Respected offroad racers, Travis Milburn and Rob Cowie made their Stadium Super Truck debut at the Clipsal 500 last weekend. The South Australian duo give Dirtcomp an insight into their week in the SST camp and the amazing on track experience…
The Clipsal 500 SST race has been run and won!! Massive congratulations to Sheldon Creed!
“What a rollercoaster ride”
Monday 29th of February saw the team get together for the first time for a practice session and our first drive in a Stadium Super Truck on offer. We were like kids in a candy shop waiting for our chance to get some seat time in one of these 650 horse power monsters. After meeting Robby Gordon and Toby Price, the formalities were out of the way and it was time to put our abilities to the test. Were we going to meet Robby’s expectations and be given the nod to race? It was time to focus and learn as quickly as possible. Jumping, driving, setups and how the whole deal worked, it was all about to happen…
A quick play each on the skid pan followed by a few laps on the track, hitting the ramp jump for the first time, rendered all of us excited and optimistic.
“Smashing a ramp and flying through the air in one of these trucks was one hell of a ride!”
“These trucks are straight up awesome!”
Trav and Rob got the nod! We were off to Clipsal…
Arrival at the Clipsal track introduced us to a whole new level of motorsport as it was our first time at a national bitumen circuit. Being a part of the Clipsal 500 Adelaide, our home track, is a massive tick for all of us. The Move Yourself Motorsport #25 Truck looked amazing, with Insane Motorsports ‘Crazy Face’, Sportzprint and Loveday 4×4 livery, printed and applied to the truck by Robbie Gordons talented crew.
First thing on the menu was practice one.
We entered practice one with the desire for knowledge and to keep the truck scratch free. We immediately learned that minor adjustments to the truck made a huge difference. We had to learn fast to be fast!! Travis drove the truck quickly yet cautiously, gathering data and getting a feel for the track, bringing valuable feedback to Scott Agars (our race engineer), Martin Waddingham (crew chief) and Todd (SST crew), so adjustments could be made.
Rob was up next for Practice 2/qualifying. As per usual, Rob’s clean driving and smooth lines saw the #25 truck run competitive times and gather more valuable data. We soon realised this was going to be harder than it looked and became excited for the upcoming challenge. Even though this was our first drive in the stadium super truck, we wanted to ensure the best job done for our team, including all commercial partners and all of you, our family of fans that we represent.
Team order for Friday’s first race sent Trav out to find this trucks limits yet bring it back in one piece. Trav drove the truck home in 7th with a ‘crowd thrilling’ high speed 360 spin/save after the jump exiting turn 11 and precision driving avoiding a pile up and a couple of light excursions ‘out braking’ himself. Trav’s priceless grin on arrival provided more than a few laughs for the team! We added a heap more front brake and some minor shock adjustments feeling confident for the next race.
Saturday’s race 2 team orders for a fast yet clean race saw Rob carrying out another stellar drive, precise and consistent, bringing the #25 home in 8th position already knocking off a few seasoned campaigners and impressing the local fans. With more data compiled we knew we were going into Sunday with a competitive truck.
Sunday’s race saw Travis looking fast and the car jumping beautifully, then it all came undone with a loss of drive to the rear right wheel, a mechanical DNF that was simply unlucky for the team.
At our post race debrief we scanned Rob and Trav’s timing data to learn and advance our performance for the future, finding on par split times with Sheldon Creed. With the knowledge acquired from our first race we are now confident that we have the right team to move ourselves into the top order quickly. We are all excited and prepared to continue in stadium super trucks and look forward to representing Australia in the most comprehensive and professional manner.
We can’t thank Robby Gordon and his professional crew enough or the Clipsal 500 organising committee, staff and volunteers, our family, friends and fans, for all their support and efforts. We always strive to replicate the market leading status of our commercial partners, Move Yourself Trailer and Ute Hire, Insane Motorsport Experiences, Loveday 4×4 Park and Sportzprint.
All members of the SST crew, teams and drivers are great people that made us feel welcomed and cared for.
In our opinion this is by far the most thrilling form of motorsport on the planet!
Follow the team on Facebook here
Check out the Clipsal 500 Stadium Super Truck Event Report here
