TKR Excited With New Cars Potential
12/3/2004 16:48 (Press Release) -
Team Kiwi Racing have come away from the Melbourne Grand Prix event impressed with the teams new All Black Warrior V8 Supercar despite a few minor niggles during the three, invitation only non championship races.
With Baird having his first real drive in the car under race conditions at the Grand Prix he qualified 13 positions better than last year in 19th position.
This saw Baird surrounded by the following teams and drivers:
15th PWR PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS - PAUL WEEL
16th REPCO VALVOLINE CUMMINS - CAMERON MCCONVILLE
17th TOLL RACING - ANTHONY TRATT
18th SHELL HELIX - STEVEN JOHNSON
19th TKR - CRAIG BAIRD
20th SHELL HELIX - WARREN LUFF
21st ORRCON RACING - MARK WINTERBOTTOM
22nd OZEMAIL - BRAD JONES
23rd CASTROL PERKINS - PAUL DUMBRELL
24th SIRROMET, LIFESTYLE WINES - PAUL MORRIS
25th LANDSVALE SMASH REPAIRS - JASON RICHARDS
26th WPS - MARK NOSKE
27th CASTROL PERKINS - TONY LONGHURST
28th FORD PERFORMANCE RACING - GLEN SETON
29th TEAM BETTA ELECTRICAL - MAX WILSON
30th FORD PERFORMANCE DRIVING - CRAIG LOWNDES
31st TEAM DYNAMIC - DALE BREDE
RACE ONE
In race one Baird got a brilliant start to be up into 14th position by the second corner.
However this was to be his undoing. As the cars entered the second corner the PWR and Shell Helix cars started to get out of shape and as Baird took evasive action to avoid colliding with either of them, the TKR car slide sideways on the grass area nudging the front nose of the car into the side wall.
As a results of the impact this was enough to slightly damage the front spoiler and dislodge the power steering belt making the car impossible to drive at high speed.
Needless to say with no points on offer and having to wait till everyone had gone past before Baird could reverse and get back on the track, which saw the TKR car go from 14th to 31st before the first lap was even completed, it was decided to park the car early and check for any further damage before the second race.
RACE TWO
As a result of our DNF in race one TKR had to start from the rear of the grid for the 19 lap race. Starting from 32nd on the grid Baird rocketed past 6 cars by the first corner to be in 26th position moving up to 24th by the completion of the first lap. Continuing to fight his way around the Albert Park Circuit Baird was soon able to claw his way through to 14th by mid race before he started to complain of a lack of power.
Thinking the worst we decided to bring him in but before we did a number of other teams also had their cars coming into the pits with no damage but blocked air intakes from the leaves all over the track.
With the TKR car arriving in pit lane we decided to try the air intakes first with both mechanics putting their hand up as far as they could go in the air intakes and removing clumps of leaves that had been restricting the air flow to the engine and as a result what was the cause of the engine power loss.
Baird re entered the race and as he did he found himself in the middle of the front runners chasing Garth Tander in the Valvoline Cummins Car and Mark Skaife in the Holden Racing Team Car.
This for the first time gave the team and Baird the opportunity to see how competitive the new TKR All Black Warrior was against the big budget Factory boys.
"I was like a little kid at Christmas time with a big smile on my face as I was able to not only stay with these two front running cars but able to close the gap on them as well"
"This is a great feeling going into the first round of the Australian V8 Supercar Championship at Adelaide knowing that you have the equipment this year to get some very good results for our sponsors and supporters". - Says Baird
However with 7 laps to go the car started to splutter before eventually stopping on the side of the track with one lap remaining.
This was due to an electrical fault in the fuel pump system which can only be described as one of those things.
Regardless the team now had enough confidence that if they can go over this new car and ensure all the little gremlins you get with any new car are sorted before the first round of the Championship for points in Adelaide, then they we will have a very competitive race package this season.
RACE THREE
Race three saw TKR start from 22nd position as a result of being the last car not to finish in race two.
Once again getting a great start Baird started his climb through the field getting into the top 15 within the first couple of laps.
Soon after Simon Wills went wide into the grass and then spun back onto the race track where he was T-boned by Mark Skaife which again resulted in cars going everywhere and slamming on their brakes.
Baird who was 13th and right behind John Bowe going into this corner was pushed up into the back of the Ozemail car which in turn damaged
the TKR cars steering.
Regardless Baird was determined to finish this race and although the steering damage was affecting his cornering speed he held on to 17th position for race three.
IN SUMMERY
All in all a very encouraging weekend.
The new TKR All Black Warrior showed it was able to run in the top 15 on debut in all three races before the gremlins came into play.
Baird was impressed with the cars handling and speed, and overall the whole team have a new lease of life going into the 2004 V8 Supercar Championship.
Bring on the Adelaide Clipsal 500 !!!!
Release Date: 8/03/2004
Team Kiwi Racing
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