Sunday 15th April: What a weekend!

One week on and the team are just recovering from an epic weekend at Santa Pod raceway. At last the car has shown some of the pace that we all knew was in it. The winter upgrades and fixes have worked very well, particularly the Owen Developments -supplied Precision turbos, and at last the cylinder heads! Unbelievably we were ready a week before the Thunderball. That's the first time that happened for a long time. Big thanks to Crew Chief Tony Grayston for spending 2 weekends on the trot helping to put the car back together.

Coming to the meeting our goal was just to get down the track to gain some invaluable data, particularly as we'd only managed one full throttle all the way down the track pass up to then! Shane T's instructions on the Friday were to launch easy and just make a full pass. Unfortunately the car span and shook the tyres, which kicked the car over towards the centreline and it was on and off the throttle to the end. That meant no full data, but enough for Shane and Jon Webster to look and adjust for the next run.

The good thing was that the car had indicated to me that it had very decent pace now,and that when we'd figured out the startline it would go down the track fairly swiftly.

Saturday's runs were more of the same. Data on this car is our friend. Because we have a myriad of sensors it means that everything on the run can be checked over, and tuning becomes less of a guess, and more of a good judgement. The couple of qualifiers on Saturday gave us a very good indication of what we could achieve for the weekend. 219mph isn't shabby for a 3012 lb car, even more so as it's not massively aerodynamic either!

This run had set us up for Sunday's runs. Unfortunately we only got one because of the inclement weather. But what a run for us. Our first 6 sec run,at 218mph to boot! That equates to 2980hp so far, with plenty more to come. So two full throttle passes in, we're in the 6's,and almost to our goal mph of 220mph for the season. That run, along with the mph we did, made the car the first street legal car in the 6's in Europe and fastest and quickest street legal car in Europe, and the world's fastest street legal car. All that is left is the world's quickest and we have the full set! Did I mention we qualified third in MSA Pro Mod? That is truly the stuff of dreams for our team...What a shame the weather curtailed the elims on Monday.

As usual we couldn't have done any of this without our crew, consisting of Deb, Tony and Jake Grayston, Art Stuffins, Rob Kearns and Will Perry. On tech duties this weekend were the legendary Shane Tecklenburg, Jon Webster and Marc Lamude, as well as Al Cook and Mark Harrison from Owens who popped in on a few occasions to make sure everything was good with the turbos. Of course, all of our sponsors, who you see on our site, had a hand to play in our continuing good performance. They can be found on the left hand side of our home page. Special mention must go to Mark and the boys at Abbey Motorsports, who not only got us out of the mire with a turbo fitting, but lent us their dongle so we could keep in contact with Shane all weekend. Thanks to Dave Rowe at EPS motorsport, for getting to my pit at 8am to fit our new exhaust sensors. And also Graham Ellis who lent us some Redline oil when our supplies ran out. Thank you guys.... Lastly thanks to our supporters, who were there on the historic day for the team. I'm glad we gave them something to cheer about at long last!

So it's on to The Main Event next. Can we qualify for elims? Can we set that world record? We're quietly confident, particularly as Shane T will be here in the flesh, Jon Webster will be on hand, and companies like Precision Turbo and Motec are on our side. We need to cast the ghost away of the last Main Event, when things went very badly for us. We're hopefully doing a blog on the weekend,so you can follow our exploits here,or on our FB and Twitter pages. See you all there...

Wednesday 21st March: Almost there!

And we're almost there with the car too! I collected the car from Owen Developments last week after they'd supplied and installed the new Precision turbos, Tial wastegates and BOV,and their own turbo speed sensors for me. This involved changing everything but the carbon intake ducts,which took a little longer than planned. Thanks to everyone involved in the job at Owens, they've done a superb job of everything!

Crew chief Tony Grayston and I set about the A4 list of jobs we needed to do on the car on Saturday, finishing up on Sunday with just a couple of jobs left to do this weekend coming. One of those is refit the turbo exhaust housings and wastegate exit pipes back on the car after they've been ceramic coated at Zircotec. Because of the close proximity of fibreglass panels to the turbos this is an absolute must job. Having run their coatings for a number of years with a 100% success rate I wouldn't run the car without the coating.

Once they're back on the plan is to get the engine fired up and make sure everything works as intended, check for leaks, then hot lash it. If all is good in that dept then it's back to Webster Race Engineering for baselining, new tyres all round,and a couple of bits and pieces. Then we should be good to go for Easter!

