Almost there...

Hi Team!



Well we are home safe and sound after what turned out to be quite a eventful weekend on the track, even though it was only a test day.

I travelled up to Pukekohe on Friday, got “Taylor” my Swift Cup Car from Suzuki in Hamilton as she has been given a clean bill of health after our engine problem, in which after some investigation it was found there was a problem with the oil pickup, the team at Suzuki has done a great job to get a new engine in her, sealed and ready for the start of the season.

Going into Saturday was a real jump into the unknown for me, having never driven a Swift Cup Car apart from 3 laps at Manfield, and having never driven the Pukekohe circuit before either. So we were starting from zero effectively, so it was up early for a quick briefing with Jono Lester and his father Richard about the in’s and outs of the Pukekohe circuit, discussing lines and where bumps etc were that we might want to avoid.

The Saturday test day was a public open day, so we had everything on track from a NZV8, to some people in their MX5s etc. There were the usual boy racers in pit lane with their Skylines and WRX’s with blingy wheels and shiny engine bays etc looking to see what their cars could achieve on track. But all of this meant nothing to us as we were running our own little program to build into the circuit and the car, and really get to know it all and work some technique and fine tune it.

At the start of the day, considering we were starting from nothing, we decided if we got to a 1min 20second lap we would be happy. The circuit was dirty, green (very little rubber laid down) and it was very overcast threatening rain. So we went over the basics and got up to speed in the car, mixing it with the traffic, and really finding how good the brakes are on the Swift, and how to work the ABS and use them to the best of their ability. At the start of the day we were braking at 100m, which for my passenger Jono was a real scare, given he normally brakes at 150m in the Porsche GT3.

As we got quicker throughout the day, the more we were also able to make a few of the boy racer guys and their crew a bit red in the face, a Swift taking a WRX around the outside of Turn 1 at Pukekohe, taking a Evo and a Skyline over the hill foot to the floor left myself and Jono in fits of laughter in the race car. The humble little Swift Cup Car showing what she can do left a few of them scratching their heads, which definitely gave us something to have a good laugh about under our helmets.

So by the end of day 1 at the circuit, we made huge progress, in which we left Jono and Rich quite pleased so I heard. We were foot to the floor through Turn 1, and over the hill at the final part of the circuit, and we had got our braking down to about 80m at the hairpin, mainly because I was still learning the ABS and how to carry the speed for turn in for a good exit through the corners onto the front straight, technique before doing late braking heroics and making a mess of it. At the end of the day we left quite happy with our effort of a 1min 15 lap, which was 2 seconds off the pole time last year, with old tyres on, and a green circuit. Gave us all peace of mind that we were on track for a good start to the season.

Sunday was a day to relax, so we hit the gym and Jono managed to kill my legs the day before the Swift Cup test on Monday, worked out some muscles I hadn’t worked before, before heading home to kick it and relax with a bit of Formula 1 on TV, and some tennis and boxing on Nintendo Wii.

Monday came around, opened the curtains to a very cold and wet and windy day in Pukekohe. Today was a dedicated Swift Cup test day, 10 cars turned up for the test. We all started the morning by having a few sighter laps at slow speed to see how the track was looking and assess the conditions.

Our first session on track started with a bang, as one of our fellow drivers put their car in the wall in a big way on their outlap over the top of the hill. I went out with Jono in the car for the 1st session, picking up valuable advice to keep me out of trouble as we went about doing our thing. 2nd session I was out on my own though, searching for the grip, and learning how much the track changes as rain came and went. I was still on a dry set up, just working on driving technique and getting a good feel to it all before we changed the car, Jono was left pleased after the 2nd session when he was asked if it was him driving my car in that session. 3rd session we improved once again as 2 more cars ended up in the wall, few bent parts and scratches etc, so back on the trailers they went.

We waited for the rain to settle a bit before we started the 4th session, myself and Jono went and got his onboard camera and laptop, ready for some footage from the 5th session, but unfortunately it was never going to be as part way through the 4th session there was again another major accident, at this point they decided to call it a day while there were still some cars left.

We left quite satisfied with the progress made in the rain, even in pouring rain with absolutely no visibility at close to 200kph coming into the hairpin we were still hitting the brakes at 70m, which is later than we were doing in the dry, and also carrying a lot more speed into the hairpin too, as we finished the day 2nd fastest out of the 10 cars running.

