Custom Car – September 2019

I

ftherewasonewordthatsummedup

theVHRAAmateurHotRodRacesat

PendineSandsthisyearitwasrollcage

(andforsimplicityinthisfeature,

that’sthetermI’musing,eventhoughsome

aretechnicallyjustarollbar).Itwasthetalk

ofthetownpriortotheeventandapoint

ofdiscussionthroughouttheweekend.

Somefor,someagainst,butfromwhere

I’mstandingasajournalistandstaunch

supporterofthisevent,it’ssimplyevolution.

Yes,youcouldargueitdetractsfromthe

spiritoftheevent,orthatitmakesthecars

looklesstraditional,lessnostalgic,butto

methatisavoidingtherathermorepressing

matterofthesafetyofthoseparticipating.

Forthelastsixyears,theVHRAhasbeen

licensedtoholdtheeventbytheIOPD

(InternationalOrganisationofProfessional

Drivers)whosemainconcernisdriversafety.

Now,youmaywonderwhatcould

possiblygowrongwithanold 4 - banger-

poweredhotrodstrugglingtoreach

90 mphacrossawideopenbeach,butI’ve

attendedeveryVHRAPendineeventand

havespokentocountlessracersinthattime,

allofwhomsaythesamething–sandis

anunpredictablesurfacetoraceon.And

withoutwishingtosoundmelodramatic,

somethingcouldgowrongatanymoment,

andatanyspeed.

Iftheintroductionofmandatoryrollcage

structurespreventspossibleseriousinjury,or

worse,thatcouldclosetheeventdown,I’m

allforit.

Roll with it ■Wordsandpics:MikePye

appearthe 120 mphwallremainsfirmlyin

place.Yes,MarcusBennettranmarginally

fasterthisyeartoclaimtheKingofthe

Beachcrown,buthisfresh-outcarisavery

differentbeast.

ThefastercarsthathadracedatPendine

beforeandcomesoclosetobreakingit

remainedjustthat–closetobreakingit.

Tuneups,differenttyres,tyrepressures,

axleratios,evenagearboxswapinone

case,failedtoelicittheracingadvantage

requiredtoscalethatwall.

Shortofsomeonetakingthebruteforce

approachandshoehorningahugelymore

powerfulmotorintotheirhotrod,inmy

opiniontheonlywaycarsaregoingto

runsignificantlyquickernowatPendine

isiftheyarepurposebuiltforthejob,

andpoweredbyalatemodelV 8 .Carslike

MarcusBennett’sroadster.

Atwhichpointanothercanofworms

isneatlyopened.Tome,it’sthelogical

progression,buttheinevitablequestionis

alreadybeingasked–whenisavintagehot

rodnolongeravintagehotrod,butarace

carthatlookslikeahotrod?Discuss...CC

For 2019 ,theruleswerethatcarsbuilt

entirelyofvintageparts,andnotrunning

fasterthan 100 mph,didn’trequirea

rollcage.Ifacarhasalaterengine,for

example,therequirementfora’cagecomes

inat 90 mph.

Tosimplifymatters,theVHRAhasput

togetheraRacingRuleBookwhichcovers

rollcage/hoopdesign,andall’cagesmust

bein 13 / 4 - inchCDStubeandfollowIOPD/

MSA‘bluebook’guidelinesonconstruction

andmounting.

Asidefromallthat,thereweresome

othernotablechangestotheformat

thisyear.Thenewrollcagerulemeanta

reductioninthenumberofracers,but

everyoneIspoketoagreeditwasbacktoa

moremanageableamount( 135 registered,

asopposedto 180 entrieslastyear),and

consequentlyallcompetitorshadfourruns.

Similarly,theintroductionofareturnroad,

ratherthanholdingthecarsatthefinish

andbringingthembackinpacks,keptthe

actionflowingmoresmoothly.

Andanupgradedtimingsystem–albeit

notentirelywithoutitsfaultsduetothe

conditionsunderwhichitisbeingaskedto

operatei.e.awideopen,windybeach!–

madekeepingtrackofwhatwasgoingona

worldeasierfortheEastCoastSidewinders

runningthemeet.

Butwhataboutspeeds,andrecords?

Well,despitegoodweather,trackconditions

werefarfromidealonSaturdayandracing

wascalledearlyat 2. 05 asthesofttrackwas

justtooruttedatthetopend.

ThingsimprovedonSundaybutonly

fiverecordsfellthisyearand,asI’ve

mentionedinpreviousreports,itwould

22 CUSTOMCARAUGUST 2019

All’cageshad

tobeinspected

andpassedby

theVHRAprior

tocompeting.

Throughoutthis

reportyou’llfind

aselectionofthe

’cagestructures

wesawthisyearto

showthedifferent

approachesracers

androllcage

builderschose

tofulfilthe

new-for- 2019

requirement.

sandisan

unpredictablesurface

toraceon

theonlywaycars

aregoingtorun

significantlyquicker

nowatPendineisif

theyarepurposebuilt

forthejob

Pendine,asithas

becomesimply

known,isevolving.

Andforthebetter...