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2009 Queensland AARCMCC 1-5th Championships |
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Written by Terry
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Thursday, 24 September 2009 17:00 |
Friday 28th August
We had our morning briefing at 9am and got straight into practice at 10:30am. Mal and Eddy were very keen to test some new components as well as trying out a few different settings. This proved to be a great idea with the car steadily improving. Track grip was excellent and kept improving all weekend. This meant we had excellent car speed. Technical Inspection followed to ensure the car complied with all regulations set by the governing body AARCMCC. The team then traveled to into Brisbane City to enjoy a nice afternoon coffee.
Saturday 29th
As usual the morning started quite relaxed with a Morning Briefing. We then hit the track in the first controlled practice session to test the timing systems on the car and for the circuit at England Park Raceway. The session went very well as Mal and Eddy found some additional speed in the car from the day before.
TeamVodafone1-5th then hit the track in anger for the first 10 minute timed session setting a very good pace early in the heat. The team finished with a qualifying time of 27 laps in 10:04.507 minutes with a best lap time of 22.389sec. The team had some problems during Qualifying (Round 2) the engine developed a leak in the air inlet side of the engine causing it to run lean not allowing the engine to develop full power.
After Mal made some minor changes to the engine intake and rectified the leak issue, we hit the track for Round 3 Qualifying. The changes made by the team were excellent and Trent managed a time of 28 laps in 10:10.655 minutes, with a best lap time of 021.289 sec and an average lap time of 021.809 sec. After this Trent was in a respectable position of P4 in qualifying.
In Round 4 of qualifying the team tried to improve the speed of the car to hopefully move the car up the qualifying ladder. Trent was setting a very good pace and placed the car into the 29 lap bracket. Unfortunately a couple of incidents during qualifying put our time back into the 28 lap bracket. Our round ended with a lap time of 28 laps in 10:12.563 minutes and a best lap time of 021.306 sec and average lap time of 021.877 sec.
Sunday 30th
We were feeling quietly confident as the boys had made some minor changes overnight which they thought would improve the car speed from Saturday. These proved to be sensational as Trent was able to improve on the Round 3 time, with a time of 28 laps in 10:04.295 minutes with a best lap time of 021.071 sec and an average lap time of 021.581 sec. Trent then drove like a man on a mission, twice driving through the sweeper at the end of the straight on two wheels. This run cemented our position in P4 after the conclusion of qualifying.
TeamVodafone 1/5th had the opportunity to hit the track one more time before the main race with a 20 minute practice secession. We tried two different tyre combinations as well as shifting weight around on the car to aid it through the high speed corners. Through out top 6 practice the boys from Chequered Flag Racing assisted us with changing the weight balance of the 888 car these guys are the Australian arm of factory FG Team.
With preparations finalised for the main race the whole team was confident that Trent would bring the car home in a good position. The drivers were introducd and the National anthem rang out. The warm up for the race started good with the tyres and brakes coming up to temperature as expected and the systems on the car performing as they should. With the cars on the grid waiting for the start the tension was high.
Once the starting horn was sounded Trent got the 888 car of to a great start jumping a clear position and running alongside the Trackside RC car of John Hamon in P2, until turn 2 when Russell Grenenger in car 3 from Chequered Flag Racing Australia contacted the rear of the TeamVodafone1-5th 888 FG, which put car 888 into a spin resulting in a roll over. Trent re-entered the track in P8 and after only two more corners Trent contacted car 9 of Gunther Siebler who had been involved in another track incident. The result being Car 888 ended up in position P9. Trent had to put his head down to see what he could salvage from the race as these incidents occured at the start of the race and we still had another 29 minutes of a 30 minute race to go.
On lap 17 Trent took 4th position from Andrew Herranz car 6 with a brilliant move under brakes off Pit Straight, but two corners after Andrew sadly contacted the rear left quarter guard of car 888 causing it to spin leaving us facing the wrong direction. Trent finally took back 4th position by lap 21 and with a solid run he was able to jump into 3rd position after car 3 ran out of fuel on lap 77. Trent was able to consolidate 3rd position by improving the gap between himself and car 9 of Gunther Siebler.
