Editor's note: Racers please be sure to keep those FIA Main Event previews coming. Pro or Sportsman, drop us
a line at news@eurodragster.com
and we'll post it here.
The cold has no bearing... 15th May: UK Super Pro ET racer Mark Flavell says that it all went seriously downhill
after unveiling the team's new Funny Car at the Auto Trader Easter Thunderball at Santa Raceway, but that
the team will be back for next week's FIA Main Event.
"An old driver in a new car needs to be observed' to be competent to drive that car. Team MFR in our new Steel River Hot Rod Saab 93 Funny Car
suited up in near freezing conditions and went through the burnout and staging procedure. In the right hand lane I launched to sixty feet as required and
all was OK. We came back around for our eighth-mile pass when the rain came down just as we were readying to fire her up. We towed back to the pits
as instructed and the day looked like it was over. My team went down to help our good friend Derek Flynn with his awning in the wind after battening down
our own hatches in the MFR pit.
"After thirty years of building and racing I can only take this one on the chin as it was all self-inflicted. We'd hoped to be back out for the Springspeed Nationals
at Shakespeare County Raceway but work and race transporter MOTs conspired against us. We're ready now and hungry to get on track for the Main Event.
I'd like to thank my crew Craig Owen, Steve Metcalfe and Mali Rigg for the monumental effort they've put in. Thanks also to Karl and Rod Harrison for helping
out and to Universal Engines of Las Vegas for their help. So keep your eyes on the Welding Specialists / NGK / Simoniz / DAPO Super Pro ET Funny Car,
we intend to have some fun!"
Take the Pro Mod Challenge. 14th May: Eurodragster.com News sponsor Exhaust-coating.de
have announced that they are to sponsor a Pro Mod Challenge in 2008. The idea is the brainchild of soon-to-be Pro Mod racer
Marco Maurischat. Exhaust-coating.de is a division of Marco's own company Pulverbeschichtung Nord GmbH Germany, and it is
this brand that will be the title sponsor for the Challenge, to be held at the 2008 European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway.
The Challenge is open for the top eight drivers as determined by qualifying points earned by the top sixteen qualifiers at
preceding 2008 FIA European Championship rounds. The winner will be awarded with €2000 and the runner-up
€500. A decal on each side of the race car is all that is necessary to earn points and prize money. The points system
and standings will be available on the European Pro Mod Association web site at
www.promod.nu, on the Exhaust-coating web site at
www.exhaust-coating.de, and here on Eurodragster.com
after each FIA Championship round.
"We feel very proud to become a sponsor for the European Exhaust-Coating.de Pro Mod Challenge in 2008", says
Marco Maurischat. "Firstly I have to thank the EPMA and also Santa Pod Raceway for helping us to make this happen. I also
have to say that without the support of great companies such as NIC industries with Brian Hall, Brandon Grady and all the other great
people, this simply would not have happened.
Marco also told Eurodragster.com that he is seeking associates from all over Europe to become certified applicators for his products.
"I feel very proud to offer and sell exclusive Cerakote™ ceramic products Europe wide", he said. "We see drag racing and
the fastest door cars on the planet as an ideal marketing platform to make our line of Cerakote™ Ceramic products well
known all over Europe. Besides our powder coating and car painting divisions Pulverbeschichtung Nord
is specialising in Cerakote™ High Temperature Ceramic Coatings such as polished Chromex and many other colors for
exhaust systems, as well as thermal barrier coatings for internal engine components like piston domes and valve faces. The
company also offers the full line of Solid (Dry) Film coatings. Having worked with these products for more than three years
Pulver Nord is now the first and official exclusive European distributor and dealer for Cerakote™ products.
Cerakote™ is one of the best and well known ceramic products and is used by many big exhaust manufactures
in the US motorcycle and car industries. For more information please visit
www.exhaust-coating.de
and www.nicindustries.com.
Them bones are set to shake! 14th May: Simon Mitchell is aiming to run in Super Pro ET in the UK next season in his
recently-acquired altered named BoneShaker. The altered came into the UK at the end of 2007 and Simon
acquired it a couple of months ago.
"I'm hoping to have the car together and running at least for the Southeast Custom and
Classic Show at Farming World near Faversham in Kent in June. We have a couple of other cars coming down: Nigel Turner is bringing his Super
Pro ET rail and Mad R's Racing are bringing their Shy Talker. Mick Payne may appear with the Artful Dodger if the engine is
back in time. It should be a good show - any other racers who are free that weekend and fancy bringing their dragsters down should get in touch, the
more the merrier!"
Bikes invited to Thunder... 14th May:Ian King writes that
after the success of the Nitro Thunder competition at the 2007 Nitrolympx at Hockenheim it has been decided
to run this format again at the 2008 Nitrolympx:
Nitro Thunder is open to riders of both twin- and four-cylinder Nitro powered bikes. Racers will be divided into the two categories and given the chance
over three runs to run the lowest aggregate time and meet the respective winner of the other category in a Twin v Four final run-off.
Alongside Nitro Thunder there is a possibility of a Pro Bike Challenge if enough interest is shown. This will be open to all slick-tyred and wheelie bar
bikes and is designed to to cater for Funny Bike/Pro Mod Bike and Pro Stock Bike.
Finally, there will be another Super Street Bike competition for which many entries have already been submitted.
"No matter what class you choose to contest, you'll receive a tremendous welcome and I can guarantee a great time. If you have any questions then
please drop me a line at mark@flavellwelding.co.uk and I'll try to fill in any blanks,
but it couldn't be any easier and it's the most fun you'll ever have with your clothes on!"
Stay tuned as we will have more from Mark Flavell tomorrow, this time about his own racing operation.
