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Homebush heartache

Monday 5 December

Dean Fiore and Triple F Racing endured a tough weekend at the office on the streets of Homebush on the weekend, in the team's last event prior to Dean moving to Jim Beam Racing in the 2012 season.

The #12 WesTrac Falcon showed promising speed in Friday's practice with the team trying a completely different setup in the four official practice sessions.

Dean started Saturday's 76 lap race in 20^th position, and with a solid race car underneath him was showing extremely good race pace. This saw Dean running inside the top 10 for the majority of the race, where he was tucked up behind Craig Lowndes who went on to win the race. In the end, the race came down to a fuel management game and Dean dropped back to 11^th in order to conserve fuel. Despite his and the team's best efforts, the #12 Falcon came to a heartbreaking stop 2 corners from the chequerd flag depriving the team of their best ever result.

Sunday's 20 minute qualifying session was peppered with red flag periods, one of which included Dean after he flew over the tyre bundle at the Turn 7 chicane. Despite the extensive air time that he received from the incident (including Sunday night's national news and Channel 7 Sunrise this morning), the car had a considerable amount of damage. The team did an exceptional job in getting the car turned around in the brief 3 hour timeframe between qualifying and the race, however due to the damage the car sustained from the incident the differential let go with 17 laps to go in the 250km race.

"I am disappointed we didn't go down this road with the setup earlier in the year as it was proving to give us a decent yield from the changes that we made.

"It was the best chance we had so far this year of finishing inside the Top 10 in both the races at Homebush, so I am disappointed that we didn't cotton onto this setup earlier in the year.

"I am so grateful for all of the support from WesTrac, Sitech, BMC and all my other partners throughout the 2010 & 2011 seasons.

"I also want to thank the boys at Triple F Racing who have worked tirelessly alongside of me for the past two years.

"And to the Perth based squad of my dad Frank, my brother's Todd and Paul and my marketing guru Hollie, I am eternally grateful for all their help and support."

Dean Fiore returns to the V8 Supercar Championship in the 2012 season under the Dick Johnson/ Jim Beam Racing banner which kicks off at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide from 1-4 March 2012.

Weekend of what could have been

Monday 21 November

Dean Fiore and Triple F Racing proved in Saturday's opening race at the Norton 360 Sandown Challenge, during tumultuous weather conditions, that they can hold their own against the V8 Supercars' best teams and drivers.

After qualifying in 21^st position, the team devised a well planned pit strategy, which allowed Fiore to jump up to the front of the field where he stayed comfortably fighting it out for a top 6 position prior to pitting. The team made an exceptional pit stop and Fiore was out in 12^th position in the dying laps of the race until a pushing Dumbrell fenced Fiore with only 3 laps remaining, denying the team of their best ever result.

Dumbrell was penalised for the incident, however it doesn't rectify Fiore's possible result.

Melbourne's weather dealt yet another card on Sunday, with both qualifying and the race run in dry conditions, meaning the team had to change the car's setup completely from Saturday's wet race.

Fiore was faring well at the beginning of Sunday's qualifying, and was sitting in the top 10 for some duration of the session, until a couple of changes on the car didn't go the way the team had hoped, which subsequently resulted in a 24^th starting position for Sunday's 65 lap race.

On the opening lap of the race, Fiore sustained a knock to the front end which resulted in bent steering making it extremely hard to nurse around left hand corners. The team made the best adjustments they could during the scheduled pit stops but the cars handling was still appalling.

"It was another frustrating round for us, but we have definitely been more competitive in the last 2 rounds than we have been all year.

"Saturday's race was the scariest conditions I have ever driven in. To be pulling 6^th gear going 240km/h sideways, whilst you cannot see in front of you was unbelievable.

"A ripper result really went begging for us on Saturday by no fault of our own. A top 12 result for a team like ours would've been phenomenal. There's definitely heartache when you get that close to a good result and think about what could have been," Fiore said.

The final round of the V8 Supercar Championship will be at Sydney Olympic Park in two weeks' time.

Encouraging speed across the Tasman

Monday 14 November

The weekend's Falken Tasmania Challenge was the first time the series' regular drivers have raced without a co-driver in two months and also saw the return of a more normal race weekend format.

Saturday and Sunday both featured a single 20-minute qualifying session followed by a race with one 50-lap race on Saturday followed by an 84-lap race on Sunday.

WesTrac Racing's, Dean Fiore, showed good speed during the 4 practice sessions on Friday, ending up 8^th on the time sheets in practice 3.

The team made minor changes to the car's setup prior to Saturday's qualifying, with Dean finishing the session in 21^st position to start the 50-lap opening race of the Tasmania Challenge, only a mere 0.4s from pole.

Dean made a strong start to Race 23, passing several cars in the opening laps. A slightly longer pit stop coupled with a mistake and running wide into the hairpin on his out lap on cold tyres relinquished the gain, which resulted in the #12 Falcon taking the chequered flag in 19^th position.

