Archive
King of Europe Dragster 2008 with Ferodo® and Champion®!
The name Grzegorz Staszewski probably may not ring a bell to you yet but, this 33 year old Polish drag racer can call himself 'King of Europe' since the end of June 2008. With his Chevrolet Corvette, he beat his personal record and clocked the quarter mile (402 metres) in 8.884 seconds. This serious speed is helped along by Champion® spark plugs under the hood, and high performance Ferodo® racing brake pads to bring all this power to a halt. FM News was there in the Belgian town of Brustem - during the main event of the 'King of Europe Drag Series' - and, fortunately, were given more than 8.884 seconds for their interview.
Grzegorz Staszewski is an old acquaintance of Federal-Mogul. With his VTG Service Centre and engine and chip tuning workshop and his VTG Racing Team, Grzegorz is affiliated to one of the major European aftermarket distributors,Inter Cars, in Poland, established near Warsaw. Our Country Manager for Poland, Michal Lyzinski, knows everything about it.
Unstoppable growth
Michal Lyzinski: "In early 1990, when Poland was the first East-bloc country to switch from planned economy to free market economy, Krzysztof Oleksowicz set up Inter Cars on a small scale. To give you an idea: he drove his van over the border into Germany and imported spares for the European cars on the Polish market. Not even 10 years later, Inter Cars had evolved from its original 3,200 sq.ft. warehouse to a hypermodern logistics centre covering 185,000 sq.ft. With a 1,170-strong workforce and an annual turnover of a few hundred million Euros, Krzysztof Oleksowicz now aims for the pole position on the European market as distributor of spares for the car and truck market. An ambitious growth strategy that he wants to achieve over the next 5 years." VTG forms part of this top distribution network.
For 'tuning & speed' lovers
An hour before doing a 400-metre test sprint, Grzegorz takes us for a ride in the world of drag racing. It is immediately obvious that, for Grzegorz, drag racing is a professionally organised activity. The VTG Racing Team has several cars and racers, who gathered around a table with us, under the large awning on the side of the impressive VTG Kenworth truck.
Grzegorz Staszewski: "It is always fun when you can integrate the business side - in my case, boss of the VTG Service Centre - seamlessly with your leisure activities. I'm not the only one in this. Krzysztof Oleksowicz's son, Maciej, is also a keen racer. He has been heading the Subaru Racing Team for a couple of years now. Our VTG Racing Team and the Subaru Racing Team can be considered as a shop window for Inter Cars."
Grzegorz Staszewski: "The world of drag racing has several classes: from Junior Dragsters and Top Eliminator class to the machines of the King Class: the Top Fuel Dragsters. I compete in the Street Legal (4WD) class. These are the so-called street legal cars, however fitted with pro-street rear axles and 'blower big-blocks' or V8's on NOS. For real 'tuning & speed' lovers, the 'King of Europe Drag Series' is the top event of the year. Since 2007, the contest consists of 2 races. This year, the first one took place at the Tököl race track in Hungary, where I won the title of 'King of East'. The second race, the 'West Edition', is taking place here, on the Brustem air base."
The 'Golden Cat': the only 4x4 Corvette in the world
Grzegorz Staszewski: "What you need most of all are nerves of steel: the reaction speed at the start and gearing up smoothly make the difference between a decent time and top time at the finish. With the VTG Corvette (1979), better known to insiders as the 'Golden Cat', we have a unique thoroughbred in our racing team: more than 1500 HP, a Turbonetics turbocharger (3000 HP), and the most unique 4-wheel drive, which we need to keep all these horses on the runway, which is usually fairly bumpy."
Grzegorz Staszewski: "It's a question of eliminating risks. And in this respect, I can also count on Ferodo brake pads. Don't forget, the more power, the more powerful the brakes must be. It may sound crazy, but bringing these cars to a safe stop is not as easy as you would think. Moreover, we don't want anything unexpected to happen. Think of the British 'Top Gear' host Richard Hammond, who tried to beat the British land speed record with a Vampire dragster. When the brake chute of his dragster opened early, the car crashed at a speed of 285 mph. Fortunately, the guy made a total recovery after a two-month hospital stay. I can't imagine two months without the smell of rubber."
The next day, we learnt that Grzegorz Staszewski - in addition to his Eastern European title in Tököl - also won the Western European title. He won in the finals against a British competitor with a 2000 HP dragster. This is the second year in a row that the VTG Racing Team won the 'King of Europe' trophy.
