Wind was the word yesterday during the Sport Class’ first ever unfettered qualifying session in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
This, the first ever unrestricted air racing of the post-Reno era saw gusty winds as a cold front moved through, resulting in a bumpy ride that besides being uncomfortable for the pilots, robs a few mph of lap time.
Expected top-qualifier Andrew Findlay ran into injector issues thanks to minor debris floating around the fuel system. This is not uncommon on race engines that are frequently opened for inspection and tuning. This left the door open for the other top dog, Tom McNerney to push his twin-turbo Lancair Super Legacy a little harder than planned to take the pole.
“[Number] 30 was having injector trouble the last couple days so I saw a chance to push it for a lap,” said McNerney. “I ran a little over 70 inches [manifold pressure] and qualified first at 338-ish with Andy one mile per hour behind me.”
“I won’t run that much power on Saturday or Sunday,” McNerney continued. “Probably 50-60 inches of manifold pressure so I can [be sure to] fly home.
Findlay confirmed McNerney’s observations saying, “We had a fuel injector issue with some debris and couldn’t get the flow we wanted in the first qual session. During the second session with some new injectors I was able to run modest power but the issue was still there. I was able to richen the engine to get a qual lap but eventually it got lean and I had to reduce power. “
Findlay flushed his fuel system last night and is running well today.
With his engine sorted, we’re still expecting Findlay to lay down some impressive, class-leading laps before Sunday final races are in the books. Today, Saturday, the field is putting in some heat races, so there still could be some sorting out, especially in the mid-field where speeds are clustered in the high 200 mph range.
Findlay gave us a good description of the new eight mile Las Cruces race course. “Conditions were pretty windy and bumpy during qualifying, so most speeds were down a bit as everyone adapts to the new course layout.”
“The eight mile course is a good challenge. The pylon layout creates a lot of variation for different lines on pylons five and six. With the “Valley of Speed” in front of the crowd, it will be a great visual for the finishes with the close qualifying results.”
“Hospitality has been great from the EAA 555 Chapter hosting the qualifying dinner and briefing areas. Big thanks to them, the city, and all the volunteers that have made it possible.”
Yesterday’s full qualifying results in are the chart. Our next report will pick-up after Sunday’s finals. 
