Drifting into another deal. 30th November: It has been a busy couple of weeks for UK Wild Bunch Champions Team Gridlock, including another major sponsorship announcement with Drift Innovation Action Cameras. Drift is a leading action sports technology company specialising in the capture and sharing of digital imagery. They manufacture top quality professional cameras and accessories, inspiring action sports enthusiasts to video their experiences, capture the emotion and share the vision of what they do. Drift know that drag racers are passionate and demanding individuals, who enjoy re-living the “moment” and none more passionate than Team Gridlock. Drift's mission is to ensure that the unique product features found on their cameras, especially the new Drift Ghost (which Team Gridlock will be using in a multi camera setup for 2013) will enhance the user experience by simplifying the process of capturing, editing and sharing key moments of the team, their runs and their experiences. Team Principal Dex Price was very impressed by the Drift HD which the team has used previously, and the new Ghost is an even more amazing product. "We will be using a multi camera setup for 2013, and with the linked camera system with a single two way remote control it will make it easy to ensure that every second of footage is captured", says Dex. "Setting up of the cameras will be equally as easy with the rotating lens ensuring that every shot is level and with standard Wi-Fi enabled link to smartphones we will be able to easily ensure that every shot will be exactly what we want, especially some slow motion capture, also the Wi-Fi link will enable us to download content from our cameras to our smartphone instantly and share content wirelessly across our favourite social media platforms." Drift design and manufacture innovative, intuitive products, combining both the users needs and state of the art technology. Drifts association with world class athletes in each of Drift's credo sports, combined with input from their everyday enthusiasts, provides a continual source of constructive feedback. This information is integrated by the drift design team, to ensure that the products they offer contain features that every racer will want and will stand up to the most extreme situations. Check out the amazing standard features on the Drift Ghost at www.driftinnovation.com and when you compare them with the competition you will see why Team Gridlock were so impressed. Watch out for 2013's footage from the team which will be on Drift's web site and on Team Gridlock's home and Facebook pages. Swift snippets. 30th November: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com (right) came with no words. If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com. We will be running our traditional Christmas Gift Mart news item next weekend. If you are offering products or services which would make good Christmas presents for Eurodragster.com readers be they racers or fans then please send a paragraph with details and, if you like, a single picture to eurodragster.com@btinternet.com. Foursomes at Warpspeed Racing. 29th November: UK Pro Stock Bike racer Mark Smith has been in touch to reveal that Tuesday's second spy picture was of the 9.50 Bike to be campaigned by Mark Green next year as part of the four-bike Warpspeed Racing operation: Warpspeed Racing were in mid-build of a Harris Magnum 2 for Mark to ride in his first year of 9.50 Bike. Everything was going to plan, but how plans change! I had previously seen a Raptor sat down at Debben Performance and on my last visit to see how the new 1755 cc stroker motor of my Pro Stock Bike was going, I enquired as to what was going on with the Raptor. After a long chat with Ray Debben I asked him to contact the owner, Tony Legg, to see if it was up for sale. A couple of days later a deal was done and now Warpspeed Racing have a mini V-Twin for 9.50 Bike! The bike, which has run 9.3, has been rebuilt by Debben Performance so we have a fresh motor to start the season. Ray has got a bit of work to do on the bike, sorting out the fuelling and a few of the magical touches here and there which he likes to add! Thanks as always Ray. In the meantime the body work has been dropped off at MDH Repair Centre for a new coat of paint. My Pro Stock Bike is off to Warpspeed Racing this weekend to have a few little mods for the 2013 season. We also need to fit the new carbon body and get it in to paint. We currently have the new Roger Upperton 1655cc four-valve engine in the bike and we will need to replace the trans over the winter. We should have a brand new Robinson five-speed arriving in the country next week. Mr Debben has almost finished the big 1755cc two-valve V&H and we also have the new ex-Chris Hope 1655cc two-valve V&H ready to go in when needed (fingers crossed we won't need it). Warpspeed Racing have built a complete new Pro Mod Bike from the ground up which Stuart Crane will be racing in Funny Bike in 2013. The bike will be up and running before Christmas ready for next season. The body has been sent away for paint and the bike is in a rolling state right now. Stuart has big plans for the 2013 season after taking a year out to enjoy the birth of son Toby, well done Stuart and Melissa on such a cute little fella! More updates and spec to follow on the build of Stuart's Pro Mod Bike throughout the next couple of weeks. Finally, what can you say but god help us all! Dale Leeks, aka Fat Boy, will be riding Stuart Crane's 2011 Championship-winning Pro Mod Bike in Funny Bike, but with his own motor deal. Dale has bought himself a 7.5-tonne lorry to convert into a pie-carrying vehicle so he doesn't go hungry... sorry, to transport himself, the bike and his crew from home to the track. Dale has done an amazing job of fitting out the lorry, you won't miss him! If you do then don't worry, you will be able to hear him with the 42" TV and surround sound system fitted in the lorry. Dale's plan is to get the bike up and running by end of January. All four riders of the Warpspeed Racing team will be ready to test early next year, weather permitting. Swift snippets. 29th November: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words "Califoria reunion". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com. Many thanks to Malta Drag Racing Association Secretary Jason Camilleri for letting us know that a replay of last weekend's webcast from Hal-Far Raceway is available at www.jagstream.com. Shakespeare County Raceway Track Announcer Barry Bohannon asked us to say a big Happy Birthday for today (Thursday) to his wife Alison Bohannon. "Happy birthday darling TMD", says Barry. Have a lovely day Ali, love and hugs from the Eurodragster.com staff also. No news update yesterday so we were unable to say Happy Birthday to Dusty Laugher of the UK's Miss-Guided Super Pro ET team. Hope you had a great day Dusty. Works in progress. 29th November: UK photo-journalist, graphic designer and modelmaker Mark Gredzinski has been in touch with an update on his latest projects: First is the outline sketch for Mickey Moore's new nitro-burning Topolino AA/FA. The lettering has been carefully designed for the car, which will have a theme and paint scheme totally different from The Mob, which he used to drive. Next is a close-up of an acrylic on canvas Pro Stock motorcycle which is nearly done. Apologies to the patient man who commissioned the piece - I'm not noted for my speed! Finally, I've been teaching myself the mechanical aspects of early-seventies Pro Stock cars with ladder bar suspension systems. Here is one of a couple of Mopar chassis and engine combinations underway with the usual array comprising hundreds of scratchbuilt components.  As usual, everything is drawn, painted and fabricated by hand.  Who knows, one day I'll get things completed on time! Ellis adds second car. 27th November: UK Pro Modified racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Graham Ellis has announced that he will be fielding two cars in 2013. Graham, who will be driving his twin-turbo Superbird Pro Mod, will be joined by his son Gareth driving the Dodge Stratus Top Methanol Funny Car previously campaigned by 2010 FIA European Top Methanol Funny Car Champion Dan Larsen. "Gareth doesn't have much racing experience but then nor did Jonnie Lindberg and he did OK!", Graham told Eurodragster.com. "The car will be crewed mainly by Dan and his team. They have been really good, updating the car and getting it ready for next year. We have bought the car turn-key; we plan to spend a weekend in Denmark with Dan in January and they'll show us everything. We know it's a good car since it won the Championship and having Dan and the crew will be a massive help, they'll see Gareth right. "We have bought a load of decent spares from Danny Bellio to make sure that we have enough to run. The car will run in its existing colours since I like the paintjob and have no wish to repaint it. Top Methanol Funny Car is going to be exciting next year with Adam Flamholc bringing a car over from the States. We will get out there and get Gareth licenced as soon as we can." Graham's Superbird is also being prepared for 2013. "We are making a lot of changes", he said. "We are preparing a pair of identical motors - all I will say is that they are not what they were. The car will be rewired. Dale Edmonds is making a new front end and Jeff Meads will paint the car at some point. There will be some crew changes although I'll tell you more about that soon. Same as the Funny Car, we will start to test as soon as possible." Graham said that the cars' appearances on the European Tour will depend upon their performance. "I don't want to go out there and get beaten if the cars are not running right", he said. Bradshaw joins Kuno in Lucas double. 27th November: Is this a European first – not one, but two identical Lucas Oil Pro Modifieds tearing up the drag strip in Europe in 2013? Germany's Nobert Kuno will continue to race his ever-improving Lucas Oil Pro Modified in the FIA European Championship in 2013, whilst his partner in the second car will be the UK's John Bradshaw. "I am absolutely delighted to confirm that I will be driving in one of the Lucas Oil Pro Modified cars next year in the UK MSA Championship plus a few selected FIA rounds, for example Hockenheim", says John. "Norbert and I are both very like-minded and I'm sure we will make a fabulous team. We are both ambitious and very focused on really pushing the Lucas brand and involving and looking after our sponsors. It is an opportunity that I cannot ignore and it's no secret that I have wanted to race in Pro Modified. I am very excited about the thought of racing next year and delighted to be part of such an exciting opportunity and team. "Being able to invite sponsors to events with confidence is absolutely key, and not only will they be able to see one car run but at several events they will be able to see two cars run which is just superb for all concerned and the opportunities that will bring! "It will obviously be a learning curve for me but I'm ready for that and I'm sure that Norbert and I will make a real impact over the next couple of years. We will certainly be working closely together to do everything we can to have fun, get results and really raise the profile of the team, our sponsors and the sport in general." NGK continue Lucky Devil backing. 27th November: UK Pro Modified racer Wayne Nicholson and the Lucky Devil team are pleased to announce that NGK Spark Plugs have confirmed that that will continue their support in 2013. "Things are still happening here in The North with the usual upgrades and maintenance in the off-season", says Wayne. "Having our supporters confirm their relationship gives us more motivation for next year. I personally can't wait! "More great news soon." Winners by a Furlong. 27th November: Fred Furlong of Eurodragster.com sponsor Furlong Tyres has been in touch with the answer to the question "Who were the lucky recipients of the Furlong Tyre Awards this year?": All of the below received a brand new Michelin Power One tyre free of charge. To be eligible in 2012 you didn't have to win the meeting or set any records, just support Michelin by displaying stickers and buying your tyres from Furlong Tyres was a good enough reason. In no particular order this year's supported riders were: Jemma Venables – Comp Bike Steve Mead – Super Street Bike Danny Cockerill – Super Street Bike Dave Holland – Super Street Bike Steve Carey – Top Fuel Bike Graham Balchin - Super Street Bike Graham Dance - Super Street Bike Gary Bowe – Super Street Bike Mick Winyard – 8.50 Bike Steve Venables – Super Street Bike Richard Hann – Super Street Bike Congratulations to all the winners and safe riding in 2013. You can find the Furlong Tyres web site at www.furlongtyres.com. SPR offer Bracket tuition. 27th November: So you've been to Santa Pod and watched these ET classes racing at drag racing events. Sportsman ET, Pro ET, Super Pro ET, what's it all about? Perhaps you've done your Run What You Brung days and are now looking for the next affordable step to go racing without going to a heads-up class? If so then Santa Pod Raceway have the event for you, a Beginners' Dial-In Day on Saturday 23rd March 2013. You can come along to learn about bracket racing with the chance to give it a go yourself. It doesn't matter what you drive or how fast it is, you can come along, have a go and still be competitive, that's the beauty of dial-in racing! Bracket racing is often a misunderstood concept within drag racing which is why Santa Pod Raceway have launched the Beginners' Day. Members of the public can come along, learn and understand the concept of bracket racing and have a go with full qualifying and eliminations under RWYB rules. The day will consist of a tutorial, in the VIP suite no less, which will offer a full beginners' guide to bracket racing including handy hints and tips on how to get your quarter mile time right on your dial-in and, most importantly of all, beat your competitor. This will be followed by qualifying: this is your chance to begin putting what you've learnt into practice. Once qualifying is completed, an elimination ladder will be set and this is the time for you to experience the thrill of some serious racing. The winner proceeds to the next round and the loser is eliminated, it's as simple as that. There will be a trophy up for grabs for the overall winner and runner-up, along with some Santa Pod goodies (and as things stand it will all be broadcast on the webcam - Ed). The usual RWYB safety rules and regulations apply in terms of helmets and arm restraints if you're in an open top car or if you will be travelling faster than 110 mph at the finish line. Pre-entry is advisable and the standard RWYB fees apply, £10 per person for admission and £25 per person sign-on. The Beginners' Day is open only to cars and the competition will be run as if it were Sportsman ET, the entry level bracket class. You never know, you might catch the bug and end up moving into the National Championship ranks for the rest of the year! Please note that this is a deginners' day and not intended for those who currently compete in bracket racing. For more details, and to enter, visit www.rwyb.com. Swift snippets. 27th November: Two spy pictures for you today. The first (below left) came with no words at all whilst the second (below right) came with the words "Change of direction going Twin". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com. From Stu Bradbury's wife Bev comes the great news that Stu is now home from hospital after his operation a couple of weeks back. Stu is not yet quite ready to wield the flags but being home is going to be worth so much and Stage 2 of the recovery starts here. Here's to your continued recovery Stu. Thanks to Brian Taylor for passing on the news. Back to Santa Pod Raceway and the track are offering Santa's Christmas Savers with massive weekly discounts on SPR merchandise. The first batch of discounted items is now on display on Santa Pod Raceway's Facebook page. EDRS prizegiving 2012. 