|
King
Racing return to form
13th September 2003, London England;
|
|
It was anything
but inevitable that the King Racing Top Fuel Bike team would
make a return to their 2001 championship winning form after
the trials of their 2003 season, but they did for the final
competitive outing of the year, in front of their home supporters
and with their rider resplendent in his new Vanson Leathers.
However, it was not all plain sailing for the team as team
principal and rider Ian King explained:
"The changes made to the fuel system since Hockenheim
seemed to have done the trick after we returned to mid six
second performance in our first qualifying pass, leaving us
comfortably in 2nd position. However, after observing some
worrying swings in fuel pressure on the data downloaded from
the onboard computer after the run we conducted a leakdown
test and discovered significant loss through the exhaust ports,
necessitating removal of the cylinder head. New team member
(and ex 500cc GP mechanic to riders such as Barry Sheene)
Martin Brookman undertook the laborious task of cleaning up
the head and replacing valves damaged by the exit of the tips
of the spark plugs. After some long discussions with Marius
van der Zijden and Rob van Geffen, I decided to modify the
fuel pickup in the fuel tank again.
After recommendation from Frank Brachtvogel, Armour Fabrications
of Irchester were called and the owner, John Shakeshaft, kindly
made his way to the track to discuss the modifications. Unbelievably,
John returned a few hours later with the resculptured tank
- a work of art!"
The speed of the repairs enabled the team to make the third
qualifying session whereupon they again ran a mid six second
pass - without burnt head or valves. The modifications seemed
to have improved matters somewhat. The team sat out the final
session, with the rigours of the modifications taking their
toll, but still ended in the final ladder in 4th place despite
a huge entry of 20 riders.
Saturday evening
was spent enjoying a party (organised by the girls from the
King Racing team) to celebrate fellow rider Roel Koedam's
birthday, along with other luminaries from the world of Top
Fuel car and bike racing (Stefan Reisten, Anita Makela, Kim
Reymond and Ton Pels to name but a few).
The first round
of eliminations saw King pitted against rapid Norwegian rider
Jon Leret, whose reputation for lightning reactions and low
six second passes meant this was the British riders toughest
race of the year. The race was a classic, with both riders
side by side until the finish line. Unbelievably, both recorded
the same elapsed time to a thousandth of a second - 6.617
seconds! However, it was King who took the win light after
proving to be more than a match for Leret on the lights.
The semi final loomed,
and King was facing the onerous task of taking on Koedam,
whose 6.04 second pass earlier that weekend had firmly established
him as the second fastest rider in the world. King knew it
would need something special to overcome the Dutch rider,
but it was not to be as King left before the green, handing
Koedam an easy win. To add insult to injury, his opponent
grenaded his engine after a con rod let go, and ambled across
the line whereas King ran another six second pass. King takes
up the story: 
"I knew that
if Roel was in his usual form, and knowing our potential in
the current state of tune, I'd have to produce a perfect reaction
time to overcome him. I gambled on the lights and lost, it's
as simple as that, although we would probably have made the
final if I had not used that strategy, and had a great chance
of winning the event after Sverre Dahl (event winner) also
suffered problems in the final. However, we came here to race,
I owe it to my team, supporters, the companies who support
me, those who contributed to my `back to the track' campaign,
and the surgeon and nurses who continue to provide care to
my leg injuries, whilst knowing that I would be back out racing
again and putting all their hard work in jeopardy. This has
been a great season for European Top Fuel Bike. The riders
provided a thrilling spectacle whilst racing in the most competitive
Top Fuel Bike competition in the world. But none of this could
have happened without the organising company - Power Racing
Promotions, the track crews, organising clubs, and respective
promoters across Europe who provided great venues and world-class
track preparation - I'd like to send a huge vote of thanks
to all of them.
I hope that we will
be able to raise the necessary finance to compete in the championship
next year, it's going to be even better than this one!"
The finale for King
Racing's season will be demonstration passes at the `Extreme
Madness' show in Athens, Greece in October.
Any companies or
individuals who wish to be involved in the King Racing 2004
race effort can contact Ian at ian@kingracing.com,
by telephone on 07785 341099 or by fax on 01763 852707. Visit
King Racing at www.kingracing.com
King Racing were
proud to be supported in their 2003 campaign by:
Obsession Motorsports, Straightline Racing, New Engineering
Ltd, Performance Machine, Wackyshack Paintshop, Turboville.com,
RSG Customize, House of Kolor UK, Murdoch Racing Enterprises,
Goodridge UK, Vanson Leathers, White Line Cycles (Athens),
Cometic Gaskets UK, G Max Race Fuels, Aerotek Fasteners and
Job Link.
