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	*Support from Supercharged Images.* 31st March: Following last week's story about our buddy Sharkman's off season activities we are pleased to announce that Supercharged Images are the latest business to partner Eurodragster.com. Some of the people involved in the Supercharged Images project include the directors of Manumit Computers, whom some may remember were one of the very first sponsors of a very young Eurodragster.com. "We were pleased with the coverage Eurodragster.com gave us in the past and feel that this is the obvious place to advertise a brand new picture, print and image service for drag racing in general", says Stephen Talbot. "We hope Eurodragster readers will find our web site a useful and exciting resource for all of their image and picture needs." "Having worked with Tog and the guys for eight years I know just how much time and effort it takes to keep Eurodragster.com as the pinnacle of drag racing web sites and just how many people read the site each day", adds Sharkman. "For us this is the perfect way to get Supercharged Images in front of a lot of people that the site will appeal to and at the same time support what has rapidly become one of the very cornerstones of European drag racing." ©Eurodragster.com For those of you who experienced problems with the site last week, Sharkman and the team send their apologies. "Typical isn't it?", says Sharkman. "You spend two years working on your new project and on its first run in anger it goes and chucks a rod! After trying numerous fixes, including thrashing the server with a tree branch and swearing loudly at it, things got serious and I had to threaten to withhold the tech guys' caffeine until they fixed it. Thankfully this dire threat galvanised them into action and after a couple of days of testing we are happy that the site is now running on all eight cylinders again. Thanks for all the E-Mails and suggestions regarding the problem and for your understanding while we got it sorted." You can check out the Supercharged Images library and order your prints at www.superchargedimages.com or click on the logo at left. *White out then whiteout.* 31st March: Much missed from last weekend's Auto Trader Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway was Ray White's Lethal Z 2 blown-alcohol Zephyr Pro Mod. Ray has been in touch to let us know that after various tribulations last season he has decided to sit out 2008. "After all the work with the new body over the winter I am still hurting over 2007", Ray told Eurodragster.com. "We spent over £30,000 for the season not make a full pass. On an up note we did get the computer to work at the European Finals but it was too late, we had already hurt the motor. ©Eurodragster.com "I have decided to sit out 2008 out. Running a Pro Mod car with no sponsorship except for my own electrical company is hard work, so I am going to have a year to recoup and come out for 2009 ready to rock. This will give me a chance to do all the little jobs which I have not been able to do, and to give the truck and trailer a bit of a spruce up. I am looking to repaint the truck and trailer so if there is anybody out there in Eurodragsterland who is a commercial painter, I am not looking for a freebie but I'd rather give my money to a drag racer so please get in touch. "You'll still see me at the track being a pest in Danny Cockerill's pit. Good luck to every racer in 2008, let's hope it only gets better, and a big thanks to all the die-hard spectators who stayed for the Monday: drag racing needs you. Lethal Z 2 will see you in 2009 stronger and faster." Another Bad Habit. 31st March: Another racer has broken cover as the subject of one of our spy pictures. The middle picture of three spy shots which we posted on 18th March turns out to be the newly refettled and renamed Dodge Challenger belonging to the UK's Tig and Cath Napier. "We have got lots of new shiny chrome bits to go with the shiny new paint, and a new carpet", say Cath and Tig. "The paint was done by Dave Potts Customs at Sacriston. We cannot praise Dave highly enough: he has made new panels, repaired others, and made engine bars too. The doors probably hang better than when she left the factory, and the bodywork is exceptionally straight. "Once the motor is back in, we'll be taking her down to OJZ Engineering to have a set of custom stainless steel headers made, thanks to Pro ET 587 Chris Hodgkins for the recommendation. ©Eurodragster.com "In the midst of getting the car repainted we decided to give the car a name and quite liked the thought of Bad Habit. We had Robin read's phone number from Cath's days as Pennine Drag Racing Club secretary. After speaking with Robin, he was quite happy for us to use it and, thoroughly nice chap that he is, was indeed pleased that the name would continue in drag racing. Robin said that it had always been a lucky name for him, and hoped it would bring us luck too. He also explained that it was under similar circumstances that he had also acquired the name. Many thanks to Robin and Ella for allowing us to use the name." *Erbacher Racing press release.* 31st March: Reigning FIA Top Fuel Champion and Eurodragster.com News sponsor Urs Erbacher of Switzerland became the first European Top Fuel driver in three decades to record an elimination-round victory at a National Hot Rod Association event Sunday at Houston Raceway Park. Erbacher upset top qualifier Alan Bradshaw in the opening session of the 21st annual O'Reilly Spring NHRA Nationals when Bradshaw fouled out at the starting line. The last European driver to record an elimination-round win in NHRA competition was England's Clive Skelton in 1978. "We came over here to test and prepare for the defence of our FIA title", Erbacher said, "but I think we're proving a little more now. The car is still in need of more work and testing but we are very pleased to get this round win today and to show our friends in Texas some good European-style drag racing. "This crew has worked very hard for me. Besides our Crew Chief Wayne Dupuy and his assistant Jeff Twitchell, who are from America, the crew is all Swiss, German, English, and Italian. They are very dedicated and I'm pleased we can celebrate this day." Erbacher was flying the colors of Century Asphalt at this event. The locally-based company is owned and operated by the Angel Brothers, who also run Houston Raceway Park. "We've had a great time with this team," said track general manager and partner Seth Angel. "Urs Erbacher is a very engaging guy and our customers and guests have really enjoyed his hospitality. It was neat to see him win a round and be a little part of drag racing history." Erbacher had a spirited run against Doug Kalitta in the quarter finals but Kalitta pulled away at the top end to win with a 4.635 at 311.13 mph to Erbacher's 4.785 at 309.70 mph. "There are many multi-million dollar teams that were not qualified to race today so the fact we even made the show at this level of competition was good," Erbacher said. "The round win was a bonus and now we will go to Las Vegas and try to win the entire event." The ninth annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway takes place from April 10-13. It will be Erbacher's last event in the USA before his equipment is shipped back to Europe for the 2008 FIA season. ©Eurodragster.com *Andréasson stays on.* 31st March: Swedish Top Methanol FC racer Leif Andréasson also gave a good account of himself in the first round of eliminations losing by a mere 0.0082 seconds in a race against Mike Ferro which he led for the most part. "We had a new set of cylinder heads and new transmision settings and made the field as eleventh qualifier running 5.75" says Anders Magnusson. "If the weather stays decent we are planing to make test runs today and possibly tomorrow. Our next race is at Las Vegas in two weeks." You can read more about both Leif's and Urs' weekends at www.dragracecentral.com. ©Eurodragster.com *Swift snippets.* 31st March: Tesuto, a Peak Performance event due to take place on Friday 4th April has been opened up to also allow a limited number of non-Japanese vehicles to test, writes Rick Cuthbert. Rules, regulations and prices are identical to any other Peak Performance Day, but advance spaces are available to book by telephone until Wednesday. Tesuto is a great place to test on a fully prepared track, but with none of the waiting around you'd have at a race meeting or RWYB. Snow is not forecast. Please call 01234 782828 to make your booking, or visit www.rwyb.co.uk/performance.php for more information on prices and what the days involve. ©Eurodragster.com *Web site updates.* 31st March: Peter has provided us with a gallery of shots from the weekend's Straightliners event at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out Peter's pictures, which are presented in association with American Car Imports, by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Our good friend Alan Currans has been in touch with news of another update to his excellent Acceleration Archive. "The Readers' Galleries are one of my favourite sections of the site and I am very pleased to say they are very well supported", says Alan. "Page 23 has now been added which features the work of Richard Paulus, Benoit Pigeon, Dave Hatfield and Keith Mitchell. There is a very interesting selection of pictures of cars and bikes from the 1970s which include shots taken in the UK, Holland and France". Check it out at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. ©Eurodragster.com Eurodragster.com Home and News and Perfect Light Award sponsor, hose and fitting manufacturer Speedflow have just issued their March 2008 newsletter which includes news of a new aluminium wrench, re-usable hose ends, and forthcoming oil coolers. You can check it out on the News page and get yourself on the mailing list on the Speedflow web site at www.speedflow.co.uk which also includes an extensive on-line shop. In the latest entry in his exclusive Racer Blog, Dutch Top Fuel Dragster racer Lex Joon recounts the MPM Oil-sponsored team's weekend at the Auto Trader Easter Thunderball. You can read Lex's Blog by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. *Tethys goes far.* 30th March: UK Sportsman ET racer Tethys says that his Auto Trader Easter Thunderball weekend went better than he expected: After procrastinating for several years, I'd finally got off my backside, and got my Capri into a suitable state to be raced. A lack of funds meant that I couldn't afford to compete in Super Pro ET or Super Comp again this year, so the idea was simply to have some relatively low budget fun in my own car in Sportsman ET. Of course, it wasn't all plain sailing, and my plans to test the car at the Peak Performance Day were thrown out of the window by the need to replace a broken gearbox. Indeed, by the time Easter rolled around, the car was on its second engine and third gearbox in a handful of weeks. For its first time out, my aim for the weekend was simply to get the car through scrutineering, and to get it from one end of the track to the other. In the process of achieving the second of those goals, I was somewhat surprised to find myself in the #1 spot at the end of the first round of qualifying. It wasn't to last though, and with some teething troubles making the car run slower and slower on each run, I ended up in seventh place at the end of the day. Then, of course, the weather spoiled things a bit for the next couple of days. ©Eurodragster.com I would have been happy enough to end the meeting there, as I'd already accomplished what I set out to do. But come Monday, all thoughts of ending the weekend early were pushed aside, and I made it through to the final, where I was beaten by Geoff Cowley. Not too shabby for a first outing with the car! Of course, there are various people I need to thank. I couldn't have done it without my crew Robin Tregaskis and Ferret. Thanks also to all at Paul Marston Racing, with whom I gained an invaluable amount of experience of racing which I'd never have been able to get with my own car. The Santa Pod track crew also deserve a mention for their tireless efforts to get the track ready despite the unfavourable conditions. Particular mention should be made of the fact that while I was waiting to run in the final, an oildown meant a significant clean-up was needed. But despite the limited number of classes left to run (I think there were only five more runs to go to complete the meeting), the track was still cleaned and prepped exactly the same as it would have been in the middle of the day. Thanks are also due to Gary Springford of Drag Race Engineering, without whom the car would never have been ready in time for the meeting. Roll on the next round... *The tall man fits!* 30th March: Carbon By Design Fuel team owner Knut Söderquist tells us that his Red Line Oil-backed Funny Car is now ready to be put together for the 2008 season. "All of the changes have been made to the chassis, and the rollcage has been heightened as Håkan Fällström is a big guy. The new design on the car (by Chris Parker, right, click on picture for large version) is great and the design is the same on the team clothing. ©Eurodragster.com "The only problem we have now is the hassle with the safety belts. I have bought all new safty belts for my cars but I cannot use any off them after the FIA rules regarding safety belts came out earlier this week. They are totally different to what they are doing in the USA. I don't now why some technically-minded person can't go over to the USA and look for example at the Winternationals to see what they are doing as we have blindly followed the Americans for years. That is only one thing, there is also the issue with chromoly tubing which we have to follow. It is a very brittle material and gets worse when welded. But we have to use it or the car won't pass tech. I'm not qualified to go into details on specs or which type of tubing is the best, I leave that to the experts. What I am saying is that we need mechanically minded people and racers to help out the administrators to look at the safest way to build a car and which equipment to use, we can't complain about how bad it can be with tolerances and other things and then blindly follow on most things." Editor's note: If any of our race vehicle-building readers would like to respond to the above then please drop us a line at [email protected]. *Mortsport sign Firecrest.* 30th March: The UK's Mortsport Racing are pleased to welcome Firecrest Services Ltd as a sponsor on Jon Morton's Championship-winning Super Gas/Super Comp '69 Camaro. ©Eurodragster.com Eddie and Sue Forsyth established Firecrest in 2003 and have quickly become leaders in fixed and portable fire protection and detection systems. At the core of the company is a commitment to exceptional techical knowledge and customer service. They have established a repution for a high level of technical skill along with a proven track record of outstanding service to customers. Through partnership agreements with suppliers they ensure a standard of equipment specifically engineered to cover a wide range of applications for the numerous organizations they service. Customers include those in central and local goverment, the commercial sector, small business, schools, hospitals, hotels and the leisure industry. For more information check out www.firecrestservices.co.uk or call 01491 832810. *Swift snippets.* 30th March: Many thanks to Paul Spiers, Phil Crossley, Job Heezen, Jamie Dodd, Aaron Prince, Shaun Ward and Dave Day for sending photographs for our Auto Trader Easter Thunderball snow gallery. You can see their shots, plus a few more of Kirstie's and Tog's shots, by clicking here. ©Eurodragster.com What do you do when it has been snowing, the racing has been called off, and you have not seen the track for two days? The UK's Quantum Leap Super Pro ET team have the answer: invent a new class. The inaugural European Balloon Dragster Championships took place in the pits at Santa Pod last weekend (Adele Woodbridge and Ady Goodier pictured). "Unfortunately it turned into the Sixty Foot Club rather too soon", writes Eurodragster.com Balloon Race Reporter Kirstie. "Loss of traction or more track time needed? Sadly no incrementals were available at the time for Andy Marrs to study. Watch this space for more Balloon Drag Racing updates in the near future." *More badges surface.* 30th March: Kirstie heard from a couple of readers following her news item Collectors' Corner on 17th March about UK drag racing badges. Drag racing enthusiast Martin Wilson got in touch with me after reading our news item about old drag racing badges. He has very kindly sent me some items which Eurodragster.com readers might be interested to see. "I can remember buying the Santa Pod badge from a stall at Long Marston, don’t remember the year but it was a bike only meet though Roz Prior was doing some demo runs in a Funny Car", said Martin. "Ton Pels and Stefan Reisten were there, Ton with his double Triumph and Stefan with his Yamaha Top Fuel bike which blew me away! I reckon the badge is probably from the 1970s although could be slightly earlier. The Snap On Top Fuel dragster badge I bought in Doug Herbert's pit at Gainesville quite a while ago. "As for the metal plates, Santa Pod always seemed to do these in the early 1990s then suddenly stopped making them. I did have about six but believe it or not my Cocker Spaniel got them off the fridge door and chewed most of them! ©Eurodragster.com "Drag racing has been a great passion of mine for many years now, I keep up to date with everything happening in the drag racing world by visiting Eurodragster.com every day and NHRA.com. My interest in drag racing began when I was eight years old. In 1965 my mum and dad took my brother and I to South Marston near Swindon for the Vickers Supermarine Gala day where part of the entertainment included drag racing on the runway, well that was it I was well and truly hooked. I can remember visiting Wroughton airfield and Long Marston for some of the earliest meetings to be held, 1973 I think Long Marston was and I remember having a really enjoyable day, including the ride there and home on my new Yamaha CS5E 200cc bike. "There are plenty of memorable drag racing moments for me. Sammy Miller was in the fire-up road at Santa Pod with Vanishing Point and my mate was drinking home brew straight from the bottle. Sammy came over and said "What are you drinking?". My mate said "Try some" and Sammy drank a bit from a bottle top and said "Jeeeez I could run the car on this stuff!" Secondly Toby Read got in touch to say he had memories of seeing both a Panic! and Readspeed badge in years gone by. Ten than ten days later I returned from the Easter Thunderball to find an E-Mail with a picture of a Readspeed badge which Toby has kindly taken. Thank you to both Martin and Toby for getting in touch and going to such lengths to provide information. Again if any of our readers can help with any further information or wish to share their memorabilia by sending in a photo, please contact me at [email protected]. *Zodiac deliver the goodies.* 29th March: Having supplied the G-Squared S&S sixty-degree sub seven-second power-plant for current EuroSeries Top Gas Champion and prospective FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike contender Gert-Jan Laseur, Zodiac yesterday delivered the Kosman rolling chassis to go with it (click on picture for large version). "The next eight weeks will probably be frantic for the Laseur Racing Team", says Vincent Pels. "They have to assemble the complete bike including the installation of the MSD ignition, S&S Variable Fuel Injection and Racepak data acquisition system, which were also supplied by Zodiac International BV. "The Zodiac Racing Shop would like to wish Gert-Jan and his crew luck and every success for the 2008 season. "Next to our own products Zodiac Racing can supply racers brands like G² (exclusive distributor for Europe), S&S Race Products (exclusive distributor for Europe), McClure's Master Performance Racing, ARP, JE, Racepak, Kinsler, Gates, PM and much much more. Check out our race catalogue at www.zodiac.nl/en/catalog/zodiacracing_shop.html For any racing needs, please contact us at [email protected]. ©Eurodragster.com You can track the progress of the Zodiac Racing SuperTwin Top Fuel team at www.zodiacracing.com. The Zodiac SuperTwin Top Fuel drag racing team is proudly sponsored by Zodiac International BV, Supertrapp Exhaust Systems, ACCEL Motorcycle Products and Spectro Oils of America. The Zodiac SuperTwin Top Fuel drag racing team is proud to use products from Zodiac International BV, Supertrapp Exhaust Systems, ACCEL Motorcycle Products, Spectro Oils of America, Performance Machine Disk Brakes and Wheels, Kibblewhite Precision Machining, Midwest Acorn Nut Company, Goodridge Fluid Transfer Systems and Gates Belt Drive Systems." *Lisa takes the new seat.* 29th March: The Netherlands' Lisa Selles is the new driver of the Junior Dragster formerly driven by Eurodragster.com News sponsor Peter Walters. After starting her career as the youngest Crew Chief in Europe (and the only Crew Chief in Europe with their own Fan Club - Ed) at the age of nine looking after her sister Jessica Selles, Lisa now takes the driver's seat of one of the finest Junior Dragsters in Europe. "All of this is made possible by our main sponsor, but more importantly our good friend, Derek Flynn of Gold RV", says Henriette Selles. "We brought the Junior Dragster back to the Netherlands after the 'Easter Snowball' (click on picture for large version), but after a Test and Tune at Luckau we will take it back to the UK for the FIA Main Event and the FIA European Finals. We are very happy with the fact that we can race the Junior Dragster in Holland again, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who made this possible." ©Eurodragster.com "Gold RV are proud to support another up and coming talent, Lisa Selles, with her new ride and wish her all the best for her driving début season especially now that Drachten will be up and running again", says Derek Flynn of Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Gold RV. "As people may know we have supported a number of up and coming racers and we are pleased to continue our support with Peter Walters in his new Super Pro ET rail as well as continuing our support of the Selles family after supporting sister Jessica. "I believe the plan is to have Jessica drive the Junior for a couple of check out passes at Luckau before the roles are reversed and the Crew Chief becomes driver and the driver becomes Crew Chief. I like supporting the youngsters: I think it is because I regret not getting in to drag racing much earlier in my life, also it is great to help a family that is and has been so dedicated to drag racing." *Swift snippets.* 29th March: We would like to wish a very Happy 50th Birthday to Dave Crunkhorn, aka Crunch. "At least his age is approaching what Crew-Chiefing for me for sixteen years has done to his looks", says UK Super Pro ET racer Martyn Jones. "Happy Birthday and thanks for everything". And so say all of us, have a great day Crunch and we need to know about the colour of your tongue tomorrow morning. Markus Münch tells us that Germany's only permanent drag strip, at Luckau eighty kilometres south of Berlin, is preparing to host its first Test and Tune of 2008 on 26th-27th April. "The track will be fully prepared - MSTO will be taking care of the drivers", says Markus. The MSTO web site at www.msto.org comes in both German and English and includes an entry form. "Maybe this will be of interest to racers in the south of Scandinavia too", adds Markus. ©Eurodragster.com For a moment on Thursday we thought that Eurodragster.com had been scooped by the Evening Standard with a salacious story about a UK Pro ET racer and the proprietor of a well-known Drag Racing School. Luckily we quickly noticed the direct article in the headline and realised that "PM" referred to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Having spent fifty pence, since there may still have been a story there, we discovered wall-to-wall coverage not of Heaven & Hell Racing but of a reasonably pretty but rather thin girl whose husband happens to be the President of France. But she is Italian... The promised gallery of shots of snow at Santa Pod Raceway last weekend will be posted tomorrow (Sunday). If you would like your own shots to be included then you still have time to get them to [email protected]. *I can speak English...* 29th March: Finnish Top Fuel Dragster racer Jari Halinen took his first event win in a Top Fueller when he beat Lex Joon in a close-fought Pro Fuel Shootout final at Santa Pod Raceway last wekeend. Tuner Eddie Corr gave us his perspective on what was a very difficult weekend for the Fuel racers: Thunderball? Snowball more like! Are you used to the nice crisp weather in the spring at Santa Pod? Like those photos of cars running under a low sun? Well so do I, but snowflakes? Surely not. Well the bad weather of this yea'rs Easter weekend is well documented by now, suffice to say it threw a new challenge to the Fuel cars, whether they were there to test or there to win! Bear in mind some NHRA teams won't run the cars if the track temperature is below a certain threshold, and we were below that! Two of the Fuel cars at the Thunderball actually chose not to run at all, probably wisely! Being the first outing the year for the Mad Bombers, there were a lot of factors to contend with including using a borrowed trailer not our own, one new crew member, a change of driver, through certainly not a new driver as Jari did licence last year and did Hockenheim as well. And we did adopt a new strategy for running the car. All things considered we were certainly there to test not to race, so it was a very nice surprise to get a win. First run was a planned sixty foot. We saw Torstein going about two hundred feet with the car very low on power, so we confirmed to run to two hundred feet only. Jari actually drove to about two hundred and fifty feet, and at the point of lifting he experienced some tyre shake. That was a nice smooth run, if not the fastest. The cold affected not only the traction but was also playing havoc with even simple things that we take for granted, making all the Fuel cars very difficult to start for instance. For the second run we planned a half pass but Jari shut off early at 3.1 seconds, hence he ran a 3.52 eighth at 197 mph. The run was problem-free with no tyre shake, so although the conditions were still very tricky, we were getting there on the tune-up. Even after that first run I was happy, after all we'd got out there on the track (well done and a big thanks to the Santa Pod track crew), we'd got all the car prep done, and Jari gained his first taste of the car for the year, not to mention a service for the crew. To get another run, and to get down a very difficult track, we were having the icing as well as the cake! So we were in the final, and had to change the flights for the crew in order to stay and make the run. Little did we know that the best was yet to come though! Our strategy for the weekend was 'no pedalling'. I had conducted all the driver briefing and debriefings in English with Simo helping to translate. He only needed to translate some of it, as Jari does seem to understand a lot of English and even my accent. However the gentle giant heard and understood even more than I thought. In one briefing I explained to Simo the type of pedal that would be needed if tyre shake was encountered in such poor traction, and that only an experienced driver could deliver it. I explained that this was something for later in the year after further training and runs and briefing for Jari, etc blah blah. I said all this to Simo, but Jari was listening. Well, fair play to the man. I always say a good driver will do what he wants when he gets to eliminations, it's the nature of the beast, the hunger! An engineer can only hope their advice is taken on for when things do go wrong. Well Jari did both, he did listen to me, and he pedalled to try to win. And win he did, managing to run a 4.0 after losing traction at a hundred feet. So I was impressed with Jari! As the engineer I wanted the car to go down the track again like it did in Q2, but I was worried that with any further de-tuning it wouldn't have even started. And it almost didn't, but thanks to my starter man Henkka, a little alcohol trick got the hemi into life (every day's a school day). And maybe the racing got to me as well, I knew I should have detuned it, but looking back I'm glad I didn't detune it because, as it turned out; what a driving lesson for Jari, and what an outcome! Was Jari just lucky? Were we just lucky? Perhaps, but the weekend just felt good for us. It proved that everything we did last year was right because we didn't change all that much of it for Easter, but yet everything clicked for us. So if it that's luck, fine, we'll take it, what a great start for our year. Long may it continue and we shall see if we get any more of it at the Main Event in May. Keeping some perspective, we know full well what the Easter race means in the context of the FIA Championship, ie not much, and we know the big guns will all come out at the Main Event. But we are handling our own gun a little better now too, so roll on 2008! The team also wishes to thank Harry Räikkönen for the extra help with car; the Santa Pod crew for creating a race from nothing; Bob Inglis for helping us with a trailer and even putting up the awning on Friday in the high wind; Geof Hauser, Ron Picardo and John Spuffard for the help with our tool wagons; and Rune Fjeld. Last but not least Eurodragster.com, for the help with locating us the trailer. ©Eurodragster.com *Ice Road Pro Mod.* 29th March: Like everybody else, UK Pro Mod racer Wayne Nicholson endured the weather at Santa Pod Raceway last weekend, getting blown about in the pits, being kept awake at night, being blown about in the motorhome and convinced the awning would be torn down. Wayne had the added attraction of a blow-out on his motorshome on the way to the track, but he stuck it out and got to make his first Pro Mod passes: Our one and only qualifying run was one to remember, not because of the ET or the speed or a wild ride: we actually did the right thing by playing it safe and getting to the other end of the track fairly straight. The bizarre thing was to see big snowflakes falling on the windscreen as I crossed the finish line! Now, I remember busting to run an eight in our last race car and being overjoyed when we did. I had just run our first ever qualifier in Pro Mod, and run 8.1 at 167 in the snow! I have been watching Ice Road Truckers on TV and have been thinking how crazy they are, and we were trying to qualify in the snow, needless to say the rest of the class had to wait until conditions improved. Anyway back to the pits and our weigh-in. We were unedrweight! I had added weight to the car over the winter and weighed the car, no problem, ten pounds overweight. So I was really surprised to find we were twenty pounds under at the track, so that meant that our one and only qualifier in Ice Road Trucking conditions was disqualified. I had extra weight with me and added it for a very welcome practice run at the end of the first eliminations round. ©Eurodragster.com Of course what I should have done is checked the car on the official scales at the track, as others do. Lesson learnt . Disappointed? No not really, you have to be realistic don't you: we came home in one piece, having learned a bit more and gained some more useful information. Now I realise why some of the PM guys aren't shy about eating the odd pie - they can afford to add a bit of weight (only joking, don't get upset). You never know, Pukka Pies might even want to sponsor the class? Congratulations to Andy Robinson on the win, and a huge Thank You to the Santa Pod crew for working your nuts off to get the track as good as you did in Arctic conditions. We are still looking forward to our next outing. *A baptism by ice.* 29th March: UK Comp Bike racer Phil Crossley planned his competitive début at last week's Auto Trader Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway after completing his licencing. Apart from two half-passes at a Run What You Brung, Phil's bike had never been ridden before, nor had Phil been down Santa Pod's famous quarter mile: Having spent the last eight months building a drag bike from parts bought via Eurodragster.com's Swap Meet, and harassing everyone involved with drag racing who has an E-Mail address for information, I finally had a bike that was ready to race. My hope was to enter the first ACU competition of 2008 and this Easter weekend was supposed to be my first drag race meeting. So there we were at the Easter Thunderball hoping to license and qualify. Arriving late Thursday evening we spent a stormy night in our trailer tent in the pits, listening to the sound of people's awnings being destroyed and flapping wildly in the wind, expecting us to be next on the list. However, morning arrived and we were still in one piece. The weather was looking good too but the wind was still strong and coming at a clean ninety degrees across the drag strip. I got myself signed on and the bike scrutineered. This was quite a relief as I have spent hours reading the ACU rule book and modifying the bike to ensure that it met with regulations. Due to the strong wind it was decided that the bikes would only run over the eighth-mile, which was fine by me as I only need to run to three hundred and thirty feet for my first licensing run. However as the morning progressed so did the wind speed and the bikes were told they would not be running that day. Saturday started out wet and windy and continued to be windy whilst rain showers were frequent enough to prevent the track drying out. So once again racing was cancelled for the day. That evening the winds finally died down a little but come Sunday morning there was a new weather-spawned anti-race demon: two inches of snow. After digging my crew out of their tents in the family camping field and making the obligatory snowman/woman, complete with windswept combover, we spent the day watching the events in the Live Action Arena and eating lots of toast. ©Eurodragster.com Luckily Monday arrived and with it a slightly nicer type of weather, although still mighty cold. I had realised that all the race schedules were now going to be out of the window and that the racing would take a reduced timetable. Concerned that I would not get to do any license runs I went to catch up with Darren Prentice the Race Director. Despite the very tight schedule he very kindly agreed that seeing as we had stuck the weekend out we could tag along at the back of the Competition Bike class and try to at least get my licence. The three licensing tasks are a burnout then a launch to 330 feet, then an eighth-mile pass, and finally a full quarter-mile pass. Mid-morning we got our first chance. On a solo run I proved I was awake with a 0.1 reaction time and the bike left reasonably well but pulling to the left a little. 1.5 seconds to sixty feet and 4.4 seconds to 330 feet times don't mean a great deal at the moment but I was happy with the way the bike felt and everything seemed to work as it should. I even seem to have overcome the urge to let the throttle off to change gear, which was the biggest problem I had the last time I rode it. The next run was late in the afternoon, we had made some adjustments to the steering so we were hoping the bike would run straight. I did a much better burnout this time, letting the tyre spin for longer and giving it more revs that before. I don't know what happened on the startline though but I have a feeling I was caught with the revs off the two-step, and when the lights dropped I went to set off, realised I needed more revs, pulled the clutch slightly and set of again. The result was still a good reaction with a 0.07 but a poor sixty foot time of 1.9 seconds. The rest of the run went well, the bike going nice and straight, and I didn't shut off until a little after the eighth as planned. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time to do any more runs. Priority had to be given to the classes that still had finals or even semis to run. Thanks go to Darren for even letting me run at all. My final licencing pass will just have to wait till the next event, the Springspeed Festival at Shakespeare County Raceway. At the next event I want to get a few benchmark times from the bike before adding any nitrous. Then we can work at adding a bit at a time until we are either happy with the times or are worried about it exploding. Should be fun! As a bonus we were still around at 7:00 pm and were able see four Fuel cars and the jet car running in complete darkness. Which, as always, was completely awesome. The flames from the Jet were just hot enough to be felt from the other side of the track. Thanks go to Sam, Sam, Stuart, Johan and Ahmet for coming along and helping out. *Web site updates.* 29th March: The Super Pro ET Challenge Germany web site is still growing, as is the class. Markus Münch tells us that the site at www.suproet.com includes news of 2008 participants including 2006-7 Street Eliminator Germany racer Guido Uhlir with his rebuilt Opel Manta. ©Eurodragster.com Eurodragster.com Photo Editor Roger Gorringe has at last updated his Nitro Exposure wen site with photographs from the Auto Trader Easter Thunderball. "I have been busy all week writing and sending out race reports as well as sorting photos to go with the them", says Roger. "It was only yesterday, after getting everyone else sorted, that I have managed to do my own web site updates. There was a small problem as I tried to upload but web designer Nigel Holland has cured the malady and it's now up and running". You can check out Roger's shots at www.nitroexposure.co.uk. *FIA rules updated.* 28th March: FIA Drag Racing Commission member Lars Pettersson has sent us a Technical Bulletin, to take effect on 1st April, detailing changes and corrections to the existing 2008 FIA rules for Top Fuel, Funny Car, Top Methanol Funny Car and Pro Stock plus General Regulations. ©Eurodragster.com Click here to read the Technical Bulletin (PDF format). *First-footing with Job Heezen.* 28th March: With the early date of Easter this year, preparing for the Auto Trader Easter Thunderball was a race against time for new Supertwin racer Job Heezen: The first race of the season is always the worst as you have to do everything together. The bike has to be ready to race but also the motorhome and the trailer and all the equipment must be fixed. There is no need to tell you that this takes even more time when the bike is new to you. But we made it to the Pod in time and we were ready to fire up on Friday. Well, as we all know now, the weather wasn't even good enough to set up the tent so the bike stayed inside and we prayed for the heating to hold for a few more days. Thanks to the unbelievable effort of the crew at Santa Pod we were able to make our first run on Monday. To be honest the conditions were not ideal for a first time out. As everybody knows an extremely cold track can be very tricky and taking into account that the cold and humid atmosphere give extra horsepower, the conditions are not really what you hope for when you're out there for the first time. ©Eurodragster.com Luckily enough I was supported by a very experienced duo, Ton Pels and Roel Koedam, and I also knew that the crew at the Pod are capable of preparing a good track even in these conditions. As a racer we are very dependent on the work of these guys and the fact that I had no problem leaving at full throttle shows how much confidence I had. I didn't know what to expect from my first run. I had my doubts about the burnout as this is sometimes more tricky than the run itself. The burnout went pretty well although I hit the brakes way too late and landed somewhere around half track. I also forgot to tell my crew member Bart Salentijn that he should be quick with the push back as a Fuel bike burns more fuel than an old Lancaster. I was lucky that Ian Marshall allowed Roel Koedam to help Bart to push, and yes I will keep my feet on the pegs next time. The run was a great experience, the bike felt strong and stable. Looking back at my former bikes (Supertwin Top Gas bikes ) it feels like you have got off a speedboat and are now sailing a supertanker, heavy and strong, heading in one direction and not planning to change its mind unless you make quick and forceful corrections. Somehow this worked fine with me on this first run and the split times were not too bad : sixty feet in 1.16 and the eighth mile in 4.49/159 mph. Unfortunately my welder must have had a terrible off-day when he welded my new aluminum intake manifolds as the welds of both the front and rear cylinder broke, leaving the bike with no throttle response after half track. If they had stayed in place it might have been a nice and solid six second run. But maybe it is better this way. We'll be back to give it another try! *Erbacher Racing press release.* 28th March: Reigning FIA Top Fuel Dragster Champion and Eurodragster.com News sponsor Urs Erbacher will make the trek from his native Switzerland to Houston Raceway Park this weekend to challenge for the title of the twenty first annual O'Reilly Spring NHRA Nationals. He also had big plans to participate in a local rodeo competition while he was in the Lone Star State. A custom motorcycle builder on the level of Jesse James at West Coast Choppers and the Teutul family at Orange County Choppers, Erbacher is a four-time European drag racing champion who is looking to make his mark in the United States. "We're excited to come to the legendary state of Texas," Erbacher said. "The 2008 FIA season starts soon at Santa Pod Raceway in England and we want to be up to full speed by the time our circuit begins. It's very important to us to defend our title. "This will be our fifth NHRA race and we're improving each time. The racing here is incredible. Every team must be taken very seriously. I'm confident this experience has strengthened our crew and our entire operation." Led by crew chief Wayne Dupuy of Jacksboro, Texas, Erbacher's Fat Attack race team will carry title sponsorship from Baytown-based Century Asphalt at this event. Century Asphalt is one of the numerous construction companies of the Angel brothers, who also own and operate Houston Raceway Park. The entire team prepped for the race with some genuine rodeo action at the fourth annual Darrell Russell Memorial Invitational in Hockley, Texas. Russell was a local drag racer who lost his life in a high speed drag racing accident in St. Louis in 2004. The rodeo is held prior to the Houston race each year in Russell's honor. "Wayne was Darrell's Crew Chief so this rodeo is very important to him," Erbacher said. "My guys are from Germany, Italy, and Switzerland so rodeo is new to us but we're going to try to win the top prize for Wayne. Hopefully, the horses and cows are nice to us while we are there." Erbacher also held a meet and greet with fans on Wednesday at the San Jacinto Mall in Baytown as part of the second annual Hot Rod Rally, presented by the City of Baytown Chamber of Commerce and Houston Raceway Park. The event was highlighted by a special demonstration when Erbacher fired up his 8,000-horsepower dragster. Several other drivers and cars were also on hand. "We look to have a big time in Texas and also win some trophies," Erbacher said. "It is a very exciting weekend ahead for all of us." You will be able to stay in touch with Urs' progress in Houston this weekend as well as that of Swedish Top Methanol Funny Car racer Leif Andréasson on the Drag Race Central web site at www.dragracecentral.com and the NHRA web site at www.nhra.com. ©Eurodragster.com *Swift snippets.* 28th March: Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall has been in touch to remind racers that next Friday (4th April) is the official closing date for Big Bang, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 26th-27th April and which is a Championship round for all VWDRC classes, Super Modified, Sportsman ET, Junior Dragster, 9.50 Bike, B&H Automotive Street Eliminator and Outlaw Anglia. You can download entry forms from the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. Paula still cannot access the web or her E-Mail so if you have any queries then please call her on 01933 313625 (outside the UK (+44 1933 313625). Many thanks to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe for forwarding us the official Timing Data from last weekend's Auto Trader Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway. You can view last weekend's timing data by clicking here or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. ©Eurodragster.com Just to prove that, despite assumptions to the contrary, we don't know or notice everything, a look through the Easter Thunderball timing data confirms that VW Sportsman racer David Bridge is the first winner of the Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET Award. David clocked 13.7503 on a 13.75 dial-in during Monday's eliminations in losing to Adrian Wigley. The Perfect ET Award runs to three decimal places so David scooped the money. Congratulations David, a cheque for £50 is winging its way to you. UK Junior Dragster racer Zak Johnson and dad Rick have been in touch to say a big well done and thank you to Santa Pod for pulling off and completing the Auto Trader Easter Thunderball in what must have been the worst weather for quite a while. "Thanks to Eurodragster.com the ones who bottled it and didn't brave the elements (Sarah and baby Chevy) were kept fully informed", they say. "Thanks to your good selves (Thank you, you're welcome - Ed). Well done to Rhiannon Bellenie, qualifying second and getting in to the semis, really nice to see a newcomer doing well. Rhiannon knocked Zak out in the second round after we dialed in 9.50 and ran a 9.4993 - that's racing. Here's looking forward to the Big Bang, hopefully the white stuff won't put in an appearance!" Eurodragster.com reader Andrew Murton has been in touch to make us aware of a safety recall notice for Fram HP4 and HP8 oil filters. Andrew only found out about this recall after his own oil filter seal blew at full pressure dumping oil under his tyres and onto the underside of his car. Andrew tells us that the HP4 is popular on Big Block Chevy engines. The recall concerns Fran HP4 and HP8 filters with date codes between 61451 and 72571, and you can find out more at www.fram.com/recall. On a visit to the pit of Wayne Nicholson’s gorgeous Lucky Devil '63 Vette Pro Mod on Good Friday, Wayne, Brian Whitfield and Darren West of Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Power Race Graphics were reflecting over some of the old days at Pennine Dragway. "It was quite inspiring and got me thinking about doing some retro T-Shirts with period logos from back in the day", says Darren. "To do so, I need some original Superpower USA and G-Force stickers for the artwork. If any Eurodragster.com readers have any of these items, I’d love to hear from you and we’ll work out a deal which could possibly involve a trade for some design work". If you can help then please call Darren on 01305 766732 or E-Mail [email protected]. *The best-ever drag racing trivia?* 28th March: A few days ago we received an interesting question from Paul Somerville of Chris Johnson's Super Comp team. Obviously with a lot of time on their hands at the weekend Paul and Chris found themselves wondering in which class the driver or rider's body gets to sixty feet first. Your News Editor and timing expert Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe took up the challenge and here are our thoughts. The immediate reaction to this question would be "Top Fuel Dragster" and understandably so given their performance from a standstill. But then we estimated that a Top Fuel Dragster driver's feet are some seventeen feet back from the front of the car. A Fuel Funny Car runs slightly slower to sixty feet but then is a much shorter vehicle so the relative difference in driver location could make up for the difference in sixty foot time. But then we thought "Hang on though, a Top Fuel Bike rider is almost at the front of his vehicle so maybe the difference in their sixty foot time is offset by their hands being right at the front of the bike". At this point Tog got in touch with UK Fuel Funny Car racer John Spuffard and UK Top Fuel Bike racer Steve Woollatt, both of whom willingly got out the tape measures for us, and both of whom kept their opinions to themselves on the nerd quotient of what we were doing. The answer came back from Spuff that his feet are ten feet from the front of the Showtime FC and from Steve Woollatt that his hands on the handlebars are twenty three and a half inches from what he estimated was the sixty foot trigger point of The Dealer. Tog handed the numbers to Andy who then did some number crunching. ©Eurodragster.com Andy went through the best sixty foot times for the last five years, which were as follow: Top Fuel Dragster: 0.826 seconds, Tommy Möller, 2005 FIA European Finals Fuel FC: 0.857 seconds, Gordon Smith, 2005 FIA Main Event Top Fuel Bike: 1.0089 seconds, Roel Koedam, 2007 FIA Main Event Supertwin: 1.001 seconds, Ronny Aasen, 2006 FIA European Finals 1.001 Relating the driver or rider location in or on the vehicle to the above figures in feet per second gives the following times for the driver or rider's body to get to sixty feet: Fuel Funny Car 0.9999 seconds Supertwin 1.0344 seconds Top Fuel Bike 1.0425 seconds Top Fuel Dragster 1.0600 seconds So there's your answer Paul. Big thanks to John Spuffard and Steve Woollatt for their help, and if any Top Fuel Dragster racer out there would like to give us an accurate measurement from the front of their front wheels to their feet so that we can refine the figures, then please get in touch with us at [email protected]. *International HoF 2008.* 28th March: Eurodragster.com Photo Editor and British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Board of Selectors member Roger Gorringe was a guest at the eighteenth annual Banquet and Induction Ceremony for the 2008 International Drag Racing Hall of Fame held in Gainesville, Florida on 13th March, at the beginning of the NHRA Gatornationals. The latest inductions into this prestigious fold were: Canadian fuel and alcohol racer and legendary Crew Chief for Kenny Bernstein, Dale Armstrong; Chevy motor devotee Top Gas and Top Fuel racer, the late Jim Bucher; one of the famed voices of drag racing, announcer Jon 'Thunderlungs' Lundberg; driver, innovator, billet cylinder head manufacturer and long term Super Crew Chief Ken Veney; long-time writer, photographer and now motorsports advertising agency owner Dave Wallace Jr; and Veteran race team The Frantic Four made up of Norm Weekly, Ron Rivero, Jim Fox and Dennis Holding. ©Eurodragster.com Photo L to R (click for large version): Dale Armstrong, The Frantic Four, Dave Wallace Jr, Chairman of Board of Directors Don Garlits, Jon Lundberg, the late Jim Bucher's wife, Founders Award winner Jim McFarland and Ken Veney. Picture courtesy and ©Andy Willsheer *Web site updates.* 28th March: In the latest entry in his exclusive Racer Blog, UK Top Fuel Dragster racer in waiting and Eurodragster.com News sponsor Derek Flynn describes a frustrating weekend at Santa Pod Raceway waiting to make his first licencing passes. You can read Derek's Blog by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. ©Eurodragster.com Santa Pod Raceway's web site has been updated with Roger's report and pictures from last weekend's Auto Trader Easter Thunderball. You can check out the report and pictures at www.santapod.co.uk/e_easter.php. Also updated with an Auto Trader Easter Thunderball report and pictures is the official web site of the MSA British Drag Racing Championship. You can check out last weekend's Pro Mod action at www.msadragracing.co.uk/reports_round1_08.htm. Another Easter Thunderball update comes from Jamie Dyks whose pictures from Monday's eliminations you can find at topnitro.fotopic.net. UK photo-journalist Dick Parnham has updated his Fotopic gallery with shots from the 2007 UK National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway. Check out Dick's shots at dickparnham.fotopic.net. Brian Taylor has certainly been working overtime this month. Not only has he been researching his forthcoming book on the history of British drag racing, but he has also been heavily involved in the foundation of the Allard Chrysler Action Group aimed at restoring this historic car to cacklefest mode. If that were not enough, he has found the time to write a Blog covering each of these important topics. You can read all about both by selecting the What's New link on Alan Currans' excellent Acceleration Archive at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. Editor's note: The impending end of the Financial Year is getting in the way of today's news update and Simon is unable to step in to help out right now. This leaves us with a backlog of news which we shall publish tomorrow, and please keep those news items coming to [email protected]. *Not a fluke!* 27th March: The weekend's Auto Trader Easter Thunderball was an event of highs and lows for 2007 UK National Pro ET Champion Paul Baynton and the Capricious team. "The trip up was better than expected probably because people were not going away for the Bank Holiday due to the lousy weather forecast", says Paul. "Arriving at the track we found ourselves pitted once again with Neil Hunter and Gino Bernadine much to the amusement of Spencer Tramm. At least it meant the weekend would have the right level of pee-taking to make it enjoyable no matter what the weather. "Friday's qualifying didn't go as I'd hoped, breaking out on the first two runs. The third pass we played safe and ended up two tenths off, not good at all but good enough for fifteenth. Saturday and Sunday were unfortunately the lows with rain, snow, gales and power problems. Oh and bloody cold as well! Monday dawned bright and looked promising - well it did at 6:00 am! - then we had some snow again, or sleet as Mr Hunter told me (us Southerners called it snow). ©Eurodragster.com "When we did get to race I met Dave Nelson in the first round. As this was his first event in the car Dave was having some trans problems so we progressed to the second round to meet Ian Brown for the third time in four race meetings. Another close race (they always are with Ian) and I was through to meet John Atkinson. Somehow I won when John backed off too much. For the semi-final we lined up against Gino who pulled a red allowing me to advance to the final to meet Lee Huxley who had unfortunately put a stop to another all Capri Final, by taking out Neil Hunter. "Then it snowed again, or was it sleet? Anyway we waited in the hope that the final would happen. To my surprise it did at about 7:30 pm. Start line reactions were close, my 0.013 being beaten by Lee's 0.003. Unfortunately we misread the conditions and I failed to notice how far back Lee was and although slowing to 111 mph I broke out big time. Lee slowed when he couldn't catch me to be on the right side of his dial-in. Congratulations to Lee on his victory and I was pleased to prove that the number one was not a fluke. Well done once again to all the Santa Pod crew who as usual worked so hard to bring the event to a conclusion. "By the way have you noticed that three of the last four Pro ET finals have included a blue Capri (Yes - Ed)?" *One for the books.* 27th March: The Auto Trader Easter Thunderball at santa Pod Raceway turned out to be one for the record books, not because of performances but because of the freak weather writes Top Fuel Bike racer Ian Turburville: Team Turbo Ville turned up on Thursday in normal weather conditions, for the time of year, and proceeded to set up camp with our all new Custom Chrome truck and spacious awning. The stresses of working from the back of a small van all gone thank goodness! During the night the weather turned real nasty though and we were in for three days of violent winds and rain with bitter cold. Sunday night the winds finally subsided and we got some sleep at last. We awoke Sunday morning to the sight of two inches of snow! It kept falling and racing was called for the day although the event staff worked non stop to keep the track clear so that it could be prepped more quickly if the weather improved, a fantastic effort. Much tomfoolery ensued, snowmen of every shape were built and spontaneous snowball fights broke out everywhere. A lot of the bike classes just gave up and went home at this point but the Nitro bikes were made of sterner stuff and stayed their ground. We busied ourselves fitting snowchains to our enormous new slick delivered by Ton Pels of Zodiac. Crew Chief Steve DD Leedell scrounged up some extra ceramic heaters and a blanket so that we could get the bike warm enough to start without exploding. It worked a treat and soon the crowd were treated to the thunder of a big Harley and the smell of nitro! It sounded great after a long quiet winter. We spent a pleasant evening watching DVDs of our pal Tak Shigamatsu's 2007 season. ©Eurodragster.com Monday morning dawned dull and grey with small flurries of snow but the track was clear and the jets were putting heat into it. By 10:00 am we were in a go situation, suited and booted we got to the line anxious to get the first pass of the year in and check everything out. Steve Carey went first to see if his new chassis went straight but on the hit of the throttle he just went up in smoke straight away as if there was no traction, very worrying. We picked the other lane and chose our line carefully then did a nice big burnout to get the slick sticky. I staged carefully and turned on the high-side of the fuel, it was sounding good. On the green I just rolled the throttle on gently instead of snapping it and it worked! I left the line gracefully then, when it hit full throttle, picked the front wheel up and blasted the last part of the track at 181 mph arrow straight. Man it felt good and blew all my cobwebs out! I stopped the bike in the return road, disarmed it, and ran to the wall to watch my pal Job Heezen roaring towards me on his first ever nitro pass on the bike he bought from Ton Pels. Everyone was whooping and grinning at the end of their runs, well OK, Job was whooping on the inside being a 'laid back' sort of guy! Well done to the Santa Pod track crew for performing miracles! Unfortunately on checking the bike before our first elimination we found that we had burned a valve, not a big deal but it couldn't be fixed in time for our round so we were out. Job had suffered some damage too so was also out. My homeboy Rush was to do a licensing pass which went well with a stunning 1.07 sixty foot launch. That left the two supercharged Pumas to battle it out as usual for the honours of the day. Steve Woollatt won and set a Personal Best speed so congratulations to his team. The next round is at Shakespeare County Raceway on 3rd-5th May so we look forward to warmer conditions! Our 2008 key team members are Ian Turboville, Steve 'DD' Leedell, Ingrid and Martin, Adam Charnley. We are sponsored by Custom Chrome Europe, Red Line Oil, Gates Belts, Arias Pistons, Rush Racing UK, Sprint Dampers, Fast Lane Racing (Canada), King Racing, Innovate Dataloggers, Aasen Racing, Exhaust Gas Technologies, I&S Logistics, Deeside Automated Controls, and timtime.co.uk. *Swift snippets.* 27th March: UK Tech Inspector Geoff Martin has been in touch to inform racers that they should forget whatever they may have been told or heard about Hoosier tyres at the weekend. "So long as the tyres are in good condition they are OK", says Geoff. ©Eurodragster.com Entry is now open for the NDRG Springnats which takes place at Gardermoen on 10th-11th May. You can submit your entry at www.ndrg.no. *Hall of Fame joins Allard campaign.* 27th March: The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame in association with US Automotive have donated towards the restoration to working order of the Allard Chrysler Dragster announced here on Eurodragster.com on 18th March. "The Board of Selectors feel this is an very important drag racing vehicle which warrants the HoF's support, not only because the dragster is a significant icon from the very early days, but because Sydney Allard was one of our most important pioneers, and a member of the prestigious British Drag Racing Hall of Fame", says Stuart Bradbury. ©Eurodragster.com "The HoF would like to congratulate Brian Taylor on his tireless efforts persuading the Beaulieu Motor Museum to rebuild the dragster. Those of us who were not there on those historic occasions when it competed will now, thanks to Brian Taylor and Beaulieu, be able to capture some of the flavour and sound this beautiful old dragster injected into the veins of those people who took on the mantle of bringing drag racing to these shores." Announcing Supercharged Images. 27th March: Regular readers will remember that early in the 2007 season our good friend and ex-Eurodragster.com Photo Editor Sharkman became very poorly and has been missing from the track since then. The good news is that Sharkman popped up to the Easter Thunderball for a few hours to catch up with people, let us know how he is getting on and what he has been up to while he has been recovering. "Firstly I would like to say how great it was to see all my friends again" says Sharkman. "My old mates at Eurodragster, the track officials, commentators and racers all made me feel very welcome indeed and it has given me a big lift so thank you all. I am still at least a year away from making a full recovery but each day I get a little better and I am hopeful that I will be able to spend more time at the tracks as the season progresses." Sharkman also brought us up to speed on what he has been up to in his enforced break: overseeing the creation of a new service to the drag racing public. "Any readers Google-ing for drag racing at the weekend may have seen a new web site appearing for European Drag Racing Photographs. www.superchargedimages.com is a new, free to browse picture library of drag racing throughout Europe from the last four years. "I have been working with a team of techies (people who work in hex "Because it's easier", scary folks!) on the project for two years and we are all really pleased to be able to launch the first evolution of the site in time for the Auto Trader Easter Thunderball. "Every image is supplied by signed-on media photographers from events throughout Europe so they are all professional quality (nope, sadly no School of Excellence photos on there!). You will find most racers, professionals and sportsman represented on the site and we aim to cover every major event in Europe this year ,with pictures available with a few days of the event finishing. "Prints can be ordered directly from the web site using Credit Card or Paypal. They are available in various sizes including A4, A3 and A2. For the professional user we offer high resolution quality image files in a number of formats - again all ordered directly from the web site and delivered electronically to your PC. ©Eurodragster.com "I have every intention of being back at the track for most of this year so if you want to talk to me about this web site then please grab me when you see me, or if it's urgent E-Mail [email protected]." For those of you wondering about Top End Tales, Sharkman's personal web site, he informed us that he is currently unable to access the server on which it has been hosted for the last five years, but plans are underway to migrate the site to a new server and that if all goes according to plan it will be relaunched shortly and will most definitely still include the School of Excellence! *Web site updates.* 27th March: FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion and Eurodragser.com sponsor Urs Erbacher is to launch a Blog on the US' Competition Plus web site at www.competitionplus.com. We have a tranche of Auto Trader Easter Thunderball photo updates today. First to get in touch with us was our good friend Gwynn Clark who has posted Easter Thunderball pictures on his Fatboyslim site at www.pbase.com/slimboyfat/easter_thunderball_08. Next was Sue Whyte of drag racing sponsor Motorshack whose excellent off-track shots, and a poem, you can find at suewhyte.fotopic.net. Paul Lister got in touch next and his Easter Thunderball pictures are now showing at www.dragcaranon.co.uk. ©Eurodragster.com Regular readers will know that Graham Rice was on duty at the pre-Easter Thunderball test weekend and he also came along to the Easter Thunderball proper; you can check out Graham's excellent shots at gjrphotography.fotopic.net. Finally and also on Fotopic is Colin Donisthorpe whose shots from Santa Pod you can find at colindonisthorpe.fotopic.net. *Swift snippets.* 26th March: UK Super Pro ET racer Lee Cohen has been in touch to thank Mikey and family from sponsor Prolong for visiting him on Saturday. "Due to the weather conditions they didn't get to see any racing", says Lee. "I would also like to thank Chris Isaacs and my crew for all their hard work and team effort - well done guys. We had a great time on Friday with the couple of runs we had. It's fantastic to behind the wheel of a blown alky motor and I can't wait for the next time. We will be out with the Outlaw Anglias at the end of April." Continuing the Biofuels thread, Ove Kröger writes from Germany to say that he has been running his 620 ci dragster on E85 bio ethanol since 2007. "We have changed a few things for 2008 and we are hoping for a low eight", he says. You can find out more at www.hotrodove.com. Santa Pod Racers Club Race Secretary Kathy Taylor has been in touch to ask us to say a big Thank You to everyone for their help and support after she was taken ill and shipped off to hospital at Santa Pod last weekend. "Thanks to Carole Ismail and Lesley Wright for everything they have done", says Kathy. "Thanks also to the wonderful medical team at Santa Pod - I'm not the easiest of patients - and the hospital were very good too. Thank you to everyone for all the flowers, cards, texts and phone calls." Nigel and Julian of Santa Pod Raceway's radio station Nitro FM have asked us to thank the racers, race officials, SPR staff and listeners for their support over the weekend. ©Eurodragster.com Thanks too from Luke Bennett to the NFAA racers who donated spare tickets so that the Bennett Racing team could attend the Auto Trader Easter Thunderball. "We didn't see any racing but got a good faceful of nitro and had a good chat with everyone in the class", says Luke. "We are building the Topolino as quick as we can when I'm not too ill as we want to get out there and bring the fastest European alcohol altered record back to England. As it stands Kenneth Feldthusem has it with a 6.65, but with everything we have done to the car it should be running down in the 6.5s at 212-215 mph." Scottie Durrant has asked us to say a very Happy Birthday to UK Wild Bunch racer Gina Rumble, who drives the Tiki Munki altered. Hope that you have a great day Gina. We have received a few pictures of snow at Santa Pod at the Easter Thunderball, which we will publish in a single gallery this coming weekend. If you would like to add to the snow gallery then please send your shots to [email protected]. Editor's note: Only a brief and late news update today because of pressure of work in your News Editor's day job. We will catch right up with tomorrow's news update which will be posted late this evening (Wednesday) and racers please keep those news items coming to [email protected]. *Easter Thunderball results.* 24th March: Congratulations to the winners at the weekend's Auto Trader Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway: Pro Fuel Shootout (eighth mile): Jari Halinen 4.0632/143.17 def. Lex Joon 4.2198/166.73 Pro Modified: Andy Robinson 7.2756/209.20 def. Bert Englefield 8.2252/153.53 Top Methanol: Timo Habermann 6.3685/144.41 def. Dennis Habermann 8.4980/150.80 Super Modified: Nigel Payne staged, was unopposed Super Pro ET: Simon Rowland (8.10) 8.3823/144.37 def. Paula Atkin (8.46) 11.0973/76.73 Pro ET: Lee Huxley (10.50) 10.6217/117.98 def. Paul Baynton (11.35) 11.2262/111.88 Sportsman ET: Geoff Cowley (15.60) 15.5860/89.64 def. Tethys (14.60) 14.4556/82.64 Super Comp: Jon Morton 8.9754/139.53 def. Pete Cresswell 8.9494/152.54 red Super Gas: Pete Cresswell 9.8443/139.58 def. Frank Mason 9.9480/144.89 DS Foul Super Street: Leigh Morris 11.2508/120.90 def. Bob Lees 11.2809/120.87 Junior Dragster: Scott Hauser (7.98) 8.0151/81.77 bye, Anna Stanley no show B&H Automotive Street Eliminator: Steve Nash 8.4633/180.72 def. Steve Pateman 12.2392/80.96 Wild Bunch: Darren Law (9.45) 9.8229/130.89 def. David Rowlands (11.00) 11.5674/121.98 VW Alternate Engine: Andy Raw (9.89) 10.1017/128.02 def. Mark Skeen (14.25) 15.4016/88.70 VW Pro: Mick Geraghty (12.99) staged, was unopposed VW Sportsman: Spencer Tramm (16.28) 16.9172/68.52 def. Russell Weir (19.20) 19.9426/67.20 ©Eurodragster.com Top Fuel Bike: Steve Woollatt 7.7070/120.32 bye Pro Stock Bike: Richard Gipp 11.2577/73.15 def. Dave Beck no time Comp Bike: Conrad Skett 8.6971/135.17 def. Phil Leamon 12.0373/89.94 Super Street Bike: Graham Balchin 7.8438/183.90 def. Ian Cotton 8.6678/179.85 9.50 Bike: Phil Pratt 9.6139/137.70 def. Fred Furlong 9.6615/141.95 Congratulations also to Pro ET racer Keith Herbert who won the Eurodragster.com/Speedflow Perfect Light Award with a 0.000 reaction in qualifying on Friday. A huge Well Done is due to the track crew, race officials, racers, SPR staff and everyone who pulled together to get the event finished in the face of appalling weather. It's certainly a race which none of us will forget in a hurry. You can check out our American Car Imports-sponsored reports, pictures and pit notes by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. *Swift snippets.* 24th March: UK Pro Mod racer Ray White sent us this picture of fellow Pro Mod racer Danny Cockerill's blower hat iced up in the pits at Santa Pod Raceway. "I've never seen an injector iced before the car has even run!", says Ray. "I am so pleased that the Zephyr is locked up nice and warm in the workshop." ©Eurodragster.com Santa Pod Raceway have announced that Auto Trader Easter Thunderball tickets for Saturday and yesterday have a full rain-out value and so can be used today (Monday) or for one day of any other event at Santa Pod up to and including the 2009 Easter Thunderball. More details at www.santapod.com. More love and hugs to SPRC Race Secretary Kathy Taylor who we are pleased to announce is now at home and checked out OK after being taken ill at Santa Pod on Saturday. Doubtless you are sitting at home feeling shagged out, Kathy, so take it easy and we'll see you soon. *Web site updates.* 24th March: Colin Donisthorpe has updated his Fotopic gallery with shots of Friday's qualifying action at the Auto Trader Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out Colin's shots at colindonisthorpe.fotopic.net. ©Eurodragster.com *Swift snippets.* 23rd March: A very Happy Birthday to Dutch Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com Blogger Lex Joon. If Lex's wife and Team Manager Gerda is to be believed then it's a very special birthday for Lex today and so in future he might be hearing "fifty" in contexts other than a mid-four. Lex has updated his exclusive Racer Blog (actually we're not entirely sure it wasn't Gerda - Ed) with some thoughts on yesterday's snowy day at Santa Pod Raceway and its effects upon portable toilets. You can read Lex's Blog by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. ©Eurodragster.com Love and best wishes to Santa Pod Racers Club Race Secretary Kathy Taylor who is in hospital after being taken ill yesterday. Get well soon Kathy and we can't wait to see you back here at the track. *Brushing up with the Panthers.