TOM TWEEDIE in action during Round 5 of the 2012 Carrera Cup in Townsville Queensland.
After a disappointing Phillip Island round in May my eyes were focused on redemption at Townsville a track that I raced a V8 Supercar at last year so learning the track was only necessary to understand the Porsche characteristics on that busy track which I do like.
We went completely in a different direction with a little of Dad's input on car setup and although I was very short of marked tyres in both practice sessions on Friday thanks to Phillip Islands incident where three were flat spotted, we were getting a good handle on the car and the weekend ahead was looking promising.
Our plan was to do only 5 laps in qualifying on one set of tyres and keep the second set for Race 3 on Sunday. This meant I had to struggle a little especially in race 2 as we can only use 2 x new sets all weekend after Friday but actually the car wasn't too bad and we followed our plan even in race 2. A new set of tyres is worth nearly 2 x seconds a lap so tyre management in these soft Michelin's is critical.
Both races 1 and 2 resulted in good lap times and although my tyres were past their "use by date" in race 2 towards the end I struggled home in 9th and 10th respectively looking forward to race 3 with "brand new boots" where we all reckoned a top 6 or better was possible.
Well ... all that planning went out the back door in race 3. I noticed the clutch felt "funny" as I drove out to the marshalling grid before race 3 and the boys leapt underneath to try and adjust it ... shades of the AGP in March all over again so when we did our warm up lap prior to the start I took the clutch very easy and possibly did not get enough heat into my rear tyres which is essential for a good start.
My start was not good I must admit with a lot of wheelspin as the clutch release also was different to the previous races and I was passed by a few of the slower "gentlemen" drivers. As we all descended line astern into turn 2 (which is a slow second gear elbow) I was unintentionally punted up the rear causing me also to "punt" the car in front (actually driven by my boss Shane Smollen) of McGrath Real Estate and his exhaust pipes punctured my front radiator ... exit Team Tom and I struggled with the warning light flashing back to the pits.
I watched the remainder of the race on the "big screen" directly opposite the pits to see with amazement my teammate seemingly precipitate a nasty incident with another driver ... who must have felt like I did at Phillip Island afterwards but no doubt the Stewards again will adjudicate and probably instigate a feeble penalty and he will be back as big as ever next round at Bathurst.
So far my year has not gone as planned ... I am most disappointed and some of the "problems" could have been either maybe managed better or avoided but as they say ... that is motor racing and no-one is to blame and lady luck must be with us soon.
Team BRM as usual were terrific although they too must have been disappointed but I spent a lot of time with many of the Elf/Total Townsville people and agents who met me in our pit garage so all was not lost.
Again I must thank my sponsors below ... I need you and I promise not to let you down any more.
STOP PRESS:
C'mon Bathurst October 4 - 7 which is our next round. I raced there early this year in Formula Ford and managed a 3rd outright against much younger cars plus my last years V8 Supercar effort until pushed into the wall on turn 3, will give me a lot of confidence to bring to the mountain this year so watch this space ...
For more information about Tom head to www.tomtweedie.com or search for 'Team Tom - Tom Tweedie Motorsport' on Facebook.
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