The Beginning
Around mid December of 2002, Bendigo Youth Racing Incorporated was formed, comprising the best riders and creative minds Bendigo Senior Secondary College’s “Competition Vehicles Class” had produced over the past 3 years of record breaking racing. With everyone on the same level and funds flowing in, it was time to build a vehicle!
The decision was made to stick with what was known and build a vehicle in the same vein as the best BSSC vehicle of the day. By far the best HPV built @ BSSC at the time wasn’t a race winner at all. It was a class C vehicle named Bubaluii. It remains to this day the Energy Breakthrough’s most successful Class C HPV ever, still holding the class record of 608 laps it established in 2002.
Bubaluii was a space-frame chassis made of Talon’s Paddle-shaft carbon fiber tube. It ran 20” front and rear wheels. The fairing/ canopy consisted of a 12mm aluminum “skeleton” supporting a single skin Kevlar nosecone, coreflute tail box and floor and a polycarbonate windscreen, door and rearscreen.
Bar a beefier boom and all new nosecone design, BY-03 was built to Bubaluii’s exact specifications, from the frame jig to the frame geometry- it was all the same. BY-03 was completed 4 weeks before the race and weighed in at 25kg. After several testing sessions to shake out problems, it was finally time to race.
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.
Wonthaggi Human Powered Grand Prix 2006
BY-03 was rebuilt for the 1st race of 2006. It wasn’t just any rebuild though. BY-03 had evolved into a lighter, more stable machine. Changes over the Murry Bridge rig involved dropping it on 16” wheels all round, some new chain line goodies including a 72t chain ring, and a whole new canopy/ fairing. It was still basically the same canopy on paper, yet the skeleton was 8mm aluminum tube covered in carbon sock. This skeleton held up a monocoque Kevlar nosecone and roll bar hat, polycarbonate door and windscreen (now interchangeable) and a coreflute floor and tail box. Also new was the seat. Gone was the sultus seat back, instead replaced with a Kevlar bucket. It looked to be a perfect match for the tight Wonthaggi circuit, and this was eventually proved true. Quoting Matt Brown;
“03 was simply the best vehicle to ride around Wonthaggi. It was so stable through the hairpins and the acceleration from the 16” rear really catapulted you out of the hairpins like nothing I’ve ever experienced. All BY-04 riders at Wonthaggi would attest that they simply couldn’t match it in the twisty section. It was ultimately just the most fun vehicle I’ve ever ridden at any track.”
BY-03 started the race within the top ten, soon joining sister vehicle, BY-04 and the Trisled vehicle, The Apex at the front of the pack. The battle raged until it started raining heavily from 4pm to 6pm. BY-04 rolled 10 times in this time, and pretty much said goodbye to a shot at the win at this point. BY-03, with its all 16” setup and better weight distribution, got through this period with only a couple of 360 slides to speak of. As did Trisled’s Apex. The Trisled machine lead its last laps on 208 to 209, at which point BY-03 took over. The margin was never more then 6 laps apart after this, but mostly staying around 2-3 laps for the most part.
With Trisled surging in the last 2 hours of the race, Rowan Nankervis came along for his final stint and pulled a 1 hour 50 minute stint, ensuring at that point that BY-03 was in front by 3 laps. Daryl King finished the last 10 minutes of the race, crossing the line in what was now BYR’s most successful vehicle. BY-03 now held the Wonthaggi distance record, and had won design and construction 2 out of 2 races.
BY-03 would now be used as an important tool to help develop BYR’s as yet unbuilt vehicle, BY-06.
BY-03= BY-P06
With BY-04’s frame tubing being recycled into BY-06’s as yet unfinished chassis, BY-03 became Bendigo Youth Racings prototype chassis. Its main purpose was to help gauge the effectiveness of the new aero package, test the door hatch design and to allow the team to run through the canopy’s laying up process before getting into the serious Kevlar canopy of BY-06.
Later in its life it also played a part as a “durability vehicle”. It was rolled repeatedly on various surfaces and different speeds to test the canopy and its window materials strength…….. It was also a hell of a lotta fun…..
The fiberglass canopy was eventually destroyed after one too many blocks of concrete, and was soon salvaged as a display which made appearances in funding activities and BYR’s 2006 AIPP design and construction presentation. From then on, BY-03s chassis hung up in The Dream Factory until December 2007.
BY-03, the All Female Community Trike
In a first for Bendigo Youth Racing, BY-03 will be piloted by an all female team at the 2008 Wonthaggi Human Powered Grand Prix. Using BY-06’s now 2nd hand canopy, BY-03 has progressed profoundly from its days at Murry Bridge. Although it’s very likely its winning streak will come to an end at Wonthaggi, it still remains to date Bendigo Youth Racings most successful chassis. Thanks for 5 years of service, BY-03.
A highly evolved BY-03 awaits it's latest evolution, BY-06's old fairing
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