Ellis reveals Superbird successor. 31st July: Regular Eurodragster.com readers will have read last week that UK Pro Modified racer Graham Ellis has put his Superbird up for sale. This immediately started rumours about Graham's future plans, which Graham has now put to bed by revealing details of his new ride: Andy Robinson Race Cars is building a Roush-bodied 2012 Mustang. It will be built specifically as a turbo car and use a lot of carbon fibre and titanium to get way under the FIA Pro Mod legal weight. it will retain the 500 ci NRE/BAE Hemi and Rossler automatic but will use the latest generation Pro Torque converter. It will look like the latest American turbo cars as we have realised that the aero requirements for a turbo car are quiet a bit different to a blown or nitrous car - a look which harks back to the early days of Pro Mod with big spill plates and rear decks, although it will also have the removable body. I looked at some American builders but after seeing what Andy built for himself I am sure that it's as good as the offerings from the best chassis shops in the USA, and I wanted one just like it. The Superbird is currently for sale; I've had a number of serious enquires and we have talked about accepting a deposit from one of the potential customers but we're not quite there yet. There has been a lot of talk that I may desert Pro Mod and go to TMFC... well, one day I might but I have an itch which I haven't scratched yet. We are eventually making headway with the auto but we feel that the converter is not quite right for the car. We needed to learn that ourselves, because no one else in Europe runs this combination and if they did they probably wouldn't help us. But it has been the second fastest turbo car in Europe for the past three years and with a lighter more suitable car I'm sure we can challenge the number one guy. Event entry update. 31st July: Thanks to Ian Marshall for sending us Version 3 of the official entry list for the FIA European Finals, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 5th-8th September. You can check out the FIA European Finals entry by clicking here, and you can download the official entry forms from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. Entry is still open for the Open Sport Nationals, a UK Championship round, which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway on 24th-26th August. Entry forms can be downloaded via the Downloads link of SCR's web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com. If you have any problems downloading the forms or if you have any queries about Open Sport Nationals entry then please call 01789 720180 or 01789 414119. Entry is also still open for the Junior Drag Racing Fun Day presented by Santa Pod Raceway and Eurodragster.com sponsor Alamo Rent-A-Car on Wednesday 21st August. As the name suggests, the day is aimed squarely at those already in, or looking to enter, the sport of Junior Drag Racing. This exclusive day is dedicated to existing Junior drag racers from all over Europe and is the perfect opportunity to focus on the up-and-coming Junior classes of drag racing. For more details check out our news item of 25th July or download the entry form (PDF) from www.eurodragster.com/juniorfunday. SPRC announce AGM. 31st July: Ian Marshall also tells us that Santa Pod Racers Club will be holding an Annual General Meeting at 7:30 pm on Wednesday 4th September at the Ibis Hotel in Wellingborough. The meeting is for the ratification of the Club accounts; no other questions will be discussed as this is not a Riders' and Drivers' Meeting. Anyone wishing to be nominated as an SPRC Committee member should apply in writing to the Club no later than seven days prior to the AGM. The letter must be signed by the candidate and by a nominee both of whom must be current SPRC members. If you have any queries about the SPRC AGM then please contact Yvonne Tramm on either 07762 195729 or E-Mail [email protected]. Advance warning for sheep. 31st July: UK Outlaw Anglia racer Colin Millar tells us that the Flyin' Fyfer Drag Racing Team is off to the NitrOlympx: The season starts quicker than you expect, you think you are ready but when the first meeting looms up its a mad dash to get everything complete and in place, so at the Flyin Fyfer headquarters we were not as organised as we would like to be. The complete strip and rebuild of the car, the complete change of rig from luxurious slideout motor home and American trailer back to a 7.5 tonne box lorry as our pockets were empty after two years of low mpg and 20,000 miles later, the new challenge of trying to remember where everything is located all hampered the usually slick operation to which we have been used. Early doors we discussed the possibility of a taking our car to Europe and it was in the back of our minds as we started the usual long haul down to the Big Bang. We have as you may guess get lots of time to chat about every subject man has ever discussed on our eight-hour drive doon the road to either Shakey or the Pod, for us the difference is eleven miles and we get to Shakey a quarter of an hour quicker than the Pod! So we looked at Sweden, we looked at Finland, and we looked at Germany. In the end it was availability of crew and the timeslots relating to our own Outlaw Anglia Championship which made the option of Hockenheim by far the best solution. Never having done this it initially was a wee bit daunting but we had a bit of good luck when the team were down at the Main Event as spectators and we bumped into Jerry Lackey, the Race Director at the NitrOlympX. I was not aware who he was initially, as I only seen his hat and I just thought he might have some pointers for us. I approached him to ask if he could maybe help us in some way and of course he was more than helpful and encouraged us to get the application form in and even had the decency to give us the heads-up and told us to get that ferry booked. The entry confirmation came in on 19th July and the team were buzzing to say the least. We're running in Super Pro ET but I will not be able to help myself trying to beat whomever I am racing, that's why I race in Outlaw Anglia! The ferry was booked, the race licence was updated, the breakdown cover was extended, the travel insurance was arranged, the whisky was bought and the kilts are organised and packed. Final preparations take place this weekend with a meeting at the Flyin Fifer headquarters where we will get drunk and fall over and I will no doubt fall asleep on the chair and be abused by the people who are meant to be my friends. On a wee sour note our Crew Chief Andy Park (of the blue Model Y) has had a wee bit of bother with his gallstones this year and has to go in for an operation the day after we leave, so he is gutted that he can't attend but should be OK for America next year, fingers crossed. The crew consists of Scott Crookston crew, Street Eliminator driver Gerry Treit and Gerry's Crew Chief Mark Diamond who has stepped up and filled Andy's seat. We are all so so excited about our up and coming trip. If we're honest even if we don't turn a wheel so long as we get there and taste the atmosphere we will be happy boys but to run on the track will be fantastic. Our last outing was at Bug Jam and the car is going like a train - we ran a new PB of 7.773 and a new top speed so expectation is high so long as the driver behaves and does not run a red light! We will keep you updated on our progress and are making a point of trying to take as much video and as many pictures as we can - we plan to make a wee film of our activities. We leave on Wednesday 7th and if you take out the ferry crossing it's quicker driving to Hockenheim than to the Pod! We have a huge downer on our return as we get into Amsterdam on Sunday night and can't get a ferry until Monday night... has anybody got any suggestions how four quiet wee Scottish laddies can fill the time? As always, many thanks to all who help us do what we do: my girlfriend, our kids, our friends, our extended drag racing family, Ian Whitworth our engine builder, Andy Frost who keeps things turning round and answering my silly questions late at night, Jon Webster who keeps me going in a straight line, and everyone else who encourages us to keep on doing what we love. Bug Jam by the numbers. 31st July: Reigning Volkswagen Drag Racing Club VW Sportsman Champion Dean Clatworthy has been in touch with one for the bracket racers: My six qualifying runs were within 0.1505 of each other, my quickest pass of the weekend was 15.33 and my slowest 15.48. Closest to my dial was a breakout of just 0.0188, meaning my best qualifier was 0.0725 off my dial-in. So where does this place me in the qualifying, somewhere near the top of the twenty four car field? No. This performance was only good enough for sixteenth position! These margins show just how tough the and competitive VW Sportsman and VW Pro are (both ET). So, I draw a line under that and head into the eliminations. 15.41 dial-in, 15.399 breakout by just 0.011 seconds, but the race was lost at the start line to Adrian London who went on to win the event. I was trying to draw some comfort from the numbers, but I really just wasn't good enough, the only thing to do is look forward to the next round to claw my way back up the table from fifth. See you you all at Shakespeare County Raceway on the August Bank Holiday. Silverstone drags. 31st July: As well as the Mopar EuroNats there was another event this weekend featuring drag racing, which took place at a minor circuit on the other side of Northamptonshire. Bob Roberts writes: Yes it was Silverstone Classic time again and once more UK Street Machines were providing the entertainment at the Street Car Shootout. There was a rich variety of cars from regular Sportsman racers to street rods via a great turn out of Tazzes. Just like last year this took place on a disused part of the old Grand Prix circuit with a shut-off area downhill towards Bridge Corner and a tyre barrier to stop any errant racers from running into the 1000 Porsche 911s gathered for a track parade. And just like last year there was little or no grip. Since this was show time we were treated to a series of great burnouts, some the full length of the track, and drivers did try to race but it was difficult. It's great to see drag racing showcased at such a big event but I do wish there was an opportunity to demonstrate what a full-on race looks like: if a Fuel Funny Car can run at Goodwood why can't we have something similar at Silverstone, there's enough track after all. Bob kindly sent us a large number of pictures which we will release as a Feature in the next Eurodragster.com News update. Another North Weald success. 31st July: Damian Burke writes that the weekend's Classic Bikefest at North Weald took place in somewhat blustery conditions but that despite one torrential downpour the event ran smoothly with no dramas: The day's running order was broken down into three sections: Classic Sprint for bikes ranging from a 1926 JAP right up to 1988, all running in pairs, the Test'n'Tune for modern bikes, and Classic Parades where an amazing range of veteran bikes ran up and down the runway together in a circuit. What a sight and sound they provided. Once again a Quick Eight eliminator was added to the mix. Mark Patman, who had been unbeaten this year at the Essex venue, was finally overcome by Ultimate Streetbike veteran Craig Mallabone. Mark knew he had to cut a good light  on the tree to get past Craig's turbo Hayabusa but just went too early and redlit. Mark had been running well down into the nines but a 9.66 from Craig took the trophy. Craig also ran low ET with an 8.88 earlier in the day. It was also very nice to see so many of the faces who ran in the Ultimate Streetbike series back to mark the occasion of its 30th Anniversary including Tony Middlehurst the then-Editor of Superbike magazine was instrumental in the birth of the series. One face which would be familiar to all drag race regulars was none other than Pip Higham who came along on a Koenig framed Suzuki, despite not having ridden for over three years Pip took the Unlimited Vintage class with a 10.14. It was great to see Pip back out, hopefully that will become a regular occurrence: The winners in each of the Classic Sprint classes were: 125 Comp - Peter Wilson - Yamaha - 15.86 250 Comp - Ron Cheeseman - Honda - 14.55 350 Comp - Shaun Harvey - Greeves - 15.47 500 Comp - David Brown - Weslake - 12.06 750 Comp - Roy Hands - Suzuki - 11.78 Unlimited Comp - Pip Higham - Koenig Suzuki - 10.14 Street Legal 250 - Steven  Baxter - Suzuki - 15:31 Street Legal 750 - Colin Lloyd - Suzuki - 11.92 Street Legal Unlimited - Chris Newbiggins - Suzuki 1260 - 10.99 Vintage 250 - David White - Velocette - 18.27 Vintage 350 - Peter Bell - Velocette - 26.85 Vintage 500 - Kevin Hunt - JAP - 14.74 Sidecar - Dave Woodard - Suzuki - 10.83 The action on the dragstrip was supported by a display from some vintage speedway bikes doing their thing on the grass in front of the spectators and club displays as well as an auto-jumble. The final event at North Weald takes place on 18th August; this is the Outlaws Picnic for American cars and Hot Rods, with action on the drag strip and Show'n'Shine among other attractions. For more information visit www.maitlandracing.com or call Richard or Tony on 0207 485 0473. Web site updates. 31st July: In the latest instalment of his exclusive Blog presented in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car, Santa Pod Raceway Track Announcer Colin Theobald recounts some season highlights and blames the entire European drag racing community for his latest indiscretion. 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. Allard Chrysler Action Group Chair Brian Taylor writes that the latest issue of ACAG Update is now on-line. The forty page issue includes reports on Northbrook College, Beaulieu, Nostalgia Nats and Dragstalgia, information on progress and plans, and an updated list of ways in which fans can support the project.  You can check out ACAG Update at www.drceurope.co.uk/acag/aug2013. Alan Currans' excellent Acceleration Archive has been updated with the fruits of a tremendous co-operative effort between historians and web sites (Nostalgia sites which kick Eurodragster.com in the teeth please note - Ed). "Forty years ago this month the 4th Internationals series was held over three consecutive weekends", says Alan. "The stars of the show were undoubtedly the two Fuel Funny Cars of Don Schumacher and Paula Murphy.  The performance and showmanship were like nothing ever experienced before on British soil and it was all carried out in such a professional but seemingly matter of fact way.  Anyone who witnessed this meeting, as I did, would surely agree that a new era of UK drag racing started then.  It certainly sparked a huge interest in Funny Cars to the detriment of Top Fuel Dragsters.  But the event was not just about Funny Cars: there were two Top Fuel Dragsters driven by top US drivers, and the mighty Harley Davidson motorcycles ridden so impressively by the late Danny Johnson.  It would be unthinkable to let such an anniversary go unmarked so Andy Barrack and I have teamed up, and with the help of Roger Phillips' superb photographs, have put together a page showing all the action both at Santa Pod and HMS Daedalus in Gosport.  Thanks go to Chris Dossett of the Trakbytes web site for allowing me to incorporate his excellent meeting reports". As ever you can check out the latest update via the What's New link at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. Want to webcast? 31st July: Maikel Gloudemans, whose company Doyousee.me provides streaming services and sometimes the full broadcast set-up for our Webster Race Engineering and Nimbus Motorsport webcasts, says that he can provide the same services for any organisation wishing to webcast their own events: We see a lot of tracks and organisations making their first steps towards video on the internet, and we notice that they have the same startup issues which we had when we started offering our services some five years ago. We are willing and able to help you with your webcasting needs whether it's an audio only stream, a simple one-camera set-up or a multi-camera video stream with timing or other extra data. We can provide it through our advertisement-free distribution network at a very reasonable price. You know our work if you have ever listened to NitroFM or watched Eurodragster.com's Webster Race Engineering and Nimbus Motorsport webcasts or Quartermile and eXplosion webcams. Besides distribution of your content across the world we can help you to set up your own camera system. You can rent a camera system from us or you can have us do the entire production. Of course this doesn't only go for drag racing events, our company can provide these services to a lot of audiences. If you would like to see what we can do for your event or organisation then mail E-Mail us at [email protected]. Should your internet needs be a little more static in nature then our sister company about: Quality can help you fulfil those. You can contact about: Quality at [email protected]. NSRA Supernationals beckon. 31st July: The National Street Rod Association's Hot Rod Supernationals takes place between Friday and Sunday (2nd-4th) at Old Warden Park in Biggleswade (map). The NSRA's latest major show features weekend activities and entertainment, trade stalls, Saturday cruise and huge Show'n'Shine car show for pre-1972 Hot Rods, Street Rods, and Customs; the Show and Shine is open to the public on Sunday. Gates open for the weekend at 09:00 on Friday and weekend tickets which include camping are £45 for NSRA members and £55 for non-members, 17s and under go free if accompanied by an adult. The first 150 cars to pay on the gate will receive a goody bag. One-day entry is only available on Sunday; gates open at 10:00 and tickets are £8 for an adult, £4 for children of four to sixteen, or a family ticket is available for £20 which admits two adults and two children. Pre 1972 body style cars for the Show'n'Shine can enter through the Show Car gate from 09:00 on Sunday and entry is £5 per adult. For more information check out www.nsra.org.uk. Summer Nationals results. 29th July: Thanks to Tomas Pettersson for sending the final results of the weekend's Summer Nationals at Tierp Arena: Pro Modified: Tami Brander 6.1454/375.52 def. Fredrik Fagerström 6.2186/363.88 Top Doorslammer (eighth mile): Åke Eliasson 3.9713/298.67 def. Michael Joneskog 4.1680/284.36 Comp Eliminator: Daniel Jedborn (7.84) 7.3219/293.32 def. René Meierhofer (9.42) 8.9574/199.34 Super Comp: Mikael Nilsson 8.9018/267.72 def. Robin Norén 8.9386/243.02 Super Gas: Gideon Liljegren 9.8745/221.67 def. Bosse Hall did not stage Super Street: Tomas Hägg 10.8994/214.12 def. Christer Gustafsson 10.8671/205.56 b/o Stock / Superstock: Tarmo Mikkola (9.83) 9.8376/214.71 def. Uffe Edwardson (10.28) 10.2755/207.77 DQ red Junior Dragster: Julia Kretz (8.98) 9.0018/116.53 def. Marcus Back Andersson (7.98) 7.9798/131.74 b/o Pro Street: Peter Trång 7.6511/266.01 def. Christer Åberg 8.2631/264.45 Street 10.5: Lars Berglund 7.9460/285.11 def. Tony Johansson 8.1565/280.37 Funny Bike: Hans Eriksson 7.3338/306.30 bye, Charly Forsberg no show Super Street Bike: Björn Friström 7.5135/309.28 def. Roberth Häggblom 10.8801/154.33 Super Comp Bike: Bert Nilsen 8.8506/229.98 def. Anders Gerdtsson 8.9710/255.56 Super Gas Bike: Tomas Jonsson 9.4521/200.07 b/o def. Kristoffer Jarbo 9.3338/219.16 Junior Drag Bike: Linus Tröjbom-Berggren (15.10) 15.1547/58.25 def. Linnéa Tröjbom-Berggren (9.50) 9.6337/122.25 You can find full qualifying and elimination details at www.dragracing.eu. Swift snippets. 29th July: Ian Marshall has asked us to advise racers that the Santa Pod Racers Club office will not be manned between next Monday, 5th August, and Monday 19th August. "If racers have any emergencies or problems during that time then please contact Yvonne Tramm on either 07762 195729 or E-Mail [email protected]. Super Comp racer Paul Letchford, who was runner-up in Saturday's Direct Plastics UK Top Sportsman Bracket race, went one better when he won yesterday's Heads-up race. Paul took an early shut off 10.6303/84.42 bye after fellow finalist Kev Slyfield didn't make the call. Both Direct Plastics UK Top Sportsman eliminators were well-subscribed, hard-fought and most enjoyable; a big Well Done to organisers, racers and officials. UK Super Comp and Super Gas racer Jon Giles asked us to say a massive Thank You to Jeff and Belinda Bull, Stuart Morrice and Kevin Cerasale for putting his faith back into the sport we all love. "The service I received from Jeff, Belinda and Kevin was absolutely incredible", says Jon, "you could not ask for any more in any walk of life. As for the engine, well the numbers speak for themselves, Jeff gave me everything I asked for with the added bonus of the smile back on the faces of Donna and my little girls and I. I really can't thank them all enough. Off to Hockenheim now with Stuart and Collin Morrice to give the Europeans a run for their money!" Congratulations again and thank you to Geof and Elaine Hauser for sending a picture from their nuptials on Friday. Eurodragster.com sponsor Geof tells us that everything went like clockwork, and that a great time was had by all. "A truly wonderful day", he says. Thanks also to Laura Price who sent us this great picture of the happy couple with a number of their drag racing friends and Geof most definitely not in a getaway car. Congratulations also to the UK's Alamo Rent-A-Car Junior Dragster team who took Best Appearing Car courtesy of Paige Wheeler's dragster at the NHRA Eastern Conference Finals. Paige and Belle's dad Andy tells us that Paige's car was chosen from over six hundred Junior Dragsters at the event. Stay tuned for Paige's Blog about the family's time in the USA. The UK Super Gas Reunion organised by Tina Gibbs and Paul Watson was an enjoyable affair attended by a large number of Super Gas racers; in fact if there were such a thing as a UK Super Gas Hall of Fame then that would have been pretty much it in Santa Pod Raceway VIP on Saturday. The nostalgia and the banter went on into the evening and hopefully the event will have prompted thoughts of a return for some, or preferably all, of those there. We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to our good friend Lena Perés of ME Racing Service and Speedgroup. Have a lovely day Lena. Mopar EuroNats galleries. 29th July: The Eurodragster.com team spent the weekend at a very warm and scarcely actively rain-affected (In your face yet again, weather mizzogs - Ed) Santa Pod Raceway enjoying the Mopar EuroNats. You can check out our Mopar EuroNats galleries, which are presented in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car, by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. You won't fail to notice the new record of 315 pictures in Saturday's gallery; this was because on Saturday we welcomed an extra photographer, Grace Roaf, who will be providing the photographs for our live coverage of August's Open Sport Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. Please join Tog in saying a big Thank You to Kirstie and Grace, and to Maikel and Gijs of our streaming service provider Doyousee.me all of whom worked non-stop in hot conditions to bring you the weekend's coverage. Although it was not something about which we could have done anything at the time, we know the cause of yesterday afternoon's problem with the webcast; please be assured that all involved are on the case and thanks to all of our viewers for their patience and the lack of bitching. Editor's note. 29th July: Can we please stress for what feels like the millionth time that copying pictures or video from our Event Coverage and posting them on Facebook, forums etc without our permission is a breach of our copyright and thus so far as we are concerned is theft. Equally importantly our sponsors Alamo Rent-A-Car, Webster Race Engineering and Nimbus Motorsport pay us good money for their logos to appear on our galleries and webcasts and they get no such benefit when our work is stolen and placed elsewhere. If you have copied any of our pictures or video from this weekend then we recommend that you remove them before we come after you and that you have the courtesy to ask next time. We are usually amenable to requests when made in advance but if you steal our work and then either ask afterwards or don't ask at all then we can guarantee a negative response. This is not up for discussion. Posting links to our pages is, of course, perfectly OK and is in fact a courtesy which we appreciate. Swift snippets. 28th July: Nick Curtis, driving Nick Griffin's Southern Belle Malibu, was the winner of the Direct Plastics UK Top Sportsman bracket race at the Mopar EuroNats at Santa Pod Raceway. Nick took the final against Paul Letchford with a 10.1144/106.93 on a 10.00 dial-in to Paul's redlit 8.5771/159.04 on an 8.59 dial-in. Dave Townsend leads qualifying for today's Heads-Up race with a 7.3334/188.14. We have a birthday on the Eurodragster.com team today. Please join us in saying a big Happy Birthday to Pit Reporter and Blog Editor Simon. Have a great day buddy. Tre Kronor for Hockenheim. 27th July: Johnny Nilsson has been in touch from Sweden to let us know that the Tre Kronor Nostalgia Funny Car will be appearing at the NitrOlympX at Hockenheim in a fortnight's time: The driver will be Danish Top Fuel racer Stig Neergaard. Stig made some test runs in the car at Malmö Raceway on Wednesday evening. The Nilsson family haven't run the car since Bakersfield in 2010 and right now it is stored in my private Automuseum. I would like to thank all of our friends at Malmö for helping us, Jocke Dahlgren and his family and the Glanby Family, and Stig Neergaard's crew Henrik and Yes you did a great job. See you at Hockenheim. Swift snippets. 26th July: Round 5 of the Old Skool Ford Drag Challenge took place at Shakespeare County Raceway last Sunday. Jo Peters writes that breakages, holidays and family get togethers meant that the number of entrants was lower than expected giving a huge points advantage to those in attendance. The track was well prepped and the racing was fast and furious! It was all to play for at the top and Glenn Jefferson in his MK1 Escort took his third win of the season. A very close second place went to Kev Jenkins in his XE powered MK1 Escort and third place went to relative newcomer Brett Wright in his XE powered Anglia running a PB of 11.33. The penultimate round takes place at VW Action at Santa Pod Raceway on Suinday 1st September. Best wishes for a long and happy future to race car builder, Eurodragster.com sponsor and all-round good bloke Geof Hauser and his longtime partner Elaine, who are to be married today. Geof asked us to thank everyone who has been in touch with good wishes. Williamson wins. 26th July: UK Topspeed Autmotive Street Eliminator racer Al Williamson had the best time ever at Bug Jam, not only setting Personal Bests in his Howlin' Hauler pick-up but also winning the event: There was a bit of luck along the way but a win is a win and we will take it however it comes. With a best ET of 8.60 and a best speed of 155 the truck is starting to give us some payback for the hard work. We are still running a very soft tune so hopefully there will be more to come from the '54 Chevy pick-up. It has been quite a journey to get to this point, and I need to say a huge thanks to a few people. My wife June who has stuck by my side since day one; Crew Chief Iain; Chris Isaacs Race Cars for a fantastic chassis; Marc Lamude Race Engines, John Atkinson for all the wiring (and banter); Andy Frost of Penn Autos for the gearbox; Terry Dolphin motorsport for tuning; Barry for bodywork and paint, Steve Nash (Splinter) for sending me through the right door and introducing me to all these people in the first place; Dave Sidaway for his help whenever I needed it, SE Chair Matt Atkinson; all the drivers and crew in Street Eliminator who make it a great class to be involved in; Tog and co at Eurodragster.com for the live feed and letting everyone know what's happening (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed); all the Santa Pod track crew and staff; everyone who sent well done messages for taking the Bug Jam crown... now I'm starting to sound like John Force! North Weald on two wheels. 