Ultimate Motorsports

With the threat of rain hanging over the meeting, another huge crowd of over 38,500 witnessed the running of this year’s Castrol Edge Winternationals.  With intermittent showers and a huge thunderstorm on Sunday, the crowd numbers show the importance of this event to the motorsport calendar and Drag Racing in particular.

As always we had a huge fan interest in our Toyota Aurion, with the added bonus this year that we brought out the 2^nd car for everyone to see and it added to both Toyota’s and the Ultimate Motorsports team presence at the event.

Even ANDRA’s CEO Tony Thornton paid us a visit.

Following a successful test session the week before the team was full of confidence regarding our chances of adding another Winternationals title to our list.  Our Toyota was punching out pretty consistent mid 6 second times around 335 KPH (210 MPH) so we felt confident that a 5^th victory could be on the cards.

In qualifying, for the first pass the car bogged off the line carding a less than desirable 12.1 sec pass.   This just pointed out that we needed do some tweaks to both the clutch and the boost.

One of the big issues with the running of this event is the dew that comes around as night time hits.  With our next qualifying pass scheduled for 6.00 pm the following night, we elected to fit new tyres to the car in order to gain us maximum traction and in an effort to combat any dew that may be around.  With showers throughout the day causing our qualifying session to be delayed by a further 1 ½ hours, and with the team watching the dew become increasingly heavier in the staging lanes, we were extremely concerned with our ability to hook up the car.  Trying to maximise the potential of our Toyota’s horsepower is hard enough on an optimal track let alone one where the car skates and dances around.  I did a strong burnout in an attempt to give our Toyota Aurion the maximum traction, but with all of the windows in the car severely foggy up, as the driver I elected not to make the pass.  Its one thing to travel over 335 KPH, it’s a totally different scenario when you can’t see where you are going!!

For the third and final qualifier we made a respectable time running a 6.9 second ET at 209.99 MPH (335.98 KPH), following a little bog off the line.  The difference in traction was really noticeable between the previous weekend and this event

The rain is playing havoc with the traction and the normally consistent track conditions that are the hallmark of the Winternationals, making it hard for us to get a handle on the track.  In looking over the data from the run we felt that the boost off the line was down a little which may be causing some of our issue’s.

So in an effort to ensure we get off the line we performed a number of anti-lag tests in the pits to get our boost exactly where we wanted it.  The sheets of flame that come out of the motor when it’s on the anti-lag attracted even more people than normal around our pit area and we spent some time answering questions and signing autographs.

Saturday’s crowd was one of the biggest I have ever seen at Willowbank and the support we received was tremendous.

Sunday dawned with a huge thunderstorm drenching the track and the pits not exactly the start we wanted to race day. It rained heavily for over an hour and dumped a lot of water on the track, but eventually the sun came out and we could get on with racing.  Given the amount of water flowing around our pit, it was a credit to the Willowbank track crew that they had the track ready to go after only a short delay.

While the crowd was not as large as Saturday, most probably due to the rain, it was still an extremely large and happy bunch of people and the amount of well wishes passed on to us as a team made us extremely confident for the day ahead.

We made two changes to the car prior to racing, adding a little power in the form of additional boost and we elected to change back to the older rear tyres in an effort to free the car up off the start line.  We figured that the older tyres  would give us less bite on the start line when compared to the new tyres.

We knew we had a tough competitor in Rod Harvey from NZ and following strong burnouts from both cars we came into stage, and both sat there.  Now I have no preference for staging either first or last but it appears Rod likes to go in last.  My job as a driver is to make the driver in the other lane as uncomfortable as possible and not allow him to do what he wants.  So we both sat in pre stage with my intention to make Rod stage first.  After some time, he goes in and I follow and strap a huge holeshot on him gaining almost 0.25 seconds head start which is a race winning margin given the times we both had run in qualifying.  The car hooked up and carried the front wheels right through 1^st and 2^nd gears, but it had a lot of tyre shake.  Tyre shake is a phenomenon where the tyres are not quite hooked up and are spinning slightly causing the car to flex on the sidewalls of the rear tyres.  It shakes the car real bad and in extreme cases can cause the driver to have blurry vision.

