The inaugural Dial Before You Dig Australian Six Hour at Eastern Creek has now just past the half way mark and after the pit stop dramas that occurred in the second hour, the third hour for Pollicina Motorsports was very much trouble free.
With Gerry Murphy taking over the driving duties at the 90 minute mark, Murphy drove around in conservative yet competitive mode. Fully aware that he is the slower of the three drivers, not by much though, Murphy did his best to keep his times within the same range as Pollicina’s, but with the constant niggle that is the slower traffic, it proved to be a bit of a task. Despite this, the Lancer Evo VIII managed to come through its second phase of the race with no dramas at all.
When the car did stop just a tick over the three hour mark, the second pit stop ran smoothly. Reaching the projected 50 lap mark in that stint, Murphy came in to hand over to Anthony Loscialpo with the car refuelled and two new front tyres put on. And thankfully, no dramas with the car jacks.
After jumping out of the car, Murphy passed comment at the difficulty of adapting to fresh tyres on the front and hot, sticky tyres on the rear. “As soon as I went into turn one on my first full lap, the car was just sliding around,” Murphy said. “So it upset the car and I had grip at the front but none in the rear. The lap times only got better when the fronts got some grip as they were wearing in.”
“The actual physical effort I was expecting from my stint wasn’t as hard I was thought. It wasn’t as hot in the car, which helps. The traffic was the problem though. Every lap, you have to reset the throttle when you get stuck behind someone. But when you get passed by one of the quicker guys, we were able to get in behind them and stick with them. Overall, I am pretty happy with the stint.”
Anthony Loscialpo is now behind the wheel for the next 90 minutes of the race and is currently in seventh place.
For more information on the Dial Before You Dig Australian Six Hour, visit www.thenationals.com.au/australian6hour