As reported by ED we've been steadily renewing with,and gaining sponsors over the past few weeks. We have welcomed Europa Consultants and Topspeed Automotive/Hoosier race tire to the team, as well as recently renewing with Cam Auto Developments. We really do appreciate their support, particularly in these troubled economic times.

So I'd say the team will be at the ball. The Thunder ball that is....

More soon.

Sunday 12th February: Only 7 weeks to the start of the new season!

Yep, the new season is heading towards us with ever increasing pace and there's a lot going on behind the scenes at RV1 team headquarters. As you've read in the main Eurodragster site, we've been renewing and picking up new partners and sponsors at a good rate. We have had to say goodbye to one or two companies due to the economic climate, which was to be expected. But in the main all of our big players are with us again for 2012. For that we thank them all for their coming support..

The main job to do in the winter was the cylinder heads (again). These have been the most troublesome aspect of the car so far,and we were determined to get them fixed once and for all. The winter strip-down revealed one of the ports had blown through, due to us having to grind the intake port walls for pushrod clearance, to the point of the wall being paper thin. So we took the heads to Cylinder Head services in Northampton,who were recommended by Jon Webster. They have done a superb job of the heads, putting tapered inserts between the ports so we have enough clearance, and enough port wall! That, along with inserting new seats where they were leaking, and fitting new valves with the right clearances. After they were finished, the heads were taken down to Marc Lamude's racing engine emporium, where every clearance and tolerance was measured meticulously by Marc. They passed the check with flying colours!

At last, we now have a set of heads that will now work as intended, as along with the head work the valves, retainers and locks have been replaced with Victory Valves' finest titanium and inconel pieces. Finally, to finish off the service Marc came to our shop and fitted the heads himself. Now that is service folks...

The car is now at Owen Developments for the turbo upgrade and fitment of them on to the car. Owens will be supplying a pair of Precision turbos to Precision's latest spec, and these will be built and balanced by Owens themselves! They've also supplied us with two Tial 60mm wastegates and the latest Tial Q High Flow blow off valve, and two of their own turbo speed sensors, so we can know exactly what is going on inside the turbo. That will be a huge asset to have,and we thank them both for choosing us to showcase their talents and products in the European drag racing market!

On another note, thank you to all the good folk that voted the car the SPRC best appearing car in 2011. A big congrats to Wayne Allman of the Intergalactic Custom Shop, Dale at DRE glassfibre, Geoff and Dean at G&D Autos, Jon Webster at Webster Race Engineering, Darren at Power Race graphics and Daz at DC Customs for turning the vision in my head into a reality.

So that's the news for now. No doubt there will be more in the coming weeks in the lead up to the Easter Thunderball, and our first MSA Pro Mod meeting.

Sunday 27th November: Looking forward to 2012.

2011 is almost over and the teams thoughts are already thinking ahead to the new season, and what it will bring! As always things are very busy behind the scenes as we look for new partners for the new season.

As for the car, there is very little that needs to be done for next year. One thing that is being done is the final fix for the troublesome cylinder heads that plagued us this season. The temporary fix during the year was just that, and they're now off the engine and at Cylinder Head services in Northampton for that "final" fix. No stone is being left unturned as there are new valves,retainers and lock from Victory valves, new exhaust pushrods and new exhaust valve springs. Everything else has checked out fine and is ready to go for Easter, where hopefully we can move on from this years performance. Having had only one full pass under power this year was very disappointing to say the least, but 2012 should be a different story.!

On a different note we're having some team t-shirts done,courtesy of Pete Walters at www.pwrd.co.uk. They will be available around xmas time and will be available in all sizes,from xxxxl to small. They are priced at a very reasonable £13.50 each plus p+p and will be available either by e-mailing me with your name,sizes wanted and address, or at the track from Easter onwards.

This just leaves me to wish all of our supporters, friends, sponsors, followers and our readers here a very good xmas and all the best for 2012. See you at the track!

Monday 26th September: Where did the year go?

It's a good question, and for us the season has ended before it began. Obviously we were put on the back foot straight away,and it was always going to be difficult to even get started properly.