* 23rd March: UK Super Gas and Junior Modified team Panther Racing UK is extremely pleased to announce the team’s partnership with Osborn International for the 2008 season. Osborn International Ltd is a unit of Jason Incorporated and is the only true global brush manufacturer with production facilities in twelve different countries around the world and servicing more than one hunderd with its extensive and superior quality wire, abrasive and maintenance brushes. "This is great for the team and for the spectators", said Crew Chief Trevor Graves. "Osborn manufacture an excellent range of products from their UK headquarters in Chepstow in South Wales which is literally two minutes from the team’s base. The brushes these guys make would definitely be of use to the regular drag race fan. I’m sure there will already be a number of people that are already using this kind of engineering brush as they’re used in all kinds of applications - weld cleaning, deburring, metal finishing, honing and polishing just to name a few. They have an impressive client list including BMW, Ford, J & L Industrial, Kennametal and BNFL amongst others." ©Eurodragster.com "It's great to have yet another global brand name to partner up with, but they definitely promote the local contact part of their business" said Championship-winning driver Conrad Stanley. "When I was first introduced to their business I was really impressed by the quality and life expectancy of their products and, as Trevor’s already mentioned, a local team, UK based company, global brand. It’s excellent. We’ll be displaying a selection of Osborn's products at the track so stop by, say Hello and take a look." Rhys Williams, General Manager at the Chepstow facility, said "We've heard some great things about the team, its achievements during 2007 and its expectations for 2008. It's an exciting time for both parties, as Osborn continues to build upon an already excellent reputation and product offering. It’s a great fit - drag racing customers are our customers, it’s as simple as that. We would love people to take the opportunity to visit our web site and view the catalogues and comprehensive product range, and of course fans will be able to purchase brushes through the team." *Web site updates.* 23rd March: Dick Bodily has updated his Fotopic gallery with pictures of Friday's action at the Auto Trader Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out Dick's pictures at dicksphotos.fotopic.net. ©Eurodragster.com Also updating with pictures from Friday at Santa Pod is Richard Stirling whose Topnitro fan site can be found at www.topnitro.co.uk. ©Eurodragster.com *A rush to support ACAG.* 22nd March: Within minutes of the story being posted on Eurodragster.com about getting the first Allard Chrysler dragster into Cacklefest order, Brian Taylor's E-Mail inbox became hot. Alan Allard and his sons Lloyd and Gavin were quickly joined by other drag racing stars of the past including Clive Skilton and Peter Crane. Clive's first dragster of course was in partnership with Alan Allard when together they brought the Mark II Allard Chrysler back to the strip under the Allard Skilton banner in the late 1960s. This led to Clive's series of Revolution dragsters. Peter Crane is known as the first man to put down a five second blast outside the USA in Stormbringer, but many will not know that during the 1960s he worked at Allards installing Shorrocks superchargers. He remembers being very impressed that the tea lady was Roger Daltrey's mum! Another most useful contact from the past is David Hooper who designed the first Allard Chrysler for Sydney back in 1960. He found out about the project via the press release being circulated among the Pioneers. Fortunately he has inspected the car at Beaulieu a couple of years ago and confirms that it shouldn't take too much work to get it into Cacklefest mode. His input as an ACAG member will be invaluable to the project and he is currently preparing a report based on his recent inspection and his in-depth knowledge of the car. Gerry Belton worked for Sydney as Public Relations Manager and headed up the 1964 and 1965 Drag Festivals. He too has joined the ACAG. Well known drag racing nostalgia stalwarts such as Alan Currans, John Long and Nick Pettitt have signed up, as have the crew from Eurodragster.com. Track marshals and organisers of yesteryear and today have joined like Ian Marshall, John Hunt, Steve Young and Dave Davies (also of the Stones Racing Team). Bob Roberts and the team at Andy Robinson Race Cars have pledged their support and expertise along with Tony Beadle. And long time drag racing fan Mick Mickdowd has joined. Mick was previously involved with the Wild Honey Austin Ruby Altered. Brian Taylor, acting Chairman of the ACAG says "It is fantastic that so many people have already offered financial support. I was keen that we gave an opportunity for enthusiasts from all backgrounds to become involved in this exciting and important project. Corporate sponsors will join when we start to re-build the car, but for now the floor is available for all those who would like to see and hear the UK's first dragster burst into life again." Minimum investment will be £50 and maximum £100. The final amount will depend on the number of ACAG members, and the time required for strip-down and inspection. Money will only be requested when the strip-down work commences. Contact Brian at [email protected] or telephone 01395 579733. ©Eurodragster.com *Rumour control.* 22nd March: It's not often that we get fed-up here at Eurodragster.com but here is an example of the sort of thing which really makes us want to cry sometimes. If you were tuned in on 5th March you will have read that Kenneth Lorentzon had to withdraw his Fuel Funny Car from the Easter Thunderball for personal reasons. Although valiant efforts were made to get the Eurodragster.com staff to spill the beans, to a man and girl we refused because the phrase "Personal" means just that. Doing the right thing has however resulted in some downright idiotic rumours circulating. ©Eurodragster.com Driver Gary Page felt strongly enough about this to forward us some pictures to nobble two of the stories which are doing the rounds: that the team have lost their major sponsor, and that Gary and Kenneth have fallen out. We are very pleased to present this evidence that Mongoose Performance Exhausts and Pennzoil are still sponsoring the Fuel FC and that Gary and Kenneth have not fallen out and that Gary is still driving the car. If this isn't enough evidence then there's no hope left... *Swift snippets.* 22nd March: If you have been tuned in to our Easter Thunderball coverage then you will have seen that joint Eurodragster.com webcam sponsor Jon Webster is driving Ian Jackson's B&H Automotive Street Eliminator Corvette. "Last season, when the car ran well it ran very well but three broken ECU's later I knew we had to make a change", explains Ian. "The closed season saw new turbos (it seemed rude not to upgrade them for 2008) and a complete change to the latest Motec engine management system. During the course of this development, I accepted a job in New York with the New York Post and Wall Street Journal which means I am probably never going to get to drive the Vette in anger. Jon agreed to be shoehorned into the car to continue its cars development. I think you will agree that all that effort and an amount of cash equivalent to the national debt of Mexico is a bit meaningless without a timing slip or two!" ©Eurodragster.com Carrying on from Carolynne Campbell's news item about biofuels, Matt Sanchez has been in touch to let us know that during the 2007 season three Outlaw Flat Four cars were running on E85. Dave Dinning with his naturally aspirated set up managed a 10.84, Peter Englezos ran a 10.52 with his nitrous motor, and Richie Webb's turbo ran a 9.78. "I think it's fair to say there was a bit of a learning curve with the fuel but nothing overly significant and ultimately the fuel worked well with all three set ups", says Matt. "I don't know if anyone else out there was running the fuel last year but we had a positive experience with it." Castledown Radio, who broadcast on-line, will on Monday be broadcasting interviews from Santa Pod Raceway which were carried out by Helen Taylor last season. Interviewees include Martin Hill, Eric Teboul and Dave Grabham. You will be able to hear the interviews between 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm on Monday at www.castledownradio.info. *Feature: NHRA Gatornationals.* 21st March: The latest in our occasional series of Features presented in association with John Woolfe Racing is Roger's report and pictures from last weekend's ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville. ©Eurodragster.com Click here to view Roger's ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals report and pictures, or click on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Roger has also updated his Nitro Exposure web site with pictures from the Gatornationals including shots of the European visitors in action. You can check out Roger's pictures at www.nitroexposure.co.uk. *Swift snippets.* 21st March: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came in an E-Mail entitled simply "68 Pontiac Firebird Pro Mod" (click on picture for large version). If you know any more, or if you would like to send your own spy pictures, then drop an E-Mail to [email protected]. ©Eurodragster.com *Lucas Oil joins the Panthers.* 21st March: Eurodragster.com News sponsor Lucas Oil Products has a name synonymous with drag racing and motorsports around the world, so it should come as no surprise that the latest addition to the Lucas Oil Products UK stable is one of 2007's most proactive and professional racing teams, Panther Racing UK , writes team PR Wayne Corbitt. ©Eurodragster.com The team firmed things up with Les Downey, UK Managing Director of Lucas Oil Products, at Autosport International back in January. "It was the Live Action Arena display that really clinched it for me", says Les. "Everyone was very good, but the Panther team were just head and shoulders above everyone else in my book. We have an excellent opportunity through Panther to continue to enhance brand awareness and availability of our complete Lucas Oil Products range whether it's oil, additives, fuel treatments or polish to name a few. I watched the team's progress during 2007 and was extremely impressed by their attitude towards their existing sponsors, their fans and they've definitely got that winning mindset." Panther Racing UK Crew Chief Trevor Graves says "We did a complete engine break and rebuild prior to Autosport, and we decided that there wasn't any better way of getting the engine roaring back into life than with a bellyful of Lucas Oil. Zane Llewellyn over at Zannetec Motorsports did a great job for us and was more than happy to use the Lucas range of goodies. We've been extremely happy with the results in testing." *Dual success for Flamholc.* 20th March: Swedish Pro Stock racer Adam Flamholc went to the USA with two aims: to go quicker than 6.70 and to get closer to the bump spot than on his last visit to an NHRA event. The first aim was achieved in testing at Valdosta where Adam was the first European Pro Stock racer into the 6.6s, and the second aim was achieved at the Gatornationals. We spent the first week in Valdosta battling with rain and hard winds as well as the crazy temperature changes - ranging from thirty to eighty four degrees. The up side was that the air was god and we got to make a lot of runs down the track, most of them very close to 6.70s. And then finally one late evening, so late that the track personnel almost left before the car had stopped, we got a 6.699 run. Judging from the terminal speeds exceeding 207 mph and a best ET under 6.7s it looks like we have a lot of power. When we arrived in Gainesville it rained the entire first day so we knew we only had two qualification runs. Therefore we decided to set the car up for a safe first run, knowing that if we didn't make it down the track then we would not know how set the car for the second, quicker, run. In retrospect we should have used a more aggressive set-up but we still had cars behind us. The air was a lot worse than in Valdosta and we needed to change the rear end ratio as well as the first gear ratio, unfortunately we didn't have the ratios that we needed so we had to go with the closest we had, which wasn't enough to compensate for the power we lost to the weather. ©Eurodragster.com We still thought the second run would be quicker but as it turned out we underestimated the track and didn't leave as hard as we should have, and then the strong wind pushed the car out of the groove. Combined with one slightly early and one slightly late shift we only improved our qualifying time with about 0.01 seconds ending up with a 6.80s run that really should have been a few hundreds of a second faster, but then again in retrospect it's always easy to spot the mistakes. All in all we are still very satisfied with the trip; we fulfilled both of our goals, learned a whole lot, got a bunch of new friends and are well prepared for the European season. *One Top Fueller, two builders.* 20th March: 2007 FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion and Eurodragster.com News sponsor Urs Erbacher has been in touch with an update from the latest leg of his US Tour, the Gatornationals which took place in Gainesville last week: After Pomona Wini, Mike and Wayne headed back to the chassis shop in Houston. We left the car there to get a new rear end as the new rules recommended. The rear end is now a Hadman and the front half is a Murf McKinney chassis. There was still a lot to do after the chassis job was finished. Putting the engine back in, doing all the wiring, and hundreds of little bits and pieces. After Pomona I headed back to Switzerland with my Swiss team. I had to work at the biggest Custom Bike Show in Switzerland the same weekend as my friends were running in Phoenix. The two Americans and the Swiss guy were working like hell to get everything ready in time to rush to Gainesville. On Tuesday they arrived at the track and settled in the pits. The rest of the crew flew in from Switzerland the same day, so everything ready as planned. On Wednesday and Thursday we worked on the car and everything was finished on Friday to go out for the first qualifying run. We would have liked to have done a half pass first to see if everything works but then it felt like we were back home in Europe - just like in good old England the weather changed overnight and just before we pulled out it started to rain and it didn't stop the whole day. It reminds me of something... So no half pass, no qualifying runs and only two qualifying runs left on Saturday. We were really happy to see the sun again on Saturday. It was time for our first run in the McKinney/Hadman car. Wayne told me that he would check everything carefully and that is just one duty for me: as long as it felt good stay on it! So I left the line and the car went straight down the alley like Wayne told me. A good feeling. We ended up in sixth place after the first session with a 4.700 sec at 314 mph. That gave us additional power for a fast service in the pits and there we were for the next session. With a little improvement we ended up as number fourteen with a 4.678 at 316 mph. To be in the show for the second time in the second race of the season was a great feeling. We didn't have the time and the money to test pre-season or in between the races, so it all came down to the runs at the race weekends. But we were proud to in the field again. I know it is Wayne and the crew who made that possible, thank you. In the first round on Sunday morning I had to run against Rod Fuller. He was a little faster on the lights, but even worse, after 330 feet the tyres went up in smoke and we lost this round and that was that. But if I look at the DNQ list we can be proud about what we achieved. ©Eurodragster.com It goes without saying that the boss had to pay for dinner and beer at TGI Friday. We enjoyed ourselves and had a lot of fun. The waitress wanted to see our photo IDs before she was able to serve the beer. We were laughing and couldn't believe it. Honestly I was proud when she insisted on seeing my ID as she didn't believe that I am over twenty one years old. But now I know I still look young and crispy and not like a wrinkly. That was a good one, we were still talking about it when were sitting in the aplane on the way back home. Next Tuesday we fly back Houston for the next race. We don't have any problem with jet lag anymore, as our bodies don't know in which time zone they actually are after all the east and west flights. Until then we will spend some time with our families and I will go skiing in Zermatt again. Back in Switzerland Urs was attended the launch party for the new CD by Swiss band Crown of Glory. "The band are really great and are becoming popular in Europe and Japan", says Urs. "They play drag racing DVDs on screens at the back of the stage when they play. I was invited to christen the new CD with Jägermeister." Showtime up to date. 20th March: The UK's Showtime Fuel Funny Car team had a very short off-season with plenty do to both to the Mustang Funny Car and the support equipment, says Crew Chief Bob Jarrett. "The car ran at the Flame and Thunder Show and then it was left in one piece for its appearance at Autosport International in January", Bob told Eurodragster.com. "We had a very good response to the car at the NEC. Then we had the chassis mods done and John has been working hard on our new trailer which fits the bill - we want to show our sponsors that we are out there to do it right." The FC has a new set-up this season with a completely different head and clutch configuration. "The new set-up will be easy to work with and it's all current equipment", said Bob. "So if I need anything I can just make a phone call and get it - you try doing that with three-year-old parts. Like everyone else we will do the best we can this weekend. If we get the chance we will be there to run. The Four is still there and we're out to get it." ©Eurodragster.com The team have also signed ARP Fasteners as a 2008 sponsor after a meeting at Autosport Engineering with Chris Brown, Director of Speciality Products. ARP were established by Gary Holzapfel in 1968, when there were no commercially available studs and bolts capable of withstanding the challenge of the racing environment. In the ensuing years ARP has grown and become a highly diversified manufacturer with four facilities in Southern California supplying a worldwide customer base. ARP's product line contains of thousands of part numbers, and has expanded to include virtually every fastener found in an engine and driveline. ARP's customer list reads like a Who's Whoof motorsports around the world. In the past several years, virtually every major Championship on the planet has been won with engines prepared by ARP customers including NHRA Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock, IHRA, NASCAR Nextel Cup and Busch Series, Craftsman Truck Series, CART and IRL, Formula 1 and more. Showtime Racing is proud to be joining such a distinguished group of ARP customers. You can stay in touch with all the news from the Showtime pit on the team's official web site at www.showtimeracinguk.com. *Enter the superhero.* 20th March: Robin Orthodoxou has been in touch to thank Pro ET racer Gino Bernadine for saving the day at the Peak Performance Day at Santa Pod Raceway. With Gino's assistance Robin blasted a new Personal Best just before the rain came. "Getting ready for the first run of the weekend and oh no! I had a leak on my CO₂ bottle so no gas for my air-shifted Liberty", says Robin. "There was enough in the car to make one pass so we tried, thinking that was our only chance. We set the launch revs a mile too low at 3000 rpm, dumped the clutch and just over six seconds later got to the sixty foot lights and stopped. Then engine stalled and I was pushed back off the track. No chance of another run with no CO₂. ©Eurodragster.com Then after a frantic search up came a superhero disguised as Gino Bernadine who saved the day by giving me a bottle of gas. Many thanks Gino, I owe you big time. Went out five minutes before the rain, and ran 7.42/181. "Thanks to all the Pod crew for sorting the track." *Cool for Cats.* 20th March: It was without doubt a great 2007 season for the Super Gas and Junior Modified drag racing team Panther Racing UK. With several number one quaifiers, event wins, a Father–Daughter Ultimate Power Championship double, and Father–Daughter UK National and SPRC Championship runner-up spots under their belts. Who could complain? And let's not forget that 2007 was the stunning Firebird's first complete season in the UK after having been bought and imported into the UK in 2006 by Panther's team owners, Crew Chief Trevor Graves and Driver Conrad Stanley. The Cat people have been in touch to let us know that it would not have been possible without the support and commitment of their 2007 sponsors. "Like any good business associate we have been keen to clearly demonstrate to our strategic partners the team's ability to show an excellent return on their investment", says Trevor. We pride ourselves on being an excellent business partner. ©Eurodragster.com "We've gained brilliant exposure this year, reinforced many key relationships and been involved in several events on and off track including charitable causes and would like to think that Panther have been at the very forefront of increasing the sport's profile wherever possible – and for all the right reasons." The team are extremely proud to announce the continued and even greater commitment of 2007 partners Teng Tools, MotorOn Services and Borla Exhausts. "Feedback has been great", says Conrad. "It's a nice position to be in when you're invited to come back to the table to speak about what we're going to be doing together in 2008. We're all kitted out and raring to go, with some really excellent names looking for our support and you can read about them on Eurodragster.com very soon." *PMR out in force.* 20th March: With the eagerly anticipated Easter Thunderball about to commence at Santa Pod Raceway, Paul Marston Racing will be débuting their new sponsors PiranaZ Crew Uniform without their title sponsor's Super Modified entry. As reported previously here on Eurodragster.com, all the parts are still in Florida, but are at least now on their way. Luckily their four-link Dragster The Ugly Stick is already painted in PiranaZ colours so will represent PiranaZ - clothing and apparel with attitude - in Super Comp, driven by our very own Dave 'Wing Commander' Catton. Mick Howling returns to both Pro ET and Super Gas in the mighty Grumpy's Dodge, Steve Bolton is driving the Dark Destroyer Plymouth Scamp in Pro ET, and Paul Marston driving the Whoopass Monza opens his campaign account in both Super Gas and Pro ET. All of the Paul Marston Racing entries have been through the capable hands of Gary Springford at Drag Race Engineering, the Whoopass Monza being the last recipient of the love from the Magic Fingers. Paul Marston Racing would also like to wish PMR veterans Tethys and Crew Chief Robin Tregaskis, who début their Capri in Sportsman ET, and John Everitt and all the Alien crew in Super Pro ET all the very best at the Easter Thunderball. Paul Marston Racing will be joined over the Easter weekend by our latest pupils, making guest appearances with the pit crew, beginning their learning curve, soon progressing to licensing, driving and competing at National events over the coming year with the Paul Marston Racing Drag Race Driving School. For further details of what we do and how to get involved please stop by and see us in the pits, click on the logo at right, or visit www.paulmarstonracing.com. ©Eurodragster.com If you get to the Easter Thunderball and find you have forgotten to pick up some shoe polish, or if you are still trying to remove last season's stuff from your race car then Paul Marston Racing will be carrying stock of all Geddex products, specifically produced for drag racing: Dial-In: Easy on easy off in white, yellow or orange Wheels-Up: Wheelie bar wheels marker in all three colours Slick-Air: Compressed air in a can, easy for those staging lane adjustments Burnout Guard: A simple spray-on protector to make burnout rubber removal a simple job All these products are available from the Paul Marston Racing pit at the Easter Thunderball. *Bev's thanks.* 20th March: Avon Park International Racers Association marshal Bev Batsford has asked us to thank everyone who has sent her messages and best wishes whilst she convalesces after major surgery. "I have been really touched by the messages I have received and appreciate people taking the time at this time of year when I know they are really busy getting ready for the new season", says Bev. "My thanks also to all that have been kind enough to send cards, especially the personalised ones. All the flowers I have received have been beautiful and they made the house smell lovely! It has been a real boost to my morale and I believe it is aiding my recovery. At the beginning of May I will be starting the long slow process of physiotherapy to get me mobile again. ©Eurodragster.com "Please keep the messages coming as it really makes my day as hubby reads them out to me. I can't get to the computer yet but will respond in time. To my stalker: please keep me informed from the spectator's point of view! Good luck to all who are racing this Easter. Wishing you all a safe and fast season, I am missing you all." *A word from our victim...* 20th March: UK Wild Bunch racer and scrutineer Tony Smith has been in touch with some observations about his experiences as the "victim" during the recent safety training weekend at Shakespeare County Raceway: I would like to thank PB Fire and C & C Medical Services for the reassuring way they extracted me from the two vehicles used. With the members of BP Fire being ex or full time firemen and C & C medical all being fully trained paramedics & nurses it made the exercise all the more lifelike. The training chassis was put inside due to the weather, this was a walkthrough of different methods of cutting the roll cage and getting the driver out, but outside it was a different story, being in real time to get me out as fast and safely as possible. All throughout, I was reassured and told by Haley (C & C Medical) what was and what was going to happen, this was very good as all the noise from the cutting tools was very loud even though I was wearing a helmet. I felt safe all the time and know I would be in good hands if something did happen on the track. ©Eurodragster.com On the Saturday, we were all trained in first aid by Ian of C & C. This was the first time for years I had done this and much has changed in the way things are now done. All I would like to say is, all of you with MSA licences and had the free DVD, don't just put it to one side but watch it as it could well help in the future. The ironic part of the weekend was, that less than half a mile down the road from the track on the way home, the road was nearly blocked by two crashed cars, one with heavy front and the other side damage, luckily they were all out and the police and ambulance were already there. I was called through by the police, but it makes you think that if I had left a few minutes earlier, I would had to have put what I had learned into practice. *The quicker Alternative.* 20th March: With the advent of the Alternative Fuel Event at Santa Pod Raceway, UK Rocket Dragster pilot Carolynne Campbell wonders if her Laffin-gas dragster, with its bio-fuel rockets, qualifies as an alternative fuel vehicle: ©Eurodragster.com The idea behind Santa Pod's event is, of course, to demonstrate a more planet-friendly approach to going racing, and what a good idea that is! We suspect that the purist will want to exclude a rocket car on the grounds it is probably more of a few seconds' environmental incident than a demonstration of ecological responsibility. The purist would probably be right in that view. We do feel, though, that demonstrating the amazing power that can be unleashed by the creative combustion of cooking oil, does go somewhere towards showing that alternative doesn't have to mean slow. We are hoping to set an early benchmark for the top speed for a bio-fuel powered car. The first attempt will be at Shakespeare County Raceway's opening event of the season on 5th-6th April. Testing over winter has demonstrated that there is plenty of power to be unleashed: take a peek at www.myspace.com/laffingasrocket. *Swift snippets.* 20th March: Santa Pod Raceway's own radio station Nitro FM will be broadcasting from their own dedicated studio as from this weekend's Auto Trader Easter Thunderball. Nigel and Julian are now situated behind the start line in quite some comfort in their new home at the spectator bank end of what used to be the Barn but is now the track equipment store. ©Eurodragster.com *Web site updates.* 20th March: In the latest entry in his exclusive Racer Blog, UK Top Fuel Dragster racer in waiting and Eurodragster.com News sponsor Derek Flynn explains some of his last-minute trials and tribulations as he prepares to start licencing at Santa Pod Raceway this weekend. You can read Derek's Blog by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. ©Eurodragster.com Richard Stirling has updated his Topnitro fan site with pictures from the 2007 Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway together with a driver feature on UK Sportsman ET racer Tethys. You can find the Topnitro web site at www.topnitro.co.uk. *CCTVEnforcement back Eurodragster.com.* 19th March: We are very pleased to welcome CCTVEnforcement as a Home and News page sponsor of Eurodragster.com. Neil Warwick writes: CCTVEnforcement is a newly-formed partnership between Matthew Wright and Neil Warwick. Built upon Matthew Wright's experience in the security industry and Neil Warwick's experience in security technology, we provide a comprehensive range of services from highly visible digital CCTV equipped patrol vehicles through to covert vehicles and surveillance equipment. Using multi-camera digital CCTV systems that record in real-time, our marked and covert vehicles provide high-quality recordings that are time stamped providing valuable evidence to improve the likelihood of a conviction. In addition to car and motorcycle mounted systems, we have a variety of covert surveillance systems that can stand alone for later analysis, link to our vehicles, interface with a customer's existing CCTV system or be monitored wirelessly by our control centre. Our advanced computer-controlled digital CCTV systems are able to monitor multiple cameras, detectors and switches. Powerful features such as human face indexing, automatic number plate recognition, vehicle counting, people counting, item removal detection, unattended item detection, remote monitoring and control of cameras via the internet, PDA or even mobile phones. Systems can also E-Mail, text message, photo message or phone with verbal alert. ©Eurodragster.com We facilitate solutions for law enforcement, local government, business, individuals and various agencies. Such solutions include video security patrols, rapid deployment CCTV, covert surveillance, video response units, event monitoring with command centre, gathering evidence against fly-tippers and gathering evidence of anti-social behaviour. Our systems are available for hire or purchase enabling customers greater flexibility to manage their budget and staffing requirements. We are proud to sponsor Eurodragster.com and invite you to visit our web site at www.cctvenforcement.com. We are very grateful to Matthew Wright and Neil Warwick for their backing, which continues Matthew's long-standing support of drag racing and Eurodragster.com. If you are on the lookout for CCTV services then we are sure that CCTVEnforcement will be able to supply your needs, and be sure to give Matthew Wright a cheer as he pilots the Who Dares Wins Fuel Altered at Santa Pod this weekend. *Easter Thunderball racer update.* 19th March: Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall has been in touch with gate and other details for the Auto Trader Easter Thunderball. "Santa Pod Raceway's gates are opening at 3:00 pm tomorrow (Thursday)", says Paula. "Signing-on will be open from 3:00 pm until 8:00 pm. There will be some scrutineering for cars tomorrow starting in the afternoon and from 6:00 pm for bikes." ©Eurodragster.com Paula is currently suffering problems with her internet connection, and these will likely last into next week, so if you have written and not had a reply then Paula asked us to assure you that she is not ignoring you. If you need to get hold of Paula urgently then you can call on 01933 313625 or fax 01933 355558. *Halinen out of the woods.* 19th March: Simo Patoharju of Finland's Mad Bomber Racing says that the thought of driving a Top Fuel Dragster has kept Jari Halinen going through the off-season. Jari will be making his first outing of 2008 at this weekend's Auto Trader Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway. "During the off-season Jari has been working full time on his lumber transport company", says Simo. "He uses a number of machines which pick up harvested logs from forests, and then has transport trucks to transfer them to paper mills. Knowing he gets to drive the Top Fueller helps him survive the long hours behind the wheel of his log truck in the dark woods. ©Eurodragster.com "Although Jari drove the MBR Top Methanol Dragster for several seasons, he feels he needs more runs with the Top Fuel Dragster to get a good handle on it. His main aim is to win the FIA Championship, and the Pro Fuel Shootout gives him an excellent chance to put down some good runs before the FIA Main Event. This doesn't mean that he takes this event lightly; he just thinks that a conservative approach will provide the best result. "Jari and Mad Bomber Racing plan to do the FIA tour this summer, and to run in Hockeheim as well. The dragster which Jari will be driving is the same one he drove in Hockenheim last year, from the Rune Fjeld Motorsport stable. The crew will be almost the same Mad Bomber Racing team as last season." *Branch ready for 2008.* 19th March: UK Funny Bike racer Shaun Branch says that he is pretty much ready to go for the 2008 season. If you fancy working on a unique drag bike then Shaun is looking for crew for this year's campaign: The bike was fired up last weekend and the two issues raised have now been rectified. I am hoping the weather will be good enough to start testing on the weekend after Easter. I have not changed anything major on the bike from last year, I have however made modifications to the boost and the fuel system to try to get a baseline setting with the Procharger. I am hoping to do the UEM Championship again this year but it does depend on work and of course money! ©Eurodragster.com Steve Taylor will be helping me out at most races this year, unfortunately his new job takes him abroad regularly so I am looking for a second crew member who would be willing to help out at races and test days. You do not need any previous experience and I can provide accommodation as long as you do not mind sleeping in a draughty trailer! I do not need any help between outings unless of course you would like to. I am situated just off Junction 8 of the M40. If you are interested you can E-Mail me at [email protected] or call 07802 874360. *No off-season, then Man Flu strikes.