The 100 mile an hour tape...

2007-11-19T01:22:00.000+11:00

Hello Everyone!
I know it has been an absolute AGE since I have written and that is terrible considering the places and people I have seen and all the GREAT things I got to do while I have been! As you may have found, I kinda lost my webpage too. After I left for Germany my computer crashed taking all the files with it (No... I don't backup stuff... I live dangerously...)! After that I couldn't find the actual hosting site who was looking after the files... But finally I have been able to break into my blog here... I have been doing a bit of My-space-ing of late and I have a few things up there so that you can see that I have been up to. The link for that is: www.myspace.com/jumponthebrakes and is pretty informal. Unlike here where for the past few years I have been behaving myself as the good race team owner and manager (oh and driver!) I let loose there and share with my friends the stuff that is also going on in my head.

As for what went on while I was in Germany the first time AND the second time, you will just have to stay tunned because I have a few stories to tell of the final round last year as well as the events that followed Germany, culminating in me living in Germany for 3 months last year and this, and my moving in a few days to Western Australia! I know that it is super slack to leave ya'll hanging, but as it is 1:26am here in NSW I think I better get cracking on sorting photos and everything so you get a coherant post...

Just a tip, Team Pink is still going ahead for those of you who are interested... It will be part of a new web based initiative in the automotive realms and will hopefully revolutionise the way I find sponsorship dollars basically... (ie; I will be using my own money from now on! hehehe...).

Keep in touch and I will update everything ASAP!!!

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.lasts.com.au

2006-09-25T17:48:00.000+10:00

LESS THAN 1 DAY TO GO!!!

With an amazing and very weird weekend behind me, I am now able to start looking forward to the two weeks ahead of me! I am leaving for Germany in less than 24 hours and for now, everything seems to be going according to plan.

On Saturday and Sunday just passed I raced at Eastern Creek Raceway in the final round of the NSW State championship. It was a crazy weekend for a few reasons, but I'll cover that in the race report in a few hours... Till then I am just getting all my packing and washing done in preparation for my flight which leaves at 3:40pm tomorrow afternoon. I have spent the day shopping, running errands, picking up altered and repaired clothes, visiting Dad at work and getting my mobile phone/digital camera saga sorted out.

On Friday night though I was in SUCH a panic over getting all my Pro E stuff done that I realized that I didn't have a computer that could run it. Amazingly enough my bestest bud Jade lent me her and Michael's laptop to take away with me! My laptop can't handle running Pro Engineer, the solid modeling program that I need to do all my drawings in... It is SUCH a blessing and now means that I will be able to do ALL my uni work without drama whilst overseas. What a good set of mates those 2 are, huh?

Ok. Back to packing. Will get onto the weekend's race report when it is done!

Luv Kirsty

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.lasts.com.au

2006-09-01T14:36:00.000+10:00

Peak Women's Organisations Meeting

Yesterday I was invited to give an address to some representatives from Peak Women's organisations in New South Wales. This was held at the MLC building in Martin Place and was to share my experiences from my involvement in Motorsport and the A1GP in Eastern Creek and Dubai.

It was heaps of fun and lovely to meet so many nice ladies who are working so hard to make our country not only a great place to live, but a place where you can achieve your goals and furfill your dreams. Thanks must go out to the Office for Women for organising it and giving me a chance to share all the ups and downs of my experiences... Even the embarrassing bits!

For those interested, I have posted the notes from the speech and the slideshow that accompinied it on my old site, so you can download them through THIS notes link and THIS powerpint presentation link.

Thankyou to all who attended and wished me luck on my trip to Germany in the coming weeks. It is all much appreciated and helps me get over the nerves!

PS> I just found out that Sydney Anglicans have me up on their site. Rock on guys, I love the site and the publications! Hi to everyone that reads it! :)

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.lasts.com.au

2006-08-28T17:32:00.000+10:00

FERNWOOD ILLAWARRA SET TO JOIN L&LMS!

Yes, it is official! YAY! I just got word that Fernwood Women's Heath Clubs in the Illawarra has decided to sponsor me as a driver in fitness and training in prepeartion for my trip to Germany!
The last week I have been on a free trial membership but through application to them, the ladies who own the Illawarra clubs have decided to extend my membership through to before I leave!

What a fantastic partnership! I must thank Grace Benavente & Adriana Ampuero who are the franchise owners in the Illawarra... You ladies are definantly making my dream become a reality! Fernwood clubs are FANTASTIC! No wonder that guy Peter Hellier is always trying to get in! Who can blame him? The environment there is welcoming, encouraging and most of all FUN! I love that the adies there know everyone by name and are only too willing to help!

Fernwoods in the Illawarra can be found at:

Wollongong: 67-69 Burelli St Wollongong NSW 2500
Shellharbour: 12 College Ave Shellharbour City Centre NSW 2529
Woonona: 335 Princes Hwy Woonona NSW 2517

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.lasts.com.au

2006-08-21T16:57:00.000+10:00

The most un-lucky driver in the field, or just the dumbest?

This is the question I was asking myself yesterday in the final race of the weekend for the 5th round of the NSW State championship. After a shocker of a weekend to this point, I thought that pulling off the line that slowly was just another bit of bad luck, but after a brush of the gear stick alerted me to my own stupidity, I started to think otherwise...

I spose I should start at the very start... but I am hesitant to share the details for fear of my own stupidity coming back to bite me in the bum in the form of CAMS coming to revoke my license... Oh well. It gets cancelled in 1 meetings time to make way for my trip to Germany, so I will share away. Lets just hope this doesn't make it to Germany's version of CAMS otherwise they might not want to give me a license!!! Somehow I can't see Garth Tander and the like ever making a mistake like this!!! But yes, lets start at the start!

Friday 18th August 2006

It is finally here! ROUND 5 and I am on the start sheet!!! And there is to be no DNS attached to that! I am really really racing for the first time in months! After blowing our engine to bits in Round 2 at Eastern Creek, I know I have alot resting on my shoulders to bring it back in one piece. So, I made the 'Executive" decision to get ourselves down to Goulburn on Friday rather than early Saturday morning, to aid in settling ourselves in and being prepared!

We arrive at the LOVELY Mike's Manor in Goulburn, after we have dropped the car at the track and have dinner. All is going well till bedtime when I can't catch a break! I wake at 1am, look at the bedside clock which registers 3am and decide to go watch some telly to let me get back to sleep. Collingwood vs. St Kilda(I think) is on... Last time I looked those games play on TV at about 11pm till 2am usually. So, I go check another clock and panic. I am NEVER going to get any sleep at this rate! Finally I pass out in bed... most likely from panicked hyperventilation than actual sleep... But I am out like a light none the less!

Saturday 19th August, 2006

After that crappy night was out of the way, we downed a nice brekkie at Mike's and then set off for the track. Once there we ran over the final bits of preparation in the freezing cold(There was ice on our car! Check coming photos for proof!). As scrutineering came and passed, we prepared for qualifying. Once on the grid, I realised that I had half the field of 1600s behind me. Not my choice, but the position I was placed in none the less. Once they were out of the way I settled in to try and just get some decent times out. But with that many people behind you, it was only a matter of time till the other 1600s caught up and I was back to slowing down and getting off racing line to wave them past.

It resulted in merely equalling my PB, something I was hoping to break with the new engine in place, but the car was running well, except for bogging down in the fishhook... It started to sound like my crappy little town basher Astra which normally only runs on 3 cylinders!!!Now at the back of the grid, I hoped that I would be able to at least hold onto the guys in front for a bit of the way, but off the line the car seemed to bog a bit and I watched everyone else take off... Very depressing. But, after waving everyone through again in the last lap and almost getting taken out by one of them, I decided that something needed to change! and it was most likely me! What the hell was wrong? As I came into the final corner of the last lap I saw the yellows just in time as Simon Duffy and Bruce Pearce came to rest after a pretty big accident. Both drivers came out okay and I was able to sneak past to receive the chequered flag... Race 1 out of the way.

Sunday 20th August, 2006

After a less than average start on Saturday, and one talking to by CAMS officials on my poor performance, I decided that this nut behind the wheel business needed to be dealt with. As I sat down with Dad and had a talk about what was going on, we decided that whilst we needed to circulate to get the engine and me working together again, we needed a bit more pace. At some stage during this Dad revved the engine and shifted a spark plug lead.

After getting back on the grid and trying to get off the line again, I found that the bogging down of the fish hook had gotten 10 times worse and now plagued me on the whole circuit. It was sounding worse than the Astra now and wasn't giving me ANY power at all. I knew that I needed to circulate for points, I knew that I was a bit of a danger out there being so slow, but I also knew that if I kept going and it was something other than what I was thinking, it might do our new engine some injustice. So, as I came around to pit wall on the straight, I looked to dad hoping to see him telling me what to do. But he just sat there. It turns out his philosophy was "I didn't hear any rattles, I knew it was only running on 2 cylinders, so why bring her in?''

With this mentality I jammed it in 3rd and attempted not to touch the brakes at all. I got around in a best time of 1:25 sec, only 5 seconds off the pace of my qualifying time(Very Very poor if you look at what the other 1200s are capable of doing!). The race was done and I was hoping to God that we weren't also... The officials cleared us and Dad assured me that it was just the plugs and he replaced the now fouled ones. I was frustrated, but understood I had one more shot at doing something...

As Race 3 came around we lined up. I have to keep it in 3rd whilst going around on the warm up lap and normally stop at the top of the straight and change to 1st... Now this is where all my stupidity rears its ugly head. Instead of this I rolled onto my normal position and awaited the start. Lights come on, lights go off, and I can hardly move. The Revs go from 4ooo ish to near nothing as the car spluttered, threatening to stall all together. Some how I saved it, but because of what happened in the last race didn't think to check that I was in 3rd, which would have been my normal reaction. I instead got the revs up again and got going-in 3rd. thinking still that this was a spark plug issue I did my best to try and keep up, but again the field went ahead. I shifted then into what I thought was 2nd and did what I thought was my "best" with what I had.

I decided that I would try a different tact to that I had been trying for the previous laps and downshifted. After brushing the gear stick as I brought my hand through to change gears I got the shock of my life as I found that I was in 4th. Words can't describe the anger I felt at myself. I knew that in only 1 lap the 1600s would be up my backside, the CAMS officials would be preparing to rip my license up and Dad and everyone else would think I was the world's STUPIDEST driver ever to grace the cockpit. Anyways, to cut a long and very embarrassing story short, I got the thing working right(Me, not the car) and tried to get some time back, knowing full well that the 1600s would be coming crashing through any second. Sure enough on the 4th lap the 1600s came roaring in behind me. I got off line, almost in the dirt trying to salvage something of a reputation as a decent driver(Erm, yeah right...) and let them all through.

As I finally got across the finish line I was fuming. I had my last chance and I threw it away. I know what happens to people like that! They get awards at the presentation dinner like the "Mirrors" award for someone who is constantly looking in their mirrors... Ugh! Please people... I have been punished enough!

So now that that is all over with, I am quite assured that I have done EVERY stupid thing in motorsport and hence have learnt every single lesson there is to learn... Never able to make a stupid mistake again...Okay... SO I will do plenty of stupid things in the future, but I am young... Isn't that what it's all about???

Thanks to Dad and John Fab for getting it all together for me... Lets not go through all that again, huh?

Luv Kirst

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.lasts.com.au

2006-08-12T21:30:00.000+10:00

Well... Its official! Lasts and Lasts goes INTERNATIONAL!

Last flying out to be first!

NSW Formula Vee driver and University of Wollongong student, Kirsty Last has been offered an opportunity that most people can only dream of. A chance to drive a racing car at Nürburgring circuit in Germany. And not just in any race, but a race of nations.

Hoping to take some inspiration from the Socceroos success in Germany, Kirsty will be representing Australia in a .World Cup. race against drivers from Great Britain, Ireland, South Africa and mainland Europe. The race is being put on to help celebrate 40 years of Formula Vee (Formel V) in Germany, and caps off the celebrations world wide for the open wheeler category.

This experience alone would be enough, but Kirsty has also been offered the opportunity to drive a touring car in a separate event, the international guests will also tour racing facilities and car manufacturing plants such as Porsche as part of the activities. As a young and upcoming engineer and driver in the industry, this is the perfect opportunity for her to make contacts and learn from the best in the world.

Kirsty was selected by Harry Ohs and Jürgen Bußmann of the German Formula Vee Association, for her willingness to learn and eagerness to be a part of the motor racing industry. This is the perfect follow up to her Women in Motorsport scholarship, in which Kirsty worked with the Australian A1GP team at Eastern Creek in NSW and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates in 2005.
Kirsty is also working on Racecar development in her studies as a Mechanical Engineer at the University of Wollongong in NSW, she will be presenting to her international counterparts the .Australian News "about Formula Vee and its future.

"I am still finding it hard to believe I am going. When someone contacts you out of the blue and says 'Hey, we have heard of you, come drive a race car at Nürburgring'. you are naturally hesitant to accept it as real! But the German Association and Harry and Jürgen have been so enthusiastic about an Australian coming over, that it has helped me come to terms with the shock!" Said Kirsty on the announcement of the opportunity.

The car she currently drives in the NSW State championships is a 1984 Elfin with a 1200cc engine from a Volkswagen Bug. The German Formel V Association will be providing her with a Golf powered Vee with wings!
The Nürburgring is the most famous motorsport race track in Germany. It features several track configurations. The shorter, modern version called GP-Strecke, will be used for the 40th Anniversary Formula Vee event with the older, much longer version of the Ring called the Nordschleife ("Northern Loop"), being used for the proposed touring car event. Nicknamed The Green Hell by Sir Jackie Stewart, it is widely considered the toughest and most demanding purpose-built race track in the world.
Racing for the 40th Anniversary is between the 6th and 8th of October.

To keep up to date with happenings with Kirsty and her team, check their wesbite: http://www.lasts.com.au/ or Kirsty.s personal blog: http://www.lasts.blogspot.com/
For further information, please contact Margaret Last: (02)9600 7897 or through the team email, lasts@optusnet.com.au

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.lasts.com.au

2006-08-04T15:20:00.000+10:00

Young Engineers Public Speaking Competition!

The other night (Tuesday I think) I entered a public speaking competition at uni for Young Engineers Australia. A sub-bit of IEAUST, the professional orgnisation for Engineers in Australia. The main idea of entering was due to the fact that I needed the money. As a poor uni student, the idea of making a little money by getting up in front of some people and giving a little song and dance on a subject wasn't too daunting. So, for completion's sake, I have decided to stick it up on here. It is basically about the need for my vacation positions. Not a fantastic or world changing topic (by itself of course!) but the whole idea was to rip into something that you know about and to entertain the audience. A warm up for what engineers should be doing in industry. Well, I don't know if the Dean was too happy with my opening joke, but it prooves the point. Here it is:

PS... The slide show that went with this, really helps to emphasise some bits, so sorry if you miss some of the ideas because I can't post that with it!

Speech for competition:"The Importance of Industry Placement Initiatives for Young Engineers,Specifically the Women in Motor Sport Scholarship".

The Accounting graduate asks, "How much will it cost?"
The Science graduate asks, "Why does it work?"
The Engineering graduate asks, "How does it work?"
And the Arts graduate asks, "Do you want fries with that?"

Its funny and very stereotypical, but is it time to stop and ask ourselves, are these afore mentioned “real” degrees in danger of producing graduates that fit into the latter category?

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, my name is Kirsty Last and I am an engineer.

Or at least I am trying to be. I currently study Mechanical Engineering at the University of Wollongong, and whilst undertaking this degree I have had to ask myself and my industry some pretty hard questions..
Why you may ask? Well, I better start at the very beginning.

Dictionary.com defines an engineer as: “One who is trained or professionally engaged in a branch of engineering, who uses scientific knowledge to solve practical problems.” It was found to be synonymous with the words “Mastermind, direct, organise and orchestrate.”

