SPEEDKING ÄR:
Speedking är en förare som är
del av olika team och konstellationer, som så ofta är fallet inom motorsportutövande.
Nu ingår jag i teamet Koenig Motorsport som kör i STEC-cupen; en serie
långloppstävlinar som körs i Sverige.
Förutom
detta har vi en hel del annat på gång, så kolla här med jämna mellanrum och
gilla vår Facebooksida så missar du inga uppdateringar.
Swag from the sponsor
The representative from CTEK showed up yesterday with a late Christmas gift. They knew exactly what I need! A 12v charger for my bike and a 6v charger for my classic car. I also got a "Battery sense" that is a new thing to me. It keeps track of the vehicle's battery status and sends the info to my smartphone. This is very handy, especially after a long holiday when the car has been standing around in the cold. I can now check the battery's status via the Bluetooth on my phone so that I know that I can get to work. This gives me ease of mind and a good sense of control. A big thank you to CTEK for all the nice gear!
#CTEK
The representative from CTEK showed up yesterday with a late Christmas gift. They knew exactly what I need! A 12v charger for my bike and a 6v charger for my classic car. I also got a "Battery sense" that is a new thing to me. It keeps track of the vehicle's battery status and sends the info to my smartphone. This is very handy, especially after a long holiday when the car has been standing around in the cold. I can now check the battery's status via the Bluetooth on my phone so that I know that I can get to work. This gives me ease of mind and a good sense of control. A big thank you to CTEK for all the nice gear!
#CTEK
Nice swag from CTEK! Thanks! I'll use it right away!
A 12 volt charger for my bike gives me ease of mind knowing my battery will be looked after for the whole off-season, and ensuring that my battery wont freeze up.
The same thing with my classic car: A 6 volt charger gives me ease of mind knowing my battery will be looked after for the whole off-season, and ensuring that my battery won't freeze up.
While I was at it I connected both the Battery Sense, and the Comfort connect cables for connecting the charger to my everyday car. The Battery Sense has an open connector so that the nut on the battery's cable connector don't have to be taken off. The Comfort Connect has a round one. Personally I prefer the round ones - they don't come off accidentally.
The battery Sense comes with both cable ties and a good patch of double sided tape for attaching it to the car. I put it on top of the battery with the tape after cleaning the mounting surface with Brake cleaner. A cable tie keeps the cables away from hot or moving parts. I'll do a tidier installation later on, when it's not so cold outside. As it was now I couldn't feel my fingers…
The Battery Sense app is free to download and let's you keep track of your vehicle's battery condition. From this image we can see that my car's battery is better charged then my phone's… I can even see the outside temperature, something that I have been missing since my analog thermometer broke. This will be fun to check in on now and then, and a very welcome thing to have during the year's cold period when you simply don't open the hood of the car if you can avoid it.
Article in the regional newspaper - online version
The newspaper in this area wrote a very nice article about me. In Swedish of course
Falu Kuriren publicerade en artikel om mig i sin online-tidning idag. Den är väldigt bra skriven av Mattias Nääs!
The newspaper in this area wrote a very nice article about me. In Swedish of course
Falu Kuriren publicerade en artikel om mig i sin online-tidning idag. Den är väldigt bra skriven av Mattias Nääs!
Swedish Speed Record!
In Swedish further down / På svenska längre ner.
SpeedKing holds the Swedish Speedrecord on ice!
During the event ”Speed Weekend” in Årsunda close to Sandviken here in Sweden we set a new speed record the 23-24th of February this year. The record did not get confirmed until late October. We raced in class 32A: Car under 1000cc, naturally aspirated.
The new record is at 178,2 km/h (110,7 mph) over the flying kilometer. The previous record was at 159,7 km/h (99,2 mph) and was held by the Norwegian Espen Ertnaes, so not only is the record brought back to Sweden, it’s also raised by a fair margin.
The vehicle that got us the record was an eXtremecart with a Suzuki GSX-R 750cc engine. 150 hp in a vehicle weighing in at 322 kg (710 pounds) makes for a really quick ride. We cannot describe the intensity in the record run, but as another contestant so aptly put it: ”For being dead straight, the track seems to have a lot of twists and bends in the fastest section”! Ruts and bumps in the ice along with snow on the track will easily throw a vehicle this light off course, and driving at these speeds demand that you at all times keep control with the steering input and gas pedal. In some twilight, or cloudy conditions you also encounter a sort of snow blindness that makes it very hard to see the track.
All in all it was very exciting and great fun.
Our main sponsor CTEK supplied the vehicle and a fully equipped pit area as well as an experienced racing crew. The importer of eXtremecarts, Swespeed Development was also present, providing lots of good advice, tips and their invaluable experience.
Fastest in Sweden. A surreal feeling!
This diploma is the only one that I have ever had that will be hung on my wall.
Hopefully we’ll get the chance to return for next year’s Speed Weekend to boost the record even more. 200 km/h seems to be within reach after some further modifications of the eXtremecart.
Any of this had not been possible to achieve without our sponsors' help and we want to thank every one of them! You are amazing! Thank you for believing in me!
CTEK - https://www.ctek.com/se
Swespeed Development - http://www.swespeed.se/
BrandFactory - https://brandfactory.se/
Printeliten - http://printeliten.se/
Bragehall Second hand - https://www.facebook.com/Brag3hall/
--------------------------------------------
SpeedKing innehar svenskt hastighetsrekord på is!
Under evenemanget ”Speed Weekend” i Årsunda utanför Sandviken satte vi under helgen den 23-24 februari i år nytt hastighetsrekord i klassen 32A: Bil under 1000cc utan överladdning. Rekordet blev dock inte bekräftat förrän under oktober månad.
Det nya hastighetsrekordet är 178,2 km/t på flygande kilometern. Det tidigare rekordet var 159,7 km/t och innehades av Norrmannen Espen Ertnaes. Rekordet är alltså återtaget till Sverige och dessutom med god marginal.
Fordonet som kördes var en eXtremecart med Suzuki GSX-R 750cc motor. 150 hästkrafter i 322 kg fordon är riktigt kvickt. Exakt hur spännande rekordkörningen var kan inte återges i ord, men som en annan tävlande uttryckte det: ”För att vara helt rak upplevs banan som ordentligt kurvig i det snabbaste partiet”! Spår och ojämnheter i isen tillsammans med snö på banan kastar enkelt ett så här lätt fordon ur kurs, och man måste hela tiden parera med både ratt och gas för att inte hamna vid sidan av banan. I vissa ljusförhållanden blir man även snöblind och banan blir väldigt svår att se. Allt som allt var det väldigt spännande och roligt.
Det var huvudsponsorn CTEK som tillhandahöll fordonet, och dessutom fullt utrustad depåplats och ett team med erfarna racingmekaniker. Importören av eXtremecartarna; Swespeed Development från Dalvik, var också närvarande vid tävlingen och bidrog med ovärderliga tips, råd och erfarenheter.
Snabbast i Sverige. En overklig känsla!
Detta diplom är det enda som jag någonsin har fått som kommer att sättas upp på väggen.
Förhoppningsvis får vi möjlighet att återvända till nästa år, med en ytterligare vässad eXtremecart för att höja rekordhastigheten till över 200 km/t.
Detta hade inte varit möjligt att genomföra utan sponsorernas hjälp och vi vill rikta ett stort tack till dem alla! Ni är fantastiska! Tack för att ni har trott på mina knasiga idéer!
CTEK - https://www.ctek.com/se
Swespeed Development - http://www.swespeed.se/
BrandFactory - https://brandfactory.se/
Printeliten - http://printeliten.se/
Bragehall Second hand - https://www.facebook.com/Brag3hall/
In Swedish further down / På svenska längre ner.
SpeedKing holds the Swedish Speedrecord on ice!
During the event ”Speed Weekend” in Årsunda close to Sandviken here in Sweden we set a new speed record the 23-24th of February this year. The record did not get confirmed until late October. We raced in class 32A: Car under 1000cc, naturally aspirated.
The new record is at 178,2 km/h (110,7 mph) over the flying kilometer. The previous record was at 159,7 km/h (99,2 mph) and was held by the Norwegian Espen Ertnaes, so not only is the record brought back to Sweden, it’s also raised by a fair margin.
The vehicle that got us the record was an eXtremecart with a Suzuki GSX-R 750cc engine. 150 hp in a vehicle weighing in at 322 kg (710 pounds) makes for a really quick ride. We cannot describe the intensity in the record run, but as another contestant so aptly put it: ”For being dead straight, the track seems to have a lot of twists and bends in the fastest section”! Ruts and bumps in the ice along with snow on the track will easily throw a vehicle this light off course, and driving at these speeds demand that you at all times keep control with the steering input and gas pedal. In some twilight, or cloudy conditions you also encounter a sort of snow blindness that makes it very hard to see the track.
All in all it was very exciting and great fun.
