Drag Racing TDRA Gunnedah Drags - 17/18 March 2018

Hi Everyone, Here we are at Gunnedah Airport for the Saturday test and tune for Sunday’s drag racing. Weather conditions are awful. 38 degrees forecast and it hit 30 at 9am this morning!

The expected (hoped for) six or seven 2fiftycc bikes didn’t eventuate and only 3 made the start line today. The three who showed up were Murdo, Frankster and Risky. Murdo with his 1988 Honda CBR250 MC19, Frankster with his 1989 Kawasaki ZXR250A and Risky on his 1988 Yamaha FZR250 2KR. Also running was a Yamaha SR500 café racer, a HD 1200cc street bike and a Suzuki Pro Stock bike running a mild 1300cc engine.

By the end of the day Murdo had run the quickest time, the fastest speed and the best reaction time and 60ft time. The rest of us 2fiftycc guys are hoping for a miracle tomorrow. Especially Risky who blew up his engine on the last run of the day.


Team 2fiftycc

Risky's Yamaha FZR250 2KR

Murdo's CBR250 MC19

Frankster's ZXR250A

 

For the record...

Best Reaction times
Murdo 0.007
Frankster 0.025
Risky 0.271

Best 60ft Times
Murdo 2.16
Frankster 2.17
Risky 2.34

Best ET’s
Murdo 9.65
Frankster 9.84
Risky 10.35

Best Speed
Murdo 70.56mph (113.81kph)
Frankster 69.29mph (111.76kph)
Risky 66.13mph (106.66kph)

Round by round details...

Round
Reaction Time
60ft time
Elapsed Time
Speed (mph/kph)

Murdo
R1 .103 2.43 10.57 106.38
R2 -.034 2.37 10.21 109.62
R3 .007 2.38 10.06 111.57
R4 .073 2.39 10.17 110.27
R5 .012 2.16 9.65 113.81

Frankster
R1 .149 2.24 NTR NSR
R2 .213 2.32 10.20 109.83
R3 .025 2.17 9.99 109.42
R4 -.073 2.21 9.84 111.76
R5 .230 2.18 9.86 111.31

Risky
R1 .892 NTR
R2 .497 2.34 10.35 106.05
R3 .385 2.74 10.84 106.66
R4 .828 2.50 10.43 105.61
R5 .271 3.21 12.64 90.31

We're looking forward to tomorrow's racing. Expected temperature is 39, so it will be hot!

 

The 2fiftycc boys...

Left to Right: Risky, Frankster & Murdo

 

Saturday Night

Well, after a long and very hot day, Murdo, Greyimport, Grasshopper and Frankster setup camp for the night. Huge thankyou to Greyimport for bringing his camper trailer and all the necessary bits to make it a fun weekend for all. Thanks to Linkin dropping out at the last minute, I was given his spot in the big tent, which meant I didn’t have to setup my dome tent. Total fire ban, so no camp fire…not that you need one when it’s still 32c (90f) at 8 o’clock at night!



Murdo had the luxury of his home-on-wheels bike transporter, the “Murdomobile”. His skills and engineering prowess extent to more than just bikes. This thing is like the TARDIS!

 

Sunday (I’ve written this in the third person)

Sunday morning was cool for about 5 minutes and then the heat kicked in. Revised forecast was now for 40c (104f). Frankster’s moaning had gone up a gear and there was talk of heatstroke and going home. Luckily, a cup of tea and some toast changed his mind. There are no shower facilities in the camping area, so a tap bath was the best on offer. Murdo needs to build a shower into his Murdomobile (it has everything else!).

Murdo noticed a White Hayabusa had shown up. Saturday is a test and tune day and not all competitors show up. Sunday is race day, so it was clear the Busa had come to race.

After wiping the floor with the rest of team 2fiftycc, there was an expectation that Murdo would lead the assault on the rest of the bike brigade. Having lost Risky, there was only Frankster and Murdo representing the team.

Sunday qualifying consists of 3 qualifying runs before lunch and then eliminations straight after lunch. At the end of qualifying the ladder looked like this.

Todd Pro Stock Suzuki 6.52
Don Hayabusa 6.75
Kris HD1200 8.55
Frankster ZXR250 9.77
Murdo CBR250 9.85
Mark SR500 Custom 10.02
Risky FZR250 DNQ

Round 1
There’s no order to who races who in the first round, so Murdo and Frankster made sure they lined up behind each other in the staging lanes.

Murdo, Frankster and Don all advanced to the next round, which would be the semi-finals. The fastest bike gets the bye run, so the Busa got that and Murdo would face Frankster to see who would meet the Busa in the final.

Semi-Finals
In handicap racing you nominate a “dial-in” time that you expect you will run to. Murdo had nominated 9.90sec and Frankster 9.80sec meaning Murdo got a .10sec head start. Both racers knew a good start was necessary and Murdo cut a great .026 reaction time, but Frankster cut a .005 R/T and was ahead by the finish line.

 

The Final

The semi-final bye run for the Busa was interesting. He lined up in front of Murdo and I, so we had a chance to watch him. Usually he was wheelstanding in second and third, but this run he pushed to see how quick he was going to go if he had to. He’d been running on a 6.75 dial-in and was obviously a very good rider and a practised drag racer. His reaction times were also very good and, ominously, consistent.

After the semi’s, I went and got our timecards and noticed he’d run a 6.67. When I handed Don his timecard I mentioned that his bike was running quicker as the day went on (just to plant a little “doubt” seed). Before the final I asked Don what lane he wanted (it’s his choice) and he said the right lane (same one he ran the 6.67 in). I said “great” enthusiastically (a little water for the seed).

When we got called to the staging lanes for our final I looked down at the Busa swingarm and saw Don had changed his dial-in from 6.75 to 6.65 (seed sprouting now). When the official asked me if I wanted to change my dial-in I replied “absolutely not” and waved my hands and then gave two thumbs up.

When the starter called us to the line I let Don go first as he has his burnout procedure and now I’m not playing any games. Once he is ready to stage I bump in first and then we both are staged and the tree is ready to go. I rev the bike harder than normal and launch as hard as I can trying for the best reaction time I can. Not the best launch, but I am on my way. I hear him leave the line and now we wait. As I approach the finish line and cross the first speed line I look over into his lane and there’s nothing there. Then, like a bad dream, I’m nearly at the finish line and I see a white front guard come into my vision. In an instant, he’s by me (he is travelling 70+kph faster than me). I see him cross the line and know he has won. Doesn’t matter if it was 2 inches or 2 feet, He got there first. In the braking area, I shake his hand and congratulate him on a good race. I take my gloves and helmet off while we wait for the other finals to be run. I ask the official in the braking area if he can confirm who won and he tells me they (the control booth) don’t tell him anything. I was going to suggest that the walkie-talkie he had strapped on his chest has a ‘talk’ button that he could press and say “who won the bikes?” and that someone might reply with the answer, but I didn’t bother as I was pretty sure I’d lost. When you're in the braking area there's nothing to indicate if either rider got a Red Light (disqualifies you) or broke out (went too quick).

Anyhow, after all the finals are run, we head back to the pits and Don leads us off. As he goes past the spectators he gets a couple of claps which seemed odd for the winner of an event? But then the clapping and cheering started in earnest and I knew he’d broken out (gone faster than his dial-in). It was great to see so many people cheering for the little 250. I guess everyone loves an underdog! Just to confirm my thoughts, when I got back to the team 2fiftycc pits, Murdo, Risky, Greyimport and all the others were clapping and giving me the thumbs up…I’m stoked. Don ran 6.617 on his 6.65 dial-in and I ran 9.893 on my 9.80 dial-in. I left with a 0.095 reaction and Don was slightly better with a 0.063 reaction time, but he pushed that little bit too hard and that's the beauty and cruelty of handicap racing.

Thanks to everyone, but particularly to Murdo and Greyimport.

I’m looking forward to racing at Gunnedah again.

Cheers

Frank


The Chief...thanks mate.

 

Team 2fiftycc weekend stats

Best Reaction times
Frankster 0.005
Murdo 0.007
Risky 0.271

Best 60ft Times
Frankster 2.11
Murdo 2.16
Risky 2.34

Best ET’s
Murdo 9.65
Frankster 9.77
Risky 10.35

Best Speed
Murdo 70.72mph (113.81kph)
Frankster 69.67mph (112.13kph)
Risky 66.28mph (106.66kph)

Lets get a few more 2fiftycc bikes at these events and really have some fun!