JOHN BRIGGS RACING

2011-05-21T23:01:00.002+10:00

2011-05-21T23:00:00.001+10:00

Round 3 Tas Super Series May 15 2011

2011-05-21T22:21:00.007+10:00

SUCCESS!!!!!! Finally after a long hard slog, we tasted victory last Sunday! 3 from 4 race wins, qual 2nd and settled for 2nd in the final. It was what I like to call A GREAT DAY!!

And also won the Sports Sedans too! (well only 2 cars, I qual 1st and neither of us ran again, the other car had problems and I only wanted to use the qual for extra practice)

The car, after all the problems we've had, now boasts 300kws (400hp) with a bigger turbo and new intake and exhaust manifolds. I broke the Sports GT B lap time (60sec) twice so I had to back off! We cant afford to run in A class, I want to be able to go easy on the car instead of thrashing it! So in the end it was quite an easy win, but after years of trying and the drama's we have had...Im not complaining!!

Would like to thank, David Clifford Photography, Cable Mate, Steeline Roofing Hobart, Dejay Signs and Benson Motorsports.

2011-05-17T18:48:00.001+10:00

2011-05-16T09:14:00.001+10:00

TSS R2 13th Mar 2011

2011-03-15T17:05:00.004+11:00

After having our fair share of problems and 4 trips to the dyno, we finally made it to a race meeting. Sadly, it wasn't a great day. I cross entered so I could get some more tack time and in the first practice I thought the oil pressure was getting a little low so I came in only to find a small fire on the turbo heat shield! Blew that out, checked oil level then went out for second practice, but dropped the revs down thinking the turbo was overheating due to the increase in power (250kw up from 222).
Qual 5th in class (12th overall) passed a few cars, made it to 3rd then the overheating started. Dropped back to try and cool it, but it wasn't working. Finished the race at a slow pace.

Race 2 was the same story and I DNF. No point getting in every ones way going slow and no fun either.
Race 3 and I tired using the water spray, but ran out of water. The system we are using is not good enough. DNF after 3 laps.

So we came home and on Monday removed the radiator, checked the thermostat, that was working. Cleaned the radiator out, was pretty clean. Took it to be modified as both hoses attach on the same end and it doesn't seem to be using the entire area to cool. Also brought a high pressure cap and will install again later this week.

Brought a Garret gt3071 turbo, which will be better than the one we have. Also have a new exhaust manifold and intake manifold but will leave the intake for now.

Thanks to Cable Mate, Steeline Roofing Hobart, Dejay Signs, Batteries 2 Ur Door, David Clifford Photography and Benson Motorsports.

2011-02-13T17:45:00.003+11:00

Tas Super Series R1 Feb 13th 2011

2011-02-13T17:10:00.003+11:00

Like to say Ive had a successful day at the track...but I'm not even at the track! Since my last post, we have been rebuilding the engine which has cost way too much and we are not ready to race and we are up for more repairs. I dont know what Ive done to deserve the shit that been happening but Ive done something! Yes, I will admit some of it has been our fault, minor things that have turned into big things. but fair crack of the whip, when will it end?

We got the car ready 2 weeks ago, took it to be tuned and run in. We had a couple of minor water and oil leaks that we fixed. Unbeknowst to us though there was another water leak at the back of the motor which was found when it was too late. We fixed it and took it back, but the damage had been done..blown head gasket. So we replaced that will a metal one and new head studs to boot. Had to wait a few days to get some other bits and once we started the car it was running really rough. Turned out that when we took the camshafts out get at the studs (we didn't have a socket that would fit with the shafts in, we do now) we needed to bleed the lifters. We did that but not enough. We went through compression tests as well and they finally were good. Put it all back together for the..I lost count time....started it up and after a few seconds there was a horrible sound like something loose. In fact it tuned out to be one of the cams had spun and ruined one of the ends (see photos)

Cant take a trick. It was line ball to whether it would of been tuned in time and the shop I buy fuel from was closed when its usually open. So everything was against us racing this weekend.

TARGA INVITATIONALS @ SYMMONS PLAINS 2010

2010-11-20T19:11:00.006+11:00

Was so looking forward to this meeting, 4 days off work, 4 days with my other half, 4 days of being nothing but a racing driver!! So, why did it all go so wrong????? Time with my girlfriend=great, the rest=PITA (pain in the ass) It all started going wrong really before we set of on Thursday so ill start there.....

Thurs 11th Nov
Picked up trailer and did some small last minute things. One sponsor, Worksence was unable to come to the party at the last minute... PITA #1 We had trouble getting the trailer lights to work ...PITA #2 The immobilizer on my road car decided not to work for about 20 mins ...PITA #3 Finally got away nearly an hour late! Called in to see the guys at Steeline on the way through. Thanks again for your support!
Got to the track around 5pm, unloaded and went to hotel

Friday 12th Nov
Rolled up for drivers breifing and waited for practice. On the first lap intercooler pipe blew off. Made it back to the pits, fixed it and it come off again. Got a tow back. PITA #4

Qualifying was split in two which didnt suit me. I need track time and only got 8 mins. Car overheated anyway. PITA #5

Sat 13th Nov
13 and I dont get along so I should of known is wasnt going to be good. Race 1 (and the only race I did) ended after 7 laps with low fuel (thought I had plenty) and low oil pressure. As I came in I heard the engine rattling and thought not again. PITA #6

Sunday 14th Nov
Got stuck at hotel when immobilizer decided not to work again. Half an hour later......PITA #7

Not sure if the engine had let go or not, it had stopped making noises, brought some Stop Smoke to see if it would help oil pressure. Lined up for Race 3 but it was cancelled due to a crash in another race. Did a warm up lap only and the oil pressure was still no good anyway. Packed up after that, watched part of V8 race and left for home....deflated.

Tues/Weds/Thurs
Started pulling engine out. Found worn main bearings.Why? Dont know. Only did 15 laps. Was it something we did wrong rebuilding it? Only time will tell. PITFA #8

Was hoping to race at the Tas Super Series final round on the 28th, but that wont happen. Have to wait to 2011.

So thanks to David Clifford, Steeline, Batteries 2ur Door, Cable Mate, Benson Motorsports and Dejay Signs. Im sorry we couldnt give you a better run for your money.

2010-10-29T21:03:00.012+11:00

Its just 2 weeks from the V8supercar round at Symmons Plains. The car is basically ready to roll, still have to run the motor a little more. Had an oil and water leak to fix, just have to do a few small things now.

I have managed to secure some sponsors for the weekend, and hopefully beyond!!

Firstly Batteries 2 Ur Door, an online battery sales and delivery business. They have a facebook page http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Gold-Coast-Australia/Batteries-2-ur-door/161807080497900 and should have their website online by race weekend.

Worksense workwear & safety http://www.worksense.com.au/
These guys jumped on board without hesitation, so if you need any workwear or safety gear, go see them!!

Cable mate http://www.cablemate.com.au/ have helped me out since I started. Lace and liz are great and if you need any type of cable made, see them.

David Clifford Photography http://www.r40media.com/ What can I say about a man that is 6'2 and welds a camera like no other?! Nothing other than he's great with a camera and a great bloke!!

Benson motorsports http://www.bensonmotorsports.com.au/ Stu has helped me out with parts and info since the beginning.

Im still hoping to resign another and maybe pick up a couple more, but time is running out.

Getting ready to Rumble!

2010-10-06T19:33:00.002+11:00

FALKEN TASMANIA CHALLENGE

2010-09-23T17:27:00.004+10:00

Well, here we go again. We are off to race at the V8Supercar meeting at Symmons Plains Nov 12-14. CANT WAIT!! Had a blast last year and this year I will be pushing a little harder. I have no championship to worry about, Ill just be out to have fun

Still have a lots to do before then, bedding the motor in and on track testing is needed once the new coilover suspension arrives, a new driving suit is in order along with hopefully securing some sponsors. That's the hardest part of all!!

At the moment we are working on the front bumper, to make it lower and adding a splitter/undertray. The latter bit was easy but how to lengthen the bumper? In the end we used rubber guard flaring you might see on a 4x4! Looks a treat and has added 50mm to the length. We just have to now attatch it to the tray.

This was done in part because we added such a large wing at the back.

The car now looks very racey and with the new parts hopefully go well too!. There is a slighty chance I may have a bigger turbo too but I cant say yay or nay just yet.

Im certainly jumping out of my skin to get it together and get back behind the wheel. It's been almost a year, who know's, maybe I can do a Skaify and have a win!!

Getting back into it.

2010-08-21T17:10:00.004+10:00

It been a slow year. No racing just waiting and rebuilding. The motor is back in the car and we should finish putting it together this weekend. I pick up a rear wing for $250 (I really only wanted a GTR one but this one was avalible so I brought it) and now I will want side skirts other wise the car might look strange. Also plan to make a lower lip and undertray for the front. New coilover suspenion is on the way so the car should handle really well now, I hope so cause there is no more power as yet and I am hoping to make up some time through handling

Looking to do a day of testing once we have it all together. The only race meeting we will do this year is the V8Supercars at Symmons Plains in Nov. Had a great time there last year and we are lucky that the Targa cars (or Sports GT as its now called) have been invited back.

From Feb 2 May

2010-05-18T20:17:00.007+10:00

No new sponsors so far, slowly working away at getting car running again. Round 4 is in August (13 weeks away) car will prob be ready by then but not sure if we will have enough cash to run. Still have to pay off tyres, renew licence........among other things. Would of liked to purchase new coilover suspension and bigger turbo, but very unlikely unless I can find sponsors.

2010

2010-03-04T16:40:00.002+11:00

Here we are. A new year, a new season....no car! Ok, we still have a car, but no engine. I purchased a motor off eBay only for it not to turn up. The person I brought it from (user name drift4u09) has taken the money and run. Police are investigating but chances of seeing the motor are nil and the money even slimmer odds. So I'm up you know where without you know what. I don't have thousands of dollars just to give away to any ratbag shithead. I hardly have enough to go motor racing in the first place. Now I'm forced to wait until I can raise the funds again or attract sponsors, pretty hard to do at the best of times. I can tell you how annoyed I am about the whole deal. As it was I looking forward to improving the car, not repairing it and then to have wasted $1200 and get nothing in return is just a slap in the face.
I know there are thousands of people worse off than I am in the world, but its still a bitter pill to swallow. I have hopes and dreams and most of them centre around motor racing, and to not be able to try and achieve those dreams can be tough.
Anyway I hope to be back on track sometime in the near future. Im on holidays for 4 weeks so that gives me plenty of time to try and stitch some deals together and make it back for round 3 of the Tas Super Series.

All's well that.....ah forget it (Final TSS Nov 28/29)

2009-12-08T19:53:00.004+11:00

Not the end of season I was hoping for. Started well enough on the Saturday, did some practice to get used to the new seat and steering. Looked like we did some fast times on the stop watch too.
Race day wasn't so good. 5th for the day and a little slower than Saturday which made me slower than the rest. I was enjoying the racing, knowing full well I couldn't do much about the pace of the others. It was going well till the last race when we had an engine failure of some sort. We are starting the process of removing the motor to find out what, at this stage we think its bearing failure.
So 4th overall for this season. 3 less than I was aiming for. We wont be seeing a track anytime soon, as first we have to fix the problem, then make the car faster and stronger. This will take some time. I expect to miss the first two rounds of the 2010 season...at least.

Like to thank Cable Mate, David Clifford, Hard 2 Beat Car Parts, Creative Chicken, Benson Motorsports, Mum and last but not least Dad, who is basically my team.

Phillip Island

2009-11-07T22:21:00.002+11:00

Unfortantly.....Im not there. Having missed round 5 for a couple of reasons.........we are here working on the car, getting it ready for the final round on Nov 29th. Missing the round has finished the season off points wise, we have now dropped to 6th in the standings. We may jump back a couple of spots, depends how the final round pans out. On the other hand we could drop more placings. Im not worried about that now, Id just like to have a successful day and end the year on a high.

The gearbox was looked at and nothing was really wrong with it. So we have changed oil and put the old gearshift back in and will try that. Hoping to do a test day shortly.

Have been getting some advice for car setup and doing what we can to implement the ideas. The cheapest ones are the easiest ones. Also, finally have a race seat. Im hoping to purchase new suspenion too before the final round, but its all dollars.

Gearbox out...so is trip to Phillip Island

2009-10-06T16:34:00.003+11:00

Well, got the gearbox out on the weekend but as yet to take it to be looked at. It will either be get it fixed or source another one.

Time is running out to confirm a trip to Phillip Island. I've contacted a few places for sponsorship, but yet to hear back. A fellow competitor is also trying for me and has offered me some sponsorship himself, which was a really nice gesture. But it may all come to nought depending on other finance and the gearbox situation. If I dont go I wont be at the next round of the Tas Super Series either as a sporting gesture to the guys that will also miss the round and for the above reason

To make matter worse, my mother's house was broken into and had some money stolen, so that is a consideration also. (BASTARDS!!!)

All in all it just doesnt look like it was meant to be this year. At seasons end we will rethink what we want to do, be it keep racing the Skyline, or get into something a bit cheaper like an HQ. The only thing thing is I might dose off driving a HQ, being the speed difference between the Skyline and an HQ!!

One problem solved

2009-09-26T21:18:00.003+10:00

Got the car back from the tuners today. A split hose into the turbo was leaking all my power!! It was down to 160kws...... from 222!! A pity we couldn't find the problem ourselves. Also have to remove the gearbox and do some work on that. Hopefully off to the track shortly to do some testing.

Other news, the V8's are racing at Phillip Island again in November and Targa class has once again been called to fill one of the support categories slots. Fantastic If I can get over there, but a couple of obstacles stand in my way. Money and time off work.

Another Disapointment

2009-09-12T17:06:00.009+10:00

I'm not sure If Ive done something wrong, but I cant seem to take a trick in the world of motor racing at the moment. It was another weekend of minor set backs that in the end robbed us of a possible round victory. It was a wet start to the day and
I tried a few setup changes that may of worked, but since I couldn't see where I was going, It came to nought. Having taken the heater etc out and having windows that I couldn't adjust, not to mention worn wiper blades, It was all I could do to stay on the track and not hit anything.

Anyway, It was mostly dry for the first race and indeed the rest of the day. One of the things I changed for the wet was the boost control. But that seemed to upset the car and it was never right for the day. I was well of the pace and indeed my own pace by about 3 sec's a lap. I had tons of grip but no GO. So what I could of done will remain a mystery for now.

In the end we could of won the round, as the eventual winner was around my potential pace and had a consistent day where as the runaway pace setters lost some places in the final.

So now its off to the tuner to get the power back and get ready for the next round in October. The gearbox has to come out too as there are some issues with 4th gear.

New Tyres

2009-08-15T16:45:00.004+10:00

What would Capt' Kirk do?

2009-08-11T23:15:00.004+10:00

He'd say, the situation is grime and the odds are against us. But he wouldn't give in, he would turn the odds in his favour, to save his crew, to fight another day.

That's the motto I will take with me for the remaining rounds this years. Its not over till its over, I can still win the championship, it wont be easy, but I have to be there to keep putting pressure on the other drivers, so they know if they want to win they will have to beat me at every round.

This of course, isn't life and death (even though motor racing is dangerous) but I was considering throwing in the towel and giving up on this years championship. But what does that say about me?

All this counts for nought though if I cant find the budget and fix the problems with the car (which we have and haven't fixed as yet)

It all looked good.....and then!!

2009-07-26T20:58:00.006+10:00

Things were looking good in the lead up to this weekend. We put the car on a diet and so forth and ordered 4 new tyres..that didn't arrive. I was told they will be here Monday (they arrived but 2 have been sent back cause they are the wrong size!!).
So the weekend started badly even before the weekend started. I was feeling pretty down knowing the tyres I have are knacked. Qual started and the first problem surfaced, brake trouble. The pedal was nearly going to the floor, for reasons unknown. I stuck it out best I could but my best wasn't good enough and I Qual 5th.

Once back in the pits problem #2, oil leak. It was hard to get at and I ended up missing the first race. Dad cut and burned himself trying to fix it. We then changed and bleed the brakes, but this didn't really do any good. There was no air in the braking system. We got ready for Race 2 and I carved my way through to 5th from the rear of grid. Not bad considering.

Problem #3 also hampered me in having gearbox trouble and not being able to select 4th or get out of it for a time. This wasn't a problem in race 3 but came back again in the final.

Race 3 we improved again to finish 3rd, but I also had another problem in the the power steering. It was fine till I started warming the tyres up on the formation lap then the steering went heavy. Reason again, unknown.

In the final race there was a bit of carnage at the first corner, I lost a place but was still in 3rd as one of my class was part of the carnage.
I would of finished 3rd if not for being held up by a faster car having troubles thus letting a car I was battling with catch and pass me when I couldn't get it into gear (yet again)

So once again I have finished lower than I could of. 5th when I could of finished in the top 3.

But I guess others had a worse day than me, one being my mate R.Marsden who crashed his HQ. At least it wasn't his Skyline.

