Nev Mottershead. 31st December: It is with great sadness that we heard of the passing earlier today of Nev Mottershead, Competition Eliminator racer and good friend to Eurodragster.com. We knew Nev for most of the life of Eurodragster.com and he was a great supporter of the site and founder editor Tog. Nev raced a Toyota Supra and Vauxhall Ventora which was being upgraded to a 7.50 tag earlier in 2020 so that Nev could return to racing. Even in his extended period not on track he kept in touch and attended functions such as the annual SPRC Dinner Dance and British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Gala on numerous occasions. Nev's wonderful sense of humour and presence will be greatly missed and we send deepest condolences to his wife Libby, his family and friends. We will be publishing a tribute by Tog in due course. 4Star Racing season review. 31st December: Thanks to Pro ET racer and Santa Pod Raceway Events Manager James Forster for supplying a review by his crew of his season, running a newly purchased Plymouth Duster: Following a couple of years out of the sport while other things took priority, 4star Racing returned to the track in 2020 contesting what was ultimately a three round Pro ET championship. It all started in mid 2019 with the hunt for a new car and the purchase of a 540ci big block chevrolet powered Plymouth Duster from Daz Chandler. By February 2020 the engine was back from EDA (Kenny Coleman's Engine Data Analysis in Castleford) with a clean bill of health and it was time to start putting everything together with the goal of getting out in time for Easter which was, at the time, just two short months away. Slowly, and with a lot of help along the way, the car started to come together. Main jobs included installing the engine, gearbox, mounting the seat, harness, gauges, switches, and wiring the entire car from front to back, but by the start of March we were ready to fire the car up for the first time. Surprisingly, everything worked and the car started first time and sounded great - even though the engine only ran for approximately three seconds due to a transmission leak but we were chuffed nonetheless. Work continued and a few weeks later we were at the stage where the car would run, drive and stop. Something wasn’t quite right, however, as there was a phantom and worrying noise, so the gearbox went off to Andy Frost for a rebuild. When Andy found nothing amiss, the torque converter was in the firing line so that went off to Phil Cottingham who thankfully found the problem. Things slowly progressed and by the end of June the car was back together, ready hopefully to get down the track for the first time. Phantom noise cured, we attended the Back On Track days at Santa Pod and started the process of slowly chipping away at it, learning a little more each time we went to the start line. We had problems initially getting the car to leave the line correctly where it just wouldn’t build RPM. Again, fingers were pointed at the relatively low spec. torque converter so we borrowed one which we then ended up using for the rest of the season. Despite us getting into the tens, the startline gremlins remained that were holding the car back. Following a few more trips to RWYBs throughout July trying to get to the bottom of everything, we eventually identified some rogue spark plugs (of all things!) and we were straight into the mid 9s, a week prior to the first race meeting of the year at the Green Light Nationals in August which was exactly where we wanted to be. The event was a great debut for the new car, making four qualifying runs on the Saturday, all within a couple of hundreds of a second of one another, ending up ninth going into eliminations where for the first time we would be chasing down our opponent. We won first round against Leigh Morris running a 9.56 on a 9.55 dial in and then in round 2 Rick Denny ended up breaking out by a measly two thousandths of a second and somehow we were into round 3 against Dave Fulton. Dave had a couple of hundredths advantage off the line and held on to take the win, despite the fact we hit our dial in running a new PB of 9.49. All in all we were really happy with how things had gone, winning a couple of rounds of racing on our first full weekend back in Pro ET was beyond expectations. It was then less than three weeks until the next meeting at Not the European finals; we spent some time between events working on a few issues, mainly sorting out a small oil leak from the rocker covers and installing some rear lights in case we ended up running in the dark. We set up on the Thursday but decided not to run on the test day as the car had ran so well the previous meeting; that was then where it all started to go wrong for us. Q1 on Friday we were shut off twice for a leak which was found to be coming from a fitting on the water pump, an easy fix. The car then refused to start which initially we thought was the starter motor. So after obtaining a replacement, getting it fitted and firing up again, we were ready to go, but by this point we had missed Q2 but were ready for Q3. When the call came, again the car would not start. After lots of head scratching, trying to chase whatever electrical issue we had and with the help of a borrowed battery we were ready to make our first pass. We dialled a 9.50 but broke out to a PB of 9.48, qualifying us in last place but were pleased things were sorted and a number was on the board. That joy lasted all of five minutes as when back in the pits an unmistakable hissing from the rear tyre indicated we now had a puncture. The hunt was on for a replacement inner tube and by 11pm that evening we had found one – thanks to Jon Webster who sorted us out despite running his own Pro Mod. It was mounted and the tyre wrestled onto the car and we were ready for day 2. Problems continued on the Saturday and we managed to run a mid-10 second pass so the car still wasn’t happy, we ended up qualifying last having only made it down the track twice. One moment the car was fine, then wouldn’t start and then would be fine again. Sunday morning and we were again against Dave Fulton in round one, both left the line together and the car was on a good pass but Dave took the win. While we ended up slowing to a 9.76 on a 9.49 dial in, from the start line it looked as if James had lifted not wanting to break out. Once back in the pits and finding the rescue quad towing the car we knew that wasn’t the case. As soon as we started investigating it was clear what had happened, the mains power cable had come off at 1000 ft and had finally put an end to our weekend, the blame placed firmly on James for his inability to use a crimping tool although he’ll say it was pulled off in our power-related troubleshooting. We repaired this, fired up and all was good, we packed up and headed home confident that we were on the right track and that things would be better next time out. Two weeks later at the National Finals and things started well, car warmed up and ready for Q1. It seemed like the work carried out between meetings replacing all the battery cables and mains power cut off in an attempt to get past all the problems from the previous meeting had worked. That was until the car moved into stage and sounded off, wouldn’t build RPM and eventually shut off. We pushed back and were towed back to the pits by our new favourite tow quad. A borrowed battery from Ben Newsome and once again everything was fine. It was at this stage one of the many people who were lending a hand trying to work out what the problem was noticed that the alternator belt was slipping when the car was running in turn allowing the battery to drain in absolutely no time at all. Belt tightened, car fired up and the difference was soon clear, we were ready to go again. Who knew an MSD uses so much power!? We certainly didn’t as it’s all new to us but lesson learned! Right on cue, it then began to rain and despite the efforts of the track crew the day was called off without us putting in a qualifying pass. Luckily the decision was made to run another round of qualifying on the Sunday morning before moving into eliminations, we dialled a 9.47 trying to make sure we got a number on the board, the right side of our dial in on what would be our only qualifier. The car ran strong and with a new PB of 9.39 knocking nearly a tenth off our previous best but once again we were qualified last and faced Gino Bernadine in round 1. Gino red lit sending us through into round 2 but this time we ran another PB of 9.34. Against Leigh Morris in round 2, a 9.38 on a 9.34 dial in sent us through and again somehow, we were into round 3 against Tom Watkins. This race however was over before 60 foot with Tom pulling a perfect light to our 0.18, putting an end to our racing for the season. We loaded up and headed home, pleased how the car had ran and that we had ended up winning a couple of rounds after all the issues. All in all, the shortened season was a success for us given the amount of work that was required to get the car ready, never mind learning to drive something two seconds quicker than James had driven before. We ended up finishing tenth in the Pro ET Covid cup and by the end of the year were starting to get to grips with things. Looking ahead, we hope to run the full Pro ET championship in 2021. The car itself will get the usual maintenance and a new torque convertor has already arrived ready to be installed. We really do have too many people to thank for their help this year. For the first time ever we have a sponsor to thank with Matt and Kristie at M.L Howe Fencing Services. If you have a relatively local fencing job that needs doing, please do give them a call, supporting those that support the sport really does make a huge difference. Thanks to Martin at FireForce for the endless work and putting up with us, all of Pro ET for their assistance and troubleshooting, Ben and the guys at EDA for also putting up with us, the Moldens for the loan of pretty much anything and everything plus endless mickey taking, Keith, the boss, for the loan of the torque converter and allowing James a weekend off now and then so he can actually race, Jon Webster for getting us out of trouble with 2 inner tubes during race weekends this season, all of the photographers for capturing us on track and everyone else that’s helped us out in one way or another, there really are too many people to list – without all the help we get, we really wouldn’t have a clue! And finally if you haven’t already, please do like our Facebook page to keep up to date with what we are up to and find an extensive gallery of the year courtesy of Julian Hunt. Happy New Year and we’ll see you at the track soon. Swift snippets. 31st December: Kieran has posted his Top Ten Drag Cars of 2020 on his Youtube channel. He says "It was hard to narrow it down to just 10 but these are my personal favourites that I've filmed on track this year, as you can tell from the channel I like the wild builds that are a little different from the norm! Although we've had a really odd season it's been a pleasure to be involved with Eurodragster.com this year. I'm looking forward to when we can venture overseas whenever that may be and see more of the European racing scene!" Drag racing historian Nick Pettitt has uploaded three more videos from his Time Travel series to his Youtube site. Time Travel 44 is video footage filmed at the 1987 World Finals at Santa Pod. Time Travel 45 is video Nick filmed at the 1987 Easter Internationals, the 1988 Sun Supernationals and the 1989 World Finals. Finally Time Travel 46 is from John Munday's cine film taken at Snetterton 1976 and Santa Pod 1977 plus some slides from 1974 -1979. All three videos are of great historic value and illustrate vividly how the sport was over 40 years ago. Andy Williams. 