The 2007 NZRCA North Island Champs this year were held in Auckland,. the largest city in New Zealand. The track itself was relatively new with only a few meetings being held at this location prior to the event. 39 1/8 buggys and 29 Truggys were entered. Although low on numbers it was certainly a quality field with all the major racers from through out NZ attending.
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Free Open Practice:
Greg Mawson XB8 (click to enlarge)
We arrived at track straight from airport early Friday morning and had a quick look over facility then got ourselves set up in the pits. From the first test runs on the track we all noticed the lack of grip so set about changing cars to work better.
Trev Winter XB8 (click to enlarge)
After a few changes (anti roll bars, shock springs, chassis braces, diff oils) we were all pretty happy with XB8TQ cars and left the track after practice session confident for qualifying the next day.
Qualifying:
Tim McKay XB8 (click to enlarge)
During the 6 rounds I had some good results with 2 round wins and also set the fastest heat time of all 6 rounds so was confident we had a very good car set up. After qualifying I was sitting in 2nd place, other Xrays present were Greg Mawson in 16th, Trev Winter in 18th, Bradley Morgan in 22nd and Mike Young in 23rd. After the bump up finals Greg moved into the A final & Trev was unlucky to end up 11th overall.
Finals:
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Due to me Qualifying 2nd and going straight into A Final it was a relaxing and stress-free afternoon watching the lower finals and seeing who was bumping up and who wasnâ™t. Eventually the field of 10 was found and the 40min A final got under way. The Final started well for myself leading for the first few laps, however as the race went on I made a few basic driver mistakes and a long first pitstop due to lean engine cost me some time. As race went the leaders were lapping very fast and although I had the pace to match them I didnâ™t quite have the consistency.
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As race was winding down I found myself in 3rd place with a comfortable lead over 4th so just set about getting to the end of the race with a podium finishing position. Greg Mawson was sitting in 6th place with a few minutes to go when he had fuel line problems and dropped right back to 10th place after not being able to restart the race.
Overall a good result considering it was only my 3rd race meeting with the Xray XB8TQ, car was very fast as was displayed in Qualifying.
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Would also like to thank my Pitman For A Final Trev Winter and Team Xray for a great car and support, and of course our local Xray Dealer Zoom Resources.
3rd Tim Mckay XRAY XB8TQ
10th Greg Mawson XRAY XB8TQ
11th Trev Winter XRAY XB8TQ
13th Bradley Morgan XRAY XB8TQ
18th Mike Young XRAY XB8TQ