* 19th March: "We just can't wait for the Auto Trader Easter Thunderball" writes Babs Saunders, Team Manager UK Super Pro ET team the HiSpeedGas Drag Racing Team. "After not being ready last year and missing the Easter Thunderball, then taking the Big Red Zephyr to the Main Event unfinished, working through the first day and night of the meeting with the help of Team Flavell crew, to come out and run the numbers was great, apart from the weather of course! After a winter of finishing touches we now find there is no such thing as 'off' in the off season (Could have told you that - Ed) as our crew Pete, Tom and Lee have worked relentlessly updating and working on her all winter. As I write this Crew Chief Pete Nee and Pilot Steve have both got a severe bout of Man Flu (aaah) but the doctor says a course of Tixy Lix or Night Nurse for under sevens should do the trick! ©Eurodragster.com "We are glad to say that last year's sponsors Parsons Containers and U Hold The Key have renewed their contribution to this season's funding and we are also pleased to welcome Freight Container Services from Newark, Tees Valley Components from Middlesborough, and Grahams Engineers from Seamer. "We are looking to run consistently and hopefully improve upon our 8.7 Personal Best of last year. We wish Mark and Ann Flavell and their super crew all the best with their new Hot Rod, as we do with all Super Pro ET racers. Let's have a lot of fun and race safe." Some Heaven, some Hell. 19th March: When UK Pro ET racers Carla Pittau and Rick McCann are asked what it takes to race a car, they reply "A lot of hard work. Really. A lot of hard work". It took a serious amount of work for Carla and Rick to make last Saturday's Peak Performance Day at Santa Pod Raceway in their new, second car Heaven & Hell As Well: We had to get it all done in time: rewiring, plumbing, adapting all mounts and making new ones, building a transmission, ensuring that the car complies with regulations (seal fuel cell compartment etc.) and making an absurd number of brackets. But we did it, with a little help from our friends. So we made it, and the forecast was awful. Drizzle at 6:00, drizzle at 9:00, drizzle at 12:00, drizzle at 3:00, drizzle at 6:00. Dry spells though, the Met Office web site said. It sounded like a wet day to me. However you have to have a go, and we loaded up with a few mishaps due to the slightly wider trailer which made the clearance on either side in the car port shrink from two inches to two millimetres. Bouncing the car on the trailer with two jacks within millimetres of the wall to try and clear the wing mirrors was definitely not fun. Anyway we got to the track and to our immense relief it wasn't raining, a victory already. A shakedown pass cleverly engineered to check that the three step chips were in the correct place netted a 12.71 at 6300 rpm, so we swapped the chips and had another go. The second pass produced a 10.66 but as the brand new tach refused to cooperate we have no idea whether the shifts were accurate, without shift light or proper readings during the run. ©Eurodragster.com We were still delighted with the ET as we figured that the car should run mid tens with our spare engine, the hard working, old reliable 383 ci which saved our bacon a few times in the last couple of years. So a 10.6 with a slight misfire, dubious shifting, old slicks and hardly any tuning seems very promising indeed. The cruel rain finally arrived to prevent us from making a third pass, but we were happy all the same with the possibility that the car may exceed our expectations once it's sorted. The new TH350 I built with the trick parts made of unobtanium (well, aluminium direct and forward clutch drums) as well as low friction components seemed to work well and even the old slicks, which we didn't have time to swap or screw to the rim, revealed a bit of life left in them yet. We are still chasing an elusive electrical problem but we feel very positive that the car will work well in the long run. We also feel very positive about the Heaven & Hell crew, great people who helped immensely to get us there. Very special thanks to Dave Buckland who spent two forced labour weekends at the H&H headquarters and suffered most aspects of header fabrication as well as wiring pains, Colin Roaf who did a weekend of hard labour and helped with wiring the race car and the new winch to the truck, Jemma Harrison who already shows her great enthusiasm for the team and ran all the way to the pits with the second ticket to trick me into thinking that it was an awful run - bless her, she did just what I would have done. Thanks to Malcolm Francis of Air Sea Logistics for doing just what it says on the tin when entrusted with shipping our new baby from California, to Darren West of Power Race Graphics for the Heaven & Hell As Well decals - both Eurodragster.com sponsors, which is how we got to contact them. Thanks to Peter Donaldson for the input in naming the car, and last but never least to all at Eurodragster.com for the coverage and the great encouragement to Sportsman racing - with a special one for Tog whose goodwill and enthusiasm at the Test Day was greatly appreciated (Thanks guys, you're welcome - Ed). *Lazenby's extended tour.* 19th March: Regular readers will know that UK B&H Automotive Street Eliminator racer Colin Lazenby is based in Scotland and so has a considerable drive every time he wants to race his '56 Chevy. Last weekend's Peak Performance Day was no exception for Colin and Team '56, with the added attraction of putting the motor back into the 8.0-second street-legal race car before testing: Now as you guys know I don't do late nights as a rule but on occasions needs must and our advanced plans to co-ordinate the delivery of our Ultimate Race Cars freshened 707 ci motor, along with taking our 2008 upgrades at the very accommodating Andy Robinson Race Cars shop, was just too good an opportunity to miss. Garry Coull and I left Stirling at around 4.30 pm on the Tuesday. We stopped twice for fuel, one of which included a sustenance stop of a gourmet Indian meal - hell, and I didn't even know that Garry could cook. Once watered and fed we continued our onward way south, completing our 440-mile jaunt to Andy Robinson Raec Cars and arriving under the cover of darkness at 1.30 am. This was pretty much as we had planned. Clive Bond of URC arrived on the Wednesday even before we were up, and naturally we had the pee taken out of us for getting up so late. Time was 8.30. During the off season Clive had been charged with the complete renewal of our nitrous systems, fuel and nitrous solenoids, hard lines and nozzles. I have to say that the workmanship was just superb and knowing how Clive works it's fair to say we expected nothing less. DVD Dave and Helen of Quartermile high arrived just in time to gather a little film footage for this year's B & H Street Eliminator DVD even though Garry claimed to be a little camera shy. We unloaded the motor from Clive's truck and Garry, Luke and I, worked on refitting it. In the meantime Clive kept himself busy planning all the nitrous connections (both plumbing and electrical) and whatever we were short of would come from ARRC's ample stocks. We finally called it a day at around 10:00 pm and tucked into a rather sumptuous take-away supper. ©Eurodragster.com Thursday we were in the shop at 8:00 am and set about finishing all those little tasks. Luke Robinson started to fit and wire the additional datalogging equipment while ARRC's 'junior' technician Wayne started to make up the replacement fuel and oil lines. Later in the day and having escaped from Andy Kirk (again) Clive returned to finish of his part of the installation. Having replaced all the engine oils and coolants we fired up the motor for the first time at around 6:00 pm. We continued to finish off the installation, again working on to 10:00 pm, before tucking into another hearty meal - man do those ARRC boys eat well. Friday morning we started to pack up, Andy Robinson kindly turned the trailer round in the yard (with the ARRC tow ball-equipped fork-truck) while ARRC's Pete repaired a couple of Dzus fasteners. We then loaded the car, bid our goodbyes and headed north for the Pod around 1.30 pm. The M4 was slow, the M25 was slower still and the bottom half of the M1 was gridlocked - after all, it was Friday afternoon. We arrived at the Pod at around 4.30 pm and began setting up. About the same time Ann-Marie and Bradley had left Stirling - they arrived at the track at around 00:15hrs, having had a "crap journey". Our Peak Performance Day testing went OK, that was until the rains came at which point we packed up and left for home at around 5.30 pm. The M6 was shut at Junction 32 just north of Preston, and during the detour we had a puncture, so that was fun. We arrived home at around 1.30 am. On Sunday, just like in biblical times, we rested. The last five nights in a row we'd not managed to get to bed much before 12.30 am. Thankfully I did manage to rest at work, just please don't mention this to the boss. Once again I need to thank Clive Bond, Andy and Luke Robinson and all the boys at ARRC - it's always a blast guys. And of course a big thanks to my travelling companion for the five-day tour, Garry Coull. Here's to an exciting 2008, commencing with this weekend's Easter Thunderball. *Swift snippets.* 19th March: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com is pretty easily identified if you ask us. "Wonder what these came off?" was the legend attached to the picture and it would take a particular sense of disorder not to work it out. But if you know any more, or if you would like to send your own spy pictures, then drop an E-Mail to [email protected]. ©Eurodragster.com This is probably going to make us sound like miserable sods, but please note that Eurodragster.com E-Mail addresses are for drag racing-related E-Mails only. Please do not use these addresses for anything not relevant to drag racing such as jokes, allegedly funny video clips, slide shows or pictures, chain letters and so on. Our mail servers have been filled to capacity three times in the last week by large E-Mails which had nothing to do with drag racing, and this prevented real news getting through to us which with the season about to start is not an ideal state of affairs. Please use our non-Eurodragster.com personal addresses if you wish to send such E-Mails to the Eurodragster.com staff. *Easter Thunderball Perfect Awards.* 19th March: This weekend's Auto Trader Easter Thunderball is the first event in the 2008 Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards scheme. £100 is on offer for perfect performance. As previously mentioned here on Eurodragster.com, both the Perfect Light and Perfect ET Awards will continue to run to the third decimal place in 2008 even though timing is now available at up to six decimal places at the tracks involved in the Award Scheme. The Eurodragster.com/Speedflow Perfect Light Award of £50 will be presented to the first racer this weekend to record a Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds. The Perfect Light Award is available to all racers in all classes but will only be awarded for the first perfect light of the event. If not won this weekend then the Award will be increased to £75 for the Big Bang at Santa Pod Raceway; if it is won then it will be reset to £50 for the Big Bang. The Perfect Light Award is presented in association with performance hose and fitting manufacturer Speedflow, whose web site you can find at www.speedflow.co.uk. Decals are not formally required for the Perfect Light Award but of course we appreciate it: you can get Eurodragster.com decals at the track from any Eurodragster.com staff member. ©Eurodragster.com The Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET Award of £50 will be presented to the first racer this weekend to run to the thousandth on their dial-in or index. The Perfect ET Award is available in Super Pro ET, Pro ET, Sportsman ET, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street, Junior Dragster (eliminations only), 9.50 Bike, VW Pro, VW Sportsman, VW Alternate Engine and the Wild Bunch, but will only be awarded for the first perfect run of the event. If not won this weekend then the Award will be increased to £75 for the Big Bang at Santa Pod Raceway; if it is won then it will be reset to £50 for the Big Bang. The Perfect ET Award is presented in association with RV sales and service specialists Gold RV, whose web site you can find at www.goldrv.co.uk. To be eligible to collect the Perfect ET Award, racers will be required to carry decals, one on each side of the vehicle whether car or bike. The decals (right) will firstly be available at signing-on at Santa Pod Raceway for the Autotrader Easter Thunderball and Big Bang and then at the Springspeed Festival at Shakespeare County Raceway and at subsequent events at both tracks but please note that, as is usual with contingency schemes, racers are responsible for requesting or picking up decals when signing on. A list of required decals per class is always on display in signing-on. *PMR bearing up.* 19th March: Paul Marston Racing are proud to announce that they are to receive support and technical input for the 2008 season from Engine Parts (UK) Ltd, based in South Ockendon, Essex. Engine Parts are a bearing supply specialist who already have strong links with the drag racing world, with a number of specialist race engine builders as customers in both two and four wheel classes, although their main core business is the normal road cars which we see every day. ©Eurodragster.com Engine Parts have recently launched a brand new bearing called the ACL Race Series, which has been developed specifically for the stresses and strains of competition use. Not only are these bearings available for most American V8s, they also cover all the latest Import motors such as Subaru, Mitsubishi, Honda, Toyota etc. They also carry bearings for most bike engines, race and street. The most important part of the Engine Parts service however is that they actually carry nearly all the range in stock, so any bearing, any size is only a phone call away at a very competitive price, it is that simple. All the Paul Marston Racing race cars now run exclusively on ACL bearings. For further details please contact Tony on 01708 890494 or E-Mail [email protected]. *BDRC Round 2 dusted off.* 19th March: The second round of the Bahrain National Drag Racing Championship came to an abrupt finale at the weekend following poor weather conditions, writes Bahrain Drag Racing Club President Fahad Taqi. Severe dusty conditions drove the organisers, the Bahrain Drag Racing Club, to call off the final race and use the results of the qualifiers to dictate the final standings at the end of the second round. A record breaking 160 bikers and drivers were seen at the second round from Bahrain and across the GCC. After much deliberation, the decision to call off the final race of the second round came following severe dusty conditions yesterday. 110 cars and bikes made their way to the Bahrain International Circuit for the qualifiers whilst twenty two from Saudi Arabia could not participate following incomplete registrations. Twenty three cars also had the misfortune of failing to meet the necessary requirements during the scrutineering process and had to sit the qualifiers out. Seven other cars had the misfortune of facing technical failures during the Test and Tune round last Wednesday leaving them out of the race. The results of the qualifiers put Bahraini champions in good stead as Bahraini Khalid Mohammed from the Popeye Racing Team took first place over all in the Pro Mod category with a time of 6.423 seconds. Kuwaiti Mohammed Al Faylakawi came in second position with 6.564 seconds whilst Ali Aryan was seen making a time of 6.708 seconds, enough to get him in third. The fierce competition was seen out on the track throughout the Pro Mods as one by one the drivers came forward to try and beat Emirati Bader Al-Ahli's BIC record of 6.247 seconds. But the results achieved by the Popeye Racing Team, owned by His Highness Shaikh Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa, were solid enough to get them well ahead for the next Pro Mod round. The current standings see Popeye Racing Team's Bahraini champion Khalid Mohammed at the top of the Pro Mod category, whilst Kuwaiti Mohammed Al Faylakawi is in second for the McDonald's team. Popeye Racing's recent addition Ali Aryan stands in third following a bout of bad luck which saw him in a minor accident. Tens of fans and spectators attended the Bahrain International Circuit during the second round. For only three dinars, fans got to watch intense action on the drag strip. The next Test and Tune will be on 17th April, whilst the third round of the National Drag Racing Championship will be held on 23rd-25th April. Results after the second round: Street FWD 1. Adel Hassan 11.935 (BRN) 2. Moh'd Saleh 11.992 (BRN) 3. Ali Moh'd 12.714 (BRN) Street RWD 1. S.Nader Alalawi 12.003 (BRN) New class record 2. Hussain Al Natti 13.780 (BRN) 3. Ali Reda 13.888 (BRN) Street V8 1. Ahmed Al Zaabi 9.456 (KWT) 2. Ali Haji 10.008 (BRN) 3. Khalid Saif 10.008 (BRN) Super Street FWD 1. Bader Dashti 10.963 (KWT) 2. Moh'd Mubark 11.063 (BRN) 3. A.Rahman Bin Hasher 11.263 (BRN) Super Street RWD 1. Moh'd AlKoonazi 8.657 (BRN) New class record 2. Moh'd Haji 9.936 (BRN) 3. Saad Al Muran 10.109 (BRN) Super Street V8 1. Khalid S.Yousif 9.319 (BRN) 2. Humood Moh'd 9.357 (KWT) Personal Best and was very impressed with the track 3. Moh'd Ahmed 9.645 (KWT) Outlaw FWD 1. Bader Janahi 9.817 (BRN) KFH main sponsor 2. Ebrahim Bin Hasher 10.046 (BRN) 3. Moh'd A.Redha 10.093 (BRN) Outlaw RWD 1. Moh'd Al Koonazi 9.882 (BRN) 2. Bashar Al Ameer 10.844(BRN) 3. Aziz AL Hussaini 12.716 (BRN) Outlaw 10.5 1. Salah Bin Edan 7.571 (KWT) STS 2. Juma AL Kaabi 7.677 (UAE) SPG 3. Saud Al Zabin 7.931 (KWT) SPG Competition 7.5 1. Abdulla Saad 7.785 (KWT) 2. Hamad Al Kaabi 8.090 ( UAE ) SPG 3. Hussain Abdulla 8.149 ( KWT ) Super Shop Pro Mod 1. Khalid Moh'd 6.423 (BRN) Popeye Racing Team 2. Moh'd Al Faylakawi 6.564 (KWT) McDonalds Racing Team 3. Ali Aryan 6.708 ( BRN ) Popeye Racing Team Street Bike 1. Khalid Al Foozan 9.043 (KWT) 2. Yahya Hashim 9.352 (BRN) 3. Bader Binedan 9.412 (KWT) Super Street Bike 1. Moh'd Darwish 8.410 (QTR) Al Anabi Racing Team 2. Sagher Essa 8.451 (KWT) STS 3. Moh'd Yaqoot 8.488 (KWT) Pro Bike 1. Mishal Al Saber 7.698 (KWT) STS 2. Moh'd Bu Rashid 9.829 (KWT) 3. Khalid Al Foozan 11.211 (KWT) *Web site updates.* 19th March: Dutch Pro Mod racer Robert Joosten has launched a web site at www.produtch.com. The great-looking web site, by Eurodragster.com News sponsor Peter Walters Race Design features news, car and team details, photo and video galleries, shop, results and more. ©Eurodragster.com Nigel Holland is very pleased to announce the launch of the UK Sportsman ET web site at www.sportsman-et.co.uk. "It's been a labour of love for the last seven weeks and I'm very excited about it", says Nigel. "It would have been developed a lot sooner had the surgeon not put me out of action when I had my right shoulder operated on. The site is still in its infancy but I hope that it will help Sportsman ET racers to share their news, images and even videos with all that visit. Race reports will be available after every meeting along with timing data from our good friend Andy Marrs at TSI Timers. You'll be able to check each team and find out all about them. And for the next month a poll is running to find out the best weapon of choice for the quarter mile, Mustang or Camaro. I hope you like the site and find it informative and helpful. If you have any questions or enquiries drop me a line at [email protected]. And for all you Sportsman ET racers out there, keep your news coming, images flowing and videos streaming and we will put the Sportsman ET class on the map!" *Cacklefest plan for Allard Dragster.* 18th March: During research for his book for Haynes Publishing called Crazy Horses - British Drag Racing's Heritage, motoring writer and past Santa Pod Raceway commentator Brian Taylor became very aware of the excellent condition of Britain's first dragster, the Allard Chrysler of Sydney Allard that initially burst into life in 1961 (right, click on picture for large version). It had been stored under cover since it last ran in 1964. And being on display at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu that now owns the car, it has received constant TLC. The internals are not complete, but the basic car is very sound being built like a tank compared to today's dragsters. With the worldwide interest in getting some of these historic drag racing cars into Cacklefest mode, able to fire up and parade, Brian sounded out a few people regarding getting the Allard Chrysler into such a condition, so that today's generation of drag racing fans could see and hear what started it all. Brian first spoke to Sydney's son Alan Allard and his sons Lloyd and Gavin. They were keen that Sydney's car be brought back to life. Brian then contacted Lord Montagu of Beaulieu who is a fellow member of the Guild of Motoring Writers. He was most enthusiastic and set up a meeting between Brian and Doug Hill, the National Motor Museum's Manager and Chief Engineer. Doug too was keen and prepared a paper for the Board of Trustees proposing that they seriously look at what would be required to develop the car into a working exhibit. There are many ethical concerns with a project such as this and the National Motor Museum Trust's priority in all cases is the long term preservation of the vehicle to ensure its survives in as good a condition as possible for the enjoyment and education of generations to come. So it is not intended that the car should try for the mid ten second times recorded in the early 1960s, because in historical terms it is far too valuable. "I believe that the best way to preserve a motor car is to ensure that it is in full working order and then strictly controlled and documented as far as usage and maintenance is concerned", said Doug Hill. "The archive that is with the vehicle is almost as important as the vehicle itself. And the project would be a tribute to Brian Golder who saved the car from obscurity and bequeathed it to the National Motor Museum Trust." A feasibility study has now been set up to see if it is possible to realise an opportunity that Carl Olson of the SFI Foundation believes would result in the Allard Chrysler being one of the most famous and sought-after Cacklefest cars in the world. The Americans would definitely want to see it at events and shows in the USA. It means that once working, it could more than pay its way and promote the National Motor Museum in a very exciting manner. The first stage would be the stripping down of the car to see what is required to get it back into fire-up and parade mode. It is envisaged that this work would be carried out at the Beaulieu workshops. And the funding of the inspection and strip-down will be provided by members of the new Allard Chrysler Action Group (ACAG) - a group solely created for this project. It will consist of a fairly small band of selected enthusiasts committed to providing a minimum of £50 each and no more than £100 each to get things started. Expertise in engine, transmission and chassis skills would also be useful but not mandatory at this stage. Enthusiasm for and commitment to the task is more important. The level of individual financial investment will depend on the number of enthusiasts willing to become involved at this first stage - a stage that may or may not lead to the goal of getting the car in Cacklefest mode. Until it is stripped down and inspected we will not know what is possible. However, once we have a measure of the support available for this initial stage, the intention is that the car would be stripped down and the required money to fund this work requested from ACAG members. When the car has been completely stripped down, parts supplier supporters and chassis experts will be asked to locate and cost the parts required. Estimates regarding the work needed will be obtained and a budget prepared. Once feasibility has been agreed by the Trustees of the Museum, and a time frame for the work planned, official ACAG sponsors will be solicited to cover these costs. In return, the intention is that their names will be displayed on the trailer that will transport the car to different appearances. The plan would be for the car to be initially fired up at a special event held at the National Motor Museum and hosted by Lord Montagu. ACAG members, sponsors and media would be invited and a selection of today's drag racing cars would also be asked to attend. Firing up the car would then become a regular Beaulieu event and it would be made available for limited appearances at other venues, with the intention that ACAG official sponsors would receive preferential appearance rates. The car drivers and crew would be dressed in the usual apparel of the early 1960s - white overalls, shirt and ties. Sydney often drove it wearing his tweed sports jacket. Along with National Motor Museum staff, Alan, Lloyd and Gavin Allard will take turns in the driving duties to continue the Allard family link. So there we have it. That's the plan. The first stage is to see how many enthusiasts will commit money to fund the inspection and strip-down. Brian Taylor will be the initial contact and act as Chairman of the ACAG for this primary stage of the project, liaising with Doug Hill at Beaulieu. But once we get on to rebuilding the car, a committee will be set up comprising of ACAG members along with National Motor Museum staff and Trustees. So if you want to be part of this exciting project to help the National Motor Museum bring this important piece of UK drag racing's past alive, contact Brian on 01395 579733 or E-Mail [email protected]. ACAG membership will be limited so if you want your name to be in the hat contact Brian early. Picture courtesy and ©National Motor Museum ©Eurodragster.com *Bon presents new Top Fuel Bike.* 18th March: The Joey Bon Racing team presented their new Top Fuel Bike to the world at last week's ESEF fair in The Netherlands. Strategically placed on the stand of Smits Machinefabriek, the bike drew massive crowds for the whole duration of the fair. Drawing much more visitors to his stand than anticipated, Peter Smits director of Smits Machinefabriek, was more than happy with the kind of exposure the Top Fuel Bike brings to his brands He can be seen in the photo shaking hands with Joey (right, click on picture for large version). The Top Fuel Bike was such a hit that a number of parties invited the JBR team to take to the bike to various other shows but they were kindly declined for the moment. There is still some work to be done to the bike which has to take priority now. ©Eurodragster.com On the last day of the fair, the JBR team handed out ring tones with the sound of Joey's Top Fuel Bike. These proved to be such a hit that Joey decided that they can be downloaded from the web site as well. You can save the MP3 format file by right-clicking here and then use the software which came with your phone to transfer the file to your phone. There is also a wallpaper picture for your PC which you can download by clicking here and then right-clicking and selecting Set as Background. Joey would like to say a big thank you to Annemieke for providing a professional information board with the TFB's statistics on short notice. Joey Bon is five times National Champion and a runner-up in the European Championship. His quest for the European Top Fuel Bike Championship title is sponsored by: JBR Services, AST Suspension, Schijf Groep, ISR Brakes and Studio RGB. Shockwave returns to the fray. 18th March: The UK's Shockwave Fuel Funny Car team are making a welcome return at this weekend's Auto Trader Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway. Driver and co-owner Gordon Smith tells us that the team were not sitting idle during their enforced lay-off in 2007 and that they will be giving it their all this weekend. "Crew Chief and partner Dave Bryant spent most of 2007 working with Terry Haddock in the States where they won a national event", says Gordon. Dave learned a great deal while he was there and managed to pick up some very important parts which we need for the new tune-up in the car. I have been working on some new sponsors for the 2008 season with a little success. We now have Mapei Building Products on board and we are still working on some other potential sponsors. "We have had to make some major chassis changes to bring the car up to the new 10.1E spec. We have also fitted a new five-disk nine-stand clutch and Dave thinks that this will help with our problems in getting off the line. This along with some major fuel system and ignition changes should make the car fast and reliable. Many other changes have been made including a new paintjob supporting our new sponsors. ©Eurodragster.com "I agree with what Andy Carter said yesterday that it is no easier in the winter than it is during the race season. I also agree that most nitro racers will be looking to run to their best, and we are no different. We have always tried to push the car to the best performance possible: sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but we are always trying our hardest. It takes a massive commitment in time and finances to run any Fuel car and if sponsors are thin on the ground then it is even harder as the public expect the best every time. It can be hard to keep up with the parts programme when things are not going to plan." Looking to this weekend, Gordon says that there are some hard hitters entered in the Pro Fuel Shootout, in which the Fuel FCs have a 0.35-second start line advantage. "They will all be hard to beat", he says. "But we will be giving it our all and have to be aiming to make the final. I think that the weather will have a big influence on the race, as it is a little easier to get a dragster down the track when the weather is not at its best. "But I hope all the fans will come and see us and give us their support." *Flav's Costa del York début.* 18th March: With their dragster now settled in with its new owner Steve Taylor, UK Super Pro ET team Mark Flavell Racing and the new Steel River Hot Rod hit York Raceway under clear blue skies on Sunday. York Raceway is MFR's home track so, as Mark says, what better venue to launch (literally) the new steed (right, click on picture for large version)? "As I lay on the beach in Cuba last Easter having reached fifty, I was contemplating the world, the Universe and possibly the odd bikini-clad lady", says Mark. "I did tell Ann that after returning from Canada I've had ten years in Super Gas and a further ten years in dragsters, and that maybe it was time for a change, a new direction. "Ann thought we were going to buy a canal boat or tour the world. I bought a Funny Car. Trevor Capewell's Southern Rebel to be exact. "Thirty years I've been building and racing cars, and nobody can do it by themselves. After what seemed like several thousand man-hours by the team, Craig, Steve, Mali and myself rolled her out in her new guise as the Steel River Hot Rod to fire her up on Sunday. Steve Murty and CJ gave us the nod so we packed the new ride in the truck and set off to the warmer climate of Yorkshire". You can see a video of the Funny Car's first burnout by clicking here. ©Eurodragster.com The Steel River Hot Rod has a number of sponsors. "NGK are to continue to set light to our 475 ci blown BBC", says Mark. "NGK plugs are at the heart of high performance race engineering and we couldn't be more pleased to receive their continued and valued backing. Simoniz Car Care Products have joined us and we will be doing our best to have a show-worthy shine to help us slip through the air approaching 200 mph. Dapo Office Systems with their Xerox products join our team and hopefully yours. When it's office equipment you need give the people at Dapo / Xerox a call. "Right from the outset I've received great support from Ann, Andrew and Jessie Flavell. I discussed the artwork with Lee Davison of Custom Race Car Graphics who quickly got on our wavelength and produced some great art work which made it easy to approach the paint and graphic people. Ian Kerr of Ian Kerr Motors, a familiar name to most northern Hot Rodders and York racers, has applied the paint and has done a magnificent job on what started as a tired old canvas. Ronnie Giles of Traffic Graphics lettered her up and Dave 'Airbrush Earl' added the front and rear lights. Andy Robinson Race Cars looked after the safety stuff and as ever Dave Powell from Performance Unlimited supplied the 475 ci reciprocating assembly. I've picked Kenny Coleman of EDA's brains and with all that input from all those people I'm looking forward to Santa Pod. Let's hope the balmy Yorkshire weather joins us, as I know it will when we return to York in early August." *Pointer and Ashworth wow Hal-Far.* 18th March: Our good friend Holger Camilleri has been in touch with the promised report about the first appearance of UK Outlaw Anglia racers Mark Pointer and Pete Ashworth at Malta's Hal-Far Raceway: The event was perfect. The sun was very hot, typical for Malta That's right, rub it in - Ed)!). Mark, Pete and everyone who joined in enjoyed the weather, the races, the place and also I think the panorama of some cool Maltese girls! Pete competed in two classes, D and Open, where he reached the finals and won both with very good Elapsed Times. In both classes it was hard to reach the final, seeing that the opposition was very strong and there was very healthy competition. Mark did not compete in any class but performed several exhibition passes on both days, improving his times every time. The test passes were characterised by Mark's well-known hooligan-style burnouts, the people loved them! Mark's best ET and terminal speed this weekend were 7.74 seconds and 178.03 mph respectively. Seeing that he hadn't run the Fordson for some time, it looks that the Hooligan is back on the right track. Maybe at the May event he'll be back with a taste of his Personal Best. Mark was backed up by Duncan: "Thanks for your precious help mate!". Paul 'Guv' Wright was here to help (And looked pretty sunburnt when I bumped into him at Heathrow last night - Ed). I had the honour to meet with Graham Dance, the Super Street Bike racer, who was also in Malta to help. But hey, was he only here to give a helping hand? Or is he on a spy job for some Super Street Bikers? There will be more information later in the year and who knows, maybe we'll have a bike invasion on Malta? *Swift snippets.