Hockenheim targets resurface. 31st October: Race Director Jerry Lackey has been in touch with an early update affecting the 2013 NitrOlympX, the twenty eighth, which takes place at Hockenheim on 9th-11th August next year: We are presently reviewing several offers which we have solicited and received from road builders here in Germany. We are now waiting on a fourth offer which we need for our Board of Governors' meeting which will be held on 12th December. The Board will then decide on which offer to approve, highly expensive concrete or not so expensive asphalt. The fact is that the Hockenheimring quarter mile will resurfaced in plenty of time for proper preparation for top times and speeds as in previous years. Kirk closes the book. 31st October: The UK's Andy Kirk says that the dream is over and that Kirk Motorsport is no more: I'm sure that most of you who know me are aware that following my recent divorce I have been working hard to get the racing back on track and to get our Nostalgia Nitro Funny Car completed. Obviously that takes funds which I don't have but I was confident of being able to put something together. However the final life line snapped on Monday and so it is with huge regret that I have to put everything up for sale (please see the Jeff Bull Race Engines Swap Meet for information). This obviously brings to a close a chapter of my life which began at the Pod in 1980 and which culminated in winning the 2007 UK National Super Modified Championship, as well as a chapter in my son Lee's life which began at about the same time that he learnt to walk. Over the past few years we have both been in the pits crewing on various Pro Mod cars. Hopefully that will continue and we will both be at the track for many more years to come. Finally I must say thank you to everyone who has helped and encouraged me over the last thirty two years and both of us over the last twenty five. There are far too many of you to mention but you all know who you are. Anyway enough of that and here's to next season... can't wait, bring it on. Web site updates. 31st October: Time Warp Nostalgia FC crew member Chris Eyre has been hard at work bringing together something to help you to get through the off-season. "I have managed to find some cool videos of Time Warp and have posted a page on my web site so that fans can find them all in one place. So if you like the sound of an old school nitro motor and sight of nitro flames too come on over to the Adventures In Time Warp page at www.eurodragpics.com/adventures-in-time-warp to check them out. A big thank you to the track crews at all the tracks who allow us to do our sport, to all those at Eurodragster.com for their hard work (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed), and to Paul Stubbings and Wendy Baker for putting up with me! See you all next year, already looking forward to the Festival of Power! 2013 UEM calendar. 30th October: Keith Bartlett, CEO of Trakbak Racing Ltd and the official Promoter and commercial rights holder of the UEM European Drag Bike Championships, has been in contact to provide us with the official provisional dates for the 2013 UEM European Championships: Round 1 - 13th-16th June: Sweden Internationals, Tierp Arena, Sweden Round 2 - 4th-7th July: FHRA Nitro Nationals, Alastaro Circuit, Finland Round 3 - 9th-11th August: NitrOlympX, Hockenheimring, Germany Round 4 - 5th-8th September: FIA European Finals, Santa Pod Raceway, England Trakbak Racing Ltd, Promoter of the Championship, has outlined the reduction in rounds for the 2013 season. "In 2011 many teams were contacting us explaining that they were beginning to suffer reduced financing from sponsors and many crew members were less able to take as much time off from their jobs in 2012 making attending all rounds of the Championship very difficult. "However in 2012 due to applications for additional rounds by some tracks being approved without consultation with the UEM Promoter, the teams found themselves being asked to attend six rounds which required even more travel than in previous years. The Promoter realised this would be completely unsustainable for many teams so he met with the UEM to find an emergency solution in order to assist the teams' dilemma. It was therefore decided to experiment with allowing teams to drop a round; this has however proved to be unpopular with both the Event Promoters and the teams. "In order to prevent a repeat of the 2012 situation and to take account of reduced sponsorship, plus at the same time to enable teams to have as many regular crew available at each round, the Promoter of the Championship has decided in consultation with representatives of all the UEM Championship classes that the total number of rounds in 2013 will not exceed four; this will be reviewed again before the announcement of the 2014 season dates. "The FIA Main Event will remain as the first round of the FIA European Drag Racing Championships and will remain as the first round of the UEM European Cup for Super Street Bike. "The 2013 UEM European Cup for Super Street Bikes will once again consist of four races: Round 1 - 24th-27th May: FIA Main Event, Santa Pod Raceway, England Round 2 - 9th-11th August: NitrOlympX, Hockenheimring, Germany Round 3 - 17th -19th August: Extreme Weekend, Kunmadaras Raceway, Hungary Round 4 - 5th-8th September: FIA European Finals, Santa Pod Raceway, England "All dates shown are provisional and may be subject to change "It is the intention of the Promoter Trakbak Racing Ltd to hold a UEM Invitational Shoot-out at the FIA Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway at the end of May 2013 in place of the dropped UEM European Drag Bike Championship round. Details of this Shoot-out will be posted in early December 2012, but the following classes will be invited: Top Fuel Bike, Supertwin and Pro Stock Bike. The format is likely to be an eight-bike field in each class going for a prize purse with the winner, second and third place taking the majority of the spoils although the Promoter is looking at adding a travel fund for all teams. This event will be run under UEM construction and racing rules for each class." Swift snippets. 30th October: 2012 Wild Bunch Series Champions Team Gridlock renewed their association with the London Motor Museum at the weekend's Top Gear Live show at the NEC. The London Motor Museum had a great display of some supercars, but none matched the performance of the great display of dragsters from varying classes which were on show.  The Gridlock guys are now busy stripping the car down ready to get everything back to top show condition. Driver Adam Price says that the car is starting to show some small battle scars and needs a complete refresh ready for their the defence of their Wild Bunch Title. Don't forget that the TV coverage of Direct Plastics UK Top Sportsman, which took place at the Mopar EuroNats at Santa Pod Raceway in the summer, is on Motors TV, Sky 413 and Virgin 545, at 17:50 today (Tuesday). We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to Sandie Gibb. Have a lovely day Sandie. Ian and Laura Turburville would be pleased to hear from anyone who can loan Laura a small SFI 15/20 firesuit for the 2013 season, maybe a racer sitting out next season. "We would take good care of it", says Turbo. "If anyone is selling one in tag, cheap, we might be able to scrounge up enough but we are a bit stretched on finances at the moment". If you can help then please get in touch with Turbo at [email protected]. Web site updates. 30th October: Eurodragster.com News Editor Tog has updated his SmugMug site with a small gallery of shots from Sunday's Run What you Brung at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out Tog's shots at either eurodragster.smugmug.com or www.togsdragracing.com. Nine years and counting... 29th October: Mick Pusey has been in touch to admit ownership of the car in our spy picture of 14th October. "The spy picture I sent is my long-term '69 Camaro street car project, on which I get to work on occasionally in between being a very busy company Managing Director, crewing for Paul Marston Racing, and working on renovating our country seat", says Mick. "Hence I make no apology for having taken nine years so far! The car has been stripped completely bare and is being rebuilt all new, the spy photo having been taken when leaving the Curbishley Automotive paint shop. "I hope to have the car done in the next year or so and it will primarily be used to enjoy on the street, however occasional strip use is not being ruled out... where have we heard that before! Power is provided by a 454 Big Block which should please the neighbours no end! "As is usual with these things, I couldn't have got this far without a lot of help and encouragement, so I would like to thank the following people who have got the car this far: Paul Marston and all the PMR crew, Gary Springford, John Sleath, Andy Frost, Martin Curbishley and my neighbour and good friend George Dean. Special thanks must go to Matt Wright who generously let me have his cowl hood at short notice when mine didn't fit and the car was due in the paint shop, and also to my long-suffering wife Karen for pretending to understand! "Thanks also to Walkers of Ashbourne, a transport company which can move up to the largest of door cars with their dedicated roll on / off transporter at very reasonable rates." Sold and For Sale. 29th October: UK Super Street Bike racer Danny Cockerill tells us that he is now the proud owner of Wayne Saunders' NLR-built Super Street Bike. "I have wanted to buy the bike for around a year now but haven't been in a position to buy it", says Danny. "After selling my motorhome I was able to buy Wayne's bike and I will look to buy or build a rigid truck for next year. My old bike is now up for sale and can be bought complete or as a rolling chassis with as many or little options as anyone wants (See our Jeff Bull Race Engines Swap Meet - Ed). My trailer is also for sale complete with built in Snap On tool boxes etc and is currently on EBay if anyone is interested. I would like to thank Wayne and Louise for their hospitality and hope that whatever hobby Wayne now decides take up will be a bit slower and more relaxing than Super Street Bike!" Meanwhile Swedish Pro Stock Bike racer Ulf Ögge has put his entire PSB operation up for sale. The bike comes with engine, plus spare engine, spare gearbox, starter, spares and more. For more details ceck out our Jeff Bull Race Engines Swap Meet. Ulf was coy about his future plans, saying only that the options were "Retirement or go faster!". Swift snippets. 29th October: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words "Cut here!". If you know more, or of you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at [email protected]. We have two birthdays today (Monday). First up, a very Happy Birthday to MSA British Drag Racing Championship PR and our good friend Robin Jackson who has just spent another weekend serving the sport at Top Gear Live. We also have a birthday on the Eurodragster.com team in the person of our US Correspondent Ed O'Connell who is currently preparing for next week's Manufacturers Cup Finals in Valdosta and maintaining a healthy nonchalance about the effects of the approaching hurricane. Have a great day both. Flame and Thunder Show coverage. 28th October: Our Alamo Rent A Car-sponsored coverage of this weekend's Flame and Thunder Show and Run What You Brung at Santa Pod Raceway was our last scheduled Event Coverage for 2012 as well as our last scheduled Webster Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcast. Stay tuned for news of off-season replays courtesy of Doyousee.me to whom the usual thanks for streaming services. You can check out our Flame and Thunder Show and Run What You Brung coverage by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Flame and Thunder Show update. 26th October: Bob and Tom Hawkins of the UK's Time Traveller Wild Bunch team will be lighting up the sky at tomorrow's Flame and Thunder show at Santa Pod Raceway as their slingshot is due to take part in the fire burnout displays as well as making one or two demo passes during the day. "We're delighted to be attending  this exciting event which will be the last for us before our end of season rebuild", says Bob. "We have some new ideas to make the car faster and stronger for next year, which should be interesting!" As usual tomorrow's fire burnouts will take place in the left lane. Eurodragster.com will be at Santa Pod Raceway this weekend to bring you coverage of the Flame and Thunder Show and Sunday's Run What You Brung in association in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car. The Webster Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcam will be on-line both tomorrow and Sunday and will broadcast live video and commentary / Nitro FM feed (tomorrow) or trackside audio (Sunday). This will be our last scheduled live webcast of 2012; stay tuned for news of off-season replays courtesy of Doyousee.me to whom the usual thanks for streaming services. We will also be posting end-day galleries from both the Flame and Thunder Show and the Run What You Brung. Kirstie and regular contributing photographer Julian Hunt will bring you all of tomorrow's action and Julian and Tog will photograph Sunday's events. We will post a direct Home Page link to our webcast as soon as it commences tomorrow. In the meantime it's not too late to decide to attend the Flame and Thunder Show and you can read all about it on Santa Pod Raceway's web site at www.santapod.co.uk/e_flame.php. Swift snippets. 26th October: Today (Friday) is Wear It Pink 2012, a UK charity day in aid of the Breast Cancer Campaign. Like the Eurodragster.com logo today, please wear something pink and pay your £2 for such a good cause. You can find out more at www.wearitpink.co.uk. Steve Dudley tells us that the next slot drags at MrD Raceway will take place at 8:00 pm next Friday, 2nd November, at The Cathedral Primary School, Victoria Road, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 1PA. "There is a small car park in the school grounds which should be able to accommodate us all", says Steve. Entry and racing are free, all we ask is that you make a donation of a couple of pounds to help toward the hire of the hall, although it's not obligatory". Attention ACU racers. 25th October: Paula and Ian Marshall of Santa Pod Racers Club have been in touch with an important notice to holders of ACU licences or those who intend to apply for an ACU licence for the 2013 season: Licence applications can now be completed on-line at members.acu.org.uk. However, to allow your application to be completed you will need a code number which is available through either SPRC or APIRA depending upon which club you are a member of. Please note that the code number which you will be given is for one-time use only, meaning that nobody else can use it as it will be registered to a particular user. If you require further information then please check the ACU web site at www.acu.org.uk. Phelps on Flame and Thunder roster. 25th October: Thanks to Santa Pod Raceway for letting us know that Jason Phelps has joined the cast of Saturday's Flame and Thunder Show. Jason will be making two demonstration passes in the Marshall-sponsored Funny Car from the Shockwave Racing stable, joining Shelley Pearson who is representing Top Fuel Dragster in a car from the Rune Fjeld Motorsport pit. You can read all about the Flame and Thunder Show on Santa Pod Raceway's web site at www.santapod.co.uk/e_flame.php. Spooktastic SCR. 25th October: The season-ending Halloween festivities begin at Shakespeare County Raceway on Saturday with a traditional anything-goes Run What You Brung. But that's not all, as SCR's Jerry Cookson writes: Also included in the day's programme will be qualifying runs for the final showdowns in Outlaw Street and the Pro Street Drag Series. Following another hefty points haul two weeks ago Outlaw Street Champion Andy Murton is just seven points clear of his old nemesis Stuart Ramsey, and fourteen points above Roy Collins (see below - Ed). So towards the end of Sunday it could be an all-out bunfight to the title especially as all three racers drive low nine-second Chevy Camaros! In the Pro Street Drag Series it's an-all out scrap between Skyline racers Simon Grindham and Paul Hackley who are tied with forty one points a piece. Third is the father and son duo of Gordon and Martin Farley in their trusty Roger Clark Motorsport prepared Subaru and the Mitsubishi FTO GPX of Don Griffith. For motorcycle fans it's the final round of the NSA Southern Series Sprint as well as the annual Kawasaki Triples Club Super Eliminator which will be made complete with a couple of entries coming from Germany especially for the occasion. Adding high horsepower to the mix will be racers from the Supercharged Outlaws and there will probably be the odd fire burnout or two from these guys to round off Saturday's track action! There are the usual Halloween festivities taking place towards early evening with the usual kids Trick or Treating, Best Dressed Trailers and Race Cars along with Pit Crews as a timely reminder for the annual Halloween Ball in Kenny's Bar hosted this year, back by popular demand, by Santa Satan and his trusty princess sidekicks! There will also be competitions for the kids and the adults for some super prizes. Bonfire and fireworks are also guaranteed.       Run What You Brung continues on Sunday with the season-ending Halloween Bracket Gamblers Race for cash and prizes from Raceway supporters. If you want to enter then full details can be found on the SCR web site or Facebook page. With club participation from the Clio 16v guys and Clio Sport along with Midlands TVR and Peugeot Owners, the weekend has something for everyone. So why miss out? Take a trip out to Shakeyland for a weekend of super-fast spooktastic fun at the friendly drag strip.   Advance tickets are available now by calling 01789 414119, or on the day at £12 per person per day or £22 for a weekend pass. Kids under sixteen go free. Track fee is £25 per person per day or £40 for the weekend - don't forget you driving licence and crash helmet. Full details can be found on the SCR web site and Facebook page. Autumn Sunlight. 25th October: Our good friend Lena Perés has been in touch with a very tempting invitation to the Sunlight Hotel, Conference Centre and Spa in Nyköping, the venue for the inaugural EDRS Banquet and Prizegiving, which takes place at 18:00 on Saturday 24th November. The Sunlight Hotel, Conference Centre and Spa is just right for our purpose and just what we need after this wet season. We found this conference hotel in the center of Nyköping. In the banquet hall there are vintage cars on display and there might be one or two race cars as well. If you arrive early there is a good opportunity for some shopping, as the hotel is close to Vasterport Shopping Centre. Then when your legs and head are tired you can go straight to the Spa where you will find jacuzzi, pool, fitness facilities, you name it. That's just the start, or the end, of a packed weekend. We of course going to carry out the most important part of the weekend and the season: hand out the awards to all the racers who did such a good job this season. That, a nice dinner and great company are what we offer to all EDRS racers. So take the opportunity of a relaxing, enjoyable, happy mini holiday in one of Sweden's nicest towns (You're starting to sound like the end of Bob's Full House now - Ed). Skavsta Airport is just around the corner, so travel is easy. If you prefer Arlanda there is bus-train transfer straight down to Nyköping which takes about an hour. You can find full details on the official invitation (PDF format) which you can check out by clicking here, or for more information, or to sign up, E-Mail [email protected] or [email protected]. Swift snippets. 25th October: We have no less than five birthdays today (Thursday). First up, a very Happy Birthday and lots of hugs to our good friend Gittli Koller. Hugs also from Mum and her sisters to Kirsty Gibb who is also celebrating her birthday today, a manly handshake to multiple Junior Dragster Champion Joe Kellett, and back to the hugs for our good friend Deborah Marrs. Finally, Happy Birthday to Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Urs Erbacher. Have a great day all. A reminder that tomorrow (Friday) is Wear It Pink 2012, a UK charity day in aid of the Breast Cancer Campaign. Please wear something pink and pay your £2... your News Editor is not in the office tomorrow so has been persuaded to wear his Roadzombie II team shirt on his day job today. You can do the same tomorrow: more at www.wearitpink.co.uk. Outlaw Street Round 8 review. 25th October: After an absence of several months the UK's Outlaw Street racers were back at Shakespeare County Raceway for their penultimate round of the 2012 season, Round 8, on 13th-14th October writes Mark Wallington: Although the weathermen promised all manner of rain flood and tempest I'm pleased to confirm despite showers on the Saturday evening, and fog in which you could lose the Titanic on the Sunday morning, the rain stayed away and the track remained open throughout the weekend. Lots of members were out to try and chase that elusive PB before the winter hits and they head to the garage to hibernate. Twenty members raced over the weekend and a total of thirty came along to crew, support and cheer. The PB-chasing came true for several members across the weekend, including OS-11 Joe Mills in his Fox Mustang who pressed the nitrous button for the first time and knocked seven tenths off his previous PB resulting in an 11.58, and OS-40 Steve Newport Hall in his Rover-powered Cobra who broke into the thirteens with a 13.967. Unfortunately it wasn't all happy stories as current points leader OS-7 Andrew Murton was plagued with alternator problems on the Saturday but thanks to fellow racer OS-18 Vic Fisher, who spent his evening banging on doors of anyone and everyone he knew in the area to borrow an alternator, he was back racing on the Sunday. Also suffering damage from the weekend were OS-35 Tom Semper in his 100E who whilst running an errand into town for parts had a disagreement with a sleeping policeman resulting in a hole in the sump, and OS-13 Stuart Ramsay in his Pro Street Camaro who ran a 9.2457/149.13 but suffered engine problems which look to put him out for the rest of the season. All of the members attending were having their own personal battles to try to secure the penultimate Joe and Co-sponsored Reaction Time trophy, with some of the closest RTs we've seen all season. OS-44 Lee Rookes and OS-35 Tom Semper looked to be having an in-house battle to try and secure a trophy, but neither of these young petrol heads were able to secure a win against the Old Man of RTs, otherwise known as OS-18 Vic Fisher, who secured the OS-8 RT Trophy with a 0.042 RT his second of the 2012 season in his supercharged V6 Mustang. So well done to Vic who secured the OS-8 Joe and Co sponsored RT Trophy and £25 prize. The top 6 RTs over the weekend were: 1. OS-18 Vic Fisher in his supercharged V6 Mustang with a 0.042 RT 2. OS-44 Lee Rookes in his VW Caddy pick-up with a 0.121 RT 3. OS-35 Tom Semper in his 100E with a 0.132 RT 4. OS-43 Derren Brown in his Chevy Small Block-powered Escort with a 0.184 RT 5. OS-24 Ross Page in his VW Golf with a 0.205 RT 6. OS-42 Nigel Jenkins in his V8 Mustang with a 0.221 RT There was 0.179 seconds separating the top six, 0.090 seconds separating the top three and 0.079 seconds between first and second. At each points round the highest scorer wins a year's subscription to American Car magazine and a unique one of a kind engraved tankard by MissB Engraving. The OS-8 winner of the year's subscription was OS-11 Joe Mills in his Fox bodied Mustang with 220 points for the round. Although the main sponsor of Outlaw Street since its launch, this is the first time that Joe has ever won anything. The top six points scorers for the weekend were: 1. 220 points OS-11 Joe Mills in his Fox Mustang 2. 217 points OS-13 Stuart Ramsay in his Pro Street Camaro 3. 213 points OS-27 Trudy Slater in her Cosworth-powered Morris Minor 4. 212 points OS-18 Vic Fisher in his supercharged V6 Mustang 5. 211 points OS-58 Dean Newport Hall in his 328i BMW 6. 208 points OS-50 Roy Collins in his supercharged second-generation Camaro We're now eight rounds into the 2012 season with only one left to go - where did the season go - and there's still everything to race for. After OS-8 the 2012 League Table looks like this: 1. 1,540 points OS-7 Andy Murton 2. 1,533 points OS-13 Stuart Ramsay 3. 1,527 points OS-13 Roy Collins 4. 1,473 points OS-16 John Edwards 5. 1,469 points OS-18 Vic Fisher 6. 1,280 points OS-19 Steve Moisey 7. 1,244 points OS-40 Steve Newport Hall 8. 1.095 points OS-31 Nick Rose 9. 1,062 points OS-43 Derren Brown 10. 1,049 points OS-53 Chris Antell 11. 874 points OS-11 Joe Mills 12. 871 points OS-42 Nigel Jenkins That's 669 points between the top twelve, 260 points between the top six, and thirteen points separating the top three! The final round of Outlaw Street, OS-9, takes place at this weekend's Halloween Bonfire Burn-Up at Shakespeare County Raceway. If you'd like to learn more about Outlaw Street check out the forum at www.outlawstreet.co.uk. Web site updates. 25th October: The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr site with pictures from the Saturday of the end-September Public Test Weekend at Shakespeare County Raceway. You can check out Mad's pictures at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman. Thanks to Allard Chrysler Action Group Chair Brian Taylor for alerting us to a great video which shows a great method of providing central heating to a cold workshop. You can see for yourself at www.youtube.com/watch?v=McjmH8nUzTQ. FIA rules updated. 24th October: Many thanks to Geoff Martin and Lars Pettersson for letting us know that the Sporting Regulations, Technical Regulations and Race Procedures and SFI Specifications for the FIA European Drag Racing Championships have now been posted. Amendments from the previous regulations are in red text and removals struck through. You can check out the FIA rules via the Sport link at www.fia.com. Another day's Nostalgia. 23rd October: The weekend's California Hot Rod Reunion was not the only Nostalgia race on offer in the US this weekend. On the other edge of the USA - where the ocean is said by some to be on the wrong side - New England Dragway, scheduled to host an NHRA National event in 2013, was also offering something for Nostalgia fans. Why mention this event on a European drag racing web site, you ask? Because New England Dragway is the (very) local track of Eurodragster.com US Correspondent Ed O'Connell who attended the event and sent us his thoughts: New England Dragway's Nostalgia meet had been postponed from earlier this season. I attended this event two years ago and it was fun: lots of restored vintage drag cars, inductions into the Orientals Car Club - who started drag racing in New England at Sanford Maine Airport back in the 1950s and moved to Epping in 1968 - a nice car show. It was a good day. Sunday dawned a beautiful Fall day with clear blue skies and 60F temps, the perfect day for a drag race. I arrived late morning, paid my very reasonable $10 admission fee and took a stroll through the pits. The cast of about twenty local restored drag cars from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s which were present two years ago were conspicuously absent except for one or two. Apparently their owners have gotten tired of reunions. The car count was supplemented by the usual Run What You Brung, Test and Tune and Import Wars crews. An Alcohol Funny Car was licencing a new driver. I ran into one of my drag race buddies just back from a long road trip to Indy, Norwalk, an ADRL race, and Maple Grove. I enjoyed hanging out with him but had the familiar odd feeling that at a track twelve miles from my home I knew one person, but that at Santa Pod Raceway I must know fifty people, or a hundred, or more. It was however a pleasant, relaxing day watching Novas and Camaros go down the track. The crowd was small and thinned out even further as the late afternoon grew cloudy and much colder. It was a typical fitting end to the racing season. The spring is always chilly and exciting after a dark winter waiting for the snow to melt and the racing to start. The long summer days of racing give you the sort of feeling that this could go on forever. Then the short chilly days of Fall kind of make me sad that the racing season has seemed to have passed so quickly and that a dark winter is right around the corner. It was a nice feeling in a way, as it reminded me of a pattern which started for me in June 1964 and ended in October 1964. Racing is like an old friend who has been a constant throughout most of my life. You can check out Ed's pictures from the NED Nostalgia event at www.surfphotonh.com. Swift snippets. 23rd October: UK Super Pro ET racer Dave Catton tells us that due to another unlucky mishap Horace, the world's most unlucky drag racer, will be unable to make an appearance at the Top Gear Live Show at Birmingham's NEC between Thursday and Sunday, but that he and Nick Good will be on the Santa Pod Raceway stand along with one of the Beovax-Lucas Oil dragsters. You can find out more about the Top Gear Live Show at www.topgearlive.co.uk. Flame and Thunder webcasts. 23rd October: Yes folks, that's webcasts, plural. Fans of Eurodragster.com's Webster Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcam will be pleased to hear of the addition of a webcast of this Sunday's Run What You Brung at Santa Pod Raceway to the already-scheduled webcast of Saturday's Flame and Thunder Show. In association with Alamo Rent-A-Car we will also be posting end-day galleries from both the Flame and Thunder Show and the Run What You Brung. We will post a direct Home Page link to our webcasts and galleries at the weekend. In the meantime it's not too late to decide to attend the Flame and Thunder Show and you can read all about it on Santa Pod Raceway's web site at www.santapod.co.uk/e_flame.php. This weekend's events at Santa Pod Raceway will be our last scheduled live webcast of 2012. Stay tuned for news of off-season replays courtesy of Doyousee.me to whom the usual thanks for streaming services. USAutomotive renew HoF support. 21st October: Bedford-based American parts supplier and Eurodragster.com sponsor US Automotive has announced that it is continuing its support of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame as Primary Sponsor.  Now in its eighth year, the US Automotive sponsorship joins that of Power Race Graphics, Eurodragster.com, Santa Pod Raceway, Avon Park International Racing Association, York Raceway, Pennine Drag Racing Club, Santa Pod Racers Club and Shakespeare County Raceway. It is the financial lubrication which enables the BDRHoF to fulfil its function of honouring those who have helped to move drag racing forward over the years through personal dedication and by making a marked difference to the sport's development.  BDRHoF Chairman Stu Bradbury says "Without the contribution of US Automotive's staff and the company's resources - plus their first initial generous donation - the BDRHoF would never have got off the ground. Their continued support is vital for us to realise our exciting plans for the future." Peter Stafford of US Automotive says "We have been pleased to support the BDRHoF since its inception. It is important to recognise those who have given so much of their time and expertise to the establishment and growth of drag racing in the UK – let alone the financial commitment of many. These awards mark the achievements of those who have gone that extra mile and in doing so paved the way for today's generation of drag racers and fans." The BDRHoF is also recognised by Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, Quarter Mile Foundation (Project 1320), 'Big Daddy' Don Garlits' International Hall of Fame, UKDRN, The Acceleration Archive and Drag Racing Confidential. More details can be found at www.britishdragracinghof.co.uk. Swift snippets. 21st October: The latest main d'oeuvre of Romford's Fester Race Cars is this Nostalgia Slingshot which is being built for Executioners club member Chris Manning (Seated in the car). The Big Block Chevy-powered dragster is intended to be a copy of the Vagabond car and will have a full body including a chute packer body with a cowling over the cage. It is hoped that the car will emerge next year and that it will be a real cackle car. UK Pro Modified racer Wayne Nicholson has been invited to represent Santa Pod Raceway and Pro Mod at next week's Top Gear Live at Birmingham's NEC. Lucky Devil will be displayed in the VIP area alongside race cars including Team Gridlock's Go Hard or Go Home Wild Bunch altered and Mark Todd's Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator GTO. "Let's see if we can whip up some new interest in our sport, and maybe challenge the Top Gear guys to a race", says Wayne. "Thank you to all of our team and sponsors". You can keep up to date with the Lucky Devil team at www.luckydevil777dragracing.com. We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to Regina Stendel, mother of our good friend Gittli Koller. Have a lovely day Regina and consider yourself hugged. CHRR webcast. 21st October: Our good buddies at Bangshift.com are webcasting this weekend's California Hot Rod Reunion. You can view the free webcast at Bangshift.com. Flamholc's Finals. 19th October: European fans have someone to cheer on at the ADRL World Finals VIII at the Texas Motorplex today (Friday) and tomorrow as Swedish Pro Modified racer Adam Flamholc is contesting Pro Mod in his blown-alcohol Camaro. Qualifying starts today and then further qualifying and eliminations take place tomorrow. You will be able to stay in touch with Adam's progress courtesy of our friends at www.dragracecentral.com, a webcast will be available at www.adrl.tv/live, and Adam will be updating from the track on the Flamholc Racing Facebook page. Good luck Adam and stay safe. Swift snippets. 19th October: We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to Sam Marston, iron-fisted ruler of the Paul Marston Racing operation. Have a lovely day Sam. Better and better... 