BLOG CENTRAL - URS ERBACHER - INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY
In its never-ending quest to bring the entire world of drag racing to its readers, CompetitionPlus.com has added one of the more interesting correspondents to its line-up in the form of reigning FIA Top Fuel champion Urs Erbacher.
Already the quickest and fastest man on the continent and the subject of Discovery Channel Europe's Kings of Nitro television series, Erbacher is rapidly becoming as big a star in the United States as he is throughout Europe and his native Switzerland.
A custom motorcycle builder by trade -- on par with the likes of Jesse James at West Coast Choppers and the Teutul family at Orange County Choppers -- Erbacher spent the fall of 2007 and the spring of 2008 prepping to defend his FIA title with several warm-up tests on the NHRA tour. It's been an unprecedented time for U.S. fans to see how things are done on the other side of the pond.
UPDATED 9-24-2008
No title defense this time
Well, we're finally starting to pick ourselves up from the disappointing end to the season. We weren't able to win the championship again and it really made everyone depressed as we were all hoping to remain No. 1 in FIA. We realize you can't win every year and now we know how the others felt last year. It was not our turn this time and the best team won. I congratulate Andy Carter and his team.
We do feel like we learned a lot this year and the car is probably 90 percent the way we want it to be. We ended the season with 23 straight runs with no engine damage so we have found a good set-up and the car is pretty fast.
Our crew chief Wayne Dupuy was upset that he couldn't run 4.5s on the tracks we race on over here. They're just not like American racetracks. He'll get his chance soon enough as we head back the United States for Las Vegas and Pomona. I really want to bring a Wally home for my team and for me.
The race trailer was once again packed-up and driven to Antwerp harbor in the Netherlands to ship back to the USA. We will fly over in late October and I hope to pick up again with all our American fans. Also, we want our European fans to root for us on this trip.
This weekend we have our big season-ending party with live music. (Please see the flyer I have attached.)
Any way, here is my final race report from the FIA Finals in Santa Pod, England. The first thing to say is that England's reputation as a cold and wet island is well deserved. It rained every day and we lost the first two days of qualifying, just like at the season-opener. We stood there for two days very cold and not in good mood.
By Sunday afternoon, it finally dried just enough to run, so they said we'd have one time trial and then go right into eliminations. One run - one chance, but after so much rain the set-up was like a lottery pick. You just hope for the best. When we ran there was still water on the track and we posted a shutoff 10.50. Some of the teams did get down but we ended up sixth heading to eliminations.
In the first round we met an old acquaintance at the starting line: Micke Kagered. Micke picked up his performances as the season went along and he was ahead of us in the points at the start of the race. We ran him as hard as the track would allow but he beat us with a 5.69 to our 6.11. We could have used some more runs to prepare but instead, that was it; season over. We ended up fourth.
Our FatAttach.ch Super Twin Bike and rider Lo Stauble also had trouble finding traction. Lo was nearly thrown from the saddle in his qualification run and had to get on and off the gas during his run. Since only seven bikes were in attendance, Lo's qualifying time wasn't as important as getting data. Still, the other title contenders were there and we all had the same chance.In the first round Lo met Dutchman Job Heezen, who was fourth in the points. For Lo, the distance to point leader Sven Olav Rolfstad was too large but he could end the season as vice-master (the European way of saying No. 2 in points). He did enough before the rain came once again to earn that title, so good job for Lo.
I'll check back in after the party. Thanks for everyone's support during the season.
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8-22-2008
The big news from FatAttack.ch Racing camp is that we are definitely coming back to the USA for the Las Vegas and Pomona races, so please let us know if there is a sponsor for our team!
We just completed our "home" race, the NitrolympX at Hockenheimring this past Sunday in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It's the closest event to our homes in Switzerland and the biggest race on the FIA circuit, at least on the mainland.
It's always a memorable event for us because lots of our friends and family can come over and root for us. It makes for a great party, especially when the car is running well.
In the end, we ran great two out of three days, with the one day when we didn't perform up to our potential being the most important one - race day. We lost in the first round, which makes it very tough for us to defend our championship this year, although we still have a chance and will fight as hard as we can in England at the FIA Finals to steal this one away from the others.
