Ben Dallas says:The Suzuki Swift Sport Cup Championship is all wrapped up and what a final round it was. Yet again the results were not the best way to cap off this championship; having to settle for 3rd when there was in fact a fighting chance of getting 2nd place overall back from William Bamber. But we needed a really good, trouble-free round.
In Fridays practise, quite unbelievably, we were one second a lap slower than we had been on the Thursday. A very close inspection of the car at the end of the day showed the front subframe to have come quite loose. Unfortunately the problem spilled over to Saturday morning's qualifying as the now tightened subframe disturbed the set up we had spent the last two days working on.
Qualifying 6th was the result of a very stiff car, but after sitting down and thinking about it, we loosened the car up ready for Race One that afternoon.
Race One: Lap one, turn two the chance of valuable points went right out the window when I was turned around by another car, dropping me back to last place. However I set off after the pack and managed to fight my way back up to 6th at the chequered flag. I posted the 3rd quickest lap, putting me on P3 for Sunday mornings race.
Race Two: Starting off P3 I unfortunately got off the line very slowly. It was a tough race finishing in 6th place, however we had great pace mid-race going under the lap record and posting the 2nd quickest lap time, but simply couldn't get past the cars in front.
Race Three: Sunday afternoons reverse grid 15 lap race saw me start from P6. Race three started very interestingly, getting through to 2nd place by the end of the back straight. Going through Turns 2/3 the cars in front of me had come together and I was able to squeeze the Castrol Swift through a gap in the middle and get in behind Joel Thrupp. Scott Downes, William Bamber and Graeme Smyth joined in the battle and we as a group pulled away. I had chosen a safe, conservative strategy for this race, not wanting to have any incidents that could cost any loss of points. For the next 13 or so laps the four of us battled away and even though I didn't get the win, it was one of the most fun races I have had this championship.
As the season is now over I would like to give my greatest thanks to Castrol and Suzuki New Zealand for putting together the scholarship package that I have been privileged to race with. Thanks also goes to Winger Suzuki Hamilton, LG Electronics and Chicane Race Gear for their contributions.
To Darren and Stephanie from Suzuki; Belinda, Jayne & Russell from Castrol - thank you so much for the support. Paul, Simon and Rob from Wingers Suzuki Hamilton for the amazing work put in on my car throughout the year. And of course my family for their support throughout the championship.
And also to all the drivers in the Suzuki Swift Cup and Production classes for the great racing over the season; sure there were ups and downs, but I loved it!
Kind regards,
Ben Dallas
Ben.dallas@hotmail.com (added 21-03-09 2:59pm)
Ben Dallas says:Round 6 at Manfeild did not produce the most desired result at this end of the championship. I went in to the round 26 points behind Cody McMaster hoping to reduce his lead, but unfortunately finished the round in 3rd place 82 points behind him. We were hoping our run of misfortune was over, but that was clearly not to be the case.
Thursday's and Friday's testing went OK, considering we were on old rubber from the previous rounds with next to no front brake pads. With new pads in place and better rubber we were ready for qualifying on Saturday morning, but the weather we would qualify in was to be a different story. Saturday morning we awoke to rain, which unsettled me a bit as it would be my first time on this track in the rain. Qualifying went alright with 5th place, which I was happy with as I was getting quicker each lap.
Race One started well, getting a good start from P5 leaving turn one in 3rd place and taking 2nd place from Cody on the 2nd or 3rd lap. But sad to say things went downhill from there - the car developed a serious, noisy vibration with shocking understeer when turning right, which at this track is the majority of the corners. I simply couldn't drive hard enough to battle for the lead and felt I'd done well to eventually finish 4th. Once in the pits, we discovered the left front wheel nuts loose and I was probably lucky to not loose the wheel completely.
Race Two Sunday morning was red flagged on lap one due to William Bamber tipping his car over through Splash (turn 3). On the race restart I had a touch with another car which in my eyes was a racing incident, but to a race official it wasn't. I was given a 50 second penalty which put me back to 10th place instead of 3rd where I finished, loosing a lot of championship points.