* 18th March: With only a few days left before the racing commences we are still receiving spy pictures at the offices of Eurodragster.com (click on pictures for large versions): The picture at left came accompanied by the words "It's all the fault of a Mr Ellis"; the picture in the middle came from north of the Watford Gap, where Hobbits live in holes; and the picture at right came from Germany and shows a motor which we are told will be running Bioethanol - maybe the first in Europe? If you know any more, or if you would like to send your own spy pictures, then drop an E-Mail to [email protected]. Swedish Pro Stock team Malmgren Racing have signed a deal with PSI Valve Springs to supply the most popular springs for Pro Stock, Pro Mod and Top Alcohol from their trailer at all FIA European Championship events at almost the same prices as in the USA. "We have used PSI for the last four years and today most NHRA Pro Stock racers use PSI springs", says Michael Malmgren. "They work very well and have good life even on today's high-rpm Pro Stock engines". For more information, or to pre-order, E-Mail [email protected]. UK Super Pro ET racer Chris Orthodoxou has been in touch to ask us to congratulate his brother, whom we at least know as Robin Orthodoxou, on his 7.41/181 in testing at Santa Pod on Saturday. It's a 125" Funny Car chassis, highly modified Pat Cuss T-bucket body with a 632 ci Steve Schmidt Chvy with a five-speed Liberty transmission", says Chris. "After the run, the trace showed wheelspin across the finish line, with wheelspin as well as clutch slip through each gear. It appears that getting all the grunt down onto the track is going to be his biggest challenge. It's the first proper full power run the car has made, so 6.80/6.90 potential when it's fully sorted? Not bad for an old shed made out of Smartie tubes and sellotape. The bloke's a raving lunatic!" Bob Roberts of Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Andy Robinson Race Cars says that Andy's Pro Mod team have finally bitten the bullet and got proper radios to link Andy with the rest of the crew. "Now we wonder how we ever managed without them", says Bob. "They're so good that we have decided to import them and we are offering two-man (driver and Crew Chief) sets from Racing Electronics* at £570 including VAT. You can add further crew members at extra cost. If racers are interested then give us a call on 01256 880589 or come and have a look at Easter, then place an order so that they're ready for the Main Event." ©Eurodragster.com Regular readers will have noticed that the NDRG Drag Challenge at Gardermoen has been in grey on our 2008 FIA and FIM/UEM Schedule page, which was because that event's FIM/UEM round was provisional and depending upon whom you asked was on and off like a Belisha beacon. We're not interested in the politics at least in public but as things stand the Drag Challenge is now not a European Championship round for the FIM/UEM bikes (Nor the FIA cars - Ed) so we have pulled it from our list. Not everyone has given up on 2008 yet but whatever happens hopefully things can be sorted out for 2009 since one of the best track surfaces in Europe is going begging for record performances. UK B&H Automotive Street Eliminator racer Bill Mcdermid is now selling T-Shirts featuring this excellent design by Darren West of Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Power Race Graphics (click on picture for large version). The T-Shirts will be available at the race track and at other events which Bill attends. You can stay on touch with the latest news from the Billy The Kid Racing team on Bill's official web site at www.billythekidracing.co.uk. UK Sportsman ET racer John Parker and wife Sharon have asked us to wish good luck to Sportsman ET racers at Santa Pod this weekend. "We will not be there for this first race", says John. "After breaking the gearbox last year at this meeting (having assured Sharon that a nearly new car would be much more reliable than the old Mustang) and having the motor in pieces the previous Easter, this year we will mostly be sitting at home on the basis that we'll do less damage this way. We'll be checking the Eurodragster coverage from the warmth of the office and assure everybody that we will be back later in the year to mess with their Championship points. Have a good weekend all." Via Claire Meaddows of the UK's Backdraft Drag Racing Team we hear that Pat Gorrey would like to get in touch with former Street Bike and Altered racer Terry Revill and wife Jan. If you're reading this, Terry, or if you know Terry's whereabouts, then please drop us an E-Mail with contact details at [email protected] and we'll put you in touch. *Concentrating on safety.* 18th March: In sometimes cold and damp weather conditions, Avon Park International Racing Association (APIRA) held a Training Weekend at Shakespeare County Raceway with no less than forty five officials and marshals signing on for the two-day fire and rescue course, writes APIRA's Glenn Stockton. The weekend started with Incident Procedures, with most of the day dedicated to Marshals' First Aid training conducted by Ian Connop and his staff from C & C Medical Services. Many thanks to The Mob's Jim Usher for bringing along his HANS device for the medics and rescue crews to view and assess. Also thanks to Ed Baldwin for being the first aid dummy and being rolled all over the floor without complaint. Certainly a lot was learnt by our race track's staff. "Sunday was taken up by Rescue and Extrication training. This was again conducted by C & C Medical Services and PB Fire using our slingshot dragster training chassis (donated by the Wild Bunch) and a normal roadgoing car. This time Tony (birthday boy) Smith was the rescued person having to put up with being gently removed from both types of vehicle. PB Fire also simulated a full entrapment scenario exercise, again conducted with medical crew support in real time. Thank you to all who gave their valuable time up to assist at the race track. Also for the support given in the production of the APIRA Marshals' Handbook by Ed Yates (DSRacewear) and Steve Clark (Nimbus CarbonX), plus a special mention to Janet Brown for keeping us supplied with hot food and drinks. ©Eurodragster.com *Blown Bubble.* 18th March: Remember that BMW Isetta Bubble Car at the SEMA Show shown on Eurodragster.com last November? Well, here it is again, this time in action outside its home, the Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum based in historic Madison, Georgia, east of Atlanta (click on picture for large version). The car is provisionally entered for display at Germany's long-established Essen Motor Show in the latter part of this year, necessitating a full photo-shoot, with action shots, for publicity purposes. Shown driving the blown Big Block Bubble Car is General Manager Mark Hagler, who was also good enough to allow Eurodragster.com's Photo Editor Roger Gorringe and Essen Motor Show representative Andy Willsheer free range of the packed and world-class Microcar Museum, the largest collection of these types of cars anywhere. The Isetta is set right at the front of the museum's entrance doorway so that it is the first item visitors see upon ingress before they can check out the three hundred-odd exhibits that range from the sublime to the almost ridiculous, covering the full gamut from a British Bond Bug and Spanish-built Mini to a modern-day Smart car and dozens of regular Isettas...and even what look like motorised prams! You can see more at www.microcarmuseum.com. *Web site updates.* 18th March: In the latest entry in his exclusive Racer Blog, Dutch Top Fuel Dragster racer Lex Joon agrees with Andy Carter that there really is no such thing as an off-season (Welcome to our world - Ed) when you run an FIA European Championship operation, describing what he and the MPM Oil team have been up to since the dragster last turned a wheel in September 2007. Lex also comments on whether or not he views this weekend's Pro Fuel Shootout as a test, and defines his targets for 2008. As if that is not enough, there is a hint that 50 is not just a number Lex which wants to see after 4. this year. You can read Lex's Blog by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Eurodragster.com Reserve Photographer Peter Donaldson has updated his personal Fotopic gallery with pictures from Saturday's Peak Performance Day at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out Peter's pictures at peterdonaldson5305.fotopic.net. ©Eurodragster.com Also now on Fotopic is longtime UK photojournalist Dick Parnham who is currently showing shots from the 2007 Easter Thunderball and 2007 FIA European Finals. Dick's gallery can be found at dickparnham.fotopic.net. Freelance photographer Marcin Gwozdz has updated his web site with a large number of photographs from the recent Marangoni Fast Show at Santa Pod Raceway. Marcin's site is well worth a look as there are some excellent drag racing pictures although we must post a Parental Advisory since there is adult content in some galleries. You can check out Marcin's work at www.marcingfx.co.uk . *Carter: We're there to win.* 17th March: UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Andy Carter is headed for next week's Auto Trader Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway aiming to take a record third win in the Pro Fuel Shootout. Although it has been the off-season since last Autumn Andy told Eurodragster.com that he has not really stopped thinking about and working on his 2008 campaign. "The off season is almost as busy for me personally as the full on season", said Andy. "I'm always busy work-wise, then we have to keep Carter Motorsport going full ahead. I'm working hard with my son Albert on his karting and off road motor biking during evenings and weekend, trying to get my book together, indulge one of my hobbies which is Sports Mopeds, and also try to keep Sarah happy. Mentally I find spending quality time with Sarah and Albert helps me keep all this going and the fire burning. Since the European Finals, trips to Florida and Venice have helped me unwind and stay focused. I do a lot of walking and stretching in my training, try to eat healthy, no smoking or drinking, no late nights, then when I have time, riding my trial bike off road keeps me sharp and supple. This year I'm just as hungry, just as brave, just as quick, always dangerous and still one of the best drag racers in Europe." Andy has stayed in regular touch with car owners and tuners Per and Karsten Andersen to keep abreast of work on the 4.6-second Lucas Oil and Landmeco backed dragster, and has also been working with sponsors. "I have been over to Denmark twice in the off season", said Andy . "It's really important to have good communication between driver and tuners. I know that Per and Karsten have been working hard. The dragster has been down to almost a bare chassis, everything has been taken off, cleaned, inspected, then if OK put back together. Most of the drivetrain has been renewed and they have made a few minor changes to various systems on the dragster, and they have also completed the various FIA upgrades we need this season. ©Eurodragster.com "I'm in regular contact with Lucas Oil USA and Les at Lucas Oil UK, in fact I am in Florida right now and have a meeting with Forrest Lucas Gainesville race. I have had very good feed back from the USA and UK on the job we are doing, they are happy that's for sure, but I'm always looking for ways to do more for them and improve on that relationship." When questioned about the Pro Fuel Shootout, Andy always says that he is there to win and not to test. We asked him if that meant that he thought that other Fuel teams went to the Easter Thunderball to test. "I think that most are there to win", he said. "My saying that we are there to win comes from the attitude of some people about Fuel teams in Europe. It stems from feedback that I have received over the years, talking to people who don't really understand the motivation or desire of the top-level Top Fuel drivers or teams. Some people seem to think that we go out to do a half pass or that we don't want to run the car hard. That is total rubbish. To think we put all that effort in to running the operation and then go out on the track and not try? We don't need to save money or parts, we have enough budget and more to run the car hard every run." Andy says that the major part strategy of the Lucas Oil / Carter Motorsport / Andersen Racing Team is to win the FIA European Championship. "The Carter Motorsport mission statement is to win that Championship and gain maximum exposure for our sponsors", says Andy. "I am really happy with the eighteen sponsors we have. While on this subject I must mention that NGK are now in their fourteenth, BMRS their tenth year, Yuasa in their tenth year, and Pioneer Print, K&N, Binamic, Sigma, 3t Creative and Rainbow have all been with me for over five years. I can't thank all my marketing partners enough. The crew is the same as in 2007, which is very important to our strategy for this year. "I would like to thank Eurodragster.com for the time and a great news site (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed), I would also like to add my thanks to all my marketing partners, associates, friends, fans and crew. I hope we can win that third Championship in 2008! I hope to see everyone at a race or show this year. Please continue to check out our web site at www.andycarter.net. *Zodiac Racing 2007 season review.* 17th March: With the début year for their new rider, the Netherlands' Zodiac Drag Racing Supertwin team did not have any real expectations for the 2007 season, writes Vincent Pels. The only goals the team had set were to at least qualify for all of the events and to make some rounds. In the end Ton and Vincent Pels with their new "jockey" Roel Koedam, a long time friend of the family, turned out to be more competitive then they had hoped for and even took an event win in the process: Except for the first race where we qualified fourth, the Zodiac Nitro Harley was a top three qualifier at every event and at mid season was the number two in the Championship, less than one round from the number one at that point, eventual 2007 Championship winner Lorenz Stauble. Then the gremlins turned up and stopped us from having a real chance for the 2007 UEM Supertwin crown. But the final round of the Championship was a huge highlight for the whole class, with stellar performance of all the Twins and the most exiting qualifying and eliminations in the history of the class. The first UEM race of the 2007 season, the Main Event, was both a high and a low. This was the first time out again, which made it very emotional for everybody and with Roel Koedam in the rider's seat now, things were still very unnatural. Roel ended up qualifying fourth, and hit the six second and 200 mph barrier in the second qualifying pass, which was more than the Zodiac crew had hoped for in this first race. This brought a smile on everybody's face and from that moment we knew that the new combination could work. Sadly the rain kicked in and this never stopped for the rest of the weekend, so the Main Event became the Rain Event and not a single Twin made another pass on the Santa Pod race track. Next stop was Finland, a race where the Zodiac bike struggled a bit. For this season, the bike was equipped with a new ignition system. This, the lack of traction and the fact that Roel was still adapting to the bike, made it hard to interpret the data properly and make the right tuning calls. The team did manage to improve our ET to 6.90 seconds, which was good for the third qualifying spot. But with the knowledge that the bike was running 6.6 second times before, we knew things were not improving the way they could. In the first round of eliminations Roel managed to whack the throttle fully open and keep it open to the finish line for the first time. These were signs he was getting more comfortable on the bike. The odd thing was that this actually made it run slower. Because of the wide-open throttle, the engine was finally breathing properly. Therefore it also ran a lot leaner, which resulted in a very disappointing 7.1 second defeat against Hans Olav Olstad's 6.98 seconds. The bike was running so lean now that it scuffed the cylinders. This meant that we had to seriously change strategy for Mantorp Park. Our luck was that it started raining after the first round of eliminations, so we did not lose too many points in the Championship chase. With the damaged pistons and cylinders from Alastaro fixed, and the knowledge the bike was lean and detonating, the Zodiac Fuel Harley got a set-up for Mantorp which we were sure was so rich that it would pour out fuel everywhere. Mantorp is run over the eighth mile for the Nitro Bikes and to everybody's surprise the bike actually made it to the finish line with a pretty decent ET out of the trailer. After some tuning effort and two more qualifying rounds, which included one very spectacular round in the dark where the crowd could enjoy the header flames of the Nitro Twins, we ended up in the second spot with a 4.41/170.6 mph pass. Roel was finally getting real comfortable on the bike and with the known consistency of the Zodiac bike, the competition was starting to see Roel as a serious contender. During eliminations Roel ploughed his way through the field with strong numbers and was the only one running 4.4 second passes. In the final he came up against Lorenz Stauble of the Erbacher team. With both riders side-by-side on their back wheel, Roel made it to the finish-line first with a 4.486/167.8 mph pass. The margin of victory was 0.0517 seconds. In the Championship Roel climbed to the #2 spot, only six points behind the number one. With the bike running like clockwork and less then one round behind the number one in the Championship, hopes were high for the Gardermoen quarter mile. The team had set the bike up a little sharper for this event and right off the trailer it showed: 6.68/206 mph. The Zodiac team was back to their normal performance and took the provisional number one spot in the qualifying ladder. But then the weird stuff started. Qualifying round #2, cam broke. Qualifying #3, bike idled too high so it was decided to shut it off. Nothing really happened other than the throttle plate that was stuck a little, but when you're qualified #1, you do not take any chances. Qualifying #4, The bike left real hard, up in smoke, up in smoke again, front wheel up in the air until the 1000 foot lights, and the primary belt broke. It was a wild ride that Roel definitely enjoyed big time, but you will not get very good ETs that way, so the Zodiac team ended up qualifying in the #2 spot with the 6.68 pass they did in the first session. The next morning the bike was fired up for the warm-up and the Zodiac Harley did not sound strong at all. Each time the throttle was opened, raw fuel came out of the exhaust and the RPM dropped instead of climbed. After a quick inspection of the telemetry data it was concluded that something mechanical had failed and the engine was checked. The team quickly found that the cam gear had seized and turned, causing the cams and the ignition timing to be thirty degrees off. Quickly the cam cover was taken off, but by the time the new cams were installed the first Supertwin bikes were started up for their first elimination round. Not making the first round was a huge disappointment for the team, something that had never happened before and all hopes for winning the UEM European Championship were gone. ©Eurodragster.com The European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway was the final round for the Zodiac Team. The bike was back to its normal performance and in the final qualifying session Roel did a great pass of 6.696/206.55, which qualified him comfortably in the #3 spot. Both the number one and two qualifiers, Gunter Sohn and Lorenz Stauble, were also in the 6.6s and Hans Olav Olstad qualified fourth with a solid 6.72. With another three bikes qualified in the six second bracket, this probably made it the quickest Superwwin field ever. Raceday turned out to be a real thriller. After the smoke had cleared, the top four qualifiers all made it through to the semi finals, and all did it with a 6.6 second pass. In the semis the Zodiac team met Lo again, and this turned out to be the race of the season. Lo was away first and Roel was quickly following with only 0.015 seconds difference between them. At the sixty feet the Zodiac twin was already making up the start-line difference and at 330 feet Roel was in the lead. Both bikes were carrying the front wheel in the air until the 1000 foot mark and at that point Roel was still in the lead. But Lo was making up ground and just passed Roel at the stripe with only 0.0129 seconds between them. With both bike travelling way over 200 mph this means a margin of 1.5 inch. The Zodiac Nitro V-Twin's 6.657 pass was a tiny bit quicker then Lorenz Stauble's 6.659, but it was lost on the start-line by a mere 0.013 seconds. That is drag racing! Even though we were out, the Zodiac team were still pretty excited about the way the season had ended. Roel ran his quickest ET in the last pass of the season, the team was back at the performance level when Ton was still riding the bike, and the team managed to earn a respectable #3 spot in the European Championship. The team would like to congratulate Lorenz Stauble and the complete Erbacher team for winning the #1 plate in not only Supertwin Top Fuel, but in FIA Top Fuel Dragster as well. The Zodiac team would also like to welcome Job Heezen into the team and wish him every success for the future. Job is going to experience Top Fuel up close and personal for the first time, as he is the new owner of the bike Roel ran in 2007, The Godfather VI. For the 2008 season Roel will be riding a new bike, The Godfather VII. The new ride will be a supercharged 1680cc Nitro burning Top Fuel Harley and the team is very busy constructing it right now. A news update about the progress will follow soon. See you at the race track! The Zodiac SuperTwin Top Fuel drag racing team is proudly sponsored by Zodiac International BV, Supertrapp Exhaust Systems, ACCEL Motorcycle Products and Spectro Oils of America. The Zodiac SuperTwin Top Fuel drag racing team is proud to use products from Zodiac International BV, Supertrapp Exhaust Systems, ACCEL Motorcycle Products, Spectro Oils of America, Performance Machine Disk Brakes and Wheels, Kibblewhite Precision Machining, Midwest Acorn Nut Company, Goodridge Fluid Transfer Systems and Gates Belt Drive Systems. You can track the progress of the Zodiac Racing Supertwin team at www.zodiacracing.com. *Woollatt Racing 2007 season review.* 17th March: Multiple ACU UK Top Fuel Bike Champion Steve Woollatt (left, testing what he thought was a secret weapon) is all set to defend his title starting at next weekend's Auto Trader Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway. Woollatt Racing team member Phil Baimbridge has been in touch with a 2007 season review which he says he had to write to remind the team why they decided what to do in 2008: 2006 had been an awful year with the team only managing three complete laps over the entire season. Steve expended massive efforts, in time and cash, to repair the cylinder head that we kept torching, leaving him emotionally drained at the end of the season. Thankfully, and to our immense gratitude, Pete Davies of Puma Engineering stepped in over the closed season to replace all of the cylinder head ally-bronze skulls and incorporate a revised cylinder sealing arrangement. We therefore approached the Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod with some confidence, of at least getting down the track with the engine in one piece! Steve ran 6.54/201.9 off the trailer, but didn't get everything quite right on the pass – we also destroyed all of the spark plugs. On the second pass Steve really got it right, returning our best ever ET and our highest speed at Santa Pod, 6.318 at 216.5. We also ran also our best 330 foot time of 2.76 and eighth mile time of 4.128. Examining the data logger showed that Steve shut down at 6.0 seconds dead. We lost all the spark plugs again. The third pass was going well, but lost power after 330 feet and slowed to 6.49 at the quarter. Back in the pits we found that some debris had caught behind #4 exhaust valve on the previous pass and we'd burnt a hole through the valve and seat. We could only repair this by fitting a larger valve so our meeting was over. Thanks to G&S valves we got some larger diameter exhaust valves and I cut back #4 seat to suit in time to race at the Springspeed Festival at Shakespeare County Raceway. Steve qualified #1 with a 6.42, but struggled to cope with tyre shake throughout the event. The ongoing problem with burnt out spark plugs persisted. We knew we had a problem with the fuel pump, but didn't want to change such a major item for the Main Event, a UEM Championship meeting. Therefore the team took the decision to race with the existing fuel pump, but shut down at 1000 feet on each run. Steve still qualified #1 during rain-affected qualifying with a 6.48/189 pass. Unfortunately, the meeting was cancelled due to adverse weather. On to the SPRC Summernationals with a new fuel pump fitted. First pass and the motor wouldn't run over 8000 rpm but still returned our PB times at 330 feet of 2.73 and the eighth at 4.121, slowing to 6.62/165 at the quarter mile, enough for #1 qualifier. Examination of the datalogger showed that the new pump was delivering around thirty per cent more fuel than the old pump at the same discharge pressure. The motor revved higher as the fuel mixture was leaned out, but the bike ran slower over the eighth mile. The computer showed that this was actually caused by increased tyre shake and wheelspin during the first eighth. The crew also noticed that the bike sounded as though it was dropping a cylinder at the launch and this was confirmed by the data logger. Off to the European Finals with the intention of running quick and fast. A “banker” qualifier 6.37/217.3 off a soft sixty foot time of 1.11 put us at #1 after the first season, but this was eclipsed later in qualifying by Eric Teboul's 6.20/229. Bravo, Eric. We were clearly easily qualified in the top four and decided to take advantage of the excellent track conditions to try and run a good number – maybe even challenge Eric. A bit more nitro and see how we go...really bad tyre shake off the line, so bad that we damaged the sprag in the gearbox. Undeterred, we repaired the gearbox and fitted a new tyre with the higher nitro load; again we blew the tyre away off the line. Next step was to drop the nitro back to the previous percentage (back to the first qualifying pass settings) but on the next qualifying pass we blew the tyre away again. For the first round of eliminations we softened the clutch, and guess what, we blew the tyre away again. Back on the trailer and the journey home, really disappointed as the trophy for this European Finals should have had our name on it. Congratulations to King Racing for winning the meeting and the European Championship. The cause of the traction problems was uncertain. Some people suggested that the gearbox sprag had been slipping for some time and we had been adjusting the clutch to suit; Steve was convinced it was the tyre. ©Eurodragster.com We refitted the old tyre and left the clutch in the softened state for the UK National Finals. When we fired the motor in the pits it was smoking from #4. We took the motor down to find that the high revs during the European Finals traction problems had resulted in us nipping the oil ring in #4 piston. New piston and rings fitted, but missed the first day qualifying. Steve took #1 qualifying spot in the third qualifying session with a 6.37/211.3 (2.74 at 330 feet and 4.13 at the eighth) with no clutch -two of the stages were set to engage very late, one of the operating stages had no weights on it - and borderline track conditions. Steve actually had to roll the throttle closed when the rear tyre started to spin at around 200 mph. Guess it was a rogue tyre. To me this was the most impressive run of the entire season. It the next qualifier Steve lost drive a little off the line – inspection showed that the bike had sheared the 8 3/8" allen bolts securing the sprocket to the hub! Back on the trailer for another season. Overall we were pretty happy with the 2007 season. We improved our Personal Best ET by 0.1 seconds while running a couple of per cent less nitro. Bearing in mind we couldn't take advantage the two meetings that normally provide the best track conditions – the Main Event and the European Finals – due to rain and a rogue tyre respectively, this was pretty good going. It was especially pleasing to be able to replace a worn out fuel pump and not lose the fuel curve. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our sponsors for their continuing support: Motorcycles Unlimited, G&S Valves, G-Max Racing Fuels, Mickey Thompson Tyres, PreTech Engineering, ACL Bearings, NGK Europe, Bikes of Brighton, Richa, Shoei, Rebore Rod...and, of course, me! There's not been much to do during the closed season, apart from a standard rebuild and replenish the spares box, as we haven't used anywhere near the potential the bike has already demonstrated, especially as the nitro percentage is still relatively low. Thanks to Rebore Rod we have designed and manufactured a new rear hub drive side bearing/sprocket carrier which has much greater lateral strength and forty per cent more sprocket securing bolt cross-sectional area, and have bought a range of gearbox and rear wheel sprockets. Not being able to use all the clutch stages and wheelspin at the top of low gear and in top gear suggest we need a taller overall gear ratio. Extending first gear should also help improve eighth mile speed. Smaller supercharger drive pullies have also been manufactured, in case they are required to help pull the taller gearing. Finally, Steve has got a larger capacity Enderle barrel valve, as the existing -6 Hilborn item is getting a bit restrictive. This will be fitted later in the season. *Swift snippets.* 17th March: Aldert Tjoelker of Fast Frisian Racing sent this picture of the extended runway at Drachten Airfield in The Netherlands. The new extension is to be used purely for drag racing; aircraft will still land in the original landing spot further along. ©Eurodragster.com The weekend's UK pre-season test weekend at Santa Pod Raceway was ravaged by the elements although contrary to expectation there was a window of dry weather on Saturday and several racers took the chance to test. Eurodragster.com were at Santa Pod Raceway over the weekend and you can check out our coverage, presented in association with American Car Imports, by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. A big Happy Birthday for yesterday (Sunday) to Supertwin racer, Santa Pod Raceway timing crew member and all-round good egg John Hackney. Hope you had a great day John. Editor's note: Thanks to everyone who has been in touch with appreciative comments about the upgraded Webster Race Engineering/MPM Oil webcam. The consensus seems to be "Awesome" for which we are most grateful, and we particularly enjoyed "We can see a wet empty track in more detail". *Cats go Wild at SCR.* 17th March: In the pioneering days British drag racing's initial diet of motivation came from the humble British Jaguar engine. In the those days - 1970 through to 1980 - nearly two thirds of a race entry was made up of Jaguar-powered Dragsters and Competition Altereds. Today, that field has sadly depleted to just over a handful. But there is still plenty to celebrate as Shakespeare County Raceway prepares to relive the golden years with October's Wildcat Day forming part of the new Public Track Day events line-up, writes SCR's Promotions Manager Jerry Cookson. The event is backed by Kelsey Publishing's Jaguar World magazine, and born from an idea put forward by Wild Bunch racer and enthusiast 'Sizzlin' Sid' Slattery. Editor Matt Skelton is very excited of the prospect of seeing these old and modern day cats square up to each other on the quarter mile drag strip. "Jaguar has long been renowned for making beautiful, fast cars – but for almost as long some people have enjoyed making them go just a little faster!", says Matt. "Not only that, but Jaguar's engines have also been harnessed to power all manner of exotic machinery up the quarter mile strip. That's why at Jaguar World Monthly we're delighted to be supporting the Wildcat day as it will see many and varied Jaguars in action – from road to race cars – as well as pure-bred drag machines with Jaguar engines at their heart. We're looking forward to seeing you there." The last time so many big cats were lined up at a British drag strip was at Santa Pod in 1999 when Jaguar enthusiasts' heads were turned after witnessing Robin Read's awesome Daimler dragster Bad Habit finish off the meeting with a 7.0. Jaguar World class challenges for a variety of models and race cars are being sought as well as other attractions to help the day become a success. Jaguar World are also promising previews, and a forthcoming magazine article is planned for the summer months about drag racing and some of the nostalgic Jag racers who competed then and still compete today. If you want to know more about Wildcat Day or to get your hands on some of the specially-commissioned flyers then call 01789 720180 or E-Mail [email protected]. ©Eurodragster.com *Howdy y'all!* 17th March: Linda Vaughn, motorsport's First Lady and Queen of the quarter-mile, was among many distinguished guests attending the thirteenth annual Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance in the manicured grounds of Nassau County's salubrious Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Resort. The very popular gathering of aficionados of automobiles of yesteryear was also one of the drop-by destinations of Andy Willsheer and fellow drag racing photojournalist and Eurodragster.com Photo Editor Roger Gorringe during a fortnight's work assignment in the Sunshine State. Conveniently following Bike Week wrap-up, the Sabbath Show and Shine was held under picture-perfect skies, and with more than three hundred cars and bikes to peruse, the event required attendees to look lively in order not to miss anything going on around the serried ranks of shimmering sheet metal. ©Eurodragster.com We bumped into Linda chatting with George Follmer, a well-known figure on the U.S. race scene and one of whose former competition rides was the twin to the 1968 AMC Javelin Trans-Am series entry against which they are posed (right, click on picture for large version). Linda, who was born in the adjoining state of Georgia, sends her regards to all the readers of Eurodragster.com and was sorry she had to miss attending the Carquest Winternationals in Pomona due to prior commitments for the 50th anniversary of NASCAR's Daytona 500 race. Picture courtesy and ©Andy Willsheer *Collectors' corner.* 17th March: Eurodragster.com Assistant Pit Reporter Kirstie Tramm was interested to learn, via the latest update on Alan Currans' Acceleration Archive, that Mark Gredzinski had crafted several badges in the early 1980s. Kirstie knew for sure that her mum, Santa Pod Racers Club official Yvonne, had two and possibly more of the badges which Mark had made himself and which are now deservedly collectors' items. "I called Mum and asked if she had any of Mark's badges and after describing the article on the Acceleration Archive she confirmed my suspicions", says Kirstie. "Mum has Tequila Sunrise, Paranoia and Bad Habit which we know were made by Mark. She also has a badge with the Philips Car Stereo Ford Pop on and two metal pin badges (left, click on picture for large version). "I asked Mum for some information about how she obtained the badges and she told me that the Paranoia badge was given to her by Brian Thomas and the Tequila Sunrise badge by Barry Giles. She admits that she cannot remember much else about these two badges! The Bad Habit badge was given to Mum by Robin Read, as she worked alongside Jim Read in the 1980s after she started working as a secretary for the BDRA and Tech Committee in 1983. "One badge with which I hope Eurodragster.com readers can help me is the Philips Car Stereo badge with the Ford Pop on the front. It was given to Mum by Viveca Averstedt in the 1980s and that's about as much as we know. The two metal badges are standard Club issue badges which members received when they signed up to the BDRA in the 1980s. There is also a Santa Pod Racers Club badge which a lot of readers probably have. "I wonder how many of the badges Mark made, or indeed any of the badges shown, are around today. The Bad Habit badge looks well-loved and worn but it is very special to know it is only one of ten made. If you have any information or wish to share pictures of your collection please contact me at [email protected]." Mark Gredzinski revealed yet another string to his bow at the Varsity Pub and Club in Wolverhampton, on Saturday night writes Richard Stirling. "Demonstrating another of his seemingly endless list of skills Mark showed a musical flair not seen for many years", says Richard. "He was appearing as drummer with an up and coming band called Dinky. "Although not too sure about the band's name, we eagerly waited for Mark and the others to take centre stage and we were not disappointed when the half hour session started. Quite the contrary, in fact, Mark and the band were brilliant, playing home-brewed numbers which were terrific in the club and sounded great when I later reviewed my recordings. Mark and the band also had some special drag racing guests who had braved the awful weather to support him, in the person of seven-second Street Eliminator racer Andy Frost and his wife, and also ex-Mob pilot Mickey Moore. We all thoroughly enjoyed the evening out and look forward to Mark revealing his next unsung talent, perhaps as professional poker player, or TV quizmaster? Who knows!" *Web site updates.* 17th March: Graham Rice has updated his Fotopic gallery at gjrphotography.fotopic.net with some great shots from Saturday's Peak Performance Day at Santa Pod Raceway. ©Eurodragster.com Regular Santa Pod Run What You Brung photographer Ian Blackett has updated his Blackett Photography web site with pictures from Saturday's Peak Performance. You can check out Ian's shots by selecting Test and Tune galleries and then 15th March at www.blackettphotography.com. *Help SCR - keep your eyes open.