This has hurt my chances in this years Targa B championship. I have dropped to 4th and 1st is now 96 points ahead, with 3 rounds remaining.
I can still finish 2nd, but it would take the leader to have a bad day for us to challenge for the title.

And so we have a few things to rectify and 5 weeks to do it. Its possible we may miss the next round although I hate missing race meetings. We dont get alot of them. I really wish I could race more often.

Just a week to go!!

2009-07-17T15:13:00.003+10:00

Nearly finished. Round 3 is just around the corner. Hoping for fine weather. Racing against 4WD cars is hard enough, let alone trying to do it in the wet. Hoping that all we have done to the old girl is enough to improve the car by half a sec or more. 4 new tyres will arrive just in time for the weekend, which will also help.
If it all goes well, I could be carrying on like some unknown F1 driver did last weekend, forget his name!! Beleive me, I will too!!

The work continues

2009-06-28T17:10:00.006+10:00

This list has changed many times in the last couple of weeks

The thermo fan and realigned oil cooler.

I asked for CLEAR!!!

This is what's left of the tyres...not much. We have 2 smaller sized one's for the front which should get us through Round 3 (July 26) and will buy 2 new ones for the rear. They will be softer compound so not sure how long they will last. These ones will be used if needed. The idea is to use the softer tyres for Qual and try and get on the front row and then get good starts and make the others find a way round me....if they can.

I'm getting itchy feet again. Its only been 3 weeks since the V8 Invitationals, but I could race every 2nd week if given the opportunity. All I seem to think about is the car and what we have to do and what the next meeting will be like.
Maybe I should buy a lotto ticket!!!

Almost 50

2009-06-20T17:30:00.003+10:00

No, Im not THAT old, but we will be saving almost 50kg with the removal of what's behind the dashboard, the door windows and winders (replace with Plexiglas), lighter door trims, lighter battery and a race seat if I can afford one. That should improve the power to weight ratio plus we took the fan blade off and installed a elec thermo fan which should help the car accelerate quicker. Along with a couple of brand new tyre's.....well fingers crossed we will get a good result. I'm not saying anymore because every time I do I end up disappointed.

Nearly Finished

2009-06-07T15:55:00.003+10:00

A mess

2009-06-06T21:50:00.007+10:00

Lots to do before Round 3 of the Tas Super Series. We have the rear brakes to fix, remove weight and fit thermo fan to name a few. All this is to try to improve the car without spending money, cause we have none. We need to save that to buy tyres, fuel and some lighter windows for the doors. Also like to replace the standard seat with a race item. People are amazed when I tell them I still have the standard seat. Not only is a race seat lighter, but its also safer.

I'm going to weigh what we have taken out just to see what the figure is. Should be 20-30kg maybe more. Hopefully enough to make up say 0.5 sec at each track. Doesn't sound much but it will help.

Targa Invitationals 2009

2009-06-06T20:26:00.011+10:00

What a weekend. Racing in front of 55,000 people and the V8Supercars fraternity was a real blast, very special.

I headed to the track on Thursday afternoon and arrived about 5pm. This was just to sign in and unload the car for Friday's practice and Qualifying.
I then headed off to the hotel.

Nice room. If I can get them to sponsor us, I will let you know where I stayed.

Up early Friday to get to the track by 8am for drivers briefing, then get car ready for practice. Wasn't planning on doing many practice laps, but ended up doing most of the 20min session.
That was 10am and it was a fair wait till qualifying at 4pm.
To finish the day, I meet my host for the next couple of nights, fellow racer Ross Marsden at the local pub and had a meal and a couple for drinks.

The Marsden clan!!

Race 1 was at 10am. I was pretty nervous. All those people watching. I wish Id had time to soak in all in a bit more. We had 4 races of 15 laps each to get through so my plan was to take it easy and treat it like a 60 lap race. Others didn't. About lap 3 the safety car was out and 9 cars DNF'ed. I started 22nd and finished 13th.
Some crashed, some blew their engines, some had minor faults.

Race 2 was better for everyone. I went backwards but wasn't worried. I just wanted to have fun and finish the weekend the same way I started.

So that was it for the day. Settled back and watched the V8's.

Mum and Dad

Hung round till the end of the day to catch up with Dick Johnson. Asked him to sign a couple of pictures and pose for a photo. I just wished I'd put my things down.

Enjoyed another evening at the Marsden den with a great meal. Thanks again.

On to sunday, I thought the fog would never go. Headed out to the track, changed tyres, refuelled and topped up my drink bottle. I thought with the longer races I may of need a drink along the way.

Race 3 I tried a little harder. Had some great racing even when I wasnt trying.

Had a little fun with David Clifford.

Took some photo's while waiting for my last race, which was the last race of the day. Im glad a fair section of the crowd stayed to watch.

And so the curtain closed on a great weekend. I finished 6th in class, my host Rossco won (congrats) In the last race I had pre planned to do some power slides if or when I dropped off the battle. So for about 6 laps I was sliding the car out of turn 2. I hope the crowd enjoyed it.

Thanks to David Clifford, Cable Mate, Creative Chicken (new sponsor) V8Supercars and all at Qmedia for making it happen. Hope we can do it again.

www.johnbriggs.davidclifford.com
invitationals.com.au
and look for me on facebook too.

2009 PILATUS TARGA INVITATIONALS

2009-06-03T20:04:00.002+10:00

http://invitationals.com.au/results.html

What a weekend. Racing in front of the V8 Supercars and a 55,000 strong crowd.

More to come...

Trophy's (yeeeeah)

2009-06-03T19:41:00.003+10:00

No need for word's.

Blog and Website

2009-06-03T19:37:00.002+10:00

Ive done a back flip with regards this blog. I will keep using it to post round reviews and such and will co exist with the website at www.johnbriggs.davidclifford.com.au

Round 2 Baskerville April 19th

2009-06-03T18:58:00.007+10:00

Another 3rd place. Wasn't looking like I would finish that high at the start of the day. There was about 6 cars within a sec of each other and at Baskerville it can be quite hard to pass with so many even cars.
It was hard racing all day and managed to get through (all most) without damage. The last corner of the last lap of the day and I had a slight touch with another car that damaged the drivers door and front guard and rubbed off some signs.

Qualified 6th, half a sec off pole!! Race results were 6th, 3rd, 5th and 3rd. New PB of 61.00. That was 6/10ths off the fasted time in group B.

Every time I go to a race meeting thinking I have a good chance of winning, someone else beats me to the punch, either a new competitor or someone has leap frogged me with development to their car and/or driving. Its frustrating with the budget I have knowing I could blow their doors off if I had the money to improve the car.

I can only do what I can do. No good robbing a bank, cant race cars form a jail cell!! I keep telling myself Im lucky to be able to go racing, win or lose.

As always thanks to DCP for the photo's and to Cable Mate, Hard 2 Beat car parts and Benson motorsports.

New Website

2009-03-19T11:21:00.002+11:00

Out with the old and in with the new. Thanks to David Clifford Photography I now have a website rather than a blog. I will keep this site here for now but efforts will be concentrated on the new site.
johnbriggs.davidclifford.com.au

40, 90 what's in a number!!

2009-02-24T20:59:00.002+11:00

Ok, so Ive changed my mine. Ill stick with number 90. No need to tell the world how old I am..........DOH!!

The CAMS dinner was on Saturday night, but I didnt end up going as it was going to cost to much and as it turned out only the winners received their rewards. Place getters will recieve theirs at the April 19 race meeting. So a little long I must wait.

P.S I plan on being at the CAMS dinner next year!!!!

Happy New Year

2009-02-08T16:37:00.004+11:00

Well, things are moving slowly so this year. The awards dinner is on the 21st of Feb where I will receive my 3rd place trophy. Cant wait for that. Have brought some new bits and pieces for the car, alloy radiator, tie rod ends, sway bars, silicone hoses, oil and have a list of things to do. The season is only 6 meetings this year and its a later than usual start, April 19 at Symmons Plains. I have hoildays shortly and will get everything done then. Also a change of racing number to 40. Seeing as Ive hit the big 4 0 (in years anyway) I thought I would run with it this year. But im not changing the blog address.

Ive been spending my time star gazing, I brought my first telescope (always wanted one) and taking photo's of this that and the other to fill in time.
But Im getting itchy to go racing again. Its a long wait.

Tas Super Series Targa B 3rd Place

2008-12-18T16:32:00.003+11:00

Its great that I finished 3rd in Targa B for 2008. While I would of loved to have won it wasn't to be, not this year anyway.
I haven't caught up with David yet to grab some more photos, he has had other things on he's mind, including the unfortunate passing of a family member. I can only give him my best wishes.

