Flame and Thunder Show gallery. 31st October: As all of Eurodragster.com's staff photographers were on duty elsewhere or unavailable today, Julian Hunt kindly agreed to step in to provide us with pictures from today's Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway. ©Eurodragster.com You can check out Julian'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. A big Thank You to Julian for his help. You can check out his pictures from other events at www.julianhunt.net. Europe in Las Vegas. 31st October: The end-season European invasion of the United States is well underway at the 9th Annual NHRA Las Vegas Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas. Competing at this weekend's race are: Top Fuel Dragster: Urs Erbacher, Lex Joon, Thomas Nataas, Stig Neergard Top Alcohol Dragster: Derek Flynn, Mike Manners (ex-pat UK, regular NHRA racer) Super Comp: Micke Nilsson Stock Eliminator: Spencer Tramm ©Eurodragster.com You will be able to keep in touch with results throughout the weekend on the excellent Drag Race Central web site at www.dragracecentral.com. As we believe that our readers are quite capable of visiting external web sites by themselves we will not patronise you by constantly repeating results here (and please see News FAQ #19). Of his first run in Larry Miersch's injected-nitro Top Alcohol Dragster yesterday, an early shut off 6.751/137.64 , Eurodragster.com sponsor Derek Flynn said "The car was running well. I had to lift before half track due to bad vibrations and trouble seeing due to the HANS device/helmet against the roll cage. We fitted more foam and maybe the chin strap should help for Q2. It's so neat to have run at Vegas, it's also great to see so many Brits here who have stopped by to wish us luck. Thanks also for all the good luck E-Mails etc." Derek then sent an update after running 5.827/250.51 in Q2, which was delayed from yesterday by a crash in Top Alcohol FC qualifying. "The seat and roll cage padding were adjusted, I was much more comfortable in the car and could see but had holes out from the hit", he said. "Tow back in front of the stands was really neat, lots of England flags and cheers - thanks all. Last chance later today but should be cooler which suits the A/Fuellers and Jim and Larry have a few things we can do to the car. Hopefully we might be able to sneek it in". The picture at right courtesy and ©Ivan Sansom shows the dragster wheels-up at half track during Q1. Ultimately Derek didn't make tomorrow's show after Q3 but he said that it was an experience. "The car ran better but not as well as Q1", he said. "We have good data and I am more confident in the car, roll on Pomona I can't wait. I would like to thank all the crew, they were great and really looked after me. Special thanks to Larry Miersch and all the Miersch family for the opportunity, and thanks also to Jim and Kay Rizzoli for all their help and also for the hospitality." Live team updates are being posted on Urs Erbacher's web site at www.erbacher.biz/Racing-Diary.217.0.html?&L=1 and on the Andersen Racing web site at www.andersenracing.dk. Good luck guys, stay safe, and do us proud. Swift snippets. 31st October: A big Happy Birthday to Bosse Hellén of SHRA Avesta, ex-mechanic, clutch man, for Eurodragster.com News sponsor the Leanders Brothers, celebrates his sixtieth birthday today. "For years Bosse has also been Sports Branch Manager for drag racing in the SBF Lower Northern Sweden region", says Kenneth Héllen. "He is commonly seen working at tracks in the mid-Sweden area throughout the season and on occasion performs mechanic duties for his brother Nisse Hellén's '57 Chevy. As most of his friends know, not even the tender age of sixty is going to keep him away from the track; quite the opposite! Happy Birthday old man." ©Eurodragster.com It's a joke no longer... 30th October: Doubtless recovered from a heart-stopping moment when Smax Smith paid an uncomfortably close visit to his ride for this weekend's NHRA Las Vegas Nationals (see yesterday's news update), Danish Top Fuel Dragster racer Stig Neergaard is ready to make his first outing in the Paton family's dragster. "I have not raced in America before", Stig told Eurodragster.com. "Donny Holbrook and I talked about it but then he sold the car. I have known Todd Paton for some years and I speak to the family every time I am in the USA - we have even joked about running the car! Todd E-Mailed and asked if I wanted to drive the car for the last two NHRA races this year. I replied immediately that if I could get the money then I would be very interested. I was very surprised to get the E-Mail, but luckily I had already booked flights and hotels because I was going out to the USA for a long trip anyway. Todd and Barry sorted out the licence, all I had to do was to send the paperwork." Stig spent the first half of this week talking to tuner John Smith about his 2010 European campaign. John will be at Las Vegas and Pomona but will not be tuning the dragster as Barry Paton calls the shots. "I would like to have John on the start line", said Stig, "because after the season in Europe I know his start line routine and it is good to have the same person there all the time. "This dragster has run 328 mph at 1000 feet which is good enough so I don't see why we shouldn't do well. But it's not going to be easy with so many Top Fuellers there." ©Eurodragster.com After the race in Las Vegas Stig plans to visit Alan Johnson for a day or two and to attend the SEMA Show before racing at Pomona. "I have a lot of things to do!", he said. Stig will be joined in the USA by Swedish Top Fuel Dragster and Pro Mod racer Jöran Persåker who has sponsored him for both races and who figures in the team's 2010 plans. "Jöran and I will be running a two-car Top Fuel team in Europe next year", said Stig. "We are also planning to race in the USA with both cars at the end of next season if we have the money. We run our team relatively cheaply: obviously we go through the small stuff but in four years we have used one motor and three cranks." Stig and the Patons don't yet have any firm plans to race in the USA at the start of next year. "We may race at the Gatornationals - we will see after Vegas", he said. So, still think Top Fuel is boring? 30th October: Norway's Thomas Nataas is all set for his first day driving Karsten and Per Andersen's Top Fuel Dragster in competition at the NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas. Thomas, who famously described driving a Top Fuel Dragster as "boring" after his experiences in Pro Mod, told Eurodragster.com that he jumped at the chance to race in the USA. "I got a phone call from Karsten Andersen", said Thomas. "He asked me if I wanted to drive in the USA. I didn't need to think about it for more than about ten seconds! It is a dream come true to compete in America. This really will be something different, twenty five or twenty six cars, they're really good cars and you know that the NHRA is the best." Thomas said that the primary aim is to qualify in what will be a very tough field. "I think we have a chance", he said. "Per and Karsten do well in Europe and I think they can get us qualified. That would be good and if you're qualified then anything can happen. But right now it will be awesome just to be there on the start line." Thomas added that it is a little early to confirm his plans for 2010. "It would be nice to drive the Batmobil again and to run the first Four in a Funny Car", he said. "That was the aim in the final at the European Finals and it was a good run until I hit the wall. The car was too high on the wheelie bars and I couldn't see the track, so I just aimed for what I could see! As far as running in America at the start of next season is concerned we'll see how these two races go." ©Eurodragster.com 2009 FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion Andy Carter, who usually drives the Andersens' car, says "It is fantastic to see so many teams representing Europe in Las Vegas. Good luck to all and I'll be following the teams' progress, I'm sure they will show the US teams how professional and competitive we are here." Carter Motorsport's Gary Cottingham adds "Racing in the USA has been a dream of Per, Karsten and the entire Andersen Racing team for a long time. Good luck to the whole team...we wish we were there with you and hope you have a fantastic time!". Fans can keep in touch with the Andersen Racing team's progress by visiting the Andersen Racing web site at www.andersenracing.dk or their regularly-updated Facebook page which you can reach via the web site or by searching for Andersen Racing on Facebook. The car stays... 30th October: Swedish Pro Mod racer Adam Flamholc is back in Sweden after a magic weekend in Rockingham, North Carolina. Adam's Camaro, however, will be staying in the USA for the time being. "After the US Nationals in Indy, were we ended up #17, and in Richmond where we ended up #18, we needed some success before we travelled back to Sweden", says Adam. "Even though we were missing some parts for the car, and had some electrical problems, we made it all the way to the final round and ended up number two at the IHRA World Finals! The feeling of rolling up against Chris Russo late on Sunday evening is something which my crew and I will remember forever. The plan from the beginning was to ship the car to Sweden after Rockingham, but that has changed. After getting some prize money in Rockingham, and after discussions with my sponsors, it has been decided that we will start next season in the USA! I want to thank my family, my team and my sponsors who all let me live the dream: Hurst Boiler and Welding Co, Amalie Oil, Autoshop, YIT, Custom Graphics, Motorenova, MMR, Sunoco Race Fuels, Performance Plus, Progressive Performance and TRE." ©Eurodragster.com Swift snippets. 30th October: Brian Taylor tells us that the US' Project 1320 team, who are putting together a series of documentaries about the history of drag racing, will be featuring information on the Allard Chrysler dragster at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. Stay tuned for more about this intriguing development. ©Eurodragster.com Andrew, Thaliah, Corrinne, Kirsty, Annalieze (all the way from the Falkland Islands), Warren and Daniel have asked us to wish a very Happy Birthday to UK Sportsman ET racer Sandie Gibb. No sooner said than done, have a lovely day Sandie. DSD relocating. 30th October: Paul Watson has announced that Dynospeed Developments will be moving premises on 1st December 2009. "We have joined forces with Rob McDonnell, one of the UK's top engine builders, at Mistral Performance Engineering", says Grumpy. "We will be taking the DSD Dynojet 250 and using Rob's bespoke in-house dyno room in Southend. This will offer a full package to our customers in engine tuning,building and head porting. Hayabusas and GSXRs are a speciality and we have a full dyno set up as a Powercommander tuning centre with Motec, DTA, MBE, Rapid Bike and most other bespoke ECU mapping. "The telephone number will remain at 0208 500 5770 for now which should make the change a smooth one. I will be arranging an Open Day early next year so that people can come and see the new premises. Once the move has taken place I will post a few pictures. Our new address is: Unit 5 Rose Way Purdeys Industrial Centre Rochford Essex SS4 1LY "You can look at the Mistral web site at www.mistralperformance.com and the DSD web site at www.dynospeed.co.uk." ©Eurodragster.com Weekend event coverage. 30th October: Eurodragster.com will be covering two events in the UK this weekend. First up is tomorrow's (Saturday's) Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway, from which the Webster Race Engineering/Lex Joon Racing USA Tour 2009 webcam will be broadcasting a picture every sixty seconds. With Eurodragster.com staff photographers on duty elsewhere this weekend Julian Hunt has kindly agreed to step in and provide us with a gallery of pictures which will be posted after the event in association with American Car Imports. ©Eurodragster.com Our good buddies at Nitro FM will be broadcasting on-line from the Flame and Thunder Show. Event commentary in association with LA Racing Parts well as music, interviews, contests and more will be available at www.audiorealm.com and then search for Nitro. There will be a broadcast this evening (Friday) from 18:00 to 21:00 and then again tomorrow from 07:00 to 22:00. The Halloween Bonfire Burn-Up takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway tomorrow and Sunday. The Webster Race Engineering/Lex Joon Racing USA Tour 2009 webcam will be broadcasting from Shakespeare County Raceway on Sunday and will again be scheduled to post a picture every sixty seconds. Our Reserve Photographer Peter Donaldson will be providing us with a post-event gallery which we plan to post on Monday, again in association with American Car Imports. 2010 FIA rules posted. 29th October: Thanks very much to Lars Pettersson of the FIA Drag Racing Commission for letting us know that the Technical Regulations and Race Procedures and the Sporting Regulations for the FIA European Drag Racing Championships have now been updated for the 2010 season. ©Eurodragster.com You can check out the new FIA rules at www.fia.com/en-GB/sport/regulations/Pages/FIADragRacing.aspx. Updates are in red. If you have any queries then please get in touch with your country's Tech Crew. Smax scares Stig! 29th October: Ex-pat UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Smax Smith and the Leverich family set out to contest the complete IHRA Tour this season and so weren't going to miss the IHRA World Finals at Rockingham last weekend. The team dedicated their weekend to the memory of crew member and friend Bernie who passed away whilst travelling in Europe: It was a sixteen-hour drive so we set off on Thursday morning. We wanted to fit the new PSI blower which friend Mark Jones loaned us, as well as being prepared for dramas ensuing from fitting new 92 gallon pump, Big'n'Ugly injector and clutch. We arrived shattered with our usual music blaring, expecting it to be hot, but awoke Friday morning to overcast weather. The PSI didn't have the correct snout drive so we couldn't use it, and the clutch taxed our patience. Then sure enough it started pouring and Friday's qualifying was cancelled. Saturday was bad all day but by 8:00 pm it was OK ot run. We were ready to run a single. I did a short burnout and the clutch worked perfectly. Staged the car and launched but the car quit after thirty feet. I kept going and ran eleven seconds to get in the field ahead of Pat Deakin (fastest car there) and Fred Farndon who had staging problems and was DQ'd. It transpired that the shake rattled the blower studs and blower lifted to lose boost. We figured too lean and with deteriorating weather and track conditions opted to take lead out of the mag for first round on Sunday against great friends and neighbours Barry and Todd Paton and family. They had just run a 4.81 shutting off early for top qualifier so we had a tough race. It was great to see Stig Neergaard in the pits as he is to drive the Paton car in Vegas and Pomona. Sunday morning we all got up early. Aidan did the final setting of clutch then the last stand decided to turn inside the flywheel. Bummer! I tried all the usual tricks - heat, crowbar etc - but once a stud is galled up you're in deep doo-doo. So out came the zipcut and I sliced both sides of the nut and chiselled it in half, then levered the clutch off. Removed flywheel and chiselled a spline into the back of the flywheel and Loctited a 9/16 stud in to get us out there. Aidee had the clutch back in and set so we could warm up and prepare for the first round. The warm up brought up more problems with a hat injector line leaking so Gary was holding that with one hand and couldn't seat the clutch as normal. Luckily we were last pair as we needed every minute! It was announced that the track was in poor condition at the top end so the remainder of the event was to be run over an eighth mile. ©Eurodragster.com A nice long hard burnout to seat the clutch but the throttle stuck a little so I signalled dan to push the blades which he did and I got reverse OK. Went back and into stage ready to rock, I left on Todd but their power reeled us in and he got to the eighth two tenths before me. But we ran a decent 3.61/228 on a soft tune and more importantly it went from A to B...however...after the run I lifted but the throttle held wide open. I was accelerating so hard and fast. I had already pulled the chutes and shut the fuel but wandered over towards the slowing Todd. I made a big move to avoid him but our headers just kissed and I then fought to keep off the wall. I had hit the emergency kill but it was still going strong. I was pulling up on the pedal with al my might and passed the last turn off at approximately 350 mph until it finally freed and I got stopped, still blazing from the exploding motor. The throttle was wide open for 19.5 seconds but it was nine seconds until the rods and valves let go into a chute-destroying fireball. This was singularly the scariest moment in thirty six years of driving race cars, not knowing if the thing was ever gonna stop accelerating! It sure was a wake-up call but poor Stig was watching and he must have thought I was going to take out his ride in a huge crash. Sorry man! A huge sigh of relief so I said if you can't be fast you gotta be spectacular! You can see Aidee's video on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uYJgokql5E and top end video after the crew get there and my take on the ride are also on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nvRsVlGAoA. Swift snippets. 29th October: Congratulations to Simon Trigwell who was the winner of our contest for a family ticket to Saturday's Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway. Many thanks to all who entered and to Santa Pod Raceway for putting up the prize, particularly to Jo Harris for her help. Enjoy yourself Simon! You can find out more about the Flame and Thunder Show on Santa Pod Raceway's web site at www.santapod.com. ©Eurodragster.com A Psycho on the track. 29th October: 2009 has been a very busy year for UK blown-alcohol altered team Time Machine Racing, writes Adam Gleadow: In February the bare chassis, engine, axle and wheels arrived at Bill Felstead's Fester Race Cars shop in Romford. Over the next seven months Motor Psycho was born. Of course that makes it sound easy but in reality it was seven months of constant work, acquisition of parts, phone calls, E-Mails and weekends at Bill's, including all but one weekend in August. The final result though? Mind blowing. Bill's fabrication and eye for detail, stance and nostalgia is second to none and come the end of European Finals weekend there sat the car which has been in my head for the last two years. Bill I can't thank you enough - it's perfect. European Finals weekend in itself was a manic one putting all the last touches to the car and getting it ready to make noise, which it did Saturday afternoon and, after solving a mag clamp problem, if I do say so myself it sounded fantastic. Two weeks later we were ready for shakedown passes at the UK National Finals. Due to highly overgeared rear axle the clutch and gearbox took some heavy abuse, but it's a start. Work is already underway for the 2010 season. The rear gear problem is currently being solved thanks to Martyn Hannis, the engine is checked over and ready to do battle next year already, the gearbox will be rebuilt and the clutch freshened. There are some other rather unique and potentially highly advantageous plans being hatched, but I'll keep them secret for now! I'd like to extend a huge thank you on behalf of the team to Les Downey at Lucas Oil UK for their continued support, this is our eleventh year of involvement with Lucas and simply nothing else would go in that engine. Also to the crew my Dad (Bob), Darren, Martin, Ben, Tanya and Vicky, a better crew I couldn't wish for. I'd like to extend a huge thank you to Lawrie Gatehouse for his never-ending hard work through the last five years, creating somewhere for Fuel Altereds to run heads-up in a recognised and well-supported class. Without it I wouldn't be able to recognise a fifteen year old dream of racing a Fuel Altered - I hold Clive Mechaell and the California Kid AA/FA responsible for that! I'm sure the next five years and beyond will see the further evolution of the class in the more than capable hands of Bob Glassup. Finally some congratulations are in order. To Bennett Racing for their Championship win, Joe Bond for getting back into the sixes and runner-up in the Championship, Bill Felstead and Jon '200mph kid' Best for having the most evil-sounding car on the planet and running right into the sixes on fire on his first full pass, Bob Glassup for breaking into the sixes for the first time, and commiserations to Freddy's Revenge for the engine damage sustained at the UK National Finals, we hope to see you out again soon. We've got a fully revamped web site at www.motorpsycho.co.uk and you can also keep in contact with us and any updates via our Facebook Fan Page at www.facebook.com and by Twitter Feeds at www.twitter.com/motor_psycho. Ready for lift-off! 28th October: Swiss Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Urs Erbacher and his team are flying out from Europe for the USA today having celebrated Urs' birthday at the Fat Attack base in Arlesheim. ©Eurodragster.com "A lot of good friends were there during the Fat Attack Custom Bike exhibition and now everyone is looking forward to an excellent Top Fuel performance in Sin City", says Jen Riehl. "As you can see there is the motivation of a nuclear bomb to go to the States and make sure that Urs, Wayne Dupuy, and the whole Super Crew do absolutely the best job for Europe in NHRA Top Fuel competition, and to give me one more training run in Las Vegas on Monday before Team Erbacher competes with a two-car European team in 2010. "You can be a part of Team Erbacher for this big challenge. We have a partnering option designed to fit your marketing needs, so please contact us at www.erbacher.biz. Let's go Top Fuel!" Lucas Oil renew Turner deal. 28th October: UK Top Methanol Dragster team Turner Motorsport have announced that Lucas Oil Products have renewed their sponsorship of the team for the 2010 season. ©Eurodragster.com "We would like to thank Les Downey of Lucas Oil Products for his continued support", says Steve Turner. "With Top Methanol Dragster now comparable to Top Alcohol Dragster in the USA for performance and level of competition we are very much looking forward to next season and the support of Lucas Oil will assist us in contesting the entire European Tour." Stay tuned as Turner Motorsport will shortly be making another exciting announcement about 2010 here on Eurodragster.com. Powerpoint DVDs set for release. 28th October: Well-timed for the approaching Christmas rush, our good friends at Powerpoint Communications are about to release their drag racing DVDs for 2009. This year's titles are as follow: Hardcore Street The 2009 season in B&H Automotive / LA Racing Parts Street Eliminator. Now on pre-order, release scheduled for 30th October. Nitro Warriors The 2009 season in the Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association. Available now. Outlaw Flat Four All the wheels-up, heads-up action from 2009 Outlaw Flat Four. Now on pre-order, release scheduled for 30th October. The Mopar EuroNats Held at Santa Pod back in July 2009, this is one of Europe's top muscle car events. Available now. Hot Rod Drags Featuring the 2009 NSRA Hot Rod Drags and Nostalgia Nationals. Now on pre-order, release scheduled for 30th October. Open Sport Nationals UK National Championship drag racing from Shakespeare County Raceway. Now on pre-order, release scheduled for 30th October. Regular readers will be aware that we rate the Powerpoint Communications DVDs amongst the best drag racing DVDs available. For more details including prices, ordering and video clips check out www.quartermilehigh.com. Hanna tunes Foster to title. 28th October: There was more success for US tuner and Eurodragster.com Blogger Will Hanna this past weekend as Foster Racing took the NHRA Division 3 Top Alcohol Funny Car Championship at the Lucas Oil Series event in Noble, Oklahoma. ©Eurodragster.com "We had to win the race to pass Andy Bohl for the Division 3 Championship", says Will. "It was also our last chance to claim points. We qualified #3 with a 5.76, and ran a 5.72 to take out Burl Brown in round one, a 5.78 in round two to defeat a redlighting Steve Harker, and a 5.73 in the final to defeat Lance Van Hauen and clinch the Championship. "Chris Foster plans on making a few races to crew with the Islanders TMD team next year!" Web site updates. 28th October: Our good buddy Jon Spoard has been busy with his must-see UK Drag Racing Nostalgia site. "I have posted a picture gallery from Rick Goodale which features pictures of the Allard Chrysler dragster at the 1961 Brighton Speed Trials, and also some pictures from 1963 of the first gathering of UK hot rodders to discuss the further development of the newly-formed British Hot Rod Association", says Jon. "I have also posted a gallery of my own pictures from September's FIA European Finals at Santa Pod". You can check out both galleies at www.ukdrn.co.uk and whilst there check out details of Jon's excellent and very reasonably-priced nostalgia-themed 2010 desk calendar for which he is now taking orders. ©Eurodragster.com Vegter working on return. 27th October: Dutch Pro Modified racer David Vegter landed back on earth with a crash. What was supposed to be the high point of his up to then exemplary début season in Pro Mod ended in drama at Santa Pod Raceway in September when his opponent's car veered off course and hit his brand new '67 Chevrolet Camaro, destroying a large part of the car. "It all went really well, and the car felt so good, and then this", David told Remco Scheelings. "It's going to take a lot of work, time, and money to fix, but we are determined to be there again next year." After several successful seasons in Super Gas and Super Comp, and after years of preparation and construction, David made his transition to the fastest Doorslammer class in the world, the Pro Modified. A Cynergy Composites '67 Camaro body was ordered from Canada, whilst Andy Robinson Race Cars was taking care of the chassis and construction. After a couple of months of finishing work by David Vegter and his Force of Habit team the still matt-black Camaro made its début in Drachten in June. "I immediately felt home in the car", said David looking back on his first track time in the car. "Andy did a truly amazing job, everything felt right. A real super car. The licencing runs went like a breeze as well." The first real race was straight into the FIA Championship at Mantorp Park in Sweden. David left a big impression with the other drivers in the field, as his qualifying resulted in four clean runs, stopping the clocks in 6.6 seconds. "This was really beyond expectation", said David. "The car did exactly what I wanted, and it's a great result after only four runs!" With this experience the European Finals at Santa Pod should have been the pinnacle of David's début season in Pro Modified, and good practice for a complete FIA European Championship season in 2010. As is well known, David had to shut off on his first qualifying pass and was coasting to the finish, when his opponent's car veered off and torpedoed him in the rear flank at a speed of over 200 kmh. David got out of the car unharmed, but the not even six round old Camaro was severely damaged. "Shortly after the start the car started to drift to the left", explained David. "I corrected it in time though and got off the throttle to just coast it through to the finish when suddenly I got a tremendous hit from behind. "The damage is enormous, but we're already working hard to repair it. A lot of things can be done by the team ourselves, but the welding and chassis work will be done by Andy Robinson. Everything is set to be there again next year. It was all looking so good, and then this happened. I'd like say a big Thank You to Michiel van Wilgen from MPM International Oil Company for his support. Without his help we would not have been on the track at all this year. Of course I also want to thank my team for the many hours they put into the car, and to Marc Meihuizen for his guidance. "Thanks also go out to the rescue marshals at Santa Pod for their professionalism as well as everybody in the Pro Modified class who, even though I have only just arrived, all came around to check on me and to make donations. Special thanks also go to Bruno Bader. His is another team which has to do things on a limited budget, but still he came to us and donated a big part of his prize money from his Exhaust Coating Pro Mod Challenge win. "This crash has put a step back, but we'll be back even stronger!" ©Eurodragster.com Swift snippets. 