If a picture tells a thousand words, then a 2 and a half minute video must say a lot!
Here's some video we found on YouTube by Brenton of TruBlu racing. The footage of the race start is pretty amazing - the speed and tight battle that took place between BYR, TruBlu and BlueShift.
We're the team in the blue, yellow and white for those checking us out for the first time!
Merry Christmas and we'll be back early in the new year with updates on our 2009 Campaign.
Well mostly through boredom, here is the 2008 RACV Energy Breakthrough in pictures. Excuse any biasness. Click on image to produce a larger version
Run A Muk ran into a barrier mid way through qualifying, crushing both aluminium rollbars onto the rider. They were up until 3am fixing the damage, with the vehicle looking better then new come 1.30pm Saturday.
Highview's "Flying Scotsman 2" featured very innovative wheel spats that moved with the turning wheels. The external rollbar cost the team plenty of time off the track, trying to keep the thing stuck there with tape!
Highview's "Boris Monster" had the first rollover of the race, locking the rear and sliding onto it's roof on slippery turn 2. The team finished 2nd overall in HPV B2 to Flora Hill's "BRUM".
The race featured a couple of red flags throughout. This picture (kind of) shows the bottleneck created by the barriers blowing across the road, blocking the entire track after "Dunny Corner". Several vehicles rolled in the chaos, with the red light on for several minutes.
With 30 minutes to go a lather of shaving cream was applied to the Old Bearded Mate.
Literally under a hundred metres away from the checkered flag Daryl steps out onto the track so as to gift an Old Bearded Mate with a fine shave.
And so Flora Hill Secondary College wins the 2008 RACV Energy Breakthrough! One of the youngest teams to do it in the race's history. Well done for all your hard work throughout the year.The 18th annual RACV Energy Breakthrough was held in Maryborough on the weekend in cool wet blustery conditions that were very similar to those experienced in Wonthaggi each year. However the rain did little to dampen the spirits of the competitors who all left the event with a big smile and lasting memories of a truely great event.
Race day arrived and the clouds rolled in and teams gave their vehicles a final check over before the 1:30 pm kickoff. The race was expected to be dominated by defending champions Highview College after they showed significant speed in friday night practice. But they buckled under the pressure and took a big step back in time to the days of barely making it to the finish. However this was a weekend to be dominated by Bendigo. Flora Hill had arrived at the event rated as a outside chance of overall victory after a very strong Murray Bridge campaign. But the team were confident that they had built a strong reliable vehicle and had the miles in their legs to pull off a remarkable victory, and they didnt dissapoint going on to take line honours by completing 654laps and 10 laps more than Bendigo Senior Secondary College and 53 laps ahead of pre race favorites Highview.
It was also an enjoyable weekend for member's of BYR who were all involved either as pit crew, track side entertainment or event management . We would like to congratulate Flora Hill on there rise to the top and look forward to continuing our relationship again next year. And also to BSSC who were the runners up and continue to give it their all year after year. Well done to everyone involved on a superb weekend despite the unkind weather.
A whole host of Bendigo Youth Racing guys will be rolling up our sleeves and giving some back at the RACV Energy Breakthrough later this month in Maryborough, Vic.
We all cut our HPV racing teeth at the 'Breakthrough and feel as though we are now in positions to 'give something back' to the sport that has given us so much. (yup, that's pretty cliche, but I think that's how it is.)
Daryl King, is Team Manager / Co-Head Honcho now at Flora Hill SC, and will be inspiring a whole crew of young people on the journey.
Rowan will be helping out with the Try-athlon, Anson will be helping out with some judging and many others will be in support roles with a range of teams or being extra hands.
Me - well - I pretty much work on the 'Breakthrough all year round, putting in between 8 - 15 hrs a week. I do it because I love it and it's this time of the year when everyone starts getting excited about the 'great race'.
It's really different from the AIPP, it's the vibe, the school spirit, the team morale - it's a festival atmosphere that gives everyone HPV racer - BYR and beyond - a rush!
Bendigo Youth Racing has limped across the line in 3rd place at the biggest race of the year, Murry Bridge in South Australia. A combination of visibility issues and a fragile fairing helped to put BY-08 out of touch with the eventual top 2, Tru-Blu and Tafe SA's Blueshift. Once again BYR rider Michael Micallef details the weekend that was, which was spent once again with Flora Hill Secondary.
