July 2004

Vitesse Krivan - Report from Steve Wilson to eurodragster.com - See Pictures in our Photogallery

Bonjour mateys, destination Turtmann in the French speaking part of Switzerland, Krivan Drag Racing once again wowed the crowds with burnout displays at this speed race weekend.

Friday morning and the crew met up at Turtmann and unloaded the 3D-Tech show car and prepared it for the weekend.  Once done, we were able to relax and have a walk around and look at the varied collection of American machinery on display.  As well as drag racing there was also a show n shine, displays and shops all with an American flavor.

Saturday dawned bright and sunny and the teams lined up to run, the first run-taking place at 09:00.  The airfield was filling up with visitors, some who knew what drag racing is all about and some who were just curious to see what was going on.  It is very interesting living in a multi-language country and quite embarrassing when people just change between French, German, Italian and English and I am stood there with a smattering of German and school boy French (nobody wanted a train ticket to Paris!).

This year the organizers had brought down the Dutch guys for the start line crew and had prepped the track however there was still not enough traction for our car.  By the time came around for us to do our bit, the heavens opened and ended the day’s proceedings.

During Saturday when I was having a walk around, I spotted English number plates! Yes some stalwart Brits had made the journey all the way from the oop t’north west, so Mike and Steve and crew if you are reading this get in touch (steve@dragracing.ch) and I will send some photos as part way to saying thanks for supplying me with some Boddingtons on Saturday night. And when on the start line and staged you must remember to put in gear and secondly stop when you have staged – ok lads!

Sunday the crowds were coming through the gates at 06:30!!  Our display was brought forward to 09:30 instead of the afternoon.  Racing started at 08:30, must have really impressed the locals as mountains surround the track and the sounds were reverberating around the valley.  So by the time of our run the stands were full and they were a really enthusiastic crowd, Dez performed a stunning half-track burnout then completed a charging run.  Two hours later and we are at it again, by now the track was in fine condition and the car was hooking up better to enable Dez to really give it merdé this time.

The whole weekend was an excellent opportunity to show people drag racing from the RWYB through most classes to TMFC, the event was well attended all three days and TV and press coverage was fully catered for.

How is this for location? 

So this weekend could be the birth of Turtmann Raceway!

Krivan Drag racing would like to thank, Midland Oil, Energy Release for their support and 3D-Tech for supplying the chef who kept the team and guests fed and watered all weekend, also thanks to everyone who stopped by for a drink and chat in our VIP enclosure.

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July 2004

The Sound of Music

Once again Drag racing comes to the land of cheese and chocolate, which just means there is a lot of spare milk !

The location is Turtmann, Southern Switzerland, on an ex-military airfield (now there’s a thing) positioned in an Alpine valley so the sound really bounces off the mountains. This is a well supported event with the standard of the cars being very high, as you would expect if the police do the MOT as they do in Switzerland, with some really excellent heads up racing.  The location means that people also come from France, Germany, Italy and Newcastle (that’s me, but I live here!) for the event.

The meeting, weekend July 16/17/18, is a RWYB with Burnout displays performed over the weekend by Krivan Drag Racing in our ’56 Ford Crown Victoria bodied funny car. The meeting is an official race and counts up to the competition class for the German and French Championship but also RWYB for modified/street legal cars and a Show and Shine for US cars.

For more information you can visit the link to the event and also you will find videos of the last few years at Turtmann, taken by the team and the Swiss TV Channel TSR1, Yes we were on tele !!.

If anybody fancies a trip over for the weekend there is plenty of camping space on-site and local hotels in the area.  The nearest airport is Geneva (easyjet) then take the motorway E4 towards Lausanne then the E2 towards Sion and Turtmann is between Sierre and Visp.  If you do come, drop by and say hello and have a drink

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June 2004

Team Krivan Play Golf 

 While we are “resting” this year, we are taking the opportunity to appear at Car shows and exhibitions not only throughout Switzerland but the rest of mainland Europe as well, using our show car a 1956 Ford Crown Victoria.

Our first outing this year was the VW-Audi Fest Weekend at Reichenbach in Switzerland. We were booked to perform engine warm ups, two on Saturday, two Sunday, which we did.  The show had a bit of a Max-Pants feel to it, with who’s got the loudest exhaust, loudest stereo and girlies in various states of undress!

It was a great opportunity to promote drag racing and the team took the time to explain it all to the very interested crowd.  It was the first time that many of them had come into contact with drag racing and were completely blown away by some of the facts, like 2800 horsepower and 0-100 km/h in less than 1 second.  Their idea of tuning is getting more power out of the amps stacked in the back of the car. The team were busy from first light all the way through to the early hours explaining the car and quarter mile racing. 

As you can see from the photo we had a giant erection on the top of the truck, which was showing Midland Oil in all its glory.  We would also like to thank our main sponsor 3D-Tech (for all your rapid prototyping requirements) for supplying the food and the chef for the weekend, who kept us fed and watered throughout the weekend.

The team spent Sunday evening paying homage to the Christmas Tree and seeking forgiveness for being in the presence of so many VW Golfs ! 

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May 2004

 If you were tuned in over winter then you will recall that Swiss Top Methanol FC Racer  Dezsoe Krivan lost his entire operation in a workshop fire and followed it up by tearing the ligaments in his knee whilst skiing. 

Team member Steve Wilson tells us that Dez  has now had an operation on his knee with the result shown in the attached photo. “ As you can see the doctor had him in stitches, and to cap it all Dez was awake while they were digging around in there, and watched it all on the monitor – brave man!”

The translation is: The doctor worked in an office before and was not very handy with the stapler, he preferred selotape !.

Plus an inside view which shows that he knows how to improve Dez’s reaction time in his clutch leg!

