Today we didn’t had to race. But there was still much to do. We needed to finish the setup of the portable workshop and we needed to start-up the car to check everything.
Just before diner we finalized this and now the dragster is almost ready for the first qualifying run.
Gerda prepared an amazing macaroni which I couldn’t stop eating.
Lex gave a toolbox meeting for the next day and everybody finished their work and went to bed.
Today I left to Sweden. At 7.30 in the morning 2 of the crew members picked me up. We drove all the way to the north of germany to get the ferry in Puttgarden. This 45min trip brings u to Denmark and from there u will enter Sweden.
When we arrived in Mantorp we started unloading the truck and we build-up the tent that we use as a mobile workshop.
After a day of driving more the 12 hours it was time to get some sleep.
After 2.5 months of training/preparing it is time to go to Sweden. This will be my first time working on the top fuel dragster during an event.
I’m really looking forward to go there because first of all I never been to Sweden and it will be a big challenge to service this car between the runs. Wednesday I leave with the mini-van together with the other mechanics.
More updates will probably be after the weekend because I don’t think I can get online over there.
A sunny Saturday in July is the perfect time to start learning more about the dragster engine. Today I worked with the engine specialist of Lex Joon Racing on the assembly of one of the engines. Arjan (engine specialist) already prepared the engine block last week. He cleaned everything and mounted the cylinder sleeves already in the block.
Today I went to the workshop of Lex Joon Racing. After some experience Friday night I could improve my lathe skills again. I had to shorten some bolt and my late night practical experience came in really handy.
Today Lex Joon explained me more about all the tasks that need to be done on the cylinder heads. He explains everything really clear and shows me how he does the preparation of the heads. Besides the mechanical aspects administration is also really important. The parts inside the cylinder head that have an affect on the tuning of the engine are measured carefully and administrated in a log book just like the pistons and rods. Up to next Saturday to see what the next subject is.
Today I went to the workshop of Lex Joon Racing. I worked with Arjan van Bemmel he is the engine and bottom end specialist. He showed me how he inspects all the pistons and rods that where used during the races. Every run the car makes all the pistons and rods are removed and inspected for damage, length, play, etc. He explained which criteria he uses before he calls a piston or a rod scrap. These parts that are called scrap can be bought as a souvenir because they can’t be used anymore in an engine. We checked all the pistons and rods and documented this in the engine log. This log contains a lot of historic information from the engine. It was a interesting Saturday and I learned a lot about these parts of the engine. There is still much to learn so lets see what the next Saturday will teach me.
When I started at CPM Europe I discovered then one of my colleagues did something in racing as well. We started talking about racing and he told me that his former team Lex Joon Racing was looking for mechanics for this season. He gave me the cell phone number of the team manager, Gerda Joon and I decided to give her a call. After that we made an appointment to meet each other.
