Speedgroup Club Europe

Ellis showed up with his state of the art ´70 Pro Mod at the European Finals

SG: What are you plans for the "off race season" period ahead?

GE: The off season will involve repairs to the Cuda which will have new lightweight panels and a full body wrap. We will be using liner wheels instead of the beadlocks. All of my current motors are in good shape with no damaged blocks/heads etc just 1 crank needs a slight repair, so this makes our winter schedule easier.

The Superbird is being transported to ICE automotive. The base engine is fitted to the car and the fabrication of the induction system will start along with other changes, ICE have ordered the Precision turbos and Big stuff 3 management system along with a fabricated Wilson intake. We anticipate some testing before the season starts. This is a very exciting time for the team.. nothing sounds like a blown pro mod, But a big turbo car on the antilag sounds like an A fueller on the start line.

Launching at Santa Pod Raceway

SG: 43 drivers earned championship points in the Pro Mod class this season and it makes it by far the biggest and also one of the most competitive classes. Any reflections as to why it is so attractive and what do you think we can expect for the 2011 season?

GE: I think the attraction of Pro Mod goes back to the days of 32 car fuel FC fields. The many different body styles, the many different paint schemes, the character of the drivers.. We are not by nature a shy bunch of guys. The wild racing which well emulates the fuel funnies of yesteryear with wild burnouts. Always the element of "will it make a pass or wont it", the upsets in eliminations and qualifying. And of course when it all goes well the thundering laps with crazy ET's for door cars. My personal opinion is simply that there is not another class like it in European or worldwide Drag Racing.

SG: Last but not least.. Is there anyone in particular you wish to thank or contributing in your racing operation this season?

I´d like to thank All of my team for the hard work this year for little reward and for sticking with it, Sean Brown at Acceleration Enterprises of Alberta Canada for making the trip here 3 times last year to help us figure this stuff out, to ICE automotive for the development deal on the turbo car, and everyone else in the class Good, Bad, or just plain ugly, for making this class what it is today!

Two recent articles about Ellis operation can also be found on Eurodragster.com
Ellis on the ICE Automotive project (see oct 20th)
Ellis on the two car plans (see oct 18th)

Talking with Racers - Graham Ellis BILSPORT Pro Mod UK based Pro Mod driver and team owner Graham Ellis did not enjoy any event wins this season and think of it as a "season to forget". However, Ellis personal record improved big time and he ended the season in a different car than he started the season with. And for 2011 Ellis Motorsport prepare to operate both cars.. Easy to recognize.. the lime green Superbird we normally identify Ellis with SG: Do you wish to comment some on what the season 2010 was like for you? GE: This years season for the Ellis motorsport team started off quite well with some decent ET with a brand new set up on a cold slippery Easter track. We then moved on to the Main event where we were able to build on that and get the car to run right up there with the fastest cars in the class as I knew we could. A red light in the first round of eliminations signalled the start of the rest of the year for which was to follow suit, Bad, Worse. And finally very bad. Some of that was down to broken parts. We didn´t get a chance to take the car fully apart in the workshop as we were on tour and it meant some pretty important stuff was missed. Some of it was also a general loss of self belief in the team. It all added up to a year to forget. Ellis - not pleased with the outcome of the 2010 race season SG: You are planning on running a two car team in Pro Mod for 2011. Can you comment some on that and in addition any thoughts you can share looking ahead towards the 2011 season? GE: For the 2011 season you will see some changes in the whole operation. As most Fans know in the middle of the season I brought Dave Woods Jeffers Pro Cars built ´70 Cuda From the US. This car was previously driven by Troy Critchley to numerous records in NHRA; pro mod´s first 5 sec car, first to 240 mph first to 245 etc. We ran it at the Euro finals but to be fair it wasn´t really ready as we had worked too many hours with no sleep.. We didn´t qualify and grazed the wall but it´s ok, I needed to repaint it anyway. Anyway, we now have two cars and the logical step is to use one for Turbo development. There are a few Swedish teams going this route, I took the decision as I don´t want to be left behind in the development of this package. ICE Automotive from Silverstone are the primary partners in this venture. We will run both cars at the UK rounds to start with and expand on that depending on how the deal develops.	Ellis showed up with his state of the art ´70 Pro Mod at the European Finals SG: What are you plans for the "off race season" period ahead? GE: The off season will involve repairs to the Cuda which will have new lightweight panels and a full body wrap. We will be using liner wheels instead of the beadlocks. All of my current motors are in good shape with no damaged blocks/heads etc just 1 crank needs a slight repair, so this makes our winter schedule easier. The Superbird is being transported to ICE automotive. The base engine is fitted to the car and the fabrication of the induction system will start along with other changes, ICE have ordered the Precision turbos and Big stuff 3 management system along with a fabricated Wilson intake. We anticipate some testing before the season starts. This is a very exciting time for the team.. nothing sounds like a blown pro mod, But a big turbo car on the antilag sounds like an A fueller on the start line. Launching at Santa Pod Raceway SG: 43 drivers earned championship points in the Pro Mod class this season and it makes it by far the biggest and also one of the most competitive classes. Any reflections as to why it is so attractive and what do you think we can expect for the 2011 season? GE: I think the attraction of Pro Mod goes back to the days of 32 car fuel FC fields. The many different body styles, the many different paint schemes, the character of the drivers.. We are not by nature a shy bunch of guys. The wild racing which well emulates the fuel funnies of yesteryear with wild burnouts. Always the element of "will it make a pass or wont it", the upsets in eliminations and qualifying. And of course when it all goes well the thundering laps with crazy ET's for door cars. My personal opinion is simply that there is not another class like it in European or worldwide Drag Racing. SG: Last but not least.. Is there anyone in particular you wish to thank or contributing in your racing operation this season? I´d like to thank All of my team for the hard work this year for little reward and for sticking with it, Sean Brown at Acceleration Enterprises of Alberta Canada for making the trip here 3 times last year to help us figure this stuff out, to ICE automotive for the development deal on the turbo car, and everyone else in the class Good, Bad, or just plain ugly, for making this class what it is today! Two recent articles about Ellis operation can also be found on Eurodragster.com Ellis on the ICE Automotive project (see oct 20th) Ellis on the two car plans (see oct 18th)
FHRA Nitro Nationals at Alastaro 2010 - Ellis in the Superbird
Text Graham Ellis interviewed by Åsa Kinnemar Photos: Speedgroup, Julian Hunt, Christl Sulz This article is part of the Speedgroup Club Europe Newsletter #12/2010 www.club.speedgroup.eu Published by Speedgroup www.speedgroup.eu All material, text, images and logtypes are the property of Speedgroup AB. Any use of the above requires permission from Speedgroup. e-mail: asa.kinnemar@speedgroup.eu © Speedgroup 2010