Winter Workshop - Team Rodgers Racing North Canterbury is obviously a popular location for racing teams associated with Woodford Glen Speedway. And continuing with this trend is Team Rodgers Racing with the 84c Modified driven by Natasha Rodgers being maintained in the workshop at the family home in Amberley. Although Natasha resides in Christchurch her race car is carefully maintained in the home workshop of parents John & Pauline Rodgers. Many women have taken the plunge into racing speedway cars but I don’t recall any who have gone quite as quick as Natasha. Tash is often referred to as the Queen of the Clay which is well earned status. For Tash the traveling distance to Amberley doesn’t seem to be an issue and she likes to “give Dad encouragement while working on the car and I can also sneak off and watch a bit of their Sky TV”. The 84c Modified is a Harris chassis which was brand new last year. It runs a chev engine which has been freshened for this season by Dennis Wise. While the engine will have minor improvements the driveline has received significant attention after finding various problems with componentry. A new input shaft was required due to a severe twist in the splines plus a new driveshaft & rear axle have been fitted too. The front axle is being refurbished along with some new wheels and after a few newly painted panels are finished this racer should look like new. Seeing the amount of attention this is receiving over winter proves why it was awarded “best presented car” at the annual Woodford Glen prize giving held recently. The last season has been a huge learning curve with the new car and the team are very happy with the Harris chassis. The main issues to come to grips with for Tash “was learning the way it handles” and (for John) “there’s more adjustments to be made”. However this learning curve has been made a lot easier with the continued support of Gary Harris who Tash says “when I’m at the track I can just call Gary stating the car is doing this or that and he will advise me on the spot”. This learning curve has come with somewhat of a cost and the first culprit was John “I did a big whoops at the start of the season and didn’t put enough oil in the dry sump system”. That mistake resulted with engine issues which required immediate attention but John assures everyone that won’t occur again. Tash adds “last season was quite disastrous and I was thinking maybe I need to put training flags at the front wheels. One positive thing that did come out of the season is that I can handle wheels stands now. Woohoo!” Many speedway teams are a combined family effort and this team is no exception. There's mum Pauline (who we can call the boss) and dad John. But to carry on the family theme Natasha uses more family and friends to assist with pit crewing duties. Sister Michelle is always on hand “when I’m a bit tense she is good at making me laugh by doing stupid things like singing Mahna Mahna”. Rodney and Jody are both family friends who are dedicated crew members along with Jody’s brother Gareth who is often used as the “grandchild minder”. This crew is also going to look even better this season as they are being decked out in new uniforms and Tash is also thankful for her “built in fan base of 9 nieces & nephews”. We spoke briefly about the team’s aspirations and Tash suggests “I would like to do less damage to the car plus be more competitive with Glen Leech. I’m aiming for a top 5 finish at the national championships in Stratford and if that works out okay we will attend the GP in Wellington”. John stated “to finish more races would be the intention although having the odd bent bit of gear is preferable while getting through traffic rather than seeing Tash sitting back in the pack”. Pauline suggested “can we ask the other drivers to stop spinning out in front of Natasha!”. Tash adds “we are thankful to all our sponsors who have chosen to continue with the valued commitment they have provided us”. These sponsors along with a heap more info can be found at the team’s website so check out Team Rodgers Racing for more. Make sure you check out how the "Queen of the Clay" is going next time you're at Woodford Glen and stop by in the pits after the meeting to eyeball the car & meet the team. [article by Roger Nees]
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