Ching, ching, ching

Auto racing is all about speed, while that is true, there is an awful lot that goes on behind the scenes that is all but speed, take for example the getting of a few shirts for the pit crew, aka Me

This Baby will have all the works & the Jerks! Yes, I know I have mentioned this before in a previous occasion,

BUT, this Baby will have the whole package! The whole shooting box! The whole box and dice, you just ask my man

Ching, ching, ching, my wallet is blinding me, flashing before my eyes,

I can see this is going to be a very expensive & very time consuming exercise, for Mwah

After having been consumed almost every night & day for the past week, with scouring the net for suitable shirts/polos, I am feeling a little frayed, my colours are beginning to run, not to mention the brain fuddled with all the different styles, colours, & prices!!

“A Sponsor is what is needed” he states whilst gazing out surveying the property whilepartaking a coldy on the back patio

A brain way indeed, I say, phew that’s my boy, always thinking

Thinking caps are on, our minds are off & racing, His work, My work, who could we approach? to happily hand over their hard earned cash

As I said before God puts people in our path,

not ching, ching, ching

but ring, ring, ring

the phone rings & the Brother in law, Mr Triple A is on the line. The conversation gets on to the car & Brian mentions we are looking for a Sponcer & Praise the Lord; Triple A Shop fitting comes to the fore

Then the work really begins, the hours of trolling through web sites looking for the right shirt we can all agree upon, then finally the art work is decided & the shirts & caps are ordered

Hallelujah they have finally arrived, they have been paid for, they are ready to be picked up

Fickity, fackity, wuckity, oh blast it, it really doesn’t sound quite the same

FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!!!!!!!!!! THEY DON”T FIT !!!!

or rather My, & Zoe’s sizes are too small

What was he doing! I ask you, when he had his hands against my girls whilst measuring them!!!

How wrong can you get?

Hmmmmmmmm, Bri . . .shouldn't that make the car GO FASTER?

“We need to go to the airport” says the Petrol-in-the-veins enthusiast

Wow, a surprise romantic trip for two, I fleeting think, stupidly, it is after all only a few days to our Anniversary

“I need to go buy the Avgas & the nearest place is Coolangatta Airport”

Say what!!!! thinks I

“Don’t you listen to me when I talk to you”? he asks

“I have explained to you before that the Avgas Mark used to get me, is a high octane aviation fuel used to power many aircraft & racing cars & now since Mark isn’t there at the Airport I now need to source it from else where

He really is such a thoughtful man, he had read abt a craft show that was on down the coast at the same time, so thought he could drop me off first, but I declined

Off we go an hour & a half away, luckily for him, enroute stopping at the strawberry farm for the mandatory strawberry ice-cream

We have a 20mins wait whilst the guy fuels up a helicopter, then they carry the 5 20 litre containers to the truck to be taken away to be filled

Mounting fuel prices $2.30 a litre in NSW was only $1.70 in Qld

Up coming event

Home he comes, car magazine tucked under his arm. He reads out abt a charity event abt to happen 26th April at Queensland Raceway, Willowbank, run by David Besnard. Hot laps are on offer plus car show & shines, laps etc, Craig Lowndes, Steven Johnson, Alex Davison & Craig Baird all attending. All moneys raised going to help support the victims of the North Queensland Floods and Victorian Bushfires.

We peruse, “You’ll have to give this David a ring love”, says I & see if they want the car there. This apparently fell on deaf ears as 2 days later when I inquire, ahh no he hasn’t got around to it yet!!

Insert a wee pep talk here re networking, having the car out there being seen etc etc.

The phone is picked up & dialled, he puts his case forward, a favourable response received from the other end, & whom am I speaking too asks my man, no less than the Man himself David Besnard the V8 Supercar driver. I send him off a picture of the car & within minutes get a return email

Hi Brian,
Your car looks awesome and we would love to have you at our charity event.
I will be in contact with you in the next couple of weeks.
Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions.
Regards,
David Besnard

Excitement plus in our house hold

Maiden Voyage

Saturday morning, 22 February 2009 we loaded the Mustang on the trailer for her Maiden Voyage heading to Morgan Park Raceway, Warwick for the club, HCC, Triple "T" Day - Try, Train or Test
She towed like a dream, up & over the gorge, but on the way disaster #1 hits.