The weekend as a whole just left me thirsty for more, and only motivated me even more to work harder in the gym, ad getting out more proposals to more potential partners for this season, as its really beginning to come together now , and it all kicks off in less than a month. With some exciting things happening behind the scenes in terms of having a team mate to work with this season, and the formation of our own little race team, but ill keep you posted once we have it cemented in place, as our pace over the weekend definitely turned a few heads and opened a few more doors for myself, which is just what we needed coming into the new season.

Many thanks for the support as I really appreciate the many messages, emails etc I receive week in week out, and ill be sure to keep to posted on the new developments we have, such as testing at Taupo on Sunday 18th Oct, then spending the Monday with Jono Lester and Jonny Reid as they test the Juno Sportsscar, learning how they go about testing and developing a racecar.

Many more learning experiences to be had before now and the 1st round at Pukekohe on the 6th-8th November, until then keep safe and looking forward to sharing more with you soon!


Sam Robinson

Gearing up!!

Ok so this month ive spent thousands on racing stuff, and all i have to show for it is a new helmet, some gloves, boots, socks, and fireproof underwear and balaclava.

Now to buy some more stuff, and to go up to Taupo for some laps just to get some photos to use in the sponsorship proposals!

Jono is lending me a pair of his overalls for now until i order my Swift Cup ones, as they're gonna be custom made with all the logos on it etc etc.

We've put in place a bit of a plan to ramp up to the start of the season, with some training with Richard and Jono in the cars, also been going hard with my physical training too so thats good, cant wait to get this show on the road!!

Now just got alot of money to raise, but its do-able!

Heres my helmet design



Also went up the line in the weekend, to nana and grandads, was pretty cool, to be honest i enjoyed the drive up and the drive home probably more than spending time with the family haha, spent time with Sarah and just talking to her made me realise so much, so really looking forward to putting that into action, was mint to get away from the city though, we visited her horse and she was riding it and the sun was out and just us in a paddock felt miles away from anywhere with no sound of cars and noise etc it was so relaxing!!

Sam and 1 horsepower of power haha

Some Lyrics

And now he asks why did I wait to live 'til it was time to die
If I could have the time back, how I'd live
Life is such a gift
So how does the story end?
Well, this is your story and it all depends
So don't let it become true
Get out and do what we were meant to do

The song itself isnt that good i think, thats my personal opinion, but the lyrics is good!

Another nice song of late - Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Your Guardian Angel

Not a bad bit of song.

and finally what about this song, Boey rekon's he's gonna play it at my funeral because it's got me written all over it or something? :S

Sometimes I get so weird
I even freak myself out
I laugh myself to sleep
It's my lullaby
Sometimes I drive so fast
Just to feel the danger
I wanna scream
It makes me feel alive

Is it enough to love?
Is it enough to breathe?
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed
Is it enough to die?
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be anything but ordinary please

To walk within the lines
Would make my life so boring
I want to know that I
Have been to the extreme
So knock me off my feet
Come on now give it to me
Anything to make me feel alive

Is it enough to love?
Is it enough to breathe?
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed
Is it enough to die?
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be anything but ordinary please.
I'd rather be anything but ordinary please.

Let down your defences
Use no common sense
If you look you will see
that this world is a beautiful
accident, turibulent, succulent
opulent permanent, no way
I wanna taste it
Don't wanna waste it away

Sometimes I get so weird
I even freak myself out
I laugh myself to sleep
It's my lullaby

Is it enough?
Is it enough?
Is it enough to breathe?
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed
Is it enough to die?
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be anything but ordinary please

Is it enough?
Is it enough to die?
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be anything but ordinary please.
oh
I'd rather be anything but ordinary please.

Anything but ordinary - Avril Lavigne

Living the Dream

Its our new catch line!

Morzey is saving to do his wrestling next year

Boey gonna go harder than ever to do well in his rugby

And me, im on the verge of getting a Swift Cup car to go racing in.

Its all really looking up for the bro's, Eva seems to be doing real good with the book and speeches etc lately so cant wait to catch up with her this weekend!!

But its looking good for the Swift Cup, looking at purchasing a car that got used this season, and go out there next year and hopefully do good.

Be interesting to make the conversion from someone who enjoys watching it, to someone who participates in it and is the show.

Have been txting the boys too, and yeh its strange to think what it could be like in a years time even.

Cant wait to see what the future holds!!

This one goes out to..

