F4000 at Mallala? Anyone?

[BrettFrancis]

How hard is it to find out what's happening at Mallala?

Very, it would seem.

Anyone know what went on today?

[GTRMagic]

Well it seems Mallala is averse to sharing information on their race meetings for some reason.

There is a poster in the Aussie Sports Sedan forums who seems have have had access to the top 10 cars in those races and has posted race results...

I wouldnt be holding my breath....

[BrettFrancis]

You would if you lived where I do!

Thanks anyway - Sports Sedan results were... enlightening... the gremlins were obviously lurking around their paddock this weekend.

[gomick]

presume natsoft.com.au results are not up

[prn 31]

Well, Rob Nguyen's Australian career got off to an ignomonious start.

Quickest in the practice sessions and 2nd in qualifying early on before succumbing to a gearbox problem. Managed to start race one but DNF'd with engine problems after two laps and DNS the second race. A shame.

Australia's quickest historic racer Ty Hangar impressed on debut finishing third, beaten by the Ralt Aust pair of Neil McFadyen and Paul Trengrove.

And to think that McFadyen's fastest lap was some 2.5 seconds slower than Paul Stokell's lap 1994 lap record. I know they use a harder tyre these days, but is this indicative of the general malaise in this series?

Lets hope not.

Is the "Power Surge" coming to Sydney? If so I'd like to see how good Nguyen is for myself.

[gomick]

power surge calender

01 May 9 - Mallala
02 May 9 - Mallala
03 Jun 6 - Winton
04 Jun 6 - Winton
05 Jul 11 - Oran Park
06 Jul 11 - Oran Park
07 Aug 1 - Eastern Creek
08 Aug 1 - Eastern Creek
09 Aug 15 - Phillip Island
10 Aug 15 - Phillip Island

[GTRMagic]

The cars in this class get an end of season birthday and geenrally arent touched until the next end of season birthday. Is it any wonder they run slower....

The class needs Simon Wills or someone similar to come back and take on these guys.... show them what some real speed is all about!

[razo]

Abit of a different level for rob really.. maybe they can give him a run later on in the season.

Fridays practice session:

Rob Nguyen 1.04.03
Ty Hanger 1.05.21
Neil McFayden 1.05.61
Paul Trengove 1.06.14
Bob Power 1.06.37
Terry clearian 1.06.76

Sundays Warmup:

Rob Nguyen 1.05.27
Paul Trengove 1.07.36
Ricky Occhipinti 1.07.57
Neil McFayden 1.07.66
Mark West 1.07.75
Rohan Carrig 1.08.17

[soma]

this really frustrates me reading stuff like this. i maybe should stop reading forums.

i dont know how anyone can compare the current f4000s to the lap record set by paul stokell ... first of all stokell was on sticky dunlop tyres.. they then changed to yokohamas which were not as sticky.. now they are running a 2nd yokohama tyre which is harder compound again, to help them stay good during races, rather than going off halfway thru race 2...

and the last round at mallala was with the supertrucks who leave diesel all voer the track.. .stokells time was set when the v8 supercars wree running, so the track was very grippy... at mallala mcfadyen was able to get into the 103s in qualifying but as the trucks continued their sesisons the track got worse and the tyres show that. and the f4000s were on directly after both supertruck races.

and to say the cars dont get looked at after each season is ludicrous. i know the 3 cars ive been involved with in the last 2 years were completley stripped and engines were rebuilt. (mind u there were some cars there that werent well prepared for the event, but the front runners never missed a beat)

[Chucky]

http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/re.../2000.MALL.R12

Race held in slightly colder and damper conditions during a Supertruck round on Dunlops as bad as the current F4000 Yoko's.

And those cars are now two generations old and ready for retirement..........

I'm not lining up for a shot of F400 bashing (although it is an easy target at the moment) but the "these-Yokies-are-****" argument is running out of steam.

[prn 31]

Yikes!

I didn't meant to offend soma, and I'm not as informed as soma who must've been there, but its an obvious comparison to make:
same circuit
same cars
different drivers
different tyres
different conditions

Some of the Reynards must be getting flexible by now and slim budgets must be effecting component lifing and car preparation.

I don't think its necessarily the drivers (though there is little depth) who lack ability, but they must be compromised by the preceived (or otherwise) fragility of the cars.

I've seen Ty Hangar in Historics and he's blitzed former national champions (driving ground effects Ralts) in an older car. He doesn't lack ability.