26th July: This Sunday North Weald hosts Bikefest, a celebration of all things two wheeled but particularly a celebration of the thirtieth anniversary of the first running of the Ultimate Streetbike Series, which was a hugely successful motorcycle drag racing series which took in venues as diverse as Santa Pod, Avon Park as it was then known, Ramsey, Manby, Blyton and Cranfield as well as Snetterton. USB was a breeding ground for straightline talent; a good few USB competitors went on to become mainstream drag racers, most notably Europen and UK Top Fuel Bike Champion Ian King. The Classic part of the event centres around the parades featuring genuine Manx Nortons, Tritons, BSAs, Ariels, Rudge and JAP machines amongst others such as some screaming Honda GP replicas from the 1960s and a genuine Suzuki 500GP bike raced by Stuart Graham, also an ultra rare Konig sidecar outfit - Konig took the World title in 1975 and 1976. The quarter mile action will centre around the Ultimate Streetbike theme with Roger Turner, John Bent and Kevin Harris on their former USB entries joined by a good few others. The Classic sprint will be open to bikes up to 1988 and there will be a Street Legal class which will be filled with plenty of old muscle bikes such as GSX1100s, Z900s and Kawasaki H2 two-stroke screamers as well as John Benham on his long-serving and rapid 1090 Moto Guzzi LeMans. There will also be a Test and Tune open to any bike. All being well one of the highlights will be the return to the track of the late Steve Tong's ex-Jack O'Malley Orient Express bike, now restored and owned by Steve Watson, to be ridden by none other than Pip Higham. This bike really was the state-of-the-art turbo machine in its day and the modern Funny Bikes developed from such machines. Off the track there are club stands, displays of vintage speedway bikes, Ernie Woods' 1953 built sprinter Thor which still takes part in the Brighton Speed Trials,trade stands and an auto-jumble as well as plenty of caterers and the all-important bar. North Weald Airfield is located off the A414 very close to Junction 7 of the M11 and is clearly signposted; the postcode is CM16 6AR. For more details call 0207 485 0473. Entry is £10, under-fourteens are free, signing on is £25 for as many runs as you can make. Gates open at 8:30 and action kicks off at 10:00. For sheer two wheeled diversity North Weald is the place to be this weekend. A warm welcome awaits. Geezers go north. 26th July: The third annual National Hot Rod Reunion, the northern "Gathering of geezers", takes place on August Bank Holiday Sunday and Monday (25th-26th) at York Raceway, the home of drag racing in the North of England. The National Hot Rod Reunion will be a celebration of the earlier days of hot rodding and drag racing with Championship quarter mile action on both Sunday and Monday and pre '72 RWYB sessions throughout the weekend. The huge fields of American muscle cars of the American Super Stock Championship, for which York Raceway is famous, will battle it out in two complete Championship rounds over the weekend whilst the dragsters, altereds, hot rods and doorslammers of the PDRC bracket classes will qualify on Sunday and race on Monday. A Nostalgia Show‘n'Shine area will showcase the best in hot rods and pre '72 custom and classic American/British cars and bikes throughout the weekend. Sunday 25th August will feature the 36th Annual Street Racer Championship which has returned to its roots in 2013 with qualifying and racing throughout the day. Thanks to sponsors and thanks to our sponsors Wizards of NOS, LA Racing Parts, Harrogate Hot Rod and Kustom Show, Big Pete Ltd, Power Race Graphics and the Pennine Drag Racing Club there will be a £1000 winner takes all prize! To round off the Sunday evening, there will be live music from The Karma Heart. There will be a tip of the cap to the 1980s Northstar Jet Nationals when Julian Webb will be making exhibition runs and performing flame and thunder shows with the spectacular 10,000 hp Split Second Jet Dragster, stablemate of the famous Vampire which made regular appearances at York Raceway in days gone by. Sure to also delight the younger and older members of the crowd alike, Pat Van is one of the world's smallest hot rods, a truly incredible vehicle reimagined from what was once a coin-operated children's ride but now engineered to become a tiny but fully functioning race car capable of achieving over 100 mph in 12 seconds. On behalf of York Raceway Chris Murty said "We are proud to once again be able to bring together some of the most awesome hot rods, customs and race cars from the past and present to honour our hot rod heritage in our unique annual August Bank Holiday festival of nostalgia." Admission to York Raceway is £12.50 per day or £20 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 RWYB. A camping area is available for the weekend and will open at midday on Saturday 24th at a cost of £5 per adult. PDRC members, teens and kids camp for free. The way it was is the way it is at the third annual National Hot Rod Reunion over the August Bank Holiday weekend so head out to York Raceway and relive the glory days of hot rodding. Junior Fun Day beckons. 25th July: Excitement is mounting with just four weeks to go until the first dedicated track day for Junior drag racers, the Junior Drag Racing Fun Day in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car to be held at Santa Pod Raceway on Wednesday 21st August. This event looks set to bring plenty of attention to all our young stars of drag racing. Race entry is completely free and there is still time to book in. Just download the official entry form (PDF format) from www.eurodragster.com/juniorfunday, complete it and return to Darren Prentice, Junior Fun Day, Santa Pod Raceway, Airfield Road, Podington, Wellingborough, NN29 7XA by Friday of next week, 2nd August. As well as the stars on the track, there will be plenty of off-track entertainment with static displays from FireForce 3 Jet Funny Car, Podzilla Monster Truck, Disney style Lightning McQueen cars and numerous sports cars and hot rods. Passenger rides will be available in the Red Dragon Monster Truck plus the on-site funfair, face-painting, trampolines, bouncy castle and special appearances by Santa Pod's mascot Nitro the Dragon. Everyone is welcome to come down and sample the drag racing lifestyle with completely free admission for both adults and children, although donations to the NC TLC Trust would be greatly appreciated. To book your free spectator ticket or to find out more about this brand new event, visit www.santapod.com. Shannon steps out. 25th July: Shannon Nichol has asked us to say a big Thank You to Andy Willcox at Shakespeare County Raceway and the whole of the Orange Pop team following a highly successful weekend at Ladies That Launch at which she drove one of the track's two rental Junior Dragsters for the first time. Shannon had been badgered on a regular basis by her dad Martin, owner of the Shakespeare County Camaro, for some time, in an effort to convince her to try her hand at the eighth mile but despite dad's best efforts she resisted all attempts to get her into the racing fold. However, in typical child "change your mind" style, Shannon asked for a go out of the blue taking dad completely by surprise. Then the weekend couldn't arrive quickly enough for pair of them! Saturday morning dawned with much anticipation. A quick pep talk from an excited dad and with the able assistance of Simon Barlow of Orange Pop fame Shannon was decked out in all the safety gear and sat in the dragster for the first time. Nerves resulted in a quick dash to the powder room before Shannon quickly resumed her place in the hot seat and took a test run in a quiet area of the facility to familiarise herself with the controls. Simon imparted some secret racer tips which went down well with Shannon who eagerly soaked up all of the advice. It was clear from the outset that Shannon was a natural. After a number of driving lessons she had a permanent smile on her face for the rest of the weekend and everybody in her phone got a call to tell them all about her big day. All the friendly guys and gals of the Orange Pop team welcomed her into the fold and a future racer was born! Shannon managed a best of 16.21 at 35.05 mph in the few runs she made up the strip. This has resulted in a young lady who not only wants a classic Chevy pick up as her first car but who now also wants a real race car! Looks like things are going to get even more expensive in this racer's household. Swift snippets. 25th July: Thanks to Yvonne Tramm for supplying us with the post-Bug Jam points standings in the Santa Pod Racers Club Championships. You can check out the SPRC 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. Thanks to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe for forwarding us the official timing data from Bug Jam which you can check out by clicking here or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. King wins in Finland. 25th July: The Gulf Oil Dragracing – Grand Prix Originals Top Fuel Bike team made the long trip to the land of the midnight sun knowing that they would be unlikely to build on their historic five-second performance at the previous event at Tierp in Sweden. Although the Alastaro event is one of the favourites on their tour, the tricky track traditionally lacks the traction and topography required to run world class times. However the enthusiastic fans, unique setting and friendly track officials make it an enjoyable experience nonetheless. And so it proved with many of the top teams unable to conquer the vagaries of the track and the exceptionally warm conditions. The class was led by Ian King from the very first qualifier, setting low ET and high speed of the event with a stout 6.244/227, not far behind his own track record of 6.19 seconds set here last year. However, further attempts to improve in qualifying were hampered by lack of available traction and then a cautionary motor strip down due to concerns about piston ring compression which cost all action on the Saturday. Entering eliminations with minimal track time, King was fortunate that another loss of traction off the start line wasn't terminal as Jan Sturla Hegre, on his competition debut on the Uggerud Brothers Puma Kawasaki, was still struggling to get to grips with his new ride. In the final, King was due to face Sverre Dahl (who'd earlier dispatched Rikard Gustafsson with a 6.385 to a 6.914), but the Norwegian was unable to make the line after suffering increased crankcase oil pressure which had put oil on the track in his earlier round win. This gave King a solo, which he clicked off with a 6.360, and a lead in the points as he chases a seventh class Championship. Collecting the trophy was not the end to the action. Winning in Finland is somewhat of a double edged sword as the victors are traditionally dumped head first into a cold bucket of water by their ever-helpful racing peers. The team will defend their FIM European Dragracing Championship crown and selected invited events across Europe in 2013: FIM European Drag Bike Championship Round 3 - Hockenheimring (Germany), 9th-11th August Round 4 - Santa Pod Raceway (UK), 5th-8th September The Gulf Oil Dragracing team uses and endorses exclusively Gulf Oil greases and lubricants in their history making machine. The team is extremely proud to be supported by many leaders in their chosen markets in their successful challenges for the 2013 European and UK Championships: APE - The world's most innovative manufacturer of aftermarket parts for drag bikes Action Cameras - Europe's leading source for action sports cameras Cometic Gaskets - The premier manufacturer of racing gaskets Gates - The world's most trusted name in drive belts, hoses and hydraulics Goodridge - The original and the best in fluid transfer systems Grand Prix Originals - The brand for drive and lifestyle, past and present Gulf Oil International - The world's most iconic brand in automotive fuels and lubricants Hotrod Hangar– Home of the world renowned custom artist Knud Tiroch Hyperpro - The leading producer of progressive suspension products for motor bikes JE Pistons - The world's premier manufacturer of high performance forged pistons Kibblewhite Precision Machining, Inc -The highest quality valve train components on the market King Racing - The most successful Top Fuel Bike team in European drag racing history Mickey Thompson Tyres - Simply the best drag race tyres in the world MRE - Leaders in trackside support for drag race components and air shifting systems MTC Engineering - Manufacturer of clutches for the fastest motorcycles in the world NitroShutter - Europe's leading drag racing photo-journalists NCT Engineering - Manufacturer of the world's leading non contact torque sensors for motorsport Nexus Underwriting Management - First class support services to underwriting subsidiaries NGK Spark Plugs UK - The world's number one spark plug manufacturer Pär Willen - Master webmeister and proprietor of HarleyDrags.com Portable Shade - The best custom branded collapsible canopies available Pro Alloy Motorsport - UK's leader in fabrication of alloy racing tanks, intercoolers and radiators Puma Engineering - Manufacturers of the world's most powerful motorcycle engines RSG Customize - The UK's most creative website designers and vinyl artists Supertough - Custom cases and covers for the Film, TV, Music and Motorsports Industries Spies Hecker - the world's leading supplier of paint for car, commercial and industrial finishing Vanson Leathers - The most iconic brand in motorsport leather goods Web Camshafts Inc - Simply the company for Top Fuel Bike camshafts Worldwide Bearings - The world's leading supplier of ceramic bearings for racing Zodiac - Europe's largest supplier of performance and aftermarket HD parts Weekend webcasts. 25th July: As well as our own Webster Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcast from the Mopar EuroNats at Santa Pod Raceway, which commences tomorrow (Friday), other webcasts are available this weekend. The Summer Nationals at Tierp Arena, which also runs between tomorrow and Sunday, is to be broadcast in High Def by our friends at Smart TV. 90 SEK buys you all three days. The Summer Nationals is a round of the EDRS Series including Pro Modified and also features Pro test sessions. You can find out more about the event at www.speedgroup.eu and more about the webcast at www.smarttv.se. Mark Walter of Dragstory.com tells us that a webcast of the X-DRL Mayhem at the Creek at Maryland International Raceway will be available tomorrow and Saturday on MMTV1 at www.motormaniatv.com. The NHRDA Carolina Diesel Nationals will be webcast on Saturday on MMTV2 at www.motormaniatv.com. Web site updates. 25th July: The Mad Welshman has updated his Flick gallery with pictures from the Saturday of Dragstalgia. You can check out Mad's pictures via Sets at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman. Williford delivers for Giordmaina. 24th July: If you were tuned in to Eurodragster.com News on 3rd July you will recall that Maltese Super Street Bike racer Simon Giordmaina had signed a development deal with with US Pro Street Champion and record holder Rodney Williford. Simon's bike is now in the USA and had its first outing in Rodney's hands at the Mirock event at Maryland Dragway. Simon got in touch to let us know how well it went: The only changes made to the bike for the first tests were a lighter spring and some fifty to seventy pounds of extra weight to meet the US minimum weight requirements. We were excited and waiting for news. I only hoped that Rodney would get down the track and get some data. Then I received a picture of a timing ticket saying 7.27... wow! I just wished that I had been there to see that pass and to help. I spent a whole day running through every inch of the internet to try and to find any news of what was happening at the Mirock Race when I received a message from Amber that racing was on hold for rain. I thought that the weekend was over but then I received another timing ticket saying 7.24/198. Whoo hoo! I could not believe my eyes, it was so early in the morning that I thought I was dreaming. After a while I received another ticket and when I saw the sixty foot time I thought I was definitely dreaming - Rodney had put down an amazing 1.20. Not many turbo bikes run 1.2s. Rodney had accidentally double-shifted third gear but still ran another 7.24/197 which made me walk around the house trying to calculate what it would have been without the double shift. We are sure that there is a 7.1 in the bike as it stands. But lnowing we have a quick bike which runs straight and reacts well on the track we decided to stop testing and work on the bike to get it up to the top standard of Pro Street / Super Street Bike and hopefully pick up those two tenths to run a six-second pass. Work on the bike will start early next week. We know our goals, we know what the bike needs, now we just have to find the funds to so this step by step and still have the money that we can go there later this year. We are sure that the bike is in good hands - remember that Rodney ran a six-second pass years ago when it was not thought possible. He has the experience and he is a great and understandable guy on and off the track. I can't thank Rodney and his family enough for the great job they are doing, Amber for finding the time to send me the news between rounds - even though she always has to take care of six kids, two friends, Rodney's father and Rodney to take care of she still gives me the news on what's happening. Thanks Amber you're a star. Obviously thanks to Rodney and his father, he is there for you whatever you need during races. Thanks a lot. This is a big dream come true for us. It's far from easy, we have always worked hard to achieve what we have and we are proud that we are doing this in the US - and even more proud to be doing it with the Willifords. As always I wish to thank my family for their understanding and backing me up at all times: my Dad who has ended up as a main sponsor, my Mum and brother George, my wife Graziella and our little one Jayden. Thanks also to my team of Dominic, Clint, Luke, Richard and Roswell, to the Malta Drag Racing Association, Malta Sports Council, Malta Motorsport Association, and to my sponsors Putoline Lubricants, Linguatime School of English, and The Notebook Centre. Our Facebook page is updated regularly, please Like us and also see what the team has done in past years. Pro Mod at the Mopars. 24th July: MSA British Drag Racing Champion Roger Moore tells us that he and brother and Crew Chief Dave will be testing their Viper Pro Mod at this weekend's Mopar EuroNats at Santa Pod Raceway: After missing the start of the season we feel the need for speed, and will be out to enjoy running at a non-Championship event. We may possibly take part in Top Sportsman. We hope to continue progress after a promising start at the Summernationals, a change in the clutch tuning is helping to improve the sixty foot times and to eliminate the double launch from which we have suffered for too long. It's looking like there will be at least five MSA Pro Mods at this event, possibly seven! If Jean Dulamon can make it then Andy Robinson and I have offered to help the most-travelled MSA Championship racer to overcome his nitrous explosions, great for the photographers but I think Jean has had enough. We would like to welcome NSM Special Products as a new sponsor for this year. Eurodragster.com is pleased to confirm that there will be a Webster Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcast from the Mopar EuroNats commencing at lunchtime on Friday. Thanks to Maikel and the guys at Doyousee.me for streaming services and for the possibility of a surprise or two during this weekend's broadcast. Warpspeed's thanks. 24th July: UK Drag Bike team Warpspeed Racing have asked us to say a big Thank You to Santa Pod Raceway for an excellent job of preparing the track for their day teaching circuit racer Guy Martin to ride a drag bike: Even though our team and Ian King's Top Fuel Bike team were the only racers at the track, the staff put in the effort to make the strip the best it could be for the occasion. Stuart Crane put in a demo run and then after some tuition from Ian and the Warpspeed Racing team Guy made two runs on the WSR Draper Tools/MPM Oil-sponsored Pro Stock Bike. The second run was a 9.7 at 160 mph, well done Guy. Guy says he now wants a drag bike, let's hope we see him lining up alongside us in the next few seasons. We'd also like to thank our sponsors MPM Oil and Draper Tools for assisting with the day. Bridge's Bug Jam. 24th July: UK VW Pro racer Dave Bridge says that he had a good weekend at Bug Jam with his Plan B buggy despite an early exit at the hands of Jake Fronda: I had to pull out of the Summernationals because of a last-minute problem on the tow van. I finally tracked it down on the Friday afternoon before Bug Jam thanks to ideas from Paul Miller of Harry Harpics, who had just got back from holiday. With the van back in action at least I wasn't going to be sleeping in a hired Transit. I got up to the Pod on Saturday morning and the VWDRC pits were cramped to say the least, but the atmosphere was great and people moved vehicles around to get me a space. Having packed in a hurry I also ended up borrowing everything from a fan to cool the engine to a breakfast bowl, cheers everyone! The track was great on Saturday afternoon and the car was launching beautifully: straight and smooth. With the wind on our side for once I knew it would be a quick day, but was still surprised to get a PB of 12.42. After four years on this engine I thought I'd already had the best out of it. Plans are afoot for some changes for next year, which should push the times down a little more. Massive thanks to Rob Judge of RNJ Motorsport for crewing for me - particularly all the pushing in the heat - also to Bruce Collins and his boys for helping on the rounds when we got turned around so quickly that Rob couldn't make it back from the start line in time! Congratulations to all the winners - roll on the Open Sport Nationals. Swift snippets. 24th July: Thanks to Yvonne Tramm and our own Simon for supplying us with the post-Bug Jam points standings in the UK National Drag Racing Championships. You can check out the National 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. Today Grace Roaf, the smartest member of the Heaven & Hell Team, is eighteen years old. Rick McCann and Carla Pittau would like to wish Grace the very best in life, but they are confident that given her brains, looks and determination she'll achieve whatever she aims for. "Happy birthday Grace", they say, "when you're with us in the pairing lanes we hope spectators think you're our daughter (sorry Colin, only borrowing, not stealing)." By a remarkable coincidence it is also the birthday of Grace's mum Mary Roaf so a big Happy Birthday to Mary. A big Happy Birthday also to Lotta Andersson. Have a lovely day all. Micallef's red and black. 23rd July: Malta's Duncan Micallef has announced that he will be contesting Top Fuel Dragster at both the NitrOlympX at Hockenheim in August and at the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway in September. To prepare for the double date Duncan and his enlarged team have been rehearsing: After a test event with the Top Methanol car we have been busy with some fine tuning of the team. It was decided that a Crew Chief should be chosen and Mark Farrugia was the obvious choice as he is up for every task and in the few months that he has been with us Mark has shown that he can handle the leadership of the crew under pressure at events. Mark has been in drag racing since the late 1980s and has good experience with various type of vehicles from aspirated to turbocharged and nitro set-ups. He is a mechanic by trade and thus has all the ingredients for a Crew Chief! We felt that the team was still struggling with manpower so Steve and Mervin have joined Adrian and Raymond who have been with us for a while. Ronnie has also joined the crew in the last few months. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Franco Pace for his service with the team - for personal reasons he cannot crew with us in the coming months but we hope that he can rejoin us soon. Our enthusiasm is extremely high as we get closer to Hockenheim's NitrOlmypX . We believe in this new team who together with Mark as a Crew Chief we will give us a shot at the Championship next year. The last practice in preparation for Hockenheim took place with our own methanol car at a Run What You Brung at Hal-Far Raceway last Friday. The team serviced the engine twice in a very professional manner and in good time. We felt that this was much needed since we have new faces with us, and we were pleased with the results since this was the first time that the crew had worked together with the latest additions. Hockenheim's Nitrolympx will be a very tough test for all parts of the team including myself. We will be using the Rune Fjeld Motorsport 2012 Championship-winning Top Fuel Dragster which holds the best ET and is still the fastest in Europe. This should be a great challenge and we will do our utmost in the red and black car - we hope that these colours bring us some luck! We are preparing hard for 2014 as our plans are to run the full Championship, so we will be giving one hundred per cent at the European Finals at Santa Pod. Our aim for these two events is to get the best results possible, as this will attract sponsorship, and fine tune from there. We are also working hard to get some more sponsors as itis a huge task to run all six rounds. We are sure that we are capable of it and that we can run with the best in the class, so if anyone wishes to contribute to an all-Maltese Top Fuel team through sponsorship this is your chance. We can be contacted via Facebook (Duncan TF Micallef) or at www.duncanmicallef.com. Thanks to MDRA Secretary Jason Camilleri for forwarding us this news item - Ed Super Gas reunion is go. 23rd July: Paul Watson has been in touch to remind Super Gas racers about the Reunion which is taking place in Bankside at Santa Pod Raceway this coming Saturday (27th), during the Mopar EuroNats: It all kicks off at around 7:00 pm. Please bring your own food, drink and glasses just like the old days. If you are only coming for the party then please contact me on 07711 670197 to arrange entry. I would like to take this opportunity to again thank Darren Prentice of Santa Pod for his help with all of this. My first quarter. 