ebruary 2005 Gainesville Raceway: Two years ago Metzeler jumped into drag racing big time with a win in the SSC 124 Class by Rob Schopf. Back then Metzeler became the “Official Tire” of the AHDRA (All Harley Drag Race Association) and that commitment just got a lot stronger. The Dragtec, an all-new Metzeler rear tire designed and developed specifically for drag racing has just been released. It’s already proven itself a winner. At the AHDRA first round of ‘07 in Gainesville, Florida, the new Dragtec was the tire on both finalists in the hotly contested V-Rod Class. It was Dragtec vs. Dragtec with Larry Edmondson and Lou Gerencer squaring off on the new Metzelers for the first time ever, anywhere. For the record Edmondson took the win, and speaking of records Lou Gerencer’s Dragtec-shod V-Rod was just shy of the V-Rod record for ET and just a tick under the MPH mark in an earlier semi-final. Quite a debut for the Metzeler Dragtec.
     All this started back in ‘04 when Metzeler set out to serve a whole new market for the tire company. Drag racing. Plenty of mega-displacement hot-rodded v-twin bikes, are heading to race tracks to strut their stuff and what better place to stretch a bike’s legs than the drag strip? The only thing missing, was a Metzeler DOT tire purpose-built for the job. It isn’t missing anymore.
     Metzeler’s goal was a DOT drag-racing tire that utilized all the company’s proven technology. The U.S. Metzeler team challenged their best and brightest German engineers to build a drag racing tire that could compete - and win - in the extremely competitive AHDRA Series. Metzeler’s head R&D Engineer, Stephan Fischer, came over to have a look-see at the Gainesville event of 2005. “And I was immediately excited about the opportunity Metzeler had in this world of drag racing,” he says. He also knew that building a drag tire that worked and won would be full of new challenges and for the tire to have that Metzeler name on it it had to work well. The first 20 tires, air freighted in from Germany for the first race of the ‘07 season, answered all questions. The Dragtec works, and it wins.
     Fischer and his team of engineers pulled out all the stops on the Dragtec. They were able to incorporate Metzeler’s patented 0-Degree Steel Belt Technology combined with new and highly sophisticated and specialized compounds to produce a race winning tire. That patented 0-Degree carcass resists centrifugal growth and tire deformation while simultaneously creating a bigger and more stable contact patch. The Dragtec’s special drag racing compound is super soft. It’s designed to allow heat generation in the tire for maximum traction while still maintaining durability. All this took two years of research, development, engineering and testing but the work paid off. A class victory, with both finalists on the new tires at the inaugural race, is a strong entrance.
     “We saw a need here and filled it,” says Ron Bowen, Product Manager, Drag Specialties. “From the first race win here at Gainesville in 2005 on the super popular Racetec K-2 to Metzeler’s 15+ AHDRA National Championships in 2006. Now we have a purpose built tire that is ready to do the business. With a victory in the V-Rod Class in its first attempt, we know we have a product to be proud of.” The Dragtec is available right now. Drag Specialties has it (Part # 0302-0136), it’s available in the popular 190/50R-17 size and it’s designed to be used in combination with Metzeler’s Racetec 120/70ZR-17 front. Check with your Parts Unlimited/Drag Specialties sales rep.
     Bolt on an upgrade………Dragtec.