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Jap Drag Series Round 2 Report
Hey everyone as a privateer I just thought I would do a write up and give you a little insight into the fun of drag racing in the Jap Drag Series…
Sorry if this is a long one but just trying to capture the weekend
I drive an EP3 Type R that has recently gone from being JR Supercharged to a new CPL Gen II Turbo set up. I was really happy with my Jackson Charger which enabled me to set a record a couple of years ago, but planning ahead for the long term and even bigger power I decided to swap over to the turbo now. Of course for racing I run M&H slicks on the front and Weld Racing skinny wheels on the rear to assist in traction and drag…
The car was never actually purchased with the intention of racing it but after a few visits to the Pod and a couple of proper heads up races I was hooked….
There is something very different about competitive drag racing, although all motorsport is challenging drag racing is the one where you get absolutely no time to think about anything. What I mean is that you MUST get the car ready for the run and it has to be perfect (that boost hose that is a little lose will cost you the race) then once you are on the line you have to deliver 100% if you miss a gear, bog on the line or hit the limiter you WILL lose…… What an adrenaline rush
As with all motor sport the lead up to the recent second round was quite tight…. At the end of the first round both myself and Cressie knew we had a few niggles to try to iron out for the second round. These included: -
both cars fitting a new second gear – it seems that due to revving the car to over 9k second gear itself takes a huge battering on the engagement teeth, and we seem to be doing a 100k worth of damage in a season or less lol
Cressie also had to fit 1st to second syncros and I had to fit a new clutch plate and fit my newly CPL made custom alternator relocation kit (pics a little later)
FRIDAY
I did expect to get al this done in plenty of time but as ever with racing this is what the car looked like on the Friday morning….
As you can guess Friday was a little stressful especially when your pretty much working on your drive but all the parts Guy has fabricated for me are a perfect fit so it wasn’t really too much of an issue…
6 and a bit hours later she was ready to fire up and of course it is a relief when she turns over without a problem….
Ideally at this point a few hundred miles to wear the clutch in would have been lovely… on the other hand a huge burnout should settle her in and keep the neighbours happy :twisted:
So we set off to the Pod knowing we are going to have to camp outside the front gates but as annoying as this is it just makes it all easier for the next morning….
So on the way we meet Cressie at the Toddington Services to grab a late bite to eat…as I settle down with my £20 XL Bacon Double Cheeseburger I cant work out what hurts more the fact that I am adding weight to my car by eating a huge burger, or the fact that I could have got my turbo serviced for the same cost :lol:
Anyway we arrive at the Pod at 10.30pm and settle down for the night….
SATURDAY
The next morning I am woken by a poxy wood pigeon sitting on the top of Cressie’s van but I suppose it would have been that or the first Trevor the Revver to arrive
Cressie awakens and decides rather than collapse his tent he will just cable tie it to the roof bars of the Transit, not a bad idea I thought as it definitely saved time… it also gave me my first laugh of the day as I cannot describe how funny it looked watching a 15 seater transit with what seems to be sails rolling into the pits LMFAO…. Could it get any better…… oh yes as Cressie brakes the tent flings itself down over the windscreen and you had to be there to see the look on his face…. Cressie you’re a legend…
Right so we are all set up and enjoying the freshly cooked breakfast when our noses are treated to the fine fragrance of the track crew prepping the track and a few of the pro cars firing up their engines… Just what you need with bacon and eggs - does it get any better
Throughout the Saturday we spent most of the time admiring some quick RWYB cars and of course the JDS and ESC cars having a shakedown before the Sunday, we were also treated to a couple of Top Fuel cars having a few practice runs.
Early afternoon comes around and we are told we have a JDS practice session coming up, so begins the usual hectic 5 mins before a run. Race Suit on, quick check under the bonnet, make sure we have enough fuel on board, Karl make sure you NOS bottle is open and up to pressure, check tyre pressures and then take the lovely drive down the side of the track to the start line… Once we all line up it gives you the last few mins to check over the car and have a bit of banter with the other drivers (no pressure at the moment as its only practice)
Right so get in the car and strap yourself in with 5 point harness, put on your balaclava and helmet, put on your neck support and finally your race gloves, here we go…. I am first in the queue so as I am called round I head into the right hand lane, my mate Steff gets me into position just at the edge of the water and I put the car into second gear. A few blips of the throttle and drop the clutch bouncing the limiter at over 9k. I keep her in the water for a minute and then keep the burnout going as I get onto the tarmac… ‘That was definitely a good burnout as the car is full of tyre smoke’ :-D
Flick down the toggle switch for launch control and get into stage…. Foot flat to the floor she starts to build a little boost once the light goes green drop the clutch…. Got away clean but have we cured the second gear issues YES she drops in lovely (changed before the shift light though) across the gate into third no problem and then just the simple 3rd to 4th change to get through again no problem then just rev it out through the line…. Once through decelerate for a few seconds then coast to the far gate to give the engine a rest. Wow what a rush…..
