A LITTLE MAINTENANCE REQUIRED

Well perhaps a little is an understatement. As you know, we ended the season with a rather damaged race truck. It was still driving & even competing well, but it wasn’t looking pretty. In fact there was definitely a time after the accident at Manfield, when plenty thought the racing was over for the season too! It’s ironic that during the race season & even the build up to it, there was a lot less maintenance or work needed on the truck than initially expected (based on previous years of experience). One of the biggest efforts had to come after the racing had finished. There was some serious re-fibreglassing required, plenty of re-alignment of various components, not to mention quite a bit of serious paintwork. Many thanks to the team who helped rebuild our baby and get it looking like new again. Special thanks to Rob Walker & team for the paint work & Wayne Thompson for the fibreglass work. Now it’s ready once again to show it’s face in public for the busy promotional schedule.

TRUCK RACING - IT’S A DRAG!

But in a good way. Some of you may have been aware that Malcolm, the truck & some of the team travelled up to Meremere (just outside of Auckland) to attend a day of drag racing. Competing against rival Supertrucks of Andrew Porter (who finished the season 2nd just behind Inky Tulloch) & Cedric Abernethy, Malcolm was expecting to be competitive. Little did he know he’d come away with the fastest Supertruck time at the meeting, clearly quicker than the others. His fastest run was 13.9s/102mph with Porter’s best a 14.15s & Abernathy’s 14.17s. ‘We left them in our wake,’ said Malcolm “launching out 4 or 5 truck lengths off the start and extending on that to the line. There was phenomenal power off the line - we learnt a lot.” The ‘Bandag Bullet’ show truck also competed & wasn’t that much faster than Malcolm.

Unfortunately we were unable to compete in the Masterton Aerodrome drag meet the following week due to an enthusiastic burn out from Malcolm last year that left the organisers of that event less enthusiastic to invite him back.

	Malcolm quicker than Porter on the drag strip

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNT?

Why were we able to beat in particular Andrew Porter in drags when he clearly seamed to have more power in the race meets? Well despite some modifications to the compression of the engine for the drags (which didn’t actually help), there wasn’t really anything different done to the engine to achieve the extra power. The difference was all in the way it was driven. In a race, the engine was reeved up to 2900rpm to achieve the performance that’s clearly put Malcolm up at the top of the sport. In the drag race, he changed gear at the lower rev range of 2000rpm and amazingly achieved more power resulting in more speed & quicker times. It was certainly a well worth while exercise for us to be at as we’ve now come away with a better understanding of what the truck is capable of & how to get the best from it. It’s shown us where to start looking for the additional improvements we need to win with next year. Needless to say, we’re positive there will be good gains again next season & probably in no small part, from what was learnt on that day at Meremere. How we gear the truck & at what rev range we operate it, could have some significant gains for us, however there’s still plenty of testing to be done to work it all through thoroughly. The Dyno at ADS I’m sure will also be a big part of that.

	It didn’t mater where it was, the truck always attracted plenty of attention & interest

WHAT’S NEXT?

There was a lot talk about the Queenstown Hill Climb race in which we and a couple of the other top Supertrucks had been invited to. A reasonably attractive & certainly very tempting offer was made by the organisers to get the truck & Team BTR down to the event. However after much deliberating, the decision was made not to attend at least for this year. Put simply, the risks involved along with the large amount of preparation & modifications required was not balanced with the reward or benefits that would or could have been achieved for attending. The time factor was also an issue. All that being said, it’s not out of the question for next time, which of course we will be well prepared for if we do attend.

So what are we up to now I hear you ask? Apart from a few appearances around & about, the next big event on the calendar is the PPG day at Manfield on the 7th of May. While this is mainly for PPG & some of their lucky select guests, some other sponsors are also involved. This promises to be a memorable day for all who attend (as it was last time) with lucky participants getting to ride around the track in the truck at race speeds, as well as in many other ‘made for speed’ machines. There will be good support from the Capital Corvette Club along with a race HQ Holden, a thumping big V8 Torana, the latest V8 Lexus convertible & maybe even a couple of Ferraris & jet sprint boats (to be confirmed). But of course the real highlight will be the magnificent sausage sizzle run by the BTR crew. So for those attending, mark that date down & don’t forget it, we’ll be in touch with you soon to finalise details.

Don’t miss being in the thick of it next year!

PROMOTIONAL OPPORTUNITIES?

For those not involved, get in touch with us to see how you to can organise an event like this for your key clients. I can promise you, it’s well worth it & it’s something they will remember for a long time. And more to the point, they’ll remember who made it possible for them. There are also plenty of other ways in which the race truck can be put to good promotional use. So if you have an up-coming event that you think we may be able to help with, talk to us.

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

With the official race season for this year over & our budget well & truly spent, it’s time to start thinking about renewing sponsorships again. All current sponsors have expressed interest in being involved again which is great for us to hear. Some have even suggested that more involvement could be on the cards. That’s great because although we achieved a lot last year & also had a lot of expense, we will need a similar budget again if we are to get where we want to be. Next year should see us competing off the front row in the championship. Inky Tulloch is reportedly not competing, therefore leaving Porter as our main threat as things stand now. As stated regularly, we are continually striving for improvements & to take the next step to advance our results. We have plenty planned to achieve this & certainly have the commitment. All we need now is to know we have the funds to achieve it. Please bare your sponsorship of our team in mind when allocating your marketing funds. We simply can not operate without your support and look forward to your continued commitment. We will be preparing proposals soon, however we will be looking for a similar commitment from you all for the up coming season. Anyone wanting to change their level of sponsorship, please contact us now so we can plan appropriately.

Don’t miss being in the thick of it next year! Back to News Page