Dragstalgia 2022

We had a great time at Dragstalgia last weekend, getting the launch settled down on Friday thanks to a change in wheelie bar height following video review and the loan of some scales from Karl Harrison so we could adjust the corner weights to get the right preload. After having to fix an unexpected coil issue and change a bearing in the gearbox after finding needle rollers in the oil we made our first pass - a high idle caused us to shut off after the burnout and restart after adjustment so we did a short second burnout and launch to not risk running out of fuel under load. The car went much straighter and everything was good.

An evening service left us ready for Saturday, until we discovered a stripped spark plug thread in the cylinder head so had it off and repaired with almost enough time to make Q1 but instead deciding not to rush and make sure everything else was in order. We were rewarded with a strong launch against Bob Hawkins until the car stepped sideways just after he passed us but clear progress was happening.

Q3 on Sunday and we knew there wasn't a chance of us making the final, but we took the opportunity to line up against long time team friend Joe Bond and stand on it. The car went straight and happy, but dropped a few cylinders resulting in a relatively lazy pass - we were delighted to get it most of the way down the track under power though, and all signs are the engine is still happy. We've got some clutch and gearbox changes in mind and some great data from the run, so next time out will be even better even if it does look like being a while away due to other commitments.

Massive thanks to Karl Harrison, John Wright, Tony Betts, Martin Maxwell, Martyn Hannis, Paul Stubbings and Dave Grabham for their assistance over the weekend with various things and to the whole crew for a very slick weekend in hot weather.