 | From Team Cullen Racing
Team Cullen Racing arrived at Wakefield Park early Friday morning excited about what lies ahead for the weekend. This will be the first time the team are preparing to commence competition on the brand new Trevor Jordan supplied Honda CBR1000RR Fire blade.
The day started well with Team rider Glenn Cullen turning consistent laps playing with set-up and getting to know the bike. The day went well with Glenn getting straight down to competitive times. A few little teething problems such as a miss in the engine coming off the turns didn’t slow Glenn’s determination with Glenn putting in laps 1.2 seconds under the 2009 lap record by the end of the day. Earlier discussions of 2010 being a development year were turning into maybe we can challenge for the championship. Not only had Glenn’s performance on the Honda excited the team about what could be on Saturday and Sunday, the level of talk around the pits and the number of people sticking their heads into the Team Cullen pits said others had noticed as well.
 Saturday Morning was a beautiful crisp Goulburn morning with clear blue skies showing promise that the day will be a good day for racing.
The TCR prepared Honda looked superb in its shiny red paint supplied by our supporters at PPG and laid on by Oak flats Accident repair Centre. The Graphics supplied by DGS Mimaki at Unanderra.
First session out on Saturday morning was qualifying for the Formula Xtreme Nationals. The aim of this session was go out be smooth and see where we end up. The team were keeping 1 eye on the track and 1 eye on the timing system. Qualifying went smoothly with no major incidents and Glenn qualifying a very respectable 3rd.
Race 1
A lot of discussion was had in regards to getting the Honda off the line. After some advice from Terry Hay from Shock Treatment Glenn was focused and ready for his first race on the Honda.
A good start saw Kev Curtain 1st, Glenn Cullen 2nd, Pat Metcalf 3rd and Grant Hay 4th going up the hill for the first time.
Kev Curtain made the most of the clear track leaving the battle for second place on between Pat, Glenn & Grant. Struggling for drive off the corners Glenn was able to hold off Pat until lap 5. Glenn then had to try and maintain a good lead over Grant for 3rd place being the first Honda home.
Race 2
This time Glenn was in 4th place going up the hill chasing Metcalf 2nd Hay 3rd and a hard charging Goldsmith 5th right behind Cullen. Positions remained the same until lap 4 with Cullen getting past Hay then Goldsmith getting past both Hay and Cullen which is how it remained to the finish line.
Race 3
Metcalf was 1st up the hill with Curtain 2nd Goldsmith 3rd Hay 4th and Cullen 5th. Curtain maintained the pressure on Metcalf with Metcalf running off the track on lap 3 but was lucky enough to stay on his bike and get back in the race in 5th position. With Hay slowing then entering the pits, Goldsmith maintained 2nd with Cullen holding off a hard charging Metcalf to hold onto 3rd.
Overall results for the 1st round of the FX Nationals is Curtain 1st Metcalf 2nd Goldsmith and Cullen on equal points. Goldsmith placed 3rd due to higher points in the last race.
The team spent a number of hrs after the meeting trying to uncover the source of the engine miss without any luck. It was decided that this was a job for back at the workshop and Glenn would go out and do the best he could on Sunday.
Sunday morning and the weather was a repeat of Saturday with qualifying getting underway on time. Glenn was back in the pits within 4 laps with his gear shifter not working.
A quick adjustment and Glenn was back out on the track. Struggling with an engine miss and qualifying tyre that wasn’t supplying the grip he was hoping for. Glenn qualified in 7th position. A shrug of the shoulders and a well I just need to get out and put my head down comment from Glenn saw him ready for the first round of the Australian Formula Xtreme Championship.
Race1
Glenn maintained his 7th position off the line and up the hill charging hard and working his way through the field. Lap 3 saw Beau Beaton and Joel Hughes 3rd & 4th both having falls on lap 3 pushing Hay up to 3rd & Cullen up to 4th. Cullen pressed hard and was able to get the better of Hay on lap 5 and pulling enough of a gap to hold onto 3rd for race 1.
Race 2
Part 1 of this race was excitement plus with Curtain, 1st, Hay 2nd Metcalf 3rd Cullen 4th until lap 5 when Metcalf got passed Hay for 2nd only to fall through the right hander at the top of the hill, with Hay and Cullen leaving the track trying to avoid colliding with Metcalf and his machine. Both riders were able to maintain control and re-enter the track with Goldsmith getting through for 2nd Cullen 3rd hay 4th until the red flag came out to allow the ambulance to attend to Pat and the crash team to retrieve his bike from the edge of the track.
The race was declared to be a 2-part race and a 6-lap sprint. Lap 1 saw Curtain 1st Goldsmith 2nd hay 3rd Cullen 4th. Cullen battling hard with Hay for 3rd saw Cullen getting past on lap 4 and holding on to finish 3rd on track. Combined times saw Curtain 1st, Cullen 2nd , Goldsmith 3rd.
Race 3
Final race of the day saw curtain make it 3 from 3 for the day with Beau beaten back in the mix for the remaining podium positions. The battle saw 10 changes of position for the 2 minor places over the 10 laps with Goldsmith 2nd Beaton 3rd Cullen 4th.
Overall points for the day saw Curtain 1st, Cullen 2nd, Goldsmith 3rd. once again Glenn Cullen was the first Honda home in every race.
Team Cullen Racing would like to thank there sponsors for all their support and the team supporters that took the time out to travel up to Wakefield Park to cheer on Glenn and the team.
Jason spent the weekend helping the team out with setup of the Bike and performing Umbrella duties for Glenn on the Grid. The Team is doing everything they can to try and get Jason back on the Track for the Winton round.
Sponsors As Follows:
Adept Security, Trevor Jordan Motorcycles (Honda),Terry Hay Shock Treatment, BENS Wholesale Monitoring, Oak Flats Accident Repair Centre, PPG Paints, Arrow Exhausts, KO Personal Fitness, Ultra Body Gymnasium, DGS Mimaki, Mt Kembla Village Hotel, MJ Rowles, Veolia Environmental Services, Aim Sport Systems Accounting by Maynes Rutty.
 Glenn Cullen's AFXC Race Report () 03/31 02:22 PM 
. . Re: Glenn Cullen's AFXC Race Report (Phil Burke) 03/31 04:27 PM
. . . . Re: Great result (Terry Hay) 03/31 07:35 PM
. . . . . . Re: (junkmale) 04/01 03:59 PM
. . . . . . Re: Terry Hay (mcullen) 04/01 05:31 PM
The views and opinions expressed in these pages are strictly those of the authors and cannot be taken to represent the views and opinions of Formula Xtreme Promotions Pty Ltd or the Australasian Superbike Company Pty Ltd (Ausco). | | |