I was feeling confident of doing really well at the final round. Finishing 2nd for the series was only by thought. I really wanted to end the year on a high, possible with a round victory.
Mistake #1. Trying brake pads in qualifying that I wasn't sure about was a bad mistake. They didn't even allow me to do 3 laps hence I didn't do a good lap and started almost rear of field in 17th position.

Race 1. (6 laps) Cant complain really (hang on yes I can. Passed cars under a yellow flag and got a talking to but thankfully let off with a warning. Wont ever do that again)
Passed 8 cars in 6 laps to finish 9th (on the road, only passed 2 cars in class)

Race 2.(8 laps) Passed another 5 cars to finish 3rd in class (Targa A B and C all running)

Race 3.(8 laps) My Nemesis for 2nd place was now a just a car away. But I was just trying to win. He lead the the first couple of laps until he was passed on the outside into the last corner. I tried the same move a lap later but had to try again as I didn't get pasted the first time. (see pic in previous post below)
On lap 7 I was on the verge of catching 1st place, but got loose (in the same spot as photo below) and lost a bit of ground. I was banging the steering wheel in frustration as I crossed the line to start the final lap. Missed it by that (0.60) much. I was feeling dirty.

Race 4 (final 10 laps) I thought I was looking good for a win in this one. Just had to get a good start. That didn't happen. Lost a spot into the first turn and battled away for 5 or 6 laps till I tried a passing move that didn't come off. Then missed a gear which didn't help and lost a couple of more spots. Finished 5th in that one and 4th overall for the day. Not really what I had in mind.
But that's racing. I enjoy being competitive, it beats being flogged. I know I can drive fast enough, I know the car isn't quite good enough. I know with a bit of luck and fine tuning I can win races and the series. All the results have yet to be sorted but I know that I am in the top 20 drivers across all circuit racing categories for the 2008. I am now a 40yo. Like to say I'm younger but I'm not. Up till 2006, I hadn't raced for 14 years. I'm now driving faster than ever. I finished 3rd in a competitive series, I finished 5th last year after sitting 2nd for most of it. The plan for next year is to go 2 better.

If butts and maybe's TSS Final 08

2008-12-03T22:25:00.003+11:00

Just a quick report on the final round for 2008. Below is 1 2 3 for 2008 in Targa B
While the green car in front had the series in the bag, I went into the final round trailing the white Evo by 13 points. Try as I might, I had to settle for 3rd. Which is a great result considering the up and down year we've had. What I am a little disappointed with was not finishing the year off on a better note. After trying some different brake pads out in qualifying (bad idea) I didn't set a good time and spent the day playing catch up. I passed everyone in Targa B and C bar the series winner over 3 races and was poised to at least try and win the final race of the year, but went the other way back a couple of spots. To make matters worse I gave a good mate a whack which nearly spun him out (again I'm sorry mate!!)
Anyway, Ill do a longer speel a bit later when I have some more photo's and sorted the video.

A BIG thanks to
David Clifford Photography
Cable Mate
Benson Motorsport
Hard 2 Beat Parts
And my dad, Barry. Without their help it would be a lot harder, without Dad's help I wouldn't be doing it.
And Mum for everything she has done to help.

2nd and 3rd place 2008

2008-11-13T23:20:00.006+11:00

Thanks to my sponsor David Clifford(.com.au)Photograhpy for these great snaps
you can see more at www.circlework.com.au

2008-11-13T23:17:00.000+11:00

Video 2

2008-11-10T21:28:00.003+11:00

First 3 laps of final race.

Video 1

2008-11-10T16:07:00.000+11:00

Short video to start with

Skylines 1-2 Symmons Plains TSS R6 Nov 9th

2008-11-10T12:10:00.002+11:00

What a great day. A 1-2 for the Nissan Skylines Of Ross Marsden and yours truly. Only thing wrong with that is I was number 2!!! But congrats to Ross. We were never more than about 50 meters apart all day (except when I had to back off a bit due to the ol girl getting a bit hot) We never even touched!!(well apart from me running into the back of him at turn one, but we wont mention that!!).......DOH!!

Before the meeting I had the car dyno tuned (again) using Sunoco GT fuel which is a higher octane fuel which allows cars like mine to be tuned to a higher level than with standard fuel. Costs a pretty penny too. Anyway, squeezed 222kw, up from 200(almost 300hp) out of it. Still not quite enough for a track like Symmons, but will be for Baskerville.
Unfortunately, there was a gremlin in the timing system and the first race starting order was a bit of a lottery, mad worse by yellows flag for the practice session which some drivers slowed down for( me ) and others didn't. I get better starts at Symmons than I do at Basky and made up 2 spots into T1. The race leader dropped out and it was on between Ross and I. We finished 2nd and 3rd as another of our front runners started way back and caught us with a lap or two to go. Good driving from him as he was only as fast as us!! That can happen though if the guys you are chasing are carving each other up.

Race 2 was the more of the same only this time Ross won, I was still 3rd.
Race 3-5 was left to Ross and I. The other two front runners had troubles (bad luck guys) and the rest of the pack didn't get a look in.

Race 3 was when I rear ended Ross. He started on the front row and I was on row 2 with the other spots vacant. I got a good start but he got in the way and I couldn't slow enough. It wasn't much, but felt like I hit him hard.

Race 4 was much the same. My car is 1/2 a sec slower still than his at Symmons, where mine is about the same faster at Basky.

But, Race 5 I managed to get in front and stay there for the first 3 of 8 laps and it was a wonderful feeling. At first I thought he'll get me here somewhere, then I started to think maybe I can hold him off if I take the inside line everywhere. But he snuck under me at the hairpin and that was that. I didn't give up but the car started getting too hot again and so I dropped the revs. We where going to do a Moffat/Bond 1-2 finish but 2 things stopped us. We didn't get a last lap board and I forgot and nearly passed him on the line because he slowed up a bit for me. Anyway I can say I helped him win since I Lent him some rear brake pads. So part of my car won.

So 2nd place for me. Best finish so far. Now its back to Baskerville in 3 weeks time for the final round. 1st place is taken but 2nd and 3rd is still open. At this stage 3rd is looking likely but I have a sniff of 2nd and Ill be out to grab it if I can.

P.S Photo's and video on the way.

Thanks to:
Cable Mate
David Clifford photography
Hard 2 Beat car parts
Benson Motorsports
Repco Moonah
Mum and particually Dad. (he does most of the work on the car)

TSS round 5 and Bathurst 1000

2008-10-12T19:35:00.004+11:00

Another round and another Bathurst 1000 run and won. Every year I wonder when I might get the chance to race at Bathurst???? Congrats to the winners. It was a good race up till the first safety car period, then they just seemed to keep coming which was a shame. At least the car that won was up there all day and didn't win with help from the pace car laps.

Round 5 of what I compete in, the Tas Super Series (and 20th annivary HQ nationals) was held on the 27/28th of Sept at Baskerville.
I had a layed back approach to the weekend figuring I hadn't been enjoying the racing as much as I should be. I had done as much to the car as I could to that point and had no more money to spend on it. As it turned out despite some minor disappointment I had some great racing and dicing and finish 4th for the round. I am now only a few points off 3rd place with a fairly big gap to 5th so baring any mishaps I may well finish 3rd (outside chance of 2nd) at season's end.

I qualified 6th and my race results were 5th, 4th, 6th, 4th, 3rd and 7th. Very up and down but I really couldn't do anything about it. I mostly made up places by others people's misfortune.

Great dicing

I was expecting to run a bit faster than I did, only managing a 61.8 fastest lap for the day. The car is almost the same as it was for Round 1 but that day I recorded a 61.2 and was right on the pace. So Ive taken the plunge and brought some higher octane fuel and will have the car tuned again as more power is achievable using the higher octane. Only hope that it all works out and come the next round at Symmons Plains on Nov 9th that we can give the leaders a run for their money. But only time will tell.

Race 1 Video July 27th Symmons Plains

2008-08-13T18:00:00.005+10:00

This video shows my cars lack of straight line speed. Didnt help I knocked the boost down about lap 3!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esiP2qVg2WM

P.S I had problems imbedding the video so here's the link.

TSS Round 4 Symmons Plains July 27th

2008-08-03T15:46:00.008+10:00

As already mentioned, not the day I thought I was going to have. Did a few laps practice on Saturday and it felt good, apart from the brake pedal going to the floor. But it felt quick. So I was quite happy that it would be a good day.
But I knew after practice in the morning that I wasn't going to be quick enough, managing 6th fastest, about 2 sec's off the front running pace.

So race 1, there was oil down in a few corners. I managed to go quite well in the opening laps, hanging onto the back of a Datsun 240z. Then I lost ground and got swamped by 3 cars down the back straight (or curve as it is at Symmons). I must of hit the boost control with my hand cause I looked down and noticed it was on the wrong setting. Doh!!