* 15th March: Julie Willcox has been in touch to ask readers to keep an eye out for a trailer after a break-in at Shakespeare County Raceway. Thieves broke into a number of buildings on Long Marston Airfield including Race Control, the Media Centre, VIP unit and fuel store, ultimately using a fork lift truck to remove the jet engine for SCR's track dryer from a brand new trailer which was housed in a hangar on the far side of the airfield. ©Eurodragster.com The trailer is an Ifor/Williams four wheel/twin axle item with towbar and spare wheel. It is likely to be offered as a car trailer, so if you are offered a trailer or if it pops up on E-Bay then please get in touch with Julie at [email protected]. Similarly if you have any information about the burglary then please get in touch with Julie. *Swift snippets.* 15th March: Urs Erbacher, Jimmy Ålund, Adam Flamholc, Richard Sundblom and Roger Johansson are in action at Gainesville this weekend, or should be today having sat out the rain which put an end to yesterday's qualifying. You will be able to stay in touch with events at Gainesville on the Drag Race Central web site at www.dragracecentral.com and the NHRA web site at www.nhra.com. ©Eurodragster.com *Joon's new colours.* 14th March: Dutch Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com Blogger Lex Joon has given us the first look at his MPM Oil Top Fuel Dragster in its new colours (click on picture for large version). ©Eurodragster.com The dragster makes its first outing in its new colours at next weekend's Auto Trader Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway where Lex will be defending his event title in the Pro Fuel Shootout. *A-Fuel for England.* 14th March: Multiple FIA European Top Methanol Dragster Championship team Dave Wilson Racing start the 2008 season at the Auto Trader Easter Thunderball with their dragster running blown alcohol for possibly the last time. After next week's race the chassis is to be back-halved to take the injected nitro A-Fuel engine which the team will be running in future. "All this is made possible by the continued support of long time primary sponsors and marketing partners Silverline Tools and PlayStation 3 and our associate sponsors", says Dave Wilson. "It should be said that without their commitment and support we as a team would not be able to compete at the level that is required to be successful in FIA Top Methanol Dragster today. In view of our 'slight' change of direction in engine combination we hope to repay them and justify their faith is us in the coming year." Dave says that he thought that it was time for a change after twenty eight years behind the wheel of a bown-methanol dragster. "The unblown nitro combination has always interested us but has been notoriously difficult to tune for consistency", he says. "As consistent performance is a major advantage in such a short FIA Championship, you simply cannot afford to make mistakes with so few rounds. Some cars in the USA have become consistent, Bill Reichert being the best example having won NHRA Championships back to back. As we have known Bill since the mid nineties and have kept in touch with his ongoing development leading to his current outstanding performance levels we are more than pleased to have his help in putting this A-Fuel combination on the track. ©Eurodragster.com "We are under no illusions that this is going to be a very difficult task and a complete change of direction to what we have been used to in the past. "Our thanks also go to our associate sponsors, Lucas Oil for their excellent products, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions for replumbing us with the best hoses available, Crane Cams for a continued supply of cams, lifters and Posi-Stop, the best valve spring retainers in the world, Ironcad for the most user friendly design software on the market, and a special thanks to Gary Burgin for his help in sourcing parts and Antony Billinton of G-Max Fuels for his technical help and assistance. "The whole team are looking forward to getting back to racing at Easter with the blown car after the long winter, and then for the FIA Main Event bring on the NITRO!" *Erbacher looks for rounds.* 14th March: 2007 FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion and Eurodragster.com News sponsor Urs Erbacher and team arrived in Gainesville on Tuesday and have spent the last couple of days preparing for a challenging race weekend. Urs has been in touch to bring us up to date with the latest from the pit as he gets set for today's first day of qualifying: The US and Swiss crew worked well together at Pomona. Beat will be working on the clutch this weekend. So everybody has to get back in to "racing mode" and synchronise with their colleagues. After such a long journey and weeks away from the track it always takes a few hours until everybody is mentally and physically fully focused on the racing operation. It is great to see some European companions at the start line such as Jimmy Ålund. It doesn't make you feel so exotic. Team Erbacher is easily recognisable not only in Europe but also in the USA. I am too tall for most of the American drivers, my hair is too long and I have too many tattoos. But that is also reason the American fans love us: we are different in all aspects. For this race, qualifying isn't enough any more. We will try to get into second round on Sunday. First we have to qualify and then we want to win rounds. We know that it is a lot of work, but I know we can do it. We ran with the same engine all weekend at Pomona, we got the times and the speed and probably found all the gremlins which had been sitting in there and driving us nuts for a long time. ©Eurodragster.com When the European racing élite run in England over Easter we will relax at home and prepare for the race in Houston. But for sure we will keep an eye on everybody via Eurodragster.com. You will be able to stay in touch with events at Gainesville on the Drag Race Central web site at www.dragracecentral.com and the NHRA web site at www.nhra.com. Editor's note: We are sure that everyone will join us in wishing Good Luck to Urs, Jimmy Ålund, Adam Flamholc, Richard Sundblom and Roger Johansson at Gainesville. Unfortunately Leif Andréasson had to withdraw as his Top Methanol FC was not ready in time. *Home...well, almost.* 14th March: Carbon By Design Fuel Team Owner Knut Söderquist tells us that it has been a bit of a struggle to get everything ready for the early trip to the Auto Trader Easter Thunderball, where Derek Flynn of Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Gold RV is due to complete his Top Fuel Dragster licencing. "Derak and my plan was to get the truck and trailer on their way to England at least a month ago but it didn't work out as planned", Knut told Eurodragster.com. "The whole team is in England and I understand that it's a problem to take the time off work and travel over here to Sweden. "Anyway I called my friend Eddy the Eagle and asked if he would help me out to get the truck and trailer to the dock in Gothenburg and then travel with the unit to Tilbury where Derek would take over and drive the trailer to his shop to get everything unloaded and mount the new awning. I bought the new awning from the Leanders brothers, it's really nice and I can recommend it to anyone who is looking to buy a new awning. ©Eurodragster.com "As you all know, the weather has been bad so the ferry was half a day late arriving at Tilbury docks where Derek had been sitting almost a whole day waiting to take the Top Fueller home. Eddy was not in the best shape as he had been lying down on board the ship for a whole day with bad seasickness. The next problem occurred as Eddy drove off the ferry. When he was on the ramp a brake valve broke so all the brakes locked. They had to drag the truck off and that is where we are right now. I calld my frend Lee Brown (the fastest MOT man in the UK) if he was able to get a replacement valve. After fifteen minutes Lee had located a valve in Preston and organised for it to be sent to Northampton where Laffin-Gas Rocket Dragster owner Carolynne Campbell is ready to pick it up and take it to Tilbury docks where Derek will mount it on the truck and hopefully get it to his shop. "I want to say a big thank you to Eddy, Lee and Carolynne for helping me out, it is good to have friends. And sorry to Derek for the wasted day but this is what can happen. One of the reasons I use the ferry is to make it as easy as possible!" *Swift snippets.* 14th March: The latest set of spy pictures to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com show what looks like a Supertwin engine and what is definitely a clutch (click on any picture for large version): We got no information at all with these pictures so if you know any more, or if you would like to send your own spy pictures, then drop an E-Mail to [email protected]. ©Eurodragster.com UK Super Street Bike racer Dave Smith is posting £25 contingency for a UK Championship round win by anyone using ASNU cleaned injectors if the cleaning and maintenance work was carried out by Dave's Mobile Maintenance Service. A further £25 from ASNU is under negotiation. Racers must prominently display two ASNU decals which can be obtained from Dave. You can contact Dave's Mobile Maintenance Service on 01728 833016 or 07881 910137. Holger Camilleri tells that he has written an article for The Times of Malta to mark the arrival of Outlaw Anglia racers Mark Pointer and Pete Ashworth at Malta's Hal-Far Raceway, accompanied by Paul Wright and Holger himself as crew. The Hooligan and Pete will be making their first runs at Hal-Far this weekend and Holger has promised to keep us updated, but in the meantime you can read Holger's excellent piece about Mark Pointer at www.timesofmalta.com. Holger promises the same level of exposure in the media for any racer visiting Malta. The invitation's there... The annual prizegiving ceremony of the 1. Deutscher Verein für Drag Racing e.V. took place in Blankenbach, Germany last weekend writes Gittli Koller. "During the evening the prizes for successful drag racers were awarded in a great atmosphere and during an excellent dinner", says Gittli. "As last year, Peter Schöfer from Aich received the huge Challenge Cup as he the Club's most successful driver in 2007 with his Top Methanol Dragster. The cup went to Peter for the tenth time, and for the sixth time in a row. Second place went to Norbert Kuno and third to Patricia Kästner." Rick Cuthbert tells us that the Cycling News web site is currently featuring an interview with cycling champion Matt Crampton who is getting seriously into Run What You Brung. You can check out the interview at www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/A_Minute_With_Matt_Crampton_article_197474.html . *SCR safety partners renew support.* 14th March: With the opening meeting of the season just around the corner, Shakespeare County Raceway is pleased to confirm the continued sponsorship and support of DSRacewear and Nimbus CarbonX as safety partners for the APIRA crew in 2008, writes SCR's Marketing Manager Jerry Cookson. "It's very pleasing to have this support again from DSRacewear and Nimbus CarbonX for a fresh supply of firesuits and fireproof underwear for the APIRA crew", says Jerry. "Furthermore, I would just like to take this opportunity to say to both Ed Yates and Steve Clark, thanks for the support guys." DSRacewear can supply top quality racewear and safety equipment with no hidden charges, SFI/1/5/15 and /20 race suits custom-made to your measurements, SFI Spec Junior Dragster Suits and SFI Spec boots, harnesses and accessories mail order from their web site at www.dsracewear.co.uk. DSR can also supply multi-layer SFI transmission blankets, roll cage padding and a host of other accessories from respected American engine, transmission and chassis manufactures carrying the SFI certification tag, and are not sold from stock to guarantee longer life. Nimbus CarbonX is a carbon fibre-based material which has a much better thermal protective performance than its rivals, and shows no signs of degradation when washed many times. Manufactured in stylish natural black the Nimbus CarbonX underwear range not only has the highest limiting oxygen index of all flame resistant fabrics but in independent tests CarbonX has shown it can withstand extremely high temperatures for significantly longer than its closest competitor! Full details can be obtained from the company's web site at www.nimbusmotorsport.com. Ahead of this weekend's APIRA/SCR Training Weekend at the Raceway, both companies have pledged further support to aid the production of a Marshals' Handbook for 2008 detailing the role of marshals at a drag race meeting, general Health and Safety, oil down/clean-up procedures, fire prevention and rescue. ©Eurodragster.com *Carter's eggs-ellent idea.* 14th March: With the Auto Trader Easter Thunderball only a week away, UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Andy Carter is delighted to announce news of his Easter egg give-away! Over the years, Andy has been lucky enough to receive huge support from race fans and this has not gone unnoticed. "It's always a delight to meet fans in the pits and spend time getting to know the guys who cheer me on at trackside", says Andy. "Obviously this great sport of ours is unique in that allows the public such close contact with the drivers and crews alike and this year I really wanted to give something back". With this in mind, Andy has personally been out and bought eighty Easter eggs to give away! It's simple: when you hear John Price announce over the PA that Andy is ready, make your way over to the Lucas Oil / Carter Motorsport / Andersen Racing pit and Andy will be happy to personally hand over your egg. That's it. No competition, just come and say Hi! The give-away will take place on both Sunday and Monday of the event. Numbers obviously have to be limited so you must be one of the first forty to visit us and to be under the age of twelve. Make sure you also grab the new hero card which is being given away for the first time at this race. An A3 poster of the image will also be on sale and Andy will be on hand to sign one for you. The team look forward to seeing you at the track and Andy would like to personally thank you for your continued support. ©Eurodragster.com *Don't you know who I am?* 14th March: Eurodragster.com Photo Editor Roger Gorringe lip-read the words on the guy's face as he rode slowly past on an 'old-school' Triumph trike on Main Street, Daytona Beach, amid a myriad of other two-and three-wheelers during the resort's Bike Week in early March. "It's Andy !%$* Willsheer". Few can mistake AW's size, gait and stature, even in a large crowd. The trike stopped and he removed his sunglasses, revealing Top Fuel and Funny Car driver, Norm Wilding. Ex-pat Norm makes his living these days running his own motorcycle shop, Mid-Missouri Motorcycle Customs in Columbia, Missouri, and as a sideline builds one-offs for retail sale. He wishes to pass on his good wishes to friends and fans back in Britain and to assure us he is alive and kicking despite printed rumours of a recent accident that actually related to his Funny Car-destroying mishap at Gainesville's Gatornationals way back in 1995. Of the subject of today's rides, he freely admits he would be hesitant about stepping back into the seat of a Fuel Coupe in the U.S. "These cars are now turning 4.7s and 330+ mph and the tracks have not got any longer!", he says. ©Eurodragster.com Norm has kept in touch with North Herts Engineering's Mark Hawkins in England and it has been mooted he was offered a ride in Mark's new car, an ex-Terry Haddock AA/FC, which could still happen in a possible test session prior to Paul Knight taking the wheel. Norm would certainly relish the opportunity to again assault Santa Pod's asphalt quarter-mile should circumstances see fit, but in the interim check out www.midmomc.com to get an indication of how the Essex racer is currently making an honest living. The photo (click for large version) shows Norm and wife of six years, Linda, with his bobber Triumph trike at Daytona's Bike Week. *Magazine update.* 14th March: Nostalgia fans, better get your credit cards at the ready with the latest offerings from the store that gives you more - American Auto Mags, writes Jerry Cookson. The March edition of Drag Racer gives you an inside look at the Irwindale Reunion (thirty years since the last drag race don't you know) including specially-staged races in the parking lot of the NHRA's Motorsport Museum, a night out with Mike Kuhl (the other half of the Kuhl & Olson partnership) and the amazing Crusin' Nitro Night in a Californian business parking lot with two other nitro-guzzling fuellers, E-Town's Doorslammer Extravaganza from the East Coast, views from the SEMA Show, and a look at the 392 ci engine rebuild of the sixties Yeakel Plymouth Special slingshot dragster. Also in stock is the latest issue of Gasser Wars, the focal point for all gasser and short-wheelbase car enthusiasts everywhere. Issue 53 focuses on Rod Craig's Rezerection Henry J, the fifth annual Suffolk Raceway Reunion, slot car Gasser Nationals (yes I did say slot car Gasser Nationals) with at least sixty 1/24-scale period and replica gassers, pictures from the Gasser Shootout at Buffalo, New York, and a cool piece about the humble British Ford 100E and 300E series Prefects, Squires and Thames. Both issues are available now at £4.95 either direct from the American Auto Mags web site or by calling Graham Rennie on 01606 558252. ©Eurodragster.com *Introducing Persåkers Top Fuel Team.* 12th March: Swedish Top Fuel Dragster racer Jöran Persåker has announced a new team line-up for 2008 (right, click on picture for large version). Jöran also says that there is a possibility that the Persåkers Top Fuel Team may field two cars on occasion. "Kenneth Norling will be my Crew Chief this year", Jöran told Eurodragster.com. "Some of my other guys have worked with me before but I also have some new team members with a little Fuel experience. As well as Kenneth and I, my team is Eva Larsson (tuning), Stefan Bernardsson (blower, injector, fuel system, pneumatics and hydraulics), Dan Ohlén (left head), Eddie Landgren (right head), Bo Eliasson (engine), Anders Wickman (engine), Fredrik Enberg (clutch), Mia Ahrentorp (clutch), Ove Wahlberg (trucker and wheels), Carina Persåker (sales), Ingrid Trodin (cook), Rosie Millberg (movie star, video). ©Eurodragster.com "We will not be running at the FIA Main Event as with my limited budget I have to do some work! Also we will be taking our time to learn the car as we have a lot to learn before we run. Kenneth, Eva and I will be making the tuning decisions. We will do the rest of the 2008 FIA Championship and we will also go to the Blacksmith Nationals at Eskilstuna Airfield to do some sixty foot runs." Former Pro Comp racer Rosie Millberg, who last raced in 1977, is planning a return to the sport and if financial backing is secured then she will be driving Jöran's spare dragster, although in which class has yet to be decided. "Rosie and I have talked about running a second team car", said Jöran. "We talked about Top Fuel Dragster but Rosie has also been speaking to Krister Johansson so maybe it will run injected nitro in Top Methanol Dragster". *NFAA Thunderball format.* 12th March: The UK's Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association have announced their racing format for next week's Auto Trader Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway. Festivities start with a test and tune session on Friday. NFAA qualifying will then start with Saturday's session and will continue on Saturday afternoon, two sessions on Sunday, and one session on Monday morning. Each team's three best ETs from the five sessions will be aggregated after Monday morning's session and then the two quickest will race for the event title on Monday afternoon and the third and fourth will pair off for third/fourth place honours. As is usual with a Cannonball-type format there will be penalties for not appearing for a qualifying round. ©Eurodragster.com Series organiser Lawrie Gatehouse tells us that this may not necessarily be the way things are done for future rounds but that consideration had to be given this time around to the fact that it is the first run out since last year, and that early spring track conditions also had to be taken into account. *Swift snippets.* 12th March: Mark 'Animal' Bodimeade has been in touch from the Continent to warn those coming to Santa Pod via Calais and Dover next week to leave additional time for the journey as there are delays on both sides of the Channel due to industrial action by Sea France staff. "The delay on each side is about twelve hours and the industrial action is expected to last until at least Easter", says Animal. This great-looking altered is to be campaigned in the new German Super Pro ET class by twenty year old Julian Rose. Markus Münch tells us that the Angelheart was formerly the Incredible Hulk raced by Roy Morris but has had technical and cosmetic modifications. ©Eurodragster.com Changes are afoot in Sweden's JD Racing Pro Stock, Super Street and Junior Dragster team as Super Street Challenger drivers Jessica and Jennifer Gustafsson have become and are to be mothers respectively (see below). This augurs a return to the driving seat for Team Owner Christer Gustavsson at least for the start of the 2008 season. Jonas Dantanus' Pro Stock has new paint and the team have a new trailer. You can find out more on the JD Racing web site, which is now also available in English, at www.jd-racing.nu. Still on the subject of JD Racing, congratulations to Jonas Dantanus and Jessica Gustafsson on the birth of their as yet unnamed son who arrived on Saturday, weighing in at a touch under four kilogrammes. 5:00 pm this Friday (14th) is the deadline for advance ticket bookings for next week's Auto Trader Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway. "We advise you not to leave it to the last minute on Friday but to try and purchase your tickets before to save a backlog and possible disappointment" says Jo Harris of Santa Pod Raceway. "With over three hundred race teams entered, and a whole host of off-track entertainment taking place, you wouldn't want to miss out! Tickets can be bought on-line at www.santapod.com or by calling the hotline on 01234 782828. *SCR Kitted out for Showdown.* 12th March: Shakespeare County Raceway's Promotions Manager Jerry Cookson has been in touch to let us know about a new event in the Warwickshire drag strip's 2008 Public Track Day line-up. "I can't remember when we last had a kit-car based drag race in the UK, or even the world for that matter, but that's going to change on Saturday 17th May when the Complete Kit Car Showdown hits town", says Jerry. "The idea first came about following a chance meeting with Complete Kit Car magazine editor Ian Stent after a photo shoot at the Raceway last summer." "This is a great opportunity for kit car owners to try something completely different from the familiar motorsport options of track days or full competition", commented Ian. "We're really looking forward to coming to Shakespeare County Raceway and seeing what some of our readers' cars are capable of." Since the event was first announced in Complete Kit Car earlier this month the Showdown has started to gain momentum, attracting a lot of individual and club attention. The magazine's editorial team are putting up several trophies to be awarded to owners of the quickest and fastest kit car associated to that particular club. "Individual kit car owners have been to Shakespeare County before, and there have been some incredibly quick V8-powered Ultima sports cars around and, as a benchmark to follow, we reckon the quickest to date is Russ Pursley's nitrous injected 386ci Chevy-powered 1980 Dutton Phaeton which runs in the mid-nines at 136 mph and which is a regular and former series winner in the National Street Car Challenge", concludes Jerry. For further information about the Complete Kit Car Showdown or any other event at Shakespeare County Raceway visit www.shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk or www.completekitcar.co.uk, or call 01789 720180 or 01823 335443. ©Eurodragster.com *Web site updates.* 12th March: Eurodragster.com Reserve Photographer Peter Donaldson has updated his Fotopic gallery with pictures from the Fast Show weekend at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out Peter's shots at peterdonaldson5305.fotopic.net. The UK's Chaos Fuel Altered team have launched a web site at www.chaos-fuel-altered.com. The site, by Acceleration Archive webmaster Alan Currans, features news, galleries, team biographies, history and more. Alan Currans has also found time to update his Acceleration Archive with a seventh page of Mark Gredzinski's fascinating collection of photographs and artwork. "Just when you thought the multi-talented Mark Gredzinski had showcased just about every visual genre possible in connection with drag racing, he comes up with a new one - badges!", says Alan. "Mark used to produce small runs of hand-made badges commissioned by various teams and a selection of fourteen are included on this page. There are also photographs, black and white drawings, and paintings all of which are accompanied by Mark's informative and entertaining captions". Check it out at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. ©Eurodragster.com Supertwin racer Paul Castle has updated his Grandpa's Toy Racing web site with a new Photo Gallery page featuring three albums of his own racing pictures. "Current albums include the Gainesville AHDRA race in March 2006, and the 2007 Easter Thunderball and FIA Main Event last year", says Paul. You can take a look at www.freewebs.com/grandpastoyracing. *Swift snippets.* 11th March: If you would like to test before next week's Auto Trader Easter Thunderball then a limited number of entries will be available on the gate first-come first-served for this Saturday's (15th) Peak Performance Day at Santa Pod Raceway. Peak Performance Days are limited-entry test events with full track and safety cover including National event-standard track prep. For more details on Peak Performance Days including entry and sign-on fees, check out www.rwyb.com. Congratulations to Swedish Pro Stock racer Adam Flamholc on being the first European into the 6.6s with a 6.699/205.35 in testing at Valdosta yesterday. A big thumbs up also to Swedish Pro Modified racer Roger Johansson who clocked a best of 6.256/225.22. Our good buddy Patrik Jacobsson tells us that Roger clocked a sixty foot time of 1.025, 2.717 to 330 feet, and went through the eighth at 4.085/181.01. You can read more at www.dragracecentral.com and more from Roger at www.mdrf.se. ©Eurodragster.com We would like to wish a very Happy Birthday to UK Super Street Bike racer and King of Naughtiness Graham Dance whom we understand is currently sunning himself. We hope you have a great day G. If you happened to see on BBC News yesterday the footage of an aircraft getting thrown about by the wind as it landed at London City Airport, then you may be interested to read that your News Editor was sitting in seat 16A of that very aircraft. You had to be there to get the full impact, though. Editor's note: Your News Editor's day job is getting in the way and Simon is not able to stand in today so it's the briefest of news updates. We will catch up on tomorrow's news update. In the meantime keep those news items coming to [email protected]. *More support for Eurodragster.com.* 9th March: We are very pleased to announce that two more sponsors have signed up to Eurodragster.com News. First up is Peter Walters of Peter Walters Race Design who expresses himself very proud to be the latest and youngest sponsor of what he describes as one of the best drag racing web sites in the world. "As a racer and news contributor myself I would like to thank Eurodragster.com for all their support of the sport in general, me as a racer, and now my business", says Peter. "Whilst I am one of the new kids on the block with regard to running my own business, I have been involved in the drag race scene all my life. Rumour has it I was even conceived at the track. I have raced in Junior Dragster for six years and am now in Super Pro ET. "Having already assisted various racers and race teams in Europe with graphic design work which has included producing web sites, T shirts, renderings and logo designs whilst I was learning my trade at school and college, I decided that I should start my own business, PWRD, and thanks to the support of some really great people and satisfied customers, the business is steadily growing. "In addition to the above services, PWRD can offer complete race car and trailer graphic designs and in association with the excellent preparation and painting skills of J&W Automotive, I have been able to see the job right through to the completed painted article, although I am just as happy to produce work for your own paint specialist. ©Eurodragster.com "Drag racing is a big part of my life and I am proud that my work has been appreciated by many racers and race teams, from Junior Dragster to Top Fuel Dragster. So if you are looking for some stunning graphic design, team wear, print media or you want to find out about starting or updating your own web site, then I would be very pleased to assist you with your project or ideas. Take a look at my own site (a work in progress) at www.pwrd.co.uk and see some of the work I have done or am doing. If you like what you see, then I would be happy to quote you for your individual needs. I think you will find my services both unique and cost effective. Or just come and say Hi at the track, I will be happy to discuss your needs or just chat about racing. I would also like to say a big thanks to my own sponsors J&W, Gold RV, Xtreme Racing, MHG Precision and MG Finishing. Without their support I would not be able to do what I am doing!" Since 1959, Simpson Performance Products has been the leading manufacturer of safety equipment to the US Motorsports industry. Simpson believe in putting safety first and are dedicated to elevating the standards of racing safety through continuous development, refinement and testing. Through Simpson's Master Warehouse Distributor in the Nordic area they will now expand their business. Simpsonshop was established in Sweden three years ago with an on-line shop and an extensive trackside service. In 2008 the shop will expand its offerings. The web site will be upgraded to include German, Norwegian and English and the trackside service will be completed with even more products which can be bought and delivered at the race track. Simpson sales in the Nordic ares are managed by Jan "JP" Phersson and Annelie Olsson. This season they will if everything goes as planned debute their three-year project, a Super Stock Eliminator Dodge Viper. This Viper is the first ever built for the legendary Super Stock class. For more information on Simpson products and services or to place your orders check out www.simpsonshop.se. We are very grateful to Peter and to Jan for their support and we are sure that our readers will show their appreciation by considering their products and services. A tip of the hat also to our existing sponsors who although nominally in competition were quite ready to share site space with our new recruits. *Weekend event updates.* 9th March: With none of the Eurodragster.com staff able to attend today's (Monday's) SFI Day at Santa Pod Raceway due to work commitments we stood in danger of breaking a long tradition of reporting from the European SFI Tour. However, thanks to a suggestion by Svensk Dragracing Chairman Kjell Pettersson your News Editor spent the weekend in Sweden watching the SFI Team do the business at Persåker's Speed Shop in Åkers Styckebruk. In the latest of our occasional series of Features presented in association with John Woolfe Racing we have put together a pictorial account of the Swedish SFI Weekend. You can check out the Feature, which covers extra-mural activities as well as the inspections themselves, by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. It was a very busy weekend for Arnie Kuhns, Tim Hyatt, Murf McKinney and Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Andy Robinson as they inspected no less than seventy five bellhousings and sixty eight clutches, which was an increase of thirty five per cent on last year's total. This was on top of ten per cent increases in both Germany and Finland. ©Eurodragster.com Tog would like to thank everyone who officiated at and attended the SFI Weekend in Sweden and who made him so welcome, and would like to say particular thanks for assistance, transport and accommodation to Kjell Pettersson, Lars Pettersson, Christer Abrahamson, Pernilla Rosander and Jöran Persåker. You can also find some words and pictures from Persåker's Speed Shop at EurodragsterNorth.com. Meanwhile at Santa Pod Raceway the Marangoni Fast Show was taking place. Rick Cuthbert tells us that despite dire forecasts (Only from 200mph members - Ed) the event escaped the worst of the weather and the track went almost uninterrupted track on Sunday. The show was also extremely busy considering the weather reports, and the performance and modified car scene got its season off to a fine start. Although nothing significant happened in drag racing terms, most of the top Run What You Brung cars were out and running very strongly, and there was plenty going on on the drift track and around the site. Peter attended the Fast Show weekend for Eurodragster.com and has provided us with a gallery which is presented in association with American Car Imports. You can check out the Fast Show weekend gallery by clicking here or by clicking on the link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. *Swift snippets.* 9th March: Big pats on the back to Swedish Pro Stock racers Adam Flamholc and Jimmy Ålunch, Finnish Pro Stock racer Richard Sundblom, and Swedish Pro Mod racer Roger Johansson who all gave good accounts of themselves in testing at Valdosta over the weekend. Maybe having an advantage due to familiarity with dodgy weather conditions, Adam for a while held FTD of 6.705 whilst Roger ran a storming 6.283. You can find out more at Drag Race Central and event sponsor Competition Plus. The guys are now all off to Gainesville for this weekend's Gatornationals where they join Urs Erbacher. ©Eurodragster.com Eurodragster.com News sponsor Chris Isaacs will be deputising for Spencer Tramm in the Quantum Leap Corrado in Super Pro ET at next week's Auto Trader Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway. Chris is very familiar with the car as he constructed it, and has driven it on previous occasions. Editor's note: We have a small backlog of news as your News Editor got back from Stockholm not a couple of hours ago, went straight to his day job, hasn't yet had lunch, and is shagged out. More tomorrow but in the meantime keep those news items coming to [email protected]. *MSD customer service at SPR.* 9th March: FIA Pro Stock racer Michael Malmgren has been in touch to say that representatives of MSD Ignition and Racepak Data Systems will be at Santa Pod with products to sell and to service existing customers. This will be posible through an agreement with GPR Motorsports Equipment, the new MSD/Racepak dealer in UK. The contact person at GPR in the UK is Bruce Chambers at 01327 855585. Joe Pando from MSD Headquarters in the U.S. and Tim Anderson will also be on site at santa Pod. Michael said "It's important we support USA manufactors when they look into European market, and it's also very good for all teams to be able to get service at the track." *B & H Automotive Street Eliminator.