Driving forces behind F & A Racing are father and son Vince and Chris Andrews and Mac Forbes, all familiar faces in drag racing. At just 17 years of age, with his father's help, Chris started his career in 1998 in Sportsman racing. In 2000, Chris went to the United States to work with two-time World Champion and drag racing school owner Frank Hawley, came back to work for European Champions like Smax Smith and Lex Joon, gained his Top Fuel licence and, in 2005, impressed while running a limited schedule in the FIA European Top Fuel Championship. In 2011 the now 28-year-old internet marketing consultant from the south of England is back in the hot seat. 

After his first steps in drag racing, Chris had the rare opportunity to go to the States and work with Frank Hawley. "The deal going to Frank Hawley Drag Racing School all came about because of a phone call. We called asking about the various courses they had, and after a few weeks of discussion it was decided that I was going to LA to learn as much as I could about tuning these cars but also to develop my driving skills. I stayed there for nearly a year and worked on Top Fuel crews at NHRA events. I was fortunate enough to get my Super Comp, Top Methanol Dragster and Top Methanol Funny Car licences. Being at the school for a prolonged period and being able to learn the ropes from people like Frank Hawley, Jack Beckman and Jeff Arend, was a great experience." But after making his European Top Fuel debut and serving two seasons with Lex Joon, Chris stepped away. "2007 was a good year racing, it was great to work with Lex and his team, but towards the end of the season, owing to work obligations, I decided that I needed to step away from the sport for a few years and concentrate on work. But the ambition to race was always there; it never goes away. That's why we are coming back and this time we want to try and do it our way with our own car. Driving is something I have always wanted to do, especially in a Top Fuel car, but I have always had an interest in tuning these wild machines. That's why I was always happy to crew for various teams over the years. Let's face it, if you are not in a position to drive, you might as well be involved with the crew of a team and learning other aspects of the sport."



It's clear Chris loves all aspects of the sport. "It's the most extreme form of motor racing. The acceleration of the cars, feeling the power of the cars as they fly by, is fantastic. For me, drag racing is the best form of motorsport and for the fans it is very accessible; they can walk around in the pits, talk to and ask questions of the crew as well as the drivers. But the best is when you see a Top Fuel car launch at night with the header flames. It's just one of the most amazing sights to see."

In the ex-Morgan Lucas Geico Top Fuel dragster, F & A Racing has a state-of-the-art car that has won three NHRA events. "The car is a 2009 chassis, it's coming turnkey from the States and has all the up-to-date parts that you could wish for. We have many parts already with more arriving with the car, but we're still working on the funding to expand our catalogue of spare parts. We made several visits to the USA and saw a lot of cars. We contacted Greg and Brandon from Nitrolink and we really struck lucky. They are very nice guys with a passion for drag racing. They deal absolutely straight and have become firm friends. They introduced us to Morgan Lucas and Don Corsette and it all moved forward from there. We made the trip to the race at Atlanta and looked at the possibility of three cars, all available at various stages of completion, but after having talked to a few people and looked at the car the Lucas family were selling, it was just the obvious choice. The car was up-to-date, it looked amazing and it would not need much modification as I am of similar build to Morgan Lucas. Morgan and Don were very helpful and open to all our questions. We knew straight away that these were people that we would never doubt and they've always been wonderful to deal with." To buy such a Top Fuel operation is a big investment but F & A Racing made the deal. "It's a testament to other people who believe in me that we have managed to purchase such a great dragster. It has been made all the harder as the first dragster we paid for was also sold to someone else and we had to fight to get our money back. We never stopped believing that we could raise the money for the car and we are still very optimistic that we will be able to raise the rest of the funds required to be a very professional set-up."

