26.02.09
For Immediate Release
Bourke Bags a Result at AGP
After showing strong form for the past few outings, Peter Bourke and the Carline Automotive team were in high spirits as they rolled into the pits at Avalon Raceway on Saturday night to contest the 2009 edition of the prestigious Australian Grand Prix.
Set to start in position 5 in the first heat, Bourke was looking to move forward and secure some valuable points early in the night. In the early laps, Bourke was hooked up blowing past two cars into 3rd only for Troy Jenkins to slip by and move Bourke to 4th. As the laps counted down Bourke got the elbows up to fight his way back into 3rd following Jenkins and Neville Lance over the line.
Heat two for Bourke also started on the third row although on the outside. After the first lap, Bourke found himself in 5th only for that to become 6th when Mark Brown muscled his way past. The reds came out for flip, and shortly after the restart the Carline Automotive machine was battling for the 3rd spot. As the laps ticked down, the #21 spike slowed enough for Todd Winless to capitalize relegating Bourke to 5th where he was unable to make further headway.
The 3rd and 5th were enough to put Bourke in the pole shuffle, giving Bourke one last chance to improve his starting position for the upcoming A Main. Lining up in the first pole shuffle along side Troy Jordan, Bourke missed the start and that was the end of that.
At the green, Bourke dropped back to 9th spot but soon settled into a rhythm. In the early laps, Bourke fought back into 8th. After a few quick fire stoppages, Bourke found himself restarting in the 6th spot behind
At the restart, the limping
Bourke was elated with the podium, finally getting some reward for the hard work put in during the season and with this strong result only further boosting his confidence, the team is looking forward to building on this strong form in the coming weeks.
PBR would like to thank
Carline Automotive Caringbah - http://carlineautomotive.com.au/
Ugly Fish Eyewear - http://www.uglyfisheyewear.com/
High Tide Marine
Penrite Oils - http://www.penrite.com.au/
Nulon - http://www.nulon.com.au/
Top Gun Ignition Leads - http://www.topgunleads.com.au/
20.01.09
For Immediate Release
Consistent Night for Bourke in
SSS Grand Final
Friday the 16th and
Peter Bourke and the Carline Automotive team finally hit the road to
Upon arriving at the track,
Bourke decided the wisest decision would be to leave the preferred N21 spike in
the truck and run the N27 stealth keeping in mind that the Australian title was
in
When the N27 hit the freshly
prepared track, it was immediately evident that the setup was way too loose and
with a quick blast for hot laps, the PBR team set about making a few minor
tweaks to dial the car in. The changes
proved to be effective as Bourke managed a best of 14th from his two
timed runs.
Upon returning to the pits, the
crew changed the setup once more to suit the slick track expected after the
sprintcar time trials before rolling back up to the dummy grid for heat 1. It soon became apparent that some major track
work was taking place and the first three Speedcar heats were soon called into
the middle making it impossible to make any setup changes despite the fact that
the track was now a sloppy mess; it was almost un-drivable as the first few
heats showed. Despite the track, Bourke
who started in 3rd, blasted into 2nd on the first corner
but due to sliding around all over the race track dropped back to 6th
at the checkers.
With the track eventually coming
in, the setup was left to suit a slick track for heat two, the track was
thankfully left and the track was as expected as the cars rolled out for their
second heat. As soon as the N27 was
fired, Bourke realized that something was wrong. The Esslinger had dropped onto two cylinders,
with a cam sensor failing. Despite being
massively down on power, Bourke still managed to claw back one spot after
dropping to the tail, eventually finishing 7th.
The crew thrashed to change the
sensor, while preparing for the B-main.
Because the Esslinger suffered exactly the same problem the week before
in Lismore, the team got the job done in no time and the car was ready to take
its place off the front row of the B.
At the green the car stumbled,
and Bourke slipped into second which he held for the majority of the 12 lap
journey until giving up another spot in the dying laps. 3rd was the result, which meant a
starting berth in the 40 lap A-main due to the top 4 transferring.
Bourke decided to make some big
changes to the setup to suit the longer race and the ever changing track. Some
big holes were developing but Bourke was confident of a strong result. At the jump, the Bourke muscled the car
forwards a few spots but with the changing track, the car became too tight, �it
just wanted to turn hard right on me, I tried everything but it just wasn�t
working right� explained a frustrated Bourke.
Because of the ill handling car, Bourke dropped a few positions while
still hanging on running the gutter.
With a handful of laps to go, Bourke found himself in 12th
spot and at the final restart the car loosened up, it was too little too late
however with Bourke finishing the 40 laps in 12th.
With the final round of the SSS
completed, attention now turns to this weekends Australian Speedcar Title at
the
PBR would like to thank
Carline
Automotive Caringbah - http://carlineautomotive.com.au/
Ugly Fish
Eyewear - http://www.uglyfisheyewear.com/
High Tide
Marine
Penrite
Oils - http://www.penrite.com.au/
Nulon - http://www.nulon.com.au/
Top Gun
Ignition Leads - http://www.topgunleads.com.au/
For
Immediate Release
Promising
Form Shown By PBR
After
battling with an overheating truck for the majority of the trip, the Carline
Automotive team eventually arrived at the track ready for business in the fifth
round of the Carline Mufflers Speedcar Super Series. With 27 cars in the pits, the competition was
going to be tough right from hot laps.
Mid way
through the hot laps session the N27 car appeared to slow and once pulled
infield Bourke reported a severe miss in the Esslinger power plant. Upon closer
inspection, it appeared to be only running on two cylinders. Because the N27 was due to come out 3rd
in time trials there wasn�t enough time to investigate further so the hood was
re-fitted and Bourke�s 2 timed laps were attempted. Despite the misfire, a better than expected
18th was recorded.
With some
time before the first heat, the PBR crew set about rectifying the problem, it
was discovered that two plugs were not firing so replacement plugs were fitted
and an engine start showed that the problem appeared to be fixed. Lining up for heat 1 in 3rd position, Bourke
was looking to finish with a strong result to recoup some valuable lost points;
unfortunately the misfire once again reared its head after a lap of full noise
running, so it was back to square one for the Carline Automotive crew. By the end of the heat, Bourke had dropped
back to 8th.
After
much head scratching, a faulty cam sensor was discovered, which the team hoped
was causing the problems, it was swiftly replaced and the whole team waited in
anticipation for the next heat. With Bourke
out of 4 there was another chance to gain some points before Bourke had to work
his way from deep in the B. Bourke was
comfortable in the car, and with the misfire issue finally fixed, he set to
work coming home with a reasonable 4th place finish.
As
expected the N27 machine lined up in the B main but with the stealth now
singing, Bourke romped to the win over Brendan Palmer in the Q41 and Bourke�s
thoughts now turned to the A main. With
the benefit of a few extra laps on the changing racing surface that could
possibly mean Bourke would have a slight advantage over those cars in front of
him in the A? Only time would tell.
Starting
the A main at the tail, the N27 stumbled initially before coming up to
speed. Bourke got the elbows up and
began the march to the front. Midway
through the race, an overzealous Grant Draney in the Q67 tagged the back of
Mick Harders in the Q14 and caused a stoppage, in the confusion that followed,
Bourke was sent to the tail in a case of mistaken identity with the 27 and 67
being confused. Bourke rightly
maintained his spot in the cue despite the pleas from officialdom. Immediately following the race, common sense
prevailed and the issue was resolved.
In the
closing laps, the stealth came on and Bourke was one of the quickest cars on
the track, however Bourke�s charge came to an end in 12th spot.
With five
rounds down, Bourke and the PBR team head south to contest the final round of
the Speedcar Super Series this Saturday night the 17th of
January. Both the N21 and N27 cars are
making the journey down in preparation for the Australian Championships in a
week�s time.
Peter and
the team would like to thank
Carline
Automotive Caringbah - http://carlineautomotive.com.au/
Ugly Fish
Eyewear - http://www.uglyfisheyewear.com/
High Tide
Marine
Penrite
Oils - http://www.penrite.com.au/
Nulon - http://www.nulon.com.au/
Top Gun
Ignition Leads - http://www.topgunleads.com.au/
03.01.09
For
Immediate Release
Bourke
Slips from Podium
KC
Tools Club Championship –
After
having two days off for Christmas, the Peter Bourke Racing team was chomping at
the bit to return to their home track and come home with a strong result. The fickle
The heat
draw was assembled based on a handicap system and for heat 1 it had the N27
Carline Automotive Stealth out of 3. When
the green flew, Bourke jumped on the gas only to have the car stumble coming to
the line, this bad start meant a lot of ground was lost on the leaders right
from the get go. Despite this early
problem Bourke put his head down and raced his way to a 4th place
finish.
Bourke
was due to start out of position 4 in the second heat but due to a non starter,
he found himself starting on the outside front row. Bourke was immediately on the pace setting
the fastest lap time for the race but the track had started to go slick through
the middle and the stealth wasn’t working through the turns as well as Bourke
would have liked. Because of this a few
positions were given up, ending the race with a 3rd.
Between
the heats and the A-main, a few changes were made with the crew hoping to
tighten the car up to run on the slicker track.
With the minor adjustments completed, Bourke was set to start the
Feature from the inside of the second row but once again, due to a non starter
he was bumped up into pole position.
At the
jump, Bourke slipped into second spot, this only lasted a few short laps until
the N27 machine blasted by into the lead.
Bourke led for the next 10 laps before a small mistake saw Jenkins and
Brown slip by which time Bourke had recovered to consolidate 3rd
behind the two leaders. A nasty rut was
forming in turn two and it was catching many drivers out, unfortunately Bourke managed
to catch it a few laps in a row, allowing 4th placed Bishop into the
picture. After catching the rut again,
Bishop powered past into the final podium position. Bourke wasn’t going to let him go that easily
though and took the fight up to Bishop re-passing him to take the 3rd
spot away. A good fight between the two
ensued with Bishop finally coming away with the upper hand. Despite throwing everything at Bishop, Bourke
had to settle for 4th.
Although
disappointed to lose the podium position, Bourke was still upbeat after the
race, “we ran pretty good tonight, just need to work on not making those little
mistakes. We could have won it tonight,
was still a pretty solid run in the spare car” said Bourke.
The next
meeting that the PBR team will be attending is the 5th round of the
Speedcar Super Series in Lismore on the 10th of January. The team is waiting for the primary Esslinger
to be repaired so it hasn’t been decided whether the N21 spike or the N27
stealth will be the weapon of choice for the next round of the national series. In any case, Bourke and the team will be
aiming to maintain the good form shown in the past few weeks.
Peter and
the team appreciate the continued support of:
Carline
Automotive Caringbah - http://carlineautomotive.com.au/
Ugly Fish
Eyewear - http://www.uglyfisheyewear.com/
High Tide
Marine
Penrite Oils - http://www.penrite.com.au/
Nulon - http://www.nulon.com.au/
Top Gun Ignition Leads - http://www.topgunleads.com.au/
For
Immediate Release
More
Bad Luck for Bourke
SSS Rd
4 – Avalon – 20.12.08
Rolling
out of the workshop last Friday evening 19th of December, the Peter
Bourke Racing team was looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend away at the
races in Avalon (Vic) for the fourth round of the Speedcar Super Series. Unfortunately it didn’t take long for the
well laid plans to begin to fall to pieces.
An hour up the road smoke started spewing from beneath the primary PBR
transporter causing things to come to a grinding halt. Most would have given up and headed home for
a few cold beverages, not Peter and the team however. After the long wait for the tow home, the
team proceeded to transfer the N21 spike along with all the spares they could
manage in to the back-up truck and hit the road again, albeit now 5 hours
behind schedule.
Despite
the difficulties, the team pulled in to Avalon with minutes to spare and began
preparation for the night’s proceedings.
Because of the smaller truck being used, the team hoped that they had
packed sufficient spares to make it through the night, it seems a few things
were left behind, which would come back to bite the Carline Automotive team
later in the night.
After
drawing a late marble for time trials, Bourke conceded that a time in the top
half of the field would be a good result but after the earlier dramas, he had
the elbows up slinging around the quarter mile in a stout 15.060 which was good
enough for 4th quick behind quick time man Dene McAllen with a
14.610. Bourke was happy with the result
which meant a decent run through the heats would land him in the pole
shuffle. “The car just stuck, its good
to run so well against such tough competition but we like this track and the 21
has been easier to drive than the old car so it’s not completely out of the
blue” said Bourke while preparing for his first heat.
The solid
4th in time trials placed the N21 machine in the 6th
starting position for heat 1, the start was relatively trouble free for the New
South Welshman settling into a nice rhythm running in 6th spot. In the closing laps Bourke managed to slip
past into 5th spot closely shadowing the Q29 of Dene McAllen and
with a turn of luck, the 29 machine was enveloped in a cloud of steam as he
moved infield. This left a clean run
home for Bourke but on the last two laps the N21 pilot detected something amiss
and nursed the car home for a 4th place.
Upon
returning to the pits, closer inspection at the inner workings of the Esslinger
uncovered a major problem, the timing belt was shredding and although no
further damage appeared to have occurred the N21 looked to be done for the
night. The spare timing belt had been
left behind in the hasty change of trucks earlier in the day so it looked as if
there was no option but to park it.