* 9th March: Street Eliminator are proud to announce that B & H Automotive have agreed to become title sponsors for the popular and exciting class in 2008. Racer Colin Lazenby, whose wife Anne-Marie is membership secretary and can be contacted here said: "We are indebted to Trevor and John at B & H Automotive, who have a combined 30 year association with Drag Racing, and for supplying hardcore race equipment." To find out about their full range of services, visit them or call them at their Doncaster shop on 01302 368774. The class has moved to a new domain name and the web site has been totally revamped at www.streeteliminator.org. Street Eliminator also announce their other associate and contingency sponsors for 2008: Roadcool Refrigeration return to the SE following a four year absence and thanks to Steve for his renewed interest. Webster Race Engineering remain as sponsors, with contingency sponsor Powerpour. Andy Robinson Race Cars also remain as sponsors with Stroud Safety as a contingency sponsor. Eurodragster is proud to continue as a sponsor – thanks to Tog for providing us with access to the best Drag Racing web site in the World (You're welcome - stand-in News Editor). Quartermile High DVDs – thanks to 'DVD Dave' and Helen. RPM magazine – thanks to Chris and Trish Biro, and to Ian Hook. American Car World magazine – thanks to Rich Nicholls and Ian Hook. Embroidery Solutions – thanks to Martin for his continued support. To all sponsors and loyal followers of the class, here's to an exciting 2008 - let battle commence. Stripteaser on schedule. 9th March: Sandie Gibb says that the restoration of the historic altered Stripteaser is still on schedule and has sent some more photos of the "sexy little beast". The chassis has now gone in for paint, and we are promised updates as they happen in the final stages. *Swift snippets.* 9th March: Following our spy picture published on 5th March, car owner Vic Amato thinks the cat is probably out of the bag, but obliged by sending another a rather obvious clue; he also mentioned the Ford motor is all in and ready to go now. He added "I look forward to seeing Malcolm Motler and his lovely family soon, he is one of our true Pro ET gentlemen. I'm glad he will be rejoining us; it looks like he has had a lot on his plate,like the new garage and the grass, but he must get rid of that awful stain on the block paving." *Web site updates.* 9th March: John Hutchison has updated his site at Webshots with three issues of "Shutdown" - the journal of the North East Hot Rod Association - from April 1971, August 1973 and November 1973. *SFI Tour kicks off.* 8th March: We are indebted to Gittli Koller of Peter Schöfer's team for sending a report and a number of photos from the German stop on the European SFI tour right, click on photo for gallery: The 2008 Tour started in Hockenheim, Germany on Thursday March 6th. The SFI delegation with Arnie Kuhns, Tim Hyatt and Murf McKinney arrived in Frankfurt from the USA on Wednesday 5th. Eurodragster.com home and news page sponsor Andy Robinson joined them from then UK. The recertification took place in the Sachs Haus at the Hockenheim Ring, which most racers know as the race office at the NitrolympX. There were many racers from Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands who had clutches, bellhousings and trans flex shields to get recertified. Altogether there were even more inspections than in the past, so it was quite a busy day for the SFI delegation. The German tech inspector, Mike Barnett, finished his exams so he is good for another two years for SFI chassis and safety cage inspections. The racers want to thank Arnie Kuhns, Tim Hyatt, Murf McKinney and Andy Robinson for coming to Germany and Rico Anthes and Hockenheimring GmbH for arranging everything at the Hockenheim Ring and their hospitality. *Swift snippets.* 8th March: Carl Burton, Pro ET racer and sponsorship scheme co-ordinator extraordinaire, has kindly sent us front and back prints of the 2008 Pro ET class T shirts (left and right). Carl says "All drivers in the scheme will get one free and £5 to their crew; many thanks to Toxico Clothing, and to all our sponsors...see me at Easter. VP Racing Nitro is soon to be available from VP Racing Fuels UK Importer/Distributor MotorShack – Call Steve Wood on 01926 633379 or see www.motorshack.com and email [email protected]. VP Nitro Race is used by five-time NHRA champion Tony Schumacher Funny Car star Robert Hight. Many thanks to Paula Marshall of Santa Pod Racers' Club for sending us the provisional running order for the Autotrader Easter Thunderball. You can check out the provisional running order by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. As ever, these are for guidance only and may vary with track or weather conditions. Sharron Collier says that it's husband and bike champion Jerry Collier's birthday today. "He can't celebrate it because he can't come out of the garage, trying to get the stocker finished. He's got his laptop in there so could you wish him a happy birthday for us and tell him there are some cards waiting for him in the house, and we will see him sometime! We'll be having a few beers for him tonight, but we'll try to keep the noise down so that he can concentrate on the bike." No sooner said than done, have a great day Jerry. *Time is running out.* 8th March: There is only one month to go until the start of the new King of Europe Drag Series. After a successful shift to Eastern Europe in 2007 for the West vs East Edition, the organisers have decided to split the event with an East Edition on 12th - 13th April which will be followed by a West Edition in June. For this 2008 East event, after Poland, the race has moved to Tököl Hungary, another military airport, 1500 metres long by 80 metres wide and this time with a quality surface. For driver registrations, due to problems the organisers have had with operating Paypal, racers can register onsite and pay directly at the gates. The registration fee is 80 euros, and the more drivers, the bigger money prize. Here is the official programme of the week-end : 12th April: - Free practice for King of Europe competitors. - Donald Pottier Jetcar speed record (400km/h +). - Donald Pottier Jetshow at night. - International Drag Bike Cup (Pl, Sk,A,RO,CZ) (round 1). - American Oldtimer show. - Dance Shows. - Sport Shows. - Hungarian Nationals (round 1) 10:00 - 20:00. - VIP party for King of Europe competitors in Budapest. 13th April: - King of Europe East : qualifications and finals. - Donald Pottier Jetcar Speed record secound try (400km/h+). - International Show'n Shine Cup (round 2). - Japan Car Show. - Dance Shows. - Hungary's most beautiful girls. - English and Hungarian announcers with Polish and Russian interpreters. More information including maps and local accommodation can be found on on www.kingofeurope.net. *Web site updates.* 8th March: Tim Fountain has recently updated his website with a number of galleries including the Flame and Thunder Show, the Motor Cycle Show including the display of sprint and rag bikes and the Autosport Show including live action, the static displays and also the HKS series awards presentations. The address to go to is www.timtime.co.uk. Tim also mentioned he is proud to sponsor Ian Turboville's Nitro Bike team. Showtime up to spec. 7th March: The chassis of the UK's Showtime Fuel Funny Car is now back in its workshop after a visit to new sponsor Webster Race Engineering for the required modifications to bring it up to the new SFI 10.1E spec for Fuel Funny Cars: Jon Webster and his team have done an excellent job. One of the main modifications was the installation of a "cross" and additional bracing in the bottom of the chassis behind the motor plate, otherwise referred to as the "McKinney Fix". These latest chassis updates are as a result of the findings from the team of people who investigated what caused John Force's car to break in half at the O'Reilly Nationals in September 2007. With input from all the JFR Crew Chiefs and chassis builder Murf McKinney they have put together a stronger safety area around the driver. This will be an ongoing project at John Force Racing through the Eric Medlen Project, to develop a safer car for the future. The other main area for modification was the steering cross tube on the top chassis rail (right, click on picture for large version). This now has to be bolted in with the addition of an extra cross member. John Webster fabricated and mounted this to bring the car up to the new spec and also re-positioned the fixings for the force shield and tinwork. The picture at right shows the complete assembly offered up. Removing this sub-assembly will now be the primary access to the clutch for servicing. The first task with the chassis back was to install a block and clutch to ensure everything fitted as we wanted, as well as familiarising ourselves with the new layout. As you can see if you click on the link everything was perfect. Jon Webster and his team have done a great job in a short time and Showtime Racing would like to thank them publicly for their efforts. We are also pleased to announce that Webster Race Engineering have joined the sponsors of Showtime Racing. ©Eurodragster.com *Good Formula link.* 7th March: NG Motorsport, the Super Pro team owned by Nick Good have announced a sponsorship package from Formula Tanker Rental, the company that owns and sponsors Simon Rowland's expanding E-Hell race operation. Nick said: Team E-Hell who also receive backing from Formula purchased our last race car in 2007. As they were a new team to drag racing in 2007 we were pleased to be able to offer support and advice on the set up and running of the car, and since then a friendship has developed between our teams. Hopefully this will lead to increased performance and competitiveness on the track for both teams. Recently E-Hell purchased a new state of the art dragster to become the first two car team in Super Pro drag racing and setting new standards of professionalism in our sport. We would like to thank Steve James of Formula Tanker Rentals and their number one driver Simon Rowland all the best for 2008. I would also like to thank my team colleagues Andy Richardson, Bob Walker and Hester Chapman for their assistance over the winter months preparing the car and race transporter for the coming season; without their help and dedication we wouldn't be racing. We would like to thank all our sponsors for their assistance during the 2007 season: Beovax Computer Services, Focal Point Digital, Morris Armitage, Hardwick Road Garage, Chris Brown Body Repairs, BGC Motorsport Components, D&R Engineering and Glas-Weld Systems. The picture was taken at a recent photo shoot for Chris Brown Body Repairs, outside their newly-built state of the art repair centre on Trafalgar Industrial Estate in Downham Market, Norfolk. They specialise in accident repair, classic car restoration, supply and fitment of body kits and are approved by most major insurance companies. Chris has painted both our race cars to show standard. You can contact Chris Brown on 01366 386608 for a quotation or advice. *Web site updates.* 7th March: Longtime friend and US photographer Bob Frye has kindly sent us a set of Pro-class photographs from the recent NHRA Winternationals at Pomona. You can check out Bob's pictures at www.togsdragracing.com/2008nhrawinternationals/index.htm. *Flynn joins our Blog team.* 6th March: We are very pleased to announce the addition of another Racer Blog to Eurodragster.com. Joining Top Duel Dragster racer Lex Joon is Top Fuel Dragster racer-to-be Derek Flynn of Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Gold RV. As you would expect, Derek's first Blog entry is an introduction to himself, his team and his racing career, and also includes his thoughts about moving to Top Fuel Dragster. We think that Derek sounds both excited and nervous about the whole thing, which we would say is about right, but see what you think. As does Lex, Derek aims to update his Blog on a regular basis and he also plans to invite team members to contribute on occasion. ©Eurodragster.com You can read Derek's first Blog entry by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. If you would like to post your own Blog on Eurodragster.com then please drop an E-Mail to [email protected]. *Motler returns, with Minor adjustments.* 6th March: The originator of last Sunday's spy picture of an engine not yet in the UK has broken cover, and it turns out to be UK Pro ET racer Malcolm Motler. Malcolm's very pretty Morris Minor pick-up spent a year away from the track in 2007 although Malcolm tells us that he was far from idle: In 2006 we decided to move house out into the sticks a little bit, for a bit more space etc. We took a year out in 2007 to do just that after eight seasons on the trot in Pro ET and a couple of meetings Super Gas. Wilst this was going on we had the pleasure of crewing for Steve and Jayne Wells and learning about their new Enderle methanol set-up, and we helped Andy Chilton get his Super Mod finished for Easter and crewed for him at a couple of meetings. We moved house in the middle of August and set ourselves a target to get our new garage up and the back garden finished by the end of October, which we did laying the turf on the last weekend of October. Thanks for your help Steve Good, bruv "Gadget" Graham, Ash, Andy C and Sue, Daniel, and mum and dad. Now it was Car Time, yee-ha! ©Eurodragster.com Over the last year or so we had been in touch with Steve Morris at Steve Morris Racing Engines in the USA about supplying us with a custom mounted Procharger, a kit of internal parts for the engine and fuel system etc. In November the motor was stripped and checked out and was all OK bar a few small scratches in the bores, so off it went to the machine shop for honing. After a bit of a delay there we placed order in January for a D1 SC Procharger, SMRE custom pistons, SMRE roller cam, H-beam rods, SMRE launch controller and all the other various parts we needed. Steve is just finishing off our pipework and mounting the bypass valves, then it will be shipped over to us sometime in March. Steve was recommended to us; he has been very helpful and certainly knows his onions when it comes to Prochargers . We have also replaced the ignition system in favour of an MSD programmable Digital 7 series and ditched the rear drum brakes - which weighed a hefty seventy two pounds! - and replaced them with a lightweight Strange Engineering Pro Race disc kit supplied by Andy Robinson Race Cars. That just leaves us the assembly of the motor when the parts arrive, a few mods to the bulkhead to accommodate the pipework, then off to the dyno to see what we can come up with. Hopefully this will give us enough power to reach that elusive goal of a Nine which we've been chasing since 1994, and better our best of 10.03/133 mph. We are really looking forward to getting back to the track now, good luck to everyone this season. *Trailer urgently sought.* 6th March: Finland's Mad Bomber Racing Top Fuel Dragster team will be working without their usual truck and trailer at the Auto Trader Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway and would be pleased to hear from anyone who can help with hire or loan of a suitable vehicle. "The vehicle will not be needed for transport of the race car", says Simo Patoharju. "The suitable vehicle would be anything from a small rigid to an artic or even just a forty-foot trailer with no tractor unit. The intention is to use the vehicle to work out of, so a bare minimum is an empty trailer, but anything with worktops, power, air (i.e. the usual support systems), an awning and exterior lighting would be absolutely ideal. The team will have their own tools and of course race car but need something better to work from than an awning. "The non-availability of the usual rig at Easter is due to matters of logistics and will not hamper our performance. Remember "You don't race the trailer!" "If you can help please call me on +358-9-682 42 555, or E-Mail [email protected]. Anyone helping out free of charge will of course be welcome to an inside view of the race weekend with our Top Fuel team as repayment for the favour." *Bull's SFI queries.* 6th March: Eurodragster.com Swap Meet sponsor, engine builder and performance parts supplier Jeff Bull tells us that he has received a number of queries from racers about SFI tagging on flexplates, transmission shields and Dedenbear transmission cases. "Most racers including myself have overlooked the ruling on these items, and it's only Geoff Martin's reminder on Eurodragster.com that has opened our eyes to this SFI requirement", says Jeff. "As a parts supplier I keep a good stock of SFI flexplates, but in doing so whilst these new parts are on the shelf the date tags are running out. So in some instances I end up having to supply a flex plate which is up to twelve months old, and has a third of its tag gone. Anyway this is going to be one of my questions to the SFI guys on Monday - how I can get new parts retagged at no extra cost to Jeff Bull Race Engines and my customers. ©Eurodragster.com "If anyone out there has a problem getting their 168-tooth internal / external balanced flex plates retagged then I will have new items with me at Santa Pod on Monday, but a limited number for obvious reasons. "The other thing which has come apparent is that some racers have got their cars all ready for the first Test Day and now have to pull them apart again to get their stuff recertified ten days before the first race; to say that they are pissed-off is an understatement. "We are taking a back seat on the Easter Thunderball as the workload has been too great to even look at our Super Comp truck, so we will be looking in on you from the stands. I will keep you posted on the outcome of my questions to the SFI guys." *Swift snippets.* 6th March: European Pro Stock racers Jimmy Ålund, Richard Sundblom and Adam Flamholc will be starting their US Tours at the test session at South Georgia Motorsports Park today (Thursday). We understand that Pro Modified racer Roger Johansson will also be attending. You will be able to stay in touch with their progress on the Competition Plus web site at www.competitionplus.com and we will of course bring you any news we receive. ©Eurodragster.com Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall for forwarding us the final version of the official Auto Trader Easter Thunderball entry list, which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page and selecting the Auto Trader Easter Thunderball. If you think you should be on the list, or if you have any queries, then please get in touch with Paula on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail [email protected]. Further to yesterday's news item about developments at Drachten Airfield in The Netherlands, pictures of the start of the work can be seen on the eXplosion Club web site at www.explosiondragracing.com/?px=%2FAirstrip+werkzaamheden%2F&p=79. Mick Pusey tells us that he is handling the sale of the last of the orignal World Street Race T-Shirts. "There are twenty six shirts remaining", says Mick. "They are all XL in size and are £10 each plus £3 postage, although if people want to pay a bit more to help Andy Frost then even better! All money collected will go directly to Frosty as he funded the T-Shirts from his own pocket. These are WSR 1 shirts from the 2005 event and could be said to be collectable! Interested parties can text me on 07973 740076 and I will reply with my address for payment." *Paul and Bill's excellent adventure.* 6th March: Bill Felstead of the UK's Felstead and Wright Fuel Altered and Paul Marston of Eurodragster.com News sponsor Paul Marston Racing have just returned from the USA on an urgent mission to arrange the import of parts for the 2008 season without which some race cars may have been absent. Paul Marston takes up the story: At very short notice - booked on 13th February, fly on 14th February, not a popular choice with the girls but needs must - we flew over to Florida not knowing what we were going to face. We were on a mission as all of our and eight other UK teams' parts and equipment stuck in Florida since last October. We intended to have a parting of the waves party to get everything back in time for the Easter Thunderball. Failing that, due to the current diabolical shipping situation in the States, the trailer would not leave until mid-April at the earliest unless a cancellation slot became available. Bill and I had to carry some very unusual hand and hold luggage, otherwise there would have been a few absentees at Easter. Another knock on effect is that Paul Marston Racing's Super Modified entry is currently on hold, with a possibility of a début in 2008 spec later on this season. ©Eurodragster.com On a lighter note, as the docks and offices are shut at the weekends, Bill and I found ourselves one weekend at an Outlaw eighth-mile track which was running an Import Shootout with big prize money and three thirty two-car eliminators. The racers and fans were mainly Puerto Rican and the race cars on the whole were Toyota Starlets, Datsun 120Ys, Mazda 323s and Nissans, mainly running Liberty five-speeds, all with rotary motors and enormous nitrous systems or turbos or both! As I am sure you can imagine the attrition was constant and spectacular. The top classes were running the equivalent of eights and nines. Of course Bill and I fitted right in, not only being the only white guys there but English as well. All of the announcements were in Spanish, and to keep the racers and crowd under control the promoters use armed security Guards. We decided that it was time to leave when the local favorite took a hit on the wall just past the finish line and rolled badly, and the place erupted. Just to add a little more flavour the girl in the burger kiosk, describing hereself as a '"Country girl not a redneck girl" took great pleasure in telling us that she lived in a swamp and shot alligators which trespassed on her property. She told Bill what part of the gator you could eat, how to cook it and what it tasted like...yep, you guessed it - chicken! The bit that Bill found most disturbing was that following logic, there were obviously the carcases of gators strewn around outside her house, which certainly painted a picture! We also managed to visit ex-pat Tony Morris who was racing at the NHRA Bradenton Divisional season opener. Whilst there we witnessed a pair of five-second Super Pro ET dragsters. I kid you not, only in America! Back to the shipping and it was really touch and go as we were waiting on a call from the US shipping broker to let us know if the port would accept our cargo. With the sheer amount of business being offered to them the shipping lines have the luxury of being to pick and choose what they accept, it sounds crazy but thats how it is. With time running out - this was 2:30 pm on the day before we flew home - Bill called the shipping brokers again and they chased the Port Authority and we finally got an answer that, although we could not take it direct to the port, they would accept the cargo. This meant that we could at least take the cargo to storage just outside the port of Jacksonville. So I had a night drive with truck and trailer up to the Jacksonville area, then overnight in a local hotel. On the day of our return flight, I arrived at the storage facility before it opened and dropped the trailer off after being told that the storage fees were to be doubled. I drove back to Kissimmee (180 miles) packed everything including a pair of Funny Car slicks and a complete clutch, checked out late from the hotel, delivered Bill to the airport with ten bags of luggage, took the truck back to Orlando, collected the rental car and returned it to Hertz, and went to the airport to check in. I had to explain the luggage, pay six hundred dollars in excess baggage, and run through the airport just catching the plane home. Bill and I would like to thank fellow Eurodragster.com sponsor Malcolm Francis of Air Sea Logistics who has been instrumental in fixing our shipping problem. We are not out of the woods yet but we can see light at the end of the long dark tunnel. I cannot overstate how much hard work Bill and I have had to put into sorting this situation out. We are not looking for sympathy but a little recognition that both of us had to close up our businesses and take two weeks off to go to the USA to sort this mess out. I must emphasise that this is not a problem we created, just one we went to fix. Shipping is such a mess at many Ports in the States, mostly due to the weak dollar a while back, that according to our US shipping broker the port of Jacksonville was actually shut for two days a couple of weeks ago to allow them to sort things out and catch up. The story has a happy ending so far, but did not come without an extraordinary effort from two people, plus the help and co-operation of so many American drag racers in Florida who were sympathetic to our situation. Without the use of their equipment, time, labour, trucks, lifting gear, and facilities none of this would have been possible. There are simply too many to mention but you all know who you are. Bill and I and all the other UK drag racers caught up in this will always be grateful for your help. *Drachten: It's official.* 5th March: A Declaration of Intent was signed yesterday in the Smallingerland City Hall by Dragrace Club eXplosion and Stichting Vliegveld Drachten, which means that drag racing can again take place on the airstrip at Drachten. The signing of this Declaration of Intent marks an end of a long period of negotiations between Dragrace Club eXplosion, the county of Smallingerland and Stichting Vliegveld Drachten. During the summer of 2006, more than thirty years of Dutch drag racing came to a sudden halt because of an excessive track clean-up. Things started rolling again in the summer of 2007, after an initiative by small group of concerned citizens who wanted to see drag racing come back to their local airstrip. The city council unanimously agreed the citizens' motion. After the mayor of Drachten, Bert Middel, also agreed with eXplosion's plans, negotiations could start which finally resulted in yesterday's signing of the Declaration of Intent by both parties. Dragrace Club eXplosion now has the right to organize three drag racing events per year, for the next five years. This right was very important for eXplosion because of the investments needed to alter the airstrip is a total of €150,000. The money will be primarily funded by investors and sponsors. The three race weekends for 2008 are planned for 20th-22nd June, 11th-13th July and 29th-31st August. Contractior Joost Visser is due to start work on the track surface today so drag racers can run again on 21st-22nd of June. The current airstrip will be lengthened by 92 metres in the start area. The following 220 metres will be ground and new asphalt will also be laid down. The first 310 metres of the track will not be used by aircraft; they will use the remaining 710 metres for landing and take off. Track work will have to be completed by the 15th March, because of the upcoming bird breeding season. During the breeding season no activity is allowed on the field of the airport. Chairman of eXplosion, Theo Willemse, was very pleased with the result and signing of the agreement. "We can make runs again and we'll now get a drag strip of European quality", he said. "Without the help of contractor Joost Visser things might have been a lot harder to accomplish in time". Theo also wants to thank the VVD and SP parties and others for their political support. Big thanks also go to the citizens who filed the initiative so that it became an item on the local goverment's agenda. Thanks are also due to the people who co-operated during this period. Bert Middel was pleased to be able announce on local radio the return of drag racing to Drachten and the economic importance for the area. ©Eurodragster.com *Lonely? See Söderquist.* 5th March: Knut Söderquist of Sweden's Carbon By Design Fuel team has been in touch to bring us up to date on developments both within his own operation and with the Funny Car Series which is planned for this year: I have done a deal with Håkan Fällström to drive my new nitro Funny Car. It will be a 2008 Charger with a wild design - in a couple of days I will have news of the main sponsor and the design of the car. Håkan has been busy getting sponsors together whilst I have been in full swing getting all the necessary updates done on the car. I am looking forward to the season as right now the Funny Cars have three dates confirmed in Piteå, Sundsvall and Gardermoen and hopefully we will very soon have a fourth track in England. The Series will be sponsored and it looks like a very decent deal. This will be a drag racing series with prize money, how about that, and every winner will receive a trophy like the Oscars in the USA presented by Carbon By Design. I am also setting up a dating service named Thai Love Link which will also be on the car - how many drag racers are there looking for a new girlfriend or wife after theirs have been browned off by too much interest in the race car. ©Eurodragster.com The good thing for me as car owner is that the two cars I will be racing this year will not be running at the same event. So Alan Jackson can concentrate on Derek Flynn and Micke Kågered's cars when we run Top Fuel, and he can concentrate on Håkan's car and also give some tuning help to Patrik Pers when we run the Funny Cars. First up will be Derek's licencing runs. His car is almost ready; the biggest problem right now is getting the necessary parts from the USA. There is a long wait for us Europeans to get what we need - I am still waiting for Top Fuel parts which I ordered in 2007. It will be the usual deal with very expensive airfreight at the last minute, but you've got to do it. *ELPA Greek Championship set.* 5th March: Elias Vathias has been in touch with news of the 2008 ELPA Greek Drag Racing Championship: The races are going to held in Serres and Polykastro in North Greece, with the LENOE and LEMAK clubs. We still haven't found any proper places into Southern Greece. The complete schedule is: 22nd-23rd March: Polykastro 19th-20th April: Serres 24th-25th May: Polykastro 13th-14th September: Serres 4th-5th October: Polykastro 1st-2nd November: Serres ©Eurodragster.com During the summer months, some other non-Championship drag races may be held in Creta. This year, some changes have been made in our Championship classes. Most of them are good, but some of them made many racers complain. The most important change is a new PRO 4 class for automatics, and also that BT class vehicles (street vehicles) that run quicker than 10.5 (turbos) or 11.5 (non-turbos) will be forced to run in AT (lightweight) classes. The complaints mainly come from a change in the auto classes which does not separate small block motors up to 1600 cc from the bigger motors. These small block motors formed an entry level class for many young people who we are trying to keep them away from street racing and bring to the track. We hope that ELPA will reconsider this point in the future. You can check all the current Class Records at www.greekdragster.com/records/records.shtml. *Supercharged Outlaws date update.* 5th March: Dave McKenzie tells us that the UK's Supercharged Outlaws have modified their 2008 Championship dates after an offer from Shakespeare County Raceway Marketing Manager Jerry Cookson. The Outlaws' original final Championship date clashed with the UK National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway and so the class was invited to appear instead at the Halloween Bonfire Burn-Up. The updated Supercharged Outlaws Championship calendar was accepted at last weekend's Annual General Meeting and is as follows. Points will be counted from the best four of the five Championship rounds: 19th-20th April: Test and Tune, Shakespeare County Raceway (non points) 31st May-1st June: Yanks Weekend, Shakespeare County Raceway 28th-29th June: UK Truck Show, Santa Pod Raceway 2nd-3rd August: Northern Nationals, York Raceway 8th-9th August: Bulldog Bash, Shakespeare County Raceway 25th-26th October: Halloween Bonfire Burn-Up, Shakespeare County Raceway ©Eurodragster.com "It was also voted that in 2008 all cars will run diapers voluntarily with this rule becoming mandatory for 2009", says Fuzzie. "As we run mostly at Run What You Bring events we do not come under the MSA, but we are to make sure that from 2009 all cars will have a chassis tag to enhance the safety aspect of our class. "The Supercharged Outlaws now have twenty teams signed up for the 2008 season. Sponsors for 2008 are B and G Services, Cradley Heath West Midlands; LA Commercials, Willenhall, West Midlands; Roy Wilding Race Cars, Oldbury; Clive Bush and Son Ltd; Paul Watts; Fester Race Cars, Romford, Essex; and Jon Best." *Swift snippets.* 5th March: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com shows, we are told, a 598 ci motor which has been dyno'd at 945 bhp with 850 ft/lb at 4500 rpm and will surely fit in the car that it is intended for, even if it has to be squeezed in a bit. And if that doesn't give you a clue, and if you don't pay any attention at all to Eurodragster.com News, then take a look at the rocker cover. Kenneth Lorentzon has had to withdraw his Fuel Funny Car from the Auto Trader Easter Thunderball for personal reasons. Driver Gary Page tells us that the Mongoose Performance Exhausts- and Pennzoil-sponsored team will be at the FIA Main Event in May. The UK's Showtime Fuel Funny Car team have signed Willans Harness as a sponsor for the 2008 season. As the name suggests Willans produce high-performance safety harnesses, and this is their first venture in drag racing. You can find out more and read the latest off-season update on the team's official web site at www.showtimeracinguk.com. ©Eurodragster.com Also adding a sponsor is UK Sportsman ET racer Nigel Holland who has followed the lead of Eurodragster.com and won sponsorship from a restaurant, in this case The Daffodil Restaurant in Cheltenham. Nigel adds that his 'Aveago Racing Mustang is currently undergoing some treatment at the Wellingborough premises of Rapid GB. "Mark at Rapid is going to remap the ECU to eke out a few more horses, so 2008 is going to be a lot of fun!", says Nigel. If you fancy getting in some testing before the Auto Trader Easter Thunderball then Santa Pod Raceway are holding a Peak Performance Day on Saturday 15th March and a Run What You Brung on Sunday 16th. Peak Performance Days are limited-entry test events with full track and safety cover including National event-standard track prep. For more details on both Peak Performance Days and Run What You Brungs including entry and sign-on fees, check out www.rwyb.com. If you need any more persuasion then Eurodragster.com will be covering the pre-Easter test weekend live in association with American Car Imports. *Eurodragster.com goes to Extremes.* 5th March: Eurodragster.com has signed up as an Associate Sponsor of the Extreme Drag Race Shootout, which takes place at Miramichi Dragway Park in New Brunswick, Canada, on 1st-3rd August and which includes the second World Street Race featuring street-legal race cars from Canada, the UK, the USA and Australia. ©Eurodragster.com The Extreme events were created to partner with communities, their police and youth to help show kids that there was a way and place that would get them off the streets and into a safe and controlled environment for motorsports. The event then grew into the Extreme Drag Race Shootout which has developed into a large family festival revolving around professional motorsports and Extreme drag racing. In 2008 hundreds of competitors at the top of the sport from four different countries are planning to participate, and the grounds of Miramichi Dragway Park will be transformed into a family festival complete with Media, Family and Community support events all weekend long. The event has the complete and overwhelming support of the City, the Miramichi Police Force and the entire business community. "It seems that everywhere we turn we continue to experience Atlantic Canadian hospitality that is second to none!", says Trish Biro. "The secret's out, and in 2008 tens of thousands more people from everywhere imaginable will know what this part of world has to offer!". Eurodragster.com is very pleased to support the second World Street Race. As we are based in the UK we are bound to support the UK team, although we will be happiest if every competitor has a quick, fast and safe race. We are very grateful for the welcome we have received from EDRS as a sponsor. Plans are already being formulated for to cover WSR2 here on Eurodragster.com and we shall of course let you know about that a bit closer to the date. *Web site updates.