Ålund stands in for Anderson. 31st January: Eight-time FIA European Pro Stock Champion Jimmy Ålund will be piloting a Summit Racing Equipment / KB Racing Camaro for the first six events of the 2014 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. Summit Racing issued the following press release: Ålund will be driving Greg Anderson's Summit Racing Camaro beginning with the 54th annual Circle K NHRA Winternationals, 6th-9th February at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, California. Anderson will be out of the driver's seat for the first three months of the season due to scheduled surgery. "It's really not a big deal", Anderson explained about his condition. "I was born with a bicuspid aortic heart valve (two valve openings instead of three). It's something we've kept track of over the years, and my doctor has decided it's time to make some repairs so I stay in good shape. I will miss the first few races of the season, but once the doctor says I'm good to go, I'm gonna be right back at it looking for another Pro Stock Championship." Ålund is one of the most successful Pro Stock drivers in Europe, winning Championships each year from 2004 through 2009 as well as 2011 and 2013. In 2013, the Swedish racer qualified number one at all six events of the FIA European Championships season, won five of those six events, and reset the Pro Stock ET and Top Speed records (6.534 seconds, 213.31 miles per hour). Part of Ålund's winning formula was the KB Racing engine under the hood of his 2012 J&J Performance Camaro. It was that connection and Ålund's 2013 performance that got him the nod to drive the Summit Racing Camaro while Greg Anderson recuperates. "I'm really honoured to be a part of this organization", Ålund said about KB Racing. "I have some big shoes to fill - Greg is one of the best Pro Stock drivers in the world, bar none. I believe that I'm up to the challenge, though. I'm looking forward to helping KB Racing win another Championship. "Just like Greg and Jason Line, I'm a hands-on guy - I work on my own race car alongside my team", Ålund continued. "I hope my experience will be valuable to the KB Racing team. It always helps to have a new set of eyes on the car." Ålund has competed in NHRA Pro Stock Racing before, running several National events during the 2010 season. The experience gave him a taste of what American Professional class drag racing is all about. "In the US, you are running against the best of the best" Ålund explained. "After all, this is the home of drag racing, so you expect that. We don't race full-time in Europe like the pro teams do here, but racing is racing - we are just as competitive as the racers in America. This is a great opportunity for me to show that to American race fans." Ålund will be testing in Phoenix, Arizona prior to the season-opening Circle K NHRA Winternationals. He and teammate Jason Line will begin the Winternationals with two qualifying sessions on Friday 7th February. Swift snippets. 30th January: Eurodragster.com sponsor Jeff Bull, family and friends have asked us to say a big Happy Birthday for today (Thursday) to Belinda Bull. Our pleasure guys, have a lovely day Belinda. Good luck and stay safe to FIA European Top Methanol Funny Car Champion Jonnie Lindberg and Top Methanol FC racer Ulf Leanders who are testing in Las Vegas this weekend before contesting next week's NHRA Winternationals at Pomona. Testing starts tomorrow and you will be able to stay in touch with Jonnie's progress via the Lindberg Brothers Motorsport web site at www.lindbergbros.com and the Leanders Brothers Facebook page. Steve Dudley tells us that tomorrow's slot drags in Chelmsford have had to be postponed. Steve asked us to apologise for the short notice. Graphite offer plastic parts. 30th January: Kevin Lambourne of Graphite Additive Manufacturing Ltd has been in touch to introduce his company which is now able to offer services to racers in the creation of bespoke parts built in carbon fibre-reinforced plastic: This service is ideal for building out-of-production or hard-to-find items as well as in the creation of unique or individually modified components. The carbon fibre reinforced material we use has the highest strength-to-weight and stiffness-to-weight ratios of any 3D printed plastic. Typical applications for this service include the creation of brake ducts, mounting brackets, air vents etc. making great savings in weight and increasing the strength of components produced. In fact Graphite has recently been selected as Product Sponsor to the Bloodhound SSC, Richard Noble's World Land Speed Record project, offering advice on material choices and producing parts for the world's first 1000 mph car, where the highest levels of strength and lightness are a prerequisite. We build in other materials which might be relevant, ABS-like plastics for example, including a clear option, and we offer other services like painting or metal plating. If you want a few facts about the material and the 3D printing process then have a quick look at our web site at www.graphite.uk.com. If you look under Materials at Carbon SLS, that's the material we're talking about, and under Services on the 3D Printing page you'll find a brief description of the SLS process which is how we build parts like that pictured. Dragstalgia drive-in. 29th January: The UK's premier Nostalgic Drag Racing event, Dragstalgia returns to Santa Pod Raceway on 11th-13th July and the latest addition to the bill is an authentic drive-in cinema. James Forster writes: Drive in your Classic, American or Hot Rod and enjoy screenings of a number of classic drag racing movies including Heart Like a Wheel, the Shirley Muldowney story, American Graffiti, Two-Lane Black Top and more. We're even showing what's thought to be the first big screen viewing in the UK of the smash hit Snake and Mongoose, and what better way to watch it than on a Saturday evening surrounded by Hot Rods at the end of a hard day's racing. Simply tune into Nitro FM (96.2 FM) on your stereo, or bring a wireless to get the audio, sit back and enjoy. If you haven't got a car worthy of driving in, you'll be pleased to hear that you'll be able to watch the films from the bank behind the cars instead. For drag racing fans, this is set to be one of the most memorable film viewings you'll ever experience! Set in the heyday of drag racing and based on a true story, Snake and Mongoose uncovers for the first time on the big screen the compelling rivalry and breakthrough sports marketing accomplishments of Don 'The Snake' Prudhomme and Tom 'The Mongoose' McEwen including a Hot Wheels partnership which proved game changing for all parties including the world of drag racing. Watch on as the two bitter adversaries become the best of friends away from the drag strip whilst remaining fierce rivals on the track. The action is guaranteed to keep you, quite literally, on the edge of your driving seat! The action doesn't end there as afterwards the Fuelers Bar will be hosting live music and Burlesque into the early hours and with the Beer Festival on hand to keep you topped up, there's no excuse not to enjoy yourself. Of course all of this is sandwiched in between three days of quarter-mile adrenaline-pumping Nostalgia racing with some of the most historic race cars still in operation today and some that have been all but forgotten! Fittingly, the Nostalgia Funny Cars are always a crowd favourite and with six turning up in 2013, who knows how many we'll be lucky enough to get in 2014. These period correct machines are supported with altereds, slingshots, Nostalgia doorslammers, bikes and even a jet-powered dragster for good measure. Continuing the Nostalgic theme is the return of the fire burnouts preceded by the annual cacklefest. The best part of the whole weekend is that you can get all of this action over three days including two nights' camping and entertainment for as little as £30 (plus booking fee) per person and kids under sixteen go free! This news comes just in time to get your tickets at the discounted Early Bird prices; book before 5:00 pm this Friday (31st January) and you get 20% off all advance prices. Book on-line at www.santapod.com or call 01234 782828 (outside the UK +44 1234 782828). We are now open to racer entries for all invited classes too. RWYB spaces are also selling like hot cakes and will undoubtedly sell out well before the event so anyone wanting to take part should book sooner rather than later. We already have some very exciting vehicles from all around Europe booked in. Racers should contact James or Phil on [email protected] or call 01234 782828 (outside the UK +44 1234 782828). For the full line-up please visit www.dragstalgia.co.uk. Swift snippets. 29th January: Santa Pod Raceway would be pleased to hear from any racer who would like to have their race car on static display at Stuntfest at Santa Pod on Saturday 22nd February. If you are interested then please get in touch with Alex Stringer at [email protected] or call 01234 782828. We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to APIRA race official Julie Willcox. Have a lovely day Julie. WRE stay on board with RV3. 29th January: Andy Frost and the Red Victor Racing Pro Modified team are very proud to announce ongoing support from Webster Race Engineering in 2014. Team Principal and owner Andy Frost says "Most people know that WRE built the rolling chassis for Red Victor 3, and that it goes arrow straight. This is down to the tremendous knowledge which Jon Webster and his team have. We are very happy to continue the working relationship which we have had since 2002, when Jon turned Red Victor 2 into a Street Eliminator contender. Since then we have set records in everything we have done. We look forward to continuing that during 2014, and are eagerly awaiting the updates to the car to see what it will do in terms of performance and driveability. We thank Jon for his excellent support on and off the track!" Webster Race Engineering head honcho Jon Webster says Andy's drive and determination to achieve the goals he has set for himself and the team are inspirational, and are great examples of what can be achieved. I don't know anyone who works harder. Andy and I have a long-standing working relationship,  with an understanding of the importance of R&D procedures. The feedback and data we get from Andy is invaluable to verifying the theory behind changes and modifications one way or another. With this in mind Webster Race Engineering will continue to provide track and technical support throughout 2014, and we wish the RV3 team the best of luck for the season." "The team look forward to working with Jon in 2014, and we can't wait to see the results!" adds Andy Frost. You can find the Webster Race Engineering web site at www.webster-race-engineering.co.uk or call 01933 315236. Satan's Lady cleared for take-off. 28th January: The decision to stay in 9.50 Bike in 2014 left the UK's Phil Pratt with funds available to do something he'd wanted to do for several years. "We've always had an interest in the history of Santa Pod when it was home to the 92nd Bombardment Group, and having read their amazing stories we wanted to pay tribute to the brave service personnel who became known as Fame's Favored Few", says Phil. "Whilst looking at the names of the various B-17s which called what was then Station 109 home, one in particular caught our eye - and so the research into Satan's Lady began. "The research was to prove difficult but extremely interesting and rewarding, culminating in the discovery of an article written by one of her crew which documented her final mission. "Ian Kerr put us in touch with David Earl who had done the amazing artwork on his Spirit of Drag Racing car, and he began the job of bringing Satan's Lady back to life, starting with the no-doubt mind-numbing, task of airbrushing hundreds of rivets! Keeping to the era - when aircraft arrived without markings and were then 'customised' by their crews - David has painstakingly hand painted all of the various Squadron emblems, lettering and detailing, to give our modern day Lady the true authentic feel. "We'd also like to say a big Thank You to the very knowledgeable people from the Fame's Favored Few Facebook group who helped so much with our research and, of course, to David for his skill and patience. Check out his fabulous work at www.airbrushearl.com. "SuZe has compiled an information board about the 92nd Bombardment Group, along with leaflets containing the amazing story of the final mission of Satan's Lady - a mission worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster! So please come and visit us in the pits and find out more about those who were here before us. "We're really excited to be bringing Satan's Lady back out on to the same runway from which she flew seventy years ago." UK Top Sportsman braced for 2014. 28th January: UK Top Sportsman, the fastest, largest, richest, televised, no rules (other than safety), no-holds-barred, heads-up and fast bracket doorslammer event goes from strength to strength in 2014. Not only will the class be returning to the mighty Mopar Euronats for the third year runnung on 25th-27th July, but UK Top Sportsman also has a brand new second date at Sir Brian Burrows' VW Action also at Santa Pod Raceway on 29th-31st August. Paul Marston writes: Yes, those teams who have previously competed in Direct Plastics UK Top Sportsman Events had asked for more dates and now you have one! I must first of all thank everyone who has supported us in the past three years: the racing teams, fans, marketing partners, PMR crew, Santa Pod Raceway management and Eurodragster.com. You all have played a very important rôle in making UK Top Sportsman the success it has now become. My heartfelt thanks go to all the great guys at the Mopar Euronats for inviting us back for a landmark third year. And now UK Top Sportsman has a second date at VW Action the weekend prior to the FIA European Finals. What a fantastic opportunity to showcase UK Top Sportsman, doorslammer racing at its very best. I could not pick a better event to host our second race than VW Action. Brian Burrows and his VW Action organisation put on a great event and are very professional and easy to deal with. Having personally been to VW events and having known people in the VW scene for so long, it feels a bit like going home. I am really looking forward to UK Top Sportsman in 2014 for so many reasons. Two UK Top Sportsman dates for starters, seeing all the Top Sportsman race teams again who have competed and really enjoy the events, which is always number one in my book. A lot of teams to whom I have spoken to over the winter are coming back in 2014, some with new combos, some with new cars, there are brand new teams coming in 2014, there are returning competitors. There are even teams who are building cars specifically to compete in UK Top Sportsman. This year will without doubt see more entries and new blood and this will guarantee some of the toughest, hardest-fought, heads-up doorslammer racing you are ever likely to witness. Make a date in your diary to come to these two events. If you can only make two events this year, you can do no better than to come to these - they really will be that good. For further details on the UK Top Sportsman such as rules and regs etc, check the web site at www.topsportsman.co.uk and for news items stay tuned to Eurodragster.com. To 200 and beyond... 