"However with all that’s been said above we are all frightened of change, we have a set up that works, we may change it too much and take another year to get back to where we were, we might disagree as a team to go in the right direction, the racers are however only the drivers and without the team we’re pretty much nothing, the team consists of Arron Springford and Lynn Purvis, and a helping hand from Jedd Guy, we carve a path, we have direction, we have harmony, it can get mad and a tad hectic with last minute adjustments just before we run, but proven performance has put us all in good stead and the biggest part of all of this is FUN!

"We have never returned home after a meeting without a huge smile on our faces and great memories, no one can ever take away from us."

You can read Colin's feature by clicking on the image of the new car, or going via our Features index which can be viewed from the main menu.

Satan's Lady to display for USAAF at Dragstalgia.
5th May: Although ET Bike racer Phil Pratt had a 3rd round exit at Festival of Power, team "Satan's Lady" returned home with big smiles, writes Suze Morris.

On the track, Phil was very happy with the continuing learning process with the new Gen2 clutch which was installed and set up by JKE Raceworks. We are now running consistent ETs and have now seen our 60ft times drop to a new PB 1.38. Having taken the clutch out for closer inspection we were delighted to see that there was absolutely no wear on it - another testament to the skills of Jake Mechaell. So now the ETs and 60ft times are consistent, Phil admits he just needs to work out when to get on the 2-step, especially when in 'chase mode' - having discovered over the last 2 events that there is a very fine line between hitting a red light and a snooze button!

Off track, the team continues to pay tribute to the 92nd Bombardment Group of the USAAF who were based at "Station 109" (which we now know as Santa Pod Raceway) during WWII. 2023 marks 80 years since their arrival, so over the winter months Suze has updated the pit display with even more information and photographs, many of which have been sent by family members of the airmen who served in the 4 Bomb Squadrons. The response from those who visited "Satan's Lady HQ" was amazing, with many saying they "got goosebumps" from looking at the faces around the walls and reading their stories.

On Saturday, a gentleman had posted photographs of the display to the 92nd BG facebook page, which then prompted comments, and even more inbox messages, from families in the USA who had spotted their father, uncle or grandfather on the wall panels. Suze, who has put in hours and hours of research, had a very emotional Sunday morning - and at one point she even managed to reply to a message from someone who was looking for information, but only had a name and the fact that the person in question was based at Podington. Amazingly we were able to reply with the serial number of the Fortress that his Grandfather flew on, plus the date when it was shot down - hopefully giving him a good starting point for further research.

There are still so many people who are unaware of the importance of the site before it became a drag-strip, and team "Satan's Lady" are doing their best to try and keep the memory of those brave Servicemen alive. One final thing to say, and that's "Hats Off" to the SPRC crew for working their 'wotsits' off, defying the odds and getting the event completed. Awesome job!

Finally, we are so proud to have been asked by Santa Pod and the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame to bring our display to Dragstalgia as they mark the 80th Anniversary of the arrival of the 92nd BG to Station 109, which will include a flying display from The Sally B. Built in 1945, she is the only airworthy B-17 in Europe, and one of only 3 B-17s preserved in the United Kingdom.

Swift snippets.
5th May: Happy Birthday for today to first in the fives in Europe, former Top Fuel and Funny Car racer Pete Crane, former Super Pro ET racer Lee Cohen, Outlaw Anglia racer Richard Colby, forthcoming Porsche 944 racer Jacey Grant, VW Beetle racer Donald Harvey, from Sweden four time FIA Pro Stock champion Niclas Andersson and doorslammer racer Mats Stefansson. We hope you all have a great day.

Racer comments from Festival of Power, part 2.
4th May: Here are racer comments from the Festival of Power for car and bike classes, following yesterday's update:

The Williams Bros Racing team had four cars entered in Track Worx Comp Eliminator with V.P. Racing team drivers Nic Williams and Dan Williams joined by Spencer Tramm and Steve Lloyd with Spencer and Steve double classing in VP Racing Lubricants UK Nostalgia Super Stock. In Q2 of NSS Spencer dialled a 11.17 and nailed it, 11.1705 to take the number 1 spot and the £50 Eurodragster/Team Twister award for the perfect ET.

With 8 cars entered in Comp Eliminator, it wasn’t going to be easy at all especially with the performance levels now being achieved by Ahmed Jamshaid (8.6026/160.16) and Terry Newton (9.2647/159.02) with their Front Wheel Drive cars. A great opener from Nic taking the No.1 spot with a great 9.56, going .683 under index. Dan into No.2, his Camaro now with an auto transmission whilst his manual is repaired. By the end of the qualifying, Nic kept the No.1 spot with Spencer 2nd, Dan 4th and Steve 5th.

The pesky weather really playing its part, so a delayed start with the first classes not taking to the track until gone 11am. IN Comp Eliminator 1st round championship points leader Nic rolled through stage handing the win to team-mate Steve. An issue with the two step was discovered and fixed, never happened before and will never happen again. Spencer and Dan safely through. The final was Spencer against Dan, what a race - Spencer had the performance advantage as he was further under his index all weekend than Dan but Spencer needed his quickest pass of the event to hold on as Dan pulled a 0.007 reaction time and so nearly caught Spencer at the stripe.

In NSS, Spencer got through to round 3 as Dave Billadeau went red, then was up against WBR team-mate Simon Rickwood in the semis, Simon took first but broke out so Spencer into his second final of the weekend. A dreaded red light for Ash Rawson meant that Spencer was 2 for 2 and undefeated in competition in both classes. Without any doubt one of Spencer’s best weekends at the track ever, huge congratulations.

