Written by Martin Hodgson
They call it ?group therapy for speed freaks on two wheels? and with the 2018 season just weeks away from commencing, the heavy hitters are rolling in for a fresh dose of petrol powered psychotherapy. The Sultans of Sprint drag race series will kick off in Monza, Italy, with a weekend of 1/8th mile action and one of the original campaigners is back again chasing glory. German BMW maestro Philipp Ludwig returns having spent the winter months fine tuning his steed at the small workshop that’s home to Team Kraftstoffschmiede. Now ‘Hercules’ is ready to slay them in style, defying the once beyond bland BMW R850R that left the production line in 1998.

In the early days of the series Phil ran an older 2 valve BMW he nicknamed ‘Catkiller’ but with its power threshold reached and always one to look outside the box, he went in search of a totally different motorcycle. Well, different so long as it was a BMW, as he’s made his name first restoring classic versions of the marque before taking them to the stratosphere of the custom scene with a whole range of various Bavarian bruisers. But with a day job to occupy his mind, the down time he gets in the shed had to be put to good use and going racing would bring the right mix of challenge, comradery and fun. Imagine going up against that in a race
Hercules saw action in the 2017 series and a top ten season finish shows the serious potential of the left field choice. ?The bas...