Lucas Oil continue JD backing. 29th March: UK Junior Dragster racer Brad Jackson is pleased at announce the continuing support of his sponsor
Lucas Oil for the 2013 UK
Junior Dragster Championship.
"I would like to thank Les Downey and the team in Anglesey for all the help and support which Lucas Oil have given to our team", says Brad. "I am also pleased to announce that Lucas Oil
will continue to sponsor the UK Junior Dragster Championship for 2013 and this a symbol of the commitment that Les Downey and Lucas Oil have shown in encouraging the young drag racing
fans and competitors in the UK. In agreement with SPRC the series will be named the Lucas Oil UK Junior Dragster Championship."
Brad's updated web site has gone live today at www.bradjacksonracing.com and there is also a new bradjacksonracing.com
Facebook page which will be updated over the coming days.
Coming soon: one kick-ass Daimler. 29th March: Robin Read tells us that there has been plenty going on behind the scenes with his legendary blown-Daimler dragster:
Following last years breakage and the subsequent discovery that the axle had all the best bits in it but was just not strong enough for the power and traction available, a new
axle has been sourced from Strange Engineering. Thanks go to Bob Stange at Strange for giving me a heavily discounted deal on the new rear end, to Geof Hauser at Hauser
Racing for assisting with advice on specification and shipping, and to Tom Prock at Venolia Pistons for the introduction to Strange Engineering.
Now that we have a strong rear axle with the correct gear ratio, the decision has been taken to complete the build of an engine whose development was started back in the late eighties.
My late father Jim Read had always been a secret sponsor of mine - it had to be secret because his views on the expense and danger of nitromethane were well known, and indeed he was
always reminding me that those nitro cars had broken better men than him or me! Also of course he was fielding his own Top Alcohol car and it wouldn't have been popular family wise for
him to be seen to support me financially when his own car was always eating up the budget. However he was also immensely proud of my efforts. When I was suffering problems damaging
the original cast aluminium cylinder heads because they were just too fragile when using nitro loads in the mid 90% range, Dad commissioned the machining of a pair of Billet alloy cylinder
heads from Bert Hopkinson. These took some time to complete and sadly Dad never got to see them. Unfortunately, due to other circumstances, the heads never got to run on an engine
although I did fabricate a new intake manifold for them .
This engine will now be built using a specially strengthened stock Daimler engine block and a billet crankshaft currently being manufactured by Arrow Engineering at Hinckley; thanks go
to Arrow for giving us a very good price and also completing the design element of the job free of charge. There will be a new set of rods from the latest specification alloy, thanks to
Mark Evans and of course Bert Hopkinson for these. The bottom end is finished with a new set of Venolia Pistons supplied courtesy of Tom Prock. There is much more to do but the
new motor will get completed and then we will really get aggressive with the tune-up and see just how fast the diminutive English 152 ci car will go!
There is still a requirement for a MSD Pro Mag 44 and also a larger fuel pump, ideally a 1200, along with a datalogging system. It has been suggested that direct drive may be the way
forward, so if anyone can help with that I would appreciate it. I haven't ruled out the possibility of a new car yet but this would depend on funding. To that end if anyone would like to
add funding for the car to get built and get some track time please get in touch.
While all this is going on I intend to run the car pretty much as it was last year but with the new axle. I would also like to get the new motor fired up and running this year, even if not in
anger at the track.
Something old, something new. 29th March: For many, Easter conjures up thoughts of brightly-coloured Easter eggs and chocolate.
At this weekend's Santo's Cranes Super 3 event at Australia's Willowbank Raceway,
ex-pat UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Steve Read is chasing another bright object - the win light.
For 'The Pom' and his opposition, it won't come easy - there's an NHRA Top Fuel champion amongst the field ready to take the Australian teams to task.
"We're ready", said Read, matter of factly. "Larry Dixon is a very experienced driver with a track record that is second to none. He also has Lee Beard in his corner - one of the
world's most accomplished nitro tuners. To us, it's all about the home-track advantage, and we need to make it count."
Read's campaign for the event title kicks off at 5:00 pm on Friday, 29th March in the three-round format, on a track that has given the Read Speed Racing team mixed results in the past.
"We ran a 4.69 here at the 2012 Winternationals, and we're confident that we can string together the numbers needed to put ourselves in contention this weekend", Read explained.
"There's no easy breaks in this weekend's line-up, and the opportunity to run alongside Dixon is something that I'm looking forward to.
"I raced for Santo for eleven years, and although I never got to meet Louie, it would be an honour to win the Louie Rapisarda memorial trophy this weekend."
Read's Easter campaign is also a case of something old, something new. "Something old" - we're going back to the old magnesium injector hat for this one race, while the carbon
fibre one is repaired after we found some wear in it during our warm-up last weekend, resulting in a higher idle", Read said. "Despite being an old style hat that isn't used in Top
Fuel any more, it has still taken us to a couple of our quickest runs ever, including the 4.68 when we debuted this car.
"Something new is that we are launching our brand new web site - www.readspeedracing.com, which I'm very
excited about. Up until now, we've reached out to our fans via Facebook, which still remains a fantastic tool to communicate with everyone, but adding the new web site will allow
us to have our own space on the web to promote what we do and share the story of Read Speed Racing."
Read hopes that this weekend's story includes a trip to the winner's circle at his home track.
Swift snippets. 29th March: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came
with the words "Coming back home to York this weekend!". If you know more, or if you would like to send your
own spy picture, then drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.
Meet the team. 29th March: Santa Pod Raceway's Marketing Manager Caroline Day writes to introduce the Nitro FM presentation
team at this weekend's Festival of Power: Paul Wright (aka Oz) of Shakespeare County Raceway's Shakey Sounds, John Fischer aka Ginger John,
resident DJ at The Edge nightclub Luton and presenter on Bedfordshire's Radio LaB 97.1 FM, and Nick Gay, Sportsman ET racer and community radio station
presenter.
"Our brand new team will host Santa Pod's radio station throughout this weekend and will broadcast from early each morning 'til late", says Caroline. "The airwaves will be supported
by the race commentary team Darryl Bradford and Colin Theobald with guests throughout each day. It's essential listening.
"You can have your say by texting POD and your message to 88222. This is not a premium service, depending upon your mobile phone supplier the text will either be free or charged
as a standard text message."
Whilst on entry forms, the corrected JDS entry form for Big Bang is now also available on the SPRC web site. This was purely a problem for the JDS Drag Series entries; all
other classes are fine.
Next Friday, 5th April, is the closing date for entry to Big Bang. However due to my clerical error with the entry form, JDS entries will be accepted up until 12th April.
The track crew at Santa Pod have been battling the elements over the past two weeks to carry out the sledding process on the new Santa Pod racing surface.
The preparation has been greatly restricted by constant snow, rain and very cold weather over the past ten days. With that said we are still very pleased with the way that
the track is shaping up and taking the rubber. However given the lack of track preparation in terms of sledding we know that the track will not be at the standard we had
hoped it may have been in time for the Easter event.
What I can say is that we are very confident that the track will be up to speed (and very fast speeds at that) by the time of the Main Event at the end of May, and given good
weather at that FIA / FIM Championship event I personally feel that we are going to see very good times in many classes.
SPR Festival of Power update. 27th March: We have also received a statement from Santa Pod Raceway regarding this weekend's event:
This weekend's Festival of Power will be going ahead as planned as it hosts the first round of the UK National Drag Racing Championships. The site team at Santa Pod are working tirelessly
to prepare the facility in very difficult conditions. We have, however, lost a few of our sideshows due to the ground conditions, namely the circus and the lawnmower racing (not enough lawn!)
With significant rainfall over the last few weeks and now the recent heavy snowfall, it will come as no surprise that most of the camping and parking areas are very wet and muddy. Certain
camping areas will be reserved for pedestrian access only and those vehicles will be accommodated on the nearest available areas of hard standing. We advise all visitors to come prepared with
the appropriate clothing and footwear for the conditions underfoot. Our parking marshals will endeavour to assist wherever possible should you encounter any difficulties. Conditions may not
be for the faint-hearted but, on a more positive note, the show line-up still looks great and we're all still set for a cracking weekend of entertainment!
Grandstand ticket holders please also note that due to the recent snow and continued low temperatures, we will only be opening the first section of the main grandstand as advised by our safety
crew. Seats are still available but it would now be advisable to book these in advance. Affected grandstand ticket holders will be contacted directly.
The UK's Mortsport Racing would like to welcome Callignite as a new major
sponsor on their No Hair Super Comp / Super Gas '69 Camaro. Jon Morton would like to thank Darren Field of Callignite.com for
his involvement in this season's racing.
Callignite.com is a specialist marketing agency aimed at small businesses looking for maximum exposure in today's ruthless market place. Callignite.com understand that it's never been
harder to establish your brand as a market leader and are here to help. Callignite.com specialise in Digital marketing (e-commerce, e-mail marketing and search engine optimising), web
design, print marketing, direct marketing, advertising, events and Guerrilla marketing. So if your looking to freshen up your web site, looking to draw in new business with a video advert,
boost your search engine rankings or even redesign a new logo then look no further: Callignite.com has it covered.
Mortsport Racing would also like to thank Luke at WOS Performance for his continued support this season.
Wosp manufacture starter motors, alternators, dynamos and dynators here in the UK. Between Luke and his dad there are over thirty five years' experience in manufacturing rotating
electrical products. With the racer in mind they have designed and developed a wide range of starter motors, alternators, dynators (alternators disguised as dynamos), distributors and
electric cooling fans. Check out www.wosperformance.co.uk for all the different vehicles and applications which they
can supply. Mortsport racing is a stockist for Wosp Performance and will be selling Big Block / Small Block Chevy Starter motors at the track at discounted prices, and can help with any
other enquires you may have.
A track in France: you can help. 27th March: Via our good friend Markus Münch of the der Beschleuniger
web site comes news that France's Association Trophée Dragster have taken a step towards securing a permanent drag strip and that drag racing fans
can all help it to become a reality:
ATD, who have been organising drag races on old airfields and so on for years, have the chance to own a strip at the Circuit Clastres
in the northwest of France which already hosts kart racing, motocross etc.
Click
here for a map of the location.
You can help by signing the on-line petition for a permanent drag strip, so that the local authority can see the necessarity of a drag strip in their region. Please
sign the petition which you can find by clicking
here and scrolling down. It will help a lot.
The ATD is planning to open the strip in 2015 if everything goes as planned.
Racepak announce European stockist. 27th March: Tim Anderson of Racepak has been in touch to let us know
that Europe has its first Racepak stocking dealer in the person of The Netherlands' Post & Dros.
"Post & Dros carry an extensive inventory of V-Net data loggers, cables, sensors, connectors and related components", says Tim. "In addition to attending all six of the FIA European Championship
rounds in 2013, they will also be on-site at a number of pulling and motorsports events throughout Europe, the UK and Scandinavia. Racepak's international customers are higly encouraged to contact
Post & Dros in order to fill product orders quickly and efficiently."
You can find Post & Dros' web site at www.post-en-dros.nl, E-Mail simply@post-en-dros.nl,
call +31 321 337573 or find them at Ambachtshof 7a, 8251KV Dronten, The Netherlands.
Web site updates. 27th March: As promised, Eurodragster.com US Correspondent Ed O'Connell has posted a gallery of shots from last week's
NHRA Amalie Oil Gatornationals at Gainesville. Ed's gallery is almost exclusively made up of shots which were not featured in the pit notes which he
sent from the event so there are a lot of new pictures to see. You can check out Ed's Gatornationals pictures at
www.surfphotonh.com.
Chris Dossett has again updated his excellent Trakbyte's UK Drag Racing History and this time he has gone way back in time.
"The earliest addition to the archives this time comes from 1899!", says Chris. "I don't think we're going to be able to beat that (I don't know, maybe Gerry Cookson's first
race - Ed). The most recent of the new entries comes from 1979 which in comparison is quite up to date. There's updates to a lot of the Hall of Fame entries for some of the
most famous racers from yesteryear, details of Dante Duce's return to Brighton in 1964, some UK racers taking a couple of trips to Sweden, seven years apart, and plenty of other
entries from Santa Pod, Blackbushe and Upper Heyford". You can take a look at www.trakbytes.co.uk.
This weekend's Eurodragster.com / Gold RV Perfect ET Award also starts at £50. The Perfect ET Award is available this
weekend during qualifying or eliminations in Super Pro ET, Pro ET, Sportsman ET, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street, Lucas Oil Junior Dragster (eliminations
only), 9.50 Bike, 8.50 Bike, the Wild Bunch, VW Pro, VW Sportsman and Junior Drag Bike, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect Run of the event. If not
won this weekend then the Award will be increased to £75 for Big Bang; if it is won then it will be reset to £50 for Big Bang. The Perfect ET Award
is presented in association with RV sales and service specialists Gold RV. For more details about the services which Gold RV can provide see Derek Flynn or visit
www.goldrv.co.uk.
To be eligible to collect the Perfect ET Award, racers are required to carry scheme decals (right), one on each side of the vehicle. If you
pull this weekend's first Perfect ET but are not carrying decals then there will be no discussion; we will not pay out and the next person to pull a
Perfect ET will get the money assuming that they are carrying decals. Eurodragster.com / Gold RV Perfect Award decals will be available in Signing
On this weekend; thanks to Fiona Flynn and to Eurodragster.com sponsor Peter Walters and
Team Reloaded for producing the decals and for bringing them to the track.
Swift snippets. 26th March: No news update yesterday so a day late for which apologies but a very Happy 21st Birthday for yesterday (Monday)
to Kieran Letts of SPRC's timing crew. Hope you had a great day Kieran and we'll see you in a few days.
Anne-Marie Seamarks has asked us to pass on son Matthew Seamarks' thanks for all the offers of help after his appeal for a motor.
Anne-Marie tells us that Matt has now sourced a motor with internals.
Herbert: Gone to the dogs. 26th March: UK Pro ET racer Keith Herbert tells us that Team Furyous are offering discounted rates for Husky rental for the Festival of Power.
