Round 4 of the GT4 Australia Championship took us to Hidden Valley in Darwin - a track I'd never seen, and one I came away calling a new favourite. It also handed us our best result of the season. Here's how it went.
Where We Left Off
Queensland Raceway handed us three points and a whole lot of what could have been. We qualified P6 as the top Mustang out of 27 cars, and in Race 1 under lights Cooper and I ran all the way up to P3 before contact put a hole in the door and took the aero with it. We fell back to P9. Race 2 was much the same - Cooper carved up to P5 before a brake issue fired us both off at the same corner, and we dragged it back to P10.
Three rounds in, the pattern hadn't broken: fast car, points on the board, but not the results the pace deserved. Darwin was next, and we went there wanting one thing - to finally convert.
Heading Into the Round
We flew into Darwin on the Tuesday, a few days before racing, and touched down around midnight. This was a round I'd been really looking forward to, but I was mildly terrified of it too - a feeling that didn't improve when I counted about five bushfires out the plane window on the way in. The things we do to go racing. By the time we landed it was 1am and still 25 degrees. Warm would be an understatement.
Our first couple of hours in Darwin were like a wildlife tour - snakes, lizards and possums all over the streets. Then, somehow, after that first day, nothing. Lucky.
Outside of that we made the most of our time up there, checking out the war memorials and a few other spots around town. Seriously cool place, and I liked that it isn't a big city. On the racing side, I was itching to get out there. Hidden Valley looked like a circuit that would suit the Mustang, and we'd come off Queensland with a couple of key findings we reckoned would pay off.
Practice
Practice was a fresh start for everyone. Neither Cooper nor I had ever seen the track before, so this time we got a proper track walk and four sessions across the Friday to figure it out.
It took me about two laps to fall in love with the place. Hidden Valley is technical and narrow, and you just don't get a break around there. The only breather is the long straight, and that ends in a massive braking zone. I enjoyed every bit of it.
We got to grips with the track quickly enough, but never quite found our feet on setup. With that many cars laying rubber down around such a short circuit, the track was evolving lap after lap and the setup window kept moving with it. Still, we rolled out of Friday feeling like one of the fastest Mustangs out there. Qualifying couldn't come soon enough.
Qualifying
After another big overnight effort digging through data, hunting for what the car needed to get in the window, we rolled out Saturday ready to go.
I put the car P9 in my session, and Cooper went P11 in his. That had us near the front of the Mustangs, but never satisfied, we went straight back to work tuning the car before the race that afternoon.
For my part, I reckon I maximised the session. I even picked up a lucky tow down to the start-finish line at the end of my best lap, so there wasn't a whole lot more I could have asked for on the day. Grid positions locked in, it was eyes forward to Race 1.
Race 1
I lined up on the inside for the start, with the run down to Turn 1 - the biggest braking zone on the track - in front of us. Honestly, I didn't mind the inside. The outside was the faster line in, but the inside was the safer one, and around Hidden Valley there's always a chance of a shunt.
So I stuck to the inside, got a little boxed in, and dropped a couple of places off the start, but came through cleanly. From there the race came to us. As the tyres came up to temperature the Mustang came alive, and I was getting quicker every lap.
Then a drive-through penalty came through, and nobody in the team had any idea why. Not me, not the crew, not Dad. We later found out it was because an engineer had touched the car just before the three-minute board went up - about two seconds early. A harsh way to lose a race, but that's racing.
The penalty and the driver swap dropped us to around 24th. Cooper went to work from there and did a mega job, carving back up to P14, and 11th in Silver. No points, which stung, because we were one of the faster cars out there. But every lap was useful for our read on the car, and it gave us real direction heading into Sunday.
Race 2
This was the good one. The best result of our season so far.
We caught a break before the lights even went out. A car ahead of us copped a penalty for an overnight engine change, moving us up to P10 with Cooper taking the start from the outside. I was a little nervous knowing how punishing the outside of Turn 1 is around here.
Then he dashed all the way to the outside and made it four-wide into Turn 1. I was on the edge of my seat. I could see a couple of McLarens ahead going side-by-side and boxing other cars in, and with the McLaren a touch slower in a straight line this weekend, I thought we might just have this group into the corner.
Sure enough, all three cleared before the braking zone. Then Cooper made an awesome lunge, swept past a few more around the outside, and I celebrated like we'd already won. Two cars ahead crashed on the exit of Turn 1, bumping us up to P3, but also bringing out the safety car. An epic start from Cooper, and he backed it up too, running P3 behind George through his stint.
Then it was my turn. We lost a couple of seconds with a small mistake in the pit stop and dropped a few places, but from there I pushed as hard as the car would go. There was nothing left on the table.
What I really underestimated was the dirty air in GT4, especially around Darwin. I dropped the pack behind me by over five seconds and reeled in the BMW ahead - and that's when I found out what dirty air really was. Through the middle section of the lap you don't get a break, and following another car through there, the front end simply gave up. Catching a car that fast and then having nothing left to pass with was frustrating.
But that's part of the game, and it's my first season in GT4 - what a race to learn it in. We brought it home P4, eight points for the championship, and just eight tenths off our first podium. The promise is building for the #95 Mustang, and every race feels like it's getting better than the last.
Looking to Sydney
Honestly, I just want to get to Sydney now. I've been home barely a week and I'm already itching to get back in the race car.
We've finally got the result the car has been capable of all season, and now I can't wait to go and get the podium I've been hungry for since Round 1. Racing under lights at Sydney Motorsport Park is going to be seriously cool.
It's another new track I've never seen before, but the car has been getting quicker every round and the momentum is real. Time to go get that podium.
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