Friday Practice — Fast Laps, Faster Fixes

Mallala’s a short, physical lap with quirks that punish hesitation: the big T1 apex bump, the late-apex rhythm at T2/T3, the brutal run to T6, and the slippery old surface through T8–T10.

• Gremlin #1: The shifter cable popped off (again). Quick fix; back out.
• Gremlin #2 (big one): End of day, 3rd gear vanished. Cables were still attached—uh oh. We pulled the box and found metal confetti: the 3rd–4th selector fork had disintegrated.
• Saves of the weekend: Massive thanks to the Grunter Racing crew (Ben, Adrian, Andrew, Cat) for lending a spare gearbox and helping swap it in overnight. Without them, the weekend was over.

Race 1 — First Ever Wet Race 🌧️

We qualified in the dry, but the heavens opened before lights out. I’d never raced in the wet—genuinely nervous—but once rolling, it became a hunt for grip.

Wet-line lessons:

• Avoid the rubbered-in racing line; it’s slick in the wet.
• Brake off-line (centre/inside), stay off curbs and paint—“slippery death.”
• T8 is the slickest section (older surface + standing water).

Moments:

• Late-brake pass on Brand using the inside wet line at T6.
• A big “brown-pants” slide into T1 (held it, style points acquired).
• Minor off at T8 (kept it out of the gravel), lost two spots, then clawed back one before a Safety Car for a beached car at T8.
  Result: Finished under SC—first wet race completed. Adrenaline through the roof.

Race 2 — Fogged Visor, River at T8

We got called an hour early. On grid I couldn’t see the start lights (blocked), so I reacted to others = poor launch. Visibility was rough: spray + cockpit heat = windscreen fogging. I could see only a small clear patch up top; the rest was white-out.

• Hydro at T8: Hit a puddle, aquaplaned straight on into the gravel. Kept it moving (2nd gear, left–right “paddle”), dug myself out—lost eight places in one corner.
• Angry laps work: Sent it on Connor at T3 and Butler at T6 with late-brake moves using the wet line.
• But… another Safety Car froze the order before I could recover more.
  Result: Points for finishing, but I threw away a bigger haul. Lesson logged.

Race 3 — Reset Mindset, Career Best 🚀

We barely had time to fuel the car and shovel 5 kg of mud out, then straight to grid—P21 start. Clear sight of the lights this time; nailed the launch.

• Cleared my teammate with side-draft and a strong run to T6 (blocked the counter).
• T8 chaos: Four cars off—picked up four spots. Safety Car, heavy tire-temp work (weaving, dragging brakes) to stay ready.
• Three-wide moment: On the restart, boxed between Adrian Gallyer ahead and Jacob Leng behind. Left room for the puddle, lost the line into T6; Jacob got by.
• Track turned greasy (not raining, just damp): mistakes multiplied. Jacob held a huge save at T1 (claimed the spot later).
• Final-lap payoff: Pressure on Adrian; he went deep at T8—I slipped through.

Result: P14 from P21—my career-best finish in Excels so far. I was still a second faster than the next car at the flag—one more lap and there was another place in it.

What Worked (and What We’ll Keep)

• Wet technique: Off-line braking, patience at T8, and avoiding painted surfaces = survival + passes.
• Mindset reset: After the Race 2 mistake, treating Race 3 as a blank slate unlocked pace.
• Operational sharpness: Overnight gearbox swap, rapid turnarounds, and SC tire-temp management kept us in the game.

Gratitude

Enormous thanks to Grunter Racing for the gearbox rescue; to Mum, Dad, and Lily on tools and pressures; and to our partners who make weekends like this possible:
Exo Terra, Aqua One, API, Seaview Aquarium, KJ Built, AquaLabs.

Next Up

A month to regroup and prep for The Bend West (short track). First order of business: new brakes, deep clean, and more wet-practice drills. See you there.