Sunday's qualifying was yet another extremely tight battle which saw the top 26 cars covered by 0.5s. Dean' flying lap was looking to put him into 16^th before a locked front tyre put him out of the hunt for a decent starting position. At the conclusion of the qualifying session, Dean was placed 25th on the timing sheets for Sunday's 200km race at Symmons Plains.

Due to the closeness of the field, it proves extremely hard to gain track position in the races, which makes qualifying all the more important. As a result Dean was unable to make considerable gains in the race, and finished in 24^th position.

"Believe me I am not happy just scrapping into the top 20 as I feel we should be running within the top 15, however we were a lot more competitive this weekend than we have been in the past few rounds, which is an encouraging sign," Dean said.

"We're not going to give up and I believe the team's constant improvement will net us a top 10 result before the season is out.

"We had good speed last year at Sandown, and the team is working extremely hard to get us to where we truly deserve to be."

The team now has a very quick turnaround to prepare for practice in just four days at Sandown for the Norton 360 Sandown Challenge.

Triple F Racing adopts the Rainbow for Tasmanian round

9 November 2011

The Triple F Racing team will be hoping for a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow when they support Zaidee's Rainbow Foundation at this weekend's Tasmanian Round of the V8 Supercars.

The #12 FG Falcon will feature a Rainbow swoosh stretching down both sides of their WesTrac Racing entry, with the Zaidee's logo prominent above the front bulbar. The entire Triple F Racing team, including Dean Fiore, will also be sporting Zaidee's Rainbow Shoelaces during the Falken Tasmania Challenge.

The event is particularly special for the Foundation as this Tuesday, November 8, would have been Zaidee Turner's 14^th Birthday.

Kim and Allan Turner created Zaidee's Rainbow Foundation in memory of their daughter, Zaidee Turner, who tragically and suddenly died in 2004 at the age of seven after suffering a burst blood vessel in her brain. In the year she died Zaidee was the only Victorian child to donate her organs and tissues, and one of only six children to donate from the whole of Australia. Her gift saved or improved the lives of up to seven other people.

On average around 130,000 Australians die each year but the number of organ and tissue donors numbers only sits in the hundreds. In 2010, 309 people gave the greatest gift of all and results this year have increased again.

"By encouraging parents to speak to their children about organ and tissue donation we hope that those family members currently on the transplant waiting list will have a better chance of receiving their transplant in time," said Allan Turner, CEO of Zaidee's Rainbow Foundation.

Currently there are 49 children under the age of 19 years waiting for a transplant in Australia. Many of these kids will die in the next 12 months before they receive a transplant due to the lack of donors at the end of life. 

Zaidee gave the greatest gift of all after she died, her organs and tissue, so others could live a better life and, in some cases, get another chance at life.

For more information please go to www.zaidee.org 

GC600 Wrap Up

Tuesday 25 October 2011

Triple F Racing endured a tough weekend at the concrete jungle that is the Surfers Paradise street circuit, which saw the team in a constant struggle to find lap speed for the #12 WesTrac entered Falcon.

Saturday's qualifying was marred by a brief rain shower early in the session which meant Dean missed his flying lap as he hadn't yet banked a quick time on new rubber, resulting in 27^th grid spot for the first of the 300km races.

Gianni Morbidelli started the race on Saturday and pegged away at several positions and was running solidly before handing over the car to Fiore after his minimum requirement of co-driver laps. Fiore double stinted in the race and managed to take the chequered flag in 20^th position.

The team was reasonably happy with time Fiore set in the early stages of Sunday's qualifying, which was seven tenths faster than the car had gone all weekend. However, later in the session when the other drivers were setting their quickest times, the WesTrac Falcon was struggling with under steer which couldn't be eradicated for the remainder of the session.

In an attempt to get a jump on the competition, the team decided to take the gamble and get Fiore to start Sunday's 102 lap journey, where he was the only regular driver starting on the grid.

The risk paid dividends until a faulty bollard sensor saw Fiore issued with a drive through penalty which forced the #12 Falcon to pass through pit-lane at a painfully slow pace. After a spate of supposed incorrect penalties, the bollard system was turned off straight after Fiore served the penalty costing the team dearly.

After Fiore took the car to over half race distance and was at one stage sitting in fourth prior to pitting, Morbidelli took to the wheel. Unfortunately after only a handful of laps, Morbidelli was an innocent victim to a charging D'Alberto which saw him turned around facing the wrong way at turn 12.

In an odd turn of events, a track marshal then waved Morbidelli on to turn the car around right into an oncoming Jason Bright. This resulted in considerable damage to both cars and ended their races prematurely.

 "I think Gianni did a fantastic job all weekend, and was just a victim of circumstances on Sunday.

"It was great to see him again and hopefully we can bring him back again next year," Fiore said.

"In a way I am slightly relieved the co-driver rounds are over, as I can now focus on the last three rounds and bringing it home strong."

The series takes a two week break before the championship battle resumes at the Falken Tasmania Challenge at Symmons Plains from November 11-13.