Speed Week 2021

31st Annual Speed Week (Take 2)

Lake Gairdner South Australia

Monday 8th March to Friday 12th March 2021

President and Clerk of Course Report

We knew after having missed a year that everyone would be very keen to make their run down the track and we had made some improvements in our procedures to give them as many opportunities to do that as possible each day. This involved not waiting for entrants if they were not ready at the start line and pushing the next available vehicle through. People soon understood what was required of them and things started to run a lot smoother, so much so that on the Monday we had 235 runs for the day, 20% up on our previous best. Things like long queues in Pre-Stage all but disappeared as entrants were sent down to the start lines almost as soon as they arrived. Also attributing to this improvement was virtually no track stoppages for all of Monday. Our only concern was the wind which was from the south at the start line but swung around to the east by the time entrants got to the 3 mile. We continued to monitor the winds and were considered under the "wind assist" and safety thresholds all day. There were a couple of spins, but they were not related to the winds and a couple of engine failures.

Tuesday was very similar conditions weather wise and entrants had now learnt how to behave at the start line so everything was running very smoothly. Rather than put the juniors in with all the other rookies on the Monday, the Race Director chose to let them observe on the Monday and then let them make their runs on the Tuesday morning. So track 2 was closed for 30 minutes while they did their runs and all other entrants ran on track 1 during that time. This worked very well and all but 1 of the juniors were given their DLRA License after one or two runs. The tracks ran smoothly for the rest of the morning until just before lunch when there was one stoppage. In the afternoon there were a couple of spins but nothing major and impound was kept busy.

Wednesday morning we awoke to threatening skies and a couple of lightening strikes off to the east very early in the morning. We knew at some stage we would be getting rain. Which came through in to severe fronts, the first was not too bad and would could have recovered from that, but the second was much more severe and lengthly and we had about 20 mm fall on the lake in about 2 hours. Racing was obviously stopped for the day. Fortunately the wind was still strong at that time and was immediately blowing the standing water across the lake to the west, so we were still hopeful of a resumption of activities on the Thursday. In the afternoon the wind died right off and we did not see the usual winds that night.

Thursday morning we still had water covering the lake, but made worse by the light winds, even with a forecast of 30 deg. A decision was made by the event committee to wait it out until Friday morning in respect of the competitors in impound who had qualified to attempt a record run..

Friday dawned with clear blue skies and a forecasted 37 deg day, there was absolutely no wind. Ideal weather conditions for racing and there was no standing water on most of the lake, however there was water from the 3 to 4 mile and the 5 to 6 mile, so there wasn't even the option to reconfigure the track, the event was clsoed at 8.30am.

RECORDS

There were 40 records set at Speed Week 2021 of these there was 28 Australian records broken and 12 new Australian records set.

200MPH Club

We want to recognize all those that have reached a significant milestone in Land Speed Racing. To be eligible for the 200MPH Club the competitor must have exceeded 200MPH whilst setting a new record for their class. Each new 200MPH club member receives a specially embroidered version of the "red hat" to signify their achievement.

200MPH ACHIEVERS

The DLRA also wishes to recognize each of those competitors who have achieved 200MPH for the first time. In recognition of their achievement they receive a special DLRA "blue hat with red visor".

Trophies

Land Speed Racing is not known for giving out trophies with most entrants happy to compete for just a time slip, but we would like to acknowledge some of our entrants for the efforts they made. And a big thanks to the trophy sponsors.

In the Press

Here's a few pieces that I've found so far that mention Speed Week.
Please send us an email to any articles that you find in to info@dlra.org.au

Provisional Results of DLRA Speed Week, March 8th - March 12th 2021 - Bruce Willmott, DLRA Chief Timer.

NOTE:

1. Some classes may be shown incorrectly on the provisional results, this will be corrected on the official results when they are compiled.

2. Records are yet to be identified or attributed, this will happen in the following days.

Any application for amendments to these results must be made on the Results and Records Amendment Form.

Contact can also be made by email at record.certification@dlra.org.au

Learn more...

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• Pre-Entries
• Advice for Drivers, Constructors, and Race Teams
• Advice for Spectators
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WrightsAir will be again conducting commuter , joy and charter flights and landing at the lake again in 2021. More information available on the WrightsAir page.