As I said in the last blog at least I have gained my pro mod licence, I have a car that isn't broken, and we've not started the tune up in any way yet! Having watched the National finals from my computer it was a bit sad that we couldn't be there, but my crew have taken up all their holiday for this year, and without my crew it would be impossible to run the car at an MSA round. What we are happy with is what we've seen in the little data we've gained. From that we know that next year we should have no trouble reaching the goals we've set ourselves.

So, over the winter we will be doing the little jobs that need doing in readiness for a full season next year, and also doing a bit of street driving! We will be at the Classic Car show at the NEC in Birmingham in November, and the Autosport show at the same venue in January so hopefully some of you can come along and say hello.

One of my main aims over the winter is to renew with all of the sponsors we have for 2012, and push for new sponsors as well. As you've seen on the news pages we've tied up with Redline Oil for next season, which i'm sure will be very worthwhile for both of us. I am also in talks with a lot of others that will hopefully come to fruition over the next few months.

Which leaves me to thank all of my crew of Tony Grayston, Debbie Frost, Wil Perry, Rob Kearns, Rob Kimber and Arthur Stuffins for their hard work and dedication to the cause in 2011, car builder extraordinaire Jon Webster for his advice and assistance, Marc Lamude for his dedication and valuable time,and Shane Tecklenburg for his tuning and advice. Of course thanks to all of my sponsors who have supported us through this testing year,and lastly everyone who helped us getting back on track when we had problems in May.

I'll update over the winter with news of how the team is progressing with work and sponsors.

Thank you all for your support.

Saturday 10th September: Andy Frost - licensed Pro Mod racer!

I am delighted to say I received my license on my first pass of today and we achieved our main objective of the meeting. It is an awesome feeling and a massive relief for me.

We only needed to warm the engine this morning as we had prepared the car yesterday and it was ready. We knew it was going to be reliable and it is low maintenance, which will be a bonus when we race. If we wanted to we could turn the car round in 20 minutes if needed.

We ran the licensing pass in second gear in order not to get tyre shake. Whilst we knew it wouldn't give us a spectacular timeslip, it was a lot more likely to get our license signed off than risking a first gear launch and potentially getting into problems on the launch or going all over the track. When I parked on the return road and saw the team coming towards me I could tell from the flashing lights on the tow vehicle that I had got the license. Race Director Robin Shone was happy to sign it off because the car had launched fine and run so straight at high speeds.

During the day I realised how stressful it had been to get licensed. The pass we needed to do was only a hundredth quicker than the best the old car had run, yet seemed so difficult to achieve. We had one more run and, although we thought qualifying would be a remote possibility since we have no data on passes with a first gear launch, we tried nevertheless. Having suceeded in getting down the track by launching in second in the morning session, we tried the same in the afternoon session, the only one that would have counted for me for qualifying. So we put more power in it, launched in second gear - and it shook the tyres.

It was a one-shot effort, but the good thing was that we got to stage and run alongside Bert Englefield. I hadn't run against another car in some time and I really enjoyed doing that. With a turbo car you need to build up the revs on the startline. There was a little burndown between us which gave me just enough time to do that. The staging procedure went well and the car was fine after the pass which was another bonus. It will be good to get back into racing.

I'm not sure when our next race will be as we really need to test first gear launches before we can be competitive. We also have a business to run and things at Penn Autos are busy.

I would like to thank my crew again for all their hard work before and at the event and Jon Webster who has done such a great job with the car and engine.

Friday 9th September: Licensing: the crucial passes

Having arrived at the track our main objective has been to license and then to qualify. Our biggest issues are that we don't have enough data to enable us to make comparisons for tuning to the conditions. So we are feeling our way forward.

To license, we have to do two passes of 7.40 or better and have terminal speed of greater than 180mph. We had achieved the speed target some time ago, but the ET target has proved elusive. Our best was a 7.42 at the test session on Wednesday.

You will have read that because of our Main Event engine problems, this is our first time out to license because of the time and expense required to make repairs. It has been difficult getting our head around tuning the car even though we have good brains, because we need data. So tomorrow will be a shot in the dark. We will either go or blow the tyres off.

Everything about the car is good, the power is there and the engine is running great. We have the latest Motec data logging software to record the data and Jon Webster has been helping us. The engine runs very quiet - we lost fire on the start line and no-one noticed or rushed towards me with fire extinguishers. It will be odd racing against noisy cars.

The engineering is there and the car drives dead straight. The first pass was a gentle launch and then on it for a 7.53. I just had massive tyre shake in my second and only ran 8.02. I haven't had the car long enough to drive it through shake and didn't want to risk any bolts loosening.