28th December: We are sad to announce that Super Comp racer Andy Williams passed away from cancer on 27th December aged 59. Andy's widow Maggie, also crew chief on their dragster told us "Andy had a pioneering kidney transplant at age 16 in 1977 and also was the youngest in the South West region to have this life saving operation. After the transplant Andy got his '32 Ford roadster 'Eight Mis 'B' Haven'. Later we imported the 'Wild Child' Super Comp dragster. We went to race at Vandal in Denmark, Drachten and Hockenheim, long trips from West Gloucester but huge fun. Meeting Tom Margesson as a teenager with his dad Pete, he along with Sandy Rose completed the crew. Andy was so kind to kids looking around the dragster and would offer them a seat in it, saying 'They are the next generation of drag racers'". We received a tribute to Andy from Tom Margesson (pictured right, below): It is with a very heavy heart I have to give you more devastating news that another fellow racer has passed away. Andy ‘Wild Child’ Williams unfortunately lost his battle with cancer on 27th December and sadly passed away. I met Andy with my Dad many years ago at Santa Pod Raceway, He was bringing his dragster back from scrutinering, Dad made a joke about where Andy had been ‘to get a pint of milk’; a few minutes later we were being asked if we fancied crewing with him and his wife Maggie that weekend. Obviously we took up that offer and some kind of unbreakable bond was made. We traveled to Denmark with Andy and some other crew members in 2007 to race at Vandal raceway, my god the stories we could tell and the fun we had. Andy offered all the crew a drive in his race cars and for some unknown reason I was the only one to take up the offer and in 2013 I got the chance to race his ‘Wild Child’. Later in 2015-16 I raced in competition with Super Comp, never will I forget that experience! Andy was such a funny guy, comments like 'I’m about to ruin your life' with a pat on the shoulder as he was strapping me in for my first run down the track, knowing himself how addictive the feeling was. Meeting Amy my partner for the first time as I drove off to the start line, he was telling her to forget shiny cars and big houses, he's about to become an addict! Who does that? Andy Williams does that! In reality he did the opposite to ruining my life. He and his wife Maggie just made it better, friendships like that don’t come very often. Me and my Dad had a friendship with him that never would have been broken and trusted each other with our lives, as did all the crew members! I could go on for hours about the times we’ve had and the laughter brought to us by Andy, at he moment that is what will get us through this. That and knowing there is no more pain for Andy. An absolute fighter from the age of around 13, Andy battled with health issues and didn’t give up, now that’s another story! Andy leaves behind his wife Maggie, sons Marcus and Alex, sisters, father, grandkids and so many friends. I hope you can all remember some good times no doubt with a gut wrenching laugh, and that’s what we all need right now! One more thing remember: ‘Madness - the best band in the world!' Our deepest sympathies to all of Andy's family and friends. Track photos courtesy Tog. 2020 SPRC Perpetual Awards vote 4. 28th December: Santa Pod Racers Club and Eurodragster.com are again teaming up to give Eurodragster.com readers the chance of input to the SPRC Perpetual Awards. The location and date for presentation of the trophies will be announced in due course, as the SPRC Dinner Dance is subject to Covid restrictions being lifted. For several of the 2020 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 Committee decides upon their winners. Today's category is Most Professional-Appearing Team. The Most Professional-Appearing Team trophy recognises not just the presentation of a race vehicle but the team's overall approach to racing. As well as a well-turned-out car or bike, the Committee have considered such aspects as the appearance and attitude of team personnel, the organisation and appearance of their pit area and support equipment, and their readiness when their class is called. The SPRC Committee's shortlist is as follows: Team Sweet FA (Ron Bartlett and team, Another Small F Super Pro ET) Vote for Team Sweet FA Chi Town Hustler (Paul Harris and team, Nostalgia Funny Car) Vote for Chi Town Hustler Oldsmobile Thunder (Claire Johnson and team, NEM Plant Ltd Nostalgia Super Stock) Vote for Oldsmobile Thunder Nitro Bug (Andy Raw and team, Nostalgia Funny Car) Vote for Nitro Bug To place your vote, either click on the appropriate link above or go to the official Perpetual Awards voting page which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the SPRC Perpetual Awards vote link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. If your device doesn't automatically generate an E-Mail then please E-Mail your choice to [email protected]. ©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 SPRC marshal Alison Hackney. 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. 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. If in any doubt about what constitutes canvassing then please drop us a line at [email protected]. Additionally, if anyone should have issues with the content of any of the shortlists then please contact SPRC direct rather than E-Mailing Eurodragster.com or commenting on social media. E-Mails to Eurodragster.com regarding the content of the shortlists will receive neither a reply nor any other acknowledgement. The next voting category, the final, will posted next Monday, 4th January 2021, and will be the James Edgar Memorial Trophy. Voting will close on Sunday 17th January. Mike's Summertime Blues. 28th December: Many thanks to Mike Collins for providing an exclusive preview of his "Essence of NitroFire" feature for the on-hiatus Street Machine magazine. The "Summertime Blues" photo mix for Eurodragster.com readers includes his personal views on the 2020 Covid situation, a Festive Greeting, and some NitroFire images to keep us warm. Mike describes how he completed the photo mix during a recent 10 day stay at Croydon University Hospital for an operation from which he is recovering at home. Mike says "Sister gave me special dispensation to finish this". Our best wishes to Mike for a speedy recuperation. You can see Mike's work in full (pdf format) by clicking on the image. Smax's seasonal sentiments. 28th December: Thanks to 2003 and still sole rookie FIA Top Fuel Champion Smax Smith for sending an update and hopes for 2021: Hi guys, can't let the year go by without wishing all our drag racing family n' friends a safe merry Xmas and a preposterous New Year! We have had so many connections on our Facebook page Ant Hill Mob Dragracing Team and son Aidan has been posting everything we have been up to during Covid including building a new 3240 sq ft shop which will be my daily workshop, our race shop and my mancave with drag racing and music blasting while we work lol. Aidan has stepped up and has done most of the work on the new Top Fuel car (replacing the now-sold Top Alky Funny Car - Ed) which is almost ready to rock again after Aidan's short licensing runs on a terrible track surface lol. I have also completed my medical for renewing my Top Fuel licence so if this pandemic subsides we will be ready! All the very best and keep in touch, it is our dream one day to come and race again at the Pod. Full revs, Smax and Aidan and the Ant Hill Mob Drag Racing Team. Gerry Treit. 27th December: We were shocked and saddened to hear of the death of Willys Wars and former Street Eliminator racer Gerry Treit. His long time friend and fellow Scottish racer Colin Millar writes in tribute: It is with deep sadness that I have to let our racing family know of the huge loss of Gerry Treit, a dear friend of more than 40 years taken from us at only 56 years of age, it’s just not fair and hard to accept but I hope time will sweeten the bitter taste we all have at present, Gerry leaves behind his wife Dina, his sister-in-law Pamela and husband Alan, his brother-in-law Vince, his step daughter Carly and a huge amount of true friends. I met Gerry on 5th August 1980 on both our very first day as apprentices at Tullis Russell Papermakers at Markinch in Fife and we have remained loyal friends and, hand on heart, I can say we never had a cross word. Gerry was always up to no good with endless pranks, mischievous antics and a wicked sense of humour. Our love of cars kept us very much together with us both starting out in life with Morris Minors as our first cars; mine was a 2-door and Gerry was a ex post office van. Gerry and myself started The Fife County Cruisers in 1983 and although the club is no longer, we all stay in touch. Gerry was intelligent and a wonderful engineer, I’ve never seen him getting beaten by anything and often made parts from scratch to keep the mill going. This allowed him to use his skills in building custom cars and race cars and he had a huge appetite for both British and more so American cars. No doubt I won't get the sequence right and might even miss a few but here goes, Rover 3500 P6, 1967 Mercury Cougar, 1970 Chevrolet Blazer Truck, 1972 Pontiac Firebird, 1979 Chevrolet Corvette, 2005 Dodge Rumble Bee, 1940 Willys coupe, 1955 Dodge van, 1937 Ford. Gerry’s thirst for life, his drive, his passion and his determination always paid off in the end and he got what he wanted, often not the same taste or style as many, but his choice. Gerry was the person who was always ahead of the game; come to Santa Pod he said, I said what is that and where is that, next thing we were off down the 400 mile stretch to watch the racing in 1984 and from then on, Gerry never looked back. I suppose like a lot of us Gerry watched and wished, but as time went on, and we were both lucky enough that at the time the papermill gave us endless amounts of overtime, we had the cash burning a hole in our pockets. Every car Gerry owned had a timing ticket in fact I bet you Gerry has every timing ticket from the very first run; one thing he did not do was throw anything away (Dina can vouch for this). Holidays were so much fun, Gerry would jump in the Pop with a tiny wee bag and that was us for a fortnight, I’d say where to and Gerry would say Lands’ End and that’s where we would go, we got there and I said where now, Gerry and he said John o’ Groats and that’s where we went. On another holiday we arrived late in a wee village called Torcross in South Devon and set up the tent before going to the pub and having copious amounts of beer, to find no tent in the morning, as a force 10 gale came past during the night leaving two daft Scottish laudies lying on a groundsheet; it was only the sunshine that eventually woke us up! As our lives progressed Gerry was never far away, he was the best man at my wedding, wetting the head of my three daughters when they were born and always there whenever we partied