18th October: German Super Street Bike racer Thomas Granica has been in touch with a review of Team Joker's last three events in the UK this season: After a difficult start to the season we went to the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod with good hopes and two fresh engines after two broke in Hockenheim and Hungary. The weekend was fantastic. We ran new PB ET and speed and went to the second round where I redlit against Steve Venables. At the National Finals we started very poorly with two oil leaks during burnouts. That that was our mistake as we forgot a bolt on the water pump block-off and didn't find it after the first leak. So it was a one-shot qualifier and I told Peter to put in a safe setting which would be sure to get me down the track so that I had a time. And it was safe! Nearly my PB, at first I thought "What the hell has he done" but when I heard the time I was smiling. Plus this was the qualifying round which the Eurodragster.com report said was maybe the best Super Street Bike qualifiying session ever at Santa Pod. Also Steve Venables ran the quickest ET outside America and many others ran PBs in this session - it was fantastic at the top end, we all had great fun. I went through first round again and then the rain came. It was really a shame as the bike went fast and consistent as never before, only 7.5s. Then we went to the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend and when you think it cannot get any better I was shown different, the best weekend I ever had in UK. Because my brother and Crew Chief Peter was racing his new Super Street Bike in Straightliners I had a new Crew Chief, Paul Watson who helped me a lot that weekend. I qualified fourth with a 7.66. In the first round I had Boisy (aka Chris Reed) and went through with a 7.61, next round I had Steve Venables and won the race with a 7.52 (new PB), then I had a bye into the final against Graham Balchin. I was so happy to be in the my first ACU final and I still can't believe that I won it with a 7.67. That was so great after all that hard work we put into that bike. I'm still overwhelmed by all the congratulations from my fellow racers, the Santa Pod crew and all the others. That's not all for this year's racing as we have been invited to race in Malta in November. Thanks to all invoved, mainly my brother Peter and Paul Watson. Also to Santa Pod's great track crew, the Eurodragster.com team (Thanks! - Ed) and my fellow racers in Super Street Bike. Thanks also to our sponsors Ernst Transport und Logistik, Air Liquid, Burn Out Backnang, Big CC Racing, BTC Motronics and Team Joker. Looking forward to seeing you all again next season. Great start, but! 18th October: UK Top Methanol Dragster racer Dave Wilson planned a very limited schedule this season, but after a promising start the team had to find some way to add events and that's when things started to go downhill for Grumpy and the guys: At the start of the season all the crew were ready, all the parts we had were ready, co-driver for the truck (Andy Robinson) was ready. OK we were a little short on budget, but we were ready for the first FIA round and then see where we were. Well the first round could not have been much better. We won, and against the best alky tuner from the USA, that was quite something for us. So with that success we went to the next round in Tierp in Sweden, stepped on the tune up a little after qualifying and bingo a 5.26 run. So easy I could have had a cup of tea on the way! Very gratifying after trying for four years to get our heads round this A-Fuel tune-up. Alas in the final a second win was not to be, up in smoke and the sight of Chris Polidano disappearing in the distance. We had to be happy for him and his team even if he did keep us awake all night partying! After such a good result in Sweden we just had to get to Finland somehow. The budget came from longtime supporter Ray Maguire. All the normal crew were unavailable due to work commitments, so what's known as the Pro Mod crew, or the “B” team, came: Andy Robinson, Andy Wright and Bert Englefield and they did a great job all weekend. Unfortunately the driver didn't match them and a couple of issues setting the fuel system at the start line forced an early exit. After that our season and Championship hopes seemed to evaporate. Hockenheim produced no points for us. The second Tierp race had to be contested as we were still not out of the points race, but our result didn't improve. Too much power on the first run, too little power on the last run, out in the first round again! Manty Bugeja really clinched the Championship at that point, he only needed to turn up and qualify at Santa Pod for the Championship win. More of the same for us at the FIA European Finals. We had our spare engine installed, and no matter how hard we tried we just could not get it to respond. Then in the first round too much power on the line resulted in blowing the tyres off again. That was it, the end of our season. Congratulations have to go to Manty, Joe and Charlie and the rest of the Mr Whippy team for the consistently outstanding performance and winning the final race of the year. We started good, ended bad, but still the quickest (5.260) and fastest (279 mph) TMD outside of the USA. Next year? Well I am still working hard on the budget, without more budget only the first and last races will be possible. The whole operation is for sale or rent but, if all else fails, you can be sure that the team and I will be at the Main Event and European Finals. We are not quite done yet! For more about Grumpy's sale or rent options, see our Jeff Bull Race Engines Swap Meet. Swift snippets. 18th October: Sharron Collier writes that UK Junior Drag Bike racer Scott Collier has outgrown his current bike and that both of his bikes are for sale. Plans are underway on a new bike for next season, which will be Scott's last as a Junior. You can find Scott's JDBs for sale on our Jeff Bull Race Engines Swap Meet. Our good buddies at Bangshift.com will be webcasting this weekend's California Hot Rod Reunion starting tomorrow. For broadcast times and more details check out Bangshift.com. Of Gambling and hellish prams. 18th October: In a classic Ford v Chevy showdown, Brian Huxley became the latest winner of the SCR Bracket Gamblers race series against Simon Parker at Shakespeare County Raceway last Sunday, writes SCR's Jerry Cookson. In what must have been one of the closest finals of the series so far, Simon lost the final after chalking up a dial-in time of 10.77 on the rear window of his Nitemare Super Stock Chevy Camaro then breaking out by one hundredth with a 10.760 to hand the win to Brian's Dark Horse Pro ET Mustang. In the twelve-car bracket Brian qualified second to Nigel Jenkins' Outlaw Street racer Mustang. During eliminations both Brian and Simon ran perfect dial in times of 9.607 (9.60) and 10.761 (10.76) respectively. Previous Gamblers winner Vic Fisher with the Warhorse '07 Mustang went down in the opening round to Nigel Jenkins. The next race will be at the season-ending Halloween Bonfire Burn-Up on Sunday 28th October. The series is open to street cars and competition cars with qualifying and eliminations on Sunday afternoon. If you fancy having a go at taking a gamble and winning some money, trophies and prizes from Shakespeare County's many supporters then head on over to the official SCR Bracket Gamblers page on Facebook or on the track's web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com/bracketgambler.asp. Although early morning fog tried its hardest to delay the day's action at Shakespeare County Raceway on Sunday mad plumber Colin Fruze's record attempt for the World's Fastest Pram did however take place once the sun had beaten it into submission. With the track in excellent condition the record attempt finally got underway. Under the watchful eye of an official adjudicator from the Guinness Book of World Records as well as the world's press and TV, Colin began to warm up the 125 cc motorbike engine with several burnouts and test starts. His goal for the £450 budget racer was to beat 30+ mph, but not knowing what to expect on his first attempt at the quarter mile dash everyone kind of guessed that the 33-year-old inventor from Stamford, Lincs would be taking it kind of easy. How wrong can one be! The time it would take Colin's pram to cover the measured distance didn't enter into the record bid but as the three wheeler took the start and began to hammer through its four-speed gear box the Pram from Hell finally exited the timing traps at a top speed of 51.09 mph and it only took 27.03 seconds to complete the record run. On subsequent runs, despite a slight wiggle by its rider at the eighth of a mile on one occasion, Colin managed even faster record runs maxing out the hot rod pram at 53.46 mph in 24.528 seconds, making sure that his fourth Guinness World Record was most definitely his - to go with the world's fastest Mobility Scooter (71.59 mph), the longest motorbike, and the world's biggest bonfire. What's next for this mad inventor? Lucas Oil tackle rugby. 18th October: A perimeter board advertising campaign at top-flight rugby union clubs involved in European matches is positioning the brand of Eurodragster.com sponsor Lucas Oil prominently on prime time TV throughout the UK and Europe as Lucas Oil banners will appear at selected fixtures involving games between British and non-British teams. Lucas plans to run a series of trade only promotions to help draw motor factors and garages into the action for these and future games, which will take place between October 2012 and May 2013. "The move will increase exposure of the Lucas Oil brand at consumer level, providing motor factors with pull through sales at garage and retail levels" says Les Downey, Lucas Oil Products (UK) Managing Director and Director of European Operations. This is a significant move in the marketing strategy of the Lucas Oil products range in the UK and Europe. Lucas Oil is an international brand, with strong associations to motorsport throughout the world but in the US, its advertising portfolio is much wider. "For example, in the US we have strong links with American Football and the Superbowl, for instance" adds Les. "That has proven to be a great experience for the Lucas Oil brand and it has increased our consumer rating significantly. This is our first real big experiment with advertising outside of motorsport in the UK and Europe. This represents a great opportunity and comes at the right time." Mission accomplished! 17th October: Germany's Black Seven Nitro Racing Team accomplished their mission in 2012, writes Markus Münch of the der Beschleuniger web site. This was Black Seven's second year in UEM Supertwin competition having come into the class as Rookies of the Year in 2011 and finishing fourth in that year's Championship. The plan for 2012 was to step up and the main aim is very clear: to win the UEM Supertwin Championship in the near future. The targets for 2012 were to run consistent mid six-second passes, to finish in the top four of the Championship, and to win the team's home race, prestigious NitrOlympX at Hockenheim. After some ups and downs at the beginning of the season the team managed to sort out the bike's performance out and to give their competitors a tough fight on the track throughout the season. A DNQ at Tierp cost the team valuable points but they won two races this season, the NitrOlympX and the FIA European Finals, which clinched them runner-up spot in the Championship. Rider Christian Jäger says: “We travelled to Santa Pod with the good weather forecast in mind. As usual we travelled with the truck and trailer and some of the team travelled by plane. Set everything up and then the day of the truth came. In Q1 we used the same set-up as at Tierp. We had lots of wheelspin there as well as here and it did not work out too well. We were still able to clinch the runner-up spot in the Championship, so we had to do it right as there was a lot at stake. "There was of course a Plan B, and in Q2 we did a bit better, but a 7.34 only secured us seventh qualifier after day one. In the evening we analysed the data and had a good nights sleep waiting to see what the next day brought. I have to say that I called the tuning shots myself, as our former Crew Chief left the operation during last winter. So I made up my mind and we put together a nice little set-up for Q3. This time I had the left lane, which has a smoother run-off but a bump right before the finish line which can catapult you out of your seat. I was on a good one, cut the mustard in 6.84 seconds which brought me up to number five spot. The first six-second pass for a long time, we were headed in the right direction. "Before my run there was an incident in our lane. Chris Hannam started his bike and it sounded strange. As he did his burnout his clutch exploded. Shrapnel was blasted arround and I just missed being hit. One of the photographers was injured, he had a cut on his face, not that bad. But boy can motorsports be dangerous. Our fourth attempt was 6.99, no better than in Q3. "The weather is another thing to mention. This was the first time at Santa Pod that I had to change my shirt on each run, because it was hot like you usually only face at Hockenheim or sometimes in Sweden. Brilliant. "In round one of eliminations we met Hans Olav Olstad. He had lane choice and put us in the right lane which was quite OK for us. After a good 0.085 RT I had a sixty foot of 1.099, Personal Best! I was first to the finish with a 6.777. In round two an even bigger opponent, Job Heezen on the Godfather bike. If everything worked out well, this would be a very tough fight. I chose the right lane. 0.060 RTm 1.106 to sixty feet and 6.907 to the stripe, early shut off to save parts as I could not see Job anywhere. We were delighted with this run, as we secured our overall Championship runner up spot. Not that bad we thought. But there was more to come. "Never underestimate an opponent, we had Trond Høiberget in the final. My crew did an awesome Job turning the bike round and off we went. RT wise we left the tree pretty quick and even. I had a very smooth run, resulting in a 6.57 at 200 mph. That was to much for Trond, we did it. We won our second race this year, proved to ourselves and to everybody else that we were back on the right track. So 2013 can come. "After the run there was a big presentation with interviews of all of the winners in the start area. A very nice idea and a good way to end the season. We collected our trophies and are very proud of what we achived. "Some Thank Yous: our families and friends for their support, and our loyal sponsors Gremium MC, De Walt, G&R, Kade Oil, Bodyart Arafat, Big Cash Casino, Arno Hänsel, Different, Twin Service, Limitec GMBH, ABM, Lipo Tec and Huber Tec. "We will be back. Then we have Operation European Championship 2013." Shamus returning. 17th October: Nick Saunders of the UK's AFB Drag Racing Supertwin team tells us that last Thursday's spy picture shows the work being done on Shawn Rodman's new bike: It feels like an age since we destroyed our engine at the 2011 FIA Main Event, our first qualifier in our first UEM event didn't really go to plan. As we reported earlier in the year, Martin and Cindy Newbury from Psycleworkz kindly offered their services to develop Shamus an all-new Nitro Harley to be ready for the 2013 season. The last twelve months or so have seen numerous ups and downs, but progress is being made towards being ready for testing in 2013. As of early September, Martin had completed the drawings of our new 3100cc billet aluminium V-Twin, and had finished machining the crank, cases and heads ready to show us at the recent FIA European Finals. The Chromalloy tubing, front and rear wheels and even the rear slick are in the shop ready to create the chassis. The new Owens sprag-less two speed gearbox is currently en-route from the States and Ross Pistons are on board to supply pistons. Unfortunately, as people are aware, Martin and Cindy suffered a horrific break in at Psycleworkz just prior to the FIA European Finals. During the raid, their van was stolen from inside the shop and subsequently set alight, containing their Pro Stock Bike, all of their race equipment and the freshly-cut billets which Martin was going to show us at the track. This transformed what was going to be an excellent weekend at Santa Pod to a devastating weekend of counting the cost of this mindless act of vandalism. As Martin and Cindy have aptly demonstrated, aluminium billets can be replaced as they have new pieces at the shop ready to be machined, and considering the loss that they have suffered, we can only begin to thank them for their dedication towards this project.    