Our main sponsor CTEK supplied the vehicle and a fully equipped pit area as well as an experienced racing crew. The importer of eXtremecarts, Swespeed Development was also present, providing lots of good advice, tips and their invaluable experience.
Fastest in Sweden. A surreal feeling!
This diploma is the only one that I have ever had that will be hung on my wall.
Hopefully we’ll get the chance to return for next year’s Speed Weekend to boost the record even more. 200 km/h seems to be within reach after some further modifications of the eXtremecart.
Any of this had not been possible to achieve without our sponsors' help and we want to thank every one of them! You are amazing! Thank you for believing in me!
CTEK - https://www.ctek.com/se
Swespeed Development - http://www.swespeed.se/
BrandFactory - https://brandfactory.se/
Printeliten - http://printeliten.se/
Bragehall Second hand - https://www.facebook.com/Brag3hall/
--------------------------------------------
SpeedKing innehar svenskt hastighetsrekord på is!
Under evenemanget ”Speed Weekend” i Årsunda utanför Sandviken satte vi under helgen den 23-24 februari i år nytt hastighetsrekord i klassen 32A: Bil under 1000cc utan överladdning. Rekordet blev dock inte bekräftat förrän under oktober månad.
Det nya hastighetsrekordet är 178,2 km/t på flygande kilometern. Det tidigare rekordet var 159,7 km/t och innehades av Norrmannen Espen Ertnaes. Rekordet är alltså återtaget till Sverige och dessutom med god marginal.
Fordonet som kördes var en eXtremecart med Suzuki GSX-R 750cc motor. 150 hästkrafter i 322 kg fordon är riktigt kvickt. Exakt hur spännande rekordkörningen var kan inte återges i ord, men som en annan tävlande uttryckte det: ”För att vara helt rak upplevs banan som ordentligt kurvig i det snabbaste partiet”! Spår och ojämnheter i isen tillsammans med snö på banan kastar enkelt ett så här lätt fordon ur kurs, och man måste hela tiden parera med både ratt och gas för att inte hamna vid sidan av banan. I vissa ljusförhållanden blir man även snöblind och banan blir väldigt svår att se. Allt som allt var det väldigt spännande och roligt.
Det var huvudsponsorn CTEK som tillhandahöll fordonet, och dessutom fullt utrustad depåplats och ett team med erfarna racingmekaniker. Importören av eXtremecartarna; Swespeed Development från Dalvik, var också närvarande vid tävlingen och bidrog med ovärderliga tips, råd och erfarenheter.
Snabbast i Sverige. En overklig känsla!
Detta diplom är det enda som jag någonsin har fått som kommer att sättas upp på väggen.
Förhoppningsvis får vi möjlighet att återvända till nästa år, med en ytterligare vässad eXtremecart för att höja rekordhastigheten till över 200 km/t.
Detta hade inte varit möjligt att genomföra utan sponsorernas hjälp och vi vill rikta ett stort tack till dem alla! Ni är fantastiska! Tack för att ni har trott på mina knasiga idéer!
CTEK - https://www.ctek.com/se
Swespeed Development - http://www.swespeed.se/
BrandFactory - https://brandfactory.se/
Printeliten - http://printeliten.se/
Bragehall Second hand - https://www.facebook.com/Brag3hall/
More progress
May 17, 2018
Erik has been making good progress in the workshop. The car is now rolling on it's own wheels again. The gearbox has been gone through and has got a couple of seals replaced. The engine has also been looked over and has a got a new cambelt among other things.
The oilpan has got an oil trap that will keep the engine oil around the oil pickup during cornering/acceleration/braking loads.
Wheels, rear side windows and lights are mounted. Will we make it to the next race on June 2.nd? Time will tell, and if we won't make it we still have the spare car to use.
Progress
Work with the new racecar is progressing. Erik has painted it inside and out, and will start reassembling it. There's still a really long way to go. The next race is June 2.nd…
Work with the new racecar is progressing. Erik has painted it inside and out, and will start reassembling it. There's still a really long way to go. The next race is June 2.nd…
First race
April 7-8 was this seasons first race weekend.
Saturday 7.th was Practice and a license course, and since it's a long time since I took my license it seemed like a good idea to refresh my theoretical skills. We also got a lot of track time to test the car which was great! Bavaria Racing and Janne "Flash" Nilsson was also there to give us valuable advice. All in all it was a day well spent.
After a whole day of practice and testing we went to Mantorp Park with the car for scrutineering which also went very well, so we were all set up for race day on Sunday.