Race Three on Sunday afternoon I had to start from the rear of the grid (12th) and I managed to drive up to 6th which was a good result. The cars in front had quite a gap and as our pace was much the same, catching them would have been unlikely.
Pukekohe is in a couple of weeks and my target now, although a very tough one, is to regain 2nd place overall in the championship.
I would like to thank Evans European Panel and Paint for the work they put in get my car ready for this round after the major damage from Timaru and Teretonga. Also a big thanks to Hamilton Stripes and Signs for redoing the Castrol graphics on the car.
Thanks to Castrol, Suzuki, Wingers Suzuki Hamilton, LG Electronics, Chicane and ArtCom Design and Print. Thanks to Paul, Simon and Rob from Wingers for the work on the car over the weekend, and to Darren and Stephanie from Suzuki for the awesome support.
See you all at Pukekohe for the final round.
Regards,
Ben Dallas
Ben.dallas@hotmail.com (added 09-03-09 12:33pm)
Ben Dallas says:Manfeild is now only days away, and I can't wait to get on the track. After the two Southern rounds being anything but amazing, I'm looking at turning the results around and being up at the pointy end with two rounds to go and only 26 points between Cody McMaster in 1st and me in 2nd. I had a hand full of laps around Manfeild at the Scholarship assessment day and I really enjoyed it, and at full race pace with the rest of the field it can only be better. Also welcome to Alan Dunkley; I look forward to racing wheel to wheel like we did when we were younger in karts.
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A big thanks to Owen Evans and his team at Evans European for the work put in to my car to get it looking sharp for Manfeild. Also thanks to Calvin from Hamilton Stripes & Signs for the great work with the Castrol sign writing on the car.
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Hope to see you all there,
Ben Dallas
ben.dallas@hotmail.com (added 24-02-09 5:56pm)
Ben Dallas says:The two back to back weekends of racing down South gave us a mixed bag of results; a third overall at Levels Raceway and 5th= at Teretonga. We were unlucky enough to suffer significant damage in two races simply by being in the wrong place at the wrong time, with the loss of valuable points on top. However, I'm still 2nd on points overall!
Round Four - Timaru
On Wednesday I had a walk around the track to look at the layout and the many different surface changes, not to mention the tightness of the track. Thursdays testing went well; I enjoyed learning the track and quickly getting down to a good pace in the Castrol Suzuki.
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Session one went great, posting the 3rd quickest time with tyres almost down to the canvas. Even on shot rubber, the Castrol Swift was handling brilliantly. Session two could only be better, well so we thought. After two laps scrubbing in new tyres on the front, I started to build up more pace but the session came to a sudden end when the front right brake rotor disintegrated at the end of the long back straight. It was not fun.
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Qualifying on Saturday morning started well posting the 3rd quickest time in the first session, but getting dropped to 5th in the second session. Not so good!
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Race One that afternoon I placed 4th, also setting the 4th fastest lap to start P4 for Sunday mornings race. Race Two I placed 2nd showing great pace to catch Cody McMaster who started from Pole. As Levels is so tight and with Cody defending his position, getting past for first was not possible. Sunday afternoons Race Three was where it all went very wrong; I was hit pretty hard by another Suzuki after Turn One and pushed into Cody who, like me, was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. The race was red-flagged and as I had come in to have the guards pulled back off the tyres, I was made to restart the race from the back of the whole field of 25. I managed to catch the Suzuki's and fight my way through to 7th in class.
Round Five - Teretonga
The weekend at Teretonga started much the same; a track walk on Wednesday and on Thursday quickly getting up to speed setting the fastest lap of the Suzuki's. Friday mornings first official test session was not as good losing three tenths of a second due to incorrect tyre pressures. Session two was a lot better, dropping those three tenths of a second to set the 3rd fastest time less than a tenth and a half off the quickest.
