AEROFLOW RACE DIARY

Iknow that I have said it before, but I love going testing! There’s not the pressures of the day job in making sure all of the event stuff is happening. Don’t get me wrong — I enjoy all of those challenges, but, when we test, all I have to worry about is driving the car and tuning the car. And, what makes testing better for me is that I get to spend more time learning from the ‘Guru of Nitro’, Graeme Cowin. Nitro is a funny thing to learn, and it is very different from methanol from a tuning perspective. Some things are similar but most are just absolutely opposite. It’s a lot more a combination of many factors having to work together; get one wrong and it really affects the others. Ignition timing versus clutch load versus fuel versus blower overdrive versus gear ratios — throw in the mix air quality, track conditions … stir it all up and hope you’ve come up with the right recipe for that exact moment. So, on Monday, we went testing with two nitro hot rods out at Sydney Dragway: a new car we had just finished and ‘Berzerk’. We had our normal nitro hot rod combination in the car and wanted to make sure that all systems worked properly, that it left nice and straight, and that we got some laps with the car under our belts so that it’d be good to go for its debut. I was lucky enough to have the pleasure of driving Berzerk for the first time. We had a new fuel pump–and–gear ratio combination to test to see what we could learn from it for a future combination. For me, getting to test things like this is great fun from a tuning point of view — you just learn so much from trying new things — and to be able to do it away from the pressures of race day allows you to fully digest, investigate, and learn from each pass. The cool part about getting to drive it was that is I had never driven an open car on nitro (‘Spooky’ has a roof and front windscreen). I had driven modified altereds, but never a nitro one, so I was intrigued to see what it would be like with my head out in the wind at 230mph. It was also a good opportunity to drive one of the other nitro hot rods to see if there was anything I could pick up in contrast to Spooky. On the first pass, we really just took an educated guess at a set-up and went out there with the mindset that we’d either do a full pass if it felt OK, or, if it didn’t sound or feel right, shut it off, make some changes, and try again. It’s always fun driving any nitro car, but one with a new combo that you have never driven before is definitely exciting. Overall, the first pass didn’t go too badly. It seemed like an OK pass but not super fast. A 6.30 at 220mph showed that we were still a little bit off with the tune-up but wasn’t a bad place to start from. We tuned it up for the second and third passes, and a best of 6.14 at 232mph showed improvement and potential with this combination, but still a way to go to the 5.9-second range that we want these cars to operate in. What was the open car like to drive? Well, to be honest, the wind factor really didn’t have the massive effect that I thought it would. Don’t get me wrong, if ya put your hand up near the finish line, it would sure hurt when the wind smashes it into the roll cage. But, when I was in the car and strapped in tight, it wasn’t ripping my head back like I thought it would, but it was cool being out in the open. As for the handling, well I do have to reconsider my thoughts on Spooky’s handling. I’m not sure if Berzerk made Spooky seem like a shopping trolley with a motor in it, or Spooky made Berzerk seem like a Cadillac. Either way, Berzerk was one of the nicest cars I have ever driven — up there with the Customline top doorslammer — in the way it handles and responds to driver input. It was just a really good car to drive. So, on the whole, it was once again one of those days when you think, is this really my job? Who goes out on a Monday to test nitro hot rods? Well, we do, and we love it. Next up for us is another trip back to the Perth Motorplex. Perth has to be the best track I have ever raced at and, in fact, have ever been to. Can’t wait to get back there to see if we can improve on our podium finish from last year.

stir it all up and hope you’ve come up with the right recipe for that exact moment