Sunday 8.th. We got there in good time and Göran Johansson (from former team "Jonsson bil") went out during practise laps, testing the car. After all it's a car that he knows very well after campaigning it for years in endurance events. He came in after just a couple of laps reporting that the car felt soggy and unstable. Our team chief Erik König found that the bolt for the mount for the left rear sway bar had broken. "No sweat" he said and started fixing the problem as the rest of us ran off to the drivers meeting. When we came back Erik still hadn't gotten the broken bolt out. Someone had identified the problem earlier and had replaced the now broken bolt with one of high grade steel. The bolt was much harder than the drill bits we had brought along, so we had to leave the left sway bar off to get to the start. The resulting handling was… Interesting. The car would show incredible grip in the left hand turns but be very soft in the right hand turns. We still put in good lap times, but the car would lift the front right wheel coming out of right hand turns, so wheel spin with resulting tramp, was a problem. On lap 85 the axle coming out of the steering rack broke right off sending driver Rickard Westin out in the gravel pit with no steering at all. Entering the gravel pit at speed also damaged the gear linkage, which was fixable, but we didn't carry a spare steering rack with us. We couldn't find a replacement rack, so we had to retire after three hours of racing. We are guessing that the steering got damaged by the excessive wheel hop resulting from the broken sway bar mount.
Since there was only three teams competing in our class we did collect a third prize. Naturally it's more fun earning the trophy, but it was all part of our strategy (not the breaking down part of course) as it's well known that many teams won't get to the first race, so there's often important series points to be collected at the first race. Also; many vehicles that haven't been tried and tested in race conditions tend to break down in the first race, so it's an important race to attend. Obviously, even tried and tested cars break down…
The car is a Peugeot 106 that has been around the endurance circuits for seven years, so it's a scarred warrior. It has even been overturned once! It is due for retirement, but now it got one more go. Its' engine is just a small 1.6 liter with about 125 hp, but with only 780 kg's to haul around it's pretty peppy anyway and the low weight makes it fast in the twisty bits. Let's see how things turn out with our new build.
Follow us on Facebook: speedkingsweden
April 7-8 was this seasons first race weekend.
Saturday 7.th was Practice and a license course, and since it's a long time since I took my license it seemed like a good idea to refresh my theoretical skills. We also got a lot of track time to test the car which was great! Bavaria Racing and Janne "Flash" Nilsson was also there to give us valuable advice. All in all it was a day well spent.
After a whole day of practice and testing we went to Mantorp Park with the car for scrutineering which also went very well, so we were all set up for race day on Sunday.
Sunday 8.th. We got there in good time and Göran Johansson (from former team "Jonsson bil") went out during practise laps, testing the car. After all it's a car that he knows very well after campaigning it for years in endurance events. He came in after just a couple of laps reporting that the car felt soggy and unstable. Our team chief Erik König found that the bolt for the mount for the left rear sway bar had broken. "No sweat" he said and started fixing the problem as the rest of us ran off to the drivers meeting. When we came back Erik still hadn't gotten the broken bolt out. Someone had identified the problem earlier and had replaced the now broken bolt with one of high grade steel. The bolt was much harder than the drill bits we had brought along, so we had to leave the left sway bar off to get to the start. The resulting handling was… Interesting. The car would show incredible grip in the left hand turns but be very soft in the right hand turns. We still put in good lap times, but the car would lift the front right wheel coming out of right hand turns, so wheel spin with resulting tramp, was a problem. On lap 85 the axle coming out of the steering rack broke right off sending driver Rickard Westin out in the gravel pit with no steering at all. Entering the gravel pit at speed also damaged the gear linkage, which was fixable, but we didn't carry a spare steering rack with us. We couldn't find a replacement rack, so we had to retire after three hours of racing. We are guessing that the steering got damaged by the excessive wheel hop resulting from the broken sway bar mount.
Since there was only three teams competing in our class we did collect a third prize. Naturally it's more fun earning the trophy, but it was all part of our strategy (not the breaking down part of course) as it's well known that many teams won't get to the first race, so there's often important series points to be collected at the first race. Also; many vehicles that haven't been tried and tested in race conditions tend to break down in the first race, so it's an important race to attend. Obviously, even tried and tested cars break down…
The car is a Peugeot 106 that has been around the endurance circuits for seven years, so it's a scarred warrior. It has even been overturned once! It is due for retirement, but now it got one more go. Its' engine is just a small 1.6 liter with about 125 hp, but with only 780 kg's to haul around it's pretty peppy anyway and the low weight makes it fast in the twisty bits. Let's see how things turn out with our new build.
