2005 Veidec Festival Pit Notes Lördag / Saturday
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17:30 MSD Ignition is being represented by Joe Pando, Drag Race Manager, who has come to Mantorp for the first time. He said "We are here to support the racers and MSD Ignition recognises we have customers in Europe and want to do something for them. I have been with MSD since 1979 and my role is to manage all drag racing products in MSD. I have known Leif Andreasson for several years and at the NHRA he met MSD Ignition's new owners. "Our products are widely used; at Mantorp we are testing equipment in use as a service to racers. We are always developing new products. For example two weeks ago we met the NHRA to discuss safety concerns and are working in conjunction with them to introduce features to protect racers. We have introduced a timed rev limiter in Pro Stock that shuts the engine off after a predetermined time in the event of the throttle sticking. In the light of the tragic accident involving Shelly Howard in the US, we have accelerated development of this type of product for nitro and methanol classes. "After the Veidec Festival, we will meet with the FIA tech officials to brief them on these developments. The sport is very big in Europe, which we have recognised for some time working with Leif. The sport is very much a "let's go racing" rather than overly corporate. As a company we want to come back and attend more events and at the least we will train people on our test equipment so that this can be a facility supplied for all major events. We also are looking to address the lead time for supplying equipment, which we understand can impact teams mid-season where our parts are needed urgently." Cliff Gould, team member for Joran Persåker's Top Fueler, said "We were all ready and fired the motor up in the pits and then a piston ring broke and the oil pressure fell. That's why we missed the first session, but we'll be out in the second one." Lex Joon (Top Fuel) said of his run in the first session, "All was well until the blower belt came off at 2.7 seconds, which we believe is due to the bump in the right hand lane. Our incrementals were excellent, a 0.86 60 foot and 3.20 at the eighth. Our next run is in the left lane and we'll see what we can do. We have kept in touch with Eddie throughout the meeting but my mobile phone bill is getting astronomical!" Tommy Möller (Top Fuel) said both we and Micke had really big tyre shake from the start, so much that I couldn't see at all and a wing strut broke. We have now fixed the wing and will run in the next session. The motor is fine and we hope we can calm it down." Thanks go to major sponsors Pennzoil. In the Pro Mod pits, Patrik Pers had a broken starter motor on the warmup for the first session which was being fixed as we passed; Patrik expects to be out in the next session. One aspect of Patrik Pers' car that presented something of a mystery to us is the inscription on the door of the Corvette. The romantic-looking Juha Sari lettering was identified as being a dedication to the wife of a sponsor... Lars Inge Johansson lost a window out of a door on his run this morning. Repairs were being effected as we passed. Lars Olsson (Pro Mod) ran a 6.92 in the M&D Motorsport '89 Firebird but is only 22nd in the 16 car field. "The car's owner is Mats Jönsson and it is brand new; it was only our seventh run on it. The car was built by Bertans Racecars and has a Scott Shafriroff 706ci nitrous motor. I raced in Pro Mod between 1996 and 2002 and won the Swedish Pro Mod championship in the '68 Mustang now raced by Christer Jacobs. Thanks to my team Stefan Persson and Håkan Carlsson and to sponsors Texaco and Slangplöjaren." The owner of Bertans Racecars is Bert-Ove Olsson who also drives a Pro Mod '61 Impala. Bert-Ove said "I started racing and building race cars in 1986. The race car building business has kept me very busy, so we are only able to attend three events in 2005. We would like to attend more next year. My best time is a 6.58 but we're not entirely happy this weekend as we put in a tuneup for a 6.3 and it shook badly and got out of the groove - our best time this event has been 6.76, which puts us 20th." Bert-Ove's main sponsors are Castolin Eutectic. In the Pro Stock Bike pits, Henrik Carlsson, crew member for Roger Petterson, said, "We are struggling but at least we have something that we can use in eliminations." A 7.37 was good only for 2nd place. Henrik said "The problem has been spinning the tyre at the start. We have sorted both the clutch and ignition to prevent this next time." The bike has a 1640cc Byron Hines motor with a Trac frame and Liberty 6-speed gearbox. Thanks go to event sponsors Veidec. 