23rd July: Tom Margesson took his first trip down the quarter this past weekend at the wheel of Andy Williams' Wild Child Super Comp dragster. Andy offered Tom a drive last year and the Public Test Weekend at Shakespeare County Raceway was the date upon which they settled. Tom writes: I've crewed for Andy and Maggie with my dad Pete Margesson and Sandy Rose for a fair few years now. We are now back after a five-year gap due to engine problems. Andy asked last year if I'd like a go and from then on I was set on it. Having only been the crew side of the fence and not been down the track in a car I wasn't too sure what to expect other than the excellent instructions from Andy's years of experience. So on Saturday morning the first run ever, on and off the gas all the way up the track to send me on a 11.55/104. I was instantly hooked. We set sail for some more runs, my third run was a 9.04/140, massive smile, well happy with that! I continued to improve running 8.7, 8.6, 8.5 and an 8.4, with a best of 8.4/146. I had a wicked amount of track time, brilliant weather and a great atmosphere. Just need to do it all again now! A huge huge thanks to Andy and Maggie Williams, my dad Pete Margesson for crewing as normal along with Sandy Rose, my mum for supporting even though she couldn't face watching, and my girlfriend Amy for coming along and getting a taste of crewing for a dragster. I'd also like to thank Peter Thompson, Super Mod driver from Pervie's Performance Parts Parlour of Buntingford, for the loan of the firesuit and good friends Ollie, Joe and Kav for the support on the day. Event entry update. 22nd July: Thanks to Ian Marshall for sending us Version 2 of the official entry list for the FIA European Finals, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 5th-8th September. You can check out the FIA European Finals entry by clicking here, and you can download the official entry forms from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. Entry is still open for the Open Sport Nationals, a UK Championship round, which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway on 24th-26th August. Entry forms can be downloaded via the Downloads link of SCR's web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com. If you have any problems downloading the forms or if you have any queries about Open Sport Nationals entry then please call 01789 720180 or 01789 414119. Paul Marston tells us that the following are confirmed entries for Direct Plastics UK Top Sportsman at this weekend's Mopar EuroNats at Santa Pod Raceway: Jon Turner Dave Raper Paul Letchford Brian Pateman Mark White Collin Morrice Dave Townsend Billy Gane Glenn Pallant Tim Stanbury Kev Slyfield Dave Billadeau Neil Hunter Lee Darby Simon Gough Kenny Coleman Winston Sewell Mark Bailey Jack Brewster Phil Peck Nick Curtis Steve Youhill Steve Neimantas Matt Wright Paul says that judging by racers' enquiries some entries appear to have gone astray in the mail, so if think that you have entered but your name is not listed above then please get in touch with Paul on 07831 650230. Entry is still open, and entry is even available on the day. For more details check out www.topsportsman.co.uk or get in touch with Paul on the above number. Bug Jam results. 22nd July: Congratulations to the winners of the weekend's Bug Jam at Santa Pod Raceway: Sportsman ET: Brian Pateman (14.78) 14.7923/88.35 def. Stephen Cherrett (19.25) 19.2901/70.89 Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator: Alan Williamson 8.6810/142.92 def. Brian Payne 7.6661/189.73 DQ red VW Pro: Paul Jackson (12.40) 12.7850/110.81 def. Matt Attwood (11.38) 11.3694/109.63 DQ b/o VW Sportsman: Adrian London (16.60) 16.7258/79.93 def. Jason Anslow (15.55) 15.6266/83.32 Outlaw Flat Four: Thomas Kemp 10.2619/129.93 def. Udo Becker 10.4525/120.79 Outlaw Anglia: Cliff Griffin 7.7810/157.98 def. Jedd Guy 8.7507/152.58 Congratulations also to Sportsman ET runner-up Stephen Cherrett who won the Eurodragster.com / Gold RV Perfect ET Award with a 19.100 on a 19.10 dial-in during qualifying. The Perfect ET Award has been reset to £50 for the Open Sport Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. The Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award was not won so has been increased to £75 for the Open Sport Nationals. You can check out our Alamo Rent A Car-sponsored Event Coverage by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Swift snippets. 21st July: We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to our good friend and UK Super Gas racer His Worshipful Flatulence The Very Reverend Sir Neville Mottershead ODE. Have a great day Nev. Three for three at North Weald. 21st July: Paul Marston Racing kept their winning streak going with their third successive title in the Heads-up Eliminator at North Weald last Sunday: Due to the increasing popularity of the Heads-Up competition there are now two classes, the Quick 8 and the Fast 4, the latter being for race cars only. Competition has been getting steadily more fierce with the final being a close run thing. The Quick 8 and Fast 4 are now starting to attract some players, which is exactly why we compete: we want to beat the best. In the final our opponent was Perry Stevenson driving his MGBGT, which is Rover V8 powered, Supercharged and Nitrous Injected. Perry was at Dragstalgia the previous day and drove down especially to compete. In the final there were just three tenths separating the two cars. I would like to thank the organiser and crew at North Weald for all their hard work in some brutally hot weather, if it was not for them we could not race. Secondly I need to thank the PMR crew The Crewchief, Funsize and The Pieman, who were also roasted at Gas Mark 6 all day. As North Weald is an airport facility, there is very little shade. Special thanks to everyone who stopped by to say hello and wish us luck. It's our local track and its nice to see so many familiar faces. The last event of the series is the Outlaws Picnic on Sunday 18th August. It's an American and Street Rod only event, at which PMR will once again be in attendance to try to win the last race in the series with the Whoopass Monza. See you there. Project FIA. 20th July: It has been no big secret that the opportunity to convert the Ellis Racing Superbird Pro Mod from a supercharged to a turbocharged entry, and ultimately test and start to develop it, has proven to be something of a re-awakening to the team at engine and race car builder and longtime Eurodragster.com supporter ICE Automotive. Having had a reasonable amount of success in the class during the 1990s and into the new millennium, the team retired from the class in order to pursue other projects. Having watched Pro Mod develop with more than a passing interest over the next decade, Rob Loaring and Nick Davies were keen to be involved in the Superbird project after being approached by father and son team Graham and Gareth Ellis. Executing the conversion process in-house at their Silverstone workshop, the Superbird débuted as the UK's first turbo Pro Mod car at the 2011 Easter Thunderball. By the end of the 2011 season, the car had run faster than the UK class speed record running 6.29/239. So, on to 2013 with an itch that just wouldn't go away. "There are a finite number of things with which a customer can be asked to experiment before the realisation dawns that the only way to really test all of the ideas buzzing around the workshop is to put them onto and into your own car", explains Nick. "The problem with that is, obviously, that we don't have a car. Or rather we didn't have a car. We have now purchased the Vanishing Point Race Cars-built 1968 Firebird campaigned by The Netherlands' Robert Koper, less engine and transmission. "The aim of the project is to join the other stalwarts of British doorslammer racing in the goal of bringing the FIA Pro Modified crown back to these shores for the first time. We are aware that it is a tall order but, with the exception of a couple of key elements, we believe that we are very well placed to achieve the goal which has so far eluded our domestic racers. "The on-track campaign is a couple of years away as we have commitments to other projects (including the Apache Funny Car and the Chaos Fuel Altered) and this will allow the time to finalise specs of the complete car we want to build and also to generate the funds to enable us to do so – well-funded prospective business partners please apply at the Silverstone address; the option of a ticket to the Monaco Ball can, of course, be negotiated!" All the action at Ladies That Launch. 21st July: Jerry Cookson tells us that it is not too late to attend this weekend's Ladies That Launch / Public Test Weekend at Shakespeare County Raceway and that it promises to be action-packed: Besides the publicised Fourth Annual Ladies That Launch bracket race, the weekend also lends itself to a general open RWYB for all manner of vehicles. There's even a shopping trolley coming.  With a hefty prize fund on offer the Injector Dynamics UK FWD Outlaw Shootout has attracted some quick machinery to the Raceway, including nine second FWD monsters in the form of Richard Batty's 950 bhp Mitsubishi FTO and Guy Chamberlain's awesome 1100 bhp CPL Racing Honda Civic. The FTO Owners Club have their National Weekend with us as well. The National Sprint Association have another round of the Southern Championship which this year includes a couple of classic Morgan three wheelers! The weekend also features the fifth round of the National Association of Supertwins. So if you're a bike fan then make for Stratford upon Avon this weekend. The guys and gals from the Old Skool Ford Drag Challenge make the first of two visits to the Raceway this year with a blend of Blue Oval power from a wide range of classic Escorts to Cortinas. Catch them if you can.  The SCR Bracket Gamblers will be running on Sunday as well. So if you fancy a gamble then all are welcome to run in the money bracket. There's gonna be lots to see including an anticipated appearance of Jr Olly's Dakota Thunder Jet truck. Track opens for RWYB at 10:00 am each day and goes on until 5:00 pm. If you're taking part then don't forget your driver's licence and crash helmet. For further information please see our event page on our web site at www.shakespearepcountyraceway.com or our Facebook page. See you at the strip! More ACAG backers. 20th July: The Allard Chrysler Action Group has announced more supporters of the project which has restored Europe's first dragster to working exhibit status: The 354 Chrysler Hemi engine in the dragster has been Moroso block-filled up to the core plug holes. The idea was that extra cooling could be the achieved by filling the rest of the block and heads with water. Those readers who have been following the restoration will know that ACAG hit a problem with the water boiling (blowing a core-plug on one occasion) and the engine retaining high levels of heat after each run, preventing further start-ups for up to three hours. Evans Waterless Coolant was recommended and this seems to have fixed the problem. Unlike water, Evans Waterless Coolants contain no oxygen or minerals and so eliminates corrosion and with a boiling point in excess of 180 degrees prevents hot spots caused by pockets of steam. Evans also allows the cooling system to run at a lower pressure which in turn reduces stress on components. Evans has created specific formulations for a range of engine types. The ACAG use their Classic Cool 180 range specifically tailored to the Classic and Vintage Car markets. Overall it's a much more efficient conductor of heat than water, allowing for a more efficient and smooth-running engine. The product is on trial in other cars owned by the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu and will be supplied on a sponsorship basis for use on the Allard Chrysler dragster. You can find Evans Coolants' web site at www.evanscoolants.co.uk. Our second new sponsor is Corteco, the Independent Automotive Aftermarket sales organisation of the Freudenberg Group and the largest manufacturer of automotive seals for OE applications in the world. Corteco specialises in sealing, vibration control, cabin air filter and service parts for the independent automotive aftermarket in Europe. They recently showed their support with a double page spread advertorial in the new on-line GroupAuto publication called Ignition. GroupAuto is one of the largest parts buying and marketing groups for independent motor factors in Europe. Corteco management liked ACAG's approach to delivering a quality restoration and saw the dedication to detail and respect for keeping the dragster's original condition as very much akin to their own policy of OE quality on aftermarket products. As their parent company is a major OE supplier this will come as no surprise to users of parts sold by Corteco. "These principles are a perfect fit with those applied in the UK aftermarket by Corteco", says the company. "That's why we support the ACAG project. The restoration of the Allard Chrysler has been a major success, a triumph for teamwork. So congratulations to the ACAG from Corteco for a job well done – both inside and out." You can find Corteco's web site at www.corteco.com. Although there are photographs showing Sydney Allard driving Europe's first dragster in a sports jacket, shirt and tie in the early 1960s, his son Alan was more safety conscious with his racewear when he drove the car in 1964. And certainly to fire up its 354 cubic inch Chrysler Hemi engine in today's more safety-aware world would definitely require something more substantial. For some time the Allard Chrysler Action Group (ACAG) has been assembling the elements of an early 1960s driver fire suit. As well as being used at cackle appearances the suit could sometimes be displayed on a mannequin alongside the car at its home - the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu. American Ron Hope of Rat Trap fame (recently appearing at the Goodwood Festival of Speed) donated a pair of his old gloves and Chris and Claire from the Wild Bunch donated some boots. But we still needed a jacket and trousers or a combined suit. After talking with American drag racer Bob Keith who came over to the UK to race at the International Drag Racing Festivals organised by Sydney Allard in 1964 and 1965, we made contact with Ben at Deist Safety – the company that supplied Bob's firesuit for those UK tours. The company's founder, Jim Deist, passed away on 9th March 2009, but for over years he had dedicated his life to improving the safety of all types of motorsports. He was an innovator, a dedicated racer, and a friend to all. And Jim's legacy is continued at Deist with most of the staff having worked alongside him for twenty years; some for over thirty years. After hearing about the restoration of Europe's first dragster Deist supplied the ACAG with a single layer silver nostalgia type racing jacket and a nostalgia fuel mask. This features multiple layers of aluminized silver or Nomex material with Deist's exclusive "Liquid barrier" insulation. It includes a respirator for the removal of fuel fumes. Stu Bradbury located some period goggles so all we need now is a pair of fireproof silver trousers and an open-faced helmet. The look of the driver and the dragster will then both reflect the early 1960s drag racing era. A link to the Deist web site can be found on the Links page at www.allardchrysler.org. A video of Gareth wearing the jacket and facemask during a pit cackle at Dragstalgia 2013 can be found on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMydhlBIpIQ. Web site updates. 20th July: The European Nostalgia Funny Car site at euronostalgiafunnycar.jimdo.com has been updated with post-Dragstalgia news, updated team pages, photo galleries and links. Carey checks in. 19th July: Probably the only person who didn't enjoy Dragstalgia as much as the rest of us was UK Top Fuel Bike racer Steve Carey who made a frightening-looking high-speed departure from his bike on Saturday. Steve got in touch to let us know how he is doing: Firstly, I want to say a very big thank you to the medical teams and paramedics at Santa Pod who kindly looked after me when I parted company with the Purple Princess 2 Top Fuel Bike. I would also like to say a big thank you to the Santa Pod team, and to everybody else who offered support after the unfortunate event to Bob, Ken and myself. Apologies for delaying the day's activities on Saturday... sorry, it was not on my agenda to end our weekend that soon! I've been overwhelmed with the numerous messages on Facebook, and hopefully next week I'll get around to doing some replies to them, so a big thank you to everybody who has written in with support. Although the bike suffered badly, the engine / blower / gearbox pod has survived remarkably well, and it is a testament to Bob's welding abilities that all his welds withstood the immense forces to which the bike was subjected as it went through its 'act'. Some of the tubes have literally been pulled apart, with the welds still intact at each end. As for my own injuries: lots of bruises, a black eye where the crash helmet pushed onto my glasses, a bit of skin off one finger, and following a visit to the hospital on Tuesday I have now discovered that I have a dislocated left shoulder. This was put back in, but the doctors felt that it was still unstable and liable to come out again so I'm having an operation on it today (Friday). Having looked at the photos, I think that somebody was looking after me that day. On another note, I have successfully concluded the two-year part-time MSc course at Brighton University (Congratulations Steve - Ed). The graduation ceremony is next Friday, I guess I'll be the only one with an arm in a sling and a black eye, dressed in the robes to collect my Post Graduate Diploma. Thanks again everybody for your support and well wishes, I'll send a further update after the operation. Best wishes for your operation Steve and we'll see you soon. Drag bikes at Dragstalgia. 19th July: Dragstalgia came of age last weekend, when the sun came out – with a vengeance – for the third edition of the event, writes Keith Lee: Thankfully none of the riders actually melted, but it was a close run thing! For some machines this is their only appearance of the year, with tuning being challenging in the sapping conditions. The normally reliable John Hobbs suffered a suspected damaged piston during a slowing 9.53/138 run on The Hobbit, which was a shame; but it was great to see John's long time racing friend Dave Clee riding Shotgun at the Pod for the first time in over 10 years. A 10.66/138 clocking was pretty special on the Puma Triumph, as he is no lightweight. Dave's original restored Shotgun bike was also in the pits, with Nick Fisk trying it out for size on the track. Martin Willmott was the quickest rider still running in the NSA Shootout. Fighting some gremlins along the way, he pushed the 500 blown Triumph to a best of 9.68/150 over the weekend, before coming up against the twin-Triumph of Ray law in the final run-off. Despite some whipping by this scribe about his reaction times last year, Martin was last away again, but stormed down the track as Ray shed a chain alongside. A blown inlet manifold slowed Martin at the top end, but his 10.22/133 was good enough to take the winner's trophy. Thanks to all those riders who took part, racing a good cross section of machinery that used to regularly race thirty to forty-plus years ago. From Dennis Norman's double Triumph, and the Pegasus Reborn Vincent piloted by Graham Martin, to the 750 Triumph of Simon Rees, and the Trident of Jasper Joy; all recreated the sight and sounds of classic drag bike racing. In the pits, Bernie White's blown 500 Triumph looked like new, but is actually totally unrestored since its last race in 1974. Happily the newly restored Orient Express turbo Kawasaki, that the late Steve Tong raced, was displayed by Steve Watson, having only been completed two days previously. Look forward to seeing it running at next year's event. In the marquee was an in-progress restoration project being carried out by Pete Scott on the ex-Bob Webster double Kawasaki, which will hopefully be another entry on the strip at a future Dragstalgia. It was pleasing to see a lot of past riders turning up for the event, and having the chance to catch up with old rivals, and enjoy the atmosphere. Interesting to watch Nick Milburn getting to grips with his new ride, a very famous blown Kawasaki that I first saw being racing in 1981. That almost qualifies it for the nostalgia ranks! I must close with a big thank you to James Forster for organising this great event – and especially also the hard-working track crew, who worked tirelessly all weekend, which included extensive overnight track repairs after Steve Carey's unfortunate crash on Saturday. Setting the Vogue. 19th July: One of the very welcome returns to the track at Dragstalgia was UK Tech Committee Chair, FIA Drag Racing Commission member and British Drag Racing Hall of Fame member Phil Evans who made a number of passes in his L/Production Super Vogue. Phil writes: I had a great time meeting ex-racers against whom I competed thitry-odd years ago, and spectators who remembered the car when they were brought to Santa Pod as kids back in the 1970s and 1980s! Of course the best part was driving up the Santa Pod quarter mile again - it is so smooth now - in my dear old Super Vogue. Until a month ago it hadn't moved off its trailer or been started for nearly ten years, so just to get it to go and stop was a quite a lot of work. However I was amazed that a replacement distributor and brake parts could be purchased off the shelf via something called the inter-web. The old Jaguar SU petrol pump (top tip racing addition in 1974) struggled in the heat and the car was running out of fuel in top gear, so before we go to the Hot Rod Drags in September the pump will be overhauled in the hope that more representative speeds can be attained. I would like to congratulate everybody connected with the organisation of Dragstalgia and in particular James, Ian and all the marshals who never stopped working throughout the whole, very warm event. The touring Circus. 19th July: The weather gods finally granted Dragstalgia the one ingredient it has been missing since it started in 2011, a glorious weekend of pure sunshine which the Gasser Circus celebrated with some really close racing. Nervous Nick writes that there were mishaps, missed opportunities and breakages but above all another superbly enjoyable weekend with a great bunch of guys and girls: Qualifying got underway and for most of the assembled Gassers it was our first time on the newly-laid track at Santa Pod. The surface is ultra smooth over the quarter mile and worth the investment. With the first runs out of the way it was time to take stock, for adjustments, top ups not just of the fluids in the cars but just as importantly the drivers and our ever hard-working and totally supportive crews. The sun was always going to be the winner, and for any driver racing over the weekend we all had to get used to the heat and sweat once suited and strapped into your race car - even drivers of open-topped race cars were suffering. The enclosed confines of a Gasser were like a sauna and weight loss was a serious outcome! Under an overcast sky we were in the fire-up road just after 9:00 on Sunday. With the colder conditions most thought that they would be faster but by the time we pulled up at the end of the fire-up road the sun had burnt through and Round 3 of the Gasser Circus was well and truly at the business end. Unfortunately, despite having a bye to the next round Tim Holmes' Power Wagon was shut down by the start line crew before he could break the beam. They had spotted fuel in the bed of his pickup, which it transpired was the residue of a small spill he had whilst refuelling. It was a gutting experience to be eliminated in this manner, but it did open up the leader board. Defending Champion Ray Turner found himself advancing to the quarter finals when Mike Noble and his Honky Tonkin '57 failed to show in the fire up lane. I found I had a bye with Nogbad the Bad as on Saturday Honky Tonkin 2 suffered a head gasket failure which nearly put Jerry in the wall. It was also discovered on later runs that they had damaged the gearbox in their '64 Nova which was, frustratingly for the team, beyond trackside repair. Horrid Henry, piloted by Mick Allen, was up against John Gibson and his '55 Chevy, John taking the win between the Muncie shifting duo. Round 2 winner Sean Milsom in his Ain't Misbehavin Morris van was up against Ken Brookes and his '57 Chevy Roarin' Rat, in a close fought battle it was Sean who came out on top. This just left Martyn Hallam in his Whiplash 33 Willys racing Brian Gibson's Identity Crisis. Following strong burnouts and the fall of the Tree, it was the 33 Willys that advanced. Green Onions had a bye to the semi finals whilst in yet another close run drag race Nogbad the Bad lost to the Crowd Pleaser of John Gibson. In the battle of the diminutive green Gassers Sean bagged himself a place in the finals when he defeated Martyn Hallam's Whiplash, with Martyn grabbing front air on his launch off the line. This win in the quarter finals saw Sean almost certain of making the final as barring breakage he would have a bye in the semi final. The other side of the ladder however afforded no such luxury, with Green Onions and Crowd Pleaser fighting it out for the right to take on Ain't Misbehavin. To see the '55 Chevys side by side was exhilarating but John had left fractionally too early leaving a Cherry on the Tree. We had a repeat on our hands with the Round 2 finalists once again chasing the win. Once all the other Gassers had run through, with bragging rights being established, the finalists came to the line. The dial-in showed a slight advantage to Sean as he would get the green just ahead of Ray. As the lights came down the race was on and from the stands it was difficult to separate the two, but the lights on the top end gantry soon confirmed that Ray and his '55 Chevy Green Onions was again a winner. Back in the pits the trophies were handed out and Mechanix Limited awarded a £50 Cheque to John Gibson for his near perfect Reaction Time. The Gasser Circus would like to thank their sponsors the National Street Rod Association, Hot Rod Supplies, Mopar Nationals Committee, Mechanix Limited and Jack Hammer. We also want to thank all the staff at Santa Pod for their support - it was after all they who spent all day stood out in a heatwave to make sure that we all stayed safe and on schedule. The Circus will continue racing the dream at the Mopar EuroNationals at Santa Pod Raceway next weekend. Super Superstock. 