Andy Frost’s Red Victor 3 (RV3) was knocking on the five-second street car barrier in Bahrain this month, progressively reducing his times from the 6.3s he set there last year. Andy and the team spent the first few days on the first half of the track, trying to drop their 60-foot times down into the 0.9–1.0-second range. This is where they and everyone else believed they would need to run to get a five-second pass out of RV3. After a lot of launches and a string of 1.1s in the 60-foot and 4.0s in the eighth-mile, the team realised that they were never going to get such a heavy car off the line that quickly. Unfazed by the 1.1s, tuner Shane Tecklenburg was confident that with the horsepower they have available, he could pour on the power in the second half of the track to run a five — they just needed to run under two seconds in the second half of the track.
The team’s first full pass was a 6.18s at 232mph, followed by 6.04s and 6.03s both at around 245mph, running the second half of the track in 1.96 seconds. The next pass was a 6.022s at 250.9mph despite Andy lifting after spinning the tyres at the top end of the track, literally tearing chunks out of the slicks.
On the final day, the first full pass had a strong launch before tearing the teeth off the pinion, causing the engine to over-rev to 9600rpm. Such is the support of the EKanoo team and everyone at the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) track there was a loan diff waiting for them before the car even made it back to their garage.
Wisely, the team elected not to just replace the diff and run again, but to go through the entire car before another attempt, despite it ending their opportunity for any more passes this trip. After replacing the valve springs, the engine has been determined fit to run, as has the transmission after Andy replaced the damaged sprag.
To date, Shane reckons they have only tapped 75 per cent of the engine’s capabilities, or around 3600hp, and still has the potential to bring in another 1200hp if the track and car could take it! However, running a five is not the be all and end all, as he explains: “We have the world’s fastest radiator, cup holders, electric windows, passenger seat and wiper … we have a bad badass mofo driving, a team of badasses tuning and spannering, and another team of badasses supporting. This is history and never again will there be this much energy in a team/car effort. So whatever happens now we have all managed an incredible achievement.”
RV3 has been left in Bahrain, with Andy and the team planning upon returning to BIC with a new diff in late February for a final shot at the five-second barrier.
“We win as a team and lose as a driver — according to Shane — but we have been all-round winners this time, with just that bit to go for a five,” Andy mentioned. They’re that close, and we know they’ll make it happen, come hell or high water. Good luck, team!
The car:
RV3 weighs a portly 2965lb (give or take five pounds) and is raced in full street trim, aside from the slicks, a fuel change to M1, and the wheelie bar being fitted. It is raced with the exhaust system intact, full untouched cooling system, two seats, wipers, cup holders, electric windows, demister, etc. — basically everything a street car should have. Unlike many street cars racing at this level, Andy’s Red Victor 3 has also passed the UK’s IVA test which is tougher than the scratch-build standards here in New Zealand, as it also includes passing the current UK emissions tests. It was submitted for testing as a Twin Turbo Street Legal Tube Chassis Pro Mod, and got the certification as a newly-produced road car model called an RV3.
Images provided by Bahrain International Circuit and Red Victor Racing