Race 12, Skippy's Revenge

So, there we were, at set to take on our longest, fastest race ever as the season closer. Three kilometres of mountain road from the highest point in our fair city. Brakes had been tested, wind cheating bodywork refined and applied, helmets ready, courage mustered.
But. There is a fine line between brave and stupid and racing 'Baker's Delight' after it had been raining the night before falls into the later category. We are of the opinion that it is better to be also able to race again next month, so we decided our super season closer would become our super season opener instead and we hightailed our motley convey over to 'Skippy's Revenge', a somewhat more sedate course, to get our monthly fix of gravity assisted fun.
We had three debuts and a host of mods. First up was Obsession. This cart has been engineered by an engineer. It's wheels run true. It has brakes that work really well. I bet there are drawings of it that were drawn before it was built. It's been measured with a ruler. It's fast. So fast that it sat on the line for a little while, causing a bit of a jam, then flew down to take the win.* Awesome.
Dogmatic seems to have a new nemesis. Dogmatic has a lot of nemesi. It places consistently in the top results, but seems to also get pipped by upstart first timers.
Debut two was Death Proof, sister cart to Death Ray and Death Machine. It will of course be fast when it's dialled in and has the benefit of three other development builds before it. A better grid position would have also helped.
Death Machine got a new boot that does nothing for aerodynamics or speed but looks really cool and opens with a gas strut. We all went 'ooh' and 'aah'.
Death Ray was really out of sorts and struggling to come to grips with new front wheels. It had some other unintentional mods when the bonnet flew off at speed while making the journey down from home base. If you see it, let us know.
White Lightning is sister cart to Kymbo and also made its AIGRF debut. Like Kymbo, it is very quick and looks unreal too. Neither of them made it through the cones, but that was a technicality. They got there plenty quick enough.
Agent Orange has been undergoing some major modifications and showed off extensive new body work and a striking yellow paint scheme. Wait till next time for the orange to return. It's paying off with a big climb up the ladder and a good result in the second race too.
Trouble Maker remained steady, but hasn't seen much improvement with all hands on deck to finish Agent Orange. Expect things to change soon.
Quicksilver stunned the field with a massive reversal of fortune. Work done to the brakes has helped capitalise on the new wheel setup, and the handling improved too. He finally got to use that rear view mirror.
Also with new rear view mirrors is Blue Bandit. They shake a bit though but there wasn't much to see in them anyway. A lift kit has helped handling and stops the bottom scrapping over the reflectors in the road.
Ton O' Fun has a new body! And while it may not yet look wind cheating, it certainly hasn't slowed it down any. Like some other fast carts it missed the corner, but it made up for that by treating us to an unreal power-slide through 180˚. Watch the improvements to this cart keep coming.
Fruit Loop needs some modifications to remain competitive in the field. Sleep deprivation makes that a bit difficult, but once the new baby is a bit bigger he can be put to good use as a test pilot.
Subrid got a bit stuck in the back of the pack in only its second race with us. It seems to have recovered well after that tree attacked it in race 10.
Trollywood again finished higher than a loner cart should. It's wobbly, but fast. Also fast was the Ice Cream Man but missing that last corner cost it bragging rights.
Bootylicious is the quiet achiever of the field. Always fast, always at the pointy end, even with no major mods since the body was put on. This is a well put together, fast cart, skillfully piloted.
Official Results:

1. Obsession
2. Dogmatic
3. Trollywood
4. Bootylicious
5. Death Machine
6. Quicksilver
7. Agent Orange
8. Subrid
9. Trouble Maker
10. Blue Bandit
11. Death Proof
12. Fruit Loop
13. Death Ray

*OK, so there was some controversy with these results. There were some carts that got down the hill faster than the winner, but they didn't take the final corner and go between the cones. It's not just speed that we hold dear, it's handling, control and the ability to listen to directions. DNF (ie didn't make it around the corner through the cones to officially finish):

• Ice Cream Man
• White Lightning
• Kymbo
• Tun O' Fun

Go see the movie here. It's choice.

