Andy Booth, in the #23 Big Ben Pies Holden Commodore came away from the latest round of the BNT V8’s Championship at Manfeild Park Raceway as once again the leading Holden competitor but still frustrated with not being able to seriously challenge the championship leaders.

 

The tight, banked Manuwatu circuit has proven to be a happy hunting ground for the rival Fords in recent years and round 5 of this year’s championship continued that as Booth qualified as the lead Holden in 6^th place after Saturday afternoon’s official qualifying sessions.

 

For the first time this season a weather rule allowing the cancellation of the top ten shoot out was used as rain began to fall just prior to the final qualifying session. This meant that grid positions would be determined by the final placings from the second, top 20 session. Booth felt he could have qualified higher but had elected to park the car for the rest of the second session knowing that he was comfortably through to the top ten.

 

Race 1 on Sunday morning was a reasonably quiet affair with the Big Ben car able to challenge on the opening laps but then seemingly unable to maintain the pace of the front 4 cars. When Angus Fogg spun exiting the hairpin, the result of a broken axle, Booth moved up into 5^th position but was then busy with a strengthening Andy Knight who eventually slipped past on lap 4 when the Commodore was slow off turn 6.

 

Booth would eventually cross the line in 6^th place.

 

Things got a lot more exciting in race 2 when Booth challenged Knight at the beginning of lap 2. The pair ran cleanly side by side from the exit of turn one all the way to the final turn 7 where Knight ran wide allowing Booth and Eddie Bell to slip by, this duo would then spend the next 5 laps locked in a close tussle, Booth battling severely fading brakes and Bell a worsening oil leak.

 

Lap 7 brought out the safety car to allow retrieval of 2 cars in the gravel trap. At the restart Booth timed it to perfection, able to leap ahead of the Fords of defending champion Kayne Scott and John McIntyre. McIntyre retook the position on the exit of turn 1 with the favoured inside line whilst Booth continued to hold out Scott.

 

By this stage Bell’s oil leak have become so severe that it was dropping large amounts of oil onto the circuit, affecting other competitors ability to control their cars. When Booth ran wide on the oil entering turn 1 at the start of lap 8 Scott took the inside on the run round into the infield, the Big Ben Holden held the inside for the lefthander but the Falcon moved across and squeezed him onto the curb allowing Scott back ahead.

 

Once again Booth finished where he began in 6^th place.

 

The 22 lap final reverse grid race was always going to be an interesting affair with the Manfeild circuit notoriously hard on brakes and many cars, including Booth, already suffering in this department in the shorter 12 lap races.

 

Booth got away to one of his typical scything runs in the opening laps moving from 18^th to 9^th by the 3^rd lap, picking up another spot on lap 5. Possibly using up his tyres and brakes early with this charge the Big Ben car then struggled to continue forward, challenging the Ford of Simon Richards repeatedly but eventually dropping back.

 

The real highlight of the race was the battle between Booth and Clark Proctor later in the race, dominating the television coverage for sheer entertainment the pair passed and re-passed each other several times per lap over 4 or 5 laps. Often running side by side through long sections of the track the pair entertained both the crowd and themselves right to the finish of the race as Booth’s brakes deserted him and he had to concede for 12^th position.

 

Following the Manfeild race, the Big Ben crew spent 2 days testing at the Taupo circuit, where the final round will be held on March 20/21, gaining valuable track time and testing new components for next season.

 

Comments from Andy Booth for the weekend:

 

“I don’t know what it is about this place but the Fords just seem to love it, we can compete over 1 or 2 laps but cannot maintain the race pace”

 

“Some of the racing this weekend has been the most enjoyable of the year, it’s a track that allows you to run side by side and pass in a lot of different places, that tussle with Clark (Proctor) was epic!”

 

“While we weren’t out the back door, this was not a competitive showing by our standards and we have to find more pace before Taupo, we’ll go testing there before and look for that magic tweak”

 

 

Andy Booth, the Big Ben Commodore and the AV8 Motorsport team next head to Taupo on March 20 and 21 for round 6 of the BNTV8’s.

 

All the action from the BNT V8’s can be viewed on TV3’s delayed live coverage on race day, or online at http://www.tv3.co.nz/TVOnDemand/tabid/890/Default.aspx

Andy Booth, in the #23 Big Ben Pies Commodore was back in action for round 4 of the BNT V8 series at Timaru’s Levels Raceway over the weekend and although top results were hard to come by due to external influences, he and the AV8 Motorsport crew gave a clear message that their front running pace was back.