Ohhhh says I, Bri I think I have left my makeup at home, laugh not, I am a girl who since the day I was married at 16 has NEVER gone a day without applying my pancake makeup, yes indeedy! I had. Sensitive new age guy that I have knows this is indeed devastation, he screeches to a halt at the first chemist he sees & I return to the fold 20mins & $60 later.

The benefits of smokin’ again, he is happily standing surveying the world & his toy. All is right with the world once again

We book into our unit then head for the track to get our bearings, find a suitable area to unload the car from the trailer.

What’s this, my man is sprinting off into the undergrowth!!

ahhh someone!! Stop that run away car, a laps of the memory, ahhh that’s right, this car doesn’t have a hand brake!! Disaster # 2 is foiled, we then park the trailer in the appropriate area.

Then luckily we find out we can be scruteneered today, so armed with his cam’s license etc & baited breath, we complete scruteneering successfully. We find an area we both like to set up camp, so to speak, with a view of the track & park the car to be left overnight. We then realize just how hot it will be the next day without cover & make a dash for the nearest shops, luckily we just make closing time & purchase a you beaut Cover?? for $220, money well spent

Sunday we wake
“What time is it?” I inquire
“It’s racing time!!” he yells enthusiastically

Ahhh I don’t think soo
Its 3am!!
Thankfully we drift back to sleep

Disaster # 3 Phone call from the unit, “have you by chance left behind a little grey bag behind”!! My Man had said I will get that darling, no said I, I will bring it, yeah RIGHT

We get to the track at 7am, set up our new beaut cover next to the car, attend the driver briefing. Suit up ready & waiting. Thankfully just in the nick of time Bri remembers to mount the new in-car movie camera, centers it so we could see his hand. It’s really pretty helpful to be able to review video after an event & hear the gear changes & especially when you can see the steering action as well.
Disaster #4 foiled just in time, realization, once harnessed in!!! one cannot reach the camera to turn it on, frantic arm waving & beckoning by my man & I run to the rescue & do the deed

The car successfully passed Target scruteneering which lasts 5 race meetings, a pleasure to work on such a clean car he said! & why not says I with all the works & jerks this baby has, at last the hoist has come into its own

Ok on the track, first gear into 2nd gear a breeze, I’mmmm maybe a mistake here, as a crunching noise is heard all the way in the stands! I should have tried this before coming out, he thinks!

"can’t reach the gear lever to go into 3rd, can only use the finger tips" he says sheepishly when I enquire abt the noise, it’s not quite the same as being in the shed without the harness on!!!

Just as well this is a test day also

Lesson # 1 Men will find any excuse to handle their rod, ahhh sorry knob

He was a little nervous as he had never driven the car before other than around our dam a few times so in actual fact hadn't driven it on bitumen & didn’t know the circuit
First time out was behind the pace car, no passing this time out we were told at the drivers briefing, arh did everybody hear that! After 3 laps that went to the wall

"The car is making a strange knocking noise from the back corner so I'll need to investigate that"

Again bum up under the car, find nothing!!
Do you want a go out with me, he asks “say what!”

A strange knocking noise? & you haven't found it!
“There's absolutely no way in HELL I am going out on that track with you, I think, I would sooner jump off a boat and swim through sharp-toothed fish laden waters than get in there with you!
"So you don’t fancy me getting you a one day license then, there’s a few girls out there" he replies
"Are you out of your fucking mind?' I do say that, he just laughs

Second time out I could literally see the nerves flying out the window & the red mist start to roll on in!!! as he barrels past anyone within his eye sight. He was driving well, controlled the car well into the corners or rather the slicks stuck to the road, they had an awesome grip, stuck to the road like glue, as he moved up the field, my heart was in my mouth as he hammering into the corners,
I could see he was setting his sights on several cars, I could see him biding his time & then he barreled past them on the straight just before the chequered flag.

This was a fantastic day, we are novices, & found everyone took the time to patiently explain things.
It was a blast, we are racing & I love it, My man is living his dream & I am a part of it

The day after Boxing Day dawned bright & sunny as we continued to make our way to keep “she who must be obeyed!” happy, off on a jaunt to buy herself, I might add, a new unit for the lounge
This man of mine sure was keen!
I now know why
“Whilst we’re here shall we just whip into check out the race suits”
Luckily Revolution Racegear Springwood, was only a few blocks away
We looked, we tried on, we ordered, & just as well we did for 6 weeks later it is finally ready

Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s great when the man in your life likes to be budget conscious BUT budget should not in the vocabulary when one is talking race suits, there are some really very nasty looking models out there
As any good husband/wife team knows a compromise must be meet & it was!
Middle of the road was chosen NOT as I had wished the u beaut model but the next one down
The package in the black & yellow Driver Kit Bag
“big enough to keep your entire race gear together in one safe place.!!”
Not just a suit, oh no all the works & jerks, the puller inner a, the lifter upper a, the pusher outer a, Christ are we in bra’s & things! No just kidding
We are talking fabric that is fire resistant, excellent at removing perspiration leaving you comfortable while still retaining a vital insulating air gap for heat protection
And here we have it, double & triple layers of suit, underwear, Balaclava, gloves, socks, & boots all for the princely sum of $ 1,425.00

Ease on down the road

“We need a trial, a practice run”

Too bloody right, thinks I, you needn’t think I will be getting in there & driving off cold turkey!!!

“To see if all is right with towing”

This takes a good few hours of doing what!
Beats me.

Finally slowly Pinepac II is inching towards the ramps, he’s head down arse up, checking, rechecking, I feel I should be singing a rendition of old Mac Donald’s farm, “with a look, look, here & a look, look, there, here a look, there a look, everywhere a look, look!
Now run up to the front of the trailer, lowering the jockey wheel, hooking on winch & up she goes, now the tying down begins, a bit of a push to the front, a bit move to the rear, run down to the wood pile, grab wood, measure, run to the saw, wedge that wood in there, no need for a 14k run tonight sweetheart, you have already run a marathon today

& finally easing on down the road
Thankfully all is well with the world

Throw out bearing

" Did you hear THAT? "

"What?" says I

"That squealing, grinding sort of noise!
SHIT! what’s that noise when I push in the clutch"

What!! You are asking me? I think

"I better get that fixed, don’t want to be on a track somewhere & it goes, down the gurgler would go $150 for the motel & $100 track time to be let down by something that I knew in my mind was faulty"

Ahhh excuse me would that be such a wasted time!!! Motel room! meals out! visiting places new!!

That’s my boy, always thinking, light bulb goes on in his brain

"I bet it’s the throw out bearing"
this man of mine should really have been a mechanic

Hallelujah! the hoist has now come into its own, see it was a good investment after all says he.

He removes the bearing & takes it to the bearing shop & bought the appropriate bearing. Home he trots & installs the said part. Enters mate chriso he’s come around to help refit the gearbox as an hour has gone passed & the #$%^&* THING won’t go back, another 3 hrs later & they discover the internal diameter of the bearing was wrong. Bri takes the bearing back to the shop, “wrong bearing you have given me here mate!” They then discover it has been machined out! 3 shops later Bri’s finally told "they don’t make a bearing like that" he will have to get it machined. Lots of stress later, as at this time he is at week 5 of giving up smoking!! Another 4 days of ringing around trying to find a machine shop that could do the job, no luck. Chriso comes to the rescue once again & knows a guy that could do it, fingers crossed the ceramic cutting tip doesn’t shatter as that would be an extra $200.
All was done without any mishap & the insides of the bearing were machined out 3 mm, wait for the best part, it for free
Oh & Bri got a spare done at the same time, good thinking Watson