S A U N S W - Private Wsid Drag Racing Day

[natett]

Dont forget that while many believe they have the power for a 10 second run so they will easily complete a 10 second pass. in reality drag racing is not as easy it looks and I can almost gaurentee many will be shocked at their first few runs.

If you are asked to park the car for the rest of the even consider it a bragging right!

Sounds like a great day. I might come up for the day as a spectator with a few other ACT folk

[MrBlonde]

Exactly. The big black dyno never lies! A real ego popper for some.

here's a video of my mate Benny in his R32 a few years back to see what an 11.00 @ 132 MPH pass looks like! This is as quick as you can go without getting booted at a private day.

http://www.youtube.com/user/bha00549#p/a/u/0/O4qf6uOmFf8

I believe his engine made 400+ rwkw

http://www.youtube.com/user/bha00549#p/u/15/tXlhQwIonDI

[S3RK]

Spectator please

Full name: Serkan Ozcan

Also how many spectator tickets are we allowed to obtain? Wouldn't mind bringing my little brother...

Thanks.

[N1GTR]

That's fine what's his name?

[MrBlonde]

Rundown of how a WSID private day works

Why is it better than a Wednesday night?

These private days are fantastic opportunities for a beginner to try out drag racing. They are also good for more experienced drag racers who want to have a red hot go at getting their personal best ET and trap speed in their street car.

At a Wednesday night street meet, assuming you get there and wait for 30 minutes before the gates open and registered immediately and get your car through scrutineering quickly, you are lucky to get 3 or 4 passes if you stay all night. That's an hour wait between each pass and it's damn cold out there! They also interrupt the racing for that dopey burnout competition to keep the spectators happy.

But a private day is a VERY different experience. Instead of 3 or 4 passes with an hour wait in between you can get AS MANY PASSES AS YOUR HEART DESIRES. I have never been to a private day where people bothered to race until the closing time. They hvae always finished early because everyone has had enough. You can literally get 50 or more passes in if you want to.

At first people get all excited and do a pass, come back down the return road and then pick up their timeslip and hot lap back around through the pit area and rejoin the staging lanes again. But after a little while people calm down and realise there is no rush. The smarter way is to do a pass, go back to the pits, pop your bonnet and have a bit of a rest and a think about what to do differently next pass and let your engine cool off a bit. There's absolutely no rush at all.

What to do when you first get there?

With these WSID days you need to have your competitor ticket and spectator tickets with you before you arrive at the WSID facility. Bring all your people together and arrive at the competitor gates and show the security guys your ticket to be granted entry. Then drive your vehicle up into the pit area and find yourself a nice spot to camp for the day. Basically it makes sense to be as close as possible to the scrutineering shed so you have a shorter distance to walk, but you can park right up the other end if you want to.

Race credentials

Once you've parked in your pit area space (they are marked out like a carpark) then get out of your car with your ANDRA licence or RTA licence and walk over to the scrutineering shed to register. You'll fill out some paperwork and show them your licence and be given a wristband (plus a different coloured one for all your spectators) and assigned a temporary racenumber. Armed with this, return to your vehicle.

Scrutineering

Once you've got your wrist band get into your vehicle and drive it SLOWLY from the pit area, along the staging lanes and turn right to enter the queues to the two scrutineering shed lanes. You'll move your car a bit at a time as the car in front of you moves forward. Eventually you'll get to the scrutineering shed itself and the WSID officials will motion you to drive your vehicle into the shed an stop on the weightscales or space.

They will read your paperwork and then do a basic check of your vehicle to ensure it is raceworthy. They will also check you have your helmet, long trousers, long sleeved shirt and covered shoes. When they are satisfied they will paint tyour temporary race number on your windscreen with white paint (eg T44 or T28, etc). that matches the race number on your wrist band. Once they are done they will motion you to drive out of the shed. When you drive out of the shed, you're back in the pit area again. Simply drive your car to your pit area spot and wait for racing.

When racing starts - the staging lanes

When the racing for the day starts the WSID officials will advise you to begin lining up in the staging lanes. There are 8 lanes and they will probably use say 2 lanes to feed into the two race lanes. I can't stress enough to just be patient and relax at this point. There is HEAPS of opportunity for everyone to get as many passes as you want on the day, so take it easy. if you are first in line or last in line, makes no difference at all.

The staging lanes stand out like dog' balls, you can't mistake them for anything else. They run along the outside of the pit area and turn right to then run straight under the WSID control tower in two archways, and from there to the race track. When the staging lanes begin to move, you just move your car up a bit at a time as the car in front of you moves.

When you get up to the archways you know you're about to go under them and go from the staging lanes into thew WSID race area itself. From this point any spectators who have walked up and are seated in the stands can see you. You'll have some bloke i nthe lane nest to you and this will be who you race against. If you want to race someone in particular then make sure you're next to them. If you get a bit out of order, then the first guy to the official just ask them if you can wait and let another car go first so you can race your mate. At a private day this is a piece of piss and the WSID officials should be happy to oblige.

When you enter the race area you'll still have a bit to wait before your turn is up. You will see the pair of cars in front of you waiting inside painted box areas on the track. From there the cars move up to the waterbox areas where you can do a burnout. After you've done your burnout the officials will motion you to move up to stage your car at the Christmas tree.

So taking it back a step, when you can see the cars in front of you in the waiting boxes move up to the waterbox, the officials will motion you to move forward to park on the waiting boxes. then you know after the cars in front of you have left the starting line, it will be your turn next to move into the waterbox, do your burnout and then race.

It's totally natural to get nervous or quite excited the first few times you actually line up and race. Don't worry about it, you will become far more confident as the day goes on. Just keep everything as simple as possible and try to have fun. Do not put pressure on yourself to be the world's best drag racer on your first go! That's not how it works.

How to race

See my earlier post on the details of how to do it. remember for your first time KEEP IT SIMPLE. Just drive through the waterbox with no burnout. Creep up slowly onto the Christmas tree and try to stage carefully. When the last amber shows, move off down the track and work your way slowly and carefully through your gears. Deliberately leave the line SOFT and change SLOWLY your first few goes. Put no pressure on yourself. As you gain confidence, try to shift a bit faster. When you feel like you're up for it, try to get off the line smartly. With GTRs the way to get a good launch his to sidestep the clutch but please remember DRAG RACING HARD BREAKS STUFF. If you want to minimise your chance of breaking driveline, go easy on the launch and concentrate on shifting fast and accurately.

After you cross the stripe

When you cross the finish line slip your gearbox into neutral and slowly use your brakes to wash off speed. There is a long runoff area and the track turns hard right at the end where the return road starts. As your speed gets down you can put the gearbox back into gear. When you reach the end, turn right SLOWLY and follow the return road back past the start line. The speed limit on the return road is SLOW. You will be right alongside the spectator seats so you can wave to any mates. When you go back under the arch you will turn left to go alongside the scrutineering shed and stop at the timeslip window. The friendly WSID lady will hand you your timeslip (she knows who you are by your racenumber painted on your windscreen). you pull up next to the window and she will hand it to you in your car.

You an now drive SLOWLY back into the pit area and find your pit area space. Turn your car off, put your bonnet up and get out, stretch your legs and review your timeslip. Relax. Take it easy. Have a drink of water. Gie the Mrs a kiss. talk soem bullshit with your mates. Organise a pass with a mate. Take it easy.

When you are ready for more, get back into your car and drive to the edge of the pit area and into the staging lane. Move down the staging lane as before until you're lined up behind another car. As the day goes on you will frequently be the only car in the staging lane. You'll basically go straight to the start line.

Have another crack at it!

Tucker on the day

Usually the Lion's club or a WSID vendor will be there to sell sausage sizzle or the like. It makes sense to bring some water/drinks and other food stuff if you have family or wives/girlfriends coming along.

Facilities

There are male/female toilets near the timeslip shed.

Spectators

Depending on how they have arranged it, the seated spectator areas inside the race area are available. You get an awesome view of the racing from here and can see everything that happens along with the timeboards. If it's a nice day, this is the go. If it is really sunny and hot, you'll get fried here without an umbrella or something.

WSID usually allows spectators and competitors to enter the race area to watch up to the line of about the waterboxes (but over to the left hand side). You can walk there to get a different, closer view of the action. The WSID officials will soon tell you if you go somewhere you're not supposed to be. Most of the time they are reasonably friendly at a private day.

What are the pit areas like?

They are like a dirty great big empty carpark with marked spaces. There are light poles and electricity outlets here and there, usually turned off for a private day. There's heaps of room to put all your stuff, but no place to lock anything away. If you want to hang out in the pit area, remember to bring some camping chairs.

Any other questions please ask.

[Humbla]

I'd like to come and spectate as well please.Name Genelle Bill.

[Yts]

for the people who arent sau nsw members yet, will there be someone on the day so we can organise to get it?

[N1GTR]

Yep!

[wizard]

Transfered money, faxed entry.

[Duncan]

YTS, easier for everyone including the volunteer organisers, if you join up beforehand

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/topic/365434-s-a-u-n-s-w-club-membership-faq/

[N1GTR]

Here's a pic showing where you get your ticket once you've run each time and also the lines in the background showing where you line up for your next run.

The lines will move quickly, 40 drivers don't take long to get through at 2 per run when the next 2 are lined up ready to run, lets say an average of 3 runs per minute give or take, basically by the time you have come back down the return road, picked up your timeslip, lined back up again; its almost time to go again

[a20089]

Pic?

[Amy33]

Here's a pic showing where you get your ticket once you've run each time and also the lines in the background showing where you line up for your next run.

The lines will move quickly, 40 drivers don't take long to get through at 2 per run when the next 2 are lined up ready to run, lets say an average of 3 runs per minute give or take, basically by the time you have come back down the return road, picked up your timeslip, lined back up again; its almost time to go again

I 100% beat norm that pass

Edited May 25, 2011 by Amy33

[Whoneedstherapy]

ok just paid and sent the form off.

Looking forward to cracking an 11.xx

[bored33]

ok just paid and sent the form off.

Looking forward to cracking an 11.xx

If you still have your GTR

[Whoneedstherapy]

If you still have your GTR

I think there is a good chance i'll still have it.

If not there is a quick datto in the family that would suffice

[gtr30beast]

I did a 10.02 @ 143 last time out but that was with only 450wkws that has now risen to 650wkws.A mid 9 is expected but we all know about expectations,Lol.I just wanna get out there with some Skylines rather than the usual v8s or rotors.

What sort of times do you do?

Yeah sorry we have to abide by their time rules, otherwise we'd be able to bring along some huge GTR's

[gtr30beast]

R32 GTR built by TRP racing,3litre grout filled,jun intake,dry sump,nos,Borgwarner 80mm turbo and ive already done a 10.02 @ 143.with my old t51r setup so ????.

What car do you have that's going to run a 10.99? Pics or Ban.

I'd be very impressed if it got there....

[MaTBoY]

Crazy man! i wasn't doubting or calling shenanigans, just genuinely interested in what you had that could pull those numbers!

If you don't go... even for the one run... I WILL cry!

[Day]

Email Sent, payment made.

Now we play the waiting game.