Naturally aspirated monsters (Kyle and Alan)!

I was reading with subdued interest, a concern raised, allegedly, by a regular Dover competitor. His ‘beef’ surrounded Andre Anderson’s machine and its ‘too fast’ nature. Essentially, what is being suggested is that the motor and the machine are too good to be true!

Andre Anderson drove away from the CMRC Round 1 event at Dover, in May, with a major points haul, which has eased him into serious contention for the Drivers’ title for 2013. So, I am certain that if the clearly defined channels of protest are utilised, the driver and team will be more than willing to oblige the apparently disgruntled competitor.

Out of curiosity, I returned to the posted recorded times from the event and while perusing, I lost interest in my original quest. The initial issue, re-Andre’s machine, faded and became a distant memory! Why?

Andre’s best time for the race-weekend – qualifying or race – was a 1:22. 728 – done during qualifying for Thundersport 1 and Thundersport 2 (TS-1 TS-2). His time landed him at 4th on the grid, behind the heavy-hitters, Doug ‘Hollywood’ Gore – 1:17.885, David ‘King’ Summerbell – 1:18.112 (he blasted a quicker time in race trim!) and Peter ‘Zoom Zoom’ Rae – 1:21.899.

The fact that Andre’s machine is said to be 1800ccs, but motivated by ample boost and he is only 4-5 seconds away from the idolized machines of Doug and David, is remarkable in and of itself, but not entirely surprising. The gentleman (Andre Anderson) does come to the table with a certified skill-set. Ask his father, he might tell you what it costs to complete an engineering degree in Canada! Let that rest for now.

Christopher Columbus is credited with discovering the New World, an error in history which will never be rewritten, but life goes on. I will possibly be credited with no discovery, but on that same qualifying results sheet (and others), close to, next to and also ahead of some rather powerful machines, were these two names Kyle Gregg and Alan Chen. Kyle Gregg stopped the clock at 1:24.273 and Alan Chen matched Kyle’s feat with a 1:24.475. Perspective is crucial.

Kyle Gregg and Alan Chen

Kyle’s machine (Honda Civic – EG), last time I heard him speaking about it, at the drivers meeting, has a 2100 cc (his words) naturally aspirated motor. Alan, last time I checked, was rocking one of the versions of the potent Honda S200o motor. It is always Kyle’s goal to stay ahead of his arch- rival Alan and because Alan knows this, apparently he remains motivated to thwart that plan! The end result sees these 2 n/a monsters locked in a roaring VTEC battle which pushes a rather exciting envelope!

When the times both machines are ticking are viewed, your eyes should be bulging like those of a horrified child! Check this – their motors will be screaming along the start-finish straight at Dover, 7 or less seconds after Doug and David, 3 seconds after Peter Rae, 2 seconds after Andre Anderson, 1 second after Heath Causwell and rubbing fenders with Chris Campbell in his baritone BMW and ahead of a few 400-500 hp Evos!

And someone is arguing that Andre Anderson is too fast? Assuming that these times are accurate (and issues have surfaced in the past), Kyle and Alan are rocking 2 naturally aspirated monsters! Further proof that power is not the entire package at Dover!

Why are these machines so fast?

Cecil Munroe Gleaner On-Line Writer