2002 Speed Week - Dry Lakes Racers Australia

Rod Ramblings It still has the same effect on you every year when you cross that last ridge and see that vast expanse of pure white salt. It has been a year of continuous work to get to Gairdner for that magic week. Meeting the regulars and the new faces is great but possibly the greatest relief after a fortnight of pure hell with the uncertainty of the insurance, was to see the start line and witches hats, what were we going to do if the insurance didn't come through, knowing that some teams would already be on the road. I had to take the gamble that it would come, I was worried I tell you. I must have had 50 phone calls asking what is the go, what could I say!

To everyone else who prepared the meeting I say thanks. What a relief to hear when we arrived that the track was prepared and the timing was working. Peter Noy, you did a sterling job all week, you and Eric Smith are to be complimented. Andy for getting the camp running under very difficult circumstances. The water team, the Moe boys, Gary Baker from Canberra, Kevin Seville all did a sterling job for the club stepping forward in many roles, especially on auction night and helped by Robin Cseh, thanks. The guys that filled in as starters, thanks. The team at the inspection tent doing another sterling job, thanks from us all. John Broughan, showing great leadership under difficult circumstances, and I know what it is like trying to do your bit and run a car. All in all the meeting ran well and Steve Charlton did a great job again around the pits and for the club finances...thanks Steven. To those who took on new roles at the Annual Meeting, especially Rob Carroll taking on Presidents job will make things easier for Carol and I. We had quite a few new members sign up and sold 95% of our T shirts, we had to order 50 more for backorders.

What a pity the other lake turned out to be unsuitable, I have spoken to Mike Davidson and he is going to check out any other way to access Lake Gairdner. Right now we have no real problems with the Andrew family, I have spoken with them at length and straight to the point. The ranger from the Department of Environment and Heritage seems to be on our side, but has made it clear his job starts and finishes at the lakes edge.

All racers are to be congratulated on their behaviour and the speeds achieved. Was Mark Dunn having fun?, and the Stamp car was performing some respectable speeds. John Lynch has certainly moved the goal posts forward, a great job John, congratulations and I hope you can repair the motor for next time, also to Norm Hardinge, it would be great to get another Australian record in the US list, if the car was at Bonneville and could back up his speed which was well above their class records, but with a leg out of bed, he also has some repairing to do, but 200mph may not be out of reach for this car. Alan Murchison blew a tyre, he may need to get some suitable replacements for the weight and speed.

GM never mentioned that windows popping out at 240 mph was likely to happen, so we will have to overcome that problem. Does anyone have to get any salt tyres? We may be able to get a little bit of a deal on a few as I need some. It was disappointing that our clutch couldn't take the power. This was the clutch that Chuck Salmen ran, so it must have been at it's limit in his car, but with a heavier car and more power it couldn't hold out. We will have to look elsewhere. We had geared the car for a 260 mph run when it let go, it filled the car with choking smoke and with the windows taped up to stop them falling out, a chute failure, just when you didn't need it, it is not much fun trying to see the track, work a handbrake, release the seat belt and trying to get the door open, when the handle is 18" forward of the seating position, I can see some form of ventilation coming up, but at least the motor is still running.

Stewards Report
What a meeting. The salt was hard and the track was good. Those of you who missed the meeting probably missed our fastest conditions so far. Most entrants exceeded previous speeds by a significant amount. John Lynch took the brick out from behind his accelerator pedal and picked up over 20 Mph to run 297 Mph. I am sure he can taste 300, and next year should be an exciting meet. Stuart Lappin running 189 on his Suzuki, the Vincent from Whyalla, and the 1925 Indian all running incredible numbers.

It was also pleasing to see an increase in children and partners making the trip this year. We do have a few difficulties catering for this with the way the camp is set up, but a little bit of commonsense and courtesy will overcome this.

The quality of entries was high again this year, with several first timers exceeding 160Mph. We had two entries in the new speedster class, and another that must have had serious problems, as it arrived on the lake, but didn't make it to scrutineering.

Thanks
I would like to thank our starters for this year. Leigh, Digger, Allan, Rod, Kevin and John took on the starters role for parts of the meeting. I think it is a very valuable experience for all competitors, and next year I will insist that all competitors spend an hour or so on the start line. I would like to thank the first aid and the fire and rescue crews who attend. The CFS volunteers who attend are here unpaid in their holiday time, because they are helping the CFS raise funds, and because they enjoy our meeting.

Thanks to Bob Ellis for his donation which assisted with the meat and drinks for the windup party on Friday night at the caravan park. As everyone seems to be BBQ'd out by Friday, next year we will have Pizza and some roasts and salads. Doc's lovely wife Cathy has generously offered to cook some of the roasts for us, and I look forward to this as both a windup and social party, and a thank you to the people who stay back on Friday to help pack up. I also intend to provide some food for the AGM, and the thinking at the moment is to cook some meat and spuds in a Weber or something similar. If anyone can either take a Weber, or operate it on the Tuesday afternoon/evening, don't be shy coming forward

Setup/clear down
Setting up and clearing down a 9 mile track is a large task. I had hoped to have the track running on Monday morning, but it wasn't to be. We will be reviewing our methods in the next 6 weeks or so to see what improvements can be made to speed up the process. The new drag is a huge improvement, and the amount of work required on the track has been reduced considerably. I think the good condition of the track was also improved by the heavy drag, which has reduced the traffic and work needed to get a good surface.
Thanks to the Moe boys, Gary Baker and Peter Noy for arriving early and setting up the track. The position of the track was good this year, as it allowed spectators on the small islands on the pit side of the track. This gave an elevated view of the meeting at about the 4 mile mark, whilst still providing a safe viewing position.

Other items
The riding in the back of utes, trailers and other such things will no longer be tolerated. It was made clear to me in no uncertain terms that the Lake Gairdner national park comes under the road traffic act, and the police can charge any person for breaches of the act. Another item raised was pillion passengers on 4 wheel motorbikes. The National Parks ranger was generally happy with the steps we make to keep the lake clean, and the discipline that we apply to ourselves with our general behaviour and tarps and fluids etc. The dust on the pit access road is a problem, and a compressor would seem to be the answer to this. We will be looking to sort this out before next year. There were some problems with cars entering the lake and track after the track had closed, and we will find some way to prevent access to the lake after dark.

Results of Speed Trials 2002, March 11th - 15th 2002 - Peter Noy, Chief Timer
Any application for amendments to these results must be made on the Results and Records Amendment Form.

Records shown are either Open or a Record prior to this meeting.
Speeds shown in RED are records set for this year