In VW Sportsman, winner Caitlin Wilson, racing the Havoc/Miss De Meaner Beetle wrote: "I went into the weekend with no expectations, after only having a handful of runs in this car. Qualifying was tricky fighting bogging off the line but we manages 9th by the end of it. Come to race day, after a long delay due to weather we got to run first round, which I won. Then came second, third, forth and the fith and final round. I had Jon Crawford in the final, we both knew it was going to be one hell of a race and I came out on top. The day was a dream and I couldn't have asked for anything better. The car performed faultlessly all day. I can't thank Mum, Dad and em enough, for the car and allowing me to race this year.

"I want to say a massive well done to Dan for not only riding his bike but also Danny's. You ran your first 7. Then decided to run one on your own too. Then to top it all off you won in comp bike too. You never cease to amaze me. Well done! Thank you to everyone for all the support all weekend."

Bike classes

In Banks Top Fuel Bike, Neil Midgley got his second win of the season over Steve Woollatt and Al Smith. All bikes suffered traction issues at some stage of the weekend, Neil even losing traction in the final against Steve, however recovering to 6.3119/222.22 against Steve's 6.3145/220.38, the closest race in the class for some time with only 0.0147s or under five feet in it at the stripe. Neil's best time was 6.0951/193.76, an early shut off in the semi final bye after qualifying #1 with 6.1487.

After running a 6.9950 in qualifying, Al Smith had wheelspin in every other run over the weekend, and you can read owner and engineer Phil Baimbridge's thoughts on the weekend in his excellent PBR Top Fuel Bike Facebook page.


In Leeks Landscape Funny Bike, there were six bikes competing, French rider Eric Richard making his way over for his first event of the year. Eric had run quickly in testing and ripped off five six second passes in qualifying, a 6.5835 at 205.12 making him #1, and a new best for his new bike debuted in 2022. Lorcan Parnell on the Storm Drag Bike ran a best of 6.8026 at 204.25 to go #2 but was suffering issues leading to the bike only running with full boost one of its two compound turbos, which you can read more about at the stormdragbike.co.uk website.

Dave Peters was 3rd in qualifying with the Riggerboot Express machine, but the bike only got on song in eliminations, when he defeated Jordan Kenway, Jordan running his first seven, in round one and Roger Moore in the semi final, two close races. Favourite Eric had a 6.66 bye in round one after Maarten Zijlstra had problems and failed to stage, and in another bye in the semi he won by taking the green, however was not able to make the final against Dave who became a second repeat winner. You can read more about Dave, aka Rocket, in the team's new The Riggerboot Express Racing Facebook group

In Taylors Trophy Super Street Bike, Jake Mechaell had great performance and won the event over Alan Morrison Jnr in the final. Jake wrote: "Heading into the meeting I decided it would be a great time to try some new ideas and parts in preparation for the Main Event at the end of the month. All of the changes showed great potential on the test day so I set out to fine tune the bike and feed some boost back in. By the end of the weekend we not only walked away winning the meeting but set PBs for 1/8 mile speed of 175mph and 1/4 mile speed of 218mph.

"I'm really excited about getting back to the track for the Main Event and carry on progressing with the new setup. Thanks to Dion Hartley for helping out all weekend and the Santa Pod track crew and staff for all the hard work to ensure the meeting was completed.

"Thanks also to my sponsors and supporters Turbosmart, Owen Developments, Putolineuk, Robinsons Foundry, Racinglines, Antigravity Batteries, VP Racing Fuels, HEL Performance, Kent Cams, EPSmotorsport, Furlong Tyres, APM Components and WCS Ltd."


In Suzukiperformancespares.co.uk Comp Bike, Dan De'ath, substituting for the Danny Cockerill, had a dream debut in the class riding Danny's bike as well as his own in JKE Race Works 8.50 Bike. Dan wrote: "After a phone call early the week before the new Festival of Power, Danny had asked me if possible could I test his bike for some issues on the test day before the event, to which I was never going to turn down that opportunity. One thing led to another which then led to a chat about me double classing with both bikes.

"I finally nailed my first 7 second pass which was on Danny's bike, then kept pushing my PBs away all weekend with a 7.51 and 188mph! On to the final in Comp, and had a mega race against Jasmine Cordelle, just squeaked out a win with a 0.0006 win margin or 1.7”! Chuffed is an understatement, I can’t say thankyou enough to Danny for trusting me with his bike and letting me have free reign of the keyboard all weekend.

"8.50 too was mega this weekend, hectic running both bikes was an understatement, but we managed it, the whole team pulled together and worked our asses off to manage doing as well as we did, but me getting itchy fingers against the best in the biz Jay Roe in round 3 meant a huge red light, and my weekend was over in 8.50, not all bad though as I had the final in Comp to run! I also managed to run my first 7 on my bike too this weekend, thanks to a push from Steve Howe and Jordan Howe of Howe Rigout & Construction for putting up a nice bounty and giving us all something to chase after! A huge thankyou to everyone involved one way or another with my racing, I can’t thank you enough."

In Atlantic Fluid Tech 9.50 Bike Carl Thomas defeated Rick Sawatzki for his first event win, well done to him. In ET Bike, Blade King not only won the event but was in the eights for the first time. Blade wrote: "After working constantly, trying a new clutch setup and with lots of great advice off some really great people, we have managed to set a new PB and get the bike into the 8’s at the second event with a 8.94 with a 1.27 60’ and still spinning to 60ft."


Finally, Eurodragster.com Junior Drag Bike was the third bike class with a repeat winner, Leah Morrison. Leah wrote: "I’m really happy to win the festival of power. I’m really enjoying the season so far and I’m excited for the main event in 3 weeks. What made the day even more special was my little brother brad making the final. I am really grateful to my Mum and Dad who put so much time into our racing, and my family and team members for their support and guidance."