27th October: Lawrie Gatehouse has announced that he is to step down as co-ordinator of the UK's Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association. Blown-alcohol altered racer Bob Glassup is to take over and a racers' meeting is to be organised shortly to discuss the 2010 season. A big Thank You to Lawrie whose idea the NFAA was and without whose hard work the NFAA would not exist. Luckily Lawrie is not lost to us, though, as he and his team will continue to campaign the Chaos Fuel Altered. ©Eurodragster.com Frøya's Islanders Drag Racing Team have been in touch to wish their "Handsome young driver" Paul Ingar Udtian a very Heppy 40th Birthday. "Don't get too greedy with the cakes and puddings!", says team member Helge. Frost's Technology deal. 27th October: Andy Frost, the builder and owner of the fastest pump gas, radial-tyred car on the planet is pleased to have joined forces with the world's leading technical journal on race engines. Race Engine Technology magazine champions the engineering behind the world's fastest engines. Featuring articles on all categories of Drag Racing, F1, Le Mans, NASCAR and more, the magazine is a must read for everyone building racing engines. What's more the next issue, numbered 042, will have a cover story on Ian King's Top Fuel Bike and an article taking a look at the ADRL. ©Eurodragster.com "The team is proud to be associated with one of the world's leasing technical magazines", says Andy. "The team has embraced technology for the last few years and that has helped us set records and move to performances that weren't dreamed of a few years ago. We thank Chris Perry for his involvment in setting up this partnership and look forward to an exciting partnership with the magazine. "Thanks to the sponsorship deal between Race Engine Technology and RedVictor1Racing, if you buy a subscription from their web site at www.highpowermedia.com using the checkout code redvictor1 you will receive a 10% discount on your entire order!" Bad start, but a great finish. 26th October: Just when UK Supertwin Gas racer Chris Mott was sure that the light at the end of the tunnel must be the train coming towards him, all the hard work paid off and the Cupit and Mott team had a great finish to the season at the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway: It has been a very up and down year. Having fitted a turbo to the V-Rod this year we found problems, not at the top end, but launching the bike off the line. How can two different engine set-ups in the same bike, with similar power outputs, give such different reactions off the line! After spending three quarters of the year playing with the clutch etc, we finally managed to get the bike launching somewhere near straight and managed to get the times back down somewhere near where they should be. Then just when things are looking up, disaster struck! We took the bike to the Pod on 6th September for some final attempts at getting the clutch dialled in before the UK National Finals. On the first pass, I got to three quarter track and the engine died. I pulled the clutch in quick and coasted to the first exit, towed back to the pits and started to look for the problem. Pulled off the rear HT lead and find the plug snapped in half! As we had difficulty in winding the plug the rest of the way out, we knew it's going to be serious, and it was! Looking at the picture you can see the damage. Two snapped valves which have then hammered themselves back into the ports, a missing valve seat, a piston that looks like its been attacked with an axe, and a hole punched almost through the liner! The following couple of nights after work, we pulled the motor apart and wondered if we could get it fixed before the National Finals. We had some spare liners, the good old stock heads were pulled out of retirement again, the rods were getting tired but would have to go again, but it was the pistons we were short of. A couple of phone calls to Terry Stewart at Shaker Products and to CP Pistons, and a set were on their way. I spoke to Terry on the Wednesday afternoon and they turned up at the shop on the Friday morning. From California to Oxford in a day and a half - outstanding service! We managed to get the motor back together and fired up a few days before leaving for the National Finals, and what a disastrous weekend that was. On the first qualifier there was a misfire in the burnout! Thinking "Oh no not again" we pushed the bike back to the pits and investigated. After missing the second qualifier it looked like a faulty ECM. We borrowed an ECM from Dave Jones' bike - thanks Jonesy - and made it out just in time for the third qualifier. It was 7.30 pm, it was dark but this was our last chance! The bike was running really badly (wrong maps in the borrowed ECM), but it was running! Got to the line and it stalled! Ian Marshall kindly let us have another go at the end of the group - thanks for your patience Ian - the bike crawled off the line into the darkness and rans 25.73/62! The longest run of my life, but we're in the show! ©Eurodragster.com Back to the pits, jumped in the car and drove back to Oxford to pick up another ECM, getting back to the Pod just before midnight. Finished getting the bike back together in the morning, it fired twice then died! After a lot more searching, we found that the rotor had sheared the key way on the end of the crank. With the help of Pete Harrison we got a new key in and get it all bolted back together just in time for the first round. The bike launched well and then misfired all the way. Something still not right, we ran a 12.9 and lost the race and also any chance of keeping the title, and I was gutted! Back to working on the bike the following week, and we thought we had found the problem. Ran it up in the workshop and it sounded good, so loaded up for the final meeting of the year, the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend. What a turn around, a 9.56 off the trailer and number one qualifier, bettered that with a 9.48 to stay at number one. Sunday and we got through to the final to beat Les Harris - new Champion, well done Les - by 0.07! A great drag race to finish the year. A great end to the season but due to our problems earlier in the year we finished third in the Championship. Next year it looks like we'll have even more racers running in Supertwin Top Gas, I can't wait for the season to start, I want that number one back! Big thanks to the following for their help and support this year: as always my Super Crew of Gavin Cupit for all the hours put in helping get the bike finished in time, and my wife Yvonne for her help and understanding; Steve at Motorshack, Owen Developments for help with the turbo, Keith at Classic Cycle Works for the paint, Nick and Larry at PDQ Motorcycle Developments for the dyno, Mike and Sylvia at HQ Fibre Products, Fred and Aaron at Furlong Tyres, Arai Helmets UK, and Martin Ginns and Tom Robinson at Harley Davidson. Thanks also to all the crew at Shakey and the Pod, we couldn't do it without you, and to Tog and the team at Eurodragster.com for the great coverage, we'd be lost without you (Thanks! - Ed). See you all next year! Making the Earth move! 26th October: 2009 FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champions Carter Motorsport are delighted to announce a new marketing partnership with Hol-Taj, specialists in earthmoving equipment and mining trucks. "We're used to making the ground shake but these guys are the real experts in earthmoving!", says Team PR Dan Welberry. "We're really delighted to have Hol-Taj on board for 2010 and add them to our incredible mix of partners from so many different business sectors. They're are a massive, international company and we're pleased that they have recognised the potential of a partnership with four-time FIA Top Fuel Champion Andy Carter." ©Eurodragster.com Hol-Taj are UK-based exporters of heavy earthmoving equipment and mining trucks, particularly from the Terex Corporation to Africa and the Middle East, with companies established in the United Kingdom, Nigeria and Dubai. The personnel within Hol-Taj have a wealth of experience in these markets, particularly with Terex products going back for over thirty years, with company presence in Nigeria, through Holman Brothers, of over fifty years. The success in Nigeria has been across the board with sales to the State and Federal Ministries as well as the private sector, particularly the cement and mining industries. "It's fantastic that Hol-Taj can reconise the benifits of being involved in Top Fuel drag racing", says Andy Carter. "I'd like to say thanks to Company Director Steve Wheatman for making the deal happen and we look forward to seeng him next season." Swift snippets. 26th October: Congratulations to Swedish Pro Mod racer Adam Flamholc upon his runner-up finish at his first-ever IHRA event, the World Finals at Rockingham, yesterday. You can check out Adam's qualifying and elimination results on the Drag Race Central web site at www.dragracecentral.com. Also on the subject of Pro Modified, we understand that Kev Perkins will be driving Graham Ellis' Superbird Pro Mod at the Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway this Saturday. We are expecting the official list of racers appearing at the Flame and Thunder Show very shortly so stay tuned to Eurodragster.com News. ©Eurodragster.com On the subject of the Flame and Thunder Show, don't forget that we are running a contest to win a family ticket to the event. So far all but two entries have had the correct answer. Entry closes tomorrow; for more details and to enter check out Friday's news update. Further to yesterday's Swift Snippet regarding Santa Pod Raceway's 2010 calendar, SPR have asked us to alert racers to the Pro Peak Performance Days taking place before both the FIA Main Event and the FIA European Finals next year. The PPPDs will be on Thursday 27th May and Wednesday 8th September respectively. Garrett donates prize money. 26th October: UK Super Pro ET, Street Racer and all-round good guy Rick Garrett made a very generous donation to charity after this year's King of Europe, says organiser Lee Child of Eurodragster.com sponsor LA Racing Parts. "The Surrey family drag race team are no strangers to Santa Pod and you can always find Rick with a smile on his face when he is at Santa Pod having a great time", says Lee. "Rick entered his ultra-clean and tough-looking Mopar in King of Europe back at Santa Pod back in May and advanced to the semi-finals where he met Andy Frost in Red Victor. But the big Mopar fell victim to the Wolverampton warrior and Rick took third place in the competition. ©Eurodragster.com "Those of you who know Rick will not be surprised to hear that he donated his prize money to Cancer Research who were very grateful indeed. "Stay tuned to Eurodragster.com for more news about street-legal drag racing at Santa Pod Raceway in 2010. It's gonna be awesome!" Halloween havoc at SCR. 26th October: In addition to the CHP Ashes taking place this coming Sunday, 1st November, between teams from the Outlaw Flat Fours and the Pro Street Drag Series, Shakespeare County Raceway will also be hosting a Halloween Havoc Quick 32 ET Bracket Gamblers Race within the Warwickshire strips Public Track Day om Sunday, writes SCR's Jerry Cookson. This special one of a kind end-of-season ET Bracket will be open to all valid street-legal road cars and doorslammer race cars. Depending on entry, it is intended to run a maximum thirty two- or minimum sixteen-car ladder with predicted dial-ins, and a cash prize and trophies for the winner and runner-up. Helmets will be mandatory to enter the competition, and all cars will be scrutineered for safety. In addition to the general Raceway admission of £12 or £22 for the weekend and RWYB track fee of £20 or £35 for the weekend, an extra £10 will buy you a place in the Bracket programme which will then be placed into the prize purse dependent upon the number of signed on entries which take part in the Gamble! Bikes will be entered into the usual Trophy Bike Dash to find the quickest of the day. The track will open at 10:00 on Sunday , track and weather conditions permitting, with qualifying time trials and eliminations Sunday afternoon. But remember, arrive early with your vehicle and an extra £10, crash helmet and, of course, your driver's licence. Full details can be found on the News page of the SCR web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com . Shakespeare County will also be open this Saturday, 31st October, for general Run What You Brung Test and Tune as well as the first ever Diesel Drags Day supported by members of the TDI Sport Enthusiasts Club. Saturday is also a Club day. The track will be open from 10:00 am until 5:00 pm and there will also be the usual Saturday evening Halloween Ball, Trailer Decorating Contest, Trailer to Trailer Trick or Treat, Costume Contest for adults and kids, fun and games, evening bar and live band Straight-Up, as well as fireworks and a bonfire. Full details and admission prices can be found on the Events page of the SCR web site. SCR wish everyone a Happy Halloween and we'll see you at the strip. ©Eurodragster.com Bloggers head for USA. 25th October: Regular readers will know that two Eurodragster.com Bloggers and sponsors, UK Top Methanol Dragster racer Derek Flynn and Dutch Top Fuel Dragster racer Lex Joon, are headed for the USA for the first of two NHRA National event dates which takes place at The Strip at Las Vegas next weekend. Both Derek and Lex have posted Blog entries previewing their trips to the USA. ©Eurodragster.com As ever you can stay in touch with the latest Blog updates by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Swift snippets. 25th October: Congratulations to the US' Todd Tutterow and Eurodragster.com News sponsors the Leanders Brothers on another event victory for Todd who uses a Leanders clutch. Todd took the ADRL Battle of the Belt in Pro Extreme in Texas yesterday (Saturday). "Another Championship team with the right clutch in their bellhousing!", says Ulf Leanders. You can read more about Leanders performance products at www.leandersbros.se or click on the logo at left. Getting close to the point where they have enough funds to buy an engine, the Allard Chrysler Action Group have the choice of a complete rebuilt item from the USA or rebuilding an engine in the UK. If you have a 354 Dodge truck engine which you would be interested in selling to ACAG then please contact Bob Roberts at [email protected]. ©Eurodragster.com Santa Pod Raceway have confirmed a ticket price freeze for events in 2010. You can check out Santa Pod's 2010 calendar on their web site at www.santapod.com. We have no less than three birthdays today. First up, a very Happy Birthday to our good friend Gittli Koller. Kirsty Gibb is also celebrating her birthday today. Finally, Happy Birthday to Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com News sponsor Urs Erbacher. We hope that all three of you have great days. Another sponsor for Bennetts. 25th October: 2009 Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association Champions Bennett Racing are very happy to announce our latest team sponsor, Smiths High Performance. Smiths High Performance is a leading stockholder and supplier of high performance engineering materials to high technology industries such as motorsport and aerospace. Choose from a wide variety of commercial and speciality alloys and benefit from complete supply solutions including full inventory and logistics management. When you purchase high performance materials from Smiths High Performance you will be joining some of the biggest and best world class engineering companies from civil aviation, through to marine and Formula 1. Contact Smiths High Performance at 01767 604708 or www.smithshp.com. ©Eurodragster.com "This is the second new sponsor that we have secured since being crowned the 2009 Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association Champions, the first being NGK Spark Plugs", says Luke Bennet. "But as ever we are hungry for more and are now looking for companies to come on board with us either as a primary or associate sponsor for the 2010 season. Get your name on the car that will carry the number one in Europe next year. If you're reading this and would like more information then contact us at [email protected]." Web site updates. 25th October: Eurodragster.com News Editor and Race Reporter Tog made a rare outing with his camera at last week's Saturday Night Special at Santa Pod Raceway and you can now check out his complete set of shots at eurodragster.fotopic.net or www.togsdragracing.com. ©Eurodragster.com Flame and Thunder Show contest. 23rd October: Eurodragster.com has teamed up with Santa Pod Raceway to offer one lucky reader a family ticket to the Flame and Thunder Show on Saturday 31st October. The family ticket admits two adults and up to three under-sixteens. The Flame and Thunder Show features Fuel action from Jon Webster and Siw Nystad in Rune Fjeld's Top Fuel Dragsters and John Spuffard and Gordon Smith in the Showtime and Shockwave Fuel Funny Cars; demonstration passes by Championship racers; Martin Hill in the Fireforce 3 Jet Funny Car, Roger Goring in the Firestorm Jet FC and Julian Webb in the Split Second Jet Dragster; Ronnie Picardo's Jet Truck and Jet Beetle; stunt displays; drifting demos; Titan the Robot; monster trucks; show trucks; Hot Air Balloon Glow; laser show; the traditional bonfire and firework displays; and much more family entertainment. Santa Pod Raceway's own radio station Nitro FM will also be making their last broadcast of the season. You can find out more about the Flame and Thunder Show on Santa Pod Raceway's web site at www.santapod.com. For your chance to win the Flame and Thunder Show family ticket, simply answer the question below. The answer can be worked out from Eurodragster.com News or other sources if you haven't been paying attention recently. The winner will be chosen at random from all correct entries received. Good luck! ©Eurodragster.com Question: Which one of the racers listed below is not contesting the NHRA National event in Las Vegas next week? Derek Flynn Timo Habermann Thomas Nataas Stig Neergaard How to enter Simply send an E-Mail to [email protected] giving: Your answer to the above question Your name Your E-Mail address A daytime or mobile phone number Any entry without the details listed above will be disqualified. Entry closes at 23:59 UK next Tuesday, 27th October, and the winner will be notified by Eurodragster.com on Wednesday 28th October. Please note that the winner will be responsible for their own transport to and from Santa Pod Raceway. Many thanks to Jo Harris of Santa Pod Raceway for arranging the prize for this Contest. Happy McIntosh. 23rd October: B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Street Eliminator racer Alex McIntosh says that he is very happy with his end to the 2009 season as he won the UK National Finals and got back into the eights at last weekend's Saturday Night Special, both at Santa Pod Raceway. "I know that a lot of luck was involved in our win, as most the big hitters broke or didn't make the Cruise", says Alex. "But the car is now reliable and consistent and responds to tuning, and it just shows that anyone can win. I'm sure that the race fans would rather have watched a side-by-side seven-second 190 mph final (Not sure about that, they all count - Ed) but I hope our win will encourage anyone thinking of joining Street Eliminator. ©Eurodragster.com "Next season I hope to run at every round and improve on this year's fourth place in the Championship. I am also pleased with that as we only ran four of the eight rounds. We want to get the car deeper into the eights: the car has a lot more potential and the only thing holding it back is me and my fear of tuning by laptop, this is something I will have to learn over the winter. "As all racers know drag racing is very much a team sport and I have good team. I would like to thank Jon Webster and his staff at Webster Race Engineering for their endless help, advice and service, Dave Rowe at EPS for his EFI and data logging work, and last but not least my crew Johnny and Annie Mac, Steve whom I poached off Danny Cockerill's team, and Laurie, when he's not working for one of the Fuel teams." Go with what you know... 23rd October: Swiss Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com News sponsor Urs Erbacher has reverted to his FIA European Championship-winning chassis for the NHRA races in Las Vegas and Pomona as his repaired new dragster won't behave. Crew Chief Wayne Dupuy explains: The Midland Oil Erbacher Racing team has been hard at work the last couple of months trying to get the Brad Hadman Top Fuel dragster back on track after the Houston boomer. The team finished the car in time for the Dallas event last month, but we had ups and downs on the whole weekend qualifying seventeenth on a so-so run trying to get a handle on the car. Team Erbacher successfully licenced another driver on the Monday at Dallas: Mike Salinas who races a front-motored Nostalgia dragster. We were still trying to get the car to respond to changes with no luck. There was another event at Richmond for the team to get the car to respond but Urs could not make it because of business commitments at Fat Attack Custom Bikes commitments so Team Erbacher and Midland Oil made a deal with Scott Weis to drive at Richmond to get the car sorted out for Vegas. Still things didn't get where they needed to be: it was just not happening for the team. ©Eurodragster.com The team had to make a tough decision. With time running out and the car not right to race, Team Erbacher decided to go back to the car which likes to run hard and win. We know it better, know how to go fast with it, so it was a no-brainer - back comes the Championship car for Vegas and Pomona. The Championship car will sport a new look in Vegas with paint by our sponsor and friend Johnny Bangs Bang and Bump Shop. With new engine parts and all the latest greatest equipment Team Erbacher has everything in place for the Midland Oil Championship car to haul the mail. There will be almost thirty entries trying to win gold in Las Vegas, but the team feels that Urs could be the first European to conquer that goal. Also on the Monday in Las Vegas Jens Riehl will make more Top Fuel runs before taking on some tough competition in Top Fuel across the world. Jens and Urs would like to be team-mates in the future and they are working hard seeking sponsors in Europe and the USA. Wow, that would be cool for them to pull off - with the experience of Urs the four-time Champion and the aggression of Jens, who could ask for more out of Team Erbacher. Any sponsor would get the best of the best and have a huge return on their investment. So who wants to partner up with a great race team: Midland Oil Team Erbacher! Wish us luck and come aboard - here we go! Swift snippets. 23rd October: Ex-pat UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Smax Smith is contesting this weekend's IHRA World Finals in Rockingham in the Leverich family's Top Fueller. "We're going all out this weekend", says Aidan Smith. "We have a brand new PSI, a new big and ugly Top Fuel injector, upgraded from a 62 gallon pump to a 92 gallon pump, and we even have a spare short block ready! It's go or bust this weekend so watch out for us". Smax will be joined in representing Europe by Swedish Pro Mod racer Adam Flamholc who will be racing his recently-acquired blown-alcohol Camaro. Another racer to cheer on this weekend is ex-pat UK Top Alcohol Dragster racer Michael Manners of Eurodragster.com News sponsor Cosmo Residences who will be driving his injected-nitro dragster in the NHRA Divisional event in Noble, Oklahoma. You will be able to stay in touch with Smax's, Adam's and Mike's progress on the excellent Drag Race Central web site at www.dragracecentral.com. Stuart McDonald has been in touch to remind readers that McDonald Racing will be appearing with Eurodragster.com sponsor Jon Webster in the RFM Top Fuel dragster at the Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway on 31st October. "After the high of winning the European Finals we are looking forward to what is always a fantastic season-closing event", says Stuart. "We would like to thank all the sponsors, associates and people who have made this year possible for us. Particular thanks to Rune Fjeld, Jon Webster, Kawasaki, Persåkers Speed Shop, Motec, Lucas Oil, Pipe Supply, EPS, Prolong and of course our dedicated team. Please check out our web site at www.mcdonaldracing.co.uk for more details as well as pictures from the European Finals." Plastic model kit manufacturer Revell have announced that they are to re-release some of their classic kits starting with the Hawaiian and the Chi-Town Hustler. You can read more on Drag Race Central at www.dragracecentral.com/DRCStory.asp?ID=195368#indextop. ©Eurodragster.com Eurodragster.com News sponsor Tireshake.com is offering three new knit caps for frozen European drag racers and fans. You can find Top Fuel Beast, ch3no2 and Don't Fear Tireshake under New! at www.tireshake.com. Ian Turburville has been in touch seeking parts for the Harley-powered dragster which he will be campaining next year. "I am looking for a used set of wire front wheels", says Turbo. "17" x 2.5" Anglia spindle mount, as used on all Nostalgia-type cars. Anything considered, I just need something light and cheap. I also need some 10" x 15" rear wheels, light and cheap, old Centerlines etc. Whatever, deep dish of course". If you can help then drop Turbo a line at [email protected]. Chris Swinchatt tells us that UK Tot Rod racer Callum Swinchatt will be attending next weekend's Halloween Bonfire Burn Up at Shakespeare County Raceway. "We urge any other tot rods who are interested to come and have a good time on the track", says Chris. "The Hot Rod Drags was a great success for us tot rods having made about twenty passes!" King Tutt wins another for Leanders. 23rd October: If you were tuned in to Eurodragster.com News on 15th October you will have read that amongst the several satisfied customers of Eurodragster.com sponsor Leanders Brothers Performance Products is US ADRL racer Todd Tutterow. Todd took the BAE 526 Hemi-powered Al-Anabi 2006 Ford Mustang to the Al-Anabi Shootout at Petersburg, Virginia and swept all before him courtesy of the Leanders clutch equipped with Friction Unlimited discs. Todd blasted a 3.92 ET on his first qualifying pass off the trailer but it was only good enough to put him third, but int he second qualifier he ran his best-ever ET of 3.74 to put him in second spot behind Von Smith's 3.69. Todd ended the day up against long time Pro Extreme racer Quain Stott. With lane choice he took the left lane and once again laid down a 3.7-second run. ©Eurodragster.com Todd would like to thank the Leanders Brothers for another great design in their new and improved clutch. "The old design was good but this new design shows even more and better potential", says Todd. "It has really worked well for us." You can find out more about Leanders Brothers Performance Products on their web site at www.leandersbros.se. Racing for the MS Trust. 