No one has taken control of Top Fuel so anything can happen. Wayne Dupuy, our crew chief that Americans know very well, says we will try for the elapsed time record to get the bonus points. If we can do that, we'll be right back in the fight. We just need to get it done, and win the race too.
We start Hockenheim with more rain and didn't get to run our first session until late in the day. The track was very suspect by then so we were pretty happy to post a 5.049 at 281.59 mph, which made us third. The car really wants to go fast at the start but the back end of the track is very loose and we were spinning the tires quite a bit after half-track.
Saturday was better weather and we opened with a nice 4.835 at 307.58 mph that put us No. 1 on the sheets. That got everyone excited. We didn't improve in the final qualifying round and ended up second so things were looking great for the
Midland Oil dragster team.
We had Risto Poutiainen scheduled for Round 1. He qualifies with only a 5.10 so we have the advantage on paper. Unfortunately, the car wasn't agreeing with us on this morning and try as I might I could not get it to go down the track.
Risto, meanwhile, stepped up to a 4.834 and took the win.
The only good news was that points leader Andy Carter also lost in the first round, and Lex Joon, who we were tied with in second place, didn't win the race (he came in second), so the door was left open.
We really have the car running well right now. There was a small mistake in Round 1 but otherwise we are happy. As I said before, we will hold nothing back in Santa Pod as we try to keep the title in Switzerland.
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7-30-2008
We have just returned from the Veidec Festival at Mantorp Park in Sweden and our
spirits are very high after coming from the bottom half of the field and racing
to a runner-up result. We wanted the win, of course, but this kept us right in
the fight for the championship, especially since we were able to beat points
leader Lex Joon in Round 1. We are now second overall.
I love the Veidec
Festival because it's the middle race of our five-race season and it starts the
most intense time of competition as we follow this race with the NitrolympX in
Hockenheim, Germany, and the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod, England, all
within six weeks. We can now dedicate ourselves and our minds to 100-percent
racing.
The team becomes very well coordinated during this time and
everyone is happy. They don’t even complain about unloading the trailer and
setting up the pit as much.
Once the race starts, the guys are
beautifully in sequence. It's the way it should be.
The distance in
Mantorp has always been tough for drag racers. First of all, it goes uphill and
there has always been a bump in the middle of the track. Plus, the discharge
(shutdown area) is extremely short. For safety reasons this year, and in light
of Scott Kalitta's tragic accident, officials decided to shorten the racing
course from 1,320 feet to 1,000 feet. Thus, the discharge zone is extended by
100 meters and the Top Fueler should be able to stop safely before the gravel
bed. Remember that a dragster covers 100 meters in less than a
second!
The opening day was wonderful weather but very hot for
Scandinavia as the thermometer ready 88 degrees when we went up for the first
round. We ended up with a 4.48 that gave Wayne some good data for the second
session and he was able to tune us up a bit to a 4.4221 at 258 mph, good enough
for third.
Day 2 was one for the nerves as we were unable to improve in
Round 3 and suddenly found ourselves outside the field in ninth place with the
weather only getting hotter. Everyone else had run really well and we didn't, so
we went to the last session needing a steady pass.
With great
determination from everyone, we were able to improve quite a bit to a 4.2728 at
280 mph to get the seventh spot. Whew!
Across the pits, our FatAttack.ch
teammate Lo Stauble was running his Super Twin Bike. The bikes had already been
shortened to one-eighth mile last year so they stayed with that again. After
some problems with the timing system in Round 1, Lo returned and put down a
4.5672 at 168 mph to earn fourth place.
The next day we were all glad we
weren't wearing the leathers Lo must wear riding his bike as it must have been
painfully hot in that suit. Still, Lo improved on a hot track to a 4.4979 at 168
mph and stayed fourth.
Sunday welcomed us again with more sunshine and
similar temperatures. All the tuners longed for a few clouds to cool the track
but their desire was not met. We opened with points leader Lex Joon and knew we
must be good to beat him. We get a great start -- .068 to .138 -- and raced hard
to win with a 4.21 to 4.31. Great job team!
In the second run, Jari
Halinen had early traction problems and was on and off the throttle several
times. Our car again ran well and we win with a 4.26 to 4.47. Finally, the
FatAttack team is back in a final round. After all the time of winter and going
to the U.S. to race, it seemed like an eternity since this had happened, but
actually it was last year's final.
Andy Carter was next and he had been
quick all weekend so we took a shot. Unfortunately, we gave the track too much
horsepower and the tires were soon spinning away as Andy drove away to win. Our
congratulations go to that team.
Now we want to get to our "home track"
in Hockenheim and get our revenge.
Lo's race day wasn't quite as good. He
started with a bye run when opponent Tommy Möller didn't show up. Lo still ran a
4.51 but that was the slowest of the four bikes advancing. In Round 2, Lo jumps
to huge lead with .130 to .225 reaction time edge but his bike goes crazy and he
has a handful just staying upright. Per Bengtsson put down a 4.40 and that's the
end of the day for Lo.
Before the NitrolympX, our friend Siw Nystad will
drive the car for exhibition at a motorcycle race in Gardermoen near Oslo,
Norway, as she learns about Top Fuel racing.
Lo will also be racing in
Gardermoen, where the distance is flat like a kitchen board and enormously fast,
probably the most beautiful and best distance in Scandinavia.
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7-21-2008
I have been very busy and I wish to apologize for the delay in getting this latest blog to you, my favorite readers and fans. The kids have a small summer break from school lessons so I have been soaking up as much time with them as possible. We are currently on holiday at the border of Switzerland and Italy. It's very relaxing.
Last weekend we had the FHRA Nitro Nationals in Alastaro, Finland. It was the second race of our season, but really the first after Santa Pod rained out. Let me recap our weekend for you, for both our Top Fuel team and our Super Twin motorbike team and rider Lorenz Stäuble.
Qualifying was an on-and-off deal for the dragster as the track was very suspect after 1,000 feet. The first run Friday we went to about half-track before spinning the tires. Later that day we put a 4.91 on the scoreboard, which placed us second overall so we went to sleep in our tents with a happy smile.
Yes, I said tents. At this race, we all camp out -- teams and fans -- as there are no hotels for more than 100 kilometers.
Saturday we got up and tried to figure out a plan to improve. We ran a 4.823 last year at this race so that became the mark we wanted to beat. Andy Carter has the distance record of 4.76 but that was at night and we were running the last two sessions in the day so we stayed within our means.
The first run Saturday is not worth mentioning but we did improve to a 4.84 in the final round, which secured the No. 2 spot for us heading into Sunday. The dragster team was happy for now.
Lo started off qualifying on the FatAttack.ch bike with a bit of a test run. Then he posted a 6.98 Friday night to take the provisional pole and a 6.76 Saturday morning, which ended up putting him to No. 2.
His fourth attempt reminded me of Texas because it looked like he was riding a bucking bull. It was a crazy ride but naturally his ambition was unbroken.
We all decided there had to be more in the track, since the distance in Alastaro was really well prepared and even had remained exempt from larger downpours of rain.
The last run was dead-straight, no more bucking, and the time was with 6.80 seconds, which made Lo the top qualifier heading to his Sunday attack.
I drew Tommi Haapanen the Finn in the first elimination round, the round we say where it is forbidden to lose. Thankfully, we adhered to our rule and got the win. I had to wait a long time at the light since Tommi couldn't get his dragster in reverse after the burnout. The finally got it back but he was distracted, as his .415-second light indicated.
Round 2 was a hot affair against former champion Lex Joon. Unfortunately, we both overpowered the track and when I tried to get back on the throttle the blower belt came off and I was dead in the water. Lex did better and beat me, and went on to win the race.
When Lo rolled up for first round his opponent, Harri Piesensalmi, was not to be seen anywhere. It turns out he could not begin the elimination because of a technical defect and so had Lo a bye run. He didn't take it easy, running a great 6.54 at 344 km/h down the right side of the lane to set a record for the Super Twin class.
