EASTER THUNDERBALL – SANTA POD - 17th, 18th, 19th APRIL

A traditional cold start to the season, we were well wrapped up whilst waiting for the first qualifying run.

Here is what Eurodragster had to say:

“Dave Holland clocked a nice pass of 8. 22/160. 59 on his Funny Bike, looking very nice in its new blue and white paint. ”

The final qualifying run of the day left Dave in second place.

Funny Bike: 1. Ken Cooper 7. 309/163. 73, 2. Dave Holland 7. 906/163. 23

During the later rounds of qualifying Dave was bumped down but stayed in the top half of the ladder.

Eliminations began on Monday. What a way to go out! Red lighting after some dubious start line tactics from Shaun Branch in the first round.

After the opening meeting we go to SCR sixth in the ACU Championship with 160 points

SUPER SERIES 1 – SHAKESPEARE COUNTY RACEWAY - 5th, 6th, 7th MAY

The May Bank Holiday weekend was the second outing for Dave and the Funny Bike. The first qualifying run on Saturday 5th May ended with clouds of blue smoke trailing behind the bike and no qualifying time registered. The initial post mortem suggested a bent valve or broken piston. Taking the head off eliminated the bent valve option, and the piston crowns looked OK. Lifting the barrels showed a blown ring and damage to the ring groove on no. 4 piston. The weekend looked over until Ken Cooper offered a spare piston (price subject to negotiation) and Roger Upperton volunteered to help. The engine was re-assembled and checked, more bad news, two of the valves were touching the piston! No alternative but to disassemble and try to re-profile the piston. This was 6 hours after the initial problem, it was going to be a long night.

Dave explained to Tog during his pit lane walkabout the following morning:

"My spare engine is in Martin Peck's garage - and he is on holiday! I had a crash course in engine work. Roger Upperton did all the work, he even machined a piston on site". The spare piston came from Ken Cooper, to whom the team are grateful. The bike has been stripped and rewired by crewman Brian Jolley over the winter, and Dave told us that the only bits which aren't working are the bits on which Brian didn't do any work! He has the boss of sponsor Titanium International coming along today to get his first taste of drag racing, whilst TI's Nigel Hoskison has already been involved with the wheelie bars, bolts and other parts on the bike.”

Sunday morning was the final chance to qualify, having missed the previous 2 chances. Funny Bikes were called around 11 am. More drama – the bike was cutting out when fired up. Neil Midgley at the start spotted a cable slightly out of line. Problem solved, burn out and to the lights. A trouble free run in 7.784 secs at 171.10 mph to be no. 3 qualifier. After all the dramas Dave decided not to risk another run and thoroughly check the bike.

Monday was elimination and finals day. Round one against Chris Hall, an easy win in 7.620 secs at 165.44 mph.

Semi final against Tim Blakemore, a classic drag race. Dave was slow off the line and had to play catch up coming through by 0.06 secs in 7.644 secs at 168.54 mph

So to the final against Chris “Cannon” Hannam, the number 2 qualifier. Dave was first away and never troubled.

Final Funny Bike: Dave Holland 7. 635/168. 54 def. Chris Hannam 8. 450/126. 76

Dave is now second in the ACU UK Championship with 675 points and leading Super Series with 515 points

SUPER SERIES 2 – AVON PARK - 19th, 20th MAY

Saturday qualifying

Funny Bike: 1. Tim Blakemore 7. 514/163. 64, 2. Dave Holland 7. 629/167. 29

Fairly satisfied after qualifying and looking forward to eliminations. Unfortunately lost in the first round to Chris Hall with an 8.02 at 153.06.

Pack up early and head for home. When the points are published we have slipped to second in Super Series with 695 points and to third in the ACU Championship with 855 points.

CANNONBALL – SANTA POD - 29th, 30th JUNE, 1st JULY

Friday qualifying

Problems, problems, problems ending with a repeat of SS1, replacing a piston late into the night, as told to Tog the following morning:

Funny Bike racer Dave Holland is another racer with a thrash on his hands after smashing a piston on the Titanium International-sponsored bike in qualifying yesterday. "I had trouble in the burnout, the engine pulled down and misfired as I went into stage so I pulled back", said Dave. I restarted the bike, didn't do a burnout, when I went into stage the engine misfired again and the piston smashed. I got another piston from the Ken Cooper Spare Piston Benevolent Fund!". "At a price!" added crew member Martin.

Saturday qualifying

More misfires. Here are the numbers for the last but one run! 18.126/35.60 14th and last!!

After a meeting of the pits brains trust a second Dyna box was piggy backed on to the bike. Misfire cured giving a respectable qualifying 7.730/168.25.

