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Anderson struggles down south

With drizzle greeting us on Saturday morning at the Levels Raceway, the ITM Racing team worked on the chassis set up to further test the recent Holden upgrades.  With minor tuning throughout the first test session, the ITM Commodore responded and Andrew chipped away at his times, ending up 14^th fastest.

Debriefing during runs, the team reworked the set up and although not making significant gains on the lap times, the session showed most competitors to be slower so Andrew improved to ninth fastest in the second test session.

 The initial run in qualifying on old rubber showed reasonable balance so it was on with the greens and lay down a flying lap.  Getting two clean laps, Andrew posted a time but was struggling with exit over steer and power down.  After some minor tweaks in the pits, Andrew had just enough time for two more flying laps.  Unable to improve on his lap time, Andrew ended up outside the top ten in 14^th position.

 “Timaru is the hardest circuit in the country to pass on so I am in for a busy three races to move forward” commented Andrew.

 Rolling to the start of race 1, Andrew was promoted to 13^th after Andy Knight was shuffled to the back following an overnight engine change.  Holding back slightly at the green, Andrew approached turn 3 and got a run on the mid pack.  Heading down the straight in the middle of the track, Andrew was alongside Short when he became squeezed in the middle of a three car sandwich.  Pulling up under brakes, he was squeezed and spun at high speed.  Rejoining at the end of the field, Andrew pressed on to cross the finish line in 18^th position. 

Starting from grid position 18 in race 2, a conservative start was in order.  Slipping through a couple of spots on the opening laps, the ITM Commodore was struggling for front grip and drifting back from the pack.  The team elected to pit and make a roll centre change to test the set up for the final race.  Returning to the track, little changed and Andrew circulated to finish 17^th.

Starting the final race from grid position 3 and with grid 2 vacant, it was time to throw caution to the wind.  Getting a great jump, Andrew took up second in the opening lap to be behind Nick Ross.  Pressuring him, Andrew had a look to pass but did not get through.  Closing back in on Ross, Andrew was unable to find a way through and being held up, he got jumped and slipped to fourth.  Then mid race approaching turn 5, the leaders hit oil that had been dropped by Craig Baird’s differential exploding.  Several cars spun off and Andrew had a lazy slide into the group of cars on the side of the track, causing major damage to the right rear of the car.

Rejoining the track, Andrew lined up at the red flag.  At the restart and suffering from the damaged right rear rubbing on the tyre, Andrew elected to take it easy and finished in tenth position.

Andrew finished the weekend fourteenth for the round and is fourteenth on the championship ladder.

“To say the weekend was difficult is a major understatement.  We have some long hours ahead to not only repair the damage, but to also make the improvements required to compete at the front of the field.”

The ITM Racing team would like to thank our team partners for their ongoing support: ITM Building Centres, Marley, E-Frame, Sika, Hitachi Power Tools, Wattyl, Haydn Brush Company, Valvoline, Pink Batts, GIB, New Balance, Computer Leasing NZ, Moselle Panel and Paint, PPG, Pinepac Group, West City Holden, Davy Tyre Services, Cottle Motors and Subway. 

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