Along with the new bike, Shamus has been hard at work fitting out a new truck for the team. Knowing that the new bike was going to be in excess of a year in the making, he decided to take on a project from scratch. You can follow the progress of the build on our blog at www.afbdragracing.wordpress.com. The plan for 2013 is to begin testing as soon as the bike is ready. We would like to say that it will be race ready for the FIA Main Event, but we think that something like Hockenheim will be more realistic. We plan to launch a new web site in the not too distant future to replace the current site at www.afbdragracing.co.uk and we are always hoping to hear from people interested in promoting their brand through sponsorship of AFB Drag Racing. As always, we would like to thank the following companies whose products and support are vital in making it possible for us to race and to develop this exciting new project: AFB Motorcycles: The South West's leading custom bike builders Psycleworkz Motorsport Engineering: Leaders in high precision CNC machining, chassis design and builds for drag racing and beyond Spectro Oils of America: Producers of the finest motorcycle oils in the world Zodiac International: Simply the best aftermarket performance parts for Harley Davidson Highpowermedia.com: Producers of the excellent Race Engine Technology magazine J W Hinchliffe (Tanks) Ltd: Fuel / Oil Tank cleaning and removal solutions nationwide Display and Things (a part of Saunders Creative): Vehicle vinyl design, printing and cutting services Ross Racing Pistons: Precision and quality pistons for over 30 years Bikes join Hal Far Finals. 17th October: Malta Drag Racing Association Secretary Jason Camilleri writes with news of more attendees at MDRA's final race of the season at Hal Far Raceway on 23rd-25th November: Those attending will have the chance to see Germany's Thomas Granica and England's Garry Bowe taking part in this event. Both are very competitive Super Street Bike racers and it will be interesting to see our own Simon Giordimaina in competition with these guys on his home turf this time! We also have the pleasure of announcing that Davide Ricci is coming along with his Team Whiterace Pro1 turbo bike and two Pro Stock Bikes from the same team. This is not the first time that this team has raced in Hal Far Raceway and will be great to see them back with us The local racers are also very interested in being at this race as we already have forty racers showing an interest and entry to this race is not yet due. We are a few weeks away from the event and the excitement is already showing among the general public who are eager to smell the Nitro at Hal Far Raceway after a long time! Swift snippets. 17th October: Many thanks to Yvonne Tramm for forwarding us the final standings in the 2012 Santa Pod Racers Club Championships. You can check out the SPRC points on our Speedflow-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the Speedflow Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Jonnie Lindberg tells us that the Lindberg Brothers' Top Methanol Funny Car and Pro Mod are for sale. You can find out more at www.nitroz.se/annons.asp?adid=75651 and www.nitroz.se/annons.asp?adid=75657. Simon Barlow and the UK's Orange Pop Outlaw Anglia team will be running Simon's street-legal Pop at next week's Halloween Bonfire Burnup at Shakespeare County Raceway and as usual will be having a Halloween party in their pit to which all are invited. Team member Jason Yates tells us that Simon will be putting up a prize of Orange Pop merchandise for the best pumpkin. The winner will be decided on Saturday evening. Advance tickets for the Flame and Thunder Show, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on Saturday week (27th), are available until 5:00 pm on Friday. For more information or to order your tickets visit www.santapod.com or call 01234 782828. We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to Santa Pod Racers Club International Race Director Robin Shone. Have a great day Robin. NAST AGM and party reminder. 17th October: Chair Bev Batsford has been in touch to remind racers that the UK's National Association of Supertwins is holding its annual AGM and End of Year party on Saturday 3rd November. The party takes place at: Bulkington War Memorial Club Stafford Close Bulkington Bedworth CV12 9QX All-girl band The Kixx will be providing the music. Tickets are £5, contact any NAST member via Facebook to book your ticket. Hotels near to the venue are Travel Lodge Coventry 02476 383541, Weston Hall Hotel 02476 678671, Premier Inn 02476 343584 and De Vere Ricoh Arena 0844127271. Web site updates. 17th October: The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr site with pictures from the Saturday of the VP Racing Fuels National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out Mad's pictures at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman. Gabrielle steps up. 15th October: Eire's Gabrielle McDonald finally found something better than winning the Junior Dragster triple of UK National and Club Championships as she spent the weekend making her first licencing passes in one of Rune Fjeld's stable of Top Fuel Dragsters. Gabrielle made a total of four passes at Santa Pod Raceway over the weekend culminating in a 6.907/103 off the throttle and chutes out at 330 feet. Gabrielle, now nineteen, originally planned to move to Super Pro ET but managed to persuade her mum and dad that they really wanted her to go Top Fuel and there was only one choice for the venue. "When I went through the gates at Santa Pod I felt I was home", Gabrielle told Eurodragster.com. "If I had the choice to licence anywhere on the planet I would go to Santa Pod, why would I go anywhere else but my home!" Gabrielle's first run ended in an idle down the track after the reverser would not engage. "At one point I had both Rune and Jamie almost in the cockpit with me", said Gabrielle. "In the end they left the throttle stop on and I drove down the track. On the second run I made a proper launch and held my foot down. I was thinking "Come on!" and kept my foot in past sixty foot then thought I'd better get off it! The team thought I'd lift straight away but I'm a thrill seeker! It was a bit scary as I've only ever driven the Junior, it was very shaky, but it was great." A subsequent run was a bit more lively and certainly got Gabrielle's attention. "The tyres smoked and the car went sideways", she said. "I was up on one back wheel and it was the scariest thing ever. I just looked through the pictures and you can see the looks on their faces! I was trying to remember what my dad said about what to do if the car went sideways, just to follow the car with the steering wheel. I just looked through the pictures and you should see the looks on the team's faces! Those who had cameras almost dropped them! "This was probably one of the most scary experiences of my life, but it was also thrilling and I can't explain how amazing it is. I found I was very popular afterwards. I had Friend requests and messages and when I turned on my phone I had loads of texts!" Gabrielle said that she plans to complete her licencing next season. "I'll see where it takes me", she said. "If I can't do something next year then I will work on 2014." Gabrielle asked us to say a big Thank You to Rune, Lyndsey, Jamie, Paul, Mark and Luke who were "Just amazing", and to Laurie Bamford and Shelley Pearson for advice. "The biggest thanks go to Mum and Dad", she said. "They have supported me through all of this and have been just amazing even though Dad had a heart attack every time I ran and said "Don't ever do that again!". Thanks also to Dave at Santa Pod who taught me to drive a Junior Dragster six years ago. He was there at the weekend and he was so proud. Had he not taught me to drive the Junior I probably wouldn't be here doing this now." Swift snippets. 15th October: UK Super Street Bike racer Danny Cockerill has put his 7.5-second bike up for sale. Danny tells us that he is not quitting and that he has plans for next season, but he is remaining tight-lipped at present. If you fancy a more than capable SSB then you can find Danny's bike for sale on our Jeff Bull Race Engines Swap Meet. We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to Her Majesty The Queen of Race Control, SPRC Deputy Race Director Carole Ismail. Have a lovely day ma'am. The legendary party returns. 15th October: Ian King writes that, just for the Europeans travelling to November's Manufacturers Cup Finals, Jay Regan of Murdoch Racing Enterprises has organised the return of his near-famous post-Finals event party: Jay would like to extend a party invitation to to all International attendees of the Haltech Finals. The party is planned for Shephards Beach Resort tiki deck on Clearwater Beach on Monday 12th November and is hoped to kick off at around 5:00 pm for a 5:40pm sunset toast. Light appetisers and beverages will be available for the duration of the grand event at the designated party central suite. Previous episodes of this show have run well into the late evening, caused people to move over from across the Pond, and even brought on marriage! One thing is for sure: fun will certainly be had by all! For hotel reservations of your own, you can contact Shepards Beach Resort, 619 South Gulfview Boulevard, Clearwater FL 33767 or call +1 727 442-5107. Located next door is the Econo Lodge and their number is +1 727-446-3400. Swift snippets. 14th October: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words "Beauty is in the hand of the Pieholder!". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at [email protected]. UK National 9.50 Bike Champion Fred Furlong of Eurodragster.com sponsor Furlong Tyres has won his third title in 2012, also having also won the Santa Pod Racers Club Championship. Fred would like to thank Michelin Tyres, LS2 Helmets, Talon Sprockets, Crescent Suzuki, Anglo American Oil and Falcon Shocks. Top Sportsman TV. 12th October: Paul Marston has been in touch to let us know that the 2012 Direct Plastics UK Top Sportsman event held at the Mopar Euronationals will be aired on Motors TV at 17:50 on Tuesday 30th October: According to the TV production company Zeon TV (Which guarantees its quality - Ed) it comes over very well and they were very happy with the finished product. It's a sixty minute programme which covers the Mopar Euronationals and Direct Plastics UK Top Sportsman is prominently featured. The Direct Plastics UK Top Sportsman Bracket Race is covered in its entirety, a first for quite some time on UK TV. The thrilling qualifying and eliminations for the Direct Plastics UK Top Sportsman Heads-Up race are also shown in full. The show is aimed at the more knowledgeable drag racing fan and the commentary goes into some technical detail, along the same lines as Formula 1 commentary (Only more interesting and less futile - Ed). Organisers Jeff and Belinda Bull and Paul Marston would once again like to express their appreciation to everyone who has worked on this project and to all the sponsors both here and in the States who allowed us to spend and give away all their money on the greatest motorsport on the planet. Stay tuned for more developments and announcements on UK Top Sportsman. Special thanks to Eurodragster.com for always being there and for allowing us to talk to the world via the hallowed Ethernet (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed). Swift snippets. 12th October: To help to fill the webcast gap before our next Webster Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport broadcast, our good buddies at Bangshift.com will be broadcasting the Throwdown in T-Town which takes place in Tulsa today (Friday) and tomorrow. Today's broadcast commences at approximately 00:00 Saturday European / 23:00 UK and tomorrow's broadcast at 15:00 European / 14:00 UK. You can reach the webcast by clicking here. Richard, Emily and Jessica Stevens have asked us to say a big Happy Birthday for today (Friday) to wife and mum Samantha Stevens. Richard vouchsafed the number but revealing a lady's age is of course against Eurodragster.com Editorial policy. Have a lovely day Samantha. Dreams do come true. 11th October: The UK's Phil James finally fulfilled a dream at Shakespeare County Raceway recently when he drove a race car down the track. Phil explains: It all started about forty nine years ago when my two brothers decided to build a dragster having seen some racing at Blackbushe. Mike built the chassis and John built a fibreglass body to create the initial structure for a front-engined dragster. Power was to be supplied by a 283 ci Chevy with a Marshal cabin blower and home-made fuel injection. Well, to cut a long story short it was never finished and was eventually sold (Dennis Priddle came to look at it though). The years passed but I got up to the Pod to watch 'Bootsie' Herridge and Gary Goggin and Harold Bull and of course the Americans, in particular, EJ Potter ("The Michigan Madman") and the rocket man Sammy Miller. Well, marriage and two sons happened and after many years away I replied to a Eurodragster.com advert for crew and joined Dave Wilson for four fantastic years. I travelled to all the European venues and some in the States when Dave made his US tour. A few more years passed and then the dreaded mid-life crisis started to take hold. Initially it was going to be a Cobra kit-car but in the end it had to be a dragster. Many US and UK adverts later and Dave Ward's Rampage Funny Car became available and I just bought it. Booked a two-day RWYB at Shakey at the end of September. Dave and the Rampage team gave up their Saturday to see me through my first drive down a drag strip and Ricky, Harry, Jim and Nick of Dave Wilson's crew also came for support. Even before the car was warmed up for the first time a film crew descended upon me and conducted an interview. I believe it was for an ITV channel. Towed down to the track and my brother Mike and son Carl were given instruction in strapping me in as well as start line procedures. Sitting in stage with a green light showing and those immortal words from Dave Wilson ringing in my ears "There comes a point when you just to have to say **** it and put your foot down and keep it there". Well I thought I've had a good life, rammed my foot to the floor and held on. Just as Dave Ward had said the car just went dead straight and I clocked 10.01 and 129 mph. The buzz from launching and accelerating can only be experienced and never adequately described but suffice to say I wanted more. Second run and I attempted a burnout, still sat on the line for a lifetime but this time clocked 9.58 and 139 mph. Ran a total of six runs over the weekend and managed to hit 141 mph. There are so many people who made this happen and I thank Dave Ward and his team for being so generous in giving up their time and working so hard to make this experience very special. Thanks also to Rick, Harry, Jim and Nick and especially Carl and Mike. I would also like to thank the team at Shakespeare County Raceway who went out of their way to welcome me and ensure I knew what to do and how to do it. Now, how much ignition did Nick say I could put in it and don't forget to get some chips to raise the geachange point and what about that 275 horsepower nitrous system that's waiting to be activated... oh dear, is there a cure for this? The bittersweet end. 11th October: UK Comp Bike racer Lizz McCarthy says that she had a bittersweet end to what has been quite a frustrating season: If anyone had told me back in May, when I had two broken wrists, that I would run two 7.7s and be in the final at the Extreme Performance Bike weekend, I would have put a lot of money on it! We had had problems at the National Finals, where the liner had dropped on number one cylinder. To get me through this weekend, we had a bigger power ring made by Dave Branch, and Kev worked every evening to get the motor back up together again. Thanks is such an inadequate word but thanks to you both so much. When the bike roared into life on the Thursday night it sounded good, and we started loading up the van for the meeting. In the first qualifier the bike sounded OK in the burnout, onto the two step into stage, and launched hard. In third gear it started to sound a bit rough and the timing ticket showed a disappointing 8.51/138. Back to the pits to do a leakdown test. There was now a leak on number four cylinder, so off with the head, and found that number three power ring was starting to pull into the bore. We decided that there was not enough pinch on the ring, and after scouring the pits for a thinner gasket with no luck Kerryanne Frasier and I set about the head gasket we had with an emery cloth and a block, and some time later we had managed to get seven thou off it fairly evenly! Unfortunately I was completely out of time to have another qualifier, but by the evening the bike was back together. On sunday morning we were lucky enough to have another qualifier. I started the bike up to put it on the two step, and it kept cutting out. There must be something wrong with the cam timing we thought. Took the cover off, and found it was one tooth out. This was about the same time that we had the call for the qualifier. Chris and Kev worked like men possessed rectifying the problem. I asked if there was anything I could do, I was told to go and get my leathers on! Cams set correctly, Kev had two stepped it, Sarah had set off with the starter waiting for me to get