GT40s take honours at Shelby Festival in OZ

[Ross Nicol]

Ah Peter you seem to have overlooked the fact that I beat Steve on the track and he went home with only one of the smaller trophies because my combined 1st on track and 2nd in drags put me in no1 spot for the weekend, whether you like it or not. Now is this because you own a DRB or what?Maybe Steve should have turned the a/c and TV off and he may have beaten all the Cobras as I did.
I'm not normally a smart arse but I'm making an exception here as your attitude stinks.I started this thread and announced Steve had won the drags so didn't expect an attitude like yours to appear and I've never met you.Would you like to come out on the track one day with me? Just my luck you'd probably enjoy it.I'll probably be banned from this forum after this but enough is enough.Ron Steve's motor is listed as 5.6 litre so I would say thats stroked and close to 347ci.This means his torque figures would be higher than mine.
Ross

 

Chris,
The Shelby Festival was a farce as race cars on slicks were allowed to compete against road registered cars on road tyres. For example Ross run his race car on slicks whilst everyone else had road tyres so he automatically had a 2 - 4 second advantage over the field. As you are aware Winton is a slow tight circuit with plenty of corners and slicks are a big advantage. The organisers assumed that as the Sup regs stated that " all competing cars must be road registered " competitors would be using road tyres. The organisers told me that there will be changes to stop this next year. So your comment " I think your win was to easy " is correct.

 

Ron,
As requested here are my 60 foot times from the weekend,
2.0115 ( this was my 12.2 run with my wife in the car )
2.0115 ( this was my 12.1 run )
1.8976 ( this was my 11.95 run )
1.9848 ( this was my 12.15 run )
2.0783 ( this was my 12.63 run )
2.0897 ( this was my 12.68 run )
2.0616 ( this was my 13.74 run )
1.9886 ( this was my 12.22 run and my first time ever at a drag strip )
At about run 5 one of the guys told me to take off when I saw the last yellow light as up to then I had been waiting until I saw the green light and hence I think thats why I broke the 12 second time.
On the 11.95 run the times are as follows.
Reaction Time = 0.9577
60' = 1.8976
330' = 5.2307
660' = 7.8223
1000' = 10.0517
ET = 11.9563

MPH = 118.51

Humidity = 19%
Temp = 29.1C
Barometer = 998mb

 

[Peter Delaney]

Ross, take it easy - no offense was meant toward you at all & you are to be congratulated on your sucesses. The fact that a GT40 got up on top of the Cobras is great, no matter whether it was a DRB, an RF, or an XYZ - it matters not one jot to me - I just like it !

So, my attitude stinks does it ? Can you enlighten us on just where I criticised or denigrated you or RF's ? What was it about my "attitude" (didn't even know I had one) that got up your nose ? I am always willing to take constructive critisism on board, so I would really appreciate it if you could provide some guidance as to how I could have offended you to the degree that would prompt the above post.

All I attempted to do was to highlight the performance of a GT40 that got into the 11's on the 1/4 mile - a universally recognised standard that I thought would appeal to our US brethren (and apparently did, judging by the responses & questions that ensued).

As to having never met, I beg to differ - I am sure we had a nice chat in Pete's Bar at the AGP in Melbourne. But perhaps you are right - on reflection, the Ross I talked with in the bar that day seemed to be a different person.

Thanks for the offer to come out on the track with you (as a passenger in your car, I assume) - I may just take you up on that !!

Mate, don't look for offense when none was meant !

Kind Regards,

Peter D.

 

[Ron Earp]

FastForty I was only considering Dynojet results as that is what I am used to. I think Bill is right, convert your Dyno Dynamics numbers to Dynojet numbers and they'll be in the 350ish range.

Ron

 

Now now.....

 

[Peter Delaney]

Wow Luv40, one swipe with the magic handbag & all is peace, all is quiet !!

Where were you when we had all that fun with "Meat" ?

(Sorry about the in-joke for us old timers, but ages ago, "Meat" was a real character on the Forum - if you said "up", he said "down". He got just about everybody stirred up at one point or another - it got a bit tense at times, but now that he has gone, I think most of us can look back & have a laugh) !

