They were having transmission issues all weekend. The first test run it didn't shift out of first, they were still pulling 3.4 G's acceleration when it was at 140, and it hit the redline at 9000 RPM, calculated at over 170 at 6% slip with their gear ratio, prop pitch, and rpm, (cause the gps was not working). That's why the hard left happened, rev limiter.
Then, when they tried the first run Saturday, it was stuck in third so they couldn't get it on plane. They worked on the issue way late last night, thought they may have it corrected. The way the trans is set up, it is hooked to the GPS and is suposed to shift at whatever speed it is programmed to shift at.
So today, they went to run it but again it wouldn't shift, so they pulled up to the start real slow cause they just stuck it in second and went up on one engine. It was just easy to make sure they were not over forty by just stopping. Besides, they knew they had plenty of acceleration for their first "easy" pass even from a dead stop, and starting in second gear. They cannot idle for long, there is no water cooling in the blocks.
Anyway, they just took it easy, but they ran it through the traps at 177, and took it to 204 to see how it handles over 200, (stuck in second gear), before shutting down . So, they were DQ'd, but they learned a lot.
They need to get the trans working correctly. I cannot imagine what that thing will do with a 40mph start and all three gears. It should shatter the 244 that the Sheik put up on the one mile course. It is an incredible work of art!
As Tyler Miller says, they need to simplify the transmission.