Whilst your average engineering student may reply that they are the best drinkers of the academia community, they are undeniably the movers and shakers of the world’s industries.

Today, engineering educators list the profession’s biggest threats for the future as a downturn in engineering enrolments. As a student who went through the long and arduous process of finding a way into University, I would beg to differ. I pose that the greater threat to the profession today is actually the missing link. Not attracting kids to enrol, but finding a way to build them up and provide them with the necessary experiences they need to find their way in the wide and varied fields of Engineering.

The basic way one becomes an engineer today is to rock up to your nearest University and beg and barter your way in. Once in you undertake some sort of basic introduction to the sciences and maths. You are then given the opportunity to customise your education to your wants through the selection of elective subjects. With all this reading, writing and arithmetic well under way, the University decides it is high time to take your first steps in industry. So, over one of your summer holiday periods they promptly chuck you out the door and tell you to get a job.

It sounds like the logical path for the engineer to take, but looking closely at the method, makes one wonder if it really is all it is cracked up to be.

Currently Universities and APESMA, A professional engineering association, have a going list of all current employers that have suitable vacation employment initiatives. This list for a discipline as popular as say Mechanical engineering, has about 80 positions. There are more informal methods of applying also, but either way, it is then the student’s responsibility to get the ball rolling, make some applications, go to some interviews and hope for the best.

All in all, it seems like a pretty good setup. The industry takes on young student engineers, gives them a taste of the real world and then hopes to pick them up upon graduation to ensure the industry encourages growth.

But, as many students have found, this is not an easy process and does not always return a positive result. If we do the maths, say just for Australia, and If we pretend that each position available is a lolly and each student vying for a vacation position is a hungry little kid, we can look at the statistics this way.

There are 33 Universities in Australia offering engineering in 20 different disciplines. If only 20 of these unis offer mechanical engineering and there about 20 students enrolled in each of these, that works out to 400 hungry little kids looking for a lolly EVERY summer break. And that is in Mechanical Engineering alone! Admitingly, due to the size of Australia, these students are spread throughout a country of 20 million people, but the fact of the matter is, there just aren’t enough jobs to go around.

So what is the solution? Well, the easy option is to drop a need for vacation industry experience. If there is no need for it, there is no demand for positions. But is it that easy? That means that somewhere in the barren wasteland between Engineering studies and sitting behind a desk in a graduate position you are meant to have gained all the knowledge and understanding necessary to pursue a chosen career path.

If we were visual art’s students it would be laughable if the practical application of our skills was overlooked in our education. If we were doctors or nurses, a lack of practical experience would mean it would be a crime to start practising professionally. So as engineers, why is it seen as neither of these extremes when it comes to focusing on the importance on industry placement initiatives?

As a learn to swim teacher, I know that when teaching kids to swim, floating is an essential part, but the getting them up and stroking independently bit is the aim.

So, it is important. But who is going to do anything about it? Who should do something about it? Well, as Aussies, it is our natural reflex to point directly at the Government. And why not? They are the ones that allow for positions in Universities to be regulated so as not to have an influx of graduates into industry. According to them, there is just the right amount of jobs for just the right amount of students.

In 2005 I welcomed with open arms the first in what hopes to be a long line of government and industry initiatives. Or should I say, the government prodding industry to action. The inaugural “Women in Motorsport Scholarship.”
The A1GP of nations was introduced in 2004 as a new category of motorsport that would give all countries a level playing field in which to develop their motorsport interests. The single make formula meant that no one team had an advantage over any other. 25 Nations competed and the category went all over the world.

The day that it was announced that an Australian team was to be formed, The Hon. Sandra Nori, Minister for Women, Sport and Tourisim in NSW stepped up on stage to address a crowd gathered to hear the announcement. As Sandra looked at the crowd she had a brainwave… but I call it divine intervention. She asked herself, “Why aren’t there more young people… young women, involved in this sport?” Here we have a sporting category setup specifically to meet the needs of developing international level motorsport interests, what better opportunity to also develop our young engineers?

And so started the ball rolling for the scholarship. Sandra turned to Australian A1GP seat holder and F1 World champion, Alan Jones and presented the same questions to him. Talking to the Sheik of Dubai and founding chairman of the A1GP- also at the same function, Sandra started to quickly engage the contacts necessary in industry to make the scholarship a reality. The only thing that might have held her back? The industry’s choice to not undertake such a development program. But even they had to admit, it was the best idea in a long time to ensure the growth and longevity of the sport, for what is motorsport without it’s engineers?
The scholarship offered the chance for one young woman, to be part of Australia's pit crew at upcoming A1GP events. Here the winner was able to closely observe a world-class motor racing team in action, and participate in activities that matched their level of knowledge and experience. Amazingly enough, I was selected.

In November 2005 I was part of the crew at the Australian round, at Eastern Creek. I was given the chance to work as an apprentice mechanic to get me familiar with the car itself and what the engineers do to it to make it go faster. This included everything from cleaning and matinence such as dis-assembling and re-assembling the frontbits of the car, and also things like making adjustments to the car in the secretive way that engineers on race teams do. I received valuable knowledge, hands on experience and made lifelong contacts and friends who will serve me in my engineering pursuits here in Australia and abroad.

But this one weekend wasn’t all. In December 2005, I set off for my first taste of motorsport, hands on, at an international level. Dubai in the United Arab Emirates hosted the 6th round of this revolutionary racing category. We braved sandstorms and windburn in 6am starts for pit-stop practice, to assist in new ways on the team. Here I was given a look at Data acquisition, the mathematical and scientific basis for an engineer’s decisions. I learnt first hand the importance of gaining every millisecond in a race to ensure some level of success, and how the team works together in their roles to ensure that. The team’s engineers worked through their own tasks whilst also taking the time to explain to me all the jargon, data and secrets behind success.
The team once again provided me with the time and resources to get my hands dirty. It might sound like a strange thing to get excited about if you aren’t an engineer, but after 3 years of bookwork as a University student, it is like bringing a thirsting man to the beer garden. The knowledge that I received, not to mention the contacts, have set me in great sted to pursue my chosen career path as a race engineer. Without such an initiative, I know that this pursuit would have been less than a pipe dream.

It all started with a conversation. One person asking another how they might best increase someone else’s chances within the industry… One person asking another how that gift might help growth in the industry. It was that easy.

This isn’t a story that is specific only to motorsport, but is a story that should be as synonymous with engineering education as Beer is to beef pie and as engineer is to mastermind.
Thankyou.

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.lasts.com.au

2006-07-18T14:04:00.000+10:00

"Its a Long way to the top if you want to do more than roll...."

I always start out here saying that it has been so long since I have written. Lets face it, there just hasn't been all that much to write about in the last few months. I have been working flat chat at uni, our engine has been getting something more than a little TLC at John Fab's engine shop and we have basically been stationary since April. This isn't a good state to be in as a team trying to get together and make a mark on this championship.

As a result it has been made definite now that we will be missing the 4th round of the championship at Oran Park at the end of this month. This coupled with the findings of taking our engine apart have made us realise that in order to run competitively with the car we currently have, a partial split of resources and commitments will need to be made by the team to both historic and current day competitions.

This will include contesting the Tasman revival meeting in December for the Historics, as well as the last 2 rounds of the NSW State championships. This is all an endeavour to bring as much exposure to our sponsors as possible, give as much driving experience to me as possible and to salvage what we can of a shocker season.

Sometimes of late, I can even forget that I am involved in Formula Vee. How weird is that? I am so far out from any other racers, I have a car that has been on blocks for weeks now and it seems that there is no end in sight to the lay off. But I have to thank so much those people who have been trying to keep the dream alive for us. Specifically Dad and John Fab. These 2 guys will be the reason that I am on the track for August! You have put in SO much work, and I know I have a temper, and I know that I don't thankyou enough, but please take this as some thanks for all that you have both done...

In keeping with this being the place of early breaking news, let me just leave ya'll with a teaser of what the next few months hold for Lasts and Lasts and myself...

1. An academic supported research and development program
2. An Overseas drive (???)
3. Team Pink Launch
4. A new brand of desire...

Excited??? Wanting to know more... Join the club!
Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.lasts.com.au

2006-05-19T14:28:00.000+10:00

Getting on top of the pits...

Well, it has been a while since I dropped a line in here to update on how the team is progressing. But between uni and everything else, we at L&L have been very busy little beavers indeed! So, here I am to tell you all that has been going on of late!

As you may have noticed from the website (Also sadly needing an update of its own!), L&L last competed at round 2 of the NSW state championship at Eastern Creek Raceway. This was an awesome weekend for all involved... Well most of it. In true style we bowed out of the last race, 2 laps from the end as the engine dropped a valve on the straight. I sadly had to pull it into the wall as my baby died and had to sit as I watched the rest of the cars in my category finish... But the whole story of the weekend really puts a bit more of a happy slant on all that... if that is at all possible.

Friday April 28th, 2006
It was decided that the team would miss the private practice day at Eastern Creek to 'Conserve' the engine... Formula 1 style (Good thing as time would tell!). But the team loaded up and shipped out with renewed enthusiasm for the weekend ahead. Once arriving we found that we were going to have an awesome weekend racing wise as fellow-newbie Shane O'Brien would be making his racing debut in his 'Pretty' Polar. Once setup, once again joined with Brown racing team, we all sat back and had a pretty cruisey afternoon, knowing that Eastern Creek as a track can cause some stressful moments over the duration of a weekend!

Saturday April 29th, 2006
Finally, after 1 year out of the NSW road racing circuit, Lasts and Lasts Motorsport were ready to make their comeback! With all systems a go and the car starting first time to get down to scrutineering, the weekend was well and truly underway. We were determined that EVERYTHING would run to the marshal's time (Unlike qualifying the last round we were here! Almost missing it completely!) and that we would just get on the grid.

So with qualifying out of the way shortly after, we found ourselves on the grid for Race 1 in no time at all! A little wet weather in qualifying proved to be interesting for a few of the competitors who had just moved onto the new tyres for our category, but it was fun nevertheless. Race one saw me actually in the thick of some action for the first time in my state championship career. Finally, I was pitted against some drivers whose cars had about the same capacity as mine... But this was a short lived joy as I saw Shane O'Brien overtake me with sheer power at the lead in to turn 5. On the outside and EVERYTHING! I was so shocked!

I did my best to keep up but Shane continually pulled away in the remaining laps and took a position 1 higher than my own! Not bad for a debut mate! But I was desperate to get my own back!

Sunday 30th April, 2006
Scrutineering is always a great way to start a day, and this one was no different. Once through we prepared for race 2 of the weekend. My passion to get back above Shane not dimmed by the few hours we had been away from the track. Once out on the grid I took advantage of a good start and got down to the business of setting some PB's and keeping Shane and Mark Williams at bay. But after about turn 3 of the first lap I didn't see them again until we had all pulled in for a random check on weight and ride height in scrutineering. I had actually beaten someone! Now I am not one to get a big head, but this was the first time I was given the opportunity to actually get in the car, set some good times and not have people's names below mine on the timing sheet that hadn't had some sort of misfortune...

I was pumped for Race 3 as I knew that if I could just pull off the same sort of start that I would be in good stead to bank some points. Even of guys like Ryan Stott had exponentially (Literally!) more points than I did, I was going to make sure I had some sort of respectable placing come presentation night! hehehe...

So, out to the grid we roll. I get a GREAT start, but this time Shane and Mark are right there with me. And Shane stays very close for a LONG time! Then about 4 laps out from the finish I accidentally let him through and he pounced! As Shane pulled out in front of me I figured if I could just stay with him until the top of the straight, I might be able to slip stream him then slingshot in front... Great plan in theory... but very hard to pull off for my first time.

As I pull in close behind him at the top of the straight I feel the air start to pull the car along and start going faster than I probably have ever been down Eastern Creek! I get my shift to 4th in somewhere in there and prepare myself to pull out of the stream and try and overtake on the outside of turn one. I fail, but not miserably. Somehow Shane just still had something left. But he did leave the door open around turn 2 and I took my chance to pounce. As I got in under him in the inside, I realised that I might have a chance to get my position back. But no luck. Shane ducked around again in the same spot he did in race one and I was back behind again... But still holding close.

As I held on for dear life again, passing the part of the track where I had had my major sausage last year, I tried once again to slip stream Shane to get me down the straight fast enough to keep up with him. I knew there was about 2 laps to go and if I could put the pressure on, maybe he would slip up. But no luck. As I moved into position behind Shane again, my engine gave its last. With an almighty "POP" I heard what I latter learnt to be the valve dancing on top of the piston, eating away at my poor dear engine.

As I pulled over to the pit wall I gave the gearbox a bit of time off and coasted to a stall just below Dad on top of the pits. I could tell that this wasn't going to be good, or cheap. As I sat in the car and watched the rest of the cars go by on their final lap and then cool down, I waited for a tow to take me back to the pits. I cringed the whole way. Knowing that Dad would simply put this down to our run of "Bad luck" at Eastern Creek. Once back Dad and Jeff surveyed the damage. Whilst I had managed to not leak a drop of oil this race (As opposed to a mystery leak for the rest of the weekend!), we knew that something was very wrong by the sheer fact that we couldn't turn my baby over.

So ended our weekend. Thankfully it was race 3 and not 1 that it occurred in and that I was able to get in some serious racing before that time came. It was by far the best weekend (Apart from the last 5 minutes or so) that I have had in racing. I finally got to actually RACE. In the in-between time since racing Dad has been admitted to the Emergency ward and released again(Yeah Dad, not getting out of rebuilding the engine that easy!) and is as we speak in the land of the long white cloud, New Zealand(At Poke-A-Kiwi of all places!). My engine is in the shop being pulled down in preparation for Round 4 at Oran Park and we are looking ahead. In order to get up some free driving time I have been working for a top group called Meditrak who attend alot of race meetings as medical support. It has been an awesome experience and steering the Ford around Oran Park has taught me that for cars like that there is LITERALLY only one line through in some places... (Especially through the S's!).

With plans in the works to launch a new team initiative called "Team Pink" (Goes like Stink!) and with other ideas of building our own car from scratch (Any ideas for names guys?), things are still looking up for us. We are still planning on chasing the goal of a top 5 finish, even though it seems very far off at this point in the season, with the start that we have had... It is always good to have a goal in mind...

We would like to thank our sponsors Embroidme Liverpool, Bare Co. Ag. Services and Coastline Printers of Wollongong for all their support through the season. We will still be in the game and doing you proud.Heres to Round 4 guys!

2006-03-25T16:25:00.000+11:00

It might seem like a World Class 1200cc whinge, but this is my crack at trying to be the serious motorsport societal columnist…

I would need to look through the past years worth of point scores to see it, but has a Vee ever in the history of Vees, ever won a championship when they have missed scoring points for an entire round completely? I know that from the proud and the few who actually read this, that they may be in some sort of support for the idea, but is it possible, now with me sitting out the Wakefield season opener today, that I may be able to come out and win this season's series, even if I have a flier of a season from here out? Will I even be able to afford it?

I know on the other hand there will be other sitting there reading this going "She is bonkers. She has no chance for starters and probably never did have. An un-proven entity." But that is what is fuelling me with this whole idea to race. To get out there and prove myself. Unlike many others I haven’t had years of Go-karting experience, nor unfortunately have I had tones of Vee racing experience anyways, due to my team's continuing financial difficulties and our accident last year. But what I do have is passion. But it seems that in trying to finance this passion, we find things start to go pear shaped.

Now I am sure I will get some mail from those who read this, that at some point in this following story that I am wrong... but I will go ahead and give it a crack anyways.
In F1, the deciding factor as to a team's longevity is not how many races they win, but how good they are at negotiating the funds to get out there and do it. One could say that this is the same across the board and is shown perfectly in every V8 supercar race weekend where Anthony Tratt's team got out and did some happy laps for Toll, coming absolutely no where. Jackie Stewart, when forming Team Stewart Grand Prix, realized this and played it to his advantage before even stepping onto the world stage. He approached companies who hadn't before been linked to motorsports, and showed them how they could speak to their wider audience through the sponsorship and advertising on the car in the world's premier category of motorsport.

