Team PBT Racing

29/04/2016

Hi Team PBT Racing

After a bit of thought I have made the decision to give up my motor racing for good and sell the GTR.

I have had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed the last couple of years, my highlight would be competing in the South Island Targa Rally with James.

I thank you all for your wonderful support and interest in PBT Racing.

Thanks also to Clark Proctor and Carl Hannaford for welcoming me to into their world of motor racing, I have really appreciated all of your support.

Please take care and all the very best.

07/03/2016

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend! I had a few runs at Hampton downs late last week. The weather was hot and the track was slippery from the drifters who were out earlier in the week.

This was the first members night since Tony Quinn purchased and totally remodeled Hampton Downs, it looks great.

The GTR has had new discs and tires fitted so the first couple of runs where easy-going so I could bed in the new discs, Chris Western came along with me for those two runs- it was great having Chris in the car.

The next run Glenn Inkster had a drive so he could familiarize himself with the GTR for the upcoming one hour endurance race on the 12th of March.

I had a run after Glenn which was going well until on turn three I took a tight line too fast and lost it- straight into the sand trap or as they call it kitty litter. I nudged the safety wall with the rear end, there is no significant damage just a few scratches and the wooden spoon for my efforts .

04/03/2016

It has been pretty quiet on the racing front since my last round at Hampton Downs.

Since then Carl and the team at Logiical have done a great job on the GTR, installing new tyres, new bushes in the rear sub frame and new brake discs and pads - so we are all set to go!

I have had a meeting with Glen Inkster about sharing some of his motorsport experience with me, in the near future we will be partnering up in the GTR which will be fun.

Glen has had a lot of success in endurance style of events, having won the Targa for the past 2 years amongst many other achievements. His experience will be a real asset to our team.

Our first race will be on the 12th of March at Hampton Downs.
The race is a one hour endurance where I drive for the first half hour then Glen takes over for the second half hour.

All going to plan we will then tackle a two hour endurance and with that going well, a three hour endurance race.

28/01/2016

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12/01/2016

I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year.

On Monday I had a great day at Hampton Downs.

Due to the unavailability of new tires I was using old ones, fortunately Monday morning was cool and overcast which meant that the tyres were ok. I got in 2 good 15 minute sessions- about 12 laps each which both went really well.

Then the sun came out and the track warmed up and to add to this the drifters had been out and left some rubber on the track- these 2 factors made the track pretty slippery.

Clark came out for a run with me after lunch and noticed that the rear end was not performing properly and that maybe the suspension bushes needed replacing as we had movement and heard a thumping sound when changing from second to third gears.

The next run was going ok, I was doing around 185kmp/h down the last straight before the sweeper into the main straight, as I was braking hard and getting my lines right for the sweeper the GTR let go and I went sideways for what seemed like a long time, ending up off the track and flat spotting the old tyres fortunately there was no damage other than that so I finished the session.

What we think happened was that the rear end was moving around so much it disconnected the ABS giving the GTR two wheel drive and in doing so the car lost all adhesion and let go- it was "Quite an experience".

The last run had not much chop at all with flat-spotted, old slippery tyres and the rear end moving as it was- but we still had a great day all the same, there were lots of interesting cars and I meet some really nice competitors, it really is a lot of fun.

Enjoy your holidays if your still on them, if not have fun!

All the best for 2016!

17/12/2015

Good Morning team PBT Racing

We had our last Uncles meeting for the year Wednesday night at Hampton Downs. Kelvin (PBT Property) joined us in his AC Cobra which has a 352 cubic inch rouse racing engine and is set up for the track. The weather was 50/50 but after some discussion Carl convinced Kelvin the weather would be ok as Kelvin did not have his convertible cover, as murphies law would have it, just before Hampton Downs, the skies opened up, Kelvin ended up soaked and hiding from the weather in a tunnel under the track- when he finally left the shelter of the tunnel he looked like a wet s**g. We both had a Great night with both cars performing well, my driving is so much better since Mike Eddy's training.

We had our last Uncles meeting for the year Wednesday night at Hampton Downs. Kelvin (PBT Property) joined us in his AC Cobra which has a 352 cubic inch rouse racing engine and is set up for the track. The weather was 50/50 but after some discussion Carl convinced Kelvin the weather would be ok as Kelvin did not have his convertible cover, as law would have it, just before Hampton Downs, the skies opened up, Kelvin ended up soaked and hiding from the weather in a tunnel under the track- when he finally left the shelter of the tunnel he looked like a wet s**g. We both had a Great night with both cars performing well, my driving is so much better since Mike Eddy's training.

Carl went In front of Kelvin in his MR2 to give Kelvin an idea of the correct lines to take then Kelvin was away and went really well, I believe he did a 360 spin then carried on with a permanent grin.

Carl and Browny had their Toyota out for a run but mechanical problems placed the MR2 back in the trailer, their MR2 is a great track car which I'm sure will be 100 percent for the 2016 Season.

Glenn Inkster was at the track, Glenn has won the Targa the last two years running and offered to give Kelvin and myself a few tips which was appreciated Glenn was unable to assist Kelvin as he cannot take passengers due to no roll bars. Glenn came out with me and gave instruction, I have never been into corners as fast as I did. Glenn's guidance took my driving to another level, I still have a long way to go but Glens guidance allowed me to advance at a huge rate, and gave me a true insight into the science behind motor racing, thank you Glenn.


So that's 2015, what an exciting year! Carl is going to prepare the GTR for a one hour endurance race at Hampton Downs in March. We also have the Ruakaka Street Sprint which is a fun day, 2016 is going to be an exciting year.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Clark Procter and Carl Hannaford from LOGIICAL (performance road & track) for the wonderful expertise and support they have provided, it has made this year's racing possible. I really appreciate their support, thanks also to Browny for your on-going support

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2016.

Thank you all very much for your wonderful support.

Take care and have fun
Pete

20/11/2015

Good morning Team PBT,

I had an interesting and exciting evening at Hampton Downs last night.

Mike Eddy's tuition was incredible. I was trained on my breaking, cornering and lines into the corners. I had four runs in total and then a run with Carl Hannaford from Logiical Performance.
With Mike’s guidance I was performing more efficiently, I’m not quite faster yet, but the evening’s focus was around getting “back to basics”. I will be having a few more sessions with Mike which I am really looking forward to.

The GTR was strong- the new gear box is crisp and changes gears smoothly and quickly (paddle shift down the gears, automatic up the gears). The car also handled well, so all in all a really good evening at Hampton Downs.

Have a great weekend

Pete

19/11/2015

I hope you are all well and in good spirits and looking forward to Christmas.

It's been a very quiet winter on the racing front as we didn't compete in the 2015 Targa. Clark Proctor entered his Ford Es**rt and was running 1st in his class and 3rd overall until the car experienced gearbox issues which unfortunately ended Clark's Targa endeavour.

The GTR has had a good old tidy up both inside and out. The interior has been painted PBT Blue, and it has been fitted with new seats. The engine bay has also been painted black.
Clark has sold Metalman whose logo featured on the car so Roxy has redesigned some of the livery to fill in the empty spaces.

Performance wise we have installed a new 2015 gear box which will be stronger and smoother with the gear changes. We are also working on the suspension to enhance track performance, hill climbs and street sprints.
The V6 twin turbo engine requires a dyno tune which is booked in for next week.

We are well on track for an exciting summer season!

Tonight Hampton Downs have a twilight meeting which I am attending. The goal for tonight is to give the GTR a shake down and iron out any potential issues.

Tonight Mike Eddy, an extremely successful racing car driver in most levels of motor racing particularly NASCAR, will be at Hampton Downs riding shot gun with me. He will be coaching me on my driving style, breaking into corners and taking the correct lines in and out of corners.

Thank you for your support

Pete

13/07/2015

It’s been awhile since I have had the GTR out on the track, my last race was at the Ruakaka St Sprint earlier in the year. During this race the GTR experienced a few issues- switching between 4WD and 2WD- this made driving the tight street circuit very tricky.

Since Ruakaka Carl has taken the gearbox out and replaced the 3rd and 4th gears and also installed a flash new clutch and ABS breaking system. Carl is also working on a new gearbox which once complete will give the GTR the latest in gearing technology for more reliability and smoother and hopefully quicker gear changes.

On Saturday I took the GTR down to Hampton’s to test out the changes and also get some time in behind the wheel.

The car drove really well and didn’t miss a beat! The gearbox was smooth and the breaks were fantastic.

I managed to do some of my best times towards the end of the day with my best Speed at 238kms down the back straight.

My next race is on the 1st of August I will communicate the details closer to the date.

This year I have chosen not to enter in the Targa Rally, instead I will be focusing on Hill Climbs, St Sprints, Endurance Racing and Track work.

06/04/2015

Check out this great video of the GTR at the Ruakaka St Sprint.

0:04 GTR, Peter Baker 2:17 Holden, David Morrissey/Mike Hendy 4:02 Levin AE85, Rex Cross 4:52 Mazda, Graham Mitchell 6:30 Mini, Brian/Mathew Smith 8:54 MR2 (...

31/03/2015

Hi Team,

I had a great day on Sunday at the Ruakaka Street Sprint. There was plenty of support from the Whangarei PBT team and Adam and his son from our Hamilton Branch.

The conditions were perfect, Northland certainly turned on the sunshine for the race.

As usual we did a recognisance lap to start, this was around a small circuit, on the last of the 3 laps the gear box was playing up and I only had 2nd and 3rd gear, at that point I thought my day was over.

Back at the Pits Carl dived into work on the GTR with the aim of getting it back on the road, Carl worked a miracle and managed to get the GTR back up and running- problem solved!

From that point on the GTR was running like a dream, I had 5 runs over the course of the day, my second run was the best, I put this down to the temperature of the road still being cold. On my third run the road had heated up, when this happens you lose some adhesion and it makes the handling more difficult, run three was particularly slippery making for an interesting race. After the slippery lap three we reduced the tyre pressure dramatically, this improved the handling considerably.

Overall I am very pleased with my result achieving second in my class and fifth overall. Congratulations Clarke Procter for coming in at 2nd overall, well done Clarke.

The support on the day was fantastic, thank you Lee and the Whangarei team as well as Adam and his son Cameron for coming out on the day. I was able to take Adam, Cameron, Laurie and Shannon (Lee’s Daughter) out individually for a run which was great fun.

Pete

26/03/2015

Good Morning Team,

It’s been pretty quiet on the racing front since the Metalman Targa Sprint, it was a great day despite the gearbox issues experienced with the GTR.

Carl and the team at Logiical Performance have had to completely strip the GTR gearbox and rebuild it using imported parts, although it doesn’t sound difficult it is no easy feat and it is fairly complicated. For those of you who know their cars, the gearboxes in the GTR’s are like 2 gearboxes in one, they are long and heavy and situated at the rear of the car for weight distribution.
During the South Island Targa James and I hit an unexpected dip in the road whilst travelling at 195km, we were very close to losing control but I believe the weight of the gearbox assisted us in landing rear first, that along with the four wheel drive allowed us to maintain control and complete the race, unlike a few others.

This weekend I am taking part in the Ruakaka Street Sprint with my daughter Olivia. The sprint takes place at Sime and Kepa Roads in Ruakaka and kick off is at 10am, if you are around the area it would be great to see you there.

https://www.facebook.com/RuakakaStreetSprint