SUPER MODIFIED MAKEOVER FOR PMR/DRE CALIBRA

The Super Modified bound Paul Marston Racing Vauxhall Calibra, backed by Drag Race Engineering was recently debuted at the FIA Main Event. At the Main Event the chassis tag needed to be re-certified as Super Modified legal, the Calibra had not run for a few seasons and there had been updates chassis wise in the rulebook, it was a small concern, but Hauser Race Cars build a good product with an eye on the future, the chassis was perfect. The PMR Calibra is presently back in the Drag Race Engineering (020 8597 4575) workshop, being prepped for its debut in Super Modified competition. As most people know the Super Modified Category has been with us for some time now, it’s a heads up Doorslammer Class. Fastest racecar wins with a reasonably simple set of rules which are supposed to be designed to allow nitrous and naturally aspirated entries to compete on a level playing field. The Drag Race Engineering/ CTM backed Vauxhall Calibra of Paul Marston Racing has already been scaled (Weighed) at DRE and meets the weight criteria of Super Modified very well. Next step is the inspection of the motor by the Tech team, its tagging and sealing as Super Modified legal, they need to verify the cubic inch of the motor as it directly relates to what the PMR Vauxhall Calibra should weigh, valve size and port height also needs to be checked. It’s a race against time to have all this done; it’s a very busy time of year for Super Modified Tech inspectors Geoff Martin and Mark Norton as they are also the MSA Chassis inspectors for the whole of Drag Racing. They are doing their level best to fit us in before Bug Jam, its going to be a major setback to Paul Marston Racing if we have to take the motor to Santa Pod in pieces. It will be a totally untried combination, we would at least want to have fired the motor up at DRE prior to setting off to what will be a hard weekends racing, with an extremely steep learning curve for everyone at Paul Marston Racing. Paul Marston Racing is under no illusion when it comes to Bug Jam and Super Modified. Principal Crewman Sefton Whitlock explains ‘All Paul Marston Racing can realistically look to achieve at Bug Jam is qualifying and making first round, if we do that I will be happy. Having personally raced bikes heads up, I know it’s a different level of commitment. That said, I feel we are ready for this kind of challenge. It will be tough, Super Modified is an established class with some very professional teams, and I have not seen any real weaknesses in the top drivers, which is only right and proper. The Drag Race Engineering Calibra is running the naturally aspirated option; I know Gary Springford and Paul Marston have been working with CTM and their contacts in the States regarding the motor. That said, in my opinion there needs to be some pretty reasonable and fair rule changes made for the 08 season to level the playing field and for us to remain in the class. Because at the moment the naturally aspirated option is just not competitive, in six years of competition a naturally aspirated Super Modified has never won anything. Paul Marston Racing would like to attempt to change that statistic, it won’t happen this year, some serious rule changes are needed before that could ever happen’ When asked about the motor development Paul Marston had this to say ‘The power plant that Paul Marston Racing have selected for our Drag Race Engineering backed Vauxhall Calibra is based on a Pro Series Scott Shafiroff 555ci Big Block Chevy, although the heads came fully ported they will be sent down to CTM so as under Charlie’s direction the valve seats can be re cut as he wants them and the heads checked over. There is only so much that you can get from a 40+ year old conventional factory head design, rulebook porting limitations and a limited engine size, but Paul Marston Racing will be doing their level best to close the gap between ourselves and Nigel Payne, the top naturally aspirated Super Modified competitor. That’s a realistic goal. As to chasing the nitrous cars forget it! Nigel and his team have put a tremendous effort into the development of their motor, again a 555ci Big Block Chevy and have run regularly in the 7.90 to 8.0 range with a PB in the high 7.80’s, it really is a fantastic achievement. But despite all Nigel and his teams hard work and their pioneering spirit, the Sticky Situation Super Modified Naturally Aspirated 1953 Corvette still trails the Nitrous Super Modified entries by on average 3/10ths.’ So if you are at Bug Jam stop by to see if we made it and say hi, its going to be a great weekends racing, the weather is pre booked too! It goes without saying that Paul Marston Racing Drag Race Driving School owe a huge debt of thanks to a lot of people to have gotten this far. It is our first venture into heads-up competition, none of this would be possible without the support of an absolutely first class crew and drivers, they are as professional and dedicated as you could ever want. Santa Pod Raceway for their faith and belief in us, their support has been our cornerstone, our business partners and sponsors. Gary Springford’s Drag Race Engineering, CTM Performance and Machine, Chrysler UK, ChryslerCard, MAC Tools, London Road Tyres, Black Box London, Disco Equipment Hire, Custom Car, American Car World, Tony Morris at BLP, JW Transmissions, all our American NHRA Div 2 friends and all the others, you know who you are. The UK National Championship Drag Race Teams who have made Paul Marston Racing Drag Race Driving School feel so welcome and respect what we do and why we do it. Last but by no means least Eurodragster you are irreplaceable.