Team Bendigo's weekend actually began on Thursday morning when we set off for Murry Bridge. The bus trip was extremely slow to say the least, but was made funnier when Rowan, who was transporting BY-08 in his Chev ute, arrived in Bordertown in bare feet. The story went something like this; With some aching feet making him uncomftable, Rowan took his workboots off where they sat in the footwell for some time, After a brief stop for refreshments Rowan noticed his door wasn't closed properly. He opened and closed the door whilst driving at full noise. Crisis over? Nope. In performing such actions he had accidently let one boot fall out, never to be seen again! Another great Rowan story.
Eventually we got to Murry Bridge and unpacked. After a small prep to BY-08, we set off to have it scruitineered. No issues so we spent the rest of the afternoon setting up tents and the food prep area.
With that done Team Bendigo headed down to the pub, where many a great time was had by all. Dave Maud arrived at this time, after having got his P's earlier in the day. Turns out too that he had Rowan's missing boot on him, after having stumbled on it down a long stretch of highway. Rowan pulled the dress shoes he'd been wearing for half the day off and reacquainted himself with his boot.
Eventually we went to bed, exhausted from a tiring day on the bus. 1st day complete.
Friday was a day for relaxing. We all got up when we wanted, had our showers and ate breakfast. After a couple of hours relaxing in the shade of Rowan's Pick up, we decided to head over to Design and Construction. It was an unscripted affair- when something like building a HPV really is a team effort, (which is less then can be said for a majority of our competitiors who purchase other people's designs and only have to worry about bolting it together and getting themselves fit in time) the conversation and input flows equally between all team members towards the judges. This has always been a BYR strength and the reason we do win many D&C's. BYR has only 1 rule, and that is if you don't build it you dont ride it. Which is something we are very proud of and will always continue. We left the D&C tent confident we had presented BY-08 to the best of our abilities.
Later on in the day and it was time for the practice session. The session went really well, with all 
riders exiting the vehicle with positive thoughts. The vehicle felt strongest going down the back straight, with all commenting on just how easy it was to ascent the "hill".
We all did an out lap, a full lap, then an inlap. Deven hopped in last and was half way through the routine when the chainline seized up. Turns out the return roller under the seat didn't tension the chain quite enough, resulting in the rough surface of the back straight throwing the chain off and jamming in the power roller. It was easily fixed after the session, and is something we're thankful happened in practice!
After those dramas Cal jumped in one last time in an effort to test our "fog preventing devices". In the process he also set a lap fast enough to reach the top 12 shootout, recording a 2'34.
I spent the final 15 minutes sitting on Channel 7 corner and observed many things. The Tru Blu was noticably faster through the difficult corner then any other vehicle. In my eyes it disproved the myth that a large track was needed for fast cornering speeds. Also of note was how unstable BY-08 looked going through that very corner- center of gravity is something we will concerntrate on more in the future judging by the conversation on the way home.
With the session over we discussed any issues we had with BY-08, the peloton zooming past the pit lane as we chatted. Someone decided to ride into a pole down the end of the pit lane instead of ride with the group..... which of course is a very common thing to wanna do. After that little drama was sorted we all set off for bed, leaving Moo, Crowey and Tippet to prepare the vehicle for tomorrow. A great day had come to an end, with a greater day due to begin at 12 noon tomorrow.
Up at 8am. 1 shower, 10 weetbix and 2 pieces of toast later and I was down at the front straight looking at a line-up of the fastest HPV's of each category for 2008. The shootout had arrived.
We had Deven in for the shootout, with instructions to not do anything stupid. He did none of the sort, laying down a lazy 2'35 on his "hot lap". Mr Announcer, Paul Richards, was getting right into it too. Me and Chooka stood next to him for a time, and the conversation went pretty well. Upon Blueshift's lap;
Paul- "Here comes the Blueshift- BYR is looking VERY worried!"
Chooka and Myself- "No we're not."
Paul- "It looks like the Blueshift has the speed!"
Chooka and Myself- "Yeah they can have the front row"
Paul- *leans in towards us, cupping microphone* "Just a bit of drama for the crowd boys- play along."
Chooka and Myself- *Pretend to look worried*
Paul Richards is one of the great personalities of the AIPP.
When the dust had cleared the shootout had produced some impressive times. Well actually, just one. Tru Blu's lap was a blinder. A 2'16 by Steele easily eclipsed the 2'28's set in the previous two years by Daryl in BY-06 and Dean in the Blueshift. The Tru Blu had cemented itself as the favourite.
With that I went back to bed for 60 minutes, woke up and ate some lunch, then walked back over to the start line where all vehicles were gridding up. Cal was warming up at this stage. 
