Saturday, November 6, 2010

Quick Update - 6/11/10

Just a quick note to say that no racing for me this weekend. We were supposed to be travelling to Wellington for their 2nd night however, the weather intervened. Good luck to those competing around the tracks today!

Next meeting: 13/11/10-Palmerston North (Manawatu Champs)

Kind Regards,
Christian Hermansen
Minisprint 48p

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Meeting 1-Palmerston North...

...Well our first meeting anyway. After our early season drama and having the engine pack it in at practice we got the engine back in on Friday night and got the car ready for the Robin Pratt Memorial night at Palmerston North. Racing on Robin Pratt night is a huge honour for every driver in every class as it is run in the memory of a truly great stockcar driver from Palmerston North.

So with the engine back in the car and new diff with a longer right axle installed, we were ready for our season debut. I drew Grid 5 for race one and Grid 10 for the second race. With messages ringing in my ear about taking it easy and wearing the engine back into race mode we formed up the grid for the race. I managed to follow 82p Jamie Larsen through some early traffic and through to around about 3rd by the first lap. I then managed to pull a quick move on Jamie as he moved wide to pass 34p Allen Burton. I managed to pull a similar move on Allen and worked my way into the lead. I got 6 laps out in front to "wear the engine in". I cruised home for a win including the lap record from ex racer Sean Rice.

The second race was alot more difficult. With not all cars gridding up properly I ended up starting from about grid 13 instead of grid 10. Adding to this the traffic off the start was alot more conjested, as 4w Shane Simpson experienced first hand: tipping onto almost horizontal and all but rolled. After working my way through the crash site I tracked down 21w Stephen Taylor and got clear of him to move onto the next pack. Given a few more laps I could have possibly done something with this group however because of the shortness I had to settle for 7th.

The third race, and feature, was my best drive of the night. I started from Grid 12 as it was the top point scorers off the back. The start was fairly clean this time with everyone making it around the first corner with no drama. 93p Declan Roe and I picked our way through the traffic within a few laps. He managed to get a good break on me whilst trying to pass some traffic. This was the decisive break in the race as he managed to streak away and take a well deserved win. A few hairy moments for me as on the warm down lap the Oil light came on. It turned out to only be the receivers in the sensor and was no trouble at all, however it had me on the edge of my seat.

So all and all a great night for me, finishing three races for starters and managing to pick up a win and a second with the car handling fantastic, the team and I were really happy with the car and the night. Congratulations to 1nz Peter Rees for taking out the Robin Pratt Memorial for the 5th time, another Hartley Engine up the front ;).

Next weekend's meeting: Wellington Speedway. Start time: 7pm.

Kind Regards,
Christian Hermansen
Minisprint 48p

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Quick Update

Just a really quick update to tell you all whats going on.

Palmerston North green sheeting was today. We managed to get the car ready enough to take it down and get it checked over. Flew through, as expected, with just a few really minor things to correct including the length of the front bumper bar. We are almost ready to go for practice and then opening night. We have a few things we are still waiting on like the diff gears for the new diff, sign writing on the front wing and also waiting for our shocks to come back from Nelson Hartley who is testing them on his dyno.

I will have a review of practice next week, but until then hope all of your cars etc are coming together!

Kind Regards,
Christian Hermansen
Minisprint 48p

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Off season 1

We are around about half way through the off season of speedway and it is around about now that people start panicking that their cars are not ready! Well that is not us this off season. Because the car has only done 4 meetings last season we have decided against any significant changes to the car. However, we have decided to purchase a new diff which should be hear in the next month from the USA. The diff currently in the car is too short and we cant space the wheels out enough so we decided to get a new one, to the correct size of a minisprint. We also may be looking at ways of improving reliability in the computer but wont reveal too much here!

On another note, I am currently looking for a couple more sponsors to assist our campaign next year. I am hoping to be really competitive at the National level and therefore need a few more bucks for tires etc. I have a proposal put together and if you are interested please email me at minisprint48p@live.com. The spots I have on the car are on the wing (crowd side) and the panel on the drivers side (infield side) and the entire front wing. All 3 are prime spots on the car for advertising your business and it would be a pleasure to represent your company.

Lastly, the car is currently on display at Proparts in Palmerston North. If your in town go and have a look at it and let me know what you think!

Until next time...

Kind Regards,
Christian Hermansen
Minisprint 48p

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

New Car

The start of the off season has seen the beginning and design of a new project for myself and Jamie Larsen. Our plan is to build a Ministock and compete on an on/off basis next season. We have begun plans for some new suspension ideas and chassis designs which will put us at the cutting edge of Ministocks. The plan is to then sell the car at the end of next season or keep it and run some kind of sponsorship plan for a new Youth Ministock driver.

However, we need money! At this stage we have a couple of sponsors for the project lined up included Piggy's Lunch Bar;Palmerston North and 0800 Labour (Workforce New Zealand) but we still need a few more funds to put the car together. If you are interested in sponsoring our project, please get in touch with me at minisprint48p@live.com and I will email you the proposal I have put together so far.


Kind Regards,
Christian Hermansen
Minisprint 48p

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Final Meeting-Palmerston North, 1st May 2010

This meeting could have been as short as the last one with the dodgy weather conditions almost causing a postponement in the meeting. However, after a few races had been out on the track the skies cleared and we were able to get racing. One of the races in the rain was the Adult Ministocks which I competed in. I went in to the night 24 points in front of 99p Tayla Lampp on the season points. He needed to get 2 wins to force a tie in the points and me to not finish any races inside the top 6 on the night. Where as if i finished inside the top 5 in any race then I would have the points sewn up. My grid for the first race was 13 which i was pretty happy with. In a race which was extremely difficult to read i managed to work my way through to 4th (on the track) on a difficult track. After the relegation of the race winner 93p Karl McGill I was promoted to 3rd which, with Tayla not finishing in the top 6 after trouble, was enough to seal the points for the season.

As I said the skies cleared and the open wheel classes were able to get out onto the track and have a couple of runs. In the first race the plan was to take it easy and find out if the car was going to run correctly and how we wanted. I managed to pick my way through early traffic and get through to 4th and get some clear track to have a bit of an open blat. I managed to catch up pretty quickly to 72p Stephen Buys however ran out of laps to mount a charge against him. Ended up 4th with the fastest lap of the race, a positive result considering our troubles of late. The second race I started from grid 8 and after a DNS from 82p Jamie Larsen I had a clear run. The outside line moved fairly quickly forward and I tagged along with 12p Gavin Lucas and 4w Shane Simpson in an epic 3 way race. After some outside passing i worked my way in to the lead and held it to the checkered flag from 93p Declan Roe. I was, needless to say, pretty stoked considering the troubles we have had previously.

Have to say a huge thanks to Bob (the Computer Man) who flew up from Christchurch to sort our computer out, of course Bryan Hartley, all my sponsors (Total Truck Spray, 1st Signs, The Head Shop, Hartley Race Engines and Hermansen Transport. And of course Dad (Mike) for having the car setup perfectly again.

Great ending to the season which means i am super keen to get going next year already. Will post things on here as they update. Until the 16th of October....Have a great off season! :\

Kind Regards,
Christian Hermansen
Minisprint 48p

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Well, it would seem as though I will be racing the Minisprint this weekend! Palmerston North have rewarded us for our good numbers last meeting by giving us a run at the last meeting. Aswell as racing the minisprint, i will be doing double duty in the Adult Ministocks and trying to secure the Travel Smart Season Points chase this weekend. I have a 34 point lead, but with the last meeting being double points i will have to run hard and get some good points.

See you at the track!

Kind Regards,
Christian Hermansen
Minisprint 48p