The Hard Charger Of Memorial Trophy Enduro

Production Car Ford Falcon racer Chris Delfsma’s dalliance into the world of Commodore Cup was a rewarding one. Teamed up with the owner of Holden Commodore VS #33, Denis Pana, the duo followed up their remarkable surge through the field in the first leg of the Ashley Cooper Memorial Trophy 45 minute endurance race with a steady 13th in the second leg and a fine tenth overall yesterday.

But the real prize for his first ever race at Winton Raceway in rural Victoria was the rewarding experience and also the acknowledgement of the first race with the Bendix Brakes Hard Charger Award – given to the team that passed more cars than any other.
In striking contrast to the wet, gloomy and slippery conditions of Saturday’s race, the teams were

et with a dry track on the Sunday and there were even instances of bright sunshine. Again Delfsma was tossed the keys to start the race and this time there would be none of his rivals out there “feeling their way around” – everyone was into it as soon as the red lights went out.

“I can only describe that start as real pressure cooker stuff. It was my first in the dry and it was on from the work go,” he confessed. “I started out of ninth and though I made a pretty good fist of it, I even picked up one spot.

“But I was still getting my head around the braking points in some places, notably at turn one and turn three. I tried to hang at the back of the lead pack but lost further track position before I could get in some competitive times. I was chaffed to be able to match Denis’ times by the end of the stint.”

Delfsma reflected that the car was vastly different in its braking and gearbox techniques when compared to his Century 21 Ford Falcon XR8 Production Car. “The Commodore is heavily rear braked and it felt odd not having the front of the car dive under brakes . . . and gearbox, well . . . it’s like chalk and cheese to the Ford’s production box.

“The ‘dog’ box responded much better to rough treatment that is for sure. Overall though, my first drive in a Commodore Cup was simply great and I felt I did a solid job for Denis and his team, particularly in the challenging conditions of the first race,” he added.

The pitstops went flawlessly and Delfsma felt that while the field on a whole was tough, they were also fair when passing and being passed. “I would also like to thank Denis for the marvellous opportunity,” he concluded.
 

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