3 pedals and 2 feet: dancing steps at Monza

Braking at the end of the main straight caused the camera to tilt forward. This gave an excellent view of what my feet are doing during a race! Feel free to comment and let me know what I should improve!

Monza pictures by Oscar and Roberto: grazie ragazzi!

It is always nice to receive pictures of our Charger that our fans took at a race. Here are a few taken by very special fans from Italy: artist painter Oscar Morisini and V8 reporter Roberto Motta. Click on the pictures to enlarge them and enjoy!

Inboard video of Oly Express at Monza

Here is our 2 minutes 15 seconds qualifying lap and then another try to go even faster around the great Monza track! Don't worry fans, we'll be back in 2009!

Oly Express at Monza'08: first DNF since '06

Our 2008 vintage racing season started at Monza this week-end. After unloading the car, we had a good first day of free practice. The added brake cooling ducts worked fine, the engine ran very strong. Only the harder compound GOODYEAR's were...well, too hard and I was drifting in Curva Grande and in the Parabolica! Saturday Qualifying went great and we improved our 2007 best time by 1.5 seconds.

Great 1976 Le Mans photos by Ron Zuehlke

Thanks to Dick Pierson's recent TV appearance on the Seattle local news, Ron Zuehlke had some memories coming back to him. Ron was at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1976 and took these two excellent pictures of Hershel McGriff and the Dodge hurdling toward Dunlop. Thank you so much, Ron. I just love it when this whole story keeps growing thanks to contributions like yours!

Dick Pierson on KOMO TV News

Our teammember and Oly Express racecar driver Dick Pierson was interviewed by Seattle's local KOMO TV Channel. KOMO also interviewed Don Kitch of Team Seattle, who'll be with us at the Classic to prepare him and his drivers for the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2009. Asides from this being nice TV coverage of the re-brewed Oly Express, the human stories that KOMO outlined in the interview are well worth being seen and Dick had some practice for the coming TV interviews at Le Mans Classic in July!

Our competitors: Chevron 2 L Prototypes

While the Chevrons are not really our competition since they are prototypes and our Dodge Charger is a GT, they are on the track with us at the same time. We can run with them on the Mulsanne in terms of top speed but they are much faster in all turns and Le Mans has quite a few of those!

Oly Express 2008 Season Team Shirts

Our new team shirts have just come in today! These shirts, on which you'll find the logos of our sponsors Hippopotamus Le Mans, MOPARSHOP, MOTUL, NITRO, DODGE France, Chateau Claymore and Chiron Publicité, are our official 2008 team wear. Each of our VIP guests will also receive one at Le Mans Classic. All of our fans can buy one for $40 including shipping to the USA. You can order yours by writing to oly DOT express AT free DOT fr or by leaving a comment below.

Our competitors: Porsche 935 Turbo

When FIA released the Group 5 rules in 1976, Porsche jumped onboard with modifying their 930 Turbo into the 935 that dominated the late 70s endurance races.

Sporting a 2.8 litre double turbocharged 590 hp engine, the Porsche 935 relies on 917 type brakes to slow down.

Our competitors: Porsche Carrera RSR 3.0

When Porsche decided in 1974 to upgrade their 3.0 RS into a fire breathing and lightened racing machine, they created the Carrera RSR. With extra light and flared bodywork and a high compression 330 hp 3 litre engine, the Porsche RSR is capable of 180 mph.

Automotive Traveler features Oly Express

Rich Truesdell's high quality car website Automotive Traveler features our complete story in their Easter Friday edition. Rich has been with us since the start of the re-brewed Oly Express project and already covered the Charger for Motor Trend Classic and Classic American. We're looking forward to welcome Rich in our pits at Le Mans Classic 2008!

Doug and Hershel McGriff with Oly Charger

Thanks to Randy Ayers Modeling Forum's member Sundance, we just received this great picture of Doug and Hershel McGriff before their 1976 Le Mans start, found in a vintage issue of SCR magazine. I suspect that is was taken at Bridal Veil, just before Dick Pierson trucked it cross country to Sealand for its shipment to Le Mans. Judging by the title, I'd guess that the article relates to his DNF in the race. However, one question still remains: where is the original Oly Express Charger these days?

Le Mans Classic G6: DeKon Chevrolet Monza

During the wild 70s, when sex was safe and racing dangerous, american engineer and race driver Horst Kwech teamed up with chassis expert Lee Dykstra to build the ultimate Porsche terror out of a mundane Chevrolet Monza.

Le Mans Classic Grid 6: Porsche 911 3.0 RS

Certainly one of the most popular Le Mans entries of its time, thanks to its ease of operation, robust performance and reliability, the Porsche 911 3.0 RS, also known as Group 3 Porsche 911, is a force to rekon at Le Mans Classic.

Le Mans Classic 2008 Grid 6 Competitors

Now that the Le Mans Classic entry list is pretty much complete, we take the time to take a look at the competition that we'll see at the world most awesome vintage race. In our grid 6, which are the Le Mans cars from 1973 to 1979, the organizers achieved to make a very even selection that reads like the who's who of race cars.