The TeamVodafone1-5th Car 888 made it home in 3rd position on 82 laps in 30 minutes Just behind John Hamon from Trackside RC in 2nd place and Jeff Hamon from Trackside RC in 1st place.
During the trophy presentation Trent thanked the teams sponsors Vodafone, NOKIA, Autofocus, Hog’s Breath Cafe and KOMATSU also the guys at Chequered Flag Racing Australia, as well as everyone at TeamVodafone1-5th.
The weekend celebrations were finished off nicely with a visit to The Hog’s Breath Cafe at Aspley where we displayed our 888 Car as well as our Race Truck. We would like to thank our generous host Shane who made sure that we were treated to a generous serve of Hogs Breath, Hogspitality. |
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Last Updated on Friday, 25 September 2009 21:31 |
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TeamVodafone 1-5h Partners with Norton 360 |
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Written by Terry
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Saturday, 22 August 2009 22:35 |
As many months of discussions with The Project Group, TeamVodafone 1-5th was approached to assist with the promotion of the Sandown 360.
Our first task was to host a promotional day at the world famous Melbourne Cricket Ground where we had set up a track in the layout of the Sandown Circuit. Team Principal and 888 driver Trent Aquilina was presented the task of building and painting six 18R Norton 360 race cars. Thankfully Tina was on hand to help with the painting and decals. These were then detuned slightly so that members of the public could have a first hand experience of racing a Radio Controlled Race Car.
On the day we were joined by V8 Supercar Drivers Craig Lowndes, Jamie Whincup, Will Davidson and Mark Winterbottom. Our four V8 Racers were each given a car and we hosted a series of Races to decide the Winner of the Inaugural MCG Sandown 360 Mini Challenge. Will Davidson was the eventual winner and he threw out the challenge for the Ford Drivers at Sandown the next weekend. Later in the day we were also joined by Matthew Richardson (Richo) from Richmond who was given some first hand driving tips by Craig Lowndes.
The Following week we were back in Melbourne for the Sandown 360. We were set up in the merchandise area with a huge copy of the Sandown Track where we held the Mini Sandown 360 Challenge. Members of the public were then given the opportunity to race each other and the clock to become the daily champion. Each day the winner was taken to the official podium where racing legend Allan Moffat would present them with a replica trophy signed by all 30 V8 Drivers as well as a beautiful replica RC TeamVodafone car.
I would like to congratulate the team on their efforts over the entire weekend. Trent and Tina for the cars, Mal and Eden for the running repairs and myself for comparing the event. Our good mates at Norton 360 were blown away with our professionalism and look forward to working with us again.
Many thanks must also go to our good friends at Trackside RC, Old Geelong Road at Hopper Crossing for the use of their workshop. Believe me these guys have everything. |
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Hogs Breath Café jumps on board |
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Written by Terry
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Friday, 28 August 2009 22:40 |
We are very happy to announce that Hogs Breath Cafés have also taken on TeamVodafone 1-5th as our latest sponsor.
Hogs Breath has cafés all around Australia and are renowned for their interest in all forms of motor sport. Everyone in Motorsport knows Hoggie the Hogs Breath Mascot and we look for to seeing him soon at a track near you. Well we are off now for one of those fabulous slow cooked Prime Ribs. Mmmmm Hogs Breath. |
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2009 AARCMCC Queensland Championships |
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Written by Terry
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Friday, 28 August 2009 22:39 |
This weekend the 29th and 30th sees TeamVodafone 1-5th competing at the 2009 AARCMCC Queensland Championships being held at England Park in Brendale located on he Northside of Brisbane.
Saturday will see us in Qualifying Heats which are 10 minutes each. We will be racing the clock to get the best time over 10 min, this will decide the order in which we start on the grid for the main race on Sunday. The top 6 drivers then automatically go through to the final 30 minute race whilst the remainder of the drivers have to race though quarter and semi finals which are 15 and 20min in duration.
The final race is comprised of 12 cars and is run over half an hour, absolutely no refueling is allowed as 700ml of fuel is allocated to each team for the entire race and we must be able to run the distance. Go to hard and use up all your fuel and you are out of the game.
Feel free to come along and see us as we will be keen to do well this weekend. |
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