hee hee,,, well all i can say is "WOW!!!!" & what a great hill climb,,, fantastic track!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
a bit scarey at first as all the corners "look" the same, but some open up & some close up, so from all the previous hype i heard about the carnage & soooo many people crashing over the years,,, well i just took it easy,,, the wheels & tyres on my car are not mine & are very very rare & very hard to find so i cetainly wasn`t about to wall them
I had a new LSD fitted & had no idea what it was going to handle like,,, i had these borrowed new slicks which i had no idea what they were like or where their traction limit was, or what they were going to do if i did find the limit,,, i had a new steering rack fitted & new wheel alignment (sorted some bump-steer issues) which seemed to change the cars dynamics on turn-in,,, i had just bought some wings for it & had no idea what they were going to do to the car.... I also have had (since i built the car) a problem with the rear brakes locking up & have been steadilly changing out brake-limit-valve-springs attempting to stop the nervousness under brakes
soooo... i just tooled around all day saturday just feeling it out at half throttle,,, trying to learn the track.... & trust me "That`s" the hard part up there,,, the track is deceptive as sooo many corners look the same :-) But aren`t :-)
last run on sat arvo,,, when very few other cars went any quicker (mostly slower) as the track cooled off & got major shade & shadows & the sun was in our eyes , but i was still dropping a chunky 1.1secs off it on my last run of the day
sunday came & the rain was pouring, but fined up really quick,,, the track was messy but not too bad so my first run i simply just drove around having a look,,,2nd run i stuffed the wings on & took some air out of the tyres (thanks Matt B) :-) & it felt more balanced so i started playing with it a little more,,, still havn`t given it full throttle yet :-),,, still don`t know which corner is which,,, still havn`t found the limit of traction at the back yet,,, still havnt worked out a rhythm with the place,,,,
but what i am happy with is the rear brakes don`t seem to be locking anymore :-) so at least (tentatively) i feel more confident in hitting the brake peddle a bit later :-)
But about 3/4s the way up on the 2nd run the sump caught a bump or rock & cracked, so with oil spilling out over my rear tyres i just backed off & cruized the rest of the way up ,,, still managed to improve my time tho somehow :-)
theres plenty more time to drop with this car, learning how it feels & getting confident with the amazing grip level it has on bitumen with the slicks & wings,,, track knowlege is (almost) "EVERYTHING" at this place (some decent grunt helps to tho) :-)
But,,, with the car set lower than i normally do on the dirt tracks,,, less air in the tyres,,, wings on... & very little track knowlege, i skipped that small bump on the track about 3/4 the way up & cracked my sump,,, soo it became "drink-a-clock" :-) :-) :-) & we sat up at turn 10 for the last 2 runs :-)
anyways,,, i`m not sure of my "Outright" position but i came 2nd in the "open racing car class",,,, first place was the "Rotaryhillclimbracing" turbo charged 360hp rotary powered open wheeler of Warwick Hutchinson (awsome fast) & he was first outright
I must give a big shout out to a few guys,,, Matty B for being the bestest host ever,,, thanks heaps Mate, you`re a legend bro!!!!
& all the other top drivers... some seriously quick runs were done up there in some awsome cars & a very well done to all the winners,,, but special big props to people like Mark in the big black cobra,,, massive fast & exceptionally good driving to get the time he did in that big "THING".... Cam Freeman with his turbo & super charged Toyota 4AGE powered datto 1200 coupe, just absolutely awsome!!!!!!!!! with old hard stuffed slicks i might add
& to Dave Homer,,, just plain wicked quick evo 4x4 powered suzi swift, well done man!!!
the super charged honda bike engined open wheeler is just amazing quick
& many more i`ve forgotten but to all in the top ten "WIcked!!!!" just wicked quick & excelent car control
awsome weekend... massive fun track,,, totally great smooth organisation,,, i`m back there next year for sure !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Biggest thanks to Stew McQuilken for lending me the wheels/tyres & Matty Archer (Archie) for being my Pit-Bitch all weekend,,, thanks heaps guys, i couldn`t have done it without you
the sump is an easy fix, but that track was the best "fix" i`ve had for a few years :-)
Mt Cotton 3-weeks time,,, who`s coming???? ;-) ;-) ;-)
cheers
Matt