Luck Continues to Desert Team SP Garage in 2009!

After what looked to be a promising start to morning practice Team SP Garage endured a frustrating day at Round 2 of the Tasmanian Drift Series held on Saturday.

Following a strong finish at the opening round both team cars received considerable changes in the form of further part upgrades, alignment changes and a complete engine retune of the number 2 team car driven by South Australia’s Paul Austin. The testing sessions held by the team between events had the teams expectations set firmly upon a podium finish for both cars. However it was not to be.

Car #1 driven by Ben Purtell would be severely hampered by a reoccurring brake problem Ben had been working hard to overcome and was sure the problem had been rectified. An unusual problem of considerable brake fade would have Ben and the team scratching their heads trying to establish the problem area. This and other exhaust gasket issues would mean Ben could only complete less than a handful of laps in the morning practice session, all whilst having virtually no braking power.

The Team SP Garage Nissan Onevia was looking strong in the morning and driver Paul Austin was confident of a strong showing after overheating issues forced a premature end to his charge in the opening round of the series.

“The car feels really strong this morning and the alignment changes the team have performed in the recent test sessions seem to be paying dividends, I’m looking forward to putting together a strong qualifying lap and setting myself up for the battles this afternoon”, Austin explained.

Qualifying would not provide the results the team were expecting with Austin’s two qualifying runs being spoilt by intercooler piping clamps failing on both runs, causing the car to lose almost all power. The Team SP Garage Nissan 180sx driven by Purtell would be severely hampered by an electrical issue in qualifying run one and due to little ability to stop the car into the heavy braking area of turn one Ben laid down the best run possible.

Upon announcement of the qualifying list the team would learn that Austin would finish outside of the top 16 qualifiers for the event and Purtell would qualify equal 16th, but would be knocked out of the competition upon a countback decision. The team were extremely disappointed to finish the event with neither car finishing inside the top four. However with luck deserting the team in the first two events of the season, despite spending countless hours ensuring car preparation was as faultless as possible, an event win and strong podium pressure is just around the corner.

“Having built what I believe is one of the most comprehensive and highly modified drift cars in the country, it is extremely frustrating to not reap some reward today for the time and effort that has gone into the car. On the other hand, a car consisting of brand new parts throughout and one that has only been driven on a select few occasions is unfortunately bound to have a few early niggles here and there. We will go away from today and put in every effort to rectify all issues before leaving for the Drift Super Cup event in two weeks”, Purtell said.

“I thought we were in for a really strong showing today, but unfortunately the car encountered issues in two of the twenty odd laps I did this morning and as luck would have it, those were the two laps that mattered. I feel for the team who have worked tirelessly to overcome all of the small issues with the car from the opening event. We will be back bigger than ever for Round 3 and I will be looking for a win definitely”, said Austin.

With only eleven days between Saturday’s event and the team having to leave for the biggest drift event held in Australia, the Drift Super Cup held in South Australia, the team will be working overtime to prepare the car to tackle the nations finest.
Stay tuned for the official Drift Super Cup event report to follow in the next two weeks.