|
Lucas Oil continue JD backing.
29th February: Eurodragster.com sponsor Lucas Oil Products
are pleased to announce the continued sponsorship of the Lucas Oil UK National Junior Dragster Championship.
Prizes will be presented to the winner and runner up at each round of the Championship. The prizes for the winner and runner-up are:
- Lucas Oil boxed detailing kit
- Lucas Oil T-Shirt
- Lucas Oil 2016 cap
- Lucas Oil Junior Dragster oil
- Lucas Oil lanyard
- Lucas Oil keyring
- Lucas Oil bag
The prizes will be distributed by Wayne and Brad Jackson at the track after each round. If you need Lucas Oil decals then please see Wayne Jackson in the Super Pro ET pits.
Swift snippets.
27th February: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com (right)
came with the words "Off on Monday". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line
at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.
Thanks to Ian Marshall for sending us Version 2 of the official entry list for the Festival of Power, which takes place
at Santa Pod Raceway on 25th-27th March. You can check out the entry list by clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. You can download Festival of Power entry forms from the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
Longtime readers will recall that timing data guru and Honorary Eurodragster.com Staff Member Andy Marrs was diagnosed with
a brain tumour in 2011 but that, being both a strong guy and not one to allow himself to be beaten by anything, he came back from it
very strongly. Marrs has written Taps Head, an inspiring memoir of his experiences starting before the diagnosis and
up to the present day which you can read by clicking here (PDF
format). We can definitely recommend a look in.
We would like to say a big Happy Birthday for today (Saturday) to SPRC start line marshal Darren Krauesslar. Have a
great day Darren. It came too late for yesterday's news update through no fault of their own but Nick South and Andy Williams
asked us to say a big Happy Birthday for yesterday (Friday) to Helen South. Hope you had a good birthday Helen.
Like Lisa's Innovation?
26th February: Courtesy of Eurodragster.com sponsor Derek Flynn and hot off the presses of fellow Eurodragster.com sponsor
Peter Walters Race Design is a rendering of the Super Pro ET dragster to be driven this year
by The Netherlands' Lightning Lisa Selles.
Sponsorship comes from GF Innovations Ltd, a new supporter of the sport, who design, manufacture
and distribute all things connector and cable for the telephone, telecom, computer, audio, AV, on-line media and security industries. In fact GFI have
designed and manufactured many bespoke connections to work with whatever you may be using and have designed and manufactured connections and cables for
the likes of BT and Sky.
Please show Derek, Director of Sales and Marketing at GFI, how much drag racing sponsorship is appreciated by Liking the GF Innovations Facebook
page.
Stay tuned for more news about the car and about GFI Innovations.
Street Eliminator set for 2016.
26th February: Ben Barnwell writes that with its first event of 2016 approaching, preparations are in full swing by the Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator
racers and organisers:
Title sponsors Topspeed Automotive have extended their sponsorship by a further three years, to the end of 2018, including an increase in prize money each year and discounts for racers and members
of the class. Billy himself will be bringing the famous Camaro out this year, so good luck to him! On The Bottle have also ignificantly increased their prize fund for this year; up to £1000 will be
distributed throughout the season. We retain our other class sponsors Zeon TV, Quarter Mile High, Webster Race Engineering, Power Pour, Insane Creations, Serck Motorsport, RPM Magazine, AW
Upholstery and Custom Car magazine. We would like to thank all our sponsors for their support and look forward to a great 2016. If any companies would like to sponsor the class
there are lots of opportunities available. We can create packages to suit your needs, please don't hesitate to contact me at benbarnwellse@gmail.com.
We have decided to create a new web site as the old site was not performing the way we needed. A news item will follow in a fortnight when the site is officially launched. To tie in with the new web site
we have also updated all social media, so Facebook is up to date and will have regular updates throughout the year and at the track. The new Instagram page Streeteliminator and new Twitter page
Seliminator are now active, so head over and give us a like and a follow to keep up with all updates from the class. There will be competitions and giveaways throughout the year!
2016 driver memberships are now available, and can be downloaded by clicking here (PDF format) or send me an E-Mail at the above address and I
will forward it to you. For 2016 we are also trying to encourage Associate Membership so that anyone can join in! Associate Membership is £25 per year for which members will be kept up to
date by E-Mail, and before each event one Associate will be randomly chosen to be a passenger on the famous Street Eliminator Cruise. Don't miss out on a chance to ride along in one of those amazing
cars which you see on track. You can download the Associate Membership form by clicking here (PDF format) or again send me an E-Mail at the above
address. Finally we would appreciate it if racers can fill in the Drivers' Information form for the benefit of track announcers, the new web site, Zeon TV, Eurodragster.com and other interested parties.
