WHITLEYS UNDER PRESSURE

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February 8, 2017

Alexandra Whitley

photo credit: Peter Bennett

It was a quick turn-a-round between rounds 3 to 4, to get the Waikato SsangYong race fit for the weekend of the 4th and 5th of February in Taupo.

As we had sustained a few battle scars from the weekend of racing before. The racing was door to door all throughout the field, the weather couldn’t have been nicer and the track was calling.

It was a week of late nights between rounds to fix the race ute for Taupo, but we managed to get it finished in time to make the trek on Thursday night. Friday practise saw me just outside the top 10 in each session, pushing hard to get every millisecond out of my SsangYong ute.

Starting from grid 12 right in the middle of the full grid of 30 utes saw lots of argie bargie, I was boofed at turn 3 and took the ute rally cross style across the dirt.

I lost positions and gained them back whilst battling with the utes around me to finish where I started in 12th place. Missing out on the top 10 reverse grid I started from 12th again for race 2. I was off to a great start right off the block, we had made some mechanical changes to the ute and I had a lot more speed. I came home in 11th place. Knowing we were heading in the right directing I was pumped for race 3.

It was a long wait to race 3 later that afternoon and just as we were about to head out pit lane we were all stopped as the race on track had had a crash and wrecked the armco safety barrier. There was a chance they would cancel our race if this wasn’t fixable. Fortunately the Bruce McLaren Motorsport Parks crew were able to get this sorted in time. I started from 14th on the grid I pushed hard from the start and raced door to door with the utes around me. Positions changed a little throughout the race the closeness of this class meant I finished where I started in 14th.

Race 4 was late in the afternoon and again I started from 14th.

I was off to a ripper start gaining 3 positions in the first few corners and setting one of the fastest times early in the race, until I was hit from behind heading onto the back strait where I spun and fell well behind last place. I drove the wheels off the Waikato SsangYong and gained back 5 positions.

It was a tough weekend and we have some work to do before our next round in March. My results really showed the importance of qualifying well, as I got stuck in everyone else’s battles and desperate moves to gain places all weekend. I drove my heart out and I know the results will come if I keep my head down and work hard. I want to say a huge thank you to my brother who flew over from Australia and worked tirelessly over the past 2 weeks to help me, and as always a huge thanks to my sponsors as without your support my racing wouldn’t be possible. I am looking forward to racing at my home track again soon.

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