AE86 Update: September is AE86 month!

I cannot believe that the AE86 Build was last updated in Feb! I am guilty with no reasonable explanation for my unforgivable indiscretion! But, I seek forgiveness and to show my gratitude for your mercy and kindness I will dedicate a significant portion of the blogs in September to the AE86 effort! Yes, I take applause.

MotoGP

But before I enter the AE86 garage I would be neglecting my responsibility if I did not comment on the MotoGP race which rocked the world at Silverstone, last Sunday. In the previous blog, I referred to a comment that Lorenzo made after losing pole to Marquez. Lorenzo, essentially thought he had done one of the best laps of his career, but he was silenced by Honda’s super- weapon Marquez.

On Sunday, the drama multiplied tenfold when Marquez crashed during the morning session. Lorenzo saw a light at the end of the tunnel and at the start of the GP he went into – take no prisoners mode and rode to the front with Marquez chasing.

The race basically remained that way for most of the race, but I will state this here and now, the 2012 World Champion, Jorge Lorenzo, owes Marquez a lot. Why? I will tell you. The fierce battle which ensued in the final segment of the GP will be watched repeatedly by MotoGP fans for years to come!

Lorenzo

Lorenzo survived the sniper strikes Marquez launched and it was only when Lorenzo dug deeper than he has ever done before that he was able to defeat the wounded but fearless Marquez. Thanks to Marquez’s pressure, Lorenzo allegedly stated that “this was one of the best races I have ever had”.

I have news for Lorenzo though. He might be closing the gap but he will have to pull “best races” for the remaining rounds, if he intends to successfully defend his title!

AE86

In the Feb.update we were completing brake-related issues. The order of events I am about to outline, might not follow the sequence in which they occurred, but they formed an integral part of the build process.

The machine in my view was now driving and stopping with certainty so I decided to give the interior a make-over. Before I get to the interior though, a strange thing happened. When we got the machine to the stage where it could operate under its own power we did a few test runs to get a feel for where the machine was.

AE86 with bright eyes!

One of those test runs took us out to the notorious airport road. Because the machine was still in the build phase, a few of the front pieces which would normally be attached to the car – bumper, grille etc were m.i.a. As such we were forced to secure the bonnet (in the absence of the lock) using ‘smart devices’.

In our ill-advised minds we thought we had  all of the boxes checked but little did we know that nature had other plans. While we were on the leisurely cruise along the newly built airport road, the gale force winds which reside at the location, blew their way below the bonnet. Next thing I knew the bonnet went for the sky, defied gravity momentarily and then came crashing down on the windscreen!

We learnt a valuable lesson!

Cecil Munroe Gleaner On-Line Writer