Sept. 03, 2013
With only one race to go, the Zodiac Racing Team has taken the points lead of the FIM Europe Super Twin Top Fuel Championship. And with two #1 qualifying positions and two final round appearances in three races ridden by two-times European champion Ronny Aasen of Norway, the 1000+ horsepower Nitro Harley of the Dutch/ Norwegian team looks to be both quick, and more and more reliable.
Although flat-out performance was never the issue ever since Ton and Vincent started with their 103-cubic inch (1680cc) supercharged Godfather VII project, consistency was often lacking. So for this year their main focus has been just that. And not without success, hence the two final round appearances and constant 6-second 200+MPH performances.
After qualifying first in Tierp, Sweden and making it to the final in Alastaro, Finland, the Zodiac Racing Team was sharing the first place in the Championship with Samu Kemppianen from Finland. At the Hockenheim Ring's NitrOlympx, the biggest Drag Race in Europe, the team qualified first with a fine 6.59, which was more than 2/10 of a second ahead of #2 qualifier Samu Kemppianen. After a spectacular run with huge header flames in front of 60,000 people at the famous Saturday Night show, the team had a late-nighter getting the bike ready for Sunday's eliminations.
Sunday started very well, cutting through the field with the quickest Elapsed Time in both the first and the second round of eliminations. Sadly a piston ring had broken and with only 40 minutes to get the bike ready for the final, they had no other option then to go out knowing the bike was not in a good shape.
This weekend, September 06-08, the Zodiac Racing Team will be competing at the last race of the year: The prestigious FIA/FIM European Finals held at Santa Pod Raceway, UK. And although they have a firm lead on the rest of the pack, it is not done yet. It will be an exciting race as the top five riders all have a very realistic chance of taking the highly coveted FIM European Championship!