2010 News

1st June 2010

We have returned from Santa Pod's Main Event, after a very successful and heartening weekend raising funds to put Firestorm back on the track following Easter's crash. We have been selling Firestorm t-shirts, caps and posters, raffle tickets for a ride in Santa Pod's two seat dragster and the limited edition mounted prints which were donated by Ian and Paula Blackett of Blackett Photography. The raffle went extremely well and was won by a very excited Lynn McNally who happened to be sitting in the Grandstand when Colin Theobald, Santa Pod's commentator, drew her name out of the hat. Ian and Paula Blackett, were absolute stars and wore themselves out on Sunday walking both the banking and the pits selling the Firestorm prints and taking donations, all of which has been put into the Firestorm Fund (there are a few mounted prints left if anyone would still like to order one from us). It has once again been overwhelming the amount of support that we have received this weekend. Our heartfelt thanks go to everyone that has contributed, whether that be buying a shirt or throwing some lose change in the tin. Also, a big thank you to Diane and Graham Sykes (our No. 1 crew), who organised the weekend and 'made it happen' and to all at Santa Pod Raceway who gave us a very warm welcome!

We have now ordered the 4130 Chromoly Tubing which we require and work will commence early next week on the repairs to the chassis. This is earlier than we initially anticipated and the fund raising has certainly helped towards achieving that. It will be good to make a start, progress does feel excruciatingly slow but we have a plan and we need to stick to it - it will all come together, maybe not as quick as we would all like but we will get there. Onwards and upwards!

19 May 2010

It is now official that the Firestorm team will be at Santa Pod Raceway for the Main Event minus the car. Santa Pod have given their blessing for us to be there to sell our Merchandise which you can view on the Merchandise page, all proceeds of which will be going into the fund to help to rebuild Firestorm.

Also, for the Main Event, Ian and Paula Blackett of Blackett Photography, have produced and donated a limited edition of just 50 specially mounted Firestorm prints which are available on a first come, first served basis this weekend at £10.00 per print.

Fans in need of more excitement might want to enter a special Firestorm draw for a ride in Santa Pod’s two-seat dragster at the Summer Nationals. It would normally cost £300 for a ride in this amazing dragster but tickets are priced at just £5 for the ride of a lifetime, why not try your luck? Running in the 7’s for just £5 must be every drag racers dream! You might live it with the special Firestorm raffle so grab some tickets quickly! They will be on sale both at the track and also by Paypal. The raffle will be drawn on the Bank Holiday Monday at Santa Pod, tickets will be available via PayPal up until 12:00 noon on Friday the 28th. If you purchase a ticket by PayPal we will get back in touch with you by e-mail to give you details of your raffle ticket(s) number(s). All proceeds from the raffle will go into the fund to get Firestorm back where he belongs - blasting down the 1/4 mile.

(Please note that all passengers for the dragster ride must be over the age of 17)!

Even though we have no race car with us at the Main Event, our normal warm welcome will be extended to all race fans, young and old, whether seasoned or new to the sport, so please stop by and say hello.

11 May 2010

We have been up to our local drag strip York Dragway this weekend, armed with all our merchandise, in order to try to raise some more funds for the rebuild. We had contacted Al Perkins and Steve Murty, who as always were very accommodating and said yes, "come on up we’ll do everything we can to help". Diane & Graham Sykes, provided everything needed to set up a stall and with the persuasive help of York Dragway's crew and the legendary commentator Graham Beckwith we sold a substantial amount of t-shirts and aided and abetted by the cold, windy weather we almost sold out of hoodies and woollie hats! The crew from PDRC had also organised a raffle with a prize of two days racing at York Dragway the proceeds of which were also donated to Firestorm's rebuild. Once again we are indebted to everyone for all their help and support!

We have been working hard over the last 3 weeks getting Firestorm stripped so we can ascertain exactly what is required. There is a lot of damage to the rear of the chassis, the front and rear 'A' frames need replacing and the chassis is "tweaked". We will also need all the four corners - wheels, brakes, spindles etc. The plan is to replace the back half of the chassis, because it looks like it would be less work than fixing what we have and it would also be a safer option. Plans are coming together for a replacement body. Roger is insistent that if at all possible we must have the same model Pontiac body because 'that'’s Firestorm'. We know it’s the right thing to do, but it is causing more work right now.

On the strip down we found the Jet pipe was also damaged and will require a new one making. This is another pain in the backside but it will allow us to incorporate some alterations suggested by our good friend Al Hanna President of Hanna Motorsports. Fortunately Roger is no newcomer to welding and fabricating and has built jet pipes for all sorts of projects both here and abroad – so its just another jet pipe then.

Should anyone have any video footage of the incident at Santa Pod, particularly taken from the right hand side of the track, please could you contact us as we would be interested in looking at it in an effort to fully understand the cause of the crash.

21 April 2010

We would like to thank everyone for their continued support and help after last week’s devastating crash with Firestorm at Santa Pod Raceway. It is definitely spurring us on to continue, even though there have been points this week when we have thought that this might be an impossible task. We need to say a massive ‘thank you’ to good friends Claire & ‘Crazy’ Chris Hartnell, Gary Malin and Derek Flynn of Gold RV, who have all come up trumps with their offers of help and support. It is very humbling. Thanks guys (and girls!). We’re sure that it will cost us dear in the beer tent once we are back up and running!

I (Helen) am also indebted to the wonderful folks that I work with. Fed up with associating with such a miserable creature over the last few days guess what? They had a whip round for us. Naturally, they maximised the embarrassment factor and presented me with the biggest Get Well Soon Card you’ve ever seen, suitably addressed to ‘Jimi the Jet’. Thanks to you all, your kindness is much appreciated and I promise I’ll cheer up! We also have to express our gratitude to everyone who has contributed by treating themselves to a Firestorm cap, T-shirt or Hoodie. Many fans and friends have sent a contribution via Paypal and asked for nothing in return – how can we say how grateful we are? It’s all gone into the fund and believe me it makes a real and immediate difference. We are stunned to discover so many friends we didn’t know we had and we extend our sincerest thanks to every one of you.

We have had a very busy week organising Firestorm’s rebuild and planning everything accordingly. In between we have also been getting the workshop ready so we can begin stripping Firestorm down this coming weekend. Once we get going we will obviously know a lot more and will be able to provide progress reports as the process continues.

We had a good look round the chassis before we put it back in the trailer at Santa Pod and already have a good idea of what’s involved there. The troublesome part, as we have said before, is the body. The choices are: buy a new one, ship it in from the US and modify it, or rebuild the damaged one and use it to take a mould and construct a new body ourselves. Although the damaged body looks pretty battered, all the pieces are there and it will go back together well enough for us to take a mould from it. Currently we see this option as Plan A – it might be better and it will certainly be more cost effective. There are many good composites people in this country who are more than able to take the challenge!

8 April 2010

The 2010 Easter Thunderball wasn’t exactly Firestorm's best meeting. Following aborted runs on both Friday and Saturday due to fuel problems, the car put in a great 6.10 @ 260.52mph on Sunday which we were all pleased with. Monday’s run was obviously traumatic when at about 1000 ft the car took a dramatic turn to the right and hit the wall at around 250mph, despite Roger’s lightning reactions to preclude contact. At the time of writing the precise cause of the crash remains unclear but investigations continue. Following the impact the body parted company from the car. There is no doubt that Rogers actions helped to minimise the damage to the vehicle.

Commenting after the crash he said he had never experienced anything as violent in all his life, but he walked away unscathed, a credit to Firestorm's construction in the hands of our good friend Bob Jinkens, who built the chassis in New Jersey. We also have to thank the emergency crews, who were, as always, on the scene within seconds and dealt with the incident in the most professional manner. On our return to the pits we were amazed at the support given to us by Santa Pod crew, fellow racers and race fans. Whether it was people buying Firestorm merchandise (encouraged by commentator's Colin and Darryl), others offering to help us with spanners and some people even digging deep into their pockets there and then - everyone clearly wants to see the car back on the track soonest. On returning home we have been overwhelmed by further messages of support, questions about when we will be back, and what can be done to help.

At this stage, the honest answer is, we don't know but we do know that the Firestorm team are all committed and promise to return to the track at the earliest possible opportunity. As many of you know, Firestorm is a self funded team and we’re just ordinary working folks like everyone else. One of Roger's favourite sayings is "We don't have any sponsor problems because there are no sponsors! Just myself and Helen, that’s how it is". At this stage, with a bent car, this is clearly not ideal. Our current plan is to get the car into the workshop, get the engine out, strip everything down and find out what can be safely salvaged. The engine will also need to be stripped to make sure that it has not suffered any internal damage. The body, well, that’s another unknown at the moment, but it looks like we may need a new one. That in itself creates its own problems as it is not a standard funny car body: it’s much longer and the work around the air intake area is very costly and time consuming.

We have received some welcome financial contributions that will help us get Firestorm back on the track. We are, and will remain, extremely grateful for this kind assistance. Every sum donated, no matter how large or small, is hugely appreciated and will help us significantly. If you’d like help us in this way you can make a donation via Paypal button below or send a cheque made payable to Diane Sykes who is the team accountant. Alternatively why not purchase some merchandise a great way to help us out and show your love of Firestorm, you can browse items available in our Merchandise Section.
You can contact us using firestorm@firestorm-jfc.co.uk. Thanks again to everyone for showing us the support that you have. We need it and it motivates us massively to get Firestorm back where he belongs – thundering down the strip! More news follows as and when we have it.