People sponsor people in sport for one reason only. To be associated with winners. National Australia Bank and Telstra are closely aligned with Australia's more traditional, Olympic style sports teams for events such as the recent Commonwealth Games. National Australia bank even has minute by minute photo updates on their websites to inform their online bankers of the achievements of "Their team... their Golden Team." This shows that they are there supporting their team on the entire way. But what about the support for motorsport?

In higher categories in Australia, everything from V8s to Aussie legends, we find that the cash seems to flow thick and fast from Australia's business community, but anything 'below' this is lucky to see any of the same generosity, even at a proportional percent less due to the level and coverage of the category. For Formula Vee we have been blessed over the past few years of having full to partial coverage of our category on SBS's Speedweek and Inside Speed on Fox, but how much effect is loosing this coverage now going to have on our category's ability to find further sponsors? For our team, I know that even with the coverage and promises to be at the beck and call of sponsors for all promotional purposes, that this was still not a large enough lure. Whilst we still promise this service and more, what else can we do to ensure that out of the hundreds of proposals for sponsorship which we have already sent out to legitimate potential sponsors, that they will read the proposal, consider it and then give it the green light?

We will continue to knock on every door we can and will continue on with what we have, no matter what. But sooner of latter we are going to need someone to step up and give us the chance that we need to become a team that isn't just circulating but dominating. So that next time we have a gearbox decide to give up, we will have the money to get another one. And next time we have an off, we don't sit out the whole season and then some of the next. I am getting WAY too old for that and I am sick of coming Last.

I want to be like John Steffensen, 400m Gold medalist at the Comm games.I want to be able to say “I have come Last for the LAST time!"

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.lasts.com.au

2006-02-07T17:17:00.000+11:00

Welcome back Bare-Co!

Once again, Lasts and Lasts Motorsport have been saved by the commitment of Bare-Co Agricultural Services. Lasts and Lasts Motorsport was in dire need of funding to get to our first round of the season in March and thanks to the kindness and generosity of Bare-Co, we are once again able to.

It has been a rocky start this year, funding wise. But from a racing point of view, we are ready to go out and start about catching that 1200cc crown. In practice only a few weeks ago I was smashing my PB's and this was in a car that was down on power to that which was run in racing 2005. I am looking forward to this season. But there is still a few lingering questions... Like:

1. Who am I to race against? With other 1200's competitiors such as Mitch Abrahall and Morgan Freemantle moving on to 1600 it might not be hard to get the 1200 crown. I might be the only one! But on the other hand, with so many 1200's changing hands over the holiday period, who knows? I may just be in for a challege!
2. Will our funding last us the ENTIRE year??? We have enough to get through Wakefield Park with round 1, but just HOW am to pay for the rest of this year??? With a full year of uni ahead, and a very financially lean summer behind, just how am I going to do it??? Be prepared to get a sponsorship proposal in the mail people!

I'll be praying that we make it through the season with something to show for it this year. There are so many people out there who have helped me NON-STOP since I started on this path. I want to be able to have something to show for it at the end!

Luv Kirst

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.lasts.com.au

2005-12-19T18:00:00.000+11:00

Honey... I'm home!

I sit here on my bed on top of a mountain of clothes, books, paper and stuff. Exhausted but happy. The year is finally drawing to a close and who would have thought at the start that it would have held all the blessings that it has for me.

I have only just started to unpack from my trip to Dubai (Hence the mountains of things in my room!) and thought that this would be the best time to cover all the things that happened leading up to it, during it and the aftermath.

Monday 5th December, 2005
As a lot of you will know, in-between rounds of the A1 I turned 21, my best friend got married and I had to prepare for the exams I would have to sit when I got back to earth. So, will all of those things well underway and eventually over with, I looked forward to preparing for my flight. After a phone conference with Dale from A1 Team AUS at the Office for women, I was set up with my itinerary for my flight to Dubai. I wasn’t told flight times but I knew that my leave date had been moved forward to Tuesday 6th December. For me this was in the hope that I could get in some sight seeing before we had to get to work, for the guys I guess that was so I wouldn’t be dead on my feet for unpacking day…

Tuesday 6th December, 2005
I soon realize that my hard-copy itinerary was different to the one I had been told verbally and that was online. Everyone else involved in getting me over to Dubai hit panic stations because there was a 2 hour difference in my leave times from the airport… that could prove to be a bit of a problem as Emirates Airways, whom I was going with, ask that you be present 3 hours before take off. With this minor hiccup sorted my parents and I made our way through Sydney peak hour traffic to make it to the airport just in time for check in.

With all systems go I jumped on my flight and was off! Now, I have been on planes before, or so I am told. But nothing that I can actually remember. Seeing as all my long distance travel has been motorsport related since, I have always had 2 feet or at least 4 wheels firmly on the ground as I had to tow whatever form of motorsport vehicle it was, all over Australia. So, takeoff was something new for me. I thought that it would be a HUGE rush from take-off, all the way through the flight. Takeoff sure was, and I captured it on video, but the rest of the flight was just like sitting in a big bus. As I was on one of the wings, and as our part of the world is currently in monsoon season, it was a bit of a noisy and bumpy ride, but for the rest of it, it was ok. My only problem was sleep. I just couldn’t do it! I had a WHOLE row of seats to myself all the way to Bangkok, but just couldn’t get the hang of it.

Farewell Sydney Airport!

My first view of another country, Bangkok airport

Wednesday 7th December, 2005
Upon touch down in Dubai, I didn’t really feel like I was on the opposite side of the world to where I had always been. The first thing that really did it for me was reaching the immigration lines where hundreds of people queued to get into Dubai. It was like something you see on TV. All these soldiers in Arab military uniforms and so many men and women clothed in native dress. Immigration itself was nothing to rave about. Just who was there. Because I was ridding economy class I had to wait with everyone else, but the first Aussie I clapped eyes on was Will Davison, the Australian driver who happened to be flying Business Class and was able to sail through the fast lane. I kept looking at my watch, Dubai time, and realized that the time that my ride was meant to be coming had long passed and I wasn’t even halfway down the line yet!

Eventually I got through Immigration and was again swamped by people when I got out into Arrivals. Left right and centre, there were men asking me if I would like to be taken in their cab anywhere. I looked for any Aussies I could recognize but couldn’t find any. Then I clamped eyes on Alan Jones. F1 star and scared, lost little Aussie gal’s savior. Seeing as I am only a poor uni student, Optus wouldn’t cover me whilst I was overseas, so my mobile phone wouldn’t work. But Alan’s did and he made a few phone calls for me to ensure that there was a ride on the way for me, and whilst he and Will left in another car to go to a separate Hotel, I was left to get to know the guys in the Valet parking area. For 2 hours we chatted about nothing in particular on their experiences of Australia and Dubai, how one of them, a 50 or so old man had been sky diving there on his last trip and how much he liked Australia but how much I would love Dubai. And he wasn’t wrong. When finally poor Dale had fought his way through the crazy morning traffic to the airport, I got my first taste of what everyone had been telling me about. As we traveled through the CBD, Jumeriah I think it is, past some of the biggest and most beautiful buildings I had ever seen, I just sat in silence whilst Dale talked.

Then all of a sudden we were in the middle of the desert. When I have been asked to describe Dubai since, the only thing that I can sum up where we were is as “Melbourne with lots of sand.” Because that is what it is like. With a couple of crazy work men digging holes in the desert and climbing up 25 meter high scaffolding with no restraints to construct billboards. All in the desert. People rave at this point about the amount of camels that they see in this part of Dubai. For the record, I would like to state that at NO time in my travels did I see ANY camels. The only one I was fortunate enough to see was the stuffed one I bought in duty free at the airport!

Anyways, on arriving at my hotel I was shown to my room. I stepped inside and said to the Bell boy “Are you sure this is my room?” He nodded with a smile. It was bigger than my WHOLE dorm and bathroom and next door’s at my university dorm. And the bathroom even had a bum washer! It was crazy fancy, and I LOVED it! I’ve already said since getting home, that when we go on motorsport tours from now on, it is 3 or 4 star minimum… No more caravan parks!

So, out to the track we went for my first glance at one of the world’s most technologically advanced circuits. I was excited to say the least. My track experience at an international level extends to Bathurst and Eastern Creek! When you get to the circuit, the first thing you see are the towering grandstands. There is 3 of them. At least 1 fully enclosed to house the patrons spectating from the sand filled high winds that can whip up around the place. Once in we are shown into the pits. This time in between Lebanon and India. But still close enough to the Dutch boys, Team Aus’ new best friends.
We spend most of the first day unpacking the mass of containers that the series is stored and shipped in.

Notice the odd handbag out?

The Track Shack, where Gaz has to fix all the things I break!

Thursday 8th December, 2005
Thursday is much the same. After a delightful dinner at the Italian/American restaurant in the mall which was attached to our Hotel-the night before, I headed back to my room and set my alarm for the 6:30 I would need to get up to go to the track with the team. Little did I know that I set it for 6:30pm and not am. Consequentially I got to ride in with the race engineers at a latter time and copped a ribbing from the boys for it.

Crazy Dutch Fans

More crazy Dutch!

Friday 9th December, 2005
By Friday things look in place, our stand in mechanic Jackie has arrived, and the boys get ready to go out for practice. The drivers, Will and Christian have been more involved in prep for this round then I have EVER seen drivers be before. It was awesome. They were even there on Wednesday when we unpacked.

Friday also is practice day. A chance to scrub in tyres, for the drivers to work out the best way around the track and for the Engineers to tune the car to the way that they think will make it perform the best. Our first 2 sessions were spent with Christian Jones in the car. He did well and was able to set the pace and the feel of the car for Will to hop in. Will set quicker times and was later chosen as the driver for the weekend, but suffered some bad luck when he spun and flat spotted a set of the race tyres that the team were hoping to use in Qualifying or the race. Seeing as the team are only provided with a certain number of tyres for the race weekend, this meant bad news. Strategies had to be changed and different tactics used to ensure that we would have enough suitable rubber to last us the weekend.

The Rubber in Question

Will in the car looking at dash readings

Saturday 10th December, 2005
Saturday came and again I was given the chance to spend time with Engineers Paul and Matt G. This meant that I was able to look over the data of practice and the 4 qualifying sessions that would follow today. The data heralded some interesting things and I learnt a lot about how the car behaves on this circuit under the loadings that it introduces on the car, as well as about how to correct those things through aerodynamic adjustments and suspension geometry adjustments. Some things were tried out and others dismissed, but eventually the car was got to a point in time where both driver and engineer were happy with the outcome.

As it was though, we qualified 22nd and were relegated to the back of the grid. This not being all bad as the selected driver, Will Davison, is known for his fighting ability and it was trusted that he would soon make the best of it and fight his way back though the pack, pit stop permitting and as long as no one else takes him out, as has become customary at the back of the pack in A1.

Sunday 11th December, 2005
Sunday came all too soon as I knew that the big races were coming and my time in Dubai was coming to a close. And I hadn’t even been shopping yet!
The sprint race, which is a 15 minute dash to the finish, was first up and as we grided up my new job was as tyre warmer holder. Nothing very exciting to an outsider, or even by the standards to the race engineers and mechanics. But it meant that I had something to do and got to stay on the grid until the last buzzer sounded for it to be cleared.

As we grided up for the sprint, we looked around and saw that we weren’t too badly placed as we were surrounded by good drivers from team like The Netherlands and Austria. The buzzer sounded and we cleared the grid. As we got back to the pit we were able to watch on the screen the goings on of the start and the race. A problem with the paddle shift steering wheel on the car meant that Will was driving and the car would pull gears on it’s own. Something that Team Aus had never had a problem with, but realized could prove fatal if it decided to pull a gear at a very in-optune time. To fix it meant changing over steering wheels between this car and the spare, at least. The pit stop cost time and again Will was forced back down the standings. We eventually came 16th and were again towards the back for the feature race. By this stage everyone was pretty quiet in the pits, just trying to prep the car and get everything checked over in the short amount of time before the feature race.

With the same role again, I made my way down to the grid, praying the whole time
that we could at least fight through to a points paying position. This would mean that the guys could at least finish off their year with something close to the fantastic start that they had at Brands Hatch.

Once off the start, Will made Lemonade with the Lemons he was given, Consistently moving through the pack. Moving up to 3rd at his highest position. And early pitstop was the strategy with teams like Netherlands following suit. But a freak accident with the rattle gun on the front left meant that the pit stop which looked to be one of the boys fastest yet, blew out to around 60 seconds. The team pulled together though to ensure that Will was put back out again and given the best chance possible.

With near misses with teams like Mexico, Will kept powering through the hour until an accident in front caused him to loose 9th position to Jos Verstappen of the Dutch team when he chose to avoid it on a certain side. The final standings were some of the most surprising ever. France and Great Britain aside. The South African team experienced their first podium and China were lucky enough to get up to 5th. Their first points pay off also. We were lucky enough to come in at 10th.

Once back in the pits, the guys were ready to pack up. Will was congratulated on his driving and everyone let the weight of the last day impact on them. We had fought through mistakes, accidents and bad luck to get into the top 10. A great achievement by any standards. But now it was party time and the guys shut up shop and headed home for the team Christy/End of round dinner, hosted by Mr Alan Docking.

It was a great weekend for me, team finishing position aside. I learnt so much and amongst that was part of a great team. I learnt how to do things without being asked. Not the type of stuff just like cleaning up that your parents wished you would do, but listening to what the guys were doing and getting to know what they would need next to finish the job. I don’t know how well I did at it, but at least I think I was learning to ask the right questions. I learnt more again about data and car handling and was blessed enough to have guys like Paul and Matt G teaching me. Matt G even gave me a thesis topic for my 2007 thesis! That was one less thing off my mind. Hopefully I will have the chance next summer to get over to England to go and research it, but that trip will be a whole year in the making yet. For the rest of this year and next I will be trying to put all that I have learned into practice with my team and whatever other teams I am lucky enough to be a part of.

I want to send out a huge thankyou first to Sandra Nori and all the Ladies at the Office for Women. You have gone to extraordinary lengths to make sure that I was given this opportunity. I know for sure that you were heaven sent. What else could have possessed you to want to do this. For me of all people! This is the only thing that I want to do… and the only thing I am driven enough to do. And as the sign on my wall says “I could not imagine doing anything else right now.”

I also want to thank the Team Australia guys. Thankyou to Alan Docking for giving me the chance. Without you and your team also this would not have happened. Thankyou to Engineers Paul and Matt G. You explained heaps of stuff and even when you wouldn’t have expected it, you taught me heaps. To the dudes. You put up with so many blonde moments, so many times where you must have wanted to slap me, already laden down with your own work but willing to take the time to show me how to do something and fixing it when I stuffed it up. To Norm, I’m sorry for breaking you 1/8th socket allen key. I know it was your favourite. To Matt S, I’m sorry for making you have to find things for me to do. Dutch boys don’t count. To Gaz, sorry that you had to fix stuff that I broke. To Matt K, sorry I stuffed up heaps and didn’t say thankyou enough. I promise when I grow up I won’t leave the tools out anymore. To Jackie, thanks for not making me feel like the only one stupid enough to try and do this all at the same time. To Grumps, thanks for not getting angry at me… that I know of at least! Thanks Adam for making sure that I didn’t get in the way too much and could work out where I am meant to be going next.
And thanks to Dale, Ron, Roy and all the other guys in the Aussie offices of A1 for making it possible to accommodate me as one of the boys. You did a fantastic job.

All this wouldn’t have been possible for me to have done without the support, prayers and sacrifices of so many people. I have tried to thankyou all here, and if I missed you, please don’t feel cut. I tried, and failed but had heaps of fun because of it!

