Perhaps this is a good time to pay homage to someone who not only puts his money where his mouth is but actually delivers the goods and undoubtedly deserves more credit than is actually given. Not only did he choose to drop the compression ratio of his race car by a substantial margin so as to improve the reliability of his 4-cylinder engine, as well as to duly comply with breakout rule requirements, but he was equally determined to prove a further point by actually starting from the back of the grid instead of just the back of the class. In order to ensure optimum performance though you have to have a good handling race car and he therefore paid extra carefully attention this time to the handling department in every aspect. Having chosen to start from the back of the grid, it was therefore futile to qualify as it would serve no purpose in this instance.
Race 1 was off at 09h45 or thereabout with no warm-up formation lap. It was an out lap and a formation lap all in one and when the pace car pulled off, it was go. The 140Z carved its way through the field like a hot knife through butter and by lap 4 he was already in second place with only the Porsche of Keith Rose still in the distance. By the end of the race the Porsche managed to stay ahead and win by exactly 1 second. In the interim, the Datsun 140Z had posted a personal best time of 1:21.6. (That didn't help getting out of class X though.) Never ever has a 4-cylinder normally aspirated 8 valve engined saloon car been recorded doing such times at Killarney. You can say what you want to, but at the end of the day you simply have to admire the mans masterful race engine and race car preparation ability which is slowly proving unsurpassed at club racing level. What makes it even more amazing, is that it fully complies in every aspect of the rules with period part rule requirements having been met and having been duly verified as such by the technical committee.
Race 2 now saw the Datsun 140Z standing second on the grid next to the Porsche RSR. The start was again the same as the first. The German engineered flat six rudely stormed off and was soon hounded by the Japanese Datsun 140Z. At every opportunity that the Datsun had tried at to make a pass, the Porsche blocked the attempt. On lap 4 he tried it once too often and upon entering T3 the Datsun stuck his nose in as the Porsche does not have the cornering ability nor the corner speed to stay with the Datsun going through there. They approached T4 side by side, the Porsche on the outside the Datsun on the inside. Keith tried to cut across the Datsun but this time found the left front bumper in mid corner and came off second best. (As I recall, that was the second coming together with the Porsche RSR). The long and the short of it was that the Datsun walked the race by 5 seconds with the Porsche RSR knowing full well he'd been beaten fair and square by a superior car and driver.
On a similar path was the little Datsun GX Coupe now still in class C. Mr 'Datsun Guru' still having a book full of tricks up his sleeve had other ideas of me remaining there. Again changes were made between the last race meeting and this one but this time nothing further was done in the power plant department. Upon my arrival on the Friday I was greeted with a complete set of new brakes front and back and a complete different seating position. The steering had also been adjusted to match the new seated position. I tested for 2 sessions on the Friday and was most impressed with the new (unofficial) time and the changes that were made. Saturdays qualifying was the official proof thereof with a slower time of 1:28.7 while in race 1 an improved time of 1:28.2 (still 0.3 sec slower than the unofficial time done on Friday) was further done. Race 2 was done at a slower pace and I only managed a best 1:29.23. The damage however was already done in qualifying. Class B here we come. I now have to ask the inevitable question, has a 1400 normally aspirated engined car ever in the history of Killarney race tracks existence reached class B? I most certainly don't recall it.
Yes I was the driver and obviously played some role, but I stand up and salute you 'Boet' for constantly and confidently chipping away at the pinnacle of the ridiculous to prove to all and sundry that it CAN and HAS now been accomplished with may I say OEM parts which include the drive train (gearbox and diff) and brakes. I will also go on record as saying that even one of the HMC technical consultants thought this was now just a step too much to believe and that something must be going on under that bonnet. Well, we welcomed the opportunity to open up and allow his full unhindered inspection (purely out of his own curiosity) which to his utmost amazement could not believe that the achievements were actually done with an perfectly legal A14 engine on OEM front discs and standard road (NOT race) disc pads and with OEM drum brakes still fitted to the rear. He shook both our hands and said he now had sufficient evidence to prove beyond any reasonable doubt to whomever that you do not always need the best in racing parts alone as many always proclaim, but that given the proper setup with a good dose of race engine and race car preparation knowledge, he now had living proof right in front of his own eyes. Needless to say the Datsun GX Coupe won both its races done in class C for the last time.
My 'Boet', you not only amaze the racing world at Killarney, and elsewhere around the country I may add, but you still boggle my mind with your never ending attempt at going faster each and every race, with success, and all still within the allowable rules.
I truly salute your efforts.
Thanks 'Boet'.