Luke's European tour.
4th May: European FWD admin and Santa Pod commentator Luke Stevenson is on a mission to promote the category across Europe:

It’s weird to think many racers are still waiting for their season to begin when we started back in March with RWYB events at Santa Pod and the opening round of the MDRA at Hal-Far.

We at European FWD are making a concerted effort to promote and encourage more FWD cars taking part in Comp Eliminator by attending each round and bringing daily coverage in a mini series on our YouTube channel European FWD.

The plan is to cover all rounds of the Motorsport UK championship which initially was just supported by Pro-Race Engineerings Simon Crowley when the FWD index was introduced but now Terry and Ahmed have really taken to the class and are starting to stir things up.

At the Main Event we hope to see another two FWD cars entering and, if plans come together, a trip with the cars to NitrOlympX to encourage some European FWD cars entering the class.

Again you can find all the daily coverage on our Facebook page European FWD and longer format footage on YouTube.

This weekend, we are headed to Rivanazzano Dragway in Italy to meet some new racers and spread some light on Drag Racing in Italy. Watch out for our “We went to” series where we document visiting and going drag racing in different countries, in the hope that it encourages people to visit other strips around Europe.

Finally we will be uploading daily photos and videos to our socials but also sending Eurodragster.com a libary of pictures (thanks! - Editor).

Pictured: a sample of the tee shirts Luke will be transporting around Europe. You can order yours from this link.

Tributes to Brian Taylor.
4th May: Yesterday we reported the sad death of Brian Taylor, not only the Voice of Santa Pod in the 1970s but also a consummate writer and marketer of the sport.

Brian's writing partner over many years, Jane Culley, wrote:

It was the saddest day when I heard of the passing of one of drag racing’s most respected people.

Brian went to school, and then college, in Southend, and started his working life with his father as an apprentice aircraft engineer for BA; after five years Brian left to sell tyres and fell in love with motorsport, and in particular drag racing. He once tried to explain to me the emotions he felt with the extreme sound and smells of the dragsters; it wasn’t until I experienced this that he turned to me and said “Do you understand now” and indeed I did. A past chairman of the British Drag Racing and Hot Rod Association, he started commentating on drag racing and custom car shows in 1970 and continued throughout the 70’s.

Brians life took different turns, and he headed up many motor industry marketing departments until we met when he was the marketing director for Sewells International in 1991. We worked together on various motor industry research projects, and I learned Brian never took shortcuts, his attention to the smallest detail was incredible; he always saw each project through to the end.

I remember meeting Brian for lunch in 2007, he was so excited to tell me that he was going to be part of the team involved in the renovation of the Allard Dragster also he was writing a book Crazy Horses. I knew Brian would be as single minded and focused until it was finished.

In 2017 Brian was getting a little bored with being semi-retired when he came to me with another project, he felt we could write a novel and “Fourteen Days in August” was born and was published in March 2023.

In 2020 Brian learned he had cancer but he was so positive and decided he needed to publish another book “The Machine that changed British Motor sport” This book is about Allard Dragster, it is with a publisher at the moment.

Brian lost Rani, his wife and soulmate of 56 years after a fall in November 2022 and Brian's health took a serious downturn. I like to feel they are together again.

RIP Brian T Taylor 11th February 1944-30th April 2023, you are so very missed.

Fellow commentator and author Keith Lee writes: Rest in Peace, Brian. We had some fun times at the drags, commentating together in the 70s and early 80s.

You were never short of ideas - which you would always single-mindedly pursue to their conclusion. Somehow, you always managed to twist arms to garner support for your projects, which was impressive to watch.

On a personal level, you did nudge me towards Motor Cycle Weekly, and I enjoyed covering drag racing for them over many years.

The contingency scheme was down to Brian's efforts, and was appreciated by the racers.

Never one to think small, he made his mark on drag racing in no small way, latterly with his book Crazy Horses, and the Allard restoration project. Sleep well, as you are now back with Rani after a short break.

Photo courtesy Keith Lee

NSRA Nostalgia Nationals this weekend.
4th May: It can't have escaped your attention that the first Nostalgia event of the year, the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals will be taking place at Santa Pod Raceway from tomorrow, 5th May, to Sunday 7th May.

National Street Rod Association committee member Alan Martin told us "It should be a great start to the Nostalgia calendar this year. It’s looking pretty busy in the race classes and Run What Ya Brung. We will be selling merchandise over the weekend, tee shirts, hoodies, mugs and posters. As always, we only produce a limited amount and when they’re gone, they’re gone. The posters are strictly limited edition and numbered accordingly; we will only have 40 available!. We have chosen to mention the Coronation on the posters as well."


Class racing involves Outlaw Anglia (15 entries, more anon tomorrow), Supercharged Outlaws (19 entries - see below), Gasser Circus (20 entries - see below), Lite Steer UK Nostalgia Superstock (40 entries) and Springbridge Direct Wild Bunch (26 entries). Pre-73 Run What Ya Brung includes Modified 100e and Outlaw Street along with many other Retro, Classic, Hot Rod and American cars. You can still enter the RWYB at this link, from which you can buy spectator tickets too. Full event details are at this link on the SPR website.

Eurodragster.com will be covering the event with live race reports, and on-track plus pit photography courtesy Julian and Kirstie (Diana is having a rare break this weekend). Follow our coverage, with links to streaming video by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link at the top of any Eurodragster.com page. Event coverage is supported by John Woolfe Racing

For those worried about missing the Coronation of King Charles III, the ceremony will be displayed on screens around the facility.

Supercharged Outlaws preview.
4th May: Many thanks to Eurodragster.com/Twister Racing Perfect ET Award sponsor and class chairman Andy Hadfield for sending in a preview of the Supercharged Outlaws at this weekend's NSRA Nostalgia Nationals, with an entry of no less than 19:

The first event of 2023 for the Supercharged Outlaws and with a 19 car field, probably one of our best attended events since pre covid. All the teams seem to have upped their games with upgrades and I’m expecting to see some impressive PB’s this weekend.

