Hi Everyone!

I have great news! We are currently testing our site for video!

Please note the new “Video” tab along the top of the site. You will need to be a logged in user but that only takes a second.

There is a short test video of one of Blair Robertshaw’s charges from the back of the pack to the checked flag!

Enjoy!

hello race fans,

he we are with our first race post. this web site has taken some time but Tadah!

ok, this past weekend we had what looks like the final race at Race City….forever as the track is going bye bye. last time we were there you may remember that we won but it wasn’t pretty as the car had no jump, no power. (we qualified well so that is what saved us). that was attributed to a poor on board battery, (we don’t have alternators / charging systems on this type of race car) and as it happens that was the case. the old battery provided enough spark to fire the car but not enough to get a full fuel burn in the combustion chambers sooo less power. last time out I could not get the car below the 1.20:00 second lap times. try as I might and I drove the wheels off the car trying.

fast forward four weeks, back at the same track, the car was back and our lap times were back in the 17′s and low 1:18.00′s.

Qualifying

we had a good practice, my back, still in bad shape survived and as I said the car was back, we got into the 17′s straight away. with lap times and scoring the race officials use a transponder that is mounted on the car and it sends a signal to race control every time we go by the start finish line. as it happens, no one in scoring told us our transponder was not working in practice so we were under the assumption it was working and in fact it was not! out for qualifying and I get a “no time”. man was I mad! the guys worked so hard on the car and then this. anyway on the track, our on board data had shown me that we did a 1.17:60 and I felt that no one in my class was near there so I came in early. really didn’t matter, coming in early, as they had no times on us….none and I knew we were the fastest. sure enough the no time puts us in 14th position on the starting grid. we were all quite shocked.

being that we qualify only once per weekend at this track, that meant for the entire weekend our starting position for the 4 races would be 14th.  swell!

Race 1

if there ever was a team that was up to the challenge, it’s us. we work hard on the prep of the car, buy good parts and I am a very competitive shy fellow as you know! the boys were strapping me in the car I was still smokin mad. we hit the track, warm up lap and then come out of the carousel (turn 12) getting ready for the green flag. the starter waves the green and we are racing. based on who was in front of me and which side of the track they were on I decided to go far left and go right up the inside. as luck would have, it worked, we went from 13th to 6th by the first turn. I have to say that the talent pool of the competitors is getting much better, the other guys are knowing their cars better and are getting quicker to be sure. so here we are, 6th place and I am pushing hard, finally I get by a 2.0 Renault and there are four left in front of me, by the fourth lap we are in 2nd place and I am coming hard. I catch first place but these cars are so equal in horsepower I just don’t have enough to get by him out of the draft, in fact he pulls away from me when I am not in his draft. so I had to rely on pressure and pressure I did. I was all over this guy, literally, one foot away at full race pace in some of the video we have and for alot of laps. a really cool thing about these cars are if you get close enough to the guy in front, he can hear you but can’t see you in his mirrors, once i see him looking for me in his mirrors the pass is mine to be had, he’s no longer solely focusing on the race but now also the defence he needs to employ to prevent me from over taking. sure enough, he was looking, I was pressuring, we went three or four laps, he started to block me several times per lap, I changed my line several times, back and fourth, side to side, he would counter with a block, he was driving the wide line, a defensive line, I got him getting his car a little out of shape a few times, a really, really, wicked good battle, wait til you see the video. finally I was able to get a handle on where he was weakest, down the front straight I pull him to the right of the track, get in his draft, get really really close and then I pull out into clean air, move to inside (left) and I was able to get by under braking going into turn one at 130 MPH. wicked good racing, the people in the stands had to be enjoying the racing because it was close, fast and there was racing all over the track in the various packs. it was the most fun I have had in a race car for a long time and the first real battle I have had with the guys in the Formula Continental class.

once we got by, we left him, our car is very stable in high speed corners, handles really well and it really sticks. we said bye bye shortly there after. I think we had 20 seconds over him at the checkered flag. it has a bit of lack luster end but I can assure you it was exciting. a real battle, WOW!