* 5th March: The UK's Sportsman ET class will shortly be launching its own web site. Webmaster Nigel Holland would be pleased to hear from any Sportsman ET racer with news (You're not alone, so would we - Ed) or who has not yet filled out a questionnaire or submitted details for the site. In either case please drop Nigel a line at [email protected]. "I'd like to thank Ian Jackson from Jackson's MOT and Service Centre (01344 427060), JRH Imports, Blackett Photography and DriveCars for sponsoring the new web site", says Nigel. "If anyone else would like to sponsor the web site then please drop me a line." ©Eurodragster.com *Newbery's Rush to Top Fuel Bike.* 4th March: If you were tuned in to Eurodragster.com last month you will remember that we revealed that UK Supertwin racer Ian Carruthers is to ride Dave Newbery's Top Fuel Bike in 2008. Ian has been in touch to let us know that the bike's first outing is set for Santa Pod Raceway this weekend. "As you know Dave has asked me to ride for him this year so he can concentrate on maintaining and tuning", says Rush. "There is a lot to take in for both of us, and too much for Dave to take on himself in a rookie year. We only spoke about this as an idea at the beginning of February and I went away to think about it. Thirty seconds later I was heading in the direction of Dave's workshop. ©Eurodragster.com "On first seeing the bike I have to say I was very impressed. Dave has cleary worked very hard at putting together a serious contender for the Top Fuel bike class. It is well thought-out and well-engineered. It is also very long, Well it seems long to a shortarse like myself. "We are keeping a close eye on the weather forecast (Pete Bellenie, don't even think about it - Ed) and we hope to take it out this weekend. We shall keep you posted." We're sure that everyone will join us in wishing Dave and Rush good luck this weekend. *More backers for Bon.* 4th March: Dutch Top Fuel Bike racer Joey Bon is proud to announce that two more companies have chosen to support him in his quest for the 2008 European Top Fuel Bike Championship title. "Stopping the 1000 hp plus machine will now be the job of the excellent products from ISR brakes", says Joey. "As any racer can tell you it is just as important to be able to come to a full stop as it is to cut a 0.000 light. The new livery of the machine will be handled by the people of Studio RGB who will make sure that the Top Fuel Bike's looks will be a proper match for its performance. ©Eurodragster.com "The new TFB will be shown to the public for the first time at the ESEF, the premier show for the engineering industry, visited by some 40,000 people. The ESEF wiil be held in the Jaarbeurs, Utrecht in The Netherlands from 11th-14th March. Right now the team are putting the finishing touches to the bike so it can be displayed in a proper manner." Joey Bon is five times National Champion and a runner-up in the European Championship. His quest for the European Top Fuel Bike Championship title is sponsored by JBR Services, AST Suspension, Schijf Groep, ISR brakes and Studio RGB. *Swift snippets.* 4th March: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came attached to an E-Mail reading "What is Steve Green unpacking from the large box just collected from Chatham Docks?". We have a sneaking suspicion that we may know but if you know for sure, or if you would like to send any spy pictures of your own, then please drop us a line at [email protected]. ©Eurodragster.com UK Pro ET racer Charlie Chivers' Taxi Express Drag Racing Team would like to thank Paul Whittington, Managing Director of Oxford Fencing Supplies, who are to be the car's main sponsor for the 2008 season. "If anyone is in need of fencing products please give them a call on 01865 820904", says Charlie. "Also sponsoring the car is Specialised Fencing Services Carterton, if you are in need of a new fence or gate give them a call for a quote 01993 843657. Good luck to all in Pro ET for the 2008 season." Carla Pittau has been in touch to ask us to wish her husband and fellow Pro ET racer Rick McCann a very Happy Birthday. "Rick will be an undisclosed age today and I would like to wish him the best in the world for his birthday and for many years to come", says Carla. "Stealing a great expression from Pro ET racer Anders Envall, who used it when talking of his wife Agneta, Rick is "The Crew Chief of my life" and I would like to thank him for all of his support and for putting up with me over our many years racing and wrenching together". Very nicely put, Carla; have a great day Rick. Summer on Wheels 2007 DVD review. 4th March: The Summer on Wheels DVD site run by Tommy Ledberg produces high quality DVDs of Swedish and Norwegian drag racing and Tommy kindly sent Simon a sample to review: The DVD of the 2007 Veidec Festival from Mantorp Park comprises eliminations from all Sportsman classes at the event. It is a great showcase for the Nordic Drag Racing Series which runs these classes throughout the season. The classes shown are Competition Eliminator, Super Comp, Super Gas, Stock/Super Stock, Super Street, Junior Dragster, Super Gas Bike, Super Comp Bike and Funny Bike. Super Street, Junior Dragster and Super Gas Bike are shown from the quarter finals onwards. The mainly Swedish language commentary is from the track announcers Christer Abrahamson, Olle Elfqvist and PiPPi and is taken directly from the event, giving the presentation a feeling of realism. The editing of the two hour programme is carried out expertly with much of the start line routine included as well as the racing adding to the feeling that you are there. Camera work is greatly improved from the 2006 DVD and is from the same positions used for filming of the FIA classes at the start line and 1000 foot mark. This gives close coverage of the whole race. The DVD gives the viewer the opportunity to see many vehicles that don't travel outside the Nordic region but are champions in the Nordic Drag Racing Series. The Veidec Festival is the blue riband event in the Series and this is clear with the quality of the racing. ©Eurodragster.com The variety of machinery in Competition is incredible, including proto-Top Methanol dragsters, doorslammers aplenty and the Ford Anglia 105E of Torben Stenström. Rimbert Valström's Bankrobber 2 Plymouth Suburban goes up against the Pontiac Star Chief of Lars-Ake Karlsson for a battle of the behemoths running low sevens. Stock/Super Stock is the NDRS answer to the equivalent NHRA classes, running both in one division and using a very similar set of rules to NHRA. The result is classic muscle cars with absolutely stock appearance that sound wicked and launch with huge wheelies. Other highlights include a moment of considerable naughtiness in Super Comp as Jan Birkenes' supercharged Willys goes 8.09 to breakout in spectacular fashion. Without captions for times and speeds the viewer will need to follow the official timing data which, happily, are available here on Eurodragster.com. This highly recommended Veidec Festival DVD is available from the Summer on Wheels web site at www.summeronwheels.com for SEK179 (about £15), plus postage and packing. Although the web site is Swedish language only, it is easily navigable by the non-Swedish speaker and accepts payment via Paypal. Summer on Wheels also sells DVDs of other NDRS events from Gardermoen, MECA, Piteå, Sundsvall and Tullinge. The site includes clips of many of these DVDs. *2008 SFI Tour reminder.* 3rd March: Racers are reminded that this year's SFI re-certification tour commences later this week: Thursday 6th March Certifications between 10:00 and 15:00 at: The Sachs-Haus The Hockenheimring Motodrom 68766 Hockenheim Germany If you intend to bring parts for certification at the Hockenheimring then please notify Gittli Koller at [email protected]. Friday 7th March Certifications between 09:00 and 14:00 at: Finnish Hot Rod Association Tiilenvalajantie 6 02330 Espoo Finland Phone: 09 - 2515 250 ©Eurodragster.com Saturday 8th-Sunday 9th March Parts drop after 11:00 on Saturday, certifications between 12:00 and 16:00 on Saturday, and certifications between 11:00 and 14:00 on Sunday, at: Persåkers Speed Shop Solbergavägen 28 640 60 Åkers Styckebruk Sweden Phone: 0159 - 133 70 If you intend to bring or send parts for certification at Persåkers Speed Shop then please notify Rolf Lundberg at [email protected] stating whether you are bringing or sending parts, what those parts are, and how many. Parts can be left at Persåkers Speed Shop before the inspection day. Monday 10th March Certifications between 09:00 and 14:00 at: The Media Centre Santa Pod Raceway Airfield Road Podington Northamptonshire NN29 7XA England Phone: 01234 782828 *Carter aims for third Shootout.* 3rd March: With less than three weeks to go to the start of the 2008 European drag racing season final preparations are being made in the Carter Motorsport / Andersen Racing camp. In Denmark Crew Chiefs Per Andersen and Karsten Andersen have been busy preparing the Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster for its first outing of the year, the 2008 Auto Trader Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway. "During the off-season we have made some small adjustments to the tune up - some might say too much - but the changes should give us more consistency", said Karsten. "The trailer has been stocked with lots of new parts - blocks, heads, cranks, pumps and all the small bits and pieces and consumables. The 2007 season was spoiled by the weather, but the 4.64 at the European Finals felt good and we did well at Mantorp running three 4.7s. We are always learning and we learnt a great deal during 2007." The Lucas Oil Super Crew remains unchanged for 2008. "Consistency is very important in everything we do and we are very thankful that all of the crew will be with us again this year - Henrik, Jes, Markus, Martin, Peter and The Las Vegas Kid - they are all the very best at what they do", explained Karsten. With the entry for Easter's Pro Fuel Shootout currently seven nitro fans should witness some good racing and the unique opportunity to see Funny Cars racing dragsters. "The Easter Thunderball is an event I have won twice before - we are not treating this race as a test session, it's a race - and we are going there with only one aim: to win for a third time!", said Andy Carter. ©Eurodragster.com *Gleadows' new NFAA ride.* 3rd March: The UK's Motor Psycho team has a new operation and will be competing in the Nostalgia Fuel Altered Asociation in 2008, says Adam Gleadow. "Originally we were set to continuing in Super Pro with the injected engine, but opportunities arose leading to the purchase of a blown 517 ci Rodeck Chevy and we made plans to step into NFAA - a class we've always wanted to run since its creation", says Adam. "Rather than cutting up and modifying what is a very good chassis we went down the route of a new piece. On Thursday we collected a brand new 125" chromoly chassis from ICE Automotive to compete in the NFAA for the coming season. ©Eurodragster.com "The engine is fresh from a rebuild by Jeff Bull and features an 8/71 Danekas blower, Enderle 'Ribbed' Injector, Bac-Man Rat billet heads and will provide power through a three-speed B&J transmission to a Strange 9.5" Toploader rear axle. "Hopefully the car will make its début at the Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. We're still sourcing a few parts and have the majority of the previous car for sale (an advertisement can be found in the Jeff Bull Swap Meet). "I'd like to thank Nick Davis, Rob Loaring and Steve Green for a fantastic chassis, it really is a work of art, and for being so helpful." *Freeman in the fog.* 3rd March: We did not see a lot of UK Super Pro ET racer Sam Freeman competing on the track in 2007, although he did make some demonstration appearances. Sam has been in touch to explain where his Double Density altered got to: 2007 got off to a slow start awaiting a shipment of parts which arrived later than planned but with just about everything I had bought over the previous twelve months. Things went well until I tried to fit the new transmission and discovered that there was a machining fault with the new case, to keep it short they sent over another case in two days only to find it was worse than the first. Obviously not good news for the manufacturer or myself. The next case took a bit longer to arrive but was OK. By this time I had more or less decided to give the racing a miss and get on with the building of a new workshop in Hemel Hempstead so that I could easily do the maintenance required on the car, also to fit in a few demo events as way of a break. Every event, usually not on well-prepped tracks, led to personal bests both ET and speed. At the Retro Car Show we ran 8.17 which probably would have been quicker if it was not pulling the front wheels up on the gearchange. We put an appearance in at the Parade of Power where we managed a couple of laps of Wellingborough Town Centre then a display in the Market Square, we also got several colour pictures in the local papers and were called over by the local radio station for an interview. As a result of this we attended the pre-European Finals test day. Thanks to Steve Warner who loaned us some fuel for the day we ran low 8.1s all day with a best of 8.11/163. We attended another show at the Ford Motor Company's research headquarters in Essex where it drew large crowds, mainly of engineers. One of the supervisors brought in the Southend Echo for me where I had a half page colour picture. Another outing for us was the BMW show which is a nice relaxing event to do, several of the BMW crowd recognised the car from the previous year, one of whom had his small lad standing next to the rear wheel as a measure of growth. I did point out that the wheels and tyres were bigger than the previous year. As it was the lad's favourite car he was rewarded with a sit in the car and several pictures for his scrapbook. We ended up 2007 with the Flame and Thunder show and another PB off the trailer, 8.00/165 (5.00/137 in the eighth). The second run was ten minutes later minus the rear wing, unfortunately I lost some oil from the rear manifold seal which covered my visor. On the third run it was announced that the engine had blown up, I thought the same thing and clicked it off at half track. I was preparing to load it up and head off home when it was pointed out that the water had escaped due to an explainable cause so it was cleaned up, topped up with water and we went out and ran another 8.1. Another big thanks here to Paul Venners who very generously donated a set of arm restraints to the cause when I discovered mine missing from my kit bag. Without Paul's help I would have not been able to run at all. For 2007 a final list of thanks to people: all the track staff at the Pod who do a great job week in and week out; Darren and Jo for letting me run as a demo car; and of course my crew of Chris Bishop, Paul Shaw, Ben Walsh and finally my partner Lindsey without whom none of this would be possible. Thanks also to Vic Hammond and Cyril Hooper (former altered driver and crew) who have helped out with the new workshop and attended all the events recently. Also Peter Donaldson for some of the great pictures he has taken of the car. ©Eurodragster.com 2008 started with the Stunt Night and a slowish run, but as the picture on Eurodragster.com shows my visor was completely fogged up. For the second run, despite a liberal coating of anti-fog, it went the same way so I opened the visor and had a gentle run through which resulted in a 9.1/151. Message to Darren Prentice who told my crew that he was going to award me a certificate for that, well he certainly mentioned something about certifying! Unfortunately we found a fault with the engine which may force us to miss Easter although we do have an entry in. We are working to resolve the issue and will be there if possible. We want that seven! Finally I would like to point out that the car runs on petrol only, through a single four-barrel carb. It has no power adders of any kind. I've heard several references about it being aided with nitrous (Not us - Ed). Further to which can I just also say that the heads, manifold, carb and exhausts are not suitable for the current engine and are probably costing us a little time. They will all carry over to a new Oldsmobile engine which should, hopefully, be in the car by mid-season. *Swift snippets.* 3rd March: UK Supertwin racer Paul Castle has signed a paint sponsorship deal with Eindhoven company Saiko Car Styling. "Saiko Car Styling are a small company who style cars with things like body kits and some very nice paint jobs", says Paul. "They are main dealers for House Of Colour among other things and their web site can be found at www.saiko-carstyling.nl. The paintjob will be a simple one-colour candy job carrying the Saiko logo on both sides. Pictures will follow when everything is sorted out and finished." Swedish Pro Mod racer Roger Johansson has started his US tour and you will be able to stay in touch with his progress on the Mölndals Dragracing Förening web site at www.mdrf.se. ©Eurodragster.com European Pro Stock racers Jimmy Ålund, Richard Sundblom and Adam Flamholc will be starting their own US Tours at South Georgia Motorsports Park this Thursday (6th). You will be able to stay in touch with their progress on the Competition Plus web site at www.competitionplus.com and we will of course bring you any news we receive. Already in Valdosta this weekend was 2007 ACU UK Super Street Champion Steve Venables who made a first-round exit at the AMA Dragbike Bikeweek Nationals. Ven, who went to Valdosta to work on his 2008 Hayabusa which will be imported to the UK later this season, qualified twelfth in Pro Street at 7.81. *A day amongst the classics.* 3rd March: Among a vast collection of vehicles that include several Ed Roth originals is the famous Drag-U-La, a 350 hp four barrel carb coffin dragster featured in the sixties series The Munsters, seen here being admired on his recent US trip by Eurodragster.com Photo Editor Roger Gorringe (right, click on picture for large version). This collection of show, classic and vintage vehicles in the Galpin Classic Collection was just one part in the multi-franchised Galpin Motors empire based along Roscoe Boulevard in Van Nuys, California and showcasing quality marques such as Ford, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Volvo, Lincoln, Mercury, Saturn, Honda and Mazda, each retailing through separate dealerships. The family-run company even provides a hire-car service, studio vehicle rentals and has been home to the TV series Pimp My Ride. It also has the accolade of being the number-one volume dealer in the USA for both Ford and Jaguar. Few dealerships - if any - can boast an in-house Starbucks Coffee shop, let alone a private lounge and bar with viewing area offered in the exclusive Club Aston catering for high-end clients and housed in a salubrious showroom bearing the appropriate moniker Galpin Premier Collection. Across the street, an upmarket eatery serves as a prime attraction for customers of Galpin Ford, with victuals prepared by a chef formerly in service at the swank Beverly Hills Hotel. The Ed Roth collection is, incidentally, a personal interest of Vice President, Beau Boeckmann, son of Galpin owner Bert Boeckmann. International photojournalist Andy Willsheer and Roger were given a personal tour of the vast facility by Beau and his staff for an upcoming article by Andy on the Galpin conglomerate, to be featured in a future issue of American Car World magazine. *2008 Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards.* 2nd March: We are pleased to announce that the Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards Scheme will again run in 2008. Speedflow remain as sponsor of the Perfect Light Award, and we are pleased to welcome Gold RV as the new sponsor of the Perfect ET Award. As previously mentioned here on Eurodragster.com, both the Perfect Light and Perfect ET Awards will continue to run to the third decimal place in 2008 even though timing is now available at up to six decimal places at the tracks involved in the Award Scheme. The Perfect Light Award is presented in association with performance hose and fitting manufacturer Speedflow, whose web site you can find at www.speedflow.co.uk. The Award will be presented to the first racer at an event to record a 0.000 Reaction Time. The Award will start at £50 and if not claimed will be increased by £25 at each subsequent event until won. If the Award is won then it will be reset to £50 at the next event. The Perfect Light Award is available to all racers in all classes but will only be awarded to the first racer at an event to record a 0.000 Reaction Time. Decals are not formally required for the Perfect Light Award but of course we appreciate it: you can get Eurodragster.com decals at the track from any Eurodragster.com staff member. The provisional calendar of events for the 2008 Eurodragster.com/Speedflow Perfect Light Award is as follows: Autotrader Easter Thunderball, Santa Pod Raceway Big Bang, Santa Pod Raceway Spring Speed Festival, Shakespeare County Raceway FIA Main Event, Santa Pod Raceway SPRC Summernationals, Santa Pod Raceway Bug Jam, Santa Pod Raceway Veidec Festival, Mantorp Park Open Sport Nationals, Shakespeare County Raceway FIA European Finals, Santa Pod Raceway Extreme Performance Bike Weekend UK National Finals, Santa Pod Raceway Many thanks to Fay Fischer of Speedflow for her continued support both of drag racing and of Eurodragster.com. ©Eurodragster.com The Perfect ET Award is this year presented in association with RV sales and service specialists Gold RV, whose web site you can find at www.goldrv.co.uk. The Award will be presented to the first racer at an event to run to the thousandth on their index or dial-in. The Award will start at £50 and if not claimed will be increased by £25 at each subsequent event until won. If the Award is won then it will be reset to £50 at the next event. The Perfect ET Award is available to racers in all index and dial-in classes, but will only be awarded to the first racer at an event to run to dial-in or Index. To be eligible to collect the Perfect ET Award, racers will be required to carry decals, one on each side of the vehicle whether car or bike. The decals (right) will firstly be available at signing-on at Santa Pod Raceway for the Autotrader Easter Thunderball and then at the Springspeed Festival at Shakespeare County Raceway and at subsequent events at both tracks but please note that, as is usual with contingency schemes, racers are responsible for requesting or picking up decals when signing on. A list of required decals per class is always on display in signing-on. The provisional calendar of events for the 2008 Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET Award is as follows: Autotrader Easter Thunderball, Santa Pod Raceway Big Bang, Santa Pod Raceway Spring Speed Festival, Shakespeare County Raceway FIA Main Event, Santa Pod Raceway SPRC Summernationals, Santa Pod Raceway Bug Jam, Santa Pod Raceway Veidec Festival, Mantorp Park Open Sport Nationals, Shakespeare County Raceway FIA European Finals, Santa Pod Raceway Extreme Performance Bike Weekend UK National Finals, Santa Pod Raceway Many thanks to Derek Flynn of Gold RV for his continued support both of drag racing and of Eurodragster.com. We would also like to say a big Thank You to Lee Child of LA Racing Parts for his support of the Perfect ET Award in previous years. *Swift snippets.* 2nd March: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words "Not a lot of clues as it is not even in this country yet but will be soon". We are taking "This country" to mean England but apart from that there is not a lot to go on. If you know any more, or if you would like to send your own spy pictures, then drop an E-Mail to [email protected]. Markus Münch tells us that the Super Pro ET class is coming to Germany in 2008 and that racers from elsewhere in Europe are welcome to join in. You can find out more on the German Super Pro ET Challenge web site at www.suproet.com, which is currently German-language only but Markus tells us that English is coming. Our Assistant Pit Reporter Kirstie wants to say a big Happy Birthday to mum Yvonne Tramm. "Mum won't see this immediately, she will be celebrating with her sister in the country somewhere!", says Kirstie. "It's a double whammy seeing as it's Mothers' Day too today, so rest assured that when Mum returns, there will be two cards and a big bunch of flowers waiting. Happy Birthday Mum, I hope you have a wonderful day." Editor's note: Today being Mothers' Day in the UK we have family commitments so it's an abbreviated news update. Tune back tomorrow for the latest from the UK's Double Density and Motor Psycho teams, another of Roger's adventures in the USA, and more. *Eurodragster.com sponsors 2008-9.* 1st March: 1st March marks the start of the new sponsorship year on Eurodragster.com and we are very pleased to welcome some new sponsors on board: Eurodragster.com News sponsor Pulverbeschichtung Nord GmbH was founded by drag racer Marco Maurischat in 1984. The company employs eleven people and has four divisions: car painting, industrial painting, powder coating and ceramic coating. The sponsorship of Eurodragster.com is mainly to promote the Ceramic Coating division. "We have worked on ceramic coating very successfully for the last three years, mostly in the motorcycle industry, and we would like to bring it more into the European drag racing and motorsports community", says Marco Maurischat. "We offer the full line of ceramic coating applications like Thermal Barrier coatings, decorative exhaust coatings in different colours, and internal engine coating like Thermal Barrier Piston Coating and Solid Dry Film Coating. We work exclusively in Europe with one of the best products from one of the leading manufactures for ceramic coating products. "Besides my love of drag racing, the fact that I have been a drag racer for the last fifteen years, and the fact that I am a daily Eurodragster.com reader, I think that Eurodragster.com will be a ideal medium for us to promote our division of High Temperature Ceramic Coating applications all over Europe. We work for some of the best known automotive and customising companies in and around Germany, and we would like to offer our applications more to the drag racing community. We will offer special prices for our Ceramic and Dry Film Coating lines to drag racers. We are very fortunate that our involvement will also help us to promote our "Certified Applicator" program. If anyone is interested in becoming a Ceramic Coating Applicator please look at the"Certified Applicator" link on our web site and give us a call on +49 (0)4106-71129 or send an E-Mail to [email protected]." You can find out more or arrange your ceramic, powder, exhaust and other coatings at a discount - be sure to mention Eurodragster.com - on the multiple-language Pulverbeschichtung Nord GmbH web site at www.exhaust-coating.de or click on the logo at right. For over thirty five years, Eurodragster.com News sponsor Goodridge has been supplying the highest quality products to the automotive and racing industry. Their brake lines and flexible hoses have been tested and proven in the most demanding environments worldwide, and their reputation has been built on providing superior performance time after time. They guarantee superior quality, rapid delivery and reliability whether the application is high performance road use, motorsport, specialised industrial, or volume manufacture. Goodridge were awarded the 2005 Motorsport Industry Association Business of the Year award, and have been awarded numerous awards for supply, innovation and quality. Their brake hose and fluid transfer systems are sold worldwide into the highest levels of all major forms of motor racing, including drag racing. Goodridge is the only choice for Supertwin racer Charley Karling and for Ian King, pilot of one of Europe's fastest bikes. Upgrade brake hoses are available for all automotive, motorcycle and mountain bike applications, and Goodridge offer a wide range of complementary products for every lightweight installation. For more details, including catalogues and technical support, visit the Goodridge website at www.goodridge.net or click on the logo at right. Eurodragster.com News sponsor JBS Roofing are industrial roofing, cladding and refurbishment specialists. The Kettering-based company's managing director is UK Super Street Bike racer Jamie Sneddon, who has run the business for twenty years. JBS Roofing supply and erect new and used buildings and can supply sheets, flashing, fixing steel, racking and more. The company's work is much in evidence at Santa Pod Raceway as JBS Roofing refurbished and converted the Barn as well as cladding Race Control, Bankside VIP and the grandstands. For more information about the products and services on offer from JBS Roofing check out the company's web site at www.jbsroofing.com, click on the logo at right, or call 01536 202800. Chris Isaacs has been a full-time professional chassis builder for eighteen years and, having spent six years at another chassis shop, established Eurodragster.com News sponsor Chris Isaacs Race Cars in 1995 as a high-quality race car fabrication company. Both Spencer Tramm (Super Pro ET) and Steve Nash (Street Eliminator) won National Championships last year in their CIRC-constructed race cars, with the Team Wildcat Cougar also finishing the year as the world's quickest car on block-tread tyres. Other CIRC-built cars include Matt Eley (Risky Trip Pop), John Atkinson (Jumpin' Black Flash Mustang) and David James ('68 Super Pro ET Chevelle) as well as the chassis on Lee Cohen's blown-methanol Pop which débuts in Super Pro ET at Easter. Chris has been an SPRC Executive Committee member since 1994, and a member of the UK Drag Racing Technical Committee since its inception in 1997. "Eurodragster.com has for some time been the central meeting point for UK and European drag racing, and as such it speaks directly to the dedicated and enthusiastic band of the sport's competitors and fans", says Chris. "I am extremely happy to be supporting Eurodragster.com in its endeavours, plus I am confident that the return on the sponsorship will represent excellent value for money for my business." ©Eurodragster.com For information about the services and products on offer by Chris Isaacs Race Cars, check out the company's web site at www.chris-isaacs.com or click on the logo at right, or call 01268 571077. Eurodragster.com Site Search sponsor Hauser Racing caters for many forms of motorsport. "Our history has its roots in drag racing, having worked on and driven Top Fuel cars to the other extreme in Junior Dragsters, we use the wealth of our experience in everything we do", says Geof Hauser. "We pride ourselves in our knowledge of racing and parts, anyone can pick numbers from a catalogue but that doesn't guarantee it will work as a package". Geof has over thirty eight years' hands on experience, which is difficult to surpass. "We are authorised distributors for many US companies and have a direct internet link with our supplying warehouse in Chicago which stocks over 870,000 parts. We import every two weeks but we always can accommodate racers who need products more urgently. Axle work is also becoming a big part of the business, and we have a constant flow of work from standard rebuilds to full-on race set-ups. "Our recently-acquired 7000 foot workshop has the capacity to work on ten cars at any time, plus the axle and engine building work, so we should be able to adequately take care of everyone's wishes." You can find out about Hauser Racing by visiting their web site at www.hauserracing.com, clicking on the logo at right or by clicking on the company logo when you use the Site Search page, or call 01933 682500. We would like to thank Marco Maurischat, Matthew Lee of Goodridge, Jamie Sneddon, Chris Isaacs and Geof Hauser for their support which only serves to strengthen the reputation of Eurodragster.com's sponsor roster as a one-stop shop for drag racing products and services. We are also pleased to announce that Gold RV has upgraded to a Home and News sponsor of Eurodragster.com Gold RV are one of the UK's leading companies for RV sales, service and spares. They are sole UK agents for the Canadian Triple E range of motorhomes and authorised dealers for Roadtrek and Pleasureway Class B motor homes and Viking Hard Top Folding Campers. Gold RV also carry a large stock of used Canadian and American motorhomes covering all price ranges and specialise in matching RVs to customers' specific requirements. Gold RV Managing Director Derek Flynn is no stranger to the pages of Eurodragster.com having enjoyed a meteoric racing career. From his start in Super Pro ET, Derek moved up to Top Methanol Dragster, and he will be making his Top Fuel Dragster début in a couple of weeks' time. Derek has also sponsored the sport supporting both fellow racers and facilities as well as Eurodragster.com Many thanks to Derek for his additional backing. You can find the Gold RV web site at www.goldrv.co.uk or click on the logo at right, or call 01420 544482. You can find the Gold RV Racing web site at www.goldrvracing.co.uk. We are also, of course, very grateful indeed to those of our sponsors who have remained with us for 2008-9. We are sure that our readers will repay their support and that of our new sponsors by considering them for products and services. If you would be interested in sponsoring Eurodragster.com then please drop an E-Mail to [email protected]. At the end of the 2007-8 sponsorship year we are saying Goodbye and Thank You to some of our sponsors. Goodbye and thanks firstly to Paul Watson of Dynospeed Developments, who sponsored Eurodragster.com for a number of years. Grumpy has also given us a lot of moral support almost from the start so many, many thanks to Paul for his backing. The Fab Shop Headers and Florida Land and Property Sales were only with us for a short time but we are grateful to Tim Murphy and Brian Pateman for their support. Goodbye but unfortunately no thanks at all to M&H Racemaster, whom we did not invite to renew since their representative in Belgium owes us a sizeable amount of money. We shall of course be pursuing this. We shall have some more sponsorship updates soon, and stay tuned for news of the 2008 Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards Scheme which we shall publish tomorrow (Sunday). Editor's note: A big Thank You to Darren West of Home and News page sponsor Power Race Graphics for help with sponsor logos. *Swift snippets.* 1st March: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall for forwarding us Version 6 of the official Auto Trader Easter Thunderball entry list, which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page and selecting the Auto Trader Easter Thunderball. If you think you should be on the list, or if you have any queries, then please get in touch with Paula on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail [email protected]. ©Eurodragster.com *Web site updates.* 1st March: In the latest entry in his exclusive Racer Blog, Dutch Top Fuel Dragster racer Lex Joon has some very things to say about Eurodragster.com on the occasion of its tenth birthday, reveals his new colours for 2008, and talks about rule changes. You can read Lex's Blog by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blog link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. ©Eurodragster.com Earlier news