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UK National Finals coverage. 30th September: We are now in place in Race Control at Santa Pod Raceway bringing you all the latest from the UK National Finals in association with American Car Imports. Our coverage consists of very frequently-updated reports on the on-track action and pit notes during each day as well as a photo gallery at the end of each day. The Webster Race Engineering/MPM Oil webcam is on-line and is scheduled to broadcast a picture every two minutes. ©Eurodragster.com Click here to view our UK National Finals coverage, or click on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Our good friend Gareth Evans is planning to update his UK1320 web site with end-day galleries on both days of the event. You will able to find Gareth's pictures at www.uk1320.com. Get your pick-up for Pat. 29th September: American car dealer 51st State Autos have donated a pick-up truck to be auctioned at Santa Pod Raceway this weekend in aid of the Pat Ginn Appeal. The 1999 Ford Ranger has been prepared and is due to be taken up to Santa Pod Raceway today (Friday). "TJ O'Brien works for us and so we wanted to do something for Pat", said Charles Partos of 51st State Autos. "It seemed more fun to to do this than just to write a cheque." Charles tells us that the Ranger has 65,000 miles on the clock and is a very clean piece of kit. It is white with blue Shelby stripes and has colour-coded bumpers. The pick-up is two-wheel drive and totes a two and a half litre petrol engine with manual transmission. An aluminium tool box is built into the pick-up bed which to us makes it sound the ideal racer's tow vehicle. The interior is cloth. The Ranger comes with a year's MoT and a year's warranty from WMS. "I would like to thank Charles for his generous donation for the fund", says Pat Ginn. "People are being so generous, it's very overwhelming. Charles and Michelle, you have been so good to both TJ and myself, thank you. Also thankyou to Ron Haslett for the Coffee Morning in his pit at Santa Pod tomorrow. Please go along and help by buying your coffee from these lovely people, it's for good causes. "I should have a new web site up and running soon so I can contact and answer people daily with all the updates and progress during this awful situation which I refuse to give in to - even though I wasn't saying that last Saturday when I wasn't very well and didn't feel that I wanted this for the rest of my treatment. Anybody who ever had radiotherapy and Chemo will know exactly what I'm talking about. "There was some good news in Wednesday's Sun newspaper, about a woman who has the same tumour as me and was told two years ago that she had six months and, god bless her, she has been cleared of this by the same treatment that I am on, but she had it in a different part of her brain. So straight away my sister got onto the doctor at the Cromwell Hospital and hopefully we can get a private appointment to meet this doctor and find out details. Meanwhile I have sent a letter to the Sun and asked it to be sent to the lady concerned to find out anything I can about the alternative medicine she was taking, hopefully we shall get a reply. "Good luck with the auction for the truck, have a good weekend's racing, and I hope to see you all there. I will put my web site address up as soon as I have details. I will need to keep my mind active for the winter plus keep up with all the new racers, bikes and cars coming out for next season." If you are coming along to the UK National Finals and like the sound of the Ford Ranger then start thinking about your bid. If you can't make it to Santa Pod this weekend then E-Mail a bid and your contact details to eurodragster.com@btinternet.com and we will print it and pass it on to Appeal Co-ordonator Matthew Wright. Coffee Morning raffle update. 29th September: As mentioned above by Pat, Ron Haslett will be holding a charity Coffee Morning in his pit at Santa Pod tomorrow (Saturday) in aid of the Macmillan Cancer Fund and the Pat Ginn Appeal. Ron has been in touch with the final list of raffle prizes. The most recently-pledged items are at the top of the list: Five American Car Imports Racing T-shirts (one of each size), courtesy Dave Wilson and the ACI Racing team A family day out at Shakespeare County Raceway at either the 2007 May Bank Holiday or August Bank Holiday events, courtesy Shakespeare County Raceway A couple of items to be confirmed, courtesy Roger Goring and the Firestorm Jet FC team Mechanic's apron and gloves, courtesy Speedflow An item to be confirmed, courtesy Comet Clothing An item to be confirmed, courtesy Chris Johnson and Woftam Racing A book and bottle gauge, courtesy Wizards of Nos A painting of the car of the winner's choice, courtesy Brian Anker A year's subscription to American Car World magazine, an ACW T-Shirt, and a copy of the recently-published John Force biography, courtesy American Car World Two tickets to the Flame and Thunder Show, courtesy Oaktree Property Management Autographed photo-montage of John Walden's Street Eliminator Cortina, courtesy John Walden A weekend crewing at an event of the winner's choice, courtesy Ron Haslett A selection of DVDs, courtesy Powerpoint Communications A prize to be confirmed, courtesy Santa Pod Raceway A Wild Bunch Tenth Anniversary T-Shirt, a couple of A3 posters of the WB cars, and a small WB pin badge, courtesy the Wild Bunch An item to be confirmed, courtesy Paul Marston Racing A framed print of Smax Smith's FIA European Finals clutch explosion, and a framed print of the head-on Firestorm Jet FC flame show shot, courtesy Eurodragster.com "I would like to thank all of these people for helping Insane Creations on this little mission", says Ron. Swift snippets. 29th September: Many congratulations to Eurodragster.com Swap Meet sponsor Jeff Bull's daughter Tamara and husband Nick on the birth of their son Cole, arrived a few weeks early last Saturday but weighed in at a healthy 5lb 7oz. "Cole is absolutely adorable", says Belinda Bull. "Mum, Dad and baby are doing really well. Congratulations to Tamara and Nick, we are both so proud of them. We only have a few of our T-Shirts left but they will be for sale at Santa Pod this weekend and proceeds will be going to the Rosie Special Care Baby Unit in Cambridge who have been looking after Cole." ©Eurodragster.com Shockwave Fuel FC Crew Chief and co-owner Dave Bryant whas been in touch to let us know that he has placed a lot of very juicy nitro parts for sale on our Swap Meet. "We need the cash to pay the bills to get us back out in 2007", says Dave. Our good buddy Fahad Taqi, President of the Bahrain Drag Racing Club, tells us that the BDRC has a new look for their new season including the very tidy new logo at right. Shakespeare County Raceway Race Director Richard Warburton says that Top Gear fans wishing to show their support for the popular TV programme in the face of criticism prompted by Richard Hammond's accident can sign a petition for its retention at www.petitiononline.com/tg100/petition.html. A five-second Super Pro ET car? 28th September: UK Super Pro ET racer and Eurodragster.com News sponsor Derek Flynn has announced that after much deliberation Gold RV Racing have purchased a new car. Derek tells us that he plans to run the car, unsurprisingly a dragster, in Super Pro ET and maybe Top Methanol Dragster. "The new car is basically a bigger version of what we have, although hopefully a little quicker and faster", says Derek. "As it has a blown Chevy we will for the time being still be Hemi hunting, but watch this space: the three-speed Bruno Lenco should be able to cope with the extra horsepower that we are going to need if we are to achieve low sixes! "It's no surprise that we will be running in Super Pro ET again next year. We have so many friends in Super Pro ET and, as was particularly proven in Holland, the class puts on a good, fast and professional show. Also the camaraderie and sportsmanship of the teams is excellent. With a great mix of dragsters, doorslammers and altereds, not to mention the several great new cars that have entered this year and a few others I know are coming, things are going to get better and better." ©Eurodragster.com Derek says that he hopes to run at least one event in Top Methanol Dragster with modifications to the new set-up which would allow him to go all-out for a five-second pass. "We shall have to see, but if the new car goes as good as it looks then we will be very pleased", he says. "I have too many people to thank who have helped us get this far, but you all know who you are so Thanks!" Derek adds that he feels a twinge of sadness that this weekend's UK National Finals could be the Gold RV team's last outing with the current car. I just love this car, and I have so many great memories", he says. "Our first seven, our first six, our first 200 mph pass, the track record at Drachten, #1 qualifier at the European Finals. The new car has a lot to live up to. We have several interested parties but we shall still be there this weekend giving it everything we have and hopefully we will be as fast and as consistent as we were at the European Finals. If we could only slow down the driver by just 0.009, we might go a round or two!" 100% scared punters. 28th September: Panagiotis Zarifopoulos and Yla Galani of Greece's Paranoid Racing presented their complete racing/promotion operation to the Hellenic fans during the second Athens International Tuning Show, which took place at the former Hellinikon Airport last weekend, says Zman: White Line Cycles, our Athens-based motorcycle shop, had an impressive display of vehicles during the show laid upon more than three thousand square feet including a '66 Lincoln, a '78 Stingray, both the Renault/Oakley rig and the twenty eight foot Haulmark race trailer with its F250 hauler, an array of race quads and of course the newly-acquired ex-Hepworth/Been Top Fueller. As scheduled, we fired up the bike twice or even three times a day during the show attracting (and scaring) a lot of people including some of the wannabe crew who will probably never go near a fuel bike again. The bike sounded really strong and healthy despite having not been fired up for more than a year. The idle was a little high, it is not very easy to adjust due to the dual throttle bodies but we got through it and after a check of both engines' conditions we will be ready for a burnout and quick launch in order to get used to it. The fire-up was on 100% nitro as there was no racing grade methanol available at the time, and we had to jump the starter from two car batteries as the new starter cart was not ready in time for the show. The highlight of the final day was when Naomi from the infamous Fuel Girls, who had been hired to perform at the show, came and sat on the bike while we fired it up without being warned about exactly what was going to happen. Although a little scared at first she took the punishment from the noise, vibration and nitro fumes very bravely. Fuel Girl on a Fuel bike, good combo, and the fans loved it. The video clip including a short interview will be featured on the upcoming Fuel Girls DVD. More news included a sponsorship agreement between the team and Uddeholm Greece. We are delighted to be backed by a company which makes so much contribution to the sport. Michael Stassinopoulos, the sole importer of Uddeholm products in Greece, is a good friend of the team and was delighted that the bike uses Uddeholm steel in both engines' cranks, made by "Charley" Karling of Sweden who is also backed by the company. Michael is heavily involved himself in Quad racing and a self-taught Yamaha Banshee specialist. We are now getting ready for the final two test ride events for Triumph Greece with the Oakley rig, as our contract is coming to an end. After that we will concentrate on preparing for the 2007 UEM/FIM Championship which means a refit for both trailers and some off season testing, weather allowing. Paranoid Racing is sponsored by White Line Cycles, ATOMIC Store, Matchless Motorcycles Limited and Uddeholm Greece. We are looking for additional sponsorship for 2007, for more information contact Panagiotis Zarifopoulos at +30 694 781 0408 or E-Mail zman@dragracing.gr. ©Eurodragster.com Swift snippets. 