The ‘2 Goes to Town

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Ade warming up the tyres at Meremere Drag Strip (with a tail wind)

You just may have noticed the picture on the front cover ... that’s me, showing the boys how to do it!

We decided after comments on the race car’s speed off the line to take her to Meremere drag racing strip to see just what she could do. Now, I’ve never done a ‘burn-out’ before, so I was a bit nervous about making a complete fool of myself and being laughed at by hundreds of 15-19 year olds. I was told to rev it, dump the clutch and then put your left foot on the brake ... ok ... lets give this a go. First time .. not too bad. Did a 15.9sec run and got beaten (just) by a Mazda Familia - I got him off the line, but his turbo won out in the end.

I found traction a bit of a problem off the line, so in my second ‘race’ I did a bigger burnout. Steve, Brad and Malcolm reported that the car disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and since we don’t have windows yet, so did the interior of the cabin (The photo on the front cover shows the aftermath of this as the smoke clears). After much laughter and waving of arms, I ‘staged’ the car and raced the waiting competator. 15.1 seconds this time ... I was getting the hang of it!

When the next runs time turned in a 14.9, I was very happy. Unfortunately the driver of the Daihatsu Charade turbo was a bit shocked to be beaten by an MR2 - he was obviously a bit naive! Let that be a lesson to him!!

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Ade lining up on the drag strip for another run

The next three runs turned in times of 14.85, 14.89 and, the best of the day for me, 14.75. Not too bad. Rivals included 300ZXs and a 2.5L twin turbo Supra.

The rain returned again, which made for a slippery run of 22.41 .... most of which was wheel spin in 1st and 2nd gear.

All in all, a bit of fun for $35. Spectating was a bit boring, and the actual runs were nothing to write home about, but the burn-outs kept me happy. Now, get me back to a race track with corners ....

Ade