Season 1
Kings of Nitro is an American reality television series produced by The Gamma Project for the Discovery Channel which follows Swiss drag racing giant Urs Erbacher and his crazy international family of nitro-loving, custom bike building drag racers.
The series premiered in Europe, the Middle East and Africa on the Discovery Channel on Thursday 29 May, 2008. It premieres in South Africa on Discovery at 17h30.
There are eight 60-minute episodes in the series.
Repeats
Fridays: 08h15
Saturdays: 06h00, 11h00
Synopsis
Welcome to the world of Swiss drag racing giant Urs Erbacher and his crazy international family of nitro-loving, custom bike building drag racers.
This reality television series follows the speed crazy Kings of Nitro as they seek to become European drag racing champions in 3 divisions - including the king class, 8000 horsepower Top Fuel Dragster - and domination of the European bike building world.
Their ultimate dream is to race in the big bucks American NHRA pro league.
With family pressures, money issues and non-stop technical problems, watch this intrepid team push harder than they ever have in their lives. Will they make it to the European finals and arrive in Las Vegas as European champs?
In Top Fuel Dragster, Team Erbacher races with the fastest, most powerful and loudest cars on the planet. In his 8000 horsepower dragster, Urs accelerates from 0 to 160 kph/ 100 mph in less than 1 second, pulling up to 5Gs.
On a good day he can complete the "quarter mile" (400 metre) race track in less than 4.8 seconds.
But drag racing is expensive and back in Switzerland, Urs' Fat Attack Custom Bike building shop finances the team's racing dreams. Here Urs and his fellow racers build some of Europe's most celebrated custom bikes.
Urs does his best to run a tight workshop, but with the distractions of racing, raising sponsorship for the team's American dream and family pressures, nothing ever goes quite to plan.
Buckle up for an extraordinary year of nitro-fuelled mayhem, comedy and action.
Episodes
Episode 1: Life In The Fast Lane
Urs' dream is to be crowned European Champion this year and take on the big boys in the USA. But with just a few weeks to go before the first Championship race of the season, Urs Erbacher still doesn't have enough cash to go racing.
So he's organising an open day at his custom bike shop in Switzerland and inviting along every millionaire biker he knows.
Urs' entire extended family of mechanics, engineers and racers turn up to entertain the crowds with test rides, burnouts and demonstrations of their dragsters – but the pressure's really on.
Urs and his uber-salesman Didi need to sell at least three of his 150,000 Euro custom Harleys to get the year off to a good start.
Next, tension runs high as Urs and his team of tattooed nitro-head men and women arrive at the famous Santa Pod drag strip in the UK for what turns out to be a highly explosive pre-season event.
Episode 2: Money Makes The Wheels Go Round
It's the start of the 2007 drag racing season and already Urs Erbacher is worrying about money. A massive engine explosion in pre-season has got his year off to the worst possible start.
It's going to take serious money to get back on track and that means selling a load of custom bikes.
But his youngest mechanic Sascha has other plans; he's bought a 1980s sports car and is spending all his time souping it up. The boss is not pleased, especially when he receives an audacious challenge to his own motor racing skills from his young apprentice.
Plus, Urs delivers a custom bike to a wealthy and successful client at Switzerland's most stunning top ski resort and tries to cut a deal for the sponsorship to fulfil his ultimate dream to race in America at the end of the season.
Will his dream go up in smoke?
Episode 3: Serious Fun
It's a week of high stress and big laughs at the Fat Attack workshop in the build up to two important drag races.
Harley Destroyer Champion and errant mechanic Sascha's attempt to find his own sponsor backfires, while salesman Didi is stuck in hospital with a recurrence of his serious leg injury.
All this leaves Urs stressed out and running round in circles – what could the team at the bike shop possibly come up with to cheer him up?
Sascha's soon off to the Czech Republic for his next Harley Destroyer race. With no Top Fuel Dragsters around, he revels in being the star attraction, but risks taking his eye off the ball.
Back in Arlesheim, a sexy bike photo shoot for a new advertising campaign is just the tonic Urs needs before he heads to round two of the European Championship in Finland.
With Urs' Pro Crew Chief unable to make the trip from the States, the team will have to prove they can go it alone.
Episode 4: Growing Pains
Urs Erbacher needs to evolve to make the grade as a professional drag racer. He starts by raising home support at a huge grass roots racing event in the Swiss Alps. Urs has only one thing on his mind – breaking records.
It's also the third round of the European Championships in Sweden and a chance to break away from the pack. But can his team continue the success of the last event in Finland?
Chief custom bike salesman Didi is furious after finding out that Urs used sexy female models to publicise his new bike. Didi thinks the bike business needs to raise its game and stop using cheap tricks.
Plus, young Harley Destroyer racer Sascha tries his hand at four wheel racing in the street legal hot rod he's been working on all summer.
Episode 5: Driving Ambition
Urs' season is on the brink – teetering between glory and failure. This week he begins an ambitious new custom bike project that could take him into the premier league of international custom builders.
And at Hockenheim in Germany Urs has to solve the technical problems on his Top Fuel Dragster, and seal the deal with his potential sponsor for racing in the States.
Urs' top bike builder Lo has been talking about building their own custom bike frame, based on racing technology, for years – but in a make or break year for the racing team, is now really the time to start on such an ambitious project?
In Germany, in front of a roaring crowd that embrace him as their own, Urs needs the race of his life to keep his driving ambitions on track.
Episode 6: Never Give Up
It's the European drag racing finals at Santa Pod in England and crunch time for Urs Erbacher. His American dream is so close he can smell it, but screw up in Santa Pod and it could all be over.
Last month, his European record was snatched by Andy Carter, and rival Lex Joon took what looks like an unassailable lead in the European Championship. But Urs never gives up.
Meanwhile, Didi, the chief salesman at Fat Attack Bikes is also having a tough week. He's off to the biggest custom bike event in Europe, but he doesn't have a star bike to enter in the prestigious best in show competition.
With most of the team off racing at Santa Pod, Didi's going to need all his cunning to get out of this mess.
Can Urs and Didi get their acts together in the craziest week of the year – and will Urs and the Top Fuel team pull off a miraculous last minute bid for glory?
Episode 7: Viva Las Vegas
It's the moment that Urs has dreamed of all his life. He's taking on the fastest race cars in the world – the Top Fuel Dragsters of the American professional league.
His sponsor has come through and the dragster has been shipped out at vast expense to
compete in this glitzy Las Vegas event. Urs' goal is simple – he can't expect to win, but what he needs is maximum impact.
This is his chance to get noticed - in front of a crowd of 100,000 fans and potential new sponsors – and to get financed to go Pro next year.
Just racing here is a result for the team. And they're determined to prove they've got what it takes to be competitive, and have fun while they're at it! It's David and Goliath time!
Episode 8: Dream Machine
Team Erbacher unveil the new custom bike they've been planning all series. After achieving his dreams on the track, Urs is back at Fat Attack, and he has just one goal: to build a revolutionary custom bike with sports bike performance, and pit
it against Europe's number one bike builder in a biker build off.
Urs has always dreamt big, but this time he's taken on Marcus Walz – possibly the only man in Europe with an ego bigger than his. Sparks are going to fly as they battle it out for the title of best bike builder in Europe.
Four years on the drawing board, 12 months to prepare, and just two days to put together, the story of its creation weaves together a sensational season of racing, revolutionary bike design, and the clash of two massive egos at the first ever European Biker Build Off.
A fitting finale to this season of Kings of Nitro.