Line Honors at 2006 AROCA 6 Hour!

I thought it would be a big jump from the club super sprint to the race, so I wondered if there was a slightly “softer” way to make the transition. I’ve heard about the AROCA 6 Hour Relay Classic, which takes place every year in Eastern Creek (AROCA stands for Alfa Romeo Owners Club Australia). This is a relay race. That is, a team of drivers (minimum 3 and maximum 6) and their car compete for line honor or handicap victory.

The race was six months away and I didn’t really think about it and didn’t feel ready for the race. Over the course of the months, lap times began to decline, but more importantly, they were beginning to show signs of consistency.

A month before the event, I sent an email to two club members (Anthony Kosseris and Indiran Padayachee) who seem to be thinking about anything about the track. Both Anthony Coselis and Indylan Padayachi arrived on Phillip Island a few months ago. When it comes to racing, we’re all newcomers and after a short email exchange we had at least three drivers. I thought I needed to get at least the podium if I wanted to put the team together. Examining the race, we found that the Lotus team completed 177 laps on a dry to wet track a year ago (2005), with an average lap time of 1: 46-2: 10 for each car. It was. .. Going back to Natsoft’s archive, we haven’t seen any Porsche team wins since James and Theo Koundouris (with David Guigni) completed 191 laps to win the race in 2002. I thought I could win if no other Porsche team came out !!!

I set out to raise the team’s hopes and fill the rest of the team’s spots with a few enthusiastic emails. I thought I needed an experienced racer to get rid of the rookie mess, so many names were suggested and I was contacted afterwards. Eventually it became the next team.

Team Manager: Wayne Jones.

Radio: John Ramage and Amelia Jones.

Driver A: David Gerins-’04 GT2

Driver B: David Reynolds-’04 GT2

Driver C: Aaron Zerefos-’04 Turbo X50

Driver D: Indy Lampadaya Chi-’04 GT3

Driver E: Anthony Cocelis-’03 GT3 Cup Car

Driver F: David Reynolds-’03 GT3 Cup Car

The team manager advised to “cross enter” David Reynolds with two cars to start and end the team’s race. We were able to do this because we had 5 drivers instead of up to 6 drivers.

Qualifying for the race was only six laps around the circuit on Saturday. Once all the drivers on our team have completed a qualifying stint of at least 6 laps, we have nominated the minimum lap time for the race (with the team manager). The race rules do not allow cars below the specified lap time or 98 seconds (1:38), whichever is greater. If the driver falls below this time, a one-lap penalty will be applied. Another reason to specify a lap time is to be able to determine the placement of the handicap. Some of our drivers needed more slick tire practice than the 6-lap stipulation and were ordered to back out until the lap time was reduced. Indra’s Padayachi ran out of fuel as he got used to the new tires.

Our team manager instructed us to be on a good course early the next morning before the race. The 10am start started quickly and we were off and racing before we knew it. David Reynolds took a 40-second lead within the first 20 minutes of the race, but the safety car was called in and our lead was wiped out. Our team was leading most of the day, but in the second hour of the race, “Team 20 Something” was temporarily leading. I interfered with the work of the team manager most of the day and instructed each driver not to spin under any circumstances minutes before they left. Of course, I was the only one who spun. No excuses, but if anyone is thinking of running cup car tires (with different front and back rolling diameters) outside of the cup car, forget about it! I didn’t hit anything, but the unfortunate incident took the team about 15 seconds.

Some drivers say Super Sprints are tougher than races because each Super Sprint lap is like a qualifying lap. I can testify that the nervous energy associated with your first race drama, excitement, anxiety, and cost makes Super Sprint feel like a Sunday drive.

All the rookies personally recorded the best Eastern Creek lap times during the race, and it was only in the last hour of the race that all Porsche teams began to show clear signs of lead. The last 15 minutes of the race seemed to take forever as the whole team flocked around a small timing screen in hopes of David Reynolds winning without a drama.

Finally the checkered flag fell to the 6-hour mark and won the race! Our team has completed 194 laps. Three laps ahead of the next team (Team 20 Somethings) and then four laps ahead of the team (Lotus by Jeff).

We were all excited about the victory and had a small presentation after the race. When I got home that night, I bent my biceps and paraded through the house, proclaiming that I knew what it was like to be Schumacher. This uplifting feeling lasted for more than a week, and when reality finally came back, I began to realize how difficult it was to repeat the performance in 2007.