arnti
Junior Member
Posts: 52
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Post by arnti on May 27, 2015 18:55:27 GMT 12
Would love a 2 day jobby but Her indoors would not be amused - Have lawns to mow!!  PS I heard Pork Bonz is bringing his Zimmer frame - GOES FASTER THAN HIS Escort!!!  |
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Post by Murray Guy (Grandad) on May 30, 2015 22:23:22 GMT 12
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Post by Rossco on May 31, 2015 7:28:56 GMT 12
Great effort ,very pleasing when a field of Saloons race and 75% of them are KIHIKIHI Saloonies . Well done to all , Cheers {broken }77k
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Post by Speedway Central (David) on May 31, 2015 13:51:02 GMT 12
That explains how 8k hit walll is never seen it happpen it track. Will be interesting to see track next season as out side of track is going to be new pole line, so alot bigger track.
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Post by Murray Guy (Grandad) on Jun 1, 2015 0:14:52 GMT 12
A handful of SNZ saloons complete 3.5 races
Bit more of the action ...
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Post by Hooncorp on Jun 3, 2015 10:08:34 GMT 12
Well done Waihi Beach!!
Without a doubt, in my many years of involvement in motorsport, I can honestly say that day was the most exciting and meaningful event I have ever been to.
My brief was to go down to Waihi Beach and be the track commentator as the regular man ("Slim") was wanting to race for a change, and do that he did including winning a few races. I took my 15 year old son down on the possibility of hiring the track 1/2 car for a couple of skids. He has driven indoor go karts, driven Pukekohe circuit in a road car at reduced pace, paddock skids and of course is a talent on Playstation etc. My pessimistic expectations were the usuals, weather, car would have problems etc,etc, but all of these were in favour of this 6 foot+ rookie getting a chance to get out and have his first real big boy's race.
Once the formalities were done (sign in, our race gear was checked) and payment ($25.00 per race) I paid for 2 races and see if the car was a) going & b) still available for more races if he had enjoyed the previous races.
So now we could meet and greet, including the characters of Speedway/Dirt track I have had the priviledge of knowing over many years, the club president, the VERY welcoming committee, many competitors, and of course Waihi wouldn't be Queen's Birthday without Grandad (Murray Guy) and his enthusiasm for the sport as well as the genuine love of this event from Graham (SWP) Hughes. Our Waikaraka and Waiuku Dirt track sound man Ron Dawson had come down to set up a system for free, his wife Jill had her camera out too and the day just looked to have that 'awesome' factor that we always hope for, but seldom is it delivered. So from there, we went into "DRIVERS BRIEFING". Yes, Waihi Beach does this as well, they put down their cousin's they are hugging, long enough to cover all relevant topics and the main point made was to have fun, not to wreck each other's machinery. It was about now a bombshell was dropped on me, I was asked/told I would be driving a pink MK2 Escort in the Mechanic's race which I thought was a one-off, however the race was almost straight after the race my son was in, so chatting to him post race would be a tad difficult. No prob I thought, just a one off, yeehaa (Tui ad there as it turned out).
As with most tracks, the track itself was VERY wet, and a wheel pack was needed to get some semblance of a racing line, and I had a now familiarised 15 year old with his yellow 'steed' very keen to get out and help with the track packing, however wide tyred cars were needed, and the rear wheel drive Lancer was on 185 road tyres, which was anything but wide tyred so....... Nathan would have to wait. A little while later, we did venture out in the car, just prior I saw Murray and his camera and gave him a 'wink' and a 'thumbs up', the result of which is in his photo brief. Inside I was churning with excitement, terror and most of all HOPE. Hope that all would be safe, Nath' would enjoy, the car wouldn't be damaged and the day would be a goodie.
My concerns of the day were realised when we came in and the Lancer was found to have a flat Left Rear tyre, which both I and the rookie had failed to notice. No problem, there were spares, Rhys Sefton emerged with a spare, and Nath was tasked with his first ever tyre change.
I had seen how wet the track was and Nathan had to sit out the first round of racing as I knew no good would come of him and the conditions so early on. He had to WAIT again.
Race 1 - Well, he is NOT shy on going fast, and can drift cars on playstation at will, has driven PS cars at over 400km/h, but the Lancer was none of these. This 1.6 5speed car actually goes rather well, but has no grip in the still wettish conditions as you would expect. A few hello laps later, we lined up off the back of the grid in the combined Ladies and Junior class race. There were 5 cars to start I think. Away we go, rolling start, major under steer, no traction, some power, and within a lap - yep, a spin. To his credit, he was un-phased, started the car, selected 1st gear and was off way to keenly, resulting in - yep a MUCH faster spin. And THEN we started to realise, this race wasn't going to won by doing this any more, so a cool head prevailed and we trotted around and finished the race stone cold last, although we HAD finished, and not a mark on the car.
Part 2;
As mentioned, straight after the race, I had to scramble out of the car, pat my boy on the back, and march straight over to said pink Escort (Thanks Shona & Warren) to get belted into the car, all safety gear checked and after a couple of basics were explained to me, set off to line up with the already waiting field of 'mechanics' although I never got the chance to touch the car with a spanner or anything all day.
