INTERNATIONAL FORMULA ONE
The Battle For The Crown

Photo Essay By Neal and Birgitta Nurmi


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P-1 | P-2 | P-3

 

The main focus of this website has always been the Big Dogs of Air Racing – the thundering Unlimiteds. These are the machines that bring in the paying customers – after all, who doesn’t want to watch highly modified Warbirds wailing around the pylons?

Lost in the shuffle, though, are another group of dedicated and fiercely competitive Racers. The Formula 1 guys are not flashy high rollers

(I’ve been involved with them for over 20 years, and I can not think of one who’s been seriously rich).

They are, by and large, regular guys who love to fly, and really love to race. These Racers don’t look like much – after all how impressive can a 500 pound machine powered by a Cessna 150 engine be?

But think about this – a Continental 0-200 motor will pull a Cessna 150 along at maybe 120 mph – downhill. The best IF1s, with this same motor, (and the rules only allow stock and original parts) are running a 4 mile closed course, with almost no straight-aways, at over 250 mph!!

This is pure innovation, attention to detail and pilot skill and desire.

Reno 2000 is going to be especially exciting to those who take the time to watch the battle for the crown in IF1, because the Racer that has utterly dominated the class for the last decade has been retired. Jon and Tricia Sharp’s wonderful Nemesis is going to the Smithsonian. This truly leaves the field wide open for R2000 !

Here’s a look at the IF1s, and some of the legitimate contenders to the throne.
-Neal Nurmi-

The story is told within the images, begin with picture one and continue through the story as the drama of IF1 at Reno 2000 unfolds.


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