grid position for the main race. In race 3 Car 88 was bought in for a few tweaks to the engine as it was brand new for that run. With engine tweaks out the way the pace of Car 88 was back up to speed and ready for the main race.

With the main race Jason got off to a great start and all cars managed to get through the first few corners without to many dramas. Car 88 started to settle into a good battle with a couple of the other competitors for quite a few laps where Jason was really starting to push along. Unfortunately at about the halfway point Jason had a coming together with another car which was a few laps down on the field and the Car 88 was starting to struggle to get around the corners again so after a few more laps the Car 88 was brought into the pits and inspected and found that the right rear axle was bent and that was the cause of the bad handling so the car was retired from the race. Jason only managed to complete 39 laps overall but still managed to finish with 8th place overall for the day, this was a pretty good effort despite the race drama's.

TeamVodafone 1-5th is now looking forward to round 2 on February 9, where Trent will hit the track again with Car 888