and you would never guess we partied on a serious note. In 2000 Gerry met the love of his life Dina, he kinda knew Dina as Dina’s brother Vince was a member of The Fife County Cruisers in his wee Red 300E van. They courted for about six years until finally tying the knot in Sedona, Arizona in 2006 and have never been parted until now. My heart goes out to Dina and the very close family who have supported her throughout this difficult time. Never a dull moment, and as our paths changed we always kept close. Gerry was starting to gain a huge passion for the Street Eliminator class and often went down to spectate and absorb as much information as he could and when he was ready it was his time to start a path that would bring his dream to reality. His choice of weapon was to be a 1940 Willys, unlike a lot of us, his car was built by his very own hands, the hours he spent must have been enormous (again Dina will confirm she was a garage widow) but it was his dream to participate in Street Eliminator. You can see what an achievement, what a car and for me what a fantastic person. His crew were always looked after with Dina being from Italian descent always having a huge pot ready and waiting on the crew returning, but also making sure she was on hand when it was time to get down that fire up road with the help of his dedicated crew. From left to right James Houston, Mark Diamond, Steve Wilson and Steve and Claire Swinton made up the Tartan Drag’in Race Team. Gerry loved his years racing with all the characters in Street Eliminator and as time passed, he always made the trip to Dragstalgia which he really loved; as you can see he certainly kept your full attention probably, and even more of his attention, when his Willys did like to try and reach the sky lol. As we all pass through life I have had some of the best times of my life with Gerry and Dina, only now do you realise how treasured these times together were and the memories we created. I shall so miss him with all my heart; God speed Gerry. SPRC Christmas greeting. 24th December: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for sending an update from the Club: 2020 has not been quite the year we all hoped for, however due to the endeavours of Santa Pod Raceway, SPRC and of course all of our members and crew personnel, we did manage to get some racing done; the Covid Cup mini championship is complete and the winners' names are in the history books. We have had a year that for many reasons will go down in history, mostly good reasons, and one not so, however we at Santa Pod Racers Club, feel sure that the winter season updates, refresh and preparations will be carrying on unabated as normal, preparing for what will be a back-to-normal 2021 season; sure, it may not start when we want to, but the signs are a lot more positive going into the new season now. At SPRC headquarters, everything is carrying on as normal as can be, permits applied for, Rule book almost complete and Championship details sorted all in preparation for 2021, which is not far away now, and we look forward to getting back to the track very soon. So to all of our members, their families and crew members, our marshals and their families, all of the Santa Pod staff, and all at Eurodragster.com, have a great Christmas (thanks, and you too - Editor), and here's to looking forward to a better and safer New Year; please stay safe and keep those safe around you too. Elsom's controversial Dirty Deeds. 24th December: Nostalgia Funny Car racer Rob Elsom decided to sit out 2020 when the pandemic hit in March, however his plan following engine damage sustained in 2019 was to carry out a more comprehensive upgrade of his 'Dirty Deeds' car – including the first swoopy Camaro body shell seen outside the USA. Rob said "I had ordered the body from Ron Hodgson in May 2019 and when the lockdown began, it made sense to complete the work at that stage". The composite Camaro body is much lighter and stronger than Rob's previous Firebird shell. Once it arrived in October 2019 Rob set about building a frame and fabricating tin work for it. The paint job, designed by Darren West and applied by Marshall Body Repairs and Restoration looks awesome, with a revised design and colour from the Firebird. In a nod to the detractors of the Camaro design who stated at its introduction that it was not nostalgic enough because the design was modified too much from stock, Darren has included the word 'Controversial' on the car's front air dam. Rob continued "As I have built the frame and tin work, the body fits the existing chassis perfectly. I've added Weld V Series wheels. I've refreshed the engine which has a new supercharger from The Blower Shop and new components in the fuel system. There is a new aluminium hat on the blower. I will be making the tuning calls myself next season, but have vacancies for up to five or six crew members to assist me, and we will be working out of a new trailer. So there's been quite a bit of investment in the overall operation". Competition wise, Rob is keen to get out on track to run the revised car but will made a final decision on which events to attend following publication of next season's calendar. He added "I loved the idea of a David and Goliath Cannonball competition between Nostalgia and Big Show cars. I could even be tempted to offer a rental drive to someone with the right experience". Rob thanks Andy and Jack from Marshall Body Repairs and Restoration for the paint, Ron Hodgson for even considering selling the body to him in the first place, Darren West for another fantastic design, Jason at SeaKargo for helping to get it here, Craig Monroe at Extreme Fibre for the rear wing which is 100% carbon and to "all the guys and gals past and present that have helped along the way, be it long trips to fetch it, encouraging me to keep going or days in the shop". Swift snippets. 24th December: We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to Nitro FM presenter and occasional Contributing Photographer Nikki Marshall. Have a lovely day Nikki. 2020 Champions' Champions. 24th December: Honorary Eurodragster.com staff member Andy Marrs has unexpectedly had a year off from compiling lists of European and UK Champions' Champions. However we have included the 2019 FIA and FIM-E edition in this year's update. The Champions' Champions tables show the all-time highest points earners since the FIA and FIM European Championships began in 1996 and 1992 respectively, and since the UK National Championships began in 1999. Scoring for the UK National Championships Champions' Champions is based on an event having to be completed for a win to be registered. Race wins are ranked by number based on the driver or rider. Points however are scored and ranked on a team basis, as are numbers of Championships. For teams with multiple cars or drivers changing teams during or between seasons, the compiler's decision is final. 2020 was a season like no other, and hopefully not to be repeated. Under the pandemic restrictions, only three championship events were allowed to be held, and as they were not being able to be held under Motorsport UK or ACU permit, the championship became the Covid Cup. We have been able to include these events in Champions Champions as ours is not an official list, and the winners deserve recognition for their efforts. All three events were able to be completed, in the case of the Greenlight Nationals by virtue of carrying the rained-off finals forward to the next available event. Of course without formal competition in Pro classes, and no FIA/FIM-E races held at all this year, those categories have not changed from last year's edition, so a year off for Andy Marrs. We had first time champions in eight classes, compared with nine last year and a record eleven in 2015. The number of back to back champions was three, compared with seven last year and a record nine in 2017. In Competition Eliminator, father and son team Kev and Lloyd Perkins won this year's title with wins at Not The Euro Finals and National Finals. Kev now has the largest number of race wins, seven as Lloyd scored his first at the National Finals. Andy Hone continues to lead the aggregate points with a reduced margin of 460 over Kev and Lloyd. In Super Pro ET, Team Time is Money (John and Tom Atkinson) won their second title, the first having come nine years ago. A win at the Greenlight Nationals was the springboard for their title. This year's runner-up Scott Hauser has won the most championships in the class over the period covered and Brad Jackson, Martyn Jones, Steve Green and Ian Tubb have each won two Super Pro Championships since 1999, Brad's championships coming in 2018 and 2019. Barry Giles leads wins with fifteen in total and as Giles & Hartley continues to lead aggregate points, ahead of Team Time is Money who have moved to second ahead of Steve Johnson. Team Dark Horse (previously known as Top Banana with Brian and Lee Huxley sharing driving) won their seventh Pro ET title in 2020 and Rick McCann remains in second place with three. Lee Huxley has had thirteen wins over the last 22 years, with Rick McCann and Bob Doyle having won six each. The Huxleys continue to lead the points tally ahead of Team Heaven & Hell. In Sportsman ET Carl Magedera won his first title and congratulations to him, the first ever to go to an electric vehicle. Craig Wright, Geoff Cowley and Team Rainy City Lightning (Al and Linda Platt) each have three Sportsman ET championships. Craig, with ten wins during his time in the class, leads Geoff Cowley and Rick Denny who both have seven wins. Team Rainy City Lightning still lead the points aggregate ahead of Nick Gay. In Super Comp, Steve Hudson won his first championship with two event wins at the Greenlight Nationals and Not the Euro Finals. Stuart Doignie, with four championships in 2015-18, leads Brian Pateman for the most Super Comp championships, Brian having three in the period under review. Brian has most wins with thirteen over Tim Adam's ten, and the most points over Pete Creswell. In Super Gas, Dave Fulton won his first championship with two event wins, the year after brother Simon achieved the same, and congratulations to Dave. Stuart Doignie, Jon Morton and Tim Adam have four championships apiece, with Stuart's four coming in 2015-18. Jon and Frank Mason both have twelve race wins in the period, whereas Frank leads points scored over Jon. Congratulations to Mark Todd who won his third Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator title, with two event wins; Steve Pateman still dominates the overall listings with five Championships, seventeen wins and leads the aggregate points over Ian Hook. In Lucas Oil Junior Dragster, congratulations to Luke Fulton on his first title in only his second year in competition, secured by a win at the National Finals. Joe Kellett has the most championships with three, Nick Mugridge continues to have the most wins with nine and Joe Kellett leads aggregate points over Billy Everitt. Ross Morrison won his first title in 8.50 Bike with a win at Not the Euro Finals. Ross' JKE team boss Jake Mechaell continues to lead the championships total with three equalling Mick Winyard's, the wins total with thirteen over Jay Roe's ten, and the points total over Jay's. In 9.50 Bike, JKE team member Martin Hallett scored his first title with wins at the Greenlight Nationals and National Finals, and