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17/08/2003 THE STRANGE CASE OF MICKEY AND THE TAPE MEASURE We left Mantorp Park Monday afternoon after the usual housekeeping tasks of emptying some tanks on the trailer and filling others. It’s surprising how much work goes into the domestic aspects of drag racing especially as we have a couple of extra people on board for the Sweden and Norway events. Catering, sleeping and logistics become important issues. Our destination was a camp site in Karlstad that the Wilson drag racing family has been visiting for years. Many other racers also use it. Unlike last year when we were racing Andy Carter in his rig, this year was a more leisurely affair in convoy with Andy Robinson. We arrived early evening in the dry and looking forward to several days of relaxation. The campsite is very large and borders a huge lake. Each of us had our own objectives; mine were to read a book given to me for Christmas, begin the Mantorp race report and walk round the lake, well at least as far as the nudist section anyway. Tuesday morning arrived and with it came torrential and persistent rain. It proceeded to rain more or less continuously for the next two and a half days. It did sometimes stop during the night at which point the bl**dy seagulls took over. Pitter patter up and down the trailer roof from 4am onwards. One of them stopped and looked at me through the sunroof above the bunk next door and then started pecking at the rubber seal. My sunroof was open so whilst we glared at each other I tried to grab it from behind. A quick twist of its neck and I would get back to sleep and North Sea Herring stocks would be preserved. Needless to say it flew away immediately only to return minutes later with a friend. Then they began to practice their routine for the Latin American pairs in Come Dancing. The rain was so heavy that sitting outside under the gazebo was impossible and with the dragster in the trailer there was very little room for 8 people to move around. Did occasionally have the chance to enjoy the excellent company of our neighbours namely Andy Robinson and his wife and family as well as Bowzer, a crewmember. It was interesting to view Andy’s beautiful pro mod Studebaker up close and then watch him and his team replace a badly-burnt windscreen caused by an engine fire. As our campsite slowly sank below the rising tide of rainwater, a small ray of sunshine arrived in the shape of our Dodge Ram pickup. The gearbox fault had been fixed in Linkoping and Rhonda, wife of our Team Principal Anthony Cohen, had kindly driven through the torrential rain to deliver the truck. In fact, Tony had the worst of it as he was riding his Harley. Our convoy of 3 now snaked its way to the forests of Gardermoen to be met by brilliant sunshine that was to continue throughout the weekend. In previous race reports mention has been made of changes to the ‘tune-up’ of the car. I should explain this is not referring just to the engine tune and so ‘set-up’ might be a better term for what is a process of ‘tuning’ the car for a particular run. Factors that go into the set-up decisions include: launch revs, gearchange revs, maximum engine revs, clutch settings, gearbox ratios, engine ignition and fuel system settings, weather conditions, race objectives, track conditions, tyre make and pressures and performance data from previous runs. All of the above are dumped into a cauldron and allowed to simmer, often overnight, and from it emerges a ‘brew’ for the next run. Well we put too much chilli in the brew for our first qualifier as it was way too hot for the track. The tyres lost grip at half-track and the engine hit the rev-limiter so Dave coasted to the line in 12.08 seconds. Peter Schofer had cut a 5.55 so we knew we had been too aggressive. Next qualifier, with a more conservative set-up, was looking good until the blower belt broke and this time we coasted across the line in 9.01 seconds. End of day 1 and we were bottom qualifier. We didn’t panic but our predicament did prompt further stirring of the cauldron and from that emerged one of the strangest incidents. Earlier in the day we had taken delivery of a pair of brand-new Mickey Thompson slicks. Drag racing tyres can vary in size after manufacture and it’s important to have a matching set. The actual circumference of the tyre is written in chalk on each and every tyre. Our pair had 108 @ 6 written on them which means 108” at 6psi pressure. Day 2 and the decision was made to fit the new tyres as our existing ones were good but worn. Dave spent a good hour fitting the tyres and after inflating them to 6psi they were measured and there was a difference of 1.25 inches between them. This was unacceptable so the smallest tyre was over-inflated and then left in the baking sunshine which would expand the air and stretch the tyre. After 1.5 hours of slow cooking the gap between the tyres was a quarter of an inch which was OK. Our 3rd qualifier proved to be momentous for a couple of reasons. Dave left strongly but then started to veer across his lane. A 5.50 @ 435kms came up on the board but if there had been a wall beyond the finish line then there would have been a crash. It was only on the way back to the weigh station that we realised 435kms was over 270mph. This was a new personal best and the first time this speed had been attained outside of the USA. Readers of Eurodragster will know that Dave has since stated that the run data demonstrates why it occurred. At the time we were just stunned and could not account for it. Concerned at the wayward behaviour of the car in Q3, further measuring of the tyres showed there was a discrepancy again. Further cooking and playing with tyre pressures and the variance was OK (or so we thought). Q4 and we changed the set-up in the hope that we could improve upon Q3. Another 5.50 was recorded but at 245mph so we were well down on speed. Dave however had been wrestling with the car and shortly after the finish line had ended up in the opposite lane. The car was becoming undriveable. The new tyres were removed that night. Readers of our Mantorp report will be aware of a ‘plumbing’ event that occurred there. I wish to point out that ACI Racing team members do not have a fixation with such issues but that sometimes these events contribute to the rich experience of a drag race meeting. Well we had another one at Gardermoen. The waste tank had become full. What to do? We had an empty 60 gallon methanol drum. After a good evening meal (these tasks are best done on a full stomach) the drum was rolled down the staging lanes up to the side of our truck and said waste tank was duly emptied into the drum. Now containing about 50 gallons of a substance with a much higher specific gravity than Methanol, the drum was sealed and left with drums of waste oil in the pit. We took the trouble to find out the Norwegian word for sh*t and duly marked the drum. Be warned, if a Norwegian offers you a drum of cheap Metanol (that’s how they spell Methanol over there) don’t buy it. It’s guaranteed to lose you friends and your engine will never be the same again! The 5.50 on day 2 had made us no 1 qualifier and we faced Krister in his A-fuel dragster in the first round of eliminations. Now running the older tyres, the car launched clean and proceeded to record a win at yet another 5.50 but this time at 254mph. Equally importantly, the run was dead straight and drama-free, the problem had been solved. Our FIA championship hopes were given an enormous boost when Rob Turner took out Peter Schofer in the first round. It was now to be an all-British final. It was some time before the final came about as both cars and bikes were oiling the track with monotonous regularity. The delay worked to our benefit as whilst waiting in the staging lanes, Ricky decided to check the gas bottle (used to change gear) and discovered it had lost a lot of pressure. A very rapid change of bottle restored the pressure whilst the track crew continued to clean the track.  above: Dave Wilson prepares for the final The final was a tight race which we expected from Turner Racing and in the event we took the win in 5.52 seconds with a speed of 259mph. We now have a good safety margin in points in the FIA championship. This is just as well because Hockenheim can be a very difficult track. p.s. no moose in Finland, Sweden or Norway
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