Thread: Super Swede ... Lars Strom

  1. #211
    Burgess/Evinrude F1 V8 Lars Strom's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    908
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default

    The Molinari OE boat was designed for a standard OMC OE engine ( FT19S powerhead),
    so the tunnel had more lift than I needed when using the more powerful
    and lighter Volvo Konig.

    The boat was extrimly fast in flat water and I remember at some
    testing in Sweden with Gert Lowisin the top speed was over 115 miles...

    My second boat was a OE Clerici, but I used the Molinari most
    because it was a better boat.

    There was no fuel pump, instead Dieter used the compression from the
    crank case to but pressure in the fuel tank, (Like an old Evinrude Outboard from
    the 50's, with two fuel hoses)

    There was a hose up to the drivers seat and a valve.
    Before starting the engine you must blow pressure in the tank with your mouth.

    Well, I was never a fan of this.
    If you needed to turn the engine off, (late start or same thing) you had to open the valve to release some pressure in the tank and you got Methanol
    and fumes in the drivers seat.
    No good and I got sick before the start in Bristol because of that.

    This engine was so different, but really fast and fun when running.

    I think the best with my Volvo Konig year was all the really nice and fun people I become good friends
    with.

    I raced in Gronningen, Holland and that is my last Volvo Konig story.

    Coming next
    Lars Strom

    Life is good





    Check my own racing history at BRF...http://www.boatracingfacts.com/forum...ead.php?t=6727

    My racing web site SVERA.se....http://svera.se/blogg/paris-6-hours/

  2. #212
    Burgess/Evinrude F1 V8 Lars Strom's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    908
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default Copy of story from page 2, # 11

    1977 was also the year when Molinari started Racing for OMC, but Renatos deal was with OMC USA,
    not Belgium.

    I had a brand new Mod 50/F3 Molinari Boat on order and an Evinrude engine for that boat, but after a meeting
    with the BIG man at Volvo Penta, Sweden we made a deal and I got my biggest check ever (at that time) to
    Race Volvo Penta/Konig in Mod 50/F3 1977.

    I went to Como, to pick up my new boat, and to Clerici to pick up a second boat if the Molinari Boat
    did not work with the Volvo.

    Direct to Dieter Konig, West Berlin to install engines and after that Uppsala, Sweden where
    the Volvo Penta outboard factory was located, and Gert Lowisin was living next door.
    My deal with Volvo was to have Gert Lowisin 24/7 to help me that year in racing, and Gert was a very
    good man to have on your side.

    This was a very interesting year for me in Racing, and I raced more or less every weekend somewhere
    in Europe, and when "that thing" on the transom stayed together I Won, but most of the times it came a part.

    Believe it or not, but I raced Paris 6 hours with a Konig..... and was leading with many laps after
    4 hours, when I hit something and sank.... not the engine this time.
    We used 50/50 Gasoline/Methanol and it did not take away to many horsepower.

    The Sprint World Champion Ship OE that year was in Brodenbach, and OMC was not very happy
    with Lars racing a Volvo and Jenkins Racing a Archimedes. (Same thing)

    Michael Werner was the home favorite with Mercury's secret F3 engine with the EFI box.

    OMC at that time did not have the speed, and where using the "Gas in a bottle" ( laughing gas), to make it better,
    but the officials of the Race said it was not legal, so OMC never raced and filed a protest.

    I was fighting hard with Werner and won one heat, he the next etc. and it was down to the final heat
    I had to win on a better time and I did, but then the Race officials said that my heat was 2/10 of a second
    slower than Werner's so he was now the World Champ. (at that time they used stop watches)

    I don't now if it was right or wrong, but a week later UIM made a decision about the OMC protest and the Race
    was not a official World Championship Race anymore.

    There is many stories about my year with Volvo/Konig and I can go back to that later.
    When it comes to money, it was a very good year but I did not get the Trophy's I wanted so after Paris
    6 Hours I told Volvo that, I am out.

    Volvo did not have a problem with that and late 1978, the Volvo Penta outboards
    was history.

    Not many people know that, but Volvo Penta Outboards was the first one the Japanese Outboards
    put out of business.

    Well, maybe they killed them self with poorly designed production outboards.....
    Lars Strom

    Life is good





    Check my own racing history at BRF...http://www.boatracingfacts.com/forum...ead.php?t=6727

    My racing web site SVERA.se....http://svera.se/blogg/paris-6-hours/

  3. #213
    Team Member Master Oil Racing Team's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Sandia, Texas
    Posts
    3,831
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default

    As you say Lars, there were a lot of nice and fun people to hang out with. Here's are a few pics from the World Cup in 1977 on the Strandbad Oberhavel in Berlin. I don't know who that was with the cat behind Dieter's shop. The next one is Joachim Mareth and Bernd Tschierschke working on Joachim's motor. Then Gert Lowisin and Roger Jenkins. Next is Gert and Dieter Konig. Roland Stoltz is to the right of Leif Ahlborg in the next pic, but I am not sure who that is behind Leif. The last is from the program for the 1978 OD World Championships in Berlin. This part was results from the 1977 German Grand Prix.

    One thing I should say about Gert Lowisin. He was a very nice person. When I first met him he made me feel like we had been friends for years. I was very sorry to hear about his health problems. He would have been a great one to get here on BRF.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by Master Oil Racing Team; 07-18-2008 at 09:00 AM. Reason: correction



  4. #214
    Burgess/Evinrude F1 V8 Lars Strom's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    908
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default

    Thank you very much Wayne,

    This photo is from when I came to Dieter Konig for the first time.
    Must have been February or early March 1977..

    You see my brand new Molinari on the trailer and my Clerici boat on top of the
    Opel.

