Piranha Racing - Supercharged Outlaws

First of all apologies for the lateness in getting this race report out and onto our website, however it has been all go since we returned with the wounded Lexus. Some of our earlier detonation problems, undetected at the time, most likely caused the consumption of number one piston.

Lionel Durrie - Engine Improvements - Rockhampton has a big job to get both the Lexus Piranha and Russell Mackay's 500 cubic inch sainty powered - All Hours Glass, 63 split window corvette ready for the March 6th Willowbank Supercharged Outlaws Jet dragster meeting.

The main problem as always is parts. We are both waiting on rings to come from America and we need four sleeves custom made for the Lexus Piranha Hotrod. Hopefully if everything goes together. by the Winter Nationals we will have a spare short motor ready to bolt the heads, manifold and blower on should we suffer a similar problem ever again. We will also have spare sleeves already bored and o ringed ready to drop in and fix a similar problem.

Our thanks to Gentleman Jim Reed from Brisbane for the quick repair job on the blower and to one of the nicest families in drag racing - The Newby's - Top Alcohol racers. They are always there to try and help out on the day. They certainly supplied blower parts and even bought our new 600 enderle fuel pump back.

The fuel system is away being flowed and hopefully we will have a bit more data. We are waiting on the thermo couples to come from Race pack in the USA and I doubt if they will make it for the March 6th meeting.

In summary you have to give Western Sydney International Dragway a pass mark but they certainly have a few exams that they have to re-sit. The treatment of the group 3 racers left a lot to be desired but I suppose they had that many problems on their hands.

To be embarassed by super sedan racers, who on their own behalf spent $600 of their own money hiring a water truck trying to alleviate the dust problem and to refund them that money was an understatement to say the least. They should never have had to fork out that money in the first place.

Hopefully when we go back next year they will have redesigned the pits, put them on an angle so you can get better use and solve a lot of their problems.

The Lexus Piranha team are extremely grateful to Denise Reed who was most helpful with the Lexus Executives including John Roca and his father John Roca Senior on Sunday, Neil Daniels on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday and Bob Parks on Wednesday.

We were also able to get the cooperation of the management to have a photo shoot with the project group in front of the tower just behind the start line with both the Lexus Piranha and 470 Lexus Station wagon which hopefully will feature in some of their future advertising.

The project group also put out a press release on behalf of Lexus Australia on our success in January at the supercharged meeting and that was well received by ANDRA Officials.

Team Capricorn certainly enjoyed the opening meeting. The extreme heat did put a damper on a lot of the days at 44 degrees outside temperature and the track temperature was close on 70 degrees.

Dave Ferricks in the AMD Modified dragster was unlucky to loose with a tight break out against the eventual winner - Graeme Frawley in modified. After that race Frawley had a bye and then a gimme in the final, so in Dave's case it was the one that got away.

Lyle McClelland or Brolga on the modified bike. You have not seen anything until you have seen Brolga come back in 44 degrees with his leathers on and nearly about to pass out with heat exhaustion. Other then his trip to Manly Beach and Circular Quay, where brolga wishes to retire now after seeing some of the wild life on Manly Beach, after which he indicated that he did ask his darling wife to send money as he was moving to Manly and waiting for the All Bike show.

He nicked a piston earlier on in qualifying and broke out in a race when he just did not think he would have that time in the bike.

As for the Lexus Piranha Hot Rod the week did not start to badly apart from a few near death experiences on the highway. We ran an 8.17 and 8.14 elapsed time at the test & tune on the Wednesday and then an off pace 8.85 first qualifier in Fridays first session due to having to much fuel and spluttering off the line. Then the pass that ended our weekend, in the second last qualifier when Nathan was about to cross the finish line the motor changed note and started to smoke out of the left bank. After a quick leak down test revealed that number 1 cylinder was dead we pulled the motor apart to reveal a burnt piston and damaged sleeve. Unable to repair the damage we were out for the weekend. On further inspection we have found another 3 cracked sleeves and have now replaced the block, piston, rings and bearings.

The viewing at WSID is just incredible. There is hardly a bad spot to watch the meet from. The highlight of the meet to me was Jay Upton, he is just an incredible racer - Top Bike will be dominated by this man because there is no way the Harleys can compete with the technology involved in the Triumph. When he is doing 184 MPH at half track and then he only picks up another 8 to 10 MPH, it is just staggering.

The best performance of the meet was probably Brett Stevens as he is competing in two professional classes - Top Bike and Door Slammer and made the final in both categories.

When we go back to Sydney next year we will certainly go the inland way. We went down the coast way to Ballina the first night, slept in a rest area and I was the only one to be outside on a mattress and woke up to an apparent axe murderer trying to light a fire. No wonder the rest were inside.

We drove down to the Hawksberry and stayed beside the Hawksbury River at a boat ramp and the comradeship and friendship that you endure is one of the reasons why we travel the long distances.

Geoff Everett joined team Capricorn with his Turbo Magna modified dragster from Mackay and Ariel Speedway Boom Boom xbox was certainly good company and fitted in well.

The absolute best thing about WSID was hot showers and heaps of them. If Willowbank could take a lead there the racers would be greatly appreciative.

Other than that Willow bank are streets ahead with their Web site and up to date posting of results, certainly Sydney have to stop the across the line burn outs for Super Street.

They have a world class venue that just needs fine tuning and we would like to be back but mostly likely not until the same time next year.

We would like to thank all other Team Capricorn members including Russell Mackay who was working on a job in Sydney and came out and on behalf of myself, Nathan, Zac and Heather we look forward to catching up with you at the drags on March the 6th at Willowbank.



