This weekend will see the NSW Hillclimb Championship head to Mt Panorama Bathurst. Colin and GT are both there in their respective Beetles.
Day 1 saw the boys attack The Esses and thats exactly what Colin did. Attack it! Col managed to set an amazingly fast time of 28.5. This is the fastest a Beetle has ever gone up the esses and was only .1 second behind the class record set last year by Ash Birks in his giant killing Gemini. Well done Col. I told you you could do it. GT pulled a time in the 33s which a pretty dame good time too considering he is running his 20 y/o road engine and not his usual race engine. That donk is getting ready for 'salty' (his salt lake racer) to tackle an Australian land speed record next week at Lake Gairdner
Tomorrow sees the boys head over to give Mt Straight track a go.
Col informs me he has some photos and go pro to show you all when he gets home.
White Knuckle Racing Team [/i] "Drive it like dirt"
A warm to hot sunny day greeted myself and GT for the start of round 2 "The Esses" at Mount Pamorama Bathurst.
Bathurst is a special place and all drivers love to race on this famous race track with GT and myself included. Gt was disappointed to be racing with his "street spec" Pobjoy motor only as his race motor was not ready for this weekend.
Run 1 saw Gt post a time of 35.39 seconds. I have changed the spring rate on the front of my car in the off season and I usually have a looksey on my first run. However after the first turn the car felt good, I pushed on up the hill to record a pb of 29.38 seconds. Shit, the track was still a little skatey and cold, mmm I felt encouraged.
Gt blasted his little Beetle up for it,s second run 34.91 seconds with much less power than usual he was trying to carry plenty of speed into the corners thrilling the spectators.
Run 2 I found the track still a little slippery however I posted a 29.04 second time. So close to a 28.
Gt posted a 34.86 on his third run which was his quickest time for the day giving him second in class and plenty of smiles from his little street fighter engine.
The day was warming to over 30C so I made a tyre pressure change hoping to gain some drive from the rear and more bite from the front Yokohama tyres.
Run 3 turn 1 the felt really good now but when I finished the run a time of 28.96 was handed to me. I was very happy to crack the 28 second barrier and spoke to my mate and fellow VW Beetle racer Nathan Abbott via phone. He really encouraged me to have a crack at the class record of 28.42 set by Ash Birks in his 260hp Gemini (that's only 115hp more than my car!)
Run 4, I launched hard but with controlled wheel spin, yes good start, up to turn 1 the car turned with massive front bite, the rear followed with the attitude "if you can do it I can"
Through the esses and blasting up to the dipper, it,s funny how even while racing you are conscious of whether this run is a fast one or not. Brake hard then pin the loud pedal up the dipper then turn hard left. This is crucial to get out of this corner quick to carry speed to the finish line.
The car wheel spins up to the shift light in 3rd gear "holy shit this is a quick one" over the ripple strip and up to the finish line. Breath, lift, elation, that was a quick run, you just know.
Time 28.59 seconds, the fastest Beetle ever up "The Esses"
I just spent some minutes writing a post instead of a reply to this post,doh, when I realized I gave up and went somewhere else on the intranet and stumbled upon your incar footage. so now Im "REPLYING" and have to say that your reaction over the finish line was pretty much was priceless and pretty much sums up my first attempted post towards what I thought of your end result...good on ya man!!!
Got some CB Superpro,s and CB lightweight rods next.
Going to sweet to change to E85 just yet. But allways thinking of the next upgrade. By the way Rudi your front spring advice was spot on 👍
Woke up Sunday morning still buzzing over yesterdays time. It was another warm day but humid also, the locals informed us a storm was predicted for the afternoon.
My pb for this track was 54.98 so I was hoping to break that time. First run car was a little skatey in the rear, but managed a 55.48 second run. GT flogged his little car up the hill to post a 66.79 second run.
Second run I had a crack, with the car still loose in the rear I slide up the hill to post a 54.34 second run and a new pb. Was happy to do a pb however I couldn,t nail down a good set up. GT rocked up the hill to post a time of 65.31 seconds, which would prove to be his fastest of the day.
I made a sway bar adjustment in the rear for run 3 which settled the car down a bit, but still wasn,t right. I wen,t slower for run 3 54.36.
A storm before the start of run 4 hit just as predicted, which put paid to anyone improving their times.
So we both went home happy with straight cars, great weekend of racing again.
