Great start for Mr Whippy at the Santa Pod raceway

The Mr Whippy Racing Team dragster at the 2012 FIA Cham-pionship got off to an outstanding start at the mythical Santa Pod raceway earlier this week when Manty Bugeja finished runner-up in the Top Methanol class.

Owner Joe Carabott and driver Bugeja had previous experience in European Championship races but this year it was agreed that the team will take part in all six legs of the prestigious FIA championship which will be staged in circuits in Sweden, Finland and Germany besides England.

The Mr Whippy dragster figured in a few UK races between May and September last year.

Those outings were considered as build-up where the new dragster was fine-tuned and engine capa-bility tested to the full.

Bugeja also found time to clock an impressive 5.5000secs on one occasion.

At Santa Pod, Bugeja served notice of the team’s intentions to continue where they had left off in the first practice run when logging in a 5.48sec for the quarter-mile.

Qualification was secured on Saturday when the Mr Whippy dragster reached a speed of 265 miles per hour (5.35secs) to top the tableboard.

Also present for the Santa Pod championship race was another Maltese dragster belonging to the Kalanċ Racing Team.

They also qualified for the semi-finals after placing fourth (5.400secs) with Chris Polidano inside the cockpit.

The Sunday runs were cancelled due to rain but that did little to dampen the enthusiasm inside Bugeja and his crew as the next day Mr Whippy made sure of their place in the finals against the dragster of England’s Dave Wilson, with an excellent 5.2920 (259 miles per hour speed).

That time constituted a European record for Top Methanol Dragsters. However, the new benchmark was not ratified as FIA rules say it has to be done twice on the same day.

“5.29... that could be the quickest car in the world. There are only a handful of supercharged Top Methanol dragsters in the world that could have done that,” the race commentator shouted on the PA system at the end of Bugeja’s impressive feat.

After the semi-finals, maintenance was required on the Mr Whippy dragster. However, they were unable to get ready in time for the final as FIA personnel conducted prolonged scrutineering to confirm that the set-up was in line with regulations.

Meanwhile, the Kalanċ Racing Team did a very good 5.39secs in the semi-finals considering this was the team’s first race in the championship.

In a statement, Mr Whippy Racing Team said they were disappointed not to have raced in the final but second place was still a good result.

“We would have liked to have Manty Bugeja racing in the final but the times achieved and placing were a perfect start to the championship,” the team said.

“We will try our best in our next race in Sweden (June 15-17).”

Mr Whippy RT thanked the crew which also includes Remic Arapa (crew chief), Arnold Farrugia, Mervin Cassar, Vince Carabott, Sammy Ciantar, Emanuel Pavia, Larry Mangion and the junior team of Matthew Carabott, Keith Cara-bott, Vasliy Popov, Andre Bugeja and Mikael Carabott.

Mr Whippy RT are backed by the sponsorships of Powerhouse Racing, Torco Oils, Empav Engineering, Fahrenheit Transport and UV Print.

CHAMPIONSHIP Standings

1. Dave Wilson (England) 97; 2. Manty Bugeja (Malta) 83; 3. Dennis Habermann (Germany) 56; 4. Timo Habermann (Germany) 54; 5. Chris Polidano (Malta) 35; 6. Krister Johansson (Sweden) 34; 7. Esko Raisvuo (Finland) 33.