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!

Race 9 – There goes the Neighbourhood

Fourteen racers lined up for race nine, our biggest turnout yet on the coldest day of the year so far. OK, so there was no snow or ice like our New Jersey cousins have to deal with, but it felt like it wasn't far off.
'There goes the Neighbourhood' is, as the name suggests, a suburban track in a fairly well-to-do area. Rich people tend to like to live on hills, and some of them don't like other people having more fun than them. Two in particular thought we having too much fun and threatened to advise the authorities. We'd already had our fun though, so we left. But who knows when we'll be back...
The start was tight, but the pack got away cleanly and into the first left-hander. The Blue Bandit had pole, but despite it's recent wheel alignment couldn't keep position for long and just held on for a top-ten finish.
It was great to have Superkart 3000 back racing after a complete rebuild. Some brake issues saw it excluded from last month's race, but those were addressed and it once again showed some impressive speed.
Red Rocket is a cart new to our ranks that ran extremely well in it's first pack race. Originally built for a Red Bull Race, it's an imposing sight.Also back was the accident-prone Trouble Maker, with new front body work after an altercation with a big hole at Stiffy's Beach.Ton O' Fun had a wayward axle in the first race resulting in a DNF, but came back in the second race with its usual good turn of speed.
Kymbo finished further back in the field than usual, due mostly to drawing a poor starting position. Dogmatic managed to weave its way through. Those goggles probably had something to do with it.
Bootylicious also used its feminine charm to shimmy off the back row of the grid up to a respectable 6th place. Other drivers reported being dazzled by a pink and yellow streak shooting past.
Unfortunately, Quicksilver is not living up to its name and may have to be rechristened Slowsilver. Due to time constraints, promised modifications have yet to materialise.Trollywood finished strongly despite being a loner cart with no regular driver. Tightening the nuts sure helped.
Fruit Loop had its usual race-within-a-race with Quicksilver. They both just want to beat the Blue Bandit. Paddles once again proved its worth and defied all laws of physics to be blindingly quick.
But the day belonged to Team Death, with a one-two form finish, Death Ray taking the honours in spectacular fashion.In race two, however, Death Machine did not fare so well, with the rear suspension breaking causing a dramatic spin and crash into the gutter, resulting in a bent axle and shattered wheel...
...before then trying to escape from the driver.

Official Results:

1. Death Ray
2. Death Machine
3. Red Rocket
4. Paddles
5. Dogmatic
6. Bootylicious
7. Superkart3000
8. Trollywood
9. Trouble Maker
10. Blue Bandit
11. Kymbo
12. Fruit Loop
13. Quicksilver
14. Ton O' Fun (did not finish)

Thank you very much to our awesome crew who ensure we're safe and everything runs smoothly. It's a big ask to get out of bed on the coldest day of the year before the sun to help some idiots roll down a hill, but they keep doing it. We love them.
Watch the movie!

Race 8 – Meet The Flintstones

If you were only going to use one word to describe this course, it would be 'bumpy'. I don't think there was much footage of the first run, the cameras all shook themselves off.
Pity, because we all looked beautiful in our awesome new AIGRF branded jackets and shirts.
The Blue Bandit did well after its spell last race, coming back straighter and faster and holding its own in the drag off the line. Paddles sported an aerodynamic body and wheel-covers and owned the hill. Is this just because Kymbo was absent...? Watch this space! Its called Ton O' Fun for a reason, but that doesn't mean you can't slide it around. I wouldn't like to get in its way though... Just check out those race faces! We take this seriously. Bootylicious continued its good form taking second easily. Fruitloop is not intimidated by anything, preferring to rock-out with the on-board entertainment system while trying to stay ahead of the Blue Bandit and Quicksilver. But perhaps he should beware of the Death Machine, especially since...
...the Death Machine has taken a protogé under its black wing to form Team Death. Welcome Death-Ray!
This is an older, rock-solid cart and performed admirably in its first outing with the AIGRF, and with some more planned mods is destined to be a consistent front-runner.
A force to be reckoned with? Time will tell.Trollywood got tightened up, but still seems to have its own ideas about which way to steer.
Official results:

1. Paddles (awarded 1st place trophy)

2. Bootylicious

3. Death Machine

4. Tun O' Fun

5. Death Ray

6. Blue Bandit

7. Trollywood

8. Dogmatic (no longer Dogbandit)

9. Fruitloop

10. Quicksilver (Hooray! Finally wins a trophy!)
Big thanks as usual to the crew who drove, started, stopped, filmed, pushed and carried without complaint really early in the morning in the rain. They love us.
Movie is up! Watch it now!