Keith writes that his Huskies come fully trained to pull cars, sleighs etc for up to a quarter of a mile on just a bowl of Winalot per day and come equipped with harnesses muzzles and pooh
bags for those unfortunate mishaps on track. To take advantage of this offer please contact furyous64@dogging.co.uk.
"Also check out our new teamwear courtesy of TT Teamwear who are sponsoring Pro ET", says Keith. "The teamwear will be modelled extensively by Dan who will parade himself up and
down the fire-up road before each run.
"My prediction for winners of each class will be the ones with heaters in their cars. See you there."
Editor's note: We will catch up on our backlog of news with tomorrow's update, which will be posted this evening (Tuesday), and please keep the news coming to
news@eurodragster.com.
Santa Pod Raceway's gates will open at 8:00 am for Peak Performance Day entrants only; gates will open for the race at 10:00 am on Friday.
Signing on will open at approximately 9:00 am on Friday for the Peak Performance Day only; signing on for the race will open at 10:00 am on Friday.
Car scrutineering will commence at 11:00 am on Friday; there is no specific scrutineering order. Bike scrutineering will commence at 12:00 noon on Friday,
again there is no specific order.
Provisional running orders are now available for all three days and can be checked out by clicking here
or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Please note that these running orders are subject to change dur to weather or track conditions
or for any other reason deemed necessary by race officials.
Please note that if you did not send an SAE with your entry form then your tickets will be on the gate. When you get your tickets you will find that you have two pit passes: one for the
vehicle towing the race vehicle, and one for either your caravan or your motorhome. Please note that there should be no vehicles inside the pit area without a pit pass and that security will be
looking for offending vehicles.
Swift snippets. 24th March: Callum Pudge tells us that Outlaw Anglia Champion Cliff Griffin has fired up his motor for the first time
this year. "Bearing in mind it was a cold snowy morning, it went pretty well!", says Pudgey. "The engine has had a thorough freshen-up and has been treated to brand
new Brodix Heads and K&D Rocker Assemblies. This has certainly made a difference to the way the engine runs and sounds - roll on the (sunny) season start!". You can
see and hear for yourself at www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMsoANi3vS8 or click on the
picture at right.
After a record. 24th March: With less than a week to go to the first event of the year the UK's Steve and Jayne wells are all set for the new season with their fan-favourite
Team Orange Ford Pop pick-up:
After the abrupt end of our 2012 season at the Hot Rod Drags, where a mid-track blower explosion caused damage to the blower and inlet manifold, our aim for the 2013
season is to become the quickest Rover V8-powered vehicle over the quarter mile by beating Steve Green's long-standing record of 8.33 seconds. After one season with
a new supercharger we have already achieved 8.54 seconds with the blower 10% underdriven, so there's more to come yet.
As in 2012 we will be running mostly in Outlaw Anglia for 2013, however for Easter and the National Finals we will enter Super Comp. We will again be ably crewed by Malc
and Marcie Motler with the addition of Tom Suckling.
Ian and Sam at Camauto continue to support us with their ever-growing range of products which can be found at
www.camauto.com. For the new season they have supplied us with new lightweight Goodridge G-Line XF hoses
for our fuel and oil systems, saving almost a kilogramme in weight! New for this year, Camauto can now supply, service and refill Lifeline fire extinguishers - for details see
their web site or visit us in the pits.
We have always run Torco Oil in our engines as we believe it is the best oil available and we are grateful for the continuing support for 2013 of Steve Clark of
Nimbus Motorsport.
Swift snippets. 23rd March: The new season is a week away and UK Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer Alex McIntosh and the APM Racing team are looking forward to the Festival of Power,
"Because of the weather no testing has been done but the car has been checked over and a few updates carried out", says Alex. "I'm very glad to report continued product and technical support from
Webster Race Engineering,
Power Pour, and EPS.
Also supporting APM Racing this season are Bedford Blasting Services who can carry out any of your sandblasting needs big or
small". You can keep up to date with APM Racing by visiting their page on Rocket Hub
Rocket Hub.
Diana Macrae tells us that the spy picture of 15th March shows the new support vehicle of UK Sportsman ET racer Nigel Hale.
"Nigel has been really busy all winter working on his race truck, putting in new shiny things, Procharger etc", says DD. "The spy picture shows the new tow truck for his
truck if that makes sense! Nigel has also been building a trailer so that he can live at the Pod... I mean so he can tow his Chevy back and forth. The new truck has more
layers of paint to go on and a big new homely trailer with mod cons to go on the back. I don't think it will be ready for Easter, but it will be squeezing into a pit near you soon.
Nigel and Nick will both be racing their daily drivers at Easter whilst they finish their motors."
James Forster writes that Santa Pod Raceway have rescheduled the RWYB Beginners Dial In Day to Saturday 6th April. "We hope that everyone who was planning on attending
this weekend will be able to make the new date", says James. "For further information please visit www.rwyb.co.uk/dialin.php,
or to enter please contact me on 01234 782828 or E-Mail james@santapod.com.
We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to Dutch Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com Blogger Lex Joon. Have a great day Lex.
All change at Nitro FM. 23rd March: There have been many changes at Santa Pod Raceway recently and Caroline Day writes with
news of the latest reorganisation:
After significant contribution to the Nitro FM airwaves, presenter Nigel Fitzmaurice will be downing his microphone and taking a more leisurely role (!) within the Santa Pod's radio
station activity. Santa Pod's punishing event schedule combined with Nigel's admirable work for the Ambulance Service means that he will be passing the reigns over to new voices on the 96.2
FM frequency.
Nigel will still be an active member of the team and has agreed to develop the commercial side of the radio station from now on. Nitro FM has become an integral part of racegoer and spectator
experience and our vision is now to create a diverse team of presenters to cover the season's varied events. Julian Parsons remains as Producer in charge of the station's output but you'll just have
to keep listening to find out who joins the Nitro FM broadcast team as the season kicks in to action (SPR have since revealed this year's team to be
Paul 'Oz' Wright also of SCR, Nick Gay, and John Fischer - Ed).
Nigel welcomes any enquiries for programme sponsorship – you can contact him on 07966 024244. Commercial airtime adverts can be booked with me at the track office – you can contact me on
01234 782828.
Web site updates. 23rd March: With six Nostalgia Funny Cars trying to ready themselves for this years Dragstalgia, plus any others who want to turn up, Chris Eyre of the Time Warp
has launched a web site for the class at euronostalgiafunnycar.jimdo.com. "Although NFC is very much in its infancy as a class on these shores
we are very excited to be racing again, and with the extremely positive feedback from fans and racers alike we can't wait to be back at the track to entertain you all", says Chris. "However what with working on one of the
cars I don't have the chance to take many (if any) photos, so if anyone has any great photos which they would like displayed in the photo galleries, in return for full credit and a link to their web site, please E-Mail me via
the Contact page. We hope to see you all at the festival of power, be sure to stop by the Time Warp pit and say Hi, we may even have a heater on the go!"
Our good friend Alan Currans has updated his excellent Acceleration Archive with a third page of Benoit Pigeon's pictures, this time from Maple Grove
Raceway's 50th Anniversary meeting held in 2012. As ever you can access the latest update via the What's New link at
www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk.
The Festival Of Speed is the largest and most prestigious event of its kind in the world and the Press Day held to promote it has itself become a significant occasion on Britain's
annual motorsport calendar. More than 100 cars and motorcycles of every style and vintage were arrayed across the lawns in front of Goodwood House and notable figures such
as ex-F1 and motorcycle world champion John Surtees, sportscar legend Derek Bell and commentator emeritus Murray Walker mingled with journalists and celebrities assembled
there for champagne festivities on a chilly but mercifully dry Sussex morning. Emanuele Pirro, five times winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours, was particularly intrigued by the FGR
Motorsport Shockwave Black Mustang and spent many minutes in deep conversation with Jason Phelps and Crew Chief Dave Bryant.
Drag racing has been represented at the Festival before but this year marks the first time that a present-day nitro machine will have taken to the track. In 2002, Sweden's Michael
Malmgren joined a large contingent of British racers in action and on display. Historic machinery has been imported from America: in 2004, Fuel Altereds, and in 2008, a selection
of vintage dragsters for static display and cacklefest. Bob Riggle and his 1960s wheelstander, Hurst Hemi-Under-Glass, has appeared to great acclaim three times already and
will cross the Atlantic yet again together with a troupe of Fuel Altereds for this year's anniversary show.
The plan is for the FGR Mustang to share paddock space with several of the F1 teams appearing at the Festival. Twice a day the crew will prepare the car and warm-up the motor
ready for Jason to perform burnouts before the grandstands which flank the lower section of the hillclimb track. At Wednesday's Press Day, the Funny Car stood on display on the
lawns alongside star machines of all kinds – here, a Le Mans-winning Bentley Speed 8 and a Penske Indycar; there, last year's McLaren F1 alongside the Napier-Railton, Britain's
most renowned pre-war racing car, both in mirror-finish silver. Then the Shockwave Black body was lifted off and the car manoeuvred on to the path in front of the House, where it
was fired up. How the crowd jumped when Jason whacked the throttle!
Jason Phelps and Dave Bryant were assisted on the Funny Car crew by Rob Elsom, Inais Shepherd and Laura Edwards. Also in attendance were Trakbak Racing's CEO, Keith
Bartlett, and Santa Pod Raceway Operational Manager Neale Saunders, the architect of these Festival arrangements. As Quartermilehigh's David Coleman and Helen Todd committed
the scene to video, Keith Bartlett chose the occasion to mark the formal launch of this season's inaugural European Nitro Funny Car Challenge, which he discussed at length with
Goodwood's proprietor, Lord March.
There is one downside. 2013's Goodwood Festival Of Speed takes place on the same weekend as Santa Pod's Dragstalgia event. Previously, the Festival had been perfectly poised
one week earlier, but the unilateral decision by the FIA/F1 authorities to change the date of the German Grand Prix forced Goodwood to reschedule. Drag racing enthusiasts can still
enjoy the best of both worlds, however, with a day at Goodwood on Friday 12th July and a trip up to Santa Pod for Saturday and Sunday 13th and 14th.
Web site updates. 22nd March: The latest edition of the Speedgroup newsletter is now on-line and includes race calendars, details about the 2013 EDRS Series,
features, Eurodragster.com Editor's Diary and more. Check it out at
club.speedgroup.eu.
As a business we never wish to postpone an event and can only work with the forecasts which can be both accurate and sometimes wildly inaccurate.
The biggest issue is that decisions need to be made at least twenty four hours before an event to allow time to advise as many people and drivers as possible
and, inevitably means taking a calculated decision based upon forecasts and probabilities that can sometimes alter twenty four hours later. We would like to
apologise for the short notice and any inconvenience caused.
Our next Public Track Weekend is in the Cal Look VW Drag Day on 6th-7th April followed by the Custom Chrome Racing RWYB on 20th-21st April
when we hope that the weather will be more appealing.
SPR re-engage UK Event Safety. 21st March: As many of you will be aware, over the winter months
Santa Pod Raceway has been undergoing a significant management restructure and this has
included open and frank discussion with many contractors providing key services. Following recent meetings, Santa Pod can announce that they have once again been able to secure the
services of UK Event Safety to take care of health, safety and welfare matters at the venue.
Keith Bartlett, CEO of Trakbak Racing, says "Public safety is absolutely paramount at Santa Pod Raceway. We have been working successfully alongside UK Event Safety for a number
of years and after analysing and realigning our needs we are pleased to have been able to secure their services once again.
"Many of the events at Santa Pod attract an audience which represents the population of a medium sized town. To put this into perspective, the population of nearby Rushden is said to be
over 29,000 which is considerably less people than Santa Pod has at their key events. In view of this it is absolutely essential that we have a suitable safety infrastructure in place in order
that we can deal with public safety properly. The new package agreed with Glenn and Mandy Ramsden encompasses some new brand elements for Santa Pod including staff mentoring,
revised training programmes, a new approach to contractors, and much more detailed major emergency planning.
"As always with these matters there is a huge amount of work that goes on behind the scenes and this is no exception. Our backroom staff have already embarked upon embedding some
of the new safety procedures into our organisation, making it much more robust."
Swift snippets. 21st March: Many thanks to those who have sent tributes to the late Malcolm Olley. We have now posted a tribute
page which you can check out by clicking here or by clicking on the Features,
Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. If you would like to send a tribute to Malcolm then please E-Mail
tributes@eurodragster.com.
UK Pro ET racer Matthew Seamarks is urgently seeking a 350 ci Small Block Chevy after an unfortunate hydraulic
incident damaged the block and a head. If you have a spare 350 SBC then please call Matthew on 07403 117652.
US Top Alcohol tuner Will Hanna writes that he is available to help as a consultant for Top Methanol and Pro Mod teams. "I am available for the FIA Main Event,
the Sweden Internationals, the NitrOlympX, and the FIA European Finals", says Will. "I can also offer teams an opportunity to race in the US as I now have a shop available in the Houston area.
I can handle all maintenance and deliver the car to the race track for a team. Interested parties can drop me an E-Mail at
will.hanna@insidetopalcohol.com. I missed my friends in Europe last year. I hope to make it back there again."
We have been contacted by a reader urgently seeking original pictures of Rico Anthes' back-over Top Fuel Dragster wheelie at Santa Pod Raceway in the
1990s together with pictures of engine explosions in Top Fuel slingshots. If you have any pictures of Rico's back-over or an exploding slingshot then
please drop us a line at editor@eurodragster.com.
Something old, something new... 21st March: Drag racing artist Paul Whitehouse has been in touch with news of a couple of his latest paintings:
The first depicts the masterpiece that was the Rex Sluggett / Dennis Priddle Tudor Rose shown at Santa Pod in 1968. With its Keith Black 426 Chrysler Hemi, Halibrand wheels, nine-second 180 mph
performance, it's got to be one of the best looking and most iconic dragsters of all time.
The second brings us bang up to date with a painting of the F&A Racing Lucas Oil-sponsored Top Fueller driven by Chris Andrews. Chris commissioned me to produce the painting back in September 2011.
Chris presented the painting to Morgan Lucas at the NHRA season-opening event at Pomona as a Thank You from all at F&A Racing for their continued support.
The original painting of Tudor Rose is for sale as are a limited number of prints of both paintings. For further details, please contact me at
pwhitehouse3@aol.com.
Test Weekend coverage. 21st March: Eurodragster.com will be at Santa Pod Raceway this weekend to bring you coverage of the pre-Easter RWYB weekend
in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car.
The plan is for end-day galleries on both Saturday and Sunday with mouse-over captions of anything significant. The
Webster Race
Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcam will be on-line and will
broadcast live video and trackside audio as long as the track is open. Thanks to Maikel and our friends at
Doyousee.me for the provision of streaming services.
Please note that as this is the first broadcast of the year the webcam service is likely to be stop-start for a while on Saturday morning.
There will also be replays of earlier events on Saturday morning until the webcast proper commences.
We will post a direct Home Page link to our coverage as soon as it commences but in the meantime you can check out our
Festival of Power week coverage index by clicking
here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
"Our main motivation was to help racers get hold of the right materials for their race car or their fast street car windows", says Paul.
"We've added the Lexan tech data to the HSE sheets section of our tech zone and you can read it by
clicking here.
"Because we only supply the material and are unable to shape it for individual projects, we've teamed up with
Chris Isaacs Race Cars to produce with a step-by-step guide to making templates
and then making and fitting the windows. It is almost finished and we'll be getting it out there for the racers as soon as possible."
For your Lexan and Margard and all your plastic needs check out Direct Plastics' web site at
www.directplastics.co.uk.
Malcolm's racing career included a slingshot and a Jet Dragster which was a regular
show-stopper at National Drag Racing Club events in the late 1970s and early 1980s. One abiding memory of the Jet Dragster is NDRC marshals kneeling
alongside the mobile (literally) staging beams at Blackbushe to protect them from the jet blast. Malcolm's cars all carried the Pink Panther name.
Our deepest sympathies to Malcolm's family and friends. If you would like to send a tribute to Malcolm then please E-Mail us at
tributes@eurodragster.com and we'll post it here.
Fielding multiple racers? 19th March: Yvonne Tramm of Santa Pod Racers
Club has been in touch to remind racers that if they intend fielding more than one driver or
riders in the same vehicle in the same class in the UK this season - for example, one driver in a car at the
Festival of Power and then a different driver in the same car at the Springspeed Nationals - then they should
let both SPRC and APIRA know so that Championship points can be allocated to a team rather than to individuals.
If you are going to field such a team this season then please E-Mail Yvonne at
ytramm@africonnect.com and APIRA via Shakespeare
County Raceway at enquiries@shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk
by next Wednesday (27th) giving team name, driver or rider names, and race number.
A late change of mind. 19th March: Swedish Pro Modified racer Adam Flamholc has been in touch to let us know of a last-moment change to his
plans:
The Pro Mod car was supposed to leave the US in a container tomorrow. That's not gonna happen. After listening to our sponsors Hurst Boiler, Amalie oil, Cleanpipe, Autoshop, Performance
Plus, Leanders, JA IT Hjalp and Custom Graphics we have decided to go to Valdosta in Georgia for round two of the ADRL series on 13th-14th April. After that race we will decide if the car
goes back, or if we can get enough funding to do all ADRL event this year as well!
It's like one of our sponsors said: "To ship the car when you're number one in points doesn't make any sense at all".
The Funny Car is already in Malmö so we will race that one in FIA for sure.
It'll be great if we can make this happen, because half the crew wants to race in the US and the other half wants to race in Europe.
Does it make any sense?
Makes perfect sense to us, Adam.
Dare you mess with the Tominator. 19th March: Following the purchase of Li'l Alien from Billy Everitt at the end of the 2012 season, UK Junior Dragster racer Thomas Cook-Abbott has been getting
The Tominator ready for the 2013 season. Dad Mark writes:
Having purchased the Junior Dragster from Billy, a trailer from Wayne Jackson, and the motorhome from Mike Lacey, Team Tominator finally came to completion on Sunday when, with the
help of John and Billy Everitt along with their Crew Chief Dayle, the car was made ready for the season.
Thomas would like to thank John, Dayle and Billy without whose help and bundles of knowledge we would not have been able to be ready for the weekend; Andy Fensome for the help, advice,
encouragement and EBay links for all things Junior Dragster; Andy Wheeler for bringing some bits back from the States, and not forgetting all those in the Junior Dragster family who have helped
us from 2010 to today.
Team Tominator is here and ready to race, see you all at the track.
eXplosion folds. 19th March: Courtesy of Jeroen Dondorp comes the shocking and very sad news that The Netherlands' eXplosion Drag Racing
Club is no more. At Sunday's special meeting no-one stepped forward to join the board so the Club, which has been in existence since 1971,
will fold.
Drag racing will still go on at Drachten organised by Xpo Events; this year's dates in June, July and August will be honoured. You can read more at
www.explosiondragracing.com.
Eurodragster.com and eXplosion always enjoyed an excellent working relationship so our thanks and best wishes to all members of the late Club.
Swift snippets. 19th March: Her Majesty the Queen Carole Ismail of Race Control asked us to say a big Happy Birthday to SPRC marshal
James Ingram. We remain your humble servants, ma'am; have a great day James.
Dragster sought for TV ad. 19th March: UEM European and ACU UK Top Fuel Bike Champion
Ian King has been in touch on behalf of a party seeking
a dragster for use in a TV advertisement:
One of my team supporters runs a company with a collection of vehicles that are hired out for TV, film and advertising shots.
He has just been asked by a client in Romania to supply a rear engine dragster for a commercial to be shot inside a clean studio environment that will be setup like a kind of a high tech laboratory.
The commercial is for a household cleaning product and the car will be set-up in the background of the action, to represent power and speed - the two main characteristics of the product.
The car will be stationary in pretty much all the frames. It will probably need to be raised on a hydraulic elevator platform just to feature its presence in some of the frames. The car does not need
to be state of the art just a dragster with a rear engine of any type and aspiration.
The opening shot has the car coming into the shot, one or two metres, like the last part of its movement until it stops. There will be a really slow movement having the character of the commercial
(a TV presenter) in the cockpit.
One other important thing is that for branding purposes, they will need to wrap the body panels in two different sets of colours to match the branding of the different products advertised. This is
something simple and fully reversible.
All transport costs, accommodation and arrangements will be covered, and a payment of around £750 per day over three to four days of the shoot that will be over the Easter weekend. If
the dragster is twenty one feet or less in length they will transport the dragster in their own carrier vehicle to Romania.
If you are interested then please get in touch with Ian at ian@kingracing.com.
Denmark's Top Fuel owner and driver Stig Neergaard was a spectator on Sunday, commenting on the tricky track during his attempts to qualify. Stig was frustrated with three rounds of tire smoke
and one early shut off. His next event will be the FIA Main Event after some testing in the last week of April at the eighth-mile track at Mosten in Denmark.
Rushden's Andy Bissett told me about his new position with John Force Racing. After starting his racing career as a crewman on Dave Wilson's Nemesis TMD for seven years, he served as clutch
specialist on Ashley Force's Top Alcohol AFD car for two years, then spent four years as clutch specialist on Ashley Force's Nitro Funny Car, a year as clutch specialist on John Force's Funny Car, and one
year on John's car responsible for racks and manifolds. He is now Team Leader on Courtney Force's Nitro Funny Car.
Andy's duties include co-ordination of crew members to assure that between-round servicing is accomplished, helping out where needed on servicing, and maintaining the ignition, Race Pak and
clutch systems. He is also responsible for mixing the nitro. Andy pointed out that the nitro percentage is a critical element in maintaining a constant horsepower in the engine and is key to adjusting other
elements of the tune-up. The car often enters the staging lanes with a heavy nitro percentage and, based on weather station readings immediately preceding the run, methanol is added as required to
maintain the required horsepower. During Saturday's qualifying, Courtney's car was shut off on the start line due to an issue on the track. Andy had to rush back to the pits for more fuel, not because the car
might run out of fuel on the run, but because of the weight of nitro, ten pounds per gallon, the additional fuel would ensure that the car would not be light at the scales.
When the body is lifted on the start line after the burnouts, Andy (crouched under the body, above left) is responsible for showing the dashboard section of the Race Pak unit to Crew Chief Ron Douglas and then removing the unit from the car
rather than giving the three-pound unit a ride down the quarter mile.
Courtney Force defeated John Force in round one of eliminations but lost to Del Worsham in round two.
Swift snippets. 18th March: Malta's Duncan Micallef has prepared for his Top Fuel Dragster ride at next week's Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway
by enrolling some new crew members for 2013. MDRA Secretary Jason Camilleri tells us that duscissions are still ongoing about further events this
season although the FIA European Finals is confirmed. Duncan has also been busy on a Facebook page at Diuncan TF Micallef plus a new web site at
www.duncanmicallef.com. Visitors to Duncan's pit at the Festival of Power weekend will be able to pick up this
decal; Jason recommends visiting the pit early as they will run out fast.
Dave Riswick of JWR is seeking help in finding parts to complete the restoration of the legendary Mr Six dragster to cacklefest condition. Donovan parts, wheels, slicks and front tyres
are amongst parts sought. For full information or to offer help check out www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk/mr/six.html.
Alison Bohannon has been in touch to ask us to wish a huge Happy Birthday to her husband, Shakespeare County Raceway Track Announcer and all-round
good guy Barry Bohannon. "I love you TMD" says Ali, assuring us that this is not a reference to long thin things. Have a great
day Barry.
The 6.024/242.84 run in the final qualifying session got them into the field in eleventh position. Adam drove through early tyre shake and described the run as "Lazy", commenting that the track
was better than it had been all weekend. There was no damage to the engine as they prepared to face Rickie Smith in the first round of eliminations.
Adam went red by 0.002 and was up in smoke heading to the centre line in his first round loss to Rickie Smith. The plan is now to pack the Pro Mod up for a return to Sweden with the crew this week.
Danish Top Fuel Dragster racer Stig Neergaard's tyres went up in smoke early in his Q3 run of 6.055/110.54 leaving him outside the field. Prior to Q4, Stig stated that Q3 produced no engine
damage and that a problem was found and corrected. He was hoping to "Put the pedal down" for a complete run in Q4.
Unfortunately Stig's tyres again went up in smoke early in Q4 running 5.080/145.74 leaving him outside the field in twentieth position.
What if? 17th March: UK photo-journalist and graphic designer Mark Gredzinski has been in touch to show us his latest modelling masterpiece, based
on a "What if?":
The origins of this model go back to a reasonably accurate but basic kit produced by MPC in the early 1970s based on Don Garlits'
first rear-engined dragster. I bought it in 1981 with the intention of applying some basic detail. Having finally finished it after over
thirty years of revisiting it, the project had escalated into an attempt to apply every control and fluid system which would appear
on an actual car. Also, I wanted to give it a period correct identity and therefore used some aftermarket decals earmarked for a
1971/72 Blue Max Mustang Funny Car. I wondered what it would look like had the Blue Max team ventured into Top Fuel at this
time.
The image of the car is legitimate since driver Richard Tharp had plenty of Top Fuel experience in Texas prior to piloting Funny Cars
and the Blue Max team eventually ventured into the Top Fuel ranks for real in 1979 with Dave Settles driving.
I would like to say that with my model making experience over the years the car was straightforward to do, but it was not.
The hardest part was the Crower injection system and blower assembly with all its linkages and fuel lines. This is less than an
inch long and comprises over one hundred parts and took much research to learn how it all went together. Final assembly of
the fuel lines into tiny home made fittings and fuel distribution blocks using Swiss watchmakers needle-point tweezers was an
eye-watering trial. But having completed it, I felt able to tackle just about anything in future as this was just about the most
intricate thing I had done to date. In all, I added around four hundred and fifty components of my own to the basic kit items.
These include oil pressure gauge, brake lines, clutch linkage and all steering arm bolts.
My next model will have over five hundred parts added and the one after that is even more intricate since it's in a bigger scale
with a scratchbuilt Donovan engine. At the moment I have been corresponding with an American model kit company who have
been impressed with my pattern-making and artwork so hopefully I can do something with them later in the year. In the meantime
I have more engine parts and axles to make for future more accurate projects.
Flying the flag. 17th March:Shakespeare County Raceway, in association with their
chosen charity Soldiers off the Streets, successfully attended the very busy
Touchwood Shopping Centre in Solihull on Saturday 9th March for a joint promotional event which included the
display of two eye-catching cars.
The first vehicle was a race prepared V8-powered highly modified Ford Pop belonging to drag racer Simon Barlow of the Orange
Pop drag race team. Simon was supported all day long by members of his race crew, who had taken time out of their busy schedules to attend. Members of the public stared in disbelief
and wonderment at a car which regularly does the quarter mile from a standing start in 8.8 seconds at over 158 mph. Simon and his crew worked feverishly handing out hundreds of hero cards
as well as answering questions.
The second vehicle was Shakespeare County Raceway's very own 1989 IROC Z Camaro, a 435 horsepower street legal car which had just completed an eighteen-month total rebuild the day
before its attendance at Touchwood. People who stopped to look at the Camaro were given the chance of winning two free tickets to any event of their choosing during this, the track's
fortieth anniversary year, by completing a simple contact form. The lucky winner, picked at random by the manager of Costa Coffee, was thirteen-uear-old Jordan Williams from Shirley. When
Jordan was later informed of his win, he could not believe his good fortune and shrieked "Mum, I've won!".
The lads from Soldiers off the Streets, Keith Munnery and Neil Thomas, worked hard all day raising money by selling wristbands, talking to visitors, and raising awareness of the work they do
by helping homeless ex-service personnel. A total of £565 was raised on the day and the event was hailed as a great success by all concerned.
