I had a fantastic weekend
Anyone beat 25 runs in the weekend?
Best ET 12.7, best speed 109.
The Belve was faultless, never missed a beat, though I missed a couple of shifts (2nd gear syncro needs some attention I think).
I had no time to do any fettling on the car as small people needed attention more. Wren decided 1am was the time to ping awake and run up and down the caravan for 2 hours each night
I got dehydrated on Friday afternoon and hit the cider on an empty stomach. Oh how I regretted that on Saturday, bad head and Sunday wasn't much better, I didn't get to the track til about 2pm
I brought a load of newbies who came for my birthday, they had no previous interest in drag racing whatsoever. A few have the bug already and will be back!
Kai got my nitrous bottle filled as a belated birthday pressie so I tried to use it on Sunday afternoon. Sadly the N2O system fuel regulator was sticking so the safety cut-out shut it down, no time to fix it so we gave up and just got a load more runs in!
It was great to finally meet up with Les as he's given so much help over the years.
Thanks to Guy for some startline tips- I needed to soften the rear to get more reaction and burnout more. He also notice the clutch smell. This was partly due to mis-adjustment, partly due to me subconsciously riding the pedal off the startline.
I was disappointed with my reaction times- mostly around 0.6. I really struggled to concentrate at the start line.
I was shifting pretty quick, but at very inconsistent rpms- concentration again! Dunc noticed I Bananarama! the limiter a lot on the 2-3 shift, then I'd over compensate and short-shift 3-4! Bloody annoying
I found myself carrying a lot of passengers down the track... though it didn't seem to hurt my times any. out of 25 runs, 10 were with a co-pilot!
The kids sadly were too young so we piled about 7 of them in the car for a cruise around the pits, man they were buzzing after that
Was the jet car supposed to run? I noticed the tent in the pits and the website said it would be there, that caused some disappointment with my new recruits.
Overall though, my mates all commented what a great event it was and that they were really surprised how enjoyable the actual racing was. They loved being able to wander around the pits and get close up to the cars and drivers. Mostly they talk about the atmosphere- how easy going it all was, how nice the people were- racers, spectators and staff alike.
So well done Santa Pod and the Nats teams, thanks for looking after my little crowd and showing them a great time, a few of them will definitely be back, along with their kids
Not sure if you have to be on FB to access this link, but this is some in-car action taken by my first co-pilot the Stik...
No-one will believe you...