Bendigo Oldies Racing for Wonthaggi 2009

The 2009 Wonthaggi Human Powered Grand Prix is once again creeping up very quickly with less than 2 months to go until the first 24hr for 2009. We decided as a team at the end of last year that BYR wont be taking to the track to defend our title in 2009.

However you will see a BOR (Bendigo Oldies Racing) vehicle out on the track in a refurbished BY-08. BOR is a team comprised of our Parents, Pit Crew, Former Teachers and people who have all gone out of their way to support us over the past years. In what will be a first for BYR our dedicated pit crew Chris Crowe and Marcus Sloane and Mike Turnbull will swap spanners for lycra as the rest of the team make their wonthaggi debut.

The normal riding team will perform a complete role reversal and see what the race is like on the other side of the pit wall. The BOR team may not have Youth on there side but if one thing is for sure, they will be out there giving 110% effort at all times.

The following are the members of Bendigo Oldies Racing and how they are linked to BYR:
Chris Crowe = Pit Crew.
Marcus Sloane = Pit Crew.
Mike Turnbull = Pit Crew and Flora Hill SC HPV teacher.
Paul King = Parent of Daryl & Gavin.
Stuart Ridge = Parent of Callan.
Ash Hill = Flora Hill HPV teacher.
Josh Pell = Helper at races.
Joel Derrick = Helper at race

Read more or comment...

BY-06 Finishes a Strong 2nd at Casey Fields

Bendigo Youth Racing has fought back hard to come 2nd at the Casey Fields 6 hour on the weekend.

The day started badly; With our usual choice of tyres unavailable, the team was forced to kit out BY-06 with an untested set of tyres. They lasted for a little over 150 minutes, or 3 riders, before the left hand tyre scrubbed to the canvas and consequently blew. With the help of Narre Warren South School, located down the pit lane from us at the time, we were able to replace the destroyed set with a pair of Primo Comets, albeit at the cost of 2 minutes in the pits fitting them.

Lap times consistently dropped, with the Primos working fine. Progress was soon halted however, when a huge gust of wind blew our vehicle and it's occupant, Marcus Sloane, over on turn 6. Marcus stayed out for awhile longer, before pitting.

Now sitting in 4th behind Ex Pats, Trisled and the very quick Zebra, it was time for the latest member of Bendigo Youth Racing, Kim Chapman, to have a crack. Kim stayed out for 45minutes, inching us closer to 3rd with some smooth, consistent riding.

The state of our front tyres after 2 and a half hours

Rowan soon hopped in, setting consistent 2'50s for quite awhile. After an hour, we now sat in 2nd position, and were pulling up to 10 seconds per lap on the super consistent Ex Pats. Eventually though, the attempt at a consistent run was thwarted, when a vehicle within the top 10 rolled BY-06 in what looked to be quite deliberate. The team in question was penalised, as was our rider for his understandable reaction to being rolled over at 50km/h.

By the time our final rider, Callam Ridge, jumped into BY-06 we were just under 2 laps down on the Ex Pats. In the final 8 laps alone we chipped 2minutes and 4 seconds out of the Ex Pats advantage. Eventually though time ran out and the flag fell on the Ex Pats.

Bendigo Youth Racing would like to congratulate the Ex Pats for their 1st place. They showed great speed and consistency on the day.

Bendigo Youth Racing would like to thank Narre Warren South School for the tyres, Chris Crowe for transporting the vehicle and Flora Hill Secondary College for the use of their trailer, which doubled as a pit area! And of course, thanx to all the team members and parents for coming down and cheering us on all day.

About Casey-Fields:

The Casey Fields precinct is a major undertaking between the Victorian State Government and the City of Casey. The area will be developed over an eight year period, with football, rugby, soccer, tennis, athletics and netball all accommodated alongside cycling. The construction of the cycling circuit has been brought forward and can now be enjoyed by HPV teams and cyclists alike.

BYR's Casey Fields team

Read more or comment...