congratulations to Martin. Richard Sawatzki holds eight championships, with an unprecedented five in a row, from Fred Furlong. Rick's 24 wins head Fred's eleven, and Rick continues with the overall points lead over Fred. ET Bike has its second title holder since it became a National class, and congratulations to Paul Adams for taking the win after a victory at the National Finals. Phil Pratt won three consecutive championships since the class's points scoring status began. Phil also heads Gary Hester in events won with eleven compared to Gary's three, and leads Gary also in aggregate points. Congratulations to Louis Davies who won his first Funny Bike title in his first year in the class with with race wins at Not the Euro Finals and National Finals. Neil Midgley continues to lead all three categories with five championships over Chris Hall's three, seventeen event wins to Chris's ten and a sizeable points total over second placed Tim Blakemore. Phil Leamon won his fourth Competition Bike title, and first since 2012 with a win at the Greenlight Nationals. Phil and Ivan Birch each have three championships, both have ten wins and Phil also leads the points over Stu Crane. In ACU Super Street Bike Steve Venables won his tenth title, with wins at Not the Euro Finals and National Finals. Ven continues to lead the number of titles and has 30 wins and leads the points total by a substantial margin from Graham Dance who lies second in championships with four, and wins with nineteen. Liam Holgate won his fourth Junior Drag Bike title, with an undefeated record and three wins during the season. He shares the lead of titles won with Scott Collier and wins with ten. Scott leads the points tally over Louis Davies. You can check out the UK Champions' Champions by clicking here or by clicking on the Champions' Champions link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Drag Racing Unplugged XXII. 24th December: As has become traditional on our last pre-Christmas update, we have posted a page of quotes from this season's John Woolfe Racing-sponsored Eurodragster.com Event Coverage and the Santa Pod Cast including Simon's, Diana's, Kirstie's, Julian's, Kieran's and Tog's personal Quotes of the Year, together with others which we didn't publish at the time. We are pleased to present Drag Racing Unplugged XXII, the 2020 collection, which you can check out by clicking here, or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Eurodragster.com Christmas lists. 24th December: We will now be taking our Christmas break. News updates and postings to our Jeff Bull Race Engines Swap Meet will resume at the end of this week. Keep those news items coming to us at [email protected] and we will post them after our break. In the meantime we have compiled our usual requests to Father Christmas, together with our New Year resolutions. As well as the core team we have also asked Off-Track Photographer Diana Macrae for her thoughts: Top of Diana's Christmas list: 20 B&H...not had a smoke in eight weeks... Top of Kirstie's Christmas list: A half marathon. Top of Simon's Christmas list: Everyone's parts delivered in time for the new season. Top of Julian's Christmas list: Extra sun cream in anticipation of the 2021 season. Top of Kieran's Christmas list: 50k subscribers! (Almost there!!) Top of Tog's Christmas list: A jab in the left arm (and a middle finger to conspiracy wackos). Diana's New Year resolution: To hug as many people as Boris allows! The more, the merrier. Kirstie's New Year resolution: Once this whole Covid saga is over, actually tick more off my global "to do" list. Simon's New Year resolution: Report on more races than you can shake a stick at. Julian's New Year resolution: To stop worrying about what the weather is going to do. Kieran's New Year resolution: Keep pushing to improve my photography and videography! Tog's New Year resolution: To do some freelance work for Eurodragster.com Kirstie, Diana, Simon, Julian, Kieran and Tog would like to wish all Eurodragster.com readers and their families the very Happiest of Christmases, and to thank everyone who has sent us personal Christmas wishes and cards. Have a great time. 2021 FIA Tech Regs published. 23rd December: Thanks to FIA Technical Delegate - Drag Racing Frans Steilberg for informing us that the 2021 Technical Regulations for FIA Drag Racing can now be viewed at www.fia.com/regulation/category/101. The published regulations comprise a SFI Specifications list, Technical Regulations and Race Procedures (marked up and clean versions) and Sporting Regulations. Willi Hestermann. 23rd December: We were sad to hear of the passing of Germany's first drag racer Willi Hestermann. Racing for the first time in 1967 at an American airport in Kaiserslautern, Willi was a friend to many American soldiers and drag racers from all over the European racing scene, supporting racing in Germany for many years. Willi's car appeared at Silverstone in June 1973 at the Castrol NDRC National Championship round, and reached the semi-final against Fred Whittle who won 9.26/156 to Willi's 9.61/145. Willi's car was a BBC 'Rat' engined Topolino, with a steel body, named Maffia Mouse, later gaining a fibreglass body and being restored to show condition. Willi's wife Hedi and sons Fred and Thomas were key members of his race team. In 1985 Willi took over the running of Autohaus Hestermann vehicle repair shop in Erlensee, Germany, established by his father in 1951. As well as restoring Maffia Mouse, Willi also acquired the ex Michael Malmgren NHRA record holding A/Altered, preserving it for display where both could be seen at the NitrolympX in 2015. Willi's sons Fred and Thomas are continuing his legacy at Autohaus Hestermann with the knowledge he instilled in them. Our sad condolences to Willi's family and friends. Swift snippets. 23rd December: We would like to wish a Happy Birthday to drag racing historian and British Drag Racing Hall of Fame director Jerry Cookson, have a great day Jerry. In the latest instalment of his autobiographical blog, John Hunt writes about the first Xtreme Wheels show held at Alexandra Palace in 2004, on which he worked with Terry and Tina Gibbs. Included is a gallery of show photos taken by Dave Dick. You can read John's blog here or by clicking on Racer Blogs in the main menu. As an option, you can read John's blog in a first-to-last sequence which you can find by clicking here. A-Fuel Team Sweden plan. 22nd December: A-Fuel Dragster racer Tony Bryntesson has been in touch with details of the three cars that will comprise A-Fuel Team Sweden, racing in the FIA European Top Methanol category: Even if the team is new, the three drivers and crew have many years in Drag racing together. Jonny Lagg from Boxholm in the southern part of Sweden, started racing methanol burning dragsters from 1983 to 1985. Then he went to the USA and did some races together with well known name as Kenta Persson, Jarmo Pulkinen, Jonny Nilsson and Peter Lantz. After that, he crewed for a couple of years on Monica Öberg's Top Fuel Dragster. In 2013 he bought the dragster of A/Fuel Master driver/tuner Krister Johansson. The highlight in his career so far is winning the European Championship in 2016 and he is still hungry for at least one more championship title. Daniel Jedborn from Skellefteå in the northern part of Sweden, started his racing career in 1994 with a homebuilt doorslammer. He moved to a Competition Eliminator dragster in 1997, starting with a blown methanol burning front motor dragster that he set a low class ET in Europe with. Racing that car between 2011-2018, Daniel won the Swedish Comp Eliminator Championship in 2017. In 2019 he started competing in a Nitro burning A-Fuel Dragster. Tony Bryntesson, from Jönköping in the southern part of Sweden, started his drag racing career as driver in 1981 in a home-built Ford 1931 altered. He went to a methanol burning dragster from 1986 to 1988, then raced Top Fuel between 1989-1995. Tony's highlight in Top Fuel drag racing was winning the Swedish Championship in 1995. He then had a lengthy break from drag racing with a career in road course racing between 1997 and 2019. He purchased an A-Fuel Dragster from Jonny Lagg in 2019, did a couple of licensing runs 2020, and is looking forward to his comeback in 2021. Jonny Lagg's Crew Chief Krister Johansson and his colleague Lars Lindkvist are very well known, and have a great reputation as the best A-Fuel tuners out there; they will have full focus on Jonny´s car but with our partnership as “A-Fuel Team Sweden” they will also work as mentors to Daniel and Tony's respective crew chiefs. There is also a plan to bring over a highly respected crew chief from the USA to the first races in the FIA tour. Establishing a team with three A-Fuel cars will make us strong and will possibly lower the total cost, as we will be able to have spare parts, special tools, knowledge and crew to share between us if needed. We are all aware that Covid-19 could also be a problem to us making the whole of the 2021 FIA European Championship Tour. But we need to be positive, hope for the best that this virus will calm down and the world will come back to normal as soon as possible. A-Fuel Team Sweden are preparing for a complete FIA European Tour 2021, Spare parts are ordered and will start dropping in end of January. WE WILL BE READY! Swift snippets. 22nd December: Drag racing historian Nick Pettitt has uploaded three more videos from his Time Travel series to his Youtube site. Time Travel 42 is video footage from the the 1984 World Finals at Santa Pod. Time Travel 43, video Nick filmed at North Weald in June 1986 at the NDRC Southern Nationals has been divided into two, the first half at this link and the second half at this link. 2020 SPRC Perpetual Awards vote 3. 21st December: Santa Pod Racers Club and Eurodragster.com are again teaming up to give Eurodragster.com readers the chance of input to the SPRC Perpetual Awards. The location and date for presentation of the trophies will be announced in due course, as the SPRC Dinner Dance is subject to Covid restrictions being lifted. For several of the 2020 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 Committee decides upon their winners. Today's category is Best Appearing Bike. The SPRC Committee's shortlist, in alphabetical order, is as follows: Paul Adams Accelerate for a Cause and a Cure ET Bike Vote for Paul Adams Tony Clark Suzuki Performance Spares Comp Bike Vote for Tony Clark Mark Dainty Taylor's Trophy Super Street Bike Vote for Mark Dainty Alex Hope Atlantic Fluid Tech 9.50 Bike Vote for Alex Hope Mark Smith Leeks Landscapes Funny Bike Vote for Mark Smith To place your vote, either click on a picture above or go to the official Perpetual Awards voting page which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the SPRC Perpetual Awards vote link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. If your device doesn't automatically generate an E-Mail then please E-Mail your choice to [email protected]. ©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 SPRC marshal Alison Hackney. 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. 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. If in any doubt about what constitutes canvassing then please drop us a line at [email protected]. Additionally, if anyone should have issues with the content of any of the shortlists then please contact SPRC direct rather than E-Mailing Eurodragster.com or commenting on social media. E-Mails to Eurodragster.com regarding the content of the shortlists will receive neither a reply nor any other acknowledgement. The next voting category will be Most Professional Appearing Team. Keith's Christmas message. 19th December: CEO of Santa Pod Raceway Keith Bartlett has issued a Christmas message to racers and fans (click on the image to go to Santa Pod's shop): "I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their huge support for Santa Pod Raceway in 2020. It’s certainly been the most challenging of seasons that we’ve ever had to endure and it’s only with your support that we can move forward into what I sincerely hope will be more “normal” times. "The 2021 calendar of events is nearing completion and will be announced in full in early January. We can’t wait to welcome you all back. Wishing you all a safe and very Merry Christmas from myself and all of the Santa Pod team. MERS named as Volvo supplier. 19th December: Thanks to Lars-Göran "LG" Eriksson for sending us an update on ME Racing Service AB (MERS) which has become a direct supplier to Volvo Cars in Sweden. LG says "We have a very good teamwork with Concept Center and Safety Center at Volvo Cars. "Thanks to Docol Tube R8 and motorsport interest among engineers, Volvo Cars found us and we started a collaboration two years ago. Through our long experience and knowledge about designs and construction with high-strength sheet metal and tubes, new opportunities opens up for Volvo Cars. "Unfortunately, we can not disclose the projects we are part of at the moment, but hopefully we can show you in the future what we have been involved in and developed. "Seeing our projects in live operation at Volvo Cars. What work they are doing in the development of safety and what we have been able to add in to this makes us proud. We feel really honored to be a direct supplier to Volvo." Gredzinski launches Accuratedragster.com. 18th December: Photojournalist and graphic artist Mark Gredzinski has brought out the first of a planned range of self-published and self-designed items on his new web site accuratedragster.com. His new hardback book, titled Midnight Movers, is the first such item that is dedicated to images of trucks at night. The book, for sale at a special price of £25, is "dedicated to automotive imagery & replicas in scale". UK customers can order in time for Christmas, overseas customers can e-mail for a shipping quote. Mark says "In the mid-80s I began taking pictures on film at night, mostly in the Midlands. It was a financial, physical and technical challenge between bouts of unemployment due to company liquidations. The average exposure for each picture was over 60 seconds. Many took five, ten or even 15 minutes duration, to interpret barely visible vehicles hidden in the shadows. These long exposures eventually revealed the subjects in rich, often surreal colours. The story of how and why the pictures were taken is described from Mark's perspective. Techniques are explained in detail alongside personal observations". Mark was a drag race correspondent for Custom Car magazine for 25 years, is both a technical artist and model maker and has won awards for his designs and in 2015 received a BA Honours degree in photography from Birmingham City University. As well as Midnight Movers, Mark intends bringing out a drag racing book later, and his manufactured models and scale model parts will be displayed on the site in due course. Swift snippets. 18th December: Drag racing historian Nick Pettitt has uploaded three more videos from his Time Travel series to his Youtube site. Time Travel 39 is video footage from the Santa Pod 1983 International Cannonball Meeting, which was the subject of our recent feature. Time Travel 40 is again from Nick's own video filmed at the 1984 Easternationals at Santa Pod and the 1984 Springnationals at Long Marston Raceway. Time Travel 41 was filmed by Nick at the 1984 Cannonball Meeting at Santa Pod. Our Kieran has uploaded to Youtube a video of what is probably the World's Fastest Mk1 Ford Escort, the Cosworth YB powered car from Lixxu Racing. Kieran says "Konrad D'Anastasi who is the resident Videographer at Hal Far Raceway allowed me to borrow his footage and create this video to show you some of the weekends highlights from the 2020 MDRA Finals". The footage, which you can see by clicking here, shows all the best runs from Europe's final meeting of the year. FIA announce World Motorsport Council decisions. 17th December: Many thanks to FIA Drag Racing Commission President Lars Petterson for passing on details of the World Motor Sport Council's final 2020 meeting held yesterday via video conference. The provisional calendar as announced on 26th November is confirmed, but will remain subject to conditions that permit the return of spectators to events being in place, due to the "overall economic position" of European drag racing. As the FIA European Drag Racing Championship regulations were rewritten and reformatted prior to the 2020 season, and there were no events held in the Championship during 2020, only minor rule changes are proposed for 2021, being mostly updates to various safety standards and wording updates without changing the spirit of the regulations. The full regulations, including updated technical drawings and reconfirmation of the 0.22s handicap in Top Methanol, can be seen at this link. March Meet moved to May. 16th December: Thanks to Nitro Revival sponsor Geoff Stilwell for forwarding an important announcement for those planning a trip from Europe to Famoso in March: Auto Club Famoso Raceway officials in Bakersfield, CA have decided to postpone the 2021 Good Vibrations Motorsports March Meet, presented by Lucas Oil. The new date is set for May 27th through the 30th. The Pandemic is causing a new wave of issues with regards to case counts, travel restrictions, business closures and stay at home orders. In all likelihood these issues are going to persist into the New Year. In response, the Famoso staff feels postponing the event is the best thing to do at this time. Announcing the postponement now will give everyone time to arrange their travel plans and give everyone a chance to get through these unprecedented times. The event schedule will remain the same with a Test and Tune set for Wednesday May 26th and the event officially kicking off on Thursday May 27th. All Race Entries and Full Event Credentials already purchased will be rolled over and honored during the new May date. Entries and Full Event Credential Sales remain open, so if you haven’t secured your entry, you should do so now. Anyone needing more information can call +1 844-34NITRO Or email [email protected]. The Famoso staff would like to thank everyone for their understanding with this tough decision, and hopes that everyone will be able to attend the newly announced date for 2021. See you all at The March Meet in May! 2020 SPRC Perpetual Awards vote 2. 14th December: Santa Pod Racers Club and Eurodragster.com are again teaming up to give Eurodragster.com readers the chance of input to the SPRC Perpetual Awards. The location and date for presentation of the trophies will be announced in due course, as the SPRC Dinner Dance is subject to Covid restrictions being lifted. For several of the 2020 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 Committee decides upon their winners. Today's category is Best Appearing Car. The SPRC Committee's shortlist, in alphabetical order, is as follows: Ashley Bell Another Small F Super Pro ET Dave Billadeau NEM Plant Nostalgia Super Stock Luke Fulton Lucas Oil Junior Dragster Clare Johnson NEM Plant Nostalgia Super Stock Mackenzie Love Lucas Oil Junior Dragster Chris Newsam Modurstang Pro ET SPRC Junior Dragster Lucas Oil Junior Dragster Bobby Wallace Motorsport UK Pro Modified Dan Williams Modurstang Pro ET Nic Williams Modurstang Pro ET To place your vote, either click on a picture above or go to the official Perpetual Awards voting page which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the SPRC Perpetual Awards vote link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. If your device doesn't automatically generate an E-Mail then please E-Mail your choice to [email protected]. ©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 SPRC marshal Alison Hackney. 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. 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. If in any doubt about what constitutes canvassing then please drop us a line at [email protected]. Additionally, if anyone should have issues with the content of any of the shortlists then please contact SPRC direct rather than E-Mailing Eurodragster.com or commenting on social media. E-Mails to Eurodragster.com regarding the content of the shortlists will receive neither a reply nor any other acknowledgement. The next voting category will be Best Appearing Bike. RRC build gallery - Studebaker Lark. 13th December: Bob Roberts has kindly sent a gallery of pictures taken by him whilst the build of a circuit racing Studebaker Lark took place at Eurodragster.com sponsor Robinson Race Cars. Many people know that Andy Robinson’s motor sport story began with marshalling at circuit racing. That history together with numerous visits to Goodwood planted the seed of wanting to build an historic saloon car. The project was developed by a consortium of Andy, Luke and Jerry Clayton and they were keen to find something different to the serried ranks of Cortinas and Falcons. You can see Bob's gallery in our feature in association with Lucas Oil Products by clicking here or go to our Features, Interviews, Tributes index via the main menu. Paul Whitehouse's new print. 12th December: Thanks to drag racing artist Paul Whitehouse for letting us know about his latest project which you can order a print of: "I’ve put the finishing touches to my painting of drag racing legend, and hero, Brian Johnson launching hard on his 1265cc ‘Imperial Wizard’ Kawasaki PSB. "Massive thanks again to Kelvin Fagan for letting me base the painting on his fantastic photo, and to Chris Johnson for supplying the reference photos of the bike as it appeared in November 81, as seen above. "I will be having a limited edition, numbered and signed, print run produced with proceeds of this going to charity. Please message or contact me to register interest and reserve a print". Neil Hunter tribute fund. 12th December: Thanks to Neil Hunter's widow Sue, daughter Chloe and son Alex, who have announced a tribute fund in Neil’s name for their local hospice in Chesterfield: We have set up The Neil Hunter Tribute Fund for Ashgate Hospicecare following us recently working closely with one of their specialist nurses and using the other services that they provide. If you wish to make a donation, please do so via this link in memory of Neil. Swift Snippets. 11th December: We have three birthdays to announce; tomorrow is former Junior Dragster racer Lottie Bradford's 18th Birthday, Dad Mark Bradford says "Wishing you a very Happy 18th Birthday, Love from all the Family X" and we join that with best wishes for her move forward to bigger and faster things in racing. We have a birthday on the team today, Kieran reaches his quarter-century today and Diana, Kirstie, Julian and Simon wish him a Happy Birthday, have a great day mate. Also today is Santa Pod Raceway Events Manager James Forster's birthday, Happy Birthday James! No Prep Nationals at Melbourne Raceway. 