    We put race numbers and the Swedish flag on the boats just to go
    true Customs easier.

    Whoo, this photo brings back very good memories.

    It is Curre Gustavsson next to the boats.
    He was my best friend and helped me many years in racing.

    Thank you Curre
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Lars Strom

    Life is good





    Check my own racing history at BRF...http://www.boatracingfacts.com/forum...ead.php?t=6727

    My racing web site SVERA.se....http://svera.se/blogg/paris-6-hours/

  5. #215
    Burgess/Evinrude F1 V8 Lars Strom's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    908
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default

    One more thing about the above photo.

    At that time back then, only a very few people know about my switch
    to Volvo Konig.

    That is why we parked behind the building.

    Did you take this photo, or was it Dieter?

    Volvo in Sweden had a press meeting later, I think April or May 1977
    about the new Swedish Volvo Konig Race Team.

    Again, this photo made my day.
    Lars Strom

    Life is good





    Check my own racing history at BRF...http://www.boatracingfacts.com/forum...ead.php?t=6727

    My racing web site SVERA.se....http://svera.se/blogg/paris-6-hours/

  6. #216
    Team Member Master Oil Racing Team's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Sandia, Texas
    Posts
    3,831
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default

    So we DID cross paths Lars. I took the photo on April 22 or 23, 1977. That's so cool. When I pulled out the contact sheets to look for some pics of Gert Lowisin, I spotted this frame and I thought to myself....no way! But I posted it. Your name wasn't in the program, and in fact the program started with the number 2 boat, but then the programs usually didn't have all the drivers listed that eventually showed up. Now I am going to go back through all my contact sheets more closely to see if there are any other pics of you or your boats.

    I usually got race results from the organizers so I would have all the boat numbers, drivers names and points so I could get the story correct for Powerboat. In this case the editor, I think Mark Spencer was editor by then, said just to do the story from a personal standpoint as to what it was like racing in Europe because most of the readers would not know the European drivers. But at this race I did not get the names and results. I wish now I had done so.

    And Lars, feel free to use any of my pictures to post on the Swedish website if you want to.
    Last edited by Master Oil Racing Team; 07-18-2008 at 05:10 PM. Reason: change date



  7. #217
    Burgess/Evinrude F1 V8 Lars Strom's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    908
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default

    Wayne,

    That is pretty cool.
    I guess I was at Dieters place in April, not March 1977.


    I think this is the result from the Race at Tegel, 1977.

    I won 1 or 2 heat, then I had that really bad "flipp" just before the turn
    at top speed and ended up second.

    I have to ask you Wayne, what where you doing there in April 1977?
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Lars Strom

    Life is good





    Check my own racing history at BRF...http://www.boatracingfacts.com/forum...ead.php?t=6727

    My racing web site SVERA.se....http://svera.se/blogg/paris-6-hours/

  8. #218
    Team Member Master Oil Racing Team's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Sandia, Texas
    Posts
    3,831
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default

    I checked my contact sheets only just one more of the same pic, and none of you racing Lars. So is this the stop off at Dieter's to get the motor mounted rather than February or early March? I don't know if it is when you drove in with your rig or another driver, but I can remember Dieter asking me to help move another boat on a trailer on the side of the factory so a car and trailer could get around the back.

    I would have been introduced to you by Dieter the day I took the pic. Dieter always introduced me to drivers who stopped by. That's where I first met the Landini's from Italy, Jerry Drake from South Africa, and Waldemar Marsalek from Poland.

    I will look at my slides to see if I have any other pics for you. It made my day to for this discovery. That means I had a scoop on your switch to Volvo Konig and didn't even know it.
    Attached Images Attached Images



  9. #219
    Team Member Master Oil Racing Team's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Sandia, Texas
    Posts
    3,831
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default

    I was one of the guys helping to promote international racing through our APBA club Hydroplanes International. We were trying to get drivers from other countries to race in the U.S. and so it was a good idea for us to race in other countries. We picked OD to start with because we had a better chance of being awarded a UIM World Championship in America than the other classes.

    I had been invited to race in Berlin in 1976, then also in 1977. When Dieter called and asked me to come over and gave me the dates for the World Cup, I discovered it was the weekend before I was to get married to Debbie. So I called her up and told her that I needed to go race in Berlin, and asked if we could postpone our wedding a couple of weeks. She immediately said no, we would move it up a week and we would spend our honeymoon in Europe.



  10. #220
    Burgess/Evinrude F1 V8 Lars Strom's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    908
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default

    This is incredible, Wayne

    Curre and I drove non stop to Italy to pick up the 2 boats.
    After that straight to Konig to bring the two engines with us to Sweden.
    I wanted to introduce myself to Dieter, that's why we stopped in West Berlin.
    We was only there for 24 hours and there is Wayne taking a photo of my two boats
    without knowing 31 years later that it was Lars.
    My memory said Feb/March 1977, but it was April 22 or 23......

    The world is pretty small sometimes.........

    I would like to see you Wayne and talk about the good old days...

    PS. We covered the engine up with plastic, so you could not see that it was a Volvo/Konig.
    Lars Strom

    Life is good





    Check my own racing history at BRF...http://www.boatracingfacts.com/forum...ead.php?t=6727

    My racing web site SVERA.se....http://svera.se/blogg/paris-6-hours/

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 13 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 13 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Super Swede ... Lars Strom
    By Lars Strom in forum Outboard Racing History
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 05-16-2008, 12:26 PM
  2. Lars Strom and Erik Kristewr Erikson
    By Ron Hill in forum Boat Racing Encyclopedia
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 05-06-2008, 09:28 PM
  3. Super Stock Racing Association
    By Ron Hill in forum Boat Racing Encyclopedia
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 09-19-2005, 02:05 PM

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •