09/11/2024
Ultra4 Australia 2024 Season Roundup
Iāve been thinking a lot about what to write for this. Charles Dickens said it best it thinkā¦.āIt was the best of times, It was the worst of timesā
At the start of the year we set out with a goal, the goal being to podium in some form or another for the Ultra4 Australia championship. With that in mind we decided that none of the individual rounds were of any particular importance, but we needed to be as consistent as possible and continue to gain points throughout the whole season.
Itās a good thing we decided not to try and āwinā any particular round because frankly we sucked at all of them. The first two rounds we battled with tyre punctures and engine/suspension failures. We managed a third place in both rounds 1 and 2, but mainly through attrition and persistence with doing the shootouts.
Round 3 however we went into with enough season points that we knew weād take second overall as long as we didnāt f**k it up so bad that we would DNF the weekend. With that knowledge, and the knowledge it wasnāt possible to beat the Davimac team unless they had a DNS, we went out to make laps and have some fun.
The track for round three had been set out as a faster, flowier track as opposed to tighter and more technical tracks of the last rounds. Weād had the car dyno tuned and were back to making proper power, so Brandon and I were pumped to go out and behave like hoons for a few hours. The first lap and a half went well, but toward the end of the second lap the suspension started feeling loose and squirrelly, and we had lost brakes. I was still pushing as hard as practical but we were heavily relying on engine braking and high revs to pull the car up so we were losing pace after that. Pitting at the end of lap 2 the pit crews tore into the car to try and sort the brakes, which looked like weād boiled the fluid. We also discovered that the sway bar had snapped in two so we were back to rolling around the corners like a drunk elephant. Pulling out of pits with brakes working at about 10 percent capacity we knew we were up against it but resolved to keep pushing and make the other competitors work for it.
By the end of 5 hours of racing with no brakes and no roll control, Brandon and I were starting to get a bit bushed, and decided to call it a day even though we might have gotten another lap in. We even managed to stop for a bit of a trackside picnic for five minutes.
The shootouts went a bit rubbish for us this time. The first one snookered us when we needed to try and climb the last part of Brisbane way. With no sway bar the car was trying to drive itself over on to Itās side as it tried to climb through the last rockcrawl climb, and we called it for a DNF. Similar for the last shootout, we were both badly fatigued, and we knew we had nothing to prove or achieve to have done what we set out to do with the podium finish.
In the end we took second overall for the season. Davimac motorsport took first place, with a large enough margin that we were never in the race to take first. To be honest though, I canāt think of competitors in Shannon and Jordy who Iād rather lose to. Brandon, Luke and myself would like to thank all the Ultra4 staff, marshalls, sponsors and crew who took the time to organise the season.
Iād especially like to thank all the support and encouragment weāve received from the racing community. Every round, every shootout, every start line we could always hear the cheers and encouragement from the crowds, the kids and from fellow racers, and it was highly appreciated.
I'd also like to thank Luke (my first navi), Brandon, and Josh Plumridge for being the hardest working navi's and team mates possible. Also all the crew and members of Davimac Motorsports, MadMatt 4wd and Shortcut Racing.
Regards
Milo
