Welcome back John Woolfe Racing. 31st March: We are pleased to welcome back John Woolfe Racing as a sponsor of Eurodragster.com. Since the birth of the company back in 1967, John Woolfe Racing has become well-known for its many facets in the motoring industry. It all started with the supply of speed equipment to circuit racers, which then developed into innovative service and major support to the UK drag racing fraternity. Names such as Dennis Priddle, Steve Green, the Stones, Hustler, Panic, and Houndog teams plus many others have all enjoyed flying the JWR flag. JWR continues contributing to the cause to this day. In 1970 John Woolfe Racing became a household name with the introduction of the famous Wolfrace wheel, followed by the customising craze with its furry dice and side pipes and then the CB radio days. The next decade brought the Rover V8 series of products such as the distinctive JWR Offenhauser manifold. The varied and vast forty five-year history of John Woolfe Racing can be found documented and displayed in the archive museum at the company's headquarters, which for those who have visited has brought back many a fond memory! Today, John Woolfe Racing continues to operate  from its well stocked facility in Bedford. You can find the JWR web site at www.woolfe.com, Facebook page at www.facebook.com/johnwoolferacing, E-Mail [email protected] or call 01234 220700. Please support those who support Eurodragster.com by considering our sponsors first when shopping for goods or services. If you are interested in sponsoring Eurodragster.com then please get in touch with us at [email protected]. Hall of Fame backs Junior Dragsters. 31st March: On 11th March, the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame announced that it would be offering support to UK Junior Drag Bike, thanks to funds released from the long-dormant British National Drag Racing Association bank account. The BDRHoF is now pleased to announce an identical plan for the four-wheeled class. For each of the next five seasons, the UK National Junior Dragster Champion will receive a bonus of £50. The BDRHoF hopes to continue this provision from its own funds after the current arrangement finishes in 2018. British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Chair Stu Bradbury said "Once again, we express our gratitude to Anne Pallant and Mick Hand, the BNDRA's last Financial Officers, and to BDRHoF Management Group member Philip Evans whose combined efforts have made these awards possible. It is right that this money should be used to encourage the future generation on whom our sport will soon depend." Swift snippets. 31st March: Thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding Version 10 of the official entry list for the Festival of Power, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 18th-20th April. You can check out the entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. If you have any queries about event entry at Santa Pod Raceway then contact Ian on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail [email protected]. Spruced Bruce. 31st March: Santa Pod Raceway Track Announcer Colin Theobald is proud to announce that yesterday's spy picture featured his Camaro which has recently emerged from the workshops of Eurodragster.com sponsor OCS Paint. Colin says that what started as a three-week respray became an amazing six-month journey of incredible workmanship and sheer attention to detail by Nic and Dan Williams at OCS Paint and Williams Brothers Racing: What an amazing transformation Nic and Dan have produced. A lot of people have been following the progress of this car through the pages of Facebook, but now Bruce (hence the Monty Python reference accompanying the spy pic - Ed) has come home and at last can be revealed, and it has been a pleasure in having Eurodragster.com take care of this for me. The car was imported from Ohio last August and but before it had even left the States the change in colour had already been decided. The colour is Range Rover Corris Grey with immaculately-painted black stripes by Nic and Ash at OCS. What wasn't expected was the extent of the work we would eventually carry out including taking the motor out and totally stripping the front end to have the front clip, arms and wishbones and many other components powder-coated. The 454 big block was freshened up and treated to a new coat of Chevrolet Orange paint. New wings, front apron, front spoiler, headlamps and a total overhaul of the braking system with new discs were all carried out and helped to make this Camaro an absolute joy to be part of. I feel like I'm not just the owner but also a custodian of a piece of history. The car is already booked in to appear at Dragstalgia, and will also be at the first AACI show at Billing Aquadrome in April. We also plan to have the car at the Silverstone Classic, Mopar Nationals, Carfest South and the Sywell Classic. One this is certain though. What is the point of having all of those horses under the hood and not exercise them now and then, so expect the car to be a regular at Santa Pod. Current best is 12.61/107, but that was an off-the-trailer run before it had been tuned and sorted. The aim is for an eleven-second timing slip but we are in no rush. At this point I'd like to say thank you in the biggest possible way to the following: Santa Pod Raceway for getting me hooked on these cars in the first place and for letting me waffle away over the PA system about my passion for drag racing; Peter Walters Race Designs for the logo design and of course the soon-to-be-revealed web site; Eurodragster.com for their support and of course the reveal and for keeping all of us fans up-to-date with news and features of our favourite sport (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed); Lucas Oil Products for supporting and supplying all of the lubricants for the car, many thanks to Les Downey who will certainly get some publicity with this car. Finally, and without any reservations, thanks to Nic, Dan, Keith, Ash, Alix, Elaine and Adele, the whole crew at OCS Paint and Williams Brothers Racing. It has been an incredible six months and I have enjoyed every single moment. I am immensely proud of the end result and thank you for allowing me to visit constantly to try and help in my limited ability kind of way. You have been so encouraging and have been superb with every part of the work with explanations and recommendations. I'm so glad that I had the work done now as going forward I certainly would not be able to afford this level of workmanship by them as quality like this doesn't come cheap, get in there now before word spreads that these guys are top drawer. Nic and Dan will continue to look after the car with servicing and tuning and I'm delighted to be the fourth car of the Williams Brothers Racing stable of 1969 muscle cars. Web site updates. 31st March: The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr gallery with pictures from last week's Saturday Night Special at Santa Pod Raceway. Mad says that Fast Show pictures will follow shortly but in the meantime you can check out his SNS shots at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman/sets. The Spinner's return is set. 30th March: Nigel Taylor writes that Detroit Spinner Ford Prefect, originally built by Arthur Bonner and raced at Blackbushe, Long Marston and Santa Pod Raceway in the late 1970s and early 1980s, is now ready for its return. The car will appear at the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway in June and at Dragstalgia at Santa Pod Raceway in July. "The car will return to Shakespeare County Raceway for the first time in eighteen years and to Santa Pod Raceway for twenty two years", says Nigel. "Arthur Bonner, now seventy two years old, is a much-loved figure at the track. He was often found helping out marshalling when his car had problems. The car is a credit to Arthur and his dedication to drag racing, as those who familiar with him know he talks, sleeps, drinks and walks drag racing. "The car remains as nostalgic as people remember it, still running with its Pontiac engine and its Fairbanks clutch turbo 400 gearbox - possibly the only one still in use on the planet. "The car is now mine and is undergoing a full check-over, with many new parts but keeping it as original as it was when Arthur built it. "The Detroit Spinner Racing Team would like to thank its sponsors, crew and drivers Arthur Bonner,Graham True, Nick Dunford, Jeff Goddard, Neil Gibbs, Steve and Paul Dale, Tom Mitty, Adam Gough, Tom Mitty, Too Fast-Too Filling, Clacys Garage, Faraday Building Contractors, and Joust Performance. I would like to thank all those involved, my very understanding wife Sophie Taylor, and my children Elisha, Mackenzie, Fletcher and Joshua." Swift snippets. 30th March: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words "Yet Socrates himself is particularly missed...". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at [email protected]. Good luck and stay safe to Sweden's Jimmy Ålund who is continuing his stint with the Summit Racing Pro Stock team at their sponsor's event, the Summitracing.com NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas. Eliminations take place today (Sunday) and you will be able to stay in touch with Jimmy's progress courtesy of our Drag Race Central colleagues at www.dragracecentral.com. DRC posted a race preview featuring Jimmy which you can check out by clicking here. We'll draw a veil over the use of the word "rookie". Old Skool Ford Round 1. 30th March: Many thanks to Jo Peters for passing on a report of the first round of this year's Old Skool Ford Drag Challenge which took place at a cold and grey Santa Pod Raceway: A total of twelve cars took part including newbie Chris Todd in his rear engined, Subaru-powered Mk1 Fiesta. He destroyed a driveshaft during practice on Saturday but was up and running on Sunday, just missing out on third place and running a respectable 10.5. Another new entrant, Tom Cropp, in his x-flow powered Anglia performed well and won a Best Burnout trophy for his efforts. First place went to Joss Waller (Mk1 Fiesta), second to Glenn Jefferson (Mk1 Escort) and third to Steve (Mk2 Escort). We will be back at Santa Pod for Round 2 on 27th April. All newcomers welcome. For more details see www.oldskoolford.co.uk. It's academic... 28th March: Fourteen Motor Vehicle students from Carshalton College have been modifying a Ford vehicle in preparation for tomorrow's Dial In Day at Santa Pod Raceway. The Entry Level and Level 1 Vehicle and Maintenance Repair students have been working evenings and weekends to create a race car for tutor Jim Darville to drive at the Dial In Day. The Ford Puma has been completely stripped and transformed to be race-ready in line with guidelines from the MSA. Modifications have included new seat belts and seats, track day tyres, a roll cage, stripping out the door interior, taking out the headlights and windows and fitting 4mm perspex instead of glass, and cameras ready to film the action on the day. For this year the engine has stayed standard but will be upgraded at a later date. Jim says that the students are gaining a wealth of knowledge and experience from being involved in this unique project. "The students involved are gaining experience of motor racing and working in a pit lane", he says. "There will be test runs in the morning, with further alterations made to the car before the main race in the afternoon. This will give the students experience of working under pressure to make alterations and being aware of health and safety working in the pit lane environment compared to their usual classroom and workshop setting at the College." Level 2 Catering and Hospitality student John Darville will also be joining the students to provide lunch whilst they are working. If you'd like to take part in tomorrow's Dial In Day at Santa Pod then check out www.rwyb.co.uk/dialin.php. Swift snippets. 28th March: 16:45 Thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding Version 9 of the official entry list for the Festival of Power, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 18th-20th April. You can check out the entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. If you have any queries about event entry at Santa Pod Raceway then contact Ian on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail [email protected]. Web site updates. 28th March: Shakespeare County Raceway has a new Twitter account which can be found at www.twitter.com/sraceway. The feed will be updated on a regular basis with pre-event announcements, news snippets, photos and video links. "At the moment there are only a few followers signed up but we're sure that this will grow in due course" says SCR's Jerry Cookson. Eurodragster.com News Editor Tog has updated his personal web site with full sets of pictures from the recent UK SFI Day at Santa Pod Raceway and the recent visit to The Hot Rod House for the Feature Lee Cohen's Zephyr. You can check it all out at eurodragster.smugmug.com. Gamble away your Sunday... 27th March: Shakespeare County Raceway hosts the first of the popular series of Bracket Gambler races this coming Sunday (30th). The Bracket Gamblers are open to street-legal cars / door cars and street-legal bikes. Run under the same principle as Sportsman ET, the event format allows for one or two sessions of qualifying before eliminations dependent upon the size of the field. Entry is just £10 which goes into the prize pot for the winner and runner-up; the bigger the entry the bigger the prize pot! In addition to the money there are also trophies and a goodie bag courtesy of Raceway supporters Old Hall Performance, Red Line Oil, Flowmaster Exhausts, American Car Magazine, Alamo Car Rental, Rockauto.com and Voltz Energy. "Although we didn't get to trial the Gambler for the bikes in October, this weekend will be the perfect opportunity to get some race ready practice!", says SCR's Jerry Cookson. Full details about the Gambler races can be found on Shakespeare County Raceway's web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk/bracketgambler.asp or visit the Facebook page. General admission on Sunday is £12 and the RWYB track fee is £25. Don't forget your driving licence and crash helmet! The next Gambler after this weekend's opener will be in two weeks' time, on Sunday 13th April. ...Dial In your Saturday. 