Lo's next opponent was Sven Olav Rolfstad, who has been riding a lot in the U.S. He has a good team and regularly runs 6.70s. This race was a great one, 6.75 to 6.76, but Lo was on the wrong end and was eliminated.
Lo will now prepare for the Veidec Festival, July 24-27, at Mantorp Park in Sweden. Our next race with the dragster is August 15-17 with the NitrolympX at Hockenheim, Germany.
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6-15-2008
I knew I'd missing racing in the States but after our season opener in England
was washed out and since it's pretty much rained for all of May and June, I'm
really wishing I over with my NHRA friends. I need my nitro fix like everyone
else.
We are hoping to return in the fall (after winning our second FIA
title, I hope) but we do need to have an American sponsor, so if anyone knows a
company that wants to reach a big audience in Europe and the USA, please tell
them about us..
The rain has slowed down our motorcycle riding and Fat
Attack business a little as no one wants to go out and ride in the rain.
Hopefully, sunny days are ahead.
It did clear up enough for the Days of
Steel ride on June 14th. It revolved around Europapark in Germany, which is like
Disneyworld. We are sponsors of the event so of course it's a big day for us.
The whole crew from the Top Fuel team came and we had a lot of fun. We also got
a little ride in, which was good.
After that, we headed over to
Hockenheim to display the Destroyer Harley Bike and do some burnouts for the
fans. Everyone had fun with that one. That was a charity event with all the
money going to children with heart problems, so it's a great cause.
We
have completed some cool bikes at the shop and I've done a lot of testing with
the new motorcycles. I always ride every bike for a couple hundred miles to make
sure it's working properly with no problems. Once we give it to the customer, we
wish for it to be perfect. It's something that is very important to
me.
As I mentioned in previous blogs, Discovery Channel EMEA has began
playing our TV show, Kings of Nitro. This makes it exciting for all of us and as
the people start to see more and more of our team they start to recognize us
when we go out. That's a crazy thing but we like to meet everyone new so we like
it very much.
Racing starts back up in a few weeks when we head to the
FHRA Nitro Nationals, July 3-6, in Alastaro, Finland. Wayne and guys have the
car totally ready to go, which allowed Wayne to go home for a couple weeks. Once
he comes back next time he's here for the tour.
Wayne had never been out
of the U.S. before he came here a month ago, but he really fit in well and
everyone was happy to have him with us. He liked Switzerland the best, just like
all the Formula 1 guys, many of whom live here. Wayne is very famous in the drag
racing world over here and he has many fans.
We are looking forward to
beating our friend Andy Carter and the other guys when we get up to Finland and
we really want take the European record into the 4.50 range.
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5-28-2008
The first race of the FIA European championship took place like always in
England on the legendary race track of Santa Pod. Our Top Fuel team was
completely ready to go after the four races we had run in the United States this
spring.
As for our Super Twin team, this would be the first proof of
their rebuilt bike with two injectors. Our rider, Lorenz "Lo" Stäuble, hadn't
had a chance to test but it didn't matter as they had the FatAttack.ch bike
ready to go.
It was great to have our entire team together with our crew
chiefs Wayne Dupuy and Brian Sturgeon working with one another. After winning a
round in America and qualifying for all of our races there, we were set for big
things, even though it took 30 hours to get a ferry across to England due to a
truckers strike.
Qualifying started okay and by the end of the Day 1 we
were third with a 4.894 at 311.52 mph, just behind Stig Neegard (4.893) and Andy
Carter (4.815). Wayne said we could run a 4.50 with no problem as his confidence
in the track was growing. I was very excited for Sunday's next two rounds of
qualifying. I knew we were going to set a record as the weather was nice and
cool.
Lo started great in Super Twin and was No. 1 by a great margin with
a 6.629 at 206.26 mph. They were even being careful with the newly rebuilt motor
and were watching for material wear, etc…very closely. I should have known
better than to worry about Lo. He showed why he is the champion.
