Post by Niko L on Dec 3, 2015 15:05:53 GMT
Well it has been a while since I've posted in here and the racing season has been over for ages, but now as I think I have my computer issues figured out, I can post these Race Reports again.
Friday:
FHRA Summer Nationals was organized at Kalajoki Airport on July 25th to 26th. Our trip to the races started on Friday morning and approximately eight hours later we arrived to the pits. It was raining on and off during the whole trip so our race car was really dirty so first thing after taking it down from our trailer was to wash and wax it. Tech Inspector checked it out, too, so we were ready to race on Saturday morning.
Saturday:
The weather was really good on Saturday. Very hot and sun was shining from a cloudless sky so at least there was no fear of rain. After eating some breakfast I jumped to the driver's seat to do a warm up with the car. As I fired it up we immediately heard a nasty rattling sound coming from the engine so I shut it off fast. We started to search where it came from, but none of the usual places where a sound like that could come from had anything wrong with them. The problem was on one of the header pipes on driver's side. Problem was fixed as good as possible with the equipment we had with us (And what we could lend from other racers...Thanks Arto!) and now the engine sounded normal. Now the header pipe was leaking, though so it didn't sound perfect anyway. But the most important thing here was that it could be driven.
We just made it to the first Qualifying Round that happened at 11:21 AM. There was nothing special about this run, a decent pass just like usual. I got .079 RT and the tires didn't spin at the start at all I guess. My ET was 12.422 with 167.54 KM/H top speed. For the second round we did some carburetor tuning, but the Malibu ran just like a Bracket car should... Very close to what it did on the 1st round
! I got .066 RT and I ran 12.428 with 166.79 KM/H top speed.
We adjusted the carburetor before the third round too hoping it would go a bit faster. This time my RT was a bit worse, .130, but the tires spun on this run. It could be seen on my slow 60FT time even though ET 12.434 was not that far from the two first runs. Top speed was 167.48 KM/H. Fourth round took place at 3:05 PM and this time I got a bit sleepy at the tree with my .168 Reaction Time. The Malibu ran only 12.459 with 166.65 top speed, though, even if I had no traction problems at the start. We went to the fifth round with the same setup. I got close with my RT, but red lighted anyway by -.001... After some traction problems at the start I ran 12.425 with 167.60 KM/H top speed.
Sixth Qualifying Round was a bit better for us. My RT wasn't the best (.102), but my 60FT time was the best so far on the whole weekend. It could be seen on my ET, too, 12.388 with 167.17 KM/H was the fastest run of the day for me. The seventh and last Qualifying Round was at 5:55 PM and this time I scored a .061 light and ET of 12.396. Top speed at the finishing line was 167.46 KM/H.
Now while the Qualifying was done it was time to put some steaks into the grill.
Before heading to sauna I stopped by at Kalajoki Cruising Night. There were more cars than there were one year ago. Here is a link to pictures from there... Kalajoki Cruising.
Qualifying Results:
Not very many Stock / Super Stock cars showed up here so our ladder wasn't very big.
1. Arto Sulopuisto with his B/S Pontiac Firebird. He had some problems with transmission, but he got them sorted out and drove himself to the number one spot. His ET 10.366 was -0.83 under NHRA 11.20 index.
2. Jarmo Markkanen with A/S Pontiac Firebird. He ran 10.263 that is -0.69 under NHRA 10.95 index.
3. Tarmo Mikkola who was driving Iiro's F/SA Chevrolet Nova this time. He ran 11.274 that is -0.58 under NHRA 11.85 index.
4. Cilla Koskinen with SS/HA '67 Camaro. She ran 10.382 that is -0.22 under NHRA 10.60 index.
5. Niko Lindström with J/SA '74 Chevy Malibu Classic. My best was 12.388 and it's -0.06 under NHRA 12.45 index.
Sunday:
Unlike Saturday, Sunday was a cloudy day and it looked like it could rain any moment. Luckily we were called to the staging lanes pretty soon and it looked like we could race! The Elimination Ladder looked like this:
1. Arto Sulopuisto VS Solo Run.
3. Tarmo Mikkola VS 5. Niko Lindström
2. Jarmo Markkanen VS 4. Cilla Koskinen
Just as the last cars from the category before us were ready I saw some raindrops on the windshield. Soon it was raining so that we were told to clear the staging lanes and get back to the pits. At some point the rain stopped and we dried our car so that we're ready if the race continues, but then it started raining again so that we couldn't do our Eliminations at all.
Overall it was a decent weekend. Yes, the car could have been faster and it would have been nice to run the Eliminations too. Anyway we had a good time at Kalajoki as always.
Here are pictures of the event: Full Picture Gallery.
Video on my runs:
Friday:
FHRA Summer Nationals was organized at Kalajoki Airport on July 25th to 26th. Our trip to the races started on Friday morning and approximately eight hours later we arrived to the pits. It was raining on and off during the whole trip so our race car was really dirty so first thing after taking it down from our trailer was to wash and wax it. Tech Inspector checked it out, too, so we were ready to race on Saturday morning.
Saturday:
The weather was really good on Saturday. Very hot and sun was shining from a cloudless sky so at least there was no fear of rain. After eating some breakfast I jumped to the driver's seat to do a warm up with the car. As I fired it up we immediately heard a nasty rattling sound coming from the engine so I shut it off fast. We started to search where it came from, but none of the usual places where a sound like that could come from had anything wrong with them. The problem was on one of the header pipes on driver's side. Problem was fixed as good as possible with the equipment we had with us (And what we could lend from other racers...Thanks Arto!) and now the engine sounded normal. Now the header pipe was leaking, though so it didn't sound perfect anyway. But the most important thing here was that it could be driven.
We just made it to the first Qualifying Round that happened at 11:21 AM. There was nothing special about this run, a decent pass just like usual. I got .079 RT and the tires didn't spin at the start at all I guess. My ET was 12.422 with 167.54 KM/H top speed. For the second round we did some carburetor tuning, but the Malibu ran just like a Bracket car should... Very close to what it did on the 1st round
! I got .066 RT and I ran 12.428 with 166.79 KM/H top speed.We adjusted the carburetor before the third round too hoping it would go a bit faster. This time my RT was a bit worse, .130, but the tires spun on this run. It could be seen on my slow 60FT time even though ET 12.434 was not that far from the two first runs. Top speed was 167.48 KM/H. Fourth round took place at 3:05 PM and this time I got a bit sleepy at the tree with my .168 Reaction Time. The Malibu ran only 12.459 with 166.65 top speed, though, even if I had no traction problems at the start. We went to the fifth round with the same setup. I got close with my RT, but red lighted anyway by -.001... After some traction problems at the start I ran 12.425 with 167.60 KM/H top speed.
Sixth Qualifying Round was a bit better for us. My RT wasn't the best (.102), but my 60FT time was the best so far on the whole weekend. It could be seen on my ET, too, 12.388 with 167.17 KM/H was the fastest run of the day for me. The seventh and last Qualifying Round was at 5:55 PM and this time I scored a .061 light and ET of 12.396. Top speed at the finishing line was 167.46 KM/H.
Now while the Qualifying was done it was time to put some steaks into the grill.
Before heading to sauna I stopped by at Kalajoki Cruising Night. There were more cars than there were one year ago. Here is a link to pictures from there... Kalajoki Cruising.
Qualifying Results:
Not very many Stock / Super Stock cars showed up here so our ladder wasn't very big.
1. Arto Sulopuisto with his B/S Pontiac Firebird. He had some problems with transmission, but he got them sorted out and drove himself to the number one spot. His ET 10.366 was -0.83 under NHRA 11.20 index.
2. Jarmo Markkanen with A/S Pontiac Firebird. He ran 10.263 that is -0.69 under NHRA 10.95 index.
3. Tarmo Mikkola who was driving Iiro's F/SA Chevrolet Nova this time. He ran 11.274 that is -0.58 under NHRA 11.85 index.
4. Cilla Koskinen with SS/HA '67 Camaro. She ran 10.382 that is -0.22 under NHRA 10.60 index.
5. Niko Lindström with J/SA '74 Chevy Malibu Classic. My best was 12.388 and it's -0.06 under NHRA 12.45 index.
Sunday:
Unlike Saturday, Sunday was a cloudy day and it looked like it could rain any moment. Luckily we were called to the staging lanes pretty soon and it looked like we could race! The Elimination Ladder looked like this:
1. Arto Sulopuisto VS Solo Run.
3. Tarmo Mikkola VS 5. Niko Lindström
2. Jarmo Markkanen VS 4. Cilla Koskinen
Just as the last cars from the category before us were ready I saw some raindrops on the windshield. Soon it was raining so that we were told to clear the staging lanes and get back to the pits. At some point the rain stopped and we dried our car so that we're ready if the race continues, but then it started raining again so that we couldn't do our Eliminations at all.
Overall it was a decent weekend. Yes, the car could have been faster and it would have been nice to run the Eliminations too. Anyway we had a good time at Kalajoki as always.
Here are pictures of the event: Full Picture Gallery.
Video on my runs: