I'm back from the salt. I guess it was successful cuz we didn't break anything...including records...I guess that wasn't very successful. We fought a gremlin that limited engine rpm to 3000 after which it would very slowly climb...but not much. Best run was 124 mph. Bummer. The car otta run at least 30 mph faster. I've already started the list of things for next year....and it's starting out long and will probably get WAY too long before it starts to get shorter.
The fact that the car stayed together and we didn't make too many rookie mistakes (I spose they would have been sophomore mistakes...2nd year for the car) and I got to make 6 runs at full throttle on the salt flats...well, that's ok.
Here are a few photos:
There were parts of the salt flats that were...well...underwater. More like a lake, except that there was a lake 1 mile wide and 5 miles long to the northwest of the course...the little moisture at Land's End was just "an inconvenience." (right...sure...yeah...)
There's an old rat gettin suited up for a run. I ended up with a hell of a sunburn and a nasty gash on that shaved head from hitting the hood corner. I feel lucky: there was a lady driving her husband's streamliner and she pencil-rolled it multiple times. The liner broke into two pieces (good for absorbing shock energy) and she had to be cut out of the car by the rescue workers. She's also lucky cuz all she suffered (in addition to a lotta bumps and bruises) was a broken arm, some cracked ribs and a bruised lung from the harnesses. She'll be sore for quite a while, but it could have been much worse. And while the car owner and I don't see things the same way (ok, he hates my guts, but there are many others whose guts he hates) I sure wouldn't wish that misfortune on anyone. But I hope he can be convinced that since this was the 3rd time the car had rolled in 4 years, maybe he otta consider a different design.
And since this isn't "Cycle Puzzles" I'll post a photo of a VERY rare bike. It's a Hesketh...one that was created by the same Alexander Fermor-Hesketh, 3rd Baron Hesketh who owned the Formula One team that James Hunt Drove for. Lord Hesketh was trying to re-create a contemporary (in 1982) version of a Vincent...or possibly a Brough Superior. Things didn't work out and only 139 of 'em were built. A pretty rare bird.
Ok. I've had all the fun I can stand for this day...and there are 14 pages of unread posts. Unfortunately for my Autopuzzles points total, I'm going back to the salt flats in 2 days for yet another event, the "Top Speed Shootout", an invitational meet that should see some pretty high speeds....unless they let that damned lawnmower back on the course. (last photo....just frikkin strange, it was. I hope the photos show up in the proper order.) Anyway, I'll post some photos of that event when I get a chance. Kinda hard to do when on the salt and yer only web connection is via cell phone tether. It's s...l...o...w...real slow.
