DYLAN WOOLHOUSE FD
Last time we checked in with Dylan Woolhouse, his all-new build had just been tested and he was looking forward to seeing how it worked in a competition. The chassis is the ex–Rene Richmond FD RX-7 which has received the supercharged LS2 from the C35 Laurel Woolhouse successfully campaigned in Pro-Am. The chassis switch saw the car lose 400kg — the RX-7 weighs in at 1100kg, which was a big factor in making the swap. Efi and Turbo has been a big part of the new build, carrying out the lion’s share of the fabrication and mechanical work, including developing an angle kit which in testing gave Dylan a good boost in confidence heading into the season.
So far the season has been a challenge for the team, with a few very strange occurrences causing mechanical faults and costing valuable seat time. These included a driveshaft failure during day one of round two, which saw the engine and gearbox destroyed in a few short seconds. In a sign of great driver solidarity, the drivers all voted to allow Woolhouse a special dispensation to skip the scheduled qualifying later that day, and qualify on day two if the team could fix the car overnight. A miracle was worked at Efi and Turbo, with the hours of darkness covering an engine build and welding of the bellhousing to put the Jerico four-speed back together.
The car made it to the grid come day two, and Dylan managed to qualify 16th equal.
Despite the lack of track time the FD has shown great promise, and was able to hang with some of the big names in the sport, including Dylan’s cousin Fanga — which was a great boost in confidence heading into the newly announced Baypark stadium round.
Dylan had been worried about the twitchiness people often speak of with this chassis, but feels the LS may be eliminating it as he is yet to feel it. Instead he was very complimentary about the way the RX-7 was handling, and the fact he is now much more in touch with where the car is on track.
Looking ahead in the season, Dylan is focused on getting as much seat time as possible, and the only large change to expect to the set up will be a 10.5-inch Winters Quick Change ahead of the round five final at Pukekohe Park Raceway.
But the question does remain, when will we see the much-hyped turbo/supercharged combination? We are waiting, Dylan.
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