So, as Sunday night drew to a close I made my way back to the Hotel. Exhausted but happy that I had been able to be a part of it and as far as I could see, make the most of it.

I have to admit, once back to the hotel, it didn’t stop there. It was about a 2am get in and I met a bunch of the Austrian team there who didn’t want to turn in yet either.
They are also a fantastic bunch of guys made up of Poms, Germans and Fins. I learnt some German and more stuff about motorsport and made some new friends. But I also ended up more exhausted and figured that if I went to bed now, I wouldn’t be up in time for my 6am leave. So, upstairs I trotted to pack, where after about 5 minutes I fell asleep with my head in my suitcase! Luckily I woke up at around 5am and quickly jammed everything back into my bags and headed downstairs for breakfast and checkout. Again I teetered on falling asleep in the lounge whilst waiting for my cab, but once on my way it finally kicked in that my adventure was over. I was going home. As I passed all those fantastic buildings again I decided that Dubai was definantly worth another visit, preferably at another A1 round! But this time my spending budget would be bigger and shopping would be a mandatory part of the trip!

On the way home we were delayed by some medical emergency on the flight. But once dad picked me up I near passed out from exhaustion in the car and once home slept from 10am until the next morning! But what a rush!

Since getting home I have sat 2 exams, travelled to Goulburn and back again for a drive day hosted by Gulf Western Oils and as already stated, have unpacked all my luggage from those 2 trips.
From here to the end of the year I start looking for a job, a bunch of new sponsors and perhaps even a new race car! But I know this for sure… I will be going into next year with more enthusiasm than ever, of what might happen!

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.lasts.com.au

2005-11-11T22:29:00.000+11:00

Yes, I do realize that it is Friday. 7 days since I started my A1GP experience. But please believe me when I say that this is the first moment that I have had a chance to breathe since this whole roller coaster began!

Lets back track and I will try and make this simple and in chronological order at least...

Thursday 3rd November, 2005
This morning started well enough. My first task was to meet up with my new sponsors 'Embroidme' at Liverpool. They will be doing all our team and sponsors uniforms for the 05-06 season.
From here I made the trip out to my first real function for the A1. An invitation only event at Government house. But when I get there... 10 minutes late by this stage(Thanks to Sydney traffic) I find out that I am actually at Parliament house. Well, how am I meant to know? I am a westie and a country girl! I have no clue what the difference is between the two. So from the Parliament house car park to the Government house one, I am coached over the phone by Di from Sandra Nori's office. Without her I think I would have chucked it all in and turned around and gone home. So, as I sped into the car park at G.House, I staved the temptation to pull on the Handbrake and just ripped a massive U-ey in the car park instead. Once inside I found that I had arrived just in time for the speeches, to meet Will Davison, the Sheik and a few other VIP's.

The Sheik surprised me the most. For a man as busy and important as he, he was very softly spoken and very polite. He actually spoke to me about my Fvee racing and congratulated me on my scholarship. That absolutely blew me out of the water! Then, as I saw the time nearing an indecently late hour for me to be heading to the track (I had been at the function for about 10 minutes at this stage), I ran over to Alan Jones(AJ) and asked if it was time to go yet. Here I met Will Davison and promptly ran out to start heading to the track.

Once at the track I was introduced to all the guys on the Aussie team. Some of which I had met on the Monday prior, all as nice as before. But I was still was at a loss as to what my position on the team was actually to entail. So, I walked up to the Head Engineer Paul and asked "So, for this weekend, apart from stay out of the way, don't touch anything and don't break anything, what do you actually want me to do?" Observe, was his reply. Which at this point I was totally cool with. Here I was, sun burnt, hot and still dressed in suit from the morning's function. I was just impatient for everything to get underway already! But at this point the guys were just getting the car together.

By the time dinner rocked around I had been supplied with a uniform, been introduced to all the guys on the team and was probably more scared about what the weekend actually held than at any other point in this whole scholarship process. As the time neared 11pm we made our way home. To the Crown Plaza Norwest in the Hills district. Here it actually sunk in that this was the FIRST time I had my own room, my own bathroom... Heck... MY OWN SHEETS when on 'tour'! Up to this point I had never actually been away on a race trip, SAE of VEE where I had slept in an individual bed in and individual room on REAL sheets. All the other times were bunk beds, sleeping bags and as many people squeezed in as was humanly possible. But here... WOW! But, as I got changed and sat down for the first time in hours, I realised that in that type of environment, where you are around peeps 24/7, you can't just turn off. It wasn't till about 2 in the morning that I finally got off to sleep. But the next morning was a 6:30am leave, which means that I would need to be up at around 5:45am if I was to be ready!

Friday 4th November, 2005
Today was the first real day of the Aussie round of the A1 with practice for both drivers, Christian Jones and Will Davison. This practice was to determine who would be in the car for the weekend and would give the engineers some idea of what to expect around the track under various conditions, as we battled looming clouds.
As Christian hopped into the car I was handed a headset so that I could get a bit more indepth understanding of what sort of communications went on between driver and crew. It was an amazing experience. To see the car on the track, on the telly, right in front of you and then to have all that going on around you, and then inside your head... was a little freaky! But cool. I wish CAMS hadn't banned radios for our category. Using them for the weekend made me realize how handy and important a part that they may play in sessions.

We were able to take a look at the different data sets that Christian brought in with him after his session, and once Will was in the car we were able to put them up against each other back to back. The software that the A1 uses in some ways is very similar to what the Motec systems on my uni's FSAE team uses. Something I never really had anything to do with at uni but was given the chance by the engineers on the Aussie team to have a play with. As we looked over the data and the times produced by each driver, it was decided that Will would be put in the car for the weekend. Will actually has got a bit of experience around the Creek. I remember when I was 15 and him, Will Power and Leanne Tander nee Ferrier were racing around in Ffords... What a difference it is for us to be all grown up and involved in this category!

As the night went into prep mode, strategy and setup was discussed for the next day's practice and qualifying sessions. Another late night, but in it I actually started to learn a bit! Data analysis, car preparation... all the important things. But of course, nerves kicked in and as I was helping one of the crew pack the rear dampers with plastic packers, I dropped one. Right in-between the under tray and the engine... They have one of those surgical style grabbers that are meant to be able pull them out, but it didn't really work in the position that the packer was in. So following the packer went a screwdriver, a pick and hands before the grabber was able to do it's job. It was kind of like the situation where you threw your shoes, your school bag and your hat into the tree to get the ball out and none of them came down again... Luckily it all came out again. But not before the team member in question probably felt like smacking the stupid uni student in the head!

From here we packed up again and left for home...

Saturday 5th November, 2005
Nerves are starting to spike as we go into qualifying day... Things need to really go right here for the team to save them from starting from the rear again and having to make their way through traffic during the race, increasing the chance of something going wrong. I really didn't want to get in the way, or do anything else wrong.

But as if. I think I can quite safely say I am the Bridget Jones of the racing community. A complete blonde and very ditsy. I was pretty successful in keeping out of the way, and as the day wore on, my duties included cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning. All of which was cool as it gave me a chance to get up close and have a good look around the car. But by the evening, after we had qualified in 13th, I think someone on the team had a brain fart as they actually let me take apart the brakes on the front, clean everything up, replace the pads and do a spanner check over the front end. I can't say that I didn't stuff up here... as how could I not? I was given something to do... But lucky it was only a stupid thing. Like putting the brake pads in b4 the guy holding the pistons back had a chance to get out of the way. Meaning that there was pistons, pads AND clamps inside the caliper... something which is not meant to occur all at the same time! When everything was back on, I asked that someone check over my work, as only a temp member I don't expect that anything I do be taken as gospel... but after checking one nut I was told that if all were the same, what I did was trusted. Not wanting ANYTHING to go wrong, I did a double spanner check again... The last thing my aspiring Race engineer career needs is a blotch on it that says that I was the chick that forgot to do up Will Davison's steering bits...

But everything went off well, and we looked forward to a good start tomorrow in the sprint race. We headed back to the hotel for a team drink, then off to bed.

Sunday 6th November, 2005
Today is another nervous, early start for the team... we arrive at the track for prep and a run-down on strategy. I get my first track side interview and we all get ready for the biggest day of the weekend... RACE DAY.

Before this though, I got to meet a VERY cool lady in the form of Will Davison's Nan. Now, this might not seem like much to some, but for those that know the Davison family's involvement in motorsport in Australia for the last 3 generations, will understand. This lady wasn't just the late L. Davison's wife, but also a driver and motorsport chick in her own right. She is an honorary life member of the ARDC (MY Car club!) thanks to her late husband's contribution to racing, but is a hill climb and Targa Tasmania competitor... from what I got to talk to her about! From all the people I met on the weekend, I think the one that I would most like to grown up like, would have to be her... A lady, but a COMPLETE Revhead!

The sprint race started well with Will dodging much of the traffic at the rear by getting a good start. A few laps in though, we saw on the TV that the Left hand side-pod was flapping a little. One of my jobs for the morning was to go around and put cable tie cuffs over all the cable stays which stabilize the side pods. So here I was, absolutely crapping myself thinking that I had not put it on right as the stay had somehow come loose. Just what I needed. "Here comes the blotch!" I thought... Thankfully Will got through the race with little hassle, again missing alot of the mis-haps on the track as we sat through about 2 safety car periods. The race was called on time, rather than laps, and we got ready to look at data, change car setup, clean and get ready for the almost immediate feature race. We came11th.

Once the car got in, it was found that the notorious cable stay which I thought I was responsible for, turned out to have somehow sheared itself at the top of it's thread. Not a good thing for the team, though only a matter of replacing, was good for me. As all other things were put back into their rightful place, Will Davison was inserted back into the car and we headed out to the grid for the feature race.

The atmosphere on the grid was amazing. Where I normally sit at the creek, next to the grandstand, was absolutely PACKED with people. All waving flags and screaming out to the people who filled the grid. Where I stood I could see The poms, the Brazillians and many other teams who possessed seat holders, engineers and drivers who I greatly respect and look up to. What a place to be! This time last year I stood on the hill and watched the V8's. This year I stand on the GRID with an international motorsport category... LITERALLY world class, and look up. How far have I come... how far have I got to go!?

The race finally gets underway and is as thrilling as the ads promised it would be! There is pleanty of biff and barge, LOADS of overtaking and a good lot of tiffing between the teams. No more so that the race between Will Davison in the Aussie car and Alex Yoong in the Malaysian car. There is a HUGE accident towards the end of the race with Japan leaving the circuit at turn 1 and belting the CEMENT wall at high speed. The carbon tub and engine separate, as they should and the driver sits so stunned that he hardly moves and we fear for his safety. We go under full circuit yellow and the safety car comes out once again. After about 8 or 9 laps of safety car, the lights go out and the course heats up for a 2 lap dash for the finish... Will is able to bring it in at an amazing 6th and the French take home their 6th consecutive win for the season.

WOW! Well, what a weekend... But it isn't over yet. It is time to pack up and put everything on a plane for the Malaysian round. Another day's work in itself. So we get together and start to dismantle the whole setup... Everything had it's own little bag or box and it all fits together like a jigsaw puzzle. It is such a cool setup! If only all racing forms fitted as well as this!

We pack up again to get ready for the EC after party, but by the time we get back it is all over. The guys are tired and go to bed, so I go back to my room, watch a movie, have a few drinks and hit the hay myself...

Monday 7th November, 2005
Well, the weekend is over, but the work still continues, for the guys at least. They are off to QLD, then Malaysia. In the mean time, I shall turn 21, read Carroll Smith's books cover to cover, compete in nationals, be a bridesmaid and study for exams and move house! Then I am off to Dubai. So I am pretty busy too.

I say my farewells(The guys happy to see the back of me no doubt!) and start making my way back home to get ready to go to Wollongong.

Thanks to Sandra Nori for making the whole thing possible. Without her support with the Office for Women, this whole experience would not have been possible. I have learnt things and made contacts that would have taken years to make. And most important of all, my break for this came in Australia, thanks to Australians!
Thanks also to the A1GP of Nations, both internationally and at an Australian level... And to think of it... I still have Dubai to go!!!

On a Fvee note, on Wednesday this week we tested at Wakefield Park. This was our first outing since the accident and consisted of shake-down testing to check all components, as well as some seat time for myself. It was very exciting as I was finally getting my driving skills up to a standard where I am starting to be very consistent and clean.

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.speeding.to/lasts

2005-10-31T23:02:00.000+11:00

Hi there peoples!

Today was the launch of the Eastern Creek round of the A1GP at Eastern Creek. The launch included driver Alex Davison (Yes, that is Alex, not Will), driving the car in place of the Sheik who could not attend. It also included me finally getting to meet a few of the members of the team. The guys seem really nice, and even if they do tell me to "Sit in a corner and don't touch anything" I think the experience of being around these guys will be totally worth it. But I do really hope to get my hands dirty "Hint Hint..." But I did get to meet Alan Jones which was TOTALLY worth taking the day off studying.

For the Vee side of things, this weekend we purchased a new helmet(This one with Snell ratings... Which is really good for those of you not up with the lingo). We also gained a new sponsor in Liverpool's "Embroidme" shop. They will be providing the team with uniforms and embroidery on them to ensure that we always look the part. Now heres to getting the rest right!

We have, as of tonight, submitted our paperwork for the Nationals at Oran Park on the 18-20th of November. We will be running in the regularity event and the car will be donated to a Vintage driver for the parade lap to represent the decade of my birth and the lifetime of the NG Elfin. Ours is actually the 2nd last of those built by Gary Cooper in 1984, but the car is still older than I! But we have been blessed enough to have the full log books of the car also and have been able to trace the car's history right back to the owner who commissioned it's building.

We have a reception on at Parliament house on Thursday morning. By this stage my marketing exam will be out of the way but I have a bit of a suspicion I will be sneaking into the powder room to try and nut out the physical attributes that chain or belt drive adds to a force system... But I'll let you know how it all goes!

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.speeding.to/lasts

2005-10-26T09:51:00.000+10:00

Heya... just dropping a line to keep everything up to date.
This Friday is a big day... but a good day. I get vaccinated for lovely things like Typhoid and I also get my first taste of media training! It is all very exciting.

At the moment I am also just trying to get through all the work for my exams and get them done. One of them actually falls during the Eastern Creek round! So I have a bit of work ahead of me to get everything organised! But at least it is fun!

Got interviewed by the uni, ABC radio and the Illawarra mercury in the last week. All of a sudden I am a real Wollongong girl! It's nice to feel like you belong... but I must admit, I miss being home for Mum's cooking and things like that... how am I going to go in a foreign country? Lucky I am not a fussy eater! Anything has to be better than college food!

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.speeding.to/lasts

2005-10-21T17:40:00.000+10:00

WOW! Well, who would have thought that in the space of 1 week what has happened to me COULD happen!

Let me back track!
On Monday 17th I was invited to an interview for the Women in Motorsport Scholarship, run by the A1GP of Nations and The Premier's office for Women. At this interview I was introduced to some members of the office for women as well as Dale Walsh from the Australia A1 team. At the interview I was asked about what I had been doing to activley get a career in Motorsports and what I was planning to do in the future.

The outcome of this was that in 24 hours I found out that I was the lucky recipient of the Women in Motorsport scholarship. For those of you who are in the dark about what this scholarship entails, please let me explain to the best of my knowledge.

Sandra Nori, the Minister for Women, Sport and Rec. and Tourisim challenged Alan Jones and the A1GP to have more women activley involved in Motorsports, specifically the new category of A1. The result of this is a scholarship for one woman aged 18-25 years old, living in NSW with a passion and drive for a future in the motorsport industry.

The prize consists of taking part in the A1GP rounds at Eastern Creek(4th-6th November 2005) and Dubai(7th-12th December 2005), as an active member of the Australian A1GP team. The position will be relevant to the current skills of the winner and will allow her to hopefully extend herself and learn alot through the experience!