23rd October: Gordon Northway tells is that he is preparing a race car for 2010 to represent the Multiple Sclerosis Trust. "The car goes in tomorrow to begin its transformation of colour", says Gordon. "It will carry the MS Trust colours and logos. John Sleath is building the engine, and Luke Bennett is putting together the web site. "The name of the car is The Edge, which actually sums up how the sufferers of MS live their lives, never knowing from day to day how this degenerative illness will affect them. The object of the car is to support the MS Trust in raising awareness and also to raise as much funding as possible for this worthwhile charity. If you were at the European Finals then you will remember that the Mongoose Funny Car pit was displaying MS Trust banners. "The car has some history. It last raced six years ago and is a Cavalier originally called Pulse Rate, driven by a roundhead named Steve Good who had a Rover in the car (right). Steve will be returning to the race scene in 2010 as a crew member for the car with a massive grin on his chops!" Plus one year, less one second. 22nd October: UK Junior Dragster racer and birthday boy Zak Johnson spent the second half of the 2009 season running a car which was too fast, with only his right foot as a throttle stop say parents Rick and Sarah: Zak did very well not to get disqualified but he restrained himself and did exactly as he should, even though he had little chance of not breaking out. He did however get to grips with the reactions, qualifying first at the European Finals with a perfect reaction (just beaten to the money by Ian Hook, well done Ian) and then 0.001 at the National Finals. We think he is back to some good qualifying performances. The next stop is the Halloween Bonfire Burn Up at Shakespeare County Raceway where we can finally run the car to its full potential before we start to dial it in for Junior Modified Advanced next year. Zak started in Junior Stock as soon as he turned eight - within the week! - and Junior Modified as soon as he turned ten, and nine days after his thirteenth birthday he will be in Junior Modified Advanced. ©Eurodragster.com If any other Juniors fancy one last chance at Shakey at Halloween then it would be great to see you before the long wait until next year. Good luck to all those who are leaving the Juniors and welcome to all the new starters. We would just like to finish by saying a big thank you to all at Santa Pod and Shakespeare County for all the hard work they put in and of course Eurodragster.com for the excellent coverage - yes we are a family of Eurodragsterholics - (Thanks! - Ed) and lastly the weather gods who seemed to be on our side this year. Here's hoping for the same in 2010. As mentioned above, today is Zak's birthday; have a very Happy Birthday Zak and that 7.900 is all wrapped up and ready for you next week. Editor's note: Only a quick news update today because of pressure of work in your News Editor's day job. Tune back tomorrow to read about a change of cars for Urs Erbacher, the latest success of the Leanders clutch, ending the year on a high in Street Eliminator, more attire from Tireshake.com and more, and keep those news items coming to [email protected]. British Hall of Fame web site launch. 21st October: After residing on a page hosted here on Eurodragster.com since its inception, the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame in association with USAutomotive has taken the logical next step with the launch of its own dedicated web site at www.britishdragracinghof.co.uk. The new web site has been completely redesigned and vastly expanded from the single page hosted on Eurodragster.com. The site features BDRHoF qualifying criteria, extended biographies of Hall of Fame members, news, merchandise including shirts, caps and mugs, links, details on how sponsors can become involved, acknowledgements and more. In addition the BDRHoF site hosts a duplicate of Chris Dossett's Trakbyte's UK Drag Racing History web site which, together with the Acceleration Archive and UK Drag Racing Nostalgia sites, offers a detailed history of the sport in the UK and which has been an invaluable reference to the BDRHoF Board of Selectors. ©Eurodragster.com "I would like to thank Ian Messenger and Steve Trice who have put in tremendous amount of work on our new project", says BDRHoF Chair Stu Bradbury. "Without their expertise and input the new site would have been nowhere near as good. I would also like to thank the Eurodragster.com team for hosting our web page up to this point and for keeping it up to date when they had quite enough on their plate already. Finally I must thank USAutomotive for their continued support of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame and also the tracks, Clubs and promoters without whose co-operation the BDRHoF might never have become a reality." Update on Keith Parnell. 21st October: Further to Sunday's Swift Snippet, photo-journalist Keith Lee kindly got in touch with an update on veteran bike racer Keith Parnell, who took a spill at a sprint at Westonzoyland on Saturday. ©Eurodragster.com "I was there at the time, and shot most of the run when he came off, thankfully pretty much unscathed", says Keith of Keith. "It was particularly disappointing that he crashed, as the run would almost certainly have been his first eight on the nitrous Kawasaki. He had run 9.08 off the trailer, which was only 0.01 seconds off his best ever, followed by a 9.10 which had bogged significantly. This run was so much harder off the line, but the front end got loose and threw Keith off at around 100 mph. "The good news is that Keith only suffered a painful dislocated thumb and a lot of bumps and bruises. I talked to him on Monday, and he was quite cheerful. It says a lot for good quality modern leathers, and the fact that they breed them tough down in Corwall!" 9.50 Bike points posted. 21st October: Many thanks to Yvonne Tramm and our very own Simon for forwarding us the final standings in the 2009 UK National 9.50 Bike Championship, and to Yvonne for forwarding the final standings in the 2009 Santa Pod Racers Club 9.50 Bike Championship. You can check out the final standings in both 9.50 Bike Championships on our Speedflow-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. ©Eurodragster.com "My congratulations to all the National and SPRC Champions and runners-up", says Yvonne. We second that, and we are sure that all racers will join us in adding a big Thank You for their hard work to Yvonne, Simon, Ian King and to all the class Championship co-ordinators, as well as a big Thank You to Fay Fischer of Speedflow for her support of our Points Standings page which is one of the most-visited pages on Eurodragster.com. Nevermind the Championships... 21st October: The UK's Team Nevermind rounded out a very successful year with their '68 Camaro this past weekend as Andrew Murton clinched both the 2009 Street Racer Series and the 2009 Santa Pod Castrol Street Challenge, to go with his runner up position in this year's Power Tour. During the season Andrew has competed at four different strips including York Raceway and North Weald. "Nevermind has run a best of 9.33/148 this year", says Andrew. "We would be interested to know if there are any quicker road-legal, un-tubbed cars out there running street legal tyres on the original chassis. It even has the rear seat! "Many thanks must go to everyone who has helped this year including the various Championship co-ordinators, fellow competitors for all the banter, and all of the track staff everywhere from the people on the gate to the ladies running signing-on, to the track crews who ensure that we can all play safely on well-prepared strips." Feature: California Hot Rod Reunion. 20th October: The latest in our occasional series of Features presented in association with Stroud Safety and Andy Robinson Race Cars is Roger's report from the weekend's California Hot Rod Reunion at Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield. ©Eurodragster.com You can check out Roger's CHRR report and pictures by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. A big Thank You to Roger for going above and beyond to get the Feature to us so quickly and to Andy Willsheer for the use of his E-Mail facility. More US rides for hire. 20th October: Fuel tuner Eddie Corr tells us that Terry Haddock Racing has two Fuel cars for hire at any US event. "The Top Fuel Dragster has qualified at every NHRA race it entered in 2009, often with only one run", says Eddie. "For instance in the heat of the day of Q3 in Dallas we went straight into the #11 position out of nineteen cars, with no prior run. The car never suffers tyre smoke. At 1000 feet the best ET is 3.90 and best speed is 305 mph. ©Eurodragster.com "The Funny Car won the 2008 IHRA Funny Car Championship and at 1000 feet has a best ET of 4.16 and a best speed of 290 mph. "Both of these cars offer not only proven performance but the potential to go faster still and win rounds. For competitive made-to-measure packages suiting drivers from those needing to licence to those with more experience, call Terry directly on +1 847 417 8066." Maurischat hits SEMA. 20th October: After a successful outing at the FIA European Finals where he managed to set a new Personal Best and German Pro Mod best of 6.19/228, Pro Mod racer Marco Maurischat of Eurodragster.com sponsor Pulverbeschichtung Nord GmbH has the honour of presenting the achivement with this display artwork which will be part of the stand of major supplier NIC Industries at the SEMA show in Las Vegas on 3rd-6th November. "NIC Industries is the great company behind us that provides my business Pulverbeschichtung Nord GmbH with the best High Temp Ceramic Coating material available on the performance market", says Marco. "The company made the decision to use our on-track performance as a marketing tool at the upcoming show, and we as a team and myself as company owner feel very proud that our Nasty 53 FIA Pro Mod will feature as display material at the biggest US car industry Show . As always, Darren West of Power Race Graphics did the great artwork which will feature on the stand. "I will be on hand at the NIC booth at SEMA to talk to European customers and to meet with the NIC board for upcoming marketing strategies. New to the NIC stable is Greg Chan, formerly a HPC/Jet Hot Coatings sales manager. With over twelve years in the Performance Coating industry, Greg brings a great set of skills and knowledge to NIC and supports the service and development of exhaust-coating.de as the exclusive European distributor and instructor for the full line of NIC Ceramic products. NIC Industries alongside us here in Europe are working very hard to make our High Temp Ceramic Coatings number one on the world wide exhaust coating market. "Whilst on business in Las Vegas I'm happy that I have a couple of days free to attend the Las Vegas Nationals before the SEMA Show starts. There are so many European racers out there for the event, including our Pro Mod pit marshal Spencer Tramm who will show up in Stock Eliminator. As I understand my friend Jens Riehl will make a Top Fuel pass on the Monday after the event with Urs Erbacher's car so I will stay to follow Jens' progress at the track! Las Vegas also run Pro Mod that weekend with some of the best US teams entered, so I hope to talk to some of them and make some contacts." Swift snippets. 20th October: Carrying on the Europe-in-US theme, Dutch Top Fuel Dragster racer, Eurodragster.com sponsor and Blogger Lex Joon is now also posting a Blog on the NHRA's web site previewing his participation in the last two NHRA events of the season. You can check out Lex's introductory Blog entry at www.nhra.com. ©Eurodragster.com In what will hopefully be looked back upon as a defining moment for drag racing in Central Europe, organisers and promoters got together at a meeting in Budapest to discuss international events, Championships and rule harmonisation. The meeting, organised by Paul Fischer, appears to have been more than fruitful and although there is a lot of hard work now to be done the general impression is one of great optimism. You can read all about it on the CeDrag web site at www.cedrag.com. Farrer crowned PSDS Champion. 20th October: Congratulations to Jap racer Karl Farrer who, after four years of trying, finally landed the big cup and the title of Pro Street Drag Series champion at last Sunday at Shakespeare County Raceway, writes Jerry Cookson. Having led much of the five round time trial series since April, Karl's 2.6 twin turbo Nissan Skyline R32 GTR done up to look like an American police car - The Barricade - has fared well this year having run best ETs of 10.7 at Shakey and 10.83 at York Raceway. With just one point in it going into the final round Martyn Jeffery eventually pushed his Enginetuner-sponsored WRX spec Subaru Impreza into second place when Darren Lawrence suffured the misfortune of cracking his block during open practice on Saturday. Darren assures me even though he lost second place he will be back to contest next Sunday's CHP Ashes (Japs v Outlaw Flat Fours) at the Raceway when he will have his new engine in place in the AP Motors-backed Impreza. Sunday also brought news of the tragic passing in a road accident of one of this country's talented Japanese engine tuners and racer Rob Gallagher - otherwise known as Tweenie Rob. Rob was responsible for a great number of engine tune-ups in both the HKS and Pro Street Drag Series, and will always be known as the man behind Mick Begley's Jun Super Lemon R33 GTR and more recently Mick's European R33 Duke GT-R Special, the fastest Skyline in the world. ©Eurodragster.com Welcome Will Hanna! 19th October: As mentioned yesterday we are very pleased to welcome the US' Will Hanna to the Eurodragster.com Blog team. Will tunes Fred Hanssen's Top Methanol Dragster on the European tour as well as tuning Top Alcohol cars in the USA and running the popular Inside Top Alcohol web site. ©Eurodragster.com Will's first Blog entry is about the preparations already being made for 2010 on Fred Hanssen's Top Methanol Dragster and as ever you can check out the latest Blog entry by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Macdermid at Topspeed. 19th October: B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Street Eliminator racer Bill Macdermid has been in touch to explain his absence since the start of the year: Myself and partner Vinnie have bought Topspeed, a 1200 square foot car accessory shop in New Haw in Surrey. The shop has been running successfully since 1969 and the previous owner has just retired. Vinnie and I are really focused on keeping up the excellent service. We are agents for and deal with companies such as Wynns, Millers Oils, K&N, Kenlowe, NGK Plugs, Silicone Hoses, Draper, TCI, Felpro, Aeromotive, Taylors, Autoglym, Smart Wax, Meguiars, Mr Gasket and Power Pour to name but a few. We also have a large stock of Jada muscle and VW car models and service parts for your everyday car. ©Eurodragster.com We are main agents for Valvoline Oil and to celebrate the launch of our new web site at www.topspeedparts.co.uk we can offer any Eurodragster.com reader and drag racer fantastic deals on Valvoline Racing VR 1 20/50, from one litre of oil up to a 205-litre drum and we can deliver the drums carriage free anywhere in mainland UK. Please call the shop on 01932 341700 or visit us at 17-19 The Broadway, New Haw, Surrey KT15 3EU. We are looking forward to racing in Street Eliminator in 2010 in Topspeed livery. Swift snippets. 19th October: We have another birthday from the ranks of SPRC marshals today. This time it's the turn of Phil Brown, to whom a very Happy Birthday. ©Eurodragster.com Of flips and lumberjacking. 19th October: Shakespeare County Raceway created yet another first at the weekend - for wheelstanding Autograss cars! With the regular season of Autograss racing all but over a group of local grass racers based near to the Warwickshire drag strip thought of an inventive way of making use of available track time on Saturday instead of their conventional digging for dirt on a muddy oval, writes Jerry Cookson: Often packing twin 1000cc Suzuki or Kawasaki engines, these short wheelbase single seat racers certainly kept everyone entertained with their start line antics and power-zapping wheelstands which unfortunately led to an unscheduled flip by Gary Ray's Suzuki twin single-seat 1000 cc Special. Both car and driver were fine and in fact when Gary kept all four wheels on the ground his Special was good for low elevens at 120 mph! Earlier in the day the Raceway's Christmas Tree took another hit after Matt Attwood's VW Pro racer knocked on of its supports sending the whole lot crashing to the ground. We heard someone say that "Lumberjack" has now been added to Matt's job description! ©Eurodragster.com Successful year for PMR School. 19th October: Paul Paul Marston Racing's Drag Race Driving School had a solid year in 2009, and taking into consideration the current economic climate Paul Marston says it was a good year: The legacy of the School continues to be visible, with more and more entries at National Championship events having been through the School and achieving successes which the Drag Race School programme can be rightfully proud of. With two 2009 National Championships won by current and former Paul Marston Racing drivers to add to the 2008 UK National Super Comp Championship, and not one but both Track Championships won by Dave Catton last year and the APIRA Super Pro ET Championship won by John Everett the year before that, it's quite an impressive resumé, especially when you take into account that that is three different drivers in three different cars in three different classes! Paul Marston Racing would like to thank all of ex-pupils and drivers for making themselves look so good. One of the key fundamentals of the Paul Marston Racing Drag Race Driving School has been the constant development of the drivers; you never ever stop learning in drag racing. The clear-cut aim of the PMR Drag Race Driving School was to bring more drivers into National events and to furnish them with everything they need to become competitive. I think that it is fair to say that we are currently achieving that. This is no mean feat in the years in which the School has existed as the level of competition in Sportsman racing has increased considerably. You really have to bring your very best game nowadays. You need to have the complete package: good race car, good crew and a good driver, and in classes like Pro ET, you need all of that just to qualify! Paul Marston Racing cannot ever overplay the importance of a good solid professional crew. 2009 has seen everyone in the PMR crew step up to the plate and put in extra effort and extra hours, the only way to win is through a lot of hard work and sacrifice. Anything that you win on the track is never won without being earned in the pits and the shop prior to arriving at the track. PMR's drivers would like to express their thanks and gratitude to all of the PMR crew as without them and their tireless efforts none of what we have achieved would be possible. The upside of this economically challenged season is that the Paul Marston Racing Drag Race Driving School have virtually cleared the backlog for prospective School candidates in 2010. As we speak there are going to be spaces available in 2010 both for drives and of course the infamous passenger rides. There are of course National event drives available for the 2010 season as well. So if you are looking to drive with us or would like to discuss anything, then now is the time to talk to us. We have some very competitive packages available. So if you want to learn how to drive a drag race car in 2010, or if you want to compete in a competitive team in 2010 then I think that our credentials speak for themselves. E-Mail us on [email protected] or call Paul on 07831 650230. Lastly a big Thank You to Santa Pod and Shakespeare County Raceway for putting on some stunning events in 2009, the one and only Togmeister, Simon, Roger and Kirstie of Eurodragster.com for all their tireless work, such a professional and seamless show, you are a credit to yourselves (Oh I say, thanks - Ed). A special Thank You to all the track crews and safety crews at both tracks for keeping us all safe, in particular to the Santa Pod crews for helping us take such good care of the Drag Race School pupils as we train them and for having the patience to allow us to take the extra time they sometimes need, it really helps. Santa Pod management deserve a big Thank You for having the faith in PMR to allow us to teach at Santa Pod. This kind of investment in time ensures that this great sport of drag racing has a future. Nitro FM, Nigel and Jules for your coverage on track and internet, thanks for allowing PMR to ruin the occasional show or two. I know a lot of the Sportsman racers really appreciate the Sportsman coverage that you allow PMR to host. Everyone at PMR is looking forward to the 2010 season already. ©Eurodragster.com Swift snippets. 18th October: Our best wishes to longtime UK bike racer Keith Parnell who took a spill at a sprint yesterday (Saturday). We understand courtesy of the 200mph bike forum that the UK's first eight-second bike racer is OK but for a dislocated thumb and that he returned to the track after being released from hospital. Hope all is OK Keith. Many thanks to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe for forwarding us the official Extreme Performance Bike Weekend timing data, which you can check out by clicking here or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. The débuts of two new Street Eliminator cars and of a new Comp bike, new racers, class changes, Personal Bests, racing Robinsons and a lot more were the highlights of the day at yesterday's Saturday Night Special at Santa Pod Raceway. In association with American Car Imports we have now posted a Saturday Night Special gallery which you can check out by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Most of the pictures have mouse-over captions to tell you the story of yesterday's events. ©Eurodragster.com We are very pleased to announce that the US' Will Hanna has joined the Eurodragster.com Blogging team. Will, who tunes Fred Hanssen's Top Methanol Dragster on the European tour as well as tuning Top Alcohol cars in the USA and running the popular Inside Top Alcohol web site, has submitted his first entry and you will be able to read what he has to say on tomorrow's Eurodragster.com News update. Swift snippets. 17th October: It's still birthday season here at Eurodragster.com as we have another two birthdays for you today. A| big Happy Birthday to Santa Pod Racers Club Assistant Race Director Robin Shone, and to Steve Turner of the UK's Turner Motorsport Top Methanol Dragster team. Have a great day guys. ©Eurodragster.com Further to yesterday's Swift Snippet, Gary Hall has been in touch to let us know that he has also heard from "Richard Monroe" in response to an advertisement on our Jeff Bull Race Engines Swap Meet. Gary says that the guy in question referred to himself as "Prince" Richard Monroe, so that tells you everything you need to know about the guy's geographical location and lack of bona fides. Web site updates. 17th October: Ours is not the only webcam operating today as there is also a broadcast available from the California Hot Rod Reunion in Bakersfield. We tuned in yesterday and although the picture was a bit jumpy the broadcast was most enjoyable and we even spotted Eurodragster.com Photo Editor Roger in shorts...the broadcaster might have warned us in advance about that. Check it out at www.bangshift.com and don't forget the -8 (UK) or -9 (Europe) hour time difference. Thanks to Herb Andrews and Sam Freeman for alerting us to this broadcast. ©Eurodragster.com Carter Motorsport PR Dan Welberry of Eurodragster.com sponsor 3t Creative has been in touch to let us know that the feature on Santa Pod Raceway's two seater dragster, which has finally been broadcast on the Paul O'Grady Show, is available for replay on Challen 4's web site at www.channel4.com/programmes/the-paul-ogrady-show/4od#2972743. The drag racing section is about thirty five minutes in. Swift snippets. 16th October: We were sorry to hear of the death of US Top Fuel Bike racer Bo O'Brochta who took the National TFB title in the USA in 1980. Bo was also seen racing on these shores in the early 1980s. You can find a tribute on the King Racing web site at www.kingracing.com. Our sympathies to Bo's family and friends. The final standings in the 2009 ACU UK Drag Bike Championships are now available on the King Racing web site at www.kingracing.com. A late addition to our American Car Imports-sponsored Event Coverage is tomorrow's Saturday Night Special at Santa Pod Raceway. The Webster Race Engineering/Lex Joon Racing USA Tour 2009 webcam will be broadcasting all day tomorrow and then a photo gallery will be posted on Sunday. We will post a direct link to the coverage when the webcam starts to broadcast tomorrow. ©Eurodragster.com Three birthday greetings today. First up is a Happy Birthday for yesterday (Thursday) to German track announcer and all-round good guy Benni Voss; hope you had a great day Benni and apologies that we found out too late to go on yesterday's update. Happy Birthday for today to Amanda Cox of the UK's T Four One Pro ET team, and to Barry Halliwell of Santa Pod Raceway's safety crew. Hope you have a great day guys. 12:30 Eurodragster.com reader Martyn Willis has been in touch to alert us to a likely scammer responding to Car Parts Wanted advertisements in our Jeff Bull Race Engines Swap Meet. "I have advertised for a few wanted car parts and he has come back with the same reply for them all", says Martyn. "He says he is a 65-year-old shop owner but I have just talked to him on the phone and he isn't. By the sound of the ring tone it is an international call but he says he is based in London. He goes by the name of Richard Monroe, his phone number is 07024 058747 and E-Mail is [email protected]". There you go folks, be warned. The guy has received one of our special E-Mails and Kirstie is on standby to pay him a visit should he keep trying it on. This problem is not unique to Eurodragster.com: it happens on every classified service on the web, but exercise a little caution as Martyn did and you'll be OK. Web site updates. 16th October: Thanks to our good buddy Alan Currans for letting us know that a short piece on the Allard Chrysler Dragster is now showing on Bill Pratt's excellent DragList web site at www.draglist.com. ©Eurodragster.com Leanders' clutch of successes. 15th October: 2009 FIA European Top Methanol Funny Car Champion Ulf Leanders of Eurodragster.com News sponsor Leanders Brothers Drag Racing has been in touch to let us know just how successful the Leanders' self-designed clutch has been in Top Methanol and Pro Mod this season. Ths list is certainly impressive: European racers using Leanders Top Methanol and Pro Mod clutches: Leanders Bros (TMFC) Dan Larsen (TMFC) latter half of the season Leif Andréasson (TMFC) Mats Eriksson (PM) Freddy Fagerström (PM) Urban Johansson (PM) latter half of the season FIA Main Event TMFC #1 and #2 qualifiers, winner and runner-up, Low ET FHRA Nitro Nationals TMFC #1 and #2 qualifiers, winner, Low ET Pro Mod #1 qualifier, Low ET Veidec Festival TMFC #1, #2 and #3 qualifiers, two Leanders clutches in rained-out final, Low ET Pro Mod #1 and #2 qualifiers, one Leanders clutch in rained-out final, Low ET NitrOlympX TMFC #2 and #3 qualifiers, winner Pro Mod #1 and #2 qualifiers, Low ET, European record ©Eurodragster.com FIA European Finals TMFC #1, #2 and #3 qualifiers, winner and runner-up, Low ET Pro Mod #1 qualifier, winner, Low ET, European record FIA European Championships TMFC European Champion, runner-up and #3, European record PM European Champion, European record The Leanders clutches have also had a measure of success in the USA: Todd Tutterow (ADRL) 3.76/205.6 eighth mile Brad Personette (ADRL/Pro Mod) 5.84/253 quarter mile - the world's quickest and fastest turbo car Tommy D'April (ADRL/Pro Mod) 3.81 eighth mile Travis Sweringen (ADRL) 3.78 eighth mile "With the results above we are sure we have a good product!", says Ulf. You can find out more about Leanders Brothers products including the clutches, awnings and more at www.leandersbros.se/mainpages/products.htm. Goodbye to an old friend. 