Monday, 4 December 2006
NSR PR
The
Northwest Trucks Nathan Smee Racing transporter headed south
last weekend for the 47th running of the Australian
Grand Prix at Avalon Raceway, Victoria. A prestigious race with
an honour roll of champions, NSR were looking for a top 5 finish
in a field rich with Australian Speedcar talent.
Starting
from position 9 in his first eight lap heat, Smee’s AGP campaign
began at the drop of the green. Sticking to the low line, a
tussle erupted for placings as Smee glanced at 5th, 6th
and 7th positions. Moving up track, Smee took to the
highline for a final outside move, taking the chequers in 7th
place.
Racing
with an inverted heat format, Smee was set to start towards the
front of the pack in heat two; that is, until turn 1 got in the
way! The second car to be push started, Smee fired the car up
only to lose
control of the tail end of Dominator Engines Speedcar 6 into
the turn one wall and flip over. With the car gently placed
back on all four wheels, Smee exited the vehicle and was towed
back to the pits for crucial repairs.
With red
lights glowing around the racetrack, the Avalon management
discovered oil had been spread around the entire circuit from a
Speedcar with mechanical problems; this was what Smee had hit
forcing
his car into the concrete fence. The grader and officials took to the
clay way
reworking the track allowing valuable time for NSR
to repair the damage in time to make the race.
After
extensive work in the pits with the front end, jacobs ladder and
torsion bars damaged, in addition to a dented right rear wheel
and flat left rear tyre, the team also realised the axle was bent
and the diff needed replacing. Displaying true
sportsmanship in the midget ranks, the crew replaced the broken
parts; with a jacobs ladder loaned to NSR by Mark Brown's race
team.
“How
embarrassing” Smee said after the event while copping a ribbing
from his family and friends, “rolling over before the race had
even started!”. Running out of time, the race began without
Nathan, who was now down in points and positioned in the 15th place
starting grid for the night’s main event.
A race
with the highest point scorers starting off the front, the 25 lap A
Main was underway with Nathan hunting for positions. Slipping
under competitors on the low line, Smee was on the move; swiftly
scaling up the ladder capturing 9th with 22 laps
remaining. Tracking down 8th spot, Smee tailed the
back of a race car, moving low into turn 1 sneaking under for
another
position. With the leaders approaching lapped traffic with 15
laps remaining, Smee was now running wheel to wheel for 7th
place. Fast and frantic Smee switched racing lines, gaining another
spot with only 10 short laps remaining.
A top 5
was now on offer as Smee chased down the leading pack after
claiming 6th on the lowline out of turn 2. With laps
diminishing from the board, Smee maintained his pace pursuing
the leading Speedcars before making a daring move in turn 2 to capture
5th with only three laps to go. The sprint was on for
the finish line with Smee grasping an outside sweep for 4th
in the closing laps, running high and caught in the loose;
Nathan crossed the finish line in 5th for Nathan Smee
Racing.
“I really
want to thank Mark and Brad for lending the jacobs ladder to us. I still can’t
believe I went over in the heat” Smee said “Terry, Dean, Rod,
Tim, Chris and Dad all worked hard
on the car so we could make the A (main) and I need to thank them all.
After everything that happened and a feature with only one
stoppage, it’s a good result for us”.
Nathan
returns to Tyrepower Parramatta City Raceway, December 9 for the
next round of the Speedcar Association of NSW Club and Track
Championship.
In the meantime, check out the
NSR photo gallery for
pictures from the Stephen Pickering Collection.
Photos by Stephen Pickering
QUICK RESULTS
HEAT ONE
|
START POSITION |
FINISH |
|
9 |
7 |
|
HEAT TWO |
START POSITION |
FINISH |
|
dns |
dnf |
|
FEATURE |
START POSITION |
FINISH |
|
15 |
5 |
Nathan Smee Racing would like to thank their valuable Sponsors:
