chrisbray.co.uk

Well Day Four went reasonably well, a dry morning and a lot of hard work from the track staff meant racing was underway relatively quickly. It's been a busy day with a lot of classes to get through but the VWDRC did finally get their slot things didn't go so well for us here with Chris going out in the first round to new boy Russ Weir, well done Russ, right on the numbers.

After our defeat we decided to head down to the startline to see some of the pro fuel shootout. Wow! I think it's a unanimous 'we love top fuel' from everyone here!

It all seems so much more mental when you're on the side of the start line, the Nitro is burning your eyes and nose, the noise is pounding in your chest like a punch from a boxer and ringing in your ears like nothing you've ever felt before, then the tree drops and it just goes to another level! The ground is shaking, the air is literally on fire as the heat from the Nitro strips the Hydrogen from the air, you can't breathe, you can't see, you can't feel anything except the relentless pounding from the shockwaves coming from the car, then it all fades as the car disappears to half track, an eighth of a mile away, in three seconds, you wipe your tears away to see the time and speed on the finish line boards.

I don't know anyone who doesn't love top fuel...

We're on our way home now but we'll put some pictures from the weekend up shortly, needless to say a great time was had by all :)

After the write off that was Day Two and a still night we were optimistic for more action, but we woke on the morning of Day Three to the worst possible start, a thick coating of snow!

The race director took his decision early and called the day off just after nine and with the news that we would go straight for eliminations tomorrow, anyone who didn't put a qualifying pass in on Friday was out.

The pits is now quite empty as people start the journey home early with many having given up for the weekend...

The VWDRC have already presented one trophy, the RNJ Motorsport 'Car of the Meet' award, to VW Sportsman's Helen Williams for the effort she's put in getting to the track for her first race. Well done Helen!

We're looking forward to Day Four tomorrow :)

We're here at Santa Pod for the Autotrader Easter Thunderball, the first round of the VWDRC 2008 championships and what a day!

After a bitterly cold night (in a borrowed van, thanks Mark!) we're go for day one! It's cold and blustery here but we've had some track action already, starting with a steady 16.28sec run at 84mph we seem to be down on top speed, although it is VERY windy, good news that the reactions don't seem to dulled by the cold with 0.03 light on this run.

We made an adjustment to the tyre pressures for the second run to see about improving on the 2.4sec 60ft time and scored a 2.2sec 60ft on the second run! Down to 16.05 for the second run, still at 84mph so we're getting closer to the 15's we're aiming for, still consistent on the light with a 0.08 this time.

Overall, a good start to what looks like being a great meeting :)

What's not so good is it's just started raining quite heavily so we're not sure we'll get any more track time today but we're making the best of the down time!

According to this thread on the Jalopy Journal forums the legendary hotrod builder Boyd Coddington passed away this morning.

Whether you loved his work or not he was undenyably talented and innovative as a Hot Rod builder, his work is amongst some of the best in the world. His all-aluminium "Alumatub" is truly a work of art and the TV show American HotRod has been a staple of my viewing for a while.

Boyd Coddington's AlumaTub

Rest In Piece Boyd, as a friend just said to me "If I do a 10th of what he did I will go a very happy proud man".

My deepest condolences to those he leaves behind.

I know it's been a long time since I blogged about my racing, that's kinda because it's all been on hold, I've not known what to do about the race Fasty/daily Golf situation.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love the fasty and I will finish it one day, but for now I've gotta concentrate on the daily that gets me to/from work!

Kat's going to be racing with the VWDRC in 2008 so I think I'm going to take a season out, to help her get her feet and all sorted before starting my racing again proper in 2009, the VWDRC are a great bunch and I can't really keep myself away! It should also give me a bit of time to save some cash and get going on the race car. Hopefully I'll be feeling a bit better then after my treatment comes through.

I think I'm going to do Santa Pod's Easter Thunderball and see how I get on, the rest of the season will depend on that... We may even see an appearance racing at Big Bang or Bug Jam depending on how I feel.

I took the Golf to RNJ Motorsport in Northampton for a bit of treatment and for a new MOT and the good news is that it passed, it's on the road for another year, thanks to Rob.

Rob's work is highly recommended by me, he's a great engineer, if you have any retro or classic car and you're looking for a place in the Midlands to take it, RNJ Motorsport are great.

Anyway, that turned into quite a long update post so I'll leave it at that!

See you at the track in 2008!