10th December: Thanks to Paul Marston Racing for providing provisional dates for two No Prep Nationals events planned for next year: No Prep Nationals 4 and 5 will be held at Melbourne Raceway 2021. Our thanks to Trevor Duckworth and the Straightliners organisation, for inviting us to race at Melbourne in 2021. The date for No Prep Nationals 4 will be June 19th Saturday and Sunday 20th, gates open from Friday 18th 5.00pm for pitting of competitors. The date for No Prep Nationals 5 will be August 7th Saturday and Sunday 8th, gates open from Friday 4th 5.00pm for pitting competitors. We reserve the right to change dates if needed by the track, but these WILL go ahead. The classes we will run are Big Tyre and Small Tyre (10.5” max tread width). Full details of rules will essentially be the same as when we ran previously which will be reposted on our No Prep Drag Racing FB Page. Or I can email you a set of rules or call me. You will naturally have to have membership with Melbourne's organising club (Straightliners). Yes there will be other classes to enter if you wish which are run by the track. 2021 will be a make or break year for Melbourne, due to this and Covid we need teams to pay deposit entry money as soon as possible to secure your spot. We only have a limited number of spots in both classes. So unless you have paid, I am sorry, but you are not entered. These are track rules not mine, they need to know you are coming. Dragstrips are a business, they have bills to pay and will be reinvesting in this facility for years to come. For entry forms, either message us thru the FB page or email [email protected] or call/text Paul on 07831 650230. The track is perfect for our style of racing, Heads Up, 1/8th mile No track Prep, professionally run with all the right staff. Yes there will be the usual cash prizemoney for both classes in addition to some huge trophies in recognition of the time, money, skill, talent and effort it will take to win either class. Stay tuned to Eurodragster for developments and more news as it comes. Autosport International spawns virtual show. 10th December: The organisers of Autosport International stated this morning that details on the physical edition of Autosport International, initially scheduled for 14-17 January 2021 at NEC Birmingham, will be communicated in the coming weeks, and thanked exhibitors and visitors for their patience during these difficult times. Meanwhile, Autosport International have announced that Autosport International (ASI) Connect, an innovative digital networking event for the motorsport industry, will take place on 10-11 March 2021. The online-only event will harness the spirit of Autosport International, delivered in a digital format to bring together the motorsport industry in the safest way possible. From online seminars to networking, virtual round tables to an exhibitor and product marketplace, ASI Connect will be the place for both exhibitors and visitors of Autosport International to safely do business and keep up with the latest news in motorsport. Trade registration will be free to attend and launching soon. Click here to find out more about ASI Connect, including exhibitor and sponsorship opportunities. Swift snippets. 10th December: In the latest instalment of his autobiographical blog, John Hunt writes about continuing to work at Obsession Motorsports with Terry and Tina Gibbs in 2000-2001, and series organiser Tina Moore (formerly Gibbs) reflects on the Super Series almost twenty years on. You can read John's blog here or by clicking on Racer Blogs in the main menu. As an option, you can read John's blog in a first-to-last sequence which you can find by clicking here. Feature: 1985 Penthouse/Virgin Atlantic Drag Bike Race. 9th December: For the 1985 running of the race previously known as the Transatlantic Drag Bike Race, organising club the National Drag Racing Club obtained sponsorship from Penthouse magazine and Virgin Atlantic airlines, resulting in a renaming of the event. The competitiveness of previous races was repeated, the Top Fuel Bike field headed by US legend Elmer Trett, there to defend his 1984 title (when he had run a track record of 7.24/197), with riders from Holland, Sweden, France and Germany hoping to win against him. Thanks to the assistance of drag racing historian and director of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Jerry Cookson we have created in association with Lucas Oil Products our latest feature describing the event from archive sources with the full scanned programme and photographs. To see any of our historic features please follow this link which takes you to our features, interviews and tributes index. Drag-Seen available. 9th December: Drag-Seen is a collection of photographs taken during the summers of 2019 and 2020 at nostalgia drag racing events at Santa Pod Raceway by trackside photographer Paul Martin. Paul writes: As a fanatical photographer with a passion for the cars and fashions of days gone by I set out to document not only the racing but the culture and the atmosphere of these events, by using original 35mm film cameras and digital cameras fitted with vintage lenses to make images that have an authentic aesthetic of photographs taken in the era when these cars were in their heyday. Sixty of these images featuring Outlaw Anglias, Gasser Circus, Nostalgia Superstock, RWYB and Wild Bunch are presented in the A5 sized ‘zine Drag-Seen with an introduction by Niamh Frances Smith @racewayhussy. Drag-Seen is printed on quality silk 170gsm paper and wrapped in a 300 gsm cover and available for purchase for £4.99 (inc. P&P within UK) from paulmartinphotography.com/dragseen . Any profit from the sales will be donated to Cancer Research. I'm happy to post abroad, please contact me for pricing. The last posting day for Christmas delivery is 17th December. Swift snippets. 9th December: Thanks to photojournalist Steve Moxley who has informed us that his 2020 NSRA Hot Rod Drags report is now live on Tim Hailey's EatMyInk web site. Neil Hunter's Funeral. 7th December: Thanks to Sue Hunter for passing on details of Neil Hunter's funeral: "Neil’s funeral will take place on Thursday 17th December at 2.30pm at Chesterfield Crematorium. Due to COVID restrictions, we are limited to thirty people with no wake. We are currently in the process of contacting the thirty, which is proving difficult with all of his friends. Next year we will have a celebration of Neil’s life. "There will be a live webcast which is also available up to five days after the funeral. The link is www.wesleymedia.co.uk/webcast-view and login details are ID 60273 and password xeatdnzh. We would like to thank everybody for their kind thoughts and memories of Neil". Thanks also to those who sent tributes to Neil to Eurodragster.com. Robin Jackson writes: "Neil and his dad, Michael, were guests of the NHRA tour I ran with Trailfinders in 2006. I was delighted to have them along then and have enjoyed meeting, chatting with and cheering on Neil at the track ever since. With the loss of Stu Bradbury in July and now of Neil, this has been a sad year indeed. Please accept my condolences, Sue, Chloe and Alex". Dave Catton also wrote: "Among my many friends from our world of drag racing , Neil was the brightest star, I’m so sorry the light has gone out. I will miss him". Spy picture. 7th December: The below two pictures arrived at the offices of Eurodragster.com with the remarks: "I was the successful bidder, however sadly I can't start the engine because the rocker gear and pushrods are missing..." If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at [email protected]. 2020 SPRC Perpetual Awards vote 1. 7th December: Santa Pod Racers Club and Eurodragster.com are again teaming up to give Eurodragster.com readers the chance of input to the SPRC Perpetual Awards. The location and date for presentation of the trophies will be announced in due course, as the SPRC Dinner Dance is subject to Covid restrictions being lifted. For several of the 2020 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 Committee decides upon their winners. Today's category is Most Promising Newcomer. Nominees for SPRC Most Promising Newcomer have impressed whilst contesting their first full season in a class or making their on-track début in 2019. The SPRC Committee's shortlist, in alphabetical order, is as follows: Jack Bishop, NEM Plant Nostalgia Super Stock Vote for Jack Bishop Luke Fulton, Lucas Oil Junior Dragster Vote for Luke Fulton Mason Griffiths, Another Small F Super Pro ET Vote for Mason Griffiths Carl Magedera, Hutchinson & Dibley Sportsman ET Vote for Carl Magedera Morgan Wilson, VW Sportsman Vote for Morgan Wilson 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 SPRC Perpetual Awards vote link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. If your device doesn't automatically generate an E-Mail then please E-Mail your choice to [email protected] . ©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 SPRC marshal Alison Hackney. 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. 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. If in any doubt about what constitutes canvassing then please drop us a line at [email protected]. Additionally, if anyone should have issues with the content of any of the shortlists then please contact SPRC direct rather than E-Mailing Eurodragster.com or commenting on social media. E-Mails to Eurodragster.com regarding the content of the shortlists will receive neither a reply nor any other acknowledgement. The next voting category will be Best Appearing Car. Swift snippets. 7th December: Long time photojournalist on both sides of the Pond Andy Willsheer has penned an article for US web site Competition Plus titled The State of The Union for Santa Pod and European Drag Racing. In it he inteviews SPR CEO Keith Bartlett about the challenges the sport has faced in 2020, and is likely to face in the near future. To read Andy's article click here. OA barriers broken - Down Under. 6th December: Australian racer John Willard yesterday broke a significant barrier which UK teams have been planning on doing for many moons. What's more, John is a fully paid up member of UK Outlaw Anglia. Colin Millar writes: This story just epitomises everything that is Outlaw Anglia, even if it is the Australian branch... I received a message on Facebook on Wednesday 26th November 2014 at 8.30am from a chap in Australia enquiring about the availability of a GRP Ford Anglia body. I was initially sceptical in fact I thought this guy is a rocket and one of the usual messages you get from people who really want to waste your time. I didn’t really respond as I truly thought he is just going to wind me up. How wrong was I and we engaged after some silver was passed over my palm and then i realised that this guy who I now knew was a chap called John Willard, “Big Willy” was his nick name, never found out why he was called that though. The deal was done and I organised the manufacture of a complete body and stuck it all in a big box and off it went on its merry travels to Australia, door to door three and a half months before John managed to get his hands on it and break open the box, it was all good and it was time to press on with the new project. As we spoke, which was always on Messenger, bearing in mind it’s a 12 hour difference so it was either early morning or late at night and our relationship grew as did the engagement with others in Outlaw Anglia, a close bond developed between John and Mick Taylor and as time progressed with his whole family. As you can see from some of the pictures the project developed and grew as time went by, John has his own company called Flat Out Services where he builds, alters and maintains many different drag racing race cars so the build time on the Anglia would only be when he had spare time like at nights and weekends, sometimes the car made great leaps forwards other times it was slow, often seeing little progress form month to month. The actual body had huge changes made to it to take into account the Hemi that needed shoe horning in and all the small aerodynamic tweaks John had learned over many years of race car building. The chassis was developed until there was a finished car on its feet with everything fitted, as a finished car should be, the next stage is it to take it all apart again and paint everything and put it all back together again, it sounds easy but it's one of the tasks that takes forever. John had acquired a Brad Anderson 451 Hemi with a 14/71 Littlefield Blower, Brad Stage V Cylinder Heads, 3-speed Lenco with an auto trans, a combination that has so much potential as will be proved later on in this article. It was very clear that John had a great passion for anything Anglia, Pop, Fordson van or Prefect, his previous build being a red Fordson van with a big lump and not too shabby on the track or on the road. He had followed Outlaw Anglia for many years and probably knew more about the class and the cars than I did, he told me his passion wasn’t really shared by his fellow Australians, and his ultimate dream was to build this car shake it down at Sydney Dragway and ship it over to the UK where he could run it with the gang who are the Outlaw Anglias. Six years have passed and the dream has grown stronger and stronger, what drive, what enthusiasm to even consider such a plan. As the car developed and John’s thirst for the class grew stronger his wife Margaret and John decided to take a holiday. I’m not sure how he sold it to Margaret but in 2018 over he came and met up with Mick Taylor for the Summer Nationals and ended up staying and crewing for Mick. A visit to Scotland to Edinburgh Castle, surfing at Newquay beech as well as a visit to the London Eye were all on their agenda and none of this was ever achieved as he helped Mick with the car getting ready for Dragstalgia and crewed for him here too, a true car guy, what do you think Margaret?? Early in 2020 John finally completed the car and duely named her the “Aussie Outlaw” with everything ready. Then COVID-19 came to his shores. As soon as there was some light at the end of the tunnel, Sydney Dragway decided to dig the track up as part of their overall facility upgrade. Finally, John had a chance to test the car on Saturday the 5th of December, excited yet anxious John set the car up to launch which was all good another run to the 1/8” mile was all good and then went for a full on run, the result a 6.938 ET at 201.49mph. What a result, what an achievement, I take my hat off to John's drive, passion and commitment and the results prove beyond any doubt his ability to deliver a truly fantastic Australian Outlaw Anglia. It's early days, but we are in talks about bringing John's dream to reality, and for all Watch This Space”. 2021 is going to be an exceptional season for all the right reasons. Take care be safe and look after the loved ones around you – and see you at the track! Scotty makes his move. 6th December: When we posted on 15 November that it looked as if an arms race was starting to emerge in Outlaw Anglia in the momentum towards the first six and first 200 in the UK, we had little idea what the next move would be. In the last few days it's emerged that 2019 series champion Scotty Crookston has acquired former Street Eliminator champion Colin Lazenby's 815ci Sonny's Hemi engine. For the technically minded, this awesome power plant features an ex-IHRA Pro Stock Mountain Motor block with a five inch bore centre topped off by specially-developed Sonny's cylinder heads, first used by Colin Lazenby in 2008. The heads, the first truly new Chevy cylinder heads developed in about 40 years, were designed to ensure optimum combustion chamber and exhaust air-flow characteristics. They are said to combine the best properties of the wedge combustion chamber with intake and exhaust valves that were placed directly in front of the intake and exhaust runners. The engine was quoted by Sonny's at 1700hp naturally aspirated. Scotty is planning to run three stages of nitrous, which in terms of power, could mean the output exceeding 3000hp. In Colin Lazenby's car, with two nitrous stages, the best times were 7.6522 and 185.08mph. But Scotty's car is 1000lbs lighter than Colin’s and so six second times will be likely – if the power can get to the ground. To help this, the car is undergoing a thorough upgrade. Scotty said "A new four link setup from Tim McAmis is going in. There is a new, stronger converter and gearbox upgrades from Andy Frost. The car is going to Jedd Guy for new headers and other tweaks. Also my 'Stepdad' Colin (Millar) is wiring a new MSD and MSD module for me". Who will be the first to record a UK Outlaw Anglia six and 200mph is the subject of hot debate. One thing is certain – the class will be one of the most anticipated for 2021. Micallef elected President. 5th December: Congratulations to former FIA Top Fuel Champion Duncan Micallef (aka The Maltese Lion - see pic) for being elected President of the Malta Motorsport Federation. In his inaugural address he said: First and foremost, I would like to thank all those that encouraged me, congratulated me, supported me, and eventually chose to vote for me. After only a few days in my post, I decided to share with you what happened in these last two weeks. On Monday 16th, I received a call from a friend of mine; he encouraged me to contest for the post of President of MMF, being a Monday for me it was already though. I thought a lot on it and after a few days, I decided that I should be responsible, not selfish, and offer to help. I took my chance on it. I knew it was a post that brings with it a lot of commitment, time, and tough decisions, but I knew as well that I could help Motorsports in Malta by serving in the Federation at this moment. Then it was time to discuss it with my family and had the green light, (well sort of!). Immediately I started to meet the clubs, getting a good feel of the problems, and in which areas clubs need help, what they are expecting from the federation, and what need changing. It was great meeting you all and getting to know you, but suddenly it was election day. Following some discussions, the clubs showed me their confidence, and my friend Tonio Cini told me to have his seat. At that time, I must admit, reality hit me and my first few words to myself were what did I do? As all those present realised, I did not prepare any speeches but in a humble way, all those present understood my message. Only 24 hours later together with the other members of the administration, we had our first meeting. Straight away we discussed my plan and set an Agenda to why we are here. The first meeting was amazing, I was happy, during the meeting and afterwards, the team showed me a lot of respect and this is what we need if we want to move forward, RESPECT. I guarantee you that during my Presidency everyone will be getting a lot of respect, but we need to change or maybe improve our mentality... The Motorsport community in Malta is not 15 or so clubs but one big team, only like that we can achieve, will achieve, everything that we have on our Agenda. Malta Shark Attack. 5th December: Thanks to Simone from https://www.bikersworldheemskerk.nl/ Bikers World Heemskerk for her account of Team Shark Attack's visit to Hal Far for the Malta Drag Racing Association 2020 Finals: Since there are many restrictions with Covid-19 across Europe, racing has become almost impossible. However, Team Shark Attack found the opportunity to race at the Hal Far raceway in Malta. The entire team traveled to Malta to race the weekend of 13th-15th November. The Shark Attack drag racing team consists of: Rene van den Berg: Top Fuel driver and crew chief Helpers: Viep Bloemen, Jurgen Meure Aswin Le Noble: Pro Stock Bike Patrick Kras: Pro Stock Bike and Street Bike Hannes Burgering: Street Bike Patrick Lenaers: Streetbike Anouk Burgering: Junior Dragbike ...and many helpers. For René it was difficult to put down a full run as the track is actually not suitable for that. But in the end he did 2 full runs with a time of 6.6. It was super performance. It was Aswin's 2nd event and his riding went beyond expectations. Aswin rode to some very good times in the sevens. Patrick Kras participated in two classes, Pro Stock Bike and the Street Bike. In he Street Bike he put down a personal best run of 10.1. For Hannes it was his 1st weekend on his new motorcycle, a very good weekend to get to know the bike. Patrick Lenaers also came out on a Streetbike and gained a lot of experience this weekend. Anouk (8 years old) was able to put down many runs this weekend. With this she was able to gain a lot of experience and also drove a PB. Everyone had a great weekend with great pleasure and would like to thank Malta Drag Racing Fal Har for their hospitality. We also want to thank our sponsors: Eurol Lubricants, Tijger Leaters, Do You Se Me and plumbing company van den Berg. Swift snippets. 5th December: Keeping with the Malta theme, an edited highlights video of the Malta Drag Racing Association 2020 Finals has been placed on the Motors MT Youtube page which you can see by clicking here. Our Kieran's latest Youtube upload is of a marque of car that is held in extremely high esteem in Malta and around Europe as well the Ford Escort. The video shows Kieran's own top 20 quickest Ford Escorts footage. Kieran says "I started my annual 'Quickest Ford Escorts' videos back in 2016. To bring you this years edition I went back through all my old footage, recorded all the sub 10 second Escorts and narrowed it down to a Top 20! The oldest clip you'll see in this video is from 2013 and it goes right up to 2019. These clips are purely the quickest Ford Escorts that I've captured on video myself over the years, there may be quicker times from these cars and quicker cars in other countries". It's a great watch and you can see it by clicking here. UK drag racing historian Nick Pettitt has uploaded two more of his Time Travel series of archive cine and slide footage videos to his Youtube channel. Time Travel 34 uses Ron Clark's cine film and slides from 1972-1976 at Santa Pod, Blackbushe and Snetterton and Time Travel 35 uses slides and cine film from 1972 - 1975 at Santa Pod and Wroughton. Neil Hunter. 3rd December: We are in shock at the passing of Neil Hunter aged only 57 from cancer. In October 2016 Neil wrote "Live life to the max, 'cos you really don't know what lays around the corner". He suffered from the disease for four years and put up a spirited battle, but we sadly lost him yesterday evening. He was born in Sheffield and moved to Chesterfield where he became director of his firm Spirrac Limited, heating, refrigeration and air conditioning installation specialists. This occupation gave him both income and spare time to follow his drag racing passion. Keen on customs from his teens and starting with a Morris Minor van (the same marque for his uncompleted 2020 lockdown project), Neil had his first Mk1 Capri in his early 20s and subsequently acquired another to be a project car. He paid a visit to York Dragway in 1983 and on seeing Phil Forth in his small block HA van, thought 'Wow, I need some of this!' Buying back his first Capri as a body donor, the car received firstly a Rover V8, and then, encouraged by Dave Grady, got a 440ci V8 engine and built a tube chassis in his lockup garage. Making its track debut in 1995, he called the Capri 'The Seven Year Itch' having taken several breaks from building it for family and business. After several years at York, winning events and championships in Pro ET there, his first national championship race was in the 2002 Super Series at Shakespeare County in May following a recommendation from Spencer Tramm. His Capri was always immaculate and he loved running it in the face of any difficulties that occurred. For instance in 2008 qualifying at the Main Event, after an oil filter sheared off at 140mph, he suffered a fire in but showed no hesitation in repairing the electrics and coming back to win the first round of racing before the rains came. In 2010 he imported a Jerry Haas-built Firebird and fitted it out with a new power train, bringing it out in Competition Eliminator and running bests of 7.75 and 174mph. The Capri, still looking immaculate after 22 years, had a complete rebuild and respray at the start of 2018. The rebuilt car had some success, winning Pro ET at the 2019 Summer Nationals, his other win being at the 2008 National Finals. He won the 2008 SPRC Championship and was runner up in the 2009 Pro ET National championship. As well as running his cars at all three UK tracks, Neil helped out many other racers with their cars and he won the The Spirit of Pro ET for 2017 for his help and camaraderie in the class. As well as the UK tracks, Neil enjoyed racing in Europe with his pals from Pro ET at Clastres and the Jade Race in Mariensiel, Germany 2019 being two examples. Neil had a great sense of humour and infectious smile and was a master of banter. He was the life and soul of the party at the Pro ET bashes. Attending many car shows in this country such as Autosport International and Classic Motor Show, he also attended Hockenheim and many races in the US starting in 2006 at Pomona, Gainesville, Englishtown, Las Vegas, Texas Motorplex Orlando and Indy. In the past few years he collected an incredible number of selfies with stars of US drag racing and motorsports in general – all with his usual genial smile. Our deepest condolences go to Neil's family, wife Sue, daughter Chloe, son Alex, and all his relatives and friends in the racing community. Editor's note: if you have memories or stories about Neil please send them to [email protected] and we will publish them. Racers licence applications for 2021. 3rd December: Thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for sending an update on racer licensing for 2021: SPRC now have 2021 ACU licence codes available for riders. These are a requirement for either the online or paper licence applications for all ACU and SPRC Championship riders, please just send a text or email to the SPRC office and we will get the code sent to you. Please note that each rider has an individual code. The ACU are now taking applications for 2021 licences. ACU Riders with 2020 licences unfortunately will not receive a credit against their new 2021 licences; having spoken with the ACU they simply don’t have the funds to be able to do this. FIM Europe licence holders will (if you have not already received it) be given a full refund on your 2020 licence, as there were no events available to you in 2020, and, just for the record, the funds for returning the licence fee don’t come from the ACU but from the FIM Europe directly. For Motorsport UK 2020 licence holders, we are still waiting on details of what if any credit will be available; licence forms and details of costs will be sent directly to current licence holders as normal. FIA licences will also be dealt with by Motorsport UK, in a similar manner. For first time car class applicants, please keep an eye on the Motorsport UK licence page at this link; 2021 licence forms will become available very soon. For first time, car racer applicants in 2021 or racers with lapsed licences, if you are to race in the UK only please apply for the RS Interclub licence, not the RS National that is listed as Drag, the RS National Drag is required for Racers wishing to race outside of the UK, and first time applicants may only apply for an RS Interclub licence until two race meetings have been completed under permit at a UK race track; if further clarification is required please contact the SPRC, and we will be happy to deal with your questions. As many will appreciate, getting information at present from the governing bodies is somewhat difficult, and predicting the future is tougher than ever, however on a brighter note, Santa Pod Raceway will be releasing their 2021 calendar very shortly, and will give people the opportunity to start organising their 2021 season. Drag racing at online race industry week. 2nd December: Although the US-based PRI show this year has been cancelled, on-line B2B platform Electronic Performance And Racing Trade (EPART) have stepped into the breach and are holding over five days, 150 Race Industry Speakers and 55 Hours of Live Technical and Business Webinars from leading suppliers and race industry leaders from around the world. These seminars are via Zoom and you can catch the remaining seminars live over the next couple of days by registering at this link. As the seminars held using Zoom are recorded, each day in its entirety is being uploaded to the EPART Youtube channel. Examples of talks that are of special interest to drag racers feature guests NHRA Stars and Champions, Antron Brown and Ron Capps, and Special Panel: Strategies For Being Race Ready Every Race — NHRA Crew Chiefs Discussion, including Bobby Lagana, Jim Oberhofer, Rahn Tobler, Nick Boninfante, and Kurt Elliott. Usual Zoom glitches occur at the start, but persistence pays off. WFO host and NHRA announcer Joe Castello is the moderator. Swap Meet update. 2nd December: Activity on our Jeff Bull Race Engines-sponsored Swap Meet pages remains busy and we thought we would highlight a few items that have come in recently. A fast road car that was owned by the late BDRHoF Chairman Stu Bradbury is for sale at a keen price. The Ford Focus ST170 has been maintained to high standards, has half leather seats and leather dash, and a full service history. Other cars for sale include a almost-new condition Tim McAmis Pro Mod and low cost alternatives. Among the Parts Wanted section is a request for a big block Chevy engine block, also parts for a nine-inch Ford axle, small block Chevy engine components and Ford Pop E93A front wings. Perhaps readers might have these items gathering dust in their workshop? RRC build gallery - Bernard Saz's Hotröen. 1st December: Bob Roberts has kindly sent a gallery of pictures taken by him whilst the build of Bernard Saz's Hotröen Citroen Traction Avant took place at Eurodragster.com sponsor Robinson Race Cars. RRC was commissioned to build a car based on a modified version of the team's unique Traction Avant body. The chassis is built in Pro Mod style; amongst design features of interest, Bob's photos capture the use of a laser to ensure correct alignment of the back axle with the engine. The final product looks suitably mean, and has run in the 7.1s/180mph. You can see Bob's gallery in our feature in association with Lucas Oil Products by clicking here or go to our Features, Interviews, Tributes index via the main menu. Swift snippets. 1st December: Thanks to photojournalist Steve Moxley who has informed us that his National Finals report is now live on Tim Hailey's EatMyInk with plenty of interesting snippets. Ex-pat photojournalist Tony Thacker (to whom a belated Happy Birthday for Monday) has posted to his Torq Talk blog site an article by Nick Davies of I.C.E. Automotive on the drag racing history of Robin Read, in particular his involvement with nitro fuelled Daimler V8 engines, and his new car which finally achieved his 200mph performance objective at the 2020 Hot Rod Drags. It’s a great read. VP Racing Fuels consolidates UK operations. 1st December: Eurodragster.com sponsor VP Racing Fuels, Inc., a global leader in performance fuels, lubricants, and additives, today announced the naming of Old Hall Performance as the exclusive authorized importer and distributor of their extensive line of consumer products, race fuels, Madditives®, coolants, oils and more. "The timing is right to enhance the UK side of VP’s European operations," said Peter Coleman, European Business Development Consultant for VP. "I am confident that the sales and marketing capabilities of Old Hall Performance, combined with its professionally-serviced extensive network of dealers, will deliver significant improvements into 2021 and beyond." In a significant step in the UK market's ongoing development, established distributors Old Hall Performance and Race Fuel Logistics have worked with VP Racing Fuels to agree to a consolidation. This latest move will build on an already far-reaching network of dealers and partners throughout the UK to expand product availability even closer to the consumer. "This is a great opportunity for both VP Racing Fuels and Old Hall Performance to grow the market," offered Miles Corrick, OHP Sales Manager. "With our ready-made distribution network, we will be able to deliver a faster, more efficient, and comprehensive service to all UK race teams, competitors, and enthusiasts." VP products continue to be available at Santa Pod Raceway's on-line shop for collection only. Additional information about VP and Old Hall Performance can be found at www.oldhallperformance.com with sales inquiries directed to Miles Corrick on 0246 717100 or [email protected]. Account inquiries should be directed to [email protected]. As VP’s official European merchandise source, Mark Gardner of Race Fuel Logistics will continue to work as part of the VP family through MAXG Apparel that can be found at www.maxgapparel.com. JT finds his engine company. 30th November: Pro Modified and Super Pro ET racer John Tebenham has named the engine building company he wants to partner with to replace his wounded motor from the 'Crew Killer' Pop: "It seemed to take ages to find what I wanted for the little white Pop after the rod wanted out. I wanted an engine company who first understood estimating and what, if anything, could be saved from the hurt motor. I.C.E. Automotive were spot on and are just starting the new motor, with the same power output as we only want to run 8.90 . Also, they have expressed concerns about oil starvation so we are looking at bigger sumps. That’s what I need, not only a great company but also why it went bang and how we can stop it doing it again. We have to win the burnout competition..." JT also revealed that Luke Robinson will once again be helping JT running his Pro Mod next year. JT vowed "Both cars will be like new". Earlier news