Once lined up, I intended to run off the back of the grid to give others a fair chance since I had no knowledge of the car and didn't want to wreck their race. We rolled around for the start, and away we went. This car is a 2 litre rear wheel drive manual car, with wide tyres and boy does it demand a lot of wheel work. There is no chance of the car driving straight, largely in part I guess with the 'stagger' (Left side wheels being much wider than the ride side) dirt track cars are given to help them turn. In this case, as we turn right, the left side tyres need more width, and the same for left turning cars, the right side tyres are much larger. The result is the car does an incredible amount of what I can only describe as 'dancing' from left to right, which takes an incredible amount of effort to control. I would love to have a drive in a full on saloon to compare, but it would terrify me, and yet intrigue my competitive nature as to how fast I could go (lap times etc). Right, back to the race;
I was grappling with all this information going on with the car, trying not to spin, and also very quickly being rounded up by the incredibly fast duo of Dennis Boyd (1wb) and Rick Purcell (46wb) whom I could easily see approaching thanks to the brilliantly placed large rear vision mirror in the car. I use these, and found it to be very helpful. There was an orange Mk1 escort that passed me, and I saw this car as my nemesis for the race(s) and tried to keep up with it, however this was easier said than done. Race over, yeehaa and I was shaking with excitement post race after 2 awesome experiences in quick succession. Now I got to chat with Nathan, have a yak with Shona & Warran about 'pinky' and get back up to commentate as Slim was about to go back out to race. The calmimg down until Nathan's 2nd race was hard as the day was going so very efficently. I barely remember any yellow flag moments at all, and it was clear to see everyone was having a ball. Nathan was chatting like a jaybird, his smile was infectious, and he had earlier put on Facebook (I found out later) that he was soon going to race this "hunk of junk" with a pic of the Lancer. I think that hunk had firmly placed his feet hard to the ground ;-)
A bit later, Slim and I switched places again, he took the microphone, I grabbed my helmet and in what seemed like seconds (more like 5+ minutes) we were trundling back onto the track in the Lancer, 'feeling' out the track and me trying to sound intelligent, yelling advice at him over the loud exhaust. Eventually I opted for hand signals, mostly trying to get him to stay on or near the pole line to give the others easy access as they passed us as we gridded up. Race 2 for him went much better, he had definately learnt to 'feel' the rear of the car, unlike before, also he was learning to modulate the throttle instead of just jerking it onto full throttle, but just as he was doing so well, we found a wet patch inside turn 2, just a tad too much gas and arrrooouuunnndddd we went. To his credit, he ALMOST caught it, but dadgum, that inertia is just a poo of a thing to stop, and to the inside of the track we again did travel. Totally unphased, the start up and drive off was nearly V8 Supercar pace, and withing seconds we were at race pace again, and soon seeing a chequered flag. The difference between race 1 and race 2 were just chalk and cheese, hence the brilliant learning institution that is controlled motorsport. It certainly showed me why I love this sport, and the positive benefits that can come from it. To the pits Jeeves !!
Here in the pits, I was TOLD the Escort or 'pinky' was ready for me to drive again, so chop chop! I was keen to drive again, so into this car I quickly attatched myself, and rolled out for my 2nd race. I tried to line up on the back, but was ushered into the pack of cars, rolling start and away we went. I honestly don't know if there were any changes done to the car or not, but the handling seemed way better, and I know the pace was quicker. The Orange Escort wasn't getting away as much, but was sure catchable I thought, however turn 2 was giving me gyp as to what was the correct line. The rest of the track I was ok with, the brakes were great, steering under control, but that darn turn !! I got lapped by the super duo again, but no others, and I found I could release the steering wheel for a nano-second which would give me much quicker steering and give me the chance to apply full throttle quicker. Now, I'm not advocating people on race tracks let go of the steering wheel, no that's silly. But when you are sideways, it SEEMS to me that this was easier and more efficent than the one and a half turns needed to straighten the car before I could fully apply full throttle. To each his own, remember I'm no pro here, just a fun loving competitive mechanic/ commentator/ motorsport promoter.
My 2nd race was all over too quickly, a couple of cars had brokens, but they went infield, and before I knew it the chequered flag was out, back to the pits with an un-damaged car, perfect water temperature and a beaming smile. Nathan and I had both driven 2 races, I THOUGHT our day was over, Mr Commentator for the rest of the day.
It seems I was wrong about that.
Part two over, I'm still enjoying this, but again I have things to attend to, so I will add to this over the next few days. Hopefully you are enjoying this as much as I am, and I can gather my thoughts to complete this report on what was easily my most enjoyable race meet ever.
Hooncorp.
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arnti
Junior Member
Posts: 52
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Post by arnti on Jun 3, 2015 19:52:42 GMT 12
Thanks Hooncorp -great reading - with you and "Grandad" promoting the weekend, next year can only be better -PS the honesty box did manage to handle a few $10.00 notes - see you next year!!  |
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