When phoned on Tuesday afternoon(After sweating on it all day!!!), I absolutly FREAKED out! I pity poor Kate Parker who was the lucky lady who had to call me and tell me that I had won. I totally screamed in her ear! This is the chance of a life time! Not only the going to Dubai bit, or the getting to get my hands dirty with the world's new premier racing category... but the whole working under Alan Jones for guys like Will Davison, is what REALLY gets me!

I don't know where to start with all the other things that happened after this, but I will try to put some sort of chronellogical order to it!

Wednesday brought with it the news that I would have the chance to thank the Premier and Minister Nori for their efforts, in person. With the date moved forward to Thursday morning... early, it meant that I was keeping with my tradition of leaving college dinners early to head back to Sydney for race related business!

Thursday morning rolled around and I was picked up in a cab at Central station by the lovely Dianne from Sandra Nori's office for the start of one of the biggest days of my life so far!
From central we went to the old Parliament house where the Premier's offices are and were escorted about for a bit as we waited for things to get underway.

Parked in the Domain(A big park in Sydney where heaps of music festivals, carols by candlelight, etc are held) was the show car for the A1GP of nations along with a whole heaps of people from the offices of the Premier and related ministers. Here I was introduced to the car, my local member for Parliament in Wollongong(Norene Hay) and alot of the people that make the press conferences and every day movements of the members run smoothly. Here I was coached in the day's proceedings.

Showtime. And the weather didn't really seem ready to co-operate. As Sandra Nori appeard with her entourage, so did A1 Australian Test driver Peter Hackett. As the rain came down we re-located to the Premier's conference room where I was introduced to the media and welcomed to the Australian A1 team by Roy Pater and Rod Paech. After meeting the Premier, Morris Iemma, I was shoved in front of the cameras and told to "Start talkin' girl!"

Things went well enough that as the weather eased and I was allowed back outside. Here I was interviewed by Fox Sports(Yes! Me! Fox Sports! I can't believe it either!) and Auto Action Magazine(Yes, me and AA!!!). I got to go through the car a bit more with Peter and learned how unique and well packaged they really are! Lolla have done well for themselves with the A1 cars and it will be great to see them at the Creek and then get to play with it!

Afterwards things settled down as I came back to Wollongong to get interviewed by the Illawarra Mercury. This story should appear in the Saturday 22nd October edition.

It has been quite a Whirlwind though! But I am loving it completley!
Next Friday I have Media training, Travel shots(As in Typhoid vaccinations!) and I finally get to rest a bit before exams start.

I will definantly be using this as a means to keep everyone up to date with my movements and what is going on with the scholarship!

With this, I also have some more good news with a news sponsor coming on board with Lasts and Lasts to help us get through with our National's regularity campaign. Coastline Printing have come on board as an In-Kind sponsor and have so far been doing a beautiful job with all of our print media. If you are a potential sponsor, please ready yourselves for some of their beautiful work coming to you in the mail!

Thanks again to Coastline, A1GP of Nations, the Aussie A1GP team, The Premier of NSW, The office for Women and everyone else who have made these oppertunity's possible for me!

Stay tunned now!
Luv Kirsty

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.speeding.to/lasts

2005-10-19T14:01:00.000+10:00

I'm going to Dubai!!!

Hi there everybody!
It has been soooooo long since I last posted. I know. I have been really slack so here is the big update blog entry... okay, the small version... I have to go finish my uni homework!
I am going to dubai! I won the NSW Premier's Department for Women Motorsport scholarship. For info, go to: www.women.nsw.gov.au

I will explain everything latter. Okay. Tonight!
Luv Kirsty
xxx
ooo

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.downshift.to/lasts

2005-05-20T08:22:00.000+10:00

As some of you will well be aware, last year and a good part of the year before was spent in love affairs with 2 men. One named Sergio and the other named Roger. They were magnificant things. The Uni of Wollongong's FSAE cars. Both champions in their own right.

This time last year I saw off Sergio as he was packed into a transport crate and shipped to the Americas. Then I saw off our boys whom were to meet Sergio there where he would be competed. This time last year it was I and the familys of our boys who were seeing them off. Completley complacaint and not ever worrying to think what might happen to them.

I no doubt agree that this is just how the mothers and friends and girlfriends of the boys from Minnesota State-Mankato University felt only a few days ago when they farewelled their boys as they towed their pride and joy across America to Detroit to compete in this years FSAE competition. Unfortunantly, thier complacinacy was to be realised when they found out that some of their boys weren't coming home. (http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=97210)

I shudder to think that this could have been any one of the teams that go to the FSAE competitions all over the world. We already know that a similar thing could have befell the UNSW team here in Australia when towing their solar powered car to the Northern territory. And then we were devestated that it was the car that was destroyed, but thankfully not the life. Here we have boys who might well have been ours doing the same thing we do. Lost.

In the Motorsport community at large, and especcially in the FSAE one, there is a long standing bond between teams. Commradery overcomes all cultural, financial and linguistic barriers as the boys(And girls!) join together for one big festival of motorsport in it's rawest form. It doesn't matter where you are from, or what you do exactlly, the fact is that you are there and amougnst it all. As Pierre De Coubertin, the founder of the modern olympics said "The most important thing... is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well. "

One of the guys on my team last year said something along the lines of "I thought when I first started that I would confidently be able to say all the other cars here were quite simply pieces of crap. Now I understand how much of an effort it takes to get here in the first place. Every one of those teams should be bloody proud they have gotten this far because that means they have shed blood sweat and tears to get to this point and they deserve every chance to compete as we do." He finally understood that here in FSAE, the sporting code still held like it did in the Olympic ideals. It wasn't about winning, but the being there. A part of it.

In FSAE it is the commradery that hits you first. The fact that if you have forgotten to pack a 1/4" socket(God forbid!), you can run into the pit next door and pretty much help yourself. When you are down on your luck and can't understand why the car won't start, you can cling to the fact that there are 20+ other teams out there in the paddock who are your neighbours and all whom must somehow adhere to the Christian values of "Love thy neighbour" because, as they hear you grown through the canvas pit walls, you will be sure to see at least 5 heads pop around into your pit and ask you if you'd like a hand.

It is for these same reasons that the families and friends of the boys who lost their lives on the way to the US comp this year can cling to the fact that they aren't bearing this loss alone. The WHOLE FSAE community mourns with them. They were our boys too.

2005-03-14T15:58:00.000+11:00

The Weekend came, the weekend went and it was gooooood.

Well, after all those butterflies and tense moments where I thought I wouldn't make it through the day... I have had an awesome weekend. Shakespear was right!

The weekend started with me leaving for Sydney late on Thrusday afternoon for a homecomming at about 8:30pm. I grabbed some dinner and headed for bed as I knew what an early morning it would be.

Friday came all too early as I stumbled out of bed... thankful for at least being home.
Dad went to Muirs Holden in Ashfield to go and pick up the new tow vehicle for Lasts and Lasts... His new work vehicle, a VZ Commodore Crewman. As the excitement subsided after his arrival we got to work packing the trailer and the tray.

After packing we made a few trips around the place to tie up loose ends for the weekend and headed down south and out west to get the weekend underway. With Friday non-compulsory for the race weekend, we thought we would take our time in getting down to Wakefiled Park in a bid to keep with our plans for a relaxing weekend.

Knowing our track record with all things paperwork, we decided to drop into the secretary's office on arrival to get it all out of the way so that we could concentrate on a good weekend of racing. After this was over with(After about an hour of standing in line and then only to find out that our paperwork had myseteriously disappeared and that my name had somehow changed to Kisty!), we made a bee-line for the scrutineers to take advantage of the early scrutineering. As we made it to the line however, we were told that the cut off had passed and that we would have to come back in the morning.

A little disappointed that we couldn't get this out of the way, we headed back to pack up again and to move on in to our Motel room... As I said in my last post, this is our first away race and it was VERY exciting to be staying in a motel and doing all those "Away game" things!

Our Motel was the LOVELY Alpine Heritage on Sloane St, with generous parking and helpful employees. We decided that instead of going to the Soldier's Club with everyone else to cash our free Gift voucher for the weekend, we would have a nice, quiet Itallian Dinner in a Pizzaria on the main drag.

Here we ate up a hearty meal and hot footed it back to the Motel room after a touch of shopping for essentials at woolies(ie: Lollies, Grapes and Water!), all in time to catch the first few minutes of the St George vs Bulldogs game!

Welcome Saturday Morning.

Fighting back fears of overnight rain, I pulled the curatins of our motel room apart to find something slightly worse in my books. Fog and heavy Dew.
Whilist Dad made jokes about it, I think even he was a little terrified once we got in the car to drive out to the track at 6am to find that we could hardly see a few feet in front of us due to the fog!

We did make it however and got un-packed to start the weekend and get through scrutineering to kick it off.
Whilist we waited for the fog to clear Dad got us through scrutineering and I through the Driver's briefing, and were finally ready to get on with Qualifying!

But even that took some time as the fog just wouldn't lift! It was getting so bad that whilist you couldn't see very much around you, you could see droplets in the mist and after only a few minutes, Dad's once dry hair and clothes were soaked from the exposure!

We also finally made it out once the sun had come up for long enough to dry the fog up and it made out to be quite a warm day. Thankfully enough too! We had a new set of Dunlops on... our ONLY set, and they had not yet been scrubbed in! Procedure for doing this being to do 5 laps or so to get them to temp and then jack the car up and let them cool down again. She'll be right mate...

So, out I went for Qualifying... knowing that I had only 4 tyres to last me for the weekend, I went noticably slower than I would normally. But got through Qualifying without major issue.
Once back in the pits we were delighted to see how much tempreature that they could hold and I was VERY happy with the way that the car was feeling. Inside I felt that there was a LITTTTTTLE bit of Oversteer(Where you keep turning but feel like you are running out of road!), but that it was enough to be fun and little enough to not worry about mentioning.

But one short trip around the track in Race 1 told me differently. After only about 2 laps that little bit of Oversteer had turned itself into a big problem as I finally got the power on round the whole back section of the first part of the track. Where I would have liked to hold my foot flat to the floor around the place, I was instead relegated to having to ease off. Something I wasn't very partial to! Seeing as I was about 8 seconds off the pace of the guy in front of me, I wasn't really willing to let go of any more time!

So, into the pits we came. Whilist I had escaped many an issue with others blowing engines, going off at the sweeper at the end of the straight and just having a bit of biff and barge, I did want to get that Oversteer issue fixed... and Soon!

So, as we packed up Dad and I discussed how much we were going to change the car by. As it was I was yet to post some consisten times and fast ones at that... things had to change and quick... but for the time being that would have to come after a nice dinner out... and according to Dad... on me!

So down to the Soldier's club at Golburn we go to cash our $10 gift voucher. A fab dinner was had by all and we were able to spot some regular familliar faces with the likes of Tiegan Butchers of Improved Productions under 2lts in front of us and a WHOLE swarm of CAMS officials behind us...

Upon arriving home I did try and get some of that urgent uni work done, but as you can expect after such a good day... not much got done and instead Dad and I discussed further how to right the oversteer issue and what the game plan would be for the next day.

Sunday comes...

Again we were greeted with the crappy sight of a low lying fog for our 2nd morning in a row(Who knows how many Golburn have had before that!). The fog lay around for much longer this time with races being delayed and everyone just taking things very easy until about 9:30-10am when things finally got clearer and things started to move along.

We got through scrutineering okay and we helped Jeff(Uncle in Sports Sedans) and his daughter Emma get through also. We pitted with Jeff at Eastern Creek and both Dad and I had HEAPS of fun just hanging out with Jeff and Emma. Emma races Go-Karts and is looking to get into Fvee in a few years time... when she is old enough! Seems that no matter which side of the family you go to... we are alllllll into racing! hehehe...

Fvee was the 3rd race of the day and it wasn't long before I was sitting in the martialling area with Dad and Emma feeling mighty Green.
Whilist Dad and Em did their best to Calm my nerves(Thanks guys) I knew that the only thing that would get me right would be to get out on the track already! We had waited a LONG time by this stage due to all the delays.

Once out though there was no wishing I was anywhere else. I started 26th on the grid with a few 1600's behind me(VERY daunting knowing what last year was like with few over zealous drivers at the back of the grid...). As the lights went down I was determined not to have a repeat performance of yesterday's where I pulled 4th off the line insead of 2nd... But I was without fault as I baralled down the straight towards the rest of the slowly assenting pack.

Oh how I wish that my car had a few more legs!

I again got around without injury, set a personal best time around 1:20 and narrowly missed a few other incidents along the way. All in all a great performance and for the first time EVER since starting racing Dad and I had fixed a vehicle dynamic issue TOGETHER... no outside help necessary. With the shocks dropped 2 clicks to loosen things up in the rear a bit more and a few other of Dad's adjustments that we had discussed the night before, we had solved the oversteer issue and done so quite well!

With one more race left to run we allowed ourselves the luxury of a snag and a soft drink down at the Chivas transporter. Over lunch we discussed the weekends happenings with a coloourful array of Fvee people and then were on out way again to prep the car for our 3rd and final race.

Here I was to start from 23rd on the grid. I had finished 5th in the 1200's in the last race and was sitting pretty for the 1200's championship thus far... chasing my goal of a top 10 1200's finish for the year. As the lights went down this time I was a changed girl. In the last race I felt the ease of hammering the car around the track, only braking in about 2 1/2 places... here I was able to stay in contact with the end of the pack for the entirety of the first lap and was only starting to fall behind 1/2 way through the second. This is a miracle on this track where I soon found that being in the thick of it usually meant being overtaken.

The car handled fair and whilist I did slip and slide around the track a bit here and there... I was pleased to find at the end that whilist un-eventful and un-lapped as the race was(Cut to 6 laps due to delays and incidences in the other categories), I was finally holding some VERY consistent laps. Consistently slow, but consistent all the same.

The day ended on a high with An overall placing in the 1200's of about 6th(We think...still waiting on confirmation on that one), and whilist Jeff didn't finish in the Sports Sedans it was an awesome race all the same.

Round one of the NSW state championships for 2005 cannot be ever remembered as boring... it was certainly filled with lots of action and drama and was a great round for the team at Lasts and Lasts Motorsports!

And I didn't spin once!!!

Luv Kirst

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.downshift.to/lasts

2005-03-10T10:39:00.000+11:00

Oh this is just great. I spent like 1/2 and hour standing up at the uni's email stations typing this great pre-race post and then the thing decided to die on me! Well... here we go again...

Wow! It has been absolute ages since I have posted here. I have been very busy though. Life has been extremlly hardcore. Of course because Uni has started back up AGAIN.

This year I am in second year again, due to spending a little too mcuh time on one particular race-car project and not enough time hitting the books. Last year, in a nutshell, was crap. I must say it did end on a high though with my uni F-sae team winning the Australiasian Championships, but apart from this, it was a year I would rather forget.

This year didn't seem to be starting out much better either. I had only days before the commencement of uni, decided that the world was ending, I had no passion for anything and not even the prospect of an Australian driver's champion in the F1 and a great year of V8's could lure me out of my current state of Henny Penny Syndrome (ie:"The Sky is falling! The sky is falling!").

I didn't want to go back to uni and have to start 2nd year over again, I didn't want to move out of home again and have to get used to all the new people living in College, I didn't want to NOT have much to do with the SAE team at uni and most of all I didn't know whether I had a passion for racing at all. The later scaring me the most as I didn't know whether these blues would be able to permantly squash my fire for motorsports.

Well, in rolled the year whether I liked it or not and brought more suprising things than I could ever have hoped for. Uni suddenly started making sense! And I actually started enjoying it! I have started hitting the books for pure joy of getting the stuff and finding it's relevance and now for the FIRST time ever I have been able to see myself in a few years time, walking up those steps and getting my certificate. That is what has me going now!

