El Gusano has raced quite a few miles and the 2022 NORRA 1000 was the eighth race for the Pioneer Buggy Meyers Manx. Prior to each race the buggy gets good prep and usually updates from things learned in previous races. The upgrade for this race was the change from the off the shelf Bilstein 4600 shocks to tunable Bilstein 7100’s. With the invitation from John Kieslich and Meyers Manx for a shock tune day with Bilstein prior to the race, El Gusano was set up to handle the bumps and whoops better than ever before.
With the new confidence in the handling of the car with the new shocks, we set off on Day 1 of the race with a good pace. Unfortunately, when one thing is stronger, there is usually a weaker link somewhere else. About midway through the first special, we went through a little dip in the trail that bottomed out the suspension and we made an immediate left turn.
The rear spring plate broke letting the suspension drop and the rear tire to rub on the fender. We were able to jack the car up and rachet strap a rock in place to hold the suspension up and fortunately we were only a couple of miles from a pavement transit. We meet our team at the pavement and replaced the spring plate so we could continue and finish the day.
Day 2 started out with a tire change about midway through the first special of the day after clipping a rock on the side of the trail, bending the rim. During the second stage of the day, we heard a familiar clunking in the rear. We broke the upper rear shock mount, (same side I broke last year but above the added gusseting). Again, we were near a pavement section and the team tried to rig it with hose clamps, but that only lasted a couple of miles. We stopped and removed the shock and ran on three shocks for the remainder of the day. The great guys at Fab School, (who were supporting the race), were able to once again weld Gusano’s shock tower back together in Bay of LA.
With the car patched up again we were ready for Day 3. Since it is the longest day of the race, I decided to run at an easier pace. We had no real issues and El Gusano worked great. Even with a good pace we still finish in the dark, but that is part of the fun.
Day 4 is another long day, and it had some rocky areas that came with a couple of tire changes, but we kept moving. The road down the coast of the Sea of Cortez into La Paz is one of my favorite spots along the race.
We were ready again for Day 5 and the finish of the race. A shorter day but it had fun graded ridge roads and some sandy washes, a good course for a Manx. El Gusano finished again, completing every mile.
This was a fun race with all the Manx Club members that participated, and we had a great time hanging out with everyone.
So, looking forward to the next race, there are a few improvements to be made to El Gusano’s rear shock towers, stronger spring plates and me figuring out how not to hit rocks.