Jess!!!

I know you never got a mention yet so hows this??

Your very own post dedicated to you!! Ill even put in a picture, as tempting as it is to put in the camo top one ill resist and put the waterfall one on.

Thanks for being a good friend buddy!!

Back and pretty drained!

Well back home safe and sound after a day in Wanganui at the bike races etc, sun was shining, it was awesome day though.

Woke up about 7am, left home at 8am, dropped dad off to get his truck on the way.

Got to Wanganui and parked up the MPS miles away from the track so i wouldnt get damaged, or someone attempt to steal my glasses and iPod and all that other stuff people do lol.

So yeh went into the circuit and found Black Beauty, stood around there for a bit. Earl was doing a demo run in a Toyota Racing Series car, it is unbelievable how much stuff is involved in getting permission to do it, and how strict the rules are to do it, at the end of the day, because of Motorcycle NZ, Motorsport NZ and a few other things it wasnt as good as we had hoped for but still i suppose the public just wanted to see Earl so thats alright.

We pushed the car around to the dummy grid and warmed it up, Logan followed us around there, so he got to experience what its like to "be on the other side" sort of lol.

After warming up the car, we pushed it towards where everyone enters the circuit and parked it on the footpath (deep inside a area restricted to public so we know its safe) and we went to the Suzuki NZ VIP area and watched some of the racing. The classic sidecars was awesome. Earl was telling me how there is a dude that is like Wanganui's Burt Munroe, and was he what lol, he was awesome to watch too, sliding his bike through the corners etc etc, good times!!

Anyways the run in the TRS car was delayed a hour, so after having a break from the public watching the racing, it was back to the A1GP car to talk to randoms etc etc. Logan came by again and we had a bit of a chat, but i had to shoot off to the TRS car, as the demo was about to happen, so i told Logan and told him to come around if he wants, and shot off, when i got to the car i was wondering where he was, but he probably got stopped at the sign that says "VIPs and Officials Only" which is a shortcut through to the part which is "Officials only" lol.

We started prepping the TRS, warmed it up, torque the wheels etc make sure its not going to fall to bits, cant have that with 10,000 people watching. Earl got suited up, helmet on, hans on, got in and we belted him up, all the time there was people yelling saying we got to go, we got to go, we're behind scedule" but unfortunately its not so much a case of getting in and taking it for a drive.

Once Earl was strapped in, battery on, start the car, battery off, and send him on his way. It was at this point i looked over at the fence, and saw alot of people hard against the fence taking pictures etc etc, so there was obviously some public interest in it which was good to see.



While Earl was out on track i got the chance to have a look at the Britten superbike up close, and talk to the rider, Andrew Stroud. It really is a amazing piece of machinery.

Once Earl did his run, push the car back to the pits and give it a bit of a clean, and put it back on display.

Pretty much spent the afternoon watching and enjoying the racing, and standing around talking about racing to various peoples, its cool hearing other peoples stories.

The end of the day came around quickly, we put the cars in the trailers, i got a guys card of William about the Swift Cup, so ill hopefully get in one of those soon. Be awesome to do that cant wait.

So we said our goodbyes and all started heading off home, Earl said he'll get me a pit tour in Taupo of the new A1GP car and that too, so looking forward to that.

So started walking to my car, and Earl stopped and gave me a ride to my car, which was good because it was further away than i remembered lol. Jumped in the MPS and drove home, seemed like a long drive as was quite tired from a day spent mainly in the sun etc etc.

But it was a fun day, next time ill remember to do my hair though so it dosnt look like there is one of the beatles helping prepare a race car lol.

Operation Trixie

Wow the boys bought me Speed Racer on DVD for Xmas, man i love them to bits its the best!!

Quite funny though because it really inspires me.

Not just to go racing and win the GT3 Cup etc, but to also put "Operation Trixie" into motion lol.

But to find out about "Operation Trixie" i will have to tell you in person.

Well ive been sick the last few weeks lol, been back at work for the last 3 days but yeh been on some hard out anti biotics etc etc, and sure i dont think swimming etc helped when you're on these lol, but finished them today, so back into the training tomorrow with a bit of luck.

Also been looking into the best way to go about this racing thing, and have a rough plan figured out and will post some details here when i have time. But i really want to have a assult on the Suzuki Swift Sport Cup next year aye!!!

Ciao for now, must go watch some more speed racer and be inspired!