Current ANDRA Drag Racing Series Top Fuel Motorcycle points leader Mark Drew has a new toy – a former Doug Horne owned 6.2-second nitro Harley.
Drew acquired the bike after Horne, the 2013 NHRA Harley-Davidson Drag Racing Series Top Fuel Harley Champion, decided not to compete in the 2014 season.
“Mike Romine transports Doug’s bike from meeting to meeting, servicing it in between and tuning it at race meets,” explains Drew.
“I’ve been dealing with Mike since I bought my first nitro Harley in 2006. In conversation with Mike I asked him if Doug was selling his bike and if so how much.”
Once Drew received word of Horne’s willingness to sell, arrangements were put in place to put his own 6.4-second nitro Harley on the market.
“I was talking to Terry Taylor from AAA Racing whom I’d sold a bike to 18 months earlier, still the fastest nitro Harley in Australia. I ran 6.40 in Perth.
“I asked him if he could think of anyone who would buy the bike I was riding at the time. I’d only had this bike in the country for 6 months and had it running in the 6.4-second range. He suggested Ant Burton who crew’s for me, I gave Ant a call and by the end of that week we had a deal.”
But before Drew could take his new bike for a spin it would need to clear customs leaving him without a ride for the X-Champs at Sydney Dragway.
“I borrowed the bike I’d sold Terry Taylor from AAA Racing 18 months ago. The bike hadn’t moved from when I’d dropped it off.
“Danny who was going to ride it was waiting for his hand to repair after losing a couple of fingers when he hit the fence at the Motorplex on a bike they had before buying mine.
“So I threw the bike in the trailer and thought I’d sort it out at testing in Sydney.”
Unfortunately Drew had car trouble in the middle of South Australia and missed his chance.
“I needed some data to see what the bike was doing. Half of qualifying was washed out and I stuffed up one qualifier. So I got a bit of data, made some changes, took it out in the first elimination and it went better but the clutch slipped most of the way down the track.”
Drew progressed through the first elimination despite air in the clutch cannon. He managed to somewhat clear the air but he was reluctant to take the cannon assembly off the bike on the chance he might not be ready for the next round. Instead, he made the changes he could and gave it his best shot.
“The bike spun the tyre 2.5 seconds out. I got off the throttle for around a second then back on. The bike ran around a 7 flat only about .015 slower than (Leonard) Azzopardi. It would have gone close to a 6.50 if it hadn’t spun.”
In the end Drew came away happy with the points lead after a difficult week or two and can’t wait to unleash his new beast on the Fuchs Winternationals at Wiilowbank Raceway.
“I can’t wait for Willowbank. This is the first year we have ever traveled and competed at all the rounds.
“If the weather is good and the track is there I reckon you can go faster there than anywhere in Australia.”
This past weekend at the Winternationals Warm-Up Drew experienced some teething problems but managed to get the bike to come around.
“I had trouble with the clutch cannon releasing at the right time. It was coming in a second late so a 6.6 at 222 mph first up was okay. By the last pass I had it coming in on time. So I’ll set the rest of the tune up to where it should be now I’ve sorted that and hopefully see an improvement from its maiden voyage.”
“Also this wouldn’t be possible without my sponsors, K Trans, Perth Harley-Davidson, Apache Constructions, Wanneroo Blinds, A&J drilling.”
The Fuchs Winternationals will be held across the Queen’s Birthday long weekend (Thursday 5 June to Sunday 8 June 2014), with 430 racers from all across the country and New Zealand to compete in front of approximately 30,000 spectators across the four days.
For full information, please visit www.willowbankraceway.com.au or click here
Image courtesy: Dragphotos.com.au