After runaway wins at the first 2 rounds of the Victorian Rotax Max Championship, Dean had an unhappy day at the 3rd round at Phillip Island when a frozen power valve robbed him of any low down power. It was a small miracle that he managed to salvage 2nd from the meeting. Worse was to come at the 4th round, again at Phillip Island, when the carburetor decided to play up. With no knowledge of the pitfalls of the Rotax engine we asked various 'experts' at the track for a solution. The advice was to try a different jet. Some said leaner, some said richer. We tried both and nothing worked. With the kart misfiring everywhere, Dean slogged around the track about half a lap back to collect points for a 5th place finish.

Back at the workshop the next day, inspection of the carburetor revealed a blocked pilot jet. With the carburetor cleaned, a test day at Winton confirmed that the problem was fixed.

QUALIFYING
Carburetor OK. Daniel Bey and Dean in his Yarra Valley Automotive sponsored HyperRacer, chase each other around for 1st and 2nd on the grid respectively.

RACE 1 - 5 laps
Brad Stebbing grabbed the lead with Dean, Daniel Bey and Nathan Bey in hot pursuit. For 5 laps the top 4 traded places, using all of the track and then some, leaving clouds of dust in their wake. Brad clipped the inside curb at turn 8, bouncing off the track and into a spin. By the last lap Dean had settled into second behind Daniel and had noticed that he had more corner speed than Daniel through turn 8. So on the last lap he made his move. With a better run through the turn he gathered Daniel in to take the inside line into turn 9. It was Dean first home followed by Daniel and Nathan.

RACE 2 - 5 laps
Dean away from pole, pulling out to a 1.5 second lead and cruising home unchallenged for the win, with Nathan Bey in second and Daniel in third.

RACE 3 - 5 laps
Dean lead Daniel for the first lap. On the second lap, Daniel slipped down the inside into turn 5 and held on to take the win.

RACE 4 - 8 laps
Dean and Daniel weren't hanging around. In the fastest race of the day both drivers were lapping within tenths of the lap record. Dean grabbed the lead with Daniel nailed to his rear. With Daniel's Rotax showing a top speed advantage, Dean had to make his stronger corner speed onto the straight count on every lap, with Daniel closing right up again by the end of the straight. After a superb driving display by both drivers, Dean just managed to lead Daniel over the line.

Great driving by both drivers.

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OVERALL RESULTS
1st Dean Crooke
2nd Daniel Bey
3rd Nathan Bey
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After the meeting, Brad Stebbing took the HyperMAXracer out for a run. On his return he said, "That thing is awesome. The front end is incredible. It drives like it's on rails. Fantastic. Oh, by the way, your engine has got absolutely no top end power."
We know.
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WHY WOULD YOU BUY A HYPER MAX RACER.

Some race observers have told us, that although Dean is a very good driver, he lacks the mid corner speed of whatysisname, or that he is softer under brakes than thingamybob.
As Dean has convincingly beaten the top drivers in the races where his and their karts were running properly, and has turned the fastest laps at Winton and Phillip Island this year, one can only draw two conclusions;
1. These observers are playing a quiet game of pocket billards. (The most likely senario),
OR
2. If they are right, it says a lot about the superiority of the HyperMAXracer. If a so-so driver like Dean can win, imagine what you could do in a HyperMAXracer.

We are open for orders 24/7.

The incredible photos are by Gary Trounson
He has hundreds of photos from round 4 and this round.
Email: gtrounson@hotmail.com