MCCASHNEY’S TOWNSVILLE TALE

It’s unlikely you could have scripted it.
Ben McCashney went into the third round of the 2009 Fujitsu V8 Development Series with an air of optimism and an expectation that he was going to be able to compete on a more level playing field.

After all, none of his rivals had raced at the Townsville layout before either and he and the Steel Blue / Playstation Team knew that Ben would be quick to adapt.

Motorsport is a funny game though.

Just when you think you have all the bases covered, something and in this case ‘somebody’ comes along and throws a spanner into the works.

Around Dawn on Friday morning, Ged Stokes and Ben were awakened by a brazen thief standing over Ged’s bed with his arms full of the room’s valuables – including mobile phones, wallets and the cash takings of merchandise sales.
The thief made off with the valuables, and Ben now faced the proposition of mentally preparing to race a V8 Supercar, on a circuit he’d never seen before, just hours after one of the most unsettling experiences of his life.

Despite all that Ben put in a stout practice session and was on his way to a possible top ten qualifying result but was unfortunately held up by traffic on some critical corners and narrowly missed out.
In Race One he started 14th and advanced to 12th.
In Race Two he was on fire and scooted from 12th to an eventual 6th – his best result to date in V8 Supercar action!
It was all going extremely well and confidence was high in the camp that Ben could bring the car home in the final event with a stout result.

Unfortunately he was innocently involved in a three car incident that damaged the car and ended the weekend without the positive climax the team had been hoping for – this was particularly disappointing given that the car had all but new tyres on and the momentum of Race Two was going to be a factor for Ben.

“Really, when you consider what we went through, the weekend turned out pretty good, apart from the damage and the robbery,” McCashney admits philosophically, “we were fast a few times there and we’re getting to know the car better each time we go out. It’s a steep learning curve.”

Out of the dark however came a shining light in the form of a simple token of generosity from Anthony Toon and the team at Joyce Mayne Computers in Townsville – who provided the boys with new mobile phones to replace the stolen ones.

How good is that?

“We’re so grateful to the team at Joyce Mayne Computers,” says Ben, “it was a really nice gesture that came out of the blue. We can’t say thanks enough.”
Ben adds “ The generosity and the friendliness of the people at this event has been fantastic and it would be awesome to race here every weekend especially in front of a massive crowd like we had, to have nearly 50,000 people here Friday for practice was unreal”  The total crowd numbers well exceeded anyones predictions with over 165,000 people attending the Townsville event.

There’s no rest for the wicked though, as the team re-groups for Sandown in just three weekends’ time.

“The Image Racing Falcon needs some repairs before Sandown which everyone will be working on frantically, and we’re working harder than ever at the moment to raise extra funds with a few initiatives from out of left field to achieve that goal. We are determined and prepared to do whatever it takes to get to Bathurst and we’re always open to any support from new sponsors.”

If there is anyone interested in helping out or getting involved with the Team please contact Ged Stokes on 0438 389 177