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February 2004

Report eurodragster.com - author Steve Wilson

Krivan's (ski) run of luck continues

6th February: Swiss Top Methanol Funny Car racer Dezsoe Krivan is fast following the likes of Dave Wilson, Ronny Aaasen and Ian Hook in suffering everyone else's share of bad luck as well as his own. Not long ago Dezsoe lost his Funny Car and a lot of other kit after the building in which his Shop was located burnt to the ground, but team member Steve Wilson tells us that unfortunately it hasn't ended there.

"We had our 2003 season review dinner last Sunday", says Steve. "The plan was to discuss the forthcoming season. Here is what happened:

Setback No. 1: After our disastrous fire last year when we lost our operation, we have been looking for new premises. No luck so far; either the places were too big, too small or we couldn't get access with the truck to load the car and equipment. So we are still checking out premises.

Setback No. 2: We are still looking for a car. It was suggested that we do what we did at Hockenheim during the 'cracklefest': as we hadn't finished the motor we mounted the body onto a trolley and pushed it down the track. It was dark and people didn't notice until we started making 'vroom vroom' noises. But this was dismissed as it would be too quick, and Dez is already off his trolley anyway!

Setback No. 3: Sunday morning, the day of the dinner, and Dez and his good lady Iris decide to go skiing in Engelberg, the mountain ski resort where I live. Ah yes it's the life here, après-ski martinis with Roger Moore, the celebrity of it all. Anyway on one of the runs Dez stops but his knee doesn't - yes, the knee carries on and Dez falls over, to be brought down by the mountain rescue ski patrol. So now Dez's clutch leg is kaput with two operations and months of recuperation required.

"So...best foot forward - or in Dez's case best crutch forward. As a team we pulled together, Dez fell over because we pulled his crutch (that's crutch, missus), and the team plan is to go out and purchase the best parts, spares and equipment; spend the summer building up our resources; do some team training to be as professional as we can; and come back soon fighting fit.

"We hope to be able to do some shows and exhibitions in the meantime, do some PR stuff, and visit races to spy on the other teams. Hah!

"The team would like to thank Dez and Iris for an excellent Christmas dinner, and Dez would like to thank the restaurant for having a disabled toilet."

Dezsoe's web site at www.dragracing.ch has been updated with some video clips from 2003, including a short home movie of the cacklefest at Hockenheim.

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January 2004

Website update 

Take a look to our new movie section to see, hear and nearly smell dragracing action from the past few years.
There you will find also two top dragracing music videos.

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18th November 2003 

Krivan loses operation - Report from www.eurodragster.com

Swiss Top Methanol Funny Car racer Dezsoe Krivan faces a huge crash programme to make next season after his Avenger Funny Car, tools and entire workshop and garage facility were destroyed in a huge fire (remains of the FC, right).

"The whole complex was burned to the ground, and our team lost everything and the whole place was gutted", says team member Steve Wilson. "At the height of the blaze there were over 350 firemen in attendance and it took two days to bring under control. The complex housed around half a dozen firms who also lost everything."

Steve tells us that the 'good' news is that Dezsoe's insurance company, Helvetia Insurances Switzerland, have agreed total loss which means that Dezsoe and the team are planning a shopping trip to replace everything which was lost. "Everything, that is, except the history of the team and the car which were lost in the fire", says Steve.

"So our gentle winter programme of sorting out the car, which we got running in the groove at Hockenheim, has been replaced by 'Argh, it will soon be next year'! So we have a very intensive winter ahead, before we can even start replacing tools and equipment and find a whole new car, we have to find suitable premises to operate from. We are open to offers of help, assistance, accommodation, dosh, stuff etc."

Steve says that the team are toying with the idea of acquiring a Firebird-bodied car. "It would be appropriate, the phoenix rising from the ashes, but we are also open to other brands and styles", he says. "The only thing for sure is that it will be a Top Methanol Funny Car with our signature orange colour scheme and the logo of our main sponsors, 3D-Tech, emblazoned (sorry) on the body. So, to rip  off a slogan - the future is drag racing, the future is orange!"  

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24th September 2003

Web site update

Our web site at  has been updated with a report and photos from the Nitrolympics at Hockenheim as well as pictures of a pleasant Sunday spent in Engelberg where the team had their Summer barbecue and Grand Day Out.

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August 2003

NitrOlymp'x Hockenheim 22. - 24. August

Thursday - we all hauled ass up the E35 from Basel to Hockenheim and set up camp on the start - finish straight at Hockenheim, just positioning the  truck on Schumi's skid marks where he fell off the track at the start this  year. We got the car ready and did a warm up, no probs. Friday - Up bright and early, prepped the car and did a warm up, disaster couple of push rods busted, we have been struggling with an oil starvation problem since the beginning of the season. So thinking hats on, then we had a bit of luck, the track wasn't doing its stuff, cars were not getting traction so there would be a delay while they sorted the track.  We used the time to fettle the car, putting oil lines everywhere to get oil into the heads and fired the car up - SORTED !! caps to think with, stored away for future use!

Saturday - With the track crews working all hours to get the track suitable to race we were ready to go for the qualifier. So with more oil in the heads than the deserts of Saudi (well more than you could sheik a stick at), Dez snaked down the track to a 6.398 ET 361.13 Km/h, the car had performed, Dez had performed, the team had performed and during the night the girl in the tent across the way had performed......oh that's another story !!

Saturday evening we towed the body down to the start for the "Gathering",we had not finished the motor so we turned up with the body, to stand on the track with all the motors running was just AWESOME.

Sunday - First round eliminations, we were paired with Andersson, the track was improving all the time as more rubber was being laid, Dez did a 6.113 / 361.31 Km/h pass, it was a very very close run with us losing to Andersson who did a 6.095 / 385.35 pass.So that was the end of our meeting, however we were all pleased the car was in one piece and running as sweet as a nut, a nut that is covered in honey. The boys from Krivan drag racing would like to thank the girls from Krivan drag racing for their support over the long weekend.

