Part
2 of 3
WEDNESDAY
September 5
Press Day - free testing
Early morning work for all to get ready for the first run. Ground the car
and re-torque wheels, Axel took
care of that. Then he just dissapeared...with my camera...he had met Ivana
van den Berg in the pit,
a dutch girl competing in Junior Dragster while her daddy races a Yamaha Top
Fuel bike!
Who needs English anyway?
Meanwhile..we wondered where the heck Axel was? Well, it was time to fly.
First without transbrake just
to get a comparison run to last years runs to see what the new changes did:
full fuel pressure, Anti Roll
Bar and only 28" high slicks. Last years 29" made it to rev only
5500 on the finish line...
Patrik was in line ahead. Who are you messaging Top Fuel Thore?! Patrik and
I had planned to run a
"TBDGIT Championship" at the last run of the Press Day and it seemed
that we maybe would have had
the OK (?) from Race Director Darren Prentice for a unique Sportsman Tree
with Patrik's and my
best ET's (so far at that point) to be our dial-ins written on our rear windows.
Let's say 6.30 and 9.50 - a 3.20 handicap!
What the...!?
First two runs were without transbrake. Normal launch technique: pedal brake,
1800 RPM and floor it.
However, I had anything but normal runs! The data logs (FAST) show the problems
in a colorful way.
The more problem, the more artistic and better looking!
Run 1: It never shifted to 2nd gear, hit rev limiter at 7000 RPM,
then a 2 second never before experienced
"off everything" still with the pedal to the metal (dark blue),
came back and went to finishline with a
crappy 11.09 ET. Log shows clearly that injectors (red) is well out of their
range and may have resulted
in their own rev limiting action (?) The FAST's limiter is set at 7000 RPM
as also the MSD ignition's.
One good thing: the fuel pressure was now always following the boost pressure!
Three hours of thinking, calling Kenneth Ståhl, coffee, calling Mr Al
Holt, checking, coffee, thinking.
Run 2: This time I was prepared for the over revving, so when it
didn't shift to 2nd gear at the pre-ordered
6400 RPM I did a super quick flip of the accelerator pedal to avoid the rev
limiter and to lure it into 2nd,
which I think happened? Then to finishline on an even crappier 11.18 ET. But
it may have been a shift
to the 3rd gear since it fell so much in RPM? That short bump in the middle
of the second graph can be
3rd gear and shortly thereafter the lock-up activating at 110 MPH. Who knows?
For the future I certainly would need to log the runs also through the TCI
to really see what the 4L80E
transmission is doing. And WHEN it's doing it! It's possible to do it already
now, but I won't let go of
the FAST logging. And I would also like to log the fuel pressure and the ignition
during the runs.
What is the weight of 4 lap tops?
- Tog! So you are...here now...with your helmet and firesuit and
all...that's...eh...good,
jump in!
Almost forgot. I had promised Tog a comfortable SS-run on the Press Day. And
suddenly he was here,
clearly dedicated to get strapped in and get a run. I tried to explain that
the SS is a little sicky in his
tranny and that it may not like some extra weight now when it also should
test the Transbrake...
-Transbrake?! Ho ho, that'll be fun! Let's go!
Tog got the mission of starting the FAST logging with my lap top during the
staging.
Burnout was OK. Also note that Rudolf is aboard. The only thing that I was
thinking about here was
where we had the phone number to the towing company we used two years ago?
They were good and
not so expensive either. Had never started with transbrake before in my life...in
my own SS.
Stage. Button. Let go of brake pedal. Rev to 5500 RPM....yes, yes, yes...let
off button! ??
Buäääää!
No!
A non-dramatic happening. The slowest run ever with 11.44 @ blä! And
I felt that this was not good
at all for the transmission. Bad 60 foot as well, 1.53 compared to last year's
1.41 sec. I was happy
that Tog already had gotten an 8.07 @ 165 MPH
pass aboard Chris Ortodoxou's Super Pro ET Viper!
But Tog was polite to me afterwards and never complained, just smiled and
walked away. I also
smiled and waved to him, but I was now at war with my transmission Ignatius.
And
still no shift to 2nd.
Again had to do a quickie with the accelerator pedal to avoid the rev limiter
and
get that next gear, which ever it is? I read that TCI manual several times
over these days and nights.
Found more pictures in my camera taken by Axel. This is why
Axel first noticed Ivana, her fun moped.
Then Axel took these pics of her dad's Top Fuel Bike, both dad and daughter
race in their big dutch drag
racing team: Shark Attack!
A pretty inspiring place to stand and take a look, at the top end after the
finish line, after the christmas
tree was unplugged of course. Quiet. It was line up for the inspection on
Wednesday evening.
It's
nice to get the inspection over with already now so you don't miss 1st Qualification
Round on
Thursday morning. And it's nice to get time to talk with other drivers and
look at their cars in the line.
I just LOVE this Plymouth Satellite! This is what they looked like in the
Hot Rod Magazines I read in
my wet youth! Runs 11's with moderate 440 ci. Very very good
nostalgia work Mr Mojo (to the right).
Then Axel was more interested in Ivana's Junior Dragster. He really did the
photo work on it as well.
Coolest man anywhere, always in control. Roger Goring had just arrived with
his Firestorm Jet Funny Car
and could fancy one Swedish Norrlands Guld beer (yes, we import bananas to
Africa, OK?!)
Roger shouldn't make an exhibition run until Friday anyway.
Beautiful sunset over Poddington and colors wake up. Again that Plymouth made
it special.
 |
"LOST
IN TRANSMISSION" |
THURSDAY
September 6
Seven (7!) Qualification Rounds!
Not for us.
From early morning to late night. Axel, come back soon with my helmet. Axel!?
Axel! Where is he now?
Agneta enjoying the backdrop of England before the next caravan was delivered
to our camp, the caravan
for our American guests! And here they walked in just before first Qualification
Round after a couple of
nice tourist days in London. Karl, a total gentleman as always, with flowers
for the crew chief Agneta.
And his new lovely girlfriend Wanda was at least as nice and fun as him. And
a good photographer
too as you soon will notice! Good couple! Welcome to our gypsy camp!
A Golden Moment for our family! I backed out the Impala in the pit, going
for first round of the day.
-Agneta, where is Axel?
-I think he's sitting in that dragster in the tent over there...
-WHAT!?
I rushed out of the idling SS just to snap this picture and then rushed back
and drove down to the lines,
laughing all the way! He's not at all interested in the Impala anymore, he's
really into his own career
now! Hahahaa! These really nice people also let him sit in it and start and
rev that Ford BB engine up!!!
Man, Axel was just begging for rides on 4-wheelers and mopeds...and now...ha!...how
can he, how
can they? What's happening?
My own son is sitting in a dragster with a running V8 engine!
It's more to it, the building-new-slingshot-bug is hitting UK big time. This
team Dorris Dormouse
from
Nuneaton run by Dave Nelson (his dad John Nelson in pic above) came here with
new built engine and
knew they shouldn't race at all, they just wanted to be in the pit atmosphere
with all the others when
breaking in the engine! That's Pro ET in UK for you! A great Family! And Thanks
Nelsons! =)
It started out real good for us, not in performance, but surely in racing.
After having these problems with
the transmission (are you still reading?) I just didn't know what dial-in
to write on my window. I asked
Agneta and she shook her head and asked me if I wanted some coffee? Yes dear.
Now I had lowered the 1-2 shift RPM in the TCI-computer from 6400 to 6000
so I felt a bit lucky that
the 2nd gear would actually happen now without my pedal-trick so I closed
my eyes and I saw the
figures 10.53 being written in my totally blank brain! So I wrote 10.53 -
totally out of the blue - and
old dirty, faithful ran a 10,5478 - just 0.0178 above!
2nd Qualifier after first run! I was in the field and it absolutely looked
as it would stay that way!
Goal 1 was achieved - to qualify!
Of course I could not walk around and tell everybody that this was a total
fluke. I tried to look like I
I always do like this, knowing exactly. While they knew I was at least half
a second off... It's fun.
But then everything got worse...
Next Qualification Round I wrote 10.30 and ran 10.60. It was not right. Still
didn't shift as it should.
We decided to change transmissions! We usually do.
Good decision. Look at that black oil! And what a burnt smell! Karl blew the
oil cooler lines from bad
oil and stated "We do this all the time back home at the
nuclear plant..." and got some raised
eyebrows. He meant the handling with all material and fluids into plastic
bags and waste it, tools and
everything. (No, we didn't waste the tools...)
In Sweden we go to Janne Palmquist and borrow a portable compressor to blow
the lines. =) Axel found
some new interest in our Impala SS when things started to happen, so he began
filming. Excellent!
Lars-Inge (right) heard about the transmission plans and took the afternoon
off from "Gullans" Pro Mod
team and came over to give us a hand. Good spirit!
Axel went out and took one of his best pictures ever. Mojo's
tattoos with the Chrysler Penta Star!
Lars-Inge Johansson and Karl Ellwein together! What a nice picture to have.
Good friends with different
stories but not too different. They went very well together of course. Drag
racing is the common language
here. Out with the Ignatius on the left and in with the spare to the right
(with Kent Edin's TCI converter)
which Karl rode like Baron Munchausen. Patrick Wikström was kind to transport
my spare trans to UK
in his bus. I had no place for it my Dodge.
Of course we gave ourselves time for brakes. Food, beer or to call Kent Edin
and ask about the status
at Swedish Customs for the Ellwein Engines built "King of Spades"
383 engine recently flown in.
Meanwhile I got this phone picture with old time friend Thomas
"Fredde" Fredriksson banging on our
TBDGIT door in Gothenburg asking "Where are
you Bostic?" Don't you know I'm in the middle of my
life here?! "But I want to show you my new
442 Olds!" Yes, but I'm in England at Santa Pod changing
transmissions, understand? "How is it going?"
Well, there's a guy here that has the Chrysler Penta
Star tattooed on his neck! "What?!"
It's true! But he sadly broke it. "What,
the neck?" No, his car.
"Well, Fixar'n helped me to import this car of
my dreams, I have one again!" I know Fredde, it was
I that put you in contact with Sören, remember? But is it really a W-30
like you had before?
"No, but it's still the right thing!"
Yea, I know, I'm so happy for you Fredde! Also Say Hello to
Sören, and see you later! OK? "It's wonderful,
I'm young again! Now I'll cruise it to Stockholm..."
(More of Fredde's
memories here!)
There are at least four persons working under the car here to do the final
work on the transmission
change. Super Thanks to Lars-Inge, Ann-Sofie, Karl, Wanda, Agneta, Axel and
myself!
Whose ugly finger is that? In mid field after a record 7 Qualification
Rounds! Two more to go Friday.
46 teams entered and now only 34 were left. And Mojo broke something and was
on the outside.
Yes why not? Couldn't do worse. He's lighter too! Axel won
him at a lottery, I think.
Time
to fill new oil, which I happened to bring with me...
Wanda is really a good photographer isn't she?! Not only a searcher, she also
gets the moments!
The change of transmissions took only four hours with coffee-, food- and beerbrakes
and everything.
It could be done in 2 hours or less if it had
been necessary.
Cosy. My Al Funk-made red Bowtie lit up the tent at
dark. Our dear Impala SS was ready to go again
tomorrow morning. Exciting. We walked over to Patrik Wikström's camp
to see what happened there
and we met the Eurodragster.com News Editor "Tog" and the Assistant
Pit Reporter Kirstie
Tramm
who tried to sample thoughts from Tog which I think might have been a thrilling
experience...
Then my long time hero Leif Helander and his son Johnny came by. The Nitro
Funny Car legend of
Sweden had announced that he will quit after 30 years of racing and that this
was the last race with his
SAAB Starkotter! (Strong Otter) This because of the common reason of financing.
"You can't run this
show any longer with used and repaired parts". However, Leif seems like
he's been very keen in keeping
those Nitro engines in one piece, and knowing this game very well - but now
has no more tokens to
insert. So, if not anything positive and unexpected happens, Leif, I want
to thank you for all the thrilling
racing you have given us over the 30 years! And good luck at this - the Final
Race!
Pheew!
And this was only Thursday...
FRIDAY
September 7
Two more Qualification runs.
OK, OK, but he has to sit in the back. As I had hoped for, our friend Mr Paul
Somerville showed up in
the lines. He didn't exactly approve my dial-in, not even after my explanation
that "now we have a fresh
transmission, full fuel pressure and an Anti Roll Bar, should be quicker than
last year"
Karl
filming and Mr Paul guiding me. A guide definately makes it better than without.
The comforting
feeling alone makes you cooler at the tree.
Now look at this! A totally squarish launch thanks to a good working Anti
Roll Bar. (Compare to the first
picture on the front of my Homepage). Still the 60-foot times weren't as good
as last year's 1.41. At this
run I got 1,46 which eventually was the best all race. With the Ignatius transmission
and transbrake
(and Tog) it was only a 1.53. So the "bad" 60's wasn't only a transmission
deal. Of course I looked at
these 28" DOT-tires (with a bit too low pressure - 1 kg/15 psi) which
spun more than last years 29"
Hoosier slicks which also spun some! But now the launches are beautiful and
will help future 60's!
So far so good. Yea! Transmission just slammed into 2nd gear!
But in two seconds from here a new problem was revealed - no 3rd gear in this
transmission! %@=&¤*!!!
It
hit the rev limiter at 7000 RPM, I let off the pedal and rolled to a 10.70,
absolutely speechless.
And
it's going to get worse...you
don't need to read further.
The Dragstrip gives and the Dragstrip takes.
Oh my God! 1 - 2 - Rev Limiter - Roll...
Snap! You're in the Seychelles, sold the car, bought a snorkel...
I didn't find the third gear on part throttle on the return road either. It
was not even there! I was getting a
little tired of this, imagine the rest of the team...
What to do in panic? Dive into that damn TCI program
again. Hm...maybe the lock-up can engage already in second gear? At WOT? Let's
hope so. (Sigh! I
knew it wouldn't work.) I lowered the engagement point from 120 mph to 100
mph. Should then go into
action before the 1/8 mile mark. If it would work I could floor the pedal
the full quartermile...
It's fun with sponsors and stickers n' things. Karl brought his new Ellwein
Engines stickers and I asked
him if he still wanted his name on the Blackout SS? In the background you
can see our class host
calling us out for the last qualifying round - actually the
9th in two days if you had your things together!
And we're ready to go! Bear is out, it must've been his fault anyway. I got
these numbers from Kirstie
Tramm who is said to have the gift on dial-in's just like Mr Paul. However,
this dial-in wasn't at all
important since we're already safely qualified. Important now on the last
qualifying round - was
to make a run that can be repeated tomorrow when it's Elimination Round 1.
Just look at her! 9.80's and wheelies too. Italian born Lady Carla Pittau
always in the top in Pro ET with
her husband Rick in their "Heaven & Hell" Camaro! They democrately
switch drivers every race. Dial-in
9.85 and stopped the clock at 9.8550 = 0.0050 over! Luck? No, they are One
with their car.
However, this ET gave "only" a 10th place in the 32 car field! Top
10 in Pro ET in UK is like untouchable.
Another burnout, which always works. Roger Gorringe got Stefan Boman standing
still taking pictures!
Have you visited Roger Gorringe's new picture website? It's here: www.nitroexposure.co.uk
Thanks Mr Paul for always showing up in time and supporting us at the startline!
The lock-up idea didn't work. I knew it. I hit the rev-limiter, banged loudly,
let off pedal and just rolled it
and tapped the brake a little before the finishline so I would know what to
have to play with tomorrow.
OK, so this was my destiny! 10.95. After a 1-2-Rev limiter-roll-tap the brakes...rolling
in under the
famous Santa Pod sign. Final qualification spot for Blackout was No 15 among
32. Happy for that.
The rest of the day was Impala-free! Let's go see some people, some racing
and some fair. Hey Jöran!
Old friends just go faster! Jöran Persåker has been aiming for
his first 4 second run all year in Top
Fuel and has hired former TF-racer Peter Lantz to help him through the barrier.
Now it finally happened! 4.9641 @ 281.43 mph! Congratulations!
This made him No 5 qualifier in the 8 car field which was topped by Englishman
Andy Carter 4.6450 @
296.39 which was Europe's quickest! They both raced each other at Gary's Doorslammer
Nationals
here at Santa Pod in 1985, together with me. Then I was certainly quicker
than both of them =)
Ivana unfortunately
lost first round in her Junior Dragster "Sharky" in the evening.
Her dial-in was 13.60
and she got a 13.91.
In her 9th and last qualification round she had a 13.6939
which I guess was what
they based the dial-in on. Her best run was 11.3431. Better luck next
time Ivana!
See you next year!
Wanda took one of the best symbolic drag racing pictures I've seen! And I
think the out-of-focus makes
it! Man striving hard on his motorcycle - Woman is supporting and worrying!
Together, alone. Beautiful!
Do you fancy a cold beer? Jolly good ol' chap! Life at the bank is very, very
nice on a warm evening.
You meet a lot of serious English fans here, in all ages. Like the man to
the left who was taking notes.
Where else can you lie down on soft green grass, close your eyes and listen
to dragracing?
For you who yet never has
been at Santa Pod. On the other side of the spectator bank there is a very
nice fair where you can enjoy some classic fun with your family when wanting
a break from the
World's Fastest Motorsport. Axel tried to be at both places at the same time.
Let's have some fun! Axel was just hilarious to drive the bumper cars with
his dad, who also greatly
enjoyed a car that actually worked... And at this fair the things went on
for at least 5 minutes!
Compared to the expensive 26.5077 second rides we get at the Liseberg tivoli
back home in Gothenburg!
Karl and Axel shot until they won something (clownfish "Nemo" soft
toy). The boxing machine is a
fair classic. Karl was the best of us and got the words: "Eat more porridge"
Wanda doesn't miss a thing! Rumor has it that these guys were "dressed
up" Americans. Who knows?
"VW-Micke" Karlsson found a life in the fast lane after Frank Gudmundsen
gave up his racing in Comp
Eliminator. He has been a rather successful crew chief in 2007 for Janne "Snowball"
Palmqvist in
Pro Stock. Coming
here they
were aiming for their first 6-second run and they got it, 6.9679 put them
on the bump spot. They are aiming much better than that for the future. Janne
is going pro with this.
Two West Coast drag racing profiles who has been in it for
decades. Roger Johansson Nitrous/Pro Mod
and Krister Johansson Injected Nitro/Top Methanol Dragster has got their share
of struggle the last few
years, but they keep going - focused - because they know it's waiting for
them. Built by the right stuff.
Back in the Pro ET pit and a lot of fun cars to look at, like Anthony Wilkins
Ford pickup and Kim
Bishop's Willys, both in lower 11's.
A warm sunset in our camp.
Wow! Wanda is a successful hair stylist back home in Maryland, and Agneta
was soon premiered.
Axel preparing his gift to Laureen Somerville, his friend who he will meet
again tomorrow.
SATURDAY
September 8
Eliminations start for Pro ET
"I love the smell of trackbite in the morning..."
Fans at the Bank of Santa Pod.
"I know nooothing" as the Spanish waiter Manuel at Fawlty Towers
always says. (It was for Tog above
in Race Control). The only thing I knew was that I had no third gear and needed
to make a copy of my
last 10.95
run yesterday - 1st gear, 2nd gear, hit the rev limiter, roll, tap the brake,
roll... Dirty SS...=)
Mick Howling passed me through the traps and crossed the finishline first
with a breakout! So I won!
And plan succeeded, I got another 10.95. Copy Paste! I was through to 2nd
round, so Goal No 2 was
achieved. Thanks Wanda for walking all that way for this picture, a nice surprise!
Click it to see Agneta filming from a step ladder. =)
Laureen and Axel finally met again after another year. Then drawing can be
a fun thing to do,
when not talking each other's languages. We loved your Colin Chapman hat Laureen.
We walked by the Pro Mod pits. Patrick Wikström was so back in it that
it looked like he never had
been away. And his fans were so glad to see him again after his 20 months
of strengthening. His
biggest fan and also crew troll - Tommy "Aga" Olsson - loved to
have a good methanol cry again.
Ellwein Engines bought us Grandstand seats! Thanks Karl! You shouldn't have,
but we were happy you
did! New grandstands at Santa Pod is a treat. Things are always getting better
every year at Santa Pod.
So Team Blackout Full Size Racing walked down to the new Grandstands.
But some always see better than you, no matter what you do.
2006 Super Comp UK Champ Chris Johnson and Mr Paul in action. They've had
similar problems with
their car as we've had in the Blackout Team. Lost in Transmissions, and converters.
They already knew
they couldn't really win the class this year. Won this 1st round easily because
Frank Mason shot off
his Corvette after the burnout. However, the MG lost 2nd round with an 8.85
breakout (8.90 class index).
Quickest European side-by-side in Pro Mod ever! Lindahl upsetting everyone
with Europe's best 6.1101!
I guess that Andy Robinson in the other lane was surprised as he was going
6.1619 himself which was
Europe's 2nd quickest driver at this point!? We're now qualifying with American
performance!
And that on asphalt, not concrete! Congratulations!
Ivana's dad Rene had problems in his qualification runs. Some 20 riders fought
to get into the 8 UEM Top
Fuel bike ladder and Rene stayed on the outside. Englishman Ian King eventually
won the whole event
with a 6.44 @ 191.46 mph. But Frenchman Eric Teboul had a 6.20 @ 229.64 mph
in qualification!
To just sit on a thing like this should be worth an award.
Pit neighbour Carl Burton was No 1 Qualifier in Pro ET with 11.2210 on an
11.2200, with their "English
Rose" Tattoo Ford Sierra with Rover V8 power. We like this laid back-type
of team. Carl is also the
sponsor angler for the class. And organizer for The Pro ET Christmas Bash
in Cambridgeshire in
November. Agneta and I are thinking about going there. Just to hangaround.
When
detailing just sucks your eyes out! Iain
gladly showed us his and Liz Malcolm's super neat Pro
ET sling shot dragster with a methanol injected 2.0 L Pinto engine. Iain is
a friend of former Formula 1
engineer and exquisite welder Norm Wheeldon
who made the chrome moly frame and these headers.
And I remember when Norm was into drag racing, before he was kidnapped into
Formula 1.
Totally neat car! Windshield is from a Mario Andretti Indy Car, so is the
gas pedal which Karl is looking
at here. All this exotic stuff thanks to Norm Wheeldon. We didn't meet Liz,
she was mad inside their
van after loosing first round with a 10.90 breakout on dial-in 10.92 versus
Charlie Chivers.
More
about this fantastic dragster and team here!
Like it! "Chemical Reaction" and "Ramraider" slingshot
dragsters in Pro ET. Dog's Bollocks Drag Racing
Team. Haha! Not so fun was my newly produced dent on front fender when backing
out in a very packed
pit, into a tow car. Yes, I know. I'm the only one to blame. New paint job
is coming closer...Yellow?
YEA! Roger Goring's Firestorm always explains their name! 6.1172
was a new PB with a 256.71 mph.
He already set a 258 mph in August. Martin Hill in Santa Pod's jet funny Fireforce
had a 6.07 @ 274.76
(much larger engine). They're not allowed to matchrace in England. But in
Sweden they could...
Another classic to Tog, and many others cracked up too. I had to rely on my
10.95. I saw several teams
wait until the burnout before they filled in the last 100th in their dial-in.
Actually they're watching the
flags to see if the wind turned! They're so in tune with their cars, of course
as a result of many years
racing, many weekends year round. Envy, envy! It was getting darker to 2nd
round. Nice to see that
Art Funk Bowtie working also from the grandstand..
Dave Cherret in his "Dark Revenger" Model A Van with 440 ci. He
did his best run all weekend just here,
but it was no need for it really...because I did my third Eliminations redlight
of my career! I'll never forget
1983 vs Knuters in Piteå, 2001 in Stockholm and now this - and I have
no explanation why. You always
think you know what you're doing... It was 0.0291 under. Blä! Goal No
3 was not achieved...
Dave ran a 10.01 on his dial-in 10.00 and with and reaction of 0.0158. Hard
to beat.
So the season 2007 ended here! I didn't bother in trying to get a 10.95 again.
I let go early and rolled...
A whole season without bettering anything in performance, not even the 60
foot, And knowing that the
SS is better than last year!? Well, except for the transmissions! But the
best thing was that I ran the
whole race with only One Single Gates
Blower Belt! And it certainly looks like it will last for
another 9 tough rounds! Thank you David at Gates Inc. USA for that!
And thanks Karl and Wanda who now left Santa Pod for London and the flight
home to Maryland!
Dave Cherret and the poor guy he beat. Don't they
look very similar? In Pro ET
there is a very nice,
polite atmosphere among the racers (I'm sure in other classes too?) You often
talk to your competitor
before you line up to race, or at least afterwards. Shake hands, take pictures,
"see you next race".
Almost a worn out expression, but it's really a Family.
Nice
tradition at Santa Pod, a great firework on Saturday night! And that Plymouth
again...
Team Thriller clutchman Top Fuel Thore was saying something like "Some
debris on the magneto of the
input shaft". He's a laugh all the time, besides being a widely respected
clutchman. Roger Goring was
certainly well dressed this evening so he got to see some bonus-video.
Danish Stig Neergaard is really climbing fast in Top Fuel. A blast just to
experience his fat overwhelming
warm ups at night and to cry a little! Nitro has a direct connection to your
heart! It's hypnotic, you can't
walk away from it, you are drawn into it like a little mouse to the snake.
Let's go over to the other side again. Party party! Pubs and restaurant trailers
are working on red. We
love what Santa Pod is providing! You never need to leave the place, except
for shopping at Tesco.
Yea, Axel! Of course we'll go night racing with the bumper cars! This time
we also brought Patrick and
Ann-Catrin's kids Simon and Niklas who you see smiling together with Axel.
Play at its best!
This big centrifugal went on for ever. Then it went in the other direction!
A lot of bang for your money
here! Santa Pod Fair gets 4 out of 5. All have fun.
SUNDAY
September 9
Enjoying the best race in Europe at the best place!
Was Micke Gullqvist really prepared for his Mini-Me? In line up for first
Pro Mod Eliminations a totally
neat half-scale copy of his '57 Chevy showed up and charmed everybody! Courtesy
of the Andy Frost
family where Andy's son fell in love with the brutal bright red Pro Mod some
years ago and they
started to build this mini-ride! I see hundreds of hours of love in this!
And it payed off!
Bank was packed with fans on Sunday (tip: go here early!) We followed the
local experts (who normally
would race now, not watch...) From left: Agneta. Axel with sword (!?), Laureen,
her well dressed daddy
Paul Somerville and her mum Denise Somerville. Diane Johnson and her husband
Chris, still Super
Comp No 1 at this point. This was at 1/8 mile and watching was just great!
Dave Cherret's mechanic got his scalp t-shirt on for next round of Pro ET
eliminations. It didn't help.
Back home in the pit I saw I've missed the visit of Susanne Callin and her
baby daughter Jaqueline.
Dad is the guy who made Santa Pod so great in just a few years - Keith Bartlett
of TrakBak Limited.
Mustang
and Spitfire.
I said "Don't mention the war! I did it once but I think I got away with
it..."
L-O Jonsson and Leif Helander is ready and
Hasse Westman wishes good luck. Yesterday Leif
achieved a career best speed of 284.98 mph on
a 5.3620 (5.35 is his
PM). Englishman John Spuffard
was No 1 qualifier with 5.1390 @ 284.90. Feels rather blue
if Leif's career really ends here...
I remember when Hasse teamed with late Kjell Näsberg in Top Fuel in the
70's. Now he worked for Kjell
Sjöblom in FIA Methanol FC who got 5.98 (his
first 5) but lost to eventual event winner Dan Larsen.
Leif's Nitro Funny car engine delivers 5500 horsepower! The car and track
can't handle more.
An interesting wire solution to keep wings'n'things in their place at speeds
around 285 mph...
Then some PANIC in the Pro Mod
pit of Patrick Wikström! The driver's door window had got some bad
tire shaking vibes so it broke and it blew out at the finishline in the winning
race over Mats Eriksson!
The biggest upset of Team Thriller all race according to Patrick himself!
"Mats was a close shave"
So where to get another window? Who have a similar Camaro? Maybe in Pro Stock!?
- Hello Tommy Leindahl...eh...nice window you have there...and you're
not in the race...?
THANKS TOMMY! Ritch! 45 minutes to go...and all this #€X% small screws
and nuts and washers...!
Friends came in from all corners to help in with what they could! Motto was
"We are Gothenburgers first,
deadly competitors last". Here's one Pro Mod competitor working himself
wet in stressy TIG weldings.
Can you guess by the tattoos who he is?
Michael Nord of course! Very successful hired daredevil driver in Jörgen
Karlssons nitrous-Mustang who
just had a big redlight (you and me Micke...say no more). A couple of years
ago he was in Patrick's
team before he began working on his own career in the Top Doorslammer Outlaw
Nova (former
Wikström's, now Aki's) parallel with the Mustang PM-ride. We saw more
Gothenburgers to dig in,
VW-Micke for instance. Even I had to give a hand while filming at the same
time! I almost never stopped
the camera, so I have a super video of this great panic, which I will show
- uncut - during our Christmas
party in TBDGIT. A lot of suspense is guaranteed...and...laughter...
Included in this video are the pit neigbours the Lindahl twins,
now Europe's quickest and among the
quickest in the World, who decided to change heads in this very same time
frame! Panic x 2. Best of
all in this messy story is that next pair for Pro Mod Semi final actually
was Wikström vs Lindahl!
And the teams helped each other into the last minute! Only in drag racing!
In line
two minutes before time! What a rush! I'm glad I didn't miss it! They crossed
over Tommy
Leindahl's Pro Stock number on the window to not distract the timing officials,
but they certainly
wanted to have his name to fly with them! Team
Thriller ready for the Semi Finals!
Further down the line the communication between the teams vanished
slowly but surely. Now it was
the fight for a place in the Final versus the winner of either "Gullan"
or Andy Robinsson who also
had a fight of the 2007 Championship in their Semi round!
Well, Robinson broke the clutch linkage (!) during the burnout so "Gullan"
had a bye run to win the
Championship and was in the Final! And Lindahl got a not so straight run and
lost it to Patrick!
"The
Final Countdown!" - Proper title. Especially since the rock group Europe
sponsored this car
a couple of years ago! That song is of course their biggest world hit.
Leif took away Gary Page in first round with a 5.49 to the Englishman's 5.87.
And then used a 5.46 to
put away John Spuffard with a troublesome 5.95 in the final! The most uneven
class of European
Drag racing ever! Nevertheless, Leif won his last race!
Because he was least uneven. Good story!
Visit his site and beg him to continue (don't say I told you!) www.starkotter.se/
Hm? I've recently seen this type of messaging elsewhere... They even borrowed
my shoe color to do it. =)
Congratulations Team Gullqvist from Blackout Full Size Racing! Hard work pays
off!
Freshly baked Bilsport FIA Pro Mod European Champion Micke Gullqvist and born
drag racer Patrick
Wikström in the Finals! Micke a lot quicker so far, with a 6.1562 in
first round (Europe's second
quickest driver!) but Patrick was very very very hungry even if he had only
a 6.3387 in his pocket!
Consider also; he had a black car and was all smiles! Look out!
"Gullan" was better all the way until beyond the 1/8 mile when he
let go, possibly because of some
mechanical malfunction. So Patrick won even the Final! 6.38 @ 222 mph to a
slowing 7.07 @ 144.
The Pro Mod winners - Team OFAB "Just wanted to test all the new stuff"
Thriller Camaro! Plus Axel.
Super good work! Congratulations everyone! Surprising. Who could ever think
this could happen?
(Well, I did already on Friday. Tog too. Do we get anything extra for that?
No? Of course not. OK.)
Patrick won the European Finals while "Gullan" won the Championship.
Keith Bartlett fixes everything.
Leif Helander got a humongous cheer for winning his last (?) race in Funny
Car over local John Spuffard.
To the right you see the two super announcers John Price
and Graham Beckwith. Good
announcers are
an important ingredient of a good race. If you ever have heard these two gentlemen
pumping up
excitement
- and humour - into any given duel, you know what I mean! Thanks guys!
"Red Victor" - World's Quickest
and Fastest pump gas car!
Andy Frost was just dominating this weekend in his little Vauxhall! He began
with 8.0 sec passenger
rides on the press day! (left) and then continued to cut the Competition Eliminator
cake with his
7 second machine until he reached the top. Best was a new PB 7.678 @ 188 mph
on a 7.80-index.
That's on drag radials and on pump gas! Gulp! The
twin turbo 572 ci give some entertaining 2000 hp!
Yes, a very popular guy at the awards presentation! More here:
www.redvictor1racing.co.uk
But why is Kirstie Tramm trying to hide in some 70's Palestinian outfit?
Urs Erbacher from Switzerland battled to the win in Top Fuel! Even if Andy
Carter earlier was a few
hundreds quicker, this man won over difficult Dane Stig Neergaard in the Final
and that also was worth
the FIA European Top Fuel Championship! Best performance was 4.7629 @ 300
mph in qualifying and
4,8171 in the Final to Neergaard's 4.8797. Andy set the European TF quickest
run earlier with a 4.6450
(didn't back it up) but lost to Stig in round 1 due to a broken blower belt!
All of these guys are really moving forward!
This lovely cheering crowd at the prize giving ceremony is simply the best
I've seen in Europe, and in
the world. Happy and responsive, it's like that ol' sing-along show seen on
TV from Albert Hall in UK.
Two happy guys. The Wikström fan who got the broken window, signed by
the team. And Frank, the
team daddy of the Lindahl twins, always smiling and joking, especially in
the teams (un)lucky wig.
This race is what we bring home and live of all winter! It sets the standard
for next season for many
pro-going Swedes. For us in the sportsman Blackout Full Size Racing Team this
race is the most
important to be at, if only one race could be chosen all year. This race is
a whole season in itself.
Thanks Santa Pod and UK!
You just don't want it to end - but here it does. What!? Are you really still
reading? Thanks!
You are my kind of people, I do this for you! And for our family.
Well, we can at least drive it home again. Barely!
See Part 3, going home was terrible at times... =)
Thanks for
the pictures Wanda, Stefan Boman, Axel, Roger Gorringe, Patrik Jacobsson and
Sören.
No report to be done without your talents! And we wish you well Sharkman!