to the line, and I got there a bit stressed, apologised to Harold Wolfenden for being late, shook his hand, we wished each other luck, and off we went to race. I didn't run well. I think I hit the two step instead of the air shifter, and the bike coughed in time for me to see Harold whizz past me, and I ran another 8.5. No change in the ladder. I had Harold in the first round of eliminations, Kev told me just to go out and have some fun and stop stressing, it's just another ride. Who would have thought it - my ride was stonking! I ran a PB, a 1.16 sixty foot, a 7.74 to his 8.0, the bike was pulling like a train although seemed a bit messy mid track, but I did it. I had also taken Harold out of the Championship, I was gutted for him but elated for me all at the same time. He was such a gent about it too, thanks hon! Back to the pits to a bit of cheering and a lot of hugs, and my fab team got the bike ready for the semi final against Phil Leamon, who had already won the ACU Championship, and many congratulations to him. I knew it was going to be a tough one, I had to keep my nerves about me. Phil's reactions are awesome, and if all went according to plan I could chase, and chase I did! I not only caught up with him, over took him, but ran another PB of 7.71/163! It was all getting a bit surreal! It would have been very cool if it had been a Cooperized final, but Nige Barker had found form on Paul Wing's bike and just pipped Tony Clark at the post, so Nige and I in the final ! "Keep ahold of this McCarthy, you may just do this", I thought, "just have some fun". Big hug and a bit of mickey taking with my old friend, and into the burnout box. Strong burnout, up to the line, there was a bit of a commotion going on around me. I stayed looking up the track until Bob Day told me to shut off... What? He was joking right? He wasn't - he had a handful of oil. The clutch cover had come loose, and was dripping oil. I shut off and Nige took the win. To say I was beyond gutted was an understatement, however Bob made a good call. The cheers from everyone in VIP made me smile, and I went back to the pits amazed that I broken and been repaired, had gone rounds, won a trophy, got a cheque, and run two 7.7s! On Saturday evening I really thought it was all over. What a fantastic bunch of people I had fighting my corner that weekend. Kev Charman you are one in a million, and Chris Pyke you are the other one! Sarah Chapman, who came back to crew for the weekend after two years out, please come back soon! Kerryanne Frasier for the gasket work, and being such a mate, Dave Branch, Ken Cooper, Jake Charman, Allan and Clair Davis, Richard Gipp and Nigel Sadler. Big thanks for the great support I have had this year from Ken at Cooperized Dyno and service Centre, Richard and Sam Stevens at MPM Oil UK, Steve Wood at Motorshack, Debs at Armadillo Ink. Lastly, as always thanks to the incredible track crews, commentators, photographers and Tog and the gang at Eurodragster.com (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed). A Champion's season. 11th October: Newly-crowned MSA British Drag Racing Champion Roger Moore has been in touch with a review of the season in his and brother Dave's Viper Pro Mod: Easter: Qualified number one new PB 6.72  and 209 mph, then the rain came. Unfortunately, as we felt confident that we would do well. FIA Main Event: Qualified ninth with a new PB of 210.1 mph, lost in second round to  Bert-Ove Olofsson. We should have pushed him closer but we  had misjudged the improved track conditions causing the clutch settings to be incorrect. SPRC Summernationals: Event win! Qualified fourth with a new PB 6.66 and 210.83 mph. An excellent event, everything went to plan, a great feeling. FIA European Finals:  Qualified ninth, new PB 211mph. Had a very dramatic run during qualifying with Michael Gullqvist, I hit a reflector (a first in twenty years of racing) which went into the other lane and onto Michael's car! No damage fortunately but it seemed to please lots of people with talk of a new sport of drag pinball. Made to the semi final with some luck, and once again gave Michael a scare as I went past him, but after the finish line! VP Racing Fuels National Finals:  No Graham or Andy so all I had to do was to run down the track to win the MSA Championship. Funny how the pressure can get to you, all sorts of thoughts about blowing the engine in the the burnout etc were going on whilst I was waiting to run, but we had a good run taking number one position after the first round. Qualified second, good to see Kev getting down the track, through to second round after Jean was shut down - I hope he has some good luck soon. Then rain, a real pity as I think the final against Kev could have been a cracker. Twenty five full passes in competition this season, seventeen were six-second 200 mph runs, and with a good deal of luck we took the title. Thanks to the crew, it really is a team sport and I would have achieved nothing without them: Dave Moore, Crew Chief, what can I say about my brother. He makes the best roast potatoes at Santa Pod (ask Jeff and Belinda Bull) but apart from providing everyone with two star Michelin food he is a top people person and brings out the best from all the crew. Not sure about his four bar chassis set ups, the public love me carrying the front wheels to the eighth, but I did mention that it's quite nice to have some steering at 170 mph!    Chris Black (aka Northern Chris), comes down from Yorkshire - no-one's perfect - a real hard worker, never moans at pulling the sump of at one in the morning, or doing things twice because I have changed my mind! Top man. Gary Butters, looks after all the routine maintenance on the engine, checks the valve train after every pass faster than you can believe, has to put up with me looking over his shoulder when working, excellent mechanic when he is not eating a half pound burger with cheese and bacon then falling asleep! Martin Tilley, my right hand man,looks after me at the track,packs the parachutes and  knows my moods! Has to put up with my driving in the Artic lorry to and from the Pod. A real nice guy, and a single man girls! Thanks to my sponsors who help to finance the team: Generator Power Systems, Shakespeare Engineeeing and www.challengersolutions.com, and thanks to Xamax for providing the team outfits. I would also like to thank Jeff Bull for all his advice, two heads are better than one sometimes, a top engineer; Andy Robinson, someone who is always enthusiastic about drag racing, a real credit to the sport; John Spuffard  for all his help with the new trailer; all the teams in Pro Mod, for making it such an excellent class in which to compete; and Eurodragster.com for their second-to-none promotion of European drag racing (Thank you! - Ed). Most of all thanks to my partner Jane for supporting and understanding what it takes to win a Championship. Next season? It's no secret that I have purchased Henri Joosten's engine (what was left after that scary fire) and hope to rebuild it for next year possibly with an EFI system and lots of nitrous! Can't keep a good team down. 11th October: Fellow UK Pro Modified racer Wayne Nicholson says that he has had a strange season this year: On the back of 2011 we believed we could continue improving. 2012 gave us a mixture of highs and lows. Our first trip abroad to Hockenheim, despite the situation with the track there we all still had a great trip and lots of laughs. At the European Finals we got somewhere near to where we were last year, and then before you knew it the National Finals were here and we had to lick our wounds early. But we still managed to finish fourth in the MSA British Championship and you can't keep a good team down, so we will be returning next season with some good data and even better enthusiasm. As always I owe a massive Thank You to a lot of people. Super Crew Dennis, Adam, Tony, Andy and Lee Kirk, Joe and Gareth and of course Belinda for her massive support and encouragement. Our sponsors too Lucas Oil, NGK Spark Plugs, Allyfab, Dentrepairs, and Originals Hot Rod Supply. 2013 will see some added-help from little known US tuner Cynchy Poloygne, so we are looking forward to some added help. For all the news check out our web site at www.luckydevil777dragracing.com. Chaos theory proven correct. 11th October: 2012 was always going to be an interesting year for the UK's Chaos Fuel Altered team: The undeviating dedication of Team Principal Lawrie Gatehouse resulted in a decision to junk the old Ed Moore-style '70s Topolino body in favour of a lighter, more aerodynamic substitute in search of some top-end track stability. Change number one. Next came the crew, assembled and led by Crew Chief Roy Phelps: 'Assistant-to-the-Crew Chief' Bill Sherratt, time-served nitro crewman Terry Giles, ex-Funny Car driver John Niedowidz, Will, Phil and Jake from the Sherratt clan and accomplished clutch-tuner Marie. The aggregated years of experience around nitromethane would likely rival the majority of Big Show nitro teams globally. Throw in a new driver with some altered experience, Nick Davies, for good measure, and Easter had to look interesting. Easter arrived, as ever far more quickly than anticipated and, without the combined efforts of the dedicated crew at FGR Motorsports, it might have been touch-and-go whether the new body, resplendent in a fresh coat of pearl yellow paint, would have débuted on time. Beauty, it is said, is in the eye of the beholder and, love it or hate it, it was difficult to miss during the familiarisation pass. All seemed fine and, with the weather threatening, the only full pass of the weekend resulted in a 6.35/217. Straight as a die with no dramas. No damage. A good weekend. By the SPRC Summernationals the signwriting and graphics package were completed and the car looked good. The weather was kind and the diligent maintenance and prudent tuning allowed Chaos to comfortably make and complete each session as the fastest car in the class. Once again, no dramas and no damage. Dragstalgia brought the suspect weather back. The abbreviated schedule allowed only three passes, Chaos running each one in the 6.40/6.50 region. A broken blower belt was the only blip in an otherwise breakage-free weekend for the team. Away from the track, routine maintenance before the National Finals revealed no hidden problems. The event itself proved to be slightly more frustrating with the return of the poor weather. A staging error in the first session meant that Chaos lost its first round of the year, but a second round 6.35 meant that the car finished the year where it started. Interestingly, particularly for a nitro car, the season ended with a sum total damage list of two blower belts. That's it. The heads didn't come off at the track once and, were it not for freshening the rods, they wouldn't have come off at all. The block has been in the car since Easter. Testament, surely, to a prudent tuning approach from an experienced and knowledgeable crew. Similarly, with the introduction of the new aero package, the FGR Motorsports chassis has been allowed to function as it has been designed to do. Bracket racing fuel cars anyone? Probably not. Perhaps a little early to re-write the textbooks of Chaos Theory but an encouraging year. The future's bright, the future's yellow... Swift snippets. 11th October: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words "Twins being conceived!". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at [email protected]. The final standings in the 2012 ACU UK National Drag Bike Championships are now available on the King Racing web site at www.kingracing.com. Ian King asked us to say Thank You to our own Simon for paperwork. The location of the 2012 EDRS Banquet and Prizegiving, which takes place on Saturday 24th November, has been confirmed as the Sunlight Hotel and Conference Centre in Nyköping starting at 18:00. You can find out full details on the official invitation (PDF format) which you can check out by clicking here. Thanks to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe for forwarding the official timing data from the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend, 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. Dennis Habermann asked us to wish brother and fellow Top Methanol Dragster racer Timo Habermann a very Happy 29th Birthday - but that's not all. "Timo got the best and biggest birthday present as he and his girlfriend Jenny have sweet little baby Louis born today, the same birthday as dad Timo", says Dennis. "That must be really good timing! The whole family and team are so proud and happy for them. We wish them all the best and a lot of luck." Steve Dudley writes that the next slot drags takes place at 2:00 this Sunday (14th) at the Sturdee Club, Stoke Road, Hoo, Rochester, Kent ME3 9LT. All are welcome. As per usual practice at the Sturdee Club, please buy your drinks from the bar and there will be a collection for the hall owner. More details at slotdragracing.weebly.com. To help to fill the webcast gap before our next Webster Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport broadcast, our good buddies at Bangshift.com will be broadcasting the Throwdown in T-Town which takes place in Tulsa tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday. Tomorrow's broadcast commences at 00:00 Saturday European / 23:00 Friday UK and Saturday's broadcast at 15:00 European / 14:00 UK. You can find out more on Bangshift.com by clicking here. Top Doorslammers star at Malmö. 11th October: Malmö Raceway's recent Winternationals had one of the quickest ever fields in Top Doorslammer history. With thirty three teams entered, the competition was a combination of 100% Top Doorslammer cars and FIA legal Pro Mods all ready to do battle over 201 metre strip. Eurodragster.com sponsor Lee Child, who had been hired for track prep using VP Racing Fuels' Lane Choice 7 traction compound, writes: Temperatures struggled with the strong north westerly headwind but this is Top Doorslammer country, it was bragging time on a Friday afternoon. Johan Westberg took the number one spot in the ex-Filippos Papafilippou '68 Camaro once US-based Pro Mod to an excellent 4.19/274 kmh in the first session. The top thirteen positions were separated by 0.41 seconds in this opening session with Annebritt Nilsson's well-prepared nitrous '63 split window Corvette on the bump with a 6.63/109. With the off the trailer runs out the way, oh my did the times start to fall. Track ET record recorder Mikael Lindahl stamped his authority talking the number spot 3.93/285. Hot off an excellent event at Tierp Arena, Niclas Anderson claimed the number two spot with a 3.99/292 to keep his 2012 Top Doorslammer Championship hopes alive in the Old 51.Ola Dahlblom in the '63 blown split Corvette sneaked the number three spot from Mattias Wulcan by 0.009 with a 4.04/295. Benny Strand and Rimbert Wahlstrom, also in a postion to take the 2012 Championship, were placed fifth and seventh in this session. Johan Westberg's 4.19 was now good for a solid eighth postion with Åke Eliasson taking the sixteenth bump spot with a 4.38/268 in the Procharged 90s Firebird. Saturday morning dawned with similar weather conditions as Friday but with even hotter performance on the track and the top four still holding on to their positions. Johan Lindberg and Martin Lundkvist squeezed Benny Strand's nitrous Cobalt down the field with a 4.05/294 and 4.06 at a stunning 307 kmh from the twin turbo '68 Camaro. Johan Westberg now was in eleventh spot with his 4.19. The bump got even quicker with Marco Maurischat sixteenth with a 4.28/288 from the stunning Corvette after session three. Session four had everyone holding on tight to their positions but the big news of this session was Pontus Liberg in his blown small block 90s Camaro taking seventh spot and squeezing Benny Strand with an awesome 4.13/282, the crew let's say were a little happy. Håkan Nilsson now had the bump spot with a 4.27/271 with the '57 Chevy. After running a 3.96 while attending the Test and Tune at Malmö in April, Jonnie Lindberg put the KSA tune up in and stole the number one from Mikael Lindahl with brother Johan running a 3.93/303. The big tune ups started to come into play now, Magnus and Robert of the Olds 51 team gave Niclas the tune up and the black coupe went 3.95/298. Thomas Dahlblom, Crew Chief for Ola Dahlblom, changed gear ratios in the transmission and improved the performance with the Corvette responding with a 3.99/297. Throwing the cat amongst the pigeons, Åke Eliasson's Procharged Firebird claimed the seventh spot with stunning a 4.06/287. This run placed multi FIA Champion Håkan Nilson on the outside with Michael Joneskog now on the bump with a 4.27/271. In the penultimate qualifying session Pierre Rydberg laid down an awesome 3.99/289 in the ex-Lindahl '57 Chevy to push Ola Dahlblom down. Once again the blown small block Camaro of Pontus Liberg went even quicker with excellent 4.06/284. Håkan Nilsson the defending Winternationals Champion responded with 4.14/275 with a new fuel system which was giving Ulf and the rest of the Nilsson Motorsport crew a hard time. After melting a