Corfield Woods Motorsport International Season Review
Posted: Friday, January 8th 2010 - by: Ryan Corfield

The last two weeks have been the busiest two weeks for Australian Sprintcar teams with a hand full of American drivers visiting the Australian shores to go head to head with the best that Australia has to offer. This year was almost in doubt with the inclement weather that Sydney had seen during this period, however, Tuesday night, January 5th was when the TPCR International season was bought to a close after the 2010 Scott Darley Memorial was completed after a rain delay.

At the commencement of the International season, Sunday, December 27th, the Corfield Woods Motorsport debuted a new engine combination that the team had purchased just weeks before the commencement of the International series of events. The motor was an ex-Joey Saldana powerplant.

“Its great to have some extra horsepower, so now we just have to learn how to drive with it, as it certainly changes the attitude of the racecar” said Matt.

The team had some small teething issues with the new motor, but they were quickly put to rest on the first night’s racing.

The team successfully qualified for the Valvoline Australian Grand Prix on December 27, but we suffered some power steering issues during the A-main which seen us pull off the race track with 10 laps to go.

This past Monday and Tuesday night seen the completion of the $50,000 to win event, which was meant to be run Saturday and Sunday, however was postponed due to wet weather. The track was surprisingly very dry and dusty considering the amount of rain that Sydney had received over the weekend.

Matt started out of the 10th spot in the preliminary C Main event. We got the car working really well throughout the race and managed to get all the way up to fourth position into the transfer spot. At the end of the race a fuel line come off the motor and caused a fire to start within the cockpit of the race car. This was caused from some slight contact during the last few laps with another competitor. Matt was taken to hospital and checked over and later discharged. The burns were only superficial and not severe.

“The Simpson Safety gear that I was wearing certainly did its job considering how long I was on fire for, I now have a new appreciation for all the safety items we have to wear," explained Matt.

“In light of Matt’s injuries, as a team, we made the decision not to go back and race the second night of the $50,000 to win event. Matt’s safety is and will always be our number one priority and I am confident that we made the right decision,” said Gary Corfield

The Corfield Woods Motorsport team will be returning to the track this weekend, Saturday, January 8th for the next round of the TPCR track championship.