Hochenheim, Germany: Racing Pro Mods In Europe
By Camp Stanley
Hagerstown, MD – The European drag racing scene consists of FIA rounds all over Europe and to become the FIA champion you must be committed to traveling very long distances to race. For some to spend 30 plus hours on a
ferry is not uncommon! And the costs are astronomical at any exchange rate or any currency.
I had committed to travel to the FIA round at the famous racing facility in Hochenheim, Germany with Marcus Hilt’s Trouble Racing team, again. Our goal was to see about getting the car, the driver and the crew all dialed in and on the same page. Marcus has a great, dedicated crew and the team just needed some outside help in putting all the pieces in their correct places. It does take all three, part and parcel to make an operation work and work well.
Marcus had fitted a late model Lenco between the frame rails of his TM 63 Split window to replace the 35 year old one that he had destroyed at the Santa Pod round in June. And JanCen Engines in Buffalo, NY had repaired the leftover head damages from Marcus’ blowup at Hockenheim in 2009. So all that was left to do was to fit the bigger fuel pump to the car and then see if the car could go from one end to the other under power.
The first qualifying round on Friday proved that gremlins still abounded in the car. Marcus depressed the clutch to arm the two step and it did not come on when a relay decided to stop working. With that issue being diagnosed and repaired the Punisher was ready yet again to try and make a full pass. With a decent 60 foot for a Littlefield blower at 20 over amongst all the DMPE pieces the Vette set sail till 3.6 seconds when the burst panel did it’ s job! ONE more anomaly had shown up! The clip that holds the fuel shutoff cable broke and allowed the fuel shutoff to slowly go closed. All air and no fuel does not a happy combination make, so the burst panel ended that run as well.
Saturday dawned a beautiful day and the entire team was ready to finally show the true potential of the Swiss Pro Mod! The car left the line well and appeared to be doing a fairly good job of making its’ way down the track until it nosed over and gave up an 8 second time slip. This was starting to really get to all of us! How many things can go wrong was heard from one and all!
When the crew tore into the car they quickly found the reason why the engine had stopped running 3 seconds in! A broken timing belt was the first sign of things not being happy internally. And after further diagnosis Marcus and the crew discovered not one but TWO broken connecting rods! And that ended yet another run at that elusive 6 second pass all were looking for! Although they were all dejected as is to be expected, the long faces did not stay long! They had all done their part and mechanical gremlins had been the cause of their demise, not any people failures.
So then there was nothing left to do but have another great meal in The Punisher pits! That is the one and only bad thing about working with this team. I would weigh 200 pounds if I ate with them all the time. They really, really eat well and I have enjoyed some great dishes that have names I can’t pronounce. It is great to see and great to be a part of the camaraderie on this team. As I said earlier people are ALWAYS the key to success. So it will all have to be done again in 2011. There are no tracks for a Pro Mod in Switzerland so it looks like England again in the spring.