We have a launch boost controller that will help us stage with boost but I am not using it yet, I am just building the boost up. There is no two step as it is not a clutch car. I do want to concentrate on driving the car away from the line.

I must come away from this event with my license. The team needs a break and won't be able to make the National Finals. I don't want to still be licensing next year.

We have two attempts tomorrow. The first is critical as we need to run two. But it is also important as the second run will be allowed as a qualifying pass if I license with it. To be honest, we came here with no hope of of qualifying and certainly the runs done so far won't count. But the others are having their own troubles so my chances are better than I thought.

So with a new car we still have a real issue. But the rules need to be followed and when all 3000hp are on tap, and tamed, the car will be very quick.

Big Thank Yous go to Jon Webster who has been overseeing the entire project this weekend, and to my crew Slinky, Tony, Debbie, Arthur and Rob.

Monday 5th September: We're back!

Finally we got back on track after the unfortunate engine damage at the Main Event. This is due to many people's help, not least the Pistonheads fraternity along with a lot of others.

As you can imagine there was a huge amount of work prior to coming out this weekend to test, but the team were confident from the initial data we saw that once we had a reasonable tune in the car there would be no problem achieving the goals that we've set ourselves for this year.

Saturday dawned and we set about checking the car one last time and warming it up prior to the first run. Jon Webster and I went to check the track to see what we had to do. Unfortunately the startline had been resurfaced due to a groove appearing from the FWD cars which frequent the RWYB meetings. The lack of rubber on the surface meant that it was going to be tricky to launch the car without blazing the tyres.

On the hit that is exactly what it did,meaning we could only get a minimum amount of data from the run. Fortunately we did learn quite a bit, but the lack of traction meant we'd have to curtail the runs for Saturday. The weather forecast didn't look good for Sunday, but we woke to bright-ish conditions. The team readied the car and we towed up to the startline. Five minutes to go before we ran the heavens opened and that was that for us.

Hopefully the weather will be kind to us on Wednesday for the Pro Peak Performance Day,and we can move forward with the car's development.

We should be doing a blog from our pit over the duration of the European Final, to keep you in touch with what is happening from our perspective. Stay tuned for news of that. See you at the Finals...

Wednesday 6th July 2011: Getting back into gear.

After the disaster (for the team) that was the Main Event, things seem to be getting back to normal again. The engine is in pieces, and the block and heads are at ARE in Huddesfield for repair. I have new GRP rods, Ferrea pistons, Morel lifters, T+D rocker parts, all new Jesel belt parts and Total Seal rings sitting here waiting.The Diamond pistons will be here shortly to join the rest of the parts in readiness for the rebuild.

I'm also getting through the list of parts that didn't work as well as we'd hoped, one of which is the Bruno unit which needed some more oil capacity. Part of this is being handled by Wayne Allman of the Intergalactic custom shop, who is making the oil pan bigger to our spec, and i'm doing some pump mods to help the situation too.

We've also done some mods to the intake pipework to make the air flow that little bit better at low speed, as we didn't get a chance to do them before the car debuted. The car is finally going in for it's final polish at DC Customs this weekend,then on to Webster Race Engineering to do a couple of cosmetic changes.

While that is going on the plan is that the engine should be built and ready for the dyno at the end of July, and the engine back in and running for the middle of August. If this happens then it's testing a week before the Euro finals with a view to having another stab at Pro Mod at the Finals themselves.

One thing is for sure.There'll be no rushing this time as my wallet won't be able to cope with another breakage this year.

A very big thanks have to go to everyone who has shown their support for the team these past few weeks, particularly the good folk on Pistonheads, who have really rallied around to save the day, and to some of my sponsors who have helped in a big way! It is very much appreciated... More news soon.

Monday 6th June 2011: We came, we saw, we broke...

As most of you know we made it to the VXR sprint night and test weekend before the Main Event. Things went very well for a first test session, although invariably as it's a brand new car (and concept) there were a few issues that needed to be resolved before the race weekend. No biggie, we'll just take it to Webster Race Engineering to fix.

We were supposed to be running on the Wednesday at the Private Test but had to cancel due to parts not arriving beforehand. Again, no biggie, we'll just run on Thursday. Typically Thursday was a wash-out, meaning that hadn't gained my licence to be able to run in Pro Modified for the weekend.

