Nelson Speedway - NZ Championships - 14th & 15th January 2012
What a weekend!!! Where to start ... Thursday Night Practice I guess. I was glad to get onto the Nelson track again but with the recent rain it caught a lot of us out somewhat. A lot of cars understeered with several hitting the wall including Steve Williams (twice).
Friday Night was to be qualifying and as soon as the meeting got underway so did the rain dammit!
Qualifying postponed till saturday night and I gotta tell ya ... we went okay. Our group included the likes of Steve Flynn, Steve Williams, Richie Taylor, Ian Burson, Paddy North, Martin Halcrow etc so it wasn't realistic to expect 811 to qualify against such experienced competition. The car performed very well and we were rewarded with a 6th in the first heat ahead of Burson & Flynn. A 7th in the second heat was also very pleasing and we weren't that far off the pace. The third heat is where any chance of us qualifying ended. At the start the outside line of cars basically all drove straight out to the turn 1 wall with Taylor starting a chain reaction which tore 811 up quite badly and left us watching the race from the infield. A shame as apparently we would have been close to the cut-off point of entering the 20 for finals night. Plus this ended our reliable finishing streak at 17 races in a row. Once back in the pits it became obvious the severity of the damage which included r/r shock, rim & tyre, top and bottom links, bent exhaust system plus bodywork etc. However the main problem was the broken chassis roll hoop on the right side. This was stopping any chance of the replacement wheel & tyre fitting at all. Over to the rescue came Brendon & Ham from BRT and with a huge effort from both teams the car was miraculously ready for the repercharge. It was about this point that we found out we had won "Best Presented Car" for the meeting so one would assume they decided that before this crash LOL. I was very pleased to be able to finish the night with a driveable car although plenty of work was gonna be needed in the workshop before we went much further.
Overnight my Nelson crew team had arranged for Garth of Creative Colours to open his workshop for us and my sincere appreciation goes out as without this assistance we would not have raced on the sunday night. Thanks heaps Garth. Check out the workshop page for images.
The sunday night produced our best results to date with 2nd & 3rd placings in the consolation races however 811 received a punctured left rear tyre in the final race retiring 811 to the infield. Not the way I would have liked to finish.
This whole championship was very satisfying for all our team as the car (and the driver) are progressing very nicely. We appear to be getting some reasonable car speed and with a bit more effort and experience this should hopefully continue to improve. Thanks to Bryan at Austin Transport for your continued support. Thanks also to Charlotte & Cooper for helping out their Great Uncle Flash.
Next meeting ... NZ Grand Prix & Hoopla! at the glen. See ya's there.

Woodford Glen Speedway - 7th January 2012
Basically a night of testing tonight before we head up to Nelson for the NZ Championships later this week. We just needed to get another heat cycle through the engine for cylinder head re-torque and make sure everything is good to go. Gotta say I'm very pleased to have now finished 15 races in a row, however thats bound to change now that I have mentioned it here. Got our best race finish to date too with a 5th place in race 1. Our new crew member Aaron was invaluable tonight when he was kept busy changing the right front shock after we broke it during race 2. Race 3 I just cruised at the back as the track was knackered and we didn't need any more repairs this week. Got a lot of prep work to complete so see ya's all in Nelson.
Cheers ... Flash

Woodford Glen Speedway - Remembrance Championships - 26th December 2011
One word ... WOW! We are starting to get some car speed finally. A lot of good comments (except from the referee LOL) as we did a heap of wheel stands and generally had a ball (isn't THAT the whole idea?) We even finished one heat in the front half of the pack on a track that I had set the car up completely wrong HAHA.
The middle images are from Mainland Photos website so check them out for more.
Here's a small video of some of the action including two seperate versions of the 5 car pile up in heat 3. 811 was actually parked on top of 3 other cars but we still managed to drive off and complete the entire race LOL.
We will have 811 at the annual Spencer Park Gala on New Years Day which is always a great day out so see ya's there.
Also looking forward to the NZ Champs in Nelson in a couple of weeks. It's gonna be HUGE!
Cheers for now ... Flash

