First competitive race outing for the Starlight Supporter Mazda RX-7 culminating in a class win.
The weekend started with more unknowns than anybody could have even imagined. A never raced in anger car, with a mix of suspension components, hard compound rear tires and unpredictable road conditions.
After our first 'shake-down' run of the car we found a rusty combination of car, driver and co-driver but a successful run. After reaching the end of the run the car troubles began. The Mazda thought it might be a good time to expel all of its water after an immediate shut off. This didn't stop till almost it was almost empty.
The water was filled and the team headed back down the mountain for run two. A great start and the best run of the weekend was to follow which ended the car issues.
After learning the ins and outs of the vehicles we relalised how the precious vehicle should be treated, we started to find our rhythm.
Many runs later the casualties started to mount. The begining of the end was when one of the course car found their way off the road. One more Porsche Boxter left accounted for. The driver, the event organisers wife was safe and well, not before being airlifted to hospital.
Many more cars started to fall off the course as conditions continued to deteriate. Rubber started to get layed down and tarmac started to melt as the first day progressed and eventually ended. Team Redback Racings vehicle still in one piece.
All in all the day two went well also with changing conditions to contend with, cars stuck into walls and some even rolling upside down.
One example was a Lacia Delta Intgrale which the owner had made painstaking efforts to restore to factory specifications over 18 months. At it's first outing he managed to roll the car and rip a fair part of the rear end out of it.
The next moment we know the conditions at the top of the mountain has changed to dense fog with little visibilty and a chilling wind. When arriving at the bottom of the mountain we found sunshine and clear blue skies.
Run 10, the last for the weekend starts.
Presentation time and we have by this time have calculated that we are indeed winners in our class after one of our main comptetitor has crashed out and other top 3, was a little slower than us.
A great event for car preparation was the Lake Mountain Sprint for what everyone considers to be the main event, Targa Tasmania 2010.
