Drag race - Kirkham 65 side-oiler vs Ferrari 458 italia

[Thieleng]

I ran the quarter at the first Shelby fest in Vegas, best run I had was 12.2 through the quarter, reaction time was 0.111, get some guidance from the timer on the Christmas Tree on launch, basically it was once it hits the yellow go hammer down. I had difficulty getting traction on 1st through 3rd gears, best method that equalled best time was a quicker shift from 1st to 2nd and modualating the accelerator. The motor was rated at 580 HP at the flywheel, revving the motor at launch did not help, I ran the rpm up to about 1750 and throttled from there. I walked on the track with my driving shows, the shoes would stick to the asphalt. Do not go through the water for a burn out, this would not help. Basically the run up was used for testing the acceleration. Also make sure where the timing lights are as they were not well delineated, I was letting up on the accelerator prior to the line. I ran drag races before and this helped the Cobra was a different beast with the inability to get traction, in my opinion the hole shot is where close races are won or lost. I ran against a lot of GT550's and a couple of modified GT's, the closest car I had was 2 lengths at the finish behind my car.