Follow us on Facebook: speedkingsweden
Third place in the first race. Not too shabby. If only we had earned it…
On the podium. From left to right on the podium's third place: Göran Johansson, Chrestian "SpeedKing" Willhans, Rickard "Kimi" Westin. Missing team member; Erik König.
"Kimi" preparing to drive.
Erik. Making things happen.
Our Peugeot at full speed.
The scarred warrior.
Riding with the tractor is never a good way to finish a race.
Broken steering rod.
Eddie Ramírez Eriksson is the youngest competitor in the series. 11 years old he's got a special permission but is driving with the same license as the rest of us, and under the same conditions. We love it!
Racing. Cheap!
Is there such a thing as cheap racing? Probably not, but we'll see what we can do with ingenuity and our own tools.
We have bought a Peugeot 206 GTI that we plan to race in the Swedish Touring Endurance Championship, STEC. We'll be racing in the Standard class, meaning costs will be minimized by using standard parts. No tuning is allowed, and we'll be stuck with standard parts. The trick here is to figure out which of the standard parts will give us a benefit, so our hands are not completely tied. There's also a power-to-weight ratio that we have to conform to, and the Peugeot 206 will get very close to the legal power/weight limit. Apart from this the car will be very light weight which will save us gas, brakes and tires as well as giving good performance.
The first race is already April 8th and we will use our spare car, a Peugeot 106, in that race and hopefully the 206 will be done by June 2nd to compete in the seasons second race.
We will be racing together with Koenig Motorsport and Jonsson bil for the 2018 season.
Is there such a thing as cheap racing? Probably not, but we'll see what we can do with ingenuity and our own tools.
We have bought a Peugeot 206 GTI that we plan to race in the Swedish Touring Endurance Championship, STEC. We'll be racing in the Standard class, meaning costs will be minimized by using standard parts. No tuning is allowed, and we'll be stuck with standard parts. The trick here is to figure out which of the standard parts will give us a benefit, so our hands are not completely tied. There's also a power-to-weight ratio that we have to conform to, and the Peugeot 206 will get very close to the legal power/weight limit. Apart from this the car will be very light weight which will save us gas, brakes and tires as well as giving good performance.
The first race is already April 8th and we will use our spare car, a Peugeot 106, in that race and hopefully the 206 will be done by June 2nd to compete in the seasons second race.
We will be racing together with Koenig Motorsport and Jonsson bil for the 2018 season.
It doesn't look too shabby. –Hi little friend, don't you want to be a racecar!
This could easily be a fun runabout for many years to come, but we'll make something way more fun out of it.
Cosy interor, but a lot of dead weight.
Let's whip out the tools!
Busted windshield gets knocked out.
Stripping of the interior.
Left overs. It's amazing how much stuff is crammed into such a small car.
Those electricals look pretty hopeless… Fortunately Erik knows what he's doing, or at least he makes it look that way.
Prepping for paint
The roll cage is a work of art and much sturdier than the rules stipulate. We want to be as safe as we can.
See how quick this team works! They move so fast you can hardly take a picture of them.
Is that a big pentagram Erik has welded up inside the car?
Turning our attention to the enginebay.
Out with the old.
It doesen't look like much, but it's a healthy low mileage engine that we got for free. We like free!
Erik painting the engine bay. White is a good color as it will show any leaks or potential problems.
Pretty nice for a racecar.
Erik tore out the rest of the electricals prior to painting the interior. The crazy sod.
All sound proofing was scraped off, floors washed and primed prior to painting.
All painted up in white. White color makes it easier to spot tools and other loose stuff around the drivers compartment. You can't believe how annoying it is to get a wrench stuck under the brake pedal while racing, or even worse, under the gas pedal!
Stay tuned for updates.
Ride along in the Xtremecart
We’ve made a short film from our fastest run at Speed Weekend in Årsunda. Come along for a great ride!
The 'cart is topping out well before the timed distance (marked by red flags at the side of the track), so we should be able to drive faster with another final drive/gearing. Unfortunately we didn't have another gearing with us, so we concentrated on adjusting the suspension to make the vehicle more stable at speed. It all worked out very well an we are very pleased with our accomplishment. 178,2 km/h (110,7 mph) is very fast on ice in this type of vehicle. You can see how I am steering all the way down the track since every little rut, or bit of snow on the track would throw the 'cart off course. It was great fun.
Link to the film:
We’ve made a short film from our fastest run at Speed Weekend in Årsunda. Come along for a great ride!
