Bonneville 2002 - 8/10/02

[DBesic@domain.elided]

Friday was rather uneventful.  One of the transporters (carrying the tools, 
spare parts and "Plan B" normally aspirated TwinSpark motor) and most of the 
crew arrived in Wendover, Utah late Thursday night.  By the time Bonnie 
showed up in the second transporter mid-afternoon on Friday, we had completed 
registration and pit setup.  Bonnie's tech inspection was a breeze, with no 
"gigs", and final preparations were made for runs on Saturday.

Due to the fabulous condition of the salt this year and the favorable weather 
predictions, participation at this year's SpeedWeek was expected to be HUGE, 
with over 350 cars.  These expectations were confirmed by the long lines of 
cars waiting for tech and the seemingly endless pit area.  After the Driver's 
Meeting at 11:00 on Saturday, Bonnie was fueled up with the 118 octane spec 
fuel, and lined up for her first run of the meet early Saturday afternoon.   
Since we had made a number of changes to the car's engine and aerodynamics, 
the team felt it was necessary to make several test runs, utilizing various 
configurations of chin spoilers and ride height.  We also wanted to practice 
pulling the 'chute at slower speeds to get the driver used to the "hit" when 
it deployed and for the team to learn how to repack it, even when it became a 
snarly tangled mess.

Bonnie's first run yielded some interesting results.  We had opted to run the 
chin spoiler first, with the 2.73 rearend and the close-ratio transmission 
with a .85 fifth gear.  The boost gauge was dialed in at 18-19 lbs of boost.  
Ambient air temp was around 85 degrees with 17% humidity and a slight angular 
headwind of 5 mph hitting Bonnie squarely on the rightfront fender.  Engine 
rpms never exceeded 6200 rpms, due in part to the much taller rearend and to 
the conservativeness of the driver.  The exit speed after the measured mile 
of the Long Course was respectable 188.9mph.  

The driver, Mike Besic, noticed that the clutch "went away" after mile marker 
5, indicating that the clutch fluid had boiled, preventing the clutch from 
disengaging.  Eric Storhok's data acquisition system hiccuped and stopped 
recording data 14 seconds into the run.  Stability, however, seemed to be 
drastically improved over last year's aerodynamic configurations with 
virtually no "wandering" at 180+ speeds.  The Stroud parachute worked 
perfectly, hauling down the car nicely and without the use of brakes, with 
the driver reporting a comfortable "hit" upon deployment.

The two engineers on the team assumed that interference from the high voltage 
ignition system probably caused the computer glitch so they raided the 
track's hamburger vendor for some tin foil and wrapped the sensor wires for 
some low-tech shielding.  The heat shield surrounding the clutch master 
cylinder was also modified to provide additional protection from the redhot 
turbo and collector.  The chin spoiler was removed, the chute was repacked, 
the water-to-air intercooler ice chest was replenished and Bonnie was ready 
to go.

Bonnie's second test run yielded almost identical results.  Ambient 
temperature, windspeed and direction were substantially the same.  Exit speed 
was 189.3 mph.  Mike noticed that the car still tracked very stable, even 
without the chin spoiler, but the ride height indicators showed significant 
downforce in the rear.  (Those F1 strakes actually work!)  This time however, 
Eric's data acquisition system recorded 24 seconds before it took a dump.

Dusk was rapidly approaching, so we broke camp and headed for the hotel for a 
late dinner by the pool.  All in all, a very good first day of racing.

Darren Besic
Bonneville LSR Team      
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