The top European builders may be deadly serious about their craft, but they also have a sense of humor. Right now, 18 teams are getting ready for the first round of the Sultans Of Sprint race series, pitched as ?turbocharged flying carpets built and raced by creative gearheads.?
It?s the brainchild of ?Sonic? Séb Lorentz (below), proprietor of The Lucky Cat Garage. All races are an eighth of a mile long, will start with the customary flag girl, and require bikes to be under 1400cc.

Other than that, the regulations are wide open. There?s a bizarre mix of machines from BMW, Triumph, Ducati, Yamaha, Buell and Harley-Davidson?often boosted with turbocharger, supercharger, quickshifter and/or nitrous oxide injection systems.
The first round is next weekend at the Wheels & Waves festival in Biarritz, France. Here’s our pick of the machines to watch.
Young Guns Speed Shop of Switzerland will be entering a low-slung Moto Guzzi, with the magnificent name ?Ferdinand The Sparrow.? The nitrous-fueled 1200cc engine is taken from a 2007-spec Norge, and squeezed into a 1976 Le Mans frame.

A second Swiss entry comes from VTR Customs, who will be lining up their infamous ?Polizei? bike. It?s an ex-police R80 RT patrol bike, but this one is designed to break the speed limits?fuel injection and a Rotrex supercharger now feed the blueprinted engine.

Kingston?s Dirk Oehlerking is known for his decidedly unconventional machines?such as a Yamaha SR500 with a Porsche 930 top...