Gold gets ugly! 30th June: UK Super Pro ET racer Derek Flynn of Eurodragster.com News sponsor Gold RV says that his Gold RV Racing dragster is "Getting ugly" in time for next month's Total Seal Super Pro ET Shootout at the Drachten Internationals. "We have recently purchased a new big ugly hat (right) to replace our birdcatcher which was rather battle-scarred from our blower incident earlier in the season", says Derek. "We cannot wait to try it out at Drachten, as were loth to change things after running four 200+ mph runs in a row. The old birdcatcher was cracked and needed replacing. We hope that the big and ugly catcher will also allow a better airflow as the previous hat was behind the roll cage (and my big head). ©Eurodragster.com "We are really looking forward to our first international race and to meeting up with our Dutch friends again, and we can't wait to contest this Super Pro invitational. We would like to thank Performance Unlimited and Total Seal for putting up the $2,000 prize money for our class and we shall be doing all we can to win it, or at the very least to put on a good show for you! "We are also taking Pete Walters and his J&W/Gold RV Junior Dragster to the event. Hopefully Pete can continue with his good form and maybe bring home another trophy to add to his growing collection!" Swift snippets. 30th June: Spotted in the Top Fuel pits at Alastaro yesterday were Eddie Corr working alongside Ben Allum in Andy Carter's team, US tuner Glenn Mikres working with Urs Erbacher's team, and Gary Page working with the Lorentzon and Möller operation. ©Eurodragster.com Team member Magnus Cato says that Michael Malmgren and the Lahega Pro Stock team made Wednesday's test session at Meca Raceway and the repaired Grand Am put down some impressive numbers even in unusually cold conditions. "We can't wait to start racing at Alastaro as the new engine really came to life in our second run", says Magnus. "By the way, the engine is christened Hercules. We still consider it a brand new engine as we only ran it over the eighth once at Santa Pod." Rick Cuthbert of Trakbak Racing tells us that RWYBers who can't resist the World Cup will be able to watch all games coinciding with events at Santa Pod on a large screen TV in Fuelers (sic) bar, including England's game against Portugal during Saturday's Run What You Brung. Also on the subject of Santa Pod Raceway, SPR have a stand at the British International Motor Show at London's Excel centre between 20th and 30th July. Santa Pod's exhibition Top Fueller will be on display at stand 560. For more about the Show check out www.britishmotorshow.co.uk. Kenny's weekend, by Kenny. 30th June: Via Carla Pittau comes a report from Chris Kenny on UK Pro ET racer Aidan Kanny's mixed weekend at the SPRC Summernationals: We had a little trouble with the weather slowing the car down on Saturday, and we couldn’t get the car dialled. On the last run, with the weather staying pretty much the same (1567 feet in the second qualifying round to 1530 feet in the third), we thought we would keep the dial-in the same. The car decided to run quicker and we broke out which, being the #27 qualifer in Pro ET, can be a nail bitting experience as it only the top thirty two who qualify, and everyone can run the numbers. ©Eurodragster.com On Sunday morning, we faced got the #11 qualifier Wayne Hiscock, who also runs in Super Gas. We have never raced Wayne, but we have been pit buddies before, and we know that he is a good driver. Aidan had a good light and the car run pretty much as expected, he got the win light (now there’s a sight he has missed for a while!). In the second round we met Clive Cox, another good racer, who cuts good lights and is on the dial-in. Aidan cut a red light, a -0.025 (0.475 in real money), but went on the dial-in with an 11.874 on 11.87 which was a bit disappointing, but hey it’s only racing - we can come back and try again. We then watched our Bristol buddies get to the finals in their classes. Bob Lees and Mike Bentley - I know he’s not from Bristol but he has a ZaNNetec car so he is included - in Super Street, and Anna Stanley getting her first win in Junior Dragster. King engineers Psycleworkz deal. 30th June: The UK's King Racing Top Fuel Bike team are happy to announce that premier drag race component fabricators PsycleWorkz have joined their European Championship team as associate engineers. Martin and Cindy Newbury's company have established themselves as one of Europe's leading fabricators of bespoke parts for custom and race bikes. From a chassis to a small one-off bracket their service is second to none. Already having manufactured one-off parts for some of Europe's top racers such as Geof Hauser, Graham Dance, Richard Stebbings, Richard Gipp and Ric Naylor to name but a few they are fast establishing themselves as the first company to call for those hard to source special parts. The European Championship- and record-holding King Racing bike already utilises a number of parts from the company including some fabulous new triple clamp and riser assemblies, with billet sumps and other parts already underway in the Peterborough workshop. For more information on PsycleWorkz visit their web site at www.psycleworkz.com". ©Eurodragster.com Web site updates. 30th June: All of the photographs entered into the recently announced Drag, Rod and Classic Review drag racing photo competition can be viewed on-line at www.drcreview.com. There are images of track action and other interesting subjects too. If you haven't already done so, there's still time to enter by E-Mailing one or two images to competition@drcreview.com. Just to remind you, a prize worth around £200 is up for grabs, comprising two weekend tickets to the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod in September, £50 cash from STP, a pair of Peltor ear defenders and a great book of drag racing photography, Quarter Mile Chaos, donated by USAutomotive. Check out Top Stories for full competition details. ©Eurodragster.com Interview: Mats Eriksson. 29th June: Sweden's Mats Eriksson is well-known for his exploits in one of the most photographed Pro Modifieds on the planet, the Green Goblin 1956 Ford Crown Victoria, which he has been racing since 2001. But Mats' history in racing goes back much further, to the late 1970s, and he runs his race car alongside a highly-successful sheet metal and race car chassis building business. ©Eurodragster.com In the latest of Eurodragster.com's occasional series of interviews, Simon spoke to Mats in the Green Goblin's spacious and well-appointed race car trailer at the 2006 FIA Main Event. Click here to read our interview with Mats Eriksson, or click on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. A quick word with Janne Ahonen. 29th June: Finland's NDRS Comp Eliminator Champion Janne Ahonen has so far been frustrated in his attempts to licence for Top Fuel Dragster in time for this weekend's FHRA Nitro Nationals at Alastaro, as it rained on Tuesday and yesterday. The plan is for Janne's licencing passes to commence at Alastaro today (Thursday), day one of the race. We were all set to blitz Janne with questions once he had licenced but with an improving weather forecast for today and the rest of the weekend at Alastaro he will have quite enough to think about, so our good friend Hannele Höydén kindly grabbed a moment with Janne and asked him a few quick questions for us. ©Eurodragster.com How long have you been racing now? I have now been racing for four seasons, and I have won the NDRS twice, so now Eagle Racing and I are aiming for a third... When did you decide to go Top Fuel, and what made you do it? The discussions started during last season, and I decided that if other guys and girls can do it, why can't I? What is the plan - to move to Top Fuel in 2007 or to contest some more races this year? We will see about this race first and look at how it goes. Have you got sponsors for Top Fuel? You can see all of our sponsors on the Eagle Racing web site. How do you manage both drag racing and ski-jumping, does the racing get in the way of your training? Racing is not in the way. It is my hobby, ski-jumping is my profession. It is good to get your mind to relax and not think about ski jumping or training all the time. And that is how racing serves me best, you are not able to think about anything else. 11:45 Hanski has kindly been in touch with a picture (right, click on picture for large version) courtesy of Heikki "Heineken" Malinen and Janne's reaction to his first Top Fuel Dragster launch which took place at lunchtime today (Thursday). "It was something else", said Janne. "What a feeling! After I pushed the pedal, the dragster started to make some moves, but what a power behind me! I feel absolutely amazed." New appointments at SCR. 29th June: Further to Tuesday's news item, Shakespeare County Raceway is pleased to announce that Press Officer and Commentator Jerry Cookson is to take up a new position as Marketing and Promotions Manager, effective immediately. "In my thirty-three year association with the track this will be the most challenging position yet," says Jerry. "As we all know it's a tough old world finding sponsorship for UK drag racing, but with the expansion of the management team at Shakespeare County, and with new sponsorship proposals pending for the 2007 season I'm quietly confident that we'll be able introduce some new sponsors into this fantastic sport of ours." Jerry also adds that he will still be looking after all the track's press and media representatives as well as holding the mic from time to time with new commentators Tony Byng and long time SCR supporter Paul Venners. Shakespeare County Raceway have also announced that effective from this coming weekend's NSRA Nostalgia Nationals, Bruno Sanderson-Brown will solely assist in pre-race track prep duties and clean-up calls working with the track's current team of Steve Hill, Alan Davis and other members of the track crew. ©Eurodragster.com New PBs before the break. 29th June: UK Pro ET racer Marius Blackburn successfully upgraded his licence in Roger Sinclair and Mick Kemp's Super Pro dragster at the SPRC Summernationals, but unfortunately suffered chassis damage before he could break into the sevens. "I was only able to make one run in the car but it was enough to upgrade as I had already made some runs in the car a while back", Marius told Eurodragster.com. "The run I made was in some ways what I had hoped for netting a NPB of 8.04 seconds at 162.4 mph, not bad for a re-acquainting run, no more runs though as the chassis broke some uprights between the driver's compartment and the front wheels. I was looking forward to maybe a seven second run after the 8.04 but I guess that will have to wait a while. ©Eurodragster.com "My thanks go out to Mick and Roger for the chance they gave me. See you all at the European Finals." If anyone has any photos of the S&K Super Pro ET dragster at the Summer Nationals, then Marius would be pleased to hear from you on 01485 600920. UK, SPRC points updated. 29th June: Many thanks to Yvonne Tramm and our very own Simon for forwarding us the post-SPRC Summernationals points standings in the UK National Drag Racing Championships. Rob Turner continues to lead the MSA British Drag Racing Championship, with a continued dearth of national entries and main protagonist Dave Wilson preparing for Alastaro. In Super Modified, Team Ellis have cemented their lead over Andy Kirk and Rob Smallworth now moves into equal second with Andy. Super Comp is very tight with Shaun Lathan having a slim lead over Chris Johnson, Paul Knight and Andy Williams. In Super Gas, Tim Adam has resumed his Championship-leading ways this season and Matt Gatland and Steve Dunn/Jon Evans have now both overtaken Frank Mason and Brendan Clancy in the standings. John Grant is leading the Super Street championship having won it in 2005, with Bob Lees making a move from sixth to second. In Super Pro ET, Martyn Jones continues in the top position which he assumed after the Main Event and Steve Johnson has made a move from eighth to third following his Summer Nationals triumph. Pro ET sees Lee Huxley in the lead once again as defending champion John Atkinson has struggled a little with car problems and Paul Marston Racing now occupy two of the top five spots. Lee's father Brian, heading Sportsman ET shows no sign of losing his competitiveness despite moving to a more 'relaxing' class. Scott Hauser has increased his lead over Nick Mugridge in Junior Dragster and Anna Stanley has made a move from seventh to third. In 9.50 Bike, Andy Bird has increased his lead following Fred Furlong’s tumble at the Main Event and in spite of Richard Sawatzki who has moved from ninth to second after the Summer Nationals. ©Eurodragster.com You can view the UK Championship points by clicking here, or by clicking on the Points Standings link on the left hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Looking at the ACU UK National Championship points posted on the King Racing web site, record-setter Roel Koedam, despite only having attended one round of four, is still the Top Fuel leader newcomer Ian Turburville. Neil Midgley's substantial lead in Funny Bike has been eaten into by Tim Blakemore's six second form. In Pro Stock Bike, behind leader Len Paget, Paul Watson has moved into second place over transatlantic competitor Dave Beck. Kevin Charman continues to dominate a somewhat depleted Comp Bike field and Jamie Sneddon's lead in Super Street Bike has been cut by a resurgent Steve Venables. We are also indebted to Yvonne Tramm for sending us the post-SPRC Summernationals points standings in the 2006 Santa Pod Racers Club Championships. You can view the SPRC Championship standings by clicking here or by clicking on the Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Swift Snippets. 29th June: Returning UK Pro ET racer Wayne Nicholson says that his new race car is very close to completion, but that unfortunately it will not be ready for the Total Seal Super Pro ET Shootout at Drachten. "We are really disappointed not to be racing our fellow racers in Super Pro", says Wayne. "However we will be attending to support everyone else and to cheer the Brits along. The Lucky Devil Corvette (right, click on picture for large version) will be a little while longer and good things come to those who wait. On behalf of everyone else I would like to thank Total Seal for their support of this event and hope it will prove to be a worthwhile annual trip". ©Eurodragster.com The closing date is fast approaching for entry to next week's European Doorslammers at Santa Pod Raceway, which features pize money in four doorslammer brackets as well as the first outing for the Top Sportsman class. For more details check out our news item European Doorslammers prize funds of 20th June; the entry form is available for download from the Entry Forms page of the Santa Pod Racers Club at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. Trev Gardiner of Team Scoop Motorsports has been in correspondence with the UK's Channel 5 about their unfortunate editing of the coverage of the Las Vegas NHRA race, which resulted in only qualifying being shown when the programe was screened in May. Channel 5 have told Trev that they will broadcast eliminations on 12th July. "They do listen, you know!" says Trev. Nostalgia Nationals beckon. 29th June: "If it ain't broke...don't fix it. That could well be our motto as the National Street Rod Association once again host the Nostalgia Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway this weekend, writes Alan Martin: With a packed field of pre 1973 Run What Ya Brung participants, joined by the ranks of Wild Bunch racers, two days of solid track action are assured. Also, there is a strong ten car field of Fuel Altereds expected to run under the NFAA banner, no less than nineteen Outlaw Anglia participants are expected to slug it out, and almost matching the Outlaws is an eighteen car field in the Custom Car Flathead Meltdown which, this year again, includes a special 4 Pot Challenge sponsored by Saturn Industries. There should be something there for everyone! Add in a bunch of cars running in the Gasser Circus and the National Street Car Challenge, an invited six car field of VW Outlaw Flat Fours and, of course, Roger Goring in the ever-popular Firestorm Jet Funny car, and I think we've got all the bases covered! Friday arrivals in street cars will be able to get scrutineered between 5:00 pm and 8:00 pm ready for an early start at 9.30 am on Saturday. All the usual entertainment will be laid on including a live band on Saturday night, a free courtesy bus to Stratford and back during the day on Saturday, and for those who just have to know what's happening in Germany, you'll be able to watch the match on a screen in the clubhouse! Admission is £18 per day or £25 for the complete Friday to Sunday nostalgia experience. Run What You Brung track fee is £18 for unlimited runs or £30 for the weekend. Anyone think of anywhere better to be this weekend? Thought not. Picture courtesy and ©Dave Dick ©Eurodragster.com Web Site Updates. 29th June: Aldert Tjoelker has updated his Fast Frisian web site with ten video clips of cars and bikes from the recent Drachten Nationals. Check it out at www.fastfrisian.nl. ©Eurodragster.com One more for Total Seal sixteen. 25th June: The entry for the Total Seal Super Pro ET shootout at next month's Drachten Internationals has been published and has reached fifteen. Organiser Mark Flavell is very pleased with the size of the entry but says that there is room for more. ©Eurodragster.com "Twenty two teams originally showed an interest", says Mark. "If one more entered then we would hit the magic sixteen-car field. There is still time to enter the race and come away $2000 richer courtesy of Dave Powell of Performance Unlimited, the European agent for Total Seal piston rings." You can read more about the Drachten Internationals, which takes place on 14th-16th July, on the eXplosion Drag Racing Club web site at www.explosiondragracing.com/eXplosion.htm, or if you ae already decided then you can enter on-line at www.explosion.nl. If you have any queries about the Total Seal Super Pro ET Shootout then you can contact Mark Flavell at mark@flavellwelding.co.uk. Turbo and the Twin Fuel Bikes. 28th June: UK Supertwin Fuel racer Ian Turburville says that he and his team went to the SPRC Summernationals ready for some fun and another lesson in their Nitro 101 class. Turbo ran in Top Fuel Bike at this event alongside Steve Carey: Stefan from Holland couldn't make the show, neither could Ian King (concentrating on the international series) nor Steve Woollatt (torched his motor at the Main Event) and the rest of the Fuellers were getting ready for the Scandinavian rounds so it was down to us and another ex-Supertwinner, Steve Carey, on his blown four-cylinder bike. We had two laps on the Saturday and another qualifier on the Sunday morning, and then straight into our final. Steve's extra power and experience meant we couldn't get near him but we gave it our best shot with every run over the weekend being a personal best for us. We still haven't got a handle on the clutch as our unique primary ratio means we have to put on a lot more weight than normal, just how much remains to be seen. Our sixty foot times were dismal and the bike came off the line like a slug but then pulled very hard all the way thru the traps. The good news was that trimming the ends off the exhaust pipes worked and we were now going perfectly straight which was a huge relief! Mr Spokehead managed a gentlemanly 8.3 but at a still accelerating 176 mph! The bad air meant we got the tune-up slightly wrong and pinched a piston but no other damage so we went home very happy. Arias have come to the rescue with more pistons and rings so both Steve and myself are getting ready for the Bulldog Bash at Shakespeare County Raceway in August, when we hope to race a large field of Nitro Twins and Top Fuel bikes, can't wait! By some miracle we are now second in the prestigious ACU Top Fuel Bike Championship, which is a great moral booster for Brum and myself. Several small anvils are being attached to my clutch arms as we speak so god knows what we will break next, but we will have fun doing it for Jim but wait, is it rich...or is it lean? Keeping us in the fray are the great folks at Custom Chrome, Red Line Oil, S&S Cycle, Jims, Arias, Sprint Dampers, Rush Racing, Zodiac, Fast Lane Racing, Curbishley Automotive and the Gates Rubber Company. Special thanks go to Andy Robinson, Ray White, Rob Smallworth and the Santa Pod staff for all their help over the weekend, much appreciated everyone. ©Eurodragster.com Swift snippets. 28th June: We are as ever indebted to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe for forwarding us the official timing data from the SPRC Summernationals. You can view the SPRC Summernationals timing data by clicking here or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Entry forms and information for all classes for the Exporama Drag Challenge, which takes place at Amcar International Raceway at Gardermoen on 3rd-6th August, are now available on the Norsk Dragracing Gardermoen web site at www.ndrg.no. ©Eurodragster.com UK Pro ET racer Charlie Chivers will be exhibiting his Taxi Express Capri at the Witney Motor Show in Oxfordshire on the evening of Thursday 6th July, with support from Shakespeare County Raceway who are bringing a practice Tree for the public to try out. "If there any other teams that would like to bring their car along then please contact me at rosiechivers@aol.com", says Charlie. "Cars will need to be there at around 4.30 pm." Santa Pod Raceway are offering discounted hospitality packages to racers for the FIA European Finals to help get the wheels rolling with sponsors or potential sponsors. Hospitality packages start at £79 and should be booked by 31st August. For more information check out Santa Pod Raceway's web site at www.santapod.com, E-Mail Kelly Dormer at kelly@santapod.com, or call her on 01234 782828. Jap Show: It's a record. 28th June: The weekend's Jap Show at Santa Pod Raceway was another success, with more enthusiasts than ever packing the site, says Rick Cuthbert of Trakbak Racing. ©Eurodragster.com "The weather was great, the racing fantasic, and vibe unsurpassed", says Rick. "The event was record breaking in many ways: This event was the largest ever Jap Show event in terms of people on site This event saw the fastest Run What Ya Brung field at any event, ever! This event saw the world's fastest run by a Nissan Skyline GTS (which is the 2WD model): John Bradshaw's GT ART-prepared machine ran a 9.930! This event saw a new UK Front Wheel Drive record, set by Guy Chamberlain in his CPL Racing Honda Civic Type R. Guy ran 11.397/128! "Kevin Huntley won the Pro Shootout in his Envy Performance Toyota Supra, beating Fensport's Adrian Smith in his Toyota Celica in a stunningly close final. "All in all a memorable day at the Pod. You can find a full report and view the picture gallery at www.japshow.co.uk/r_jap2006.htm." TV schedules. 28th June: Caroline Day of Santa Pod Raceway has been in touch to let us know that TV broadcasts of this year's FIA and FIM/UEM European Championships will be commencing on Sky Sports on Thursday July 20th with the FIA Main Event. You can find the full broadcast schedule on Santa Pod Raceway's web site at www.santapod.com. We have heard very good reports of this year's coverage from those who have seen the previews. ©Eurodragster.com UK readers following the NHRA Powerade series on Channel 5 are reminded that the next programme is broadcast tomorrow (Thursday) between 04.45 and 06.00 and covers Round 8 of the Championship, the Pontiac Performance NHRA Nationals from Columbus, Ohio. This weekend's events. 28th June: The main race in Europe this weekend is the FIA/UEM Nitro Nationals, at Alastaro. The entry list is strong in Top Fuel (eleven cars entered), Pro Stock (nine cars), Pro Modified (seventeen cars), Supertwin (twelve bikes), and Pro Stock Bike (eight bikes). There are also four Top Methanol Dragsters, seven Top Methanol Funny Cars, and five Top Fuel Bikes plus a big field of Sportsman racers. Local interest is provided by Tommi Haapanen in Top Fuel, his first FIA race since 1999 and the team's first race since 2003, when wife Anita Mäkelä came fifth in the FIA Top Fuel Championship. Also Janne Ahonen will be making his debut in Top Fuel at this race. Janne not only won the NDRS Competition Eliminator championship in 2004 and 2005, but is a world-class ski jumper, having won the World Championships in 1997 and 2005, and achieved first place in the World Cup in 2003–2004 and 2004–2005. For a biographical note in English, click here. Other Finnish FIA competitors include Arto Höylä and Japa Kuutniemi who will be competing in Top Methanol Dragster and Top Methanol Funny Car respectively. In Pro Stock, Eero Knihtilä will be looking to repeat his upset win at the FIA Main Event against Richard 'Nixxon' Sundblom and other competitors. In Pro Modified, Seppo and Sami Saapola, Jari Parén (in a brand new '63 Corvette), Marko Lantto and Jarmo Vellamo will be competing for local honours. Finnish FIM/UEM bike competitors include Jaska Salakari and Petri Kalttonen in Super Twin Fuel and Olli Koskinen in Top Fuel Bike. ©Eurodragster.com There are other races in Europe this weekend as well. If you are in Västerås, Sweden, then the Aros Nationals will be taking place on Saturday and Sunday with a field of eleven Top Doorslammers and full Sportsman field too. In Germany, MZA Luckau hosts the 18th Grand National at Jerry Lackey Raceway, on Friday to Sunday, including no less than thirteen Harley Davidson V-Rod Destroyers in their own elimination. Cars present include Timo Habermann's Top Methanol Dragster and Stefan Winter's Mercedes. In France the Ninth Southern Cape Run takes place at Pêchereau aerodrome on Saturday and Sunday, featuring the French bike championship. Shakespeare County Raceway hosts the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals on Saturday and Sunday. As well as NSRA street rod Run What You Brung the event hosts a round of the Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association and Wild Bunch. Web site updates. 28th June: The official web site of the Kamasa Tools Mechanic Challenge, which took place in Stockholm on 10th June, has been updated with a photo gallery which you can find at www.mechanicchallenge.com/frame_gallery.htm. ©Eurodragster.com Eurodragster.com Photo Editor Sharkman used his latest race-free weekend to attend his local Hot Rod Club's cruise night in Bedford. "This gave me the opportunity to stretch my wings a bit photographically, try some different things - shooting from a tripod for one! - and generally relax and experiment". You can see the results at www.topendtales.com. Nataas content. 27th June: Norwegian Top Fuel Dragster racer Thomas Nataas expressed himself pleased with his single pass at the Right On Race and Rock event at Amcar International Raceway at the weekend. Thomas said that Siw Nystad also impressed again with her latest licencing pass which was also the first outing for the new Rune Fjeld Motorsports Top Fuel Dragster. "I ran on Saturday and Siw ran on Sunday", Thomas told Eurodragster.com. "It all went fine. We didn't run any special times although I ran a 0.87 sixty foot on my pass." Thomas was testing new fuel and clutch management systems and new cylinder heads and everything worked well first time. "My car left very hard, it felt really powerful", he said. "I got to half track before it smoked the tyres." ©Eurodragster.com Siw Nystad's first pass in the RFM dragster was a planned 120-foot run. "Siw managed very well", said Thomas. "She did everything correctly and she got off the throttle exactly where she was told. The new car is more than OK, it left hard". Siw is scheduled to make her final licencing pass, a representative full pass, at the Veidec Festival at Mantorp Park in July. Rune Fjeld and team are now at Alastaro where NDRS Comp Eliminator Champion Janne Ahonen will be making licencing passes today and tomorrow. SCR goes green again. 27th June: With the NSRA's Nostalgia Nationals just days away Shakespeare County Raceway is pleased to announce that they have now taken delivery of a new Berryman Products applicator with a sizeable quantity of 'Green Stuff' absorbent acquired from Berryman Products, writes SCR Press Officer Jerry Cookson. "Its been a tough couple of days in obtaining the applicator from Berryman's and to make sure that it arrived in time for this weekends meeting," says Jerry. "But with the combined efforts of Berryman Products Suzie Swafford and shipping company Expeditors International, the unit is here fully loaded and ready for action if needed by the raceway's clean up team." Jerry also tells us that the track's rubber sled, originally built by Eurodragster.com's sponsor Andy Robinson Race Cars, has also gone back to ARRC for an upgrade, and will be in place for the weekend. Bennett Top BBQ. 27th June: The Bennett Racing Topolino ran consistent times at the SPRC Summer Nationals and, as Luke Bennett says, this was enough for the team to come away from the event with the Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association points lead intact. "We went to the track for this event as points leaders and main intention was to finish the event still at the top. For the first run on the Saturday we so nearly didn't make it, yet again we were let down by the MSD points box, but John Wright saved the day and went to his workshop and we borrowed his…thanks again, John. "Once this was all fitted on we fired the car and went straight down for a run, we were paired with Havoc, we were in the right lane pulled round and we did the usual small burnout as we don't want to hurt parts. We the run a straight and tidy 7.41 and I was happy, it went straight and considering the air was close to what they have at Las Vegas and were tuning by the plug and not a data logger we were going for consistency, as an alky motor should be. "The second run of the day was another 7.41 and identical 1/8th mile speed too. On the Saturday night we hosted a BBQ for the NFAA teams, which went down very well and hopefully, all had a good laugh there. "For Sunday the first run was a little earlier, so we hoping for better air but the sun was out and again we run a 7.42. For our last run of the weekend, we changed few things and had an excellent race against Havoc and ran a 7.27 which was quickest with this set up yet, so we were happy, came away top of points with no damage and a nice sun tan! Roll on the Nostalgia Nationals". Hutch's In-Orbit Experience. 27th June: Regular readers will remember that the Orbit Satellite System was recommended back in February for those who wanted to watch all NHRA programming on ESPN2. John Hutchinson has written with his experiences of the system. "I have my new Orbit Satellite System up and working. At 8 am this morning l was watching 2 hours of the "O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals" qualifying runs that took place in St. Louis on Saturday, this will be repeated at 3 pm this afternoon. All broadcast via ESPN2 in High Definition and the picture quality is excellent. "At 7 pm today I'll be watching 3 hours of the "O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals" Final Eliminations, that only took place yesterday in St. Louis. "There are still eleven NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series and eight Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series on the ESPN2 TV Schedule this season. "This system is not cheap, but if you're a drag racing fanatic like myself - go for it. The 90cm Channel Master Dish including brackets, cable, labour, etc cost £494. The Orbit Satellite Receiver including six months subscription to the Mega Package cost £240, which included courier costs of £50 from London to Gateshead. For more information go to www.orbit.net. "As to a dealer, I recommend Adila Satellites company as Mr. Ken Marcell there has helped me so much; of the five dealers I emailed he was the only one to reply. "Their location is: Adila Satellites. Adila House, Unit 8, Abercorn Commercial Centre Manor Farm Road, Wembley, Middlesex, HAO 1YA Tel:(+44)20 8902 2233 Fax:(+44)20 8902 0233 e-mail info@adilasatellites.com Swift Snippet. 27th June: Racers are reminded that today, Tuesday 27th, is the closing date for normal-price entry to the Veidec Festival, which takes place at Sweden's Mantorp Park on 27th-30th July. Entry and power forms are available at www.veidecfestival.com/2006/forms.htm. In case of query or to have forms faxed then contact organisers Motorevents AB at info@motorevents.com or call +46 142 29 88 5. Web Site Updates. 27th June: In the latest entry in his exclusive Racer Blog, FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion Lex Joon talks about Gerda's success in a dressage event and preparations for next weekend's FHRA Nitro Nationals being held on 29th June to 2nd July. You can check out Lex's Blog by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blog link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. The Explosion Drag Racing website has been updated with the entry list for the forthcoming Drachten Internationals on 14-16 July, and results and photos from the recent Drachten Nationals. 440 Magazine launches. 26th June: We are very pleased to welcome the new 440 Magazine as the latest Eurodragster.com News sponsor. 440 Publishing Ltd are the publishers of this brand new quarterly magazine for rodders and racers. The surprisingly-named 440 Magazine is A5 in size, and a copy of the 72-page launch issue is free while stocks last. To request your complimentary copy visit www.440magazine.co.uk or click on the logo at right, and the link for your free issue can be found on the Home Page. The publishers reckon they are filling a clear gap in the market. “This is a hands-on magazine catering for the 95% of rodders and racers who don’t have £50k to spend on their toys" says 440 Managing Director Mark Newby. "What’s more, all the stories are submitted by rodders and racers themselves. All we do is tidy them up and make them (we hope) enjoyable reading! This a grass-roots publication for the good guys which isn’t available in the news-stands, only on subscription”. We've checked out the first issue and it contains a large number of interesting features including John Price apportioning blame for his involvement in drag racing, Darryl Bradford explaining what it is like to drive a Top Fuel Dragster, the early history of Andy Robinson Race Cars, and a piece by our good buddy Alan Currans about his excellent Acceleration Archive web site. Swift snippets. 26th June: Swedish Pro Stock racer Michael Malmgren expects to contest this weekend's FHRA Nitro Nationals having received his Lahega-sponsored Grand Am back from Mats Eriksson's workshop. "It's still a little scratched here and there but in one piece", says Magnus Cato. "We've cleaned it up and started to put it back together, the motor is in. The plan is to test at Meca this Wednesday but we still have a lot to do. We will definitely race at Alastaro." ©Eurodragster.com Helen Todd of Powerpoint Communications has been in touch to remind us that TV coverage of Super Gas, Street Eliminator and Supertwin Fuel from Shakespeare County Raceway will be included in World Motorsport on UK satellite channel Sky Sports Extra at 20:00 and midnight tonight (Monday), and on Sky Sports 2 at 9:30 and 14:30 tomorrow. Web site updates. 26th June: Anne Llewellyn tells us that the Bristol Doorslammers section of the Zannetec web site has been updated with help from Aiden Kenny’s son Chris. The update includes the fortunes of all the Bristol Doorslammers and “Doorslammer Apprentice” Anna Stanley, now making her mark in Junior Dragster. Check it out at www.zannetec.com. Anne says that she and Zane are not yet decided about the future of their Super Comp dragster after their venerable motor passed away at the FIA Main Event. "We’ve had many offers of engines, but we are having a Ford/Chevy “discussion” – watch this space!", says Anne. "The Zannetec workshop is pretty busy so the customer has to come first; the dragster will be out again when time allows." ©Eurodragster.com King of Europe updates. 25th June: As promised on Friday, Mick Geraghty is sending us updates from the Toyo Tyres King of Europe at Chimay in Belgium: 17:45 Nigel Parkin's opponent is disqualified for illegal front tyres so Nigel Parkin takes the bye in the final, the event win, and the title King of Europe 2006. 17:35 Taz Racing takes the third/fourth place run-off with a 9.78 as their opponents do not show. Swedish finalist's front tyres being investigated. 17:00 John Sleath loses to Taz Racing, Nigel Parkin is up against Italian team whose Lancia has no lights (Street-legal, huh? - Ed). Swedish racer with twin turbos is changing fluids every round...and now "It's all kicking off" over the Italian team. The Italian team has been disqualified which gives Nigel Parkin a free run at the final, the other semi final is Taz Kev Preston v Sweden's Stefan Gustafsson and Stefan Gustafsson takes the win. Nigel's lights and indicators are checked on the start line. 16:50 John Sleath takes out Honda Civic in the first round, Nigel Parkin knocks out R Pothorcki's GMC truck. Taz Racing also through. 16:30 The top sixteen had a practice run, John Sleath went 9.09, Nigel Parkin 10.1. 13:30 It's peeing it down with rain. All classes have been cancelled with the exception of the King of Europe which will feature the four quickest from 2005 which includes John Sleath. The four quickest RWD, FWD and 4WD will face off at 19:00 if the track dries. We think that Nigel should qualify in RWD because John is already in. 13:00 We have just been called forward for the first round of eliminations. It is raining but the track is dry. Peter Schöfer's Top Methanol Dragster is making a demo run. The Rear Wheel Drive pairings are John Sleath v I Scannel, Brian Waskett v Chris Skinner, H Caen v V Haga, Nigel Parkin v M Webber, K Preston v T Senges, R Garbers v Jon Webster, D Billaut v M Lemude, M Skinner v B Nixon. 10:55 The track is still wet. It had been prepped earlier, before the rain, so there is standing water on top of the glue. But with no sun, breeze or jet dryer they are having to drive cars up and down the track to disperse the water. Maybe no practice runs today. 08:05 It has stopped raining! 06:50 Race day and some things never change. It was too hot yesterday and today it's raining. John Sleath's last pass yesterday was a mid-ten, the tyres spun at three quarter track and John had to back off then get on it again. The Audi needed attention last night. The track was closed early last night due to two further oildowns. The top sixteen I was given last night was: John Sleath 8.960/277 kmh K Preston 9.2/no speed R Pothorcki 9.844/240 T Nagorski 9.967/244 A Ozieblo 10.202/225 M Blauth 10.352/213 H Caen 10.367/230 Nigel Parkin 10.442/225 L Lodi 10.584/191 D Billaut 10.647/213 M Skinner 10.647/206 R Garbers 10.675/210 Jean-Yves Vetsch 10.687/272 Brian Waskett 10.690/210 H Fulsche 10.779/220 Jon Webster 10.927/227 Thanks to Ronald from DHRA who is very busy but still managed to find time to give us the timing data. Iceman Lazenby earns his wings. 25th June: Real Steel Street Eliminator UK Champion Colin Lazenby achieved a significant first yesterday when he took on the Royal Air Force and won. Colin raced his Pinnacle-backed street-legal '56 Chevy against a Royal Air Force F3 Tornado at RAF Leuchars at an air show to celebrate the ninetieth birthday of 56 Squadron and took the win over a 550-metre course. Colin's victory was broadcast live across the planet by Sky News. "We've been speaking to the RAF for some months", Colin told Eurodragster.com from RAF Leuchars last night. "They've raced a Ferrari and an Aston Martin and beat them and I was very keen to take them on. They didn't get back to us but it turned out that they had been on a tour of duty and suddenly last Tuesday they E-Mailed us out of the blue that it was their ninetieth anniversary at the weekend and could we come along. It's spooky - 56 Squadron, their colours are red and white, we just had to do it. It was short notice but it was a once in a lifetime deal and we deserved some R and R after the weekend we had at the Summernationals!" Andy, the Squadron Leader, was very keen on the race and asked Colin if he could get the team together at short notice. "It was only on Thursday that we were able to confirm it", said Colin. "My Crew Chief Luke Robinson had another commitment and couldn't get out of it, so Clive Bond joined Garry Coull and our Brian who was already committed to pick up his son from the airport at 1:30 yesterday morning - so he picked up his son then came up here and hasn't been to bed yet! Photographer Mark O'Hanlon completed the team at the track." Colin took his opponent, Flight Lieutenant Will Saunders, and a Senior Weapons Instructor for a ride in the Chevy in the morning and it may well have planted a seed of doubt. "Will loved the ride and he was clapping his hands together as I braked, but I think we had him worried", he said. "Later on he was talking about running with just enough fuel to get off the runway and come back. That saved them some two thousand pounds in weight, they were thinking of everything." Rattled or not, Will and his navigator Karlos Jewitt gave Colin something to think about at the start line. "I could hear them spooling up the turbos or whatever it is these things have, almost silencing the noise from the Chevy", said Colin, "Believe me it was loud!" ©Eurodragster.com Running on an unprepared runway, Colin eschewed the transbrake start and nitrous systems. "I told the guy from Sky News that I was running on about half power and I really don't think he believed me", said Colin. "I footbraked it and then pretty much stamped on it when the flag dropped. It went sideways at the hit, I pedalled a little and then the car settled and I just waited for the shift light. It wasn't the cleanest of runs, it was misfiring and the mandrel bolt broke at some point around 1200 feet, which caused a loss of oil pressure - the oil pressure light came on towards the end of the run but I wasn't going to get off it. "When I pulled the chute I looked in the mirror to see if it had opened and I caught a flash of grey. I saw the Tornado's front wheel lift and I honestly didn't know who had won. Will told me that as he took off he went to 500 mph, and then to 150 mph as he went immediately vertical. It was very close indeed - I don't think you could have fixed it as close as that!" The datalogger revealed that Colin was on the throttle for 11.8 seconds and reached 190 mph. "The longer it went on the more I thought they would have me covered", said Colin. "But the Tornado crew were happy with the race distance and Flight Lieutenant Saunders was very gracious in defeat, he is a great guy and could be my wing man whenever he feels up to it." "It was a good race against a worthy opponent and a worthy winner", said Flight Lieutenant Will Saunders on Sky News. "We'll have to have a rematch when I get my new Typhoon". "I will definitely be up for the rematch", said Colin. "Each of the Typhoon's two engines has as much power as both of the Tornado engines put together but we'll be there!" Colin and the team were very impressed by their reception at the Show. "The complimentary entry and the hospitality were first class", said Colin. "The highlight for us was being told by one of the technicians that Will had clearly left in combat mode!" Pictures courtesy and ©Mark O'Hanlon DSD Summernationals review. 25th June: UK Pro Stock Bike racer Paul Watson of Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor DynoSpeed Developments has been in touch with a report of his highly-successful outing at last weekend's SPRC Summernationals: Unfortunately due to a work accident I didn't get time to swap motors so we went with the 1500 two-valve still with a soft tune. We started off a bit slow when the motor was bogging of the line, so on the next run we tried a bit more rpm on the launch which improved but still ran 7.7. On the third pass we took out some base pressure and ran an OK sixty foot of 1.18 and managed a 7.6 to take number one qualifier. Now although this was good it showed we had a gearing problem, but now the choice was do we change it and possibly ruin the clutch set-up or stay with what we have and improve? After a talk with the rest of the team - Crew Chief Pixie and Jason of JM Motorcycles - we decided to leave the set-up and go for the win, unfortunately with the demise of Paul King (misfire problems I believe) this left a four-bike field. The semis would be Ray Debben and myself and Len Paget and Richard Gipp. Ray was keen to start and started his burnout before I was in the box, but we tried not to keep him waiting and managed to get to the end before Ray so on to the finals against Len who had beat me at the last race. However Len deep staged and managed a red light. I cut a 0.050 light and managed a 7.59. We were over the moon: qualified number one, Low ET and top speed of the meeting and finally a win. Right now we are preparing for Ultimate Street Bike run by the 200mph Club at Santa Pod on Monday 3rd July. Hopefully we will test the new 1640 Roger Upperton motor then start prepping for Sweden where we will be joined by Ray White who is taking time off from the Lethal Zephyr Pro Mod to lend a hand. The bike is currently up for sale as this is my last season. There are options on price and motors, and you can contact me at Dynospeed Developments on 0208 500 5770. ©Eurodragster.com Swift snippets. 25th June: UK Pro Mod racer and Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Andy Robinson has been locked up with his Studebaker for four days on the ferry to Finland with orders not to come out until he has found the gremlin which has crept in over the winter, says Bob Roberts. In the meantime Bob has been experimenting with in-car video which you can find in the Easter Thunderball page at www.robinson-race-cars.co.uk with more to come when he has repaired the camera after an 11000 rpm tyre shake episode at the SPRC Summernationals. ©Eurodragster.com Swedish Fuel Funny Car racer Leif Helander is still seeking video or pictures of his shutdown area fire at the Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway. If you can help then please drop us a line at tog@eurodragster.com and we'll put you in touch with Leif. Web site updates. 25th June: Hans Karlsson has posted a number of pictures from Malmö's Meca Raceway on his web site at www.hassebilder.se. ©Eurodragster.com Richard Stirling has updated his Topnitro fan site at www.topnitro.co.uk with extensive picture galleries and a report from last weekend's SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway. The pictures in clude a weightless David Warren on the Krazy Kat Super Street Bike and "Rubber Chicken Man" toasting his chicken in the jet wash of Fireforce 3. Lazenby shoots down Tornado. 24th June: Further to this morning's Swift Snippet, reigning Real Steel Street Eliminator UK Champion Colin Lazenby won his race against a Royal Air Force F3 Tornado at RAF Leuchars this afternoon. Colin achieved the feat on live TV as Sky News - the only onlooker who didn't seem to realise who was going to win and who are still expressing disbelief at time of writing - showed the race and Colin was clearly the winner with the 'chute deploying right on the finish line. ©Eurodragster.com We will bring you more about this story when we have spoken to Colin. King of Europe updates. 24th June: As promised yesterday, Mick Geraghty is sending us updates from the Toyo Tyres King of Europe at Chimay in Belgium: 17:35 Jon Webster improved to a 10.90, and then an oildown stopped play. After the clean-up Danny Bellio clocked 9.734/224 kmh in his Top Methanol FC. Mick has asked us to thank Martijn Beerthuizen of Operation Street Legal Racing for the updates. 15:30 Qualifying runs so far this afternoon: John Sleath 8.960/277 kmh Brian Waskett 10.726/210 Nigel Parkin 10.913/222 D Billaut 10.647/213 H Caen 10.367/230 R Pothorcki 10.026/240 T Nagorski 10.791/245 L Lodi 10.584/191 A Ozieblo 10.937/222 14:40 The track is running again but is still slippery. This morning's runs have been counted as practice, not qualifying, and open practice is underway now although another car has crashed. Latest UK contender to run is Jon Webster who fishtailed to a fifteen-second pass. 13:00 John Hollingworth is out of competition as the team can't find a spare tappet screw. The track is currently being cleaned after an oildown. John Sleath is ready and waiting to make another run this afternoon. In the meantime a drifting contest is taking place elsewhere on the facility which Mick says is "Top stuff". ©Eurodragster.com 11:30 RWD after the first practice session: John Sleath 10.308/261 kmh Brian Waskett 10.627/211 R Garbers 10.711/208 Chris Skinner 10.841/201 D Billaut 10.851/208 Barry George 10.937/141 John Hollingworth 11.501/209 There seems to be a little confusion over Barry George's ET as he says he did not run a ten. John Hollingworth has broken a tappet screw and the team are trying to fix it. 10:40 Very hot here and the track is slippery. John Sleath has run 10.308/261 kmh. John Hollingworth has broken on an 11.501/209 but we haven't been able to get the car back to the pits yet. The Taz Racing 'Vette has crashed in the right lane and hit the barrier in the left lane, the driver is not injured. A Swedish car with twin turbos and wheelie bars has not yet run. Pro Mods head for more records. 24th June: Next weekend's FHRA Nitro Nationals at Alastaro in Finland has a record entry in Pro Modified, says European Pro Mod Association Chair Micke Gullquist. "This event is the second round of the FIA European Pro Mod Championship and is also included in the NDRS Bilsport Pro Mod Championship", says Micke. "We are having another record year in Pro Mod again. The first round at Santa Pod had a strong field with twenty three entries from seven countries, and this is the biggest-ever Pro Mod field in Finland, so it just keeps growing. It's also great to see that there's a very strong representation of Finnish teams" The first round was won by Sweden's Urban Johansson, who reset the European ET record to 6.247 on his way to the finals. "It will be a new game in Finland, with many of the teams having tested before this race", says Micke. "I'm sure it will be an exciting round with some new cars and a bunch of contenders for the win such as Andy Robinson, Roger Johansson, Mats Eriksson and others." ©Eurodragster.com Meanwhile the Finnish Hot Rod Association are working hard to prepare Alastaro for next week's event. "It was the Midnightsummer Festival in Finland yesterday but traditionally a few FHRA officials spend their Festival at the track", says our good friend Hannele Höydén of FHRA. "We are currently building the wall on the right lane (right). "The concrete blocks were transported from Jyväskylä in four vehicles driven by FHRA officials and two professional drivers. Special thanks to Karppa and Jääskeläinen and also to Grasshopper Transportation company. So preparations are ongoing and we warmly await the teams' arrival during the next week." You can find out about next week's FHRA Nitro Nationals including the official entry list at www.fhra.fi. Swift snippets. 24th June: The organisers of the UK Truck Show, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 19th-20th August, have announced that Malta's Maksar Racing Team will be bringing their 11.2-second Volvo truck to the event. Europe's quickest and fastest truck will be driven by Tommy Agius on its first visit to the UK. For more information about the truck check out the team's web site at www.maksarracing.com and for full details about the UK Truck Show check out www.uktruckshow.co.uk. Andrea Kloss has been in touch from Germany to let us know that entry is still open for the 18th Grand Nationals, which takes place at Luckau near Berlin Friday-Sunday, 30th June-2nd July. For more information and to register for the race visit the MSTO web site at www.msto.org. ©Eurodragster.com Reigning Real Steel Street Eliminator Champion Colin Lazenby will be taking part in an impressive match race today (Saturday) when he pits his Pinnacle-sponsored '56 Chevy against one of the Royal Air Force's finest, a Tornado F3, at RAF Leuchars as part of the Squadron's ninetieth birthday celebrations. "It's fitting that it is the 56 Squadron, and that their squadron colours are red and white", says Colin. "This race was to take place with a Formula 1 team but seemingly they bottled it (Can't cheat against a twin-engined jet - Ed)". For details about the event check out www.airshow.co.uk. Update 15:35 Sky News will be showing Colin's race against the Tornado live at 16:25 today. Editor's note: Could 'Rubber Chicken Man' please get in touch with Tog at tog@eurodragster.com. Doorslammers début for Top Sportsman. 24th June: The inaugural Top Sportsman eliminator will be held in conjunction with Santa Pod Raceway and Obsession Motorsports at the European Doorslammers at Santa Pod on Saturday 8th July. Malcolm Francis of Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Airsea Logistics has been in touch to explain the class format: Top Sportsman is for cars which run between 6.00 and 8.99 seconds. Qualifying will be heads-up with quickest sixteen cars qualifying. Eliminations are run on a dial-your-own ET with a minimum of 8.99 and handicap start to the slower car. Racers in eliminations may not dial slower than 0.1 second from their qualifying time but they may dial faster with no limit. Only full bodied cars, pick up trucks and station wagons with working doors are eligible to enter. This is a weight break class dependent upon engine configuration i.e. 2350lbs minimum weight for big block engine cars. Full rules and regulations will be posted shortly. Sponsors are: Obsession Motor Sports Ltd Santa Pod Raceway Jeff Bull Race Engines Air Sea Logistics Ltd Doug Herbert Performance Parts Transmission Specialties Inc Lucas Oil UK Ltd Specialist In Design (SID) Wheelgame Ltd Gleeson Wright Security Curbishley Automotive Chris Isaacs Race Cars Engine Data Analysis AGS Plumbing Andy Robinson Race Cars (£100.00 voucher) Hauser Racing (£100.00 voucher) ©Eurodragster.com The prize structure is based on a minimum of twenty cars and is as follows: Quickest sixteen qualified £15.00 each First round losers £50.00 each Second round losers £100.00 each Semi Final Losers £150.00 each Runner-up £400.00 in addition to Santa Pod Raceway and Obsession Motorsports posted prize of £260.00 Winner £600.00 in addition to Santa Pod Raceway and Obsession Motorsports posted prize of £470.00 Winner receives additional £100 from Nova Engineering Number one qualifier receives £100 from AGS Plumbing. There is an additional package from Lucas Oils which amounts to a case of oil for each qualified car which displays Lucas Oil decals on both sides for the duration of the event. For more details about the Top Sportsman class contact either Malcolm Francis on 07875 310803 or Jeff Bull on 07834 381804. Web site updates. 24th June: UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Andy Carter has posted his June update on the Carter Motorsports web site at www.andycarter.net. ©Eurodragster.com Blown-alcohol altered rookie Joe Bond has updated his Nuthin' Fancy web site with his personal account of his début at last weekend's SPRC Summernationals. "My first meeting with the race car and it was recieved fantastically", says Joe. "Everyone was so supportive and I can't thank everyone nearly enough. I'm looking forward to the Nostalgia Nationals!". The update also includes video clips and you can check it out at www.nuthinfancy.150m.com. On the AIR with Nystad and Nataas. 23rd June: This weekend's Right On Race and Rock at Norway's Amcar International Raceway includes Top Fuel Dragster action from Thomas Nataas and twenty-year-old Siw Nystad who will be aiming to complete her licencing passes before contesting next month's Veidec Festival at Mantorp Park. Thomas Nataas says that the Rune Fjeld Motorsports team have been working almost non-stop since the FIA Main Event to get the Batmobil and Siw's ride, a new car from the USA, ready for this weekend. "The new car is a Hadman, almost identical to the Batmobil", Thomas told Eurodragster.com. "The Batmobil was an Amato spare, the new car is a Darrell Russell spare, the cockpit is a little smaller but it fits Siw. Rune and the team have been working on the new car for two weeks, but we have not really stopped working since the Main Event. We broke three engines at the Main Event so with that and the new car we have been working some long nights, and Rune has been working twenty three hours a day this week! We will manage to get both cars ready although there is no paint on Siw's car." The Batmobil has new fuel and clutch management systems and new heads, which Thomas said are not too different from the previous incumbents so should not be too difficult to dial in. "It will be good to make some runs before Finland to try out the parts", he said. "Siw's car has the previous parts from my car and Rune knows that combination." ©Eurodragster.com Thomas and Siw each have one run scheduled on Saturday and Sunday but Thomas told us that Siw will be the priority. "We need to get Siw in the new car and get her more runs", he said. "Everything is new for her, she has been no more than 200 feet in the Batmobil and that was with the engine tuned down as far as it would go. But when she ran last year she concentrated very hard so she will manage fine." After the Race and Rock event he Rune Fjeld Motorsports team will move to Alastaro in Finland where NDRS Comp Eliminator Champion Janne Ahonen will be licencing in the new car at Alastaro on Tuesday and Wednesday, prior to next weekend's FHRA Nitro Nationals. Thomas is looking forward to repeating last year's performances at Alastaro. "We did well in Finland last year, we will see how the track is", he said. Thomas has promised to keep us informed of his and Siw's progress at Gardermoen this weekend so stay tuned to Eurodragster.com News. For more information about the Right On Race and Rock event, check out Norsk Dragracing Gardermoen's web site at www.ndrg.no. King of Europe Updates and withdrawals. 23rd June: Eurodragster.com will be publishing updates on the King of Europe direct from Chimay, Belgium courtesy of Mick Geraghty, who will be crewing for John Sleath at the event. A further withdrawal from the event, on the heels of Ian Hook's announcement yesterday is Andy Frost, who has a damaged block and crank and has run out of time to effect repairs. Bug Jam Entry Closing Soon. 23rd June: Santa Prod Racers' Club Secretary Paula Marshall has asked us to remind racers intending to compete at the forthcoming 20th Anniversary Bug Jam to be held 21st - 23rd July that the closing date for entries for the VW classes plus Super Mod and Street Eliminator is one week today (30th June). Doing my head in. 23rd June: UK Supertwin Gas racer competitor Chris Mott shut off after the burnout in qualifying at the SPRC Summer Nationals and that was the last time we saw him on track for the weekend. He now tells his story. "In the third qualifying round, the bike went onto one cylinder during the burnout. We pushed the bike back out of the water and tried to start it again , but it didn't sound good at all. Just as we were leaving the start area, one of the marshalls handed us a small inch and a half long piece of rod that he said had come out of the exhaust during the burnout; it can't be out of my bike I thought. So, back to the pits we went; thanks to Len for the tow back - I think pushing it back in that heat would have finished me off. "When I got back, I pulled the front spark plug; it looked like it had been smashed with a hammer! I took the exhaust off and had a look at the front exhaust port and sure enough one of the exhaust valves was missing; the valve stem was what had come out of the exhaust at 8,000 rpm in the burnout; not a good sign! "I took the motor out of the bike yesterday and we removed the front head. To say it looks like a hand grenade's gone off in there is an understatement! (see picture right, click for larger version). Both the front exhaust valves had snapped, and were sitting on top of the piston; one of them also punched a hole in the piston before exiting the exhaust - you can also see the valve seats missing. Were now trying to work out how we'll repair or replace the heads , pistons etc, but we'll be back". Freddy's Tranny Trouble. 23rd June: Driver Dave Grabham of team Freddy's Revenge said that the car's performance at the SPRC Summer Nationals was below expectations as a result of teething troubles with a new transmission setup. "We're going through a few teething problems at the moment and things are not going as we'd like. As you're probably aware, our TH400 gearbox got trashed during our collision with the wall at last year's Summer Nationals. "After much head-scratching, we took the decision to go the 2-speed Lenco and clutch route and although we ran our best ever terminal speed of 148.95mph last weekend, our 1.52 second 60 foot time shows that we're not getting off the line as we should do. "Although we installed a lower first gear, following the American Car World Nationals and made adjustments to the clutch settings for each run last weekend, we still couldn't get it to launch Hopefully, once we've found the right drive combination and tuned our fuel system to our new pump, we expect to be competitive. "I'd also like to mention that the Freddy's Revenge website has been updated, with photo galleries from the Easter Thunderball, the American Car World Nationals and the Main Event". Big CC Racing's UK Horsepower Shootout. 23rd June: Big CC Racing have been in touch to say that the UK Horsepower Shootout in conjunction with Streetfighters magazine's Turbo Day is being held at Big CC Racing in Wokingham on Sat 29th July. There will be several classes as follows: Normally aspirated Nitrous Turbo Overall A £500 prize for the most powerful streetbike in the UK will be given as well as class trophies Sponsors to the event include www.hayabusacentral.com, Big CC Racing, BTC Moto, Rock Oil, & Streetfighters magazine. On the same day at Big CC will be the Streetfighters magazine Turbo day for all those turbo people with prizes for the following: Best turned out Draw through Turbo bike Best turned out Blow through Turbo bike Most powerful Draw through Turbo bike Most powerful Blow through Turbo bike Equally on site cafeteria & Ice cream van will both be open & a small auto jumble with various trade & club stalls. For more info please call Big CC on 01189 776744 Swift snippets. 23rd June: Dawn Higgs has been in touch to wish her other half Mark Balzaretti (aka Bowser), a very Happy 40th Birthday from all of the team that work with Andy Robinson's Studebaker, namely Andy, Kate, Luke, Stefani, Jerry, Tom and Bob, plus the teams groupies, Ryan and Dawn. She says "Despite your efforts, Mark, we were not willing to let this slip by without everyone knowing! If you would like to send any birthday wishes to Mark, please email dawn.higgs@hotmail.co.uk and these will be passed on to him." Happy Birthday, Bowser, and have a great day. Results from the Czech Drag Day at Hoskovice held last weekend can be seen here. Web site updates. 23rd June: "There's been a great response to the drag racing photo competition announced in last week's edition of www.drcreview.com, " says Editor Andy Kirk. "If you haven't already entered, there's still plenty of time do so and be in with a chance of scooping a prize worth almost £200," he adds. This week's edition of the e-zine dedicated to American car culture, takes an in-depth look at Matt Eley's stunning Pro ET Ford Popular, which debuted at the Easter Thunderball. "It's taken Matt eight years to build and it's a stunner," says Andy. Check it out in Top Stories, where you'll also find a report from last weekend's Beech Bend NHRA Hot Rod Reunion. Allan Currans of The Acceleration Archive has been in touch to say that another page of the Lawrie Gatehouse Collection has just been added to the site. "It contains an in-depth look at the three funny cars campaigned by Dennis Priddle as well as the Hillbillies, Clive Skilton, John Andersson, and Liz & Ollie Burn's Pro Comp cars", he says. "There are burn-outs, chute shots, night shots - you name it, it's there!" Photographer Stephen Wexler has been in touch with the location of his new website with shots of racing at Shakespeare County raceway https://www.clikpic.com/stephenwexler. Peter Donaldson tells us he has updated his site with 100+ scans from the eighties, his fourth and final collection from that era. Doorslammers Update. 22nd June: There is a real buzz of expectation in the pits about the European Doorslammers, says Tina Gibbs of organiser Obsession Motorsports. "This is a rare opportunity for all classes of Doorslammer race cars to race for a generous prize fund and trophies at a MSA-licensed event and there has been interest from many quarters" she said. "The entry close date has been extended to 27th June and there is no late entry fee. That means that all racers have to do is call or e-mail Paula Marshall now and let her know that you intend to enter, and then send the entry form and fee in as soon as you can before the event. The quoted entry fee includes tickets for one driver and up to three crewmen. "The entry money will be placed into a prize fund after deducting MSA permit fees and other administrative costs and the prize fund will be boosted by four sponsorship deals too. This means that there will be prize money paid to more competitors than usual and even first round losers in the Top Sportsman category will get prize money. "We are particularly interested in attracting competitors that want to compete in National events but have not done so before, which is what Terry would have wished for. For instance, we expect that drivers from the European and Japanese car scenes as well as Run What Ya Brung competitors will want to enter a competitive elimination with cash prizes but without the standard class and championship structure. "As the event is held under an MSA permit, if drivers do not already have the appropriate MSA race license, they will need to apply for one. This will involve contacting the MSA and the appropriate form can be found on the MSA web site or by phoning the MSA on +44 (0) 1753 765 000. Drivers will need to apply for National B license. This should be done as soon as possible to ensure that late license fees are avoided. "All cars that pass the appropriate construction rules in the 2006 Drag Racing Rulebook will be eligible. If drivers are unsure that their car is eligible, they may contact Webster Race Engineering on 01933 315236 who will be happy to inspect your car at their workshop and advise on its eligibility for a particular class. "Dependent on weather and track conditions, there will be up to four qualifying sessions to ensure that all observed runs for new competitors and cars are completed early in the day. Scrutineering will commence at early evening on Friday 7th July and continue from 7am on 8th July. Qualifying will start at 9:00am; eliminations will be at around 4pm. The racing will be run using a sportsman tree in Street (11.00 and slower dial-your-own-index) and a pro tree and pro ladders for all other classes (Sportsman 10.99 to 10.00, Top Gun 9.99 to 9.00, Outlaw 8.99 to 8.00 and Top Sportsman 8.99 to 6.00). "If you wish to change class, you can do so to the next quicker or slower class at the cost of £20 additional fee". Admission prices are: Gate Advance Friday pm & Saturday £20 £15 Saturday only £15 £12 Grandstand seats £4 on the day, £3 in advance; advance ticket orders close on Friday 30th June. Kids under 16 FREE (max 2 kids per adult). Gates open at 5pm on Friday, Day admission 8am - 6pm. Toyo Tyres King of Europe. 22nd June: On 23rd - 25th June, Chimay, Belgium hosts the Toyo Tyres King of Europe, a Drag and Drift speactacular in which some of our hottest Street Eliminator vehicles are competing. The entry for the event, which can be seen here, comprises 136 drivers from 11 countries. There are classes for Superstreet RWD, Superstreet 4WD, Superstreet FWD and Street. Each of these will have a 16-car eliminator for the quickest qualifiers. Then the semi-finalists from these will face off once again for the overall King of Europe title. Teams from the UK include Jon Webster, Andy Frost, Jon Sleath, and Jon Hollingworth. Unfortunately the reigning King of Europe, Ian Hook, has had to withdraw after the '34 Coupe suffered engine damage in the final of Street Eliminator competition at the SPRC Summer Nationals last weekend. Full details can be found on the website and a taste of the event can be seen in a broadband video here. JapShow raises the bar. 22nd June: The JapShow takes place at Santa Pod this weekend, and everything is set for another day of stunning racing from the UK's top "Sport Compact" racers. The entry list contains no less than six proven 9-second cars, three of which have run as fast as 9.4 seconds, and a whole host of new machinery ready to move things forward even further. Santa Pod Raceway's Rick Cuthbert said: "Some of the tuners have really moved things on for 2006, and it wouldn't surprise me if we saw an 8-second run from someone, and a whole load of newly proven 9-second cars too." So whether you're interested in watching a great day of dragging, drifting and show cars, or are purely interested in checking out the technology behind some of the most high-tech drag cars in Europe, there's plenty to keep you busy at the JapShow. Have a look at the official website for full details. Obsession with fuel problems solved. 22nd June: Craig Gibbs of Obsession Motorsports had an improved performance at the SPRC Summer Nationals, qualifying no. 5 with an 8.031 and then recording his first seven for some time in the first round of eliminations. He said "I want to thank everyone who has helped us since the beginning of the season with trying to track down the problem that has plagued us all year with the car. This now turned out to be a blocked fuel filter, and a faulty fuel pump. I don't want to list everyone individually, as there are so many people, the support and help we have received has been amazing all year; I guess, like us, everyone just wants to see the car reach its potential. "The weekend turned out to be great for us, not only did we track down the problem, but we also ran back into the 7's and ran our highest mph to date. Hopefully we should now be able to get the car competitive, and hopefully keep chipping away at the times, and improve even more on the speeds. "Here's looking forward to the European Doorslammers!" Pocket Money Report. 22nd June: "What a great weekend for the Juniors at the SPRC Summer Nationals", says Gary Kaye. "First of all, congratulations to Anna Stanley (JM7) on her first ever Winner's trophy. A well deserved win Anna - well done! "The B&B Motors closest to dial in trophy/cash prize was won by Peter Walters (JMA9). Peter dialled in 8.38 in the first round, ran an 8.383 and, needless to say, that was not beaten all day. Well done Peter. "Well done also to Ross Norris (JMA5) who won the Adoorable Handles prizes for both Best Reaction in Eliminations and #1 Qualifier. "Last but not least, all the junior races congregated at the start line to cheer on Joe Bond in his new NFAA Topolino-bodied altered. We have all been waiting to see Joe, ex junior racer, out in his new car and we were not disappointed. Well done Joe from all your friends in the junior pits; I am sure you will have inspired them with their future drag racing aspirations. "Finally - calling all juniors - don't forget to be at Shakespeare County on 15th/16th July at the Mini Showdown. We have been allocated time slots to run the 3rd B & B Motors Dash for Cash event. The entry fee is only £5 and the winner takes all for the Closest to Dial In. Also many thanks to Richard Walters who has also sponsored the event on behalf of J & W Automative with a trophy and cash prize for the Best Reaction on Sunday. For further info contact Peter Kellett or Gary Kay." Swift Snippet. 22nd June: Thanks to Hans Christian Nilsen for advising us that payment info for Drag Challenge Gardermoen 2006 (4th-6th August) is on Gardermoen's home page. Web Site Updates. 22nd June: Eurodragster staff member Sharkman has updated his personal web site with around 800 images from the SPRC Summer Nationals. "It was nearly 700 images but thankfully I realised at the last minute that some images I knew I had taken were missing" says Sharkman. "After cursing and swearing at both Canon cameras and windows xp it of course turned out that the missing images were totally down to user error!" All's well that ends well (or gets restored from the recycle bin - Stupid Photo Ed) and you can view the images at www.topendtales.com. Jon Best has been in touch to say that he has updated his website at www.bestintentions.co.uk. Jon says "The new look isn't new, I just hadn't got round to letting Eurodragster readers know until now, for that, I can't find a reasonable excuse, sorry folks! There's information regarding the new car, along with random other things, and a Blog (everyone else has one, fair's fair....). Lindsay Deuchar says he has updated the LA Racing website news section. He says "it is extremely unlikely that we will be competing in any 2006 Top Methanol Championship rounds and possibly beyond". He also says that his proven 5-second 2006-spec Top Methanol Dragster rolling chassis is for sale at £5,500 and Whipple blower (£1,500) and DataStar datalogger (£2,000) are also for sale. SCR August UK round entry. 21st June: Jerry Cookson has been in touch to let racers know that entries for the UK National Championship round which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway on 26th-28th August should be sent to: Club and Race Secretary Shakespeare County Raceway Airfield House Long Marston Stratford-upon-Avon Warwickshire CV37 8LL ©Eurodragster.com Entry forms can be downloaded from the Shakespeare County Raceway web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com or from the Entry Forms page of the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. We have been promised more details about the situation at Shakespeare County Raceway shortly. NFAA set to thrill. 21st June: A highlight of last weekend's SPRC Summer Nationals was the Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association. Their co-ordinator Lawrie Gatehouse sent us this report about the growing class. The Summer Nationals event was the best to date for the NFAA, helped by an excellently prepped track and warm weather. Firstly our appreciation goes to the SPRC, the start-line and track crews and the marshals for their co-operation, especially to enable minor 'glitches' (from the aptly named 'Chaos') in order for John Wright to get some passes in. Thanks also go to Graham and Tog for their excellent commentaries and to the photographers and press. We had some good side-by-side duels with only inches in it at the stripe and with most of the licensing runs now completed we look forward to many more.... The first '6' for the NFAA was recorded by Tony Betts in Venom - 6.702/204.74, followed shortly by the best run to date by Nick Davies in Havoc with a stunning 6.910/205.47. The sound of gauntlets being thrown down comes to mind! Saturday's high humidity took many by surprise, especially The Mob, upsetting the fuel system such that Jim Usher's run resulted in damage to 6 pistons when the ring lands blew out - so into the spares box for the next round. Bennett Racing, Rebel 'T' and Extreme Racing all put down some stout low 7 second runs after good smoky burn-outs. 'Dirty Harry IV', shoed by Dennis Wratten ran well on his 'familiarisation' pass to a 7.66/186.0, which shows that this Team will be a force to be reckoned with in the future - a very good debut with the class. John Wright in 'Chaos' got to grips with the all new set-up, improving in Round 4 to a 7.432/161.83 at the 1/8th - more to come now that a base-line has been established. Newcomer Joe Bond in 'Nuthin Fancy' advanced steadily - 23.45/20.47/12.89 & 10.13 on his observed runs; very well controlled progress as experience is gained - excellent stuff. Commiserations go to Wendy Baker in 'Time Warp', a super burnout and then the motor let go just past the tree. Examination in the pits, after removal of the blower, revealed half the cam and several rod bolts in the lifter gallery! Coupled with a severely broken Lenco, clutch and can, means that there is little left to salvage. We all hope that the funds can be found for 'Time Warp' to re-appear later on this year, but at the moment it looks doubtful. On Saturday night, all NFAA Teams got together for a barbecue, hosted by the Bennetts, which helped all to mingle and enhance the group spirit. All in all, an excellent event and we appreciate the encouragement and kind comments expressed by so many people. We certainly are not going to get complacent and all are determined to make future events even better and more enjoyable. Our next round is the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at Shakespeare County - 1/2nd July, when we intend to continue to entertain. European results. 21st June: Pictures from the Deep Forest Nats 2006 at Sundsvall Raceway last weekend have been posted and results can be viewed on the website of local club SHRA Lulea. In nitro testing, Tommy Möller came away with a fastest time of 5.269/270.29mph on his sole pass of the weekend on Saturday evening; team-mate Håkan Fallstrom ran a best of 5.749/256.62 on Sunday afternoon after previous runs of 6.908 and 10.148. It is good to hear that Leif Helander has repaired the damage he sustained at the Easter Thunderball and ran a 5.862/240.47 on his second run following an earlier 6.213. The four methanol funny cars put on a great display, Ulf Leanders recording the quickest pass with a 5.886/241.71, Martin Lundvist a best of 6.143/233.63, Jonas Staflund on 6.511/176.46 and Kjell Sjöblom on 6.582/213.13. In Top Doorslammer eliminations, Patrik Pers repeated his victory over Fredrik Fagerström from Gardermoen the previous weekend with a 6.651/211.26 over Fast Freddie's 6.687/214.37. Freddie had qualified no. 1 with a 6.449/219.34. Results from the NDRS Västerås Bike Weekend 2006 can be seen on the website www.bikeweekend.se. The first round of the Euroserie Supertwin Top Gas championship was held at Hoscovice in the Czech republic and a report and results can be seen on the championship website at www.topgas.com. A hotly contested weekend. 21st June: Chris Jones from Team Breakout says that 9.50 was hotly contested in more ways than one. "It was a good turn out from 9.50 bike, which has been getting a bit close at the top of the championship. Sadly, 'Fast Freddie' Furlong was unable to make the gig due to his previous 'get off' so we're hoping you're well on the road to recovery, see you soon. "Ed Smiley was definitely on the button this weekend, turning a 9.6 in qualifying then just for the hell of it took me out in the eliminations with a 9.52. The best I could run was a 10.2 as I was still suffering after the engine demise from the FIA Main Event, running a standard motor for this event (the spanners are still turning). Ed then scythed through to the third round with a 9.510/137.20, a personal best ET for Ed and well ridden. "Andy Bird (Team Breakout's young gun) met up with Ed in the third round where disaster struck Ed, with the bike digging in, pulling up the front end and handing the win to Andy who went through on a 9.9. Andy couldn't get the 'go fast or slow' switch sorted on his bike during the qualifiers on Saturday, coming in at the bottom of the ladder, he either hit a 10 or broke out. "Martin Walker (Hyenas) continues to run well on his newly acquired 'Busa, getting past the third round of eliminations', this being only the third outing for the bike. "The finals came in as a bit of a nail biter, with Andy Bird coming up against a consistent Richard Sawatzki, Richard having lane choice. There was a mad panic following the burn out for Andy, with the bike mule-like refusing to select gear. A few choice words and thrashing around for 1st gear eventually got Andy into stage. From the 'off' Andy dug in, pulling an approximately 30ft wheelie, but Andy managed to ride it through to the next gear select, whilst Richard was off like a scalded cat. However the gauntlet was down as Andy nailed it to the line and horror of horrors, broke out. Richard meanwhile showed the young gun how it was done and took the win. Cracking race, well done Richard. "A few clutch problems over the course of Saturday caused some headaches for Geoff Conner (Team Breakout's flagship), but with the help of Richard Sawatzki and his manual, lots of cider and a few more lads from the 9.5 pits, they were sorted that evening. "Another great weekend in the 9.5 bike camp, helped of course by the hot weather - hope to see you all at the next round." Four in a row and red. 21st June: Derek Flynn of Eurodragster.com News sponsor Gold RV Racing was delighted with his dragster's performance at the SPRC Summer Nationals and is now looking forward to the Super Pro trip to the Drachten International on 14-16 July. "After waiting for so long to get our first 200 mph pass, just like London busses we then get four in a row and probably would have got more if I had not run a red light in the first round of eliminations; sorry team. "I would like to thank the 'Go Gold' Crew who are doing a great job with our car. Not only are we now fast but we are pretty consistent too; the last eight runs have been within a tenth or two and top end speeds have ranged from 199 to 205 mph. Congratulations to Steve (Johnson) on winning Super Pro and thanks for the 200 mph champers Pat. Thanks also to our sponsors Gold RV, Buff and Dataprint. Roll on Holland - we can't wait. Also it was great to see and hear Tog at the weekend, well done mate on the commentary (hear, hear - stand-in News Editor). Thanks for the Chaos. 21st June: At the SPRC Summer Nationals, car owner and racer John Wright made his first competitive run in thirteen years in the brand-new Chaos Fuel Altered, recording a creditable 7.432 in the potent machine. He says "I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has helped towards me gaining a licence again after 13 years out of the seat. Primarily to Lawrie (Gatehouse) for trusting me enough to put the final touch on what has been a great team effort. To Ollie Burns for putting together a brilliant car that has been a joy to drive. To Frank Griffin for all his hard work and putting up with me niggling at him. "To The Mob crew for the hours spent in getting the car to the track and for their double duties on race day. To my crew, Tony, Sean, Danny, & Tush for working so well together and giving me complete confidence in the car. Lesley and I have really enjoyed getting involved with the NFAA and the people within it. Final thanks to all those who have helped us along the way, especially Judith, Sally, Kevin and Tom for making race days fun again. Now we remember why we go Drag Racing!" Better to burn out then fade away. 21st June: Pro ET competitor Keith Herbert had a difficult journey to Santa Pod but nevertheless managed to get some qualifying runs in, going out in round one of eliminations. "Just when you thought it was all going well, the back of your truck catches fire a couple of miles from the Pod. So a huge thanks to top fire-fighters Lance Richards and Del, Steve Wells and his wife and anyone who stopped and gave us assistance. Thanks to Dave James and crew for the bread and rolls (ours were toasted), Mike Lacey and Anna for the cold beers (ours were a touch warm). Thanks also to everyone who offered bedding clothes etc. "This could all have gone terribly wrong. I'm not going to go all health and safety, but we are going to revise the way we transport our fuel gas bottles etc to the track. "So to eliminations I think I suffered post traumatic stress syndrome, and handed a deserved win to Nick Good; well done to our mate Kev Slyfield for winning Pro ET. Once again thanks to everyone and, remember, carry a big extinguisher". Swift snippets. 21st June: Congratulations to Dave Riswick of Eurodragster.com links pages sponsor Ampar Parts & Service Network and John Woolfe Racing, who has become a grandfather for the first time after daughter Sarah gave birth to a 8lb 9oz boy, William, on 19th May. We were delighted to see a fully recovered Pat Ginn at the Summer Nationals and she wants to thank everyone who sent her get well wishes after her recent health scare. "I tried to get round to see everyone, but the family group just gets bigger and bigger and I ran out of time. "Can you please send our regards to Fred Furlong and Dave Beck and wish them well. Can you also please say thank you to anybody who I missed at the weekend and Scarey Jane, how are you and when are we going to see you next as you missed you the last couple of meetings? "Well done to Wendy Clutterbuck at the weekend, go on girl, show the boys how its done! Well done to all the racers especially Kev Charman (this is becoming a habit, keep it up) and well done Grumpy it was a good weekend socially and learning wise. TJ has learnt something new, not to fight with the pavement." Fuel FCs set for 2007 Championship. 20th June: Showtime Fuel FC Crew Chief Bob Jarrett tells us that a Fuel Funny Car Championship is set to be reintroduced in 2007. "There will again be a Funny Car Championship next year providing that there is a minimum of four teams entered", says Bob. "There will be a minimum of five rounds, which will include both the FIA events at Santa Pod. As stated, four teams are required to confirm participation by October 1st 2006, which is the absolute deadline, or we will have missed the window of opportunity, the reasons for which I cannot go into here, but interested parties please E-Mail me for details. If this is a success then I am told that inclusion in the FIA Championship is a very distinct possibility for 2008. ©Eurodragster.com "Currently there are more than four cars available to fill the required condition and what with Gary Page's announcement on the PA at the Main Event that he is to return to Funny Car next year (about which more anon – Ed), I am sure that the Championship will take place. "Also to maybe attract another team, the Showtime Mustang is for sale, from a rolling chassis and body up to a complete ready-to-run package." For more details of the deals on offer for the Showtime FC, check out the Cars For Sale section of our Jeff Bull Race Engines and Performance Parts-sponsored Swap Meet. The official Showtime Racing web site at www.showtimeracinguk.com has been updated with a report and pictures from the FIA Main Event, at which the team welcomed new sponsors Poggipolini Titanium and Winged Aviation Material Supplies. Records? Watch this space! 20th June: Dave Bryant, Crew Chief and co-owner of the UK's Shockwave Fuel Funny Car, says that the Salon Interactive-sponsored team have overcome their problems at the start of the track. Gordon Smith put in three passes at the SPRC Summernationals, culminating in a 0.891 sixty foot time as the car stuck to the track. "We discovered this weekend that the only the way we are going to get the car down to track is to be more agressive with the car, which is what we did", says Dave. "After a little glitch on Saurday the Funny Car now seems to be back on course to making those fast runs. We will continue our test programme as soon as finances allow. We have succesfully overcome our problems at the start of the track, so we now need to come back, test and go all the way - watch this space for record-breaking runs! ©Eurodragster.com "We would like to thank Santa Pod Racers Club, Darren Prentice and his team for their help at the Summernationals. They very kindly let us race at their event and slotted us in wherever possible so we could try and get back on track to running some good numbers. We would also like to thank Rune Fjeld for his ongoing support and advice, along with Turner Motorsport for their encouragement, and Gordon and I would like to thank Niki Hales, Neil Titheridge, Steve Loader, Steve Brindle, Sammy Farr and Rob Brindle for all of their hard work and patience as they have stuck by us through a very testing time." Rival to the rescue. 20th June: UK Real Steel Street Eliminator UK team FB Racing were delighted with their runner-up place at the weekend's SPRC Summernationals. But this was a result which almost didn't happen, says Ian Hook. "On Friday afternoon we found a fuel leak from one of our four-port regulators", says Ian. "It was no more than a split diaphragm but without one to be found anywhere we were really worried that this would mean us sitting out this round. Ian Marshall at Webster Race Engineering kindly offered to loan us the item off his race car, but as he is racing next weekend we didn't want to take the chance that something could go wrong with it. ©Eurodragster.com "Then fellow RSSE competitor Colin Lazenby made his spare unit available to us. This despite the fact that we were neck-and-neck in the Championship. Colin knew that with us back in competition his lead could be in jeopardy and his own problems on Sunday proved this to be the case." "I'd like to thank Colin for his generosity - he's a real sportsman and a real racer. Thanks Colin." European Doorslammers prize funds. 20th June: Obsession Motorsports have released details of the prize funds on offer at the European Doorslammers, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on Saturday 8th July. The European Doorslammers is an MSA-permitted event featuring full track prep and safety cover and offering doorslammer racers the chance to race in one of five classes for prize money. All doorslammers are welcome whether running low sixes or high fourteens. Details of entry fees, prize funds and sponsorship for each class are as follow. The entry fee includes a ticket for driver and three crew. OUTLAW, 8.00-8.99 seconds, heads-up (no dial-in), all-run, entry £105 0 - 4 cars: Trophy to winner plus sponsorship funds 4 - 8 cars: £170 to £340 to winner plus sponsorship funds 8 - 16 cars: £320 to £640 to winner plus sponsorship funds 16 - 32 cars: £640 to £1280 to winner plus sponsorship funds 32 - 64 cars: £1280 to £2560 to winner plus sponsorship funds Runner-up receives trophy, return of entry fee plus sponsorship funds Santa Pod Raceway and Obsession Motorsports are posting an additional £185 to the winner and £155 to the runner-up, and Nova Engineering are posting £100 to the winner. TOP GUN, 9.00-9.99 seconds, heads-up (no dial-in), all-run, entry £95 0 - 4 cars: Trophy to winner plus sponsorship funds 4 - 8 cars: £160 to £320 to winner plus sponsorship funds 8 - 16 cars: £340 to £680 to winner plus sponsorship funds 16 - 32 cars: £680 to £1360 to winner plus sponsorship funds 32 - 64 cars: £1360 to £2720 to winner plus sponsorship funds Runner-up receives trophy, return of entry fee plus sponsorship funds Santa Pod Raceway and Obsession Motorsports are posting an additional £175 to the winner and £145 to the runner-up, and Nova Engineering are posting £100 to the winner. SPORTSMAN, 10.00-10.99 seconds, heads-up (no dial-in), all-run, entry £85 0 - 4 cars: Trophy to winner plus sponsorship funds 4 - 8 cars: £140 to £280 to winner plus sponsorship funds 8 - 16 cars: £280 to £560 to winner plus sponsorship funds 16 - 32 cars: £560 to £1120 to winner plus sponsorship funds 32 - 64 cars: £1120 to £2240 to winner plus sponsorship funds Runner-up receives trophy, return of entry fee plus sponsorship funds Santa Pod Raceway and Obsession Motorsports are posting an additional £175 to the winner and £135 to the runner-up, and Nova Engineering are posting £100 to the winner. ©Eurodragster.com STREET, 11.00 seconds and slower, dial-your-own, all-run, entry £75 0 - 4 cars: Trophy to winner plus sponsorship funds 4 - 8 cars: £120 to £240 to winner plus sponsorship funds 8 - 16 cars: £240 to £480 to winner plus sponsorship funds 16 - 32 cars: £480 to £960 to winner plus sponsorship funds 32 - 64 cars: £960 to £1920 to winner plus sponsorship funds Runner-up receives trophy, return of entry fee plus sponsorship funds Santa Pod Raceway and Obsession Motorsports are posting an additional £175 to the winner and £125 to the runner-up, and Nova Engineering are posting £100 to the winner. All electronics such as throttle stops and delay boxes are permitted in the above classes. Racers may change classes for a fee of £20 until the end of the first qualifying session. The European Doorslammers also hosts the first outing for the Top Sportsman class which has been formulated by Malcolm Francis of Air Sea Logistics and Jeff Bull of Jeff Bull Race Engines and Performance Parts. Entry fee and prize money are as follow: TOP SPORTSMAN 6.00-8.99 seconds, Pro Tree, dial your own ET, sixteen-car field, entry £120 Winner £470, runner-up £260 Santa Pod Raceway and Obsession Motorsports are posting an additional £470 to the winner and £260 to the runner-up, and Nova Engineering are posting £100 to the winner. For more details about the Top Sportsman class contact either Malcolm Francis on 07875 310803 or Jeff Bull on 07834 381804. Entry forms for the event are now available on the Entry Forms page of the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about the European Doorslammers then contact Tina Gibbs at Obsession Motorsports on 01483 236262 or Darren Prentice at Santa Pod Raceway on 01234 782828. Dodging a Dart. 20th June: Our good buddy Dave Coleman of Powerpoint Communications exercised his nostalgia Dodge Dart doorslammer at last weekend's Test and Tune at Shakespeare County Raceway, writes Jerry Cookson. ©Eurodragster.com From history compiled by Jerry, the Dart (right, picture courtesy and ©Dave Derry) was formerly raced in the late eighties and early nineties by Glenn Alexander in the old Custom Car/Wynn's Pro Street Challenge series and later the CC/IHRA ET Bracket Championships against noteworthy racers of the day Al Packman, Chris Isaacs, Tony Baker and current British Top Fuel standout Andy Carter. The Dart was a regular runner up and visitor to the winners' circle contesting the IHRA Europe Super ET bracket with regular 11.9s to its credit, which counted towards securing the 1990 ET championship title at Santa Pod and North Weald. Although the Dart later changed hands Hugh Potter, whose name is firmly etched into the side windows, never got it to race it before Dave saw it advertised a couple of seasons ago. After attending a couple of Run What You Brungs at Santa Pod last season, Dave was fairly pleased with his day's testing which resulted in a best of 12.669/106.35 from a car which last saw competition over fifteen years ago. Swift snippets. 20th June: Courtesy of our good friend Remco Scheelings is the first look at Europe's first European-bodied Pro Stock, which is campaigned by Germany's Harald Sturhan. Harald took the Mercedes for its first outing at Drachten at the weekend. You can see a larger picture from another angle by clicking here (pictures courtesy and ©Remco Scheelings). Stay tuned for more about this car. Steve Saunders of the UK's Team High Speed Gas Super Pro ET team has been in touch with details of the return of the Mark II Zephyr. "We are looking forward to the return of the Big Red Zephyr with new modifications and a new paint job later this year", says Steve. "A big thanks to Tom for all his hard work, as without him we wouldn't be out this year”. Steve also adds a Well Done to Mark Flavell Racing. We're glad to see Mark's return to form at this years SPRC Summernationals", he says. UK Top Fuel Dragster and Fuel FC racer Smax Smith tells us that he is to contest two more races in IHRA Fuel Funny Car, driving Spiro Kontas' car. Smax will be driving at Norwalk and Rockingham. You can see pictures of Smax's first IHRA outing at Grand Bend on his web site at www.smaxsmith.com. UK Super Gas racer Stuart Morrice says that he had some problems during the weekend with the Morrice Boys Camaro. "We had a long weekend with the car", he says. "I had the gearbox out of the car on Saturday as the starter motor chewed the teeth off the flex plate and that's why I only made one qualifying run. I would like to say a big thank you to Craig and Tina Gibbs for getting their old flex plate to the track so I could race. I really appreciated it. I would also like to thank Jeff Bull for the starter motor." ©Eurodragster.com UK Super Modified racer Paul Mander has been in touch to ask us to thank everyone who helped him to a new Personal Best of 8.32 at Santa Pod Raceway yesterday. "A very big thank you to Cliff Bagg and his son Daryl, Fred, Peter and all the gang on Steve Rawlings' crew", says Paul. UK Junior Dragster racer Dan Giles also set a new PB at the weekend and also has some thanks. "I'd like to say a big thank you to Derek Flynn for offering me the opportunity to drive the car and supporting me the whole way, and another thank you to Richard Walters for helping me get used to the car", says Dan. "I would like to say good luck to Derek and Pete Walters as they head to Holland for next month's race". Dan's Junior Stock Dragster is for sale; if you are interested then please E-Mail barry.giles@ntlworld.com. Graham Motler has been in touch to ask us to wish a very Happy Birthday to UK Tech Inspector Geoff Martin and to send him a birthday card (right, click on picture for large version). "We wish you a very Happy Birthday from the Tech Crew Geoff, Mark, Graham, Tim, Dave, Dan and the girls Pauline, Jackie, Anne and Lorri" says Graham. We are sure that everyone will join us in adding our own good wishes to Geoff for his birthday. Have a great day Geoff. If you live in or around Goodmayes to the east of London then Redbridge College have gained another short-term FM licence and will be broadcasting Red FM on 87.7 FM starting today (Tuesday). Regular Eurodragster.com News contributor and News sponsor Paul Marston will have his own show on Red FM between 7:00 pm and 8:00 pm Mondays through Thursdays for the next four weeks and you can be sure that drag racing talk will feature heavily. If you saw Eurodragster.com Photo Editor Sharkman apparently drinking from a Nitrous bottle at the SPRC Summernationals then don't worry, he has not cracked under the strain. Shark was availing himself of the new NOS high-performance energy drink which is now available from Motorshack. NOS contains a number of healthy ingredients and comes in big sixteen-ounce cans at £2.50 apiece. For more information contact Motorshack on 01926 633379 or check out their web site at www.motorshack.com. Eurodragster.com resting News Editor Tog would like to thank everyone for their enquiries after his health, and for the compliments about his commentary alongside Graham Beckwith, at Santa Pod Raceway this weekend. "I'm not quite ready for full active duty yet but I am convinced that spending a weekend at the races has helped me to feel a little better", says Tog. "I must say a big Thank You to Kathy Taylor for driving me to and from Santa Pod, to Nigel Barker and his partner Linda and to Lee Child for their help and hospitality, to Graham Beckwith for making me so welcome in the commentary booth, to Santa Pod Racers Club for inviting me to commentate, and to Simon and Sharkman for doing such a great job on the Event Coverage." Bennetts seek crew. 20th June: UK NFAA and Wild Bunch team Bennett Racing are seeking new crew, says Luke Bennett. ©Eurodragster.com "You will need to help out at the track with the car and general workload", says Luke. "You will also need to be able to work one night a week at our garage and also helping with loading/unloading the cars ready for the event. Applicants need to be mechanically minded, able to work using own initiative and must be trustworthy and reliable. We live about 10 minutes from Southend-on-Sea so you will need to be fairly local to us. At the track, all food, drink etc will be provided, and also all entry to events is included. "If you're interested then come and have a chat at the track, give us a ring 07843 619724, or E-Mail us at bennett418@btinternet.com." Good reception at NHRA Museum. 20th June: Robin Jackson of Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Blueprints For Travel Ltd says that two new exhibitions at California's NHRA Motorsports Museum will interest guests of Drag Racing USA - The Trip To America. "The Museum recently appointed a new Executive Director - British-born Tony Thacker - and his first exhibition projects will include Faster: 1960s Photographs of Pomona Drag Racing and Fifty Years of American Racing Wheels", says Robin. "Both exhibitions will be in progress when Trip To America guests attending the Auto Club NHRA Finals are treated to a 'Welcome To Pomona' reception at the Museum on the eve of the race." ©Eurodragster.com Having been to the Museum, your stand-in News Editor can recommend as a wonderful experience to be among so many historic drag racing cars. For more information on The Trip To America, visit www.trip2america.co.uk or click on the logo at left. Svensk Dragracing web re-launch. 20th June: Peter Frost of Svensk Dragracing has been in touch to give an update on the Association and their long-running web site. Formed in 1993, Svensk Dragracing co-ordinates the different organizing clubs and their events in the Nordic Drag Racing Series (NDRS). Founder members were Kjell Pettersson, Lars Pettersson and Sussy Hofbauer, all of whom still sit on the Committee. "As well as the Svensk Dragracing Committee there is a travelling group which attends as many races as possible, who have taken on the responsibility for web design", says Peter. "We have recruited Therese Hällsten (or Tezzii as she normally calls herself) into the travelling group and to redesign the website. Sussy Hofbauer and I have been doing most of the design ideas for the site and Tezzi have tried to fix our strange demands. ©Eurodragster.com "We have now launched the redesign at www.dragracing.se and we are sorry that the recent updates on the old site haven't been up to the usual standard. "We have also appointed a new Chairman of points calculation who is Susanne Lindell; she is doing this under the watchful eyes of Erik Zettervall, and also Matts Nordman who is back-up for the points as well as the web site." Magazine Update. 20th June: No sooner had the magazine shelves cleared of top drag racing titles than American Auto Mags proprietor Graham Rennie restocked with the very latest from Vintage Fuel and Gasser Wars Magazine, writes Jerry Cookson. Edited by Nostalgia fuel car owner Christy Thom, issue 3 of Vintage Fuel features reports from the rained out March Meet, Tucson Dragway Reunion, and a three-pager covering the recent Mopars At The Strip race at Las Vegas. Feature car is the Valencia Family's '48 Fiat Topolino Fuel Altered 'Black Max' which, on closer inspection, features in the graphics a Viking-type character not to dissimilar from our own Wild Bunch head honcho Crazy Chris Hartnell, Scott Gaulter's 'Nitro Maddness' '23 T Altered, and a Fuel Altered scrapbook looking at American and UK altered. There's tech and nostalgia news as well. ©Eurodragster.com Issue 44 of Gasser Wars takes a look at Gene Schwartz's '52 Chevy - a NHRA Street Eliminator national record holder in its time and winner at the '67 US Nationals, Mike Lucking's '48 Anglia, classic photos from Jim Zakia and a further instalment of the Hot Rodder Chronicles taking a look at the Midwest Pro Gas racers Association. Both magazines are available from the American Auto Mags web site at www.americanautomags.com or by calling 01606 558252. The June issue of Practical Performance Car carries a six-page colour feature on defending National Street Car Challenge title holder Mick Wilkes and his ten second turbo'd Vauxhall Viva. Features editor Ed Hall gets to meet Wacky Racer Mick and looks under the skin of this incredibly quick West Midlands based street racer. As always, the pages of the July issue of American Car World magazine is rammed full of drag racing features and reports including reports from round two of Real Steel Street Eliminator and ACW Street Racer series, Santa Pod's Fortieth Anniversary Easter Thunderball, the Stars On Wheels show in Antwerp, and the AACI Springnationals at Billing. Early season points leader Stuart Ramsey gets the main feature about his ACW SRS nine-second '67 Camaro, a look at Cliff Thompson's racing '62 Corvette and Mike Barnes' Dax Tojerio Hemi. Priced at £3.50, the July issue is available now in all good newsagents. Web site updates. 20th June: In the latest entry in his exclusive Racer Blog, FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion Lex Joon discusses team matters in the wake of the shock departure of Crew Chief Eddie Corr. You can check out Lex's Blog by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blog link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Peter Donaldson has updated his motorsport photography web site with a large number of excellent pictures from Saturday's qualifying action at the SPRC Summernationals. You can check out Peter's photos at peterdonaldson5305.fotopic.net. ©Eurodragster.com Chris Blows has been in touch about updates to the Walkin' the Dog web site at www.houndogdragracing.co.uk. "The web site has been updated with some historical race reports that were written for members of the old Houndog Supporters Club", says Chris. "There are just some samples from 1980 and 1984 at the moment, with hopefully loads more to follow, but they give an interesting insight into how the Pod used to be. Of particular note in the race reports are Flame Burnouts from the Fuel Altered, and a sixten-car Funny Car field...one can but dream!" Thanks to John Seymour for letting us know that his web site has been updated with photos from the SPRC Summernationals, and you can see the results at thebaldphotographer.com SPRC Summernationals Results. 19th June: Congratulations to the winners of this weekend's SPRC Summer Nationals at Santa Pod Raceway: MSA Top Methanol: Rob Turner 5.620/244.29 def. John Parkinson DNF Super Modified: Rob Smallworth 7.696/177.31 def. Rob Millward 7.673/178.55 Super Comp: Brian Pateman 8.933/146.59 def. Tim Adam 8.985/148.05 Super Gas: Steve Dunn 9.909/144.68 def. Matt Gatland 9.872/141.14 Super Street: Mike Bentley 10.939/143.76 def. Bob Lees 10.812/127.83 Super Pro ET: Steve Johnson 7.426/163.59 (7.33) def. Nigel Turner) 8.511/155.35 (8.49) Pro ET: Kevin Slyfield 11.810/109.23 (11.78) def. Clive Cox 10.383/131.21 (10.21) Sportsman ET:Geoff Cowley 15.807/84.76 (15.70) def. Martin Lewis 16.039/84.24 (15.59) Wild Bunch: Sarah Howells 9.738/140.23 (9.70) def. Helen Smythe 9.639/137.7 (9.60) Real Steel Street Eliminator: Steve Nash 8.084/176.97 def. Ian Hook 8.393/166.62 Junior Dragster: Anna Stanley 9.082/69.85 (9.00) def. Scott Hauser 7.926/82.10 (7.90) (red light) VW Pro: Glynn Morgan 12.892/97.57(12.97) def. Joe Gallagher 12. 466 /108.18 (12.15) VW Sportsman: Graham Fairhead 15.296/80.66 (15.40) def. Richard Merriman 16.557/80.24 (16.70) VW Alternate Engine: Mat Finney 15.471/83.84 (15.40) def. Mark Skeen 14.471/83.02 (14.50) Top Fuel Bike: Steve Carey 7.299/185.37 def. Ian Turburville 8.484/168.54 Funny Bike: Tim Blakemore 6.888/179.82 def. Shaun Branch 7.345/180.05 Competition Bike: Kevin Charman 7.844/162.99 def. Phil Leamon 8.397/155.75 Pro Stock Bike: Paul Watson 7.596/174.41 def. Len Paget 8.145/134.74 Super Street Bike: Graham Dance 7.907/179.28 def: Steve Venables 8.006/184.43 Super Twin Fuel: John Hackney 9.981/138.86 Unopposed Super Twin Gas: John Floyd 9.044/142.81 def. Jerry Collier 9.587/133.08 Super Twin Street: Dave Jones 10.365/128.19 def. Steve Folds 10.680/127.08 9.50 Bike: Richard Sawatzki 9.622/141.96 def.Andy Bird 9.470/132.39 ©Eurodragster.com You can view our American Car Imports-sponsored reports and pictures by clicking here, or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Our good buddy Gareth Evans has also updated his UK1320 site at www.uk1320.com with end-day photo galleries. An event of firsts. 16th June: The Dutch Championship season starts with a bang this weekend with more than 190 entries, Henriette Selles says. "With the Drachten Nationals being held on 16th -18th June, eXplosion will kick off the Netherlands season in a spectacular way. ©Eurodragster.com "Team Gerd Habermann Racing will be present to entertain the crowd with their two jet-cars, bringing back a little piece of history to Holland. The late 80s was the last time there was a Jet Car in Holland, but it will be the first time such a car has been at the drag strip in Drachten. Also, our good buddy Danny Bellio will make demo-runs with his funny car, always good for getting the attention of the crowd. "With more than 192 teams that have enrolled to the Drachten Nationals, it promises to be an exciting event and a weekend of firsts. "Robert Joosten will make his debut on Dutch soil with his Corvette Pro Mod and Harald Sturhan will make a world debut at Drachten with his unique Mercedes CLK500 Pro Stocker. "Jan Scheppers will run his first meters with his "Bowtie Bullet" stepside pick-up, Shark Attack will appear with their Altered and the second Dutch Junior Dragster and the list goes on (and on). "Dragracing is alive and well in the Netherlands, and THS together with Drag Race Vereniging eXplosion has put up the TSH Reaction Time Fund. The name says it all: The first 5 drivers to run the perfect reaction time of 0.000 receive €100. "The weather is looking promising, we will report on Eurodragster later with more information about the Drachten Internationals with a lot of English entries, but first we are off to make the first race of the season a huge success. "You can view the entry list by clicking http://www.explosiondragracing.com/D1-2006.htm. Hot parts for a hot weekend. 16th June: UK Jet Funny Car pilot Roger Goring is delighted with the outcome of his weekend at Shakespeare County Raceway, where he set new personal bests on his first outing with new parts in the J85 engine of the Firestorm FC. ©Eurodragster.com "We had a significant increase in performance off the trailer", Roger told Eurodragster.com. "On guesstimate pressures we set a new personal best speed at the eighth, and a new personal best speed of 258.96 mph at the quarter. And this was in sweltering temperatures - it was so hot it was crazy!" Roger said that he had wanted to try the new parts "forever" and that he was a little taken aback by the result at SCR. "The plan was to do as many runs as we could", he said. I didn't do a fire show because we were testing, the idea was to run through the day and save a big fire show for the last run. "On Saturday I hit the throttle on the first run and thought "Yes, this is it" and by Sunday I was thinking "Whoa!". We never did get to do the full fire show before a run so the 258.96 was particularly good because we had an increased fuel load, and because it was very hot and of course jets prefer cool air. So we're pleased with the first results and we know we're going in the right direction." Greek Imports. 16th June: After reading yesterday's report about the CHP Ashes, Filippos Papafilippou has been in touch from Greece to tell us about the highly-successful Import scene in that country. "Europe's fastest FWD Civic turbo is in Greece", says Fil. "Actually there are three Civic turbos in Greece which run consistent very low tens at speeds exceeding 220 kmh. And when I say low tens, I mean 10.1. Europe's fastest 4x4 is also located in Greece. It is a 2.5 litre stock shell turbocharged Subaru which easily runs 9.2s at 260 kmh. ©Eurodragster.com "Europe's and most probably the world's fastest 4x4 stock shell Ford Escort 2.0 litre Cosworth is also in our area, located in Cyprus with very low nine second runs at 250+ kmh. Europe's and the world's fastest 4x4 stock shell Lancia Integralles are also located in Greece and Cyprus, also with 9.1-second runs. "Europe's fastest street legal Subaru running on manufacturer weight and on radial tyres is in Greece and records high nine-second runs. The same applies for Europe's fastest and most powerful street legal Mitsubishi Evos. There are more than ten Evos across the country which record consistent ten- and eleven-second runs. There are also two Evos which managed to reach and exceed the 1000 bhp mark at the flywheel." Fil also has some news for us about his own racing operation - stay tuned for details. Extra pocket money. 16th June: New sponsorship deals have been finalised for Junior Dragster racers for the SPRC Summer Nationals and July's Dash for Cash 2 at the British Mini Showdown, Gary Kay reports. "B & B Motors are sponsoring the Junior Dragsters this weekend at Santa Pod's SPRC Summer Nationals, with £25 and a Trophy for closest to dial in during eliminations. ©Eurodragster.com "B&B Motors (proprietor Peter Kellett) are MOT Specialists, covering cars & modified vehicles, all RVs, motorhomes, motorcycles, three wheelers, & minibuses, using the latest equipment. They have new up-to-date workshop and diagnostic facilities, and also carry out servicing and repairs to caravans. They are situated in Bolton A6, Lancashire; if you are passing; call in you will be made most welcome; mention Eurodragster.com, SPRC, or APIRA for a discount. Peter can be contacted at info@bbmotors.co.uk. Support those that support us. "B&B Motors are also supporting the Dash for Cash 2 on the 15th-16th July at the British Mini Showdown at Shakespeare County Raceway. Peter Kellett of B&B Motors is again sponsoring the fastest kids in Europe with a trophy for the closest to dial in on the Sunday. There is £5 entry and the winner takes all the prize fund, the more in the more to win, don't red light and breakout. "Also sponsoring the Juniors with a trophy and £25 is Richard Walters of J&W Automotive, for best reaction on the Sunday. So, get your Dragsters down to Shakey for some fun & check out those awesome minis at the British Mini Showdown, Thanks go out to Dave Hollis for having us there, so lets get down and make our presence known, remember you need to be in to win". Photographic Competition. 16th June: This week, DRCReview is launching an amateur photographic competition for drag race enthusiasts. "There must be many photographers out there who have some great images from their visits to Santa Pod Raceway this year," says editor Andrew Kirk. We'd like to give you the chance to show off your talents." ©Eurodragster.com There's a great combination prize for the winner worth around £200, which includes a pair of weekend tickets to the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod in September. Entries will be judged by Eurodragster.com's Sharkman and former drag bike rider and professional photographer Ian Messenger. Check out the web site at www.drcreview.com for full details. Swift snippets. 16th June: Just as we went to post this update we received word that Swedish Top Methanol FC team Andéasson Motorsports have announced the departure of Crew Chief Frank Göransson who is retiring after ten years, having guided Leif Andréasson to a number of FIA European Championships. Kristian "Krippa" Johansson as taken over as Crew Chief whilst Anders Magnusson has taken on duties. You can read more on the Andréasson Motorsports web site at www.andreassonmotorsports.com. Mike L'Alouette has been in touch to say that a special model of the late Ronnie Sox's Super Stock '67 Plymouth Belvedere will be made available only direct from Supercar Collectibles. All net profits from sales of this special 1:18 scale model will go direct to his charity of choice, the St. Jude's Childrens Cancer Research Hospital. Ronnie, a legend in Super Stock and Pro Stock in the late 60s and early 70s, died of prostate cancer in April 2006 at the age of 67. Shipping of the new model is planned for September or October. ©Eurodragster.com Ian Turburville has an appeal for readers going to FIA Scandinavian meetings. He says "Is there anyone going to Alastaro or Mantorp/Gardermoen from the UK that could take a small package for me, just some team jackets for a Supertwin crew, hand luggage size, but the postage is just too outrageous and he needs them. Mail me if you can help please on turboville@ntlworld.com". Web site updates. 16th June: The official web site of Eurodragster.com News sponsor B+J Race Cars has been updated with all the latest news from the Crow Lane Skunk Works plus a look at another awesome limited edition T-Shirt design. Check it out at www.bjracecars.com. Lena Perés has kindly sent us a selection of photographs from the weekend's Kamasa Tools Mechanic Challenge in Stockholm. We have added the pictures to our Event Coverage of the KTMC which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left hand side of any Eurodragster.com page and selecting the Kamasa Tools Mechanic Challenge. ©Eurodragster.com Thanks also to Andrew Bamford, who tells us that his Racing Green site (www.racing-green.co.uk) has some pics from the Main Event. Blackburn saves S & K from World Cup. 15th June: Eagle-eyed readers will have noticed the name of UK Pro ET racer Marius Blackburn in Super Pro ET in the entry list for this weekend's SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway. Marius is doing double duty, driving the S & K Racing Super Pro ET dragster as well as the Escape From Reality altered in Pro ET. It turns out that this is not Marius' first drive in the eight-second dragster. ©Eurodragster.com "Mick Kemp, the regular driver of the S & K, dragster had prior engagments for the Summernationals weekend so, rather than leaving Roger Sinclair at home doing the gardening or even worse watching the football, he offered me the chance to drive at this event", says Marius. "I drove the car a while back when the Gray and Blackburn altered was not running, so it will be good to have another go. I'm hoping to eclipse my PB of 9.00/149 which I ran in the S & K dragster. "Chris Gray and myself will also be running the altered in Pro ET so it's going to be a busy couple of days." Results from Alastaro and Gardermoen. 15th June: Results from last weekend's Kamasa Tools Nationals are posted here on the FHRA website. Notable performances include Top Fuel driver Tommi Haapanen, who ran a 5.217 licensing pass and Top Methanol Funny Car driver Jarmo Kuutniemi ran a 6.197/330 kph in testing. Bike ladders can be found on http://www.dragrace.fi. Thanks again to our friends Hannele Höydén and Jouni Vesterlund for their coverage. ©Eurodragster.com Results from the Gardermoen Summaer Nationals meeting can be found on www.ndrg.no (select Sunday for final qualifying and eliminations). In Top Doorslammer, Fredrik Fagerstrom was no.1 qualifier at 6.325/219.30 mph. In the final, Patrick Pers, who qualified fourth with a 6.610/213.04 mph had a winning run of 6.621/213.04 mph over Fast Freddy. In Supertwin Fuel, Ronny Aasen qualified no. 1 at a low ET of the event 6.765 at a NPB speed of 215.08mph and, in what looks like a race of attrition, did not start against Hans Olav Olstad in the semi-final. Alm Trond won the elimination when in turn Hans Olav failed to run. In a Top Fuel Bike solo demonstration, Sverre Dahl ran a best of 6.696 at 221.48mph. CHP Ashes Report. 15th June: The inaugural running of the CHP Ashes, a one-shot shootout featuring racers and magazine readers from both the Jap Racer (Japanese Performance) and the Outlaw Flat Four (Ultra VW) Series, took place at a sun drenched Shakespeare County Raceway last weekend. It proved most successful for the air-cooled boys, writes SCR Press Officer Jerry Cookson. "With each of the twelve entrants given a chance of securing one point to prove their worth to their chosen magazine title, top draw from the Jap Racers Mark Biggers and his ten second Nissan Skyline GTR met his match against the '70 VW Cabrio of Richie Webb. Winning the duel on a quicker reaction time, Webb's wheelstanding rag top blasted past the GTR in 10.224 to 11.618. The score was evened up after Guy Chamberlain, owner of Europe's quickest FWD Honda Civic Turbo (11.679/124.48) took out the '65 Beetle of Martin Greaves. ©Eurodragster.com "In the remaining four shootouts, there were wins for Dave Dinning's Wolfsburg Performance Services '62 Beetle (back from a grass cutting exercise the day before), the pocket rocket Fiat 600 of Pete Englezos (pic by Dave Derry), Lee Maynard's twelve second Renault Dauphine and the ex-Jack Sachette Fiat X19 belonging to Ian Clark. On the losing side was Richard Batty's Mitsubishi F20, Tim White's twelve second Mazda RX7, the Team Tomlinson/Farrer Skyline and Bob Dha's Scooby Impreza turbo. With chants of "five-one" echoing from the stands I wouldn't mind betting that a similar challenge will have been issued to address the balance!" SCR on TV. 15th June: David Coleman of Powerpoint Communications tells us that the provisional UK air dates have been set for their drag racing coverage from this year's event at Shakespeare County Raceway. ©Eurodragster.com The drag racing coverage will be included in World Motorsports and the first two programmes are scheduled as follows. Super Modified, Top Fuel Bike and Super Pro ET: Monday 19th June, 19:30, Sky Sports 3 Tuesday 20th June, 01:00, Sky Sports 2 Tuesday 20th June, 09:30, Sky Sports 2 Tuesday 20th June, 14:30, Sky Sports 2 Street Eliminator, Supertwin Fuel, Super Gas: Monday 26th June, 20:00, Sky Sports Extra Tuesday 27th June, 00:00, Sky Sports Extra Tuesday 27th June, 09:30, Sky Sports 2 Tuesday 27th June, 14:30, Sky Sports 2 "The next two scheduled programmes should include action from the Fuel Altereds, Funny Bike, Super Modified revisited plus all the finals from the Shakespeare Nationals", says David. As ever and particularly in the case of satellite channels, TV schedules are subject to late change so keep an eye on your Electronic Programme Guide or other listings. More TV. 15th June: Thanks to Dale Grimsley for informing us that Motors TV are showing drag racing from the Australian Summernationals. The latest advertised times from the Motors TV website are as follows. ©Eurodragster.com 15th June, 01:00 - Summernationals Part 1 16th June, 23:30 - Summernationals Part 2 19th June, 16:00 - Summernationals Part 2 20th June, 13:00 - Summernationals Part 2 21st June, 18:00 - Summernationals Part 2 22nd June, 09:00 - Summernationals Part 2 23rd June, 22:00 - Western Nationals 24th June, 04:00 - Western Nationals Readers are advised to check these times on your Electronic Programme Guide before transmission, as they are subject to last-minute revision. In addition, Channel Five is showing 105 minutes of coverage from the NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals, on Thursday morning 15th June from 04:15 to 06:00. Aidan's Canadian Nationals. 15th June: Aidan Heatley-Smith has given us a report of his competition debut with his ex-Southern Rebel altered, which he ran at the IHRA Canadian Nationals at Grand Bend, Ontario, at the start of June and won two rounds of racing. He says: "Since October, we have been working on the car, replacing certain parts, and I have been anxiously waiting for the event at Grand Bend to come up (June 2-4). During the off season my dad got in touch with an old friend who lives about 15 minutes away from our home, and it turns out that he was looking for a car to sponsor for the weekend. Lucky for us we had that car. ©Eurodragster.com "Darryl Hamm, the owner of www.jozgarage.com came over, looked at the car, took some pics, and away he went. A couple of weeks later he returned with his graphic artist and stickered up the car, came with a trailer all kitted out and stickered up and off he went to the track. How cool is that! We just had to pack and turn up, and the car was ready to go! "Friday morning we fired the car up for the first time since October and the adrenalin was pumping through my veins. I got suited up and towed down to the startline. My first run was just a smooth 12.36@96, which was not bad considering I was guessing the shifts, but oh man did I have to work on my reaction times; 0.368 wont cut it in this class. My next run was on Saturday; after running through the gears and fixing the shift light, I was ready to go. As the ambers burned down, I mashed my foot to the floor and the engine died and came back to life as I backed off, kind of like what happened to our junior dragster, but on the green I was gone. 11.858@109, a new personal best ET (my previous best was 11.96@113). Again, my reaction time was crappy 0.796 - I really have got to fix that, I thought. "So the next race was eliminations. I dialled a 11.84 and I was worried sick. I creeped into pre-stage waiting for the other guy, and he got into stage.. My lights burned down first, I had the trans brake on and I went, I was surprised I didn't red light. Near the top end, I could hear the other guys chasing me down but I took my foot off and started braking, so I didnt break out. Across the finish line, I saw the win light and I was screaming in the car, I was so happy. When I got the ticket, my r.t. was a 0.065! Not bad eh? I ran a 11.852@92; I got off it at 1000ft and still beat my personal best - I couldn't believe it. "Next round I dialed 11.64. On the track, I thought I had lost, the whole time down the track the shift light was on and I thought the car ran way off its dial-in. The guy in the other lane came ripping past me and I thought it was over, until I got my ticket. The other guy had red lit and I ran a 11.74@105. I still couldn't believe it, I had beaten my PB three times in a row. "It was bad luck though when we got to the pits. We had a huge oil leak from the back of the manifold and we had to strip it down, and while this was going on, my class was called straight back down to the staging lanes for round three. I wasn't disappointed or anything; I had a hell of a time! "I just want to thank my dad, Darryl, James, Matt, Ronan, Nidge, Paul, and Chris for all their help over the weekend. Next stop is Milan Michigan! I hope we do better there - until then have fun guys!" Game faces on at PMR. 15th June: The FIA Main Event was a mixed bag for Paul Marston Racing with a semi-final finish for Mick Howling in Super Street but first-round exits for Gary Springford, Steve Bolton and Paul Marston. "Firstly on behalf of us all I would like to express our best wishes to Tog and his family, get well soon my friend (Thanks - Resting Ed)", says Paul Marston. "With regard to all the drivers in Pro, well the Crew Chief is going to get tough. I am to be flogged in public with a bowl of cherries, Gary Springford is having his name changed to Sponge Bob Grumpy Pants and Steve Bolton is going to be buried alive in cat litter. Apart from that Steve Bolton should be congratulated in qualifying so well in Pro ET, number six I believe, not bad when you consider that the bump was .09 in a thirty two car field. Gary Springford came into last qualifying session out of the field, languishing in thirty ninth spot, a combination of new car teething problems and human error meant that Gary had not put in a full pass all weekend. The whole Paul Marston Racing Team got behind Gary and we put together a one-shot tune-up. At the time the bump was .17 but I figured that was way too soft and it would firm up to be under a tenth, and I was right. It's never easy when the racecar is so new; it makes it kind of hard to predict what it will respond to! But we got the job done with a 10.10 on a 10.06 dial-in, seventeenth, and Gary was in. ©Eurodragster.com "On the other hand I showed promise being on provisional pole but ending up in third spot with a 9.156 on a 9.15. This all came to nothing as I went a thousandth into the red in the first round. I am very pleased to see that our qualifying performances have improved across the board with all the drivers. But it is becoming more obvious that come race day we will have to work harder to make the race cars more consistent, this is all the more tougher when developing the potential of the chassis and performance tune. The Monza for example caught me out first round as I went red, I had made a small precautionary suspension adjustment and it liked it a lot by running its fastest ever sixty foot. I knew I had shaved the tree close when I launched, the Monza just helped along a little more so it's entirely my fault. That lack of experience of knowing how a race car will react to a small change is hurting us at the moment. But we don't stand still at PMR, the whole crew did a fantastic job over the weekend - we learn real fast and we are learning all the time. What we learnt at the Main Event we will take with us to the Summernationals. Our commiserations to John 'Rodney' Everitt and his crew, Trigger, Dave and Delboy, as the Alien Altered made rather a mess of itself by kicking a rod out and nearly cutting the motor in half. John and everyone else at PMR would like to extend their apologies for the time it took for the clean up. Everyone at Paul Marston Racing would like to extend their thanks to all the crew and officials at Santa Pod Raceway for all the backbreaking work they put in over the FIA Main Event, it was really appreciated. The whole Paul Marston Racing family are all really looking forward to this weekend's SPRC Summernationals, it is going to be a great weekend and fantastic fun. PMR are fielding no less than six drivers: Mick Howling in Super Street, Tethys in Super Gas, Dave Racing Snake Catton in Super Gas, myself in Pro ET, Gary Springford in Pro ET, and Steve Bolton in Pro ET. I expect everyone to do their very best, stay focused and go rounds. Our qualifying performances have been good, Gary and I fortunately only slipped to third and fourth in the National Championship, so there is still work to do there. All the PMR drivers have the advantage of being hungry to win. This is a Sportsman event so if the weather is good the action will be fast and furious, we have some good combos out there. That said every year I see other teams getting better and better, more consistent, faster, with better race cars, more professional crew, and we have to respond to this. This is why I have a programme to constantly develop the PMR race cars. Grumpys Dodge for example has been killer recently, anyone who drives Grumpy now has the opportunity to win. I drove Grumpy recently giving some more infamous passenger rides, I went .03 on the Tree which surprised me a little so I leaned on it and went .001 with a seventeen stone passenger, Grumpy is probably in the best shape ever in all her long career (See you when I get better then - Resting Ed). This only comes from long hours in the shop, good driver feedback, excellent data acquisition, constant testing and the very best parts you can afford. Anyone who thinks it's only the heads-up Pro classes which who develop and refine their race cars need to have a close look around the Sportsman pits, they would be shocked. Come what may, on Game Face Day, everyone at Paul Marston Racing is ready." Web site updates. 15th June: Ulf Stadig, crew member of the Landmeco/Veidec Racing Top Fuel team, has been in touch to say that the www.nilssonmotorsports.com page has been updated with a report from the FIA Main Event and there is also a video clip of Hakan Nilsson's 4.86/306 mph qualifying run to watch. ©Eurodragster.com Lynda Thun Tønseth has been in touch to say that the website of www.nygardmotorsport.com has been updated with now a picture gallery of the red '63 Corvette driven by Jan Arve Nygård, including some photos from the FIA Main Event at Santa Pod. Lynda says "We are going to Sundsvall this weekend to test and tune, so we will be ready for Alastaro". Lynda is planned to be making licensing passes in the car during 2006. UK Junior Dragster and Eurodragster.com News sponsor Adoorable Handles have updated their Junior Dragster League Table with the post-FIA Main Event standings. To see the League Table visit www.adoorablehandles.com and click on the Sponsors of Junior Drag Racing link. Don't forget that if you are thinking of giving your home a makeover then Adoorable Handles produce a fine and extensive range of door and cabinet furniture, and that by supporting Adoorable Handles you are supporting Junior Drag Racing and Eurodragster.com. This weekend. 15th June: There is a bumper programme of action across Europe this weekend. Here are the links to the official entry lists: UK: SPRC Summer Nationals: Click here for our live coverage page Holland: Drachten Nationals, organised by Explosion Dragracing Sweden: Sundsvall - Deep Forest Nationals, organised by SHRA Sundsvall (SDC Championship) Sweden: Västerås Bike Weekend, organised by Västerås MS (NDRS Championship) Greece: Athens - 4th Drag Race in Greek Championship Series Czech Republic - Hoškovice - MCR + UEM Open for Czech Drag Serie, including Super Twin Top Gas Serie ©Eurodragster.com Sundsvall sees some nitro-fuelled action, with the Top Fuel Dragsters of Håkan Fällström and Tommy Möller, the Fuel Funny Car of Leif Helander. Also appearing are four Top Methanol Funny Cars, 14 Top Doorslammers and two Pro Stock cars of Kenneth Söderström and Peter Dahlin. Persåker set to return. 14th June: Swedish Top Fuel Dragster and Pro Stock racer Jöran Persåker plans to return to Top Fuel this season with his own operation. Jöran is acquiring the Canto Consultancy Top Fuel Dragster from Peter Knight, who tuned the car into the fours in the hands of Jon Webster. "I have paid a deposit on Peter's car, which is a proven consistent runner", Jöran told Eurodragster.com at the Kamasa Tools Mechanic Challenge on Saturday. "I am trying to find sponsorship for some of the balance and, depending on when I can come up with the money, I hope to début it either later this season or the start of next season. The earliest I will be able to bring the car out is the Veidec Festivla at Mantorp Park in July, or if we cannot make that it will probably be at the FIA European Finals. "I am excited because the car has made many passes in the 4.9 and 5.0 range which was proven at the FIA Main Event to be enough to win races. I will need time to bring together a crew, and I have already been in touch with some of my previous crew members." "I wish Jöran well with the car", said Peter Knight. "He hasn't had a great couple of seasons, so he deserves some success. It's a very capable tool he's bought: highly appropriate to the Championship it's competing in being both fast enough and reliable. There is much more to come from the car without twisting its tail, and I look forward to seeing the new team develop. I will be offering whatever help I can to get them up to speed, and my old crew are going to help re-assemble the car. Some may offer the help the new team - they all reckon they're all missing it terribly! "I hope that the car brings him as much enjoyment to Jöran as it has to me, to Jon, and to our team." Jöran added that he also plans to run his Pro Stock Avenger at the Veidec Festival. "I believe we now have about 100 bhp less than most other runners in the class, who have stepped up over the last season, so it may not be so competitive", he said. SPRC Summer Nationals Racers' Update. 14th June: We are indebted to Santa Pod Raceway's Race Director Darren Prentice and Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall for sending us the provisional running order for this weekend's SPRC Summer Nationals. You can view the running orders by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left hand side of any Eurodragster.com page and selecting the SPRC Summer Nationals. ©Eurodragster.com Please note that the running orders are provisional and are subject to change due to weather or track conditions or for any other reason deemed necessary by race officials. Paula Marshall has also informed us that Santa Pod Raceway's gates will open at 15:00 on Friday. Super Mods Headed to Hockenheim. 14th June: Our good friend Craig Gibbs of Obsession Motorsports has been in touch to confirm and give further details about the forthcoming Super Modified demo race at Hockenheim, Germany as part of the 21st Annual Nitrolympx. He says, "Obsession Motorsports is involved with Santa Pod for this year's European Doorslammer event on Saturday 8th July for which we need as much support as possible to make this event the success I believe it can be. ©Eurodragster.com I now have information regarding the Hockenheim race this year. As you know, Terry and Obsession Motorsports were involved last year with organising and taking the Super Mods out to Hockenheim, and the same is planned for this year. The format is the same, and we need to hear from anyone who is interested; last years participants will tell you how good it was! We've heard from Rico, who has very kindly offered prize monies, plus the use of a pit box for the duration of the event. The dates are: Scrutineering Thursday 24th August Qualifying and Eliminations Friday 25th August - Sunday 27th August. Because Super Mod run at this event as a demonstration class only, you do not have to be Super Mod legal, and as per last year we would be interested to hear from racers who's cars can run 8.50 secs or quicker. We are looking to take 8 - 10 cars to put on a great show. Based on a 10 car field, Obsession Motorsports will sponsor each team £100 to go towards travel costs. We are always looking for added support and sponsorship to help the racers with costs and additional prize monies, so if anybody is interested in helping to support this trip please contact either myself or Tina on 01483 236262, or by email on Gibbstina@aol.com. Racers that are interested should either contact us on the above phone number or come and see us at the Obsession Super Mod pit at the SPRC Summer Nationals this weekend. Parkinson on the wing. 14th June: UK Top Methanol Dragster racer John Parkinson has made a late decision to contest the MSA British Drag Racing Championship round at this weekend's SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway. "We have some last-minute help", says John. "We couldn't see Rob Turner out there running on his own, so we thought we would come and chase him up the track." John says that his outing at the FIA Main Event was a story of ups and downs, but with more ups this time. "We left feeling that we had done our best and could now see some light at the end of the tunnel", he says. "We missed the first round of qualifying on Saturday, but that left us with lots of time to be ready for round two. A good burnout and a straight pass led to a 7.8 and that was good enough to make the field. We were happy with our off-the-trailer run, but on the way to weigh the car, the chute fell in front of the rear left tyre which dragged it under, causing the car to stop and the chute lines to smash the rear wing. I know those lines are tough, but was amazed at how much damage it did to the wing. Some no-brain idiot had not wrapped the chutes tight enough and they had fallen off going over the bumps. ©Eurodragster.com "The next blow was to be told that we were fifty two pounds under weight and that the 7.8 would not count. So now it was panic time. I set-to doing the wing whilst Crew Chief Bob went on a lead hunt. Paul Stubbings came to crew for us the next day, and brought our spare wing with him but we had been lucky over night and managed to repair the damaged wing. I was set to take a trip to Andy Carter's sponsor B & Q and buy a roll of lead, when it transpired that a mistake had been made and that our weight was fine. We were back on the list and had qualified. "The second run of the weekend happened late on Sunday, the car came out of the hole well after a good burnout, and although it wandered a bit in the middle it sat down straight again when I shifted into top and we turned a personal best of 7.3. This time the chutes were wrapped tight and we headed back for the pits to turn the car around to be ready for the eliminations. As we were working away and talking about the last run Dave Branch, our newest crew member who had watched the car from the start line to about a thousand feet, noticed that we black-lined the track all the way. That would probably account for the not-so-straight run, and also meant we were starting to make some power. "The night passed in our usual way; gentle banter, and running round trying to find a welder to weld the rear exhausts back on - thank you to the Turners for that and to Dave for doing a marvellous welding job on them. The rest of the night was taken up by ripping the piss out of the stupid no-brain who left the chutes loose. Much merriment was had at his expense, but I took it well, yes it was me. "Eliminations had us up against Rob Turner in the first round, and we approached it in a good frame of mind as things seemed to be on the up. Although I was fractionally quicker to react, Rob was up and running. Although the car hooked up well it went soft on me at about the hundred foot mark. I kept on it, but it was only a 7.7. It felt so slow against Rob's time that I didn't pull the chutes (Are you sure that's why you left the chutes? - Deputy Ed). "Back in the pits we studied the timing slip and it became clear that our sixty foot was better and we started to lose it at the eighth. All eyes were on the timing slip, except Paul's. He said "Maybe this is the reason": de was holding number four lead in his hand. We guess it had come off the cap about a hundred feet out. 7.7 on seven cylinders - would it run a six if we took another lead off? "All in all a good weekend for us, and back this weekend to see what we can do again. See you all there, and if that Tog comes near our pit this weekend he'll be in trouble - he's supposed to be resting but I daresay we could find him a chair and a cup of tea, get well soon mate (Thanks - Resting Ed)." Lees takes BigV8.com Package. 14th June: American car search, sale and purchase service BigV8.com have announced the first winner of their Perfect Package sponsorship scheme for Santa Pod Racers Club Championship events, which offers £100 cash to the racer closest to a perfect reaction time and perfect ET. "The winner of the closest to the perfect package award is Bob Lees of Super Street - the cheque is in the post Bob!", says Ian Turnbull. ©Eurodragster.com "Bigv8.com will be continuing with this award at every meeting at Santa Pod for the rest of the season including this weekend's Summernationals", adds Ian. "A pair of BigV8.com stickers, which will be available at signing-on, must be carried on the vehicle to qualify for the money. "Bigv8.com has been set up solely to provide a service for people to search for, buy and sell American vehicles without having to wade through many web sites to find the vehicle they are looking for. The site includes vehicle- and manufacturer-specific searches, and the price of advertising decreases the longer you place your ad for because, let's face it, these are specialist vehicles which sometimes take a while to sell." You can find the BigV8.com web site at www.bigv8.com. Funny Bike v picking strawberries. 14th June: Finnish Funny Bike racer Asko Määttä says that he had a great weekend at the Kamasa Tools Nationals at Alastaro where he was runner-up. "What a lovely weather and a lovely weekend - for everyone, not just me" says Asko. "The Baldie's Gun III managed to do the minimum what I expected in a class made up of Funny Bikes and Fuel Harleys. I managed to become second, losing in the final to "Opa" Koskinen's nitrous Funny Bike at about 399 metres. ©Eurodragster.com "I've had serious trouble in the first two races of the season getting the bike off the line, but now I've had an idea about the faults and solving the problems. Anyhow I know for sure where to try to find the solution. "The totally different story is that I'm starting to use some "juice" to get a better start and sixty foot time at my next event, the Kalajoki race in mid-July. That has helped the previous problems but don't solve them, but it solves the poor sixty foot times I've had and helps the turbo at the start to work with the gas blow-through charged system. "By the way, have you ever heard about the girls at the strawberry fields at Suonenjoki (No - Ed)? In the 1970s they were Finns - not bad - and later came the Estonians - better - and nowadays they are Russian -can't complain. My summer cottage is next to the best and almost only Finnish strawberry fields - Suonenjoki! See or hear you at the Finnish Nitro Nationals, if I'm not at the summer cottage." Is yours the Ultimate Street Bike? 14th June: The 200mph bike club is again running its Ultimate Street Bike Challenge over the weekend Saturday-Monday 1st-3rd July. Of particular interest to our Super Street Bike and 9.50 Bike readership and indeed anyone with a powerful street bike, the Challenge combines flyers, standing quarter miles and dyno test with overall winners appointed from the combined results. The first two days of the Ultimate Street Bike Challenge take place at RAF Woodbridge near Ipswich. Weather permitting, top speed flyers will be held on the 2.2-mile runway; should the weather not be suitable then standing-start quarter miles instead will be run. 200mph have found a nearby camp site at a reasonable rate for those who want to stay for the weekend. ©Eurodragster.com On Monday the action moves to Santa Pod Raceway for standing start quarter miles. The track will be prepped to event standard. The Dynostar Big Dyno truck will also be making the trip from Holland to Santa Pod. Riders can enter all three days or individual components. For more information check out the event's official web site at www.ultimatestreetbike.org or for an information pack E-Mail jd7@200mph.org.uk. The 200mph club has an excellent forum for all matters two-wheeled at www.200mph.org.uk. Alkyoneus Update. 14th June: Dave "Fuzzie" McKenzie of McKenzie Windridge Racing has been in touch with details of the debut showing of his new alky altered Alkyoneus and its race debut later in the summer. He says: "Great news about our altered - we are on course for its debut at York in August. "Another milestone was reached this weekend when we took the car to the annual Cleethorpes Max Power car show. This is held annually, we always try to give representation to drag racing and this year was no exception. "This event is held for the charity Wish Upon A Star and they have always been around drag racing at Santa Pod. Smax, who himself was involved with children's charities for a while, lent us the Southern Rebel altered two years ago for this event. "This was our altered's debut, with the new paint scheme applied and designed by our sponsor Scratch Match accident repair centre in Grimsby. As you can see by the photo, they have done an excellent job. "With the paint scheme done, we are concentrating on finishing the engine. The block has been rebored to accept our +030" pistons. This was done locally in Grimsby by Service Engineering .The rotating assembly has been balanced at EDA by Kenny Coleman. The final machining will be done at LES Engineering, Armstrong Street, Grimsby in their large machine shop. All the rest was done By Mark Windridge and Dave "Fuzzie" Mckenzie. "The car will be running with the Wild Bunch, and if we do not make August at York, we definitely will make the Hot Rod Drags at Shakespeare County Raceway on 16-17 September. Without these people this car would not be possible: Johnny Hall Bill Felstead Eddie Fryer Nathan Les Hill Lincs and York's Doors T.S Grimsby/Lex Commercials Martin Lewis. LES Engineering Gary Burgin Good Vibrations Sorry if we have missed anybody I have updated the web site www.alkyoneus.co.uk with a few more pictures of the car and a news item. Pro ET Update. 14th June: Pro ET racer Nick Good has sent us a report of his weekend at the FIA Main Event and, looking forward to the SPRC Summer Nationals, Carl Burton has sent us details of the prize fund on offer. Nick says "After hitting pole position and taking the trophy and prize fund in Pro ET at the Easter Thunderball we wanted to prove to ourselves as much as anyone it was no fluke. A few mods to the fuel system and some added "bling" from the new Circle Racing front wheels and we were ready for the Main Event. "Unfortunately we were short of pit crew on the friday and I would like to say a big thanks to Mo, Chris, Bob and Rachel of GB Racing for their invaluable help. ©Eurodragster.com "Once again the 434 cu in Chevy performed faultlessly, with runs of three thousands and two thousandths off dial in qualifying us in the No2 slot, and the weekend got even better when Carl Burton informed us we were the highest qualified in the Pro ET sponsorship scheme. Thanks to the companies involved (see below) and Carl for organising it. "In eliminations a red light in the second round Sunday evening against Wayne Hiscock put an end to the weekends racing. We just need the driver to attain the same levels of performance as the car and we should be there! "I would like to thank Andy, Lop and Dawn for their help over the weekend. Well done to the Santa Pod crew for getting through the meeting despite the iffy weather, fingers crossed for a dry Summer Nationals. Carl Burton has also been in touch about the Pro ET sponsorship scheme and says "The bounty will remain the same for the SPRC Summer Nationals for no 1 qualifier in the Pro ET scheme, £100 in cash, £150 in vouchers and a trophy - good luck to all taking part and thanks go to: Webster Race Engineering Hauser Race Cars Black Bear Harleys W.A.S.P Alleyjax Inkwell Printing Toxico Clothing A1 Motor Stores Penn Autos Real Steel Psycle Workz Sandy Scooters "Although unfair to name names, and after all sponsors have pledged their sponsorship for this year,one of our sponsors has been so pleased with the scheme and racers displaying their decals, they have stepped forward and boosted the prize kitty for next year already". York Raceway This Sunday. 14th June: Howard Holmes of York Raceway has been in touch to tell us about The Wizards of Nos Nitrous Nationals, 20th annual Ford Shootout and Ultimate Road Car Challenge taking place this Sunday at the northern UK track. "In addition to York's annual Ford Shootout, this Sunday 18 June, The Wizards of Nos anticipate a gathering of their customers at York Raceway, ranging from Carl Austin with his twin engine Mini through to Martin Holgate's Paranoia Comp Altered. The Wizards will also be running some prize draws as well as providing gas supplies. They'll also be bringing their interactive display stand, to allow numpties like me to get a better grasp of the process of going quicker with the convenience of a blue bottle. They also have copies of Trev Langfield's widely acclaimed book on the subject. Trev will be on hand for help, advice, book signings and he'll sign your gas bottle if you really want! And they'll be prize draws for £100 and £50 vouchers towards a Wizard purchase. Indeed a bit of a Nos Fest. ©Eurodragster.com "And as if that weren't enough, don't forget that blue oval shootout. York Raceway¹s annual Ford Shootout always draws Fords old and new, stock through to heavily modified, for some drag strip action. This year, the shootout will be on a handicap basis, so everyone has a chance to win. "We hope to see you there because the guys and the crew are waiting for you. Gates open at 8am, scrutineering from 9am, track open from 10am -so get there soonest for more track time!" Further details are at www.york-raceway.co.uk. Caterham Dan. 14th June: A splendid day was had by all who attended Saturday's Lotus 7 Club's inaugural 'Fastest Caterham in the World' drag race held at Shakespeare County Raceway, writes Shakespeare County Raceway Press Officer and Commentator Jerry Cookson. Although, due to other more prestigious motorsporting events taking place elsewhere, 49 Caterham owners braved the hot summer climate to make this inaugural event a real success for organiser David Jackson. ©Eurodragster.com Split into various horsepower rated categories ranging from normal road powered Caterham's to the out-and-out race versions, the title of the World's Fastest Caterham was decided in a best of three match up with the award going to Daniel Thompson's R500 Caterham taking two wins from Arnie Webb's 2-litre 16 valve Vauxhall Caterham. Best times being an 11.321/123.64 mph against Arnie's 11.556/118.87. Webb and Thompson also picked up class wins along the way. "Congratulations Danny on a great drive and congratulations to Arnie for a great debut having been a 'keyboard' drag racer for so long," commented David Jackson afterwards. "This will be an annual event and I hope to build on the success and welcome even more people to try this discipline." Power Tool race entry open. 14th June: Entry is still open for the Silverline Tools Power Tools Drag Race in July. The official tool supplier to Santa Pod Raceway and sponsor of the American Car Imports Racing Top Methanol team is holding the Power Tools event at Truckfest which takes place at the Bath and West Showground on 1st-2nd July. Power Tool drag racing is already very popular in America and is part of the Robot Wars phenomenon. There are three classes: Super Stock for stock power tools, Modified for pure race machines utilising OEM motors, and Funny Car for machines which are able to carry a rider or riders, again powered by original power tool motors. Racing takes place over a seventy five foot wooden track. Silverline Tools are posting prizes including BTCC tickets, a mini moto bike, £600 worth of Silverline tools shared between the top three in each class, and the Silverline Cup. The event will be organised and run by Robot Wars specialists RobotsRus. "We wanted to run an event reasonably close to our base", says Silverline Tools' Marketing Assistant Ian Purchase. "We also wanted to run the Power Tools drag race in conjunction with another event, so the Truckfest was a good choice. We hope that this is the first of many!" ©Eurodragster.com Santa Pod Raceway will be sending one of their show vehicles to Truckfest to accompany the Power Tool Drag Race and FIA European Top Methanol Dragster Champion Dave Wilson is sending the American Car Imports Racing show car. If you are interested in participating in Silverline Tools' Power Tool Drag Race then you can find full details including rules and entry form at www.robogeddon.com/powertools.asp. The Power Tool Drag Races web site at www.powertooldragraces.com includes photographs and video clips showing you just what you should expect. Swift Snippets. 14th June: Racers are reminded that they have until 27th June for normal-price entry to the Veidec Festival, which takes place at Sweden's Mantorp Park on 27th-30th July. Entry and power forms are available at www.veidecfestival.com/2006/forms.htm. In case of query ot to have forms faxed then contact organisers Motorevents AB at info@motorevents.com or call +46 142 29 88 5. Our good friend Ian Turburville has been in touch with an urgent parts appeal. He says: "Can anyone give me just one used Brooks B1 fuel con rod? I need one that is no good any more, as I have to cut it in half to make an exhaust clamp for my bike. So I only need the bottom half intact, it can be slightly oval even. I will pay postage but I need it by Thursday. I know the fuel drivers sell them off as souvenirs but they had all gone when I asked!" ©Eurodragster.com Charlie Chivers has been in touch to say that he and his Taxi Express crew had a very successful shakedown at Shakespeare County Raceway's Test and Tune weekend. Charlie got his licence signed and run some very good times having never sat in a drag car before, running a best of 10.7 @ 126.99 mph in the ex-Allan Didwell Mk1 Capri. He said "Look out for The Taxi Express at Santa Pod this weekend and come and say hello".Charlie and The Taxi Express crew would also like to say many thanks to the track staff and personnel at Shakespeare County Raceway for making us welcome and helping us along during the weekend. Web Site Updates. 14th June: Thanks to for Mark Evans for letting us know that the Shakespeare County Racers website has been updated with pictures and reports from this weekends test and tune at Shakespeare County Raceway. Pål Modahl of Norwegian video site Vipkort Norge has sent a link for a video of Mikael Lindahl's accident at the Gardermoen Summer Nationals. To see it and other videos from the event, click here. Corr leaves MPM TF team. 13th June: FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion Lex Joon has announced that Crew Chief Eddie Corr has left the MPM Top Fuel team. Eddie, who tuned Lex to last year's Championship win and previously tuned Andy Carter to two FIA titles, stepped down yesterday having taken a break after the FIA Main Event at which Lex went out in the first round of eliminations. "Eddie has been a great asset to the MPM Top Fuel team and leaves us on the best of terms", says Lex Joon. "However, after we won last year's Championship at the expense of a lot of engine-related parts we agreed that certain things needed a different approach for the 2006 season. We did not get the result we expected from the FIA Main Event and so we both agreed that it is better to part ways. Eddie is a marvellous guy and he will always be welcome in our pit, and he has given us an insight into a lot of the little tricks of Top Fuel which no-one knows about. But sometimes things just don't work out." ©Eurodragster.com Sebastian Visser, who first worked with Lex as Crew Chief on his Top Methanol FC in 2001 and then joined the Top Fuel team in 2005, has been promoted to tuner of the MPM Top Fuel Dragster and will call the shots together with Lex. "Bas and I already have experience of tuning the Top Fuel Dragster", says Lex, "as we tuned it last year at events which Eddie could not attend." Henri Joosten's former Crew Chief Hans Brings has also joined the MPM Top Fuel team as mechanical Crew Chief. "I'm excited about the qualities which Hans bring to the table", says Lex. "Working with Henri Joosten over the years Hans has proven that he has the ambition, skills and qualities it takes to direct this team to victory. Hans, who started his career more than twenty years ago, is thrilled to step up and start working in the world of Top Fuel." Lex says that he is confident of retaining his Championship. "We know how to solve the issues we have had with head gaskets, and I know that we are up to getting the Championship again", he says. Doorslammers Entries Open. 13th June: Thanks to Rick Cuthbert for supplying an update about entries and class structure for the forthcoming European Doorslammers event. Obsession Motorsport and Santa Pod Raceway would like to remind racers that entries are still open for the European Doorslammers event due to take place at Santa Pod on Saturday 8th July. The race classes are designed to allow all types of doorslammers to run, from Sportsman VW to Pro Mod and virtually anything in between! The Doorslammers event is the brainchild of the late Terry Gibbs and it would be a fitting tribute to have massive fields packed with a great variety of cars. It should prove to be a fantastic day for both racers and spectators alike, and should also make for some interesting pairings between cars that don't normally race against each other. ©Eurodragster.com Doorslammers will battle it out in 5 shootout classes - all with great prize funds! 1.     Street     11.00 secs and slower (ET Bracket all run) 2.     Sportsman     10.99 secs down to 10.00 seconds (Heads up all run) 3.     Top Gun     9.99 secs down to 9.00 seconds (Heads up all run) 4.     Outlaw     8.99 secs down to 8.00 seconds (Heads up all run) 5.     Top Sportsman     8.99 secs down to 6.00 seconds (Top 16 will qualify) Rick said "This is the inaugural outing of the demonstration class Top Sportsman (8.99 seconds down to 6.00) - see the cars run in qualifying to become one of the quickest 16 doorslammers on the day to go into eliminations in the evening. Who will win? - it's anyone's guess!" The European Doorslammers is open to all MSA licensed cars with doors inc Pro Mods, drag cars and street cars. Entry forms are available from Santa Pod Racers Club on 01933 313625 or from their website http://www.eurodragster.com/sprc/ Smax's IHRA Plans. 13th June: Our good friend Smax Smith has been in touch with some exciting developments about his new nitro funny car driving career in North America. He says "I have just had a meeting with Fuel Funny Car owner Spiro Kontos and can confirm we are doing two more IHRA meetings in July. The first is at Milan, Michigan, USA on the weekend of 7th July and this is followed by the Cayuga meeting at Toronto Motorsports Park on the weekend of 23rd July. This is a huge opportunity for us to step up to the big time. All this came about after the FIA Main Event when I went to see the Patons who run a Top Fuel Dragster operation just 10 minutes' drive from my house. They were helping Spiro Kontos prepare his Fuel Funny Car for battle, but his cousin Mike wasn't licencesd as yet, so my timing was perfect. What has transpired is Spiro and Mike had so much fun with me driving and meeting us all - we all got along famously. We will take Mike and the Funny Car to Cayuga next weekend for him to get some seat time, but for now he is happy for me to drive while he learns more as a crew chief. There is even talk of Spiro funding a two-car team when Mike is ready. ©Eurodragster.com This is all amazing, as our first time out didn't go that smoothly. I sat in the car for the first time in the pits and, luckily, I could reach all the pedals and controls - we were thrashing to get the car ready for the first qualifying session on Friday night, but a battery pack just purchased was faulty, so we borrowed two more which were both flat, and we missed the call - we eventually fired for the first time and then sorted out the timing etc so were eventually ready for Saturday morning. We were the first pair to run, so I was excited to get on track, but mindful of only having a four-disc clutch, I opted for a medium size burnout, which was well received. However, the change in air quality had our rpm too high causing problems and over-heating the clutch. Also my arm restraints were adjusted too short for me to open the roof hatch to let the smoke out. We had problems and were running out of time. I reversed back fine and Barry (Paton) ran over to put plugs in the injector to slow the idle speed down, but they were all already plugged - Uh Oh! I was signalled into prestage, but the clutch was dragging so bad at this point it dragged me into stage. I highsided to drop the rpm and pulled on the handbrake with all my strength - it seemed forever for Jack Wyatt to stage. I was away first but only went 30ft and blew through the clutch. I lifted immediately to save the motor and coasted down to get a time, even leaning the fuel to pick up a bit of speed, but the clutch was too damaged and I coasted to a stop before the finish line. I could have stabbed the throttle, but felt really naff to hit the throttle after 20 secs. However, it turned out that this cost us a place in the field, as the next and last session was cancelled due to rain - I won't do that again I returned to the pits covered in clutch dust - everyone was happy the car did a burnout and launch and not upset that we hadn't qualified. We turned the car around as normal and addressed the rpm issues, did our warm up and were ready to go when the heavens opened - this was a real bummer. We argued with IHRA that we made the 8th best qualifying attempt, but the rule book states that you must cross the finish line to constitute a legal qualifying attempt. I conceded but raised the point that I felt a rule change was needed, as if only, say, three cars had qualified on Friday Night and it rained all day Saturday, the paying public would only have seen a three car field on Sunday, which would have been a huge disappointment for funny car fans paying to see the first return of Nitro Funny Cars to IHRA after 12 years or so. They don t agree..... Still, I was happy to be part of the return of Fuel Funny Cars, happy to now be an IHRA member, and happy to connect with a really nice down to earth team (and families) as well as having a blast. I will update you again soon with more pics and news. Thanks to everyone who sent in pictures of me at the FIA Main Event - check my site www.smax.co.uk for updates. Also we have more stuff, for sale so ring Ben at fastco-uk on 01603 665000 if you need anything for your hot rod! Rush on Nitro. 13th June: Our good friend Ian Turburville has sent us a report of Ian 'Rush' Carruthers' maiden event for his new Supertwin Top Fuel bike last weekend. Ian 'Rush' Carruthers finally got his RR Lowrider, top-fuel Supertwin down the track at this weekend's test and tune at Shakespeare County Raceway. ©Eurodragster.com Transmission woes were overcome, a good clutch baseline was found and, on a gloriously sunny weekend, the team came together nicely. With a lot of help and patience from the ever-obliging SCR and APIRA staff, Rush, his son Jake, Leo and Dave got the bike to the starting line just in time for the last run of the day on Saturday. A quick chirp of the slick was all there was time for, he staged, did a nice straight launch, changed into second and clicked it off for a clean 11 second observed run. Sunday was beautiful weather once more and, after Rush had fire-proofed his right boot, he put in a fine burn out, a harder launch and then clicked it for a 10 second pass that was straight as a die. The third and fourth runs were aborted after increasingly smokey burn-outs, when a small but persistent fuel leak appeared. A good weekend, lots of fun and lessons learned leaving him ready for next weekend's SPRC Summer Nationals at Santa Pod where he will enter the fray in Supertwin Top Fuel against Chris Stebbings, Wendy Clutterbuck and Duncan Hocking. Lots of interesting and varied vehicles took part in a great test weekend including a brace of, Opcon-supercharged Dodge Vipers and a good showing by the Wild Bunch. Fresh Orange Pop. 13th June: Many thanks to team member Jason Yates for letting us know how Simon Barlow and the Orange Pop Team got on during their return to the track after a Ford Pop / Concrete wall interface on their first qualifying pass at the Easter Thunderball. ©Eurodragster.com "The Orange Pop drag racing team returned to the track at the classic ford show on Sunday. After all the repairs and work complete, we decided to test the car. We got four runs in on Sunday and none of then were under full power. Our best ET was an 11.8@112mph. Simon was getting the feel for the car again after a while from the track it was a wise idea not to go crazy on the first meet back. Everything seemed perfect and looked perfect which is what we wanted. The car launched well and ran arrow straight on all 4 runs down the quater mile. It was a great feeling to be back at the track. "Our next meeting will be at the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals on 1-2 July where we will be putting a lot more power down the track. On behalf of Simon and the rest of the crew, I would like to say a big big thank you to everyone who has helped us some way or another to get us back on track." Swift snippets. 13th June: In the latest entry on FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion Lex Joon's exclusive Racer Blog, Lex tells of wedding bells, idling Top Fuellers and giving a new meaning to "smoky flavour" in McDonalds. You can check out Lex's Blog by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blog link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. ©Eurodragster.com Real Steel Street Eliminator members are reminded they are invited to attend a Class meeting to be held this Friday evening, 16th June, at Santa Pod Raceway. The meeting is scheduled to start at 20:00 hours prompt. Further etails can be sought by contacting the SE membership secretary Ann-Marie Lazenby at lazenbyam@btinternet.com. Web site updates. 13th June: Our good friend Gwynn Clark has updated his Slimboyfat web site with pictures from the weekend's Outlaw Flatfour v Jap action at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out Gwynn's pictures at www.pbase.com/slimboyfat/outlaw_vs_jap. E-Mail problems. 12th June: Our ISP Selfnet have had severe problems with their E-Mail server over the last few days. Although the problem has now been fixed, several E-Mails sent to @eurodragster.com addresses over the last few days are officially considered lost. ©Eurodragster.com If you have sent us a news item in the last few days and it has not been published then please re-send it to the News address and also CC it to eurodragster.com@btinternet.com, or if you have sent E-Mail to Tog, Sharkman or Simon at their Eurodragster.com addresses and not had a response then similarly please re-send it. UK Championship points updated. 12th June: We are indebted to Yvonne Tramm and our very own Simon for forwarding us the post-FIA Main Event points standings in the UK National Drag Racing Championships. ©Eurodragster.com You can view the UK Championship points by clicking here, or by clicking on the Points Standings link on the left hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Mechanic Challenge report. 12th June: As promised, Simon has posted his report and pictures from Saturday's Kamasa Tools Mechanic Challenge in Stockholm, which was won by Top Methanol FC team Staflund Racing. ©Eurodragster.com You can check out Simon's KTMC report and pictures by clicking here, or via the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Summernationals Perfect Awards. 12th June: This weekend's SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway is the latest eligible event in the 2006 Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards scheme. A total prize fund of £125 will be up for grabs. The Eurodragster.com/Speedflow Perfect Light Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by Junior Dragster racer Scott Hauser at the FIA Main Event. The money will be awarded to the first racer this weekend to record a perfect Reaction Time of 0.000. The Award is open to all classes and is available during qualifying or eliminations, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect Light of the weekend. The Perfect Light Award is jointly presented by Eurodragster.com and high-performance hose and fitting manufacturer Speedflow whose web site you can find at www.speedflow.co.uk. If the Perfect Light Award is not won this weekend then it will be increased to £75 for the Drachten Internationals at Drachten; if the Award is won this weekend then it will be reset to £50 for the Drachten Internationals. ©Eurodragster.com The Eurodragster.com/LA Racing Parts Perfect ET Award has been increased to £75 after it went unclaimed at the FIA Main Event. The money will be awarded to the first racer to run to the thousandth on their index or dial-in during qualifying or eliminations. The Award is open to all ET classes, all Super classes, Junior Dragster, 9.50 Bike, all VW classes and the Wild Bunch, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect ET of the weekend. The Perfect ET Award is jointly presented by Eurodragster.com and performance supplier LA Racing Parts, whose web site you can find at www.laracingparts.com. If the Perfect ET Award is not won this weekend then it will be increased to £100 for the Drachten Internationals at Drachten; if the Award is won this weekend then it will be reset to £50 for the Drachten Internationals. Kamasa Tools Nationals coverage. 11th June: This weekend's Kamasa Tools Nationals at Alastaro is being covered live by our friends Hannele Höydén and Jouni Vesterlund. ©Eurodragster.com Car class results will be available at www.fhra.fi, whilst bike classes will be covered at www.dragrace.fi. Summernats coverage. 11th June: The Summernats at Norway's Amcar International Raceway (aka Gardermoen) is also being covered on-line. ©Eurodragster.com You can find qualifying and elimination results on the Norsk Dragracing Gardermoen web site at www.ndrg.no. Ouch! 11th June: The UK's Team Spellbound Pro ET team are still hoping to contest next week's SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway after the popular Morris pick-up's rear axle let go on the start line at the FIA Main Event. "On first inspection of the damage it looked like we would have to replace all of the diff except the spool after the pinion decided to part company with the rest of the housing, which in turn hit one of the top four link bars bending it in the process", says Marcie Motler. "The propshaft was also damaged where it hit the prop loop which, it has to be said, did its job very well stopping any more damage. "After Malk had dismantled the axle he found that the thirty one spline halfshafts had started to twist due to those wheels-up launches which he loves so much! "We decided that seeing the axle was all apart we should upgrade the halfshafts and spool to thirty five spline just to be on the safe side. So what's happening now? Well, it is all in the capable hands of Andy Robinson Race Cars, and if the parts arrive next week we should be able to make the Summernationals - fingers crossed. ©Eurodragster.com "Malk and I would like to thank everyone at the track for their help and support especially our friends and crew, and all the people who chipped into the bucket at the track which raised £130.00 towards the bill. Thank you big time! In addition we would like to say thank you to Jack and Jacqui Brewster for supplying us with a chromoly propshaft for a very reasonable price, Mum and Dad for their generous donation, Bob at Jim Selby Butchers in West Moors for the kind donation and superb meat, and Andy Robinson Race Cars for their swift action. "Malk and I cannot say Thank You enough times to everyone. Let's hope we see you next week to say it in person." DynoSpeed Developments PSB update. 11th June: Paul Watson of Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor DynoSpeed Developments has been in touch to bring us right up-to-date with events in his Pro Stock Bike pit. "2006 has not gone the way we planned so far but then it never does", says Paul. "We started off at Shakespeare County Raceway and due to lack of runs didn't qualify, then at Easter we suffered gearbox problems. So we re-assessed the situation and brought in a 1500 two valve motor from the States, which we débuted at the Main Event. We were pleased with the performance but the dips in the left lane at mid-track were upsetting the bike and it kept turning towards the wall. "We never made a full pass at the Main Event but a 7.7 using four out of six gears wasn't too bad, so yesterday we tested at the Run What You Brung at Santa Pod and ran a couple of 7.7s and a 7.6. It was a great day, great weather and a great atmosphere. Big thanks to my crew Jason of JM Motorcycles, to Steve Wilson for his help too, and to all the Pod people who do such a great job. "Next weekend we will be using the 1640 four valve motor, back from Roger Upperton after having some problems. We have run 7.4 with this motor and with the help of the new datalogger we should get a handle on it. "On another note only one person has taken up my offer of a free dyno for any 9.50 Bike. We found that they had a small problem so hopefully they can get on top of it. In the interest of the class I will extend this offer till the end of June." You can find more details about Paul's free dyno offer in our news update of 6th June. ©Eurodragster.com Swift snippets. 11th June: Swedish Pro Mod racer Micke Lindahl had a bit of a day of it yesterday when his Chevy turned right and hit the guardrail at the Summernats at Norway's Amcar International Raceway. Our good buddy Patrik Jacobsson, who sent this picture, tells us that Micke is quite OK and that the car is not badly damaged needing only a new front end and the replacement of some chassis bars around the fuel cell. You can see Patrik's pictures from Gardermoen including the full crash sequence at www.racebilder.nu. ©Eurodragster.com Staflund wins Mechanic Challenge. 10th June: Congratulations to Swedish Top Methanol Funny Car racer Jonas Staflund who won the Kamasa Tools Mechanic Challenge in Stockholm's Kungsträdgården this afternoon. In the final round Jonas and his team stripped down the TMFC's engine, removed a piston, put it all back together again and fired up the engine in six minutes and nine seconds, the Fastest Time of Day and less than thirty seconds off the all-time record set last year by Leif Andréasson and team, who were runners-up this time. ©Eurodragster.com "We were in last place last year and won this year - we will live off this all summer!", Jonas told Simon. Simon's report and pictures will be available on Monday's update. Olsson's nostalgic return. 10th June: After an absence of fifteen years from drag racing, Swedish Comp Eliminator racer Stig Olsson has decided to return. Stig is making it a nostalgic return as he will be running a front-engined dragster with the same team, chassis builder and sponsors as his previous race car. Stefan Lindblad is part owner and will be Crew Chief, and Stig's other old team members will appear when time allows. Neil and Parks Racing, who built the car which Stig drove on his USA racing tour in 1989, are nowadays considered one of the USA's best when it comes to building front-engined dragsters and Stig didn't hesitate when they decided to sell their own pride and joy. Stig was at Bakersfield when Scott Parks won the 2005 Goodguys Junior Fuel Championship with the car, which was the icing on the cake. Back in Sweden it took Stig and the team a while to find an engine which would suit the car and class. Finally they found an A/ED Chevy 454: basically a Pro Stock engine with reduced stroke and with a single carburettor. The engine will be adjusted by Skinne Racing to work with unleaded fuel, and a Stig Olsson Special Powerglide will naturally be behind the engine. ©Eurodragster.com The team are very happy with and proud of the trust of their sponsors. Norrlands Custom is the main sponsor as they were the last time Stig raced, but Strömstad's TV Boden and Skinne Racing are also on board. The team does not have a set goal in the first season: Stig says that it's all about having as much fun as possible in the shortest possible time. "The sport has evolved so much over recent years that the first season will be all about brushing the dust off the team and driver", he says. "If we remove someone else from eliminations as part of that process then that's just a bonus." Daniel on the Teenage Rampage. 10th June: Daniel Holloway, the youngest member of the UK's Rampage Pro ET team, went on the Teenage Rampage Training Programme at Santa Pod Raceway last weekend, says Crew Chief Ian Gibbs. ©Eurodragster.com "As a surprise for Daniel's eleventh birthday dad Adrian, mechanic on the Rampage team, arranged for a day's tuition driving the Santa Pod Racers Club Junior Dragster at Santa Pod", says Ian. "Ian Marshall gave terrific support explaining the principles of driving the dragster. Daniel managed eight eighth-mile passes but on one run the drive chain broke just as he left the start line. Daniel's best ET was 15.676 seconds at 39.93 mph and his fastest run was 39.96 mph in 15.730 seconds, and his best Reaction Time was 0.385. "Rampage Funny Car driver Dave Ward went along to help, and probably to pick up a few tips from the young contender. After Daniel's last run his comment was "I want one!"." Swift snippets. 10th June: UK Top Methanol Funny Car racer Steph Milam has unfortunately had to withdraw the She Devil TMFC from next week's SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway. "The long awaited crankshaft has arrived damaged and we don't have time to get another one", say Steph and Dave. "Sorry to everyone who had hoped to see us there and we wish everyone else a good weekend. We will be back!" ©Eurodragster.com Ex-pat UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Steve Read tells us that he has has resigned as driver for Santo Rapisarda so he won't be racing at this weekend's Season Finals at Australia's Willowbank Raceway. "Our new car should be here in the next couple of weeks", adds Heather Bond. "Athol Williams, the new owner of Cannon's bike, is at Willowbank this weekend. He had a good day's testing last weekend. If you want to follow the coverage this weekend then the track web site is at www.willowbank-raceway.com.au or the other main site is at www.dragster.com.au." Mike of Danny Cockerill's Pro Mod team has asked us to thank everyone who responded to his request for pictures and video of the blown-alcohol Chevy in action, and would now like to hear from contributors danbrisa@hotmail.com that it would be OK to use the pics and video on his web site. Mike's web site at www.fatboizracing.piczo.com includes both drag racing and Motocross features. Eurodragster.com News Editor Tog is hoping to attend next weekend's SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway as his recovery continues from his heart episode at the FIA Main Event. "Sharkman and Simon have, quite understandably and very considerately, banned me from working on the live updates next week", says Tog. "I can't come to the track and do nothing so if I am up to it then the plan is that I will be sitting in the next room along commentating with Graham Beckwith. I would like to thank everyone for the Get Well messages and offers of help which are still coming in even now, and Sharkman and Simon for doing such a great job of keeping Eurodragster.com going." PiPPi's PSB review. 10th June: Our good friend Par Willen, who like your News Editor is more familiar to everyone by a nickname, in this case PiPPi, has sent us his promised report of the Pro Stock Bike news and action at last week's FIA Main Event: There are some interesting new developments for 2006 in the Scandinavian bike pits and we welcome two new bikes into the UEM Pro Stock Bike fold, Anders Jakobsson of Sweden and Tom Tinndahn from Denmark. Both riders competed sucessfully in the Scandinavian Harley Drags series under rules demanding V-Twin motors, street tyres and no wheelie bars. Anders Jakobsson's new ride is a more conventional Pro Stock Bike, a 1510 cc two-valve Suzuki motor in a chassis that was raced by Connie Cohen in the 2005 NHRA championships. However, Tom Tinndahn of Team MC Parts stayed in the V-Twin camp and has brought a complete and brand spanking new G2 Motorsports S&S Buell Pro Stock Bike to Europe, the first of its kind on European soil. It is an absolutely immaculate bike, easily the best engineered bike in the pits and in this reporters eye the best engineered vehicle in the pits, all categories. Don't miss it if you're on the track when Tom is in place. This was the first European Championship race for both riders and they had a good test and tune weekend at the Gardermoen race track a few weeks before the Main Event. On his first two full power runs on a sub nine-second bike, Anders Jakobsson pulled back to back 7.4s which will mean a bit of trouble for some of the more seasoned Pro Stock Bike racers this season. Roger Pettersson is not racing in Pro Stock Bike this year but Team MotoSpeed with last year's #2 and #6, Anders Abrahamsson and Örjan Gustavsson, is out in full force. Anders tested well with a 7.31 in Norway where Örjan unfortunately damaged a crankshaft but installed an ex-Roger Pettersson motor for the Main Event. FIA Main Event qualifying: Team MotoSpeed leads off the pack, Anders Abrahamsson ran two runs in the low 7.3s with a best of 7.31 to take the number one qualifying spot. Things looked solid with 60-foot times down to 1.11 which is a good indication of a well working clutch/tire combination. Speed not as solid at "only" 283 km/h which is a whole 12 km/h off the personal best. ©Eurodragster.com Qualifier #2 is a rider who is labeled "the Dark Horse" in the Main Event program, Anders Jakobsson. Fine, but no surprise to anyone in the pits. In the second qualifying run, Anders Jakobsson lost one of two batteries about 150 feet off the line which meant low voltage with weak ignition and less than ideal conditions for the onboard electrical system. Anders still pulled a 7.61 under those conditions and at that time was number two. In the last qualifying run, Anders had all the momentum back and ran a 7.49/279.7 km/h which made him second qualifier in his first Euro Championship event. Impressive to say the least but not a personal best. Rounding up the top three Pro Stock bikes is Martin Bishop, the team was running in a brand new motor and managed two full runs with things going right according to plan. First run was 7.81 and then a run of 7.58 which put Martin in the #3 spot. The plan for the finals was to step it up a tad more, "We'll continue with a 7.43 in the quarterfinals and a 7.3 run to get into the finals" says Martin Bishop. It should be known that Team Bishop has been on track so far, they did promise this roving reporter a low 7.6 run before the last qualifying run. In number four spot is the second Team MotoSpeed rider, Örjan Gustavsson who improved to a 7.68. Örjan is also running a new engine and feeling good about the developments, softening up the clutch and raising the wheelie bars a notch for the quarter finals. Len Paget in 5th also at 7.68 followed by Paul Watson at 7.77, Martin Newbury in 7th with a 7.98 with Luigu Chinarello as the last qualifier at 8.10. It was tough fight around the bumpspot with Danish G2 Buell-rider Tom Tinndahn getting the short end of the stick, he missed the last qualifying spot by only 13/1000 of a second. Despite that, Tom was very satisfied with the weekend, he had the launch down to a super fine 1.11 at the 60-foot timer which was the quickest of the Pro Stock Bikes this weekend. Tom will be back for more at the next race in Finland where we might see the addition of another v-twin rider in Pro Stock Bike and that would then be Team BikeLine with Swedish rider Ulf Ögge in the seat. Quarter-finals: Abrahamsson vs. Chinarello: Debris on the track had the starter waiting very long to let the first pair fly. Chinarello was fully staged but Abrahamsson waited in pre-stage and got worried about heat build-up. As soon as the starter OK'd the pair to go Abrahamsson staged at what seemed like a just few hundreths of a second before the green came on and Anders was out of the gate at the same instant, leaving Luigi behind all the way to the finish line. Abrahamsson 7.614/261.4 km/h, Chinarello 8.296/248.6 km/h Gustavsson vs. Paget: Anybodys race, both riders had qualified at 7.768. Len out of the gate first but has directional problems with Örjan powering by at the last half of the track. The speed numbers tell the story: Gustavsson 7.718/277.4 km/h, Paget 8.097/241.5 km/h Jakobsson vs. Newbury: "Dark Horse" Jakobsson notched up his first European Championship win in this round. Excellent run, straight down the groove and a new personal best ET. "Very uneventful" as Anders put it which is the best way to go for getting good numbers. Jakobsson 7.386/281.5 km/h, Newbury 8.004/264.4 km/h. Bishop vs. Watson: Wild ride for Bishop who was troubled by gremlins in the two-step launch electronics that had the bike heavy on the wheeliebars which let Paul ahead but drifts a little bit when Martin got down to business and powered by at the back-end of the track. Bishop (W) 7.829/277.5 km/h, Watson 8.454/174.5 km/h. Semi-finals: Abrahamsson vs. Gustavsson: An all Team MotoSpeed semi-final that saw Abrahamsson way too far ahead at the 60-footer for Gustavsson to be able to work any magic. Another fine run for Anders puts him in the finals of the Main Event. Abrahamsson 7.351/286.2 km/h, Gustavsson 7.804 266.2 km/h. Jakobsson vs. Bishop: Tough one for Martin Bishop, Jakobsson started with good numbers on Saturday and just kept on improving as the weekend progressed. It was over at the green light, Jakobsson doing a cobra dance with the tree and never looked back. This is Anders first showing at a European Championship race and he is in the finals. Impressive but not surprising. Jakobsson 7.475 278.8 km/h, Bishop 7.860/249.6 km/h. Final: Abrahamsson vs. Jakobsson: This looked to be a humdinger of a Main Event final. Jakobsson in excellent shape and already feeling very much at home on the bike, Abrahamsson with a lot of confidence and best ET of the two finalists so far this weekend but also very much aware of the capabilities of Team Jakobsson. No fear but lots of respect between these two riders who know each other well, Abrahamsson jokingly told Jakobsson that he "won't be beaten by a Harley-rider". Time to go after a delay for a heavy rain. Both riders doing the feet-on-the-pegs-tip-toe-dance into stage. Jakobsson is last into full stage and just as he lights both lamps he drops the left foot off the peg. Abrahamsson gives no mercy, he kills the tree and lays down a picture perfect run that left no doubt to as to where he intends to be at the end of the season. Anders Abrahamsson matches his personal best with a 7.295/286.5 km/h over Anders Jakobssons 7.785/254.2 km/h. Summary: The Main Event proved to be an excellent start to what will be a very exciting Pro Stock Bike season. There are additional racers coming to later events which should make for more very tight racing, not only in the final eliminations but also for putting on an excellent show when trying to get into the top eight qualifiers. As for this reporter putting money down: Tom Tinndahn will easily qualify in the top eight at Alastaro with the S&S v-twin powered G2 Buell. In addition to that, it's clear that the epithet "Dark Horse" is no longer applicable to Anders Jakobsson (if it ever were) and another big chunk of my betting budget says that Team Jakobsson will be in the Top Two in the points table going into the Finals at Santa Pod this fall. You can find PiPPi's and Patrik Jacobsson's excellent FIA Main Event Pro Stock Bike pictures at www.HarleyDrags.com/foto/ProStockBikeMainEvent and the Harley Drags site as a whole at www.harleydrags.com is well worth a look around. Web site updates. 10th June: This week's edition of the Drag, Rod and Classic Review magazine at www.drcreview.com carries a full report of last weekend's NSRA Billing Fun Run where many new street rods made their debut. In amongst them was the old Hamberis & Mitchell Willys Gasser, which has been lovingly restored in the UK and put on the street with blown Hemi power. The You Say section carries a very personal viewpoint of the Main Event drag race meeting as seen through the eyes of someone who has not been to a top level drag race meeting for thirty years: "It's refreshingly different", says editor Andrew Kirk. Andrew also tells us that DRCReview will be launching an amateur photographic competition for drag racing enthusiasts next week - more details to follow. ©Eurodragster.com Kamasa Tools Mechanic Challenge. 9th June: The four Top Methanol Funny Car teams contesting tomorrow's (Saturday's) Kamasa Tools Mechanic Challenge have now been confirmed. Leif Andréasson, Ulf Leanders, Martin Lundqvist and Jonas Staflund will take part in the Mechanic Challenge, which brings the role of the mechanic to the fore, in Stockholm's Kungsträdgården. ©Eurodragster.com "We have practiced twice", says contestant Jonas Staflund. "We were pleased with our times and I think we will do better than last year. The Funny Car has a new flame paintjob (right, click on picture for large version) by Tribaleye Custom Painting and Lackis. We burnt the body badly at Piteå and had two blower bangs at Mantorp last year. Hans Kadi did great work on fixing the body during the winter. "My son Hampus is also bringing his Junior Dragster down to Stockholm this weekend. He also has a great-looking car this year thanks to Nicklas at Tribaleye and the staff at Lackis. "Our first race this year will be at the Deepforest Nats at Sundsvall Raceway next weekend." As in previous years the KTMC teams will have to strip down the car's engine, remove a piston, rebuild the engine and fire it up against the clock and against each other. A €10,000 prize fund will be on offer. As well as Junior Dragster demonstrations over a 20.1-metre track, NGK Spark Plug Challenge, FMX stunt displays, rock band Jug McKenzie and exhibitions by the world's tallest and smallest motorcycles, it has also been announced that Bridgestone, who are sponsoring the KTMC along with Kamasa Tools, Suzuki, Auto Experten and Rock Klassiker, are to bring along a Ferrari Formula One car to display alongside the real race cars. Entry to the Kamasa Tools Mechanic Challenge is free and a full timetable of events is now available on the official KTMC web site which you can find at www.mechanicchallenge.com or by clicking on the KTMC logo at right. Simon will be attending the Mechanic Challenge for Eurodragster.com and you will be able to find the result here tomorrow evening and Simon's report and pictures within a day or two New Dragracer Issue Out Now. 9th June: Dennis Kieselhorst of Eurodragster.com News sponsor Dragracer magazine has informed us that the latest edition of the German publication is out now. ©Eurodragster.com In it are articles on the following: - Toyo Tires Street Eliminator Germany - Wayne Clark's V8 Trabant - Test & Tune held at Luckau - Real Steel Street Eliminator UK - Mats Ericsson's Green Goblin - All Harley Drags News - HD German V-Rod Destroyer Cup - Guido Uhlir's V8 Manta (winner of 1st german SE-round) - Mopars at the Strip USA and much more! Dragracer can be ordered online from www.dragracer.de and subscriptions from Europe are €38.40. Shakespeare County Raceway Pit Plan. 9th June: Thanks to Lee Child of Eurodragster links pages sponsor LA Performance Services for sending us a pit plan for this weekend's diverse event at Shakespeare County Raceway. To see the plan, click here. Swift Snippets. 9th June: Many thanks to Gerda Joon for sending us this picture of herself and FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion Lex Joon on their wedding day on Tuesday (right, click on picture for large version). Lex told us on Tuesday evening that it had been a great day and we wish he and Gerda all the very best for the future. We think we can guess what this week's entry will be about in Lex's exclusive Racer Blog! Web site updates. 9th June: Thanks again to Smax Smith who tells us that even more has been added to www.smaxsmith.com There are more new pictures in the gallery, updated news and new free computer wallpaper to download. ©Eurodragster.com Thanks also to Peter Donaldson, who has been in touch to say that he has updated his site with 150+ pics from 2002/3/4 seasons. To see them, click here. SPRC Summer Nationals Entry List. 8th June: We are indebted Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall for forwarding us the the official SPRC Summer Nationals entry list ©Eurodragster.com The entry list is notable for five UK Pro Mods in testing/exhibition mode, prior to the European FIA rounds. Steph Milam is planned to return to Top Methanol in the She Devil TMFC following her transmission explosion at Easter and Marius Blackburn will be licensing in the S&K dragster in Super Pro as well as driving his own altered in Pro ET. Regular viewers will already have read about the amazing field of eleven Nostalgia Fuel Altereds entered, and we are pleased to see Ken Cooper returning to Funny Bike and Paul Wing stepping up to Super Street Bike. There are excellent entries for almost all other classes too. You can check out the SPRC Summer Nationals entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page and selecting SPRC Summer Nationals. A pretty good weekend. 8th June: Kenneth Lorentzon says that the Lorentzon and Möller team had a pretty good weekend at the FIA Main Event, winning Top Fuel with Håkan Fallstrom's car and qualifying #1 with Tommy Möller's dragster running a 4.81. But, as so often in nitro racing, behind the success story lies a huge amount of hard work and not a few mechanical issues. ©Eurodragster.com I'll start with our No. 1 car driven by Tommy. On the first attempt Saturday, it left half-decent with a 0.89 sixty foot time. But it ended pretty quickly,when a c-clip in the blower snout came loose and the blower drive jumped out of the spline and stopped spinning. That was the end of that story, one of those things that should not happened but did. Some of the other teams sure did put up some good numbers. Håkan Nilsson and Lex Joon set the bar,with a 4.86 for Håkan to a 4.87 for Lex. It could have been a really good run for Lex, off the throttle early and a speed of just 239mph. But there are always a lot of ifs, and you need to keep it together for the whole quarter mile. I'm glad for Håkan, Karsten and Per Andersen's sake with Håkan's fine run. But to be honest I think it came a little early. They should have stuck with that mid 4.80 set up, instead of trying to bring the scoreboard down. Consistency wins races. On the first attempt on Sunday, Tommy was the second pair out against René Hersland. He was a little bit too long on the burnout, backed up, and then had to sit there and wait for ages when Hersland had a problem getting it into forward gear. The engine just sat there and sucked fuel; this got me really concerned about our fuel level, and at last he was orderd to shut off. As planned, it took off with a soft 0.889 sixty foot and was smooth through the shake zone to a modest 2.27 330 foot time and then after about 2.8sec it took away and roared for more fuel! We ran decent numbers all way to a #1 qualifier, 4.81 at 303mph. which pleased me. On the Racepak computer later on, I could see that I had a dead rear section of the fuel pump and lost 200 psi fuel pressure at the hit and 300psi under load and almost had 8gallons per minute of fuel flow. This made it a very hot motor , so it crunched the rod bearing and spun the #5 main bearing. This is a minor mishap under these circumstances and it hung in there pretty well. It hazed the tires little from about 2.6 sec to 3.8, with a minimum of clutch wear, just 1.2mm. It felt ok to replace this wounded soldier when you are on top. On race day, Tommy was first out against Sir Smax in the McDonald brothers' car. And this is drag racing, anything can happen and it did. I knew I had a dead Waterman fuel pump. Im really glad it was against Smax, they really needed that one. When the fog of disappointment had cleared, I realised that for the first time, I had a second chance with my second car with Håkan Fällström at the wheel. I run the #2 Car very conservatively on tune up, just to get the rookie driver up to speed in as many full passes as possible. My plan was to dial in the car and driver to go 4.95-5.00sec, which we came pretty close to. On the first qualifier Håkan ran a 5.76sec at 177mph, shook violently and drifted around his lane after the clutch got one on one with the driveshaft, so he got off the throttle. The second qualifying session on Sunday morning saw Håkan run a 5.54 on a slightly smoother run, not quite good enough to qualify and off the throttle again. On his third run, Håkan recorded a 5.20 sec at 286mph and did his first pedal job, well done to #6 qualifier. These runs were learning by doing, and I think that Håkan has got the feeling of how these cars can behave. In the first round, we were up against our arch rival Lex Joon. And I know his philosophy; he was trying to kick our ass big time. But no,no,no, we sent him back to the trailer with a really soft nice 5.01sec when he ran into problems. The second round should have been against Micke.Kagered. But his car had a major mishap in the previous run, and we had a freebie. So I decided to go easy on my parts, a decision that upset Keith Bartlett and René Hersland, something I will come back to later. A very odd situation occured when Smax also had a solo and idled down the track. The final was a dream scenario, Håkan Fällström in his first top fuel final ever against Smax, Stu,and Brian McDonald who are really a low budget team that are digging way deep in their pockets to fulfill a dream. And on top of it, did we put on a great show, a 5.02 to a 5.08; it could have gone either way. Håkan came out as a winner. I mean, get real - buy yourself a lotto ticket. He was just the happiest guy I have ever seen at the Pod. Kenneth says that he and the team have been on the receiving end of some criticism as a result of their decision to order Håkan to idle the dragster down the track in the Top Fuel semi-finals last weekend. "The promoter was upset and had to remove the semi-finals from the TV broadcast, which I understand", says Kenneth. "But I don't think that spectators came down from the grandstands to ask what happened - the spectators at Santa Pod know more about Top Fuel racing than you might think. We also had an e-mail from another racer who said that we put up a weak performance by cruising down Broadway. I can't remember seeing his name on the ladder, maybe he DNQ'd. "We turned it around and put on a great final for the spectators and for the TV broadcast, the closest final in a long time, but no-one said a word about that. I don't want to badmouth anyone but when it comes to decisions about my cars, it is up to me. There is a reason for everything. Anyone is welcome to bring it up with me next time I see them." Snowmobile Drag Race Challenge Report. 8th June: Following our mention in the 6th June update of the new UEM Snowmobile record set last weekend, our good friend Lars Andersson has been in touch with a report of this event. The event happened in Valle in Norway and was the ever first UEM European Snowmobile Drag Race Challenge. First a little bit about Valle and Thunder Valle. It is located in Setesdalen close to Telemark. It is a valley that goes almost from the southern coast and straight. It was about 650 km to Valle from Trollhättan and it took us some time to get to the hotel, about 10 hours of driving.in queues and a lot of turns and many ups and downs. But it is a very scenic road. ©Eurodragster.com Now let me talk a little about snowmobiles. They are very common in the northern part of Sweden and Norway. I must admit that I have never ridden a snowmobile, not even as a passenger. But I have written the regulations together with Eric Coldevin and Björn Hedman. A snowmobile for asphalt has a flat track, like a belt, under the snowmobile and some small wheels instead of skis in the front. I am sorry to say that only four turned up for this event. Most of the Swedish riders were missing. This is partly due to the travel distance to the track for many of them and mostly to the short notice for the race after we got the all get clear this spring. I have been promised that we will have about 16 in the last event in Sundsvall. The race was dominated by Christina Blomquist from Sweden on her Yamaha. Her snowmobile looks very good and you can see that it has been built by people that understand these things. She won the race and also set the new European 1/8 mile record, not so hard due to the fact that there was no existing record but I do think that this record will stand for some time because she did a very good job. The other 3 Norwegians must also be mentioned, Jan Erik Klausen who was the runner up, Cato Lund who had a lot of problems but solved them, and Eric Coldevin who was the one that started all this about having a Challenge for Snowmobile drag racing on asphalt. This event made the race in Valle Norway. It was nice weather with a little bit too much cold wind. The spectators enjoyed good racing on a very good track that had been maintained in a very good way. We are hoping to come back to Valle next year with the Snowmobile Challenge. Special thanks to Ole Martinsen and Konrad Ree for organising this race. They worked very hard and made a very good track. I am now waiting for the race in Finland that takes place at the same time as the UEM congress in Kiev. I hope that they can manage to take care of everything without me. And that the UEM will decide to continue with this Challenge. Swift Snippets. 8th June: Following the recent spate of thefts, Mike L'Alouette has been in touch with details of http://www.imobilise.com, a site for registering property of practically any description. Mike says as far as he knows it's all 0free, and is a place checked routinely by the Police upon recovery of stolen goods. Web site updates. 8th June: Eurodragster staffer Sharkman has finally got round to updating his personal site at www.topendtales.com with his Main Event images. The update features 1500 images split into 6 galleries. Just 4 Fuel Pumps. 7th June: Liz Malcolm, who with husband Iain, runs the Apsley Transmissions-sponsored Just 4 Fun Pro ET dragster, succeeded in gaining her first round win and a NPB with the pristine car at the FIA Main Event. However, it wasn't all easy going in the run-up to the event, as she related to Eurodragster. ©Eurodragster.com "At the Easter Thunderball, Iain noticed that the fuel pressure wasn't what it should be, so when we returned home he ordered a fuel pump from Hilborn. Unfortunately this arrived with the wrong size inlet fitting. A quick phone call sorted this out and one with the right sized fitting was sent out to us; however this also turned out to be wrong as I had omitted to tell them that we had a "Billet pump". The only problem we now had was that the second replacement only arrived the Wednesday before the Main Event which meant that Iain had to fit it at the track Thursday night. "Hilborn had been very helpful. When they sent out the pump, they also sent the settings for what they thought would be a good starting point for our set up. Well, we started her up and it was popping and missing but we did have good fuel pressure! We knew it wouldn't run the NoS like this, so we had to start from the beginning and tune the system to the new fuel pump. Hey presto (for which read two or three hours later), it sounded sweet. "First qualifying run Friday morning netted a 12.41@107. Iain came up to get me from the return road and said "It ain't right - you're a second slower". I knew that, because I had shifted into second gear immediately after releasing the transbrake, "don't know why, just did". But Iain was pleased it was not the tune up. "It was good to get through to the second round of eliminations and be the last pair to run Sunday night. Even losing with a red light to Chris Hodgkins, I ran a PB of 11.261 @ 113.93. Two silver dragsters at the start line - did anyone get a photo? "Going out in this round turned out to be a good thing, as we found out Monday morning that the Dayvan would not be taking us home, the alternator had packed up and we did not have enough reserve battery power for the journey. At this point we would like to thank Mike Lacey for the loan of a set of jump leads, Nick Good for the offer of his battery charger, John Atkinson for hanging around in the pits whilst I waited for the Dayvan to be recovered (as Iain had already left with the trailer), and our good friend Phil Pratt (9.50 bike) for the use of his mobile phone. "It turned out that our breakdown cover (no names - yellow vans) has a weight limit and the Dayvan and trailer exceeds this, they would take one or the other, just not both. Finally a very big thank you to Barry Grimes for coming back to the track with his recovery truck to take our trailer home". Devil's Advocate for Bennett. 7th June: Luke Bennett has been in touch with a news update about his '23 T Altered's competition debut at this weekend's race at Shakespeare County and a number of new parts on the NFAA Topolino. He says, "I will be racing the Devil's Advocate T in the Wildbunch in competition for first time this weekend. We still have to actually tune the motor yet as we didn't even set float bowls and timing as I just wanted to get a feel for the car and with that out of the way we can start to tune it properly. Also I would like to mention that one of my sponsors, RPI Engineering, will be coming along for the whole weekend to watch us race and to also race one of their cars, a Morgan which runs a 5.5 litre Rover V8. Hopefully at some point at weekend i can give him a race! ©Eurodragster.com "The NFAA Topolino has had a great deal of work since the American Car World Nationals. We had had to take it a bit easy as we had twisted all the splines on the half-shafts. We now have a brand new spool, half-shafts, diff, and end plates, so we can basically launch properly now instead of from idle. Also we have had a few other bits fitted but there were mainly cosmetic and safety parts. The 7.6 we run at the ACW Nats was probably the easiest pass the car has ever made. My old man took it very easy and launched off idle as we were still checking the new wheelie bars out. He shifted into 2nd and then straight into 3rd, he has no idea why he did it just a slip of the thumb maybe. By this time it was never going to be a great time so he just kept his foot in it and it went through at 7.6 - very surprising. If all goes to plan at the SPRC Summer Nationals, then we will actually run a number that we know the car is capable of. "I have put a guestbook on our web site www.bennettracing.co.uk now so anyone reading please feel free to add your message, long or short. Ultimate Road Car Challenge at York. 7th June: Howard Holmes of York Raceway has been in touch with details of the next event at the track on 18th June. "Coming up next at York Raceway, 18th June, we've got the Ultimate Road Car Challenge; which includes the 20th Annual Ford Shootout. York Raceway's Annual Ford Shootout always draws Fords old and new, stock through to heavily modified, for some drag strip action. The event also includes the Wizards of Nos Nitrous Nationals and the 4th round of the 2NZ (tuners) Shootout series, with categories covering everything from Retro to the new Z Class for modern, tuned high-performance cars. ©Eurodragster.com The Ford Shootout includes awards for the Quickest Ford, Best Ford and Best Reaction Time. For your car to be eligible to compete in the Ford Shootout, the simple rule is that it needs to be a Ford on the log book, if you've bunged in a non-Ford engine such as a GM V8, we're still calling it a Ford. Put a Ford motor in an Astra -Ford it isn¹t. The shootout will be on a handicap basis, so everyone has a chance to win. It¹s also a good event for Ford owners clubs, which are given designated areas; it makes an ideal venue and event for regional or national meets. Ford-orientated traders are welcome too, please give Steve a call on 07813 440 440. To participate you need your driving or race license, a helmet and to get to York Raceway, which is south of York, near Seaton Ross: follow the signs to the drag strip from Junction 37 of the M62. Gates open at 8am, scrutineering from 9am, track open from 10am -so get there soonest for most track time. So if you've got a Ford, old skool, new school, stock, classic or heavily modified; A Delivery, Mustang, 100E, or Cortina, -anything with a blue oval on the bonnet -you should be there! Have a look on the 'What's on' page on the York site http://www.york-raceway.co.uk/whatson.html for further details. New Arrival. 7th June: Eurodragster are sure that all our readers would like to join us in congratulating Martin Wallis of Santa Pod Raceway's timing crew and Debbie on the birth of their daughter Jessica Lee Wallis. After observing his calendar, our good buddy Andy Marrs of TSI Timers (Europe) gave us this account: ©Eurodragster.com "At 1:30 pm on 06/06/06 Jessica Lee Wallis, weighing in at a sturdy 9lb 5oz, was born. Although Mother Debbie and baby are doing fine (and Martin is bewildered), initial reports indicate Jessica has inherited her Father's electro-magnetic powers as the effects similar to that of an electromagnetic pulse radiated from Kettering General Hospital immediately following her birth. Lights dimmed, mobile networks shut down and aircraft fell from the sky. Steve Horn, on detached duty at RAF Waddington some fifty miles away, reported a massive dip in power and American airbases across East Anglia went to DEFCON 1 as all communications were lost. "This was the first reported birth in the world where the instruments used by the delivery staff were made entirely from non-conductive materials and no electrical devices were used, despite this a mid-wife was momentarily knocked unconscious due to a large static shock during the birth." Swift Snippets. 7th June: Our good friend Pat Ginn has been in touch with some further thanks after her health problem at the FIA Main Event. She says, "Thanks for all the calls, it's so nice to be part of such a caring bunch of guys and girls. Once again thank you to everyone especially the medics and Santa Pod staff, what would we do without them. Rhian Charman, Thank you for looking after TJ, bless him, he can't cope with panic". ©Eurodragster.com Bill McDermid has been in touch to say that he drove his Procharged 69 Camaro (1300 hp) to the NSRA Billing Hot Rod meet at the weekend from Surrey, probably about a 200 mile round trip. Bill said, "The car behaved impeccably, cruised the show all weekend and even got jammed up in the traffic on the M1 and M25. The only down side is that it gobbled £150 in Optimax! Our next plan to go to the Garys picnic event in July to try and hopefully beat its Stateside times of high 8s. Spencer Tramm has been in touch to say a happy birthday to George Georgiou who crews for both himself and Chris Isaacs. George is celebrating his 40th birthday today. Best wishes come from Spencer, Steve, Yvonne, Kirstie, Ady Goodier, Chris Isaacs, Steve & Adele and of course all here at Eurodragster. Have a great day, George. Web site updates. 7th June: Andrew Bamford has been in touch to let us know that he has updated his www.racing-green.co.uk website with some pictures from the FIA Main Event. Events this weekend. 7th June: The forthcoming weekend sees drag racing events in UK, Sweden, Finland and Norway. In the UK, at Shakespeare County Raceway, there are two days of test and tune, with the Fastest Lotus/Caterham Seven, Ampar Saturday Sunset Bracket Race, Dash for Cash and Bracket Bike events on Saturday and a Jap Racer Day on Sunday. For further details see www.shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk ©Eurodragster.com Santa Pod is also busy this coming weekend with a RWYB on the Saturday and the Classic Ford Show on Sunday. Details are available on www.rwyb.co.uk/ and www.classicfordshow.co.uk/. At Alastaro, Finland, on 10-11 June, there is the Kamasa Tools Nationals, a round of the Nordic Drag Racing Series championship. Tommi Haapanen will be making relicensing passes in his Top Fuel Dragster prior to running at the FIA Nitro Nationals at Alastaro at the end of June. Arto Höylä and Japa Kuutniemi will also be testing in Top Methanol Dragster and Top Methanol Funny Car respectively. For details, including a full list of sportsman competitors, click here. At the Amcar International Raceway, Gardermoen, Norway, the Bilsport Summer Nationals is being held on 9-11 June and the highlight here is a 16-car entry for Pro Modified (known as Top Doorslammer under Scandinavian Dragracing Championship rules), including burnout king Fast Freddy Fagerstrom. For photos of the Top Doorslammer cars entered, click here. We understand that FIM Supertwin Fuel Champion Ronny Aasen will be making demo passes on his bike. Over in Meca, Malmö, on 9-11 June, there is the Meca Nationals, a round of the TOYO Tires Dragracing Series, which includes a wide range of sportsman classes racing on the relaid eighth mile track. For further details click here. Kamasa Tools Mechanic Challenge. 6th June: FIA Main Event Top Methanol FC winner Leif Andréasson, Main Event runner-up Ulf Leanders and Martin Lundqvist of the Velocity Performance Group, and Jonas Staflund will be amongst the contestants in this Saturday's (10th) third annual Kamasa Tools Mechanic Challenge in Stockholm's Kungsträdgården. The KTMC pits TMFC teams against each other and against the clock to strip down the car's engine, remove a piston, rebuild the engine and fire it up, with a large prize fund on offer to the winner. Leif Andréasson and his team were last year's winners, achieving the feat in an amazing five minutes and forty one seconds (click here for our report and pictures of the 2005 Challenge). ©Eurodragster.com In addition to the Top Methanol FC contest a one tenth-scale Junior Dragster strip is to be laid out in the Kungsträdgården. A number of Junior Dragster racers will be making demonstration passes on the 20.1-metre track including Sandra Sjöberg, daughter of Junior Drag Racing Federation Chairman Janne Sjöberg. The Challenge itself will again be presented by our good buddies Bjorn Sundkvist and Christer Abrahamson, well-known track announcers and in Christer's case TV icon in the European Championship coverage. The event as a whole will be compered by radio personalities Jesse Wallin and Martin Loogna. Between-rounds entertainment will be provided by drag racing's own rock band Jug McKenzie and sideshows include Tom Wiberg's motorbike which holds the official record as the world's tallest rideable motorcycle at 2.3 metres, FMX stunt shows from Niklas Olsson and Rickard Rättö, Change The Spark Plug contest, trading stands and more. Entry to the Kamasa Tools Mechanic Challenge is free, as are ear plugs, and the event runs between 11:00 and 17:00 in the Kungsträdgården in the centre of Stockholm. For more information check out the official KTMC web site at www.mechanicchallenge.com or click on the KTMC logo at right. Controlled Growth at the NFAA. 6th June: NFAA co-ordinator Lawrie Gatehouse has been in touch with details of the group's next outing. He says "Our next event is at Santa Pod for the SPRC Summernationals on the 17/18th June - when 11 Teams are entered. There are another 2 or 3 Altereds to come, which we expect to hit the tracks later on in the season. ©Eurodragster.com "Jim Usher (The Mob), Tony Betts (Venom) and John Wright (Chaos) should be able to complete their licensing passes during the weekend, as will Joe Bond, who will be shoeing "Nuthin' Fancy" for the first time. "A welcome is extended to Terry and Paul (AKA Dennis) Wratten, ex-F/C competitors, who have converted to a Topolino that complies with NFAA Regulations and we wish them well. "This pretty rapid expansion of the class has inevitably entailed more organisational work and co-ordination. Consequently the NFAA have appointed Sarah Harris-Watson as Media & Promotions Co-Coordinator to share the workload with Judith and myself. "Sarah, who has extensive experience in this field will liaise with all Press sources and also instigate searches for potential Class and Event sponsors. "Our aim is to be entertaining with side-by-side passes (except licensing runs) and gain more track experience, without incidents or parts damages and above all, to continue to enjoy ourselves. Thunder Valle Results. 6th June: Results posted from the Thunder Valle NDRS meeting held over the weekend show that a new record for UEM Pro Stock Snowmobiles was established over the eighth mile by Christina Blomquist. Christina went 5.927 at 184.30km/h in qualifying and backed this up with a 5.937/183.05km/h in the first round of the UEM Pro Stock Snowmobile Challenge. Christina went on to win the event over runner-up Jan Erik Klausen. Complete results from the event can be found here. 9.50 Bike Free Dyno Testing Offer. 6th June: Paul Watson of Eurodragster home and news page sponsors Dynospeed Developments has been in touch to announce a special offer to all 9.50 Bike racers. Paul said: "As the SPRC Summer Nationals at Santa Pod approaches, Dynospeed Development is offering a free dyno session consisting of three runs on our Dynojet 250 dyno with air/fuel readings. We can then advise of any changes you may need to improve performance. This offer is open to all in the 9.50 class and ends the day before the 2006 Summer Nationals 2006. ©Eurodragster.com Be quick, as there are only limited spaces available. Also, if there is enough interest, we may do another Drag school event in the near future. Dynospeed Development is based at Unit 11, Taylors, Gravel Lane, Chigwell, Essex, IG7 6DQ and may be contacted by phone on 0208 500 5770 or by e-mail at paul@dynospeed.co.uk. New Fuel Bike Supercharger Available. 6th June: Reigning FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike Champion Ian King has been in touch to say that King Racing is announcing the launch of the latest state of the art supercharger for Top Fuel motorcycle applications. ©Eurodragster.com Ian says: "The HPS 2.1 RC is the latest in the family of precision screw superchargers designed for Nitromethane motorcycle applications. The new unit supersedes the famous OA3150 2.3 RC unit favoured by the fastest and quickest Top Fuel Bikes and Nitro V Twins in the world. "This new unit is more suited to a wider range of applications, particularly the lower revving V twins as it's capacity is 2.1 liter per revolution, a 40% increase over the 1.5 liter of the current model. Additionally, the overall dimensions of the HPS 2.3 RC are smaller than the current model. For a drawing of the new supercharger, click here. "The new superchargers are shipping now from King Racing and can be shipped across the globe. King Racing can be contacted by email at sales@kingracing.com, by phone at +44 (0)1763 853985 and by fax at +44 (0)1763 853337." Swift Snippets. 6th June: Morten Dalen of NDRG has been in touch with a copy of the entry form for the Exporama Drag Challenge 2006 on 4-6 August 2006 at Amcar International Raceway, Gardemoen, Norway, for which the entry deadline is 7th July. The entry form can be downloaded from here. ©Eurodragster.com Our very best wishes to FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion Lex Joon and Team Manager and partner Gerda Dijkstra who are to be married today. Lex and Gerda told us that they chose today because of the date combination 06-06-06. We're sure that all of our readers will join us in wishing Lex and Gerda a very long and happy life together. UK Pro Mod racer and Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Andy Robinson has entered next week's SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway to test his blown-alcohol Studebaker which was a shock DNQ at last week's FIA Main Event. "We'll be trying to rediscover some form!" says Andy. John Hackney has been in touch to say that with no Supertwin Modified entered at the SPRC Summer Nationals, he will be moving his Suzuki Tl1000R up to Supertwin Fuel to get some laps in and mix it with the Harleys. John says: "Let's hope consistency pays off. I have done some work on the nitrous system positioning to improve the flow of the gas, but nothing else...If it isn't broken, don't fix it(or spend any money on it). Thats my motto!" Web site updates. 6th June: Thanks to Top Fuel driver Andy Carter who has been in touch to say that his website has been updated with a piece by crew member Jan Broersma; to see this go to www.andycarter.net and click on the news link. ©Eurodragster.com Thanks also to Smax Smith for letting us know that his website, www.smaxsmith.com has been updated following his runner-up position in Top Fuel at the FIA Main Event at Santa Pod and running in Fuel FC at the IHRA Canadian Nationals. Included are new pictures in the gallery, race reports on both the Main Event and the IHRA event, messages from fans, an interview with Smax in Canada and latest information on Smax's and son Aidan's cars. And finally thanks also to Adam Gleadow for letting us know that he has uploaded his pictures from the Main Event to his site at www.mr-horsepower.fotopic.net. The shots are mainly from the top end. Malta Invitational Drag Race Event. 5th June: Anthony Borda of the Malta Drag Racing Association has been in touch with an exciting opportunity for racers in Fuel, Methanol, Pro Mod and Pro Stock Bike classes. He says: "The Malta Drag Racing Association would like to inform all drag racing enthusiasts and mainly competitors and teams, that it will be holding an Invitational Drag Race Event for all those who are interested in spending a few days in the sunny island of Malta, which can serve as a holiday as well as a chance to do some drag racing at Hal-Far Raceway and try to win some prize money. ©Eurodragster.com "This Invitational Event will be held over three days at Hal-Far Raceway on 13th - 15th October, 2006. Our National Drag Racing Championship will be running on the same days as well. "All those competitors in these classes mentioned below, who are interested in coming over to Malta to race, can send an E-Mail to maltadragracing@onvol.net for further information. "This Invitational Event will be offering Prize Money for 1st place winners and runners-up. Classes: Prize Money for Winner Runner Up T/F Dragsters/Funny Cars 8000 Euros 5000 Euros TMD Dragsters/Funny Cars 6000 Euros 4000 Euros Pro Mod Cars 5000 Euros 3000 Euros Pro-Stock Bikes 3000 Euros 2000 Euros Anthony said: "Any other team or competitor not listed in the classes mentioned above, who wishes to come over to do test runs or do exhibition runs, he or she will be welcome to come as well." Ampar Sunset Bracket. 5th June: Promotor Lee Child has been in touch with details of what will be his last event at Shakespeare County Raceway. "This weekend Shakey hosts the first "Fastest Lotus 7 & Caterham in the World" drag race on Saturday. Six categories with different levels of horsepower will make this a level playing field for all drivers with different engines. ©Eurodragster.com Saturday sees the Ampar Saturday Sunset Bracket Race with a minimum £1,000 prize fund to the winner for a minimum sixteen car field and £250 for the runner up; the prize fund will increase with more cars attending. There will also be a big bracket for bikes, £500 for the winner and £250 runner-up (minimum of sixteen bikes). The entry fee for the bracket race is £50.00. Also on Saturday, we will be running Dash for Cash, £300 for the winner that runs closest to their dial in; entry for this is £20. Making a welcome return to Shakespeare County Raceway will be the great new Outlaw Flat Four VW class; if you missed them at the American World Nationals then don't miss this weekend. The Wild Bunch will be battling out for Round 2 of the Wild Bunch Championship and the Real Steel Championship. The National Street Car Challenge make their second visit for the 2006 Season, with Neil Martin leading the Championship in his '86 5.0 Mustang. Sunday hosts round two of the Jap Racer Day series, with the battle of The CHP Ashes where VWs take on the Jap powered cars. Roger Goring will be testing this weekend with some new parts on the car; lets hope the Firestorm team get a chance to celebrate with another NPB. The track will be fully prepped to national event standard and open to everyone for test & tune. Gate Prices are Sat £10, Sun £12 and weekend £20, Signing on fees for unlimited runs are Sat £20, Sun £20 and weekend £35. Top Fuel Blog. 5th June: In his latest update to the Top Fuel blog, 2005 FIA Top Fuel Champion Lex Joon describes his runs at the FIA Main Event and his feelings at having to wait in line, and racing and losing traction alongside to eventual event winner Håkan Fallstrom. You can check out Lex's Blog by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blog link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. European Pro-Stock Bike Association. 5th June: Cindy and Martin Newbury have been in touch with an important notice for all European Pro Stock Bike riders and a report of their FIM/UEM Main Event, in which the Psycle Workz Pro Stock Kawasaki qualified seventh of ten bikes. Well, as always it was a late thrash to get the bike ready for the weekend, but after working through the night we finally arrived at Santa Pod. ©Eurodragster.com We had been busy producing lots of parts for other race teams, (King Racing, Varey/Gipp partnership), liaising with Roger Laurén on reviving the European Pro-Stock Bike Association. (epsba.com), and also being invited on the Santa Pod Stand at the BMF Show the weekend before, so we hadn't had much time to concentrate on the Pro Stock Bike. But after a damp start to the weekend, and Martin putting in his first pass on the Psycle Workz Kawasaki of the season, we managed to get the bike back into the sevens. The bike sounded strong, and it looks like we have a handle on where we should be,so hopefully we can improve over the next meetings, and test days. The European Pro-Stock Bike Association had its first meeting of the year, and a lot of good ideas were put forward to increase interest in the class. The website is currently being produced, and we would like all Pro stock Bike Riders to contact us or Roger, with information about themselves, team and sponsors so we can make the site as interesting as possible. Please contact us at info@epsba.com. It was nice to meet some of the Pro Stock Bike riders from other countries, and take on board what they had to say to progress the class in the future. Psycle Workz would also like to congratulate Nick Good for qualifying No. 1 in two rounds of the Pro ET championship, no mean feat due to the amount of competitors in this close class, and Psycle Workz will be awarding Nick his trophy at the next round. Well Done Nick. Many Thanks to Santa Pod for inviting us to the BMF, and for all their hard work over the weekend (an unenviable task), and a big hello to Ritchie our new crew member. Fast Freddie's Off. 5th June: Reigning 9.50 Bike Champion Fred Furlong had a FIA Main Event to forget. After qualifying eleventh in the 29 bike field, he came up against eventual winner Martin Walker in round two and parted company with his bike at speed, sustaining some fractures in the process. Fred, now back at home, has been in touch with his grateful thanks "What a weekend the FIA Main Event turned out to be. First of all I was not the only one in the wars and my thoughts go out to Tog and Pat Ginn who also had their own problems. ©Eurodragster.com "My accident happened on the track and both Sandra and I would like express our sincere thanks to everyone who helped us in one way or another, including all of the Santa Pod staff and medics whose professional qualities were fantastic in my hour of need. Sandra herself wishes to thank Carol Ishmail for her kind words of comfort whilst waiting at the start line for me to be rescued. Thanks also to all of the 9.50 bikers who helped Boss and Les recover the bike, load the van, drive the van to Bedford hospital, text messages, phone calls, it goes on and on and only confirms to me we are all one big family when we race. "So why did I come a cropper? Well it was my own fault, I just grabbed too much front brake before the stripe managing to scrub off about 10mph then down I went at 130mph before parting company with my Crescent Suzuki which crossed the finish line before I did. Unfortunately I still broke out but my fellow racer Martin "Chunk" Walker eventually went on to win the meeting outright - well done mate. "My injuries were not too bad - "braking" my left ankle/leg and right shoulder blade/socket. I spent five days in two hospitals before they decided not to operate on my shoulder, and am now at home recuperating and being looked after by my partner Sandra, whose help I could not do without. I look forward to seeing you all again soon when I can thank you personally." Runaway Returns. 5th June: Bob Hancox has been in touch to say that the two-tone coloured Runaway Ford Prefect will be making its return to the track at this coming weekend's Shakespeare County Raceway meeting following a top-end crash suffered in Outlaw Anglia competition in 2005. Bob said: "It's been a long time since we were last at a race meeting, but now we have got the car back together and ready to run again at Avon Park this next weekend. The car is in the colours that it was in on its crash, but as yet have no stickers on it. ©Eurodragster.com We're not going to rotate the planet but just try to have a bit of fun again and run straight, no gas, this weekend to try to get it set for Debbie to run it again. I do have so many people to thank, Roy Wilding, Jim Usher, Pete Tigg, Alan Amiss, Debbie, Paul Wright, Car Body Banbury, Clare Thomas, Ben Pollack, Leon Smith, Lee Wilshaw and Dave King. A big thanks to you all - with out your help, I would not have been able to rebuild it. Web site updates. 5th June: Pro Modified racer Robert Joosten has been in touch with an update to his www.produtch.com website. This includes an account of his weekend at the FIA Main Event when Robert qualified twelfth and went out in round one of eliminations to Jan Arve Nygård. ©Eurodragster.com Our good friend Richard Stirling has been in touch to say that his website www.topnitro.co.uk has been updated with daily reports and extensive picture galleries for each of the four days at last week's FIA Main Event meeting at Santa Pod Raceway. Richard says: "We've boiled down the pictures we took and over 1000 pictures are posted in the galleries giving an eclectic view of most of the racing that took place over the weekend. Some interesting pictures are posted in the Monday gallery when we were experimenting (in the first round of professional eliminations) with using a fish-eye lens to get some unusual results. An anecdotal report is posted for each day and hopefully there's a bit of something for everyone in there." Peter Donaldson says that he has uploaded 150 more scans of pictures from the Eighties to his site. Peter says: "The new collection is cleverly called "Part 2". As 98% of my "visitors" are looking at the Drag Racing only, (Thanks Eurodragster) I've decided to move my non Drag motorsport pic's to a new Gallery in the future. Peter's site can be seen on http://peterdonaldson5305.fotopic.net Smax Jinxed by Weather at Grand Bend. 4th June: Following his runner-up finish in Top Fuel Dragster at the FIA Main Event, 2003 FIA Top Fuel Champion Smax Smith returned to his Ontario home to prepare for racing at the IHRA Mopar Canadian Nationals presented by Castrol in the Nitro Funny Car category at Grand Bend Motorplex, Ontario. Smax had been invited to drive a car owned by Spiro Kontas and usually driven by Mike Kirk, who was unable to attend the event. ©Eurodragster.com However things seemingly didn't work out as hoped. We understand that after missing the first qualification session, Smax was ready to run for the eight-car field in the second session. At the hit, the motor cut out and Smax was left to coast down the track, coming to a halt on track without recording a time. That left him with one more pass to get into the field - and then the rains came, causing cancellation of IHRA's "Night of Fire" and the final pro qualifying sessions. So, our commiserations to Smax who is hoping that he can raise funds to run in the McDonald brothers' Top Fuel dragster later in the year. Smax was interviewed for the IHRA website by Mike Perry and the interview can be found here. Thanks to Jon Crawford for sending us the link. Close finishes and Dutch Records. 4th June: Marc Meihuizen's Pro Modified team have been in touch with their view of the FIA Main Event, one that saw Marc's '37 Chevrolet running well in qualifying and reaching the quarter-finals of eliminations. "During the first Pro Mod FIA European Championship Marc Meihuizen secured two Dutch records. Meihuizen put the bar higher with a 6.368 and if it wasn't enough he clocked a 216.22 mph. "The driver of K&H Racing qualified 5th in a field of 23, and drove into the quarterfinals. ©Eurodragster.com The first qualifying run was a surprising one for the whole team. The first outing of the car this year; and immediately Marc clocked a 6.518 with his Chevrolet Business Coupé, good for the number one qualifier position! Fortunately the smoke top end was just a little problem, the front tyres touched the body and this was quickly solved. The two qualifying runs on Sunday didn't produce any better times due to a clutch problem. Only four other teams were able to clock better times than Marc, and considering the minimum of test runs for the team, Marc had a well earned 5th qualifier position. The clutch problems were solved for the best part on race day, and Marc felt confident. He proved to be right, in the first elimination round Marc clocked a stunning 6.368 sec, and left Gordon Appleton behind him. This time was an improvement of the old PB and Dutch record of 6.473 sec! In the quarterfinals Marc had to take on former Pro-Stock champ and ex Funny Car driver Niclas Andersson. This Swedish driver, known for his reaction-times, was away at the lights a fraction of a second sooner than Marc, but saw him closing in rapidly. In 6.416 sec against 6.483 sec for Niclas it was a doorhandle finish. Niclas' faster reaction led to a 0.00016 second win (Timing guru Andy Marrs calculated this to be the closest ever finish with 1.539mm seperating the cars - Photo Ed) . Marc crossed the finish with a stunning 216.22 mph, a new personal and Dutch best. With these records and constant fast times K&H Racing is looking back at a great weekend, especially considering the lack of test runs. Marc Meihuizen said: "In the run against Andersson the cluch faded. That made the difference. If the clutch problem is solved the magic 6.2 is a possibility. We are now carrying a lot of speed at the top end. Even with Urban Johansson shattering the European record with a 6.247, we are confident we will compete for wins and will end up high in the FIA European Championship. The next race in the FIA European Championship is Alastaro, Finland; after that the K&H Racing team will attend the Drachten Nationals for the Dutch Championship. Our Nitro Wedding Anniversary. 4th June: Ed and Dawn Garman have been in touch to thank Andy, Sarah, Dan and Derek and all the Crew at Carter Motorsports for entertaining them with their 'Inside Top Fuel' package on Sunday 28th May at the FIA Main Event. They said "We decided to do something 'different' for our first wedding anniversary when we saw Carter Motorsports 'Inside Top Fuel'. As long time drag racing fans, we knew that was a perfect way to celebrate. ©Eurodragster.com "After watching the Pro teams for many years and wondering what it must be like to run a top fuel car, a day with double European Top Fuel Champion Andy Carter, was just fantastic. The whole Carter Motorsport crew made sure we had the most wonderful and informative day with them. "We would whole heartedly recommend 'Inside Top Fuel' to any fans and we can not thank Carter Motorsports enough for a most memorable day at the FIA Main Event. In fact it was so good we signed up for the FIA European Finals as well. "Thanks to all at Carter Motorsports, their sponsors B&Q and of course their other sponsors. We look forward to seeing you in September, hopefully to pick up the Number One plate again." Nuthin' Fancy for Summer Nationals. 4th June: Prospective Fuel Altered driver Joe Bond has been in touch to say that his Fuel Altered website has been updated with latest photos and a video of Nuthin' Fancy's first ever fire up. You can see the video in the videos section of his website at http://www.nuthinfancy.150m.com or on http://youtube.com/watch?v=1qMeeKKogCU ©Eurodragster.com Joe says "We are looking good for a debut at the SPRC Summer Nationals now, and we'll keep you updated! Can I just put a big thank you to my dad Doug Bond and to my crew chief Martyn Hannis who have worked flat out for the past 6 months to get this car up and running and now we are nearly there, we are really looking forward to it! Without them I couldn't live this dream!" A little bit of Hell. 4th June: Our good friend Carla Pittau has been in touch with an entertaining account of her and partner Rick McCann's weekend at the FIA Main Event with their Pro ET Camaro, at which the mechanical gremlins struck well and truly. Following on from a little bit of heaven at the beginning of the season, Heaven & Hell Racing have experienced quite a lot of hell... ©Eurodragster.com The Main Event started with great expectations - big meeting, 4 days racing, 47 entries - we really looked forward to it. The first qualifying run dampened our enthusiasm more than a bit, when after an incredibly flat launch the Camaro ran 11.36 on a 10.06 dial-in. Rick reported later that the engine wouldn't rev up during the burnout, and back in the pits some head scratching produced at first a possible culprit in a too high level in the secondaries fuel bowl, then dismissed this as the effect wouldn't have been so dramatic and anyway no black smoke was observed at the launch. Valve lash was the next suspect, so the valve covers were removed to check, and of course some "aluminium paint" was discovered on the passenger side head, together with a trunnion needle bearing missing all of its pins, the lash cap missing from the tip of the #2 intake valve, and the adjuster nut laying next to the spring... "Uh oh…" was the comment.. We suspected that the damage wasn't going to be major, but obviously the engine needed to be stripped and examined, and all the broken fragments found and accounted for, something that couldn't really be done at the track. So we loaded up, helped by everyone on hand in the Pro ET pits (I'll never tire of saying how wonderful all of our opponents are, and how great it is to race in this class) and set off for home, the plan being to swap engines and come back early in the morning for the first qualifying session on Saturday. We left the track at 3 o'clock and drove straight into a massive traffic jam - then into another, then we checked with traffic line and decided to divert to the Blackwall Tunnel rather than endure the 45 minutes delay announced on the Dartford Bridge, and ended up sitting on the Northern Approach to the Blackwall Tunnel for over an hour. The frustration was immense, as we could see our chances getting smaller with the waste of time… Finally got home at 8 o'clock and managed to get oil and transmission fluid, and got started. To make the removal and installation of the engine easier, we have to take off the front of the car to get closer with the engine crane, and that is a fairly complicated operation, as the wings are in one piece with the nose cone but the whole thing isn't quite designed to come off… However it should have been a relatively easy operation but of course we were on the receiving end of further generous helpings of sod's law, and most things that could go wrong did. So a stripped thread on the torque converter led to a warped flexplate, a missed internal shim on the starter motor (two shims had to come off to have the correct clearance for this engine) meant a stripped thread on the starter housing - with no helicoil in the correct size - etcetera etcetera…. We didn't want to know what the time was, I got in the kitchen to make some coffee and desperately tried to avoid looking at the clocks, then my cat Pontiac (Poncho to his friends) brought me one of his usual presents from the garden, a live mouse that he delighted in chasing under furniture and finally lost behind a book case, so we probably have a mouse indoors now, I had no time to overturn furniture to look for him and try and save him from the little monster, I had to get back to the garage with the coffee while I still remembered vaguely what I was doing… We carry on and on and on, we are nearly finished, we are putting the front of the car back on trying not to crack the joints and Rick is finally under the car buttoning up the mufflers (we use mufflers in loading and unloading as we have wonderful neighbours and want to keep their goodwill) the birds are singing by now, the sky is getting lighter, we end up going to bed for an hour at about 5:30, then we get up, fill up with fluid, fire up, set the timing and load up to get back to the track. Of course we drive straight into a traffic jam… So we get to the Pod at 12:00 or so, and sit in the rain all day, sighing. Panic sets in when the last qualifying session on Sunday is in doubt, but we get called and rush to the fire up road knowing we have one shot to get in the field, and that we cannot risk a breakout. The data has been wiped out from the weather station, all we have is a few paper records to try and predict what the car will run, anxiety sets in. We nervously examine the qualifying list, and decide that up to 5 hundredths off should get us in, so we dial safely, a 10.20 expecting a possible 10.25 and hoping for the best. Alas, it wasn't to be, the old engine didn't perform as well as it should have, and a slow 10.38 run confirms our DNQ status, the very first time ever… A lot of work and at the end of the day we are still glad we tried our very best to get in - we'd certainly do it all over again, including the traffic jams and the mouse. (I still don't know if he has set up home behind the bookcase and whether he is eating my Holley Carb. Bible even as we speak...) It was good to have that qualifying session, at least we got our chance, the run wasn't good enough and we lost, but we felt that we did everything in our power and had to be philosophical about it. Anyhow, the 434 has now been stripped and fortunately the damage was as light as suspected, so with any luck in getting the parts we need in time the engine will be back in for the Summer Nationals, although plan B is in place, and the 383 isn't coming out of the engine bay until the parts are received. A few days later.. Just back in from the garage, thanks to Kenny Coleman of EDA we have received what we need, although pushrods of the correct length, unfortunately, are coming from the States and therefore we'll have them in a few days - so the engine is now back together bar the missing pushrod, and we are swapping it back even as I write - finishing the job tomorrow. So with any luck, I'll have the 434 in the car for the Summer Nationals in two weeks time (next weekend is out as we will be in Belfast visiting Rick's mum, one of our biggest fans) and I'll have my chance at driving it like I stole it, weather permitting! Congratulations to Team Top Banana for winning the meeting after qualifying no. 32 (I thought the ladder must have been upside down!!!) and for winning Sportsman, and look forward to seeing everyone in two weeks, when hopefully Heaven & Hell with give a better account of themselves! A Whole Lotta Trash. 4th June: Our good friend Ian Turburville has been in touch to recommend a unique product for the team with everything and more. He says "Drag racing is one big family and there are some great people in it one of the nicest being Carl Burton, from English Rose Tattoo who races the "Whole Lotta Rosie" Sierra. At the FIA Main Event he presented me with one of his fantastic, custom sprayed, racing trash cans (right). ©Eurodragster.com "You just have to get one of these works of art for your pit or home. All you have to do is take Carl an empty Klotz fuel can and a picture of your car. He will then take the top off the can and spray it to match your car or bike, then laquer it to a shiny finish. I think they are a snip at £50 so find him in the pits and get yourself a masterpiece! Thanks Carl, good job!" (Having also been the recipient of one of these fantastic works of art I too can vouch for just how good they are - Lucky Photo Ed) Web site updates. 4th June:The Super Twin Drag Bike Association's website has been given a major makeover. It includes details on 27 Super Twin Fuel bikes and 11 Super Twin Top Gas bikes as well as latest results and points. ©Eurodragster.com The Team Old 51 website has been updated with videos of two of Niclas Andersson's passes at the recent FIA Main Event - to see these, click on "fotogalleri". Team Koedam Main Event Report. 3rd June: Marius van der Zijden has been in touch with a Team Report of four-time European Top Fuel Bike champion and record-holder Roel Koedam's FIA Main Event, in which he came away with the victory in FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike, the points lead, and performance marks of 6.108/227.55. Though some racers had already been out for early season testing, the first championship round is always the first time most contenders get together. We ourselves were very happy with the results of our first outing at the Easter Thunderball and it seemed that our bike was ready to put some spectacular numbers on the timing boards. Also ready was the new paint job that we mentioned in an earlier Team Report. ©Eurodragster.com In the weeks before this event, we had excellent weather, unfortunately that changed for the worse, the closer we came to the Main Event date. For some days in Holland, it looked like the summer had been skipped entirely and we had entered a very early fall. Weather predictions for the race weekend in England changed by the hour and overall were not so good, with very little chance of sunshine and lots of opportunities to get the umbrella out. In the end we were (sort of) quite lucky with the weather as you will read. Saturday, the first day of qualifying, started with grey skies all around and was too cool for the time of year, but at least it was still dry. However, while waiting in the staging lanes it started to drizzle, which continued until 16.00! By the time we were called to fire-up the bike for our first and only qualifying pass of that day it was already 19.00h, usually the time to sit down for an evening meal. Little did we know that the bike noticed this too and had picked a "three course valve train meal" from the menu, as we soon would discover. It left real well with a 1.05 sec 60ft time. At the halfway (eight mile) marker the time was a very strong 4.00sec @ 190mph, so it was on a really good run. However at 4.5 seconds, the cam timing gear let go for some reason, breaking the timing chain, both the cam sprockets and the majority of the valves. The performances in the first part of the run were good enough to coast the bike across the finish line in still a 6.5 sec @ 155mph. We obviously had a job to do and worked well into the night. As it looked like we needed some three to four more hours on the next day to finish the bike, we decided to "hit the sheets" and catch some sleep. Sunday was a perfect racing day with sunshine, even. Our 6.5 from the previous day was still top qualifier and this already secured us a spot in the show. We didn't had to worry too much and expected to be well ready for the fourth and last qualifying session. However for a number of reasons the final repairs didn't progress as we liked and we spent all day working indoors (in our race trailer) and it took us all day. We were only able to fire up the bike at 21.00, therefore missing the last change of improving our first and only qualifying pass. Unfortunately for them, and luckily for us, our competition wasn't able to beat our 6,5 and we remained the # 1 qualifier. Monday was a reasonably good day again with a little sunshine. Though overall, the temperatures were still too low for this time of year, we learned later how lucky we were, as most of England was covered with heavy rainfall and in the nearest town they even had some large hailstones. We won the first round of eliminations in a decent 6.21 sec @ 214mph. Because of a rather strong crosswind in the shutdown area Roel clicked it off at 5.7 sec. On this run, we recorded our best 60ft time ever. We ran 60 ft times of 1.04's & 1.05's all weekend without having to take the clutch out, showing the consistency of our new (titanium) clutch. We seemed to be back in our "normal race mode". For the next round we decided to step it up a little. Though we won this round, the bike was very loose all the way and at some point even smoked the tire shortly. It "slowed down" our ET to a 6.25sec @ 216mph. The track obviously had suffered too much from oil downs and the low temperatures and grip had fallen over the qualifying days when it normally improves during the event. We simply overpowered the track. Therefore we decided to take some power out in order trying to go quicker in the final round. Until now, it was a nice day. However by 16.00, just as the final rounds were due to begin, it started raining which halted all racing activities for over an hour. Racing only recommenced at 17.30. Unfortunately our final round opponent Eric Teboul discovered a cracked rear wheel sprocket at the very last moment and rushed back to the pits trying to fix it in time. Because the race schedule was already greatly delayed, the startline crew ordered us to start the bike when Eric didn't show up in time. This meant we had a bye run for the event win. Roel took his time to stage the bike and to activate the Christmas three very calmly. We surely didn't want to take it easy, as we really wanted to set a good time. The bike was flying across the strip and the timing board showed a 6.10sec @ 227mph! This result is our third quickest time (and also the 3rd quickest time outside the USA). Again we felt very satisfied of being able to set those performances under these conditions. Checking over the bike after the event it showed once again a zero % leak down on all cylinders, indicating to us that not the bike but the track is our limiting factor at this moment. Anorak Stats from the FIA Main Event. 3rd June: Many thanks to Eurodragster.com honorary staff member Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe for sending us an updated European Bests sheet including Urban Johansson's new Pro Modified ET record of 6.247 and a new closest races sheet. ©Eurodragster.com You can view the European Bests by clicking here or by clicking on the European Bests link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Andy has also sent us the following 'Anorak Stats' from the FIA Main Event, including details of the closest races, which are some of the closest ever. Quickest / Fastest by class Top Fuel 4.818 / 306.35 Top Methanol Dragster 5.460 / 258.83 Top Methanol Funny Car 5.772 / 246.07 Pro Modified 6.247 / 225.96 Pro Stock 6.961 / 198.56 Top Fuel Bike 6.108 / 227.55 Super Twin Top Fuel Bike 6.573 / 201.67 Pro Stock Bike 7.295 / 178.01 Average ETs /speeds by class Top Fuel 7.813 / 172.28 Top Methanol Dragster 6.303 / 222.67 Top Methanol Funny Car 6.450 / 201.42 Pro Modified 7.884 / 171.93 Pro Stock 7.305 / 183.02 Top Fuel Bike 8.593 / 152.11 Super Twin Top Fuel Bike 7.584 / 164.57 Pro Stock Bike 8.155 / 156.44 Closest Races (Eliminations only) Super Pro ET round 1. Vincent Gibbs beat Nigel Turner by 0.000069 seconds, or 0.183 inches / 4.647mm Junior Dragster round 3. Jay Hauser beat Nick Mugridge by 0.000097 seconds, or 0.139 inches / 3.535mm FIA Pro Mod round 2. Niclas Andersson beat Marc Meihuizen by 0.000016 seconds, or 0.061 inches / 1.539mm Andy said "This race is, to the best of my knowledge, the closest race ever recorded, made even more remarkable by the fact that the cars were travelling at 214.07mph and 216.22mph respectively at the finish line. 1.5mm is the tolerance for the timing cells." Vehicle Count Friday 40 Singles 241 Pairs 522 Vehicles total Saturday 16 Singles 46 Pairs 108 Vehicles total Sunday 86 Singles 214 Pairs 514 Vehicles total Monday 28 Singles 123 Pairs 274 Vehicles total Event totals 170 Singles 624 Pairs 1418 Vehicles total Event averages (Does not include JDs) ET 9.635 MPH 142.94 Diesel Power. 3rd June: The UK Truck Show takes place on August 19th and 20th at Santa Pod Raceway near Wellingborough in Northamptonshire. Entry is just £30 per truck, including: A family weekend ticket Judging in 2 classes (selected at the show) Free prize draw entry ticket to win top sponsored prizes Free gift pack and souvenir show T-Shirt, courtesy of sponsors Phoenix Personnel and Co-Op Management Services Camping or caravan permits available for just an extra £10 Evening entertainment, including top U2 tribute band 'Zu2' The full list of judging classes is as follows: Best Fleet Best Working Truck Best Customised Truck Best New Truck Best Vintage Truck Best Owner Driver Truck Best Rigid Truck Best Construction Vehicle Plus special awards for light commercials, American trucks and recovery vehicles, and the giant Truckinsure 'Best In Show' trophy. ©Eurodragster.com Due to the nature of their work, site vehicles within the construction industry have never been able to truly compete against show standard trucks at truck events. With this in mind, the organisers of The UK Truck Show have introduced a 'Construction' judging class solely for these vehicles. Entrants will include Tippers, Mixers, Highway maintenance vehicles, Quarry vehicles, Timber trucks, Skip loaders and Site vehicles. For full information, see the official website at www.uktruckshow.co.uk or contact Event Developments on 01775 723723. Swift Snippets. 3rd June: Top Fuel Bike rider Steve Carey has been in touch to say "Although we didn't qualify at the Main Event, we have started to get a better understanding of the fuel and clutch systems, and the new gearbox works just fine. ©Eurodragster.com "I'd also just like to wish Fred, Pat and Tog speedy recoveries, and hope to see them both back at the track soon. Web site updates. 3rd June: Editor Andrew Kirk has been in touch to give details of the latest update to the www.drcreview.com web site. It includes an 1800 word report with photos from last weekend's Main Event, plus news of American racer Al Bergler's "More Aggravation" Competition Coupe, which has been lovingly recreated for the forthcoming National Hot Rod Reunion in the US later this month. ©Eurodragster.com Peter Donaldson has updated his excellent photo site (click here) with scans of pictures he took in the late 70's to mid 80's. Like his current shots, many of these are full-screen size. Peter first visited Santa Pod in 1972, and wistfully imagines the shots he could have taken, if only modern cameras had been available then. He can also remember paying 60 pence to get in to a one day event back then, which was 10% of his wages, so he reckons it's proportionally cheaper now. Fuel for Bahrain. 2nd June: Top Fuel Dragster team owners Knut Söderquist and Rune Fjeld are taking a team of eight Top Fuellers to the Bahrain International Circuit for a Top Fuel Match race at the end of October. The Top Fuel match race will be run as a Cannonball, with all eight cars making four passes each and the two quickest facing off in the final round. ©Eurodragster.com Knut's Carbon By Design team will be fielding five cars and Rune Fjeld Motorsports three. "Not all of the drivers are decided, but we will be taking crew from all of the top teams", Knut Söderquist told Eurodragster.com. "Micke Kågered, Thomas Nataas and Ali Aryan are already on the list to drive - Ali will make his licencing passes in the week before the event. We want to make it an international event and I have already spoken to a number of American racers." The cars will be shipped to Bahrain in the week after September's FIA European Finals at Santa Pod. "Karsten Andersen and I will be going to the track with Karsten's track testing machine to check out the strip", said Knut. "There is a lot of potential in Bahrain. We have got them to run our cars again and we hope that they will have more European racers in the future. We certainly like it there!" Knut added that his latest Mats Eriksson-built car is complete will all-new components but that a driver has yet to be decided. Stay tuned for more news from the Carbon By Design team in the near future. FIM/UEM Classes Main Event Review. 2nd June: FIM/UEM European Championship Co-ordinator Lars Andersson has been in touch with a review of the FIA Main Event: It was a weekend with all sorts of weather from warm sun to rain and cold winds, but we managed to finish all eliminations without any problem. The final on Monday was delayed only a little, due to rain, although the forecasts had been for very bad weather. The track was in excellent condition. It is one of the best prepared tracks in the whole world. Even the time it takes to clean up the track after an incident is now short thanks to qualified personnel and new methods. First, a little about Top Fuel Bike. Roel Koedam showed once again that he is the king. He had some problems in the first qualifying session, but he was the #1 qualifier by the end. Ian King was #8 qualifier because he has rebuilt a lot on the bike and this was his first test. So they met in the first round, and Roel was the fastest. The next opponent for Roel was Luigi Ferretti from Italy. But this was also an easy win for Roel. In the final was Roel up against Eric Teboul from France, who had managed to run a 6.2 in the semi final. This is Eric's personal best ET on a Top Fuel Bike, although he has run quicker on his rocket bike. But a broken sprocket left Roel alone in the final. The main problem in Top Fuel bike is the absence of several of the nitro-fuelled top fuel bike teams and some other notable bikes in this class. We need to do something, and the first step will be next year with a new minimum length of 1800mm. I also hope that all the Norwegian fuelers will come out. ©Eurodragster.com In Pro Stock, there were also some good times and hard qualifying. There were many new bikes and a lot of new strong engines in the field. We were also missing many of the "old" racers in this class. Anders Abrahamsson showed that he is aiming for the number one plate this year. He was the quickest in qualification and won the event with the quickest time. He also had a new paint job on the bike and a new leathers and shoes. He told me that the new strong shoes were very nice feeling compared to his old shoes. Anders Abrahamsson beat another Anders in the final. Anders Jakobsson was #2 in qualifying and also runner-up in eliminations. He has got a completely new bike and this was his first race in Pro Stock Bike. To be runner up in your first race is a very strong performance. Martin Bishop and örjan Gustavsson was eliminated in the semi finals. One bike that did not qualify was Tom Tindahn with his new Harley Davidson G2 bike. Tom did miss the first qualifying session and crossed the centre line in the next, but made a very good start in the final one, but a small mistake after 200 meters meant that he only ran an 8.11, and the bump spot was 8.10. We will see more of the Harleys in Finland when one more will come. The Supertwins will be a thriller this year. Anders "Charley" Karling is back. He was the number one qualifier and also win the event riding in the final against Ronny Assen, who was qualified #3.. Ronny beat Lorenz Stauble from Switzerland, #2 qualifier, in the semi final. In the other semi final was Joachim Riemar from Germany. So we had a very international field, with many Norwegians as usual, but also racers from many other countries. I missed Ton Pels from the Netherlands very much missing. Ton has had to stop racing this year due to family matters and I am thinking of his family. We are hoping to see his bike out at the race tracks again in the future. Ton has been racing for many years and I think that the first time I meet him was in 1976 or 1977 in Sweden when he and Henk Wink did an exhibition race in Vårgårda in Sweden. The next event is Finland, at the same time as the UEM congress, so I will miss the congress as we are in Finland. I hope that we will nave a nice race in the land of thousand lakes. Looking at the crowd this weekend, must I say that all looks good. On Sunday, it was almost full,even with an extra grandstand On Monday there were a little bit less but then it was almost warning in television about rain and thunder was it an good crowed do I think. All investment that has been done also at Santa Pod with new asphalt both in the paddock area makes Santa Pod looks much better. The old Santa Pod is almost now a memory only. FIA Main Event Points and Timing Data. 2nd June: Many thanks to FIA Championship Co-Ordinator Kjell Pettersson for sending us the post-FIA Main Event points standings, which you can view by clicking here (PDF format). FIA and FIM/UEM points for current and previous years can also be found on www.powerracing.eu, the official championship website. ©Eurodragster.com As well as his event review above, Lars Andersson has kindly sent through the FIM/UEM points standings which are available by clicking here (Excel Format). FIM/UEM points are also available on www.kingracing.com. We are indebted to our good buddy Andy Marrs of TSI Timers for sending us the official Timing Data from last weekend's FIA Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway. You can see the FIA Main Event timing data by clicking here or on the Timing Data link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Grumpy: Enjoyable but Disappointed. 2nd June: Paul "Grumpy" Watson of home and news sponsors DynoSpeed Developments says that in spite of the best-laid plans, his Main Event was a disappointment on the track but enjoyable in the pits with his team and the Swedish visitors. "We had a busy time before the Main Event. Our 1640cc motor had some damage and was in for repair with Roger Upperton. So we used a newly-acquired 1500cc two-valve motor which came from the States so a lot of work was done to accommodate it, The new combination should be good for very low 7's as should the revised 1640cc from Roger Upperton. ©Eurodragster.com "Our first 2 passes were a bit of a disaster; on the first one, I went before the lights dropped. Luigi Chinarello got on the two-step early, and I didn't want to keep him waiting too long, so I went into stage and thought "now is a good time to go", so I did, just nerves I guess. However when I punched fourth gear, the tyre spun and pulled me to the wall - it must be the bumps in the track - so I aborted the run. It still felt real good but it was a shame we had no time slip. "The second pass was very unusual. When I went into stage and went on the two-step I must have been so shallow staged, I rolled out again. I just couldn't believe it, still not qualified. "So Sunday afternoon, the final qualifier and the pressure is on once again in the left lane where the bumps are. I tried to aim right slightly but same place, same time the tyre spun and the wall got real close. Still, with a 7.7 using only four gears out of six, we were quite happy and once again a 1.12s 60ft, short shifting and all turned down so everything looks promising. "We qualified sixth with 7.7, a little disappointed but considering all, just glad to be there. We got Martin Bishop in the first round and we so love to race each other, so I was really looking forward to it. We were close off the line, Martin with the slightly better light, but the power of the new motor was awesome and soon I went past him, however, as soon as I punched fourth gear, the tyre spun and a visit to the wall again, Martin was then able to get past me and take the win. "I must say Swedes were so friendly. Anders Abrahamsson was going so well and Anders Jakobsson was really getting used to the new motor; with everyone having a good time, they were crazy Swedes and my answer is still NO! "I would like to thank my Crew for all their hard work: Kim (Pixie) once again saving the day with the clutch, Jason who is new to the team and has been absolutely brilliant works so hard, also to Mark King, the best looking from the famous King stable I'm told, who has joined the team since Bahrain and who has been fantastic. They all work so hard. I would also like to thank Daniele and Luca for their help and hope they enjoyed their visit to Santa Pod. "Although in the UK, Pro Stock Bike has taken a big drop, the European Championship seems to be going from strength to strength and if I can find the money I will do everything I can to go, but alas Finland is out as its just too expensive. I wish everyone good luck there." Riehl's back on the track (and on his back). 2nd June: German Super Comp racer Jens Riehl is totally satisfied with the Main Event weekends performance. "After a break from drag racing of nearly two years, it was a big present to become the runner-up in the first event", says Jens. The car still runs without any kind of timing electronics. ©Eurodragster.com Crew chief Klaus Romahn says that he's never participated in a race with a car going into both the semis and the final with a seriously damaged engine. "We had to go through three rounds of eliminations to get a bye in the semi-final. After winning the third round, Jens shut off the engine and heard a clacking sound, which meant that one or two rod bearings had given up working. To become runner-up, we had to fire up the damaged engine again both times, stage and go over the starting line. It sounded really bad and we hadn't been sure if it would work, but finally the engine did it." "Very special thanks go to the team's friends Anne and Zane Llewellyn from ZaNNetec and to Paul-Ingar Udtian for helping with spare parts.On the way back home Jens fell down 2 metres from a ladder inside the team's artic trailer, but fortunately the physician diagnosed that no bones were broken. His right leg and back were slightly hurt, but they are already getting better. You see, dragracing is dangerous..." 200 mph at last. 2nd June: Derek Flynn of Gold RV Racing has been in touch to let us know how the team finally broke the 200mph barrier; After 4 consecutive 199 something's and then a 198 something it was really neat to finally get our 200 and a six, and, even if we do say so ourselves, not just get it, but by quite a margin, 205.18 and at an incredible 6.570. Again, this was not without some pain and couple of thrashes by the Go Gold Crew and I have to say a huge thank you to all of them for their dedication to our cause, they are excellent and this is very much their achievement as much as mine. I must admit when I watched the video of our run the following day and could hear their elation on the line at what we had just achieved, it brought a bit of a lump to my throat. All I do is mash the loud pedal and hang on and I now do that for nearly 2 seconds less than I did at the start of last year! I would like to thank our sponsors Gold RV, Buff, and Dataprint - without your support we could not do what we do !! ©Eurodragster.com In our race against Paula Atkin (our pit neighbours for the event who had an unfortunate weekend with misfire problems, better luck next time Paula) I had to lift at the 1/8th as I was already in front and very much in danger of breaking out. We analysed the data and we knew we were really on one and would have broken out by quite a margin and we reckoned we would have got the 200 then. After getting the car ready for the next run, we then had to wait for the following morning, and we decided that, no matter what, I was not going to lift against Barry Giles and, for a laugh, we were going to put a 6.66 on it, we won't break out of that. You can imagine my surprise as the Giles & Hartley team arrived at the top end and said we both broke out and amazingly I had broken out by the greater, I guess I really don't get this bracket racing, as I was already jumping and hollering even though we had lost! Then my team arrived and gave me the news I was really waiting for 205, I think I leapt as I as high as the front wheels went on that launch it was just incredible, the tune up was right, the gearbox rebuild had worked the new torque converter did it's job and with a .968 sixty foot, and the car just kept pulling all the way to the stripe I knew it was quick. We now want to back it up and well we are not too sure what to aim for next, I guess it is to try and be a little more consistent, and try and win an event which will be hard as I can't see us slowing it down. Special thanks to the following people who have all helped us achieve our goal of a 6 at 200 : The Go Gold Crew, Richard & Lee of J&W Automotive, Andy Robinson Race Cars, Steve, Rob & Carmel of Turner Motorsport, Jeff Bull, Steve Johnson, Mark Flavell & his team, Dave Wilson, Bob Glassup and the Extreme Team, The Gibbs family, Andy Carter, Kenny Coleman and any one else I forgot, oh and thanks to all the other Super Proers who congratulated us on our achievements and for all there help and support, it is nice to think that some of us Super Proers are going as quick or even quicker than some of the pro classes now. Of Throttle stops and Switch Panels. 2nd June: Chris Isaacs was running two cars over the FIA Main Event in Super Comp and Super Gas, his Standard Vanguard Estate and Spencer Tramm's VW Corrado, and he has been in touch with his account of a mixed weekend. "After all the anticipation of running two cars in two classes, it was a bit of a strange weekend for us. The Vanguard was using new tyres (courtesy of Toyo, and due in part to their generous sponsorship scheme), a new converter and my spare TH400 transmission, following a drop-off in reaction times and 60ft times at Easter. Well, the reaction times came most of the way back but the 60 foot times were even worse - though video footage has subsequently showed that we may not have been tripping the 60 foot clocks with the front wheels... In any case it was all academic as second gear let go on the fourth launch and the wagon was parked for the rest of the weekend. ©Eurodragster.com "On that last run, the knurled screw holding the front of the overhead switch panel came out, and the panel fell downwards across the top of the windscreen whilst the screw rattled out of the car - no big deal, except that following the run it rained heavily and a few drops of water got inside the car whilst it was in the pits. Deciding to be diligent and clean the droplets out of the car, I opened the driver door, leant in, and gashed my head on the sharp corner of the hanging-down switch panel, and consequently retired to the caravan for a while to bleed and sulk. "In Spencer's Corrado, we were trying to dial in the throttle stop recently installed at my shop. We got this under some sort of control fairly soon, running a 9.95 on the second pass, then took some timer out and followed up with a 9.889. However, the gadgetry was unfortunately equipped with a delay box, and not the 'hurry up' box which the guest driver seemed to require, as I was unable to get my RT's beyond calendar level in the Corrado all weekend, in spite of the fact that Mr Tramm seems to cut perfectly acceptable lights with the car. "Come the first round and we sneaked through this in slightly bizarre circumstances. Now, once you have staged a car, the procedure is fairly simple: hit the transbrake button, and floor the throttle. In that order. Attempting to reverse this sequence results in the race car lurching forward into deep stage and bringing up a nasty red light on the tree, as I discovered during a particularly blonde moment against Steve Wells' Pop pickup. After having returned to the pits and getting the timeslip to review the data for future throttle-stop settings, I was rather bemused to see the word 'winner' under my race number. Further investigation revealed that in fact Steve had, for the first time in his racing career, had his foot slip off the clutch pedal whilst in stage, thus rolling through the lights a moment before I did, and sending me rather undeservedly through into Monday's racing. "Against Dave Day in round two, we received the green light at about lunchtime on May 29th. Unfortunately I left the line on or around June 2, and finished the job properly by breaking out by 3 thousandths with a 9.897 despite lifting under the top end gantry... a fitting end to the weekend's competition! "So it was load up in the rain, drive home in brilliant sunshine, unload in the rain and clonk the head on the switch panel one more time when putting the Vanguard in 'park' back at the workshop, before driving back to the house trying not to run over any more black cats on the 13th day of the 13th month, etc. Anyway... "I would like to thank Spencer and the Tramm family for letting me drive their race car - actually it was very enjoyable! Also thanks go to George, Rachel, Ady and Chris who worked diligently to turn both cars round and kept the driver supplied with the requisite amount of Crazy Udder milkshakes. Maybe we'll do it again at the Euro Finals? With my (dead) cat-like reactions, a couple of hundredths in the delay box and some extra numbers in the stop and we could have a good high-mph combo for Super Street - now there's a thought..." Haslett needs Gas. 2nd June: Real Steel Street Eliminator driver Ron Haslett has been in touch with details of a great opportunity to have a ride in his Cortina Mark 3 Estate down the Santa Pod Strip at the Classic Ford Weekend on Sunday 11 June 2006. "We are looking for a bit of help to raise as much money as we possibly can for Macmillan Cancer Support. What we are doing is three passenger runs down the strip at the Classic Ford Weekend with the passengers making a donation for the rides. So as to give the most we can out of the money we raise, we are asking if there is any one out there who can help with the cost of the nitrous fills. We estimate that we use 3-4 lb of gas on each run, so 12-16 lb of gas for three runs plus a shake down run is what we need to have funded. We have had local press coverage, magazine coverage in Classic Ford, who have just done a feature on us, and Eurodragster as well. Even if you feel you can only sponsor one run for nitrous it will help. ©Eurodragster.com "Why are we doing it? Several reasons. Every body knows someone who has had cancer. We lost the mother of one of our crew members to it three days before the last round last year, yet we all made the meet and I've had it twice, once in 2003 and it's the reason I took 2004 off, so it affects everyone in some way. If you can help us, please contact me on 07710 403378 or ron_haslett@hotmail.com. Records set to fall. 2nd June:Colin Fallows and Mark Newby have been in touch with a report of the UK land speed record testing session held at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground, Leics on May 30th 2006, at which the Primetime Land Speed Engineering team recorded the highest speed ever seen in the UK. In preparation for their UK land speed record attempts at RAF Fairford, Gloucs, on July 7th, Primetime Land Speed Engineering, holders of the current Outright British Land Speed Record at an average of 300.3mph, posted the highest speed ever attained in the UK. ©Eurodragster.com 'Split Second', one of their pair of jet dragsters, stopped the clocks at a staggering average speed of 334.59mph. At the same event, their other jet dragster 'Vampire', the car which currently holds the 300.3mph Outright British Land Speed, reached 262.19mph in a gentle checkout pass at a fraction of the available power. And the team's battery powered, all-electric streamliner, 'e=motion', was also tested at reduced power and attained an average speed of 129.9mph despite being switched off well before entering the timed quarter mile course. Hartwell, Northants based team partner Colin Fallows, who tunes all three cars as well as driving 'Vampire' said "We are delighted with the results. Despite some minor problems with the electric car which saw it switched off 200 yards before entering the timed quarter mile, it coasted through at almost 130mph. That is just 9mph short the existing UK Electric Speed Record so clearly we are hopeful that come July 7th, we will set a new record in excess of 150mph". Colin's team-mate, Oxford based Mark Newby, who drives 'Split Second' and 'e=motion' said "Colin's new tune-up in 'Split Second is spot on. To achieve an average speed of 334.59mph first time out with the new system clearly augurs well for re-setting our existing Outright UK Record at a new all-time high on July 7th. And with the new gearing installed in 'e=motion' proving its worth already, we can't wait to get to RAF Fairford!" Swift Snippets. 2nd June: Our good friend Pat Ginn, T.J. O'Brien's partner (or should that be minder? - Photo Ed), has been in touch to say thank you to all those who assisted her after being taken ill at the Main Event. She says "Thank you to Cathy, Carol, Les, Darren, all the medics, and a big Thank You to Neil, Cannon & Mike for the lovely flowers. I couldn't tell you what happened as I don't know; I remember watching Neil's (Midgley) run, then waking up in hospital on Monday morning. The hospital did some tests but it's still a mystery so I've got to have a cat scan. Can I also thank everyone for clearing up and taking our stuff for us. It's at times like these when you find out what a real bunch of great guys and girls all the drag racing crew are." Web site updates. 2nd June: Rick Cuthbert of Santa Pod Raceway has been in touch to mention that the Santa Pod website has been updated with a full Main Event report and extensive photo gallery, with unique pictures, for each day of the event. This is available at http://www.santapod.co.uk/e_main.php ©Eurodragster.com In addition, Rick says "a rain-off value has been announced for the following ticket types: Saturday - £15, Sat & Sun Ticket - £10, All Day Ticket - £10. There is no rain-off value for grandstand seats". Our good buddy Patrik Jakobsson has been in touch to say that he has updated his photo site www.racebilder.nu with 481 pictures from the Main Event. He said, "I want to say Thank You to MSS Motorsport and others who made my first trip to Santa Pod possible." Peter Roberts of The Pod - A Look Around has been in touch to let us know that he has added some new panoramas and photos from the Main Event to his innovative and entertaining website. Your stand-in news editor found the panorama of the camping field particularly fitting in light of his own experience over the weekend! Events this Weekend. 2nd June: On Sunday 4 June at Santa Pod is the Performance Vauxhall Show, including Run What Ya Brung and a guest appearance by Mike Brewer, presenter of Channel 4's second-hand car show Deals On Wheels and motoring programme Driven. The Thunder Valle round of the Nordic Drag Racing Series takes place from 2 - 4 June at Valle, Norway. Classes racing include Sportsman, Top Sportsman, Jr.dragster, Super Street, Super Gas, Super Comp, Street Bike, Super Gas Bike, Junior Bike, ET Bike, Pro Stock Snowmobile and Per Jespersen performing Nostalgia Top Fuel Bike demos. Action starts at 18:00 on Friday 2 June and continues through the weekend. Smax on the Main Event. 1st June: British Top Fuel driver and fan favourite Smax Smith has been in touch to lets us know about his Main Event weekend driving the McDonald brothers Top Fuel Dragster which culminated in a runner up finish. "I must start by wishing good buddy Tog a speedy recovery" says Smax, "We never doubted we had a capable car and super crew going into the weekend and figured we had the ability to grab the attention of both the fans and the competition! We were focused and improving all weekend and the good news is we were doing it with very little damage. ©Eurodragster.com "Just getting in at no 8 during the last session of qualifying was no mean feat considering we hadn't been able to do any testing or managed a full pass up until that point. From there we raced our own race and it paid off-Lady Luck sometimes plays an important part for all teams but I believe you make your own luck in this world. "We got by Tommy Möller and Urs Erbacher in the 1st round and Andy Carter in the semis due to their various problems but the final was quality drag racing! We ran 5.08 to Hakan Fallstrom's 5.02, with conditions as they were these were excellent passes. We had set the car up for a four but I was watching Hakan stage when I tripped the stage light accidentally so had to go on the high side and go, this gave me a crap light and blew the opportunity for a holeshot but we were hanging in there until the car dropped a cylinder at the top end. I'm not crying though, Runner up was awesome for us and Hakan and his team performed flawlessly and they deserved the win - well done guys! "I must thank the McDonald brothers Stu and Rich for making all this happen and believing in me as a driver and also our super crew of Mark (bottom end); Robin Steve and Tet (heads and data and engineering); Belfast Ray and Brian (whatever is needed!), Steve (pr); Sarah and Kirsty (fuel, tires, tea, inspiration, etc) and everyone who helps behind the scenes. Thanks also to the Finnish Pro Mod team who welded our fuel pump snout and Mats Eriksson for loan of the welder, Lex for balancing the wheels, Ben of Fastco-UK for the nitro, Prolink for radios, Double Two for crew shirts, The Sign Shop for graphics, The Net Factory for the website, Vince Andrews for stuff, G-Max fuels and our truck driver! Great Job guys, much appreciated. "My biggest thanks goes to Dicko, Sarah and the Bulldog crew for sponsoring us for this event as well as towing and helping all weekend and lastly I want to thank the British drag racing fans for totally supporting us-you are the best, hopefully someone out there knows someone who can help us with sponsorship to come back for the finals! Smax also tells us that at the last minute he has been offered a Fuel Funny car drive at the IHRA round at Grand Bend Motorplex in Ontario, Canada this weekend, more news on this as we get it. Malmgren aims for Alastaro. 1st June: Our good buddy Magnus Cato of Pro Stock driver Michael Malmgren's team has been in touch to tell us about the team's plans to get back on track and a call out to bystanders and spectators at Main event with a reward for footage of Michael's crash. ©Eurodragster.com He said "If anyone has a decent video shot of our mishap, we'll be more then happy if we can get a copy of it. We need to know what happened and it's most important to see it on film. Our camera guy lost focus (as you would) when Michael turned from driver to passenger. Fortunately Michael is a-ok, except for being really mad with what happened. "The car has been delivered to the capable hands of fellow racer Mats Eriksson. A big box with Pontiac Pro Stock parts has been ordered from Jerry Bickel and our goal is to participate at the second FIA event at Alastaro, including a test session at Meca Raceway! Time schedule will be tight but the whole Lahega racing team is focused on hard work. "After 20 years in organized drag racing, this is Michael's first serious accident, except for two visits to the infamous gravel trap at Mantorp Park, and the determination is to come back and show what we can do. At Santa Pod, the car's performance looked very good in the first two gears on the computer graphs.... "The videos can be sent to either me or Michael, please contact by mail to magnus.cato@comhem.se or michael.malmgren@myresjohus.se" Turbo's Main Event Supertwin Review. 1st June: Another of our good friends, Ian Turburville, has been in touch with his review of FIM/UEM Supertwin action at the FIA Main Event, when he crewed for eventual runner-up Ronny Aasen. He says: "Well that was one hell of a Main Event! Despite the weather Santa Pod staff pulled one out of the bag again and track staff performed miracles in record time, so well done to all. The pits were great also with the new tarmac and power supplies which just made everything so much easier. The Supertwins pits were buzzing all weekend and the atmosphere was great. "Ronny turned up with the 'BAHCO-Evil' bike that had a new motor, new fuel system, new ignition and hadn't even made a pass! Saturday morning came and we still couldn't get it to run right but thanks to Lorenz and his computer skills we suddenly found a baseline. After a set-up run or two, Ronny finally nailed it to a 6.64 with the wheel climbing higher all the way to the stripe, awesome. The final against Charley was after a too-quick turn-around and then a long anxious wait while the weather front moved through. That proved his undoing as the temperature drop ruined the settings and after getting the drop on Charlie at the lights and leading past half track, it dropped a cylinder and stopped dead, leaving the win to Mr. Karling. ©Eurodragster.com "Ronny was really happy with the first round performance however and is ready for the rest of the tour now including the Norwegian championships round next week. When the weather changed before the final the wind unfortunately trashed our awning, throwing it over the top of the BAHCO bus, and making a mess of everything, but thanks to the other Supertwinners for doing a great rescue job! "Some pit notes from the Supertwins:- Hans Olaf (Olstad) was suffering incredible pain from an almost severed finger all weekend and bore the pain of Harley vibrations with true grit! Acka's (Joachim Riemer) bike was looking impressive in its new Drag Specialties colours but nearly gave everyone a heart attack when his compressor exploded inside his trailer after the safety valve failed, a freak accident which left everyone's ears ringing but luckily it was contained within his padded safety cell so no danger. Gunter (Söhn) had a great time and found his combination at last so, a six isn't far off and his bike was looking very sharp. Gotten (Svein Gottenberg) had some bad luck and some good, he found some good form but broke an output shaft in his trans and a belt I believe. Svein Olav (Rolstad) was looking good until he spectacularly torched both heads at once just for those who missed it first time round at Gardermoen, tough break, as he left he was muttering about welding the heads to the cylinders! Lorenz (Stauble) and the Fat Attack crew found the solutions to their piston blacking problems, running some very serious numbers but having handling problems with the strong cross wind which also affected Charlie. Hans Christian (Nielsen) was a no show as he is struggling with funds to finish his Overkill/Olson bike and needs to sell his 2005 bike urgently! "On a personal note I had a great four days and my race supplies were suitably depleted but are being re-stocked as we speak. I will be racing at the Summernats so will bring the shoes etc but anything else will be at a minimum so if there is anything specific you need tell me now and I will bring it. "I couldn't afford the international licence to race but my bike was on display in the pits by arrangement with the management and there was a huge crowd around it all weekend. Thanks to everyone for their kind words regarding the bike, I promise to do my best to match its looks with some real laps but can only do the UEM rounds if I can find a sponsor to help. Well done to all the other racers for a very professional weekend and some stunning performances; see you at the Summer Nats." Tog's Thanks. 1st June: Eurodragster.com News Editor Tog has been in touch with a note of thanks to everyone for their help and support after his heart problem on Monday: I was allowed out on Tuesday evening after spending Monday and most of Tuesday in A & E and then the Coronary Care Unit at Bedford Hospital. The last test I had on Tuesday finally confirmed that I had not had any sort of heart attack but another episode of atrial fibrillation (a not-particularly-pleasant misfire of the heart) which came on at 5:30 am Monday and took until 11:30 pm that night to stabilise. I spent most of Monday wired up, drugged up to the eyeballs and on oxygen, and according to one of my cellmates I looked "ghastly" when I was brought into the CCU. I must thank all of the guys at APMS Ltd who attended to me very quickly, professionally and reassuringly on Monday morning and then got me to Bedford Hospital without passing Go when it became clear that the problem wasn't going away. Thanks also to everyone at Bedford Hospital who like APMS exhibited the very highest levels of care and attention and got to the bottom of the problem. ©Eurodragster.com I have had so much help and support and so many Get Well messages that it would be unfair to single out too many people, but I would like to say a big Thank You to Andy and Debs Marrs for cheering me up with a visit me in hospital on Tuesday morning (Andy's opening line was "We thought you'd be in Paediatrics"), bringing Monday's results and keeping everyone informed on my progress; Gareth Evans and his wife for visiting; Sharkman and Darren Prentice for sorting out my abandoned belongings, organising the retrieval of my car, and still finding the time to visit; Mrs Tog and Maria, Vikki and Nicole Neville for driving up to Bedford Hospital to visit and to bring me home; Fay Fischer and Ian Caseley for getting in touch with Mrs Tog to offer to recover the car even though they live a very long way from Santa Pod; and Sharkman and Simon for seamlessly picking up where I left off on the weekend's race coverage with help from Erik Zettervall. Simon and Sharkman are doing a bang-up job of keeping Eurodragster.com going in my absence which is one less thing to worry about. Mrs Tog has asked me to add a thank you to Colin Lazenby for his singular contribution to the day's events and to Gittli Koller for the phone calls. I have been overwhelmed by the response to my predicament and very grateful indeed to everyone who has been in touch. As well as the visits I got a number of phone calls whilst in hospital, my mobile phone filled up with text messages when I switched it back on, and my mailbox is full of good wishes: the sum total of calls, E-Mails and text messages has gone into three figures. It's always said that you find out who your friends are when things go wrong and it's been humbling to find out just how many friends I've got, and all over the world. Thank you all, you are the best. I am at home and under instruction to take it easy for a short while, and just for a change I am going to do what I am told – even I realise that I have now had two Public Warnings and that you get disqualified after the third. Eurodragster.com is in more than capable hands in my absence, so keep the news coming folks, and when I am back up to speed I will be back at the laptop. Finally, my very best wishes to Pat Ginn and to Fred Furlong both of whom had worse weekends than I did. Get well soon guys. Moore Venom. 1st June: Tony Betts of the Venom Fuel Altered Team has been in touch with news of the return of a familiar face. He said, "Venom is ready to strike at our next NFAA meet on the 17th and 18th June at Santa Pod's SPRC Summer Nationals. We are glad to confirm that Mickey Moore will be crewing for team at this meet. Mickey has be working behind the scenes at Venom racing so far this season, but will be joining the Venom crew for this meet. Mickey's input into Venom has been invaluable so far and hopefully we will we see a lot more of Mickey in the Venom pits. ©Eurodragster.com "Venom racing is also reviewing plans to expand into a two car team for late this season or for the 2007 season and we will keep you posted on our development plans for this. "We are still looking for more sponsorship for the team and details can be found on the Venom racing web site on www.venomracing.co.uk or on http://www.uksponsorship.com/mot3.htm". Engelstroef '06. 1st June: Hans Jørgen Hitz of Moosten MC has been in touch about the long-established British Bike Meet in Denmark, which is taking place this weekend. He says: "For the 24th time, Moosten MC Allingåbro, Denmark proudly presents its British Bike Meet. As usual, there is lots of entertainment and action such as drag racing, an idle run contest, joint ride, classic cross, classic TT race and party in the tent both Friday and Saturday nights. A free of charge morning buffet is included in the admission price of dkk 300 from Friday, dkk 150 from 10:00 Saturday and dkk 50 from 18:00 Saturday." ©Eurodragster.com Hans also reminds us that "Only British bikes will be admitted to the official camp." Trip to England. 1st June: Robin Jackson of Eurodragster.com home and news page sponsors Blueprints for Travel, organisers of the Trip To America has announced details of a tour designed specially for US drag racing and motorsports fans. He said: "Following the weekend's FIA Main Event excitement, Blueprints For Travel would like to remind our American readers of their opportunity to come and see September's FIA European Finals for themselves. Drag Racing Europe - The Trip To England is a 6-night, transatlantic excursion which will include Santa Pod's official VIP Hospitality program for the race, plus visits to the Williams F1 Grand Prix Collection and the Brooklands Motorsport & Aviation Museum, with hotels and transportation and two nights at guests' leisure in Central London. ©Eurodragster.com The Trip To England is being sold exclusively by Passport To Travel of Modesto, California (contact Renee Rollins, renee@passport2travel.com , tel. 800 456 3378 toll-free). To obtain a detailed itinerary, please email trip2england@aol.com ". Swift Snippets. 1st June: Carl Burton of the "Whole Lotta Rosie" Pro ET race team and co-ordinator of the Pro ET sponsorship scheme has been in touch to mention the scheme awards presented at the FIA Main Event. He says "Nick Good took the Pro ET sponsorship trophy and bounty for being #1 qualifier in the sponsorship scheme and also gets Martin Newbury's Psycleworkz.com billet trophy for winning twice in the same season. Well done to Nick and thank you to Psycleworkz and the rest of our sponsors." ©Eurodragster.com Dan Giles had an enjoyable FIA Main Event in a borrowed Junior Modified dragster. He said "After driving the Gold RV/J&W JMa Junior Dragster, I would like to say as big thank you to Derek Flynn for offering me the opportunity. Although I got knocked out in the first round I had a great time and can't wait to do it again at the SPRC Summer Nationals. The car goes twice as fast as the Junior Stock I drove last year so was completely different but exciting." Earlier news