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Update from Sydney
Nitro Champs
Made the decision to go to Sydney for Drag Combat, and go early for the Nitro Champs as well. Thanks to Paul Boz and Andrew Fowler for the use of the enclosed trailer, and to Wayne from Willetton Exhausts for the use of the tow vehicle. Jamale from Current Trendz did the stickers for the car in his usual high standard.
Made Sydney after four and a half days travelling, with dramas from the car (drove over the Nullabor and to Sydney in second gear!) and much fatigue. Garth Bell (Blown 20B FJ Ute) and Freddy Cavasini (Blown '34 Coupe) met me at the new WSID track as they were crewing over the weekend, and the rain looked ominous. Next morning we set up, and it was still pissing down at 2pm on the Friday, when it just stopped dead. The track was dried, and we were called out for the first qualifier.
With a fat tune, nice and safe, the car rattled off a 9.17 @ 144mph and everyone was reasonably happy. Next morning we lined up for our second qualifier, when the burst panel went in the burnout. The engine sounded rough, and blocked injectors later confirmed that in the pits. We missed the third qualifier, as I was not 100% sure we had it running right. We qualified 20th out of 63 and in the top half, so turned the car around for the early morning elimination.
First run was at 9am, and after a super strong burnout, I red lighted against Gatt. The sun was reflecting against the tree and I could not see the lights, so I took a guess and was out by a mile. The car hooked up well though, carrying the front wheels high, but veered off to the right. A pedal, and I drove it out the back for a 9.4et. So it was spectating for the rest of the Nitro Champs (not such a bad thing).
Thanks to Freddy and Garth for their efforts. Some maintenance on the car back at Garths during the week, then off to Drag Combat on Sunday.
Drag Combat
During the week off between meetings, I took the whole fuel system off the engine and cleaned it thoroughly to get rid of contamination and mould. Thanks to Garth for the use of his workshop - was really cool having two of the the world's blown 20B sedans together (the third blown 20B is in a Chev Luv Ute in Alabama USA, with Bill Burnham's old dragster engine). The sad news was that Garth's Blown 20B FJ Ute was unable to be completed for the meeting. He had installed a new Autorotor screw blower, and had some last minute dramas that prevented running, much to Garth's dissapointment. We had been looking forward to a world first side by side blown 20B sedan pass.
Drag Combat was a one day event from 9am to 5.30, and we presented for the first qualifyer at about 11am. A mind blank and maybe some nerves had me forget to press the transbrake button, and a big red cherry was the result. No time recorded, but a straight low 9 pass with the car going straight and true to 147.89mph. Zap had me make a suspension change to correct the tendency for the car to head right mid track, and the adjustment worked a treat all day.
I took a little fuel out for the second compulsory qualifyer, and rattled off an 8.962et @ 149.63mph with the burst panel blowing just before the finish line. Finally got an eight after a full season of racing! It was congratulations all round from everybody, and a mad thrash in the pits to replace the burst panel and blower o-ring. We had the blower off and on and the engine started in 30 minutes, and fronted for the first eliminator. The field of 8 PRO/R cars had dwindled to 5, and we got a solo due to Joe Signorelli smashing his clutch to bits. We were a fair bit off the pace with our ET, but the hard hitters were having trouble getting down the track - with Archie in the Mazfix Baretta hitting the wall hard - and we figured we were a chance as I was cutting really good lights and getting down the track easy. Our solo pass was a slow 9.219et @ 141.95 with the blower belt shredding at 1,000ft. The blower backfire had bent the rotors in the blower a little, and was pulling the engine down.
We were through to round two, with three cars left and had a blower belt change to contend with in the pits (not an easy job, as the front eccentric shaft brace has to come off), when the Drag Combat PRO/R format was changed because the event was running behind schedule. The fastest two cars were selected for the final - something that we were not really impressed with. I hit the track up for a grudge run, and after clearance managed to turn the car around very quick. Last run I tried a two step fuel system activated by gearchange, giving us a leaner first gear. Unfortunately the blower was getting worse, and the burst panel and the blower belt went at about 1,000 feet and the car went 9.089et @ 146.26.
All in all we had a great day's racing, and the crew performed brilliantly considering they were all unfamiliar with the car. With the blower in need of work, gear ratios incorrect, parachute not performing and a few other items that need urgent attention, I decided not to take the car up to the Winternationals in Queensland. Having done the eight second pass with the roots blower, I had achieved what I set out to for the season. It's time to go to phase two of our development - fitting a PSI blower and a second power adder. That will allow us to head for the low 8's and possibly a 7 for next season.
Archived Newsletters:
July Report 2005
May Report 2005
April Report 2005
March Report 2005
Nov/Dec Report 2004
Sept/Oct Report 2004
July/August Report 2004
May/June Report 2004
April Report 2004
March No 2 Report 2004
March No 1 Report 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
November 2003
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