2009 News

2008 News

Well where did 2008 go!   It has to be said, that like most events in the UK, the weather had a huge impact and for the best part there was a lot of time spent in the trailer doing the age old drag racing pastime of 'talking complete rubbish and drinking way too much tea'!  That said 2008 was a good year for Firestorm when we did get down the track.  As you may know we are working in collaboration with Al Hanna of Hanna Motorsports in developing Firestorm, this is still ongoing and as a bonus we have become firm friends with Al and his family.  Due to the lack of run time last year (which is down to good old British Summertime) we have not taken the development as far as we all would have liked.  That said we are delighted with how we have gone last year, we have run consistently faster at every meeting and 260mph plus is now regular.  We continue to improve in small increments and that is how we have planned the development programme.  We would not wish to take huge leaps as we have to continue to monitor the behaviour of the car as it goes quicker, we have already carried out some work on the body to give it additional strength in a couple of areas.  We are also continually monitoring the performance of the parachutes which are the main brakes on Firestorm.  The chutes take off the majority of the speed before Roger uses the brakes, in jet cars as with most drag racing vehicles you must never ever touch the brakes until the parachutes have brought the car down to a 'reasonable speed'.  As you go faster some aspects of the run may change, so development has to be done carefully, to continue to be as safe as you possibly can be under the circumstances!

The final meeting of 2008, Santa Pod's Flame and Thunder, finished on a fantastic high with yet another personal best of 6.055, we all had big grins on our faces after the run, even more so when it was announced by Tog that Roger had shut off early!  That final run of 2008 was so close to that magic 5 second run!  We are all really fired up and can't wait for the 2009 season to start.  We will be continuing to develop Firestorm, Roger has some late evenings in the workshop planned.  We also have an awning on the trailer to shelter under (from the sun of course) which will make life a little more comfortable for everyone, but most of all Firestorm - who up to now has had to stand out come rain or shine.  The little used awning was sourced by our crew man, Graham Sykes of Sykes Engineering.  Graham made the new box and mounts for the awning and it was duly fitted by Roger and Graham just before the Flame and Thunder meeting of 2008.  What a godsend, thanks Graham!

We are delighted to have had confirmed bookings from David Lloyd Jones (see the Calendar Page) and we are in discussion with other promoters for the 2009 season which will be confirmed at a later date.

9 July 2008

Hi guys, its been a while since our last update, apologies for that!  We're all working hard at our day jobs and trying to fit everything together for this season.  It has to be said at this point that the fuel prices are a problem to us since Firestorm drinks more than 20 gallons of fuel each time it goes down the track.

We had a good weekend at York Dragway at the Ultimate Road Car Challenge, we were there a day early to party and as usual the race day was well attended by both fans and competitors, we saw some stunning runs and in general had a fantastic weekend.

We have also been to the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway, this is one of our favourite meetings of the year at Shakey and the weather gods were kind to us so we had great runs all weekend, the best of the runs was 6.111 at 261.26.  On the Sunday we had a slight problem with a rather strong wind so in the interests of safety we did 1/8 mile passes, even so the car still recorded 195.51 in the 1/8 and with an early shut off went 6.44.  We were happy that we did our best in the circumstances and even happier with the times and speeds on Saturday.

Saturday night at the Nostalgia Nats is always a good night, but this year our crew man Graham (Syko) was celebrating his birthday, even more reason to party.  A good night was had by all!

Back to work now and shortly we will be getting ready for the Bug Jam at Santa Pod Raceway.  Its a long time since we have been to a Bug Jam, so long ago that at that time we were spectating, so we are really excited that we are invited to this most prestigious event - if you've never been to a Bug Jam take my word for it, its worth the effort.  Chill out and party!

28 May 2008

The weekend of 17th/18th of May was spent at Santa Pod Raceway where we tested Firestorm and had two brilliant runs, both culminating in personal bests.  The first run was 6.106 @ 259.96 a personal best on ET, the second run topped that at 6.075 @ 261.17 a personal best on ET and only 1 mph short of its best on speed.  As you can imagine we were really pleased and now looking forward to the Main Event on the following weekend.  I'd checked the weather forecast (as I'm sure everyone else had that was attending the Main Event) and all looked good, for most days sunny intervals with just one day showing light showers - how can they get it SO wrong!  It absolutely poured with rain on Sunday and for most of Monday - this following the snowed off Easter Thunderball is disastrous for Santa Pod and really disappointing for both racers and fans.  (Snow scene photo's from Easter are now posted on the Photo Gallery - not an Easter Bunny in sight)!  On the Friday and Saturday of the Main Event we had one run each day, unfortunately on Saturday Roger did not manage to stage Firestorm so no times and speeds for that run, but the first run was a promising 6.114 @ 260.55.

We are now looking forward to our next event, returning once again to York Dragway on the 15th June for the Ultimate Road Car Challenge.

12 May 2008

Hello Firestormer's!  We have recently completed some more work to Firestorm, we took it to SCR for a RWYB and it was all systems go.  We had just the one run due to the inclement weather and had an early shut off due to a fearsome side wind, but it told us what we want to know, and that is that Firestorm is running very well.  We had an excellent weekend at York Dragway last week, putting in two strong runs in brilliant sunshine, both days were well attended by racers and spectators.  Well done to Steve and all the Crew at York Dragway for a fantastic weekend.

We will be heading off down to Santa Pod Raceway this weekend for the Peak Performance Test and Tune, to make sure that we've knocked the rust spots off Roger and to set up for the Main Event.  This weekend is very important because due to the poor weather so far this year we haven't had any full 1/4 mile passes - there is no way we are turning up at the Main Event without setup and practice.  Look forward to seeing you all at the Pod!

13 April 2008

I'm sure by now we have all had a good laugh at the Easter weather, rain, sleet, snow (4" on Sunday), all took their toll on everyone who attended, fans and racers alike.  Firestorm chose to be as badly behaved as the weather, and had two hiccups from our two starts.  At this point it is a mystery as at the Peak Performance Test & Tune Day the week before it had all gone OK - maybe it didn't like the cold as much as us!  We will be testing before our next meeting so fingers crossed and we will give you an update as soon as we can.

16 March 2008

We finally completed the work required for the new combination last Saturday 8th March, a little later than we wanted to be but never the less finished.  We did some tie down tests on Sunday to test most of the systems on the car and check for any leaks, unfortunately we were unable to test the afterburner because of noise limitations.  Having done the necessary testing we were able to go to Santa Pod for the Peak Performance test day on Saturday 15th.  Unfortunately the weather gods have not been kind to us and we were only able to do one run on Saturday, just as we returned from that run it started raining and was still pouring with rain as we were packing up on Sunday.  Although the run on Saturday was a short pass with Roger clicking it off just past the 1/8th it told us that we are definitely good to go for the Easter Thunderball, both the 60ft and 1/8th mile were good and there were no signs of stress or drama from the motor.  We text Al at Hanna Motorsports with the information from the run and he is delighted with the results of this first test - now we have more instructions for the next runs.  Fantastic news - the first runs of the season are always a little nail biting as we all knock the winter rust off ourselves but with a complete new set up we are now both relieved and very excited for the forthcoming season. It would have been nice to do another couple of runs over the weekend just to get away from the basic (and very gentle) settings that we are starting with but it was not to be - roll on next weekend.

2 February 2008

The first update of the 2008 season.  I can't believe that we are already into February, we have had a really busy winter with Roger burning the midnight oil in the workshop most nights of the week (I let him have Friday night off - for the early start on Saturday morning)! 

We are looking forward to the coming season, once again, working with Al Hanna of Hanna Motorsports on the continued development of Firestorm.  This next stage of development is going to be very exciting, we are moving on from our tried and tested (and very reliable) combination into, for us, unknown territory.  Al of course has used the new combination for some time and says don't worry, just do it!  We are obviously looking forward to it!  We will be testing shortly so the learning curve continues.  There is still much work to do on the general preparation of the car, the body needs minor attention in a couple of areas and some panel work needs to be replaced.  Although this is routine stuff it still takes time and time is a commodity that is pretty scarce right now.  We WILL be ready, we just need to keep working at it!

We have included the 2008 calendar onto the website.  We were excited to receive an invite to the Bug Jam from David Lloyd-Jones at Santa Pod Raceway which is in addition to the Easter Thunderball, Main Event, FIA European Finals and the Fireworks meeting that we have attended previously.  We will be at the two NSRA meetings Hot Rod Drags and Nostalgia Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway and we have also been invited by Steve Murty to York Dragway for UK Open Nationals, Ultimate Road Car Challenge and August Bank Holiday meeting which comprises of the Jap 2NZ Tuners and GTi Hot Hatch Spectacular. 

Following discussions with Lee Childs we have been invited to attend the Summer Drag Wars which is to be held at RAF Portreath near Redruth in Cornwall.  This is a first not only for the Firestorm team but also for Lee from LA Racing Parts.  Lee's new Street Wars series was incredibly successful in 2007, held at Smeatharpe Airfield in Devon and we have every reason to believe that the Summer Drag Wars will be just as successful.  The Summer Drag Wars is promised to be on line at the end of February - stay tuned.

2007 News

2 December 2007

Wow, is it really over 3 months since the last news update - time is just flying by for us all!  We have been very busy since August 16th, we have had meetings at York, Santa Pod and Shakespeare County Raceway, we have also been very busy with the 'day jobs' which hasn't left much time for all the other bits that we like to do, such as updating the website.  So, to try to catch up ....