You can download the Drivers' Information form by clicking here (PDF format) or send me an E-Mail.
There will be another news update in two weeks concerning the new web site and the design of our new T-Shirt which will be available from the Festival of Power.
Eurodragster.com on the 18th.
26th February: Longtime and attentive readers will know that today (Friday) is Eurodragster.com's birthday. However, today is not
just any birthday: it is Eurodragster.com's 18th birthday. Of course it does not necessarily follow that just because we are now eighteen years
old we are going to start behaving like adults. Thanks to Andy Carter who sent our first news item in 1998 and to all of the racers, clubs, officials,
promoters, sponsors, fans, family, friends and everyone else without whose support we could not do this.
Whilst we are on the subject of birthdays, a very Happy Birthday to our good friend and Honorary Eurodragster.com Staff Member Darren Prentice
of Santa Pod Raceway. Have a great day Darren. Happy Birthday also to UK Fuel Funny Car racer Kevin Kent, you have a great day too Kevin, and
to safety crew member Geoff Quaife. Have a great day Geoff.
SFI 15.4 Top Fuel rear wheels.
24th February: Geoff Martin of the UK's Tech Crew has been in touch with a reminder about SFI 15.4 Top Fuel Dragster
rear wheels:
In the 2015 FIA regulations, the SFI 15.4 spec life was published as two years. This was incorrect and has been revised to one year in the 2016 FIA regulations.
Top Fuel rear wheels can be recertified during the SFI Tour in March.
Event entry update.
24th February: Ian Marshall has been in touch to let ET Bike racers know that the event entry forms on the Santa Pod Racers Club
web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc have been updated to show the class as ET Bike / NAST. ET Bike entrants should also note that
the race number prefix will be ETB then race number. If you finished in the top ten of Supertwin ET in 2015 then please contact Ian to discuss your 2016 race number at
ir.marshall@btconnect.com or on 01933 313625.
Ian Marshall has also forwarded Version 1 of the official entry list for the Festival of Power, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 25th-27th March. You can check
out the Festival of Power entry list by clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Entry for this event closes on 11th March,
which is a fortnight before the event instead of the usual three weeks. This is a one-off and the entry deadline for all other events remains at three weeks. You can download
Festival of Power entry forms from the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
Jerry Cookson writes that tickets and details have now been sent out for Saturday week's (5th March) APIRA / Supercharged Outlaws Trophy and Presentation Evening at the
Hilton Warwick. The evening will start in the bar at 6:00 pm. Dinner will be served at 7:00 pm followed by the main presentations at around 8:30 pm. "We would appreciate if the noise
can be kept down during the presentation", says Jerry. "It is only common courtesy both to the trophy winners and to MCs Barry Bohannon and Paul 'Oz' Wright. If you wish to hold
conversations then please remain at the bar. The raffle and disco provided by resident Kenny's Bar DJ Jamie will commence afterwards. Dress code for the evening is smart but casual.
Thank you for the continued support and we hope that you will enjoy your evening. For those racers who can't make the evening, your winner and runner-up trophies will be available at
the Springspeed Nationals if alternative arrangements haven't been made."
SPR seeking slicks for sleds.
24th February: Ian Marshall writes that Santa Pod Raceway are seeking used slicks for their sleds to help to prepare the strip before the Festival of Power.
If racers have any slicks which they no longer need then please get in touch with Ian ir.marshall@btconnect.com
or on 01933 313625. Collection will be arranged once Ian has an idea of the number available.
Enter Highlander II.
24th February: The journey that is a racing career doesn't start without a lot of help from a lot of people including friends and family, and the journey of UK Junior
Dragster racer Holley Marshall has been no exception. Holley's dad Ian writes:
Holley's journey started a few years ago when Keith Bartlett was kind enough to offer the use of Santa Pod's Junior Funny Car. With the help of Andy and Gordon, Holley took her first steps into
the world of competition. Sadly after two years Andy and Gordon had work commitments and couldn't continue crewing with the car, and at the same time Holley had outgrown the chassis and
we needed to find something else.
Whilst Holley was running the Funny Car, Andy Wheeler mentioned that if she outgrew the FC he may have a car which she could use. Following further discussions with Andy a deal was struck
and Holley now had a Junior Dragster to race. The Prestige by Europcar dragster was a state-of-the-art race car which Andy, Dionne, Jeff, James and of course Paige and Belle kept to a very high
standard. This car has now moved on to another pair of safe hands and you should look to see it do very well in 2016.