15th October: Dave Beck and the TVR Power Pro Stock Bike team went into the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway already having won the 2009 ACU Pro Stock Bike Championship. However the events of the weekend resulted in some unexpected changes to the record-setting Ward/MTC-powered Suzuki. While securing the number one qualifying slot on Saturday, the team suffered its first engine failure in two and a half years, resulting in total destruction of the record-setting motor. To make matters worse, a rod exiting the motor cut straight through the frame. Thanks to the skills and efforts of Jerry Collier the chassis was repaired on Saturday, before the super team of Ric Naylor and Tom Lynskey installed another bullet ready for the eliminations on Sunday. On Sunday Dave staged the TVR Power bike for his semi-final bye run, then in the final the win light came on as Len Paget left early, leaving Dave to limp home on a misfiring motor to take the event win. "One of the ugliest wins we have had", smiled Dave, "but it consolidated the UK Championship for all our sponsors and my super team, so I'll take that any day." The loss of the record-setting motor and serious damage to the chassis has thrown planning for 2010 into the air, with the team currently seeking financial support to rebuild the motor and to replace the chassis. "We understand from Sandy Kosman that this is probably the oldest Kosman frame running in Pro Stock", noted Dave. "But I'm afraid that we need to replace it now, which is a cost we hadn't accounted for. But that's Pro Stock - we push these motors hard and sometimes that's the price of being quick. Looking on the bright side, we think a new chassis will make the bike even quicker in 2010." Dave would like to thank TVR Power, MTC Engineering, Ward Performance, PR Factory Store, Nimbus Motorsports, Motorshack, Steve Howe & Sons, and Stephen Moon Consulting. ©Eurodragster.com JDB wraps up for 2009. 15th October: The final round of the Insane Motorcycles 2009 Junior Drag Bike Championship was held last weekend at Shakespeare County Raceway, writes Sharron Collier: Big congratulations go to Jordon Bissell for winning the 2009 Championship and securing the JB1 plate for 2010, well done Jordon. Here are the points and race numbers for next season after this final meeting: JB1 Jordon Bissell 1680 JB2 Brett Cordelle 1465 JB3 Scott Collier 1310 JB4 Luke Argyle 895 JB5 Giselle Moor 450 JB6 Joe Dear 370 Many thanks to Glynn Sainsbury of 2Brothers Motorcycle Services for sponsoring this final round of the Insane Championship. The winner of the final round was Scott Collier and runner-up was Brett Cordelle. Well done to Scott for managing to take the win after such a hard year with his troublesome engine, and for picking up on a problem with his bike which Jerry was able to fix in time for the eliminations. A great weekend for Brett also in achieving the runner-up trophy, and also for Giselle Moor who continued to improve on her new bike, this weekend running a Personal Best of 10.0! ©Eurodragster.com We are on show this weekend (17th-18th) promoting Junior Drag Bike and Shakespeare County Raceway at the Classic Motorcycle Mechanics Show at Stafford County Showground. We have a stand in Sandylands Hall with a display of Junior Drag Bikes and drag race information. Come and say hello if you are passing. We are now seeking sponsors for our 2010 Championship, both a title sponsor and individual round sponsors, if anyone would like to talk about that or any matter relating to Junior Drag Bike then please give us a call on 01246 570304. All that's left to say it a big Thank You to our riders and parents, Julie Willcox and the staff at Shakespeare County Raceway for their support and help throughout the season, Nick Argyle for his Insane Motorcycles title sponsorship of the 2009 Championship, all our foreign friends for being so interested and supportive of the class via the internet, and our friendly news editors for publishing our updates (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed). We have a possible seven new riders out for next season; Junior Drag Bike is on the up, as we knew it would be. To keep up with news and info become a fan of Junior Drag Bike on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/wwwjuniordragbikecouk. Swift snippets. 15th October: We have a couple of birthdays today. First up is a very Happy Birthday to Santa Pod Racers Club Event Secretary and Assistant Race Director Carole Ismail. Have a lovely day Carole. Eurodragster.com sponsor Derek Flynn and the Go Gold crew have asked us to wish a big Happy Birthday to Larry Miersch and his race car. "Have a great day buddy and we'll see you soon!", they say. ©Eurodragster.com A note to racers competing in Las Vegas and Pomona: Derek Flynn has kindly agreed to bring a batch of Eurodragster.com decals with him to the USA. We have worked out more or less how many Derek will need to bring to cover those European racers contesting these events but if you are a European or indeed American racer competing at Las Vegas and Pomona and would like Eurodragster.com decals then please drop us a line at [email protected]. One season ends, another starts... 15th October: Steve Dudley writes that it was a great start to the season at the 1/24 scale Mr C Raceway: We had twenty one racers turn up just itching to make some runs on the track after the summer break. After an hour of testing and tuning Race Controller Pete did the rounds and took the names of those wanting to be part of the first elimination race. Unfortunately due to the numbers not everyone got a race, but they would get a chance later. Matt Dudley with his new G12 motored Type 3 Notchback was favourite to win but in the semi against Gary he was asleep on the lights and got beaten. Jamie with his Parma Pro Stock car came through on the other side of the ladder and would race Gary in the final. It was close but young Jamie just edged it. We then had some more testing, tuning and a couple of grudge races between Matt (VW Type 3) and Ric (revamped Mk 1 Capri), Ric the more experienced just edging Matt out with a couple of wins. As I hadn't run in the first elimination I asked Pete to run a second race. By this time a couple of people had dropped out so I got my chance. Again there were some very close races with several newcomers from the Rebel Rousers Car club making it through the rounds. The final was myself against young Jamie, I've got to admit I panicked as Jamie was fast on the trigger, and I went too early pulling a cherry. Two race wins for Jamie, well done. I knew I shouldn't have sold him that car! Fastest time and speed of the day were 0.827/42.8 mph by a G12 motored Funny Car. Thanks to all those who turned up, hope you had a good time, and look forward to seeing you all again on the 8th November. Denmark's answer to Rolf Harris. 15th October: Rob Inglis writes that Karsten Andersen of the FIA European Championship-holding Andersen Racing Top Fuel Dragster team will be challenging the John Force Racing crew to a challenge with a difference when they contest the NHRA races at Las Vegas and Pomona. One round of the challenge has already been held, at Santa Pod Raceway: This is a didgeridoo contest and the catch will be that the didgeridoo will consist of a vacuum cleaner pipe wrapped in a towel - seemingly this gives the vacuum cleaner pipe the 'authentic' sound. Karsten was seen, and heard, wowing the gathered crowd whilst practising at the FIA European Finals. ©Eurodragster.com Kågered Racing Crew Chief Emil felt compelled to respond to the challenge on behalf of his multi-nation team. However, he was let down by a reluctance to lick the end of the tube as demonstrated earlier by expert Karsten. The allows for the necessary seal on the tube! It is rumoured that, alongside the Fueller tune-up, Emil is now feverishly working on a new style of vacuum cleaner playing for the 2010 season, so that Team Kågered can not only take the 2010 FIA Top Fuel honours, but also the 2010 Top Fuel Crew Chief Vacuum Cleaner Didgeridoo Championship. Web site updates. 15th October: Santa Pod Raceway's resident RWYB photographer Ian Blackett has posted an Extreme Performance Bike Weekend gallery and slo-mo video clips on the Blackett Photography web site at www.blackettphotography.com. ©Eurodragster.com Many thanks to Herb Andrews for letting us know that an official video of the first fire-up of Norm Wheeldon's Two Much twin-engined slingshot is now available on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLNmmPpZSyY. Juniors set up SPR jamboree. 14th October: UK Junior Dragster racer Joe Kellett tells us that a few Junior Dragster racers are making their way to Santa Pod Raceway this weekend (17th-18th) for the Saturday Night Special and Run What You Brung. "It will be a good time to test those cars which are moving up in the class", says Joe. "We are going to test as I am one of those racers and I'm looking forward to Junior Modified Advanced. We would like as many Juniors as possible to turn up, it should be a good weekend weather permitting of course. For all the new young racers coming into the class it would be a really good opportunity to run your cars. ©Eurodragster.com "I would like to wish all the Juniors leaving the class good luck for the future." Joe's dad Pete has asked us to congratulate Joe on winning the 2009 Santa Pod Racers Club Junior Dragster Championship. No sooner said than done Pete; well done Joe! Something for the weekend! 14th October: This weekend Shakespeare County Raceway puts the final round of the Pro Street Drag Series in the spotlight at the Warwickshire track's penultimate Public Track Day weekender. Leading the time trial series for Japanese and European cars from day one has been Karl Farrer with his distinctive BM Autobodies Skyline GTR patrol car The Barracade, but with Scooby Daz Lawrence hot in his wheel tracks looking for his first ten second pass, just two points away for the overall title in the AP Motors Impreza, Karl won't taking any prisoners at this round for sure. Placed third in the four rounds contested so far is Enginetuner guru Martyn Jeffery in his Impreza just one point adrift. During the course of Sunday's RWYB the track will be running its popular Sunday Special time trials sponsored by Motorshack and JJ Motorsport to find the quickest four, five, six and eight cylinder street cars on the property along with the Trophy Bike Dash for everyday machines to contest. There will be a number of car clubs on display, some coming for the day and some for the weekend. The track will be open to all vehicles street or strip, bike or car, from 10:00 am Saturday and 10:30 am on Sunday. Don't forget your driving licence if you want to take part on the strip. Further information can be found at www.shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk. ©Eurodragster.com Swift snippets. 14th October: Geoff Martin of the UK's Tech Crew has asked us to advise racers with HANS devices to check out the notice on counterfeit anchors and details of a replacement programme at www.hansdevice.com/anchor-replacement. Further to last Friday's snippet, Danish Top Fuel Dragster racer Stig Neergaard has confirmed that he will be contesting the NHRA season-ending races at Las Vegas and Pomona in the Paton family's Top Fueller (below left), whose available seat was advertised here on Eurodragster.com last week. "My NHRA licence is approved", says Stig. "We are just waiting for the mail between Denmark and the USA." The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com shows, we quote, "Something on the way to the US!" (above right). If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at [email protected]. ©Eurodragster.com This Saturday (17th) is the deadline for booking for the Nordic Drag Racing Series Banquet which takes place at 18:00 on Saturday 31st October at the Scandic Star Hotel at Sollentuna in Sweden. You can download the booking form from the Svensk Dragracing web site at www.dragracing.se. UK Super Comp racer Chris Johnson has found some ingenious uses for old race car parts and wonders whether any fellow racers do the same. "The old ZS front end is mounted on our garden shed and used as a flower bed", says Chris, "and an old side window from the 400 is on the rabbit's cage being used as a wind break". If you have any similar shots then send them to us, with an explanation, at [email protected]. Having painted John Morris' Animal MagicProbe, the Blakey character on John and Tom Atkinson's transporter, and Joe Williams' Van With No Name amongst other projects in previous closed seasons, Carl Burton's latest main d'oeuvre is this crash helmet, writes UK Pro ET racer Marius Blackburn. You can see more Tatfink Art at www.english-rose-tattoo.co.uk. Dave, Chris and everyone at the UK's Heaven & Hell Pro ET team asked us to congratulate Keith and Katie Miles on the birth of their son Jack William on 20th September, and also to congratulate to proud grandparents Derek and Pam. "We're sure it won't be long before Jack will be watching from the spectator bank and getting his first fix of nitro", they say. "Welcome to the planet Jack, sure to be a third-generation drag racing fan." Stepping up to the plate again... 14th October: If you were tuned in to Eurodragster.com on 22nd September or if you attended the UK National Finals then you will remember that Ian 'Tink' Hart from the Fairhurst Racing Super Comp team was organising a fund raiser for a young leukaemia sufferer and his family. Tink got in touch to let us know that the racing community didn't let him down: We received a Dave Schultz Bike from Andy Grant (ex-Freddy's Revenge crew) which raised £20; a picture donated by Eurodragster.com was grouped with a PBM Racing T-Shirt and a couple of Fireforce T-Shirts and raised £25 as a package; Andy Robinson kindly gave us a picture and a pair of rods which raised another £25; Jon Webster donated a pair of rods from the McDonald Brothers/Rune Fjeld car which have been sold on for £15 each, so another £30. All told, Santa Pod racers added £100 to the fund. ©Eurodragster.com Ticket sales were £515 and the raffle raised a further £627. The auction raised £340. So in total we were able to hand over £1700 to a family who really did need the help. Thanks to Martin Hill of the Fireforce team, Scooby Suze Morris and Phil Pratt of PBM Racing, Andy Grant, Andy 'Gus' Robinson, Jon Webster and McDonald Brothers Racing, and Paul Marston Racing for giving me the night off! Web site updates. 14th October: Denmark's FIA European Championship-holding Andersen Racing Top Fuel Dragster team have a new home page on their web site at www.andersenracing.dk. The team's Facebook page will feature updates from their US Tour with Thomas Nataas in the seat which starts in Las Vegas next week. Home from the USA is Swedish Fuel FC racer Leif Helander whose account of his two-event US Tour you can check out at www.starkotter.se. Our good buddy Alan Currans has added five more of Mike Lintern's features to his excellent Acceleration Archive web site. The articles cover the Crescent Coupe of Cliff Jones and Mike Treutlein, Nobby Hills' Houndog 5 Pro Fuel Dragster, Ray Hoare's Saxon slingshot, Tony and John Dickson and Roger Marshall's Good Vibrations, and the legendary Motor Psycho of the Gleadow brothers and Steve Warner. Check it out at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. Richard Smith's final photo update of the year is from Sunday's Ultimate RWYB at York Raceway. "A special American Super Stock v Air Cooled Eliminator shootout was arranged to close the year, with three rounds of randomly paired bracket racing seeing the muscle cars collect the most win lights, helped in part by the Beetles collecting the most red lights", says Richard. "Several cars made their first appearances of 2009, lots of Personal Bests were recorded, and the NSA provided some two-wheeled action". You can find Richard's pictures at richardsmith.fotopic.net. ©Eurodragster.com Eurodragster.com Photo Editor Roger Gorringe has completed a combined National Finals and Extreme Performance Bike Weekend gallery on his NitroExposure web site at www.nitroexposure.co.uk. The update includes a number of images which were not used on the Eurodragster.com end-day galleries on either weekend. There are also a couple of new vintage images on the News and Home pages. Next up will hopefully be some US event coverage on both Eurodragster.com and NitroExposure in the coming weeks before having to face the long close season waiting for the next sniff of nitro in 2010. Dick Parnham has updated his Fotopic gallery with pictures from the UK National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway. You can find Dick's shots at dickparnham.fotopic.net. Also updating a Fotopic gallery is Jamie Dyks whose UK National Finals pictures you can find at www.topnitro.fotopic.net. VP launch new web site. 14th October: Customers of Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor VP Racing Fuels will enjoy a whole new user experience when they visit its newly-redesigned web site at vpracingfuels.com, according to Steve Scheidker, VP's Executive Director-Marketing and Communications. "In addition to fuels that make more horsepower and torque with reliable consistency, VP has a true competitive advantage with a product portfolio of nearly seventy fuel blends and our ability to custom formulate fuels for virtually any niche racing application", said Scheidker. "But many customers have told us it can be confusing to determine their best fuel option with so many available. In response to this concern, we reconfigured our web site to make it easy for customers to zero in on the most appropriate VP fuel to meet their needs. "Because the new site is segmented by racing application - circle track, motocross or karting, for example - a visitor need only click on his/her application to find a list of fuels relevant to them" Scheidker continued. "No longer will a motocross rider have to search through drag racing fuels to find what they're looking for, or vice versa. The relevant documentation frequently required by racers and engine builders such as fuel specs, MSDS forms, Tech Bulletins, etc. will be easy to find as well." The new web site also makes it easy for customers to tap into the expertise available on VP's Tech Support staff. By filling out and submitting a Tech Question Form online, a customer can typically expect a response via email the same day or at least within twenty four hours. There is also a Frequently Asked Questions section where answers to many standard questions can be conveniently reviewed. And as always, VP's regional distribution centres and technical staff are available to personally consult with customers by phone. A map on the new site directs visitors to the most appropriate VP regional distribution center based on the visitor's location. As always, VP's non-fuel products will be available online as well, including its performance chemicals, speciality lubricants and fuel handling accessories. "Customers also will be able to place online orders for our popular five-gallon Motorsport Containers or cool VP apparel, like our Mad Scientist T-shirts or VP hats, as well as VP banners, pennants, decals and much more," Scheidker said. "As in the past, we'll post breaking news on the site regarding new products, race results and industry news", Scheidker added. "Over time we anticipate adding application- or fuel-specific Tech Tips, Test Results, Testimonials, etc. with printed reports, photos and/or videos to clearly illustrate the performance of VP's fuels relative to different applications or to our competitors. Customers also will find a list of race series in which VP is involved as a sponsor or posts contingency awards. "We encourage our customers to visit our new site, check out the new features and let us know what they think", concluded Scheidker. "The new design is a quantum leap forward, but we'll always be open to improvements." ©Eurodragster.com Editor's note: We have a small backlog of news with which we will catch up on the next update. Stay tuned for a report from the first race of the new season at Mr C Raceway, a bizarre Top Fuel challenge and more, and please keep those news items coming to [email protected]. 2009 UK Bike class Champions. 12th October: Subject to official confirmation the 2009 UK Bike Champions are as follow. Congratulations to: ACU Top Fuel Bike: Steve Woollatt ACU Pro Stock Bike: Dave Beck ACU Funny Bike: Kev Charman ACU Comp Bike: Ivan Birch ACU Super Street Bike: Richard Stubbins UK National 9.50 Bike: Richard Sawatzki NAST Supertwin Fuel: Martin Blackwell NAST Supertwin Gas: Les Harris NAST Supertwin ET: Dave Smart ©Eurodragster.com Final points standings will shortly be posted on the King Racing web site at www.kingracing.com (ACU classes), here on Eurodragster.com (9.50 Bike), and on the National Association of Supertwins web site at www.supertwins.co.uk (NAST). Bike Weekend results. 12th October: Congratulations to the winners of the weekend's Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway: Pro Stock Bike: Dave Beck 9.2589/107.04 def. Len Paget 7.5310/171.72 red Funny Bike: Dave Bailey 7.9148/152.60 def. Kev Charman 13.0842/94.63 Comp Bike: Ivan Birch 7.4027/177.12 def. Nick Daniels 8.1797/156.83 Super Street Bike: Garry Bowe 7.6764/182.87 def. Brad O'Connor 7.6302/190.51 9.50 Bike: Jake Mechaell 9.5138/131.43 def. Richard Sawatzki 9.5797/144.30 8.50 Bike: Eric Jennes 8.6525/150.10 def. Chris Jones 8.7584/169.16 Supertwin Gas: Chris Mott 9.6955/140.35 def. Les Harris 9.8214/133.23 Supertwin ET: Dave Shorthose (11.00) 10.9796/118.53 b/o def. Pete Harrison (12.00) 11.9367/111.37 b/o ©Eurodragster.com The second round of Super Street Bike featured what must be one of the closest bike races in the history of drag racing when Mick Templeman beat Chris Reed by 0.088 inches or 2.235 millimetres. Another highlight was Maltese Super Street Bike racer Simon Giordmaina's 7.958 during one of the Straightliners sessions which made him Malta's first seven-second bike racer. You can check out our American Car Imports-sponsored Extreme Performance Bike Weekend coverage by clicking here, or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Already working on 2010... 12th October: 2009 FIA European Pro Modified Champion Mats Eriksson and the Green Goblin team are already working on their five-second Pro Mod to prepare it for 2010, says Mats' son Lars-Göran. "We are working on the engine to get spare parts and to update it before next season", says L-G. "We have a really good engine but we want to go further into the fives next year. The only damage we had this season was a broken lifter so we needed to fix the camshaft. We have not even needed to change any valve springs this year. So the engine is in good hands and has a good life with John and Masse on the team. We are going to send the clutch to the Leanders Brothers so they can do the SFI check on it for next year, and then we will see how we are going to update the clutch for the new rules for 2010. ©Eurodragster.com "But the biggest change this off-season is the new body. We are going to get the chassis on the jig and mount the new body on the chassis. There is a lot of work to do with that before the new season starts. We have new carbon fibre doors and roof from Swecomposite and there will be a new fibreglass front and back half from Proform. "I am sorry that we not updated our homepage but we have had problems getting in to the page to make changes. If you have Facebook, then there is a Green Goblin group." About time too! 12th October: UK B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Street Eliminator racer-in-waiting Danny Cockerill is ready to make his first outing with his 1967 Camaro. After a mammoth effort by the team Danny plans to attend next weekend's Saturday Night Special at Santa Pod Raceway. "I must thank my super crew for getting the car ready for me", Danny told Eurodragster.com. "Last Saturday I had the mad idea of getting the car fired up by Sunday evening. Bear in mind that at the time the car was a bare shell with no motor, trans axle or wiring (below left). We fired it up on Sunday on temporary wiring just to make sure that the motor ran up OK. It fired straight away but I had a map sensor on wrong; we swapped it over and it purred like a kitten...or maybe a lion. ©Eurodragster.com "I would like to say a big thank you to Jon Webster of Webster Race Engineering for widening my axle for me in a short space of time and also Little Dan, Steve Mac, and Ragin' Ray White for wiring the car in two days. See you next weekend!" Swift snippets. 12th October: No sooner have we mentioned one car running on Saturday than the latest spy picture arrives with the words "The latest from our workshops, should be running up the track next weekend". If you know any more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at [email protected]. ©Eurodragster.com Editor's note: We put together this news update as soon as we got home from the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend but in the interests of getting some sleep we have had to hold back a couple of pieces for the next update. Tune back to find out some ingenious uses for old race car parts, a report from the first race of the new season at Mr C Raceway and more, and please keep those news items coming to [email protected]. ACAG doubles its money. 