27th November: The 2012 EDRS prizegiving was attended by about 250 guests and was held at the Sunlight Hotel and Conference Centre in Nyköping, Sweden last Saturday. Lena Perés writes: About 700 racers from 18 countries competed at 26 events during the season. Guests from several of these countries participated in the first EDRS banquet. During the day there were meetings for EDRS organisers and SVEMO (Swedish bike organisation). A lot of prizes were given out during the evening and a couple of special prizes were given to the Junior Dragster winner: Alamo and ME Racing Service are two of the class sponsors who handed over two cheques each to the young talented drivers. The banquet started off with dinner, and then the evening continued with the prizegiving ceremony MC'd by Christer Abrahamson. Cups, cheques and diplomas were given out in twelve classes in three divisions to the talented drivers in the series and certificates presented to the organisers who did a great job during the season. The evening continued in the bar and on the dance floor late into the night. Pro Mod 1. Johan Lindberg 2. Michael Gullqvist 3. Martin Lundqvist Comp North 1. Daniel Jedborn 2. Per Bergström 3. Jan Ekström Comp Central 1. Stig Olsson 2. Per Erik Lindgren 3. Odd Erik Fossum Comp South 1. Robin Sattler 2. Markus Linde Stock/Super Stock North 1. Janne Ullberg 2. P-A Lindström 3. Andreas Bergström Stock/Super Stock Central 1. Uffe Edwardsson 2. Tarmo Mikkola 3. Yrjö Wallius Super Gas North 1. Christer Uhlin 2. Olav Skjervö 3. Staffan Pettersson Super Gas Central 1. Bosse Hall 2. Håkan Mattsson 3. Gideon Liljegren Super Gas South 1. Guido Uhlir 2. Ed Breedveld 3. Stevan Reffeltrath Super Comp North 1. Angelica Bäckman 2. Kristina Hägglund 3. Victoria Paulsson Super Comp Central 1. Mikael Nilsson 2. Robin Norén 3. Johanna Granholm Super Comp South 1. Gerd Hambermann 2. Eric Pellegrom 3. René Kloss Super Street North 1. Tomas Hägg 2. David Södermark 3. Tom Wahlberg Super Street Central 1. Halvor Överby 2. Christer Gustafsson 3. Mauri Kamppinen Super Street South 1. Michael Maderer 2. Gerijan Wolbers 3. Rob van der Kruk Junior Dragster North 1. Tobias Björnsson 2. Nina Björnsson 3. Oscar Norling Junior Dragster Central 1. Iiro Laksonen 2. Cilla Koskinen 3. Amanda Sjöström-Andersson Junior Dragster South 1. Lisa Selles 2. Anton Schneider 3. Shari Oomen Super Comp Bike Central 1. Bert Nilsén 2. Thomas Nilsson 3. Niclas Johansson Super Comp Bike North 1. Peter Svensson 2. Tage Olsson 3. Dag Wagenius Super Gas Bike North 1. Jan Nilsson 2. Stig Are Stene 3. Timo Porri Super Gas Bike Central 1. Tomas Jonsson 2. Jarkko Niemi 3. Roope Vihresaari Funny Bike Central 1. Pasi Alakunnas 2. Sami Kallio 3. Timo Mäkinen Funny Bike South 1. Sven Fagan 2. Luc Raeymaekers 3. Marc van der Boer Pro ET North 1. Michael Johansson 2. Nelly Nygaard 3. Eirik Brynildsen Pro ET Central 1. Anders Edin 2. Ulf Axelsson 3. Liv Andersson Pro ET South 1. Michael Maderer 2. Rob van Kruk 3. Richard Minderhoud Super Pro ET North 1. Yngve Löseth 2. Linn Engan Karlsen 3. Jan Erik Havdal Super Pro ET Central 1. Linus Wallberg 2. Tom Egil Snekkerhaugen 3. Björn Johansen Super Pro ET South 1. Tom van der Wijden 2. Reiner Schelt 3. Michael Mikuscheit EDRS organisers 2012 FHRA, Finland eXplosion Dragracing Holland Badischer Motorsport Club, Germany Tierp Arena, Sweden Borlänge Dragracing Klubb, Sweden SHRA Skellefteå, Sweden SHRA Lindesberg, Sweden SHRA Örnsköldvik, Sweden Hultsfreds MK, Sweden SHRA Luleå, Sweden Motorsport Timing & Organisation MSTO & Predator Motor Club, Czech Republic Norsk Dragracing NDRG, Norway Hungarian Drag Arena Kunmadaras, Hungary Hell Cruisers, Norge SHRA Sundsvall, Sweden Mosten MC, Denmark You can see a gallery of shots from the EDRS prizegiving by clicking here. Hal-Far Finals webcast. 25th November: One of the biggest events in Maltese drag racing history is underway at Hal-Far Raceway and if you can't be there then you will be able to watch on-line. The live stream of the Malta Drag Racing Association's final event of 2012 will be available at www.jagstream.com or ustre.am/NSmq. Super Modified meeting. 25th November: Paul Brooks has been in touch to let us know that a meeting has been arranged for UK Super Modified racers at 10:00 am on Saturday 8th December in the VIP Suite at Santa Pod Raceway. The meeting, with Ian Marshall of Santa Pod Racers Club, is open both to current and past Super Modified racers as well as to those looking to run in Super Mod in 2013. "Please ensure that you are on time as we will probably not have time to recap anything which latecomers miss", says Paul. Wild Bunch do the honours. 25th November: The UK's Wild Bunch honoured their Champions and Merit Award winners at their annual Prize Presentation at Drayton Manor Park last night (Saturday). The presentation was as ever ably MC'd by Shakespeare County Raceway Track Announcer Barry Bohannon. Congratulations to the Series and Merit Award winners: Springbridge MSA Challenge: Darren Law Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series: Adz Price Real Steel Series: Adz Price Wild Bunch Series: Adz Price Services to the Wild Bunch: Ed Yates, Gina Rumble, Chris Hartnell and Claire Meaddows Big Bang Trophy: Chris Hartnell Martin Holgate Best ET by a British Engined Car: Alan Loten (9.485 seconds) Fastest MPH: Bob Hawkins (167.92 mph) Quickest ET: Bob Hawkins (8.182 seconds) Best Dragster/Radical: Team Wicked Lady Best Altered: Dick Sharp Best Slingshot: Team Tiki Munki Best Turned Out: Team Limited Funz Best Achiever: Team Gridlock Daddy Cool Sag Personal Achievement: Team Ferret Perseverance Award: Chris Hartnell Derek and Brenda Annable Award: Claire Meaddows and Chris Hartnell C & C Sportsperson: Team Ferret Don Garlits Spirit of Drag Racing Shield: Team Limited Funz Eurodragster.com News Editor Tog was kindly invited to be Guest of Honour and had the privilege of presenting Team Limited Funz with the Don Garlits Spirit of Drag Racing Shield. Tog was also presented with a beautiful trophy. Many thanks to Claire, Chris and the whole Wild Bunch for the invitation, for the trophy, and for a wonderful evening. Christmas racer discount. 24th November: The UK's Alders Automotive will be offering a discount of 15% on transmission rebuilds to members of Avon Park International Racing Association and Santa Pod Racers Club between 1st December and 28th February. "This is part of our campaign to support drag racers within the UK and Europe", says Richard Alder. "This offer includes any racing transmission. We will also offer a 10% discount on any Coan Racing torque converter." For more information please call Alders Automotive on 01323 848448 (outside the UK +44 1323 848448) or E-Mail alders.automotive@googlemail.com. One, two... three? Dip. 23rd November: Hot off the press is the announcement that Pits Top Designs will be sponsoring the Wild Bunch Champions Team Gridlock in 2013 with some stunning dipped designs. Pits Top Designs are based in Datchworth, Herts and the company is one of the UK's leading specialists in custom dipping, otherwise known as water transferable printing - is extremely cost effective solution to customizing two- and three-dimensional objects. Their designs can give any product virtually any look, from snakeskin to skulls, carbon fibre to camouflage. The base materials can be anything such as wood, plastic, metal, plaster, alloy, or even pottery. It can be applied to anything from an alloy wheel to a kitchen cupboard or even light switches... next time that you are in the pits, check out Team Gridlock's tool trolleys! The WTP process has a durable finish with endless applications and Pits Top Designs have a wide range of custom colours and bespoke designs, the only limit is your imagination. The carbon fibre dipping of rocker covers is proving very popular. Company Directors Dani and Gary said that Team Gridlock's Competition Altered is an ideal medium to show off some their vast product range and quality and that they are pleased to be involved with a multi-Championship winning team. They are looking forward to supporting the team on their third Championship charge. Team Principal Dex Price says that he will be posting up some pictures as soon as the designs have been finalised. Anyone wanting some WTP work should contact either Gary or Dani on 01438 489276 or 07934 634239 or E-Mail info@pitstopdesigns.co.uk. Don't forget to tell them that the Gridlock guys sent you. Swift snippets. 23rd November: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words "Boyz & Their Toyz II" which gives us a good idea of its origin. But if you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com. We would like to say a big Happy Birthday for today (Friday) to UK Super Comp racer Malcolm Motler, who got his birthday present in testing before the FIA European Finals. Have a great day Malk. First-footing in 8.50 Bike. 23rd November: After two successful years in 9.50 Bike the UK's Jake Mechaell decided that he was ready to step up to 8.50 Bike for 2012. Jake has been in touch to tell us how his season went: Once the 2011 season ended I stripped down my Suzuki GSXR and started fabricating all the parts I would need to turbocharge the bike. I wanted to be out testing in early March so my plan was to build the bike in the evenings during the week and build the engine at weekends. The bike was completed one week before the Easter Thunderball, so just enough time to run the motor in and get it on the dyno. The Easter Thunderball soon arrived and we were ready to make some test runs. We had four runs in total due to weather conditions, but that was enough as we found out the turbo exhaust housing was too big. With a new exhaust housing and more dyno time we were looking forward to the Big Bang, but this time the rain wouldn't let us play at all so we would have to wait another week for the Springspeed Nationals. Off to the Springspeed Nationals full of excitment with the new set-up but unfortunately only completing one qualifying run. Due to lack of funds after building the bike I couldn't afford the lock-up clutch I needed so I went with a manual heavy-duty clutch setup. With weather conditions not looking good again the chances of a one-shot qualifier looked high so I went to the start line thinking all or nothing. On the launch, with a heavy clutch and a cold track the bike broke traction, immediately hitting the rev limiter. I soon recovered traction and got back on the gas running a 10.00. At the top end the engine sounded rough and wasn't firing on all cylinders. I shut the engine off and started my walk of shame pushing the bike back to the pits which was a killer in one-piece leathers! Back in the pits we did a compression test to find that number one cylinder was down. It turned out that on the over-rev it spat a shim and one of the collets had came out. I was very lucky not to have dropped a valve. Looking at the weather I decided I wouldn't repair the engine at the track as I wanted to take my time and inspect the engine in case there was any further damage. It wasn't all bad though as the bike ran a PB of 150 mph and I lost half a stone walking back to the pits!   The next round was the SPRC Summernationals and I finally got some money together for my Gen 2 lock-up clutch. With that in the bike and a rebuilt head I was sure that it would all come together at this meeting. The first few qualifiers looked positive chipping away with clutch and map settings, then on my final qualifier of the day I did it: I ran 8.75/156. I couldn't stop smiling. All the hard work and late nights had finally paid off! Elimination day came and I couldn't wait to run some more eights but due to high crosswinds eliminations were run over the eighth-mile. I managed to get to the semi-finals where I faced Martin Wilson. This was going to be a tough race, but it was over straight off the line as my bike bogged and I just couldn't catch up. Well done Martin. After the bike bogged at the Summernationals it was time to go to a Run What You Brung to sort out my clutch set-up. I made three runs and knocked one and a half tenths off my sixty foot time. I then missed the Open Sports Nationals as our baby Maria was due and I wouldn't miss her arrival for the world! So my next meeting would be the VP Racing Fuels National Finals. I was raring to go with my new clutch set-up but now the bike was hitting sixty feet so well I was struggling to stop the bike from pulling wheelies. I qualified with an 8.67/161 with a big wheelie. In my second qualifier, I managed to feather the throttle and keep the front end down which resulted in a PB of 8.40/167. Breaking out isn't so bad when you run a PB! In round one of eliminations I was paired up with number one qualifier Gary Drury. Gary was off the line first but I caught up with a better sixty foot and we were side by side the whole way down. We were both thinking we were going to break out so we came off the throttle about the same time and Gary won on a holeshot, my 8.73 to his 8.74. Well done Gary, great race. The last round of the season was here, Extreme Performance Bike Weekend, wow where did that year go! I configured a new boost control table in my Motec ECU to slow the rate of boost down to help prevent the bike from wheelying too much. The boost control worked well, if not too well and I qualified with an 8.92. Eliminations day and I slowly ramped the boost back in, getting it perfected by round two against Andy Haley The winner of the race would get a bye run to the final. Off the line the bike carried the front wheel to 330 feet, running a PB sixty foot of 1.39 and a PB 330 foot time of 3.64. I could feel the bike pulling hard so I knew a breakout was on the cards. At 1000 feet I couldn't see Andy beside me so I shut off and got the win with an 8.59/144 to Andy's 8.80/159. My first final in 8.50 bike and would you believe it I was up against my neighbour, bracket bike legend Phil Pratt. With Phil being on a naturally aspirated bike and previously running into the 8.9s, I had the advantage but Phil is so consistant, one missed gear and that would be it. Phil nailed me on the tree, but I pulled it back by 330 feet and slowly crept away from him rolling the throttle just before 1000 feet to prevent breaking out. I won with an 8.85/145 to Phil's 9.14/147. What a great end to the season and to top it off  I finished second in the SPRC Championship. Huge thanks to all of my sponsors, I am so grateful for all your help and support: Webster Race Engineering, EPS Motorsport, Hein Gericke, Little Steps Nursery and Bedford and Sons Motorcycles. Thanks also to all the 8.50 Bikers for making me feel so welcome, to Paul Watson for getting such a great bike class together which is proving to be popular, to my Dad Clive, Jon Webster, Dave Rowe, Jamie Sneddon and Chris 'Bois' Reed - without your support and advice this wouldn't have been possible - and to my friends and family who have been behind me all the way. I'm always looking for new sponsors to come on board so if you're interested then please contact me via E-Mail at jakemechaell@yahoo.co.uk. Hope everyone has a great winter break, see you in 2013. John Byrne's funeral. 22nd November: Thanks to Sue Byrne for letting us know the funeral details for John Byrne. Big John's funeral will take place at 10:40 am on Thursday 6th December at the South West Middlesex Crematorium. Hounslow Road, Hanworth, Feltham, Middlesex TW13 5JH (map), and then afterwards at the Sunbury ex-Servicemens Club, Sunbury Cross, Crossways, Staines Road West, Sunbury on Thames, TW16 7BG (map), telephone 01932 782013. "I don't know how many people are thinking of going to the funeral", says Sue. "The crematorium at Hanworth holds I believe 150 and has some standing room as well. The club also has reasonable parking, but it may be worth seeing if people are thinking of car sharing. We are not sure how many to expect, so hope there is enough room." Hal-Far Finals webcast. 22nd November: Malta Drag Racing Association Secretary Jason Camilleri says that this weekend's final event of the season at Hal-Far Raceway, which starts tomorrow (Friday), is to be streamed live on the internet. "The live stream will be available at www.jagstream.com or ustre.am/NSmq", says Jason. "This is a big plus for all those at home! "We have been working very hard to make this event possible within our limitations. Lee Child has been throwing rubber at the track since Monday so we are expecting an awesome surface. "We will also be very lucky to have Rodney Williford riding Simon Giordimaina's Super Street Bike. Rodney is the fastest Super Street Bike racer in the world and we will be looking forward to this very much. We are also pleased  that the ex-Super Gas V8-powered BMW has been bought by a Maltese racer, Elvio Mifsud, who will be racing his early Christmas present this weekend! "It is very encouraging to have a record of 130 racers and teams in twenty seven different categories signing up for this final event. So it's looking very good and we are all excited. Don't forget you can watch us now!" Swift snippets. 