Golden era of racing - videos

Danny de Kort

I am the first to admit that I'm a hopeless romantic.

Just love restoring old stuff, as long as it powered by an internal combustion engine (see pict on the right). Of course, love watching them live at events or concours de elegance too. But being stuck on the paradise island of Curaçao means that I often have to rely on videos for my daily fix.

Luckily, the other day the folks at Petrolicious posted a piece that contained several old videos on the golden age of racing. It has old footage of, amongst others:
- the Targa Florio, naratted by the legendary Vic Elford,
- the Mille Miglia (both in English and Italian)
- Road America in 1963,
- the Porsche 908 at Nurburgring in 1971 (in German)

To watch any of the videos, please click here.

Source: Petrolicious.

Why we love drag racing

Today being Friday I thought to send you off into the weekend with something different. Our home is this tiny little island in the Caribbean with a small population of around 150,000 which is no where near enough to support much motor sports. Luckily for us, we had some visionaries in the 1980's that truly loved the sport of drag racing who decided to build a state-of-the-art drag racing facility in Curaçao.

To many of us, drag racing is the only form of motor sport we know. And though we do not have the nitro-methane burning Top Fuel or Funny Cars competing at the Curaçao International Raceway, nor is our stage anywhere are big as the NHRA drag racing series, we do share a great deal in common with those professional racers. Our passion, determination, and love for the sport is equal on many levels. To illustrate this watch the short video below.





Source: NHRA

Scenic drive in Curacao

In the foreground the Santa Barbara Resort

Being that FulTrot is written and uploaded from the colorful island of Curaçao, occasionally the opportunity arises to showcase the place I call home. The picture to the right is of my backyard, the place where we grew up first exploring the Spanish Water in Boston Whalers. Then, as young adults onboard the "F.F." we would party all night long whilst at anchor in the waters of the bay.

For a fundraiser that we held a while back at the fabulous Santa Barbara Resort, which lies to the Eastern side of Spanish Water, I made a video for our guests who were unfamiliar with the route to the Seru Boca Marina. Needless to say, I really enjoyed the making of this simple video, especially since I would be driving a Porsche 550 Spyder replica on the winding roads of the resort. To watch it, please click here.

The video is set to the music of one of my favourite local composers and pianists, the great Wim Statius Muller.

Thanks for reading.

Photo credit: owner unknown.

Handelskade - Curacao

The other day I came across this lovely picture on Facebook. I don't know who's the owner of it or who took it, but it depicts life in the city of Willemstad, Curacao, in particular that of cars crossing the bay by driving over the "swinging old lady" in front of handelskade, in the nineteen fifties.

This area of Willemstad, known as handelskade, has become the calling card of our beautiful island, and the beautiful JL Penha building in the background is considered its crown jewel. In 1997, the city of Willemstad was inscribed as a world heritage site by Unesco.

I remember back in the 1970-80's when the captain of the "Love Boat" used to mention to his passengers upon entering St. Anna bay, that this would be the most beautiful sight of the entire cruise.

Do come visit us some time!

Thanks for reading.

Photo credit: Anonymous

The new microbus

The small buses shuttling commuters back and forth on this little piece of heaven called Curacao, are often an eye sore to the rest of us. Some are dirty, others are loud and old, and most pollute a great deal.  Since our government wants to follow in Aruba's footsteps and "Go Green", why not introduce the Bus from the Future.

The Rinspeed MicroMax EV is a revolutionary electric mini-sized bus that's been hailed the perfect urban system. It combines Cloud Technology with real time navigation functions (not that we need this... why follow rules.. those are not meant for me) while balancing between the functions of personal and public transportation.

Needless to say, the Swiss-made vehicle uses the best available technology, with infotainment company Harman taking care of both the inside and outside gadgets, Linde Material Handling's forklift drive system powering the vehicle, and wheel experts AEZ designing a shovel-like openings guide to cool the wheel hub motor. AEZ was  also responsible for the placement of the centrally located motor, hereby allowing for a flat floor which is perfect for standing passengers.

Rinspeed is a Swiss tuner and auto designer known for imaginative concepts. the electric-powered microcar maximizes available space. The vehicle is perfect for short distance transportation which requires a modern ride share center that is web-based or Smartphone-based. Price is rumored to be kept South of US$13,000.

To give pedestrians the best possible clues, Harman synthetically generates engine sound which always reflect current engine load, engine speed and vehicle speed. So, I could theoretically load up the sound file of Pete's 762 cubic inch Hemi powered Sonny Leonard engine. Now wouldn't that be cool!

Seeing that the majority of our community are considered light weight and need to travel long distances, between 5-10 km's, the MicroMax would be better suited for public transportation in downtown Punda and Otrobanda, as well as the tourist areas of Salinja, Bapor Kibra, Jan Thiel, Caracasbaai, and Westpunt. 