The 'cart is topping out well before the timed distance (marked by red flags at the side of the track), so we should be able to drive faster with another final drive/gearing. Unfortunately we didn't have another gearing with us, so we concentrated on adjusting the suspension to make the vehicle more stable at speed. It all worked out very well an we are very pleased with our accomplishment. 178,2 km/h (110,7 mph) is very fast on ice in this type of vehicle. You can see how I am steering all the way down the track since every little rut, or bit of snow on the track would throw the 'cart off course. It was great fun.
Link to the film:
Success!
First: A GREAT BIG THANKS to our sponsor CTEK for making this spectacular weekend possible! It was a hoot driving their Xtremecart!
After setting up camp in the pits we went out on our first run. The plan was to make a fairly slow and safe run to get a feel for the vehicle and the track, but after talking to some of the other drivers who told us that the track was in great shape with few surprises we decided to make a run for top speed while the track was at it’s best.
The ice gets ”worn” pretty quickly and small pieces of ice, torn lose by other vehicles makes the surface very slippery. We managed to drive 178,2 km/h which is very, very good on ice. Mind you, this vehicle has a top speed of 182 km/h on tarmac, so we were very happy and tried to reach 180 km/h for the rest of the weekend, but despite working in the pits improving the carts’ handling 178,2 km/h was the best we managed.
The official results have not been published yet, but as far as we can see, we set a new record in our class, unless one of our competitors made a great last drive. The previous record was held by the Norwegian driver Espen Ertnaes at 159.87 km/h in a Ford Legend, so we raised the bar by 18 km/h or 11%. The vehicle has potential for going faster as we hit the rev limiter well before the timed distance. Unfortunately we didn’t have a higher gearing with us, so we concentrated on making the ’cart more stable at speed but we still didn’t manage to get a higher top speed due to the track deteriorating over the weekend.
We had Lars Söderström from SweSpeed with us in the pits. SweSpeed is the Swedish importer of the XtremeCarts and his advice was invaluable! Lars thinks that we actually might just have set a (unofficial) World Record for XtremeCarts on ice, so we’ll look into that, and hopefully we’ll go back next year, with the experience we have gathered this year, and set a new record.
So, how was it? –It was exciting! 187 km/h on ice in a very powerful, rear wheel drive, short wheelbase vehicle made for a very intense driving experience.
I’ve been told that when I was lining up to start for the first run, the speaker said ”Let’s see what this small vehicle can do”. I accelerated with about half throttle in first and second gear, to reduce wheel spin. ”It’s pretty peppy” the speaker said. When I put it into third gear i floored it and the engine note changed from peppy to furious. The speaker just shouted ”HOLY SHIT” in the mircophone. That sort of sums up the driving experience. There’s simply more power than grip at any given speed, right up to the rev limiter at about 16.000 rpm!
I had to correct the steering input all the way down the track, and when you hit even the slightest bit of snow, or tracks from other vehicles it will just throw you off course at these speeds.
Oh how I want another go.
With a higher gearing.
Hopefully CTEK feels the same way!
Links:
First: A GREAT BIG THANKS to our sponsor CTEK for making this spectacular weekend possible! It was a hoot driving their Xtremecart!
After setting up camp in the pits we went out on our first run. The plan was to make a fairly slow and safe run to get a feel for the vehicle and the track, but after talking to some of the other drivers who told us that the track was in great shape with few surprises we decided to make a run for top speed while the track was at it’s best.
The ice gets ”worn” pretty quickly and small pieces of ice, torn lose by other vehicles makes the surface very slippery. We managed to drive 178,2 km/h which is very, very good on ice. Mind you, this vehicle has a top speed of 182 km/h on tarmac, so we were very happy and tried to reach 180 km/h for the rest of the weekend, but despite working in the pits improving the carts’ handling 178,2 km/h was the best we managed.
The official results have not been published yet, but as far as we can see, we set a new record in our class, unless one of our competitors made a great last drive. The previous record was held by the Norwegian driver Espen Ertnaes at 159.87 km/h in a Ford Legend, so we raised the bar by 18 km/h or 11%. The vehicle has potential for going faster as we hit the rev limiter well before the timed distance. Unfortunately we didn’t have a higher gearing with us, so we concentrated on making the ’cart more stable at speed but we still didn’t manage to get a higher top speed due to the track deteriorating over the weekend.
We had Lars Söderström from SweSpeed with us in the pits. SweSpeed is the Swedish importer of the XtremeCarts and his advice was invaluable! Lars thinks that we actually might just have set a (unofficial) World Record for XtremeCarts on ice, so we’ll look into that, and hopefully we’ll go back next year, with the experience we have gathered this year, and set a new record.