We went to York Dragway for two meetings and on both occasions the weather gods were kind to us and we had fine days doing good flame shows and runs on each day - all of which were captured by Richard Smith of www.richardsmith.fotopic.net!  We attended the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway, this was an exceptionally good weekend, the weather was great and despite it being a very busy meeting we got all the runs in that we were promised, once again doing PB's!  This was made all the better as it was Roger's birthday weekend - I'm sure there isn't a better way to spend your birthday than that!  We also went to Shakespeare County Raceway for the NSRA Hot Rod Drags, always a brilliant meeting. At this event we reached another target for the 2007 season when we recorded our first pass at over 260mph (261.37). The final meeting of the year was the Flame and Thunder meeting at Santa Pod Raceway, once again a really busy meeting, the weather was fantastic and as a bonus we got to run the jets at night which looks really cool, checkout the photographs taken by Ian Blackett of Blackett Photography (they're on the Photographs page and there is a link to Ian's website on the links page).

All told it has been a brilliant 2007 season for Firestorm, we are more than pleased with how it has gone, we have run consistently through out the year and to top it all have had personal bests on both ET & MPH throughout!  Our relationship with Al Hanna has also developed into quite a friendship considering the miles separating the two teams.  We are all excited about the up and coming 2008 season, where we again will be working closely with Al Hanna and his team .

Firestorm is currently in the workshop and the J85 motor is stripped for inspection. I'm pleased to report that only normal parts need replacing, and that work will be completed within the next two weeks. On the rebuild we will combine a couple more improvements which have been suggested by our friend Al Hanna. There have been times this season when we wanted to try some more modifications but we did not have the time or finances to fully test and develop the ideas. As I'm sure you are all aware by now, we will never attend an advertised event on an untried combination, because if things don't go to plan its not good for the promoter and it's not good for our team but more than that it's not good for all the loyal drag race fans who have supported us no matter what.

This year we have had some additional help from both Graham and Diane Sykes of Sykes Engineering and Derek and Fiona Flynn of Gold RV.  Thank you to everyone for their help it is really appreciated. 

We are already talking to promoters about the 2008 season and it's looking pretty exciting - stay tuned!!

16 August 2007

Had a phone call from good friend Steve Murty from York Dragway, inviting us to their August Bank Holiday event.  Steve was dumfounded to find out that Firestorm was going to be parked in the workshop over that important weekend, indeed we were going to Cadwell Park to watch the motorcycle racing.  So obviously Cadwell has been put on hold for now and we get to play jet cars for the weekend - even better!  So we will see you all at York Dragway on the 26th/27th August for a great weekend.

8 August 2007

Firestorm has been at York Dragway for the UK Northern Finals this weekend and it was an action packed weekend with PDRC classes,  NSCC, Wild Bunch & Super Charged Outlaws in attendance.  We had a particularly good time as we were trying out our motor home that we recently purchased with the help of Gold RV.  After the Main Event at Santa Pod and 4 days in a tent, in pouring rain for most of the time your's truly decided enough was enough!  We begged, borrowed and sold everything we could on E-bay to raise enough money and with the help of Derek Flynn and Fiona at Gold RV we took delivery of our first motor home a few weeks ago!  I have to say it has been worth every penny - I don't suppose it takes much to beat a 2 man tent does it but this has absolutely blitzed it and we are thrilled to bits.  Cooking a fry-up with the aircon on - doesn't get much better than that!  To top that the sun shone all weekend and the place was really busy with both racers and fans.  York Dragway has to be congratulated on all their efforts in promoting their meetings, there were many new comers and people who hadn't been for years who on hearing the radio adverts came along and had a great weekend.  We had a bumper weekend selling t-shirts, caps and posters - much of which has to be attributed to all the new drag racing fans who wanted a Firestorm memento from their visit to York Dragway. We did two flame and thunder shows on Saturday, followed by pretty strong 1/8 mile passes.  Sunday we had a bit of a disaster, we opened the second fuel drum to find we had contaminated fuel - it had got some water in it, luckily we had enough left from Saturday to enable us to do one run unfortunately we didn't have enough for the second run so the day was for us was cut a little short. 

Just a quick thank you to Richard Smith (www.richardsmith.fotopic.net), who has become a new contributor of photographs for Firestorm's website - thanks Richard they are really appreciated.

8 July 2007

We have recently been to both York Dragway and Shakespeare County Raceway.  The meeting at York Dragway went really well, it was a good, well attended meeting and we managed to get two runs in despite there being heavy rain clouds all around York Dragway!

We were looking forward to attending the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at SCR last weekend.  Not only was it to be the first of our two visits to SCR but the Nostalgia Nationals is a fantastic meeting which is generally very well attended by both competitors and fans.  The weather unfortunately had other ideas.  It rained so hard on Saturday that we didn't even get Firestorm out of the trailer.  Sunday started bright with the track crew working tirelessly to prepare the strip.  We prepared Firestorm in anticipation of the first run of the weekend but after two pairs of cars had raced down the strip it started raining again and it was on and off all day (more on than off) the crews did their best but it was not to be - a big disappointment for everyone.

It was good to see many Firestorm fans who braved the weather and stopped by to say Hello.  One of the things we learnt after talking to many SCR Firestorm fans is they have been told many stories as to why the Firestorm team are only attending 2 events at SCR this season, these include "Firestorm has other commitments", "Firestorm is at Santa Pod", "Firestorm is not available this year" and so on .....

Let me put the record straight.  In January 2007, Alan Martin the organiser of the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals and Hot Rod Drags confirmed that he would like us again to support his two meetings.  My pleasure said Roj.  The organisers of SCR said that Firestorm was being "considered" for 3 other meetings in 2007.  These were Springspeed National Drag Races 5th - 7th May, Mini Showdown 14th - 15th July and Open Sports Nationals 25th - 27th August 2007.  In due course we were informed by the organisers that "it will not be possible to have Firestorm at SCR this season" (2007).  So that my friends is the reason why Firestorm has only two events at SCR this year, our fingers are crossed for the 2008 season.  Our first event may have been rained off but we will be back, rock and rolling in September, weather permitting!

2 July 2007

We have had some very disappointing news recently - because of circumstances outside of the organisers control the Göteborg Motorfestival Drag Race in Sweden has been cancelled.  There has been some kind of problem with the new owners of the venue that has stopped its use in 2007, the club has tried relentlessly to resolve the problems but to no avail.  Everyone concerned, including ourselves, are bitterly disappointed but are looking forward to the 2008 event which is promised to be even bigger and better than before.

5 June 2007

Hello Firestormer's.  Sorry for the delay in this update, computer gremlins are to blame, but we're all sorted again now.

Going back to before Santa Pod's Main Event, we finally took delivery of our new hero cards and a new addition to the Firestorm Merchandise of a Firestorm poster. This is a good quality A2 size print for the princely sum of £3.00, which can be spoiled with Roger's autograph if required!  We have to thank Ivan Sansom for this stunning photograph.  Ivan and Rose are regular contributors to our website and we are extremely grateful to them for that. You can see a copy of our new poster on the Merchandise page.

We were all looking forward to the Main Event, it is some years since we were last at that event. Roger managed to get there on Wednesday with Colin, Firestorm was in need of a good clean and polish so this was the ideal time to get the body off to thoroughly clean the car.  In the midst of all the cleaning we got to meet the Rubber Chicken Man himself, Martin Stanberry who called by our pit to say Hello and to promise him a good show for the final appearance of the now famous rubber chicken, which had been brought out of retirement for the Barn's final event.  The barn is to be replaced with a wall in the name of Health and Safety.  We hadn't made any changes to Firestorm for the Main Event, even though we are keen to progress with our development we will not make any changes at an Event without them being fully tested first.  Friday was a lovely day and there was qualifying throughout the day.  We had one run at 2.00, Roj put on a great flame show for all the ardent (although some would say mad) race fans that stand in the Barn and followed this with a good strong run and an equal personal best ET with an early shut off (put down to pilot error).  Saturday was another good days qualifying, you can see all the race reports at www.eurodragster.com, we had one run at the end of the day, I (Helen) signalled to start Firestorm but the motor did not light up very well, Roj shut the motor off in the interest of safety and we pushed it back from the start line to carry out some checks.  When all checks were completed we signalled to the Race Director that we were good to go and received a huge cheer from all the folks in the Barn.  Everything went good, Firestorm started good, gave people in the barn something to remember and ran personal bests right down the line!  Our best now is 6.122 at 258.36 mph.  It was the quickest and fastest run to date, well done Roj.  The starting problem remains a mystery, "just having a funny car moment" as the saying goes!

This unfortunately turned out to be our final run of the weekend, the rain started on Saturday evening and did not let up until late on Monday night, without anyone managing to do a run. We all spent way too much time reading National Dragster's, eating our way through the entire contents of the fridge, drinking too much tea & coffee and talking complete and utter rubbish!

9 May 2007

We have just been to York for the first of our four visits this season.  The meeting was well attended by racers and drag racing fans and significantly we spoke to many people who had come through the gate at a drag race for the first time.  Everyone we spoke to was thrilled at the racing, thrilled at Firestorm and promised to return!  Well done to Steve and all the crew at York Dragway.  Long may it continue.

7 May 2007

The promised press release from the Firestorm team and Hanna Motorsports was issued recently to the drag racing world.  We are very excited about this project and are looking forward to the continuation of our development programme with the help of the Hanna family.  The really nice side of this partnership is that over the winter period we have all become firm friends and are looking forward to drinking wine and breaking bread together!  Whilst most Firestorm fans will have read our news on Eurodragster, here is a copy of the promised press release:

New 2007 Project For Hanna Motorsports and the UK’s ‘Firestorm’ Jet Funny Car

In late 2006, Al Hanna, President of Hanna Motorsports, contacted Roger Goring, owner of the ‘Firestorm’ jet funny car, based in the UK, to discuss the sharing of technology the US-based team had experienced with the center-drive concept ‘Eastern Raider’/’Top Secret’. The “Eastern Raider” was the first jet funny car to be built with the engine located behind the driver. Bob Jinkens Race Cars of New Egypt, NJ worked with the Hanna Motorsports team to build the original machine. Roger Goring observed the creation, and followed by ordering a similar machine, and taking it back to the UK, where he currently campaigns his ‘Firestorm’ version of this unusual concept of a jet funny car.

Since the original center-drive “Eastern Raider” appeared on the cover of ‘Super Stock’ magazine in March of 1994, the Hanna team has worked diligently to improve the design and keep the car competitive with others in the category. “We were told this car would never start and, for sure, would never run well or be competitive” stated Al Hanna. “The fact is that this car has run competitively with all the jet funny cars in the states and recently, we introduced our new ‘Top Secret’ center-drive version, and immediately ran in the 5.60 et range with speeds in excess of 280 MPH in testing. We believe this newest car will run 300 MPH in 2007.”

To this point, the Hanna and Goring teams are working closely to bring the ‘Firestorm’ team up to speed in terms of all the innovations and learning tips the Hanna’s have experienced throughout the period since the original car was created. “We are proud of the fact Roger chose to believe in our original center-drive concept, and we hope to reward his belief with support from all our learning processes”, said Rich Hanna. “Looking at the ‘Firestorm’ website is like looking into a mirror of our own team.”

Roger & Helen from Firestorm agree that these are very exciting times for the team and they are proud of the association and the friendship with Hanna Motorsports. Roger Goring commented “I had a plan for the 2007 season and then I got an e-mail from Al Hanna – boy how things change. Going forward we will be working closely with the Hanna family developing Firestorm, both teams agree that a sensible approach to an increase in performance should be in small increments as safety is of paramount importance”.

The specifics of what information is being shared is staying between the two teams. On-track results will be the measure of whether the innovations shared work across the huge Atlantic Ocean, but both teams believe jet funny car racing is the same worldwide, and what works in the US will surely work in the UK.

“The first event some of our shared information debuted was the ‘Easter Thunderball’ event at Santa Pod. We were at an event in Roxboro, NC, with our ‘First Strike’ Firebird, and went to the internet each night to see how Roger was running. When we saw a photo of Roger’s car with our Hanna Motorsports logo affixed, followed by his best ever ET and MPH, all we could do was smile”, said Al Hanna. “There’s more to come, for sure. We expect the ‘Firestorm’ of Roger and Helen will continue to be seen as one of the premier jet funny cars in the world.”

Hanna Motorsports is one of the most active and successful jet car teams in the world, and fields three jet car teams, the ‘Top Secret’ Firebird, the ‘First Strike’ Firebird, and the “Queen of Diamonds” 300 MPH jet dragster. Hanna Motorsports teams run more then 80 events per season in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico.
 

11 April 2007

We have had a very busy couple of weeks, as we confirmed in the report 25th March, we were heading to Santa Pod Raceway on the weekend of 31st March to test Firestorm before the Easter Thunderball.  We had hoped to be pulling into Santa Pod Raceway on Friday night but time was against us and we were still nowhere near ready at midnight on Friday and we were still in Rotherham!  We had an early start on Saturday and finally pulled into Santa Pod at lunchtime - a lot later that we would have liked!  We set about doing some final checks, get the car fueled and head for the startline for the first eagerly awaited 'fireup' of the year.  All did not go according to plan as despite checking everything we possibly could, we found we had one or two small fuel leaks which we needed to sort, there isn't an awful lot you can do down on the start line so we have to head back to the pits and do what needs to be done to cure the leaks.  Unfortunately pressurising the systems and checking for leaks in the pits only tells half a story because when the motor is running some of the systems are running at least 8 times greater pressure than you could put in when its stationary.  This was how it then continued for the rest of the weekend, we finally called it a day late on Sunday without us doing any passes down the drag strip, very disappointing.  Monday Roger ordered some more fittings, spent a couple more late nights in the workshop altering parts to accept 'O' ring seals, Roger & Colin then had another day working on Firestorm on Thursday, they fired up the car and systematically checked all the systems under full pressure and deemed Firestorm fit and ready for the Easter Thunderball! 

As we reported earlier we have had a very busy winter doing quite a lot of work on Firestorm, some of which may now be explained by Firestorm's smart new decals on the spill plates.  We have become firm friends with the Hanna family and we are working closely with Hanna Motorsports on a development programme for Firestorm which is going to be very exciting.  An official press release on this is to follow. 

Good Friday at Santa Pod was a little chilly but a lovely sunny day, this weather was to stay with us all weekend.  We had one run on Friday, as this was Roger's first run of the year, safety comes first and he did a short pass clicking it off just through the 1/8th mile.  Saturday's first run went well with Roj taking it right out the back door, second run of the day was even better with PB's on ET's on 60', 1/8th mile & 1/4 mile - end result 6.1573 @ 255.72 mph - fantastic.  We were all well pleased with this result and now we were really looking forward to the rest of the weekend!  Firestorm had two more runs on Sunday and two on Monday again culminating in PB's right down the line, just to back up what we'd done on Saturday - great stuff!  We even let Roj off with the offence of sliding through the lights - we were that pleased!!

The whole weekend was brilliant, weather was good, racing was fantastic - everyone involved with Santa Pod Raceway worked tremendously hard to keep everything running smoothly and we came away with personal bests!  It doesn't get much better than that!  You can read a full report on all the weekends racing at www.eurodragster.com.  

25 March 2007

Wow, time is really marching on - here we are its official, first day of summer - where did that come from?  During the 'off season' we are busy working on Firestorm, it has a strict maintenance schedule, but this winter it has been exceptionally busy with Roger putting in long hours in both the evening and at weekends on some further development of Firestorm.  We had continued throughout 2006 to develop the systems and have gathered a lot of data which we are putting to good use now to take it all forward into the 2007 season.  The motor has been stripped for inspection and has been given a 'thumbs up' by both Roger and Ken.  The motor is back in the frame and the car is well on its way to being in one piece for next weekends testing down at Santa Pod Raceway.  We will be there on Saturday and Sunday and we are being joined by good friend and fellow Jet Dragster pilot Colin Fallows who has volunteered to temporarily crew for us.

We are also able to confirm that good friend Steve Murty of York Dragway has confirmed 4 meetings for this season.  Firestorm has had a long relationship with York Dragway and are really pleased to be back again in 2007.  All the meetings have been updated onto the Calendar Page.

12 March 2007

Due to work commitments our crewman Juggy will not be able to join us for the 2007 season.  It is a huge undertaking to be a part of any busy team and also very time consuming.  This is very sad as Juggy fitted in immediately with the jet car, the team and the many Firestorm fans.  It seems that overnight he could do the job as though he'd been doing it forever.   Juggy is as disappointed as us and he knows that the door is always open for him to return should he wish!   

25 February 2007

Hi Firestormer's, welcome to the first News update of 2007!  The new season is fast approaching us, we have been very busy working on Firestorm since the season finished in 2006!  We are continuing with our development programme into the 2007 season, this winter has seen many changes on some of the systems on Firestorm which hopefully will show some performance increase as we progress through the season.  We are still working hard but looking forward to testing before the Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway.

We had some really exciting news recently, we have been invited back to Sweden for the second year.  This was a brilliant meeting last year and we are really looking forward to doing it all again, we are proud of the second invitation as it takes a considerable amount of money, organisation and planning not only to get Firestorm to Sweden but also for the entire event.  It has to be said that last year the meeting in Sweden was flawless!

2006 News

31 December 2006

Hi Firestormer's.

Hope everyone has had a fantastic Christmas break and the fat fella in red has brought much stuff.

It will be no surprise to all who follow Firestorm that we have had a fantastic season.  Personal bests in 1/8 and 1/4 mile in both ET and MPH.  We had a number of test weekends during the 2006 season to continue with a development program that we have been working on.  This gave us mixed results, the car went quicker and faster and even though we did not get where we wanted to be we didn't break many parts, we still ran personal bests and had a ball.  One of the things that is significant about this last season and the development program that we are pursuing is the amount of knowledge and data that we have collected.   We have learnt an awful lot and will put this knowledge to good use in the continuing development of Firestorm into the 2007 season.

We would like to thank both the race fans and the track promoter's for their support during 2006.  It has been a great year for Firestorm at Shakespeare County Raceway and at York Dragway and we were delighted to be back at Santa Pod Raceway which we enjoyed immensely.  Many race fans at Santa Pod had not seen the Firestorm before and judging by the amount of t-shirts we sold and hero cards we gave away the fans were not disappointed.  One of the highlights of this season was the invitation to run at the Gothenburg Drag Racing Festival held at Säve Depå in Sweden, the Swedish drag racing fans thoroughly enjoyed having a jet car back in their beautiful country after a 25 year break and we came away with the track record for both ET and MPH.  A good time was had by all!  I (Helen) have finally got round to putting some of the photographs onto the Picture Gallery from 2006 - must try harder next year!

Things are starting early for the 2007 season, David Lloyd-Jones from Santa Pod Raceway has already invited us to attend four events at 'The Pod'.  Alan Martin has also been in touch and has invited us to the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals and to the NSRA Hot Rod Drags at Shakespeare County Raceway.  These dates have now been posted on to the Firestorm Calendar page. 

We wish all of our Firestorm friends a great New Year and send our Best Wishes to everyone for 2007.

