Summer Nationals – Sat 19th & Sun 20th June 2010

The day was blustery to say the least and anyone looking to get a tan was extremely disappointed! With 2 scheduled runs for both days, we hoped to address any problems from the previous 2 weekends. 12.30pm on Saturday, the car ran a good 5.88@ 271.36mph. But as the two previous weekends, we noticed that the 60ft times were comparatively slower than normal. We’re not going to pay to much attention to it at this stage as it could be due to the weather.

The second run of the day was a little bit more eventful. At 5.45pm we ran a 5.90@ 269.77mph. Everything was good until the parachute was deployed and once the canopy had opened, the car momentarily slowed then carried on gaining speed. The main parachute had failed, the reserve chute was deployed and finally started to slow the car down. The field was getting very close very quick by this stage!!! All the brakes were used in force to avoid any field trips! 2ft away from the grass, the car finally came to a stop. Thankfully!!

Back to the pits for a thorough inspection.

Sunday was a brighter day and all the brakes on the car were checked over and parts replaced as necessary as a cautionary measure. Checking over the timing data again, the 60ft times were still way off the mark. All the after burner assembly was removed from the car and thoroughly inspected again and a small crack in the fuel manifold was found. This was creating a drop in fuel pressure resulting in the poor 60ft times. Repairs were done and reinstalled.

The 1st run of the day at 2pm was a 5.90 @269.89mph and the 60ft time was back in normal range at 1.0’s and the new chute deployed correctly!!!! All confidence back.

Second run at 3.30pm, to back up the first run and make sure everything was Ok resulted in a 5.91@ 268.03mph.

All seems back to normal and looking forward to the UK Truck Show this coming weekend!