Maniac Mazda de-fangs Viper

[carguys@wilde-evolutions.com]

The TV show is called THE EDGE.

Little did host Ryan Seacrest realize that he was steping OVER the edge
when he climbed into the passenger seat of the Maniac Mazda with driver
Roderick "Wildman" Wilde at Saturday's Woodburn Unplugged EV Drag Race.

With a rear mounted TV camera aimed forward between the Mazda's seats to
record the action, it will be interesting to hear Ryan's reactions to his
first ride in what Roderick explained, with a straight face, was just your
typical electric vehicle.

While their 1/4 mile elapsed time of 12.072 seconds at 110.12 MPH was
slower than the Mazda's morning ET of 11.974, it still provided a good view
of the bright blue Viper in the Mazda's rear view mirror, lagging behind
with a 12.489 ET.

As Roderick and Ryan accepted congratulations from the appreciative crowd
and went over to console Jason Ward, driver of the once deadly Viper,
Maniac Mazda crew chief Justin Southam, from Wellington, New Zealand, was
quietly preparing the Mazda for a final run of the day.

Edging Roderick from the driver's seat, Justin took the Mazda back to the
starting line. To provide some competition, Dennis Berube pulled up in lane
two with his Current Eliminator III, for the only head-to-head run of the
day for the two quickest EVs. This was Justin's first time down a
dragstrip, and watching the Mazda's fishtail progress down the track, it
appeared Justin traveled more than a 1/4 mile as he fought to keep the
Maniac Mazda under control. But when it was all over, he had not only
turned in a higher top speed than the Wildman at 114.85 MPH (setting a new
world record for a street EV), he also came within 1.15 MPH of matching
Dennis' speed of 116 MPH.

Roderick's post-event analysis is that these shake-down runs have been
helpful in proving proof-of-concept, and that now he can begin work on
building a quick street EV.

Bob Rickard

carguys@Wilde-EVolutions.com                          http://www.EVParts.com
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