Bendigo's Youth races to tight 3 lap win the 2006 Wonthaggi Human Powered Grand Prix:

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Bendigo Youth Racing (BYR) has continued their unbeaten run with a tight three lap win over Trisled’s ‘The Apex’ in Wonthaggi. Their vehicle ‘BY-03’ completed a record 563 laps of the 1.4 km circuit. All teams had to battle torrential rain in the first four hours of the event, but clean and fast racing was enjoyed by all for the majority of the race.   View Full Results Of the 68 entries, 21 of them were in the ‘Community’ class making it the largest field of this type in Australia. This is probably assisted by the fact that many of these teams, such as commercial manufacturers Greenspeed and Trisled; and private entries such as BYR and Michael McTigue Racing are all Victorian based. But it also highlights the attraction of pitting fierce rivals against each other on Australia’s tightest and most technical HPV course; it makes for some fairly lively racing. Virtually all of the school-based participants (a full entry list can be viewed here, courtesy of RaceTime Computing) raced at the RACV Energy Breakthrough last November. The event is a great chance for schools and students: to get another race out of a vehicle, enjoy a different event and to be inspired for their upcoming Energy Breakthrough campaign. John Stafford from the RACV Energy Breakthrough planning committee was on hand to present some of the awards, highlighting the strong links between the two events. How the Race Unfolded: Self-titled Greenspeed sat on pole following Saturday morning practice/qualifying that began 45 minutes late; but the race lead was quickly taken over by BYR’s ‘BY-03’ and ‘BY-04’ vehicles; and Michael McTigue's / Ex-Pat's 'Zyrtec'. Greenspeed’s head-out vehicle was a bit of a head-turner: with four wheels and a modified version of the popular Reflex canopies designed by Don Elliot. It ran consistently throughout the race and finished fifth overall. The commercial manufacturer has begun to take this event more seriously in the past two years, with more of their research & development work being vigorously tested by the team on the twisting and hilly circuit. The Rain: At around 2:30 pm (2 and a half hours into the race), a light shower put a greasy coating of water across the entire circuit, causing many vehicles to lose grip and become unstable. This shower however, was just a prelude to the main event – with a torrential downpour arriving just after four pm and staying for a couple of hours. Wonthaggi certainly knows how to throw the weather at their event, with the race being stopped twice since it’s inception in 1998. Cancellation was certainly on the cards as the gutters flowed like small streams. The Bureau of Meteorology recorded 13.9 mm of rain on Sunday – following a high temperature of 36 degrees on the Friday!   The rain was too much for some, with defending champions Ex-Pats from Ballarat packing up and heading home early at around 8 pm on the Saturday evening. Bendigo Youth Racing’s BY-04 vehicle rolling 10 times during the rain and John Pearman’s Tru-Blu sliding the rear wheel out a number of times. It highlighted the different handling capabilities of different set-ups – smaller wheels (16 inches) seemed to grip better than the 20 inch tyres and weight distribution over the rear wheels also helped to keep the vehicle right way up. BYR led the event from start to finish – but the pressure was never off. Trisled maintained a solid pace throughout the event and the margin was never more than six laps at the front, but hovered at two to three laps for a long time. Behind these two vehicles were a fleet of teams all racing very competitively. Wonthaggi-based ‘Vento’ were quick throughout the event and managed to avoid trouble; BYR’s 04; Berwick SC’s Firetruck; Greenspeed and Tru-Blu all tracking competitively. The Firetruck was very fast and consistent throughout the race – often making its way up on two vehicles through the tight chicane and hairpin section of the course. They ran fifth for most of the event before finishing in sixth place – the leading non-community entry. Five laps behind them, Weeroona College’s Open entry Fill (shown right) recorded a highly credible seventh place overall. Bendigo teams littered the results and there were tight battles throughout the event: with Weeroona College’s ‘Reloaded’ and Flora Hill SC’s ‘Beefcake Productions’ finished just six laps apart in the middle secondary category. The junior secondary section was won by 12 laps by Maiden Gully’s Ziptar ahead of Weeroona’s Bee Bee. These youngsters participate alongside their older counterparts and have a break overnight before restarting the next morning. Bendigo Youth Racing’s ‘BY-03’ vehicle completed 583 laps – surpassing the previous mark of 538 laps set by the Berzerk team in 2004. The first five vehicles all broke this benchmark. As much of the battle was off the track – with the leading teams attracting a great deal of attention from the race marshals, who even went to the lengths of decibel testing horns during the race. “Most of the night we had marshals hovering outside our pits, watching and waiting. I know they’re just doing their job, but it makes you feel a bit victimised for being fast. It’s not a very positive atmosphere and it doesn’t really make us want to come back.” Adam King, from Bendigo Youth Racing said. On a lighter note, a special mention should be made of Spare Change Racing’s vehicle: ‘The Hoff’, shown left. A tribute to former Baywatch star, David Hasselhoff. A series of breakdowns marred their event, but they achieved the main goal: To have Fun! Also, Toorak College’s all-girls team received an encouragement award for battling on against the odds. Final Results: Junior Secondary: Middle Secondary Design & Construction Maramba PS - Speeddemon Design & Construction Flora Hill SC - Beefcake Productions Race Maiden Gully PS - Ziptar Race Weeroona College - Reloaded Overall (Race + Design & Construction Maiden Gully PS - Ziptar Overall (Race + Design & Construction Flora Hill SC - Beefcake Productions     Senior Secondary Open Class Design & Construction Wonthaggi SC - Senior Wizard Design & Construction Padua College - XLR8 Race Mt Eliza - Comet (Sharon) Race Berwick SC - Firetruck Overall (Race + Design & Construction Mt Eliza - Comet (Sharon) Overall (Race + Design & Construction Berwick SC - Firetruck   Community Fastest Lap of the Race: Design & Construction Tied - Bendigo Youth Racing 'O-Three' & 'BY-04' Weeroona College, Bendigo Fill Race Bendigo Youth Racing 'O-Three' (583 Laps)   Overall (Race + Design & Construction Bendigo Youth Racing 'O-Three' New Distance Record by leading team

Links:
- Results (Courtesy of RaceTime Computing)
- Entry List (Courtesy of RaceTime Computing)
- Wonthaggi HPVGP Official Website
- Curriculum Resource: HPV Major Service