Race 2

see above

Race 3

pretty much the same as earlier stated with one huge difference! the guy who I was battling most frequently for most of the race weekend so far, caved under some wicked pressure from us in the carouseland looped his car (that’s racer talk for spinning). he changed his driving line no less than three times trying to hold me off through this series of turns and on his last attempt, his cars weight shifted to the right rear wheel and he spun. I had to take evasive measures and had to go for a little field excursion and then get back on the track. Funny thing too, my wife rarely comes to the track but of course on this day, she was there and I mean right there. she was about 20 feet away from all this watching from behind the concrete wall. Not that there was any damage and I was not hurt but it was somewhat unnerving for her to watch as this is happening at about 65 MPH. and my rear video footage shows his car spinning out of control and just missed taking me out of the race by about 6 inches. I thought I was way passed him but we weren’t. anyway a little drama for yah!

Race 4

a little drama here too, my clutch started to slip and is pretty much gone I think. we were racing hard and had 1 car left to get by, he looped it and I drove by. after that I decided to go easy on the car and dial the lap time up to the 1:23 second lap time so I did…..until I look in my mirrors with three laps to go and who do I see coming hard, jorgen krause, ashton my crew chief gets on the radio and tells me to “pick up the pace” i did, took us down to the low 1:18′s and the clutch was really really slipping now, i was not shifting up or down with the clutch but it was still slipping. ash gets on the radio again and tells me to “relax, jorgen looped it” we dialed the lap time back up and limped home for the victory! i thought we were done!

In conclusion

it was the same on both days of racing, starting at the back of the Formula Continental grid, battling, dicing it up, getting through the pack and to the front. we did good, if ever there was a day for our advertiser / sponsors to be  happy to be on the car it was this past weekend. we did you all proud. we won all 4 races!

it’s one thing to keep a lead but its a whole new thing when you race to the front through 13 cars ahead of you and then leave them behind.

the crew were unbelievable all weekend, even in the presence of me being super mad at the transponder no time ordeal on Saturday, they stuck it out, did there jobs and we pulled through. really really great job……yah….what else can I say, they were fantastic, they were the champions this weekend. oh yah, my back, well lets say it didn’t fair as well as the rest of the weekend!

anyway, I hope you like the web site and now you can follow us on line any time you feel like a race update fix! I know how you all like the short stories I tell (Yah, sure, short stories, hah!) more like war and peace (LOL). we are working on getting race footage / still photos on to the site so please check back over the next few weeks when you have time. you can leave comments if you like, go to the ADVERTISER page and check your / our team ADVERTISER web site links, leave a message, hook up on the blog, add your opinions and stuff if you like. its a fairly easy and simple to  use site we think but please let us know your thoughts.

again, we can’t do this without your support and we thank you for it every day whether you know it or not. Thanks to all the advertisers and thanks to my crew, you are all champions in my book! I am a very fortunate guy!

so race fans until the next update don’t forget…..

PINTOS ROCK!

Blairica

Well we are ready for the last race at race city but I guess we should be as our trip to Vancouver / Mission had to cxl’d. I don’t enjoy the track much as conditions sure aren’t that nice but it is better than no track at all. Ash, Jes and Myles were over to set video camera angles, change aero settings and the gear cluster back to Race City requirements.

Last time out I could not get the car into the 1:19.99′s, try as I might. We normally are in the low 1:18′s to mid 1:17:5′s but we suffered some ignition battery issues last time out. The car had nothing, zero, no punch at all. I think we have the problem sorted now!

My back is quite a bit better today and I feel I will be 100% by the weekend. Sure hope so.

Car is well prepped, clean and ready to go so here’s hoping we have a safe, fun, weekend full of victory!

PINTO’S ROCK!

Blairica

Due to a non race related injury to Blair, Robertshaw Racing will not be able to attend the September 5th, 6th, and 7th race in Mission BC at Rivers Edge Raceway. We look forward to getting back out there soon!

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