Race 2 we went as best has we could on the day, lapping at 64.36, 64.44, 64.33, 64.43 and I backed off over the line on the last lap for 64.98. So I was happy that my times were virtually exactly the same.

And that's as good as it got. The 3rd race a small vacum hose spilt and was sucking air and I was considering calling into the pits, but pressed on as best as I could.

Race 4 the power steering belt broke which ended it really. I was only able to continue at a snails pace for the remaining laps and the final race.

Thanks goes to David Clifford Photography, Cable Mate, Benson Motorsports, Repco and Dad.

Today we have been replacing the broken belt and also the timing and fan belts. Just in case. Now I have spares. We will try to buy some other bits and pieces, but you just never know what may break and we can barely afford to go racing, let alone have a stock pile of spares.

TSS R4 Symmons Plains July 27th

2008-07-28T22:29:00.002+10:00

Another disappointing but learning experience kind of day. Having spent quite alot of money to go faster, I was no faster. Could of been my driving too but its mainly because the car is still lacking horsepower for a track like Symmons. To make matters worse, the power steering belt broke in the 4th(of 5)races and a vacuum hose split causing the boost to go up and down. My biggest mistake for the weekend was hitting the boost control and running on low boost for the first race. I drove the last race without power steering which is quite difficult, felt like a mack truck.
Anyway Ill put up some more race details later in the week when I have some photo's and video to go with it.

I Could Be A V8Supercar Driver?????

2008-06-08T11:25:00.002+10:00

Let me explain that. While I would love the chance to be a V8Supercar driver, I was refering to the bif and barge that I seemed to find myself in at the last meeting. Dont want anyone to think Im up myself, although I really am LOL. I wont give up the dream anyway for a little while yet.

Another vid

2008-05-19T20:47:00.001+10:00

This is from the final.

We could be a V8supercar Driver!!!

2008-05-19T18:58:00.003+10:00

Interesting weekend. Didn't get off to a great start. A youngest, James McGuinness unfortunately put his Formula Vee into the wall and was stuck in the car with a broken foot for some time. This was in qualifying and was doing quite well which is more the shame. Get well soon James.

Anyway, back to me. After all this blog is all about MEEEEEEE.
So, Id lashed out and brought an after market ECU (Apexi), had that tuned on the Friday (thanks Andy at Pro Automotive) but it seems we cant extract any more power from it until I buy more bits and pieces (it never ends) So after qualifying I knew I was in for a rough day. Q 6th, had a good race for 5th with an ex Production Car Commodore until I made a mistake and he got away. As usual the camera worked until the start of the race then stopped. This happens to me all the time at least once. I changed the batteries for the next race.

Well I got pissed off in Race 2, since I was made to start at the rear of grid from no fault of my own. For some reason they grid list that was given to the officials didn't include me.
So I raced through the field, passed about 8 cars in 5 laps to get back to where I should of been. Didn't quite get there, finished 8th on the road (7th in class. Targa B and C ran together at this meeting)

Race 3 turned to turds. I tried to follow an Escort (yes a car) through a gap and got sandwiched
then...... well, watch the video.

The Final race I was back up the front, starting from 6th. Another touch on the first lap and I was starting to think it wasn't my day. I blame the rear brakes a bit. Had new rear disc's but the old standard pads and I was locking up all day. That could of been why I couldn't go any faster too. I did pretty well in lap time consistency, out of 24 fast laps (not counting first lap's) I recorded 20 in the 62 sec bracket. And most of them were 62-62.5 secs
I raced hard to gain a spot in the final, but made another small mistake and then spend the race defending.

I have the parts I need on the way, so if all goes well, I should be fighting for a win at the next round at Symmons Plains on July 27th.

Round 2 Symmons Plains 30th March 2008

2008-04-01T23:24:00.002+11:00

Well, It was a frustrating day. An oversight with the boost setting and a broken part in the diff put payed to a good result. We finished every race and collected a good points haul all the same.
On the Saturday, I discovered the diff wasn't locked anymore. Don't know why or what is broken as yet. I took it easy for the practice and race 1 unsure as to what might happen. As it was the only thing that happened was I battled for traction all day. Took the spare with us in case. Had the turbo rebuild again after Baskerville and for some reason I had changed the boost setting on the boost control. Anyway, couldn't work out why it was so slow until before the last race. Also the boost wasn't coming on till 4500rpm instead of 3500. But I couldn't use the extra power too well with the diff being broken, just had more wheel spin. Finished 5th overall for the day I believe with 6th and 7th placings.
So its back to go on the dyno again and fix the diff and we should be right for round 3 in May.
I'll have some incar video up later.
Catch some action shots at http://www.circlework.com.au/. if you have trouble accessing the site use this link http://205.234.195.35/lightbox/ also some pics herehttp://www.catchfencephotos.net/index.php

The way heat 3 reads. Looks good to me!!

2008-03-09T23:14:00.005+11:00

1 90 John Briggs Nissan R32 GTS-t 7:22.0822 1:01.9722
2 49 Shane Bond Datsun 240z 7:22.5789 1:01.5829
3 18 Kerry Luck Nissan R32 GTS-t 7:31.3115 1:02.5774
4 26 Mark Perry Nissan R32 GTS-t 7:38.0135 1:03.1756
5 3 Terry Warren Mitsubishi EVO 2 7:38.7377 1:03.5310
6 34 Nevile Haines Holden Commodore 7:41.9802 1:03.5624
7 800 Ross Marsden Nissan R32 GTS-T 7:51.3898 1:04.9594
8 72 Layton Barker Mitsubishi EVO 5 8:01.8065 1:06.1468
9 45 Leigh Finlayson Mitsubishi EvO 6 8:20.4908 1:00.9523
DNF46 Yogi Burghart Subaru WRX 6:51.7311 1:05.9317

Update

2008-03-06T11:40:00.002+11:00

Race results are changed a little.
Qual 2nd with a 61.27, Heat 1 4th, H2 2nd (and fastest lap 61.44) H3 1st and the Final 4th for 3rd overall.

Also we lost the turbo, the shaft is wobbler than a belly dancer. Reason unknown at this stage but maybe lack of lubrcation. Its been sent off to be fixed. Its only 3-4 weeks to the next round.

Incar of Final

2008-03-04T10:46:00.001+11:00

Just the first 2 laps of the Final race. I got hit in the first corner and recovered to finish 4th.

Rollercoaster, Baskerville March 1-2

2008-03-03T21:54:00.005+11:00

A HUGE weekend.... and for me an up and down weekend (hence the title!!). Once again things started out bad, got better, then worse, then better. While backing the car out the garage Saturday morning, I had the door open to get out again to close the roller door and I hit the carport. Panic set in and I had to drive to the track with the door roped up cause it wouldn't close. The next hour or so was spent fixing it so it would. Bad start.
Qualifying was better, much better even though we still are having a miss and cutting out problem. We thought it was the battery kill switch playing up again so we used a rubber band to hold it open a little more. I was pleasantly surprised when I found out I was 2nd fastest with a 61.27. Missed pole by a bee's you know what!! Pole time was 61.26.
Race 1 was fun but I had a bad start and fell back to 4th and battled hard to move up but had to settle for 4th.
Race 2 I got a better start, made up one position off the line and made it to 2nd a lap or so later. Came 2nd by 1.1 sec and set the fastest lap of 61.44. That was Saturday.
On to Sunday and Race 3 I finished 2nd again on the road but the winner got a minute penalty for going under the min lap time allowed (which is 61 secs). So unbeknowst to me at the time I can proudly say it was my first outright race win (i have won a handicap event and a couple of fun club day races) It feels good, but not as good as it would of been taking the checked flag.

Now, this is where things get messy. I was on pole for the final. It was going to be a close finish as to who would win overall for the day. Since all the Targa class cars were running together, I was on grid 6 (5 Targa A cars in front of me) which meant instead of being on the inside for turn 1 I was on the outside. Into turn one I got hit and went off the track and lost about 8 spots on the road. I pasted 4 cars within a lap and a half and was back up to 4th. That's as far as I could get. The car started overheating (again!!) and sounding off even though I hadnt lost any power. Get back to the pits and the car is smoking badly and there is oil all over the motor, which was from the oil catch can. But the smoke was coming out the exhaust. It is either turbo seals or a piston ring failure. I tried driving home, but I was leaving a trail of oil and a 100 metre smoke screen so I pulled over and got a tow home. Lucky we didnt lose the motor (again!!) So now its to pull the turbo off and see what the problems and damage are. Hopefully not a lot.

