03Apr04 AIR drag results

[whatsisname]

I had PB's all round tonight. Still could've gone better, and on one pass I almost did! Was on track for a 12.2-12.3 until.....

I was up against a 9-10sec? (it was f'ing fast!) early model Torana that decided to enter my lane. It got loose at the deep end of the track and started to sway from side to side (tyre shake) this was followed by ~4 or so roll overs (at one stage ~5ft in the air!) with pieces flying off all over the place! The lady driving (wife driving husbands car) to the best of my knowledge has a broken leg and is understandably shook-up! I was pretty shaken up just seeing it unfold right in front and beside of me!!!

I backed off @ the 1000ft mark and made a split sec decision, "do I nail it and try to go past to avoid a collision!? or do I slam on the anchors and pull up to stop her from hitting me?" I lifted off the throttle waiting to see what would happen and then as she started rolling on the edge of the track I figure it best to nail it. Thankfully it was a good choice and I got through without so much as a single piece of flying Torrie hitting me.

I still ran a 12.55 @ 110.25 (2.051) and I had completely lifted off the throttle from ~1000ft mark due to not knowing what the Torana would do as it began to roll. Given the other results from the night I'd say a 12.2 was on the cards had I not backed off. Mind you if I hadn't of then things may have been very ugly

As expected the meet was ended as soon as the Torana crashed. When I left at ~12am the female Torana driver was still in the car. I'm not sure if the car had a rollcage? It sure looked pretty nasty with many badly damaged panels. Hopefully she'll be ok.

My passes were as follows:

12.690 @ 119.12 (2.090) 1st gear spun too much and then 2nd let go too.

13.943 @ 117.35 (2.273) Lit up 1st gear and then missed 2nd, still beat the 14.3sec Torana next to me though

12.473 @ 118.34 (2.143) Slower launch but kept the rear end gripping nicely, hence the 12.4.

12.55 @ 110.25 (2.051) Pity about the crash that 'caused me to lift off the throttle

[EnricoPalazzo]

congrats matt, times keep tumlbing. shit glad to hear u are ok. hope the lady is aswell. its terrible everytime stuff like that happens. was it her fault in that she over corrected from the tail coming out, which resulted in the roll?

[whatsisname]

Thanks Dean, on both counts

It all happened pretty quick mate, but from a few cars length away it looked like she did the best she could to get the car under control. I was thinking to myself, as it was happening (had that whole time slows down thing going), "yep good she's slowed the car down heaps" I thought we'd both slowed to ~60-80mph as it seemed like I was going quite slow, it wasn't until I saw her fly into the air that I realised just how quick we were both still travelling! She was doing ~95mph when she lost it and I was at ~100mph and gaining on her. I went from 5 lengths back to right beside her.

[TIMMMAYYY]

119mph lookn good matt! how'd you go with the burnouts to warm the tyres? lucky escape too and good to hear you werent involved, and hte other racer wasn't "too" seriously injured.

Tim

[Clint32]

nice work matt, youve got me ready to get back out there and my eng isnt even built yet

[whatsisname]

Thanks fellas

I can't wait to go and watch all the guys with new engine combo's that are near completion, such as yours Clint, and Joel too.

The ex-JMS R33 was out there last night as well. I'm not 100% sure how he went? Chops and MattR said easy 12's @ 117-120mph, so similar territory to me.

Yeah Tim I did my best ever burnout last night! Wayne from Boost Worx lined me up in the water and then gave me signals as to how long and when to drive out of it, it must've been ok 'cause I saw plenty of smoke and Wayne and Shaun were both happy It felt good too

[BOBGEN111]

Matt, mark who owns the ex-jms 33 was doing 119-120 mph at high 12. I do not know what his best time was. That thing has a lot of potential. I even beat him on my last run which i am happy about . He was hunting me down big time on that run as well, me=108 him=119.

[whatsisname]

Thanks for the info Bob. It would've been a good match-up btw me and him then!

Mark's R33 has an external gate, Greddy inlet and cams. It should have plenty more left in it still to come.

[MattR]

hey matt good night out, looks like chops and I left at the wrong time. well done on the times

[whatsisname]

Thanks Matt. Yeah mate it would've been a sight to see from a spectator perspective! It was a piss off that it happened on my best launch of the night Did you see my last burnout? It was a pretty decent effort

[TIMMMAYYY]

was it 2nd gear ??

[whatsisname]

was it 2nd gear ??

Sure was Tim.

[MattR]

nah mate missed it, the last one we saw was when you got the 12.47

[Nightcrawler]

damn it all happens when I'm not out there

I take it the track was a lot grippier last night Matt?! How long did u have to wait between runs?

[Martin Donnon]

Come on Matt, theres 1/2 a second between us now mate. Close it down, close it down!

My best in the Tonner last night - 11.93

If you want a pearler track, to see what your car will really do mate you should head on over to the LS1 Drag Nationals at Heathcote on the 16th/17th. For the $100 entry you will have two days of racing, and the single best prepped track you will ever see. I fully expect to knock 0.3 from my time due to the excellent track and air there.

Plus, we have Keir racing heads up against Theo Woollet for the Skyline fans. Both these guys want PBs

[MattR]

your toner looked good Maritn hope times get better at heathcote

[Martin Donnon]

Yeah look Matt, that was just a shake down. Heathcote should see it run in the mid 11s

[chops]

You mean you did a big smokey one and we missed it???

SPEWING!

However, it does show we aren't just trying to get you to do them for fun, you got your best 60 out of it!

Look forward to seeing it action next time Matt, now you know the tricks, those times should continue to tumble.

Andrew, quite busy, about 5 or 6 runs I think could have been had - Matt got there a bit late, so that's why he got 4.... the line was MASSIVE (like Jungle) at 3:30 waiting for the gates to open. As Martin said on the day, they just need to run them more often.

[matlowth]

Matt - you still on street tyres mate?

Those times are getting pretty damned good!

matt

[EnricoPalazzo]

Sorry to jump topic, but in regards to martins comments, when is Munros drag gtr goin to be ready? Will he be going to LS1 nats?