We have some new members too with Brian Watson piloting the utterly stunning Famoso slingshot. This car was built in the U.S for British racer Steve Neimantis and campaigned briefly over there before coming home to the U.K and ending in Brian’s hands. This will be Brian’s first meeting in the car and we wish him the best of times in it. Bob Glassup will be debuting his Capri with the S/O for the first time and is welcomed into the fold, we have high hopes for Bob and his car.

Roy Wilding will be trying to pinch that elusive 6 second - 200 mph ticket while Joe Bond in Nothin Fancy will be hoping to back up the European record he set last year.

Speaking of stunning rails, Mick Hannah will be returning with the Haggis Hunter; this car is such an eyeful and is yet to achieve its potential but with that 417 ci hemi motor, 6 second passes are a given once Mick has his ducks in a row. Fellow Scot Andy Park in the street driven screw blown Model Y, has upgraded numerous parts along with a new fuel system which should let that blower really breathe.

Robbie Grabham in Freddie’s Revenge is expected to be back into the 6’s, they are a brilliant team to be around and always really enthusiastic.

Ian Merryweather makes a welcome return from Fraggle Rock with Banzai, always a 7 second competitor and a driller on the tree. The Good Guys Team and Luke Watts in Alkypone have both worked hard on their cars during the off season along with Mike Couch in the oh so right Lil Hemi who has made numerous upgrades to run deep into the 8’s. Paul Dale has worked hard with Mark Windridge to build and install the new mill for Acute Angle and we hope the team see some reliability which they deserve. Speaking of Mark Windridge, he has been beavering away with the Grim Reaper / Thing altered and pilot Aaron Windridge is hoping for mid to low 7 second passes.

Simon Boot had a fantastic 2022 with his conversion to alcohol paying real dividends. We are expecting this full weight Camaro to dive into the 8’s……..that would be a real achievement for the whole team. Keith Freeman’s street driven El Loco and Jim Tucker will be battling it out in their 32 coupes to see who is the fastest in the valley while after a long off period following a nasty crash, Joel Kerr will be returning with the Stiff Shifter and is expecting to power straight into the 6 second zone. Such a nice bloke, he truly deserves it.

Jim Usher and the Hemi Hunter team will be making a welcome return to the group. More wheels up launches and keep your eyes peeled for Jim’s trademark wave as he leaves the line.

Twister and I will be doing our usual dawdling reaction times but after a surprise 7.43 PB at Springspeed, we are looking to go deeper into the 7’s and perhaps crack that 190 mph zone.

So, 19 teams in total and a variety of cars seldom seen in one group either here or in the U.S. Street driven hot rods and low 6 second record holding slingshots battling it out together. What’s not to like?

Gasser Circus 20th Anniversary.
4th May: Many thanks to Gasser Circus co-ordinator Nick Brooke Langham for sending us a preview of the class for 2023 and a look back over its history:

‘Roll up, Roll Up’ some 20 years ago was a heading in the action packed pages of Custom Car in March 2003. This proclaimed the arrival of new and exhilarating race group, this was the press launch of the Gasser Circus. The in person launch took place the same year at the NSRA Swap Meet, with the nose high Gassers of Terry Howarth Goldrush and Chris Manning The Hooligan spreading the word to the masses as both handed out flyers.

Both of these Gassers not only grabbed your attention they defined in a way that mere words could not express, what the group and the cars were all about. Although Gassers may not have been that plentiful at that time, step by step, the word and the desire to build and race one of these cars was underway.

After the initial response with cars like The Boston Brawler, Honky Tonkin, Goldrush, Roarin Rat, The Hooligan, Desert Rat and Jumpin Jalapeno to name a few, the racing group slowly developed. Basing itself within the NSRA Nostalgia events with Nostalgia Nationals and Hot Rod Drags being regular haunts. There were some lean times in the first few years, with only 4 Gassers attending Gary’s Picnic and 6 at the Nostalgia Nationals in 2006. Despite this though the Gasser Circus kept on going.

However, with cars and drivers departing, the Circus needed new blood and cars and with these beginning to appear, the Gasser Circus underwent a revamp with the group becoming a dedicated race series in 2011, which meant a set of rules to govern not only what was allowed in the build of the Gassers but also the rules that controlled the racing and points system.

The revamp began much as the original did in 2003, with 8 cars in attendance, but the following 12 years, the Gasser Circus has gone from strength to strength, with a multitude of highs and a few lows all backed up by a fantastic group of racers who not only have built Gassers to race in the series but also brought a brilliant sense of comradery to the pits.

Celebrating our 20th year of enthralling and thrilling crowds, with nose high cars, is kicking off with Round 1 at the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals, this coming weekend. We are delighted in our 20th year to have at the last time of looking 20 Gassers entered, qualifying will be fierce on Saturday, just how we like it. Amongst these are old cars with new drivers and old drivers with upgraded cars, all keen to hit the quarter mile once again.

Of course, during the past 20 years the Gasser Circus could not have done it without the dedication of the numerous drivers that have supported the class, and the excellent people and organisations that have stepped up to sponsor the race series. Thank you to the current and previous drivers, and our gratitude to sponsors Melliard’s Modern Design, the NSRA, Rocket Racing Team, Speedking, The Executioners, Duksville Speed Shop, Renegade Fuels, Custom Car magazine and the brilliant photographers that have captured and promoted the class over the past 20 years. Andy Willsheer, Jon Spoard, Julian Hunt, Stuart Mitchell, Dom Romney and Alice Fairhead, thank you.

