While it rained I was quick (out of the 90 cars in the wet qualifying sessions I was fastest, some 2.7 seconds quicker than 2nd place) but in the dry qualifying session (when power counts ) I was a very disappointing 13th. Come the heats we had a mixture of drying and wet sessions which saw me finish with HEAT 1- 4th, HEAT 2- 2nd,  HEAT 3- 1st.

All was not lost as these results were enough to put me in 2nd place on the front row of the grid for the final, BUT the rain had stopped.

Knowing that we didn’t have enough car speed to hold this position in the dry, Dad made the decision to lean out the engine and take the risk, after all it was the last race of the year.

The flag dropped and I raced straight to the lead, the engine felt the best it had all weekend, still not great but better, 1st into turn 1, turn 2, turn3, then at turn 4 trying hard to out break the hard charging Evo 9 of Peter Major in 2nd and the Rx7 of Ben Shoots in 3rd, I was the first one to find the mud that had been brought onto the track from the previous race causing me to disappear off into the very muddy in field, the funny thing was that both 2nd and 3rd followed me bush, all I could do was laugh, I only had myself to blame, but I was disappointed for my team who had put in so much effort to get me there. I was able to get myself back onto the track, but being dead last, even behind the safety car I knew the Nationals were gone, so we put that one down to experience and prepared for the 2010 NSW Championships.

Come 2010 many people were pointing out how hard it would be to win the championship for 3 consecutive years, and I must say that with a 3rd in Round 1 behind the two light weight turbo cars of Dave Loftus and Doug Moss and DNF due to a computer failure while leading the final at Round 2 of a shortened 5 Round series those words were coming back to haunt me.

With a strong consistent season fight back I entered the final Round 5 at Eastern Creek with a slim 32 point lead, but with 136 points on offer the championship would go right down to the wire.

After completing only 1 lap of qualifying due to a mechanical issue, I was informed that I would be sent to the rear of grid for race 1. In a 35 car grid, only 6 laps to run and my closest rival for the championship starting on the front row the odds were against me.

Without protest I copped the penalty on the chin, put my head down and drove like some one with a championship to win, crossing the line in 7th only 3 tenths of a second behind my main rival in 5th.

On Sunday morning the rain started and would continue all day, this was a blessing in disguise as I had proven in the past to be the pace setter in the wet. Race 2 Sunday saw me start the race in 7th, with a good start I had moved into 2nd by turn two then into the lead at the end of lap two holding my lead to the chequered flag.

Race 3 Sunday afternoon, with it still raining I was not sure whether I had enough points lead to guarantee the title, my goal was to win the race but be conservative and make sure I finished. Starting from pole I got off to a good start, stretching my lead to the length of Eastern Creek straight in just 2 short laps, maintaining this lead to the chequered flag, wrapping up the 2010 championships, making me the first driver since the inception of the NSW IPRA category in 1990 to wrap up 3 consecutive NSW titles and along the way picking up 4 consecutive 2-3 litre class titles.

As for 2011 I am unsure of what the future holds, I would like to step up to a national series such as the v8 Development or V8 Ute series  I have had a couple of successful Ute tests) however financial support will be needed to take the next step.

Recently I was asked to speak at a Fathers Day breakfast in Newcastle about racing and its challenges, being my public speaking debut this was a challenge in itself, but all went well, receiving several requests for future appearances, I really enjoyed the experience and I’m looking forward to more networking opportunities.

Ryan.

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