19th July: Dragstalgia Superstock organiser Pete Walton says that he cannot remember seeing so many smiling faces after the sun shone on Dragstalgia: Nine cars turned up for Superstock, some seasoned racers and some not so. We had the usual debate about heads-up or dial-in and because the track was so busy it was decided to dial in which gave us some real close racing and the chance for the less experianced amongst us to have a go. One race was decided by 0.001 seconds, Jim Chandler losing out to Rob Tyrell on that occasion. Several Personal Bests were set, Rob Tyrell for one going faster and faster every run. The final was between Simon Parker and Rob Tyrell, a bit of a mix up in the Tower over Rob's dial-in but the outcome would have been the same as Rob broke out. I would like to thank our two sponsors Andy Robinson Race Cars and WASP for taking a chance on our fledgling class, also James of Santa Pod for giving us a chance to race the cars we love, and the Pod's crew for making this the best event I have been to for many years. I would like to thank the racers: Jim, Simon P, Ian, Tig, Rob, Simon R, Kiwi and finally Mike Lacey who damaged his engine on his very first burnout but still helped out with advice and the offer of tools during the weekend. Finally on a personal note I would like to thank Harry, Nick and Dave Powell as without their help my car would never would have made it there. After seven years of rebuilding my old race car I finally ran a ten - dialled in 10.95 and ran 10.75, broke out big time but for once I didn't care. Will we be there next year? Try stopping us! Wild Bunch lead the nostalgia. 19th July: Many thanks to Wild Bunch Race Co-ordinator Claire Meaddows for forwarding us the results from their Championship round at Dragstalgia: 1st place: Scot Durrant in Tiki Munki (first Top 4 for the team this season) 2nd Place: Tom Larman in The Ferret (third Top 4 finish of the season) 3rd Place: Adam Price in Go Hard or Go Home!!! (fourth Top 4 of the season) 4th Place: Keith Crampton in Soultown Shaker (sixth Top 4 of the season) Many thanks to Ratcatcher Racing who sponsored all the trophies for the weekend, and many thanks to Roy Wilding who put up £50 prize money for the winner of the event. The Spot Prize winners were: Best Reaction (on race day): Adam Price in Go Hard or Go Home!!!, 0.040 Closest to dial-in (on race day): Mark Mills in Xenomorph, +0.001 Quickest ET of the event: Sam Freeman in Double Density, 7.902 seconds Best Burnout: Roy Wilding in the S&K Racing dragster Best Appearing Car: Alan Loten in Paranoia Best Appearing Team: Keith Crampton and the Soultown Shaker team Best Backup Girls: Gina Durrant and Nicole Rumble of Team Tiki Munki Spirit of Nostalgia: Dick Sharp and the Dorset Horn team celebrating their fortieth anniversary And: Awarded the overall event prize for Best Wheelstand was Darryl Howells in Chemical Reaction Awarded the overall event prize for Best Backup Girl was Sarah Howells of DASH Racing (I heard "Buried in" not "Married in", I blame the noise, sorry Sarah - Ed) The weekend's Personal Bests were: Scot Durrant in Tiki Munki 12.993 seconds (first ever twelve for Scottie!) Terry Clifford in Ratcatcher Resurrection 8.951 seconds (first ever eight for Terry!) Mark Mills in Xenomorph 8.742 seconds (first ever eight for Mark!) Dick Sharp in Dorset Horn 9.361 seconds Darryl Howells in Chemical Reaction 9.389/141.26 (welcome back to good performance!) Sag Southworth in Daddy Cool 8.948 seconds (first ever eight for Sag!) Mike Couch in Flat Frenzy 2 135.63 mph Bob Hawkins in Time Traveller 7.990 seconds (first ever seven for Bob!) Sam Freeman in Double Density 7.902/168.08 (first ever seven for Sam in this car!) Guest Rainer Ziegler in The Dude 8.503 seconds We thought it was a fantastic event! And chuffed we finally got good weather for it. Organisation was great, and marshals and track crew amazing as always. We really loved being part of our Wild Bunch show. For me, our first round Saturday was worth our price of admission alone, with all the great performances from the drivers, the extra backup girls and push cars and team wear and everything! International Outlaws. 19th July: Nine Supercharged Outlaws rolled through the gates of Santa Pod Raceway at the weekend for their latest Championship round sponsored by Good Vibrations Motorsports of California. The international flavour of the Outlaws at Dragstalgia was not just due to the sponsor, as Dave McKenzie writes: We had two entries from Holland, Ramon in the Wild'r at Heart Dodge Funny Car and Kirsten Van Croonenborgh with her Plymouth Cuda. Ramon was on double entry as he was also running with the Nostalgia Funny Cars, but his runs with them counted as his Outlaw runs. From France we had V Rossiello with his blown '57 Chevy. From Great Britain we had points leader Lee Gallimore with the Red Mist Small Block Chevy altered, Ian Kerr with the Pontiac Firebird with a fantastic new paint job: European drag racing on one side, American drag racing on the other side, and a tribute to The Big Man Vic Hammond also to Kasey on the rear. First time out this season with the outlaws was John Reeves with the El Bandido altered, John had a great weekend after a rush to rebuild the engine after dropping a valve the weekend before. Steve Goode brought along his car with the altered body and Charlie Chivers with the C10 pick up Last but not least was Roy Wilding who brought out his blown slingshot for the first time in 2013. We had some great side by side runs, one of the best was the two altereds of Lee Gallimore and Steve Goode side by side all the way with Steve taking the win with a 7.4 second pass and Lee losing out with a 7.5 pass Steve would have been quicker but the burst panel went at 1000 feet, but this was a PB. There was drama in the staging lanes before this race, as we fired up Steves altered it lurched forward knocking Kirk his crewman over. Kirk then had to go to the Medical Centre with a suspected cracked collarbone but in true style the show went on and Steve took the win light. Kirsten is still getting the hang of driving her new Plymouth Cuda and put in a couple of passes. Two of our doorslammers, Ian Kerr and V Rossiello, paired up and again a great race side by side Ian on an 8.05 and V Rossiello on a 7.9 to take the win for France. Charlie Chivers' bad luck still haunts him, try as he might he cannot get the C10 down the track. Gearbox breakages have plagued the truck this season but on this weekend Charlie was sure that everything was good to go after an expensive complete rebuild on the box. After the burnout on his first pass there was no drive. Charlie's luck must change soon. The guys who overhauled his gearbox are going to repair it at no charge! Roy Wilding brought out the immaculate slingshot for the first time this year and made a couple of check-out passes, the car losing fire on the first run. Roy's team came away with Best Appearing Team, well done Roy and the guys. The Outlaw results were: 1st: Lee Gallimore Red Mist 2nd: John Reeve El Bandido 3rd: Ian Kerr Spirit of Drag Racing Good Vibrations Quickest Reaction Time: Lee Gallimore Good Vibratons Team of the Weekend: Lee Gallimore Quickest ET: Ramon van der Weurf 7.007 seconds Highest speed: Ramon van der Weurf 199 mph Thanks to Santa Pod and to James Forster for a great weekend and for giving us a great track to run on. Swift snippets. 19th July: UK VW Sportsman racer Russ Weir is making a welcome return to the track at this weekend's Bug Jam at Santa Pod Raceway. Russ has not raced since 2010 when he won the VWDRC title. His car is now sporting decals supplied by Ban'd Creative Design. "I am very excited to be returning", says Russ. "I'd like to thank Ban'd for all the creative work." Race fans have a veritable smörgåsbord of webcasts this weekend. As well as our own Webster Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcast from Bug Jam, SRIF are broadcasting the Malmö Open from Malmö Raceway, Shakespeare County Raceway will be screening For Ladies that Launch and the Finnish Hot Rod Association will be broadcasting the Radio City Summernats from Kalajoki for €10. We will post direct links to all four webcasts when they commence. Jay, Michelle, Phil and all at Orange Pop racing asked us to say a big Happy Birthday to Outlaw Anglia racer Simon Barlow. "Have a great day and we will celebrate in style at Ladies That Launch at Shakey this weekend", they say. Have a great birthday Simon. UK Super Pro ET racer Billy Gane has been in touch with a reminder of his summer party on Saturday 3rd August at Ladygrove, Ongar Road West, Writtle, Essex CM1 3NT (map). £10 buys you a barbecue, subsidised bar, live band, Bob Molden's disco, inflatable assault course, bouncy castle, hot rod and race car show - feel free to bring your own car - and more. Motorhomes, caravans and tents are welcome as there is plenty of space; you are welcome to arrive from 6:00 pm on Friday. Tickets will be on sale at next weekend's Mopar Euronats. For more information get in touch with Billy via his Facebook page. Sportsman Nationals results. 19th July: Thanks to George Kinghorn of the UKDrag.net Blog for sending us the winners of York Raceway's Sportsman Nationals held on Sunday July 7th: Super Cup: Darren Peart SU240 Def Paul Grainger HR66 Pro ET: Nik Wilson Pro229 Def Lee Chiles SS87 Sportsman ET: Karen Gregory SP320 Def Ethan Lisle SP666 American Superstock: Andy Bosomworth SS349 Def Smantha Carter Chiles SS125 JDM-DRC Des Taylor JDM111 Def Nathan Askey JDM69 Wells' tough season. 19th July: UK Super Comp and Outlaw Anglia racer Steve Wells writes that 2013 has been a tough season so far for the Cam Auto-sponsored Ford Pop pick-up: Our first meeting was the Festival of Power at Easter where we found the block to be cracked as the result of a blower explosion last year. We got through Big Bang but still had head-sealing problems which meant taking the heads off skimming them and reo-ringing them. The valve seats were also re-cut and new valves fitted. The next meeting for us was the Super Pull at Shakespeare County Raceway where fourth gear gave up the will to live during qualifying. This was fixed at the track in time for round one. Next was the Nostalgia Nationals where during our first round win the oil pump belt snapped resulting in damage to the big end bearings and crank. This was re-ground and ready for Dragstalgia, where in Q1 a rear shock developed a leak, causing a right turn off the start line. This was also fixed in time for Q3 and we ran an 8.6 followed by two more 8.6s in rounds one and two, then an 8.7 in round three was enough to get us to the final. Our 8.7 was no match for Cliff Griffin but we were more than happy with runner-up spot. A big thank you to my crew the Motler family and part-time Tom - hopefully our luck has turned and you won't have to work so hard for the last few meetings. Also thanks to Cam Auto for their continued support. Ladies That Launch raffle update. 19th July: With this year's Ladies That Launch all set to... well, launch at Shakespeare County Raceway on Saturday, organisers Angie Woods and Jerry Cookson have been in touch to say a huge Thank You to everyone who has contributed towards this year LTL Charity Prize Raffle to be held in association with Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research and Sarah Howells' Running for Paula Marshall. "The generosity this year has been staggering to say the least following today's latest pledge from Shakespeare County Raceway", says Angie. "In addition to tickets to this year's 25th Anniversary Hot Rod Drags Shakespeare County Raceway have put up a cash prize of £100 to one lucky winner in Sunday's draw. So if you're coming to the Raceway this weekend then please dig deep folks and give generously to the cause. We hope that you have a safe and fun filled weekend." The full list of prizes on offer is as follows: Jeni Long and Yawning Cat Photography – Framed print Jeff Land Photography - Framed print SCR Burger Babes – The Big Brekkie Wayne Allman and Intergalactic Custom Shop - £40 welding voucher and T-Shirts Michelle Mockford and Simply Furniture - £85 on-line furniture store voucher LA Racing Parts and VP Racing Fuels – Four pink fuel jugs and hoses Dave Smith and American Car Magazine – Twelve month magazine subscription For Ladies That Launch – Sweet hamper Yankee Doodle Traders – Beach set Masons Arms/Dave and Jane – Main meal and drink Julie and Phil Steele/Little Cherub Photography – Three framed prints Eurodragster.com - Surprise print For Ladies That Launch – Scooby Doo cuddly toy Bev and John – Hot Rod T-shirts and NASCAR spectator seat cushions Liz Burn – Signed copy of Drag Racing - Through the Eyes of a Woman Wild'r at Heart Nostalgia Funny Car Team – Kendall Oil, stickers and hero cards Caroline Blackmore and Caroos Soaps – Gift packLizz McCarthy – Nitrous Junkie baseball cap New York Candy Store – Mystery basket of goodies Choko Racewear/American Car Magazine – T-Shirts, caps and Mopar tin signsLucas Oil - Motor oil and cap DSRacewear and Ed Yates – Bottle of Fireball and Nomex balaclava 50s American Diner and Sarah Howells – TBA Screamin Designs and Lorna Barter – Custom Jewellery Set Shakespeare County Raceway – £100 cash prize and tickets to the 25th Anniversary Hot Rod Drags Tickets will be on sale during the weekend at £1 a strip. The draw will take place Sunday afternoon. In the meantime if you would like to sponsor Sarah to raise funds for a very deserving cause in Paula's memory then please visit her Just Giving page at www.justgiving.com/dashracinguk. Further details about the Fourth Annual For Ladies That Launch Public Track Weekend can be found on the Events page at www.shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk or on the event's Facebook page. Top Sportsman entry update. 19th July: Paul Marston writes that the first version of the Direct Plastics UK Top Sportsman entry list is now available on the class' web site at www.topsportsman.co.uk: The list makes interesting reading and with more entries coming in daily it will be constantly updated. There is still time to enter, so get your entries in for the best doorslammer event of the year in now, we want everyone there. You can download the entry from the web site. Every team which enters has a chance of winning. There are two races, the first is Friday at 1:00 pm sharp a bracket race with a second round buyback for first round losers, run to conclusion Friday. No throttle stops, no delay boxes, just run as fast as your car can and the skill of the driver on the Tree and the finishline will determine the winner. Then after the one shot qualifier on Saturday late evening, it's the heads-up sixteen-car eliminator on Sunday when the fastest or most consistently fast car will be victorious. The event will be televised and there is a whole load of prize money up for grabs, along with some nice trophies and of course the bragging right of having competed with the very best and fastest doorslammers in the country. Remember, other than safety equipment there are no rules - check the web site for details. As many nitrous systems, blowers, turbos or Prochargers as you want, no cubic inch limit, no weight limit. You only need a UK driving licence, not an MSA licence. Direct Plastics UK Top Sportsman would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our sponsors who believe in what we are trying to do and have supported us. Remember that this event is being held at the mighty Mopar Euronationals at Santa Pod Raceway next Friday to Sunday (26th-28th), it's their twentieth anniversary so you know it's going to be a great event. Every Direct Plastics UK Top Sportsman entrant will come loaded for bear, come and participate or watch the spectacle, history in the making. If you have any questions or for more details call me on 07831 650230 or E-Mail [email protected]. Persistence gets results. 19th July: British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Chair Stu Bradbury tells us that persistence has paid off as a long-running project to release funds for the good of the sport has finally concluded successfully: In 2006 Bev and I visited Rod and Ann Pallant at their home in Mucia in south eastern Spain. Ann and Mick Hand were the last British National Drag Racing Association secretaries, responsible for the records and finances of the old Club, and Ann told us that the BNDRA's bank account, dormant for twelve years at that point, contained just over one thousand pounds and that if we could get the bank concerned to release the money she and Mick would sign it over to the BDRHoF to help drag racing in some way. As Ann said, "When all said and done the money belongs to the racers". Ann asked the then-TSB what information they needed to transfer the money and the game of hardball started. The TSB wanted proof of Ann's old address and the same from Mick Hand plus the account details. These were sent but the bank could find no records either of their names or the bank account. Ann sent an old statement to the TSB but to no avail as the bank had deleted both names from the account and could give no explanation why.  The merger of Lloyds and TSB caused more delays and the holding branch was closed. Eventually the account was located, but because Ann and Rod had moved out of the country the account addresses were now null and void. They had more red tape and hoops to jump through before the bank would accept that they had the Club's money. Phil Evans and I got more and more involved. As Phil is a Lloyds/TSB customer he persuaded his local bank manager to become involved. Even this didn't release the money, as the bank came up with more and more harebrained excuses why we could not have it. After yet another round of forms going off to Ann in Spain and to Mick they finally agreed to release the cash to Phil. Phil transferred the money to the BDRHoF account and that was that, although the Bank didn't think that they'd had enough of our money and charged £20 before they would release it. I shall be writing a cheque for £250 as a donation to the Allard Chrysler Action Group and £250 will be donated to the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame account to help with the costs of the banquet at the FIA European Finals. Distribution of the remainder is yet to be decided. Thanks must go to Ann Pallant and to Mick Hand, and to Phil Evans for completing the last stage of the operation and for helping me over eight years to try to convince Lloyds/TSB that the money was not theirs and that it should be transferred to the BDRHoF account where it could be used for the benefit of drag racers and drag racing. Web site updates. 19th July: Following on from yesterday's Feature, our good buddy Alan Currans has now updated his excellent Acceleration Archive with his full set of photographs from the Goodwood Festival of Speed. As ever you can check out Alan's FoS pictures via the What's New? link at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. Bug Jam coverage. 18th July: Eurodragster.com will be at Santa Pod Raceway on Saturday and Sunday to bring you all the news from Bug Jam in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car. Our coverage will consist of frequently-updated reports on qualifying and eliminations - please note that qualifying, and thus our reports, starts at 15:30 on Saturday - and a photo gallery at the end of both days. The Webster Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport will be on-line broadcasting live video and commentary / Nitro FM audio so long as the track is open on Saturday and Sunday. Thanks to our friends at Doyousee.me for the provision of streaming services. We will post a direct Home Page link to our coverage as soon as it commences, but in the meantime you can check out our Bug Jam Event Index, which contains links to the official entry list and provisional running orders, by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Web site updates. 18th July: Further to yesterday's report we have now posted a gallery of Alan Currans' pictures from the Goodwood Festival of Speed as a Feature presented in association with Lucas Oil Products. You can check out Alan's pictures by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Alan Currans has been a busy bee this week as he has updated the official web site of the UK's Chaos Fuel Altered team with a report and pictures from the weekend's Dragstalgia at Santa Pod Raceway. You can take a look via the What's New link at www.chaos-fuel-altered.com. A weekend surprise. 17th July: Despite today's widespread culture of electronic indiscretion it is still possible to be surprised occasionally and one of the surprises of the weekend at Dragstalgia was the appearance of the Draper brothers' Corvette Funny Car. Charlie Draper writes: To cut to the chase, I was gutted that our car had ignition problems. We ran this engine a year ago and had the same issue, and yes of course I thought I had fixed it. The mag in now heading to Holland with the Wild'r at Heart team where it will be load tested and any problems fixed. Apart from this disappointment we had a great time and all the comments were gratefully received. It was hard hard work leading up and during Dragstalgia, but our pit was a good place to be with loads of friends and racers dropping in, and to see my two year old granddaughter Lucy loving every second of the two days was great for me. It was also good to chat with the other Funny Car teams whom I have not met before and to pit alongside Andy Raw and team, but what makes me feel most chuffed about is how our community pulled together to allow us to get to Dragstalgia with the Funny Car, especially if you had seen the car and the body three or four weeks ago - we are lucky to have a good group of friends who just pitch in and help. It all kicked off a month and a half ago when I cut the old Carlo's fandango wheel arches off the body which had been added over the years. With help from Stuart we repaired the arches and got them in a fair state so that we could give the body to the painters at which point (Ripped Off) Steve came over and put up a scaffold with cover so that the body could be prepped. Three local guys Steve, Cruso and Lee worked all hours and kicked it into shape - big thanks. Then comes the kicker! Tin work. We worked hard to get it done before we had to leave for the track but just couldn't do it so that's why we were doing a few bits there along with the lexan windows. Big thanks to all offers of help with this car from Duncan bringing oil down from Scotland to Johnny Mopar with his offers of parts including a mag which I told him I didn't need! You are never too old to learn. Thanks also to daughter Debbie and Warren for going to the shed Saturday morning for stuff we left behind, and to all the others who have chipped in or offered help a big thanks. There is one thing that I do know for sure and that is that without the constant hard work of Andy (crew) and my mum continually keeping us all feed and watered we wouldn't have made it so big thanks to them too. Oh and yes, the body is the old Showtime Corvette. As for plans, the only plan we have at the moment is the DamnYankees Show at North Weald next Sunday, that's if we can borrow the Wrattens' mag. Paul, Terry? Dragstalgia thanks. 17th July: James Forster of Santa Pod Raceway says that the reaction to the first dry Dragstalgia weekend has been phenonmenal: I've had a massive number of thanks for the weekend but I can't stress enough that it's not my work which makes the event special. It's all the staff at Trakbak Racing and Santa Pod Raceway, the ever hardworking SPRC who never gave up in the heat, even after the incident on Saturday, and most of all the racers and teams including the RWYBers. It's you who put on the show, propel yourselves down the track at several hundred miles an hour, set yourselves alight on Saturday night, make the extra special effort with back-up girls and present yourselves in the most professional manner, both on the track and in the pits alike. I'd also like to thank those who work away behind the scenes who are often forgotten including the organisers for each one of the race classes, Stu Bradbury and Brian Taylor and the whole Allard Chrysler Action Group team, the Eurodragster.com and UKDRN staff (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed), the press who help capture the weekend's events in pictures, and everyone else who helps to promote the event. Thanks again for being a part of this magical event and making it all happen! Roll on 2014! Swift snippets. 17th July: Thanks to Steve French for forwarding us the latest pictures of the Branch and French Land Speed Record bike just prior to its departure for Bonneville. "Much more work has been done with streamlining", says Steve. "The bike also has a new blower from TTS and continued support from Speedflow." Apologies for a typo in yesterday's Bug Jam racer update. Scrutineering at Santa Pod on Friday commences at 12:30 and not 09:30. All other times remain as originally posted. Further to yesterday's snippet, UK Pro Mod racer Graham Ellis' Superbird can now be found for sale in the Cars For Sale section of our Jeff Bull Race Engines Swap Meet. We have a small backlog of classified advertisements which we will post this evening. Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator Chair Matt Atkinson would be pleased to hear from any Eurodragster.com reader who would be able to give him a lift from Santa Pod to Rayleigh, or somewhere nearby, after Bug Jam on Sunday. If you can help then you can get in touch with Matt on 07894 270348. The drags do Goodwood. 17th July: The weekend's Goodwood Festival of Speed was blessed with great weather and a good selection of drag racing machinery. Our good buddy Alan Currans of the Acceleration Archive went along on Friday and sent us a report: From the USA there were the Rat Trap and Pure Hell Fuel Altereds of Ron Hope and Rich Guasco respectively, together with the iconic Hemi under Glass wheelie car driven by Bob Riggles. The UK was represented by Jason Phelps' Marshall Amplification-sponsored Funny Car, and Ian King's five-second Gulf Oil Top Fuel Bike. It is often the case that mechanical gremlins surround such highly tuned machinery and that was unfortunately the case on Friday. Both of the Fuel Altereds lost one run each and had to be towed back to the pits but managed to put on a good show on their other pass. The crowd were denied the chance of seeing a Fuel Funny Car in all its glory in the morning due to a mix-up in which they were not called by the marshals. To add insult to injury disaster struck in the afternoon run. Jason stopped right in front of Goodwood House and the main grandstands and I was eagerly anticipating a strong burnout which would undoubtedly have blown the crowd away. Sadly it was not to be, the motor suddenly leaned out, and despite Jason's best efforts to keep the candles lit, it subsided into silence and had to be towed back to the pits (Subsequent runs on Saturday and Sunday were stormers and brought the house down - Ed). Ian King and Bob Riggles both laid down impressive runs which were very well received by the large crowd. Santa Pod Raceway's display featured Paige Wheeler's Junior Dragster in new livery and Santa Pod's exhibition Top Fuel Dragster. Full marks go to the Goodwood organisers for including these vehicles in their annual homage to all things mechanical, and most of all, rapid. Web site updates. 