Well that’s where I was blurry vision with the car marching down the track already doing over 140 MPH (224 KPH) spinning the back tyres and not being able to steer because the front tyres are in the air, not exactly what you want as a driver.  I could just make out that I was drifting towards the wall but with the front wheels in the air I couldn’t correct the car.  A common problem with this is for the driver to over correct the wheels while they are in the air and this can cause the car to make a violent move once they come down and in some cases cause the car to roll.  So you just have to ride it out or get off the throttle.

But this is the Winternational’s so lifting wasn’t in my agenda.  Halfway through 3^rd gear the front wheels came down and I could now steer the car but at precisely that moment the rear shocks changed to full soft (a time that we pre-set in the pits) which caused the car to hook up again and push me into the wall.  Frustrated, I got off the gas and coasted well over half the track going through the lights still running over 120 MPH (192KPH), and worst still, bring on the win light in my lane.

However, in drag racing hitting the wall is an instant disqualification, and even though we won the race, we lost.  To say I was disappointed is an understatement.  The crew came down and I could see the disappointment on their faces as well, and true to form they tell what a great driving job I did.  I point to the car and say if I did so good how come the car is banged up – only the second time in 30 years that I have hit the wall.

A very frustrating end to the Winters of 2009.  We will have to wait until next year to add to our victories at this event, the biggest drag racing event held outside North America.  Obviously, back in the pits we had a number of people come over to the car to look at the damage and pass on their disappointment for us as a team at hitting the wall.

After more autograph signing we eventually run out of our handout cards.

It really is the fans that make Drag Racing such a great sport and hopefully we added to our fan base and gave Toyota the exposure they desire from our sport.  While as a team we couldn’t have done much more, but as a driver I feel I probably over drove the car today and should of got off the gas on the last pass.  However, winning this meet means so much.

Well I guess if it was easy everyone would be doing it, there’s always next year.

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What can you say about the Winternationals, an event that has over 40 years of history, steeped in tradition and now the biggest drag racing event outside of North America.  In my opinion, the Winters is the event of the year, huge crowds, passionate fans and above all else the best air we get to run in all year.

This made the 2008 Winter’s the ideal place for us to unveil our new Toyota Aurion.  Months of planning and work have gone into turning one of our Toyota Camry’s into a TRD Aurion, and the results speak for themselves.   The car has turned out great and is a real head turner.

With Toyota’s help, we put a lot of energy into making both our teams and Toyota’s presence at this years Winter’s a big deal.  On hand, we had the Targa Tasmania TRD Aurion of Neal Bates and Coral Taylor, the TRD Corolla of Simon and Sue Evans as well as one of the TRD Hi-Lux hero utes.  But the star of the show is undoubtedly our new TRD Aurion.  Of course there was our team TRD Hi-Lux (left of pic).   As a team, we went all out to make Toyota’s presence at the 2008 event something memorable, and judging by the reaction of the fans and other racers, we succeeded.

But not all things go to plan.  With the car up on jack stands and the boys giving the car the once over before the unveiling, it was time to get the car on the ground.

As it was being let down, one of the jack stands slipped on the uneven ground and the car fell off the jack stand.  Now Gonz being Gonz, nothing really fazes him.   Me, on the other hand, well, I was tripping out because we are less than 5 minutes away from the reveal and the pro jack is jammed up under the new front!!  Gonzo shows his true professionalism by getting the car down on the ground and covered up under the big silk car cover with about a minute to spare before we open up the display.

With Todd Connolly, from Toyota , as well as Peter Trevaskis from the Project Group, on hand to help unveil the car as well, plus several different media outlets we were looking to get maximum exposure for our team and Toyota, and when the media and guests are allowed in we were blown away by how many people turned up.

Rob Oberg handled the MC duties, and Todd, myself and Steve Bettes, Manager of Willowbank Raceway addressed the crowd.  We had a great response which couldn’t have been any better and with the interviews going well past the allotted time, we finally got down to a great catered lunch that was organised by both Sue and Sharon Rowsell.  Sue Dilger from Castrol told the girls it was the best spread she had seen put on at a racetrack – great job girls.

We had some great help to bring it all together, Dave Johnson has done a great job on the panel and paint, Darren Trass an outstanding job on the airbrushing and finally Street Impact Design put together a great wrap for the car.  Above all else I want to thank Todd Connolly and Toyota for having the faith in us to really replicate the true essence of the new TRD Aurion.