So we opted to run in Super Pro ET to gain more track time for my tuner Shane Tecklenburg to be able to get the car baselined and going down the track at reasonable speed. In fairness to Santa Pod Racers Club they did everything in their power to allow us to run in Pro Modified, finally telling us we could run in the class, but we'd already made the decision to run in Super Pro. Thank you to them for their time and effort on our behalf.

Not that it mattered one way or the other, as first run out in qualifying the engine backfired at 600 feet and made a mess inside the engine. We're still not sure what has caused it, but will find out this weekend the extent of the damage.

The worst part was we had let down our loyal band of followers who'd made their way to Santa Pod in numbers to support us. It was the reason we stayed 'til Sunday to show them the car,even though it wasn't running.

This week we have again found out how many people are following and supporting the team, as already we have help to fix the car coming from many places! A huge thanks to everyone who is supporting and helping us to get back to the track in a reasonable time frame. Also a huge thanks to Jon Webster who was at the track for us at both weekends and working in the week between, Shane Tecklenburg for his superb tuning and diagnostic work, Dave Rowe of EPS Motorsport for his efforts, my crew man Tony Grayston, who was working on the car (and awning) for a week and a half, and the rest of my crew for the hard work for two weekends.

We'll try to get back out as soon as possible, but firstly we need to find out what went wrong with the engine, fix, and dyno it to make sure it doesn't happen again, and test the car prior to an event before racing in anger once again.

The good thing is that the car shows great promise, and looks decent to showcase everyone who worked on it. Next time out hopefully we'll show a bit more pace and give our followers something to shout about. I'll let you all know when we'll be back again...

Tuesday 24th May 2011: The first runs.

Well, we finally finished the project build and got the car to the track for the pre-Main Event test weekend. The plan was for Webster Race Engineering main man Jon Webster to finish the commissioning process on the car. This is usually done in the workshop, but we had a date on the Friday night at the VXR Sprint night at Santa Pod. This meant Jon was checking everything on the Saturday. All the checks went well, with the usual parts to adjust. With such a complicated build it's essential no stone is left unturned in this process.

In the meantime ace US tuner Shane Tecklenburg was running through the system and sensor checks prior to fire up and my trusty crew were learning the process of servicing and maintaining a Pro Mod car, albeit a street-legal one! By midday the car became real, firing up on the first turn of the key after cranking for oil pressure. It lives!

By late afternoon we all decided it was time to "Take 'er for a spin", so off we trundled around the pits and the main road in to the facility. On the way back ED's main woman and man caught the car in film for the record.

On the Sunday the plan was to start the licensing process,and at the same time the tuning process. The burnout, 60 foot and eighth mile with chutes out were dispatched in two runs. With five minutes to spare we got in the fire up road to attempt the licencing mark of 7.4/180 mph. Unfortunately the car developed a slight misfire just at the eighth so I came off the throttle so not to damage anything. We just missed the target by a tenth and a few mph.

So we'll try again in the Thursday test session. We did plan to do Wednesday's private session but we need to change some things,and have had to order them from the US. This means Wednesday will be confined to doing the little changes that are necessary to move forward.

Hopefully we'll be licensed at the test day and will be able to join the big boys of Pro Mod in qualifying. Come and say hello if you're passing...

Saturday 30th April 2011: The last stretch.

We're on the final run to finish the car now. The paintwork is finished and just requires a final polish after the refitting of the parts on the car, along with the VXR and other decals to be applied. Daz and Chris at DC Customs have done a fabulous job on the car. It looks identical to the Power Race Graphics rendering, which is very pleasing for me,and as with 99% of the jobs so far it was a pleasure working with those guys.

The car is now back at its spiritual home. Yes, it's at Webster Race Engineering, where Jon will fit everything back on and finish the jobs that couldn't get done before the paint. This includes plumbing 8 (eight!) fluid transfer systems with the Goodridge hosing supplied by Cam Auto Developments, and all the wiring that needs finishing,including wiring all the sensors by Scattergood and Johnson. At the moment Dave at EPS Motorsport is very busy and might not have time to do the loom himself, meaning that Jon will have to run all the wires to their various points in the car ready for termination by Dave.

