Well after all the planning, speculation, changes & plenty of work, it was time to test it all out on the track at the seasons first ‘Hit out’. The Manfield ‘Shakedown’ has always been the traditional place for the big boys (& Little ones too) & their big toys to trial their off season modifications on the track. The main purpose to measure them against 2 main criteria: Their own expectations & of course their fellow competitors:

Race Truck Up Grades - So how did they all go?

Well the new twin turbo set up seams to be working well with definitely no less power, although further testing on the dyno (by ADS) is required to tell us for sure. The new gearing tweaks also seam to be doing the job although further testing is needed. The suspension changes planned weren’t completed in time for this meet however against our main rivals, we were doing well none the less. All the more promising considering we’ve got more improvements to come. With the new twin turbos came a new exhaust system with 2 main differences from last season: the look & the noise.

	On the dummy grid ready & waiting to get out!

Did the changes work?

Well did I mention noisy! In fact the exhaust was too noisy with the officials telling us we had to get the noise down from 104 decibels to 90! Without major mods that we simply couldn’t do track side, we had to come up with a few make shift tricks like stuffing chicken wire down the exhaust. With a slightly quieter truck we were back out on the track. I don’t know if it was because it sounded noisier & therefore faster but Malcolm felt we definitely had the power. “Noisy but quick!” And it showed when he ended up with clearly the second fastest time in practice behind last years NZ Supertruck number one, Andrew Porter.

And We’re Racing!

Although the intention was to start the trucks in the same position they finished practice in for the 1st race, all of the races ended up being reverse grid starts, meaning we were off the back every time with Andrew. There definitely appeared to be some team tactics going on as in the 1st race Andrew slowed & blocked Malcolm allowing Cedric Abernathy a win with Andrew & Malcolm 2nd & 3rd. The 2nd race was a time handicap that saw Malcolm & Andrew starting approximately a minute behind the 1st to start. Despite this, they both soon mowed down the field this time seeing Andrew in 1st with Malcolm 2nd & Cedric 3rd. Unfortunately Malcolm got held up a little when one of the slower trucks (Pinky) hadn’t realised Malcolm was about to overtake on the inside & consequently coming across right in front of Malcolm leaving him nowhere to go except into the back of poor Pinky. Fortunately Malcolm recovered & stayed on the track however Pinky took a little expedition on the grass before rejoining the race. The 3rd race was a reverse order rolling start of which Malcolm got away to another great start. On the first corner Malcolm was attempting to overtake on the outside when he was deliberately shunted from behind by Andrew sending the BTR truck off the track & almost into the wall. A stupid & needless act that could have cost us dearly not to mention being exceptionally dangerous. After an amazing recovery Malcolm really had the bit between the teeth and amazingly swallowed up the field to finish a great second again behind Andrew.

	A hurried rainy pack up.

WHAT’S NEXT ON THE CALENDAR

DATES	EVENT
10th & 11th January 2004	'NZ Super Truck Series' Round 1 - Timaru
31st Jan & 1st February 2004	'NZ Super Truck Series' Round 2 - Manfield, Fielding
14th & 15th February 2004	'NZ Super Truck Series' Round 3 - Pukekohe, Akld