After a good performance at the Winter Nationals in QLD the RGR team didn't have a smooth qualifying sessions at the Australian Nationals. 1st qualifier the City Finance Funnycar did not respond to the tune-up that was put into the engine, a sluggish 6.05 @ 230mph needed some fine tuning but with a data logger malfunction the team put it down to too much fuel. The 2nd qualifier saw the Funnycar react the same way with another 6.03 @ 235 mph, fortunately the data logger problem was fixed & the team could see NO1 cylinder stop firing at the hit of the throttle which in turn had us chasing an electrical problem. After changing the coil, magneto & points box the team was confident of a pass with all 8 cylinders working. Moving to NO7 in the 3rd qualifier Running a 5.92 @ 238 mph was a relief but NO1 cylinder showed there was still no fire & after further chasing the source it came down to a faulty ignition lead.
1st Round saw the City Finance Funnycar line up against their unofficial team mate Wayne Newby’s JBS Dragster, sponsors like Smithfield Diff & Gear, Newby Engineering were in a win win situation to go into the semis. After nailing the Dragster on the start line the RGR Funnycar found its legs & ran 5.76 @ 250mph only to get bet right on the line. It was the first pass running on 8 cylinders all weekend & if only the RGR team had another shot at the track then the result may have been a lot different.
Rick Gauci Racing would like to thank there sponsors for all their support & without them RGR would of struggled in achieving the goals they currently have achieved.
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