Steve Rawlings and his team were one of several Super Mod outfits that marked the class' debut at the HockenheimRing. Here is a diary of his events.....
Tuesday 16th August 7pm, We're off! Mick Slocome, Matt Wright and myself, heading for Dover. We arrived in plenty of time for the ferry and after an uneventful crossing arrived in Calais around midnight. Taking turns at the wheel we drove through the night with a few stops for coffee etc. Wednesday 17th August Arrived at the HockenheimRing around 9.30 am and had a good look around since none of us had been there before, amazing. Not able to obtain a key for the pit box until the afternoon, we went into Hockenheim town for lunch and then on to the hotel in Speyer to check in. After this we returned to the track to find F&M Racing had arrived, and after comparing notes on the journey we got the key for the pitbox and unloaded the cars. Once we'd got organised we all then headed back to the hotel since Fred, Mick and Gary were also staying at the same one. After a much needed shower and a drink in the bar (the first of many!), we wandered into town for a chinese. We were all rather surprised when the meal arrived complete with fireworks! Beer and sake chasers were the order of the day with Gary the 'beer bitch' showing the first signs of his poor German numeracy knowledge when ordering...was it six extra? This happened time and again during our stay! Anyway, back to the hotel for a night-cap. Thursday 18th August After breakfast we headed back to the track for scrutineering and on arrival we found that everyone else (Terry & Tina, Graham 'Elvis' Ellis, Ian & Paula and Kev Perkins) had turned up. We had already heard that scrutineering was a long and thorough process..and it was. However, waiting in the heat to be scrutineered we spoke with many of the German racers who fortunately had a good command of English. Anyway, everone got through the process ok. Next up was a look at the track. There was a new surface and the startline had been moved back from previous years. The track prep was being handled by Ray Rice from the NHRA, and I think everyone would agree that he did an excellent job. After this we headed back to Speyer to have a look around the town before having to return to the track at 8.30pm for a compulsory drivers meeting. Non-attendance to the meeting would mean no track time on Friday. I must mention one person at this point who made the signing on process and the general organising of Super Mod over the weekend so easy for us, and that is Andrea (hope to see you at the Euro Finals). Friday 19th August We were called for our fisrt session late morning. The track had been prepped right back to the water box and all of us apart from Ian struggled to burn out (this was something that continued all weekend). First pair of cars up were Fred and myself, and after the short burnout there was no sign of him. I was signalled that I was on a single and then...NO NITROUS!! Those damn wiring gremlins! But what a feeling, my first pass on this great race track. As the rest of the guys arrived we were all smiles, but all saying how they'd been caught out with the burnout. A long tow back to the pits around the track I had a great view of the back of Matt's truck as he did his Schumacher impression..I think he forgot I was on a tow-rope behind him! By the second session everyone was ready for that water box, most of us still struggled a little but everyone improved on their first passes. It started to rain by the end of the day which meant the cancellation of the beer and burgers 20th anniversary party on the startline. It also meant no all female AC/DC tribute band! So, back to the hotel bar for the evening where more Brits had arrived for the racing. We ended up with 14 of us there! Saturday 20th August Very hot today, and the first session was again late morning. A much better run than yesterday, 8.3 @ 278 kph. In the second session we improved to a 8.0. This put us third in the cannonball at the end of the day, behind 'Elvis' Ellis and Fred (Friday times were not counted as they were practice sessions). The Saturday night show was really good, fuel cars, burnout contest, Eric Teboul, jet cars, stunt cars, bikes, fireworks and street rods. The commentator really got the crowd going, a great evenings entertainment. Sunday 21st August We arrived at the track just as it started raining. This continued 'til lunchtime by which time the main racing had been called off, but as the afternoon progressed the track dried and limited racing/demos began. Although there was nothing limited about 2 Top Fuel passes at 4.87 and 4.88! Anyway, we went out again for our final session, apart from me...those damn wiring gremlins had got me again, starter motor this time (rewire before the National Finals). This session was when Ian had his meeting with the wall and I believe Obsession ran it's quickest this year to date. The final saw 'Elvis' beat Fred in the Gleeson Wright backed Ford. Final result, 1st Graham Ellis, 2nd Andy 'Fred' Hone, 3rd Kev Perkins (Obsession) and 4th Steve Rawlings. After packing away we all headed down to the marquee for the trophy presentation, drinks and a nice meal laid on by Rico for all the racers. Monday 22nd August Back to the track for 9am to collect the trailer for the journey home, which apart from being stopped by the German police to look at the car, was uneventful. I would like to thank Rico Anthes for inviting us and his friendly and generous welcome, to all the track crew, to the lovely Andrea who looked after us so well, Terry and Tina Gibbs for organising the trip, all the German fans and racers, Marcus, Matt Wright for the loan of the truck, Ashley Bell for the loan of the trailer, Mick and Mico the wet dog. Bad luck to Mark Pointer who went all that way to suffer a series of problems and not get on to the track. Anyone that hasn't been to the NitrOlympx before....GO! Steve SM 371
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