Dragtastic 4 cancelled. 31st October: Trevor Duckworth of Straightliners and Melbourne Raceway has announced that Dragtastic 4 which was scheduled to take place at Melbourne on 7th-8th November, has had to be cancelled: "With regret Straightliners have had to cancel the Dragtastic 4 event due to be held at Melbourne Raceway on the 7th and 8th of November. This is due to the Covid 19 virus and a lot of our catchment area going into Tier 3 of Lockdown measures. "We will be publishing our 2021 dates for Melbourne Raceway shortly and look forward to a full year of events at this rejuvenated track with probably the best support and following in our sport - it truly is the people's track. "2021 will see a new raft of improvements with the paddock upgrade, a new gantry over the track for lane sponsorship, improvements to the paddock area and a new clubhouse for members to put their feet up and relax; we will have new classes and a vibrant race programme from RWYB to the Pro classes in 2021. "Sponsorship opportunities exist for the full 2021 season at Melbourne Raceway with packages for any budget from a banner site, to lane branding and right up to full event branding for your company info from [email protected]. Yours in sport. SHRA Mantorp Winter Nats 2020. 30th October: A bonus event in Sweden, not on the original calendar, was held last Sunday 25 October when over 50 racers headed towards Mantorp Park for their Winter Nats - test and tune action on an eighth mile track in 13C temperatures. Courtesy of Swedish photographer Cenneth Schiller we have been able to publish a selection of his shots of six of the vehicles taking part. The '69 Vette of Tommy Orest is part of the Swedish V8 Street Car Challenge also runs in Outlaw 10.5 and is capable of running tens in the quarter. Then there was the neat three window '33 Chevy coupe of Magnus Joelsson which runs a 408ci small block Chevy and Powerglide. Another classic was the Volvo 544 of Janne Blomé, also with SBC power and TH350 gearbox which has run mid 10s in the quarter. A couple of the supercharged cars included Roger Nilsson's second generation Camaro, which runs the Street Week event as well as Outlaw 10.5 on the track. Stefan Breiner has a supercharged Plymouth GTX with a 512ci Mopar engine running on methanol and Torqueflite gearbox. Finally we had pictures of a wheelstand by one of the quickest cars there, Joel Skoglund's Pro ET Dart which runs a 358ci Dodge engine with G Force gearbox. The event went well and put the lid on a year when the pause button was pressed, events became possible but Swedish spectators were sadly unable to enjoy them. 2021 will be better. Nitro Revival postponed indefinitely. 30th October: When Nitro Revival, for which land speed racer Geoff Stilwell provides our sponsorship, was postponed from May to 7th November, UK fans relished the opportunity of going to the season ending racing events and this unique combination of car show, cacklefest and legends reunion at Irwindale Raceway, California. However the continued presence of Covid-19 put paid to the races, and now Nitro Revival has been postponed indefinitely. A future date will be determined once Covid-19 restrictions become clear and are less restrictive. Geoff said "This is a sad situation and I can only hope that everyone involved in Nitro Revival is safe. We will be missing saying goodbye to Mike Kuhl as his Celebration of Life was due to be held there. I will also miss my friends Steve and Cindy Gibbs, Floyd and Sharon, Waterbed Fred, Snake, Ace and Harry Hibler. Condolences to Tony Thacker, Mick Jenkins and Donny Cummins who were going to be displaying my Lucas Oil 7707 Land Speed car at Nitro Revival with a lot of Lucas products. We will see you all on the salt in 2021". Geoff's plans to break his own speed record at Bonneville and be the first BB Fuel Roadster over 300mph were disrupted in August due to travel restrictions between the UK and US. However, plans to take the car to 2021 events have been hatched and the main focus will be on Bonneville Speedweek 7-13 August. Fuel Altered legend Ron Hope has challenged Geoff to be the first over 300mph, Ron running his turbo methanol roadster. Picture: design ace Toby Denham's rendering of Lucas Oil 7707 on show, now sadly postponed Swift snippets. 29th October: We would like to say a big Happy Birthday to our good friend, British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Director and Motorsports UK Drag Racing Championship PR Robin Jackson. Have a great day Robin. RRC Roger Moore build gallery. 28th October: Bob Roberts has kindly sent a gallery of pictures taken by him whilst the build of Roger Moore's Pro Modified Dodge Viper took place at Eurodragster.com sponsor Robinson Race Cars. Crew chief and Roger's brother Dave says: "The basic chassis rails and cage were built by Andy Robinson Race Cars, back in roughly 2006. The body, from a Billy Harper mould, was then shipped in from the States. The car then spent a couple of years at Roger's garage in Essex, with mega hours spent on it. It was a big learning curve for Rog and myself as we were a lot younger then. We got the 706ci nitrous motor from BA racing when they went blown. The car was painted and finally finished in 2008 just prior to the Euro Finals. "We spent almost ten years in Pro Mod, a very tough game but the best fun ever, and the best teams in drag racing. The highlight was becoming the 2012 MSA championship. "The car was sold this year during lockdown, and was split three ways, rolling chassis, motor, Lenco and clutch. "We then bought the Yellow Metal Funny Bike from Bob Brooks and tested it this year which went well for Rog. There is lots to learn but that's the whole point of having a change to two wheels. We can also bring some of our Pro Mod experience into the bike game. The bike will be going through a winter re-build with a brand new paint job to make it feel like it's our bike, with a new team name. Watch this space, we plan to license and race with the big boys next season if all goes well". You can see Bob's gallery in our feature in association with Lucas Oil Products by clicking here or go to our Features, Interviews, Tributes index via the main menu. Walle's new Camaro. 27th October: German Supercharged Outlaw and Super Pro ET racer Walle Strobel has revealed he has bought an ex-Pro Mod Camaro to race in these classes in 2021. His new, first generation, Camaro which ran low 6s with its previous owner, has a 526 ci AJPE 481X engine with Lenco Drive and a Coan converter. Walle says "This car ran a deep 6 sec run 12 years ago, but when I drive it into the sevens, I'll be happy. I will continue to race with the Supercharged Outlaws, or Extreme Outlaws as we are known in Germany, and sometimes in Super Pro ET. The Pro Mod series is a bit too expensive and too much work for me. Walle has been racing since 1986 when he started in Competition with a Ford Capri 3100, then after a Competition dragster, ran a Top Methanol Dragster that met a fiery demise after an engine let go at the start. His first Supercharged Outlaw Camaro, a 1973 model with 1974 front bodywork that he has had since 2016, is currently for sale with a 526ci AJPE engine with 14-71 blower running on methanol with Lenco drive gearbox; it ran a best time of 7.7s/185mph with an earlier engine setup. He raced it at Dragstalgia over three years as well as running it in events in Germany and France. You can see the current specs and price of the car for sale at our Jeff Bull Race Engines-sponsored Swap Meet. You can see more photos of it at this link. Dakota cash prize grudge race. 26th October: Dakota Raceway in conjunction with Straightliners, have announced a cash prize will be up for grabs at the last race of the year. More drivers are coming forw,ard to race in the grudge race at Dakota Raceway on Saturday 14th November. Racers will place £25 in the hat and the winner can take up to £400, entry is online and spectators are allowed with advance booking and the usual Covid precautions required. Check out the info below: The race will be a 1/8 mile no clocks car grudge race in six categories. All drivers enter online as normal at this link. After you entered, send us a private message for attention of Lee, choosing your category. On the day each driver puts £25 in hat of their chosen category. There are sixteen places available in each category. Pairings will be determined by selection out of the hat. The process will start with eight pairs, then four pairs and down to two pairs and the final last pair is where the winner takes £400 based on 16 cars in each category. Categories are: Pro AWD: Modified, competition tyres , interior removed Street AWD: Factory appearance, full interior. Pro rear wheel drive: Modified, competition tyres , interior removed. Street rear wheel drive: Factory appearance, full interior. Pro front wheel drive: Modified, competition tyres , interior removed. Street front wheel drive: Factory appearance, full interior. Don’t forget it’s also 1/4 mile run what you brung all vehicles welcome. Let’s see what you got! Web site updates. 26th October: Richard Smith has posted to his web site, hosted by Zenfolio, 275 images from Sunday at Dragtastic 3 held at Melbourne Raceway on October 10th-11th. You can check out Richard's photos at this link. Snake book out 15 November. 25th October: The autobiography Don "the Snake" Prudhomme: My Life Beyond the 1320 co-written with Elana Scherr (who we had the pleasure of meeting in July 2019 when she and Snake's friend "Hawaiian" Roland Leong attended Dragstalgia) is available in all good bookshops and online from 15th November for £26.25 advance discounted price plus postage. The long awaited book was written with a huge amount of research and interviews over a period of more than two years. It reveals some facts about The Snake that have never come to light before including his family background and how he got into racing. The 192 page book has 250 illustrations, many from the files of National Dragster, whose editor Phil Burgess gave the book a glowing review a few weeks back. To whet your appetite a video with a discussion between the co-authors about the content of the book has been posted by publishers Car Tech on Youtube. Oh, and if you are asking "what has this got to do with European Drag Racing?", Don himself came to Santa Pod Raceway in 1980 for the World Finals, and after recording a 6.22 to qualify no.2, a damaged crankshaft effectively sidelined him for the rest of the event. Co-incidentally drag racing historian Nick Pettitt has just posted footage of this event, with a truly international 16 car Funny Car field, from his video Time Travel 20 on Youtube, with footage of Snake's qualifying run. Swift snippets. 25th October: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words "Here's a package for you". If you know more, or would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at [email protected]. Speedgroup have published a draft of the 2021 EDRS calendar. It comes with the caveats that dates may be affected by Covid-19 restrictions and the forthcoming FIA calendar. Even so, it's good to see a full season of racing planned. Gary Colman of GJC Motorsport Media has posted a total of 735 pictures taken by him at September's NSRA Hot Rod Drags to the GJC Motorsport Media Facebook page. To see Gary's photos, click here. JT smells the nitro. 24th October: Pro Mod and Super Pro ET racer John Tebenham has been sharing his thoughts about the next level of his racing career: I think I have only one more year in Pro Mod (pictured) but need another goal. I am looking to get my fuel license, I have always been a car guy, so probably will rent a Fuel Funny Car. I don’t want to beat Liam up yet ... We went 5.97 last year with Luke Robinson, and we were no.1 qualifiers for a bit as soon as Paul Marston got to grips with the Pop and he was really helping us to go rounds. If I can ever add a bit of advice for anyone new in drag racing, try to get a smart cookie. People in the know, know it’s tough, but these sort of people who have the knowledge just make it so much easier. I am keeping both my doorslammers as if I get too frightened I might have to come back. The blue car is ready and the white one is nearly in discussions with one of the best engine guys. On another very fast note, I have a back up guy, don’t know how good he will be but Barry (Sheavills) said he will be my man (bet he moans about my driving). Keep safe and go faster. Video update. 24th October: Our Kieran has posted four new videos to his Youtube channel. Full car specs are included in the description on each video. The quickest is Garth Wong's 100e running a Chevy LSA Crate Motor and a TH350 Transmission and ran its first eights at 160mph, as reported on Tuesday in coverage of Santa Pod Raceway's Private Test Day. John Gamble's Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth which produces 913hp on race fuel with a Cosworth YB based custom built engine and 6 Speed sequential gearbox. This car is fully road legal and does mid 10s at over 130mph. Then there is Rich White's '98 Subaru Impreza Type-R (pictured) which runs mid-9s at over 140mph. Finally there is Paul Robinson's Vauxhall Astra Pickup which has not one but two Saab 2.3L engines making 500hp+ per engine, giving the car ten second performance at over 140mph. Simon Letkey who runs the Veedub Racing Youtube channel has posted a video of the recent GTi Festival held at Santa Pod Raceway, including racing and show n' shine. He says "I thought it was about time I actually had a walk about at one of these shows, and shared with my audience what I saw. As well as the general public cars on display and racing, there was also a selection of cars from the VWDRC club, who were entering a one day heads up racing style event, so it was good to walk round the pits and talk to them as well". You can see the great end result of Simon's production, sponsored by Awesome GTI, by clicking here. Drag racing historian Nick Pettitt has posted to his Youtube channel three of his Time Travel videos, from archive cine film and slides from the 1970s. Time Travel 17 includes the cine film of John Hutchinson and Pat Church plus Ken Robbins' slides from 1969-1970 and '74 covering events at North Luffenham, Elvington and Santa Pod. Time Travel 18 has the cine film of Les Sanderson from 1961-1979 covering events at Long Marston, Kemble and Santa Pod Raceway. Time Travel 19 uses cine film from 1979 at Santa Pod (Dennis Priddle's FC pictured), Blackbushe and New York Raceway. Several legendary meetings in the sport in the UK are covered in these videos which are highly recommended for those who want to see how it developed here in its early years. Unusual positions vacant. 22nd October: Nigel Taylor has been in touch with a trio of great job opportunities offered via his Unusual Car Sales U.K. Facebook page: "The page at the moment lists nearly 100 useful phone numbers, all in one place for all hot rodders, drag racers etc and is proving to be very helpful. The site is also listing three jobs vacant, all in the Hot Rod/Drag racing industry. "The excellent Robinson Race Cars in Basingstoke (sponsor of Eurodragster.com) is looking for a welder/fabricator in their very busy race car shop , if it's something your capable of and would like To get involved, call Andy, Kate or Luke Robinson on 01256 880589 (full details here). "Old Bones Fabrications here in Andover are booked up solid for 2021 already but they also need a welder/fabricator to help out with their workload so if you would like to be in the hot rod fabrication industry, call Steve Jones on 01264 772310 or head over to his Facebook/Instagram page and check out the whacky creations that they are doing. "Valley Gas Speedshop also here in Andover are looking for a welder/fabricator and someone to help them get all the cars nearer to completion as they are also crammed with work and always taking on more, with lots of new show cars and award winning feature cars to their name. This is one awesome job for someone if you have the talent. Give Jimmy or Eloise Hibberd a call on 01264 353646. "The unusual car sales U.K. site is more than just car sales, The site is aimed at the whole Hot Rod, yank, custom, classic and drag car scene to help out whereever possible, to promote Santa Pod and similar events, to help people find that dream car or to point you in the right direction when work is required on your car and much more, don’t forget to join the group and invite your like-minded friends into it too." 6 Appeal feature. 22nd October: Self-confessed CarPervert and sometime Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer Jonny Smith who runs The Late Brake Show Youtube channel, has produced a video feature which is a must-see for all fans of Mark Todd's 6 Appeal Aston Martin. In the 33 minute production, Jonny talks to Mark about his concept behind the car and the Street Eliminator class in general. He compares Mark's '90s racing Virage to a road-going 2019 Aston Martin DBS and Mark describes in detail about racing 6 Appeal. There is footage from the car's runs at Santa Pod, and each drives the other's cars, Jonny even trying the six second car on a wet road. To see the video feature click on this link. Jonny's channel, with its eclectic mix of vehicles, is well worth a subscribe. Venom auction. 22nd October: Tony Betts of Venom Racing has set up an auction on the team's Facebook page. The Nostalgia Funny Car team are hoping to take some of the sting (geddit?) out of the rebuild cost, following their incident at Not The Euro Finals, by auctioning to racers or collectors various parts as seen, and to get the Venom back on track in 2021. Parts include quarter sections of the carbon fibre body, headers, a fire bottle, pistons, valves, rods, fuel pipes, and a wheel with tyre. The auction ends midnight Saturday. Check out Venom Racing on Facebook where you can place your bid. Tony also reported that Venom's chassis is all stripped and will be going to Dale Reardon at Helston Choppers for a full rebuild ready for a transformation for 2021. National Finals ACU report. 22nd October: Many thanks to photojournalist Steve Moxley for letting us know his report of the bike classes from the STP National Finals is now on-line at the official ACU web site. You can see Steve's report which includes some interesting snippets by clicking here. Jolink building for the future. 21st October: Euroserie Super Twin Top Gas racer Herman Jolink from the Netherlands has revealed he is building a new bike to replace his trusty Ducati from 2003. Herman has ridden Ducati-based machines throughout his 45 year drag racing career. He said "During lockdown I have been working on historic Ducati Bevel engines, mainly for customers using them on the road but one for a circuit racer who contracted coronavirus badly, he was in hospital for two months but after several days on oxygen made a good recovery and recently raced at Chambley (where we also drag raced for several years, organised by Donald Pottier) in France. "My new frame was started in 2019 and is based on a Ducati Panigale. I have more machinery now, a milling machine and lathe, but it is difficult at 66 years old to get local help. My main help in building bikes has been Kees and Hans van der Starre since 1982 and more recently a friend who did 25 years road racing and lives 200 km away." Herman also gets advice on the phone from the legendary Larry McBride. Pics: Herman racing at Malmö in 2019, © Kraaijmotorsportfotografie. Herman's engine for the planned new bike is based on a Panigale one with original capacity of 1198cc but with a longer stroke crank to take it to 1408 cc. "First we will use steel home-made con rods, but we will later have upgraded internals including home-made titanium rods. Other parts including the cam chain are specially made. I stick to carburettors rather than fuel injection as my computer skills aren't enough for tuning fuel injection. Herman has raced in Euroserie Super Twin Top Gas since 1994. The class was established well before then; some racers have gone on to race in the FIM-E series such as Job Heezen, Marc van den Boer, Gert-Jan Laseur, Anna Lena Asplund, Jaska Salakari, Roman Sixta, Günther Sohn and Jesper Thiel. Others like Herman have stayed in the series for years. Herman himself won the championship in 2010 and 2011 and has scored more points in the last 20 years than any other rider. Pics: Herman with milling machine, with lathe and with new Ducati Panigale drag bike frame (all taken Jan 2020). "But it is more important to enjoy the racing", he said. "The championship includes a lot of countries. Since 2004 we have raced in the Czech Republic on the concrete strips at Hoškovice and Bechyne, also at Kunmadaras in Hungary. Since 1998, we raced at Västerås and Malmö in Sweden, England three times, twice to Avon Park in the early 2000s and then to the Summer Nationals at Santa Pod Raceway in 2014 where it rained a lot. It's great visiting different tracks however my truck broke down once, and it is a strain on the budget. "The class is at a peak now, we had 26 signed up for the 2019 championship. The most successful riders in recent years like Jörg Lymant from Germany who was champion in 2017-19 and Frederik Schack from Denmark who won in 2013-16 have bought special 2622c V-Twin Pro Stock Bikes built in the USA, also Cord Albers from Germany and Olaf Menzi ride Pro Stock bikes from the USA. But I hope my new bike can run in the sevens and be competitive". "In 2019 we raced for the first time at Gardermoen, Norway. My crew chief there was a 17 year old guy, Jelle Duin. Jelle's now 18 and earlier in 2020 got his bike licence. He works at a Motor Cycle Shop near Alkmaar and also this year received his motor cycle mechanic diploma. His father was formerly the crew chief to Top Gas rider Harry van Schie, and his mother Petra Duin has helped me on the starting line". Pictures courtesy Herman Jolink, who we thank for supplying Euroserie Super Twin Top Gas race reports over the years. SPR Private Test Day gallery, results. 20th October: The final Santa Pod Raceway Private Test Day organised by Scott Lewry of Yam Yam Racing took place yesterday in sometimes sunny but cool conditions. There was an entry of just over 50 racers who paid a share of the track rental in order to make unlimited passes on the prepped track. Thanks to Adam Bentley and David Anniwell of Santa Pod Raceway's timing team who, thanks to Adam's ETSlips.co.uk site has given us information to enable us to establish who were the Top 10 racers of the day by best ET: Many thanks to our Kieran who took photos at the Private Test Day, and we have posted galleries of his shots at our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored event coverage page which you can reach by clicking this link or going via the John Woolfe Racing event coverage link in the main menu. The top time of the day by Modified 100e racer Garth Wong was a new PB of 8.8724/160.80 in his supercharged Chevy LS-powered machine, his first eight and 160+mph. Former Street Eliminator racer Gary Gooding had a near miss when a skyward launch (see photo at top) ended with the car taking a sharp right turn towards the wall, but quick reactions resulted in no contact being made. We've posted a sequence of it in the gallery. Announcer and VWDRC Chair Luke Stevenson commentated on the days racing, posting single-camera streaming video from his trusty iPad to Facebook in four segments: part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4. Dad v Grandad Junior Dragster Challenge. 19th October: Thanks to Junior Dragster mum Lynne Coulsell for sending details of an intruiguing competition at the forthcoming Flame & Thunder Lite event on 31st October: "Wouldn't it be funny if Wild Bunch racer Mark Coulsell were to drive son Harley's Bandit 1 Junior Dragster against Outlaw Anglia racer Mick Taylor driving granddaughter Frankie's Banshee Junior Dragster at Flame & Thunder? "Well, that's what those two gents were discussing at Hot Rod Drags, so why not? "It’s just for a bit of fun but let's see if we can raise some money for the Air Ambulance while these 'boys' are enjoying themselves. "Here's the thought, have a guess at what time either driver will run between 8.50 - 7.80 seconds (e.g. 8.5, 8.45, 8.40, 8.35 etc) and the closest, either under or over, will win some small prizes - chocolates plus some very cool bespoke items made by Piston Rings and Things & Back Up Girl Crafts. It will cost £5 per go, so if we fill all the available times (15 per driver), we should make £150 and of course any donations would be very gratefully received too. "Come and find us in the pits at Flame & Thunder Lite or Facebook message MarkandLynne Coulsell or Mick Taylor to have a go!" Final Covid Cup points. 19th October: Many thanks to Spencer Tramm for forwarding to us the final points standings in the Covid Cup. You can check out the Covid Cup points on our OCS Paint-sponsored Points Standings Page by clicking here or clicking on the OCS Paint Points Standings link in the main menu of any Eurodragster.com page. Julie wins Gainesville - at Motorplex. 18th October: Congratulations to Norwegian expat Top Alcohol Dragster racer Julie Nataas, now based in Santa Monica, California, for her second NHRA National Event Wally. The delayed Gatornationals final, originally scheduled to be run on 27th September, finally got wrapped up at the NHRA FallNationals at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis yesterday. Julie ran a 5.177/280.60 in defeating Josh Hart in the final. She had originally qualified #6 in Gainesville with a 5.276/271.35 and defeated Joey Severance in the first round and Duane Shields in the quarter final. Julie's first NHRA National Event Wally was for the 2019 Carolina Nationals at Charlotte; she also won the 2019 NHRA North Central Regional championship with three event wins and the 2020 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series at Beech Bend Raceway Park, Bowling Green, Kentucky. Julie's Fallnationals race came to an end in the second round of eliminations as the throttle stuck on the burnout, and had to deploy the chutes to slow the car down, coming to a safe stop in the gravel pit. Thanks to Chris Hobson for providing information. RRC - Chris Orthodoxou build gallery. 18th October: Bob Roberts has kindly sent a gallery of pictures taken by him whilst the build of Chris Orthodoxou's Apocalypse Pro Modified Dodge Viper took place at Eurodragster.com sponsor Robinson Race Cars. Bob says ‘This was not a ground up build but rather a rebuild of Chris’s existing Pro Mod/Super Pro ET car to bring it up to current Pro Mod standards. 'This included making provision for a blown methanol engine and mounting a Mark Williams axle to handle the increased power. These upgrades meant there were many changes to both body and chassis as you can see in the pictures. The original body was modified with higher wheel humps and a new mould taken from it so a new carbon body could be made'. You can see Bob's gallery in our feature in association with Lucas Oil Products by clicking here or go to our Features, Interviews, Tributes index via the main menu. HARA keeps the faith. 15th October: In a year when programmes have been devastated by Covid-19 restrictions, Hanau Auto Racing Association (HARA) were able to take part in three test and tune/race sessions at Zerbst Airfield during Summer and early Autumn of 2020. The rules were set by local organising body AMC Dessau; only one team member per vehicle was permitted to accompany the driver, social distancing was used extensively and all tickets had to be purchased online, with registration being made at the entrance to the site. Zerbst Airfield, midway between Leipzig and Berlin, was built in the late 1930s and was taken over by the Soviet Union in 1945 after which the runway was lengthened to 2500m. The Soviets withdrew from the airfield in 1992 and whilst the main runway became overgrown by grass and large areas are used for a solar power array, AMC Dessau (formed in 1990) used the Zerbst airfield for motorsport events since 2007, signed a lease agreement with local authorities in 2014 and approval as a motorsport facility was obtained in 2018. A sufficient area has been kept in order to allow drag racing and other motorsport events to take place. Pictures © Harry Czekalla: Bernd Rudolf (Comp Eliminator), Jens Könnecke (Super Pro ET) The first test and tune in 2020 took place at Zerbst from 5th-7th June. The track was prepared by Micha Behrens who as organiser of the Jade Race carried out this role in previous years. A large proportion of HARA members attended. Amongst the racers were some known to UK audiences. Jens Könnecke drove more than 250 miles from his East Friesland base and many many runs in his Oldsmobile. Arndt Putzmann in his quick Beetle also ran but suffered a damaged inlet manifold. Gerd Habermann had a bit of a wild ride in his Black Beauty Camaro, then Then after a pause in Saturday's action due to rain Daniel Olic's Vega ran on Sunday and 'got to know the meadow' as the HARA report says. The result was an uninjured Daniel, but a badly damaged car and the meeting coming to an end. Pictures © Harry Czekalla, Clarissa Czekalla: Janine Petzold v Gerd Habermannn(Oct), Peter Städter (Pro ET) On 17th-19th July, a second RWYB took place in sunny conditions. Armin Widmann tested his new Pro ET 70 Camaro, Sascha Hermann and Thomas Ranft scored PBs, Bernd Kaltenbach prior to Clastres and Gerd Habermann ran his two-seater. Following this event, several racers were able to travel to Clastres in France to take part in the race at the end of August. Pictures © Harry Czekalla, Clarissa Czekalla: Til Schöninger (Pro ET), Pascal Czieschowitz (Super Pro ET) The last race of the season was carried out in the very best weather, without rain. However, there was sometimes quite a tailwind, which gave a couple of drivers grey hairs when specifying their dial-in, a few breaking out. However there were still winners and Gerd Habermann took 1st place in Pro-ET race, ahead of Björn Szczendzina. So congratulations to HARA's committee, especially newly elected sports director Rene Kloss, and founding member Jerry Lackey who last November celebrated 50 years as a member of the club, for encouraging racers to attend and to AMC Dessau for carrying out the organisation effectively. You can read about HARA at their web site, and galleries of photos can be seen at the Facebook site of Clarissa Czekalla, the web site of Harry Czekalla and Dragmag.de's FB page. Melbourne media. 14th October: Dragtastic 3 took place on 10th-11th October at Melbourne Raceway and although there was some rain on Saturday, Sunday was clear and the RWYB cars and bikes took their turns to make runs down the still-fresh asphalt. There were three representatives from the Supercharged Outlaws, Keith Freeman's '32 five window coupe, Eurodragster.com Perfect ET Award sponsor Andy 'Fadster' Hadfield and Geoff Hawksworth's Na Wa Torquin slingshot dragster. Also a variety of other cars and bikes attended. Photo galleries of the weekend's activities have been posted by Paul Fishwick Photography, Pudgeys Pictures and PW Pics photography. Full-resolution photos from Pete and Wendy at PW Pics may be purchased for a donation to their 2020 chosen charity The Yorkshire Air Ambulance. Photo credit: Andy 'Fadster' Hadfield by PW Pics. EDRS Champions profiled – bike classes. 14th October: Yesterday, we found that Finnish competitors had more opportunity to accumulate points than their neighbours in Sweden and Norway as a result of the pandemic restrictions in place. Accordingly, most EDRS champions in 2020 are Finnish and first time EDRS champions. Today, we examine the bike classes which had championships. The EDRS Pro Series had to be cancelled as a result of the small amount of competition possible during the pandemic, so there was no championship in Super Twin Motorcycle, Pro Stock Motorcycle, Top Fuel Bike, and the Super Comp and Super Gas championships were limited to EDRS rounds only. Junior Drag Bike: With 10-11 bikes at each of the three Kauhava rounds, there were more points able to be accumulated in Finland. Jone Kiljala (pictured below, left) from Reisjärvi, Finland, aged 12, of Racelake Racing Team became champion, followed in second place by older sister Jenniina. Jone rides a Honda CBR600F and it is both riders' second year in competition. Street Bike: Two wins and a runner-up gained Miika Aaltonen (pictured above, right) the championship. Miika, from Numminen, Finland, aged 17, rides a Kawasaki with a 636cc engine This is Miika's first year in competition. Two wins and a runner up gave him the title with fields of seven bikes in all three events. Super Comp Bike: Kimmo Rantala from Nousiainen, Finland (pictured below, left), a racer since 2001 in the Street class, and Street Bike champion in 2009, moved to Super Comp bike in 2016. In 2020 he went to the semi finals twice and was finalist once in fields of 7-9 bikes. Kimmo runs a BMW S1000RR as part of Rantala Racing, the team also fielding a Junior Drag Bike for Eemeli Helkalla. Super Gas Bike: Juha Komulainen from Kerava, Finland (pictured above, right) had two runners up and a win to become 2020 Champion. Juha has been racing since 2013 and ran Super Gas since 2017, running at one or two events in Finland only. His bike is a 2003 Kawasaki ZX12R with a 1287cc engine. Photo credits: Kettil Rautio. EDRS Champions profiled - car classes. 13th October: We congratulate the Summit Racing EDRS Series Points Champions 2020. The championship was, of course, shorter with eight rounds compared with 20 in 2019 and much less travelling possible between countries due to pandemic restrictions. With a lower infection rate, however, Finland was able to host larger fields at Kauhava with the result that Finnish competitors had more opportunity to accumulate points than their neighbours in Sweden and Norway. Accordingly, most EDRS champions in 2020 are Finnish, and first time EDRS champions. You can see the final points at www.dragracingeurope.eu. As many of the champions are new, we provide some information below on each champion and their background in the sport: Junior Dragster: Tuukka Riekkinen (from Ruuhimäki, Finland, aged 14) won the champion with a semi-final and two quarter final places in fields of 15 cars in the first two events and 17 in the finale. Tuukka has raced since 2017 when she licensed and was 11th in last year's championship racing a 1998 Ranrace built short chassised dragster. Pro ET: Rasmus Koivula (from Vantaa, Finland, aged 20) drives a team-built 1967 Plymouth Barracuda with the team title of Miami Vice Racing, with a best ET to date of 9.516/234kph. He won the title by winning the second and third events at Kauhava, both with seven car ladders. Rasmus has been racing since 2016. More information is on the team's web site at this link. Super Pro ET: Janne Söderqvist (from Pori, Finland) drives a tube chassised Pontiac Trans Am with a naturally aspirated 565ci Dart-manufactured big block Chevy engine. A runner up and two wins gave Janne a big lead in the championship. Although he has raced since 1993, this is Janne's first year in the category. Pro Street: Ossi Oikarinen (from Lahti, Finland) with the Double Zero Drag Racing Team races a '37 Chevrolet with nitrous assist. Ossi won all three events he competed in, although the fields were 3-4 cars compared with 20-30 in 2019. Stock/Super Stock: Jarmo Grönman (from Porvoo, Finland) won his first championship in his Mountain Dew Mustang Cobra Jet with a 429 Ninja engine running in Factory Stock/C class. A win in the first race and semi final in the third race were sufficient for him to gain the title as there was only one round in countries other than Finland. Street: Lars Erik Persson (from Ås, Sweden) runs a Volvo PV out of Sunsvall SHRA. The class was only contested in two rounds in Sweden, where Lars Erik won both. His Volvo PV with a fibreglass reproduction body has a Chevy small block 427ci engine for the 8.60 engined class. Super Comp: This category was only ran at the second Tallhed race and the Gardermoen NDRS finals. Both only had single entries, the dragster of Mikael Nilsson and funny car of Celina Hanssen, and so they have earned equal points. Super Gas: Longtime competitor Christer Uhlin (from Malvik, Noway), who has raced in the category since 2004, used trips to the Kauhava, Finland and Haapsalu, Estonia race to gain additional points to allow him to take the title which is his eighth. Christer drives a Ford Fairlane 500 with a naturally aspirated Ford 557ci engine. Super Street: Mika Patshijew (from Vantaa, Finland) was the champion in his first year in the category, and there was only one race for the title, in Estonia, where Mika was the winner over another Finn and seven Estonians. Mika drove a Plymouth Belvedere. We'll look at the 2020 EDRS Bike champions in tomorrow's update. Photo credits: Kettil Rautio, Pekka Rouvinen, Cenneth Schiller, Tõnis Uustalu. Unusual car sales update. 13th October: As well as our Jeff Bull Racing engines sponsored Swap Meet pages, a lively forum for the sale of drag and custom cars in the UK is the Facebook Private Group Unusual car sales uk run by Nigel Taylor. Recent posts have included a number of well-known cars from the racing scene: First shown is the Williams Bros 1962 Chevrolet Impala which was rebuilt in 2019-20 into a race car but can easily go back on the street. The engine is a 327 SBC output 600 bhp. Special suspension parts have been fitted and a brand new ATI Turbo Hydramatic 350 transmission, Webster race engineering 10.00 roll cage. The car has run 10.99 @ 120 mph and the price is £40,000. Second is Elaine Hancock's Pro ET/Wild Bunch altered, with its 383 Small Block Chevy Crate Motor and Powerglide gearbox, built for up to 1200hp. There are lots of new parts and the car ran regular mid-10s passes with the chassis last tagged in 2018. Buyers need to have a trailer but the car is turnkey for £14,000. Third is John Parker's Pro ET '69 Chevy Nova which you can see in a Youtube video. It has a 468ci big block Chevy engine and Al's Glide. The chassis was set up at Zannetec and had new paint before John first brought it out in 2018. Since its four meetings in that year it has had further upgrades and a new prop shaft and transbrake. The mid 10s car can be put back on the street and the asking price is £21,995. You can message Nigel at his Facebook page if you are interested in being put in contact with any of the sellers. Drag Racing Europe update. 12th October: Keith Bartlett, the Chairman of Drag Racing Europe AB (DRE), has sent the following memo: A meeting of the DRE (Drag Racing Europe) board was held in Stockholm on 6th October. At that meeting, several matters were discussed regarding the 2021 FIA European Drag Racing Championship. It is the intention of DRE to publish the 2021 FIA Championship calendar dates soon after 3rd November 2020. What can be released is that there will be six rounds in 2021 with rounds in the UK, Sweden, Germany and Finland. The intention is to have the calendar dates agreed and sanctioned at the FIA Drag Racing Commission meeting to be held on the 3rd November, at which Keith Bartlett will represent DRE. Swift snippets. 12th October: A very happy birthday to Kathy Hileman, US correspondent and longtime supporter of Eurodragster.com, have a great day Kathy. (Ed.: apologies for the misinformation earlier) In his latest instalment of his autobiographical blog, John Hunt writes about working with the late and much missed Terry Gibbs, and Tina Gibbs in establishing Obsession Motorsports and its Super Series held at Avon Park Raceway from 1998. You can read John's blog here or by clicking on Racer Blogs in the main menu. As an option, we have laid out John's blog in a first-to-last sequence which you can find by clicking here. The Mad Welshman has uploaded 130 photos of the NSRA Hot Rod Drags to his Flickr page. To see Mad's photos, click here. Drag racing historian Nick Pettitt has uploaded five more of his Time Travel videos to Youtube. Included are Time Travel 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16. The videos of events from 1963 to 1982 at tracks around the UK come from the collections of those closely involved with the sport in its early days in this country. Bob and Roy Phelps, Alan Allard and Eurodragster.com sponsor Dave Riswick contribute to Time Travel 15 which is particularly recommended for its footage of the 1963 at Silverstone and the 1964 DragFests. For a listing of Nick's videos go to this link. Get Well Soon to expat Swedish Racer Adam Flamholc who contracted coronavirus following a trip to Europe and to Russia for the final of the Russian Drag Racing Championship and is now recovering in Sweden before travelling back to the US. Adam said " I hope I will get well in time to fly back to US for the ADRL World Finals in St. Louis in less than two weeks! VWDRC Heads Up report. 11th October: Congratulations to Rob Carter, winner of the VWDRC Heads Up elimination at the GTi Festival at Santa Pod Raceway today who was handed £250 prize money courtesy of VWDRC. Dry conditions, despite marshals needing to dry a damp track first thing, allowed three qualifying rounds and a fifteen car ladder to be run. Rob was driving a VW Passat Mark 1 with Cosworth YB engine which he plans to replace with a supercharged Chevrolet LS3 for 2021. Qualifying results were as follows: Eliminations went as follows: First round winners: Carl Goldsmith 13.77, Ricardo Leite, Graham Fairhead 11.25, Rob Carter 11.21, Marc Taylor 10.90, Jacob Bailey, Jose Leite, Luis Silva 10.49. Second round winners: Jacob Bailey, Marc Taylor, Rob Carter 10.48/135, Riccardo Leite 10.60/134. In the semi-final Marc Taylor defeated Jacob Bailer and Rob Carter defeated Riccardo Leite. In the final, Marc Taylor was unable to make the call following a split inlet manifold in the semi-final. A number of racers made new PB runs: in qualifying Jacob Bailey, whose Jetta was running with a new ECU, ran a 10.4209/138.21 in the second qualifying session and improved to 10.2370/139.09 in the third session that placed him first. Ricardo Leite ran a PB of 10.8495/133.27 in session no.2. Graham Fairhead ran new PBs of 11.3661/119.95 and 11.3416/123.40 in the first two sessions and improved this to 11.25 in round one of eliminations. Bruce Kopasz ran a PB of 11.5398/123.41 in session one. Luis Silva also ran his first nine, a 9.96/134 in a rwyb run. Luis, driving Helder Pereira's Ibiza 1.9 TDI, suffered a blowout at the finish line in session 1 but kept control of the wayward car. Then in session 3 he suffered gearbox failure and managed to swap a gearbox over in under 45 minutes and make the race, beating Andy Turner for a place in the quarter finals. Many thanks to Julian for braving the elements and shooting photos of both the show n' shine and racing. You can see Julian's gallery by clicking here or by going via the John Woolfe Racing-sponsored Event Coverage index in the main menu. October private test day needs racers. 10th October: We reported on the Private Test Days organised by Scott Lewry of Yam Yam Racing on 14th September and 17th August. These days attracting 80 cars mostly Euro and Jap entries, were a great success and racers were able to make several runs each on a fully prepped track. Another Private Test Day is being organised for Monday 19th October and costs £85 for 1 driver and up to 5 crew members. Camping is also available on Sunday night for £10 per person. This event will be limited to 75 vehicles so racers can get maximum track time on the fully prepped track. Contact Scott Lewry at Yam Yam Racing, or join the Santa Pod Private Track Day Group by clicking here. The cut off to get booked in is this Wednesday, 14th October. Voodoo Hemi update. 10th October: Many thanks to Autosport.nl and Speedgroup photojournalist Remco Scheelings for sending us a news update on Pro Mod team Voodoo Hemi Racing led by 2019 Motorsport UK Pro Modified Champion Marck Harteveld: After taking the Motorsport UK Pro Modified Championship in 2019, the team was in full preparation to compete in the full FIA European Pro Modified Championship for the first time. Five races in three different countries in the most competitive Pro Mod title fight in Europe. Until corona hit. One meeting after another was postponed or cancelled and the end of the song was that the FIA had to put a line through the entire championship. Without having driven a meter, the Voodoo Hemi Racing season came to an end. Now, sitting still is not exactly the strongest point of Marck Harteveld and his team, so they have continued to work hard in recent months. It had been the team's wish for a long time to have a second engine ready. If something goes wrong with the engine during a race, repairs are possible, but not every damage can be quickly repaired on the spot. Especially in the battle for the FIA European Championship, as a driver you cannot afford to miss a run. Sometimes it is faster and easier to change the motor. You just have to have it ready in the trailer. From now on this is the case with Voodoo Hemi Racing. Via Post & Dros, the team was able to obtain an engine block with accessories and with the many spare parts that Voodoo Hemi Racing already had, a second engine has now been built. In the unlikely event that the situation arises that something breaks, you can now quickly change and continue the race. Voodoo Hemi Racing may now have a second engine, but that does not mean that the engine that has been serving faithful service in the '70 Plymouth Superbird has not received any attention. The engine has been taken care of by Joeri Woudenberg and provided with various updates and new parts. Everything is also well attuned to each other. Woudenberg not only has a wealth of experience in the field of (racing) motorcycles, he has also guided several European Pro Modified riders to new personal records. At the end of last season, Woudenberg already advised Voodoo Hemi Racing a few times on and off the track and he will do this next season if all goes well. Text and photos courtesy and © Remco Scheelings and Autosport.nl. Top photo: Julian. The blower is an equally important part of the engine and also subject to wear when the full 3,500 hp is used. The blower has also been overhauled and updated by Joeri Woudenberg and can therefore handle it again. Even then, the list of activities is still far from complete. The complete Superbird has been checked from top to bottom, refreshed and parts replaced where necessary. This makes the Pro Mod look like new again, just like all tools and other team supplies. The Voodoo Hemi trailer that transports the team and the Superbird to the circuits has always been an eye-catcher, but now it is even more so. Until recently, the team's previous car was on the side. So it was time for an update and that has happened recently. Jeroen Ritz of Mooi Reclamewerk made a new design based on the current '70 Plymouth Superbird. This was then printed by Kees van der Kruijk from Sunproof Glasfolie, who also wrapped the trailer afterwards. Michel Tooren and Pro Dutch Racing made the space available where this carefully to be performed job could be done. Voodoo Hemi Racing would like to thank everyone who contributed to this metamorphosis, because the result is impressive. After winning the British Pro Modified title in 2019, Voodoo Hemi Racing planned to participate in all races of the FIA European Pro Modified Championship for 2020. Unfortunately, this was canceled due to the corona pandemic. Postponement will certainly not lead to cancellation, because Voodoo Hemi Racing has now postponed its plans to the 2021 season. Fortunately, the title fight does not start until the end of May. By then, much more will probably be clear about what can be done in Europe in terms of travel and events. Hopefully a vaccine will have solved the biggest problems and limitations by then. As it looks now, the event schedule will not differ from this year's planned one. Voodoo Hemi Racing is supported by 6Pack Speed Shop, CL Coatings, Breed Advies, Baro Services BV, PPG, Aviboor, Qrien van Vliet, Elno Installatietechniek, Peet Hulisz, PP Solutions, Peet Komen Autoherstelwerken, Sunproof, Tom Otten Electrical Engineering, District 010, Mooi Reclame Werk, Fred Barendse, Breedveld Transport Rotterdam, Rob vd Kruk Maintenance Company, DW Hijsmiddelen and Gert and Leny Harteveld. This weekend: two events in the UK. 9th October: Santa Pod Raceway hosts the GTI Festival on Sunday 9th October and this event is for enthusiasts of all VAG marques. Pre-booking for this and Saturday's rwyb is essential under Santa Pod's Covid-19 procedures and you must book on-line at this link. Standard admission is £15 and the track sign-on fee is £35. A Show & Shine Vehicle Pass is free with admission. The running order can be seen here, at which you can see there will be a VWDRC Heads-Up race with three qualifying sessions in the morning and four rounds of racing in the afternoon. 16 cars have entered and we will carry the results in Monday's news. Our Julian will be attending to take photos and will publish the gallery on Monday. Meanwhile at Melbourne Raceway in Yorkshire, the track and Straightliners will be holding Dragtastic 3, a run what ya brung event for all categories on both Saturday and Sunday. All tickets must be bought in advance and the government rules regarding Covid-19 are expected to be adhered to regarding the rule of six, social distancing and wearing face coverings. Supercharged Outlaws racer and Eurodragster.com's Perfect ET Award sponsor Andy 'Fadster' Hadfield, will be present at the Melbourne event to make noise and run down the eighth mile track. Bike records broken at Clastres. 9th October: The first, and only, motorcycle drag race meeting in France in 2020 took place at Clastres Raceway on 18th-19th September as a run what ya brung. There were some special runs and records broken – we have two reports, the first from our bike pit note contributor Mike Kraaij: "The French Pro Stock Bike team Light Speed Drag Racing with rider Maurice Bertrand came to Clastres to set-up their new parts they bought for their Suzuki Pro Stock Bike with which he had become the first Frenchman to become FIM-E Pro Stock Bike Champion in 2018. The team, former multiple French Champions in this class, wanted their FIM-E title back after losing it to Fredrik Fredlund in 2019. After the arrival of Covid-19 in 2020, it was great that they could test at Clastres in their home country and after some issues during the weekend, it finally paid off for the team as they made a great 1/8 mile pass that resulted in a new French Pro Stock Bike record run of 4.664/245.50 kmh! To say the team were pleased is an understatement. Maurice said "This team works really hard to make this happen and they really deserve this. Mike concluded: "Well done to all involved and hopefully in 2021 we can go back to normal and have a new great drag racing season with new PB's and record runs". In the Super Street Bike ranks, RK Drag Racing – father and son team Eric and Yannick Richard – reported that they had brought along two Super Street Bikes. The team was able to complete a dozen runs with a Suzuki Bandit Turbo bike and a Hayabusa Turbo. Eric's first run on the Bandit was an 8.6 but the bike suffered a mechanical issue on Sunday which prevented him making further passes. Yannick made some good runs on Saturday and was looking good for Sunday. French rider Jean-Luc Simoes, who was also at the event, held the previous French SSB record of 7.98, but Yannick was able to dip below this on Sunday with a 7.92s run. Within an hour, Jean-Luc had taken the record back with an excellent 7.81. Yannick's last run was 7.87. Both Mike and RK Drag Racing Team thank Run Cap Sud and ATD for making this event happen and to make this local track so quick and fast. Pictures courtesy and © Mike Kraaij Clastres results, media. 9th October: You can see the full results of the 13th European Dragster - Speed Final at the Association Trophee Dragster's Facebook page. Congratulations to the winners: Super Pro ET sponsored by Dulamon Auto: Fabien Dubois, runner-up Billy Gane Pro ET sponsored by La Bonne Bouffe: Jean-Luc Arnaud, runner-up André Nahler Street Run sponsored by Nitro: Jean-Luc Jacot, runner-up Francois Peeters Junior Dragster sponsored by Maisons Pierre: Cheyenne Visser, runner-up Sam Timmers Coverage of the Clastres #13 race on the internet can be found at Mike Kraaij's motorsport page, Dragmag.de for which photos were taken by Roland Schenker, at Olivier Houllier Photographe's albums and Lowered Kulture's albums. Hodson returns - and wins. 8th October: VWDRC racer, and now six times VWDRC VW Pro champion, James Hodson tells us that he is glad he made a return to racing in 2020: "After having five years off to start a family I was excited to return in 2020. Covid put a stop to that so when it was revealed that there would be a mini Covid Cup, the excitement returned. Testing at the VWDRC Drag Days went well. Both the car and me soon got back in the swing of it, and the Greenlight Nationals beckoned. I got to the final but they were rained off. That hurt. Would we have another washed out season? "Fortunately, we were able to run the final at VW Breakout which I won. But being a second round loser at Breakout which dropped me to second in the championship. "To the National Finals and after qualifying, I was now just 10 points behind. I met points leader Carl Goldsmith in the first round and luckily won that and with it, the VW Pro championship. I managed to go rounds and get to the final, and also won that. So a great short season for me. I cannot wait to do it again next year, hopefully starting a bit sooner. "I would like to thank everyone in the VWDRC for being so awesome and especially Santa Pod Raceway, for all the effort that they put in to get us all back on track. It was very much appreciated". James will be at this weekend's GTi Festival at Santa Pod Raceway, although at this event his role will be as a crew member. Race report: Mälardalen Open #4 at Kjula Dragway. 8th October: Held on 19th-20th September, the Mälardalen Open #4 at Kjula Dragway was, in terms of competitor numbers, the largest race in Scandinavia this year with 174 signed on. As with other races, the racing was held without spectators present and was limited to the sportsman ranks. Car classes contested were: 4to6 Pro, ET Pro, Junior Dragster, Pro Street, Real Street, Stock-Super Stock, Street and Vintage. Bike classes were Junior Dragbike, Pro Street Bike, Street Bike, Super Comp Bike, and Super Gas Bike. There was also test n' tune action. The race was able to be run to completion under sunny skies. Pro Street was the quickest class with six cars contesting with the usual 7.60 index. #1 spot went to Eva Widgren in a fourth generation Camaro at 7.6680 followed by Christian Lundin in a 64 Ford Fairlane Sport Coupe running a 7.7160. It was Christian who won the final against Robin Johannesson in his Opel Kadett, a 2019 trophy winner of Streetweek Sweden, a competition similar to Hot Rod Dragweek. Christian's winning times were 7.648/286.30kph to Robin's 8.319/266.70. Street (8.60 index) was contested by 13 cars and the no.1 qualifier, in a matt black Chevelle, was Mauritz Rådberg at 8.6221/ 241,94. In the final Mauritz was up against no.2 qualifier Benny Wallenbro in a Chevy Nova who ran 8.6314/253.16 in qualifying. Times in the final were 8.648/252.20 for Benny to a holeshot win for Mauritz at 8.660/235.70. Pictures (clockwise): Christian Lundin (Pro Street), Stefan Flodell (Test n' Tune), Björn Lundin (4to6), Robin Johannesson (Pro Street), Tim Christensen (Test n' Tune), Mats Larsson (Test n' Tune). Photos courtesy and © Henrik Lindberg Photography and Cenneth Schiller. 4to6Pro, for cars with those numbers of cylinders, was led in qualifying by Björn Lundin's nitrous turbo Volvo 240 which ran 8,2512/ 264,90 however the failure of a nitrous solenoid led to a damaged cylinder head, which was unable to be repaired before eliminations. After others experienced mechanical woes in eliminations, Robert Hellsing in a street driven Audi Quattro ran an easy 14.9s pass having run a best of 9.579/244.00 in qualifying. In Test n' Tune, the best car runs were by Stefan Flodell, who was in a gasser at Dragstalgia a couple of years back, but here was in a nitrous boosted Nova owned by Anders Fredriksson, recording a best of 8.1126/266.57. Pro Street Bike was won by no.1 qualifier Peter Rundstrom who ran 7.919/266.60 against no.2 qualifier Jens Karlsson's 7.985/272.80. Best Test n' Tune bike runs were by Peter Andersson at 7.3994/307.17, and Jan Malmberg at 7.7295/257.79 on their respective Funny Bikes. Former Junior Drag Bike racer 15 year old Tim Christensen was testing the Pro Stock Bike previously campaigned by Kenneth Holmberg. Full results for qualifying and eliminations can be seen on dragracing.eu. Videos of the finals can be seen at Youtube. Tierp applies for 2021 FIA events. 7th October: Not officially announced, but posted in the news blog of Speedgroup and Netherlands Autosport web site by our good friends Lena Perés and Remco Scheelings, Tierp Arena has, with the support of organising body NDRS, applied to the FIA for two dates in 2021. We reported back in June that Tierp Arena was for sale by its owners. However, with a sale apparently not forthcoming, the owner of Tierp Arena in conjunction with the organising club NDRS has applied to hold two races for the FIA European Drag Racing Championship at the track in 2021, one in June and one in August. The dates are yet to be confirmed, and it appears that the August date is under discussion because the sole date already set, 20-22 August for the 2021 NitrOlympX at Hockenheim, is only a week away from the desired Tierp date. Usually the calendar for the FIA Drag Racing Championship is published in October. Other events are being considered for the 2021 EDRS Scandinavian calendar and Speedgroup stated planning for the 2021 season continues with the hope that they can publish dates as soon as everything is in place. Tierp Arena has been owned by Sånna Förvaltning, a company which has interests in the hotel and conference sector, and also owns the Sturup Raceway in the south of Sweden, since 2014. Tallhed #2 EDRS race report. 7th October: Despite a small field of entries, the Swedish part of the Summit Racing EDRS Series ended in bright sunshine at Tallhed Dragway on the weekend of 12th-13th September, writes Lena Peres in the DragracingEurope.eu blog. "Around 50 drivers gathered in Orsa to take points in the reduced series. The atmosphere was good, and the organizer carried out the competition in the best way based on the conditions they had." Qualifying and eliminations took place in Junior Dragster, Super Pro ET, Pro ET, Pro Street, Street, Super Gas, Junior Dragbike, Super Comp Bike and Super Gas Bike, with single entries in Super Comp and Super Street also eligible for winners' cups. In Super Pro ET 2019 Champion Mikael Nilsson won the best of three competition, running a 7.79/277.3 kph (171mph) when competition Tommy Abrahamson failed to show for the second round. Other results can be seen at the dragracing.eu results page. Clockwise: Robert Väliste, Janne Lithell (both Pro ET), Lars Erik Persson (Street), Ken Gustavsson, Anna Knutes, Michael Maderer (all Pro Street), All pictures courtesy and © Cenneth Schiller. "This time the Summit Racing EDRS Series centre and staff could be on site to join the event. It was a great opportunity to meet some of our drag racing family before the season got to an end. And to hand out some goodie bags from Summit Racing Equipment. Saturday was interrupted by rain in the afternoon and it didn't want to stop in time, so the qualifications had to be cancelled for the day. But later you could enjoy a starry and magical evening and night which later turned into a sunny Sunday. Two qualifying rounds were made before all the hard-working staff started the elimination. "Two competitors who doubled their chances of winner cups was Christer Gustafsson who raced in both Super Street and Pro ET and Mikael Nilsson who did both Super Comp and Super Pro ET. Both Christer and Mikael brought home two winner cups each. Congratulations guys! A great end to a very odd season. Thank you to everyone involved for a well-conducted event. Now we hope for a more racingfrekvent season 2021. A Facebook stream of the event can be seen here. Gardermoen Drag Finals report. 6th October: Thanks to Lena Perés for posting a report on the Dragracing Europe blog on the NDRG Drag Finals, a round of the Summit EDRS racing series, which took place at Norway's Gardermoen Raceway on 11th-13th September. Competition took place in all sportsman classes together with runs in Top Fuel Bike, Super Twin Top Fuel Bike. With a few weather interruptions on Saturday, the competition ended in sunshine on Sunday. Annelie Johnsen reported after the race "The crew at Gardermoen managed to get two classes done before a storm with hail as big as peas broke out on Saturday. But after rain comes sun, and so it did this time. We continued racing until 7.30 pm and the track was fantastic. "Sunday started with two qualifying rounds before the elimination. The competition ended in sunshine at 6.30 pm and half an hour later the award ceremony could start. Apart from Saturday’s storm, it was a very good event. Everyone was positive and happy with everything and we got a lot of credit. We say thank you for that. It was a big job to get this through with all restrictions, but we made it. There were many personal best times made and new records were set. The pit area was closed to the public and the recommendations were strictly followed to minimize the spread of Covid-19 with a smaller depot, extra toilets, hand sanitizer, etc, plus many Covid-19 guards. All praise to the organizers with staff who, despite the current situation, managed to carry out a good event. Now we can all hope for a better season 2021". Super Twin Top Fuel Bike saw Hans Olav Olstad qualify #1 with 7.724/222.48, followed by licensee Jan Erik Klausen (pictured left) at 9.322/170.05 and Trond Høiberget (pictured right) at 9.848/217.17. Top Fuel Bike provided low ET of the event by Jan Sturla Hegre at 6.534/344.43 and Sverre Dahl also made a run. For details of the event you, can see at the following links the entry list, the event results and streaming video. Pictures © Hans Olav 'Turborider' Fangan. Bonneville 2021, here we (and maybe you) come! 6th October: Landspeed racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor on behalf of Nitro Revival, Geoff Stilwell has been in touch with an update on his 7707 Lucas Oil Products Landspeed team and plans for 2021: With 2020 Landspeed Racing being virtually ruined because of Covid, the SCTA (Southern California Timing Association) went beyond what anyone thought they could do in August. With the support of the Utah Assembly, special permits were granted for Bonneville Speedweek and the Bonneville World Finals which took place last week. Unfortunately, due to the current rules and regulations no Brits were allowed into the US unless specifically agreed. Sadly, despite many racers trying to help, apparently motor racing does not count as a special reason to get entry, but golf and tennis do! So, sadly, no-one from the 7707 Lucas Oil Landspeed Team could attend. However, and as is typical of these situations, the salt was in fantastic condition and numerous records were reset. Speed Demon, driven by George Poteet, went 481mph which made it the fastest piston-engined car on the planet. The World Finals held last week, with around 100 racers attending, had around 48 records reset. My good friends at Vintage Hot Rods running the 911 car went 302mph in a Model B Roadster. Seeing these cars and bikes at these speeds is really something, especially at 7am, which is when the back up runs are made. For anyone in Europe who would like to attend Speedweek in 2021, it will be held from August 7th-13th. That’s 7 solid days of racing from 7am to 6pm every day. Wendover is the nearest town, approx. 10 minutes' drive from the salt, and if you have an RV there is camping at “Dead Mans Curve” on the main entrance to the Speedway or you can stay in one of the many hotels in Wendover. Soak up the atmosphere with Rod shows most nights in town. The hotels start releasing the rooms from February 1st 2021. Do not leave it to the last minute. Usually there are about 500 plus teams running and with the crews it quickly fills up. For those flying in, you can fly to Salt Lake City and then it’s a two hour drive west, or flying to Las Vegas and its about five hours, or LA/San Francisco about eight to nine hours. The 7707 Landspeed team will again be working with Lucas Oil during 2021 in our quest for 300mph and hopefully to reset the class record during Speedweek. There are normally numerous European, Asian, Kiwi and Aussie Teams running making it a truly international event and it's something you will never forget. This event is not to be missed, especially looking down the track at 7am watching the sun rise and looking at the curvature of the earth. So, if you are thinking of a US trip in 2021, then come and spend some time on the salt supporting the 7707 Blown Fuel Roadster and you never know who you might meet. Finally, I need to thank the Teams at Lucas Oil in Corona, USA, Beech Underwriting, Mick’s Paint (Pomona), Rat Trap Racing, Tony Thacker, Kiwi Steve, Mickey Larson, Paul Rivera, S & S Engineering (Azusa), for all their help plus, the SCTA and everyone who helps at the Landspeed Events. Geoff can be contacted on 07764 222232 for further information. Pictures © Dave Kommel (top), Andy Willsheer (middle). Storm Drag Bike requires crew. 6th October: If you live the West London/Surrey area, have a passion for motorsport and want to become more involved in a hands-on and practical way the Storm Drag Bike team would like to hear from you: Following the passing of Barry Eastman in 2019 and with the rest of the team not getting any younger, we need someone for the 2021 season and beyond to help run the UK’s quickest Funnybike deep into the 6s at over 220mph. This is a voluntary role. Duties will include helping to build and prepare the bike at our workshop in Chertsey, Surrey (approx 1 day or 1 evening per week to suit you). Loading and unloading the bike and equipment into/from our van before and after meetings (6 or 7 times a year). Helping at National and European meetings at Santa Pod, race bike pushing/towing and maintenance between rounds. You’ll get to learn all about operating one of the quickest and fastest turbo bikes on the planet and, if you want to, the boost, fuel and clutch control systems we use including AMS1000, AMS2000 and Motec M800. You’ll need energy, some mechanical aptitude, a good sense of humour and endless patience. Maybe you already know one of us and want to help? Or maybe you’re studying motorsport and just need some practical experience. We only race at Santa Pod so this usually means camping overnight during race meetings. Contact Mick Hand on 07947 802309 or [email protected] or Lorcan Parnell on 07947 569920 or [email protected]. STP National Finals bike notes. 5th October: We caught up with social media posts from the winners of bike classes at the STP National Finals: Leeks Landscapes Funny Bike: Covid Cup winner and event winner Louis Davies (below, left) had a PB of 7.50 before racing started in 2020. At Not The Euro Finals this was reduced to 7.2681 and a speed of 172.42 and Louis won the event. This performance was carried over to the National Finals where he won the event and the Cup. The team said "Well done Louis Davies & The Wicked Wench, National Finals Winner, taking 2 event wins and a second place to win the Santa Pod Funny Bike Covid Cup. Big thanks to all the Santa Pod crew for making it possible to get any racing in this season". Taylors Trophy Super Street Bike: Steve Venables (above, centre) passed up on the opportunity to race his new home built bike in the three race Covid Cup series in favour of his E-85 fuelled D.M.E. Wins at Not The Euro Finals and National Finals clinched the championshship. But Stephen Mead (above, right) ran him close in the final of the National Finals, running a PB of 7.0254/198.13 to Ven's 6.8801/210.95. Stephen's crewman Kostas Giannopoulos said: "what a great performance. Massive thanks to Harold Finklemyer of ECS Performance for top class tuning as always, Tim Hays (Hays) for the best clutches out there! Many thanks to Joe Elliott, Mark Dainty, Hazel Gulliver, Juliette Durrant, Mark Lemis and the rest of the gang for all the help." NMCM 8.50 Bike: Ross Morrison (below, left) won the Covid Cup Title whilst Dad Alan Morrison (below, right) won the event. Ross and Alan were both supported by Jake Mechaell's JKE Race Works. In the first qualifying session Ross had a near-vertical wheelie which he managed to control and avoid disaster. He said "Tried to ride it out but she kept climbing. I didn’t want to waste the run as it was going to be the guide for eliminations. I finally gave up...We managed to complete the meeting without any obvious damage, losing out to the old man in the final after starting to spray water on the back wheel when under load. The full strip down starts now!" Atlantic Fluid Tech 9.50 Bike: Martin Hallett (below, left) won the Covid Cup in a down-to-the-wire race in the final. Martin said "We went into the last championship meeting of the year in second knowing we needed to go one more round than our JKE Race Works and friend Craig Wright. We had brother-in-law Alan Morrison Jnr in the semis for the first time in competition, then meet Craig in the final for a winner takes all shoot out. We came out on top in what’s been a back and forth championship taking two out of three wins. Thanks to all the team Ross Morrison (8.50 champ), Alan Morrison, Alan Morrison Jnr, Jonny Hines and a massive shout to Jake Mechaell". Accelerate for a Cause & a Cure ET Bike: Paul Adams (above, right) won both the title and the event. Suze Morris of the ET Bike Facebook group wrote: "Congratulations to Covid-Cup winner Paul Adams on an outstanding weekend at the National Finals, claiming the #1 spot in qualifying with an 8.8600 on an 8.86 dial-in, then going on to take the #1 spot on the podium. Congratulations also to Michael Gooding on being so consistent, running PBs along the way. Gary Hester and team were overjoyed to send their gremlins packing, running their first 8 second pass. Philip Pratt picked up the win from the rain affected Greenlight Nationals, but then popped a red light in the first round of National Finals eliminations. There was disappointment for Peter Harrison who sadly had mechanical problems first thing Sunday meaning he couldn't join us for the day. It's been an odd "season"... it's been hot, cold, wet, windy and, above all, short... let's hope 2021 will bring better things". STP National Finals car notes. 4th October: We caught up with social media posts from the winners of the STP National Finals and a couple of others: Comp Eliminator sponsored by Secret Worx: Winner and Covid Cup winner Lloyd Perkins (below, left) said: "It weren't the prettiest but will take a win on my first race. I was waiting for Kev to storm pass me the whole run". However Kev Slyfield in his Pro Mod Thunderbird had his own problems, the blower belt going at about 60ft. Super Comp sponsored by B Fast R: Event winner Leah Kellett (above, right) said "We had an absolutely awesome working car again, made it to the finals and won. We were fighting gusty winds and trying to set my old throttle stop back up with hardly any runs due to the weather as my old stop had broken. I was absolutely flying down that track and boy did it feel so good! I never thought I would get past first round if I'm honest, let alone to the end". Leah thanked Eurodragster.com sponsors Jeff Bull, Scott & Geoff Hauser for their help as well as her family and everyone else who lent a hand. Dave Grady Super Gas: event and Covid Cup winner Dave Fulton (below, left) said "this car has tested my patience every meeting but always come good on race day, thank you to all that are involved and help out". Runner up Andy Harrison (below, centre) said "I was looking forward to a really good race as always but was a bit too keen and red lit but can’t complain as I’m home with a smile on my face and a car in the workshop in one piece". Andy thanked Paul Brown, Ruaridh Hart, and Rachel Harrison on his team. Super Pro ET sponsored by Another Small f: Covid Cup winner Tom Atkinson (above, right) said "congratulations to Daniel Giles today for the event win, Daniel was right on his A game, and to Scott Hauser for runner up, talk about coming down to the wire! I'm so grateful to everyone at SPRC and Santa Pod Raceway that we actually got a chance to come out for a play this year, a short season but most definitely sweet!" It was great to see Eurodragster.com sponsor Peter Walters (below, left) back in his Super Pro Dragster after crew chief and Dad Richard had an injury. Peter said "we had severe tyre shake on Saturday morning and it shook the kill switch off so we stopped just after 60ft. I overcame the tyre shake issue pm Sunday by launching off idle in the first round against Daniel Giles. Unfortunately it worked too well and we broke out running out best ever run of 7.66 with two pedals! but we were still happy and congrats to Daniel for taking the overall win. We’ll be back for the full (hopefully) season next year. Modurstang Pro ET: Covid Cup winner Lee Huxley (above, centre) said "The weekend didn’t start brilliantly because we broke out twice in qualifying, putting us near the bottom of the field. In eliminations we had a couple of close races against Chris Newsome and William Clark. We then had a bye given by Sean Law as he didn’t make the start and a bye into the final. Unfortunately on the semi-final bye run looks like we dropped a valve. Well done to Victor Parsons for winning the event and thanks to all of our family and team especially Andy Walker and to our great sponsors!" UK Nostalgia Superstock sponsored by NEM Plant: event winner Vic Parsons (above, right) said "I'm over the moon, got to both Pro ET and Nostalgia Superstock finals. I'm over the moon, it's a dream come true, I never imagined I could get to both finals and win! Unbelievable, thanks Santa Pod staff and marshals for working so hard to make it the best track in Europe, and thanks to everyone that's helped especially Dave Billadeau and Christine. Editor's note: If you have a post STP National Finals report, we'd love to hear from you at [email protected]. Bike quotes will be published tomorrow. Sjödin aims for 2021. 3rd October: Top Doorslammer racer Andreas Sjödin has been in touch with an update on Sjödin Motorsport / ÅBM Racing in this strange 2020. The headlines are little testing, trailer work and 10 year anniversary with the team's Chevelle. The one and only outing in 2020 for Sjödin Motorsport/ÅBM Racing was the test weekend at Hudik Raceway 21-23 of August. And what a great place to be at, nice crew, good track and what more can you ask for? I am really impressed what the crew at Hudik Raceway have accomplished in such a short time! This test wasn’t planned at all, we started to service the Chevelle one week before and we hadn’t touched it since the last pass at the Main Event in 2019. I felt I needed to do something fun and also get prepared for the 2021 season! The main thing is that it is 10 years ago since I made my first pass in the car, and I could not just let it sit in the shop and not make any passes at all this year, we must have some fun too! Hudik Raceway photos courtesy and © Cenneth Schiller. The first pass out directly from the trailer was 0.9987 60ft, and 4.0255 @ 289.23km/h (179mph) to the eighth! This was actually the first pass in 451 days, yes, the last pass I made with the Chevelle was our record setting 5.88@ 242mph at Santa Pod in May 2019! So I must say that this simple first pass felt really good and I was back in the car again and it felt really awesome!! And I was amazed about the track, I mean I went out checking it so I knew what to do about my tune, but still it was even better than what I thought! You can see what it was like from this video. You can read the whole story of our test on on our homepage. I want to take the opportunity to say thank to everyone involved this year, team, partners and friends than been helping out in some way! About 2021, to be honest I really don’t know what to do in 2021 or what it have to give to us, all I can say is that we are going to England and Santa Pod Raceway for the Doorslammers and Main Event if we get the opportunity to do that, I am more than sure I will go to Hudik Raceway for some testing or maybe even some real racing! Of course testing and just driving the car is fun but I miss to compete against someone else, that’s the real fun part of racing! And then we got the Top Doorslammer series and Pro Extreme Challenge series and I really don’t know what will happen with those two to next year? But I do know one thing, Sjödin Motorsport/ÅBM Racing are looking for new partners for the 2021 season! We need all the help we can get and we got a lot of different options and fun things we can do together and for your company! Are you interested in more info about that? Don’t hesitate to contact Andreas Sjödin at [email protected] and we will work out something great together! Mental Breakdown on video. 3rd October: Thanks to Chris Chambers-Smith for letting us know that he has posted a 13-minute documentary video on Wayne Allman's Mental Breakdown VW Type 2 pickup, the world's quickest split-screen VW with 2000hp at Wayne's command, running a quarter mile in 7 seconds and producing 2 Gs in force. The well-produced video includes Wayne describing his background and interviews with wife Helen, Mum Gladys and team member Marcus Bennett. You can see Chris's documentary by going to this link. Stig Olsson. 2nd October: We were very sorry to hear of the passing of Stig Olsson at the early age of 65 from cancer. Stig was from Strömstad in Sweden where he lived for much of his life. He first got into drag racing in 1976 when he had a nitro-fuelled slingshot dragster bought from Krister Johansson which had a Dodge 242 engine and ran in Competition Eliminator, the category that he ran in for his entire career. By the early 1990s his dragster had a Buick 317 engine and ran mid sevens. Around this time Stig founded StigO Transmissions which specialised in preparing Powerglide gearboxes for mainly drag racing applications and gearboxes prepared by him were used over Europe and in the US. His innovations included developing a dual transbrake that was capable of operating in first or second gear, and pairing a Powerglide gearbox with an electric engine. His slingshot dragsters were sponsored by longtime supporters Norrlands Custom speed shop and he was not averse to changing classes if he felt the index was favourable. Running a six in 2008, from 2010 to 2014 he ran in lower classes with a smaller engine, but still ran sixes, setting European records and winning Competition Eliminator championship in the EDRS Central series in 2012. Photo credits: Patrik Jacobsson (above, left) and Lena Perés (top, and above right) His first trip to the US, in a rear engined dragster, was on the NHRA tour in 1989. He was attracted back to the US and made a return to racing across the pond when he sold his slingshot in 2017 to Swedish racer Johan Pripp and bought a new Neils & Parks car which he campaigned in 2018, 2019 and 2020 until the Gatornationals were closed down by the pandemic. In March 2019 he set a new NHRA National Record in the A/DA class of 6.54s (compared with his best time in Europe of 6.481 in 2015). During his time in the US as well as being helped by wife Bente (a winning racer from the 1970s too) a number of Swedish racers crewed for him. He was generous, offering to lend his Norwegian holiday home to US teams in return for their hospitality to him and was involved in supporting Daniel Jedborn in FIA races driving the A/Fuel car Stig had bought from Stefan Gunnarson, and in sponsoring a Pro Street Shootout at the Mantorp Nitro Revival in 2020. His favourite saying was "Money talks but all mine ever says is goodbye". We send our deepest condolences to Bente, their two children and their family and friends. Time Travel originals on Youtube. 2nd October: Drag Racing historian Nick Pettitt has posted to his Youtube channel a copy of his Time Travel 11 video. Nick says 'It's a video I produced in 1998 from Nobby Hills' cine film and pics from 1964 - 1978 plus some of my own video of his later Funny Cars at the start of the video". You can see the video by clicking here. Nick has also posted Time Travel 24 a video featuring the early days of British Drag Racing 1963-1968 using the slides and cine film of Brian Sparrow and Geoff Martin. Time Travel 23 featuring the early days of Allan 'Bootsie' Herridge from 1962 – 1965 was created by Nick using Brian Sparrow's cine film and slides, and also some from Bootsie's own collection kindly lent to him by newly appointed BDRHoF Honorary Chair Lesley Wright. Nick's collection of photos and links to other videos can be seen at timetraveldvds.blogspot.com, one of the most comprehensive sources of UK drag racing memorabilia to be found on the web. Swift snippets. 2nd October: Santa Pod Raceway have cancelled this weekend’s Saturday Night Special and RWYB events, citing the adverse weather forecast, coupled with COVID-19 procedures which make the event unviable. Photographer Paul Bryan has posted 203 photos from the STP National Finals to a Flickr album. Paul says "I had a brilliant day, there was plenty of action and great times and speeds for many, given the windy conditions. Thanks once again to everyone involved at Santa Pod for giving us a great track and a Covid-19 compliant venue for all of us to enjoy. It’s been a short season but everyone packed as much into it as they could. I'm looking forward to 2021". British Drag Racing Hall of Fame names new Honorary Chair. 1st October: The directors of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame are pleased to announce that Lesley Wright (formerly Lesley Digby) will serve as the organisation’s new Honorary Chair, succeeding founding chairman, the late Stuart Bradbury. Lesley has enjoyed a long and distinguished association with British drag racing. Having served on the BDR&HRA committee, she documented late-1980s racing tours to the USA in publications of the time. Returning to the UK, she helped to promote the Super Gas Drag Racers Association, gaining sponsorship for the class. She joined the newly formed Santa Pod Racers Club committee and as full-time SPRC secretary in the mid-1990s, she masterminded its formation into a limited liability company for the protection of members, and worked with the SPRC’s Technical Committee to revise the rule book and introduce SFI safety measures to Europe. She also helped found the Hall of Fame itself, later stepping aside. In recognition of her influential contributions to the sport she was elected a Member of the Hall of Fame in 2017, and subsequently joined the organisation’s advisory group. Lesley assumes the Honorary Chair role with immediate effect. She comments: ‘I am in complete shock at being asked to be the Chair of the BDRHoF. It is such an honour to follow in Stu’s footsteps and I only hope that I can do the role justice, as he more than did. I look forward to everyone’s continuing support and enthusiasm, so that together we can ensure the ongoing success of the organisation and the recognition of all the great people in our sport.’ Owing to Covid-19, the Hall of Fame has postponed this year’s annual Gala Awards Dinner until November 2021. Awaiting induction on that occasion are 2020’s six selected membership candidates: Top Fuel Bikers Jeff Byne and Ian King; Swedish Top Fuel Dragster duo P&G Racing, Pelle Lindelöw and Gunnar Elmqvist; Top Methanol Dragster champion Dave Wilson; engineer, doorslammer and Fuel Altered campaigner Nick Davies; and commentator/presenter/broadcaster John Price. It is unlikely that further membership selections will be made until 2022. The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame’s official website is www.britishdragracinghof.co.uk. BDRHoF Member returns to NHRA winner’s circle. 1st October: It was almost like old times last weekend as a distinguished Member of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame stepped once more into the Top Fuel Winner’s Circle at NHRA’s rearranged Gatornationals at Gainesville, Florida. ‘Big Daddy’ Don Garlits was not actually driving the winning car but spectators and television viewers around the world would be forgiven if a shiver of déjà vu swept over them. Current NHRA champion Steve Torrence had decked out his Top Fueler in a 1970s-era Garlits livery as a Gatornationals tribute to the great man, intending to unveil it on the race’s original date in March. No sooner was the car unloaded, however, than it was packed away again when the Florida governor’s Covid-19 edict brought an abrupt end to the event after just a morning’s preliminary Sportsman qualifying. The race was eventually completed this past weekend before a socially-distanced crowd and Torrence carried the Garlits colours (any colour you like so long as it’s black – pace Henry Ford) all the way to victory, with Garlits himself there on the start line to watch each round before joining the winning crew in the post-race celebration. Don Garlits was inducted into Membership of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 2014, marking the 50th anniversary of the 1964 International Drag Festival when Sydney Allard and NHRA’s Wally Parks brought Garlits and a host of American stars to race on airfield sites around England. The tour set the sport in motion in Britain and Europe for the next half-century and beyond, with Santa Pod Raceway opening two years later. For anyone attending future editions of the Gatornationals, a visit to the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing is a must. The museum is located at Ocala, alongside the I-75, just an hour’s drive south of Gainesville. Earlier news