23. At last..a run

Sunday the 4th  May 2014 is a day I will never forget, first of all the sun was shining I was up very early at around 5am packed the car up and left at quarter to 6 on my way to Santa Pod Raceway. I picked my brother up around 6:45 headed out to Bedford and met up with the rest of the crew at the services on the A6 just outside Bedford, then it was over to the truck and away to the Pod.

The car was unloaded and "camp Slimline Racing" was quickly set up...

And my super crew where quickly up to speed and after a warm up and before I knew it I was in the pairing lanes getting ready for my first ever run.

Now I am not saying I was nervous but!!....I could have done with stiff drink. So this was to be the start of a new journey for myself and my crew...who are my sons Steve and Philip my brother Dave and Steve's friend Al who came to help us out on this day, I was about to embark on something I had dreamt about for 40 years and yes I was bloody nervous. This all started for me in 1970 when my Father took me to the Pod for the first time and after seeing and hearing my first ever fuel car fire up I was hooked. So I maybe a 56 year old grandfather but I didn't care this was what I had always wanted to do and it had taken me this long to get here.

The engine was fired up and I was directed round to the start line, the first problem I had was my helmet it has an aerodynamic ridge on the back that kept getting caught on the roll cage..need a new helmet already! the second problem was, I wear glasses and they got steamed up making an already nervous Russ even more so as I couldn't see a dam thing.The brief was...no burnout, gentle run up the track and get used to the controls and the way she handles..so the light goes green I hesitantly put my foot down count to three and try to change into second..I couldn't I was already in second gear oh well not to worry I made it up the track in a very slow 18 seconds at an unbelievable 55mph LOL I didn't care I was ecstatic. Something I will say is this, the track looks very narrow all of a sudden when you are sitting in  a car at the start line looking towards the finish gantry.

We didn't get any video of the first run, probably because everyone got bored and fell asleep before I reached the finish line.

The second run was a lot better in that I actually started in the right gear changed into second at the right time, this time I netted a run that was nearly 5 seconds faster than the first at 14 seconds at 88 mph...still with no burnout and another problem became apparent my right foot kept slipping off the accelerator pedal the pedal was too far over to the left and too high for me, a simple problem to fix for next time..

The video clips on this page were all taken on a smart phone so not of the best quality I will try and get a video camera for the next test session.

I am now feeling a bit more confident with the car so "Turbo" our race consultant suggests next time I  should try a burnout and to try a more aggressive start. So the nerves are now back with a vengeance I am steaming hot as, believe me these fire retardant race suits are dam sweltering. Anyway before I know it I am once again in the paring lanes this time I have smeared washing up liquid on my glasses a tip give to me by Sarah Howells from the famed "Wild Bunch" crew and it worked! I was directed round to the start line again but this time the marshals used the hose and put plenty of water down for me, I had to drive through the water and then stop once I had gone through and on "Turbo's" command.."Floor it" in second gear, which I did and if I say so myself it was a decent effort...

So now it was time for my third run in the car and time to get a little more serious....

So now I have managed to get the car into the 11 second range with a speed of just on 120mph so we are getting there..small steps and no damage to either driver or car. So for the next run pretty much the same but just keep my foot in a little harder and longer, which is still a problem because of the aforementioned throttle pedal problem oh well I will give it my best shot.

This time the burnout wasn't as good or strong I had to come off the power as the car was moving about a bit, and same on the run the car got a bit loose and as this has never happened to me before I got on and off the throttle a couple of times I "peddled" it as they say in Drag Racing circles. But even with all this I still managed a run of 10.8 seconds at 125mph which was brilliant for my first days running, so that was it, time to pack up and go home and look forward to the next runs, which will be the 31st May weather permitting where I hope after having the throttle pedal modified to be able to run a 9 second pass at 140mph if that happens then I will apply for my racing licence and give it a real go.

And for those of you reading this who think that drag racing is just a case of pointing the car in a straight line and flooring it..think again, I wish it was that easy?