SUMMER NATIONALS SUCCESS

Paul Marston Racing had a most productive and successful outing at the SPRC Summernats. Arriving early on Thursday evening to join the queue outside the main gate was a good move and set us for the weekend. But firstly everyone at Paul Marston Racing would like to express their thanks and gratitude to all the Santa Pod track crew who never gave up and got the job done. The weather has certainly played its part this season and without the hard work and dedication of Darren Prentice, Ian Marshall, John Cross, startline crew, fire crew, the list goes on, the event would not have happened. At Paul Marston Racing, fielding five entries for the Summer Nationals, there was plenty to celebrate. Firstly Gary Springford had another outing in the Hulk Shogun, ably supported by Dave Catton wearing an Incredible Hulk fancy dress costume. This was quite a revelation as we always had DC penciled in as a quiet retiring, responsible type, after all he is a Senior Airline Pilot, Manchester based. Obviously painting himself in green paint has a strange effect, similar to that of the Hulk! On seeing a Hulk sitting in Hulk Shogun Gary Springford DRE Proprietor was for once speechless, we are still not sure if it was because Dave Catton was dressed like the Hulk or the fact that he had hair!. Gary capped his weekend with a still untested racecar by going two rounds in Pro ET. Steve Bolton had one of those weekends, with a new transbrake button fitted to his Plymouth Scamp. A small mistake with the button gave Steve a red light in the first round, this did nothing to help his points tally in Pro ET, as prior to the Summernats, Steve was leading the National Championship. We will just have to wait and see how bad the damage is. Steve, ever the sportsman took it on the chin and is looking forward to the next event. Tethys in the Ugly Stick Dragster fared about the same, electing to run just one class at the Summer Nationals, the Dragster was awesome, but after an unusually slow reaction time, Tethys day was done in the first round of Super Comp. Disappointing but Super Class racing in the UK has evolved and become so competitive that a small mistake on the start often leads to an unrecoverable position, better luck next time my friend. Mick Howling, driving Grumpys Dodge enjoyed success double classing in both Super Gas and Pro ET. In Super Gas Mick went two rounds, taking the win in round one against Steve Wells. Bowing out in the second to a resurgent Brendan Clancy, in a classic Super Gas doorslammer matchup. Mick Howling went even further in Pro ET taking out Darren Hulkes in his beautiful Blown Camaro in round one, Carl Burton in the English Rose Sierra in round two. Finally falling in the third round to a peculiar startline occurrence that rewarded Mick Howling with a cherry and his day was done. Paul Marston, standing in for usual Whoopass Monza driver Dave Catton, who was busy Hulking It Up. Paul Marston, again same as Mick Howling double classed in both Pro ET and Super Gas. When asked Paul said ‘One shot qualifying actually suited me as I have not driven the Whoopass Monza for nearly a year and not competed in Super Gas for nearly eight years, it made it a drivers race in both classes. Super Gas was great fun, it’s a real tough class, always has been, I got a bit lucky and got to the semi finals with the Whoopass Monza finally behaving itself and starting to show its true potential. I was more than happy with the performance of the Monza, we now have a firm handle on it, the 60fts were comparable with Grumpys Dodge for consistency. In Pro I went to the Quarter Finals and succumbed to one of those nasty red lights, every racer hates them. This one was entirely my fault I was just a little too keen, shame really as I thought I had my best chance in Pro, the one shot qualifying worked against me in this case. It’s a very fast reacting car and I just had not had time to pick my spot on the tree, on my qualifier the motor stumbled going on the chip so my reaction was 1.2 seconds! In the first two rounds of elimination in Pro my lights were way slow, I knew I had to tighten up, so I took a shot and it was too much. But with the kind of success we had over the weekend I really could not complain. So now it’s the Summer break, all efforts are now on the Calibra in preparation for Bug Jam and its entry into The Super Modified Wars. It’s currently in the Drag Race Engineering workshops ready for its upgrades and tagging for Super Modified. As ever a big thanks to all the hard working Paul Marston Racing Crew, without you guys it simply could not work, especially Lizz McCarthy who crewed up till she had to leave for her flight to Ireland Saturday afternoon and Drag Race School driver in training Simon who was on video camera duties all weekend. Special thanks to Tony Morris over in Orlando Florida for Tuning and settings advice over the weekend, especially the help he has given Tethys with the Dragster setup. Sponsors Drag Race Engineering, CTM Performance & Machine, Black Box, London Road Tyres, JW Performance, BLP and all the others, plus all the fans that stopped by to say hi over the weekend.