12 November 2006

We finished the 2006 season at Santa Pod Raceway's famous Flame and Thunder Show.  It was a milestone as this is the first Flame & Thunder Show that Firestorm has attended and our third visit to Santa Pod this year and yet again we were not disappointed.  It was a cold but very bright day on Saturday and the racing was extraordinary given the cold conditions, everyone had a great time.  Our pit space got a lot of attention and we sold many of our 'keep you warm' Hoodies and Hats.  We finished the meeting with a storming 6.215 254.30 mph run which was two thousandth's of a second away from our personal best.  We were all relieved to find out that Tony Baker has emerged unscathed from a very nasty fire in Fireforce 1.  Tony called round to our pit on Sunday morning and we were pleased to see him looking remarkably un-singed, all the safety equipment had done its job admirably.

17 October 2006

So sorry for the lack of updates, it has been a really busy time for us all, both with Firestorm and unfortunately having to work for a living!  Firestorm and team have had a busy few weeks!  We went to Shakespeare County Raceway for the Open Sports Nationals over the August Bank Holiday weekend, we should have done 6 runs over the weekend but we were asked to run only twice over the course of the weekend! This resulted in what can only be described as a disappointing weekend for both ourselves and for Firestorm fans.

We have also had a couple of weekends recently where we have been doing some unscheduled testing, we had set out at the early part of this year with a Development plan for Firestorm, this is fitting new parts, working out the correct settings and pressures, then doing a number of runs to try to take the performance to a new level.  I'm sure you can appreciate this is both costly and very time consuming, it is difficult for us to turn the car round fast enough to do more than 4 runs in a day and takes GALLONS of fuel at the same time.  To those of you that follow Firestorm's progress you will know that in the early part of this year, testing culminated in almost an extra 4 mph, doesn't sound much but it is huge when you're already at speeds of over 250 mph!  Following this success, we have had some problems with the setup and this is what we are now working on.

We have also been to Santa Pod Raceway for the European Finals, our second visit to Santa Pod this year and we were very excited to be there particularly for this event. It was a very busy weekend with full fields in all classes, the weather was near perfect and the racing spectacular with many records being broken over the course of the weekend. You can find full race reports and photographs on www.eurodragster.com. Due to the size of the meeting and the number of entries, we were scheduled to have one run each day which is how it worked out, the flame and thunder show worked a treat on all the 'mad' race fans in the Barn (I take my hat off to them) and Roj did respectable passes each day, the quickest at 254 mph 6.2 seconds. An added bonus for Birthday Roj was the famous John Price (commentator and great friend) sang him Happy Birthday whilst down on the line, strapped in a ready to go – thanks John.

It was great to see our Swedish friends Bostic, Agneta and Axel, over here with their big black Chevy Impala SS, Bostic really wanted to dip into the 9 second zone for this year and did it big time at "The Finals" with a 9.844 at 137.51 mph, thats really trucking for a street legal, all steel 4640lb car!  If you want to check out the Big Crazy Blackout World go to www.blackout.nu which is hosted by Bostic and is one of the most entertaining websites we’ve come across in a long time!

Firestorm has also been to the NSRA Hot Rod Drags at Shakespeare County Raceway, it was an excellent weekend, well organised and well attended with Firestorm doing three Flame & Thunder shows and 1/4 miles passes over the course of the weekend.

15 August 2006

We have just returned from a very successful trip to Sweden and are really pleased with how everything worked out.  We had set off to Sweden on the Monday before the meeting as the ferry crossing was 27 hours and we wanted to be there in plenty of time to help promote the Gothenburg Drag Race Festival.  We caught the commercial ferry to Gothenburg from Immingham and had a really smooth crossing another bonus was there was only myself (Helen), Roger and one other passenger on board so we had the ferry more or less to ourselves. 

We arrived in a sunny Sweden early on Wednesday morning, promptly got lost for about an hour, then managed to meet Peter from the club who took us to the track, where Kenneth and some of the other guys were all hard at work getting the track prepared for the weekends racing. At this point there was nothing but a race track, over the next couple of days bit by bit a full race venue appeared out of nowhere – well mainly off the back of low loaders! With typical Swedish hospitality Kenneth rang Bostic (www.blackout.nu) who had offered to ‘take the English out to lunch’, Bostic, Agnita and Axel promptly took us to lunch, they were intent on treating us to some genuine Swedish fodder, 'pan beef' (I think it was called) all round which was scrumptious, followed by Ice creams and a visit to ‘The Best Dam Garage in Town’ (TBDGIT) where we sat and had coffee beside the waters edge – what a great welcome to Sweden for the Firestormer’s!

Afternoon tea outside TBDGIT - these Swedes certainly know how to do it in style!

We were asked if we would take Firestorm down to a local car and motorcycle gathering outside the Opera House in Gothenburg to help promote the meeting. These events happen most Wednesday nights during the summer, we did not really know what to expect, but were surprised to find it well attended by all sorts of weird and wonderful bikes and cars and people in attendance, I think there was much scratching of heads and pondering at the sight of Firestorm at such an event.

Firestorm outside the Gothenburg Opera House.

Thursday was another bright and sunny day, today was the press day and Sweden’s National TV had come along to film us and do an interview with Roger. Juggy was flying into Sweden in the afternoon and his flight was landing at the same airport that the drag race was held, so we had the opportunity of seeing his plane land and it wasn’t the smoothest of landings. I think a scary landing probably best describes it after the plane locked up a wheel and nearly ended up on the grass – it was fun for us to watch anyway! So with Juggy now safely on terrafirma, we started Firestorm, did the Flame & Thunder show, including some fearsome afterburner pops, followed by a fairly soft launch to give Roger a chance of seeing what the track was like. Why is it that the one time we’re on the TV, Firestorm took this opportunity to misbehave and lost the burner as it left the line! Firestorm crew sprang into action quickly pushed him back to the line did some quick safety checks and adjusted the pressures, this time we launched it with no problem at all but had an early shut off. Following all the excitement we then retired to the hotel bar for some Swedish priced beers – at £5.00 a drink we were definitely not going to get very drunk!

Roj trying to perfect his TV interview skills!

Surprisingly Friday was the first day of the meeting, mainly a test day, and although it seemed quiet you had to remember that this was still a work day, that said there were still quite a few people there both racing and spectating. After Thursdays hiccup with Firestorm and the subsequent launch that was OK we were not expecting any trouble but Firestorm thought different I’m afraid. First outing was all OK, good strong fireshow and afterburner pops, followed by a nice straight run. One hiccup Roger ended up staging on the rear wheels of the jet car after it had slid right through stage – he just can’t resist doing one more little afterburner pop! I’m sure the Swedes thought this was the Englishman’s way of cheating! Second outing, everything good on the show, then it lost its burner again on the launch, once again we sorted it on the line within a few minutes and followed it up with a near perfect launch. Firestorm obviously had a problem, we had to start looking at all Firestorm’s systems to find the fault, we worked until late on Friday night and eventually traced the fault to a dry seal in a fuel actuator which was causing the actuator to be lazy and subsequently the afterburner would not hold it’s pressure. Having cured the fault with 1p worth of grease we once again retired to the hotel bar for a well earned bevy or two.

Firestorm putting on its now famous Swedish Fireshow.

Saturday was a great day with a good attendance of race fans who showed a lot of interest in Firestorm. Both runs went really well, with huge fireshow’s, the Swedish fans had no idea what to expect and were visibly shocked and delighted, we spent the best part of the day talking to fans and signing Hero cards. Roger was by now starting to get a handle on the tracks shortish shutdown area by pulling both chutes, and brought the times down into the 6 second bracket, although he still had an early shut off or he would have been grass tracking at the bottom end which wouldn’t have been good as he would then have had a severe beating off yours truly!

Sunday was another lovely sunny day and there was an air of expectation from both the team and the fans, the first run of the day which followed a huge fireshow was 6.34 with an early shut off, which broke the current track record and put a smile on most peoples faces particularly all us Firestormer’s. Everyone went mad after this run, Roger signed lots more autographs and we sold quite a few Firestorm t-shirts and hats. The last run of the meeting went well, once again with a good strong fireshow followed by 6.4 seconds with an early shutoff when it got a little out of shape just past the 1/8th mile.

On the way back from the track we had dropped the trailer over at the best dam garage in town where we were leaving it for a few days whilst we took a little look at Sweden. Bostic had kindly offered to look after the trailer and the car for us, I’m not too sure why he asked all those questions about where to couple the batteries and where did we keep the starter? Hmmm maybe one day we’ll see pictures on Bostic’s website with him in the hot seat of Firestorm with 20 foot of flame out the back! Who knows …..

All in all, the whole trip to Sweden was the best ever, we were well looked after the whole time, met some great people and the hospitality was second to none! We whole heartedly thank everyone for making it happen and we look forward to seeing you all again next year.
 

26 June 2006

Exciting news Firestormer's.  The Firestorm team is going to Sweden!  We have been invited to attend the Gothenburg Drag Racing Festival by Anders of SDC Drag Racing on 15th/16th July, on this date Firestorm was to appear at York Dragway but Steve Murty has kindly released us from our contract so we can appear at this huge event in Sweden.  We are sorry to let down the fans at York Dragway, but we will do our best to make it up to you at the UK Northern Finals, 24th September.  I don't know when a jet car last appeared in Sweden but I think it was good friend Colin Fallows a long time ago with his Vampire Jet Dragster.  Anyway, the bottom line is we are delighted to have been asked to this prestigious event and we will be giving it our best shot, as ever, for all the Firestorm fans who always cheer us on.  So keep in touch Firestormer's and we will fly the flag in Sweden (that reminds me - I gotta buy a flag)!