22nd November: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with no words at all. If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com. Steve Dudley tells us that the next slot drags at MrD Raceway will take place at 8:00 pm next Friday, 30th November, at The Cathedral Primary School, Victoria Road, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 1PA. "There is a small car park in the school grounds which should be able to accommodate us all", says Steve. Entry and racing are free, all we ask is that you make a donation of a couple of pounds to help toward the hire of the hall, although it's not obligatory". We have two birthdays today. First up is a big Happy Birthday and hugs to Karen Stevens of the UK's Team Metamorphosis Pro ET team. Have a lovely day Karen. Happy Birthday also to Konrad Ree of the Islanders Top Fuel Dragster team. Have a great day Konrad. We would like to wish all of our readers in the United States of America a very Happy Thanksgiving. Have a great day guys. Pro ET party for Big John. 21st November: The 2012 Pro ET Bash and Award Presentation, beautifully organised by Mike Lacey and Karen Stevens, was again a great success writes UK Pro ET racer Carla Pittau: One larger-than-life person was missing this year, a great guy whose beaming smile and bear hugs always cheered everyone up, towering over most if not all others in the pits: 'Big John' Byrne. John was a well-known figure in Sportsman drag racing for many years and his loss was very much felt by all racers and crews in Pro ET as well as by fans and officials. Perhaps I shouldn't say he was missing, as he was definitely with us when we raised a glass to his memory, his gentle giant features in everyone's hearts. A memorial for John was set up on the wall with a large photo depicting the big man at the track, beaming as usual, and a tribute book was organised by Amanda Cox to be filled with the photos put together by Mike and Karen, which will go to his family, showing how popular and loved John was. For the first time this year the Spirit of Pro ET Award was added, to go to the person who showed special dedication to the class, who went above and beyond the call of duty to help a fellow racer, to offer a part or expertise to a team in distress, to the one who very simply embodied the spirit of the class. Very fittingly, this award went to the worthiest of us all, John Byrne. In future years, the award will be known as the John Byrne Spirit of Pro ET Award, to remember and honour him always. The other awards were as follow: Best Wheelie: Nic Williams Rookie of the Year: Bobby Wallace Best Appearing Car: Dan Williams Crew Chief of the Year: Dave Buckland Most Spectacular Crash: Dave Cherrett Hard Luck: Dave Bayley The Pro ET Diamond Geezer Award, reserved for a racer, official or crew for special services to the class this year went to Richard Bell, for his prompt and cheerful help in any crisis, an official on whom everyone can count. The trophies were fantastic and everyone received a Pro ET Driver 2012 or Pro ET Crew 2012 rosette, a book of photos created by Rachel Stanbury and to finish in style also a piece of a great big cake supplied by Amanda Cox bearing a Christmas Tree and the Pro ET logo. Big John wouldn't have wanted us to be sulking, and therefore the Bash also featured a disco which proved very popular as shown by the photos, and the usual raffle. Many racers kindly donated prizes including bottles of wine, Jack Daniels, chocolates etc, but the first prizes to be scooped up were a generous gift from Eurodragster.com News Editor Tog in the form of a great photo album containing 200 shots from 2002 to 2012, and a voucher for a free trailer wrap from Paul Foote of PFI - check out his web site at www.trailerwraps.co.nr. All at Pro ET would like to thank their sponsors for their continued support and of course Eurodragster.com for their unfaltering reporting, webcam and great photos of the class over the 2012 season (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed). We all look forward to 2013. Photos kindly supplied by Christine Buckland and Karen Stevens Swift snippets. 21st November: Please note that Dennis Cox's funeral next Monday takes place at 2:00 pm and not 2:30 pm as originally stated in yesterday's news item. The typo was your News Editor's for which he apologises. Another season finished! 21st November: The UK's Junior Dragster League managed to steer itself through the season's bad weather, writes Daren Brett: The season kicked off badly for Big John Pryzbyl, experiencing a clutch explosion which punctured his rear wheel. John drove like a true professional bringing the car to a nice controlled stop. Unfortunately it finished his weekend. Team Swinchatt weren't without their problems, I don't think a meeting went passed when Crew Chief/Dad didn't have the motor apart but they stuck with it, along with team mate big John, bringing home some silverware. Alex Brett also had problems having to park the car for two meetings, due to carburettor problems. All problems aside, a great season was experienced by all the junior pilots, and the following results were recorded for the the 2012 season. John Pryzbyl took first place, a trophy and £500; second place went to Tyler Webb who received a trophy and £300; and third place was taken by Alex Brett by one point over Callum Swinchatt. Alex received a trophy and £50. The Grant Victory Motorsport Reaction Time Award went to Callum Swinchatt, Alex Brett missing out on a back-to-back win by one point. Callum also picked up Best Reaction Time with a Perfect Light and walked away with the £150, Joy Brett followed with a 0.001 light. We would like to thank all the sponsors who have supported the League, especially Roy and Angela Wilding for their sponsorship, support and advice. Julie and I would like to say a personal big Thank You to Angela and Roy Wilding for their support of Alex and Joy Brett. It has been a tough year for us as it has for many others, but big hearted Roy and Angela Wilding, have supported the kids financially to ensure that they both raced throughout 2012 and for that we are eternally grateful. Roy has been in contact to say that both Alex and Joy will continue to be supported financially by Wilding Racing for the 2013 season. Roy also returned from Bakersfield with a new carburettor and parts for Alex's car to replace our problematic carb for the 2013 season. I would also like to say thanks to my friend Carl Webb for being there for me when I fell apart apart after the recent death of my mother. Carl immediately stepped in to ensure that both Alex and Joy would race the final League meeting in my absence. Carl is selling up in the class and he has an ad in the Swap Meet although only one car remains. We are pleased to announce that Carl will be taking over as Crew Chief and will be running Alex and Joy at MSA meetings in 2013. Dennis Cox's funeral. 20th November: Thanks to Volkswagen Drag Racing Club Chair Luke Stevenson for passing us the funeral details for VW Sportsman racer Dennis Cox. Dennis' funeral is to be held at 2:00 pm next Monday, 26th November, at Banbury Crematorium, Hardwick Hill, Southam Road, Banbury, Oxfordshire OX16 1ST (map). Flowers, or if preferred donations to the British Heart Foundation, can be sent c/o AL Sole and Son, Bidston Close, Over Norton OX7 5PP. "It will be nice to see anyone who can make it", says Luke. Perka joins Flamholc. 20th November: After discussions in the team, Sweden's Flamholc Racing have decided to take on a second driver to pilot the Top Methanol Funny Car which they will campaign in Europe next season. "Since we are planning on keeping the Pro Mod car in the USA as much as possible and on racing the Funny Car in Europe as much as possible, it would probably be impossible to have one driver in both cars", says Adam Flamholc. "After thinking hard about who we wanted, we agreed on Per-Erik Lindgren from Piteå! "Perka" and I go way back. I know what he can do, just look at his records - several European records in Comp Eliminator and Swedish Champion in 2011 and 2012! I know that driving a Top Methanol Funny Car is new to him, as tuning one is new to me, but I am confident that together with the guys in the team we will make something really good out of this!" "I am very grateful that I got this opportunity!", says Per-Erik Lindgren, "Being a part of this talented team, and run a proven competitive car!" The team would like to thank Frank Manzo for bringing the TMFC to Bradenton next week to help Adam to get his licence, and to show the team how to run a Top Methanol Funny Car. As always many, many thanks to sponsors Hurst Boiler, Amalie Oil, MMR, Cleanpipe, Autoshop, Performance Plus, JA-IT hjalp, Doyousee.me, Custom Graphics, Leanders Clutch, JJ Enterprizes, Custom Graphics and TopIt! Stepping up? Maybe... 19th November: UK Sportsman ET racer Tethys could be described as massively over-qualified for the job having recently won an NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster licence in the USA. Tethys got in touch to tell us how it came about and how it went: It's all Chris Parker's fault. I hadn't seen him for a while, until we bumped into each other behind the barn at the FIA European Finals last year and got chatting. The conversation naturally turned to driving, and to driving quicker than we'd previously done. It's been a tough few years for me financially which had forced a year out and a drop from Super Pro ET down to Sportsman ET. But things are starting to look up and although I'm far from rolling in money, I now have a bit more disposable income to spend on my racing and it seemed like a good time to think about going a bit quicker again. Chris mentioned that he was planning on enrolling with Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School, as he was going to be in Houston at the end of the year and they were now running courses at Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown. Now Baytown is essentially a suburb of Houston and that started the cogs turning in my head. I was going to be in Houston on business at the start of November. Maybe I could make use of the fact that the flights were already paid for and get in a bit of action on the drag strip while I was over there. I'd already done Hawley's Super Comp course in 2005, and the next step up was to Top Alcohol Dragster. I liked the sound of that! So I got in touch, but it turned out they only ran the Super class courses at Baytown. If I wanted to do the TAD course, I'd need to go to Gainesville. Not ideal, but actually Gainesville is only a short internal flight away from Houston, so it wasn't a dealbreaker. It'd been six years since I'd last driven a dragster and I felt that maybe it wasn't the best idea in the world to jump straight into a five-second car, so I arranged with Nick Good to drive one of his dragsters at a Run What You Brung beforehand, just to get me back into the swing of things. The day didn't go entirely according to plan. On a footbraked first pass, it didn't shift into second. That's what you get when there's no shift chip in the car! The second pass was much better, though. Launching on the transbrake, and having the shifter work propelled me to the finish line without incident. Then the day came to a halt when the gearbox lost drive after the shift on the third pass and was deemed irreperable at the track. But I felt at home in the car and I came away with a new Personal Best, a seven-second pass at 170 mph. That's still some way off TMD territory, but it's an awful lot closer than I've been getting in Sportsman ET, and I headed to the US feeling somewhat more comfortable, which was the whole point of the exercise. So, on my arrival in Gainesville, I turned up at the track on the appointed day to find it raining. Not ideal. The forecast was due to improve, but it was going to be several hours before the track would be ready, and Frank said he'd rather try and get all of my passes in on a single day. Fortunately I'd allowed a couple of extra days in case of weather problems, so I turned up the next day to get started. Frank's a great teacher, and after each pass he brings you back to the classroom and analyses what happened, with the aid of both in car and external videos. This approach works well, and there's no hiding when you've got things wrong because it's all there on video. Unsurprisingly, I didn't get everything right, but fortunately, I didn't get anything majorly wrong either, and the day went well. Each pass took me further down the track, culminating in a couple of full passes under power. If you look at the numbers, it was a story of "Nearly, but not quite". My 1.01-second sixty foot time wasn't quite the sub-ones I was hoping for. The 229.66 mph wasn't the 230 mph I might have liked and the 6.08 ET wasn't the five-second timing ticket I wanted. But the numbers don't tell the whole story. The purpose of the course wasn't to get a particular set of numbers on a timing slip, it was to live a little and have some fun driving a very fast car. By that measure, it was certainly very successful. So what next? Well, it's fair to say I now have a taste for more speed and would like to do it all again. I have an NHRA TAD licence, but it seems unlikely I'll get to use it. Could I race in TMD in Europe? Well, I'd love to, but I don't have the budget to do so, at least not for a full season. But I'll certainly be talking to the usual suspects and see if I can maybe do a meeting or two. Other than that, it's going to be a case of trying to find some sponsorship. Finding it isn't going to be easy, particularly given that I'm not exactly a people person and convincing companies to part with money is tricky at the best of times, let alone in the current economic climate. But I'd have to be mad not to try. Until then, I expect to be back in the Sportsman pits as usual next year, in Sportsman ET and/or Pro ET. Many thanks must go to all at Nick Good Motorsport, to Frank Hawley for an outstanding experience and to Ian Blackett and Ferret for the photographs. Congratulations should also go to Chris Parker who got his NHRA Super Comp licence at Baytown a couple of weeks before I went over. Swift snippets. 19th November: 2012 UEM European Top Fuel Bike Champion Ian King has been in touch to thank Eurodragster.com readers and all those who responded to his plea for help when his van became stranded in Switzerland on the way to next weekend's race in Malta. "I'm happy to say that the van and trailer have now arrived (or limped to coin a phrase) in Genoa, Italy for the ferry to Malta on Tuesday where we hope to make a permanent repair to the Renault gearbox." We have three birthdays for you today (Monday). First up is a very Happy Birthday to SPRC marshal Bob Day; have a great day Bob. UK Pro ET racer Tim Stanbury is also celebrating his birthday today; a very Happy Birthday to you Tim. A big Happy Birthday also to Mark Tyler, doctor on the medical team which attends events at Santa Pod Raceway; have a great day Mark. Bradburys' thanks. 18th November: Stu Bradbury's daughter Genna has been in touch on behalf of herself and Stu's wife Bev to thank Eurodragster.com readers for their get well messages for Stu after his operation. "I have been reading these comments to Dad when visiting him and he has been touched by each and every post", says Genna. "Thank you for all your support and best wishes, I'm sure they mean the world to him. "Dad is progressing each and every day and mum and I just can't wait until he is home again and hogging the TV! I'm sure he can't wait to get back on his feet again working on Ally and spending many a great weekend up at the Pod. Thank you again for all your comments." Urgent help sought in Switzerland. 18th November: 2012 UEM European Top Fuel Bike Champion Ian King has been in touch with an urgent plea for help. Ian's crew member Mick Beaumont is driving Ian's rig through Europe, on the way to Malta for next weekend's race at Hal Far. However the Renault Master has suffered a gearbox failure and is currently stranded at the Rastplatz Gurtnellen in southern Switzerland. If any Eurodragster.com reader is in the south of Switzerland and/or can help with advice or phone numbers to get the Renault Master gearbox repaired in that area then please call Mick on +44 7977 169303. Trailer loan sought. 18th November: UK Super Pro ET racer Lee Cohen is urgently seeking the loan or hire of a box trailer, flatbed truck, or better still a box lorry. "I need to get my Zephyr to Wales on Saturday 1st December as I have won the spraying competition in Custom Car magazine", says Lee. "My good friend can't do it now for me due to workload so I'm in need of help." If you can help with a trailer or truck then please call Lee on 07854 315503. ACAG plea answered. 18th November: We are always pleased when pleas for help on Eurodragster.com, such as the above pair, work out so we were glad to hear from Bob Roberts of the Allard Chrysler Action Group that the plea for an air tank here on Eurodragster.com on 13th November was answered: Eurodragster.com readers have come up trumps with many offers including one for a custom-made stainless tank. As you might expect I'm going for the bling but I would like to say a public Thank You to Eurodragster.com for running the piece (You're welcome - Ed) and to the many respondents for their generosity. Swift snippets. 17th November: Further to our news item of 8th November, the auction of Steve Tong's bike collection is now on-line. You can check out the two-page list by clicking here and scrolling down past the earth-moving equipment. Congratulations to Les and Tara Harris whose daughter Aisha Harris arrived at 08:34 this morning (Saturday), weighing in at 6 lb 6 oz. Sharron and Jerry Collier tell us that mum and baby are doing fine, as is dad, and that Les and Tara are ecstatic. "We send our love to all three", they say. "Welcome to the world Aisha." John Byrne. 16th November: We were very sorry to hear of the death of Pro ET crew member John Byrne, aka Big John. John died last night (Thursday) after a long illness which he bore with his characteristic good humour and fortitude. A very popular character both at the track and away from it, John was unmistakable from quite some distance not just for his height but for his ever-present grin which lit up the most rain-sodden of days. He was the racer's dream, a hard-working and loyal crew member and always cheerful, and is going to be very badly missed. Our deepest sympathies to John's family and many friends. We have set up a tribute page for John which you can check out by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. If you would like to send your own tribute to Big John then please send an E-Mail to tributes@eurodragster.com. Gabby's winter training. 16th November: Now that the racing has finished for another year all thoughts go to next season's preparations and cold nights in the workshops around Europe. One lucky racer can enjoy the luxury of her living room in which to train for next season and to prepare for the completion of her Top Fuel licencing runs which should be at the Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway in Easter 2013. Gabrielle McDonald's dad Graham has built Gabby a full size Top Fuel cockpit along with all the usual levers and pedals which you would find in this type of dragster, all with the proper resistance to feel as if they are operating something, and the pedals and levers are connected to various electronic sensors thanks to good friend and new team member Gorge Delgado from Venezuela. The icing on the cake is the 8' x10' image projected onto the wall, which whilst sitting in the cockpit really gives you impression of being in the real thing. If you get bored with the simulator you can just switch to some in-car footage from YouTube and ride along with your favorite Top Duel driver. "These Top Fuel cars are a lot different to the Junior Dragsters to which Gabrielle was used", says Graham. "Now she has fuel control levers, forward and reverse gear levers, a handbrake lever and not a footbrake pedal, parachute operating levers plus emergency air-operated safety shut-off buttons to contend with. So there are a lot of things for the budding Junior Dragster driver to learn if they are to reach the top level of our sport. The RF Motorsport dragster which Rune Fjeld's team is using to licence Gabrielle for Top Fuel is an ideal starting point for her as she is training with the current FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Championship-winning team which this year placed its three Top Fuel cars in the top four Championship spots. "We believe that Gabrielle may well be the first kid in the world to go straight from Junior Dragster to Top Fuel, and her recent story in the latest edition of National Dragster in the US may well conform this. As Junior Dragsters celebrate their twentieth year of existence it's a funny coincidence that Gabrielle raced a Halfscale Dragster as its builder Randy Ditzel was the originator of Junior Dragsters. Hopefully Gabrielle can open the door for more Junior Dragster drivers whilst proving, as some experts have said for some time, that these kids are worthy drivers in their own right (Hear, hear - Ed). By qualifying on their Reaction Times they are sometimes way ahead of some of older drag racing drivers further up the pecking order. "The New Year certainly holds some nice times to look forward to. Gabrielle gets to go back to the UK and race, she has a story coming out in the January-February edition of Junior Dragster magazine in the States, Easter brings the first chance of her first two full 4.50-second runs to obtain her licence, a trip to the APIRA/SPRC Dinner Dance to present the McDonald Racing Ireland Best Newcomer trophy. Oh, and dad gets to stand on the sidelines now and be content just to take pictures: his crewing job is over and it's up to RF Motorsport and the lads to turn thoses wrenches. It's sad just to stand back and watch when you've done everything before, but now I can turn to my dream of licencing in a Fuel Funny Car. Yahoo! Yea baby. Life is sweet." Wizard of Valdosta. 16th November: Although Eurodragster.com sponsor The Wizard of NOS no longer run any of their own vehicles, they are proud to represent Britain and Europe all over the world, with their products fitted to a growing number of top class customer's vehicles. Trevor Langfield writes: We were particularly proud of the results achieved this past weekend at Valdosta where our top motorcycle customer, Cecil Towner of HTP Performance, prepared his bikes for a number of classes to produce some outstanding runs. In Pro Street Ryan Schnitz ran a string of 7.0s with the WON nitrous system in 'cruise' mode rather than balls-out mode, as it was to run the world record run of 6.90, to take the class win against a very strong field of turbo bikes. Not content to run the Pro Street Bike, Ryan also ran the new Pro Mod Bike to a new Busa world record time of 4.09 over the eighth mile, followed by a string of low 4.1s to make it to the semi-final. This was despite having to resort to replacing his worn-out tyre with a slightly less worn-out second-hand tyre from Paul Gast midway through the eliminations and then switching back again a run later. Traction was such an issue that he was lighting the tyre up at the end of first gear on all runs, which killed his short times but the awesome power from the WON nitrous system was so great that he was able to outrun the rest of the field over the last half of the run. Unfortunately he met Paul Gast in the semi, where Paul nailed him on the Tree and took the win despite running almost a tenth slower than Ryan. Ryan's results were the most impressive from an all-out performance perspective but one of our customers in a DYI class took out seventy nine competitors over the weekend with a string of 8.28s only to redlight in the final, so from a consistency and reliability perspective that result will take some beating. We have also had other American car customers produce some outstanding times but I'll save the report on the best of those for next year when we're certain he'll run even quicker as he's upgrading to a REVO system over the winter. Roll on 2013 is all I can say, as we now have more international customers than ever and the number is set to continue to grow over the winter, so we're expecting some outstanding results next season. You can find The Wizard of NOS web site at www.noswizard.com. Web site updates. 16th November: Eurodragster.com US Correspondent Ed O'Connell did a bang-up job of sending us reports and photographs from Valdosta at the weekend and now that he is back in his New Hampshire base Ed has updated his personal web site with a complete set of pictures from the Manufacturers Cup event. You can check out Ed's shots at www.surfphotonh.com. Editor's note: We read the news, too. No more E-Mails about Hall of Fame members thank you. Three for three. 15th November: Robin Jackson writes that if European drag racing were to crown a Supreme Champion, an overall Racer of the Year, then UK Junior Dragster racer Joe Kellett would be a prime candidate. But why, having waltzed off with four different Championships in 2011, did Drummin' Man Joe manage to win only three in 2012? The answer is simple. He only competed in three. In five Championship series contested in 2011 in Britain and Scandinavia, the Junior Dragster wizard had won four and finished runner-up in the fifth. In 2012, the new European Drag Racing Series dates proved unmanageable, so Joe confined himself to the three home Championships, and won them all. However, 2012's triumphs didn't exactly fall into his lap. With rain forecast to bring Santa Pod Raceway's VP Racing Fuels National Finals to a premature end, the Bolton teenager needed a strong finish to secure his lead in both UK National and Santa Pod Racers Club Championships – just twenty points separated him from Stacey Reed in the SPRC contest. Junior Dragsters, of course, qualify on reaction times and, entering the final qualifying session, Joe trailed the field with two redlights to his credit. Milliseconds would determine his season's success or failure. Running last in that final session with the pressure on, Joe delivered a near-psychic 0.0007 second reaction time to soar to the head of the qualifying table and claim the Eurodragster.com/ModUrStang Perfect Light Award (which is awarded to three decimal points). Still battling through eliminations when rain eventually stopped play, he was able to clinch both Championships to accompany the APIRA Ultimate Power Championship already secured at Shakespeare County Raceway. Rain was a defining factor in 2012 and it was his consistent ability to stay in the show until the rain-off was called that earned Joe his triple crown. Oddly enough, it was the season's only two completed UK events that produced early exits for him, when he redlit against Stacey Reed at the Summer Nationals and broke with an ignition problem at the FIA European Finals. Forgoing the Scandinavian trips that gained him 2011's NDRS Championship victory and Swedish Dragracing League runner-up finish, Joe's only overseas appearance in 2012 was at Hockenheim's NitrOlympX. He won. What's more, he won an all-British final, beating travelling companion Jacob Kopasz to the German trophy. With a former multiple Junior Dragster Champion, Gabrielle MacDonald, taking a recent trial spin in a Top Fuel car, what does Joe's future hold? The Drummin' Man has his eye on Super Pro ET but, having just turned sixteen, still has a couple more seasons in which to terrorise the Junior Dragster ranks. If the EDRS dates prove amenable, Scandinavian travels beckon once more. This year's big winner, of course, is next year's marked man, and "I Beat Joe Kellett" promises to be the badge-of-honour inscription for Junior drag racers throughout Europe in 2013. Kellett Racing's Drummin' Man team is a tight-knit family group but is first to admit it didn't win three Championships all on its own. The family wishes to express its gratitude to Peter Walters Race Design and to Richard Walters for applying the car's paint; Sam Innes for crewing assistance, particularly at Hockenheim, where Dave Elliott also provided valuable help; Andy Fensome and Lisa Jell for their support throughout the season; and special compliments to John and Maxine Everitt, true friends, while wishing son Billy every success driving Joe's former car next year. Get well soon, Stu! 15th November: Our best wishes to legendary Santa Pod Raceway starter, Allard Chrysler Action Group member and British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Chair Stu Bradbury who is in hospital recovering from an operation. Via ACAG Chair Brian Taylor, to whom many thanks, Stu's wife Bev says that Monday's operation went well and that Stu is now starting on quite a long road to recovery. He will be in hospital for a while, and still has more wires and tubes attached than the Allard Chrysler dragster, but he would like to thank everyone for their good wishes. We have set up a page for Get Well messages for Stu which you can check out by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. If you would like to send a Get Well message for inclusion on our page then please E-Mail getwell@eurodragster.com. Don't forget to include your name. Web site updates. 15th November: The Mad Welshman has made his last photo update of the year with shots of Saturday's action at the recent Halloween Bonfire Burn-Up at Shakespeare County Raceway. You can check out Mad's shots at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman. Europeans draw Valdosta praise. 14th November: Eurodragster.com US Correspondent Ed O'Connell writes that the European invasion of the Haltech World Cup race at South Georgia Motorsports Park in Valdosta Georgia was a huge success: The interest in the teams and their machinery was enormous. Thanks to event director Jay Regan, the Scandinavian teams were all pitted side-by-side at one end of 'Main Street' in the spacious, well-organised pit area, and English entry Chris 'Cannon' Hannam was at the other end. From conversations overheard at the edge of the pit areas, casual fans and seasoned bike racers alike were very impressed with the quality of the bikes and the professionalism, skill and efficiency of the crews. Longtime US bike racer and team owner Ray Price, one of the founding fathers of motorcycle drag racing in the US having run his first professional race in 1967, spoke to me about his observations. Ray was very impressed with the excellent yet diverse construction technology and development of the European machines. He observed that the main difference from their US counterpart was, with the exception of event winner Larry McBride, supercharging. Most US Top Fuel Bikes are now running naturally aspirated combinations feeling it's more difficult to get a handle on a supercharged set-up. Ray said that it had seemed the sport was headed to a more international competition a few years ago but set back by global economic recession. He feels that in the near future, though not immediately, motorcycle drag racing will see an increase in trans-Atlantic competition. Given the short time to adapt to a totally unfamiliar track, all of the European teams achieved on-track success in varying degrees, hopefully feeling a great sense of accomplishment. I would like to thank Jay Regan, L-O Jonsson, Pär PiPPi Willén (who drew many compliments from the crowd on his excellent knowledgeable commentary and his food reviews of the track cuisine), Ian King and all of the racers and crews for enduring my endless questions and providing me with excellent information to pass on to Eurodragster.com readers. Finally, there was one of these chairs trackside in each lane for their regular photographers but I was going to tell you that, in keeping with their policy of treating Eurodragster.com staff like visiting royalty, they set it up specifically for me complete with shade umbrella, writing / snack table and beverage holder. Periodically, scantily-clad hot babes would bring out cool beverages during the day, heated beverages in the evening. At mealtimes a full lunch and dinner menu was presented and during any downtime for track clean-up licenced masseuses came out to relieve any tense muscles developed from shooting photographs. Tea and scones were served during slower times (He did say "I was going to tell you" - Ed). You can check out the complete gallery of Ed's shots from Valdosta, which is presented in association with Lucas Oil Products, by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Haslett's Willys grows. 