Dangerous David Hawke "The Dark Lady Has a WallBanger"
Adelaide's David Hawke, after stunning everyone with that
out-of-the-blue, and out of shape, 5.91 at the Nationals, was back for more,
this time with Eagle Motorsports' name added to the panels. The car
had new Brad Anderson rockers to cure the problem that put him out in round
one at the Nationals, and a new 60 inch wide (up from his old 36 inch unit)
Burner carbon fibre wing to stick the car to the track at 240
mph. Hawke commented that it worked like a dream. It must have as he qualified
with a 5.960 at a career best 240.51 mph.
The second pairing of the first round was a wild race if
there ever was one, (David) Glenwright left on Hawke, .428 to .524, but as
he hit top gear the Romac car went into wild tyre shake and then smoke.
The car went left and collided with the wall, destroying all steering and
continued to bounce its way down the concrete wall with a broken chassis and
other damage.
Across the track Hawke hit similar troubles, his car veering
right off the track and against the concrete. " The front wheel just touched
the wall, so finely that it pulled the valve out of the tube and it went flat.
I felt the back end just touch the wall as I steeered away," said Hawke, "
but all I was worried about was the front tyre coming off the rim and wrapping
around the steering, like it did with Shirley Muldowney. Hawke was
declared the winner as he crossed the white boundary line after Glenwright.
In the second pairing of the semi-finals thing got very
nasty. " I was sitting in pre-stage and trying to be calm and wait for Hawke,"
said (Paul) Shackleton, " Suddenly I saw him go straight through pre-
stage into stage and I thought, ' Hell, I'm going to get caught on the 20
seconds.' NOTE: ANDRA rules allow 20 seconds from the time the 1st racer
goes into full stage for his opponent to follow.
I pulled down my visor and just as I was easing into stage I see him back out.
I thought ' What's he doing now.' I'm in stage, and I run a pretty tight clutch
and I could feel it starting to pull me through and I was pulling for all I
was worth on the brake handle trying to hold it."
Hawke, with Dean Oakey's tyres and rims replacing
his dinged pair, re-entered stage, but observers directly behind the car
claim he was off the groove and pointing left, at the centre line. Hawke left
first on a .464, ahead of Shackleton's .540. The Eagle Motorsports/ULX Oil
car had to swerve away from the centre, then correct back away from the wall.
Hawke was pulling away at the 330 ft., but by the 660 ft. had lost the
advantage as he hit top gear and massive tyre shake. With the car already
on marginal traction it swung violently, tipping on to its side at close to
200 mph. The wing stopped it rolling, but it spun violently across the track
behind Shackleton, striking the concrete wall hard. The car then rolled,
burning down track, stopping deep in the braking area.
Paramedics and crash personnel rushed to Hawke's aid. He
was unconscious when they reached him, but he soon came to. After extensive
checking the roll cage was cut from the car, and supported by cautionary neck
braces Hawke stepped from the car and to the waiting ambulance trolley. After
checking, he was back at the track that night, dressed in hospital clothing,
examining the remains fo his once immaculate dragster.
Personal notes from Bob Wilson (NORTHERN THUNDER): After his first round incident, a fellow racer who saw and spoke to Dave in
the braking area, remarked " He seemed sort of vacant; I looked into the
cockpit and spoke to him, and the answers were vague, as if he'd had a knock
on the head from his 'slight' brush with the wall." Following the race I
was surprised to find that David, Paul Shackleton and Lui Raschella had
been staying at the same motel as I that weekend. I returned to the motel at
2:30am. to find everyone gathered around the " barbie "
outside of " Shacks " room. I wasn't conscious for the conclusion but
the winter sun was high in the sky before the embers of a memorable party had
cooled. Good luck on your comeback Dave, the racing wouldn't be the same
without you.