14:30 Anders Abrahamsson (Pro Stock Bike) is No. 1 qualifier after three sessions with 7.36 (his PB is 7.30 set in Alastaro). He said "The track is great in both lanes and our 1640cc motor is pushing us hard at the end. We have had no major problems in getting stopped as we put in better brakes for this year, but locked the front wheel on the last run. The motor we are using this year won the 2002 championship in Övind von Essen's bike and we continue to use the Trac frame we bought in 2001. Anders Larsson who pits alongside Anders Abrahamsson, had a new PB of 7.42, qualifying no. 2. He said, "We've struggled all season - at the Main Event we broke the engine and we had some malfunctions at Alastaro which reduced the power that was being made from what we had seen on the dyno. After this, we ground some holes in the fairing to take the air pressure away from the carburettor, which did the trick. We only have one motor, which is self-built with a Vortex head, and we even grind our own camshafts. Our frame is a Kosman; only Chris Hope and us run this in Europe." Martin Bishop qualified 4th in PSB with 7.45, a PB by over a tenth. "Our new 1640cc motor from George Babour & Ward Perfomance has improved our performance," said Martin. "We also have new telemetry, a new datalogging system, ignition system and carbs." Martin's frame is a Steelhart Engineering piece. Martin is doing live internet updates on his runs from his pit via www.mbmotorsport.co.uk. Thanks go to sponsors Prolong, Riart, Jewel Consulting, JS Design, Superstylin, F1 Moto and Cannon Engineering. Martin would also like to thank team members Chris Adams (crew chief), Dean Todd (Race Engineer & Telemetry), Dave Pearce, Alison Adams and Geoff Myers. Chris Hope was 5th in PSB with a 7.56. He said "We have a new front brake system to stop more quickly. On both runs we clicked it off two tenths before the end of the pass and still went into the gravel trap on the second run. We stripped the bike down completely to remove the gravel and missed this morning's session as a result. Both lanes are good and we ran a 1.15 60 foot time on both passes. We want to step up to a 7.4 but only as long as we can stop the bike. We are pitting with Roger Petterson for this meeting and Norway as the arrangement suits us both. To step up to a 7.2 we need a new motor and sponsorship is necessary for this to happen." In Top Methanol Dragster, Dave Wilson (No. 1 qualifier) said the performance dropped off by a couple of hundreths due solely to the weather, the temperatures being cooler than yesterday and humidity higher. He said "There have been no major dramas, and only planned maintenance has been carried out - we schedule to change rods after 20 runs and rotate and overhaul the heads too. You've got to do your work before it does you!" Peter Schöfer ran a 5.60 to remain in second place in TMD. Crew member Gittli Koller said "Our first run was pretty good, a 5.59, but the second run effectively ended when Peter shifted to second gear and something broke in the trans. We found the problem and replaced it and checked the whole car very thoroughly and fully stripped the motor. We're not unhappy with the 5.60 as the weather conditions are not so good today." Rob Turner said "We have lost some performance this session - we duplicated our normal setup which ran a 5.60 yesterday but the car was slower on all the incrementals. We are looking at it and will make the next session." 12:00 One off track innovation here is the large TV screen which is relaying pictures of all the racing, and is placed at about 1000'. The picture quality is very impressive with today's cloudy conditions. Keith Bartlett said "We're excited about this development as it adds a whole new dimension for the spectator and will be a tremendous advertising opportunity for firms. In 2006 we would like to put a large TV screen at all FIA events where outside broadcast facilities are available." We gather that post race interviews are planned for tomorrow's eliminations. Urs Erbacher (TMFC) said "For us, the right lane is the best. We ran a 5.87 down that side on the first run. On the second run a rocker arm and gear drive broke which we have replaced, otherwise no damage. Our aim is to run a 5.6 or 5.7." Leif Andreasson (TMFC) said "The track is tremendous, and unfortunately we have had too much tyre shake. Before the second run we changed everything, with more power and more clutch. I wanted to get a number on the qualifying sheets so I went back on the throttle after I lifted. However, the shake was so bad it let the fire extinguisher off. The chutes also wrapped around the wheel. The run was a 6.04 at 390kph, but we lost three tenths." We then spoke to two Pro Mod racers not usually seen outside Scandinavia. Kent Trenneman runs a '51 Chevy Business Coupe built in Sweden by Bertans Racecars and it is first season in Pro Mod after 30 years in racing. He said "We've run most classes and have spent the last seven years in Top Doorslammer. The only breakage we've had in 30 years is one piston, two valves and a couple of rotor arms. We race for fun and so are doing only a few Pro Mod races, not the full series." The car which is blown often runs at 1/8 mile tracks and was not on a top quarter mile track for three years before 2005. Kent's personal best is 6.50 set at Sundsvall in 