Sunday eliminations

Prior to racing, Dave took Nigel and Claire into race control where they were allowed to watch the Funny Cars doing their first run of the day.

First round against the Honda CBX “Tokyo Express” of Barry Eastman. 7. 619/167.83 against 8.047/146.31, a comfortable passage to the next round to meet Tim Blakemore.

Dave dialled in the settings for a 7.3sec run. During routine service between rounds another problem. The rear slick was down to the canvas in areas. No way was it safe to race on. The search for a tyre was fruitless, leaving no option but to withdraw for safety reasons.

Missing SS3 caused us to slip from third to fifth in the ACU Championship, the 280 points gained here and good performances from other riders meant a further drop to sixth in the ACU Championship with 1135 points.

SUPER SERIES 4 – SHAKESPEARE COUNTY RACEWAY 25th, 26th, 27th AUGUST

Saturday Qualifying.

First off, thank you to Terry Gibbs for the pit arrangements to enable us to accommodate the guests and customers of Titanium International Ltd. The meeting almost ended before it began! The Schnitz box, which controls the nitrous oxide, was as dead as a Dodo. For once we have a brand new spare ready to bolt on. Would you believe it was faulty. Cue Dave for a mission to find another. Off he went on the new Benelli paddock bike which had been delivered to the track with help from Charlie Harris of sponsor “Inside Line” Former Superstreet rival Graham Dance saved the day. Thank you Graham.

Everything ready to go. The bike has not yet been fired up and has cost almost £1K for the recent new tyre and Dyna box and now another Schnitz! Time for Dave to “sign on”, er, Dave you can’t sign on until you have passed scrutineering – go find a scrutineer.

Finally ready to go for first qualifying. It looked a great run from the stands, but no times came up. Back in the pits, Dave felt it had been his best ever run only for it not to be recorded. Brian made some estimates from the download which seemed to confirm Dave’s feeling.

Nigel was chatting to the “Mayor of Melton Mowbray” who said Dave’s run was 7. 54 and the ticket was in the office. ”Sprint” back to FB11 with the good news. It’s official – a new personal best.

Off we go again! The generator cover had a piece missing from it. That would explain the more than usual top end smoking. I missed where the replacement appeared from. Second qualifying run. No problems with the bike, just the track. Burn out OK, into stage, shut off by the starter and push back due to a track inspection. Try again. All OK except smoking again from about three-quarter track.

Great reaction time and another 7.5 to back up the first run. The one downside is that 7.541 only gives Dave the number 5 qualifying spot at the end of the day. Some e-mailed settings from Jay Regan should give improvements on Sunday.

Sunday Qualifying

An early morning encounter with Tog made checking the Eurodragster event coverage the top priority when returning home on Sunday evening. Tog did not disappoint, here is what he had to say:

Funny Bike racer Dave Holland ran a new personal best of 7.54/173.08 during qualifying yesterday and is understandably very pleased. He has chosen the right time to be running fast times on the Titanium International-sponsored machine as he has a number of visitors this weekend. "We've got the MD of Titanium International, Linde Gases, representatives of Team Roberts Grand prix, Turbo Services, and Holdfeld F1 Components here this weekend", says Nigel Hoskison of TI, who has become a drag racing addict in the year since his first visit to Shakespeare County Raceway. One suspects that Dave will soon have a new nickname after US team owner and tuner Jay Regan's response in an E-Mail. When sent all of the settings for yesterday's PB, Jay replied "Those settings are soft! Is the rider a girl?". Your reporter suggested 'Davina' Holland and then quickly absented himself from the Titanium International pit.

Back to the action, or to be more accurate, the lack of it! A huge oil down by a methanol dragster caused a lengthy delay. After the clean up there were several more brief delays for rain showers. Dave had set up the bike based on suggestions from Jay Regan with editing by Dave Beck. The required nitrous jets were procured from another racer.

For the third time this meeting Dave paired with “Cannon”, and for the first time he beat him on launch. At half-track the bike started popping and banging with accompanying flames from the exhaust. To quote the Mayor of Melton Mowbray in the shut down area “I fear Mr. Holland you only have three carburettors attached”. Back in the pits everything thankfully was OK. This was the only run of the day. We now look forward to eliminations tomorrow and possibly another match up with The Mayor of Melton Mowbray

Monday Eliminations

The early action was again off track for the team. A freak wind lifted the awning over the lane barriers with Dave hanging on to it, leaving it a mess of bent aluminium. No more pit shade today. After checking the timing sheets produced manually by APIRA, Dave had in fact qualified in fourth place and was drawn against Barry Eastman in the first round. This was a re-match from the Cannonball where Dave had come out on top. The burnout seemed fine apart from a slight blip in the engine note. Dave moved into stage and at the green the bike cut out. Electrical gremlins. When a start sequence was run in the pits – not a problem! As they say “That’s racing” We now look forward to the next meeting.

