Post by Niko L on Aug 3, 2016 20:08:17 GMT
The third Race in West Coast Street Cup series was organized at Pori on July 30th 2016. As I won the WCSC II at Pori, we decided to take part in this one as well.
Basically no modifications were done to the car after Nitro Nats, only those old seat belts were replaced with new ones as the date codes on those old ones were already expired. Also a hood ornament was finally found so I painted it just like it was painted originally and that was installed as well. Otherwise everything remained unchanged.
Saturday:
On Friday we drove to Pori with the race car and spent the night at our relatives' place. So that way all we had to do on Saturday morning was to drive that short trip from their home to the airport. A minor problem was found though, as one of the tires of our trailer was empty. Luckily it wasn't leaking very fast, so we just refilled it with air and drove fast to the pits. There I headed to the race office, we changed rear tires on our Malibu and then Mika left shopping for equipment to patch that leaking tire on the trailer...
Meanwhile I cleaned up the car as it was very dirty because of that rain on Sunday at Nitro Nationals. Tech inspection was passed easily, too, and that way we were ready to race. Before drivers' meeting and the start of Qualifying, Mika came back and thanks to two Timos who patched that trailer tire...
We warmed up the engine and drivetrain shortly before drivers' meeting at starting area, and immediately after that I headed to staging lanes. There were lots of cars racing so this way I hoped to have at least three Qualifying Runs done before the Eliminations.
My first run was at 11:22 AM. After a normal burnout and careful staging I got a good RT, .026. My 60FT time was decent, too, 1.629 and I ran 12.361 with 169.25 KM/H top speed. After this run I headed straight back to the lineup as there were so many cars in front of us that there was enough time to let the engine cool down anyway. On second run I went a bit sideways in the Burnout, but I got it straightened out. I tried to take a bit better RT, but in the reality I got a massive red light on this run, -.147. Anyway I ran a bit better, 12.318 and 170.29 KM/H.
After this run I went back to the pits for a while to let engine cool down and recharge the battery a bit. Third round was a success for me, as I got .009 RT. I tried to concentrate on that Reaction Time properly and this time it paid off. I ran 12.345 and 169.89 KM/H on that run. I knew this run would give me a good position in Qualifying as the Qualifying Order is done based on reaction times. After this run there was still a bit time before Eliminations, so we thought why not to run 4th run as well. This time I got a minor -.019 red light, but I ran the best numbers of the day for me, 12.309 and 171.10 KM/H.
Now it was time to decide what to put on as my dial in for the Eliminations. I thought I'd try with 12.31 this time. While organizers started making Elimination Ladders, some very dark clouds started flying around the airport... It looked like they're not gonna rain on the Drag Strip though and that was the most important thing.
I was surprised when I saw the Qualifying Results, as I was the Number 1 Qualifier in ET Bracket with my .009 RT! And as our 16 car ladder wasn't completely full, I was lucky to have a solo run on the first round. And then on the 2nd round there would be a great race against Ade in his Vega Wagon or Timo in his Monza.
We were called to the lineup pretty fast and immediately as I drove there, it started raining... So back to the pits we went. After a while the rain stopped and track crew started doing some prepping on the track, but unfortunately it started raining again, harder than before. And this time it didn't stop either so the race had to be cancelled. That was a big shame, with my #1 spot and all, but this is the Finnish Summer you know...
So our only choice was to put the car back on trailer and leave. It was a good race overall, even though the rain ruined the actual racing.
Here's a link to full picture gallery: tapahtumakuvia.kuvat.fi/kuvat/Tapahtumat+2016/West+Coast+Street+Cup+III,+Pori+30.7.2016/
And a couple of video clips, too...
My runs:
Friend's Chevy Monza:
Slow Motion at the starting line:
Now I'm debating with Mika if we could participate in WCSC Finals at Kalajoki, too. Hopefully we'll make it as there's also a little Night Race after that actual WCSC race... It would be a lot of fun for sure...
Basically no modifications were done to the car after Nitro Nats, only those old seat belts were replaced with new ones as the date codes on those old ones were already expired. Also a hood ornament was finally found so I painted it just like it was painted originally and that was installed as well. Otherwise everything remained unchanged.
Saturday:
On Friday we drove to Pori with the race car and spent the night at our relatives' place. So that way all we had to do on Saturday morning was to drive that short trip from their home to the airport. A minor problem was found though, as one of the tires of our trailer was empty. Luckily it wasn't leaking very fast, so we just refilled it with air and drove fast to the pits. There I headed to the race office, we changed rear tires on our Malibu and then Mika left shopping for equipment to patch that leaking tire on the trailer...
Meanwhile I cleaned up the car as it was very dirty because of that rain on Sunday at Nitro Nationals. Tech inspection was passed easily, too, and that way we were ready to race. Before drivers' meeting and the start of Qualifying, Mika came back and thanks to two Timos who patched that trailer tire...
We warmed up the engine and drivetrain shortly before drivers' meeting at starting area, and immediately after that I headed to staging lanes. There were lots of cars racing so this way I hoped to have at least three Qualifying Runs done before the Eliminations.
My first run was at 11:22 AM. After a normal burnout and careful staging I got a good RT, .026. My 60FT time was decent, too, 1.629 and I ran 12.361 with 169.25 KM/H top speed. After this run I headed straight back to the lineup as there were so many cars in front of us that there was enough time to let the engine cool down anyway. On second run I went a bit sideways in the Burnout, but I got it straightened out. I tried to take a bit better RT, but in the reality I got a massive red light on this run, -.147. Anyway I ran a bit better, 12.318 and 170.29 KM/H.
After this run I went back to the pits for a while to let engine cool down and recharge the battery a bit. Third round was a success for me, as I got .009 RT. I tried to concentrate on that Reaction Time properly and this time it paid off. I ran 12.345 and 169.89 KM/H on that run. I knew this run would give me a good position in Qualifying as the Qualifying Order is done based on reaction times. After this run there was still a bit time before Eliminations, so we thought why not to run 4th run as well. This time I got a minor -.019 red light, but I ran the best numbers of the day for me, 12.309 and 171.10 KM/H.
Now it was time to decide what to put on as my dial in for the Eliminations. I thought I'd try with 12.31 this time. While organizers started making Elimination Ladders, some very dark clouds started flying around the airport... It looked like they're not gonna rain on the Drag Strip though and that was the most important thing.
I was surprised when I saw the Qualifying Results, as I was the Number 1 Qualifier in ET Bracket with my .009 RT! And as our 16 car ladder wasn't completely full, I was lucky to have a solo run on the first round. And then on the 2nd round there would be a great race against Ade in his Vega Wagon or Timo in his Monza.
We were called to the lineup pretty fast and immediately as I drove there, it started raining... So back to the pits we went. After a while the rain stopped and track crew started doing some prepping on the track, but unfortunately it started raining again, harder than before. And this time it didn't stop either so the race had to be cancelled. That was a big shame, with my #1 spot and all, but this is the Finnish Summer you know...
So our only choice was to put the car back on trailer and leave. It was a good race overall, even though the rain ruined the actual racing.
Here's a link to full picture gallery: tapahtumakuvia.kuvat.fi/kuvat/Tapahtumat+2016/West+Coast+Street+Cup+III,+Pori+30.7.2016/
And a couple of video clips, too...
My runs:
Friend's Chevy Monza:
Slow Motion at the starting line:
Now I'm debating with Mika if we could participate in WCSC Finals at Kalajoki, too. Hopefully we'll make it as there's also a little Night Race after that actual WCSC race... It would be a lot of fun for sure...