What are the rules?

[hawkwind racing]

G'day Gordon
May i make a sugestion , before you make time and sometimes large financial committments to set up a competition car which (MUST comply with all the general rules and also class rules), the DLRA has a class for blokes like yourself ,who want to try out salt racing and their street car , its called , street class ,it allows you to enter and run with a minimum of compliance rules up to 130 mph (210 kph) it allows you to see if its the sort of racing you want to stick with and if you catch "salt fever " you can progress to a full blown comp type car ,basically what you need is
a current state drivers license
a registered and road legal car
a snell 2000 helmet ( full face type )
a 2 kg portable fire extinguisher ( securely mounted in drivers compartment )
long sleeve jacket and long pants sturdy shoes

this is the best way to start ,and you can check out all the race cars and talk with the drivers , who can point you in the right direction .
hope to see you there in 06
Gary ( motorcycle scrutineer )

[gazza414]

Might just ask if I can bring along my mates 360 Ferrari ---- never been in a car with such good brakes

Not that important on the salt hey!!!!

[Dr Goggles]

Hi Gordon
Something about this thread got my old billy and missed the spirit of what I've enjoyed on the lake the last few years .All motor racing needs rules to keep it competitive and SAFE . The best thing about the salt is the solo aspect , the science that helps people go faster is the same for everyone , it ain't hoodoo .Since I first joined this club my ears have been fully erect (yeah , yeah, my ear balls are starting to ache) and there is always something to learn or a previously held opinion that needs re-assessment . If you think you know everything you should get out more because there will ALWAYS be someone who understands something better than you and if you don't look for 'em you'll never learn , your loss.

Gordon you don't state exactly what type of car it is that you are talking about , it made me curious.......salt dudes will talk your ear off , show you pictures or even ask you to stare up their rear cavity if you've got a spare moment (mmmm maybe a little too friendly), there's very few secrets and it's freakin' hard work to build and run your ride .Cracking the sads at the rule book is easier than familiarising yourself with the history of the game and why the rules have evolved the way they have .

Resourcefulness and self reliance are helpful attributes when you're intending taking a motor vehicle to the end of the earth(Gairdner , sorry all you crow-eaters) and running it to the limit of it's capabilities......if you "couldn't put it back together if your life depended on it" and you're worried about your warranty Gordon then do some homework , or stay home.

Dr Goggles #374

[momec]

I'll second that motion.


Chris

[gazza414]

It sorta goes like this ......... just have some fun,,,,,,,,, the locals are friendly.

[DON NOBLE ... DLRA # 281]

AH BUT THERES MORE
if your going for a record , you will need at least a half roll cage ( up to 175 mph ) , tailshaft loop ( if its rear wheel drive of course ) , scattershield or blanket around the bellhousing clutch area , fire ext bottle with at least 2 x nozzles , wrist restraints . Like previously mentioned , suck and see if you like it , maybe run in street class . Thats exactly what i did 1st yr i raced . Following that i met the requirements to run in f/pro class . After the initial outlay you dont have to worry about getting it again . Yep might seem a whole lot af trouble to go to but its worth it . Theres only one thing better in life and its not on this website . Good Luck

[DLRA]

G'Day Gordon,
pity you didn't make it to the salt this year. Your loss my friend.

It's obvious by your posts that you have been burned by officaldom at some stage in you competitive past and you just can't see past that. I am not even going to begin to respond to your last post, it is so full of emotion and frustration and completely lacking in any subjective comment as to not warrant any reply.

What you have just turned your back on is one of the best times you could've had in your lifetime. A bunch of guys and gals with only two aims in life;
1. to build a car or bike to what ever is their liking and budget and wring the bloody neck of it, just se how fast it will go.
2. to do it with a like minded group and have a bloody good time doing it.

Dry Lakes Racing? You just don't get "it" my friend.

Goodbye Gordon

[Dr Goggles]

Hi Gordon
I thought I'd add a bit more here.The DLRA exists on a diet of volunteers and it's a lean diet at that. The meeting needs experienced people to staff the timing equipment , the start line , multiple safety crews and hygeine requirements .these are but some of the jobs without which the racing could not happen .The administration of the club is done for no reward by some of the founding members .The track needs to be surveyed each year and this year it was over fifteen miles .Nobody gets through this event cheaply and without the infrastructure it wouldn't happen for anyone .That makes it's mangement precarious.The event has been injury free for a while but this year there were three serious incidents ,two required people to be flown to hospital .The third involved the explosion of a car that knocked the driver unconcious , that he survived was a miracle , this wasn't a production car and it certainly wasn't a "crappy worn out clunker" . In order to continue racing the club needs to be critically careful that no-one hurts themselves under the clubs auspices , one of the best ways to ensure that is to have a reactive rule arrangement , when there is an incident the rules are re-examined.The investment that most people have made in their entries is considerable , for some it is vast , the investment and the competitors well being is protected by the club acting responsibly by stopping people acting irresponsibly . Some people act irresponsibly through choice, some through ignorance .As I said in my earlier post this brand of racing requires a degree of self reliance and ingenuity and ultimately responsibility .The aspect of responsibility is to ones self and to others .We all want to race , and keep on racing , some builds take years and large proportions of annual income.Very few people drive their entry to the lake as the chance of "hurting "it is real and the RAA won't go out there .So you need a trailer and thus a car that'll tow a car on a tandem over two hundred miles of rough dirt roads let alone from whichever part of the country you're from.Why ? , because Lake Gairdner has the best surface for this type of event in the world , there is nothing like it .