ELF Super Cup - 2nd & 3rd December 2011
One word ... AWESOME!
We finally got to compete in the ELF Super Cup. The first two rounds were held at Blenheim on the friday night and Nelson on the saturday night. We joined with another 15 drivers from around the south island and had a blast. We finished all six heats for the weekend which is a great start for us.
In Blenheim we had the generosity of Noel & Trish who put us up at the Aston Court Motel. Thanks heaps for helping at the track too Noel and we will see ya's again soon. Your help is most appreciated. On track we struggled for grip in the slick conditions and absolutely burnt the tread off the right rear tyre but it was a heap of fun doin it.
In Nelson we were privileged to use the cleaning bay at Austin Transport. Thanks for the assistance Bryan and we will definately take up the offer again in the future. Thanks also to Carl Nees & Scott Bonnington who prepared the car all day then crewed at the track and without their assistance we would have struggled to stay going. Thanks heaps guy's. I was a bit concerned at first that I would struggle to get the car around the tight Nelson track compared to the Honda that we raced there for many seasons. However I thoroughly enjoyed the hard revving sideways style and can't wait to get the chance to do it again. Our next meeting is the annual Remembrance Championships back at the Glen on Boxing Day so meantime have a great christmas everyone. Cheers till then ... Flash

Woodford Glen Speedway - 19th November 2011
Tonight was the Canterbury Super Saloon Champs at Woodford Glen. This was always going to be a tough night as cars from all over the south island fronted with 16 starters all up.
The Canty Champs always seems to bring out the best (and the worst) of a lot of drivers & teams for some reason. Tonight was no exception and although I knew from past years this meeting usually produces a bit of carnage, I didn't think it would be such a crash-fest!
It took many attempts to get some of the heats underway and by race end the infield was littered with cars virtually after every heat. 811 suffered a fair bit of damage during the course of the evening but we were very pleased to be one of only 9 cars which completed all three heats.
Heat 1: As the flag dropped I instantly lost vision due to the track being quite wet. Between this and struggling amongst the close quarter racing plus pulling tear-offs in the opening laps I lost a lot of placings. The track did not suit us what-so-ever so to finish in 11th ahead of a few cars was a nice surprise. And the bloody engine misfire is just not helping the cause either!
Heat 2: Again I struggled with the ruts in the track and just drove to avoid the crashes which were happening. 12n Shane Carey suffered extensive damage in this heat when 17c Brent Emmerson launched into the air along the front straight landing on Shanes bonnet and roof on the way through. We had a few good laps racing with 46e Paddy North (see video) during this heat but still finished at the blunt end in 10th.
Heat 3: Right at the start of this race we were crashed in turn 3 suffering damage to the rear suspension and wiping out the brake system (plus the bodywork was pushed up which had our rear spoiler as high as the roof yuck!). This race took several attempts to get underway with the north end of the track virtually blocked at one stage while I tried to avoid hitting anyone without any bloody brakes what-so-ever! In hindsight it's probably a daft idea trying to run a 700hp Super Saloon without any brakes but at the time I just wanted to finish all three heats. So I achieved that goal finishing at the blunt end again, this time in 9th place.

So considering the damage on some of the cars I guess we got off quite lightly but still a lot of work and repairs to be done. The damn engine misfire is proving elusive to find. We stripped the electronics and coil from the car and had them tested but they appear fine. So still looking for possible causes on that front. Suspension and brake repairs are also priorities.
We next head off to Blenheim and Nelson for the first rounds of the ELF Oils Super Cup series the first weekend of December. I am really looking forward to this as the past two years we have had to withdraw our entry due to blown engines. Gonna be a nice change to be racing in the series instead of being race director so fingers crossed we can keep the car going. My goal is to just finish as many races as possible regardless of finishing place.
Yours in Racing ... Flash
P.S. we are still looking for a suitable victim (oops I mean helper) to join the team so if you think you've got what it takes give me a call on (027)229-4644.

Woodford Glen Speedway - 11th November 2011
Only got a small amount of track time tonight. 811 had an oil surge issue which cut race 1 short for us however we did get some good video clips including in-car footage. Then when driving off to grid up for race 2 a rod end snapped in the rear suspension. One relief about this happening in the pits is that the damage is minimised compared to what would have occured should the suspension collapse at race speed. Phew!
I'm not gonna discuss race 3 here for the risk I will say something which could result in officialdom having yet another go.
Maybe I should write a book one day - wouldn't be a best seller but would be a good eye opener for a few people.
Lets all look forward to a fair and enjoyable Canterbury Championship meeting on the 19th Nov. Cheers ... Flash

Woodford Glen Speedway - 28th-29th October 2011
Our race season has finally got underway after a week's delay due to the stadium being doused with rain the week before.
This meant we had a double header to kick off the racing with the Trophy Challenge on Friday night and the Fireworks meeting on the Saturday night. Plus the bonus of a feature race each night. This meant 8 races planned for the weekend.
The aim with 811 for this season is to finish as many races as possible while getting in valuable (and much needed) track time so placings are not a priority. Now that may sound quite conservative but with the bar being lifted considerably in this class every year I gotta be realistic.
It's pleasing to have the engine behaving itself with normalised fluid pressures and temperatures which is a very promising start. We are chasing a misfire but once sorted we can concentrate on getting in a decent amount of track time hopefully.
We finished out of the top 5 in the trophy challenge on friday but we finished all 4 races for the night. Saturday night was a different deal with the biggest crowd attendance for the year at the Glen, 811 decided to tear the front driveshaft in half (see picture below) and that was just in the pre race warm up laps. So for the third year in a row we were spectators at the fireworks meeting. Maybe 811 is jinxed for this meeting !!!
Repairs and a new driveshaft are already underway so see ya's at the Glen next meeting. Plus I'm still seeking a suitable person(s) with reasonable mechanical knowledge to help out in the workshop and in the pits on race nights. So contact me at (027)229-4644 if you reckon you've got what it takes and want to be part of a fun team.
By the way! - I prepared the car outside home on saturday instead of using the workshop and it reminded me of a photo I had in an old album. Upon investigation I reckon it's exactly 30 years earlier. If nothing else it's a good laugh to compare it with the skinny guy workin on his 67 Falcon. Yours in Racing ... Flash

Woodford Glen Speedway - 17th September 2011
Well ... It's been a long hard road getting the new engine for 811 but finally we are up and running again. Today we had the first practice before the 2011-2012 season gets underway. We used this practice day as an opportunity to ensure all the fluid temperatures and pressures were behaving and generally just have a good time. It is pleasing to have the engine peforming as it should and it was very enjoyable pulling a couple of wheel stands on the day. However I did have the master Greg Keegan "coaching" me somewhat along the way and by the end of the day both he and I were pleased with the progress being made. Thanks Greg!
We hope to get in another practice before the racing kicks off for real in October so see ya's there. Cheers ... Flash

Ruapuna Speedway - 26th March 2011
WOW ... That makes a change to have a heading stating "Ruapuna Speedway".
Today I had the opportunity to have a couple of test drives in a TQ at one of their practice meetings. Father and son team Nigel & Aymon Bridger own and race the #23c TQ and I wish to thank them for offering me the drive.
After 29 years of racing a vast variety of classes I realised this was the first "open wheeler" and by all accounts we went okay. The car obviously isn't overly powerful compared to our Super Saloon but the power to weight ratio more than makes up for this. The car corners a heck of a lot faster which itself is a whole lot of fun!
Although I really enjoyed the opportunity, there is no intention of giving up getting the Super Saloon back on track and very soon hopefully.
Cheers for now ... Flash