Attention UK Junior teams. 31st March: Ian Marshall has been in touch with a very important message for Junior Dragster and Junior Drag Bike racers competing at Santa Pod Raceway this weekend and beyond: Following the Riders and Drivers Meeting there has been a clarification of safety requirements in the collection area, which constitutes the five pairing lanes marked out beyond the zebra crossing. From the Festival of Power and onwards, no crew members under the age of seventeen may enter this area. A fence will be erected and positioned to allow Junior crew members to remain close to the vehicles but not actually in the collection area. It is requested that crew members under the age of seventeen, upon arriving at the zebra crossing, make their way to the fenced-off area next to the Signing On office and Media Centre. Junior crew members can remain in this area until their race vehicle moves towards the start line area and then they should make their way to the observation area underneath the pitside VIP balcony in order to continue watching the racing. We understand that this may upset some of the Junior crews, however your safety is paramount and must be considered at all times. Thank you for your co-operation. Where the family silver went... 31st March: The UK's Jordan Payne is looking forward to his first competitive outing in Junior Dragster at this week's Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway. Jordan, a second-generation drag racer, got in touch to introduce himself: I have been at the track since I was born as my father Nigel was racing his 1962 Corvette in Super Modified. I have always been very interested in drag racing - it's sort of hard not to be, when it's been beaten into you - and I can't wait for it to be my turn to take a car down the track. At the end of last season Dad made me a deal: if I could find the money to pay for half of a car, he would pay the rest. As soon as he said this I was off to work, selling lots of stuff on eBay (I'm sure my parents won't miss their stuff), and with help from my Grandad John I had enough for my part of the deal! We then went and bought Billy Everitt's old car. I was extremely excited. To prepare the car for this season, we have stripped it down, replaced any worn parts, polished it and put it back together. The car now has a stunning new paint job, and is ready to go. Thanks to our sponsors Cam Auto Developments, Nimbus Motorsport, RacePak Data Systems, CTR Developments, Windrush Roofing, Duplex CSA, SC Cooke Engineering, Curbishley Automotive... and my Grandad, but he doesn't have a web site! You can follow our journey on my Facebook page. Festival of Power Perfect Awards. 31st March: We are pleased to announce that Cath and Tig Napier of Bad Habit Racing and Derek Flynn of Gold RV have renewed their sponsorship of the Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards Scheme for 2015. This weekend's Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway is the first event in this season's Scheme and £100 is on offer for perfect performance. This weekend's Eurodragster.com/Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award is £50. The money will be paid in cash 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 Bad Habit Racing (Cath and Tig Napier, Pro ET). Decals are not mandatory for the Perfect Light Award but we would appreciate it if Eurodragster.com decals are carried. Eurodragster.com decals will be available in the Signing On office or from the Eurodragster.com office in Race Control (entry via Spectator Bank side stairs only). This weekend's Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET Award is also £50. The money will be paid in cash to the first racer this weekend to run an ET to the thousandth of a second on dial-in or index. 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), 8.50 Bike, 9.50 Bike, VW Pro, VW Sportsman, the Wild Bunch 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 decals, 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. Decals will be available in the Signing On office from Thursday. Web site updates. 31st March: In the latest instalment in his Racer Blog presented in association with Hulland Homes Ltd, Dutch Top Fuel Dragster racer Lex Joon brings us up to date with his US venture including a prestigious signing. As ever you can stay in touch with the latest Blog updates by clicking here or by clicking on the Hulland Homes Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. There has been a six-month gap but the Allard Chrysler Action Group has published another edition of its on-line magazine ACAG Update courtesy of Nigel Holland of MantisWeb. The forty four pages cover the latest news about the Allard Chrysler dragster restoration and associated events, along with a big resumé of British Drag Racing Hall of Fame activities. You can check it out at www.drceurope.co.uk/acag/mar2015. The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr site with pictures from last week's Fast Show at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out Mad's pictures at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman. Festival of Power racer update. 30th March: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us details of the arrangements for this weekend's Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway: Thursday 2nd April 08:00 Main gates open 11:00 Signing On open (open earlier for racers booked in to the Pro Peak Performance Day) 11:00 Car scrutineering open 16:00 Bike scrutineering open Friday 3rd April 07:00 Signing On and scrutineering open 09:30 Track open Saturday 4th April 07:00 Signing On and scrutineering open 09:30 Track open Sunday 5th April 07:30 Signing On and scrutineering open 09:30 Track open Friday's and Saturday's provisional running orders are available and can be checked out by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Please note that these running orders are subject to change due to weather or track conditions or for any other reason deemed necessary by race officials. Please remember the curfew under which no race vehicle motors are to be started before 09:00 or after 20:00. Breach of curfew can result in exclusion from the meeting. Big Bang entry forms will be accepted in Signing On this weekend. Help urgently sought. 30th March: Due to crew injury Super Pro ET racer Martyn Jones is seeking the loan or hire of a golf buggy at the Festival of Power. If you can help then please E-Mail Martyn at syd@anothersmallfortune.com. Event entry update. 30th March: Thanks to Ian Marshall for passing us Version 2 of the official entry list for Big Bang, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on Friday 24th to Sunday 26th April (racing 25th-26th) and which is a VWDRC and Outlaw Flat Four Championship round as well as a UK National Championship round for Sportsman ET and Lucas Oil Junior Dragster, a Championship round for Outlaw Anglia, JDS Pro and JDS Street, and an SPRC Club round for 8.50 Bike and 9.50 Bike. You can check out the Big Bang entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Although entry officially closes this Thursday, Big Bang entry forms will be accepted at this weekend's Festival of Power. You can download entry forms from the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. Sportsman ET ready to rumble. 30th March: The UK's Sportsman ET racers are set for the first of seven UK National Championship rounds at this weekend's Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway. We are indebted to Conor Holt for putting together a season preview: Reigning Champion Ricky Hale will be hoping to defend his crown this season and will also be the only representative of Redneck Racing in Sportsman ET this year with Nick and Nigel racing in Street Eliminator. Hoping to beat Ricky to the title this year is former UK National Champion Craig Wright who won last year's UK National Finals in the Damn Good Racing Civic. The only additions to the car this year are an addition of a shift light, new valve lashes, and a slightly different look. Craig and the team would like to welcome Team Topspeed Automotive as this season's sponsor. Jon Crawford and the hazelmerenlp.co.uk Volkswagen Sharan are back for a second year in the class. Highlights last year included second place in last-year's Dial-in Day, a semi-final finish at Bug Jam and runner-up at the August Bank Holiday race at York. Proudest moment though was being nominated for Most Promising Newcomer by Santa Pod Racers Club. Jon is looking forward to doing more rounds this year, and is also entering selected events in VW Sportsman. Jon is hoping to improve on last year's seventh place finish in the SPRC Championship eighth in the UK National Championship. Most of all though, he is looking forward to having more fun than should be allowed in the still stock-as-a-rock Sharan. Gillian and Alan Medley will be attempting to contest all rounds this season as they will mainly be racing in American Super Stock at York Raceway. They will both be racing at Festival of Power after Gillian won the Dial In Day in her Jeep Grand Cheroke which offered the prize of free entry to the Easter meeting. Poor health and a lack of sponsorship limit Sean Armstrong to one appearance this season, at Bug Jam. The car is having a new paint scheme which is nearly complete, and the team are slowing the car down for the meantime until they can make the engine mods which they have planned for the end of the year. The mods won't be anything drastic as the car is a proper street car. Jane McCready (Ben's Mum) will be at the wheel of Ben's Escort Van again this year looking to improve on 2014 in which she had a gentle introduction to Sportsman ET with just two rounds of racing and nowhere near enough track time. This year they will be entering four rounds: Big Bang, SPRC Summernationals, Bug Jam and the UK National Finals. They would have competed in all five rounds at Santa Pod but have a wedding to attend at Easter, meaning they have to skip the Festival of Power. Ben's Van has a new engine for this year and a new tune-up which they hope will improve on the current PB of a high seventeen, but they're not in it to win it, just to have some fun in Ben's memory and raise a little awareness of why they are doing it. The full story can be found at www.cluelessracing.org. The team are looking forward to a great 2015 and would like to thank all of the Sportsman ET teams for making them so welcome in 2014. You can't miss them as no-one else has Clueless on the side of their race car (or on their crew shirts). They always have free tea and cakes in their pits. Matthew Moxon will be will be hoping to improve on his sixth place last year and to win the SPRC Championship. The Mustang, which usually runs mid to low thirteens, will be largely unchanged. Stephen Cherrett will once again be doing the full season with no changes to the car from last year. He will also be carrying on his Crew Chief duties on the Dark Revenger in Super Street and Pro ET. This will be Holly Sanders' first season in racing and she will be contesting all five of the events at Santa Pod as well as going to Shakespeare County Raceway. She will also be running in VW Sportsman this year. Felicity Gibbs will be entering all of the events at Santa Pod and Shakespeare County Raceway in her first full year. She has been going to events since she was eight, crewing for her uncle Dave Ward in Super Pro ET, but it's now down to her to race. Felicity has managed to get two sponsors, All Aces Couriers and Mini Gears. As we welcome some new drivers others are leaving the class. Tethys will once again be pursuing his career in Top Fuel Dragster with Urs Erbacher and the crew; we know that he won't be a stranger in the Sportsman ET pits, offering his continued support to the teams. We hope that he and Ferret may even be tempted into a couple of rounds this year. Jan Lukes will not be racing this year, however he will be back next year. He says "To run the complete Championship last year took a year and a half of preparation, It's not easy with money and time. We are both working six days a week and rather than do everything quick I made the decision to do everything slowly and properly. That gives us a time to save some money as well". Finally Ethan Lisle has stepped up to Pro ET, however he plans to race at Bug Jam in his daily driver. The Limited schedule. 30th March: Lynne Coulsell writes that a proud and happy Limited Funz Racing are looking forward to 2015: Bandit 1 Junior Dragster driven by Harley Coulsell: Harley was very proud and honoured to be announced winner of SPRC's Most Promising Newcomer award. He has been very lucky that Mom and Dad acquired his own Junior Dragster just a few weeks ago. We have since been striving to get it ready for the Festival of Power this weekend. With the help of some very good friends, who have given up their valuable time, we can say that we are ready! With a rush order from the States for parts, some welding, fabrication, general fettling and of course a new paint job - Bandit 1 will be in full LFR black and orange livery - we are good to go. Sadly we haven't tested yet due to Shakespeare County Raceway's cancelled Public Test Weekend so we are going into Festival of Power blind, but at least we will be there. Massive thanks to Steve Cassisi, Daniel Giles, the Marras, Scott Hauser, Ashley Webb and Lee Patrick as without them Harley would not be racing. A small pic attached as Harley doesn't want it all revealing just yet! Wrathchild Wild Bunch slingshot driven by Rob and Pete Brown: Rob and Pete were lucky enough to grab a day's testing at Santa Pod after a few tweaks over the winter plus another superb paint job by Lee Patrick. Rob made the first run and recorded a 13.38/105, a good three-second improvement from the best time at last years Hot Rod Drags. Pete was up next for his first time ever in Wrathchild! After the initial nerves calmed down, proud Pete took his first timing ticket home reading 16.06/81.99! Some very tired but happy Marra guys and gals put Wrathchild to bed until they début the car properly at NASC Gary's Picnic / Yanks at SCR on 23rd May. The rest of the LFR team were watching at Marra HQ on the superb webcam coverage, thanks team (You're welcome - Ed), and were all cheering the boys on in their beautiful looking FED. BallBreaker Wild Bunch slingshot driven by Mark Coulsell: the car is still in hibernation until the Nostalgia Nationals on 19th June. She needed more rest after the superb 8.67/152.92 at last year's Hot Rod Drags - we still have to pinch ourselves about that! As always advance thanks go to all of the staff etc at Shakespeare County and Santa Pod Raceways as without all of them we would not be able to be involved with this amazing sport. Wiktor keeps the faith. 30th March: At the end of 2013 Bob Rahaim won the Pro Nitrous World Championship and posted the quickest time in the world for a Nitrous car of 3.7 seconds. Trevor Langfield of Eurodragster.com sponsor Wizards of NOS says that at the same time Swedish Pro Modified racer Mats Wiktor had fully appreciated two things. Mats' existing motor was totally unsuitable for the amount of nitrous he needed to run to mix it with the top guys in Europe, and he needed the best motor he could get to enable him to make the most of the best nitrous system in the world – his unique Wizards of NOS REVO system. By good luck Bob was selling the full motor package which had just run the world record at the time that Mats decided he needed to replace his, so money changed hands and Mats became the owner of the best nitrous motor he could buy. Contrary to what some fools have claimed, Mats knew his WoN REVO system was not the cause of his prior engine problems, so he asked me to create another REVO system for his new motor, as the first was specific to and sold with his old motor. Although Mats started 2014 with the best motor he could obtain, unfortunately he was plagued by other problems relating to his gearbox, suspension and ignition system, all of which prevented him from making any substantial advances. As anyone with any brains appreciates (which rules out those that have made false derogatory statements about his car and my REVO system) it takes every part to play its role perfectly for a vehicle to progress, and it only takes one part to fail to prevent it. For 2015 Mats has purchased the best gearbox, the best suspension units and three new ignition units, so that any future failure in that department can be rectified immediately. With all his prior problems rectified and his best ever combination of parts, he now looks forward to a more promising race season this year. Bob Rahaim's original multi-stage Switzer Dynamics kit is now for sale with all jet data recorded. The new price for such a system, fitted, is in the $10,000 region and obviously the time testing the combo to achieve world record settings is invaluable. Mats has asked me to offer the kit for sale on his behalf and he is willing to consider any sensible offer, so please contact me on 01302 834343 if you are interested. Swift snippets. 30th March: Congratulations to Swedish Wunderkind Jonnie Lindberg on a clean sweep of clean sweeps in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway. Number one qualifier, event winner, new National ET record of 5.361 seconds and new National speed record of 272.01 miles per hour having been the first TAFC racer over 270 mph during qualifying. You have to think that Jonnie's list doesn't have much left on it but whatever is on there, you wouldn't bet against Jonnie achieving it. The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com (below left) came with the words "Charged with inbreeding?". 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. Going into this weekend's first UK National Championship round at the Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway, UK 8.50 Bike racer Jake Mechaell (above right) is pleased to announce continued sponsorship from Webster Race Engineering, EPS Motorsport and Bedford and Sons Motorcycles Northampton. "Ready to roll, see you all this weekend" says Jake. Thanks to the nearly three thousand Eurodragsterholics who tuned in to our Webster Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport test webcast on Saturday, especially for your patience as we repeatedly switched the stream on and off to test various settings, and for your understanding about the questionable sound quality which was down to the gale force wind blowing directly into a defenceless microphone (Baffle on order - Ed). Our next planned webcast is from Thursday's Pro Peak Performance Test and Tune Day at Santa Pod Raceway. Stay tuned for more webcast news later this week. On a count of three... 30th March: Brisbane-based Top Fuel Dragster pilot, UK expatriate 'The Pom' Steve Read wants to make it count when he lines up against five of the toughest Top Fuel racers from around Australia at the 3rd Annual Santo's Cranes Super 3, held at Willowbank Raceway, Ipswich, Australia this coming Saturday, 4th April. "In 2013, we pulled together six consecutive four-second passes and won the inaugural Super 3, taking home the Louie Rapisarda Memorial Trophy, which means an awful lot to me personally, having raced for Santo for ten years", said Steve. "Racing in Louie's memory is at the centre of everything Santo does on the race track and for the sport of Championship Drag Racing." Whilst the premise of the Santo's Super 3 is to promote the short, sharp show aspect, this year's version has gone from a two-night event to a Saturday night show – a move which Steve says makes perfect sense over the Easter weekend. "Over the Easter long weekend, a lot of people want to maximise those four days off and do a lot of different things. With the Super 3 event as a Saturday night-only deal this year, I believe it will help boost fan attendance. There's just something special about watching Saturday night nitro at Willowbank. Today's race fans love to go see drag racing, or any live event for that matter, but in a shorter time frame, which I think is a real sign of the times we live in. It means a shorter, high-intensity show – just like a concert – you're in and out of there in a few hours." Having tasted success at this unique event in its first year, Steve is hungry to make this year's race really count. "We're up against two Rapisarda cars, two Lamattina cars and Mark Sheehan's state-of-the-art new canopy dragster", he said. I'm really looking forward to mixing it up with these guys on track. We have to hit our stride right out of the trailer and be on the pace. The crowd will be in for a hell of a show." The four-hour program means that Steve and his team need to judge changing track conditions and make tuning decisions quickly, something that The Pom knows can have far-reaching effects. "From fiveo'clock, we're in game mode", he said. "We've won before, and I want this one again. We're racing on a track surface that doesn't play favourites – you either get it right, or you're shaking the tyres and burning up parts." Steve hinted that the Team RSR Dragster might also feature a piece of Vegas on Easter Saturday. "We found some damage to our main rear wing after the 2014 Australian Nationals in Sydney", he said. "My crew at the workshop have already given the Vegas wing a new nickname – the Hangover- because the last time this rear wing went down the track, it had a bad night in Vegas." This time around, Read is hopeful that Lady Luck is on his side once again in front of his home-town crowd. Top Fuel is on track at 5:00 pm, 7:00 pm and 9.30 pm on Saturday, utilising the three-round format. For more information visit www.willowbankraceway.com.au. As much fun as a wet weekend. 30th March: Swedish Pro Extreme racer Adam Flamholc is back in Sweden after a wet fornight in the USA: The first event we planned to go to, in Montgomery, was cancelled two days before the race, due to a really nasty weather forecast. So we stayed down in Florida and worked on the race car and rig for almost an extra week. After a long drive to Ennis in Texas, we made two test runs in Thursday before the next event. They both went according to our plan, and on the second hit the car ran 3.67. Then it started to rain... and it rained until Saturday afternoon. The PDRA staff worked hard, and the track was race ready faster than anyone expected! But just when it was our turn to finally try to go down the track it started to rain again. On our first qualifying run on Sunday morning I underestimated the track, and the car went in to tireshake. At this point we were not qualified. On the second and last chance we had to get in the field but an oil hose on the filter started to leak. We loaded up the car, and were about to leave when they called us to the lanes as an alternate! We ran against number two qualifier Frankie Taylor. Frankie ran 3.60 to our 3.63 so it was a pretty close race. It's hard to be satisfied with that weekend, but I'm glad we got the last run in. Now I can't wait to go to Rockingham in a few weeks! Thanks to the PDRA staff for a great event, hanks to my team and family, and please support the companies who support us: MMR Malmo Motorrenovering AB, Amaile Oil, 5 Days Plantation Shutters and Blinds, Performance Plus, HRE Hameetman Racing Engines, Stallningsbyggarna I Skåne AB, VP Racing Fuels and Nils&eeacute;n Performance. Run What You Brung coverage. 28th March: Eurodragster.com's Webster Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcam will be broadcasting from today's Run What You Brung at Santa Pod Raceway. Please note that we will be testing new kit and new software so it is likely that the stream will be stop-start, particularly in the morning, so please bear with us. Also please note a major change for this season, namely that we will no longer webcast rain falling onto an empty track; should it rain then we will instead broadcast a caption card accompanied by Nitro FM or trackside audio. This change is at the request of Santa Pod's management and we were only too happy to agree. Hopefully it will not rain today but we will test the caption card at some point. Thanks to Doyousee.me for the provision of streaming services. Assuming that webcam testing goes well then we will also post an end-day gallery in association with John Woolfe Racing. You can tune in to today's coverage by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Event entry update. 28th March: Thanks to Ian Marshall for passing us Version 1 of the official entry list for Big Bang, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on Friday 24th to Sunday 26th April (racing 25th-26th) and which is a VWDRC and Outlaw Flat Four Championship round as well as a UK National Championship round for Sportsman ET and Lucas Oil Junior Dragster, a Championship round for Outlaw Anglia, JDS Pro and JDS Street, and an SPRC Club round for 8.50 Bike and 9.50 Bike. You can check out the Big Bang entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Entry closes next Thursday, 2nd April; you can download entry forms from the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. Jerry Cookson tells us that the Notes section of the APIRA Facebook page now holds the official entry forms for the the Hillingdon Speed and Spares APIRA Springspeed Nationals, a round of the UK National and ACU UK Drag Bike Championships as well as rounds of other Championships, which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway on 2nd-4th May. The official APIRA membership form can also be downloaded from the same section. Upping the skull count. 28th March: After a long and busy winter the wraps have finally come off nine-year-old Dylan Bradley's RS Repairs Highway 2 Hell Junior Dragster: Straight after the Flame and Thunder Show the car was stripped bare and sent off for powder coating and new parts ordered from America. Within a week the chassis was back and fully rebuilt so then the fun started. The body went off to our sponsor RS Repairs for the custom airbrushing. We had a brief conversation about design then they got to work. One hundred hours of airbrushing later Highway 2 Hell was born. Three weeks ago we got the call that the body was done, so the team raced around to the workshop and the first response from the driver was "Wow!". The rest of the team thought the same. Dylan will be contesting his first full season of racing after competing in a small amount of races last season. He is excited to get behind the wheel and gain more experience at the Festival of Power next weekend. For the 2015 season the Highway 2 Hell team are pleased to announce we will also be running a second car, "She Bad 2 Da Bone", which will be driven by Kaitlan Deevey in Junior Modified. The whole team is ready for the start of the new season. Pop to the pits and have a close look at the car and try to work out how many skulls are on it! Finally we need to say a massive thank you to our title sponsor RS Repairs for the awesome custom airbrushed body and crew tops, and to associate sponsors FGR Motorsport and CBM Motorsport. Weir eyes VW Pro move. 28th March: UK VW Sportsman racer Russ Weir is looking to move his Shiftin' Ghia up to VW Pro this season after a limited calendar in 2014 which had almost simultaneous high and low points: I took most of 2014 off to apply upgrades, but I still managed to get out at Bug Jam and smash my PB of 16.01 down to 14.77. Unfortunately this hike in performance was not taken lightly by my diff, which made a very good impression of a spool whilst attempting a thirteen-second run. So, I've gone back to the drawing-board and am in the middle of putting together a new package. The trans is currently being swapped out for a stronger VW Camper unit. Not a straightforward swap, but it also means I can run the stronger Porsche 944 CV joints and driveshafts. Engine-wise I've managed to trade-up some of my existing parts, so although she's staying 2109 cc there'll be stronger rods, more cam duration and lift, higher compression ratio, bigger valves in better heads and a pair of Weber IDA carbs.  This lot should lift the power from an estimated 135 bhp to approaching 160 bhp. With one eye on making the jump from Sportsman to Pro I should be out later in the year for testing / racing and should have some kind of idea where I can make changes to run into the twelves.  Updates can be found on my Facebook page, and please take a moment to visit the Volkswagen Drag Racing Club Facebook page for updates on everything else which is going on. Swift snippets. 28th March: Good luck and stay safe to Jimmy Ålund in Pro Stock and Jonnie Lindberg and Gatornationals winner Ulf Leanders in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the 6th Annual NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway. After a rain-out yesterday there'll be another shot at qualifying today and you will be able to stay in touch with our heroes' progress courtesy of our buddies at Drag Race Central at www.dragracecentral.com. Santa Pod Raceway tell us that there is still time for racers to order their VP Racing Fuels for collection at next week's Festival of Power. You can order your race fuel on-line at www.santapodshop.com/garage/race-fuel. Despite his relative youth Sweden's Kalle Lyrén is one of the most experienced, successful and well known Pro Stock Bike racers in Europe. Always looking for improvements, Kalle had his best ever season last year with new Personals Bests and the first ever Pro Stock Bike title in the EDRS Pro Nordic Motorcycle Championships. You can read more in Remco Scheelings' latest feature on the EDRS Pro Motorcycle Championship web site at www.edrspro.com. More Hall of Fame backing. 28th March: As they enter the tenth year of celebrating those who have been instrumental in establishing and growing the sport of drag racing in the UK, the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame is pleased to announce the addition of two new backers. The first of these is Aptitude, a Bedford-based full service digital agency that works with a range of companies across the UK. They are currently in the process of developing a new web site for the BDRHoF which will offer visitors an improved experience, as well as allowing them to access information on the go from their smartphones and tablets. Aptitude's Managing Director Lee Messenger says "During recent years the way we use and interact with web sites has changed dramatically, which is why we're working with BDRHoF to develop a fully-responsive website. The BDRHoF do great work and we are happy to be working with them." Details about Aptitude can be found at www.aptitude.co.uk. The second of these new supporters is Ron Hope and Rat Trap Racing who have donated a four-figure sum. Ron grew up in Southern California during the late 1950s and early 1960s and, as a teenager, he was quite active in the dry lake and Bonneville Land Speed Record scenes. Always a Chrysler Hemi fan, Ron is now most known as the owner and driver of one of the most exciting Fuel Altereds in the world Rat Trap. Driving this car he has thrilled spectators in many countries, including the UK when he appeared at Dragstalgia at Santa Pod Raceway in 2014. He was also at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Details about Rat Trap Racing can be found at www.rattrapracing.com. As well as his extensive drag racing activities Ron operates Capital Automotive Reconditioning Services, a huge vehicle auction support business which has thirty business units in nineteen states employing 650 people. Ron said "I have known British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Chairman Stu Bradbury for some time and he was instrumental in arranging for US Automotive to sponsor our 2014 trip to the UK. I was lucky enough to attend the BDRHoF Gala Awards Dinner last year and it blew me away. What a fabulous event and I have already booked my tickets for this year. The people running the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame are all volunteers and they work really hard to celebrate our history so I am pleased to be able to help keep the wheels turning. British Drg Racing Hall of Fame Chair Stu Bradbury said It is very rewarding that a growing number of businesses are seeing the BDRHoF as an organisation worth supporting. Our profile has increased tenfold during the last few years and the funds allow us to develop an increased level of professionalism enabling us to compete at a much higher level when promoting drag racing and its history. "Some very exciting plans are being finalised for this years Gala Dinner at the Savill Court Hotel on November 21st. News will be released soon and I promise you that it will be another evening that you will not want to miss." Ticket prices for the Gala Dinner will remain as last year at £60 per person. Corporate tables of ten are available at £580. Room prices also remain as last year, £99 for double and £79 for single including breakfast. Complimentary use of swimming pool, sauna, steam room, jacuzzi, and free car parking are also part of the package. For advance booking of Gala Dinner tickets contact britishdrhof@aol.com or telephone Stu Bradbury on 01933 279102. No deposits will be required until the summer but when other plans come together this will again be an early sell-out event. For room bookings call the Savill Court Hotel on 01784 472000 quoting Hall of Fame dinner 21st November. SCR call off Test Weekend. 26th March: Shakespeare County Raceway have announced that this weekend's (28th-29th) Season Opening Public Test Weekend has been called off. The Season Opener will now take place on 18th-19th April. Jerry Cookson writes: Due to very unsettled weather predictions along with forecasts of heavy showers and strong winds, and after consulting with the Met Office and other weather bureaux for the area, we have reluctantly decided to postpone and reschedule this weekend's event. As a business we never wish to postpone an event and we can only work with the forecasts which can be accurate but 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 riders and drivers as possible. This inevitably means taking a calculated decision based upon forecasts and probabilities which can 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 three weeks, 18th-19th April, when we hope that the weather will be much more appealing! Festival of Power racer camping. 26th March: As mentioned at February's Riders' and Drivers' Meeting, Santa Pod Raceway will be ensuring that racers adhere to the rules about pitting including motorhomes and caravans at next week's Festival of Power. Darren Prentice writes: With a great entry of racers entry at the Festival of Power we are going to be ever more vigilant with the room allocated for pitting. We will be ensuring that only one motorhome or caravan per entrant will be allowed into the pits; anything extra will be going into the racers' camping area. We have arranged for the guys who supply the power to put a generator in the racers' camping area for team members staying in there. The cost of this power will be £55 for the three days. You can pay on the day but it would be helpful if you can let the guys know that you would like to take them up on this service. You can contact Any Occasion Event Equipment Hire at anyoccasion@hotmail.co.uk. We will be trialling this at Easter and if it works, and is well-supported, then we may well offer the service at more events in the future. SPRC membership packs. 26th March: Ian Marshall has been in touch with a message for those Santa Pod Racers Club members awaiting this year's membership packs: Unfortunately there has been a delay with the memory sticks (which contain the rule book etc) due to Customs clearance. However we have been guaranteed they will be with us today (Thursday) and they will be in the post to all of those members waiting this afternoon. Our apologies for the delay, but we will make sure that everyone has their renewal before setting out to the track later next week. If those members waiting have not receive their membership packs by Wednesday of next week please get in contact with me at 01933 313625 or ir.marshall@btconnect.com. Swift snippets. 26th March: The entire Redneck Racing team would like to wish Nick Hale a very Happy Birthday. "We cannot wait to truly celebrate at Easter", says Jemma Hale. Have a great day Nick. York welcomes Mini Showdown. 25th March: York Raceway will start its 2015 season with the Mini Showdown on 5th-6th April: This is a new event for the North's drag strip which celebrates the culture, history and great diversity of the ever popular little car. As well as all-Mini RWYB sessions featuring runs by some of the UK's quickest Minis, the action will also include passes by the Turbonator Jet Mini and its tiny cousin the Jet Peel Trident. The track will also be open for Ultimate RWYB and Test and Tune. A number of Mini Clubs will be in attendance, and all Minis from 1959 to present will receive a warm welcome at The Mini Showdown. The first round of competition in York Raceway's Championship racing classes takes place on Monday 6th April. The UK's biggest field of stock-appearing American cars will battle it out in American Super Stock. JDM-DRC, which has really taken off in the last two years, will feature bracket racing for anything with four wheels produced or powered by Japanese engineering and Volks-Stock features bracket racing for all VAG based cars, air- or water-cooled. The PDRC bracket and heads-up classes will as always, put on a great show with racing in Pro ET, Sportsman ET, and Super Cup. If any licensed MSA Championship racers should feel at a loss on Easter Monday then maybe they should think about a trip up to York where, for £40 to double enter, they just might have one of the most fun and cheapest days racing they've ever had. Swift snippets. 25th March: Sweden's three-time FIA European Pro Stock Champion Michael Malmgren says that amongst a lot of talk about FIA approved fuels he has carried out a lot of testing over the winter and says that he still gets the best results from VP Racing Fuels' unleaded fuel. "We have now used VP unleaded fuel for several years and have had no problems whatsoever", says Michael. Every gallon of VP is the same so you can count on it drum after drum. From what I understand most if not all teams will run VP fuel again in 2015". You can find out more at www.vpracingfuels.com. Hard work, dedication, a never-give-up mindset and love for the sport make Hans Olav Olstad one of the most popular Supertwin racers in the pits. In 2014 the Norwegian got his reward by winning his latest big trophy, the first ever EDRS Pro Nordic MC Supertwin title. So, for at least one season, Thunderstruck is number one again. You can read more in Remco Scheelings' latest feature on the EDRS Pro Motorcycle Championship web site at www.edrspro.com. Web site updates. 25th March: Nostalgia fans will particularly enjoy the two latest updates to Dick Parnham's Flickr site, namely National Drag Racing Club events at Wroughton in 1975 and Long Marston in 1979. You can check it out at www.flickr.com/photos/dickparnhamdragracing. Anglo Bubblegum. 24th March: Matt Glassup has confirmed that the Bubblegum name will return on Bob Glassup's Ford Capri-bodied Nostalgia Fuel Funny Car: After thirty years Bob has come full circle and will be back behind the wheel of a Mk1 Capri, so we felt it fitting that we should adopt the name of our first race car. The car is coming together thanks to Rich Walters who is currently busy on the body, Dave Gibbons who is building up the motor, and Luke and Andy Robinson who are busy sourcing and tagging parts for us. There will be a full update soon but we would like to thank Darren West of Power Race Graphics for his patience and for a superb job working up a subtle and effective paint scheme. Darren has worked up a variety of options for us and this is our personal favourite at this stage, with some potential sponsors coming on board at some point in the near future.  We are hoping to début the car at a test event prior to Dragstalgia but we will certainly be at Dragstalgia with the finished article.  There are so many people to thank, and we don't want to miss anyone out, so we will mention everybody in a full update in the next month or so.  Please feel free to Like our Xtreme Wheels Racing Facebook page at www.facebook.com/XtremeWheelsRacing. Warpspeed set for Easter. 24th March: Dale Leeks has been in touch with an update from the Warpspeed Raceteam starting with good news on the sponsorship front: The team is proud to announce that they will be racing under the MPM Oil flag for another year. We would like to thank MPM for their continued support of our ever-growing team. New on the sponsor list are Acorn Plating Ltd who deal in anodising and hydrographics. Dale Leeks' Pro Mod Suzuki has undergone a transformation at Acorn Plating Ltd and Warpspeed Racing would like to thank Jay Reich and Steven Barry for the hours of work they put into the new look. Stuart Crane's Pro Mod Suzuki has also had a transformation, opting for all-new carbon bodywork and seating position moved further back. Both Dale's and Stuart's bikes have updated ignition systems and wiring so a whole new set up for both; Stuart will also be running the new Warpspeed Racing slider clutch system which had very promising results out in the Middle East this winter, going 0.995 over sixty feet on its first pass. Mark Smith's Pro Stock Bike is also having a full rewire with new ignition system and a new engine which has been built in-house. John McLean and Ady Catell have already been out testing with their new set-ups. John will be contesting his first year in Comp Bike along with Ady whose first year this is in 9.50 Bike. Young Jordan Kenway has also been testing but unfortunately seized one motor in the process, he is now back up and running in time for Easter. We are looking forward to Easter and the start of the 2015 Championships. We would like to thank all of our sponsors for their continued support: MPM Oil, Draper Tools, Acorn Plating Ltd, TW Metals, Roger Upperton Racing and Warpspeed Racing. Tethys' new ride. 22nd March: The UK's Tethys has announced that he is to continue in Top Fuel Dragster this year only with a new ride: After a début Top Fuel season which had some high points, but which was significantly hampered by weather and mechanical problems, I'm hoping for better in 2015. This year, I'll be driving one of Urs Erbacher's dragsters. As before, I don't have the financial backing to do a full season, but will be running at limited meetings. I may not be a contender for the Championship, but I'll be doing my best to win those rounds at which I'll be running. The initial plan is to start with some familiarisation passes at the test weekend before the Main Event, and then to contest the Main Event itself. I took some of my crew over to Switzerland to go over the car, and so far it's all looking good. I'm looking forward to getting back behind the wheel again. Friström goes for two. 22nd March: Our good buddy Remco Scheelings writes with news of his latest feature on the official web site of the EDRS Pro Motorcycle Championship: To win a Championship is one thing, but to lead after the first race and take the title in style with a win at the last race at Tierp Arena makes you the real number one! And that's exactly what Björn Friström did. Although he had a far from trouble-free season, the forty four year old Swede was number one in the Super Street Bike rankings throughout last year and won the title in the popular no wheelie bar class. You can read more at www.edrspro.com. Swift snippets. 22nd March: Next Saturday's Run What You Brung at Santa Pod Raceway is attracting a number of racers preparing for the new season, which commences at the Festival of Power the week after. Also pre-season testing at Santa Pod next Saturday is Eurodragster.com's Webster Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcam. We have new kit and new software to test so be warned the stream will likely be on and off like a belisha beacon at least to begin with. Anyone bitching on Facebook or elsewhere despite this warning will be dealt with appropriately. The one to watch. 22nd March: After checking out the official entry list for the Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway on 3rd-5th April, Paul Marston writes that one class stands out as the one to watch in the coming season: Super Comp, which is the fastest Super class with an index of 8.90 seconds, has a very healthy eighteen entries. This is a nice increase on 2014 which still had a very respectable fourteen entries. What makes it even more special is the fact that there are no less than eight National and Club Champions on the list, along with the reigning Champion. I have no idea if that is a record but, it means one thing for sure: it will be one of the most competitive classes in Sportsman drag racing. Looking at the Festival of Power entry there is the reigning Champion Paul Hudson who returns to defend his title; Paul Watson, double UK National Super Gas Champion; Pete Creswell, multiple winner in both Super Gas and Super Comp; four time UK National Super Gas Champion Jon Morton; twice National event winner Paul Letchford; UK National Super Comp Champion Martin Curbishley; four-time Super Gas National event winner Stuart Doignie; 2013 UK National Super Comp Champion Paul Brown; multiple Super class event winner Dave Day; and UK National Super Comp Champion Paul Marston. By any measure it's a pretty formidable list and a depth of talent that runs very deep. Put simply there will be no givens and no easy rounds. With new cars from Paul Brown and Paul Marston plus a lot of upgraded machinery, it is simply impossible to pick or tip a favourite. Keep an eye on Super Comp in 2015 as, unlike Formula 1, this class will be far from a foregone conclusion and we could easily go into the UK National Finals with three or four races still quite capable of lifting the title. Mooneyes sponsor Allard Awards. 20th March: The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame is pleased to announce that the Sydney Allard Media Awards will again be presented at the BDRHoF Gala Awards Dinner being held at the Savill Court Hotel, Windsor Great Park on 21st November. The crystal trophies are this year to be sponsored by Mooneyes, or MQQNEYES as it is now depicted. Introduced in 2014, the Allard Awards pay tribute to the influence of journalists and photographers in the promotion of drag racing. The recipients of the award will not enter the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame, but their achievements will be honoured and their names entered as BDRHoF Special Award winners. The first Award will be awarded to the writer of the best book, article, feature or blog on British drag racing published in print or on-line during the twelve months ending 31st July. The second award will be presented for the best photograph featuring British drag racing, either published in print or on-line or unpublished, during the same period. The winning photograph will be featured in Octane magazine. The Chief Judge for the Writing award will again be Guy Loveridge, author, journalist, publisher, broadcaster and auctioneer as well as Chairman of the Guild of Motoring Writers. Guy said "I'm excited to be involved with the Sydney Allard Awards again. Last year's Gala Dinner was a truly amazing occasion and I met some fantastic people who have become my friends. Recognising the importance of the written word in promoting and describing drag racing – particularly to people who might not have attended a drag racing event yet - is something I am very keen to support. I'm pleased to say that last year's winner Nick-Brooke Langham has become a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers." The Chief Judge for the Photography award will again be Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, President of Guild of Motoring Writers and classic car collector and racer. He is also a Trustee of the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, an author/publisher, a columnist for Octane magazine and Patron of the Allard Chrysler Action Group. So Nick has a direct link to Sydney Allard. A second judge will be Mark Sommer, the Art Editor of Octane magazine. There were over eighty entries last year so it is a big job. Octane magazine Editor David Lillywhite said "Octane Magazine is pleased to support the Sydney Allard Photo Journalism Award for the second year and this time we plan to give more of the best photographic entries exposure in the magazine. Drag racing is one of the most showy of motor sports and capturing the images successfully is a skill well worth celebrating." This year these awards are being sponsored by MQQNEYES, a very fitting partnership because the relationship between the company's founder Dean Moon and Sydney Allard back in the early 1960s is embedded in the DNA of European drag racing. Chico Kodama of MQQNEYES said "Along with Shige Suganuma, I would like to thank the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame for inviting us to sponsor these media awards. Our founder Dean Moon was very media aware – something that was crucial in establishing the brand. We are proud to have our logo on these trophies alongside the name of such a legend as Sydney Allard who was instrumental in enabling Dean to bring the MQQNEYES dragster to the UK in 1963. It would be great if we were able to do it again." Visit www.mooneyes.com for more details about MQQNEYES. BDRHoF Management Group Commerce and Marketing Director Brian Taylor said "It's fabulous to have MQQNEYES on board this year. The brand is synonymous with drag racing and hot rodding and they have been a willing supporter of the Allard Chrysler Dragster restoration project. The opportunity of broadening the company's involvement in British drag racing was too good to miss. "We are now asking photographers and journalists to submit entries taken or published since August 2014. This is open to professionals and amateurs and the photographs can be taken trackside, from spectator areas, in the pits, studios or at shows." Full details and entry forms can be found on the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame web site at www.britishdragracinghof.co.uk. Remember that this year's competition covers photos and written pieces starting on 1st August last year so some entries will already be ready to go. Event entry update. 20th March: Entry is open for Big Bang, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on Friday 24th to Sunday 26th April (racing 25th-26th) and which is a VWDRC and Outlaw Flat Four Championship round as well as a UK National Championship round for Sportsman ET and Lucas Oil Junior Dragster, a Championship round for Outlaw Anglia, JDS Pro and JDS Street, and an SPRC Club round for 8.50 Bike and 9.50 Bike. You can download entry forms from the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. Entry is also open for the following round of UK National, ACU UK Drag Bike and other Championships, the Hillingdon Speed and Spares APIRA Springspeed Nationals which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway on 2nd-4th May. You can download entry forms from the SCR web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk. See Webster for Sunoco. 19th March: Eurodragster.com sponsor Webster Race Engineering are now agents for fellow Eurodragster.com sponsor Sunoco racing fuels and associated products, and are currently taking orders for the Festival of Power: We have recently installed a large purpose-built fuel store at our premises on Airfield Road, Podington (right by the gates of Santa Pod - Ed). We will eventually be stocking all of the popular grades of Sunoco racing fuel which can be conveniently collected by our customers en route to the race track. If any racers are curious about the Sunoco range of fuels and their properties, information is available at www.aaoil.co.uk. If you intend to order for Easter then please note that prior notice will be required to ensure that sufficient quantities are available. We can satisfy orders submitted up to next Tesday, 24th March. Please contact us on 01234 918301 (outside the UK +44 1234 918301). Superstock Superstock. 18th March: Peter Walton writes that the fledgling Superstock class will have two outings in the UK in 2015: On 10th-12th July we go back to Santa Pod for Dragstalgia. Last year was good for us, with over twenty entries in what was only our third year as a class. Let's hope that the suport is still there this year. Now for some more good news, we have a second event which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway, the NSRA Hot Rod Drags on 11th-13th September. As a new class finding a way into these busy events is hard, so we were more than happy when Jerry Cookson and the NSRA allowed us in. I hope we can add something to an already-great event (Guaranteed I'd say - Ed). Anyone who knows me knows that I have an unhealthy fascination with these Stockers, and I have been quite overwhelmed by the support shown by some people out there, but none more so than the man who not only built but races the quickest Pro Mod in the UK, Andy Robinson who has again agreed to put his name forward as our principal sponsor. So there you have it: two events for you Stockers, and who knows in another couple of years we might even be taken seriously. If you would like to enter then please contact me at peterwalton2ph@btinternet.com or call 07970 206827. The lubricious Miss-Guided. 18th March: The UK's Miss-Guided Super Pro ET team are pleased to announce a new sponsor for 2015 in the form of Advanced Lubricant Solutions / Royal Purple Oils: We have recently started to use Royal Purple's Nitro Plus oil in the 'Vette and are very happy to recommend it to anyone. Nitro Plus oil is a straight-grade synthetic motor oil formulated specifically for use in blown alcohol, nitro-methane or any racing applications which can experience excessive fuel dilution. Designed to withstand even the most severe stress in high-compression engines it outperform all other high performance synthetic oil on the market, and the non-foaming formula provides optimal protection against engine rust and corrosion. Advanced Lubricant Solutions are based in Newcastle and have built their reputation in the UK for delivering quality custom made exhausts and other products. They have now expanded to become distributors in lubricants for Royal Purple, Bel-Ray and ISEL products. Their product ranges from each of these brands is varied, extensive and expansive and contains something for all racers, if you need any further information, please come and see us in the pits for product / price list, or contact Stuart at info@advancedlubricant.solutions. Swift snippets. 18th March: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for sending the final version of the official entry list for the Festival of Power which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 3rd-5th April. You can check out the entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. We would like to say a big Happy 60th Birthday and many more of them to our good buddy and Shakespeare County Raceway Track Announcer Barry Bohannon. Have a great day Barry. Training for your safety. 17th March: Jerry Cookson writes that a lively day of fire and extrication training took place recently at Shakespeare County Raceway: There was an excellent turn out of Avon Park International Racing Association marshals and track staff complemented by the Raceway's resident medics CC Medical Services led by Ian Connop and Richard Ashton's Calder Rescue. In addition to the first aid and fire extinguisher training for the specialist off-track marshals who operate Race Control, Pit Office and the Staging Lanes, the day also features several seminars comprising track education, radio procedures and finalisation of the updated 2015 Marshals Handbook. The on-track fire and rescue marshals were put through several scenarios by MSA Training Instructor Richard Ashton and Calder Rescue. These included extrication of an injured driver, various cutting exercises and techniques, as well as fire training using extinguishers and fire appliances on a petrol car fire as well as a methanol fire so that everyone could see the hazards of methanol burning with an invisible flame! Shakespeare County Raceway and APIRA would like to extend their thanks to everyone who participated in making the training day such a success, the volunteer marshals who so freely give up their time and expertise, and also the Motor Sports Association for their help and advice in obtaining funding to enable this vital training to take place. It is heartening to know that drag racing is supported by so many volunteers and has the backing of the governing body of motorsport. Thank you all and see you at the strip! Unplanned Plan B for 2015. 17th March: 2014 was a fun year for us for UK Comp Bike racer Phil Crossley and Team Bopchop, and 2014 promises to be the same with a new ride and a change of class: We ran very consistent times throughout the season - twenty five runs of twenty nine being a 7.7 or better - and set three Personal Bests, culminating in a 7.536 at the Open Sport Nationals. We also had some really close races, particularly against Allan Davies, and we swapped the points lead a few times during the season. The Championship was all set to be decided at the last event of the year, and in fact looked set to go all the way to the final before it would be decided as Allan and I were numbers two and one qualifiers respectively. Unfortunately, just minutes before the first round I discovered a problem with the clutch which later turned out to be a faulty gearbox bearing and our Championship hopes ended there. Allan of course went on to win the event and Championship and it's fair to say he earned it. Throughout 2014 another development was happening deep in the underground workshop of Team Bopchop (aka my sister's cellar!) - I'd started work on building a nitrous-powered Funny Bike. It all began when I acquired a Vance and Hines two-valve cylinder head from NHRA Pro Stock racer Steve Johnson. It had the potential to make a lot of power, and was only going to work well in a longer wheelbase chassis, and so I bought a tube bender and twenty metres of T45 tube and got to work! When you decide to make nearly everything yourself progress is always going to be slow, however one year on and it's 75% done. It's been on its wheels for some time, and the bodywork is fitted and will soon be ready for paint - we would welcome interest from anyone who would like to showcase their skills and promote their business by painting our bike. Engine parts have been gathered up one by one; all we are missing are some pistons and valve train components. The plan for 2015 then? Plan A was to start the season in Comp Bike and when the new bike was ready, hopefully around mid-season, we'd change to Funny Bike class. But, at the last minute, I decided to follow my sparring partner Allan Davies and run the whole season in Funny Bike. There are many bikes in the class with the potential to go really quick, and we will struggle to compete, but we don't intend to stand still. I've fitted bigger nitrous components over the winter and revised the whole system. There's almost certainly more to come from the old bike yet.  We can't wait! This season we are pleased to have support from nitrous supplier On The Bottle who will be providing us with discounted race fuel and nitrous oxide refills. On The Bottle will be attending nearly all of the 2015 season events at Shakespeare County and Santa Pod Raceways and will be available for nitrous refills as well as full nitrous kits, parts and accessories. We would also love to hear from anyone else interested in supporting our new project. Please visit and like our Facebook page or check out our longtime Blog at gsxbopchop.blogspot.co.uk for more info and pictures of the build. All above board. 17th March: Garry Willy, who kindly sent us words and pictures from the Gatornationals at the weekend, was present when NHRA Tech went over Jonnie Lindberg's Top Alcohol FC after his new speed record: It was very in-depth. They checked everything and I mean everything - the blower, the pullies, stroke, bore size, every ratio you can think of. They even had to remove the valves on one wheel. It wasn't smiles at first but I asked one of the Tech Inspectors if everything was good his reply was "Everything is real good". So the car passed with flying colours and all was good in the Lindberg camp. They needed a new head and piston, but apart from that the motor looked immaculate! Swift snippets. 16th March: Congratulations to Sweden's Ulf and Jörgen Leanders on their victory in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the NHRA Amalie Oil Gatornationals. Jonnie Lindberg having been the class of the field in qualifying, Ulf wrapped it up for Europe by going all the way and beating Steve Harker in the final with a 5.541/261.47. Thanks to Garry Willy for this great photo; stay tuned for more pictures and a story from the Lindberg pit. Many thanks to Ian Marshall for sending us Version 8 of the official entry list for the Festival of Power which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 3rd-5th April. You can check out the entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Alison Hackney asked us to say a big Happy 50th Birthday to her husband and our good buddy John Hackney. Our pleasure, have a great day Hackers. Lindberg's world beater. 15th March: Sweden's Jonnie Lindberg continued his domination of NHRA Lucas Oil Top Alcohol Funny Car with a new national speed record of 268.71 mph in yesterday's third and final qualifying session at the NHRA Amalie Oil Gatornationals in Gainesville. The required 266.02 back-up was taken care of by Jonnie's 267.00 in session 1. Jonnie is #1 qualifier at 5.467 with Ulf Leanders #5 at 5.578/260.61. Also getting geared up for today's eliminations, Mike Manners of Eurodragster.com sponsor Cosmo Residences is #6 in Top Alcohol Dragster at 5.294/271.19 and is carrying not only Eurodragster.com decals but Ed O'Connell memorial decals. Jimmy Ålund is #10 in Pro Stock at 6.561/211.86. Many thanks to Garry Willy for the above scoreboard shot and for the below shots of Jonnie, Ulf Leanders, and Fredrik Fredlund who qualified #17 in Pro Stock Bike at 7.015/191.08. Eliminations take place today and you will be able to stay in touch with our heroes' progress courtesy of our Drag Race Central buddies at www.dragracecentral.com. Event entry update. 15th March: Official entry forms are now available for the Hillingdon Speed and Spares APIRA Springspeed Nationals which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway on 2nd-4th May. You can download the forms from the SCR web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk. Many thanks to Ian Marshall for sending us Version 7 of the official entry list for the Festival of Power which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 3rd-5th April. You can check out the entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. SCR seek slicks. 15th March: Shakespeare County Raceway are seeking used drag slicks (no treads) to help to prep the track for this season. If you have any slicks which you would be willing to pass on then please get in touch with Jerry Cookson at enquiries@shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk or call 01789 720180. Alternately please bring them along to the Public Track Weekends on 28th-29th March or 18th-19th April. "As ever, thanks to everyone for their continued support", says Jerry. Swift snippets. 15th March: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words "Nearly ready for Easter, thanks Mr Debben". 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. If you are headed to the Fast Show at Santa Pod Raceway next weekend then we have been given a tip-off that residents of Wollaston intend to note the number and driving standards of those passing through the village. Please be sure to use signposted routes to Santa Pod and to drive carefully and considerately. One for your diaries; UK Super Pro ET racer Phil Toppin will be appearing on Racers Reunion Radio on Monday 13th April. You will be able to tune in at www.zeusradio.com/racersreunion-radio. Jackson's new livery. 13th March: UK Super Pro ET racer Brad Jackson has unveiled the colour scheme for his second season in the class. Dad Wayne Jackson writes: Brad had a great first year in the adult class and learnt a great deal, working with an experienced team such as Nick Good Motorsport in what proved to be a valuable experience. Both Nick and Dave Catton were very helpful to Brad and Cristiann Carlo is a very competent technician within the team. Brad will still be racing with Lucas Oil Products as his main sponsor. The team have retained sponsorship from D&S signs who have done a fantastic job with the new wrap and decals: the car looks very different in the new livery. Martin Willams Hull are also continuing sponsorship for 2015, they are a very well-respected coachworks company for all types of vehicle and trailer conversions. Pentagon Corporate Fleet are also continuing their sponsorship of Brad for 2015, they are a Midlands-based main dealer group for both retail cars and Corporate fleet supply. Brad has a new sponsor in HRX, an Italian race suit manufacturer, whose supply in the UK is through Torq Racewear and Equipment. HRX specialise in custom suits and start at a very reasonable £350 plus vat for a three-layer FIA 8856-2000 spec custom suit. The new team shirts are from Six B Apparel in the USA. We would recommend anyone needing race shirts to check out their Facebook page: they offer a complete design and manufacture of team shirts at a very competitive price. Over the winter, beside the obvious cosmetic overhaul of the car and teamwear, the car has undergone a few subtle engine upgrades in an effort to maintain Brad's competitiveness within this extremely tight class! We are very surprised to find that bradjacksonracing.com has had 700,000 hits in the first year, surprisingly from all round the world with a large following in the USA. The site has a new look to match the car's new colours. We are looking forward to the Festival of Power and will be testing at the Pro Peak Test Day prior to the event. Swift snippets. 13th March: Kristjan Veedler writes that entry is open for the first round of the Estonian Drag Racing Championship which takes place at Haapsalu, Kiltsi Airfield, on 2nd-3rd May. The event, organised by the Estonian Drag Racing Association, hosts both Estonian and Latvian Championship opening rounds, Estonian and Latvian Cup classes plus bikes, Test and Tune and Junior categoriess. "As both Championship and Cup series are open competitions, we welcome drivers and riders from all over Europe", says Kristjan. "More information will be posted soon on our web site at www.edra.ee". You can check out the invitation, which contains a lot of information (PDF format), by clicking here. If you have any queries then please drop Kristjan a line at kristjan@edra.ee. Today (Friday) is the official closing date for entry to the Festival of Power, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 3rd-5th April. Entry after today, if accepted, will be liable to a penalty fee of up to 100%. You can download entry forms on the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc, and courtesy of Ian Marshall of SPRC you can check out Version 6 of the entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Good luck and stay safe to Jimmy Ålund in Pro Stock, Roy Olesen and Fredrik Fredlund in Pro Stock Motorcycle, Winternationals winner Jonnie Lindberg and Ulf Leanders in Top Alcohol Funny Car, and Mike Manners of Eurodragster.com sponsor Cosmo Residences in Top Alcohol Dragster at the NHRA Amalie Oil Gatornationals in Gainesville. Qualifying starts today and you will be able to stay in touch with our heroes' progress courtesy of our buddies at Drag Race Central at www.dragracecentral.com. Dial In Day 3: The gender battle. 11th March: Phil Bennett writes that the sun was shining and the classroom was full for Santa Pod Raceway's third Dial In Day: We ended up with twenty seven keen racers, most of whom were using their daily drivers, with a real mix of first timers and experienced RWYBers. The day started in the usual manner with Ian Marshall taking the lead and explaining what bracket racing is all about with the help of Craig Wright, Mick Howling and Paul Marston. As ever we would like to say a big thank you to these guys for turning up and helping to make the day such a success. Once the first classroom session was completed, it was out into the pits to warm up the cars! After two rounds of qualifying there was some early dominance from both the Creswell brothers (first and seventh) and the Medley family (second, fourth and sixth). The semi-finals had the women calling the shots with Colin Theobald being the only one left waving the flag for the men! Unfortunately, Colin had issues on the line and Karen Oates went flying through to yet another final. In an all-girl final Karen pipped Gillian Medley to the line. The women had the bragging rights going back into the classroom and after another briefing there was a quick lunch break before we went back out to do it all again. After two rounds of qualifying Sam Preston from Banzai magazine was on top of the pile. Eliminations were dominated by the men this time with an all male semi-final. Chris Creswell took the eventual win. After the final briefing and a quick look at the points tally it was clear that bragging rights for the overall win were going to go down to the wire! With time for only one qualifier there was no room for error. Eurodragster.com's own Kirstie Tramm got off to a flying start beating Nikki Skinner and getting a bye into the semi-final before jumping the lights and losing out to Perry Stephenson. On the other side of the ladder it was husband against wife and for a change it was Mike Oates who came out with a smile on his face. Not for the first time it was a 4x4 affair in the other semi with Gillian taking on Mike, Gillian broke out and Mike progressed to the final to face old foe Perry. It was a close race but Perry took the win. After some number crunching it was revealed that there were just thirty points in it for the win, which is less than the points awarded for a single Championship round win and equates to three qualifying positions! Chris Creswell just missed out on top spot to none other than Gillian Medley who had been there or thereabouts all day. Not only did Gillian receive one of our brand new bespoke Christmas Tree trophies but she will now be racing at the Festival of Power for free! Amongst noteworthy performances was Rebecca Medley had the best reaction times of the day with a 0.0038 in eliminations, and she also had a 0.0082 reaction! Other notable reaction times came from Chris Creswell with a 0.0065, Dave Grundy with a 0.0088 and Stuart Simons with a 0.0055. Closet to his Dial In was Sam Preston only +0.0038 meaning he qualified in top position. Karen Oates was only 0.0056 off her Dial In during eliminations. The closest race to perfection came from Rebecca Medley who had a reaction time of 0.0082 and was only 0.0388 off her Dial In meaning she was 0.047 off the perfect race. Remarkably this was all done on a bye run! Swift snippets. 11th March: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for sending us Version 5 of the official entry list for the Festival of Power which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 3rd-5th April. You can check out the entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Entry closes this Friday, 13th March; you can download entry forms on the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. Chris, Mark, Nicole, Jade, Ben, Lee, Sarah, Liam, TJ and Bella have asked us to say a big Happy 50th Birthday to Wild Bunch Race Co-ordinator and all-round good egg Claire Meaddows. We're very happy to do so, have a lovely day Claire and the Eurodragster.com staff send hugs also. Steve Dudley tells us that the slot drags planned for Higham this Sunday (15th) have had to be cancelled. The April and May Higham events will however take place. 2015 Top Gas calendar. 10th March: Many thanks to Herman Jolink and Piet Mom for forwarding us the 2015 calendar for the European Top Gas Series, which was agreed at the class' annual meeting last Saturday: Season Opener: Hoskovice, Czech Republic, 9th-10th May Race #2: Bechyne, Czech Republic, 30th-31st May Race #3: Malmö, Sweden, 26th-28th June Race #4: Drachten, The Netherlands, 10th-12th July Race #5: Hockenheim, Germany, 7th-9th August Race #6: Mosten Raceday, Denmark, 28th-29th August Finals: Malmö, Sweden, 11th-13th September The best six results count. "The UK is not on the calendar this year, but we hope some British riders will come to Drachten, The Netherlands in July", says Piet. "There were sixteen racers at the Top Gas meeting", says Herman. "2014 Top Gas Champion Frederick Schack was not at the meeting but his team, father Rene Kirkhof and Johan, were there. The team will again race the 2750 V-Twin Bike. Harry van Schie is currently in Gainesville, he will race this year after a one-year break. His team were at the Top Gas meeting - his wife Annette van Schie and Crew Chief Jaap Duin with his wife Petra. Harry again race the 1966 Blower V-Twin. Christian Bruhn will participate again with his 1000 SP Turbo Honda. Team-mate Peter Niklas has bought a former Pro Gas Bike from Danewert Racing in the USA. It's a 2580 Deringer V-Twin with a three-speed B&J planetary gearbox, MTC Generation Two clutch, fuel injection and data recorder. I will be racing my Ducati 1198 RS (1266), the team is working on a completely new Ducati Drag Bike but that will take some time. Mats Larsson will now be using a six-speed gearbox on his 2589 Turbo V-Twin; he was at the meeting with mechanic Magnus. Janne Malmberg travelled with Mats as he does for races, Janne will participate with his 2400 two Blower V-Twin which he has had for fifteen years. Frank Heitmann will be racing on his 2622 V-Twin at Hoskovice in May, July and September. Frank will also be competing in the Czech Championship in National Dragster (600 - four cylinders). Ander Jensen will be at some Top Gas races on his home-built 2000 Blower V-twin. Olaf Menzi will be participating on his 2622 V-Twin, he ran seven-second passes in testing at Kunmadaras last year and learned a lot from former Pro Stock Bike rider Rasmus Olesen. Lars Anderssen has bought a 2622 V-Twin Bike from Cord Albers. Cord will participate on the 2622 V-Twin which he bought from the USA a couple of years ago. Charly Abrahamson was at the Top Gas meeting with his father after a long journey from Bordeaux. Charly has participated in the NitrOlympX twice but will be contesting the Top Gas Series on his ex-Ricardo Giliberto 2622 V-Twin. Charly's best time of 8.01 seconds was set at last year's NitrOlympX. Gerd Caspari Germany will compete after ten years out of the saddle, during that time he was Crew Chief for Bernd Niessen. Gerd bought his old bike back from Bernd and has repaired the damaged 2249 mechanical Turbo V-Twin. Tom Krause will also participate in Top Gas, he previously raced in Modified Twin. Chris van Nimmen has finally got his new Hawai frame and some new engine parts from the USA. Chris is working hard to get the bike ready for the new season. Picture courtesy and ©Piet Mom PDRC Award winners. 10th March: Al Perkins writes that the Pennine Drag Racing Club recently held their fortieth AGM and Awards Night in Bradford. "The AGM passed off without too many teddies and dummies, and everyone seemed really enthusiastic about the forthcoming season", says Al. "Work parties at York Raceway were arranged not to clash with Mothers' Day, not a good idea if you want a pass to go racing, so are on 22nd and 29th March. Everyone is welcome to come along and help to get things ready for Easter. "The trophy winners are as follows: Ronnie Picardo Marshal of the Year - Richard Grainger Jack Fletcher Most Consistent American Car - Karen Gregory Competition Secretaries Award Services to PDRC - Angie Perkins Yorkshire Post Trophy Best Performance by a British Engined Car - Robin Read Steve Murty Award Enthusiasm for PDRC – Andy 'Bozzy' Bosomworth PDRC Endeavour Award Sustained Efforts for PDRC - Paul and Tanya Grainger B&H Autokraft Award Best Engineered - John Sleath Dave Grady Memorial Award (Superpower) Fastest Doorslammer at York - Andy Hadfield Pennine Raceway Trophy Most Outstanding Performance - Steve Neimantas Blue Bar Trophy Entertainer of the Year - Julian Webb Duggie White Memorial Trophy Crew chief of the Year - Ian Johnson Chairman's Award Most Promising Newcomer - Andrew Arnold Rescue Unit Trophy Services to Motorsport - Sharon and Chris Hellas T.E.S.T Trophy Most Consistent Reaction Times - Lee Chiles Tony Murray Award Services to UK Drag Racing - John Sleath Brian Lewis Memorial Raw Horsepower - Dave Billadeau Racers Choice Racers Choice Voted by Racers – Chris Murty Danger Zone Trophy Hard Luck Award - Daz Chandler Sportsman ET Champion - Chris Murty Sportsman ET Runner-up - Nathan Askey American Super Stock Champion - Adam Nowak American Super Stock Runner-up - Lee Chiles American Super Stock third Place - Mick Elsworth Shane Shentall Memorial Cup Pro ET Champion - Mia Cavanaugh Pro ET Runner-up - Chris Nowak Volks Stock Champion - Adam Proctor Volks Stock Runner-up - Paul Turner KC Super Cup Champion - Paul Grainger KC Super Cup Runner-up - Andrew Arnold JDM Champion - Phil Davison JDM Runner-up - Chris Murty Glen Jarvis Car Points Champion - Chris Murty "The first meeting at York Raceway is over Easter weekend." Swift snippets. 10th March: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for sending us Version 3 of the official entry list for the Festival of Power which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 3rd-5th April. You can check out the entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Entry closes this Friday, 13th March; you can download entry forms on the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. Thanks to Jerry Cookson for letting us know that Dave Derry's APIRA Trophy Night presentation photos are now available on the APIRA Facebook page. APIRA Perpetual Award winners. 8th March: Congratulations to the winners of the APIRA and Shakespeare County Raceway Perpetual Awards, for whom Eurodragster.com readers had the chance to vote, and who were awarded with their trophies at the APIRA / SCR Presentation Evening in Kidderminster last night: APIRA Iris Page Memorial Trophy: Detroit Spinner APIRA / SCR Award for Outstanding Achievement: Bob Hawkins APIRA / SCR Sportswoman of the Year: Sue Morris APIRA Endeavour Award: Mark Coulsell Alan Wigmore Memorial Trophy: Claire Meaddows McDonald Racing Ireland Best Newcomer: Blade Dummer Anya Yates With You All The Way Memorial Trophy: Angie Woods Congratulations also to the following who were presented with special awards: Award for long-standing service to APIRA and Shakespeare County Raceway: The Schreier Family 2014 Services to APIRA and Shakespeare County Raceway: Mark Blackmore 2014 Services to APIRA and Shakespeare County Raceway: Julie Willcox 2014 Services to APIRA and Shakespeare County Raceway: Mark Coulsell Thanks to everyone who voted for the Perpetual Awards. A sponsorship renewed. 7th March: The UK's Isaacs and Tramm Pro Modified team are pleased to announce that Direct Plastics will be returning as primary sponsor of the team for 2015. Paul Woodhead said "We're excited to be supporting the Isaacs and Tramm Duster Pro Mod again in 2015, the guys smashed all expectations in 2014 despite not all things being plain sailing (usual for drag racing) the new season is just around the corner and we're looking forward to see this amazing car get even closer to fulfilling its potential, keep up the great work guys." Chris Isaacs added "I have used Direct Plastics for all my race car window and plastics materials for many years now, and have always found them to be immensely knowledgeable, reliable and well priced.  Their delivery is fast and efficient, and being racers they understand what is required for 'our' applications.  I would always recommend Paul and his team, and see no reason to ever go anywhere else." The team are planning on running all six MSA British Championship rounds and hope to improve on their current bests of 6.59/222. "During this season I will begin my licencing at some of the test days with Chris in the hotseat at the race events", said Spencer Tramm to whom a very Happy Birthday for today (Saturday). "We wish to thank Paul, Fran and all the staff at Direct Plastics for their continued association as well as our associates Speedflow, Przym Paintworks, Lucas Oil UK and Moran Motosports. Holley's switch. 7th March: UK Junior Funny Car racer Holley Marshall is to switch to a Junior Modified Dragster this season. Dad Ian says that there is a simple reason for the change: "Holley has kept growing, to the point where, even after lots of modifications to pedals etc, she no longer fits the car. However during Holley's time with the Funny car Andy Wheeler mentioned that if Holley ever fancied a drive in a dragster to let him know. At the time everything was still fine with the Funny Car but getting tighter, then eventually Holley wouldn't fit the car and crew guys Andy and Gordon had to step away from the car as work commitments wouldn't allow them to continue crewing. We'd like to say a big Thank You to Andy and Gordon for everythn they have done. "Andy Wheeler reiterated his previous offer about Holley driving one of their cars, so following a more detailed conversation it was decided that we would take up the offer of the Prestige green dragster. Holley is getting the first fitting in the car tomorrow, possibly with shakedown runs if everything goes okay. "Big thanks to Andy and Bob Wallace for offering the use of the car and for taking care of all of the crewing duties whilst Holley races. The plan is to race all rounds of the UK National Championship this season and see where we go from there." Welcome pf501.com. 6th March: We are very pleased to welcome pf501.com as a sponsor of Eurodragster.com News. Longtime Eurodragster.com supporter Paul Fischer writes that pf501.com specialise in finding countryside property in the beautiful rural region of inland northern Croatia: We offer land plots, weekend houses, homes in a village setting, leafy suburban residences, plots for self-build enthusiasts, ruins, renovation projects, lonely homes far from anywhere... everything for people who have a dream of country living, full or part-time. At www.pf501.com you can see a range of properties, presented by price, and get an idea of how much your money can buy. As is the case of buying property in any country, there are some rules you need to know and some pitfalls which are best avoided. Our information pages will present you with an overview of everything you need to know, there is a free comprehensive information pack available should you decide to look deeper. Why would anyone want to do this? Take a few minutes to read our main info page and you'll see why so many many are attracted to making the move. E-Mail us at info@pf501.com or check out the latest news on our Facebook page. Swift snippets. 6th March: Frank Johansen tells us that Sweden's Mats Brag Racing is now a dealer for Fogmaker fire suppression systems. "Mats will have Fogmaker systems with him at the FIA races in Sweden and he can refill your empty bottles at his shop", says Frank. For more information E-Mail Mats at mbsvetsochkonstruktion@gmail.com and you can see Mats' and son Martin's work on their Facebook page or on Instagram at @mbragweldandconstruction. Many thanks to Ian Marshall for sending us Version 2 of the official entry list for the Festival of Power which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 3rd-5th April. You can check out the entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Entry closes next Friday, 13th March; youc an download entry forms on the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. Attention Pro car racers. 5th March: Geoff Martin of the UK's Tech Team has been in touch with an important message for racers in Pro car classes: I would strongly suggest that all racers who run the Electrimotion shut-off system, that is all of the FIA Pro classes including Fuel Funny Car, take a look at the FIA GSR 4.8 Parachute Release revision for this year. It is possible that you need to carry out some re-engineering. You can find the rule in question on page 115 of the 2015 Technical Regulations and Race Procedures on the FIA web site. Swift snippets. 5th March: European fans will have plenty of heroes to cheer on next week's NHRA Amalie Oil Gatornationals in Gainesville with an entry list including Jimmy Ålund in Pro Stock, Roy Olesen and Fredrik Fredlund in Pro Stock Motorcycle, Winternationals winner Jonnie Lindberg and Ulf Leanders in Top Alcohol Funny Car and Mike Manners of Eurodragster.com sponsor Cosmo Residences in Top Alcohol Dragster. You can stay in touch with the entry list and other Gatornationals business at www.nhra.com. Mel Mcclaine's funeral. 4th March: Thanks to Cath Napier for pointing us in the direction of Mel Mcclaine's funeral details, which are as follow: The funeral service takes place at 12:30 pm next Friday (13th March) at East Lancashire Crematorium, Cemetery Road, Radcliffe, Greater Manchester M26 4EU (map). A wake will take place at approximately 1:30 pm at Ramsbottom Cricket Club (map). Dress code is whatever you feel comfortable in especially Mel's style of jeans and Converse footwear. SFI Tour reminder. 4th March: A last reminder that this year's European SFI Recertification Tour starts tomorrow (Thursday). The full schedule is as follows: Thursday 5th March - The Netherlands Dutch Hot Rod Association Aambeeld 11 1969 NC Heemskerk Inspections between 08:00 and 12:00 Friday 6th March - Finland US-Parts Finn Am Oy Holkkitie 10 Helsinki Inspections between 08:00 and 12:00 Saturday 7th March - Sweden Persåkers Speed Shop Solbergavagen 28 Åkers Styckebruk Inspections between 12:00 and 16:00 Monday 9th March - UK Santa Pod Raceway Airfield Road Podington NN29 7XA Inspections between 08:30 and 14:00 APIRA's night out. 4th March: Ticket bookings are now closed for this Saturday's APIRA / Shakespeare County Raceway Presentation Evening in Kidderminster, and everyone is gearing up for a terrific night out. The evening begins at 6:00 pm in the Valley Suite at the Severn Valley Railway HQ. The buffet will be served from 7:00 pm and presentations are expected to commence at around 8:00 pm starting with the APIRA Championship trophies and then Perpetual and Special Awards. The presentations will be MC'd by Shakey Sounds' very own Barry Bohannon and Paul 'Oz' Wright. There will also be a prize raffle and disco until midnight courtesy of Kenny's Bar DJ Jamie. "With over 140 people coming to honour our Champions it's going to be a great night", says SCR's Jerry Cookson. "We would like to take this opportunity to say a big Thank You to everyone for their continued support, and to our advertising and product partners for their generosity with prizes for the raffle." The winners of the APIRA/SCR Perpetual Awards will be posted on Eurodragster.com as soon as they have been announced. Thanks to all those who voted. Any trophies not collected on the evening will be available for collection at the Hillingdon Speed and Spares APIRA Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway on 2nd-4th May. Festival of Power entry. 3rd March: Entry closes on Friday of next week (13th March) for the Festival of Power which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on Friday-Sunday 3rd-5th April and which is the first round of the 2015 MSA British Drag Racing Championship (for Pro Mod), UK National Drag Racing Championships and ACU UK Drag Bike Championships as well as Wild Bunch, Volkswagen Drag Racing Club and Nostalgia Fuel Challenge Cup. Entry after 13th, if accepted, will be subject to a Late Entry penalty of up to 100%. Entry forms and supplementary regulations can be downloaded from the new Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about Festival of Power entry then please contact Ian Marshall at Santa Pod Racers Club at ir.marshall@btconnect.com or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625). Many thanks to Ian Marshall for sending us Version 1 of the official Festival of Power entry list which you can check out by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. VWDRC back on trend. 2nd March: Volkswagen Drag Racing Club Chair Luke Stevenson writes in anticipation of the new season: We are on course for another great year of Volkswagen drag racing in the UK, with a great bunch of racers, a bumper crop of rookies joining the Club and some old faces coming out of the woodwork with famous cars from the Club's twenty eight-year history. Kicking things off will be the Ultimate Dubs Show in Telford on 14th-15th March. The Club will have a stand and there will be many new or revamped cars débuting, then on to the Volksworld Show at Sandown Park in Esher on 28th-29th of March, again with many new cars to be unveiled.   So, how does this year's race calendar look? Well as in previous years we have the usual seven rounds but in addition to these there is a new event. Volkslife is a VW-specific event held at Shakespeare County Raceway and the stars on the track will be the VWDRC, as well as a couple of other classes. Our official race dates are: Round 1: Festival of Power, Santa Pod Raceway, 3rd-5th April Round 2: Big Bang, Santa Pod Raceway, 24th-26th April Round 3: Springspeed Nationals, Shakespeare County Raceway, 2nd-4th May Round 4: Volkslife, Shakespeare County Raceway, 6th-7th June Round 5: SPRC Summernationals, Santa Pod Raceway, 27th-28th June Round 6: Bug Jam, Santa Pod Raceway, 17th-19th July Round 7: Open Sport Nationals, Shakespeare County Raceway, 29th-31st August Round 8: UK National Finals, Santa Pod Raceway, 19th-20th September We have a fantastic prize fund available for those competing in 2015. This has only been made possible with the help of our valued sponsors listed below. In order to be eligible for the prize fund you must run sponsor stickers and of course be a VWDRC member. VWDRC Championship Winner £500 plus 2016 SPRC race entries paid (not including electricity) VWDRC Championship Runner Up £200 APIRA Champion £100 Number one qualifier £20 Event Winner £50 plus SPRC or APIRA prize fund Event Runner Up Pound;25 plus SPRC or APIRA prize fund A huge thanks to the 2015 VWRC Club sponsors: Bio-Cam (national CCTV and biometrics door entry system supply and fitting); WRP Paint and Restoration (Paint and body shop based in Wellingborough, also race number decal supplier); Herbies Autos (Oxford based mobile mechanic) 07906 601430; Trackstuff Racing Fuel and Tyres (as named, supplier of race fuel and slicks); DC Customs (Birmingham based paint and body shop, vehicle customiser and performance upgrades); Reichspeed Aircooled (air-cooled restoration, race preparation, custom race parts, engine balancing services); Bears Transmissions (performance VW gearbox builders and part suppliers); James Hodson (VW Pro Champion and all-round good guy); Vanology / Rockingham Performance Ltd (T4/5 conversions, custom remaps, rolling road, turbos, intercoolers and more); Brickfield Autos (vehicle paint, restoration, race preparation and custom modifications); and Kleen Freaks (awesome car cleaning products and lifestyle apparel). Finally Fat Chance Racing are proud to sponsor a prize fund for the APIRA Champion. Please use these companies for their products or services (you get a discount at most just by mentioning VWDRC), recommend them if someone else is looking for companies in their area of expertise. Share their pages, tag their products and generally offer support to those that give something back to the Club. VWDRC Club membership is still just £10. If you have not renewed your membership or know someone who wishes to join then you can become a member through the VWDRC shop at www.vwdrc.com/products. Membership provides you with Forum access, club discounts, social events and more. With just over thirty days until Round 1 we cannot wait to see everyone back at the track. Meanwhile, if you need a daily dose of VWDRC news, search for VWDRC on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and VWDRCTV on YouTube. Dragging it out, finally. 