So where do we go from here? If you read the previous update on this page, you'll know we didn't have much success - driving-wise - on Saturday night at Willowbank. Luckily, the total damage inflicted on the car by "Robert the Rookie" was confined to one blower belt. That leaves us with only the one on the motor, unless I wanted to shell out $588 for the only other belt of that size in the country....

All we've had to do this week is sit and stew about what went wrong with the driver, replenish our supplies of fuel and oil, and prepare the car for the next test session on Friday. It won't quite be a private show, as Ken's Drag Racing School will be running concurrently. No, I won't be lining up against any of the students in his Modified Dragster; one bout of public embarassment on this trip is enough, thanks.

Friday's session will be on a fully-prepared track, with the ambulance in attendance, and if we can get past the 1-2 shift on the first lap, then we'll go for at least a half-track (into high gear) pass before the day is over. If that part of the initiation into "serious" drag racing can be carried out successfully, then we'll be out early the next morning for some more testing and, if all goes well, the licensing passes on Saturday night.

Considering how the first five attempts to get down the track have gone, that's a mighty big ask at this point, but I've really got no choice if we want to run at the Winternationals. I'll be leaving for Canada on Monday, and can't really afford to come back downunder until just before the Winternats. If things don't go to plan this weekend, then we'll just have to take a step back and re-examine our options. At this point, they don't include replacing the driver. (Most decisions on this team are made in a semi-democratic fashion, but when it comes to money and driving, I'm the dictator).

Other Issues:   We still don't have any postable pics of the car in action, and may not get those posted until I return to Canada next week. Darren (Fahy) has taken a few, plus quite a bit of video, but his roll of film still isn't finished and developed. As for my Canon Optura, Rob Oberg kindly offered the use of his new laptop to process and upload the hundreds of pics I've taken on this trip, but lack of time has prevented me from taking him up on his offer.

The Backfire! page hasn't gone blank, in case you were wondering, but a glitch in the file transfer program stymied us yesterday (only part of the file would upload, leaving us with just the background displaying), but we're hoping to get it uploaded today; it's current as of Tuesday, March 26.

A great new source of Aussie Drag Babes arrived in the post on Monday, in the form of Rachelle Splatt's autobiography "Queen of Speed". Thanks heaps to Jan at DRAGSTER Australia for getting it to me so promptly. As soon as we can find the time in April, we'll do a review of the book and pass along details about where it can be purchased.

To everyone who's been waiting for replies to e-mails since I arrived: sorry folks, but I can only reply to the most urgent ones for now. I'm receiving everything, but there's only so much on-line time available and most of it has to be used uploading webpages and reading the mail.

Obviously we haven't been able to do much more than update the Backfire! and What's New pages for the past five weeks, but we'll be doing a major catchup on some of the other pages as soon as we can find the time in April. At this rate, it's looking like I'm fully booked up with work for the balance of the year: the website, the race car, the real job, etc. Time will be racing by faster than the car could ever hope to go.

This will probably be my second to last update until I get back to Canada; I'm planning to post something on Sunday night from Darren's house, as I'll be staying there that night, before going out to the airport at 5 a.m. Monday for the loooooong trip north. Until then, keep your fingers crossed and we'll do our best on Friday and Saturday to not disappoint everyone again.