UPDATE NEWSLETTER 2004

It's been a few months since we sent the 2003-2004 Season Wrap up Newsletter out. With the official 2004-2005 Race Season commencing in 7 weeks, we thought it was about time we got you up to speed with everything that has been happening over that time.

In July we attended the AGM where naturally quite a few aspects of racing were discussed. One of particular interest was the weight of all trucks and although it was not confirmed until recently, we finally got an answer we were all waiting for. This was for the ruling to be changed, "that all Race Trucks must weight in at 5.5 tonne". Malcolm & the Team are now very excited about the up and coming Race Season, this rule change alone will definitely make the 2004-2005 race season a very interesting one.

July was also the time that our very cold winter had finally settled in and although you may have been thinking we were all settled inside, in front of the fire with a hot cup of Cocoa, you couldn't be more far from the truth.

We transported the Race Truck to Rotorua, where it was to be put on display at the Asia Pacific Rally of Rotorua Car Show for the weekend. Who knows what we were thinking when we chose to leave at 4.15am. The thought of the Desert Road being shut due to heavy snow overnight had not even entered our heads. However upon reaching Taihape everything came to a halt. Apart from being a cold morning the 3 hour wait for the road to reopen seemed to fly on buy, as many people were only too happy to come over and have a chat. The trip took a little longer than expected but we arrived safely at the final destination.

	A cold morning on the Desert Road Malcolm managed a perfect U-Turn in the snow …. Is nothing Impossible for this man?

In the last News letter we told you about the new ERF that Malcolm had bought to replace the Tranzit tow vehicle. (Once again a big thanks to Tranzit Group for the use of their ERF as the BTR tow vehicle). The ERF Olympic Flagship was shipped to New Zealand and collected from the Wharf in Auckland at the end of July. Once back to the Paireai Road workshop there was no mucking around to get the vehicle ready to be a part of the Team. A lot of work and man hours have gone into this project, but the end result was well worth the effort. I'm sure you will agree that it now completes the already professional total team package of BTR.

Ready for the transformation to begin	In the Paint Shop for the last stages	The finished result!

A big thanks to Darren and Bob Thomson for the painting of the cab… it looks absolutely fantastic!"

This weekend just gone the Race Truck was off Whangarei for Display. With the new edition to BTR on the road this made for an even more exciting trip as it was the first trip with the new ERF towing the Race Truck.
The whole trip ran smoothly and Malcolm has told us that the ERF is better than he had expected.

The ERF Olympic Flagship with Transporter & Race Truck off to Whangerai

There's only one thing left to be done before we head out on the Race Track again. We are now in the process of a total strip down, sandblast and repaint of the truck. Not to mention replacing the Diff, (there's nothing wrong with the one we have now) however this new Diff will definitely have a big improvement on the overall performance of the BTR Race Truck. Not to mention helping the weight come down.
On another note, all Sponsorship Proposals have been sent out and we are extremely happy to see that you have all come back on board for the 2004-2005 season. We would also like to welcome aboard new sponsor Automatic Transparts to the BTR Team. We are truly greatful for you all.
We will be sending out another quick update before the start of the season, which as stated is not very far away. Write it down on your calendars now "Manfeild 7 November 2004".

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