17th July: Our good buddy, photo-journalist Remco Scheelings has had two Quartermile Internationals race reports posted on the Autosport.nl. As ever there is a race report which you can check out by clicking here and an off-track report which you can check out by clicking here. Another good buddy, Alan Currans, has updated his excellent Acceleration Archive with a gallery of shots from Dragstalgia. As ever you can check out Alan's Dragstalgia pictures via the What's New? link at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. Also updating from Dragstalgia is Eurodragster.com News Editor Tog whose small gallery of pictures you can check out at eurodragster.smugmug.com or at www.togsdragracing.com. Finnish Supertwin racer Asko Määttä was behind the camera rather than behind the front wheel at the FHRA Nitro Nationals at Alastaro and he has posted a number of videos to YouTube at www.youtube.com/bld195. The latest edition of the Speedgroup newsletter is now available and features FHRA Nitro Nationals reviews, racer features, and more. Check it out at club.speedgroup.eu. Editor's note: Tune in to tomorrow's news update for Wild Bunch and Gasser Circus Dragstalgia reviews and more, and please keep the news coming to [email protected]. Bug Jam racer update. 16th July: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us details of the arrangements for this weekend's Bug Jam at Santa Pod Raceway. Santa Pod Raceway's gates will be open between 10:00 and 19:00 on Thursday and will then open for the weekend from 09:00 on Friday. Scrutineering commences for all competitors at 12:30 on Friday and will continue until scrutineer Amos Meekins needs a break. Scrutineering then commences at 08:30 on Saturday and at 08:00 on Sunday. The Signing On office will open at 12:00 on Friday, at 08:30 on Saturday, and at 08:00 on Sunday. The track will be open for Run What You Brung between 14:00 and 20:00 on Friday and between 10:00 and 14:30 on Saturday. You must present your DVLC licence to sign on for RWYB; competition licences are only good for racing. Qualifying commences at 15:30 on Saturday and again at 10:00 on Sunday with eliminations starting on Sunday afternoon. The provisional running orders are now available and can be checked out by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Please note that these running orders are provisional and that they are as ever subject to change due to weather or track conditions or for any other reason deemed necessary by race officials. Bug Jam Perfect Awards. 16th July: This weekend's Bug Jam at Santa Pod Raceway is the latest event in the 2013 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 Junior Dragster racer Paige Wheeler at the SPRC Summernationals. The money will be awarded 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 Open Sport Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway; if it is won then it will be reset to £50 for the Open Sport Nationals. The Perfect Light Award is presented in association with UK Pro ET team Bad Habit Racing (Tig and Cath Napier). Decals are not mandatory for the Perfect Light Award but we would appreciate it if Eurodragster.com decals are carried; these are available in the Signing On office or from the Eurodragster.com staff. This weekend's Eurodragster.com / Gold RV Perfect ET Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by Pro ET racer Mike Lacey at the SPRC Summernationals. The Perfect ET Award is available this weekend during qualifying or eliminations in VW Pro, VW Sportsman and Sportsman ET 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 Open Sport Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway; if it is won then it will be reset to £50 for the Open Sport 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. Eurodragster.com / Gold RV Perfect ET Award decals will be available in the Signing On office. Swift snippets. 16th July: UK Pro Modified racer Graham Ellis has put his unique Superbird Pro Mod up for sale. Graham told Eurodragster.com that a new car is on the horizon, but declined to furnish details. The advertisement for the 'Bird will be posted on our Jeff Bull Race Engines Swap Meet this evening. Thanks to UK Top Fuel Bike racer Ian King for letting us know that TV coverage of the Goodwood Festival of Speed including his display on his five-second Top Fuel Bike will be broadcast on Sky Sports 4 and 4HD at 22:00 tonight (Tuesday), on Sky Sports F1 and F1HD at 17:00 tomorrow, and again on Sky Sports F1 and F1HD at 18:00 on Friday. "My apologies to presenter Keith Huewen for interrupting his interview with James Hunt's son Tom and for worrying the top end marshals after my clutch was on fire after the last launch up the hill!", says Ian. If you can't receive Sky Sports then Ian can be seen at 1' 30" in a video on the Daily Telegraph web site, which you can check out by clicking here. A resounding success. 15th July: The final piece of the jigsaw, glorious weather, fell into place for the third running of Dragstalgia at Santa Pod Raceway this weekend, and the event more than fulfilled the potential which we all knew it had held from year one. Congratulations to the winners of the special trophies: Back-up girl of the weekend: Sarah Howells (Wild Bunch) Best wheelstand: Darryl Howells (Wild Bunch) Best driving job: Phil Middleton aka Ginner (Outlaw Anglia) Moment of the weekend: Jedd Guy (Outlaw Anglia) Burnout of the weekend: Wendy Baker (Nostalgia Funny Car) Best Appearing Team: Roy Wilding (Supercharged Outlaws) We will bring you details of the class winners when we receive them. You can check out our Alamo Rent A Car-sponsored Dragstalgia galleries by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Tog would like to say a big personal and public Thank You to photographers Kirstie and Julian who did 99.99% of the work this weekend in very hot trackside conditions, and to Gijs, Maikel and Susanna of our streaming service supplier Doyousee.me who similarly did all the work on the webcast. We don't think that anyone is going to get fed-up with Dragstalgia pictures any time soon so if you want more then more shots are available on Colin Donisthorpe's Flickr site at www.flickr.com/photos/colin_donisthorpe and on John Przybyl's Zenfolio site at multicapturephotography.zenfolio.com. British Drag Racing Hall of Fame 2013. 13th July: The British Drag Racing Hall Of Fame in association with US Automotive continues into its eighth successful year and is pleased to announce the 2013 intake. Nominees are eligible by dint of having raced, owned, designed, built, maintained, prepared, promoted, officiated, supported or taken part in British drag racing in any capacity, having been involved for at least twenty years, or having made a significant and recognisable contribution to the sport. British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Chair Stu Bradbury says "This is another important year in the development of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame. We have not only moved the announcement of the inductions, but we will also be having our own banquet to formally present the awards. The contributions which these members have made to the development of drag racing in the UK and Europe has been immense. It true to say that without their dedication and hard work in the early days of the sport there is no doubt that drag racing would not achieved the popularity it enjoys today." The 2013 inductees to the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame, in alphabetical order, are: Brian Chapman: The term giant-killer is often used in sport, but rarely is it used more aptly than when describing the outstanding performances of Brian Chapman riding his Vincent machines over many years of drag racing. For many years Brian developed his tiny, unfashionable single cylinder Vincent Comet and became the first 500 cc rider anywhere in the world to run under nine seconds. Mighty Mouse reached the end of its development progress at the end of the seventies, notching up a best of 8.81 before Brian built the Super Mouse Vee-twin Vincent recording 8.25/169 before crashing the bike in 1982 and retiring from full-on racing soon after the rebuild. If Brian could make something himself then he would, which was all the more to his credit (Extract from full biography and picture both by Keith Lee). Keith and Frances Parker: Frances Parker became involved in the National Drag Racing Club as Membership Secretary then Race Secretary. It was in the the latter capacity that Frances brought Keith along to the races and he started his NDRC career on gate duty but eventually becoming Vice Chairman of the NDRC. It became a family affair as daughter and son Linda and Stephen also became involved. In the 1970s, with some prompting from Keith, NDRC organised races around England at Blackbushe, Snetterton and Wroughton before the Club took the logical but extensive and intensive step of opening their own facility, Avon Park, at the former eighth-mile track at Long Marston Airfield. That track is now Shakespeare County Raceway, still going strong and a tribute to two of the BDRHoF's newest members (Extract from full biography and picture both by Keith and Frances Parker). The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame invited Dave Riswick to become a member, but for personal reasons Dave has declined to accept. Having come to England as a GI, Dave became involved in drag racing with Mark Stratton's Hustler altered before returning to the USA but then came back to the UK to manage John Woolfe's racing team and to sell performance parts. In 1968 Dave met Dennis Priddle and started a long and famous association with the fellow BDRHoF inductee. After John Woolfe's death Dave continued the performance parts company in John's name. Dave was instrumental in setting up the National Drag Racing Club and was a major sponsor of the sport, also actively involved in bringing in prestigious American companies. Dave was also heavily involved in Avon Park Raceway (now Shakespeare County Raceway) and helped to involve fellow BDRHoF inductee Carl Olson to become involved in European drag racing. (Extract from full biography by Brian Taylor; picture by Stu Bradbury). Members of the Hall of Fame receive a 'Bootsie', a trophy encapsulating an image of the late Allan 'Bootsie' Herridge, a man who put so much into British drag racing, together with an exclusive commemorative pin. They join the élite list of inductees from previous years and will be listed with fuller versions of the above biographies on the official British Drag Racing Hall of Fame web site which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the British Hall of Fame link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. The Hall of Fame trophies will be presented at a dedicated ceremony at the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway in September: more details in due course. The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame is sponsored by USAutomotive, Santa Pod Raceway, Shakespeare County Raceway, Pennine Drag Racing Club/York Raceway, Avon Park International Racers Association, Santa Pod Racers Club, Power Race Graphics and Eurodragster.com. Trophy picture courtesy and ©Ian Messenger UK Tech Committee meeting. 12th July: A meeting of the UK's Tech Committee will take place at the at the Holiday Inn, Borehamwood at 8:00 pm on Wednesday 24th July. If you have an item for the agenda then please send details to Yvonne Tramm at [email protected] by close Monday 22nd July. All are welcome to attend the Tech Committee meeting but if you plan to attend then please let Yvonne know at the above address so that the hotel can be given numbers for refreshments.  Swift snippets. 12th July: Chris Emms tells us that Cool Green Racing's Mayhem Fuel Altered will be making its first appearance at Dragstalgia this weekend albeit on static display due to a lack of parts. "We are really pleased with how the car turned out", says Chris. Cool Green Racing will be pitted with the Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association and all are welcome to stop by to say hello. Event entry update. 11th July: Entry is open for the Open Sport Nationals, a UK Championship round, which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway on 24th-26th August. Entry forms can be downloaded via the Downloads link of SCR's web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com. If you have any problems downloading the forms or if you have any queries about Open Sport Nationals entry then please call 01789 720180 or 01789 414119. Entry is still open for the Days of Thunder event at Vandel Raceway in Denmark on 3rd-4th August. Days of Thunder will count for points in the EDRS European Drag Racing Series in several classes, as well as the Euroserie in Supertwin Top Gas, the Danish Biltema Dragracing League, and the Danish Championship for Dragbikes. Registration at the standard entry fee is open until 14th July, and after that there will be a Late Entry fee. You can enter Days of Thunder on-line at www.streetfire.dk. Entry is also still open for the Junior Drag Racing Fun Day presented by Santa Pod Raceway and Eurodragster.com sponsor Alamo Rent-A-Car on Wednesday 21st August. As the name suggests, the day is aimed squarely at those already in, or looking to enter, the sport of Junior Drag Racing. This exclusive day is dedicated to existing Junior drag racers from all over Europe and is the perfect opportunity to focus on the up-and-coming Junior classes of drag racing. For more details check out our news item of 2nd June or download the entry form from www.eurodragster.com/juniorfunday. Thanks to Ian Marshall for sending us Version 1 of the official entry list for the FIA European Finals, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 5th-8th September. You can check out the FIA European Finals entry by clicking here, and you can download the official entry forms from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. One family, two FC pilots. 11th July: A new chapter was written in the history of the Steel River Hot Rod team at last Saturday's Run What You Brung at Santa Pod Raceway, as Andy Flavell started his driving apprenticeship behind the wheel of the Prestone / Autolite Super Pro ET Funny Car. Proud dad Mark Flavell writes: We discussed it prior to the Summernationals and commenced Andy's training by suiting him up and strapping him in. Then we lowered the body and let him orient himself with the mag kill switch, fuel shutoff, chute levers and finally getting out - all something he'd watched his Dad do countless times. We then went on to arrange Saturday's test, all the time worried and discussing the weather so to not waste a trip. Andy texted me on Friday to say that he was excited and scared to death all at the same time and couldn't wait for Saturday morning. "Let's hope the weather plays its part". Well, for anybody who was out of the country it was sweltering all day. We strapped Andy in then fired the 482 KB Hemi, and he staged then drove down track to get a feel and an understanding of the noise and atmosphere around the car. With that completed OK, we developed the pace until Andy was leaving reasonably hard but clicking it off through the eighth, ultimately with a 9.3/147 finish line ticket with both chutes deployed. It was so hot that we probably lost the last run of the day simply because we couldn't get the car cooled down enough during the day and flat ran out of time. A very good and well-driven induction I'd say (Hear, hear - Ed), as a dad I was well chuffed, my boy did good. The whole team congratulated Andy on a good first drive. We'll let that soak in for a while before we venture on to a full pass, but a great start. I texted Ann (Mum) to let her know and her comment was "That's just what this family needs, another Funny Cat pilot". I couldn't have agreed more! Top Fuel fighter! 11th July: With a completely new team around him and legendary tuner and team owner Rune Fjeld as his Crew Chief, UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Chris Andrews returned to the FIA European Drag Racing Championship at Alastaro last weekend.  Chris brought along Eddie Corr, a well-known motorsport engineerer and drag racing tuner, to coach him and to help to make the transition into a new car and team as smooth and safe as possible. Originally the deal was for Chris to drive last year's Championship-winning dragster, but they soon discovered that this was not possible since the cockpit was too small for him. So the team boss made a new decision and out came the newly-acquired Don Schumacher Racing dragster from the USA, which was formerly raced by Antron Brown. This car turned out to be a great fit for Chris, both in size and mentally, as he made it better and better with each run he made. The car swap meant a lot of work for the crew, but after forty eight hours they were ready to fire up a new Lucas Oil-sponsored dragster. The first test run in Q3 was 8.36/121 kmh, not much of a time to speak of but that was not the intention since this was the first ever run with this car in Europe. The second run was in Q4 and here Chris showed what to expect both from him and the car with a 4.788/263. A dropped cylinder made Chris abort the run near the end, but we did not expect to see a four-second run so soon. In Chris' last run, in the first round of eliminations, he was clocked at 4.608/301, and although he lost the race it was yet antoher strong performance from driver and car - it is safe to say that if the blower belt had not broken then the team would have been moving on to the semi-finals, but it was not to be. At the end of the event Chris could look back at a very positive experience in which almost everything turned out the way it was planned, except for the broken belt in the last run which caused him to cross the finish line a few inches behind his competitor. But the team managed to make three runs, each run better than the last, and both Chris and the race car proved to be in good form for some Top Fuel fights this summer. Chris would like to thank all of the RF Motorsport crew: Rune Fjeld, Lindsey Moles, Polly Magnussen, Steffen Kormso, Kevin Bisiker, Luke Shakeshaft and Leon Bienek. A special thanks to Eddie Corr and Lucas Oil for great support. Now Chris will prepare for the next race at Hockenheim in Germany, where he intends to make it past first the round of eliminations and to set some low ETs. Dragstalgia on two wheels. 11th July: Looking forward to this weekend's event, Keith Lee reports on some of the two-wheeled entries in the NSA Shootout at Dragstalgia at Santa Pod Raceway: John Hobbs will be in action on Saturday on his double-engined Weslake, looking for solid eight-second passes from The Hobbit. In recent years he has also sprinted on board the bike of Dave Clee, who was one of his serious competitors some forty years ago. Last month at Shakespeare County Dave himself rode the blown Puma Triumph for the first time in ten years. Enjoying the experience, he will be out in action alongside John instead of acting as pit crew on The Hobbit. Ray Law will provide more twin-engine action, while the flying 500 Triumph of Martin Willmott will also be out to show that small engines can be very quick. Martin ran 9.4 times last time out, which is pretty impressive. Vincent power, once a dominant powerplant in bike classes, will be present in the form of Derek Chinn's Pegasus Reborn machine, ridden by Graham Martin. The Triumph Trident engine was used to good effect by Norman Hyde in the old days, and it is a motor that Jasper Joy knows well. He will be competing on his blown 750 Mickey Taker entry. Simon Rees made a good showing in 2012 on his Triumph, having competed the other week on Pendine Sands, where he nearly sank into the sand! The legendary Dennis Norman will have his double Triumph on show, and hopfully grandson Matthew will put in a pass on the classic bike. Another drag racing and sprint veteran is Bernie White, who these days rides a very quick 1929 Douglas. Having recently suffered serious engine damage, it is touch and go whether the Douglas will make it. If not, Bernie will bring along his record-holding Triumph from more than forty years back to display. The event will mark the first appearance of the fully-restored bike of the late Steve Tong. The Orient Express turbo Kawasaki, rebuilt meticulously by Steve Watson, who also rode the bike in the early 1980s, will most likely only be fired up in the pits, as the planned rider is unfortunately unavailable. With the weather set fair, it looks like it will be a memorable weekend, on two wheels and four. Dragstalgia on four wheels I. 11th July: On to four wheels and Wild Bunch Race Co-ordinator Claire Meaddows writes with an update from the nostalgia racers: The Wild Bunch have been enjoying the good weather bonanza over the last few events. After four rounds of racing the Shakey Super Pull on 8th-9th June was won by Keith Crampton in the Soultown Shaker slingshot, with Tom Larman the runner-up in The Ferret altered.  Then the 20th Annual NSRA Nostalgia Nationals, also at Shakespeare County Raceway, turned out to have much better weather than predicted, and three rounds of racing were run on the Sunday. The winner was current Champ Adam Price in the Go Hard or Go Home!!! Topolino, followed by an exact tie for second place between Mike Couch in the Flathead-powered Flat Frenzy 2 and Keith Crampton! With five different winners from five events so far, the competition is really close so the Wild Bunch are really looking forward to the third Annual Dragstalgia this coming weekend at Santa Pod. We are expecting a big field of around twenty cars. The event will be the Club's fourth Wild Bunch Series round, the sixth round of our main sponsor's Real Steel Series, and the second round of the Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series. Roy is putting up a prize fund for the event winner, and the event trophies are sponsored by Ratcatcher Racing, so many thanks to them. Regular contenders Go Hard or Go Home!!!, The Ferret, B-Sting, Backdraft, Tiki Munki, Ratcatcher Resurrection, Dorset Horn, Chemical Reaction, Paranoia, Soultown Shaker and Time Traveller will be joined by several newer members: Spud, Xenomorph, Valkyrie, Jurassic Parts, Flat Frenzy 2, and some first timers (well first time this time round)  the Econorail , appropriately renamed Unfinished Business, and Double Density. The event will also feature the first ever trip to the Pod in the 35+ year career of the Daddy Cool team and our founder, Roy Wilding, will be racing in the S&K Racing dragster. We should see some more close exciting racing, with some really well-turned out cars and teams. And look out for some cool back-up girls too! Keith Crampton is currently leading the Wild Bunch Series by just one point over Adam Price and Tom Larman, who are in joint second. Chris Hartnell is in fourth with the Backdraft slingshot. And with the Series so close, there's everything to play for! Keith is also leading the Real Steel Series with Adam second, Chris third and Bob Hawkins in fourth. Adam leads the Roy Wilding Series. So another action packed weekend is guaranteed. We are also looking forward to taking part in Saturday evening's Cacklefest, some flag starts, and the whole nostalgia style of everything! Dragstalgia will be another great event and we can't wait for the close competition on Sunny, Sunny, Sunday! Full results and news from previous events can be found on the Club's web site at www.the-wild-bunch.co.uk. Dragstalgia on four wheels II. 11th July: Dave McKenzie writes that the UK's Supercharged Outlaws will be making their first 2013 visit to Santa Pod Raceway this weekend as they hold their fourth Series round sponsored by Good Vibrations Motorsports of California: With a healthy line up of cars this now-established Nostalgia event is shaping up to be a great weekend. The Supercharged Outlaws points race is very tight, with the top five looking like this after three rounds: Lee Gallimore 110 Paul Watts 86 Ian Hanson 54 Steve Goode 52 Simon Cooper 46 The winner at Dragstalgia can accumulate 68 points and the runner-up 58 points so it could be All Change at the end of the weekend. The Outlaws are now very much International in flavour as we have had five teams from Europe this season. At Dragstalgia we have three European teams: Ramon with the Wild'R at Heart funny car, Kirsten with the 1970 Plymouth Cuda, and the '57 Chevy Bel Air of V Rosiello. Sadly the two German teams have had to withdraw after Jurgen's '41 Willys had a nasty incident at the Nostalgia Nationals, and Rudi damaged the crank in the Opel GT. Ramon will be running in the Nostalgia Funny Car class but he will still accumulate his points in the Supercharged Outlaws series. We have a healthy entry from the UK. Points leader Lee Gallimore is hoping to extend his lead in the Red Mist Small Block-powered altered; Paul Watts is working hard to d&eabute;but his new car but time may be against him. Third-placed Ian Kerr will be hoping to get the Pontiac Firebird into the sevens this weekend and close the points gap on Lee. A welcome return at this event is Roy Wilding, first time out this season with his slingshot. Add in Andy Hadfield with the Twister, Ian Hanson with the Stars and Stripes Corvette, and John Reeves making a welcome return to the Outlaws with the El Bandido altered. Charlie Chivers hopes that all his bad luck is now behind him and that the C10 truck performs well. The Good Vibrations sponsorship at this event includes: Quickest Reaction Time $100 Team of the Weekend $100 Team of the Weekend is voted for by non-Outlaw teams, Good Vibrations voting forms will be handed out in the pits. We will also be collecting for Children in Need at Dragstalgia. Please visit the Supercharged Outlaws pits and drop a few coins into the collection buckets. Charlie Chivers will be raffling a large teddy bear so why not visit his pit and buy tickets at a pound each. The draw will be made on Sunday afternoon. We will then have six Supercharged Outlaws holding a track and pit demo at the Children in Need Carfest show for Chris Evans' Radio 2 show. We will be at Oulton Park on 1st-4th August and Jody Sheckter's grounds on 22nd-25th August. Teams booked in are Red Mist (LA Commercials Ltd), Paul Watts with his new '57 Chevy, Ian Hanson's Corvette, Charlie Chivers' pick-up truck, Steve Goode with Wobble 2 and Andy Fadster with Twister. Dragstalgia on no wheels. 