Poop

We woke up to blue sky, not bad given the weather forecasts we have had. Could this be a promising start to the day? Over night the ladder (list of who races who) had been re-written, so we were no longer against the Weasel. We were now racing Dan Devlin. We had a long pause in the pairing lane while the track was cleaned, but managed to meet up with a friend who helped us push the car, which was much appreciated.

Before running we do a burnout. This is spinning the rear (our driven wheels) wheels to heat up the tyres, to help them stick. We do this by sitting the wheels in water so the lose grip then pulling the car forward a little. I was worried, the water was minimal and I've not had a lot of practice, but I thought I had done OK. The tyres spun a little then the car pulled forward and stopped. Did I miss? I wish it had been that simple, the throttle cable had broken and we had to push the car back. Our competitior obviously took the win and is through to the next round.

We managed to drive back to the pit by raising the idle speed (how fast the engine runs when you don't press the throttle pedal). On the way a lot of concerned racers came to see us. This is what I love about this sport. Most racers want to win on the track, not with a mechanical failure. So down to Halfords to look for a spare, without joy. They do have bycycle spares though, so we are using a bycycle brake cable instead. It might hold to get us home and if it brakes we will come to a graceful halt. I like things that fail safe. Even better I will be the car behind and I know it might happen. In case you hadn't gathered the race car is street legal and drives to and from the track. One of the race cars I have just seen leaving goes one better. It tows it's support caravan as well. How cool is that, a race car that can drag it's pit with it.

I guess it's time to watch some racing and take some photos before we head home.