We would like to mention the UK F.A.S.T team, thanks to them for being there and also for their quick reaction time when Martin Lindkvist flamed down the track.

Also congrats to our fellow Swiss racers - Peter Beck, Urs Erbacher, Peter Wacker and Bruno Bader for doing the Biz.

Text: Steve Wilson

 

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Juli 2003

"2nd Swiss Mountain Drag Racing Challenge"
 26. - 27. Juli 2003

in Turtmann/ Wallis  on the former  military airfield

Bonjour

The home of Swiss mountain drag challenges is Turtmann, which is a old military airfield (aren't they all??) situated in a valley in the southern French speaking half of Switzerland.

The facilities are pretty good when you consider that this is organised by a local club. The pit area is all hard standing and with enough room to move, swing cat test 10 out of 10. 

The media coverage is first class, one of the main TV channels in Switzerland TSR even had a half hour programme aired on the Sunday afternoon while the event was on. Also present were members of the national press in Switzerland.

Saturday

Up bright and early, sunshine beautiful day ahead. 07:00 and the cars and crowds are already appearing. The main event is the street racers with shows throughout the day by drag bikes, jet car and top methanol funny cars and a totally crazy man on a rocket propelled bicycle !!

The standard of the vehicles here is very high and there is some stunning machinery turning up for the event.  The local fire brigade and ambulance service are providing the safety safari with helpful knowledge from the club about the nature of the cars, like yes the tires do smoke like that and no its not on fire !

We are scheduled for two runs today and as we are using this event as a test weekend we plan to run with our two engines over the weekend, so somewhere over the weekend an engine change is on the cards. 

So as we unload the car from our shiny new MAN truck, whats this ??? Power Pack has disappeared from the side of the car and a new decal 3D-Tech, yes our new sponsors logo 3D-Tech are a concept modelling and rapid prototyping company based in Basel. This is really amazing technology they take a CAD drawing and print it out in 3D !! Visit their homepage www.3D-tech.ch

 

The website is in German but you can look at the pictures like I did !!  Also you might recognise the MD !!  See the race car at Hockenheim.

The weekend went as planned a couple of runs with one motor quick engine change and a run with the other motor.  Dez did some cracking burnouts and the crowd loved it and with the many questions being asked in our pit I am sure we generated a lot of positive interest in our sport. A great weekend was had by all.

Text: Steve Wilson

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Total car, Autó Magazin, Hungary

Magyar Funny car Tökölön
2003. július 15.

Hírszerkesztő

Jó hír az elég extrém gyorsulás szerelmeseinek:
Hazánkba látogat Magyarország, de legalábbis a Totalcar kedvenc dragsterversenyzője, a magyar származású, Svájcban élő Krivan Dezsoe, az augusztus 1-3. között Tökölön megrendezésre kerülő Powerfesten.
Dezsoe és 2800 lóerős Dodge Avengere minden bizonnyal látványos és fülsiketítő másodperceket szerez majd mindenkinek, aki a helyszínre kilátogat, a Totalcar kiküldött tudósítói természetesen ott lesznek, és részletesen beszámolnak a helyszínen történtekről.

Total car, ungarisches Auto Magazin

Ungarisches Funny Car in Tököl
15. Juli 2003

Nachrichten Redaktion ©

Gute Nachricht für die Liebhaber „Fan’s“ der extremen Beschleunigung. Unser Lieblings Dragster Fahrer, zumindest der Liebling von Totalcar, kommt uns in seiner Heimat besuchen. Am Powerfest vom 1.-3. August wird der aus Ungarn stammende, in der Schweiz lebende Funny Car Fahrer Dezsoe Krivan auch anwesend sein. Dezsoe und sein 2800 PS starker Dode Avenger ist einer der Stars am Powerfest und wird innerhalb weniger Sekunden alle Zuschauer die diese Veranstaltung besuchen mit ohrenbetäubender Kraft beeindrucken. 

Totalcar ist natürlich vor Ort und wird von den Geschehnissen detailliert Berichten.    

July 2003

We do race in Switzerland!

5th July: Swiss Top Methanol Funny Car racer Dezsoe Krivan has a home fixture at the end of this month, says team member Steve Wilson. Flying the face of the common belief that there is no motorsport in Switzerland is the third Swiss Drag Race Challenge, to be held at Turtmann on 26th-27th July.
©Eurodragster.com
"The event is more of a show than a race", says Steve. "It is held on an old Swiss Air Force base, so we have a three-kilometre runway to play on. They hold an American car show at the same time, and organise a few drag racers to come down to show the crowd what we do. Last year Dez took the car down with our other body (right).

"It is an excellent weekend. The Swiss teams support the event and we are able to generate more interest in our sport, also we can use it as a test weekend. Even more so this year as we go to Hungary for the Powerfest on the following weekend."

If you are interested in visiting the event Geneva is the nearest airport, then head for Sion on the E2 and Turtmann is between Sierre and Visp, not far from the Matterhorn. You can find out more on the Swiss Drag Race Challenge web site at www.swissrdagster.ch.

June 2003

Krivan welcomes crew.

17th June: Swiss Top Methanol Funny Car racer Dezsoe Krivan has welcomed two new team members as he prepares for the trip to Alastaro for the next round of the FIA European Championship.
©Eurodragster.com
"We have welcomed Robin Grice, who has been around the drag racing scene a long time, and Monika Irsigler ex of Peter Beck's team", says team member Steve Wilson "As well as new team members we also have some new support vehicles: a new truck - a MAN supplied by Felix Transport of Basel - and a new crew truck, a Ford F150 Super Cab 5.4 lt. Which is mine!"