couple of pistons in Norway, Stefan Carlsson claimed the bump with 4.19/270 with a new chassis tune in the '68 nitrous Camaro pushing Johan Westberg out the show. Then the final session came, call it what you will but with seventeen teams looking in, things were going to get little a bit crazy. Johan Gustafsson's Mercury Cougar was unloading the tyres but with a few adjustments on the suspension it was leaving hard. Johan's last attempt to get in the show came with a price tag; the Cougar left really hard and at that point was on one until the car started to move around, it then took Johan on a ride tagging the guardrail at finish line and then proceeded down the shutdown area on its roof. Johan was unhurt and walking around and everyone was happy about that. The damage to the guardrail meant that the final session could not be completed. Sunday morning dawned and it was now race day, the wind had gone and the temperature was a bit cooler. Top Doorslammer would be first out on track and you could tell that this concerned some of the turners. VP Racing Fuels' Lane Choice 7 is good to go from the first session on any track. Stefan Carlsson got the jump on Johan Lindberg the 2010 FIA Pro Mod champion, but Johan reeled the nitrous Camaro in with a 4.25/291 to a 4.36/262. With only 0.002 difference between the eighth and ninth postion this was always going to be about who could cut down the Tree the quickest: tt was turbo against Procharger, Martin Lundkvist squeezed the tree just a little too much and picked a cherry. Åke Eliasson cut a nice .420 on the tree but the Firebird started to use up both lanes handing the win to the Camaro, so the 4.12/303 didn't go to waste. Germany's Marco Maurischat had to take on the three second runner, Pierre Rydberg. When the lights dropped the 57's blower belt went "I am out of here". Marco cut an excellent light of .407 and the '53 Corvette took the win with a 4.16/279. Malmö regulars Jonas Hall and Ola Dahlblom paired up, the Bounty Hunter turbo Camaro couldn't match the performance of the '63 split window Corvette, Ola posted 3.99/298 to a lose out 7.49/96. Championship contender Rimbert Wahlstrom has proved massive consistency all year long, but when you have the track record holder is in the other lane, it can only mean one thing, try harder. The blown Mopar broke the beams and pulled a red allowing Mikael Lindahl to take the win 4.15/273 to a lose out 5.22/151. Pontus Liberg did everything he could to defeat the Winternationals defending champion Hakan Nilsson. The blown small block Camaro left hard with a 0.972 sixty foot and run a awesome 4.08/280 to the 57's 5.85/139. Olds 51 driver and Championship contender Niclas Andersson was matched up with Lenn Lindell in the Plymouth Cuda. The Coupe made a slight move and broke the beams by 0.002 giving an instant red and wasted 3.96/301 handing the win to a 4.22/269, the Lindell team were happy. Final remaining Championship contender and defending Top Doorslammmer Champion Benny Strand had this in the bag if he could make Mattias Wulcan make a mistake. The Cobalt driver got the advantage by 0.070 on the startline but the black '68 Firebird clawed back with 0.976 sixty foot and charged down the track with a winning 4.01/294 to the Cobalt's consistent 4.1 performance with a 4.19/278. The quarter finals time produced even more excitement. Johan Lindberg and Martin Lundkvist paired up to which could have been the final of the competition but no this was round two. The twin turbo Camaro driver got a slight advantage on the start line over the Lindberg Bros Firebird. The blower car went 0.987 to sixty feet and was chased all the way down the track by Martin Lindquist. Johan Lindberg took the win with an excellent 4.04/295 to the Camaro's 4.11 with a fast 308 terminal speed. Time to step up a little a bit more for Marco Maurischat the reason why was Ola Dahlblom in the other lane. The Swedish driver got lane choice over the German driver, who had to get round this three second car. The advantage went to the '53 Corvette on the tree with the '63 Corvette chasing down Marco after two excellent sixty foot times 0.993 to 0.990 but the trip from Germany was made even sweeter when a 4.05/288 beat a 4.03/292. With the performance and getting known as a giant killer Pontus Liberg was paired up with Mikael Lindahl. Problems for the Camaro resulted in a non starter for this match up. Mikael was on a bye run and didn't waste any track time, 0.972 sixty foot stopping the clocks with a 3.97/285. Len Lindell lost lane choice by only 0.03 in his match up with Mattias Wulcan. The black consistent bracket performance Pontiac went 0.984 to sixty feet and took the win with a 4.03/284 to the Cuda's off pace 5.09 slowing to 193. Semi final time, it was now Jonnie Lindberg's time make his brother shine once again. But one Marco Maurischat had some different views on that. The German should relocate to Sweden because oh man can he cut down trees. 0.442 to 0.522 reaction time from Johan but the Firebird was on one with 0.983 sixty foot taking the win with an awesome 3.95/297 to a excellent 4.09/286. Mattias Wulcan needed something special for the match up with Mikael Lindahl. The Firebird didn't respond as in earlier performances and got out the groove and slowed to a 7.94/88 allowing Mikael to take the win with a stunning 0.950 sixty foot and early shut off 4.29/235. So finals time and it was the first and second qualifers paired up for another great race at Malmö Raceway. The Lindberg Firebird was last into stage and it was the '63 Vette which got the advantage when the lights came down. 0.997 sixty foot for the Pontiac to another great 0.970 from Mikael. Johan used up brother Jonnie's tune up and reeled in the '63 Corvette with a awesome 3.95/301 to a lose out 4.01/279. The win margin for Johan over the Lindahl brothers was just 0.001 now that is close racing (Eight centimetres - Ed). Teams which didn't get in the show on Sunday got an option to test also. Roger Johansson new nitrous Pro Mod Mustang was carrying the front wheels well past the sixty foot clocks. The Mustang recorded 0.95 and 0.96 sixty foot times, with a different tune up Roger recorded 4.11 but judging by the reaction of the crew it will not be long before we see that car in the threes. Niclas Anderson came back out for a test session and it was excellent. The Old 51 took the track record with a stunning 3.90/303. Hot on the tail of the Olds 51 was Pierre Rydberg who got the '57 to an awesome 3.91 time. Pontus Liberg's blown small block Camaro also improved to a fantastic 4.04/286. There were many PBs at this event in different categories as well as track records and European records. For example Anders Edh and his multi stage nitrous '70 Camaro runs in the Street 10.5 category and although weighing over 3000 lbs went 4.82/240. Any UK Doorslammmer running quicker than 8.50 on the quarter mile whether Super Pro, Street Eliminator, Super Mod or Pro Modified and interested in running a Top Doorslammer 201 metre eighth mile category in the UK, please E-Mail [email protected]. SCR Camaro progressing. 11th October: Martin writes that the Shakespeare County Camaro project continues to gather pace: The project faltered momentarily owing to a minor setback awaiting the delivery of the custom made Moser rear axle. This issue arose following confusion involving a third party, however, Steve at US Automotive stepped in and sorted the matter in true "Get stuck in" fashion and we are now back on track, with the 9" Ford/GM hybrid axle fitted to the car. It has also become apparent that we will need a 4" cowl induction hood, as the nice new shiny Edelbrock engine sits higher in the engine bay, owing to the taller manifold and carb set up, over the original TPI configuration. Andy Frost has already rebuilt and fitted the transmission with uprated internals and relocated the overdrive onto a separate switch, due to the vehicle being required to perform both Street and Strip duties in the further promotion of Shakespeare County Raceway Andy Frost must be commended for both his patience and expertise, with the project taking up valuable workshop space over the past few months and many unexpected custom fabrication jobs becoming apparent on the vehicle as the project progressed. One such example of Andy's work was the complete redesign and fabrication of the heater unit on the bulkhead, owing to the original unit fouling the headers, which would have simply melted or caught fire, had it not been for his attention to detail. During this time, Andy has still managed to find the time to both further develop and race Red Victor 3, becoming the world's fastest street-legal car and all at Shakey would like to take this opportunity to publicly congratulate him on his success. Once the axle was fitted, the torque arm, rear brakes, shocks and many other items were fitted. The next task is to adapt and modify the aftermarket exhaust and sub frame connectors in order to get these to fit properly as has so often been the case with most parts during the build! We can now see light at the end of the tunnel and very much look forward to the completion of the project. Web site updates. 11th October: The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr site with pictures of Saturday's action at the NSRA Hot Rod Drags at Shakespeare County Raceway. You can check out Mad's pictures at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman. MPM launch oil tool. 11th October: Richard Stevens of Eurodragster.com sponsor MPM Oil UK tells us that the MPM Product Recommendation Tool is now available on the Unipart L&M web site: This tool allows you to search for your vehicle/asset and ensure you are aware of what the manufacturer requirements are for a specific vehicle. We have approximately 1.9 million part numbers covered with OEM products, and have them available from one-litre small packaging to tanker pump in, and everything in between (4ltr, 5ltr, 20ltr, 60ltr, 205ltr, 1000ltr IBC etc). Oil and lubricants are no longer seen as consumables, but as specified part numbers that meet the requirements of the manufacturer's maintenance schedules, and are capable of ensuring that the vehicle/asset are being protected and maintained to the level to ensure the vehicle/asset performs as it was designed to. Our easy-to-use oil selector tool will help you gain a recommendation/requirement to meet your maintenance need. Visit www.unipartmarine.co.uk and click on the MPM Oil logo to access the product recommendation tool. You can also access the product recommendation tool directly through the MPM Oil site at www.mpmoil.co.uk. By using the search field or the drop down menus to find your vehicle application, you will find a detailed guide which shows which OEM product is required for each individual application. This does not just cover the engine oils, but also gearbox oil, ATFs etc and also shows manufacturer service intervals. The guide will also show alternatives that are also approved and fit for purpose as stipulated by the individual vehicle manufacturer. Always remember to check product recommendations against your vehicle manufacturer's specification requirements and service intervals appropriate to your application. Due to continual product research and development, the information contained on the web site is subject to change without notification. A date for Juniors' diaries. 9th October: Santa Pod Raceway and Eurodragster.com sponsor Alamo Rent A Car are delighted to announce a fun day for Junior drag racers whether on Junior Drag Bikes, in Junior Dragsters or in Junior Funny Cars, which will take place on Wednesday 21st August 2013. This exclusive day of on-track and off-track activities is especially for Junior racers, their crews, their families and the families of drag racing officials and track crews too. There will be special activities for those family members too young to race and something for the mums and dads too. All will be welcome to come and watch drag racing's stars of the future in action. Junior racers from all over Europe are also welcome. This day will be promoted through schools, Clubs and associations to increase awareness of our sport and to engage the next generation of Junior drag racers. Entry fees both on the gate and sign on will be complimentary courtesy of Santa Pod Raceway and Alamo Rent a Car. In the event of a rain-off, weather permitting the event will be completed on Thursday 22nd August. More information on this event will be announced early next year. In the meantime, any companies or individuals interested in supporting this special event are asked to contact Andy Wheeler at [email protected] or Caroline Day at [email protected]. ACAG seeking plating help. 9th October: The Allard Chrysler Action Group are urgently seeking a company interested in covering the chrome and nickel flash plating requirements on the Allard Chrysler Dragster. "The company needs to be UK-based for practical reasons", says ACAG Chair Brian Taylor. "If you have someone in mind then please let me know or please get them to contact me at [email protected] and I can arrange for them to view the items requiring treatment. "We are working on the car again on 21st October and will start the teardown for final paint and plating on 11th November." The latest issue of ACAG Update, containing thirty six pages, is now available at www.drceurope.co.uk/acag/oct2012 and via the Latest News link at www.allardchrysler.org. Web site updates. 9th October: The latest edition of the Speedgroup newsletter is now available and includes profiles of FIA European Top Fuel and Top Methanol Dragster Champions Risto Poutiainen and Manty Bugeja as well as Safety Group Sweden member Björn Eskelund, EDRS and Swedish Championship summaries, Eurodragster.com Editor's Diary and more. You can check it all out at club.speedgroup.eu. Editor's note Slight problem with the news update today as the news items forwarded to your News Editor's remote mailbox for today's update have yet to arrive. Therefore the next news update will, strictly, be today's news update but please keep the news coming to [email protected]. 2012 UK bike Champions. 8th October: Subject to final ratification congratulations to this year's UK Champions on two wheels: ACU Top Fuel Bike (decided at VP Racing Fuels National Finals): Ian King ACU Pro Stock Bike: Len Paget ACU Funny Bike: Maarten Zijlstra ACU Super Street Bike: Steve Venables ACU Comp Bike: Phil Leamon UK National 8.50 Bike: Mick Winyard UK National 9.50 Bike: Fred Furlong NAST Supertwin Gas: Joe Elliott NAST Supertwin ET: Pete Harrison Junior Drag Bike (decided at VP Racing Fuels National Finals): Louis Davies Congratulations to Len Paget, Steve Venables and Mick Winyard on successfully defending last year's Championships. Stay tuned for the final points standings which will be posted here shortly. Bike Weekend results. 8th October: Congratulations to the winners at the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway, the last round of the UK Championships: Pro Stock Bike: Mark Smith 8.2113/136.87 def. Len Paget 9.7334/85.38 Funny Bike: Gary Jones 7.2457/188.93 bye, Maarten Zijlstra no show Super Street Bike: Thomas Granica 7.6725/193.88 def. Graham Balchin 8.1994/156.85 DQ red Comp Bike: Nigel Barker 8.9082/164.31 bye, Lizz McCarthy shut off (fluid leak) 8.50 Bike: Jake Mechaell 8.8556/145.37 def. Phil Pratt 9.1489/147.12 9.50 Bike: Fred Furlong 9.9628/123.19 def. Alex Hope 9.8994/141.59 Supertwin Gas: Joe Elliott 9.2944/142.59 def. Dave Smart 9.5063/141.59 Supertwin ET: Pete Harrison (11.30) 11.4159/102.06 def. Tim Boutle (12.50) 12.3912/110.16 DQ b/o You can check out our Alamo Rent A Car-sponsored Extreme Performance Bike Weekend reports, results and galleries by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page and selecting the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend. Many thanks to Julian Hunt for the supply of photographs and to Martyn Greathead for the supply of Straightliners results. UK Championships Dinner Dance. 8th October: Bookings are now being taken for the eighth joint Avon Park International Racers Association / Santa Pod Racers Club Dinner Dance and Trophy Evening, which takes place at the St John's Hotel, Solihull, Birmingham at 6:00 pm on Saturday 9th February 2013. You can find the hotel's web site at www.principal-hayley.com/venues-and-hotels/the-st-johns-hotel. The arrangements are as follow: Pre-dinner drinks will be available in the bar from 5:30 pm. Proceedings will start prompt at 6:00 pm with the trophy presentations to the 2012 Santa Pod Racers Club and APIRA Champions and runners-up. For this reason it is important that everyone is in their seats in the function room at 6:00 pm as the presentation will not be held up for latecomers. If you miss your presentation then we will not be going back! Dinner will be served at 7:00 pm. ©Eurodragster.com After dinner, the 2012 UK National Champions and runners-up will be presented with their trophies, then the top three in the MSA Championship, followed by the 2012 APIRA and SPRC Perpetual Award winners. Tickets to the Dinner Dance are £30 per adult and £15 for under-twelves which includes three-course meal plus coffee and mints. Please make it clear on the form if booking tickets for under-twelves and specify a child's meal. An additional £1 per ticket should be added if paying by credit card. Verbal bookings will not be accepted: bookings will not be confirmed until a completed form is received by SPRC. The Clubs have negotiated a preferential rate for hotel rooms in the St John's Hotel. These are priced at £75 per room across the board, including breakfast on Sunday morning. To book your room, please call Principal Hayley Reservations on 0844 824 6171 quoting the hotel (St John's Solihull) and Santa Pod 9th February. You can download the booking form (Word format) from the Entry Forms page of the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. Please note that booking forms should be sent to Yvonne Tramm at the address specified on the form and not to the SPRC address. If you have any queries then please contact SPRC on 01933 313625 or E-Mail [email protected], or Shakespeare County Raceway on 01789 720180 or E-Mail [email protected]. 