| 02.09.05 - Luck seized
from Flynn
UK Super Pro ET racer Derek Flynn and the Gold RV Racing
team arrived at Shakespeare County Raceway in great shape
for last weekend's Allstar Nationals and with a shot at the
Ultimate Power Championship, but form that point on Derek
says that they had too much luck and most of it bad.
"After the first burnout - which was mild - we cracked
the input shaft of the gearbox", says Derek. "No
reverse, over the wall and then a push back, thanks guys.
Shame really as I was up against Nigel Turner in my old car
for the first time, I'll catch you next time Nigel! Back
to the pits for a major rebuild of the gearbox, thanks to
Martyn Jones (input shaft), Barry Giles (clutch pack), Mark
Flavell (brake band and various clutch bits and tech support)
and a special thanks to my crew who thrashed the rebuild
and got the car ready in time for the last qualifier of the
day. We towed down just in time to join the end of our class,
phew that was lucky!
"We had a great run 7.08/195 and one of our fastest
eighth-mile speeds, well done to the team who prepped the
track. It felt like we were finally going to get our 200
mph, but when I pulled the chutes at the end of the run it
was like hitting a wall - I had not even touched the brakes
but was pulling up far quicker than ever before, the engine
started to die so I knocked it into neutral but the car just
stopped dead before the end of the shutdown area. A very
special thanks to Stephen Talbot who rushed to his pits and
back with a jack and then assisted with rescuing me from
the shutdown area, dodging the cars and bikes which were
still running. The rear axle had seized solid, once back
at the pits we tried to remove one of the half shafts but
it was not going to budge, at one point we even got stuck
in the axle the five-foot bar which we were using to try
to knock out the half shaft. This became a great source of
amusement for many and became a bit like the Sword In The
Stone with everyone having a go at removing it, eventually
Steve Turner got it out.
"Andy Robinson kindly agreed to help us out, so we
took the axle back to his workshop the next morning where
with twenty
tons of pressure in his press and a bit of heat from an acetylene
torch it came out with a big bang. This is where the good
luck became apparent: the halfshaft had snapped and then
rewelded itself back together and seized, if this had happened
earlier in the run or just snapped or seized solid, I would
have been in for a twister and who knows what, so I would
say that was more than lucky!
"Unfortunately bad luck was not far away as we were
unable to replace the forty spline shaft in time for eliminations,
but we do now have them on order along with the various bits
we owe people and with a bit of luck we should be OK for
the European Finals. Thanks to my crew for their massive
efforts and also to the Turner Racing crew who also helped
out, and thanks to Andy Robinson for the sterling effort
to try and get us back out racing. We have taken Andy's advice
and upgraded the halfshafts and the input shaft because Steve
Turner is going to be servicing our blower to try to get
a few extra pounds of boost to get us to that 200 mph.
"I would like to congratulate Arlo Reddick who had
a better weekend for our team with PBs for both ET and speed
and is now knocking on the door of eighty miles per hour
in under 8.2 seconds. Arlo did a good job of qualifying,
probably as a result of our Scandinavian tour where the qualifying
was amazing with the top twenty under .019. Congratulations
also to John Everitt for winning and becoming the Ultimate
Power Super Pro Champion."
Original article taken from Eurodragster.com.
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