Podium Lost in Final Minutes for Team Australia at Japan MX-
Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2006 3:20 pm
Team Australia ‘Lite’ cruelly missed out on its first ever podium in Mazda’s MX-5 Party Race last weekend, north of Tokyo, Japan, finishing 20th when they were in a position to win.
Team Australia even led during the four-hour enduro at Tsukuba Circuit, but with just minutes to go, their MX-5 ran out of fuel, joining 12 other cars that suffered the same fate.
The Mazda Festival race started well for Team Australia, who raced in memory of Peter Brock, with support from Laminex and the Australian Embassy in Tokyo. From the 27 car field, they qualifying 7th, their best ever result.
The traditional ‘Le Mans’ run-to-the-car start and a quick getaway had them up to fourth by turn one. Five laps later, Team Australia was in second place where they settled to conserve fuel.
The four hour endurance race is as much about economy as pace: teams are allocated just 90 litres (full tank plus two 20 litre jerry cans) to complete the roughly 400km event. Designed to avoid teams having four ‘professional’ drivers, the race rewards strategy and economy.
Team Australia employed lower revs, higher gears and took advantage of an early crash and the race’s only pace car period to pit early and gain a lap on most of the field. As starting driver John Boston handed over to Peter Lyon, Team Australia maintained a strong position as the differing fuel strategies and consistent pace saw them rise through the field. Following ideally paced and drama-free stints by Dean Evans and Ian Luff, the team was briefly in the lead before the final driver change had them back in second place, within sight of the lead car whose pace was suspected to be too fast. It was, and the leading ‘The Motor Weekly’ entry was the first to run dry.
With Boston back in for the final 50 minute run to the finish, Team Australia tasted the lead for a few laps before realising the fuel may not last. Revs and gears were readjusted, lap times dropped significantly, and with 25 minutes remaining, cars in the top ten started running dry. Five cars in the top 10 ran out before Team Australia met a similar fate with just 12 minutes to go. “It just stopped,’ bemused Boston. “No surge or hint or anything. And it must have been the corner because there were seven other cars in the same spot.â€
In the final 10 minutes, lap times for most cars had dropped by 5-7 seconds with some cars even crawling around in fifth and sixth gear at 80km/h.
Ultimately, the 2006 Mazda Festival four-hour race was won by Japanese ‘Tipo’ magazine, and by race end it was those from the bottom half of the field who found themselves elevated to the top.
Motivation Australia’s Ian Luff was naturally disappointed but pleased with the effort: “To be in such a good position, for all the drivers to do their jobs, and for everything to go to our strategic plan is pretty much all we could do. That we weren’t the first team to run out – and far from it - at least proves we were doing something right.â€
The father of the MX-5, Takao Kijima stated after the race that the 90 litres [of fuel allocation] was 20 litres less than last year, but “we will run the same fuel for next year as we believe it is the ideal test of driving and strategy.â€
Team Australia calculated, even on its economising strategy, it would have needed another 10 litres of fuel to finish. Luff added: “For one, two, even three cars to run out of fuel makes it interesting, meaning you ‘need’ a strategy. But when half the field runs dry, it says that ‘very’ slow and steady wins this race. You needed an average lap around three seconds off normal pace just to finish.â€
Team Australia organiser Peter Lyon was pleased with the drivers’ efforts: “To be as fast as a couple of Japan’s top Super GT drivers is very impressive and earns us a lot of respect. Too bad our strategy didn’t work out as calculated but we proved that on speed our team can run with Japan’s best, and we’re very happy with that.â€
Note: Team Australia, as represented at the Mazda Festival, is not affiliated nor associated with any other Team Australia motorsport organisation.
Team Australia even led during the four-hour enduro at Tsukuba Circuit, but with just minutes to go, their MX-5 ran out of fuel, joining 12 other cars that suffered the same fate.
The Mazda Festival race started well for Team Australia, who raced in memory of Peter Brock, with support from Laminex and the Australian Embassy in Tokyo. From the 27 car field, they qualifying 7th, their best ever result.
The traditional ‘Le Mans’ run-to-the-car start and a quick getaway had them up to fourth by turn one. Five laps later, Team Australia was in second place where they settled to conserve fuel.
The four hour endurance race is as much about economy as pace: teams are allocated just 90 litres (full tank plus two 20 litre jerry cans) to complete the roughly 400km event. Designed to avoid teams having four ‘professional’ drivers, the race rewards strategy and economy.
Team Australia employed lower revs, higher gears and took advantage of an early crash and the race’s only pace car period to pit early and gain a lap on most of the field. As starting driver John Boston handed over to Peter Lyon, Team Australia maintained a strong position as the differing fuel strategies and consistent pace saw them rise through the field. Following ideally paced and drama-free stints by Dean Evans and Ian Luff, the team was briefly in the lead before the final driver change had them back in second place, within sight of the lead car whose pace was suspected to be too fast. It was, and the leading ‘The Motor Weekly’ entry was the first to run dry.
With Boston back in for the final 50 minute run to the finish, Team Australia tasted the lead for a few laps before realising the fuel may not last. Revs and gears were readjusted, lap times dropped significantly, and with 25 minutes remaining, cars in the top ten started running dry. Five cars in the top 10 ran out before Team Australia met a similar fate with just 12 minutes to go. “It just stopped,’ bemused Boston. “No surge or hint or anything. And it must have been the corner because there were seven other cars in the same spot.â€
In the final 10 minutes, lap times for most cars had dropped by 5-7 seconds with some cars even crawling around in fifth and sixth gear at 80km/h.
Ultimately, the 2006 Mazda Festival four-hour race was won by Japanese ‘Tipo’ magazine, and by race end it was those from the bottom half of the field who found themselves elevated to the top.
Motivation Australia’s Ian Luff was naturally disappointed but pleased with the effort: “To be in such a good position, for all the drivers to do their jobs, and for everything to go to our strategic plan is pretty much all we could do. That we weren’t the first team to run out – and far from it - at least proves we were doing something right.â€
The father of the MX-5, Takao Kijima stated after the race that the 90 litres [of fuel allocation] was 20 litres less than last year, but “we will run the same fuel for next year as we believe it is the ideal test of driving and strategy.â€
Team Australia calculated, even on its economising strategy, it would have needed another 10 litres of fuel to finish. Luff added: “For one, two, even three cars to run out of fuel makes it interesting, meaning you ‘need’ a strategy. But when half the field runs dry, it says that ‘very’ slow and steady wins this race. You needed an average lap around three seconds off normal pace just to finish.â€
Team Australia organiser Peter Lyon was pleased with the drivers’ efforts: “To be as fast as a couple of Japan’s top Super GT drivers is very impressive and earns us a lot of respect. Too bad our strategy didn’t work out as calculated but we proved that on speed our team can run with Japan’s best, and we’re very happy with that.â€
Note: Team Australia, as represented at the Mazda Festival, is not affiliated nor associated with any other Team Australia motorsport organisation.