14th November: UK Topspeed Eliminator Street Eliminator racer Ron Haslett has been in touch with an update on his new street-legal race car, which he has been able to find time to build between his day job and helping fellow racers: I originally ordered the body three years ago from my friend Mark Bull. I was finally ready to accept it eighteen months ago. With the body paid for plans were made to build the car: what spec, which power plant, which power adder, and so on. The plan was to build the car to the latest SFI 25.2 spec, to keep it as light as possible (try to keep it under 2800 lb), twin Holeset 88mm turbos, Big Block Ford 573 ci and Powerglide from my Cortina, Andy Robinson fabricated 9" case with Strange 5 x 5" 40 spline shafts, Billet Specialties Street Lights 15 x 15 rear and 6 x 15 (road) 3.5 x 15 (race) fronts. I spoke to Andy Robinson, Steve Large and Jon Webster about building the car and decided to go with Andy. I've used Andy for many years but the key point for me was he is forty minutes up the road. All was going well. The Cortina was sold and the key parts were ordered, front struts (custom made), wheels and tyres, and turbos. Then life came along and kicked us where it hurts. For personal reasons I had to cancel the order with Andy. When I explained why, Andy was very understanding and offered me help and advice. I then made the decision to build it myself. I made a list of tube and ordered the SFI rules and away we went. I started in the early part of January this year. The initial build started quickly and things moved very well. The new owner of the Cortina then decided that he wanted to buy its engine leaving me without an engine. My crewman Steve Kenny found me a replacement, a Pat Musi all-aluminium 565 ci, Big Chief Pro Stock-headed Arias block. By March a lot of the tubework within the body was in place. Then life came along and gave us another kicking, this time a lot closer to home. It was feared that I might have to take quite a bit of time off work, where I was getting very busy. Around this time I was asked by Steve and Sara Unsworth to help them with their Sportsman ET car. I gladly helped and was made very welcome by them and by everyone else within the Sportsman ET ranks. I wish them all the best for next season. In July I made the decision to put everything up for sale due to some bad personal news and instantly had someone. After explaining why I decided to sell up they were very understanding: they said to keep it and if I really had to sell then they would come down and buy it. Finally in September we were given the good news we were waiting for and I then knew that I didn't have to sell up. With help of crew member Mark Bartlett and lots of late nights we've now brought the car on in leaps and bounds. The car is now rolling, the engine, gearbox and turbos are all mounted. I've had Mark Norton down and we now have a 25.2 tag. At the moment the plan is to get the car out mid- to late-season next year, to shake it down and to aim for a full season in 2014. Special thanks have to go to my crew for all the help and patience they showed me over the years with the old Cortina; Andy Smith, Mark Bartlett, Graham Lunt for their help on the new car; Andy and Kate Robinson for their help and advice; Mark Norton for his help and advice as well as making my day when he passed my tag; and my sponsors Graham and Max Powell, Sycamore Cars, and Southern Batteries and Tyres. You can check out a full library of build shots on Ron's Photobucket site. Help needed I and II. 13th November: Bob Roberts of the Allard Chrysler Action Group has been in touch asking for the assistance of Eurodragster.com readers to procure a redundant compressor air tank. "We will be building a support trolley for the Allard to hold batteries for starting, a tank for the methanol starting system (à la A/Fuel) and an air  tank to pressurise the fuel system", says Bob. "We could use a new tank but it occurs to me that there may be somebody amongst the Eurodragster.com readership who has what we need. Many people use a small compressor as part of their pit equipment; we don't need a working item as all we need is the tank and regulator. So if anyone has such a compressor with a dead motor/pump which they are willing to donate to the cause then it would be gratefully received." If you can help then please get in touch with Bob at bob.roberts1@tesco.net. Pete Farrow has been in touch asking if any racer would like to display their Dragster or Funny Car at a charity event for Children in Need at 2:00 pm this Friday (16th) at Jap Performance Parts in Crawley. If you would like to take your car along then check out the event's Facebook page or call 01293 520090. Rolfstad runner-up at Valdosta. 12th November: Eurodragster.com US Correspondent Ed O'Connell has been in touch with a report from yesterday's race day at the Manufacturers Cup Finals at Valdosta. This report and pictures arrived at 03:00 Ed's time so a huge Thank You to him for going above and beyond yet again. Norwegian Supertwin racer Svein Olav Rolfstad advanced to the final round of Top Fuel at the Haltech World Cup at South Georgia Motorsports Park in Valdosta Georgia only to be shut off on the starting line due to a fuel leak. His opponent, US Top Fuel racer Larry McBride, soloed to the event win with an impressive 5.829/222.47 pass. In the first round of eliminations Svein's 7.090/139.08 defeated Sweden's Per Bengtsson who lost traction after his best reaction time of the weekend of 0.088 and a strong launch despite having his bike set up similar to his 6.394 pass in the same lane on Friday. In the second round Svein 6.605/187.76 winning over opponent Ricky House whose motor failed to start. Svein was troubled throughout eliminations with the motor quitting at half track, loss of blower pressure and having a fuel hose open up in round one. Sweden's Funny Bike racer Rikard Gustafsson, still limping from his contact with the wall during Saturday's qualifying session, ran an impressive 6.682/201.88 in the first round of Top Fuel eliminations only to lose by 0.017 seconds to US racer Tii Tharpe's 6.679/195.73. Rikard said the computer showed the tyre spinning and then hooking up again entering second and third gear. Rikard's reaction time was 0.114 to his opponent's 0.009. Norwegian Supertwin racer Trond Høiberget lost to eventual event winner Larry McBride in the first round of eliminations with an engine-destroying pass. Trond stated that he felt RPM drop suddenly right after the launch and then pick up again giving him a very bad feeling. His feeling was confirmed by the destroyed piston and cylinder head displayed in his pit area. Trond plans to be racing again at the first UEM meeting next season. Norwegian Supertwin racer Jan Sturla Hegre ran 7.225/142.67 in the first round of the ‘B' ladder eliminations in Top Fuel but was defeated by London-born US Top Fuel racer Chris Hand's 6.189/225.48 pass. Jan's bike launched well with a 1.12 sixty foot time but destroyed a cylinder head before half-track running 4.33 at the eighth mile. Jan was unsure when his next racing appearance would be due to academic commitments next spring. You can check out a gallery of Ed's shots from Valdosta, which is presented in association with Lucas Oil Products, by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Stay tuned as Ed has more notes for us which we will post on the next update. Class-by-class results are available at Dragbike.com. Web site updates. 12th November: In the latest instalment in her exclusive Racer Blog presented in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car, UK Junior Dragster racer Paige Wheeler reports upon the Wheeler family's recent trip to Las Vegas including a deliberate leap off a very tall building, the video of which made our legs go wobbly. As ever you can stay in touch with the latest Blog updates by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Valdosta day 2. 11th November: Eurodragster.com US Correspondent Ed O'Connell has been in touch with a report from yesterday's second day of qualifying at the Manufacturers Cup Finals at Valdosta: Yesterday's Quote of the Day came from Lars 'Putte' Tydenger, Crew Chief on Per Bengtsson's The Beast Supertwin team. Referring to the evening qualifying session, the third, Lars said "Our plan is to run so fast that we can never do it again". This aggressive attitude came after the team concluded that the track had some amazing grip. This was evident when the bike's new Mickey Thompson slick was totally used up after just two runs. L-O Jonsson pointed out that they usually contest an entire UEM series using just two tyres. US rider Tommy Grimes confirmed that the awesome tyre-eating grip is common at this track, as he always experiences similar tyre wear. Lars said that the track can take so much power that there is no wheel spin at all. Having never experienced a track with this much grip before, the team planned to add more clutch, more ignition, and more power for yesterday's runs. One of the key elements in adding more power lies in the adjustment of the BDK valve which adjusts the fuel pressure coming from the Rage 22 GPM fuel pump. Another unusual feature of the track at Valdosta is how fast atmospheric conditions change. As the November sun sets, the seventy degree temperatures start dropping, eventually into the thirties. A bike last in line in the pairing lanes will often face vastly different conditions from the first run of the session. For this reason Lars was planning on bringing the density altimeter into the pairing lanes and making last minute-adjustments. Being an all-bike event eliminates the possible reference of observing the car classes run. The Beast team find that tyre shake during Pro Mod runs usually indicate that the Supertwins will have to add more power to avoid the same fate. In the early afternoon qualifying session, the second, run during the heat of the day The Beast overpowered the track a few feet out from the start line. Lars said jokingly after the run "The bike was set up perfectly, must have been rider error". Check below to see if Lars was fired, and how the evening run went. Jan Sturla Hegre had his Supertwin back together on Friday night thanks to $250 of excellent work from a local machine shop. Jan commented that he was awake early, unable to sleep due to worrying about the correct set-up for the bike. His plan for qualifying session #2 was to run to 300 or 400 metres to see if the bike felt right since they have been chasing various demons in the tune-up. Unfortunately the cylinder head lifted off in a violent explosion at the hit of the throttle on the start line after a successful burnout and stage. While steering the bike to the edge of the track, Jan felt an intense heat on his leg and noticed a barely visible flame from the engine. Jan jumped off the bike and summoned the track crew, and the flames were quickly extinguished. Speaking to Jan whilst he was repairing the bike thirty minutes after the incident, he said that his ears were still ringing and that his chest was still quite sore from the impact caused by pressure from the explosion. He showed me a damaged pushrod which had been thrown from the engine and the cylinder still full of fuel. He was unsure what caused the explosion, possible explanations were ignition set-up horribly wrong or way too much fuel. He was hoping to get his bike back together for a conservative check out pass before the end of the event. In qualifying session #2 Funny Bike racer (running in Top Fuel Bike) Rikard Gustafsson ran 6.629/191.65 but drifted left and made contact with the wall just after the finish line. According to son and crew member Oscar Gustafsson, Rikard said that he was OK but he was taken to a local hospital since the contact had worn entirely through his leathers on his leg and foot. The bike was scraped at the turbo and the foot peg torn off. Oscar said that he was unsure if the crank was damaged but would wait for Rikard's return to start the engine. Later yesterday afternoon, Rikard was back working on the bike as he said "I came here to race not lie around a hospital". He said that the problem was a deformed tyre with a one inch difference in circumference on either edge. He felt the bike drifting and clicked it off at 4.5 seconds, but it was too late to save it from the wall. He had installed a new tyre and was planning on running the final qualifying session. Despite running a 9.932/90.97, Chris 'Cannon' Hamman was quite pleased with his run on the Supertwin as it produced the bike's best sixty foot time of 1.10 seconds. Having too much power was forcing the bike out of the groove towards the wall, forcing Chris to lift. A smooth strong burnout, great sixty foot time and no engine damage gave cause for optimism for qualifying session #3. The strategy would be to take some power out and lower the nitro percentage from the 88% run in session #2. In the second qualifying session Supertwin racer Trond Høiberget ran 7.092/198.82. He said he experienced severe tyre shake coming out of first gear and had to temporarily back off the throttle. With no engine damage on the run, Trond planned to add more power for the evening's final qualifying session. Svein Olav Rolfstad ran a 6.735/168.07 on his Supertwin in qualifying session #2. Svein said that it ran to the eighth mile in 4.19 and then completely died. He had borrowed new batteries for the evening session since he found his MSD ignition was getting less than twelve volts and needs at least eighteen volts to function properly. He was planning to add more fuel and run 81% nitro for the final qualifying session. The final qualifying session was run at approximately 7:30 pm. The air was getting much better but the track was getting colder. Rikard Gustafsson amazingly made the session given all the problems earlier in the day, and ran 6.967/198.64. He was happy with the number given that there was no engine damage and that he was breaking in a new rear slick. He is qualified for the eight-bike field in the #4 spot. Svein Olav Rolfstad ran 8.268/102.22 after spinning the tyre and blowing the intake off the engine with the exposed supercharger making strange noises. He is qualified #5. Chris 'Cannon' Hamman, after another strong burnout, shut off on the line due to dropping oil pressure. He did not make the eight-bike field. Trond Høiberget's battery died on the launch. He is qualified #8 position and will face the #1 qualifier Larry McBride today. Jan Sturla Hegre amazingly got his motor back together and ran a conservative 7.337/153.26 with the fuel line being off at half-track and the exhaust pipe falling off. He just kept going and said it was a good feeling having the bike whole (almost) at the end of the run. He did not qualify for the eight-bike field but will compete in the 'B' finals today. Per Bengtsson launched hard but drifted out of the groove and had to get out of the throttle. He got back into it down track and ran 8.830/162.14 and is qualified #3. You can check out a gallery of Ed's shots from Valdosta, which is presented in association with Lucas Oil Products, by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Class-by-class results are available at Dragbike.com and live timing is available at 1320go.com. Swift snippets. 11th November: Further to our Snippet of 21st October, Fester Race Cars have now finished work on the seat of Chris Manning's Villain nostalgia slingshot and the team sent this picture to show us a fine piece of work. Due to circumstances beyond the control of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame, E-Mails sent via the Enquiry facility on the BDRHoF web site will not be monitored for the next two to three weeks. Please feel free to send an enquiry but just be aware that it may be a short while before you receive a reply. Apologies for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding. Grant Mills asked us to say a big Happy Birthday for today (Sunday) to his dad, longtime drag racing fan and, Grant assures us, big Eurodragster.com fan Clive Mills. Our pleasure Grant: have a very Happy Birthday, Clive. Once described as "The world's coolest six-year-old", Tog's niece Jennipher Rogers Knight is still cool but reaches the age of twenty today. Have a lovely day Jenn. MB Motorsport season review. 11th November: UK Pro Stock Bike racer Martin Bishop has been in touch with a review of MB Motorsports' UEM European Championship season: Starting at Santa Pod, we ended up qualifying third with a 7.43/180.59, not a bad start to the season and confirming that the mods made over the winter were working well. Eliminations did not go well as in the first round the tyre spun really hard and the bike drifted to the centre line resulting in an aborted run 8.1/146, very disappointing! The next round was at Tierp Arena. First day qualifying 7.28/295 kmh, another PB and third spot, we were over the moon. In the second day of qualifying the rain arrived so only one run, a 7.33/295 and we ended the day in fourth. In Sunday's eliminations we had a first round win with a 7.304/294, nice and consistent. In the second round we were up against Ulf Ögge. The starter gave us the nod to start the bikes and then I saw something fly along the ground up the track and my bike was not turning over. The look on Cliff's face said it all - the starter nut had spun off! Game over! Even so we were very happy with the performance of the bike on its previous runs. The next round was in Finland. We left the bus in Sweden with my very good friend Roger Lyrén (thanks Roger). We picked up some of Roger's family then on the way to the ferry we had a blowout which turned into a major drama as no one had a tyre to fit and we were running out of time to catch our boat! As it is a twin-wheeler we decided to limp there with one tyre gone and made it by the skin of our teeth. Any way we made it to the track and addressed the problem there, thanks Timo. Our tyre problems continued as our rear slick had not arrived and the slick on the bike was shot! In qualifying we ended up in fourth spot with a 7.36/290. In the first round of eliminations we were up against Ulf again but by now the rear slick was completely dilapidated but we managed a 7.43/282, not bad considering but not good enough to take Ulf. The next round was in Germany. We all know how slippery the track was, so we had to think outside the box which worked. Q1, second spot with a 7.65/284! Q2, a strange one this, by trying to take away more power we managed to find a load instead which killed the ET but the back half speed was awesome, 295 kmh, and I had to hang my foot out as it caught fire - very hot exhaust but still a 7.65. We won the first round of eliminations with a 7.51. In the second round the gremlins came back with a vengeance, as Cliff went to start the bike the cam chain snapped! Although this was very disappointing at least it didn't happen on the run so major damage was avoided. We didn't contest the next round at Tierp, our final round was the European Finals at Santa Pod. What a great start at the Test Day, 7.29/185 with a terrible sixty foot so we couldn't wait for the weekend. In Q1 we ran 7.47/177  but we were down on power. Q2 7.45/177 still down on power, sixth qualifier after the first day with a big oil leak. That evening we discovered that the timing plate had come loose and snapped all the case studs, so a late night was the order of the day. In the next day's qualifying we found that we had our power back (good job lads). Q3 was a 7.33/181 with a 1.119 sixty foot, Q4 a 7.39/175  with big tyre shake. In the first round of eliminations what a race against Kalle Lyrén, side by side all the way but Kalle was first to the line first by twenty two inches, 7.4002/177.83 to 7.4040/177.84. We smoked the clutch, damn it! We had a great season, the Lucas Oil products keeping our engines in pristine condition and the bodywork gleaming. We ended up in a fantastic fourth place in the UEM Championship. Many thanks to Les Downey and Lucas Oils for their continued support, to my crew Tim and Cliff, wives and girlfriends, and every one who has supported us this year. Thanks also to the guys at Eurodragster.com (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed). Dennis Cox. 10th November: We were very sorry to hear from Volkswagen Drag Racing Club Chair Luke Stevenson of the death of VW Sportsman racer Dennis Cox. Luke writes: Earlier today we said a very sudden goodbye to Dennis Cox, who was taken from us during the early hours of this morning (Saturday), aged 61. Dennis had been involved with the VWDRC since 2002-3 and started racing himself in the Panic Attack 2 buggy in 2006. Just recently he had been chatting about the forthcoming 2013 season and was looking forward to racing again and seeing his friends. His only regret that was that he didn't start racing sooner. During his time racing with the VWDRC he had built many great friendships with fellow racers, who shared his passion, and staff both at Santa Pod and Shakespeare County Raceways. Dennis brought much happiness and many fond memories to all who knew him and will be sadly missed by family and friends. Rest in peace Den, Dad and Grampy. Our deepest sympathies go out to Sue, Paul and Lynn, Karen, Amelia, Imogen and John. Details of the funeral will be posted shortly. Valdosta day 1. 10th November: Eurodragster.com US Correspondent Ed O'Connell has been in touch with a report from yesterday's first day of qualifying at the Manufacturers Cup Finals at Valdosta: Hard-working Swedish Funny Bike racer Rikard Gustafsson is running in the Top Fuel class this weekend. Although the Pro Mod class would seem a better fit for his bike, Rikard wanted to race a full quarter mile and the Pro Mod Bike is contested over the eighth. Being somewhat pleased with his Friday test run, and having a small crew (his son and one friend), Rikard sat out the morning test session and ran a 6.467 at 217.84 putting him in the number four spot after the first qualifying session. He was pleased with the run, close to his Personal Best of 6.42, with no damage to the bike. Back in Sweden Rikard is in the process of building a Top Fuel Bike, although uncertain about when it will be ready to hit the track. It was a day of bad luck for Norway's Supertwin rider Trond Høiberget. Trond started the day with much optimism, stating that he had plenty of parts and was planning on making two test passes and one qualifying session. He was fighting a few leaks from the motor, since a month in the shipping container seemed to have dried out some gaskets and O-rings. After a very strong burnout, Trond was shut off on the starting line for a minor oil leak. After repairing the oil leak, he was warming up the bike in the pits for the first qualifying session when the motor blew a head gasket. The crew were hard at work making repairs and were optimistic about today's two qualifying sessions. Norway's Supertwin racer Jan Sturla Hegre was unable to make any runs as he was still repairing damage from Thursday's engine explosion. He has located a very well equipped machine shop three miles north of the track which is performing some machine work to his specifications. He is hopeful to be running again today. Teammate and Supertwin racer Svein Olav Rolfstad is currently qualified number five after a run of 6.653 at 180.12. As the numbers indicate he lost a cylinder at fifty metres, running a 4.24 to the eighth. Prior to losing the cylinder, he said the bike felt strong and smooth, although the clutch did lock up on the top end and the chain had to be removed to tow back to the pits. Svein plans to change to a higher nitro percentage tomorrow as upon reading the plugs he feels the engine has been running too rich. Swedish Supertwin racer Per Bengtsson started the day with a very strong test pass of 6.392 at 222.80. He then ran a qualifying pass at 6.394 at 212.73, putting him in third position behind Larry McBride at 5.925 and Tommy Grimes at 6.250. Despite nearly identical Elapsed Times, Per said that on the qualifying run the bike seemed to leave harder giving him his Personal Best eighth mile time of 4.17. After Per's 6.393, the quickest ET of the test sessions, Larry McBride was the first over to congratulate him. England's Supertwin racer Chris 'Cannon' Hannam stated that his main reason for flying out to this event was that he was so excited about the progress the team had made at the FIA European Finals that he did not want to wait until Easter next year to keep progressing. He plans to leave his equipment in the states and to run the March AHDRA meet in Gainesville and the April Manufactures Cup race at Valdosta before resuming his European race schedule. His bike has made some impressive first half runs, running 4.4 to the eighth; his focus is now on getting it to run out the back door, confident that when it does he should run into the sixes at 6.70 or 6.80. Since he has only one cylinder head left Cannon chose to sit out the test sessions and to focus on the evening's qualifying runs. He planned to back the boost down to 35-37 PSI and was confident of some dramatic header flames for the evening run. After a very strong and smooth burnout, a series of problems arose producing a 9.925at 92.67. Chris forgot to switch the fuel pump to the high side, the instrument panel failed for some unknown reason, there was an air leak, and Chris got out of the groove and was being pulled to the left. Despite the problems, Chris was optimistic since the bike made a full pass and the problems can be corrected before today's qualifying sessions. L-O Jonsson of Per Bengtsson's Supertwin team commented on how much interest there has been in the Beast and how racing at Valdosta has been such a pleasant experience. He complimented Race Director Jay Regan for being so helpful and supportive of the European racers. I tracked down the very busy Race Director and asked him how he became involved with European racing. Jay said that his involvement began in the 1980s when he did some clutch and engine work for British racers Pip Higham and Harry Barlow. His involvement took off in 1999 when he dissolved his Pro Mod Bike team to save some friendships. Since he owned the equipment, he entered into a rent-a-bike arrangement with British racer Dave Beck, a partnership which was successful over an eight-year period. Working with Dave, he met Chris Hannam and Ian King. Jay has been to Santa Pod on two occasions and has the highest praise for the track crew there, saying that the track prep he experienced was equal to that of any US track. Next on his bucket list is a trip to the NitrOlympX at Hockenheim. We have started a gallery of Ed's shots from Valdosta; you can check out the gallery, which is presented in association with Lucas Oil Products, by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Class-by-class results are available at Dragbike.com and live timing is available at 1320go.com. Off-season changes at Tierp. 10th November: The third season of Tierp Arena's short life is fast approaching and the brief respite of late autumn and winter is the time to make some changes in the organisation. "We have seen that we need to streamline the workforce and streamline our work" says Lars Erik Lindberg, co-owner and co-founder of Tierp Arena. "I will, for example, go in and take a clearer role as CEO. We will welcome some old names, and there is particular pleasure in announcing that Emelie Carlswärd chosen to come back. Despite her young age she has truly unique experience in this industry and she will now be taking a wider responsibility for our business. Another name whom we welcome back is Patrik Larsson, who returns as press and information officer. He has been asked to put together an effective press organisation which will work throughout the year and which will also be able to handle the high workloads which occur around and during major races." Henry Modigh is by no means a new name in the industry, but he is new in Tierp Arena's organisation. He is teaming up with Jonas Karlberg as a salesman and will work with the stadium's partners and sponsors. Henrik and Jonas will also handle corporate events. Helena Anderstedt began to work with finance before the 2012 season and she will continue with that. Markku Pellonpää will be responsible for the construction and restoration of the facility before and after the stadium's various events. Per Eriksson continues responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the stadium. "Right now we are sitting down and finalising the event calendar for 2013", says Lar Erik, "this time without Leif Andréasson who has decided to leave the Arena in favour of new challenges. We will release more information about the future, and possibly more changes, as soon as we can." Swift snippets. 10th November: We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to Dave Buckland of the UK's Team Heaven & Hell Pro ET team. Have a great day Dave. Happy Birthday and hugs also to Norwegian Pro Modified racer Linda Thun Tønseth. Have a lovely day Linda. Valdosta pit notes. 9th November: Eurodragster.com US Correspondent Ed O'Connell had a hellish journey to Georgia yesterday having had his flight cancelled after sitting on the tarmac for a couple of hours. By a supreme effort Ed made it to Valdosta for the last knockings of the afternoon test session and here is his first report from the Manufacturers Cup Finals: Chris 'Cannon' Hannam's first pass down the track since his clutch explosion at the FIA European Finals did not go well. At 330 feet the engine started eating itself up and by 800 feet Chris had quite a fire going and admitted to feeling a bit warm. Crewman Dave showed me the aluminum carnage. The crew were hard at work rebuilding the engine and hope to get in one more test run this afternoon before the evening's first qualifying session. Jan Sturla Hegre's first pass didn't go very well either as he torched the head. Jan and Svein Olav Rolfstad are at a loss to explain what is causing the problem. To solve the problem of the engine running too lean they have installed a larger fuel pump, but the problem persists. Svein Olav Rolfstad's first run was a soft set up running 70% nitro. He has been having some trouble with main bearings recently so they check them after each run. He was pleased to report that the bearings were happy after today's test. Per Bengtsson made several test passes hoping to get a handle on the Mickey Thompson slicks which he will be running this weekend in place of his usual Goodyears. His final pass late in the day was very promising with a sixty foot time of 1.19, not at full throttle. Per felt it was a good baseline pass as he was on and off the throttle testing the grip of the new tyres which he feels will be an advantage on smoother tracks. The track will be open for testing again today before the first round of qualifying at 4:00 pm. We have started a gallery of Ed's shots from Valdosta; you can check out the gallery, which is presented in association with Lucas Oil Products, by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Swift snippets. 9th November: Speedgroup have announced that Pro Street, Street 10.5 and Super Street Bike will be included in the 2013 EDRS Series, and that representations have been made to include Top Doorslammer. You can find out more on the EDRS Facebook page. Fans of the classic book Match Race Madness and Grady Bryant's other works will be pleased to hear that Grady has published a new book: Drag Race Fever, the story of a 1960s match-racing Factory Experimental racer. Although Drag Race Fever is nominally a work of fiction it had doubtless drawn much inspiration from Grady's own days on the road. Drag Race Fever is available from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com. Tong's bikes for auction. 8th November: CJM Asset Management, who have been tasked by his executors with selling the assets of late bike racer Steve Tong, have been in touch to let us know that Steve's bikes including the Orient Express are to be auctioned. As well as the Orient Express the catalogue includes two other drag bikes, BSA and Itom restoration projects, a 1994 Honda VFR400R with what CJM believe to be a genuine 1.6 miles on the clock, a 1986 Suzuki RG500 Gamma with 2132 miles, a 1993 BMW R100GS with 2316 miles and more. The on-line auction will open next week on www.bidspotter.co.uk and will close on 22nd November. Viewing is available between 10:00 am and 7:00 pm on Monday week, 19th November, or by appointment at CJM Auction Centre, Dunlop Way, Scunthorpe, DN16 3RN. You can find out more by clicking here (PDF format), by calling Paul Cooper at CJM Asset Management on 07970 126339 (outside the UK +44 7970 126339), or E-Mail paul.cooper@cjmasset.com. Paul's Place in the race. 8th November: 2012 Wild Bunch series winners Team Gridlock are pleased to confirm that Paul Bristow of Southampton-based V8 engine specialists Paul's Place will again be sponsoring the Go Hard or Go Home!!! Topolino Competition Altered. "Since Paul took over the engine work the car has just gone from strength to strength, needing very little work between meetings or between rounds", says Dex Price. "It has been an ultra-reliable, consistent and strong engine. We would like to thank Paul for all his efforts in the past and we look forward to having him as part of the team again in 2013. "When we first went to Paul we could not help being impressed with the range of blown and tunnel ram motors which he was building. Paul's Place is well-renowned for building ultra-reliable offshore powerboat engines and V8 road and race units, and with the reliability and low maintenance costs which we have enjoyed we would wholeheartedly recommend their services. Check out Paul's work at www.pauls-place.com and tell him that the Gridlock guys sent you! "Thanks Again Paul, your support is greatly appreciated." Swift snippets. 