The engine is still causing me headaches. Most of the measuring work has been done by Knight Racing Services but they are now not able to finish it in time for our debut, due to them being oversubscribed with work. So Marc at Lamude Racing Engines has kindly stepped into help getting the team to the ball! The engine is now in his capable hands and he's assured me it will be ready by next weekend, barring any disasters. A potential fly in the ointment is that I'm waiting for some valve springs and big end bearings,and I have to trust some shipping companies to deliver on time!

Also the planned dyno run has gone out of the window. Time constraints mean we cannot spare the engine to the dyno even for a few hours. The dyno will be a mobile one,that is red in colour...

Apart from that we're well on course for the May 20th debut at the VXR sprint night at Santa Pod raceway, followed by a weekend of testing. Then the big one at the Main Event, again at Santa Pod. I'd like to thank everyone who's been following the build so far. Pretty much every comment is positive,which is great for me and the team behind the build. It'll be a sigh of relief from all the camp when it's finished, that's for sure.

More soon...

Thursday 31st March 2011: Debut delayed.

It's three weeks to Easter,and the bad news is we're not going to make the Thunderball. Everyone involved is very disappointed with decision I've had to make, but in reality, waiting three months for the heads to arrive made it incredibly difficult to finish the car in time for its slated debut. Not having time to test before the Thunderball was the main reason for delaying the debut, as we all felt it would not be the best idea to go to a championship meeting with a brand new, untried car!

We're now aiming for the Peak performance weekend on the 21st/22nd of May, a week before the Main Event. Fast Motorsports' Shane Tecklenburg's flight is booked from LA, so we have to make that date.

Work continues at a pace with the car. It is currently at DC Customs to finish the bodywork and lay on the paint and graphics. The body and chassis are due back at the Webster Race Engineering workshop just before Easter. When that happens Jon will be putting the whole car back together again, along with Dave Rowe of EPS Motorsport who will be completing the wiring of the car. The engine is in the safe hands of Knight Racing Services who are collecting the final parts required for trial assembly as we speak.

We did have a minor disaster when a miscommunication between myself and Pete resulted in a set of pistons that were too short in compression height. This was resolved very quickly with the help of Dakota Parts warehouse and GRP in the USA. They had a longer set of rods made and shipped in three days. This was a blessing in disguise as our rods where a tad too short anyway, due to the Pro mod rule change making us change the crank stroke to comply with the new cubic inch limit.

So, sorry to disappoint everyone who was looking forward to the debut at Easter but the car has so much time and money in the project that no-one wants to rush the job at this critical stage in the build. Besides, it's only three weeks away from our initial date so not long to wait. We will be posting video of the first fire up of the enigne on the Knight racing dyno to whet your appetites in approx two weeks time.

More news soon.

Sunday 6th March 2011: Ready for paint.

It's been seven weeks since my last blog and the car is a last ready for paint! Obviously because everything is a one off you inevitably get delays with some items.

The team at Webster Race Engineering have been superb in the way they've tackled the problems that have confronted them. Over the past seven weeks Jon and the crew have had to get around things that just haven't gone the way it was planned.

The upshot is that Jon is very happy with the way it's turned out so far. And because he is, I am... Anyway,the latest is that the body is mounted on the painted chassis, and the engine is at Knight Racing Services for the build up.

Again already we're having issues with the cylinder heads,something that wasn't anticipated. This will put us back about a week on that side of things. I have the Lenco trans stripped to modify and rebuild, and all the little items on the car that are to be plated/painted/anodised are split between Jon and myself.

The car will be taken to DC Customs on Monday for them to start the task of getting the car to look exactly the same as the Power Race Graphics Power Race Graphics rendering. They have a lot to live up to as all the previous companies who have worked on the car have made a unbelievably good job of everything.

On other fronts I made it through my medical for the international licence with flying colours. That took me by surprise! Things are quiet on the sponsorship front, although to be fair I'm so wrapped up in other things I haven't been able to dedicate any time to widen my search. There are one or two companies we're hoping to renew with for 2011 but they are yet to be confirmed.

We have seven weeks left to the Easter Thunderball. Things are going to get manic....

Wednesday 12th January 2011: Suited and booted.

Sorry for the lack of blog updates recently. Things are incredibly hectic at the moment with work and other items. The Autosport show went very well for all of us, with hundreds of people coming to look at the car. It actually took me by surprise how many times I couldn't see the car amongst the sea of people......

Work on the car at Webster Race Engineering is going to plan, apart from being two months behind with the build! This is totally out of mine and Jon's control. It is all due to the delay in the cylinder heads arrival and not being able to co-ordinate everything that goes on after the heads and intake are fitted.

