It has been two weeks since we competed in Harvey in Round 2 of the Short Course Series. Thanks to Western Desert Racers and all those who organised the event or helped out in any way. The event turned out to be our best Short Course Event yet with the car running extremely well. Unfortunately we were the only Super 1650 Buggy competing in the 15 car field so all we had to do to win the Class was finish. We prologued 6th fastest which saw us take on the Rolach brothers in their V8 powered Datsun ute. The Ute had too much power off the line but we stuck on their tail to post a time of 4 minutes 31.85 seconds. The next two heats were similar in that the two cars we raced had larger motors, more horsepower and the Range Rover was also 4WD. They beat us off the line and we had to follow them round the track. Heat 4 saw us get a great start against the V8 powered Leatherbarrow Ford F100. Once we were in front the Buggy had a chance to run to its potential and we clocked our fastest time of the night so far, 4 minutes 29.66 seconds. The last heat of the night saw us up against Daniel Smith in his V8 powered Terrano. Once again we got the better start and were never headed finishing in 4 minutes 27.67 seconds. It was a great nights racing with the first class finish. The highlight of the night was finishing 3rd Outright behind Harleigh Uren in his Turbo Charged 2 litre Buggy and Max Pilmer in his V8 powered Buggy. It was great to see the Car do well once we manged to get a clear run. Once again thanks to our sponsors with car looking great and running well.
Tha buggy is currently at Advanced Brake Remanufacurers getting the turning brake sorted out. We need to change the thrust bearing and tierod ends along with normal servicing before the next Race at Mogumber in mid August.
We are back from the Brookton King of the Hill 260 after a releatively successful weekend. After a conservative prolougue we set off on Sunday morning for the first 130km with the car running well. We experienced no problems until about five kilometres from the finish when the car developed a small miss in the engine. Up until that stage however the car had run really well and even though we hit a course marker and were penalised five minutes we had moved up past about eight vehicles to sit midfield. With six cars in our class we were sitting fourth in class. At the start of the afternoons 130 km we found out what the problem with the engine was, the fuel pump relay was playing up and as we went to start the car for the session it would not switch on at all. Some quick wiring modifications saw us get onto the track, even though we started about fifteen minutes late. The other problem at this stage was the starter motor was not working so we had to push start. With the fuel pump now running correctly, we started once again to pass a few cars. On the third lap however the accelarator canle snapped and we lost another ten or fifteen minutes repairing that and getting up and running again. The rest of the car however performed well and we crossed the finish line to finish the event. We finished third in class with only the small problems keeping us out of second spot. Once again thanks to our sponsors. Got some great comments on the new look of the car in silver thanks to Southside Smash Repairs. The repair work from Chambers Welding held well along with the refurbished brakes from Advanced Brake Remanufacturers. Once again Alf at Rockingham Fleet Services gave us a great engine. The next event is the Harvey Short Course on 7 July 2007
We took the car up to Northam last Sunday for their stadium short course event as a final preparation for the upcoming Brookton 260 (2-4 June 2007). Since Hyden we have had the following work completed:
-One of our sponsors, Chambers Welding repaired the cracked rear arm and made some new brackets for the front brake calipers which were damaged at Hyden.
- Another sponsor, Advanced Brake Remanufacturers have completly refurbished the Buggy's braking System.
- We have replaced some shockies on the rear of the car.
- Replaced the broken accelarator cable.
- Replaced the two rear tyres with new ones with some good pricingfrom The Tyre Factory in Rockingham.
- Sponsors Southside Smas Repairs also repainted the vehicle and it looks great in Silver Pearl.
- Adjusted the suspension settings.
- Replaced the front brake disc which was bent at Hyden.
- Replaced the broken stub axle at the rear of the car and installed new bushes on the rear arms.
- We have also done a few little preventative type tasks like replacing fuels lines and the like.
The car ran well at Northam with Mal behind the wheel, winning two of the three heats. The only loss was to a V6 powered buggy. The adjusted suspension settings helped greatly with the handling and the Rockingham Fleet Services prepared engine ran well again. We are now looking forward to Brookton with a week and a half to go and only minor preparation needed.