Drag Racing Gunnedah 2/3 November 2019

Well, here we are again. The final TDRA meeting for 2019. Of note today is the appearance in the pits of our own Chief on board a FZR250. It’s his first time racing, so we’ll see if he makes the Hall of Fame or the Wall of Shame!

Saturday test & tune asked more questions than it answered. Weather was HOT and the flies where just too much. 5 bikes on the track.



Team 2fiftycc represented by the Chief, murdo (CBR250R) & Frankster on a stock, street-ridden 1993 Kawasaki ZZR250! Thanks to @Murdo for the bike. A couple of Kawasakis (2 x ZX10R) made up the small field.

By the end of the day the quickest & fastest times for Team 2fiftycc were...

Murdo. 9.61 @ 116
Brian. 10.20 @ 110
Frank. 11.05 @ 100

Tomorrow will be hot again & we’ll see if more bikes show up. Hopefully the Chief can squeeze out a 9-something and the mighty ZZR can break into the 10 second zone.Thanks to @Grasshopper for showing up to support the team.

 

I think he’s more concerned about making a good pass. Strong cross wind this morning that’s now turning into a strong headwind (better). The Chief hasn’t run a 9sec yet and headwind will mean he probably won’t. I did manage to run a 10.62 on the ZZR. It has got more in it, but it’s not my bike, so I’m not leaning on it. One more qualifying run & then we’re into eliminations.

Headwind will slow all of us down, so should be interesting.

 

Congrats on both Murdo. I didn't stick around (driving back to Melbourne) after the bike trophies, so I didn't realise you had the best reaction time and a trophy was coming your way.

As Murdo mentioned, it was a Team 2fiftycc final and he also owned both of the bikes in the final...so well done all around.

Which, brings me to the little ZZR-250.



Since this wasn't my bike, I was doing enough without getting after it. In the final, I saw the red light come on in my lane and shut the bike down before I even got to the 60ft timers, so I gave her back to Murdo in one piece. This is the same bike Murdo has been trying to sell and also the bike I rode with the VJMC coffee crew on Thursday into the mountains. Given I am 95kg and I wasn't pushing too hard at the drags, the performance of this little thing was quite impressive. It's fully stock (even has a centre stand).

Best 60ft time: 2.174
Best ET: 10.62
Best Speed: 102.35

Not bad at all.

 

And finally, I couldn't write this without a special nod to the Chief (Brian). We've been trying to get more 2fiftycc bikes to the drags as the numbers are starting to dwindle and we don't want the Bike Class to be cancelled due to lack of numbers. The Chief succumbed to my constant pestering and agreed to "unbox" the ZXR250C he had in storage and get it out on the drag strip. Long story short (any of you reading his "I've gone over to the dark side" thread will know), the ZXR tripped at the last hurdle and we'll have to wait until 2020 to get her to the track.



To the Chief's credit, he wasn't going to let that stop him, so we (he) hurriedly converted his street FZR250 to be his drag bike. It had just run out of rego and it's not completely knackered...even though it has no compression, won't start and third gear is toast.



He did a good job and the bike looked and sounded the part. His first drag meet was a mixed bag, but he did manage to run a 10.20 at 110kph (60ft 2.43). His best 60ft time was a 2.36, so there's plenty of opportunity to get well into the 9's with a good launch. Speaking of good launches, the Chief looked to have Murdo in the semis, but missed out by 0.022 of a second. So, he came very close to upsetting the eventual winner. Well done Brian. See you at the drags next year.

And, we REALLY need to get a few more 2fiftycc bikes to Gunnedah to keep things ticking along. I know it's not cheap, but you don't have to do every round. Put it this way, if Team 2fiftycc hadn't shown up, the bike class would have been cancelled! Instead, we came away with 3 trophies and some good stories.

 

Good man. You're welcome to bring the 2fiftycc bike and bolster the team...your choice.

Now if we can just get your dad to get the Pink Lady running!

 

Great R/T. I must have missed that timeslip when I took pics. I think they only take R/T's from eliminations. T&T and qualifying don't count...right @Murdo?