11th October: Performance Direct insurance has announced its 2009 Non-Standard Motoring Award winners with the launch of a fund-matching scheme which aims to raise £5,000 towards the restoration of the Allard Chrysler dragster, which is now owned by the National Motor Museum Trust at Beaulieu. The sound of the Allard Chrysler's blown and injected 354 cubic inch Chrysler V8 engine, along with its strange sleek looks, became the siren for the sport right up until 1964 when it ran during the Drag Racing Festival organised by Sydney Allard. It was then retired and fortunately stored under cover minus its engine. A part-restoration of the car was carried out by Brian Golder in the 1980s, and after his passing the Allard Chrysler dragster was bequeathed to the National Motor Museum Trust. In 2008 a group of drag racing enthusiasts from the past and the present, led by Brian Taylor, decided to form the Allard Chrysler Action Group (ACAG) to raise the funds and provide the expertise to complete the restoration so that it could become a working exhibit. As part of the strategy to raise funds, the project was entered in the 2009 Performance Direct Insurance Non-Standard Awards competition, a unique scheme which identifies and offers cash sponsorship to motoring enthusiasts who are proud to be different and identifies individuals with unusual motoring ideas and dreams. These include vehicle restoration projects, original road trips, record attempts, charity events and challenges. In many cases, however, these ideas remain untried often because the individuals lack the basic finance to make the idea happen. "It may not need a great deal of money, but it may be a great idea" says Damian Collett, Performance Direct MD. "So we thought we should do our bit to support some great non-standard ambitions. We think the world will be a better place for a few more non-standard thinkers realising their dreams!" ©Eurodragster.com Matthew Collett, Marketing Director of Performance Direct, said "We're delighted to be supporting the ACAG in their efforts to get this iconic dragster back on the road. They're a highly professional team and we're pleased to able to add the Non-Standard Awards to their prestigious list of supporters. "We also hope that by offering to match the funds the Group raises between now and the end of May 2010, we'll help to encourage more donations and more interest in this fascinating project." Patron of the ACAG is Pink Floyd's Nick Mason. He is a Trustee of the National Motor Museum and a keen collector of classic cars which he races whenever he can. Nick said "I'm so pleased to welcome Performance Direct as a backer of our efforts to restore the Allard Chrysler dragster as a working exhibit for the Museum. The ACAG has worked tirelessly to build awareness in the restoration and we have so far raised funds via selling ACAG shirts, limited edition prints, paintings, holding auctions and accepting donations. Hopefully this Performance Direct Insurance contribution will inspire other companies to become involved in this very exciting project". Chairman of the ACAG Brian Taylor echoes Nick's words. "This is another important step towards getting the Allard Chrysler dragster up and running again and we have already incorporated the official logo into our corporate identity including our exclusive range of shirts. We have nearly raised enough funds to place an order for the engine. Improvements in our web site hosted by Alan Currans' Acceleration Archive make it easier for people to become involved and donate money. We now have a Pay Pal facility and a dedicated web address of www.allardchrysler.org. Furthermore we have recently opened a Facebook page for the car to keep people informed and to exchange views. The dragster already has many 'Friends' in the USA who love the idea of restoring such an important quarter mile machine." King Racing press release. 11th October: It was a case of mixed fortunes for the King Racing Top Fuel Bike team at the final round of the UEM European Top Fuel Bike Championship. Always a favourite as a chance to show their capabilities on familiar territory in front of their home fans, this year's event took place in unseasonal balmy conditions and in front of a capacity crowd who witnessed some of the best Top Fuel drag bike racing in European championship history. King Racing were able to celebrate winning the 2009 European Top Fuel Bike championship on the very first day of qualifying, as the points accrued over the season coupled with the points added for passing technical check at this event were enough for them to build an unassailable lead. This was a fifth Top Fuel Bike Championship crown for them and a record third in a row, a feat never achieved before in European Top Fuel Bike history. However, they did not plan to rest on their laurels and planned their challenge for the European season closing event. The first qualifying round took place in excellent air conditions and the team were quick to capitalize with their tune taking them to a new best of 6.121/222 on a far from perfect pass with dropped cylinders appearing down track. Despite running two other quick qualifying times, a 6.22s/227 and a 6.29/228 respectively, they did not improve on their first session. Unbelievably, their 6.121, which would have been good for number one qualifier at most events across the world, was only second best to a 5.98/232 from Swedish rider Peter Svensson which kept King off pole position. Race day dawned with the team in buoyant mood and looking forward to reaching the final in front of their fans. The first round of eliminations saw King paired, as in the final in the previous Hungarian round, with Finnish rider Kai Selkämäa. King reacted quicker than Selkämäa and quickly pulled away until disaster befell King when a connecting rod snapped at mid track. Although King had made enough progress on the Finn to reach the end first and take the win the resultant engine damage meant he was unable to take his place in the semi final against Norway's Sverre Dahl. So the team lost the battle but once again won the war, and look forward to adding to their tally of Championships in 2010. Over the gruelling season King Racing have enjoyed and suffered many highs and lows, but have once again benefitted from the help and support of many people who have made this Championship so special. From the national and international federations of the respective countries, the UEM officials, the staff of commercial rights holder TrakBak Racing, the organising clubs and their hardworking staff and their officials, the sublime event coverage, race reports and pictures from Ivan Sansom, Rose Hughes, Stefan Boman and the staff of Eurodragster.com and last, but not least, the unsung heroes of the race track who build the excitement and provide a valued and informative perspective to the races, the track announcers. On a personal basis Team Principal and rider Ian King would like to thank his hardworking and gifted team of Michael Beaumont, Marius van der Zijden, Gerard Willemse, Martin Brookman, Chris Powell, Nick Pepper and Debbie King for propelling him safely to a record number of Championships, and to his loyal and supportive sponsors and associates without whom none of his Championships would have been achieved. The team rely on only the best parts and services from leading companies in their chosen markets: Image Design Custom The UK's leading custom paint shop Kibblewhite Precision Machining, Inc The highest quality valves and components for motorsport Gates The world's most trusted name in drive belts, hoses and hydraulics JE Pistons The world's premier manufacturer of high performance forged pistons Mickey Thompson Tyres The best drag race tyres in the world bar none Goedhals Precision specialist gear cutting and engineering Performance Machine The leader in aftermarket custom wheels, brakes and components Goodridge UK The original and the best in fluid transfer systems PsycleWorkz The UK's most innovative custom and race fabricators Pro Alloy UK's leader in fabrication of alloy racing tanks, intercoolers and radiators Torco Oils The only oil recommended by engine manufacturers Puma Engineering Craft Safety Helmets The ultimate in safety and unique in design Del West Engineering Inc Pioneers in valve train design Straightline Racing The UK's leading Performance Parts and Tuning Store Vanson Leathers Thirty years producing the best quality track tested motorcycle apparel Kent Cams Specialists in motor sport camshaft manufacture, short runs and one-offs House of Kolor Manufacturers of the world's most stunning specialist paints Sprint Dampers the UK's leading manufacturer of steering dampers Kershaw & Co The UK's leading manufacturer of turned parts Cannon Engineering Gear cutting and precision engineering services Zodiac Europe's largest supplier of performance and aftermarket HD parts Pixeleye Innovative graphic and web site design MRE Leaders in trackside support for drag race components and air shifting systems Portable Shade The world's premier awning and modular exhibition Product Company Customize Premier sign makers and vinyl sign and design services Turboville Your one stop drag racing resource NitroShutter The combined efforts of ace photo-journalists Ivan Sansom and Rose Hughes ©Eurodragster.com Linde Motorsport 2009 review. 10th October: Germany's Linde Motorsport completed their turbo-assisted '53 Corvette for its first competitive outing in Comp Eliminator at the Grand Nationals in Luckau in July this year. Driver Marcus Linde has been in touch to let us know how the team's season has gone: The Corvette is built for AT/A, with an index of 4.96 seconds for the eighth mike, and we were quite happy that we nearly met this index with two 5.00 second runs with the second and third pass of the car. Especially with the rev limit of 7500 rpm and a soft launch this performance was very promising for the following race at Hockenheim. You can see a video of the first round at Luckau at www.youtube.com/user/ufo029#p/u/4/hAviscXUZ5A. At Hockenheim we used the new 500 lb Mike Moran injectors for the first time and we were very excited to see if we could continue the performance from Luckau. The Comp Eliminator field was impressive, especially with some very nice cars from Sweden like Martin Lundkvist's yellow turbo truck. ©Eurodragster.com For the first qualifier we decided to increase the launch rpm to 6500 - hey man, we are in Hockenheim and the track is perfect! But we overpowered the track as you can see from the picture. For the next round we reduced the launch rpm to 4500 and the result was perfect: 1.08 at sixty feet and 2.9 at 330! But then the engine started to stutter and I had to get off the throttle, 4.63/228 kmh at the eighth. And the reason - just one small hose! We lost the hose which increases the fuel pressure according to the boost and that reduced the pressure and leaned out the engine dramatically. In the end we burnt some pistons. There is a video of this run on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/ufo029#play/uploads/3/Y_HAkrlQvdU and you can see the burned spark plugs leaving the engine via the exhaust. But in the end we are very happy with the performance of the car. I would like to thank my brother Olaf for the immense work to build the car up in the last few years, Dirk Huhn for the regular after-midnight help, and Klaus Romahn for the great chassis. It wouldn't have been possible without you guys! We will be back next year. Thanks from the She Devil. 10th October: The UK's She Devil Racing Top Methanol Funny Car team were supported for the last two events of 2009 by NGK Spark Plugs who provided plugs and apparel, says driver Steph Milam. "We would also like to thank all of the sponsors who have supported us in 2009", says Steph. "Torco and Nimbus Motorsport, Pro Seal and Solar UK. ©Eurodragster.com "We would also like to thank our crew of Martin, Nick, Aaron, Denroy and Dan for all their hard work and enthusiasm throughout the year." Steph has given the She Devil Racing web site at www.shedevilracing.com a makeover. Check out the site for race reports, gallery, car spec and more. Swift snippets. 10th October: Swedish Pro Mod racer Adam Flamholc is again in action in the USA at this weekend's NHRA Virginia Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park, driving his recently-acquired blown-alcohol Camaro. You will be able to stay in touch with Adam's progress on the excellent Drag Race Central web site at www.dragracecentral.com. ©Eurodragster.com Tog would like to wish his brother Martin Rogers a very Happy 50th Birthday. Hope the girls are taking good care of you out west Martin, have a great day and we'll see you soon. Web site updates. 10th October: Las Vegas Motor Speedway are obviously excited about the influx of Europeans at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals at the end of October as their latest news release includes mention of the European Top Fuel Dragster racers and a picture and words from Eurodragster.com sponsor and Blogger Lex Joon. Check it out at www.lvms.com/strip/media/news/554130.html. ©Eurodragster.com Contest: Two knit caps to be won! 9th October: Eurodragster.com News sponsor Benny Edvardsson is offering two knit caps in a contest to be run via his Tireshake.com web site. You have to do a little work to win your knit cap: visit www.tireshake.com and look amongst the products for the Eurodragster.com logo. When you find it, then E-Mail [email protected] or via the web site stating the item number where you found the logo, and your name and address. Entry closes next Wednesday, 14th October. ©Eurodragster.com Whilst on the Tireshake.com web site take the time to check out the huge range of drag racing T-Shirts, sweatshirts, hood and caps for the discerning fan. Good luck! Season starting at Mr C. 9th October: If you are in to model drag racing then you will be interested to hear from Steve Dudley that the winter season is about to open at the 1/24 scale Mr C model drag strip in Rochester in the UK. Events will be taking place on: Sunday 11th October Sunday 8th November Sunday 6th December Sunday 17th January Sunday 14th February (no excuses about having to be romantic!) Sunday 14th March Sunday 11th April "The racing is pretty much a fun Run What You Brung, whereby you bring something and race it!", says Steve. "If not then we have plenty of cars to use. We try not to take it seriously because that's when things start to get expensive! We're not fussed if you bring 1/32, 1/24, whatever: if it fits in the lane it can go down. If we have enough people we usually run a couple of eliminators and the rest is match racing, grudge racing, or just tune-up runs, whatever takes your fancy. "Set-up and racing are from 2:00 pm until we get bored and go home! There is usually two to three hours of racing, OK that doesn't sound long, but with one-second runs, it's more than enough. "Entry and racing are free, all we ask is that you buy your drinks at the bar because it keeps the hall owners happy. The venue is: The Sturdee Sports and Social Club Stoke Road Hoo Rochester Kent ME3 9LT "From the A2 (M2 Junction 1) follow the signs to Grain A289, then following the Grain signs onto the A228 pick up the signs for Kingsnorth Power Station which will turn you right into Stoke Road. Continue towards the river and the road will turn sharp left, but go straight on into the Sturdee Club which is right on the bend. Don't look for the Sturdee Club sign as it's blown down - look for the big black gates." Swift snippets. 9th October: Our very deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Darryl Jackman who died on Wednesday evening at the age of 62. Darryl's name will be familiar to readers of Drag Race Central, Fast News Network and the Motorsports Forum as he was involved in live reporting at the race track from its beginnings and his experience and expertise certainly gave the rest of us a very high standard to which to aspire. You can read a tribute on Drag Race Central at www.dragracecentral.com/DRCStory.asp?ID=194579. Swedish Pro Mod racer Adam Flamholc is again in action in the USA at this weekend's NHRA Virginia Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park, driving his recently-acquired blown-alcohol Camaro. You will be able to stay in touch with Adam's progress on the excellent Drag Race Central web site at www.dragracecentral.com. ©Eurodragster.com It's turning into a real influx of European racers at the end of the NHRA season as we understand that Denmark's Stig Neergaard responded to the Paton team's offer of 2nd October of a Top Fuel Dragster ride for hire, and that he will be competing at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals in late October. Stay tuned for more. It's a day late which is our fault entirely (Sorry - Ed) but a very Happy Birthday for yesterday (Thursday) to SPRC pairing lanes marshal Alison Hackney. Hope you had a great day Alison. Bike Weekend coverage. 9th October: Eurodragster.com will be covering this weekend's Extreme Performance Bike Weekend live from Santa Pod Raceway in association with American Car Imports. Our coverage will consist of frequently-updated reports on the ACU UK Drag Bike Championship classes, 9.50 Bike and National Association of Supertwins throughout each day together with a photo gallery at the end of each day. There will be no pit notes this weekend as neither Simon nor Kirstie can make it. The Webster Race Engineering/Lex Joon Racing USA Tour 2009 webcam will be on-line from approximately 7:30 am tomorrow and will be scheduled to broadcast a picture every sixty seconds until the track closes on Sunday. ©Eurodragster.com Don't forget that we will be hooking up with DJ Flappy to bring you a web broadcast live from Santa Pod on Sunday. You can read more about that on Wednesday's news. We will post a direct Home Page link to our coverage as soon as it commences but in the meantime you can check out our Extreme Performance Bike Weekend event index, which includes the official entry list and links for DJ Flappy's web broadcast, by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Web site updates. 9th October: If you were tuned in to Eurodragster.com News in September you will remember that Danique, Cyrilla and Shanice Stevens had formed a unique three-sister drag racing team in The Netherlands. The girls now have their own web site at www.rybodragracing.nl with brief biography, photo gallery, sponsors, links and more. The latest update on Bill Pratt's Drag Racing List in the USA is a feature by our good buddy Alan Currans about Norm Wheeldon's Two Much twin-engined blown-alcohol slingshot. Alan manages to pack in a lot of information into a short piece and there are some great pictures by Alan himself and by Herb Andrews' son Will although one shot is spoilt by a photo-journalist of readers' close acquaintance doing a passable impression of an ape. You can check out Alan's feature on the Drag Racing List web site at www.draglist.com. ©Eurodragster.com We know that a lot of our readers are interested in Santa Pod Raceway's previous history as a USAF bomber base, so they will be pleased to hear from Richard Haszko that a number of videos are available on YouTube from the days of USAF Podington; just do a search on Podington and the USAF videos are easily spotted in the search results. Bike Weekend racer update. 8th October: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall for passing on details of tomorrow's (Friday's) arrangements preceding the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway. ©Eurodragster.com Santa Pod Raceway's gates open at 5:00 pm tomorrow. Signing-on is open between 5:00 pm and 8:00 pm. Scrutineering commences at 6:00 pm. If you have any queries then you can call Paula on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625). Wilding's new Chariot. 8th October: Regular readers may recognise the situation of the dragster pictured below from a spy picture sent to us earlier this year. UK Supercharged Outlaw racer Roy Wilding tells us that the secret is well out of the bag now and that the spy picture featured his new Chariot of Fire slingshot. "My new car is seventy five per cent complete", says Roy. "I am in the process of meeting with Bob Sanders from Titan Engineering and will be purchasing a new Titan clutch, oil pump, rocker gear and also taking his advise on a baseline tune for the new car. ©Eurodragster.com "The car is shortly going in for final paint. Obviously green is involved! The paint job will be undertaken by Paul Dalloway at Graf-X Custom Paint. Also a big thanks to Barry Woodford for doing the base paint job and lacquer. "I am hoping to get the car out on track early- to mid-season in 2010. The engine is in the right place on this car!" Editor's note: As we go into the off-season we will be more than happy to accept spy pictures or not-so-spy pictures. Send your shots, preferably accompanied by some words whether mysterious or not, to [email protected]. Greek Championship round 4. 8th October: Elias Vathias tells us that the fourth Greek Drag Racing Championship of 2009 was held at Polykastro on 12th-13th September and was organised by the LENOE and LEMAK Clubs: Although it was raining during most of the first day, the two clubs managed to carry out the whole event. Many racers ran Personal Bests and also some Greek records were established. Among them the most significant were: Moto Super Pro 2008: Antonis Zafeiriadis 7.412/285.68 kmh Moto Pro Street2 2008 (Ex Moto 5 1999): Savas Tilsisoglou 8.122/281.78 Auto AT2 2008: Petros Fykatas 9.026/268.32 Auto AT2 2008: Dimitris Barbaris 9.328/251.14 (Personal Best) Event information: www.greekdragster.com/events/events090913_Polykastro.shtml Entries and classification: www.greekdragster.com/database/db_classification.php?race=200905 Timing data: www.greekdragster.com/database/db_RaceTimingData.php?race=200905 Pictures (from D.V.sion and Sierra Club): www.greekdragster.com/images/Shows_Races/090913Polykastro/index.htm TV of day 1: www.greekdragster.com/tvpl.php?VideoId=17 TV of day 2: www.greekdragster.com/tvpl.php?VideoId=18 The total length of the TV films is about 2:29 hours. This time we also upgraded the dimensions to 720x576 pixels. The fifth Greek Championship Drag Race 2009 will be held at Serres on 17th-18th October, organised by LENOE. On the same weekend two Run What You Brungs will be held. The first one will be held at Xanthi, in northern Greece, by Xanthi Automotive Club and Aytokinisi magazine. More information at www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=108883322223&ref=nf. The second will be held on Syros Island by the Iron Team, who co-organised many Athens drag races and RWYBs, and and Syros Moto Club. Swift snippets. 8th October: Swedish Pro Mod racer Adam Flamholc is again in action in the USA at this weekend's NHRA Virginia Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park, driving his recently-acquired blown-alcohol Camaro. You will be able to stay in touch with Adam's progress on the excellent Drag Race Central web site at www.dragracecentral.com. ©Eurodragster.com Swedish Pro Stock racer Michael Malmgren is selling one of his Bob Ingles-built GM Olds DRCE 2 engines. The piece in question has a best of 6.80 set in 2007, is a former record holder, and was Michael's back-up engine for the last couple of seasons. Totally rebuilt and updated in 2008 with the best parts the engine comes with many spares and can be sold complete carbs-to-pan. "It's still a guaranteed qualifying engine in the middle of the pack", says Michael. For more information and pricing drop Michael an E-Mail at [email protected]. The latest T-Shirt from C&P UK Nitro, and their last new design this year, is this rather fetching Gasser design which is available in small to XXL sizes. The shirt comes in at £15 plus £2.50 p+p and is available from Colin Stevens at 60 Palmers Way, Cheshunt, Hertfordshire EN8 9HS or call 07903 313384 or visit the C&P stand at the Custom and Sports Car Show or the Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway. C&P's other Gasser and Top Fuel Thunder shirt designs are also still available. UK Street Eliminator round 8. 8th October: The UK National Finals is the last meeting on the calendar for the cars and often sees some special ETs as racers either throw caution to the wind (with the upcoming winter break to make repairs) or push that little bit harder for an improved Championship position. The original roster of nine cars in B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Street Eliminator was reduced to eight when the two-week gap between this event and the European Finals proved too small for Jerry Charles to effect repairs to his Capri's 706. Jeff Meads on the other hand was back with a Big Block Chevy full of new valves and ready to push Colin Lazenby all the way for the 2009 title. Qualifying turned into a battle between the hot rods of Jeff Meads and Ian Hook, each taking a turn in the lead before Hook clinched provisional pole with (ironically) an 8.34 ET. Lazenby was struggling with valve train issues but still managed a creditable 9.13 for fourth behind Dave Murdoch's impressive 8.92 from the Willys. But they were all to move up a slot as a damaged electrical connector caused Hook to relinquish the top spot when his '34 Ford failed the cruise. Joining him in the DNQ list were Steve Pateman (suspension damage) and Jason Weir with a blown head gasket. Lazenby survived the cruise with no drama despite the Sonny Leonard motor being less than 100% in the valve train department. The first pair up for eliminations were McIntosh and Lazenby and with an eight-car field the latter knew that all he had to do to secure the 2009 Championship was to stage for round one, the 150 points moving him too far ahead to be caught by Meads. With a damaged motor he took the wise option and cruised up the strip for a 17.89 lose out to McIntosh's 9.28. Despite the damaged motor Lazenby still pulled an excellent 0.04 light, his average for 2009 bringing him this season's RT award, the first time Ian Hook's name has not been on the trophy in seven years! This was the only race of the first round as Meads, Murdoch and Andersson all had byes into the semi-final courtesy of the three DNQs. Meads was still in kill mode, running an impressive 8.30. The first semi-final featured the hot rods of Meads and Murdoch, the former taking a massive three tenths holeshot off the line and increasing the lead by 330 feet. But then the yellow Pop started to slow and Murdoch reeled him in. The Ford's Glide had lost all drive and Meads could only coast to an 11.9 as the purple Willys took the win with an off the pace 9.61. Andersson's tiny Opel squared up next with the silver blown Mustang of Alex McIntosh. Andersson knew he had a job on his hands but, following Meads' departure, a win would put him within grasp of the runner-up slot in the Championship. Perhaps this thought pumped him up too much as he left way ahead of McIntosh - so far in fact that he left a cherry glowing on the Tree handing the victory to the 'Stang driver. It's worth mentioning that following these two on a practice run was Ian Hook, the '34 having been repaired overnight. And what a practice run! He made the quickest pass of the weekend, albeit outside of competition, and the quickest pass of his whole career with a 7.80/174. One to watch for 2010. The final race of 2009 brought together rookie David Murdoch and Alex McIntosh, the latter in his first ever final. McIntosh left first with an excellent 0.01 light with Murdoch close behind with a 0.05. But the off-form pass of the last run had been a sign that all was not well with the Willys. A wrecked oil pump in the trans slowed the car to a 10.00 allowing McIntosh to take his first ever Street Eliminator victory with a 9.16. And that was it for 2009. This season has seen five different winners in the seven rounds run to conclusion, the quickest and fastest pass ever in Street Eliminator history, another two cars into the sevens, and the return of the class to Europe's biggest stage, the FI European Finals. Lazenby took the title with Meads runner-up and Andersson filling the last place on the podium. Lazenby, as mentioned above, took home the Perfect Light award but Hook managed to grab a little silverware as he secured the Hardest Launching Street Car award with his '34 Ford. The title of Most Improved went to rookie David Murdoch in the delightful '33 Willys. ©Eurodragster.com 200mph Radio at Bike Weekend. 7th October: Eurodragster.com will be hooking up with DJ Flappy of the 200mph bike forum to bring you a live internet radio show on the Sunday of this weekend's Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway. DJ Flappy currently broadcasts a popular internet radio show at 8:00 pm every Friday. On Sunday, as well as all the usual features, his outside broadcast will feature up-to-date race reports, live interviews with riders, crew and spectators, competitions, and of course all the best music from past to present (If you don't bring Deep, Silent, Complete by Nightwish then don't bother coming - Ed). Sunday's broadcast is scheduled to commence at 8:00 am and will continue until the track closes. You can send your requests to DJ Flappy in advance at [email protected], text to 07514 084081 or, if you are a member of the 200mph forum, Personal Message to DJ Flappy. ©Eurodragster.com You will be able to access Sunday's audio stream via our American Car Imports-sponsored Extreme Performance Bike Weekend event index page which you can check out by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. The links on that page will of course also work for this Friday evening's broadcast. If you are interested in putting up contest prizes for Sunday's radio show, or indeed in sponsoring Sunday's broadcast, then please drop us a line at [email protected]. We would like to say a big Thank You to David Lloyd-Jones of Santa Pod Raceway for OK'ing the broadcast. Swift snippets. 