Qualifying
After what seems like a very very long winter we finally got to go racing at Santa Pod again. We all had a great weekend at the track but at the same time it held some frustrations for us as both Friday and Saturday were rained out which meant we lost out on 3 of our 5 qualifying passes.

When we finally did get on to the track the team were all so eager to get a good clean pass and considering we were the only Pro mod to get into the 6.00’s in that qualifying session we were very happy with our 6.70 pass. Although not fast by Studebaker standards this run put us into the number 1 position with one more qualifying pass to go. Andy had found trackconditions were very tricky on the first run and been on and off the throttle and peddling through the tire shake so the data gathered wasn’t as good as the crew would have liked. However the engine was in good shape so the turnaround went very smoothly. The crew used the available data to choose settings for the next run, unfortunately by the time we were back on the track we were racing at around 8/8.30 (Pro mod racing in the dark, great entertainment for the crowd a bit more tricky for the teams and driver!!). The lower temperature meant the track was very cold and quite slippery, and our set up just simply didn’t work with it and severe tyre shake was the result.

Robert Joosten however proved to the rest of the field and all the spectators that it could be done and nipped us to the number one spot with a fantastic 6.20, well done to him and the team!

Eliminations
Our first round elimination was against a customer of ours Kev ‘the rev’ Slyfield, the track was a lot stickier this round which, judging from the first few runners, probably caught a few people out. Again the Studebaker was a bit marginal and suffered with tire shake however Andy stayed in control and peddled through to a 6.80 pass to take the win.
The terminal speed on the run was a much better 225 which showed the engine was producing good power again. Although the run wasn’t very successful the crew felt they had learnt a bit more, hopefully had some more data and felt they could make some essential changes to get a better pass against Roger Moore who we faced in the Semi – Finals.

While turning around the car and doing all the usual maintenance Andy and Ryan also changed the transmission gear ratio to help tackle the track, unfortunately our changes were not enough and a hard launch caused a tremendous violent tire shake, the car moved very close to the wall. Andy as any professional driver would, drove through as much as he could before having to lift. By the time the car was straight enough to go back on the throttle Roger had taken the advantage and won the round.

There were a great number of positive points to come from the weekend. Even though we didn’t do as well as we would have liked and didn’t run any particularly fast numbers, we came away from the weekend with no engine damage, and some data which can be analysed  before the first FIA meeting. This first taste of racing in 2009 has got us all looking forward to The Main Event in May with great anticipation; let’s hope the weather is better!!