28th September: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Race Director Darren Prentice and SPRC Club Secretary Paula Marshall for sending us the provisional running order for Saturday's qualifying at the UK National Finals, which you can view by clicking here. As ever please note that this running order is provisional and is subject to change due to weather or track conditions or for any other reason deemed necessary by race officials. We are indebted to Yvonne Tramm for sending us the post-FIA European Finals (cars) and post-Extreme Performance Bike Weekend (bikes) standings in the 2006 Santa Pod Racers Club Championships. You can check out the SPRC points by clicking here or by clicking on the Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Dave Grabham tells us that the Freddy's Revenge blown-alcohol altered has been withdrawn from this weekend's UK National Finals. "A routine cylinder leakdown test at the Hot Rod Drags indicated a problem with number four cylinder on our blown Small Block", says Dave. "Subsequent removal of the cylinder head revealed a crack, working its way down from the gasket face". In the meantime the team's web site at www.freddysrevenge.co.uk has been updated with pictures from the FIA European Finals. ©Eurodragster.com In the face of suggestions in certain sections of the media that a non-drag racing accident involving a celebrity might somehow have made drag racing suddenly the most dangerous thing since blindfold knife-throwing, Santa Pod Raceway have asked us to confirm that Martin Hill will be appearing at the UK National Finals with his Fireforce 3 Jet FC. TJ O'Brien tells us that he was unable to make Ken Cooper's birthday party last week so he cannot provide any incriminating pictures, but he said that whilst having a root around he found this picture of Ken with Funny Bike racer Dave Holland. "I am going to get some T-Shirts printed with this picture, but what is the caption?", says TJ. "Thanks to Ken for running the auction for Pat." Real Steel Street Eliminator racer Ron Haslett will be holding a party in his pit at Santa Pod on Saturday evening. "We will have two gazebos up for the Coffee Morning", says Ron, "so together with Hairy John we will be having drinks and a little music after the Cruise. Everyone is welcome." More backing from Flint Insurance. 28th September: We are very pleased to announce that David Taylor, Director of the UK's Flint Group Insurance, has again kindly provided insurance for Eurodragster.com, this time travel insurance for News Editor Tog's trip to Bahrain for the Top Fuel Exhibition later this month. Flint Insurance can provide for all the usual personal and commercial lines such as building, motor, breakdown, and travel insurance, as well as insurance for race vehicles. "Flint Insurance has a special transit and storage scheme to insure race vehicles - cars or bikes - whilst in the workshop, in transit from the workshop to the track, or whilst sitting untouched in the pits at the track", Dave Taylor told Eurodragster.com. "For more details please call us on 0870 011 5252". ©Eurodragster.com Flint Group Insurance, a longtime supporter of drag racing, provides insurance for a number of racers, both for their race vehicles and for their trailers. For more information about the services which Flint Group Insurance can provide, check out their web site at www.flintinsurance.co.uk. We would like to thank David Taylor and Flint Group Insurance for their continued support of Eurodragster.com. UK National Finals coverage. 28th September: Eurodragster.com will be reporting live from this weekend's UK National Finals in association with American Car Imports. Our coverage will as usual consist of very frequently-updated reports on the on-track action and pit notes during each day as well as a photo gallery at the end of each day. The Webster Race Engineering/MPM Oil webcam will be on-line both days and is scheduled to broadcast a picture every two minutes. ©Eurodragster.com We will post a direct Home Page link to our coverage as soon as it commences, but in the meantime you can view our UK National Finals coverage index, which includes the official entry list, by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Our good friend Gareth Evans is planning to update his UK1320 web site with end-day galleries on both Saturday and Sunday. You will able to find Gareth's pictures at www.uk1320.com. If you want to attend the UK National Finals yourself then you can find full details including ticket prices on Santa Pod Raceway's web site at www.santapod.com or call 01234 782828. Advance ticket bookings are now closed but tickets are of course available on the gate. SCR kicks off Test and Tune schedule. 28th September: Shakespeare County Raceway kicks off its Autumn schedule this weekend with the first of three Public Track Day Test and Tune weekends, writes Jerry Cookcon. Street cars, sports bikes, Jap imports, hot hatches and race machinery of any description are invited to take advantage of SCR's track facilities (normal RWYB/Test and Tune rules apply). Already lined up is the Old Skool Ford Drag Challenge whose members SCR will be welcoming for the first time together with cars from the Ultimate Ford Club on Sunday. Carolynne Campbell will also be continuing the development of her Laffin Gas Rocket Dragster. Admission to the Raceway is £10 on Saturday and £12 on Sunday, and the track fee for unlimited runs is £20 per day or £35 for the full weekend. For further information call 01789 720180 or stop by www.shakespearecountyraceway.com. ©Eurodragster.com PMR oust the gremlins. 28th September: Paul Marston says that the Paul Marston Racing team had a great weekend at the FIA European Finals and that they have since been hard at work kicking the gremlins out of one of their stable of cars: The event ran smoothly and with so many new records set, it is a real credit to everyone who works at Santa Pod. The success of the European Finals only comes with a huge effort and massive preparation, credit in particular to the track staff whose stellar work on the oildowns kept the downtime to a minimum. We noticed the parity in track performance over the weekend and that can only be attributed again to the hard work that the track prep crew were putting in. The event was marred only by the tragic incident on Sunday, on behalf of everyone in Paul Marston Racing we would like to offer our sincerest condolences to the family involved. It was great to have so many fans visit us over the weekend. Thanks for stopping by, it kept all of the drivers busy. The new Paul Marston Racing Drag Race Driving School flyers went down well too, with the planned expansion of Paul Marston's Drag Race Driving School in 2007 it's all about spreading the word. With five drivers in competition: Gary Springford, Mick Howling, Dave 'Racing Snake' Catton, Steve Bolton and myself we had a great event with varying results. I was rewarded for being our top qualifier by being allowed to drink my coffee from the ceremonial Grumpy mug! Once again back in the PT Bruiser I qualified sixth in Super Pro ET and went three rounds before succumbing to Pat Talbot in her six-second dragster. I had another developmental event, enjoying 100% mechanical reliability which bodes well for the future. The RONS Alcohol Fuel Injection is still being refined, at this event we found plenty of stuff that we put right, increasing our understanding of the RONS System and in turn being rewarded with some fast times culminating in a pair of 8.22s at 160+ mph, a good spot to pick up from at the National Finals this coming weekend. ©Eurodragster.com Gary Springford in Pro ET, second in the National Championship, qualified just 0.011 thousandths off of his dial-in and was twenty third! Qualifying in Pro ET at the European Finals was the tightest qualified field we have ever seen in Sportsman racing history, the bump was 0.033. Gary driving the Whoopass Monza made it no further than the first Round where he pulled a very uncharacteristic red and was mortified to be out on the trailer early for once. The Monza, now running on its newly installed BLP Alcohol Carburetor system ran very well with no problem and was a picture of reliability. Dave 'Racing Snake' Catton shared driving duties competing in Super Gas, qualifying tenth and going out first round in a valiant effort against the master himself, Tim Adam, in his Brogie Roadster. We must also thank Tim and his team for refilling the air bottle on the Whoopass Monza, very sporting. Mick Howling, competing in Super Street driving the mighty Grumpy's Dodge had a great event running some really close-to-the-index numbers but all just on the wrong side. Mick qualified eighth and his day was done, losing a close one in round one. Mick was also hosting two of his biggest sponsors, who unfortunately had to leave before Mick ran. They were truly two of the biggest men Santa Pod has ever seen - both American football Front Linemen, you could see why! They both enjoyed their first visit to Santa Pod and were very impressed with what they saw and will be back for the UK National Finals. Steve Bolton rounded out the PMR squad, driving his mean-looking Plymouth Scamp in Pro ET. Steve was hampered with inconsistency over the weekend which was eventually diagnosed as debris from the fuel hose. This was probably caused when the Plymouth was run on alcohol in the States and a line was now showing signs of rubber erosion. With this inconsistency it would have been pure luck if Steve had managed to qualify and luck was not with him so Steve along with many others went DNQ. But with a simple fix and no harm done, the mighty Plymouth will be ready for next time. The Whoopass Monza was returned to the Drag Race Engineering (020 8597 4575) workshops after the European Finals for some servicing. Whilst there Gary Springford and I discovered something which will probably unlock a lot more horsepower in the Monza next weekend. I have always believed that the Monza was playing a game with us: it was far too weather sensitive, the larger camshaft and BLP Alcohol system fitted just prior to the European Finals had little or no effect performance-wise. This convinced me that there was a Gremlin in there somewhere. We believe we have found the problem once and for all, this weekend will tell. Considering what Gary and I found it's quite staggering that we had such stunning performances out of the Whoopass Monza so far, so watch out! Big Thank Yous must go out to all the crew at Paul Marston Racing, the Crew Chief, Liz and Sefton, Mad Mick, Mark from DRE, Robin, Ferret and of course our stats man Anthony Middleton. Big-ups to the drivers as well, helping out crewing their team mates on Thursday Sportsman qualifying when crew was a little thin. With only minor servicing to be done to the race cars and a high speed lean out system to be fitted to the Bruiser, everyone at Paul Marston Racing is looking forward to the UK National Finals. See you all there. The family monopoly. 27th September: Christer Gustavsson is a very proud father and father-in-law after his daughter Jennifer won the 2006 Nordic Drag Racing Series Junior Dragster title and was runner-up in the Swedish Dragracing League, and son-in-law Jonas Dantanus swept all before him and won both NDRS and SDL Super Street titles. Christer says that his team finished the season in style. "After looking at the points after the Veidec Festival we knew that Jonas had already won the NDRS and SDL", says Christer. "But Jennifer needed more points if she wanted to win the series. So she asked Pro Mod racer Mats Eriksson if he could take her dragster to England for the European Finals so that she had a chance to earn some more points. "It was a great event at Santa Pod and to get her mind off the pressure of eliminations I - in a moment of weakness on Friday night - promised to ride the big yellow merry go round if she won the race. As things turned out, I can tell you that thing is high! Jennifer won the race and got some more points before the NDRS Finals in Malmö. ©Eurodragster.com "The race in Malmö was very tight in both in the NDRS and SDL. As Jennifer went two rounds she locked up the NDRS Championship for the second year in a row and she ended up second in the SDL. Jonas won the event at Malmö and is undefeated in the NDRS this year, and he only lost one round in the SDL. "Before the season I had a dream of winning both NDRS and SDL with both cars and we came pretty darn close. Both cars won the NDRS and we had a #1 and a #2 in the SDL. I must say that I am impressed with my drivers. "As Jennifer is getting too old for Junior Dragster she will drive the Challenger in Super Street next year and Jonas is looking for something faster." Smax joins the IHRA Tour. 27th September: After recent testing in Toronto, ex-pat UK Fuel racer Smax Smith finally cross-graded his FIA licence and was able to compete in the weekend's IHRA Canadian Nationals in Spiro Kontas' Funny Car. "Following a bit of damage from the test session we only got our two bloacks back at 7:00 on Thursday evening", says Smax. "The thrash was on to prepare two short blocks. We dropped one into the chassis then loaded up and went to the track where Mike, Arran and I beavered away until rest of crew arrived. "The scheduled 6:30 first qualifier was brought forward to 3:00 as rain was forecast yet again! This put enormous pressure on the team. With five minutes to spare we fixed everything and fired up but no oil pressure! We thought "This can only be the gauge" and on checking the braided gauge line we found it was melted inside due to the small fire last weekend. We only had a line with no fittings and despite trying to blank off the fittings for the gauge we missed that call. ©Eurodragster.com "The next day we made session two, but car moved a little and I had to pedal to keep off the wall resulting in a 6.33/232. We had hoped for a 5.70 and upon investigation discovered the pressure control for the timers had backed off giving too little line pressure, the cannon never moved back, so we did the whole quarter on the primaries! Our nitro gauge was also three per cent off so we fixed everything, put 89% back in and we were ready to do battle, espceially as we qualified ahead of Bob Gilbertson and just behind Vinnie Arcadia. "Everything was just aces in the warm-up on Sunday morning when we were to race Terry Haddock. We fired and rolled forward, but disaster! The fitting at the pump for the oil line to #5 main cracked and leaked oil so we had to shut off, handing Terry a single. We were gutted as it never leaked in the pits and were to perform in front of our home crowd, the stands were packed but still at least it didn't happen on the run. We aim to test again soon to bring the car into the race window! "Meanwhile Aidee had dialled his altered in and won his first round dialling an 11.45 and running 11.5 with crap weather and a pretty crap track. Unfortunately the semis were cancelled due to rain and most people left. They were going to try to run the rest on Monday but we had had enough rain for one weekend. As someone once said: every day in every way we get better and better. "I was filmed quite a bit for a new programme called Rush HD, a series where the cameras go around the pits of different motorsports. It's screened over here in January. Also if you have Sky Sports 1 then there is a programme on Friday evenings called Allsports, which will soon be showing my Idiots' Guide to drag racing." Swift snippets. 