Enter Tony Abson. The generous
offer came to use the belt from his own race motor, now the race was on to get
it changed in time. The unfamiliar setup
on the Abson machine meant that getting the belt out took a lot longer than
expected and heat 2 was missed as a result.
Finally the 21 was all bolted back together and an engine start was
performed. The Esslinger did fire
initially but was running rough so some adjustments were made in the hope that
all would be well for the A-Main which was about to commence.
Despite
missing the 2nd round of heats, the N21 Carline Automotive machine
was to line up on the inside of the 5th row which highlighted the
great run that Bourke had in the first part of the evening. As soon as the car was rolling it was clear
to Bourke that it wasn’t going to fire, the adjustments had made the rough
running worse to the point where it wouldn’t even turn over. In the end, Bourke left the venue feeling
slightly dejected but once again was happy with the strong form shown early in
the night. “One of these nights we're
going to nail it and finish right up at the pointy end” claimed Bourke as the
team loaded up to begin the long haul home.
The PBR
team will be running the N27 stealth this weekend at the KC Tools club championship
round held at Tyrepower Parramatta City Raceway while the head from the N21 is
given a once over. With a star studded
field of 22 cars nominated including the likes of Brown, Jenkins, Bishop and
Young, Bourke and the team will have their work cut out for them to come home
with a good result.
Peter and
the team would like to thank
Tony
Abson
Carline
Automotive Caringbah - http://carlineautomotive.com.au/
Ugly Fish
Eyewear - http://www.uglyfisheyewear.com/
High Tide
Marine
Penrite
Oils - http://www.penrite.com.au/
Nulon - http://www.nulon.com.au/
Top Gun
Ignition Leads - http://www.topgunleads.com.au/
02.12.08
For Immediate Release
SSSweltering heat confronts PBR in Maryborough
From the moment the carline automotive team rolled out of the truck it was clear that a long and tiring night was to be had. Each and every team competing in the third round of the Speedcar Super Series held in Maryborough was faced with the same overbearing issue. The heat was stifling. Even after the sun had disappeared over the horizon, there was no respite.
Despite the scorching conditions, peter Bourke and the team were looking forward to another chance at harnessing the new found pace that has recently been discovered with the spike chassis.
Time trials didn’t exactly go to plan for Bourke, results showed the #21 deep in the pack with a 13.131 only good enough for 17th amongst the 25 competing cars. “We were having a good run until I drifted a bit high in turn 4 which cost us probably 10 spots” conceded Bourke. Such is the level of competition in this national series that a slight mistake can be all that is needed to drop into the bottom half of the field.
Timing down the order can sometimes present a good opportunity to gain a good heat result due to starting towards the front however this wasn’t the case in heat 1 for Bourke. Starting inside the second row, a 5th was the best Bourke could muster. “We were way too loose and dropped a few spots that we probably shouldn’t have, because we haven’t run here before its hard to set up the car to suit the changing track with only hot laps and time trials to go on” explained Bourke.
The second heat was the only opportunity left for Bourke to consolidate his points haul and fortunately despite a still ill handling machine, Bourke managed to move forward from his 4th starting position into 3rd meaning enough points had been accrued to earn him a spot directly in the A Main.
Starting deep in the pack in 14th, Bourke hoped the track would widen out to allow for some passing opportunities but it didn’t eventuate. The majority of the feature event proved to be a high speed freight train back in the pack, this wasn’t ideal for Bourke although he did manage to force his way forward to 11th by the checkers. “It was hard to pass, we tried the top a few times there but there wasn’t really anything up there. I decided to play it safe and stick to the groove instead of losing any spots by staying up top too long” said Bourke.
A finish just knocking on the door of the top 10 was the result and although not ideal, the PBR team returned to their Sydney base with a straight car ready to do battle at their next hit-out, the club championship round at Tyrepower Parramatta City Raceway this Saturday the 13th of December. Bourke and the team are optimistic of a strong result and hopefully some slightly cooler weather than was experienced at Maryborough.
Peter and the whole PBR team would also like to wish fellow competitor Mark Harrington a speedy recovery after a nasty wreck during the heats.
PBR would like to thank
Carline Automotive Caringbah - http://carlineautomotive.com.au/
Ugly Fish Eyewear - http://www.uglyfisheyewear.com/
High Tide Marine
Penrite Oils - http://www.penrite.com.au/
Nulon - http://www.nulon.com.au/
Top Gun Ignition Leads - http://www.topgunleads.com.au/