The Anniversary year will be competed over 6 Rounds of Racing:-

Round 1 – Nostalgia Nationals 5th – 7th May
Round 2 – Retro Show 17th – 18th June
Round 3 – Dragstalgia 7th – 9th July
Round 4 – Mopar Euro Nationals – 28th – 30th July
Round 5 – VW Action 1st – 3rd September
Round 6 – Hot Rod Drags – 15th – 17th September
Make sure you drop by the pits to see the Gasser Circus close up but take your seats when the class hit the strip.

Swift snippets.
4th May: Happy Birthday for today to Comp Bike racer Adam Burns, French Pro Stock Bike racer Charly Abraham, Flying Iceberg Buick racer Anthony Mitchell, former Sportsman ET racer Neil L'Alouette and Finnish Stock eliminator racer Jarmo Markkanen. We hope you all have a great day.

There are many races in Europe this weekend as the main part of the season progresses. As well as the UK, races are taking place in Germany, Italy, Malta, Poland and Romania. We hope to bring you some highlights.

Brian Taylor.
3rd May: We were saddened to hear of the passing of former Santa Pod Raceway announcer, writer and British Drag Racing Hall of Fame director Brian Taylor on Sunday.

To fans in the 1970s, Brian was the Voice of Santa Pod. Brian's career started in aviation technology until he switched to automotive marketing, working at John Woolfe Racing. He then expanded into journalism, writing and editing for automotive aftermarket trade journals. Jane Culley provided much of the research for these automotive products and marketed the published reports. He spoke at automotive conferences throughout Europe and in the USA.

Brian's involvement in drag racing started as commentating at Santa Pod Raceway in the 1970s. He was a natural and expanded to hosting Custom Car Shows in the 1970s and carried out much TV and radio work on the sport, some of which you can see in one memorable This is Your Life programme, with Dave Lee Travis as the subject. He also made great strides in marketing of the UK sport, creating its first contingency scheme using the NHRA as a model.

Brian's best-known written work is 'Crazy Horses - the History of British Drag Racing', published by Haynes Publishing, a comprehensively researched and authoratitive account of the sport in this country. After the founding of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame, Brian became its CEO and helped develop this institution and its Annual Gala Awards event.

In his later years Brian led a group of enthusiasts that restored the Allard Chrysler, Europe's first dragster as raced by Sydney Allard from 1961; and in typical fashion, Brian made a thorough job of it and the car became owned by, and on permanent display at, the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu. Brian wrote detailed blogs for Acceleration Archive and Eurodragster.com blog on the restoration, and was preparing a book on it, titled The Machine that Changed British Motorsport, and it is sad that it has not yet been published, although a novel co-written with Jane Culley, Fourteen Days in August, was published in 2022.

His Norwegian wife, Ragnhild, sadly passed away last November. They lived in Sidmouth, where Brian's celebration of life will be held.

Urgent Main Event entry announcement.
3rd May: Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall urges all racers who wish to take part in the FIA/FIM-E Main Event on 26th-29th May that the final deadline for entry is this Friday, 5th May.

Racer comments from Festival of Power.
3rd May: We present below part 1 of racer comments from the car classes:

Nostalgia Funny Car Cup winner Tim Garlick in Apache wrote "Great weekend for the Apache team, joined by 2 new members Dan Stokes and Ricky Reed who were launched into the deep end somewhat! The car is a little down on power due to the final decay of our stalwart 10 year old blower. New one on its way, then the trouble starts. Great meeting for us."


Tony Morris Carburetors Super Gas winner Mark White was in his first race of the season and came out as winner in a field of 12 cars, just one less than the Springspeed Nationals. Best wishes to Kieran Turner and Bob Molden who we hope will return later in the year. Mark started his account with a great 9.92 in Q1 which placed him #1. Dave Fulton, Stu Doignie and Dan Page improved to place Mark 4th at the end of qualifying. In eliminations, Mark unleashed a 9.908 (0.059 package) on Andy Dibley in round 1, was the beneficiary of a Stuart Morrice red light in round 2, a bye in round 3, and a double breakout win against an improved Tim Moore in the final. Guest driving for Jazmine Tunstall in the Jammie Dodger Brodie roadster was Jedd Guy, the team planting Jammie Dodgers on other teams during the course of the event.

FastR Super Comp winner Leah Kellett wrote: "Back from another crackin’ weekend at the Pod with a working car again - thanks to Scott and Geoff Hauser for the quick turn around to get us race ready again, so grateful!

After initially ironing out a few little issues we managed to get back on track! Felt so good to be able to jump in the car again and have some fun! It didn't stop there and resulted in being joined on the podium with my great race buddy Steven Hudson, well done Steve! Joe was unfortunately matched up with his bestie Peter Walters in round 1 and got whopped 🫣 but either way we were still happy who got through, well done Petey!

Huge thank you to the chief Pete Kellett, the main box man Billy Everitt (smashin them numbers Bill!), my back up princess Nicole Naylor, bro Joe, and of course to Scott and Geoff Hauser, Jeff and Belinda Bull for the continued support and awesome car!

Massive thanks to the track crew as always! Top end guys and bottom end guys working so hard to get the track dry on Monday, managing to finish the event and just generally having all our backs and making sure we have a safe enjoyable ride - and of course our lovely marshals. Thank you to the camera crew, all of you! Love you all, well done to everyone in the finals and cant wait to see you all again in a few weeks.


In Peter Nee Super Pro ET, Alan Didwell who has been campaigning his dragster since 2011 scored his third event win in a fiercely competitive field. The top eight qualifiers were less than 0.01 off their index, but Alan was the best of all running a perfect ET in Q2. After a bye in round 1, Alan defeated Lee Huxley (a rare red light for Lee), Matt Peters (doing great in a Nick Good team dragster), Tom Atkinson (Alan winning a £50 bounty thanks to the SuPro sponsorship scheme), and in the final round, Ron Bartlett who red-lit knowing Alan was killer on the lights. Alan suffered some transmission damage in the final, let's hope he can return soon, also commiserations to Steve Saunders, Darren Peart and Paul Marston who were unable to make eliminations due to breakage.

