Home Page
Twister Tough Truck
Sheer Insanity Monster Truck
GB Racing
Thunder Cat Mud Racing Team
RAMbunctious Tough Truck Racing
Piston Broke Performance Rally Team
Still Miss Behavin' Tough Truck Racing Team
White Knight Mud Racing Team
|
|
|
PISTON BROKE RACING
|
By Wes Kibble
UPDATE!!!! PISTON BROKE RACING FINISHED 1ST in the Production P2 class, 1st in the Novice Drivers Championship and 12th Overall in the Ontario Performance Rally Championship!!! Check out their Website for more info! A big congrats goes out to Keith, Greg and Barbara! Great Job!
Performance Rallying is a form of road racing that has not made the headlines in North America near enough. It takes place on roads that have been temporarily closed to the public, sometimes deep in a forest, sometimes close to town on smooth, fast gravel country roads. It is fast, exhilarating and dangerous. Yet, it still does not grab the public's eye like stadium racing and other sports have. Nor has it received the sponsorship like other sports. For some reason, it has not taken off like it has in Europe. Piston Broke Racing, from Ontario, is one of the many Canadian rally teams that are constantly on the podium, but do not get the recognition they deserve.
Photo by Adrian Wintle
Keith Hendy, along with Greg Szilard-Baxter and his mother, Barbara Baxter, are the heart of Piston Broke Racing. Keith spent may years rally racing in Australia before moving to Canada and eventually starting Piston Broke Racing. Greg grew up succesfully racing go karts and jumped at the opportunity to co-drive the team's Mazda 323. Barbara recently started driving and navigating the Mazda in select events and has caught the bug!
The race car is a 1993 Mazda 323 SE hatchback. While definatly not a high horsepower machine, the Mazda competes very succesfully in the Canadian Association of Rally Sport P2 Production Class. The class allows a limited amount of modifications, which keeps the costs down and the racing tighter. The Mazda is powered by a 1597cc SOHC 4 cylinder. There is not many modifications allowed, hence the engines estimated 90 hp at the flywheel. Castrol Syntec 5w50 lubes the engine, while a mix of Sunoco 94 octane with 25% 100 octane racing fuel keeps it running. The exhaust fumes are directed out the custom 1.75" exhaust with a Dynomax Super Turbo Muffler. A 90 amp Mazda MX-6 alternator keeps the lights out front bright.
The engine is hooked to the stock 5 spd manual tranmission and front wheel drive components. The car is stopped by 9.25" vented discs with Carbon Metalic Pads on the front and factory brakes on the rear. Castrol XLR brake fluid runs through the stainless steel braided lines. Piston Broke Racing uses a number of tire and rim combinations depending on road conditions. On gravel roads, they use 185/65R 14 Yokohama A017 and 165/65 13 Yokohama A035. For snow, 9/58 14 Michelin C5 is the choice. Icy roads call for 185/65 14 Yokohama Guardex 600.
While the suspension is mostly stock, there is room for some mild modifications. The teams uses McPherson struts custom built by Four Star Racing . The front is 2.5in coil overs on adjustable seats, 275/200lb/in,with Bilstein gas inserts while the rear is 2.5in coil overs on adjustable seats, 175/125lb/in, with Bilstein gas inserts. The softer spring combination is for the ice and snow.
The interior houses a full cage, cross braced with side intrusion bars, welded to the body at the A pillar and all attach points, including the front and rear turrets. Keith and his navigator sit in Corbeau Pro Sport fibre glass race seats and are strapped in with 75mm, 5 point Sabelt harnesses. Shoei ZRJ-101V open face helmets protect their noggins and Peltor Intercom allow them to comunicate. Other safety equipment includes 2x5UI fire extinguishers, Reflective triangles, and CARS specification first aid kit. The navigator has a Terratrip 303 Plus Rally Computer with foot operated remote zero, run from rear wheel sensor with speedo cable sensor back up, along with co-driver's foot plate. Other interior modifications include a driver's foot brace and Spare wheel webbing tie down strap.
The 4 x100watt Hella 7in auxillary lights (2 spot and 2 driving pattern lens) mounted in a fibre glass pod on the front help during the night races. 3/16in aluminium skid plate from front air dam to firewall and a 1/4in plastic fuel tank shield help protect the undercarriage. Front and rear tow eyes are there just in case. They have only been used once to extract the team from a snow bank.
Photo by Glenn Hamilton
Piston Broke Racing is a top of the class orginization. You may check out their website for more information. Keith and his team would like to thank the following sponsors for their help.
Safework
Four Star Motorsports
and Dufferin Mazda
2451 Dufferin St., Toronto, ON
(416)789-4521
|
|
|
