The team turned up without crew man 'Blouse' as a result of him being in the South Island at the New Zealand Sprint Car Champs. All was good though with Wayne Renner from Tauranga Meat Packers stepping up to the task (well done Wayne). Saturday turned out fine and hot and after the qualifying session, Pete qualified second to Billy in the Chevy Nova again (damn it!) but still on the front row - should have been a bit braver.
Race One - Pete didn’t get the best of starts but the car felt pretty good (maybe a tad much rear grip) we found that the front brake rotors were cracked. The team was happy with a third place finish. After pulling the brakes apart after racing on Saturday we found they were in bad shape. After making a phone call to Tauranga, we had new rotors and pads delivered to us at Hampton Downs in time to have them fitted before the first race on the Sunday (Can’t beat that Carters service, thanks heaps Digger).
Race Two (Sunday) - Handicap had us starting second from the back 1min 16secs behind the leader. For some unknown reason the car developed huge braking issues again and at times was nearly undrivable. Pete still managed to work his way from 25th to 10th.
Race Three - Started 1min 20secs behind the leader. Pete got a great start and proceeded to work through the traffic. Car seemed good and engine was sound. Half way through the race the same brake issues came back, causing a lockup resulting in a spin onto the grass on turn 4, losing 35 seconds. Pete got back on track and drove as hard and as brave as he could, finishing 25 seconds behind the leader even though with 2 laps to go, the brake pedal went to the floor leaving Pete with no brakes at all!!
Peter Stevenson Pre 65 Falcon (Mr Meat)
After Pete's bad start to the racing season due to losing an engine at the first round at Manfield, the team arrived at Pukekohe for the 4th round Thunder in the Park.
With the new engine installed but untested, Pete lined up for qualifying and managed to set p2 on the grid, 2 hundreds of a second behind Bill McKinnon’s Nova. The team had the pleasure of a visit from Garry Carter and after a bit of a pep talk from the chief, it was time to line up for the first race. Pete got a great start and was first into the first corner the car seemed to have plenty of pull down the back straight. After taking huge pressure from the two Mustangs of Wayne Davis and Tony Elminger and the ever present Chev Nova of Bill McKinnon’s, racing was very close for the first few laps, Pete managed to ease ahead for a comfortable first win of the season (phew!)
Unfortunately, for race two and three, it was pouring down with rain and Pete couldn’t see 50 feet in front of the car. We had to start last on the handicap system and in both races finished midfield in both, trying to look after the car and making sure the engine was all good.
At the end of the weekend Pete finished first in class A (V8's) all in all a great weekend.
BNT NZV8s - PUKEKOHE 5 & 6 NOVEMBR 2011
Dwayne Carter
After driving the car for the first time on the Friday, the challenge for Dwayne Carter was coming to grips with the car and making setup changes for qualifying on Saturday all while getting faster and faster.
Unfortunately half way through the session coming round the left hander before Ford Hill the car bottomed out on the bump near the inside kerb sending Dwayne out of control doing 3 x 360s and into the concrete wall backwards severely damaging the car.
The Shapes Roadies team did an awesome job to change the running gear over to an older spare car so Dwayne could finish the weekend. With no time to sort everything out properly Dwayne finished 11th overall on points which he was happy with considering two races were wet and his main aim was to finish the weekend without anymore carnage!
The number 1 chassis is undergoing a rebuild and will be ready for Ruapuna on 10 and 11 Dec.
SUPERCAR THAILAND ROUNDS 5 & 6 - 1 & 2 October 2011
Dwayne Carter
Dwayne started off with a bad qualifying when asked to weigh the car three times during the 15 minute session so only really got 2 flying laps which put us on grid 6 for the first race and grid 5 for the second race.
Dwayne had a good start in race 1 and was third by the first corner. Dwayne remained and finished in third place. Team Carter struggled with the set up due to changing from Dunlop to Michelin tyres.
Second race Dwayne was off grid 5 and also got a good start, going up inside of Evo which was in p1 when Dwayne was t-boned by a team Toyota car which damaged right front suspension/wheel badly, resulting in an unfortunate DNF.
Points going into last round are as follow:
Supercar Overall
Dwayne 191.5
Akihiro 181
Craig 176.5
Nattavude 169.6
Supercar NA
Dwayne 203
Akihiro 198
Craig 194
Team Championship
Invasion Motorsport 353 (our team)
Yokahama Racing Team 350
A Motorsport 318
ROUND 6 NZ ROTAX MAX CHALLENGE - ROTORUA
Shane Hodgson
Rotorua delivered a fantastic new facility for the top rotax drivers to fight out the final round of the Right Karts Kartstars Rotax Max Challenge of New Zealand. The 1241m track provided amazing viewing for spectators even though the weather didn't come to the party. During a dry qualify Shane managed to place the Carters Tyres supported kart on grid two, less than two tenths behind pole. Early on Shane was passed by a quick Aaron Cunningham on cold tyres, however as tyres came up to temp Shane managed to hunt down the leader pulling four tenths of a second out of his lead a lap. This filled the team with confidence going into the second day with an extremely quick consistent kart. Sunday morning the game changed! After leading the 2nd Heat for 90% of the race a freight train of two karts managed to muscle Shane to a third place finish. This left the pre-final and final where Shane managed 2 x second place finishes, bringing Cunningham’s lead from six seconds down to a mere eight tenths at the line. Shane finished the 2011 Right Karts Kartstars Rotax Max Challenge of New Zealand in a credible second place and would like to thank Carters Tyres for their support and knowledge both on and off the track.
ROUND 4 NZ ROTAX MAX CHALLENGE - KARTSPORT HAMILTON
Shane Hodgson
It was a case of what could have been for Shane Hodgson over the weekend of 27 & 28 August 2011 where the fourth round of the New Zealand Rotax Max Challenge was held at Kartsport Hamilton. The Carters Tyres sponsored kart of Shane Hodgson struggled in qualifying with a faulty battery in the first of two sessions, not allowing him to get the most out of new tyres and only qualifying fourth quickest in a slower second qualify. There were glimpses of hope during the heat finishing second in Heat 1 and third in Heat 2 right on the back of a quick Aryn Hill and top qualifier Aarron Cunningham. Following the hopeful heats, Shane struggled in the pre-final, and posted a "DNF" in the final after contact in the opening sequence of the race, resulting in a bent bead lock causing a slow leak forcing Shane to retire. Shane is still confident that he can finish the series on a high. The fifth round being hosted by Kartsport Rotorua on their brand new 1241m track. The series final is over the weekend of 24 & 25 September and with the points at the top being so tight anything could happen!
SUPERCAR THAILAND - 16 & 17 JULY 2011
Dwayne Carter
Bira Circuit, Pattaya, Chonburi
Round 3 - DNF
Dwayne Carter had a disappointing DNF in Round 3 with a tyre delaminating and exploding, this smashed the oil line forcing Dwayne to stand down due to no oil!
Round 4 – 1st Place
Dwayne Carter started on Grid 2 and within half a lap was leading the race, Dwayne held onto the lead for 23 laps earning the #1 podium place in Round 4. After four rounds the Carters Motorsport Team is currently leading the Supercar Thailand series.
SUPERCAR THAILAND - 28 & 29 MAY 2011
Dwayne Carter
The 2011 Supercar Thailand season kicked off at the temporary airfield track near Sa Kaeo, 250 km from Bangkok, just a few kilometers from the Cambodian border.
Round 1 - 1st Place
Dwayne Carter had a 10.573 second lead at the chequered flag; completing the 22 lap race in 23 minutes 34.543 seconds (123.178 km/h).
Round 2 – 1st Place
Dwayne Carter completes 20 laps in 21 minutes 10.979 seconds. Dwayne dominated the race with the fastest lap time 1:01.506 (128.768 km/h).
GO TEAM CARTER!
Hamilton 400 - 2011