In Modurstang Pro ET, Leigh Morris doubled up on his Springspeed Nationals victory by winning the class once again. With his Jaguar engined E-type, Leigh qualified in 16th position, his +0.0354 good but not outstanding in a field where the top 25 were less than 0.1s from their dial-in. In eliminations as we have seen before Leigh proved once again he is a consummate bracket racer. Round 1 saw him defeat #1 qualifer Dave Fulton in a tight double breakout race, then in a bye run in round 2 Leigh had a 0.07 RT and -0.01 on his dial, after which he tree'd Dave Rudd in round 3, before another tight double breakout against outstanding newcomer Stevie Gates in the semis. The icing on the cake was a 0.001RT in the final and +0.0213 on his dial to defeat Amy Watkins in the final. After six championships in Super Street, can Leigh be aiming for one in Pro ET? Yes way!


Hutchinson & Dibley Sportsman ET winner Gary Lake wrote "After what felt like the longest day in the longest weekend, we eventually made it home by 11:30pm, tired but very happy! Another amazing set of qualifying by all the Sportsman ET racers put us in 8th position on the ladder, and with 3 previous class National Champions to potentially compete against, we knew it would be anything but easy!

"The car ran faultlessly all weekend and went 14.23, 14.20, 14.25, 14.27 and 14.26 in qualifying so we knew the car was fine, just not sure about the driver or our ability to pick the right number! Brian Huxley was on his numbers again and qualified number 1, good work Brian! In eliminations, Matt Halsall broke out big style as the Escort was flying, then racing against Chris Creswell and Kirstie Tramm was so close. With everyone bringing their A game on the tree, it made for lots of fun at the stripe!

"Having survived the “ladder of death” as Chris called it, we got lucky being on the side with a semifinal bye then we met first time finalist Steve Mellors. We managed to nail the tree and Steve appeared to have an issue about half track so we managed to get round and seal the victory but well done to him for getting the runner up trophy!

"Another great showing from all the sportsman racers with a special shout out to two V8 Jags; Liam Sturman did brilliantly making the semis in the Powerflow jag and Richard Palmer qualifying 4th in the “Family Cat”. Look forward to seeing everyone again at STP Sportsman Nationals!

VW Pro winner Danielle Coppin wrote: "After being approached by Sharon in the signing on office about my consistent times during RWYB at USC last year, I joined up to the VWDRC to race in VW Pro for 2023.

"Coming into this weekend with my support vehicle breaking down the day before my first event had got me super stressed, but thankfully I was able to hire a vehicle and get to Maple Towing and Leisure LTD who have sponsored me a trailer for the season.

"Over the winter my Golf R has has been to Evoloution Diagnostics and Tuning after having a refreshed turbo from Venom Hybrid Turbos. With the car now making just over 515bhp and no time for testing I was unsure what the times the car would run so it was a case of dial it safe to begin with and work from there.

"I’m not going to lie my first pass was a high 12 and I was very disappointed in myself but the VWDRC gang assured I will have to relearn the car’s performance and with seat time I will get quicker.

"They were correct and with each run I dropped my ET until I was dead on 12 seconds. Next up was eliminations, thankfully I attended the Santa Pod dial in day so had a little experience but nothing compares to real race butterflies, each little bit of down time adding to the pain of getting my first round done.

"Amazingly I was able to cut consistent 0.1 lights all the way through eliminations and this actually won me races multiple times including the final where maybe my rookie experience threw caution to the wind where as James was a little more cautious.

"Firstly I want to congratulate my fellow VWDRC rookie Caitlin Wilson on winning her first VW Sportsman round in what is believed to be the first time two females won both the VWDRC classes at the same event showing how inclusive this sport is.

"Thank you to my Sponsors Davian Services, Evolution Diagnostics and Tuning, Venom Hybird Turbos, Demon Tweeks Motorsport, Maple Towing and Leisure Ltd, CJ Powder Coatings LTD and all the VWDRC crew who looked after me during my first race.

"For the rest of the week I’ll be working from home staring at my amazing Winners trophy underwriting insurance for Adrian Flux Insurance Services and answering the phone with the opening line “Hi, you’re through to Danielle, Winner of VW Pro at the Festival of Power 2023, how can I help you?”


Outlaw Flat Four winner James Wotton wrote: "After last years breakages, I was keen to get out and see if the upgrades worked, and, wow, straight off the trailer, I was going to do a checkout pass, but the car left so well, I didn’t lift, and it went 9.38 which is a improvement on my PB and another step towards my personal goal of a 8.99 in a floor pan Beetle.

"I missed out my second qualifying to help fellow racer Darren Shephard with a mechanical fix, then 3rd qualifying, we had massive wheel spin out of the box. Sunday we ran the 4th qualifier and again spun the wheels. In the shut down the car sounded bad and once we got back to the pit we notice the exhaust had broken so I drove to fellow racer Danny Pike in Oxford to weld it back up, but when we got back we just missed out on the last qualifying session.

First round of eliminations I had a bye, so a nice easy one straight to the final. In the final, as the car left, it pulled a wheelie towards the the left and was heading for the wall, so I backed out, got it straight and chased Adam Lowe down for the win. I had a great weekend and a car in one piece so I have now entered the 4 cylinder class at Doorslammers."

We will present part 2, plus motorcycle class comments, tomorrow.

Dual Fuel Racing's FoP.
3rd May: Sportsman ET racer Steve Mellors and Dual Fuel Racing had a mixed Festival of Power with an unexpected outcome, writes Sean O'Dwyer:

The Festival of Power was a rollercoaster of emotions for Dual Fuel Racing. Having spent the past few weeks fixing Hulk MX5 after damaging the diff casing and breaking a drive shaft at Springspeed testing, Steve had faced multiple problems on the drive down to Santa Pod.

Friday's test day brought more bad luck, having snapped the drive shaft on the start line on the first run. However, with luck, other team driver Carl Magedera was stopping off at sponsors Northants MX5 to pick up a starter motor. Steve managed to call just in time also to be able to pick up a drive shaft; kindly both parts were donated by Northants MX5. With the driveshaft going in, in a matter of minutes, Steve Mellors managed to get five test runs in that day.

Saturday was a great day for the team where in Q1 Steve managed to place #1 and teammate Carl Magadera ran a PB of 11.86 which for Sportsman ET is a massive breakout, but, nevertheless, a very happy Carl who still managed to qualify. Later that day, Steve got pushed slightly down the field. Sunday again proved to be a great day for Carl with yet another 11.86 from the Tesla. Steve had managed to also get his way back up the field, eventually into 3rd at the end of qualifying.

Monday in round 1, unfortunately Carl broke out, however for Steve luck was on his side as Ash Symons unfortunately bogged on the line, causing Steve to get the round win. Throughout the day, Steve’s good luck stayed with him as he managed to get himself all the way to the finals. Due to clutch issues, Steve ended up runner-up, a great weekend for Steve getting onto the podium for the first time in his racing career.

Steve said: "A huge thankyou to our sponsors Able Assist, Printz4u, justsenditdesigns, MX5 Parts Warehouse Northants, MX5 32 Racing Wheels & Speedshop Malta. A massive thankyou to my fantastic crew and team weekend, without you guys I could not have done it - Sean O'Dwyer (crew chief), Luna Stea (crew), Carl driving the Tesla & the night time crew, including the Oklahoma Willy Jet Bus team Perry, Angie Ed and Lauren for all of your support, you are all truly amazing.

Swift snippets.
3rd May: Happy Birthday to Outlaw Anglia racers Kim Harrison and Rob Nixon, both 65 today, Junior Drag Bike constructor Simon Holgate, and Trakbak Racing Business & Project Development Manager Richard Foster-Turner, we hope you all have a great day.

Kieran has posted a Youtube video of action from the Festival of Power covering Comp Eliminator. See Kieran's video at this link.

Top Fuel numbers increasing for Main Event.
2nd May: With the official entry deadline of 28th April now passed, but with entries still arriving for the Main Event, it has become clear over the last few days that the race will have the largest number of Top Fuel entrants in Europe since 2019, with six of the sport's ultimate vehicles competing in the first round of the FIA Drag Racing Championship.

Rune Fjeld Racing stalwarts Susanne Callin and Ida Zetterström, who made test runs this last weekend, will be joined by three returning favourites and a new face to Top Fuel at Santa Pod who qualified at last year's NitrOlympX.

Longtime TF competitor Dane Stig Neergaard will be returning to FIA Competition, and you can read the story, written by our good friend Remco Scheelings at this link on the www.dragracingeurope.eu site. “We still have an awful lot of work to do on the car, but we will do everything we can to be ready in time for The Main Event,” said The Real Stig who is looking at racing in all rounds in the Championship after three years with a handful of test runs and a match race in Sweden.


Also returning after a break from FIA competition of five years is the Maltese Lion Duncan Micallef who has been busy being president of the Maltese Motorsport Federation as well as running demo passes at Hal Far Raceway in his homeland and mentoring his sons in karting, even taking part in kart races himself. Remco has published the story of Duncan's planned return with RFM at this link on the www.dragracingeurope.eu site.

Jndia Erbacher, who has competed in FIA Top Fuel since 2017, returned at the 2022 NitrOlympX and has now entered the Main Event. Jndia, daughter of multiple champion Urs Erbacher will have a strong team supporting her. Never one to do things by halves, Indja and Urs hosted a Season Start Party 23 over the last weekend including a fireup of the Monster Energy Drinks-backed Top Fuel Dragster. You can see photos of the event at this Facebook album posted by Adrian Zumstein.

And finally Swede Dennis Nilsson announced his Autoart Motorsports entry to the Main Event back in February. Dennis, who has raced in Top Fuel at Tierp and Hockenheim since 2018, has been busy attending shows to attract sponsors including the Elmia Bilsport custom motor show at Easter in Sweden. Planned dates are the Main Event, plus the Mantorp Drag Festival on 28th-30th July and NitrOlympX on 25th-27th August.

To encourage the revival of Top Fuel racing in Europe, we can only urge readers to attend the Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway to experience the sensory overload that is the Top Fuel experience!

Festival of Power results.
2nd May: Congratulations to the winners at the weekend's Festival of Power held at Santa Pod Raceway:

Motorsport UK Pro Modified: Bobby Wallace 6.1690/240.30 def. Wayne Nicholson 6.6147/183.55
Nostalgia Funny Car: Tim Garlick 6.2338/223.65 def. Wendy Baker 7.5611/154.20
Track Worx Comp Eliminator: Spencer Tramm (11.70) 11.0785/115.82 def. Dan Williams (11.25) 10.8317/118.96
FastR Super Comp: Leah Kellett 9.0214/150.56 def. Steve Hudson 9.1855/143.93
Tony Morris Carburetors Super Gas: Mark White 9.8786/133.39 def. Tim Moore 9.7705/145.77
Peter Nee Super Pro ET: Alan Didwell (7.65) 22.6052/24.17 def. Ron Bartlett (8.24) 8.2983/164.76 DQ red-light
Modurstang Pro ET: Leigh Morris (10.08) 10.1013/129.85 def. Amy Watkins (9.43) 9.4736/142.01
Hutchinson & Dibley Sportsman ET: Gary Lake (14.10) 14.3687/82.71 def. Steve Mellors (15.95) 17.4165/72.73
Lucas Oil Junior Dragster: Liam McDonald (8.10) 8.1609/74.31 def. Ada Cassisi (10.00) 10.1269/63.33
VP Racing Lubricants Nostalgia Super Stock: Spencer Tramm (11.09) 11.0700/115.81 def. Ash Rawson (10.18) 10.2494/131.38 DQ red-light
VW Pro: Danielle Coppin (11.95) 12.4105/101.16 def. James Hodson (10.85) 11.3463/115.49
VW Sportsman: Caitlin Wilson (16.94) 17.2788/70.56 def. Jon Crawford (15.99) 16.3821/80.50
Outlaw Flat Four: James Wotton 9.8726/145.79 def. Adam Lowe 11.0191/117.64

Banks Night Club Top Fuel Bike: Neil Midgley 6.3119/222.22 def. Steve Woollatt 6.3145/220.38
Taylors Trophy Super Street Bike: Jake Mechaell 6.8932/217.19 def. Ross Morrison 7.5705/198.89
Leeks Landscapes Funny Bike: Dave Peters, staged def. Eric Richard, did not show
Suzukiperformancespares.co.uk Comp Bike: Dan De'ath 7.5131/185.90 def. Jasmine Cordelle 7.6617/163.11 (MOV 0.0006 or 1.72 inches)
JKE Race Works 8.50 Bike: Jay Roe 8.6053/135.29 def. Martin Hallett 8.6264/134.17
Atlantic Fluid Tech 9.50 Bike: Carl Thomas 9.5094/127.69 def. Rick Sawatzki 9.6030/136.46
Blood Cancer UK ET Bike: Blade King (8.85) 8.8768/148.10 def. Justin Malton (10.12) 10.2844/110.70 DQ red-light
Eurodragster.com Junior Drag Bike:Leah Morrison (11.38) 11.5918/54.75 def. Brad Morrison (14.77) 14.9662/41.47

As well as the class racing listed above, there were several runs from each of Top Fuel racers Susanne Callin and Ida Zetterström, Fuel Funny Car racers Kevin Kent and Jason Phelps, and Jet racers Martin Hill, Julian Webb and Perry Watkins, all of whom put on a fantastic display for the large crowds attending and many others watching Santa Pod's live stream (which, incidentally, is being promoted by Motorsport UK on their new site motorsportuk.tv). The meeting was held in mixed conditions, with great air for qualifying and then rain coming in on Sunday night and continuing to Monday morning. The SPRC track team did a great job to getting the track back to racing condition on Monday morning and the event was completed just within the 20:00 curfew.

The race was thankfully incident free, with the exception of a limited number of minor fluid spills and, once racing started, it was completed efficiently.

Congratulations to Blood Cancer UK ET Bike racer Liam Holgate who won the Eurodragster.com/Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award of £50 supported by Cath and Tig Napier, and to VP Racing Lubricants Nostalgia Super Stock racer Spencer Tramm who won the Eurodragster.com/Twister Racing Perfect ET award of £50 supported by Andy 'Fadster' Hadfield.

Congratulations also to Tony Morris Carburetors Super Gas racers Jedd Guy and Marc Huxley who won the Bob's Photo Finish Award of £50 each posted by sponsor and longtime Eurodragster.com supporter Bob Roberts for the closest finish of a green light and non-break out race. Jedd and Marc's finish line margin was 0.0002 seconds or 0.47 inches.

Thanks to David Anniwell of the Santa Pod Timing Crew for sending us detailed timing data, including test day results, which we have posted to our timing data area which you can see by clicking on Data, then Timing Data at the top of any Eurodragster.com page. Official results can be seen at Santa Pod's Official Results Site.

You can check out our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored Festival of Power reports, results and galleries by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link at the top of any Eurodragster.com page. We should repeat our new policy that the watermarked photos from our galleries can be downloaded and may be used in social media posts but please do not crop or modify them, in particular we need the watermark retained.

Please join Simon in thanking Julian and Diana for their hard work over the race weekend.

We look forward to publishing car racer comments on the event tomorrow.

Wheeldon & Charman on hold.
2nd May: Best wishes for a speedy recovery go to nostalgia slingshot racer Nigel Charman whose illness and other factors have resulted in the Two Much twin engined slingshot pulling out of this coming weekend's NSRA Nostalgia Nationals. Nigel wrote:

"It is with regret that we will not be attending the event with the Wheeldon and Charman dragsters due to issues outside of our control, one of which was me not feeling 100% which ended up with me in hospital a week ago and having an operation on my heart last Friday again in John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

"Hopefully I can finish the engine rebuild ready for Dragstalgia hopefully catch up with some of you."

We at Eurodragster.com send our best to Nigel and hope to see him, son and Gotavit driver James Charman plus Norm Wheeldon in action at Dragstalgia.

We will publish a preview of the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals in our Thursday update.

Swift snippets.
2nd May:Happy Birthday for today to Top Fuel racer Ida Zetterström, Top Fuel team member Hanna Haapanen and Street Week Sweden organiser Mats Appelgren, we hope you all have a wonderful day.

Well done to Julie Nataas for coming third in Top Alcohol Dragster at the 13th annual NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at Charlotte's zMAX Dragway. Julie qualified #2 with a 5.232/278.92 and then got to the final, where Mike Coughlin and Tony Stewart finished ahead of her, by way of two previous "quads". Sadly the two other Europeans in competition at zMAX, Lex Joon (Top Fuel) and Dmitry Samurokov (Pro Modified), failed to qualify. You can see detailed results at www.dragracecentral.com.


Earlier news