So with a 2nd, 4th, 2nd, 2nd and a 4th I finished 3rd overall and received my first trophy. I wanted to say a few words but emotion got the better of me and only managed to thank dad.

Apart from my pain and joy, it was a great 2 days. Thanks goes to the people that have helped me, David Clifford Photography, Benson Motorsport, Caable Mate, W D Bryan Joiner, Dee Jay signs (for the late work) and mostly to my father, whom without his help I would be doing this. And a big thank you to the Hobart Sporting Car Club and all involved.

Race 3 my first win.

Baskerville 50th Anniversary Meeting March 1-2

2008-02-23T15:42:00.004+11:00

Well the new season is upon us. The car is back together and I'm raring to go. Been almost non stop work on the car since X-mas day to have it ready and there are still a few little things to do. Hopefully all is aok. We have made some improvements in the rebuild, the turbo is now larger, with steel wheels (in place of ceramic) and now running 16.5 psi (up from 12), the ECU has been changed, added an oil cooler, new coil packs, bigger fuel pump and a few other little things.

February 5th 1958 is when it all started at Baskerville Raceway. The Hobart Sporting Car Club and all involved have done a wonderful job all these years. There has been some great racing over the years and names like, Brock, Johnson, Moffat, Harvey, Rogers, Jones, Richards, Grice not to mention, Bowe, Ambrose, Wigston, Harrington, Baily, Taylor have all raced there.

It should be a great meeting held over 2 days. The forecast is for fine weather. There will be displays, Videos, Photos etc etc and not to mention the racing. This meeting is also Round 1 of the Tas Super Series. Hope to see a big crowd roll up.

2007 Sponsors

2008-01-21T09:30:00.000+11:00

I must give a big THANK YOU to
Benson Motorsports (heap of help,info and parts)
Cable Mate (support and parts)
David Clifford Photography (photo's and camera)
W.D Bryan Joiner (use of a trailer)
Dad (without him there would be no racing. He does most of the work on the car, I just help)
Mum (helped out with some cash from time to time)

I still need some extra support so that is something I hope to get in the near future.

Happy New Year (and stuff)

2008-01-20T20:50:00.000+11:00

Hope everyone (is there anyone out there???) got through the x-mas/NY period. Dad and I spent X-mas/Boxing day pulling the motor out. We went for a spin on the Sunday and on the way home, it dropped a bearing. Number of reason's why it did but it did and now we are just waiting for it to arrive back from the shop. It will have a new con rod, bearings and the crankshaft had to have a regrind too. Plus the head had to be cleaned up as well. While that is being done, we have removed the rear steering (known as the HICAS) which must of weighed about 10-12kg, fitted a higher flowing fuel pump, sent the ECU and turbo off to be modified, fitted a front chassis brace, brought a camera for in car use, brought an oil cooler and coil packs and still have to buy a new clutch kit, rego, pay for the motor and the turbo, refit it all, need wheel spaces because we found the front tyres rubbing the struts, wheel alignment, the car need to have its yearly audit done plus other little odds and sods that need to be done not to mention putting it on the dyno and running the motor in, all before March 1-2 which the the 50th anniversary of Baskerville Raceway. Still not sure if it will all get done in time.

Frustrating Day To End The Year

2007-12-10T21:49:00.000+11:00

Well, that's the end of season 2007. It was a pretty good ride up until round 5 and round 6 wasn't kind to me either. We put another diff in it (welded up to lock it so both rear wheels turn together or at the same speed at all times) so I went up on the Saturday to get used the the DIFFerence. Wasn't there long, did about 20 Min's, came in and found a leak coming from the gearbox. So I left to go and check it out. Washed it off and couldn't really find anything so decided to see how it went on Sunday. Come Sunday practice and the car is miss firing and carrying on. Tried a few things and started Race 1 from the dead last. Pasted one car even with it running rough, then after 3 of 5 laps, it stopped running all together. I got it going again, we miss the 2nd race, joined on the last lap only for it to stop again in the pits. In the mean time, a wind storm (just as I'm typing the word storm, a bloke on the telly says the word storm in a sentence. That freaks me out when that happens!!) blew our cover apart. Finally traced the problem to the battery kill switch, which must be faulty. So we tied it on hard and it ran fine. Got ready for the last race only for the event to be called off due the thunder storm that washed over us. The officials were concerned for drivers and flaggies safety which is fair enough. But what's that saying, it never rains, it bloody pours, which it did. I had a good chance of having a good day, i could of qualified 3rd and may of finished 3rd in the races and in the last race if it had gone ahead, I had put the road tyres back on and they might of giving me more grip in the wet so who knows what may of happened. Its all past tenths now. I think I finished 5th overall for the year. That top 3 place will have to wait for another year. Have a safe and happy holiday period. John

X-Mas Rides Day (for Camp Quality)

2007-11-25T16:11:00.000+11:00

After the disappointment of the last round, it was nice to have a fun, laid back day and give some joy to those who are suffering far more than in life than most of us. Unfortunately, I had the camera set up in the car but for some reason didn't want to work (it was either the heat or drop detection that may of kicked in as I went over some bumps). But if I can get it to work ill have some great footage of the next round, which is on the 9th Dec. Photo's at http://www.davidclifford.com.au/

Could of, would of, should of, didnt.

2007-10-15T13:31:00.000+11:00

Not one of the best weekends of my life. 3 months since the last meeting and 2 months till the next and I only got about 15 laps of practice on saturday. A bolt that the clutch lever pivots on broke, hence its called a clutch lever pivot bolt!! Ive dropped out of the running for a Piston cup for finishing every race for the season and dropped out of the top 3 and most likely wont get back in it with 1 round to go. I supose there is a mathamatical chance of still finishing in the top 3, but it would take others not to finish and for me to beat them on track which may or may not happen. Its been a good run so far, but motor sport can be cruel, and really Im not the only one that had problems on the weekend, I just feel like I am.
And to rub salt into the wounds, going by lap times the others were doing and the trouble some of them struck we would of had quite possibly a a good day, maybe finishing 2nd overall. But, we'll never know.

Now to get it ready for a final crack in December. If I can, I will get a bigger turbo and try and at least finish the year on a high with a win or two. We're not far off the pace at Baskerville but chasing just 1 sec will be hard.

Round 5 is here

2007-10-12T21:18:00.000+11:00

Wow, its been nearly 3 months since the last round. I'm itching to get back into it. Made some changes to the car that I hope will help with speed .........and stopping!! Hopefully my tyres wont end up like this again.
Ill have a race report done sometime next week. The earlier the better otherwise Ill forget what took place!!!

You can watch my progress at the natsoft website http://www.natsoft.biz/cgi-bin/results.cgi?2007 just look for Symmons Plains and Targa B.

And for those that dont know, this is what Symmons Plains looks like.

Bathurst 2008?

2007-07-03T20:48:00.000+10:00

Just found out the Improved Production class is running at the 2008 Bathurst Festival of Speed. Some Targa cars are eligible to run in that class, the Skylines being one of them.
This could be my chance to race at Bathurst. I'm sure I know a few others that would join me too. Got just 9 months to work on it. I'm going to need sponsors to do it. If you own a business, know someone who owns a business, friends with your bosses dog, contact me.

Finally, Some video 2007

2007-07-03T16:57:00.000+10:00

Not the greatest but I hope to have some incar footage next time.

First lap of final May 27th

Second lap

The moment of truth, not that you can see much

Fighting my way back

I was going to include some footage of Symmons Plains from the weekend but none of it it very good.

2007-07-02T23:00:00.001+10:00

New Lap Time For Symmons

2007-07-02T23:00:00.000+10:00

Forgot to mention that I lowered my lap time down from 1.06.83 to 1.05.69. Symmons isn't that hard a track but you need good brakes and good horsepower, 2 things I don't have a lot of. Plus I'm having trouble getting what power I have to the ground. The Diff is coming out as I think it may be worn out. I'm lighting up the left rear quite often.

TSS Round 4 Symmons Plains July 1st

2007-07-01T21:36:00.000+10:00

Today was one of those days. One of those days when you realise there is more to racing than meets the eye. Its not all about having the fastest car, its also about concentration, reliability, speed, staying on the track etc etc. I had a pretty uneventful day's racing. I qualified 9th which I was disappointed with. I finish 6th in race 1. I tried to get up to 4th but I couldn't catch the two in front of me. They were dangling there like a pair of carrots to a donkey, but by the time I caught up to them each time it was the braking area and I wasn't close enough to attempt a pass. So that was frustrating. Race 2 started better until the red flag came out before the first lap was done (same thing happened with race 1) At the restart I managed to squeeze through a narrow gap between 2 cars down the straight and passed a third that had trouble and though this is alright. That was the most exciting thing to happen all day. Finished 4th.

