FireForce 4 – The New Recruit
Over 4 years in the making, lots of ups and downs (more downs) and some near misses with the secret being unveiled, FireForce 4 will make it’s first appearance at Santa Pod Raceway on Saturday 19th February for the Stunt Fest.
Although it will not complete the ¼ mile, a fire and smoke show will be performed on the startline. Luckily for the team, with Number 3 on its way to Abu Dhabi to perform at the Yas Drag Racing Festival, the Stunt Fest will prove the perfect opportunity to unveil the new addition.
In a test ‘fire up’ last weekend, a few small issues presented themselves, but after some tinkering and fine tuning, it’s all systems go for Stunt Fest.
So, a little more about FireForce 4…….
The graphics were the idea of Martin, who wanted something totally different from the much photographed Number 3. Clowns were always the first option and it was whether this idea would work, once actually on the car. With some discussions and ideas exchanged between the crew and Custom Painthouse (of Sheffield) the vision of seeing the FireForce crew become the ‘clown’ characters seemed an ever popular idea. (Not that they are clowns of course!!) With Martin’s exasperated expression on the back of the car, Rich and his dreads, not to mention chunky rings, and Horace, well, just being Horace, both clinging to the car for dear life, maybe the graphics have depicted the team all too well! Our thanks to everyone at Custom Painthouse for their patience, understanding and incredible work.
After many years of seeing Number 3 and very traditional paintwork, Number 4 will no doubt get people talking and more than likely have a marmite effect. People will either love it or hate it!! Whatever people’s opinion, we are now back to three Jet Funny Cars and will as ever be putting on a show and putting the ‘Fire’ in FireForce.
Number 4 has a few innovative design features, most noticeably the absence of a rear wing on the Camero style body. Also a new style intake and redesigned chassis incorporating all the latest chassis safety features. The engine is another J60 which has been used in FireForce 2 & 3 to make these the fastest Jet Funny Cars in the world!
With so much focus currently on preparations for our trip to Abu Dhabi, development work and the true performance of Number 4 will not be explored until our return. Then we can really concentrate on getting the most out of new recruit and hopefully build up the performance of the car.
Our thanks to everyone involved in the build and for the courtesy of those who knew about the project and respected the privacy of the team. It’s been very hard work but hopefully it will all be worthwhile.
Martin and the crew