Shakespeare County Raceway would like to publicly thank Helen Brown at Touchwood Shopping Centre for being so helpful and for making our attendance possible.
Stig's plans for the 2013 FIA season include definite stops at the FIA Main Event and Tierp, and competing at Alastaro contingent upon his position in the points
standings. He will be concentrating on a single dragster operation whilst helping his crewman Henrik run his Top Methanol Funny Car, hopefully licencing before
the FIA Main Event. During the off season, Stig sold two of his dragsters, one to Johnny Nilsson to race in South Africa and the other to a racer from Iceland.
Swedish Pro Mod racer Adam Flamholc arrived in Gainesville after winning his first ADRL race last week. He is currently the points leader in the ADRL Pro
Mod series. Adam said the set-up for the car at this quarter-mile NHRA event is basically the same as his eighth-mile set up. His car always runs very strong in the
first eighth mile but is not as strong on the back end as several other Pro Mod cars entered at Gainesville.
Adam had planned an aggressive full run for the first qualifying session, saying "You have to go all out each run in this type of competition". He had made a 5.95
run in testing at Bradenton earlier in the week and predicted a 5.90 bump spot for this event. Adam ran a 7.376 in Q1, launching had and running strong to
half track when the engine was damaged. Servicing the engine revealed a broken rocker arm and bent valve; engine repair and reassembly were completed
three minutes before the next call to the lanes, with no time to fire the engine. The crew was still checking fuel lines as the car rolled to the head of the paring lanes.
The car crossed the centre line early in the run, but Adam is currently qualified sixteenth based on his first run.
Adam plans to contest the entire FIA series this year in his Top Methanol Funny car which is already in Sweden. He had planned to have the Pro Mod car shipped
back to Europe on Tuesday, and he would drive both cars in the FIA series, but that plan may change depending on Adam's performance at this event. A decision
will be made tomorrow night.
Benoit Pigeon got in touch from the USA to let us know that Stig's engine fireball made him a star of the ESPN3 coverage and won him an interview a couple
of minutes after it happened.
Ed will be back with more pit notes and you can stay in touch with Stig's and Adam's progress courtesy of our Drag Race Central friends at
www.dragracecentral.com.
Szabb's pasta backing. 16th March: Hungarian Pro Stock Bike racer Szabolcs Borzay has been in touch
with a workshop picture of his Suzuki GSXR bike which is being prepared for 2013:
We are planning to race in the Hungarian Championship and some UEM races with my all-new 1640cc V&H motor. We have kept our old sponsors such as X-Bike,
Suzuki, Pure Solve and Mugen Race, and I found one new company from Italy, the pasta Tortellino, who have never supported motorsport before!
The SFI are in town... 16th March: Lena Perés says that ME Racing organised last weekend's Swedish stop on the SFI European Recertification Tour which
took place at Persåkers Speed Shop. About twenty people were involved in helping the SFI Team and it all went very smoothly.
"I was a bit afraid that we were going to have the car full of bellhousings on the trip back home, as there were new rules about liners", adds Mats Eriksson. "But there were no problems.
We will come back with more information about those rules in the near future. I would also like to thank all those volunteers who come back year after year to help the SFI team and
ourselves to make this work as smoothly as possible.
"As usual we try to organise a treat for those people who do all that hard work for nothing. This year we had a visit to Sparreholms Castle and took a look at their fantastic museum
which has an exceptional car and jukebox collection. It is well worth a visit if you have the opportunity.
"We also want to thank the SFI team who make this tour every year, so that all of the European racers can save shipping costs on all the equipment which has to be checked. Big thanks
to all."
The American Super Stock drag racing series has now been running for twelve years, regularly hosting sixteen and thirty two car fields. It attracts newcomers to drag racing, including a good number of younger
chaps, and ladies too; whilst other more seasoned (grey-haired) racers continue competing year after year. A/SS has the right mix of competitiveness and fun and provides an excellent opportunity for anyone
with an American car to race with a chance of winning.
A/SS rolls with the times; the Championship used to be heads up, the outcomes were becoming predictable, so it changed to dial-your-own handicap and the competitiveness and fun continues. For 2013, there
is another radical change. Although prize money for the Championship is set to continue, most of the sponsorship fund will be diverted to provide the Big Deal for those who want to race in American Super Stock:
no race fees! As the class organisers state: "This is a big help to drivers, right across the board, and it's fair for all who compete. It helps us all, and the class too, and it's a great opportunity for rookies to get
involved."
As well as classic muscle cars, keeping very much to the spirit of the class, late model American performance cars are also welcome. A/SS is a very inclusive class, with ETs ranging from nine to eighteen seconds.
The class has seen several rookies serve time and move up to classic muscle cars and quicker times. But it is also a great opportunity for more seasoned drivers, with strip-serious American cars, to have some
fun and competition.
Dates for the 2013 Championship are:
1st April (Easter Monday)
Easter Nationals
American Super Stock Round 1
5th May (Sunday)
Super Street Shootout
Round 2
6th May (Bank Holiday Monday)
UK Open Nationals
Round 3
26th-27th May (Bank Holiday weekend)
UK Summer Nationals
Sunday 26th Round 4
Monday 27th Round 5
7th July (Sunday)
Sportsman Nationals
Round 6
25th-26th August (Bank Holiday weekend)
National Hot Rod Reunion
Sunday 25th Round 7
Monday 26th Round 8
22nd September (Sunday)
UK Northern Finals
Final round
A/SS organizers and drivers are indebted to their sponsors, without whom the American Super Stock Big Deal would not be possible. We urge drivers and supporters to try to do business with the class sponsors
Adrian Flux, Transaxle Services, Total Seal Piston Rings, Beyond Marketing Services, Billadeau Speed And Automotive, American Car Magazine, Engine Data Analysis, Houlston Racing, Instant Property Services
Limited, J & Ms Fabrications, Mint Motors, M. Green Fabrications, Neimantas Jewellers, Performance Unlimited, Preston's Dairies, Supanova, Vitesse Labelling Ltd, Wasp Speed Shop, W. Drake Ltd, York Box Ltd,
Youhill Machinery Ltd.
All rounds of the Championship are held at York Raceway. For further information please go to www.americansuperstock.co.uk and
to download paperwork and entry forms visit www.americansuperstock.co.uk/events, and we look forward to seeing you at
the track!
NBParticipating cars and their appropriateness are at the organiser's discretion. Gate admission still applies at £12.50 per adult, race licence and Club membership required. Drivers wishing to race in other
classes are required to pay race entry for those classes. Motorsport can be dangerous.
Don't forget that you can stay up to date with the news from York Raceway on the UKDrag.net Blog.
Swift snippets. 15th March: European fans have someone to cheer on at this weekend's NHRA Amalie Oil Gatornationals at Gainesville
as Stig Neergaard (Top Fuel Dragster) and Adam Flamholc (Pro Modified) are contesting the event, Adam coming off five-second
quarter-mile testing after his ADRL victory at Rockingham last weekend. Eurodragster.com US Correspondent Ed O'Connell is on-site at Gainesville
and will be sending us pit notes and pictures, and you can stay in touch with results courtesy of our Drag Race Central friends at
www.dragracecentral.com.
The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the
words "When it's finished you won't be able to miss it in the pits". If you know more, or if you would like to send your
own spy picture, then drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.
Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us the final version of the official entry list for the Festival of Power , which takes place
at Santa Pod Raceway on 30th March-1st April. You can check out the Festival of Power entry by
clicking here or by clicking on the
Event Coveragelink on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Shakespeare County Raceway has recently been approached by Avalon TV and researcher Chris Taylor regarding a forthcoming TV documentary about drag
racing in the UK. Chris is looking for massively passionate people involved in drag racing, people who have an interesting story to tell and who may have big plans for this
coming season. The programme will be a warm, light-hearted and enjoyable documentary about drag racing. Chris would love to hear from you on 0207 598 7380 or
E-Mail chris.taylor@libertybell.tv.
All welcome to SPR Bracket lesson. 15th March: Santa Pod Raceway are holding a Beginners' Dial In Day at the Run What You Brung next Saturday, 23rd March. James Forster writes:
The Beginners' Dial In Day is open to anyone who has never competed in a National ET class. The aim is to not only educate and train attendees but also offer the chance to give it a go
with both qualifying and elimination sessions. RWYB rules apply so you don't need to worry about abiding by any class rules, an MoT will suffice! The beauty of dial in racing is that it
really doesn't matter what you drive, you can race and be competitive in anything. Helmets are required for anyone travelling faster than 110 mph at the finish line.
Come along and give it a go, you it really will refresh your appreciation for the sport and you may even get bitten by the bug!
Dynodaze support SCR weekend. 14th March:Shakespeare County Raceway have been very
busy bees over the long winter season and have secured yet another exciting association, this time a partnership with the Hinckley, Leicestershire based company
Dynodaze. This well established-performance outlet have agreed to put their name behind one of the Raceway's
Public Track Weekends on 8th-9th June. The Dynodaze Public Track Weekend will run alongside a tractor pull event making this year's 40th Anniversary event schedule one
of the most exciting years in recent times for the Warwickshire drag strip.
The team, headed by business partners Daniel Harris and Richard Ellis, were approached by the track in January with a view to supporting the June event, and they eagerly
jumped at the chance, seeing it as an excellent opportunity to further expand their rapidly-growing business profile. The main portfolio of the business is a two wheel drive
V-Tech dyno test facility, which is further supported by a remapping service courtesy of Htech Elite. The dyno is capable of handling cars up to 1000 bhp, but to date the
most powerful car tested has been a Time Attack Nissan Skyline, which managed to achieve that magical 1,000 bhp figure. As well as the engine and custom build services
on offer, Dynodaze also sell and fit Milltek Exhausts and have a highly competitive labour rate of £25 per hour. Well over a thousand customers so far have entrusted
their valuable vehicles into the very capable hands of Dynodaze, and hundreds of customer car photographs now adorn their walls.
The company also has a huge Facebook following with over five hundred fans watching the company's Open Nights, with live updates posted as runs are performed. Dynodaze
will also go that extra mile by answering any questions about the dyno process as well as any modifications made to the vehicle in question. Dynodaze have tested everything
imaginable to date, and not just those vehicles in the modified scene. American cars and even a couple of modified diesel pick up trucks have been through the dyno bay.
SCR staff recently attended one of their Open Nights and were very much impressed by the friendly, relaxed atmosphere afforded to those customers who had turned up to
find out exactly what their cars were putting out at the wheels. In fact the whole evening's atmosphere was very much the same as that found at Shakey. Whilst we were on
site we witnessed several dyno runs, including that of a brand new modified Vauxhall Astra VXR 2.0 turbo, which made an extra 52BHP over stock, with its Stage 1 remap and
Piper exhaust.
Typically, a customer will turn up and, after signing the disclaimer, will opt for one of the three test packages on offer. The vehicle is then secured to the rolling road unit by
straps which are threaded through the lower arms, which is a far more secure method than using the towing eye and to date there have been no disasters. A huge fan is
employed to carry out cooling duties during test runs and those vehicles fitted with carbon fibre bonnets have them secured in order to stop them blowing away, such is the
force of the fan. Vehicles are then calibrated to the dyno, by running them up to 3K RPM on the vehicle's tachometer. Tests are performed over two dyno test runs and, dependent
on the package chosen, figures for power/torque, boost and air/fuel mixture are determined. Danny advises customers to opt for the air/fuel test if remapping is to be carried out as
this can be crucial tuning information. Customers then receive a detailed printout on completion of the two runs and often get free advice thrown in, as well as a free sticker! One of
the more enlightening points raised, was the advice to use a quality fuel like Shell V Power and not one of the cheaper Supermarket fuels of which Dynodaze will not even entertain
the mention.
Test results are retained in the computer for future reference, which can be an ideal starting point for those embarking on the modification route, as modifications
completed by those without the necessary skills and knowledge can have a surprisingly detrimental effect to performance.
The modified car scene has been steadily increasing in popularity over the last two years and big numbers of attendees are expected over the race weekend, in addition to those
loyal customers of Dynodaze. So why not join the cruise to Shakey and get yourself a slice of the performance action.
To find out more about Dynodaze, take a trip over to the web site at www.dynodaze.com where you will find a lively
forum, visit Facebook.com/Dynodaze, or better still give Danny a call on 07775 646509. Business hours are
8:00 am to 5:00 pm weekdays with extended hours on Wednesday 7:00 am to 10:00 pm, and 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on Sunday. Dynodaze customers are very much looked after,
especially on Sundays when food is served! Don't forget to tell 'em that Shakey sent you.
Swift snippets. 14th March: If you fancy a ready-made Nostalgia Dragster then Ray Irish's finished Competition Coupe is for sale
on our Jeff Bull Race Engines -sponsored
Swap Meet. The 125" wheelbase dragster totes a 383 Small Block Chevy and is tagged to 8.50.
You can find out more under Cars For Sale.
12:50 Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 7 of the
official entry list for the Festival of Power , which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 30th March-1st April.
You can check out the Festival of Power entry by
clicking here or by clicking on the
Event Coveragelink on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Festival of Power entry is still open but
is now subject to a Late Entry penalty; to download the entry form visit the Entry Formspage of the Santa Pod
Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
Swedish Top Methanol FC racer Leif Andréasson has been in touch to let us know that he will not be racing at this weekend's NHRA Amalie Oil
Gatornationals in Gainesville. "The new Funny Car body (replacement for body damaged in a tyre explosion at Santa Pod) arrived at Team Eagle this Monday, which makes it impossible
to make the journey to Florida in time", said Leif. "Bret will install the body and then we will race in Las Vegas". We are expecting another announcement from Leif soon; stay tuned.
Although he now has one less pit note victim, Eurodragster.com US Correspondent Ed O'Connell is headed for Gainesville with cameras, notebook and pen and
we will start to reap the benefits of his dedication to the cause very shortly.