MAIN EVENT SUCCESS FOR PMR

Paul Marston Racing enjoyed a most successful FIA Main Event at Santa Pod. Paul Marston explained ‘The weather was pretty much a foregone conclusion according to the internet weather sites, although you do try to ignore them, Friday Saturday was actually better than was forecast by most but Sunday and Monday never changed, it was going to be wet!

Paul Marston Racing marked a new landmark at the FIA Main Event in entering six Drag Racecars and nine entries, a really tall order, our biggest car count yet. Paul Marston Racing are proud to say that although stretched a little on Friday, the team coped very well, the pit crew, the backbone of Paul Marston Racing were very professional and rose to the task. The drivers also tried their best to not cause any problems themselves by keeping temperatures down and doing as much between round maintenance themselves to help share the load on the pit crew. When asked Pit Crew Co-ordinator Sefton Whitlock said ‘Its Mad Fridays that always stretches us and probably quite a lot of teams, it’s a real challenge for everyone, with so many qualifying sessions on the same day. It becomes a race in itself to keep the Paul Marston Racing Drag racecars turned round fast enough for their next session, in particular Grumpys Dodge, the Ugly Stick and the Whoopass Monza, each of which were double classing. But everyone works together to make it happen, it might look like organized chaos, that’s because it is!!’ With just two qualifying sessions on Saturday it was a far more relaxed affair. Tethys in The Ugly Stick 4-Link Dragster had a very solid outing, with both Tethys and The Ugly Stick displaying good consistency and a real handle on perfecting the Throttlestop in Super Comp. With the weather in mind both Gary Springford, proprietor of Drag Race Engineering and Paul Marston decided that we would treat the event more as a test and tune, with Gary bringing his beautiful alcohol injected Hulk Shogun in Pro and the DRE backed Super Modified destined Vauxhall Calibra that Paul Marston would be driving in Super Pro. Both Shogun and Calibra are still in early development stages, National Event conditions seemed the perfect opportunity to iron out some bugs, taking the ominous approaching weather into consideration. This does seem to have been the correct tactic and both Shogun and Calibra ran personal bests, Hulk Shogun with an effortless 9.77 @ 118mph and the Calibra with a 8.33 @ 162mph. Mick Howling driving Grumpys Dodge in both Super Gas and Pro ET had another solid outing with both Driver and Racecar being the picture of consistency. A special thanks goes out to Mick for all the enthusiasm he brings and also for always being the first up in the morning, you cannot keep a good man down. Dave Catton double classing in Super Gas and trying his hand in Pro in the Whoopass Monza was fighting an inconsistency that we now think has been identified and believe been since rectified, we will have to wait until the Summer Nationals presented by Santa Pod Racers Club at Santa Pod Raceway to find out. Steve Bolton in the Dark Destroyer Plymouth Scamp is still top of the pile in the Pro National Championship. Increasing his cushion to a little over 200 points from Carla and Rick in their Heaven and Hell Camaro, not much, but no harm done to Steve’s Championship aspirations. Still along way to go, the Summer Nationals marks the mid point in the 07 National Championship season, to be competitive against the very best teams in Pro and all the other Sportsman Classes is a level that thru hard work the drivers at Paul Marstons Drag Race Driving School who compete with us have reached. To be consistently competitive, qualifying well and going rounds is our next goal here for our drivers at Paul Marston Racing; we need to extra work hard on that. In our third season of competition with our more seasoned drivers, its good to see a maturity evolved, an unspoken confidence, a more businesslike approach, their knowledge and experiences being passed on to our new crop of rookie drivers who are currently crewing with us whilst going thru the Paul Marston Racing Drag Race Driving School. After all that’s where every single one of us started, its what the Drag Race School is all about really, providing a stepping stone for our Drag Race stars of the future. Anyone who has the ambition to race with us or who just needs some advise, stop by at a National Event or contact PMR thru the link on Eurodragster, come and discuss your ideas, from a Passenger Ride, half day driving experience to a turnkey racecar.

Our continual thanks goes to Santa Pod Raceway for their belief in what we do, to Drag Race Engineering (020 8597 9484) for their support, Shakespeare County Raceway for finding the Grumpy Bike, The Wild Bunch crew of Ram Raider for the safe return of Paul’s Grumpys Dodge pit bike – Thank you, Black Box London, CTM Engineering (020 8592 1180), London Road Tyres, Custom Car, ACW, and all our associate sponsors, friends and of course the fans. A special thanks to everyone at Eurodragster, we owe you BIG!