Reigning AA/Funny Car record holder, Rob Pilkington has returned to the Perth Motorplex just one week after contesting the 43rd Westernationals for a rigorous test session, that has returned “outstanding” results.
The Alutech/CTS Low Loaders Funny Car set the AA national record in January this year with a 5.842 second run at 394.65 kph, and despite bettering that record at the Westernationals by 3/1000th’s of a second, a racer must “back up” that performance with a run within 10% of the time or speed, to be officially recognised.
In a cruel twist, Pilkington bowed out of the second round of eliminations by just 6/1000’s of a second, robbing him of the ability to substantiate the record and leaving the hard working team with the unsavoury “what could have been” sentiment from the event.
“Our team gets a massive reward from an event win, and definitely a championship, but when you crack or set a record, it’s a different kind of accolade, because it says that you’re the quickest or fastest, or even both, in the nation for you’re your particular category, and that’s a massive pat on the back for a team, to know they’ve got the respect of the whole sport around the country. It’s just a shame that we couldn’t quite finish the deal at the westerns, so we headed out to test the next weekend, and we’ve found some gold!”
Pilkington’s “gold” discovery came in the form of some quick times to half-track that equalled their personal bests from the past, all thanks to a new fuel system that has brought a significant improvement in the car’s initial “off-the-line” performance.
“This is a new approach for us with the new fuel system, and it’s come as a result of my son Brodie and the mind blowing amount of time he has put in to research, both reading and studying and phone calls to people, discussing ideas and issues. Our previous crew-member, James Rowland still has his hand in the team and has been very instrumental in providing a sounding board to Brodie, and the results are just astounding. I really never imagined that he would pick it up this quick and have such great results to his name.”
Pilkington’s buoyant attitude is also backed by the promise of favourable weather conditions this weekend for this weekend’s penultimate round of the track championship.
“Looking back at the increments from that test day, and then considering the forecast for cooler weather this weekend at the Nitro Funny Car Fury event, we definitely have the ingredients for some new track records this weekend. And even though our old sparring partner, Al McClure seems to be opening up a big gap in the points, we don’t intend to let him get away easily and we’ll do everything we can to peg him back that’s for sure!”
For previews of the Nitro Funny Car Fury event this weekend, check out www.motorplex.com.au
Photo Credit: www.highoctanephotos.com
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