 

Unpredictable weather and confusing officialdom would ultimately prove to be the strongest determining factors in the weekend’s results but Booth declared himself very happy with the improved speed in the Big Ben Holden with solid qualifying and race 3 results.

 

After a baffling lack of outright speed at recent rounds of the championship, some minor set up changes and a determined driver effort paid dividends in Saturday’s 3 stage qualifying session when Booth posted the 2^nd fastest time in the second session only 0.087 off Championship leader John McIntyre. This super quick lap would ultimately prove to hinder Booth’s attempt to take pole position in the top ten shoot out. Having set the lap early on in the second session and being the second last car on track in the shoot out there was a long time between runs and Andy felt that the tire temperatures had dropped off too much, especially on the left hand side which saw the Big Ben car lose valuable time in the right hand turns. Booth’s shoot out lap would place him 6^th on the grid.

 

Race one on Sunday morning evolved into one of the most controversial and influential (in terms of championship) seen in years.

 

 With almost the entire field formed up on the start grid on slick, dry weather tyres, the very light drizzle that had been in the air turned to steady rain, a lethal combination made worse with several ultra slippery new sections of tarmac around the track. The field moved off the race start seemingly in slow motion, the track surface resembling more that of an ice rink. As cars slid off and spun around through the first few turns Booth, at this stage running 3^rd on the road, gave serious consideration to retreating to the pits at the end of the lap for wet tyres. This option was to be rapidly withdrawn. As the first 3 cars entered the run towards the final corner onto the pit straight (and pit entry) they were meet with a truly zero grip situation on the new surface and became helpless passengers as all three cars impacted heavily with the outside tyre wall.

 

Chaos ensued behind them as the rest of the field skated every which way in avoidance. Most scrambling to the pits in recovery after the red flags were brought out to stop the race. Booth was able to free himself from the wall and pull forward to the control line where cars are required to stop in red flag situations. From here confusion reigned as race officials seemingly lost control of the situation as cars were worked on in the pits under red flag conditions, the Big Ben Holden was stuck out on the track with marshals not allowing him to move as they were receiving no instruction from the officials. Ultimately the crew members had to take the decision to cross the pit wall and push Booth’s car back to the pit entry so they could change to wet tyres and inspect the damage. Then in a truly bizarre twist the race was restarted with all the cars in the random order in which they left the pit lane as opposed to the original race order as the rules dictate.

 

At the restart Booth lined up 3^rd to last and given the chaos that had already taken place elected to simply drive a conservative risk free race to the finish. He would eventually be classified in 17^th.

 

Race 2 brought a welcome dry spell in the weather and a much more straight forward result, if still a little contentious as the starting order for race 2 is determined by the finishing order of the controversial race 1.

 

Further changes to the set up of the car where to Booth’s liking and despite the tough narrow nature of the Timaru track, the Big Ben car fought its way up to 10^th position passing team mate Andrew Anderson (ITM Holden) on the line by 0.066 of a second.

 

During the warm up period for the final reverse grid race 3, the unpredictable Timaru skies began to repeat their race 1 efforts. With light drizzle falling the AV8 Motorsport crew elected to call Booth in for wet tyres even though the track was still more suited to slicks. This proved to be the dead right call as Booth lined up on the grid with 2 minutes before the pit closure signal, the rain started to fall. As other cars poured into the pits to change tyres the Big Ben team were revelling in their early decision as now many cars simply would not have enough time to effect the tyre changes and would be caught in the pits at the race start. This advantage was then unwound as the race officials chose to do what they had not in race 1 and declare the race wet allowing all teams and additional 5 minutes to change tyres and line up on the grid.

 

Just like race 1 the action was halted before the end of the 1^st lap as the Ford of Angus Fogg was tapped into a spin which resulted in heavy contact with Booth’s AV8 team mate Paul Manuell. This result this time was only a safety car as opposed to a total race stoppage and racing resumed a few lap later with Booth in 3^rd position, the result of a successful 1^st lap from his 6^th placed start.

 

Initially struggling with a severe lack of rear traction Booth soon had to relinquish position to Andrew Anderson and then Andy Knight as they were able to put the power down better out of slow corners.