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Saturdays qualifying went well, again with the 3rd quickest time. Unfortunately Saturday afternoon's race was one to forget. On Lap 2 at the exit of Turn One, two cars very close ahead of me had a coming together causing a shambles I couldn't avoid. Due to heavy damage on the front end of the car I finished down the field in 10th. A time penalty for the driver who caused the incident moved me to 9th. Thanks to a huge effort from Simon Elliot, with the help of many other volunteers and competitors, the Castrol Suzuki was ready to race again by around 10pm that night.
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In Race Two I started P9 as I only set the 9th quickest time with a damaged car in Race One. I battled my way up to 5th position just piping William Bamber across the line. Race Three was very interesting; just before we were due to start the heavens opened and the rain came down, so some quick changes were made to the car and I was ready to start from P9. Lap One was busy to say the least but I quickly found my way in to 3rd place. I caught and passed John Cunningham and set my sites on Richard Moore who had a comfortable lead at that stage. I caught him but felt it was wiser to settle for 2nd than risk loosing the points. Congratulations to Richard for winning his first race and also to Dane Fisher for winning the round.
I would like to thank the whole team at Wingers Suzuki Hamilton and Darren from Suzuki New Zealand for the support and help throughout the two weekends. Special thanks to Paul Dunkley and John Cunningham for pitching in to get my car fixed. A major thanks to Castrol, Winger Suzuki Hamilton, Suzuki, Chicane, ArtCom Design and Print and Just Finance for coming on board for the southern rounds. I would also like to acknowledge the support from Bill Carey at Hollands Suzuki (Christchurch) and Max Collie at Southern Automobiles (Invercargill) for providing us with transportation. (added 30-01-09 5:14pm)
Ben Dallas says:Hello everyone,
Round Three at Powerbuilt Tools Raceway in Christchurch is now behind us and it turned out to be a brilliant weekend. Arriving early Thursday morning to rain wasn't the best thing, but a few laps (thanks to Jono Lester) got me in the groove of things, and learning the track was awesome.
Thursday's test sessions went well enough even with old rubber and spongy brakes. Fridays first test session was not the best as the brakes got worse and worse. Afterwards we were shocked to see that the cap of the brake master cylinder was gone and brake fluid had spilt everywhere. After bleeding the brakes we thought all would be good again and set for the next 20 minute session. Even though the brakes were still a bit of an issue, setting the 3rd fastest time gave me good headspace heading into Saturdays qualifying and the first of the heats.
Saturday mornings qualifying went great, posting the 4th best time from Scott Downes on pole, William Bamber on 2 and Cody McMaster on 3. The Castrol Swift showed good pace, once the brakes were sorted and with a good set of tyres on the car.
Race 1: I made a good start from P4, moving into 3rd place at turn one. I found my way into 2nd place a number of laps later but made a mistake though Pothole (Turn 2) and dropped back to 4th. From that point on, Brock Barrie and I had a good battle for 3rd place which I managed to hang on to at the flag. My best lap was 4th fastest giving me P4 again for Race 2 on Sunday morning.
Race 2: Sunday greeted us yet again with perfect weather and Race 2 proved to be a very interesting and drama filled event. I mucked up the start very badly and dropped a number of places to somewhere around 9th. Due to the Simon Sceats and Logan Childs incident the race was red flagged and we were given a complete restart in our original grid positions, single file behind the pace car. Once restarted, I got into 3rd and set off after William Bamber in 1st and Cody McMaster close behind him in 2nd. Cody protected well on the last few laps giving me very few chances to get past him so I finished 3rd. The two thirds gave me 3rd for the class and a start from P12 in the reverse grid race in the afternoon.
Race 3: Sunday afternoons 12 lap reverse grid race was unbelievable fun, making a great start from 12th and getting up to about 5th after 2 or 3 laps. Richard Moore got the early lead in the race and I knew, even if I caught him, he would make it very tricky to get past. Luckily for me, he ran a little wide on the exit of Pothole (turn 2) which presented me with a perfect chance to get past him at the turn 3 hairpin and in to 1st place. Towards the end of the race I was given some breathing space as the faster cars came through but still came under some pressure from Graeme Smyth in the last few laps as he had great pace.
Two 3rd's and a 1st place gave me the overall round win which was quite a surprise that I'm extremely happy with. This round win, following Pukekohe's round win, has moved me from 4th place in the Championship to 2nd behind Cody. I'm looking forward to the rest of the rounds, especially Timaru and Teretonga as they will be new tracks to me.
I would like to thank Paul, Simon, Rob and Darren for their great support and work on the Castrol Swift throughout the weekend - Castrol, Suzuki, Winger Suzuki Hamilton, LG and Chicane for putting together the scholarship package I'm racing with, and ArtCom Design and Print. A special thanks to Richard from Just Finance in Christchurch for coming onboard with support for the three South Island rounds, and Bill at Hollands Suzuki for providing a vehicle for us to get to and from the track in. Thanks to my family and supporters for everything you do for me.
I look forward to seeing you all again in Timaru, until then Merry Christmas and have a great New Year.
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Regards,
Ben Dallas
ben.dallas@hotmail.com (added 03-12-08 1:11pm)
Ben Dallas says:Pre-Race Report - Ruapuna
We are now getting well into the Suzuki Swift Sport Cup championship with Round 3 at Powerbuilt Tools Raceway in Christchurch just around the corner on the 28-30th of November. We left Pukekohe on a great high after the round win, and now our sights are set on doing everything we can to continue building on that success.
Ruapuna, being the first of three South Island rounds, is all new territory for me along with the other South Island tracks; and I can't wait to get the Castrol Swift back on the track. The likes of Cody McMaster and Brock Barrie will be setting the pace early I imagine, with Cody having home track advantage and Brock winning the round there last season.
I'm really looking forward to Ruapuna and I hope to see you all there. My thanks to Castrol, Suzuki, Winger Suzuki Hamilton, LG, Chicane, ArtCom Design and Print, my family and all my supporters. (added 20-11-08 9:22am)
Ben Dallas says:Well, Round Two at Pukekohe Park Raceway is all over, and what a weekend it was.
Testing on Friday started perfectly with the quickest time in Session One that remained unbeaten for the day. We couldn't improve on that time in the second session as my brake pads were on their way out.
I went into Saturday's qualifying with some confidence as I had new pads in the car, bedded in and ready to go. However, our time didn't improve whereas six others did - so there we were starting 7th. I talked with Simon Elliot from Wingers, made a few changes on the car, and prepared myself for race one in the afternoon.
Race One: With my starts improving, I got off the line well and pulled up on the outside of Dane Fisher but decided to relinquish and tuck in behind him, as around the outside was not the right choice. After a great battle with Dane I put my mind to chasing down Cody, William and Graeme and what a challenge it was. With some help from them battling, and slower cars, I was on their tail pipes after a number of laps and got through into 2nd place. All focus then was on William Bamber but I couldn't quite catch him. Congratulations to William on his first race win.Â
Race Two: The 4th fastest time from Race One saw me start on Grid 4. This race couldn't have gone any better, having a great start and an interesting battle with Wally Richards in his Integra, then hunting down Brock and Graeme who had a decent gap on me. I tracked them down with about 4 or so laps to go. As any race drivers will do, they didn't give me too many options, but the choices I made paid off giving me the race win, my first ever in a car.
Race Three: The afternoon's race is a reverse grid delayed start. After my 2nd and 1st, I was on top points for the weekend so had to start last from 13th of the Suzuki Swift cars. Due to the massive accident in the BNT V8's there was a waved yellow into Turn 1 for the whole race. I managed to fight my way up to 2nd, then set my sights on Cody who had pulled a healthy gap on the rest of the field. I was on Cody's bumber with one lap to go, and I had to give it a shot for the win. Cody did what any smart race driver would do and defended his line to perfection making it very difficult for me. It was all good clean racing and to be honest, I was very happy with 2nd.
With a 1st, two 2nds and the overall Round win, this weekend was the perfect come back after the opening round at Taupo.Â
I would like to thank all the people from Castrol who came to the track and wished me luck, Suzuki New Zealand, Winger Hamilton, Chicane and ArtCom Design & Print for the amazing support - in particular, thanks to Paul Burborough from Winger Hamilton for everything he does for me, Simon Elliot and Josh for working on my car all weekend, it's always appreciated. Also a special thanks to Darren Stevens for the encouragement and motivation.
See you all in Ruapuna in a few weeks time.
Regards,
Ben Dallas
ben.dallas@hotmail.com (added 10-11-08 7:28pm)
Ben Dallas says:Round Two, and the first of two at Pukekohe, is being held this weekend. Living in Auckland means I have the benefit of not having to travel this time. However I have never raced at Pukekohe and I'm really excited about that.
I learnt a lot at the first round at Taupo, and now with first round nerves out of the way, I know something about what to expect in the future. In all rounds I will be racing against drivers that have driven on the circuits last season, and I can't wait to get up to speed and compete with them. I have been doing some testing at Pukekohe and have been very happy with my improvement, not only in the car, but on the track as well. My last days testing didn't quite go to plan which can happen in motorsport, but thanks to the an outstanding effort from the team at Wingers, Prestige Collision Repairs, and Hamilton Stripes and Signs, the Castrol Suzuki is ready to race this weekend.
I would like to thank Castrol, Suzuki, Winger Hamilton, Chicane, ArtCom Design & Print, and in particular Paul, Simon and Darren for their support and complete dedication to the Suzuki Swift Sport Cup Challenge.
See you all at Pukekohe! (added 06-11-08 2:05pm)
Ben Dallas says:Unfortunately Round One was not the most desirable start to the championship, the weekend having a few more downs than ups. The brakes were spongy all day Friday and I went into qualifying on Saturday having to bed in new pads. To my surprise, the brake warning light started flashing on, and not being sure what the problem might be, I didn't know if I could rely on the brakes at the limit. I set the best time I could under the circumstances but only qualified 8th. Come Race One, with the brake problem sorted, I had a bit more confidence and couldn't wait to get the first race underway. I had a very average start, partly due to not being able to see the lights, which dropped me back to about 9-10th. However, while fighting my way up to 6th I set the 4th fastest time which gave me P4 for Race Two.
Sunday morning we woke up to rain which unsettled me a bit as it would be my first race day in the wet - and what a disaster it was. Too much wheelspin dropped me down to around 6-7th at turn one. I drove through to 3rd and set off after the top two. But in the process, I made a rookie mistake going into turn 8 too hot, and slipped on to the grass, resulting in 7th place across the line. I was extremely disappointed with myself but it wasn't all bad news - Race Three was a reverse grid race. The combined points reversed put me on grid 5. After another poor start, I managed to get up to 3rd place. Unfortunately, the track started to dry and my setup was not good enough on a drying line. On the second to last lap I was passed, and when I made a pass to re-gain the podium finish on the last lap I was cut off and turned into a spin, ending the race in the sand trap.
One big thing I am working on are those starts!
Again, I'd like to thank Castrol, Suzuki, my team at Wingers and ArtCom Design & Print for their support. (added 17-10-08 9:00am)
Ben Dallas says:Round One of the 2008/09 Suzuki Swift Sport Cup Championship is now just around the corner and I can't wait for it to get under way. October 3rd it all begins and I have been waiting for this since the 22nd of August when I won the Scholarship. In all honesty I'm not too sure what to expect as it will be the first time I get to measure myself against the rest of the field, and it's my first weekend in a motorsport event other than karting. In the build up to this series I had two days in the car at Taupo which was great. I got a basic understanding of the track and once the rubber starts building up, the true times will come out. Knowing that Cody McMaster is back, along with some others for their second season, I have no doubt they will set the benchmark for us rookies. Now that I know there are more drivers from the scholarship competing - many of whom I've had years of karting experience with - I expect the standard of competition will be very high. Again, thanks to Suzuki, Castrol and Wingers for this opportunity. (added 01-10-08 12:35pm)
