Bad luck for both Leon and Mark
Leon du Plooy and Mark van der Westhuizen had to sit out in the fifth round of the National Drag Racing Championships.
On Leon’s first practice run he blew the head gasket on the fourth cylinder of his newly built Toyota Twincam 1600 engine fitted in his Turbo Extreme Clinic Nissan bakkie.
“We checked the engine and one of the plugs was wet. I didn’t want to run another qualifier since it would have caused more damage to the engine,” said Leon.
Things were looking good for Mark as he set an all new personal best time during his first qualifying run of 10.1 seconds, beating his previous personal best of 10.2. However as lady luck would have it on his second run he broke his prop shaft, costing him the day.
“We are going to be changing the diff and putting on wider tyres, similar to Leon’s bakkie. Currently my car has too much torque and with the addition of the wider tyres and larger differential we should balance it out,” said Mark.
With the new changes to Mark’s Jack Daniels bakkie he hopes to vie for being the fastest in his class come next nationals.
As for another local, Michael Ludick, his Ludick’s BMW will only be ready for Tuner Wars in late November.
“I aim to run in the 9s again on the day, maybe a 9.7 second or 9.8 second, but only time will tell on the day,” said Michael.
The final round for the National Drag Racing Championships will once again take place at Tarlton on Sunday, October 26 with the Westinghouse Jet Dragsters burning down the tarmac.
Be sure to keep the date open and come show your support for our local drag racers, Leon and Mark.
