Very early Sunday morning our extremely generous American engine tuner and fellow Jensen owner Bruce Bridges from F and B Throttle bodies arrived. He was so excited to join us he quite literally couldn’t wait to get on the salt and set the car up.
With Bruce’s help we managed to get the car running really well and for the first time we saw our 6500 rpm limit with good oil pressure and temperature readings. The car had never sounded so smooth (on open pipes!) and revved up cleanly and quickly.
Armed with our new and improved engine tune we set off for the start line of the three mile course with every intention of doing a tuning run. This involves getting up to speed and then altering the rev range in third or fourth gear. While all this is happening we keep an eye on the water temperature and oil pressures. Unfortunately due to the nature of racing we cannot do a run with the computer in the car to give us a record of the readings. So we will be relying on Ian to give Bruce all the feedback he can to aid the next engine tune.
Off we went, the car was pushed up to the start line and we went through our strap in and pre start procedure. The car was all warmed up as was Ian (it is over 45 degrees out here) and the starter was just waiting for clearance from race control when we were informed there was a full course shut down.
On the fast course someone had had a very nasty roll. The driver was out and alive but was taken off to hospital in an ambulance for some health checks. Very soon after this there was an emergency in the camp site adjacent to the course and the spare ambulance was taken off the site. At this point purely for safety the event for the day was cancelled.
With the starter’s permission we left the car on the start line ready for the next day’s racing.
Monday morning dawned bright and beautiful, the team got up earlier than normal and we made our way to the track.
On arrival we pushed the car into position and began preparations for our first run of the day. Alas the starter motor just wouldn’t reliably engage with the engine. After many trials and tribulations the decision was made to return to the pits and fix the starter properly. Alas the casing of the starter had broken and the only solution was replacement. A new one has been ordered and we are expecting delivery nice and early tomorrow morning.
So a nice day off for us all to kick back, enjoy the racing and chat to the other teams and drivers.