Dezsoe's web site at www.dragracing.ch has been updated with a report of the FIA Main Event where a broken pulley (right) put paid to the team's weekend, an updated Photo Gallery, an appeal for more crew, and an updated team page.

Text: Steve Wilson

May 2003

Diary of the Main Event Race at the Santa Pod Raceway

in Great Britain 24.Mai - 26. Mai 2003

The Main Event and what an event it turned out to be!

Dez and Steve set out Thursday morning for the journey to the UK in the faithful old Saurer (which is called sweet (sweet & Saurer - get it? oh please yourself !!)), so we left Krivan HQ at 09:00 and arrived at Santa Pod Friday 12:00 via Dunkirk / Dover on a Norfolk Line ferry, which was nice!

The rest of the Krivan crew, Iris, Adrian, Marcel, flew out Friday morning and drove up from Luton in a hire car which changed into a crew car on the weekend. We were also joined by Robin Grice who also flew in from Switzerland and Lindsay Deuchar of LAracing who drove in from deepest Yorkshire.

FRIDAY

Once all the crew was assembled it was found that due to a lack of communication all of the Swiss teams racecars required some extra tubes welding on the roll cage, strangely all the Scandinavian cars already had this modification carried out Hmmm...

So as the rest of the crew unloaded the truck, Steve (der Englander) was despatched on a mission to find a suitable trailer to haul the racecar to Webster Engineering. Many many thanks to Wayne who let us borrow his trailer, the exchange went something like this - Steve "is this your trailer mate?"  Wayne "yes"  Steve "can we borrow it ?" Wayne "yes"  Great lad no questions and we are away with his trailer ! Wayne has a really fine SS Chevelle.

With the car on Wayne's trailer, Mark Norton (tech guy) with his car towing it and Dez and Steve installed in the back seat we set of for John Webster's. The car was left at John's to be picked up at 22:30, we returned to the Pod to finish setting up the pit area.  We whiled away the time watching people's reaction when looking under the car body to find that there was no car under it.

At the appointed hour we picked the car up from John Webster's, an excellent job carried out in a pristine workshop, very impressive. Back to the Pod by 23:00, with Mark putting up with some more of Steve's crap jokes on the journey, got the race car unloaded and returned the trailer to a relieved Wayne. We started to prepare the racecar and Lo all the lights went out, so the hire/crew car was positioned with its lights on so we could finish.

SATURDAY

The morning dawned sunny and bright, a lavish breakfast was provided by Iris, which involved the largest jar of chocolate spread you have ever seen (Note for all you Johnny foreigners out there, the Swiss eat bread and chocolate for breakfast, its great!!!).

The crew did the final preparation on the race car ready for the first qualifying run, working together like a well oiled machine, the oil probably being Kendall, so after Adrian fettled the clutch, Lindsay and Robin the bottom end and Marcel and Steve the top end, the car was ready for a warm up. The warm up went without a hitch and we were ready, it is strange during the warm up a crowd gathers but always within seconds of the engine starting they all run away crying, probably overcome with emotion at seeing such a fine example of engineering !

Ready to race - The racecar was towed around to the fire-up lane, Dez was strapped in and on the signal the car was fired up. Dez took the car into the lane performed a perfect burnout, Adrian took the car into stage, we were up against Dan Larsen.

The Race - Dez launched strong with a very powerful 60 ft, however at ¾ track the blower belt snapped and the blower pulley disintegrated and left through the side of the car. The timing slip read 6.286 @ 204.97 good enough to put us in fourth at this stage.

After race - We towed the car back to the pit area and carried out post race maintenance. However the engine was not well, lot of oil at the back end, and the crank was looking a bit scored. We had a team discussion and decided rather than sort the car out we needed to look at the oil system before more damage was incurred. So a tough, but correct, decision was made by Dez to stop racing for the weekend.

We finished the car and put it into display mode for the rest of the weekend.

SUNDAY/MONDAY

The rest of the weekend was spent watching the races. Steve (der Englander) was positioned out front to "network" with the customers and ensured a steady stream of kids kept Dez busy signing autographs. Thanks to everybody who stopped by to chat, we don't usually have the time as we are busy with the car, but it was nice to have the time to meet everyone!

Monday evening we packed up and Dez and Steve set off in "Sweet" for the Norfolk Line ferry back to mainland Europe, arriving back in Switzerland at 20:30 on Tuesday evening.

THANKS

Besides Iris, Adrian, Marcel and Steve, we would like to thank the following: Wayne - for the trailer
Mark Norton - for driving us to John Webster's (and back)  
John Webster - for doing an excellent job on the car  
Robin Grice - for coming over and helping out on the bottom end Lindsay Deuchar - for leaving darkest Yorkshire and helping out on the bottom end

Kendall Motor Oil  
Energy Release  
Norfolk Line  
The Santa Pod crew  
Eurodragster crew (nothing like a bit of bottom shining eh !)

CONGRATS

We would like to congratulate the following:  
Urs Erbacher  
Peter Schöfer  
Dave Wilson  
Smax

For some exciting races and new records !

And thanks to everyone who turns up and makes it a great weekend...

December 2002

Bologna Motor Show 2002

The Motor Show in Bologna 02 took place between December 7th - December 15th and once again Dezsoe and crew were there to perform burn-out displays on the 9th and 10th. As in previous years the daily attendance at the show is 100,000 plus! 

The POWER PACK / ENERGY RELEASE car 
was on display in Hall 24 on the Italian Drag Racing Association (IDRA) stand throughout the show. Many thanks to them for their hospitality. 

Monday 9th 
- The weather is wet and only 7° , in the morning the car was prepared on the IDRA stand, giving the visitors a chance to see the "skeleton" of the car with the body removed. Once the car was ready we have to move it to the outdoor oval circuit, which is at the opposite end of the exhibition complex. As we wound our way through the complex, Dezsoe became the pied piper as crowds of youths followed us to the racing circuit!

Once at the circuit we were directed into a warehouse type building, which was the home for most of the racing teams taking part, and parked next to the Minardi F1 team. We needed to warm the engine up and wanted to take the car outdoors to do this, NO ! you cannot take the car outside, warm it up in here, but, we cried! It is a bit noisy NO NO indoors - so at this point Minardi fired up a couple of cars, which was like opening a jar with two angry bees inside!! OK then we will warm it up here, by this time a crowd had gathered to view this strange racing machine (well it is strange 
to the roundy roundy types!) and the TV crew from RAI with knowing looks between our crew and Dezsoe in the seat, 2,800 horses were unleashed. 

Within two minutes a very shocked man came running over shouting, we could not hear him because of the engine so we shut down and he was shouting "shut the engine down" (but in Italian) we replied "no need to shout mate" (in Swinglish). 

The time had come to enter the arena and to an enthusiastic welcome from at least 50,000 people, the avenging gladiators positioned themselves at the end of the  track. The engine was fired up and the car staged and Dezsoe was off snaking down a very wet track, slowing the car down to negotiate the corners and blasting back up the other side of the oval track, performing a very nice burn-out. Dezsoe brought the car to a stop and got out through the escape hatch. The crowd were going crazy. 

We then towed the car back to the display hall, where we did post run maintenance and set the car back on display.

Tuesday 10th 
- Weather dry and 11° and sun! Once again we did pre-run maintenance on the IDRA stand there was massive interest from the crowd and a multitude of questions came our way, to be met with the standard reply from the team .."er..do you speak English/German" however with the use of hand waving and finger pointing we managed to answer many questions. I am sure there were a few Italians explaining to their friends that night, there was a car at bologna which ran on cappuccino. 

The car was towed around the complex to the circuit, but this time it was decided to warm the car up outside (what a surprise). So we turned this into part of the display, warmed the motor up, shut down and put the body back on - time to burn-out. 

The arena was full again, Dezsoe lined the car up and burned rubber!! Slowed down went round the corners, which looks really strange when a funny car does it, and roared back up the other straight to the delight of the Italian fans. 

We then towed the car back to the display hall, where we did post run maintenance and set the car back on display. 

Thanks to the editor of this report, crew member and "Swinglander" Steve Wilson
- the Krivan Drag-Racing Crew 
- the Italian Drag Racing Association
- the Bologna MotorShow organization
- Energy Release
- Kendall Motor Oil
- Valvoline-Racing Italy
- VP Racing Fuels 
- the Nitro Drag Racing stand beauty - Mishel and Peggy
- the lady at the cappuccino shop 

Juli 2002

"First Swiss Mountain Drag Racing Challenge"

 27. - 28. Juli 2002

in Turtmann/ Wallis  auf dem ehemaligen Militärflugplatz

12. American Show im Wallis

- 1/4 Meilen Rennen
- Ausstellung von 600 Amerikanischen Fahrzeugen
- Animationen
- Live Konzert:

• Country
• Blues
• Rock

www.americanshow.ch

Mai 2002

Wir zeigen es dem "Kleinen"

Krivan Drag-Racing in Aktion am 14. - 16. Juni 2002
mit dem 2800 PS Funny Car

Wo gibt es was zu sehen:			&
	Garage Walther AG Gewerbezone Hubelgut Hubelgutstrasse 2 3048 Bern-Worblaufen / Schweiz
	- Autobahn A1 - Ausfahrt Bern- Neuefeld- Richtung Worblaufen - in Worblaufen den Wegweisern zur Gewerbezone Hubelgut folgen
Was geht ab..................
- das Treffen von Power-Pack & Power Mini - wir wollen dem "Kleinen" etwas vormachen, Samstag und Sonntag Warm-UP & Burn-Out Show - ein Wochenende mit purem Kompressor Power,  das Krivan Drag-Racing Team präsentiert   Ihnen die 2800 PS des Power-Pack Funny Car - das Team der Robert Walther AG präsentiert Ihnen die 163 PS des Power-Mini Cooper S

July 2001

Report of the Cannonball Race
30.June - 01.July at the Santa Pod Raceway in England

First of all we have to thank to the

 following people who make it
possible that we could end as Runner-Up of the 2001 Cannonball
Funny Car shoot out race:
Our biggest thanks goes to the Team of Rob Turner who helped us to
solve the problems we had with our crew car, which brakes down on
the way to the Racetrack.
Many thanks also to Dave Eady of EADY'S AMERICAN PARTS CENTER;
within a couple of hours he could deliver us the needed parts to fix the
ignition problem on our Pontiac TransSport crew car.
Also the whole Santa Pod Raceway crew did there best to give us an
absolute perfect playground - thank you.
Thanks to the Safety Safari to be there, fortunately we did not need there
service!
Many thanks to the spectators who spur us with there applaud and to the
www.eurodragster.com team who make it possible that everybody around
the globe can follow the races live on the internet.
And of course we have to thank our sponsors ENERGY RELEASE® and
KENDALL Motor Oil for there support.

Yes.... we reached the finals but we lost to Alex Joon - congratulation
to him and his crew, they did a good job and we are proud to have 
such competitors - you will get the promised Cheese Fondue in Hockenheim!

Nothing was easy before this race and also at the race to reach the final.
On the track we had to battle the whole weekend with very strong tyre 
shake problems and could not solve them.
In the final run this problem let the car get out of shape and Dezsoe could
not prevent to hit the side wall slightly.
Now we have to bump out the exhaust tubes and "Big Daddy" Dieter Löffler
has to show his airbrush skills on a spot of 10 by 10 inches.

O.K Let's have a look how we reached the final:
As we get informed, the time schedule gives us two runs for qualifying on
Saturday and two elimination rounds on Sunday.

For our first run we planed to use the set up from the Main Event, which was
safe and good for a 6.02 @ 234 MPH.
This first shot ended with an E.T. of 6.14 @ 226 MPH. The whole run was 
guided by moderate tire shake, but the run was good enough for the pole
position after this first round of qualification.

The second round we decide to quit because the priority was to fix our
crew car and we didn't know how long it would take to find the problem. Luckily it took not too much time and from there on we could put our full
concentration back into the racing matters. The whole team was very
happy to not have to walk back home.
The other teams could not improve in this second qualifying round and
so we could keep our pole qualifying position.

Sunday ;
09.00;Till the moment as a race official came around to ask if we are ready
for a third qualification round in a half an hour, everything was O.K and we 
could enjoy our breakfast. We jumped up and asked the other competitors
if they go out for this session; the answer was big ???-marks in there eyes
and horizontal head shake. Only Alex Joon said: I know it makes no sense
but I try to get ready!
Hmmm - no sense! Alex performed a 6.02 onto the cold morning track and
put us back to the 2nd. qualifier position.

For the first elimination round we got Urs Erbacher as opponent and as we
know he has the potential to run 5's, so it will be a tough race.
It was as predicted because the starter gave us the sign to shut off, an inch
before the pre-stage; a slight rainfall forced us to go back to the start area
were we could refuel and let the motor cool down. This is one of the most
horrible moments for a driver, because of the adrenaline in his body it's not
so easy to get back on a suitable RPM level. It took around 20 minutes and 
we could restart the battle!
We beat him; a margin of 0.109 seconds was good enough for the win.
E.T. 6.16 @230 MPH against 6.30 @ 227 MPH
Also this run was plagued by hard tire shake but Dezsoe could solve the 
problem by back-pedalling twice.
After the run we found some bend body poles and some loose nuts because
of the tyre shake.

We fixed the poles, tightened all the nuts, checked the whole chassis and 
also Dezsoe's teeth stopping's. All this took a bit more time as the regular
car maintenance only and we got a bit in rush. They only gave us 1-1/2 hour
to get ready for the final. We did it, including some frighten moment during
the warm-up were we got in stress because the tire shake also has affected
the timing adjustment and we had problem to start the motor up.
The final run against Alex Joon ended with a no more controllable tire shake
which forces Dezsoe to get out of the throttle and save the car from more
damages as already mentioned.

That was the Cannonball 2001 race and after a proudly 2nd. place trophy
celebration we get on the way back home.
We arrived without any difficulties at home and we are already looking 
forward to our next participation:
-  at a show in Conthey, Switzerland 28.&29.July, were we do
    perform some Burn-Outs.
-  and for the next race; the Nitrolimpics in Hockenheim,
    Germany 17.-19.August.

The summary of the Cannonball 2001 event;
-   we did not have reached our goal - to win, but we will
     try it again in 2002.
-   except at the headers and the body we had no damages
     and wear at our equipment.
-   the Team; Iris, Adrian, Jimmy, Purzel-Marcel and the truck
     driver Marcel has shown again there ability to win.
-   we get the feeling that the Drag Racers are a big family and
     that you are never lost in this group. We will all the time do 
     our best to keep this up.
-   we will be ready for the next battle - in Hockenheim and prior 
     for the show in Conthey

Shortly you can find some Cannonball 2001 Race impressions
in our Photo Gallery!
-   By the way, many thanks to all the Photographer who make it
     possible to publish these pictures in our Photo Gallery.

For more Cannonball 2001 Race reports and results please visit:
www.eurodragster.com
www.eurodragster.com/timing/2001cannonball/cannonball.htm
http://home.rednet.co.uk/homepages/dave_ale/Res01-5.html
www.dragsterworld.com

June 2001

We are looking forward to post the next NEWS after our attendance of the Captain Gumball Spectacular / Cannonball Funny Car Shootout at the Santa Pod Raceway in England  29. June - 1. July

Please visit us there and give us your fully spectator support!

Santa Pod Raceway and we will give our best for your entertainment!

---

June 2001

We proudly welcome ENERGY RELEASE® on board of the
Krivan Drag-Race Team!  

	Energy Release Europe
Energy Release USA

We have agreed a sponsorship and support deal with TPS which is the European distributor of ENERGY RELEASE® products and looking forward about a successful co-operation.

Since or attendance at the Bologna Show last December we have tested the
ENERGY RELEASE® products in our Funny Car, Crew Car and Truck - with excellent results; better performance and less wear = less maintenance - which saves us time and parts between and at the races.
To get more information about ENERGY RELEASE® please ask us or visit theirs Homepage trough there links on our sides.       

---

June 2001

American Graffiti Car Show in Dornbirn - Austria 1.-4. June 2001

We was invited for this great American car show in the beautiful city of Dornbirn - Austria, to display our Funny Car and to perform some
Warm-Up's.  

The show was just great and much better than the weather. We have done our best to promote our Sport and to convince the spectator that we can shake the ground. Some of them was so fascinated, they could not hold back there tears!   - or was it because the Methanol fume????
Anyway, the crowd was huge and we could show them our performance and I'm sure most of them will get tickets for the next race. 
We took the opportunity of this American Graffiti Car Show to first time had out a new cover for our chassis. It's still not 100% race ready but you can get a firs impression about some details in our photo gallery: "The Beauty & the Beast". We will shortly have it race ready to uncover the mystery!  

