Sandro Bellio reviews the 2024 season so far
Danny’s Racing Team Belgium were looking forward to the start of the new season after the winter break. During the winter, a problem in the engine was found that caused the drop of performance of the funny car for several years. Everything was checked and the parts that were needed were ordered in the States. The team had been struggling to record 5.4-second ETs in the last couple of seasons and spent a lot of time with looking for the reason. There had been doubts about the fuel pump, but unfortunately that was not the problem either. The first race of the season was of course The Main Event in England.
Sandro Bellio: “The team planned a few test runs on the test day before the event, two runs up to the 1/8 mile and a third run up to the 1000 feet. After this run, the oil pressure was not what it should have been and the reason for this had to be found first. On the Friday, the engine was checked and everything seemed to be okay, except some wear on a few camshaft bearings, so these were replaced. The engine was reassembled and fired up later that day, but the oil pressure was still not right. The oil pump was replaced with a new one, which we thought to have with us. However, this turned out not to be the case. When loading, the old oil pump had ended up in the truck and not the new one. We put it on anyway to see if it made any difference in pressure, but there was hardly any difference. Then we checked all the lines. The system seemed to be fine and so the oil filter was the only thing that remained. We started the engine without the oil filter but that did not make any difference either. There was only one thing left, to measure the oil pump and see what caused all problems.”
“The oil pump had too much slack and this had to be adjusted by hand as we did not have any machines. We worked on the pump on Saturday afternoon and Sunday. There was oil pressure when we started the engine in the pits. We were unable to do both qualifying runs on the Saturday and due to the rain, only the third qualification on the Sunday was left. We had to record an ET to be qualified for Monday’s eliminations. The oil pressure was still good after the burnout and the funny car was finally able to record an ET. When the light turned green, the crank trigger sensor failed and the power went out. But at least there was an ET on the score board and we were qualified for Monday.”
“After the run we checked everything and looked for the reason why the funny car didn’t do what we wanted it to do. Everything pointed out that it had to be the crank trigger. We changed it, but when we wanted to fire up the engine on Monday, it didn’t work with the other sensor either. Several new and old sensors were exchanged, the degree wheel was changed, but we couldn’t find it. We decided to drive on the magneto only. In the first elimination round we had to face the German driver Silvio Strauch, who recorded a 5.64 seconds in qualifying. Even with the small amount of data we had, we should be able to beat him. The air was good for recording quick ETs and the track was warm enough as well. Both cars were ready to stage and our reaction time was a bit better. The funny car didn’t hesitate. We had a little bit of shake after the 60 feet, but it was possible to drive through it. The funny car went like a rocket through both gears and I kept an eye on the oil pressure all the way. Everything was very well until a loud bang with a fireball at 1000 feet brought an early end to the run. The fire extinguishers were quickly pulled and the system shut down the engine. It was clear that there was a lot of damage. The elimination round was won and if I would have been able to make a full pass, this would have been a very quick ET. Back in the pits, it turned out that the head gasket of the same cylinder blew again. This also happened in Tierp 2022.” It quickly became clear that it would not be possible to repair the damage before the final round of eliminations. The team decided to pack and repair all the damage at home. Due to the heat, the body was damaged as well and had to be repaired with carbon. The chassis had to be cleaned after all the extinguishing water and as a result of the fire, cables and pipes had to be replaced.
“We welded the engine block and the cylinder head was sent to the States for repair. The new oil pump and a new crank trigger were installed. When we fired up the engine, everything looked good. We were ready for the next race in Tierp. Once everything was set up in Tierp, the funny car was started on the Thursday and the crank trigger did not work. It is so strange that we had problems after three seasons with the same sensor without any problems at all. Jonny Lagg offered us a different brand of sensor, which should be better than ours. We installed it and the engine started immediately. Everything worked well and the team were ready for the Friday.”
“On the first qualifying run we had Tony Bryntesson in the other lane. But he had problems when firing up the car and as our engine started to overheat, we had to abort the run. No time on the score board and we were not qualified. The second qualifying run went better with a 6.59-second ET to the 1000-foot. In the pits the data were analysed and the funny car was prepared for the next day. On the Saturday it all went a bit better again. The third qualifying run with a planned 1000-foot run was the best of the weekend, 5.52 seconds and that was also low ET of the class. The team had enough data and everything looked good. On the last qualifying run we had tyre shake with a 11.64-second as a result. Everyone had done their very best to qualify as well as possible and we were the number one.”
“In the first round of eliminations we had to face Lagg. Team Lagg also had a lot of problems in qualifying. On the run in the elimination round the funny car suffered severe tyre shake again at the start and we lost the run. Lagg recorded his best ET with 5.30 seconds and advanced to the final to race Bryntesson. Both dragsters recorded records in the final, Bryntesson 5.23 seconds and Lagg 444 km/h. Congratulations to both teams. For us, the weekend was over and the team couldn’t use the old data. The funny car reacted completely different and it will be a long way to get the consistency back again. The next round of the FIA European Championship is coming soon with the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals at Tierp Arena next weekend. We hope to be able to finish this better than we did in previous rounds. We hope to see you and Tierp.”
Text: Sandro Bellio, Remco Scheelings
Photos: Remco Scheelings