Local officials, take notice.

Thanks for reading.

Source: Rinspeed, Jalopnik, and Wikipedia.

Photo credit: Rinspeed

Drag racing news items for this weekend

Finally. The wait is over. For me, today marks the start of the [spectator's]racing season in Pomona, with the NHRA's Winternationals. In Florida, practice will continue for the Daytona 500 race, followed  tomorrow for the qualifying for this, the big daddy of NASCAR races. Meanwhile, in Doha, Qatar, the 2013 Arabian Drag Racing League International Championships wrapped up it's short season with a thrilling finish. Now, if only we could get Curacao's drag racing season started, I'd be one happy dushi hende!

As the NHRA circus rode into Pomona, California, this past Thursday, some were happy to start the season, others wished they could have done more over the winter. In the highly contested class of Funny Car, all drivers came to the starting line for their qualifying pass wanting to place an exclamation mark behind their names. I guess Tony Pedregon did so too, but for all the wrong reasons.

The second generation driver experienced another fiery engine explosion but was unhurt. Tony is one of the more exciting drivers and be sure to look for him at the races. For an even greater sequence of pictures on this engine explosion, please click here.

Also in Pomona, rookie Top Fuel and second generation driver Brittany Force experienced an brake problem as she set out for her first ever professional qualifying pass. I only mention this for the same problem happened to me in an elimination round last December. At least she had more common sense and aborted the run!
She is one of four other T/F drivers using a canopy this year.

Boy, do I miss attending the Winternationals. Nothing like being at a track surrounded by palm trees with snow capped mountain in the distance. California!!

Although the ADRL racing season hasn't started yet, I'd like to mention two great developments. First, after the tragic loss of Extreme Pro Stock driver Bert Jackson last year, longtime ADRL sponsor Sonny's Racing Engines and BigStuff3 will be sponsoring the inaugural Bert Jackson Memorial Shootout for that class. Secondly, the support of Sonny and BigStuff3 brought enough financial weight to the Extreme Pro Stock class to reverse an earlier decision to eliminate EFI in the class. A win-win for everybody, that is what sports should be about! Two thumbs up!

In an ever changing world, tourism is becoming increasingly important, as the developed nations' work less hours but earn more (generally speaking). This has given rise to "Event Tourism" and nowhere is this more evident than in motorsports. Countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Abu Dhabi, India and China, all  have spent a great deal to built Formula One tracks in an effort to showcase their countries and bring in tourism dollars.

Qatar's Sheikh Khalid al-Thani also recognized this opportunity and created the Qatar Racing Club, a state of the art racing facility near the capital city of Doha. At an incredible effort and expense of importing the world's best eight-mile talent to the track he created, the Sheikh was rewarded with a clean sweep of the series point championship. I hear that the american contingency of top rated drivers had a great time in Qatar and can't wait to go back again, and this while the are still there!

How did he do it? Well, he simply timed his championship to take place in the U.S.'s drag racing off season (during winter). Here in Curacao, we got a taste of this last December, when Ingemar Meyer organized a drag race, called the Xtreme Christmas Shootout,  featuring some of the world's best cars in a lower class called "Extreme Import". Nevertheless, this is an important step in making good use of our own state-of-the-art drag racing facilities at Ronde Klip. Now, if only our leaders could get all their noses pointed in the right direction!

To my readers, sorry this piece was so drag racing focussed but it is the only thing on my mind today!

Thanks for reading.

Sources: CompetitionPlus.com.
Photo credit: CompetitionPlus.com, LA.com, Mark J. Rebilas, 

The Curacao GP

The event poster

At a point in time, our little Island of Curacao was ahead of the likes of Malaysia, Singapore, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi with regards to motor racing. This little rock in the southern Caribbean sea with a land area of just 444 square km and some 140.000 inhabitants had its very own Formula 3000 race through the streets of Willemstad.

In 1985, FIA introduced the Formula 3000 as the final preparatory step for drivers hoping to enter the F1 championship, and in its first year, through the efforts of local race promoter, the late Paul Wederfoort, Curacao got on the race calendar, even-though it was not a points paying race.

A local TV station made a report on the F 3000 race, which can be seen in the video below. Papiamento and Spanish are spoken throughout, and amongst others, Paul Wederfoort can be seen addressing the crowd wearing a blue sport coat.



During the last decade, developing countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi invested heavily into attracting Formula 1 races to their shores, so that they could not only show-case their country to the world, but also increase its allure as well as grow their tourism industry. It is in this context that I identify Paul Wederfoort as a true visionary, some 25 years ahead of the rest off the world.

To watch the actual race footage, please click here. Even though at first the footage is dark, it improves considerably after a while.