11th July: Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association racer Adam Gleadow has been in touch to explain the paucity of news from the Motor Psycho team this season: Unfortunately 2013 so far has been far from the season we had hoped for. Waiting to get the block back from repair we missed the Festival of Power, FIA Main Event and SPRC Summernationals. All was looking up for a rebuild and testing before our highlight event of the year, Dragstalgia. But it wasn't to be; the new custom order liners we had made for the block arrived wrong and a new set is two to three weeks off, so another event missed. However we haven't been sat around idle! Motor Psycho is now re-bodied after running the temporary Model T at the tail end of last season and will be débuted with a fresh new look courtesy of some creative inspiration from Chris and myself, brought to life along with a new logo by the graphic design skills of Darren West at Power Race Graphics. The rest of the car has had a full check-over and freshen up with added shiny so we look forward to getting back out to mix it up with the NFAA again. Looking forward (already, I know!) to 2014, as a team we've decided, subject to selling the methanol Big Block and funding, it might just be time to tip the can and go nitro for Dad's 65th Birthday Tour! So if you're in the market for a hat to pan ready to race freshly rebuilt 511 ci Rodeck Big Block with billet BacMan heads, 11" two disc AFT clutch and 3 speed Lenco CS2 then please E-Mail me at [email protected]. Full advert to follow. Finally, thanks for to Tony Pearson, Andy Mapes, Chris 'Freddie' Brocklehurst, Karl Harrison, Nick Davies, Darren West, Dave Powell and as usual our awesome crew for everything throughout the repairs and rebuild so far. Thanks also to our sponsors Lucas Oils, Auto Finesse and Fresh Reflections and to the NFAA, we miss racing you guys! Swift snippets. 11th July: Jo Peters writes that Round 4 of the Old Skool Ford Drag Challenge took place at Santa Pod Raceway on Sunday. "The sun was shining, the track was sticky and the racing was fast paced!", says Jo. "Twenty signed on for a day's racing including newcomer to OSF Matthew Seamarks in his Pro Street 100e who managed a respectable 11.234/118. A few of the top ten were absent due to breakages giving the lower placed the chance to move up the board. First place went to Kev Jenkins, second to Glenn Jefferson and third to Joe Ashton, all in Mk1 Escorts. The next round is at Shakespeare County Raceway on 21st July." We have a birthday on the staff today (Thursday): please join Simon, Ed and Tog in wishing Eurodragster.com Photographer Kirstie Tramm a very Happy Birthday. Have a lovely day Kirstie. We would also like to say a big Happy Birthday for today to UK Pro ET racer Simon Innes. Have a great day Simon. To tie in with Dragstalgia weekend, this year's British Drag Racing Hall of Fame inductees will be announced here on Eurodragster.com News at midnight tomorrow night (Friday). It's a long shot but Mark Flavell is hoping that a Eurodragster.com reader can help with a strange request. "I have a 1969 Kearns Richards Horizontal Boring machine model # 451P which has developed an electrical problem", says Flav. "The wiring diagram is missing. I have numerous manuals and associated literature but not the electrical schematic. Can anybody help? The schematic was originally placed and normally left in the door. A photocopy or scanned copy is all that is required. I would really appreciate someone's help". If you can help then please drop Flav a line at [email protected]. All welcome to North Weald 3. 11th July: North Weald Drag Strip in Essex hosts its third event of the year this Sunday (14th). Damian Burke writes that the Test and Tune event is open to all with Run What You Brung and some eliminations thrown in to add to the fun: First up is the Z Club with their regular eight-car eliminator. These old Datsuns really fly and look good too. Ably assisting John Price with commentary on this class will be Mike Feeney, veteran Z racer and club organiser. There will also be Quick Eight bike and Quick Eight car eliminators and a Top Four grouping for all-out drag racing cars so hopefully there will be a few more competition cars along to challenge Paul Marston who is undefeated this year and who is also a big supporter of the track. As well as the action on the track there will be a Show'n'Shine,kids' rides, catering outlets, trade stands and different car clubs in attendance. Entrance to the track is £10 with under-14s getting in free. If you want to have a go yourself then the sign on fee is £25 and this gets you as many runs as possible - and believe me, most do get in a lot of runs during the day. Signing on starts at 8:30, bring your driving licence and if possible a helmet although if you're not fussy we can provide loan helmets free of charge. Bike riders need a helmet, decent jacket and boots as a minimum. North Weald Drag Strip is situated just off the A414 very close to Junction 7 of the M11 and is clearly marked from all approaches. For those using satnavs the postcode is CM16 6HR. If you have any queries please contact Richard or Tony on 020 7485 0473 or E-Mail us via www.maitlandracing.com. Come along to North Weald and experience some real grass roots Old Skool drag racing in a friendly, relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. Ladies That Launch update. 11th July: Angie Woods and Jerry Cookson have been in touch with further news about next Sunday's (July 21st) Ladies That Launch drag race during Shakespeare County Raceway's Public Track Weekend and the prize raffle to benefit Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research: For starters we're very pleased to welcome on board as Car and Bike Bracket Eliminator trophy sponsors our very dear friends from Claron Graphics, Simon Cardwell and Sandra Lamberth. Since their early days coming to the Raceway as traders both Simon and Sandra have got behind everything the Raceway has done from signage to designing flyers and adverts. Their enthusiasm and dedication to the track is second to none so we're very pleased to welcome them on board for this year's Ladies That Launch and the end of day presentations. We're equally pleased to welcome back seventies drag racer and Pro Comp Champion Liz Burn as part of the Raceway's fortieth anniversary celebrations. Both through her racing and through her autobiography Drag Racing through the Eyes of a Woman, Liz has been an inspiration for women drag racers over the years. I'm sure that Liz will be remembered for her many racing successes at Long Marston with the Lizard Pro Comp dragsters; a fine ambassador for this year's Ladies That Launch (None better - Ed). Liz will be on hand to present the winner and runner up trophies with Simon and Sandra. Liz has also very kindly donated a signed copy of her autobiography for this year's raffle. And if you missed getting a copy the first time round Liz will have a few copies to sell on the day as well. Our friends at Eurodragster.com have very kindly donated a mystery photo from this year's Springspeed Nationals. The picture is sealed in a cardboard tube so even we don't know its identity or format. All we can say is thanks to Tog for Eurodragster.com's contribution and continued support towards this year's Ladies That Launch and all we do at Shakespeare County Raceway (Thanks on behalf of the team, you're welcome - Ed). On the publicity front Radio Warwickshire will be sending along a reporter to cover the event. This will be in addition to on-air pre-event shout-outs to run alongside an exclusive ticket giveaway competition early next week. Stratford based Touch FM have also given us some pre event mentions by there presenters as well as a listing on the station's web site. We have still along way to go and a lot to achieve in such a short time. A full list of raffle prizes will be announced early next week along with a Who's Who of contributors. Tickets will be available from the moment the gates open next Friday from our sellers at a £1 a strip! Donations to towards Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research can also be made by purchasing badges. There will also be free balloons for the kids. In the meantime, if you would still like to sponsor Pro ET and Wild Bunch racer Sarah Howells towards Running for Paula on the Great North Run, then please visit Sarah's Just Giving page at www.justgiving.com/dashracinguk and make a donation towards this very worthy cause.    Further details about the 4th Annual For Ladies That Launch Public Track Weekend can be found on the Events page of the track's web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk or join our ever-growing Ladies That Launch Facebook page. See you at the strip! Eriksson misses a bath. 11th July: Lena Perés writes that it is becoming traditional for Swedish Pro Modified racer Mats Eriksson to make the finals of the FHRA Nitro Nationals at Alastaro: Last year Mats was supposed to go up against Freddy Fagerström, but the rain stopped the two rusty guys. This year there was no rain, but there was Marc Meihuizen who was hard to beat. Marc took the win with a 6.03/389 kmh to Mats' 6.17/377. But Mats was happy to get that far and final round was really good as he said afterwards. "I was very surprised that the car was behaving so well", said Mats. "I could just feel the acceleration at every gear and it was just smooth and nice. That felt very good after struggling with tyre shake for a long time and the broken gearbox here on Saturday". Mats was number one qualifier after the first session but ended up seventh on Saturday afternoon. In the first round of eliminations he met Roger Johansson and managed to take him out, just. Both were sliding around at the track and were on and off the throttle, it wasn't easy. In the next round Mats met Robert Joosten, but Robert redlit so that win was given to him. "It feels good to have this last round in the bag for when we go to Hockenheim in about a month", said Mats. "Now we're going to service the car so that it's race ready for next Swedish Championship round in Sundsvall in about two weeks. The weekend after that it's another Swedish Championship race at Tierp Arena and then off to Hockenheim a couple of weeks after that. Busy times here!" It might be that Mats was happy with the runner-up trophy as - as Anita Mäkelä failed to escape - the winner has to take a bath in the water barrel on the start line. Flamholc takes a breather. 11th July: After seven race weekends in a row, Swedish ADRL Pro Modified and FIA Top Methanol Funny Car racer Adam Flamholc is taking the chance to take it easy for a couple of weeks, to spend some time with his family and to try to catch up at work. Adam says that although it has been stressful it has been a lot of fun and that he is very grateful to be able to do it: In Michigan two weeks ago we qualified number three in the toughest ADRL Pro Mod field ever. We won the first round against Steve Matusek, but I couldn't get the car in reverse after the burnout in the second round. It turned out that the planetary gear in the Lenco transmission broke. We had a really good race car that weekend, and I believe that we could have made it all the way to the final. Last weekend in Finland we struggled with the Funny Car. I had a hard time figuring out the track, and when I finally did we lost to Ulf Leanders by 0.0018 seconds (20.13 centimetres - Ed). But it was a really good race and hopefully we will have the thousandths on our side next time! So far I am really satisfied with our performance this season. The guys in the team always work hard, and we learn more and more at each race. I am staying in Malmö for three weeks, then it's time for round six in the ADRL Series on 2nd-3rd August, then on the weekend after that it's round four of the FIA European Championships at Hockenheim. Web site updates. 11th July: Professional photographer Matt Woods has posted a batch of 360° panoramas on his web site including some shots taken at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out Matt's panoramas at www.mattwoodsphotography.com/360. Richard Smith has updated his Zenfolio gallery with an excellent set of shots from the recent Sportsman Nationals at York Raceway. Take a look at rdsmith.zenfolio.com. Our good buddy Patrik Jacobsson kindly supplied us with pictures from the weekend's FHRA Nitro Nationals at Alastaro and you can now see Patrik's complete gallery from the race at www.racebilder.nu. Anita bathes on the start line. 9th July: FHRA Nitro National Top Fuel Dragster winner Anita Mäkelä says that she is still smiling after her victory at Alastaro: The track was very tricky; we were spinning the tyres in more or less every round, and it looked as if the other teams had the same problem. Qualifying second gave me some pleasure and Sami had some ideas how to handle that traction problem. Although we were spinning the tyres, all we lost was one blower belt. On Sunday I started meeting Stig Neergard in the first round. I spun the tyres again but got over the finish line first. Timo Lehtimäki had lane choice in the semi-finals, but it didn't prevent me from crossing the line before him. In the final we met Antti Horto. Antti had lane choice, too. Just before our run, some oil was found and Antti's Crew Chief changed his choice of lane. The track crew did an excellent job and I didn't have any problem to run in that lane. It gave me my fastest run of the weekend and made my team winners. What a nice feeling to be a winner at our home track! I didn't remember that the Alastaro race has a special treat for winner, called the bath in the line-up barrel. In the early days people had some respect and I didn't have to take a bath there. But when I was giving Antti a hug of congratulations after the trophy ceremony I thought about running behind the tower just in case - I'm a fast runner! But this youngster, Antti, held me until he got some help from Jari and Kimmo, one of my crew members (Not "Former crew member"? - Ed), and soon I found myself in that barrel and soaking wet. I have memorised your faces and revenge will be mine! I could have handled the situation, but three to one? No chance. See - it is not easy to be a winner. I have an excellent crew and a good car; what more can a woman wish for! I feel strong! We are ready for Hockenheim. See you there. Swift snippets. 9th July: Many thanks to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe for forwarding us updated tables of European bests updated with the records set at the FHRA Nitro Nationals at Alastaro. You can check out the new records sheets by clicking here or by clicking on the European Bests link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Flying the flag. 9th July: Robin Jackson writes that drag racing was represented at the inaugural Go Motorsport Live! at Silverstone on Sunday: The free-admission event was organised by the Motor Sports Association to attract newcomers who might be interested in getting involved in motorsport and included static displays from a wide range of motorsport disciplines, along with some furious Autotest-style activities taking place in a small central arena. Drag racing's display had been arranged by Santa Pod Raceway and Glenn Stockton. Machines on show were the West Ten Fuel Funny Car, with driver Kevin Kent, Shelley Pearson and crew alongside, Vince Gibbs and his Nosferatu Pontiac Firebird, Paul Marston's Whoopass Chevy Monza, Mike Lacey's Metamorphosis Camaro, and Paige Wheeler's Alamo Junior Dragster. Santa Pod also provided an enclosed trailer. No one who lived through Easter's freeze-up could complain about the weather, but it sure was hot out there on the Silverstone car park asphalt. The MSA reports that more than 2,500 visitors attended the show and confirms it will take place again, bigger and better, in 2014. NitrOlympX contest. 8th July: The organisers of the NitrOlympX. which takes place at Hockenheim on 9th-11th August, have teamed up with Eurodragster.com to offer three great prizes. On offer are: The chance to photograph trackside on race day of the NitrOlympX; A Quartermile Club package; A pair of event tickets. 1. Nitrographer for a Day This is the ultimate chance to catch 8000 hp Top Fuel monsters filling your lens and making your stomach shiver. Win a media pass for the Sunday of the NitrOlympX and there will be nothing between you and a launching Top Fuel Dragster apart from a small concrete block. You can get the money shot or an empty track. NitrOlympx Promoter Hockenheim-ring Gmbh is giving you the opportunity to show your skills as an ambitious hobby photographer and to line up with the pros. The prize is: Time-unlimited trackside access on Sunday to the media zone where you can work alongside the best international race photographers including our own Kirstie and Julian; Two tickets for the South Grandstand for the entire event. How to enter Nitrographer for a Day Send your best drag racing photograph to [email protected] together with your name, home address, daytime phone number, and a few words about why you consider the picture your best. The picture does not have to be on-track action: equally welcome are pitside shots, vehicle detail, and so on. We are looking for pictures which best catch the spirit of drag racing. Conditions of entry One entry per person to [email protected]. Entries to any other address will be disqualified. Closing date Friday 2nd August. Contest is open to Eurodragster.com readers in any country. Minimum entrant age 18. Entrant must be noise- and nitro-proof. Professional photographers and any other photographer ever accredited for the NitrOlympX are not permitted to enter. Entrants must be prepared to prove that the photograph is their own work. Winner is responsible for their own travel to the NitrOlympX and their weekend accommodation. The decision of the Hockenheim-ring Gmbh and Eurodragster.com is final. 2. Quartermile Club package This weekend package includes a day in the prestigious Quartermile Club and is made up of: Two tickets for the entire event (entry to the pits is included). Access to the Quartermile Club on the Saturday of the NitrOlympX (10th) including catering and a reserved seat in the paddock grandstand. How to enter for the Quartermile Club package E-Mail [email protected] and tell us why you deserve membership of the Quartermile Club. Please include your name, home address, and daytime phone number. Conditions of entry One entry per person to [email protected]. Entries to any other address will be disqualified. Closing date Friday 2nd August. Contest is open to Eurodragster.com readers in any country. Winner is responsible for their own travel to the NitrOlympX and their weekend accommodation. The decision of the Hockenheim-ring Gmbh and Eurodragster.com is final. 3. Pair of event tickets A give-away of a pair of tickets for the entire event. The winner will be drawn at random from all entries received. To be in with a chance of winning a pair of NitrOlympX tickets simply E-Mail [email protected] with your name, home address, and daytime phone number. Conditions of entry One entry per person to [email protected]. Entries to any other address will be disqualified. Closing date Friday 2nd August. Contest is open to Eurodragster.com readers in any country. Winner is responsible for their own travel to the NitrOlympX and their weekend accommodation. The decision of the Hockenheim-ring Gmbh and Eurodragster.com is final. Good luck everyone and we look forward to seeing the winners at the NitrOlympX. FHRA Nitro Nationals results. 8th July: Congratulations to the winners of this weekend's FHRA Nitro Nationals at Alastaro in Finland. A number of Sportsman finals could not be run after the recovery from a crash in the Super Pro Street final took the event beyond curfew. FIA Top Fuel Dragster: Anita Mäkelä 4.260/430.94 def. Antti Horto 4.658/213.08 FIA Top Methanol Funny Car: Jonnie Lindberg 5.548/420.43 def. Ulf Leanders 5.793/402.55 FIA Pro Modified: Marc Meihuizen 6.034/389.56 def. Mats Eriksson 377.48 FIA Pro Stock: Jimmy Ålund 6.707/333.42 def. Thomas Lindström 6.731/330.46 FIM Europe Top Fuel Bike: Ian King 6.360/329.33 bye, Sverre Dahl did not stage FIM Europe Supertwin: Samu Kemppainen 6.656/318.92 def. Ronny Aasen 6.992/290.55 FIM Europe Pro Stock Bike: Fredrik Fredlund 7.005/304.03 bye, Ulf Ögge did not stage Super Comp: final did not take place Stock/Superstock: final did not take place Junior Dragster: final did not take place Super Pro Street: Hannu Flink 6.945/313.30 def. Juha Raikkonen no time Super Pro ET: final did not take place Outlaw: Hasse Niskavaara 7.928/279.07 def. Mika Saari 7.899/282.45 Funny Bike: final did not take place Super Gas Bike: final did not take place Pro Harley Drags: final did not take place Junior Bike: final did not take place Subject to official ratification the following European records were set: Top Methanol Funny Car ET: 5.498 seconds, Jonnie Lindberg Pro Stock Bike ET: 7.005 seconds, Fredrik Fredlund Many thanks to our good buddy Patrik Jacobsson for sending end-day galleries, which are presented in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car. You can check out Friday's gallery by clicking here, Saturday's gallery by clicking here and Sunday's gallery by clicking here. We must also say a huge Thank You to Petteri Haapaniemi for forwarding final qualifying standings and ladders through the weekend. Final qualifying standings Top Fuel Dragster Top Methanol Dragster Top Methanol Funny Car Pro Modified Pro Stock Top Fuel Bike Supertwin Pro Stock Bike Super Comp Stock/Super Stock Junior Dragster Super Pro Street Super Pro ET Outlaw Funny Bike Super Street Bike Super Gas Bike Pro Harley Drags Ladders Top Fuel Dragster Top Methanol Funny Car Pro Modified Pro Stock Top Fuel Bike Supertwin Pro Stock Bike Super Comp Stock/Super Stock Junior Dragster Super Pro Street Super Pro ET Outlaw Funny Bike Super Gas Bike Pro Harley Drags Junior Bike Many thanks to Kjell Pettersson and to Palle Lind for forwarding us the post-FHRA Nitro Nationals points standings in the 2013 FIA European Drag Racing Championships and FIM European Drag Bike Championships respectively. You can check out the European Championship 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. Swift snippets. 8th July: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com (below left) came with the words "Don't mention al fresco cooking". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at [email protected]. Kirsty and Daniel Giles' Wedding of the Century on Saturday (above right) was a joyous affair which started with the traditional solemnities and culminated in a tremendous party, all of it celebrated with families and friends. Again our best wishes to Kirsty and Daniel for a long and happy life together, and a big Thank You for the invitation. No regular news update yesterday as we were travelling home from Kirsty and Daniel's wedding so we were unable to say a big Happy Birthday to Top Fuel Dragster racer-in-waiting Gabrielle McDonald. Hope you had a lovely day Gabby. Happy Birthday for today to UK Super Comp and Super Gas racer Jon Giles. Have a great day Jon. Street Eliminator Round 4 review. 8th July: Round 4 of the 2103 Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator Championship took place at the SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway and was another spectacular weekend. Street Eliminator Chair and colour commentator Matt Atkinson writes: With the weather looking pretty awful all weekend most of the teams arrived more in hope than expectation. However Saturday came round and although light drizzle prevented us from going out until 11 o'clock we soon found ourselves on track for Q1 with all six cars entered in the fire up road. Following problems in testing for Martin Smith and Team Extreme there had been a visit to Webster Race Engineering on the Friday night for some new tyres. Unfortunately the first run resulted in a near perfect rolling burnout off the start line and a disappointing ET. Unfortunately the same result for Andy Bond with the tyres up in smoke at the hit of the throttle. Jon Webster however picked up pretty much where he had left off after the main event and straight into number one with an 8.215/167.27 in the lovely looking Comet. Alan Williamson in the "Howlin Hauler" had managed to get the Chevy Pick Up fixed in time thanks to a good job from Kev at RCCS. The truck back on track and Al still getting used to being back in the seat. First run off the trailer a 10.200/140.70, good enough for number four. Following the previous four event wins Brian Payne was out to try and increase his already strong lead at the top of the Championship and the first run struggled for traction having to pedal several times running through with an 8.953 to take number two spot. Onto round two of qualifying and Jon Webster first out with an improved 8.145 to consolidate his number one position. Improvement also for Brain Payne with an 8.770 to temporarily put him in at number two. That was until Mark Todd in the incredibly well turned out GTO snatched the number two with an impressive 8.229 starting to find some of the form from last year. Martin Smith in the opposing lane also jumped up the ladder to number 3 with a superb 8.424 and more importantly the car started to show signs of reacting well off the line. Well done guys! Problems for Al in the truck as the motor bogged on the line and he was pushed back. Into our last qualifying run of the day and Jon Webster again in the Comet moved further ahead of the pile courtesy of an 8.132, only to be dropped back to number two after a superb effort from Brian Payne continuing his run of number one qualifiers running an 8.057/183.61. No improvement for either Mark Todd or Martin Smith but a big improvement for Andy Bond in the mustang, running through with an 8.842/160.41 to put him in at number five. Problems again for Al Williamson having such terrible luck in the beautifully turned out truck again the car appeared to shut off immediately on the launch as Al pootled up the track. Speaking to Al since the meeting he is hoping to get the truck on a rolling road to map out all of the teething problems and fuelling issues. So no doubt Al will return stronger than ever for the Bug Jam. As racing came to a halt for the day we began to embark on our twenty six-mile cruise. At this point I would like to say a massive thank you to Philip Evans of the MSA for helping me out by taking the guys out and policing the cruise in my absence. Thanks Phil! Sadly we were one car short as Al Williamson didn't make it round following problems. The guys set off in convoy to the BP Station for the mandatory eight litre fill up and then onto the hot start. On the way over to the hot start Brian's Mustang had started misbehaving with what was sounding like valve train issues, hoping to nurse the car back Brian carried on. With everyone just about making the hot start we were just about to set off when clonk! Something had seriously gone wrong with Brian's Mustang, fuel and oil pressure zero. Brian managed to catch it quickly and shut the motor off straight away. As Brian frantically tried to find the cause of the problem, taking the front end off as the others disappeared in the distance, it was evident that the team were not going to get this one fixed in time, real shame for Brian and hopefully the car will be ready for the Bug Jam. That wasn't to be the last of the drama either as problems for Mark Todd on the way back to the track with the car continuing to cut out with autonater problems. The GTO cut out again on the return up airfield road with less than two hundred yards to go with Mark contemplating pushing the car through the gates and time ticking away slowly (the guys have five minutes to return to the track following the person in front) luckily Mark got the car back started and was able to tear up through the gates just in time! Onto race day and with the weather yet again looking dull we were hoping for a miracle to get racing done for the day. Brian was seen out early in the morning doing his rain dance encouraging the rain to pour so he wouldn't loose his point's gap! With two DNQs one side of the ladder appeared pretty bare as Brian and Al were meant to face each other. That left Andy Bond against Jon Webster and Martin Smith to face Mark Todd. On our way down the pairing lanes as Mark was warming the car up there sounded like an innocuous knocking noise coming from under the bonnet of the GTO. Mark immediately switched the motor off and headed straight back for the pits leaving Martin with a bye run into the semi finals. Ensuring he took the green light Martin wasn't taking the bye run lightly running through with an 8.499/169.81. A real shame for Mark as well having done so well to complete the Cruise. Hope to see him back out soon contending for the Championship. Our only side by side elimination was number two qualifier Jon Webster up against Andy Bond, Andy knew that a good reaction time would ensure that the race would be tight. Jon was away first and it stayed that way for the full quarter mile, Jon's 8.109 to Andy's 9.165 setting up a semi final between Jon and the Team Extreme Nissan GTR35 of Martin Smith with the winner taking a byre run in the final. Unfortunately though the rain stopped play and despite the best efforts of the track crew it wasn't to be a real shame as the semi final would have been real close. As always a big Thank You to our class sponsors to whom we are very grateful: Topspeed Automotive, Custom Car magazine, RPM magazine, Webster Race Engineering, Doctor Flock, Quartermile High / Zeon TV, Matt Woods Photography and Eurodragster.com, all of whom can be found on our web site at www.streeteliminator.com. And lastly thanks to all at Santa Pod Raceway for a great effort. Here's to the Bug Jam on 19th-21st July, our next outing during which will we hopefully welcome Matt Smith of Team Extreme Racing into the frame - providing we can get his licensed signed off! A Drachten weekend. 