Young V8Supercar driver Jonathan Beikoff and Fujitsu V8Supercar Series veterans Shane Beikoff Racing will miss this weekend’s first Round of the 2008 Fujitsu V8Supercar Series, after the team’s transporter experienced a major engine failure en route to Adelaide’s opening Round.

After finishing 15th in the last two rounds of 2007, the team was hopeful to continue this momentum at this weekend’s Round.

The team’s transporter, which left the team’s Brisbane-based workshop on Sunday afternoon, experienced crankshaft failure while entering Moree, just over the Queensland/New South Wales border.

The Shane Beikoff Racing team and staff from Tractor & Engine Spares, not short on enthusiasm, rushed from it’s Archerfield workshop immediately to get the transporter back on the road to Adelaide. This work commenced at 8.30pm on Monday night, which involved extracting the engine from the truck, disassembling it, replacing all affected components (including crankshaft, bearings etc), and then the long process of re-assembling and re-installing the engine into the truck. This work continued all through Monday night and into Tuesday morning, with the truck’s engine firing up at 10.30am.

The transporter ran smoothly through to Narrabri, an hour and a half from Moree, when it then experienced further mechanical difficulties. The call was then made by the team’s mechanics and team manager Shane Beikoff that due to the distance to Adelaide and the time it would take to travel there, they would be forced to miss the Adelaide race meeting as a result of these mechanical difficulties.

Shane Beikoff, who personally travelled to Moree to help repair the transporter, expressed his disappointment at the situation.

“Myself and the team have run on virtually no sleep in the past 36 hours, and to have the transporter fail again down the road is extremely frustrating and obviously we’re all very disappointed by what’s happened,” Shane commented on his way back to Brisbane from Moree.

“I really feel for the team for the effort they’ve put into this race meeting, as we’ve been working around the clock in the last 3 weeks to get this far, and to have it all come undone before we even get to the race track is a very bitter pill to swallow,” Shane continued.

“I also feel for Jonathan, who apart from playing a major role in our car preparation for Clipsal, has to watch this weekend from the sidelines instead of being out on the track. It’s really disheartening for everybody, including our key sponsors, Turbo Brisbane, Tractor & Engine Spares and K&H Surface Technologies,” Shane concluded.

Shane Beikoff Racing driver Jonathan Beikoff, who was preparing himself for his 9th V8Supercar start this weekend, has looked at the situation with a different perspective.

“I’m really proud for the dedication and commitment of the whole team and everybody who has helped us. Situations like this don’t break teams, it makes them stronger, and I know our team will bounce back at Wakefield Park harder and stronger than ever,” Jonathan commented.

Shane Beikoff and the Shane Beikoff Racing team would like to thank Matt Rohweder from Tractor & Engine Spares and Murray Wealleans, the team’s truck driver, for all their assistance in trying to get the team to Adelaide in the last 48 hours.

Source:V8 Latest News