European Drag Racing News

30th April: These are the new colours in which the Netherlands' Marc Meihuizen hopes to shine during the 2004 Pro Modified Championship (right), writes our good friend photo-journalist Remco Scheelings.

"As Eurodragster reported a few months ago, Piet Kaptein and Marc Meihuizen bought the '37 Chevrolet Business Coupe from Norway's Thomas Nataas", says Remco. "Not only with its body shape but, after visiting Patrick van Hal, also with its colourscheme the K&H Racing '37 Chevrolet Business Coupe is the most exciting-appearing Pro Mod in Europe this season.

"There is no trace of the former Batmobile, the car which propelled Thomas Nataas to third spot in the NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified Championship. Although Piet Kaptein and driver Marc Meihuizen of K&H Racing bought the Chevy turn-key, a lot of work has had to be done over the last few months. The inside and outside of the car had to be refreshed, and wiring, blower and many engine parts replaced. The engine will receive the latest updates from the USA within a few weeks. If everything comes together, the combination is capable of 6.3 seconds.

"The first test session is planned at Santa Pod the week before the FIA Main Event, followed by the first round of the NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified Championship one week later."

Click on the picture at right to view a front angle of the car. For a Dutch-language version of this story check out www.autosport.nl.
©Eurodragster.com
Bench racing can be hell.

30th April: Paul Vrind has checked in from the Caribbean, where a team of six Dutch race cars and a team of fourteen racers and crew have arrived safely in Curacao (right, click on picture for large version).
©Eurodragster.com
"The containers have been placed in the pit area, so that we can use them as pit boxes", says Paul. "In total there are more than twenty two containers from different countries. We are very impressed with the race track, and Curacao Drag Promotions are very helpful and friendly. The track opens at five o'clock every afternoon, and you can make as many test runs as you want.

"During the day it's too hot on the track, so we are forced to go to the beach and bench race (Must be hell - Ed). The races will start tonight and carry on through the whole weekend. As far as we can see the competition will be tough, there are some very good race cars over here.

The Dutch racers have appeared on three radio shows, and been interviewed once on television. We are starting to become celebrities on the island!"

More dragging for ARRC.

30th April: Andy Robinson Race Cars have extended their already-extensive product line with a new track sled (right, courtesy ARRC) which is already in use at Santa Pod and Shakespeare County Raceways, with interest being shown from other tracks. The hi-tech sled was developed in association with Santa Pod Raceway after Andy Robinson and Santa Pod's Track Manager Kjell Pettersson attended the same race in the USA.

"I met Andy Robinson at the IHRA Finals in Shreveport a couple of years ago and I asked if his company would be interested in making a sled to drag slick tyres into the track", says Kjell Pettersson. "We talked about it and agreed on the basic design, which Andy refined in his CAD/CAM program, and Santa Pod Raceway provided some tractor fittings as a base for the build."

"Kjell said that he could do with a new sled, so we built it for him!", says Andy Robinson. "The design was based upon the sled we saw at the IHRA race but I put it through my CAD system and made some refinements of my own. There's some technology involved: there are fifteen fingers on pivots, and they are sprung with Pro Mod valve springs, so part of the sled has run 6.60s!"
©Eurodragster.com
Santa Pod took delivery of the evaluation version of the ARRC sled in the middle of 2003, and Kjell and Andy both suggested changes which were applied to the production version. "We are very satisfied with the performance of the sled, and I would like to thank Andy for helping us out with this project, and for being a great supporter and sponsor of Drag Racing in the UK and Santa Pod Raceway", says Kjell.

The second production model was supplied to Lee Child of LA Performance Services for use at Shakespeare County Raceway. "We used Santa Pod's development version last year and we immediately saw it had huge potential" says Lee, who jointly sponsors Eurodragster's Links pages though LA Racing Parts. "Andy had obviously put a lot of work into the design and with the updates made since testing it is just brilliant; it brings the track around in next to no time. Andy gave up his Saturday night on the weekend before Easter to deliver our sled. It's like chalk and cheese from the previous sled, which was so old that the manufacturer's name was in Latin!"

"I am very proud to have been involved in something which has already been such help to the racers and I am grateful to Kjell for suggesting and supporting the project and to Lee for his custom", says Andy.

"If there are any other organisers and tracks who need a high-quality rubber sled then I would recommend that they contact Andy Robinson Race Cars", says Kjell. If you are interested in procuring a sled for your race track then call Andy Robinson on 01256 880589 (outside the UK +44 1256 880589).

Professional Test still booking.
18th January: Santa Pod Raceway are still taking bookings for the Professional Test which takes place one week prior to the FIA Main Event. The Test Day takes place on Saturday 22nd May, and the track will be open between 10:00 and 17:00. Racers in all classes are invited.

This day will also be a Street Machine Street Racer Saturday Special. Only racers who have pre-booked, and Street Machine Saturday Special drivers who have pre-registered, will be allowed to sign on and use the track. More details on the Street Machine part of the event are available from the magazine.

Entry for the Test Day will be £129.25 per vehicle and driver/rider including VAT. This includes six admission tickets. Extra admission tickets can be ordered on the booking form at £10 per person, or £12 at the gate.

Racers must show signing-on personnel a valid national driver's licence and a valid competition licence showing the grading for the type of vehicle they will be testing. It is the responsibility of the racer to ensure that their vehicle meets the safety regulations for their competition class. In addition, there will be no permit from the MSA, FIA, ACU or FIM so it is the responsibility of the racer to provide their own insurance. Santa Pod Raceway will provide third party insurance.

Full details, conditions, and an entry form can be found on the Entry Forms page of the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any enquiries then call Santa Pod Raceway on 01234 782828 (outside the UK +44 1234 782828).
©Eurodragster.com
Manor Racing Thunderball report.
30th April: If you were tuned in yesterday we promised you the Easter Thunderball report from UK 9.90 Bike and 10.90 Bike team Manor Racing. Team owner Ian Warren starts with the report on son David's weekend in 9.90 Bike:

Saturday was cold but with the bike fuelled and rider leathered we went to the line to run a 9.866, which was not that far off the class index, and by the end of the day David was sixth with a 10.018. Sunday came round and the weather was still cold but the track was dry and in good condition. First time out David under estimated the track and launched with the front wheel straight up in the air, with David fighting the bike which came down hard - he started to talk a bit squeaky for the rest of the day and the nut-crunching run left David with no improvement in time and knocked down to eighth. The next round was a lot better, with David recording a 9.966 which left him in fifth position in a very tight field. The last round of qualifying came and it was all or nothing, and with a .022 breakout David was left in fifth position and facing the number thirteen qualifier.

On elimination day David pulled up to the line against Steve Knapp; David knew that he had a good half a second in his pocket so he took it nice and easy on the tree and just drove it off the line to overtake Steve by half track and just keep it there until the finish for a comfortable win. The next round was not going to be as easy as he was up against the number one qualifier Steve Ashby with his lovely turbo Suzuki. Steve had been running nines all weekend and was going to be hard to beat. David went in to pre-stage and was waiting for Steve, Steve went in and then the tension really started with each rider barking their engines at one another, neither one wanting to go in. With a good forty five seconds already past David put his bike into gear, went into stage and just sat there waiting for Steve. Both riders brought the revs up, the lights dropped and David was off with a hole shot and kept the lead all the way. "Steve was sitting beside me watching and waiting but I shut the throttle before the line and sat up to take the win", said David. If it was not enough in one day to draw the number one qualifier, David was to meet last year's 9.90 Bike Champion in the very next round and that was the ever consistent Fred Furlong. "This is where disaster struck!", said David "As I went in to stage and brought the engine revs up, the shift light started going on and off rapidly with a fault and I missed the start which you can't do against Fred. Fred had a massive lead and took the win. Fred then went on to win the meeting, well done mate All in all we didn't have a bad weekend, we learnt a lot of things and we can�t wait for the next round. I would like to thank my sponsors Straightline Racing, Q8 Oils, CompUpay, Dream Glass, and SFB 965 Engineering for their continued support".
©Eurodragster.com
"Well, what can I say!", says Lizz McCarthy who rides the Manor Racing 10.90 Bike. "Having been offered the opportunity to race Dave Warren's 750, I was determined to learn from Ian Warren�s experience, and learn how to race properly in a bracket class. I had always thought that racing in a class like this was going to be easy, boy! How wrong could I be!�Due to the typical English weather, we were unable to test as much as I would have liked, and it was glaringly obvious that I was nowhere near race ready. It was agreed that I should just go out, learn to ride the bike, relax into it, and have some fun testing the bike. In the first qualifying session on Saturday I was, surprisingly, more nervous than I thought I would be, but ran an 11.463/131.90. It wasn�t a great launch but I picked myself up, blew the cobwebs away, and tired to remember everything that Ian had taught me. Second run wasn�t much better, if I am honest, but I am a fairly impatient person, and really wanted to get it right rather than try to race properly, so tried to rush through everything. Needless to say the run was slower than the last one, an 11.552/130.09. On�Sunday things started to come together somewhat, but my first run seemed so slow! I was dreading the timing ticket, and the wrath of Ian and Sefton. Phil Pratt handed me my ticket, and I was gutted...the run was a fifteen � then we realised that Phil had handed me a VW ticket, and that in fact I had done a PB for this bike of 11.092/129.77, which won me number four qualifier! A very happy womble, and on my birthday as well!

"Then things started to go wrong again. My last run of the day, and the weekend - not only did I red light and pull a wheelie, but the bike seemed to have lost power, then the oil light came on so about three-quarter track I clutched it, turned off the track, cut the engine, and it all locked up. I ended up pushing the dear thing despondently back to the pits.�Sefton and Ian spent the best part of the weekend, in between sorting Dave out for his runs, taking my bike apart to find that the gear which pumps the oil round had smashed. After jigsawing the bits they had found all bar one tooth, which could either have totally disintegrated, or which was still in the engine somewhere, so no more racing for me. So to sum up: I came, I raced, and I broke!

"Thanks go to Ian and Sefton for all their hard work, to Angie for kicking me into touch when I was kicking myself, to Dave and Stephen for their encouragement, and to my personal sponsors Sefton at SFB965 engineering (01462-629798), Sue at Comfrey Counselling, ace crew Pia and Paul, Steve French - the calming influence - and Anni Valder for being such a mate."

Web site updates.
30th April: Alan Currans has proudly announced that drag racing legend Dennis 'Mr Six' Priddle has made his personal collection of photographs available to Alan's Acceleration Archive. "The first page has just been uploaded and features Tony Gane's Rudge motorcycle, which provided the powerplant for the Championship-winning Wicked Lady dragster", says Alan. "Dennis quickly progressed to a succession of John Woolfe Racing-sponsored cars including the Reliant GTE Whistler and the Quartermaster and Hot Wheels Pro Fuel Dragsters, all of which are featured. There is even a recent picture taken at JWR's office featuring your humble webmaster, Dennis, Dave Riswick of JWR and Dave's son James". Check out Dennis' pictures at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk.
©Eurodragster.com
Bengtsson backs Aasen, Leret.

29th April: Although, as reported last week, 2003 FIM/UEM Supertwin Champion Per Bengtsson won't be defending his title, Bentec Engineering will still be represented at European Championship tracks this year.

Per has announced that Norwegian Supertwin racer Ronny Aasen will be responsible for Bentec spare parts at the race tracks this year. "All necessary parts for your two-speed, Bentec 'Big' clutch or your new 'Magnum' transmission will be available from Ronny Aasen's trailer", says Per. Per is also pleased to announce that Bentec will be sponsoring Ronny Aasen�s PRP racer this season. The bike has been updated with a new Magnum two-speed (Crew Chief Roy and Ronny picking up the Magnum, right, click on picture for bigger version) and Bentec and Ronny have developed a 4.5� belt drive using a five-plate clutch.
©Eurodragster.com
"Bentec will also be supporting Norwegian Top Fuel Bike team Kongsrud/Leret Racing, who are testing the newly-designed lock-up hat on our four-plate clutch", says Per. "We wish Team Kongsrud and Ronny special good luck!�

For more information about Bentec Engineering products, visit Per's web site at www.bentec.net.

Gottenberg's new ride.

29th April: Many thanks to Norwegian Supertwin racer Svein Gottenberg for sending us a picture of his new bike, which he will be testing at the end of next week (right, click on picture for larger version).

"This was the winter's work for me and Swede Gunnar Olsson", says Svein. "It's a 160 ci Overkill. Big thanks to Ton Pels and Zodiac who gave us a lot of engine parts to build the new bike around.

"First testing will be at Gardermoen on 8th May, and hopefully we will be ready to race at the Main Event. We are looking forward to meeting a lot of good friends again."

Naylor's Scooby leg-over.
29th April: UK Supertwin Gas racer Ric Naylor will be contesting this weekend's Excitement Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway on a borrowed bike, as his own new bike still isn't finished, "Like all the best projects".

"last year, Mick Bubb stepped in to save the day offering his old bike", says Ric. "I thus had my first year learning to ride slick 'n bars and worked my way to my first ever final round (despite catastrophic gearbox failure that meeting!), and to third place in the Top Gas championship. But this year, Mick sold the bike the week before I phoned him! D'oh!

"Luckily, along came Nick 'Shaggy' Daniels with an offer to ride his Top Gas bike Scooby. Shaggy's moved up in the world, into the realms of Comp Bike, so Scoob was sat pining in his kennel, desperate for someone to swing a leg over and give him a good ride."

"The bike was built to be ridden, hours of work put in so it could be raced", says Shaggy. "There was no point in its being sat under a cover in a shed. Ric had entered the event without even having a bike to ride at the time. Now Scooby can do what it was intended to do!"

"A huge thanks to Shaggy for saving the day with the loan of Scooby", says Ric. "See you all at the weekend!"

Super Gas in five hours.
29th April: Nev 'The Rev' Mottershead has written to say a huge Thank You to all involved with Saturday's Webster Race Engineering Test Day at Santa Pod Raceway, where he drove the Toyota Supra Super Gasser previously driven by Will Furniss who is taking some time away from racing.

"These Test Days are a great asset when track time is of the essence", says Nev. "We went out with a set programme of what we wanted to achieve. That programme consisted of a couple of familiarisation passes, followed by running the car with a lower power setting to enable us to run the quarter flat out in safety. Having achieved our primary target after three or four passes, we then had to re-group. The decision was made to continue through the day by 'upping the ante' each run, aiming towards the Super Gas where we plan to campaign the car next season. We carried on consistently chipping away at the ET's to finally run a 10.175/128.28, and enough data collated to take away for some personal fine-tuning.
©Eurodragster.com
"Big thanks go to Jon Webster, the track marshals and officials who, as always, do a fantastic job. The track was great and the weather was brilliant. We got all this which made my second ride in the car since building it four years ago a day to remember. A huge thanks must go to Andy Williamson my 'so solid' Crew Chief who was more than happy to see me drive the car as he reclaimed his size twelve Crew Chief shoes, although finding the post a little different from past times when a weather station meant licking your finger and sticking it in the air, and a track dryer meant rounding up members of the public to drive their cars up and down the strip. Thanks also also to my Camera Crew wife Libby, who hasn't stepped on the start line since she crewed for Michael Malmgren at the 2002 European Finals. Libby was doing double duty behind the lens for the Supra and for fellow Super Gassers Frank Mason and Maureen with their Corvette.

"We can't go without saying thanks to Eurodragster for bringing us up to the minute information - see you on the track in October, Tog (bring it on, bring everything you got, bring your friends - Ed). I'm never off the site and if our friends Pete and Kim are tuned in, as I know they are avid readers of Eurodragster, we're on for Mantorp and Gardermoen!"

Main Event Pro entry closing.
29th April: Racers are reminded that this Friday, 30th April, is the official closing date for FIA classes, FIM/UEM classes, Fuel Funny Car, and Pro Modified for the FIA Main Event. Entries received after Friday 30th April will incur a late entry fee. The closing date for all other classes is Friday of next week, 7th May.
©Eurodragster.com
You can download FIA Main Event entry forms from the Entry Forms page of the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc, or from the Svensk Dragracing web site at www.dragracing.se.

Race at the Shack.

29th April: UK Volkswagen racers Conor LaGrue and Simon Holland have announced the formation of Race Shack, a motorsports performance company based in Tewkesbury which offers the first Mustang Dynamometer test equipment in Europe, a fully-equipped CNC workshop and clean room Performance VW air-cooled engine assembly facility in association with HSL Racing, chill-out Dyno viewing area and coffee bar. To celebrate the new business venture, Race Shack are sponsoring this weekend's Big Bang VW Festival at Santa Pod Raceway.

Conor La Grue and Simon Holland are career engineers with mechanical, electrical and electronic qualifications and experience within world class design and manufacturing environments. With a combined thirty years or more of engineering excellence and a passion for all things racing going back many years, both Conor and Simon have been involved in two- and four-wheeled motorsports from a very early age. Conor and Simon have teamed up and turned professional to form Race Shack and provide a world class service with world class equipment and a level of commitment to customer satisfaction which they believe is unsurpassed in the UK.

"The Mustang Dynamometer offers a dual eddy current rolling road with Mustang's unique Vehicle Simulation mode � your vehicle will see the same load it sees on the road or strip!", says Conor LaGrue. "Don�t set your car up at the track any more - make changes on the Dyno where they can be measured, then go to the track to race! The Dyno has 1850 BHP peak power, 800 BHP continuous power absorption, a maximum speed of 225 mph, and is capable of sub eight-second quarter-mile simulation to within one tenth of a second of the actual track ET. Data logging is multi-channel including broad band Air/Fuel ratio with continuous weather station adjustments, all in a purpose-built climate-controlled Dynamometer chamber to ensure repeatability. From affordable power-only runs to full diagnostic and system tuning runs, we will tailor the test runs to customers� specific needs. Motorsports teams are welcome and the Dynamometer can be rented by the hour or for full days. This new Dynamometer is unique equipment to Europe and its advanced features are not available anywhere else � be one of the first to benefit. If you�re not testing under real-world conditions - you're just spinning your wheels!"
©Eurodragster.com
Conor says that Race Shack will be specialising in Shoot-out days. "Come and chill out in our coffee bar while we show you who�s really making the most power � virtual drag racing days or simply 0-60, top speed and top power shoot out � you choose!", he says. You can view an astounding video clip of a Super Comp dragster making a pass on a Mustang Dyno in the USA by clicking here.

Race Shack will also be operating a turn-key VW air cooled performance engine building service. "Kits comprising every nut, bolt and screw required for a drive-away engine will be supplied by HSL Racing, the established VW performance parts supplier and racers' friend specialising in mail order, who will also be expanding their services and will be co-locating with Race Shack", says Conor. "HSL Racing can source and supply virtually any performance item, and visitors will be very welcome at the new shop conveniently located just two minutes from junction nine of the M5. Tim Moores of HSL Racing has put together some fantastic engine packages and we believe we have a fabrication and test facility unrivalled in the UK - together it�s a great offering. On offer are a fully equipped state-of-the-art CNC machine shop, clean room engine assembly facility, and engines installed in customers� cars ready to drive away! Engines will be tuned for real-world performance using the Race Shack Mustang Dynamometer facility, and if required we can break in the engine on the Dynamometer using loads specifically designed to bed in your engine in the most effective way. You can then collect your car with the engine ready to enjoy."

Race Shack will be moving into their new Tewkesbury facility during May 2004. The Dynamometer will be ready for its first runs during May 2004, and the CNC workshop and engine assembly clean room will be producing engines in June 2004. Race Shack are holding a launch party on Saturday 17th July, featuring special offers in the HSL Racing Shop and on the Dynamometer, together with demonstration runs from celebrity vehicles. For more details contact Conor La Grue on 07786 336327.

The Volkswagen Drag Racing Club have announced that Race Shack have signed as a class sponsor for all three of its classes at this weekend's Big Bang, which includes round two of the 2004 VWDRC Championships for VW Pro, VW Sportsman and VW Alternate Engine. "Over seventy five competitors are taking part this weekend", says Championship Co-ordinator Spencer Tramm. "Pro VW numbers thirty one cars, Sportsman VW weighs in at a massive thirty seven-car field, which surely makes it the largest class in British Drag Racing at the moment (sorry Carla!), and Alternate Engine VW sports its biggest field to date of ten cars, only a couple of seasons after its inception."

"The Big Bang is more packed than ever before with VWDRC race cars, V8 nostalgia cars and a whole load of non-drag racing daytime and evening entertainment", says Rick Cuthbert of Trakbak Racing. "We have the largest line-up of VWDRC cars we have seen for many years, and special guests from Sweden with awesome sub ten-second wheelie-popping VWs, and USA legend Ron Lummus who will be giving free tech-talks on how to set up race-prepared VWs. The show will include a VW-only Run What Ya Brung on Saturday, VWDRC racing action on Sunday, and Monday will be an open RWYB. Håkan Nilsson will also be present testing his Pro Mod. To find out more, check out the official Big Bang web site at www.big-bang.co.uk.

See WRE for Cooper Tires.
29th April: Joint Eurodragster webcam sponsor Webster Race Engineering have announced that they are now dealers for Cooper Tires. "As well as out extensive range of Mickey Thompson tyres, we can now supply a full range of American tyres for cars, 4x4s, SUVs, motorhomes and limousines", says Ian Marshall of Webster Race Engineering.

"The Cooper Tire brand is well-known throughout the works with an excellent range of tyres which we at WRE felt would complement the Mickey Thompson range", adds Ian. "As many of our customers are aware, MT tyres can normally be delivered to your door within forty eight hours, the same delivery times can be offered with Cooper tyres. Alternately you can collect them from WRE."

For more details contact Webster Race Enginerring on 01933 315236, Fax 01933 315274, or E-Mail jw@w-r-e.com.

Manor Racing prepare for 2004.
29th April: UK 9.90 Bike and 10.90 Bike team Manor Racing weere busy during the off season with both bikes receiving routine maintenance and some new improvements. "We decided to fit a larger oil cooler on the 1260cc bike, a new suspension unit on the rear as the eighteen-year-old suspension had just about had it, modifed the front suspension (the tie-downs are in the bin) and also changed the foot rest hanger plates on both bikes for new lower items", says Ian Warren. "The engineering was superbly done by Sefton Whitlock (SFB 965 Engineering) who did a great job during the off-season to make everything fit. If you need any engineering work, give Sefton a call on 07887 852679. At very short notice, Steve French (French Injection) designed and fitted new wiring looms to both bikes, many thanks to Steve for a great job.

"Lizz McCarthey is the new rider on the 10.90 Bike. This year will be a new experience for Lizz, racing the bike rather than crewing as she has done over the last few years for various teams. Also joining the team is Lizz�s partner Sefton who will be looking after the development of both bikes and will be the team�s teat rider. David Warren will move up to the 9.90 bike this year and hopefully carry on were he left off last year.
©Eurodragster.com
"With all of these changes, we decided to go to Shakespeare County Raceway to test before the season started. We had a good weekend all round with riders and team gaining useful information. Lizz�s aim for the weekend was to get track time in on the new bike and learn bracket racing rather then go flat out for a quick time, but Lizz came away with a very low eleven-second pass at 129 mph. David was getting re-acquainted with the 9.90 Bike and put in some very good runs in the nines, and all above 144 mph."

Stay tuned as we will be posting Manor Racing's Easter Thunderball report tomorrow.

PMR booking fast.
29th April: The Paul Marston Racing Drag Race Driving School and Passenger Ride Experiences have both seen an increase in interest for the 2004 season and the available spaces are filling up fast, says Paul Marston. "We must once again thank all the supporters of this programme, Santa Pod, Shakespeare County Raceway, all the crew at Paul Marston Racing and our many friends and sponsors, without their help we could not do this. As expected there is now more interest in the Driving School during 2004, this is great news as it means the possibility of more competitors on the tracks. We will have handouts at this weekend's event with details of the Drag Race Driving School and the Passenger Ride Experience, so if you were one of the many who asked for details at Santa Pod, please be sure to pass by and pick one up."
©Eurodragster.com
Paul says that he is looking forward immensely to racing Grumpy's Dodge at the Excitement Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway this weekend. He will be at the wheel of Grumpy himself in both Pro ET and Super Street. "We learnt a lot about our extensively-updated Grumpy's Dodge - its characteristics, likes and dislikes etc. The short break since the Easter Thunderball has seen a lot of refininements carried out on Grumpy, work will be continuous right up until Friday morning when Grumpy leaves the PMR workshops. It's just so much fun working on Grumpy with her new setup, we just cannot seem to be able to leave her alone, with such a solid improvement in performance and PBs achieved at the very first event we just cannot wait to see what Grumpy is capable of once we maximize the as-yet-untapped potential. We know there is more to come. The Excitement Nationals also gives us the opportunity to try some of the practices learnt in the States. Along with the aforementioned rolling development for Grumpy we are expecting an exciting weekend.

"The results at the Thunderball were a welcome bonus, our Drag Race Driving School driver Gary Springford did a fantastic job, but we do not expect Grumpys Dodge to become fully competitive until at least the Main Event when Gary will be returning, so once again any results garnered at the Excitement Nationals will be more than welcome. Thanks once again to all the gang at Paul Marston Racing who have all been working so hard - thanks guys - Gary at Jeep Club for the workshop time, Black Box London for allowing me the time we need to make this deal happen, Disco Equipment Hire, MAC Tools, London Road Tyres, Chrysler UK, Custom Car, Street Machine and all our other friends. See you at Shakespeare County."

Web site updates.
29th April: The official web site of B and J Nostalgia Racing at www.bjnostalgia.com has been updated with the latest news on the construction of the Windridge Hall McKenzie nitro slingshot. Don't miss the very funny workshop story at the bottom of the News page.
©Eurodragster.com
Eurodragster Photo Editor Sharkman has updated his personal web site Sharkman's Top End Tales with a large number of Windows wallpaper files from the Easter Thunderball. You can download Sharkman's wallpapers at www.topendtales.com.

Scary update VI.
28th April: Heather Bond has kindly brought us up to date with the condition of Funny Bike racer Sarah Jane Head.

"The graft operation was done on Scary's ankle on Sunday and all is looking good", says H. "She is still in a bit of pain and giving the nurses stress! Thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club for the spray of flowers, and to everyone who has sent cards and good luck wishes. Please keep these coming as Scary looks forward to Dave bringing them in."
©Eurodragster.com
We are still maintaining the page of Get Well greetings for Scary, which you can view by clicking here; if you would like to add your own greeting then drop us a line at news@eurodragster.com.

Excitement scrutineering, tickets.
28th April: MSA scrutineer Glenn Stockton has been in touch regarding scrutineering arrangements at Shakespeare County Raceway for this weekend's Excitement Nationals.
©Eurodragster.com
"We will be scrutineering on Friday evening until it gets dark", says Glenn. "Please can all racers be ready, i.e. have their helmet, firesuit out of the van etc. and all bonnets boots open or relevant panels removed. Don't forget that it is an MSA event, so you will need your log book, licence and scrutineering ticket. We will be visiting cars in the pits in their class running order, so please be alert and awake from 07:30 if you are first out."

Glenn also tells us that he is looking for a trainee MSA Scrutineer, please have a word with Glenn at the weekend if you are interested.

Lee Child of LA Performance Services has also been in touch, to remind fans that 9:00 this evening (Wednesday) is the deadline for advance ticket prices for this weekend's Excitement Nationals. Ticket prices are as follow:
©Eurodragster.com

Day(s)	Advance	Gate
Saturday	n/a	£15
Sunday	£15	£20
Monday	£15	£20
Saturday-Sunday	£25	£30
Sunday-Monday	£25	£30
Saturday-Monday	£33	£40

To order tickets, call LA Performance Services' Credit Card hotline on 01803 554308.

Weekend thanks.
28th April: Returning Pro ET racer Keith Ridley writes that he had a great time on his first outing in his new Escort race car last weekend. "I would like to say thanks to Jon Webster and his boys for doing a good job on building my car, she looks good and goes good. A big thanks to all the Santa Pod crew, to Tony Baker for all his help and hard work, to Martin Hill for helping me with parts, and a very big Thanks to Jemma for helping me on Sunday. I didn't know how much I had missed drving a race car. I hope to be back on track next weekend to put in a hard run. We need to make a change to the car so that we run into the nines, I hope! Thanks to you for all your hard work on Eurodragster (Thank you! - Ed)."
©Eurodragster.com
Matthew and Stephen Seamarks of UK Junior Dragster team Gingerman Racing have asked us to say a big Thank You to all those who helped them at Sunday's Run What You Brung. "Thanks especially to Martin Wallis in the Tower, the Watts (Full Throttle Racing) and the Mugridges (Rolling Thunder)", say Matthew and Stephen. "They all gave us help to carry on with the RWYB."

Web site updates.
28th April: The official web site of Swedish Pro Modified team Nilsson Motorsports has been updated with a very interesting report and pictures of the trip to the USA recently undertaken by some of the team. Check it out at www.nilssonmotorsports.com. Håkan Nilsson and the team are now on their way to Santa Pod Raceway to test at this weekend's Big Bang VW Festival.

Our good buddies at Svensk Dragracing have updated their web site with an entertaining interview with 2003 NDRS Funny Bike Champion Svein Arne Skjerv�. The interview is as usual presented in both Swedish and English, and can be found at www.dragracing.se.
©Eurodragster.com
The guys at DragsterWorld are running a contest to win a John Force Racing sweatshirt. To enter the contest visit www.dragsterworld.com/features/forcecomp.htm and answer the five questions which sort the Force fans from the boys.

Aasen aims for fun and Excitement.
27th April: Norwegian Supertwin racer Ronny Aasen says that he is contesting Funny Bike at this weekend's Excitement Nationals at Shakespeare Raceway because it's fun, and because UK Funny Bikes are so fast. Ronny is shortly to embark on a three-day, 1600-mile, two-ferry journey to the UK for the Excitement Nationals, before moving on to the Speedfreaks Ball at Santa Pod on the following weekend.

Ronny has made a lot of changes to his six-second PRP-engined bike after breaking almost everything from the front pulley to the rear wheel at last year's FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway. "We put on a new PM 13x15 sidedrive wheel, the new double Top Fuel chain from EK, the new Magnum billet gearbox from Bentec, and together with Per Bengtsson at Bentec we are able to race with the prototype big clutch for Top Fuel Harleys", says Ronny. "We have a 4.5 inch primary belt, and this year will be our first with a computer on the bike."
©Eurodragster.com
Ronny and his team started the bike up three weeks ago after its complete rebuild, and we get the idea that it went well. "I think the little 'hocus pocus' we did this winter worked OK!", he says. "I believe that PRP engines are very reliable, so we will push it this year!

"Hopefully we will get the bike tuned at SCR and the Speedfreaks Ball, then we will go home for two weeks and back again for the Main Event. Then we can give Charley, Ton, Stefan, Rob and the other STTF boys a good fight!"

Racers: Send your Excitement Nationals previews to us at news@eurodragster.com and we'll publish them here.

Hartnell can't wait.
27th April: UK Wild Bunch racer Chris Hartnell says that he can't wait for this weekend's Excitement Nationals, after spending the last week and a half taking measures to calm down the spectacular wheelies which he was pulling at the last Test and Tune at Shakespeare County Raceway.

"We had a great time at the Test n' Tune and on the Saturday managed to get in no less than five runs", says Chris. "A record for us on a day when there were no elimination rounds! After having done a checkout pass on the previous ignition and fuel settings, we advanced the ignition and took fuel out of the system. In the next two runs I pulled massive wheelies off the launch, pretty aggressive ones which hit the wheelie bar and landed hard, causing me to back off and get back in it again. On the first of these I still recorded a 9.448/143.31, my fastest speed to date! The next run was similar, but a 9.665/142.86. And then for the fourth run of the day, I pulled a lower wheelie, and recorded a 9.311/146.10! Wow! My fastest speed yet, and my best ET for over a year! And ever closer to that magic 150 mph mark I am hoping for! The track had been great again that day, thanks to all the preparation work by Darren Prentice, Sharkman and the marshals and officials, but the temperature cooled and the fifth run was slower. So it had been a great weekend, even though Sunday ended in a rain-off!
©Eurodragster.com
"Since the last Test'n'Tune I have been looking for a way to calm the wheelies down a bit, and make them less harsh, and channel the car's energy into going forward quicker! I have now made a weight box, mounted between the chassis rails under the bodywork near the front, and will add weights to that accordingly to keep the nose down a bit. I have also fabricated a wing for the front, to add to the stability at the top end of the track, as I am hoping to improve a bit more on the top end speed!

"I am now really looking forward to the Excitement Nationals, where I hope that a combination of the good track, good weather (hopefully) and a good tune-up may result in some good times and speeds, and more close racing with the Wild Bunch throughout the qualifying and eliminations. Can't wait!"

Excitement racer tickets, pitting.
27th April: Avon Park International Racers Association Club and Race Secretary Wendy Talbot has been in touch with an important message for racers attending this weekend's Excitement Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway.

"Due to the late arrival of tickets to the office, all racers' tickets will now be on the gatehouse at Shakespeare County Raceway from Friday morning", says Wendy. If you have any queries then please call Wendy on 01379 740100.
©Eurodragster.com
Meanwhile Lee Child of LA Performance Services has forwarded us the official pit plan for this weekend's event at SCR. You can view the pit plan by clicking here. "Could racers please be sure to read the important notes at the bottom of the pit plan", says Lee.

Perfect prize funds reset.
27th April: This weekend's Excitement Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway is the next eligible event for the Eurodragster.com/Speedflow Perfect Light Award and the Eurodragster.com/Curbishley Automotive Perfect ET Award. After Collin Morrice pulled a perfect 0.000 in his Junior Dragster and Pete Creswell a 9.900 in Super Gas at the Easter Thunderball, both prize funds have been reset to �50.

The Perfect Light Award is presented jointly by Eurodragster.com and high-performance hose and fitting supplier Speedflow, and awards a cash prize to the first racer at an eligible event to record a perfect Reaction Time of 0.000. The Award is open to all classes and is available during qualifying or eliminations but not open practice. The prize fund is £50 for this weekend's Excitement Nationals and will grow by £25 per event if not won; if the Award is won at an event then the prize fund will be reset to £50 at the next.
©Eurodragster.com
The Perfect ET Award is presented jointly by Eurodragster.com and automotive painter Curbishley Automotive, and awards a cash prize to the first racer at an eligible event to run to the thousandth either on their class index or on their dial-in as appropriate. As with the Perfect Light award, the Eurodragster.com/Curbishley Automotive Perfect ET Award is £50 this weekend and will increase by £25 at each event if not won. If the Award is won then it will be reset to £50 for the next event. The Perfect ET Award is open to racers in Super Pro ET, Pro ET, Sportsman ET, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street, Junior Dragster, Wild Bunch, 9.90 Bike, 10.90 Bike and Junior Drag Bike.

Good luck everyone!

Pels' bike coming together.

27th April: Although there's still a lot of work to be done by Ton and Vincent Pels before they are ready to leave the Netherlands for the Speedfreaks Ball, things are starting to come together with Ton's new Supertwin bike (right, click on picture for larger version), writes Monique Pels.

"Ton and Vincent have finished making all the new parts that needed to be machined, and they're making good progress building the engine. Furthermore, the bodywork got a smashing new paint job", says Monique. "Check out the News page of zodiacracing.com for all the latest photos.

"We'd like to express our thanks to Vanson for Ton's custom made new racing suit, and as always we'd like to thank our main sponsor Zodiac for their continuing support as well as our other sponsors Supertrapp, Accel, Performance Machine Inc and Midwest Acorn Nut Co."
©Eurodragster.com
Flavell: My back and I are back.
27th April: The Easter Thunderball was a huge success for UK Super Pro ET team Mark Flavell Racing, as Mark set new Personal Bests for both ET and speed on his return to competition after back surgery which kept him off the track in 2003.

"We'd tried to shake the car down at the rained out Webster Test Day in March, and had only run a couple of sixty foot passes at at York prior to pulling into stage for the first round of qualifying at Santa Pod", says Mark Flavell. "A damp track saw us knock the tyres off it but we still managed 180 mph - a personal best by 7 mph. Sunday was different again: it was warmer and the sun was striving to make an appearance. The track was looking good and the start line was nine degrees warmer. With lower tyre pressures we went for gold. The computer tells us that we still spun for 0.75 seconds but after that it was 'Hang on for the ride of my life' . The rate of acceleration at the top end was unbelievable and I felt sure we'd run our best ever. After eight months out of the driver's seat getting a new back, just sitting in the pits in the warm up felt fast. I waited for Craig to show with the tow trike and the grin on his face said it all, 7.34/186: 0.5 seconds quicker and thirteen miles per hour faster - not bad for a shakedown run.
©Eurodragster.com
"We slowed it down to suit our chassis tech status and went out in round one of eliminations, wasting a good 7.67 on a 7.65 dial-in by red-lighting against Pat Talbot, but we went home winners! Hopefully this weekend at Shakespeare County Raceway will see us gathering more data to allow us to find the consistency needed to compete in such a skilled and professional field.

"I really appreciated all the racers and fans who came to see us in the pits enquiring about my surgery and recovery. A big Thank You has to go Craig 'Coil' Owen and Big Stevie Metcalfe for the million hours of hard graft they've put in through the winter months. I was reduced to the role of 'Consultant Engineer in a Supervisory Capacity' - I pulled the ring pull's and passed out the cans!

"Look out 'The boys are back in town'. See you at the track."

Easter Thunderball ladders.
27th April: We are very grateful to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers (Europe) for sending us the elimination ladders from the Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway. You can view the Thunderball ladders by clicking here, or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page.
©Eurodragster.com
G and S Valves back Woollatt.
26th April: 2003 ACU UK Top Fuel Bike Champion Steve Woollatt has announced a new sponsorship deal with Godalming-based G and S Valves. G and S, who make valves for any application, will be supporting Steve with all of his valve requirements this season. Steve visited G and S last week to collect ten exhaust valves for his Phil Baimbridge Puma engine and was taken on a tour of the facility before closing the sponsorship deal.

Andrew Grenside of G and S Valves told us a little about the company. "We have been making engine valves since 1946", he said. "We have always done a lot of racing work. When Formula One was all Cosworths and steel valves we made all of their valves. Now we are very busy making valves for Lotus, Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Pro Drive and Cosworth. We have also just finished a thousand sets of valves for the 2004 R1 Yamaha team, but we also specialise in small batch work."

G and S can provide anything from small one-off batches to extended contracts for large companies, and have long experience in producing valves for drag racing. The company holds in stock a large variety of steels for valve manufacture and offer heat treatments, bi-metal valves and much more to customers' requirements.
©Eurodragster.com
"G and S' works are very impressive, the place is spotless!", says Steve Woollatt. "I am very grateful to Andrew Grenside and everyone at G and S Valves for their time and support. I don't have to see G and S that often because their valves are very reliable and stand up to a lot of punishment. There isn't a tougher test bed than a fuel engine and I have never had a moment's trouble, in fact I have been using G and S products for twenty years and have never had any aggravation with them. I have won all of my Championships using valves manufactured by G and S, which is as good a testimony as you need!

"I can highly recommend G and S to racers in whatever class. They are cheaper and certainly less trouble than getting valves from the USA. G and S can make any type of valve you want, to be honest I couldn't think of a vehicle they couldn't equip. They are also very helpful indeed if you have any queries."

"We are very pleased indeed to be supporting Steve Woollatt", says Andrew Grenside. "He has been a good customer and we wish him luck in retaining his UK Championship and also in taking on the Europeans in May!".

G and S Valves' web site at www.gsvalves.co.uk gives an overview of valve issues as well as very detailed technical details of mechanical, physical and chemical properties, heat treatments, and a very interesting section about common faults. If you have any queries or would like to order valves then Andrew Grenside or Ian Barraclough would be very pleased to take your call on 01483 415444 (outside the UK +44 1483 415444).

Steve's first race with G and S Valves backing will be this weekend's Excitement Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway, at which he will be using his new clutch system for the first time.

Blakemore's ZX12 début.

26th April: UK Funny Bike racer Tim Blakemore's radical new ZX12 Funny Bike (right) made its first passes down a track on Saturday afternoon. With so much new equipment running together for the first time some teething problems were inevitable, writes Augy Harrison.

"By 2:00 pm the team had a bike in a go condition. With the fuel injection system set very safe (rich) a burnout was attempted, but the bike would not rev cleanly and stalled. A couple of minor adjustments to the fuel system later and Tim produced an awesome Funny Car-style burnout taking him well up the track, the high power of the engine obvious to everyone watching. Next some launches were attempted, but each time the bike stalled. The team made more changes to the fuel and clutch set-up. With time running out the team tried another launch. Again the engine pulled right down (to 2000rpm) but this time didn't stall and Tim started to make his way down track.

"As the revs gradually climbed the engine speed eventually reached a point where the turbo started to make boost. All of a sudden the power came in big time, the front wheel was hiked in the air and Tim was planted in the back of his seat as he was subject to massive acceleration. Being caught by surprise Tim instinctively shut the throttle and coasted over the finish in 11.5 seconds. With no time for any major changes the team went round for a final attempt before the track shut. The run was a repeat of the first except that this time Tim was ready when the power hit. Tim stayed on the throttle for several seconds when the power came in before coasting to the finnish. The result a 9.4-second run, but despite the bogged launch and slow early part of the run the bike still recorded a half track speed of 143 mph, indicating there is an awful lot more to come!

"The team now feel they have made enough progress to enter their first meeting at Shakespeare County Raceway this weekend."
©Eurodragster.com
It's the Wild Bunch Kid!
26th April: Jayne Kay, the Wild Bunch Kid and daughter of Wild Bunch racer Gary Kay of Dream Machine fame, will be making her Junior Dragster début in The Matrix, owned by Dick Talbot and driven by Holly and Hazel Mitchell, at the Classic American Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway on 15th-16th May.

"Jayne has been mad keen on drag racing since she started crewing for her dad at the age of eight, and now can't wait to get running herself", says Gary. "Back at home dad has already built the chassis for her new Junior Dragster Draggin' It Out, but Jayne, being so keen, can't wait that long! Hence we have taken Dick up on his kind offer of letting her run The Matrix, thanks Dick. Jayne is looking forward to the support of all the other Wild Bunch racers and making more drag racing friends. All sponsors warmly welcomed and any spare parts will be gratefully received!
©Eurodragster.com
"Dad's new car, the new Dream Machine altered, will hit the track next year with ever faithful wife/Crew Chief, chief cook and bottle washer Alison quietly holding it all together in the background!"

Fans win with Kågered.
26th April: Swedish Top Fuel Dragster and Top Methanol Funny Car team Team Kågered are to give something back to their fans in a tie-up with their sponsors. Starting on Saturday (1st May), Team Kågered will be holding a monthly contest with great prizes connected with their sponsors, as well as give-aways at the track as they travel around Europe this season.

"Normally a sponsorship deal provides benefits only for the team involved", says team owner and Bahco Tools-sponsored Top Fuel Dragster pilot Micke Kågered. "We wanted to provide drag racing fans a chance of exploring for themselves some of the great products our sponsor companies manufacture, and we recently decided to take our concept a step further. All of the sponsors we have asked so far have welcomed our idea right away. From these we have selected the companies which really have the greatest products for people interested in motorsport."

"Starting on 1st May and continuing through 31st December we will have a monthly quiz on our web site at www.kagered-racing.com", explains Team Co-ordinator Åsa Kinnemar. "We will be focusing on a new sponsor company each month, and we will be giving away selected high-quality products from that company. There will be great products at stake and we are proud that Bahco Tools, our main sponsor, are the first company up, starting on 1st May."

As the team probably will not have enough items to give away for everyone each month, they have decided on a fair quiz concept. "The great thing is that anybody who wants to can participate in the contests, no matter what country they reside in", says Åsa. "Drag racing operates internationally, and so do most of our sponsors.

"Of course not everyone entering our contests can win, but some will and hopefully they will like the products which they get as much as we do. If we can make a small contribution in return to the great race fans out there, it means a lot to us. In addition, we plan on-track activities of similar kind this season, so make sure that you come and visit us in the pits at any FIA event this summer!"

Winners of the monthly Team Kågered contests will be announced on the team's web site and here on Eurodragster.
©Eurodragster.com
Logistics sorted by Francis.
26th April: Malcolm Francis, MD of Air Sea Logistics Ltd, has thanked 2003 FIA European Pro Stock Champion Michael Malmgren for choosing his company to ship his new Jerry Bickel Race Cars-built 2004 Pontiac Grand Am to Sweden, after a successful performance début in Bradenton and Houston.

"Michael contacted us about shipping his car shortly after announcing its purchase, after a referral from American Car Imports MD Anthony Cohen, and we were only too pleased to help", said Malcolm. "Michael told us that he was planning on competing at the NHRA O�Reilly Spring Nationals in Houston in April. The sailing schedules from Houston to Sweden when Michael wanted his car shipped were limited to two vessels, and one of those was brought forward by three days two weeks ago, so we were left with only one available sailing which would get the car in Sweden in time for the team to make the trip to the UK for the Main Event. To say that we were under pressure from that point was a bit of an understatement.
©Eurodragster.com
"We arranged for an ocean container to be delivered to Houston Raceway Park on Monday 19th April, following the event, for Michael and the team to load their new car and equipment. The cut-off with US Customs to get all the paperwork submitted and approval to load was 20th April, which was a bit tight but due to some advanced planning by us with US Customs, they were very co-operative and everything went smoothly. The vessel sailed on 22nd April and will arrive in Sweden in mid-May.

"In closing, we at Air Sea Logistics would like to wish Michael and the rest of his team good luck for this year�s FIA European Pro Stock Championship."

One brave Crew Chief.
26th April: Prospective UK Rocket Dragster pilot Carolyn Campbell tells us that her four-engined car, about which we wrote on 7th March, has its SFI tag, paint and vinyls and is about ready to go. The project is moving ahead at the insistence of co-owner and Crew Chief David Knight even though he is very ill in hospital.

"David, my life partner, co-owner and Crew Chief (not to mention machine shop wizard) is in the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford", says Carolyn. "He had brain surgery on Thursday, and seems to be recovering well, but it's very worrying. I'm going to the hospital every day to see David and to encourage his recovery. He keeps wanting to know what's happening with 'his car', so he's definitely being as positive thinker!
©Eurodragster.com
"Dave was involved with Santa Pod from the very beginning - he even worked the start line in the early days. All of our racing friends are sending their 'good magic' and good old Knut Söderquist is helping out with getting the final stuff done on the car, which is called Laffin-gas. It's important to Dave that the project goes ahead, but we are losing a lot of working hours at the moment."

We are sure that everyone will join Sharkman and Tog in wishing David their very best for a very rapid and full recovery. If you would like to send David a Get Well message then drop us a line at webmaster@eurodragster.com and we will pass it on.

Web site updates.
26th April: Eurodragster News Editor Tog has updated his personal web site Tog's Drag Racing Page with a set of photographs from Saturday's Webster Race Engineering Test Day at Santa Pod Raceway. Some of the pictures will already be familiar if you have already checked out our WRE Test Day coverage but about half of the photographs in this update were not posted on Saturday. You can see Tog's pictures at www.togsdragracing.com.
©Eurodragster.com
Big Bang for Twisted Sanity.
25th April: The new Twisted Sanity Rocket Dragster will be making its début at next weekend's Big Bang VW Festival at Santa Pod Raceway, writes team member Paul Cann.

If you were tuned in on 14th April you will recall that the new car is to be powered by three rockets, but Paul tells us that Charles Berg will be using two motors for next week's runs. "We will be putting in two passes on Saturday and two passes on Monday, hopefully achieving seven- or eight-second times", says Paul. "Sunday will be a time for any adjustments we need to make, and at �200 per run we hope to put on a good display for everyone.
©Eurodragster.com
"The beast will use 40lb of nitrous, 15lb of carbon dioxide and 10lb of nitrogen each pass, and we will be using cardboard instead of plastic for our main fuel source. We have no less than seven polished 11lb nitrous bottles strapped to the back, and a new carbon dioxide spray device which will keep the track cool to compensate for the extra heat created by the second rocket.

"We have broken the digital video camera we borrowed to film passes, so if anyone is attending the event and can film our runs to put on the site we would be very grateful. We would like to thank Team Botch for the invite, we really enjoyed last year's event and we hope that our new car will make this year even better!".

It's Heaven and Hell down south.
25th April: If you were tuned in on 25th January you will have read that father-and-sons team Northern 1/4 Racing are to field a new 125-inch wheelbase altered, named Between Heaven and Hell, in Wild Bunch competition this season. Elliott 'Billy Boy' Jones has been in touch with the latest news from the workshop.

"Our whole kit and kaboodle has been loaded up and is heading south to the workshop of Jon Rathbone Racing, one of the team's sponsors", says Elliott. "What will return to Manchester will be the Between Heaven and Hell '32 Bantam altered in recognisable form as a near-complete car! The car will then head direct to the workshop of our friendly local fabricator Dave 'Brucey Bonus' Leighton for finishing touches to the chassis before heading out to the spray shop for its new clothes.
©Eurodragster.com
"Meanwhile on the engine front things have slowed down a little whilst we await new parts from California, and a possible cylinder head change - for the better - may be on the horizon!"

Stay tuned as Elliott has promised pictures when the altered returns from Jon Rathbone's 'shop.

Swift snippets.
25th April: Santa Pod Raceway will have a concrete guardrail on the right hand side of the shutdown area in time for May's FIA Main Event. Speaking at yesterday's WRE Test Day, Track Manager Kjell Pettersson told Eurodragster that work will commence on the new guardrail in three Mondays' time, immediately after the Speedfreaks Ball.
©Eurodragster.com
Concrete Nationals, day one.
25th April: Ozzy Ewing of Avon Park International Racers Association has dropped us a line to let us know how the Shakespeare County Raceway work weekend is going so far. With the Excitement Nationals next weekend there is plenty to do and the work teams are applying themselves in beautiful weather.
©Eurodragster.com
"We split into three teams and went about our jobs", says Ozzy. "Team one, the Fairies and the Goblins, set to cleaning Sharkman's garden. Team two started on the new Marshals and Family building the 'Downtime Diner', painting and cleaning. Team three had their muscles and bellies out at the Concrete Nationals, filling in the holes from the medical centre through to the pits.

"We managed to cool down with a refreshing water fight, which left everybody soaked to the skin including our supervisor Ryan the Jolly Green Giant. At the end of the day it was showers all round and beers on Anthony & Wendy - cheers! - with entertainment from Nigel!"

Paranoid Racing add sponsor.

25th April: Greek Top Fuel Bike team Paranoid Racing are proud to anounce the addition of Blackstone Tek as a product sponsor in the team's effort in constructing and succesfully campaigning a Top Fuel radial triple drag bike, through the supply of a specially reinforced state of the art carbon fibre front wheel (right), say Panagiotis Zarifopoulos and Yla Galani.

"Blackstone Tek is the leader in CF wheel technology and a supplier to many Superbike and Moto GP teams with a line of products that include applications for almost all contemporary sportbikes, and surpasses current strength and fatigue requirements for street use as set by various countries' safety institutions. Paranoid Racing's main sponsors White Line Cycles will be distributing the complete product line of Blackstone Tek to the Greek market through their existing and new downtown Athens locations. The team's objective in using an ultra-light front wheel in an otherwise heavy set-up is to minimise the inertia forces which are responsible for the tendency of Top Fuel bikes to wobble during braking, and to aid the tyre in getting up to speed after it touches down at half to three quarters track with more than 180 miles per hour.

"The importance of an ultra-strong and light state-of-the-art front wheel is somehow neglected in the ranks of drag bikes and especially in the Top Fuel class where the choices in seventeen-inch wheels which can carry big enough tyres for the brake effort needed are very limited and heavy. Blackstone Tech wheels are combining exceptional strength and durability with corrosion resistance and much greater fatigue life compared to aluminum alloy and magnesium wheels. They feature a monoblock construction with the greatest weight savings in the rim are where it makes the most difference. With street wheels as light as 2.1 kg and race wheels as light as 1.7 kg they are able to give a great advantage in acceleration and cornering ability to any bike and make all dragbikes go faster and brake safer.

"During our contacts with Blackstone Tek we have met with some very knowledgeable and friendly people, in all positions from technical advice to sales marketing, answering all our questions and presenting a backround of many years of experience in motorcycle racing. You can have a look at BST's product line and technical information at their excellent web site at www.blackstonetek.com.

If you need to ask us anything regarding possible applications for your bike or just to find out how we're progressing drop us a mail at zman@greekracer.net or yla@greekracer.net. We will be happy to answer all your questions."
©Eurodragster.com
Web site updates.
25th April: Sweden's returning NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified racer Patrick Wikström has a new web site at www.ofabmotorsport.com. The web site, by Crew Chief Krister Peterson, features a rundown on the European ET record-holding Camaro, team biographies, photo gallery, sponsor page and more.
©Eurodragster.com
Also on the Pro Mod front, the official web site of the European Pro Mod Racers Association at www.promod.nu has been updated with a Pro Mod discussion forum.

Scary update V.
24th April: Heather Bond kindly stepped up to see us in Race Control here at Santa Pod Raceway to give us an update on the condition of Funny Bike racer Sarah Jane Head.

"Scary is doing really well", said H. "She is in Stoke Mandeville for a few days and is having an operation on her ankle today. But she is well on the mend and is as sharp as ever".
©Eurodragster.com
One example of this comes from Santa Pod's Chief Starter Ian Marshall, who told us that when he and Paula went to see Scary in hospital a few days ago, she said "I think I'll have to cancel my entry for the Main Event". H added "Yes, she reckons she'll only miss the next couple of meetings!". Scary is reportedly determined to come back to the track on a visit as soon as she is able.

We are still maintaining the page of Get Well greetings for Scary, which you can view by clicking here; if you would like to add your own greeting then drop us a line at news@eurodragster.com.

Bengtsson skips title defence.
24th April: 2003 FIM/UEM Supertwin Champion, Sweden's Per Bengtsson will not be defending his European title in 2004 due to a lack of time and inspiration. After a decision taken mutually by the team, Per will be contesting only two events in 2004, the Veidec Nitro Festival at Mantorp Park in July and the Drag Challenge at Gardermoen in August.
©Eurodragster.com
"The 2003 season left many unanswered questions, especially regarding the new fuel system", says Per. "I had lots of handling problems with the bike for which I blame the MickeyThompson slick. Therefore the Beast is back on a Goodyear tyre for this year. Also a new Pro Mag 44 magneto from MSD will help the ignition."

Per hopes that the team will find inspiration during the season and that the class develops positively so that the Beast will be back as soon as next year. "The team would like to wish all supporters and competitors a good race season in 2004", he says.

Stunned Malmgren.
24th April: Team member Magnus Cato tells us that 2003 FIA European Pro Stock Champion Michael Malmgren and the AC Delco/Malmgren Racing team were stunned with their first runs in their new Pontiac Grand Am race car, which went into the 6.8s on its first run and recorded over 200 mph on all but one pass during their recent stay in the USA. "The Main Event is getting close now and we are thrilled to show our European fans what we can do on our tracks", says Magnus. "Hold on to your hats 'cause they will blow away!"

"Michael and the team want to thank the entire staff at Jerry Bickel's Race Cars for building a car for us which is beyond our imagination. They put up with us hanging around and drooling over the car, constantly in their way! You guys are true craftsmen. As if this wasn't enough, Jim Yates and his team were as nice as you can ask for. Jim and Jamie had their hands full with their own car but never hesitated to take their time to answer and help us with our car. We can't think of a nicer and more generous friend then you guys. All the best with your future racing operation. If everything works out, we might see the Yates family at an event in Europe this season.
©Eurodragster.com
"Then there's a certain American friend who we want to mention. Bill Baird and his family never hesitated to contact us to offer their help when we started to plan to buy a new car. Offering something to someone can result in the the whole hand being taken when when you offered the thumb, and that's what it felt like when we started to send a lot of E-Mails back and forth to Bill. But, gentleman and enthusiast he is, he helped us in more ways you can imagine. Frankly, this trip wouldn't been able without Bill, and we hope that we can do something for him in the future. Bill, you are always welcome in Sweden. Bill contacted his longtime friend Rusty Ott who lent us his truck and trailer which we drove over the continent, and I had the chance to meet a very busy Rusty at his motorcycle shop. Bill said that Rusty is as nice as a fellow can be, and that was not a lie. Having friends such as Bill and Rusty made all the difference to us."

'Lead Foot' Rampaging to the nines.
24th April: Dave 'Lead Foot' Ward and the UK's Rampage Pro ET team had to test their Funny Car in qualifying at the Easter Thunderball after being rained out at the WRE Test Day in March, writes team member Ian Gibbs. After a literally shaky start in qualifying, the car is now headed for the nines after Dave set a number of personal bests over the Thunderball weekend.

"Over the winter the car was completely dismantled, checked and re-built", says Ian. "A new torque converter was fitted, together with new axle gearing. The first qualifying session on the Saturday of the Thunderball was used purely to launch the car and run a half pass, to ensure that everything felt right. The car launched and immediately pulled to the right, so Dave lifted and corrected. As he got on the power again he immediately experienced vibration through the steering column so came off it and braked just before the eighth mile. The vibration then became violent and Dave fought to keep control of the steering, bracing his arms against the roll cage and bringing the car to a halt. The front-end geometry was checked and adjustments were made to the toe-in before the second run. Everything seemed OK on the half-pass, but on braking the vibration returned with a vengeance.
©Eurodragster.com
On Sunday, more adjustments were made to the steering geometry and the brake bias in an effort to eliminate the problem. The third run of the weekend was to be a three-quarter pass but Dave stayed in it all the way, then let the car run all the way down to the bottom before braking, reducing the risk of vibration. The time was 10.357 - our best ever run. On the next qualifying run Dave went for a harder launch but the car pulled through the lights, losing over three tenths at sixty feet, and Dave lifted before the finish. In the third and final run on Sunday, Rampage was set up for eliminations. Dave cut a 0.1 second reaction and ran a 10.191/129.4, again our quickest run but breaking out.

In round one of eliminations on Monday, Dave cut a good light and passed Nick Griffin just before the line to take the win at 10.235/128.95. In the second round we dialled in 10.19 and ran 10.169 seconds, breaking out - Dave was going nowhere near the brakes at the line unless absolutely necessary, giving the win to John Atkinson�s Cortina Estate.

"After the last run, Rampage is now starting to show the potential for a a nine-second pass. As I type, the Funny Car is being checked for testing at Santa Pod on Saturday."

Big Bang entry list.
24th April: We are indebted to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall for forwarding us the official entry list for the racing part of next weekend's Big Bang VW Festival at Santa Pod. The VW contingent is huge, with thirty in VW Pro, thirty seven in VW Sportsman, and ten in VW Alternate Engine.

The entry list includes no less than five racers from Sweden with Håkan Lundgren, Patrik Osterberg, Jonas Uhland and Peter Eriksson competing in Sunday's VW competition. "Tell your guys to look for the lowest, meanest VW bus they have ever seen", says our good buddy Christer Abrahamson of Svensk Dragracing. "It was originally built by Stefan 'Junior' who used to drive in Pro Stock until his terrible top end crash. I have a hunch that the bus will be sold in Britain since it has the steering wheel on the wrong side!"
©Eurodragster.com
A surprise addition to the Big Bang entry list is Swedish NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified racer Håkan Nilsson, who is making the trip to Santa Pod to test his Veidec-sponsored Camaro. Martin Hill in the Fireforce 2 Jet FC provides the exhibition action.

Click here to see the Big Bang entry list. You can find out more about the Big Bang on the event's official entry list at www.big-bang.co.uk.

WRE Test Day coverage.
24th April: We've been at Santa Pod Raceway today to cover the action at the Webster Race Engineering Test Day in association with American Car Imports.

Click here to view our report and Photo Gallery, or click on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page.

Swift snippets.
24th April: The NDRS deal for special racer prices on Silja Line ferry sailings to and from Finland, announced on Thursday, is now not happening due to circumstances beyond the control of both Svensk Dragracing and Aff�rskompaniet. Aff�rskompaniet can still assist racers with ferry bookings and can be contacted on +46 16 510141.
©Eurodragster.com
Web site updates.
24th April: Thanks to Robert Galea for letting us know that the Maltese Zoqdi Power web site has been given a facelift. The Zoqdi site contains a description of the services offered by one of the Island's leading tuners as well as pictures and much more. Check it out at www.zoqdipower.cjb.net.
©Eurodragster.com
Interview with Andy Bissett.
23rd April: The latest in Eurodragster's occasional series of interviews is with Andy Bissett, Crew Chief of 2003 FIA European and MSA British Championship-holding Top Methanol Dragster team American Car Imports Racing. Andy left the ACI Racing team after last week's NHRA O'Reilly Springnationals in Houston, having started crewing for the Redstone and Gleadow Racing team in 1998, and then working on the Nemesis and ACI Racing operations.
©Eurodragster.com
In a very interesting and entertaining interview Andy tells us what it was like to contest the ACI Racing team's recent US tour, selects the highlights and lowlights of his career so far, tells us about his future plans and, somehow, manages not to menion jam doughnuts.

Click here to read our interview with Andy Bissett, or click on the Interviews link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page.

Nitro Nationals permit granted.
23rd April: Finnish Hot Rod Association Chairman Tapio V�lj� has announced that the club have received a permit to hold the second round of the FIA European Drag Racing Championships at Alastaro on 2nd-4th July 2004. "All preparations are continuing as planned", says Tapio.
©Eurodragster.com
Racers in bread-and-water shock.
23rd April: It has been very busy in the Never Again Racing pit over the last few months, writes Andy Bennett. Dave Evans' Coco Connection should be appearing on the track soon after modifications to bring it up to the latest spec.

"After the tech inspection by Geoff and Mark at the Pod earlier this year, it became apparent that even though Coco was professionally built in the late 1980s, the wall thickness of the roll cage was 0.4mm under current specification", says Andy. "This has meant that the cage has had to come out and be replaced with the correct item. The cage is at present eighty per cent complete with only a few cross braces missing. Chris Alston Chassisworks has a great web site showing aspects of design and fabrication of roll cages and all kind of chassis, this was a great help in making sure the new design is bang up to date. Having a skilled welder and fabricator by trade, Phil, on the team has been a big bonus to get the cage in correctly. Hopefully a fully revamped Coco, with a freshened engine - new Jeff Bull heads, chassis and interior - will be out in the next month or two and be competition legal.
©Eurodragster.com
"Phil's 1971 Chevelle is undergoing a revamp too, at the same time as work on Coco he has been doing cage work to his car, making it a twelve-point fixing. Phil has a full fibreglass pull off-front end and parts on order from the Bull for a methanol conversion, with 496 ci he is hoping to make an impact. Hopefully this car will début later on this year.

"Also part of the never again team is Vicky and Tony Highams' '68 Chevy Nova, the engine for this car has gone for a full Jeff Bull methanol work-over, this is a back-to-basics full rebuild along with new cylinder heads - it's bread and water in their Bolton house for a few months. Along with a more powerful motor goes chassis work, so their Nova is in the shop for cage modifications also."

The very professionally-presented Never Again Racing web site at www.neveragainracing.co.uk includes pictures of all of the work in progress on the team's cars together with news, downloads and more.

Swift snippets.
23rd April: Perry Antoniou is still looking for racers to join him in a shoot for Retro Cars magazine, for a cover feature on non-Stateside pre-'83 cars built for drag racing. The shoot will take place at Santa Pod in early May, date to be confirmed. If you are interested then please drop Perry a line at perry@n2oxide.com.
©Eurodragster.com
Don't forget that 2003 FIA Top Fuel Dragster Champion Smax Smith is to appear on Monster Garage on UK TV network Channel 4 at 7:30 pm tonight (Friday).

Free Motech stuff.
23rd April: Visitors to this Sunday's (25th April) Run What You Brung at Santa Pod Raceway will receive a Motech Strip Club Sticker and a copy of the Motech Performance Cataolgue, courtesy of RWYB series sponsor Motech. "For serious enthusiasts Cool Blue, the performance petrol, will be on sale in the Pod Shop on the day", says Track Manager David Lloyd-Jones. "It is street-legal and improves quarter mile times by 0.5 seconds. Ten litres cost �39 and twenty five litres �79."
©Eurodragster.com
Gates open at 8:00 am, sign-on opens at 9:00 am and the track opens at 10.00am, track conditions permitting. Admission prices are �10 per person, under 16�s free, with sign-on for unlimited runs a further �15. Please note that a valid DVLC licence must be presented to sign on. "All car and bike clubs are most welcome", adds David. For more information visit either www.rwyb.com or www.santapod.com.

How Carter did the business.
22nd April: Easter Thunderball Pro Fuel Shootout winner Andy Carter said that he and his GoTalk-sponsored team meant business before the race, and they did the business with the event title and the quickest and fastest runs ever recorded at an Easter event. Andy sent us his Easter Thunderball diary which gives us an insight into the weekend in the life of a leading Top Fuel Dragster racer.

"It was my first race since the crash in Norway, and I am pleased with the overall performance of both myself and the team", says Andy. "Of course, there is always room for improvement and these things are being looked at right now. I wasn�t that pleased with my driving; I felt rusty on the first three runs, not really keeping ahead of the car, but I was on the ball in the final and drove a lot better."

Wednesday 5:00 am: The weekend started for the GoTalk/Carter Motorsport/Rune Fjeld Motorsport Top Fuel Drag Racing Team when Paul Williams and Roger Neill drove the newly-painted truck and trailer up to Santa Pod to put it in position alongside Rune's truck and trailer.

Thursday 6:00 am: Assistant Crew Chiefs John Ogden and Ben Allum left the warmth of their homes to travel to Santa Pod, meet with Rune Fjeld, set up pit and start the final prep on the race car.

Friday 5:00 am: Sarah, Albert and I got up nice and early and travelled to Santa Pod Raceway to meet up with the team. The team for this weekend was:

Rune Fjeld - Crew Chief
John Ogden - Assistant Crew Chief and left head
Ben Allum - Assistant Crew Chief and right head
Roger Neill - Bottom end
Chris Barnes - Clutch
�Guv� Wright - Fuel, chutes, electrical
Paul Williams - Chutes, safety, tyres
Kim Hessey - Catering, sales
John Andrews - Marketing, PR, sales

While we're on the subject of team (as mentioned in another write up, I�m sure) we have two new team members in the shape of Ben Allum (assistant Crew Chief) and John Andrews (marketing and PR). Also no Eddie Corr at this one, away on a World Rally deal, so Rune 'the Wizard' was sole Crew Chief.

Saturday 8:00 am: Ben had asked for everyone to be at the trailer for 8:00 am for the team briefing. With everyone present, the briefing started and lasted about twenty minutes. Then everyone was off to camp Neill for one of Kim's great fry-ups...well except me, I�m only allowed All Bran! By about 11;00 am the war machine was all ready to go, but the weather wasn�t, so we decided to wait and see if it warmed up at all. We had planned to put in a half pass today to get the familiarisation pass, required by the RAC because the car is new to me and also my first run since an accident, out of the way and not waste a qualifier. But we weren�t going to do it if it risked parts and wasted our time. At 3:00 pm, with the weather not getting any warmer, we made a decision that we would not run today due to the cold conditions. We were confident that we could still put a good number on the board, doing a half pass tomorrow and not jeopardise our chance of getting to the final.

Sunday 8:00 am: Qualifier 1, 12:00pm. I got up at 7:00 am and walked the track, isn�t that time of the morning the best of the day, Santa Pod so peaceful, the lull before the storm! I spent the morning relaxing with Albert until about 10:00 when I got the call from John that we were ready to warm up. I felt good and ready to run. We towed down, I got suited up, the team did their final run checks and then as usual John strapped me in as tight as possible, now I felt at home! Good burnout, fairly good launch, a pedal about 300 feet and then the car settled down, although the track felt slightly loose. I got off it at about 900 feet to record a 5.40, a great start for the first round of the Shootout. Remember the Shootout is a different format to an FIA Championship race in that for starters it's Top Fuel Dragsters versus Fuel Funny Cars, but you don�t actually race anyone unless you get to the final. To get to the final you add your three qualifiers together and the lowest aggregate ET Top Fueller races the lowest aggregate ET Fuel Funny Car.

Qualifier 2, 5:00 pm. We made a small change to the tune up and after a normal service towed down for qualifier two, this time we were aiming for a full pass. Hang on baby! We were paired against John Spuffard for this qualifier and my thoughts going in to the Shootout were that we would definitely meet Spuff, twice winner in this event, in the final come Monday afternoon. John is a great racer, has a professional outfit and team behind him, and I respect him. He has paid his dues, big time! Make no mistake though, that respect ends in the fire up road! I didn�t and don�t want him to win the Shootout three times. I wanted to win it for a second time to get even, so now was the time to get one over psychologically on John and let them know that they had better put more tune up in that Funny Car of theirs, they were playing with the big boys now! Good burnout, fairly good launch, I had light tyre shake for some of the run and again the track felt fairly loose, got off it about 1250 ft to record a great (even if I do say so myself) 4.94 at 292mph. I never saw John, whose axle had broke on the line, bad news for the Showtime team but also maybe robbing the crowd of a great TF v FC race! I must admit that it felt faster, speed not ET, and I wonder had I stayed on it would it have been over 300 mph on the scoreboard? Anyway (I�m not an �if only� man) the run was good enough to give us a big cushion going in to the third qualifier on Monday. After a normal service I think the crew got to bed at about 10:00 pm.
©Eurodragster.com
Monday 8:00 am: After adding up the times the night before, I informed the crew that a half pass would be plenty to get us to the final and again we made a small change to the tune up. Qualifier 3, 1.30 pm. For this qualifier we were paired up against Gordon Smith. The starter gave us the signal to fire, the car fired but before we could get it running cleanly on fuel it died. Now you can�t just try and start a Nitro motor again after it runs and dies, you have to go through certain procedures. Well we at Carter Motorsport do anyway! First Ben signals me to turn off the mags, then Ben and John have to remove the starter, put the kill leads on, get the breaker bar and back the motor, then starter back on, signal me to put mags back on, then try and fire again, well it died again! During all this Gordon was going through his burn out and backing up. Third time we got it running and I looked over to see Gordon just starting to go towards the line. I thought no probs, I�ll miss the burnout, just go straight to the line and stage. But as I went through the water box, I saw a marshal waving to shut me off. At first I thought "You�d better get out of the way mate, 'cause I�m staging this car with you in the way or not", then I got my sensible head back on and thought "No, don�t run someone over and get yourself banned, you can still make the final even if we take the slowest time of the round plus five seconds". So I shut off. Let me state right now that in my opinion the start marshals were wrong. If I�m late getting in to stage then of course shut me off, but late starting up - so what? I think that I could still have been in stage at the same time as Gordon! I�m not some amateur who after starting up late would still try to go through my burnout routine, I�m always aware where the other car is, and I think that they should have taken my experience into consideration and let me try to stage. Anyway as I was taught in football the ref's decision is final, so theres no point in arguing about it really. Ten mins later we were signalled to fire again and make our third qualifier. Fired fine this time, good burnout and a nice and easy 5.79, enough to put us firmly in the final, yea mon!

Final, 5:00 pm: So we had made our third Pro Fuel Shootout in four years, great! The final was meant to be against Gordon Smith (maybe the girlie cars are more durable as well as faster) but he had broken, so first alternate was Spuff who had also broken! The rules of the Pro Fuel Shootout state that if no Fuel FC can make the final then the second-qualified Top Fueller comes in and the race is a heads-up, no handicap, first to the finish line, just the way I like it! This is how Lex Joon got the call. I knew this race would be a tough one, because one thing I have learnt about Knut Söderquist over the years, he never gives up and will often pull a real fast run out of the bag when they need it. The car felt and sounded good in the back after the burnout and I felt confident, as usual. We both staged with no probs, the lights came down and that�s the only time I saw Lex, till he came by me in the shutdown area with the left side of his engine on fire. Blimey was it close! The huge cockpit panels on the new car give you a field of vision of only about 10 o'clock to 2 o' clock. I did look across about a thousand feet but saw nothing, whereas on other TF cars I have driven you can can see if someone is up near you. Anyway I got to the line first, so job done.

Thanks to everyone who came up and bought something from our merchandise stand, it really is appreciated and does make a difference, I can assure you. Thanks to Wavecrest, GoTalk, Lucas Oil Products, NGK, Wynns, Elite Clothing, K and N Filters, Yuasa, Sigma Signs, Rainbow Conference Sets, Juice New Media Services, Motorgraphic, Gold RV and Binamic for their support up to now and their continued support during 2004. Thanks to everyone at Santa Pod Raceway for putting up with me, and great to hear Nitro FM back!

Roll on the Main Event! Where we really get serious!

Unlucky break for Shockwave.
22nd April: UK Fuel Funny Car racer Gordon Smith tells us that he, Crew Chief and co-owner Dave Bryant and the Shockwave team were pretty disappointed with their performance at the Easter Thunderball, but that they weren't helped by some bad luck.

"On the first pass on Sunday the car launched real hard, but started to push me into the middle of the track so I had to lift", says Gordon. "When I hit the loud pedal again one of the clutch floaters decided to let go, smashing the clutch to bits. As this happened the blower belt broke so that was that for that run. Back in the pits Dave and the crew worked late into the night putting the clutch back together. On Monday morning we were still getting the car ready fixing other small problems which left us short of time and we had to rush to make the next round against Andy Carter. All seemed well and both Crew Chiefs signalled that they were ready to start so off we went not knowing that Andy was having trouble getting his car started. As I pushed the throttle pedal for the burnout nothing happened, no revs hence no burnout. I thought that it was something silly wrong with the car, so I continued to stage the car, the start marshal had already told me that I was on a solo run and I had no idea what had happened to Andy. As soon as I hit the loud pedal the blower exploded - you know the rest.

"The car is now well on its way to being ready for the next event at Shakespeare County Raceway and we are all looking forward to a good meeting there, with a new blower and inlet manifold now fitted all should be well. The bang it seems was caused by a piece of blower belt going through the blower during the run on Sunday, which put the blower out of phase pushing the rotors through the front cover, there was some damage to the new paintwork which did not please our sponsors Fuel, but they have been very good about it and will put the paint right after the Excitement Nationals. For now I will tidy the car up as time is short.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our sponsors for their continuing support this year and we are very pleased with the support we have had so far from Fuel. They will have a stand next to the car at Shakespeare County Raceway and should have some new Shockwave/Fuel goodies for sale."

Excitement Nationals entry list.
22nd April: We are indebted to Avon Park International Racers Association Club and Race Secretary Wendy Talbot for sending us the official entry list for next week's Excitement Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway.
©Eurodragster.com
The Excitement Nationals sees a healthy entry in most classes; of particular note are the inclusion of Switzerland's Peter Bossert and Norway's Ronny Aasen in Funny Bike. "Let's hope that Peter makes it this year, as last year his car broke down at the port", says Wendy.

You can view the official Excitement Nationals entry list by clicking here. Wendy has told us to expect another update to the entry list on Friday.

NDRS update.
22nd April: Christer Abrahamson of Svensk Dragracing has been in touch with some important news about this year's Nordic Drag Racing Series.

"First of all, it has now been decided to move the FHRA Spring Nats to Alastaro. The FHRA August Nats (the former Night Race) is cancelled.
©Eurodragster.com
"Secondly, the NDRS now has a deal with Aff�rskompaniet for Silja Line Ferries. The deal is available for all racers from all countries, whether you are going from Finland to an NDRS or FIA event or if you are going to a Finnish NDRS or FIA event! Space is pre-booked before and after all the Finnish races. For more information call Ann Brodd or Lena Barr�g�rd at Aff�rskompaniet on +4616-510141."

You can read more details on the Svensk Dragracing web site at www.dragracing.se.

Swift snippets.

22nd April: Ragin' Ray White has kindly sent a picture of his blown-alcohol Lethal Zephyr 2 Pro Mod with its clothes on (right, click on picture for large version). "It's so far so good", says Ray. "I can't wait to strap myself in and scare myself!"
©Eurodragster.com
Thanks to ACU UK Drag Bike Championship Co-ordinator Ian King for confirming that Graham Dance set a new ACU Super Street Bike ET record of 8.108 at the Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway. Ian has updated the King Racing web site at www.kingracing.com with the post-Thunderball standings in the ACU Championships.

This Saturday's (24th April) Webster Race Engineering Test Day is open to spectators. Entry will be £12 per person. We understand from Ian Marshall of Webster Race Engineering, joint sponsors of Eurodragster's webcam, that between twenty five and thirty racers are expected to test on Saturday, almost all from Sportsman classes. After Saturday, the remaining WRE Test Days this year will all be closed to the public.

Help wanted.
22nd April: We have had three requests from readers seeking information about race cars and a racer.

First up is Kelly Greene who is seeking information about the racing career of the late Paul Giddings. "Paul won the British Drag Racing Championship early 1990s, but unfortunately came off his bike at Santa Pod Raceway and died in August 1994", says Kelly. "Paul was my Uncle, and the rest of the family are trying to gather a bit more info about his racing days". If you can help then please get in touch with Kelly at Kelly.Greene@shropshire-rcc.org.uk.

Next is David Dekker, who was the second owner of the Drag'n'Fly slingshot. "I'm trying to trace the car with a view to re-running it", says David. "I would be glad to get news and for anyone who may be interested I've still got all the tech spec hanging around in what passes for a brain in my case. Many interesting secrets were hidden away in the little beast". If you can help David then drop him a line at Dekkerdavid@aol.com.
©Eurodragster.com
Finally, Andy is seeking some history about a Yellow Mark II Escort which he bought in Epsom. "I've been told it was a drag racer which is meant to have run at Santa Pod", says Andy. "It has a 305 ci Small Block Chevy and was running a blower and nitrous, is space framed, has a full roll cage, and an XJS rear axle. The car was bought from Sittingbourne in 1993-ish". If this sounds like a car you know then please get in touch with Andy at titch1976@hotmail.com.

Nasty banging Nova.
22nd April: The 2004 season came in very fast for UK Sportsman ET racer Martin Lewis and Lisa, with none of the planned closed-season modifications made to the Nova Blaze before the Easter Thunderball, says Jeff Rainbird. "It was a quick look at the dip stick and off to the Pod early on Saturday morning, with me following on behind with the pit extinguisher (not your Old Cock Linnet? - Ed) taken from my Skoda.

"I took a quick look at the start line then Martin and I haggled over the dial-in. With 15.8o on the window Martin ran 15:827 - nice run in the bank, now let's tighten up. The next run was just banging, a personal best of 15.53 but not really putting a second hand on number one qualifier but a PB is a PB. We did not think the track was there, as the Nova is the wrong way round with weight transfer and it suffers really badly with inconsistent sixty-foot times, but the track was really good which is a credit to the Pod. This was the first meeting with a Webster Track Day already lost and a drying operation first thing, there were loads of PBs on the weekend so the prep, it must be said, was brilliant.

"On Sunday Martin put a second hand and then a third hand on the #1 qualifying spot, sitting eleven thousandths off the dial-in. The Nova was just banging with Martin doing a really good driving job, then came Linda Platt with a near-perfect run to take #1 by four thousandths. Most people go and get a burger when Sportsman ET is on, shame on you (Hear, hear - Ed). But all credit to Al and Linda who normally play around seventy five hundredths on their dial-in which is tough to match, but it is great fun pushing them.

"The Main Event is the next one, with some radical work to be done on the Nova so that Martin can hit the startline harder, make the car react faster and remove the sixty foot inconsistency also dropping down into the fourteens. Martin wants to keep the car banging nastily. Team Nova Blaze has already made one statement and we can't wait for the Main Event."

Thunderball Pro ET report.
22nd April: Carla Pittau of Thunderball Pro ET victors Heaven and Hell Racing kindly sent us a class report from the Easter Thunderball.

Suddenly the Thunderball was upon us � ready or not, twenty six entered the 'Ball and twenty three of us made it to the track. Great to be back after the long winter break � and special thanks go to the class sponsors Andy Robinson Race Cars, Hoosier tyres, Real Steel, Stroud Safety, Geof Hauser and at this event Eurodragster.com and Scorpion Racing. I would also like to welcome the new racers in Pro ET, we hope you will enjoy racing in the biggest and friendliest class in Britain!

Of special note was a rookie who not only had the first race of her life at the Thunderball, she also had it within the first six weeks of passing her driving test! What do you think of that? Eleanor Kitney impressed everyone by improving her runs at every qualifier, giving it a bit more, leaving the line "like a scalded cat" and showing that her rookie status didn�t prevent her from pressing pedal to metal as well as anyone. El was out in the first round but I�m sure the experience was a great one and she can�t wait to get back in the driving seat. I especially liked the humorous question written in shoe whitener on her car: "Does my bum look big in this?" Several racers confirmed that her bum looked quite cute in that, thank you very much. Another rookie who proved he means business was Gary Springford of the celebrated PMR School of Drag Racing. Gary obtained his licence during qualifying at the wheel of Grumpy�s Dodge and also improved considerably with each round of qualifying, running a best of 10.17 before some problems slowed him down to mid elevens. Gary made three rounds and was only betrayed by a huge breakout (11.09 on an 11.55 dial in). The race was against Rick McCann who cut a better light but only by fourteen thousandths, and Gary would have had to do a lot more than just tapping the brakes to lose nearly half a second! All in all I�m sure both Gary and Paul must be very pleased with the weekend results. The third licensing runs were being made by Mark Watts in the lovely �57 Chevy which Dave Hughes used to win SuperGas at Hockenheim a few years back. Unfortunately for Mark he had some breakage in the first qualifying run, I believe some rockers were ground and battered, and did not make it to the first round. His misfortune was to be Rick McCann�s lucky break in the first round when the dial in was a wild guess following many changes.

Team Heaven and Hell entered the Thunderball with no great expectations. Definitely not ready, with � among other parts � new slicks, a repaired carb, several gauges and a prop shaft still on the ocean waves in April instead of having arrived in February and being installed by March. So we made it to the track with last year�s slicks hoping they would last another race, a borrowed carburettor (thanks Mike) a few holes in the dashboard and the old prop, as well as other minor problems. A closer look at the slicks revealed they were showing the canvas, so I (Carla) had to run back to London to pick up another old pair of slicks that weren�t quite as bad while Rick put in a rather lame pass with plenty of tyre spin. Many thanks to Johnny Mac of WRE who came to the rescue by fitting the slicks overnight, ready for Saturday qualifying. We kept breaking out as we kept finding and fixing problems, starting the weekend with a tyre spinning 10.90 and running a best of 10.45 in eliminations on Monday. We would like to welcome another new face in Pro ET, Kevin Slyfield in the lovely Yellow Belly Plymouth, who forsook the right of placing a number one on the car after winning Sportsman ET last year to join our ranks. Unfortunately Kevin had his share of problems and only managed to make the first and fifth qualifying session and then pulled a cherry in the first round against Wayne Hiscock who qualified fourth six thousandths off in the last session, which won him a shiny new TRS harness courtesy of Eurodragster.com, Scorpion Racing and Harley at TRS. Wayne was then out in the second round with a battle of breakouts against Ian Brown, a 10.895 on a 10.95 dial in beating a 10.652 on a 10.72.

Ian had ladder bars installed by Andy Robinson in the hard-launching Thatadoo Camaro � and surprised us by being (probably) the only racer with a rear end more "stock" than ours and proving that you indeed can do more with less. We always try to learn a bit from Ian and the way he does things but racing in two classes at every event he doesn�t really get too much time to hang about! Ian got past Eleanor Kitney in the first round and gave a valiant battle to Marius Blackburn in the third round, pulling a very respectable 0.079 (oh dear, I still have to translate that into a 0.579) and then running dead on with a zero, only to see a 0.025 on the tree (or, god, a 0.525) beat him, Marius�s 9.43 on a 9.39 enough to take the win and continue his march to the semis. Nick Griffin in the Precious Metal Chevelle pulled decent lights all weekend, with only one red in qualifying and all others never worse than a 0.59 (OK, then a � what is it? A 0.09), but found that a 0.06 wasn�t enough in the first round against Dave Ward who sailed to the second round with a 0.016. Dave was then stopped by John Atkinson who despite being slower on the tree ran a 9.31 on a 9.30 dial in while Dave�s lead foot didn�t let him lift and broke out with a 10.167 on a 10.19 dial in. John rebuilt the motor in his 497ci-powered Time is Money (don�t we all know!) Cortina, keeping just the block from the old combination, although the increased power gave him a bit of a problem hooking up off the start line. With a few adjustments to the four-link and the carb, the car started to hook up great and run straight, achieving John�s personal best, much to John�s and Tom�s delight (Tom doubles up as son and crew chief). The cherry on the cake (pun not intended) was reaching the third round getting past a red lighting Bob Doyle in the first and Dave Ward in the second. John himself then fell victim of a red light against Carl Burton.

For his part, Bob Doyle had the weekend start with a few problems with the blue Zed Case Datsun which were quickly solved and crew chief Tracy was in top form � dialling in the car better than any weather station, which resulted in two back to back qualifiers just seven thou off the dial in � and an "oh, shame" wasted six thou off in the first round when Bob redlit against John Atkinson. Team Spellbound made the race by the skin of their teeth, they had much to do with fitting their new engine and barely made it with a late entry. They were very pleased with the performance and put in five 10.3 passes, improving at every pass and running a best of 10.31 despite a converter which was stalling lower than specified. Rick walked over to the Spellbound pits to admire their new engine and wanted to eat his breakfast off the intake but couldn�t because it was far too clean and sparkling to mess it up with food. Unfortunately the Pro Mog decided to run a tad slower in the first round, and despite cutting a better light Malk�s 10.43 on a 10.30 lost to Paul Baynton�s 11.41 on 11.37 dial in. Engine and box were out of the car by Tuesday night and the converter will go back to have the stall speed raised, while the team are considering fitting a transbrake to better hold the car on the start line. Paul Baynton wasn�t having much fun to begin with, having trouble running the small block in his Capri and getting lots of flames and popping and banging in the process. After much head scratching it turned out to be mainly distributor problems which were sorted out and Paul was able to finally put in his first qualifying pass on Sunday morning. Paul went two rounds but unfortunately red lit by five thousandths against Gary Springford. Good to see Colin Aldred back again � he had his share of trouble and unfortunately went out in the first round against Keith Herbert, but I�m sure that getting to the final in Super Comp was compensation enough. Three cheers for Scorpion Racing, especially for arranging the qualifying award with Eurodragster and TRS.

Talking about Keith, he told the whole universe that his sixty foot had improved by miles (how is that physically possible?) thanks to his new M&H slicks � which you can purchase from (you guessed) Hillingdon Speed and Spares 01895 237222. Unfortunately the slicks must also have improved the car�s reaction time a tad too far, as in the second round Keith red lit against Rick McCann (a double red light but Rick�s not so red and also second). Son/Crew Chief Luke is going to have a good word with him as he tunes the car to perfection and he�s getting fed up with dad�s cherries. Team Top Banana only made a few changes over the winter, namely new springs due to finding a broken one after the last meeting � but had a job getting a handle on the car and kept breaking out, with a best of 10.70, albeit on a 10.85 dial in. Brian, at the wheel in Pro ET, improved a lot by the fifth qualifier where he got very close to a dead-on run, unfortunately on the wrong side breaking out by six thousandths. Brian then red-lit in the first round against Aidan Kenny but was quite happy to see son Lee win Super Street and the weekend ended in smiles for the team. Aidan Kenny was back with a newly painted Pop and did his share of breaking out, getting closer in the second session with a +0.019 off which alas, in Pro ET only gave you position eight. Aidan got past Brian in the first round but his break out bad luck was back in the second round, when he ran a 11.419 on a 11.45 dial in and was out of the game.The Escape from Reality team appeared to have a ball, by sneaking up on everyone in the first qualifying session with one thousandth off the dial. Marius Blackburn proved later that it was no fluke by breaking out by four thousandth in the second session and running eight thou off in the third. Marius had a bye in the first round then proceeded to put Darren Hulkes� Close Call Camaro on the trailer, continuing his march by getting a holeshot win against Ian Brown but pulling a red light against Rick McCann in the semis.

Carl Burton, in the English Rose Sierra, worked hard and very unselfishly to get sponsorship for the whole class, so I guess he had a right to do well in this race and not only he got to the final but also ran his best time. He started in style by running one thou off his dial in the first session, getting number two qualifier only because Marius did it first, then continued his consistent 11.0 runs and got past John Morris�s Scimitar in the first round, Aidan Kenny in the second, a red lighting John Atkinson in the third and a nice bye straight into the final where he broke out by seven thousandths against Rick McCann. So we get full circle back to Heaven and Hell, and I will admit we were amazed to get to the final at all with all the problems we had � perhaps the best thing is entering a race with no expectations, doing well is then a lovely surprise. The only asset we could count on were Rick�s consistent good lights � all 0.5 (or whatever they are called now) with two reds when the car started to launch a bit harder which were nicely cured by letting some air out of the front tyres, with Rick mathematically working out how many pounds he should deflate per hundredth of a second loss in RT. Much to everyone�s astonishment he was proved right, and his reds became green, first going to 0.58 and then 0.54 (OK, in old money). So, after the undeserved bye in the first round, we were handed a cherry by good mate Keith Herbert in the second, who did us the courtesy of redlighting first. The final saw us finally get a good race with Carl Burton, with a warm feeling that if he won the race it would be poetic justice as he would collect the awards he worked to secure for the class � and if we won...well, we�d win! So it was with a light heart that we approached the final. Rick pulled a 0.54 light once again, against a respectable 0.58 by Carl Burton, and although Carl broke out we felt that this was a good race as due to the start line advantage Rick would have crossed the line first even if Carl had hit a dead on with a zero.

It was a wonderful weekend seeing all our "real" friends again and making new ones. Our thanks also go � last but certainly not least � to excellent crewman Mike Lacey, whose commitment and dedication helped the team immensely in the run up to the Thunderball and during the racing. We look forward to seeing everyone at the next race � and please do send snippets, news and stuff about your team to the Pro ET site at www.pro-et.co.uk for the next races. All info will be incorporated in the Pro ET reports for the season.

Wild Bunch/Real Steel round 1.
22nd April: We are indebted to Wild Bunch Championship Co-ordinator Claire Meaddows for sending us a report of last weekend's Test and Tune at Shakespeare County Raceway, which was round one of the 2004 Wild Bunch and Real Steel Championships.

We had a field of twelve Wild Bunch cars including six slingshots, four altereds, one rear-engined dragster and one radical. Saturday was a practice day and the weather was very mixed! It had rained overnight, and in the morning, and the track took a while to dry, but racing started at 12:30 and did not stop (for weather) 'til the 6:00pm curfew. Sunday was a similar start, but unfortunately when the track was nearly dry, about one o�clock, the rain came again and did not really let up, meaning the cancellation of the day�s racing. The track crew had again worked very hard to get the track ready, but it was not to be on Sunday. Nevertheless, four of the Wild Bunch racers managed to get in five runs on the Saturday, four racers ran Personal Best ETs and five racers ran Personal Best speeds! We also welcomed two new teams into the Wild Bunch: Neil Ward with the ex-"She Devil 2" slingshot and Mike Cresswell with the "Living the Dream" slingshot. Also, a latecomer to the event was Alan Smith with the "Avanti" Allard slingshot. Alan had taken last year off, but was back and raring to go! He and Margaret arrived Sunday morning, only to sit out the rainy day! Hope to see them back soon, at a sunnier event!

Joe Stevens was hoping for a return to form in his "Back in Black" altered. He put in a checkout pass of 11.314 to start with on Saturday, and then managed to get the tune-up just right with successive runs of 10.529, 10.483/128.57 mph, 10.528 and 10.448 (not far off his personal best) and starting to show some real consistency already. Tony Smith again started well, running an 11.735, followed by a strong 11.625/111.94 mph. He put in two more solid passes of 11.753 and 11.663, and spun the tyres on a cold track at the end of the day, with an 11.955. These runs were all with the body on, and showed that Tony is now firmly in the mid eleven-second range and running well. "Crazy" Chris Hartnell started off with a steady pass of 9.738/137.61 mph on the Saturday, and started to tune the "Backdraft" slingshot. On his next pass, he pulled a monster wheelie, backed out, and still ran a 9.448 at a Personal Best speed of 143.31 mph! For his third run, he pulled another big wheelie, carding a 9.665/142.86 mph. He then went down for a fourth pass, which was a "Quickest ET" and "Fastest MPH" for the Wild Bunch that day, with a 9.311/146.10 mph, another new Personal Best Speed, and moving on nearer to the magic 150 mph mark! Chris even went out for a fifth run that day, recording a 9.788/141.51 mph on the cooling track. Tony Wynne-Jones was running in his "Welsh Raider 2" Radical and, after an engine rebuild in the week, went straight off the trailer and put in a massive Personal Best E.T. of 11.629 at a Personal Best speed of 120.00 mph! He later made a run of 11.894/116.28 mph, and tried for a third eleven-second pass. He had a very hairy run, as the car crossed the centre line, headed for one guard rail, came back again heading for the other, and turned ninety degrees again, all the while with Tony doing a great driving job and keeping the car out of the barriers! He earned the "Wildest Ride" Spot Prize for these exploits and a huge sigh of relief for not causing any damage to the lovely bodywork! Tony also once again won the "Best Radical/Dragster" Spot Prize, the second time in as many events!
©Eurodragster.com
This was the first outing this year for Alec Coe in his "Shy Torque" slingshot. He had changed the diff and was hoping to increase his top end speeds in the newly painted blue rail. His first pass achieved this, as he ran an 11.036 at a Personal Best speed of 124.31 mph, his first time over the 120 mph mark! His second run almost equalled that with an 11.111 at a speed of 123.63 mph. He put in three more passes of 11.084, 11.339 and 11.430, all at over 120 mph, so things are looking promising already. Helen Smythe was in her second full event with the "Hell�s Belle" altered, and husband and Crew Chief Dean celebrated his birthday with Helen running a 12.948/102.97 mph, followed by runs of 13.040, 13.103, and 13.012, already showing some amazing consistency, and looking promising for the rounds on Sunday, before rain stopped play. Helen was also able to get her MSA licence signed, so well done to her with that! She also recorded the "Best Reaction" of the Wild Bunch, with an .041 - this is the first time that Shakespeare County has used the .000 as a Perfect Reaction index. Helen and Dean and the rest of Team Twisted made another good impression, winning the "Best Appearing Team" Spot Prize for the weekend, so fair play to them! Dennis Hawkins was making his first outing in "The Wicked Lady" rear-engined dragster with the assistance of new crew member Ian. His first pass of the year was a very strong 9.45/141 mph, which he followed up with another solid 9.6/142 mph. Unfortunately he did not record a time on his third pass, but Dennis was very happy to be back out playing again, and starting as he means to go on!

Newcomer Neil Ward was out in the ex-"She Devil 2" slingshot, which he recently finished rebuilding. Neil worked in the pits all of Saturday, making final adjustments, and firing up the car a few times. It sounded really strong and Neil was nearly ready to run late Saturday, but was just beaten by time. The team did make some good progress with the car and tuning over the weekend, and were happy just to be at the track, so welcome to the Wild Bunch Neil and all the team! Matt Lee was running in his "Worth the Wait" slingshot. He made several passes on Saturday, all over twelve seconds, and unfortunately finished the weekend when a half shaft broke on a burnout. Matt was another driver who also managed to get his MSA licence signed,so well done to him for that achievement! The "B-Sting" is back!! With former main driver Paul Croston now taking over the reigns as team manager, and several of the team sharing the driving. This weekend it was Bob Morgan who was having his first ever passes in the altered! He put in some checkout passes of a launch and a half pass, and then succeeded in getting his MSA licence signed on his first ever full pass in the car, a very respectable 12.366 at a Team Best Ever Speed of 107.91 mph!!We�d say he definitely got the hang of it pretty quickly! It was great to see the whole team back in the Wild Bunch again, and to top it off, they won the "Best Altered" Spot Prize!! Well done boys, it�s like you were never away!

Mike Cresswell was making his Wild Bunch debut in the "Living the Dream" slingshot. He recorded a 14.862/91.46 mph and a 19.716, just starting to get used to the car and the track. He seemed to be enjoying his first outing, and the car is very aptly named, as Mike first got interested in drag racing when he won a Corgi model of the "Commuter" when he was eleven years old and he�s been a fan ever since! Welcome to the Wild Bunch, Mike! Sid Slattery had made some impressive modifications to the appearance of the bodywork on his "Destiny" slingshot since the first event, stripping the paint and decorating all the panels with a shiny �engine turn� finish. This was a brilliant effect and complemented the shiny chromework really well. Sid�s first pass of the day was a 12.134/114.80 mph, followed by a slightly better 12.087/122.62. Sid was still getting used to the car on these runs, but it all came together for the third, when he recorded a massive Personal Best ET, going straight into the tens with a great 10.754/125.00 mph! Fair play Sid, congratulations!! To put the icing on the cake, he also won the "Best Slingshot" Spot Prize for his beautiful-looking car and PB achievements.

The Spot Prize winners were:

Best Reaction: Helen Smythe, .041
Best Altered: Bob Morgan, B'Sting
Best Slingshot: Sid Slattery, Destiny
Best Dragster/Radical: Tony Wynne-Jones, Welsh Raider II
Quickest ET: Chris Hartnell, 9.311
Fastest MPH: Chris Hartnell, 146.10
Best-Appearing Team: Team Twisted, Hell's Belle

Even though the Sunday was rained off, everyone still had a good weekend. The rain-off meant that everyone went home with one point for the round, and all twelve drivers are now in equal first place in both the Wild Bunch and Real Steel Series! This won�t last long as the next event is the Bank Holiday weekend Excitement Nationals on 1st-3rd May. This MSA event is the first round of the Ultimate Power Series, as well as being Real Steel Series Round 2. This should be really exciting!

The Wild Bunch would just like to say a huge Get Well Soon to Jenny Archer, fianc�e of 2003 Wild Bunch Champion Tommy �the Gun� Coe, as she is very unwell in hospital. We are all thinking of you Jen and wish you a speedy recovery! And it would be great to see you guys both back at the track flying the WB 1 on the car!

Web site updates.
22nd April: The official web site of German Top Methanol Dragster racer Peter Schöfer has been updated with the first pictures of the Werner-sponsored car in its 2004 colours, at the AMI Show in Leipzig. Check it out at www.p-s-r.com.

Stephen Talbot has given the Talbot Racing web site at www.talbotracing.com a complete facelift. The web site tells you everything you could want to know about the six-second dragster driven by Pat Talbot including history, car specs, news, photo gallery, calendar and more.
©Eurodragster.com
Eurodragster Photo Editor Sharkman has updated his personal web site Sharkman's Top End Tales with a large number of photographs from the Easter Thunderball. As Sharkman spent a couple of days of last week with Darren Prentice prepping the track at Shakespeare County Raceway he has not yet had time to post any new Windows wallpapers but he will do so when he is able. Check out Shark's Thunderball pictures at www.topendtales.com.

Richard Stirling has updated his Top Nitro fan site at www.topnitro.co.uk with a report and photographs from the Easter Thunderball. Whilst on Richard's site check out his other reports and pictures from events in 2003 and 2004.

Excitement for Top Methanol.
21st April: With the Excitement Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway a week and a half away, two UK Top Methanol Dragster racers have announced welcome returns to the track at the event.

First up is Lindsay Deuchar who returns after sitting out 2003. The LA Racing team's 2003 sponsorship quest was fruitless but the team have managed to procure a number of new parts including new BAE heads and a new awning to replace the legendary blue monster. Lindsay will also for the first time ever have a spare engine which he hopes (as do we - Ed) that he will not have to use.
©Eurodragster.com
Lindsay plans to contest the remaining four MSA British Championship rounds, two each at Shakespeare County Raceway and Santa Pod Raceway, starting with next week's Excitement Nationals. You can read about Lyndsay's season out, his new parts, his 2004 racing calendar, and the free delivery of a small car on his web site at www.laracing.co.uk. Lindsay has asked us to apologise to members of his regular mailing list for the lack of updates, as a problem with his computer is preventing his usual mailshots.

Doug Bond will also be contesting the Excitement Nationals in the Shell Racing Top Methanol Dragster, which we last saw at Shakespeare County Raceway early last season. "As you know the dragster is for sale", says Crew Chief Martyn Hannis. "It is all tagged up and ready to race so we thought that we would bring it out for an airing, as it's not going to sell sat in the workshop. If anyone is interested in buying the car turnkey, come and see us in our trailer at the Excitement Nationals."

Brooks not quite Out-A-Time.
21st April: Two weeks before the Easter Thunderball, UK Super Modified racer Paul Brooks felt that he had a mountain to climb to get his Out-A-Time Sierra ready for the race. "With a faulty gearbox, no engine, the wrong gears, the wrong weight and the wrong nitrous solenoids still fitted, I almost called it a day before I got started", says Paul. "But thanks to the efforts of ICE Automotive Racing Engines and everybody at Webster Race Enginering the impossible was achieved.

"Because of the excessive machining needed on my crank, Rob Loaring and Nick Davies of ICE Automotive were not going to receive it back until the Monday before the race, so a plan was devised which didn�t allow for any manoeuvring at all. I had to fix the gearbox, load up the car, try not to forget any of the nuts and bolts etc. required to put it together at the track, arrive at Jon Webster�s at about 9.00 am on Thursday, unload and wait for the arrival of my engine - which duly arrived at about 11.00 am - bolt it in and remove the excess weight from the car so that John could set up the suspension, reload the car and drive to the track to remove a cylinder head for tech inspection (Super Mod rules), and finally build the car and race it.

"With all that to do I would have been happy just to get the car passed and ready for the next race meeting, but happily it surpassed my expectations and I had my best event to date. With an engine downsized from 498ci to 463ci this season I removed some two hundred pounds of ballast, and I hoped that it would compensate for the loss of cubes and power. I missed the first qualifying session on Saturday due to the workload, I also missed the second session due to one of the floats sticking open after the burn out causing the engine to flood, but I was ready for the third in the evening.

I was near the start line when unfortunately Kev Perkins hit the guardrail, which put a number of people off as the track seemed to be going off (it was about 7.00 pm). I nearly turned round to go back to the pits, but Steve Rawlings and myself said "Sod it, let's go for it". Steve set the fastest qualifying time at that point - well done, mate - but I only ran a 9.3/146. I wasn't happy but on weighing the bottle I discovered that I'd used less than a pound of gas, so we had a late night tracing the fault. Sunday morning arrived but no fault was found, so off we went at about midday to try to improve on the 9.3. After a reasonable burn out I staged, but the engine bogged so I got off and straight back on it just as the lights went. It roared into life and first gear ran out quicker than I�d anticipated hitting the limiter for about a second, I shifted into second and away we went. Waiting for my crewman Dave Stokes, I thought that it had to be quicker than the 9.3. He turned up with a grin on his face and said "Do you really want to know?". Well, I was as happy as a chocolate frog when he told me it was 8.08/169, my quickest to date.
©Eurodragster.com
"We made no changes for the next run on Sunday, as I thought a good shift into second would be enough for a seven-second run. It launched brilliantly but then it went Bang! and there was no drive, so I pulled over to the side fearing I was dumping oil onto the track, and tried second gear. It seemed OK so I limped up the track. Back in the pits I tried the gears, no first or reverse, and on removal of the pan I found bearings everywhere (planetary gears), so that put an end to meeting for me. I managed to stage for first round points on Monday so it wasn't a total loss, and to be honest I wasn't too disappointed after the 8.08 run.

"Now the good news is that I'm sure there's a little more to come, as I was forty pounds or so overweight, so I can't wait for the next round at Shakey where I'll be nearer the weight and I might just turn up the flame a little! Congratulations to Rob Smallworth on the win, and what a brilliant start to the season it was with an eleven-car field. The ranks are to swell even more in the future, so that puts paid to any comments that no-one wants to run Sumo. Also to answer those who say "This class is no good for Chryslers", keep an eye on the score board, suckers, as I intend to prove you wrong! Watch out all you Chevy boys, the B1 is back in town.

"Now I can't go until I thank a number of people whom I cannot praise enough. They are, in no particular order, my sponsors Rowe Hankins and The Look for their commitment; Jon Webster for facilities and help; John McIntyre at WRE for the bed and breakfast Thursday night; Nick Davies and Rob Loaring of ICE Automotive for their hard work to get the engine done on time and their assistance when needed; to my crew Dave Stokes for his hard work and brilliant cooking; and all my fellow Sumo racers and crew - it's getting more and more like a family gathering every meeting. And last, but no means least, you guys at Eurodragster for the Super Modified support (Thank you! - Ed). Apologies to anyone I have missed."

Goring thanked.
21st April: Lee Child of LA Performance Services has thanked Jet Funny Car pilot Roger Goring for appearing at the Donny Show at the weekend. Roger took his Firestorm Jet FC to the Doncaster Exhibition Centre at the last minute and spent the weekend on the LA Performance Services stand promoting this season's events at Shakespeare County Raceway.

"I would like to thank Roger, Helen and Ian for their help", says Lee, who jointly sponsors Eurodragster's Links pages through his company LA Racing Parts. "Roger dropped everything and got the Jet car there and we had a lot of fun. His and Ian's tireless efforts over the weekend were much appreciated. I would also like to say a big Thank You to Russ Harman of Live Promotions for making us feel so welcome at the Donny Show - we had an absolutely fantastic weekend there."
©Eurodragster.com
Roger, who will be in action in Firestorm at next week's Excitement Nationals, was in for Custom Car Street Eliminator racer Steve Pateman who had to withdraw from the Donny Show to work on his eight-second Calibra over last weekend. Lee tells us that Steve has sorted out his problems and that he will be contesting both CCSE and Super Pro ET at the Excitement Nationals.

Final Work Weekend.
21st April: Ozzy Ewing of Avon Park International Racers Association tells us that the final Shakespeare County Raceway work weekend takes place this weekend, 24th-25th April, to prepare the venue for the first round of the 2004 Ultimate Power Championship.
©Eurodragster.com
"Some of the jobs we will be concentrating on this weekend include armco painting, general startline tidying up, marshals buildings and concreting potholes", says Ozzy. "The work weekend will take in two days and lunch will be provided during the day, so if you can spare either day or both days then you are very welcome."

If you would like to help then either just turn up at Shakespeare County Raceway on Saturday and/or Sunday, or for more details E-Mail work@apira.org.uk.

Get Well Jenny!
21st April: If you were tuned in last Friday you will recall that the UK's Mad Rs Wild Bunch team are one down this season, with Champion Tom Coe putting his slingshot up for sale leaving dad Alec to defend the team's honour. Tom has been in touch to bring us up to date with developments in the Coe family and we were very sorry to hear that his fiancée Jenny is unwell.

"Jenny decided to scare the hell out of me in the early hours of Saturday morning by having a seizure", says Tom. "It's not something which has ever happened before but Jenny does suffer from quite a bad illness called ulcerative colitis, but the seizure was not related. Jenny was rushed to hospital where she had a few tests done to find out what was wrong. She had a CT scan and at the moment her brain looks okay but she is suffering from bad migraines which have been going on for nearly two weeks now. They have found an infection somewhere along the line, we're just waiting for the test results to come back. Jenny is drugged up to try to control the pain but the problem is still there. All was going as good as it could but Jenny on Monday night with a series of small fits one after the other but she was still conscious, whereas she wasn't before. The hospital have called for a neurosurgeon to have a look and she is going for an MRI scan to have a closer look at her brain. I'll keep you posted with any news as and when I know anything.

"Although we weren't at the last Test and Tune at Shakey, my Dad Alec was running his Shy Torque slingshot, and keeping in touch with my Dad, Mum and the rest of the crew I was absolutely overwhelmed at the messages from the other racers sending their regards to Jenny and it means so much to us, thank you very much.
©Eurodragster.com
"As our crew chief, Kev 'Closet' Mortimer mentioned the other day, Jenny and I are buying our first house and should be moving in very soon and getting married next year, so I came to the very hard decision to sell Psycho due to financial reasons. It's not something I wanted to do, but again with all the support from all the other racers, I think they have talked me out of it, although racing will be very limited in the next year or two until we find our feet again and when Jenny is back to her usual self.

"I would just like to say a big thank you again to everyone for the messages for Jenny and hopefully we will find out what is going on and try to get her on the mend. Hopefully it's nothing serious and can be treated easily. I will keep you posted."

We are sure that everyone will join Tog and Sharkman in wishing Jenny all the very best for a speedy recovery. If you would like to send Jenny a Get Well message then please drop us a line at news@eurodragster.com and we will pass them on to Tom.

Swift snippets.
21st April: 2003 FIA Top Fuel Dragster Champion Smax Smith has asked us to remind readers that he is to appear on Monster Garage on UK TV network Channel 4 is next Friday, 23rd April, at 7:30 pm.

Scary update IV.
20th April: Brilliant news from Sarah Jane Head's partner Dave and Heather Bond as Sarah Jane wriggled the toes on her damaged foot yesterday, witnessed by Eurodragster.com Photo Editor Sharkman and visiting fellow racers. "A big thank you again to all the racers and Sarah's fans for their get well wishes", say H and Dave. "They seem to be doing the job! Mention the fluffy animal, Sharkman, and you're dead."
©Eurodragster.com
We are still maintaining the page of Get Well greetings for Scary, which you can view by clicking here; if you would like to add your own greeting then drop us a line at news@eurodragster.com.

Ultimate Power II.
20th April: Advance ticket bookings are currently being taken for the Excitement Nationals which take place at Shakespeare County Raceway on 1st-3rd May. The Excitement Nationals feature the first round of the 2004 MSA British Nitro Funny Car Championship, the second round of the 2004 MSA British Drag Racing Championship (for Top Methanol), the second rounds of the UK National and ACU UK National Drag Bike Championships including Top Fuel Bike, and the first round of the Ultimate Power Drag Racing Championship in all classes including the first appearance of the Supercharged Outlaws as an Ultimate Power class. Custom Car Street Eliminator, the Wild Bunch, Outlaw Anglia, the National Association of Supertwins and Junior Drag Bike also feature at the three-day event.

As if that wasn't enough fans will be further entertained by exhibition passes by Roger Goring in the Firestorm Jet Funny Car and Mickey Moore testing in The Mob Fuel Altered.

Ticket prices for the Excitement Nationals are as follow; advance tickets are available until 10:00 am on Wednesday 28th April:
©Eurodragster.com

Day(s)	Advance	Gate
Saturday	n/a	£15
Sunday	£15	£20
Monday	£15	£20
Saturday-Sunday	£25	£30
Sunday-Monday	£25	£30
Saturday-Monday	£33	£40

"In 2004 we are aiming to continue to build on the success of the Ultimate Power Drag Racing Championship", says LA Performance Services' Lee Child, who sponsors Eurodragster's Links pages through LA Racing Parts jointly with fellow Ultimate Power Championship sponsor Ampar Parts and Service Network. "We look forward to seeing you all at Shakespeare County Raceway again for the Excitement Nationals - and if you are a fan of blown cars then stay tuned because we're working on something you won't believe!"

We expect to be able to publish the official Excitement Nationals entry list very shortly.

To book tickets, or for more information, call LA Performance Services' Credit Card hotline on 01803 554308 (outside the UK +44 1803 554308).

Schöfer on show again.
20th April: We've heard from a "knackered" Gittli Koller, who spent a couple of days in Leipzig with the Werner-sponsored Peter Schöfer Racing Top Methanol Dragster which was on display at the Motor Show there.

"The press day was a very busy, so many journalists, and then on the first day of the show there were about 38,000 visitors", says Gittli. "You can imagine what I have been up to. I will update our web site with some pictures and let you know when they have been posted."
©Eurodragster.com
Gittli tells us that Peter Schöfer Racing have renewed their sponsorship deal with ferry company Norfolk Line, who continue to support European drag racers with special deals. "We are, of course, very happy to have Norfolk Line on the car again", says Gittli. "Wayne Bullen has also confirmed a good price for all racers to go from Dunkerque to Dover (or in the other direction). If anyone is interested, then please send me an E-Mail at dragrace.bdrc@t-online.de and I will forward details."

There's no F in Canary.
20th April: Keith 'F' Ridley is finally ready to test and baseline his new Webster Race Engineering-built doorslammer at this weekend's WRE Test Day, says Perry Antoniou. "The car has been waiting for some final subsidiary components - important things like a chute! - and is now ready to go", says Perry. "Unfortunatly we are not so sure about Keith himself. We are not too sure what he will say when 750 horses launch him towards that finish line: I expect similar comments to Graham Ellis' last weekend when he saw Kev Perkins do something 'not nice' with his car!
©Eurodragster.com
"Keith will be assisted by long-time racer and close friend Tony Baker, along with myself because as usual I have not magaged to get my act together and finish my car for the season yet, and no doubt anyone who wants to put up with some of Keith's four-letter outbursts and the superb bacon sarnies that he specialises in making in his motorhome. Joking aside, Keith has put everything into this car; not just cash, but his heart is right there with the pistons in that engine. It's been a while since Keith has raced in competition, and he has watched and helped others progress, but he will be out with a plan to enjoy and participate with a realistic aim of winning a few trophies.

"We are not sure what Keith will be calling the car, and when he does name it we're not sure if the rules will allow it anyhow!"

Web site updates.
20th April: Volkswagen Drag Racing Club Championship Co-ordinator Spencer Tramm has kindly forwarded the post-Easter Thunderball points standings in the 2004 VWDRC Championships. You can view the VW points by clicking here, or by clicking on the Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page. The next round of the VWDRC Championships takes place at the Big Bang at Santa Pod Raceway on Sunday 2nd May.

Which leads us very nicely into the next web site update, as Rick Cuthbert of Trakbak Racing has been in touch to let us know that the official web site of the Big Bang, the VW show which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 1st-3rd May, has had a major update. You can find the Big Bang web site at www.big-bang.co.uk. We expect to be able to publish the entry list for the racing part of the Big Bang, which takes place on the Sunday, very shortly.
©Eurodragster.com
Rick Cuthbert also tells us that Santa Pod's official web site for their Run What You Brungs, which you can find at www.rwyb.com, has been updated with a factsheet for those who are past the beginners' stage and are looking to improve their times on the strip and their understanding of drag racing. "We are working to try and take the mystery out of some of the more technical aspects of life in the fast lane, and this factsheet answers some of the most common questions about going faster", says Rick.

Jon Best has updated his fan site with a report on round one of Custom Car Street Eliminator, a preview of this year's Supercharged Outlaw action, and a page dedicated to the progress of Pro ET team Racecarbon Racing. Check it out at www.nitrohemi.co.uk.

Scary update III.
19th April: Heather Bond has kindly been in touch with the latest news on Funny Bike racer Sarah Jane Head, who suffered a crash at Santa Pod last week.

"Sarah is getting better by the day", says H. "She's making the most of her contributions to the NHS and keeping all the staff on their toes."
©Eurodragster.com
We are maintaining a page of Get Well greetings for Scary, which you can view by clicking here; if you would like to add your own greeting then drop us a line at news@eurodragster.com.

WRE Test Day reminder.
19th April: Ian Marshall of joint Eurodragster webcam sponsor Webster Race Engineering has been in touch to remind those racers who attended the rained-out Test Day in March that they are entitled to a 50% discount on entry to any subsequent WRE Test Day in 2004, starting with this Saturday's test (24th April).

"If you are intending to take advantage of your discount this Saturday or on any of our other Test Days then please note that we will still need you to send an entry form", says Ian.
©Eurodragster.com
The deadline for entry to WRE Test Days is four days before the event, after which a late entry fee will be levied if entry is accepted. The remaining WRE Test Days this year, after this Saturday, are Wednesday 14th July, Wednesday 18th August and Wednesday 22nd September.

You can download a WRE Test Day entry form (Word format) by clicking here, or from the Entry Forms page of the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries then please call Webster Race Engineeering on 01933 315236.

WRE Test Days are not open to the public, but don't worry as Eurodragster will be at Santa Pod on Saturday. Subject to the approval of those racers testing, we plan to post an end-day report and Photo Gallery in association with American Car Imports. The Webster Race Engineering/MPM Oil webcam will be on-line and will be scheduled to broadcast a picture every two minutes.

Koedam Racing 2004 preview.
19th April: We are grateful to Marius van der Zijden, Crew Chief for 2003 FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike Champion Roel Koedam, for sending a preview of the team's 2004 season, which starts shortly:

With our first race of this year only just over three weeks away, the countdown has started. Except for the engine explosion at the final meeting, last year was a near perfect season. Part of the results were possible because of the excellent weather conditions we were blessed with all season long. Let�s hope that this year�s race weekends will be as good as well.

Regarding the technical aspects of the bike, we have an all-new bottom end which replaces the one destroyed in the engine explosion. Manufacturer Pete Davies (Puma Engineering) joked that there�s a 5.7 hidden in this new bottom end...let�s hope he didn�t hide it too far away and that we will be able to unleash it! We will be returning to a less exotic and more familiar type of cylinder liner material, as this experiment caused us a lot of work and headaches last season. All in all we will start with a completely fresh engine. We have cancelled the scheduled modification of the primary drive belt (from 8 mm to a 14 mm pitch). The reason is that supporting company Gates announced the introduction of an improved - 50% stronger! - Polychain� drive belt during this year. For a number of reasons we prefer an 8 mm drive belt design above a 14 mm, that�s why we will stick with the present set-up for the time being. The planned modification to the mechanical side of the clutch management system is still in the works and is expected to be ready early in the season. That's the news so far on the technical updates.

Regarding performance, we hope that we will be able to continue at the same level at which we ended last season. Hopefully we can lay down a couple more low six second passes or maybe even...well, let's see.

The Dakota company has left our list of supporting companies, however new to the team is Arie Molenaar Motors of IJsselstein in the Netherlands. As one of the leading motorcycle shops in the country they arranged a new custom made leathers for Roel. This job was performed in cooperation with Tijger Leathers. We also suggest a visit to Anni and Bob Valder's renewed website who, in the Top Fuel Bikes section, contributed to our team with a selection of their excellent quality pictures at www.feel-the-noise.com.

Last year we attended a record number of events and the calendar for this year looks very similar. The following is the list of events that we intend to participate in:

May 7-9	Speedfreaks Ball (Top Fuel vs Supertwin)	Santa Pod (GB)
May 28-31	Main Event (FIM Championship round #1)	Santa Pod (GB)
June 11-13	Fast and Furious (Dutch round #1)	Drachten (NL)
July 2-4	Nitro Nationals (FIM Championship round #2)	Alastaro (SF)
July 9-11	MPM Oil Internationals(Dutch round #2)	Drachten (NL)
July 29-August 1	Veidec Nitro Festival (FIM Championship round #3)	Mantorp Park (S)
August 6-8	Drag Challenge (FIM Championship round #4)	Gardermoen (N)
August 20-22	NitrolympX (FIM Championship round #5)	Hockenheim (GER)
August 27-29	Dutch Finals (Dutch round #3)	Drachten (NL)
September 9-12	European Finals (FIM Championship round #6)	Santa Pod (GB)
November 5-7	AMA/Prostar World Finals	Gainesville (USA)

Two remarks regarding this list; Round #2 of the European Championship is as usual in Alastaro, Finland. At first we had our doubts about going there again. Despite the very friendly atmosphere over there, its traveling takes a serious amount of time and money. However as it looks from now we might be traveling together with fellow racer Ton Pels as he offered us a shared transportation of the bike in his new (larger) trailer. You will also notice that Gainesville is back on our list. Depending upon the results of the upcoming season we aim to travel to The States again at the end of this year. It will be our fourth time and we are very much looking forward to meeting our American friends at the superb Florida racetrack.

At the moment there is still a whole lot of work left to finish the bike as we�re still waiting for some vital engine parts. However we do expect the bike to be ready in time for our first event, the third consecutive running of the Speedfreaks Ball at England�s Santa Pod Raceway. Our next Team Report can be expected shortly following that event.
©Eurodragster.com
NSCC Round one.
19th April: Round one of this year's National Street Car Challenge was held at this weekend's Test and Tune session at Shakespeare County Raceway, writes James Murray.

"Saturday allowed us plenty of qualifying runs while enjoying the spring sunshine", says James. "A few of our regulars had fresh cars out this year, including Gary Leece's Capri III and Chris McCullough's Cortina II. Both have five-litre Ford motors but come in street sleeper guise with few external clues. Gary had driven (no trailers here mate!) from Cumbria and ran 12.8 with more to come. Chris managed 13.4 on the 165 tyres and hopes to whittle this down to a twelve before adding nitrous. Fastest car of the field was once again Russ Pursley in his 350 ci powered kit car with 10.6 2002 winner Ian Walley was still building his car at home on Saturday night and arrived just in time to make the pairing lanes on Sunday before the rain off...His Ford V6 still has the fuel injection and blower but he has now fitted larger turbos.

"Qualifying times saw Russ take full points but with points from cruises added Gary Leece is just in the points lead of the series."

For all the latest news from the NSCC check out the series' official web site at www.nscc.info.
©Eurodragster.com
Web site updates.
19th April: Team member Chris Dossett has updated the official web site of the UK's Showtime Fuel Funny Car with the inside story on the team's participation in the Pro Fuel Shootout at last weekend's Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway. Chris' report as usual makes very interesting and gives fans an insight into the running of a Fuel FC team. Check it out at www.showtimeracing.co.uk.
©Eurodragster.com
Malmgren in Houston, day two.
18th April: Our good friend Bill Baird has been in touch again with the inside story on 2003 FIA European Pro Stock Champion Michael Malmgren's second day at the NHRA O'Reilly Springnationals in Houston. Michael ended up #29 qualifier with bests of 6.867 and 200.80 but although he did not qualify for today's eliminations he wiped out his Personal Bests in his new Pontiac Grand Am.

"Wow, what a day!", says Bill. "Saturday morning started out with Michael procuring a set of 5.14 gears from Mark Williams. At the moment, there is a shortage of these gears due to parts breakage but if you own the fastest Pro Stock in Europe, exceptions can be made. Being number one also opened a lot of doors as many manufacturers were willing to sponsor Michael at a higher level than in the past.

"In the early morning it was cloudy so hopes were high for a low 6.80 pass. The car was fitted with the new gears and the team went about re-wiring the ignition. Also, a new set of carbs were added in search of that elusive 203 mph. 11:00 was the third session and the temperature was already going up. Michael spun the tires hard off the starting line and during each gear change. He also got a front row seat to watch his opponent Jason Line in the Ken Black Pontiac go 6.72 for low ET of the round to his 6.86. Line and Anderson are in a class of their own.
©Eurodragster.com
"For the final qualifying session, the clutch was changed and the car softened up for the heat. Michael's opponent was Arturo Delgado again and it was Michael first with a 6.87/201 to Delgado's 6.86/201. The average time in the fourth session was 6.844 so Michael's 6.876 was certainly in the hunt. As most cars lost between .02 and .05 from the morning session, you have to say more progress was made as the car didn't fall off at all.

"The team will put the car in a sea container for shipment back to Sweden on Monday. There will be about ten days between arrival of the car in Sweden and the first race at Santa Pod so it will be a busy time in Helsingborg for the Malmgren team. With every team capable of winning in Pro Stock in Europe, the new Grand Am should help in the quest for another Championship."

Drag Race Central have published a picture of Michael in the new Grand Am which you can view by clicking here.

Fellow FIA European Champion Dave Wilson qualified fifteenth in the American Car Imports Racing Top Methanol Dragster at 5.486/257.97 then redlit by nine thousandths in the first round of eliminations. Dave's US Tour is now complete, and his last race yesterday also marks the end of Andy Bissett's tenure as Dave's Crew Chief. We hope to have a few words with Andy very shortly, but in the meantime we would like to congratulate Andy on a very successful career and wish him and fiancée Jennifer all the very best for the future.

AJ gets his trophy.

18th April: Alan Jackson, 2003 winner of the James Edgar Memorial Trophy for the best crew member, is now in possession of the trophy and has thanked all those who voted for him. As Alan was not able to make the Santa Pod Racers Club Dinner Dance to receive his trophy it was received on his behalf by Eurodragster News Editor Tog, who then presented it to AJ at last weekend's Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway (right).

Alan polled a huge number of votes after a year in which he tuned Smax Smith to the FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Championship and Micke Kågered to runner-up spot, and during which he was tuning or advising on up to five cars at some events.
©Eurodragster.com
"It was a very tough year, but it turned out OK", said Alan. "I feel very honoured and privileged to win the James Edgar Trophy and I would like to thank the Committee of Santa Pod Racers Club and everyone who voted for me in the Eurodragster vote."

Alan had a relatively easy start to the 2004 season at last weekend's Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod where he worked together with Per Andersen on the MPM Oil Top Fuel Dragster driven by Lex Joon. AJ's work will be ramping up significantly towards the FIA Main Event as he will be putting together, finishing, tuning or overseeing the Top Fuellers to be driven by Lex Joon, Micke Kågered, Jöran Persåker and Smax Smith as well as providing tuning advice to Leif Helander and to the Canto Consultancy Top Fuel Dragster team.

When breakouts don't matter.
18th April: UK Super Pro ET racer Gary Malin didn't win any trophies at last week's Easter Thunderball, but he had the best weekend he could have hoped for in his new Serious Playtime dragster says wife Lin, who will be driving the car in Super Comp.
©Eurodragster.com
"Gaz ran his personal best ET of 7.673 and a weekend of breakouts didn't seem to matter", says Lin. "We didn't know what sort of times we would achieve, but we have a very good idea now. The car went really well, and we know that there is more in there. We would like to thank everyone who turned out to support us, and our fellow Super Pro ET racers who welcomed us back and made us feel at home"

Gary will be testing at Saturday's Webster Race Engineering Test Day at Santa Pod Raceway to get some more seat time and to set the car up for the FIA Main Event.

PMR's great start.
18th April: Paul Marston Racing had a great start to the new season with their Drag Race Driving School Drag race car Grumpy's Dodge, which will campaign a majority of the season in the hands of various graduate drivers. Sharing driving duties at the Easter Thunderball were Paul Marston and recent Drag Race Driving School graduate Gary Springford.

"Firstly everyone at Paul Marston Racing would like to send best wishes for a speedy recovery to Funny Bike racer Sarah Jane Head", says Paul. "We would also like to extend our congratulations to all of the staff at Santa Pod for running a great event. The track action ran as smoothly as it could, good weather was also a welcome bonus and a large crowd was treated to some top action."

Gary Springford completed his observed runs and then qualified fourteenth in Pro ET, going three rounds on Monday. "Gary has been known to all of us at Paul Marston Racing for some time as owner of Jeep Club in Chigwell, Essex", says Paul. "Gary has always been very supportive of the Drag Race Driving School donating time, facilities and equipment. He completed the Drag Race Driving School course with flying colours in the school's Insanity Chevrolet Vega. Because Gary is always very busy workwise it has taken this long to to fix a date to actually compete. Naturally by competing in Grumpy's Dodge meant that licencing runs were required, which Gary completed perfectly on Saturday.

"Sunday saw Gary starting to grow in his understanding of running off of a Sportsman tree and honing his reaction times to Grumpy's start line characteristics. On Monday Gary listened to what I told him and he did a great job in the most difficult circumstances, winning his very first round in his first ever event. In the second round Gary did it again and went through to round three. This time Grumpy caught him a little unawares and Gary broke out, but this guy is a natural - to go three rounds at his first ever event is a major accomplishment. The whole crew at Paul Marston Racing Drag Race Driving School would like to congratulate Gary Springford at being our most successful graduate yet in competition � and it�s just the first event of the season!"
©Eurodragster.com
"I must thank Paul Marston and everyone at Paul Marston Racing", says Gary Springford. "Everyone was just great, they told me just what I needed to hear, when I needed to hear it. This allowed me to concentrate just on the racing and doing my job, I really did not want to let them down. Sure, I was nervous, who wouldn�t be? But Paul had mentally prepared me for how Grumpy would react and what it was like to drive; it�s the race car I have ever driven by quite a margin. I felt quite at home really quickly, relaxed and I found myself really enjoying it, especially when I went three rounds, that part was a dream come true. It's a lot different to RWYB events, I think you will see me back soon!"

"Everyone at Paul Marston Racing would like to express their gratitude to all the fans who visited us in the pits during the weekend", says Paul. "We were very busy with Grumpy's Dodge, what with running two classes and Grumpy being virtually a new race car. So apologies to anyone who we did not get to speak to. In future we will bring more details and handouts regarding the courses available through the Paul Marston Racing Drag Race Driving School. Lastly thanks to all our sponsors and friends, Chrysler UK, MAC Tools, ATI Performance Transmissions, Black Box London (01708 377523), Disco Equipment Hire (0208 597 4575), Gary at London Road Tyres (01708 735355), Gary at Jeep Club (0208 501 4471) and our tireless crew at Paul Marston Racing: you were all stars, especially Gary Springford who once again should be congratulated, well done."

Paul Marston Racing are now looking forward to the Excitement Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. "See you there!", says Paul.

Swift snippets.
18th April: Further to yesterday's news item, UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Andy Carter's missing caravan has now been found. "Thanks to everyone who was keeping an eye out", says Andy.
©Eurodragster.com
Web site updates.
18th April: The Feel The Noise web site at www.feel-the-noise.com has been updated with some nine hundred of Anni and Bob Valder's pictures from last weekend's Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway.
©Eurodragster.com
Malmgren in Houston, day one.
17th April: We are again indebted to our good buddy Bill Baird for sending us a report of 2003 FIA European Pro Stock Champion Michael Malmgren's first day of qualifying at the NHRA O'Reilly Springnationals in Houston. This weekend is Michael and the AC Delco-sponsored team's first competitive outing in their new Pontiac Grand Am after successful testing earlier this week.

"On Friday, Michael was first to qualify", says Bill. "The track conditions were difficult to say the least, with many competitors aborting runs. In the other lane was veteran Arturo Delgado. Michael ran a 6.97 to his opponent's 7.21. Both cars had difficulty getting down the track but Michael drove through it to post a top speed of 199.82. The shocks were too stiff so they were loosened up for the second run.
©Eurodragster.com
"The second run was much better. Michael ran a 6.873/200.17 compared to his opponent Ben Watson's 6.80/202. Unfortunately, the rear gears were severely damaged on the run so that explains the loss in speed. The team doesn't have another set of 5.14 gears so they will install a 5.00 gear set for today's qualifying session. This isn't an uncommon problem because a lot of Pro Stock cars are losing rear ends or chucking driveshafts with the new sixteen-inch wheels.

"It takes a 6.78 to make the field. Michael is .09 seconds out of the field but the team really believe that they should be in very low 6.80s. Maybe we will see a 202 or 203 tomorrow.

"Michael wowed the Texas crowd with the longest burnout in the second session. For sure the Americans know the Vikings are here!"

You can stay in touch with Michael Malmgren and Dave Wilson's progress in Houston on the Drag Race Central web site at www.dragracecentral.com and on the NHRA's web site at www.nhra.com.

Excitement for Aasen.
17th April: Many thanks to Ian Turburville for letting us know that Norwegian Supertwin racer Ronny Aasen is to contest Funny Bike at the Excitement Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway on 1st-3rd May.

"Since I couldn't make an impression on Funny Bike class at the Thunderball and you all made fun of me (not all - Ed), I have decided to set my mate on you lot and teach you all a lesson!", says Turbo. "So Ronny Aasen is entered in Funny Bike at the Excitement Nationals, so there! Well, you don't think I am going to let him race me in Supertwin Fuel do you?"

Määttä returns.
17th April: After a long break with nothing to report, Finnish Funny Bike racer Asko Määttä has been in touch with an update from the Baldie's Gun workshop.

"Baldie's Gun III will be ready on schedule", says Asko. "The next job is to assemble the engine and put the rest of the pieces together so that I'll be ready and eager to drive at FHRA's first Finnish Championship Race in late May.

"The old/new FB-combination is strengthened and longer ex-Pro Stock Bike chassis, Kosman/PMFR wheels, intercooled blow-through turbo Suzuki 1327 equipped with multi-stage waste gate control (and "engine-destroyer or over 190 mph" button), Suzuki Type F carbon body and fairings. All possible Dyna-equipment will take care of producing the sparks to the plugs when I want at any stage of strip or engine load.
©Eurodragster.com
"I'd like to thank my associate sponsor Pro Turbo Systems Oy, Finland and Skip at Orient Express Motorsports Inc, USA, for his support and help on the technicals and parts for my Suzuki.

"It will be nice to be back on the track! At the same time it's frustrating to hear what happened to Sarah Jane. I know what's it like in a top end crash. And I was lucky! Best wishes to Sarah Jane and a speedy recovery!"

Ripley's fantastic weekend.
17th April: Cliff Gould, Crew Chief of Doug Ripley's CC Racing Top Methanol Funny Car, tells us that he would not have believed how well the Easter Thunderball went with the new Avenger-bodied FC. "It was just fantastic to end up with two Personal Bests and a car which really responds well to any changes we make", says Cliff.

"We had some small problems to start with: a burnt pushrod, and the datalogger packing up. But with two new crew members and a complete new race car we were going to take the first meeting slowly. The plan was a half pass then go for it, and the half pass went to plan. The first full pass did not, the blower belt snapped. When we got the car back to the pits the motor would not turn over, it had hydralicked. After taking the plugs out and checking the bottom end we found that all was ok.
©Eurodragster.com
"Monday was by far the best day. The first pass was a new PB for Doug, 7.40. The next was the final with Rob Turner. We did not have much time to turn the car around, so I only had a makeshift clutch setting in it. The cars left at the same time, Rob just started to pull ahead. Doug shifted second and the car shook, so he got out of it, got it straight and stabbed it again. Feeling the top end charge the motor had, Doug had kept on it after the traps but realising that the field was getting closer he got off it and pulled the chutes. Only one chute opened, the other tangled on the wheelie bar and Doug only just got it stopped before the field. But he was happy with the 7.02.

"I would like to thank the Turners for their help, the fans and fellow racers for their support, and of course the crew of Gav, Jay, Brian and Chris - without them we would be nowhere. Thanks also to Doug and Jane for letting me play with their toy.

"I can't wait for the Excitement Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway, I will give Doug a little more horsepower."

+51 Rawlings still happy.
17th April: UK Super Modified racer Steve Rawlings, aka 'Happy Chappie', had plenty to be cheerful about after last weekend's Easter Thunderball. Steve was number one qualifier for a lot of the weekend and overcame a persistent transmission leak before getting drilled on the Tree by Andy Kirk in eliminations.

"Having spent most of last week rushing around trying to finish off all those last minute jobs on the car and truck, we arrived at the track Friday afternoon to some sunshine!", says Steve. "This was rather unexpected but none the less welcome, so having got everything set up in our pit area we settled down to a culinary delight - one of Paul Manders' (car should be out in Super Mod around mid-season) legendary chillis. Note to self, bring spare lips next time. Then we checked out the rest of the eleven-car SuMo field - so many so early in the season! - most of the old faces and many new ones as well.

"Saturday finally arrived: time for the winter bullshitting to stop and put some numbers on the scoreboard, and what a start! Tim Garlick went out and run an 8.18 to give him the number one spot with the rest of the gang putting in more tentative first passes on their new combinations. As for me I was shut off on the line with a leaking trans, a problem which persisted into Sunday afternoon, until Andy Frost pointed out the missing air bleed hole in my new rollerised tailshaft support - thanks Andy.

"Final qualifiying session of the day and I made my first pass of the new season. I took number one spot from Tim with an 8.078 but very close behind was Rob Smallworth on an 8.151, and this straight after watching Kev Perkins in the Oldsmobile turn right into the barrier at about the thousand foot mark before heading off to impact with the left hand barrier, finally coming to rest past the finish line. Thankfully Kev got out of the car unhurt, however I can only imagine what Graham Ellis (car owner - Ed) was saying up in the tower. Luckily, I think someone hit the switch to his mike very quickly indeed!
©Eurodragster.com
"In Sunday's first session we overcooked the nitrous bottle (quite literally) and I shifted too early to record an 8.3, but Rob was closing in on us with an 8.090. In the second session, Paul Brooks let rip with a terrific 8.086 to take second spot from Rob, and Tim was still improving with what I believe is a new personal best 8.132. In the third session, Rob finally took the number one spot with the first seven of the season and under the revised rules, 7.997 (well done Rob).

"Monday, race day, and the first round put us up against Kiwi Kev Taylor who after two days of gradually dropping his ETs and running a new personal best was now threatening to turn on the little blue bottle for the first time. However Kev had a problem on the line and I went through to the next round with an 8.094. Second round, and Andy Kirk in the Rat Fink Camaro was in the other lane. I have absolutely no excuses for this one, he tree'd me good and proper and I rightly deserved to lose. I was later informed by those that know about such things that I had lost by a few inches, this at 169 mph - close or what. However that was not the end of the matter, as I went through the lights my prop self-destructed taking out the rear A-frame and one of the slicks. Although the prop loop is a mess it certainly did its job, there may also be some gearbox damage, for which I will check out over the weekend. Hopefully we can get the car fixed for the next round at Shakey.

"Congratulations to Rob on winning the final with an 8.030 and to second place man Andy Kirk, also to Paul Brooks on his 8.086 PB and Matt Wright on his 10.33 PB in the big black truck.

"The revised rules for the big block nitrous-equipped cars have calmed them down a bit, pulling us back to the low eight/high seven second zone making for very close qualifying. If you look at the top six qualifiers this weekend they include four big block chevies of various capacities, one big block Mopar and one Rover, a very good mix of combinations so I reckon we're getting pretty close with the rules in general now. I'm sure that big ole Gleeson Wright Ford, which we all know can run the numbers, will be in the thick of it at the next round after an Easter meeting plagued with small gremlins. Also the new cars in the class all seem to have the potential to mix it in the next few meetings, and we still have three or four more cars to make an appearance later in the season.

"What's really hit home after this weekend, though, is that I need to get a real grip on those abysmal reaction times, since I know the car can run the numbers. Otherwise I'm going to continually get nailed in competition, and no doubt endlessly reminded of it by Fred and the Custard Kid, and I'm sure graham will also have more than a few words to say on the matter, so if anyone has any helpful suggestions please call!

"Thanks to Mick and Paul for all their help over the weekend, and to Fred: minus fifty one. And finally best wishes to Scary Jane for a speedy and full recovery after her accident."

Kirk beaming.
17th April: Fellow Super Modified racer Andy Kirk was delighted to reach the final at the Easter Thunderball in his Rat Fink '67 Camaro. This was Andy's first time in the money round.
©Eurodragster.com
"Getting to the final at our first meeting back was excellent", says Andy. "I would like to thank everyone who made it possible. Firstly to Clive Bond and Jon Webster for a brilliant engine and chassis combination, it really does pay to go to the best. To Lawrie Gatehouse whose company PSI have shown enough faith to help out financially. And finally to the super crew Lee, Rob, Paul, wife Barbara and daughter Charlotte. We couldn't have asked for a better start to the year, bring on the sevens."

Doignie impressed.
17th April: UK Super Gas racer Stuart Doignie will be testing his BMW-bodied race car at the Test and Tune at Shakespeare County Raceway today to get a baseline for May's Excitement Nationals. Stuart says that he was impressed with the performance of his car at the Easter Thunderball last weekend.

"After some changes over the winter the car was amazingly consistent at the Thunderball and we were all impressed with the results", says Stuart. "We had booked the car into Webster Race Engineering over the winter to adjust the four-link and baseline the car. We ran 9.892, 9.895, 9.897, 9.904, 9.929 and 9.932 whilst playing with the throttle stop to reach the 9.90 index. We also got the car reacting a lot better, improving from a best of 0.47 (or 0.07) to a 0.42 (or 0.02) light.
©Eurodragster.com
"In the first round I had one of my closest-ever races, narrowly defeating Pete Lane in the Rat Rage Camaro 9.904 over a 9.899. The quarter finals were not such a sucess story as we went out to Conrad 9.892 to his 9.92. Conrad then went on to win the round and got a thoroughly deserved event win, Well done mate!

"We are only going to be at Shakey today, and want to get some data to give us a baseline for the Excitement Nationals. I would like to say thanks to Jon Webster for his advice and help on the car. Look forward to seeing everyone at the track!"

Carter's caravan stolen.
17th April: UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Andy Carter and his wife Sarah are offering a �3,000 reward for assistance in the return of their caravan, which was stolen in the south Buckinghamshire area between 11:00 pm and 2:00 am last night.
©Eurodragster.com
"The caravan is a brand new Compass Omega 534", says Sarah Carter. "White in colour, alloy wheels, small round TV arial on roof, two full-sized skylights, outside lockers. Inside is a fixed double bed at rear, large fridge, fixed fire, and full-sized oven."

If you can help then Andy's mobile is on all day at 07977 536024.

Swift snippets.
17th April: Roger Goring's Firestorm Jet Funny Car is a late addition to this weekend's Donny Show at Doncaster Racecourse Exhibition Centre. "Lee Child needed a car for his LA Performance Services stand and we came to his aid!", says Roger. "We got to Donny at three o'clock yesterday afternoon and we're all set up. I couldn't have done it without my partner Helen's help - she is away this weekend but gave up yesterday to get us to the show. I'm very much looking forward to meeting race fans so come along and say Hello!". Roger tells us that he will have his new Firestorm T-shirts and caps on sale at the show.
©Eurodragster.com
Web site updates.
17th April: Easter Thunderball Custom Car Street Eliminator winner Andy Frost has updated his web site with a very entertaining report of his successful weekend at Santa Pod. Check it out at www.redvictor1racing.co.uk.
©Eurodragster.com
We have updated our Timing Data page with the timing data from last weekend's Easter Thunderball. We are grateful Andy Marrs, Stephen Talbot, Pete Thornton, Graham Smith and Martin Wallis for their help in unlacing the timing database which is now in a slightly different format after the TSI system's recent upgrade. The Easter Thunderball timing data is in Excel format and can be viewed by clicking here, or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page.

Carter's united front.
16th April: Whilst many other racers were rattling sabres and throwing down gauntlets in the weeks leading up to the event, GoTalk-sponsored UK Top Fuel Dragster team Carter Motorsport was focused on the job in hand, and got the result they were looking for, writes team PR John Andrews. "We won the race and set the quickest and fastest times of the meeting with a blistering four-second pass at over 290 mph", says John. "That�s team-work, and that�s what Carter Motorsport is all about.

SATURDAY: Easter is known for many things, but in the world of drag racing the Thunderball is typically known to be a difficult one for tuning. The track can be very cold, the weather very changeable, and there isn�t much traction available. Nothing changes! In fact, conditions were so bad that we were unable to take the car to the start-line. All top fuel action was relegated to fellow racers Lex Joon and Thomas Nataas who managed to put in a couple of licensing launches.

Back at the GoTalk pit, one year old Albert made his debut in the new dragster-buggy, custom built from tubing taken from the crashed car by Webster Race Engineering. This amazing little beast features a full roll cage, a genuine top fuel nose-cone, miniature slicks, and of course, it is painted in the full GoTalk livery.

SUNDAY: With the weather still overcast, but a little warmer, we made the lunchtime call for the first round of Pro Fuel qualifying. The GoTalk team were joined on the startline by Thomas Nataas and Gordon Smith in his newly-painted Nitro FC. Andy was first up, and was scheduled to make a short "familiarisation" pass in the new car. On the green, Andy unleashed 6500 brake horsepower, hit tyre-shake at 200 feet, and clicked off at a little over three-quarter track to record an acceptable 5.400/203.65. Nataas and Smith both suffered engine problems with Smith taking out the 330-foot reflector on the way. They recorded 5.981/167.27 and 7.901/107.35 respectively, leaving the GoTalk team as number one qualifiers.

Back at the pit I asked Andy what had happened to the "short" pass. "That was short" he quipped, with the familiar Carter grin. Following a super-smooth turn-round, we took the second round call to face John Spuffard in the first TF v FC match-up of the weekend in a four-car qualifier. First out were Thomas Nataas and fellow Top Fuel rookie Lex Joon. Nataas was shut down at the start-line with an oil leak and Joon struggled to make an unimpressive 8.377/102.44 pass in his new drive.

Next came the moment we had all been waiting for, Carter against Spuffard in the Showtime flopper. The side-by-side burnouts with both cars sounding strong created an electrifying atmosphere track-side, and brought the crowd to their feet. The lights ran, and Andy was gone with a staggering 4.943/292.24 leaving Spuff with a broken ring and pinion and a freewheeling 20.683/44.78. The GoTalk team were in the finals, we were well ahead on the aggregates and we had lane choice. We were on one...Big Time!
©Eurodragster.com
MONDAY: At Carter Motorsport, team breakfast is the first port of call, and the day�s strategies are planned and discussed. With one qualifying round ahead, and a guaranteed place in the finals, these strategies were quite simple...take it easy for the qualifier, and then hammer it for the big one. Even at 8:00am, the whole team were ready to rock'n'roll, and the mere mention of uPVC double glazing or Kathmandu was enough to send certain members into fits of uncontrolled laughter. Bricks...Who needs �em? At lunchtime, the whole crew headed for the start-line and a brief blast of springtime sun. Smith, Nataas and Joon were also contesting this round. Andy was paired off with Gordon Smith in what turned out to be a very messy start. Smith blew his engine apart on the line and Andy was signalled to shut down. Thomas Nataas fired up next, but with the starter firmly jammed onto the bracket, he was going nowhere.

Whilst Nataas� crew worked on the bracket, Andy was signalled to re-fire the GoTalk fueller, did a nice burnout, launched hard, and then shut off at 850 feet clocking a 5.793/172.46. Joon followed with a 5.606/182.37 and a very happy team. Thomas Nataas finally made it to the line, launched, and recorded a 5.883/189.13 with a flash of fire at the finish line.

With both Funny Cars out of action, the rules dictated that we would face Lex Joon, the number two Top Fuel qualifier in the final, and the first car across the stripe would take the win. At 5:00 pm both teams lined up on the start-line ready for combat. The lights ran, Andy pulled a hole-shot and defeated Joon by a whisker with a 5.049/290.75 against Joon�s losing 5.046/280.95. It was a close call, and a nail-biting climax to the weekend. Everyone at Carter Motorsport would like to congratulate Lex and his team for putting in such a stunning début in Top Fuel.

Finally, I must say a really big thank you to everyone who came up to meet Kim and myself and bought something from our merchandising stall, especially Mr and Mrs Thunderbird from Bristol. It really is appreciated and does make a great difference I can assure you. Thanks also to our sponsors Wavecrest, GoTalk, Lucas Oil UK, NGK Spark Plugs, Wynns Oils, Elite Clothing, K & N Filters, Yuasa Batteries, Sigma Signs, Rainbow Conference Sets, Juicy Design, Motorgraphic, Gold RV (Well done Derek), Global Commercials, Earls, and Binamic for their support up to now and their continued support during 2004.

Drachten upgrades.
16th April: Holland's Lex Joon Racing have been talking to different companies about the events which they promote at Drachten. Gerda Dijkstra tells us that this year's events at Drachten - on 11th-13th June, 9th-11th July, and 27th-29th August - will be bigger than ever.

"For the first time we will have guardrails on both sides of the track", says Gerda. "For the drivers and mechanics there will be shower units at the track. Racers can order shower tickets at shower@lexjoonracing.nl for only €2.50 each. There will also be a luxury toilet unit and two big light masts will be placed near the starting area.
©Eurodragster.com
"This all seems very easy to arrange but the big problem we have at Drachten is that everything needs to be put up on Friday and be gone on Monday. Also have we got permission to start qualifying during the MPM Internationals (July) on Friday. The qualifying schedule will be announced soon."

You can find ticket information at www.lexjoonracing.nl and racer information on the Explosion club web site at www.explosion.nl.

Auto/no-floor rule reminder.
16th April: UK Tech Inspector Geoff Martin has been in touch to remind all racers who currently run a car with an auto gearbox and without a floor that they should check the new rule book carefully.
©Eurodragster.com
"Many of you will discover that you require a new firesuit to comply with the revised regulations", says Geoff. "The 3.2A/15 suit cannot be purchased 'off the peg' so time is of the essence, as they say. The MSA will be militant at the Main Event so be sure that you comply."

One less Mad R.
16th April: The UK's Mad Rs Wild Bunch team of Tom and Alec Coe, under the ever-watchful eye of crew chief Kevin 'Closet' Mortimer, will only be fielding one car this year, writes Kevin.
©Eurodragster.com
"Tom's Psycho slingshot, which should have been out with the WB1 number, is up for sale", says Kevin. "See Cars For Sale in Eurodragster's Swap Meet. Tom is getting into that silly thing of mortgages and marriage that so many get hooked on...

"However, Alec's Shy Torque slingshot will be at this weekend's Test and Tune, sporting new bodywork and paint, ready to attempt to retain the number one spots in the Ultimate Power Series and Real Steel series. Alec is confident that he will once again show the consistency of last year. Tom, as a still-valued member of the team, will be making some guest drives in Shy Torque, and we hope to see him and Jenny at the track as often as their finances allow."

Swift snippets.
16th April: Ian Huggan tells us that VW Alternate Engine racer Lee Darby is looking for another crew member to join his Tarmac Teaser Volkswagen Beetle Funny Car team. If you would be interested in joining Lee then drop him an E-Mail at vwfunnycar@aol.com.
©Eurodragster.com
Two of Europe's 2003 FIA Champions will be contesting this weekend's NHRA O'Reilly Springnationals in Houston. You can follow the progress of Top Methanol Dragster Champion Dave Wilson and the American Car Imports Racing team and Pro Stock Champion Michael Malmgren and the AC Delco/Malmgren Racing team on the Drag Race Central web site at www.dragracecentral.com and on NHRA's web site at www.nhra.com. Qualifying starts this afternoon UK/European time.

Bailey exhuausts options.
16th April: Considering other events within Funny Bike at last weekend's Easter Thunderball, UK Funny Bike racer Dave Bailey tells us that his weekend went very well.

"My first pass of 7.38 meant I could experiment for the remaining qualifying sessions, so I did", says Dave. "I now have a selection of settings I will not be using ever again: the first experiment gave a superb sixty foot of 1.079 though the cold track wasn't up to it. This resulted in what Sharky described as "Dave crashed, it's just that no-one told him" - I still ran an 8.1. Next was a recovery pass to remind me where the wall should be in relation to my bike; then came the 'Don't run it this rich again' pass; followed by the 'This is too rich and has too much retard' pass, which incidentally destroyed the exhaust with the heat of the excess fuel burning off in the headers. I thought this had finished me for the weekend and was packing up when Len Paget popped in. I jokingly asked if he had a spare exhaust to which he replied 'Yes, do you want to borrow it?'
©Eurodragster.com
"The next morning, bike weighed down with exhaust securing lock-wire, I was ready for battle. Having exhausted (no pun intended) my list of settings I reverted to the 7.3 setting. This got me through the first round with a 7.45 (against an ever improving Mr Branch). I gave it a bit of a tweak before the next round to take advantage of the excellent track conditions - and because you have to if you're up against the quickest Funny Bike in the country, don't you?! Unfortunately the gearbox said 'No more!' and refused to go into any gear but first or neutral. So that was it, nothing left to do but cheer at Mr Dance's 8.10 and TJ's 8.000.

"I'd like to thank Len Paget for the loan of the exhaust pipe and that Cooper chap for convincing all those funny mechanical bits to work. And to my new crew - good work, you're hired! Bring more chocolate muffins - there's nothing like a good...you know the rest.

"Get well soon Scary!"

Red carpet for Slyfield.
16th April: 2003 UK National Sportsman ET Champion Kev Slyfield has made the move to Pro ET for 2004, and he has written to thank all of his fellow competitors for the warm and friendly welcome at the Easter Thunderball.
©Eurodragster.com
"After such a great year in Sportsman ET, it is a bit daunting moving up to Pro ET, and although it is a bit more competitive everybody is just as helpful and friendly", says Kev. "I had a few electrical problems on Saturday and Sunday, and several people helped get me going again. Special thanks to Keith Herbert, Nick Griffin, Andy Robinson and Kev Taylor who spent most of Sunday with their heads buried in my engine bay. Thanks to Geof Hauser for the loan of dizzy.

"I look forward to seeing you all at the next meeting where I hope to get more than two runs."

Johnson owed some luck.
16th April: UK Super Comp racer Chris Johnson didn't have the best of starts to his 2004 season, but he says that at least his engine is still in one piece after a problem-plagued Easter Thunderball.

"I should have guessed it would have been a bad start as, after having a glorious three weeks in Florida, no sooner had I stepped off the plane I caught a cold", says Chris. "Rushed around for two days putting the final touches to the race car and off to Santa Pod at about 4.30pm Friday. It seemed to be the right time to go as we missed all the traffic with an excellent run to the track and then it all started to fall apart.

"First I managed to skin my knuckles taking the car off the trailer, then it rained (great first day). Saturday the car failed scrutineering and we had a frantic two hours scrounging up the bits needed to produce a decent safety valve vent for the nitrous oxide bottle, having passed scrutineering we headed for the track and our first qualifying run. The new tyres on the car did not want to work and the car spun and slipped down the track. On the second run we decided to try the nitrous for the first time, again the tyres slipped and something jammed the nitrous fuel pressure regulator open, producing plumes of black smoke out the back of the car. The third run was cancelled due to poor track conditions. We fixed the regulator and waited for the next day

"On Sunday we made it to the start line and after the burnout the engine stalled, we tried to get it running again but it did not sound healthy so we shut it down and towed back to the pits. On inspection we found the carburetter was flooding so it was stripped and cleaned. Then on firing the engine to go to the second qualifier the main fuel pressure soared to 17 psi (it should be 7 psi). With some frantic action for five minutes trying to make the call we had to miss that session. A brand new pressure regulator had broken, luckily again we managed to find a replacement and made ready for the last qualifying round for the weekend. The last session was not until later in the evening, when the weather was much cooler and the track was not at its best again the car slipped on the line and started to drift quite badly to the right, by mid track it was time to come off the throttle and abort the run as the concrete wall is an awfully bad place to hit, as someone had found out the previous day! So qualifying was over and through all our trials and tribulations we had qualified in a lowly last position with a 9.4 second run at 150 mph.
©Eurodragster.com
"After a lot of soul searching in the evening we were running out of things to try to get the car to improve. The new class we were in means you have to run as close to 8.9 seconds and no faster, unlike our old class where if you were having a bad day you could just adjust your dial-in time to suit whatever ails you. As the new tyres were not gripping very well, we decided to paint them with some grip juice and give the rear axle a bit more pre-load. We changed the fuel pressure setting on the nitrous oxide system and kept our fingers crossed. On race day our opponent was Paul Ingar Udtian who had travelled all the way from Norway, as this was also the first round of the Nordic Drag Racing Series. The good news was the car lauched well and stayed straight, the bad news was we developed a bad misfire just before the nitrous oxide cut in and slowed to a 9.7 second run, getting well beaten by a 8.9 second run from Paul.

"In a way I was glad we were beaten as I could go home early have a bath and go to bed! Not a good way to start the year, but you learn something new every time you change something on the race car. With a few hours' work in the garage before our next race at Shakespeare County Raceway we hope to improve. The icing on the cake was when we arrived home to find the skylight broken on our motorhome, when I climbed on the roof to make a temporary repair I found a four-inch hole in the roof - how's that for finishing off our weekend!"

Flynn's Gold standard.
16th April: Rookie Super Pro ET racer Derek Flynn is overjoyed with his Easter Thunderball weekend after qualifying number one and then making it all the way to the final round on Monday. Derek, who sponsors Top Fuel racer Andy Carter through his copany Gold RV, had never even been drag racing until last September.

"Wow, what a weekend", says Derek. "We went to the Pod wanting to achieve our observed runs and get a couple of runs in qualifying, we ended up number one qualifiers and made it to the finals thanks to huge portions of luck and the efforts of my Go Gold Crew who worked tirelessly on the car fixing the various problems that came along. We also would like to thank Steve and Pat Johnson our pit neighbours who assisted us all weekend even lending us MSD box when ours failed, also the crew of the '56 Chevy (sorry we do not know your names) who lent us a fuel regulator, Andy Robinson for assisting with diagnosis of our problem, the people behind us who donated a part of their barbecue so we could chop it up to make a new throttle pedal (got a bit carried away with loud pedal and snapped it in half).

"We also wish to send our sincere thanks to the Glassups especially our honorary crew chief Bob, he kept me cool and calm and his years of experience really helped us as a rookie team and driver. Being a rather late comer to drag racing, I had never even been to the Pod till last September where we sponsored Darryl Bradford to his first round win in the Wildside Top Fueller, we took the whole company and some of our customers and a great weekend was had by all, so much so that we decided that we could not watch it again we needed a car and we wanted to go racing. Also as Darryl was not running this year, and because we know Terry and his daughter Sarah, we now sponsor Andy Carter and his GoTalk team, who we would like to congratulate on their fine win - that Gold RV logo really flew this weekend!

"So here we were Friday at the Pod and we were about to go racing! We were all so excited, it was rather hairy though having never driven a dragster before or even been on a drag strip I must admit to being a little apprehensive, the track was cold and very slippery as I found out all too soon! And the rest is just fairy tale stuff ! Suffice to say after each run the grin on my face just kept getting wider and wider, what a buzz. If anyone out there is thinking about going racing all I can say is just do it, where there is a will there is a way, also you will find there are lots of people out there who are only too happy to help you make it happen!
©Eurodragster.com
"It is now Wednesday and I still can�t get the grin off my face, nor can the team, we proudly put our trophy on display and we all look at it and grin. Thanks to Terry and Tina Gibbs who have assisted us all the way when we told them we wanted to go racing, also thanks to Craig for the race suit etc. Thanks to all the teams of Super Pro ET, you made us feel very welcome and all I can say is sorry we were totally embarrassed with our achievements and I guess sometimes it is better to be lucky than good. Thanks to Paula and Caroline and everyone at Santapod who helped us to make it happen. Thanks to our Sponsors, Roadtrek, Pleasureway, Triple E Motorhomes and Triple FFF Brewing Company.

"As you may have noticed we also have the NSPCC logo on our car and I am pleased to say we have already raised nearly �500.00 for them from sponsors and race fans. A special thanks to the FOGR team of St Thomas Canada who sold us the car and some written instructions on how to drive it. Congratulations to Ian Tubb and his team who blew us away in the Final. And thanks Eurodragster.com in anticipation of you releasing this and the support I know you guys put into the sport (Thank you! - Ed)."

Santa Pod on the road.
16th April: It's a busy weekend for Santa Pod Raceway as they are on the road as well as hosting an event on Sunday. SPR are attending this weekend's Donny Show at Doncaster Racecourse Exhibition Centre, exhibiting the Santa Pod Top Fueller and Junior Dragster, Ian Turburville's Supertwin Fuel bike, and Martin Hill's Fireforce 1 Jet FC. Caroline Day of Santa Pod also tells us that to promote SPR�s ever-increasing portfolio of Performance and Modified car shows, a separate stand will be displaying a PTI Motorsports Rover 220 Coupe with nitrous injection and big ICE. "The car is sure to attract the modified car audience who have in recent years made a large contribution to the Donny show", says Caroline. The Donny Show is open from 9:00 am - 6:00 pm each day.
©Eurodragster.com
On Sunday (18th) Santa Pod Raceway are hosting the Central Ford RS Owner�s Club day. "All Ford cars are welcome, from late-model examples through to classic European and American models", says Rick Cuthbert of Trakbak Racing. "The action kicks off at 8:00 am on Sunday, and includes a massive Run What You Brung competition (don�t forget your driving licence if you want to race), Ford-specific traders, auto jumble, club displays, concours competition, and much more. Also, demo runs will be made by Ford race cars including Kev Taylor�s V8 Capri and John Tebenham�s Cosworth Probe. Tickets are available on the gate from just £12 on the gate. For more information call 01234 782828 or visit www.santapod.com."

Speedchannel TV dates.
16th April: Our readers in the USA and around the planet will be interested to hear that Caroline Day of Santa Pod has also kindly passed on schedules for the broadcast of the 2003 FIA European Championship on satellite TV channel Speedchannel. Broadcasts started last Saturday with the first episode of the 2003 FIA Main Event; the next broadcast is scheduled for Saturday week, 24th April, with the second Main Event programme, and broadcasts continue until July.
©Eurodragster.com
Click here to view the Speedchannel broadcast schedules (PDF format).

Web site updates.
16th April: Erwin Raets has updated his European Drag Racing Database with timing data and results from the Easter Thunderball. Check it out at www.eurodrag.com.
©Eurodragster.com
Alan Currans has added an eightieth page of photographs to his Acceleration Archive web site. This latest update is the first of several pages featuring pictures donated by UK Top Fuel Bike racer Steve Woollatt. "As befits a veteran bike racer this is a bikes-only affair and features some of the best known and least known bikes and riders", says Steve. "There are pictures of Steve's former partner Pat O'Neal's revolutionary two wheeled dragster and Ag McPhail on both three and two wheels. Also included are Johnny Munn, Henk Vink, Jim Balchin, Brian Johnson, John Hobbs and many more. Any help with the missing IDs would be much appreciated". Check it out at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk.

Scary update II.
15th April: Heather Bond has kindly been in touch again with the latest update on the condition of Funny Bike racer Sarah Jane Head.

"Sarah has had an operation today to repair her wrist", says H. "It looks like that has gone well, it's got a small plate in it and should heal nicely. Sarah is still in the ITU and stable. We would like to thank all the crews for their quick response at the track, you guys are fantastic. We are hoping that Sarah will be on the ward in a few days so she will be able to have flowers and visitors soon. Please keep sending your messages through as we are printing them off to read to her. We will keep you all posted as she goes on."

Every message we receive is being added to a page which you can view by clicking here; if you would like to add your own greeting then drop us a line at news@eurodragster.com.

Malmgren into 6.8s.
15th April: We are again indebted to our good friend Bill Baird for sending us an update on 2003 FIA European Pro Stock Champion Michael Malmgren's progress in testing his new AC Delco/Malmgren Racing Pontiac Grand Am in the USA.

"On Tuesday and Wednesday the team made five runs", says Bill. "The first run on the car was a 6.92/200. The second run was a 7.00/201 in which Michael rolled the lights. At 12:00 on Wednesday Michael went 6.86/201 off the trailer, but the weather got progressively warmer and that's the best they did. The computer isn't working so data acquisition is a real problem.
©Eurodragster.com
"Now they are travelling to Houston where they will change motors and prepare for qualifying. Without any data from the previous runs, Michael is somewhat at a disadvantage because he's using instincts on giving the car what it needs. Fortunately, Jerry Bickel should be there to help.

"Michael needs to run a 6.77 or better during the second qualifying session. The car and engine are certainly capable."

Joosten unveils truck.

15th April: The Netherlands' Robert Joosten has launched his new project in a spectacular manner. The Dutch Super Gas Champion unveiled his Chevrolet S10 Pro Stock Truck, which is unique not just in Holland but in Europe. Robert plans to race the truck in Super Gas and Super Comp.
©Eurodragster.com
The Truck was developed by well-known chassis builder Jerry Haas for Brad Jeter, and ended up in the hands of team owner Bob Panella. It was good for 7.4-second times in Pro Stock trim. Super Gas and Super Comp are not the ultimate destination for Robert, as the chassis is able to run in a higher class such as Comp Eliminator.

Robert plans to run at most European tracks, assisted by his trusty crew including Jaap Oonincx, Leon van der Linden, his girlfriend Patricia, and PR Manager Marcel Roodhart. As in previous years the team will be supported by a group of sponsors from the inland barging sector.

Click on the links above for more photographs. All pictures ©Remco Scheelings

Main Event closing date.
15th April: Kjell Pettersson has been in touch to remind racers that the closing date for FIA and FIM/UEM entries to the FIA Main Event is 30th April, only fifteen days from now.

You can find FIA and FIM/UEM registration forms and entry forms on the Forms page of the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragter.com/sprc, as well as an invitation and entry form for the pre-FIA Main Event Professional Test which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on Saturday 22nd May. The closing date for Sportsman-class entries to the FIA Main Event is 7th May.

The Pro-class registration/entry deadlines for this season's six rounds are as follow:
©Eurodragster.com
FIA Main Event, Santa Pod Raceway: 28th April/30th April
FHRA Nitro Nationals, Alastaro: 2nd June/4th June
Veidec Nitro Festival, Mantorp Park: 29th June/1st July
Drag Challenge, Gardermoen: 7th July/9th July
Nitrolympx, Hockenheim: 21st July/23rd July
FIA European Finals, Santa Pod Raceway: 11th August/13th August

Swift snippets.
15th April: Stefan Peterson has sold his Mercury Cougar and will now be contesting the 2004 NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified Championship Johan Wigstrand in his 1966 Chevrolet Chevelle, says Patrik Jacobsson. "The Chevelle used to compete in Top Doorslammer and Competition with a CBB turbo engine, but now they will use Stefan's blown hemi engine", says Patrik. You can find pictures on the European Pro Mod Racers Association web site at www.promod.nu.
©Eurodragster.com
2003 FIA Top Fuel Dragster Champion Smax Smith has been on touch to confirm that his appearance on Monster Garage on UK TV network Channel 4 is next Friday, 23rd April, at 7:30 pm.

Prep underway for Test and Tune.
15th April: This weekend's Test and Tune/Club Day at Shakespeare County Raceway is again offering racers a track prepped to National event standard. "This is the last test before the Excitement Nationals, and we'll give you the track to get your tune-up in place to whip people's butts!" says LA Performance Services' Lee Child, who jointly sponsors Eurodragster's Links pages through his company LA Racing Parts. "Darren Prentice and Sharkman are already working on the surface. We appreciated all the positive comments about the track after the APIRA Test and Tune, and with the extra rubber put down that weekend and during this week we can promise you an even better surface this time!"

This weekend's Test and Tune is open to racers, car and bike clubs, sprint clubs, circuit clubs, the public, and anyone else wishing to test. The Supercharged Outlaws, Outlaw Anglias, Wild Bunch, National Association of Supertwins, and the National Street Car Challenge are all planning to strut their stuff at the Warwickshire venue this weekend.
©Eurodragster.com
Entry to Shakespeare County Raceway will be £12 on Saturday and Sunday, or £20 for the weekend. Another £15 per day, or £25 for the weekend, will buy as many runs as you can make down the track. A valid DVLC licence and a crash helmet must be presented to sign on, and racers should wear safety gear appropriate to their class.

The track will be open between 10:00 am and 6:00 pm on Saturday and 11:00 am and 5:00 pm on Sunday. For more details about Shakespeare County Raceway including a map check out the track's official web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com.

Racers: Testing this weekend? Drop us a line at news@eurodragster.com and we will let your fans know.

Great, but annoying.

15th April: UK Super Pro ET racer Paul Harvey says that his first weekend in Super Pro with the Mailkey.com dragster and the MHFtravel.com team was "great", but that it had its irritating moments.

"I was just annoyed at the issues you always get when trying out a new combination of parts", says Paul. "As with all these things, you finish off one year with a consistent high eight-second car, put on parts that should make you go faster, but alas the opposite happens. Although we now know what the issues are: just running too rich on the injection, six cylinders way too cold. Old mate Smax is helping us out there with some new nozzles.
©Eurodragster.com
"I thought I had got the handle on the car's reaction. A number of good lights on the tree, apart from the -0.006 cherry in round one, but an 8.976/143 pass made up for that as it was our first ever eight at the Pod which was one of our all-time goals. Now anything below 8.56 (Ray Hoare's Best) and the 150 mph barrier are next."

Paul tells us that the deal with Dave Storlien, of Cylinder Head Innovations USA, is nearly complete. "The Aluminium 351 Block (right) is about to wing its way across the Atlantic, in time for Dave to prepare it for the Engine Masters Challenge", says Paul. "I believe they are going to bore and stroke it to the maximum allowed for the contest - around 400 cubic inch. The 385 stroker engine is also making the same flight towards us, with some serious spec: steel nitrated crank, alloy rods, Ross lightweight pistons, stud girdle, 9000 rpm and 750bhp, should give the race car something to think about!".

Thunderball thanks.
15th April: Easter Thunderball Custom Car Street Eliminator winner Andy Frost has been in touch to thank a few people who made his first CCSE win on treads possible. "I would like to thank my crew of Tony Grayston, Steve Potter, Debbie Frost and Gary Frost, and my sponsors Knight Racing Services and Scottspine", says Andy. "They deserve a huge round of applause for the effort they put in during and before the Thunderball. A special mention also to Webster Race Engineering for their sterling efforts and quality work. Believe me when I say that if it wasn't for these people I couldn't race to the standard that I do. Also big thanks to Jason Savory, my ex-Crew Chief who went to Australia to work and is now back in the UK. The reason, last time he was here I won the Thunderball and the CCSE Pro Championship. He's a lucky charm for me so I hope he'll be around the track all season, to maybe watch me win some more! Congratulations to young Darrell Bennett on winning the photo competition on Tony Smith's web site (see below - Ed). He's won a trip on the Cruise in my eight-second ride. I've promised his family I won't scare him too much..."
©Eurodragster.com
The Racecarbon Racing/Q8Oils team of Eleanor Kitney and Mark Hales have been in touch to thank everybody at Santa Pod for making them, and Eleanor in particular, so welcome and for being so supportive to such a young team. "Eleanor was in tears after her 11.4 NPB as public and racers virtually the whole length of the pits applauded her on her return", said the world's proudest dad, Trevor Kitney. "The genuine reaction of the Pro ET pits was truly amazing! Not many people realised that Eleanor only passed her driving test about six weeks ago, and now she's a drag racing legend!". The team are looking forward to the Excitement Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway on 1st-3rd May where Mark 'Hannu' Hales will be putting the blown Escort through its paces. Be afraid. Be very afraid...

Darrell gets the ride.
15th April: After a long slog with problems with his computer and the Feel The Noise web site, Tony Smith has at long last named the winner of the 2003/2004 Cunning Plan Guess Who competition.

"The winner was Darrell Bennett, son of Super Comp driver Phil Bennett", says Tony. "He won on the tie break photo and did not get one answer wrong (30). Close second were Jim Broome and the Limited Funz team, both with 29. The others at the top were Sarah and Darrel 27, Matthew Seamarks 24, Jon Crawford and Tony Byng 18, Andy Marrs 15, Stuart Dempsey 14, Jerry Cookson 13 and Martin Curbishley and Paul Bland 9. Darrell will get a trophy from Paul Bland at Avondale Composites and a ride in Andy Frost's Red Victor One CCSE car, on one of the qualifying cruises during the 2004 season.

"This year's off-season Guess Who has been plagued with problems, but we have got through it and hopefully there will be a new one at the end of this season. I would like to thank Paul Bland and Andy Frost for the prizes and Bob and Anni for the free use of the site. Also I would like to thank all those who entered, even the ones who gave up after a few goes. If there is a contest next year, I don't know how I'm going to top the prizes! Any offers?"
©Eurodragster.com
Web site updates.
15th April: Dutch Top Fuel Dragster racer Lex Joon's web site has been updated by Team Manager Gerda Dijkstra with a brief report of a successful rookie weekend at the Easter Thunderball, together with pictures and the fan mail received after the race. Check it out at www.lexjoonracing.nl.
©Eurodragster.com
Leamon's luck changes.
14th April: 2003 ACU UK Comp Bike Champion Phil Leamon had a weekend of mixed fortunes at the Easter Thunderball. The bike performed well, but Phil had a large amount of equipment stolen from his van outside his hotel. Luckily even that story has a happy ending, as Phil writes.

"You start the season with high hopes and put in place plans to cover every eventuality on the racing front, or so you think", says Phil. "Saturday at the Thunderball started well with a time of 8.381 straight out of the box in Competition Bike, the new clutch plates doing their stuff. At the end of Sunday's qualifying the team were satisfied that every thing was happy in the world and we were confident that Monday was going to be a cracker.

"Cracker was the right word because during Sunday night at the Northampton Travel Inn, the van was broken into and my tool box and a bag containing my leathers, gloves, helmet etc. were stolen by some low-life. This really knocked me back. However drag racing is a close knit family and through the efforts of the team (my brother Robert, Denis and Chris) other racers, Paul Newman, Shaun Jones, Stuart Crane and the VW boys and girls we were pitted with (the tea and cream eggs tasted very good!) we were able to beg, borrow and steal(!) enough tools and safety equipment to get the show on the road again.

"Maybe, just maybe, from disaster could come triumph. The super-reliable Leamon Brothers Vehvac Suzuki and the team came up trumps and we got through the first round with a 8.314, our best-ever time, coupled to a reaction of 0.047...still trying to get used to this new notation! In this race I was fortunate to take advantage of Klaus Serembe's bad luck as he had lost third gear so the race was over by the eighth. Round two had us facing the rejuvenated Vaughan Foster on the ex-Chris Hall Pro Mod Funny Bike. With the likes of Chris Hall, Steve French and Jerry Collier (a Who's Who of Nitrous Drag Bike racing) as part of Vaughan's team, this was going to be a tough nut to crack. Vaughan has had in the past his own fair share of bad luck, with the total loss of his previous bike in a top end spill last season. This time the gods were smiling in his direction, as I fluffed the first to second gear change, he got around me and I just couldn't reel him in at the top end. Vaughan was, I think, into his first ever final against TJ O'Brien and good luck to both of them.
©Eurodragster.com
"The new boy on the block TJ is going to be the one to watch this season in Competition Bike. He romped home to a first-ever win in this ever-more-competitive class. No luck involved here, just plain old consistent riding, a good chassis, horsepower and startline tactics."

Nice one Phil, and we were very pleased to hear that Phil has had his leathers, boots, gloves and other kit returned. "My faith in human nature has been partially restored and maybe luck is back on my side again", he says. If so, then we are sure that everyone will agree that a competitor who displays the sporting attitude in the above paragraph deserves that luck.

Homewood watches Homewood.
14th April: Richard Homewood has been in touch on behalf of his daughter, VW Sportsman racer Amy Homewood, to thank Amy's colleagues for her reception at the Easter Thunderball. Amy held onto the top qualifying spot for most of the weekend, and then made the final at her first-ever event. Richard used to race himself, but had to stand by at the weekend and watch Amy have all the fun.

"I would like to thank all those involved in the VW Sportsman class who were so helpful and welcoming during Amy's first ever outing last weekend", says Richard. "Amy says that she had a stunning weekend and I think she showed some real potential by fighting her way right through to the final, losing out by a slender .0441 after miscalculating the effect of an increasing headwind and breaking out.
©Eurodragster.com
"Although her early qualifying starts were a little sleepy (put down to nerves and a bit of crowd watching from the start line) she quickly settled into her stride and cut a series of good lights, the best of which was 0.038, no mean feat for a rookie.

"I must admit that Monday was also pretty special for me. Seeing my girl on the podium with cup in hand makes up for not being on the track myself, almost!"

Perfect Light winner congratulated.
14th April: Fay and Paul Fischer of Speedflow, who jointly present the Eurodragster.com Perfect Light Award, have congratulated Junior Dragster racer Collin Morrice on his weekend at the Easter Thunderball. Collin qualified number one with a perfect 0.000 reaction time - which won him the �50 Eurodragster.com/Speedflow Perfect Light Award on his birthday - and then worked his way through a very competitive field to take the event win.
©Eurodragster.com
"We would like to say well done to young Collin and his team", say Fay and Paul. "It didn't escape our notice that he was the first in 2004 to win the Eurodragster.com/Speedflow Perfect Light Award and then went on to win the event - just the sort of all-round top-notch performance we wanted to encourage and reward. It's great to see such a young guy who clearly knows what he's doing, we can't wait to see him in one of the ET or Super classes in few years."

The Speedflow web site at www.speedflow.co.uk has been updated and is now even quicker and simpler to navigate. Paul says that he and Fay would appreciate feedback on the enw look from Eurodragster's readers. "We want to make the site as easy and logical to use", he says. "All comments, good and bad, are welcomed."

Swift snippets.
14th April: Thanks to Bill Baird for letting us know that 2003 FIA European Pro Stock Champion Michael Malmgren clocked a 200 mph terminal speed in testing his new Pontiac Grand Am yesterday. "Not bad", deadpans Bill. Michael's ET was 6.92 and the car was in FIA Championship trim. We will bring you more news as we receive it.

The members of Sweden's Nilsson Motorsports NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified team are going their separate ways this week to prepare for the 2004 season in their own manner. Driver Håkan Nilsson and his family have headed to Cyprus for some rest and relaxation whilst team members Ulf, Conny and Martin are in the USA to pick up parts for their engine 'Tage' and to visit a couple of eighth-mile Quick8 races to get some ideas about travelling over the first eighth even quicker. You can read more on the team's official web site at www.nilssonmotorsports.com

Thanks to Anne-Marie Lazenby for confirming that Custom Car Street Eliminator racer Colin Lazenby's 8.513/170.39 in qualifying at the Easter Thunderball was a new Personal Best. Congratulations, Colin!

Keith Herbert of Hillingdon Speed and Spares says that he had a cracking weekend at the Easter Thunderball. "Congratulations to Pro ET winners Rick and Carla", he says, "however I must stop handing them races. Our Sport Fury ran its fastest times mainly due to the fact that we have fitted M&H Racemasters. We ran five hundredths quicker to sixty feet and went over a tenth quicker in ET. The car launched much harder than with our Goodyears and lifted our left front wheel, we were suitably impressed. We are now taking orders for M&H tyres in readiness for the contingency money on offer at Shakespeare County Raceway. Contact me at Hillingdon Speed and Spares on 01895 237222."
©Eurodragster.com
Thanks to everyone who has sent messages of support for Funny Bike racer Sarah Jane Head. Every message we receive is being added to a page, which you can view by clicking here, which will be printed and sent to Scary as soon as she is on a ward and able to receive mail. Today's messages will be added to the page this evening; if you would like to add your own greeting then drop us a line at news@eurodragster.com. Don't forget that you can also stay in touch with news of Scary's condition on the King Racing web site at www.kingracing.com.

Triply Twisted.
14th April: Work is well underway on the new Twisted Sanity Rocket Dragster, writes team member Paul Cann. "We have built a new chassis based around Smax's old safety cell from the car which he rolled at 200 mph", says Paul. "Testament to the man who originally built the chassis is that the cell remained perfectly straight and undamaged. We sent the cell to Andy Robinson who added a new cage for us and we built the new front and back end from CDS tubing. The chassis is now together and we have painted it, fitted the front end components from Andy Carter's rail and built new hubs for the rear. Gone are the old Ford hubs and calipers and a fresh set of Wildwood racing calipers have been added.

"We have decided on a three-rocket design and will mount two initially to see how fast the beast goes. Tests using cardboard instead of plastic for fuel have proved to be beneficial and a quick redesign was needed for the motor seals as the extra thrust produced was too much for the original casings, and promptly found a weak spot melting a large hole in the old chassis! With the temperatures created by the rocket often exceeding 2500 degrees C, a small blow-out can often involve a lot of welding so it's important to get it right the first time. We have videotaped the new fuel burn and will post it on our web site as soon as time permits. The difference in the thrust created is noticeable from the video and we were all very pleased with the results.
©Eurodragster.com
"We are aiming to have the car ready for its shakedown run at the Speedfreaks Ball at Santa Pod in May, but the Nitrous company which we opened to support the car has taken off better than anticipated so we are having trouble keeping up with the demand. So time is a luxury we don't have at the moment. We will soon be inviting applications from dealers and the kits will be on a trade-only basis from us, so if anyone is interested in becoming a dealer then contact details are on our web site at www.twistedsanity.com. If you're looking to buy a nitrous kit the prices will be increasing and incurring VAT soon - so get 'em whilst they are cheap. Hopefully dealing with trade only will free up some valuable time for the crew and allow us to dedicate the time required to the cars.

"The new car should run six- to eight-second quarters which is quite fast enough for the moment. We could also use a new crew member as the rebuild time will be longer with the triple rockets mounted. If you are interested then please contact us through the web site. We hope to be in a position to give our fans a good show this year and lay down some quick times as well as offering a trackside service for all nitrous users when we are racing."

Sarah Jane Head update.
13th April: We are very grateful to Heather Bond who has sent us the very latest news on the condition of Sarah Jane Head.
©Eurodragster.com
"We've just arrived back from the hospital and Sarah is still unwell in intensive care", says H. "The good sign though is that she has started swearing! We would like to thank all the racers who have called offering their best wishes for her and Dave. Dave also wants to thank all the people who packed up the pit while we were at the hospital. We will keep you updated with Sarah's progress."

If you would like to send a Get Well message for Scary then drop us a line at news@eurodragster.com and we will pass it on.

Malmgren lights it up.
13th April: Our good friend Bill Baird has been in touch from the USA to let us know that 2003 FIA Pro Stock Champion Michael Malmgren and the AC Delco/Malmgren Racing team have started their new Pontiac Grand Am race car for the first time.

"Magnus, Thomas, and Tommi arrived at Chicago last Thursday night while Michael and Christer flew to St. Louis", says Bill. "The guys had some tense moments tying up loose ends. Magnus drove the rig to St. Louis after a brief stop at VP Racing Fuels to pick up unleaded racing fuel for testing.

"Magnus said that the Grand Am looks beautiful. They finished the car Monday night and loaded for a trip to Dallas. They will test Wednesday with the FIA set-up and then drive to Houston. Once at Houston, they will install one of Jim Yates' motors for the event as the set-up is somewhat different. By the way, dyno results for the FIA motor show a lot of horsepower, virtually the same as Yate's best bullets. Expectations are high of 6.80s over 200 mph in qualifying. But Houston is a track with a narrow groove so anything can happen.

"If all goes well, the car will be crated next Monday for shipment to Sweden. Since the car will arrive just in time for the first event of the year in Europe, it will remain white until the next race."
©Eurodragster.com
Messages for Scary.
13th April: We have, understandably, received a lot of enquiries about the condition of Funny Bike racer Sarah Jane Head, who was injured in a top end crash at Santa Pod yesterday. We have had no official word since last night's update but please be assured that as soon as we hear anything we shall let you know.
©Eurodragster.com
In the meantime we have received a few Get Well messages for Scary. First to write was Pro Stock Bike racer Paul Watson, who says "We are all devastated with the news of Scary Jane's accident. Our thoughts are with you and Dave, and we all wish you a speedy recovery". Graham Motler, who crews on Steve Good's Pro ET team, writes "I have watched and admired Sarah for some years now and would just like to wish her well". Finally Glenn Ramsden of UK Event Safety (see below) says "The UK Event Safety team would like to wish Sarah Jane Head a rapid recovery to following her terrible top end accident on Monday".

If you would like to send a Get Well message for Scary then drop us a line at news@eurodragster.com and we will pass them on.

Swift snippets.
13th April: Thunderball 10.90 Bike winner John Hackney has written to thank UK Top Fuel Bike racer Steve Woollatt for his sponsorship of 10.90 Bike, which we announced here on Saturday. "Hopefully I will be relieving Steve of some more cash during the year!", says John. "Thanks again from all of the 10.90 Bike racers."
©Eurodragster.com
Glenn Ramsden of UK Event Safety has been in touch to thank everyone at Santa Pod Raceway for their co-operation with the revised Health and Safety procedures which were introduced recently. "The Management team at SPR have an ongoing policy the aim of which is to provide a safe venue for all and the efforts made by everyone this weekend have certainly gone a long way towards acheiving that aim", says Glenn. "We would also like to thank the emergency teams at the 'Pod for their efforts in relation to Sarah's crash and other incidents throughout the Easter Thunderball weekend."

2003 FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion Smax Smith is on TV again this week, in the first of a new series of Monster Garage on UK network Channel 4 on Friday 23rd April at 7:30 pm. "It's a right laugh", says Smax. Smax also asked us to stress that despite the upbeat tone of Thursday's news item he is still seriously seeking sponsorship to complete this season, so if anyone is interested then please drop him a line at smax@smax.co.uk or phone Paul on 07800 969461.

Web site updates.
13th April: The official web site of the European Top Methanol Racers Association has been updated with a race report and results from the weekend's Easter Thunderball. Check it out at www.etmra.com.
©Eurodragster.com
The Teams page of the European Pro Mod Racers Association web site at www.promod.nu has been updated with a profile of Swiss Pro Mod racer and new EPMA member Peter Wacker.

Bob and Anni Valder's Feel The Noise web site at www.feel-the-noise.com has been updated with pictures from last weekend's APIRA Test and Tune at Shakespeare County Raceway.

Easter Thunderball results.
12th April: Congratulations to the winners at this weekend's Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway:

Pro Fuel Shootout: Andy Carter 5.049/290.75 def. Lex Joon 5.046/280.95
Top Methanol: Rob Turner 5.635/242.07 def. Doug Ripley 7.021/189.80
Super Modified: Rob Smallworth 8.030/172.89 def. Andy Kirk 8.328/160.03
Super Pro ET: Ian Tubb (7.73) 7.806/154.10 def. Derek Flynn (8.40) 8.643/143.39
Pro ET: Rick McCann (10.49) 10.520/130.83 def. Carl Burton (10.99) 10.983/121.90
Sportsman ET: Matt Glassup (14.07) 14.156/98.29 def. Linda Platt (12.80) 12.770/110.08
Super Comp: Paul Ingar Udtian 9.066/116.22 def. Colin Aldred 9.609/135.90
Super Gas: Conrad Stanley 9.970/120.30 def. Malcolm Francis 9.975/141.44
Super Street: Lee Huxley 10.676/123.63, Mark Watkins broke
Junior Dragster: Collin Morrice (9.04) 9.107/71.32 def. Andrew Herron (15.50) 15.248/40.31
Custom Car Street Eliminator: Andy Frost 8.459/166.09 was unopposed
VW Pro: Ant Lockyer (12.60) 12.907/102.25 def. Justin Aldred (11.20) 11.315/108.72
VW Sportsman: Mick Geraghty (15.40) 15.113/80.32 def. Amy Homewood (20.40) 20.090/65.48
VW Alternate Engine: Spencer Tramm (9.20) 9.222/137.92 def. Matt Attwood (13.16) 13.259/101.58
©Eurodragster.com
Top Fuel Bike: Steve Carey 8.155/156.26 was unopposed
Funny Bike: Neil Midgley 7.195/182.29 def. Paul Knapp 7.267/182.23
Pro Stock Bike: Dave Beck 7.517/148.05 def. Tony Clark 8.053/163.10
Comp Bike: TJ O'Brien 8.000/157.15 def. Vaughan Foster 9.816/106.64
Super Street Bike: Graham Dance 8.108/166.83 def. Mark Fisher 8.446/171.89
9.90 Bike: Fred Furlong 9.917/111.89 def. Paul Coombs broke
10.90 Bike: John Hackney 10.790/117.11 def. Andy Bird 10.464/123.64

Today's eliminations were marred by a top end crash involving Funny Bike racer Sarah Jane Head. The official word is that after her crash Scary was stabilised and airlifted to hospital, where she is now being treated for multiple injuries. We are sure that everyone will wish Scary all the very best for a rapid recovery. As soon as we hear any more we will of course let you know.

Better news on two wheels was a new ACU Super Street Bike ET record of 8.108 for event winner Graham Dance, subject to the usual ratification, and a stunning 5.795/200.96 by Eric Teboul on his Rocket Bike.

Click here to view our American Car Imports-sponsored Easter Thunderball coverage, or click on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page.

All Awards accounted for.
12th April: Eurodragster's five special awards were all won at the Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway yesterday. Collin Morrice, Pete Creswell, Mark Fairhurst, Graham Dance and Wayne Hiscock were the recipients of cash and other awards on the second day of qualifying.

Junior Dragster racer Collin Morrice won the �50 Eurodragster.com/Speedflow Perfect Light Award with a 0.000 Reaction Time in the last session of JD qualifying. Yesterday was Collin's fourteenth birthday so the �50 award was extra icing on the cake.
©Eurodragster.com
Pete Creswell recorded a 9.900 in the last session of Super Gas qualifying yesterday and is �50 richer courtesy of the Eurodragster.com/Curbishley Automotive Perfect ET Award.

Mark Fairhurst and Graham Dance took home Rock Oil, T-shirts, and various cleaners after qualifying top of Super Comp and Super Street Bike respectively, this weekend's qualifying classes for the Eurodragster.com/Scorpion Racing Award. Wayne Hiscock took home a TRS five-point harness for qualifying fourth in Pro ET, the class and position being chosen at random for another Eurodragster.com/Scorpion Racing Award.

Congratulations to all of our winners, and a big Thank You to Fay and Paul Fischer, Martin and Ruth Curbishley, Colin and Ros Aldred, and Harley at TRS Racing Products for their support.

Jodie Hills.
11th April: We were shocked beyond words to hear on Friday night of the death of Nobby and Anne Hills' daughter Jodie in a motor accident.

Jodie started to come to the track almost as soon as she was born and you could always find her by looking for Nobby first as father and daughter were inseparable. As Jodie grew up she became more and more involved in Nobby's racing operation to the point where Nobby used her to size the cockpit of his new Houndog Fuel Funny Car. Jodie inherited Nobby's love for country music and American cars, becoming an accredited line dancing instructor at a very young age and driving her own Pontiac.

We last saw Jodie at the Xtreme Wheels Show in London where she was as ever right next to Nobby helping him to present the Funny Car to the media, with her ever-present beautiful smile and friendly manner.

Anne, Nobby, sister Katie and grandfather Arthur have posted a personal tribute on the Nobby Hills Racing web site at www.nhracing.com. To Anne, Nobby, Katie, Arthur and all of Jodie's family and friends we send our very deepest sympathies.

York Shootout.
11th April: Tomorrow's Super Street Shootout at York Raceway includes the first rounds of the 2004 Hot Rod Challenge and the Northern Drag Racing Championship bracket series for Pro ET and Sportsman ET, writes Howard Holmes. "The time has come when we realise that points at the beginning of the season are worth just as much as those at the end of the season and the chase against the current champions starts", says Howard.

"If you've got a quick Beetle, you also should be heading for York Raceway. You need to help ensure your preferred marque don't get a trouncing by the Minis in the ninth annual Mini v Beetle Shootout! There were some very fine and fast Beetles last year, but there were number of very modified Minis dipping into the twelves and the Minis won the day. So who's going to take the title for 2004?

"Roaring Roger Goring will also be running his Firestorm Jet Trans Am and looking for good results following the winter's work. There will also be limited Run Wot You've Brung for cars only and the Modifiers/Cruise Missile Shootout."
©Eurodragster.com
Woollatt sponsors 10.90 Bike.
10th April: UK Top Fuel Bike racer Steve Woollatt has announced that he is to sponsor the 2004 Santa Pod Racers Club 10.90 Bike Championship. Steve will be posting £50 for the winner of 10.90 Bike at the Easter Thunderball, FIA Main Event, SPRC Summernationals, FIA European Finals, and UK National Finals.
©Eurodragster.com
"I want to put something back into the sport", says Steve. "I started off with a street bike and it has also been the starting point for a lot of my fellow racers so I am very pleased to support 10.90 Bike."

Capewell out of Thunderball.
9th April: UK Top Methanol Funny Car racer Trev Capewell has had to withdraw from this weekend's Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway, which would have been his first run out in the Southern Rebel FC.

"The reason causing us to withdraw reluctantly is that we have not been able to get a suitable set of fire bottles delivered to us in time, despite trying for several months using a number of suppliers here and in the States", says Team Manager and PR David Todd. "Everything else on the car is totally ready, as are all the modifications needed to the pit area. Clearly, we are very disappointed at having to make this decision, but have no alternative.
©Eurodragster.com
"We want to thank everyone, including the crew members and suppliers, who have helped us to try to meet this deadline and to let you know that although we will not be able to appear at Easter, we will be ready for the next meeting. So your efforts have not been in vain."

You can read the full story on the News page of the Southern Rebel web site at www.southernrebel.co.uk.

Nitro FM in your ear.
9th April: Rick Cuthbert of Santa Pod Raceway just made the deadline for the last pre-Easter Thunderball update with the news that earpiece radios tuned to the frequency of SPR's own radio station Nitro FM will be on sale this weekend.

"The exclusive Nitro FM earpieces will be available at the Main Gate, Pod Shop, merchandise trailer and mobile units for just £5!", says Rick. "The radios come pre-tuned to 96.2 FM and have been subsidised by the good people at Fuel Records. Your Nitro FM earpiece will bring you all the commentary, interviews and music from the Easter Thunderball, FIA Main Event, Bug Jam, Ultimate Street Car, FIA European Finals and the Flame and Thunder Show. The radio should give a perfect reception both on and off site, so you can even keep up with the news in surrounding villages (but not during the week - Ed).

"Also available in the same locations will be the official Easter Thunderball programme which is bigger, better and bang up to date with all the hot news for 2004. The programme is better value than ever at just £3.

"Finally, apologies to anyone who was experiencing problems with our web sites at www.santapod.com and www.rwyb.com on Wednesday: our service provider was experiencing difficulties which now appear to be fixed."
©Eurodragster.com
The Norwegians are coming!
9th April: This weekend's Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod is the first round of the 2004 Nordic Drag Racing Series, and two racers are making the long trip from Norway to steal a march on their competitors. It will be the first time that Scandinavian racers have come to Santa Pod for an NDRS round, and our good buddy Christer Abrahamson has celebrated the fact with a very interesting (and humorously-titled) feature on the Svensk Dragracing web site at www.dragracing.se.
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Thunderball running orders.
9th April: We are indebted to Santa Pod's Race Director Darren Prentice and Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall for forwarding us the provisional running orders for Saturday and Sunday of this weekend's Easter Thunderball. As ever, these running orders are a guide and are subject to change due to weather or track conditions or any other reason deemed necessary by race officials.

You can view the running orders on our Easter Thunderball Event Index which you can reach by clicking here, or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left hand side of any Eurodragster page.

Andréasson straightens it out.
9th April: Swedish Top Methanol FC racer Leif Andréasson is back at home after his recent trip to the USA to pick up his new Dodge Stratus-bodied race car and to compete at the NHRA National Event in Las Vegas. It was hardly a dream start for Leif as he tagged the guardrail in qualifying and didn't make the cut, however team member Anders Magnusson tells us that things are nowhere near as bad as we feared and that the team tested the car on Monday.

"We got away without much more damage than hardly-visible scratches on the body and slightly reshaped headers, which were hammered back to original shape without to much effort", says Anders. "The car heading right at launch wasn't Leif's fault. The chassis was found to be corner-weighted the wrong direction - it was pre-set with more weight on the left rear wheel - enhancing chassis reactions which put even more weight and traction on the left wheel making it more or less impossible to hold the car straight.
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"We found this out after the first test run on Monday. The next run was nice, beautifully straight and down the middle, posting a 5.97/236 with a soft engine set up under hot weather and slippery track conditions. We didn't get any more runs though; we found some broken roller lifters and pushrod parts after that run, and we didn't go for another run before sorting out the reason why it broke down after 1.8 seconds.

"The team is now back in Europe, and the car is in a container going the same way."

Kennel update.
9th April: UK Wild Buch racer Scottie Durrant has been in touch with the latest news from the kennels of Dog Squad Racing.

"Things have been slow, but we now have a new stainless steel A-arms on the In The Dog House Again altered, along with new two-piece seat and moon fuel tank", says Scottie. "We have a Gen V BBC 454 Chevy which is almost as it came from the car but with rectangle port heads and a new cam, and will be running a manifold and carb this year and not the injection! This is down to money, crew and other personal things, but the main thing is that I will will be out mid-season, and we will have some fun!
©Eurodragster.com
"The new transporter/camper is also coming on well, just a little more plumbing and a couple of windows to fit but it's nearly there! As for crew, this season Nick Connor of the Barking Mad altered will be helping out at a few meetings, along with 'Big Dog' Leigh Turland. Also best wishes to Maria Turland who is in the Royal Free Hospital in London having treament for a brain trauma, we are all thinking of you. As for Mark 'Turbo Turtle' Turton, he's getting married to Philippa on 3rd July, did you have to pick a race weekend? Well, we are going to have a back-to-roots Dog Squad stag weekend for him at the American Car World Nationals at Shakey on 15th-16th May, so if you would like to pop over and have a beer with Mark, feel free - he doesn't bite!

"I am looking for a Gen V BBC front timing cover - can anyone help?"

If you can help Scottie with a timing cover then drop him a line at scottiemansize@aol.com.

Swift snippets.
9th April: Perry Antoniou tells us that Retro Cars magazine is to publish a cover feature on non-Stateside pre-'83 cars built for drag racing, and says that as well as his own Ford Escort race car and Sunbeam Lotus the publishers would like to include other cars. The shoot will take place at Santa Pod in early May, but dates have not yet been confirmed. "It will take all day, and the most we will get out of it will be a cup of tea and some pride on the newsagent's shelf!", says Perry. If you are interested then please drop Perry a line at perry@n2oxide.com.
©Eurodragster.com

Joon: We can be winners.
8th April: Dutch Top Fuel Dragster racer Lex Joon has been very busy in the last few weeks as he prepares to make his first Top Fuel outing at this weekend's Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway. As well as running their business, Lex and Team Manager Gerda Dijkstra have entertained two Australian racers who have purchased Lex's Top Methanol Funny Car complete, as well as the Fuel Funny Car which he campaigned last season, and designed and prepared the colour schemes for the MPM Oil-sponsored dragster and trailer.

"The trailer will not be ready for the Easter Thunderball, but the dragster is done", says Lex. "We were in the UK last week to put the vinyls on the dragster and I can tell you it looks awesome! Those who don't bring their cameras this weekend will regret it!"

Lex has also been collecting a crew to work on the dragster, which is owned by Knut Söderquist, and the six new members include some familiar faces. "Lex Joon Racing are very pleased to welcome our new crew members Per, Morten, Michael, Michael, Jaap and Francel", says Lex. "The Easter Thunderball will be the first event at which all of our our new crew will work together and right now we are making the final preparations to welcome them. Some of the crew are coming from Kim Reymond's team: Per Andersen, Kim's former Crew Chief, will be the Crew Chief of the MPM Top Fuel Dragster. Because Kim's car was slightly different, Per will work with Alan Jackson to tune the car. I think that these two were the Crew Chiefs of the year in 2002 and 2003. With this crew and Knut as a car owner our season looks very promising."
©Eurodragster.com
Gerda Dijkstra says that Lex is aiming to win the Pro Fuel Shootout at the Easter Thunderball, but that that is not the only aim. "As Gordon Smith said, Knut always puts together winning cars", says Gerda. "We are also there to get Lex and the crew familiar with the car and each other. Of course, everybody who knows Lex also knows that once he sits in a race car he will go for it. It will also give Lex a good grounding for the Main Event. Driving a Top Fuel Dragster might be a easier than sitting behind the wheel of a Funny Car, but it's a really exciting challenge to be the best in the premier class of drag racing and to compete against proven winners."

MPM International Oil Company, who also jointly sponsor Eurodragster's webcam, gave Lex the opportunity to enter the world of Fuel racing when they became a partner in his Fuel FC programme last season. "The fact that MPM didn't get much return after our accident at Shakespeare County Raceway last year did not damage our relationship", says Lex. "In fact they went with us in our new quest to become the first Dutch FIA European Top Fuel Champion. Representatives of MPM International Oil Company will come to Santa Pod on Sunday, and they will be very proud when they can see the car go down the track."

"We also would like to say a big thank you to Knut Söderquist who has been working around the clock to get everything ready for us", adds Gerda. "He has proven to be a real professional and is doing everything to make us feel comfortable as well providing us with the latest parts from the USA. With all Knut's connections in the States we have a link to the latest technology and we will have an advantage over the other teams. Another thing which Knut and Lex share is their love of Fuel Funny Cars."

"Things look really promising and at the end of the Easter meeting we will know who is the winner", says Lex. "But one thing is for sure. We may be the underdog today, but we can be winners tomorrow."

Eurodragster/Scorpion Racing team up.

8th April: We are very pleased to announce that Eurodragster.com and UK performance supplier Scorpion Racing have teamed up again, in conjunction with Rock Oil and TSR Racing Products, to offer racers a number of goodies (right) which can be won in qualifying.

The Eurodragster.com/Scorpion Racing award scheme comes courtesy of Scorpion Racing's Colin Aldred and starts at this weekend's Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway. Prizes will be posted in one car class and one bike class at each event at SPR. The class will be chosen at random in the run-up to the race, and the number one qualifiers in the chosen classes will win the following:

Car class #1 qualifier: Eight litres of Rock Fully Synthetic Engine Oil, carb cleaner, brake cleaner and a Scorpion Racing T-shirt
Bike class #1 qualifier: Four litres of Rock Fully Synthetic Engine Oil, a large chain lube and Scorpion Racing T-shirt

At the Easter Thunderball the car class will be Super Comp, and the bike class will be Super Street Bike. Colin Aldred will be racing in Super Comp and has promised that if he should be #1 qualifier this weekend then he will pass the prizes to the #2 qualifier.

In addition, courtesy of Scorpion Racing and Harley at TRS Racing Products, the fantastic prize of a five-point Nascar SFI harness - as used by Micke Kågered, Anita Mäkelä and Barry Sheavills amongst others - will be awarded to the holder of a randomly-chosen qualifier in a car class. The TSR harness will this weekend be awarded to the number four qualifier in Pro ET. Colin will also be racing in Pro ET and has promised that if he should be #4 qualifier then he will pass the harness to the #5 qualifier.

"It is great to team up with the guys at Eurodragster again", says Colin Aldred. "Although we didn't race last year, we kept up to date with all the news through Eurodragster - it is compulsive viewing!".

"We are very pleased to be associated with Scorpion Racing for a second time", says Tog of Eurodragster.com. "Colin and Ros Aldred and Scorpion Racing are another example of racers putting something back into the sport and we feel privileged that Eurodragster's name should be linked with their generosity."
©Eurodragster.com
For full details of the products and services offered by Scorpion Racing, check out their web site at www.scorpionracing.co.uk or call 0208 211 4888.

Colin took the first run out since 2002 in his Classy Chassis slingshot at Santa Pod Raceway last Saturday, although the whereabouts of one of the crew proved a mystery until Colin's mobile phone rang. "One of the crew phoned me up and asked me whereabouts I was at the track", says Colin. "I told him that we were by the burger bar in the pits. He replied 'Are you sure? I can't find you' and I told him exactly where we were and that it was throwing it down with rain. 'How can that be, it is bright sunshine', he said. You know what's coming, don't you - he was at Shakespeare County Raceway and I was at Santa Pod! Another one of my crew hit the fire extinguisher button by accident. That's twice that's happened now, it's not a cheap mistake to make but at least we know that it works!"

RRC start contingency programme.
8th April: Kate Robinson of Andy Robinson Race Cars has been in touch with details of RRC's 2004 contingency sponsorship programme, which starts at this weekend's Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway. Andy Robinson Race Cars, Stroud Safety, and Hoosier tyres will be posting vouchers, cash and other awards over the course of the season as follows:

Andy Robinson Race Cars

Super Modified, Super Pro ET and Pro ET: £50 voucher to winner at all National Championship Events; £30 voucher to runner-up at all National Championship Events. Vouchers can only be redeemed with RRC.

Custom Car Street Eliminator: £150 to the winner of the Perfect Light award for the best Reaction Time average over the course of the season, and a Stroud 32A-5 race suit (red/blue/black) for the winner of the Most Improved Racer of the Year award.

Racers must carry an Andy Robinson Race Cars sticker on each side of the car to qualify for all awards.
©Eurodragster.com
Stroud Safety

Super Modified, Super Pro ET, Pro ET, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street, and Custom Car Street Eliminator: £50 voucher to winner at all National Championship Events; £30 voucher to runner-up at all National Championship Events

Racers must carry a Stroud Safety sticker on each side of the car, and must be using a Stroud race suit, to qualify for awards. Vouchers can only be redeemed with RRC.

Hoosier Tyres

Super Comp, Super Pro ET, Pro ET and Sportsman ET: £50 voucher to winner at all National Championship Events; £30 voucher to runner-up at all National Championship Events

Racers must carry a Hoosier sticker on each side of the car to qualify for awards. Hoosier vouchers can be redeemed with any UK Hoosier dealer.

Andy Robinson, Stroud, Hoosier and TSR vouchers can all be redeemed by calling Andy Robinson Race Cars on 01256 880589.

Smax to start title defence.
8th April: 2003 FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion Smax Smith has confirmed that he has the funds to begin a title defence in 2004. Smax will again be teaming up with Knut Söderquist and will be racing in Knut's 'red' Carbon By Design car. He tells us that a lot of work has been going on behind the scenes to put together a package for 2004, but that the team have had more than their share of setbacks.

As things stand, Smax has the funds to start the season and is working hard to secure the funding to take him right through to the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod in September, but he says that it is very difficult this late in the off-season. "I've suffered somewhat over the closed season", says Smax. "First of all, Purple Loans decided not to renew their sponsorship after the successful 2003 season, as a result of a change of marketing direction with the arrival of GE Capital as parent group. Then my team manager Paul was taken ill after the Firework bash and was out of circulation for five months. I've dragged him back into the team and we are all now working hard to bridge the financial gap to make 2004 a complete success."

Smax is in discussion with several backers and he has promised to keep us advised of developments. He would love to hear from any fans who may be able to help direct any sponsor monies to his cause. "We have some excellent opportunities for anyone wishing to sponsor us for as little as £500 - guaranteed to be shown on TV!", says Smax. "Ask your company boss to let us send a brochure to help us, as well as to raise your company's profile."

Smax and his team are anxious to run competitively in the new-look larger Top Fuel field in 2004, and Smax tells us that fans should not be surprised if 4.8-second passes become the norm from TF1 in 2004. "Knut has promised us that Alan Jackson will deliver!", he says.
©Eurodragster.com
SPR Thunderball update.
8th April: Rick Cuthbert of Santa Pod Raceway has been in touch with some last-minute news about the Easter Thunderball.

As revealed on Eurodragster News on 29th March, Santa Pod are expecting a couple of Top Fuel Dragster racers to make licencing passes on Saturday, before the Pro Fuel Shootout starts on Sunday. We expect the racers involved to be Thomas Nataas and Andy Carter, as they told Eurodragster last week that they are planning to licence and test respectively on Saturday.

Rick tells us that the new-look Pod Shop will be open for the first time to a drag racing audience this weekend. "Marvel at the posh new d�cor and choose from a huge selection of merchandise new for 2004 including clothing, toys, models, videos and other unique branded products.", says Rick.

"Also, although all under-16s get in free to the Easter Thunderball, we are also giving them a free gift each as they arrive at the gate!", adds Rick. "What have they done to deserve this? Who knows, but Santa Pod is giving every one of them a special Easter present thanks to our friends at Cadbury�s (What's that likely to be then - Ed)."
©Eurodragster.com
For more details about the Easter Thunderball including ticket prices and a preview, check out Santa Pod Raceway's web site at www.santapod.com.

Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall has kindly sent us an updated official entry list for the Easter Thunderball, which you can view by clicking here, or by clicking on the Easter Thunderball link on our Event Coverage page.

TJ's takeaway.

8th April: Comp Bike racer TJ O'Brien finally got to test his new bike (right) at Santa Pod Raceway last weekend after being rained and hailed out at the Webster Race Engineering Test Day at Santa Pod a couple of weeks ago. TJ quickly got a hold on the bike and he kindly dropped us a line to let us know how it went.

"After getting the bike ready for the WRE Test Day I only got towed around the track by Sir Ken Cooper, that experience alone was very nerve-wracking", says TJ. "Last Saturday the sun was shining at Santa Pod so the leathers were put on and the bike pushed to the start line. The whole burnout and launch procedure was going through my head and when it came to my go I couldn�t remember my name! After a reaction of about the time to smoke a fag it was all systems go. Great stuff! The first pass on wheelie bars a 10.0; that will do, next pass 9.9.

"Ken decided I was ready for Nitrous - my boxers told a different story - so the bottle was warmed up and down to the start line we went. Good reaction, then here comes the wall. The wall missed me, but the bike suffered slight gearbox damage due to my backing off too early: but Ken, the wall was getting close fast.
©Eurodragster.com
"The last run of the day produced a stout, solid, straight, 8.3 with a reaction of .51. That will do! After the run I was waiting at the end waiting to be towed back and I knew it was a good run so I rang Pat and told her to put her best dress on as we were going out. After giving Ken a big hug and a wad of twenty pound notes it was home time, music up with me singing along then two junctions from home clunk bang stop. I forgot to fill up the radiator with water, quick call to the RAC: 'Sorry mate, it's seized. Called Pat to tell her to order a takeaway, we were staying in.

"Ah well, I still got a ticket with an 8.3 and I would like to thank Sir Ken Cooper for building the beast and also my sponsors Learn To Dream, Linde Gas, GB and Sons Builders and T O�Brien Auctioneers. And sorry, Pat I will take you out after the Easter meeting I promise."

Wait to open up new Toy.
8th April: Jon Evans and Steve Dunn have announced that their UK Super Gas début will have to wait a few weeks longer after their brand new cam self-destructed during the run-in procedure. Steve and Jon have been racing their Tokyo Toy Toyota for twenty years, most recently in Pro ET, but announced here on Eurodragster in March that they are to move to Super Gas in 2004.
©Eurodragster.com
"We're not quite sure why this happened, but it has caused some knock-on engine damage", says Jon Evans. "The engine is all in pieces again now, and another box of new bits is on its way to us from the USA. We don't know when it will be back together, but we are still hopeful for the Excitement Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway in May.

"As I said in our last news item the roots of this move go back twenty years, so I guess we can wait another month or so!"

PMR waiting on Thunderball.
8th April: Now returned from his trip to the USA and preparing for the Easter Thunderball, Paul Marston dropped us a line to bring us up to date with developments at Paul Marston Racing.

"My Stateside excursion to compete in the Division 2 Florida Nationals was a lifetime achievement", says Paul. "I simply could not say no when the opportunity of competing in America presented itself, although it shortened the preparation time available before the UK season starts. Last weekend, with some monumental efforts from everyone at Paul Marston Racing, Gary at Jeep Club, Gary at London Road Tyres, Black Box London Staff and many others, a real joint effort, we managed to get Grumpy's Dodge finished and delivered to Santa Pod Raceway for testing on Saturday morning. This was of course on top of the preparation work on the other Paul Marston Drag Race Driving School race car, the Insanity Chevrolet Vega Pick-up in which we had a very lively and enthusiastic lifetime fan of Drag Racing as our pupil. The weather was kind enough to allow us to complete the pupil�s course, which he passed with flying colours. This we all considered a real result due the inhospitable conditions weatherwise, but we got the job done. Our thanks to all the Santa Pod staff who worked tirelessly keeping the track in a go condition despite persistent rain showers.

"Meanwhile, whilst getting Grumpy to the track was a fantastic achievement it is once again just the beginning. Extensive testing was required to ensure that all was well, despite the unchanged appearance this is virtually a new race car and must be treated as such. This has to be completed as soon as possible so that normal service can resume with the Paul Marston Racing Drag Race Driving School and the Passenger Ride Experience. Testing went well, we completed seven full passes and the results were very promising. Naturally there were a couple of issues which need attention and we are hoping they can be resolved in time for the Easter Thunderball, where we were hoping to see Grumpy competing in both Super Gas and Pro ET with Paul Marston in Super Gas and Gary Springford making his competition début in Pro ET. Everyone on the team is excited about Grumpy's potential and to see if Super Gas times are possible with just chassis and weight adjustments. I am a bit biased as I like Grumpy and he sure looks pretty now. Joking aside, firstly I do sincerely hope we can make this weekend as the clock is ticking. I believe after initial testing last weekend that the sixty foot times indicate that the potential is there to run in Super Gas with a 454ci Super Unleaded Big Block, but it will take around thirty laps before I can start to shave off those few hundredths here and there that we need to get Grumpy in the nines. We have made no power improvements to the motor, this is all from the chassis, remember that. So being realistic we will probably drop down from Super Gas to Super Street for this weekend, where Grumpy will be competitive. I do not go drag racing just to make up the numbers - I always go to win."
©Eurodragster.com
PMR's Dave Corrigan says that although time is tight he considers that with the generous workshop facilities which Jeep Club have extended to the team Grumpy had the best chance possible to make the Easter Thunderball event. "No promises, but with me being Irish and all that we have luck on our side, that�s all I am saying! Tuesday was a good day, me and the lads got a whole lot done, but there�s still more to do. I have no crystal ball, hopefully most of the hard work is now done and if the systems check goes well then Grumpy should be good for the weekend. I hope so, this will be my first National event. I�ve been working on this race car for three months now. It looks a dandy, it�s been transformed, and it�s about time it saw some healthy competition!"

"If you are at the Easter Thunderball, stop by our pit and say hello" says Operations Manager Dave Kalisz. "Hundreds of hours have been poured into Grumpy during the off season, take time to have a careful look at the detail. Please do bear in mind that this race car was only fired up for the first time last Friday night, it's a heck of an achievement by the crew and our sponsors that it did so well last Saturday. If it were not for suppliers letting us down with broken delivery dates we would have tested weeks before. For example, I still had to drive five hundred miles to sit and wait until our exhaust manifolds were finished to ensure that we could make last Saturday, otherwise there was no chance of us making the session. So never rule us out if there is the remotest chance that we can make it: we will be there, you can bank on it, we did not come this far for nothing and there�s not much that would stop us."

Paul also tells us that both the PT Bruiser and the Alien altered will be both out later this year and that details and sponsors will be released soon. "Meanwhile we would like to wish all our fellow Sportsman racers at the Easter Thunderball the very best of luck, see you there", says Paul. "Special thanks to Street Machine/American Car World for the great pic of Grumpy at the Doorslammer Nationals, and Custom Car for the recent press release."

Web site updates.
8th April: Eurodragster staffer Tog has updated his personal web site Tog's Drag Racing Page with just under one hundred pictures from last weekend's APIRA Test and Tune at Shakespeare County Raceway. You can check out Tog's pictures at www.togsdragracing.com/2004apiratestandtune.
©Eurodragster.com
Showtime aiming for hat-trick.
7th April: The UK's Showtime Fuel Funny Car team are looking to make it a hat-trick of wins in the Pro Fuel Shootout at this weekend's Pro Fuel Shootout at Santa Pod Raceway. Crew Chief Bob Jarrett says that the lay-off since the 2003 FIA European Finals has been his busiest off-season ever.

"I have been to Pomona three times, I've been at John Force's shop every weekend, and I have had a lot of chats with Austin Coil", says Bob. "John Force Racing have really helped us out, although my chats with Austin always seem to end with my phoning up a parts supplier and opening the cheque book!"

The Showtime Fuel FC was last seen pitching its Mustang body into the air at the European Finals, and shortly afterwards driver John Spuffard suffered a hand injury in a workshop accident. Bob had an offer from an NHRA racer to stand in for Spuff, but it was not necessary. "When John had his accident Terry Haddock, who is a good friend of mine, offered to race the car for me any time", says Bob. "But we don't need it since John is long recovered so we are quite OK. Anyway, John wouldn't have given up driving even if he had a hand missing! The body has been repaired and we are very pleased with the great job which Martin Curbishley has done of repainting it. John and I are now working on putting everything back together, it's a slow process as all the new parts have to be made to fit."
©Eurodragster.com
Bob says that a lot of changes have been made to the Showtime FC for 2004. "The problem with these cars is that you change one little thing and it opens the door for three other things to go wrong!", he says. "I have thrown away all of last year's settings because we have a lot more current stuff, it's all new and I have given it a lot of thought. What people don't realise is that we are routinely using two- or three-year-old technology and when those parts are gone we have to use the latest parts - we are forced into it. Then it becomes a finer line between a good run and blowing the tyres off it. It becomes harder to do and it affects all of us."

Bob also says that 2004 should see an end to the body-popping backfires which plagued the team last season. "There could have been three or four different reasons for the backfires, and we have changed all of it", he says. "We just can't afford to have the backfires any more, but I am sure it will be OK."

Bob, Spuff and the team go into this weekend's race at Santa Pod with both of the event Fuel FC victories under their belts, and Bob thinks that the Showtime team are in a strong position. "We have the brains trust and the Funny Cars can be just as good as the dragsters", he says. "Our eventual goal is to run a four - it won't be this weekend but we know it can be done: we have the equipment, the technology and the know-how to do it."

Perfect zeroes.
7th April: Santa Pod Raceway's Chief Marshal Steve Horn has been in touch to let us know that SPR have decided to display Reaction Times using 0.000 as the start point rather than 0.400 or 0.500, starting at this weekend's Easter Thunderball.
©Eurodragster.com
"This does mean that on our system, as I think with all others, negative reaction times - red lights - will not be displayed on the scoreboards", says Steve. "Of course there will be a big red light to look at on the Christmas Tree! But overall it's thought it might be better for everyone to understand. It should give the commentators something to talk about as well."

MPM renew Bon sponsorship.
7th April: Dutch Top Fuel Bike team Joey Bon Racing has announced that MPM International Oil Company are to be their main sponsor for the 2004 season. After a successful partnership last year, both parties decided to continue their co-operation. The new bike will be painted in the colours of MPM (who also jointly sponsor Eurodragster's webcam) and the team will be present at various events such as the MPM Internationals at Drachten, the Netherlands, on 9th-11th June.

"The last year was very successful", says Joey Bon, "and we hope that this year will be just as successful. The sponsorship of MPM International Oil Company enables us to develop the bike further this coming season, and also to reach our goal of becoming European Champions. At the end of the European season the MPM Oil/Joey Bon Racing team plans to go to the United States for one or two events. We hope to extend the successful co-operation in coming years."
©Eurodragster.com
Swift snippets.
7th April: 2002 UK National Junior Dragster Champion Ricky Emms is to perform the official opening of the Mattel Hot Wheels Motor Show at London's Earl's Court today. Ricky's mum Sue tells us that Ricky has become quite the media star, with an interview on Radio Northampton yesterday and others lined up today. Santa Pod Raceway's exhibition Top Fuel Dragster and Junior Dragster will be on display at the Show, which takes place in the Empress Hall at Earl's Court today and tomorrow between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm.
©Eurodragster.com
UK Top Fuel Bike racer Ian King is scheduled to appear on the Top Dog - Bikes programme on Granada's Men and Motors channel at 8.30 pm BST tonight. Ian is one of three members of a pabel of experts comparing the relative merits of the Ducati 996 versus the Yamaha R1. Works Road Racer Scott Smart and Crescent Suzuki's Jason McClean are Ian's fellow panellists on location at London's Ace Café.

Bissett gets a belt.

7th April: 2003 FIA European Top Methanol Dragster Champion Dave Wilson and the American Car Imports Racing team contested the weekend's NHRA Summitracing.com Nationals in Las Vegas with the odds stacking up against them. A new tune-up, engine damage, and an injury to Crew Chief Andy Bissett put the already short-handed team under an enormous amount of pressure. However Team Principal Anthony Cohen, who sponsors Eurodragster's Home and News pages and Event Coverage through American Car Imports, feels that Dave and the team came through under a most difficult set of circumstances.

"After we won the NHRA Divisional Event in Tucson (right, click on picture for large version), we decided to try out a new tune-up in Las Vegas", says Anthony. "We had the time to try it in the USA rather than back in Europe when it matters. The US tracks are better, but we have better air in Europe, so it balances out. We got up the track in qualifying but to be honest the tune-up we were trying just wasn't working. We qualified sixteenth whereas if we had used our normal tune-up we would have made the top half."

The ACI Racing team decided to give the new tune-up another try in the first round of eliminations. To their surprise and delight, number one qualifier Joey Severance red-lit, handing Dave Wilson the win but at the expense of engine damage. "We were prepared for the tune-up not to be successful", says Anthony. "It wasn't, and to add insult to injury a broken lifter damaged the camshaft so we had to change the engine with four crew members - Dave, David, Andy and Jennifer. Luckily 'Bones' from one of the other Top Alcohol Dragster teams also came over to help. We were really up against it, the turnaround time was as short as it could be because there are four rounds in a day and suddenly we had to make the biggest change of all.

"As we fired up the replacement engine Andy Bissett got a serious jolt from the mag and that was the end of his participation: we sent him off to the medical centre with Jennifer. That left Dave and David, so I was press-ganged into service and I co-opted Ray McGuire, the Managing Director of our sponsor Playstation Europe who was with us for the weekend, to get the dragster to the start line. We had changed our tune-up back because we thought that it would win us the race. Dave pulled his first ever perfect Reaction Time, 0.000, but then we just plain overpowered the track. I have learnt this much, though: Dave had a perfect reaction under all that stress, so in future we are going to stress him out every time! And in the end, although the new tune-up just didn't work our package allowed us to qualify and we got into the last eight, and Dave is now third in the NHRA National Championship. The best news of all is that Andy has made a full recovery."

Anthony says that the team were as usual made very welcome. "I met John Force and Forrest Lucas, who was pleased to see Europeans running so well", he says. "The other teams were very sporting: when Chris Demke found out that it was Dave's birthday his team started to send the birthday presents across to him. They went to the local English shop and brought Dave PG Tips, Digestive biscuits and so on. It was also great to see fellow European Leif Andréasson there, he put up a very good showing and his tag of the guardrail was nowhere near as bad as it looked, the car only suffered cosmetic damage. I also introduced Ray McGuire to Bob Frey who promptly gave him and Playstation Europe a large number of name checks on the PA. Ray was very impressed and he will be continuing Playstation Europe's association with the ACI Racing team. Whilst I was talking to Bob Frey and his boss I made a point of telling them about Eurodragster and all of the hard work and commitment you put in (Thanks! - Ed) and made them promise that they would read Eurodragster every day. I also met up with Boris from T-Shirts Unlimited who is going to produce a T-shirt commemorating our successes - it should be available at the FIA Main Event."

The ACI Racing team had another special guest with them all weekend in the person of Tim Redmayne of Motorsport News, who spent the weekend in Vegas for a feature to be published in next week's issue. "I think Tim was impressed by what he saw", says Anthony. "He saw a 335 mph run, side-by-side mid-fours, and all of our dramas! It should make for a good article!"

The team are now headed for the last date on their US Tour, next week's NHRA National Event in Houston. "There won't be any testing!", says Anthony. "This one is a race and it will be no holds barred."

The return of Jones and Friend.
7th April: The UK's Jones and Friend Funny Bike team returned to the track at the weekend's APIRA Test and Tune at Shakespeare County Raceway after a season out rebuilding their Suzuki. Dave Friend dropped us a line to let us know how he and rider Gary Jones got on.

"After sixteen months' building time, we finally got our Suzuki 1428cc blowthrough turbo, EFI alcohol Funny Bike to the track, yippee!", says Dave. "Then it rained, boo hoo, but after a long wait we got to put in our first test pass. We had decided during the week that Gary was to drive the bike off the line and not use the launch control at all, just as well as there was no grip at all. All we wanted was to get a full quarter pass down the track, so we could check out all the systems and start getting data on fuel mapping, clutch settings etc.
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"With the bike staged the green light popped on and Gary wound the throttle to the stop. The bike responded instantly, straight up on to the bars then it spun the tyre which turned the bike towards the centre line. Gary kept it in his lane, straightened up the bike, and finished the pass, mission accomplished. Some interesting video footage and language by fellow Funny Bike rider Steve French showed us how the bike reacted to being driven off the line, rather than a proper launch, and to say it was impressive was a understatement! So it should be interesting with a proper launch dialled in.

"We would like to thank all of our sponsors for their patience in waiting for the project to finish: Universal Turbos, Extreme Electrical, Worldwide Bearings USA, Ian Carver, SCCC Scooterzone, and Wurth UK."

Where are they now?
7th April: Also returning to the track at Shakespeare County Raceway last weekend was Super Pro ET and Wild Bunch racer Paul Harvey who was shaking down the Mailkey.com rear-engined dragster with his MHFtravel.com team.

The team are celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of their rejuvenated ex-Ray Hoare Turbo Saxon race car in 2004 with a freshly-upgraded chassis, engine and paintwork. Built originally by Ray Hoare and Phil Turton in 1974 and featured in the April 1976 edition of Custom Car magazine, the aerodynamic body is still original as is some of the chassis. After some time searching Paul was able to track down Ray and Phil last Christmas, which he tells us was great, adding that it was really nice to be complemented by Ray and Phil who expressed their joy that the car was still competing and approval of the current design. They are hoping to get together some time this year for a bit of a reunion.

Paul and the team of Crew Chief Brian Evans, Phil Tanker and Mark Wilson are fans of the Ford Cleveland Engine. After much time, effort and some heartache perfecting the combination, the engine has started to perform, and while testing with the Wild Bunch (thanks to Chris, Roy and Claire) over the past few years have started to run consistent high eights with the potential for more.

Paul and the team have secured some advertising sponsorship and some great deals this year. Known as the .com Internet Car, the dragster will be sporting advertising logos from various internet-based companies, with Mailkey.com the primary sponsor and MHFtravel.com also featured on the car.

After a very lucky find of an original 1968 Ford Cleveland 351 Trans-am Series alloy race block, and the purchase of some super 3V Australian/American alloy race heads, the team were also able to strike up a major deal with the manufacturers CHIheads.com and Porting Dynamics of Maple Grove. Dave Storlien, Ford Specialist of Cylinder Head Innovations, runner-up in the Popular Hot Rodding Engine Masters Challenge 2002, is supplying and building a Cleveland 385 Stroker Engine, and looking to produce a whopping 750bhp. All this because, Paul says, "They want us Brits to loan them the Cleveland alloy race block", something they have never even seen, so they can use it in the 2004 Engine Masters Challenge. Rules have restricted the usage of SVO parts, so the only way they can produce a Chevy Whipper to win the 2004 Challenge is by big-cubing the cylinder liners of the alloy block and using their off-the-shelf alloy 3V heads rated at 330cfm, 218cc and dyno'd at 650bhp on gas.

Dave of Porting Dynamics added "It is really great that Paul and the team are willing to help us, so we will give them every bit of help we can to be successful in 2004 on the British Drag Racing scene. The engine we are building and shipping over to the team will be ready to drop in, in around four weeks' time.

The Mailkey.com dragster and the MHFtravel.com Team will be competing in the UK National Super Pro ET Championship this year, starting off at the Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod this weekend. They will be using their original 357 Cleveland with 3V alloy heads and Enderle methanol fuel injection. Paul is hoping to improve on his PB and also to exceed the best of 8.56 recorded by Ray Hoare when the car was Turbo Saxon.

"Preliminary testing throughout the rain-affected weekend at SCR gave some indications of the potential", says Paul, "while also showing up some issues, as can be expected after a major ground-up rebuild. The biggest surprise and pleasure was to be awarded Best Engineered Car of the weekend by the Wild Bunch."
©Eurodragster.com
Carter: Testing? Who's testing?
6th April: UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Andy Carter says that the GoTalk-sponsored Carter Motorsports team will be treating this weekend's Pro Fuel Shootout at Santa Pod Raceway as they would any other race. Andy won the event in 2002 and wants to match the record of Fuel FC racer John Spuffard, who has won the Shootout twice.

"I can assure you that we at Carter Motorsport don't use the Pro Fuel Shootout as a test session", says Andy. "We are coming to this race for one reason and one reason only: to win. The moment I don't want to win I will stop driving, but unfortunately for all the others in the Pro Fuel Shootout and the FIA European Top Fuel Championship I'm fitter mentally and physically and just as hungry!
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"We have a good record at this race: runner-up in 2001, winner in 2002, and fastest of the weekend in 2003. I don't see why the GoTalk Top Fuel Dragster should not be in the Final come Monday afternoon and of course I need this win to match John Spuffard's two wins at this event.

"Come over to the Carter Motorsport/GoTalk pit this weekend as we have lots of merchandise: caps, T-shirts, engine parts, mouse mats, handouts and more - come to say Hello and have a look! Roll on Easter, let's hear some fuel!"

Racers: Send your Easter Thunderball previews to us at news@eurodragster.com and we'll publish them here.

Go Perfect for £50.
6th April: This weekend's Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway is the first eligible event for the 2004 Eurodragster.com/Speedflow Perfect Light Award and the 2004 Eurodragster.com/Curbishley Automotive Perfect ET Award.

The Perfect Light Award is presented jointly by Eurodragster.com and high-performance hose and fitting supplier Speedflow, and awards a cash prize to the first racer at an eligible event to record a perfect Reaction Time: 0.000, 0.400 or 0.500 as appropriate. The Award is open to all classes and is available during qualifying of eliminations but not open practice. The prize fund will start at £50 for this weekend's Easter Thunderball and will grow by £25 per event if not won; if the Award is won at an event then the prize fund will be reset to £50 at the next.
©Eurodragster.com
The Perfect ET Award is presented jointly by Eurodragster.com and automotive painter Curbishley Automotive, and awards a cash prize to the first racer at an eligible to run to the thousandth either on their class index or on their dial-in as appropriate. As with the Perfect Light award, the Eurodragster.com/Curbishley Automotive Perfect ET Award will start at £50 for this weekend's Easter Thunderball and increase by £25 at each event if not won. If the Award is won then it will be reset to £50 for the next event. The Perfect ET Award is open to racers in Super Pro ET, Pro ET, Sportsman ET, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street, Junior Dragster, Wild Bunch, VW Pro, VW Sportsman, VW Alternate Engine, 9.90 Bike, 10.90 Bike and Junior Drag Bike.

Eurodragster.com, Fay and Paul Fischer, and Martin and Ruth Curbishley are looking forward to giving away their money...good luck everyone!

Gleeson Wright repeat dual backing.
6th April: Matthew Wright has confirmed that Gleeson Wright Security are to sponsor two race cars in 2004. Matthew and Gary Gleeson will for the third year in a row be backing Andy 'Fred' Hone's Super Modified Granada Scorpio, and will again be sponsoring Ashley Bell's Super Pro ET Monza. Matthew will also be racing his own Super Street pick-up which has had some attention paid to it over the off season.

"Gary and I are again in the very fortunate position to be able sponsor not one but two cars", says Matthew Wright. "As you know Fred and I have been mates for years, and Gary and I would like to wish Fred and crew Mick and Andy all the very best of luck for this season, and let's keep it out of the wall this year please guys! Ashley 'Dinger' Bell is my Crew Chief and I his, we have spent the last few week prepping his race car and my Super Street truck for the coming season. Ashley is stepping up to Super Pro with the Monza having run a best of 9.2/149 so we are not far off the 8.99 bump. With this in mind we decided on nitrous oxide so with a kit borrowed from the aforementioned Fred Hone (cheers mate), my spare bottles and bottle warmer, and a NOS controller winging its way from the States as we speak, we should be in business.
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"As for my truck, it now sports Dart Pro One heads, a new cam, bigger carbs, nitrous oxide,a new convertor, and a TSR gearbox I bought from this guy called Jerry Charles. He came out of the woodwork last year with an old blue Crapri...sorry Capri, entered it in Custom Car Street Eliminator, and made a lot of people very proud to say 'That guy is my mate'. He has run mid nines in a real street car and has been bitten in the arse by that bug they call drag racing and gone all 706ci and Powerglide - hence his brand new TSR 400 coming my way at a real good price. Nice guy that Jerry, but be warned he does like a wrist watch so if you see this big gentleman come bowling over to you in the pits with a cheesy great grin on his boat race hold your watch or he will have it - you have been warned.

"The truck has gone on a strict diet: glass bumpers, bonnet, alloy seats, so with over 800hp without the nitrous and over 1000 hp with it we will hopefully have the fastest UK street-legal truck out there.

"All of us at Gleeson Wright Security wish all you die-hard racers all the luck in the world for the new season, in particular Supert Street, Fred and the crew, happy chappie Steve Rawlings, and Ashley Bell. See you all at the Pod next weekend."

A fun weekend.
6th April: Rookie Wild Bunch racers Helen and Dean Smythe made their first outing to Shakespeare County Raceway as competitors rather than spectators at the weekend's APIRA Test and Tune. Helen, who drives the couple's Helle's Belle altered, says that she and Dean had a very enjoyable weekend.
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"It was only our third time to a track with a race car, and our first Wild Bunch meeting", says Helen. "So how surprised were we to find we were in the write-up on Eurodragster (and pictures as well)! We had a great time, and everyone we spoke to was very pleasant and encouraging. It was great to finally meet Chris and Claire and Sarah from the Wild Bunch, and feel involved as new Wild Bunch members. Lots of people came to talk to us, and passed comments on the car which is always nice when you have spent so long building something.

"Tog introduced himself, and said that if we had a good time we should write and let you know...so yes, we had a great time, big smiles all round, and as I said before, it was exciting to see that we were included in the write-up for the weekend."

Draper III - The Opel.
6th April: Another racer making a first outing at the APIRA Test and Tune was Dave Draper, brother of Charlie and Jim, who was testing his '38 Opel which he plans to run in Pro ET this season. Charlie Draper, who was at Shakespeare County Raceway at the weekend to help Dave, dropped us a line to tell us how he fared.

"I was very pleased", says Charlie. "We did the first two runs on Saturday just in Drive so that Dave could get a feel for the car, then on Sunday he was under orders to nail the crap out of it - which he did: good burnout and a good run equalling what the car was running before we bought it. I couldn't ask for more than that on his first outing.
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"We have purchased two cars to have some fun with, as our Top Methanol FC went into political overdrive. As well as the Opel we have bought Nigel King's car for Jim to drive, hopefully with a few added parts and again just for fun and to fill some garage space. It should be ready for the FIA Main Event."

The incredible sneezing Dodge.

6th April: 'Northern Monkeys' Cath and Tig Napier are ready to test their Pro ET Dodge Challenger (right) at the next Test and Tune at Shakespeare County Raceway after a successful fire-up of their rebuilt engine on Sunday night.

"The Dodge lives!", says Cath Napier. "She burst back into life at 7:45 on Sunday evening with a violent sneeze which produced a three-foot flame from the carb. Eric from Northern Speed Engineering, who was there to oversee the process, extinguished the flames by beating them with his hat, and the next attempt it was much more acceptable with the engine idling sweetly and producing a satisfying 'wahhh!' when Tig blipped the throttle.

"The engine has been completely stripped down over the winter and has a new cam, rings, valve springs, retainers, bearings, and timing chain. I've told Tig that as it's my birthday the day before the Excitement Nationals in May I want a nine-second run from it. That'll be the most expensive pressie I've ever had!"
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As well as a refettled engine, Cath and Tig have a new crew member in the person of Dan, who responded to a Crew Required advertisement in Eurodragster's Jeff Bull Race Engines-sponsored Swap Meet. "Dan came all the way up to Darlington from Bedford to help put the rebuilt motor back in, and after the oily stuff was done we had a happy evening drinking beer and watching videos from Shakespeare County Raceway. We think he'll fit in with the Northern Monkeys very well!"

Swift snippets.
6th April: The Committee of the UK's Supercharged Outlaws have appointed Peter Dickinson as their Race Co-Ordinator, says Chairman Roy Wilding. Peter will form the link between racers and officials during race events. "Peter brings previous experience of co-ordination, having done the job for the Wild Bunch and at the Goodguys events at Shakespeare County Raceway", says Roy.
©Eurodragster.com
Web site updates.
6th April: Our good buddies at Svensk Dragracing have updated their web site with a very interesting interview with NDRS Competition Eliminator Champion, Switzerland's Bruno Bader. The interview is as usual presented in both Swedish and English and is well worth a read. Check it out at www.dragracing.se.
©Eurodragster.com
UK Top Fuel Bike racer and ACU UK Championship Co-ordinator Ian King has been in touch to explain that his web site and E-Mail have been out of service for a few days due to a problem at his ISP. "If you have sent me an E-Mail and not had a response then please accept my apologies but it is beyond my control", says Ian. "My ISP is working very hard and tells me that normal service should be resumed shortly."

Smith: We'll beat the girlies.
5th April: UK Fuel Funny Car racer Gordon Smith says that he already knows the outcome of this weekend's Pro Fuel Shootout at Santa Pod Raceway. With the FCs and the Top Fuellers standing at two wins apiece, victory in this season's Pro Fuel Shootout will give one class bragging rights over the other for a year, and Gordon is sure that the FCs will carry the day.

Gordon in the Shockwave FC and John Spuffard in Showtime will be defending the honour of the Fuel FCs in the shootout against Top Fuel Dragster racers Andy Carter, Lex Joon and Thomas Nataas. "Spuff will always be there or thereabouts", says Gordon. "He and Bob Jarrett have been around some time now and they will always be a threat, especially as they have made some major upgrades this winter. As for the dragsters, I think that we are all disappointed that Lex has gone to Top Fuel as we were all hoping that he was going to be a big player in Funny Car, but I understand what a big hit the team took after their big fire at Shakespeare County Raceway last year, but Knut Söderquist always puts together wining cars and I expect Lex to be in the mix come Monday. Andy Carter is very much up for this year and he will not be holding back - Andy just loves to win and I would expect him to be in the final. Any driver involved with Rune Fjeld must be serious about their racing, and I would expect Thomas Nataas to be a big threat when he is licenced. Rune always builds fast and reliable cars, but he will have his hands full with Thomas and Andy - should be fun!
©Eurodragster.com
"As for Shockwave, we have some real impetus going into this year and Dave Bryant Crew Chief and co-owner - Ed) has put in a lot of work over the winter. We are really up for it and a win at Easter will give us the impetus we need to come out of the shadow of the Showtime car and take the title off them. The way I see it, if the track conditions are good and the weather is warm the fans will see some real close racing. But the winner will be a Funny Car, not one of those girly long things."

You can find out more about the Easter Thunderball, including ticket prices, on Santa Pod Raceway's web site at www.santapod.com.

Carter needs your help.
5th April: We have received an urgent call from UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Andy Carter who needs to borrow or hire a pick-up truck for this weekend:
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"I need to borrow or hire a pick-up truck with fifth wheel", says Andy. "At least a 250 model, 350 would work though. I need it to get a trailer to Santa Pod this weekend and back home (Buckinghamshire) on Tuesday."

If you can help, then please give Andy a call on his mobile phone on 07977 536024 or 07860 405060.

French Trophy open to all.
5th April: Many thanks to Eric Angeloni for sending us details of the 2004 French Drag Racing Trophy, their National Championship which is open to all European teams. The French Trophy is made up of six classes: Super Comp (8.90), Super Gas (9.90), DCR Engineering Super Street (10.90), DCR Engineering Street Run A (12.00), Street Run B (13.00) and Street Run C (14.00). This year's official Championship calendar is as follows:

8th-9th May: Lanas (Aubenas)
End-June: Nancy (Zénith)
July: Turtmann, Switzerland Super classes only
15th August: Lurcy-Levis includes Run What You Brung

Eric has kindly sent three documents giving more details (French language, PDF format):

Championship rules
Supplementary regulations
Entry form

You can read more about the French Trophy at www.francedrag.com.

Swift snippets.
5th April: Congratulations to 2003 FIA Top Methanol Dragster Champion Dave Wilson who pulled a perfect Reaction Time of 0.000 (as the NHRA have it - Ed) in the second round of eliminations at the NHRA Summitracing.com Nationals in Las Vegas yesterday. Unfortunately the Eurodragster.com/Speedflow Perfect Light Award was not available in Vegas, but if Grumpy has done it once then he can do it again at one of the eligible events. Dave and the American Car Imports Racing team have one event left to contest, next week's NHRA National event in Houston, before returning to the UK to start their title defence at the FIA Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway in May.
©Eurodragster.com
Dutch Super Gas racer David Vegter has announced that his Force of Habit team is to be sponsored this year by Erik Roos. "We are very proud to have signed Erik as a new sponsor", says david. "He is a long time friend of this racing team and decided to support this year's racing season". You can find the Force of Habit web site at www.forceofhabit.nl.

Many thanks to Patrik Jacobssen for letting us know that NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified is to be represented at this week's Bilsport Performance Show in Elmia by Micke Lindahl's '57 Chevy and a recovered Lars-Inge Johansson's '66 Chevelle Station Wagon. The show takes place at the Elmia Showgrounds and will also feature one of Top Fuel Dragster racer Micke Kågered's rigs and the Bahco Tools-sponsored Top Fueller. You can find out more at the Show's official web site at www.custommotorshow.se.

Eurodragster staffer Tog would be grateful to hear from anyone who picked up a copy of Saturday's Birmingham Post, which included a feature about the APIRA Test and Tune. If you have a copy then please drop Tog a line at tog@eurodragster.com.

Web site updates.
5th April: Gareth Evans has updated his UK1320 web site with photographs from the weekend's APIRA Test and Tune at Shakespeare County Raceway. You can check out Gareth's pictures by following either the News or Photos links at www.uk1320.com.
©Eurodragster.com
Jim McClure.

4th April: We were very sorry to hear from Monique Pels that legendary US Top Fuel Harley racer Jim McClure died on Friday, of complications from his recent heart transplant. Jim was Top Fuel Harley Champion no less than nineteen times, and was widely known as one of the nicest guys at the track until time came to put on the leathers and climb onto his bike - which is the perfect balance and the best accolade which any racer could want.

Monique has posted a personal tribute from the Pels family at home.wxs.nl/~monique_pels/JIMMCCLURE.HTML, and the Strikbike.com web site has published a very nice appreciation at www.stripbike.com/mcc4304.html.
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Supertwin Fuel racer and photo-journalist Ian Turburville, who supplied the photo at right, writes: "I was so very upset at the news of Jim's passing as I knew him quite well, although not as well as the Pels family, and have spent some time with him at his home and the track over the years. Jim and Phyllis were a great couple and two of life's real heroes so my thoughts are with Phyllis and Jimmy in this dark hour. Jim was giving me advice on my new bike right up to the end as it is based around a set of Schumacher cases originally supplied by him. I will never forget him for his kindness, help and inspiration so with the deepest respect I shall be calling the new bike 'Mr. Spokehead' after Jims internet persona. Ride on Jim, this one's for you."

We are sure that all of Eurodragster's readers will join Tog and Sharkman in sending our very deepest sympathies to Jim's widow Phyllis, Jimmy, and his entire family and legion of friends.

Best Engineered Andréasson.
4th April: Congratulations to Swedish Top Methanol FC racer Leif Andréasson whose new Dodge Stratus TMFC has been voted Best-Engineered Car at this weekend's NHRA Summitracing.com Nationals in Las Vegas.
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The award makes up for a frustrating weekend for the Kamasa Tools-backed team which saw Leif tag the guardrail in qualifying. "We had one run with one tyre shake and a case of wall-kissing which kept us out of eliminations on Sunday", says team member Anders Magnusson. "It ran very well from the start line, heading for an upper-half qualifying spot in the field, but Leif had a hard time seeing the track in this night race and made his maiden wall-kiss.

"There will be more runs before going home, since we are staying for testing on Monday."

Swift snippets.
4th April: 2003 FIA European Top Methanol Dragster Champion Dave Wilson is qualified sixteenth with a 5.761/ 245.90 at this weekend's NHRA Summitracing.com Nationals in Las Vegas. As mentioned above Swedish Top Methanol FC racer Leif Andréasson just missed the cut, qualifying eighteenth in the eights on his first outing in his new Dodge Stratus FC. You will be able to keep in touch with Dave's progress on the Drag Race Central web site at www.dragracecentral.com and on NHRA's web site at www.nhra.com.
©Eurodragster.com
Shakespeare County Raceway's Portatree timing system is scheduled to be upgraded in the next few weeks. Amongst the benefits to racers of the upgrade will be weather conditions at the time of the run printed on timing tickets. We understand that the upgrade is scheduled to be in place in time for the Excitement Nationals at the start of May.

APIRA Test and Tune coverage.
4th April: The weather ultimately won on both days of the APIRA Test and Tune at Shakespeare County Raceway but there was plenty of great action in between the showers and before the track-closing deluges.
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Click here to view our American Car Imports sponsored Event Coverage, or click on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page.

A weekend whiff of Fuel.
3rd April: We are indebted to UK photo-journalist and graphic designer Mark Gredzinski for letting is know that The Mob Fuel Altered will be testing at this weekend's APIRA Test and Tune at Shakespeare County Raceway.

"Ollie Burn has installed a new magneto, the old one probably dating from when Wally Parks was in short trousers!", says Mark. "The new item is apparently something of a monster, Mickey will be wearing his special new rubber underwear and hopes that Ollie has earthed the car properly! "I've built cheaper race cars than that magneto cost us" said Mickey, hoping that it will work to the team's advantage.

"The team are just looking to sixty-foot the car initially to make sure it pulls off the line better than last season. The skins on rice puddings will not rest easy for this year."
©Eurodragster.com
Swift snippets.
3rd April: UK VW Alternate Engine and Super Gas racer Spencer Tramm is planning to make his first outing in his new VW Corrado-bodied race car at the APIRA Test and Tune this weekend. "I am not sure I will make Saturday but I should be there on Sunday" says Spencer.
©Eurodragster.com
Michael Procureur tells us that he is organising the King of Europe shoot-out, to find Europe's fastest street-legal car, in Belgium on 26th June 2005. You can find more information on the King of Europe web site at www.kingofeurope.be.tf.

Web site updates.
3rd April: Nigel Taylor tells us that Hampshire's Carolina Classics have launched a web site at www.carolinaclassics.co.uk. The American car emporium's web site features an inventory of cars for sale, service, advice, a drag racing page, interesting classic facts and more.
©Eurodragster.com
Andréasson unveils new TMFC.
2nd April: Just in from Nevada, courtesy of team member Anders Magnusson, is the first picture of Swedish Top Methanol Funny Car racer Leif Andréasson's new TMFC, which makes its competitive début at the NHRA Summitracing.com Nationals in Las Vegas this weekend. The Dodge Stratus-bodied car was painted by Bernt Karlsson at Customs by Bernt of La Hambra, California, and airbrush guru 'Kurta' and in this picture is shown just before the application of the last sponsor decals.

"We are pitted right opposite Dave Wilson, ready to begin the Euro attack", says Anders.

You can view several more pictures of the new car, including the car build and the application of the new paintjob, on the Andréasson Motorsports web site at www.andreassonmotorsports.com. You will be able to stay in touch with Leif's progress in Vegas this weekend on the Drag Race Central web site at www.dragracecentral.com.
©Eurodragster.com
Ten years of Backdraft.
2nd April: UK Wild Bunch racer 'Crazy' Chris Hartnell's Backdraft slingshot dragster is ready for this weekend's APIRA Test and Tune at Shakespeare County Raceway this weekend, after a few minor hiccups.

"Over the winter the gearbox has been rebuilt and the torque converter re-conditioned, and the engine has been rebuilt, complete with new rods and cylinder heads", says Chris' partner Claire Meaddows. "Chris and the team now can't wait for the new season to start!
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"The main change with the car this season is the brand new paintwork, courtesy of Roadzombie workshops (who did a brilliant job with the nostalgic-looking paintjob), and Demonscream who did the great stickers on the car. The new paint scheme was applied to commemorate Chris' tenth season of racing Backdraft! This year Chris hopes to achieve his goal of breaking the 150 mph barrier, and lowering his current best ET of 9.236, and just can't wait to get back to the tracks racing again with the Wild Bunch!

"Chris and the team wish every drag racer a fast and safe season."

Swift snippets.
2nd April: UK Super Comp and Super Gas racer Malcolm Francis will be attending the APIRA Test and Tune this weekend with his American Car Imports- and Lucas Oils-sponsored '69 Camaro. "My new Grand Am is not ready yet and we need to test it before using it in competition", says Malcolm. "Andy and the guys at Andy Robinson Race Cars are working hard to finish the car as quickly as possible, just some of the things on the car are taking longer than expected to finish, but it�ll look good when it is. Its competition début will be the FIA Main Event at Santa Pod in May, so we�ll be using the Camaro for the first two events of the season."
©Eurodragster.com
A pair of confessions.
2nd April: If you were tuned in yesterday, you will have read that Santa Pod Raceway's radio station Nitro FM is to be relaunched at the Easter Thunderball, and that SPR were to try out weekday broadcasts to the surrounding area. Today we must come clean with our readers and admit that although the story about Nitro FM returning at Easter is true, the paragraph about weekday broadcasts was, in fact, completely false: it was this year's April Fool, and we hope you enjoyed it - you don't know how close you came to a story about a parachute escape system for Super Street Bikes. We would like to thank Santa Pod's Track Manager David Lloyd-Jones for agreeing so readily to our April Fool idea, and for allowing us a free hand to put his name to made-up quotes.
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Our second confession comes from Sweden where Fuel Funny Car racer Leif Helander has owned up to "Having some fun" yesterday with his announcement of a major sponsorship. "It was true for a day!", Leif told us. We happily played along but in return extracted from Leif the information that he has been collecting some new parts for his Starkotter Fuel FC. "I have got some cranks, some wheels and other parts I need from Darrell Gwynn Racing", Leif told us yesterday. "Jerry and Darrell have been good friends for a long time. I would like to get a new body for the car but I can't afford a new one. I would be willing to buy a damaged body since we can repair it here". Leif also confirmed that he will be competing in the MSA British Nitro FC Championship round at the FIA Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway in May.

Kitney and Youth Team sign Q8.

1st April: The Racecarbon Racing team of Kitney Race Engineering are proud to announce an association with Q8 Oils for 2004. The Pro ET team of Trevor Kitney, Eleanor Kitney, and Mark Hales, who will share the driving in the RS 8000 supercharged Ford Escort, are very excited about the new deal.

"We are over the moon to have Q8 Oils on board for 2004", says Trevor. "The help they are giving us should allow us to push on to the next performance level with the Escort, and enable us to speed up the ongoing development of the car. Q8 Oils have been very supportive in the early part of this year, and providing we can continue to give a good show we�re sure that this will carry on for the foreseeable future."

The team, who have possibly the youngest competitive non-Junior drivers ever in UK drag racing (right, click on picture for larger version), are looking forward to trying out the recent modifications to the Escort in anger. They will be running in Pro ET at Santa Pod and Shakespeare County Raceways, and in May will be amongst the UK's fastest street-legal cars making an attempt on the 0-60 record at York Dragway.
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Spellbound by dyno readings.

1st April: UK Pro ET racer Malcolm Motler is putting his Spellbound Morris Minor pick-up back together after a successful dyno test of his new 374 ci engine (right).

"On the dyno we managed to squeeze 530 bhp and 465 ft lbs of torque on Shell Optimax, we are extremely happy with that", says Malcolm's wife Marcie. "This should liven the old girl up and put a rather large grin on Malk's Face, as Spellbound should run consistently in the nines! Over last weekend Malk fabricated a new set of larger headers, which are rather mean-looking even if I say so myself!
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"Malk and Steve Good had a day out at the seaside when they went to collect the newly-fabricated torque converter from Sussex Autos in Eastbourne. We would like to say a big thank you to Sussex Autos for being so helpful and quick, and Steve and Malk would like to thank Kev 'Kiwi' Taylor from CRAP Racing for the lovely cuppa on the way back! We would like to thank Real Steel for their help and guidance through the build of this new engine.

"We now have everything we need to put the car back together and we are really looking forward to competing at the Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod."

Nitro FM ready to air.
1st April: If you were tuned in to Eurodragster News on 10th January you will have read that Santa Pod Raceway's own radio station Nitro FM was to return in 2004. Track Manager David Lloyd-Jones has confirmed that Nitro FM will be broadcasting for the first time at next week's Easter Thunderball.

Nitro FM is scheduled to broadcast from 7:00 am until 8:00 pm during every day of an event, or later if the track action is still underway. Whilst the track is open for racing, Nitro FM will transmit the track commentary and music which is broadcast on the PA; broadcast content outside racing hours has yet to be finalised although we understand that it may include results and interviews as well as music.

"We are very pleased to bring back Nitro FM", says David Lloyd-Jones. "When we survey racers and fans it is repeatedly mentioned as something which they would like to have. It will particularly benefit racers who are pitted away from the PA, although we would like to stress that it will not be taking the place of pit marshals: they will still come to call your class out. It will also be of great use to fans especially as they approach the facility and they too will be able to hear what is going on even if they are out of earshot of the PA."
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Nitro FM will commence broadcasting at Santa Pod on 96.2 FM between 7:00 am and 8:00 pm on the Saturday of the Easter Thunderball (10th April), and will also broadcast between those hours on the Sunday and Monday of the race, and then at every event.

Slingshot a Belgian hit.

1st April: UK Supercharged Outlaw racer Johnny 'Mental' Hall tells us that his last slingshot dragster is attracting attention in Belgium, the home of new owner Peter Van Goethem.
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"Peter has been in touch to let us know that the new paint job applied by Martin Curbishley (right) has been a resounding success, judging by the reaction of the punters at a recent car show", says Johnny Mental. "Peter is looking forward to bringing the car out on track this Summer, probably to race with the Supercharged Outlaws, and he will get all the help he needs from the Windridge Hall McKenzie team .

"Peter's Crew Chief 'Johnny Banana' (work it out for yourself) has checked the car over, freshened up a few things, and is looking forward to coming out to play. We look forward to the Stars and Stripes coming back to Blighty for a visit in the summer, and wish Peter and Johnny Banana the best of luck for the future."

If the engine's knocking...
1st April: UK Wild Bunch racer Tony Smith is looking forward to testing his Cunning Plan altered at this weekend's APIRA Test and Tune, after a service of his engine cured some strange behaviour.

"Last night I went to Abergavenny to finish the last of the small alterations and to do a full service on the race car courtesy of new sponsor Tune-Up Autospares of Pentre", says Tony. "Tune-up Autospares will be supplying all the oils, filters and plugs we need during this season.
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"After the Xtreme Wheels show, we put some fuel in and started up the engine to find that it was missing and that there was a loud tapping noise coming from the engine. We found that a follower had gone soft and Dave Williams tried to pump it up. When we first started it yesterday to warm it up for the oil change it was a lot better, but we could still hear the noise. Luckily, after the service it was completely gone and the engine sounded good. It was then all wrapped up and, bar charging the battery, ready for the weekend.

"I am more than looking forward to this weekend and would like to thank my other sponsors, Alan at Newgate (Newark) Ltd and Les at Tonypandy Motor Company for their continued support. While I will be still on my old slicks for the first couple of meetings, Les is hoping to get the new ones for the Excitement Nationals."

Swift snippets.
1st April: 2003 Custom Car Street Eliminator Champion Steve Pateman will also be attending this weekend's APIRA Test and Tune at Shakespeare County Raceway. We're told that Steve is not testing anything specific but just wishes to take up where he left off at the end of 2003 (with his front wheels two yards in the air? - Ed).
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The European invasion of the USA has grown this weekend as FIA European Top Methanol Dragster Champion Dave Wilson and Swedish Top Methanol Funny Car racer Leif Andréasson will be competing at the NHRA Summitracing.com Nationals which start today in Las Vegas. Leif should be making the first outing in his new Dodge Stratus-bodied TMFC; Grumpy goes to the race in second place in NHRA's National Top Alcohol Dragster Championship and, if the results go his way, could actually come away from the race leading the points standings. You will be able to keep in touch with Grumpy and Leif's progress on the Drag Race Central web site at www.dragracecentral.com and on NHRA's web site at www.nhra.com.

Wanna have fun?

1st April: UK Supertwin Fuel racer and bike photo-journalist Ian 'Turbo' Turburville tells us that he is selling his nitro-burning Harley (right) at the end of this season, as he is already a good way into building a new bike for 2005.

"Everyone knows how much fun I had in 2003 with my entry-level Fuel bike, and it is the perfect introduction to nitro for anyone looking to step in this direction", says Turbo. "I will again be racing it this year and letting it go after the National Finals at a bargain price including starter and parts.

"OK, here's the deal: anyone interested can put a deposit on the bike during this season then crew with us at any events they want. I will pay the entry for up to two people, then they can learn how to run it with us and join in the fun. In October they can pay the balance, enter a practice and blast it down the track. They will then have the winter to make any changes, gather all the necessary bits and bobs and be ready to race in Supertwin, Funny Bike, Comp Bike, whatever! It is a reliable, well-mannered bike which should provide no traumas, but then this is racing so there's no guarantee! Mail me at i.turboville@ntlworld.com for price and specs. The bike can be viewed on the Racing page on my web site at www.turboville.com. You can't lose!"
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Thunderball VIP still booking.
1st April: Kelly Ingall of Santa Pod Raceway has been in touch to let us know that there are only a few days left to book VIP tickets for the Easter Thunderball.

Kelly tells us that for £79 plus VAT per person, or £38 plus VAT for under-12s, the package includes access to the VIP balcony, refreshments throughout the day, buffet lunch, VIP parking and toilets, complimentary ear plugs and event programme, and a souvenir of the day.
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For more information, or to make bookings, drop Kelly an E-Mail at kelly@santapod.fsnet.co.uk, or call her on 01234 782828 (outside the UK +44 1234 782828), by next Tuesday, 6th April.

Oil Machine.
1st April: Martin Gleadow of UK Comp Eliminator team Time Machine Racing has written with a reminder that the team are able to supply orders of Lucas Oil Products to racers at the track, and that there is still time to get orders in for the Easter Thunderball.

"Although we have withdrawn our entry from the meeting as the car simply will not be ready in time and we are not going to rush anything this season, we are planning on attending on finals day (weather permitting) to take in the first whiff of Nitro for the year, and so will be able to bring any deliveries with us", says Martin.

"We have also launched a new web site to promote the oil delivery services, which can be found at www.tmr-oils.co.uk. From here you will be able to contact us if you have any queries, and also place an order for delivery to the track through a simple and easy to use form. If you require any oil bringing to the track please use the form on this web site or call Bob on 07748 300762.

"Should you need a significant quantity of oil before the meeting we may be able to arrange a delivery for you at an earlier date, but please note that we do not currently have the facilities to provide numerous small deliveries at short notice. However we are looking to constantly develop our services, so if you do have queries or special requirements do not hesitate to contact us, either via the on-line contact form or talk to Bob directly on the above number.

"Lastly, good luck to everyone and here's to another fantastic season!"
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Web site updates.
1st April: Dennis Kieselhorst has posted issue ten of his excellent Dragracer.de on-line magazine. The German-language magazine is presented in PDF format and includes features on Ton Pels, Peter Wacker and Bernard Newbury, a full European race calendar, news from the German and European scene, and much more. As from the next issue, Dragracer.de is to become a printed magazine. For more details and pricing information contact Dennis at redaktion@dragracer.de.
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Earlier news

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