So, how was it? –It was exciting! 187 km/h on ice in a very powerful, rear wheel drive, short wheelbase vehicle made for a very intense driving experience.
I’ve been told that when I was lining up to start for the first run, the speaker said ”Let’s see what this small vehicle can do”. I accelerated with about half throttle in first and second gear, to reduce wheel spin. ”It’s pretty peppy” the speaker said. When I put it into third gear i floored it and the engine note changed from peppy to furious. The speaker just shouted ”HOLY SHIT” in the mircophone. That sort of sums up the driving experience. There’s simply more power than grip at any given speed, right up to the rev limiter at about 16.000 rpm!
I had to correct the steering input all the way down the track, and when you hit even the slightest bit of snow, or tracks from other vehicles it will just throw you off course at these speeds.
Oh how I want another go.
With a higher gearing.
Hopefully CTEK feels the same way!
Links:
CTEK's exhibit in the pits. Very professional in every way!
The best pit crew one could ever wish for. Thanks guys (and gal)!
The starting line in early morning. Yes, it's easy to go snow blind here.
Preparing for the first start. The safety personel is lined up on the right.
The sign says: Icy/slippery. Warning! Danger! Everything can go wrong!!!
We're on!
First start in Speed Weekend 2018 is on Friday at 11.00. Me and my sponsor CTEK will be there with an Xtremecart. A vehicle that weighs in at 322 kg's and has a Suzuki GSXR 750 cc engine outputting 150 hp. Naught to 100 km/h is done in 3,5 sec, providing, of course, that you have traction. We will have reasonable traction with our new specially made tires that will be delivered tomorrow. We were out doing final testing last Tuesday and we have made a short film clip giving a hint of what to expect. Keep your fingers crossed on Friday and Saturday when we will be going flat out across a frozen lake…
First start in Speed Weekend 2018 is on Friday at 11.00. Me and my sponsor CTEK will be there with an Xtremecart. A vehicle that weighs in at 322 kg's and has a Suzuki GSXR 750 cc engine outputting 150 hp. Naught to 100 km/h is done in 3,5 sec, providing, of course, that you have traction. We will have reasonable traction with our new specially made tires that will be delivered tomorrow. We were out doing final testing last Tuesday and we have made a short film clip giving a hint of what to expect. Keep your fingers crossed on Friday and Saturday when we will be going flat out across a frozen lake…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TjosYU5kPM&feature=youtu.be
First race car
I found some old images of my first team's first race car. A Volvo 242 that we built up from parts from three different cars. We also got a lot of parts from the scrap yard. We had no sponsors so everything had to be as cheap as possible.
We had been asking around about about what costs to expect and we were told that if we did all the work ourselves then we could build a car for around 8,500 usd. It wouldn't win for us, but we wouldn't come in last either.
We were at the track, in a borrowed van, rented trailer and the sign-up fee paid for 2.600 usd, and we didn't win, but we actually placed in the middle of the race. My team mates were very good at finding cheap solutions.
The year was 1996 and we kept developing the car for a few years until one of the drivers lost traction in the rain at Gelleråsen track, and put the car sideways into the armco. Thankfully the driver walked away unhurt, but the car was junk. In the second image you can see how the body has been wrapped around the roll cage.
The series that we were running in was the Swedish Endurance Cup that was held at different tracks around Sweden. The races were between 6 and 12 hours long so we were several drivers sharing the car. Fun times and we came in second as best. Not bad for a car that cost less than just a set of shock absorbers for some of the other teams.
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Jag hittade några gamla bilder på mitt första teams första racerbil. En Volvo 242 som vi satte ihop av delar från tre olika bilar. Dessutom skaffade vi många delar på skroten. Billigt var ledordet.
Vi hade hört oss för om vilka kostnader som var involverade för att börja köra, och vi hade fått veta att om vi gjorde allt jobb själva så kunde vi bygga en bil för runt 70.000 spänn. Det skulle inte bli en vinnarbil, men vi skulle inte behöva komma sist.
Vi stod på banan, inklusive lånad dragbil, hyrt släp och anmälningsavgift för 22.000 kronor, och vi placerade oss mitt i fältet. Jodå, mina teamkamrater var väldigt duktiga på att finna billiga lösningar i garaget. Året var 1996 och vi fortsatte att utveckla bilen under några år tills en av oss förlorade greppet, i regnet, på Gelleråsen. Bilen for med bredsida in i ett räcke och blev skrot. Tack och lov klarade sig föraren helt utan skador. Lägg märke till att man kan se hur karossen har vikts runt störtburen. Säkerhet är viktigt. Serien som vi körde i var Svenska Långdistans Cupen; En lagtävling som kördes på olika banor runt om i Sverige. Cupen bestod av 6- till 12- och även en 24-timmars tävling. Vår bästa placering var en andra plats. Inte dåligt med en bil som kostat mindre än vissa andra teams stötdämpare.
I found some old images of my first team's first race car. A Volvo 242 that we built up from parts from three different cars. We also got a lot of parts from the scrap yard. We had no sponsors so everything had to be as cheap as possible.
We had been asking around about about what costs to expect and we were told that if we did all the work ourselves then we could build a car for around 8,500 usd. It wouldn't win for us, but we wouldn't come in last either.
We were at the track, in a borrowed van, rented trailer and the sign-up fee paid for 2.600 usd, and we didn't win, but we actually placed in the middle of the race. My team mates were very good at finding cheap solutions.
The year was 1996 and we kept developing the car for a few years until one of the drivers lost traction in the rain at Gelleråsen track, and put the car sideways into the armco. Thankfully the driver walked away unhurt, but the car was junk. In the second image you can see how the body has been wrapped around the roll cage.
The series that we were running in was the Swedish Endurance Cup that was held at different tracks around Sweden. The races were between 6 and 12 hours long so we were several drivers sharing the car. Fun times and we came in second as best. Not bad for a car that cost less than just a set of shock absorbers for some of the other teams.
------------------------------------------------
Jag hittade några gamla bilder på mitt första teams första racerbil. En Volvo 242 som vi satte ihop av delar från tre olika bilar. Dessutom skaffade vi många delar på skroten. Billigt var ledordet.
Vi hade hört oss för om vilka kostnader som var involverade för att börja köra, och vi hade fått veta att om vi gjorde allt jobb själva så kunde vi bygga en bil för runt 70.000 spänn. Det skulle inte bli en vinnarbil, men vi skulle inte behöva komma sist.
Vi stod på banan, inklusive lånad dragbil, hyrt släp och anmälningsavgift för 22.000 kronor, och vi placerade oss mitt i fältet. Jodå, mina teamkamrater var väldigt duktiga på att finna billiga lösningar i garaget. Året var 1996 och vi fortsatte att utveckla bilen under några år tills en av oss förlorade greppet, i regnet, på Gelleråsen. Bilen for med bredsida in i ett räcke och blev skrot. Tack och lov klarade sig föraren helt utan skador. Lägg märke till att man kan se hur karossen har vikts runt störtburen. Säkerhet är viktigt. Serien som vi körde i var Svenska Långdistans Cupen; En lagtävling som kördes på olika banor runt om i Sverige. Cupen bestod av 6- till 12- och även en 24-timmars tävling. Vår bästa placering var en andra plats. Inte dåligt med en bil som kostat mindre än vissa andra teams stötdämpare.
206 GTI
Idag har jag ritat Peugeot 206'an som vi håller på med. Den huvudsponsor som vi jagar ska sedan presenteras denna bild, men med sin egen logotype monterad. Vilken sponsorn är kommer jag att visa om allt går i lås.
Idag har jag ritat Peugeot 206'an som vi håller på med. Den huvudsponsor som vi jagar ska sedan presenteras denna bild, men med sin egen logotype monterad. Vilken sponsorn är kommer jag att visa om allt går i lås.
König i nyheterna
October 10, 2016
Från arkivet: Teamchef Erik König i tryckt media, med bilen som vi körde under 2014
October 10, 2016
Från arkivet: Teamchef Erik König i tryckt media, med bilen som vi körde under 2014
Designskiss av nya bilen
August 20, 2016
Bilen som byggs till säsongen 2017 blir en Peugeot 106. Vi har valt den modellen på grund av dess låga vikt, för med låg vikt kan man få bilen att prestera bra även med ganska måttliga effektuttag, och inom Långdistansracingen är det viktigaste att bitarna håller ihop. Timme efter timme. Hårt trimmade motorer har en benägenhet att gå sönder oftare än måttligt trimmade. Låg vikt bidrar även till lägre påkänningar på kaross och hjulupphängningar, samt lägre däckslitage och självklart lägre bränsleförbrukning. Karossen blir breddad med ett glasfiber-kit som vi har köpt från Frankrike och motorn blir en liten 1,6 liters fyrcylindrig motor som byggs upp runt ett extra starkt motorblock som vi har skaffat från England.
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