York's Round 1. 14th May: The first rounds of the Pennine Drag Racing Club Northern Drag Racing Championship took place on
the 4th-5th May at York Raceway's UK Open Nationals, with a great turnout once again for American Super Stock, writes Richard Smith:
Having spent many late nights rebuilding his Hemi-powered GTX, Dave Billadeau fought through the ladder to defeat Trevor Cadman's
Camaro in the final round while recording a 0-60mph time of 2.4 seconds. Over in Sportsman ET, Lee Chiles started his Championship
defence in the best possible way by reaching the finals and taking the win over Des Taylor, who had borrowed Andy Leigh's VW-powered
buggy which destroyed yet another drive shaft on the start line! Meanwhile Andy Bales, in his consistent Anglia, took the honours in both
Pro ET and the Hot Rod Challenge.
Swift snippets. 14th May: Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Derek Flynn has announced that
he will not be contesting the FIA Main Event and that he will probably not be racing in Top Fuel Dragster this
season. Since the termination of his deal with Knut Söderquist Derek has investigated other options but
has ultimately decided against licencing and racing next weekend in case something should go awry and affect
other racers' chances. You can read more in the latest entry in Derek's exclusive Racer Blog which you can
read by clicking here or by
clicking on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
The UK's Pro ET Sponsorship Scheme has this year been extended to include
the two UK Championship meetings at Shakespeare County Raceway, writes Carla Pittau. Ian Brown of Team Thatadoo
led at the Springspeed Festival 0.016 off his dial-in and Sir Numero Uno Qualifier of the Springspeed graciously agreed
to pose with his trophy. The Pro ET Sponsorship Scheme is supported by Alleyjax, Toxico Clothing, WASP, A1 Motor Stores,
Inkwell Printing, Penn Autos, Hauser Race Cars, Black Bear Harley Davidson, Motor Shack and Real Steel, so when shopping
for products supplied by these fine organisations remember to support the companies who support your addiction to speed.
Congratulations to UK Import racer John Bradshaw who clocked a Personal Best of 8.29 in his Nissan Skyline GTST at
the PTM Show at Santa Pod Raceway on Sunday (see below for report). "The car kept improving on each run which was
great: 8.44, 8.39, 8.31, 8.30 and then 8.29" says John. "We had real consistency and no reliability issues at all despite the hot track temperature which
was 43 degrees plus. My licencing runs are now complete so we are all ready to go. I can't wait for the Main Event."
Four B&H Automotive Street Eliminator racers will be appearing in exhibition at next week's FIA Main
Event at Santa Pod Raceway. Steve Nash, Steve Pateman, Jeff Meads and Mark Perkins were invited to represent
the class and will be making demonstration passes during the weekend. Stay tuned for more, and in the meantime
check out the official B&H Automotive Street Eliminator web site at
www.streeteliminator.com which has been updated
with the latest news from the class including race reports and video.
Advance ticket sales for the FIA Main Event close at 5:30 pm this Friday, 16th May. You can buy tickets on-line at
www.santapod.com or call the ticket hotline on 01234 782828 (outside the
UK +44 1234 782828). "To ensure you take advantage of the advance ticket price, please don't wait until Friday to order your tickets",
says Jo Harris. "Get on-line to book tickets or get calling now! Also you have a last chance to get some track time prior to the Main Event
as we still have a few places available for the Peak Performance Day this Saturday (17th May). Tickets will be now be available on the gate
only on a first-come first-served basis."
A very Happy Birthday for yesterday (Tuesday) to Gerda Joon, Team Manager of The Netherlands'
MPM Oil Top Fuel Dragster team and of course Lex's missus. We hope that you had a great day Gerda and
we'll pass on your hugs next week.
The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words "One for your
Can You Guess What It Is section". We have a sneaking suspicion that we know what this one is about, but if
you have any more information, or if you would like to send your own spy pictures, then please drop us a line
at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.
Shakespeare County Raceway would be pleased to hear from racers who live in the Worcester and Gloucester areas and who would be interested in helping charity.
"We've been asked by David Williams to mount another display of drag racing at the Evesham Show on 7th-8th June alongside the River Avon at Crown
Meadow", says Jerry Cookson. "Last year the show featured a wide cross section of transport including grass roots motorsport and hot rods, live music, hot
air balloons and a firework and laser show on Saturday evening, and all in aid of childrens charities". If you want to get involved and support a worthy cause
whilst promoting the sport then please give Jerry a call on 01789 720180.
There are only a few weeks to go to the King of Europe event for street-legal cars which takes place
at Brustem Airbase in Belgium on 21st-22nd June. Sixty two cars are entered from eleven countries, with
the ultimate winner dubbed King of the West and facing off against recently-crowned King of the East Grzegorz
Staszewski. You can check out the official entry list at
www.kingofeurope.net.
HKS and Euro Compact success. 14th May: The second season of the HKS Drag Series got off to a flying start at Santa Pod Raceway
Sunday, with superb action in all three classes writes Rick Cuthbert:
A high rate of attrition both before and during the event meant that the remaining cars were the very best in the series, and
exemplified what the HKS Drag Series is about. In the Pro class, John Bradshaw won an uncontested final with a
new personal best run of 8.292 seconds at a data-logged 165 mph (the timing data Terminal Speed is believed to be incorrect).
John had a tough opponent in Steve Whittaker, who was unable to make the final after an incredible qualifying session produced
the fastest side-by-side Jap pairing in the UK, Steve running an 8.062/165.80 against John's 8.314 at an identical 165.80 mph.
Unfortunately for Steve, this awesome qualifying run resulted in a broken transmission, confining the car to the trailer before the finals.