Unfortunately Holley keeps growing (Some would love to have been that unfortunate - Ed) and by the end of the 2015 season she was struggling to fit the Prestige car so a suitable alternative
was needed. Andy Wheeler's cars were I believe all sold, however Bob Wallace, who had been kind enough to allow Holley to use one of the family cars at Hockenheim last year as well as transporting
cars to and from Shakespeare County Raceway, had a car for sale. The car was tall enough in the roll cage to allow for growth and long enough in the pedals to allow six-foot-plus teenagers Jack and
Ben Skinner to have a go at Run What You Brung events. The car is ready for testing to ascertain the weight required in order to run the right side of the 7.90 index. Following conversations with Pete
Walters at Peter Walters Race Design the rendition is now complete as a wrap on the car and crew uniforms are on order.
That takes us to the beginning of 2016 and who knows what, but as mentioned this has already been a journey and those people that have helped need a mention. From Holley, Nikki, Jack, Ben and
myself Thank You to Keith Bartlett for starting Holley down this road, to Darren Prentice and Bob Day for their help in the background, to the Wheeler family who have been so much help and more,
to the whole Wallace family for looking after Holley and helping with the new car - and good luck to Annie with her new venture. Finally but by no means least we would like to say a huge Thank You
to Sue at the Pit Stop Café at Santa Pod. Sue and the Café sponsored Holley in 2015 and continue to sponsor her in 2016 and without their help we would not be in a position to race in
2016. Big thanks.
Swift snippets.
24th February: The Board of Selectors of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame met at Sywell last Sunday and agreed its inductees for 2016.
The names of this year's inductees will be announced here on Eurodragster.com and on the British Drag Racing
Hall of Fame web site during Dragstalgia weekend (15th-17th July). The induction ceremony will take place at the British Drag
Racing Hall of Fame Gala Awards Dinner at the Sheraton Skyline Hotel, Heathrow Airport on Saturday 19th November. If you wish to attend the Gala Dinner you may book places by contacting the BDRHoF
by E-Mail at stuart@britishdragracinghof.co.uk or by telephone at 01933 279102.
Web site updates.
24th February: The Circle K NHRA Winternationals kicked off the 2016 American drag racing season and four Swedes entered the tradition-rich first race at the
historic Auto Club Raceway at Pomona: Jonnie Lindberg and Ulf Leanders in Top Alcohol Funny Car, and Jimmy Ålund and Markus Svensson in Stock Eliminator. Jonnie Lindberg, the 2015
NHRA Lucas Oil Top Alcohol Funny Car Champion and defending Winternationals winner, had the best possible start of the season by bringing another Wally to the winners' circle. Ulf Leanders
was defeated in the quarter finals when he was hit by tyre shake, while Jimmy Ålund and Markus Svensson both pulled red lights in early rounds of eliminations. You can read more in
Remco Scheelings' excellent illustrated report at
www.dragracingeurope.eu.
Spitfire Raceway opens for 2016.
22nd February: After a successful event in December, Cornwall's Spitfire Raceway is getting ready for this Saturday's (27th) Drag and Drift Day. Lee Child
of Eurodragster.com sponsor LA Racing Parts writes:
At the December Drag and Drift 130 signed on to use the quarter mile and twenty signed on for drifting. This was a very impressive turnout with just two weeks to go before Christmas.
Including spectators there were just under a thousand people on site on a cold windy day. New blood racers, local racers, national racers and international racers all made up the event
content.
Tim Blakemore and Wendy Clutterbuck made the trip down from Bristol with the Kawaski Funny Bike with Supertwin racer Steve Clutterbuck making the trip from Brixham to
crew. Tim wanted to test to make sure that everything worked with the bike. There was a fantastic reaction from the spectators as Tim showed how much smoke you can make in a
burnout.
Super Pro ET racer and top five National Championship player Ian Powell went back to his roots and entertained the crowd with rolling burnouts from his Small Block-powered
pick-up truck. The original engine from the truck now sits comfortably in the frame rails of his dragster. Ian won the Cotsweld Best Engineered trophy as the truck was stunning.
Pro ET and Hot Rod Drag Week racer Tim Stanbury loaded up the Camaro with the family and headed to Spitfire Raceway. Tim's winning ways continued at the Cornish venue when he
took the honours in Street Muscle.
The next event is looking even bigger with lots of good interest and pre-bookings already received. After a twenty two-year lay-off, Glen Child is planning to test his new blown methanol
Rodeck-powered T altered and ease himself back into the driving seat.
The quarter mile Test and Tune will be open to everyone, street legal or competition. Other attractions are drifting, Show and Shine and club stands, and you can drive Spitfire Raceway's
skid pan car in the skid pan areas. We have many trophies to give out for different categories for the drag strip and we are going to see many track records this Saturday. Admission is
£10 per person, under-16s are free. Drag strip sign-on is £10 for one run , £20 for three runs, or £35 for unlimited runs. Passenger rides are £20 per
person.
Come and join us at one of the most picturesque venues for quarter mile action in the UK. Spitfire Raceway is located on Perranporth Airfield, Perranporth, Cornwall TR5 0XS
(map). For more info check out Spitfire Raceway, Cornwall on
Facebook.
Junior Dragster/FC inspection update.
21st February: Further to our news item of 21st
January, Ian Marshall of Santa Pod Racers Club tells us that there are still five slots available for Junior Dragster and Junior
Funny Car chassis inspections at the SFI Day at Santa Pod Raceway on Monday 14th March.
Chassis tech applies to Junior Modified Dragsters, Junior Modified Advanced Dragsters and Junior Funny Cars and once the
car is inspected the chassis sticker is good for three years. Santa Pod Racers Club are bearing the cost of this season's inspections
at whichever event they take place.
If you would like to book your Junior chassis for inspection at the SFI Day, or if you have any queries, then please
contact Ian at ir.marshall@btconnect.com or call 01933 313625. If you can't
make the SFI Day then Junior chassis can of course be inspected at the Festival of Power and subsequent events.
ET Bike update.
19th February: Tony Smith has been in touch with an update on the UK's new ET Bike class, which will be contested at
Santa Pod and Shakespeare County Raceways this season as APIRA and SPRC Championships:
After a couple of years of trying, the ACU have now accepted ET Bike into the rulebook with the help of Steve Johnson and SPRC.
This year there are eight meetings for ET Bike, four at each track; please see Eurodragster.com's
Riders' and Drivers' Meeting report for this season's dates.
If you are interested in entering ET Bike then both you will be required to conform to ACU Regulations Section 17, page 354 (bike)
and Section 7, page 342 (clothing). The ACU Handbook can be found at
www.acu.org.uk
You will also need a Clubman Drag licence, or if running nitro a National Licence. To get a licence you need to be a member of ether
APIRA or SPRC. A code number is also required, which can be obtained from the club before applying to the ACU.
If you are new to drag racing you will have to complete observed runs (Handbook Section 2, page 330) before you can race.
These can be done at non-permit events such as Public Track Weekends and Run What You Brungs at both Shakespeare County
and Santa Pod Raceways so long as there is a ACU Clerk of the Course present.
This year the National Association of Supertwins' ET class will be run within ET Bike at both tracks to help get it established. Further
to the Riders' and Drivers' Meeting, I had a discussion with an NAST Committee member and it has been decided that Supertwin Gas
at Shakespeare County Raceway will be open to any non-members of NAST similarly to Supertwin Top Gas as run by SPRC. This again
will help to boost numbers in the class.
I am looking forward to hopefully seeing good numbers in each class at both tracks. All the best for the 2016 and see you there.
Welcoming Nostalgia Superstock.
19th February: The UK Nostalgia Superstock Association (formerly Stock / Superstock
Association) is pleased to announce that it is to run its first three-round Championship this year:
Nostalgia Superstock is for stock-bodied pre-1980 American V8 cars which can run between 9.00 and 14.99 seconds. If you like your muscle cars to run as God intended - without power adders and four-links,
then this could be the class for you (BTW other deities are available). The class will run on a .500 Sportsman Tree, and drivers will need to be a member of the UKNSA.
After the class ran at Dragstalgia for the last five years, Pete Walton thought that it was time to take it to the next level. With that in mind, he organised a meeting with Santa Pod officials, who kindly agreed
to two additional dates on the calendar. The class will run at:
Big Bang, Santa Pod Raceway 22nd-24th April
SPRC Summernationals, Santa Raceway 25th-26th June
Dragstalgia, Santa Pod Raceway 15th-17th July
There will be trophies for winner and runner-up, and £20 is on offer for number one qualifier at each event.