8th November: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodagster.com (below left) came with the words "Area 51 in Essex!". Looks like Daktari to us. If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com. Eurodragster.com sponsor Lucas Oils' youngest driver, nine-year-old Albert Carter, is runner-up in the 2012 TVKC Cadet Championship in his first season. Albert is the son of former four-time FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion Andy Carter and was one of no less than fifty seven drivers in the UK aged 8-13 to contest the Championship. "Albert's three years younger than some of his opposition and has had to drive years above himself, consistently, in order to achieve this great result" says Lucas Oil's Managing Director Les Downey. "Well done Albert." UK Pro Modified racer Wayne Nicholson and the Lucky Devil team were surrounded by visitors at the Top Gear Live Show, many of whom had never been drag racing. "Of course we had all the usual questions about the cost of tyres, fuel etc", says Wayne, "but I am sure that we converted a few people and created a lot of interest. One young lady said "That's my favourite car of the whole show!". Lots of kids took the opportunity to have their photo taken in the car. We had a great weekend chatting to people and helping them understand that a Bugatti Veyron actually isn't really that quick! Thanks to all of the team and to our sponsors". You can find out more at www.luckydevil777dragracing.com. Eurodragster.com News Editor Tog would like to thank everyone for the birthday wishes yesterday. It was quite overwhelming, thank you all. 10% off, in appreciation. 8th November: Lee Child of Eurodragster.com sponsor LA Racing Parts, UK and Ireland distributor for Eurodragster.com sponsor VP Racing Fuels, is holding an Appreciation Sale for racers current and new. "VP Racing Fuels provide excellent Championship-winning and record-breaking fuels", says Lee. "LA Racing Parts are offering 10% off  retail pricing on current stock, with free shipping on orders over 380 litres. Multiple orders can go to one delivery point to take advantage of the free shipping. "If you are not on race fuel already and use pump gas for bracket racing, then it's time to change to VP Racing Fuels' new UK1 for consistent fuel every time. VP UK1 doesn't have the same price tag as other race fuels but will have big advantages over pump gas. This fuel is unleaded with a 100 RON and makes good power, and you can add more ignition without detonation.If you want to run leaded fuel, then VP Racing Fuels' VP Vintage is an excellent fuel and has a lower price and the spec of C12. "A big thank you to all those on VP Racing Fuels, you made an excellent choice." For more details on all VP Racing Fuels products contact Lee at lee@laracingparts.com or call 01803 391740. Team Veidec's bumpy ride. 7th November: Team Veidec Pro Stock Bike owner Roger Lyrén has been in touch with a review of son, PSB racer and Eurodragster.com Blogger Kalle Lyrén's season: After the 2011 FIA European Finals Karl felt more than hungry and was ready for his next step, to start winning races. The first testing of 2012, in Malmö and Tierp, went perfectly with a few runs on each tracks and a 7.14 was a good start. So of course the expectation was there to go to the next step in 2012, but from the beginning we set a goal of getting on the podium this season and Karl did that. But our trip through the season was bumpy! It started perfectly as Karl took his first ever win at the FIA Main Event. He was happy about that and about running the quickest pass in the final at 7.16, even if the engine was not in top shape with leaking valves and we were still running thick oil in the engine since we has crank problems from 2011. Then off to Tierp, and there the problems started big time. Somewhere in there was a gremlin who followed us all the way to the European Finals at Santa Pod. When things like this hit you it is not only one thing which happens. Karl still managed still to get into the final against Ulf Ögge, but since we were running in a new engine and had a power loss it was hard for him. He did his job as a rider but still lost the race. Next was Finland. We went testing there having replaced all of the electrical components and the wiring, and we tested run by run, but it made no difference. Karl lost in the semi final against Ulf. Then we went home and went through the bike again and prepared for Hockenheim. In the six weeks between these races I was working full time as a manager at Parts Europe where Karl is also a sales agent. The racing is still a professional hobby for us, but without business there is no pleasure! So anyway we did not get any time to go testing, and after our analysis we thought we had found the problem so we were ready for Hockenheim. Not much to say about Hockenheim, we all know what happened there. Next was Tierp in extremely good conditions, some impressive runs by Fredrik Fredlund and new records. We had some problems, although the power came back we had other troubles since the tuning window was gone and we had to start from zero again. Things started to get better and in the semi against Fredrik Karl had him on the Tree, but lost by 0.005 seconds. We had a broken crank which robbed us of speed in fifth and sixth gears. More bad luck and not enough time to get a new crank and get an engine run in so we decided to go to Santa Pod with only one engine. We always run at the Test Days before the European Finals and did so again this year. We took the spare engine and made two safe runs, and finally it started to work. Then it happened again, in the burnout engine went silent and boom! Cam chain snapped. At first Karl and I decided to give up, we had no parts to get the engine to work, but should we give up? It was Wednesday afternoon and we were not running until Friday. So we took all the parts we had in the pit, took the engines apart and put everything on the table, and we managed to put one engine together from the two broken motors and spares. Chris Hannam helped us with some welding, thanks Cannon, and at 9:30 on Thursday night the engine was running! We managed to qualify third even though Karl had a bad fever, a temperature of 39° and was running on painkillers. He was weak and had no energy. We should have been in the semi final but in the first round of eliminations the gearbox broke and we had to pull the engine apart between rounds. Sadly we did not have enough time, three or four more mintes and the bike would have been ready but that's racing. Karl managed third in the Championship, and the goal from the beginning was to be on podium. The effort our team made on and off the track was absolutely super. They work so hard and always with a smile even in bad times. We have learned a lot this year. Karl has a total of 120 runs on a Pro Stock Bike, he is the youngest rider to take a medal in PSB and for the second year in a row we have the fastest European-built Pro Stock Bike. I want to thank all the people who made this possible. My wife Malin, my daughter Sara, my wife's sisters Maria, Eva and Lena for the extremely nice VIP and the best food at the track, Karl's girlfriend Jessica for support and help at the races and good support for Karl, Stefan who takes care of lot of things on and off track, Atle and Pål from Norway for the work on the bike and the positive spirit, and of course my son Karl for riding the bike so well: his riding makes tuning much easier. Thanks also to our partners who made this possible: Veidec and Rickard Pålsson, and of course all the Veidec guys who come to the races, Matte, Dan, Per, and the rest of the people, Vance and Hines with Paul Langley and Eddie Krawiec, Parts Europe and Drag Specialties with Fred Fox and Hans Lautem, Icon, Swecomposite, Unique Custom Cycle, Mats and Carina you are so nice to have as partners and friends, Oakley, K&N Filters, Cometic Gaskets, Swedol, AM Pro, M&M Caravan, Robert at Teisab, and Elvira Karlsson for racing and travelling with us through this season. I also want to thank Speedgroup with Åsa and Aila, and all of the race tracks for making this season possible. After a bumpy race season we are having some time off but we are preparing for 2013. See you all at the race track. Swift snippets. 7th November: We hear from Eurodragster.com US Correspondent Ed O'Connell that the new third edition of the Race Engine Technology offshoot magazine, Drag Race Technology, is excellent. The new issue has a strong European flavour including a look at Eurodragster.com sponsor Urs Erbacher's Top Fuel Dragster operation, Sportsman chassis tech with input from Eurodragster.com sponsor Chris Isaacs, a piece about the Puma Engineering parallel twin motor, and more. The magazine also contains a number of pictures by our good friend and regular Contributing Photographer Julian Hunt. Drag Race Technology will be available on-line at www.raceenginetechnology.com. Thanks to longtime Eurodragster.com fan Carl Sim for letting us know that Motors TV UK is showing a documentary about Pro Mod racer and Eurodragster.com Blogger Andy Frost's Red Victor 3, the quickest street-legal car on the planet. Due to late E-Mail retrieval we missed yesterday's screenings but the RV3 documentary can be seen again on Motors TV, Sky 413 and Virgin 545, at 15:45 today (Wednesday) and at 03:15 on Friday. Also on TV, in this case Web TV, Speedgroup Co-ordinator Åsa Kinnemar will be appearing on Nitroz.se's Motorsoffan at 19:00 European / 18:00 UK this evening to discuss the European Championship and EDRS seasons and much more. You can watch Motorsoffan at www.nitroz.se. We would like to wish a big Happy Birthday for today (Wednesday) to Ella Lameir. Unfortunately Ella's partner Maikel Gloudemans of our streaming service provider Doyousee.me tells us that Ella is under the weather right now, so the whole Eurodragster.com staff would like to wish Ella a big Get Well Soon with added hugs. A Happy Birthday also to Julie Pateman of the UK's Team Pateman Super Comp and Super Gas team. A very Happy Birthday to Eurodragster.com News Editor, Race Reporter and Photographer Tog, who we understand will be travelling to Edinburgh by train today and Thursday but still with the trusty netbook in case news stories arrive. Have a great trip buddy, and many happy returns from Kirstie, Ed and Simon. Smith's positive finish. 6th November: The 2012 season ended on a high for the UK's Mark Smith and the Punisher Pro Stock Bike team as he defeated Len Paget in the PSB final at the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway in October. Mark says that after a dreadful year it was more than the team could ever have hoped for: We were using the event as a test and tune of a new 1640 cc four-valve Roger Upperton motor after totally destroying the 1755 cc engine back at the Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. The Bike Weekend was our first time out since May and it wasn't without its problems, as we had serious gearbox issues on all of our runs, but we did enough to get the winner's trophy! Over the winter break we will be replacing the gearbox and a new body will be going on. We will be making a couple of modifications to the chassis but there is not a lot else to do to the bike. We have recently bought Chris Hope's 1655 cc two-valve Vance and Hines engine, and with Ray Debben rebuilding the 1755 cc motor we will be well stocked and prepared for the 2013 season with three complete motors. Next year we will be racing as part of the Warpspeed Racing team along side Stuart Crane (Funny Bike) Dale Leeks (Funny Bike) and Mark Green (9.50 Bike). We are very excited about this new venture together. We will be racing at all of the ACU and UEM UK rounds and we hope to travel to Germany to race at Hockenheim. We would like to thank the following for all of their support in 2012 and we look forward to a successful 2013 season: Kerry Smith, Mark Green (crew) Warpspeed Racing, Draper Tools, Debben Performance, Roger Upperton Racing, TW Metals, MPM Oil, Greens Plumbing, Shoot Me Photos and MDH Auto repairs. See you next season! Showcasing with SCR. 6th November: Although the season is all but over there was still time for cars to be seen in public at last weekend's Motorsport UK Show which took place at the home of British Motorsport, Silverstone. Jerry Cookson writes: Motorsport UK showcased the affordable grass roots level of British motorsport with displays from motor racing clubs, karting, marshals, saloon cars and single seater racing clubs. Downstairs in the pit garages were further displays from racing teams, track day cars and clubs. The Shakespeare County Raceway stand comprised a three-car display featuring Michelle Mockford's Outlaw Anglia Orange Pop, Deborah Laugher's Super Pro ET '63 Split Window and representing the Wild Bunch Dave Rowland's 23T altered Destiny's Angel. Simon Barlow also brought along a 1940s Austin J40 pedal car converted to battery power, and in bright orange of course, for the kids to sit in. Further down the hall and on display on the Ravenol High Performance Lubricants stand was Frank Bennett's six-second methanol-burning Fiat Topolino altered accompanied by Steve Clark from Nimbus Motorsport. There was plenty of conversation to be had with interested onlookers both from adjoining stands such as Go Motorsport and from car clubs wishing to know more about the Raceway and its 2013 events. Calendars and information cards were duly handed out. The Raceway should also benefit from some TV time in a forthcoming Motorsport UK review show scheduled to appear on Motors TV. Shakespeare County Raceway would like to thank Dusty Laugher, Angie Woods and Andrew Willcox for giving up their weekends to assist with the stand. Our next planned show date is Race Retro in February 2013. Erbacher eyes return. 5th November: Multiple FIA European Champion, Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Urs Erbacher is determined to return to the track in 2013. Urs ran a limited FIA schedule in 2012 but after finding the recent NHRA race in Las Vegas "boring" has decided that spectating is not for him. "I was invited by Mike Salinas, the guy who licenced in my car in Dallas after my last race in the USA in 2009", says Urs. "Now it's 1000% I cannot be without racing and so we will find a way to come back and win the FIA Championship again. Hard-working Risto has his title now and my congratulations to him for that, but now that it's over we need to bring the title back to Switzerland again. We are making plans and working on sponsorship for the whole 2013 FIA schedule including testing at Easter. After that we want go to USA and run the last two NHRA races. We don't have a contract so if anyone knows any company which would like to be the partner of a winning team then please contact me. "To start with, we need to sell Lorenz' Supertwin. I now discounted the bike by €10,000 so the whole bike including parts and tools is now €50,000. This includes Lorenz' help to run the bike and almost all the parts you need for the first two or three races. The bike is very easy on parts. Please call Lorenz or I if you are interested." You can contact Urs via his web site at www.fatattack.ch. Swift snippets. 5th November: We would like to say a big Happy Birthday for today (Monday) to our good friend and former Photo Editor Sharkman, have a great day buddy. No news update yesterday so we were unable to wish a timely Happy Birthday to Supercharged Outlaws racer Sam Freeman and Supertwin Gas racer Martin Holgate. Hope you had good days guys. After Sandy, Cannon... 3rd November: UK Supertwin racer Chris Hannam's bike is safely at Jay Regan's in Florida ready for preparation work for next week's Haltech Cup, the Manufacturers Cup final, at Valdosta. Cannon writes that there has been a last-minute crew change: We have had a small setback in that Al Smith will not able to travel with the team due to circumstances beyond our control. This is not what we wanted and both Al and the team are gutted but we have committed so much that we must push forward with positive momentum to try and put all our hard work in to practice. With the bad news comes some good, we have managed to secure the services of Ian 'Rush' Carruthers and Dave Witts to help at the track in Al's place, although it won't be Al we welcome Ian and Dave to the team for the first part of our USA challenge. We will get to MRE on Sunday morning to start work uncrating the bike and starting the build, and we hope to get everything sorted and set up by Tuesday night. We then load the trailer on Wednesday morning and travel to Valdosta where we will start testing on Thursday and then in to the meeting for first round qualifier at dusk. This is what I live for, as it's been so long since we raced in the dark and I just hope we can get a good shot with big header flames There are several people to thank for making this happen: Tom at Lucas Oil Products USA who are continuing their support for our full tour; Malcolm and the team at Airsea Logistics have done a fantastic job getting the bike delivered and the service has been second to none; Jay and the team at  MRE for just doing what needs to be done; Johnny at Hawaya for sorting my fuel; and not least the team for just getting it done, so my biggest thanks to you all and roll on Valdosta! I will try to update my Facebook page when I can as I have a lot of support. Again this is very much appreciated and we will do our best. Happy Flamholc. 3rd November: Swedish Pro Modified racer Adam Flamholc is more than content with his season in the US' ADRL Series: Our goal was to be top six in the series, and we ended up as number four! It has been an incredible year for the team and I. Since the car arrived in US in September of last year we have made more than 180 runs. In Europe, it would probably have taken five seasons to do that. As I said many times before there was a huge effort from many people to make this happen. I would like to thank our sponsors Hurst Boiler and Welding (Jeff Hurst), Amalie Oil (Dan Ribba And Johan Soderlund), Autoshop (Birgitta Bergqvist), Performance Plus(Jeff Friedman), Cleanpipe (Jorgen And Sylvia Karlsson), Ja It Hjalp (Johan Alexandersson), Doyousee.me (M@ikel Gloudemans), Top IT (Konrad Bayer), Flatoutperformance (Jesper Akesson), Malmo Motor Renovating (MMR), Custom Graphics (Errol Sabovic) and Leanders Clutch (Jörgen Leanders). Also thanks to: Jancen (Mike Janis) for a great blower, and help with parts and so on during the season; Al Billes for great advice when I needed it; G-Force for our bad-ass hot rod which is working really well, and my longtime friends the Houghtaling family for letting us store the rig there when we needed to. Also a huge thank you from me to everyone in the team. It's not easy to have different people working on the car at pretty much every event, but they all did a awesome job, so thanks guys: Patrick Grahn, Oscar Berseús, Fredrik Akesson, Per Stromberg, Mike Canter, Roy Hylander, Michael Carlsson, Johan Pripp, John Sloan, Mikael Hansson and Kent Andersson. And the final and most important thank you to my wife Anna and my kids Frida, Isabell and Mattias. Without their support I would not be able to this. I really, really hope we can do it again next year! Swift snippets. 3rd November: First to offer Eurodragster.com readers a 2013 calendar is our good friend Chris Eyre whose offering features fifty two pictures of Pro and Sportsman classes. "Each month has race dates filled in already on the day planner so there is no excuse for missing any race weekends!", says Chris. "All months are available to view on my web site. Act fast as there is a special introductory price of £8 for a limited time (there a small extra charge for orders outside the UK). Hoping everyone has a happy off season, it will be over before you know it!". To take a look at Chris' calendar check out www.eurodragpics.com/for-sale or click on the picture at right. The world's leading motorcycle weekly Motorcycle News has published a multi-page colour feature in their latest edition focused on 2012 UEM Top Fuel Bike Champion Ian King's Gulf Oil – Grand Prix Originals Top Fuel team. The item, in the 31st October edition, also carries side features on other bike classes running at the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway. Web site updates. 3rd November: 2011 FIA European Top Methanol Dragster Champion Fred Hanssen's operation is comfortably esconced in the USA and being prepared for the 2013 season. Fred's tuner Will Hanna has started a Facebook page on which you can keep in touch with the Islanders Black and White operation. Check it out at www.facebook.com/FredHanssenTAD. Mark Skinner has posted a gallery from last weekend's Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway on his Flickr site at www.flickr.com/photos/fast_n_bulbous. Mark tells us that this is his sixtieth album from Santa Pod in 2012. DRC folds. 2nd November: Santa Pod Raceway Marketing Manager Caroline Day writes that after nearly two years and nineteen issues, we sadly say goodbye to Drag Racing Confidential, Santa Pod's on-line magazine created and published by Simon Hodder and Nigel Holland. Nigel Holland announced that "Time, family and personal reasons are the driving force behind our decision.  We have both had a great time putting the magazine together and have met some amazing individuals that have helped contribute to some informative and entertaining articles.  We would like to thank all those that have helped us throughout.  We would also like to thank Santa Pod for their support and, of course, our readers." Caroline commented "It's a real shame as there is an obvious market for this type of publication and both Nigel and Simon have worked incredibly hard to produce some excellent issues and provide a much needed outlet for regular feature-based stories and articles. It is something we would very much like to see resurrected in the future." All past issues will stay on-line and are available at www.drceurope.co.uk. The Beast is in town. 1st November: Per Bengtsson and the Beast Superwtin team left Sweden yesterday for their US tour and the Manufacturers World Cup in Valdosta. L-O Jonsson writes: The team will first have one week of fun starting in the Orlando area and then arrive at the South Georgia Motorsports Park next Wednesday to build up the pit area. Six European teams will be on the start line and it all starts with testing on Thursday and half of Friday to be as well-prepared as possible for the first Pro session on Friday evening. You will be able to follow the action here on Eurodragster.com thanks to US Correspondent Ed O'Connell who will be on-site for daily reports. For more information please also visit the Beast web site www.bentec.net where we will also post some reports in the days before the race. All this would not be possible without the support of DHL, Global Solutions, Hapag-Lloyd, Sunoco Race Fuels and Red Line Oil. A special thank you to Bilservice Åseda for extra support. Turbos, Texans, Ed Pink and more... 1st November: 2012 was an interesting season for Team TurboVille, writes Ian Turburville: We had sold Laura's junior to Callum Bradshaw and I had built a unique Comp Dragster for her over the winter. The Overkill car is a Junior Comp dragster with a nitro Harley motor in the back, injected, on methanol. We made a few outings with it and it all worked OK but it dawned on us that we would be in for a couple of seasons of development to get it up to its full potential. A normal scenario for any new concept car, but Laura was itching to race something competitive straight away so I reluctantly put her beautiful car up for sale in order to get her on track. It is still available now! Meanwhile, I entered my slingshot in the Wild Bunch series and a round of Super Pro ET to get some seat time and experience and mostly had a lot of fun with this great car. The Bunch were great and we set many Personal Bests culminating in an 8.45/166 which was still launching from idle on the foot brake! There was a slight hiccup when we dropped a valve at the beginning of the year but I soon fixed that. While it was being repaired I got a call from my buddy, Canadian Nitro Harley Champion Ron Houniet and from his buddy Nate Gagnon asking for help with Nate's planned European tour in UEM. Of course I was glad to help and ended up crewing for Nate at most of his rounds which was a wild experience! Hanging out with Nate and Samu Kemppainen is never a boring experience and the beer and nitro flowed freely! Nate ended up winning the UEM Championship and returned home with a shelf full of big, shiny trophies. They will be back I think! Then the devil approached me... well, Kenny Gomez actually, making us an offer we couldn't refuse! The team ended up with a totally rebuilt magnesium Ed Pink 8/71 blower from Raymond Beadle's Blue Max Funny car and a complete Hilborn four-hole hat with manifolds, pulleys and everything I needed! I dropped it on top of the motor and it was immediately obvious that it was just meant to be. The car now looked perfect, the way it was always meant to be, like my heroes' cars from the sixties. Ed Pink helped out with some bits, Raymond Beadle agreed it was indeed off the car he left in the UK and Spud Miller of Fuel Injection Enterprises gave us some good advice and parts. This left the awesome Crower injection system surplus and I had a spare, fresh, Big Block Chevy motor! Ed Yates of Ramraider slingshot fame wanted the whole deal and intends to build a whole new car around it, which meant selling his Championship-winning Wild Bunch car. It didn't take a genius to work out that deal so team principals CHF gave it the thumb's up! We joined Ed, Ray, and Sarah at the National Finals and Sarah graciously agreed to let Laura double-enter the car in Pro ET to upgrade her licence to see if she could cope. Not much of a problem there, she not only coped but surprised everyone by running a string of nines, chutes out, licence signed off, and she nearly beat Bob Molden! It seems it really is in the blood so we have re-christened the car Young Blood, also as a nod to our pal Kenny who did our hero cards. Laura's car has already been stripped and made over as a modern Junior Fuel car. If you were watching the California Hot Rod Reunion then you will have seen these cars from Texas Racing. They are not strictly nostalgia cars, but modern, front motor dragsters with injected Small Blocks on methanol which evolved from CJ 'Pappy' Hart's injected nitro class of the mid sixties. This is a look which suits the new Young Blood car perfectly. Laura has asked that we don't post any pics of her car until it is totally finished and I think she is right but that wont be long as it is all done bar the paint and that is in the hands of Curbishley Automotive as we speak! My slingshot is being re-born also, we have all we need to do the job bar new pistons and money, so I have decided to change the name of it to True Blood as a nod to its heritage and my obsession for the past fifty years. Here's a sneak peek! The late Jim McClure (Mr Spokehead) will always ride with me though and will never be forgotten. Laura's car is supported by Nottingham Platers Ltd, the home of good chrome! Ian's car is supported by Gates Belts, DJ Safety, EGT, Superpower Unlimited and Kenny Youngblood. A big shout out to all the folks who have helped CHF racing this year: Steve Leedell, Crunch, Will Sharman, Johnno, Ingrid, Martin, Pete and Duncan, Tim Fountain, Chris Eyre, Terry Dutton, Big Andy, Chris, Claire and the Wild Bunch, Ian Jackson's team, Spud, Charlie Draper, Karl Harrison, Rod McCarrell, Stormy, Tom Hannah, Vinnie, Pete Yates, Sara Howells, Chris Allen, Roger Lee, Bob Higginson, Carl Olson, Mark Flavell, Johnny Hall, Anita Mäkelä, Reto Stutz, Dave Wilson, Wendy Baker and Paul Stubbings, Ian Marshall and the track team, Pete Kellett, Petri Kalttonen, Jeyes Fasteners, Hauser Race Cars, Jim Broome, Nigel Jenkins, Barry and Mandy, John and Tom Atkinson and all the other people that make up our great family! Special thanks to C.H.F. RACING for letting us do all this! Now, back to the workshop... Swift snippets. 1st November: If you fancy driving a Pro Mod then Norbert Kuno and Germany's Lucas Oil Pro Mod team is looking for a driver for their second car in 2013. "The driver gets the full support of the team and everything they need to go racing", says Norbert. "We help with licence, practice and fun. You can rent the Pro Mod car per race or for the full season. Please, only serious enquiries and no tyre kickers". If you are interested then please contact Norbert at nkuno@bochum.de. Fife's own Outlaw Anglia racer Colin Millar had a public open day for his new DPS Group business premises last Saturday, inviting fellow Fifers Gerry Treit (Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator) and Andy Park (regular RWYBer) for a fine autumn day's get together. Gerry Treit tells us that The big V8s loved the gulps of fresh Scottish icy air and that the sun even appeared for a nanosecond. "Developing since 1984, DPS Group have become an established supplier of instrumentation sales, electrical and instrumentation project management, system integration for industrial and process control", says Gerry. "We all wish Colin the very best of success in his new flashy business premises." Luke Bennett tells us that since Ravenol High Performance Lubricants became a technical partner of Bennett Racing, both the Ravenol and Bennett operations have been a hive of activity. "The next appearance for Bennett Racing is this weekend's Motorsport UK show in the very nice Silverstone Wing building", says Luke. "We will be displaying the '32 Topolino on the Ravenol stand for the entire event.  For those attending we will see you there, for those that are not then if you can spare a minute or two please Like the official Ravenol Facebook page." F&A increase ACAG support. 1st November: The Allard Chrysler Action Group and Lucas Oil-sponsored Top Fuel Dragster team F&A Racing announced further sponsorship to help with the restoration of Europe's first dragster, – Sydney Allard's 1961 Allard Chrysler. F&A Racing is the project's largest sponsor and first became involved in 2010. ACAG Chairman Brian Taylor said "F&A Racing had a difficult start to their racing year but they managed to get to all rounds of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship visiting Sweden, Finland and Germany as well as the UK. They got down to a best elapsed time of 4.12 seconds for the standing start 1000 foot strip recorded at the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway in September. Not too dusty for their first year. "But they also managed to send the ACAG a further sponsorship cheque for £5000 taking their total support into five figures. This fantastic source of funds and is crucial to completing the restoration project – particularly as we approach the final processes of the task. Thanks to all the F&A Racing Team for this amazing sponsorship. This comes from the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu as well as the Allard Chrysler Action Group." Driver Chris Andrews said “Our sponsors know that a percentage of all the monies they give us for the Lucas Oil Top Fuel Dragster will go to restoring Europe's first dragster, an exciting and important project that is close to our hearts. To do this sort of work properly is not cheap and I know that all those working on the car do so willingly but at no mean personal cost financially. It's not just time and expertise that they give and we are pleased to help them achieve this task by sharing our sponsorship with them. It was great to see the cars side by side at the Chelsea AutoLegends show earlier this year and it will be very exciting to get them side by side again at Beaulieu next May for the first joint fire-up. The Allard will be complete at that time and I can't wait to see the finished product." Web site updates. 1st November: Our good friend Alan Currans survived the brass monkey weather at Shakespeare County Raceway's Halloween Bonfire Burn-Up and has posted a gallery of shots of Saturday's action on his excellent Acceleration Archive. You can check out Alan's pictures via the What's New link at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. Also updating from Shakespeare County Raceway, only in this case the mid-October Public Track Weekend, is The Mad Welshman whose shots you can check out at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman. Earlier news