Bon’s Blog – 7th July 2010

Tiring. That sums up this weekend in a word. JDM AllStars Round 3 has been serious effort! It started on Friday night, Skyline ready; off I head for the 200 mile trip to Sunderland. I get there at around 1:30am and wake up Dan Chapman so I can crash on his hotel room floor. Saturday morning and it’s already begun, I need to fix the manifold and the prop, spend the day getting that sorted and get some practise in.

Successful day, a fixed car and some practise. Roll on Sunday! Sunday comes, practise is going well getting plenty of runs in with my boss and team mate Phil Morrison, then I go for a rip with Luke Fink, unknown to me Phil has ripped off after us too. Fink is having car issues, and as I’m committed in 3rd, following the smoke trail blindly, he spins. Crap. I’ve hit him. BANG....what was that... Phil was behind me flat out in 3rd, also blinded by 2 cars smoke, and has rammed us. S15 destroyed, Skyline destroyed, oh no. To cut a long story short, the S15 got cannibalised and ‘Retro Dad’ Gary Chapman worked away and fixed the car. Panels pulled out, arms and hubs and all sorts replaced and i’m back on the road!!

Qualifying... the car is bent, it has no panels, I’m angry. Anger wins, qualified first!! As I pull off, the power steering fails. Typical, the crash split a hose. Qualifying first has skipped me straight to top 8, but in my run against John Calvert I just can’t steer the car, it’s way too heavy for my un-beefcake arms. I get knocked out, and then the next battle begins.

We now have to get the Skyline back together to DRIVE home, and the s15 in one piece on the trailer. 3 hours later, we’ve got the S15 together, and the Skyline has a million cable ties holding it together for the drive home. So here the story ends, sitting in an “OK Diner” eating dinner, about to drive 200 miles home in a cable-tie-mobile. What an adventure, what a disaster!! It’s all good though, we lived to tell the tale.

-Bon

Previous Posts:

• June 2010
  • 28th June 2010