7th October: Many thanks to Yvonne Tramm for forwarding us the post-UK National Finals standings in the 2009 Santa Pod Racers Club Championships, which you can check out on our Speedflow-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. UK Super Street Bike racer Steve Venables will have a new motor in his record-holding Hayabusa for this weekend's Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway. "The last motor was a bit tired", Ven told Eurodragster.com. "This one should be good for that two hundred mile per hour run." ©Eurodragster.com Cheltenham Promenade plays host to vehicles from a wide variety of motorsport this Saturday (10th) as Cheltenham Motor Club present their third Pistons in the Prom event. Featured will be the street-legal '34 Ford of Ian Hook's FB Racing B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Street Eliminator team, fresh from running a new best of 7.80 at the UK National Finals, as well as rally cars old and new including a classic short wheelbase Audi Quattro and stunning Lancia 037, single-seaters, go-karts and motorcycles. There will also be a display covering the activities of marshals, local drivers, and the Motor Club itself. "If you're in the area please come and say hello" says Fatty. Web site updates. 7th October: Paul Lister has updated his Drag Car Anon web site with shots from race day of the FIA European Finals. You can check out Paul's shots at www.dragcaranon.co.uk. ©Eurodragster.com Editor's note: Only a quick update today due to pressure of work in your News Editor's day job. Tune back tomorrow for the latest news from Greece, shots of a beautiful new nostalgia slingshot and more, and please keep those news items coming to [email protected]. A fine farewell. 6th October: Many thanks to UK Pro ET racer Andrew Gibb for passing on pictures of the small collection of Minis which attended the funeral of Roger Bishop last Friday. "I have to say that I was overwhelmed by the genuine respect and love for Roger shown by his friends", says Andrew. "He will be sorely missed by all who attended. Having said that, the general atmosphere was very upbeat! Among those that attended was Rob Messent who obviously had lots of stories and good things to say about Roger and obviously about racing Stripteaser. ©Eurodragster.com "All in all, I would say that if Roger was looking down, he would have been smiling. That just leaves me to say thanks to Roger for creating a fantastic piece of British racing history, and thank you to all at Woodies Free House, New Malden for their hospitality. If you live in the area check it out, it really is a fantastic place." UK Bike Championship outcomes. 6th October: The remaining 2009 UK Championships, all of which are bike classes, will be decided at the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway this coming weekend. Top Fuel Bike was decided at the UK National Finals where Steve Woollatt was confirmed Champion. But most of the other Championships will be up for grabs and in addition the bonuses for quickest ET and fastest speed could make a difference so expect the contenders to really go for it - as they have all season. In ACU Funny Bike, Kev Charman has the lead over Gary Jones by one round win. With an entry of four, and Chris Hall not entered due to engine damage, Kev will need to get to the final and not have Gary go one round ahead to secure the Championship. Dave Beck has a lead of 750 points in ACU Pro Stock Bike and congatulations on the TVR Power Team on another Championship. Second place is very close between Len Paget and Ray Debben, with only 55 points separating them. ACU Super Street Bike has seen greater competition and parity in performance than any previous year. The lead has changed since Garry Bowe won the Easter Thunderball with Rich Stubbins and Steve Venables swapping top spot between the Springspeed Nationals and Open Sport Nationals. Coming into this weekend, Rich's lead has shrunk from 220 to 100 points, so there will be a battle royal for the title. A field of fourteen bikes means plenty of tense races. Graham Balchin is in third, a further 250 points back, and may have to settle for that spot. ©Eurodragster.com Ivan Birch is once again the clear leader in ACU Competition Bike with a substantial lead. Stuart Crane is the only other racer with a mathematical chance but, with a field of eleven bikes and three rounds of racing for the expected eight-bike field, Ivan is looking good for the title. In UK National 9.50 Bike, Richard Sawatzki has a 770 point lead over Steve Coombs, who could mathematically catch Richard if qualified poorly and went out in the first of five expected elimination rounds. Second place is far from a done deal though as Shaun Spiers, Augy Harrison, Martin Walker and Fred Furlong are less than 500 points behind. The National Association of Supertwins has had a seven race season with the best six races counting towards the Championship. In Supertwin Fuel, Martin Blackwell is looking good for the title and Shawn Rodman for runner-up. In Supertwin Gas, Les Harris is 100 points ahead of Dave Jones, with Andy Watson 170 points further back. This will be a close race with quickest ET and fastest speed coming into play. Supertwin ET has Dave Smart 535 points ahead of Joe Elliot with David Shorthose a further 400 points back. There's not much in it on the points to be deducted, so with eleven bikes entered Dave Smart is reasonably secure, even if the bonuses for closest to ET and best RT go to other racers. You can check out the ACU UK Drag Bike Championship points going into the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend on the King Racing web site at www.kingracing.com; the UK National and Santa Pod Racers Club points on our Speedflow-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page; and the National Association of Supertwins points on the NAST web site at www.supertwins.co.uk. My three hectic months. 6th October: After spending ten years messing around with a supercharger on his Super Street Bike and getting nowhere, the UK's Paul Wing fitted a turbo for this year and converted the bike to Outlaw spec for 2009. ©Eurodragster.com "Only having run a 9.2 ten years ago, all of a sudden I've got a monster on my hands", says Paul. "In the space of three months I have run my first eight and got down to a best of 8.2/171 at the Open Sport Nationals. Having had a few problems at the National Finals I didn't get to race, but the engine is totally rebuilt now and with a bit of luck I might get into the sevens at the Extreme Bike meeting this coming weekend. "I would like to thank Steve Lane Racing and to Gary Jones and Dave Friend for their help and advice." New altered for Team Gridlock. 6th October: After a successful first season of racing, several shows and an appearance in a music video, the UK's Team Gridlock are pleased to announce their new Go Hard or Go Home car for 2010. ©Eurodragster.com Dexter Price tells us that new chassis and rear axle are nearing completion at Bill Felstead's Fester Race Cars, and the car has new body paint by sponsors BodyWorx, new wheels, and a spanking new Mopar stroker engine. The car will be unveiled in December in a photo shoot by auto-journalist Paul Bussey. Existing sponsors Substation Supplies, PC Repair Essex and RCS Cables and Controls will all be sponsoring the car for a second year and all at Team Gridlock would like to thank them for their support, as well as Bodyworx and Fester Race Cars. A chuffed set of Baldwins. 6th October: Dave Baldwin says that daughter Holly and the UK's Team Whirligig VW Sportsman team are "well chuffed" at winning the 2009 APIRA VW Sportsman Championship. "We went to Open Sport Nationals knowing we had to qualify well as we only had a ten-point lead after Springspeed Nationals", says Dave. "Holly had to work on Friday so we only had two shots at qualifying on Saturday after oildowns. We were third after the first round, so we had one chance left. Taking a guess with the tailwind we dialled in 15.10 and ran 15.107, number one qualifier! Holly went out in quarter finals but ran a new Perdsonal Best of 14.92 on a 15.00 dial-in, bit of a break out then! Holly also pulled a 0.001 reaction time in the second round. We're looking forward to more close racing next year. ©Eurodragster.com "We have also been busy fitting a Honda 400 twin to Dan's old Junior Drag Bike to run in Supertwin ET. We had to wait until Dan had passed his driving test so that we could test and tune. We went to Shakespeare County for Saturday's Test and Tune and ran a 15.75 shakedown off the trailer...off the van! Dan got down to 14.50/91.50 before it got too windy - I think it was a 40-50 mph left to right crosswind - but we were well pleased as this is quicker than we expected, and the air shift didn't work as battery was duff. "We would like to say Thank You to all at VWDRC, NAST, APIRA and all the crew at Shakespeare County. See you all at the Bonfire Burn-up." Swift snippets. 6th October: Promoters and organisers within Central Europe are invited to a meeting in Budapest on Friday week, 16th October, to discuss better co-ordination of events in 2010. Paul Fischer tells us that there is even a hope that some kind of Central European Championship series can be put together. For more details check out the CeDrag.com web site at www.cedrag.com. ACU UK Pro Stock Bike Champion Dave Beck writes to congratulate Ivan Birch and Kev Charman for their wins in Comp Bike and Funny Bike at the UK National FInals, thereby claiming the MTC contingency money for MTC products purchased though Dave Beck Racing. Prompted by UK Pro Modified racer Kev Slyfield's news item yesterday, MSA British Drag Racing Championship PR Robin Jackson wonders whether Kev's is the quickest and fastest original steel-bodied race car in the UK, Europe, or the world. If you have any thoughts then drop us a line at [email protected]. ©Eurodragster.com Santa Pod Raceway are seeking a couple of race cars to perform demonstration burnouts and launches on the back straight at Snetterton Circuit this Sunday (11th). If you can help then please get in touch with Darren Prentice at Santa Pod on 01234 782828 or E-Mail [email protected]. TJ O'Brien writes from New Mexico, where he is doing Route 66 with girlfriend Jo, sister Laura and Donie, to tell us that his RV is for sale when he finishes the trip in San Diego around 20th October. "The RV is a 34-foot 1983 Coachman with all new bedding and kitchenware, serviced, new belts, battries, diff oil, two tyres, just fill with fuel and food and off you go", says TJ. "Insurance was $60 for me. I can put it in storage. If you are interested in the RV then contact me at [email protected]." Bennetts welcome NGK. 6th October: 2009 Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association Champions Bennett Racing are very pleased to announce that NGK Spark Plugs will be sponsoring the Relentless blown-alcohol altered. "We have used NGK plugs for about four years now and have always been happy with how easy that they are to read after a run and hold up to the abuse from the MSD44 mag", says Luke Bennett. "The sponsorship starts now and extends through the 2010 season. NGK stated that after our season's performance and three event wins, it was an easy decision to make. ©Eurodragster.com "As many people will know NGK not only offer spark plugs but also glow plugs, lambda sensors and spark plug covers. NGK has established a world-leading reputation for quality and innovation in all its product areas and continues to lead the way in development. For all your spark plug requirements please visit www.ngk.co.uk or call 01442 281000." Bike Weekend Perfect Awards. 6th October: This weekend's Extreme Perfrmance Bike Weekend is the the final event in the 2009 Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards scheme. £100 is on offer for perfect performance, and as a special bonus this weekend Straightliners racers are also eligible for the prize money. The Eurodragster.com/Speedflow Perfect Light Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by Junior Dragster racer Matthew Seamarks at the UK National Finals. The money will be awarded to the first racer this weekend to record a Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds. The Perfect Light Award is available all to racers in all classes including Straightliners during qualifying and eliminations, but will only be awarded for the first perfect light of the event. The Perfect Light Award is presented in association with performance hose and fitting manufacturer Speedflow whose web site you can find at www.speedflow.co.uk. Although the Perfect Light Award goes to three places, we will not pay out for red lights with zeroes in the first three decimals since a foul is a foul however far in the first non-zero digit may be. So a reaction time of 0.0001 will win you the money (if you're first to do it), but a reaction time of -0.0001 will not. 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 member of the Eurodragster.com staff. ©Eurodragster.com The Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by Sportsman ET racer Brian Huxley at the UK National Finals. The money will be awarded to the first racer this weekend to run to the thousandth on their dial-in or index during qualifying or eliminations. The Perfect ET Award is available this weekend in 9.50 Bike, 8.50 Bike, Supertwin ET, and Straightliners index classes, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect Run of the event. The Perfect ET Award is presented in association with RV sales and service specialists Gold RV whose web site you can find at www.goldrv.co.uk. To be eligible to collect the Perfect ET Award, racers are required to carry Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET decals, one on each side of the vehicle. If you pull this weekend's first Perfect ET but are not carrying decals then there will be no discussion; we will not pay out and the next person to pull a Perfect ET will get the money assuming that they are carrying decals. The decals will be available from the Signing On office as soon as it opens; 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 the Signing On office. To ensure that the Straightliners results are properly checked we may have to inspect the official timing data of the event which means that payment may be delayed until the timing data is available. However regular readers know that courtesy of Andy Marrs the production of timing data is always very rapid and we will go through it as soon as we receive it. Web site updates. 6th October: In the latest entry in his exclusive Racer Blog, UK Top Methanol Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Derek Flynn tells the tale of his UK National Finals weekend. As ever you can stay in touch with the latest Blog updates by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. ©Eurodragster.com The official web site of the Allard Chrysler Action Group has been updated with Brian Taylor's latest Blog bringing us up to date with all the developments in the project to restore the Allard Chrysler Dragster to cacklefest condition. You can check out Brian's Blog via the Latest News link at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk/acag/acag.html. Nick Kemp. 5th October: We were very sorry to hear from Pete Smith of the death of Nick Kemp, who passed away after suffering a heart attack at the weekend. Nick was quite a regular fixture at Run What You Brungs with his Kempy's Truck Chevy Blazer which he also raced on a couple of occasions. Nick was also big in the Hot Rodding scene most famously for his Mk 2 Zephyr show car which was built by John Claydon. We would like to extend our deepest sympathies to Nick's family and friends. Race cars sought for demos. 5th October: Santa Pod Raceway are seeking a couple of race cars to perform demonstration burnouts and launches on the back straight at Snetterton Circuit this Sunday (11th). If you can help then please get in touch with Darren Prentice at Santa Pod on 01234 782828 or E-Mail [email protected]. ©Eurodragster.com ...and this guy's a rookie? 5th October: UK 9.50 Bike racer Jake Mechaell's performances on his competitive outings this season belie his rookie status: At the Springspeed Nationals I hit the tree with a 0.000 reaction, ran a perfect 9.500, went into eliminations as number one qualifier and got to round three before going out with a -0.007 red light. At the Open Sport Nationals I qualified fifth with a 9.521 - the top eleven qualifiers were between 9.50-9.55 - and managed to get to the second round. I learned a lot from this event and decided to get testing and try to get myself an event win this year. I made ten passes at the Run What You Brung at Santa Pod at the start of September. All were 0.0s reactions and all but one run was 9.5 or a 9.6. This gave me huge amounts of confidence with the National Finals just three weeks away. On my third and final qualifying run at the National Finals I ran a 9.506 and went int Sunday's eliminations as number one qualifier. I got through all four rounds to meet Mark Slade in the final and won with a 9.606 to Mark's 9.659. ©Eurodragster.com I can't believe how well this year has gone and am looking forward to doing a full season next year. We have our last round at Santa Pod's Extreme Perfrmance Bike Weekend on 10th-11th October and I am currently eleventh in the UK National Championship after taking maximum points at the National Finals. I am pushing for the top ten. Also at Santa Pod's Extreme Performance Bike Weekend I will be taking Tim Blakemore's Kawasaki ZX-14 Turbo for a blast in the RWYB sessions to see what we can get out of it, so watch this space! I'd like to say thanks to all my friends and family for the support they've given me and to Tim Blakemore of Tim Blakemore Racing and Jon Webster of Webster Race Engineering for giving me the chance to ride the Kawasaki ZX-14 Turbo to see what I can do. Garlick's SuMo for sale. 5th October: Perry Antoniou tells us that after much deliberation Tim Garlick has decided to put his MK3 Cortina Super Mod up for sale. "We need the space soon for the new Classic Funny Car", says Perry. "Tim will shed a tear. I will too, but not so much. We are moving on to new and greater things. So anyone reading Eurodragster.com who is interested in this great race car had better be in touch soon as there was plenty of interest even before I placed the ad on the Jeff Bull Swap Meet. The whole set-up is for sale but we may sell turn-key to the right person. ©Eurodragster.com "As you can imagine, running a Nostalgia Fuel Funny Car can take up a lot of time and space. So, my own No Limits Mk 1 Escort is also for sale if anyone is interested as it's now something I have grown out of. Even sitting behind the wheel, I cannot see myself going backwards. It's fresh out of ICE ready for an SFI-25.4 chassis tag but needs a little work to make it race ready. "I will be sad to leave SuMo but things move onwards and upwards." Keep your foot down - run a seven. 5th October: The UK National Finals was a weekend of highs and lows for UK B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Street Eliminator racer Ian Hook and the FB Racing team: The highs started with our provisional pole position on Saturday evening when, after another great battle with Jeff Meads, we came out on top by just four hundredths 8.34 to 8.38. But a low was to follow shortly afterwards when we failed our first ever Cruise after a shredded alternator belt caused undetected damage to a connector leading to an intermittent power supply to the '34's water pump. With the engine overheating we had to abandon the Cruise but managed to limp back to the track unaided where the FB crew were able to quickly diagnose and repair the problem. Pump sorted Brain, Brief and Nubi turned their attention to a nitrous problem which had plagued us all day - it would turn itself on and off as the car went down the track. Martin re-wired the system, taking out the extra features we'd built in but weren't yet using as we thought we may have been suffering a clash of signals. Our hope was that we would be allowed to tag on the back of the SE eliminations on Sunday and a big thanks to Race Director Robin Shone for giving us the thumbs up. The first pass delivered a new Personal Best and our second seven with a 7.94 but the engine was making ominous rattling noises as I returned to our pit. A quick check of valve clearances revealed a big gap on one cylinder and we feared the worst. We debated going home but Martin and Paul (Brain and Brief) were keen to investigate so the complete induction system was removed to allow access to the lifters. A close inspection revealed everything was absolutely fine, the gap having been caused by an adjuster backing off - probably a result of the extreme heat seen by the engine on the cruise. With everything OK the engine was re-assembled and attention turned to the log of our last run. The re-wiring had done the trick and, once on, the system stayed on. However the trace embarrassingly revealed a problem with the driver. It appeared that I was lifting off the throttle as the car launched therefore delaying the nitrous hit. So for the last run I was under strict instructions to hit and hold the throttle as hard as I could. We tagged onto the back of the semi-finals and when it came time for the launch I almost put my foot through the bulkhead! And, boy, what a response! Brain's suspension fettling really paid off as the '34 lifted the front wheels about eight inches and just carried them up the track. She heeled a little to the right as the gas came in and I had to lift for a fraction to straighten everything out. The shift light came on as I went across the line (a sure indicator of 170+ mph) so I suspected another seven. But when I saw the ticket I couldn't believe it! Less than twenty passes under our belt and we had a 7.80! And the terminal speed of only 174 mph suggests that there is more to come when we raise the power level again. ©Eurodragster.com I'd like to pass on congratulations from all of the FBs to Colin Lazenby and the rest of Team 56 for their 2009 B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Street Eliminator Championship win. With 800+ inches under the hood it would be easy to see their victory as a walk in the park. However, nothing could be further from the truth. I suspect that the team probably worked harder for this title than they ever have before and the end result is a tribute to their dedication. With the number of incidents they suffered it must have been tempting to walk away and lick wounds but they stuck with it. Well done all. I'd also like to give Alex McIntosh a big pat on the back for his maiden SE victory. He too had suffered considerable frustration with electronics issues with the blown 'Stang but persevered and has been justly rewarded. Finally a well done to Jeff Meads on his runner-up spot - hope the trans is not too badly hurt Jeff - and to our fellow Cheltenham residents Mats and Maria Andersson whose little Opel GT secured third place overall demonstrating reliability, consistency and exciting launches. And that was it for our 2009 season. All drag racers only manage to do what we do with the help of a lot of special people and FB Racing are no different. We'd like to acknowledge the assistance and support we get year on year: Our sponsors The FB Associates, A&E Fire Equipment, hotrodtees.co.uk, RS Autos, Power Pour, the Everest Balti Restaurant & Messier-Dowty the FB Associates, A&E Fire Equipment, RS Autos, hotrodtees.co.uk, Power Pour, The Everest Balti Restaurant and Messier-Dowty ; our suppliers, although they are much more than that, Clive Bond for for his excellent advice and service, Trev Langfield of Wizards of Nitrous for his advice and support and for the smoothest and most controllable nitrous system we've ever used, and Andy Frost for help and advice with our seemingly bulletproof transmission; to Colin and Ann-Marie Lazenby for all they do for Street Eliminator, all the other drivers and crew for just being SE; the class sponsors B&H Automotive, LA Racing Parts, Embroidery Solutions, Wright Guards Security, Webster Race Engineering, Eurodragster.com, quartermilehigh.com and RPM magazine; all the guys and gals who work so hard both on track and behind the scenes at the Pod and at Shakey - your efforts are greatly appreciated; the Eurodragster.com team and Custom Car, RPM and American Car World magazines for keeping us and the world informed and entertained. I'd like to add my own personal thanks to my own fantastic team, the FBs. Whether it's building an engine, fixing the bus or just making a cup of tea it's always done with enthusiasm and a massive amount of dedication. I love 'em all to bits! My apologies to anyone I've missed and more from FB Towers when it happens! Slyfield tames the beast. 5th October: After three years of hard work UK Pro Modified racer Kev Slyfield and his team have finally managed to tame the beast that is his blown-alcohol Willys and get it down the track: With a great weekend at the European Finals producing our first six and then going a round we hoped to make further progress at the National Finals, but we never expected to run 6.52/212 so soon after breaking the six-second brick wall. Many thanks to my fantastic crew who have stuck with it through thick and thin with a lot of hard work and dedication, lots of people would have walked away a long time ago. Encouraging words from friends and fellow racers have kept us going, and the congatulations at the last two meetings have meant so much, thank you. ©Eurodragster.com Many thanks go to Andy and Kate Robinson and the team at Andy Robinson Race Cars for their help and advice over the years, with after sales service second to none, thanks also to Bert and Andy for help and guidance. Well done to Andy, Graham Ellis and Bert Englefield for their achievements in 2009. If I had any sponsors I would thank them but alas none so far, maybe now we are getting more competitive things might start to happen. Thanks to Eurodragster for keeping the world informed about European drag racing (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed). We're now looking forward to a good season in 2010 and hopefully welcoming a few more cars into the class. Needed like a hole in the head! 5th October: UK Pro ET racers Carla Pittau and Rick McCann managed to avoid the traditional overnight trip home at the UK National finals although in traditional fashion the weekend was far from straightforward: The weekend started with a fair pass by the Heaven & Hell Camaro (the red one) but the nut behind the wheel had had a brain fade and dialed for tailwind, of which there was absolutely none, and this resulted in a 9.80 on a 9.71. Unfortunately the other two qualifying runs were plagued by wheelspin and did little to improve our position, introducing the dreaded indecision in dialing in the first round: do we predict further wheelspin, or do we trust that the first run in the morning will get good traction with a just sprayed and prepped track? Heaven & Hell As Well (the yellow car), in the meantime, fared even worse. As I was coming back on the return road I saw thick smoke rapidly spreading from the track, and my heart sunk, as I knew Rick was running right behind me. I got to the pits and ran back, fearing he may have crashed, and was immensely relieved to learn that it was merely engine damage and he needed a tow. Steve Hudson was very kindly already on his way back towing him to the pits with his quad when I turned up in the truck - thank you Steve - and once back we tried to diagnose the problem. As always in these occasions you get a small crowd of fellow racers who are eager to help, it's great that so many would like you to fix it and get back to racing, and it warms your heart to see so much sportsmanship, so many racers offering help, making calls to locate parts, etc. However sometimes it can be a case of too many cooks ruining the broth, and Rick and I usually work well together by systematically going through a checklist in our heads and reasoning things out rather than aimlessly tearing things apart there and then, so we decided on brain and against brawn. The big cloud was caused by oil being sprayed out of the headers and, just to add a little complication, it also appeared to have been sprayed out of the side of the head onto the passenger side A-arm. Without this we may have pinpointed the culprit sooner and it also led to some wild theories amongst our little crowd of bystanders; we even heard later that it was announced that we had a blown head gasket (Commentators do admittedly tend to have this strange quirk of announcing what they are told by team members - commentating Ed). Of course this was not the case, or we would have fixed it in time to race. We looked at the evidence: oil in both headers, apparently clean intake ports, clean intake, oily plugs, good oil pressure, good compression, no oil in the water. The recording tach confirmed that something had gone ping just after the finish line, at about 7500 rpm and after a flawless run. The oil pressure and compression tests eliminated rings and bearings as a probable answer - still possible, but unlikely - and some further head-scratching finally lit the bulb in Rick's own head: we had an old repair to one of the heads, where the valves were repositioned and some relieving to locate the pushrods had removed too much material and gone through the intake ports on two cylinders. This repair (right), now eight years old, seemed to hold out quite well but alas, it held no more. Rick and Dave reasoned it out and came running back to the pits to verify the theory, took the intake off again and peering into the port they could see the culprit: a hole in the head. The hole in the intake port sucked up the oil from the lifter valley and into the cylinders, from where it was blown out into the exhaust ports and into the headers. The intake and the intake ports, however, looked absolutely clean, giving no clues just looking at them. In addition, the oil sprayed onto the A-arm came from a spark plug thread which perhaps was not properly torqued, so the oil, which resisted compression, must have squeezed through. Pity that such a simple thing couldn't be repaired immediately, and Rick was out of the race, but it could have been a lot worse. We have now the engine pretty much stripped and have checked that some stray fragments didn't end up damaging anything else and are happy to report that everything looks fine. The head will now be welded by the trusty Kenny Coleman who will no doubt take the opportunity for telling us off for revving too high! Our weekend's racing finished abruptly in the first round, when I pulled an appallingly slow light against Gino Bernadine in the rapid red Escort, who was set on killer mode and got all the way to the final against the no-longer-a-novelty Keith Herbert in the lovely Superstock replica Plymouth Fury. That will teach me not to try to slow down to prevent red lights, I should know by now that you have to change where you stage or the tyre pressure or whatever else you can change - if you try and change what you do only luck will make you tell the difference between three hundredths and eighteen hundredths of a second, and I didn't get that lucky. It was still a good weekend, which saw the Pro ET Championship being decided in favour of Mike Howling who put up a really good fight all season, with the ineffable Neil Hunter getting the silver and Keith Herbert the gold in the SPRC Championship. Congratulations guys, well done and as everyone in Pro ET we'll do our best to unseat you in 2010. As for Heaven & Hell and Heaven & Hell As Well, we have ended the season at sixth and ninth place respectively, and are pleased to have managed a top ten finish as well as securing the APIRA Championship. To finish the season in style we will attend the Flame and Thunder Show with the 1970 Camaro with our second reserve driver Dave Buckland in the seat. Dave has been a great asset to the team and a dedicated, indefatigable and knowledgeable team member who never hesitates to offer his help to fix problems as well as doing any of the menial and unglamorous jobs that ensure a smooth running of a race team. This is our thank you, Dave, for all you do for the team. Thank you also to team manager Christine Buckland, nice to have a level headed person to try and organise our chaos, to Colin Roaf for his invaluable help on so many different levels, to Jemma Harrison and Grace Roaf and to all friends, fans and supporters, we couldn't do it without you. We would also like to thank the usual suspects: the SPRC crew for a splendid job –-you guys work so incredibly hard and you even look forward to working hard to ensure good race meetings, we are very grateful for that, and apologies for giving you a clean up job on Saturday morning, fortunately we don't do that often! Eurodragster.com has had heaps of thanks and praise from everyone so I hope I'm not too boring by admitting that my name is Carla and I am a Eurodragsterholic... Thanks chaps, you do a superb job (Thanks - Ed)! Thank you to Charlie Chivers for running the Pro ET sponsorship scheme and to the class sponsors Motorshack, Toxico, Brize Norton Hot Rod & American Specialist, Real Steel, LA Racing Parts, Performance Unlimited, Cometic Gasket, Total Seal, Engine Data Analysis, Hauser Race Cars, A1 Motor Stores, Inkwell Printing, Penn Autos/Andy Frost Race Transmissions, CP Pistons, South Coast Customs, you support a great class! Supercharged Outlaws HRD review. 5th October: The NSRA Hot Rod Drags was the final round of the Supercharged Outlaws for 2009, writes Dave McKenzie: Going into this event Steve Goode led the points table and only Roy Wilding had an outside chance of catching Steve. This chance disappeared after the opening session when Roy damaged his engine and was out for the rest of the event leaving Steve to claim the series win and the right to display the Supercharged Outlaws #1 plate in 2010. Our congratulations go to Steve Goode and his team for a valiant effort. But this was not the only story of one of the best Hot Rod Drags in years. We had twelve teams through the gates for this event, with Nick and Sue Osgathorp displaying their superb slingshot dragster in the nostalgia tent, the Excalibur powered by a Donovan engine fron the Rat Trap Fuel altered which will make its track début in 2010. In the pits teams were working really hard to get their cars ready no more so than in the Alec Coe pits were Mark Windridge along with Alec's team were fitting the engine back into the car after a major rebuild. Mark was doing double duty working on his own car with Dave McKenzie trying to get the Thing 5 altered in a go position and get some valuable track time. Alec's story has already been written about so all I will say is well done to the team for knocking their Personal best out the window with a well-deserved seven-second pass. We had début for the Outlaws in the shape of Andy Hadfield in the Twister Model T and Andy was on form with some great runs taking out the timing blocks on one run. Welcome to the world of the Outlaws Andy. ©Eurodragster.com One of the highlights of the weekend was the Saturday night cacklefest and quite a number of the Outlaws participated. Dave McKenzie managed to get the altered out for the cacklefest and so did Alec Coe after both teams spent all day working on their cars. The cacklefest went down really well with most teams opting to drive in front of the grandstand and onto the track. Sunday again dawned a nice day and two more sessions were scheduled for the Outlaws. With the series wrapped up it was all about putting on a show for the fans and all the teams worked hard at doing this with four teams running personal bests: Ian Hanson a 7.500, Alec and Tom Coe first a 7.8 in the hands of Alec then a 7.6 in the hands of Tom, Trace Froome in the Dodge Daytona Funny Car getting into the eights 8.502, Richard Davis in the Willys 9.848, and Sam Freeman in Vic Hammonds Speed Demon ran a Personal Best speed of 183.14 which could be a new Supercharged Outlaw speed record. Tony Froome managed to get the Sundancer Funny Car down for the last session to put in a test run in the car. Sam Freeman and Vic Hammond ran out the winners of the Hot Rod Drags 2009. Paul Watts ran consistently all weekend to take the number two spot for the event. Other winners were: Commentators' Best Burnout trophy Ian Hanson, Andy Robinson quickest Supercharged Outlaw Ian Hanson, Fastest MPH Sam Freeman and Vic Hammond, Spirit of the Outlaws Mark Windridge for a magnificent effort on two cars. The Supercharged Outlaws also made a presentation to the track crew for their efforts in giving us all a great track to race on in 2009. The presentation (right) took place near the start line on Saturday evening prior to the cacklefest and was made by Dave McKenzie and Lee Gallimore. The track equipment and two cases of beer were accepted by by Jon Cross on behalf of the track crew. The outlaws would like to thank Alan Martin and Martin Payne for the invite to the Hot Rod Drags also thanks to Jerry Cookson and all the track crew and marshals at Shakespeare County Raceway for their hard work. We look forward to seeing you all again next year. A second title for PMR. 5th October: The UK National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway was quite an event in the history of Paul Marston Racing's Drag Race Driving School as Grumpy's Dodge driver Mick Howling took the 2009 UK National Pro ET Championship. When asked what it meant to win for the School to win a second Championship Paul Marston said "I cannot easily put into words how proud I am of Mick Howling and the PMR crew. The PMR crew really achieved something special, something none of them are ever likely to forget for the rest of their lives. Mick Howling winning National Championship was a moment that the whole Paul Marston Racing crew, The Crew Chief, Sefton Whitlock, Mick Pusey, Lisa Farmer, Leigh Hemsil, Billy Quant, Ian Hart, Keith Bick and Funsize shared together when Mick Howling won the round that settled it, against a very tough opponent but a very fair one too. You know if you beat Dave Cherrett you have earned it. ©Eurodragster.com "To say the 09 season has been tough would be an understatement. At nearly every round there was a major obstacle to overcome, but the PMR crewalways stepped up to the plate and got the job done. If there was the remotest chance it could be fixed, then it got done. No-one quit, no-one backed down, they just got the job done, whatever it took was never a price that they were not willing to pay. I honestly think that Pro ET is one of the very toughest classes to win and I truly believe it will be a long time before anyone has to earn it as Paul Marston Racing had to earn it in 2009. "I would like to personally dedicate this achievement to a sponsor who has become a great friend, Tony Merry at Engine Parts, supplier of ACL bearings, who have always supported Paul Marston Racing and what we stand for and try to achieve. Tony Merry has fought the Big C for the best part of this year, next to him we are just playing a being brave. Tony is always in our thoughts. He has a lot of friends in drag racing and has been sorely missed. Everyone at PMR sends their hopes and prayers that Tony will pull through." Sorry folks... 5th October: Darren Galloway, Crew Chief and co-owner of the Motor Psycho blown-alcohol altered, has been in touch to apologise for the lengthy oildown at the UK National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway. "It's not the sort of thing we want to happen and I am doing my best to make sure it does not happen again", says Darren. "It was down to something as stupid as a jubilee clip letting go on the oil breather pipe from the rocker cover to the chassis. As it was a brand new car I knew we would have a few teething problems. I had hoped to sort these out before we went up the track, but as we all know, you never know what a cars going to do untill it gets onto the track. ©Eurodragster.com "Despite this unfortunate incident we are as a team pretty pleased with the weekend, everything functions as it should and with the rear axle ratio changed to something much more appropriate for the set-up the clutch will be much happy and we can hit the track in anger next year. Apologies said, we didn't suffer any major damage, and we are now getting ready for next season. The list of Thank Yous is never ending but here goes and in no particular order - if I miss anyone out let me know because my memory is useless! Les Downey at Lucas Oil UK for their support, Bill and Luke 'Pit Rat' Felstead, Bob Jarrett, Dave 'Crunch' Crunkhorn, Martyn Hannis, the Bond Family and Nuthin Fancy Racing, Bob Glassup and Xtreme Racing, John and Lesley Wright, Lawrie Gatehouse, Tony Betts, Andy, Kate and Luke Robinson, Jason Phelps, John Spuffard, Dave Bryant, Martin Hill, David Lloyd-Jones, Darren Prentice and everyone at Santa Pod Raceway, and Doug Ripley." "I'd like to add a personal thanks to the above", says driver Adam Gleadow. "Specifically to Joe Bond, Vicky Molden, Ben Rushforth, Dom Romney, Jon Best and Kirstie Tramm for being a fantastic bunch of friends, their support and generally putting up with me! Roll on 2010." Web site updates. 5th October: In the latest entry in his exclusive Racer Blog, Dutch Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Lex Joon brings us up to date on his racing trip to the USA. As ever you can stay in touch with the latest Blog updates by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. The Nitrous Junkie web site at www.nitrous-junkie.co.uk has been updated with a report of Kev Charman's successful weekend on the Mistress Minx Funny Bike including a Personal Best and the event win. ©Eurodragster.com Steve Weston has updated his photo album with pictures from the FIA European Finals and NSRA Hot Rod Drags including a point-and-shoot sequence of Stig Neergaard's three-wheeled run at the FIA European Finals. You can check out Steve's pictures at www.spwpiks.myphotoalbum.com. Also updating from the FIA European Finals is Andrew Bamford whose shots you can find on his Racing Green web site at www.racing-green.co.uk. Central Europe update. 3rd October: October has arrived which means that only two events remain on this year's Central European calendar, both of which are in Croatia where our southern climate means warm and sunny days should be expected for another month or so, writes Paul Fischer of CeDrag.com: There were seven regional drag racing events between 30th August and 30th September which included Championship finals in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary plus the King of Europe event also in Hungary. Every event enjoyed good weather which means just one event during 2009 needed to be called off because of rain. The bike series in the Czech Republic saw Otto Knebl, the stand-out performer, win the top category of Competition Bike and retain his title. Otto and fellow Czech rider Michal Ponca also ran the full UEM circuit but their comparatively low-buck turbo bikes had little chance when grouped in with the top fuel machines. Nevertheless, these guys and their teams had a real blast touring around with the best in Europe. Otto remains undefeated throughout the four-round championship. Ondřej Klymčiwovi - luckily he responds to "Andy" - wheeled his former UK-owned Super Street Hyabusa to the #1 spot and also recorded the first seven-second pass at over 300 kmh to be recorded in the Czech Republic. Also worthy of a mention here is Radek Schwarz and his Kawasaki ZX10R who have been the star all season in the break-out class of the Street Ten category. He has mastered the art of index racing better than the opposition but it is the best-attended class and a few of the others appear to be gaining ground on him. ©Eurodragster.com CeDrag.com will be publishing a full review of the races and Championships from each of our local countries but, as yet, we don't have all the details nor confirmation of the final placings. We can tell you about Mick Payne's Dodge Coronet has been bought by Austrian Mopar fan Mike Mugrauer which means yet another sub-ten second car comes to the region. We are trying to get these big dogs together for 2010 in a way that some kind of Super Pro class can be put together. Currently we have a dozen quick race cars throughout the region but they are mostly separated by the class rules and rarely race each other. Bracket racing will be a hard sell here but we'll have a go at it. In the meantime, Mike's beautiful Agent Orange Dodge Challenger is for sale a roller and you can see it at www.dragracing.de/thread.php?threadid=7860. Hungarian racer Peter Kaldy ran an oh-so-close 9.007 in September with his tubbed out Chevy Nova. We believe it to be the quickest doorslammer pass in the region although, if it isn't, it certainly is the quickest thing we have at this time. Luckily for us, a few other guys are determined to hit the eight second range before Peter so next season should provide a deal of interest there. Hungarian promoter and organiser Zoltan Kohari has sold his nitrous injected V10 Dodge Viper to the SS Cars team who have put it solidly in the nines; there is much gossip about Zoltan's next ride - be sure it will be faster! The King of Europe (East) race came to Hungary's most popular track at Kiskunlachaza, a few miles south of Budapest but the East versus West match-up never happened. The sheer cost of moving street-legal doorslammers such a distance effectively killed off the KoE idea as nobody from the West came to race in the same way as nobody from the East went to Santa Pod earlier in the season. Ultimately, the KoE East event was poorly attended never really got off the ground. CeDrag.com will report on the last two events of 2009 and put together a season review and a 2010 wish list. After that, we will close the daily news service and go to a weekly update format until March of next year. Swift snippets. 3rd October: Many thanks to Yvonne Tramm and our very own Simon for forwarding us the final points standings in the UK National Drag Racing Championships, with the exception of 9.50 Bike which is wrapped up at next weekend's Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out the UK National Championship points on our Speedflow-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. ©Eurodragster.com Congratulations to Enzo Englezos who was the first to identify Helen Todd of Powerpoint Communications in yesterday's extremely difficult (Not - Ed) mystery picture contest. Enzo receives a Torco T-Shirt courtesy of B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Street Eliminator Champion Colin Lazenby and sponsor Nimbus Motorsport. Vizard to hold UK tech sessions. 3rd October: Longtime UK fans will be familiar with the name David Vizard, former racer and now writer with more than thirty technical books on engines and a huge number of technical articles to his name. David now resides and works in the USA but Saeed Moghul tells is that he has been persuaded to come over to the UK to give technical talks and host Q&A sessions on Saturday-Sunday 17th-18th October: David Vizard is very well known both in the States and UK and has a huge reputation on cylinder head, engine and camshaft design for performance and racing engines including Ford Crossflow, Pinto and V6 Engines. We feel that this is an incredible opportunity for interested parties who have any subject that they wish to discuss face to face with David at no cost. This opportunity for a face to face question and answer event is not likely to occur again and is absolutely free; you need only register via our web site. Assisting David and also available for Q&A will be David Martin of Swaymar Race Engines. David will be available between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm on 17th-18th October at: AustecRacing.com Ltd International Park Priestly Way Crawley West Sussex RH10 9NT Tel. 01293 531080 You can find more information and register to attend at http://www.austec.co.uk/events.asp. ©Eurodragster.com Web site updates. 3rd October: Brian Taylor has updated his Crazy Horses author's blog with accounts of the latest book signings and the progress of sales in the USA. You can find Brian's blog on the excellent Acceleration Archive at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. ©Eurodragster.com Alec Coe has updated the MadRs web site with news of the blown-alcohol slingshot team's seven-second passes at the NSRA Hot Rod Drags at Shakespeare County Raceway as well as photographs and video. Check it out at www.madrsdragracing.co.uk. Patrick Wikström's OFAB Racing Pro Mod team have come up with an amusing video which you can check out on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRE17pP1NPA. We have two advisories on this one: the first is parental because of some of the language and the second is for those who don't find the Second World War a subject for humour. More Power for Bennetts. 2nd October: The UK's Bennett Racing are pleased to announce that due to increased sponsorship their Bantam altered is now to be named the Superpower Unlimited Bantam altered. "Funds permitting the car will be on track in 2010", says Luke Bennett. "It will run a methanol-burning big block chevy using a Superpower Unlimted supercharger and manifold, and the plan is to run in Super Pro ET, Comp Eliminator and the Supercharged Outlaws. We are aiming for mid-sevens at 180+ mph." ©Eurodragster.com Superpower Unlimited are able to rebuild and refurbish any blower, be it on a street car with carbs right upto a Kobelco Superman. "Drag racers seem to ignore rebuilding their blowers and there is so much more power to be had in a correctly set-up and rebuilt blower", says Luke. "Believe me you will see the benefits. Give Kenny a call today on 07967 728175 or E-Mail him at [email protected]." You can find out more about Bennett Racing and Eurodragster.com sponsor Superpower Unlimited at www.superpowerunlimited.co.uk or click on the logo at right. In the latest entry in his exclusive Racer Blog, Luke recounts the UK National Finals at which the Bennett Racing team won this year's Nostalgis Fuel Altered Association Championship. As ever you can stay in touch with the latest Blog updates by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Seven up for Lazenby. 2nd October: Supporters of B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Street Eliminator will know that 2009 Champion Colin Lazenby's first ever seven-second pass came at the sixth round at Shakespeare County Raceway's Open Sport Nationals. Colin has been in touch with a report on his season since then: At the Open Sport Nationals the team was greeted with almost perfect conditions for us to chip away at the tunes, and we got there largely the result of Crew Chief Garry Coull's ability to make the tiniest of changes deliver us some outstanding performances working with the ignition retards, and a certain amount of restraint over the nitrous controllers. A combination of the two netted us our first ever seven, a 7.95. At the FIA European Finals, we missed the first three qualifying sessions when upon changing the intake springs on Wednesday we came across a broken retainer lock/keeper. We thought we had spares and we did, but not the ten degree beadlock design which are used only with titanium valves. In fact the only guy at the track who seemed to have the same keepers was Pro Mod's Roger Johansson and he was in a pretty laid-back set-up mode because the Pros weren't racing until the Friday, though by now of course it was Thursday lunchtime and we were rapidly running out of time. In the end we warmed up our Sonny's behemoth semi-hemi with the broken keeper with a view to fitting the new keepers when Roger came over, which he did at around one o'clock. This allowed us to make the fourth qualifying session by the skin of our teeth. We ran with exactly the same tune as we did at Shakespeare County so on our first qualifying run we carded a new Personal Best 7.855. For session five we stepped it up. Garry didn't specifically tell me what he'd changed, and I didn't ask, but he did ask me to short shift - I did, though it felt a bit flat in the middle and it went an unsurprising 7.908. We stepped up again for session six, don't forget here that we had already stepped up from the 7.85 but ultimately it had gone slower because of the short shift and the lower revs. Session six therefore delivered us another PB of our 7.708. In the only session we ran on Friday we went 7.834, in the dusk and with the dew point well and truly in, but with pretty much the same tune with which we ran the 7.70. In these conditions, we turned the tyres with each gear change but the old girl still went as straight as an arrow. Given the cold conditions I believe this run was actually more astounding than the 7.70: the track temp was sixty degrees give or take. By now the Sportsman Pros were beginning to wear. Still legal, but worn nonetheless. We discussed at what point we would undertake our tactical tyre change in full recognition that changing to new tyres on race day could have been catastrophic to us going rounds. Lee Child of LA Racing Parts had kindly organised delivery of replacement tyres both for us and for Davie Murdoch, and they turned up when Lee said they would. We had two more qualifying sessions on the Saturday during which we went 7.814 and 7.832. The 7.83 run was against John Sleath's 7.87 and this race goes down in the SE history books as the quickest and fastest ever side-by-side run in the class. ©Eurodragster.com We changed the tyres immediately after the Cruise with a view to bedding them in on our bye run the next morning. The rest really is immaterial. In the first round of eliminations a nipped wire on the trans brake feed meant that once I was fully staged and went on the chip the motor died on me. The earthing effect had killed a feeding the ignition switch, which in turned killed the MSD. Luckily I had fully staged under power and I took the win light. R2 was against Alex McIntosh and aside from one previous burnout we were essentially on new tyres. I ended up having to drive for a change, pedalling the car at least three times before I could get it to hook. In the semi-final against Fatty I had an absolutely fantastic 0.023 light for a 0.400 Tree, the problem is that we run a 0.500 tree and red light effectively put a halt to progressing any further. Congratulations are in order here to John Sleath with his twin T*rbo Audi for his European Finals event win, and his astounding 7.68 timing ticket, set on the popular Drag Radials. I have been in contact with Mickey Thompson USA to lay claim on the quickest and fastest run in the world on the full block tread Sportsman Pro after my own 7.708/189.63 at the race. I don't anticipate recognition from any other quarter. Onto round eight, the UK National Finals. Self and our Bri set up camp - well I was quite butch, our Bri was camp - then changed the exhaust springs on the Friday, and on Saturday morning we damaged a lifter wheel during the warm-up which also bruised a cam lobe. We replaced the lifter and limped to a 9.1 during session two, which pretty much placed us in the middle of the field. We kept a close eye on the damaged lobe and the new lifter wheel just in case we incurred greater irreparable damage. The Cruise came and went without drama, but when we checked the lash upon our return we found another damaged lifter. We changed this for our last remaining spare just so that we could meet Alex McIntosh for the first round of eliminations. We treated the new lifter wheels to a liberal soaking of Torco MPZ Engine Assembly lube, courtesy of Steve Clark at Nimbus Motorsport. The team debated up hill and down dale whether or not we should race Alex, but ultimately the choice was mine. I did my normal short burn-out (yeah right - Ed) albeit at slightly lower revs. I then pre-staged, purged the nitrous and went into full stage. On the green I left, then backed off just prior to the sixty foot clocks. For us our weekend was over and besides I owed Alex big time for helping us out with heat shrink at the previous event and I wasn't about to wreck our Sonny's *** ci bullet. Team 56 will live to race another day. Thanks also to Super Modified racer Tim Mugridge for the loan of his nitrous jets: come and get 'em any time Tim, it's M1, M6, M74 pretty much all the way up through Scotland. If you get to Iceland (not the frozen food shop) you've gone too far. Congratulations to SE Championship runner-up Jeff Meads and also to third place finisher Mats Andersson. It's been a hard slog for all SE competitors this year but especially for you guys who have been able to commit to attending all the SE rounds in 2009. To all other SE competitors, we all appreciate your support of the hardest core of street-legal doorslammer cars in Europe. We'll see you guys at the SE Dinner Dance on 28th November. Cannon's last shot for 2009. 