	RACE REPORTS: ROCKHAMPTON TO WESTERN SYDNEY INTERNATIONAL DRAGWAY - OPENING SUMMER NATIONALS MEETING - FEBRUARY 2004 AND RETURN First of all apologies for the lateness in getting this race report out and onto our website, however it has been all go since we returned with the wounded Lexus. Some of our earlier detonation problems, undetected at the time, most likely caused the consumption of number one piston. Lionel Durrie - Engine Improvements - Rockhampton has a big job to get both the Lexus Piranha and Russell Mackay's 500 cubic inch sainty powered - All Hours Glass, 63 split window corvette ready for the March 6th Willowbank Supercharged Outlaws Jet dragster meeting. The main problem as always is parts. We are both waiting on rings to come from America and we need four sleeves custom made for the Lexus Piranha Hotrod. Hopefully if everything goes together. by the Winter Nationals we will have a spare short motor ready to bolt the heads, manifold and blower on should we suffer a similar problem ever again. We will also have spare sleeves already bored and o ringed ready to drop in and fix a similar problem. Our thanks to Gentleman Jim Reed from Brisbane for the quick repair job on the blower and to one of the nicest families in drag racing - The Newby's - Top Alcohol racers. They are always there to try and help out on the day. They certainly supplied blower parts and even bought our new 600 enderle fuel pump back. The fuel system is away being flowed and hopefully we will have a bit more data. We are waiting on the thermo couples to come from Race pack in the USA and I doubt if they will make it for the March 6th meeting. In summary you have to give Western Sydney International Dragway a pass mark but they certainly have a few exams that they have to re-sit. The treatment of the group 3 racers left a lot to be desired but I suppose they had that many problems on their hands. To be embarassed by super sedan racers, who on their own behalf spent $600 of their own money hiring a water truck trying to alleviate the dust problem and to refund them that money was an understatement to say the least. They should never have had to fork out that money in the first place. Hopefully when we go back next year they will have redesigned the pits, put them on an angle so you can get better use and solve a lot of their problems. The Lexus Piranha team are extremely grateful to Denise Reed who was most helpful with the Lexus Executives including John Roca and his father John Roca Senior on Sunday, Neil Daniels on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday and Bob Parks on Wednesday. We were also able to get the cooperation of the management to have a photo shoot with the project group in front of the tower just behind the start line with both the Lexus Piranha and 470 Lexus Station wagon which hopefully will feature in some of their future advertising. The project group also put out a press release on behalf of Lexus Australia on our success in January at the supercharged meeting and that was well received by ANDRA Officials. Team Capricorn certainly enjoyed the opening meeting. The extreme heat did put a damper on a lot of the days at 44 degrees outside temperature and the track temperature was close on 70 degrees. Dave Ferricks in the AMD Modified dragster was unlucky to loose with a tight break out against the eventual winner - Graeme Frawley in modified. After that race Frawley had a bye and then a gimme in the final, so in Dave's case it was the one that got away. Lyle McClelland or Brolga on the modified bike. You have not seen anything until you have seen Brolga come back in 44 degrees with his leathers on and nearly about to pass out with heat exhaustion. Other then his trip to Manly Beach and Circular Quay, where brolga wishes to retire now after seeing some of the wild life on Manly Beach, after which he indicated that he did ask his darling wife to send money as he was moving to Manly and waiting for the All Bike show. He nicked a piston earlier on in qualifying and broke out in a race when he just did not think he would have that time in the bike. As for the Lexus Piranha Hot Rod the week did not start to badly apart from a few near death experiences on the highway. We ran an 8.17 and 8.14 elapsed time at the test & tune on the Wednesday and then an off pace 8.85 first qualifier in Fridays first session due to having to much fuel and spluttering off the line. Then the pass that ended our weekend, in the second last qualifier when Nathan was about to cross the finish line the motor changed note and started to smoke out of the left bank. After a quick leak down test revealed that number 1 cylinder was dead we pulled the motor apart to reveal a burnt piston and damaged sleeve. Unable to repair the damage we were out for the weekend. On further inspection we have found another 3 cracked sleeves and have now replaced the block, piston, rings and bearings. The viewing at WSID is just incredible. There is hardly a bad spot to watch the meet from. The highlight of the meet to me was Jay Upton, he is just an incredible racer - Top Bike will be dominated by this man because there is no way the Harleys can compete with the technology involved in the Triumph. When he is doing 184 MPH at half track and then he only picks up another 8 to 10 MPH, it is just staggering. The best performance of the meet was probably Brett Stevens as he is competing in two professional classes - Top Bike and Door Slammer and made the final in both categories. When we go back to Sydney next year we will certainly go the inland way. We went down the coast way to Ballina the first night, slept in a rest area and I was the only one to be outside on a mattress and woke up to an apparent axe murderer trying to light a fire. No wonder the rest were inside. We drove down to the Hawksberry and stayed beside the Hawksbury River at a boat ramp and the comradeship and friendship that you endure is one of the reasons why we travel the long distances. Geoff Everett joined team Capricorn with his Turbo Magna modified dragster from Mackay and Ariel Speedway Boom Boom xbox was certainly good company and fitted in well. The absolute best thing about WSID was hot showers and heaps of them. If Willowbank could take a lead there the racers would be greatly appreciative. Other than that Willow bank are streets ahead with their Web site and up to date posting of results, certainly Sydney have to stop the across the line burn outs for Super Street. They have a world class venue that just needs fine tuning and we would like to be back but mostly likely not until the same time next year. We would like to thank all other Team Capricorn members including Russell Mackay who was working on a job in Sydney and came out and on behalf of myself, Nathan, Zac and Heather we look forward to catching up with you at the drags on March the 6th at Willowbank.