NitrOlympX Report
14/08/2014
Number 3 and the team are all now safely back home after our visit to Hockenheimring, Germany for the NitrOlympX show, 8th – 10th August.
Myself and Horace travelled by road with No3 on tow which got quite a few admiring glances and plenty of photos from the passing traffic. We eventually got to the track late last Wednesday and after unloading the car in the pit garage, all we wanted was a good night’s sleep at our hotel. On Thursday, Richard arrived so we completely cleaned the car which had been drenched through. After a thorough clean, we went through the car and got most of the prep done ready for Friday.
Friday proved a frustrating day as we had asked and expected to be able to do a ‘test’ run on the track. We got down to the pairing lanes at just gone 6pm and were all ready for action until we got cancelled due to the noise curfew. All the team were slightly disappointed as we wanted to be able to give the car a proper ‘test’ to make sure there weren’t any issues before our big ‘Night Show’ on Saturday evening.
Saturday came and the wet forecasts that we had heard all week never appeared (thankfully). We thought we might be able to get a mid morning ‘test’ run in but again this didn’t happen. The next we knew we were asked to run side by side with DragonHunter at the finale of the night show at 10pm. As we sat in the pairing lanes, the grandstands were heaving and the noise was immense. It’s been nearly 10 years since I was last at Hockenheimring with No 2 but the crowds were just as amazing as they always were. DragonHunter and No 3 both put on a great startline show and it was a steady first run for No 3 over 1000 ft before I shut off. DragonHunter red lit which meant it was a comfortable win for the Brits.
After the run, I was confident that I could easily run the 1/4 mile as the track and conditions were good. On Sunday, we were asked to end the day with another side by side run with DragonHunter. I knew the car was performing well so I was cautious not to red light and took my time. Comfortably the car did the 1/4 mile in 6.10sec /437kph (271mph) against DragonHunter’s 7.20sec /364kph (226mph)
Myself and the team all had a great return trip to Hockenheim and I must thank Jerry Lackey, Race Director at Hockenheim, for inviting us to the show.
There are plenty of photos and videos on our Facebook page and we’ll be uploading some on here in due course. So check out our little trip via https://www.facebook.com/pages/FireForce-Jet-Funny-Cars/164893953568789?fref=ts