I think our new TRD Aurion marks a true turning point for drag racing.  We now have a very passionate car manufacturer keen on our sport, and as a team we are looking to make their place in drag racing something special.

I think Todd summed it up best by saying “The new car, the TRD Aurion Pro FX opens a new door and a new era for Toyota motorsports operation in Australia.   The Australian market really deserves to have this level of competition and we hope to see more brands following our footsteps into the sports compact drag racing scene”.

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When Toyota asked me if the TRD Toyota was available to be featured on the Toyota display at the 2008 Melbourne International Motor Show I was blown away.

For those of you that don’t know this is the biggest motor show in the southern hemisphere and plays a pretty big role within the Australian car industry.  This was a big deal not only for us as a team, but for Drag Racing in general, as I am not aware of any other drag racing car that has ever been featured by a major manufacturer at this show.  While the show runs for only eleven days it is a huge investment for all the car companies as they spend millions to display their cars.

One major problem that we had was that Ray Box and the Sports Compact Group had a meeting the weekend before in Sydney.  If we committed to the show, would we be able to turn the car in less than a week.  What if we crashed or hurt it?  As a team we decided to miss the Sports Compact meeting and go to Melbourne.  Now you have to understand that we are a team that likes to race so the decision to do a display instead of going racing was a very big deal, but so is the Melbourne International Motor Show.

With Sue out of action due to a broken ankle, Gonz hopped into the passenger seat of the transporter. We elected to travel via the coast road because the information we have was that the inland road is a mess.  In order to get back for work Sue had booked us to fly out Sunday, but with only me driving the time would be tight.  The trip was pretty uneventful except for a blown trailer tyre and the fact that at the required rest breaks both Gonz and I tried to sleep in the sleeper box.  Thankfully he’s not that big!

Once we crossed the Victorian boarder I started to feel the pinch of the drive and about an hour and a half out of Melbourne I start to really struggle.  Whilst most things that happen on tour should stay on tour, I have to have a go at Gonz.  Now his main job was to sit in the passenger seat and keep me, the driver, awake but up to this point he had spent a large part of the trip in the sleeper box while we were traveling.  So after waking him up, I said to him “now is the time you earn your money, we are about an hour and a bit out of Melbourne but in order to make the flight I don’t have time to stop so I need you to keep me awake”. All along the freeway there are signs “drowsy drivers die”, but Gonz said these make him sleepy – go figure. Well 10 minutes after our talk Gonz is sound asleep in the passenger seat but at least his snoring keeps me awake.

We get into Melbourne, find the Toyota’s head office, park the truck and make it to Melbourne airport about 40 minutes before the flight is scheduled to leave.  We get our tickets and get to the gate just as the flight commences boarding – talk about cutting it fine.

The plan is for me to fly back in on Wednesday and get the car from Toyota to the Melbourne Convention Centre (Jeff’s Shed as it is known by the locals) and onto the Toyota stand.  With Gonz busy at work and stuck in Brisbane until the weekend, I flew back to Melbourne and with Ian Smith’s help we got the car onto the Toyota stand and gave it its final detail.   Now if you have never been involved in the set-up of a major trade show it has to be seen to be believed.

The game plan was that our TRD Toyota was on a delivery schedule thad had to be delivered at the appropriate time to avoid conflict in the delivery dock but also inside the hall as not only Toyota was finishing building its stand but all the other manufacturers were hard at it as well.   It was a real challenge just to keep the dust off the car particularly as the construction crew put our TRD Toyota onto the turntable then proceeded to finish the stand around it.  Because our car was at the head of the stand we were the last Toyota in and it basically took them another day or so to put on the finishing touches.

Well, after the Brisbane International Motor Show, the Melbourne International Motor Show (MIMS) was a whole new level.  I was blown away with the size of the stand and the theme of the stand was “We Race, We Learn, You Win”, which pretty much sums up why Toyota are in motorsports.  The stand was divided into three sections.  The “We Race” section had our TRD Toyota on a turntable at the front of the stand, surrounded by the new TRD Aurion road car and the soon to be unveiled at the show the fabulous TRD Hi-Lux.  Also on the stand is the TRD Aurion Targa Tasmania car, Neal Bates rally TRD Corolla and the Toyota F-1 car.  A pretty impressive lineup for the – “We Race” section.

At the other end is the “We Learn” display.  For this Toyota had flown out a concept Hybrid sports car, the FT-HS and what a work of art this hand built car is.  Surrounding the FT-HS are a number of Toyota Prius’.