New old picture of Ray Elder Dodge Charger

François Breton, one of our biggest fans and also the one with the most vintage Le Mans knowledge, just sent us this picture of the Ray Elder Olympia sponsored Dodge. Judging by the surrounding trees, it must have been parked near some Winston West track. Judging by the right hand side location of the fuel filler, it must be near Riverside.

Hershel McGriff racing a Ford at Daytona !?!

This is really one for the experts! Now, y'all know that Hershel drove mostly Mopars, like the West Virginia Almost Heaven Charger when he teamed up with Richard Petty. Judging from the picture that François Breton, an Oly fan from France, dugg out on the web, Hershel also raced a Ford at the famous Florida track. Which race was it and what year? Whoever gets it right first, wins a 2008 Oly Express team shirt!

A fast 4.40s Le Mans Classic lap on video

After computing lap times, we tried to put a 4 minutes 40 seconds pace into perspective. It means being as fast as the bulk of Grid 5 (1966-1972) prototypes! Here is how a high 4.40s looks on video aboard a Lola T70 at Le Mans Classic 2004. Now try to imagine such a lap in the Dodge Charger. Not an easy task by all means, as this will demand a lot of driving.

Le Mans lap times: comparing now and then

In every vintage racing paddock, benchracing goes on to find out what lap times the champions of yesteryear would be doing today. We also got curious and tried to figure out what Hershel's 4 minutes 30 seconds 1976 qualifying lap would be on todays Le Mans track.

Oly Express 08 sponsors list keeps growing

For our third year racing in Europe, popularity of our Dodge Charger keeps growing. The same goes for media coverage, as a five page feature just appeared in Motoraver. Sponsor interest follows the same route. We are now happy to announce that Hippopotamus Le Mans steakhouse will be supporting us too! I can tell you that there are not many spots left on the car and we are still two month away from our first race in Monza!

Chateau Claymore with us for press party

As in 2006, we will again hold a press and fans party at Chiron in Le Mans. We expect about 50 reporters, some TV crews and at least 150 fans to show up at the event, which will be hosted during race week on Wednesday, July 9. This years inside scoop is that we'll be presenting more than just our Charger... In order to serve y'all right, we'll have Chateau La Claymore, a great red wine from the Bordeaux region. We happy and proud to have a sponsor with such a great tradition with us now. There are more great news about our sponsors to come, so stay online!

MOPARSHOP is back with us for 2008

We are happy and proud to announce that the MOPARSHOP, Europe's leading Mopar garage located in Olfen Germany, will be back to support us for the new season. Next to completing the pitcrew, the MOPARSHOP will also service the Charger between races and optimize the technical components of our HEMI racecar.

Le Mans Classic 2008 entries almost final

Even before the March 15 deadline, up to 90% of the Le Mans Classic strting grids have been filled. To check if your favorite team or what exotic cars will be racing there, you should download the current selectees on the Le Mans Classic website.

Does Dodge fever make you see double?

Now what is that? 2 Oly Express Chargers ? Well, yes there was also a street going version of our NASCAR racecar. It is now being repainted and will soon have another race number on its doors. Now, one for you guys: What race number and what paint scheme should it have ? Whoever suggests the best idea wins a beer and a ride in the Charger!

Picture by Pixeleye Interactive

Oly Express to race at Le Mans Classic 2008

We are very happy to announce that our Le Mans Classic 2008 application has been accepted! See you at Le Mans on July 11, 12 and 13! Be there or be square!

MOTUL back to support Oly Charger in 2008

We are happy to announce that MOTUL has renewed their sponship with us for Classic Endurance Racing and Le Mans Classic. Our Charger will, for a third season in a row, be all lubed by their excellent race proven products, like 15W50 300V racing engine oil, racing gear lube and RBF600 braking fluid. We are happy to continue this great cooperation with MOTUL!

2008 Oly Express race planning and dates

After checking with our main sponsors, taking into account track speeds and the motivations of our team members, here are our planned race dates for 2008:

April 24-26              CER at Monza, Italy
July 11-13                Le Mans Classic, France
September 12-14     CER at Silverstone, England

We hope to see you at the tracks!

2008 Oly Express fan card by Pixeleye

Here is our new fan card! A considerable quantity was made thanks to our sponsor Pixeleye Interactive. Pixeleye also did the photography and design for this card. What you see above is the front side. On the back side, you'll find informations about the Dodge, its racing history and its records alongside with smaller pictures. You can get one signed at the CER races in Monza and Silverstone and, of course, at Le Mans Classic 2008. For those who cannot be at the tracks, we'll be glad to send you one home if you drop us an e-mail.

Pixeleye Interactive sponsors us in 2008

We are happy to announce that Pixeleye Interactive will be with us in 2008. Known for his state of the art car photography, Pixeleyes boss and author of Speed Kings, Dirk Behlau has volunteered to be our team photographer. On top of that, Pixeleye Interactive will provide a huge supply of our official autograph cards. You better be at the track to get yours or leave a comment here, if you want us to send you one home!

Happy New Year 2008 !

We had a great 2007 with races at Monza, Nürburgring and Reims. On top of that, driver and crewmember DIck Pierson recorded his own victory over a cancer! As a strong and bonded team, we are looking forward to our third racing season. May 2008 bring to all of you and us peace, health and  happiness!