Brad raced at Archerfield in Brisbane last weekend which was our final meeting in Australia. This meeting was the American Racer 50 Lap Event, there were about 35 cars entered which included the top Australian drivers, along with 4 Kiwis. It was the first time I had seen Archerfield and it was interesting to see how the locals dealt with the rough surface. In both turns there was a smooth line on the pole line and another hard up against the wall. The rest was a mine field of huge ruts and corrugations. The field was split into three groups and each group did Hot Laps back to back. Brendon Palmer had a big crash having caught a cars wheel when he attempted to pass, so everyone was being a bit cautious.
Brad ran in heat 3 and I was hoping the track had settled, this wasn't the case so Brad ran the  line on the bottom starting from Grid 10. He finished 3rd which was a good start. His second heat had him start from Pole and he lead the race until the final lap when Mark brown got up underneath him to take the win.
The Feature had an inversion which put Brad on Grid 4. Brad moved into second spot in a lap and sat behind the leader with a long way to go. Michael Pickens came through on lap 7 and managed to get the inside line, they went into Turn 3 side by side. Brad got on the gas and the right rear caught a rut and up and over she went.
So that was it, so we stood and watched the rest of the race. With 24 starters, there were 6 or 7 finishers. The track played a part in the final results as a number of fast cars/drivers stood on the infield watching. Congratulations to Nathan Smee who took the win having lead the last 20 or so laps.
A big thanks to Jack and his family for providing the car and all the other benefits in Australia. Having travelled to Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Toowoomba and Brisbane this was a great way to finish the racing season. Nothing was too much trouble for Jack, he just loves his racing and he sees this as a way of putting back along with his passion to build Midget Car racing in Brisbane. Brett and Megan were great, organising flights, accommodation, and working in the Pit was really appreciated. Pedro, Tim and Debbie are now family, these guys drive through the night to get to tracks on time, they never stop helping and those late night suppers are second to none.
Looking back, Brad set a new track record at Parramatta, won the Super Series Round at Adelaide, qualified 2nd in the Australian Championship Title and set the benchmark for altitude at Parramatta.
We have sold our car with the Mopar engine in it to Phil Jefferies in Sydney and we are due to send it to him in a couple of weeks. The plan next year is to build a new car from the ground up. Everything will be new so we shouldn't have any gear failure issues next season. Our plan is to remain here in New Zealand and run at all the Western Springs meetings along with the National Midget Car Series.
So for now we wrap up 2009/2010 and look forward to next season.
The TV3 Documentary of the Kiwis' in Chili Bowl is on the 6th June, should be good to see first hand how it went earlier this year.
Thanks to everyone who sent the hundreds of emails, and messages of support for Brad over the season.
Greg