---

 May 2001

Report of the Main Event - FIA race
26.-28. Mai 2001 at the Santa Pod Raceway in England

This was our first race attendance in 2001. Like every year we had a very stressful time before we could head on to this event. We arrived at Thursday at the track to put on our pit and to get the first impression how the track would be and to make some final  tunings on our set-up.
On Friday we could take it easy because everything looks o.k., the weather forecast was good and the track looks just superb.
Many thanks from our side to the whole Santa Pod crew for there absolute outstanding and perfect work.
For lunch we took a Warm-Up, which also shows that we have done our homework well. The motor sounds good, strong and ready for the first launch.
Saturday; first day of qualifying. The time schedule gave us two shots for qualifying.
Our first run was planed as a check out. We did it like planed!
ET 6.356 @ 223.1 MPH - no damages and we got computer data to step up.
On the second shot it shocked the tires pretty hard right from the starting
line. Dezsoe got out of the throttle, just after the 60 foot mark and cruised
to the finish line in 8.723 seconds @ 104.11 MPH.
Sunday; third qualifying session. During the last evening we had enough time
to study the Computer data's and to maintain the car. We had a good feeling
for this run to make the next step in the right direction; the score confirms our feeling: 6.179 @ 231.73 MPH - no damages and the computer data's shows that we are on the right way and that there is room for more improvements.
Final qualifying session: Uuuups- we stripped a spark plug 10 minutes before
the session starts. Finally we missed that one.
- By the way, many thanks to Dave Wilson for the tools to fix this damage.

The final standings after these 4 qualifying rounds:

1.	Leif Andreasson (S)	5.88 @ 238
2.	Leif Helander (S)	5.93 @ 233
3.	Mikael Kagered (S)	5.95 @ 240
4.	Ulf Leanders (S)	6.08 @ 226
5.	Dezsoe Krivan (CH)	6.17 @ 231
6.	Urs Emacher (CH)	6.60 @ 207
7.	Alex Joon (NL)	6.80 @ 140

 
Monday race day; the whole last evening we had all our heads over the
computer data. Our final decision was: not to go too aggressive with our
tune up, because on the performance level we have reached, it stars that
you have to fight with tire shake problems.

The first elimination run from Dezsoe's view:
Shii....... A } ~ + N M L - I took a red light!!!! O.K. it's already happened so keep on the ride to get some run data. That was what I
taught in the moment I saw this ugly red lamp shining in my face
and I pushed the throttle pedal back again to it's supposed rest. The run
ended up in a backpedalling battle with lot of tire shake. 

I stopped safely at the end of the track and left the car trough the escape hatch, to make space for my emotions.
The TV crew already asked me about an interview with the "winner?!" of this round. Only in this moment I have realised that I nowhere can see my opponent and from my point of view the winner Ulf Leanders! I gave the Interview, were I explained about the red light an that I'm out. In the mean time my crew came up there and explained my that Ulf has crashed his car in the side wall and never reached the finish line. This bad message did shocked my and I  overheard everything else. When we came back to the pits I saw that Ulf is 100% O.K. but I also saw the hard damages on his car.
After a wile, close to one hour later, a race official came around and says; you are still in the game. Because Ulf Leanders never reached the finish line, this eliminates your red light! 

We already have started to prepare the car for the way home. So we had a other 50 minutes to get ready for the second round against Leif Andreasson.

Second elimination Round; we do not had the time to maintain our clutch as usual and had put in an emergency set-up. Look at this, both cars had put in a strong run and from our starting line view we could not see how will get it!

Till the winner light turns on in Leif Andreasson's lane.
But what's this? Our score board shows 6.02 @ 234 MPH a new personal best and a big step into the right direction!
We lost this round but the final outcome is a big win for us.

A short summary of this enjoyable and perfect organised Main Event at the
Santa Pod Raceway in England;
- we have reached all our goals
- just the regular damages and wear at our equipment
- the Team has shown his ability to be perfect
  I never could do it without; Iris, Adrian, Jimmy and Marcel,
  thank you for this perfect weekend - Dezsoe

- we got our set-up
- we have shown that we are competitive
- we are ready for the next Top of Form 2

For the detailed race results please visit: http://home.rednet.co.uk/homepages/dave_ale/Res01-3.html

For pictures of this event visit our photogallery!

---

December 2000

We have put our footmarks onto the Fairground of Bologna.

The 11 days MotorShow 2000 in Bologna Italy just ended Sunday 17. December 00. It was a great experience for us and also for the nearly 1 million visitors. From 7^th. till 10^th. December we performed twice a day Burn-Outs on the two straights of the round course arena.

Yes…… we have proofed that it’s possible to drive a round course with a Funny Car. 

The course was surrounded by huge grand stands, packed during our shows with more than 50’000 yelling and applauding spectators. Friday was a very special day, because it was a holiday in Italy and the Ferrari F1 Team had their show (Pit stops) just before us and luckily they had all 4 tires ready. At the end of the Ferrari show Luca Badoer, the test driver of Ferrari, showed a Burn-Out with the red F1-2000. They also do this in a circle kind!?

But then “The answer from Power-Pack” (original translation of the comment in AutoSprint, one of the biggest Italian car Magazines). Dezsoe performed a huge Burn-Out which covered the Spectators for a while in white smoke. We think this has broken a lot of red Italian harts.

After the shows we have maintained the car in the booth of the Italian Drag Racing Association (IDRA). Also there, the interest of the Italian spectators was very big, which was also worth for a couple television stations to film and interview us. RAI Uno Sport and Tele Monte Carlo already broadcasted 10min. each, Drag Racing Power from the Bologna MotorShow 2000.

I hope with our attendance in Italy we have shown that there is more than just round course racing and I’m sure in the near feature we will have Drag Races, also for the bigger classes. in this very nice, friendly and Motorsport enthusiastic country.The people from IDRA do there best to make it happen.

And once more, sorry to all the other great names in the Motorsport world who gave there best at the MotorShow 2000, like Luca Badoer, Carl Foggarty, Max Biaggi and all the other Car, Cart and Bike pilots ….but we smoke more !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

For pictures and Videos from the MotorShow 2000 in Bologna Please visit our Photogallery.