Gordon you have besmirched all those involved by inferring that there is an "unprofessional"air about the club and it's organisation.There are over five hundred members now and complaints are few and far between .If you had made the effort to go to the event it may have opened your eyes. At no point have you mentioned what sort of car you own and intended to race , if you were more familiar with the "game" you might not have been so sure about it's capability on the "big white dyno"...it's not bitumen and it's not a quarter mile.

The most likely scenario Gordon is that you aren't cut out for this stuff .Road cars are not designed (despite what you may think or claim) for high speed , they are designed on a budget to be safe at 60 miles per hour and they are built on production lines to a standard that is "good enough" .If you got out of shape in your wizz bang gizmo filled car and manged to get it upside down at the six mile mark at 125mph would you rather have a bar , a helmet an extinguisher and the like or do you think the manufacturer would have taken that into consideration?

The initial paragraph of you first post said it all ..." a very, very illegal run..".....on a public road no less!

We didn't miss you at the lake Gordon , we go there to get away from people like you .....then again we were stuck for something to do early in the week , we needed something to throw stones at.

Adios Gordon , stick to reading sales brochures and their extravagant claims and avoid the lake , bullshit doesn't keep there very long.

[DirtyDave]

So Dr Goggle are you implying that gordon is a Duff Duff Chook Chaser that requires protecting from himself, or that an invitation to run what you brung and just hope you brung enough..

Dirty Dave has now read the rule book from cover to cover, in the planning stages now...A/?????

[momec]

Duff Duff, I like that.
Chris

[Dr Goggles]

.....jeez Dave I better get your address , I can't ever seem to get through Gawler without mechanical problems....he he , maybe there's some sort of hoodoo there , and another thing how come you can do whatever you like , bombs , forward one and a halfs with a twist but not backflips off the diving board at the Gawler pool? yes I got yelled at , oldest bloke on the board doin' a backflip bomb

[Reverend Hedgash]

Hey easy on the chap Goggs, he must have worked very hard to pay for someone else to build his car.

Seriously Gordon, the club tries to cater for production cars in the most appropriate way it can as outlined above.

Personally, I don't see the club being about the purchasing of off the shelf items and thrashing them to they break, what is the point of that? That is just a pissing contest of who has the most money to burn.

The club is far more creative than that. It is about building and modifying cars to run on the salt in a fastest, safest and and most styling manner. Some are on a very tight budget. We are less than $20 000 and hoping to go 320kph.

Not bad for something we handbuilt in the back yard from scratch on weekends over a period of what will be three years.

Yeah I could go out and buy something on Friday for $150 000 take it somewhere on Saturday and thrash it and maybe go faster... but so freakin' what?

Today is turning into a throwaway world unfortunately, it started with razors, now we throw away laptops and mobile phones and cars. So much craft is disappearing and so much satisfaction from creating something yourself.

This club is composed of people who have not lost that sense of joy at creativity. They have skill, they have a knowledge of the history of racing and understand the context within which they build, they have humour as can be evidenced by the satire and irony in the designs and presentation, they are generous with their unending help of their fellow club members and they do it all in one of the most beautiful and savage places on earth.

You are still welcome to bring the car you bought (with the additions listed above), there is a place made especially for you within the club to run it, but I am sure when you experience just a taste you will click to why the rules are as they are.

I am also sure if you are a genuine enthuisiast you will also click on the far more rewarding and fun pursuit of either modifying or building your own car.

If you still don't get it, then you just don't get it. It's not for everyone.

Rev. H+

[XW #901 180mph]

Hi Gordon.

I drive one of those years-old crappy worn-out old clunkers that were designed before most modern safe design were put in cars type car that you mention.

Whats your car.
I could be fairly certain it is a modern jap shit with a dinner plate exhaust and a stereo with more horsepower than your engine.

Gee I wish I had one, in fact recently I purchased a BA GT but now I wish I had bought a car like yours as that would have been a much tougher car to cruise around town in.
Then again I dont have to have my stereo turned up flat out to drown out the disgusting sound of my engine so maybe I did choose the right car after all.

Regards Mark

[Desert Rat Racing]

Looks like GordonD hasn't read the rules right I as yet haven't been to the salt but at least I know that you can run a production car out there, another thing I find odd about his write-up is that he says you can't run alloy wheels, is he talking about the things that the factory put on these days that are called mag wheels or is he talking about the very expensive alloy wheels that you can buy (if you are rich). I take it Gordon is a bit upset because he can't read the rules properly and thinks he can't run his stock standard rice cooker on the lake. Sorry guys that I missed it this year but sick wife comes first. Go the Salters