Kind Regards,

Peter D.

 

[ChrisL]

The weather was perfect the camaraderie fantastic and the track time incredible. My first chance to try the GT40 on the track and I wasn't disappointed. I was a bit tentative to start with given that my wheel alignment had only ever been set up with lengths of string and a calculator, but the car showed all the potential that I'd hoped for and then some.

I managed to improved on my previous best lap time (in a Triumph TR6) by a whopping 15 seconds but that probably says more about my TR6 than the GT40. Unfortunately though my gear selector took a liking to third gear and refused to budge after only half a dozen laps (just as I was starting to get the feel for the car). Daryl was kind enough to look at the stuck shifter before the next sprint but with no luck. That put an early end to my weekend.

Now faced with the prospect of a three hour drive back to Melbourne in a sick car (third gear all the way) Ross offered to load my car onto his trailer and take it home that night then return to Winton for the next day's drag racing. Apart from taking five hours out of his day, it would have also caused him to miss the function dinner that evening, so I gratefully declined the offer.

Fortunately though the car managed to happily sit on 3.5K RPM all the way home with no further damage. Thanks again Ross for the offer.

Congratulations too Ross on a great result. Your car sure sounded menacing as you roared past my injured car at an enormous rate of knots. A deserved winner.

PS. My personal observation was that the vast majority of front-runners were using road-legal grooved slicks (such as the Yokohama 032R) - not road tyres. I don't think that those tyers give that much advantage to an equivalent full slick.

 

[Russ Noble]

Well, there's an interesting fact about the rest of the front runners on road legal grooved slicks. Aren't they racing tyres, designed to give the users an unfair advantage over anyone running ordinary road tyres whilst remaining within the letter of the law but not necessarily the spirit of the law? That's what motor racing is about if you want to get serious with it. I think Ross read his Regs in depth and realised there was a difference between road registered and road legal and ran his slicks as presumably he was entitled to. The fact that he upstaged everyone else who were trying to get an advantage by running road legal race tyres is maybe ironic. Good on him, you've got to read yor Regs carefully an prepare your car to suit. In motorracing the spirit of the Regs means nothing, it's the letter of the Regs that counts. Proved time and time again at all levels. Organisers have to realise this and word their Regs accurately and unambiguously.Congats to Ross on his win even if it was Too easy!

Regards

 

Meat? Sorry, I'm a veggie. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Ross Nicol]

Handbags at dawn,that is excellent Luv40 and that last one is very deep too.I have spent 3 days in the wilderness,well nights too away from GT40s.com, angry with myself for letting emotion run wild and losing self control.I apologise to all forum members for this and especially Peter Delaney.I took exception to this line in your post Peter "The little o'lred DRB did ok on real street tyres in the sprint & nailed it in the drags" thats the explanation for my stupid response any way.I must further apologise for not remembering I met you at the grand prix. I can only assume Brisbane Pete (what a character) forced me to drink too much.I hope we can put this behind us as I don't buy the one brand versus another thing and apart from Robert supplying the chassis and body I built and setup the car myself.I'm sure we'll laugh about it over a beer one day.
Actually Russ Noble (fellow Kiwi) has hit the nail on the head.I received the supp regs very late and they did stipulate all cars had to be road registered but club registered cars would be accepted at the scrutineers discretion. (my car has club registration).Since no mention was made about tyres bingo, I fitted the slicks.It is important for me to get as much track time with my car in race trim as we get minimal practice on a race weekend.To put this issue into perspective- during a race I am putting in a massive effort to beat competitors that don't take prisoners and it's hard work mentally & physically not to mention the fear of getting hurt, now in comparison last weekend was a doddle even though I was off the track twice at no stage did I experience fear and boy it was fun without the pressure.
Regards Ross

 

[Russ Noble]

Back again. Ran out of time with my last post and had to leave for work. I was also going to say Congrats to Steve for nailing the 1/4 mile. Now I know absolutely nothing about drag racing so what is this "reaction time"? At 3/4 second it can't be driver reaction time, that would only be 1 or 2 tenths. Don't tell me the car sits there with the wheels spinning going nowhere for another 1/2 second does it? What would I know? Would someone care to elaborate on the finer points of drag racing for me.I think the idea of getting maximum advantage wherever you can is good so if you can get away with leaving on the last yellow why not leave on the first yellow?/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif How do they draw the line or why can you get away with it?

Regards

 

[flatchat(Chris)]

Hmmm,interesting comments.
For some knowledge on drag racing:- www.willowbank-raceway.com.au/ /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[Russ Noble]

Thanks for that most informative link Chris. I think it's filled in all the blanks and answered all my questions. Very interesting.

Regards,

 

[Russ Noble]

Hmmmm, just reflecting on my new found knowledge. We seem to have a fudge factor here.The web site doesn't make it clear. Is the reaction time included in the time for the 1/4 mile? In other words does the timing for the 1/4 mile start when the last amber light comes on, or does it start when the front wheel clears the beam? If it starts with the last amber then would not a really quick car be handicapped by having to make sure it did not clear the beam in less than the permitted 4/10 second? If the time starts when the car clears the beam then it is already rolling and will record a time faster than it is really capable of. Have I missed the boat here or does drag racing not provide an accurate 1/4 mile time for a car, despite being measured in hundredths or even thousandths of a second? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
Sorry about the thousand questions, I'm on a really steep learner here.

Regards,

 

[Ross Nicol]

Russ I'm not an expert either but the reaction time seems to be from when the green light comes on to when the car actually moves out of the staging area.Of course the reaction time would be how long the brain takes to register green and operate the appropriate pedals, including the wheel spin time as well.To counter this experts suggested anticipating the green and acting at the last yellow.My reaction time ranged from.97 to 1.27 secs Probably not good enough.It's accurate timing allright Russ.I'd say the reaction time is completed as the car moves and breaks the beam.Ross

 

[Nobodi]

The timing actually start when the cars starts to move and a perfect reaction time would be 0.400.

 

[Russ Noble]

Ross, from one kiwi to another, read the Willowbank website if you're going to do anymore drag racing! However you have drag raced and I haven't, so I could have it all wrong. From what I can gather from the Willowbank site and here, you line up on the line and the front of your wheel breaks the beam, the last yellow comes on and you drop the clutch. The timing starts when the REAR of your wheel clears the beam, so long as that's not less than .400 second you're away. The green has nothing to do with it. So you're already going forwards before the timing starts because the timing doesn't start until the beam clears the rear of the wheel. What I want to know, does the time that is quoted when drag racing ie 11.95 for Steve and 12.34 for you, include the reaction time or is the reaction time just thrown in as a red herring to confuse the issue? In which case it's been quite successful!

Regards,

Russ

 

[Peter Delaney]

Hey Ross, no problems at all. You are right - there were way too many "Petes" at the AGP (between Peter Ransom & "Brisbane" Pete McCluskey, you were lucky get out of the bar at all) !!

Yep, let's forget all this - like you said, I too am just interested in the 40 concept, not the brands. I would love to own a real one, but selling the house was never an option, so I went for a latter day interpretation. With these, we can all stamp them with our own ideas & try out all sorts of experiments (it is actually probably more fun than owning a real 40 - with that, you would be stuck with "originality" & wouldn't dare change anything) !

As you know, I'm not into the race scene (given my non-existent racing experience, I value my own skin & those of anyone near the track too much to try it seriously) but I do admire you guys who give it a go. It helps enormously to raise the profile of the cars & that means attracting new guys with new talents - something that we all eventually benefit from.

As to the the beers & a laugh, you're on !!

Kind Regards,

Peter D.

 

[Ross Nicol]

Russ I've just read the willowbank start procedure and I was doing it right.I was reacting to the last yellow light
but on my 12.34 run I still had a reaction time of 1.1488 so perfect I am not.
Peter D my offer to come for a ride with me is open any time.I promise not to scare you, well maybe a little.I think I confirmed a new GT40 convert during passenger rides at Winton.I thought Pete's bar was going to blow down with the wind or was it the hot air from all the Peters being in Petes bar at one time.
Regards Ross