Yesterday my photo showed the tyre-burn for warm up. In this shot the driver has now backed up behind the start position.
Drag racing is administered by the FIA who also adminster Formula One racing. The cars strictly adhere to a racing protocol and to engineering standards. Behind the start line the scrutineers (with the blue jackets) check the tyres and the car before its run. If the car stops running before the start it is disqualified. However, each car gets three runs.
You see here, at the scrutineering point, a Pro-Methanol dragster. These cars run on pure methanol which is highly explosive and will pretty much require a major engine overhaul after one run. It is a very punishing fuel. They have an output at the back wheel of about 8000 Horse Power. Imagine how that compares to a family saloon at less than 150 HP. They are over 150mph by the time they get to 250 ft from the start. The G-force on the driver is equivalent or higher than the space shuttle taking off. Over the 1320 feet this Pro-Methano class accelerate to a terminal velocity of nearly 300 mph for about 5.5 seconds. A good run is about 4.9 seconds, slow run over six seconds in this class.
A Pro-Methanol dragster probably costs millions of pounds to maintain. The Pro teams usually have an articulated lorry and a coach for transportation and maintainance at races. Those alone are not cheap items! At this race competitors are able to freely circulate in the pits to watch the engineering work - which is definately part of the fun of the event.
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