We are all looking forward to this weekends NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway, its one of our favourite events of the year and a credit to all involved in the organisation of the NSRA events.  With our new tune up we are hoping to set new personal bests - stay tuned.

13 June 2006

Firestorm has had an additional weekend out, we have been to Shakespeare County Raceway for the 'Run Wot Ya Brung' meeting where we have been testing new parts.  It has been a stunning weekend, the weather has been glorious all weekend and we have had two very successful test sessions on Saturday and Sunday which we were really excited about.  A lot of the development work on Firestorm's engine is down to experience and has come about after running the General Electric J85 jet turbine in both Northern Flame and Firestorm.  We have tried some different parts in the past and have very slowly managed to develop both the ET's and speed, but for some time we had reached a plateau and we have found it difficult to move on from there.  The parts fitted on Saturday worked good which was encouraging but on Sunday we fitted different parts which worked really well and we ran personal bests on both the 1/8th (193.95) and 1/4 mile (258.96) straight out the box!  The previous personal bests were 192.50 for the 1/8th and 255.51 for the 1/4.  Considering the 30 degree temperatures this was a very successful weekend and we can now start to develop the setup which will move us forward from there - so watch this space.

Thank you to everyone at Shakespeare County Raceway for being so accommodating on our successful test weekend!

30 May 2006

We have just got back from the Rotorstock weekend at Shakespeare County Raceway, the weekend has been hampered a bit by the weather but all in all it has been a good weekend for the many Japanese car owners and fans that turned out.  Over the weekend Firestorm did three stunning Flame and Thunder shows and on Saturday ran a new personal best speed of 255.96 in 6.28 seconds!

We are also pleased to announce an additional date for the 2006 Firestorm calendar!  We will be returning to Santa Pod Raceway for the second time this year for the FIA European Finals in September, which we are all really looking forward to.

We were concerned to hear that good friend Tog of Eurodragster.com was taken ill and hospitalised over the weekend whilst reporting at Santa Pod's Main Event.  We all wish Tog a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him out and about again very soon!

17 May 2006

Hello Firestormer's!  Its been a long while since our last update, we've all been very busy with work etc but here we are now.  Its just a case of where to start!  After the Easter Thunderball we went to Shakespeare County Raceway for the Shakespeare Nationals and the Vauxhall Speed and Show Day, we had a problem with an intermittent Fireshow again, a problem that had been with us at Santa Pod two weeks before.  It was also a very windy weekend with strong side winds which meant Firestorm was only able to do short passes on most of the runs over the three days.  Roger also struggled with getting the launch right and kept 'pulling a cherry', which didn't go down well - he was on the naughty stool for that one!

After that weekend Roger did quite a lot of work on the fireshow so we went to Shakespeare County Raceway this last weekend with fingers crossed.  It all worked really well and the fireshow now seems to be more or less under control (I hope Roger doesn't regret saying that)!  The new launch is working fine now and it sounds and feels really strong but the ET's are disappointing.  Strange how it can feel so fast and not be, we will have to fine tune it to get the best from the launch modifications.  We had a great time at the American Car World Nationals but lost a run on Saturday due to weather and a run on Sunday because there had been an oildown and by the time it was cleared it was after the 5pm noise curfew.

18th April 2006

The Firestorm team was invited to Santa Pod Raceway for the Easter Thunderball to help celebrate the start of their 40th season of drag racing, the 4 day weekend was as promised 'a Motorsport Extravaganza' and we have had a ball.  It was a jam packed weekend with different classes of both bikes and cars including quite a few race teams who were testing for the FIA main event which is held at Santa Pod Raceway in May and a fantastic line up of jet powered, rocket powered and stunt vehicles on track and a full programme of off track action as well.

We had a fantastic weekend, Firestorm was well received by the enthusiastic drag race fans, we were very busy all day long talking to the many fans who called by to say hello and welcome to Santa Pod, many of whom had not seen Firestorm in action before.

As this was Firestorm's first visit to Santa Pod for some time, we were cautious initially on our tune up and after some initial alterations to the steering geometry Roger felt more comfortable.  All tracks are different and yes you do have to set up a Jet Car just like any other race vehicle.  The initial flame and thunder show proved to be just a little too harsh as it had the track on fire which obviously isn't good after all the hard work that goes in to prepping the track so we tried to calm it down but ended up losing the fire show altogether, we finished up with only a compromise but we are working on it right now.

The new launch which we have for 2006 is working really well but Roger is just a little rusty which meant we lost some time on the lights but I'm sure that'll improve!

4th April 2006

We had a great weekend down at Shakespeare County Raceway but unfortunately we were thwarted by the weather.  It was a bitterly cold but relatively dry weekend initially but there was quite a strong side wind which meant that we were unable to do full passes with Firestorm.  We were disappointed that we could only do 1/8th mile passes because of the side wind but safety has to come first and we will now look forward to the Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway.

26th March 2006

We are pleased to announce that Firestorm will be appearing at the Power Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway 1st and 2nd April 2006.  We have to thank Derek Langton of Deltech Engineering for stepping in and sponsoring us to be at the event.  Without people like Derek many drag racers including ourselves would have a relatively short season.  Following the successful test sessions we are really looking forward to 'running it right out the back door' at SCR.

20th March 2006

We have had a busy few weeks getting Firestorm ready for the beginning of the 2006 season which started with initial testing on the 18th/19th March at Shakespeare County Raceway.  It was a freezing cold weekend but we were well pleased with how everything went, we were testing over the 1/8th and we are now looking forward to running full quarter mile passes.  With the adjustments that have been made, the jet engine sounded absolutely wicked and when Roj did that final afterburner pop it made yours truly (Helen) jump so high I'm sure I nearly left my shoes behind!  

This weekend we also welcomed on board Juggy who is our new crew member.  Juggy has drag raced bikes successfully for a number of years (has two class championships under his belt) and has a huge interest in Jets - we are all looking forward to working with him over this next year.

16th February 2006

Roger has just put the phone down from his good friend Steve Murty of York Dragway and is pleased to confirm that Firestorm will be appearing at the venue on three weekends during the 2006 season.  We are all looking forward to seeing everyone up at PDRC's annual bash on 25th February, where there will be much beer drunk and lies told I'm sure!  I think the saying is "the older we get the faster we were".

14th February 2006

We are delighted to say that we have had an e-mail from Lee Childs of LA Racing Parts and promoter of Shakespeare County Raceway to confirm 4 weekends at the famous Stratford upon Avon Drag Strip.  This is actually 5 meetings because on the Mayday Bank Holiday there are two separate events.  Please look on the Calendar page for details.

6th February 2006

We have had confirmation from Alan Martin who promotes the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals and the NSRA Hot Rod Drags that he would like the Firestorm at both his events at Shakespeare County Raceway in 2006.  This is fantastic news, many thanks Alan, we look forward to seeing you 1st/2nd July and the 16th/17th September 2006.

2nd February 2006

Hello Firestormer's!  Our first update for 2006 is fantastic news since we are invited to Santa Pod Raceway for the Easter Thunderball and the Flame and Thunder Show in November.  We were contacted by David Lloyd-Jones, General Manager of Santa Pod Raceway to run at both the above events and we are hopeful that he can also fit us in for some of the other meetings as well, fingers crossed!  Since it was announced by Tog on Eurodragster, we have had countless e-mails from fans and friends looking forward to visiting Santa Pod to cheer us on.  This is indeed an occasion since Firestorm has only been to Santa Pod once before, that was for the NABD Rally quite some time ago.

It goes without saying that the team are looking forward to the Easter meeting because its going to be a great meeting which includes National Drag Racing Championships plus Pro-Fuel Shootout - Top Fuel Dragsters, Funny Cars, Street Eliminator Series plus Eric Teboul's Rocket Bike, Martin Hill's 2 Jet Cars, Ronnie Picardo's Jet Beetle, Michael Murty's Monster Truck Big Pete and an extravaganza of moto stunts and displays.

Roger has been busy in the workshop doing all the normal winter things including checking compressor clearances, refurbishing the air bleed doors which always need attention along with a hundred other things.  We've ordered a new fire suit and helmet for Roj and 4 new tyres for Firestorm, parachutes and pilot chutes need repairing and 2 new pilot chutes are on order - here's hoping that it all comes together at the right time!  We're also looking at some new additions to the Firestorm merchandise - its all go, who said this was a quiet time of the year.

2005 news

27th December 2005

22nd October 2005

30th August 2005

We have had three days of championship drag racing action at Shakespeare County Raceway.  There has been top fuel, pro mods and full fields of sportsman and bike classes, it has been a brilliant weekend's racing.  For Firestorm it has been a hectic weekend, we finally got the rebuilt engine back into the chassis on Wednesday night, in time to get everything packed up for the weekends racing.  This had unfortunately left no time for testing, so Saturdays run we had forewarned every one that it was going to be a shake down pass, but on starting the car and going through a number of checks on the line we were confident that everything was back as good if not better than before.  Roger put on a good flame and thunder show and followed it up with a good strong run straight out the back door in 6.285 at 252.27!  Not bad for a checkout pass!

Sunday and Monday were both excellent days racing with Firestorm putting on two Flame and Thunder shows each day, the quickest run over the weekend was on Sunday at 254.29/6.297.

This was a fantastic weekend, we had great weather right through, not too much down time and some fantastic racing with a large number of track records being set in all classes.  For full details of the event go to www.eurodragster.com where you will find full race reports and pictures courtesy of our good friends Tog and Sharkman.