College is great too! I have found kindred spirits in internationals, returning students and even my little Aussie 1st year spring chickens. It is great fun and I can't say that I dislike anyone! Not even a little bit!

As for knowing whether or not the passion for racing in me has given up the ghost, I only had to sit down this morning and realise that I am only HOURS out from leaving for my FIRST away race, and the fire in my belly kicked up again. The fire coming mainly in the form of pangs of nautious-ness and anxiety, but the fire was there all the same! And that excited me. I am not ready to give up yet!

As for the outlook on the race this weekend at Golburn's Wakefield Park... well... it is mainly all feelings of terror linked to the issues below, but I know that if I can just get through this weekend in one piece, without Dad having a heart attack and the car in a reasonable enough state to get to EC on the 9th of April... I know that I will have gained HEAPS.

As for those points of terror relating to this weekend, let me just touch on a few.

1. This is my first RACE at Wakefield Park. I have done Happy Laps and drive my car here for the first time, but this is my first RACE here and that is enought to freak ANYONE out... I'd hope.
2. It is a shorter track with just as many cars as the others... so for once I will be in the thick of it whether I like it or not. Hopefully this doesn't mean getting myself into scrapes but will mean that for the first time I won't be lapping by myself. I will be dicing which is a new concept entinrley!
3. This is my first AWAY race. We live smack bang inbetween EC and OP, the other 2 tracks that the NSW state roadshow visits, and so everynight I get to sleep in my OWN bed. But this time around I will not be able to run home to mummy and have a bit of a cry if everything doesn't go according to plan(ie; keeping the car in one piece). I will be staying in a motel room 1 and 1/2 hours away from Mummy and the prospect isn't inviting. I live with 62 other people every other day of the week but that removing of the comfort blanket of home is going to mean a few things. A, I will be more concentrated on the race and stuff to do with it and B, I will probably be chucking up alot more due to A!
4. This is the first race of the season and being a race full stop is scary enough. But being with a bunch of guys who havn't raced for 3-4 months, all the newbies and Me, it is a scary but widely stated fact that things can get a little bit crazy...

Well. I think that is me sufficiently stated out.
I really now must be going as I have spent 1 hour doing this post and should have been in an "Optional" tutorial instead.
I will be back after the weekend to let ya'll know how things went.
Till then I think I will go and console these Parakeet sized butterflies of mine with a lolly and some more studying... And hopefully will keep more of my food down than up!

Goodluck to everyone this weekend. I pray for a safe, but interesting race.
Godbless
Luv Kirst
xxx
ooo

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.downshift.to/lasts

2005-01-21T13:52:00.000+11:00

When I thought that this year would not be short of suprises and more of the rollercoaster ride called the motorsport life, I wasn't far wrong.

In the last 3 days, my perspective on many things has changed...
What may have caused this you may say?
Many things. But those of note are the two biggest discoveries of my year so far...

1. After weeks of compiling a scholarship application for the "Layne Beachley Aim for the stars Foundation", I have been rewarded with a KPMG scholarship to continue on in my motorsport aspirations
2. A dude from WA by the name of Bruce, has decided to step out of his comfort zone in the coming weeks to raise some money for a Cure for Diabetes! He is going to drive across Australia to reach the F1 GP in Melbourne. And what is so spesh about that you may ask??? Well, Bruce has decided to do it in a Fvee. A feat in itself, But this man is doing it all for charity!

The reasons that these things touched me so deeply is because of the way I was feeling last time I blogged. It seemed things were going from worse to worse. I had no money, no tyres(Bridgestones are now out and so I have to get all new tyres) and the world was falling to bits. You could say I had Henny Penny Syndrome("The sky is falling, the sky is falling..."). Whilist I tried to throw everything to God, seeing as he said he'd support me... I was still holding onto alot of the worry and guilt myself...

Then along came this man who said for his daughter, he would do anything. A selfless man willing to cop 4000km worth of bugs in the face, Dust in his undies and most likely a couple of drums of Avgas out his tailpipe... all in the name of love. This selfless man was willing to use what he had to make this world better for not only for his daughter, but the children and familys of people literally all over the world.

The selflessness and love of this man for his family, to use his ties to the motorsport community to make things better, has given me the strength to keep going. To realise that one of my motivations in going into the motorsport industry wasn't to be famous. In fact that was at the furthermost reaches of my mind. It was to be able to do something fun and in the end give something back. Not only in the form of entertainment for the masses of revheads(Of which I am proud to be one!), but also to find avenues within the motorsport community through which I could help. Motorsport ministry and RFC (Racers for Christ) is one of the first things that I wanted to join when I was getting serious about going racing. All because I wanted to be able to help people.

After this though, things did start to look up even more. With my being awarded a KPMG scholarship, it was a sign to let me know that it was time to keep going on and moving ahead. To not give up the fight. That this was meant to be. I am so happy that in the future I will be able to do more. And I plan on it...

But at the moment I am happy to be able to support people like Bruce who encourage me to keep going! And the Lasts and Lasts Motorsport team will be encouragging Bruce on. This is an issue that cuts pretty close seeing as I am Hypoglycemic and my Dad, who is the team owner is a diabetic himself. With it now becomming aparant that our diabetes in our family is hereditary with Nan also being Diagnosed with it, it is something we want to fight... To help other little Lasts and Lasts Members who may come along and even those who are with us now...

We put the word out to all in the motorsport community, and even those who aren't really into it(Though I don't know WHY you would be reading this if you weren't!)... PLEASE dig deep and help Bruce reach his goal of $50 000 to help find a cure for diabetes. With Juvenille Diabetes on the rise at an epedemic rate, it is something that could soon touch us all.

Please Help.

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.downshift.to/lasts

2005-01-17T21:32:00.000+11:00

Happy New Year, well more for the Happy year we intend to have from here on out rather than the New Year that we have begun with. So far we have had the largest Natural Disaster known to man(Apart from the great floods of Noah's Days! So take heart!), and some devestating losses since.

Even my one refuge for the New Year was overshadowed by devestating losses with the deaths of 2 riders on the anual Dakar Rally. I can tell you that I was most reluctant to do anything this year. For the most of it I just wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep my life away.

But I know that is no way to live. Life is all about loss but one thing that we have forgotten over the past weeks is that it is also about gain! And things are going to get MUCH MUCH better!
Or at least that is what I am praying for...

See, I don't know about anyone else but I believe that there is a God. And I don't believe that he is a distant God either. I believe that he is in control of stuff. I unlike some do not believe that he is the "Dark, dreaming, dumb thing that turns the cogs on this show..." I believe he is in line for a much bigger honor than that. I belive he is the creator of the universe. The pyro who lit the fuse on this whole big bang resultant! The man who is still intertwined and in complete control of his creation. I think that events such as that have occured in the past few weeks have been perfect examples to show how little in control of our lives that we actually are...

I for one have fought my entire life to be in complete control of it... and for my entire life it has been a battle that I have most bitterly lost. It seems that when I fight most to be in control of everything. When I am stressed to the max in trying to gain complete power and control over everything that everything falls apart and I seldom get what I set out to do.

But somehow, even though I would be a top nominee for the "Crapiest Christian" award, God seems to in somehow bestow on me that which I needed all along. Maybe not what I wanted to begin with but eventually what I needed. It says in the good book that "His grace surfices" and it is only in situations such as this that brings most of us to a realisation of how true this is.

I have to admit, when all this happened I was truely ready to throw it all in, noting how pathetic it was to chase such a dream when there was more to life... there was more to other people lives. I felt so utterly guilty that I needed sponsorship dollars and my own dollars to be poured into this project when some people had lost everything. I was striving to play in the sport of kings and some people were just struggling to live.

As it is I still do not know where I stand. As so much of life and people's lives have been washed away, so has the sure footing for a new year that I had only weeks ago. I am at a loss of what I am meant to do with my life. I feel selfish like never before and ashamed that these are my aspirations. I pray for strength to go on and seek solace in the fact that people in my line of work have been able to do so much with the money that they have earned in this buisness to help. Mr Ferrari Drivers champion himself gave 13 million dollars or something...

But as I go on, I realise whilist I must continue... I will never be the same. God's grace surfices, but he uses us so that it surfices for other people and that is what I want to do... So I will keep going.

May God bless the families of all those who have been injured or have lost their lives in the past weeks. Our prayers are with you, and whilist you feel you have nothing else, we pray that you will rest on the one thing that you do have. A loving God who is providing for you through the tireless efforts of your neighbours. Please believe that you are in the palm of his hands and he will never let you go...

"My child I love you and would never leave you. The times that you saw only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you..."

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.downshift.to/lasts

2005-01-02T22:54:00.000+11:00

Due to the Tsunamis in Southern Asia, Lasts and Lasts have decided to suspend sponsorship hunting till the 10th of January.

We Pray for the victims from everywhere and their families.
The members of Lasts and Lasts Motorsport are not strangers to the loss due to natural disasters and accidents. And therefore we sympathise with the massive disaster's victims and those who are left behind.

Godbless.

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.downshift.to/lasts

2004-11-24T14:56:00.000+11:00

There is something slightly un-nerving about handing out one's resume to strangers... Even if they are particullarly or apparantly nice ones... It is this feeling which I have been having of late.
It has been my duty to go out and get a job for summer, in-between doing uni race car stuff, trying to keep in touch with F-vee and tying up the loose ends of uni for the year.

It was this time last week that I moved out of my college dormitory and back to my parent's home for what looks to be all of summer. It doesn't mean that I can always be found there though! For starters, my uni race team keep me commutting to Wollongong most days and if I am not there I am either at a job interview or church. And both of those don't happen to often of late either... But things are looking up.

Our uni race car runs for it's first time today... WAY WAY WAY behind schedule, but running never the less. I have had nothing short of a rip-snorter of an interview with a VIP for a world class job... On the weekends at least by the looks of things and I have had some replys to the resumes which I faxed to different racing teams and shops last week. It is pretty encouragging... Lets just hope that I get something in the end, eh???

Summer holds for me working ALOT to try and raise some money to get my team working again... and by the looks of things, this means that I will be doing engineering intern things in the day and pulling beers at the local pub at night to offset the free labor whoever takes me on will be getting!

Hopefully at the end of it all I will have caught up with my mates whom I havn't spoken to in years, I will have learnt a tonne and will have enough mullah in the bank to pay for a HANS device, a New Helmet and hey, maybe even a new racecar! (Hey, I can always dream, can't I???)

Seeing as I turned 20 just yesterday, I want to give a big shout out to my fellow Power Puff girls, Ruth and Kat, who made my day by comming over to my parents to have cake and a swag load of catching up! They also hopped into the Vee for a photo sesh and those pics will be up in a couple of minutes!

I guess I will start giving the wrap up on the year's events over the next few postings, and I will deffinantly do a travel diary of the 2004 FSAE-A Championships from Potters Lane, Werribe, VIC over the Eastern Creek Weekend (3rd-5th Dec!).

Till then, thankyous to everyone for starters and I will see you alllllll when I get back!
Blessings
Luv Kirst
xxx
ooo

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.downshift.to/lasts

2004-11-11T17:31:00.000+11:00

This weeked heralds the start of which will hopefully be many more apperances for the Lasts and Lasts Motorsport team!

Dad was able to get me a spot on his site at a Field day in Richmond for this weekend and it will be an EXCELLENT chance to get some coverage for my sponsors such as Bare Co, a Agricultural machinery parts company!

I can't stay long as I am going out to celebrate the end of uni exams yesterday... in the only way this girl knows how... I am going to the movies to see Briget Jones' Diary 2... As a Bridget myself(Always putting my foot in it!) I am going in the hope of gaining some insight into being a big mouth, successful and keeping a guy! Something I am sure Bridget will be able to get the hang of by the end....

On similar news, I move out of college and beguin my trip home this weekend after the field day at Richmond.
Fellow chick driver, Ashley Taws of Canada has conceeded to retirement after not being able to regain a level of fitness required for racing after a major accident in 2002. She is only as old as me! And I can't imagine how shattered she would be, seeing as she was ALOT better at it than me!

That is about it from me for a while guys!
In the process of trying to score an internship for summer!
WISH ME LUCK!
Kirst
xxx
ooo

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.downshift.to/lasts

2004-09-27T09:55:00.000+10:00

Goodmorning everyone! It is a not so bright Monday morning here in my uni dorm room for our one week of holidays... But I can't say how exactly it was that I got here...

This weekend I raced at Eastern Creek with Dad for the last round of the NSW state Championship. It was an amazing and LONG weekend with suprisingly little trouble and a great time was had by all! Again... let me break it down for you all...

Friday 24th September, 2004...
You have to love it when you are pardoned from going to an exam on the last day of uni because you are a race car driver :) That is what happened for me. Late Thursday afternoon I hopped a train to Sydney to get home for this... Friday practice at Eastern Creek, the setting for our weekend... Luckily escaping an exam on machine dynamics at uni... I still have to sit it (Today probably...) but it was a welcome reason for a break...

By practice session 3 I had set a personal best, had stayed out of the way of the 1600s and the Formula Fords also using the track, and had kept it on the black stuff for a majority of the time... I had been told though that all Formula Ford guys are buttholes... Not true! They are DEFFINANTLY faster than I, but I think that anyone there on the weekend was, but when I had a spin after a Formula Ford guy had, he waved me out onto the track again, there being no flaggies and all... What a nice guy! Thankyou FF car number 42(or 46... You're all nice, I'm sure!)...

I can't lie though, I did have one MAJOR sausage coming off of corporate hill... There had been quite a few Formula Fords spinning out there and there must have been something on the road because at full pelt the wall started coming at me rather fast, side on... But I screamed out "Please God! NO!" and miraculously I was not only held off the wall, but also from taking out the 50m marker sign... A blessing and a half... But I didn't want to take any chances seeing as I had beached it on a ripple strip only a couple of laps before and brought it in for Dad to check over...

Apart from a Mystery oil leak that we had had all day, and a flat spot on my front right tyre that had ben gained from braking behind a PBR Clubman car (Grrrr) earlier in the day, there was amazingly nothing else wrong with it... So we went out for one more session...

During this time though, Uncle Geoff, Mum's cousin, sidled over and asked us if we wanted to share a Garage with him and his Commodore from the sport sedans! Great! What FANTASTIC timing... We were at that stage wedged between the Dunlop truck and Ian Chivas' transporter... So, for the rest of the weekend we were guaranteed a nice, warm, NOISY place to park ourselves... We also shared through the duration of the weekend with :A V8 lites team, a Dato 1200 with a SR 20 conversion and some very nice stewards...

So, after all this, we went home and visited with my Godson and best mates up the road and then got to bed at around 11pm... I know... A major no no, but It was worth it :D

Saturday 25th September, 2004...

You know those lovely mornings where you wake up and stretch, knowing that you have had an EXCELLENT nights sleep, and that you are ready to take on the world... Well, this morning was NOT one of them. Dad woke me up at around 6. I could hardly move. My head ached like I had a hangover, my arms felt like I had towed the car around Eastern Creek the day before and my back felt like I had been doing backflips all night... I ACHED...

I finally rolled out of bed, dragged some clothes on and then dragged my sorry self out to the ute to go back to Eastern Creek. I think I did wake up though, somewhere between the McDonald's Drive-thru and the Wonderland turn-off... But I still didn't feel the greatest...

Though Uncle Geoff does think of everything... And having a Sports Sedan with VERY heavy steering, he was suffering similar aches to me! But, being the smart guy he is, he brought Dencorub... I was begging for it 5 minutes in... 10 minutes latter I wasn't smelling great, but felt a lot better...

We got all our paper work in (Eventually! After about 1/2 and hour!), and got through Scrutineering without a hitch and were ready for Qualifying...

Qualifying went off, and with me just keeping it nice and on the blackstuff we managed to qualify in last place, well off the pace but ready for an ENTIRE weekend of racing...

