[1]
There are two key traits necessary to accomplish great things — the ability to dream, and the inability to give up.
Englishman Andy Frost exudes both, and that’s never been more evident than the last year of his racing life, as the one-time street legal drag racing record holder embarked on an unparalleled journey to reclaim said title.
Frost, armed with hundreds of financial supporters from around the world known as the Red Victor 5-Second Club intent on helping his ‘underdog’ cause, assisted he and his team in preparing for, and eventually arriving in, the country of Bahrain this winter [2]. There, he determined, he would have greater access to tuning resources and a world-class racing surface that would provide the opportunity he needed to trump the existing 5.84-second standard
After a month-long trip aboard a cargo vessel from England to Bahrain, Frost and company arrived to pick up their racing operation, only to find that the truck had been ransacked by vandals [3] during transport. That setback didn’t deter them, however, and in their initial outing — of a planned three — the team spent a week sorting out the twin-turbo Vauxhall, ultimately carding a career best 6.31 at 236 mph [4]. With the knowledge they gained, Frost and team returned home to England as the Arabian Pro Series shifted to Qatar for the next three events.
[5]
The Red Victor team returned to the Middle East a little over a month later and immediately got to work during private testing at the Bahrain International Circuit on the march to the five-second zone — an initiative that Frost and primary tuner Shane Tecklenburg were confident was a reality for the 2,900-plus pound, street legal machine. Over the course of five days, they chipped away at the performance, netting a best 660-foot clocking of 4.09 and 191 mph (on a prior run of 4.10), but unfortunately, it was only a split-second later that Andy’s dream came unraveled.
At the 1,000-foot mark, the big-block engine expired — still scoring a career best of 6.27 at only 181 mph. The team discovered after the pass that one of the cylinder heads had been damaged in the proceedings, and given the specialization of the heads to Andy’s engine, a proper spare could not be acquired in any sort of timeframe to allow them to continue, thus bringing their cross-continent adventure to an end.
Fortunately, thanks to the gracious support of one of the members of the royal family in Bahrain, Andy’s once-in-a-lifetime journey will, in fact, become twice-in-a-lifetime, as a deal was made to keep the Red Victor Vauxhall, it’s truck and equipment in safe keeping for the summer, while the engine and other necessary parts and pieces were shipped back to England for repair. The team plans to return in October ahead of the Arabian Pro Series opener to continue their attempt at the five-second zone.
[6]
While Frost and Tecklenburg are uncertain if their rather portly machine can crack the existing street car world record — a number that may not still exist come fall — they believe wholeheartedly the car can go low 5.90’s at speeds in the neighborhood of 250 mph. To prepare for their return, Visner Engine Development in Michigan will be prepping a new set of cylinder heads for the car.
Andy wished to thank a number of individuals and companies for their support of his dream, including the Bahrain International Circuit and the Bahrain Drag Race club “for treating us like royalty during our stay,” the EKanoo Racing Team, tuners Shane Tecklenburg, Jamie Miller, Tim Davis, Josh Ledford, and John Hutchinson, the never-give-up Red Victor racing team of Gary, Deb, Badger, Andy and Kim, the Red Victor 5-Second Club, VP Racing Fuels, Precision Turbo, Turbosmart, Steve Morris Engines, Victory 1 Performance, New Century Performance, Lamude Racing Engines, R-Tech Welding equipment, Pro Alloy Motorsport, Belistore, KA Sensors, Goodridge, Cam Auto Developments, Total Seal Piston rings, Diamond Pistons, Braille Batteries, Red Line Oil, uTrackTV, and trackstuff.co.uk.
“We’ll be back at it again soon,” Andy says in closing. Because winners never quit.