18th August 2005

Good news for everyone, after a few weeks hard work, all work is now complete and Firestorm's engine is back in one piece again. The work took longer than we anticipated because the broken shaft had damaged other parts.  We had to completely strip the motor to replace the bevel gears that drive the accessory gearbox and when I tell you this is a complete strip down I am not exaggerating, nor can it be done in the same time as you can strip a V8!  We are all looking forward to a fantastic bank holiday weekend at Shakespeare County Raceway when we attend the Custom Car Magazine Allstar Nationals, 27th to 29th August 2005.

I have added a couple more photo's from the last meeting at York which have amused us all!  Thanks Gary for showing what we crew go through on the startline! (Lady with the wild hair).

27th July 2005

Apologies to Firestorm fans for not being able to appear at York Raceway this weekend.  While testing new parts on Friday a splined shaft in the accessory gearbox broke and sidelined us until a replacement can be fitted.  We will be working on Firestorm this weekend and I will report back later on how it all went.  Once again, we are very sorry to have let anyone down.

21st July 2005

Life has been pretty hectic over the last month which is why there has been a sad lack of updates on Firestorm's website.  Just to catch up we were at Shakespeare County Raceway for the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals on the 2nd and 3rd July, this is a great family weekend with lots of American Muscle and Nostalgia Cars.  It was again a scorching hot weekend with lots of on track action throughout both days.  We had a brilliant weekend, Firestorm ran four times and was pretty strong considering the weather conditions.

Roger was then in hospital for some minor surgery on a dodgy knee, this all went really well.  We were expecting to have to take a few weeks off but by the following weekend Roger was fit enough to take Firestorm up to York Raceway for the Northern Sportsman Nationals on the 17th July.  York Raceway was well attended and a good time was had by all - ourselves included.

We have an additional date on the calendar and Firestorm will be going back to York Raceway on 6th and 7th August for the UK Northern Nationals and will be running both days.

27th June 2005

Here is a somewhat late but huge thank you to Specialised Shipping Services.

Last year when we needed to import our new tow vehicle from Florida we were impressed by the comments we had heard about Specialised Shipping Services. We called Peter Jordon, told him we had purchased a Silverado pick up truck and needed to get it to England in double quick time. To say this company bent over backwards to help us is a huge understatement, they liaised with the dealer, they handled the shipping, the paperwork, customs and all the "incidentals" (that often catch out the unwary). Once the vehicle arrived in England they altered the lights and other equipment to make it legal in this Country and did the SVA test and registered it for us. All for a price that you could not match if you did it yourself.

Specialised Shipping Services will handle anything, import or export, they ship race cars all over the world for all kinds of teams. If you just want the shipping organised or if you want your purchase delivered to your door all finished ready to turn the key, its all no problem for Specialised Shipping Services. They will even do their best to source your vehicle if you cannot find it yourself.

It is no surprise that when we purchased a new trailer in the USA for Firestorm the first call we made was to Specialised Shipping Services.  Always on the ball we had a call the following day with a price for shipping and everything else to ensure that we could drive to Southampton docks, hook up the trailer and drive home!  That of course is exactly what we did.  All the paperwork was correct and on time, no fuss, no drama, just a really good company to work with.

That, however, cannot be said for the Company that we purchased the trailer from!  They were late with the completion of the trailer, late getting it ready for shipping, late with the paperwork and in fact late with everything.  Peter and Janice from Specialised Shipping Services were soon on the case and sorted it out but it meant that for the first races of the season we had to hire a trailer to transport Firestorm to the track. All this aside, we are delighted with the trailer and Specialised Shipping Services and recommend them for any shipping, to and from anywhere in the world. Check out their website www.specialised-shipping.co.uk or call 01483 489655/489246, tell 'em we sent you!  They can also be contacted by e-mail on info@specialised-shipping.co.uk.

Another Company that deserves a big thank you is LA Racing parts.  We have purchased many parts from them and again always on time at the right price.

When we needed specialist towing equipment for the new trailer the first phone call was to LA Racing parts, Lee confirmed price and delivery date for our parts straight away (before I'd put the phone down).  Yet again, no drama, no fuss, parts on time and at the right price, contact them on 01803 554308 or by e-mail info@laracingparts.com, you can also check out the website at www.laracingparts.com.

22nd June 2005

As most of you will know this weekend has been an absolute scorcher here in the UK and we were sweating it out down at Shakespeare County Raceway for the Shakespeare Nationals with temperatures soaring up to 90 degree's.  There was great turnout from both racers and race fans and despite the heat National Records and track records fell and personal bests were beaten by many of the racers.  We have to admit that Firestorm struggled with the heat as much as we did and we had to alter our settings quite considerably to compensate for it.  We had four runs over the weekend of which the best run was on Saturday at 252.30mph in 6.419 seconds.  Darryl Bradford in the Wright Racing Top Fuel Dragster did a pretty impressive Flame show, but not quite as good as Firestorm's - you can catch up with all this news and see the photo's on Eurodragster.com.

We are being asked more and more by jet fans both at race meetings and by e-mail why they never see us at Santa Pod.  The reason for this is very simple, Jet Cars are one of the classes of car that generally appear by invitation from the event organisers.  It is not in any ones interest that we just turn up and run whether that be Santa Pod or indeed any where else.  We have been in contact with Santa Pod on different occasions but have not managed to secure an invitation so far, we will keep trying and hopefully will be able to take Firestorm down the famous Santa Pod quarter mile in the future.

31st May 2005

Firestorm and team have had an absolutely brilliant weekend down at Shakespeare County Raceway over the bank holiday weekend.  This weekend was the 2nd MRC Rotorstock, there were some serious cars at the event which took part in the Run What Ya Brung and the Jap Racer Series, with cars running the quarter mile in 9 seconds - pretty stout in anyone's book!  On Sunday, on the first run  Roger ran a new personal best in Firestorm of 255.48 mph in 6.23 seconds which was a fantastic start to what was to be a phenomenal weekend!  We had been joined this weekend by two other Jet Car teams, Mark Newby and Colin Fallows were at the event with the UK Land Speed Record car Split Second and Ian Caseley was there with Road Zombie II.  We all had two runs through out the first day, Roadzombie II ran a forceful looking 6.910 at 229.02 mph this was followed by Split Second's first run on the drag strip since doing the Land Speed Record and it ran a respectable 223.52 in 7.101 seconds.  It was a fantastic day, enjoyed by everyone at the track and the many Jap Car enthusiasts and drag race fans who were in attendance.

Monday was a bright day, with a little rain first thing in the morning which quickly passed and left us with excellent weather for the days drag racing.  We were in for a treat today as this was going to be the first time we had run side by side with another Jet Car.  Firestorm and Split Second were to go head to head on the start line for the first time, this put us in some pretty stiff company as ex Alcohol Funny Car Driver Mark Newby was the UK Land Speed Record Holder before team mate Colin Fallows took it back!  This showed through on the 1st run when Mark left Roj in the lights, not to be outdone Roj left Mark in the lights on the 2nd run!  Roger was more than happy to run alongside Mark in Split Second as in Rogers words "Mark is a very experienced and professional driver, you can rely on him to do what he says he is going to do".  Firestorm and Split Second put on an exceptional flame and thunder show together, for me personally (Helen) I have never seen anything like it and to be stood in the middle of two Jet Cars doing their utmost to outdo each other on the line was a phenomenal experience not to be forgotten or outdone easily!  It was very difficult not to get too carried away with the fire show, Split Second holds the advantage on us there in that they can carry a massive amount of fuel because the car was built for the Land Speed Record attempt, after the second run there were just fumes left in the fuel tanks of Firestorm, it was that close!

Take a look at the photographs of Firestorm and Split Second in the Picture Gallery, if you have any pictures please do not hesitate to e-mail them to us we would be very grateful.  We also have some video footage which I will do my best to edit and post on the website soon.

I think to sum up for this last weekend, we had a brilliant start with the new personal best, then running the two cars together was the most astonishing and exciting thing I have ever seen - it just doesn't get any better than this!  Thanks to everyone for helping to make this happen.

17th May 2005

Shakespeare County Raceway welcomed Firestorm for the 2nd American Car World Nationals, we were there on Friday evening in time for a gourmet meal served up by yours truly (Helen) in our 'Firetruck' followed by a few bevvies in the on site bar!  We were up early on Saturday to unload Firestorm ready for what was promising to be a great weekend at SCR, the pits were full to the brim with some pretty fit looking cars and plenty of great American Muscle Cars, everyone was in for a treat!

Saturday was bright blue skies but a very blustery day, we all had a great days racing but with the strength of the wind we had to keep our passes to an 1/8 mile.  We still put on a good strong flame and thunder show for all the fans but we have to say that we always feel a little short changed when we don't put in full passes, fingers were definitely crossed for a calmer day on Sunday.  On the subject of our fireshow, we have been asked by a number of Firestorm fans why we no longer do the full flame and thunder show which includes afterburner pops, we have been asked by the organisers at SCR not to do afterburner pops to try to keep the noise level down. 

Sunday was a fantastic day, the sun shone all day and there wasn't a breath of wind, we did two shows during the afternoon, Firestorm was running really strong at 6.3 seconds 253 mph, with another personal best of 191.53 in the 1/8th!  All in all a really good weekend was had by all!

Latest news on Colin Fallow's land speed record attempt aren't good I'm afraid, the team had been plagued by problems from the start which culminated in the attempt being abandoned which is a great shame after all the time, money and effort that was put into the attempt. 

