300ZX wins round 6 of the Drag Challenge on 22nd July

 

Great weather meant that we finally made it to Shakespeare County for an action packed meeting. To be fair, they were trying to pack a bit too much into the day and a few things went wrong - they were probably relieved that we only had four competitors, so compacted our part in the event into one qualifying session and two rounds of action!

 

Free practice in the morning, but with the drama of two scrutineering failures! John's overflow catch can was easily solved courtesy of Strongbow, but Charles Z31 broken seat bracket was terminal. To ensure that we had four cars, I let Charles use my 350Z ...

 

Qualifying set the ladder positions with John P. as fastest qualifier, followed by Paul Hopkinson, Jon. B. and Charles getting his first run in an unfamiliar car right there in qualifying!

 

Round 1 therefore saw John P. meet Charles in the first battle. John had run some great times in the morning and 11.69 in qualifying, so dialled in with 11.53. Charles had no idea where to go, having only managed 15.49 in qualifying after missing third gear. It was a toss-up whether to go with 14.50 or 14.40. He went for the safe option of 14.50 knowing that he could watch his mirrors and back off if John hadn't caught up.

However, despite his caution and a great reaction time, Charles broke out with a 14.42 despite bouncing first and second gear off the rev limiter, giving John the win. The difference a tenth of a second could have made!

 

The other pairing in Round 1 was Paul Hopkinson 300ZX versus Jon Billings 260Z. Paul dialled in a cautious 13.34 based on 13.39 qualifying pass and Jon (having run well in morning practice), went for a brave 15.03 based on a 15.038 qualifier...

Paul ran closest to his dial in, backing off to a 13.54 at 96.51 mph once he had reeling Jon in.

 

The final pitted Paul against John P. Dial ins remained the same, but John faded to a 12.2 against Paul's consistent 13.512 - victory for the 300ZX!

 

Additional Class Results:

 

Class 1:

Jon Billings 260Z - best ET 15.038 / 94.36 - a new personal best. Reaction time 0.312

 

Class 5:

Paul Hopkinson 300ZX TT - 13.207 / 109.93. RT 0.361

 

Class 6:

Charles Leekam 350Z SC - 14.385 / 103.4. RT 0.201

 

Class 7:

John Palmer - 240Z 1JZE Lexus TT NoS - 11.597 / 124.57 - a new personal best. RT 0.454.

 

Spectator and Renault Mentor:

Dean Bottriell

 

Points scored this meeting (RT points not awarded):

 

Paul Hopkinson 19

John Palmer 13

Charles Leekam 10

Jon Billings 8

Well done to Paul Hopkinson in his 300zx and the other drivers:clap:

Well done to Paul Hopkinson in his 300zx and the other drivers:clap:

 

Paul is registered on here as hitman13

Paul is registered on here as hitman13

 

Tell I said hello Steve and to put a thread up on his races as he has not been on since August:yes:

just incase anyone asks, thats not me lol :D

Well done to Paul Hopkinson in his 300zx and the other drivers:clap:

 

2nd that, Nice one Paul, and for those that do not know his zed is an auto and running a Zedworld set up.

 

Jeff TT

2nd that, Nice one Paul, and for those that do not know his zed is an auto and running a Zedworld set up.

 

Jeff TT

 

A winning combination Jeff:thumbup: