Event entry update. 30th April: Entry closes today (Wednesday) for the Springspeed Nationals, the third UK National Championship round as well as a round of various Club Championships including Wild Bunch, Outlaw Anglia and NAST, which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway this Saturday-Monday (3rd-5th May). Official Springspeed Nationals entry forms are now available from the Downloads page of the Shakespeare County Raceway web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com. Thanks to Jerry Cookson for sending us Version 3 of the official entry list which you can check out 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 Shakespeare County Raceway then please E-Mail [email protected] or call 01789 720180. Entry is also open for FIA / FIM European Championships Round 1, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 23rd-26th May which is a round of FIA and FIM European Championships and some UK National Drag Racing Championship classes. Please note that the official closing date has been changed to Friday of this week, 2nd May; entries received up to this Friday will not be liable for any Late Entry penalty. You can download entry forms for FIA, FIM and UK classes from the Entry Forms page of the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. Thanks to Ian Marshall for sending us Version 7 of the official entry list which you can check out 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 entry to FIA / FIM European Championships Round 1 then call Ian Marshall on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail [email protected]. Junior Fun Day II entry open. 30th April: Santa Pod Raceway's second annual Junior Drag Racing Fun Day will take place on Wednesday 20th August. Presented in association with Alamo Rent A Car, the Fun Day will raise funds for Wellingborough-based charity Niamh's Next Step and is supported by the Northamptonshire Telegraph. Admission to the Fun Day is free - summer-holiday family entertainment is the prescription, with the accent firmly on youth. Drag strip action is open to Junior Drag Racers from across Europe - on two wheels as well as four - with informal competitions for ages ranging from 8 to 17. Go Motorsport, the Motor Sports Association's entry-level initiative, will offer Auto-Solo passenger rides in its own, separate zone in the paddock. This year's Fun Day will also embrace other forms of Junior motorsport. Static displays are promised by a range of racing disciplines focused on the younger generation. There'll be Lightning McQueen Disney-style cars on show too, alongside Santa Pod's own, very grown-up FireForce Jet Funny Car. Mighty Monster Truck Podzilla will roar and leap into car-crushing action in the Live Action Arena while its fellow giant, Red Dragon, provides passenger rides in its own, inimitable style. Other family activities on the programme include dodgems, trampolines, face-painting and a bouncy castle. Last year's inaugural Junior Drag Racing Fun Day attracted more than 2,000 visitors to the famous racing venue and organisers anticipate many more for this year's second edition. The event will run from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm and the programme is expected to expand substantially as the time draws near. To enter the Junior Dragster or Junior Drag Bike competition, or to enter the Run What You Brung, download the entry form at www.eurodragster.com/juniorfunday. Free admission tickets must be booked in advance at www.santapod.co.uk/e_junior_day.php. Voluntary donations to Niamh's Next Step will be greatly appreciated. The charity was founded in memory of Niamh Curry, who passed away aged five in 2012, and is dedicated to fighting the childhood cancer, Neuroblastoma, and to supporting children and families afflicted with the disease. For more information, please visit www.niamhsnextstep.org. The Detroit Spinner revives. 30th April: The Detroit Spinner Nostalgic Ford Prefect emerged from the garage on Saturday in front of a crowd of sponsors, friends and crew ready for a fire-up before it goes off to paint: We are glad to say that all went to plan. Just a few tweaks here and  there and she was up and running on eight, waking all the neighbours to a cheer from the crowd and a big smile from Arthur Bonner, the original builder and owner for so many years. The car has had its engine, brakes, steering, suspension, electrics, fuel system and many other components apart over the last few months, so there is a lot to try out. New tyres, inhibitor switch, coil-overs, paint (inside, out and underneath), trailer repairs, tow vehicles etc have all added to the cost of the revival, but with a great bunch of car friends, sponsors and a very understanding family we are nearly ready! The Prefect is set to return to the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals in June with Arthur Bonner at the wheel to test that everything is running as straight as it should. Driving duties will then be handed over to Paul Dale, Adam Gough and Ian Harwood. We would like tosay Thank You for the support and backing from everyone involved, and to all of those who follow us on the Detroit Spinner Racing Facebook page; all the feedback is very useful and taken on board. Many thanks to Eurodragster.com (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed), the great Shakespeare County Raceway teams and Santa Pod Raceway for all your support. Thanks also to our sponsers Nigel Taylor and family, Arthur Bonner, Paul Dale (PDH Loft Conversions), Graham True, Nick Dunford, Jeff Goddard, Steve Splidge Dale, Mick Leadfoot Patey, Adam VWDRC Gough, Tom Photos Mitty, Neil Chevy Gibbs, Clacy's Garage, Too Fast-Too Filling, Faraday Building Contractors, Ian Harwood of Harwood Ink, Andover Trailers and Joust Performance. Springspeed Nationals coverage. 30th April: Eurodragster.com will be reporting live from this weekend's Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car. Our coverage will consist of frequently-updated reports on the on-track action throughout each day and a photo gallery at the end of each day. The Webster Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport will be online and broadcasting live video and commentary / ShakeySounds audio so long as the track is open each day. Thanks to Maikel and our friends at Doyousee.me for the provision of streaming services. There will be no pit notes this weekend because our usual Pit Reporter Simon will be writing the live race reports. Regular photographer Julian is unable to attend so Grace Roaf has kindly agreed to join the team for the weekend and will share photographic duties with Tog. You can check out our Springspeed Nationals event coverage index, which also includes the official entry list and which will shortly include Saturday's provisional running order, by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Springspeed Perfect Awards. 29th April: This weekend's Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway is the third event in this season's Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards Scheme. £125 is on offer for perfect performance. This weekend's Eurodragster.com/Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by 9.50 Bike racer Jak Hylton at the Festival of Power. The money will be paid in cash to the first racer this weekend to record a Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds. The Perfect Light Award is available to racers in all classes during qualifying and eliminations, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect Light of the event. If not won this weekend then the Award will be increased to £75 for the Yanks Weekend at Shakespeare County Raceway (a Championship round for 8.50 Bike and 9.50 Bike); if it is won then it will be reset to £50 for the Yanks Weekend. The Perfect Light Award is presented in association with Bad Habit Racing (Cath and Tig Napier, Pro ET). Decals are not mandatory for the Perfect Light Award but we would appreciate it if Eurodragster.com decals are carried. Eurodragster.com decals will be available in the Signing On office. This weekend's Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET Award has been increased to £75 after it went unclaimed at the Festival of Power. The money will be paid in cash to the first racer this weekend to run an ET to the thousandth of a second on dial-in or index. The Perfect ET Award is available this weekend during qualifying or eliminations in Super Pro ET, Pro ET, Sportsman ET, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street, Lucas Oil Junior Dragster (eliminations only), 8.50 Bike, 9.50 Bike, VW Pro, VW Sportsman, the Wild Bunch, Supertwin ET and Junior Drag Bike but will only be awarded for the first Perfect Run of the event. If not won this weekend then the Award will be increased to £100 for the Yanks Weekend at Shakespeare County Raceway (a Championship round for 8.50 Bike and 9.50 Bike); if it is won then it will be reset to £50 for the Yanks Weekend. The Perfect ET Award is presented in association with RV sales and service specialists Gold RV. For more details about the services which Gold RV can provide see Derek Flynn or visit www.goldrv.co.uk. To be eligible to collect the Perfect ET Award, racers are required to carry decals, one on each side of the vehicle. If you pull this weekend's first Perfect ET but are not carrying decals then there will be no discussion; we will not pay out and the next person to pull a Perfect ET will get the money assuming that they are carrying decals. Decals will be available in the Signing On office first thing Saturday morning. Swift snippets. 29th April: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 6 of the official entry list for FIA / FIM European Championships Round 1, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 23rd-26th May. 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. Entry closes this Friday (30th); you can download entry forms from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. We would like to say a big Happy 11th Birthday to UK Junior Dragster racer Thaliah Gibb. Hope you have a lovely day Thaliah. Happy Birthday, too, to UK Outlaw Anglia racer Paul Wright, to UK 9.50 Bike racer Phil Pratt, and to Alli Gibbons of the UK's Rough Diamond Super Pro ET team. Have a great day, guys. The latest edition of American Car magazine includes a feature on Graham Smith's Chevy with pictures taken by Matt Woods, one of our finest automotive photographers. The May 2014 issue is out now priced at £4.20. It's a pity that it had to be anywhere but of the three proposals for a New Town local to Stratford-upon-Avon, Stratford District Council have decided against Long Marston Airfield, the home of Shakespeare County Raceway, as their preferred location. With the final decision due on 12th May this is promising news so fingers crossed. In the meantime we've seen and heard the phrase "The National Championship needs two tracks" often enough since the proposals were announced; well, there's still time to enter the Springspeed Nationals. In addition to the thousands of horsepower coming to this weekend's Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway, the Power Pullers Association will also be adding a touch of unbridled horsepower on the tractor pulling strip. Featured classes will be the single engined V8 Mini Modifieds, 500kg Compact Diesels and the kids' 350kg Garden Tractors all trying their luck against The Judge Mini Sledge and the Try Yer Luck Garden/Compact Sledge. For full details about the Power Pullers Association check out the new web site at www.powerpulling.co.uk. See Blakemore for MT slicks. 29th April: Much-missed Funny Bike racer Tim Blakemore has new stock of a limited number of Mickey Thompson drag bike slicks, which have become very difficult to obtain here in the UK. Available sizes are: 28 / 10.5 / 15 26 / 7 / 17 25 / 7 / 18 Also available are a couple of Mickey Thompson 2.5 / 2.75 / 18 fronts and Tim and Wendy can also supply EK630 SHB and EK530DRZ chains and master links. "We will be at the Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway this Saturday (3rd May) to deliver all pre-orders as arranged", says Wendy. "We will be bringing some extra stock with us, however if anyone needs a tyre or any chain reserved please contact Tim on 07554 748344. "We look forward to seeing everyone!" Dragstalgia: History and hair. 29th April: James Forster of Santa Pod Raceway has been in touch with a couple of updates about Dragstalgia, which takes place at Santa Pod on 11th-13th July: We are seeking historic vehicles to house in the Historic marquee for the weekend. If you have a historic vehicle which you would like to display, please get in touch with me at [email protected] or call 01234 782828 (outside the UK +44 1234 782828). The line-up for Dragstalgia just keeps on growing and we're pleased to announce that the latest addition to the bill is the offer of vintage hair and make-up services! Courtesy of Sarah's Doo-Wop Do's, for a small fee we're able to offer some authentic vintage hair and make-up styling on site throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday to help you really get into the Nostalgia spirit. The gents are catered for too with an on-site barber with Tink from Goodfellows. Wouldn't it be great if everyone got made up with Nostalgia dress for the Saturday evening drive-in movie and entertainment in Fuelers Bar? To pre-book your appointment, E-Mail [email protected]. Web site updates. 29th April: Dick Parnham has updated his Flickr gallery with pictures from the Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway, You can check out Dick's shots at www.flickr.com/photos/dickparnhamdragracing. Springspeed racer update. 28th April: Many thanks to Jerry Cookson for passing us details of the arrangements for this weekend's Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway: Version 1 of the official entry list is now available and can be checked out by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. The final version will be posted on Wednesday or Thursday. Racer tickets, along with final instructions, vehicle passes and scrutineering slips have now been sent out to every racer who submitted their entries before close of play last Friday. Anyone who has posted their entry since Friday will be able to collect their tickets on arrival at the main gate. If any crew member arrives before their racer then they must notify the track beforehand, or wait until their racer arrives at the track to gain entry. A maximum of four half price racer tickets will be available per team. These can only be purchased on arrival at the main gate on Friday and Saturday, or in advance by calling Rachel on 01789 414119 (outside the UK +44 1789 414119). Entry to the pits will commence at 12:00 on Friday. If racers wish to arrive on Friday morning, before the pit gate opens, then they are more than welcome to park up and wait. Please note that pit marshals will escort all racers to their designated pit, so please be patient if a queue develops on the entrance road into the pits. Anyone who pits incorrectly will be politely asked to move to their allocated pit space. Scrutineering will commence for both cars and bikes at approximately 17:00 on Friday. Scrutineering will resume at 08:00 on Saturday. Signing On will also open at these times. Saturday's running order will be posted here on Eurodragster.com later this week. Copies will be available in the Signing On office which will be open between 18:00 and 20:00-21:00 on Friday. Shakespeare County Raceway and APIRA would like to thank all racers for their support for the meeting despite the low entry numbers, as well as being the third or second event in a very short period for some classes! If you have any queries about entry to the APIRA Springspeed Nationals, then please contact the Raceway office at [email protected] or call 01789 720180 or call 01789 720180 / 414119 (outside the UK +44 1789 720180 / 414119). Interview: Skilton, Kuhl and Olson. 28th April: For the latest in our occasional series of Features presented in association with Lucas Oil Products Simon spoke to ex-pat UK former Pro Fuel Dragster racer and British Drag Racing Hall of Fame member Clive Skilton, former Pro Fuel Dragster racer Mike Kuhl, and former Pro Fuel Dragster racer now SFI Foundation Motorsports Manager and British Drag Racing Hall of Fame member Carl Olson. A lot of fans are familiar with Clive's victory in the "Garlits race" at Santa Pod Raceway in Easter 1976 and some will know that Clive eventually moved to the USA to race. However not all will know about the provenance of some of Clive's race cars, the assistance he received from the storied Kuhl and Olson Pro Fuel team, his racing career in the USA including an unfortunate match race result against Don Garlits, and his successful businesses. In a fascinating, fact-filled, wide-ranging and entertaining interview Clive, Carl and Mike fill in these and other gaps in our knowledge of their careers. Thanks are due to the good offices of Dave Riswick of Eurodragster.com sponsor John Woolfe Racing for helping to arrange the interview to coincide with Simon's visit to the USA for the March Meet, and for the use of pictures from the JWR archive. Click here to read our interview with Skilton, Kuhl and Olson or click on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Event entry update. 28th April: Entry is currently open for the Springspeed Nationals, the third UK National Championship round as well as a round of various Club Championships including Wild Bunch, Outlaw Anglia and NAST, which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway this Saturday-Monday (3rd-5th May). Entry closes this coming Wednesday, 30th April. Official Springspeed Nationals entry forms are now available from the Downloads page of the Shakespeare County Raceway web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com. If you have any queries about event entry at Shakespeare County Raceway then please E-Mail [email protected] or call 01789 720180. Entry is also open for FIA / FIM European Championships Round 1, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 23rd-26th May which is a round of FIA and FIM European Championships and some UK National Drag Racing Championship classes. Please note that the official closing date has been changed to Friday of this week, 2nd May; entries received up to this Friday will not be liable for any Late Entry penalty. You can download entry forms for FIA, FIM and UK classes from the Entry Forms page of the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. 14:35 Thanks to Ian Marshall for sending us Version 5 of the official entry list which you can check out 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 entry to FIA / FIM European Championships Round 1 then call Ian Marshall on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail [email protected]. ABM Racing plan full TD season. 28th April: In 2014 Sjödin Motorsport / ÅBM Racing of Täby, Sweden, will be contesting the entire Scandinavian Top Doorslammer series: The goal is of course to be on the top step of of the podium at the end of the year and to have race number 1 for 2015! We are working right now on our preparations for the season. We are ordering spare parts, the bus will be cleaned up, and some updates will be made on the Chevelle. If you want to go really fast then you have to give the car some love. During 2013 we made a really big investment and updated the car to go eighth-mile racing. We only made eleven runs for various reasons. But for the first time ever we started to get it to work like we wanted it to. We did just rolled the dice for a set-up and set a new Personal Best of 4.10/185.20 mph (298 kmh) with some shake and pedalling downtrack. "The car has the performance to go really fast. This, combined with a well-working crew, made me feel that eight years after I started the construction of the Chevelle it is finally time to make the whole Top Doorslammer series", said driver and team owner Andreas Sjödin. "In late autumn last year we started working on finding new associate partners for the 2014 season. And this really paid off: fourteen brand new partners, combined with the continued confidence of our existing partners, have made it possible for us to make the dream come true! "Everyone knows that you need to train to become the best. Our plan is to do three pre-season tests on different tracks to be as prepared as possible for the first real race at Sundsvall at the end of June. I feel the need to get comfortable in the driver's seat again. After about ten months at home on the couch I have almost forgotten where the steering wheel is! The season here in Sweden is so short that I want to race the car as much as possible during the summer." Pre-season testing 10th-11th May Kjula Dragway 30th-31st May: Sundsvall Raceway 6th-8th June: Gardermoen Raceway, Norway Top Doorslammer Series 27th-29th June: Sundsvall Raceway 4th-6th July: Pite Dragway 1st-3rd August: Gardermoen Raceway, Norway 15th-17th August: Sundsvall Raceway 29th-31st August: Malmö Raceway This madness would never be possible without our sponsors and partners. Therefore we would like to say a big Thank You to the following companies: Åkes Bil & Motor, Birka Motorrenoveringar, Sjödin Motorsport Race Cars, Swecomposite, LSF Custom Lackering, Swelube Amalie Motor Oil, Sjödin Network, AGA, Winassist System, Anders Bremö Byggnads, R2B2 Race Cars, Fuel Clothing Sverige, Bengtssons Smide, The Parts Stop Sweden, TF Performance Clutches, Nicma Tools, T Grundström Plåtslageri, Pro Tools Peter Hult, Stockholm Gourmet, Dragracing24.com and Bil & Glasdesign. See you at the track this summer! Swift snippets. 27th April: UK Outlaw Anglia racer Steve Wells is seeking an MSD 10 Plus coil. We understand that these coils have a similar availability rating to rocking horse manure but if any Eurodragster.com reader can help then please get in touch with Steve on 07879 442667. The UK's John Tebenham is seeking the whereabouts of his blue, full tube-chassis Anglia. JT thinks that when last seen it was yellow and running in Street Eliminator. Its registration is 633 LPL. If you can help then please contact Daryle at [email protected]. The 2014 FIA European Top Fuel Championship debate continues between Swiss Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Urs Erbacher and Finland's Anita Mäkelä. To Anita's "You wish!" here on Eurodragster.com yesterday Urs responds "For sure! I gave all the other teams the chance to win the Championship over the last two years because we only did two or three races per season. In the last full season in 2011 I won it with my foot over Risto by pedalling. We are back in the game this season, and we have two cars and drivers who can win. Third is the only place available to my competitors." Eggs hatch cash. 28th April: Sarah Howells says that the 2014 Running for Paula fundraising for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research got off to a cracking start at the Festival of Power.  "We had a constant stream of hungry visitors to the Black Pig Too pit and managed to raise £532 so a big Thank You to everyone who helped the Cadbury Creme Eggs fulfil their Easter destiny!", says Sarah. "It was amazing to meet so many people that had never been drag racing before and we hope we encourged them enough to come back soon! "In need of some TLC is our good friend Lisa Rumble.  Can you please send a big cheery Eurodragster.com and Wild Bunch shout out to one of the most dedicated racing fans who braves the often cold and chilly grass banking tirelessly snapping away with her camera to share thousands of memories with all of us.  Lisa is having a pretty serious back operation today so we would like to wish her a speedy recovery and fingers crossed she's able to get to Dragstalgia.  Hope all goes well Lisa." Seconded, hope it goes OK Lisa and here's to a rapid return to the track. Web site updates. 28th April: In the latest instalment of his Nostalgia Funny Car Blog presented in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car, Rob Loaring explains the set-up and tuning considerations of the fuel system of the Apache Funny Car. 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. The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr page with pictures from the Festival of Power. You can take a look at Mad's pictures at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman. "Can I say a huge Thank You to everyone who has taken a look at my Flickr page over the last few years, as the view count has recently passed the one million mark!", adds Mad. Every cloud has a Silverline. 27th April: After a year's absence from the cockpit, Europe's quickest (5.26 seconds) and fastest (279.94 mph) Top Methanol driver and the Silverline Tools-backed dragster are set to return to FIA competition at Round 1 of the FIA European Championships at Santa Pod Raceway on 23rd-26th May. Dave Wilson Racing are delighted to announce their return to FIA competition at this prestigious event which has been made possible by renewed backing from longtime partners Silverline Tools.  "I won't pretend that the past year hasn't been tough!", says Dave. "When you've been racing as long as I have it's hard to sit out, but it was nice to run the car from outside the cockpit and to give Tethys the chance to show what he was made of. However, I just wanted to be back in the seat and I'm delighted that Silverline have once again giving me the chance to get behind the wheel again. Dave Wilson Racing and Silverline Tools have a long and successful partnership which we are now looking forward to extending for 2014.  "The plan is to attend the Peak Performance Day at Santa Pod on18th May for some shakedown runs so that we're fully prepared for battle come the race. The main and spare engine have undergone a complete rebuild since last year and everything has been restocked with the truck and trailer also receiving some TLC. "It's now time to do my talking on the track... Grumpy is back!" The complete Dave Wilson Racing operation remains up for sale and is available for hire at some events throughout the season. More details on the Eurodragster.com Swap Meet. There is also an opening for new, enthusiastic and dedicated crew members on the team. Prior knowledge of A/Fuel cars not essential but a good mechanical ability would be beneficial. If you think you've got what it takes then please E-Mail Dave at [email protected]. Dave Wilson Racing and Silverline Tools look forward to seeing you at the track in 2014. You can find Silverline Tools' web site at www.silverlinetools.com. Pit Tour guides sought. 27th April: It's almost time for Round 1 of the FIA and FIM European Championships and Brian Taylor has been in touch to ask for volunteers to show students around the pits at Santa Pod Raceway: On Friday 23rd May we will be invaded by loads of IMI automotive students looking for information on drag racing. For that we need pit guides to accompany them around the pits, talk to the teams, and get up close and personal with the cars. Hopefully we will not need wetsuits this year. This is the first general call for volunteers but it would be very helpful to get the team's shape as soon as possible. We estimate a start time of 10:00 and through to 15:00. Assembly point will be the IMI Hospitality at mid-track on the pit side of the track. If you are available to give the young starting out in an automotive career a sense of what drag racing is all about then please get in touch. You never know, one might end up controlling a huge sponsorship budget. If you can help then please contact me at [email protected] or call 01395 579733. Swift snippets. 27th April: The UK's Roar Willys Super Comp and Super Gas team are pleased to announce sponsorship from Paul Foote Ink for this year's events at Santa Pod Raceway. "The Paul Foote Ink logo will also appear on our trailer, car and merchandise", say Jon and Donna Giles. "PFI are a corporate sign management company who work with brand awareness to design, produce and install signs, displays and POS throughout the UK". Paul Foote says "I am having a break from running in Super Gas this year but supporting Jon and the Roar Willys Team is an exciting new direction for us." Having read Friday's news item from fellow Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Urs Erbacher, Finland's Anita Mäkelä felt compelled to respond to Urs' assertion that this year's FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Championship is headed to Switzerland. In an exclusive in-depth interview with Eurodragster.com, Anita said "You wish!". We are pleased to report that our primary webcam PC, which failed at Big Bang, has been repaired and is ready for its next booked duties which are Webster Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcasts of next weekend's Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway and then the RWYB / Peak Performance Day weekend preceding FIA / Fim European Championships Round 1 at Santa Pod Raceway. Bomber Homebase. 27th April: The Great Pyramids of Egypt were true marvels of construction, built by thousands of conscripted job seekers with little more than a loincloth, hammer and ancient flip-flops. It's fair to say that it probably wasn't your familiar Bank Holiday weekend DIY affair. Garry Coull of Liam Jones' Super Pro ET team writes of the team's Festival of Power: With 'Bomber' recently refreshed with the risqué refinements of overseas accommodation suites and eager to upgrade last season's feeble trackside working, cooking and sleeping arrangements, the team and Hope Racing jointly purchased from a British Superbike team a fully-equipped forty-foot articulated truck and trailer unit complete with seven-metre awning to house the dragster and bikes. Constantly boasting of his ex-military erection prowess, Liam took command and giggling like Girl Guides with the enthusiasm of charity chuggers the combined teams assembled the ominously flat-packed awning in fading light for the first time, with predictable results! Clearly with no architects or Egyptians in our teams, sunrise revealed a barely-habitable construction normally assosciated with a certain derelict downmarket area near Calais Docks. The dragster was stranded at Andy Robinson Race Cars for fitting of Roger Moore's 2012 Championship-winning Pro Mod motor and subsequent chassis stretch. It would not fit in either our new rig, or our old trailer which, delaying their own departure to the track, ARRC had to alter ingeniously whilst Uncle Andy waited patiently with only the sustenance of a Megabucks coffee, an onion bajji sandwich, and a premium hotel bill! This however bought us two days to transform our leaning Ikea awning from DIY Disaster to a Grand Design of hanger proportions, which proved very practical, popular and populated all weekend. After Liam's comedy attempts to "Fire up the cooker", which resulted in combat-style screams of "Medic!" and a grab for the burns unit of the First Aid box to treat a barely visible frying pan-induced reddening of his pinkie the crew, themselves now incapacitated through split sides from laughter, appointed the appropriately-attired Uncle Phil to the role of Naked Chef. Thereafter in the superbly-equipped galley, he produced very varied but invariably charred culinary combinations whilst Bomber reposted, convincingly telling the unwitting public that he had flown his apparently unintelligible (Scottish) Crew Chief over from Alabama. Things with the dragster however were not so good. With an internal fault in a vital electrical component, which had only just arrived on UK shores the previous day, we unfortunately failed to make a début pass, leaving the bike side of our base camp to seek glory, Alex Hope having progressed to eliminations in both 9.50 and Pro Stock Bike. With solutions now in place we should now be ready for a bomb run at Springspeed. Obviously excluding the Tower of Pisa and the hideous Scottish Parliament most notable buildings, like dragster builds, require planning advice and construction expertise. We would like to thank Luke, Andy, Kate and staff of Andy Robinson Race Cars, Clive Bond of Ultimate Race Cars, Jake Bond (Beach Fashion Guru), Roger Moore, and Steve Clark of Nimbus Motorsports/Torco Oil. Work and care rewarded. 27th April: One of the undoubted Classes of the Weekend at the Festival of Power was Super Street Bike, and one of the undoubted Stars of the Show was Malta's Luke Farrugia who was riding out of the Simon Giordmaina Drag Racing stable and who rode into the 7.1s. Simon got in touch to let us know how the team progressed to record-breaking performance: We attended the last race of the year at Santa Pod last season. Luke's bike, which was Rick Stubbins' old bike, showed very good potential in the first two runs but than lost power, could not launch hard enough and had no power up the track. We had to stop racing as bike was getting leaner on every pass and we decided to stop trying as we would melt an engine. During the winter Luke discussed what he would like to try to achieve. He said that he would like to run in the teens, so we sat down and decided which changes were needed on the bike without upsetting the set-up on which we had spent a year working. We decided that we wanted a full rebuild on the bike so that anything which was not perfect would be fixed or replaced as we got the bike together. We also decided to go for a new charge-cooled turbo set-up to be built by Rick Stubbins at Protek  Racing. We spoke to Rick about the rebuild and we also asked him to refresh the engine. He also built the great charge cooler which we are using now. I did back to back tests on it and the internal temperature results were amazing. Rick also changed the bodywork on the bike and took care of the painting and everything else the way Luke wanted it so thank you to Rick for taking the time to understand us. We decided to go for a test day at the Fast Show at Santa Pod just to make some shakedown passes and to see if the bike needed any changes or if there were any issues after the full rebuild. Apparently the bike was delivered in a perfect state as we had no issues at all. It looked great and Luke was very happy to see it, and it went down the track solidly without any issues at all. Our first event was the Festival of Power. We went testing on Thursday but we had engine damage on our first run, so we had a late night swapping engines to the motor which Rick refreshed - we call this the small engine (Cetta). We got the bike back together after a night's hard work and it was good to see Luke working and getting his hands dirty! We could not fire it up cause of the track curfew (Thanks for observing it - Ed) so we had to sleep and check everything in the morning. I was awake at six the next morning going through the MoTec Map and trying to fix a nice smooth start-up set-up. We got out and although we had a soft tune-up the bike was being over aggressive and was strangely wheelying very badly. Although Luke's riding skills were amazing he ran a best of 7.43 which is not what we where there for. Things where not looking good and we thought we would not get a handle on it, but luckily we kept calm and worked together as a team. I had to go through all the bike and change all the chassis set-up chassis on Friday. With the help of Clint D'amato we changed everything on the bike to try to make it work: chassis, shocks, map, boost control and more. I had to use what I have been taught in the last few years and what I have learned on my own to try to make a bike go down the track correctly. On Saturday morning I decided I would take out all of the clutch system and reinstall it, and I fixed a few things I found with which I was not happy. Luke went out for his first run on Saturday and the bike was super smooth, ran an easy 7.7 not wanting to lift the front end. Again it was not what we had worked for but I knew what was in the bike and I was happy because I and knew we had made a great step forward. Luke said that he was feeling good on the bike again so we could turn it up slightly. He ran an smazing 7.25 which sent us over the moon, we were very happy with that and it was a Personal Best for Luke. Luke was very happy and said that we had already got what we worked for. After we sat down and looked at the data, discussed some items with Luke - the rider is really the best datalogger a tuner can have - and decided that there was more in it so we discussed what we wanted for the next pass. On Sunday morning we were out early and to be honest we underestimated the track as we thought it was cold. We made some changes to be safe as we did not want to waste a run spinning off the line. That was it, the tune-up was great and Luke piloted the bike down the track perfectly. Shifted to fourth gear in the air, kept on it and ran an fantastic pass of 7.19 which was the cherry on the top of the cake for the weekend. Unfortunately rain stopped the show  as this was in my opinion the best ever Super Street Bike Show in the UK (Agreed - Ed). It would have been good if we had the chance to back up the 7.1. We can't wait for next race to try to continue where we left off and to continue enjoying all of this. I would like to thank Luke for all the trust he put in me, and in Luke's and Clint's names also I would like to thank everyone who has supported us during the year, Rick Stubbins for building a great bike exactly the way we wanted, all the Super Street guys for making us welcome every time - you guys are amazing. Thanks also to MDRA and ASM, I can't leave out the Santa Pod track crew for doing an awesome job on the track. Thank you Brad for taking the time and supporting me at all times, I hope I am making you proud, to Rodney Williford for the small ideas which make big difference. Last but not least, again in the name of Luke and Clint, a big Thank You goes to our families for their support. See you all at Santa Pod in May. Racing: Why do we do it? 27th April: Another year of racing is upon us and still we never ask ourselves why we still do it. Dan Holloway, Race Engineer on the UK's Team Rampage Super Pro ET team, has an obvious answer: For us it's the love, excitement and sheer uniqueness of drag racing! There is nothing quite like the noise, the power, the "feel" that these cars produce for both the drivers and fans alike. Once the last meeting of the year is done, it seems to be an absolute eternity until the next one in the new year comes around; that is of course until it actually does come around and you think - bloody hell, it's been six months already! I'm sure everyone remembers last year's Festival of Power, in that it was basically Arctic conditions with snow showers in between rounds. Well this year the weather couldn't have been any more different, with a beautiful array of sunshine covering the vast majority of the meeting which gave us all the best possible start to the new season. Team Rampage were all geared up and ready to go after a very quiet off-season in terms of maintenance to the dragster, with only a bit of welding needed to the chassis. We got to the track on Friday morning and couldn't wait to get going for the first round of qualifying. After a small conversation with Geof Hauser, we decided that we would try running slightly higher tyre pressures and see what would happen to our consistency. After going through previous runs and weather conditions, we chose to dial in an 8.00 so we could at least get a number on the board and a decent one at that. Once the burnout had been completed, it was immediately obvious that it was way better than it used to be thanks to the higher tyre pressures, which then made us think "Oh bugger, we're going to break out". The car hooked really hard, which made us doubt ourselves even more, but fortunately we ran through the traps with an 8.003 to go number one qualifier. Brilliant! That set the tone for the rest of the weekend, but did make us ponder: what do we do now? It was now the case of trying to beat ourselves and somehow trying to get even closer. Naturally we went for the same dial-in for the second run which wasn't until the evening, after what seemed like numerous incidents on the track throughout the day, but it was to no avail as we ran through with a 7.991 break out, still close though right? Saturday morning was upon us and had really good air conditions, something upon which these naturally-aspirated machines thrive, so we mutually agreed to go with a 7.99 dial in. In some ways, running through with an 8.002 was both good and bad: good because it was still a competitive run close to our dial-in, but bad because leaving it with an 8.00 dial in would have beaten our 8.003, but it's always about the what-ifs after it's happened! This did however make us feel a bit more confident that what we were doing was working and at this time the rest of the Super Pro field were catching up so it was good to know we were consistent. Again, it wasn't until the evening that we got our second run of the day, which by then was changed from being a qualifying round to the first round of eliminations. As there were an odd number of cars qualified, we were given a bye run through to round two. An average sixty foot time meant that we ran through with an 8.03 on our 8.00 dial in, still not bad when you look at it but an off run compared to our other runs! Round 2 of eliminations was Sunday morning and we were to race Phil Toppin in his altered. We would have been stupid not to go for an 8.00 so that's what we did, Phil going for an 8.97 giving the Rampage dragster nearly a second's wait on the startline. Both drivers knew they had to cut a good light against one another and unfortunately for Phil, he tried a bit too hard cutting a -0.1 cherry to our +0.1. It wouldn't have made any difference as he ran through with a PB 8.69, completely annihilating his dial-in! We ran through with an 8.02, confirming that an 8.00 was indeed our ideal dial-in. Sadly, before we could race Pete Walters in the quarter finals, on and off rain put an end to the weekend, which in a way was advantageous for us as it meant we left the event sitting first in the Championship, even though we would have preferred racing to the end. Taking the runs over the three days meant we had averaged 8.009 on our 8.00 dial ins which, when you take a step back and look at it, is incredibly difficult to do. Trying to strategically predict what you will run over a quarter of a mile, trying to factor in so many variables especially when these cars are as fast as they are, is really difficult so we think it's a hats off to all us Sportsman racers who do it so well (Agree 100% - Ed)! A huge thanks for our sponsors for this year: Mini Gears - who are a specialist gear manufacturing company based in Stockport manufacturing many types of high precision multi surface machine components and high quality gears and who have decided to remain with us for the fourth year running, All Aces Couriers (01295 274050) who can deliver your reputation for incredible prices and who have also decided to support us for the second year running. Also a Thank You to the Walters for organising the sponsorship scheme again this year after its success last year. Festival of Power JDB review. 27th April: Lizz McCarthy writes that although the rain stopped play at the Festival of Power, the Junior Drag Bike racers were as professional as ever, with a number having new bikes and set-ups with which to contend: We also have some pretty cool sponsorship for this season. Tim Beckwith of Beckwith Motorsports, Arvada, Colorado, USA, is sponsoring a trophy every meeting for the Most Outstanding Sportsmanship. The first award of the meeting, was won by new kid on the block, Blade Dummer, many congratulations! Gary Diston of Lightning Automotive in Evesham, is also sponsoring trophies for #1 and #2 qualifiers. Congratulations to Jordan Kenway (Q1) and Louis Davies (Q2). Here are the kids' own reports of their weekend: Louis Davies JBM 3: Q1: We started the meeting with a brand new bike on which I had only done a few runs before so we dialled in a 9.30 for the first time, I broke out with a new PB of 9.23 at a fast 70.9 mph so it was not all bad news and that run left me in fifth place. Q2: After breaking out earlier we dialled in a 9.15 to be on the safe side then ran a 9.20 at 70.5 mph which was another PB and not a break out. That put me straight into second place. Q3: After that we raised the dial in to a 9.18 to try to get closer but then I ran a 9.14 at a faster 71.9 mph which is also another new PB and left me in second place. Sadly the rain caused the meeting to be cancelled but I would like to thank all my friends and family for a wonderful weekend, all the track crew for their hard work. A big thank you to Rene van den Berg and Eurol for sponsoring me this year. Also thank you to Lightning Automotive and Beckwith Motorsport for sponsoring the Junior Drag Bikes. I had an awesome weekend and am looking forward to Shakey next week. Jordan Kenway JBM 4: On Friday morning we woke up to a tailwind which is not normally a thing you get at Pod. Q1: We dialled in a 9.60 as a base point and ran a 9.61/72mph putting me number one qualifier. Q2: We kept the dial In as 9.60 but instead I ran a new PB of 9.39/72. Q3: We dialled in a 9.20 because I felt confident in running the bike full power all the way, instead I launched and straight away I picked up the front wheel losing me time and running a 9.59/71. At the end of qualifying, I was still number one meaning I had a bye run. But, on the Sunday the rain came, stopping play and ending the event. Well done to all the Juniors this weekend, see you all mext week for round two! One final thing thanks to Lightning Automotive and Beckwith Motorsports for sponsoring the Junior Bikes this year. Liam Holgate JB5: It was the first meet of the season and I had been looking forward to it all winter. Friday I was up early to sign on and get my bike scrutineered. I hadn't had a chance to get out on my bike before the meeting because Dad has been working and when he was off it was raining so my first run was a bit of a guessing game for my ET. Dad set it at what I was running last year 13.55. The first run was against Blade, I wanted to race with him as we were both on 50cc bikes and I was hoping it was going to be an even race. It was, but we both broke out I ran 13.32/49.32. Second run of the day Dad set my ET at 13.25 and said we have a strong tailwind, and that was making me go quicker! I was against Blade again and we could both get closer to our times, we staged and at the green light I gave it full throttle and the engine revved very high and slowly pulled away - I ran a 13.52/49.2. When I got back to the pits I told my dad what happened and he said the clutch was slipping too much so he readjusted it ready for the next round. Saturday waited nearly all day to get a run. Dad set my ET at 13.25. Still with a tail wind we staged, the lights went green and I was off. Clutch was good this time and managed to set a time of 13.32/49.74. This was good enough for 3rd place in qualifying. I was a bit disappointed that we only had one run on Saturday but hoped for a better day on Sunday. Sunday I woke in the morning to the sound of rain and that was how it stayed all day! But it was great to catch up with everyone and to make a new friend in Blade. Afie Udall JBP7: This weekend was a new experience for me. My bikes engine was upgraded to a 200cc KTM from an RM 125cc motor. The first day of racing was a hard one as I had technical difficulties with my bike. I had an airleak which meant that I went down the track in first gear. I ran eighteen-second passes on the first and second runs as we couldn't figure out what was wrong. On the second day we found out what was wrong with the bike and fixed it. I ran a ten-second pass on an eight-second dial-in, this was because the engine was a bit clogged up. I'm looking forward to the next meeting so I can run my bike properly. Bring on the Springspeed Nationals! Stacey Reed JBM9: Of course it was great to be back with the gang but it's just a shame not everything went to plan. The nerves were high due to not testing over winter, and only finishing the bikes the night before leaving. With my Personal Best time currently at 9.33 it was a bit of a shock when I ran a 13.53 first run at only 56 mph! Even if it did get me second qualifier, I was not a happy bunny! Dad then said he'd fixed it which didn't really happen because I then ran an 11.8 at 51 mph, what a load of rubbish! Once again, Dad said he'd fixed it but we are still unsure of whether it is actually fixed or not because I then ran another 11.8 however this may be due to the rider being a little bit doubtful. Let's just hope the bike decides to fix itself over the next week! Bring on the Springspeed Nationals at the amazing Shakespeare County! Can't wait! Charlotte Hales JBM11: This was only the second time I've ridden this bike and I was still trying to get used to a clutch and gearbox, having ridden a twist'n'go for two seasons. Like my Dad, I'm having trouble launching (smile) and getting my sixty foot times down, but everyone was very encouraging and I got more confident as the meeting progressed. I ran solo every run and my team calculated that on my stalled run, I'd have run an 11.5 at 57 mph. Not stunning, but a big improvement on eighteen seconds at a RWYB two weeks earlier. I'd like to thank my Mum, Dad and Sister for supporting me, the Ashby Bros for their support in the pits and Martin Dust for building an excellent drag bike. I also want to thank the Junior Drag Bike Club and sponsors Lightning Automotive and Beckwith Motorsports. Blade Dummer JB12: New PBs set every run! My first run I got a 13.4 at 49 mph (sounds slow but I am 10, riding a 50 cc bike!) Second run I got a 13.36 at 49 mph. My third run I got 13.12 at 50.15 mph. I also won the Beckwith Motorsports Outstanding Sportsmanship trophy, had a fantastic weekend and was made to feel welcome by all the others. Looking forward to next time. Thank you to Tim Beckwith at Beckwith Motorsports and Lightning Automotive for their sponsorship this season. Photos of the weekend can be found on the Junior Drag Bike Facebook page. Please take a look and like, we have a strong following now. It is amazing how much interest has been generated, from all over the world - let's keep the interest going! Many thanks as ever go to everyone that makes this possible: parents' wallets, track crew, marshals, the photographers who are happy to let us use their pictures, our sponsors, and the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame for their support this year. Gleadow returns. 27th April: After a year out following engine damage at the 2012 FIA European Finals, UK blown-alcohol altered racer Adam Gleadow says that it's good to be back: With a new body in place, a 1932 Bantam, previously on Wendy Baker's Time Warp, and a freshly rebuilt engine with a few changes in the clutch I was keen to shake the car down and get used to being back in the driving seat at the Festival of Power. As planned I launched off idle, hit second and ran it through to 300 feet and it all felt great. A new PB to sixty feet was the result, so we were over the moon and ready for a full pass on Saturday. Lined up against Nick Davies in Lawrie Gatehouse's barnstorming Chaos for the second qualifier the car again ran straight and true, launching off idle and short shifted we ran a new PB of 7.42/180, nine miles per hour shy of our best speed so confident of more improvement as the weekend went on, while Nick thundered away to the quickest AA/FA pass in European history! Massive congratulations to the Chaos team. The third qualifer was against Wendy Baker in the Time Warp Funny Car. I was looking forward to a tight side-by-side run, unfortunately was not to be as I couldn't select forward gear after backing up from the burnout. Next time! Unfortunately rain put any further progress out of the equation on Sunday but we had a great weekend and couldn't be happier with how the car ran. Bring on the SPRC Summernationals! Before then the Bantam body will be off to our awesome sponsors Custom Exotics for a paint scheme designed by Darren West at Power Race Graphics who put my ideas into reality. As usual a number of people have helped us out and made this all possible. The crew of Bob, Darren, Martin, Chris, Joe and Lhotte are the ones who let me go out there and have the fun. Thanks also to Matt Wright and his company We Move Your Car for transporting the car, Joe Bond, Bill Felstead for his work over the winter, Richard Walters, John Spuffard, Mick Gleadow and Ian Jones. Web site updates. 27th April: Richard Smith has posted a huge gallery of excellent Festival of Power Saturday shots on his Zenfolio gallery at rdsmith.zenfolio.com/festival-of-power-2014. Also updating from the Saturday of the Festival of Power is Paul Lister whose pictures you can check out at www.dragcaranon.co.uk. Event entry update. 25th April: Entry is currently open for the Springspeed Nationals, the third UK National Championship round as well as a round of various Club Championships including Wild Bunch, Outlaw Anglia and NAST, which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway on 3rd-5th May. Entry will close next Wednesday, 30th April. Official Springspeed Nationals entry forms are now available from the Downloads page of the Shakespeare County Raceway web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com. If you have any queries about event entry at Shakespeare County Raceway then please E-Mail [email protected] or call 01789 720180. Entry is also open for FIA / FIM European Championships Round 1, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 23rd-26th May which is a round of FIA and FIM European Championships and some UK National Drag Racing Championship classes. Please note that the official closing date has been changed from today to Friday of next week, 2nd May; entries received up to next Friday will not be liable for any Late Entry penalty. You can download entry forms for FIA, FIM and UK classes from the Entry Forms page of the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. Thanks to Ian Marshall for sending us Version 4 of the official entry list which you can check out 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 entry to FIA / FIM European Championships Round 1 then call Ian Marshall on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail [email protected]. Erbacher ready for 2014. 25th April: Swiss Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Urs Erbacher says that testing with Noah Stutz' car at last weekend's Festival of Power worked out very well: We have a lot of brand new parts on the cars. We switched from Stage 5 to the newer Stage 6 heads from Alan Johnson. We have a new piston rack combination direct from Alan Johnson and a new camshaft system with a different firing order. We are racing with two cars for the first time which means a lot of new crew members in training. We tested with just the one car because both cars have exactly the same set-up apart from different chassis manufacturers. My car is a Murf McKinney and Noah's car is a Brad Hadman. Both cars have brand new front halves from ME Racing in Sweden. We ran one very good sixty foot time with the car, the second best in Europe, and we were ready for the first full pass on Sunday. But then like many times before at Santa Pod the nice English summer rain wouldn't allow us the full run.from england dont let us to make a full run. But now we know that our set-up is working and we are looking forward to the first event. I still have my old sponsor Midland Oil from Switzerland and new this year are Victory Motorcycles as our second main sponsor. Victory is the newest American motorcycle on Earth and I have a dealership. Victory are owned by Polaris and they own Indian as well. We are very happy to show you our truck and trailer. I will race the whole FIA Championship and will bring the title back to Switzerland. Together with Midland and Victory, I am back in the game! Goin' to Barbados. 25th April: Sponsored by their own company, Lee and Andy Gallmore of the UK's Red Mist Racing blown-alcohol altered team have been invited by the UK and US Top Gear Live Show to appear at their latest track event show in Barbados. "We will be running track demos and burnouts and runs at the all-new Bushy Park race circuit on 17th-18th May", says Lee Gallimore. "Top of the bill (After you guys, you mean - Ed) is Lewis Hamilton with his hat-trick winning Mercedes F1 car. He will be hot-lapping the course both days. "We loaded our car into the container at Portsmouth docks yesterday and we will fly out to meet the car on 13th May. My crew for the trip will be my brother Andy Gallimore his wife Deborah, my wife Julie, Dave Mckenzie and my best buddy Eddy Horace Fryer. "The car has had a full motor strip and overhaul and body has had a few flames put on by Pop In Vehicle Graphics Cardiff; Craig and Toby Davis did the design and the work, what a great job they did too. "We will be defending our Supercharged Outlaws Championship, our first race will be the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway, see you all; there when we get back." Vehicles sought for display. 25th April: Santa Pod Raceway are looking for a retro/classic race car to represent them at the Retro Car Mania Show at Weston Park, Shropshire on Sunday 1st June (Saturday 31st May set-up). To volunteer please contact [email protected] or call 01234 782828. Does your team need sponsorship? Would you like to show your car at a one day event with dozens of high net worth motoring investors and 10,000 general public? Mark Durham is offering the chance to display at The Warren Classic and Supercar Show on 10th May with absolutely no cost. Mark is also arranging a party at the former home of the Beckham Family near Sawbridgeworth (aka Beckingham Palace) on 15th June. This is World Cup party being arranged for the new owners of the house who currently sponsor motorsport including F1 teams and drivers. They have expressed an interest in Drag Racing and would like some teams to exhibit for their guests. If you are interested at either event, then please contact Mark as soon as possible at [email protected]. Ingrid from Thetford and District Motorbike Club is looking for a bike or car to appear at their annual show in aid of the Air Ambulance and First Response. "We would like to draw in as many people as possible", says Ingrid. "The show is on 20th July. We have camping available from Friday 18th and a bar with music on Saturday 19th". If you are interested then please contact Ingrid at [email protected]. Swift snippets. 25th April: Although Jimmy Ålund has had to return the keys of the second Summit Racing Pro Stock to Greg Anderson, European fans still have someone to cheer on at this weekend's O'Reilly Auto Parts Spring Nationals in Houston as ex-pat UK Top Alcohol Dragster racer Michael Manners of Eurodragster.com sponsor Cosmo Residences is contesting the event. Qualifying starts today and you will be able to stay in touch with Mike's progress courtesy of our Drag Race Central colleagues at www.dragracecentral.com. Good luck Mike and stay safe. Due to an administrative cock-up by your News Editor we were unable to say a big Happy Birthday yesterday to our good friend, Team Heaven & Hell Racing crew and Honorary Eurodragster.com Staff Member Colin Roaf. Hope you had a great day Colin. Celebrating his birthday today is Maikel Gloudemans of our streaming service provider Doyousee.,e. Happy Birthday M@ik. Pertué's weekend. 25th April: France's David Pertué has been in touch to let us know about his weekend at the Festival of Power: For the first run the starter of my Go Fast Fire Jet Dragster failed and on the second run I had a problem with the fuel with which I was provided. At the end of the day I did some tests with my own fuel at the end of track and the car worked great. The motor of my Hydrogen Rocket Car steamed because it was cold. I spent two years working on rebuilding the catalyst and it should be operational again within two months. With this new catalyst the car will regain its original power, which I hope will allow me to run much quicker again. Maybe I'll be running at an event again this year but firstly there will be private sessions to make sure that everything goes well. A Perfect start. 25th April: At last week's Festival of Power, UK 9.50 Bike rookie Jak Hylton became only the second bike racer since 1998 to win a Perfect Light Award presented by Eurodragster.com, in this case in association with Bad Habit Racing. Jak got in touch to introduce himself: I went to Paul 'Grumpy' Watson last year after purchasing a standard Hayabusa from Pro ET racer Glenn Pallant. I wanted to build a bike to run in the 9.50 class and had heard that Grumpy was the man to do just that. He managed to source pretty much all the parts we required and after a couple of weeks in the workshop we had a 9.50 Bike! I have become great friends with Grumpy and have been lucky enough to have him teach me loads and also have some lessons at the track on a few occasions. At my first ACU event, Big Bang, I managed to qualify thirteenth with a 9.57 but unfortunately I had an oil leak from the sump which meant I couldn't run in the first round. A week later we were back at the track and fitting the new sump kindly supplied by Rob at Mistral Performance. After a couple of wheelies in qualifying Grumpy and Andy Haley managed to calm down both the bike and I, and I managed to run a 9.53 which put me in fourth position. In the first round against Mark Hope I was over the moon to win the Perfect Light Award and even happier when I managed a 0.0054 light in the second round against Richard Sawatzki. I would like to thank Grumpy for sparing me a lot of his time to teach me what he has, and for building and tuning the bike. A massive thanks to my great friend Billy Gane of Super Pro ET and his dad Dave Gane - they got me into racing in the first place and I have been going with them since I was thirteen. They have been a fantastic help with the bike, teaching me lots and always supporting me. Thanks to Andy Haley, Pixie, Team Camaro Drag Racing, the Ashbys and everyone else for all the help and support. Hopefully I will be out again at the Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway next weekend! Street Eliminator Round 1 review. 25th April: A contingent of nine entered Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator at the Festival of Power. Street Eliminator Chair Matthew Atkinson got in touch with a class review: Sadly before a wheel had even turned we were down to six as we lost Alan Williamson and Alex Mcintosh who both run out of time in getting the cars to the event. Alan has had a new Motec system fitted to the car and a couple of teething problems mean he will have to wait until round two to join us. Unfortunately we also lost Gary Gooding, new to the class in the ex-Leon Green Supra, following a technicality. Gary did however run the car in Super Pro ET for the weekend. With a depleted squad and half of the class entered into Comp Eliminator for extra track time we were not out until the afternoon on Friday. Disappointingly we lost Jon Webster in the Comet following his first pass of the day in Comp Eliminator, overspinning the turbo causing damage to the blades of the turbo and necessitating a trip back to the workshop. Jon did manage to get down for the first run but a leak from the radiator stopped him putting in a pass and it was a nervous wait until Saturday to get a number on the board. Matt Smith in his second year in the class laid down a 9.626/157 in his red Escort to lead the group. Unfortunate problems laying down the power for Martin Smith and Stu Williams resulted in a disappointing 10.215/158 and 10.159/175 respectively. Newcomer for 2014 was Damian Halliwell in the superbly turned out 1963 Chevrolet Biscayne sporting a 540ci Shaffirof motor, great to have Damian on board and competing at Santa Pod for the first time ever was a dream come true. A 12.081/117 ensured he qualified and was a good base to work from. Problems at the hit for Andy Bond as the fuel line split straight off the line requiring a tow back to the pits. Onto day two and we were out on track by 10:00 am. In the first pair out Martin Smith laid down a marker with a new PB 7.759/185 to take number one spot. Martin was extremely pleased following extensive work over the winter by Rob and Nick at ICE Automotive and further work carried out by class sponsor Webster Race Engineering. In the opposing lane was in fact Jon Webster who again has had extensive engine development work carried out by ICE Automotive; Jon was able to qualify in at number three with a 8.116/173. Problems again for Andy Bond as the tyres lit up at the hit but he was able to get a number on the board with a 12.442/108, no problems at all for Stu Williams in the other lane running through with a 7.870/181 new Personal Best speed. Well done to the Carmasupra team on that and straight in at number two. Improvement for Matt in the Escort as well with a new PB 8.585/158 whilst Damian in the Biscayne edged closer to that elusive ten-second pass with an 11/036/122, well done Damian. Onto round three of qualifying and it was Martin Smith first out again the GTR cementing his place at number one with a 7.603/190, a massive PB on both ET and speed so well done to all at Team Extreme. No improvement though for Matt Smith in the opposing lane. Jon Webster followed with his first seven-second pass of the weekend to cement number three position with a 7.949/174 whilst Andy Bond in the Mustang again had problems getting off the line but improved to an 11.223/155 still some way off the car's usual numbers. In the last pair saw Stu Williams in the Supra was up against Damian Halliwell and it was Stu who shot away from the line to run a 7.806/181 whilst Damian was unable to improve on his 11.036 but stayed at number five. With the news that we would not get another qualifying run, teams were given an hour's notice of the Cruise and unfortunately a problem for class sponsor Jon Webster as this was not enough time to get the Comet ready after a screw from the throttle body had rattled loose and dropped down into the bore of the engine. So we were down to five cars on the Cruise. A beautiful sunset greeted us as we left the gates of Santa Pod Raceway and were on our way. No problems for anyone on the way round as everyone returned to the track safely ready for competition. Sadly Team Extreme's Matt Smith had to leave early on the Sunday morning so was unable to take part in eliminations, a real shame as he would have faced Jon Webster who had broken and effectively taken a bye run into the semi-finals. As one of the first classes out for eliminations we were in the pairing lines by 10:15 but with only four cars as Matt had left and Jon was broke. This would result in a bye run into the final for the winners of our two match ups, Martin Smith in the GTR against the struggling Andy Bond and Stu Williams in the Supra against newcomer Damian Halliwell. Our first match up featured Damian Halliwell in the Biscayne with everything to do, Stu Williams in the Supra away from the line first with a 0.278 to Damian's 0.744 and there was no looking back taking the win with a 7.824/182 new PB mph to Damian's 10.957/122 and despite the defeat Damian was over the moon with his first weekend in competition and getting his first ten-second timing ticket so a big well done to Damian. Our next pair featured number one qualifier Martin Smith in the GTR up against Andy Bond in the Mustang. Andy had been struggling to get away from the line all weekend whilst Martin had been setting new PBs all the way through qualifying. Both cars pulled into pre stage and as Martin began to build the revs the GTR appeared to skid through stage and automatically hand the win to Andy as Chief Starter Ian Marshall gave him the green light and he obliged with a 10.101/158 and a bye run into the final. Disappointment for Martin but again a lot learnt from the weekend and a sneak peak of what the HTR will be capable of in 2014. Sadly that was it for eliminations as the rain set in, a big congratulations to everyone in the class for their efforts at the first event and I look forward to seeing as many of competitors as possible at Shakespeare County Raceway next weekend. As always a big Thank You to our class sponsors to whom we are very grateful: Topspeed Automotive sponsoring the class for their fifth consecutive year, Custom Car magazine, RPM magazine, Webster Race Engineering, Serck Motorsport, Insane Creations, AW Upholstery, Quartermile High / Zeon TV, Matt Woods Photography and Eurodragster.com, all of whom can be found on our web site at www.streeteliminator.com. Strong start for PMR. 25th April: Paul Marston Racing got their 2014 National Championship off to a solid start with Martin Curbishley joining the team driving the Whoopass Monza in Super Comp: Paul Marston remains in Super Pro ET to try to go one better and take the 2014 UK National Super Pro ET Championship in which he was runner-up in 2013. But as always it's how you deal with the challenges that dictates your potential. PMR Drag Race Driving School instructors Mick Howling and Paul tested both the Whoopass Monza and Grumpy's Dodge at Big Bang, the week preceding the Easter event. The weather was great and on Saturday Mad Mick and Paul put in some very nice passes. As previously reported here on Eurodragster.com, quite a lot of work had been done on the Monza, mainly housekeeping etc. Grumpy's Dodge just needed to be checked out and recommisioned after her winter storage. Come Sunday and we were joined by Martin Curbishley to get him comfortable in the Monza and make sure it all suited his needs. On Martins second pass we lost the transmission which meant that we had three days to fix the problem. The PMR crew set to and removed the transmission, returned two days later and fitted it ready for Friday's qualifying. The PMR team faced the usual challenges which you expect from the first National Event of the year including a tricky to read track. At the end of qualifying Martin Curbishley and Paul Marston were second in Super Comp and Super Pro ET respectively, Paul also making number elevem in Pro ET with Grumpy's Dodge. Saturday nite featured first round Eliminations in Super Pro ET and Pro ET and Paul ended up with one win and one defeat, against number one qualifier Rick McCann. "No excuses my fault", says Paul. "I turned it red by .02, beat myself up in the car on the run and the return road and I was ready for Super Pro ET by the time I got back. Luckily I managed to win that one in a squeaker against Dave and the Van With No Name despite Dave having me on the Tree by a little (And despite The Van With No Name being a name - Ed). We are only human and as there are no electronic devices on cars in Super Pro ET it's next to impossible to adjust your reaction down just a little. What is much more likely is that you will have a much bigger bite, like I did when I went from 0.02 red in Pro ET to 0.10 green in Super Pro ET. I took the stripe by 0.002 and I did think I had it, but it was a little closer than I thought, it's about seven inches at 150 mph!" To Sunday and both Martin and Paul won their rounds respectively, Martin defeated Dave Gadney in his beautiful Vauxhall Cavalier and Paul took out a tough opponent, Cookies Monster driven by Rick Cooke. Alas from there it started sprinkling with rain and never really stopped which led to the end of the event. Paul Marston would like to thank all the management and staff, especially Kathy Taylor and the girls in the office., Paul Marston Racing's Super Crew who looked after not one but two drivers in three different classes, a stirling job for sure. Special mention to Mad Mick Howling's mum, Mrs H, who kept us all well-fed with some fantastic home cooking in her customary and very gratefully received food parcel, and to the Crew Chief for the Pulled Pork on Saturday night (He means dinner, not a euphemism - Ed), which set a new standard. All washed down by Sefton Whitlock's specially imported Whoopass Hotsauce, and yes it was! Must also thank both Mike Lacey for organising the contingency sponsors for Pro ET and Richard Walters for Super Pro ET. Extra special thanks to Gary, Arron and Tyler Springford of DRE (020 8597 4575) for bringing vital parts to the track on Saturday. Paul Marston Racing also welcomes back CTM Performance and Machine, who bring over thirty years of experience specializing in anything from cylinder head modifications ranging from four-cylinder Ford, Vauxhall etc right up to American V8s. Essentially you want it they can build or make it. Any and all machining work undertaken, call them on 0208 592 1180, ask for Charlie, and tell them who sent you. Looking forward to the next thrilling installment at the Springspeed National at Shakespeare County Raceway, see you all there. SPRC notice to racers. 24th April: We have received the following notice to racers from Ian Marshall of Santa Pod Racers Club: Following issues raised during and since the Festival of Power, Santa Pod Racers Club wish to assure all racers that we are currently looking at ways to improve those situations which arose. We can't go into any detail at present - as many will be aware it takes time to discuss possible options with all concerned - but please rest assured as soon that as we have come up with a viable solution we will let you know. On a slightly better note, as rain curtailed the event the Festival of Power prize fund obviously went unpaid and will therefore be carried over to the SPRC Summernationals for all non-Professional classes. Swift snippets. 24th April: Many thanks to Palle Lind for forwarding us the post-Festival of Power points in the FIM European Super Street Bike Cup. You can check out the points on our OCS Paint-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the OCS Paint Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Many thanks to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe for forwarding us the official Festival of Power timing data. You can check out the timing data by clicking here or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Editor's note: Apologies for the abbreviated news update today which is for reasons beyond our control. We have a backlog of news all of which will be posted on tomorrow's update, and please keep the news coming to [email protected]. Webb's European bests. 23rd April: The UK's Richie Webb had almost a perfect weekend at the Festival of Power, qualifying number one in Super Comp with his wild Beetle and becoming the quickest-ever VW doorslammer racer in Europe: Having spent the winter spent refining the car after last year's best of 8.71, Richie ran 8.3584/163.66 to beat the previous record of 8.57/257 kmh held by Norway's Stian Abel Larsen. In the second round a slightly out-of-shape pass necessitated clicking off early to run 8.905/121 to qualify number one in Super Comp. On Saturday a hard launch resulted in a bent wheelie bar centre tube and a huge wheelstand in both first and second gear, clicking off to get the car straight and running 9.29/123. At this point thanks are due to Andy Sykes who opened his workshop to help and provided the tube to allow repairs. In Sunday's first round of eliminations the plan was to try to back up the 8.35. Instead a blistering 8.2060/167.92 was the result, too quick for a record itself but good enough to back up the 8.358 for a new record. Richie would like to thank everyone at Santa Pod Raceway for providing a track good enough to allow record-setting in far from ideal conditions. Easter joy. 23rd April: UK Super Comp racer Paul Watson followed up his great pre-season testing with a great start at the Festival of Power: We ran an 8.89 off the trailer with Pixie doing the set-up for the first time. In the second qualifier there was a driver error, I didn't engage first gear all the way and when I pressed the transbrake the car left before the lights ran. After a few checks and some embarrassment we were ready for the third qualifier which was moved to the next day. During warm up we found a problem with the vacuum pump - the internal screws had sheared allowing the pulley to walk. A big Thank You to Gary Springford from DRE who repaired it in ultra quick time with parts from fellow competitor Dave Gadney. We managed to make the qualifier and ran a great 8.92 pass to qualify third. My first race happened to be with Jon Giles whom I had helped towards the end of last season. It couldn't have been better as he is so funny he always makes my day. We both cut 0.02 lights but Jon had traction problems so we went through with a 9.04. Unfortunately rain stopped play. I would not be at this point without the help of many people. Thanks to Direct Plastics, Gary Springford, Simon Gough, Image Workx, Farm Fresh, Jeff Bull and my crew of Pixie, Andy and Jose who make it easy for me. A successful outing. 23rd April: Also having a joyful weekend at the Festival of Power was second generation blown-alcohol altered racer Robbie Grabham who took the seat of the Freddy's Revenge altered. Robbie got in touch to tell us how his début went: After a last minute seat adjustment the week before Easter we set off for Santa Pod on Thursday morning in the hope of a run at the Peak Performance Day. Unfortunately time did not allow us to make a pass but it did mean that we were prepared in plenty of time for the first run on Friday. As I had only been down the track in Santa Pod's Junior Dragster ten years ago, the first run was a scheduled idle down the track to get used to staging, gear selection and finding the turn-off at the top end. This all went well and made me even more eager for a full power pass later that day. We decided that before I started my licencing I would do a practice burnout and launch to sixty feet. With the burnout done next was to stage, the lights ran and nothing could have prepared me for the power I was about to feel. Before I knew it I was at sixty feet in just 1.27 seconds with a soft clutch set-up and a second gear launch. I was over the moon with this for a first ever sixty foot. Saturday came round and it was time to start my observed runs. First up was another burnout and launch. This resulted in another 1.27 sixty foot time and with a little squirt on the throttle a bit further down the track I ran a 13.98/56. With the sixty foot pass out of the way, next up was a half-track pass with the chutes out past the finish line. Having not been past about a hundred feet on full power this was a big step up and I decided I would only stick with it if it felt good. With a slightly slower 1.29 sixty foot time the car hooked up, went straight as an arrow and I stayed on the power until half track and put the chutes out just after the finish line. As the team came to collect me one of them shouted that it was a 9.2-second run. I couldn't quite believe it. It took my dad about ten years to run a high nine and I had just run a low nine with an early shut off on my first weekend. Words cannot describe how happy I and the whole team were! Unfortunately with rain and a busy schedule we didn't get to make the full pass this weekend but the car is good to go so we will be back to finish off my observed runs at Dragstalgia, the whole team can't wait. I would like to thank my dad, TC, Hils, Steph, Joey, Darryl, Chris, Sarah and Gary without whom I would not have been able to make any runs. I must also thank them all for trusting me to drive Freddy. The card and banner on return from my final pass was very much appreciated. Also a big thanks to Huw, and Atom Fabrications. Swift snippets. 23rd April: English-language invitation to and supplementary regulations for the EDRA Nationals 2014, which takes place at Kiltsi Airfield, Haapsalu, Estonia on 31st May-1st June, are now available at www.edra.ee/edra-nationals-2014-eng. Entries are already being received for the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Sydney Allard Awards. Now that the season is underway don't forget to enter photographs, articles, blogs or books covering British drag racing between August 2013 and the end of July 2014. Submissions are accepted from spectators and professionals. Trophies will be presented at the prestigious BDRHoF Gala Dinner on 22nd November, an event you will not want to miss. Details at www.britishdragracinghof.co.uk/allard-award-entries. Steve Dudley has been in touch with a reminder that the next slot drags at MrD Raceway will take place at 8:00 pm this Friday (25th April) at The Cathedral Primary School, Victoria Road, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 1PA. "There is a small car park in the school grounds which should be able to accommodate us all", says Steve. "Entry and racing are free, all we ask is that you make a donation of a couple of pounds to help toward the hire of the hall, although it's not obligatory. I have loan cars for anybody wishing to try out this exciting form of slot car racing. We try to and run a couple of elimination races during the evening to add some element of competition / tension to the meeting." If one night of slot drags is not enough for you then Steve tells us that another session takes place at 2:00 pm this coming Sunday, 16th April, 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. Please accept our apologies that yesterday's promised second tranche of news did not materialise. Your News Editor learned the valuable lesson that if planning to post a news update away from base he should at least remember to take his mobile broadband dongle with him. Web site updates. 23rd April: The official web site of the UK's Chaos Fuel Altered has been updated with a report from the Festival of Power, where Nick Davies set new bests for Europe's quickest and fastest ever Fuel Altered. You can check it out under Latest News at www.chaos-fuel-altered.com. John Przybyl is the first of a brace of photographers posting pictures from the Festival of Power. You can take a look at John's excellent work, which covers the whole facility and not just the track, at multicapturephotography.zenfolio.com. Colin Donisthorpe has also posted Festival of Power Friday and Saturday shots, which you can check out at www.flickr.com/photos/colin_donisthorpe. Event entry update. 22nd April: Entry is currently open for the Springspeed Nationals, the third UK National Championship round as well as a round of various Club Championships including Wild Bunch, Outlaw Anglia and NAST, which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway on 3rd-5th May. Entry will close on 30th April. Official Springspeed Nationals entry forms are now available from the Downloads page of the Shakespeare County Raceway web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com. If you have any queries about event entry at Shakespeare County Raceway then please E-Mail [email protected] or call 01789 720180. Entry is also open for FIA / FIM European Championships Round 1, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 23rd-26th May which is a round of FIA and FIM European Championships and some UK National Drag Racing Championship classes. You can download entry forms for FIA, FIM and UK classes from the Entry Forms page of the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. 19:45 Thanks to Ian Marshall for sending us Version 2 of the official entry list which you can check out 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 entry to FIA / FIM European Championships Round 1 then call Ian Marshall on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail [email protected]. Festival of Power rained out. 21st April: Rain washed out yesterday's eliminations at the Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway. Most Sportsman classes had at least one round of eliminations but the rain started shortly before the Pros were due to run. A short period during which the track was dried and racers called to the lanes was followed by more rain leaving Race Director Robin Shone with no choice but to call the event. Subject to ratification the following records were set: FIM European Super Street Bike Cup ET: 7.193 seconds, Graham Balchin ACU Super Street Bike ET: 7.210 seconds, Steve Venables ACU Super Street Bike speed: 205.10 mph, Steve Venables Congratulations also to 9.50 Bike racer Jak Hylton who won the Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing 9.50 Bike Perfect Light Award with a 0.0007 Reaction Time in the first round of eliminations on Saturday. The Perfect Light Award has been reset to £50 for the Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway at the start of May. The Eurodragster.com / Gold RV Perfect ET Award was not won and has been increased to £75 for the Springspeed Nationals. You can check out our Alamo Rent A Car-sponsored Festival of Power reports, pit notes and pictures by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. King gains Club membership. 21st April: MTC Engineering of Cocoa, Florida is proud to officially welcome UK Top Fuel Bike racer Ian King to the MTC Engineering Top Fuel Five-Second Club. During elimination rounds at the Manufacturer's Cup Exoticycle-Roaring Toyz Spring race in Valdosta, Ian ran 5.878 seconds at a speed of 225.07 mph becoming the eighth and final member of the club following Larry McBride, Jimmy Brantley, Tom Perry, Korry Hogan, Geoff Pollard, Chris Hand and Peter Svensson. MTC Engineering has paid out a total of $4,500 in money to eight Five Second Club members. Ian received $500, as the eighth and final member of the Club. To qualify as an MTC Five Second Club member, the racer had to make the run during a qualifying or elimination pass at a sanctioned Top Fuel event in the USA. Swift snippets. 21st April: Allard Chrysler Action Group Chair Brian Taylor forwarded us Stuart Mitchell's excellent picture of the Allard Chrysler Dragster's latest outing, at Wheels Day at Dunsfold Airfield. Very best wishes for a rapid recovery to Eurodragster.com US Correspondent Ed O'Connell who is in hospital after being taken ill on Friday. Get well soon Ed and we look forward to seeing you in the summer. Introducing Comanche Race Cars. 21st April: Steve Ashdown, whose son Tyler campaigns a Junior Dragster out of the Alamo stable, has been in touch to introduce his new chassis shop Comanche Race Cars: Comanche Race Cars is a new shop in Kent specialising in building race cars. With thirty years' experience we are capable of building anything from basic roll cages to chrome moly unlimited door cars. In the workshop at the moment are three twin-turbo door cars, two Corvettes and a Skyliner. We also carry a stock of cold drawn steel tube for cars down to 7.50 seconds and can arrange 4130 chrome moly for cars running below 7.50. We can also supply and fit race graphics. From stickers and signwriting to full colour digital wraps, we can turn any substrate into an eye-catching livery, race design, or simply increase your brand awareness. Please visit our web site at www.comancheracecars.com or to discuss your requirements call 07955 067124. Web site updates. 21st April: Talented young photographer Callum Pudge has launched a new web site at pudgeyrocks.wix.com/pudgeyspictures which currently features galleries from the 2013 FIA European Finals and 2013 NSRA Hot Rod Drags. Callum will be adding more pictures on a regular basis. Eurodragster.com News Editor Tog has updated his personal web site with pictures from the pre-Big Bang VWDRC Test Day, Big Bang Run What You Brung, and last Thursday's Pro Peak Performance Test and Tune Day. You can take a look at eurodragster.smugmug.com. Swift snippets. 18th April: Not strictly a spy picture but the Easter Bunny has been spotted at Santa Pod Raceway this morning, running for Paula. UK Top Fuel Bike racer Kev Charman has acquired Steve Carey's Top Fuel Bike and plans to campaign it next season after making some changes to the frame. Kev's partner Lizz McCarthy tells us that her new kitchen has gone west as a direct result of the purchase. Lizz also asked us to say a big Happy 50th Birthday to former Super Pro ET racer and now crew Nigel Turner. Our pleasure, have a great day Nigel. What a mug of tea can lead to... 17th April: The Rutles could have told them what it would lead to, but over a mug of tea at the workshops of Chris Isaacs Race Cars, Eurodragster.com sponsor Chris Isaacs and Spencer Tramm devised a plan to combine forces and campaign a Pro Mod in the MSA British Championship. After a year of planning and then three of construction Chris and Spencer are proud to unveil the team's twin-turbo 1970 Plymouth Duster. "We arrived at the track late last night", says Spencer, "and we hope to start Chris' licensing runs today at the Pro Peak Performance Day. Chris and Jedd Guy have both put in a few late nights to make sure we made it. There are many people whom we need to thank in getting us here today, way too many to list but especially my parents Steve and Yvonne Tramm, Graham Ellis, Al Williamson, Kate and Andy Robinson, Mark Gillam and Andy Frost. "Most of the team will be at the track today. The team comprises Chris and Rosie Isaacs, Jedd, Ray and Andrea Guy, Scott Crookston and I, and Vince Pinhorn on loan from the Ellis Pro Mod team. Unfortunately George and Rachel Georgiou cannot be with us this weekend but we hope to have them along soon. "We can also reveal that Direct Plastics have come onboard as our main sponsor for 2014. We are extremely grateful to Paul Woodhead for helping with our efforts; if you need any engineering plastics including lexan for your race car he's the man! You can find them at www.directplastics.co.uk or via the links on Eurodragster.com. Our associate sponsors for this year are Chris Isaacs Race Cars, Moran Motorsports, Speedflow, Lucas Oil and Przym Paintworks. "If you are around at the track this weekend please stop by, say hello and take a look around the car. See you there!" Dopey: The Next Generation. 17th April: Dave Grabham, the driver of the Freddy's Revenge blown-alcohol altered, had a nasty fall in the New Year which resulted in a broken neck of femur. Although Dopey's recovery is going well, and he has completed his phased return to work, he has not yet regained enough strength in his left leg to safely operate the Crower clutch in the Freddy's Revenge blown altered. Dopey's younger son Robbie has therefore eagerly accepted the offer of a drive in the car: and is looking forward to starting his licencing passes at the Festival of Power: TC and Robbie have not been idle over the winter, having fitted a new pair of Dart cylinder heads and a new blower manifold to the Donovan Chevy, in readiness for the 2014 NFAA season. The great guys at Atom Fabrications have had to modify the seat; Robbie says it's to give him a little more head room, but certain team members are convinced that it is more to do with making room for some brown adrenaline. You can follow our progress on our web site (courtesy of Dominic Coleman) at www.freddysrevenge.co.uk; on the Freddy's Revenge facebook page; or on Twitter. If you're at the track this weekend, don't forget to stop by and pick up one of our new hero cards, designed by Darren West of Power Race Graphics. Przybyl, P avoids the head's study. 17th April: Never having driven a race car before, Paul Przybyl impressed everyone at Santa Pod Raceway last weekend with a very competent performance in his first outing in the ex-Noah Stutz dragster. Paul and the Przym Paintworks team say that Spencer Tramm helped them to achieve more than they could have imagined: As soon as we got to the track on Friday Spencer was a great help preparing me for my first ever run. Although the plan was to go for a sixty foot launch, when we were in the staging lanes I asked Spencer if I would get in trouble if I stayed on the throttle and went too fast. His reply was "Go as fast as you feel comfortable with". As I went around the corner the adrenaline was pumping and I was pretty nervous, but once I had lined up for the burnout I just seemed to shut my mind to that and focused on the hand signals and the actions of the car. After launching I listened to the note of the engine to hear if the automatic shifter was kicking it, but it wasn't so I shifted manually and made sure that the car was still centred in the lane. By then I was at three-quarter track and I felt real comfortable so I decided to keep my foot down. When I pulled off the track at the top end all was quiet until Dad came along on the moped shaking his fist at me and shouting "Do you realise how fast you went?!". I hadn't a clue as the car felt so smooth, but it turned out that I had run a 7.86 at 173 mph. Dad apologised to Ian Marshall and said that he was more than welcome to give me a good talking-to, but Ian replied "This is Run What You Brung, licencing tomorrow is another story". Licencing on Saturday went as planned apart from the second pass when I lifted too early. All in all it was a fantastic weekend. Soon it will be my brother John's turn to have that experience now that he has got out of the Junior Dragster. We're looking forward to racing in Super Pro ET but we realise that we're at the beginning of a big learning curve. Paul, Andy, John and Cheryl would also like to say a special Thank You to Kenny Coleman and the boys at EDA, Steve Pateman, Paul Wright, Chris Isaacs Race Cars, and to Psycleworkz for the motor plate. Spark out. 17th April: UK Outlaw Anglia racer Steve Wells says that his first outing of the year at Big Bang at Santa Pod Raceway was not everything he could have hoped for: Over the winter we changed a few things on the Team Orange pop pick up. Problems pressurising the cooling system necessitated a re-design; we now run Goodridge hoses supplied by our long-term sponsor CamAuto bypassing the head gaskets which after a few headaches has worked well. The main job was changing from ladder bar rear suspension to four-link with an anti roll bar. This was done with a lot of help from Malk Motler, thanks mate. Not everything went to plan and it was a bit of a last minute rush to be ready for our first Championship round at Big Bang. We decided to make a few test launches at Friday's test day. The Pop launched beautifully and straight so we were ready for Saturday qualifying. Still with the low boost tune we ran 8.88, 8.86 & 8.88 all dead straight with gentle looking launches which resulted in my best ever sixty foot time. The boost was raised ready for more qualifying on Sunday morning. Sunday morning didn't go so well. Courtesy of the new curfew we were called as we were about to warm up the engine, and we then found that the oil warmer had not worked so we sat out the first qualifier. When the oil was warm we tried to start the motor only to find we had no spark. On inspection we found that the coil had packed up and as we run an MSD 10 Plus ignition, which uses a unique coil, we could not borrow one so our weekend was done. We are now struggling to find a new coil for the MSD 10 Plus as they are not made any more! I would like to thank the Santa Pod crew for the excellent track, even with so few cars to put rubber down. Thanks to Ian and Sam at CamAuto for their continued support this year and to the Motlers for crewing for us again. Swift snippets. 17th April: The latest spy picture to arive at the offices of Eurodragster.com (below left) came with the words "Cheers Alf". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at [email protected]. Atticus Page (above right) would like to wish Super Gas racers Jon Morton (aka Grandad) and Mark White (aka Chalk) good luck for the opening round of the Championship, and thanks to Uncle Rob Stanley for standing in for Daddy as Crew Chief. "Have a ood weekend, we will be watching!", he says. It's not too late to take part in today's Pro Peak Performance Test and Tune Day at Santa Pod Raceway. The track opens at 09:30 and £80 gets you as many runs as you can fit in on an event-prepped track. More details at www.rwyb.co.uk. At speed in Estonia. 17th April: Kristjan Veedler of the Estonian Drag Racing Association tells us that, as well as drag racing, Estonia hosts the biggest top speed events in the Baltics. The One Mile Challenge has been organised annually by the local Audi club since 2001. As of 2013, the Challenge consists of two stages, one of which takes place in early summer and the other in late summer. This year's One Mile Challenge events take place on the following dates: Stage I: 14th June 2014, Kiltsi Airfield, Haapsalu Stage II: 16th August 2014, Kiltsi Airfield, Haapsalu More information at www.onemile.ee. Event entry update. 16th April: Entry is currently open for the Springspeed Nationals, the third UK National Championship round as well as a round of various Club Championships including Wild Bunch, Outlaw Anglia and NAST, which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway on 3rd-5th May. Entry will close on 30th April. Official Springspeed Nationals entry forms are now available from the Downloads page of the Shakespeare County Raceway web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com. If you have any queries about event entry at Shakespeare County Raceway then please E-Mail [email protected] or call 01789 720180. Entry is also open for FIA / FIM European Championships Round 1, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 23rd-26th May which is a round of FIA and FIM European Championships and some UK National Drag Racing Championship classes. Thanks to Ian Marshall for sending us Version 1 of the official entry list which you can check out by clicking here. You can download entry forms for FIA, FIM and UK classes from the Entry Forms page of the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about entry to FIA / FIM European Championships Round 1 then call Ian Marshall on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail [email protected]. Phoenix from the ashes. 16th April: Roger and Dave Moore fired up the new motor of their Viper Pro Modified on Sunday just gone and Roger says that it has been given a clean bill of health to go racing at the Festival of Power. "The basis of this engine is from Henri Joosten's Chevy Pro Mod which unfortunately had a dramatic fire at Santa Pod  a few years ago", says Roger Moore. "As a team with a  commitment to protect the environment we felt obliged to recycle. I don't think Henri would recognise in any more, as it now has a Pat Musi EFI  system and a CNC machined intake manifold. Dave and I will be taking small steps with this new set-up as there is a lot to learn. "Thanks to Shakespeare Engineering, Challenger Solutions, NSM and Generator Power Systems for their continued support." Easter goodies on offer. 16th April: Explaining the spy picture of 3rd April, UK Wild Bunch racer Sarah Howells says that the Running for Paula 2014 campaign is getting off to an Eggceedingly good start with the help of a generous donation of Easter goodies from Tim Cooper and the team at one of the UK DHL sites. Hoping to raise money for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research, Sarah will be at the Festival of Power with a large amount of Easter goodie bags.  "I haven't counted them all yet but I think I've got over one thousand Cadbury Creme Eggs and treat size bags of Mini Eggs", says Sarah. "I need help to make sure they all fulfil their Easter destiny and get scoffed during Festival of Power!  The bags will be available from Thursday onwards and if enough donations are received there might even be the odd appearance from the Easter Bunny... you never know your luck!  "We're not quite ready to bring out the DASH Racing Chemical Reaction slingshot after a complete overhaul during the winter months, but I am very lucky to be driving the beautiful Black Pig Too slingshot owned by Steve and Lesley Field of FieldCraft Fabrication.  Eggciting stuff! "Come and get your Easter goodie bags from our spot in the Wild Bunch pits, usually somewhere near the finish line for this event, and raise money for a very good cause.  Hope to see lots of you very soon!" Super Pro ET Challenge is go! 16th April: UK Super Pro ET racer Pete Walters of Eurodragster.com sponsor Peter Walters Race Design writes that the Super Pro ET Award Challenge kicks off its second year at the Festival of Power: After an extremely successful first year, we have returned with more sponsors and more prize money than ever, and we hope It will be even better this year with even more entrants. The awards for which we are running for can be seen by clicking on the picture at right. Don't forget that you need to be a paid up member of the Super Pro ET Group before the first qualifying run on Friday. Entry the year is £15, to be paid to Richard Walters. We would like to thank Derek Flynn of Gold RV for putting up £50 and a unique trophy for the number one qualifier of every event in 2014, and Matt Wright from wemoveyourcar.com for putting up £30 and a trophy for the best Reaction Time at every event in 2014. Throwing in more excitement than ever! For the Festival of Power, as well as the £50 from Gold RV, there will be an additional £50 awarded to the number one qualifier. The winner of an award which will picked by random on Thursday night will take home a large trophy and a minimum of £250 prize money. We would like to thank all of our sponsors: Alders Performance Transmissions, Another Small Fortune Racing, Brad Jackson Racing, CNC Training Academy, Cygnet Business Solutions, Everitt's Jewellers,  Flavell Welding Specialists, Gary Malin Mobile Mechanic, Gas Applicance Services, Giles and Hartley Racing, Gold RV,Hauser Race Cars, Highway Plant, Hydrahose, Jancen Racing Engines / Mike Janis Superchargers, Jeff Bull Racing Engines, Mills CNC Ltd, Peter Walters Race Design, RT Signs, RW Services and Custom Paint, Spence Excavation, Springbridge Direct Ltd, Step-a-side.nl, Team Camaro Drag Racing, Team Time Is Money, Ultra Plastics Ltd, wemoveyourcar.com, Windscreen Wizards, Xtreme Racing and Zannetec. Good luck to everyone this weekend, and be safe! Wild Bunch 2014 calendar. 16th April: Wild Bunch Nostalgia Drag Racing Club Chairman Chris Hartnell and race co-ordinator Claire Meaddows have been in touch with details of their Series dates for 2014: The Club will run their Wild Bunch Series, which decides the Top 4 Championship placings, with results decided on best four of five rounds. 2014 is the nineteenth running of this Series. The Club will again be running a nine-round Series for former sponsors Real Steel Performance Automotive Products (01895 440505). Real Steel are not planning to sponsor the Club this particular season, but as a gesture of support to the company, we are running the Series for the full year, with Top 4 trophies decided on the best eight of nine rounds. The Wild Bunch would like to thank Real Steel, and Charles Pinion personally, very much for more than thirteen years of support. The Wild Bunch are also again running the Springbridge MSA Challenge, this year over the increased total of five MSA rounds at which we are competing. The prize for the winner is one free MSA event entry in 2015. The Wild Bunch are very grateful to Springbridge Direct for their generous support of this Series. Springbridge Direct are suppliers of topsoils and related products for industry and you can contact them at [email protected] or call 0845 370 1919. The club also run the three-event Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series, for which all rounds count. Many thanks to Roy for his kind donation of a prize fund for each of these three events this season. Roy undertakes a variety of machine and chassis work and can be contacted at the track or on 0121 5527188. In addition to the above sponsorship, the Wild Bunch now has additional sponsorship for individual events. Springbridge Direct are sponsoring a £50 prize fund for the event winner at our Spring Nationals (Yanks Weekend) at Shakespeare County Raceway. Scottie's Car Transportation will be giving £50 to the winner of the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at Shakey and £50 to the winner at Dragstalgia at Santa Pod. The company can transport any vehicle, restoration project or body shell and specialise in Classic Cars, Rods and Customs, even catering for low vehicles. Vehicles are transported with care and consideration by a fully insured classic car owner/drag racing enthusiast with over twenty years in the hot rodding / custom car scene. For more details see the web site or phone 07788 455385. Both Team Ratcatcher Resurrection and the C&C Nostalgia Drag Racing Team have also pledged £100 each for a prize fund at events, details to be confirmed, and we are also in discussion with a further three sponsors and will announce details in due course. If anyone would like to sponsor the Wild Bunch for an event in 2014, then please contact us at [email protected]. More than one person or company can sponsor any event with prize funds or products. The more the merrier! Here are all of the Wild Bunch dates for 2014: 18th-20th April: Festival Of Power - Santa Pod Raceway (Real Steel 1, Springbridge MSA 1) 3rd-5th May: Springspeed Nationals - Shakespeare County Raceway (RS 2, SMSA 2, APIRA 1) 24th-26th May: Spring Nationals at Yanks Weekend - Shakespeare County Raceway (Wild Bunch 1, RS 3) 7th-8th June: June Shootout at RWYB - Shakespeare County Raceway (WB 2, RS 4) 21st-22nd June: 21st NSRA Nostalgia Nationals - Shakespeare County Raceway (WB 3, RS 5, Roy Wilding 1) 28th-29th June: SPRC Summernationals - Santa Pod Raceway (RS 6, SMSA 3) 12th-13th July: Dragstalgia - Santa Pod Raceway (WB 4, RS 7, RW 2) 23rd-25th August: Open Sport Nationals - Shakespeare County Raceway (RS 8, SMSA 4, RW 3, APIRA 2) 20th-21st September: Fall Nationals at the UK National Finals - Santa Pod Raceway (WB 5, RS 9, SMSA 5) The Wild Bunch are really looking forward to the coming season, beginning with a ten-car field at this week's Festival of Power. We will be welcoming more new members as well as loads of regular members thoughout the season. We would like to thank in advance the SPRC and APIRA, all marshals, officials, track and safety crews, track managers, promoters, Eurodragster.com staff (Thanks! - Ed), photographers, media and event organisers for all their hard work, time and dedication. We wish every racer all the best for a fast, safe and sunny 2014 racing season! See you at the drags! Further details can be found at www.the-wild-bunch.co.uk. Grumps' perfect test. 16th April: When the UK's Paul Watson closed his company Dynospeed he decided to move away from bikes and return to his four-wheeled roots, purchasing the former Highlander Camaro from Eurodragster.com sponsor Paul Woodhead. Grumps had a highly successful test outing at Big Bang at the weekend and got in touch to tell us about it: During the winter I went through the car and applied a few updates including a Funny Car cage courtesy of Chris Issacs Race Cars. At Big Bang I ran 8.97 off the trailer and by the seventh pass had run 8.9009 with a 0.02 light. The car just does it with ease. We took out the throttle stop and ran an awesome 8.41/161 with a 1.17 sixty foot time. We are so looking forward to this season, I am so glad I bought the car and would like to thank everyone involved in getting it. Many people have helped me since I got the car, so a huge Thank You to Paul Woodhead and Direct Plastics, Gary Springford and DRE, Jeff Bull, Farm Fresh. Image Workx, Spencer Tramm, Simon Gough, and the Morrice boys for getting me into all this. And I know that Paula Marshall will be keeping an eye on me on every run, she will never be forgotten. Back, blown and rebuilt. 16th April: The UK's Miss-Guided Super Pro ET team are well-advanced with their plans to get back out on the track with their rebuilt '63 Vette: Following Deborah Laugher's accident in the Arrow at the 2012 FIA Main Event, the ex-Jon Hogarth/Martin Curbishley 'Vette was purchased in order to continue running the rest of the season but, things being what they are, whilst sitting in the pits watching the rain hammer down plans were hatched to make changes to the car.  The team had always wanted to run a blower motor and the new engine seemed like an ideal candidate for experimentation. Wanting to continue using the Flying Toilet, and as James Munroe is the man when it comes to this sort of thing, a blower set-up was ordered from KillerRons in Indiana and the motor despatched to Jeff Bull.  The engine and blower came together in Spring 2013 and the team quickly realised that the combination looked to be too quick for the chassis.  Luckily Webster Race Engineering is just round the corner and Jon Webster duly took in the car for what was supposed to be a new chassis but which turned out to be a total rebuild – and an awesome rebuild it is too. We'd like to thank James, Jon and Jeff for their work and support in this endeavour; they all make it seem so very easy. We've had the expected minor hiccups whilst testing, the last of which is now being addressed, and we should be back out testing next month, with a view to competing in Top Sportsman at the Mopars in July. We hope to increase the number of cars running under the Miss-Guided banner this year as crew member and daughter Natalie hopes to get her Zetec-powered Morris Eight out to compete in Sportsman ET later in the year. We are very happy to say that we will have the continued support of KillerRons this year and we recommend that you check out www.killerrons.com to see what James and his team can do for you; there is something there for everyone. Lohrspeed Transport (07502 292116) continues to support us and get us to the track on time.  They have a well-deserved reputation for moving cars around the country safely and carefully and if you look on their Facebook page you will see they certainly move a wide variety of cars and vans about!  We are very pleased to welcome Custom Coach Trimming (01386 834454) on board this year as sponsors.  Chris not only trims cars of all varieties but is a master of audio and visual fit outs.  To see the quality of his work visit his web site at www.customcoachtrimming.co.uk or come and look at our golf buggy seats.  AJG Automotive has also joined this year as sponsors, a bit of a change for them as they more normally support a Jaguar racing team which goes round in circles rather than a straight line.  If you live near Wellingborough and want quality work done on all makes of cars, then contact Andy on 07891 180685. Swift snippets. 16th April: This beauty is the Doignie and Lane Vauxhall VX4/90 in its 2014 colours. "Thanks go to Nic at OCS Paint for applying the amazing new colour and scheme", says Stuart Doignie. "Other than paint, hood scoop and an engine freshen the car remains unchanged as we look to build on the success of 2013. I will be campaigning the car in all rounds of Super Gas this year, apart from the SPRC Summernationals where there is a frustrating clash with Glastonbury. Tim will be aiming to get his licence and get familiar with the car as soon as possible.  Once this happens expect to see Tim's name appearing on entry lists later in the year. We are looking forward to the weekend and to catching up with all the other racers." Eurodragster.com sponsor Nitrous Oxide Supplies will be present at the Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway and will be offering Nitrous refills for £4 / lb including VAT. Simon Barker and the team have limited stock which will be offered first-come first-served basis. They will be found in Trader Area C after midday on Friday and then during daytime right through to 3:00-4:00 pm on the Sunday. Many thanks to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe for forwarding us the timing data from the weekend's Big Bang at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out the timing data by clicking here or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Les McNab and Mary Thomas have been in touch from New Zealand offering crewing help to teams at the SPRC Summernationals and Dragstalgia. "We have been rebuilding a Capri-bodied Funny Car built in Australia in the early 1970s, which will be ready for a shakedown run before we  head to England", says Les. "It runs a Crower methanol-injected 427, TCI Powerglide and Strange rear.  Mary is the official pilot. We also have run a flathead-powered nostalgia altered from the late 1960s for twenty five or so years. We would be keen to meet up with any Funny Car, rail or altered teams.  We are more than happy to help out if anyone is short of crew or would like some extra help". If you would like extra crew at the Summernationals or Dragstalgia then drop us a line at [email protected] and we'll put you in touch. K&N and Simpson back Hausers. 16th April: Eurodragster.com sponsor Hauser Racing is pleased to announce support from K&N Filters and Simpson Safety Equipment. Geof Hauser writes: We have been using a K&N air filter for a year and it is amazing, but alarming, how much dust and dirt it has trapped in that time. Many people overlook the importance of a good filtration system. Tthe K&N filter does not affect airflow in the slightest but stops the cylinder bore wear which inevitably happens without one. I can't recommend them enough. Scott has been using Simpson Safety Products throughout his racing career and from the fit of their helmets to the feel of the gloves he is more than happy. This year he will be wearing the new Hybrid Head and Neck Restraint for more safety. Through our association with both these companies we will be able to supply any product from their ranges, and will always carry a stock of popular oil filters with us at the tracks. Don't forget that all are invited to an Open Evening at Hauser Racing this Friday (18th) to check out the company's new dragster range. For more details check out our news item of 10th April. Festival of Power Perfect Awards. 16th April: This weekend's Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway is the second event in this season's Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards Scheme. £100 is on offer for perfect performance. This weekend's Eurodragster.com/Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by Lucas Oil Junior Dragster racer Ruaridh Hart at Big Bang. The money will be paid in cash to the first racer this weekend to record a Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds. The Perfect Light Award is available to racers in all classes during qualifying and eliminations, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect Light of the event. If not won this weekend then the Award will be increased to £75 for the Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway; if it is won then it will be reset to £50 for the Springspeed Nationals. The Perfect Light Award is presented in association with Bad Habit Racing (Cath and Tig Napier, Pro ET). Decals are not mandatory for the Perfect Light Award but we would appreciate it if Eurodragster.com decals are carried. Eurodragster.com decals will be available in the Signing On office or from the Eurodragster.com office in Race Control (entry via Spectator Bank side stairs only). This weekend's Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET Award has also been reset to £50 after it was won by VW Sportsman racer Adrian London at Big Bang. The money will be paid in cash to the first racer this weekend to run an ET to the thousandth of a second on dial-in or index. The Perfect ET Award is available this weekend during qualifying or eliminations in Super Pro ET, Pro ET, Sportsman ET, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street, Lucas Oil Junior Dragster (eliminations only), 8.50 Bike, 9.50 Bike, VW Pro, VW Sportsman, the Wild Bunch, ACU Supertwin ET and Junior Drag Bike but will only be awarded for the first Perfect Run of the event. If not won this weekend then the Award will be increased to £75 for the Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway; if it is won then it will be reset to £50 for the Springspeed Nationals. The Perfect ET Award is presented in association with RV sales and service specialists Gold RV. For more details about the services which Gold RV can provide see Derek Flynn or visit www.goldrv.co.uk. To be eligible to collect the Perfect ET Award, racers are required to carry decals, one on each side of the vehicle. If you pull this weekend's first Perfect ET but are not carrying decals then there will be no discussion; we will not pay out and the next person to pull a Perfect ET will get the money assuming that they are carrying decals. Decals will be available in the Signing On office from Friday. Web site updates. 16th April: The official web site of the UK's Chaos Fuel Altered has been updated with news of off-season work on the car. You can check it out under Latest News at www.chaos-fuel-altered.com. UK photographer Dick Parnham has updated his Flickr gallery with pictures from the 2006 Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway. You can find Dick's shots at www.flickr.com/photos/dickparnhamdragracing. Festival of Power racer update. 15th April: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us the arrangements for this week's Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway: Santa Pod Raceway's gates open at 08:00 on Thursday both for those entered for that day's Pro Peak Performance Day and for those racing at the weekend. Pitting will commence when gates open. The Signing On office opens at 10:00 Thursday, 07:00 Friday, 07:00 Saturday and 07:30 Sunday. Racers and crew must be signed on by 11:00 on Sunday. Car scrutineering commences at 11:00 Thursday, 07:00 Friday, 07:00 Saturday and 07:30 Sunday. You can check out the car scrutineering schedule by clicking here. Bike scrutineering commences at 15:00 Thursday, 07:00 on Friday, 07:00 Saturday and 07:30 Sunday. You can check out the bike scrutineering schedule by clicking here. Friday's provisional running order is available and can be checked out by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Saturday's and Sunday's running orders will follow. Please note that running orders are subject to change due to weather or track conditions or for any other reason deemed necessary by race officials. Please bear in mind the new curfew times in effect at Santa Pod Raceway this season. Absolutely no race car or bike motors are to be started before 09:00 or after 20:00 on any day. If going round to scrutineering before 09:00 then please push or tow, do not drive. Your co-operation is appreciated. Editor's note: An abbreviated news update today for reasons beyond our control but we can promise you that tomorrow's news update is going to make War and Peace look like a leaflet. There is room for more so please keep the news coming to [email protected]. Big Bang results. 14th April: Congratulations to the winners at this weekend's Big Bang at Santa Pod Raceway: Sportsman ET: Ethan Lisle (16.52) 16.5285/79.52 def. Matthew Moxon (13.46) 13.5426/101.02 Lucas Oil Junior Dragster: Shannon Kiddell (8.01) 8.0794/77.73 def. Joe Holland-Villa (8.76) 8.9537/73.82 VW Pro: James Hodson (10.75) 10.8954/124.75 def. Jacob Bailey (12.62) 12.7920/96.64 VW Sportsman: Adrian London (18.00) 18.0927/69.95 def. Polly Judge (15.60) 15.6890/90.33 Outlaw Anglia: Cliff Griffin 7.8600/177.81 def. Colin Millar 7.9074/156.84 DQ red JDS Street: Liam Concannon 9.9283/144.77 def. Jeff Ludgate no time DQ red 8.50 Bike: Jake Mechaell 8.5873/157.93 def. Martin Walker 8.4855/157.40 DQ b/o 9.50 Bike: Richard Sawatzki 9.6567/141.66 def. Alex Hope 9.4429/128.32 DQ b/o Congratulations also to Ruaridh Hart (Junior Dragster) and Adrian London (VW Sportsman) who won the £50 Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award and Eurodragster.com / Gold RV Perfect ET Award respectively. Both Awards have been reset to £50 for the Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway at the end of this week. Unsurprisingly for a mainly bracket and index event no class records were set, although many Personal Bests were reset both in competition and in testing, and in the first round of Lucas Oil Junior Dragster eliminations Paige Wheeler beat Jacob Kopasz by 0.000043 seconds which equates to 0.06 inches or 1.524 millimetres. This is the UK's closest-ever Junior Dragster race and we are thinking Europe's closest-ever Junior Dragster race unless our readers know better. You can check out our Alamo Rent A Car-sponsored Big Bang coverage by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Look away now... 14th April: ...if you have recorded the ESPN coverage of the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals to watch at your leisure and don't want to know what happened. For the rest of us it has been a fantastic weekend for European drag racing in the USA. Big congratulations to multiple FIA European Pro Stock Champion Jimmy Ålund who won Pro Stock at the Four Wides in Charlotte. Starting from #8 qualifying spot Jimmy made his way through the field and his 6.562/211.59 in the final round beat Shane Gray's 6.563/211.69, Vince Nobile's 6.667 209.46 and Erica Enders-Stevens' 11.719/79.19. Congratulations also to Jonnie Lindberg who made it to the final of Top Alcohol FC in Charlotte only to hit bad shake and lose to Dan Pomponio. Together with Elvira Karlsson, Ulf Leanders and Eurodragster.com sponsor Mike Manners, Jimmy and Jonnie have done European drag racing proud in Charlotte this weekend. Huge congratulations to Ian King who also did us proud by taking the Top Fuel Bike title at the Manufacturers' Cup race in Valdosta and doing it in style, also taking the final spot in the TFBs' Five Second Club. Ian blew away his PB with a 5.878/225.07 to beat Chris Hand's ten-second pass. The Gulf Oil-sponsored racer was the class of the field, Ian, Marius van der Zijden and the guys seemingly the only team to work out the track at Valdosta - evidenced by Ian's defeat of Spiderman Larry McBride in the previous round. Results are available at Dragbike.com and notes on Ian's web site at www.kingracing.com. Brad set for Super Pro début. 14th April: After four years in Junior Dragster, the UK's Brad Jackson has now joined Nick Good Motorsport, now the only three-car Super Pro ET team in Europe. Dad Wayne writes: Brad gained his Super Pro licence during last year's UK National Finals weekend in the dragster usually driven Dave Catton, after which I spent the winter working on gaining sponsorship for the project and secured some new partners for 2014. They are Lucas Oil USA; Lucas Oil UK; Pentagon Corporate Fleet who supply 17,000 cars a year to corporates; D&S Signs who wrapped the car and who provide signs, decals, promotional materials, place mats, I-phone covers, mugs etc; Martin Williams Hull, commercial body builders and converters; Plytek, light commercial vehicle Ply line and vehicle accessories; Alamo, discounted worldwide car rental from Brad's web site - click on the Alamo logo; Six B apparel, who designed and manufactured the team shirts. Nick Good and Christiann Carlo have worked tirelessly to build the new car throughout the winter and the result is a stunning looking Peter Walters Race Design livery wrapped by D&S Signs. PWRD have also designed the team's hero cards. We intend to run the 2014 Championship in the most professional manner and we hope to be competitive in this Super Pro ET. We will promote our sponsors' brands and companies in the pits and always present the car, our clothing and ourselves in a clean and professional manner. We have joined Nick Good Motorsport for 2014 as the team is experienced and we will have the best possible help. Dave Catton has been wonderful with Brad and trained him very well. We will be at Santa Pod Raceway on Thursday. We are very excited about the 2014 series and the challenges that it will bring. Tony Kelly has written a great feature about Brad for the York Press, which you can read by clicking here. You can find out more on Brad's newly-relaunched web site at www.bradjacksonracing.com and please Like our Facebook page at BradJacksonRacing. CG Composites back BA Racing. 14th April: UK Pro Modified team BA Racing are pleased to announce support for 2014 from Carlo Gandolfi of CG Composites. Bert Englefield and Andy Wright write: We have known Carlo for thirty years, and for the last few years he has been trying to get us to use one of his injector hats. So for 2014 we have a Darren Mayer-designed Mk 14 Pro Mod injector hat and Darren Mayer fuel system. Carlo also has Kobelco supercharger parts in stock so anyone needing anything can contact him through his web site at www.cgcomposites.co.uk. We would also like to thank Lee Child of LA Racing Parts for all of his help. We have updated the car over the winter with a new titanium firewall and titanium propshaft tube. We also now have a spare Brad Anderson motor and spare Lenco and another crankshaft all ready to go should we need them. You can keep up with us this weekend on the BA Racing Facebook page. Toy story. 14th April: Ian and Carol Jackson of Eurodragster.com sponsor Jacksons MoT and Service Centre are the proud owners of the Tokyo Toy Super Gas 1969 Camaro formerly campaigned by Jon Evans and Steve Dunn. Ian writes: We saw the car on Eurodragster.com's Swap Meet. I had a long chat with Carol, the team's real boss (We knew that - Ed) and she said "Come on then, let's go and view the car". So off we went to Farnham. The garage door was open when we got there and the boss said "Wow" so the deal was done. We collected the car on Saturday, so now we just have to learn everything about it. We would like to say a big thanks to Messrs Evand and Dunn for all their help and to Eurodragster.com for advertising the car (Thanks, it's what we're there for - Ed). For those following our Project Orange '79 Camaro build, it is still in the hands of Tony Stamp and will be out in future with our Jake at the wheel. Many thanks all and see you at the track. Gough tests positive. 14th April: UK Super Pro ET racer Simon Gough had a blinding weekend at Santa Pod Raceway where he was testing his Camaro. Simon got in touch to let us know how The Package came together: Testing got underway at about 12:00 on Friday with a shakedown run just to get things right both with myself and the car. For the first few runs I was trying to get a hold of the new trans which was supplied by Jeff Bull, who kindly took a day out to spend tuning the car, and me. Going from a three-speed reverse pattern to two-speed forward pattern Glide was not as easy as I thought. But after three runs it all worked fine. We tried four different settings on Friday. Another setting for Saturday gave us good numbers again, two more 8.4s to add to those we ran on Friday. On Saturday night, after going through all the runs on the Racepak, we changed some settings which finalised a new base setting for the season, no more touching or tweaking. Sunday gave us a perfect day's testing, four 8.35s one after the other. I can't thank the track crew enough, all of you are the best. And I'd also like to thank the following because without them it wouldn't happen: Sharron Gough, Dan Devlin, Lee Newlin, Jeff Bull, Las Motorhomes, Opie Oils, K&N Filters, and NGK Spark Plugs. This is what makes The Package. Swift snippets. 14th April: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com (below left) came with the words "Propeller drive?". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at [email protected]. Swedish Top Methanol FC racer Leif Andréasson will be taking corners this year with his new ride, a Mosler GT3 car with Chevy LS7 V8 (above right) which he will race in Endurance events in both Sweden and elsewhere in Europe. The car will be displayed with its two other drivers at this weekend's Bilsport Performance Show in Jönköping together with the new sponsor Meguiar's Car Care. "The team will be our drag racing crew with two new mechanics", says Leif. "The team is in the shop preparing both the Funny Car and the Mosler for the season." Santa Pod Raceway have kindly given us the go-ahead for a Webster Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcast of this weekend's Festival of Power. Broadcasts will commence with Thursday's Pro Racer Test and Tune Day and will continue throughout the three days of the race, which ends on Sunday evening. Fingers crossed that our currently-bricked webcast PC is back in action; parts have been ordered but if they do not arrive in time then the PC kindly supplied by Steve Horn and Dave Anniwell of Santa Pod Raceway's timing crew stands ready to substitute. Staying with the webcasts, whilst a small number of parties have standing permission to copy results and pictures from our Alamo Rent A Car-sponsored Event Coverage, no-one has or will ever have permission to grab or otherwise copy video from our Webster Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcasts. Pointing a mobile phone at a computer screen and filming it is pretty desperate but it is nevertheless a breach of our copyright and we will come after those who do it. If that is you then don't bother with self-justifying E-Mails, just remove the footage immediately and remember who heads up the Eurodragster.com Complaints Department. Web site updates. 14th April: Our good buddy Alan Currans has updated his excellent Acceleration Archive with pictures of Saturday's action at the Public Track Weekend at Shakespeare County Raceway. As ever you can stay in touch with the latest updates via the What's New link at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. Europeans abroad. 12th April: Good luck and stay safe to Jimmy Ålund (Pro Stock), Elvira Karlsson (Pro Stock Bike), Jonnie Lindberg (Top Alcohol Funny Car), Ulf Leanders (TAFC) and Mike Manners of Eurodragster.com sponsor Cosmo Residences (Top Alcohol Dragster) who are contesting this weekend's Four-Wide Nationals at Z-Max Dragway. Qualifying continues today (Saturday) and you can stay in touch with our heroes' progress courtesy of our Drag Race Central colleagues at www.dragracecentral.com. The Lindbergs are also filing reports with Marcus Sjödin's www.dragracing24.com. Good luck, especially for the remaining Five Second Club slot, and stay safe also to Ian King who is contesting Top Fuel Bike at the season opening Manufacturers Cup event at Valdosta. Ian plans to post updates on his own web site at www.kingracing.com, and results should also be available at www.dragbike.com and www.stripbike.com. Merriman's mixed feelings. 11th April: Seeing racers making their last minute preparation and the general excitement for the start of the season has left UK Pro racer Richard Merriman with mixed feelings: There are so many new cars ready to début as well as existing cars that are hunting for quicker ETs and their claim on the number one spot. It's fantastic to see the enthusiasm and cars actually back on track. However my own car is missing the party. After a fantastic and very fulfilling season last year, I ended up finishing the year with the car running consistent low twelves even managing a backed off 12.19! I managed to complete a full season with the VWDRC, take part in a number of RWYB events and finally realise a dream of running with the Street Eliminator crew at Main Event and European Finals. So my winter maintenance plan was to pull the engine and give it a general health check and investigate a noise with the clutch. Upon inspection it was no surprise that the clutch had taken some beating throughout the season. The flywheel and cover plate faces were crazed and scored and the clutch disc was on its last legs. However I wasn't prepared to find that there was a hairline crack round the flywheel mounting flange. Thankfully I caught it before anything got worse but as this wasn't an off the shelf item and has taken until now to source a replacement. The next stop is to strip the engine and get the crank balanced with the new parts. This means that the car will be out of action for a while. To lift my spirits though I was fortunate to have my car featured in Ultra VW Magazine this month. Not only the great six-page write-up but on the front cover too! This will certainly give me some motivation to get the car back out again. Swift snippets. 11th April: For those who like their drag racing in a nostalgic vein, Keith Lee recently interviewed racing legend and British Drag Racing Hall of Fame member Dennis Priddle for a four-page feature in the May issue of Custom Car magazine, due out today. Along with a frank look back at his time in the sport, there are a number of previously unpublished photos which Keith shot at the time. "It was great to be able to sit down with Dennis for a few hours, and enjoy a look back at some of the momentous moments in our drag racing history," commented Keith on the interview. The interview runs as a special feature in the Auto Focus series which has been featured in Custom Car for several months. The local press in Sweden are reporting that the sale of Tierp Arena to Sånna Förvaltnings AB has hit a problem related to the amount of the successful bid against the facility's valuation. We will bring you more on this as we receive it. Christine, Sandy, Stuart and Megan have asked us to say a big Happy Birthday to UK Super Comp / Super Gas racer Collin Morrice. Our pleasure guys, have a great day Collin. Also celebrating his birthday today is UK Junior Dragster racer Sam Holland-Villa, to whom Dave Holland, Joe Holland-Villa and Spencer Tramm asked us to say Happy Birthday. Sure thing guys, have a great day Sam. Editor's note: For readers with an interest in trivia and nothing better to occupy their minds, today is the 37th anniversary of your News Editor's first visit to Santa Pod Raceway. Spring Madness at SCR. 11th April: Spring has sprung in time for Shakespeare County Raceway's second Public Track Weekend of the year tomorrow and Sunday. Jerry Cookson of SCR writes: Thank you to everyone who came out to run their cars and bikes a couple of weeks ago, and to everyone who supported the Sands Charity Race Day which raised over £800. With so much support shown a second charity fund raiser is all set to take place on the Sunday of our Ladies That Launch weekend on 19th-20th July. More about that later except to say a big Thank You from Kayleigh, Emma, Neil and the rest of the girls and boys from Cruzin 4 Sands. This coming Sunday features the second in our series of Bracket Gamblers Races taking place thanks to our generous supporters and drivers. In the first, seasoned veteran Brian Huxley took the money run against the Mopar D50 truck of York Raceway's Lee Chiles in a thrilling final sprint to the finish. And just to prove that it's not all a male dominated sport, young Sarah Senderski topped the qualifying chart with a near-perfect 16.185 on a 16.18 dial-in from her mustard yellow '79 Chevy Camaro. So who will it be taking home the money this weekend? Find out this coming Sunday. Details on how to enter can be found on our SCR Bracket Gamblers page at www.shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk/bracketgambler.asp or visit the track's Facebook page. Also appearing for the first time this season will be a strong contingent of riders from the National Sprint Association. With so many straight line sprints for the Southern Championship, riders will be eagerly awaiting the season to begin on Saturday morning. Staying with the cycle theme, riders from the Coventry-based Antelope Club will be having their Classic 50 Sprint over the weekend along with a big contingent of fifty or more Suzuki Bandit owners. Drivers from the Honda Drag Series had their first outing of the season at the last Public Track Weekend with a good mix of mildly-tuned to full-on race-prepped Honda CRXs. There are five rounds of the series this year and they are all exclusive to Shakespeare County Raceway. Members from the Supercharged Outlaws will also be attending looking for track time before their first round at Yanks at the end of May. Keeping the Japanese scene going throughout the weekend will be members from Club Jap, the newly-formed Collective Subaru and Modified Car Club, as well as the Viva Outlaws. Fancy becoming a drag racer overnight? Well, now you can by trying 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 drag racing Champion! Contact Shakespeare County Raceway 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 full driving licence (provisional licences not accepted) and crash helmet. Remember: No Licence No Race! Gates open at 6:00 pm this evening (Friday). Track opens for RWYB at 10:00 am and goes on to 5:00 pm both tomorrow and Sunday. Further information can be found on the track's web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk or call 01789 720180. With a lot of help from our friends... 11th April: The restoration and operation of Europe's first dragster, Sydney Allard's 1961 Allard Chrysler, could not continue without the help of our many supporters. Recent supplies have come from the following businesses and Allard Chrysler Action Group Chair Brian Taylor has been in touch to express sincere thanks for their help: Steve Clark at Nimbus Motorsport has continued his support of the Allard Chrysler dragster project by supplying a System 1 billet spin on oil filter Part Number 209-561B. On advice from Nimbus we have chosen the 3.75" diameter filter which is slightly longer than the original. We have also changed to a 45 micron element (part number 208-560) for use with the 60wt oil. It means we will be able to drop the filter after a run, clean the mesh after checking for debris and re-install after filling with oil. Much better than just replacing the filter without having the ability to check for debris unless the old filter unit is destroyed. D&M Classics was established in 1972 and have a dedicated team with more than eighty years of experience. From Ford V8 Pilots to E-type Jaguars, MGBs to Bentleys they can offer a restoration package tailored to individual requirements. They were able to help us when we ran into trouble with the clutch shaft in the Ford Pilot style gearbox fitted to the Allard Chrysler dragster. It has not been a straight forward replacement because some time in the dragster's past the shaft has been reduced in diameter; probably when trying out different clutches. However with the additional help of Andy Robinson Race Cars we were able to fabricate a suitable replacement for the well-worn one that has been on the car since 1964. Thanks Ginger. Les Downey at Lucas Oil Products UK is continuing his support for the project. For 2014 we have decided to revert back to using Lucas Blue 50 Plus Racing Oil with Organic Moly. We have also been advised to use Lucas Oil Stabiliser. With more frequent oil changes and our new System 1 oil filter we feel the engine is much better protected. Evans Coolants will continue their support by supplying the company's Waterless Coolant product which helps keep the engine cool for longer cackle running. We suffered a lot of over-heating in 2012 but replacing the water with Evans Coolant certainly improved things so we are thankful for their continued support. Links to all of these businesses can be found on the Links page at www.allardchrysler.org. Big Bang racer notice. 10th April: Racers going to tomorrow's VWDRC Test Day, Big Bang this weekend, or both are reminded about the new curfews in effect at Santa Pod Raceway this season. Absolutely no race car or bike motors are to be started before 09:00 or after 20:00 on any day. If going round to scrutineering before 09:00 then please push or tow, do not drive. Your co-operation is appreciated. Event entry update. 10th April: Entry is currently open for the Springspeed Nationals, the third UK National Championship round as well as a round of various Club Championships including Wild Bunch, Outlaw Anglia and NAST, which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway on 3rd-5th May. Entry will close on 30th April. Official Springspeed Nationals entry forms are now available from the Downloads page of the Shakespeare County Raceway web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com. If you have any queries about event entry at Shakespeare County Raceway then please E-Mail [email protected] or call 01789 720180. Hauser holds Open Evening. 10th April: Eurodragster.com sponsor Hauser Race Cars will be holding an Open Evening next Friday, 18th April, and all are invited. Geof Hauser writes: The Open Evening takes place between 6:00 pm and 9:00 pm and interested parties will be able to see the new series of Hauser Racing dragsters currently under construction. By making jigs for everything and making batches of parts and components, we have been able to reduce the cost of having a car built. We are going to be selling the cars in affordable packages so racers can purchase the initial chassis, body and axle package then everything else will be a bolt on. All mounts and brackets are included in the first stage and subsequent packages are designed to enable assembly of the car at the customers own pace. Full package details will be available on the night. If you would like to come then please contact either Ian or I on 01933 682500 or at [email protected] to confirm attendance so we can get a feel for likely numbers attending. Diary of a dragsterholic. 10th April: We are pleased to welcome rookie Sportsman ET racer Jon Crawford as the latest to post an exclusive Racer Blog presented in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car. Jon is a longtime fan who has finally cracked and given racing a go; his first competitive outing is at next week's Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway. In the opening instalment of his Blog Jon introduces himself and explains what made him decide to go racing after all these years. You can check out Jon's Blog by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Team Gridlock well-oiled. 10th April: Three-time Wild Bunch Champions Team Gridlock are extremely excited and proud to announce a sponsorship programme with Millers Oils.  Team Principal Dex Price writes: Millers Oils were established in 1887 in Brighouse, West Yorkshire and are now a leading independent blender of oil and fuel additives. Millers Oils research, develop and produce advanced engine oils, gearbox oils, lubricants and fuel additives. The very latest example are the energy efficient oils for passenger cars which allow drivers to save on fuel costs and reduce the wear on their engines. These energy efficient oils were developed using similar technology to their Nanodrive Racing Engine Oils, which allow race drivers to get more power from their engine to the wheels and reduce engine wear. Team Gridlock will be using Millers oils and lubricants in their fourth successive Wild Bunch Championship quest and the team's Topolino altered will be sporting the Millers logo on their car for 2014. Check out the range of oils and lubricants on the Millers Oil web site at www.millersoils.co.uk, and don't forget to Like their Facebook page as well! Swift snippets. 10th April: We have two spy pictures for you today. The first (below left) came with the words "Meet the twins"... ...whilst the second (above right) came with the words. "New season, new car, upgraded engine!". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at [email protected]. Kev Charman asked us to say a big Happy Birthday to reigning ACU UK Comp Bike Champion Lizz McCarthy. Our pleasure, have a lovely day Lizz. As already announced we will be presenting a Webster Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcast of tomorrow's VWDRC Test Day at Santa Pod Raceway, but please note that the test session does not commence until midday UK time. The webcam will be on-line at times during the morning tomorrow, but be advised that we will be carrying out various tests so the webcast will be stop-start until the test session commences. Speedgroup launch Bike Championship. 9th April: Speedgroup have announced the 2014 EDRS Pro Bike Nordic Championship for Supertwin and Pro Stock Bike. This is an official Nordic Championship sanctioned by the Motorcycle Motorsports Federations in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark and will take place on the following dates: 12th-15th June: Tierp Arena, Sweden (NDRS Motorclub) 28th-29th June: Alastaro Circuit, Finland (FHRA) 2nd-4th August: Gardermoen Raceway, Norway (NDRG) 15th-17th August: Sundsvall Raceway, Sweden (SHRA Sundsvall) 21st-24th August: Tierp Arena, Sweden (NDRS Motorclub) The EDRS Pro Bike Nordic Championship is open to riders holding international licenses regardless of nationality; Scandinavian racers require a National competition licence. A minimum number of eight racers per class must be registered by 15th May for the Championship to take place. Registration is now open at www.dragracing.eu. A presentation document is available from Speedgroup Co-ordinator Åsa Kinnemar at [email protected] or call +46 706 245077. £2000 for the quickest shifter. 9th April: Santa Pod Raceway have announced the Quick Shift presented in association with Webster Race Engineering and ICE Automotive, an all-new drag racing competition held across all Run What You Brung and Peak Performance Days up to Saturday 11th October. The aim is simple: to find the quickest manually-shifted race car in the UK. The winner will receive a £2000 cash prize courtesy of ICE Automotive and Webster Race Engineering. Phil Bennett of Santa Pod Raceway writes: All cars are welcome to take part regardless of their street-legality, so whether you have something Jap, American, European or anything else, why not give it a go? All participants must depress the clutch for every gear change and must have an H-pattern gearbox; sequential gearboxes are not eligible. All you need to do to enter is to submit your three quickest timing slips of the year from eligible events with your name, car and contact details and we'll take your average ET from those three runs. The four quickest drivers on average after the final date of Saturday 11th October will be invited to take part in a Shootout at the Flame and Thunder Show on Saturday 25th October where the slate will be wiped clean and the quickest time of the day will take the bounty. If you'd like to enter, send copies of your timing slips to [email protected] or submit them in the Signing On office. Leader boards will be posted on-line once entries have been received. For more information please visit www.rwyb.co.uk/quickshift. Stutz outlines season plans. 9th April: Two hundred friends, fans, sponsors and media representatives attended a presentation by Switzerland's Erbacher Top Fuel Dragster team in Arlesheim last Friday, where Noah Stutz outlined his goals and ambitions for 2014. Noah, who be racing alongside six-time FIA European Champion Urs Erbacher, spoke confidently about both the past and upcoming season. The goals are clearly defined: racing in the FIA European Championships, Noah will gain as much experience as he can, so that he can licence for a campaign in the USA in the autumn. Amongst the unique racing atmosphere in the workshop with boss Urs Erbacher and teammates, guests enjoyed a great presentation and culinary treats prepared by a barbecue Champion. Noah was the centre of attention in front of the garage with his newly-built Top Fuel dragster making a loud and impressive warm-up. Noah used the occasion to thank his family, his team, the 111er Club and his new sponsors and partners such as Midland, Formex, 102 pc, SCS IT and Liquid Ice for their support. Noah's 2014 racing calendar: 18th-20th April: Festival of Power, Santa Pod Raceway (GB) 23rd-26th May: FIA/FIM Championships Round 1, Santa Pod Raceway (GB) 12th-15th June: Sweden Internationals, Tierp Arena (S) 3rd-6th July: FHRA Nitro Nationals, Alastaro Circuit (FIN) 8th-10th August: NitrOlympX, Hockenheimring (D) 21st-24th August: Scandinavian Internationals, Tierp Arena (S) 4th-7th September: FIA/FIM Championship Finals, Santa Pod Raceway (GB) 30th October-2nd November: Toyota Nationals, Las Vegas (USA) 13th-16th November: Auto Club Finals, Pomona (USA) Swift snippets. 9th April: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com (below left) came with no words. If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at [email protected]. Jim Kelly of Eurodragster.com sponsor VP Racing Fuels says that as well as fuelling NHRA, IMSA's Rolex 24 Hour Race at Daytona Beach etc, the company also brand petrol stations (above right). "Any petrol distributors wishing to brand stations under the VP colours should give us a call!", says Jim. Many thanks to our good buddy Benoit Pigeon for sending us this picture of Sweden's Adam Flamholc in action at the inaugural PDRA event at Rockingham. "Adam went to the semi-finals and the car is now back on track with great consistency", says Benoit. "On each new pass the car was giving a little more." Sweden's Lindberg Brothers are on their way to Z-Max Dragway to contest Top Alcohol Funny Car at this weekend's Four-Wide Nationals. Marcus Sjödin tells us that the Lindbergs are sending updates to www.dragracing24.com. It's going to be a busy weekend for European fans as Jimmy Ålund (Pro Stock), Ulf Leanders (TAFC), Elvira Karlsson (Pro Stock Bike) and Mike Manners of Eurodragster.com sponsor Cosmo Residences (TAD) are also contesting the event in Charlotte and Ian King (Top Fuel Bike) is contesting the season opening Manufacturers Cup event at Valdosta. We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to Team 4Gs member and new mum Corrinne Gibb. Have a lovely day Corrinne. Brown's dragster for sale. 9th April: UK National, APIRA and SPRC Super Comp Champion Paul Brown writes that he is putting his multiple Championship-winning dragster up for sale. Paul assures us that it will not be the last we see of him when the car sells, and that until the car is sold he will continue to race: At the beginning of last season I decided not to defend my 2013 UK National Pro ET Championship and just to run in Super Comp at Santa Pod Raceway. The Festival of Power came along and I still remember the freezing conditions, sitting strapped in ready to go and the next thing snow was coming into the car. Luckily, the weather held to enable the event to be finished and I grabbed my first event win. After a late entry at Shakespeare County Raceway I found myself on a roll by winning both the Springspeed Nationals and the FIA Main Event. Thoughout the season there were incredible lights and close racing from everyone in the class, which is why I enjoy bracket racing so much. After taking runner-up at the FIA Eururopean Finals, I just needed to qualify and stage the car at the UK National Finals  to wrap up all three Championships. Thanks to everyone in my team for making it all possible. It has been an incredible four years of racing and we have achieved success, running this car far beyond any of our wildest dreams when starting racing back in 2010. I have decided to put the dragster and trailer up for sale after Easter. I will continue to compete in the National Super Comp Championship until such time as the car is sold and I am in no rush to sell it. As for the future, we have a plan in the pipeline and will return as soon as possible. This is a great, consistent turn-key dragster which has won six Championships in the past four years, driven to nine finals and won three events, a perfect car for someone to go faster or to start racing. It is low maintenance and can be raced in Super Pro ET, Pro ET or Super Comp. If this is something you may be interested in, then come and have chat in the Super Comp pits at Santa Pod at Easter. I wish everyone a fast and safe season. A world-beating season. 9th April: Sören and Peter Svensson of the Team Starta Racing Top Fuel Bike team say that 2013 was the season when the World Record finally returned to Sweden after many years of absence; their dear friend and contemporary Stefan Reisten owned the record in the late 1980s: As many of you might remember we wrote in our 2012 Season Review that that year would always be remembered, and looking back at 2013 we all know that it will always have its place in the history books after a magic Sunday at Tierp Arena in August when we ran a new World Record and backed it up not only once but twice with a string of numbers never produced by any team in the world before. The mainly change which we had made for 2013 was to mount a bigger HPS 2.1 supercharger from HPS Superchargers. We had high hopes for it and it proved to be a perfect match for our engine combination. Our season started at the EDRS Nationals at Tierp Arena on 10th–12th of May. We went to test our new set-up for the first time at the smoothest track. We had extremely good air conditions throughout the and several tests were carried out in order to find a set up for the upcoming season. We set a new Personal Best sixty foot time of 0.977 seconds, which was very promising for the upcoming season. Sweden Internationals, 13th–16th June, Tierp Arena, Sweden: During this race we mainly focused on stepping up our combination even more from the test session in May, and we had a great time doing that. The changes resulted in a new personal best of 2.496 at 330 feet! Summary of the weekend - qualified no 1, winner of the event. The win later proved to be good enough to earn us third spot in the FIM European Championship. Scandinavian Internationals, 23rd–26th August, Tierp Arena, Sweden: The race where our World Record setting dreams came true! We had to detune the bike compared to the race in June since the air was very good. In doing this we created a new tune up which was exactly what we needed to be able to run a backed up World Record. Our way towards the record was magic as we firstly qualified number one with a 5.77 and backed it up first with a 5.82 in E2 and then an even quicker 5.769 in the final. We also ran new Personal Bests of 3.72/342.42 kmh over the eighth mile. Summary of the weekend - qualified number one, winner of the event, new World ET Record of 5.76 seconds (backed up within one per cent). Haltech Manufacturers Cup, 9th–11th November, Bradenton, Florida USA: The final event of the year for our team started more or less the week after the Scandinavian Internationals with preparations to ship our bike and all of our equipment in a container which our good friend Per Bengtsson had arranged. This would take both our teams and Eric Teboul's Rocket Bike to Florida in time for our race at Bradenton Motorsports Park. We got to the track the weekend before the Finals and we were allowed to make some test runs which were really promising. Then we rented the track together with Per Bengtsson and the Beast team for the Monday before the race. Unfortunately we discovered some strange mechanical problems which had to be sorted out before the race. As many of you know we solved all of our mechanical problems as late as overnight Saturday / Sunday of the actual race. We were able to start eliminations thanks to fantastic clutch work by our new friends at Roaring Toys very late on Saturday evening. Summary of the weekend - qualified number one, runner up, seventh member of the famous American MTC 5 Second Club, fifth place in the Manufacturers Cup (only participating in one of four races), and not to forget having a great time with all of our American, Swedish, French, German and English friends, fans and fellow racers! Summary of Personal Bests 60 foot: 0.977, 2013-05-12, Tierp, Sweden 330 feet: 2.496/258.87 kmh (160.89 mph), date 2013-06-16, Tierp, Sweden 660 feet: 3.725/342.42 (212.81), 2013-08-25, Tierp, Sweden 1000 feet: 4.758/384.07 (238.70 mph), 2012-08-24, Tierp, Sweden 1320 feet: 5.709/380.67 (236.58 mph), 2012-08-24, Tierp, Sweden We are very proud of what we have achieved so far, especially since we have not yet been able to run a full quarter mile with our new engine / clutch combination. It is still under development and we know that there is more in the bike - but we just have to figure out how. During our record-setting 2013 season we made a lot of promising test runs which will hopefully will pay off even more in future races. Team STARTA Racing and other Swedish teams have high hopes to be able to represent the Swedish National Team during a possible World Cup in Top Fuel Bike which will hopefully happen in the near future if everything goes well. A big Thank You to those who make this possible: STARTA Produkter, supplied by Sollebrunns Oljeservice PR Husbilar, one of the largest companies in the western region of Sweden selling RVs HPS Supechargers, number one when it comes to superchargers Samek Tool AB, who make some of the best moulding tools in the automotive industry in Sweden Real Form, product development within mechanical design Goproactive, supplier of PC and network solutions, outsourcing, on-line services, communication systems, security and more Swecomposite, number one when it comes to bodywork for drag racing and many other areas using the same technique Temec, one of Sweden's leading companies selling hot runner systems and much more for moulding tools Jarmos Custom Auto: For all your help during all years supplying the best parts available Pippi, number one when it comes to marketing Roaring Toys, for all your help at the Haltech World Finals All our fans and family members who support us towards new achievements every year! We would also like to take the opportunity to thank all our friends, competitors, track staff, race organisers, the former owners of Tierp Arena, everyone at Bradenton Motorsports Park, FIM Europe / SVEMO officials and the staff at Speedgroup.eu, Eurodragster.com, Kingracing.com, Stripbike.com, Dragbike.com, Patrik Jacobsson, Stefan Boman, Ivan Sansom and Rose Hughes, Tom McCarthy, Jay Regan, Larry Burgey, Pasi Upponen and many more for their help and support during 2013. We wish all of you a great start to the 2014 racing season! For more information about our previous achievements and updates (in English) please visit www.billetracing.se. Slyfield makes Easter. 8th April: UK Pro Modified racer Kev Slyfield says that after eight solid months of work his new 1957 Thunderbird will make the Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway next week. "When the deal was made with Andy Robinson back in September to buy the part-built 1957 Ford Thunderbird, the plan was for Andy to build the car up to a stage where I could take it on and transfer my parts from the Willy's onto the T-bird and true to his word it was ready in January", says Kev. "Since then the crew and I have worked almost non-stop to get it ready for the first meeting. "With a few last jobs to do and work out how to get it in the trailer we are really looking forward to débuting the car at Easter." Next week's Festival of Power ushers in Year 8 of the MSA British Drag Racing Championship for Pro Modified. Championship PR Robin Jackson writes: The 2014 series is extended to six rounds and will produce a fresh Champion: 2013 title winner Bruno Bader will not defend his crown though he still plans to compete at several of the races to make life supremely difficult for the other contenders. Britain's 'Godfather of Pro Mod', Andy Robinson, doubtless starts the season as Championship favourite. Robinson has done the deal three times before, in 2007, 2009 and 2010, and only missed a fourth triumph last year by losing a winner-takes-all final to Bader at the National Finals. At 237.66 mph, Robinson's new Camaro is already faster than its Studebaker predecessor but not yet as quick – 6.177 seconds to the Stude's 6.054. Andy does not have the quickest or fastest machine on the Festival of Power entry list, though. That belongs to the Netherlands' Robert Joosten. The Dutch star's '70 Camaro hit 5.990/241.22 at Tierp, Sweden, last August before finishing as runner-up at Santa Pod's European Finals. Joosten will focus on the FIA Championship this year but may take a tilt at the MSA crown too if the going looks good. 2013's surprise package was Rick Garrett. Driving a multi-coloured, nitrous-boosted '41 Willys Coupe, Garrett won last year's Easter opener in only his second Pro Mod outing – a remarkable achievement – and continued to lead the Championship for much of the season until slipping to third behind Bader and Robinson at the very end. All eyes will be on the Surrey racer and a crew comprised of his three sons to see if they can magic up any more surprises this year. 2012 MSA Champion Roger Moore brings along his familiar nitrous '00 Viper with all-new engineering under the hood, and Andy Wright bids to emulate BA Racing team partner and 2008 Champion Philip 'Bert' Englefield at the wheel of their sleek black, blown methanol '38 Ford. Wayne Nicholson arrives with his Lucky Devil '63 Corvette from Yorkshire and Kent's Steve Hall brings his handsome '55 Chevy, a state-of-the-art, Andy Robinson Race Cars product with pedigree written all over it. As mentioned above, Kev Slyfield has forsaken his popular but wayward '41 Willys. The characterful vehicle's powertrain was not a problem; rather, it was the unwieldy body – still partly original steel – which was considered a hindrance. Now Kev arrives with the powertrain installed in a brand new, lightweight '57 Ford Thunderbird, yet another Andy Robinson Race Cars product. Those in the know expect big things of the T-bird. Another successful car constructor, Chris Isaacs Race Cars, enters its first Pro Mod creation into the fray, a turbocharged '70 Plymouth Duster, and Chris Isaacs himself takes the wheel. The team is a joint venture between Isaacs and Sportsman ace Spencer Tramm, who will take his turn in the hot seat later in the year. This opening MSA round has nine entries but others will swell the ranks as the season progresses. Andy Frost unleashes his outrageous, road-legal Vauxhall Victor at May's second round, when all of the top Europeans will be in town for the start of the FIA series. Graham Ellis' brand new turbo Mustang awaits its owner's recovery from the injuries he sustained in a terrifying wreck at September's UK National Finals. France's Eric Monsenego is expected to join compatriot Jean Dulamon in due course. Monsenego's Plymouth Barracuda and Ellis's Mustang have also both emerged from the busy Andy Robinson manufactory near Basingstoke. A Bonkers trio. 8th April: The UK's Team Bonkers Drag Racing Pro ET team is proud to announce two more sponsors: Serck Motorsport and DC Auto Repairs of Newtown Powys. Derek 'Delboy' Sanderson says "I am overwhelmed with the support I will be getting this season. We had Ron Haslett of Insane Creations on board and now Serck Motorsport and DC Auto Repairs and I would like to thank all three sponsors for for helping me this season - without their support it could not of been possible. "Team Bonkers raised £173.24 for the Cruzin 4 Sands charity selling our team logo cookie monster necklaces and earrings. A big thank you to all who bought our wares at Shakespeare County Raceway. "See you all at a drag strip near you, and good luck to everybody." Swift snippets. 8th April: Going into this weekend's first UK National Championship round at Big Bang, UK 8.50 Bike racer Jake Mechaell is ready to roll with continued season sponsorship from Webster Race Engineering, EPS Motorsport and Bedford and Sons Motorcycles Northampton. "See you all this weekend", says Jake. Eurodragster.com sponsor Nitrous Oxide Supplies will be present at the Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway and will be offering Nitrous refills for £4 / lb including VAT. "We did the same last year, but we only knew we'd be offering refills at short notice and everyone said "Why didn't you let us know?" so this year we're trying to be far more proactive about it!" says Simon Barker. "Due to the low rates I'm only going to carry limited stock and it'll offered on a first come, first served basis until it's gone. We will be there after midday on the Friday and then during daytime right through to 3:00-4:00 pm on the Sunday. Per the Santa Pod site map we'll be in Trade Area C." Santa Pod Raceway are seeking a car to display on their stand at Jap Fest at Castle Combe on 10th May. If you race in JDS or have a Jap FWD car and fancy exhibiting at Jap Fest then please E-Mail [email protected] with pictures of your car for the opportunity to appear on the Santa Pod stand. Minis target another Beetle bash. 8th April: The annual battle between the British automotive icon and the German people's car takes place on Easter Sunday 2014 at York Raceway, the home of drag racing in the North of England. Amongst enthusiasts, clubs and dedicated owners of the two legendary cars, the debate over which reigns supreme has endured since the 1960s. So which is better, Mini or Beetle? There's only one way to find out... Race! In recent years the Minis have had the upper hand with a slight lead over their German adversaries in the ongoing series of head to head acceleration contests on the standing quarter mile. The format is simple. Cars from Team Mini are matched in terms of closest performance with a car from Team Beetle and race heads-up on the drag strip. For each win a point is awarded. The team with the most points will become Shootout Champions for 2014. The number of highly modified Minis has grown massively in recent years and with rear engine/RWD conversions by specialists such as ZCars becoming popular; what was once seen as an advantage for the Beetles has now been overcome and the playing field has been well and truly levelled. Add to this the popularity of the New Mini and New Beetle, the dominance which the VWs once held has been challenged and thwarted and the 2014 title is most definitely up for grabs. Anyone with a safe Mini or Beetle is welcome to join their team, including New Minis and New Beetles. The car doesn't have to be street-legal or have the original engine / drivetrain, as long as it still maintains its original look. Chris Murty commented for York Raceway "The Mini v Beetle Shootout is one of our most popular events of the season, with strong support from owners' clubs and enthusiasts. So whether you want to race or spectate and no matter who you support, we're looking forward to welcoming everyone to York Raceway for what will be another close-fought battle." The Mini v Beetle Shootout is part of a two-day Easter spectacular at York Raceway, with Pennine Drag Racing Club Championship racing on Easter Monday including the first round of American Superstock, Pro ET, Sportsman ET, JDM-DRC, Super Cup and Volks-Stock series, plus Run What You Brung. Admission to York Raceway is £15 per day or £25 for the weekend with concessions for teens (13-16) of £7.50 per day or £10 for the weekend. Accompanied kids under 12 go free! A £30 per day sign-on fee applies for everyone wishing to take part in the Mini v Beetle Shootout and RWYB. A camping area is available for the weekend and will open at 6:00 pm on Saturday 19th at a cost of £5 per adult per night. PDRC members, teens and kids camp for free. Nitro Nation on Android. 8th April: On April 3rd the full release of Nitro Nation Online launched on Google Play for Android devices. Nitro Nation Online takes drag racing to the next level with a 3D world full of stunning new customisable cars, amazing racing physics and unlimited in-depth gameplay which guarantees racers an unforgettable experience, all on your mobile device. The world of Nitro Nation offers a wide range of authentic, licenced cars with real physics and numerous possibilities for customisation. This fully-loaded upgrade system allows players to select the combination of improvements that best suit various cars, distances and conditions. Let your car's beauty shine with incredible customisation: choose wheels, window tinting and any colour for every part of your car, add unique finishes and use the flexible system to add decals to any part of your car – you can do it all in Nitro Nation. Race more than fifty licenced car models from Honda, Dodge, Volkswagen, BMW, Alfa Romeo, Ford, Nissan and other world class brands Drive around three heavily-detailed locales Customise your car with different colors, visual effects and hundreds of decals Win over a million prizes and upgrade your car to win even more Earn up to eighty achievements ranging in difficulty Ride for your club -> Earn respect -> Climb the ranks -> profit Set records and get on top of the workd with sophisticated Leaderboard System You can find out more at www.nitronation.com or check out the Nitro Nation Online Facebook page. Big Bang racer update. 