27th September: Crew Chief Crunch has been in touch to remind us that Martyn Jones' very rapid Super Pro ET dragster is for sale to finance the construction of a blown dragster. "We will be in the Super Pro pits this weekend if anyone wants to have a look at the car", says Crunch. ©Eurodragster.com The Bahrain Drag Racing Club recently visited the Bahrain International Circuit to make presentations in gratitude for a successful season. "We presented General Manager Martin Whitaker with a small replica of a Ford dragster engine which he loved and couldn't stop admiring (picture)", says BDRC President Fahad Taqi. "Sh. Salman Bin Isa Al Khalifa, Director of Governmental Affairs and PR, received a replica of a Hemi engine (right)". In four weeks' time the BIC will be hosting the eight-car Top Fuel Dragster exhibition, about which more very soon. German Super Street Bike racer Clemens Walleit would be pleased to hear from any reader with photographs of the German SSB racers at last week's Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod. "One guy took some brilliant photos and said that he would E-Mail them to me but they have not arrived", says Clemens. If that's you, or if you have any pictures of Clemens and his colleagues in action then please drop him a line at cleber@dragbike.de. Ian Turburville asks that anybody wanting Simpsons pit shoes for this weekend's UK National Finals lets him know as he has run out of space in his trailer and cannot fit his entire stock in. "I will bring whatever anybody orders if I have the sizes in stock", says Turbo. "The same applies to helmets etc. See you there, pray for sun!". You can contact Turbo through his web site at www.turboville.com. Web site updates. 27th September: Thanks to Des Brown for letting us know that some excellent pictures from York Raceway's Northern Finals can be found at s6.photobucket.com/albums/y236/Smiggs454/York-Raceway or via the Forum link at www.york-raceway.co.uk/pdrc. Linda Thun Tønseth has also been in touch with a gallery update, this time on the very tidy official web site of Norwegian Pro Modified team Nygård Motorsport, which can be found at www.nygardmotorsport.com. ©Eurodragster.com Finally, webmaster Slinky tells us that the official web site of UK Pro ET team 587racing.com has also been updated with new photographs. "Friend of the team and rather keen photographer Steve Baron joined us at the Open Sports Nationals and the European Finals and got clicking!", says Slinky. "There are some great shots of the NFAA guys at Shakespeare County Raceway and all of the action from the European Finals. Being a multi-motosport team, there is also a selection of images from the recent Autograss Ladies Nationals". You can check out Steve's great pictures at www.587racing.com and whilst there be sure to take part in the poll and tell the guys that Eurodragster.com sent you. UK Championships updates. 26th September: As promised yesterday, the latest UK Championships points standings are now available. First up are the post-FIA European Finals (car classes) and Extreme Performance Bike Weekend (9.50 Bike) standings in the UK National Championships, which as ever have kindly been supplied by Yvonne Tramm and our very own Simon. You can view the UK National points by clicking here or by clicking on the Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. ©Eurodragster.com The post-Extreme Performance Bike Weekend points standings in the ACU UK Drag Bike Championships are also available and can be found on the King Racing web site at www.kingracing.com. ACU UK Championship outcomes. 26th September: The ACU UK bike classes have produced some close and competitive racing this year with more races and an increased number of competitors entering the Championship. After six rounds of racing (five for Top Fuel), Simon has looked over the Championship prospects in the four ACU UK Drag Bike Championship classes: Top Fuel Bike has seen an increased number of entrants due to FIM/UEM Top Fuel and Supertwin riders and competitors from the Netherlands entering, not least of all Roel Koedam, running Ton Pels' Godfather Supertwin for the very first time this weekend. Whilst ten-time champion Steve Woollatt has had a wretched season with cylinder head woes, Ian Turburville's debut in the class has been impressive and he has improved in performance on every outing. Steve Carey has had a strong season too running as quick as 6.88. The Championship, you ask? It's a three-way tussle between Steve Carey, Roel Koedam and Ian Turburville, with less than 100 points in it, and Ian King present to potentially spoil someone's party. Should be fascinating. The Funny Bike contingent has had some excellent racing with more riders in the sixes and very low sevens than ever before. Neil Midgley has once again been the performance star with a new speed mark of 199.89. But it was Tim Blakemore who at last broke the 200 mph barrier for Funny Bikes at the Open Sports Nationals with a historic pass of 200.71, but not to be backed up as the weather intervened. Midgo's Championship became assured when he won the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend, and Tim must defend his runner-up spot from 2005 Champ Chris Hall. ©Eurodragster.com Dave Beck continues to lead Pro Stock Bike in the UK despite also racing regularly in the AMA/Prostar series in the US. However, his points lead of 120 over Len Paget going into the final round is less than it has been in the past, mainly due to small fields in recent races. With six bikes on the entry list there should be a good competition between Dave and Len for the title. Congratulations to Kevin Charman who clinched his Comp Bike Championship in emphatic style at the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend, running in the mid-sevens and dominating as he has at each race he has entered this year. Runner-up Phil Leamon competed at all the events too but the Suzuki 1428cc motor of Kev has been strong all year. Super Street Bike has been a tale of seven-second runners and increasing budgets in order to remain top of the standings. Once Jamie Sneddon dialled in the Honda Blackbird in 2005, he became the performance leader and that story has continued in 2006, the 'Bird running as quick as 7.564 but failing to back this up to rewrite the 7.720 currently in the record books. Being 320 points behind Jamie is a lot to ask for Steve Venables to catch up, but Ven will do his best to bid farewell to Kawasaki power in style. Wild Bunch Championships outcomes. 26th September: Wild Bunch Race Co-ordinator Claire Meaddows has sent an update of the points standings going into this weekend's UK National Finals, which is the final round of the Wild Bunch Series, the Real Steel Series and the Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series: At the trio of events in August, Andy Murphy won the UK Northern Nationals event at York with the B'Sting altered, Roy Wilding won the UK Truck event at Santa Pod and also finished first in the Open Sports Nationals at Shakespeare County with his Chariot of Fire altered (see the Wild Bunch web site for full write-ups of these events). The Wild Bunch Series is currently led by two-time winner Tony Smith in The Cunning Plan Minivan altered. Right behind him is Roy Wilding, who would need to win or finish runner-up to take his second-ever Wild Bunch Series win. Team B'Sting have secured third place, and the only drivers who could take fourth place away from Joe Stevens are Ed Yates and Chris Hartnell, so this one's going right down to the wire. ©Eurodragster.com The August wins gave Roy an unassailable lead in the Real Steel Series, so congratulations to him on the Series win! Helen Smythe is currently runner-up, with Tony Smith third, and Sarah Howells fourth with a possibility of moving up the order as Tony and Helen will not be attending the Finals. The Roy Wilding Series is currently led by Tony Smith, followed closely by Team B'Sting, with a three-way tie for third place between Mark Hartnell, Joe Stevens and Roy Wilding, so there could be big changes there, as Roy is the only one of the top five entered. The Wild Bunch are very much looking forward to the National Finals, and to their Prize Presentation and Dinner Dance on 25th November, when all the winners will be celebrated! Flavell guns for a record. 26th September: Whilst most of the country suffered a bleak wet weekend, Steve Murty had booked the sunshine to come out around lunch time and sure enough York Raceway enjoyed a sunny and warm Northern Finals. UK Super Pro ET Team Mark Flavell Racing returned to their home track to run the Performance Unlimited dragster and maybe have a go at the track record, and Mark Flavell has been in touch to let us know how the team got on: ©Eurodragster.com Our earlier outing in the season was plagued with converter problems so we were determined to do better. We unleashed a 7.1/186 straight out of the box, not bad for starters. But we’d run the motor a little lean and were happy to find we still had eight pistons with their Total Seal rings in the correct locations. Putting some more fuel in it might have helped but we went to far the other way slowing the car to a couple of 7.3s at 184 mph. Track time was at a premium as the large fields were battling it out for the various class Championships, so we parked her up and enjoyed a great seat in the stands to soak up that late summer sun. American Super Stock - I could be seriously tempted - and Pro ET proved wicked watching with Dave McCallum yarding those front wheels for Wheelie of the Rear award. A great day for northern drag racing and congratulations to all the winners. See you next year! When reading web sites pays off. 26th September: UK Sportsman ET racer Paul Webster took his 1320autos Mini to the inaugural Ultimate BMW Show at Santa Pod Raceway last Saturday and promptly took two class wins. Paul says that the first class win was down to his reading a web site properly. "Luckily, we had re-visited the event web site a couple of hours before we loaded up, and we realised that Class A was for four-cylinder cars with street tyres", says Paul. "So with last year’s BFG drag radials on we went out and ran a 12.625/110.26, 0.34 seconds quicker than we achieved last year with the only change being the NX nitrous controller from last year. This was enough to win us the class but not enough! After four runs on the BFGs we decided to put the slicks on as we noticed that Stuart Doignie's eight-second BMW hadn't shown due to a broken gearbox. This this was probably our only chance of winning the slick class X and we took it with a winning time of 12.467/113.05. ©Eurodragster.com "Unfortunately, I won’t be attending the National Finals as I am at the NHRA Sport Compact Fall Nationals at Raceway Park, Englishtown, NJ with the Fireballed crew who are going for the first ten-second pass in a new Mini. Last month they ran an 11.03/128 in Las Vegas - this was at 9:00 pm in 120 degrees with a track temperature approaching 150 degrees! The cooler temperatures of Englishtown should be good to them, and hopefully they will receive the accolade of the world's first ten-second run for a new Mini. "I wish all the Sportsman ET guys an enjoyable yet competitive last round, and of course all the guys in Street Eliminator. Hope they get some great new Personal Bests." Swift snippets. 