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The fried clutch put us on the trailer, and ended the week's hard work. As so often happens with a low budget attempt, spares often become the Achilles heel, as it was in this case. In anticipation of a record run, Stephen Doherty had several bottles of bubbly on ice. He broke it out; toasts were made by many, including myself, and camaraderie permeated the air. It was obvious that this congregation of good, friendly people were disappointed, but not to a point of giving up on the project. All, including myself, assured the return of Black Lightning in 2007. ++++++++++++ That evening, as usual, Denis Manning put on an awards banquet for the participants. A good number of our party attended the banquet. This, in itself, was enough for many, as it was a quite historic occasion in that the FIM record, which had stood for 16 years, was broken twice in less than 24 hours. Mike Akatiff with his Top 1 Ack Attack set the record first at 342mph, and Denis Manning with his "7" upped that to 350 mph. This happened at a scheduled meet and not on private time, as was the case with the Easy Rider Dave Campos record, and also with the Lightning Bolt Don Vesco record. The awards were passed out, Sam Wheeler took home the prize money for the Fastest Time of the Meet and the Best Engineered award. The Vincent streamliner had gone 188 mph at half throttle, with the engines running sour, earlier in the week. I thought that the 188 mph might once again be the fastest of the antiques. As it turned out it wasn't. The last of the awards that the Meet had posted had been passed out. Denis took the stage, and I felt that this was going to be a wrap-up speech for the event. Denis pointed out that there was still one more award to be presented. This award was the first of what was to become an annual award. The Buell Brothers Racing Team were the creators and sponsors of this award. It was to be a cash award of $1,000.00 accompanied with a trophy. The essence of the award was to recognize the most dedicated effort put forth by an individual in the quest to achieve. The official name of the award is: "The Spirit of Bonneville Racing." I began to look around the room to see who was going to stand up, as it hadn't registered in my brain yet that he had just said, "I'm proud to announce the recipients of this first annual award--Max and Patti Lambky." Not stated, but to be honest, a large portion of the credit for this award goes to the enthusiasts and supporters of the Black Lightning Project. I'll finish this report on a positive note. I feel better than I ever have about the certainty of the Vincent streamliner's capability to set the LSR. Why do I still think this? In 2006 the Vincent streamliner exhibited more torque than any of the three record setters, as it accelerated rapidly from a dead stop, pulling a 1.6 gear with ease. None of the three top competitors can match this feat. The three top competitors reached speeds of 342 mph, 350 mph, and 355 mph. The Vincent streamliner didn't do this, but can do this--will do this--and more.
Yours for the LSR, |