The positions stayed static for much of the race but as the track began to dry to a damp surface in the later laps the Big Ben Commodore began to grip up and find some pace. Booth caught up to the duelling pair of Knight and Pither, first capitalising on light contact between the pair to sneak past Knight and then getting his nose ahead on the inside coming onto the main straight he could out drag Pither in the New Balance Falcon into turn 4. This final pass moved Booth up to 3^rd at the finish line, the podium result some slight reward after the disappointment of the day’s earlier events.

 

Comments from Andy Booth for the weekend:

 

“The pace we showed in qualifying is seriously encouraging, after starting the year so strongly the speed has been hard to come by at the last 2 rounds. I feel like we’ve turned the corner now and will be hunting for race wins at Manfield”

 

“I’m just gobsmacked at the situation we had in race 1! It’s like someone misplaced the rule book, just unacceptable at this level”

 

“The podium finish in the last race was a positive way for all the crew to finish what’s been a tough old weekend, the weekend as a whole should have been a much stronger result for us”

 

“Our focus from now on, with the improvements we seem to have found, has to be on race wins, nothing else is good enough from here on”

 
Footage of the race 1 incident can be viewed on the following link:

 http://www.tv3.co.nz/NZMCS---Jan-24---BNT-V8s-Race-1---Part-One/tabid/742/articleID/62669/Default.aspx

Andy Booth, the Big Ben Commodore and the AV8 Motorsport team next head to Manfield in Feilding on Feb 13-14 for round 5 of the BNTV8’s.

Andy Booth, driving the #23 Big Ben Pies Commodore returned to the track for round 3 of the action packed BNT V8’s Championship in Invercargill over the weekend, the first event for 2010 and the first since Booth’s massive crash at Powerbuilt Raceway in late November.

With both car and driver restored to full health over the festive break, the AV8 Motorsport race team arrived in Invercargill with high hopes on a circuit that has provided plenty of top results over the last few years.

 

Hopes were soon to turn to frustration as throughout practice and qualifying competitive speed was just not forthcoming from the car. A severe lack of balance with the handling was the primary focus for the AV8 Motorsport team, somewhat baffled by the lack of pace from last year’s round winning car.

 

An improved handling car for qualifying saw Booth through to the Top Ten Shootout in 7^th position but still 0.8 of a second off the fastest time. In the 1 lap shootout Booth pushed as hard as he could to climb up the grid but a brake lock up on the 2^nd last corner saw the Big Ben Holden run wide and lose over half second. Booth would have to settle for 10^th on the grid.

 

Sunday brought another stunning hot day, a clear contrast to the torrential rain of previous years at the Southland track.

 

Races 1 and 2 found Booth driving an increasingly better handling car and was able to make some forward gains in achieving 8^th and 9^th place finishes but what the close racing with other cars highlighted was the lack of acceleration from the Big Ben Commodore. Despite being much quicker than both the car in front and behind around the winding back section of the track as soon as they reached the long front straight Booth would lose huge amounts of ground.

 

After making progress with the handling the crew’s attention now turned sharply to the engine. The data recordings were not showing anything untoward but a detailed inspection uncovered the mystery, the engine was only operating on 75% throttle! It appeared that in the impact of the crash at the previous event the throttle pedal was bent by Andy’s feet being thrown sideways. The AV8 crew had straightened the pedal but somewhere in the system things were not lining up correctly limiting the amount of throttle opening at the carburettor.

 

With this small but costly problem resolved Booth headed into the final reverse grid race with renewed confidence and with some much needed straight line competitiveness enjoyed a fantastic, action packed fight from 14^th through to 6^th place at the finish and 5^th overall for the weekend

 

Comments from Andy Booth for the weekend:

 

“It’s such a shame that we had to battle so hard for an average result, it’s hard to win when you’re driving with the hand brake on. I’m just glad that the guys worked so hard to discover the throttle fault and we had some pace back for the last race”

 

“There’s always a risk of some residual damage after a hit like we took in Christchurch, the AV8 crew worked so hard on the car and it just got missed, no one’s fault, just one of those things”

 

“Having a competitive car again for the final race was great! It was a classic Teretonga reverse grid battle and I think without being held up for much of the middle part of the race there was potential for a podium result”

 

“We’ve lost more ground to the championship lead this weekend but the focus is squarely on race wins from here on and getting back up into the top 3 in the points”

 

 

 

Andy Booth, the Big Ben Commodore and the AV8 Motorsport team next head to Levels Raceway in Timaru this coming weekend for round 4 of the BNTV8’s.