Despite last weekend’s Australian V8 Dirt Modified Championship not going according to plan for Mark Robinson, he refused to be overcome by frustration to salvage a top-five result.
Having added three Australian Championship victories to his resume over the years, Robinson is no stranger to the pressure that goes with participating in such an event, along with the importance of qualifying strongly in order to give yourself the best chance of achieving a positive result.
While the opening night was a challenging one, due to difficulty with the setup of his NSW # 9 Castrol / Southside Truck Centre supported Troyer car, Robinson focused his energy on what would be required to enhance his position, steadily improving his results throughout the two-night event and ultimately finishing in fifth.
“It was a tough Australian Championship weekend, but our team persisted, and we managed to come away with a top-five finish,” said the Lismore, NSW-based racer, who finished second in last season’s Australian Championship behind winner Kevin Britten.
“We struggled with the car’s setup on night one, but we were able to improve it a bit on the second night and move further up in the field as a result.”
Being unable to break into the top three during Friday night’s heat races, placing fifth and fourth respectively, before also missing out on a top-three result during Silver Dollar feature race two, finishing fourth, it was clear to Robinson and his team that their dry track setup wasn’t paying off.
Making some changes to their setup heading into Saturday night, everything began to fall into place for Robinson, whose remaining heat races resulted in a third and a win, earning him an inside fourth-row start for the feature race. It wasn’t until the latter stages of the feature race when he moved into fifth place, which was where he remained until the finish.
Robinson is looking to bounce back at his home track Lismore Speedway for this Saturday night’s running of the NSW Title – an event where he is a multiple winner. This event doubles as the opening round of the 5 Star Dirt Series in which Robinson is the defending champion.
Robinson would like to thank his 2018-19 season sponsors: Castrol, Southside Truck Centre, Global Lubricant Distribution, GSR Suspension Development, Trevan Ford, Northern Truck Coolers, and A1 Signs.
Special thanks must go to Robinson’s pit crew – Bud, Larry, Micka, Andrew and Jake – along with his mum and dad (Faye and Steve), his wife Chloe and the kids, and the rest of the team and supporters.
To find out more about Robinson and his team, LIKE them on Facebook by searching Robinson Motorsport.