6th July: Next Friday to Sunday (12th to 14th) The Netherlands' Drachten Airstrip will be hosting the second event of the Dutch drag racing season, the Quartermile Internationals. Maikel Gloudemans of our streaming service provider Doyousee.me writes: After a less than ideal first event this year everyone is eager to show their best, so sensational racing is to be expected. As always our crew will do a top job on the racing surface to give racers a track on which they can put their power. Due to the fact that the new entry forms are causing some problems for some racers, entries will be accepted without Late Entry penalty until this Monday. Racers who are experiencing problems with the entry form can send the relevant data to [email protected] or [email protected] and we will take care of the entry for you. Visitors are more than welcome to join us all three days. As a bonus we have extra racing in DHRA street legal classes on Friday night and a big party with live music will be held on Saturday night. Admission is €9 for Friday, €19 Saturday and €15 for Sunday. Weekend tickets are also available at €34 each. Grandstand access is free but subject to availability. Racing will commence at 09:30 on Friday and 09:00 on Saturday and Sunday. More information on Dutch drag racing and the Quartermile Drachten Internationals is available at www.quartermile.nl. Surf City, here we come. 6th July: With his last outing having been rained out, UK blown-alcohol altered racer Joe Bond and the Nuthin' Fancy team are all set for next weekend's Dragstalgia at Santa Pod Raceway, and to exorcising the memory of last year's event which didn't go too well. "The car is running well this year and we hope to continue with that", says Joe. "I'm very excited to announce that Surf City Garage are sponsoring our Nuthin' Fancy Racing Topolino, supplying premium high-quality car care products for the race team. The company was created by car collector and enthusiast Tim Miller, who wanted to create his own range of car care products for his personal collection of vehicles, so he took it on himself to make a range of polishes, waxes and other high quality products. After realising what he had created, he marketed his new found products and they have met with great success. For more information on Tim's story, please go to www.surfcitygarage.com and check out his products - and his garage too, it's insane! We are very happy to welcome Surf City Garage to supply their incredible range of products to keep our Topolino looking great, especially their new Black Ice range specifically made for black vehicles. Perfect for our hot rod! We thank Clive at Shyauto for his support over here in the UK and the Surf City range here, and look forward to working with them for the foreseeable future! If you are coming to Dragstalgia then pop by our pit and pick up a flyer or two about their products.   Please check out our racing Facebook page for all the latest; we will be posting live updates from Dragstalgia throughout the weekend. Have a great weekend! Swift snippets. 6th July: Best wishes for a long and happy life together to Kirsty Gibb and Daniel Giles who are to be married today. Have a lovely day guys. We would also like to say a big Happy Birthday to Roger Lyrén of Sweden's Team Veidec Pro Stock Bike team. Have a great day Roger. We are pleased to announce that courtesy of the Hockenheimring we are repeating last year's Nitrographer for a Day contest in which a lucky winner will get the chance to photograph trackside on eliminations day at the NitrOlympX in August. Tune in to Eurodragster.com News on Monday for details. UK Top Sportsman update. 6th July: UK Top Sportsman 2013 is counting down to the mighty Mopar Euronationals at Santa Pod Raceway on 26th-28th July where the only UK Top Sportsman event of the year will be held. Paul Marston writes that it will be the biggest and best event so far with some of the very fastest street cars, RWYB cars and race cars from every drag strip in the country fighting it out: We are very proud to announce the return of our headline sponsor Direct Plastics who will once again enjoy mass media exposure, and from now on the class will be refered to as Direct Plastics UK Top Sportsman. With so much interest in their products generated by their association with the event and the bonus of all the TV exposure, MD Paul Woodhead was one of the first to contact us and sign up for 2013. Once again anyone with a fast doorslammer (9.99 or quicker) can enter, there are no rules other than safety. You do not need an MSA license, just your normal driving licence. Santa Pod's gates open at 9:00 am sharp on Friday 26th, no entry on Thursday so get there early on Friday morning. It's two races over three days. On Friday a big bracket race with a buyback option into the second round, then run to conclusion. You get one time trial run at 1:00 pm sharp and elimininations start soon after, random pairings until the third round on a 0.400 Pro Tree. Prize money pays all the way back to quarter final losers. Saturday you get the day off until just after tea when you have the one-shot qualifier for Sunday's sixteen-car qualified field which is heads up, fastest car wins, every car that qualifies gets paid. Full details are available from the web site at www.topsportsman.co.uk. To qualify for your gate entry discounts your entry needs to be with us at least seven days before the event. The whole three days' racing will be filmed for TV broadcast in the UK and all over Europe. This is the richest Sportsman doorslammer event of the year, remember that Direct Plastics UK Top Sportsman is run by racers for racers, after track fees all the entry fees go into the prize fund. This event needs the support of the UK Doorslammer community as it's the only race during the summer break. 2013 is looking to be even better than last year and 2012 was awesome! Check out the 2013 promo video clip on YouTube. If you have any questions then please contact me on 07831 650230 or E-Mail [email protected]. King's historic feat. 6th July: Following Ian King and the Gulf Oil Dragracing – Grand Prix Originals Top Fuel Bike team's event win at the first race of the season and his brace of Personal Best sixty foot foot times of 1.02 seconds on the new and green Santa Pod surface they headed to the world class Tierp Arena in Sweden with some expectation. With a reasonably dry forecast for the weekend the team of Michael Beaumont, Marius van der Zijden, Martin Brookman and Nick Pepper had a great opportunity to build on their new tuning strategy developed in weeks since the geometry changes had proven to be a success. Qualifying day one started off on a high with a stout qualifying pass of 6.04 seconds which put King into the number one qualifying position at the end of the day and set his new Personal Best Elapsed Time and bumped his some way up into the global quickest runs of all time. However even this new mark was superseded in the first round of eliminations when King ran a history making 5.98 second pass in the first round of eliminations against Czech rider Otto Knebl (also Puma Yamaha) to become the first ever rider from the UK to run a sub six-second standing quarter, and only the second rider ever to run this quickly outside of North America. With the laws of physics in mind this was almost certainly the last-ever significant boundary available to a wheel driven machine and forever records the team in the history books of UK motorsport. Despite losing their semifinal when the power of the 1500 HP Puma Yamaha proved even too much for the high level of traction available, the team left the event happy knowing that they would forever be an answer to a question in drag racing pub quizzes in the future about which UK team ran the first ever five second pass. A video of the historic pass taken from King's helmet mounted camera can be viewed by clicking here. The team are currently at Alastaro in Finland for the second round of the European Drag Racing Championships in their quest to defend their number one plate and secure a potential seventh Championship crown. They will also attend other selected invited events across Europe in 2013: FIM European Drag Bike Championship Round 2 - Alastaro (Finland), 4th-7th July Round 3 - Hockenheimring (Germany), 9th-11th August Round 4 - Santa Pod Raceway (UK), 5th-8th September Goodwood Festival of Speed Goodwood (UK) 12th-14th July The Gulf Oil Dragracing team uses and endorses exclusively Gulf Oil greases and lubricants in their history making machine. The team is extremely proud to be supported by many leaders in their chosen markets in their successful challenges for the 2013 European and UK Championships: APE - The world's most innovative manufacturer of aftermarket parts for drag bikes Action Cameras - Europe's leading source for action sports cameras Cometic Gaskets - The premier manufacturer of racing gaskets Gates - The world's most trusted name in drive belts, hoses and hydraulics Goodridge - The original and the best in fluid transfer systems Grand Prix Originals - The brand for drive and lifestyle, past and present Gulf Oil International - The world's most iconic brand in automotive fuels and lubricants Hotrod Hangar– Home of the world renowned custom artist Knud Tiroch Hyperpro - The leading producer of progressive suspension products for motor bikes JE Pistons - The world's premier manufacturer of high performance forged pistons Kibblewhite Precision Machining, Inc -The highest quality valve train components on the market King Racing - The most successful Top Fuel Bike team in European drag racing history Mickey Thompson Tyres - Simply the best drag race tyres in the world MRE - Leaders in trackside support for drag race components and air shifting systems MTC Engineering - Manufacturer of clutches for the fastest motorcycles in the world NitroShutter - Europe's leading drag racing photo-journalists NCT Engineering - Manufacturer of the world's leading non contact torque sensors for motorsport Nexus Underwriting Management - First class support services to underwriting subsidiaries NGK Spark Plugs UK - The world's number one spark plug manufacturer Pär Willen - Master webmeister and proprietor of HarleyDrags.com Portable Shade - The best custom branded collapsible canopies available Pro Alloy Motorsport - UK's leader in fabrication of alloy racing tanks, intercoolers and radiators Puma Engineering - Manufacturers of the world's most powerful motorcycle engines RSG Customize - The UK's most creative website designers and vinyl artists Supertough - Custom cases and covers for the Film, TV, Music and Motorsports Industries Spies Hecker - the world's leading supplier of paint for car, commercial and industrial finishing Vanson Leathers - The most iconic brand in motorsport leather goods Web Camshafts Inc - Simply the company for Top Fuel Bike camshafts Worldwide Bearings - The world's leading supplier of ceramic bearings for racing Zodiac - Europe's largest supplier of performance and aftermarket HD parts Summernats Junior Bike review. 6th July: Many thanks to Lizz McCarthy for forwarding us the UK Junior Drag Bike racers' reviews of their weekends at the SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway. Louis Davies: Q1: We dialled in a 9.85 but we were not sure what we would run because there was an extremely large head wind. Unfortunately I went before the lights and didn't get a time on the boards. Q2: We dialled in 9.90 as everyone was going slower because of the wind and we ran a 10.03 with a great reaction of 0.007 seconds and that put me in third. Q3: We dialled in a 9.95 and we ran 10.01, this was an improvement and kept me in third place. Q4: We dialled in 9.99 but ran a break out 9.91 which kept me in third. E1: For this race I was against my good friend Jake Charman so I knew it would be a tough race, we dialled in a 9.85 and ran a 9.93 taking me through to the next round, Jake crossed the finish line first but luckily for me he broke out which meant I was through to the semi finals putting me against Jasmine Cordelle. Unfortunately the weather was horrible, and again turned to rain, the track crew did all they could to get the track dry but the rain kept on coming so in the end they decided the meeting had to be called. Jake Charman: As usual, when Dad and arrived at the track, the bikes and awnings where already set up thanks to Lizz, Gipp and Nige. First run out in the morning and the headwind was unbelievable! It knocked my MPH down to 56! Despite the wind, the bike launched well with a small wheel spin. Back in the pits, we tried raising the forks to get the spin down to a minimum. Next run out, it turned out that this had brought back the bogging problems from the last meeting! Not wanting to lower the forks, we decided to tighten the clutch springs slightly. While this did get us a slightly better launch it still wasn't great so back to the pits for the same adjustment again. On the last run before eliminations we still had a better launch but not quite good enough. We had only one option left. Dial in slow and try to push Lou out. The bike still launched with a bog as usual, when we were nearing the end of the track I couldn't see Lou so decided to roll off. As soon as I saw the ticket, I was kicking myself immediately. On my 11.50 dial in I had run an 11.48. If only I had rolled off slightly sooner! Never mind, there's always next meeting! It rained, and was called off - but thanks to the track crew for trying to keep it going! As always, I would like to thank my sponsors Doug at Ensys and Uncle Steve, also Dad, Lizz, Gap, Nige and Chris for help over the weekend. I'm looking forward to the Junior Fun day on 21st August. Siobhan Moor: This was my first time racing at Santa Pod. I felt nervous but excited to go down the new track. I wasn't sure where the return road was. On the first run I experienced a few problems but I suppose I just needed to get used to the bike since the last race meeting. I decided to scrap trying burn outs, as that was giving me the problems, and just go back to the start and concentrate on mastering launching. That idea, which in the end I did, went OK - now just got to start getting consistent! I really enjoyed the weekend and was nice to see everyone. The wind however was foul. Scott Collier: In qualifying we had a rough idea of what the bike was going to run so we dialled in a 7.90. The bike launched ok and after a few dodgy gear changes and backing off the bike ran an 8.22 putting me in third place. In the last qualifier of Saturday I ran an 8.09 on a 7.90 dial putting me in fourth over all. In the first round I had Siobhan Moor and the bike launched well and ran an 8.0 after backing off and braking at the top end, and I went through. In the second round I was due to race Charlotte Hales but unfortunately the rain came down and didn't really stop so the meeting was unfortunately called off. See you all at Shaky in a few weeks. Jasmine Cordelle: We arrived late on Friday afternoon, we got set up and realised that one of the bars on my wheelie bars had snapped off Luckily the Fireforce crew came to the rescue and welded it together for me so we had to go to scrutineering early Saturday morning. On Saturday we passed scrutineering and just sorted the bike out, cleaning it and and putting petrol in. We had very strong head wind first qualifier, I dialled in a 9.15 and ran a 9.28. In the second qualifier I dialled in a 9.23 and ran a 9.34, and in the last qualifier of that day I dialled in 9.23 and ran a 9.24. It was a good day overall has I had number one spot all day. On Sunday we were near enough first ones out as we had a fourth qualifier. It was very windy and everyone was breaking out by loads. I dialled in 9.23 and ran a 9.21, but I still stayed at number one qualifier. Then we had the first round and I was up against Jordan Kenway. I dialled in 9.15 and I had to wait three seconds on the line before the chase could begin. I caught up to Jordan and won that race and ran a 9.4, I was a happy girl. In the second round I had the Champion Louis Davies, and it would have been a close race as my bike is faster now. Unfortunately it got called as we had too much rain. Overall it was a good weekend, number one qualifier and got through first round. I can't wait for the Junior Fun Day. Jordan Kenway: Woke up Saturday morning to rain and really strong wind, after the rain stopped the wind was still there. Q1 came and we dialled 12.60 and ran a 12.89, after that the times didn't really get better due too strong winds. In the end I qualified fifth so I had Jasmine Cordelle in eliminations but I lost. Well done Jasmine I'll get you next time. Unfortunately the event got called off because of rain. See you all at the Fun Day. Lizz adds: Ir must be tough for a Junior Drag Bike racer to spend the majority of the weekend competing against the wind. If us adults are struggling, it must be a total bafflement sometimes why they are losing speed and time. There are some very good Junior racers there! Unfortunately Juniors soon grow up - and how! - and go on to the other classes. The class of 2014 is ready and waiting. Come and see us in the pits, talk to Jerry and Sharron Collier, or to me, or any of the parents, or racers. We are a very friendly bunch! You can find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Junior-Drag-Bike-Club. Don't forget that there is a Junior Fun Day at Santa Pod Raceway on 21st August – please take a look at www.santapod.co.uk/e_junior_day.php and come along! Web site updates. 6th July: Those with fond memories of Pro Comp will particularly enjoy the latest update to our good buddy Alan Currans' excellent Acceleration Archive which features a sixth page of pictures from the heady days of the late 1970s and early 1980s. "The pictures are all of Funny Cars", says Alan, "mostly blown but with a couple of nitro-burning injected cars". As usual the latest update can be checked out via the What's New link at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr gallery with pictures of Saturday's action at the recent SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out Mad's pictures at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman/sets. Arthur's arm finally twists. 5th July: Nigel Taylor writes that he has finally managed to twist the arm of ex-Blackbushe drag racer Arthur Bonner to sell him the Detroit Spinner Ford Prefect: Many drag racers will remember Arthur and the car and now, at the age of 71, Arthur has finally sold it to me! I intend to give the car a once over and then another once over before running it up and checking all is working as it should. Once I'm happy with the whole car, it will return to its old home of Shakespeare County Raceway to be put through its paces, which will give Arthur the biggest grin of all. The 2014 NSRA Nostalgia Nationals will be the target. Engine remains Pontiac with alloy heads and rods, Crane cam, Nascar inlet with very big carb, Fairbanks auto with paddle clutch, rollstop, Ford 9" on adjustable four-bar and so on... true nostalgia style! The team will consist of Arthur as driving instructor, Steve Dale as entertainment, Adam Gough as top maniac, and Joshua, Elisha, Mackenzie and Fletcher Taylor as crew. The colour and logos will all remain the same for those who remembered it the first time round. It is great just to own a true bit of drag racing history and I can't wait to send it back down the quarter mile. Big thanks to all the new team (together already), all the Long Marston drag racers who have been used to me pushing pushchairs around for years without getting involved, Arthur Bonner for selling me the car and of course the wife and family for putting up with all the years of hot rods and Yanks and a serious obsession with drag racing! Swift snippets. 5th July: Eurodragster.com reader Dave Keane is urgently seeking Arp rocker studs 334-7203. If you can help then please call Dave on 07544 733742. Des Brown writes that Sunday's UK Sportsman Nationals at York Raceway promises to be action-packed. The event features Ultimate RWYB Shootout, American Super Stock Round 6, JDM-DRC Round 6, Volks Stock Round 4, Super Cup Round 4, Pro ET and Sportsman ET Round 4, Run What You Brung, NSA Classic Bikes and Straightliners. Action commences at 9:30 am. Andrew Willcox would be pleased to hear from any Junior racers interested in Junior Dragster and Junior Drag Bike shootouts at For Ladies That Launch at Shakespeare County Raceway on 20th-21st July. Girls only we're guessing but you can express your interest on the FLTL Facebook page. Following Finnish Supertwin racer Samu Kemppainen's confirmation on Kingracing.com that his 383.58 kmh (238.35 mph) terminal speed at Alastaro was down to putting the front wheel down in the traps, we did some complicated sums and we think that the speed was more like 354.73 kmh or 220.42 mph. We say that's still very impressive. Super Gas reunited... 5th July: Attending far too many funerals has prompted Paul Watson and Tina Gibbs to hold a reunion for Super Gas racers at Santa Pod Raceway at the end of this month. "Super Gas was once the biggest class with the best cars and parties", says Grumps. "We asked a few people on Facebook about a get-together and the idea was well-received - it eems that everyone has been waiting for just such an event. "Although this is a bit short notice we are trying to organise it for the evening of the Saturday of the Mopar Euronationals (27th July). Thanks to Darren of Santa Pod we will hold the reunion in Bankside VIP but please bring your own food and drink. If anyone would like to bring a car then space will be made for it but please let us know beforehand at [email protected]. "If you raced in Super Gas in the late 1980s or 1990s then please come and see old friends. Everyone is welcome. Thanks Eurodragster.com, hope you will be there too as drag racing wouldn't be the same without you (Oh I say, thanks - Ed)." Editor's note: We have a small backlog of news with which we will catch up this evening. Please keep the news coming to [email protected]. Anita van Woerden. 4th July: We were very sad to hear from Dutch Pro Stock Bike racer Herman van Driel of the death of his partner Anita van Woerden last week after a long illness. "Anita was the love of my live and the power in my racing career in PSB", says Herman. "She was ill for over a year with a lung disease but couldn't win the battle. May she rest in peace." Our deepest sympathies to Herman and to all of Anita's family and friends. Black Seven aim for full pull. 4th July: Our good buddy Markus Münch of the der Beschleuniger web site says that Germany's Black Seven Nitro Racing go to Alastaro this week effectively in the lead of the FIM European Supertwin Championship, as the top two placed are not on the entry list for this weekend's race: How was their weekend at Tierp Arena? You have to bear in mind that the bike was equipped with a new fuel and clutch management system over the winter and so a totally new set-up has to be found - so far it has been found for the first half of the track. The three qualifying runs at Tierp Arena were plagued with tyre shake and wheelspin. After sixty feet, on the line, or at half track, not one run was completed in normal Supertwin fashion. "I walked the track several times throughout the weekend to find a good groove", said rider Christian Jäger. "There had been many delays and we had to wait for one to two hours in the line-up several times. So our set-up for the next run was gone, because of the quickly-changing weather. We tried several things to tame the shake and make a decent run. Nothing worked for us this time. In the semi-final I was away first and everything seemed to be fine. At half track I hit bad shake and wheelspin. The front came down and the throttle was shut by this move. I got back on it and then Boom! A spark plug blew out of the cylinder head and hit my hand. Nothing serious happened but the run was finished and my opponent went on to the final. "We have not made a full pull at all this year, either at Santa Pod or at Tierp. We ran similar set-ups on both tracks and had better sixty-foot times in England. We also had an issue with the bike is drifting slightly to the left during the runs on both tracks". Unfortunately there was a strong crosswind at Tierp and after the bike passed the grandstand line the wind pushed Christian and the bike to the left. Everybody who knows the boys knows that they work hard on their problems and have some ideas to solve them. Next stop Finland: in between rounds the bike was serviced in Germany, was fitted with new cylinder heads, and some other changes were made to stop the little gremlins and now it is fresh for round two. The aim for Finland is to make it back into the sixes, to make full runs, and to win the race. "The track is challenging for all teams, and we are ready to challange it back", said Christian. You can read this story in German at www.derbeschleuniger.de. Swift snippets. 4th July: NitrOlympX Race Director Jerry Lackey says that treatment has started on the new surface at Hockenheim. "Weather permitting we will have the first four layers of treatment on the track by next week", says Jerry. "We expect to have Darren Prentice and Ian Marshall back by then to give us further guidance and directions putting down fifteen barrels of VHT and sledding at least another forty slicks." We have two birthdays today. First up, a Happy Birthday and hugs to Santa Pod Racers Club official Kathy Taylor. Have a lovely day Kathy. Happy Birthday also to world record-holding street-legal Pro Modified racer and Eurodragster.com Blogger Andy Frost. Have a great day Frosty. We would also like to wish all of our friends and readers in the USA a Happy 4th July. Have a great day guys. Dragstalgia RWYB closing. 4th July: James Forster of Santa Pod Raceway writes that next week's Dragstalgia is looking like the biggest and best yet with a great entry of both the invited classes and RWYB. However, due to popular demand and limited track time, the Run What You Brung sessions are very nearly sold out: The RWYB sessions will certainly sell out in advance, so if you are planning on coming along and taking part in the RWYB then please contact me as soon as possible on 01234 782828 (outside the UK +44 1234 782828) or E-Mail [email protected] to secure your spot and save disappointment on the day. This is great news for spectators as we really do have some outstanding vehicles - some travelling from around Europe - taking to the track over the weekend in all classes including the RWYB. Highlights include some VW v V8 Action, two brand new Nostalgia Funny Cars taking to the track for the first time along with two drivers who already have a handle on their cars, the Wild Bunch, a full complement of Outlaw Anglias, Outlaw Street, Supercharged Outlaws, the NFAA, the Gasser Circus, the fledgling Super Stock Class, and how about a real blast from the past with the likes of Clive Mecheall in the California Kid and Phil Evans in Super Vogue, the Econorail, and a selection of bikes from the NSA including John Hobbs? Needless to say, we're excited, we hope you are too! Aside from the racing we have the ever popular Cacklefest, fire burnouts,  Hot Rod and Classic Show and Shine competition, the returning Chevy Display, Spitfire and Hurricane flypasts, beer festival, burlesque, live music, Jet Cars, static display (featuring some real treats this year) and more! Advance tickets are available until 5:00 pm tomorrow (Friday 5th), book now and you can come for the whole weekend for just £25 per person! Tomorrow is also the last day upon which invited racers can pay for their entry in advance. Anyone who hasn't paid by this date will be charged full price for their admission tickets and sign on. To find out more and view the current entry list please visit www.dragstalgia.co.uk. We'll see you there! Giordmaina's Williford deal. 3rd July: Maltese Super Street Bike racer Simon Giordmaina is very proud to announc a development deal with US Pro Street Champion and record holder Rodney Williford. Rodney tuned and rode Simon's bike at Hal-Far Raceway last November and he and Simon quickly struck up a firm friendship. Simon writes: As soon as Rodney came to Hal Far we knew that it would not be the last time he rode my Hayabusa Turbo Super Street Bike. At that time he set a new Maltese track record of 7.53 on only his second run, but unfortunately did not have enough time during event as dew set in to the track and was not safe to run. During Rodney's three-day stay on Malta we built up a very good friendship, as if we had known each other for a long time. Our relationship has got even better since then as we have kept in constant contact. My plan for this year was to compete in the FIM European Cup for Super Street Bike but unfortunately, and shamefully I must say, the authorities responsible for issuing an FIM licence in Malta were unable to deliver it yet for unknown reasons. This was not easy to go through nor to handle as it cost me a lot of stress, hassle, meetings, phone calls and E-Mails which led to nothing. But certain mishaps in life arise because in the end something better is in store and that's exactly what happened here. When I explained what was going on, Rodney asked if I was interested in sending the bike over to the USA so that he could test and tune it himself which would give him time to concentrate and work at his own pace. Even though it was an unexpected opportunity, I must admit that it was exactly what we wanted to hear. After a couple of weeks the bike reached the other side of the world and is now in the USA. I still get shivers when I realize how far that is, but it is even more exciting knowing that it's in the hands of the world record holder and Champion for Pro Street. In the coming weeks Rodney will be riding and testing the bike so that he can recommend any upgrades which will help us achieve our next goal, which is to run a six-second pass on my bike. He will also compete in various events in the USA in the next few weeks and will be back in Europe in the near future, when the bike has reached its top level. This is a dream come true for us. We never thought we could get this far. We were the first Maltese Super Street Bike team to run in the sevens, the first to compete in the UK and Germany, we kept improving our times, we won European Top Bike at Santa Pod, we broke the Maltese Record on nine occasions, it goes on and on. We are considering this as the very top step, and the achievement will reach its peak when I get to race the bike at big events in the USA in the near future. There are many people and suppliers to whom I owe a big thank you for helping me to learn and getting our knowledge to go from zero to where we are now. As always I wish to thank my family for understanding and backing me up at all times: both my parents and my brother George, my wife Graziella and our little one Jayden, for being there not only when things are going as planned but especially when things get out of shape. Graziella is the most understanding and supportive person in the world. Thank you to the Malta Drag Racing Association, Malta Sports Council, and to the Malta Motorsport Association; to my sponsors Putoline Lubricants, Linguatime School of English and The Notebook Centre; all the people and friends who work or help on my bike in anyway and everyone who support us during the whole season at the track and on Facebook. I invite you all to join my fan page on Facebook, please go on Simon Giordmaina - Maltese Drag Racer and press Like. Last but not least this dream would have been impossible without the honest help and welcome of Rodney and Amber Williford. Big thanks to Amber for making things easier to happen, and as for Rodney, I could write a book of positive things about him quite apart from the fact that he is amazing at tuning and riding. The most important and impressive thing that made Graziella and I very grateful towards Rodney is that he reciprocated our respect, was very warm with us and Jayden, is a good listener, and the way he speaks highly about his wonderful family is amazing! Dragstalgia road closure warning. 3rd July: James Forster of Santa Pod Raceway has been in touch with news of a road closure near Santa Pod which may affect those attending next week's Dragstalgia: The A509 will be closed between Bozeat and Wollaston on Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th July. This means that anyone arriving via the A509 will be diverted to the A45. Following the diversion back into Wollaston via Great Doddington will not be suitable for larger vehicles. Any larger vehicles should remain on the A45 and come in via Wellingborough and Irchester. We recommend that anyone travelling from the M1 south leaves at Junction 15 onto the A45 and comes in through Wellingborough. Please plan your journey accordingly! Swift snippets. 3rd July: Allard Chrysler Action Group Chair Brian Taylor writes that one of ACAG's aims was to bring the dragster, and drag racing, to the attention of those active in the European motor industry and not just the drag racing, hot rodding and American car enthusiasts and that the Group is succeeding. "This DPS has just appeared in the Group Auto Union on-line magazine called Ignition", says Brian. GAU is one of the largest parts buying and marketing groups for independents in Europe. Corteco is a major OE and aftermarket parts manufacturer and is supporting the restoration because they admire the project as an example of what can be achieved with will-power. We hope to develop this association further." Thanks to Yvonne Tramm for supplying us with the post-SPRC Summernationals points standings in the Santa Pod Racers Club Championships. You can check out the SPRC 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. Web site updates. 3rd July: The latest update to our good friend Alan Currans' excellent Acceleration Archive is a gallery of Benoit Pigeon's pictures from the recent Ford NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals held at Bristol Dragway. As ever you can check out the latest update to the Archive via the What's New link at www.theaccalerationarchive.co.uk. Erbacher confirms double date. 2nd July: Swiss Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Urs Erbacher has confirmed that, following Noah Stutz' successful Top Fuel Dragster licencing at the SPRC Summernationals, Team Erbacher will be fielding two Top Fuellers at the NitrOlympX at Hockenheim. Urs writes: We are really proud of Noah's licencing, which went really well - he was just like a Pro and did everything he was told. His crew, including his dad Reto, were working on a Top Fuel Dragster for the first time and the whole team did a super job. Noah is a new young Pro driver who has learned the right way. When he was twelve years old he sat in a Junior Dragster for the first time. The move to the Super Comp dragster was easy for him and now warm-ups and licencing in a Top Fuel hot rod! He really has no fear but he listened to what he was told, all the calls we made were in the right direction. That was really great. As Team Owner I would like to congratulate the whole team, they all did a great job that weekend. We are proud to announce that we will race with two cars at the NitrOlympX at Hockenheim and we hope that we end up together in the final round. Team Erbacher has been busy! Last Wednesday after the licencing we went to Hinwil in Switzerland, the hometown of the Sauber Formula 1 team. We were invited to the new Young Driver project which they anounced at Hinwil. I tried to explain to the young Swiss drivers how to find sponsors and the money to be a racer. After that I explained to Peter Sauber and some engineers how a Top Fuel car works. After Sauber we headed to Interlaken where we displayed our bikes and the Top Fuel car at the Trucker Treff. There were over 1,500 trucks and around 5,000 bikes with 60,000 spectators and live music from the Belami Brothers. I had a day off yesterday and we are back at work today! Testing and Tuning at Alastaro. 2nd July: The Finnish Hot Rod Association hosted a round of the Finnish Championship plus an FIA and FIM Test and Tune at Alastaro at the weekend. Pasi Uponen kindly got in touch to let us know how it went: Tami Brander (Pro Mod) and Anita Mäkelä (Top Fuel) tested from the FIA classes. On his first run Tami got an excellent 6.141/370.53 kmh (230.24 mph). On the second run he was trying to get a 6.0, but went up in smoke before the eighth. Anita didn't have any problems and she drove a pretty nice couple of runs 4.379/417.16 (259.21 mph) and 4.308/419.82 (260.86 mph). It seemed that Anita tested with a soft set-up just to make the whole thing work. From the FIM classes there were two Pro Stock Bikes testing. Mia-Maria Vepsäläinen and her Buell returned to the track after three years but unfortunately she had a lot of problems during thee weekend and didn't manage to get a really good run. Timo Savolainen has at last managed to solve his engine problems and ran his PB 7.542/282.12 (175.30 mph) on Saturday. But then on Sunday he started the timing too early and couldn't get an official time. According to the Racepak the run was quite a promising one, a 7.2-7.3. Ari Pietilä was there to make Top Methanol Funny Car licencing runs. Ari made some pretty nice runs and he managed to get a 6.5 so he's surely going to compete at the track very soon. Ari's biggest problem is that the first gear is too short in his old-design Lenco gearbox so he had to start in second gear and this naturally had a certain effect on his times. The second round of EDRS Supertwin Top Fuel took place during the weekend. On Saturday Samu Kemppainen made really a fantastic run in qualifying setting a new PB speed of 383.58 kmh (238.35 mph). This is the fastest speed ever by a European Supertwin rider but unfortunately he didn't get a back up so it became an unofficial record. In qualifying Hans Olav Olstad took first place with his own PB of 6.582. Olstad and Kemppainen met in the final where the winner was Olstad with a 6.781. Kemppainen ran 9.414 due to a cylinder which dropped before the eighth mile. Swift snippets. 2nd July: Our good buddy and Shakespeare County Raceway Track Announcer Barry Bohannon tells us that three members of the Wild Bunch flew the flag for drag racing at a display at John Lennon Airport at the weekend. B'Sting, The Ferret and Xenomorph were lined up in front of the iconic terminal building from which once screamed thousands of girls when The Rutles returned from the USA (Oh, and some outfit named The Beatles - Ed) and Barry tells us that the Bunchers made a comparably loud, though not so high-pitched, noise during the afternoon. We would like to say a big Happy Birthday with hugs to Diana Macrae of the Podington Peas. Have a lovely day DD. Chris Swinchatt sent us a picture of son Callum Swinchatt's next ride, an altered still under construction whilst Callum races in Junior Dragster but already looking very good. The car has a Hillborn fuel-injected 327 with turbo 350 box and twelve-bolt axle. "All old school, no billet" says Chris. "We may take it to display at the Hot Rod Drags. We will hopefully run next year on petrol to ease Callum into driving then we'll have to think of a taggable chassis for the switch to methanol." Eurodragster.com will not be attending this week's FHRA Nitro Nationals at Alastaro; nothing sinister, just the usual struggle with funds and time off work and something having to give (We are as gutted as everyone else - Ed). We will confirm later this week, but we understand that qualifying and elimination results will be posted on the FHRA web site and of course a webcast will be available. We will however post end-day galleries courtesy of our good buddy Patrik Jacobsson. For Ladies That Raffle. 2nd July: Angie Woods and Jerry Cookson have been in touch with news about the forthcoming Ladies That Launch Prize Raffle in association with Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway's Public Track Weekend on 20th-21st July: There has been plenty of activity taking place behind the scenes at FLTL HQ in more ways than one. Since our initial announcement on 14th June the annual Prize Raffle has been growing at such a pace that we thought it would be kind of nice to share with everyone what's on offer so far! To start off, talented trackside photographers Jeni Long and Jeff Land have both pledged framed prints, Lee Child has provided some very pink VP Racing Fuel jugs, and those delicious girls from SCR's Burger Babes will be cooking up a Big Breakfast to the lucky winner at any of the remaining events of the season at the Warwickshire drag strip. In addition, landlords Dave and Jane from the Mason's Arms pub in Long Marston have pledged a meal from the main menu and complimentary drink, but we're afraid that Dave's jokes come extra in exchange for beer tokens! Other key supporters and prizes include the 50s American Diner, a baseball hat from Nitrous Junkie Racing, Intergalactic Custom Shop, an American Car Magazine subscription, a beach set from Yankee Doodle Traders, sweet things from New York Candy, Caroos Soaps and Candles, a voucher worth £85 courtesy of Michelle Mockford of Simply Furniture, Screamin Designs and there is still more to come! The draw will take place on the start line on Sunday 21st July and all monies raised at this year's FLTL will be presented to Wild Bunch and Pro ET racer Sarah Howells at the Open Sport Nationals before she takes on the Great North Run in September in memory of Paula Marshall. If you have pledged support then please ensure that all prizes are with us before Saturday 20th July or on the day of the draw please. In the meantime, if you would like to sponsor Sarah in Running for Paula to raise funds for a very deserving cause then please visit Sarah's Just Giving page at www.justgiving.com/dashracinguk. Further details about the 4th Annual For Ladies That Launch Public Track Weekend can be found on the Events page at www.shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk or on the For Ladies That Launch Facebook page. Top Gas v the rain. 2nd July: Herman Jolink writes that the latest outing for the Euro Serie Top Gas racers took place at a non-points round at the Quartermile Nationals at Drachten on 21st-23rd June: We were again fighting against the rain. On Friday it just rained. At 10:15 on Saturday we started with qualifying but it didn't go smoothly but the start crew made up of new people and people from previous years did their best. We now had DHRA timing equioment with Chief Timekeeper Cary Kooper, and on the start line we had big displays showing times and also big displays by the track. We had some spectators on Saturday. We had some problems in Dutch drag racing after the Explosion club folded after forty three years, but the new organisers Quartermile did a lot of publicity. However no-one could do anything about the weather. There weren't so many racers as last year because of the problems then, it's a pity they chose not to come because if Drachten ends then it will be very sad for drag racing in Europe. On Saturday the track crew did their best to get the track in a good condition, but the track would be dry and a moment later a new rain shower came down. At 12:15 on Saturday it started to rain and didn't stop, and the spectators came into our tents to talk to the racers. On Saturday evening in the big Vos Catreing tent we had a DJ who made a good atmosphere for the racers. It rained again on Sunday morning and a lot of racers packed their bikes and cars away, but the pessimists were wrong. At about 12:00 the track crew had the track in a reasonable condition so that we could race and the public could enjoy what they came for: good burnouts and great sounds from bikes and cars with with reasonable times. Super Twin Top Gas times: Herman Jolink NL on Ducati 1198 RS (1266). Another sprocket on the back wheel on Saturday but it wasn't right so we put back the set-up from previous years. First run run 8.791/239 kmh, 1.346 sixty foot. Second run 8.654/236 with 1.254 sixty foot time. Thirs run 8.710/233 and 1.271 sixty foot time. Normally I have a higher speed but the track was OK. Harry van Schie NL on his 1966 Blower V-Twin 9.696/187. van Schie said that the tyre spun for metres and the motor was revving very high. He decided not to run again but said that a rider must find the right set-up for the track. Super Street Bike: Jeroen van de Belt NL 8.335/270, his best is 8.1. Funny Bike: Marc van den Boer B with his Blower 2660 V-Twin on methanol desided not to run. He was afraid of damaging his engine with the new shorter srtoke crankshaft. It was a pity that the public couldn't enjoy the 2660 Blower V-Twin on methanol. Sven Fagan from Denemark was not there because after building his new Funny Bike his pocket was empty. Ultimate Street Bike, index 10.50: Vincent Driehuijs NL 10.750/222 Vincent's son Ferry Driehuijs 10.857/208. Mother and daughter Driehuijs gave a lot of support to the Driehuijs team. Andre van Workum 10.922/202 Hannes Burgering 11.177/198 Junior Drag Bike (counted on Reaction Time): Cooper van de Mosselaar 0.203 Luke Harteveld 0.497 Demi van de Belt 0.544 This is the new generation - Cooper's and Luke's fathers race cars and Demi's father rides a Super Street Bike. Many thanks to Simone Knollenburg and Cas van de Mosselaar who did a lot for Drachten, and to the people from the Quartermile Foundation as without their support we would not be racing at Drachten. Please support drag racing in the Netherlands and come to Drachten on 12th-14th July for the Dutch Open (with EDRS) and on 16th-18th August for the Dutch Open (Top Gas and EDRS). Feature: NHRA in Ed's back yard. 1st July: For the latest of our occasional series of Features presented in association with Lucas Oil Products, Eurodragster.com US Correspondent Ed O'Connell reports from NHRA's inaugural New England Nationals at New England Dragway, a few miles from his New Hampshire home. The results of last week's event are well-known so Ed, who has been attending drag races for forty nine years and NED for forty seven years, instead reports upon the changes which have taken place at New England Dragway and how the track's first-ever NHRA National event was a spectacular success delivering a welcome kick in the teeth to Keyboard Crew Chiefs. You can check out Ed's illustrated report on the NHRA New England Nationals by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Swift snippets. 1st July: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words "Destined for the Gasser Circus next year". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at [email protected]. Many thanks to those who have sent tributes to the late Paul Mitchell. We have now set up Paul's tribute page which you can check out by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. If you would like to send your own tribute to Paul then please E-Mail [email protected]. We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to UK Super Pro ET racer Peter Walters of Eurodragster.com sponsor Peter Walters Race Design. Have a great day Peter. 12:00 Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us the final version of the official entry list for Bug Jam, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 19th-21st July (race days 20th-21st). You can check out the Bug Jam entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. If you have any queries about Bug Jam entry then please contact Ian Marshall at SPRC at [email protected] or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625). Laura's two-car weekend. 1st July: Team Turboville and Bloodlines Racing had an exciting weekend at the SPRC Summernationals. Ian Turburville writes: We were keen to get there early as our good friends Stutz Racing were there to get Noah licensed in Urs Erbacher's Top Fuel Dragster. Team Principal Reto Stutz had offered Laura a ride in Noah's fabulous 'ultracar' while Noah was concentrating on the Fuel car. Noah and Laura have been friends for years and both drove Junior Dragsters at the same time, in fact Laura's Junior came from Noah's best mate Carlo Heim! Laura was very excited at the prospect and Noah immediately went though the car with her as it is a lot more complicated than her slingshot. The team were very busy trying to get licencing runs in before the weather could ruin their chances, as they had to complete the four required runs before Hockenheim so Noah could race properly. This meant that I was entrusted with running Laura by myself in a very expensive car with which I had never dealt before! We managed just two runs during the Peak Performance Day, the first a familiarisation run of 8.3 and the second flat out with transbrake launch, 8.0/166. There was a very strong headwind all weekend and Reto had lowered the rev limiters as a precaution but Laura proved she could handle the big car and got a round of applause. We would like to thank Reto, Noah and the team for the drive and Laura now wants the car so very badly! The car is up for sale at a great price and can be viewed at Santa Pod by arrangement until the UK National Finals, just contact me for details. The rest of the weekend was no less exciting as Laura climbed back in her beloved slingshot to play with the big boys in Super Pro ET. Laura was the only girl in the class and had the smallest car by far but held her own with a series of fantastic runs against the headwind which was knocking everyone back two tenths and making dialling-in very difficult. Laura qualified well and drew fellow former Junior racer Pete Walters, in the first round. Both cut great lights as expected but Laura took the win when Pete broke out, a great moment for our team! The next round was against Bob Doyle and we thought that we had the dial-in spot-on at 8.99 but all of a sudden there was a lull in the wind as a weather front moved in with rain and the car went 8.97! Our quickest run of the weekend but too quick! The rain then came back as expected and put a stop to the proceedings but we packed up a very happy crew! Bloodlines Racing have decided that a Top Dragster like Noah's is the way forward for Laura so have put her beautiful slingshot Young Blood up for sale along with the rolling chassis of her Junior Comp Dragster Overkill which will take any bike engine. Both are on the Eurodragster.com Swap Meet. The next outing for the team is with the blown slingshot True Blood at Dragstalgia at Santa Pod Raceway on 13th-14th July. A lot of people have asked why the two slingshots do not appear together. It's simple: we cannot get two cars to the track at once and simply cannot afford to enter two cars. True Blood will therefore only make a few appearances at Nostalgia events as an exhibition vehicle and is available for hire at lifestyle events. Racing costs a lot of money for no reward. The team would like to thank Marcus Hilt and the rest of their team for the help and friendship over the year. As always Ingrid, Martin, Crunch and Greg were top team-mates making it all happen for us. A big thanks to Tim Fountain for backing us on the big day and making it possible, couldn't have done it without him! Bloodlines Racing is supported by Superpower Unlimited, Nottingham Platers, Gates, Topspeed Automotive, Pete and Duncan, Kenny Youngblood, DJ Safety and Turboville Racing. Oh and well done Noah! Web site updates. 1st July: In the latest instalment in his exclusive Racer Blog presented in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car, street-legal Pro Modified racer Andy Frost reports upon the FIA Main Event and SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway. 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. Paul Lister has updated his Drag Car Anon web site with pictures of Sunday's action at the SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out Paul's pictures at www.dragcaranon.co.uk. Earlier news