So what has been going on in the Nitrous Junkie Camp?

Kevin, as you know bought the fuel bike, “The Purple Princess” from Steve Carey and after taking a good look at the chassis without the engine in, rather sensibly decided that a new chassis was definitely in order, due to a terrible crash that Steve had on it at Dragstalgia in 2013. As you can appreciate, these things cannot be bought off the shelf, and are not cheap. It is a work in progress, but things are moving in the right direction. Pulleys have been made by Portobello Precision, and he has had a meeting with Jon Webster at Webster Race Engineering (webster-race-engineering.co.uk) and Dejan Jankovic from Portobello Precision (Find him on Facebook) to talk about the next stage of the build. The engine has been rebuilt, and is sitting pretty waiting for the chassis and various other components to be made. To get the build right first time is what is imperative. Rushing to get this finished is not an option. However he hopes to be back on the track in 2017, and will be good to have Chris Pyke back as Crew Chief too.

Jake stopped racing to concentrate on his Exams, and is now in his second year at Salisbury Sixth Form College working hard on his A ‘levels with a view to going to University to study, in Jake’s words “something in computer networking or programming.” He is going to various University Open days to weigh up his options for the courses he wants to do. Jake also had one heck of a growth spurt and no matter how much power was put into the motor; the chassis of the junior was far too small. Standing tall at 6 foot 4 the JDB is sadly out of the question. He would like to have a go on Kev’s old Bandit, (yes, that one!), we still have the old comp bike chassis, and then there is always the fuel bike at a later date! There are options for once he has finished his A levels, got a place at Uni, passed his theory and his driving test!!! (No doubt not in that order!)

Lizz has been clamouring to get back on the Funny bike now she is fit and well, and 20 months out, a deal has been made with Richard Gipp, and the “Black Cat” is now back at Nitrous Junkie HQ after a refresh, and is now ready for testing on the 23rd/24th July at Shakespeare County Raceway. Her only outing will be the Bulldog Bash, where she has been invited to do exhibition runs. This will be her last hurrah before officially hanging up her leathers and retiring. She will be back crewing on the Fuel bike, and occasionally having a play up the track on anything that comes out of the garage that may need testing!

“There are many people to thank for getting the Funny bike up and running”, Lizz says. “ Richard Gipp and the gang at Gipp Racing, Vincent Pels at Zodiac, “Fast” Fil Papafilippou, Steve French, Sam Freeman and last by no means least, Kevin for simply everything”