As for Rob Nguyen, I'm sure he's a match for Wills or Stokell on pure speed, based on his performances in Europe. He just needs to let everyone in the local racing industry know what he can do.

[gomick]

you should be ashamed of yourself prn 31 - chill out soma, its cool

we all know that the cars are safe when they go out on the track.....

[soma]

the lap times last year were a second quicker for the race day, but qualifying, the pole sitter was around only 0.6 off jonny reids time. now jonny reid is bloody quick and we now are seeing that proven again in f3000 in europe. daniel gaunt was the gold star champion last year, but not quite the quickest, yet whne he hopped into an f3 for the first time ever in the new zealand round, he beat the likes of karl reindler and fellow countryman James cressey and from all reports did it with ease after a poor start.
neil mcfadyen is the reigning formula ford champion, so is obviously no slouch and he was able to qualify a quick time on the saturday, but unfort during the races the track was so greasy that no one could get under the 1.05s. Last year trengove was doing quick 1.04s but could not go under 1.05 this year either.
and yes ty hanger is a gun of a driver from all reports and he was driving the ex trengove machine which was an ex birrana machine with excellent data for mallala. and after around 7 spins during the weekend, he eventually settled down and drove the car with the respect that it deserved and his times improved. he was able to hang on to trengove and mcfadyen for the first part of race 2 but then gradually slipped away and ended up fighting with occhipinti... the top 4 were all doing 1.05s but couldnt go quicker on race day.

so when reading all of that, i think its unfair to criticise the drivers and the cars.. they are very safe when they go out there and most are very well prepared cars. there are around 3 or 4 98s competing this year which is only a year off the current spec F3s which run a 99 chassis with aero updates. so really theyre not that aging. and f3 also have many 95/96 model cars in the field. in f4000 there is talk that the new chassis will come in next year with the new engine that holden is supplying.

so hopefully the cars will be updated soon, coz yes thats starting to become a problem. but as i said, posts that discredit the drivers and compare them to guys like stokell in biranna prepared machines when the cars are newer and theyre on stickier tyres is a bit harsh i think.

lets hope for more cars on the grid tho coz clearly 12 cars isnt enough... (14-15 look set to enter for R2 at winton)

[gomick]

lets hope that there is 14 or 15 cars at winton, though we have heard that for/over the last 3 or 4 years - you obviously have something to do with f4000 soma

[champcarman]

Rather than criticise F4000 we should look at the positives.

First it is great that a driver like Rob Nguyen can see it as a worthwhile career move, but lets give him a good reliable car.

It is also great that Formula Ford champ Neil McFadyen has moved into the category. This is what used to happen in the Lowndes, Bright, Bargwanna era before things like Konica, Carrera Cup ,etc. came along. And those three didn't turn out too bad! But V8 Teams in the major league will probably look at some Konica kid before they loon at the likes of Neil. No wonder some formerly great V8 Teams are struggling?

I don't think the likes of 96 - 98 model cars are too old. Carbon fibre chassis don't deteriorate like aluinium rivetted ones did. A 91 model Reynard won the 1997 title after all.

Ralt Australia now have a tie up with Draco Racing so we might see some talented overseas runners here who may not have the budget for Euro categories.

So there are plenty of positives out there and the Premier Racing Series at least gives another race meeting we can attend instead of waiting for V8 Rounds to come around.

With the help of great supporters like Factory Enterprises and a Round win under his belt I am sure we will see Neil McFadyen even stronger at Winton now he has more laps under his belt in Australis most sensible racing category.

See you all at Winton.

[gomick]

neil is a class act, and f4000 aint a bad move if he wins the title..... as for rob nguyen, well, if he wins he should be able to scrounge a v8 drive - does rob have a v8 drive for sandown/bathurst

[Mekola]

Excuse me, but what Reynard chassis uses the Australian Formula 4000???
Do they use F3000 last Reynards ('94, '95)? Or Formula Nippon ones ('96, '97, '98)?

[champcarman]

Both are eligible. Cars from 91 - 98 currently run but one team is rumoured to be importing 2001 cars from Japan. The engines are 3.8 GM V6s but next year the new Holden (GM) Global V6 4 cam engine should be introduced.

[Mekola]

One team using the Reynards 99L (2KL and 01L are mere updates of this one)??? This is the best F3000 car of the 1999-2001 period! Watch out of this team!