27th March: Santa Pod Raceway hosts its second Dial In Day this coming Saturday (29th) and James Forster tells us that entry is still open: We already have an excellent entry including some racers whose names have already appeared on the Festival of Power entry list for the first time. Hopefully we'll have them race ready by the end of the day. We have also seen on the list the names of some of those who took part in last year's Dial In Day, so participants should be warned: Dial In Days can lead to National Championship Drag Racing! This year's participants include race fans, commentators, racers' relatives and even a group of college students whom we are very looking forward to hosting and teaching about Dial In Racing. We still have a few spaces available so we would encourage anyone interested in learning more about our sport to come along and get involved. Any car is welcome so long as it complies with our regular RWYB rules and will not run quicker than 11.99 seconds. Your everyday road car will do! If you'd like to take part, get yourself entered at www.rwyb.co.uk/dialin.php. Please note that this is not a regular Run What You Brung and you will not be able to test or make runs outside of the Dial In Day. Swift snippets. 27th March: We have two spy pictures for you today. Below left is the second of the two pictures which we received from the same source on Tuesday... ...whilst the picture above right came with the words "Close to first fire-up". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at [email protected]. Thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding Version 8 of the official entry list for the Festival of Power, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 18th-20th April. You can check out the entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Festival of Power entry closes tomorrow (Friday); you can download entry forms from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about event entry at Santa Pod Raceway then contact Ian on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail [email protected]. Many thanks to everyone who sent or posted feedback on the new gallery format for our Alamo Rent A Car-sponsored Event Coverage. The response was overwhelmingly positive and appreciative; the only problems so far reported were experienced by those stuck behind firewalls in their day jobs, about which there is not a lot we can do unless any of the boffins amongst our readership know better. Apologies for the short delay in posting advertisements on our Jeff Bull Race Engines-sponsored Swap Meet over the last few days. It was one of those occasional brief periods when something had to give. We are now up to date but if you have submitted an advertisement and it has not appeared then please do not hesitate to re-send it. Reloaded for 2014. 26th March: Peter Walters from the UK's Team Reloaded / Walters Motorsport Super Pro ET Team and Eurodragster.com sponsor Peter Walters Race Design has been in touch to with an off-season update plus his plans for 2014: The main change for the 2014 season is a complete overhaul of the car. As Crew Chief Richard Walters and Pete own RW Custom Paint and Peter Walters Race Design respectively, the car needs to be a real showcase of their work. A solid six years of racing has started to take its toll on the car and it was time for a complete rebuild and repaint. We feel that we have produced something which should really stand out in the pits and on track and be a superb advertising tool for RW Custom Paint and PWRD. There are some really trick touches which you will have to wait and see for yourselves at the Festival of Power. As well as the paint the car has undergone a nut and bolt rebuild from the ground up, with fresh chassis paint and a plethora of powder coated, polished and chromed parts throughout. In addition to the updated aesthetics, the angry blown Small Block has had a complete freshen up ready to take on the 2014 title chase. Another development in the Team Reloaded / Walters Motorsport team is the addition of associate sponsors. As soon as the 2013 season finished Pete was hard at work trying to secure backing for the upcoming season and succeeded. Three fantastic companies have joined the team and one supporter has returned to follow us in our race to become 2014 Champions. The first of our sponsors is long time friend and supporter Derek Flynn from Gold RV. Derek has sponsored me since my time in Junior Dragster and has given us some great advice over the years, and we are proud to have Gold RV backing again for the 2014 season. "Gold RV and I have been proud to sponsor Pete 'Lumberjack' Walters and the team since his Junior Dragster days", says Derek. "Pete has proven himself to be a great driver, designer and friend." The second company to come on board is Wicked Coatings who specialise in hydrographics and specialist coatings. As the company is fairly local and as their branding colours match ours, it wasn't long before the partnership was made ."As great fans of the European drag race series, we were delighted to get involved through the total customisation of Pete's supercharged 1000hp dragster", say Wicked Coatings. "The car looks absolutely sensational following some serious carbon dipping and the team at Wicked Coatings is really rooting for Pete in this forthcoming season!" .Wicked have coated a number of the parts on the car in the incredible carbon fibre effect and it really needs to be seen in person to see how effective it is. If you are interested in having any parts coated in pretty much any pattern get in touch with the guys at Wicked Coatings and quote Team Reloaded to receive some great deals. To keep Pete comfortable and safe in the cockpit of the car, the team have partnered with renowned seat manufactures Corbeau Seats to create a bespoke dragster seat branded in the Team Reloaded colours and logos. Corbeau will be supporting us over the next two years and we hope to promote their great product in the drag racing world. Finally, to go with the fresh look of the race car, PWRD has come up with a fantastic new design for our crew shirts and we have teamed up with SixB Apparel in the USA to print the shirts and to keep the team looking as good as the car on the start line. Look out for these amazing quality shirts on any of our team. We also have two product sponsors on board, Hot Stitch Patches who specialise in custom nomex patches and Blown-it Services who have provided us with some great braided brake hosing. We would like to thank all of our sponsors and we hope that we can do them proud in 2014 by winning more races and hopefully the 2014 Championship. You are more than welcome to come and have an in-depth look at the car and see the outstanding work by all of our sponsors including RW Custom Paint and Peter Walters Race Design. We are of course still open to more backing and would welcome anyone wanting to support one of the most professional-appearing teams in the UK. For more information get in touch via the PWRD web site at www.pwrd.co.uk. Who knows, you could have your logo on the side of a Team Reloaded NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster in the future... Photos courtesy and ©Matt Cox. Swift snippets. 26th March: Eire's Gabrielle McDonald tells us that she will be completing her Top Fuel Dragster licencing, again in one of Rune Fjeld's cars, at the Saturday Night Special and Run What You Brung at Santa Pod Raceway on 3rd-4th May. Gabby says that further plans will be made once she has licenced. Staying with Top Fuel Dragster, thanks to Karsten Andersen of Eurodragster.com sponsor Landmeco of staying up into the small hours in Indanapolis to send us pictures of the new Andersen Racing dragster. "This is Thomas Nataas' birthday present", says Karsten. "He has been a good boy and deserves the best." Old Hall Performance backs SCR. 26th March: Shakespeare County Raceway are pleased to announce a new partnership with Coventry-based Old Hall Performance, which will include Red Line Synthetic Oil and Flowmaster Exhausts. Established in 2005, Old Hall Performance looks after a huge customer base in all branches of motor sports from British Touring Car, speedway and rallying. Last year Old Hall Performance rode along with this year's defending BTCC champion Andrew Jordan. Boasting modern and spacious warehouse facilities Old Hall Performance has a wealth of experience as well as an in-depth understanding of the high performance automotive market. "We are very happy to be working with Shakespeare County Raceway, our brands represent grass roots motorsport and car enthusiasts, so we feel it's a perfect fit", says Sales and Marketing Executive Daniel Street. "Andy Frost and Red Victor 3 are already great ambassadors of Red Line Synthetic Oil in British drag racing, Shakespeare will help us increase our involvement within the category.” Based in Benicia, California, Red Line has grown to manufacture more than a hundred quality products including motor oils, gear oils, assembly lubes, fuel additives, and its popular Water Wetter cooling additive for the automotive, motorcycle, marine, and industrial markets. With high performance products that deliver complete protection, extended component life and impressive fuel efficiency gains for a wide and diverse selection of all motor sports, take time to browse through their web site at www.redlineoil-europe.com. Thirty years ago, Flowmaster mufflers conceived a solution to a growing problem with sound issues at race tracks the world over. In a successful effort to quieten race cars without reducing performance, Flowmaster refused to accept the status quo of the day and instead pushed exhaust technology beyond common thinking. As automotive technology continues to advance, their commitment to developing the newest and best exhaust products is stronger than ever. For whatever you drive now and in the future, Flowmaster will have the most advanced exhaust products available. To find the quieter car in your life check out the web site at www.flowmastermufflers.com. Support from Old Hall Performance together with Red Line Oil has been extended to cover the Raceway's popular series of Bracket Gamblers races starting this Sunday, as well as lubricating the Raceway's promotional street racing Chevrolet Camaro and support vehicles. In addition to Red Line and Flowmaster, Old Hall Performance are agents for Racetech Seats, Macs Custom Tie Downs, Hancock Aerosols and BSCI Engery Impact Services. All these and more can be found at www.oldhallperformance.com. Big Bang, Festival of Power entry. 25th March: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us the final version of the official entry list for Big Bang, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 12th-13th April and which is a UK National Championship round for Sportsman ET, Lucas Oil Junior Dragster, 8.50 Bike and 9.50 Bike and a Series round for VW Pro, VW Sportsman, Outlaw Anglia and the FWD Drag Series. You can check out the Big Bang entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Thanks also to Ian Marshall for sending us Version 7 of the official entry list for the Festival of Power, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 18th-20th April and which is a full UK National and ACU Drag Bike Championship round as well as a round of the FIM European Super Street Bike Cup, European Nitro Funny Car Challenge, Nostalgia Fuel Challenge, VWDRC Championships, the Wild Bunch, ACU Supertwins and Junior Drag Bike. You can check out the Festival of Power entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Festival of Power entry closes this coming Friday, 28th March, after which entry, if accepted, will be subject to a Late Entry penalty. You can download Festival of Power entry forms from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about event entry at Santa Pod Raceway then contact Ian Marshall on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail [email protected]. Swift snippets. 25th March: We have had two spy pictures from a mole on the Continent; this is the first shot, which arrived with a statement of intent to attend Dragstalgia. If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at [email protected]. Linda, Anne and Dave Jr asked us to say a big Happy 70th Birthday for today (Tuesday) to UK Top Methanol Dragster racer Dave Wilson. "We'll see everyone with the race car at the track in a few weeks' time!", adds Anne. Have a great day Grumpy. One of the most frequent questions about our Alamo Rent A Car-sponsored Event Coverage is whether we can make the photo galleries scrollable. After some feverish programming (and some swearing - Ed) over last weekend we have succeeded in making the galleries scrollable and this will be a standard feature of our Event Coverage starting with the pre-Big Bang Test Day on Friday 11th April. If you would like to see an example then click here and click on any thumbnail. Thanks to Nigel Holland for pointing us in the direction of a Lightbox program which fulfilled all of our requirements. Sands Season Opener. 