Ratmuller Racing Newsletter - Vol.2 2012 (Feb 2012)

More than a pinch of salt...

Vehicle status

Three of the five vehicles are complete and ready for the event - 1956 Oval, 1968 Ghia and 1960 Beetle.

The 1975 Superbug has now been built up as a Mexican Taxi and only needs some final welding work on the roll cage and the supercharger mounted to the manifold and the vehicle is ready to go to the dynometer for some testing. Look out for the next Volkswagen Australia Magazine for a comprehensive build report on this vehicle and details on how much of a build can be completed in one day.

Before and After shots of the 75 Superbug AKA The Mexican Taxi

The 1957 Panel Van ( The Roo Shooter) is currently laid up with both legs and almost two arms out of bed in the rear end. Although I was not there when the existing engine threw up at the recent drags I can assure you that the sound was deafening and the sight was saddening. Nothing that a new case and set of internals wont rectify very quickly. The rebuild will be completed early February allowing adequate testing time before the event.

This vehicle has run a 14.1 at Eastern Creek so the potential is there. A recent decision has been made not to run the 2011 Golf R this year. The Team will be heavily involved in getting and maintaining 5 vehicles to the starting line so the Golf build has been put on hold until next year.

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 Steve Muller take his 2842ml type-4 powered rat bus down the quarter in 14 secs

Overseas involvement

There will be three enthusiasts travelling from the US for the event and one from Holland. With records in the offering we will be pleased to be able to give the US guys something to write home about. At this stage one of the visitors looks like having a run in the 1975 Mexican Taxi. Burly Burlile, the 36HP guru will be documenting the event for content in Hot VWs magazine and possibly Ultra VW. The other is Todd Penn, a Canadian who is a regular participant at Bonneville.

The Team

Current planning will have an overall team of 15 people of which 5 people are expected to be drivers and we have excellent experienced coverage to handle any of the difficult issues that may occur. Apart from the mechanical side of things we are planning to produce a documentary available after the event.

There are now 6 drivers to share the 5 vehicles:

• 1975 Superbug - Don Kendall and Todd Penn

• 1960 Beetle - Greg Mackie and Pete Munn

• Ghia and Roo Shooter - Steve Muller

• 1956 Oval - John Weninger

Sponsors

Many thanks to Volkswagen Group Australia who continue as the primary sponsor for the Ratmuller Racing Team. Without this support there is a reduced opportunity to be involved in a venture of this magnitude. We also want to acknowledge the sponsorship support from Don Kendall of DSK Waste Services and John Weninger of Martin and King Pty Ltd both of who will be driving this year.

Class Records

The Team can sniff creation of class records for two Australia based Land Speed Racing classes. For the 36HP Challenge we expect to be able to break the world record for a stone stock 36HP Beetle of just over 75 miles per hour as well as getting very close to breaking the K36 Class Record of 101 mph held by Dick Beith since 1961 The records we are aiming to beat are SS36 at 75.534 mph and K36 at 101.296 mph.

Look out for Newsletter Vol 3 in early March for the latest updates