27 July, 2008

Race 11, Slow and Steady

We like to mix things up a bit, you know? So in the penultimate race of the season we thought we might catch our breath on a slightly slower track. Still over a k' in length, but with a bit of a flat section in the middle. To be honest, some of the rockets didn't realise there was a slower spot in the middle and hurled themselves to the finish at break-neck speed anyway. But a few of us felt like we were going uphill...
We had some regulars jet-setting around the globe, but we made up for it with the debut of this cart (that I'm sure has a really cool name that someone will tell me, but for now let's call it the Ice Cream Man) that took the number of starters to 12. Ice Cream Man was quick but had a little trouble with steering that prevented it from running in the other heats. It must have looked pretty good from behind, because the Red Rocket tried to mount it. No injuries ensued, and the wheels were soon pointed in the right direction.
The Red Rocket was also lucky to escape unscathed from this close encounter with the Death Machine, who is not known for pulling punches. High-speed wheel-to-wheel racing is what the AIGRF is all about.
Team Death suffered a little from the flat middle section and weren't up the really pointy end of the field like they have been in the last couple of races. Death Ray saw a little footpath action and Death Machine pulled off some fancy moves for the camera, but both are still fast and determined to add something else to the winners trophy next race.
Agent Orange has had a major rethink, half because it was too slow, half because it wouldn't fit into the new trailer with Trouble Maker. All these problems have been addressed and the Agent finished with a top 10 finish on the driver's 31st birthday. It looks awesome too, and will be even better once the fibreglass body goes on. Check out these trick custom 3D flames!
Trouble Maker had a quite race (only going off-road once), probably because its pilot put so much time and effort into Agent Orange and Quicksilver.
Dogmatic lapped this one up and powered through to second place. Don't be fooled by the small diameter wheels, this puppy flies. He is also determined to make race 12 his, or at least beat Kymbo.
Ahh, Kymbo. This hill was built for this cart. What flat middle section?
This is how some of us want it to race next time. No wheels should even up the field a bit.
But it would still probably beat Quicksilver. The much talked about mods have finally happened. It has new wheels and new bearings all-round. It has dual rear disc brakes. It looks tough.
The rear-vision mirror was probably a bit optimistic. It still came last. But, the axle alignment issue that caused this is easily fixed, so watch it zoom up the ranking next race. Its hard-working crew will not be disappointed.
Trollywood finished higher in the order than a loaner-cart really should. The regulars who get beaten by it every month are starting to get disheartened.
Superkart 3000 continues to confound the other racers by actually making it to the bottom of the hill and doing it in a zippy manner, even though it requires major repairs every time and is now, quite literally, held together with string and I have no doubt, chewing gum.
Maybe the secret to its success is that it wasn't actually built, but that a Toyota Echo gave birth to it after a drunken liasion with a speedboat?
Bootylicious was without its usual pilot, but was steered ably by its builder, a man who obviously knows how to get the best out of it, to a strong 3rd place finish. Then, in a welcome change from some of the more up-tight residents we've found on other hills, a local commandeered it and was happily pushed up and down the street to get a taste of racing. We've made a friend and have no doubt she's busy in the shed building a cart so she can join us.
Official results:
  1. Kymbo
  2. Dogmatic
  3. Bootylicious
  4. Ice Cream Man
  5. Red Rocket
  6. Trollywood
  7. Death Ray
  8. Death Machine
  9. Agent Orange
  10. Superkart 3000
  11. Trouble Maker
  12. Quicksilver
Big thanks as usual to our mighty crew – driving, pushing, filming and stopping traffic. You rock.
Check the movie right now!