RACV Energy Breakthrough :: Pictures and Stories

Tru Blu cracks the magical 1000km mark
... in the 'fastest-ever' Australian International Pedal Prix (2008)

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Sometimes in HPV racing, the fastest vehicle doesn’t win. But that simply wasn’t the case for Tru Blu Racing at the 2008 Australian International Pedal Prix (AIPP).

The crew from Mt Martha successfully married a John Taylor canopy with a MR Recumbents chassis to create one incredible machine. Add to the mix some very gifted, passionate and smooth riders and you’ve got the package to break records. (YouTube: Tru Blu)

The quickest HPV race ever
Yes, it was the quickest 24hr HPV race ever and yet it was also one of the busiest. A total of 223 teams took to Pondi Straight to grid up on Saturday morning and for the lead teams who hit 60km on the straights, the traffic was insane. Ducking, weaving, dodging and nudging was part of each and every lap for the leaders – who all came unstuck at various times pushing through gaps that simply weren’t as big as their aerodynamic vehicles.

How the race unfolded

Tru Blu's blistering 2 mins 16 second lap of the 2.15km circuit in the Top 12 Shootout was simply amazing - and placed them on the front row with BlueShift and Flora Hill's Bearded Old Mate. BYR & BlueShift led the race out withand the former clocking the fastest lap of the race with a 2:29.2 on the first lap. From the outset Tru Blu, BlueShift and BYR were pushing hard and all sharing the same lap and interchanging the lead at record pace for the first 5 hours.

That trio had broken away from Deakin Uni, Ex-Pats, Trisled and Ballistic who raced together in a second group ready to pounce. The old Channel 7 again claimed it’s fair share of victims, with plenty of rollovers throughout the race.

Tru Blu’s Steele Von Hoff – a man who was born to race HPVs – put in an amazing 2 hour stint with laps between 2:35 and 2:45 in the late afteroon to put BYR and BlueShift under pressure. The lead see-sawed between the three crews with new leaders emerging more often than the bunyip.

Saturday was blustery affair and it looked as though we were in for a repeat of 2007, when gale force winds forced the race to be stopped an hour short.
Thankfully though by 6pm on Saturday it was calm and the overnight chill set in.

Into the night
As darkness fell, BYR’s crash rate rose and put them out of contention, as Tru Blu and BlueShift circulated consistently and smoothly. BYR fogged, Tru Blu and BlueShift didn't and the field kept on going as strong as the generators that litter the site.

At midnight, BlueShift held a narrow lead over Tru Blu with BYR some 3 laps behind. As the field raced into one of those gloriously sunny AIPP days, Tru Blu clearly took over the lead for the last time around 9:30am.

At the chequered flag
Despite this speed, they didn’t have it all their way and were pushed to the line by the defending champs – TAFE SA BlueShift – who finished just one lap behind on 474 laps. Left in both teams wake were previous winners Bendigo Youth Racing (BYR), Ballistic and Trisled as the pace from flag to flag unbelievable.

The Tru Blu team were visibly stoked afterwards in a feeling one team member described as 'fantastic'. It really is a good thing when the fastest team gets the prize.

When the chequered flag finally fell at 12 noon on Sunday Tru Blu had completed 475 laps to cover a record 1021 kms in 24 hours.

Trisled’s new racer Chic-A-Chow attracted the widest range of nicknames from the weekend with gems such as ‘the camel’ to ‘darth vader’. The team really hit its stride a few hours into the race and when it really got moving it always looked faster than the times on the stopwatch. Chic-A-Chow also took one of the biggest hits of the race. Late on Saturday evening they were side-swiped into the mesh pit fencing on the Community Pit lane – smashing their cross member and their steering set-up. The team was also allegedly subject to a few ‘assisted’ rollovers which didn’t help their case either. (Watch Trisled in action)
Bendigo Youth Racing came with a new trike, BY-08, and high hopes of an overall victory too. Unfortunately, their 20kg vehicle was opened like a tin can as they thrashed their way through traffic, costing BYR serious time in repairs before slowing it’s on track speed. They ended the race third, 15 laps or around 40 minutes down on Tru Blu. (Watch BYR in action)
BlueShift – by stark contrast – were as smooth as silk and the quietest bike on the park. They raced cleanly and consistently. BlueShift did everything right: they kept it out of fence, they kept it on three wheels, they were smooth and patient and held their lap times under 3 minutes. (Watch BlueShift in action)
Team Ballistic were quick at times, but lacked the out and out pace with some riders who appeared a bit ‘green’ to pedal prix racing. They finished 4th overall three laps down on traditional rivals BYR on 457 laps. The Ballistic team were also very generous with their efforts prior to the event when they assisted a team whose vehicle had melted on the trip across from Western Australia. A commendable task!
Deakin Uni may have finished a place lower than in 2007 with their 7th overall place, but when they got their new GT-6 hooked up, the signature ‘whirring’ drive train quietened and they were blitzing the corners and their opposition.
Flora Hill’s new ‘Super-Canopy’ (inspired by central Victoria’s north-south ‘superpipe’) made a great debut on their two vehicles Brum and Old Bearded Mate (OBM). Brum won Category 2 by a record 19 laps and OBM won Cat 3 by 5 laps and was eighth overall. I know I’ve said this before, but can Flora Hill challenge for overall line honours at the RACV Energy Breakthrough? (Watch OBM cross the line)
Woodleigh College meanwhile showed a great return to form with their new vehicle – Helter Skelter - finishing second in Cat 2. They also survived a massive shunt on BYR Hill as they hit a haybale protected light pole at 30 km/h. The impact had such a thud that you could almost feel the whiplash. But in a testament to their vehicle construction, on the next lap they were cruising again and their rider seemed unfazed.

Above left: Flora Hill SC's Brum - winner of Category 2
Above middle: Berwick SC unveiled their own new design in Nagari, alongside the ever present Firestorm and Wildfire.
Above right: Westminster's Calais was impressive on it's way to third place in Category 3.

The South Aussies, who don’t tend to travel to Maryborough, won only the Cat 1 division, but took up many of the podium places in the other categories. When you combine the AIPP with the hugely popular second round back in July, you get the impression of a healthy HPV scene in the state.

Click to Enlarge - Ex-Pats Morning Glory

Results (View the full results)

Cat 1
1st – Aberfoyle Hub School - Flying Hubcaps
2nd – Immanuel College - Fire
3rd – St Michaels Lutheran School

Cat 2
1st – Flora Hill SC - Brum
2nd – Woodleigh School - Helterskelter
3rd – Immanuel College - Ice

Cat 3
1st – Flora Hill SC – Old Bearded Mate
2nd – Gleeson College - Hyper
3rd – Westminster - The Calais

Cat 4
1st – Tru Blu Racing – Tru Blu
2nd – TAFE SA - BlueShift
3rd – Bendigo Youth Racing – BY-08

Words and pics by Nigel Preston,
RACV Energy Breakthrough Planning Committee & former member of Bendigo Youth Racing.

Links: Visit the Australian International Pedal Prix Website
For more information, Email the Event Organisers
View the full results
Curriculum Resource: HPV Major Service	Visit the BlueShift website
Talk with the teams in the Deakin Uni forum	Visit the Bendigo Youth Racing website
Visit the Ex-Pats website	Visit the Trisled website