Blown-alcohol altered racer Joe Bond is seeking a set of short dragster zoomies to fit BAE hemi fuel heads on the Nuthin' FancyTopolino. If you can help then please
get in touch with Joe at jrbond1471@gmail.com or call him on 07733 344911.
Nicola Hart of Santa Pod Raceway tells us that hospitality packages (starting at £79 plus VAT) and Two Seat Dragster rides
are still available for the Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway on 30th March-1st April. For more information check out
www.santapod.com or give Nicola a call on 01234 782828 (outside the UK +44 1234 782828).
Courtesy of Swiss Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Urs Erbacher come these shots of the Fat Attack team working on
one of his pair of Top Fuel Dragsters. Urs tells us that Noah Stutz' previously-announced Top Fuel licencing will take place at the SPRC Summernationals
at Santa Pod Raceway in June with a view to running in competition at the NitrOlympX at Hockenheim in August. Urs himself plans to go for another FIA
European Championship title pending sponsorship which is currently being worked upon.
The proposed new Bike ET class, which has outings at Shakespeare County Raceway at the Springspeed Nationals and Open Sport Nationals,
now has its own Facebook page. Tony Smith tells us that the page tells you all you need to know and can offer any help needed. You can check out
the Bike ET Facebook page by clicking here.
Web site updates. 14th March: The latest edition of ACAG Updateis the biggest yet with forty six pages including reviews and photos of the work carried out on
the Allard Chrysler Dragster since the beginning of the year, details about how Booth-Arons recreated the 354 Chrysler Hemi, and extra nostalgia news. Check it out at
www.drceurope.co.uk/acag/mar2013.
Our good friend Alan Currans is pleased to welcome professional photographer Benoit Pigeon as the latest contributor to his excellent Acceleration Archive. "Benoit has kicked off his
collection with two pages of shots taken at the American Drag Racing League's Dragpalooza IX meeting held at Rockingham Dragway, North Carolina last weekend", says Alan. "The first page is
a superb pictorial record of Adam Flamholc's stellar performance at this meeting. As many readers will be aware Adam qualified number one in Pro Mod with a career best ET, and then marched
right through the field to take the win. The second page contains a large number of pictures of the other car classes being contested most of which are not run in Europe. The new pages can be
accessed from the What's Newlink at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk."
If racers have any queries about Springspeed Nationals entry or about the event in general then please call 01789 720180 (outside the UK +44 1789 720180) or E-Mail
enquiries@shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk. All ticket and advance ticket enquiries
should be directed to 01789 414119.
SPR resurfacing update. 13th March: Santa Pod Raceway and Trakbak Racing Ltd CEO Keith Bartlett has been in touch
with an update and pictures of the resurfacing of Santa Pod Raceway, which was finished at the weekend:
The track re-surfacing was completed late last Sunday afternoon after a scary morning battling the elements and cold weather.
These conditions were not ideal for laying the final top coat in the remaining lane still to be completed. We were ready, on the track,
to give the final laying the green light at 6:30 am on Sunday, but we had to be sure we would have a window of at least three to five
hours of no snow and slightly higher temperatures to go ahead. That that window came at around 11:00 am and with the quarry on
full alert and twenty lorries on the road to deliver a constant flow of material, we worked to a very tight timetable of laying and finishing,
along with extra plant and equipment to keep the pace of laying as fast as possible.
The weather really closed in at around 4:30 pm, just as we finished the laying. Had not been able to work within that window, we would
not have got the job finished or, worse still, not even started the final work. The main issue for us was that the weather forecast for Monday
and Tuesday was even worse (and turned out to be accurate), which was cutting it very tight for this coming weekend's Fast Show.
The next major task on hand is the track preparation which will also need good weather and warmish track surface especially in the first
days of sledding. So far we have already lost Monday and Tuesday but at last today we have a window of sunshine and hopefully a track
which is not below freezing. We will, as always, be working full-on with our track team including Darren Prentice, Ian Marshall and David
Warren to prepare the track in time for the Easter Festival of Power. However, as I said last week, in my own opinion it will take until the
FIA Main Event before the track really comes around, as right now it is a virgin surface.
We have sorted out transport for up to thirty bikes to go overland in a secure wagon. The bikes are put into individual stillages for transportation, there will also be room on the wagon
for pit bikes, tools and gear. The company doing this transport bikes to track days in Spain and Portugal so are used to the processes and know what is involved
We also have accommodation and travel packages in place which allow a couple to fly out and stay on a B&B basis for seven nights for £602. This is flying from Gatwick; other
airports, hotels and durations are available.
We had a meeting at Hal-Far last week and the MDRA have offered to put an extra day on to the event making it a full four-day event so that our riders have time to dial in.
The date of the event is 21st-24th November, and we also have an option of running on the following weekend if the original event did not finish for whatever reason.
So we have the potential of six days racing in the sun on a ten-day break... the wife will love you.
The idea is to run a Malta v UK event with the fastest Maltese riders racing the fastest UK riders, this would be head-to-head with the winner getting a point for their team.
The advantage of doing this is we can run as many rounds as we like and riders would not get knocked out so you will get maximum track time over the event.
We are looking for bikes from ACU Super Street Bike and 8.50 Bike and 9.50 UK National Championship classes and Top Bike, 9.1, 8.5 and USB classes from the ACU Straightliners
National Street Bike Championship. Riders from other classes or with interesting bikes are more than welcome to apply.
Swift snippets. 12th March: We have received a short statement from US Top Alcohol tuner Will Hanna which reads
"Effective immediately I am no longer working for nor affiliated with Fred Hanssen's TAD team. Best of luck and God Bless!".
16:45 Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 6 of the
official entry list for the Festival of Power , which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 30th March-1st April.
You can check out the Festival of Power entry by
clicking here or by clicking on the
Event Coveragelink on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Festival of Power entry is still open but
is now subject to a Late Entry penalty; to download the entry form visit the Entry Formspage of the Santa Pod
Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
Further to yesterday's Snippet, Swedish Pro Modified racer Adam Flamholc 's very popular victory at ADRL Dragpalooza
IX at Rockingham made headlines on two difference articles on Competition Plus -
click here and
here - and in the
Fayetteville Observer. Thanks to our good friend Alan Currans
for passing on Benoit Pigeon's excellent photograph of Adam in action.
At Shakespeare County Raceway back in October mad inventor and world record chaser Colin Furze set a new Guinness World Record for the World's Fastest Pram at over 50 mph.
If you were there then you will have seen a TV crew from CBBC's Officially Amazing, and the programme with Colin's attempt went live on CBBC yesterday. As well as Colin's attempt
the show also focuses on some of the amazing cars taking part interlinked with some great overhead start line shots. If you missed it you can catch the show on BBC iplayer by
clicking here.
Luke and Lisa Bennett of Bennett Racing are pleased to announce the birth of their second child, this time a little boy. Lenny Bennett was born at 04:10
on 28th February weighing 8 lbs. "As we named Lenny after my late grandad, who sadly passed away March 12th 2012, we thought it would be very fitting to wait
for this day to make the announcement", says Luke. "RIP Grandad, he will do your name proud xxx Love you always."
Haslett's unqualified success. 12th March: UK Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer Ron Haslett has been in touch to let us know that the Insane
Creations Open Day was a huge success:
First of all I'd like to say a massive Thank You to my friends and crew who helped me both on the day and in the weeks leading up to the day, and to Jason Cornish and Graham Lunt for
spending the day behing their lenses taking pictures. Another special Thank You has to go to Mark Norton who even with bitterly cold hands soldiered on going through the cars which
turned up as well as passing Stewart Taylor's car for its 8.50 tag. He couldn't stop smiling all afternoon.
The day was supposed to be from 10:00 am until 2:00 pm but what actually happened was that people started to arrive at just after 9:00 am and the last left with me at 6:30 pm
We had all sorts of people and cars from the obvious drag racers, Yanks, rods, drift cars and Jap cars to people who just came to see what was going on. The prize has to go Graham Smith
who came down from Derby with Snow White. The chilli which my partner Sandra made, and the cakes made by Stewart Taylor's wife and Mark Bartlett all went down really well.
There is a full feature coming in Custom Carmagazine.
Thank you to Serck Motorsports, Topspeed Automotive, The Flock Shop, Custom Carmagazine and UK V8.
The process is carried out by UK Anti-Doping (UKAD), a government-backed agency which, when not
busying itself with motor racers, developed and ran the London Olympic 2012 programme, the most extensive anti-doping operation yet conducted at an Olympic
Games. Testing in UK domestic motorsport currently takes place only in-competition, whereas out-of-competition testing operates in Formula One and the World
Rally Championship and may become more widespread in future.
Last June at Santa Pod Raceway's FIA Main Event Mr James Wozencroft, a UKAD-licensed tutor and the MSA's Academy Performance Manager, delivered a lecture
on anti-doping procedures to those Pro Mod racers in the MSA British Drag Racing Championship who were able to attend. Three weeks later, the testers descended
on the SPRC Summernationals. Three racers were picked for testing and all passed with flying colours.
The British trio may have tested negative in June but drag racing's watershed moment had already occurred with the 2011 Tommy Johnson Jr affair. The American
star failed a mid-season dope test while dominating the FIA Top Fuel Championship driving the Andersen Racing car from Denmark. The culprit was a legitimate prescription
medicine TJ had been taking for years. He believed he had notified the FIA about it just as he had always notified NHRA at home, only to find, to his and the team's cost,
that the notification requirements were different. Essentially it was a paperwork error. No one imagined TJ was trying to cheat but no amount of pleading on his behalf
could get him off the hook. His cardinal mistake was simply not acquainting himself with the exact rules under which he raced.
Strict liability is the key point. Racers are solely responsible for any prohibited substance found in their bodies, whether or not they knowingly took the substance and
whether or not they knew it was banned.
So choose to take illicit substances at your peril. The consequences of discovery are down to you. The real pitfalls, as Tommy Johnson learned, lie with the mundane,
seemingly legal stuff. A couple of beers after qualifying could catch you out next day, just as they might if you were breathalysed on a public highway. Many
medicines – prescription and over-the-counter – contain traces of prohibited chemicals that can sometimes stay detectable in the body, as James Wozencroft ominously
conceded in his lecture, for a couple of weeks.
Information can be found, and should be carefully read, on the MSA's web site here by
clicking here. See Anti-Doping Regulations.
The site contains links to the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List and instructions about Therapeutic Use Exemption for racers who need to take medicines,
the point over which Tommy Johnson came a cropper. Competitors can check the status of an individual medicine brand or ingredient at
www.globaldro.com.
The anti-doping regulations apply to Competition licence-holders of all ages, Senior and Junior alike.
For racers, here are some points to consider:
Most drag racers will likely get through entire careers without ever being tested. However, every holder of an MSA Competition Licence is liable for selection.
Know the rules – all of them – under which you compete. Claiming you didn't know or – perhaps even worse – no one had told you, will not cut you any slack.
As in a court of law, ignorance is no defence.
Don't get shirty with the officials. If you are called for a test at an inopportune time, keep your annoyance to yourself. The officials have their jobs to do and the
MSA will not hesitate to press disciplinary charges if your conduct arouses complaint.
If selected, you will be obliged to pee in a jar under close official scrutiny. Don't much care for the idea? So spare a thought for the officials. It's their job to watch people
like you do that. Then they have to take the stuff away and analyse it.
The MSA's anti-doping programme will continue throughout 2013 in conjunction with UK Anti-Doping (UKAD), with undisclosed championships being subject to
random drugs testing throughout the season in line with the governing body's Procedure for Control of Drugs and Alcohol (D31.1. and H39).
The MSA uses FIA Anti-Doping Protocols to ensure that UK motor sport is fair, equal and safe. It is the responsibility of each competitor to ensure that no substance
on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List enters their body, willingly or otherwise.
The MSA operates a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) process for competitors who are required to take Prohibited Substances for medical reasons. Further information
about TUEs and anti-doping generally can be found here.
For the past three seasons, the MSA has delivered anti-doping education to competitors in a number of Championships, as well as to all drivers enrolled in the MSA Academy.
Competitors can also test and improve their anti-doping knowledge by completing the FIA's Race True E-Learning programme, which is accessible via the home page of the
MSA web site. The MSA is delighted that more people from the UK than any other nation worldwide have now
completed the thirty-minute online course.
Swift snippets. 11th March: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words
"Nearly Easter". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at
eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.
Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 5 of the
official entry list for the Festival of Power , which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 30th March-1st April.
You can check out the Festival of Power entry by
clicking here or by clicking on the
Event Coveragelink on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Festival of Power entry is still open but
is now subject to a Late Entry penalty; to download the entry form visit the Entry Formspage of the Santa Pod
Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
Congratulations to Swedish Pro Modified racer Adam Flamholc on another event in in the USA, this time at ADRL Dragpalooza IX
at Rockingham, setting him up nicely for this week's HNRA Gatornationals at Gainesville. You can read more at the ADRL web site
at www.adrl.us, on Drag Race Central at www.dragracecentral.com,
and on the Flamholc / MMR Racing
Facebook page.
Chris, Mark, Lee, Sarah, Liam, TJ, Jade and Ben asked us to send love and hugs for a very Happy Birthday to Wild Bunch
Co-ordinator Claire Meaddows. Very happy to do so guys, have a lovely day Claire.
If you can help then please get in touch with Darren Prentice at Santa Pod at darren@santapod.com
to discuss delivery or pick-up. If you are coming to tomorrow's SFI Day at Santa Pod and have used slicks to spare then please bring them along.
Alternately, if you are in or near Essex, then Eurodragster.com sponsor Jeff Bull has offered to collect slicks at his premises. You can get in touch with Jeff
via his web site at www.jeffbullraceengines.co.uk.
Ten years on dynamite. 10th March: Norway's Olstad Racing Supertwin team are very proud to have survived the nitro circus for ten years. Hans Olav Olstad writes:
It all started after racing a street bike since 1994. After one season trying Super Twin Top Gas with no luck I took the decision to build a Super Twin Top Fuel bike. The bike was built during winter season
2001-2003. A good friend I can't give enough credit is Flemming Lunden. He has been with me from the beginning and up to the present time. In 2003, scared with a heart pumping 200 beats a minute I made
my first run on a Super Twin Top Fuel Bike on Valle Raceway in Setesdalen Norway. Most of my team from that time is still with me, and that proves the strength of the team and how much fun we have together.