For numerous reasons, including heavy criticism due to narrow-mindedness, Curacao only had one Formula 3000 event. It's podium consisted of: 1. John Nielsen (Denmark), 2. Ivan Capelli (Italy), 3. Claudio Langes (Italy)

Oh, what could have been.

Source: Wikipedia, FIA
Video credit: Alex Alberto/YouTube.

Even F1 stops for football

Depending where you live you may or may not get this piece.

In my neck of the woods, or blue marble, everything stops for the World Cup or UEFA Cup matches. So that is every two years!

Government clerks of Curacao now turn their backs to the service window and look instead to the TV or computer screen continuously. Others call in sick or go to the doctor's office, where the TV is tuned in to the match as well.

Basically, just about everyone watches the matches. Even the Formula One world stops to watch football (in the USA known as soccer).

This is evident from the picture on the right. This is near the pit of reigning F1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel, where he was found among the many chain-smoking Germans, watching Schweinsteiger bust some heads.

Thanks for reading.

Source: Jalopnik, FIFA, Formula One.

Drag racing in Europe

The sport of drag racing has evolved a great deal since the days of Lions Drag Strip, some 57 years ago. It has even been adopted in many regions around the world, such as Canada, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East and Australia/New zealand.

In the near future I will write a blog on the areas of the Caribbean, the Middle East and Australia/New Zealand, but for now Europe will have to do.

Europe knows 5 official championships, of which the following three are the most important:

1. The largest and most popular is the FIA European Drag Racing Championships. The following categories compete in it: Top Fuel Dragster, Top Methanol Funny Car, Top Methanol Dragster, Pro Stock and Pro Mod.

The race schedule taken the competitors to the following event:
- Main Event, 2-4 June 2012, at Santa Pod Raceway, in England,
- Sweden Internationals, 14-17 June 2012, Tierp Arena, in Sweden,
- Nitro Nationals, 5-8 July 2012, Alastaro, Finland,
- NitrOlympics, 10-12 August 2012, Hockenheim, Germany,
- Scandinavian Int'l, 23-26 August 2012, Tierp Arena, Sweden,
- European Finals, 6-9 September 2012, Santa Pod Raceway, England

Alund's new Haas' built Camaro

One of the top teams in TMFC are the Lindberg Bros Motorsports out of Sweden.

In Pro Stock the guy to beat is Jimmy Alund, European Champion in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2011. No kidding!
A couple of years back Frankie Brandou invited Jimmy to Curacao to drive King Kong IV, which he did in good form.

2. The MSA British Drag Racing Championship holds each year five rounds of Pro Mod racing, all at the Santa Pod raceway (UK) for now. The race dates are: April 6-9, June 1-4, June 23-23, September 6-9, and September 22-23, 2012. 

3. The UEM European Drag Bike Championships is run under the FIM, the world governing body of all motorcycle sports. The following categories are: Top Fuel Bike, Funny Bike, Pro Stock Bike and Super Street Bike Classes.
The competition is held in conjunction with the FIA European Drag Racing Championships and is run during their events,


From what I can gather, the Europeans are quite fanatics of drag racing as well. If any of you have any stories you'd like to share, please feel free to do so.

Thanks for reading.

Source: FIA, Santa Pod Raceway.

Rat Rod 2

The fact that I love Rat Rods, and almost bought one a couple of years back, is surprising even to myself. I guess driving a car stripped of all excess, like cutting off the fat from a 12 oz. steak, is getting back to the essence of what we all search for in a Saturday afternoon drive; exhilaration and raw power.

This great looking example was parked
in front of the NHRA Museum, Pomona

The Rat Rod underground movement began as a counter-reaction to the higher priced, sleek, typical and "custom" hot rods that were often stored and only shown at events. The Rat Rod went back to the early days of hot rodding which meant building the car to the best of the owners abilities, and above all, was meant to be driven.

A typical Rat Rod is a late 1920's through late 1950s coupe or roadster, my favorite being a 1946 chevy pickup truck, with the windshield cracking open at the base. The bodies are often channeled over the frame while the tops are chopped as well. The cars have often their fenders, hoods, running boards, and bumpers removed. Its is quite normal to swap body parts in order to create your own style and save on the build.

This is an example of a typical paint
job found on Rat Rods.

A Rat Rod is often recognizable because of its paint and finish that looks unfinished, with primer-only paint jobs at the most. Another popular finish is the "natural patina", which is the original paint with rust and any blemishes. Its interior is most often bare bones form, with Mexican blankets and bomber seats as starting point. The drive train may vary, but the most common are the flathead V8s, the straight-8s or the straight-6s. They are rear wheel driven, with an open drive line. When it comes to front suspension, the most commonly accepted type is the beam axle which will look right when exposed without fenders. The coolest type has the front suspension mounted well forward of the radiator, which is derived from the early drag racing cars.

