So, it is fast. It is really fast. And the lucky owner of this little beast is well known to be hell bent for pushing the limits of fast things, making them going even faster. So it’s not a surprise that after some positive tests, just like the one seen in the previus entry, he decided to enroll the Fury in a track racing championship known as LLCC Challenge (Lotus and Light Cars Club Challenge), to confront it with some other really fast british made, japanese engined wheeled rockets.
But, as every championship, it has some rules (rules… awful word, isn’t it?), and one of this rules, impose to the contender to use just hard compound semi-slick tires. This means that your car is slower. Yes. Take a moment to elaborate the grief.
Still here? Ok, there are some reasons behind decisions like that. Maybe to give a chance even to those with a slower car, maybe to decrease the crazy amount of speed that this kind of cars carry, and reduce the risks, maybe to reduce costs. Everyone is right, but… there is another, more sublte and fearsome reason, that will not come to your mind, unless you are really into the world of kit cars.
And the reason is… mechanical stress. Yes, the incredible amount of G-force produced by spirited driving with soft compound tires, is enough to tear open your car like a can of tuna. Litterally. Keep in mind that kit cars are made with parts that mostly come from road going cars. And that are not designed to sustain such a stress. Even Okashi San had to re weld and reinforce the wheel hubs when some fatigue cracks appeared after testing with softer tires.
That’s the reason. Nobody wants to loose a wheel, that’s for sure, and not everybody has the tools or the time to re weld his car after every race. Slower but safer cars. Another rule, imposed for safety, forbids to cut over the kerbs when going trough a bend, forcing you to drive in a less aggressive way than you may are used to do in track days, and inevitably slowing your pace.
But there is no room for the word “slow” or it’s derivatives in Okashi’s dictionary. So, to compete for the top of the overall rank, he decided that it was time to give a little “confidence boost” to the small Fisher Fury. Stay tuned, next time we’ll get into the serious business.