In the Street class, a large entry was whittled down to just Johnny McKeon in the RK Tuning Skyline and Kevin Huntley in
the Envy Performance Supra. Both cars had been running similar times all day, and a
supremely close race was won by Johnny
by what must have been just centimetres. Kevin actually ran the faster ET with a 10.882/144, but Johnny's better reaction
times saved him, and his 10.947/136.56 was enough to take a hard-earned win.
In the Front Wheel Drive class, it was an all-CPL Racing final, with Guy
Chamberlain up against his customer Scott Whitelaw.
Guy reached an incredible 140 mph on his 10.721 run, but Scott's better reaction times came within a cat's whisker of saving him, and
his 10.802 was frustratingly close to being good enough. Another breath-taking race from the HKS Drag Series!
The first ever Euro Sports Compact race also took place at the PTM Show on Sunday, and it was fantastic to bring together so many
famous cars from different tuning scenes and run them together in proper drag racing eliminations. All entrants had to have European
cars running European engines, and all had to be six cylinders or less. Front wheel drive and four wheel drive ruled, and VWs certainly
made up the bulk of the field, but with a Lancia, MG and a Mini also entered and running competitively, it showed that everyone could
compete.
The final came down to James Hodson in his FWD VW Golf turbo up against Mark Gunns in his 4WD VW Corrado. Despite an excellent
10.931/125 from Mark, he couldn't beat James' 10.813/134, which combined with his better reaction time put James a car-length ahead
at the finish line. An excellent race that showed perfectly what Euro Sports Compact is
all about. Watch out for a re-run at Ultimate Street Car in August!
Nick's expertise and knowledge of drag racing will be of great assistance to the Board of Selectors when assessing candidates
for the British Drag Racing Hall Of Fame.
"I was in the US twice this winter, mainly to meet suppliers, but I also met and watched my fellow competitor Urs Erbacher
run", says Micke. "I admit I envy him and I think he did well. At the same time I know what tremendous work (and budget)
lies behind a tour to the US, so for my team it has not an option for a long time. We simply have too many commitments in
Europe during the winter as well. That is one of the reasons we can operate this on a professional full time basis."
"Team Kågered is carrying a new selection of souvenirs to Santa Pod, so don't miss visiting us in the pits!", says Team
Manager Åsa Kinnemar. "Reports from testing and the Main Event will be posted on our web site
at www.kagered-racing.com, and for full live coverage as
always we encourage you to take advantage of the excellent service Eurodragster.com provide (Thanks - Ed)."
Editor's note: Racers (both Pro and Sportsman) please note that it's neither too early nor too late to send your FIA Main Event
previews. Drop us a line at news@eurodragster.com
and we'll post it here.
Come to Europe, have fun. 12th May: Karl Ellwein of the USA's East Coast Impala SS Racing Series is shipping
his street/strip 1995 Chevy Impala SS to Europe. Karl plans to race at the Midnight Sun Internationals at Pite Dragway and the Gold Town
Summer Drag Race in Skellefteå in July with Anders Envall and Kent Edin, for whom he has built an engine, and will then accompany
Anders to Santa Pod Raceway to contest Pro ET at the FIA European Finals in September. Karl hopes to promote his business
Ellwein Engines and intends to have fun along the way.
"A Sportsman racer touring Europe may sound eccentric, and maybe it is (No it isn't - Ed)", says Karl. "But this is something I have wanted
to do since first attending the European Finals as Santa Pod in 2004 where I supported Anders in Pro ET. At Santa Pod I met a few of the Pro ET racers
such as Carla Pittau and Rick McCann and it was there that a goal was set in my mind to race my own car at Santa Pod one day. I have since attended
the 2006 and 2007 European Finals as a spectator, to support Anders, and to enjoy the nitro and Pro Mod cars.
"Back in September 1994 in my home town of Saint Leonard Maryland, USA, I had just received the brand new
1995 Chevy Impala SS which I had ordered from a few months earlier. The 350 ci V8 cast a spell
over me. The car could beat almost any late-model Mustang or Camaro to the eighth mile. But after the eighth the big heavy car would lay down
and I would see tail lights. I had to learn how to make this car quicker. Maybe that is the typical story of what brings someone into the sport of drag racing.
A friend talked me into bracket racing a few years later and during that first bracket race I "blindly" went to the third round and that third round losing
time slip had the word "Money" written on it. That $30 award hooked me!
Since then I have been drag racing that 1995 Chevy Impala SS mostly in the trophy bracket racing classes of numerous USA drag strips.
USA professional bracket racing is too businesslike and serious for my taste.
"In the USA the 1994 to 1996 Impala SS car has developed a cult following and numerous Impala clubs have sprung up. Impala Club drag racing
events are held at drag strips all up and down the east coast of the USA. In 2000 I created an Impala SS bracket racing point series with the purpose
of supporting all of the local Impala SS car club racing events and providing a reason to attend more races. That racing series, the
East Coast Impala SS Racing Series, is now in its ninth year. Attending ECIRS events is really
a great time with the family while having fun with the car. ECIRS basically keeps me racing and tuning on my car.
"A few years ago I developed a keen interest in engine building as a hobby. During a visit to Autoshop Racing Engines in Florida,
Lennart Bergqvist
suggested that I might try engine building as a profession. "You should try it", he said simply. Those words came from someone who I looked up to and
truly idolised: the Lennart Bergqvist of Autoshop Racing Engines in Orlando Florida saying such things to me! I took his words to heart and
started Ellwein Engines. I was shocked and deeply saddened when Lennart passed away in November 2006 after a short but courageous bout with cancer.
"The shipping of my Impala SS is supported by many friends who have been long supporters of my new engine building business.
Autoshop Racing Engines in Orlando, Florida is the major sponsor of my
car. As mentioned above Birgitta Bergqvist and her late husband Lennart gave the initial encouraging words and vouched for my business when
establishing accounts with major suppliers such as Callies Performance Products.
Carolina Performance Transmissions is providing two GM 4L60E transmissions - maybe
having a spare is wise, yes?
Advanced Induction Cylinder Head Development provides cylinder
heads and camshaft design for Ellwein Engines. McKeown Motorsports Engineering Inc
has been providing engineering, design and testing support for Ellwein Engines. Mark McKeown designed the blower piston used in Kent Edin's motor,
forever to be called the Kent piston. Now, when a customer
desires a strong forced induction motor we usually suggest an upgrade to the "Kent" piston. Mark McKeown has been a Jeg's Engine Master finalist
each time he has competed in the event, 2006 and 2007.
"I also have one non-racing related sponsor, Vindouro Burmese and Bombay Cattery. I have to learn more about what a cattery is exactly. But if
someone reading this is looking for a Burmese or Bombay kitty cat then Denise Hall's Vindouro Cattery would be a very good place to enquire.
They are located in the USA and have experience with exported cats. I am fond of cats and have a nine year old grey shorthair cat named King
Xerxes. He's like all cats: if you feed him he likes you, if not then he has no use for you (Didn't you know that dogs have owners but cats
have staff - Ed).
"Now I finally have a booking with a shipping company to have my car in Gothenburg in Sweden some time at the end of June. I hope to promote my
engine building company and have fun while doing it. How can you not have fun while drag racing in Sweden and England?
Outlaws take over the Manor. 12th May: In the lead up to the forthcoming Yanks Weekend and Gary's Picnic at
Shakespeare County Raceway, the Supercharged Outlaw teams led by Roy Wilding and Brian Gandy made
the trip to Drayton Manor Park yesterday to the 16th Annual NASC Neil's Springnationals, writes SCR's Promotions
man Jerry Cookson.
"Although the show field was filled to capacity with rods and customs, both Roy and Brian entertained
hundreds of onlookers by starting their cars several times throughout the day which ended in a mini
cacklefest minutes before the main prize giving", says Jerry. "SCR owes a great debt of thanks to both
teams for supporting the event and giving up their valuable weekend time, especially as Brian's altered
was still in pieces late Saturday evening following a delay in parts, but thanks to a last minute thrash
and a quick test fire on Brian's front drive late in the evening - much to the amusement of the street, I'm
led to believe - the job was completed with both teams arriving at the Park dead on nine Sunday morning.
"SCR also would like to thank NASC Chairman Mark Ashman and his merry band of helpers for making us feel
at home throughout the day and my personal thanks to Brian for allowing me to sit in his altered during
the last cacklefest fire-up."
Grandstand Motor Sports' established tour and holiday programmes embrace Formula One, Le Mans, Historic Car Racing and Classic Motoring events,
and MotoGP and World Superbikes. Now Britain's leader in motorsport travel has added America's NHRA Powerade Drag Racing Series to its extensive
portfolio.
Off-track activities will include specially arranged visits to Shelby Automobiles, John Force Racing's palatial Funny Car team headquarters, the So-Cal
Speed Shop - heartland of Southern California hot rodding for more than sixty years - and Boyd Coddington's Garage, scene of the late rod and custom
creator's TV show American Hot Rod. Pomona guests will be treated to a welcome party at a remarkable venue: Dalcorp's amazing Area51
custom/classic car showroom and Racer's Lounge. Grandstand can arrange admission to the colossal SEMA Show for guests who qualify as Automotive
Business Professionals.
The tour price also includes NHRA membership and automatic entry into a special prize draw to win a day at the races with Don Schumacher Racing, the
largest Pro team in NHRA Drag Racing. Prices for Drag Racing USA with Grandstand Motor Sports begin at just £1469. For further information
about Grandstand's itineraries and news of other events and attractions taking place at the time, please visit
www.grandstandmotorsports.co.uk or call 0845 375 0300
(outside the UK +44 116 231 1222).
We would like to thank Grandstand Motor Sports for their support and Robin Jackson of Bluprints For Travel for his help. We are very pleased
to add still more to the range of products and services which our readers can acquire via Eurodragster.com. If you are looking for the drag racing
trip of a lifetime then be sure to check out the great deals on offer from Grandstand Motor Sports.
It's all new to Erbacher. 11th May: Reigning FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion and Eurodragster.com News sponsor
Urs Erbacher and the Fat Attack Team are toting a
lot of new equipment in 2008 both on Urs' 4.5-second Top Fueller and FIM/UEM Supertwin Champion Lorenz Stäuble's
mid six-second bike.
"Almost everything is new on the Top Fuel Dragster", Urs told Eurodragster.com. "The dragster is like the newest cars in USA. We have a new back half on the car,
so the front end is Murf Mc Kinney and the back end is from Hadmann done by Hassey. We have eight ngines and new heads, a new injector, new fuel system,
new wheels and new front and rear wings. So the car is pretty light now and ready for new European records and another Championship.
We are sure we can run in the 4.55s at Santa Pod, maybe not at the Main Event but at the European Finals.
"We have changed a lot on the Supertwin. We put new cylinder heads on, so now we have two injectors, one on the left and one on the right,
so that will give us more power. That's all we have changed on this winning combination. The only problem is that we haven't had the time to
test this new combination so it will be hard for Lo to find the set-up at the Main Event. If we don't find it in the first two runs we will go back to
the old set-up.
"The team is the same: Lo Stäuble rider, Cinzia Vivarelli, Dario Durso the Italian who will now give Chris Nigg a hand on the car heads too.
Sponsors are Rick's Motorcycle Parts Germany, Ralph Marti Switzerland, Midland Oil Switzerland, Innotec and Techno Switzerland.
The tale of Carla's pirouette. 11th May: If you were tuned in to our coverage of last weekend's Springspeed Festival
at Shakespeare County Raceway you will have read that UK Pro ET racer Carla Pittau went for a pirouette in
the team's new Heaven & Hell As Well Camaro. Carla says that this is the latest incident in what
has been a hellish season so far for the Heaven
& Hell team:
After rebuilding the transmission which let us down at Easter, using a spare sun shell and sun gear complete with snap ring, we were hopeful
that we would have no more trans blues, but we took the spare trans with us just in case. Rick was on the start line to observe my first run at
Shakespeare County Raceway in the '84 Camaro, then running back to Heaven & Hell for his own qualifier. The first pass netted the car's
best ET so far, a 10.46 which was unfortunately a break out on the 10.50 dial in, with Jemma lining me up on the burnout and carefully observing
the run afterwards. The car's suspension needs a few changes and the runs did at least tell us as much: new springs and shocks are certainly on
the cards as she sits too high, does not transfer the weight very well and we were softly spinning off the line and at each gear shift despite having
a lot of rubber for a change, with the 14.5" slicks almost but not quite making it. Heaven & Hell had her own problems with traction and spun
the tyres during each of the three qualifiers, not even managing a nine-second run.
Sunday brought a watery end to our hopes for improvement, and the adjustments to the four link in Heaven & Hell As Well and the grip juice
application to the Heaven & Hell Mickey Thompsons had to wait for the first elimination run on Monday to prove their worth.
I spun to the left in what seemed to be slow motion, felt the rear right hit the armco, kept spinning and had the vague feeling of hope that I
wouldn't hit with the front but I did, front right end, kept spinning and hit again with the front, finally stopping at forty five degrees to
the centre line facing the wrong way. I was sitting there switching all the switches off and could see the rescue team appear in no time at all.
They wanted to know if I was OK, I thought I'd joke and say "I'm OK as I only hit with my head" then thought that they may have taken me
seriously and I kept repeating "I'm fine".
The only thing I wanted to know was how bad the car was hurt, that was my first thought, so as they dragged me into the ambulance I tried to
resist and bent to check underneath to see if any fluids had found their way out, but all looked dry and the body damage not too terrible, so I
relaxed and thought my second thought, "Rick and the crew are back at the start line and they don't know I'm OK". I pleaded that they sent
the message that I was unhurt and that I hoped that Rick would get on and race. Then the really nice paramedics kidnapped me and insisted upon
doing their job properly to check me over accurately, rather than taking my word for it. They took me to the Med Centre and measured my blood
pressure, then asked what it was normally. Er, I don't recall having it checked, ever. They asked all the other questions and did all the other checks
then decided I seemed alright and let me out. Jemma was outside the Centre looking all worried, a big hug was needed here, and all seemed better
already.
I wanted to know if Rick had run yet, he was running then so we ran to the fence and saw him go by in Heaven & Hell. The grip juice
worked brilliantly, he pulled a 1.35 sixty foot and he knew he was on a breakout if he didn't slow down so he was on and off the power but crossed
the line a whisker behind Paul (8.81 inches - Ed). A great race, but a defeat.
So all that was left to do was a group hug for the Heaven & Hell team back in the pits. The sticky brown stuff happens at times but the important
thing is to fix it and come back to do battle again. We are in the process of repairing the '84 and are at present very hopeful that we will still be at the
Main Event in two cars. Heartfelt thanks to the SCR rescue team for their swift and reassuring action, to the paramedics for being wonderful and putting
up with my silly sense of humour, to Jemma Harrison and Dave Buckland, my brilliant crew, for their dedication and support, Peter Lane for springing
into action and coming over to our house to assess the damage and offer help and advice, to the whole Pro ET class and drag racing community that
never lets you down and whose concern and offers of help and advice were heart warming, to the Eurodragster team, and last but not least to John
(I don't know his surname!) who sent me a video of the whole run which we are examining very closely for further clues as to why I spun.
Also apologies to John Atkinson for not giving him a proper race, I'll try and do better next time!
Hudson's thanks. 11th May: Fellow Pro ET racer Steve Hudson could also have had a better 2008 so far but
he has been in touch with his story and some thanks to those who have helped him:
After watching drag racing for fifteen years, the death of my brother in law in a buggy racing accident in Australia made me realise that life was too
short to keep saying "One day!". I managed to persuade the good lady to allow me to purchase a '77 Pontiac which I ran at the Saturday Night Special
in October 2006 and the bug bit. I then purchased an altered which I took to Andy Robinson Race Cars for some chassis mods and it was deemed to be
beyond repair. After I bought the wife some flowers and sat her down for a long chat, we decided that Andy Robinson would build us a new chassis and
that we would spend the 2007 season as spectators again.
I would like to pass on my thanks to everyone at Andy Robinson Race Cars for all their help in building the car and putting a big grin on my face, my
wife Angie for letting me get away with spending so much, and everybody who helped put the car together.
Flying with the light aircraft. 11th May: UK Supertwin racer Ian Turburville says that with the Springspeed Festival being
held over the UK May Bank Holiday, he knew what to expect as soon as the sun came out on the preceding Thursday - rain all weekend:
That's exactly what we got apart from a brief respite on Saturday which enabled us to get some qualifying runs in. Bruno and his team had been
prepping the track for days and done their best to get us a race surface and it was OK, just a little green from lack of racing but we knew that would
come around over the weekend. We set up in the Top Fuel pits with Rene from Holland, Steve Carey, Steve Woollatt and Ian 'Rush' Carruthers, with
the help of Steve DD Leedell, Martin, Ingrid and Adam Charnley, who was also on track duty.
My first pass was in the left lane and the slick lit up on the hit so I feathered it down the track to get a time on the board. Steve Woollatt had the same
outcome but Steve Carey went nice and straight for a beautiful 200 mph lap. Pass two was in the right hand lane. I launched as hard as I could and it
took off nicely. Unfortunately the clutch on my bike locks-up at the exact point of the transition from the concrete launch pad to the tarmac surface, this
causes the bike to jump in the air and when it comes down at full wheel speed it breaks something in the drive line. This time it was the belt, last time
the sprocket. I quickly shut it off and pulled to the side of the track. The sudden deceleration actually made me bite my tongue!
The bike is now being freshened for the FIA Main Event and the first round of the UEM European Championship, at Santa Pod Raceway
on 23rd-26th May. Unfortunately we do not have the funding to attend the three European rounds of the UEM but we look forward to
playing with the big boys for the rest of the year here in the UK.
Well done to Steve and the Dealer team, to Scarey and the Purple Princess team, and to the very hard working track crew and
club members at Shakespeare County Raceway/APIRA.
Woah, scary! 11th May: UK Funny Bike racer Kev Charman had a successful outing on his new bike at
Shakespeare County Raceway although it appears to have scared the living daylights out of him initially.
Kev dropped us a line to let us know how his weekend went:
The brake line that we had been waiting for did not arrive with the post as promised, so as you can
imagine we were not very happy at all. To get this far, and not be able to go fast because we would
be unable to stop, seemed so wrong. We made a long call voicing displeasure, Martin from Goodridge
was however very apologetic and understood completely. He made a call to Goodridge at Silverstone,
called us back and said that if we could collect the line the replacement would be made up there. We
of course said yes, as it is only a few miles from us. Martin called back half hour later to tell us it was
ready. What a star, we cannot thank Martin and Goodridge Silverstone enough for going that extra mile
for us. So with bike and tools in the van and caravan hitched up, we must have looked a right sight
as we drove into Silverstone. Collected the last piece of the bike, and drove on up to Stratford.
I was not too happy about getting back on the bike after that, but knew I had to. Chris had already told Lizz
that he hated normally aspirated Funny Bikes, as they were not safe under little or no power, so the gas had
to go in. The nerves were obviously still there for the second run, I had a healthy respect for the bike. This
time there was going to be proper power, and again I was not too sure what it was going to do. To say that
I was very scared (the polite version) was an understatement!
The burnout felt good, I got myself closer to the start so there as less room for error, and Chris went further
back to make totally sure that it was straight. It launched well, but again went off to the left. I tried to correct it,
but still felt the need to back off the throttle to correct it. Got it back into the groove, rolled back onto the
throttle, and felt the nitrous kick hard. Through the gears and finish line, 8.22/174, not bad at all considering
that when we checked the data, I had in fact been off the throttle for two seconds! The bike pulled like a train,
and this time had enough speed to get me to the end of the track. I have a lot to learn, and need much more
seat time, it scares the living wotsit out of me at the moment, but it's a hell of a lot of fun! And I was number
three qualifier. Rain stopped play on Sunday, out to play Monday.
The third run was 7.62/172.5, long story short the bike just got quicker quicker and went straight and
bear in mind that it is running on relatively no power, with soft settings. On the last run I knocked out Stu
Chamberlain in the semis with a 7.46/174.8 and got into the final against Chris Hall. Time was not on our
side and the event was called.
It was a very successful weekend's testing, and I am very happy with the new bike. I have a lot to learn,
and there is plenty in there yet, which is scary! Thanks to my amazing crew, I really couldn't do it without
you. Lizz - ditto, will thank you later! Thanks Ken for such an awesome engine, and to all my sponsors as always.
www.nitrous-junkie.co.uk will be updated in
the next couple of days, so please keep an eye on it.
No go on the Bank Holiday. 11th May: UK Rocket Dragster pilot Carolynne Campbell should consider predicting the
lottery numbers given her skill at foretelling the future before the Springspeed Festival at Shakespeare County
Raceway. "In my last press release I ended with a cautionary note: "This is drag racing, even the best cars don't go every time and the weather can
always interfere" - what a spot-on forecast", she says.
"We were scheduled to run at the end of Saturday's qualifying sessions. All the crew were there and we were ready to go. Just as we were about to
put the gasses into the car, a racer put his car through the start lights and went into the barrier. That closed the track for the rest of the day. The Saturday
run was off! Sunday - where's Fred? Our departure controller was absent without leave and no phone call. The phone rings. "It looks a bit wet from up
here". It was Fred flying overhead in a light aircraft. Ironically he had flown in from the airstrip next to Santa Pod. It rained, they dried the track, then
it rained. And so on and so on. Later in the day the truck carrying the track drier did a graceful pirouette and crashed into the guardrail wrecking the
cowling. Sunday's run was off.
"We went to the line, fired the pyros, and the pilots did not come on. We'd lost pressure in the air system that operates the pilot valves. No run,
and no time to return to the pit, replace the pyros which we can do in about forty minutes - and try again. Racing was over.
We never got to try out Datron's kit, which was a real shame. Hopefully, Dave will be able to lend it to us again and we can get some hard data
on the next run. Other racers may want to check out the stuff available from Datron - it's amazing stuff.
"We were gutted, but then so were a couple of hundred other racers including guys who'd come all the way from Sweden and accomplished little.
There were many grim faces in the pits. Ah well! That's drag racing! We'll be back out in a couple weeks at a less frenetic event, hopefully with the
weather gods smiling upon us, and we'll get her down the track."
Editor's note: Only a brief update today as home commitments got in the way. We have a sizeable backlog, including the pieces
promised yesterday, which will be posted on tomorrow's update, and please keep those news items coming to
news@eurodragster.com.
Santa Pod pit power, snippets. 9th May: Darren Prentice of Santa Pod Raceway has been in touch to confirm that
11th Hour Events will be providing
pitside electricity at the forthcoming FIA Main Event and for the rest of the season.
11th Hour Events is a Cardiff-based company, specialising in supplying
temporary electrics and lighting to the entertainment industry, whilst
offering a variety of other production services. "We very much enjoyed being part of the Big Bang event at Santa Pod,
and look forward to being part of the forthcoming season", says John Davies of 11th Hour Events.
"We wish all competitors the very best."
Following on from Import racer John Bradshaw's news that he is entering the FIA Main Event, you can see John in action along with some
other incredible Japanese cars - watch out for Steve Whittaker's newly-rebuilt 8.0-second Toyota Supra - at the PTM Show which takes place at
Santa Pod this Sunday (11th). The event features Round 1 of the HKS Drag Series, the first ever Euro Sports Compact race, and lots of other performance
road-car oriented attractions which will be a great way to pass the weekend for anyone into serious horsepower. The track is also open for Run What You
Brung and all types of car, from Mustangs to Minis, are welcome. For full information, and to check out the entry lists for the HKS Drag Series and Euro
Sports Compact, visit www.ptmshow.co.uk.
Springspeed Festival timing. 9th May: Many thanks to Wayne Schreier of Shakespeare County Raceway's timing crew
for forwarding us the official timing data from last weekend's Springspeed Festival. The timing data is
in Excel format and comes complete with the weather conditions for every single run courtesy of the weather
station linked to SCR's PortaTree timing system.
The great news is that Kings of Nitro will also be available on DVD. Stay tuned as The Gamma Project have kindly offered to send us
an episode for review and will also be sending video clips and pictures for your pleasure within the next few days.
Islanders work towards National Day. 8th May: Konrad Ree writes that Paul Ingar Udtian and the Islanders team are
working hard to get things together for an on-time departure from the Islands in the mid west of Norway.
"Whilst fighting to prepare everything we also have to thank our Sponsors: our main sponsor Q8 Oils, Lerøy Midnor AS, Eidsvaag AS and Sande
Gård AS. Without their help this wouldn't have been possible."
"NDRG is proud of this agreement with Sunoco and we are looking forward to working together towards the
Sunoco Drag Challenge in August."
NDRG are hosting the SpringNats at Gardermoen Raceway this weekend; you can check out the entry list
at www.ndrg.no.
From no engine to a round win. 8th May: All things considered, UK National Pro ET Champion and pigeon fancier Paul Baynton was pleased with
his weekend at the Springspeed Festival, as he says that his Capri was without an engine the week before.
"I am now looking forward to the Main Event. I hope that Carla and Rick can get the car repaired and that their season will improve, as they put so much
effort into their racing. I also hope that Neil Hunter can get his car repaired after the nightmare weekend he had."
Cherry, cherry, cherry... 8th May: B&H Automotive Street Eliminator racer Ian Hook has been in touch to
say a big Thank You for all the offers of cherry pies, cherry bakewalls, cherryade and all other things of a cherry
persuasion which he was offered after his first red light in seven years of SE competition, at the Springspeed Festival
on Monday.
"I'd like to add a special thank you to Shelby Webster (daughter of SE racer Jon) who provided me with a Jammy Dodger
to go with my post-exit cup of tea", says Fatty. "It wasn't cherry but it was full of red jam!. Thanks too to my crew for hardly
mentioning it at all...as if!
NFAA Springspeed review. 8th May: After the disastrous weather at Easter for the 2008 Snowball, as it is being called, the UK's
Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association thought that they couldn't be that unlucky again for the
Springspeed Festival but how wrong they were, writes promoter Lawrie Gatehouse:
The majority of the teams had new combinations and uprated parts fitted during the long winter break,
which they had been unable to test at Easter due to the inclement weather. For the first round on
Saturday morning only seven teams were able to make the call. The Mob discovered fuel leaks from the headers,
Chaos had ignition woes (subsequently traced to a duff condenser on the mag), and new entry The Dog
crew were working on the fuel distribution flow balances.
First up was the beautifully engineered Havoc, first time at Shakey, versus defending champion Clayton Round
in Rebel 'T'. Nick Davies laid down a smoky long burnout in Havoc, but broke the blower belt in the process,
meaning he had to be pushed to the side of the track. Clayton meanwhile had sportingly been holding as long as he
could, but then had to go, unfortunately no time was recorded for the run. Next up was Dennis Wratten in the
Dirty Harry IV Topolino against Neil Townson in the attractively engineered '32 Ford. Dennis laid down a
tremendous eighth-mile burnout, good enough for the Best Burnout points award, whilst Neil was experiencing
fluctuations in the oil pressure supply. At the hit, Dirty Harry stormed past the tree to record an
impressive and best to date 6.776/205.70 for the win, whilst Northern Spirit could only manage a 10.025/102.53.
Dave Grabham's newly'engined Freddy's Revenge had a solo when the Burning Desire of Pete Radcliffe
lost drive on firing up. Dave's Topolino ran a PB improvement to 7.427/174.43 with the Norm Wilding tune-up to
take the points. Nuthin' Fancy was requested to perform a solo half-pass to demonstrate control of the
larger, more powerful engine for Joe Bond to get to grips with. This was judged to be satisfactory for the
officials and Joe was approved for future paired runs, having run an 'easy' 11.44.
Eight of the ten teams were ready for the second call at 5.00 pm and were all about to pull down into the
staging lanes when it was announced that the track was shut for the day. Apparently a demo Pro Mod car had
got out of shape on the burnout, comprehensively demolished the Tree and smacked the barrier. Thankfully no-one
was hurt, apart from dented pride, but it was another round lost for the NFAA, a pity because the climactic
conditions were ideal.