Race 1 also went off without a hitch... EXTREMELY slow, but okay still... Mum actually got out to see me race... For the first time EVER! She was pretty impressed, VERY worried, but pretty impressed! So afterwards the old had the bright idea of going out to dinner at our local club to celebrate... Afterwards going home to watch the footy...

I can admit that I made it through dinner, absolutely STARVING as I was, and made it through 2 helpings of desert... But alas, collapsed into bed soon after the start of the Bulldogs vs Panthers grandfinal at Aussie Stadium... I felt like such a looser going to bed at 8:30pm, but I was SO tired that I couldn't handle it and passed out :D

Sunday 26th September, 2004...

Again, another one of those 6am wake ups from dad... But this morning he wasn't so nice... It is last day of racing and everyone is on edge... So much so that when I asked who won the footy, Dad told me it was Panthers. I was SHATTERED... He saw that so he told me the truth... It was Bulldogs... My day was already off to a great start! :D

I was well awake before we reached the McDonald's drive thru this morning and was right and ready to go with the dencorub at our arrival at the track... Little did I know what beheld me that day...

Race 2 was not till late and we had gotten through scrutineering rather eary and rather quickly, and apart from eating and homework, there was not a lot to do. But, once race 2 did roll around, I didn't think I would have any problems. Off the start I yet again pulled 4th instead of 2nd and at lap 6, upon being lapped by 1600s, I was punted off by one, almost running me into poor Darren Mason! I took it maybe as my fault and even searched out the driver to make amends, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it wasn't my fault and I had been left with a bent rear trailing arm (Yes, AGAIN!) and a real dose of the shakes because I didn't know if I was in the wrong or not.

Peeved as I was, I lined up for race 3, our final state race for the season, and decided that I would not let this happen again.
I started fine, I missed the big mess up at the start and went on to set a personal best time in the 3rd lap, but again, come lap 6 I was getting lapped by 1600s at turn 2. I gave them TONES of room and the driver who punted me off at corporate hill, again came in to do the same, being on the end of the leading pack. I could NOT believe it! I gave them TONES of room and whilst no-one else had a problem getting past me, this person still tried to push me off... Now, I won't have a go too often, but I think I have a right...

I am in this category to learn. I have a sub-standard car and little seat time. I follow the rules, I do the right thing, and yet here I am, getting the crap kicked out of me whilst still trying to do the right thing by other drivers...

Now, still on the same lap, I am still giving way to 1600s coming up on me and I watch as one trying to overtake me runs off onto the grass. Totally NOT my fault as I gave tones of room, slowed to let them pass and even waved them back on to the circuit, making sure they were ok (after the race I go into it he pits to find them and make sure they are okay, only to find out that they had told their darling Daddy that I was the reason for their run-off...). But of course, this is the way it goes...

So, I finnnnnnallly finish the race. Breathe a sigh of relief and come in and give Mum and Dad a wave up ontop of pit lane and come in... Finally. I had made it...

I spose that isn't the end though. With all the frustrations that we had on the weekend, I think it gave us a lot to aim for in the new year.
We don't want to be at the back of the pack anymore, and I don't want to have to go months inbetwen races...

This is where I want to be and this is where I should be...
So, for the new year, to get us out of where we are, we are aiming for some more sponsorship, some better bits and some more time on the track to get me on the road to becoming a better driver...

Now it is Monday and I have a TONNE of work to do, including building my Uni's race car... I have that exam to study for and so many other things that need to bring me back to earth to get done... I spose it isn't all bad, but I can't wait for the day when I just get to do the one thing I love. Racing cars, and nothing BUT racing cars....

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.downshift.to/lasts

2004-08-15T21:25:00.000+10:00

I really shouldn't be on at the moment... It being a school night and all, but today I had one of those REALLY great days that remind you why you are striving to do what you want. Its not like winning a medal, more like being told that you are good enough to step up to the next level...

Although my skills and maturity in some respects aren't ready enough to move on JUST yet, by just hanging out with some well known and important peeps at the V8 supercars today, reminded me of why I was so excited to be getting into motorsport way back in the day. Why ever since I was a very little girl I was begging Dad to build me a race car. Why I was so gun-ho as soon as I turned 18 that I was going to buy a race car.

But for now, I know that there are still many hurdles to overcome. But as the nut case that many people see me as, I am not going to turn back because of them...
Today I had 3 race drivers and family members from different pits tell me "Its hard... very hard..." And I don't know whether they were trying to turn me off it or whether they were trying to prepare me for what was further down the track... Whatever it was, it serves only to spur me on. I have no money, no job, but a bag full of dreams... Lets hope thats enough...

Now, one of the last times that I wrote, I said that I would explain why it was that I was so eager to become the first recipient of the Stewart McColl trophy....

On the day that Stewart died, I was out buying my first race car. I had followed his category and knew of him but had never met him and never even knew that he had raced in Fvees before. That weekend I had a mate down at Phillip Island who was helping pit crew for Matt White's brute ute and his car which I think was in the same category. My mate saw the accident happen and messaged me about it straight away because I told him to keep me up to date with everything since I couldn't be there to help too.

I straight away hopped on the net to find out what I could about this guy. Within days the outpouring of grief over Stewart's death flowed onto the webpages that motorsport was associated with and it was here that I found out that Stewart was an ex-Vee driver. Everything everyone said about him made me so sad, that I had missed out on meeting this AMAZING guy... He had done everything that I had planned to do and had so much potential... But now he couldn't furfill it. I sat for a few hours over a couple of days looking at the email address of his dad... To try and tell him how I, who did not even know Stewart, had been touched by his life. That his successes in the past still encouraged me to keep going on in what I was doing. But I could never send it. How would I know what the loss of child is like? How would I even know whether he even wished to head from anyone like me anyway? So I chose instead to be grateful in silence.

Then, in the early part of this year, I recieved the formula Vee newsletter which said that there would be a Stewart McColl trophy for a young person with a great family support. I felt that this was my chance to not only thank this guy's family for the person that they gave to our sport, but also a way to thank my family for allowing me to get into it in the first place.

Now, I NEVER claim to be any Stewart McColl, that would be too good a brand for me. But if I could get that trophy, just for my family and in honour of that guy that I was never able to meet, maybe I can start to make a difference and a name for myself too. But at the moment its about my family... That is why the race team is Lasts and Lasts and now Kirsty Last racing. This is a team effort... And without family I doubt ANY race car driver would have gotten ANYWHERE.

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.downshift.to/lasts

2004-08-11T20:49:00.000+10:00

Wow! What a fast turn around in spirits have I had???
Of late I was starting to loose faith in the Australian buisness community for support... but how wrong have I been prooven?

In the last 48 hours alone I have been blessed beyond recall! I have just received word from Dad that Bare Co, an Agricultural parts manufacturer, has decided to come on board as a monetary sponsor, and we had only last night received word that Classic Trailers, the company owned by David Besnard's Mum, is willing to help us get our trailer up to scratch!!!

When I received word on the Classic trailers deal, I was stoked! Mrs Besnard left a message on my dormetry phone(Which doubles as the Lasts and Lasts Motorsport buisness phone! :), and I started screaming! This lady is one of THE nicest and politest and supportivest and all other good -ist words, that you could ever find! Hopefully I will get to meet her on the weekend and give her a big hug! She deserves it!

As for the Bare Co deal... it was just as fun! I had just sat down to dinner tonight in a packed college kitchen and the phone rang. It was Dad. He gave me the regular speil about the companies that had sent letters back rejecting sponsorship. He then asked me to guess how much Bare-Co had said they wished to put in. For starters I was SHOCKED that someone had finally decided to put some money into us... secondly I was shocked when Dad asked me if he could keep the change after telling me that the sponsorship deal was for $1000!!! I started screaming and my fork hit the deck whilist 62 freaked out onlookers(The other people in the kitchen at the time) watched me continue to scream "I''ve got a sponsor! I've got a SPONSOR!"

After things had quitened down a bit and my mates gave me a few pats on the back for finally suceeding in getting somewhere, I finally realsied where things were going... WHERE I WANT THEM! And for the first time in a long time, I remeber why I was so enthused about getting money in the first place. I was finally able to say YES, I can pay for Dad's new entrant's license... Yes, I CAN afford to go to another round... And Yes, we will continue on... ALWAYS!

So, as I sit in my dorm room, all warm and cosy, and I remeber how thankful I am not JUST for the sponsors who I have now who are to help me on my way, but most importantly to the people who have gotten me to where I am today. My only fans, my only supporters... Mum, Dad, my sibs and me mates. Thanks Guys... without your help I would have given up only the other day, when after 20 knock-backs I was crying, alone in my room. It was you guys who reminded me that there was only another door to knock on before I would get a YES after all those NOs...

I love you all and pray that soon we will get some more sponsors guaranteed so that we I can get a crack at that Stewart McColl Trophey... Not for me... But for all of you guys that helped me get here and for those who continue to uphold me everyday in life, prayer and just the simple hugs and words that make it all worth while.

I'll talk a little more about the Stewy McColl Trophey in the next one, but for now, let it be known. Thats what I am after.
Again, more in the next posting...

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.downshift.to/lasts

2004-08-09T16:22:00.000+10:00

Hey all!
No promises... But I will be writing soon. I am desperately seeking some sponsorship and doing uni and helping to build a race car there... So things are VERY busy at my end of the line.

Yesterday(Sunday) heralded what is hoped to be the start of a long line of publicity moves for Lasts and Lasts motorsport. The team participated in it's first photo shoot up in Sydney under the anzac bridge, early on the frosty morning. Soon this photos will be molded by our web designer, into a brand new site! These photos will also be used to create some publicity in the local media in the near future as a way also to gain some attention... That's right. I, Kirsty Last am an attention seeker. Like nobody knew that!
hehehe... Oh well...

Better go. Starting to feel guilty about having done no uni work.
If anyone knows how to move a 1kg bag of rice from down to up, give us a call. That is the CURRENT uni dilemma.

Love yas all.
Kirst
xxx
ooo

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.downshift.to/lasts

2004-07-30T09:52:00.000+10:00

TODAY is a new day.
Whilist yesterday left me feeling very low, I know that it is time to power on. HOW COULD I HAVE SULKED FOR SO LONG???
Well, today I have picked up my game! With a full day of uni ahead of me, I have FINALLY printed out my timetable, am PREPPING for a class (Heaven Forbid! hehehe...) and am going to re-contact potential sponsors in the hope that I can at least get a little bit of feed back on what they thought of the various contact methods we used...

The reason for this sudden turn around, me thinks is a pretty good F-sae meeting with the UOW guys last night. I have jobs to do! I am feeling wanted for the first time in a while, and I am still KINDA on top of uni work... It looks to be a hard, though encouragging semester if I can stay ontop of uni, do all my work for both teams and still be recougnised by my family on the off days that I come home!

Yeha. I'm back at it...

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.downshift.to/lasts

2004-07-29T16:09:00.000+10:00

Today I dodged doing uni work to go stuff hunting. Stuff hunting is what you do when you don't really want to do what you're supposed to be doing, but instead do the hunting of the things that need to eventually be done. For the university race team, this was finding an Australian supplier of bearings for the suspension and for Lasts and Lasts motorsport, this was looking for an Australian supplier of Uniden UHF radios. A task unto itself.

I tell ya what! Finding a supplier for bearings that match those which the uni was importing from the states was easier than finding a nice supplier willing to donate radios in return for sponsor services. A few nice ones were hunted down though, and are in the process of checking out our sponsor info... but it took a loooooong time.

We are in DESPERATE need of money! I am living on rice and veggies here!!! (But then again, that is college dorm food!) But in all seriousness, if we don't find some sponsorship dollars NOW whilst we are still in the series, I doubt we will be able to find ANY next year if we try again...

Its all so depressing... :( I kinda just want to curl up in a ball and have a little cry... I'm SUCH a pathetic girl! Yet when it comes to anything else outside of this, I am ready to stare down the barrel of a gun for it! WHATS THE DEAL???

BUT! On the brighter side of things... Uni racing is starting to take off again and we are in a flurry of manufacturing AND dancing starts again next week, along with my new sponsored fitness regime!

I just have to keep telling myself... but I know it is true... V8 Supercars... HERE I COME!
Blessings all!
Congrats to state winners on the weekend, Kinsella and all the rest of ya's!
Love Kirsty
xxx
ooo

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.downshift.to/lasts

2004-07-26T20:54:00.000+10:00

WOW! I realllllly know that it has been a long time since I wrote, but there has been alot going on!

As the website bears testamony, ALOT has been going on with the team and the state of my bedroom bears testimony to the amount ofwork I have been doing for uni. After a shocking last semester, not only am I trying to get the team up and running, but a better uni result as well.

So, in order to do that, I have handed over the reigns of the website to a guy from uni who will be building a BRAND NEW ONE and I have also handed over a couple of other jobs to very qualified persons!

Well, in the hope that I will do better in uni, I'll cut off here, finish my applications for grants and sponsorship and will get RIGHT on uni!

CIAO!
Kirst

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.downshift.to/lasts

2004-06-19T18:44:00.000+10:00

Well, after I pulled a 4:30am finish on my last post, I went on to get sick and not fully complete that Solids exam I was talking about...
Think I can get away with being a full timr race driver???

Today I had a pretty encouraging day, working with and hanging out with the University of Wollongong's Formula SAE team. I'm also in there, so litterly all parts of my life revolve araound racing... Lucky the family is into that too or I would REALLY be stuffed!!!

I GO HOME TOMMORROW!!! No more Dorms for at least a week. I will get to see my Godson William and I can relax... for a little while at least...

Right now I am going to watch some movies with mates and a local youth group... Life CAN be great!

Blessings all...
Talk after Hols!
Luv Kirst
xxx
ooo

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.downshift.to/lasts

2004-06-15T01:49:00.000+10:00

Its like 1:30 in the morning on some racndom day in the middle of exams.
I can't sleep, I am poor and have nothing to eat and have checked all the updates on all my favourite racing websites and still can't sleep...

I have one more exam left... ewveryone else here at my dorms is on holiday and going home and such, and I am stuck studying for Mechanics of Solids. Not exactlly the glittering sort of subjects I had imagined myself doing. I don't know what to do anymore!
All I know is that my parents are encouraging me and supporting me in all my endeavours and will be happy to have me home... just not now :(

The shopping network is VERY boring at this time of morning...
I wish I was racing this weekend... I'll have to wait to see if I can make it to Oran...
I think I might have a crack at sleeping again...
G'night all...

GODSPEED

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.downshift.to/lasts

2004-05-31T14:55:00.000+10:00

Apologies yet again for not writing folks... But BOY O BOY have I got a tale to tell...
Lets start at the very beginning again, shall we???

Just so all new comers understand where I am coming from... I am a 2nd year Mech. Eng. Student living in college dorms in Wollongong... But only during the week...

Thursday 27th May, 2004
The day was bound to be a VERY packed one. I had 2 uni assessments(1 collaborative), 2 lectures and a presentation to get through, BEFORE I could go home, attend a masquerade ball, dress and pack and leave for Sydney on the 9:19pm train! I got the assignments in, sat through the mind numbingly boring lectures and presentations and made my way over to ADEL screen printers to pick up our newly made shirts!

By the time I get home, the masquerade ball decorations are well underway at my dorms and it's all anyone can talk about for the night... Me on the other hand, had about a million things on my mind... Mostly going along the lines of "Flat through 5 to 6 then downshift to 3rd, then upshift to 4th on top of the hill, flat then jump on the brakes for the U-turn..." I am not normal... at all!

Due to a late start, I had to go Cinderella style and leave the ball early. With my desert in a take-away container, I make a dash up to my dorm room, dress, pack and close up for the weekend. I bolt to the train station and finally pull into Warwick Farm at around 11:40pm-ish...

Friday 28th May, 2004
Godbless fathers! Dad had thankfully done all the prep and packing for the weekend the night before... So all I had to do in the morning was wake up, whack some Ugh boots on and trot down to Eastern Creek raceway for the start of our big weekend!!!

