Team Toyo shows the AORC how to party in Waikerie.
The first time the Riverland round has been on the AORC calendar since 1992 , 2014 sees national attention drawn back to the long straights and tight turns of Waikerie.
The culmination of months of anticipation today saw the Toyo Tires Riverland Enduro roar into life.
With many drivers fresh from the deep whoops of the Finke, Waikerie demands a different plan of attack. A much higher average speed on slippery surface and some very tight sections winding through scrub, today’s prologue saw the track claim its first victims early.
Hometown hero Brad Gallard ran a 3:15:03, and after an aggressive Top Ten Shootout will start in 9th place.
“It’s always fast and slippery this track, especially on the first lap or so, then it tends to cut up a bit. It will always be slippery in certain points. That’s how it is, I have been racing here for over twelve years and I know it well” explained Gallard.
“In prologue we used the 37 inch tyre to be a bit more darty and go-kart-ish. It’s a tight three minute run where you don’t really get to stretch the cars legs, and we wanted as much punch around the hairpins as we could get.”
Gallard is stepping up to the 39” Toyo tomorrow looking to get more speed from the truck and really wind up that big V8 on the long straights of the 80km circuit.
Finke Ironman and Waikerie first timer, Billy Geddes, brought his big red truck home safe despite a loose track recording a strong 3:31:69 and will start in 32nd place.
“Surface wetness and the hard pack underneath is making it slippery. Trophy trucks are notorious for sliding out so we are doing a lot of that, and we have to pre-empt the corners a fair way out“ said Geddes.
“We found it pretty slippery and of course it’s our first time on the track so we are taking it pretty steady. There has been a few collision out there with the trees so we are just keeping it safe, it’s a long race ahead.”
Protecting the truck for Sundays race, Billy is confident of a red hot run once he familiarises himself with the track.
“I was just a bit tentative on some of these high speed corners not really knowing what’s coming up, but give us a few laps of the big track and we’ll have a bit more of a crack.”
Greg Gartner attacked the dirt mercilessly, recording a 3:25:32 and starting in 21st tomorrow morning.
“It was fast and it’s slippery which I don’t mind. Tomorrow we will see all sorts of conditions. It’s going to be one of those races where if you do run off the track, you will hit some big boulders and you could have real problems."
With a bit of wind in the air and a relatively damp track, dust will hopefully not present its usual impediment.
“It will be high speed and high consequences, time will tell how we go, tomorrows the main day and with the wind around the dust won’t be a major issue like at some events.”
Matthew Kittle made a show of force on behalf of Peter Kittle Motor Sport, running a hot 3:16:52 and hanging on to 10th place.
“We had a good run, its slippery out there with the rocks and everything and everyone’s having the same problem; trying to keep it straight on the track. We blew through one corner but hopefully it didn’t cost us too much time” told Kittle.
“Placing is going to be important in tomorrows race, it’s pretty dusty out there. With two starting at a time and 30 second starting intervals its going to be tight and you are going to have to win your jump as well.”
“Everyone’s going to be in the dust apart from the person who is at the front of the track, if you can get up there you have a big advantage. Your either first, or it doesn’t matter too much, you will be in the dust.
Slotting in to the Top 10 Shootout, Matthew collected an impressive amount of tree during his second run, pulling back onto the spectator facing straight with most of it still hanging from the buggy. Despite the hiccup, Matthew retains 10th position and after a light buff the buggy will start from there tomorrow morning.
After running the Finke with no brakes and still claiming 5th place, recent Toyo convert Hayden Bentley suffered an unfortunate incident during his run; accidentally knocking his buggy’s ON/OFF switch to OFF while changing gears, mid-thrash. Bentley will start tomorrow with a seeded time at 17th. The team is currently looking for new switch locations.
With a party atmosphere forming at the trackside campground and all vehicles is great shape, tomorrows race should see Team Toyo up in lights, as the dust once more fly’s in Waikerie.
