These are the profound words of super coach Jack Gibson after Parramatta’s first ever Rugby League title in 1981 after defeating Newtown at the SCG.
Since his first drive in the series nearly 2 years ago, Brock has tried as hard with only minor results coming his way but “ding donged” the opposition in Race 3 of Round 4 of the AFPGP on the piscatorial waters of the Clarence River, Grafton.
A more popular win you will not find.
As Brock received the chequered flag there were boisterous cheers with this commentator having a ‘teary’ moment having recounted the first time I saw him drive as a twelve year and six years later… wow wee.
Brock’s weekend wasn’t all beer and skittles though.
Qualifying was horrendous and exhilarating all in the one breath. One moment saw Brock pulling 7g’s nearly barrel rolling, and next seeing him topping the time sheets with a 49.40 second lap. Just as Team CBR were ready to celebrate their first ever P1, Will Parker in the Ask Huey #102 boat pulled out an absolute screamer in the low 48’s on his last lap. Hell… where did that one come from lamented Brock and needless to say their fellow opposition. Anyway, second was better than sixth and series leader Jake “The Snake” Greentree was behind them.
Race 1 of the weekend on Saturday afternoon saw Brock leave cleanly off the dock but unfortunately a torque strap came loose around lap 4 of 8 which saw Brock hanging on for grim death with slower lap times and Will Parker passing him for second on the final lap.
Team CBR regrouped, fixed the problem and headed home for a hearty dinner, couple of drinks and a good nights sleep.
A really good start in Race 2 saw Brock leading comfortably until a battery failed resulting in the loss of trim and the fuel pump surging with the young driver showing maturity beyond his years by shutting down the Riverfront Logistics, Prop Power Marine, Newcastle Mobile Marine and Lanotec No.98 avoiding the engine leaning out and ending the weekend early.
Team CBR of a couple of months ago would have let frustration get the better of them – not any longer. It is a well oiled machine that simply now gets on with it, soaking up the disappointments knowing the positives are just around the corner. And did it come in Race 3..
Greentree as usual got an absolute flyer of the dock which saw him lead from the ever improving Joel Downes with BC holding third. For a time it looked as though Brock would take the minor money as Downes withstood challenge after challenge. Brock finally got inside of Joel and the chase began. Jake has virtually had Formula 3 all to himself over the last year, but as leading crewman of the No.57, Geoff McPherson mentioned to me over the weekend that “his team is not doing anything different, the other teams are working that much harder”. With laps descending Brock was making big inroads onto the trail of Greentree. That’s the easy part – going around him is a different matter. You would have thought the world ended with one lap to go. Greentree missed a turn buoy and absequently had to turn and go around again. Cohen had put that much pressure on Greentree filling his rear vision mirrors, “The Snake” made a mistake… and a fatal one it was. See what pressure does.
The crowd, fellow competitors and families roared with applause and did they roar when BC greeted the chequers. A lot of people wanted to celebrate but Team CBR had two out of four, that is wins, on their mind.
Race 4 was an anti-climate with Greentree taking the win from BC and Downes taking third. Despite not taking another win, this race featured some great dicing between the second and third placegetters which ultimately allowed the No.57 to breathe easy out front.
A third for the round was good, but the delight in mowing down and pressuring Greentree into making a mistake and ultimately winning his first Grand Prix series race would I think would top Brock’s Australian & NSW Formula Future Championships. The absolute pinnacle I believe.
A big thankyou goes to WASP Marine for the loan of one of their race engines for the weekend and all the volunteers who put together a fabulous weekend of racing.
Ding – Dong. The witch is dead. And……. Brock Cohen has spoken.
See you at the track.
Craig Lynne
Since his first drive in the series nearly 2 years ago, Brock has tried as hard with only minor results coming his way but “ding donged” the opposition in Race 3 of Round 4 of the AFPGP on the piscatorial waters of the Clarence River, Grafton.
A more popular win you will not find.
As Brock received the chequered flag there were boisterous cheers with this commentator having a ‘teary’ moment having recounted the first time I saw him drive as a twelve year and six years later… wow wee.
Brock’s weekend wasn’t all beer and skittles though.
Qualifying was horrendous and exhilarating all in the one breath. One moment saw Brock pulling 7g’s nearly barrel rolling, and next seeing him topping the time sheets with a 49.40 second lap. Just as Team CBR were ready to celebrate their first ever P1, Will Parker in the Ask Huey #102 boat pulled out an absolute screamer in the low 48’s on his last lap. Hell… where did that one come from lamented Brock and needless to say their fellow opposition. Anyway, second was better than sixth and series leader Jake “The Snake” Greentree was behind them.
Race 1 of the weekend on Saturday afternoon saw Brock leave cleanly off the dock but unfortunately a torque strap came loose around lap 4 of 8 which saw Brock hanging on for grim death with slower lap times and Will Parker passing him for second on the final lap.
Team CBR regrouped, fixed the problem and headed home for a hearty dinner, couple of drinks and a good nights sleep.
A really good start in Race 2 saw Brock leading comfortably until a battery failed resulting in the loss of trim and the fuel pump surging with the young driver showing maturity beyond his years by shutting down the Riverfront Logistics, Prop Power Marine, Newcastle Mobile Marine and Lanotec No.98 avoiding the engine leaning out and ending the weekend early.
Team CBR of a couple of months ago would have let frustration get the better of them – not any longer. It is a well oiled machine that simply now gets on with it, soaking up the disappointments knowing the positives are just around the corner. And did it come in Race 3..
Greentree as usual got an absolute flyer of the dock which saw him lead from the ever improving Joel Downes with BC holding third. For a time it looked as though Brock would take the minor money as Downes withstood challenge after challenge. Brock finally got inside of Joel and the chase began. Jake has virtually had Formula 3 all to himself over the last year, but as leading crewman of the No.57, Geoff McPherson mentioned to me over the weekend that “his team is not doing anything different, the other teams are working that much harder”. With laps descending Brock was making big inroads onto the trail of Greentree. That’s the easy part – going around him is a different matter. You would have thought the world ended with one lap to go. Greentree missed a turn buoy and absequently had to turn and go around again. Cohen had put that much pressure on Greentree filling his rear vision mirrors, “The Snake” made a mistake… and a fatal one it was. See what pressure does.
The crowd, fellow competitors and families roared with applause and did they roar when BC greeted the chequers. A lot of people wanted to celebrate but Team CBR had two out of four, that is wins, on their mind.
Race 4 was an anti-climate with Greentree taking the win from BC and Downes taking third. Despite not taking another win, this race featured some great dicing between the second and third placegetters which ultimately allowed the No.57 to breathe easy out front.
A third for the round was good, but the delight in mowing down and pressuring Greentree into making a mistake and ultimately winning his first Grand Prix series race would I think would top Brock’s Australian & NSW Formula Future Championships. The absolute pinnacle I believe.
A big thankyou goes to WASP Marine for the loan of one of their race engines for the weekend and all the volunteers who put together a fabulous weekend of racing.
Ding – Dong. The witch is dead. And……. Brock Cohen has spoken.
See you at the track.
Craig Lynne