Koedam
Racing Team Report / 2003 Season Review
Another year is
about to end and what a year it was!
We like to take a look back to the high- and (though very
few) low lights of this race season.
Apart from our results one thing that immediately comes to
mind is the excellent good weather conditions that we were
blessed with. As one knows, this is a main ingredient for
a successful drag race event. The only exception was the “Veidec
Internationals” at Mantorp Park in Sweden, which came
to a sudden halt just before the final rounds because the
rain set in just a few hours too soon.
This year we attended
a record number of 9 events.
Allow me to give a brief summary of our race schedule.
Speedfreaks (Santa Pod Raceway / England)
May 9-11:
Season opener / qualified #1 / won the event / the bike already
displayed its real potential.
Main Event (Santa Pod Raceway / England)
May 24-26:
1st round of the FIM-European Championship / qualified #1
/ won the event / reset personal best to a 6.23.
Fast & Furious (Drachten / Holland)
June 14 &15:
Entered as a demo to this eight mile track / reset the all
time national record to a 4.18sec @185mph (295km/h).
Nitronationals (Alastaro /Finland)
July 4-6:
2nd round of the FIM-European Championship / qualified #1
/ stranded in the semi-finals with a broken primary drive
belt.
Drachten Internationals (Drachten
/ Holland) July 11-13:
Spectacular runs again / no track records this time.
Veidec Internationals (Mantorp Park
/ Sweden ) July 24-27:
3rd round of the FIM-European championship / qualified #1
with a new track record of 6.29 “right off the trailer”,
despite an early click off.
Though we went till the finals, a winner was never decided
because rain set in just before the final rounds.
Drag Challenge (Gardermoen / Norway)
August 1-3:
4th round of the FIM-European Championship / qualified #1
/ dived into the “teens” for the first time /
reset personal & track records / won the event.
Nitrolympics (Hockenheim / Germany)
August 22-24:
5th round of the FIM-European Championship / qualified #1
/ won the event / reset the track record / clinched the European
Top Fuel Bike Championship title with still one more round
to go.
European Finals (Santa Pod Raceway
/ England) September 5-7:
6th and final round of the FIM-European Championship / qualified
#1 / reset personal-, track- & European records (both
ET and speed) / became the fastest & quickest bike outside
the USA / stranded in the semi finals when a con rod let go
in a big ball of fire.
This year were pleased
with a grown interest for our renamed Top Fuel Bike class.
It resulted in a record number of entrees by no less then
twelve top fuel bikes at some events. Despite this strong
field we clinched the FIM-Championship title for the 3rd time
and we did so with a record lead of 313 points over 159 points
for the championship runner-up.
From the media
side we can inform you that the both the FIM and the FIA European
Championship rounds were broadcasted by again an increased
number of satellite TV stations.
These images were
broadcasted all over Europe and as far as the Middle East
and the USA, however unfortunately not yet shown on the Dutch
national TV. We understand that they are trying to work out
a deal for next year.
A few words from
the technical side.
Part of our performance gains has to be credited to the new
Mickey Thompson tire. As another first Top Fuel Bike team
in Europe we started using this all new tire which was developed
specially for Top Fuel motorcycles. Our efforts paid off.
We improved our 60 ft times and added more consistency.
On the down side
we had three “small” technical problems that plagued
us now and then during the season. These items therefore are
the major things on which we will be focused during this winter
break. In the first place we broke the primary drive belt
twice at critical points in an race. We are converting the
primary drive from a 8mm to a 14mm pitch belt. This will give
us a much stronger and more reliable primary drive.
Another technical
aspect that didn’t work flawlessly each time was the
clutch release bearing system. This system is undergoing a
redesign as well.
The most important
thing that led to a lot of extra maintenance work during the
season was caused by the new material cylinder liners that
we experimented with. Though the liners itself worked fine,
this could not be said for the piston rings. The liners were
simply too tough for any type of rings. The rings couldn’t
seal as they should do. We experienced more “blow by”
than normal, causing loss of power and oil dilution which
leaded to a lot more maintenance of the bearing shelves and
the piston rings. At the last event this led to our “infamous”
spectacular engine explosion when we blew the complete bottom
end to pieces. A new bottom end is already in the make.
On the positive side we know the reasons for these three “troublemakers”.
But more important, we also know how to fix them. Therefore
we are more than confident that we can solve these problems
and expect that we can create a reliable and consistent bike
for next year.
Our record 6.04
sec @ 235mph run was performed without pushing the engine
to its limits (still low on nitro %). Because of the aforementioned
“blow by” of the piston rings we were loosing
more power on each run. Giving the fact that we will be able
to solve this, we are confident that we should be able to
improve these numbers next year (of course given good track-
& weather conditions).For the near future we are also
investigating the possibilities to take the bike over to the
USA again for a number of races. This could be a combined
deal with a few other European Top Fuel bike teams.
All the results
that we reached this year would not have been possible without
the input from all the team members.
On top of all the
awards that we received this season we are very proud that
our crew chief was elected as “Crewchief of the Year”
in Holland and yours humble is also very honored to be nominated
by the Santa Pod Racers Club for the “James Edgar Memorial
Award” (to be presented to a crewchief for his outstanding
performance).
Koedam Racing once
again likes to express that all would not be possible without
the help from the following companies and thanks them for
their support. At the same time we are looking forward to
another (possibly an even more spectacular) race season in
2004!
Zodiac International
/ Mijdrecht / Holland………..Performance products
for Harley Davidson
Torco International Corp. / Santa Fe Springs / U.S.A…….…………………Torco
Racing Oils
Nimbus Motorsports / Baiton / G.B……………………..……..European
Torco oils distributor
Dakota-Industry / Ettlingen / Germany……………………..…….Dakota
fashion & team wear
Arai Helmet (Europe) B.V. / Hoevelaken / Holland…………………………..Helmet
Products
Flexion b.v. / Roermond / Holland…………………....…….Gates
distributor & service center
Goodridge Benelux B.V. / Delft / Holland.…….………….…Fuel
/ brake / oil lines & fittings
Goedhals Machinefabriek / Amersfoort / Holland………..……………….…Gears
specialists
Jan Smit’s Power Parts / Wormerveer / Holland….Workshop
facilities & Dynatek distributor
Jan Roelofs Race Service / Valkenswaard / Holland..……………Cylinder
head preparations
Motorparadijs / Eindhoven / Holland………………..…………………...Workshop
facilities
Roestvrijstaal Montfoort / Montfoort / Holland…….…………...Non
ferro metals specialists
A final word goes
out to Marco & Stefan Ruf of Dakota Industry. This year
was the final year from our three year contract.
We are proud that
we were part of the Dakota Team and like to say a special
thank you for your support over these years.
Marius
van der Zijden / Koedam Racing Holland