2005, but is not quite content with the 6.658 that has placed him 12th after two sessions. "The tyres slipped so we have put a new pair on for the next run," said Kent. "My local track is Malmo, a new 1/8 mile one built specially for drag racing near the city. There are excellent facilities including wireless networks and using the same ashphalt compound as Santa Pod. I was able to run a 4.16 on an unprepped track." Marko Lantto has been racing only since 2000. He said "We started in Super Comp with a blown '70 Camaro and changed to a '32 Bantam which we ran in Super Comp for the next three years as Reckless Racing Team. At the start of 2004 we raced the Bantam in Competition Eliminator with a new motor, running methanol and fuel injection. We then merged with Lassi Luoma's team to form Flat Out racing and run the '80 Corvette that Lassi previously drove to a best of 6.99. My best with the car is 7.10 at 319kph. We have had a lot of tyre shake this meeting and our aims are to reduce this and run a 6.7." Gordon Appleton (Pro Mod) is sporting a "Hello Ade" message on his rear screen, presumably to be viewed through the Webster Race Engineering/MPM Oils Webcam! Gordon said of his absentee crew chief "Adrian is keeping in touch via the race reports and we speak on the phone before and after every run and we talk about the data. If he doesn't hear from us for a couple of hours he texts us to ask what's going on." Maintenance on the car has been routine. Andy Robinson's Pro Mod Studebaker, currently no. 1 qualifier, missed the second qualifying session. Son and crew member Luke Robinson said "We decided to change the whole set of rods as they have had a few runs on them and we want to improve on our 6.36 time. Today, the air's cooler and the motor should make more power. We'll use about the same clutch settings. We would like to thank Torco Oils." In a reversal of usual practice, the crew wanted to thank Andy for his investment in the operation. 09:30 Good morning and welcome to Saturday's pit notes. It's rained overnight and the track crew have been hard at work drying the track and getting it back ready for racing. Ian Marshall, Darren Prentice, John Hackney, Steve Warner and Steve Horn from Santa Pod are all here working alongside their Swedish and Finnish colleagues. Gary Page was working on Joran Persåker's car, which had put a rod out yesterday through the sump. The damage was described as "Repairable but a nuisance". In relation to Gary's black CBD car, the front end is light for the first few hundred feet, making the car difficult to steer and the car getting out of the groove. One message that was asked to be relayed to Richard "Top Nitro" Stirling from a member of Joran's crew - "George says meow!" Also working by 8am were Susanne Callin's crew, headed up by Mark "Animal" Bodimeade with Scotch Rob and Kevin Kent. Scotch Rob said "We had to hose down Susanne's motor after the trip into the kitty litter but found no damage. We're really pleased with the 5.05 after the problems earlier in the season." Susanne is driving the car (now repainted in Persåker's Speed Shop colours to match Joran's car) in place of Chris Andrews this weekend. Animal said "Chris got a kidney infection and was unfortunately not able to make it to Mantorp. He hopes to travel to Norway next weekend." Tommy Moller is very happy with his runs on Friday. A top-qualifying 4.84 was followed by a blower belt-shredding 5.07. "If the belt had stayed on, it would have run a 4.7", said Tommy. "The bolts on the blower lifted shredding the belt, not a big issue. The five disc clutch is a big step forward. It's much less tricky to set up than the old four disc one and now we've got a good setup with it that will work at all the FIA tracks. We were the only team with a four disc clutch." I asked Tommy whether he is going to Bahrain in November and he said "Maybe, but we want to send Sharkman over first to see what it's like!" We spoke briefly to Jonas Staflund (TMFC), who damaged a cylinder head. Fast Freddie came to the rescue with the loan of a spare. "Many thanks to Freddie without whose help we would not have been able to run today", said Jonas. Peter Emilsson is racing in Pro Stock in his Oldsmobile Cutlass acquired from Jan Muren at the start of 2004. He said, "We are not qualified as our 7.17 is just outside the bump spot of 7.16. Our PB is 7.13. We have a new L&T clutch that we are still figuring out and want to get a tenth off our time and qualify." Peter, a former Competition Eliminator runner, raced in Pro Stock in 2000 and 2001 in a Pontiac Trans Am. "I would like to thank Marcus Svensson for helping us with the clutch." Marcus helps many of the Pro Stock teams in this way and was a crew member for several teams in the US during a 10-12 year stint there, including George Marnell and Frank Iaconio. Peter said "A special thanks to my partner Berit Höög who is my crew chief." As last year, Peter is only running Mantorp and Gardermoen in 2005 but is working on sponsorship to run at Santa Pod in 2006. |