Race 3 was a case of holding position and finishing. I was by myself for the most part, a few seconds behind 3th and a few in front of 5th. Nothing I can do until I have more car speed (oh I don't like these modern terms.) I found it amusing that when your dicing, its fun. When your winning, its fun. When your not doing either it can be a drag. You don't feel like your going anywhere.

Race 4 (the Final) I got a good start and was along side Ross marsden into turn 1, it was tight and he tagged me. We went side by side under the bridge until he got the better of me. The contact knocked his indicator loose and it went flying. I tried my hardest to stay with him but the gap gradually grew. I did think I finished 3rd, but the car that was slowing wasn't the car I thought was leading. So a 6th, and 3 4th's to be 4th overall. Not a bad effort considering.
Ive just picked up a boost control which should make things interesting for the final 2 race meeting. Ive now dropped back to 3rd place in the series, but the points are very close. The leaders have roughly 410 points to my 379. That's unofficial at this time.

Its going to be a busy 3 moths till October to get everything that needs to be done, done. A rear window, the diff needs to be looked at, fit the boost control and dyno it, get braided brake hoses, new front disc's, at least 2 tyres and find some more sponsors.

As always you can view photos at http://www.davidclifford.com.au/ and ill have some on here when shorty.
Also ill have some video up. Its not the best but its something.

Ho Hum Im A Dumb Bum

2007-07-01T21:03:00.000+10:00

Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed. The day before a race meeting and I decide to try and remove a stubborn wiper motor and smash the rear window instead. Panic is not the word Id use to describe what I felt. Anyway, after a few phone calls I found out I would still be ok to race.

Just Call Me Eddie Everywhere

2007-06-25T17:20:00.000+10:00

Ive started a Myspace page
http://www.myspace.com/johnbriggsracing

TSS Round 5

2007-06-20T18:50:00.000+10:00

Sunday July 1st, Symmons Plains. It will be cold but the racing will be HOT!! We have a few little things to do before then, unfortunately none of which will make the car go any faster (we did try and pull some weight out but I'm running out of things to remove. I need a lightweight bonnet, racing seat etc but it will have to weight, boom boom). Plans are afoot for more horsepower by round 5 and 6.

Hot Shot

2007-06-02T19:25:00.000+10:00

Among the great shots David has taken so far, this one is my favorite at the moment. The look on my face and the attitude of the car is clear to see.

New Motorpsport Forum For Tassie Racers

2007-06-02T16:08:00.000+10:00

Davi Clifford has started a Tasmanian Motorsport Forum. Its here http://www.davidclifford.com.au/sportsforum/

Just A Blur

2007-05-31T15:51:00.000+10:00

Glad I have the video to look back on. Seems every moment in life becomes fuzzy history as soon as we do it. I want to make a small correction to the Final race story. I thought I was battling for 2nd place when I taped Scott Waters. Since its hard to remember every second and the video didn't capture every part of the track, seems Mark Perry had overtaking both of us down the back straight. So he was 2nd and we were fighting for 3rd.

I was hoping to have some video up but the camera I used wants me to have a firewire card and I dont have one. Ive made a dvd but cant at this stage convert it. But im working on it.

Welcome David Clifford

2007-05-30T14:05:00.000+10:00

I am pleased to announce that David Clifford is now a sponsor. David is a great bloke and I look forward to the partnership. David also has a page on his website all about me. (well, he will when I write the damn thing!!)

Also just today I received support from Alternative Spares and Plastic Repairs in Charles St Moonah. Go see Roger if you need your plastic car parts attended to.

Series Points

2007-05-28T14:44:00.000+10:00

While I don't have the points total as yet, I do know that I am now 2nd in the series. This to me is fantastic and I only hope I can compete at the remaining 3 rounds for a shot at finishing in the top 3.

Unofficial points

Mark Perry 390
JOHN BRIGGS 281
Leigh Finlayson 266
Shane Bond 261
Ross Marsden 254

One Hand On The Trophy May 27th 2007 (Baskerville)

2007-05-28T13:25:00.000+10:00

Round 3 of the Tas Super Series was an interesting affair. Nice weather, good crowd (thanks to those who come to watch!!)and some spirited racing. Usually Targa B and C run together, this time it was A and B. I hadn't done any practice since the Symmons race and we had changed spark plugs to try and combat the overheating problems. Basically, the car felt like crap. It felt sluggish and down on power in Qualifying and Race 1. The best I could manage was a 65.0sec and not much better in Qualifying. Race 1. Started 10th (7th in class), made a good start, others didn't. Mark Perry had a moment and gave me a nudge (which he apologised for later)as we raced into turn 1. I soon lost contact with the leading bunch and it was down to Ross Marsen and I to resume the battle from Symmons. My car was so off that he soon got past and I couldn't keep up. It was only when he ditched it in the sand (what's going on mate!!) on the last lap that I was able to take the spot back. Finished 10th on the road (5th in class)
I'm only pointing out both finishing positions so that if anyone looks at the results and doesn't understand the classes they wont think I'm fibbing!!

If you head over to http://johnbriggs.davidclifford.com.au/ you can check out some fantastic shots. I should have some video up here soon.

Race 2. We changed spark plugs back to the old ones before Race 2. (I'm sorry if those people looking on wanted to talk, I hope you understand)
Talk about a different beast. It was like someone had attached a rocket to the car.
I think I was up to 3rd(in class)on the first lap. I wasn't able to stay there, but I was able to hang on the the leaders almost all race. I did 62.7, which was a new lap record for me. In fact I did two and the slowest lap was a 63.3!! The only other change was that I hadn't run at Baskerville with the bigger inter cooler and I reset the computer. It was so much fun (when you go well it always is) I actually had trouble keeping the car on the black stuff. I was giving the Drifters a lesson!!
I ended up 5th, but a much closer 5th than race 1.

Race 3. cant remember this race for some reason. I was slightly slower than R2 but very consistent, 63.8, 64.1, 63.3, 63.3,63.3,63.4. Finished 4th.

Race 4. The Final. Who wrote the script for this one Ill never know. I started 8th on the grid. I had been getting good starts all day, others hadn't. I managed to go round the outside of a couple into the esses and was in 3rd going up the hill. Then I found myself in 2nd when Shane Bond dropped out( I though I was leading but I mis counted. A TB car was mixed up with the TA cars). That didnt last long (about half the length of the back straight)or so I thought. I was 2nd. I managed to stay 2nd till about lap 5, then it all went wrong. Scott Waters and I had been swapping positions for a lap he drew past me round the sweeper, but I kept to the inside to see if I could get him into Turn 1 again. I did get him, right in the rear wheel and turned him and myself around. We got going again (gonna have to name Turn 1 after me, Ive spun there every meeting so far!!) and I felt real bad about it (more at the end of this) I started to see if I could catch Marsden and Tina in similar Skylines. I did and tried to use every piece of road I could to get past. Finally got Marsden, then couldn't get Tina, Marsden got back past me, by then Waters had caught back up, across the finish line to start the last lap, Marsden and Tina side by side, Waters and Briggs side by side. I followed Marsden past Tina, Waters followed me, then past me up the hill, past Marsden down the back straight, I came flying down the outside of Marsden (who by now was desperate to finish in front of me) I got better traction off the corner and swept round the outside of the sweeper (pretty apt) and finished just in front for another 4th.
I followed Waters back to his garage and apologised for knocking him off. He was pissed off (as I would of been) but accepted my apology with a pat on the shoulder.
Now let me get one thing clear. This is not the kind of thing I like to see or be involved in. Since the stewards didn't talk to me, they must of felt it was a racing incident. I suppose these things happen (there was quite a few cars dented across the classes) but I pride myself on being a hard but clean racer. Maybe Scott felt he was far enough ahead of me, I probably though I could get up the inside. Its something that can happen with close racing. So again I'd like to say sorry to Scott. Luckily we finish where we would have and without major damage.

So to sum up an up and down weekend, I finished 3rd for the round. My second 3rd place in 5 rounds and a new personal lap record of 62.7. The down side being we have some panel damage to fix (not much)and I wasn't awarded the 3rd place getter's trophy as there has to be 10 cars entered and there was, you guessed it,9. I have been promised a certificate, so at least Ill have something to show for it.
So till the next round at Symmons Plains on July 1st. Hope to see you there (budget permitting)

Sneak Preview

2007-05-16T17:19:00.000+10:00

TARGA B POINTS AFTER 2 ROUNDS

2007-04-19T16:08:00.000+10:00

Mark Perry 266
Bob Hadley 195
JOHN BRIGGS 181
Ross Marsden 168
Shane Bond 167
Yogi Burghart 147
Adam Beechy 144
Leigh Finlayson 124
Michael Nichols 117
Neville Haines 96
Scott Waters 94

Hopefully I can afford to do the whole series. While I havent got the outright speed to fight for a win yet, reliability and consistency are the key.

Symmons Plains Video

2007-04-05T13:41:00.000+10:00

The Examiner Artical

2007-04-04T10:13:00.000+10:00

Artical Copyright The Examiner Newspaper

Like a Virgin April 1 2007 (Symmons Plains)

2007-04-03T20:54:00.003+10:00

Id been looking forward to running at Symmons for a long, long time. I never got around to it when I raced the Hunter. It wasnt looking good this time either. Im pretty broke right now. Thanks to mum and dad otherwise Id be even worse off. They dont have mega dollars to give me but every little bit helps (even a few bucks from some silent friends, you know who you are. Wink!!)For this meeting we replaced the intercooler with a bigger one.
In the end we decided to go up on the Saturday to get some practice. I arrived about 2pm and waited my turn. When that turn came I started to wonder if I was doing the right thing. The track wasnt how I expect and I felt abit nervious. Well, the car must of too because on the first lap one of the intercooler pipes came off. So I spent 20mins or fixing that and went out for another go. This time the track didnt seem so bad. I wasnt on my race tyres, saving them for the racing and drove round on street tyres just to get used to the place. So every lap I did it got easier and I thought maybe I am cut out for this after all.

Qualifying was an unknown. I was 7th for race 1. We made up one place to finish 6th. I felt abit out gunned. Race 2 then was abit different. I got a ripper start and was 4th for most of the race having started a day long duel with Ross Marsden in another GTS skyline. He got by me on the last lap. His thing was quicker down the straights and I was slightly better in the turns.

Race 3 and tha battle continued. Another great start and I was up to 4th, then found myself in 3rd when one of the front runners spun. I was hoping he would catch up but he before the end. Marsden caught and passed and then thought he'd do a little dance in the sand. This handed me 4th place. I set my fastest lap of the day at 1.06.830.

The final race of the day brought mixed results. The brake rotors had been warping all day and were pretty bad in the last race. I wasnt able to brake very well at all.
I held 4th place for 80% of the distance but the car started to misfire which was a sign it was over heating. I had to back off and let just about everyone pass till it cooled down. But the main thing is we survived to fight another day.
Its now back to Baskerville on the 27 of May for round 3. A few things need to be down before then, and hopfully extract some more power too. Bye for now!!
P.S We found ourselves in The Examiner newspaper too!!

Photos Copyright David Clifford

Let The Games Begin Feb 25 2006 (Baskerville)

2007-04-03T20:54:00.002+10:00

A new year and the start of a new and for me full season (if the buget allows)
Another fine day (bit too hot actually). A few changes to the classes mean that some of the quicker cars from Targa A were brought back to Tagra B. Now the Targa class was born not long ago mainly for Targa Tas cars that had nowhere else to go. The classes (A, B and C) are based on min lap times allowed. For TA, its open, TB its 61sec at both Symmons and Baskerville. TC its 63sec at Baskerville and 66sec at Symmons. TC is also based on engine capacity up 3300cc. There are penalites for going under those times and I think you get moved up a class if you do it more than twice(I think).

Anywho, on to the races. We had made some more changes to the car, mainly suspension. Added adjustable camber arms to the rear and fixed ones to the front. Oh, and fitted a 3'' exhaust!!
I qualified 6th for race 1 and finished 4th. A couple of the front runners fell of the track which is not where you want to be. I set a new best of 1.03.291 on lap 2. I seem to go better at the start of the race, which could be in part to the standard computer and my inconsistence.

Race 2 I made a pretty good start and was actually 3rd for a few corners till we got to the infamous Baskerville hill. I cant remember this race, I finished back in 6th.
Race 3 wasnt a good one. I was running 6th and finished 9th after spinning on the last lap trying to past a laped car. Wasnt his fault, I flashed my lights and he gave me heaps of room, I just stuffed up.

Race 4 (final)
I worked my way back to 6th and was having some good dicing until I got a tap from behind which ruffled my feathers. I got stuck behind a car and then was takin by my "tapper" so I did a stupid things and tried to return the favour which resulted in the car overheating. So I backed right off and finished 11th. That put me 6th for the day.

DOH!!

2007-04-02T21:33:00.000+10:00

Excuse my photo editing. I think my logo is a different size on every photo LOL

The Second Coming Dec 2-3 2006 (Baskerville)

2007-04-02T20:20:00.000+10:00

The final round for the year (Tas Super Series by the way) was a very good meeting personally. We hadnt really done much to the car since Oct but we set a new best time and finished on the podium, 3rd outright for the day. To say I was happy is like saying the sun is bright.

But before we get to that, the day before I was involved with the x-mas ride days for Camp Quality. It was a joy to take some youngsters for a spin that dont have an easy time battling cancer. The only downer was that the weather wasnt the kindest so we couldnt give them as big a thrill as we all would of liked. But I think they enjoyed it none the less.

So onto the races. Dry day (thank you know what!!) I forgot to check tyre pressure before Qual and the car was all over the place and we had a spin in turn 1 on my first flying lap. Wasnt time to call in a fix it so I continued on. Ended up 4th on the grid in front of a few I was behind last time. R1 was a straight forward affair, finished 3rd. I was pretty happy. R2 I blew the start a bit and was 4th but quickly took 3rd and stayed there.

R3 was more hard fought. Had a ding dong battle with the Evo you can see it the pics. I let my guard down and he got me on the last corner on the last lap to take 3rd form me. I was mad at myself.

R4 saw another swaping of positions between me and the Evo with me coming off second best again. At that point I thought Id missed out on 3rd for the day, but as I said was very happy to find out otherwise. It was my first motorsport award.

Photos Copyright David Clifford
All these and more can be viewed at Smugmug. See the link.

The Story So Far

2007-04-02T16:58:00.001+10:00

Finding a place to start this story is a difficult one. So I will being with a quick history lesson.
I first started racing at age 20,way back in 1989. I raced my modest street car, a Hillman Hunter with a GT motor. It was pretty slow to start with, I only got to race at Baskerville, near Hobart. I started off doing 1min20sec lap times and finished 4 years later doing 1.08's. Compared with the pace setters who were doing 1.02's. Not bad for a car that wasn't build for speed. A crash while testing in 94' ended the Hunter days and Ive had to wait 12 long years to be back to doing what I love. In the mean time Ive had to content with computer games with Sim's like GTR, rfactor, Nascar Racing etc. None of which, I might add, even come close to the real thing.

Fast foward to 2005. My first trip to Bathurst. Not to watch the 1000, but to drive the circuit, something I had wanted to do for years. I didnt want to leave. I lost count of the amount of times I went round. As I was going round, I was saying to myself, "I have to race here, someday, in anything".

Which leads us today.... almost. I was looking for a car to start racing again and was put in contact with Stuart at Benson Motorsport. He helped me get a car which we got in Jan 06' and started racing at club days before the first race meeting in Oct 06'.

The First Meeting Oct 14-15 2006 (Baskerville)

2007-04-02T16:58:00.000+10:00

Having not done a hell of a lot of modifying to the car, I didnt know what to expect. Apart from the safety area like roll cage, harness etc we had lowered the car, added a strut bar, pod style air filter, reset the computer, changed engine oil, brakes and rotors and thats about it.
There wasnt a big field to race against, infact only 6 cars (4 Tagra B, 2 Targa C more on this later) Im Targa B. It was a 2 day meet, Baskerville hosting the IP nationals (improved production). Saturday was, sadly, wet so my first race back was wet. Great start. I started 4th and finish 2nd....last but 4th in my class. I just sat and spun the wheels of the line, was past by everyone, repasted to 4th then spun.

Race 2 went better and in the dry (as was the rest of the weekend) and we finished 4th. In fact we finished 4th in all 4 of the days races. We ened up with a best time of 1.04.302.

Photos Copyright MOREY PHOTOGRAPHY

Welcome to my Shrine

2007-03-29T05:41:00.002+10:00

Hello and welcome. Its proberbly unusal for a small time racing driver to have a web site, but what the hell. In this world of cyberspace everyman and his dog as a presence on the interweb(as Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson like to call it). Like just about every racing driver in the world, we dream of racing the big time and Im no different. Not all of us realise our dreams and its not always because we're no good. It takes alot more than just talent to make it. 2 of the most difficult arena's to break into are music and motor racing and they just happen to be the 2 things I most enjoy and have tried my hand at.

Anyway, I've started this site to improve my profile and record my progress to anyone who's interested. Enjoy the ride!!!