2nd March: It's not at all unusual for Luke Stevenson to put his Club before himself but he has also been in touch with an update on his return to racing in his dragster: It was only a few weeks ago when I realised that I have owned the chassis for over three years now. It became quickly became a mythical creature, another Club Unicorn which was rarely seen whilst I was still competing in VW Sportsman class in my VW Golf. After spending 2014 on the sidelines I finally have almost everything I need to build my dream: things are falling into place and I hope to be racing real soon. I've been racing the hard way (front wheel drive) for many years, so the dragster was never going to be conformist either. It will be running an unusual set-up comprising a 2.8-litre turbocharged V6 engine from a VW Golf. This allows me to compete in VWDRC's top class, VW Pro, and I also hope to dabble in Competition Eliminator when I can and possibly across Europe with my sponsors' support (I will reveal all when all the final details are sorted). Massive thanks so far to Mario Thau of h-power.de who is helping with the engine build, and to LugTronics for the engine management side of things. It's fair to say, Esserini Racing, I'm coming for you record! Swift snippets. 2nd March: UK National Super Comp Champion Paul Hudson asked us to apologise to those who responded to his plea for crew. "I've been out of the country since November except for a few weeks around the SPRC Dinner Dance", says Paul. "I have about five hundred E-Mails in my inbox!". On behalf of himself, Kirstie and Steve, Spencer Tramm asked us to say a big Happy Birthday to Yvonne Tramm, which we are very pleased to do. Have a lovely day Yvonne. Eurodragster.com sponsorship 2015. 1st March: We are pleased to welcome some new sponsors to Eurodragster.com as well as sad to say goodbye to others. Known worldwide for industry leading motorsports data acquisition products and now celebrating their 30th anniversary, new Home / News sponsor Racepak continues to provide cutting edge products for the motorsports and high-performance aftermarket industry. From entry-level drag race data recorders, such as the Sportsman, to the professional series, Bluetooth enabled PROIII drag race data recorder, Racepak covers all you drag racing and open course data acquisition needs. More than just a data recorder company, Racepak manufactures a complete line of plug and play sensors, designed for the rigors of drag racing, while providing accurate, reliable data, run after run. When it comes to digital dash instrumentation, Racepak's IQ3 and UDX series of dash products can be found in drag racing vehicles, around the world. Sharing sensor inputs from the data recorder, Racepak's digital dash products eliminate the need for duplicate sensors, greatly reducing wiring complexity. Rounding out the Racepak product line is the SmartWire power control module. Designed to eliminate fuses, relays and circuit breakers through the use of solid state electronics, the SmartWire is a fully programmable input / output module capable of trigger all external accessories on your vehicle. Racepak products are available direct from the factory, or through our international dealer network. For additional sales information, visit www.racepak.com, E-Mail sales@racepak.com, or call +1 949 709 5555. Thanks to Tim Anderson for his support. Netherlands-based new Home / News sponsor Post & Drosoverhauls and tunes motors specialising in American V8 engine blocks and racing engines for tractor pulling, drag racing and Formula 1 stock car but are able to overhaul any engine. The company, owned by Johannes Post and Egbert Dros, and employing Dick Koster, can supply engine parts from a huge list of manufacturers which can be seen on their web site. As a Racepak and MSD European dealership Post & Dros will attend all of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship rounds with in-house testing equipment from MSD and Racepak. Stay tuned for more about Post & Dros. Simpson Europe has upgraded to a Home / News sponsor. Run by Jan Phersson, Simpson Europe is the Sweden-based European Branch office of Simpson Performance Products whose HQ is in Texas, USA. Simpson Race Products have been in the motorsport safety business since 1959 beginning with drag chutes. In 1967 Simpson was the first company to manufacture Nomex firesuits for racing. Since then Simpson have developed more than two hundred innovative products for motorsports safety and have become one of the leading brands in the World. Simpson have for many years been the leading supplier of safety equipment to the most challenging motorsports in the world such as drag racing, Nascar and IndyCars. John Woolfe Racing, in their forty eighth year as a major supplier of drag racing performance products, are proud to announce their continuing support of the sport by increasing their exposure on Eurodragster.com to include sponsorship of its live event coverage, a vital service for racers and fans alike. Woolfe is a name synonymous with drag racing from the early days of Santa Pod. In 1967, John Woolfe first entered his 427 AC Cobra which started his involvement in the sport and to this day the company which carries his name remains strong and active. Looking back is fun, so over the next twelve months John Woolfe Racing will be posting periodic features looking back on all the projects and sponsorship with which they have been involved and will publish some of the old ads and articles for those who have only just got the drag racing bug, as well as seasoned racers and fans. Many thanks to Dave Riswick for his increased contribution. Hulland Homes Ltd are the new sponsor of Eurodragster.com Blogs. Hulland Homes is a family-run, well-established NHBC registered building company catering for all types and sizes of building projects from initial concept to final completion and can build anything from a new garage to a house to go with it. They have a superb new range of green oak framed buildings. Hulland Homes mainly cover the Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Cheshire and South Yorkshire areas but can offer a nationwide service. For further information see their web site at www.hullandhomes.co.uk or call 01335 372119. A big Thank You to Mick Pusey for his continued support. As well as sponsoring Points Standings again this season, OCS Paint are also sponsoring Eurodragster.com News. Based in Northampton, OCS Paint specialise in motorsport repair and paint. Many of Nic Williams and team's creations can be seen on tracks and the street in the UK and have featured in Best Appearing lists. Stay tuned for a forthcoming feature about OCS Paint. A huge thank you to all of those existing sponsors who have continued their support into 2015-2016. Please support those who support Eurodragster.com by considering our sponsors first when shopping for goods or services. Those sponsors who have not yet responded about their intentions for this year are asked to E-Mail tog@eurodragster.com as soon as possible. If you would be interested in sponsoring Eurodragster.com then it is not too late; please get in touch at the same address. Finally, goodbye and thank you to departing sponsors Alamo Rent-A-Car, Draper Tools and Vehvac. Eurodragster.com has had some very generous support from these companies for which we remain very grateful. Dakota Raceway open for 2015. 1st March: Dakota Raceway, located on the Blackdown hills close to the Devon and Somerset border, is gearing up for a four-event season at the legendary World War 2 airfield formerly known as RAF Upottery and once home of the USAAF Station AAF-462. Lee Child of Eurodragster.com sponsor LA Racing Parts is now assisting events organiser Trevor Duckworth of Straightliners Events with the drag strip side of the grass-roots Drag and Drift events at the south west venue. This year's first event at Dakota Raceway takes place on Saturday 21st March. The quarter-mile drag strip will be open for unlimited runs between 09:00 and 16:00, so perfect for test and tune. Dakota Raceway have added some new features for the 2015 season including a Dakota Raceway Points Series for: Dakota Front Wheel Drive series Dakota Street Muscle (rear wheel drive cars) Dakota Jap Car Series Dakota Vintage Dragster (dragsters and altereds) Dakota Competition Car Dakota Competition Bike Dakota Street Bike The Points Series will also include the established Dakota Raceway Series: Class 1 : Up to 1600cc Class 2 : Up to 2000cc Class 3 : Above 2000cc Class 4 : Standard Road Bikes Class 5 : Modified street bikes Trophies will be awarded to all class winners at every event. Dakota Raceway will be offering a pre-order purchase service for VP Racing Fuels which can be collected on day of the event. Dakota Raceway also hosts the largest drift circuit in the south west and a Show'n'Shine area on a hard standing surface. Club stands also on a hard standing surface. If your company would like to advertise its products and services at Dakota Raceway then please send a message via the Dakota Raceway Southwest Facebook page or call 07771 590 176. Different options are available, for example lane titles and trackside signage, at very competitive rates. For more information and current updates visit the Dakota Raceway Southwest Facebook page. For advance Test and Tune tickets offering a £5 saving visit www.straightliners-events.co.uk. Help sought. 1st March: Our good buddy John Hackney is seeking hero cards or decals to send to some good friends in the USA. "If you read Yellowbullet you may have read some threads about a young man called AJ who after being ill with cancer and getting the all-clear is facing another long operation next week and more chemotherapy as unfortunately this terrible disease has re-occurred", says Hackers. "He is only sixteen and is going through so much. I know how much he will appreciate any messages, so find the time to post anything to me it would be most appreciated. I will then post him a parcel containing anything I get mailed to me. Thanks in advance for your help and thanks to those whom have contacted me through Facebook". If you can help then please drop John a line at copyprintdepot@btconnect.com. VP Racing Fuels back EDRS. 1st March: Eurodragster.com sponsor VP Racing Fuels is the latest manufacturer to sign up for the 2015 EDRS Contingency Award Programme. "We're really excited about the coming season and look forward to continuing to work with our Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian drag race customers and supporting them with performance award postings" said Jim Kelly, Regional Manager for VP Racing Fuels, European Division. "These racers are a great bunch of highly motivated, talented engine builders and competitors and I have to thank them for continuing to select VP for making maximum power." In the region, VP Racing Fuels are available for sale direct from: Finland SCE Engineering Oy Phone: +358 440 705 835 www.speceng.fi race@speceng.fi Sweden Jams AB Phone: +46 705 893 150 jams@uppland.net Norway Fannrem Motorverksted Phone: +47 724 82 404 motorverksted@online.no For technical assistance from VP's full-time R&D department please contact Freddie Turza on +1 302 521 1767 or write to fturza@vpracingfuels.com. VP is also a 2015 NHRA Contingency Sponsor and provides official fuels for IMSA, Isle of Man TT, Rally America, Pirelli World Challenge, Indy Lights, Trans Am, World of Outlaws, New England Dragway, Atco, Cecil County, Lebanon Valley and many other series and tracks in North America and Europe including Santa Pod Raceway in the UK since 2010. For more information contact your local distributor, phone VP on +1 302 368 1500 or write to eurosales@vpracingfuels.com. Web site updates. 1st March: In the latest instalment of his exclusive Racer Blog presented in association with Hulland Homes Ltd, Luke Bennett provides an extensive update on the work going on in the workshops of the Bennett Racing blown-alcohol altereds. As ever you can stay in touch with the latest Blog updates by clicking here or by clicking on the Hulland Homes Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Earlier news