After clearing the grid I sat down at BYR Hill and watched the field roll by on their parade lap. The next lap around and the field was fair moving. Blueshift, BY-08 and Tru-Blu Racing led the field and so fast were the trio that they lapped the entire feild in an hour!
We had our 1st problem at the 45 minute mark. Cal pitted in after leading the field and had the front right changed after a flat tyre got the better of him. After a quick inspection of the tube it was found that the tube was faulty. A detailed inspection of all the other spares showed that most of them were in the same boat. It was suspected the other two remaining tubes running around the track were also faulty. The defective tubes paid a visit to the bin, whilst Moo paid a visit to the Trisled tent to buy some replacements.
Cal did 75 minutes before he pitted. Mark hopped in next, and was pumped to get lost time back. He did extremly well, lapping in the low 2'40's for 45 minutes straight, and settling in the low 2'50's in the last 15. However after all this effort nothng came of it- the leading Blueshift's rider was lapping consistantly 5 seconds faster. In any other race Mark's stint would've wiped the floor of any team, but not at a record breaker like AIPP 08 it would seem.
Dave (shown right post stint) was in next and was even faster then Mark. After a faultless hour stint Dave had taken care of the Tru- Blu and was breathing down the neck of the Blueshift.
Rowan in now and you could tell. Screw details for this stint- you only need one: By the time Rowan was jumping out BY-08 was up 2 laps on Blueshift by the length of the Cat 4 straight!
My turn next. I watched Blueshift zoom past as I was entering the vehicle. The wiper went in with me, the door went down, and I was away. 1st lap around and Moo gave me the deficit to the already lapped BlueShift- 48 seconds. Thirty minutes later and I was excitedly overtaking the Blueshift down the front straight, after a run of mid 2'40 laps. Four laps later and something was wrong. Steering in the right direction through traffic washed more speed off then expected. The vehicle was also a dog through BYR Hill, unable to hold it's line without really wrestling it around. The final straw was when Blueshift shot past me down the front straight. I just couldn't follow it through the 1st half of the track. It was official. I had a slow leak on the left wheel. I rode until my lap times blew out to low 2'50's then pitted for a replacement.
Moo ripped the left off and put the replacement on. It wouldn't go the last little bit however. After a quick inspection by Crowey it was found the bearing was still on the kingpin. It was taken off and the replacement went on successfully. Meanwhile the floor pump was out on the rear wheel. The rear was sitting on 20psi unbeknown to me. It seems all of our starting set of tubes were duds, and we were paying now. With the rear temporaily fixed I set out again. It looked like I'd be in for more chasing. 2 laps in however and I discovered Blueshift just leaving their own pits with a fresh rider. I finished my 90 minute stint with the Blueshift 2 laps down. End of 1st stint.
Chooka and Gavin filled in the next 2 hours and did a faultless job of it. The rear wheel was changed when Chooka hopped in, which allowed Blueshift to get 1 lap back on BY-08. By the time Gavin was done we were approaching 2 laps on the Blueshift once again.
Deven made his 1st appearence in the race and had a tough time of it. Our trademarked and patented fogging which has hindered us for so many years predictably reared it's ugly, destructive head once again. This time though it wasn't the cause of our 1st collision in the race. Deven was happily riding down the back straight, minding his own business, when he collided with an exposed rear wheel of a vehicle with no rear tail light! The impact was even more surpriseing. Where as such an impact in a Kevlar fairing would result in simply bouncing off said wheel, it instead tore a massive hole in front of our wheel well. Deven pitted straight away, where BY-08 was "stitched up" with zip ties and "bandaged" with racetape. Deven stayed out a little while longer before pitting. We lost alot of time on Tru- Blu and Blueshift, sitting 1 lap behind the aforementioned.
I went to sleep after Dev's stint and woke up about 1230 Sunday. I strolled into the pits with my stuff and spotted a hastily scribbled piece of paper on the tool chest. It read, "Never EVER give up. Never stop trying".
It was obvious to me that something was amiss and my suspisions were confirmed when BY-08 went past. The left side was a mess. My frown got longer when Moo told me that was the better side! Cal had come a cropper trying to navigate through heavy traffic and running into a barrier through the esses. We were sitting 1 lap down on Blueshift, with Tru-Blu's light issues earlier in the night, paired with a foggy windscreen putting them in 3rd. Having said that we were losing much ground on said vehicles and it was only a matter of time before they overtook us. Mark was in currently and was obviously feeling the effect of having no visibility, with 3'10's being the norm over the course of his 90 minute stint. Our wiper worked fantasticly, but required constant use, which in itself slowed progress. Funny how things meant to uncomplicate matters accidently complicates matters!