26th September: Santa Pod racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall tells us that Santa Pod Raceway's gates will be opening at 3:00 pm this Friday (29th) for the UK National Finals. The gates will remain open all night. ©Eurodragster.com It's a turning into a Marshall benefit on today's snippets as Paula and Holley Marshall have asked us to say a big Happy Birthday to SPRC's Chief Starter Ian Marshall. No sooner said than done, hope you have a great day Ian. And would you believe another news item about the Marshalls as Street Eliminator racer Colin Lazenby asked us to thank Ian Marshall for going home during the lunch break at Saturday's BMW Show at Santa Pod to pull the crank trigger from the Highlander Camaro after Colin's trigger failed during testing of his rebuilt engine. "Thanks also to Clive Bond, Luke Robinson, and our kid", says Colin. "We did a launch, half pass and full pass and I was happy to get all of the fuel leaks and such out of the way before this weekend." Last Perfect Awards of 2006. 26th September: The UK National Finals is the final event in the 2006 Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards scheme. A total prize fund of £150 is available, plus two donations of £25 to the Macmillan Cancer Fund. The Eurodragster.com/Speedflow Perfect Light Award has been increased to £75 after it went unclaimed at the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend. 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. ©Eurodragster.com The Eurodragster.com/LA Racing Parts Perfect ET Award has also been increased to £75 after it went unclaimed at the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend. 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 and is available during qualifying or eliminations (Junior Dragster during eliminations only), 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. In addition, the Perfect Light and Perfect ET winners will each be given a cheque for £25 made payable to the Macmillan Cancer Fund to present to Street Eliminator racer Ron Haslett, who is fundraising for that Charity this weekend. UK Dinner Dance hotel update. 26th September: Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall has been in touch regarding hotel arrangements for the joint APIRA/SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy Presentation which takes place at the Northampton Park Inn Hotel on Saturday 3rd February 2007. "The hotel have said that they already have only twin rooms remaining", says Paula. "If you are contacting the Park Inn to try and book rooms, and the hotel do not have the room you require, then as with last year you can book rooms at the Ibis Hotel", says Paula. "This hotel is literally across the road from the Park Inn. "The telephone number for the Ibis Hotel is 01604 608900. Alternatively, if you wish to book online then the web site is www.ibishotel.com and enter the hotel code of 3657 for the Northampton Ibis. ©Eurodragster.com "When you have sorted out your accommodation then please don't forget to send your booking form with menu choices as I still need to know what everyone would like to eat!" You can find the booking form and information on the Entry Forms page of the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries then please contact Paula Marshall at SPRC on 01933 313625 or E-Mail paula.marshall@btconnect.com. Web site updates. 26th September: The third page of NFAA supremo Lawrie Gatehouse's collection has been added to Alan Currans' excellent Acceleration Archive. "This update is an all-Funny Car affair and features in-depth coverage of Houndogs 7 and 9, Raymond Beadle's Blue Max, Gene Snow's Snowman, Tony Froome's Sundance, and the mightiest funny car of all time - Slam'n Sammy Miller's rocket-powered Vanishing Point projectile", says Alan. Check it out at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. ©Eurodragster.com Venables switches brands. 25th September: If you are a regular viewer of Eurodragster.com's Jeff Bull Race Engines and Performance Parts-sponsored Swap Meet then you can't have failed to notice Steve Venables' 7.6-second, 2005 Championship- and national speed record-holding Kawasaki ZX12 on the Bikes For Sale section. Steve told us that after several years' loyalty to Kawasaki he is changing manufacurers: next year he will be contesting Super Street Bike on a Suzuki Hayabusa having acquired Barry Henson's Pro Street Bike, which is currently leading the AMA Prostar Championship in the hands of Mike Slowe. "I felt like I was getting into a rut and was starting to find racing a bit unexciting", Ven told Eurodragster.com. "I spoke to Barry Henson of Velocity Racing and he said "I want you to ride my bike, and I'll sponsor you". I called him for advice and I found I'd bought his bike! Barry's bike has run 7.3s and Mike only has to turn up to the Prostar Finals in Gainesville to win the Championship. Barry offered me a deal I couldn't refuse, and it re-lit the spark. I want to find out why the Yanks are quicker than us - whether it's the bikes or the tracks or whatever. I get the bike with two engines, full tuning details and all the secrets, if there are any. But there must be something because they are three tenths quicker than we are. "It works for Barry too because he wants to promote Velocity Racing products, and he has got an established rider. When someone backs you in this way, you just can't say no. It was either that, or build a Funny Bike! ©Eurodragster.com "Pete Bellenie and I are going to Gainesville to crew with Barry and to learn about the bike. Barry is riding the bike this weekend and ran a 7.47 off the trailer and he said to keep an eye out next weekend because the Pro Stret Bikes are running at an NHRA event. Barry is going NHRA Pro Stock Bike next year so this will be the last bike he builds for himself." The change of brand was not as much of a wrench for Ven as one might have thought. "I've always run Kawasakis", he said. "I built the bike and raced it for three years, set records and won a Championship, but every time I approached Kawasaki for some recognition and maybe some support they were not interested." Ven told us that he never thought that he would sell his ZX12 (right), which ran 7.603 at the FIA European Finals and which holds the ACU UK speed record of 195.24 mph. "It will be hard to let it go, but I have to finance the new bike and I have to move on and get excited again", he said. "The ZX12 is a proven performer and someone is going to get a very good deal because there is more left in the bike. I will supply tuning data and support either at the track or by phone if the bike goes overseas." For more details about Ven's current Super Street Bike, check out the Bikes For Sale section of our Swap Meet. UK National Championship outcomes. 25th September: This weekend's UK National Finals is the last round of the UK National Drag Racing Championships for all classes. Simon, who co-ordinates the UK National Championship with Yvonne Tramm, has written this report of the possible outcomes: With such a large number of classes involved, there will be many Championships decided this weekend. One thing is certain: every Championship will be toughly fought for not just the winning position but also the trophy-earning runner up position too. There was good weather from early June to late August, but only one round of the Championships was held in this period and three meetings so far have been weather affected this year. The MSA British Drag Racing Championship for Top Methanol has been won by Rob Turner who was victor at the two earlier rounds over Dave Wilson (driving Nemesis at the Thunderball) and John Parkinson (at the SPRC Summernationals). Fourth-placed Steph Milam will be making a welcome return to racing this weekend after suffering major engine and transmission damage at the Thunderball. Our congratulations to Rob whose ninth British Championship this is. In Super Mod, the Championship could go to either 2005 Champions Team Ellis (car owner Graham Ellis driving the Olds Cutlass this weekend) or Rob Smallworth (Chevrolet Bel Air). There are 740 points up for grabs and Ellis are 410 points ahead, so a good qualifying position and a couple of round wins should clinch the Championship for Graham and team. Super Comp sees Paul Knight (Pontiac Firebird) currently on top and 2005 Champion Chris Johnson (MG ZS) is only 30 points behind in his wake– but Paul did not attend the Thunderball and therefore will forgo the 200 points bonus awarded after attending all rounds. There are three other Championship contenders with 850 points on offer, Shaun Lathan (Vauxhall Calibra), Andy Williams (Dragster) and Tim Adam (Brogie Roadster). With an entry of nineteen cars, Super Gas has 980 points available. Three-time Champion Tim Adam is looking good as he has a lead of 850 points over the current second place Team T3's Camaro (Steve Dunn and Jon Evans, with Steve in the hot seat this weekend). Both have won a single event. T3 are only 50 points ahead of third-placed Matt Gatland (Vauxhall Firenza). In Super Street, Bob Lees (Mustang) is 230 points ahead of 2005 Champion John Grant, with 820 points available. Third place Leigh Morris is another 270 points back and will need to have a great race to catch up. Super Pro ET has had a spectacular year, topped with the successful trip to Drachten in Holland. Racing has been ultra-competitive and at the Euro Finals, the first twenty four cars qualified were covered by less than a tenth of a second from their dial-ins. When Super Pro ET was introduced as a class in the old IHRA series in 1991, Martyn Jones was Divisional Champion and Barry Giles was European Champion. These two are once again fighting for the class Championship in 2006. Syd and Crunch are 160 points ahead of second-placed Giles & Hartley, with the latter further handicapped by foregoing 200 points after missing two rounds earlier. Third-placed Nick Spence will also be a major factor being only 50 points further back and having attended all rounds. A twenty nine-car field means that up to 1,030 race points can be won so there is still all to fight for. ©Eurodragster.com There is a large field in Pro ET as well, with twenty six cars entered. Whilst 1,000 points are available, Lee Huxley (Top Banana '32 Roadster, Champion in 2003) is 820 points ahead of Kevin Slyfield (Plymouth Belvedere) and thus the Championship is all but settled. 2002 and 2004 champs Heaven & Hell Racing are only a further 20 points and 2005 Champ John Atkinson a further 150 points behind. In Sportsman ET, Geoff Cowley is potentially on for a Championship in his rookie year, the Camaro driver showing great consistency with a road-going car. In spite of not attending three events, Geoff has a points lead of 220 before attendance bonuses over second-placed Nick Gay (Metro Pickup). Geoff has achieved this by virtue of winning three of the four events he entered this year, a remarkable feat. Geoff will however also have to fend off third-paced Brian Huxley (Ford Mustang, who has won Champions with Team Top Banana in the past) and fourth-placed Ian Petrie. With up to 750 points available, this one could go down to the wire. If 2004 Champ Nick Mugridge wins the Junior Dragster Championship, it will be the first time in the history of the class that anyone has won it more than once. However Nick will need to overtake current points leader Scott Hauser who leads by 180 points. Third and fourth placed Lottie Watts and Anna Stanley are 530 and 550 points behind Scott and yet with up to 950 points to play for, either of them have a mathematical chance at the title. In 9.50 Bike, congratulations to Andy Bird of Team Breakout riding a Suzuki GSXR who clinched the Championship at the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend. Andy had wins at the Shakespeare Nationals and European Finals and strong showings in most of the other rounds to cement his first Championship. 2004 Champion Richard Sawatzki (Suzuki Hayabusa) looks good for the runner-up position, third placed Julian Harris aka Fast Harry only having a mathematical chance of catching him. The post-European Finals and Extreme Performance Bike Weekend points are undergoing final ratification and will be posted very shortly and well in time for this weekend's race. A night to remember. 25th September: UK Sportsman ET racer Anna Metcalfe would like to thank fiancé Mike Lacey for organising such a fantastic party for her fortieth birthday, writes Carla Pittau (Carla blew Anna's age, not us - Ed). "The party was attended by so many racers that we started wondering what time scrutineering would start", says Carla. "It included a gig by a very good live band, The Hoggz, a bouncy castle, sumo wrestling, excellent music, barbecue and rivers of alcoholic refreshment. ©Eurodragster.com "A highlight of the evening was an extremely energetic round of sumo wrestling between Jon Webster and Tom Atkinson, Crew Chief for the Time is Money Pro ET Cortina, much enjoyed by all spectators. Other hilarious fights included Mike taking on Dave 'Tig' Napier who was for a while unable to gain an upright position due to the weight of the sumo suit and helplessly waving all four limbs in the air whilst being choked by laughter and Mike's clumsy attempts to keep him pinned to the ground. "The Metamorphosis team would also like to thank Carl Burton for the loan of the big party tent and the weather gods for keeping the party dry and bopping at all times." Web site updates. 25th September: Our good friend Peter Donaldson has updated his photographic site with several pictures taken at the Ultimate BMW show at Santa Pod on Saturday. "Thanks to Colin Lazenby and Tim Garlick's teams for not kicking me out of their pits", says Peter. "By the way I could have sworn that one of the BMW drivers was using a mobile phone on his way up the track!". You can check it out for yourself at peterdonaldson5305.fotopic.net. ©Eurodragster.com Another good buddy, Patrik Jacobsson, has updated the Racebilder site with pictures from last week's Winternationals at Meca Raceway. "Over three hundred teams on the entry list and really good tight racing made this to a perfect weekend in the south", says Patrik, whose shots you can find at www.racebilder.nu. Welcome on board to B & B. 24th September: We are pleased to welcome B & B Motors of Bolton as the latest News page sponsor on Eurodragster.com. B & B Motors is owned by Peter Kellett whose son Joe races in Junior Dragster, and the company has recently recruited Gary Kay whose daughter Jayne also races in JD. ©Eurodragster.com B & B Motors provide specialist automotive and leisure services for cars, bikes and trikes, motor homes and caravans. Services include MoT testing for all classes of vehicles, servicing and repairs, engine diagnostics, while-you-wait tyres and exhausts, air conditioning and tachograph calibration. The company recently moved to new state-of-the-art premises in Westhoughton, a short distance off the M61. You can find B & B Motors at Unit 9, Barrs Fold Close, Wingates Industrial Park, Westhougton, Bolton, Lancashire BL5 3XE or call 01942 812223. The company will shortly be launcing a new web site at www.bandbmotors.co.uk or click on the logo at right. Many thanks to B & B Motors for their support and as ever we encourage readers to support the companies who support drag racing by making use of our sponsors' services. Bennetts' double-header. 24th September: Luke Bennett has been in touch to bring us up to date with the latest from the Bennett Racing NFAA Altered pit. "The Open Sports Nationals was a total nightmare and without the help of Roy Wilding we would have had no points from this event", says Luke. "A company I won't name made our pistons completely wrong even though they had the job id etc. This meant that on the first run we bent all the exhaust valves which meant a trip to Roy's very tidy workshop on Saturday night to replace or straighten the valves. On Sunday we knew that the motor was not all there so we took it a bit easier and came away from the meeting with points which was the important thing. We had another bit of aggro, someone I won't name as I think everyone knows them by now thought it would be a good idea to put sugar and iron filings in the fuel tank of our £2500 generator. We did the right thing and the Race Director kindly sorted it for us and that was that, but if the culprit is reading this I have to ask why they didn't just ask us to turn it off. Anyway the old man turned the genny off straight away and saved it, and lets just hope we don't see them near our stuff again. ©Eurodragster.com "Next up was the Hot Rod Drags, one of my favourite meetings of the year. We went into the meeting ten points down so we knew we had to be consistent. We did just that. We won all of our races, got best burnout, but we still came away down on points. On the first run of the meeting the track was alright, people made the worst of it because it was a bit cold but we have run 7.1s on a muddy track at the Bulldog Bash. So it was alright for us, but dad did have some bad tyre shake through the middle of first so he short-shifted into second but it didn't stop. Straight into third and through to a 7.6 at about 186 mph. "Next run we had Clayton Round and ran the fastest time of any car at the weekend, 7.28/191.22 which was a personal best speed and more importantly we got the win. For the last run the car was set up as before, more for consistency, and ran a 7.46/186 but the burst panel had gone hence the slower time. "Again a big thank you to Roy Wilding who saved the day yet again, and to all of the crew for the work that they did. Also an apologly to anyone who spoke to me at the Hot Rod Drags: I had gastroenteritis and felt like total crap, so might have seemed ignorant (Hope you are OK now Luke - Ed). Swift snippets. 24th September: Sponsorship Co-ordinator Carl Burton tells us that £100 cash, £160 vouchers and a trophy are available to the #1 qualifier in Pro ET at next weekend's UK National Finals courtesy of sponsors Sandy Scooters, Psycleworkz, Real Steel, Penn Autos, A1 Motor Stores, Toxico Clothing, Inkwell Printing, Alleyjax, WASP, Black Bear Harley Davidson, Hauser Race Cars and Webster Race Engineering. "Thanks to all the sponsors who have given the scheme a boost this year, racers please consider using these companies", says Carl. You can find links to the sponsors' web sites and Scheme details at www.pro-et.co.uk. ©Eurodragster.com Feature: Crewing on the NHRA Tour. 24th September: The UK's Herb Andrews has provided the latest in our occasional series of features with a diary of his experiences on the NHRA tour crewing on Ralph Hope's Ford-powered Comp Eliminator altered. Herb's illustrated diary covers back-to-back NHRA National events in Chicago and Englishtown, where Ralph broke into the sevens for the first time. ©Eurodragster.com Click here to view Herb's diary, or click on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Web site updates. 24th September: Darren West of Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Power Race Graphics says that he is sure that he is not the only one excited by the prospect of Nostalgia Funny Cars thumping down the quarter mile once again. "I've updated my web site with new illustrations of cars suitable for the class, and can create and supply paint schemes, T-Shirt designs and Nostalgia FC project illustrations for anyone hoping to enter the class and looking to visualise their project before construction starts", says Darren. "The update also includes T-Shirt designs for the Super Mod Racers Association, Belinda Bull, Obsession Racing and Matt Wright". Check it out at www.powerracegraphics.com. ©Eurodragster.com We have now posted our event coverage index for next weekend's UK National Finals which includes the event's official entry list. You can view our UK National Finals event index by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Junior Olley tells us that more objective discussion of Richard Hammond's accident than that available in the media can be found on the JetWebb forum at www.jetwebb.com. Thanks from Gotten's families. 23rd September: Dette er ikke lett - men det er så mange vi ønsker å takke derfor ønsker vi å bruke dette mediet for å nå dere. Tusen takk for all vennlig deltagelse ved Svein's begravelse. Det varmet godt å se så mange møte opp i kirken og ikke minst møte opp ved graven til jordfestelsen. Vi kan ikke få takket dere nok for all hjelp i dagene som har gått - både før og etter begravelse, ei heller for alle varme tanker, telefoner, SMS, blomster og kondolanser. Det er godt å vite at Svein hadde så mange rundt seg - særlig godt er dette når dagene blir tunge og vanskelige. Svein er dypt savnet av oss nærmeste - noe vi vet han er for dere også. Sorgen må vi komme oss igjennom - Savnet vil alltid være der - og minnene må vi ta frem og fortsette å leve på. Vi tenner et lys for Svein hver eneste dag, og tar frem minner. Men dagene er tunge og vonde - da varmer det spesiellt godt å tenke på dere alle, ikke minst er det godt for oss å vite at vi har så mange rundt oss. Tusen takk til dere alle for varme ord på internett, telefoner, SMS, kondolanser, blomster og gaver ved begravelse. Og ikke minst tusen takk for at dere er akkurat de dere er og for all støtte i denne vanskelige tiden. Hilsen fra Anne og Christopher Hilde, Bodil og Ivar Gottenberg This is not easy - but there are so many of you that we feel a need to send our thanks to... Thank you so much for all your kindness, and thank you for coming to Svein's funeral. It felt so good to see so many of you in the church, and not at least showing up at graveyard. We cannot thank you enough for all your help and support in the past days and weeks - both before and after the funeral. Neither can we thank you enough for all your kindness and warm thoughts. It is nice to know that Svein had so many friends around him - especially nice to know now when we are in sorrow. We will miss Svein deeply - and we know that you will too. We need to work our way through our sorrow - we will allways miss him - but we also need to find the good memories and go on with our lifes. We are lighting a candle every day - and remembering Svein. Some days are harder to cope with than others - but it gives us extra strength knowing that you all are around. Thank you ever so much for all your kind words on internet, phones, SMS, condolences, flowers and gifts at the funeral. And not to forget - thank you for being you - and all the support and kindness your are giving us in this sad time. Best regards from Anne and Christopher Hilde, Bodil and Ivar Gottenberg Grumpy does the Oscars. 23rd September: 2006 FIA European Top Methanol Dragster Champion Dave Wilson says that his list of thanks for the American Car Imports Racing team's fourth successive FIA European Championship must read like an Oscars acceptance speech, but that those he thanks are the very best. "I must firstly thank my crew", Grumpy told Eurodragster.com. "It doesn't matter how much money you've got, without the crew you can't do it. It's an achievement to do it four times, but it's down to the people involved and they are the best: Harry and Suzie, Ricky and Catherine, Phil who has now left to pursue his business interests, and last but definitely not least my son David and wife Linda. "There is no way that any of this could happen without David's intelligence and Linda's support and management. It doesn't matter how much you want to do it or how good you are, one man can't do it on his own. Some people are essential and David and Linda are essential. I must also say a special Thank You to Suzie and Catherine who have been my stand-in 'chute packers so I have been very careful not to upset them before a run!" ©Eurodragster.com The team are supported by an impressive list of sponsors who have made Grumpy's Championship possible financially. "Thanks to Playstation UK, Silverline Tools and US Automotive", said Grumpy. "Thank you also to our associate sponsors Total Design, Custom Graphics, Lucas Oil, Old Car World, 1st Line Motorcycles and ExpertIT. "Finally there is of course the ever-present American Car Imports and the main man Tony Cohen. "I must also mention Santa Pod's track crew and team who ran the FIA European Finals. That was probably the most consistent track throughout a meeting I have known in some time. I couldn't tell any difference between lanes, day, or time of day. There was equal competition and a level playing field over the whole event. Darren Prentice and the team do a tremendous job of looking after the track and I take my hat off to them." Grumpy will not be racing at next weekend's UK National Finals, which is the final round of the 2006 MSA British Drag Racing Championship, but he will be at Santa Pod working with fellow TMD racer John Parkinson. "John has an old engine of mine, the first Fathead engine I had and our first serious engine", said Grumpy. The Nemesis dragster, which Grumpy brought out of storage to drive into the 5.5s and take runner-up spot at the Easter Thunderball, is still for sale. "You can buy the car with or without engine", said Grumpy. "There has been a lot of interest but no-one has bought it yet!" Swift snippets. 23rd September: Good luck to ex-pat UK Fuel racer Smax Smith who is racing in Fuel Funny Car at this weekend's IHRA Canadian Nationals in Toronto. You can stay in touch with Sir Smax's progress at www.dragracecentral.com. 2005 FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion Lex Joon has announced that his end-season racing trip to participate at two NHRA National events has been postponed. You can read more in the latest instalment of Lex's exclusive Racer Blog which you can read by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blog link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. We have another couple of birthdays today. First up is a very Happy Birthday to UK Sportsman ET racer Anna Metcalfe who is celebrating a special birthday today but as we consider ourselves gentlemen we will not comment on any similarity between Anna's age and a Pro Tree. Also celebrating a birthday today is honorary Eurodragster.com staff member Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe. We hope that you have a great day, guys. ©Eurodragster.com Andy Marrs gets two mentions in one day as he has kindly supplied us with the official timing data from last weekend's Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway. You can view the Bike Weekend timing data by clicking here or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. A number of readers have asked us to publish the link to the web page set up by the Pistonheads forum accepting donations for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, which came to the aid of Richard Hammond after his accident in Vampire at Elvington. You can donate at www.justgiving.com/phrichardhammond. Coffee and tickets. 23rd September: Also on the subject of good causes, Real Steel Street Eliminator UK racer Ron Haslett has been in touch to remind us about the Coffee Morning and raffle which he will be holding in his pit at next weekend's UK National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway. ©Eurodragster.com The Coffee Morning is in aid of the Macmillan Cancer Fund and the Pat Ginn Appeal and takes place on Saturday. The raffle has some very attractive prizes with the following already pledged: Mechanic's apron and gloves, courtesy Speedflow A prize to be confirmed, courtesy Comet Clothing A prize to be confirmed, courtesy Chris Johnson and Woftam Racing A book and bottle gauge, courtesy Wizards of Nos A painting of the car of the winner's choice, courtesy Brian Anker A year's subscription to American Car World magazine, an ACW T-Shirt, and a copy of the recently-published John Force biography, courtesy American Car World Two tickets to the Flame and Thunder Show, courtesy Oaktree Property Management Autographed photo-montage of John Walden's Street Eliminator Cortina, courtesy John Walden A weekend crewing at an event of the winner's choice, courtesy Ron Haslett A selection of DVDs, courtesy Powerpoint Communications A prize to be confirmed, courtesy Santa Pod Raceway A Wild Bunch Tenth Anniversary T-Shirt, a couple of A3 posters of the WB cars, and a small WB pin badge, courtesy the Wild Bunch A prize to be confirmed, Paul Marston Racing Two framed photographs, courtesy Eurodragster.com If you would like to pledge a raffle prize then you can contact Ron at ron_haslett@hotmail.com. Magazine update. 23rd September: If you are a John Force fan then you need to grab hold of the latest issue of Drag Racing Action available now from Graham Rennie's American Auto Mags, writes Jerry Cookson: The November issue carries features about John and his Force-Fed Family life with references to the A & E Network TV show, daughter Ashley's move into nitro Funny Car, and Brittany and Courtney's rise to stardom in the Super Comp ranks. There are also features about the Angelle and Antron Show in Pro Stock Bike, a Toyota racer with a difference, a report from the National Hot Rod Reunion, talkin' live with Brad Anderson and tech stuff about oil pumps, curing transmission heat and ten tools you should own! The November issue of Drag Racing Action is available for £4.25. More details from Graham on 01606 558252. ©Eurodragster.com Web site updates. 23rd September: Dirk Behlau of Pixeleye has posted a new photo database at www.behlau.info which he says mainly features drag racing, Mopars, girls and hot rods. Dirk adds that he is working on a new edition of Speedbrygade magazine which will be ready towards the end of the year. ©Eurodragster.com Webmaster Dan has written to let us know that he has simplified the design of the All Folked Up forum to make it easier to navigate. You can find the new forum at www.allfolkedup.co.uk/forum. Jon Best has updated his Best Intentions web site with pictures of the construction of his nostalgia slingshot as well as some words about what he's been up to recently. You can find Jon's site at www.bestintentions.co.uk. SPR crackdown on glass bottles. 22nd September: Santa Pod Raceway's security personnel will be cracking down on glass bottles at next weekend's UK National Finals, says Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall. "Glass bottles are strictly prohibited at Santa Pod", says Paula. "It is not a new rule and it is always mentioned on the Final Instructions. The security staff have been confiscating glass bottles from spectators but more and more racers are bringing in bottles and so security will be checking racers' vehicles and confiscating any glass bottles found." ©Eurodragster.com Although this news item came from Paula, the ban on glass bottles is Santa Pod Raceway policy so any queries and comments should be directed to the track office and not SPRC. Wright gets a grip. 22nd September: Matthew Wright of Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Gleeson Wright Security has been in touch with the latest on the Pat Ginn Appeal and on his own racing exploits in the big Chevy which is now headed for Street Eliminator. "Firstly thank you so much to Santa Pod Racers Club, Fred Furlong, and Carol for their more than generous donations to Pat's appeal and also to Ken Cooper and the gang - boy, those bike boys can raise some serious money", says Matt. "Thank you also for all the other donations we have received, and please keep them coming. ©Eurodragster.com "We took the old truck to the Hot Rod Drags to try to get a grip on these street tyres...grip, get it? What a great week end we had. A lot of head-scratching, taking power out here and tyre pressures there. We managed to run a 9.91/143 with a 1.72 sixty foot. Not the best but a good start. We are now set for Street Eliminator at the National Finals, and after a trip to Webster Race Engineering on the way for some chassis set up who knows. I must say a quick thank you to Bill at B + J, Sue, little Matt, Johny Brases and Jon Best for their help at the weekend. "Don't forget that T-Shirts are on sale at the Finals, all proceeds go go the Pat Ginn Appeal. If not please drop a few coins in the bucket, thank you all so much." Hot Rod Drags NFAA review. 22nd September: Last weekend's NSRA Hot Rod Drags at Shakespeare County Raceway was an event of mixed fortunes for the Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association, writes promoter Lawrie Gatehouse: Saturday was cloudy and overcast with temperatures in the low 60s and a corrected altitude of 1200 feet. The track preparation was excellent, but there was no heat in the surface making it difficult to better the ever-lowering ETs which have been run thus far. Armed with some fuel system set-up data from top USA Fuel Altered Teams, The Mob was being run as a test mule for Chaos, the two having near-identical combinations. Jim Usher (in his fancy, newly painted helmet) started his burnout in earnest, but just out from the tree, numbers one and three rods let go and punctured the billet Rodeck Donovan block. Naturally the fear was that the tune-up data was to blame, but subsequent examination of the damage revealed this not to be the case. The culprit was an incorrectly plasma sprayed crank journal, 'correcting' damage from the previous meeting. Venom, shoed by Tony Betts, went for a half pass to test their rebuild and launched to a 1.16 sixty foot. Bennett Racing and Nuthin' Fancy had good side-by-side runs and Pete Radcliffe in Burning Desire started to get a handle on racing again after a three-year gap. Rebel 'T' and Xtreme Racing both ran mid sevens alongside one another, with terminals in the high 170 mph zone. The racers were all in the staging lanes for their second round at 4.15 pm, but a big oildown, which would take the track crew into the curfew, meant that the round had to be curtailed. Sunday dawned with better conditions, warm and sunny with temperatures in the mid 70s. Bennett Racing and Rebel 'T' were first up, with neatly co-ordinated burnouts and Frank got the win light with a new Personal Best of 191.22 MPH. Freddy's Revenge could not continue their improvements but Joe Bond ran a new PB of 7.92/165.22, in only his fourteenth pass in the car. Bob Glassup and Pete Radcliffe had acceptable passes, the win going to the Xtreme Racing Team. Venom and Chaos were both feeling their way somewhat, Tony Betts recording a sixty foot time of 1.069 to John Wright's 1.17 (right, picture courtesy and ©Steve Wexler). The faster three BB/FAs all had tyre shake at about half track, but all drove through it without trouble, if a little squirrelly at the thousand foot mark. The last and final round at 4.00 pm had some good pairings based on previous ETs with Xtreme matched against the Bennetts. The adrenaline was running high as they squared up and Xtreme Bob pulled his first red light of the series, handing the win to Frank Bennett, who ran 7.46/183.64. They say that if you don't pull an occasional cherry, you aren't trying hard enough and fractions of a second make all the difference.. Burning Desire ran another half pass as Rad got used to racing again and Dave Grabham lost fire, but subsequently ran an off-the pace 9.59 - investigation subsequently indicating a split block. Rebel 'T' won another round with a 7.35/183.4 to Joe Bond's 7.99/183.44, the terminal speed being another PB for the improving Nuthin' Fancy Team. Chaos and Venom could not make the call, both sidelined with oil pump problems - recoverable for the next round, the UK National Finals at Santa Pod. ©Eurodragster.com Swift snippets. 22nd September: We have now posted the promised page for messages of condolence for the family and friends of spectator Roger George who died at the FIA European Finals. You can view the condolences page by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. If you would like to add your own message then please E-Mail eurodragster.com@btinternet.com. Bob Hancox has been in touch on behalf of Carole, Fiona, Simon and himself to thank everyone for their help, support and kind words, and also to thank those who attended Debbie's funeral and helped them get through the day. "Donations so far stand at £915 which will go to the John Radcliffe Hospital", says Bob. With the 2006 Nordic Drag Racing Series settled, thoughts turn to the NDRS Banquet and prizegiving which takes place at the Scandic Infra City in Stockholm on Saturday 28th October. Festivities commence at 6:00 pm. For full details including the menu and bookings, check out the Svensk Dragracing web site at www.dragracing.se/nerladdningar/Inbjudan_2006_engelsk.pdf. Dave Friend tells us that South Coast Bearings will be placing an order for ceramic bearings at the end of this month. "There is a bhp advantage in using ceramic bearings in your wheels let alone your engine", says Dave. "We can also supply all you car and dragster racers with wheel, transmission, axle and engine bearings". If you are interested then please check out the South Coast Bearings web site at www.southcoastbearings.com. Dave adds that the new Jones and Friend bike should be on track in October. ©Eurodragster.com Thoughts of the Real Steel Street Eliminator Championship will be put on hold tomorrow for the wedding of fifteen-year FB Racing crew member Andy Cunningham, better known as Spud, to Alison. With driver Ian Hook as Best Man and the rest of the FBs in attendance an industrial catering firm has been called in to provide enough food!. "I'd like to thank Spud for all he's done for the team over the years and also Alison for letting him come out and play", says Fatty. "It's pleasing to be able to do something for one of my crew for once. I'd like to wish Spud and Ali all the health and happiness in the world for the future". And so say all of us. We have the second of this week's three birthdays on Santa Pod Raceway's timing crew today: a big Happy Birthday to Sharon Norris and we hope that you have a great day Sharon. Bike Weekend 9.50 Bike review. 22nd September: Less than fresh from the previous weekend's FIA European Finals, the 9.50 Bike racers turned out for the next-to-last round for the year, last weekend's Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway. Chris Jones reports that the sun continued to shine and made for a classic weekend: Qualifying saw Richard Sawatzki with gritted teeth tenaciously chase Andy Bird in the qualifiers, resulting in Rich being #2 with a 9.541/142 closely followed by Andy in #3 spot with a 9.546/133. The #1 spot went to Julian Harris aka Fast Harry with a 9.53/142 for - according to Harry- the first time ever and big grins all round). Although the carb juggling had stopped for Harry, Phil Pratt did have his on and off a few times, just for good measure and I guess just for the feel of it. The #4 spot was filled by a seldom-seen John Kirby and completing the top five was Ed Smiley with a 9.59/137. My old R1 didn't drop under a ten this weekend and following a new engine, along with good numbers at the European Finals it's not beyond possibility that once again the exotic really isn't meant for this type of treatment as further damage may have been sustained. Boss (Richard Hann) held my hand at the bottom of the ladder for the qualifiers, commenting that his head was full of all sorts and that he just couldn't seem to wake up when it mattered. Geoff Connor, who we thought was getting to grips with the recent bottom end issues on his bike, continued to experience problems. It looks like some major work is in store for the Team Breakout flagship in order to make a comeback. So that's the numbers for the day sorted, which was closely followed for the night time's festivities with all members of the biking fraternity, Straightliners and others dropping by for a cider and chat as bikers do. In the words of Mr Jagger it was a gas gas gas. ©Eurodragster.com Eliminations witnessed some real close calls. Richard Sawatzki took out Shaun Spiers who ran almost identical reactions and ran through with a 9.733 to Shaun's 9.737. Andy Bird went through taking on a returning Fred Furlong in the first round to meet up with Carl Atkinson in the next. Boss' alarm clock had gone off as he took out Ed Smiley. John Kirby was storming on gladiator-like into the next round, leaving Phil Pratt to do some more carb fiddling. A now well awake Boss ran a 9.6/141 cracking race against Andy Bird's 9.58, but a blistering 0.03 reaction from Boss got the win, with a difference of 0.09. How close is that, well ridden Boss. John Kirby then scythed on into the finals after dealing with the Team Breakout's old gun Andy Bird to meet up with a now wide awake (as if he'd drunk fifty coffees laced with Red Bull) Richard Hann who modestly commented that any trophy with 2006 on it would do. Of course we all know he didn't mean that!). So the scene is set. Both riders edging into pre-stage, John holds Boss out for a few seconds and then into full stage. The lights drop and both are out to win with a 0.37 reaction from Boss, John slips out first with a 0.23. Both guys off in a blaze up the strip with Boss trying to ride round John. The timing lights drop and John's overcooked it, breaks out on a 9.47/132 with Boss taking the win on a 9.7/141. Well done Boss! Commiserations to John. In the Championships, failing any disasters it looks like Andy Bird is set to take the title with Richard Sawatzki following up behind. With the now absent Team Hyenas from the last two rounds there is a battle for glory for the next three places but you never know; anything can happen in this game. So it's onto the National Finals for the last of the year's racing. See you all there. Taylor's voice of reason. 22nd September: It's not often that we do comment on Eurodragster.com but in the face of the frequently-uninformed and hysterical media reaction to Richard Hammond's accident in the Vampire Jet Dragster we were relieved to receive the thoughts of former Santa Pod Raceway commentator Brian Taylor. "Isn't it amazing the way that it takes an accident involving a celebrity to give drag racing more coverage than I can remember - and I can remember a long way back", says Brian. "Of course I wish Richard Hammond a full and rapid recovery, but I must say that I have never seen or heard such a lot of ill-informed speculative comment about the type of car, what might have happened, who's to blame, the type of record he was supposedly going for, and so on and so forth. It was a jet car, a rocket car (sometimes both in the same sentence), it was going for the World Land Speed Record, the British Land Speed Record. Sometimes you couldn't hear the real story for the sound of grinding axes, like the guy who runs a stunt organising company saying that often programme producers don't employ firms like his due to budget constraints - implying that if he was employed he would probably not have recommended the 'stunt'. This, even though he clearly knew nothing about the car. ©Eurodragster.com "It is understandable that Colin and his team have to stay quiet. But please, when something like this happens the drag racing powers-that-be must put someone up who knows what they are talking about. Not to speculate about the event, but to explain the facts about the car, the safety precautions, what you need to do to set a record, the fact that these cars have been run for years and appear on a regular basis. Maybe I've missed something but it says something that the most informed comment I have heard so far has come from Mike Smith. Clearly his fringe involvement with drag racing via Radio One during the 1980s must have helped." On the subject of interviews, Smax Smith and Steve Woollatt have both told us that they were approached by radio stations to talk about Richard Hammond's accident, and your News Editor was lined up do a radio interview about events at the FIA European Finals before BBC Three Counties Radio decided to cancel literally at the last minute for reasons which we could not describe without appearing cynical. Web site updates. 22nd September: The web site of Eurodragster.com News sponsor Adoorable Handles has been updated with corrected Junior Dragster results from the FIA European Finals and the latest standings in the Adoorable Handles Junior Dragster league. Check it out at www.adoorablehandles.com. ©Eurodragster.com Markus Münch has updated his Dragstripper web site with some excellent pictures from the FIA European Finals. You can view Markus' pictures at dragstripper.smugmug.com. If you're a Nostalgia fan then there is a great web site tracing the history of drag racing in Germany. The site is presented in German but if, like us, you can't read German then there are some great photo galleries. Check it out at www.dragracinghistory.de. GlueHarbor make their move. 21st September: Adam Flamholc and Sweden's MMR/GlueHarbor drag racing team will be stepping up to Pro Stock in 2007, a move which Adam says the team (right, click on picture for large version) have planned for many years. "We are enjoying the support of Malmö Motorrenovering, Amalie Motor Oil, Holmeja Raceshop and Karlstad Bilförsäljning", says Adam. "The car, which was the European Championship winner for the last three years, is already in our possession and a Ron Krisher-built engine from Jackie Hansen has been placed under the hood after modifications to suit unleaded fuel. Another engine is now being built by Malmö Motorrenovering and that will make us competitive during the next season. "Initial test runs were made during the Winternationals in Malmö with very good results. Our ambition is of course to be able to fight for the Championship during the 2007 season. "We would like to thank of all the companies above for their support which makes all this possible. We are also in search for additional partners who want to join us on this exciting trip into the world of Pro Stock racing." If you would be interested in supporting the GlueHarbor team then you can contact Adam at adam@glueharbor.com or call +46-707-745200. You can stay in touch with the latest from the team at www.mmr.se and www.glueharbor.com. ©Eurodragster.com Thanks to Erik Zettervall for his help with this news item - Ed Breaking the 5.4s. 21st September: After a season of chasing different problems around the car, UK Top Methanol Dragster team Turnermotorsport were ecstatic to step up in to the 5.4s for the first time, with a final qualifying ET of 5.494 at the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway. "It's just a shame that the car got out of the groove against Krister Johansson in round one of eliminations, meaning an early exit in round one", says Steve Turner. "Rob and Carmel and myself would like to thank all of our crew for the hard work and dedication they have put into the car this year, and also to pass on our thanks to all the fans, who as always gave our team great support at our home track. "We would also like to thank our sponsors - G-Max Fuels, GRP Rods, Fuchs Oils, NGK, NFAA, Gold RV, Rushden Graphics and CT Autoparts, without you this would not be possible. ©Eurodragster.com "We are now looking forward to the National Finals at the end of September to try to retain the MSA Championship, and end the year on a high." The Turnermotorsport web site at www.turnermotorsport.co.uk has been revamped and updated. Finally everyone at Turnermotorsports was shocked and saddened to hear of the freak accident which occurred at the end of the European Finals ."We would like to take this opportunity to pass our thoughts and condolences to the family and friends of Roger George", says Steve. The good, the bad and the ugly. 21st September: Not a description of the Eurodragster.com triumvirate but Andy Bennett's summation of Never Again Racing's weekend at the NSRA Hot Rod Drags where Dave Evans clocked a Personal Best in the historic Coco Connection but where one or two other things went wrong. Readers of a nervous disposition might like to avoid the Ugly part of Andy's report: The Good: Dave, Vicky and Prince loaded up Coco on Friday and set off to Shakespeare County Raceway with high hopes of pulling some good numbers over this weekend. The Andy Frost Master Class rebuild of the transmission had not yet heralded any improvement in time, but had helped to make Coco extremely predictable. Saturday saw a large variety of oil downs which kept Coco in the fire up road for forty five minutes before the track closed at 4.45. Dave had been pulling 9.5s on nearly every pass prior, and ran a 9.500 in the only pass on Saturday. That night it was back to Mama Smith's caravan kitchen for some real home cooking. As this would probably be the last outing of the season for team Never Again, as a treat on Sunday morning Dave flexed his Jamie Oliver muscles and cooked bacon sandwiches on stale baps. Undeterred by Dave's culinary skills it came together on Sunday after some tweaking of plugs and wires. The first pass of the day gave Dave and Coco a new personal best for both ET and speed with a 9.380/142.44, on the Jeff Bull 489 ci methanol motor, no gas, in a full-bodied car with stock running gear. The Bad: Cause and effect, for every action there is a reaction or so they say. Whilst the team were enjoying success at Hot Rod Drags, on the Saturday night at about midnight, some teenage mindless morons vandalised Vicky's car outside the Never Again HQ, smashing the wing mirror, the side window and the windscreen. Believe it or not this is in a residential area. Bored and drunk teenage boys, short of something to channel their testosterone into, kindly making a £180 repair bill necessary. ©Eurodragster.com The Ugly: After the first NPB pass on the Sunday, the second pass netted a 9.4 after a poor launch. Checks after the pass picked up a loose distributor cap which Dave tweaked with finger and thumb and gave the all clear. All was not clear as the cap came loose on the burnout of the next run and the rotor mashed up the inside of the dizzy cap and blew the engine out. Game over. (OK, you've been warned, here we go - Ed) Prince disappeared to go and fetch the van to retrieve the stricken Coco. Off he drives over all the bumps to the start line. Little did he know that Dave had been using an old jug as a toilet and had left a glorious jug of yellow body juice in the back of the van. It splished and sloshed over everything in the van, clothes, bedding, tools, towels, etc. Nobody really noticed until later in the day when everyone started to smell like a gents' urinal. Vicky had put her jumper on which strangely had started to become a bit whiffy. Prince smelt like an old tomcat, but if he had started to spray to mark his territory then he would have been walking home. Thanks to Vicky and Prince, and hello to Crossfire Rob and Andy Frost. After the above, we're not sure we want to look but pictures from the weekend are available at www.neveragainracing.co.uk/coco-connection/photos/16.html. Street-legal and in the nines. 21st September: The Orange Pop drag racing team had a superb weekend at the NSRA Hot Rod Drags as Simon Barlow recorded his first nine in the street-legal Pop, writes team member Jason Yates: On Saturday we went out on a test pass for the first qualifier, this was with no gas and we ran an 11.6. For the second run we switched on the nitrous and ran a 10.1. After that pass we made a few changes for the final qualifier, but as we got to the staging lanes we were turned back round and we were sent back to the pits: a car oiled the track and racing was called off for Saturday as the clean up was to big to meet the curfew. We took the car back to our pit and left it there until the morning without making any changes to it. Sunday morning came and we were looking forward to the day's racing. Nice warm weather...mmmmm, maybe a nine today? In eliminations we were up against a car which was quite close to our time and it was going to be a good race, so we had to be alert. Simon pulled a nice huge smoky burnout across the start line. Up to the start line and as the lights went down Simon was off as soon as the green came on. It looked a reasonably good launch and the car was on one towards to eighth mile. As the board lit up at the top end we went crazy down on the start line. It was a 9.97/134. This was our first ever nine- second pass. We were all so happy with that run. ©Eurodragster.com In round two we were up against a car which was a second slower than us in qualifying so we were looking for the win. As the car launched it appeared from the start line that the nitrous wasn't kicking in and it looked a real slow run so we knew we had a problem. We were put out in round two by a slower car but that wasn't going to upset our weekend. We got back to the pits and we found out that the nitrous microswitch decided to pack in. We changed it so that we could get in one last run. On the last run of the weekend we were up against Paul Wright, both of us just having one last blast down the track. After another big burnout, Simon pulled to the lights. The car launched hard and it looked a superb run, the board lit up at the top end it was a 9.81/136. We went crazy again. We were celebrating so much that we didn't realise Paul Wright had run a 7.4 in the other lane. Well done Paul. That was just a perfect end to the weekend. We now have a nine-second street-legal car! We would like to say a big thanks to Andy Frost for the fantastic help he gave us over both days of the meet, to all the track crew, marshals and last of all to the NSRA for putting on a fantastic meeting. A safety first. 21st September: Shakespeare County Raceway safety crews PB Fire and CMAPS took delivery of a modified dragster training chassis at the weekend's NSRA Hot Rod Drags. The training aid was donated by several members of the Wild Bunch, writes SCR's Marketing and Promotions Manager Jerry Cookson: Formerly campaigned in the early days of Wild Bunch by Trev 'The Rev' Merritt as Adrenalin Overload, then as Ram Raider 1 by Team Dog's B's, and most recently as Chemical Reaction by Darryl and Sarah Howells, the slingshot dragster safety cell has been extensively modified with a removable roll cage and fitted safety harness and seat by Wild Bunch Chairman Crazy Chris Hartnell. "With the ongoing changes in today's new car technology the fire/rescue team and the medical crew at Shakespeare County Raceway are continuously training together" says Paul Bell, Director of PB Fire Ltd. "But whilst it is easy to practice on scrap cars it has always been a concern that the emergency services need the flexibility to train on some of the more powerful cars that we see at the Raceway. This training module has now enhanced our rescue training to such a degree that we can act out almost any scenario in the unforeseen event of an incident and practise with live drivers to enable the emergency crews to work in confined spaces." The first live driver to undergo Saturday evening's emergency driver extraction simulation was Crazy Chris himself. "Many thanks to Paul and the fire crew and paramedics for an excellent training exercise", Chris commented afterwards. "It was a real eye-opening experience to see them at work. It was also reassuring to watch the practice extraction and we hope they get many more opportunities to refine their skills and learn new techniques and improvements on extraction. We commend them all on their professionalism and expertise above and beyond the call of duty. Our huge appreciation to all involved." ©Eurodragster.com Swift snippets. 21st September: Our best wishes to Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond who was hurt in a crash in the Vampire jet car at Elvington yesterday. At time of posting (Wednesday evening) firm information is at a premium; Eurodragster.com being a news site we will desist from pointless speculation and wish Richard a very rapid and full recovery. ©Eurodragster.com We have a number of birthdays over the next few days and the first two fall today. A very Happy Birthday to UK Pro ET racer and Eurodragster.com pleasure trip donor Carla Pittau, and to Santa Pod's Chief Marshal and Chief Timekeeper Steve Horn. Hope that you both have a great day, guys. Thanks to those readers who sent messages of condolence for the family of spectator Roger George in response to yesterday's news item. We will set up a page for these messages within the next twenty four hours; in the meantime if you would like to add your own message then please E-Mail eurodragster.com@btinternet.com. An Allard back on the track. 21st September: One of the First Families of UK drag racing made a surprise welcome return to the sport on Tuesday as Lloyd Allard, son of Alan and grandson of Sydney, tested at Shakespeare County Raceway writes SCR's Richard Warburton: ©Eurodragster.com Actually, Lloyd was only there testing his Volkswagen Golf TDI which is currently leading circuit racing's Volkswagen Racing Cup. The little 1.9 Diesel engine puts out a massive 250+ bhp and nearly 400 ft/lb of torque. The Allard family is still heavily involved in motorsport and tuning and their web site at www.atmr.co.uk will give you an idea of what they can do. Let's hope we can get them back on the strip on a more frequent basis. From the Finals to Christmas! 21st September: Ian Turburville says that his Top Fuel Bike team has been re-named White Punks on Nitro thanks to new sponsor and business partner Pro-Drag of Tuscon, Arizona. "Pro-Drag join SIMPSON on our elite team of sponsors who are along for the ride at the National Finals and throughout 2007", says Turbo. "Simpson racewear is the best safety equipment you can get and they have supplied us with their ultimate drag racing item, the fabulous Diamondback carbon race helmet. Back in the pits the coolest attire to be seen in is of course the Pro-Drag range of Nitro-inspired T-Shirts. Both ranges are now available at www.turboville.com and at the track. Tell it like it is with their range of Nitro decals which are also on our web site. "Another goodie for your Christmas stocking is the long-awaited DVD version of the fantastic 2000 ADBA World Championship Top Fuel Challenge, held in Australia. Definitely the best drag racing tape made into a DVD and packed with extras not on the VHS tape. It will be available exclusively from me and will be NTSC Region 2 so fine in all modern players here. It was done at my request as a tribute to Jim McClure who is one of the featured racers so watch this web site for news of its limited release. "We are gearing up for the National Finals at Santa Pod and have a formidable list of opponents to face at the end of our first year of Top Fuel racing but will give it our best shot. The Finals will be a sad time for the team as our ace Crew Chief Brum will be leaving the team to race his own fantastic Triumph next season. Brum has been absolutely invaluable this year and I can't thank him enough for all his hard work and enthusiasm, we wish him every success! New team members Jason and Steve will be learning the ropes at the meeting and will hopefully have enough of a good time to want to stay next year." ©Eurodragster.com Web site updates. 21st September: Peter Donaldson has updated his photographic web site again with pictures of Sunday's action at the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway. "Great weather, great bikes and no oildowns!" says Peter, whose pictures you can find at peterdonaldson5305.fotopic.net. ©Eurodragster.com Eurodragster.com Photo Editor Sharkman has updated his personal web site Sharkman's Top End Tales with his photographs from the FIA European Finals. Sharkman's pictures, which you can find at www.topendtales.com include a large number of parachute and other shots from the shutdown area. "Thanks to Nikki Pilkington", says Sharkman. "Without her helping me out with web space the site simply would not exist." Joosten's condolences. 20th September: Robert Joosten and the whole Pro Dutch team have been in touch with a message of condolence for the family and friends of spectator Roger George who died at Santa Pod Raceway last week: This unbelievably tragic accident, which took away someone who just came to watch and support drag racing, affected us very deeply. We as racers know that there is a risk for us as drivers or crew. We would never, ever think that someone who came to support us would be harmed in such a unfair way. Hopefully more teams will express their feelings, so that the friends and family of Roger George will know that drag racing teams are thinking of them and feeling for them. Strength is the only thing we can wish for them for now, and they are always welcome in the Pro Dutch pit. If you would like to send your own message of condolence then please E-Mail eurodragster.com@btinternet.com and we will publish it here. Swift snippets. 20th September: The final standings in the 2006 Nordic Dragracing Series and Swedish Dragracing League have now been calculated and are available on the Svensk Dragracing web site at www.dragracing.se. Congratulations to all of this year's NDRS and SDL Champions and a big Well Done to everyone who took part and/or organised. Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall has asked us to add to yesterday's details of February's joint APIRA/SPRC Dinner Dance that tickets for under-thirteens are £12.50. If booking tickets for under-thirteens then please make this clear on the booking form. Paula has also asked us to stress that bookings will not be confirmed until she is in receipt of a completed form. For full information about the Dinner Dance check out yesterday's news item. Joint Eurodragster.com Links sponsor LA Racing Parts can now supply parts from some of the USA's best chassis companies. "We understand that not everybody can go to a fabrication shop because of a limited budget", says Lee Child. "We can now supply parts from Quarter Max, a division of Rick Jones Race Cars Inc, Jerry Bickle Race Cars Inc, and S&W race cars. We are also distributors for Strange Engineering, Moser Engineering and The Chassis Shop. With weekly airfreight services and ocean freight once a month, LA Racing Parts will get your parts fast and at low cost. We can also ship all over Europe. Call 01803 554308 or E-Mail lee@laracingparts.com." ©Eurodragster.com Ken Cooper has been in touch to thank everyone for their support and contributions to the auction in aid of the Pat Ginn Appeal, which took place at the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway. "People's generosity blew me away", says Ken. "It was also one of the best-humoured events I've had the pleasure to take part in. What with the Auction, the head shaving of Big Frank and the naked dragr ace on foot between Chris (Bois) Reed and T J O'Brien we raised around £3500. Thanks again". If you want to contribute to the Pat Ginn Appeal then the bank is Barclays, the account name is The Pat Ginn Appeal, the sort code is 20-20-37 and the account number is 23409724. Pat Ginn herself says that it was another great weekend at Santa Pod. "Well done to all the racers there was some great racing", she says. "The event went very well I thought and the auction was run very well by Ken Cooper and Co, that poor guy having his hair shaved, I hope he forgives me. Thankyou to Gee Bee and family for all your hard work we really appreciate it, thank you to all the people who donated prizes, money winnings, etc. You are fantastic and I must say we had a ball, you are such nice people. We will have to try and get to a Straightliners meeting at some stage and I hope you have more of these events, they are great." Editor's note: Only a brief news update today because of pressure of work in your News Editor's day job. Stay tuned and normal service will be resumed tomorrow with pieces from the Orange Pop and Never Again Racing teams already lined up. Martin Deakin. 19th September: We were sorry to hear from Jeff Young of the death yesterday of Martin Deakin, who raced a blown nitro-burning Triumph in the 1970s and early 1980s. Martin died after a stout struggle with cancer. "Martin was a well-known and colourful character around the straightline scene, and will be much missed by his widow Alison and the many friends he left behind", says Jeff. "Martin's funeral will be at Stockport Crematorium at 1.30 pm on Monday (25th September)." We are sure that everyone will join us in sending their deepest sympathies to Alison, and to all of Martin's family and friends. UK National Finals entry list. 19th September: We are indebted to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall for forwarding us the official entry list for the UK National Finals, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on Saturday-Sunday 30th September-1st October. With three days left until the absolute closing date the entry is already huge, with almost every class well-subscribed and Super Pro ET taking largest-class honours from Pro ET by a single entry, twenty nine to twenty eight. We also welcome a number of racers from The Netherlands in Super Pro ET, Top Fuel Bike, Funny Bike and Supertwin Street as well as France's Philippe Runget in Pro Stock Bike. ©Eurodragster.com You can view the UK National Finals entry list by clicking here. 2007 UK Championships Dinner Dance. 19th September: Bookings are now being taken for the second joint Avon Park International Racers Association/Santa Pod Racers Club Dinner Dance and Trophy Evening, which takes place at 6:30 pm in the Buckingham Suite of the Park Inn Hotel in Northampton on Saturday 3rd February 2007. Pre-dinner drinks will be available in the Buckingham Suite foyer from 6:00 pm. SPRC Club Secretary Paula Marshall has asked us to stress the following: Proceedings will start prompt at 6:30 pm with the trophy presentations to both the Santa Pod Racers Club and APIRA Champions and runners-up. For this reason it is important that everyone is in their seats in the Buckingham Suite at 6:30 pm as the presentation will not