Archive

2006

Latest Race Report - From 18th to 5th - the short story

Its been a long while since the last race report. Previously, George crashed out at Phillip Island, whilst holding a commanding lead. The stage was set for a successful last half of the 2006 season.

Team Pana has been busy fixing the crash damage, but also developing and fine tuning. The rest is of the year, as George explains it, 'was a blur'. Moving from 18th to 5th in the pointscore, the following highlights standout:

New sponsor, Altegra Gazebos

Sandown Round 4, first 1600 race win, first round win
Sandown Round 5, equal 3rd
Phillip Island Round 6, Pole, Lap record, Frith takes George out on last race
Phillip Island Round 7, Qualified 2nd, 3rd overall.
Engine double sealed and stripped, all components found legal.
Final Club pointscore, 5th
Final CAMS pointscore, 5th

Considering Team Pana's car was only converted to 1600 specification over the 05-06 summer break, rebuilt from the ground up and 1 year behind development, 5th outright was a special result.

Team Pana look forward to the summer break and hopefully, replenish the bank account. Look out for Team Pana in 2007.

Climbing the 1600 ladder

Since the last report, Team Pana was in the final stages of preparing the 2005 1200cc championship winning car to the current 1600cc spec.

ROUND 1 SANDOWN

Starting the first race of the season in a lowly 11th at Sandown Raceway, George in the brand spanking new Team Pana 1600cc #55 Formula Vee, decided to turn it on for respective fans. Coming through a field of 1600’s was something new for George as he climbed to an eventual fifth place.

Suspension problems in the wet races saw George slip to 14th and 11th in the second and third races. Despite his set-backs George managed to show that he wasn’t 1200cc champion for no reason.

ROUND 2 PHILIP ISLAND

Despite a developed suspension George still qualified in 11th at Philip Island. Although competitors from around Australia had made the trip down for the Island meeting as it was a National round for Formula Vee. Competing against drivers who have had up to three years experience in 1600’s didn’t phase George. The opening race saw the Team Pana Vee slip down to 21st as he battled with brake issues, not something you want around the Island. Despite the set-back George climbed his way to 13th in the second race, with the best still to come.

Starting in 13th place for the final event of the weekend George decided it was about time to show what he can do. Passing Vee’s one by one George found himself in sixth position on the last lap in a battle for third. Unable to find his way through the pack George finished in sixth, but only a tenth outside third. During the race Team Pana set the fifth fastest lap, but it was also the third fastest lap for a Victorian. Proving that at the next Victorian State round Team Pana may be one to watch out for.

ROUND 3 PHILIP ISLAND

As many would know motorsport is full of ‘could have’ ‘would have’ and ‘if’. Team Pana was just about to find out what this all meant.

Qualifying a magnificent fourth at Philip Island saw George battling with the lead group in the opening race. It wasn’t before long that George lost touch with the leading group. No he hadn’t fallen behind, he had opened a four length lead on the second last lap with what was described as a perfect set-up brake, engine and suspension wise.

Yet, all this hard work, and sleepless nights had come undone at MG when George lost control of his #55 Team Pana Vee under brakes. Then wet grass at the infamous MG corner sent George barrelling into the tyre wall, braking his finely tuned suspension.

Although he medical check-up was alright, his Team Pana #55 was not, and failed to re-appear on the weekend. Ending the weekend on a note of what could have been.

The sleepless nights in the workshop, dollars, development and determination is set to continue for the next 6 weeks in time for Round 4 at Sandown.

Report written by Arron Shaw

1600 Conversion, race against time

After winning the 1200 championship in December 2005, TeamPana have been working frantically on the 1600 conversion. The engine and various bits where sold on the night of the championship win, leaving the chassis bare, ready for the conversion.

Meanwhile, the team's trailer was crashed into in the early hours of the morning. Fortunately, the trailer was repairable, and George's "acquaintance" has paid for the repairs

Will TeamPana finish the conversion in time for the first round of the 2006 championships? Stay tuned to find out.

2005

Sandown & Phillip Island Round 7& 8 - "2005 Championship Decider"

The qualifying gods blessed George at the final 2 rounds of the Victorian Championship, Sandown and Phillip Island. George qualified on pole, with his nearest 1200cc competitors over 1 second away. A red flag spoiled a clean sweep at Sandown, leaving only 6 points between George and Maclennan in the club pointscore. However, Sandown was the final round of the CAMS pointscore, for which George placed as the 1st 1200.

The championship headed to Phillip Island for the championship decider. Unfortenently, it was handed to George on a platter, when engine failure spooked the Maclennan camp on the first lap of qualifying. Credit to Maclennan and the 4 other competitors who helped install the spare engine, but it was to be of no help, as Maclennan was lapped by George on the last race. George cruised home in second place of the final race of the year, collecting the 2005 1200 championship trophy.

Phillip Island Round 6 - "Foxed by a champ"

33 cars lined up for the 6th round of the 2005 championships, 16 being of the 1200 variety. Daniel Reinhardt, former Formula Vee top 3, and former Formula Ford Champion entered into this round with last year's National's winning car and won all 3 races.

In the first race, George was able to race away from the 1200 pack, however, Daniel slowly but surely reeled George in and claimed 1st place. George finished 2nd.

Second race, Daniel was no match. He sped off into the distance, leaving George to battle it out with the 1600 backmarkers, again finishing second. Rumors about Team Pana spread quickly, claiming last year's champion, Tony Boquet had entered into this event only to tow George around the track. That rumor was quashed in the last race, when George pointed Tony past at turn 3. Tony's new car finally ironed out in the last race.

Daniel and George where left to battle it out during the 10 laps of the last race. Positions swapped at EVERY corner on every lap. Daniel almost fell off the track at turn 3, on the last lap, giving George the smallest of margins. Daniel however, foxed with George and pinched first place from him on the last lap of the last corner, finishing side by side, Daniel by 1 tenth.

George bagged enough points this weekend to regain the Club Championship lead and further extend his lead over the rest of the 1200's in the CAMS pointscore.

Sandown Round 5 -"Belly Dancer Sandown" With a freshly rebuilt engine from last round's disaster, George qualified his worst so far in the 2005 season, 6th.

What's was going on? After making up several positions off the start line, the engine failed during the race, leaving George stranded at turn 1.

A frantic Saturday night with troubleshooting and testing, Team Pana settled for a "limp mode" configuration, in return for race finish and a couple of championship points. George's old man's surprise birthday helped take the day's bad luck off his mind, perhaps, it was the belly dancers?

Sunday was a new day and there was only one way "up", starting from rear of grid. Engine lacked power, but George was able to finish 4th. The final race, an 11 lapper, had Team Pana biting their nails. Would the engine last? Starting 4th from the grid, George simply drove his limping car away from the front pack, finishing the race a whopping 9 seconds in front of his nearest competitor.

Hot tip, wanna go fast? Watch your 75 year old dad dance with a belly dancer the night before.

Phillip Island Round 4 - "Panayiotidis or Panagiotidis?" No matter how much time is spent preparing the car for a race, nothing can prepare for internal engine problems. In true Team Pana fashion, the engine failed on the last lap of the last race, whilst leading the 1200 race.

George's spirits where high as he finished 3rd and 1st in the previous 2 races. Although the last race was a failure, he was 5th overall for the weekend, maintaining his lead in the 1200 championship.

This round was won by Peter Panayiotidis, who shares the same surname as George, bar one letter. Peter, over the last 3 rounds has slowly clawed his way to the top, and his win this weekend was no surprise to the other 1200 competitors.

A big thank you to Anna and Nik for their pit crew assistance and very, very cold conditions.

Winton Round 3 - "Clean Sweep" A clean sweep in the 1200 category for Team Pana with Pole position and 4 out of 4 race wins. George's main reason for weekend domination was simply track experience. With 8 track days at Winton during 2004, including 2004 VMRC championship win, no other competitor was able to match track experience or car setup.

George was unable to keep up with the 1600 pack but lapped 1 second faster than the the closest 1200, meaning, he had a lonely race lapping on his own.

The last race however, did get interesting with MacLennan making up lost ground challenging George to the finish line. George was able to hold back the last lap dash by MacLennan to win the 4th and last race of the weekend.

An important race win, taking Team Pana to the top of the championship ladder.

Sandown Round 2 - "Lucky go racing" Qualifying in 6th position on Saturday morning, left George with a difficult task for the rest of the weekend. George was able to make up 2 positions in race 1, to finish 4th. The pack of 4 diced for 2nd position in the 1200's. Race 2 was a carbon copy of race 1, George unable to match Crombie, MacLennan or Nethercote's(Senior) experience.

George had a fantastic start in race 3, but was unlucky enough to be affected by the first corner carnage where several of the top 1600's tangled. In trying to avoid the incident, George had to steer off the circuit, breaking off his aerodynamic nose cone. As he rejoined the track, the top 1200 had DNF but MacLennan and Crombie had taken off into the distance. George, considerably slowed by his missing nose cone, caught up to the back of MacLennan and crombie.

Soon after, the safety car was dispatched. At race restart,MacLennan span at turn one, taking out Crombie and narrowly missing George. George, with out a nose cone, was the first 1200 past the finish line. Team Pana was overall 1200 winner for the weekend. Some think luck was on Team Pana's side for the weekend, and we agree.

Mallala Round 1- "The damn oil leak". The first race for the year was packed with highs and lows. The 12 hour trip to South Australia was considerably faster than the previous year. No broken radiators, no exhaust holes no 40 degree heat. It was a sign of good things to come. Qualified on pole position on Saturday morning, but mechanical problems prevented race wins. First, second and third race was a close battle between MacLennan and George. George's rear brakes however, suffered from an oil leak, reducing the car's braking capacity.

George span off the track at Mallala's hairpin, probably due to the beginning of the oil leak. George was able maintain his position, finishing 3rd. The second and 3 race was again close, but George was forced into conservative mode as he limped his car over the finish line in 2nd place, with a rear oil seal problem. Race 3 was identical to the previous race.

The 4th and last race for weekend, was won by George. The rear oil leak was overcome and rear brakes where operating at optimal performance. Overall, Team Pana earned 2nd place for Round 1 of the Victorian Championships.

home partners car race team gallery links