Towards the end of his stint Mark started drifting into 3'15 territory, so with Blueshift approaching their 2nd lap up on BY-08, now was never a better time to pit him in.
It was drilled into my head how important conservng the vehicle was. Use the wiper constantly, keep away from clusters of tail lights and no risky overtaking that could result in contact. Any contact- The hybrid weave we had trialled for the 1st time on BY-08 was just way too fragile. Most of these hits on our vehicle at this stage may have resulted in only minor scuff marks on any other fairing, but vaccum bagged hybrid weave officially wasn't up to the task. Live and Learn.
Mark eventually came in and I jumped in jumped in along with a fresh windscreen. I sat on 3'05's for a long time, before settling on 3'10's. The windscreen wiper worked fine but couldn't wipe clean the far sides of the windscreen that mattered for seeing apexs and competitors. After an hour I lapped the Tru- Blu. They seemed to be in more trouble then us it would seem, as I lapped then pretty easily. With 15minutes to go a fog-less Blueshift blew past me at what I'd estimate was 10 seconds a faster lap then what I was cruising on. Ex Pats, Ballistic and Tru- Blu followed in a loose attempt at a train, Tru-Blu going much faster then before. With 5 minutes to go I too (like Mark) was approaching 3'15 lap times. I pitted in after 90 minutes, with the vehicle still in the same condition I left it in. I was as happy as I could be at this stage of the race.
Chooka was in next and didn't dissappoint. He provided a much needed reprieve for BYR, being the only one to lap faster then Blueshift during the night. After 45 minutes however he too jumped over the 3 minute line. 
Meanwhile Tru- Blu had discovered the cure for their fogging woes and were now blowing away everything on the track. With lap times between 2'45 and 2'50, not even the Blueshift could keep up. We suffered the most, with Chooka losing up to 25 seconds a lap until the end of his stint. Talk went back to cutting Ned Kellys in our windscreen. The next rider, Gavin, and the pit crew responded with a resounding NO! At that point I went to bed.
Three hours later and I was awoken again for my next stint. Due to a stragety to conserve 4 riders for the last 6 hours, Chooka, Dev Gav and Myself had a pretty hectic schedule during the night.
BY-08 was still circulating at a great pace, but looked worse then it did hours before. Gav had a big crash involving a vehicle without a tail light and Dev just ran out of talent at some stage in his 90 minute stint. The vehicle was in tatters, with the sides of our fairing only being supported by pieces of corflute. Ironic given we moved away from such an inferior material 5 years ago and now it was the last line of defence for our enclosed wheels.
Even so Rowan was out there doing his thing, scheduled to do a 2 hour stint to take BY-08 into the daylight of Sunday morning. What we didn't schedule was Rowan crashing. Moo's brother, riding Flora Hill's BRUM, rode past with his head out screaming out "BY-08's in half!!". He actually wasn't far off.
Rowan pitted for some minor repairs..... one broken crossmember (only part holding the front left wheel and it's steering components to the rest of the frame was a 25mm dia. tube), two broken fairing mounts, 1 broken tie-rod, 1 pulverised front left wheel and a shedload of zipp ties. It was a weird incident, because Rowan couldn't actually say what he hit. He was way right of a group of taillights, cruising in open space, when he was stopped dead on the back straight. The sudden impact rolled BY-08 over. Short of a block of concrete crossing the road..... or a Triceratops in Row's statement, we had no idea if Rowan hit a vehicle...... or what he hit! All we knew was that it was hefty enough to destroy BY-08's chassis.
Repairs took a good 13 minutes, so Rowan jumped back in and had another go. Another hour later and he was back in after having a run-in with 4th placed Ballistic. Going through the spoon drain, the Ballistic got a little too close, pushing the inside line....and BY-08 it would seem. Rowan spun onto his lid and could've nearly had a conversation with the Ballistic rider, who was on his lid next to him hahahahaha!
It wasn't as bad as it could've been, so minimal time was spent in the pits. Eventually Rowan pitted in for good, after a whooping 210 minute drama filled stint.
It was now light and I was hopping in for my last stint of the race. Pretty uneventful except for a battle with Ballistic for 5 laps. Oh and of course the broken crossmember didn't help the approach into Channel 7, the whole left side "flex-steering" itself under brakes. Very light on the brakes or I was on my lid! The nose was also on the ground after Rowans stint, meaning every bump in the road was literally felt through my legs. I pitted in after a measly 40 minute stint. I was meant to go 60 minutes but due to a lack of communication with the pit I was unaware exactly how long I'd been in. Oh well.
