Drag challenge at Achna speedway 6/9/20

Drag racing, one of the oldest and most accessible type of race out there.But have you ever wondered what it takes to set a respectable quarter mile time? Well more like 300 m or about 1/5 mile in this case but more on that later. We visited the Achna speedway drag challenge to find out.

Horsepower seems to be the obvious answer but as we saw on the Drag challenge on the 6^th of September 2020 at Achna speedway, it takes more than that!

The event

The event was broken up to different categories (full list on the bottom of the page), that basically catered to the variety of cars that attended the event. Confusing a little-but they did make for some interesting battles down the line.

As mentioned beforehand the only Drag strip on the island falls a bit short of what we are used to see abroad so instead of ¼ mile or 402 meters the competitors did their best to nail a time at 300 m or 1/5 mile.

This brings some diversion among the crowd as some do not believe that this is ‘’proper’’ drag racing for various reasons, but I stand on the side of make do with.

The recipe

As with most types of racing, Drag racing is one of the sports that maximum horsepower seems to be the key. As you have probably guessed this is far from the truth.

Making horsepower is one thing but making sure it hits the tarmac on an instant, without cooking the tyres takes a lot more effort.

So, if you think that with a decent powerplant and a good tyre setup you are good to go, you are still wrong.

Driver mod. Even if you have an absolute weapon on your disposal and lacking the skill to operate it at 100 % run after run. This would probably cost you a lot of precious seconds or even a sure victory as it was proven yesterday a dozen times.

The cars

Having to haul a few pounds less than the other lane always helps. Therefore, it was no surprise that the most platform on the grid where 90s- Honda EG’s EK’s and integra’s.

Truth to be told these platforms get a lot of shit on the street but they manage to prove everyone wrong repeatedly.

If you follow the local time attack scene , I am sure you would recognise last race winner with some aero missing. Jiklas was not the only time attack car having a go at the event, but it went surprisingly well. Hell, it went so well that with a better launch he would have won his class!

While the grid was dominant of cars from the land of the rising sun, the euro scene boys really did bring their A game.

I enjoy rowing through the gears as much as the other guy, but have you ever witnessed a bloody dsg-equipped car taking of? This Golf R specing some basic mods such as muffler deletes an ecu reflash and an apr intercooler. Managed some very impressive times while the driver was enjoying his AC. Jealous yet?

The one that really stood out to me was Damiano’s 335d. A car that we have featured in detail and I described it as the prefect all a rounder. Boy did it proof me right.

It drove to the track got thrashed at 40℃ won the diesel category and then drove back home. Outstanding!

AWD action

Fastest lap times of the day were courtesy to some AWD action.

I was more than happy to see another car that we have featured take on the drag challenge.

Fano’s evo really put out a fight despite having half the horsepower of his opponents! Despite making some spectacular launches the horsepower gap was obvious at the top end!

Sticking to the diamond shaped brand, PEPSIS 900 hp hill climb car went for a wardrobe change and came back in a drag appearance, Launching like a bat out of hell it managed some very impressive times down the strip.

The guys from RCSC are no strangers to building awd race cars but are usually the exact opposite of Evos.

Any wild guesses?

This street legal Subaru made some very impressive passes but unfortuanly I did not get the chance to get a peek at the EJ powerplant.

The feature of the sport

The simplicity of drag racing attracts the crowds and it is a sport with a very big fanbase according to Mr Stelios Kythreotis, who the past few years really helped the motorsport community to get a bit more organized. At a quick chat at the burnout box with Mr Stelios we found out that people really do want to see a proper quarter mile race and there are some thoughts about it. Hopefully, he surprises us again as he did with the Achna speedway drag challenge.