Sunday was a complete rain-out for our class, so two further slots were lost. Monday dawned to yet more rain
and drizzle, finally ceasing at around 1.00 pm and the track was dried and re-prepped by 2.30 pm, thanks to the
sterling efforts of Bruno and all the track crew and marshals. We were allocated our final slot for 4.45 pm
and were ready on time, but with a somewhat depleted field of six teams: first round damage sidelining Northern
Spirit, Burning Desire, Havoc and Rebel 'T'.
The final session paired The Mob against Chaos, both nitro burners scheduled to run half-passes to
get some feedback on the new combinations. The cars left almost together, but Jim Usher had steering problems
caused by the front wheels being somewhat skyward, instead of in contact with the track. John Wright launched
hard with a 1.02 second sixty foot time and the car was planted and arrow straight, but at two hundred feet
severe tyre shake caused John to lift as his vision blurred over. Back in the pits, all the plugs came out.
It looked good and the oil was clean, so with a bit more clutch and fuel system tuning Chaos should
run the numbers.
Next up was Joe Bond paired against Dennis Wratten, but the Nuthin' Fancy car locked up solid prior to
the burnout, subsequently traced to a dropped valve, mashed piston and spun mains. So the Dirty Harry IV
Topolino had a solo, but Dennis wasn't about to take it easy, recording a 6.700/203.03 pass for an elapsed time
PB – more points to add to the Best Burnout points for the second time in a row. The Essex Boys are going to be
tough competitors to get around in 2008. Freddy's Revenge, shoed by Dave Grabham, had a bye run but
couldn't improve on his first run, carding an off the pace 8.906/125.15.
Finally, Björn Martensson got his chance in The Dog (so named because it bites), to begin his licensing
runs with a burnout, launch and sixty foot observed run. The car sounded very strong on an eighty per cent nitro
mix, but broke the reverser after the burnout and had to be pushed back so it could stage. On the green the car
left straight and true, with all candles lit and ran to over one hundred feet before Bjorn lifted.
Apart from the non-permitted push back, the Officials seemed satisfied with the first licencing run.
Björn and all his crew were relieved it was all over, were very enthusiastic and appreciative of the
support from all the NFAA Teams and promised to return soon to continue the process.
So the Event Winner, based on lowest ETs as the scheduled format was curtailed by the weather, was Dennis
Wratten. Runner-up was Dave Grabham, with John Wright and Neil Townson filling third and fourth spots
respectively.
It's War in Devon. 7th May: The Sunday Street Wars
return to Devon's Dakota Drag Strip this Sunday (11th May). Organiser and Eurodragster.com sponsor Lee Child tells
us that the concept of eighth-mile racing is going down a storm with South Western street racers. "We have heard
from a lot of people who attend Sunday Street Wars that they are buying performance parts to go quicker" says Lee.
There are also trophies for the handling circuit and the Show categories. For more details on the event including
entry and track fees and directions check out
www.streetnights.com.
"To continue our growth at Sunday Street Wars there are a number of advertising and sponsorship opportunities at
Dakota Drag Strip at very competitive rates", says Lee. "We are looking for sponsors from trophies right up to
Event Title. I am proud to say that our current sponsors have had increased business because of their association
with Dakota Drag Strip; a big thank you to Enginetuner ltd, Copyprint Depot, Devon Car Shows, Eclipse Photos,
and Chelston Valeting Centre". For advertising and sponsorship details contact Lee on 01803 554308.
Swift snippets. 7th May: UK Pro Stock Bike and Supertwin Gas racers Dave Beck and Ric Naylor are
looking for a crew member to assist at the Peak Performance Day and SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway on 13th-15th
June. "We need help getting Ric's and my bike ready and to the start line because the Championship-winning crew of Charlotte
is now looking after Penelope, Stephen is running his own bike, and Ric is now running his own bike as well as crewing for
me", says Dave. "The ability to ride a pit bike would be a help (Rules you out Shark - Ed). If you are interested in helping
and getting a hands-on insight into what goes into prepping and tuning the bikes over a race weekend then please contact
me on 07771 652139."
We are very pleased to welcome John Hackney as an Honorary Staff Member of
Eurodragster.com. Honorary Staff Membership is awarded on a very occasional basis to
non-sponsor individuals who have given us particularly strong practical or moral support
over the years and John has certainly done so both through his work on Santa Pod Raceway's
timing crew and as a companion at race events and at dinner.
Web site updates. 7th May: The official web site of the UK's Sportsman ET class has been updated with a report from the Springspeed Festival and a video of Nick Gay's Metro
pick-up on the dyno. "Which obviously worked for him at Big Bang!", says webmaster Nigel Holland. You can find the class' web site at
www.sportsman-et.co.uk.
Alan Currans has updated his excellent Acceleration Archive with a gallery of Saturday's action
at the Springspeed Festival at Shakespeare County Raceway. You can take a look via the What's New
page at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk.
Alan has been hard at work since he has also updated the official web site of the UK's Chaos AA Fuel
Altered with a report from the Springspeed Festival. "The weather played its part (again!) but the team were heartened by the single pass they
were able to make", says Alan. For the full lowdown click on News and then Latest News at
www.chaos-fuel-altered.com.
Photo-journalist Dick Parnham has updated his Fotopic gallery with shots from the 2006 FIA Main Event at Santa
Pod Raceway. You can check out Dick's pictures at
dickparnham.fotopic.net.
Patrik Jacobsson has updated the Racebilder web site with pictures from the
weekend's Test and Tune at Malmö's Meca Raceway. You can check out Patrik's pictures at
www.racebilder.nu.
The Hassebilder site at www.hassebilder.se
has also been updated from Meca, in this case with extensive video coverage.