BRIGHTON SPEED TRIALS – 8th SEPTEMBER

Dave has been a regular supporter of this event particularly as it could be called his “home” track being less than 20 miles from Hurstpierpoint. Unfortunately for Nigel and Claire it was a 4am start in order to meet up with Dave, Brian and the rest of the crew. I suppose you could say that’s payback as Nigel only lives 17 miles away from SCR!

After a successful day out, Nigel in his new role as Team Manager and PR man sent the following report to Tog who published it on the news page of the Eurodragster web site on the 10th September:

Meanwhile on two wheels, Funny Bike racer Dave Holland borrowed his old Super Street Bike from its current owner and represented drag racing with as much success. Nigel Hoskinson of Dave’s primary sponsor Titanium International Limited very kindly sent us this first-hand report:

”After a damp start in which Dave chose not to race, in the weather brightened up considerably in the afternoon. Dave’s first pass was 9. 6 at 153mph, followed by 9. 2 at 167, finally in the Super Six run off a 9. 3. The final pass was only good enough for second, as the winner is the rider with the biggest improvement. The 9. 2 pass however yielded Dave two trophies, Fastest Time by a Bike and Fastest Time by a Suzuki. As a matter of interest the 9. 2 was the Fastest Time of the Day, bike or car.

”Dave won another trophy which was awarded on the day by the local radio station Southern FM for the best turned-out bike. A possible slot on the station may follow.

”Other regulars from the drag bike scene were Pete Belline, Dave Knight and Dave Hughes who were racing, and Neil Diggens as a spectator.”

Many thanks Nigel, and congratulations to Paul Marston and Dave Holland for covering themselves in glory on drag racing’s behalf.

Dave and Titanium International also received congratulations on the King Racing site.

SUPER SERIES 5 – SHAKESPEARE COUNTY RACEWAY 22nd, 23rd SEPTEMBER

Saturday qualifying

Just for a change the local weather forecast was wide of the mark. The day started with light drizzle not bright periods, which delayed qualification runs for all classes. A further shower came shortly before Funny Bike was due. Dave had a solo run, and in front of his guests Mr. and Mrs. Hartnett with their son Edward, ran a new personal best of 7.476 sec at 176.47mph.

Reaction Time: 0.933
60 feet: 1.221
330 feet: 3.144
Eighth time: 4.767
Eighth speed: 149.5
990 feet: 6.177
Elapsed Time: 7.476
Terminal Speed: 176.47

The eighth speed was also Dave’s fastest to date. When the run data was downloaded, Brian pointed out that Dave had not used fifth gear! Even so the run was good enough to be 3rd qualifier after the first cycle.

It was touch and go if there would be time for another run. More power was dialled in hoping to go even quicker. A last minute check of the generator proved wise as the oil seal was almost out. The run was not as good as the first at 7. 701sec, all the time being lost off the start. No-one else improved their times, so we finished as No. 3 qualifier scheduled to meet Neil Diggens in round 1 of eliminations.

Post run checks revealed a piece missing from the crankcase. All hands to the pump to effect a repair using aluminium epoxy. A test run blew out the epoxy repair and caused a few more minor problems. Dave, Brian, Neil and others finally got to bed around 1 a. m. after affecting all the repairs and some modifications suggested by Jay Regan of MRE in a late night phone call.

Sunday eliminations

A freelance photographer, Ben Swyre, is due today to shoot some pictures for a motorcycle racing portfolio he is compiling. He tried his hand at drag racing yesterday with a rented ride in the Street Bike class. The wake up crew arrived on Sunday around 9 a. m. with more data e-mailed overnight by Jay. Everything was dialled in ready for round 1.

Things started going wrong after the 60 ft mark culminating in pops, bangs and a flame out after half track. Back in the pits, initial inspection revealed terminal engine problems on number 3 cylinder. No electrode in the plug, burnt valves and damaged piston. Coupled with the previous days crankcase damage this meant the season had now ended for DJH Racing and Funny Bike 11.

We started the season with a bang by winning Super Series 1, and finished it with a different kind of bang at Super Series 5.

So that is the end of the 2001 season. It has seen elation and frustration, early mornings and late nights and every type of weather from burning sun to freezing sleet. Thank you to everyone who helped and supported us this season: sponsors, families and friends, fellow racers and their crews.

Dave, Brian, Martin, Nigel and Claire

P. S. Dave would like to point out that the final “blow up” was in no way related to the settings recommended by Jay Regan. A post mortem carried out during October revealed the timing had slipped (to put it mildly!) from 32 degrees retard to around 16 degrees advanced.