Peter Blake - Australian Drag Car Driver

What is a Sprintcar?

Sprintcars are the highest (fastest) level of speedway racing. They are built basic with only “go fast” and safety in mind, the engines are brutally powerful up to a rumoured 900 hp. They spend most of their time scrambling for traction, broad sliding around the corners, wheel standing on the straights, and throwing clay into the stands, while the driver wrestles frantically with the steering wheel. Up to 40 cars race alongside each other, all competing for the #1 position on a track that is only 16m wide and 400m in length.

Engine – 410 cubic inch small block chev aluminium V8, producing 850 horse power with methanol fuel injection, and naturally aspirated

Chassis – Chromoly tube frame built by Maxium- USA, 84 inch wheelbase, torsion bar suspension, titanium brake rotors on rear and aluminium for the front left.

Body – Carbon fibre hood and aluminium side panels to protect driver and engine from the clay. One large driver adjustable wing on top used to apply weight to the rear tyres for traction and balance, and one small wing above the front axle to create downforce and gain traction for the steer tyres.

Tyres – A pair giant odd sized rear tyres, 8 to 16 inches difference in rollout (depending on track conditions), larger on the right rear to to help the car roll around the track in an anti clockwise direction and a pair of standard front steering tyres.

Power : Weight – 650kgs : 850 horsepower, second only to Formula One, in circuit racing teams

Driver – Wears a nomex three (3) layer fire suit, fireproof underwear, boots and gloves and carbon fibre helmet layered with up to twenty five (25) tear away strips on the visor to remove mud and dust from drivers vision during a race. Driver sits upright behind the engine, legs straddling the drive shaft above the rear end.

What is a Top Doorslammer Drag Car?

Few motorsport in Australia can match the spectacle, colour and excitement of championship drag racing. Top Doorslammer is Group One drag racing and is the quickest sedan racing in the world, with speeds approaching 260mph (over 400kmh) across a quarter mile (400m) drag strip in around 6.0 secs. Two cars start side by side and race for the finish line, pulling over 3 g’s off the start line and up to negative 5 g’s when twin parachutes are deployed. With so much power in such short cars they can turn on their driver without warning often sending the drivers out of control providing arguably the most exciting and competitive racing in all drag racing.

Engine – 513 cubic inches of All Australian-Made Sainty aluminium BTV (Billet Three Valve) V8. Producing up to 3000 horse-power with PSI supercharger forcing 50 lbs of boost into a methanol fuel injection manifold.

Chassis – Chromoly tube frame and roll cage built by Rod Andrews – Sydney, Australia. 115 inch wheelbase coil over shock absorbers, McPherson front struts and fourlink rear end. Four wheel disk brakes operated by both foot and hand.

Body – Carbon fibre Holden VS Statesman replica, weighing less than 40kg with Lexen windows, aerodynamically modified to suit speeds of around 250mph.

Tyres – Two large rear slicks with extra soft sidewalls and a pair of slim front runners.

Power : Weight – 3000hp : 2700lb

Driver – A five layer fire suit and boots, fire proof gloves and a carbon fibre fire proof helmet. Driver sits alongside the 4 speed transmission, only inches from the ground. Legs out stretched and one hand on the wheel the other operates the handbrake and gear shifter.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 20th, 2006 at 10:14 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed, bookmark the Permalink in your Browser, leave a response, or trackback from your own site.