Funny cars break 200 m.p.h. barrier

Press, 22 February 1978, Page 24

Funny cars break 200 m.p.h. barrier

Both of the Pan Am-sponsored American funny cars touring the country broke the mystical 200 m.p.h. barrier at the Ruapuna dragway. The L.A. Hooker, driven by Jim White, and the Phoenix, driven by Chris Lane, achieved the mark in their second runs of the day. White did a run of 6.3osec. and reached a terminal speed of 201.34 m.p.h. at the end of the 1000 ft strip. Lane, a little slow oft the line, reached 204.72 m.p.h. in an elapsed time of 6.695ec.

Lane had found the tyres on his Chev-powered funny were not gripping enough—the first run saw him snake down the entire length of the strip. The Phoenix clocked 6.395ec. on the run, reaching a speed of just over 190 m.p.h. The Hooker, using the advantage afforded by the less bumpv lane one, made the pass in 6.365ec., hitting a speed of 197.5 m.p.h. The second run of the Phoenix was made more difficult for Lane as he had to guess the clutch setting on his funny after altering the tyres. This caused him to be slow out of the hole, and brought down his time for the run, but the tyre change did the trick as the car achieved the quickest pass of the day at more than 200 m.p.h.

A cracked differential housing forced the Hooker to retire from the racing after the second drag. The damage was apparently sustained at the bumpy Meremere strip, but it became apparent at Ruapuna, so Lane made his third pass, and the second 200 m.p.h. run, on his own. The strip was shortened yesterday from the normal 1320 ft to allow the funnies to reach the maximum speed and still give them sufficient time to brake. Other results:—

Palmer Ford stock eliminator: C. Squires (253 Holden), 14.67, 1; D. Chambers (Mk IV Zephyr), 15.16, 2.

Crescent Electronics S,uper stock: R. Farrar (350 Camaro), 11.14. 1; T. Carson <351 Falcon),

11.82, 2. S. and G. Automotive pro stock: B. Thorpe (327 Monaro), 10.74, 1; D. Neame (427 Holden), 10.84, 2.

Roger Gregge Street machine: M. Stead (327 Chev), 13.03, 1; R. Taylor (283 Holden), 17.91, 2.

Glass Repo’s street rod: M. Fairburn (427 Chev T), 9.30, 1; P. Graham (454 Chev), 10.29, 2. Street eliminator; Fairburn, 9.30, 1; Graham, 10.38, 2. Bike eliminator: P. McLauchlin (Yamaha 700), 9.42, 1; J. White (Yamaha 750), 9.43, 2. Vision Photography street bike: N Agass (Kawasaki 1000), 10.27, 1; K. Sheffield (Kawasaki 1000), 10.48, 2.

Thorpe Engineering drag bike: R. McLachlin, 9.01, 1; White, 10.70, 2.