MOOREBANK BEGINNERS DAY - 11/05/02
The day started early for me, not being one used to getting up too early in the mornings. I hardly slept a wink the night before, eager with anticipation to attack the track of all tracks - Moorebank.
I later found out that this would be the first time to test the Moorebank track for the majority of our drivers coming over from Penrith. Having only been once before myself, to see the IFMAR 1/8 IC World Championships (September 2001). I was unsure of the way the practice session worked and indeed the way in which the whole day would be run. Steve McDonnell, Kevin Maton, Peter Wickman and myself all pitted together with Tony Firth as our Pit crew (we had him running all over the place!!). Jason Borg, Peter Axiak, Richard Nguyen, Mick Montalbano and Phillip Phan were also not too far away from the action.
We registered early as we were all eager to get some practice in. My car (4wd Neo Attack with a little orange paint left on it somewhere) has always been quite easy to start, so I sat it on pit lane and walked up to the drivers stand. I waited for a clear track and took off. My first lap would have been around two minutes - just getting used to the size of the track and my little spec of a car in the distance. I slowly got some more speed up learning the track every lap. I was pretty happy with my progress, only coming off a few times. My aim of the day was to get under a 30 sec lap.
It took us a little encouragement to get Peter Wickman out onto the track with his Neo Attack, but once he got the bug, he couldn't stop!! Steve got in a a few good runs with his 1/8 Picco Integra but retired before his first race due to servo problems. Kevin was a late starter with his 1/8 Picco Integra, being the only one of the day to blow his engine. Tony was run off his feet, now only pitting for three in the final - luckily Steve was around to lend a hand. With Steve out Kevin borrowed his engine to complete the day's events. Peter worked his way through his dogbone problems and managed to pull out a few good laps - Unfortunately he retired three minutes into his final. I managed some better lap times too, as the day progressed finishing better than expected for the day total. Kevin finished well even though he had an engine that was new to him. Jason Borg just got better and better throughout the day taking the honours of the day coming first in the A main and first overall. Well done to everyone - I'm looking forward to the next one where I hope to break the 25sec barrier!!
Catch me on the track - Splitty Miller
The following are the final results of the Beginners Day - May 11, 2002
| Pos | Name | Laps | Time | Final Name |
| 1 | Jason Borg - PDNR | 011 | 00:05:15.204 | A Final |
| 2 | Ben Wong | 010 | 00:05:06.431 | A Final |
| 3 | Glenn Mazengarb | 009 | 00:04:31.508 | A Final |
| 4 | Peter Axiak - PDNR | 009 | 00:04:38.950 | A Final |
| 5 | Rhys Jenkins | 009 | 00:05:26.212 | B Final |
| 6 | Paul Yang | 009 | 00:05:29.784 | B Final |
| 7 | Kevin Maton - PDNR | 009 | 00:05:31.553 | A Final |
| 8 | Nick Christie | 008 | 00:05:02.504 | B Final |
| 9 | Reabal Eldeir | 008 | 00:05:33.501 | B Final |
| 10 | Patrick Kong | 007 | 00:03:43.567 | B Final |
| 11 | Charlie Eldeir | 007 | 00:05:17.864 | C Final |
| 12 | Silvio Vella | 006 | 00:05:05.732 | B Final |
| 13 | Mark Phillips | 006 | 00:05:08.420 | C Final |
| 14 | Andrew Miller - PDNR | 006 | 00:05:26.894 | A Final |
| 15 | Lee Mazengarb | 005 | 00:02:55.634 | A Final |
| 16 | Peter Wickman - PDNR | 005 | 00:03:16.929 | C Final |
| 17 | Richard Nguyen - PDNR | 003 | 00:02:57.448 | A Final |
| 18 | Werner Fastbender | 003 | 00:04:02.925 | A Final |
| 19 | Gabrielle Chang | 003 | 00:05:12.343 | B Final |
| 20 | Mick Montalbano - PDNR | 002 | 00:01:56.716 | B Final |
| 21 | Humphrey Tse | 001 | 00:00:43.602 | B Final |
| 22 | Phillip Phan - PDNR | 000 | 00:04:01.138 | C Final |
| 23 | Thanh Nguyen | 000 | 00:04:24.918 | C Final |
| 24 | Darren Lockhart | 000 | 00:04:50.166 | C Final |
| 25 | Chris Ho | 000 | 00:04:50.166 | B Final |
| 26 | Brandon Nguyen | 000 | 00:05:03.353 | C Final |
| 27 | Ethan Trieu | 000 | 00:05:20.792 | C Final |
| 28 | Jimmy Vallis | 000 | 00:05:26.212 | A Final |
| 29 | Steve McDonnell - PDNR | DNQ | NA | NA |