Jon is hopeful that by the end of next week the car should be ready to come apart for the chassis to be painted. When the chassis comes back the body goes on for the last time (hopefully) and it's all hands to the pump as the body goes for paint at DC Customs in the West Midlands, and all the ancillaries get either painted/chromed/plated etc...

On a different note, but still related to the car is another part of the "pro" racing process - getting an international drag race licence. As it's been a few years since I raced in FIA competition, I have to go through all the drama of medicals, letters to say I am competent etc, but now with the added bonus of having a stress related ECG test because I'm over 45..uugh. This is scheduled for Tuesday so wish me luck! Exercise isn't part of my work programme because I'm always working!

Also part of this "pro" racing is a complete change of race wear. Unluckily (for my wallet) I have nothing race wear wise that is compatible with the Pro-Mod class safety rules. In a way it's a blessing though, as 10 years ago when I bought my last SFI suit it was like wearing a cardboard box! Nowadays with modern materials things are completely different.

Last year I took a trip to see Andy Boakes at the Stand 21 shop,which is located at the Brands Hatch circuit. I'd seen the Stand 21 race suit Andy Carter had been wearing and I was very impressed with the way he could move around in it. The service I received (and still am receiving) from Andy B was second to none. So much so that I ordered a 20++ suit (with my logos and colour scheme), carbon Ivos helmet (sponsored by the HSV forum) with sock and their new gloves and boots which don't require over boots or over gloves! I'm hoping they get their new helmet removal device approved before the start of the season as I'm not impressed with the ISP "bag" that will IMO do more damage than good in an accident situation..

It's a little quiet on the sponsorship front at the moment,apart from the renewal of long time partners VP Racing Fuels, whose M1 methanol and VP100 unleaded (for the street) will be used exclusively in Red Victor 3 in 2011. There are still things happening in the background (as always) that we should be able to announce soon.

That's it for now. Hopefully you are all following the build on Pistonheads or Rods n' Sods and are looking forward to seeing the car in the flesh like I am.

Wednesday 12th January 2011: Show Time.

Happy new year everyone!

It's 2011 already and not long before the first race of the year at Santa Pod. Hang on, aren't we supposed to have a car there? Yes,the usual thoughts of any drag racer at the turn of the New Year and the realisation that there are only a few weeks to go to the "Big Go".

Things are very positive throughout the whole team as things now seem to be coming together. The RFD billet heads that we've waiting for so long for are now due next week. This will allow Jon to finish off the turbo pipes and co-ordinate everything around the front area of the engine. Ian Goldie of Cam Auto Developments will be able to start measuring up for the Goodridge plumbing that must be done before the dismantling of the car starts and the real work begins...

I said in the previous blog that we'd nearly secured a new partner for the team,and just before Xmas it was confirmed that Wolverhampton City Council are supporting the team in 2011. Great news for us and the city that I live in! I also appeared on our local radio station The Wolf on Tuesday to promote the new car, drag racing and the Autosport International show.

The team at Webster Race Engineering have been working flat out on the car to get it ready for Autosport at the NEC and as usual they have made a great job of everything. As Tog has already reported we will be on the WRE stand at the entrance/exit to the Pistonheads Show. Please come and say hello if you are going. You can even take a look at the car if you want!

While we are there we will be visiting a few companies at their stands and hopefully there will be some good news (for us) to tell you in our next blog.

Till next time, toodle pip...

Monday 20th December 2010: Frustration and anticipation.

It's been a very frustrating week. Promises of parts arriving have disappeared into nothing. It's very frustrating for me, as I keep saying to Jon that the parts are going to be at his shop, and then look like an idiot when they're not!

We had some bad news on one sponsorship front, but better news on three others. Again, they will be announced in due course. Obviously, all of this sponsorship chasing needs to be done after work hours. This is a bit of a strain, but has to be done to further the team's prospects for 2011.

It looks like everything is going to begin at the end of January, as all the engine parts will be here, along with the car being ready for paint at the same time. The co-ordination needed between myself and WRE will be tricky, but it has to be this way. The hope is that it all goes smoothly, but knowing this game it'll be full of missed deadlines, heated phone calls and broken promises. I guess we'll have to take it all as it comes.

Hopefully some of you have been following the build thread and understand what we are trying to achieve. I think it's in my nature to make everything incredibly difficult at all times!

Anyway, as this is my last blog before Xmas, I'd like to wish all our friends, sponsors and fans a very Merry Xmas. Hopefully everyone gets what they want for next year at the end of the bed on Xmas morning...

Saturday 11th December 2010: A little help from my friends.

It's been a good week.I've had a meeting with a potential sponsor and that went very well. The call I had from them wanting to meet me came from another piece on a website via my bank. Amazing what comes when you're not expecting it...

Progress on the car is good. Jon at Webster Race Engineering has been chipping away at the small items that are numerous, but very time consuming. We've also had the data logging sensors (pictured below) arrive from Scattergood and Johnson, so we'll be able to start arranging where they go on the car. The Motec items turned up from Shane at Fast Motorsports in California via Steve Clark at Nimbus motorsports and Jon has been trial fitting those items in place. Jon has decided that the car is going to go to the Autosport show at the NEC. It was a chance decision based on the fact that we've have been waiting for the heads and intake to arrive for months now and we're not going to lose any time by going.

Jon says that we have the time to go and promote the build to a big audience, and as we are the Pistonheads race team for 2011, we will be taking pride of place near the entrance to the Pistonheads show. Jon and Ian at WRE will be on hand to answer any questions along with myself on various days. I have a few meetings to go to whilst at the show so I won't be on hand all of the time.

The build thread has been updated one or two times this week, hopefully you've been following what's been happening at WRE Towers. Hopefully there will be news soon on more sponsors for the team and the arrival of the heads.

Lastly, I see the NHRA have been playing transmission games again with the rules. The "it's in, no it isn't, yes it is" game isn't that impressive, particularly as when I asked the question the answer I got was a resounding "No" to ever allowing an auto trans in the Pro Mod class. Call me cynical if you wish,but the latest "NHRA approved auto trans only" rule doesn't sound like they've allowed it just as a option to help racers' budgets!

Unfortunately (for me) I'm now too far down the road with the Lenco/Bruno combo to change it all around. Ah well, must grumble! More news soon.

Monday 6th December 2010: My name's Frosty, and I'm a street-legal Pro Mod racer.

Hello everyone, I'm Andy Frost and welcome to my first Eurodragster.com Blog. For the uninitiated we are the official VXR drag race team that will be racing in the MSA Pro Modified class in 2011 with Red Victor 3, a modified version of Red Victor 2 that set world records for a pump gas-powered street-legal car, and still holds some records now!

I'm not new to drag racing having been through the ranks and raced for twenty years in various classes including Street/ Super / Modified ET, Street Eliminator, Super Pro ET, Comp Eliminator and Top Methanol Dragster. Apart from Top Methanol Dragster I've raced in all the other classes with the modified Vauxhall VX4/90 that has become quite well known throughout the world.

Red Victor 3 is a realisation of a long time dream of mine to race in the ultimate doorslammer class. Firstly to "cut our teeth" in MSA Pro Mod and then to move on to FIA European Pro Mod.

Of course there is a difference with this car, although no different from before. Anyone who knows me knows that street-legal racing is in my bone marrow, so it's no surprise to them that this new car will be street-legal.

What!!! Street-legal? Yes, unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your point of view) I can't get that out of my system, so along with people like Wayne Allman of Intergalatic Custom Shop, Dale at DRE Fibreglass and Jon at Webster Race Engineering we've hatched a cunning plan to build the first NHRA-legal Pro Modified car in the world that can pass an MoT and drive on the street, and still be a car that will qualify in the race series.

The street part is the easy bit, qualifying will a bit of a challenge to begin with no doubt! In saying that all our team including the crew and all who are involved with building and supplying parts are confident we'll be in the mix when the car is tuned and set up.

In the forthcoming Blogs I'll be giving you the latest news on how the car is coming along, and an insight into what it takes to do this kind of thing. I'll also update as new sponsors come along,which has been quite often recently!

This will all lead up to the Easter Thunderball and the unveiling of the new car there. Once we are up and running there'll be regular updates on our racing exploits, whether they are good or bad. I've been around drag racing long enough to know there are incredible ups followed by incredible downs so maybe you can ride with the rollercoaster that is Pro Modified drag racing.

We'll also be able to take you along to places like the Goodwood festival of speed and the VXR Power Festival at Silverstone as we will be doing other events outside drag racing for our title sponsor VXR.