Xtreme Dragster Races
Written by Chris Warrell for our June 2011 Newsletter
At our April 2011 meeting we held the Xtreme Dragster Races. And very thrilling they were too! It had been decided to run two races — one for dragsters that looked like a dragster, with or without a driver; and the other race for minimalist creations which would be lightweight and fast.
Watch our video of the races
The only criteria was that the dragster had to incorporate the pull-back ‘motor’ that comes in the Xtreme Dragster kit. It didn’t matter what other Meccano went into your model. The race was dreamt up by Chris Fry and Ralph Laughton.
Chris’s dragster
There were five entries in the first race — the dragster look-alike one — and they were from Brian Elvidge, Ralph Laughton, Douglas Windibank, Chris Fry and Peter Clay. These five competed in two heats to get three machines into the final. Like previous races, a number of vehicles veered off in various directions, sending spectators running or leaping out of the way. Doug, Ralph and Chris made it to the final with Chris Fry being the winner.
There were six entries for the three heats in the minimalist race. We had entries from Doug, Brian, Chris Warrell, Ralph, Chris Fry and Alan Wenbourne. They were considerably faster than the heavier dragsters in the first race. Taking a tip from Ralph, Alan won the final, against Chris Warrell and Douglas, with a machine that consisted of not much more than just the motor with wheels attached.
Alan’s dragster
Prizes (small second-hand Meccano sets) were awarded to the two winners by Frank Paine.
Chris Fry and Frank Paine
Alan Wenbourne and Frank Paine