UCOL students prepare derby cars to last
The UCOL Team will have one big advantage when the Peter Barry Memorial Derby Teams Champs begins on Friday night: their cars have been completely pulled apart and rebuilt.
They also have Superstock driver Sheridan O’hara and Stockcar duo Rob Mason and Tony Norman in their team, complemented by tutors Phil Oswald and Ash Mckenzie.
Mason, who has been racing for the UCOL Team for many years since his son was a student there, said he enjoys the interaction with the students and seeing what they can do getting the cars prepared.
‘‘The students do all the work, we just drive them,’’ Mason said.
‘‘They do all the work during races getting them ready for the next race and the tutors keep an eye on them during the meetings.
‘‘It’s all about the students really and I’m sure they get a lot of pride watching them go around the track, as they should.’’
The Rangiotu dairy farmer said he first got involved driving for them when his son went to UCOL and they offered to sponsor him by painting his car and tidying it up.
‘‘The students aren’t allowed to teams race, though they are allowed to race individually so the deal was I would drive for them.
‘‘One of the reasons they have full roll cages is with the cars all similar, they can take the roll cage out and put it in their individual cars.’’
O’hara said the cars have been well prepared and the protection for the drivers would be better than any other team.
‘‘They (students) pulled the roof off all the cars and have built proper roll cages that you would see in a stockcar,’’ O’hara said. ‘‘They have done a pretty impressive job.
‘‘In a derby car you are always concerned about getting hit in the driver’s door, particularly when you come from a stockcar which has a lot of protection for the driver. The students have prepared full roll cages in the derby cars.
‘‘It’s part of their programme; the mechanical students service the cars and get them ready while the panelbeating students cut the roof off, put the roll cage in, put the roof back on and take all the dents out. They are definitely well prepared.
‘‘We then get the chance to get in them and wreck them.’’
O’hara was only asked to join the team last week having walked through UCOL after someone had pulled out. He has previously raced the last three Peter Barry Memorials for Daddy Daycare, who went their own way after 2019 event.
O’hara raced Solo Bikes for a season before moving to Minisprints then into Superstocks. He also had a couple of seasons in the United Kingdom crewing for Palmerston North Solo ace Jade Mudgway.
O’hara doesn’t believe having experience particularly helps in Derby Teams racing.
‘‘I think stockcar drivers become a bit of a target to derby drivers but the style of racing is nothing like stockcar teams racing. A couple of seasons ago I took a car into the wall as I would in my stockcar, but took my right front end out of the car, whereas in a stockcar you would just drive on.’’
O’hara said he’s still gaining experience at teams racing and even derby racing will help him learn to read races and what is happening around him.
O’hara was part of the Manawatu Mustangs team this season, something he is keen to continue doing.