There have been ups and downs during this years. The biggest down was Svein Gottenberg, Gotten's accident in Mosten 2006. It's always in my mind and reminds me how dangerous this sport can be.
Besides that we have been through big explosions, and demolished parts, caught in the sand trap and lots of other moments. In a period trying out ideas we torched the engine heads, and lit
up almost every track we raced, therefore we named the bike Lightning. Our worst explosion was at Mantorp 2008, when we demolished the whole engine. Hard work and help from good friends who lent
us parts, and one week later we were able to race next event at Gardermoen.
We learned early that it's also about luck. The first time we raced at Santa Pod, the FIA Main Event in 2004, we won. Not because of our skill or fast bike, but because of hard work and luck when other racers
broke their parts. We blew the head off for the first time that race. This victory gives us the accolade of being the first Norwegian Super Twin Team ever to win a single UEM round. In 2005 we won another
UEM event and were the first Norwegian to win two UEM events. That year we ended as runner up in the European Championship besides winning the Nordic Championship.
Between 2003 and 2012 we raced all UEM events for eight years in a row. In those eight years we were placed within the top four seven times: twice runner up, once third, and four times fourth.
That also proves that it's not about one lucky weekend, but hard and good team work all the time. This has made us one of the most respected teams in the circus. I don't know if there is anyone else
who has done the same amount of races in a row, maybe we have a record there as well.
Over winter 2010-11 the decision was taken to start building a new bike. After pitting with Super Twin racer Per Bengtsson for several years, the plan was to build a new parallel twin bike. In the
middle of the 2011 season Sweden's Ulf Ledstrom made the decision to buy our good old Lightning. The process with the new bike started immediately. I have to say that Ulf got a good buy, as
we ended the season with times of 6.69, 6.69 and 6.69 on the last three runs. At the time different solutions were on the table, but in the end we got an offer we couldn't resist from Gerard Willemse
in the Netherlands. A bike which he had worked on since 2001 but never finished was now in our hands, and of course the new name had to be Thunderstruck.
The frame was in our hands in February, and nobody expected to see this bike move that season. The engine came into contact with the frame in early May, and the bike was fired up for the first time
in Sunday 27th of May. We knew there would be a challenge with the new engine, but the engine was very nice to us and did not break down in the first season. But the bike's weight is the biggest
challenge, 530 Kg ready on the start line, without the rider, is way too much. But already in the first season we ran a Personal Best speed of 344 kmh, and a good 6.80 run at the Santa Pod finals.
Unbelievable.
With the new bike we believe that the future is bright for us, and we have big faith in being one of the hardest race teams, always in position to fight for Championships and records.
This is the short version, but you can read the whole story year bu year under News and Historyat www.olstadracing.no.
I also have to say a big thank you, to all our sponsors who supported us during these years. Without them it would have been impossible to make this journey. Big thanks to
Sande Gard, GB-Tech, Automester, Lena Anleggsservice AS, Jessheim Bilskade, Frostman Etek AS, Tech-Con, Billakkspesialisen Engros AS, Dekk Team, Profilhuset, Kulelagerhuset, Swecomposite,
Knapphus, Fuchs, Nordea, Mekonomen, Roinas Fyringsservise, SML, VP Racing Fuel and Fannrem Motorverksted.
See you on the track somewhere in 2013.
Swift snippets. 10th March: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words
"They will probably turn on UK tracks too". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at
eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.
Congratulations to Swedish Pro Modified racer Adam Flamholc who qualified #1 in Pro Mod at ADRL Dragpalooza IX
at Rockingham. Adam gets a bye in today's first round of eliminations courtesy of his 3.864/193.46 pole spot. You will be able to tune in to a live webcast
via the ADRL web site at www.adrl.us, results are available at
www.dragracecentral.com, and Adam will be updating the Flamholc / MMR
Facebook page.
Nuts from Kent, cash from CA. 10th March:Allard Chrysler Action Group Chair Brian Taylor writes that
support continues to arrive for the restoration of Sydney Allard's 1961 Allard Chrysler dragster:
Paul Wing of PRW Engineering has kindly made two wheel nut caps to protect the central retaining nuts on the front wheels. Although shown in early photos of the car
they have not been seen since the restoration commenced. Using old photographs and measurements provided by Bob Roberts, Paul fabricated the caps from HE30
aluminium. He drilled and bored the inside first, then turned the shoulder and O-ring groove (reversing it in the chuck with a plug inside so as not to distort the cap). He
then machined the angle, and using a form tool created the radius. The final operation was smoothing down with wet and dry before polishing.
Paul is based near Biggin Hill in Kent. He has been involved in drag racing since the early 1980s, initially crewing for Mick Beaumont in Super Street Bike and then Pro
Stock Bike. He later crewed for Mark Wanstal and then Vicki Steer, and for the last sixteen years has been racing himself. This year he will be crewing for Nick Milburn
on the ex-Rene van den Berg Top Fuel Bike.
Part-time at the moment, Paul is trying to go full-time with PRW Engineering. He will machine anything from any material up to the physical limits of his machines. Most
of his work has been with Motorcycles (chassis work, machining yokes, engine cases, disc carriers, etc. He also does engine building and bike servicing. Clearly he can
make car parts as well and his web site cam be found at www.prwgadgets.co.uk.
ACAG Team Leader Bob Roberts said "We spend a lot of time keeping the dragster as close to the original as possible and thanks to Paul's expertise we have been able
to plug in another piece of the jigsaw. The puzzle is now almost complete."
A recent financial donation has come from California where British drag racing pioneers Cliff and Sharon Watts have given a three-figure sum to our restoration fund.
Cliff and Sharon served on the British Drag Racing and Hot Rod Association Committee in the 1970s, Cliff as Street Rod Rep and Sharon as Secretary. They were also
known for their altered Uncle Scrumble. These days they split their time between Somerset and San Francisco but will soon be permanently based in California.
It was great to hear from Cliff and Sharon again and fantastic that they wanted to donate such a large sum. Financial donations are still very important as we approach
the completion of the project and start to consider items such as a trailer and spares for operating the dragster. Our thanks go out to Cliff and Sharon and we look forward
to seeing both of them at an event before they fly back to the West Coast."
If you want to help the restoration team with expertise or financial contributions then please contact
brian@allardchrysler.org.
Let the celebrations commence... 10th March: For the third year in succession Shakespeare County Raceway, along with the National Street Rod Association, got behind
what this year was the Tenth Anniversary Race Retro Show held at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire. SCR's Jerry Cookson writes:
With so many anniversaries taking place in 2013 it was only right that Shakespeare County and the NSRA should take this opportunity of informing show
visitors about the forthcoming 20th Nostalgia Nationals and the 25th Hot Rod Drags to go with the forty years of drag racing at the Long Marston Airfield
venue. A record crowd of 28,935 race fans and a host of motorsport legends joined together to celebrate the turning of another outstanding year in the
show's ten year success. Joining the many displays, which for example featured tributes to the late Jim Clark's 1963 World Championship win in the Lotus
25 and the rallying success of the Alpine Renault, where Brian Gibson's Identity Crisis'63 Dodge Dart Gasser, together with the first public viewing
of Simon Barlow's stunning '54 Fordson Van eagerly awaiting its Outlaw Anglia debut. Adding further nostalgia to the stand was John Young's 500cc Triumph
Jap Sprinter alongside a replica Austin Devon electric Tot Rod from Orange Pop Racing. 2005 was the last time the Raceway and the NSRA teamed up for the
show, when The MobFuel Altered and an original Huszar injected slingshot dragster took pride of place.
Throughout the show, the stand was busy with people taking flyers and calendars and asking the usual questions such as "How fast does it go?". In fact I
was more than surprised with the amount of people who still had fond memories of their visits to the airfield in the days when the NDRC first ran events
on what is now today's pits and market strip! I was even asked where the old Rallycross track used to be, and what became of the old World War 2 pontoons
which used to run end-to-end alongside the main runway which, as we know, is today's drag strip.
On all three days the show had a fantastic atmosphere with its many displays and visiting stars like Sir Stirling Moss and commentary icon Murray Walker. The Santa Pod stand featured the Wild
Bunch Dragster of Bob Hawkins while over in the next hall were the sprint bikes of the National Sprint Association as well as the BRISCA Heritage Stock Cars.
All in all it was another great show which, in time, will prove to become another great advert for drag racing and hot rodding.
Shakespeare County Raceway would like to thank both Brian Gibson and Simon Barlow for arranging to bring along their cars for Thursday's set up, John Young and Phil Steele for the loan of the sprint bike, and NSRA Committee members
Dik Stapley and Pike for the fetching and carrying of a gazebo and banners. Race Retro will return to Stoneleigh Park on 21st to 23rd February 2014.
2013 Top Sportsman a singleton. 10th March: Paul Marston writes that the projected second UK Top Sportsman event at Shakespeare County Raceway will not
be happening in 2013:
It had been hoped that a deal could be reached to allow the fastest growing, richest, no holds barred heads-up doorslammer event to run at Shakespeare County in 2013 but alas, despite
best efforts on both sides, we simply ran out of time. Both the organisers of UK Top Sportsman and SCR management had their hands tied as other pieces of the puzzle were not in place.
Everyone concerned was disappointed but the right decision has been made, although reluctantly. That said if any other opportunities present themselves then they will be looked at, so stay tuned.
The organisers of UK Top Sportsman would like to thank the management at SCR for all their hard work in trying to make it happen in 2013.
This now means that there will be only one UK Top Sportsman event in 2013, at the world famous Santa Pod Raceway, and it will be hosted by all the great guys at the Mopar Euronationals.
So many UK Top Sportsman records and lifetime bests were shattered during the 2012 event. In 2013 we have received unconfirmed reports that there are at least three or possibly four race
cars being specifically built for Top Sportsman and will début in competition at this very event. Eveb before the 2013 race season starts it is shaping up to be a must-see event.
Yes there will be three days of action, yes there will be records broken, yes there will be record cash payouts, yes it will be televised again – so tell your sponsors they will be on TV!
Yes there will be the meanest, roughest toughest, fastest doorslammers in the country in attendance. This is the one they all want to win.
The format is the same as previous years. The first race is a .400 Pro Tree bracket race, one-shot qualifier, first round is random pairing, first round losers can buy back into second round,
everybody runs, run to completion of eliminations. The second race is .400 Pro Tree heads-up, one-shot qualifier for a sixteen-spot qualified field, everyone who qualifies gets paid. No breakout, run to
completion. This is not an MSA event so no MSA license required, all you need is your driving licence plus a large set of kahunas and a real fast doorslammer!
March Meet webcast. 10th March: Our good buddies at Bangshift.com are webcasting this weekend's March Meet at Bakersfield.
Broadcasts are underway and you can tune in by clicking
here.
Habermanns head for the beach. 8th March: Our good buddies at the der Beschleuniger
web site recently interviewed twice FIA European Top Methanol Dragster Champion Timo Habermann about Werner Habermann Racing's decision not to
contest this year's FIA European Championships. The was of course conducted
in German, but Markus
Münch has kindly sent us an English translation.
Click here to read the English version of the der Beschleuniger
interview with Timo Habermann.
Editor's note: Please read and note the contents of News FAQ 16.
Ready to forget 2012... 8th March: UK blown-alcohol altered pilot Joe Bond and the Nuthin' Fancyteam are looking forward to the Festival of
Power at Easter, after a mixed bag in 2012:
It was a great start at Easter running mid to low sixes, but it really fizzed out after that leaving us chasing problems right through to the end of the season. We carried out some testing of the changes
late last year, but some drivetrain issues stopped us in our tracks. It definitely wasn't how I wanted to finish the year, so we are really looking forward to the new season!
On top of the changes from last season, we have a few new parts on the car for this year. We are hoping that all these new bits and pieces will get us running back where we want to and having
some fun at the same time!
I want to say a massive Thank You to all my family and crew for once again getting our hot rod back together. I'd like also to thank Peter Walters at
PWRD for designing our new posters and brand new crew shirts for 2013 - come by our pits and pick up a poster! Massive thanks to
the guys at Chi-Town Racing Products / Nitro Rags.com for printing our new crew shirts (yes, they are flamed!). Dan 'Chi-town' Brown is a great guy and has been working his butt off to get them
ready for us, so for that a massive Thanks, and please go see them at www.chitownraceproducts.com. Also a huge thanks
to JR and Robbin at RBS Superchargers for their invaluable tech and parts, Kasey Smith at Good Vibrations for going out of their way to get us fresh safety equipment at very short notice, Roger
LeVine at Crower, and all the guys at Jegs for their help.
Thank you again Eurodragster.com for keeping us sane with racing news through the cold, wind and snow (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed).
Please check out our racing Facebook page and Likeus if you haven't already. Looking forward to seeing
everyone at the track this season!
Training to keep you safe. 8th March: Under sunny blue skies Shakespeare County Raceway
recently held its annual marshals' and medical fire and rescue training weekend before the start of the season proper on 23rd-24th March. The excellent turnout of marshals
and staff was complemented by officials from the MSA and ACU, Santa Pod Raceway, and the Northwest Tractor Pulling Club writes SCR's Jerry Cookson.
The day started with the usual preview to the season ahead followed by a First Aid skills talk given by CC
Medical Services ' Chris Salter at the Long Marston Village Hall. Back at the Raceway, the afternoon's exercises began with fire extinguishing training using CO2 and Dry Powder
extinguishers, the art of using cutting gear, and hose reel training on the fire engine. This was followed to round the day off by a few well chosen team-building games including
Walking the Plank and Wellie Wanging!
Sunday began with a thought-provoking talk concerning fatalities in motorsports, how to deal with incidents, as well as the procedures in place. This was followed up with a major
incident scenario involving two cars, a trapped driver and an injured lunatic with missing fingers!
Shakespeare County Raceway would like to thank everyone for turning up, especially on Sunday's cold and frosty morning, and to the CC Medical Team lead by Ian and Dorothy Connop
for making the weekend's training as interesting as possible. There will shortly be a small selection of photos from the weekend to view on the
Shakespeare County Raceway Facebook page. Further training sessions are planned throughout the
season; anyone who is interested can attend.
Swift snippets. 8th March: Today (Friday) is the official closing date for entry to the Festival of Power which takes place at
Santa Pod Raceway on 20th March-1st April. Entry after today may be subject to a late-entry penalty. to download the entry form visit the Entry Forms
page of the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us
Version 4 of the official entry list which you can check out by clicking here
or by clicking on the Event Coveragelink on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
The first stop on this year's European SFI Recertification Tour took place at the DHRA offices in
Heemskirk, The Netherlands yesterday (Thursday). Our good friend, photo-journalist Remco Scheelings tells us that attendees from The Netherlands,
Germany and Switzerland included Eurodragster.com sponsor Marco Maurischat, Jürgen Nagel, members of Eurodragster.com sponsor Urs Erbacher's team toting their own parts
as well as parts belonging to Marcus Hilt, Gerda Joon, David Vegter, Marc Meihuizen, Johan Oomen, Robert Koper and Rudi Füssel who also brought parts for fellow racers.
Good luck and stay safe to Swedish Pro Modified racer Adam Flamholc who has decided to go to
Rockingham for ADRL Dragpalooza IX which commences tomorrow (Saturday). You will be able to tune in to a live webcast via the ADRL web site
at www.adrl.us and Adam will be updating the Flamholc / MMR
Facebook page.
Should any of the above events not happen then the Drag Day Finals on 14th-15th at Hoskovice, CZ, will
substitute.
Dutch Open Super Twin Top Gas Championship
21st-23rd June: Dutch Open, Drachten, NL
12th-14th July: Dutch Open, Drachten, NL
16th-18th August: Dutch Finals, Drachten, NL
Swift snippets. 7th March: Gutted Volkswagen Drag Racing Club Chair Luke Stevenson has been in touch to confirm that next Friday's (15th)
VWDRC March Meet test day at Santa Pod Raceway has had to be cancelled. The new track surface will still be undergoing initial preparation work, and so the
hoped-for conditions will not be on offer. "It's definitely something we will do next year", says Luke.
The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with no words at all.
If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at
eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.
Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 3 of the official entry list
for the Festival of Power , which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 30th March-1st April. You can check out the Festival of Power entry by
clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coveragelink
on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Festival of Power entry is still open; to download
the entry form visit the Entry Formspage of the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
Swedish Pro Modified racer Adam Flamholc is looking at the weather before making a final decision whether to race at ADRL's
Dragpalooza IX at Rockingham. Adam's Plan B is to join The Netherlands' Robert Joosten testing at Valdosta starting on Monday
before heading for the NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville next weekend. You can stay up to date with the latest from the
Flamholc / MMR team on their Facebook
page.
By whichever route Adam gets to Gainesville, we are pleased to confirm that Eurodragster.com US Correspondent Ed O'Connell will be there waiting
for Adam and the other Europeans at the Gatornationals and will be sending us pit notes and photographs.
A big Happy Birthday and, unfortunately, Get Well Soon to UK Pro Modified racer-in-waiting and Honorary Eurodragster.com Staff Member
Spencer Tramm. Have as good a day as you can Spencer and hope you feel much better very quickly.
Thanks to Allard Chrysler Action Group Chair Brian Taylor for
forwarding a link to Gareth Kent's video clip of the weekend fire-up of the Allard Chrysler Dragster.
"The car got a bit hot towards the end of the transmission test, which proved we still have work to do on the clutch pedal as well as the cooling, but I think the video
really shows off the work done on the car since last year", says Brian. You can check it out by
clicking here and
see if your eyes don't get weepy as did those of at least one of the Eurodragster.com staff.
March Meet webcast. 7th March: Our good buddies at Bangshift.com are webcasting this weekend's March Meet at Bakersfield, which starts today.
Broadcasts commence at 17:00 UK / 18:00 European and you can tune in by
clicking here.
Santa Pod resurfacing underway. 6th March: Santa Pod Raceway and Trakbak Racing Ltd CEO Keith Bartlett has been in touch
to confirm that the resurfacing of Santa Pod Raceway is underway:
Work began in the early morning of Monday 4th March to resurface the drag strip at Santa Pod Raceway, so yes the rumours were true...
these works are the result of many months of planning and sample testing several areas of the track surface and its current condition.
This is not a straightforward or simple track resurfacing project, far from it. We have conducted various surveys and carried out test
samples of resurfacing over the past few months and taken great care to arrive at the best solution. A major factor has been the cost
and the level of works. In an ideal world we would have liked to have ripped up not only the whole track but the also the complete
foundations. After various surveys and tests in 2012 that was quite clear that would require an 'open figure' cheque book on the
project in terms of budget, but in any case would have been in the region of £750,000 - £1,000,000 to complete, a
figure we would not have been able to meet this year, given the huge losses we have incurred in 2012 and 2011 as result of so many
rained out events. However with that said, the works that we are currently carrying out on the resurfacing of the track, will see the track
properly resurfaced to the right levels and should produce a very good standard racing surface for the coming years.
The work is being carried out by Britain's largest independent aggregates company, Breedon Aggregates Ltd of Derbyshire. Breedon
Aggregates conducted material trials on the track late last year and Breedon Fibretex was selected as the correct product for the task.
Its benefits include very high durability and exceptional deformation and fretting resistance, with a smooth, homogenous surface ensuring
excellent ride quality together with good climate resistance. The resurfaced section will extend the length of the track from the "bleach-box"
area behind the start line to the first turn-off beyond the finish and will be levelled with the aid of lasers. The procedure, which includes
planning, regulating and surfacing, is expected to continue throughout the week.
Track preparation by Santa Pod's track crew will begin as soon as the surface installation is finished. One thousand litres of specialised
track wash is being supplied for the task by Autoglym, and Santa Pod would like to thank Rachel Hodges and Jerry Cookson for the
provision of Shakespeare County Raceway's rubber-sled to add to our own rubber-sled for use in the preparation process.
We have been unable to commence the works sooner due to the weather conditions and you cannot lay asphalt and especially the top
thinner levels in cold weather, that is a total no go, so we are having to start works a few weeks later than originally planned. This does
leave things very tight in terms of track preparation for the big event at Easter's Festival of Power, especially given the normal processes
occurring after fresh asphalt is laid, including the possibility of oils coming through to the top of the surface, although that should be limited
in this case with the product we are using. Then we still have to try and get enough rubber down on the new surface before Easter. However,
knowing how good our Santa Pod track crew are in terms of track preparation (and I do subscribe to the view, along with most people, that
they are the best in Europe) I am sure that we will, in the end, have a super-fast and safe track by the time of the Main Event FIA and FIM
Championship rounds at the end of May.
One point that I would like to make in this statement is that over the past ten days some well-known racers, on various forums, have been
posting statements about how terrible it is that Santa Pod is not resurfacing the track, without even knowing or being aware of exactly
what we have been planning and or doing over the winter months in relation to this project. As I have already made clear, we have lost
significant income through rained out events in 2011 and especially in 2012. This prevented us from starting the works in November
when we would ideally have liked to have commenced the resurfacing works in full. Santa Pod is still in business regardless of any
difficulties or financial restrictions it has had to endure over the last fifteen years. TBR has made huge improvements to Santa Pod in
this time giving the racers a far better overall race facility at Santa Pod at any time since its creation back in 1964. It is my job and duty
as its owner and CEO to make sure that situation continues and I will continue to do so to the best of my ability, although I accept and
learnt many years ago, you cannot please all the racers all the time, in fact far from it. So yes, the world of new and social media can
be great and powerful tool, but it also can be very damaging and inaccurate as we have seen in the last few weeks. We end up with
people making posts on a subject (Santa Pod track resurfacing) who know very little about what is actually involved, but continue to
spread and start threads of incorrect information.
In closing I am delighted that two of the main tracks involved in the FIA and FIM European Drag Racing Championships, Santa Pod
Raceway and the HockenheimRing, have both been able to resurface their respective drag racing tracks ahead of the 2013 season.
Both these two tracks are also part of the founding shareholders in the new company TGE (Track Group Europe Ltd), which I am confident
will take European drag racing in many new directions in the coming years.
See you at the track.
Festival of Power entry. 6th March: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 1 of the official entry list for the
Festival of Power, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 30th March-1st April. You can check out the Festival of Power entry by
clicking here.
Festival of Power entry is still open; to download the entry form visit the Entry Formspage of the Santa Pod Racers
Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
HL Auto Spring Race open. 5th March: Holger Dueholm writes that entry is now open for the HL Auto Spring Race at Denmark's Mosten Raceway and that
all are welcome:
The event will count for the Danish Drag Bike Championship as well as the Biltema Dragracing League for both Bikes and Cars.
The following classes will be run: Fourbangers and Sixshooters, Pro ET, Super Pro ET,
Junior Bike, Street Bike, Super Gas Bike, Super Comp Bike, Super Street Bike, Pro Twin Bike, and Funny Bike.
There will also be a Test class, so this is the perfect chance for European Teams to test before the season really kicks in.
Mosten Raceway is a single lane eighth-mile sprint track, and will be fully prepped to its usual high standard.
York Raceway offers alerts. 5th March: Thanks to George Kinghorn of the UKDrag.net Blog for letting us
know that York Raceway has joined the Geddex Race Alert System.
The Geddex Race Alert System mobile app allows you to receive drag racing class calls and other notifications from any track employing the system. Any time a class to which you are subscribed
is called your phone will sound or vibrate and the notification list will be updated. Even if the app is not currently running!
This one-time download works at any track with the system
Patent pending design eliminates the need to hear the track's PA system in noisy environments
Receive time stamped class calls for as many classes as you wish
View a complete list of class calls, even if you are not subscribed to the class
Receive event announcements notifying you of things like rain delays
Subscribe to as many tracks as you wish for general notifications
Receive general announcements from your favourite tracks through the week
Know if an event has been cancelled or rescheduled as soon as it is announced
Receive notifications even if the app is not currently running
Feature: Robinson's Pro Mod build II. 4th March: The latest in our occasional series of Features presented in association with
Lucas Oil Products is a second photo diary of the construction of
UK Pro Modified racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy
Robinson 's new blown-alcohol Pro Mod Camaro.
Courtesy of Bob Roberts the twenty six-shot photo diary, with extensive mouse-over captions, shows the addition of parts and peripherals
after main chassis completion and brings us right up to date on another ARRC work of art.
You can check out the Feature by clicking here
or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributeslink on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Joosten across the Pond. 4th March: Pro Mod racer Robert Joosten has been in touch from The Netherlands to bring us up to date with events with
his Camaro, which was damaged in a crash at Hockenheim last August:
At the end of December our truck, trailer and race car started their journey at the port of Amsterdam, arriving a couple of weeks later at the port of Jacksonville where I picked
it up and drove it to Alan Pittman Race Cars in South Carolina. On the journey lots of people asked "What's that?". That's a DAF. More disbelieving eyes were aimed at me and
of course I needed to explain where we came from.
After we arrived at Alan's shop, it was clear that the damage from Hockenheim was mainly cosmetic and that repairs would be easy. But we didn't bring the car to the USA
just for repairs. It was clear something that something was wrong with the car, and we were not able to get it right here in Europe. After a two-year struggle we decided that
the car needed some drastic changes, updates and testing to get her where we want her.
In February the car was ready for her first short test session. We went to a very cold Valdosta and made some impressive runs which made the whole crew dance on the start
line! All happy campers I would say. We really think that this is finally going in the right direction!
We are still not there, so we will go to the Pro test session at Valdosta in March and test for four days. If we like what we see then the Pro Dutch Camaro will be shipped
back and we will run the FIA European Championship. To be continued...
Behind closed doors... 4th March: From France comes the news that only one of the three 2013 French Championship rounds will be open to the public.
Race one is closed to spectators and takes place at Mende Airfield on 1st-2nd June. The second round, the Castellet Drag Race, takes place at Paul Ricard Circuit
on 20th-21st July and is open to the public. The third and final round is again closed to spectators and takes place back at Mende Airfield on 21st-22nd September.
You can check out Betty Fayard's video preview of the Paul Ricard round at www.vimeo.com/55669566.
A lot - maybe the very future of drag racing in France - could be riding on the event at Paul Ricard as track prep has been outlawed on runways in the
country. With no permanent track in prospect the event at the circuit could help save the sport there.
Swift snippets. 4th March:Speedgroup are holding an information meeting this Friday (8th)
to coincide with the Finnish SFI Day at the US Parts premises in Helsinki. The meeting is aimed at teams active in the FIA, FIM (formerly UEM) and EDRS
classes both cars and bikes. FHRA staff are also invited. The meeting commences at 11:30 and will last approximately two hours.
To preregister for this meeting please E-Mail Åsa Kinnemar at asa.kinnemar@speedgroup.eu.
Outlaw Street racer Rob Slater asked us to say a big Thank You to race car builder and Eurodragster.com sponsor
Geof Hauser and all the guys at Hauser Race Cars for the great job installing a new cage
into his '57 Chevy.
We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to UK Pro ET racer and wheeliemeister Rick McCann. Have a great day Rick.
NSRA Southern's rodding events calendar opens with their huge outdoor Swap Meet next weekend. "From a window winder to a complete car, this is
the place to buy and sell new, used and vintage auto parts and accessories", they say. The Swap Meet takes place next Sunday (10th) at
Arena Essex Raceway, A1306 Arterial Road, Purfleet, Essex RM19 1AE
(map).
RFM welcome new PR. 4th March: Norwegian Top Fuel Dragster team RF Motorsport is always looking for ways to improve and the latest asset is Norwegian Polly Magnussen
who will be a permanent part of the RFM administration in 2013:
Polly Magnussen is not a newbie in the world of drag racing, but he is in the Top Fuel dragster ranks. He spent several years as Team Manager for Supertwin racer Svein Olav Rolfstad before joining RFM. He will
now be helping Rune Fjeld with the management of the three Top Fuel Dragsters and perform media, press and marketing services as well. Polly recently gained a Bachelor's degree in Motorsport Management
and is also the marketing manager of the Norwegian Motorsport Federation.
For those who know Polly well it's no secret that he sleeps, eats and breathes motorsport and that his field of experience is major ranging across Speedway, Powerboats, Rallycross and so on. He lives in Norway
and will be doing most of his work from there for time being. He tells us that there are plans to move abroad in the future but that right now his five month old son is all that matters. On the subject of his son Tian
he reveals that he has already thought about a Junior Dragster but that maybe Dad will get his Top Fuel licence first!
Polly met the RFM team last year at Tierp, where he had his first race weekend together with Risto Poutiainen's crew. "After spending one season with Offshpre Powerboat Racing World Champion Jan Trygve Braaten
in 2012 I went down with the mysterious drag race 'flu again", says Polly. "I thought I might give Rune a call to see if he could cure my pain. And Rune, nice guy that he is, prescribed me with some pills including a position
in his buisness. And when the European Championship round was held at Tierp we agreed to meet up for the first time to see what the future might bring. I drove from Oslo bringing one of Risto's mechanics, Steffen Korsmo,
with me and he turned out to be a really nice guy. Entering the Arena and joining the new team was like coming home, but I have to admit it was a bit strange the first day, being in a car team and not with the crazy bike dudes
to which I was used in the past. All in all the weekend was great, and Kimmo the chef made a great impression with the best food ever served on a drag strip.
"So here I am and hopefully 2013 will be the start of something new and innovative for me, for Rune, and for the whole RFM family."
Longtime News sponsor Patterson Racing Performance Warehouse has stepped up to become a Home and News sponsor. Patterson Racing Performance Warehouse prove their own
products by successfully racing them on the track. Allan Patterson along with his son Todd have established a long history of competing in classes from Pro Stock to Super Stock, with most of Todd's
success coming in the popular Competition Eliminator category. Check out Patterson Racing Performance Warehouse's range of motors, pistons, connecting rods, cams, cylinder heads, valve
trains and much much more at www.pattersonracing.com or click on the logo at left.
Eurodragster.com welcomes Psycle Workz Motorsport Engineering as a new sponsor. Headed by Pro Stock Bike racers Martin and Cindy Newbury, Psycle Workz are at the forefront of motorsport
engineering, from chassis design and builds, to high precision CNC machined components. Psycle Workz has a twenty six-year background in motorsport. A fully-equipped fabrication workshop in
Peterborough offers complete engineering services. Nothing is contracted out, so Psycle Workz control the quality. Their products are designed and engineered with strength, lightness and durability
at the forefront of design and production. Psycle Workz work with some of the leading teams and companies in the motorsport arena and are constantly developing new and dynamic products which
we will feature regularly in news updates.
Cindy Newbury said "We are delighted to be supporting Eurodragster.com and look forward to the new season. We will be working with all bike classes in drag racing, as well as leading single seater
and Le Mans circuit classes. This season we are providing equipment for Rene van den Berg, Shawn Rodman, Paul Watson and others. We also look forward to returning to competition in Pro Stock Bike
from mid-season with state of the art equipment". You can check out Psycle Workz' wide range of products and services on their web site at
www.psycleworkz.com.
New News sponsor CEJ Training Services Limited is a provider of Driver CPC training, which results in a certificate of professional competence for professional drivers. Driver CPC is a
compulsory requirement which has been introduced across the European Union to maintain high driving standards, improve the knowledge and skills of drivers and enhance road safety. All
professional lorry drivers (drivers of 7.5 tonnes and above) must now hold a Driver CPC qualification unless granted grandfather rights until September 2014. Lorry drivers who have held their
licence (C, C1, CE, C1E) prior to 10th September 2009 will have acquired rights until 9th September 2014. If you wish to keep your driving licence and continue driving for a living beyond this date,
you will need to complete 35 Hours of periodic training and be issued a DCPC Card by September 2014. New drivers coming into the profession will need to pass the initial qualification to gain
their vocational driving license and qualify for their Driver CPC. Then the driver is required to take 35 hours of periodic training every five years from the date they have passed the initial qualification.
To complete Driver CPC Training you will need to attend a course with a JAUPT recognised company. Once you have completed each session it will be the responsibility of the training centre to enter
records onto a DSA central database.
Drivers will be issued a DQC (Driver Qualification Card) automatically on successful completion of thirty five hours of Driver CPC training. Drivers who have acquired rights will be able to use their
driving license as proof of their Driver CPC status until they have completed their thirty five hours' training within the first five year cycle at which point they will be issued with a DQC.
All drivers will need to complete a minimum of thirty five hours of periodic training every five years. The minimum length of each training session is seven hours. This can be split into two parts,
however the second part must take place within twenty four hours of completion of the first part. Courses for Driver CPC offered by CEJ Training Services Limited will cover a variety of modules which
may include defensive driving techniques, eco driving, health and safety, drivers' hours regulations and tachographs. For more information check out
www.cejtrainingservicesltd.co.uk.
We are also pleased to welcome OCS Paint as our new Points Standings sponsor; stay tuned for more about this but in the meantime check out
www.ocspaint.com for details of products and services available.
Please support those sponsors who support Eurodragster.com and drag racing by considering them when shopping for goods and services.
Unfortunately we have had to say goodbye to four long-standing sponsors: Airsea Logistics, 3t Creative, Jackson's MoT, and Speedflow's Points Standings
sponsorship although Speedflow are staying on as a Main Sponsor. Many thanks to Malcolm Francis, Dan Welberry, Ian Jackson and Fay Fischer for their
years of support. Goodbye and thank you also to Evnetics and Quantum Tuning who have stepped down after twelve months.
We also say goodbye to ModUrStang who were firstly a News sponsor and then sponsor of the Eurodragster.com / ModUrStang Perfect Light Award. Many thanks
to Mike Lacey for his years of support. As things stand the Eurodragster.com Perfect Light Award will not be running this season, but if anyone is interested
in sponsoring the Award then please drop an E-Mail to editor@eurodragster.com. Derek Flynn
has confirmed that he will continue to support the Eurodragster.com / Gold RV Perfect ET Award
in 2013 so many thanks to him.
There is always room for new sponsors on Eurodragster.com, especially on the News page; if you are interested then please drop an E-Mail to
editor@eurodragster.com.
Swift snippets. 1st March: Good luck and stay safe to ex-pat UK Top Alcohol Dragster racer Michael Manners of Eurodragster.com
sponsor Cosmo Residences who is contesting his first Lucas Oil NHRA Divisional
event of the year between today (Friday) and Sunday. Good luck also to Derek Flynn of Eurodragster.com sponsor
Gold RV who is also in Houston tuning Main and Martinets. You will be able to stay in
touch with Mike's and Derek's progress courtesy of our Drag Race Central friends at
www.dragracecentral.com.
Apologies for the extended downtime on Eurodragster.com yesterday (Thursday). Our ISP Selfnet writes that "We had a major power outage with a
failed backup power switch which caused a power surge, which in turn took out two power supplies and three hard drives in three servers, and messed up the firewall
boxes."
"We're ready", said Read, matter of factly. "Larry Dixon is a very experienced driver with a track record that is second to none. He also has Lee Beard in his corner - one of the
world's most accomplished nitro tuners. To us, it's all about the home-track advantage, and we need to make it count."
29th March: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came
with the words "Coming back home to York this weekend!". If you know more, or if you would like to send your
own spy picture, then drop us a line at 
27th March: UK 8.50 Bike racer Jake Mechaell is very pleased to announce continued sponsorship this season from
This weekend's Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award starts at £50. The money will be awarded to
the first racer this weekend to record a Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds. The Perfect Light Award is available to racers in all classes during qualifying and
eliminations, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect Light of the event. If not won this weekend then the Award will be increased to £75 for
Big Bang; if it is won then it will be reset to £50 for Big Bang. The Perfect Light Award is presented in association with UK Pro ET team Bad Habit
Racing (Tig and Cath Napier).
After the abrupt end of our 2012 season at the Hot Rod Drags, where a mid-track blower explosion caused damage to the blower and inlet manifold, our aim for the 2013
season is to become the quickest Rover V8-powered vehicle over the quarter mile by beating Steve Green's long-standing record of 8.33 seconds. After one season with
a new supercharger we have already achieved 8.54 seconds with the blower 10% underdriven, so there's more to come yet.
Diana Macrae tells us that the spy picture of 
19th March: 
19th March: Swedish Pro Modified racer Adam Flamholc has been in touch to let us know of a last-moment change to his
plans:
The first vehicle was a race prepared V8-powered highly modified Ford Pop belonging to drag racer Simon Barlow of the 
The second vehicle was Shakespeare County Raceway's very own 1989 IROC Z Camaro, a 435 horsepower street legal car which had just completed an eighteen-month total rebuild the day
before its attendance at Touchwood. People who stopped to look at the Camaro were given the chance of winning two free tickets to any event of their choosing during this, the track's
fortieth anniversary year, by completing a simple contact form. The lucky winner, picked at random by the manager of Costa Coffee, was thirteen-uear-old Jordan Williams from Shirley. When
Jordan was later informed of his win, he could not believe his good fortune and shrieked "Mum, I've won!".
The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the
words "When it's finished you won't be able to miss it in the pits". If you know more, or if you would like to send your
own spy picture, then drop us a line at 
The Beginners' Dial In Day is open to anyone who has never competed in a National ET class. The aim is to not only educate and train attendees but also offer the chance to give it a go
with both qualifying and elimination sessions. RWYB rules apply so you don't need to worry about abiding by any class rules, an MoT will suffice! The beauty of dial in racing is that it
really doesn't matter what you drive, you can race and be competitive in anything. Helmets are required for anyone travelling faster than 110 mph at the finish line.
The company also has a huge Facebook following with over five hundred fans watching the company's Open Nights, with live updates posted as runs are performed. Dynodaze
will also go that extra mile by answering any questions about the dyno process as well as any modifications made to the vehicle in question. Dynodaze have tested everything
imaginable to date, and not just those vehicles in the modified scene. American cars and even a couple of modified diesel pick up trucks have been through the dyno bay.
SCR staff recently attended one of their Open Nights and were very much impressed by the friendly, relaxed atmosphere afforded to those customers who had turned up to
find out exactly what their cars were putting out at the wheels. In fact the whole evening's atmosphere was very much the same as that found at Shakey. Whilst we were on
site we witnessed several dyno runs, including that of a brand new modified Vauxhall Astra VXR 2.0 turbo, which made an extra 52BHP over stock, with its Stage 1 remap and
Piper exhaust.
Typically, a customer will turn up and, after signing the disclaimer, will opt for one of the three test packages on offer. The vehicle is then secured to the rolling road unit by
straps which are threaded through the lower arms, which is a far more secure method than using the towing eye and to date there have been no disasters. A huge fan is
employed to carry out cooling duties during test runs and those vehicles fitted with carbon fibre bonnets have them secured in order to stop them blowing away, such is the
force of the fan. Vehicles are then calibrated to the dyno, by running them up to 3K RPM on the vehicle's tachometer. Tests are performed over two dyno test runs and, dependent
on the package chosen, figures for power/torque, boost and air/fuel mixture are determined. Danny advises customers to opt for the air/fuel test if remapping is to be carried out as
this can be crucial tuning information. Customers then receive a detailed printout on completion of the two runs and often get free advice thrown in, as well as a free sticker! One of
the more enlightening points raised, was the advice to use a quality fuel like Shell V Power and not one of the cheaper Supermarket fuels of which Dynodaze will not even entertain
the mention.
11th March: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words
"Nearly Easter". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at
10th March: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words
"They will probably turn on UK tracks too". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at
Paul Wing of PRW Engineering has kindly made two wheel nut caps to protect the central retaining nuts on the front wheels. Although shown in early photos of the car
they have not been seen since the restoration commenced. Using old photographs and measurements provided by Bob Roberts, Paul fabricated the caps from HE30
aluminium. He drilled and bored the inside first, then turned the shoulder and O-ring groove (reversing it in the chuck with a plug inside so as not to distort the cap). He
then machined the angle, and using a form tool created the radius. The final operation was smoothing down with wet and dry before polishing.
A recent financial donation has come from California where British drag racing pioneers Cliff and Sharon Watts have given a three-figure sum to our restoration fund.
Cliff and Sharon served on the British Drag Racing and Hot Rod Association Committee in the 1970s, Cliff as Street Rod Rep and Sharon as Secretary. They were also
known for their altered Uncle Scrumble. These days they split their time between Somerset and San Francisco but will soon be permanently based in California.
The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with no words at all.
If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at
Polly Magnussen is not a newbie in the world of drag racing, but he is in the Top Fuel dragster ranks. He spent several years as Team Manager for Supertwin racer Svein Olav Rolfstad before joining RFM. He will
now be helping Rune Fjeld with the management of the three Top Fuel Dragsters and perform media, press and marketing services as well. Polly recently gained a Bachelor's degree in Motorsport Management
and is also the marketing manager of the Norwegian Motorsport Federation.
4th March: Funny Car. Now there's a misnomer, you might think to yourself, as two ear-splitting Funnies edge forward to the start line and the air shivers and quakes around you.
Yet it's just the lull before the storm, which hits with full force moments later when the lights turn green.
3rd March: We are very pleased to announce that UK Pro ET team and serial start line fogger-outers
Bad Habit Racing have become the 2013 sponsor of
our Perfect Light Award. Longtime supporters of Eurodragster.com, Cath and Tig Napier got in touch very shortly after Friday's news
that the PL Award was in doubt this season.