The fact
we were in England became apparent in Day 2 when it started to rain and just
never stopped. By the afternoon, they said qualifying was over and the field was
set as is, which put us against Norwegian racer Torstein Risdal, who went 5.491
in qualifying. It was looking okay although everyone was nervous after such a
short qualifying session. We all knew that finding the right set-up would not be
easy. According to the weather, the elimination became a lottery.
On
race day, we started early and although the clouds were low they started running
cars. However, just as the first pair of Top Fuel cars did a burnout, the rain
returned. From there, it never stopped and the race was finally called off
entirely.
In Europe, because people travel through many international
borders, they can't hold over for extra days. It becomes too much of a problem.
So we take qualifying points and move on to the FHRA Nitro Nationals, July 3-6,
in Alastaro, Finland. Hopefully, there will be no rain there.
For now, Lo
is No. 1 in the rankings and we are No. 3, two points off the lead.
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5-21-2008
It's great to have our car and crew here finally. The first race of the FIA season is this weekend in Santa Pod, England, and we are expecting big things for our title defense.
Everything on the trailer is new. As many of you know, we had the car back-halved recently so it's like new. It's actually two manufacturers pieces put together as the front half is Murf McKinney and the back half if Hadman. Together, we hope it makes a new FIA record.
We have eight engines ready to go with new cylinder heads. We also have a new injector, new fuel system, new wheels, and new wings for both the front and rear. Wayne Dupuy, our crew chief, has also lightened the car up quite a bit so we wouldn't be surprised to really smash our record if the weather cooperates.
We have three Americans -- Wayne, co-crew chief Jeff Twitchell, and Brian the engine guy, as well as the usual cast of Europeans on board. That includes Robin, our car chief, Andreas Blitz on left side engine, Lüss Abt on bottom end, Monika and Beat at the clutch, Chris at the heads, Martin on bottom end and fuel, and Dario, who floats between the Top Fuel dragster and our Harley Destroyer Top Fuel bike.
Unfortunately, our old crew chief Horst Pauli and his girlfriend Andrea Wucher, who have brought me to four FIA European Championships, will not be with us in Santa Pod.
Our longtime European sponsors all remain, including Midland Oil Switzerland, Techno AG Switzerland, Innotec Switzerland, SCS IT Producment Switzerland, and Baner Art,
The premiere of our TV show, Kings of Nitro, is being picked up by even more countries than we originally expected. At last count, we will be shown in 124 different countries through Discovery Channel EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa). It's also being shown on Discovery UK (United Kingdom) and D-Max and is spreading to Asia and South America. Maybe someone in the USA will pick it up as well.
Very soon, they will have DVDs available so I will be sure to let everyone know. I also hope to have clips on my Web site, www.fatattack.ch .
It's exciting to have the show on TV and I have lots of press work to do to help promote it across Europe and the Middle East.
Here are some show dates of the premieres in various countries. It will then be on each week at the same day and time. Middle East and Africa, 5:30 p.m., Thursday, May 29; Spain and Portugal, 11:10 p.m., Thursday, June 5; Italy and Switzerland, 10:35 p.m., Saturday, June 7; Russia and Central Europe, 8 p.m., Saturday, June 21; Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, 9 p.m., Saturday, June 21; and Poland, 11 p.m., Friday, July 4.
5-6-2008
I've been hard at work in my custom bike business at the moment as I wait for
the dragster, truck, and trailer to arrive on May 8. They shipped out of
Baltimore on April 28, so as you can see, it's quite a journey on a big boat. I
hope it's safe passage with no damage to anything.
It's been a bit sad
not racing with my NHRA friends these past two weekends. I really miss it. My
crew chief Wayne Dupuy arrives soon so that will be good to have everyone here
and start the work for the first FIA race.
This past Sunday we had what
they call the Love Ride in Zurich, Switzerland. I displayed many of my bikes as
one of 
the VIP guests. Peter Sauber was there as well. He owns a Formula 1 race
team and is a very influential guy in motorsports in this country.
More
than 10,000 bikes made the ride and they tell me more than 20,000 people were in
the crowd at the end. Overall, they collected $500,000 for charity so I think
this was a big success.
It certainly was for my company, Fat Attack
Bikes, as we won the show with a bike we had built for a special customer. Check
out the ride and show at www.loveride.ch . Our bike is the blue one with the
Heaven and Hell theme. It won first place.
The lead-in to the Love Ride
was very busy as the weather had been pretty bad up until last Thursday so we
had just a few days to get everyone tuned up for the ride. There were lots of
new spark plugs and batteries being installed at the shop.
To warm up for
the Love Ride we did a little Poker Run with a local motorcycle club Saturday
morning. It was fun with maybe 150-200 bikes and we started at our bar and
restaurant, the Fat Attack Inn, where my wife Veronica and I made breakfast for
everyone. At 3 p.m., we were done with that ride and loaded up for the trip to
Zurich so we could display the bikes at the show.
We got up at 6 a.m.
Sunday because we needed to set up our Destroyer Harley-Davidson Drag Bike on
the stage. Harley was a sponsor of the event and they wanted it there. Our bike
is the fastest in Europe and my rider Sascha does an excellent job. He is also
European champion.
By 5 p.m., the ride and show was winding down and we
went home. Everyone was tired and I slept all day Monday.
Before I
forget, please go and buy Easy Rider magazine because they came to our shop
recently and are planning a photo spread about our operation and many of the
bikes. They are nice people also.
4-29-2008
Hello from Switzerland!
We're all back and have returned to our normal form after our spring races in the United States. We are nine hours ahead of Las Vegas and the flight home had two stops so it seemed like a long time of traveling; 24 hours altogether to be exact. Those flights really take a lot out of you and I think we all needed a few days off to recover.
Last Saturday we got back to feeling like drag racers and we did an appearance with our Harley Destroyer Top Fuel bike when we helped open a new Harley-Davidson dealership with some nice smoky burnouts. The big crowd there really liked that!
Looking back at the four races we did makes me very proud, especially since we qualified for all four. It's also a little bit sad for me now as we know our time in the U.S. is over until October.
There are several people I want to thank, including all of the other racers who were so nice to me and my crew. Everyone made friends with us and had as feeling as though we were a part of their family. It was very special for us.
I also want to thank the Angel Brothers and their company, Century Asphalt, who sponsored us in Houston; George Marnell and Marnell Masonry, who supported us in Vegas; Johnny Bang's Bang and Bump Shop, who was with us the whole way; Sadco; and Bob and Sam's Radio Show on ESPN. We love all these guys!
Several NHRA people made our visit very nice. Graham Light and Rick Shrek were great to us, and all the ladies in the ticket office were a big help. Our friend Rob Geiger and his assistant Courtney Enders kept us on the media radar. Thanks to them also.
Now we get ready for our car to arrive and the start of the FIA season!
4-21-08
We concluded our spring in the United States at a familiar place -- Las Vegas!
We ran Vegas in the fall so for the first time over here we were at a racetrack
where we had some of our own data. It made it very comfortable for us.
It
was a big weekend and a little sad as we knew our time in the U.S. was coming to
an end, at least for now. As most of you already know, the plan has been for us
to load the car and trailer on a ship after the Vegas race and return everything
to Europe for the 2008 FIA season. It takes eight days from the east coast to
get the equipment to England and we wanted to make sure we had enough time to
prepare everything for our title defense, so Vegas needed to be our last
stop.
After all the success we enjoyed in Houston -- becoming the first
European race team to win a round in 30 years -- we wanted to do more in Vegas.
We dreamed of a victory but were at least hoping for a strong performance.
It was also very important for us to represent our local sponsor,
Marnell Masonry, in its hometown of Las Vegas. George Marnell is a former drag
racer from the Pro Stock class who runs a very large and successful masonry
business. He builds schools, casinos, government buildings, and various business
sites throughout this booming city.
After encountering a defect in Round
1 of qualifying, we posted a 4.826 at 303 mph Friday night and were able to
relax a bit as we knew this would keep us in the field. It is a very proud
accomplishment to qualify four times in four tries this spring against the best
drivers and teams in the world.