25th March: Despite all the recent speculation regarding the future of Shakespeare County Raceway the long winter's wait towards this weekend's Public Track Weekend is over! Although the main season is fast approaching marshals and track staff have been diligently working behind the scenes getting the facility ready for racing, and they hope you have been doing the same. Especially for this weekend's Season Opener Shakespeare County has teamed up with the guys and girls from Sands, the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Charity. Raising awareness throughout the UK, Sands supports anyone affected by the death of a baby while promoting research to reduce the loss of babies' lives and are much respected in the Modified car scene. Cruzin 4 Sands will be the first event of its kind taking place on the quarter mile drag strip at Shakespeare County thanks to the team consisting of Emma Brown, Kayleigh Green and Neil Rooney. "It's our personal mission to raise as much money as possible for the charity", said spokesperson Emma. "These guys take care of everything we never want to go through in the aftermath of losing a child either through illness or being premature through no fault of their own. Lexie-mae is our inspiration for all of this: a little girl who grew her wings when being brought into this world." Already Cruzin 4 Sands has a fantastic following on its Facebook page, and has attracted some pretty amazing people and cars which will be heading to the raceway on Sunday 30th March. So come along and support them, buy some stickers, T-Shirts, bracelets and much more besides! Or simple donate some money at any of the collection points around the Raceway. Kicking off the year's festivities will be the opening event in a busy series of Bracket Gamblers Races. Racing for cash and trophies with predicted dial-ins, qualifying and eliminations. Sunday's race is open to both cars and bikes. To find out more take a look at the Bracket Racing page on the track's web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk/bracketgambler.asp. Fancy having a go at becoming a budding drag racer? Then why not try our Public Track Day Weekenders. Designed to cater for all type of vehicles, cars and bikes, our Public Track Days are both friendly and fun. Try it once and you'll be hooked. Try it again and you could be on your way to becoming a future drag racing Champion! Clubs are welcome to display or participate at any of the on-track events. Contact us for further details or take a look at our Essential Guide on the Run What Ya Brung information page at www.shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk/rwyb.asp. Don't forget your driving licence - full licence required, povisional licences not accepted - and crash helmet. Remember, no licence no race! Gates open Friday at 6:00 pm. Track opens for RWYB at 10:00 am on both Saturday and Sunday until 5.00 pm. Further information can be found on the track's web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk. Birthday Girl turns the wrenches. 23rd March: UK Pro Modified racer Roger Moore tells us that daughter Lucy is helping him to put together the motor of the Shakespeare Engineering and Challenger Solutions-sponsored Viper. "It's Lucy's birthday tomorrow, but she knows that if she wants to come racing at Easter it means spending her birthday weekend helping out", says Roger. She has informed me that she will not work on any engine with less than 700 ci or 2000 hp, so Junior Dragster is not an option! "The new engine is coming together, if a bit later than hoped. We are optimistic of getting down the track at the Festival of Power, and having a play with the new EFI system. I think only Roger Johansson and I have a Pat Musi set-up in Europe, but Roger has run some quick times recently and he has been a great help in designing my system." A big Happy Birthday for tomorrow, Lucy. Allard Awards entry open. 23rd March: Earlier this year the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame announced the introduction of two new annual Awards for photographers and writers. Open to professionals and amateurs, they celebrate the importance of the media in promoting our sport along with the crucial role played by Sydney Allard as the father of British drag racing. The trophies are sponsored by the Allard Motor Company operated by Sydney's son Alan and grandson Lloyd. Alan Allard said "Lloyd and I are so proud that the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame has chosen to honour my father's role in giving birth to drag racing in Europe with these two trophies. We are naturally pleased to sponsor them. The Guv'nor understood how important media publicity could be in attracting interest and promoting any new motorsport activity so celebrating photography and the written word is something that would have met with his approval." The first Award, presented in association with the Guild of Motoring Writers and Chief-Judged by the Guild's Chairman Guy Loveridge, will be presented to the writer of the best book, article or feature on British drag racing published in print or on-line during the twelve months ending July 2014. The second Award will be presented for the best photograph featuring British drag racing, either published in print or on-line during the twelve months ending July 2014, or remaining unpublished. This Award is presented is in association with Octane magazine and the Chief Judge is Octane columnist and classic car collector Nick Mason who will be joined by Octane Art Editor Mark Sommer. The competition has already started with many photographers and writers owning photos and/or articles taken or written from August 2013 onwards. They can enter as many pieces of their work as they like, but each entry must be accompanied by a completed entry form to enable the judges to collate them accurately. The entry form can now be downloaded via the Allard Award Entries tab at www.britishdragracinghof.co.uk, completed and then submitted by E-Mail to with attached articles in Word or PDF format and photographs in JPG form. Full instructions can be found on the web page. These new and prestigious awards will be presented at the BDRHoF Gala Awards Dinner at the Savill Court Hotel, Windsor Great Park on 22nd November. Swift snippets. 23rd March: Wayne Jackson tells us that the UK's Shannon Kiddell tested Brad Jackson's Junior Modified Advanced dragster at a sunny Santa Pod Raceway yesterday. A successful day resulted in a deal as a result of which Shannon is now the proud owner of the Lucas Oil Junior Dragster. "The 2014 Junior Dragster Championship is again sponsored by Lucas Oil", says Wayne. "Les Downey of Lucas Oil UK is very pleased to see two Lucas Oil cars competing this year: both Joe Holland-Villa and Shannon will have Lucas Oil backing and we wish them both a safe and successful year." Santa Pod Raceway's Fast Show is underway and our buddies at Nitro FM are opening their broadcasting season at the event. You can tune in to an on-line audiocast at www.eurodragster.com/nitrofm. Those who don't understand the audio bit of "audiocast" and have tried loading our webcam will have got what they deserve. Taqi's ten years. 23rd March: Congratulations to our friends at the Bahrain Drag Racing Club who will be celebrating their tenth year along with the Bahrain International Circuit which will also be hosting its tenth Gulf Air Formula One Grand Prix next month. Congratulations also to BRDC President Fahad Nabeel Taqi whose tenth year this is in the sport and the tenth running of the National Drag Racing Championship Series under his aegis. "All this would not have been possible without the support and encouragement from the Bahrain Motor Federation headed by Shaikh Abdulla bin Isa Al Khalifa" says Fahad. Fahad's first event as a volunteer was way back in 2001. "I was visiting a friend in the UAE and Ras Al Khaima was hosting its first ever Formula 3 boat race and I was asked to assist the organisers with the foreign participants", says the 39-year-old Assistant Director for the Ministry of the Interior's Anti Violence and Addiction programme. "It was a great experience and I guess it was what triggered me to do more voluntary service. "A passion for motorsport has been part of my life since childhood. In 2004 I was given the task of General Secretary of the Bahrain Drag Racing Club. During that time I felt that I had an obligation towards my Kingdom and the sport that I loved, so I started contacting international clubs and sanctioning bodies introducing the BDRC to them and the world. I got married on the same day I was elected into motor sports back in 2004 and since then my wife has been my true supporter and my number one fan. We have two boys, Ahmed who is four years old and ten-month-old Faisal. I can't wait until my boys are old enough to join motorsports." The first official drag racing Championship, called Rumble in the Desert, was held in 2004. Since then we have come a long way and it would have not been possible without the great support from EK Kanoo. In 2005, Fahad attended a UK National Championship at event Shakespeare County Raceway where he was the Assistant Secretary. "We worked for four straight days and right and we were recognised for our talent and quick learning abilities by the local UK Motorsports sanctioning body" he recalls. Right after returning from the UK, Fahad again got busy running the National Drag Racing Series. He also hosted a FIA Drag Racing exhibition event, which was held again the following year. Fahad was elected president of the Bahrain Drag Racing Club in 2006 and remains in the post to this day. "It has been a great journey and I look forward to many more years in the job", he says. Web site updates. 23rd March: Our good buddy Chris Eyre has updated his Eurodragpics site with a small gallery from yesterday's Saturday Night Special at Santa Pod Raceway. "It was a chance for me to do a bit of pre-season testing with some new camera equipment", says Chris, "although having said that with the start of the Nostalgia Fuel Challenge Cup I think I am going to be more than busy with crewing duties on the Time Warp Nostalgia Funny Car! Hopefully there will be a bit of time spare to get behind the lens. It will soon be time for the Festival of Power, a chance to burn some nitro and make some noise, hopefully see you all there!". You can check out Chris' pictures at www.eurodragpics.com. Attention SPRC members. 22nd March: Ian Marshall has been in touch with news of the package being sent to new or renewing members of Santa Pod Racers Club: For those who haven't figured it out yet, the lanyard includes a memory stick on which you will find the 2014 rule book for cars and bikes, you will also find all of the Championship regulations and every entry form for the whole of the 2014 season. This still leaves about 3.5 Gb of free space which can be used, for example, for downloading ECUs, vehicle data etc. Towards the end of the year I would appreciate some feedback of how racers have got on with the new system, as we have some further ideas to add to the list of options for the 2015 season. Some people have had few issues downloading forms from the SPRC web site. This is due to our computer system running the latest Windows version. If you are having problems then please get in with me at [email protected] and I will E-Mail the forms to you. Please note that as your membership becomes due you will be sent the lanyard etc with your renewal so you won't be missing out. Warren Classic seeks race cars. 22nd March: Mark Durham has been in touch to invite racers to display their race cars at the Warren Classic and Concours Show which takes place at The Warren Golf and Country Club near Maldon in Essex in Saturday 10th May: This is one of the biggest classic and Supercar shows in the UK this year. I am arranging for a motorsport area and am looking for a variety of cars to display. I already have a nice Comp Altered, but would like as many other cars as I can get. This is a huge event with an expected attendance of 10,000 on a single day. There will be a large number of high net worth car enthusiasts at the event, some of whom already sponsor motorsport including F1. This could be a good opportunity for teams to canvass sponsorship and promote the sport. For more information check out the Warren Classic and Concours Show web site at www.warrenclassic.co.uk or the Golf Club's Facebook page, or take a look at the official event brochure (PDF format) by clicking here. If you would like to take your race car along to the event then you can contact Mark Durham on 07850 967239. Fast Show audiocast. 22nd March: Santa Pod Raceway's Fast Show commences with today's Saturday Night Special RWYB and then a full day tomorrow including the first round of the FWD Drag Series. Our buddies at Nitro FM will be opening their broadcasting season at the event and you will be able to tune in to an on-line audiocast. Nitro FM will be on-line from 18:00 today (Saturday) and then from 07:00 tomorrow. You will be able to tune in at www.eurodragster.com/nitrofm. Big Bang, Festival of Power entry. 21st March: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 5 of the official entry list for Big Bang, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 12th-13th April and which is a UK National Championship round for Sportsman ET, Lucas Oil Junior Dragster, 8.50 Bike and 9.50 Bike and a Series round for VW Pro, VW Sportsman, Outlaw Anglia and the FWD Drag Series. You can check out the Big Bang entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Big Bang entry closes today (Friday 21st) so any entry from tomorrow, if accepted, will be subject to a Late Entry penalty. Thanks also to Ian Marshall for sending us Version 5 of the official entry list for the Festival of Power, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 18th-20th April and which is a full UK National and ACU Drag Bike Championship round as well as a round of the FIM European Super Street Bike Cup, European Nitro Funny Car Challenge, Nostalgia Fuel Challenge, VWDRC Championships, the Wild Bunch, ACU Supertwins and Junior Drag Bike. You can check out the Festival of Power entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Festival of Power entry closes next Friday, 28th March, after which entry, if accepted, will be subject to a Late Entry penalty. You can download Festival of Power entry forms from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about event entry at Santa Pod Raceway then contact Ian Marshall on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail [email protected]. ...and Tyler makes three. 21st March: The UK's Team Alamo Junior Dragster team is delighted to welcome Tyler Ashdown. Tyler joins Paige and Belle Wheeler and will be piloting a third dragster, formerly Rhiannon Bellenie's Championship-winning car, and will be contesting the full UK National Championship. The dragster will be primarily branded with Jegs and Eibach AG with additional branding covering Alamo, EMTS, Oakley, Lucas Oil, Parts, VP Racing Fuels and GK Motorsports / KLR Racing Group. "We had the opportunity to add a third car to the team, it made sense to give Steve and Tyler the chance to work with us and compete in the full UK National Championship" said Andy Wheeler. "Tyler is delighted to have the opportunity to race with Team Alamo. He is looking forward to the year ahead and gaining more experience under the Team Alamo brand and I personally think that working within a team will do him good for years to come." "We can't thank Andy and his family and of course the team for this opportunity", says Steve and Tyler Ashdown. "We would also like to thank Pete and Rhiannon Bellenie for the car, and Pete for advice and support at track for start of season." "Finally we would like to wish all of the Junior racers - bikes, dragsters and Funny Cars - a fast, safe and fun season ahead", said Andy Wheeler. "I'm especially looking forward to our Fun Day on Wednesday 20th August, which will be bigger and better than last year. More news on the fun day will follow soon." Street Eliminator 2014 sponsor roll. 21st March: Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator Chair Matt Atkinson is pleased to announce this season's sponsors for the street-legal series. "We are extremely grateful for the continued support of existing sponsors and a special mention to our new sponsors for 2014", says Matt. Topspeed Automotive are delighted to commit to a fifth year as title sponsor for the Street Eliminator series. Topspeed, managed by an experienced team of professionals, is a premier retailer of automotive and performance parts trading for over forty years. Topspeed Automotive cater for a whole range spanning the traditional family saloon to specialist performance parts and accessories for American V8 and classic machines. Topspeed are also agents for a number of companies such as Wynns, Millers Oils, K&N, Kenlowe, NGK Plugs, Silicone Hoses, Draper, TCI, Felpro, Aeromotive, Taylors, Autoglym, Smart Wax, Meguiars, Mr Gasket, Power Pour, Fram Filters, Holley pumps, some MSD, Autometer, dress up kits, line-locks, trans coolers, Lucas Oil and Hoosier. The shop is situated in Surrey just minutes from the M25 so if you prefer to purchase in person then pop by. As well as title sponsors of the class Topspeed Automotive also have the wicked '68 Camaro piloted by Bill Macdermid who says "On behalf of all of the team at Topspeed Automotive I can honestly say it is an honour to be associated with such a prestigious drag racing class. Over the last five years the class has gone from strength to strength and the performance of the cars has developed massively. We are looking forward to getting the car back out at some point this year alongside the great teams in the class. Here's to another record setting year in Street Eliminator. Please visit the web site, call the shop on 01932 341700 / 344453, or visit us at 17-19 The Broadway, New Haw, Surrey KT15 3EU." Webster Race Engineering prides itself in creating race vehicles to the highest possible standards and specification. The 4,000 sq foot workshop, situated just five miles from Santa Pod Raceway, houses all the latest state of the art equipment required to meet customer's demands and aspirations. The company is still relatively young but has already built up a reputation and made there mark within the drag racing world with records being set at almost every National event in many classes.  Company principal Jon Webster has been involved in numerous high profile vehicles including the world record holding four cylinder Ford Focus built for Ford USA, Chrysler's first PT Cruiser race car and Bentley's race car programme. WRE have also been at the forefront of the development of Japanese / Import Drag Racing in the Cosplay Costumes for Sale UK and have been instrumental in evolving chassis technology for those applications. WRE also specialise in chassis baseline tuning and setup, we will attend test days to assist our customers in achieving the highest level of performance from their particular vehicle. We also supply and manufacture Power Pour fuel additive, possibly the finest additive on the market today. WRE can be contacted by phone on 01933 315236, by fax on 01933 315274, via E-Mail at [email protected] or visit the web site. New sponsors to the 2014 Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator series in 2014 are Serck Motorsport. Graham Smith Motorsport Manager at Serck says "Serck Motorsport have been manufacturing for the motorsport industry for forty years. We are leading manufacturers of high performance cooling packages supplying the likes of Aston Martin GT, McLaren MP4 -12C, Touring Car and OE such as Morgan Motor Company and Lotus. "We also are service providers to Formula One with our micron analysis cleaning service. We currently supply six teams and engine manufacturers as well as GP2, Le Mans, Touring car and WRC. "Serck Motorsport are also distributors for Sunoco Race Fuels, Setrab Oil Coolers, Joe Gibbs Driven Race Oils, Spal Fans and recently Wizards of NOS systems and bottle filling so please do give us a shout or visit our web site. "Serck Motorsport has a long running history with the class as well with a number of current and previous Street Eliminator cars fitted with Serck cooling including Ian 'Fatty' Hook's '34 Ford, Mark Todd's GTO, Alan Williamson's Chevy Pick Up, Mats Anderson's Volvo and the soon to be débuted '57 Chevy of Graham Smith under the Bad Apple Racing banner. You can view some of the top quality work carried out by the team on the web site or call them on 020 8813 7470." Insane Creations are also new sponsors for the 2014 season. Team Principal Ron Haslett has been involved in the class for a number of years and is very highly regarded in the Street Eliminator pits. Ron used to compete in his Cortina, now in the capable hands of Charlie Chivers who will be bringing the car back out this year. Ron is also hoping to have his new 1941 Willys out at some point this year. Insane Creations is a business which Ron has set up primarily for the fabrication of race cars. A number of cars that have recently come out of the shop including Graham Smith's Bad Apple Racing '57 Chevy, soon to be racing in the Street Eliminator series, and Charlie Chivers Cortina which is also set to be out in the 2014 season. You can keep up to date with the progress of Ron's build on the web site or alternately on the Insane Creations Facebook page. Producers of the Hardcore Street Street Eliminator DVD since 2003, Zeon TV is one of Europe's top motorsport TV production companies, producers of the UK's MSA Pro Modified TV series, the HKS Drag Series TV programmes and the FIA/UEM Drag Bike Championship in Kunmadaras, Hungary to name a few. Hardcore Street, the annual Street Eliminator Championship DVD, is available from the web site along with all the other DVDs produced by Zeon TV / Power Point Communications (UK) Ltd.  AW Upholstery, formerly Doctor Flock, is sponsoring the class for a fourth consecutive season. AW Upholstery offer flock which is used extensively in car vehicle interiors. It is used to provide decorative finishes in new cars on glove and coin boxes, head linings, door trim and various other parts. It is also used on the window rubbers to provide a non-abrasive running surface which does not freeze to the windows in the winter. Rally cars, race cars and custom cars frequently have dashboards, door cards and other parts flocked. If you think it can be flocked it probably can.... Al Williamson of AW Upholstery will also be out in his Chevy Pick Up in 2014 looking to build on the performance from last year. You can contact AW Upholstery on phone by 01384 485 485, E-Mail [email protected] or visit the web site. Matt Woods Photography is sponsoring the class for a second year. Matt is a professional automotive photographer well-known in the drag racing scene and has undertaken various shoots for a range of magazines including RPM Magazine and Top Gear Magazine. You can check out some of Matt's work on his web site or catch him at the track near the Street Eliminator pits. Going back to the roots of Street Eliminator, Custom Car Magazine is once again going to be following the exciting world of UK Street Eliminator with regular features including race reports. RPM Magazine has become the world leader in providing print media focusing solely on fast Doorslammer, Outlaw and Street Legal style drag racing. With tens of thousands of readers in twenty seven countries, RPM is touted as the print media source for event, racer, team and industry coverage of the sport. With offices across the USA and Canada, RPM Magazine is made up of a diverse team of racers and enthusiasts with countless years of hands-on knowledge in the sport of drag racing. RPM can be reached through the web site or call +1 519 752 3705. "I am speaking on behalf of all of the teams in Street Eliminator when I say that we really value all of the sponsors' input and ongoing support", says Matt. "We are all looking forward to a fast 2014 with a number of new cars set to come out including the return of previous racers! "We always have room for further sponsors so if anybody is interested in sponsoring the class for the coming season then please contact me at [email protected]. "In the meantime please keep up to date with the class via our web site at www.streeteliminator.com." Big Bang, Festival of Power entry. 20th March: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 4 of the official entry list for Big Bang, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 12th-13th April and which is a UK National Championship round for Sportsman ET, Lucas Oil Junior Dragster, 8.50 Bike and 9.50 Bike and a Series round for VW Pro, VW Sportsman, Outlaw Anglia and the FWD Drag Series. You can check out the Big Bang entry list by clicking here. Big Bang entry closes tomorrow (Friday 21st) after which entry, if accepted, will be subject to a Late Entry penalty. Thanks also to Ian Marshall for sending us Version 4 of the official entry list for the Festival of Power, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 18th-20th April and which is a full UK National and ACU Drag Bike Championship round as well as a round of the FIM European Super Street Bike Cup, European Nitro Funny Car Challenge, Nostalgia Fuel Challenge, VWDRC Championships, the Wild Bunch, ACU Supertwins and Junior Drag Bike. You can check out the Festival of Power entry list by clicking here. Festival of Power entry closes on Friday 28th March after which entry, if accepted, will be subject to a Late Entry penalty. You can download Big Bang and Festival of Power entry forms from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about event entry at Santa Pod Raceway then contact Ian Marshall on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail [email protected]. SPR seek old slicks. 20th March: Ian Marshall also tells us that Santa Pod Raceway's track crew are in need of old slicks to help to prepare the track surface and that racers' cast-offs would be greatly appreciated. If you have any old slicks which you would be willing to donate then please get in touch with Ian at [email protected] or call 01933 313625 to arrange collection. Alternately please bring old slicks with you to Big Bang or the Festival of Power. Tierp Arena sold. 19th March: Stefan Boman writes that the public auction to sell the bankrupt Tierp Arena took place earlier today at enforcement officer Kronofogden in the city of Uppsala. The Arena was sold to Cemoni Ohlsson of the management company Sånna Förvaltnings AB for twenty million Swedish kronor. The company is involved in several businesses including the road course race track Sturup Raceway. "Our intention is to run Tierp Arena as a multi-event facility where motorsport and drag racing is a big part", said Cemoni. "For practical reasons we have to get the company running before we can say anything about specific events but it's our goal to go through with the two FIA European Championship rounds scheduled at Tierp for 2014." The picture, courtesy and ©Stefan Boman, shows Cemoni at the far left writing a cheque as a down payment for the facility. Swift snippets. 19th March: Santa Pod Raceway have released a teaser video for this season's UK FWD Drag Series which you can check out at youtu.be/FribggdjkeE. For more details about the series visit www.fwddragseries.co.uk. Big Bang, Festival of Power entry. 18th March: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 3 of the official entry list for Big Bang, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 12th-13th April and which is a UK National Championship round for Sportsman ET, Lucas Oil Junior Dragster, 8.50 Bike and 9.50 Bike and a Series round for VW Pro, VW Sportsman, Outlaw Anglia and the FWD Drag Series. You can check out the Big Bang entry list by clicking here. Big Bang entry closes on Friday of this week (21st) after which entry, if accepted, will be subject to a Late Entry penalty. Thanks also to Ian Marshall for sending us Version 3 of the official entry list for the Festival of Power, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 18th-20th April and which is a full UK National and ACU Drag Bike Championship round as well as a round of the FIM European Super Street Bike Cup, European Nitro Funny Car Challenge, Nostalgia Fuel Challenge, VWDRC Championships, the Wild Bunch, ACU Supertwins and Junior Drag Bike. You can check out the Festival of Power entry list by clicking here. Festival of Power entry closes on Friday 28th March after which entry, if accepted, will be subject to a Late Entry penalty. You can download Big Bang and Festival of Power entry forms from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about event entry at Santa Pod Raceway then contact Ian Marshall on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail [email protected]. Feature: Lee Cohen's Zephyr. 18th March: The subject of the latest in our occasional series of Features presented in association with Lucas Oil Products is Lee Cohen's stunning blown alcohol-powered Zephyr, which he plans to run in Super Pro ET. Regular readers will recall that Lee crashed his beloved Ford Pop in 2009 but that having rebuilt and sold it he acquired Ray White's Zephyr Pro Mod as a rolling chassis. Ray famously sent Lee a picture of a side window sporting his name to help to seal the deal. With a month to go before the Zephyr's planned début Eurodragster.com visited Ray White and Danny Cockerill's new business The Hot Rod House where it was receiving a final check-up and finishing touches. You can check out the Feature by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. If you would like your race vehicle or team to be the subject of a Eurodragster.com Feature then drop us a line at [email protected]. Swift snippets. 18th March: Mum Su and dad Pete asked us to say a big Happy 16th Birthday for today (Tuesday) to reigning UK National Junior Dragster Champion Rhiannon Bellenie. Our pleasure guys, have a lovely day Rhiannon. We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to our good buddy, Shakespeare County Raceway Track Announcer and all-round good guy Barry Bohannon. Have a great day Barry. Web site updates. 18th March: The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr site with a gallery of shots taken between 2003 and 2007; one hundred to begin with and the promise of more to come. You can check out Mad's pictures at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman. Swift snippets. 17th March: Paul Foote of Eurodragster.com decal sponsor Paul Foote Ink says that the Dragfest Reunion planned for Blackbushe Airfield in August has had to be postponed. The monthly meetings at the café at Blackbushe continue. More at www.dragfest.co.uk. Shakespeare County Raceway have promised us a statement on the recently-emerged redevelopment plan for Long Marston Airfield. Save that this is not the first time that this has happened (see Eurodragster.com News for 28th April 2008) we won't comment any further until we hear from SCR. Web site updates. 17th March: In the latest instalment of his Nostalgia Funny Car Blog presented in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car, Rob Loaring goes deep into the 426 ci heart of the Apache Nostalgia FC. As ever you can stay in touch with the latest Blog updates by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Welcome Vehvac. 16th March: We are very pleased to welcome Vehvac as a sponsor of Eurodragster.com news. Vehvac are specialists in automotive air conditioning, installation, service and repairs for cars, vans, motorhomes, lorries, off-highway and specialist vehicles. They can supply automotive air conditioning parts, R134a and R1234yf refrigerants, Pag and Ester Oils, and supply and service air conditioning service machines, F Gas training and certification. They are dealers for Webasto heaters, cruise control, speed limiters, autoclutch, reversing cameras and parking sensors. "In a nutshell we're specialists in automotive heating, cooling and innovating products for vehicles on and off road", says Sales and Marketing Director Phil Leamon. You can find out more from Vehvac's web site at www.vehvac.com. A huge Thank You to Phil Leamon for his support. Please support those who support Eurodragster.com by considering our sponsors first when shopping for goods or services. If you are interested in sponsoring Eurodragster.com then please get in touch with us at [email protected]. Team Gridlock sign up Six B. 16th March: The UK's Team Gridlock are very excited to announce their latest sponsorship deal, with America's top drag racing teamwear company Six B apparel. Team Principal Dex Price says that Team Gridlock have been chatting to Six B Apparels CEO Kris Boesen for some time and have now come to an arrangement to supply the new 2014 team shirts, fleeces and hoodies. "We have started to make some changes in our overall theme, some of which may be reflected in a future livery of the car, so some very exciting changes are afoot", says Dex. "Team Gridlock will not only be displaying Six B Apparel on their team wear but on their Go Hard or Go Home!!! Competition Altered in their fourth consecutive Wild Bunch title defence. "Please check out Six B Apparel on Facebook, add them as friends, keep the name rolling and don't forget to contact Kris direct with any enquires. Always tell Six B apparel that it was the Gridlock guys who sent you." Swift snippets. 16th March: Good luck and stay safe to Ulf Leanders - number one qualifier in Top Alcohol FC with a stunning off-the-trailer 5.498 - Jonnie Lindberg both of who got through round one, Jimmy Ålund and Fredrik Fredlund who are all contesting today's eliminations at the NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville. You can stay up in touch with our heroes' progress courtesy of our Drag Race Central buddies at www.dragracecentral.com, Patrik Larsson will be updating the Lindbergs' site at www.lindbergbros.com, and Marcus Sjödin is updating the Drag Racing 24 site at www.dragracing24.com. Everyone at Protek Racing asked us to say a big Happy 20th Birthday for today (Sunday) to 9.50 Bike racer Josh Stubbins. "Love from us all", aays Nicola Stubbins. "Josh is doing his first full season in 9.50 Bike this year so good luck with that too." Big Bang, Festival of Power entry. 14th March: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 2 of the official entry list for Big Bang, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 12th-13th April and which is a UK National Championship round for Sportsman ET, Lucas Oil Junior Dragster, 8.50 Bike and 9.50 Bike and a Series round for VW Pro, VW Sportsman, Outlaw Anglia and the FWD Drag Series. You can check out the Big Bang entry list by clicking here. Big Bang entry closes on Friday of next week (21st) after which entry, if accepted, will be subject to a Late Entry penalty. Thanks also to Ian Marshall for sending us Version 2 of the official entry list for the Festival of Power, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 18th-20th April and which is a full UK National and ACU Drag Bike Championship round as well as a round of the FIM European Super Street Bike Cup, European Nitro Funny Car Challenge, Nostalgia Fuel Challenge, VWDRC Championships, the Wild Bunch, ACU Supertwins and Junior Drag Bike. You can check out the Festival of Power entry list by clicking here. Festival of Power entry closes on Friday 28th March after which entry, if accepted, will be subject to a Late Entry penalty. You can download Big Bang and Festival of Power entry forms from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about event entry at Santa Pod Raceway then contact Ian Marshall on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail [email protected]. Hansen Racing press release. 14th March: Hansen Racing och Team R/T Dragracing inleder till säsongen 2014 ett nytt samarbete. Teamet är kända för sin lysande väg till toppen i dragracingklassen Pro Stock under åren 2011-2013 men är inga gröngölingar. Teamet driver bilverkstaden R/T Bil & maskin och har tidigare tävlat både i Competition och diverse Street klasser. år 2012 vann de EM i Pro Stock och har sedan dess legat i den absoluta toppen i klassen. Vi ser fram emot att samarbeta med Team R/T Dragracing och Ernryd Cars säger William Hansen, VD på Hansen Racing. Vi är alla engagerade i våra mål och jobbar väldigt hårt för att leverera vårt allra bästa resultat. Vårt engagemang i racing har genom åren alltid varit frukten av ett brinnande intresse för motorsport, intresset har funnits så länge företaget existerat vilket resulterat i många fina år på Anderstorp, Mantorp, Malmö Raceway, Kjula Dragway och Tierp Arena. För teamet är nu arbetet inför säsongen i full gång och inom kort presenteras tävlingsbilens nya design. Vi kommer även att ställa ut bilen och bjuda på ett par fina uppstarter under Stora Hansen dagen den 31 Maj hälsar Stefan Ernryd som även är teamets manager. Hansen Racing and Team R/T Dragracing are starting the 2014 season with a new collaboration. The team are known for blazing their way to the top in Pro Stock between 2011 and 2013 but they are not rookies. The team runs the R/T auto and mechanical workshop and have previously competed in Competition and various Street classes. In 2012 they won the European Championship in Pro Stock and have been at the top of the class since then. "We look forward to working with Team R/T Drag racing and Ernryd Cars" says William Hansen, President of Hansen Racing. "We are all committed to our goal, and we will work very hard to deliver our very best results. Our involvement in racing over the years has always been the result of a passion for motorsport, an interest which has been around as long as the company has existed and which resulted in many fine years at Anderstorp, Mantorp , Malmö Raceway, Kjula Dragway and Tierp Arena." "The team is now in full swing working towards the season and we will shortly present the race car's new design", says Stefan Ernryd who is also Team Manager. "We will also display the car and and start it up a few times at the Great Hansen Day on 31st May." Swift snippets. 14th March: We have two spy pictures for you today. The first (top) came with the words "Everything comes in threes"... ...whilst the second (bottom) came with no words at all. If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at [email protected]. Back to Eurodragster.com sponsors and we were sorry to say goodbye to long-standing Eurodragster.com News sponsor DS Racewear whose owner Pete Yates is taking a year out, although he says that he hopes to be back with us next year. Thanks very much for your support Pete. CPC deadline approaching. 14th March: Carole Ismail and Emma-Jayne Wray, Directors of Eurodragster.com sponsor CEJ Training Services Limited are happy to continue their support of the web site in 2014-2015 and are offering a special deal on Driver CPC training as the deadline approaches: "We now have a dedicated training room and trainer", says Carole Ismail. "With only 182 days to go before no CPC / no LGV drivers who need Driver CPC should book now as we are running courses six days a week. "Driver CPC is for LGV / PCV drivers who drive professionally throughout the UK. It is a legal requirement which involves all professional drivers undertaking thirty five hours of periodic training every five years, these are attendance courses so no tests or exams to take. After 10th September this year you must always carry evidence of your Driver CPC status while driving professionally. To drive professionally while not in possession of a DQC (or vocational licence, if you hold acquired rights) is unlawful. "We are still running an amazing deal for DCPC training of £50 plus VAT per seven-hour session." If you drive a vehicle with a tachograph professionally and also drive a tachographed vehicle to the race track then this could affect you. For more information, or to book your training, talk to the people who know at CEJ Training Services on 01604 889121 or visit their web site at www.cejtrainingservicesltd.co.uk. Testing available at Big Bang. 12th March: James Forster of Santa Pod Raceway has been in touch to remind racers participating in the Festival of Power that, due to the replacement of the usual Peak Performance Day the weekend prior to the event, a limited number of test slots are available to racers in all classes at Big Bang which takes place at Santa Pod on 12th-13th April, the pre-Easter weekend: Big Bang is a Championship round for a number of classes including the VWDRC, Outlaw Anglias, Jap Drag Series and more so you can expect a good track. The test slots will run throughout the permit part of the event which takes place from 4:00 pm on the Saturday and all day Sunday. If you would like to take the chance to test at Big Bang then please fill out the contact form at www.big-bang.co.uk/contact.php. SFI Tour numbers up. 12th March: The outcome of the annual SFI European Recertification Tour is often seen as an early indicator of the state of the sport in Europe in any given season. On the evidence of this year's Tour, European drag racing is in rude health. Eurodragster.com caught up with the inspection team of SFI Foundation President Arnie Kuhns, Murf McKinney, Tim Hiatt and Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson at yesterday's (Tuesday) last stop of the Tour at Santa Pod Raceway. Geoff Martin and Mark Norton of the UK's Tech Team were also in attendance. At the end of the day Arnie calculated that the inspection team and their colleagues on stops in The Netherlands, Finland and Sweden had inspected a total of 474 items on the Tour, up from 429 in 2013. Apart from an expired flexplate no items failed inspection; ten bellhousings required minor reworking to bring them up to spec. A seminar took place in Oslo on Monday explaining the work and aims of the SFI Foundation, specification programmes and testing, programmes for inspectors and incident response. In the afternoon delegates, who were mainly from drag racing with a small number from other motorsport disciplines, had the chance of hands-on experience with a Pro Mod and a Funny Car. In association with Lucas Oil Products we have posted a gallery from yesterday's SFI Day at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check it out by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Swift snippets. 12th March: Santa Pod Raceway have confirmed that France's David Pertué will be bringing his Hydrogen Rocket Funny Car to the Festival of Power at Easter. We would like to say a big Happy Birthday for yesterday to Erwin Kievith. Hope you had a great day Erwin. DFDS renew racer ferry deal. 11th March: Caroline Holden of Santa Pod Raceway has been in touch with the great news that DFDS Seaways are continuing their support with preferential Cross Channel ferry rates for teams travelling to or from Europe. Further details and a booking form are available on the Entry Forms page of the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com. Hall of Fame backs Junior Bikers. 11th March: The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame has agreed a five year deal to support the UK's Junior Drag Bike class. Dipping in to funds released to the BDRHoF from a long-dormant British National Drag Racing Association account, the deal guarantees £50 to the Champion of Junior Drag Bike until 2018, after which the BDRHoF hopes to continue the support from its own funds. BDRHoF Chair Stu Bradbury said "This money was released to the BDRHoF from the BNDRA account thanks to Anne Pallant and Mick Hand, the last Financial Officers of the BNDRA, along with the efforts of BDRHoF Management Group member Phil Evans. I have always felt that this money belongs to drag racing, so it is right that some should go back to sponsoring our future. It's great that we can support the stars of tomorrow this way." Junior Drag Bike PR Lizz McCarthy says "This is a fantastic gesture. We are very honoured that Junior Drag Bike racing has been recognised this way, and that the youngsters are being supported by our peers. Thanks to Chairman of JDB Allan Davies for doing a lot of the initial legwork, and the JDB Committee would like to take this opportunity to personally thank Stu Bradbury, Anne, Mike, and Phil for their thoughtfulness." Swift snippets. 11th March: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words "Nearly there! Soon be the Festival of Power". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at [email protected]. Chris, Mark, Lee, Sarah, Liam, TJ, Bella, Jade and Ben asked us to say lots of love and wish a big Happy Birthday for today (Tuesday) to Wild Bunch Co-ordinator Claire Meaddows. Our pleasure guys, have a lovely day Claire. Steve Dudley tells us that the next session of slot drags takes place at 2:00 pm this coming Sunday, 16th March, at Higham Memorial Hall, School Lane, Higham, Kent ME3 7JL. As the use of this hall is chargeable it would be appreciated if attendees could put a couple of pounds into the pot. Please also bring your own refreshments. UKTA offer the Yorkshire Mile. 11th March: The UK Timing Association is introducing a speed record event based on the standing mile speed trial format held at airfield venues across the USA. Unlike the events in the USA, the 200 mph Club and UKTA will ensure that the records are conducted properly and contenders will be required to run in both directions on the track, with a turn-around time within sixty minutes to cancel out any gradient or wind effects. Speeds will be averaged to determine whether a record has been established, or as the weekend proceeds, a record has been broken. Of course an entrant's better one-way run speed can be used for comparison with the class record speeds of the American organisations. Entries are now being accepted for the first event of its type for speed record breaking which will be held over the weekend of 17th-18th May at Elvington Airfield near York. Entry can either be made through the UK Timing Association Facebook page or by contacting Secretary of the Meeting Helen Greathead at 5 Carr Street, Brighouse, West Yorkshire HD6 4AZ or call 07921 712266. You can obtain your UKTA rule book from the same address. There are classes in the rulebook for all level of experience from street bikes and roadgoing cars to full competition superbikes and racing vehicles. The Yorkshire Mile Speed Event could be the first step on the route to a World record as the new format compliments the traditional National British short distance speed records. There will be opportunities for some of the more eccentric speed contenders to run, such as those riding mono-wheels and to achieve their speed goals, with vehicles that are welcomed by the Guinness Book. There will be public spectator access to the event, by weekend or day entry tickets and spectators are sure to see speeds in excess of 250 mph (weather permitting). Off track there will be static displays of current projects and past contenders for world and national speed records on land, on water or in the air. Owners of bikes, cars, boats and planes have been invited to the airfield to show the engineering technology and the science innovations that have enabled them to be the best in the world or the best in this country. For further details or contact please go through the Facebook page. With 200mph+ the UKTA will be promoting other events at Woodbridge on the Suffolk Mile, Sculthorpe on the Norfolk Mile, and the Northern Speed Trials - World Wheelie Speed Record event as well as five top speed days on the Yorkshire Mile during 2014. Feature: March Meet Sunday. 10th March: The latest in our occasional series of Features presented in association with Lucas Oil Products is Simon's gallery and notes from yesterday's March Meet final eliminations at Bakersfield. You can check out the Sunday Feature by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Big Bang, Festival of Power entry. 10th March: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 1 of the official entry list for Big Bang, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 12th-13th April and which is a UK National Championship round for Sportsman ET, Lucas Oil Junior Dragster, 8.50 Bike and 9.50 Bike and a Series round for VW Pro, VW Sportsman, Outlaw Anglia and the FWD Drag Series. You can check out the Big Bang entry list by clicking here. Big Bang entry closes on Friday of next week (21st) after which entry, if accepted, will be subject to a Late Entry penalty. Thanks also to Ian Marshall for sending us Version 1 of the official entry list for the Festival of Power, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 18th-20th April and which is a full UK National and ACU Drag Bike Championship round as well as a round of the FIM European Super Street Bike Cup, European Nitro Funny Car Challenge, Nostalgia Fuel Challenge, VWDRC Championships, the Wild Bunch, ACU Supertwins and Junior Drag Bike. You can check out the Festival of Power entry list by clicking here. Festival of Power entry closes on Friday 28th March after which entry, if accepted, will be subject to a Late Entry penalty. You can download Big Bang and Festival of Power entry forms from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about event entry at Santa Pod Raceway then contact Ian Marshall on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail [email protected]. Sheavills rides out at Easter. 10th March: Barry Sheavills is never happier than in the seat of an RF Motorsport Top Fuel dragster, so it is with great excitement that Barry announces that, thanks to Rune Fjeld, he will be racing at Santa Pod Raceway's Festival of Power. After a successful outing with RF Motorsport at the 2013 Flame and Thunder Show in tricky conditions, the Facebook rumour mill was on fire with talk of Barry's full-time return to Top Fuel. "It can sometimes be quite difficult watching the rumours", says Barry. "It's a bit of a double-edged sword when you want it so much, but you just haven't got the funding, but then it's also great to know the fans still really want to see me out there. The support is always greatly appreciated and of course I still want to be out there running 300 mph now, just as badly as I wanted it in 2002." The call from Rune once again came as a very pleasant surprise and when Barry visited the RF Motorsport workshop changes had already been made to the chassis to make his driving position more comfortable. The changes in the pedal and seat areas will hopefully rectify the problem Barry has had with not being able to lock his right leg properly on the throttle in the Stagecoach Twelve car. The search for funding is ongoing but has now been reinvigorated by the support shown by both the fans and Rune Fjeld. Barry hopes that with the changes made to the car and conducive conditions at this year's Festival of Power, his performance will be at a level which would place him competitively in a European Championship event. As well as Rune and Lindsey at RF Motorsport, Barry would like to thank the crew of Paul, Laurie, Jamie, Mark and Gary for volunteering their services looking after him and the car over the Easter weekend and for the work that they have already done in the run up to the 2014 season. Welcome Hulland Homes Ltd. 9th March: We are very pleased to welcome Hulland Homes Ltd as a sponsor of Eurodragster.com News. Hulland Homes is a family-run, well-established NHBC registered building company catering for all types and sizes of building projects from initial concept to final completion and can build anything from a new garage to a house to go with it. They have a superb new range of green oak framed buildings. Hulland Homes mainly cover the Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Cheshire and South Yorkshire areas but can offer a nationwide service. For further information see their web site at www.hullandhomes.co.uk or call 01335 372119. A huge Thank You to Mick Pusey for his support. Please support those who support Eurodragster.com by considering our sponsors first when shopping for goods or services. If you are interested in sponsoring Eurodragster.com then please get in touch with us at [email protected]. Feature: March Meet Saturday. 9th March: The latest in our occasional series of Features presented in association with Lucas Oil Products is Simon's gallery and notes from yesterday's March Meet qualifying and eliminations at Bakersfield. You can check out the Saturday Feature by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Raw nitro! 9th March: The UK's Andy Raw says that the motor shown in our spy picture of 27th February belongs to him: In a pairing with Karl Harrison and the Harrison family race team, we have decided to go nitro with a nostalgia nitro Funny Car. I have bought a very nice ex-Snake racing Keith Black Stage 8 nitro short motor and heads, along with a current 6/71 blower and fuel system and other parts to complete the build. As for the body, you will have to wait and see as we haven't decided on that yet. All we will say is that it'll be different! Current plans are that the car will be ready for the start of 2016. If the chassis and motor are complete but not the body then we may make some test runs with Karl's Pontiac FC body but we will see how we go. In 2014 both of the Harrison Super Pro ET rails will keep us busy. Mark Adams is again driving the Stardust, he is a really great guy to work with and is doing a great job driving the car. Rod will be out in the big dragster hoping to improve on his 2013 best of 6.4 seconds. I will be campaigning my VW Funny Car until the new FC is finished. My meetings this year will be Ultimate Dubs in Telford, Dragstalgia at Santa Pod, Bug Jam at Santa Pod, NitrOlympX at at Hockenheim, White Noise, Kent VW Festival in Folkestone, and the VW Heritage Open Day. Massive thanks to our sponsors for 2014: Pit Stop, Fast Tec, Bears Transmission, Heath Tyres, The Body Works, Kent VW Festival, Bio Cam and VW Heritage. NSCC ring the changes for 2014. 9th March: Dave Smith has been in touch with news of the National Street Car Challenge AGM, presentation and drinking competition held last weekend: A few rule amendments have been pencilled in to try to ease the cost burden for existing competitors and maybe encourage a few new ones into the fold. We'll be running ten rounds at York Raceway this year, to a Sportsman tree. Slicks will be allowed at the race track for all. Maybe the biggest change of all is that you can now come out to play in any car for your first year. This has already encouraged a couple of younger competitors to sign up in their hatchbacks, guys who simply can't get insured on anything interesting. The web site at www.nscc.info is being updated as we speak, so please take a look and if you are interested then please get in touch. Don't forget the Hot Rod Gazette Facebook page. The photo shows 2013 NSCC Champion (and series co-sponsor) John Peace picking up his award at the presentation, in charming 1970s soft focus. The picture is courtesy of Drakie who, like many that the evening, were probably struggling to focus with or without a camera. John retains the title he has held since the end of 2012, and will be defending it again this year in his 5.0 Mustang notchback. He put 4500 miles on this car during the course of last season, and this season it will have a couple more tweaks under the bonnet. March Meet webcast. 9th March: Our good buddies at Bangshift.com will be broadcasting live and free from the March Meet at Bakersfield. You will be able to check out the Bangshift.com March Meet webcast by clicking here. Bakersfield is -7 hours on UK time and -8 hours on European time. Feature: March Meet Friday. 8th March: The latest in our occasional series of Features presented in association with Lucas Oil Products is Simon's gallery and notes from yesterday's March Meet qualifying at Bakersfield. You can check out the Friday Feature by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. There will be an unavoidable delay in updating Eurodragster.com News tomorrow morning (Sunday) so to save you from waiting we have already placed a link to today's report on the Features, Interviews, Tributes page. Simon's Saturday report will be posted in the early hours of tomorrow morning after which the link will work. PiPPi's FIM rôle. 8th March: Track Group Europe are pleased to announce the appointment of Pär 'PiPPi' Willen as the official Press Officer for the FIM European Championship. Pär will be joining the TGE team upon his return from the USA where he is accompanying reigning FIM European Pro Stock Bike Champion Fredrik Fredlund of Åland on a pre-season US tour. TGE Chair Keith Bartlett said "Pär brings a wealth of Pro Motorcycle and other racing knowledge with him. His appointment means that TGE can ensure that race reports, publicity and Championship news reaches the widest global audience quickly. It also gives teams a single point of contact to bring news and information to the world's attention. We are delighted to welcome Par to the team." Swift snippets. 8th March: Andy Raw tells us that his Volkswagen Beetle Funny Car will be on display on Santa Pod Raceway's stand at the Ultimate Dubs UK Show in Telford tomorrow. "It's one of the biggest indoor VW shows in the country with a mix of old school and modified V dubs", says Andy. More at www.ultimate-dubs.co.uk. Thanks to Andre Bugeja for letting us know that Maltese Top Methanol Dragster racer Chris Polidano is preparing to return to the FIA European Championship tour with his injected-nitro dragster. You can find out more on the News page of the Mr Whippy Racing Team web site at www.mrwhippyracingteam.com. Good luck and stay safe to FIA European Top Methanol Funny Car Champion Jonnie Lindberg and Ulf Leanders who are contesting Top Alcohol FC at this weekend's NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Showdown at Sundown at Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, Texas. Texas resident and ex-pat UK Top Alcohol Dragster racer Mike Manners of Eurodragster.com sponsor Cosmo Residences is also making an appearance giving us three heroes to cheer on. Eliminations take place today due to weather concerns and results will be posted courtesy of our Drag Race Central friends at www.dragracecentral.com. Meanwhile in Florida Adam Flamholc is contesting Pro Mod at the Mod Stomp at the Strip event at Palm Beach International Raceway. You can stay in touch with Adam's progress on the Flamholc / MMR Racing Facebook page. Feature: March Meet Thursday. 7th March: The latest in our occasional series of Features presented in association with Lucas Oil Products is Simon's gallery and notes from yesterday's March Meet qualifying at Bakersfield. You can check out the Thursday Feature by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Swift snippets. 7th March: Thanks to Darren Prentice for letting us know that next Tuesday's (11th) SFI Day at Santa Pod Raceway will take place in Bankside VIP between 9:15 am and approximately 3:00 pm. We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to our good friend, Pro Modified racer-in-waiting, Honorary Eurodragster.com staff member and anyone's crew Spencer Tramm. Have a great day Spencer. Holland's track trio. 7th March: UK former Sportsman ET racer and best-selling author of the book The 50 List Nigel Holland is setting the wheels in motion for his next challenge, Track to Track. In September 2015 Nigel will be attempting to ride a hand-cycle eighty miles from Silverstone Race Circuit, to Rockingham Circuit and finishing off at Santa Pod Raceway during the FIA European Championship Finals. Nigel is no stranger to challenges. His 50 List book was written about all his challenges upon which he embarked before he turned fifty, proving that even with the condition of Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease anything is possible. CMT results in wastage of the muscles in the lower part of the arms and legs because the peroneal nerves, which are the nerves which extend out from the spinal cord to the lower extremities, do not tell the muscles what to do resulting in muscle wastage. The muscles themselves are fine but if they do not get any signal from the nerves then they eventually waste away. Nigel's main inspiration for the 50 List and his challenges comes from his youngest daughter, Ellie, who too has the same condition, and he is determined to show Ellie the condition doesn't stop you from doing what you want to do in life. His latest challenge is further going to illustrate that CMT does not stop you from going for your dreams, and at the same time he wants to raise £10,000 for CMT United Kingdom. Following the challenge Nigel hopes to auction off the hand-cycle to raise more money for the charity. "After working through the 50 list in 2012 I decided that 2013 was going to be a year where I would take it easy and not get involved in too many crazy activities and concentrate on my business", says Nigel. "However, a week into 2014 and I was keen to take on another challenge. "I have always liked the idea of riding a hand-cycle ever since watching the Paralympics, and because of my love of motorsport, I came up with the Track to Track idea." Nigel is currently in the early planning stages of the challenge but has received a lot of initial support from the three race venues, as well as Bradley Wiggins tweeting about it. The Cycling Officer for Northamptonshire Highways is assisting with finding the best route and BBC Radio Northampton has also offered to cover the story. Nigel also has gained the support of local businesses Wellingborough Cycles, Get Embroidered and further afield Draft Wheelchairs and Paule Foote Ink. Feature: March Meet Test and Tune. 6th March: The latest in our occasional series of Features presented in association with Lucas Oil Products is Simon's gallery and notes from yesterday's March Meet Test and Tune at Bakersfield. You can check out the Test and Tune Feature by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Big Bang entry update. 6th March: Ian Marshall has been in touch with a reminder that Friday 21st March is the closing date for entry to Big Bang, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 12th-13th April and which is a UK National Championship round for Sportsman ET, Lucas Oil Junior Dragster, 8.50 Bike and 9.50 Bike and a Series round for VW Pro, VW Sportsman, Outlaw Anglia and the FWD Drag Series. Entry after Friday 21st, if accepted, will be subject to a Late Entry penalty. You can download the Big Bang entry forms from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about Big Bang entry then contact Ian Marshall on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail [email protected]. Swift snippets. 6th March: Adrian Dening, who ran the Boss Cat altered in Mod ET in the early 1990s, would be pleased to hear from any Eurodragster.com reader with information about its whereabouts. "The car was sold in 1993 to a couple of guys who ran a garage in Glasgow", says Adrian. "Sadly it's never been heard of or seen since and I would really like to buy the car or its remains back again". If you know where Boss Cat went then please drop us a line at [email protected] and we'll put you in touch with Adrian. We have two spy pictures for you today. The first picture came with no words... ...as did the second. If you know more about either, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at [email protected]. Thanks to Stephen Billings who has been in touch to let us know that roadworks are scheduled on the A509 between Wellingborough and Gipsy Lane (turning for Irchester) between 09:30 and 16:00 daily starting today, Thursday 6th. This could mean disruption for those headed for Santa Pod Raceway although Stephen says that the roadworks may be lifted for Easter. Kuno to drive both cars? 5th March: Germany's Kuno Racing Lucas Oil Pro Mod team is preparing both cars for 2014, and Norbert Kuno says that if necessary he will drive both cars himself: The Avenger II is ready to race. We found problems in the chassis and we fixed those. We have also updated the car with new stuff and hopefully it will work perfectly. Our plan is to contest FIA rounds. The Avenger I is still under construction and will get new safety updates as well work on the chassis, paint and carbon. The engine is fixed and we hope to get close to the Avenger II. The Avenger I is still for rent or sale, but if it doesn't happen then we will race the Avenger I in the MSA British Pro Mod rounds. I'm really looking forward to getting in my old car again, it was always nice to drive and I won a lot of fights with it. For more information about Kuno Racing go to www.kuno-racing.de, the latest Lucas Oil products visit www.lucasoil.de and the latest Lithium Battery products visit www.lithiumpros.de. 2014 NAST calendar. 5th March: Many thanks to Yvonne Mott for sending us details of this year's National Association of Supertwins and other Supertwin dates for 2014: Apologies for not posting these race dates sooner but we have been working behind the scenes to try and ensure that all NAST racers have the opportunity to race at both tracks and to have a reasonable Championship Timetable for 2014. This year's NAST Championship rounds will be held at Shakespeare County Raceway meetings in association with the National Association of Supertwins whilst Santa Pod Raceway are to run ACU Supertwin Top Gas and ACU Supertwin ET at four of their race dates without the involvement of the NAST. Only NAST members will be able to contest the rounds at Shakespeare County Raceway whilst the Santa Pod rounds are open to all. The NAST Championship rounds are as follow, with five of six rounds counting: Round 1: 3rd-5th May - Springspeed Nationals, Shakespeare County Raceway Round 2: 24th-26th May - Yanks Weekend, Shakespeare County Raceway Round 3: 7th-8th June - Summer Showdown Public Track Weekend, Shakespeare County Raceway Round 4: 19th-20th July - For Ladies That Launch, Shakespeare County Raceway Round 5: 23rd-5th August - Open Sport Nationals, Shakespeare County Raceway Round 6: 27th-28th September - Late Summer Madness, Shakespeare County Raceway The SPRC rounds at Santa Pod Raceway are as follow: 18th-20th April: Festival of Power 28th-29th June: SPRC Summernationals 20th-21st September: UK National Finals 18th-19th October: Extreme Performance Bike weekend Please note the new requirement for all bikes to have a red tail light. If you have any queries then please do not hesitate to contact me. See you at the track! Serck backing the Bennetts. 5th March: UK blown-alcohol altered team and Eurodragster.com Bloggers Bennett Racing are very pleased to announce their latest sponsor Serck Motorsport: Serck Motorsport join us for the 2014 season and beyond with a wealth of knowledge of high performance cooling solutions and the competition parts industry.  They have been providing performance cooling solutions to the racing industry since the early sixties supplying historic race teams to present-day racing including Formula One. Their mission is simple - to supply the very best in cooling performance for whatever the application from F1 to independent race teams. They are able to design and manufacture the very best aluminium radiators, oil coolers and intercoolers. They can also provide Sunoco race fuels, Driven racing oils, Spal fans, Micron photo analysis, flow testing and helium pressure testing. Graham Smith, the Manager of Serck Motorsport, has been heavily involved in the UK drag scene for years having already supplied the likes of Ron Haslett (Insane Creations), Mark Todd's GTO, Alan Williamson's Chevy Pick Up, Mats Andersson's Volvo and many more as well and running his own '57 Chevy with Bad Apple Racing. Drag racing is a tremendous sport with a vast array of classes with the same desire: innovation and passion to develop their cars to perform and deliver consistently. Serck Motorsport are only too proud to be suppliers to this unique arena and look forward to an exciting 2014 season. You can find out more about what Serck Motorsport can offer at www.serckservicesmotorsport.co.uk or head over to their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/SerckMotorsport. Flamholc unveils busy schedule. 4th March: Having recovered from his crash in St Louis five months ago, Swedish Pro Modified racer Adam Flamholc is looking forward to 2014: We have been to Bradenton twice with the new cars, and so far I'm pretty satisified with the results. The Dodge Viper is loaded in a container and on its way to Sweden. We will race this car in the Scandinavian Top Doorslammer series and in the Pro Extreme class at Malmö Raceway. Tomorrow the team and I are flying overseas again for some racing with the Dodge Daytona. Next weekend we will be in West Palm Beach, Florida for a legal Pro Mod race, and the weekend after in Montgomery, Alabama. My plan is to race in the USA during the winter, spring and autumn, and to stay in Europe over the summer this year. I have committed to be a part of Mats Eriksson's Pro Mod team in the FIA European Championship as well as trying to help Ellis Motorsport with the Funny Car which they bought from us. This is my preliminary schedule for 2014: 7th-9th March: Palm Beach International Raceway 14th-15th March: Montgomery Motorsports Park 3rd-6th April: PDRA, Rockingham 3rd-4th May: Test Weekend, Malmo Raceway 9th-10th May: PDRA, South Georgia Motorsportspark 16th-18th May: Pro Extreme, Cramo Nationals, Malmö Raceway 23rd-26th May: FIA European Championships, Santa Pod Raceway 12th-15th June: FIA European Championships, Tierp Arena 27th-29th June: Top Doorslammer, Sundsvall Raceway 3rd-6th July: FIA European Championships, Finland 18th-20th July: Pro Extreme, Malmo Raceway 25th-27th July: PDRA, Richmond 2nd-4th August: Top Doorslammer, Norway 21st-24th August: FIA European Championship, Tierp Arena 29th-31st August: Top Doorslammer and Pro Extreme finals, Malmö Raceway 4th-7th September: FIA European Championships, Santa Pod Raceway 10th-11th October: PDRA, Richmond 16th-19th October: Outlaw Drag Racing Championship, Bradenton Motorsports Park 5th-7th December: Snowbird Nationals, Bradenton Motorsports Park Please support our sponsors Cleanpipe, Amalie Engine Oil, Hurst Boiler and Welding, Five Day Plantation Shutters and Blinds, Malmö Motor Renovation, Performance Plus, JA IT Hjälp, Autoshop Racing Engines, Simpson Sweden and Leanders Clutch. Thanks to my family, the team, our sponsors and fans for letting me live the dream! King to race Stateside. 4th March: Ian King and the UK's Gulf Oil Dragracing – Grand Prix Originals Top Fuel Bike team are pleased to announce that they will be competing in the opening round of the premier series for motorcycle drag racing in the USA, the Manufacturers Cup. The Exoticycle / Roaring Toyz Spring Cup event takes place on the 11th – 13th April at South Georgia Motorsports Park in Valdosta, Georgia, USA. The decision to participate was made after a number of parties came together to provide an infrastructure and budget to ensure that this endeavour became a reality. Following discussions over the last few years with John Morgan, the person behind the creation of the world's most advanced Funny Bike (the Puma powered Morgan Hahn Suzuki) it was decided the time was right for the team's first direct involvement in US racing for over a decade. California based John and his wife Dea stepped up to the plate with their assistance and the project was underway. After discussing the feasibility of competing at the opening event with Jay Regan of the Manufacturers Cup it became clear that the team would benefit with the addition of team members based in the US. An introduction was made to Mike and Sandy Marsh of BlackCat Motorsports of Clearwater, FL who currently campaign a HD V Rod. Mike and Sandy have kindly agreed to join the team and will bring much needed Stateside support and local expertise. With the US campaign team settled a number of the team's loyal group of blue chip sponsors went above and beyond their usual fantastic product support to ensure that the project could be concluded: Web Camshafts are well-known for their support of the Top Fuel Bike class and are simply the company to go to for Top Fuel Bike camshafts. American Performance Engineering is a legendary company in motorcycle drag racing circles and their company is well known as the world's most innovative manufacturer of aftermarket parts for dragbikes. Mickey Thompson Tires have continued to support the sport of motorcycle drag racing by producing the best drag race tyres in the world. Schnitz Racing is one of the largest motorcycle performance parts distributors in the world and a founding member of the Manufacturers Cup. Murdoch Racing Enterprises are synonymous with motorcycle drag racing and developers of the original iconic air shifter. MRE are also founding members of the Manufacturers Cup series. Seven Time European Top Fuel Bike champion and Team Principal Ian King said "We are all very excited at the opportunity to race in the US again. The Manufacturers Cup committee has worked very hard to fill the void left by the demise of AMA Dragbike and provide a race series for drag bikes of any marque to race in. Our Top Fuel Bike class is growing steadily again in the US, and the chance to compete alongside our great friends from North America was becoming irresistible. "An added attraction of competing in the US arose as we could not be inducted into the exclusive MTC Engineering 5 Second Top Fuel Club despite becoming the world's sixth team to run a five-second pass during our European competition last year. Membership is restricted to the first eight riders to run a five-second pass at a Manufacturers Cup race in the USA only. To date seven riders have now run a five-second pass in US competition leaving a solitary spot in the club open before it will be closed for evermore. "With two proven five-second machines in US competition in the hands of 'new' riders Sam Wills and David Vantine it is sure that the remaining spot will be filled very soon and it would be a shame if our previous performances went unrecognised without at least trying to meet the membership criteria. It will be tough for us as we have to ship our operation almost half way across the world to compete in foreign and unknown conditions on an unfamiliar track and against the talented and experienced Sam and David in the dash for the final spot. However, despite being the underdogs we will give it our best shot, we owe it to our fantastic team of sponsors and fans, and particularly to those who have made this specific trip possible – John and Dea Morgan, Mike and Sandy Marsh, Jay and Dianne Eshbach, Laurie Dunlap, Thomas Kundrick, Jerry Francis, Dave Schnitz, Jay Regan and Marius van der Zijden. I cannot begin to express my gratitude for your fantastic support." For more information on Gulf Oil Dragracing go to www.gulfoildragracing.com. The Gulf Oil – GPO Dragracing team uses and endorses exclusively Gulf Oil greases and lubricants in their history making machine. The team is extremely proud to be supported by many leaders in their chosen markets in winning the 2013 European Championship and in their 2014 endeavours: APE - The world's most innovative manufacturer of aftermarket parts for drag bikes Action Cameras - Europe's leading source for action sports cameras Cometic Gaskets - The premier manufacturer of racing gaskets Gates - The world's most trusted name in drive belts, hoses and hydraulics Goodridge - The original and the best in fluid transfer systems Grand Prix Originals - The brand for drive and lifestyle, past and present Gulf Oil International - The world's most iconic brand in automotive fuels and lubricants Hotrod Hangar– Home of the world renowned custom artist Knud Tiroch Hyperpro - The leading producer of progressive suspension products for motor bikes JE Pistons - The world's premier manufacturer of high performance forged pistons John and Dea Morgan Racing - The creators of the world's most advanced New Age Funny Bike Kibblewhite Precision Machining, Inc -The highest quality valve train components on the market King Racing - The most successful Top Fuel Bike team in European drag racing history Mickey Thompson Tyres - Simply the best drag race tyres in the world MRE - Leaders in trackside support for drag race components and air shifting systems MTC Engineering - Manufacturer of clutches for the fastest motorcycles in the world NitroShutter - Europe's leading drag racing photo-journalists NCT Engineering - Manufacturer of the world's leading non contact torque sensors for motorsport NGK Spark Plugs UK - The world's number one spark plug manufacturer Pär Willen - Master webmeister and proprietor of HarleyDrags.com Portable Shade - The best custom branded collapsible canopies available Pro Alloy Motorsport - UK's leader in fabrication of alloy racing tanks, intercoolers and radiators Puma Engineering - Manufacturers of the world's most powerful motorcycle engines RSG Customize - The UK's most creative website designers and vinyl artists Supertough - Custom cases and covers for the Film, TV, Music and Motorsports Industries Spies Hecker - The world's leading supplier of paint for car, commercial and industrial finishing Van Es mobility - The leading manufacturer of telematic products for management of moving objects Vanson Leathers - The most iconic brand in motorsport leather goods Web Camshafts Inc - Simply the company for Top Fuel Bike camshafts Worldwide Bearings - The world's leading supplier of ceramic bearings for racing Zodiac - Europe's largest supplier of performance and aftermarket HD parts Old Skool Ford 2014 calendar. 4th March: Jo Peters writes that this year's Old Skool Ford Drag Challenge again comprises seven rounds spread between Santa Pod and Shakespeare County Raceways. "Competition is open to all Old Skool Fords meeting the qualifying criteria which can be found at www.oldskoolford.co.uk", says Jo. "This year we have more entrants than ever with lots of new cars joining us, and with the tweaks which have gone on over the winter we have a really good chance of seeing Kev Jenkins dipping into the eights in his baby blue MK1 Escort. "We are pleased to announce that, once again, Classic Ford magazine will have full coverage of each round in the magazine." This year's Old Skool Ford Challenge calendar is as follows: Round 1: 23rd March, Fast Show, Santa Pod Raceway Round 2: 27th April, Central RS Day, Santa Pod Raceway Round 3: 1st June, Classic Ford, Santa Pod Raceway Round 4: 22nd June, Retro Show, Santa Pod Raceway Round 5: 20th July, Public Track Weekend, Shakespeare County Raceway Round 6: 29th-31st August, VW Action, Santa Pod Raceway Round 7: 28th September, Frantic Ford Sunday, Shakespeare County Raceway Swift snippets. 4th March: We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to UK Pro ET racer Rick McCann. Have a great day Rick. Web site updates. 4th March: The Spring issue of ACAG Update brings you up to date with the work carried out this year on the Allard Chrysler Dragster as well as news of media awards and coverage along with exciting events in 2014, which marks fifty years since Sydney Allard's First British International Drag Festivals in 1964. Check it out at www.drceurope.co.uk/acag/mar2014. Welcome back Jackson's MoT. 3rd March: We are very pleased to welcome back Jackson's MoT and Service Centre as a sponsor of Eurodragster.com News. Jackson's MoT and Service Centre is owned and run by longtime Sportsman ET racer Ian Jackson and Carol Jackson, with Carol's eldest son Jake Handy running the repairs side of the business. "We carry out Class 4 tests using a pit so no trying to fit those huge Hoosiers on a ramp", says Ian. "We carry out all types of vehicle repairs and air con repairs and service. Carol and I are very proud to be back sponsoring the Eurodragster.com team." You can find Jackson's MoT and Service Centre at 31 Great Hollands Square, Bracknell RG12 8YE (map). For your MoT and service requirements get in touch on 01344 427060 or E-Mail [email protected]. A huge Thank You to Ian and Carole for their support. Please support those who support Eurodragster.com by considering our sponsors first when shopping for goods or services. If you are interested in sponsoring Eurodragster.com then please get in touch with us at [email protected]. 2014 Euro Top Gas calendar. 3rd March: Many thanks to Herman Jolink for forwarding us this year's Euro Serie Supertwin Top Gas calendar, which was agreed at the class' AGM on Saturday. 3rd-4th May: Drag Day, Hoskovice, Czech Republic 31st May-5th June: 5th Grand Nationals, Bechyne, Czech Republic 28th-29th June: SPRC Summernationals, Santa Pod Raceway, UK 18th-20th July: SRIF, Malmö Raceway, Sweden 8th-10th August: NitrOlympX, Hockenheimring, Germany 29th-30th August: Mosten Race Days eighth-mile sprint, Orsted, Denmark 13th-14th September: Drag Day including Top Gas final, Hoskovice, Czech Republic The six best of seven rounds will count towards the Championship. Swift snippets. 3rd March: Speedgroup Contingency Co-ordinator Gittli Koller has been in touch to remind FIA and FIM teams that this coming Wednesday, 5th March, is the deadline for racers to claim their 2013 contingency payments. You can find the claim forms at www.speedgroup.eu/2013_contingency_program_Claim_Forms.html. The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words "This is the only one which doesn't give too much away!". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at [email protected]. No news update yesterday so we were unable to say a big Happy 70th Birthday to legendary Swedish Fuel Funny Car racer Leif Helander. Hope you had a great day Leif and a great party on Saturday. Steve Large tells us that he has started an MSA Pro Modified Preview thread on the US' Yellow Bullet forum. Steve has approached MSA Pro Modified racers but has not received responses from all; if you would like to send your own details for this thread then please contact Steve at [email protected]. You can check out the Yellow Bullet thread by clicking here. Web site updates. 3rd March: In the latest instalment of his Nostalgia Funny Car Blog presented in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car, Rob Loaring goes into the intricacies and expense of the clutch system on the Apache Nostalgia FC. As ever you can stay in touch with the latest Blog updates by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Steph Milam and the She Devil Top Methanol Funny Car team have a Facebook page which you can check out and Like at www.facebook.com/ShedevilracingTMFC. Bikes to the fore at Race Retro. 1st March: Last weekend's International Historic Motorsports Show Race Retro held at Stoneleigh Park, Coventry attracted one of the biggest collections of motorcycle sprinting and drag racing history seen anywhere for quite sometime, thanks to the efforts of NSA's Dave Massam and Phil Steele, Show Manager David Alderson, and Shakespeare County Raceway. Visitors to the centre aisle of Hall 3 were greeted with the three famous Peril sprints machines, Yellow Peril, Scarlet Peril and Blue Peril, belonging to the late Bill Bragg. Now in the hands of Tony Huck and Bob Anderson of Maitland Racing, all three bikes were well presented and attracted lots of interest close too, particularly Yellow Peril! Next in line was one of Pip Higham's black and silver Village Bike Shop Kosman Suzuki Comp Bikes now in the hands of Superbike racer Nick Crocker. Motorcycle fans were treated to the sounds of this amazing machine being fired up in the live action paddock between the halls along with a fantastic collection of circuit based machines. The National Motorcycle Museum near Solihull kindly provided two of George Brown's classic sprint bikes, Nero and Super Nero. It was amazing how many people looking on remember reading about these famous machines in the motorcycle press to resounding success on such legendary sprint courses as nearby Long Marston and Wellesbourne Mount airfields. The display also gave enthusiasts of all generations a chance to get up close and personal with two of the former Vincent development riders' machines of the mid sixties. Seventies drag bike legend Brian Chapman brought along his eight-second Mighty Mouse and the all-conquering double blown Vincent Super Mouse, both motivated by the iconic British Vincent engine. Having notched up best figures of 8.81 with Mighty Mouse, Brian soon succumbed to the temptation of a double blown 500cc Vincent engine which took him to an all time best of 8.2 at 169 mph in the early 1980s. Still in Brian's ownership, both bikes are still in working order but now only see life at displays such as Race Retro. Rounding out the display, flanked by SCR's Portatree, were Martin Wilmott's nine second 750cc Triumph, the Mk IV Threshing Machine and Rouge et Noir 2 belonging to Phil Steele which, in its heyday, was made famous by British drag racing's first European rider into the eights: Keith Parnell and the McCoy Dynamics team led by Angus McPhail. Although the engine was nearly totalled at Dragstalgia two years ago, the 750cc machine is well on the way to seeing track action again. Phil is also embarking on another project by taking Keith's other bike, the Parney Express ZX12 Kawasaki, out to Bonneville to break a few records later this year. Martin and Phil will also be celebrating forty years of active competition this year since their first competitive event at the 1974 Easter Internationals at Santa Pod. The display celebrating fifty years of drag bike racing in the UK was very well received by the visiting public and a credit to everyone involved. Opposite the display was the Straightliners/UK Timing Association stand headed up by Trevor Duckworth and his team. With three machines on display, two record holding cyclecars and Trevor's record-holding Brighouse Yamaha drag bike from the eighties, the association chose the show to launch its Old Skool Drag Classes as well as to promote their Top Speed events held annually at Elvington and the Woodbridge Mile, and the Straightliners Championship. Earlier news