Dave jumped in but not before I told him the state of the vehicle. This was all communicated whilst the pit crew created a new fairing mount for the nose ( a pole zipp-tied to the boom and extending out past the nosecone, covered in tape) and replaced the windsceen. Dave had 11 hours of sleep under his belt and it showed in his lap times, with nothing above 2'50 for an entire hour. In the final moments of his 1 hour sprint he come undone, rolling the vehicle on the Start-Finish line after slamming the brakes on to avoid a pileup ahead. The heavy application of brakes speared him in front of another vehicle, with said vehicle T-boning BY-08 in the side. I think it was rider error on our part. Sorry for any trouble caused.
Mark jumped in for his last stint, belting out 2'55's for an hour then 3 dead for another 15. A really great run from the 6ft 3", 90kg monster. No incidents.
Chooka jumped in for his final stint, going for 45 minutes at mid 2'50's. No incidents.
Finally it came down to the last hour and thus Cal's final stint. He bested a 2'42 in the hour and hovered around mid 2'40's for all of it. What a machine.
BY-08 crossed the line n 3rd place. Amazing after such a dramatic night that saw us run out of race tape and spend very close to 1 hour in pits, not to mention losing the lead and unfortunately destroying 9 months of hard work that was BY-08.
Aside fro the race result we also claimed 1st in Design and Construction, 2nd in presentation and Cal Ridge secured the fastest lap of the race award, adding to his Maryborough lap record.
We've come away with many lessons. Firstly kiddies, listern to Ex Pats and ouselves when we say Hybrid weave is B-A-D. Especially if you're thinking of vac- bagging. It's not worth the extra outlay for such a fragile product.
Also it'd be great if every team put their lights on before the race started- LED's last for weeks when left on and may have prevented some of our incidents. Live and learn.
A big thank you to Flora Hill Secondary College for sharing facilities over the course of the weekend and Cartridge World Australia for their amazing contribution to our team over the course of the year. Another big thank you to all our friends and family for providing support for us all year and cheering us on at the race. We love you all.
Congratulations to the good guys of HPV racing, Tru Blu, for finally finding a combo that worked well enough to win them a race. You'd wanna win after spending such money and you didn't fail. Another congrats for Blueshift for coming so close to the double. They showed great consistancy and clean riding- something all of us can look up to.
You can catch members of BYR in November at the RACV Energy Breakthrough.
Photo Credits:
www.expatsracing.com
www.moz.net.nz
http://petelee.smugmug.com/gallery
Yes, we're still recovering from a massive weekend in Murray Bridge, but will have a report together pretty soon.
Thanks to all our sponsors, supporters, parents, family and friends who made our 2008 campaign possible.
In the meantime, here's some video of us in action at the 2008 Australian International Pedal Prix (AIPP)...
Enjoy!
More videos
There's also a overall race report on the RACV Energy Breakthrough website.
Our new carbon fibre weapon BY-08.
L-R: Joe, Michael, Chooka, Gav, Dave, Cal, Deven, Rowan, Marcus and Mark
The trip soon got exciting when we took one of Daryl Kings patented shortcuts through the countryside. It was a pretty loose dirt road that cut Horsham out of the equation and saved up to 20 minutes off our trip. A little while later we had completed the shortcut, and stopped to admire the mud caked half a foot off the trailer. With no more shortcuts for the rest of the trip it was looking to be a mighty boring day. 
When Dave finally pitted he jumped out in a bit of a mess. Supposedly a Black Flag was being wave at him for the final 4 laps, with the official getting madder everytime he went around. We in the pits had not been approached by any official concerning this black flag, so hustled on over to the hairpin to get clarification. And boy did we get clarification! Supposedly Dave didn't have his glasses on and we would need to be pulled up at the hairpin. Dave denied he ever had his (clear safety) glasses off, yet admitted he unfogged them by placing them on the tip of his nose, away from his sweaty face. Seemed ligit to everyone else except the official who we figured traveled all the way from Wonthaggi for the priviledge. We were to take our punishment. Chooka flagged down Mark in BY-08 and he interpreted that as a signal to pit for the penalty. It wasn't the case however and he realised the mistake when he rolled into the pits and no one was present to dish out the penalty. Mark exited pits and circulated til he parked in the coned off area of the hairpin. He was given a good old fashioned talking to and released 50 seconds later. Hopefully we'll be more prepared in the furture. Sigh
Mark completed 45 minutes at a not so good speed, an indication that after 30 months of not competing, he had alot of work to do to recapture the form that saw him blitz the field in the 05 Breakthrough and 06 Wonthaggi races.
With a couple of setbacks our stragety changed. We couldn't afford any more unscheduled pitstops so asked Rowan to "just go until he couldn't go anymore". Rowan was happy to oblige! 1 hour and 40 minutes later and we were now in the lead! Rowan had smashed everyone on the timesheets, sitting happily on 2'19's for most of the time, and at the whiff of a blueshift or Ballistic on the horizion, as low as 2'11's. It also helped that Blueshift had a rollover in this period. Rowan signalled 5 laps til pit, which would see him out to 1 hour 50 minutes in BY-08. Around this time Rowan started cramping. With a gun rider in Blueshift and Ballistic only 20 seconds down the road it wasn't the ideal situation. Rowan was soon overhauled by both vehicles, and so he pitted.
My hour and 10 minutes of pain was about to begin. Having seen the race unfold before my eyes, I was extremely nervous to know that our last gasp at this race depended all on my legs. I was crapping myself to say the least! Chooka and Mark provided support, drilling into my head that the team didn't care if I failed today, and that it was all about doing it for myself. I really appreaciated those words, and it helped G me up for a bit of torture. Thanks fellas.
Rowan pitted and I jumped in. The chain was lubed while I was belted up then the door fell and I was on my own riding down pit lane.
After a "practice lap" full of 2 wheels around the bottom hairpin I soon worked it out and did a 2'16 on my first full lap. I rounded the bottom hairpin and proceeded up the hill. Suddendly the right side of the canopy started to scrape and it was pretty obvious I had a flat tyre. It was down before the hill ended and I proceeded to grind my way around to the pitlane. Cal had seen it all unfold and had informed the pits. A spare was awaiting me when I got there. The wheel was quickly replaced and I was back out.
The race was well and truly out of the question now but I might as well have tried. For 45 minutes I chipped away at the 1 minute 50 second lead what I can only suspect was 2nd placed Blueshift had over BY-08. With 12 minutes to go I had the margin down to 1 minute 5 seconds. Next lap around the pit board reads very differently; 21 seconds down?!? Something must've happened. I tried real hard in that last 10 minutes but could only break even with the vehicle in front.
Eventually I passed the finish line. Oh well you can't win them all. I rode up next to Blueshift to congratulate them on 2nd place but was soon told that they had actually won the race after Ballistic had crashed into the pitlane! Sad way to lose a race!
So after awards and the like were given out, the victorious Flora Hill Team and ourselves headed back to Bendigo, with the only highlight happening in Nihill's Subway, where our pit dude Marcus power-spewed after seeing a kid eat a concoction of everything on the Subway menu....
Some quotes from the weekend
"It's a different track to all the others. There's no area of the track that you can rest without losing time. You're pushing for time the whole time." Rowan Nankervis on the Adelaide track.
"He just rode off 2 national champs. Is he like this out of a HPV?" Cycling SA Rep' on Rowan's riding ability.
"I'm still glad we turned up- it's good to have goals for the team and the vehicle based on the outcome of a real race" Gavin King on the topic of progress.
"Hey I watched that wheel change before- It was inspirational stuff, the way you just ripped it out and smashed another wheel in. I've never seen anything like it" Tru Blu rider Steele on our sole wheel change for the day.
"You'd be an idiot to put your money on a specific team winning Bridge. It seems like it could be anyone" Dave Maud on the tight racing seen at Round 2
"We gotta work on that fogging" The entire team on an issue that just wont go away!
Bendigo Youth Racing would like to thank Cartridge World and Flora Hill Secondary College for making our trip possible. BYR also thank the Cat. 4 teams that made us feel welcome at our 1st ever race in Adelaide. BY-08's next appearence will be at the Australian International Pedal Prix in late September
The Bendigo Youth Racing team has had their final shakedown and is packing the trailer in preparation for Round two of the Australian HPV Super Series to be staged in downtown Adelaide this coming weekend. Not only will we the team be debuting at round 2 ,but we will also be appearing for the first time under the banner of our new major sponsor Cartridge World.
The team is glad to announce that we have formed an alliance with the popular and environmentally friendly Printer Cartridge refill company for the 2008 season. We as a team would sincerly like to thank Cartridge world for their generous support because without there assistance there is absolutely no way that we would be making the trek across the border this weekend. BYR's Michael Micallef recently said "Its great to be able to focus for round 2 on getting ourselves and the vehicle into tip top shape, instead of stressing over whether we have enough money to make it". Thank you Cartridge World.
Round two is looming as one of the most hotly contested races in recent history with up to 5 or 6 Category 4 teams capable of taking the prize come 4pm on Sunday. But its not just the Category 4 teams to look out for, BYRs sister school Flora Hill Secondary College is also expecting to do well in the Category 3 competition in their debut race also. The BYR and Flora Hill teams are thoroughly looking forward to a fast clean race and wishes all the competitors the best of luck, and try to keep it on at least 2 wheels. See you there.
Bendigo Youth Racing has had a successful night at the Bendigo Harness Racing Club, holding a raffle to raise money for our 2008 campaign.
The event was a good oppurtunity for the team to get out of the workshop and work as a team in a new environment. The whole team turned out and brought BY-06 with them, with said vehicle being on display in the presentation area for the whole night.
With a TV, a Bunnings Gift voucher and a Bertocchi Meat hamper up for grabs, and tickets selling at a dollar, the demand was strong. In between answering numerous questions about "what it was" and "how fast does it go", the Bendigo Youth Racing team managed to sell over a thousand tickets!
Between race 4 and 5 the Bendigo Harness Racing Club allowed us to demonstrate BY-06 around the trot track. In the 2 laps allocated, Rowan Nankervis put on quite a show. What started as a over-correction on the compacted sand of the course, soon turned into a deliberate and fast drifting demonstration! The crowd were well pleased and entertained.
Just before race 7 the raffle was drawn. Three lucky members of the public collected their prizes and stood for photos. Congratulations to our winners.
Many thanks for a fantastic night go to The Bendigo Harness Racing Club and Warehouse Sales Electrical. They have been strong supporters of Bendigo Youth Racing Inc. for many years now, and their commitment to seeing us race is amazing. Huge thanks also go to Bunnings Warehouse and Bertocchi Smallgoods, who put in a $50 voucher and meat hamper respectivly.
The winners are drawnThe Bendigo Youth Racing team is in full flight as they switch their attention from the Wonthaggi triumph onto the BIG ONE, the Australian International Pedal Prix in September 2008.
With a new year comes a new team and a new perspective. The wall paper has changed dramatically since the last BYR team made the trek across the border to Murray Bridge in 2006. Since then we have introduced a new workshop and 5 new team members. It was decided by the founding members after the 2006 campaign that is was time to take a back seat roll and allow a new injection of youth and enthusiasm to take over the reigns. "It may be a new look team but two things remain the same, the BYR name and the drive and determination to be on that podium on Sunday 21st of September" said BYR's President Jarrod Henderson.
The team enjoyed a couple of weeks off after the Wonthaggi Human Powered Grand Prix to get our breath back and focus on the race that counts. Since then we have moved through the design phase and on to the construction confident that we have designed a strong reliable and fast vehicle that will be up to the task. Technical Director Callan Ridge said "Its great to see the new design emerge from a CAD Drawing and begin to take shape".
The 2008 Bendigo Youth Racing team consists of a range of personality's and age groups spanning from 16 to 23.
The Team for 08 is:
Jarrod Henderson
Callan Ridge
Rowan Nankervis
Mark Anson
Adam King
Deven Pearce
Davis Maud
Marcus Sloane
Michael Micallef
Matt Anson
Jake Catchcart
Joe Frawley
Daryl King
Chris Crowe
Tristan Tippett
Be sure to keep an eye on our site for regular updates between now and September.
Bendigo Youth Racing's.....uhhh....hmmm- "Old Bearded Mate", has won the 1st Annual Cartridge World Bendigo HPV Pursuit Race. The event was a support race for the Bendigo International Madison, a world renowned event that features elite cyclists from around the globe.
The field was quite large and of a high quality. BSSC had an off day, with none of their runs fast enough to make the finals. Instead these positions were taken by the Weeroona faired vehicles in the field- The above mentioned were very much in their comfort zone: the sleek shape which lacked the frontal area of the other Bendigo trikes excelled on the smooth, broad cornered velodrome. So much so that each class final was dominated by them!
The competitors line up for presentations
While this was happening the girls vehicle BYRG continue to put together some good lap times and longs stints. With Tayla Evans putting in a strong 2 hour stint along with Kylie Shelly and Karlie. As the sun disappeared and "The A Team" moved on to their second rider cycle it was now time for some long night stints. Just as we got into a good rhythm trouble stuck as things got a bit out of hand on the back straight around the oval with the vehicle being smacked in the side with a Guitar followed by a brick and a tyre, Gav then pitted after a solid action filled stint. With this all cleaned up it was back to business until 6:45am when Mickle pulled into pits with a 13 lap lead only to have no front brakes. After an extended pit stop we were back on track but with a shortened lead of 8 laps and still no front brakes. After an hour and a half without front brakes the vehicle pitted and the pit crew were at the ready. They did an amazing job replacing the lever and cable in a touch over 5 minutes. As this was happening the Easy Tiger from Trisled managed to stay out of trouble and continued to post consistent lap times increasing the pressure on BYR. As the sun rose so did the lap times until Joe was making his way around the track when the rear wheel guard mangled itself in the rear wheel, causing some spectators to question whether we had a engine in the back. This resulted in another 6 minute pit stop to untangle the wheel and had us just over 2 laps ahead of the Easy Tiger. With the race coming to a close and a strong comeback buy the boys saw us break our distance record set last year with 1 hour to go. We were now out to a 8 lap lead after Trisled were involved in a number of incidents. The BYRG team with a younger average age easily accounted for the experienced St Margaret's team although there were in a different category. As 12pm arrived the The chequered flag was all ours after a gruelling stressfull yet rewarding 24 hours came to a close.
(Above)BYRG Changes Riders
(Below)Another Lap for "The A Team"
Bubaluii and cousin BY-03
Murry Bridge 2003 
Bendigo Youth Racing turned up to the 2003 AIPP as virtual nobodies. Only 2 team members had raced Murry Bridge in the past, and so knowledge of the circuit and its characteristics were scarce. On the other side of the coin was South Australian Team, Trend Ice Team Ballistic. They were easily the team to beat in 2003, having turned up to Murry Bridge winners of Round 1 and 2 of the AIPP super series. Could they be the 1st team to clean sweep the series?
The race started well for BYR, with BY-03 obviously faster then the Ballistic trike. BYR’s strategy of 45-60 minute stints was working better then Ballistic’s 30 minute stints, and this showed on the leader board at 6pm Saturday, when BY-03 lapped Ballistic for the 5th time since the race began.
Only when the “lights on” period came into effect did BYR experience its 1st troubles. A front brake undone itself in this period and took 3 riders to rectify the situation- all at race pace. The electrical system, of which design and setup worked so successfully in the RACV Energy Breakthroughs of past, couldn’t hack the rough Murry Bridge back straight and eventually died. Much time was wasted, Quoting Nigel Preston;
“I was in for an hour and 10 minutes, but only did 4 or 5 laps- every second lap or so I’d have to come back in to fix the lights”
The light issue was eventually rectified, with Eveready torches taped to the sides of the nosecone. Battery changes were a nightmare, with the vehicle turned on its nose to allow the batteries to fall out.
The lights were good but now there was a new issue to deal with. Team Ballistic was now 7 laps up and in control. After some gutsy stints through the night, BY-03 was back in front by 8am Sunday. Ballistic weren’t giving up though. With a combination of 2 unscheduled rollovers for BY-03 and their constant pressure, Team Ballistic regains the lead at 12noon Sunday- 1 hour of racing left!
Down to 30minute stints in BY-03 now, with Jake Olver smashing time out of the Ballistic trike in the 1st half hour. Nigel hopped in for the final minutes, inching closer to Ballistic. The last lap finally comes, with Team Ballistic only 8 seconds down the road. Finally, coming out of the spoon drain, Nigel makes contact. Quoting Nigel;
“I came out of the chicane, which was just past our pits, and pulled up beside him. I noticed Stuart O’Grady’s younger brother was in, but it didn’t register that he had pitted. I knew I could beat him, but I also knew he was a very tactical and a very experienced cyclist. So I sat there next to him for about 3 seconds, waiting for him to surge- but he didn’t. I knew then I could beat him, and I knew the race had to be won from there and so I pushed so hard and when I hit the line and heard the announcer and the crowd- What a feeling!”
BYR and it’s vehicle, BY-03 won the 2003 AIPP by 10 measly seconds. Surely one of the most dramatic AIPP’s ever. After the win, BY-03 was put back in Daryl Kings shed, where it stayed until December 2005, only coming out occasionally for a quick ride.
A highly evolved BY-03 awaits it's latest evolution, BY-06's old fairing
