2010 News

We are still working hard to get Firestorm back on the track, with many hours being spent in the workshop. Since the last update there has been a lot done and achieved but to be perfectly honest it doesn't really make very exciting reading for the website. Components such as new mountings for the air regulator and for the gearbox support - all necessary but to be honest - pretty boring. A secondary catch tank has had to be incorporated for one of the new systems on Firestorm - again necessary and has taken time to manufacture and fit in exactly the right place. New "A" frames have now been made and are also ready to fit.

We decided some time ago that although the car had to be fixed it would be pointless to rebuild it just the same as it was. With a project of this size its not much different money wise to go the whole hog and upgrade as much as is humanly possible so with our good friend Al Hanna "pointing and nodding" we put together a plan.

As reported before amongst other things, this has meant repositioning the fuel tanks, the motor and a considerable amount of valve work etc. With the motor in a different place the tail pipe shield won't fit either and so it goes on. Another change because of the modifications is some new tin work which will be required for the top part of the drivers 'office'. All this work is to accommodate a stunning new inlet system designed by Hanna motorsport, we have had some input and we've made slight changes to the original design to suit our needs. All of this and the new tailpipe and afterburner is very exciting for us, its a massive change but progress is never made without change, we have to move on.

Aside from the rebuilding of Firestorm, the 'day jobs' are very busy which is not so good with regards to time being spent in the workshop but it is good as we still need a considerable amount of money to complete the project. At this point we are still looking at all the options on the body and whichever option we choose it will again be an enormous amount of work.

Good progress is now being made on Firestorm's rebuild - as always not quick enough and very frustrating but we can only do what we can do, both with money and time that is available to us. Since May, we have continued to fabricate new parts for Firestorm not only to replace bent and broken parts but also to upgrade/modify some parts. Some of these may not have been completely necessary but for those of you who know Roger, you will know he takes huge pride in the construction of Firestorm and if anytime is a good time to improve on anything then this is it!

We have taken delivery of some stunning carbon fibre components which we have had made at Hansell Composites. This has allowed us to move forward on many other jobs. We feel that the cause of the accident was due to an aerodynamic problem and therefore much of the work we are doing is to try to ensure we have covered all bases as much as we possibly can. Due to these changes, some of which are major, it is sometimes the case that the one part needs to made and fitted before we can find places for other parts. Hansell did a quick turn around of the new components and even though Hansell's prices were very reasonable, the delays have been down to us having to find the money to get the job done as this is a large and major part. As part of these upgrades - some work has had to be done on the fuel tank position and has meant modifications to the fuel tanks themselves. This has been completed this weekend. Another job crossed off the list! Also as part of these upgrades the motor has had to be repositioned, this is a fairly major change and has meant that we have had to have different engine mounts made, once again Graham at GSPE has done a superb job - as you will see from the photo.

Among the recently completed jobs are a new fuel manifold, relocation and modifications to the valve work and making fittings to put it all together. (Some things you just can't buy)! New smaller operating valves are replacing some of the more bulkier items. Times have changed considerably since we first did the valves and hosework on Firestorm.

Due to lack of space in our workshop, completed parts are checked for correct fitment and then stored away, hence there aren't any new photos of the complete car, so please be patient, these will be forthcoming.

Here's just a few of the many Jobs crossed off the 'Job List'!
New Manifold	You can't buy these ...	One of them fitted ...
Old & New!	New engine mounts - well done Graham.	Top of mount with Graham's GSPE logo.

Once again, thanks to Big Al, Rich and Ellen Hanna for their continued support and guidance - its great to have someone who's giving us a huge amount of information and encouragement. Thanks guys!

Please accept our sincere apologies for the down time of the Firestorm website! We had not been able to update it due to 'technical difficulties' but all sorted now, so going forward we will be putting regular updates on of our progress.

Good, positive news from the Firestorm camp for 2011! Firestorm is on his way back – there is still quite a long way to go but we are getting there! We are working very closely with our friends at Hanna Motorsports on this rebuild, thanks to the Hanna family, their wealth of knowledge and experience have been invaluable so far and we are sure that will continue for a long time.

Firestorms chassis has been repaired and is now back in our workshop in Rotherham, after both the front and rear of the chassis have been replaced in their entirety. Graham had suggested that we should have a team meeting with good friend Brian Walsh and survey the damage on the now totally stripped chassis. Graham and Brian go back a long way in racing circles and have worked together on some very high end racing projects. Roger is also no novice as he was very much involved in the initial build of Firestorm’s chassis and worked with Bob Jinkens on a number of race car projects. So one Saturday in the workshop after some deliberation and tea, Roger uttered these words “Do you think we can fix this Brian”? “Yeh, its only tubes – and most of them are straight”! So what we had thought was possibly going to be a very difficult job suddenly became very achievable, still a big job but achievable – a huge sigh of relief echoed around the Firestorm camp that day!

Since the chassis came home Roger has been burning the midnight oil fabricating, welding and swearing a lot putting the necessary fixtures and brackets on the chassis for the valves, chute cans, fuel tanks, catch tanks etc. It all takes a bunch of time but it has to be done. It needs to be totally rebuilt with every valve, hose and wire in place before its stripped again and the chassis powder coated. This way there should be no last minute welding jobs on a newly powder coated chassis – in theory!

It is great to have achieved this much, particularly as most of you know, we are a privately owned and funded team and this is a massive project and not one that was planned. We are indebted to everyone for all the help we have been given but we both have to thank Brian and Graham in particular as both of them have gone above and beyond the call of duty to ‘make this happen’!

We are working very closely with Graham Sykes of Sykes Performance Engineering on 'upgrading' quite a few components on Firestorm. As you may know both Graham and Diane Sykes are our number one crew, but aside from that as a precision engineer Graham has a wealth of knowledge gained in many different area's of motor racing including working with works racing teams and designing and building his own V8 Drag Bike. He is currently working on some really special components for the chassis and steering gear, all of which will be a significant upgrade to the original Firestorm. Graham also has experience working with 'aerodynamics' and has quite a few idea's regarding development of the new body. More news on that later.

The Story So Far ….

The beginning of stripping Firestorm! All the right hand side of the car suffered major damage following the 250mph impact with wall. With the whiplash effect of the impact this then caused considerable damage to the left hand side of the car, not immediately visible but none the less catastrophic to the integrity of the frame. The important part is that the drivers compartment and roll cage suffered no damage at all and retained its integrity, this is testimony to a) the strict construction rules which we all have to follow and b) Bob Jinkens excellent design and fabricating skills. There was just slight panel damage as can be seen in the photo.


Once the car was totally stripped to its bare chassis the full extent of the damage could be seen and it wasn’t looking pretty. The chassis was then loaded up and taken to “chassis genius” Brian Walsh’s workshop for him to work his magic. Brian is one of the “backroom boys” for a number of high profile racing teams and we are very lucky to have him as a friend and on our side!



Brian completely replaced the front and rear of the chassis leaving only the drivers compartment as the original chassis. Roger then got to work putting the necessary fixtures and brackets on the chassis and Firestorm is starting to take shape with some familiar items that we all recognise back in place.



Posh new engine mounts being machined in deep, darkest North Yorkshire in a big shed with no windows by Graham of Graham Sykes Performance Engineering. Latest delivery to Rotherham is new wheels from Sander Engineering in California!

There will be some major changes to Firestorm along the way but it will still be the Firestorm that we all love with its centre drive configuration with side inlets – all to be revealed later.......

Should you wish to help get Firestorm back down the 1/4 mile, you may make a donation below - no matter how small, it all helps and it is appreciated. Alternatively, you may purchase any items from the Merchandise page which will help as all proceeds are going towards the rebuild. Thank you.