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!

Race 10, Snappy Hour

Sure, it looked fine when we tested it.
But the on the day, there was a bit more menace. And rain.
But the drama started before we even got there. The brand new trailer built especially to carry Trouble Maker and Quicksilver shed a wheel at 90km/h causing quite a nice shower of sparks down the highway, but seriously delaying the convoy. Some running repairs with some sticks, a cable-tie and a roll of duct tape and we limped to the track.
And what a track! In the middle of nowhere, finishing in a car park with spectacular views of the ocean and nice and steep. Our first dirt track, too (if you don't count the excursions Double Trouble took in the first couple of races).
It was wet though. And the dirt sections had potholes you could lose small children in. Death Machine even thought knobbly tires were a good idea.
It got real bumpy and real rugged real quickly...
One of the casualties was Subrid, a truly awesome new cart on its debut run. It's got proper hydraulic brakes and at least four people lost their spare tyres last time they got their Subarus serviced. Unfortunately, the rigid chassis bounced around a bit much of the rough surface and it lost control, spun out and took out a tree. But I suspect on tar it would be Subrid first, daylight second.
The Blue Bandit is a low-slung, tarmac-hugging, new-aerodynamic-bodywork-sporting, finely tuned race machine.
It struggled with the potholes. But at least it made it to the bottom of the hill.
Quicksilver is not built for the wet. It locked-up and spun-out into a car park not even half-way down. Back on track, the pilot locked-up again, got the fear, tried to bail, stupidly crashed and decided spectating would do for the rest of the day. Wuss.
Fairing better was Superkart 3000, for the first race anyway. It managed a respectable 5th. However, the second race wasn't as kind and it ended up in a ditch with a smashed front end.
Kymbo also had a great first race, handling the conditions with ease and finishing 3rd. The second race it also did well before spinning out in spectacular fashion on the treacherous final corner.
Paddles, sporting a homage to our favourite stuntmen at Steel On Wheels, was unlucky to come off into the car park that Quicksilver visited. I don't know why, but I speculate it was to sacrifice himself rather than have a horrible head-on collision with a bus load of crippled children out on a day trip from their orphanage.
Told you it was rough. Just look at the attitude on this! Tun o' Fun absolutely flew down the hill with surprising agility considering its size. I can only imaging how fast it used to cut lawns.
While some people struggled with the conditions, others found them so easy they could do it one handed while looking through a viewfinder. This is how seriously we take getting footage for our movies.
Trouble Maker is aptly named. Drama getting to the track, then more dramas going home. Even though it was tied down, it decided to jump out of the trailer it was in and try to escape. It now sports a few more cracks and dents in its bodywork.
Bootylicious ran an incident free race, but the rough road still took its toll. The balonies on the back are rock solid, but the front's going to need a wheel alignment.
The Red Rocket had a new pilot who appeared apprehensive at first, but I reckon it was all an act to psych the rest of us out. Despite starting second last he finished well up the order.
Despite a couple of months absence and the fact that it rides lower than a snakes belly, Agent Orange made a comeback and achieved two long held goals of beating the Blue Bandit and Quicksilver. Gloat while you can.
Even with special wet-weather tyres, Team Death couldn't repeat their 1-2 form finish. Death Machine, looking better than ever after extensive repairs since last race, wasn't able to make up ground from it's midfield starting position.
Death Ray, meanwhile, led from the front and was never seriously challenged from the rest of the pack. It took some corners on two wheels and some on no wheels and once again sleeps with the trophy.

Official results for those keeping score at home:

1. Death Ray
2. Ton o' Fun
3. Kymbo
4. Bootylicious
5. Superkart 3000
6. Trouble Maker
7. Red Rocket
8. Death Machine
9. Trollywood
10. Agent Orange
11. Paddles
12. Blue Bandit
13. Subrid – DNF
14. Quicksilver – DNF

Thank you as always to our crew who start us and stop us and keep us running even when we forget to tighten our wheel nuts. Movie up – go look!