Nissan Challenge Saturday Pictures
Saturday Race Report |
| Saturday morning view
from the Francisco Grande Tower.
Pictures by Mike Mowett |
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Winding staircase in the
morning with mountains in the background. |
| Saturday riders meeting L to
R, Alice Krause, Al Krause, and Chris Broome. |
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Dennis Grelk at the riders
meeting. |
| Saturday morning the riders
gathered for a meeting to discuss the upcoming day's events. |
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An Arizona Republic reporter
interviews the Markhams. |
| Dennis modifies the camera in
the Coslinger. |
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Dennis Grelk with the
Coslinger and a nice sideshot of the drivetrain mods. |
| The Coslinger Front viewing
Camera |
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The Coslinger with the new
Greenspeed idler that was mounted overnight. |
| A secret racing tip: Damjan
stays hot with fleece after run. |
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Damjan: Ah maybe this fleece
is not a good idea. |
| Dave Balfour in TriSled -
Alice Krause and Mrs & Mr Grelk help him with the lid. |
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Frank in liner rolls to
stop. |
| Frank is very thirsty after
his hour run. |
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Frank says: Ah that was fun 39
miles in one hour. |
| Frank is larger than life
after 39 miles |
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Frank-n-liner designer and
builder Rick Wianecki is overjoyed that his streamliner completed the
hour run, shortly after a year since he start working on it. |
| Bryan Ball with his new Casco
helmet - it fits! |
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Fred, Gabe, and Tanya launch
Brian in his Varna Orpheus. |
| White Hawk, looking very clean
and smooth. |
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Hans Wessels warms up on his
Razz fazz. Hans says: I need a catcher please. ...just kidding |
| Hans is ready to go for his 1
hour run. |
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Hans is ready to get out after
his 1 hour run in the White Hawk. Al and Alice are there to help him
out. |
| Hans looks larger than life
after his 1 hour run too. |
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Hans says: Let me tell you
something you just have to have fun. |
| After his 1 hour run in the
White Hawk, Jakob is the new World Junior Record holder. |
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Team Euro: Jakob, Ellen,
Danielle, Jakob's dad Reinier, and Hans. |
| Lots of streamers waiting to
launch for the 200 meter sprints. |
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The Markham family relaxes
while Tanya is setting the US Women's record. |
| Sean models his latest
creation, a capillary cooling device he wears on his head. |
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Nope Bryan didn't gain all
this weight, there is a water bladder on his chest. |
| The Orion speedtrike
drivetrain looks very nice. |
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Raymond Gage and Sean Costin
unload the Orion top. |
| Relaxing between events. L to
R - Eric Ware, Dennis Grelk, and Mrs. & Mr. Grelk. |
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"Ok
guys this way", says Pooja. |
| Rose Hullman team
getting ready for their run. |
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RH ready to launch. |
| RH tape the other side too. |
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Molly tapes Danny: We have you in there now! |
| Sam tells Rob to Go Right and
Don't Crash . |
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Rob English adjusts the Varna
II. It had flat tire during his 200 meter attempt. |
| Varna II, squeeze the mist
lever and I get squirted. |
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Dave and Becky work to fix the
tire. |
| Sam goes 62.3 mph during his
200 meter attempt, just short of his current low altitude record. |
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Sam and Georgiev adjust the
camera on the Varna camera trike. |
| Sam thinks: Hmm, maybe if I
look out the side. Wow, what a fork twist mechanism. |
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Sean adjusting the Orion
trike's camera. |
| A big ice bucket fits in the
Orion nose to feed the cooling system. |
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Sean straps on his cooling hat
during a test ride on the Orion chassis. |
| Sean says: Uh-oh. What is Alan
Arial going to do with this picture? |
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Dad (Fred Markham) is proud of
Tanya's time. |
| Women and Mens US record
holders. A nice daughter - father bonding moment. |
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Tanya's younger sister tells
Freddy: So dad am I going to be next record breaker. Tanya gets congrats
from Denton. |
| Steve Delaire with his Mach 5. |
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Streamliners parked in the air
conditioning at the track for the night. |
Saturday
Race report by Mike Mowett
The anticipation is building for Sunday. With most teams finally ready
to go after long hours of testing and modifications, this could be a big
day. Al and Alice and Chris Broome had all the riders select their
desired start times for Sunday at the rider meeting Sat night. Sam and
Fred will be on the track at the same time. The Nissan folks were kind
enough to let many streamliners spend the time at the track in a
spacious air conditioned shed/workspace which also has a lounge and
bathrooms. There was only five successful runs today all wrapped up by
the afternoon. After that, there were a few unsuccessful attempts.
Damjan moved up to third in the world and fell short of Sam's 2004 World
Record of 52.33 miles with a 52.304 mile run - that's about 42 meters or
137 feet only. Still he is the new European record holder. He has been
looking strong all week. Jakob Massen in White Hawk set a new World
Junior Record of 43.265 miles. He is 17 and on the National Junior team
in Germany. Tanya Markham in Varna Mephisto II set a new US Ladies
Record of 36.34 miles. So the storybook daughter-father US ladies/mens
record holders happened. Frank Geyer in Frank-n-Liner went 39.48 miles
for a State of Michigan record. Hans Wessels in the WhiteHawk did his
2nd best ever with a 47.02 mile run, but well below his 50.7 mile mark
he rode last year in Germany.
Rob English had a flat tire after he started his 200 meter run. Several
people including Dave Balfour, after finishing his own sprint, ran
several hundred feet behind him to try and catch him, but couldn't reach
him in time. He rolled into the spectator area shouting for help "catch
me, catch me", but still had to dump it. The final tally for the 200
meter sprints was Sam going 62.3 mph, just short of his 62.51 mph low
altitude world record. Soon after people stopped racing them, and it was
voted to not make any more 200 meter attempts on Sunday at the rider's
meeting.
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