Rob Ainscough
"I have the need for speed, got sick of trying to make 4 cylinder turbos go fast and be reliable, so I opted for a DOHC V8. Sorry no push rods for me. Whatever car it was going to be it had to be a DOHC, a V8 or V10, and rear wheel drive. The 99 Cobra fit well and the IRS was a plus (ok, a flawed plus, but still a preferred choice over solid axle for me). The 99 Cobra was well balanced in stock trim (surprisingly, the understeer common on Mustangs was not so bad), however I needed more -- the urge to tweak is just too strong (may the force be with me). Next stop, Griggs Racing -- fortunately they are relatively close to my home location so they are really the one and only. After a few conversations with John and Bruce, it was clear, no monkey's jumping on my car -- I'll leave it to the pros (Griggs). The rest is history, Griggs gave me the partial workover (excluding K-member) on suspension, brake ducts, 5 point harness, gears, and more. The car is not complete -- future additions will include the Griggs K-members, Fikse FM5 and Hoosiers, some experimental rear IRS work, and finally the Cobra-R differential oil cooling kit are still on the pending list. Back to my first visit at Griggs -- John got my car ready for my first open track event at Laguna Seca on Jan 15th, 2000 with NASA. It was a close call with John finishing the car up on Friday evening and me driving it up to LSIR early Saturday AM. From that point onwards, my open track events come monthly and sometimes twice a month. I've driven most of the NorCal tracks from ThunderHill, Sears Point (now Infineon), Laguna Seca, and Buttonwillow and enjoyed them all. As I gain experience and understanding of my car, my lap times progressively get lower. Thanks to Griggs for their support and ability to take my money and make good use of it :)
Cheers,
Rob Ainscough."
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