Mac Forbes will lead the way as team principal and has many years' experience as a chief mechanic. Mac first started following drag racing in 1973 and his passion for the sport grew over the years; one of his highlights was watching Peter Crane beat Big Daddy Don Garlits with Europe's first 5-second pass! Mac went on to race a Mark 3 Cortina at Santa Pod in the late 70's and early 80's and gained a wide knowledge of the sport along with his mechanical expertise. He continued to spectate until 1998 when he began building front ends which led to crewing for Smax Smith (Funny Car) in 2002. In 2003 he worked full-time with the Knut Soderqvist team which won the Top Fuel Championship that same year. He spent the following year as a full-time crew member for Lex Joon, leading to a meeting in 2005 with Vince Andrews at which they decided to form their own team (F & A Racing) running the Soderqvist car on a full-time basis. That year also saw Mac working with the likes of Gary Page and Jöran Persåker. Mac's last event as a crew member was with Knut Soderqvist in the Middle East where he worked on the Harlan Thompson car.



Since then Mac has been organising the Manx Drag Racing Association events on the Isle of Man, with sufficient success that there are two events on the schedule for 2011, while also setting up and running the F & A Racing team. The team also includes Neil Williams as marketing manager. Neil looks after the websites, press/media releases and sponsorship and attends shows and events to keep the team in the public eye. Neil will also handle the team's logistics. Finola Adams is the administrator and commercial manager, looking after the finances and, most importantly, ensuring that all commercial objectives are taken care of and deadlines met. Finola also assists Neil with the team logistics. With regard to crew and tuning duties, Chris and Mac are currently considering their options.

Chris realises that a state-of-the-art, NHRA event-winning car is no guarantee of success in Europe. "We've got a tune-up but we'll be using this as a base line. It's going to be interesting to see how the car handles the European tracks. I'm sure we shall have a few difficulties but we'll address them at the track. It's going to be nice to be in a car I feel comfortable in. Up until now the cockpit has always been a bit on the small side in the previous cars I have driven. This car is going to be a beast and I'm sure it will take some time to get used to driving it, but I'm up for the challenge. It's going to be a year of development and a year for us to establish ourselves as a team. We are going to try and do as well as we can and represent our sponsors to the best of our ability. I'm sure it's not going to be easy but we are all excited about the challenge ahead. If we can run well, I hope other teams are going to see us as a threat." Much has been changed since Chris was involved in the FIA European Top Fuel Championship in 2005. "There are so many cars now that can go out and run some really good times. Going back a few years you could afford to sit out a few rounds of qualifying and pretty much make the show on race day. But you can't do that now, you have to go out and be ready to drive the car to the finish line. The elapsed times are dropping and the drivers are much more in tune with their cars."

It's still four months to the start of the FIA European Top Fuel Championship, The Main Event at Santa Pod, but there is a lot of work ahead for the F & A people. "The car is currently on its way over from the USA. We are very much looking forward to its arrival but cannot stress how grateful we are to the good people at Morgan Lucas Racing, Lucas Oil products and Nitrolink. We can't wait until we take delivery of the car so we can start to prepare for the racing ahead. In the next months we shall also be attending shows and events to promote ourselves to the motorsport industry, the media and individual companies. We'll be looking to do extensive testing once the car has arrived on our shores and we've got our hands on it to make sure it's spick and span and ready to roll. But the amount of testing will depend on the funding. We shall be looking to test at Santa Pod."



Sponsorship is of course a hot item for a team which has already made such a huge investment. "We are using the internet as much as possible to find sponsorship. There have been media releases about us and others involving us. This is part of our plan as we are now getting ourselves known around Europe and globally. Neil and the team are working hard to distribute our information packs to as many companies as possible to gain sponsorship for the 2011 season and further into 2012. We'll also be looking at deals with media/marketing agencies to help us with our cause. Full details can be found on our media website: www.millionpixelracing.com. We are able to offer hospitality to those sponsors who invest in our major Gold and Platinum packages at £100,000 and £250,000 respectively. This will include wining and dining at the track throughout the day and we'll also take care of accommodation during each event or race. The benefits of our sponsorship packages reduce if companies take up the smaller packages but still gain from the massive potential of motorsport. We also have a small advertising-only package which starts at just £100!" All these efforts will help make F & A Racing a strong new contender and a significant asset to the already highly competitive FIA European Top Fuel Championship.