27th January: The UK's Jayne Kay will be getting the wind in her face this season as she has acquired the former Rebel T altered previously campaigned to three NFAA titles by Chris and Clayton Round. "Dad purchased the altered over Christmas and I went with him to collect it over the New Year as a surprise", Jayne told Eurodragster.com. "The car has a 480 ci Chevrolet Rodeck with Dart heads, 14-7-1 Kobelco blower, hat and port injection, three-speed Lenco drive and MSD ignition.  "My goal this year is to go fast, and to make it to the 200 mph club. I will be competing in Super Pro ET and entering one or two NFAA rounds, and now I'm lucky enough to be able to enter my car into Nostalgia events. I am excited for this new challenge, looking forward to a different yet similar perspective of racing, and obviously going that little bit faster! "I'd like to introduce my new sponsors for this year RW Custom Paint and Custom Coach Trimming, and I would also like to thank my continuing sponsors WheelWhores.com and Peter Walters Race Design. And a big thank you to my Dad for another amazing opportunity; I'm very lucky to have so much support from both my parents and we are all looking forward to this new challenge. "It is no secret that I'm working towards Top Methanol Funny Car. But more than anything I am excited to get back out on the track and do a big burnout in my Fuel Altered.  "To keep up to date with what we get up to on and off track, please Like our Facebook page." Swift snippets. 27th January: If you intend attending next week's joint APIRA / SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy Presentation but have not yet booked your hotel rooms then Her Majesty Queen Carole Ismail of Race Control has laid down a Royal Decree that the St John's Hotel will be removing all unreserved preferential-rate rooms from the block booking in two days' time. If you need to book a room at £75 for a single or £85 for a double then get in there, call the St John's on 0121 711 3000 quoting Santa Pod Racers Club. Don't forget that this Friday (31st) is the deadline for booking Dinner Dance tickets and sending meal choices and payment to Yvonne Tramm. A Black Seven year. 26th January: Many thanks to our good buddy Markus Münch of the excellent der Beschleuniger web site who has sent us a translation of a season review with Christian Jäger of German Supertwin team Black Seven Racing: Markus notes that the team is still on a learning curve having changed the fuel and clutch management system from mechanical to electrical before the 2013 season, so they still are on their way to a good set-up. Christian Jäger: The season in Europe is way too short, we need more track time to get a decent set-up. Our American friends have already had three or four races before we have the opportunity to test here. With more track time you could just test some new things and see whether your calculations were right or if you have to go back to the shop to adjust and rethink. In the off-season the team made up their minds very carefully, but on track things look different sometimes. Christian Jäger: Our sixty foot times were the best we ever had. On that point we improved. But after that we experienced tyre shake and very often wheelspin and I had to abort nearly every run. We only managed to get down the track like four or five times in the whole season. Getting Johnny Vickers of Hawaya Racing over to Europe to assist the team paid off 100% or will do in 2014. Christian Jäger: This guy has like thirty years of experience with Nitro bikes. He showed us much basic stuff which will pay off in the future. This will help us to tune our engine better and find a good set-up. I'd compare it to Fredrik Fredlund who worked together with Gary Stoffer from the US and the work paid off a season after that collaboration when Fredrik ran real quixk times. We now have a slightly different baseline for the fuel pressure, ignition and so on. We now know better what to do to get a certain result. Not that we have been tuning blind before, but there is no substitute for experience. Others such as Ton Pels, Ronny Aasen and Job Heezen have been doing this for much longer so they have much more experience. Don't forget that the Black Seven boys are in their third season so far. We still have that big aim of winning the European Championship and we're working towards that aim. What about the tracks in 2013? Santa Pod and Hockenheim both had new surface and were difficult to judge for a good set-up. Finland was very hot which didn't make tuning any easier. Christian Jäger: The tracks were great at Hockenheim and Santa Pod. We had been in search of a good set-up but some other things happened. For example one of my feet contacted a timing block at Hockenheim. Ice helped a lot. Prior to the FIA European Finals I broke a toe on the other leg. At Hockenheim we lost in the semis,. I had that one up to the eighth mile then I had wheelspin. There was still oil from a previous run which had not all been cleaned. That happened for the second time this year and cost me precious points. We talked to the officials afterwards and this should not happen again in 2014. In a similar situation I will walk the track to see that everything is fine. The team ended up fifth in the 2013 FIM European Championship. Is racing in the USA an option? Christian Jäger: We have some work to do in Europe first. We want the European crown and then I can imagine racing over there. Leave your operation over there, the flights are not that expensive, a lot of track time, racing on top tracks with good competition... perhaps in the future. Now, in the off-season. normal maintenance will be done. The chassis was very stressed throughout the season with all that shake and we will give it an extra close look. We also had a problem early in the season with the bike drifting left during a run. We diagnosed a bad tyre and will have a spare tyre ready on the rim for 2014. We also want to go testing before the season, I think it will be at the Festival of Power at Santa Pod, but we will see. Most of all I want to thank my boys, they do a perfect job in getting the bike ready and I feel 100% confident when I go out for a run. Thanks a lot boys. You can read the original article in German at www.derbeschleuniger.de. Topspeed renew Frost backing. 26th January: Andy Frost and the Red Victor Racing Pro Modified team are proud to announce that Topspeed Automotive, in conjunction with Hoosier Racing Tire, are supporting the team for another season in 2014. Team Principal and driver Andy Frost says "Topspeed Automotive and Hoosier Tire have been part of our record-setting performance over the last two years, and we're delighted to carry on with our successful partnership over the coming year. We look forward to more record setting performances throughout 2014, and thank Billy Macdermid at Topspeed Automotive / Hoosier Tire for their continued support." Bill Macdermid, managing director of Topspeed Automotive says "We are extremely pleased to offer our continued support to Andy and the RV Racing Team for 2014. Even though the team are already the world's quickest and fastest street-legal car, I truly believe that this year will be another record-breaking season and they will set that bar even higher! Good luck to Andy and the team." Look out for the team doing what they do best on Hoosier tyres this season! You can check out Topspeed Automotive's E-Bay shop at stores.ebay.co.uk/Topspeed-Automotive-Ltd. Swift snippets. 26th January: The Netherlands' Tom van der Wijden made headlines last September with the purchase of a Dodge Avenger Funny Car. Our good buddy Remco Scheelings writes that the driving force behind Step-a-Side Drag Racing has surprised again with the acquisition of the motor from Mikael Larsson's Top Methanol Funny Car, reuniting the Avenger with a 3500 hp engine which actually belongs in the Funny Car. To get used to the new combination Tom will run in Super Pro ET again this year, but he intends to step up to FIA Top Methanol Funny Car in 2015. You can find out more at www.autosport.nl. Steve Dudley writes that the latest slot drags of the 2013-14 season at MrD Raceway will take place at 8:00 pm next Friday, 31st January, 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. I have loan cars for anybody wishing to try out this exciting form of slot car racing. We usually run a couple of eliminations, for added tension. Come and have a go, it's great fun!" Trophy season. 26th January: Many thanks to 2013 ACU Comp Bike Champion Lizz McCarthy for forwarding us this shot from the ACU UK Drag Bike Championships presentation showing her with Pro Stock Bike Champion Mark Smith and Funny Bike Champion Stu Crane. Super Street Bike Champion Graham Balchin did not attend. The Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator Dinner and Dance took place last Saturday at the Brandon Hall Hotel in Warwickshire. Street Eliminator Chair Matt Atkinson writes that the evening was a huge success with over a hundred in attendance. "We also held the AGM meeting prior to the evening's event, further details of which can be found on the Street Eliminator web site at www.streeteliminator.com", says Matt. "Also on the web site are pictures of the awards dinner courtesy of Matt Woods Photography and Andy 'Spud' Cunningham. A massive Thank You to everyone who attended the event, and we look forward to seeing even more cars in the class in 2014 with the possibility of a sixteen-car field at certain events!" Richard Merriman writes that the Volkswagen Drag Racing Club AGM and trophy presentation took place in Milton Keynes once again: As is traditional Saturday night was a chance for the members to meet up and have a natter over a cocktail / beer or two! Sunday afternoon was the AGM and trophy presentation day. It was great to see the room packed both with familiar faces and also new members. We look forward to seeing you all out this season! This year we were honoured to present a new award, the Dennis Cox memorial trophy. This was presented to the Club by the Cox family in memory of Dennis Cox, a former VW Sportsman racer who sadly passed away at the end of 2012. The AGM commenced with the trophy presentation and we would like to congratulate all those winners and runners up and also like to thank all the racers for taking part in 2013. The winners were as follow: VW Pro: Champion Matt Attwood, runner-up Jacob Bailey VW Sportsman: Champion Jason Anslow, runner-up Luke Stevenson Sir Brian Burrows Rookie of the Year: Jason Anslow Wagenmaster Driver of the Year: Matt Attwood The Dennis Cox Memorial Trophy awarded to the highest consistent qualifier: Jacob Bailey The Becky Sutton Memorial Trophy for services to the Club: Luke Stevenson RNJ Motorsport Car of the Year: Paul Jordan Tom Herbert kindly put together a feature length video round up of the 2013 season. This included footage from each event as well as driver interviews. You can check out some of the footage on the VWDRC YouTube page at www.youtube.com/vwdrctv. We are all looking forward to this season and can't wait to get underway, so much so that the club has hired the track for the Friday of Big Bang (10th-13th April). This is £25 to VWDRC members, non-Club members are welcome but it's £35 so you might as well join! The track will be open from midday to 7:00 pm for us on the Friday. For more about the Club and the latest news check out our Facebook page or our web site at www.vwdrc.com. As always thanks to our sponsors Ban'D Creative Design and Marketing, Bio Cam, WRP Paint and Restoration, Fast Turbo, Vanology and Reich Speed Aircooled. If you would like to sponsor the Club then please get in touch, we would love to hear from you. Gerry Tyack. 24th January: We were sorry to hear from Geoff Martin of the death of Gerry Tyack who was a well-known racer in the UK in the 1960s. "Gerry passed away on 6th January aged 90", says Geoff. "His name comes up often on the pages of the Trakbytes web site during the early days of Santa Pod Raceway. He also set records at Elvington and at the Brighton Speed Trials. After racing he founded the Wellington Aviation Museum in Moreton in Marsh." Our deepest sympathies to Gerry's family and friends. Doing the honours. 24th January: Robin Jackson writes that Bruno Bader attended the Motor Sports Association's prestigious Night of Champions last Saturday to be awarded his trophy as 2013 MSA British Drag Racing Champion. The Swiss Pro Modified ace joined other winners of British motorsport's premier Championship titles at the gala evening held at London's Royal Automobile Club. Recently retired sportscar legend Allan McNish was Guest of Honour and presented trophies to all of 2013's MSA British Champions. After a successful season winning his fourth FIA European Pro Modified Championship, sixth Swedish Championship and the EDRS as well as setting new records, Sweden's Micke Gullqvist was honoured with Bilsport magazine's Swedish Drag Racer of the Year award. "As there were a bunch of great achievements from other Swedish racers, it makes me very proud to win this award", says Micke.  "The award will be presented this coming Saturday but there is also a vote for Driver of the Year including categories such as Rally, Rally Cross and Touring Cars. So if you want to vote for the drag racers please go to www.bilsport.se/award." Filling out the package. 24th January: Simon Gough and the UK's Camaro Drag Racing Super Pro ET team are pleased to announce their sponsors for 2014: This is our second year with support with Opie Oils and they have been a perfect partner in our racing. Their technical advice has been perfect so for all your engine oil, transmission oil, rear diff oil or cleaning fluids call them on 01209 202944. There are plenty of discounts for racers. NGK Spark Plugs UK (Ltd) produce the world's leading product. This is our first year with support from NGK but no doubt it won't be our last. We have been using NGK plugs for the past three years without failure. They have given us advice with the new set-up and the different fuel which we are using for this year. For advice contact them at www.ngkntk.co.uk. K&N Filters produce another world-leading product. Their support for this year is a great start to our 2014 season, a well-known product and a market leader in oil and air filters. We will be supplying these filters to other racers and we will carry a large stock for Big Block Chevrolets either at the track or on pre-order. Contact K&N's advice line on 01925 636950. John at LAS Motorhomes has looked after our motorhome for three years and he has always been there for us. After John and his family visited the 2013 European Finals he came over for a chat and to see how we were doing. Camaro Drag Racing has a lot to thank John for. After we had the accident with the lorry in a service station last year John was there in a shot to help us, and now in 2014 he has become one of our sponsors. LAS Motorhomes is a family business and welcome all American RV motorhomes for servicing and repairs. Call John at LAS Motorhomes on 01604 861999 or visit www.lasmotorhomes.com. Courts and Co Accountants are the second-to-none choice when you need accountancy work. Andrew has been a close friend to me over the past eight years and his advice is the best anyone could give from a small personal tax return to full-on company bookkeeping duties. Contact Andrew or his team on 01621 783934 and don't forget to mention me to get your racer's discount. From servicing to a street-legal 880 bhp motor, Power Engineering are one of the South East's leading companies for dyno and engine tuning work. They have a 2000 bhp state-of-the-art four-wheel-drive dyno. Whether it's an MoT or a new performance exhaust for your Lamborghini and engine mapping Power Engineering have done it. We would like to thank everyone for their advice and products and their wealth of knowledge in our challenge for the 2014 Super Pro ET Championship. Let's make it happen... the whole package is now complete. Swift snippets. 24th January: The UK's Team Bonkers Pro ET team is pleased to announce a sponsorship deal with Ron Haslett of Insane Creations. "We are really appreciative of Ron's support and we are looking forward to the up and coming season racing our 1971 Chevrolet Nova" say Zoe and Del Sanderson. "We look forward to seeing everyone at Santa Pod and Shakespeare County Raceways and we wish everyone good luck for the new season." Good luck and stay safe to Swedish Pro Modified racer Adam Flamholc who is contesting the 10th Annual US Street Nationals at Bradenton in Florida between today (Friday) and Sunday. Adam is driving both his Daytona and Viper and you will be able to stay in touch with his progress on the Flamholc / MMR Racing Facebook page. A webcast is available on Motormania TV. Jeanette and Shelby Webster asked us to say a big Happy Birthday to their husband and dad, and Eurodragster.com sponsor, Jon Webster. Our pleasure ladies, have a great day Jon. Six Pack offer Mopars deal. 24th January: After a successful visit in 2013, The Netherlands' Six Pack Speedshop will be returning to the Mopar EuroNats at Santa Pod Raceway in July and owner Hans tells us of a special promotion for visitors to the event: 1 US Dollar = 1 English Pound for parts from the following manufactuers (excluding heavy oversize parts like engines, transmissions, tires which are 1.1): Atech, Summit, YearOne, Classic Industries, AMD, TTI, Sherman 1 US Dollar = 1.1 English Pounds for parts from the following McAmis, 440Source, CRT, RJ-Racecars, Hughes, DrDiff, FHO, ISIS Power Parts from any other manufacturer are no problem: just E-Mail us, mention the Nats, and we'll get you a fine quote. Hopefully this way we can contribute to another perfect event. Conditions: Orders by E-Mail to [email protected] please, not PM. Include the part numbers you wish to order Free shipping to the Mopar EuroNats Down payment to be made by bank transfer, balance in cash at the Mopar EuroNats This offer is open until 31st March so that parts can make it in time to go into the container Let the orders begin! Hockenheim show seeks Nostalgia cars. 22nd January: Our good buddy Benni Voss writes that Nostalgia cars are sought for a show at Hockenheim in mid-April: NitrOlympX Chief Starter Erich Schenkenberger is a big fan of Nostalgia dragsters and in 2013 managed to get his foot in the door of the Hockenheim Historic event, which was a great opportunity to show circuit racing fans and teams that drag racing has a living history. A lot of the international drivers did not know that the German drag racing scene existed long before the 1986 Hockenheim premiere. Last year's pit displays, burnouts and show runs were received enthusiastically by the race fans, and many historic race teams visited the pits. This year's event is scheduled for the weekend before Easter, 11th-13th April, and offers pit space and track time for static and dynamic displays. Erich and NitrOlympX Race Director Jerry Lackey are looking for race teams who wish to be part of this event. If you have a historic or nostalgia slingshot, dragster, Funny Car or doorslammer then for details please contact Erich at [email protected] or Jerry at [email protected] before 15th March. UK Dinner Dance final call. 22nd January: Yvonne Tramm has been in touch with a reminder that Friday of next week, 31st January, is the cut-off date for bookings for the APIRA / SPRC Dinner Dance and Championship Presentation at the St John's Hotel in Solihull on Saturday 8th February. "If you are intending to come to the Dinner Dance and have not already done so then please contact me with details of your food requirements so that I can make arrangements with the hotel", says Yvonne. "I will need your requirements, paperwork and payment by Friday 31st so that we can cover the costs to the hotel ahead of the event. You can call me on 07762 195729 or 01223 265685 or E-Mail me at [email protected]." You can download the Dinner Dance booking form (PDF format) by clicking here. Please note that booking forms should be sent to Yvonne Tramm at the address specified on the form and not to the SPRC address. 2014 Western Hungary calendar. 22nd January: Paul Fischer writes that Hungarian drag racing has been moving along nicely for number of seasons now, each year featuring better track preparation and a relentless improvement in the quality and quantity of race cars: As in the UK, there are two major centres, Kunmadaras in the east and Kiskunlacháza (near Budapest) in the west.  The western events are organised by the team at www.dragracing.hu and are mostly at the huge Kiskunlacháza track which also features auto-test - they call it "slalom" - and drift tracks. They have now released their quarter mile drag racing dates for 2014 which are as follow. 29th March: Kiskunlacháza 12th-13th April: Kiskunlacháza 1st May: Slovakia-Ring 17th May: Kiskunlacháza 7th June: Kiskunlacháza 13th September: Kiskunlacháza 5th October: Hungaroring At the end of 2013 a number of new purpose-built V8 race cars appeared, several making eight second passes, plus dozens of serious FWD/AWD European entrants using monster turbos and rocket science technology. Competitors from Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Poland, Germany are regular visitors these days so we're looking forward to another year of progress and, of course, almost guaranteed hot weather. Swift snippets. 22nd January: Further to his news item of 14th January, Andy Raw tells us that his VW Beetle Funny Car will be representing Santa Pod Raceway at the Ultimate Dubs Meeting in Telford on 8th March. "Please come over, have a look at the car, and have a chat" says Andy. Web site updates. 22nd January: Our good friend Alan Currans has updated his excellent Acceleration Archive with the latest news on on the restoration of Veney's Vega by Pat and Linda Neal. "This update includes a link to a YouTube video showing a rather hairy moment during testing with a Fiat Topolino body fitted", says Alan. As ever you can check out the latest update via the What's New link at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. 2014 SFI European Tour. 21st January: Many thanks to SFI Foundation President Arnie Kuhns for forwarding us provisional details for this years' SFI European Inspection Tour. This year's Tour incorporates an additional stop in Oslo but this is for a seminar and not for inspections; Norwegian racers will still need to send their equipment to one of the other stops for inspection. The provisional SFI Tour dates are as follow: Thursday 6th March: The Netherlands, location TBC Friday 7th March: Finland, most likely US Parts Saturday-Sunday 8th-9th March: Sweden, Persåkers Speed Shop Monday 10th March: Seminar in Oslo, Norway NB not an inspection Tuesday 11th March: UK, Santa Pod Raceway Arnie has promised to keep us apprised as details are firmed up. All downhill from here... 19th January: This evening (Sunday) on UK terrestrials TV Channel 4 and 4HD, British motorcycle road racer Guy Martin sets out to break the record for the world's fastest gravity-powered sled. This particular episode, the final in his popular Speed With Guy Martin series shows Guy, with the help of top sports science engineers, athletes and experts in composite engineering, building a toboggan to ride on the unforgiving slopes of the Pyrenees as he attempts to claim the record from a group of thrill-seeking Germans who set it three years earlier. Guy experiences his first taste of going blisteringly fast on ice, at the famous Cresta Run in St Moritz, before a crack team of engineers from Sheffield Hallam University help him build a prototype toboggan. Following tuition at the UK's Santa Pod Raceway in aspects of drag racing from the Gulf Oil Dragracing's Ian King and the team from Warpspeed Racing he observes demonstration runs by European Champion King on his Top Fuel Bike and British Champion Stuart Crane on his Nitrous Oxide injected Pro Mod machine. Guy himself then experiences the thrill of riding the current ACU Championship-winning Pro Stock Bike of Warpspeed Racing's Mark Smith, to help him master precision steering using his body weight alone, and also to help him find a way of stopping the sled safely using a bespoke parachute system pioneered in Europe by Ian King on his Top Fuel Bike. Guy tries to break the record at Grandvalira in Andorra on the speed ski slope Pista Riberal. Despite the danger, Guy will hopefully steer himself into the record books. Channel 4 and 4HD can be found on terrestrial Freeview, Cable and Satellite as well as on Channel 4's catch-up service on-line at www.channel4.com/programmes/speed-with-guy-martin/4od. For more information on Gulf Oil Dragracing visit www.gulfoildragracing.com and for more about Warpspeed Racing visit www.warpspeedracing.co.uk. Swift snippets. 19th January: Many thanks to everyone who submitted votes for the APIRA and SPRC Perpetual Awards. The totals have now been tallied and passed to each Club for consideration by their committees. The Perpetual Award winners will be announced at the joint APIRA / SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy Presentation on 8th February and posted here on Eurodragster.com News immediately afterwards. To those who tried to rig votes despite all the warnings: TS. Web site updates. 19th January: Many thanks to bike photo-journalist Steve Moxley for letting us know that the ACU's on-line magazine has been updated with features on ACU UK Super Street Bike Champion Graham Balchin and UK ACU Funny Bike Champion Stu Crane. Moxey has done both racers proud and you can check out the features at www.acu.org.uk/News/Drag-Hill-Climb-Sprint. Chris Dossett writes that the latest update on his excellent Trakbyte's UK Drag Racing History site tidies up of a few loose ends which he wanted to get posted before the end of 2013 and includes a request from Mick Tickner who is looking for members of his Geronimo crew plus contributions from John Hobbs, Steve Collins, Zane Llewellyn, Jerry Cookson as well as Chris' visit to the home of a famous motorcycle in Hainault. There's also news of some of the new material which Chris will be adding in coming months. You can check it all out at www.trakbytes.co.uk. Continuing the nostalgia theme, our good buddy Alan Currans has updated his excellent Acceleration Archive with a selection of Wallpaper images as used in his 2014 calendar. You can check out Alan's superb Wallpaper images via the What's New link at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. MSA Mopars. 17th January: A new round of racing has been added to 2014's MSA British Drag Racing Championship. The spectacular Pro Modified series will highlight the 21st Anniversary Mopar EuroNationals scheduled for Santa Pod Raceway over the weekend of 25th-27th July. Several Pro Modified racers used last year's Mopar EuroNationals as an opportunity to test. The event's organisers were impressed by what they saw and readily agreed to host a full round of competition this year. The new addition will be MSA Round 4 and will expand the series to six rounds. Neale Saunders, Santa Pod's Operations Manager, negotiated the deal on the venue's behalf and describes it as an excellent development for all concerned. "Everyone loves the Pro Mods and the MSA Championship is one of drag racing's most exciting series", he explains. "The series has run over five rounds since Pro Mod became the MSA Championship class in 2007. We've wanted to add an extra round for some time but there are so many factors involved that the opportunities were very limited within the period available. People love the Mopar Nationals too - it's one of the most popular events on our calendar and many racers we spoke to had said they'd like to run there if possible. So we're really pleased with this outcome and we're grateful to the promoters for agreeing to host the race. The Pro Mods will be a brilliant addition to the Mopar EuroNationals programme." For Mopar EuroNationals information and ticket details please visit www.santapod.co.uk/e_mopar.php. The 2014 MSA British Drag Racing Championship takes place at Santa Pod Raceway at the following events: 18th-20th April: Festival of Power 23rd-26th May: FIA European Championship Round 1 28th-29th June: SPRC Summernationals 25th-27th July: Mopar EuroNationals 4th-7th September: FIA European Championship Finals 20th-21st September: UK National Finals New Fueller for Kågered. 17th January: Thanks to Stefan Boman and Bilsport magazine for letting us know that Swedish Top Fuel driver Micke Kågered has a new ride for the 2014 FIA European Drag Racing Championship. Micke has bought Morgan Lucas' 2013 dragster which Morgan wheeled to 3.73/330 and with which he won the second NHRA race at Charlotte. The car will fly Micke's usual colors with sponsors Bahco Tools, System Edström and others. Wright ups the ante. 17th January: 2013 UK National Sportsman ET Champion Craig Wright started the season aiming to defend his 2012 Championship and seeing how much he could knock off his then Personal Bests of 17.53/77. Craig had just about as good a season as it is possible to have and is all set for 2014, with additional driving duties to boot: We had the Civic set up on a rolling road so we knew the car was running to it full potential, and we took some more weight out of it. After an amazing season we ended up finishing the year with PBs of 16.35/83. We won three of the seven rounds with one #1 qualifier and we were more than happy with that. Having led both Championships all year we retained the #1 in the UK National Championship and also won the APIRA Championship, but we just got pipped to the SPRC Championship after a redlight in round one at the UK National Finals. That's racing though, live and learn and all that (Beats dying and forgetting it all - Ed). I learned a lot throughout the season and I know we'll be back stronger. Midway through the season we did a sponsorship deal with my Crew Chief's employer Damn Good Exhibitions, hence the change of team name to Damn Good Racing. A massive Thank You to Damn Good Exhibitions for all of their vinyl work and also for supplying us with some professional race team shirts and coats. 2014 will be our fourthth season and you will again see us battling in Sportsman ET. Our plan for this year is to make the car even more consistent; we are pretty confident we know how we can do that. The car will be alot lighter in the way of a Lexan window kit and removal of unused parts, so the PB may come down again, but obviously the main aim is to be consistent: personally I think that there is going to be some tough opposition this season so we've got to up the ante. As well as Sportsman ET in the Civic in 2014 I will also be racing in the UK FWD Drag Series as a two-driver team with Luke Stevenson in his VW Golf. We will run under the team name Damn Lucky Racing... see what we did there? Driving a fast manual car like the Golf with its new engine set-up is going to be a bit of a learning curve but I'm sure it will be a good crack. We'd just like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy New Year and best of luck to everyone in 2014. See you at the track. Swift snippets. 17th January: A quick reminder that voting for the APIRA / SPRC Perpetual Awards closes at 23:59 UK / 00:59 European tonight. To check out the candidates and place your votes, go to the official Perpetual Awards voting page which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the 2013 Perpetual Awards vote link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page. We understand that Swedish Pro Stock racer Michael Malmgren has acquired a new ride, reportedly a 2013 Pontiac GXP. We'll bring you more about that when we receive it. 2014 UK Riders' and Drivers' meeting. 16th January: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for confirming that the 2014 UK Riders' and Drivers' Meeting will be held on Saturday 22nd February at the Hilton Hotel, Northampton, on the eastbound A45 just off Junction 15 of the M1 (postcode is NN4 0XW, map). The meeting will commence at 12:00 midday. Refreshments will be available free of charge on arrival. Items to be discussed include the 2014 UK National Championships (ratification of dates as well as Championship matters), event entry fees and pitside electrical supply, and prize funds, as well as Any Other Business. Racers are invited to submit items for the agenda but please note that an item will only be discussed if its proposer actually attends the meeting. If you have any items for the agenda of the 2014 Riders' and Drivers' Meeting then please send them either to Santa Pod Racers Club at [email protected] or to Shakespeare County Raceway at [email protected] by close of office hours on Friday 14th February. Gabby lobbies for change. 16th January: Eire's first lady of drag racing, Top Fuel Dragster racer Gabrielle McDonald, has been to the Dáil Eireann to lobby for recognition of drag racing. "Drag racing is not recognised by Motorsport Ireland and as I hope to race in Top Fuel this year we are trying to get recognition", Gabby told Eurodragster.com. "Without recognition I'm not allowed funding, and I have to fight even get a licence produced by them. I will also not be recognised in any of the promotional material which others in motorsport get. So at the moment I just don't get any sort of support. I'm trying to break the mould and encourage others to try drag racing, and for people to back them and support them. "I met with Minister Leo Varadkar, Minister for Sports, Tourism and Travel and Minister Brian Hayes, Minister for Public Reforms. They agreed to call Motorsport Ireland to try to get them to recognise drag racing." Cohen's new mount. 16th January: Lee Cohen's wild blown Zephyr is fast approaching its first fire-up and with its fine looks is bound to generate a lot of media coverage, with a feature already booked in Custom Car magazine. Lee got in touch to tell us the story of the former Lethal Z: After rolling my Pop at the Main Event in 2009, I thought it was game over but after a short time I rebuilt it and moved it on. Then in April 2011 Ray White put his Pro Mod Zephyr up for sale and I must admit that that put a grin on my face. I gave Ray a call to see if we could strike a deal, and we did. About ten minutes after I had put the phone down Ray sent a picture with my name on the door glass. "Just a little teaser", he said. I arranged a date with Ray to go and have a sit in the new office and it felt so right. After a couple of weeks I got the car back home and gave Darren of Power Race Graphics a call about a design for the car. Another couple of weeks passed, then I came home from work and checked my E-Mails and there was the new design. Another awesome rendering, and then I had itchy feet. I popped over to my dad's to show him the rendering and whilst I was there he said that there was a competition in Custom Car magazine for a paint job worth six thousand pounds. I saved the coupons and sent them in along with the rendering which I had had done by Darren. I didn't think any more of it until one Saturday in August when I got a call from Custom Car to say that I had won the competition. Winning a six grand paint job was not to be sniffed at and I was just a little bit over the moon. So while it was all systems go with the paint job, I started to build the blown-alcohol Big Block Chevy. Having not been very successful buying second-hand parts I had to dig deep into my pockets and my fiancée's... that didn't go down too well, trust me. Because of this the engine took a lot longer than expected, so I decided to buy new custom Diamond pistons, new ally rods, a new billet oil pump, a decent Crower crank and a new custom Grand cam. That lot was put together in a Dart block. I also decided to buy a complete new fuel system and the Browell Pro Mod clutch can and Lenco from Ray. Shame I didn't get the hemi as well (Greedy - Ed). I have gone as far as I can go so it's going to Ray and Danny Cockerill's Hot Rod shop in Wickford at the end of the month. There it will have the last little bits done before we fire it up. After this the car is going into the studio for the photo shoot and big feature in Custom Car. Before it goes in for the photo shoot, should any company or party be interested in advertising on the car then please contact me at [email protected]. Any amount big or small is welcome as it all helps us to get back out racing in this awsome crowd-pleasing race car. Supercharged Outlaws AGM. 16th January: Dave McKenzie has been in touch to confirm the details of this year's Supercharged Outlaws AGM: The AGM takes place at Ettington Village Hall, just outside Stratford-upon-Avon, on Saturday 22nd February. Doors open at 1:00 pm, the meeting starts at 1:30 pm, and we should be finished by 4:00 pm. Existing and new members are welcome to attend. Registrations will be accepted on the day for existing and new members. 2014 is looking like another exciting year for the Outlaws with many European teams already entered for events in 2014. With the prospect of a few more European teams joining in 2014 the Supercharged Outlaws are now well and truly international. Some UK teams who sat out the last couple of seasons are looking at returning in 2014. Do you want to be a part of these exciting times? Then join us at the AGM, all are welcome. Swift snippets. 16th January: Spencer Tramm writes that Tuesday's spy picture showed the motor of the Isaacs and Tramm Pro Mod on collection from Eurodragster.com sponsor Jeff Bull Race Engines. "Now that we have collected the motor we can up the pace of building up the car", says Spencer. "It's nice to be in a position where things are going on the car and staying on! Thanks to Graham Ellis for the advice and the loan of some parts at the last minute, and to Paul 'Grumpy' Watson." Junior Dragster drivers Paige and Belle Wheeler of the Alamo Rent-A-Car team presented prizes on behalf of Lucas Oil to the winners of the British Women Drivers Racing Club's annual GoldStars Awards at Autosport International. Amanda Black collected the GoldStar Elite Award, while Amy Barker drove home with the GoldStar Club Award. Lucas Oil, which is a sponsor of the GoldStar Awards, is also a major sponsor of the Alamo Rent-A-Car Team. Lucas Oil shared a stand with Santa Pod Raceway at the Show. No news update yesterday so we were unable to say a big Happy Birthday to Swedish Pro Stock racer Michael Malmgren. Hope you had a good day Michael. A fortnight tomorrow, 31st January, is the deadline for the 20% Early Bird discount for tickets to 2014 season events at Santa Pod Raceway. Discounts are available not just on Championship races but also on several Lifestyle events. For more information or to get your discounted tickets visit www.santapod.com. A reminder that FIM European Top Fuel Bike Champion Ian King will be appearing in Episode 4 of Speed with Guy Martin at 20:00 on UK TV station Channel 4 this Sunday, 19th January. Ian instructs Guy in riding a Pro Stock Bike and assists with the supply and installation of a parachute on a toboggan. Top Fuel apprenticeships offered. 16th January: UK Top Fuel Dragster driver Chris Andrews has announced plans to recruit some keen young apprentices to join the Bedfordshire-based F&A Racing Team. Chris, star attraction at the Santa Pod Raceway / Lucas Oil stand at Autosport International, said that he hoped that the move would attract apprentices currently training to be mechanics, who are enthusiastic about motorsport and keen to become involved, but who might otherwise not get the opportunity. "We have a lot of changes to make in order to get up to race specifications in 2015 and this will be an ideal opportunity for young people to get involved, learn all about the sport, get some trackside experience and make an important contribution to the team", said Chris who indicated that there might be opportunities for three or four apprentices who were prepared to commit themselves to the team. He added that this might even happen in time for the 2014 season. Chris made steady progress throughout last season and drove the Lucas Oil dragster to victory at the 2013 FIA European Finals. If you are interested in working with F&A Racing then you can contact Chris at [email protected]. Off-season on-line reading. 16th January: Many thanks to ACU UK Comp Bike Champion Lizz McCarthy for letting us know that the ACU magazine is now on-line. "Steve Moxley will be involved with the previews and race reports, and he has recently written four profiles on the ACU UK Champions which will appear in the on-line magazine over the course of the next few weeks", says Lizz. "Steve's report from the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend is on-line now and you can find it at www.acu.org.uk/News/Drag-Hill-Climb-Sprint". Modesty prevented Lizz from mentioning that the latest update also includes a feature about her Championship win. Blown-alcohol altered racer Joe Bond recently wrote a article for the on-line magazine Nostalgia Drag World. "I was approached by Editor Rob Huckstadt to piece together a bit of history about my family and team in the sport, and to lead up to our current racing endeavours with the Fuel Altered", says Joe. "Please support the magazine as they have articles from all nostalgia racing across the globe written by racers, crew, the press, anyone and everyone who has a story to tell with nostalgia drag racing. The magazine can be found at www.nostalgiadragworld.com and it has a pretty cool back catalogue of really good articles. To view our article specifically please visit www.nostalgiadragworld.com/v2i1joebondnutinfancyracing.php." If you like your Fuel FCs then Kenny Youngblood's new Fuel Coupe magazine is for you. Issue #1 is out now and includes editorial, racer and team features, news and notes and a lot more. Check it out at www.fuelcoupe.com. Raw's 2014 plan. 14th January: The UK's Andy Raw says that we should be seeing a little more of his Volkswagen Beetle Funny Car in 2014: We will be out with the Beetle either at lifestyle events or static shows in 2014. I'll possibly compete at Bug Jam in the summer, but as for the National rounds I really do enjoy the crewing duties when working on the Harrisons' dragsters. It's less stress and cheaper than running your own car! The Beetle will also be heading off to Germany for the NitrOlympX at Hockenheim in August - can't wait for that one! One thing for the future is nitro, but that's all I'm saying for now; you'll have to wait for further announcements on Eurodragster.com. I would like to thank all of our long term sponsors for all their support in 2014: TSR Engine Conversion: Specialists in Subaru engine conversion into classic VW. Full in-house conversion and DIY kits Fastec Race Engineering: For all your race car and bike needs, one-off billet and CNC work at very competitive prices Pitstop Auto Factors: Supplying a full range of service parts and consumables for all makes of cars, call 01638 577622 for further information Welcome to our new sponsors for 2014: Heath Road Tyres: Supplier of a full range and make of tyres, MoTs and all your service need in the Cambridgeshire area, call 01638 741070 for further information Bodyworkz Paint Shop in Newmarket: Resprays, panel prep and insurance work and full restoration, call 01638 666955 for further information Bears Motorsport: Supplying custom-built VW gearboxes for all race and road applications VW Heritage: One of the biggest suppliers of VW parts in the UK, for all your needs from classic air-cooled to new water-cooled Biocam: The UK's leading supplier and installer of the latest CCTV, surveillance equipment, and biometrics Swift snippets. 14th January: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com (below left) 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 [email protected]. Mum, dad and little sis Emilie asked us to wish Holly Moore (above right) a very Happy 10th Birthday for today (Tuesday) and lots of luck for Junior Dragster this year. Our pleasure guys, have a lovely day Holly. No news update yesterday so we were unable to say Happy Birthday to Top Methanol FC racer Gareth Ellis and to Podington Pea Andrew Shakeshaft. Hope you had great days guys. A reminder that our good buddies at Bangshift.com will be webcasting the PRO Winter Warm-Up for free from Palm Beach International Raceway this coming Friday and Saturday. Bookmark this page and tune in on Friday for your first nitro fix of 2014. A reminder also that our streaming service supplier Doyousee.me is broadcasting replays of UK and European webcasts from 2013 at didyousee.me/dragrace. Amongst those events on offer are Dragstalgia, the NSRA Hot Rod Drags, Mopar EuroNats, races at Drachten, the FIA European Finals and more. Alders' anniversary discount. 14th January: Alders Automotive are pleased to announce that they will be continuing their support of UK Super Pro ET in in 2014. "Not only will we be sponsoring Super Pro ET but we will be offering a 10% discount to all of class competitors on any transmission work", says Richard Alder. "2014 is also the fifteenth anniversary of Alders Automotive so we would also like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all of our customers for their support over the past fifteen years. As a thank you our offer of 10% discount on all transmission work will also be available to all members of Santa Pod Racers Club and Avon Park International Racing Association." For more information check out Alders Automotive's web site at www.aldersautomotive.co.uk. Dragracing marknad. 14th January: Johan Samuelsson writes that this year's Drag Racing Swap Meet takes place on 15th February at the Norrköpings Mässhallar, close to the E4 motorway about sixty kilometres north of Mantorp Park (map). "This event is arranged by Åby Motorklubb and is the major winter drag racing event in Scandinavia", says Johan. "All categories of race parts can be found from new to used, from Pro classes to street racing. "The main entrance opens at 09:00 and gates close at approximately 15:00. During the day there will also be meetings with some of the Swedish drag racing class associations etc. "For sales pitch reservations, admission fee or road directions etc please contact Åby Motorklubb via www.abymotorklubb.se or call +46-11-69833." SPR announce second Dial-In Day. 14th January: On Saturday 29th March Santa Pod Raceway is inviting members of the public to its second Dial-In Day at which they can learn and understand the concept of bracket racing which is used in entry-level UK Championship Racing, and have a go with full qualifying and eliminations under RWYB rules. After classroom sessions participants will be placed into an elimination ladder. The winner of each round goes on and the loser is eliminated. The overall winner of the day will take home their first winner's trophy. For anyone who has enjoyed a Run What You Brung session before and fancies taking things to the next level, this is the perfect next step. And, better still, whatever car you drive it's guaranteed to be eligible! The usual RWYB safety rules and regulations apply such as helmets and arm restraints if you're in an open top car or will be travelling faster than 110 mph at the finish line. Pre-entry is essential and the standard RWYB fees of £10 entry and £25 sign-on apply. The Dial-In Day is open to cars only and the competition will be run as if it were Sportsman ET, the entry level dial-in class. This is a good opportunity for to get involved in drag racing so come along and join in the fun. Hopefully there will be a few budding racers who proceed into the National Drag Racing ranks, as we have seen in the past. For further information or to book visit www.rwyb.com or call 01234 782828. School's in again at PMR. 14th January: Paul Marston's Drag Race Driving School, Europe's only dedicated drag racing school which is based at Santa Pod Raceway, is opening its doors again for 2014. Paul Marston writes: Unbelievably it has now been ten years since the Drag Race School was first established, and it has seen more than a fair share of pupils pass through its doors. Over the past ten years, more and more drivers in the UK National Championship Series have got their start with the Drag Race School along with many, many drag racing fans who have joined us for the day to experience just what it's like from the inside of the windscreen. As things to do on a bucket list, it's one a privileged few people can say that they have crossed off (Ticked off my list, and recommended - Ed). The Drag Racing School was originally set up to provide a natural stepping stone from spectator / RWYB attendee to driver, with experienced instructors who know the subject and who are willing to share their knowledge and experience to help give people a proper start without having to go to the expense of buying a race car and learning how to operate it. This great sport of ours should be fun and the mission of the school is always to keep it that way, we all have full time jobs and earning a living nowadays is tough for everyone. So when people elect to spend their disposable income and live their dream and come to learn how to drag race, the most important thing is to have fun and enjoy the experience. Yes there are times to be serious, motorsport can be dangerous, that is one of its attractions. A fair share of the graduates of the Paul Marston Racing Drag Race School have enjoyed success at National events and a growing number have won UK National Championships. Everyone at PMR takes great pride in the knowledge that what ever they achieve they got their start with us. Anyone interested in pursuing their bucket list, who needs to be licensed, who has a new car and wants to make the right start and who want to learn from the people who know, please contact us either at [email protected] or on 07831 650230, and we will be only too happy to help you. Our heartfelt thanks go to Santa Pod Raceway for their continued support and to Eurodragster.com for always being there (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed). Autosport International report I. 12th January: Many thanks to Grace and Colin Roaf for sending us a report from Autosport International which is taking place this weekend at Birmingham's NEC: Top Fuel Dragster racer Chris Andrews said that he was pleased with the outcome of the 2013 season, considering that he was getting a handle on a Rune Fjeld car which was new to him. Chris was happy with how the team worked together over the season and so he will be continuing in partnership with RF Motorsport for the 2014 season. He will attend all four confirmed FIA Championship rounds this year and will also make an appearance at the Festival of Power ar Easter driving for Rune. Chris is already back in the gym to continue his fitness training for the upcoming race season. In preparation for the 2014 season Chris's Lucas Oil-sponsored car, which has a Don Schumacher chassis, will be stripped down completely to the bare chassis to be thoroughly checked over. The focus will mainly be on the engine and clutch set-up to ensure that the car is in its best race-ready condition. Andy Wheeler of continuing Eurodragster.com and Santa Pod Raceway sponsor Alamo Rent-A-Car said that Junior Dragster-racing daughters Paige and Belle had a good year in 2013 with the biggest highlight the award of a huge trophy for Best Appearing Car at the NHRA Eastern Conference Finals. Paige's car was chosen out of eight hundred Junior Dragsters, and as they were the only European team at the race meeting the achievement has special significance. Belle's highlight was runner-up spot at Big Bang which is a great testament to her driving ability as her car was a Junior Stock. Belle has moved up to Junior Modified for the 2014 season. Both sisters won the Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Perfect Light award in 2013, Belle at Big Bang and Paige at the SPRC Summernationals. Also noteworthy in 2013 was the huge success of the Junior Fun Day at Santa Pod Raceway which celebrated all Junior classes car and bike. It proved to be great day out and although Andy thought he was in with a good chance of winning the race driving a Porsche, he was still no match for Paige in her dragster. This year's Junior Fun Day promises to be even bigger and better; the date is confirmed as 20th August. The team will be expanding in 2014; details will be announced separately although a new trailer is being built by GB Motorsport to assist with the team's plans. Paige has exams in May and so there is no definite plan to race in the USA, although Andy is not ruling out the possibility. There was great interest in Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson's '69 Camaro which was displayed without its body on the stand of sponsor Aurora Bearings. Team member Bob Roberts said that Andy plans to attend all rounds of the MSA Pro Modified Championship and possibly the FIA European Tour too. Graham Ellis' car is the main project in the workshop at the moment; work is constantly ongoing and the build is progressing well. Graham Smith was proudly displaying the historic Snow White '57 Chevy on the Serck Motorsport stand. Graham plans to race in Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator in 2014 under the team name Bad Apple Racing. The main aim is to help build up consistency and for Graham to accommodate himself within the car and to feel comfortable; a goal for the team is for a new Wizards of NOS System to be fitted to the car to help to get it under nine seconds. JDS Street racer Jeff Ludgate is making general improvements to the car over the off-season to help edge it towards the 8.5 second bracket. This coming year there are five JDS rounds, and Jeff is hoping to be out in March for some pre-season testing. Particular thanks are due to Grace and Colin for taking on the whole job at Autosport after your News Editor was ordered into hospital on Friday afternoon (I'm OK now - Ed). The second Autosport report will be our annual State of the Union chat with Santa Pod Raceway management; stay tuned for that. Swift snippets. 12th January: We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to Top Fuel Dragster racer Anita Mäkelä. Have a lovely day Anita. The Russ Carpenter Racing team is to be featured as Racer of the Week on Racin' and Rockin' with Draglist.com on Racers' Reunion Radio late tomorrow evening (Monday / Tuesday). John Brockelman will be speaking to Russ' son Andrew about the return to the track of the legendary Daimler V8-powered dragster. Racin' and Rockin' will be broadcast at drag.racersreunion.com at 01:00 UK / 02:00 European. Grumpy's ready. 12th January: The UK's Paul Watson says "Bring on 2014" after a difficult year in 2013: After long deliberation I decided to close Dynospeed Developments after running it for the last twelve years. Still looking to the future I decided that if the right car came along then I might venture back on to four wheels. Then I heard that Highlander may be for sale: the ex-Paula and Ian Marshall Camaro now owned by Paul Woodhead. The car had a great pedigree, ex-Super Gas as run by Paula then Super Mod by Ian and Super Comp by Paul. A great Hauser chassis with a 555 ci Jeff Bull race engine. A trip up north and the car was mine. Paul kindly kept the car for me whilst I moved home which helped greatly. Jeff Bull also gave me lots of help and advice before I got the car. The Camaro has just been to Chris Isaacs Race Cars for some updates and Chris has done a great job. The car will still run Direct Plastics colours and a big Thank You to Paul for supplying the hero cards. I would also like to welcome on board Farm Fresh Speed Shop, custom truck builders and suppliers of all American parts whatever your needs from a windscreen for an early Chevy truck to brand new crate motors or a full-on custom-built truck, 1940s 1950s or 1960s a speciality. Visit their web site or call 01268 785005. We are still seeking more sponsors to come on board so we can contest the whole season, big or small it will all help. I also plan to give some passenger rides, the first being for my lovely partner Pixie (Kim) and possibly a member of the Eurodragster.com team if he's still up for it (Only if there's a Y in the day - Ed). Swift snippets. 11th January: A quick reminder that voting for the APIRA / SPRC Perpetual Awards is now in its final week. Voting will close at 23:59 UK / 00:59 European next Friday (17th). To check out the candidates and place your votes, go to the official Perpetual Awards voting page which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the 2013 Perpetual Awards vote link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page. We would like to say a big Happy 30th Birthday to Mike Durbridge. Have a great day Mike. Our Autosport International coverage plans have been subject to a last-minute change as your News Editor was forced to make use of his season ticket at the local A&E last night (I'm OK - Ed). Many thanks to Grace and Colin Roaf for taking the job on; stay tuned for their report and pictures. Outlaw Street see out 2013... 