The weekend started out ok and did a bit of testing during practice to try and get more of a handle on the new VE.
We learnt a lot and were reasonable happy going into qualifying.
We made some final changes for the top ten to further improve the car and put the 3rd set of tyres on. Out of pit lane they didn't seem to come on the same as the previous two sets and during the 2 lap run on the new tyres I was around 3 tenths slower.
With the changes we made to the car we should have been 1 to 2 tenths faster.
With only a few minutes to go we put one of the previously used sets on and I did another 2 lap run. The old tyres that had previously done 6 laps and already lost their edge were faster than the new one.
After qualifying I was 6th fastest and we were left scratching our heads! Everything was going to plan in race 1 and one third of the way into the race I was settled in a good position (4th) and thinking of maintaining my position in the championship after a rocky start to the weekend.
All of a sudden into turn one with absolutely no warning, as I pushed the brake pedal it slowly went all the way to the floor whilst spraying brake fluid all over my left arm and windscreen.
As soon as the car hit the sand pit and filled with dust all I could think about was the championship - not if I was going to hit the wall or not!!
The car pulled up and I told the crew over the radio what had happened.
With the adrenalin still going all I had in my mind was getting out of the car before the tow truck arrived - I wanted to find the problem and see if it was repairable.
I jumped out and opened the passenger door and found straight away that the rear brake line had blown apart. I knew then that it was the end of our day!!
Over night we had a big investigation as to why the brake line failed and we re-grouped to ensure we did out best job to salvage as many points as we could from the rest of the weekend.
In race 2 I started from 2nd last and knew how important it was to gain as many positions as possible to get back in to the points. When you starts that far back it is very important to get as many cars as possible at the start and during the first lap before the field starts to spread out.
Starting back in 2nd last position I wasn't even actually on the straight. I was positioned part of the way in the last turn on the marbles on the outside - not on the actual straight. This made the start very difficult and as a result I didn't gain a position off the line. From then on I had the difficult task of passing as many cars from 30th position.
It was a tough race and I fought as hard as I possibly could but the more cars I passed the more the field ahead would spread out. I really had to use the car and tyres to catch them let alone pass. So to end up tenth and in the points wasn't a bad outcome.
We saved the newest set of tyres for the last race as we knew the next ten positions wouldn't be as easy.
At the start of race 3 the car felt really bad on the new tyres and as it turned out they were the set that I couldn't do a time on in the last sector of qualifying.
It was going to be a long hard race! My goal was to make my way from tenth position to finish 4th by the end of the last race.
With the tyres we ran I couldn't do much at all with the car. I tried to tune it as much as possible with the bars but I just didn't have the grip or speed to move forward.
I tried to catch the group in front 3 times but kept getting put back in pitstops and traffic.
Overall it was a very disappointing weekend for the championship but at the same time we did the best we could to make the most out of all the things we didn't have control of.
We had a DNF in the worst possible race out of the three races and still managed to come out of it 3rd in the championship. I am now more motivated than ever to get those points back and get back to the top.
Between now and when we leave for the next round in New Zealand we have a lot of de-briefing and pre-briefing to do but amongst that we have one test day at Winton and also some time off over Easter in Mildura where Rick and I will have probably what will be our last ski behind Tige' until the end of the season.
Hopefully it will be a good one and more importantly an injury free one!!
Thanks and all the best,
