The '1400 Gx' qualifies

See 'A new Race Car is born' before this article.

The long awaited National race on 4th August finally arrived. It was a rather quiet run-up to the race as very little work had to be done on the Datsun 1400 Gx. A setting and slight adjustment of the carbs and a new set of front disc pads (although not even necessary) was about it. Due to the hectic and full race program scheduled for the weekend, the Classic cars were only allocated a practice session on the Thursday prior to the race.

The practice session itself went well without incident and I was most satisfied with the car and its performance given that the track was dirty and slow due to the cold weather conditions that prevailed. Saturday came and we (Classic Cars) had official qualifying at 08h45. To my great surprise I had managed to improve upon my previous best time of 1:39:8 to a 1:37:7 which I must say was very pleasing indeed. (This I must honestly say was achieved purely through listening, reading and putting to practice what was learned and was in no way achieved through any additional mods or settings made to the car since the 2 hour endurance race.)

Race 1 was scheduled for 10h05 and I had my first taste of 'butterflies' in my stomach doing their bit. A careful yet assertive pull away was done so as not to become too hasty hearted. Man it was scary with all these race maniacs trying to all get through the first corner at the same time. Remember, this is/was my FIRST race ever. And I thought Jo burg traffic was bad? Turn one and two and all was under control but on turn three I powered on too quickly and did an unexpected yet magnificent 360 and lo and behold the car was pointed in the right direction and I simply dropped a gear and off I went 'like a robbers dog' as if nothing had happened. My 'jocks' told a completely different story though. The rest of the race went perfectly and I managed to post a personal best time of 1:36:8. Not bad for a 1400cc hey 'Nige'.

Race 2 and I had to start slightly down on the grid as my reckless spin in the first race resulted in me loosing a few places. However the start was rather slower than the first race but not as hairy as the first race. After about lap three I had settled into a nice rhythm and picked up a few nice 'dices' with the Lancias, Anglia 1600's and later the 1750 Alfa Juniors. I had by now gained sufficient confidence to start late braking and through doing so managed to outrun the slightly quicker cars into the corners and passed them without any serious reply. This was my best race of the day and which made the adrenalin really pump like crazy. My best time in race 2 was slightly off pace and I still managed to post a very respectable 1:36:9. A brilliant days racing was had and was thoroughly enjoyed during every lap. Once again a fantastically prepared race car was handed to me from Martin and the only thing I had to do was peddle as fast as I could.

I've still got to find another 2 seconds though to equal Martin's times done with this 'Green Mamba' in its present form, but hey, I'm getting there guys. See you all at the next event on the 1st September 2007.

(Oh, thanks to David Frey for the use of his garage on the race day which really helped in such restricted inside track pit conditions during the hosted national events. Also a big thanks to Chris Carolin for the storage of my car the night before the race event and also after the race.)