10th January: The 2013 Outlaw Street prize night was held at a new venue, the Crown Lodge Hotel in Outwell, Cambridgeshire and it has quickly been adopted as Outlaw Street's new second home thanks to the great venue and food. Mark Wallington writes: More than thirty five members and partners attended the night with the banter flowing throughout, as is tradition during the intervals between courses a drag racing and petrol head quiz was held with prizes of Hot Wheels cars and sweets up for grabs - hey, who's not happy to win a toy car and sweets? This year's twenty five quick fire questions proved to stump a good few members with all sorts of cheating going on to try to win a prize. In addition to the big announcements of the night and finding out who had won this year's series there were a number of crash helmet prize draws for which all 2013 members were eligible. This year our sponsers had provided crash helmet draws of: Weekend's racing pass and tickets for Dragstalgia, sponsored by Santa Pod Raceway: George Bebikan and Gary Semper A £100 parts voucher, sponsored by Chris at WASP: Michelle Wallington (no it wasn't a fix) A Graham Durbridge drawing of the winner's car, sponsored by Graham Durbridge: Chris Richards A Graham Durbridge painted canvas of the winner's car, sponsored by Graham Durbridge: Roy Collins The Outlaw Street Hard Luck Award was for the first time this year awarded to two racers who've had equally hard seasons at the track with mechanical breakage, but who kept coming back for more. Ross Page in his VW Golf and David Mahoney in his supercharged C5 Corvette were presented with one-off artworks of their cars. The Outlaw Street Spirit of The Outlaw Award, which is presented to the member who has given the most back to the series and/or other members in the season, was awarded to Roy Collins. Fastest Reaction Time of 2013 was presented to Victor Fisher who ran a 0.0045 RT in his Ford Mustang at the very first round of the season, which despite attempts by many couldn't be bettered. Fastest ET of 2013 was presented to Andy Murton who ran a 9.05/152.14 in his Chevrolet Camaro at OS-4 during Dragstalgia weekend. Outlaw Street 2013 third place was awarded to John Latham in his PT Vanster with 1,445 points Outlaw Street 2013 second place was awarded to Steve Newport Hall in his '66 Cobra with 1,480 points Outlaw Street 2013 first place was awarded to Nick Rose in his supercharged convertible Mustang with 1,524 points The top twelve points scorers for the 2013 series were: Nick Rose in his Ford Mustang with 1,524 points Steve Newport Hall in his Cobra with 1,480 points John Latham in his PT Vanster with 1,445 points Rob Leyman in his LS1 Monaro with 1,273 points Tom Semper in his Anglia with 1,258 points David Mahoney in his C5 Corvette with 1,104 points Nigel Jenkins in his Mustang with 1,043 points Doug Harwood in his LT1 Trans Am with 1,040 points Andy Murton in his 540 V8 Camaro with 873 points Kev Shepperson in his RS2000 with 861 points Lee Rookes in his VW Caddy with 850 points Chris Richards in his Mustang with 845 points The American Car magazine subscription winners for 2013 were: Round 2: Andy Murton in his '68 Camaro with 223 points Round 3: Chris Richards in his Ford Mustang with 216 points Round 4: Joe Mills in his 347V8 Fox Mustang with 220 points Round 5: Nick Rose in his supercharged Mustang with 219 points Round 6: David Mahoney in his C5 Corvette with 222 points Round 7: George Bebikan in his V8 Zephryc with 223 points Round 8: John Latham in his PT Vanster with 220 points Round 9: Rob Slater in his '57 Chevy with 221 points The Joe & Co-sponsored Reaction Time winners for 2013 were: Round 1: Vic Fisher in his Mustang with a 0.0045 RT Round 2: Guy Robinson in his LS1 BMW with a 0.2000 RT Round 3: Steve Moisey in his Cervini Mustang with a 0.1050 RT Round 4: Tom Semper in his Anglia with a 0.1389 RT Round 5: Tom Semper in his Anglia with a 0.0142 RT Round 6: Tom Semper in his Anglia with a 0.0600 RT Round 7: Tom Semper in his Anglia with a 0.1124 RT Round 8: Tom Semper in his Anglia with a 0.100 RT Round 9: Tom Semper in his Anglia with a 0.060 RT This season saw a new record as Tom Semper became the first member ever to win five consecutive RT awards. Outlaw Street will be back for 2014 stronger than ever. Dates and membership details for the 2014 series are available via the web site at www.outlawstreet.co.uk and will also be in American Car magazine shortly. ...and add a class for 2014. 10th January: Mark Wallington also writes that the 2014 Outlaw Street series will consist of eight rounds shared between Santa Pod and Shakespeare County Raceways. The series will follow its traditional format with two changes for 2014: The addition of two 'spare' rounds, so that those members whose cars that don't fit the criteria for specific events won't be penalised; The pilot of a new class allowing access to racers who don't meet the traditional Street criteria. The new Outlaw class is being piloted as a number of racers wish to join Outlaw Street but their cars run open headers and slicks. The Outlaw class will only run in 2014 if there is sufficient take-up. The classes are as follow: Outlaw Street 'Street' class Your car must have: A current MOT A current TAX disc A full functioning exhaust system Tyres with road legal tread depth Adhere to the rules and regulations of the track Your car can't have: Open headers Slicks Outlaw Street 'Outlaw' class You do not require an MOT You do not require a TAX disc You can run open headers You can run slicks Adhere to the rules and regulations of the track Your car must have a full body. This year's Outlaw Street calendar is as follows: OS-1: Saturday Night Special and RWYB, Santa Pod Raceway, 3rd-4th May OS-2: Yanks / Gary's Picnic (also UK Power Tour), Shakespeare County Raceway, 24th-26th May OS-3: Public Track Weekend and California Drag Weekend, Shakespeare County Raceway, 7th-8th June OS-4: Dragstalgia, Santa Pod Racewaym 11th-13th July (cars 1980 or earlier) OS-4b: Public Track Weekend, Shakespeare County Raceway, 19th-20th July (additional event for those ineligible at Dragstalgia) OS-5: 21st Mopar Euronationals, Santa Pod Raceway, 25th-27th July (no Front Wheel Drive cars) OS-5b: RWYBs, Santa Pod Raceway, 16th-17th August (additional event for those ineligible at Mopar Euronats) OS-6: VW Action, Santa Pod Raceway, 29th-31st August OS-7: Public Track Weekend, Shakespeare County Raceway, 27th-28th September OS-8: Flame and Thunder Show and RWYB, Santa Pod Raceway, 25th-26th October (cars 11.00 or quicker on Saturday) 2014 Prize Night: The Crown Hotel, Outwell, 22nd November If you would like more information then check out www.outlawstreet.co.uk or E-Mail [email protected]. Swift snippets. 10th January: First of the Autosport International shots (below left) comes courtesy of Bob Roberts of Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson Race Cars and shows 2013 UK National Super Pro ET Champion Scott Hauser and dad and Eurodragster.com sponsor Geof Hauser flying the flag for drag racing in Autosport Engineering yesterday. Eurodragster.com will be attending the Show tomorrow. The latest addition to Cars For Sale on our Jeff Bull Race Engines-sponsored Swap Meet is the Hanna Family's Queen of Diamonds Jet Dragster. The low five-second 300+ mph dragster is yours turn-key for $65,000. A chat with Acka. 10th January: If you were tuned in to our US Correspondent Ed O'Connell's excellent coverage of November's Haltech World Finals in Bradenton you will recall that German Supertwin racer Joachim Riemer, aka Acka, was injured after going off the end of the track. Our good buddy Markus Münch of the excellent der Beschleuniger web site caught up with Acka and has kindly passed on an English translation of his interview. Der Beschleuniger: First of all how are you after your accident, how was it and how satisfied are you with the care you received in the USA? Acka: Hi folks, first of all I wish you a good and healthy 2014. Then I'd like to say that I am very fine. My health is quite OK, only my lungs and my ribs have to heal a bit more, that's all. The accident happened in the quarter finals. The track was very good up to the quarter mile. The right side of the shutdown area was not that good. Most of the fast bikes had problems there. My previous four runs had been good. Three of them in the six second bracket. There I realised that I had to be carefull on that right lane in the shutdown area. The accident itself was a combination of several things. First of all I shut the bike off after I realised that I could not win the race. I did not want to get in trouble in that right lane. After the quarter mile the bike started to bounce and shake a lot. I had to grab the bike with all my power not to be thrown off it. Therefore I couldn't break at all, or only very late. I also tryd to get to the better left side, to stop safely. The frame touched the ground and levered the bike, it went on the grass and I rolled countless times when I was off the bike. After 70 metres (like 230 feet) I came to a stop in the grass. My helmet was broken. The emergency doctor came and treated me and a helicopter took me to hospital. All the time I had a hell of a lot of pain. In hospital they diagnosed three broken ribs, all of them stuck in my lungs, and several other injuries like bruises and so on. For six days my hospital treatment was exemplary. Thereafter I had to stay in the US for three more weeks, as I was not allowed to fly because of my injured lungs. But I was treated more than very well by my friends in the States. I only can give all of them grade A! Der Beschleuniger: What were your plans for the 2013 season?  Acka: For three years we did not make any progress with the bike. In Europe we had only a few races due to bad weather and now it now looks like we didn't have a good combination of engine and electrical stuff. In 2011 I went to Rockingham to watch a race. I met with Jonny Vickers of Hawaya Racing whom I visited in his shop after we had been in contact for the last fifteen years. After a couple of beers he offered me his help. That meant that we could bring the bike to race in the USA then. In autumn we thought about that possibility - my crewmember Matze was the biggest supporter of that idea, thank you for that! In March 2013, the whole operation was shipped to the USA. In April we went to our first race in the USA, my life's dream came true! After two runs our game was over, but we saw the quickest field ever in Super Twin Top Fuel. 6.39 seconds was the bump. That was an NHRA race, so I first of all had to make a NHRA license. After that we made some changes on the bike and drove to Rockingham to test there. It went totally smoothly with an all new set-up. Burnout, launch, explosion! Destroyed! We had good power, but the clutch was bad. After that experience we tore the bike apart, recertified and upgraded the frame. That is where the new look comes from, new tail. I assembled everything in August and performed some test launches then back to The Rock and testing. Six runs and no damage. We adjusted everything and had decent runs in the mid sevens. When we returned to the States we went to Florida to keep going. We made five runs and focused on the clutch set-up. The runs had been between 6.9 and 7.12 and the motor was in one piece. Then came the accident. We plan to rebuild the bike and to have our first race in Rockingham in May 2014. Der Beschleuniger: Who was in your 2013 team? Acka: It was and is my one and only crew. Matze, Siggi, Sascha, Horst. They just have to come with me to the USA. They are totally fascinated by the country, the race tracks, the people, the help, the whole racing comunity! Der Beschleuniger: What were your aims for 2013 and did you achieve them? Acka: The plan was to get back into the sixes without any major damage. We achieved both with much effort but in a short time. Der Beschleuniger: What are your plans for 2014 and the near future? Acka: We want to fix the bike in 2014, participate in four or five races, and improve on our performance. We want to reach the 6.5-6.7s. Der Beschleuniger: What about your plans for the distant future? Acka: In 2015 we plan to race in the States as well but it depends on some things. For example: what we have acheived, what happens in Europe, how is my health and are my boys still willing to follow me. Der Beschleuniger: Anything to add? Acka: It is very important for me to mention that I never in my life experienced the amount of help which I had after my accident in the USA! I absolutely want to thank Hawaya Racing, Jonny, Steve and Leanne (Purvis) Vickers. I have my complete operation in his shop, can use his trailer for races, all his machinery in the shop, can work on the bike and get a helping hand as well as information and tricks as a bonus. Then I can live there, eat, shit and take a shower there. Where can you find something like that nowadays? These guys are definitely friends by now. Countless other people helped me there too: let me use their cars, took me from or brought me to the airport for hundreds of miles and so on. Always invitations for BBQ at the track - they seem to think that this German guy will starve! That's enough for now. See you soon. You can read this interview in German at www.derbeschleuniger.de and you can find Acka's web site at www.hd-service.net. Wallace's new ride. 9th January: This beauty is the new ride of the UK's Bobby Wallace who, having achieved his goals in Pro ET, is planning to move up to Super Pro ET this season with Pro Modified the eventual aim. "We decided that once we managed to get a 9.0 from the Pro ET Pop, which we did at the Flame and Thunder Show, it was time to move up a step and that's when it all started", Bobby told Eurodragster.com. "We found this 1941 Willys Coupe and instantly I knew that it was the one. The car was originally built by Advanced Chassis for Matt Guenther who then ran the car for a few years and came second overall in the PMRA, it was then sold to Tim Albright in St Louis and that's who we bought it from. After many phone calls we booked tickets to fly out and check it over, all was good so a deal was done then after twelve weeks it finally arrived at the port over here." The Coupe is powered by a Sonny's 737ci Hemi with three stages of nitrous and ran 6.5s with two kits in the USA. "We will firstly be running the car in Super Pro ET, then in time we would hope to compete in MSA Pro Mod", said Bobby. "If all goes well we are hoping to get some testing done before the Festival of Power, weather permitting. "There are too many people to list to whom I owe thanks to but a few are Hauser Racing, Andy Robinson Race Cars, JBRC, Peter Jordan, Stuart Edwards, and a special  Thank You to mum and dad." Things are busy at the Junior Dragster end of the team as sister Bonnie now has a Junior Modified Advanced motor in her dragster and sister Annie has decided on her own paint scheme which is currently being applied to her car. "They are both certainly looking forward to the 2014 season", says Bobby. Racers: New car or bike for 2014? New class? New look? Whatever your class, your fans are out here eager to hear what you have planned. Drop us a line at [email protected] and we'll do the rest. Swift snippets. 9th January: Kev and Lloyd Perkins are the new owners of the historic Oldsmobile Cutlass previously campaigned by Nick Davies in Pro Modified and by Graham Ellis and Rob Elsom in Super Modified. "We are looking to be out at Easter, money permitting", Lloyd Perkins told Eurodragster.com. "Kev had previously rented the car and crewed on it, and I grew up around it, it was for sale and we had to have it." We were very pleased to hear from Brian Lohnes that our good buddies at Bangshift.com will be providing a free webcast of next week's PRO Winter Warm up at Palm Beach International Raceway. Brian tells us that the broadcast on Friday-Saturday 17th-18th should be a doozie with a bigger entry of racers than in the past. Stay tuned to Bangshift.com for details about the webcast. A year to remember, more to come. 9th January: UK Wild Bunch and Super Pro ET racer Bob Hawkins says that, for the Time Traveller team, 2013 ended up about as good as it gets: We started the year with high hopes of being fast and consistent but at the very first meeting at Easter there was a large flash from the right cylinder bank at the top end and that was the end of our first meeting! When we stripped the motor it had a lot of damage due to leaning out problems. We were able to rebuild in time for the next meeting but it meant a few late nights and a heap of cash gone. With that behind us we started to re-tune with safer settings and by Dragstalgia we managed to run a 7.990! It was always the plan to put the car into the sevens and now it was a reality, wow what a feeling! That done we also appeared to be doing OK Championship points-wise so we decided to calm things down just a tiny bit to try and improve our consistency. At 126" wheelbase the car can move around a bit sometimes and on some of the faster runs at Santa Pod we were getting some wheelspin as we went through the top end. With a sweet spot found around the 8.10 second mark we set about chasing the points. We didn't get any first places but we were very pleased with what we did achieve, considering that we'd spent half the year just chasing PBs. We were really chuffed to end up runner-up in the APIRA series. Our year was made even more amazingly as we also managed to do a couple of Super Pro rounds and then, out of the blue, we were invited to the NitrOlympX at Hockenheim to race and to do a Fire Burnout in the Night Show - something for which we are getting quite well known! Unfortunately we were unable to do the burnout but we got to race, had a fantastic time, and we have been invited back this year to set fire to the slicks and race there once again. So what of 2014? We have been extremely fortunate in being able to purchase Vic Hammond's Speed Demon (driven in the main by Sam Freeman especially as poor Vic's illness worsened). This has a blown 370 SBC on alky and can run back-to-back sevens. We've gone though it, not that it needed it, changed a couple of things round and we are almost ready to run. So how fast can we run now? Watch this space! I wish to say a huge thank you Dave and Linda (of Green with Envy), Tom, Ted, Chris, Sam Freeman and all the other Wild Bunch teams for all their help and support. It is very much appreciated and without them none of the above would have happened! Nettan cleans up. 8th January: Swedish Chief Starter Anette Heleander, who has long been a familiar sight on the start line at Mantorp Park, Tierp Arena, Santa Pod Raceway and elsewhere in Europe, spent the last two events of the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Championship tour working as a race official. Whilst working at Las Vegas and Pomona Nettan became a celebrity in her own right, flew the flag for European drag racing, and made NHRA history. Nettan has been kind enough to send us an account of her trip: I arrived the day before the race in Las Vegas and met up with Jeff Parker, who is in charge of track prep and the trailer with all the marshals' kit, so that I could have a look at all the equipment which they use and to see the differences to what we have. Since I had been there in 2005 Jeff remembered me. We had a good day talking and learning how they do their track prep. On day one at The Strip I was put on firstly put on Truck 2 by the finish line as fire crew, but I asked if I could be on Truck 1 by the start line since I wanted to learn how they worked as well. No problem they said, so Truck 1 for me it was. I met a lot of new people there and a few whom I remembered since the last time I was there. On Truck 1 the duties were to be fire crew as well as spotter, and to work around the start line as well. I was introduced to NHRA Chief Starter Mark Lyle and all the other starters who help him and I felt really welcome in the gang. After doing some spotting I was put on the start line for the rest of that weekend. I really loved it, and at the same time it felt weird to be standing in the middle of all the American action which you see on TV. They thought that I worked really hard and I think that they were a bit surprised that I was a Chief Starter in Sweden since they had never heard about a female Chief Starter! The weekend in Vegas was really long and hot but it was great to be working with those guys and I was looking forward to meeting up with them again at Pomona. In between Las Vegas and Pomona my friend Lars-Inge and I stayed with a friend of his who was Pete Millar's daughter. When she heard that that I was a Chief Starter in Sweden she called up a friend who had a motor programme on TV called Speed Scene Live and told him about me. He did some research and told me that I was the only female Chief Starter in the world! He wanted me to come to his show for an interview but on that day the traffic was crazy so he did the interview on the phone. So now I have put Sweden and Europe on the American drag racing map! At Pomona and I was put on Truck 1 to be near the start line again. Day one started off with all the Sportsman cars and I was standing by Truck 1 drinking some water when Mark Lyle came along and told me that it was my turn to press the button. I said "Are you joking with me?", but he said with a smile "No, I'm not joking, so put your shirt on - this is your chance!". My heart was really pounding when I walked out there, what if I did something wrong? I was a bit nervous since I only started working with Autostart this year but Mark said "You'll be fine, I'm right behind you if something goes wrong". I said "OK, bring on all the Stock / Superstock cars and I will do my best". After that session I felt so happy that everything went smooth then Mark said "You can do the next session as well, you did a great job!". Next time around of course someone rolled through and I looked at Mark and he showed me with his finger what do do and it went well, thank god! After a few more pairs it happened again but this time I knew what to do and it worked. What a feeling to stand there and start at Pomona as the only female ever to start at an NHRA event! What a great trip and experience it was for me. I think that we in Europe are just as good as the Americans at working on all the different things you do on a race track, they just have more and better things to work with and it makes it a lot easier. Finally Graham Light told me "We start again in February and there are twenty four events to attend, you're welcome back any time!". Swift snippets. 8th January: Geof Hauser of Eurodragster.com sponsor Hauser Race Cars tells us that Scott Hauser's Super Pro ET dragster will be on display in the Engineering section of Autosport International at Birmingham's NEC tomorrow and Friday. Don't forget that fellow Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson's Pro Mod will be exhibited naked on the Aurora Bearings stand in Hall 8 on all four days of the Show and that Santa Pod Raceway are teaming up with Eurodragster.com sponsor Lucas Oil Products and will also be found in Hall 8 for the duration of the Show. FIM European Top Fuel Bike Champion Ian King will be appearing in Episode 4 of Speed with Guy Martin at 20:00 on UK TV station Channel 4 on Sunday 19th January. Ian instructs Guy in riding a Pro Stock Bike and assists with the supply and installation of a parachute on a toboggan. You can read more in the Cambridge News by clicking here. We would like to say a big Happy Birthday for today (Wednesday) to Annalieze Gibb. Have a lovely day Annalieze. Well done to Xavier Rincker who was the first to identify the mystery racer pictured in Sunday's Swift Snippets. The picture showed Herman Jolink at Drachten Airfield in August 1976. If we just say "Perpetual Awards" and "organised votes" to the four miscreants then they'll know the rest. Whitehouse's latest. 8th January: Drag racing artist Paul Whitehouse with news of some of his works commissioned prior to Christmas, and of some works in progress which will be completed within the coming weeks: Late last year Clayton Round purchased my original painting of Dennis Priddle in Mr Six. He then went on to commission me for a painting of his Championship winning Rebel T altered. The painting of Jayne Kay's Pink Lady Funny Car was commissioned by Jayne as a Christmas present for her Mum and Dad. The atmospheric painting of Dave Stone in the injected Tee Rat is a bit of an experiment with different light, but I'm quite pleased with the result. The work in progress features Don Garlits v Tommy Ivo at the 1964 Dragfests. This is the second painting in a series which will feature some of the dragsters which participated in this event, the first being the Willys of Keith Pittman and George Montgomery. I am currently working on a couple of commissions which need to be kept hush-hush for the time being… all will be revealed later in the year. If you require any more information on these paintings or would like a print then please contact me via E-Mail at [email protected]. If you are interested in having your car or bike committed to canvas then I will be more than happy to discuss your requirements. Swift snippets. 7th January: Yvonne Tramm has been in touch with a reminder that 31st January is the cut-off date for bookings for the point APIRA / SPRC Dinner Dance and Championship Presentation at the St John's Hotel in Solihull on Saturday 8th February. "If any trophy winners or runners-up are unable to attend then please E-Mail me on [email protected] or call me on 07762 195729", says Yvonne. "Please note that if you have booked a child place then their main course will be chicken nuggets and chips". You can download the booking form (PDF format) by clicking here. Please note that booking forms should be sent to Yvonne Tramm at the address specified on the form and not to the SPRC address. Swiss Pro Mod racer Peter Wacker has confirmed that yesterday's spy picture was of his Chevy Bel Air which he has taken out of its trailer for the first time in seven years preparatory to returning to the track in 2014. "The old Lenco gear unit will be replaced, but I will shift it again manually, no air buttons", says Peter. "I love my Hurst shifter levers! As a roofer I have no problems pulling the Hurst rods (30 lbs of power required for each shift). Maybe it will be the only manually shifted Pro Mod in the world in 2014. The first stop will be Andy Robinson Race Cars to update everything." APIRA, SPRC Awards vote 11. 6th January: Avon Park International Racing Association, Santa Pod Racers Club and Eurodragster.com are teaming up to give Eurodragster.com readers the chance of input to the APIRA and SPRC Perpetual Awards, which will be presented at the joint APIRA / SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy presentation on Saturday 8th February 2014. For several of the 2013 season awards, a shortlist has been decided upon for which votes can be submitted by E-Mail. Nominations are now also being accepted for the Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy. The votes of Eurodragster.com readers will be taken into consideration when the SPRC and APIRA Committees decide upon their winners. The final category is the McDonald Racing Ireland Best Newcomer trophy. The McDonald Racing Ireland Best Newcomer trophy, for the most promising newcomer to contest events at Shakespeare County Raceway, was presented for the first time in 2012 and is posted by Graham, Edel and Gabrielle McDonald. Last year's recipient was Sportsman ET racer Craig Wright, whose entry fees to the Springspeed Nationals and Open Sport Nationals were paid by McDonald Racing in addition to the trophy. The shortlist for the McDonald Racing Ireland Best Newcomer trophy, in alphabetical order, is as follows: Stephen Cherrett, Sportsman ET Vote for Stephen Cherrett Skye Collier, Lucas Oil Junior Dragster Vote for Skye Collier Jasper Joy, ET Bike Vote for Jasper Joy Jordan Kenway, Junior Drag Bike Vote for Jordan Kenway Zoe and Del Sanderson, Pro ET Vote for Zoe and Del Sanderson Martin and Matt Smith, Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator Vote for Martin and Matt Smith To place your vote, either use the links above or go to the official Perpetual Awards voting page which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the 2013 Perpetual Awards vote link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page. ©Eurodragster.com The Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy, for which nominations are also now being taken, was first awarded to Santa Pod Racers Club's late Chief Marshal, Alex Brachtvogel, in 2001 to mark his outstanding contribution to Santa Pod Raceway and the sport as a whole. After Alex's death the trophy was named in his memory and continues to be awarded for contribution to drag racing. There is no shortlist for the Alex Brachtvogel award. Nominations are invited from Eurodragster.com readers for racers, race officials, track and safety crews, club officials, media, or anyone else who has contributed to the sport. Last year the trophy was awarded to Keith Parnell. Again see the official page for more details or E-Mail your nomination to [email protected] specifying SPRC Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy nomination as the subject and your nomination in the body of the E-Mail. For each of the Awards, one vote per E-Mail address per nominee will be accepted: multiple votes for the same nominee from the same E-Mail address will all be disqualified. And every year we say this, but every year someone tries it on: please note that blatant attempts at organising mass votes - for example asking workmates, forum members or Facebook friends to vote en masse - are easily identified and all such votes will be disallowed as they have been in previous years. Concerted attempts at vote-rigging will result in the nominee being removed from the shortlist whether or not that nominee knows what was going on. We know all the dodges so it's just not worth trying. Additionally, if anyone should have issues with the content of any of the shortlists then please have the courtesy to contact the relevant Club direct rather than Eurodragster.com. E-Mails to Eurodragster.com regarding the shortlists will receive neither a reply nor any other acknowledgement. Voting remains open until 23:59 UK / 00:59 European on Friday week, 17th January. Swift snippets. 6th January: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words "Working on a comeback this year, if I can find a good crew". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at [email protected]. Ian King has apologised to the loyal readers of Kingracing.com for their patience over the last three weeks after a severe server meltdown which resulted in the loss of pages as well as malicious malware warnings, particularly for those who use Google Chrome as a web browser. "Hopefully the worst is behind us but we ask that any readers who continue to suffer any issues accessing our site let us know", says Ian. "A Happy New Year to you all!" Eurodragster.com will be attending Autosport this Saturday (11th). If your race vehicle is on display, or if your company is attending, or if you are attending the show and would like to give us some news then drop us a line at [email protected] and we'll be sure to come and find you. Jake's bespoke bike. 6th January: UK Junior Drag Bike racer Jake Charman says that yesterday's spy picture shows his new ride for 2014: In 2013 I had a tough year of racing whilst getting taller and a tad heavier, so we were having to work really hard to set up the bike. We made such good progress on the old bike in 2012, gaining six positions in the Championship. 2013 was therefore very hard going, I got taller and wanted to go faster, but the bike didn't. Towards the end of the year, cramming myself onto the bike with knees sticking out, it was very obvious that I was getting far too big for the old bike so, thanks so much to Dad, it was agreed that a new bike just had to be built. The new bike is beginning to take shape at Dave Branch's shop and will hopefully vastly improve on some of the shortcomings of the old bike. Even Dad is too short for the new one - the foot pegs are too far back for him, but is just fine for me! On the old bike, we were having problems setting up the clutch and finding the balance between clutch slip and wheelspin in order to get a good launch. Add to that a rider who gained an inch in height between every meeting, and it was definitely proving problematic! I would like to thank my sponsors from 2013, Doug at Ensys Ltd and Uncle Steve at Motorshack, who will hopefully be able to continue their support for next year. Thanks also to Tony at Abbey Motorsport for some wicked two-stroke advice, I hope he can give us some tips for next year. I am nearly 6' 2" and not fifteen years old until May, yes I am tall, please try not to mention it too much as I am tiring of it now (Try fifty years of it being the other way round - Ed). 2014 Drachten calendar. 5th January: After all the worry at the end of last season we were pleased to hear from European Top Gas Series racer and regular Eurodragster.com contributor Herman Jolink that dates have been set for Drachten, The Netherlands' own drag strip, for 2014. "I really hope that a lot of bike and car racers will come to Drachten this year", says Herman. The calendar for Drachten in 2014 is as follows: 11th-13th July: Dutch Open 22nd-24th August: Dutch Open 19th-21st September: Dutch Open Finals You can find out more at www.quartermile.nl. Swift snippets. 5th January: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com (below left) came with the words "It's coming along!". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at [email protected]. Not a spy picture but a test of our readers' historical knowledge. Can you identify the racer in the picture above right? No prize on offer save a name check here on Eurodragster.com News. If you think you know who it is then drop us a line at [email protected]. Extra points for where and when. APIRA, SPRC Awards vote 10. 3rd January: Avon Park International Racing Association, Santa Pod Racers Club and Eurodragster.com are teaming up to give Eurodragster.com readers the chance of input to the APIRA and SPRC Perpetual Awards, which will be presented at the joint APIRA / SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy presentation on Saturday 8th February 2014. For several of the 2013 season awards, a shortlist has been decided upon for which votes can be submitted by E-Mail. Nominations are now also being accepted for the Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy. The votes of Eurodragster.com readers will be taken into consideration when the SPRC and APIRA Committees decide upon their winners. The latest voting category is the APIRA Endeavour Award. The APIRA Endeavour Award is presented to a racer, team, supporter or member of the media in recognition for services rendered over the last twelve months, as well as their overall support of Avon Park International Racing Association and Shakespeare County Raceway. The APIRA Committee's shortlist, in alphabetical order, is as follows: Barry Bohannon, Shakespeare County Raceway commentator Vote for Barry Bohannon Jeni Long, photographer Vote for Jeni Long The National Association of Supertwins Vote for the National Association of Supertwins The Orange Pop team, Outlaw Anglia Vote for Orange Pop Callum Pudge, photographer Vote for Callum Pudge Helen Todd and David Coleman, TV and DVD production, Zeon TV / Quartermilehigh.com Vote for Helen Todd and David Coleman To place your vote, either use the links above or go to the official Perpetual Awards voting page which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the 2013 Perpetual Awards vote link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page. ©Eurodragster.com The Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy, for which nominations are also now being taken, was first awarded to Santa Pod Racers Club's late Chief Marshal, Alex Brachtvogel, in 2001 to mark his outstanding contribution to Santa Pod Raceway and the sport as a whole. After Alex's death the trophy was named in his memory and continues to be awarded for contribution to drag racing. There is no shortlist for the Alex Brachtvogel award. Nominations are invited from Eurodragster.com readers for racers, race officials, track and safety crews, club officials, media, or anyone else who has contributed to the sport. Last year the trophy was awarded to Keith Parnell. Again see the official page for more details or E-Mail your nomination to [email protected] specifying SPRC Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy nomination as the subject and your nomination in the body of the E-Mail. For each of the Awards, one vote per E-Mail address per nominee will be accepted: multiple votes for the same nominee from the same E-Mail address will all be disqualified. And every year we say this, but every year someone tries it on: please note that blatant attempts at organising mass votes - for example asking workmates, forum members or Facebook friends to vote en masse - are easily identified and all such votes will be disallowed as they have been in previous years. Concerted attempts at vote-rigging will result in the nominee being removed from the shortlist whether or not that nominee knows what was going on. We know all the dodges so it's just not worth trying. Additionally, if anyone should have issues with the content of any of the shortlists then please have the courtesy to contact the relevant Club direct rather than Eurodragster.com. E-Mails to Eurodragster.com regarding the shortlists will receive neither a reply nor any other acknowledgement. The final voting category, whose shortlist will be posted on Monday (6th), will be the McDonald Racing Ireland Best Newcomer Trophy. Voting will then remain open until Friday 17th January. Retirement at 15. 3rd January: 2013 UK National Junior Dragster Champion Rhiannon Bellenie has announced her retirement at the age of fifteen. That is, her retirement from Junior drag racing. Dad Pete writes: It was Rhiannon's aim, way back when she was nine years old, to race Junior Dragsters until she was sixteen years old and then to move on to Super Pro ET. Rhiannon will be sixteen in March and is aiming to achieve what she said way back then! She is retiring at the top as number one in the UK and SPRC Championships. Her Junior Dragster is sold and a new car is on the cards for this year. The chassis is being built in the USA and although we will have to miss the first couple or so meetings whilst the new car is completed, Rhiannon will be out in her new class this year. We have had a great time in the Junior pits and made a lot of new friends, and although it is sad that we are moving on the quest for more speed is never-ending. Club van 100 offers USA prize. 3rd January: Dutch Top Fuel Bike racer Rene van den Berg is offering an exciting opportunity for one person to win a trip to the 2014 Manufacturers Cup Finals in the USA: After the 2013 FIA European Finals, where Rene accomplished a 6.5-second run on only his second full pass on the Shark Attack Top Fuel Bike, the team are looking forward to a busy 2014 season. With major work being completed and numerous spare engines, the plan is to contest part of the FIM European Drag Bike Championship and some National events and shows, culminating in competition at the Manufacturers Cup in the USA at the end of 2014. Club van 100 is an exciting chance to be part of this once in a lifetime experience, with the winner being offered a trip to the USA with the team and VIP status at the track. The winner will be able to experience the thrill of Top Fuel Bike close up, and to be able to meet the likes of Larry McBride and others. Flights and accommodation are all included in the prize. For your chance to win, all you have to do is to join Club van 100, pay €100 for sponsorship for the team, and you could be the one flying out with the team near the end of 2014. Entry closes on 31st July and the winner will be announced on Saturday 16th August. For more information please contact Rene van den Berg at [email protected] or visit his web site at www.sharkattackdragracing.com. Thanks to Cindy Newbury of Eurodragster.com sponsor Psycleworkz for passing this news item on to us - Ed Swift snippets. 3rd January: Street Eliminator Chair Matt Atkinson tells us that a five-page feature on Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator appears in the January 2014 issue of Top Gear magazine. "The spread has information on the class and the drivers with some great pictures", says Matt. "I would like to say a massive Thank You to Dom Romney for his help in setting this up and for making it possible. Hopefully it's a good read!" Maikel Gloudemans of our streaming service supplier Doyousee.me tells us that he hopes to resume the webcast replays at didyousee.me/dragrace over this weekend. The replays had to stop midweek whilst Maikel responded to an emergency with one of his customers' servers, and he has since been working unsocial hours which cut down the time available for preparing new broadcasts. It goes without saying that earning a crust comes first and M@ik assures us that the resumption of replays will be worth the enforced wait. Racers invited to Stratford Festival. 3rd January: Shakespeare County Raceway would be pleased to hear from any car or motorcycle team who would like to put their vehicle on display in front of a May Bank Holiday audience in Stratford-upon-Avon, should they not be taking part in the APIRA Springspeed Nationals just a few miles up the road on the same weekend. Following the success of last year's Stratford Festival of Motoring, when thousands of town centre visitors were treated to a display of straight-line horsepower and a mouth-watering exhibition of vintage and modern-day supercars and club rally, event organiser Adrian Grubb has asked SCR to attend this year's show which is scheduled to take place on 4th-5th May. "Last year the Monday attracted about eighty thousand visitors to the town", said Adrian. "That's about forty thousand more than normal. Motoring journalist and TV presenter Quentin Wilson, our patron, said at the prize giving that it was the busiest he had seen the town for fifteen years." Hundreds of flyers were handed out each day to town centre visitors who had never seen dragsters and bikes before, let alone heard of the sport or the track! At one stage, much to the hilarity of the assembled onlookers, a Ferrari owner stuck in traffic opposite the display witnessed an excited child run straight past his car, more interested in the Junior Dragsters and Simon Barlow's Orange Pop despite the Ferrari driver revving his engine in a vain attempt to gain favour! SCR would be interested to hear from any teams, especially supercharged Nostalgia teams, who would be interested in displaying cars, bikes, American Cars and Hot Rods on either one or both days of the Festival. Please E-Mail Jerry at [email protected] or call 01789 720180. Overnight facilities can be provided at the Raceway on the Sunday evening. Swift snippets. 1st January: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words "Nitrous Pro Mod?". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at [email protected]. Darren Orthodoxou has been in touch to ask if any Eurodragster.com reader knows the numbers for the quickest and fastest normally-aspirated Big Block-powered altered in Europe, since he has been told that dad Robin's seven-second Chevy-powered (That's Chevy-powered, Chris - Ed) altered may well be the quickest. If you know the numbers for the quickest such altered then drop us a line at [email protected] and we'll put you in touch. Kirstie, Tog, Simon, Ed and Julian would like to wish all Eurodragster.com readers a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. We'll all be back at the track before you know it. Earlier news