Qualifying — Finding Flow on the Big Lap

Friday practice was in the books, so it was straight to a push lap. At The Bend, a lap really starts at T17, and a strong exit there sets up your whole run through 18 and the main straight. The Excel tops out around ~170 km/h here, hugging the Left near pit wall (race control watched this closely for side-draft antics).

Highlights from the lap notes:

• T1–T3: Late brake into T1, keep mid-track for T2 entry, minimise understeer on exit.
• Mid-lap technicals: The super-late apex right and the triple right-hander—downhill, off-camber—are bravery corners. Miss the last right and you lose up to ~2s down the next straight.
• Blind right: More speed available than I took—left room on exit.
• T17: Can make or break the lap; small snap of oversteer on my flyer.

Race 1 — The Scariest Moment I’ve Had in a Race Car

Launch felt strong, found the inside into T1… then chaos. Approaching the next big stop, the brake pedal hit the floor—no pressure. Somehow threaded the needle and missed everyone; safety car was called.

On the SC laps I learned I could pump the pedal with my left foot to get some pressure back. Radio had failed, so it was all seat-of-pants. On the restart I defended hard through T1/T2/T3, then got into a cracking scrap with Craig (grey car) and Perryman—overtook both into T1 with a deep move, then had to re-defend as they came again.

Result: P15 on the road… but a random tech check found front-right camber at 4.8° (Excel limit is 4.0°). That’s a technical DQ, result void. Brutal. We reset alignment immediately for Race 2.

Race 2 — Back of Grid, Brakes Bite Back

Starting from the rear, the brakes initially felt better after rear drum adjustments. I dived at T6 on Ethan, got shoved to help momentum (thanks! 😅), then tried an outside move that didn’t exist—lesson learned.

End of the lap I went for a move into T17… pedal straight to the floor and a long ride through the gravel. From there it was pure survival: constant left-foot pumping to get any retardation, wildly inconsistent front/rear balance, and growing temps. I still nursed it to the flag for points, but was ~4s off typical pace. On the cool-down, brakes fully died.

Diagnosis in paddock chatter pointed at a rare failure: master cylinder. Huge thanks to Misch (Misch’s Excel Garage) for sourcing one fast. New master cylinder in, full flush and bleed—pedal finally solid again.

Race 3 — Payback Run

Back of grid again, but now with proper brakes and something to prove. Early laps were about tyre temp, then I started moving:

• Repeat T6 move on Ethan, this time selecting 2nd and driving off the corner.
• Picked spots through the triple right-hander, capitalising when others ran ragged.
• Elliot Redwood lost an indicator after contact—debris everywhere except the racing line.
• Focused on exits at T12/T18 to draft and pass down the straights; executed the same move Perryman did to me in R1—very satisfying.
• Sam’s engine cut (later, coil pack), so he kindly let me through before retiring.
• Shadowed Morris for laps; he finally over-cooked T13 and visited the fence. Eyes forward.

Result: P15—the spot I’d earned in Race 1 before the DQ, finally back in the book after a 30-minute slog. On the in-lap, I made sure to wave the marshals—legends who make our racing possible.

What We Learned

Thank You

Massive appreciation to our partners: Exo Terra, Aqua One, API, Seaview Aquarium, KJ Built, AquaLabs, and to Misch’s Excel Garage for the clutch parts save. And thanks to Sam and the crew for digging deep between races.

Next Up

We’re back to The Bend International for Round 3. With a sorted pedal and a clean alignment baseline, we’re ready to build on the momentum from Race 3. See you there.