A long awaited return

It has been a long time between drinks since I've had the opportunity to drive my Formula Ford in anger. In between my last round at Lakeside and the round coming up I've had to go back to the basics. I knew my talent could be worked on, its a work in progress and I hope it stays that way, but I also knew in area's my car was letting me down.

So I retrieved my car from the guys who were looking after the car, and dropped my car off in the hands of a family friend and their family based team. TGR (or Tony Graham Road-freight) are more accustomed to Speedway and Karting in the Northern Rivers region though were more than eager to learn how to setup the car. With their son Ash looking at making a transition from speedway to circuit racing, they thought the information we could learn off each other would be invaluable.

So the car was completely stripped, suspension out, body work off and engine accessories out to see just what makes these cars tick and what can be improved on. I immediately discovered some places in the rear bodywork that would be letting the car down aerodynamically so off the bodywork went to East Coast Finishing's, to be altered and repainted. Suspension had play front and rear in most of the wishbone joins, with some proper spacers we fixed this issue. Engine power was down, so we had the car dyno'd, it appeared that the ignition was completely breaking down. Some parts sent over from America would fix these issues.

I read that a good seat is worth 0.5 of a second a lap, either for or against your times, so it wasn't a surprise that the seat came straight out and went straight to the bin. Never being comfortable wasn't helping me at all, so I had a fiberglass one built which sits me lower and on a great angle for me. Not only does the cabin feel more spacious but the new seat also does give me more leg room for some fancy footwork.

The proof may be in the pudding whether this whole exercise of preparing the car myself was worth it, though just going into the race this weekend with complete confidence in my car will help me more than ever in achieving my goal.

Fitness wise I reached my goal weight 2 weeks ago, down from 89kg to 75kg. It was a hard path and keeping it off is a challenge, but its been worth it.

I have to make mention to all of my current sponsors also:
Jetts Fitness
Life Science
Tony Graham RoadFreight
Nutrition Warehouse
ULX 110 Custom Blend Oils

Stay Quick.