7th April: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for passing us details of the arrangements for this weekend's Big Bang at Santa Pod Raceway. Santa Pod Raceway's gates will be open between 08:00 and 21:00 on Thursday (10th), and will then reopen at 08:00 on Friday for the whole weekend. Signing On will open at 08:30 on Saturday and Sunday, and will close at 12:00 on Sunday. Car scrutineering will take place between 08:30 and 18:00 on Saturday, and between 08:30 and 12:00 on Sunday. Bike scrutineering will take place between 10:00 and 18:00 on Saturday, and between 08:00 and 12:00 on Sunday. Provisional running orders for Saturday and Sunday are now available and can be checked out by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Please note that these running orders are subject to change due to weather or track conditions or for any other reason deemed necessary by race officials. Krivan recovering from stroke. 7th April: It has been a while since we heard from Swiss Top Methanol Funny Car racer Dezsoe Krivan. Although quiet, Dez was not idle and was working hard with his team to return to competition. But just as the skies started to clear, Dez hit a setback: I had a stroke on 20th February this year and have been in hospital and out of action since then. Today is the first time I have been able to handle a keyboard to let you know. I'm in the recovery stage: I have started to walk and there are only faint signs of paralysis on the left side of my body. I think you'll understand that my drag racing plans are upside down and that I don't know the future. As far as my business DJ Safety is concerned I will keep it on and start work as soon as possible. But in the meantime please contact DJ Safety in the USA at www.djsafety.com; Joe Hansen, Big Ben or any of the sales staff will be happy to help with all your needs. I will take care of the recertification of DJ Safety items as soon as I am able whether you have bought it from me or directly from the USA. I hope to see you all again soon on the racers' side of the fence. We're sure that everyone will join Tog, Simon, Kirstie, Ed and Julian in wishing Dez a rapid recovery and a quick return to the track. Big Bang Perfect Awards. 7th April: We are pleased to announce that Cath and Tig Napier of Bad Habit Racing and Derek Flynn of Gold RV have renewed their sponsorship of the Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards Scheme for 2014. This weekend's Big Bang at Santa Pod Raceway is the first event in this season's Scheme and £100 is on offer for perfect performance. This weekend's Eurodragster.com/Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award is £50. The money will be paid in cash to the first racer this weekend to record a Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds. The Perfect Light Award is available to racers in all classes during qualifying and eliminations, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect Light of the event. If not won this weekend then the Award will be increased to £75 for the Festival of Power; if it is won then it will be reset to £50 for the Festival of Power. The Perfect Light Award is presented in association with Bad Habit Racing (Cath and Tig Napier, Pro ET). Decals are not mandatory for the Perfect Light Award but we would appreciate it if Eurodragster.com decals are carried. Eurodragster.com decals will be available in the Signing On office or from the Eurodragster.com office in Race Control (entry via Spectator Bank side stairs only). This weekend's Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET Award is also £50. The money will be paid in cash to the first racer this weekend to run an ET to the thousandth of a second on dial-in or index. The Perfect ET Award is available this weekend during qualifying or eliminations in VW Pro, VW Sportsman, Sportsman ET, Lucas Oil Junior Dragster (eliminations only), 8.50 Bike and 9.50 Bike but will only be awarded for the first Perfect Run of the event. If not won this weekend then the Award will be increased to £75 for the Festival of Power; if it is won then it will be reset to £50 for the Festival of Power. The Perfect ET Award is presented in association with RV sales and service specialists Gold RV. For more details about the services which Gold RV can provide see Derek Flynn or visit www.goldrv.co.uk. To be eligible to collect the Perfect ET Award, racers are required to carry decals, one on each side of the vehicle. If you pull this weekend's first Perfect ET but are not carrying decals then there will be no discussion; we will not pay out and the next person to pull a Perfect ET will get the money assuming that they are carrying decals. Decals will be available in the Signing On office from Friday. PMR welcome The Predator. 6th April: Eagle-eyed fans and racers will have noticed that Paul Marston is driving two different cars at the Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway at Easter. Paul will be behind the wheel of the Whoopass Monza in Super Pro ET, sporting number two. In Pro ET Paul is returning to his roots in none other than Grumpy's Dodge. It has been quite a while since Paul Marston was behind the wheel of such an old friend, but he is really looking forward to it, Paul won his first ever National Event in Super Gas in Grumpy's Dodge. The reason for the reshuffle is the return of Martin 'The Predator' Curbishley in Super Comp. Paul Marston writes: Paul Marston Racing are very pleased that Martin is returning for the 2014 season. The last time he drove with us, he and I won the UK National Super Comp Championship. The Whoopass Monza has won numerous National events in Super Gas, with drivers such as Dave Catton behind the wheel, and with its extra power will make for a competitive entry in Super Comp. Meanwhile PMR will begin the 2014 campaign with the same PMR super pit crew as in 2013, so there are all the added advantages of having the same great bunch of people working together again not to mention all the lovely cooking and baking to which everyone turns their hand. The off-season maintenance on the Whoopass Monza has gone well and resulted in a lot more work than initially scheduled. A completely new set of larger headers were fitted thanks to Gary Springford at Drag Race Engineering, new interior panels were fabricated at Hauser Racing; I installed them and it was quite a major undertaking. But the end result is quite impressive. We now have a double-skinned set of rear wheel tubs – no more nasty and annoying stone damage, something which a lot of race cars suffer. The motor also received some love and attention including more refinements to the alcohol fuel system and additional gauges for more monitoring. A fair amount of new paint was also applied to help maintain appearances, and we removed unwanted tinwork. Most race fans probably don't realise what we racers have to get organised prior to the beginning of the season, which all has to be done around the day job (Tell me about it - Ed). This includes maintenance and refurbishing of the trailer, which has also enjoyed some upgrades to make our racing experience more practical and hopefully more enjoyable, and our faithful Winnebago motorhome has been gone through and sorted out in preparation for the beginning of the season. Both the trailer and the Winnie are just as essential as the race car, as if either does not make the track or even worse breaks down whilst on route, you are not going racing. Or if you arrive late you may as well tear up all your plans for how you would tackle the weekend's racing. All of this must be taken care of to ensure that the first phase of your race event passes smoothly, i.e. arrival at the track. From there the next step can be attempted, but without the first nothing else happens. All in all quite a bit of fettling, ready for the beginning of the 2014 season. The plan is to test both cars at Big Bang prior to the Festival of Power. Everyone at PMR is looking forward to seeing all our friends new and old, and we would like to wish everyone a safe and successful season. Swift snippets. 6th April: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words "A work in progress, hopefully in time for Easter. And no it's not Jonnie Lindberg!". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at [email protected]. We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to Eurodragster.com sponsor Derek Flynn. Have a great day Derek. Web site updates. 6th April: The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr site with pictures from The Fast Show at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out Mad's shots at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman/sets. 2014 Estonian calendar. 4th April: Many thanks to Kristjan Veedler, founder and leader of the Estonian Drag Racing Association, for passing us this season's calendar: 31st May-1st June, Kiltsi Airfield: EDRA Nationals. Estonian Championship round 1, Latvian Championship round 1, Estonian Drag Racing Cup round 1, Junior Bracket Series round 1. Location: Kiltsi Airfield, Haapsalu. Information at www.edra.ee 26th July, Pärnu Airfield: Speedtest Nightrace. Estonian Championship round 2, Estonian Drag Racing Cup round 2. Information at www.speedest.ee 23rd August, Raadi Airfield, Tartu: EDRA / CCG Finals. Estonian Championship round 3, Estonian Drag Racing Cup round 3, Junior Bracket Series round 2. Information at www.edra.ee Kristjan adds that an extra race may be added between the first and second events; if so then he will send details. Bomber damage assessment. 4th April: When the page on the calendar turned to April UK Super Pro ET racer Liam 'Bomber' Jones prised the cherished designer flip-flops from his feet, having worn them through winter on the Hull Riviera, and carefully packed them along with similar lounge-lizard attire into a monogrammed man-bag and flew to spectate the deserted beach gyms of Gran Canaria. Team member Garry Coull writes: Having parked the dragster complete with engine damage after the UK National Finals, it's possible that a queasy, Pina Colada-enhanced thrill on the kiddies' Pinocchio Ride reminded him of the long list of tasks which had been kept on the back-burner since then. With only three weeks to Easter at that point, a good place to start was a damage assessment of the 604 ci Mopar power plant, which my old teammate Clive Bond of Ultimate Race Cars swiftly undertook. Like Bomber on the poolside sun-lounger, the motor internals certainly didn't make pretty viewing! The entire bottom end has now been relegated to ornamental status. With no time even for a pate sandwich we are aiming high, our first race of the season with the reincarnated dragster will be the Festival of Power. Swift snippets. 4th April: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words "It's going to get salty". 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 the final version 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]. Good luck and stay safe this weekend to ex-pat UK Top Alcohol Dragster racer Mike Manners of Eurodragster.com sponsor Cosmo Residences and to Swedish Pro Modified racer Adam Flamholc who are contesting the Lucas Oils NHRA Divisional race in Virginia and the inaugural PDRA event in Rockingham respectively. Mike and Adam are both in action today, and you will be able to stay in touch with our heroes' progress courtesy of our Drag Race Central colleagues at www.dragracecentral.com. Adam will also be updating the Flamholc / MMR Racing Facebook page. Motor Sport lunches with Force. 4th April: It's a rare treat to find drag racing covered well in the UK's prestige motoring press. When Motor Sport magazine addresses the sport, it does so in style, writes Robin Jackson: In Motor Sport's May issue, out now, the subject of its monthly "Lunch with..." column is John Force. Each month, writer Simon Taylor sits down to lunch with a prominent motor racing personality and delves into the person's career at length and with appreciation. Though confessing himself an "ignorant Limey", Taylor's grasp of the NHRA scene and the Force clan's history is faultless. The long and detailed article is an outstandingly good read. Motor Sport is on sale now at good newsagents at £4.99. Snap up a copy while it's still available. Testing start for VWDRC. 3rd April: Volkswagen Drag Racing Club Chair Luke Stevenson is excited to announce this season's Club sponsors and also to invite racers in all classes to their season-opening Test Day: It's just over a week until we descend upon Santa Pod Raceway for the VWDRC Test Day on Friday 11th April. Even though the season is starting quite late I can guarantee that may racers are thrashing to be ready so the Test Day will be an ideal chance to get some track time. Club sponsor Bio-Cam helped us secure this event and we cannot thank them enough. The Test Day is open to all and the track will be open between 12:00 and 19:00. If you wish to join in then please contact me at [email protected] for more details (and see Swift snippets below - Ed). For the third year running we are happy to announce another bumper contingency prize fund which could only be achieved with the great support from our 2014 sponsors WRP Paint and Restoration, Kleen Freaks, Bears Motorsport Transmissons, DC Customs, Reichspeed Aircooled, Vanology, Fast Turbo, Worksafe Direct and Bio-Cam. A full breakdown of the fund can be found on the VWDRC forum. The VWDRC reaches out to a varied audience be it old-school Aircooled, modern Watercooled or some of the wilder creations which grace the Club, they all come together to create great programmes which we air on VWDRCTV. There is no missing the Club's social media reach be it Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or YouTube, thousands are tuning in to follow the fight for the 2014 titles. Come and join us. FWD and fuel at Santa Pod. 3rd April: DJ writes that Round 1 of the 2014 FWD Drag Series sponsored by Competition Clutch took place at The Fast Show at Santa Pod Raceway on Sunday 23rd March and featured new faces James Lord, Dan Frost and Robert Johnston who are all experienced in the scene but who are racing in this Championship for the first time this year. The first round of the season is always a tough one to make if you are building a new car and the field was down on numbers compared to last year, but should pick up substantially later in the year. You can get full series details at www.fwddragseries.co.uk and watch the WebTV show at youtu.be/sNZSIaBwOI4. Alex Stringer says that Santa Pod Raceway are having a spring  sale on VP Racing Fuels. "With 5% off all VP Fuels stocked in the Pod Shop it is the ideal time to stock up on Race fuels before the Festival of Power", says Alex. "To take advantage of this great offer simply visit www.santapodshop.com. The sale ends 30th April and is subject to availability, all fuels are collection only." Swift snippets. 3rd April: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words "The Easter Bunny is getting ready for 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]. Good luck and stay safe this weekend to ex-pat UK Top Alcohol Dragster racer Mike Manners of Eurodragster.com sponsor Cosmo Residences and to Swedish Pro Modified racer Adam Flamholc who are contesting the Lucas Oils NHRA Divisional race in Virginia and the inaugural PDRA event in Rockingham respectively. Mike's qualifying starts tomorrow (Friday), Adam's testing starts today, and you will be able to stay in touch with our heroes' progress courtesy of our Drag Race Central colleagues at www.dragracecentral.com. Adam will also be updating the Flamholc / MMR Racing Facebook page. We are very pleased to report that Santa Pod Raceway have given us the thumbs-up for a Webster Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcast from next Friday's (11th) VWDRC Test Day and Big Bang on the Saturday and Sunday. The Test Day webcast will feature trackside audio whilst Big Bang will have the usual commentary / Nitro FM feed. Streaming services will as ever be supplied by Doyousee.me. Unfortunately Tuesday's snippet promising Surround Sound was this year's April Fool, but one would never put anything past M@ik and the Doyousee.me magicians. Web site updates. 3rd April: Our good buddy Alan Currans has updated his excellent Acceleration Archive with pictures of Saturday's action at Shakespeare County Raceway's Public Track Day. As ever you can stay in touch with the latest updates via the What's New link at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. Flamholc's season starts here. 2nd April: After several test sessions in the off-season it's finally time for Sweden's Adam Flamholc to start racing his Pro Mod: Today Johan, Kent and I are flying out from Copenhagen. Eleven hours later we will arrive in Fort Lauderdale where Frank is picking us up. A couple of hours in the car to the shop in Fort Myers, and then straight into the rig, and off to the first PDRA event in Rockingham. Mike is already in the shop making the final preparations on the Daytona and loading it up in the trailer, so we can leave as soon as we get there. We have made some changes in the team, and I feel that they are for the better. Everyone is working hard and motivated to have a really good season! I would like to say a big thank you to my loyal sponsors, please support them if you can. I am also very lucky to have a family who understand what it takes to be able do this, and who always support us as much as they can. Another thank you goes to the guys in the team. It really feels like a second family to be with you guys on the road, in the shop and at the track! Swift snippets. 2nd April: Graham Ellis has revealed this year's colour scheme for the Ellis Motorsport Pro Mod, currently under construction at Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson Race Cars, Gareth Ellis' ex-Flamholc Top Methanol Funny Car, and Katie Ellis' Junior Dragster. The new design comes courtesy of Darren West of Eurodragster.com sponsor Power Race Graphics. The TMFC and the Junior Dragster will be in action at the Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway in a couple of weeks' time. Stay tuned for more from Graham. Malmö Raceway's first decade. 1st April: Congratulations to Malmö Raceway which celebrates its tenth anniversary this season. Chair Håkan Person says that he would like thank racers, team, officials and spectators for a great 2013 and that he looks forward to at least ten more great years: This year we will continue to run our own Pro Xtreme class offering 50,000 SEK at every race with a full sixteen-car ladder, otherwise there will fifty per cent of that. In a full sixteen-car ladder the prize money will be 30,000 SEK to the winner, 12 ,000 SEK to the runner-up and 8,000 SEK to the number one qualifier. For more information about the Pro Xtreme class please visit the Pro X-treme Malmö Raceway Facebook page. We are also looking at Super Street Bike and trying to work out some prize money for the class. As last year, our own Malmö Open series host many of the most popular classes. For more information about classes, rules and regulations please visit www.dragracing.eu or www.malmoraceway.se. Pro Xtreme class will run at every Malmö Open event. The race season will be as follows: 3rd-4th May: Test n Tune, all bike and car classes 16th-18th May: Cramo National / Malmö Open #1 (PX) 13th-15th June: Malmö Open #2 (PX) 4th-5th July: Bug Run Raceday, all VW event 18th-20th July: Malmö National / EDRS / Malmö Open #3, Swedish Championships in Pro Mod and Junior Dragster (PX) 8th-9th Augusti: Street Finals Reunion 29th-31st August: Winter National / Malmö Open Finals (PX) and the finals of the National Top Doorslammer series We will also continue our Wednesday Test n Tunes from May to September. Every Wednesday the gates open at 18:00 and close at around 22:00. This is an event for all cars and bikes where you can run anything from a family Volvo to a PX car or from a Street Bike to a Top Fuel Bike. Thanks to Christer Nilsson of Akama Racing we can also offer the facility to stable your car or bike near the track. Christer lives about twenty minutes from the track and is willing to help racers. You can reach him at [email protected] or [email protected]. Everyone is welcome to Malmö Raceway in 2014. Swift snippets. 1st April: Further to Sunday's news, word from the Detroit Spinner pit is that sponsor, crew and driver Paul Dale got so excited about racing that he had a little accident on E-Bay. "The Anglia was sold as an unfinished project and Paul has already put in a 350 Chevy", says Nigel Taylor. "He hopes to have it on street and strip very soon". You can stay in touch on the Detroit Spinner Facebook page. If you have a sub-woofer tucked away in your living room give it a dust down as we plan to broadcast in surround sound on our Webster Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcam this season. Thanks to Maikel Gloudemans of our streaming service provider Doyousee.me for showing us that this is a lot easier than one would think (Not for the first time - Ed) Yuasa Batteries back ACAG. 1st April: The Allard Chrysler Action Group is pleased to announce that Yuasa Battery Sales (UK) Limited has joined the list of companies backing the restoration of the Allard Chrysler Dragster. The company is well-known for its support of motorsport and is a global supplier of original equipment and aftermarket batteries. In 2013 Yuasa Battery Sales (UK) Ltd announced a comprehensive automotive battery solution for the UK and pan-European markets. The new range features five battery types: YBX1000, YBX3000, YBX5000, YBX7000 Start Stop (Enhanced Flooded Battery) and YBX9000 Start Stop Plus (Absorbed Glass Mat). They all meet new EuroBat labelling legislation directing that battery labels must accurately reflect a Cold Cranking Amp and Ampere Hour rating. All YBX automotive batteries from Yuasa now feature Calcium/Calcium technology with the YBX3000 and YBX5000 also benefitting from a "Tip / Tilt Double Lid" which reduces water loss by thirty per cent and passes the German VDA vehicle rollover test for acid leakage. All Yuasa aftermarket batteries are manufactured to the same exacting standards as those supplied for original equipment use. A Yuasa YBX 5334 battery is fitted to the mobile starter trolley used to start the Allard Chrysler dragster's engine on methanol before switching to the on-board nitromethane fuel system. The unit is of a higher rating than the two in series fitted during 2012 and 2013 and have been recommended to turn the engine faster and so improve the engine oil pressure on the initial starter motor test. At 95 Ah nominal capacity and 830A Cold Crank it certainly did the trick during the dragster's first test start of the year at the end of March. The motor should also get more starts per charge. Andrew Taylor, Managing Director of Yuasa Battery Sales (UK) Limited, says "The Yuasa range of batteries means that we can supply units for a range of applications. This particular project does not present any really difficult challenges but it is unique and it is a privilege to be involved in the restoration of such a historic vehicle. I look forward to meeting the restoration team and seeing the dragster during the year." Allard Chrysler Action Group Chair Brian Taylor says "It is great to have a company like Yuasa involved with Europe's first dragster in this way. Product support has been a vital part of achieving our objectives. Restoring the dragster without it would have been impossible. And not only do we get excellent product but we also have access to the Yuasa Technical Team. I am confident we can now produce the starting power required." You can find the Yuasa web site at www.yuasaeurope.com or via Links at www.allardchrysler.org. Earlier news