2nd October: UK Supertwin racer Chris 'Cannon' Hannam says that he has had an up and down year but that he is very pleased with his results: We started at Easter with a spare engine from Puma Engineering and thought we were well covered for the year. Then we had an off the trailer big clutch blow-up which wasn't in the script I can tell you! So it was back to the workshopto design and make new primary drive pulleys and clutch back plate, all this while waiting for my new front wheel and brakes from PM. Our next outing was the Main Event where we lined up against Europe's best and we qualified - shock horror as this was my first goal for the season and although we weren't fast we were running well and I equalled my best time on UK soil with a 7.33, this was OK for us but made it hard as we had to race our new friend Hans Olav Olstad. The race went with the form book to Hans Olav but we were learning our trade every pass. It was just as well we did not win really as our brake discs were shot again, so with that we pulled out of the Summernationals to get the new PM parts on so we had some consistant stopping power. It was well in to August before we could test again which we did at the Peak Performance Day which proved to be most eventful as we moved the clutch radically, but no serious change was gained either on the sixty foot or eighth mile which is where we were very slow running 1.25s to 1.30s and 4.65 to 4.80s which were terrible. We did however tip the can to 85% and ran back to back 7.12/191 with loose helmet (not a good idea) and 7.14/195. With strong back halves we knew that a six-second pass was possible. It was at this point that we decided to change the gearing as we needed more mechanical advantage to move the weight, so I contacted Johnny Vickers at Hawaya Racing for some new drive belts and a new eighteen tooth front sprocket off the shelf shipped to Jay at MRE for him to add fifty seven tooth back sprocket and get them on their way double quick as the European Finals was fast approaching. It was all last push stuff as it got fitted at the track so we had no idea what was going to happen. As the meeting dawned we now found our first eighth was starting to come down but we had incurred a new problem of keeping the cylinders lit. My inexperience on the bike had broken belts with early shifting and made it hard for the team to tune around me. There was also me not lining up straight which cost us qualification without doubt as I got it wrong on the last run and I was mad with myself. We did however reduce our sixty foot time to 1.17 and our eighth mile to 4.50 and 7.3 again but DNQ. This is where you sometimes get fortunate as first alternate. Now I didn't want to race as I felt I needed to earn the place but the team said we should go so thats what we did. The next problem occured when we fired in the lanes to warm up to be ready and the oil tank hydraulicked. We we were out and although we didnt know it the number one qualifier Lorenz had issues and we would have been in at the top spot. Well, if I didn't have bad luck I'd have no luck! ©Eurodragster.com So back to the pits for some head scratching and the bike was turned around for the National Finals and the oil tank off to Al Smith to be welded up. We decided not to modify at this stage as Neil Midgley is going to redesign the whole system over winter. Back to the track late Friday night and the boys fitted the tank. Ever the optimist I was ready for the first run as I really am getting a good feel for this bike and love riding it and I can't wait to get a full pass. In the first round I was shut down for a leaky breather hose, well what can you do it was fine in the pits and that's racing. In the second session we set off with our best sixty foot of 1.16 and I plugged high gear at 3.1 seconds and it kept. I started to settle in but the detonation at 4.4 seconds broke the belt. 4.56 eighth mile and 7.7 which got us into the field. This was also a race against my good friend Rene van den Berg for a beer, which I won, and the beer was nice too. Back in the pits we fitted another new belt and serviced for the last pass. All the data looked good but we needed to tune out the lean parts. We also had a new line-up routine with Al directing me straight which I have to say is weird, putting all your trust in the guys as I really felt like they were wrong but both passes were arrow straight so thanks guys you're the best. On the next pass the sixty foot slowed slightly but to no avail as the oil tank split again oiling the track, which i didnt know until I got to the end. At this point I'd like to apologise to all the racers held up and to the Santa Pod crew for the clean up they had to do on my behalf as I can assure you that safety and build quality is very much at the forefront of our programme. So we were done and after Neil told me what the oil lights were for I decided to call time on this year with my six second pass on the garage wall on two tickets. We now have some very valuble data and with a bike that weighs in at 1000 lbs and 1400 lb with rider we managed my quickest eighth mile of 4.50 and pulled 2.81 gs which I'm told by Neil is good enough to get us deep in the sixes. I really don't want to predict but we are going to work very hard over the winter both on the bike and on my weight to come out stronger next year. At this point I would like to thank the crew that is Neil Midgley, Al Smith and Mike Vickers whom I believe to be of the best that the UK has to offer as without you guys I could not and would not be doing this, thank you very much for all your efforts and I hope to do a better job next year. As for the Supertwin class what can I say but I feel I have some great new friends and have seen some new bikes and new riders going really quick and think it's the best class I have raced in. Thank you all for welcoming our team as you have. I have seen some great passes over all the classes, Dave Beck in Pro Stock was blinding, but the best has to be Peter Svenssons 5.91, the bike is nothing to look at but awesome is all I can say, you have to understand what it's all about to really understand how big the achivement is so top job team. Lastly big thanks to all of our well wishers and supporters, Santa Pod track and crew for an awesome track all year, Eurodragster for the reports (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed) along with Colin and Darryl on the commentary, it's been great guys. I now look forward to the USA in November and some time out in the new house so we can develop the bike for next year. Swift snippets. 2nd October: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com shows a car "In the south of England which is nearly ready for the 2010 season". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at [email protected]. ©Eurodragster.com A free Torco Oil T-Shirt is on offer to the first Eurodragster.com reader to E-Mail 2009 B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Street Eliminator Champion Colin Lazenby with the identity of Street Eliminator's Got Talent contestant 'Helen Boyle'. "Two clues here", says Colin. "One is cunningly disguised in the name. The other is that it's a female member of the best drag race film crew which regularly covers both the SE and Pro Mod classes". If you want to take a guess then E-Mail Colin at [email protected] Swedish Fuel FC racer Leif Helander is again in NHRA action at this weekend's O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park, driving the Simpson family's Fuel FC. You will be able to stay in touch with Leif's progress on the excellent Drag Race Central web site at www.dragracecentral.com. Paton Racing are offering the chance to realise a dream as their Top Fuel Dragster and team are available for hire for the upcoming Las Vegas and Pomona NHRA National events. The car has run in the 3.8s at 310 mph over a thousand feet. For more information contact Barry at [email protected] or call +1 423 967 6817. Many thanks to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe for forwarding us the official UK National Finals timing data, which you can check out by clicking here or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Calling Super Comp racers at the UK National Finals: if you left a power cable laying around your pit when you left then it was found by Cath and Tig Napier and is now with Santa Pod's Darren Prentice whom you can call at 01234 782828. Wild Bunch 2009 wrap-up. 2nd October: The finale of the 2009 Wild Bunch Series was a real close run thing, which came right down to the wire with the advantage moving back and forth throughout the weekend between the two teams in contention for the top spot, writes Race Co-ordinator Claire Meaddows: Chris Hartnell's Backdraft had gone into the event with an aggregate lead of two points over the RamRaider team, and that team's driver for the weekend, Eurodragster.com sponsor Ed Yates, needed to finish a place or two ahead of Chris to win the title for the team. The RamRaider car had a couple of problematic runs on the first two qualifiers on the Saturday, but after a change by the team Ed went straight to #1 spot with an 0.016 off dial in the third qualifier. And in that same round into the dusk, Crazy Chris pulled a real spectacular double wheelie on his run (well, a triple, including the burnout!). Another highlight of the qualifying sessions was a big Personal Best ET of 8.648 for Ant Harris and his Frantic Topolino altered, a three tenths improvement. Ant also broke the 150 mph mark for the first time with a speed of 150.13 mph, so very well done to him and the team, who are nicknamed the Frantastic Four, and got the T-shirt' to prove it as well as the weekend's Best Appearing Car award. The qualifying standings resulted in Ed earning the bye in the quarter finals, running a 9.26 on his 9.33 dial. In another close race, Ant broke out by just 0.0066 in his race against Dave Rowlands in the Destiny's Angel altered. Dave, like Chris, has made every round of the Wild Bunch events this year, had made it to three final rounds already this season, and was running in fourth place at the start of the event. Meanwhile Chris defeated opponent Darren Law in the rear-engined dragster the Wicked Lady, a car well-prepared by Crew Chief and co-owner Bob Callander. Darren is a consistently good racer, who despite only doing a handful of events this season has been really on form. He usually leaves the line well too, and had the best Reaction of the Bunch for the day in this round, a 0.068 light. The top-end margin for their race was just 0.024, and Chris ran one thousandth off his 9.08 dial-in to take the win, and the Closest to Dial-in award to add to the team's Best Appearing Team award that weekend! This then meant that Chris only had to make it through the semis and then to stage in the final to gain enough points to earn the Wild Bunch Series win, regardless of the outcomes of the other pairings. In the semi-final round, Chris was the one on a bye run, and he took this on an 8.98 dial-in. But at the top end, a fair way into the shutdown area, there was a problem. Chris heard a noise, and shifted the car into neutral and stopped as soon as possible. On inspection, the timing chain had let go and punched a gouge out of the timing cover, and there was a thin oil trail just behind the car. Many thanks to the top end crew for their quick action and reassurance - they were just brilliant, as always! The good news for Chris and the team is that, on stripdown after the weekend, Chris found that the damage is nowhere near as bad as it could have been. See www.backdraftdragracing.co.uk for our full account of the event. This problem meant that Chris was out of the event, but Ed still had to make it to the final to overtake him on points for the title. There was drama as we all waited for the next pair, Ed versus Dave Rowlands. Dave had the opportunity to move up to third place in the Wild Bunch Series if he could beat Ed and win the event. Dave took the reaction advantage, but it was Ed who was closer to dial, crossing the finish line just 0.017 ahead of Dave. Another close race! So all Ed had to do was stage in the final for the win and the Wild Bunch title for the team, With a hot motor, and all finalists being called, Ed and the team towed down to the pairings lanes, fired the car up, and made it to stage for the win. Many congratulations to Ed and Andy Gosling and Ray Ford, the team's two other drivers this season, and to team members Emma, Ben and James Gosling, Lisa North and Sarah Howells, and all their crew, on what is their third Wild Bunch title, the others were back-to-back in 2000 and 2001 with their previous two cars Nutcracker and RamRaider Mark 1. ©Eurodragster.com The winners of the six-event Wild Bunch Series, with the top four teams earning the honour of wearing WB 1 to WB 4 in the 2010 season: Team Dogs Bollocks - RamRaider (37 points) Chris Hartnell - Backdraft (36 points) Scot Durrant and Gina Rumble - Tiki Munki (31 points) Dave Rowlands - Destiny's Angel (28 points) The ten-event Real Steel Series was hard fought over the season, but won by a bigger margin. The top four are: Team Dogs Bollocks - RamRaider (65 points) Chris Hartnell - Backdraft (55 points) Dave Rowlands - Destiny's Angel (51 points) Scot Durrant and Gina Rumble - Tiki Munki (31 points) The Top Four will be receiving a share of £350 of sponsor Real Steel's vouchers at the Wild Bunch Prize Presentation in November. The 2009 Wild Bunch MSA Challenge was also won by Ed Yates and the Dog's Bollocks Team with the RamRaider slingshot. It was held over the five MSA events the Wild Bunch compete at: the Easter Thunderball, the Springspeed Nationals, the SPRC Summernationals, the Open Spors Nationals and the National Finals. The points for this Challenge are based on exactly the same format as the MSA points for all other Sportsman classes, and the RamRaider team finished on 2320 points, some 880 points ahead of nearest rival Dave Rowlands' Destiny's Angel. The winner receives free entry to one of the above MSA events in 2010, courtesy of the Wild Bunch. Congratulations again to the Dog's Bollocks team, who have made the first ever clean sweep in the club's history, also winning the Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series and the APIRA Series - a great achievement! The Wild Bunch will be celebrating all their winners at their Annual Prize Presentation and Dinner Dance at Drayton Manor on 28th November. For full results and write-ups of the events and other Series, please see the Wild Bunch web site at www.the-wild-bunch.co.uk. Drag racing: an appreciation. 2nd October: We quite often receive feedback here at Eurodragster.com, but we would like to share this particular piece with our readers as it is not just about your favourite drag racing web site. Stuart Way got in touch from West Sussex to tell us: I appreciate being able to keep up with all that's happening in drag racing in Europe with your excellent web site and commentary. I do class myself as a Eurodragsteraholic and log in everyday if I can to catch up with the best motorsport there is. The pit notes are brilliant and a chance to hear what the racers are up to (Thanks - Ed). ©Eurodragster.com I have been going to Santa Pod since 1988 and I still blows me away now as it did then! I am like a little kid in the pits when the Top Fuel cars are firing up! Hey it's a 280-mile round trip but that's nothing compared to some of these racers that travel from Scotland and overseas for probably not the financial rewards of other motorsports. That's what I like about the sport, as well as that they all seem to pitch in when in need and help each other out. These guys/girls are totally dedicated to the sport and I take my hat off to each one. It amazes me when I read that one has a breakage and they think nothing of driving hundreds of miles to get a spare just to go racing the next day. My thanks go to all the track crew for the tireless work of getting one of the fastest tracks in the world ready, and to Nitro FM. Just a suggestion but what would be a great idea is if we could get podcasts of the interviews with the racers. Début win for TVR Power. 1st October: 2009 ACU UK Pro Stock Bike Champion Dave Beck extended his recent run of record-setting performances at the UK National Finals at Santa Pod, giving new team sponsor TVR Power a winning start. An off-the-trailer 7.22 at 160 mph was enough to lead the first round of qualifying and the incremental times showed that the bike was still in the kind of form seen at the FIA European Finals. "The sixty foot and 330 foot times were both better than on our record setting 7.07 run", noted Dave, "but the bike wouldn't shift into sixth, so we left something on the table at the top end. But it demonstrates that we have a solid 7.0 tune-up now". Round two of qualifying resulted in a 7.15 at 182 mph, delivering a new ET record for the UK, backed up by the first run of the day. On race day the TVR Power bike defeated Mark Smith in the first round with a 7.26 at 179 mph. The final was a face-off against veteran Pro Stock campaigner Len Paget, with Beck showing keen start line reactions and a quicker 7.21 at 182 mph to take the win over the 7.39 in the other lane. "This was a great first outing for us under the TVR Power banner", smiled Dave. "We are getting a great handle on the tune-up and it showed in the consistency over the weekend. Once again my super team of Charlotte, Ric, Tom and Stephen delivered the goods." As previously mentioned on Eurodragster.com, the plan for 2010 is to contest at least four UEM rounds in addition to the ACU UK Championship. "Our 2010 engine programme is already underway thanks to Rick at Ward Performance and Eric at MTC", said Dave. "The Vance and Hines and Buell motors are going to be tough, but we think we can respond. Our goal is to win some UEM rounds and to be the first six-second Pro Stock bike outside the USA." In addition to lead sponsor TVR Power, the team is supported by MTC Engineering, Ward Performance, PR Factory Store, Nimbus Motorsports, Motorshack, Steve Howe and Sons and Stephen Moon Consulting. ©Eurodragster.com One rookie, two finals, one win. 1st October: Dawn Watson says that UK Supertwin Gas racer Andy Watson has had an amazing year: In his rookie year Andy has managed to reach the finals in two rounds, losing out to Les Harris at the Summernationals in June and then beating him this weekend at the National Finals. Andy had a fantasic day on Saturday qualifying in top place with a 9.73 and keeping that position through to eliminations on Sunday. Andy had a bye in the first round and beat Brian Udall in the second. Pleased to get through Andy was up against Dave Jones, who has in the past holeshot him. This time Andy was ready. Defeating Dave meant that Andy was up against Les in an all-Norwich final. Andy's making it to the final and winning has stirred up the points for the NAST Championship. Let's see how everyone gets on at the next round at Santa Pod. We all had a total buzz this weekend. It was our new crew member Tom's first meeting and it won't be his last! Skool's in at Hal-Far. 1st October: Regular readers will recall that three of the UK's Old Skool Ford racers trekked across Europe last year to race at Hal-Far Raceway in Malta. Jo Peters tells us that Ian Cox and Kev Jenkins made the trip again this year to join Darren Doughty whose car was still on Malta: Our journey began in Dover and we went via Dunkirk, down to Genova and then a Grimaldi ferry direct to Valetta on a new service which cruised the Med for a day and a half before embarking at Valetta. Our cars were stored at our friends' garages. Ian Cox - MK2 Escort RS2000 – Cosworth YB turbo power Ian had been having a few misfire problems at the RWYB on the Thursday night but this was all sorted for qualifying in his bracket class of 11.5-12.0 and also in the SM4 class. On competition day during the rounds of his bracket class he ran an 11.4 which meant he was out of that class but it all came good in the SM4 class which he won with a time of 11.3. Kev Jenkins (ex Rover Challenge Racer) - Mk1 Escort - Pro-charged XE engine Other than a trip to Shakespeare County two weeks before for testing, this was the first time Kev had run the new engine in anger and it showed itself to be strong and he achieved a win in his bracket class (10.5-11.0) with an 10.6. On returning to the UK Kev ran consistent 10.4s at SCR and hopes to have nitrous fitted for the Saturday Night Special at Santa Pod. Darren Doughty - MK1 Escort – 2.1 Pinto power Darren's car was still in Malta from 2008 and he has been returning over the last year to race at Hal-Far. His engine was built by the Maltese racers and perfected for the night round on 21st-22nd August although he managed to destroy his diff on the first night which was qualifying night so it was all hands to the pump trying to get it ready for the competition the next evening. Sadly, he only managed one run before mashing his shafts and that was it for him. The car has now been shipped back to the UK to compete at the UK tracks in 2010. Swift snippets. 1st October: Thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall for forwarding us Version 8 of the official entry list for the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 10th-11th October. You can check out the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page and selecting the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend. ©Eurodragster.com Thanks also to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe for forwarding us an updated table of UK records to take account of the records set at the UK National Finals. You can check out the new UK records sheet by clicking here or by clicking on the European Bests link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Swedish Fuel FC racer Leif Helander is again in NHRA action at this weekend's O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park, driving the Simpson family's Fuel FC. You will be able to stay in touch with Leif's progress on the excellent Drag Race Central web site at www.dragracecentral.com. As the #1 qualifier was not signed up to the UK's Pro ET sponsorship scheme, UK National Finals #2 qualifier Marius Blackburn (with Carl Burton) took the money and vouchers from Apsley Transmissions and Hauser Race Cars. Pro ET is also supported by Motorshack, Toxico, Brize Norton Hot Rod and American Specialist (01993 844144), Real Steel, LA Racing Parts, Performance Unlimited, Cometic Gasket, Total Seal, Engine Data Analysis, Hauser Race Cars, A1 Motor Stores, Inkwell Printing, Penn Autos/Andy Frost Race Transmissions, CP Pistons and South Coast Customs. Carl Wadkin Snaith tells us that the UK's The Fang Supertwin team will be back on track in 2010. Carl's daughter Bryony has been in the hot seat of the supercharged methanol burning 1975 Honda CB500T during testing and you can find out more on the 2009 News page at www.thefang.co.uk. After the huge sucess of their 2009 drag racing calendar, our good buddies Markus Münch and Mathias Wienand have joined forces again and have put together a calendar for 2010. The calendear is in high gloss A3 format and features the hottest drag racing action in Europe from the past season as well as all the important dates for 2010. The calendar comes in at €19.90 with free shipping util the end of October after which shipping will be approximately €5. You can order yours from [email protected]. TF racer in "Praying for rain" shock. 1st October: Ex-pat UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Smax Smith was probably the only person praying for rain at last weekend's IHRA National event at Budd's Creek: We arrived late on Thursday night and met team owner Bob Leverich team owner and laughed at his hilarious stories of ending up in downtown Manhattan with the dually and forty foot trailer, crossing bridges illegally carrying nitro around with all the 9/11 stuff happening. Lucky he didn't get the car and rig impounded! We unloaded the car on Friday morning and set about making a spacer to reduce the gap behind the flywheel to help control the five-disc clutcch from running off centre. This can be a real problem and some teams weld rubbing blocks on the motorplate etc. Anyhow we ran out of time to complete it so Aidee put in the clutch and set it up just perfect. 7:00 pm came around quickly, time for the big test. The air was amazing, and we had 89.7% nitro and the car sounded awesome. We planned a half pass. I did a short burnout and got reverse no problem, backed up perfectly and got forward - great job Aidee. Staged and launched the car but didn't make 300 feet when we pushed head gaskets out. Bummer! I lifted and coasted to a 9.1 but amazingly this gave us #7 spot We went back to the pits for a damage check and found both heads torched. Not too bad but we didn't have spares, and the block will cold weld but we found we kicked #4 rod. The rest of the bearings and plugs were OK so we decided that it was just rod failure with too much power on used rods. Amazingly the block was OK. Saturday came round and was raining on and off so we were praying for rain. This was the first time I've gone so far to race and hoped for rain! This really was a turning point because if it dried up and we got bumped we wouldn't get the $10,000 qualifying money so couldn't fix the car or compete at the last race at Rockingham. Our dream was to do all IHRA races so now we can because Saturday rained out! We decided to drive home through the night on Saturday to make my daughter and granddaughter's birthdays. We are currently four points off #7 spot in the IHRA Championship. Web site updates. 1st October: In the latest entry in his Racer Blog, 2009 FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion Andy Carter writes from Florida about the end of his season. As ever you can stay in touch with the latest Blog updates by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Tim Lockyer has updated his Dragster Photography web site with some great pictures from the weekend's UK National Finals. You can check out Tim's shots at www.dragster-photography.com. ©Eurodragster.com Back to the FIA European Finals and UK photo-journalist Dick Parnham has updated his Fotopic gallery with shots from that race which you can find at dickparnham.fotopic.net. Carl Wadkin Snaith has posted on YouTube a video clip of the first of the two fire-ups by Norm Wheeldon's Two Much twin-engined nostalgia slingshot at the NSRA Hot Rod Drags. You can check out Carl's video at www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&feature=channel_page&v=kQhCPvKu9nk. Earlier news