Back in the pits, park up asap and get the bonnet open to allow her to cool down. Now it’s just a case of getting the time slip and pulling the data log so we can see how the run was from a performance view. Did it spin or bog? Did you hit the limiter or short shift? Did the boost creep or drop off? What were the intake temps etc etc…..?
Once we have digested all this you make a few tweaks either with the car or the driver and do it all again
Definitely the highlight of the Saturday was the fact that Cressie decided to lay down the law on his first practice pass with a stupidly fast 10.8 on a fully stock motor…. Neither of us could quite believe it but I guess with no gearbox issues the car could again run what it is capable of… also a good driver helps…
Well done mate :thumbup:
Saturday evening was the usual mix of barbecues and motor homes but in our Marquee we had Thai Lemongrass Beef Curry or something like that, all I know is it was lovely and as always the evening was a great laugh from there on in……
SUNDAY
Trying no to bore you too much Sunday started pretty much the same as Saturday but we had more to do today we were racing for real so you always feel a little more excited. Me and Cressie discussed the plan for the day and agreed that if he could lay down the law again he had a great chance of being second qualifier (we assumed Adam Buckley would be no 1 qualifier with the form he has been putting in recently and Guy @ CPL taking a year off). My car needed a few more runs as I was still getting to grips with the new set up…..
So as usual a marshall comes by on a golf buggy as says “Right you lot down to the start line now”.. At this point the pits resemble the scene in F&F when the cops arrive and everyone makes a run for it….
So we are again down at the start line going through the checks and getting ready as described before (again no real pressure as it is qualifying)
This time when I get back to the pits Cressie has run a 10.7 WTF!!!!! I feel I am getting the hang of my new set up but Cressie is making me look like a homeless man in a shopping trolley :lol: ….. When he pulls up and hears the ET for the second time in a weekend his face was a picture…..
Once out the car we digest the ticket and realise he hit a 1.56 60ft showing the track was in great condition and he was definitely taking advantage of it…..
Other news from the first qualifier was that Dougie had also smashed .6 off his previous best time of 11.8 running an 11.2 off the trailer which was a fantastic achievement by him and the TDI team….
Unfortunately for Adam he had managed to break his diff in the first run so his weekend was over before it really began…(takes a lot of power to be breaking diffs guys)….
Karl was getting ever quicker with his Jackson and NOS set up and remember Karl drives his car 2 ½ hrs to and from the track, he doesn’t have the luxury of a trailer etc - my hat goes off to you Mr Hart….
So at the end of qualifying things looked like this.
1 Paul Cresswell 10.7365 123.20mph
2 Neil Knight 11.1853 126.66mph
3 Dougie Gemmell 11.2027 126.98mph
4 Karl Hart 11.9158 118.65mph
Every driver had improved on their previous PB’s so what a days qualifying….
And so it continues…. With only 4 cars running (which is a real shame considering we should be getting 9 or 10 at each event) we were strait into the semi finals, Paul vs. Karl and Me vs. Dougie (I think Dougie will agree myself and him have had more races against each other than anyone else lol)
So again we find ourselves lining up at the start line but this time there is lots of pressure as it is heads up first past the post wins….. (This is the part I love)…
So once in the car you give the opposite driver a nod which kind of says good luck but also kind of says im gonna kick your arse lol ….
As I wait in the water I am directly behind Paul Cresswell watching him and Karl complete the first race…. As they both go you can see the 60ft was pretty close but then Cressie seems to be slowing down WTF he is really behind and eventually just strolls up the track…..
Now you must at this point understand that in theory my biggest competition has just been beaten in the semi final so you get an even bigger adrenalin rush and start telling yourself a couple of solid runs and the weekend is yours. (You may think of this as being big headed but you have to have that kind of confidence or it is not worth racing. Also we had not pushed my car all weekend and had put a little more in it for the semi )….
With my added confidence I got into the burnout and let her have it in third gear there was smoke filling the car strait away but as I came out the burnout the engine seemed to cut for a second - huh??
I gave her a few revs and she seemed ok so I got into stage… on the hand brake I had my foot to the floor and had the transmission loaded up. As the light dropped I was off and the car flew out of the trap at a ridiculous speed, I was thinking to myself whatever Guy had done it was pretty obvious then BANG the engine cut out and I was thrown forward, but it started going again so I threw it into second and half way through the gear, BANG it cut again… after this is just drove it up the track trying to understand what had just happened…
The car was running lovely and all we had done was play with the launch a little and add a tiny bit more power… Also it made no sense that she sounded fine driving at normal speeds…..
Once back into the pits Guy pulls the log and shouts out “Is there a vacuum hoes that has come off’??? I check around and see the vacuum for the wastegate is not connected meaning we had hit boost cut at 20PSI…
Those of you with turbo or supercharged cars will know what boost cut feels like and know it is not pleasant but on the flip side the engine was in perfect working order and nothing had been damaged during the run……
This just goes to show you how random drag racing is.
Adam Buckley would have been favourite for the weekend but he broke during the first run…..
Paul would have been second favourite but had gearbox issues and aborted….
It was pretty close between Me and Dougie in qualifying but I also had troubles in the Semis giving him the win…..
Onto the Final so Dougie and Karl line up and both complete pretty impressive burnouts showing that they are going for it… Karl is the first to stage and Dougie rolls in a little after… Karl seems to be having trouble keeping the car still and sure enough just as the lights are about to drop he cuts a red light handing Dougie the automatic win however Dougie runs through with another impressive 11.2 to back up his earlier time…..
All in all another fantastic weekend of racing showing that there a potentially 6 or 7 cars that could have extremely close races this year as long as both cars make it cleanly down the track…..
Well done to everyone - who for me makes these weekends worth attending..
This includes all the drivers and every member of their crews who work tirelessly on getting these cars ready for the events. I salute you all…. :salut:
Finally “well done” to Cressie for the super 10.7
Well done to Dougie for taking the round win and running the new SC Record
Well done to Karl for smashing his previous PB and taking the runners up place and also being the only guy who then drove his car home lol (oh and well done to James Willday for the pose in the back of Karl’s photo) the racers always try to get a few lunges in the pics LMFAO…..
For me a huge thank you needs to go out to Guy at CPL who as always has the time to support us and complete such amazing work on the cars…. You are a legend and I can’t wait to see the car out again next year :twisted:
Sorry for the length of this, but hope it wasn’t too painful lol….
Alternator Relocation Kit
Hey everyone as a privateer I just thought I would do a write up and give you a little insight into the fun of drag racing in the Jap Drag Series…
Sorry if this is a long one but just trying to capture the weekend
I drive an EP3 Type R that has recently gone from being JR Supercharged to a new CPL Gen II Turbo set up. I was really happy with my Jackson Charger which enabled me to set a record a couple of years ago, but planning ahead for the long term and even bigger power I decided to swap over to the turbo now. Of course for racing I run M&H slicks on the front and Weld Racing skinny wheels on the rear to assist in traction and drag…
The car was never actually purchased with the intention of racing it but after a few visits to the Pod and a couple of proper heads up races I was hooked….
There is something very different about competitive drag racing, although all motorsport is challenging drag racing is the one where you get absolutely no time to think about anything. What I mean is that you MUST get the car ready for the run and it has to be perfect (that boost hose that is a little lose will cost you the race) then once you are on the line you have to deliver 100% if you miss a gear, bog on the line or hit the limiter you WILL lose…… What an adrenaline rush
As with all motor sport the lead up to the recent second round was quite tight…. At the end of the first round both myself and Cressie knew we had a few niggles to try to iron out for the second round. These included: -
both cars fitting a new second gear – it seems that due to revving the car to over 9k second gear itself takes a huge battering on the engagement teeth, and we seem to be doing a 100k worth of damage in a season or less lol
Cressie also had to fit 1st to second syncros and I had to fit a new clutch plate and fit my newly CPL made custom alternator relocation kit (pics a little later)
FRIDAY
I did expect to get al this done in plenty of time but as ever with racing this is what the car looked like on the Friday morning….
As you can guess Friday was a little stressful especially when your pretty much working on your drive but all the parts Guy has fabricated for me are a perfect fit so it wasn’t really too much of an issue…
6 and a bit hours later she was ready to fire up and of course it is a relief when she turns over without a problem….
Ideally at this point a few hundred miles to wear the clutch in would have been lovely… on the other hand a huge burnout should settle her in and keep the neighbours happy :twisted:
So we set off to the Pod knowing we are going to have to camp outside the front gates but as annoying as this is it just makes it all easier for the next morning….
So on the way we meet Cressie at the Toddington Services to grab a late bite to eat…as I settle down with my £20 XL Bacon Double Cheeseburger I cant work out what hurts more the fact that I am adding weight to my car by eating a huge burger, or the fact that I could have got my turbo serviced for the same cost :lol:
Anyway we arrive at the Pod at 10.30pm and settle down for the night….
SATURDAY
The next morning I am woken by a poxy wood pigeon sitting on the top of Cressie’s van but I suppose it would have been that or the first Trevor the Revver to arrive
Cressie awakens and decides rather than collapse his tent he will just cable tie it to the roof bars of the Transit, not a bad idea I thought as it definitely saved time… it also gave me my first laugh of the day as I cannot describe how funny it looked watching a 15 seater transit with what seems to be sails rolling into the pits LMFAO…. Could it get any better…… oh yes as Cressie brakes the tent flings itself down over the windscreen and you had to be there to see the look on his face…. Cressie you’re a legend…
Right so we are all set up and enjoying the freshly cooked breakfast when our noses are treated to the fine fragrance of the track crew prepping the track and a few of the pro cars firing up their engines… Just what you need with bacon and eggs - does it get any better
Throughout the Saturday we spent most of the time admiring some quick RWYB cars and of course the JDS and ESC cars having a shakedown before the Sunday, we were also treated to a couple of Top Fuel cars having a few practice runs.
Early afternoon comes around and we are told we have a JDS practice session coming up, so begins the usual hectic 5 mins before a run. Race Suit on, quick check under the bonnet, make sure we have enough fuel on board, Karl make sure you NOS bottle is open and up to pressure, check tyre pressures and then take the lovely drive down the side of the track to the start line… Once we all line up it gives you the last few mins to check over the car and have a bit of banter with the other drivers (no pressure at the moment as its only practice)
Right so get in the car and strap yourself in with 5 point harness, put on your balaclava and helmet, put on your neck support and finally your race gloves, here we go…. I am first in the queue so as I am called round I head into the right hand lane, my mate Steff gets me into position just at the edge of the water and I put the car into second gear. A few blips of the throttle and drop the clutch bouncing the limiter at over 9k. I keep her in the water for a minute and then keep the burnout going as I get onto the tarmac… ‘That was definitely a good burnout as the car is full of tyre smoke’ :-D
Flick down the toggle switch for launch control and get into stage…. Foot flat to the floor she starts to build a little boost once the light goes green drop the clutch…. Got away clean but have we cured the second gear issues YES she drops in lovely (changed before the shift light though) across the gate into third no problem and then just the simple 3rd to 4th change to get through again no problem then just rev it out through the line…. Once through decelerate for a few seconds then coast to the far gate to give the engine a rest. Wow what a rush…..
Back in the pits, park up asap and get the bonnet open to allow her to cool down. Now it’s just a case of getting the time slip and pulling the data log so we can see how the run was from a performance view. Did it spin or bog? Did you hit the limiter or short shift? Did the boost creep or drop off? What were the intake temps etc etc…..?
Once we have digested all this you make a few tweaks either with the car or the driver and do it all again
Definitely the highlight of the Saturday was the fact that Cressie decided to lay down the law on his first practice pass with a stupidly fast 10.8 on a fully stock motor…. Neither of us could quite believe it but I guess with no gearbox issues the car could again run what it is capable of… also a good driver helps…
Well done mate :thumbup:
Saturday evening was the usual mix of barbecues and motor homes but in our Marquee we had Thai Lemongrass Beef Curry or something like that, all I know is it was lovely and as always the evening was a great laugh from there on in……
SUNDAY
Trying no to bore you too much Sunday started pretty much the same as Saturday but we had more to do today we were racing for real so you always feel a little more excited. Me and Cressie discussed the plan for the day and agreed that if he could lay down the law again he had a great chance of being second qualifier (we assumed Adam Buckley would be no 1 qualifier with the form he has been putting in recently and Guy @ CPL taking a year off). My car needed a few more runs as I was still getting to grips with the new set up…..
So as usual a marshall comes by on a golf buggy as says “Right you lot down to the start line now”.. At this point the pits resemble the scene in F&F when the cops arrive and everyone makes a run for it….
So we are again down at the start line going through the checks and getting ready as described before (again no real pressure as it is qualifying)
This time when I get back to the pits Cressie has run a 10.7 WTF!!!!! I feel I am getting the hang of my new set up but Cressie is making me look like a homeless man in a shopping trolley :lol: ….. When he pulls up and hears the ET for the second time in a weekend his face was a picture…..
Once out the car we digest the ticket and realise he hit a 1.56 60ft showing the track was in great condition and he was definitely taking advantage of it…..
Other news from the first qualifier was that Dougie had also smashed .6 off his previous best time of 11.8 running an 11.2 off the trailer which was a fantastic achievement by him and the TDI team….
Unfortunately for Adam he had managed to break his diff in the first run so his weekend was over before it really began…(takes a lot of power to be breaking diffs guys)….
Karl was getting ever quicker with his Jackson and NOS set up and remember Karl drives his car 2 ½ hrs to and from the track, he doesn’t have the luxury of a trailer etc - my hat goes off to you Mr Hart….
So at the end of qualifying things looked like this.
1 Paul Cresswell 10.7365 123.20mph
2 Neil Knight 11.1853 126.66mph
3 Dougie Gemmell 11.2027 126.98mph
4 Karl Hart 11.9158 118.65mph
Every driver had improved on their previous PB’s so what a days qualifying….
And so it continues…. With only 4 cars running (which is a real shame considering we should be getting 9 or 10 at each event) we were strait into the semi finals, Paul vs. Karl and Me vs. Dougie (I think Dougie will agree myself and him have had more races against each other than anyone else lol)
So again we find ourselves lining up at the start line but this time there is lots of pressure as it is heads up first past the post wins….. (This is the part I love)…
So once in the car you give the opposite driver a nod which kind of says good luck but also kind of says im gonna kick your arse lol ….
As I wait in the water I am directly behind Paul Cresswell watching him and Karl complete the first race…. As they both go you can see the 60ft was pretty close but then Cressie seems to be slowing down WTF he is really behind and eventually just strolls up the track…..
Now you must at this point understand that in theory my biggest competition has just been beaten in the semi final so you get an even bigger adrenalin rush and start telling yourself a couple of solid runs and the weekend is yours. (You may think of this as being big headed but you have to have that kind of confidence or it is not worth racing. Also we had not pushed my car all weekend and had put a little more in it for the semi
)….With my added confidence I got into the burnout and let her have it in third gear there was smoke filling the car strait away but as I came out the burnout the engine seemed to cut for a second - huh??
I gave her a few revs and she seemed ok so I got into stage… on the hand brake I had my foot to the floor and had the transmission loaded up. As the light dropped I was off and the car flew out of the trap at a ridiculous speed, I was thinking to myself whatever Guy had done it was pretty obvious then BANG the engine cut out and I was thrown forward, but it started going again so I threw it into second and half way through the gear, BANG it cut again… after this is just drove it up the track trying to understand what had just happened…
The car was running lovely and all we had done was play with the launch a little and add a tiny bit more power… Also it made no sense that she sounded fine driving at normal speeds…..
Once back into the pits Guy pulls the log and shouts out “Is there a vacuum hoes that has come off’??? I check around and see the vacuum for the wastegate is not connected meaning we had hit boost cut at 20PSI…
Those of you with turbo or supercharged cars will know what boost cut feels like and know it is not pleasant but on the flip side the engine was in perfect working order and nothing had been damaged during the run……
This just goes to show you how random drag racing is.
Adam Buckley would have been favourite for the weekend but he broke during the first run…..
Paul would have been second favourite but had gearbox issues and aborted….
It was pretty close between Me and Dougie in qualifying but I also had troubles in the Semis giving him the win…..
Onto the Final so Dougie and Karl line up and both complete pretty impressive burnouts showing that they are going for it… Karl is the first to stage and Dougie rolls in a little after… Karl seems to be having trouble keeping the car still and sure enough just as the lights are about to drop he cuts a red light handing Dougie the automatic win however Dougie runs through with another impressive 11.2 to back up his earlier time…..
All in all another fantastic weekend of racing showing that there a potentially 6 or 7 cars that could have extremely close races this year as long as both cars make it cleanly down the track…..
Well done to everyone - who for me makes these weekends worth attending..
This includes all the drivers and every member of their crews who work tirelessly on getting these cars ready for the events. I salute you all…. :salut:
Finally “well done” to Cressie for the super 10.7
Well done to Dougie for taking the round win and running the new SC Record
Well done to Karl for smashing his previous PB and taking the runners up place and also being the only guy who then drove his car home lol (oh and well done to James Willday for the pose in the back of Karl’s photo) the racers always try to get a few lunges in the pics LMFAO…..
For me a huge thank you needs to go out to Guy at CPL who as always has the time to support us and complete such amazing work on the cars…. You are a legend and I can’t wait to see the car out again next year :twisted:
Sorry for the length of this, but hope it wasn’t too painful lol….
Alternator Relocation Kit