Jim
17-03-03, 09:25 AM
Yesterday (Sunday 16th March) I took a trip down to Santa Pod. Mainly because it was my older brothers birthday and there was a Classic American car meeting (He owns a 1970 corvette stingray). We drove up in my car (1.6 Nova with twin 40's) as his car was lacking an engine :roll:
We turned up at Santa Pod at about 10:30, having followed an Elise and an MR2 down the back roads to santa pod - mucho funno :D
We parked up and I went and bought myself a race slip (Some of you are probably in shock by this, but it's the truth ;))
We got in the queue where I was sandwiched between a 205gti and a Mk1 1700escort. I got chatting to the lads and they were really sound. It turned out for the rest of the day I would be in the queue with them on each run.
My first run was approaching, by this point it had become clear that I was up against a Seat Arosa :?: It was stripped out to the max, roll cage, single bucket seat, etc. I'm guessing it probably had a 1.4 engine. I didn't want to assume that I would beat this car, as you never can tell what someone is running under there bonnet. Now, I thought I'd be absolutley bricking it at this point, but I wasn't. It was really weird. I was so focused on the lights that I forgot about the other car and the people watching in the stands. I approached the lights, the little Arosa did a burnout, but I figured my tyres were warm enough after driving for 40mins. I got up to the lights first light came on, then the second light, before I knew it the row of amber lights flashed on, then it was green :o I had literally just pulled up to the lights so I was at about 1200rpm, I floored it, and surprisingly got little wheelspin, the Arosa pulled away :o @7000 I changed to 2nd gear, wheelspin again, I start eating up whatever gain the Arosa had at this point, 7krpm I change to 3rd gear, I hear another squeak as the tyres try and get as much grip as they can, then whoosh, I'm away :D The Arosa looked like it had stopped, I could see the end approaching but the car was asking to change to 4th, so at 7krpm I change to 4th and to my shock, thats it, race over. My first ever quater mile and it was awesome :D The worst part though was waiting to know what time I got. I honestly didnt know what to expect.
As much fun as it was I knew I could do better, so straight back into the queue I got :D I saw the Arosa limp past me and park up, I think he was a bit gutted to get beaten by a 12year old Nova. My brother came up to me and got his camcorder out. After a quick rewind I see myself at the start. I must admit, the Arosa got a really good start. However my finish time was what mattered. On my first ever run I managed to get 15.3 How f*****g chuffed was I :D
The next run was a few cars away. I was up against the 205gti that I mentioned earlier. I was on the inside track this time and decided to get myself ready before the 205 so that I could try starting at higher revs. I sat on the line holding the revs at 2500rpm. The lights change and I flew off the line. The Gti was left for dead. 2nd gear, 3rd gear, then 4th gear. I was in such a buzz about the start that for some stupid reason as I got to the finish line I changed from 4th to 5th :o I still don't know why I did it, I don't think it would have affected my time that much, but I was kicking myself for doing this :roll: Again my brother came up to us after having filmed it and said it was 15 something. I went to the ticket office to get my print out and to my shock I got 15.2 I couldn't believe it. The start must have done it for me :D
I jumped in the queue again for one last run. Unfortunatley they stopped for lunch, so the track had time to cool down. My tyres were cool, the engine was cool and it showed. I was up against a Golf, I think it was a Gti. Off the line I tried holding it at 2500rpm, but I got a lot more wheelspin this time than my previous two runs. The golf had a pretty good start, but he didn't get in front of me. Changing from 2nd to 3rd was where I would pull away from him, I changed to 4th and pushed my foot as far to the floor as I could. There was no way I was going to change to 5th. I crossed the line and when I had crossed it by some distance I let off the gas and coasted back. That was to be my last run. I parked up and got my timing slip. I managed to get 15.3 again :D. Had I had less wheelspin at the start I might have been able to get a quicker time.
Either way, this was my first time up at Santa Pod and I will definatley do it again. I now have something to work on and I am determined to beat the 15sec barrier :D
For those of you out there that are worried about looking like a fool, dont be. By the time you get to the lights you are so focused on the lights, you forget about people watching you, the other car your racing against. It's such a feeling, such a buzz.
