History Made at Reno by Jon Sharp and Lycoming

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Was That A Jet?

Jon Sharp did it again. He won a third straight Gold National Championship in the Super Sport Class at the 2008 Reno Air Races. On his way to the 2008 championship, Sharp also broke the race record with a speed of 392 mph, the single heat record with 393 mph, and, to the astonishment of the crowd at Reno Stead Airport and the field of competitors, a Sport Class qualifying record of 409.297 mph. The NemesisNXT, powered by a six-cylinder Lycoming Thunderbolt TIO-540 engine, blasted into a domain previously shared only by jets and the massive Unlimited Class racers.

Sharp's record qualifying speed assured him of pole position. From his 401 mph first lap of the opening race on Thursday, September 11, through the last lap of his record 392 mph Super Sport Gold race, except when he was lapping the field, the other racers had only a rear view of the NemesisNXT.

Of the phenomenal performance of the NemesisNXT, Todd Stoner, Lycoming's vice president of sales and marketing, stated "To be that far ahead of the field says a lot about the airframe design, Jon's piloting skills and the Lycoming power up front. It was truly an historic year for Jon and the Lycoming Thunderbolt Team."

Winning Team

For Team Nemesis, led by Jon and Patricia Sharp, the race starts not in Reno, but in the Mojave, CA facility where the sleek, molded carbon fiber, two place, retractable gear kit airplane is designed. The stunning NemesisNXT makes a powerful statement whether racing, taxiing or just sitting on the ramp.

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The Thunderbolt engine is Jon Sharp's choice as the perfect match to power the NemesisNXT. After completing his unprecedented record setting victory at Reno, Sharp kept his praise short and to the point, exclaiming simply, "What an incredible Lycoming Thunderbolt Engine!" He added, "I want to thank everybody back in Williamsport (home of Lycoming Engines) for the attention to detail that makes my engine scream!"

Dominant All Week

For Sharp and Team Nemesis, the first significant event of the 45th Annual National Championship Air Races was on Wednesday, September 10 during qualifying, when Sharp's unprecedented 409 mph run exceeded by 22 mph the qualification record he set a year ago. The NemesisNXT's record speed was nearly 34 mph faster than the closest competitor.

For the rest of the week, Sharp and his Lycoming Thunderbolt-powered NemesisNXT were dominant. Sharp made a clean sweep of each of the 6-lap heat races with a record 393 mph on Thursday, 388 mph on Friday, and 378 mph on Saturday. In all three Super Sport Class heat races, from start to finish, Sharp never relinquished the lead.

On Sunday, September 15th, Jon Sharp and Team Nemesis completed the sweep by winning the Super Sport Gold race with a record speed of 392 mph.

A Winning Tradition

Jon Sharp has a long history of success at Reno. This year's victory is his 14th Gold Championship. His original "Nemesis", a Formula One racer also designed by Sharp, won 9 consecutive championships from 1991 thru 1999. The original Nemesis is now on display in Washington, DC in the Smithsonian Museum.

At the concluding banquet held on Sunday evening, Jon Sharp received awards for the fastest NXT airplane, the fastest qualifying time for the Sport Class, and the top prize for his class, the Super Sport Gold National Championship. In his acceptance remarks, Sharp thanked his Nemesis team and his sponsors and again clearly cited his power of choice, the Lycoming Thunderbolt engine, looking into the audience and stating, "I fly a Lycoming Thunderbolt; you should too!"

For more information on Nemesis Air Racing and the NemesisNXT, visit www.nemesisnxt.com

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