Chris Tynan and the Century Batteries 55 Chev are living proof that “Murphy’s Law” is alive and well!
Despite a sensible maintenance program, all 3 qualifying runs were not fast enough to get into what turned out to be a relativity slow bump spot in Top Doorslammer at Sydney Dragway. With the final “bump” (slowest qualifying time in an eight car field) in the 6.40’s, Chris only had to run what the Century Batteries Chev has already run and he would be racing on Sunday – but mechanical gremlins and “Murphy” had other ideas!
Q1 – Chris said “I had some fuel system changes suggested by Troy Chritchley that I was keen to try. On the launch, however, the transmission failed.” This resulted in a non representative ET for the team. .
“Maurice (Fabietti) offered replacement parts and we had overnight to repair, so we thought we had nailed the “bad” run early and were looking forward to Q2” said Chris.
Q2 – After the customary Tynan burnout (read long) the 55 Chev refused to engage reverse! Chris had no option but to idle off the end of the Sydney racetrack. “The reverser, which we tested in the pits, obviously has some damage as well. When I tried to reverse back –nothing.” said Chris.
More repairs ensued and the team were crossing fingers and toes by now!
Q3 – last qualifying session. Chris needed to run fast or not race on this run. The car sounded clean in the burnout but on launch – just a slow leave and a 7 second ET!
“It appears that one and then two spark plugs quit” said Chris. “Not sure why, as they were brand new, but they just stopped working” he continued. With 6 working cylinders, and two along for the ride, the Hemi engine would not make hp.
“To say the team are frustrated is an understatement, but we are also aware that the race car needs track time. Once we work through the mechanical issues we are confident of going faster.
The Century Batteries 55 Chev is now heading back to Victor Brays garage in Brisbane and the team is focusing on the next step, and if possible, track testing before which event?
The Castrol Edge Winternationals of course!
Stay tuned for a feature article on this Kiwi racer soon.