The “You Win” section is in the middle of the stand and features the current Toyota range.  I am sure that you will understand how proud I was that the Ultimate Motorsports TRD Toyota was a major feature of the Toyota display.

With every major car company going all out the show as a whole was very impressive, now I might be biased, but the Toyota stand was streets ahead of the rest.

The MIMS opened on the Friday and for the first half of the day is closed to the general public and is designed to allow industry journalists and the general media to take in all of the new vehicles without distractions.  Gonz flew in on Thursday night and with Smithy and myself we look the part in our Ultimate Motorsports team uniforms.  Glen Ridge is the MC and leads this media circus of about 100 journalists around each stand.  The Toyota launch was one of the first at about 8 o’clock in the morning.

Dave Buttner, Toyota Director of Sales and Marketing took the microphone and discussed Toyota’s strategy for the coming year.  He made a special point to thank us for having the car as the headline of Toyota’s stand. Then he unveiled the new TRD Hi-Lux to the media.  Finally, together with Neil Bates, Coral Taylor and Simon and Sue Evans from the Toyota Rally team, we retrieved from the back of the TRD Hi-Lux the AFL footballs that it was packed with and threw them out into the crowd.  Then it was answering questions from the media about our TRD Toyota, as well as the  questions from other car manufacturers about the Pro FX concept.  Of course we used this as an opportunity to try to get them involved in Drag Racing and particularly Pro FX.

The show proper opened about lunch time and the crowds started to roll in.  You can say what you like about the Sydney Brisbane Melbourne rivalry, but people who live in Melbourne really support their sport and entertainment.  The crowds hit and simply didn’t stop.  The idea was for us to do a 1 hour autograph session each day of both weekends.  After 2 hours we were still signing autographs and fielding the obvious question of when is proper drag racing coming back to Melbourne?  We wish we knew as its up to the Victorian Government to give approval to fund a new facility similar to what the NSW and WA governments have done.

Over the course of our time there we gave out around 5,000 handout cards and won over a whole new range of fans.   It was a time to also catch up with some old friends such as Holden Motorsport PR guru and drag racing enthusiast Gerald McDornan.   What a blast.

The best part of the post show reports was that the Ultimate Motorsports TRD Toyota was the most recognised vehicle on the whole Toyota stand.

I feel that with everything we have done in motor racing, the Melbourne International motor show ranks up there as one of the best experiences I have ever done – a huge deal

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Well this is our first engagement for Toyota and where do we go?

Not to a race dragstrip, not even anywhere near a racetrack, rather we have the car and team on display at the Tamworth Country Music Festival.  Not exactly what we envisioned when we thought of our first outing in Toyota livery. So how did it go?

The plan was for Gonz to spend the whole 10 days at Tamworth, and as I had work commitments the plan is that I will be there for both weekends.

We left home, taking down the transporter, my TRD Aurion so I can get back to Toowoomba and a vehicle for Gonz to use while he was in Tamworth.  The little convoy headed off for the 6 hour drive to Tamworth wondering what to expect from the Country Music Festival.  During the drive Sue and I spent the trip discussing what to expect, and more importantly how we would react to days filled with country music.  You have to understand that with AC/DC as my favorite group I was a little apprehensive about 10 days filled with country music as did everyone else.

After a fairly uneventful trip down to Tamworth, we arrived and unloaded the car.  Toyota shared a very impressive compound with Jayco Caravans.  The centre piece of the display was a marquee featuring our TRD Toyota Camry, the TRD Off Road buggy and the original first Toyota Landcruiser 4 wheel drive ever to come to Australia. In addition, Toyota had an off road driving course for interested drivers to take the 4wds for a test as well as a display including each make of car currently available.

We met Dave Fellows and Andrew Kittle from Kittle Motorsport, the driver and navigator of the TRD Buggy for the first time.  Over the week ahead we became friends as they are great guys.

Our TRD Toyota Camry was a big hit and attracted a great deal of interest.  We all spent a lot of time talking about drag racing, the car and enjoyed putting people into the car and showing them how it works.  As you know by now we are passionate drag racers and enjoy talking to people about our sport and in particular our TRD Toyota.  During the week we had that many enjoyable conversations with genuine Aussie’s who just enjoy life.  One of the most memorable moments was a retired guy of about 65 saying it couldn’t be at all hard to drive in a straight line, Gonz said why don’t you hop in and see how you would go.  Well he took up the challenge, and we proceeded to show him what was involved in making a run.  He was simply blown over by what was involved in driving the car especially when he struggled to build enough brake pressure just to stage the car.  He sat there for about 20 minutes just contemplating what it took to get the car down the track.  He left telling us he would try and get to a meeting to see us run – another convert and we didn’t even start the car!

Another time, another older guy asked how much to sit in the car, I said it’s free providing you can get in and out.  Well he said lets have a go.  After running through how to drive the car, he says well now I have 2 problems.  1 – I can’t get out of the car and 2 – I am sitting on my wallet.  Well that broke us up as well as all his mates.  Who said you lose your sense of humor as you get older.

While everyone gained an appreciation for our team, each day brought more and more of Tamworth’s younger residents out to talk to us and see the car. I would love a dollar for each one that suggested we fire it up and give it a hit out on the street.  As normal we tried to encourage them that the only safe place to race is on the track, but it must be hard living so far away from the nearest track – what do these kids do?

Each day Toyota gave away free cowboy hats and that really bought out the people, some them having a hat for each festival going back well over 10 years, talk about committed.  Each day we had hundreds of people looking over the car and discussing the performance of our hot rod.  In addition, we kept putting the people into the car.  The kids in particular really enjoyed the experience.  Each day we gave out hundreds of hand out cards on the car and we gained a whole new group of fans.

Over the week a competition developed between us and the buggy guys to see who could put the most people into the two Toyota’s.  With everyone needing to enter the buggy via the roof I’m sure that Andrew worked harder to get the young girls in his car, particularly those wearing dresses!!   I’m not sure who won but a great time was had by all.

Each night we went out to a different bar or club for dinner and drinks and the live music was something else, a mix of all sorts of music and styles with some very talented musicians. I even go to hear AC/DC.  It just goes to show that your first impression can be so far from the reality.  I am now a convert and would recommend the Tamworth Country Music Festival to anyone of any age.  That’s part of the beauty of this event, it attracts everyone from 18 to 80 and I am sure that we meet most of them.  Even the younger guys on our team, my sons Michael and Ben as well as Andrew had a great time at this event.  And for Gonz, well that’s a whole other story, but more on that later.

Work called and I left Monday with Gonzo staying to fly the flag for us and Toyota.  Each day I touched base with Gonz and was given a run down of how many people are now fans of both us and Drag Racing. On Friday, we travelled back to Tamworth in time to hear the free Lee Kernaghan concert playing across the road.  Gonz gets in later talking about his front row seats, the people he meet and how much fun he had at the free Toyota concert.

Next day back to signing autographs, giving out hand out cards and putting people in the car.

During our time in Tamworth, a number of guys from the local drag racing club came out to see the car and they couldn’t believe the finish of our Toyota.  These guys are dedicated racers having to travel to Sydney and Brisbane to race the big meetings.  They also travel to one of the smaller country towns to run at the local airport.  These guys are committed and eventually want to try and get a track in Tamworth.  Lets hope they can get somewhere with that.

The annual event finishes on Australia Day with a huge parade through the main streets of Tamworth and we had organized for both the TRD Camry and the Buggy to be on a tilt tray as part of the parade.  With Lee Kernaghan having just been named the Australian of the year, he chose to be in Tamworth and lead the parade with the Toyotas in the first float behind Lee in the lead car.  With Lee were the McClymont sisters, who as well as being great singers, also grabbed the attention of most of the boys in the crowd.

The parade was something else, almost everyone in Tamworth lined the streets with estimates of over 30,000 people, Aussie flags everywhere and the crowds clapped and cheered enthusiastically for both our teams.  Dave and Andrew walked one side of the float, Michael and Ben the other side, With Sue and I up the front and Gonz was standing beside the buggy blowing the sirens and horns and generally having a great time.  What really blew me away was the amount of people that yelled out from the crowd hey Gonz, hello Gonz, the little bugger was only in Tamworth for 10 days and most of Tamworth already knew him!!  What a great Australia Day it made me feel proud to be an Aussie.

What a way to end our time here.  If you haven’t been you really must put the Tamworth Country Music Festival on your must do list.  We might even run into you there because we will definitely be back.

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