It now depends if I can do any engine work to my car and get it run in ready for PV2003. Unfortunatley there are personal issues that are stopping me from doing such a thing, so I can't see it happening this year :( Still, I will be back on the strip again :D
Jim
P.S. In about a weeks time I'll have the video footage transfered onto my PC so you should be able to view the runs in case some of you don't believe me :P
We turned up at Santa Pod at about 10:30, having followed an Elise and an MR2 down the back roads to santa pod - mucho funno :D
We parked up and I went and bought myself a race slip (Some of you are probably in shock by this, but it's the truth ;))
We got in the queue where I was sandwiched between a 205gti and a Mk1 1700escort. I got chatting to the lads and they were really sound. It turned out for the rest of the day I would be in the queue with them on each run.
My first run was approaching, by this point it had become clear that I was up against a Seat Arosa :?: It was stripped out to the max, roll cage, single bucket seat, etc. I'm guessing it probably had a 1.4 engine. I didn't want to assume that I would beat this car, as you never can tell what someone is running under there bonnet. Now, I thought I'd be absolutley bricking it at this point, but I wasn't. It was really weird. I was so focused on the lights that I forgot about the other car and the people watching in the stands. I approached the lights, the little Arosa did a burnout, but I figured my tyres were warm enough after driving for 40mins. I got up to the lights first light came on, then the second light, before I knew it the row of amber lights flashed on, then it was green :o I had literally just pulled up to the lights so I was at about 1200rpm, I floored it, and surprisingly got little wheelspin, the Arosa pulled away :o @7000 I changed to 2nd gear, wheelspin again, I start eating up whatever gain the Arosa had at this point, 7krpm I change to 3rd gear, I hear another squeak as the tyres try and get as much grip as they can, then whoosh, I'm away :D The Arosa looked like it had stopped, I could see the end approaching but the car was asking to change to 4th, so at 7krpm I change to 4th and to my shock, thats it, race over. My first ever quater mile and it was awesome :D The worst part though was waiting to know what time I got. I honestly didnt know what to expect.
As much fun as it was I knew I could do better, so straight back into the queue I got :D I saw the Arosa limp past me and park up, I think he was a bit gutted to get beaten by a 12year old Nova. My brother came up to me and got his camcorder out. After a quick rewind I see myself at the start. I must admit, the Arosa got a really good start. However my finish time was what mattered. On my first ever run I managed to get 15.3 How f*****g chuffed was I :D
The next run was a few cars away. I was up against the 205gti that I mentioned earlier. I was on the inside track this time and decided to get myself ready before the 205 so that I could try starting at higher revs. I sat on the line holding the revs at 2500rpm. The lights change and I flew off the line. The Gti was left for dead. 2nd gear, 3rd gear, then 4th gear. I was in such a buzz about the start that for some stupid reason as I got to the finish line I changed from 4th to 5th :o I still don't know why I did it, I don't think it would have affected my time that much, but I was kicking myself for doing this :roll: Again my brother came up to us after having filmed it and said it was 15 something. I went to the ticket office to get my print out and to my shock I got 15.2 I couldn't believe it. The start must have done it for me :D
I jumped in the queue again for one last run. Unfortunatley they stopped for lunch, so the track had time to cool down. My tyres were cool, the engine was cool and it showed. I was up against a Golf, I think it was a Gti. Off the line I tried holding it at 2500rpm, but I got a lot more wheelspin this time than my previous two runs. The golf had a pretty good start, but he didn't get in front of me. Changing from 2nd to 3rd was where I would pull away from him, I changed to 4th and pushed my foot as far to the floor as I could. There was no way I was going to change to 5th. I crossed the line and when I had crossed it by some distance I let off the gas and coasted back. That was to be my last run. I parked up and got my timing slip. I managed to get 15.3 again :D. Had I had less wheelspin at the start I might have been able to get a quicker time.
Either way, this was my first time up at Santa Pod and I will definatley do it again. I now have something to work on and I am determined to beat the 15sec barrier :D
For those of you out there that are worried about looking like a fool, dont be. By the time you get to the lights you are so focused on the lights, you forget about people watching you, the other car your racing against. It's such a feeling, such a buzz.
It now depends if I can do any engine work to my car and get it run in ready for PV2003. Unfortunatley there are personal issues that are stopping me from doing such a thing, so I can't see it happening this year :( Still, I will be back on the strip again :D
Jim
P.S. In about a weeks time I'll have the video footage transfered onto my PC so you should be able to view the runs in case some of you don't believe me :P