NEWS

JUDD TEAM ROBBED

Look to Willowbank for change of luck! They say things come in three's so after three consecutive unsuccessful Top Doorslammer Championship events Robin Judd hopes he is at the end of his run of bad luck. Judd is still in 6th place in the overall Championship but will have to win the last two meetings of the season to have any chance of figuring in the finish.

The bad luck started during Round 4 of the Australian Top Doorslammer Championship(ATDC) on January 13 when the 'Moonshine Bandit' was shut down on the start line with an oil leak in the first round of elimination's.

A lean fuel system caused problems at Round 5 of the ATDC on March 3 & 4. The third leg of the bad luck came at the 'Racers' Nationals held at Calder Park Raceway, Melbourne on March 15 -17.

Asking Judd what happened at the Nationals he replied, "It was a comedy of errors - some our fault, some the bad weather and scenarios that it caused. We could not get a handle on the track and only managed two of the four scheduled qualifying runs."

Speaking of the qualifying runs he said, "In the first qualifier the track was so marginal the car shook, spun the tyres and moved around until I got off it. We had motor damage so we missed the next qualifier while we switched to our spare. We made some changes to the tune up for our second run (Q3) to try and get down the track - unfortunately it didn't work and the same thing happened, only this time the blower belt broke at half track. We then made some more changes to ensure the car would get down the track on the final Qualifier, however the last qualifier was called off."

Despite waiting over two hours in the staging lanes (after being called up) the Group One session was cancelled following a few spots of rain. Within fifteen minutes racing started again. The meeting director decided to run Top Fuel and Top Bike before Top Doorslammer! The Fuellers had a torrid time oiling down the track with nearly every pass. There was one pair of Top Bike's to run and Judd was next to run when the session was called off. Judd was robbed of a last chance to get into the field by the weather and a last minute decision made by the meeting director.

A very disappointed Judd said "I was still strapped in the car so my Crew Chief, Lee had a word to the meeting director as we were told to towed back but he would not budge. I just wonder if the he realised the ramifications of his actions - how it effects people. This decision has cost us dearly, and may just have robbed me of the chance of winning the Championship this year. This is very unfair on us and I am going to think about what I do from here. You would think, Top Fuel, being so vulnerable to oil downs should be run as the last in the Group One session each time".

To cap off a forgetful weekend the event was terminated before the finals could be run.

The Tin Top Titles at Willowbank Raceway scheduled for Easter Saturday (April 14) should be just the tonic the team needs to get them back on track. At this round last year Judd ran off a string of 6.20's, winning the meeting and setting a new National Record of 6.24. Judd will be looking for a repeat of that performance.

Stay tuned ...