The video below shows a large variety of Rat Rods. I have yet to see one on Curacao, but our sister island of Aruba has a couple.



The first publicized Rat Rod can be found in the December 1972 issue of Rod & Custom magazine.

Provided that all goes as planned, meaning I win the lotto, I intend to embark on my own Rat Rod build sometime in the future. The name will be Pete and I'll keep you posted!

Thanks for reading.

Source: Wikipedia, Salcooldude1's video
Photo credit: own library

Great Shots

Living on a paradise island has its pro's: the beach is just a couple of minutes away, it's white sand warm while the clear blue ocean is always cool and refreshing.

However, being so far removed from large scale motor racing events, of any kind, is my biggest con. Photographers, the internet and cable TV do their best to bring us what we missed. And boy, do we owe them a great deal of gratitude. Well, maybe less of cable TV!

Take for example photographer Mark J. Rebilas, who goes to great lengths to push the envelop each time he has a camera in his hand. Sometimes he goes beyond the call of duty, as is shown with the picture on the right, by renting a helicopter in order to get the optimal view (for us). Click on the pictures to see a larger version.

Ok, anyone with sufficient funding can get himself a helicopter. So one has to have an eye for taking pictures too... and quickly. Earlier in the year his shots of Pro Mod racer Mike Janis running into trouble down in Gainesville, Florida, were placed centerfold in premiere drag racing magazine Drag Illustrated.

Thanks to Mark and photographers like him around the world (yes, here in Curacao too) that fools like me can live happily on a paradise island, far removed from the racing action.

I didn't want to pass the opportunity to show Todd Robertson's great funny car paint job, which won the 2012 Detroit Autorama. Gotta love that creativity.

Thanks for reading.

Source: Mark J. Rebilas, Drag Illustrated, Todd Robertson

Our Cars!

Maybe its just me, but I am always very proud to see "our" cars competing at the highest levels in drag racing stateside. Such small islands like Aruba and Curacao still have enough fighting spirit to be amongst the only foreign teams, or car owners in the case of King Kong V, to be competing in ADRL, the most exciting drag racing league in the world. This is not an exaggeration. To see for yourself, click here.

With "our cars" I am referring to the Ford Mustang of Team Aruba, driven by Trevor Eman (an Aruban native), and the Dodge Stratus of Frankie Brandao, driven by legendary racer Pat Musi, who uses his engines to power King Kong V to many round wins and even some records. The two cars do not compete in the same category.

The video below shows, amongst others, King Kong V's first round win at 1:26 minute mark, and a second round loss at the 2:45 minute mark, at the Spring Drags in Bristol, Tennessee.



Team Aruba is one of those that is loved by the fans. They have been presented the friendliest team award by the fans, at least once that I can remember.... correct me if I'm wrong.
The team is mostly, if not completely, comprised of Arubans who fly back and forth to the U.S. to race against the well established American teams. They do one hell of a job and are well on their way to securing a win one of these days. And Trevor is gaining much experience each round and is very quick on the tree. They are racing this weekend at the 34th Mountain Motor Nationals at Budds Creek, Maryland.

To watch another video of King Kong V racing at M.I.R., click here.

Thanks for reading.

Source: ADRL

Curacao

FulTrot is written and uploaded from the colorful island of Curacao. Here is a link to a video clip of the island we call home:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=493ctKMJ2qY

On the right an aerial picture of the City of Willemstad, the maritime channel divides it into the areas known as Punda (upper) and Otrobanda (lower).


About FulTrot:
FulTrot is a division of the Danny de Kort Motorsports Foundation. Started in 2011 it strives to positively impact all forms of motorsports, but in particular, that of drag racing, on the island of Curacao.

Amongst others, the foundation organizes:
a. car themed events, such as:
- the 50th Anniversary of the 911 at Seru Boca Marina,
- the Hot Cars & Hot Cakes event,
- the Harley-Davidson "Braggin' Rights",
- drag race test sessions
b. publication of valuable information to car enthusiasts and racers, such as a "pocket size" drag race rule book,
c. the FulTrot, that's written for motorsports enthusiasts around the world.

The foundation also strives to promote awareness for various noble causes, such as Cancer Awareness. These are done through the Prinses Wilhelmina Fonds and the Ronald Mc Donald House, which receive both special mention on the foundations blog as a financial contribution.

Danny de Kort

The founder, a race car driver himself, owns and drives a 762" c.i. Mountain Motor Pro Stock built by Rick Jones. The Sonny Leonard hemi engine produces 1.600+ hp, does the 1/4 mile in 6.5 seconds, and tops out at about 214 mph.

He also drove the 822" c.i. Team Whathehell Pontiac Pro Stock car and still has the "local" track record at the C.I.R.

For information about the foundation:
- 2011 to 2014, click here.
- 2015 onwards, click here.