Things didn't start well though. We had 3 practice sessions before qualifying that afternoon and all was not well.
We couldn't get the car started to take it down to scrutineering for the preliminary stuff, so I had to dash around getting paper work in to start the ball rolling for the weekend while the guys clutch started my car.

After the 2nd practice, it was found that I couldn't select reverse or 1st gear... Not a great thing... not that I was hoping to use reverse too much, I still needed the others to get off the line for race 1 the next day... All symptoms pointed to a done clutch and we had to consequently sit through the 3rd practice and pot around for qualifying, completing our 3 mandatory laps...

We did qualify though, and were thankful that at least we hadn't condemned ourselves to a finished race weekend so early!

Saturday 29th May, 2004

Saturday promised a more positive start. After a reasonably late night on the pit crew's half (Thanks Dad!), the clutch was fixed with minimal difficulty, though maximum exhaustion.

The day's promise didn't hold true though. After setting a personal best time of 2:07.0969 in the 2nd last lap of the race, I had an off on the 5th corner and when trying to straighten up, span again and backed the car onto the wall in the same motion. This resulted in a bent trailing arm and a DNF due to the fact that I had to pit and was not shown the checked flag. A major disappointment in the race sense, but another long night seemed imminent in the car's sense.

Once back to pit, it was seen that apart from a busted axle boot and a bent trailing arm(Which we were lucky enough to have 4 of!), it would hopefully be an easy fix.

With an early race start due the next day, it was decided by the team that it would be best to fix the axle boot, cover the car up and come back early the next morning to replace the trailing arm. It meant an early night and an ease on resources and crew members.

Sunday 30th may, 2004

With the early start in motion by around 6am, the team were gone from HQ in Lansvale at around 6:30am with the new trailing arm and renewed enthusiasm to finish the weekend on a high note.

After the new trailing arm was installed and a quick wheel alignment and car setup was completed, it was decided that the next race, the early morning 9am one, would be taken easy, as it was unknown how the car would handle with the new setup...

Once out there, with everything going relatively fine, I settled into a reasonable rhythm with the car and was able to get it around the track, incident free until the last lap. As I entered the 2nd turn, a notorious one amongst all drivers, I was confronted by a spun car. The yellow flags were showing so I was already approaching with caution. Before I knew, I too was spinning. The culprit? Oil all over racing line AND the rest of the track too! As I awaited the marshals signal to re-enter the track, I motioned that there was oil on this part of the track and could he PLEASE hurry up and tell me if the track was clear to re-enter. Instead, I got one of the flaggies running towards me to ask me what I was waiting for and if everything was okay. I told him it was and that he should get the oil flags out, but could he PLEASE tell me when the track would be cleared. Instead he turned and walked back to his point as the leading pack passed me. I decided that it was time to take the situation into my own hands and re-enter the track. By now quite a period of time had passed... But my car was fine.

Until I passed the next turn where I again lost it in the oil which was covering the track. By now it was WAY tooooo late. Both main packs had passed me and the checked flag had already been shown to them. Since Eastern Creek had decided to use their rear entry to call all drivers back into pit, I too was called in and failed to reach the finish line, and was again classified as a DNF. By this stage I was just a tad upset, but once I got into the pits and looked up at Dad, it was all too much. All his effort, my want to JUST finish a damn race that weekend... It pushed me over the line. I started to sob. Dad hugged me and told me to go have a chat with the race secretary. So I tried pulling myself together long enough to ask why I had been cheated out of a finish.

After explaining my story to the race secretary, and much deliberation between him and his 2nd in charge, he decided he would not lift the DNF, even though it was not through car trouble, an accident or anything else which had stopped me from crossing the finish line, only time and a mis-understading between flag marshals and myself. I wonder what would have happened if I had legitimately been that far behind the leading pack and had not yet made it to the finish line... would it have changed my situation any???

After this, I was determined to finish the final race to at least get SOME points and recognition out of the weekend!

Dad and I took a new attitude. A "Who cares if you bend it!" attitude. After all our discussions for the last race where our decision was to just keep it in one piece, we decided that we should just do what we came there to do in the first place. RACE!

The day was drawing to a close and I felt more determined than ever to just finish, and finish well... So with that in mind, I took my car out, even stuck with a few other cars and by the end of the 3rd lap, I had set a PB of 2:06.5352. But the race was pretty much over here as about 3 cars did engines and a couple more went off in what I am told were spectacular offs! The safety car was deployed and after a few VERY sedate laps I was FINALLLLLLLY Shown the checked flag... The relief I felt can not be described! So, as I waved Michael Schumacher style to my Dad in the stands, I thanked God that he had gotten me thus far... To a finish!

Back in the pits, the atmosphere was great. Along with our state guys, a Few SA, QLD and a few other guys had come over to race... and it was just GREAT!!!

I'm in love... and his name is Formula Vee!!!

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.downshift.to/lasts

2004-05-24T09:28:00.000+10:00

Wow!
It has been sooooo long since I last wrote, not that much has happened in that time...
Whilist the team is experiencing some financial difficulties, thanks to my great ol' dad I am ready to hit the track this weekend with the big boys!

Some mates and I did go down to the local club to go watch the cable show, Inside Speed to see if we could see me, but there was really no chance, even with all my spins at the last round of formula vees at Eastern Creek, they only stuck with the top half of the pack... my name wasn't even seen!!! AND I WAS ONLY IN THE 20's!!!!!
How sad...

Anyways,
this weekend is hoped to have better results than our last weekend at the Creek. Though we did miss the only practice day that was inbetween the last round and this one, we do feel confident that car setup will help us immensly.

We are still waiting to find out what is going on with the control manifold situation so that we can do some REAL tunning on the car!

I am starting to get thos sickening butterflies in the pit of my stomach again as I think of all the assignments and thinbgs that I have to get done before this weekend... and the fact that I let my mum take my computer so that I wouldn't play with it while studying... I am starting to think that was a major mistake! Arugh!

Anywyas...
Will write again when the butterflies get worse...

Luv Kirst
xxx
oo

PS... Good on the Wollongong FSAE boys who are in the states at the moment and are/were competing to defend their title at the FSAE over there... Win, loose, Draw boys, good on yas for having a crack... Go also the other Aussie team over there... Western Australia Uni!!!!

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.downshift.to/lasts

2004-05-04T08:26:00.000+10:00

What a weekend!
Sorry it took so long for me to write again, but it has been a long process for me to process all that has happened to me in this last few days!!!

Well, if I thought the nerves I had before the weekend were bad, they only got SOOOOOOO much worse once I got to the race meeting... Lets take a quick look at what happened!

Friday:
After a late night in arriving home on Thursday night (Thanks guys for giving me a lift!!!), I was all ready to get out to the track already. It was only a drive day but gave us the opportunity to get a prime spot in the pit next to Steve Butcher and the Dunlop Tyres guys. It was here that our rollercoaster of working with the front end handling of our car started. After about 30 laps around the creek, we called it a day and went home for a long earned nap!

Saturday:
We arrive for day one early enough. Scruiteneering started at 10:20am and was a great first experience. The scruiteneers were THE nicest people and let us get through pretty quickly. ROCK ON GUYS!!!
After scruiteneering there was a driver briefing in which I got quiet a scare when all Formula Vee drivers were asked to stick around. It turned out to be just due to a glitch with the Dorian timing systems and the ability for them to be picked up at the timing tower.
Next up was qualifying, in which I didn't qualify last (But was well off the pace all the same...), followed by my first race. It was here the nerves started to creep in. I feel a little queasy just remembering!!! I had been thinking about this moment for most of my life. The day I would nail the start and get off the line in a blaze of light and smoke... But that wasn't exactly how it started... By ANYONE'S standards, it was a pretty poor effort... But I got off the line all the same and WITHOUT spin was able to complete my first race and NOT COME LAST!!! (Because some people didn't finish, but shhhhhhhhh... I finished!!!)
Then after some mucking about, we packed up and went home for another well earned sleep!!!

Sunday:
Whoa! If I thought the nerves were bad yesterday, I should have thought better! The nerves hit me in waves of worry, hesitation and nausea. The last time I felt like this I needed a bucket and had to change my clothes afterwards!!! I try my best to keep the worries at bay, mainly by sitting in my car for long periods of time to assure that I was where I had to be on time. Whilist in my car on the dummy grid, amongst the worst of the waves of worry, I used an ingenious way to get rid of the worries... Mainly by smacking myself in the head with my helmet on!

Race 2 comes and I am able to break my so far best time of 2:13 by 1 second!!! I might have been able to do a bit better, but had 2 spins due to oil (but more likely driver error), but was still able to finish.
After the race though, all of us were called into the scrutineering bays to have some random check done on our weight and ride height. I failed the ride height test and many other failed for this and/or their lack of weight. Consequently, we were handed charge sheets that threatened us that we could be charged up to $16500 for our mishaps!!! This also meant possible loss of license. I was a little freaked out to say the least! My first race weekend and all that had to happen was for me to crash and die, win and drive in the rain and I would have experienced EVERY facet of racing!!!
Race 3 was getting increasingly close as we sat waiting for the panel to convene and decide a few things before we each had our trial. Eventually, they let us go race in race 3. What a blessing, because I was able to sort out what it was that I would say to the stewards...

Race 3 comes and after some problems with the lights, we are sent out for another warm up lap. Poor me though, I am up the back and can't read the signs or even see what colour the flag is! So, seeing the guys in front of me take off down the main straight, dodging those sitting on the line, I think GREAT!!! Heres my chance to get in amongst it!!! But it was only another warm up lap and I did have to let everyone over take me so I could get my position back. After we re-lined up on the grid, I revved the BUTT of my engine and went for it!!! Though I was swamped, again, as with all my starts, I was at least able to keep up for a little while!!! As I came into lap 2 or 3 on the straight though, I was greeted by a less that nice sight! Someone's engine had blown and there was oil and smoke EVERYWHERE!!! Oil flags took a little in coming out, but thankfully were accompanied by the nice flaggies telling me where on the track the oil was...
But all in all, half the track was now covered in oil. With my past experience with the handling errors and things, I was quiet willing to go slow for it though! Thank GOD that Bruce Collbey had taken the time to talk me through the second half of the track where there wasn't any oil, and I was able to set some respectable times...

After Race 3 though, my weekend wasn't over, as this only signaled the start of my hearing in the steward's room. As I already had my statement written out, I just went through it over and over and fixed it up a bit... The guys in the waiting room must have thought I was nuts, but this was my first time, I didn't want to say anything wrong! So I pled my case once my turn came around... The stewards didn't let on the whole time as to whether I was in the wrong or not and when I was asked to wait outside whilist they deliberated, I still had no idea where I would be once I walked back into the room. Would I have to sell my car? Would I have my license taken off me??? What would be my punishment??? Though, as soon as the door opened, the lady steward smiled at me and I knew that either she was either really sadistic or reallllly nice. Thank God it turned out to be the latter. I was excused from all charges and hopped, skipped and jumped back to the trailer where Dad was waiting for me to take me home!!!

Monday:
9:30am was my first class, but I didn't pay any attention... Could you blame me??? I was on SUCH a high from my weekend! So... How was your weekend???

Hehehehe...
GBA!
Luv Kirst
xxx
ooo

Go back to Lasts and Lasts Motorsport's Webpage via this URL: www.downshift.to/lasts

2004-04-28T09:43:00.000+10:00

It is now about 3 days out from the race and the dreams have already begun.
Dad rang last night to have a chat about what stickers we would be having on the car.
It all sparked a massive set of dreams that I had last night about me spinning out and others about not being able to start the car. It was all pretty scary.
I suppose it really doesn't help that I was reading Ayrton Senna Biographies all day yesterday!

I had the same problem when I couldn't sleep the day before driving school. I sat down and read Dick Johnson's autobiography. As long as I was reading, I was fine. As soon as I stopped and tried to think, I would be terrified or so nervous that I wouldn't be able to think straight.

But this morning I DO have to think straight!
I am in the middle of some of the most important stuff at uni and I should really being doing a 2500 word essay on engineers and the community. I think that it would work alot better if there weren't so many other things that were alot more interesting than this!

2004-04-27T16:06:00.000+10:00

It is the first day of my new blog!

G'day! My name is Kirsty Last, as you probably already know!
I am a 19 year old female race car driver who is stepping into the NSW Fvee championship for 2004.
This is my first time racing EVER and I don't even have a past in karting!!!

I was brought up with racing in my blood and all around me. My Dad is a mechanic and my mum was brought up watching the Bathurst race every year also. Dad is a pom and into anything transverse(minis I mean!!!) and mum is your true blue aussie, touring cars kinda girl.
My adopted grandpa was a rally car driver and did hillclimbs and stuff too. As you can see, it was all around me.

When it came time for me to choose something to do for the rest of my life in High school, I decided that it was not to be something taken lightly. Whatever I wanted to go into, I was going to do FULL ON!
It was around this time also that I started attending V8 supercar races with mates at our local tracks, Oran Park and Eastern Creek.

As I said, I had always been brought up with racing and it wasn't anything reallllly special or noted in my family that race weekends meant no talking whilst the racing was on. So, I came to see guys like Dick Johnson, Peter Brock and Glen Seton as members of the family. It was only when I got to meet these guys in person, in the paddock, that O understood what an impact this would have on me.

My first V8 supercar race was at Oran Park in 2001 and as I walk through the pits, I literally bump into John Bowe and latter Dick Johnson. In my mind, these guys were some of the greatest heros that ever lived, but when I looked at them (this might sound silly), they looked exactly how they had on TV, all these years I had been brought up watching them! To me they were Uncle John and Uncle Dick (Thought seeing guys like Jason Bargwanna and the like was like seeing an annoying little brother!). I was blown away by how down to earth they were in an environment that was so crazy!!!

I decided that this is where I wanted to be. I didn't care whether I was sweeping floors for the lowest of low teams, I was in LOVE!
So, I took on the subject required to do mechanical engineering, dropped the idea of becoming a navy lawyer or even an aeronautical engineer for the airforce and started pursuing my dreams of becoming the 1st and Best Australian Female driver and Engineer for race teams.

After much hassles doing my HSC and such, I had finally started to see the fruits of my labors. I had been accepted to the University of Wollongong to do Mechanical Engineering.

University of Wollongong was the current Australian champions in the university category of Formula SAE.
After being rejected by other unis, I was hell bent on using SAE as one of my outlets to show them what they had missed out on. So, before I had even been to a university lecture, I had signed up for the team and had attended my first meeting. I was finally heading in the right direction.

Things started to go wrong along the way though, as they always seem to do, and I found myself with a negligent driving charge, a written off road car and no way of getting around independently.
I finally knew how Steve Johnson felt when after only having his license and car for a little while, he was left with the ultimatum I was. Buy another road car or buy a race car. Like him, it was my Dad that put it to me. Of course I jumped at the chance to get racing, the dream I had always had since I was a little girl.

So, on the internet I hopped and found myself the nicest, cheapest and closest race car I could find in which to start my career in.

The car I found and eventually got was a 1980's model FVEE made by Elfin. It is one of the last of it's kind and it one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen!!!

Things were looking up for me. I got my racing license and was finally faced with the oncoming season. 2004.

Now, just 3 days out from my first race, fears are starting to mount. No real or justified fears, but the fears I am putting up for myself. My first race day also marks the anniversary of Aryton Senna's death in his car. Reading about it is really putting things in perspective for me. I know what my beliefs are, and I am continually looking for my boundaries.

I am just glad that I have been given the opportunities to hunt down my dreams, rather than just trying to follow them.
I thank God that he has put me where he has and I just pray for his continual protection throughout all this for me.

I'll keep you all posted about how it is going leading up to and on race day!
Till then, Keep tuned... No other blog will be as long as this!!!
GB Ya'll
Luv Kirst
xxx
ooo