Hey Everyone,
So we were back at Sydney Dragway for the 4th Round of the Championship series and finally the Torana with 350SBC was ready for its first run, we had only just finished the last things on Friday night.
I was a bit nervous anticipating how it would go and if the reverse pattern gear shifts would cause me dramas. Well they did! Despite continually telling myself to shift ‘backwards’ as soon as I took off and the shift light came on ‘BANG’ into neutral. It took a second or so to realise why the shift light did not go off and then I just rolled through and out of the Half Track gate. We got back to the pits and immediately checked things out which seemed ok, so lets try again. Although this time notes were stuck on the window and tacho “SHIFT BACKWARDS!”.
The second run came and I shifted correctly but very slowly thinking about it. I saw a 10.6 pass, a long way off what we hoped for but damn reverse shifting is hard! When I backed off past the line the timing chain broke and locked up the engine, so unfortunately the Torana was put onto the trailer and now time to help Steve with the Panelvan.
The Panelvan as usual was right on the money so it was up to Steve to get a good reaction and who knows how but he got through the first round but the cold wind would not let up and was causing traction dramas for the higher powered cars. We were freezing waiting for Round 2 and in the end the meeting was abandoned due to track safety/traction concerns around 7:30pm, which was the correct decision.
A long and eventful day had come to an end. Steve is going ok in 7th position for the season, while the Torana and I are still trying to get consistent enough to win, but patience and persistance will get us there sooner or later.
See you at Supernats!