The steering issue gets worse the faster they go so when Vmax in testing before departure is only 30 mph... Last year they were able to test at Rockingham Speedway, but it's being demolished if it hasn't been already. My grate frend Marieke just dropped by the Big Chief and it does appear that they'll have something usable for tomorrow morning's qualifying runs, but I ate'nt seen any of their team so far today.
Further woes for Liverpool this morning. The team were literally pushing Ken off the start line when a Wossname in the camera electronics went "phut". With various people scratching, he had an opportunity to run the next heat but the backup camera's picture was all washed-out and overexposed an' t'ing and MR Supervisor Steve said "no". Whatever the issue, it couldn't be fixed in time for Yasmin to run in the final heat. It has been suggested, semi-srsly, that fitting the offending camera with sunglasses, or at least part of the lens thereof, might alleviate the problem. Alternatively a hacksaw, some hockey tape and one of Hans van Vugt's spare windscreens.
We ran the full course runs before the qualifiers this morning, meaning the lobby of the Super 8 was again full of grubby PSOs, it was cold out and ARION's issues meant I was surplus to requirements as a chase official until the final heat, when I pulled rank on a n00b named Ricky and went behind Sprocket Rocket. It dropped a chain at around 60 and had to coast the last mile or so.
For the machines that did run it was mostly uneventful except that Rosa decked VeloX 9 at or near catch after yet another near-75 run. It is believed that Ilona also did a 74, but the timing system ran out of electricity at a crucial moment so the data is from the bike's GPS. Fabien broke 80 again before the wind got going. Altair team boss Guillaume de France qualified the bike at just under 50. Mike Mowett finally ran the VeloX S with the lid on and did 47 on the short course, have gone down three times at start in the previous heat. A change of launcher to long-time volunteer Scott Wilson seemed to be the magic ingredient. Andrew Sourk finally got Triage down the course with both the machine and the rider's knees in working order with 28.7 mph.
Astonishingly, there are people over on the Farcebok group who seem to think that verbally abusing our flagger for doing her job is acceptable, so you are encouraged to join the group and call them Rude Names. WTF do these people do when they encounter a red traffic light, shoot it?