Race Report 1998
RAISING AWARENESS FOR THE IRISH MOTOR NEURONE DISEASE ASSOCIATION
1998 RACE REPORT
By Tony Dennison - Team Manager.
CAR: TSPP198
DRIVERS; FASTEST LAP RACE MANAGER; PIT MANAGER;
TONY DENNISON 2:06:74 TONY DENNISON JOHN CREANE
STEPHEN MAHON 2:03:67
PAUL GOLDRICK 2:04:12
PAUL BATES 2:04:04
17th July 1998 saw the TSPP198 hit the track for the 1998 24-Hour race. This year we raced on the new intermediate circuit. All the data from last year was now useless, as the car had to be set up for the new demanding circuit. The team decided that qualifying was not really that important as the race was over 24-Hour’s and therefor the difference between pole and last did not make much difference. Each driver did the mandatory laps and then we did a few fine tuning laps for the car and drivers before the race. Following qualifying the team decided that the engine was not running too well so we decided to change it the following morning before the race warm-up. The engine change was completed with 5 minutes to the start of warm-up. As I would start the race it was decided that I should do the warm-up and so I set off onto the track. The engine was indeed better, but half way around my second lap the car came to a spluttering halt. I managed to nurse the car to a safe place only to find that the fuel tank was empty. There was a faulty gauge that was still reading ¾ full. After the warm-up I was towed back to the pit where most of the team thought that I has either spun off or crashed. The tank was topped up and off we went to the grid. Our first problem came after only 10 laps, the brake pedal decided that the floor was a good place to stop. Not only that but dirt had found its way into the carb and was there on and off for the first 72 laps, so half way through Steve’s first stint we called him in and cleaned out the carb. When he rejoined the race he went on average 4 seconds a lap quicker. But the car was beginning to show signs of not liking the new track as the exhaust, I headlight and brake pads gave up together which necessitated a long pit stop. Then to make things worse the good Old Irish summer weather arrived during the night. The rain was so bad at times that rivers ran across the track. But to our delight the car seemed to enjoy the rain and we even started to over take some of the top cars. The safety car was kept busy for the remainder of the night and into the following morning with cars spinning off everywhere. Paul Goldrick was given the job of finishing the race and after all our problems we still managed to finish 20th out of the 37 teams.
The team would like to thank all our sponsors (listed below), family members and friends who selfishly gave up their time to help out throughout the weekend. As good as we drivers think we are, we could not function without that help, many thanks to one and all.
1998 Sponsors
TN AUTOPARTS…QMI (JD TOOLS)…Mc NAMARAS…BRIDGESTONE/FIRESTONE… MIDLAND TYRE SERVICES…and GLENN TYRES.