On Saturday it got pretty hot and
everyone struggled to make better times so we decided to work on our Sunday
tune-up. We also had a question and answer session with some VIP guests at the
track. They were all very interested in how we race in Europe and it was my
pleasure to meet all these great fans. Additionally, we spent time with George
and his family, friends, and employees in his luxury suite. What a view from
atop to grandstands!
We were matched against young driver Morgan Lucas
for eliminations but before we raced on the strip, we spent Saturday night
together at the small round track on the property of Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Morgan was racing some other drivers and they asked me to work with the
announcers in the booth to describe the action. It was a lot of fun and good to
hang out with so many fans afterwards.
The wait to race Morgan was very
long as there were numerous oildowns and explosions ahead of us. Sitting in the
racecar for so long is not fun but we were still ready to race when the lights
flashed. Unfortunately, the temperatures had gone up considerably and we
overpowered the racetrack with too much horsepower, allowing Morgan to win with
a beatable 4.765. My congratulations to Morgan.
We stayed one extra day
to load up and enjoy Las Vegas but then it was time to say goodbye and load
everything for the trip home.
Our defense of the FIA Top Fuel title
begins May 23-26 in Santa Pod, England. We know we have a step ahead of everyone
else due to our experience here in the States. I'm sure that even if the others
tested, they didn't run at this level. So we're excited to get
started.
The best part of our time here this spring was the great amount
of fans and friends we made. Before, maybe no one knows who we are, but now,
thanks to some great media coverage about this crazy group of racers from
Europe, people have come to know us.
We'll be back in the fall saying
"Welcome to Las Vegas" once again, hopefully as back-to-back European champs.
Until then, we'll make sure and keep everyone up-to-date on our time over there
in Europe.
4-11-08
The Houston race turned out to be our best on American soil as we managed to win
our first elimination round. I knew it had been a long time since someone from
Europe had won a round in NHRA competition so I asked our friend Rob Geiger to
check the record books. He found out that it had been three decades, all the way
back to 1977, since a Euro had won a round in the United States. That was when
Clive Skilton drove to the finals of Indy in his Led Zeppelin-themed Top
Fueler.
To accomplish this win made us all very proud. The fact we were
the No. 16 qualifier upsetting the No. 1 guy, Alan Bradshaw of Texas, made it
even better. We're still learning a lot of things but for all the hard work of
the boys, this was a nice reward.
We carried the colors of Century
Asphalt all weekend. The owners of this road-paving company also own the
racetrack so we had lots of supporters and friends with us all weekend. They
held a bar-be-que for us right in the pits and we met some great
Texans.
The weekend started with a special appearance at a large shopping
mall held by the local Baytown Chamber of Commerce to welcome all the fans and
racers to the city. We had our Century Asphalt dragster on display and started
it for all the spectators. We even put the mayor of Baytown in my seat during
the warm-up. I think his opinion of horsepower is very different now.
Qualifying was tough as the temperatures soared, but we earned a spot
any way. We have now entered three races and qualified all three times, another
proud accomplishment.
On race day, we knew Alan would be tough as he had
qualified so well but to our luck, he left early by a few thousandths of a
second and was disqualified with a red light. We were on to the next
round!
One problem that was bothering us was oildown penalties. This is
when you have money and points taken away for putting oil onto the track that
requires extensive clean-up. It was perplexing to us because the engine was not
damaged two of the times this happened. The NHRA crew came over and we showed
them the engine was clean.
Together we determined that our puke tank,
which is designed to contain oil, was not constructed properly and therefore was
allowing oil to get out. We were happy to find the problem so it can be fixed
for Las Vegas race but we were sorry to cause the oildown problem that delayed
our fellow racers. It will not happen again.
In Round 2, Doug Kalitta and
I had a race for about half the track but he pulled away to win with a 4.6 at
311 mph to our 4.7 at 309 mph.
We're very happy with the result and head
to Las Vegas for another big race. Please come to the Palms Hotel and Casino on
Thursday night for the NHRA party. I will be there from 6:30-8:30 p.m. See you
there!
4 -04-08
Texas is a little unlike the remainder of the world but I have to say I liked it very much. Where else would you start a race weekend with an annual rodeo saluting a deceased drag racing friend? Only in Texas, and the fourth annual Darrell Russell Memorial Rodeo was an experience I will never forget.
For the sake of some television filming that our PR team had set up for us, I arrived at Bob Haygood's Star H Ranchito in the small village of Hockley during the daylight hours to provide the best light for the TV cameras.
Bob is a real cowboy who competes in many calf-roping events each year. He's very serious about his rodeo life so he built a full rodeo arena on his ranch. It has a cattle chute, pens, giant lights, and all the other things you need for a proper rodeo. In fact, he holds a few rodeos there each year.
Bob's ranch is next door to where Darrell Russell lived. Many of you remember Darrell. He was a great champion who died in a drag racing accident in 2004 at the St. Louis race. This rodeo is our drag racing way of honoring him. My crew chief Wayne Dupuy was Darrell's crew chief so it means a lot to him. I wish I had met this man as everyone speaks very well about him.
I'm not very good on a horse but Bob taught me how to get on a ride and after a few trial sessions, he put me on his competition horse named Rowdy. It's quite an honor to ride his No. 1 horse. It would be the same as me letting someone drive my Top Fuel dragster, so I really thank Bob for trusting me.
The horse knew what to do better than I did but I did okay, I think. Then I learned how to rope a cow and tie them up like you do in a rodeo. I did very good at tying up the calf and Bob said I was the best cowboy from Switzerland that he's ever seen. I wonder how many Swiss cowboys he has seen.
Later we had a roping contest with many other racers and crewmen from other teams and our very own Dario d'Urso managed to win the coveted belt buckle prize. Who would know that a romantic Italian knows how to rope cows? Maybe this is how he gets his girlfriends?
3-25-08
Hello everyone. I'm really excited about writing this column for CompetitionPlus.com. This is a very popular Web site in Europe because we like to keep up on drag racing from the USA and it's cool to be a big part of it now. I promise to bring you lot's of crazy news from our team and the upcoming FIA season.
Under the direction of our crew chief, Wayne Dupuy, who is an American that many of you know and love already, we have competed at two of the first three races of the NHRA season. We're using these races to prepare for our European title defense and we're also hoping to make a little noise while we are in the States.
We all feel as though we're a little behind because of the chassis safety changes mandated by NHRA. We sent the car to get redone after Pomona and we now have the only McKinney/Hadman car in the world. The front half is McKinney and the back half is Hadman.
My team is mostly European so believe it or not we fly home between races so we can handle our real jobs. Yes, we already have lots of Frequent Flyer miles! After Pomona, most of us came home but a few of the buys stayed with Wayne to rewire the new car and put all the other components in place. I came back home for a huge Custom Bike Show in Switzerland, where I have my businesses. Because of all this activity, we missed the Phoenix race but were back for Gainesville and ready to race.
We wanted to do a test pass on the new car but the rain on Friday cancelled that. On Saturday, Wayne told me that if the car felt good to take it down the track all the way. It felt perfect so I stayed on the gas and we were sixth with a 4.70 at 314 mph. We then improved to a 4.67 at 316 mph and made the toughest field of the year. It was a proud moment because many great teams were not so fortunate.
We have now qualified for both races we entered even though we have had no time to test. It's been a great job by Wayne and the rest of the team.
Although we lost to "Hot Rod" Fuller in Round 1, the team was excited and we went to celebrate. The waitress at the restaurant asked me for my ID. I'm 20 years past the date of drinking legally but she didn't believe me so it made me feel good. I guess I'm not old and wrinkly yet! This is good, no?
Once again, we all flew home for work. I helped my friends from a Swiss band christen their new album with a little Jagermeister.
It's funny because I think we're past jet lag at this point after doing the trip so many times already. But we are having fun.
Please come to the Houston race and say hello. Come and have a beer with us at the end of the day. We love to talk about racing. Also, come out Wednesday before the race to the Hot Rod Rally in Baytown at the San Jacinto mall on Interstate 10 and Garth Road. We will have our car there with many others and will start it up at 7 p.m. We will make Baytown remember us.
I want to thank Bobby Bennett for allowing us this special place on his great Web site. I'll check back soon.
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