You can click on the two links below for all news on their attempt at the record.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4524411.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4526241.stm

2nd May 2005

We were back down at Shakespeare County Raceway for the Ford & Vauxhall weekend.  We woke on Saturday morning to the sound of heavy rain but by early afternoon the sun was shining and we were all very warm, particularly Roger once he was suited and sat in Firestorm!  We had two runs on Saturday, both were respectable passes in 6.3 seconds, one at 253mph and the other at 252 mph.  Sunday was another good day weather wise, Firestorm was down to do two runs, this was reduced down to one run when a Top Fuel Dragster launched and had a massive engine explosion causing fuel, oil and parts of the motor to be spread over both lanes, at this point it was too near to the curfew to enable a full clean up to take place.  We were hopeful for 3 runs for Monday to make up for it, the second run we made was an all time personal best of 254.22 mph in 6.29 seconds - the day up to this point had been lovely bright sunny day, as we got to the top end of the track to tow Firestorm back to the pits the heavens opened on us - it was that close.  Unfortunately the weather did not then pick up and we had a couple more heavy down pours which curtailed the meeting.  This was a shame for everyone who had made it to Shakespeare for this entertaining weekend but at least we had finished it on a high!

Life in the Firestorm pit was really comfortable, living out of the 7.5 tonne Ford Cargo has certainly made a big difference and in conjunction with our new trailer we were well and truly spoilt rotten!

This weekend was the first full weekend for new crew member Stuart Every.  Stuart has been with us for two previous meetings mainly observing but this last weekend he was thrown in at the deep end and coped admirably with all that was asked of him.

Our other crew member Colin Fallows is currently away in America attempting a Land Speed Record with his electric powered streamliner.  Good luck Colin.  There is an update on the teams attempt at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4513529.stm.

29th April 2005

This week has been a busy and exciting week for the Firestorm team, we have finally taken delivery of our new Haulmark trailer.  The trailer is everything and more than we expected and will help to make life very comfortable at the race track.  I have taken some pictures of the new trailer which you can find in the photo gallery.  We had a lot of help and are extremely grateful to Peter & Janice from Specialised Shipping Services, this is the second time we have worked with them as they also dealt with the import of our Chevy tow vehicle last year and can recommend them wholeheartedly.  We will be producing a feature on Specialised Shipping in the near future, meanwhile for any shipping requirements please telephone 01483 489655/489246.  They can also be contacted by e-mail on info@specialised-shipping.co.uk or you can look them up on their website www.specialised-shipping.co.uk.

25th April 2004

Firestorm was welcomed at Shakespeare County Raceway for the 3rd Power Nationals.  We had a great weekend which was made particularly comfortable as we have finally managed to get the 7.5 tonne Ford Cargo ex Fire Service Command Unit fitted out and down at SCR, the truck comes complete with kitchen sink, full sized cooker and double bed!  What luxury.

Firestorm had two runs on Saturday which culminated in a new personal best of 253.52mph in 6.34 seconds on the second run - great start to the 2005 season.  Sunday's run was hampered by a stiff cross wind so in the interest of safety Roger shut off really early.  It was a great shame when it started to rain about 3.00 which meant that the meeting was abandoned about 4.00 with no second run for Firestorm.  

All in all for our first meeting of 2005 at Shakespeare County Raceway, we had a great time apart from the disappointment of the rain off late on Sunday - thanks to everyone involved.

4th April 2005

We have had a very hectic few weeks finishing all the pre-season checks to Firestorm and Roger was still working on Firestorm until late on Friday night.  We also had another small problem to overcome, the trailer which we had ordered in October from the States had still not arrived.  This is a bit of a pain because we don't only transport the car in the trailer, we use the trailer during the meeting for storing the many items that we bring to the meetings and we also use it for shelter.  On a March day at York Dragway a bit of shelter comes in handy!  Anyway, we hired an open trailer to transport the car, and were kindly supplied with tea and coffee from the MEC Catering van, BIG thanks to Mick! 

We arrived at a very wet York Dragway for the VW/Mini Showdown on quite a cold and overcast Sunday Morning but in true York Dragway fashion, racing started on time with a full field of Street Cars.  It turned into a disappointing day for Firestorm and the team as we were unable to do any runs due to excessive water on the track, in the 1/8 mile at York Dragway Firestorm would reach 190 mph and there was not enough traction to be able to do this safely.  However, not wanting to disappoint all the racing fans we started Firestorm and put on two flame and thunder shows during the afternoon. 

The weather was not kind over Sunday night and it rained, Monday was quite a chilly day and the track did not dry sufficiently for us to do any runs again.  We again decided to put on the flame and thunder show, Roger wanted to give that little bit more on this show and picked the revs up to try some afterburner pops, Firestorm promptly did a sideward step towards the crash barrier, not good!  However, all that aside it has been a brilliant weekend at York Dragway, thanks to all the hardworking crew at York Dragway for all their efforts to put on a great meeting and keep the cars on track whatever the weather.

22nd March 2005

Hello everyone, yes we are still here!  Sorry for the lack of updates recently but we had a major computer failure just after the last update and had to get a new Hard Drive for the computer.  We have finally got everything back up and running and retrieved what we could from the last backup but we had lost quite a lot of information including the most recent website file!  Anyway, here we are again, so please let me know if anything is not working right on the website, any broken links etc and I will get them fixed.  One thing we have lost is the address book and the e-mails, so to everyone who sent us e-mails over Christmas that we haven't responded to, that's why - its all gone!

So, what's been happening in the Firestorm camp since 2nd Jan, well it is certainly busy, I'm not sure why I look forward to the 'off-season' time, with a thought that we can have some rest, because it just doesn't work out that way.  Roger is still working in the workshop on Firestorm doing full system checks and overhauling and refurbishing parts where necessary.  We have also been working on the Ford Cargo that we have been promising ourselves for the last 3 years, we are making it into living quarters to make life easier as we spend quite a lot of time away from home during the season.  It has had a full sized kitchen, a seating area and a bed installed - what luxury. 

Also, we are pleased to announce that we have a new crew member for 2005, Stuart Every will be joining us.  To those of you who are regulars at Shakespeare County Raceway I am sure you will have met Stuart whilst he has been working in the pits as one of the unsung hero's of dragracing.  Welcome to the Firestorm team Stuart!

More news on the plight of Trevor Duckworth (see the news item below), the appeal fund has now been closed as we believe the insurer's have now stepped in to help.

We still have the Party Tent for sale should anyone out there want a complete awning style cover for the paddock (see all the details on the Notice Board).

2nd January 2005

Happy New Year to one and all!  We hope you have all had a good Christmas and New Year and are beginning to get over all the excess eating, drinking, sleeping and TV watching! 

Before we carry on with the Firestorm News we need to mention the fund which has been started for Trevor Duckworth, organiser for Straightliners events.  Trevor has been charged with manslaughter after a fatal accident during a sprint at Port Erin, Isle of Man, earlier this year.  "As Trevor was Clerk of the Course the buck has stopped with him", says Shaun Walker.  "It certainly could have much wider implications throughout the country on anyone taking the responsibility of organising a sporting event.  The other problem I foresee is that if a case goes against the accused there would no doubt be a civil case started, with the usual huge financial penalty to follow if it succeeds.  The trouble is that this is a sport mainly run by enthusiasts and they simply cannot afford to suffer these losses, never mind the mental strain that must go hand in hand with it.  One of the reasons we have brought this to peoples attention is that the legal costs are horrendous.  Trevor's lawyer is good but he is also having to spend a large amount of time on the case, not to mention the fact that Trevor has had to travel back and forth to the IoM like a yo yo to see the police and others.  "There is no way on earth that Trevor can pay his legal bill without jeopardising some part of this life, his job, house etc. so we are trying to raise some money to offset the bill a little". 

If you would like to contribute towards Trevor's legal costs then there are two ways in which you can help:

Cheques made payable to Sarah Quigley, to Sarah Quigley, 1 Botany Lodge, Lower Macclesfield Road, Whaley Bridge, High Peak, SK23 7GE.  Alternately you can use Paypal (with 4% commission) to send contributions to 200@200mph.net.

"It is a bit like investing in your future so if people can give a fiver that's great", says Shaun.  "A tenner would be even better but we realise that not everyone is made of money, and it is Christmas, so wait until the New Year if you want because this will not be over for a few months yet".

You can stay in touch with the latest information on the 200mph forum at www.200mph.org.uk.  (Report by Eurodragster.com).

The Firestorm team has worked with Trevor many times over the last few years, he is a 100% good guy and 'the good of the sport' is his number one priority.  We offer our full support to Trevor and Straightliners and hope that you will all do the same.

Both myself and Roger are already getting on with all the Firestorm winter jobs, as you can see for 2005 the website has had a little facelift, I hope it is still an easy site to use and get around, if you have any problems or if anything is not working right please let me know.

Work is going on in the Firestorm workshop, there is a lot of maintenance to carry out on Firestorm's General Electric J85 motor.  Just a couple of things which come immediately to mind are, changing the main fuel nozzles, bleed door refurbishments, checking compressor and turbine blades etc.

Airbleed doors are just one of the systems that need regular maintenance throughout the year as they become contaminated with rubber and other debris from the track surface.  When this happens the operation of the bleed doors becomes lazy.  This causes problems on the launch and in general make the engine run poor.  These will be completely stripped and refurbished ready for the 2005 season.

Also this winter we are fitting later type main fuel nozzles, the old ones needed refurbishment and resetting so we exchanged them for the later updated nozzles. 

Work is in progress making different parts for the 2005 tune up.  Much testing will be needed for the new combination, but parts fitted in early 2004 gave us good data that we can build on to go faster and quicker in 2005.

Whilst the body is off, the car will be stripped and routine maintenance and checks will be carried out.  4 new tyres are already ordered (yes jet cars do damage and wear out tyres)!!