 ... and Let’s Drag Racing  – also in Italy

__________________________________________________________________________

November 2000

Motorshow 2000 Bologna - Italy

The Krivan Drag Race Team is invited to the MotorShow 2000 in Bologna - Italy.
The Bologna MotorShow is one of the biggest International car, bike, parts supplier
and motor-sport shows in Europe which celebrate the 25th. anniversary. 

• At the press days, December 5. and 6. the Funny-Car will be displayed with the attendance of the driver for media coverage and interviews.
• From December 7. till 10. the Krivan Drag-Race Team will perform 2 Burn-Out shows per day to fight for the attention of the exhibition visitors, together with other Motor Sport demonstrations like Formula-1, Rally, Superbike, Cross, Superjump, Kart etc.
• Our demonstration runs want to be taken place in the Area-48 of the Bologna exhibition centre which is the biggest one of the 3 action areas of the MotorShow 2000.
• From December 11. till 17. the car will be on display in the High-Performance and Motor-Sport hall of the exhibition. 

For more information and how you can reach the MotorShow 2000 in Bologna go to there official homepage: www.motorshow.it 

Everybody who visit us during the MotorShow 2000 in Bologna and do refer to this New's announcement will get a Krivan Drag-Racing souvenir; - hurry up we only have around 1'000 pieces.

See also nitrodragracing.it

__________________________________________________________________________

September 2000

Pictures from the Nitrolympics 2000 in Hockenheim - Germany

Today we have added new pictures to our photogallery!

_________________________________________________________________________

31. August 2000

Nitrolympics 2000 / Race Report

This year we arrived very early, Wednesday night, to the famous Hockenheim Motordome, where we have been racing for 11 years on the legendary Formula One racetrack. As usual, we had the pit space right next to the checked-flag starting line on the Formula One racecourse, which gives a special atmosphere for the spectators as well as for my crew and I.

The reason we were there so early was to have enough time to set up our new fuel, clutch and transmission components under real race atmosphere. Also the other advantage is to get a head start on how the 1/4 mile track conditions would be for this weekend.

On Thursday, we passed technical inspection. So we got ready for the last modifications on the LENCO transmission and the MSD ignition. We then could fire up the motor for a static test to get data out of our CYGNUS-1 data recording system.

• The first warm-up showed us that we have to modify the "secret" device on the PETER BECK Fuel System. This allowed us to get our cylinder temperatures even and to the point of maximum performance we expected. With the 2^nd warm during this day we finally arrived at a satisfactory point with the data from the fuel system. We then laid back happily till the next morning.

Friday was the day we could finally pass the static testing of our new set up.

• The first run was expected at a 100 ft. launch, to be able to check the fuel system under load. After this test run everything looked great and all the data was in the 100% range. The BECK fuel system worked perfect but on a very rich side. We had no problem to improve on this.
• The second test run we missed because of a leak at an intake valve which we then had to fix. We were 15 minutes of the mark!
  Many thanks to the Peter Schöfer Team for their help with the valve seat grinding tool.

The last "Fire Up" for the day was our barbecue, and Iris -the heart of our team, prepared the usual delicious meal for all the crew members.

Saturday, was our first real race day at the Nitrolympics 2000

• For the first round we're planning to run a half or a three-quarter pass.
  I ran the promised three-quarter pass, recording a 6.26/217 for this first race. In the pits we could not find anything wrong with the motor, only a very rich set up on our perfect working fuel system. So we expected to go slightly leaner on the fuel and to put a bit more of the clutch in.
• For the second and last run of the day I laid down a lot of rubber during a strong burn out. I heard the crowd (officially 62'000 spectators) to cheer and rejoice; -inside my car. That gave me an extra adrenaline injection, so then I was really prepared to give all.
  But?!? I got the sign to shut off while I was backing up to the starting line. I checked my oil and temperature gauges - O.K. on my side! What's happened? My opponent has lifted his blower right at the starting line and caught fire. The safety crew got a bit too nervous about this and blocked my track with a safety car. The officials only could give us the sign to shut off. I agree, because safety should be first.

Back in the pits, all of us had a problem to cool down, due to the fact in a situation like this you do not get the chance to unload all your tension, while the adrenaline kicks you during the pre run routines.

Sunday, already the last race day

• It seems we had too much time to study last evening. Finally, we got too far away from our clutch set up and I had to back pedalling twice on this first Sunday morning run because of starting tire shake problems. A 6.43/224 was the result. Still no problems with our motor and everything looked great in the pits. The fuel system was still too rich and the clutch set up far away where it should be; - no problem as long as one realize you can improve on it.
• During the burn out for the second run of this sunny and hot Sunday, I really had the feeling of power.However at the end of the burn out, the whole car started to shake and rattle. I looked at the oil pressure gage and saw the needle start to move down. I shut the motor off right away. But unfortunately one connecting rods had already left the motor.
• Why? That's the big question and not explicable at this moment. We hope to find the problem. 

The summary of the Nitrolympics 2000

• Our goals for this race was;
  -to get a tune up on our new motor and the PETER BECK fuel system
  -to win the race
  -to get all the equipment back home in one piece
  -to show that we can be competitive 

We reached 50% of our goals, that isn't so bad?!

A big thanks to:  Kendall Motor Oil - for there support
                           Rico Anthes - for the organisation of the Nitrolympics
                           The Staff and Safety Crew of the Nitrolympics

For more info pictures and official results please visit the NITROLYMPICS home page!

                                                                      

14. August 2000

After totaly rebuilding and updating our race car, with the newest and most sophisticated items, like whipple blower, MSD 44 Mag, Beck Fuel System etc., we are ready to fight the quarter mile at the Nitro Olympics in Hockenheim on 18-20. August.

See you there!

 

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