2011 Perpetual Award winners please note that trophies should be be returned to SPRC or APIRA as soon as possible. To make arrangements for trophy return please contact SPRC, APIRA or Shakespeare County Raceway as appropriate. SPRC notice to racers. 5th October: Yvonne Tramm of Santa Pod Racers Club has been in touch with two important notices to racers: A Tech Committee meeting has been arranged for 8:00 pm next Thursday, 11th October, in the Danziger Room of the Holiday Inn, Borehamwood (map). The meeting will discuss changes to the rule book for both cars and bikes. If you have any items which you would like to put on the agenda for the Tech Committee meeting then please E-Mail Yvonne at [email protected] by next Tuesday (9th) at the latest. The current holders of SPRC Perpetual Trophies - Stacey Reed, Andy Frost, Peter Walters, Alan Young, Wayne Saunders, Tom Atkinson and Darren Prentice - are asked to arrange their return to SPRC so that they can be readied for the next presentation in February. Please return trophies as soon as possible to Ian Marshall, SPRC, PO Box 12, Rushden, Northants, NN10 0ZU. MDRA celebrates with Fuel finale. 4th October: Malta Drag Racing Association Secretary Jason Camilleri is "Happy, happy, happy" to announce that Hal Far Raceway will be echoing to the cackle of nitromethane at its last event of the season on 23rd-25th November: We will be welcoming two Top Fuel Dragsters, driven by Malta's uniquely-licensed Duncun Micallef and 2012 FIA European Championship runner-up Jari Halinen. But that's not all: we will also welcome multiple European Top Fuel Bike Champion Ian King to this grand finale! This will be the only place in Europe to run Top Fuellers at this time of year, as we are still in t shirts and shorts as we speak! Once again the track will be prepped to the highest level by our track expert Lee Child, who has big plans for this particular event. He said "The track was sticky enough last event, well, you should wait and see what it's going to be like at the final event "! MDRA will confirm more names and teams from different categories over the following days, so stay tuned. We decided to end a successful season in this way to celebrate the first ever FIA Top Methanol Dragster Championship win and runner-up in Maltese drag racing history. To celebrate this we are offering any teams interested in testing or racing their vehicles at this  event to contact us at [email protected]. We will not charge a penny to anyone interested in joining us. Space is limited so get your E-Mails coming to take part at this year's final event on the 'Small island with a big heart'! Cannon confirms Valdosta date. 4th October: UK Supertwin racer Chris Hannam and Team Cannon Motorsports are pleased to announce that they will be taking their unique DOHC blown nitro Harley to the Manufacturers Cup at Valdosta, Georgia in November: This trip is the culmination of years of hard work getting the bike to a level at which we feel comfortable to ship the bike to compete on US soil. The bike and rider have made some major improvements throughout this year with some record setting eighth-mile times (for us), so I have decided to make the massive personal investment to ship the whole operation Stateside to continue to build on our seasons work so far. Although we had a major setback at the European Finals where the clutch exploded the results inspired us to make new parts for the trip so a new clutch and blower drive are now in the final stages of machining. The bike is at Al Smith's fabrication shop for all-new stainless exhaust pipes and clutch guards etc in readiness for the full team to reassemble the bike and put it in a crate to fly. The bike will be taken to Air Sea Logistics next Monday from where it will be flown out to Tampa, Florida. Once customs cleared the bike will be collected and taken to Jay Regan's MRE in Safety Harbour where the bike will be based while we are Stateside. Whilst there we have the use of all the facilities of the MRE workshop and will travel to the track in their big red trailer which we will have the privilege of pitting on the midway. Having all these facilities on hand really makes the whole trip possible as without them your back is really up against the wall. We hope to travel up to the track on Wednesday 7th November (My birthday, nice - Ed) in readiness to test on the Thursday to try to dial in the new clutch and fuel system. The whole ethos of this trip is to have fun and try and put that magic six-second run back on the boards whilst racing in front of whole new audience. Also the thought of racing in November, when the bike would otherwise be parked up until at least April keeps us busy as there is no off season. If all goes well then we may go back out in early February to test at Bradenton before attending the season opener Manufacturs Cup race next year. This however is subject to funds and not breaking too many parts! To make this trip happen I have a lot of people to thank as without these guys this simply would not happen: Team Cannon: Neil Midgley, Al Smith and Mike Vickers, who all keep this bike running and without you guys I would not even want to go racing, period! Murdoch Racing Enterprises: Again with my longtime friend Jay Regan stepping in and offering me the use of all his facilities just makes this big trip that much easier and without it I just could not do it. Lucas Oils: For their great product and continued support. Cannon Engineering: For superb precision machined parts and making all this happen. Hawaya Racing: Johnny has been a great supplier of specialist race parts for our unique bike and is always there with great advice and help. Larry and Steve McBride: For help and advice trackside. Airsea Logistics: For getting us the best deal to fly the bike out. This really is shaping up to be a fantastic event with no less than five other European teams attending, so it will be almost like racing at home. I personally can't wait to race at Valdosta and hopefully put on a good show. See you at the track! We are pleased to confirm that Eurodragster.com US Correspondent Ed O'Connell will be attending the Manufacturers Cup Finals; Ed plans to send us reports, notes and pictures from Valdosta throughout the event. VWDRC 25th Anniversary Champions. 4th October: Who'd have thought that it would finish the same way it started, writes Volkswagen Drag Racing Club Chair Luke Stevenson: We went into the National Finals with both Championships going down to the wire and still in contention up until the rain again curtailed the event. One of the highlights of the weekend was the great sportsmanship from Matt Atwood. After fellow VW Pro racer Russ Fellows snapped a driveshaft in his opening qualifier, as Matt had qualified with his first run, he offered Russ his driveshaft for the rest of the day to enable him to get in the show and go for that magic eight. Congratulations to our 2012 Champions James Hodson (VW Pro) and Dean Clatworthy (VW Sportsman). Congratulations also to every racer who made it to the strip in 2012 and we look forward to seeing you in 2013 at the UK March Meet hosted by the VWDRC. It has felt like such a short season but when we have raced the Club has put on a great display with numbers up at all events even with the poor economic climate and weather. Already the Club has welcomed some new members for the 2013 season and we will be at Santa Pod in a few weeks' time for the GTI Festival with a number of cCub cars (some with a score to settle). We will be putting on display runs and a bracket shootout, and we will be answering any questions from potential new members. If you fancy taking up drag racing in your VW or any VAG-based car come and say Hi. Finally the VWDRC AGM and Trophy Presentation on Sunday 9th December is open to all racers new and old, Club members and non-members. The AGM starts at noon and takes place at Jurys Inn, Midsummer Boulevard, Milton Keynes, MK9 2HP. Ouch, ouch and ouch. 4th October: UK Funny Bike racer Bob Brooks has been in touch to explain the Yellow Metal team's sporadic and short appearances during the last couple of years: The team finished 2010 on a high culminating in a 7.20/189 at the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend. Over the winter I made loads of changes ready for Easter 2011. Made one easy half pass then on the second pass it broke the crank clean through the centre. I then spent several months attempting a repair (making jigs and a new centre section) but messed it up on the press at the last operation. So, I then set about pressing it apart again when a packing piece exploded embedding bits into my jaw (Ow - Ed). The crank bounced across the floor rendering it useless. Only one option left, order a new crank. So, my new crank appeared from Puma and I rebuilt the engine with a new fuel system and another load of mods including a change from aluminium rods to custom-made forged steel rods. Oh, and I made a new lightweight head with better porting. Hardwelded and reground the rockers. Made a new sump etc... all the normal sort of stuff. We arrived at this year's SPRC Summernationals full of enthusiasm and optimism. First run was a half pass on conservative settings and we had a PB sixty foot of 1.11. Went out for the second qualifier to do a three-quarter pass but alas it popped a rod out at 3.6 seconds, still netting a PB eighth of 4.60 seconds, so not all bad. On stripping the motor I found the other three rods bent all over the place. It would seem that my custom rods were junk. Never mind, onwards and forwards. Burt Hopkinson made me a new set of his excellent ally rods. I fitted new liners and pistons in the block and repaired all the other damage done by the flailing rod. All ready for the National Finals and then the air brakes failed on the race truck. No matter, nothing the cheque book and a couple of late evenings wouldn't cure. First qualifier was a half pass and back to the pits. Everything looked perfect and all sorts of niggling problems had now been sorted. Second pass it was set up very conservative with taller gearing. Shifted at 8500 rpm rather than our normal 10500 rpm to give everything an easier time. Netted a 7.80/179, not too bad. But it torched the head right at the gantry. It's melted the head, liner and block and hot metal sprayed the entire back half of the bike. On investigation it looks as though I've chosen the wrong material for the cylinder head skulls. Back in the workshop over the winter and I'll do whatever is necessary to get out for Easter 2013. I'm now searching for a newer milling machine to replace my rather tired old turret mill. It should cut machining time in half and certainly cut down frustration levels! Finally, thanks to my crew - Stig, Rachel, Chris, Matt and Victoria - for their unwavering support. It's been a bit of a trial the last couple of years. Thanks also to Ian and Gerard (Puma), Burt Hopkinson (rods), Pete Davies (always there for advice), and all the Santa Pod staff for providing an excellent track and being such a courteous friendly bunch. I feel safe (almost) in their hands. Thanks again and see you all in 2013 at Easter. Swift snippets. 4th October: Congratulations to 2012 Swedish Champions Johan Lindberg (Pro Mod), Per Erik Lindgren (Comp Eliminator), Ulf Edwardsson (Stock/Super Stock) and Amanda Sjöström-Andersson (Junior Dragster). Lena Perés writes: "Last weekend's Swedish Finals at Tierp Arena was a bit wet. Unfortunately only two classes were able to run a single session, Junior Dragster and Super Comp, then the rain started to pour. So the points standings didn't change from before the event. Johan got his first Swedish Championship, Amanda her second as she won last year, Ulf Edwardsson got his second the first being in 2009, and Perka got his fourth! He's a hard one to beat." Alison Hackney has asked us to say a big Thank you to everyone who bought a badge and donated to Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research at the VP Racing Fuels National Finals. "In total I collected £207.21 which has been passed on to the charity", says Alison. Thanks everyone and well done Alison. Les Downey of Eurodragster.com sponsor Lucas Oil Products tells us that Lucas now have the world's fastest synthetic oil as their Racing Only 20W-50 was used by the Speed Demon team whose streamliner recently clocked an average speed of 439.024 mph over the mile at Bonneville and became the fastest piston-motored vehicle in history. Well done guys and a big thumbs-up to Lucas Oil. As Bob Frey is wont to say, Did You Know that Eurodragster.com's Alamo Rent A Car-sponsored coverage of European Championship events in 2012 attracted 407,923 visitors who requested 2,205,369 page views and generated 24,394,088 hits? At the request of racers wanting statistics to put before sponsors and/or potential sponsors we have compiled a table of access stats for this season's European Championship coverage, which you can check out by clicking here. We will compile a similar table for coverage of UK events when the season ends. King's triple crown. 4th October: The Gulf Oil – Grand Prix Originals Top Fuel Bike team ended a memorable season with a further two Championship titles following their 2012 European Championship crown, again at their home track of Santa Pod Raceway, UK. Having led the ACU UK Top Fuel Bike Championship points table from the season-opening Easter Thunderball meeting, team rider Ian King was informed of his second title before a wheel had turned after a number of riders cancelled their entry following the recent European Championship Finals. To complete the hattrick of 2012 Championships for the team, this final event cemented number one spot in the Santa Pod Racers Club Top Fuel Bike Championship. The event turned out to be a useful end of season test session when unencumbered by the need to focus on winning the event they tried a new set-up which culminated in season best short times, and carded what would have been a number one qualifying time of 6.15/227.04 on what was a cold and tricky track surface. The event was eventually rained out on the Sunday. "Once again I'd like to thank my talented and hard working operational team of Debbie, Gerard, Marius, Martin, Michael and Nick for once again proving their class in securing these Championships", said a weary but happy Ian King. "We are immensely proud to be a part of the success of Gulf Oil and Grand Prix Originals and our blue chip product sponsors who have come together once again to make this a supreme team effort. Thank you all!" The team is extremely proud to be supported by many leaders in their chosen markets in their successful challenges for the 2012 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 Bell Helmets - The ultimate iconic helmet brand 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 Hyperpro - The leading producer of progressive suspension products for motor bikes JE Pistons - The world's premier manufacturer of high performance forged pistons Kent Cams - Specialists in motor sport camshaft manufacture, short runs and one-offs Kibblewhite Precision Machining, Inc -The highest quality valve train components on the market King Racing - The most successful Top Fuel Bike team in European drag racing history Mickey Thompson Tyres - Simply the best drag race tyres in the world MRE - Leaders in trackside support for drag race components and air shifting systems MTC Engineering - Manufacturer of clutches for the fastest motorcycles in the world NitroShutter - Europe's leading drag racing photo-journalists NCT Engineering - Manufacturer of the world's leading non contact torque sensors for motorsport NGK Spark Plugs UK - The world's number one spark plug manufacturer Pär Willen - Master webmeister and proprietor of HarleyDrags.com Portable Shade - The best custom branded collapsible canopies available Pro Alloy Motorsport - UK's leader in fabrication of alloy racing tanks, intercoolers and radiators Puma Engineering - Manufacturers of the world's most powerful motorcycle engines RSG Customize - The UK's most creative website designers and vinyl artists Vanson Leathers - The most iconic brand in motorsport leather goods Worldwide Bearings - The world's leading supplier of ceramic bearings for racing Zodiac - Europe's largest supplier of performance and aftermarket HD parts For more information on King Racing, visit www.kingracing.com. The Juniors' Finals. 4th October: Via Lizz McCarthy, to whom many thanks, the UK's Junior Drag Bike racers have been in touch with their reviews of the VP Racing Fuels National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway. Each racer's name is accompanied by next year's race number. Louis Davies (1): I knew I had to do well this weekend to keep hold of the Championship so all my fingers were crossed... here goes! Saturday in the first qualifying session we dialed in a 10.55 and I ran a 10.66 which put me second qualifier after Scott. In the second qualifier we put a higher dial-in of 10.61 and this time I broke out and ran a 10.54 oops! In the third qualifier we put the dial-in down to 10.53 and I ran 10.61. Seems I was getting it all the wrong way round, big oops. This made me fourth qualifier. On Sunday my first elimination round was against Jordon Bissell. We dialed in 10.53 just to be on the safe side, because the fastest I had run was 10.54 the day before, and I ran a 10.64. Thankfully I got through, beating Jordon. The second elimination round was going to be against Jake Charman, this was going to be tough as Jake had been on form all weekend so far, getting nearest to his ET and as far as I know best reaction too. Unfortunately we never got to find out, as the rain started at around 12.30 pm and never stopped sothe meeting got called. So I had finished the Championship and won it, JBM1 for me next year! I would like to thank Mum, Dad and Grandad, everyone at Shakey and the Pod for letting us race at their tracks, all the photographers for great pics, and all the other Juniors as without all of us there would be no Championship to run in. Also to Jerry and Sharron Collier for making it all possible as without them none of us would be here. Oh and good luck Brett for the Supertwins next year. Roll on 2013! Brett Cordelle (2, moving to Supertwin ET): A great last meeting. The lads and I had such a good Saturday night. I got through the first round. I came third in the APIRA Championship, fourth in the SPRC Championship, and second in the overall Championship. Conor Meehan (3): Arrived late on Friday night and settled in ready for the weekend. On Saturday morning I got signed on and then rode my bike down to be scrutineered. I then headed back and waited for qualifying to start. I did quite well in qualifying and put in some good reactions and times  and I eventually ended up third qualifier. The next day was race day, and was overcast. It wasn't long before we were called down my first race was against Jasmine Cordelle. Wendy dialled me in at 10.73. I normally do a burnout to put heat in my tyre, however due to a crew error I wasn't put in to the water properly so I didn't manage to do the burnout properly. I settled in for the race, Jasmine set off first and I was chasing. However I had the most shocking reaction and broke out trying to catch Jasmine. I ended up running 10.70 which is a real shame as I had been reacting very well in qualifying. Jasmine won the race and I was knocked out in the first round. Unfortunately the rest of the Juniors didn't get to round two as the bad weather came in. It has been a turbulent season to say the least with all the bad weather we've had. However I ended up third in the Championship improving by three places on last season which I am very happy about, I would like to thank my sponsor Wendy Clutterbuck and Tim of Tim Blakemore Racing for everything they have done for me. Also my other sponsor Rock Oil and not forgetting my Mum. Jake Charman (4): After some very good runs at Shakey last meeting I was keen to see what I could do at Pod. I arrived at the track and everything was ready to go! Thanks to Dad, Brendan, Gipp, Nige and special thanks to Lizz for taking time off work to come and pick me up! Before we raced we were all given purple and black ribbons to put on our wheelie bars for Martin Bishop and his family who lost their granddaughter in a tragic accident last Monday. All in Junior Drag Bike and the Nitrous Junkie team are thinking about them at this most difficult time. We decided to start with our last dial–in of 10.10 and I ran a 9.92/66 prompting us to change the dial to a 9.90 for the next run. Back to the pits normal maintenance done, back out for Q2. Next run I ran a 9.99/66 bumping me up to number two qualifier and taking a shot at the Perfect Light Award with a 0.002 Reaction Time (the best reaction for the class as far as I know!). Q3, no changes to speak of, 9.92/66 bumping me up again to top qualifier! Sunday morning and a bye in the first round. I kept my dial in the same after Saturday's success and ran 9.93/66. Unfortunately we began to get spits of rain which soon turned into buckets and the meeting was called making every official meeting of Junior Drag Bike rained off this year! As always thanks to my sponsors 'Uncle' Steve Wood at Motorshack and Alan Young at RCP Training - hope to see you both next year! Also thanks once again to Dad, Lizz, and Chris for crewing on the line and to Donna, Gipp and Nige for support in the pits. Now I just have to wait for next year... Scott Collier (5): Well the National Finals, the final race meeting of the year. After getting my bike back from being rewired we had no idea what to dial in for the first qualifier, so we just guessed at an 8.80. The bike launched well and hit the wheelie bars, I went through with a 8.854 handing me the number one qualifying slot. For the second qualifying run we decided to leave the dial-in exactly the same, the bike gripped and bogged slightly but still ran through with a 8.77 leaving me in the number one place. For the third and final qualifier we decided to drop my dial in to an 8.75, but this time the bike bogged and went through with a 8.90. At the end of qualifying I ended up number two just behind Jake Charman (well done to Jake for qualifying number one!). This meant I had to face off with Brett Cordelle in the first round. So it was our turn to race, but unfortunately as I was rolling up to the staging beams Ian Marshall spotted that my bike was dripping oil so I was shut down on the line leaving Brett to a solo pass. So that was the end of my weekend and my Championship hopes for this season. Well done to Louis Davis for coming number one in the Championship and also to Brett Cordelle who came second in his final season. See you all next season and good luck to Brett in Supertwins. Thanks to Mum, Dad and Skye, and my sponsors. Jordon Bissell (6): The weekend went great. I ran my Personal Best at 8.1, which was a great run. Unfortunately I wasn't as good as usual on my dial-ins. It was such a great weekend everyone had great runs, and even good weather on the Saturday. The weather changed on the Sunday and was not kind though, but oh well. A wicked weekend overall, and very well done to Lou for winning the Championship. Looking forward to next season! Thanks to all that supported me especially Mum, Stuart and Glyn. Jasmine Cordelle (7): I got through round one and I did well in qualifying, but wish it hadn't rained so much this season. Alfie Udall (8): Had a great time this weekend pretty much got the hang of the clutch and I had a great time. Looking forward to next season. Charlotte aka Charley Hales (11): This was my first ACU meeting and I was very excited. I've raced the quarter mile at North Weald in nineteen seconds at 62 mph and two Run What You Brungs at Santa Pod for my observed runs in 11.6 seconds at 55mph so I was looking for some good times. My first run was beside Jasmine at 13 seconds and 49 mph. I was a little disappointed. Run number two, again next to Jasmine, was the same so my Dad had parts off and back on the bike. Run number three was beside Brett and the same thing happened... 13 seconds. I knew I could do better as my reaction times are between 0.1 and 0.3 seconds, so I thought the bike was playing up. Dad had it apart again, but then after asking around the pits discovered that the well-prepared track was slowing many of the Juniors down. We pumped up the tyres to reduce drag for eliminations and I felt for a non sticky part of the start line. I was up against Alfie, the previous owner of my bike, which felt strange. Unfortunately, the back wheel spun and the bike went a little sideways, thus ending my first ever ACU meeting. Thanks to Dad and Mum for all their hard work. See Temair for super lube. 4th October: Eurodragster.com sponsor Temair Motor Sport is offering a great new product: DAYLube NanoCeramic Racing Grease. DAYLube NanoCeramic Racing Grease is a highly stable lubricant which delivers unmatched performance, durability and wear resistance. NanoCeramic particles, the key component, act as submicroscopic ball bearings which have an attraction to steel providing continuous lubrication at the surface. These submicroscopic balls are fabricated over a calcium sulphonate thickener and offer a lower Coefficient of Friction at all temperatures. For more information about DAYLube and other great products check out www.temairmotorsport.com. Web site updates. 4th October: Our good buddy, photographer Julian Hunt has updated his web site with pictures from July's Dragstalgia at Santa Pod Raceway. Check out Julian's pictures at www.julianhunt.net and you'll believe a blown-alcohol altered can fly. UK Championship outcomes II. 3rd October: The UK Championship drag racing season reaches its final full event at the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway this Saturday and Sunday, and the focus is on the bike classes. Simon has done his sums and penned us an analysis of the possible outcomes in the ACU UK Drag Bike and UK National Drag Racing Championships: ACU Top Fuel Bike was decided at the recent VP Racing Fuels National Finals and congratulations go to Ian King for his second ACU title (see tomorrow's news update - Ed) and also on his second double title having won the 2012 UEM European Top Fuel Bike Championship. Holland's Maarten Zijlstra leads the ACU Funny Bike standings with a win at the SPRC Summernationals making the difference over Dave Peters who is on the same points total. However Maarten is not on the entry list, and in his absence Dave will only have to sign on to win his first Championship in the class. Nick Daniels is in third and he would need to set records to have a chance of advancing, something tough to achieve at this late point in the year. In ACU Pro Stock Bike, Len Paget is in good shape to win his third, and second back-to-back, Championship. With a lead of 290 points over second-placed Kev Charman, Len just needs to sign on for the event as there are only 290 non-record points remaining and Len has the advantage of winning the SPRC Summernationals, the only completed ACU Championship event this year. ACU Super Street Bike has been highly entertaining as usual with the quickest run in the class ever and a new speed record at the National Finals. A fifteen-bike field means there are a total of 600 non-record points after signing on. There are three in the running for the Championship: four-time ACU Champion Steve Venables in the lead and 200 points ahead of team mate Graham Balchin, who is yet to win a Championship. Graham is a further 370 points ahead of Chris 'Boisie' Reed who will have to win the event and rely on Graham to go out in round one and qualify poorly to gain second place. ACU Comp Bike has its biggest field all year with nine entries and a total of 440 non-record points after signing on. Harold Wolfenden is leading with a slim margin of only 20 points over Phil Leamon, who is a further 70 points ahead of Phil Crossley. This looks like being the closest Championship fight of all and any of these three contenders could win. The UK National 8.50 Bike title is almost sewn up. 2011 champion Mick Winyard is 630 points ahead of second placed Robert Field and there are 770 points available (excluding the 50 point bonus for running an exact 8.500). Mick, who was victor at the SPRC Summernationals, can win by qualifying and going one round. Martin Wilson is 80 points further back and Phil Bloomfield 70 points behind Martin, and with thirteen bikes entered any of these could get runner-up spot. In UK National 9.50 Bike, the father and son rivalry of Fred and Paul Furlong has been a feature of the season and two-time Champion and Eurodragster.com sponsor Fred is 510 points ahead of Paul. Fred looks good for his third Championship with 750 points available, unless he goes out in the first round and Paul wins the event. The National Association of Supertwins has an eight-round championship and competitors have to drop their worst round. After the National Finals in Supertwin Gas, Joe Elliot has a healthy lead over Chris Mott, and in Supertwin ET Tim Boutle has a much slimmer lead over Pete Harrison. To round off the bike classes, Junior Drag Bike completed their Championship at the National Finals and congratulations to Louis Davies, 2012 Junior Drag Bike Champion. Bike Weekend coverage. 3rd October: Eurodragster.com will be reporting live from this weekend's Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car. Our coverage will consist of the usual frequently-updated reports and results of the on-track action together with a photo gallery at the end of each day. Our good buddy Julian Hunt will again be providing photographs so thanks to him. Unfortunately there will be no pit notes this weekend as Simon cannot attend. The Webster Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcam will be on-line so long as the track is open each day and will broadcast live video, commentary and timing data overlays. Thanks to Maikel and 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 Extreme Performance Bike Weekend event index, which includes final 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 and selecting the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend. Editor's note: As mentioned yesterday your News Editor's day job has been mad busy so far this week so no lunch break to code updates. We're on the case of coding up the backlog right now so be sure to check back for a nice long update tomorrow. Please also keep the news coming to [email protected]. Drachten Finals cancelled. 2nd October: Jeroen Dondorp of The Netherlands' eXplosion Drag Racing Club tells us that this weekend's Drachten Finals, due to take place at Drachten Airfield between Friday and Sunday, has been cancelled. Jeroen explains that too many racers had not paid their entry fee therefore the organisers and eXplosion had to cancel. Swift snippets. 2nd October: We have two birthdays for you today. First up, a very Happy Birthday to Aila Striem of Speedgroup, and a very Happy 50th Birthday to our good buddy Naughty Nigel Fitzmaurice of Nitro FM. Have a very Happy Birthday both. Bike Weekend Perfect Awards. 1st October: This weekend's Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway is the final event in the 2012 Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards scheme. £125 is on offer for perfect performance. Racers please note that decals are mandatory for both Perfect Awards. This weekend's Eurodragster.com / ModUrStang Perfect Light Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by Junior Dragster racer Joe Kellett at the VP Racing Fuels National Finals. 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 all to racers in all classes including Straightliners during qualifying and eliminations, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect Light of the event. The Perfect Light Award is presented in association with vehicle modification specialist ModUrStang. For more details about the services which ModUrStang can provide see Mike Lacey in the Pro ET pits at any race or visit www.modurstang.co.uk. This weekend's Eurodragster.com / Gold RV Perfect ET Award has been increased to £75 after it went unclaimed at the VP Racing Fuels National Finals. The money will be awarded to the first racer this weekend to run to the thousandth on their dial-in or index during qualifying or eliminations. The Perfect ET Award is available this weekend in 8.50 Bike, 9.50 Bike, Supertwin ET and Straightliners 9.1, 10.1 and 11.1, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect Run of the event. 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 visit www.goldrv.co.uk. To be eligible to collect either Perfect Award, racers are required to carry decals, one on each side of the vehicle. If you pull this weekend's first Perfect Light or 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 Light or Perfect ET will get the money assuming that they are carrying decals. ModUrStang and Gold RV decals are available in Signing On. Web site updates. 1st October: Paul Lister has updated his Dragcaranon web site at www.dragcaranon.co.uk with pictures from the Saturday of last weekend's VP Racing Fuels National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway. Earlier news