Big Bang and Dragstalgia are to be run under RWYB rules, but the SPRC Summernationals is a permit event, therefore cars will be required to pass scrutineering and drivers will need to have an MSA
licence and Club membership. Observed runs can be completed at Big Bang or at any Run What You Brung prior to the Summernationals, provided you have your licence handy to be signed off.
The class is once again generously sponsored by Andy Robinson Race Cars.
More details about UK Nostalgia Superstock can be found on the group's Facebook page.
Swift snippets.
19th February: It came too late to make yesterday's news update so a Happy 70th Birthday for yesterday (Thursday) to
blown-Daimler legend and British Drag Racing Hall of Fame member Russ Carpenter. Hope you had a great day, Russ.
We have filled out Eurodragster.com's John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage schedule for 2016.
The schedule remains provisional; events may yet be added or removed. You can check out our 2016 Event Coverage schedule by
clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand
side of any Eurodragster.com page. In the interests of aggro-avoidance please read the Schedule carefully including all the small print.
Vincents return to Long Marston.
19th February: If you were under the misapprehension that the classic Vincent legend was a race bike devoted to old-style road racing then think again!
The Coventry Section of the Vincent Owners Club has set aside a day in their busy 2016 calendar for a quarter-mile sprint at Shakespeare County Raceway on 17th April. Jerry Cookson
writes:
In the early days of sprinting, organised by the National Sprint Association, and drag racing Vincents became a popular mode of transport from getting the rider from point A to point B in
the shortest possible time. One of Sprinting's all time greats was George Brown riding his 1000 cc Nero and Super Nero 1500 cc sprint bikes in the mid-sixties. George was
also often seen at NSA-organised and Evesham Auto Club Sprints at Long Marston, as well as taking many National and World Records at other airfield venues across the British Isles .
During the seventies many of the sport's riders were using good old Vincent power for drag racing! One leading exponent was Brian Chapman on his 500 cc Mighty Mouse and later
an 1100cc twin supercharged Vee Twin Super Mouse. In fact records show that Brian's Super Mouse was the last ever Vincent to race in anger down the Long Marston quarter
mile in 1981. The occasion was the final of the Transatlantic Drag Bike Race against Dutchman Henk Vink. In fact Brian came back into the show on a technicality having been eliminated in
the semi-finals. Due to a torched cylinder head sustained by visiting American rider Bo O'Brochta, Brian was drafted back in on the break rule. In the end it was all Henk as his Big Spender
Kawasaki shot to the finish line in 8.6 seconds to Brian's gallant 9.01.
In today's world there are not many active Vincents about in the drag and sprint world: examples include Maurice Brierley's Methamon sidecar outfit in the hands of Chris Illman, and
Derek Chinn's restoration of Pegasus – Reborn ridden at Nostalgia events by Graham Martin.
The line up for the April event is already increasing. Chris will be bringing along Methamon for a few outings along with the racing Vincents of Tim Kingham, Roland Mettam's 1020cc 100 bhp
MogVin Special three-wheeler originally built by Roy Ward, and Chris Chant with his HRD TTR. Also coming to display and perform fire-ups in the pits is Brian Chapman with his classic 500 cc
Vincent Comet Super Mouse and the blown Mighty Mouse.
Further information about the event can be found on the Coventry Section web site at www.coventryvoc.co.uk. Select the calendar
and open Vincents at Shakespeare County Raceway.
Santa Pod's new bike festival.
19th February: A brand-new biking extravaganza will début at Santa Pod Raceway this spring, supported by leading UK motorcycle event organiser
Mortons Media Group. Race, Rock'n'Ride will take place on the weekend of 21st-22nd May, offering two days of non-stop biking action at one of the world's most famous drag racing venues.
With the two premier classic bike shows at Stafford and the four-day International Dirt Bike Show among its packed calendar, Mortons will be lending a wealth of experience to an established set-up
at Santa Pod – as well as bringing two of its magazine stable on board as event partners. Back Street Heroes will sponsor a Show and Shine for retro rides, custom bikes and everything in
between, while Fast Bikes will lend its name to the venue's popular Run What Ya Brung in which showgoers can experience Santa Pod's iconic drag strip first-hand in their own vehicle.
Mortons' Exhibition Manager Nick Mowbray said "We're really excited to be working with Santa Pod to introduce Race, Rock'n'Ride. It's going to be an adrenaline-fuelled addition to a
packed show calendar."
Those in attendance will have the chance to witness a world record-breaking Jet Car – capable of clocking up a ground-shaking 336 mph in 5.763 seconds – and those daring enough can participate
in two-seater dragster rides which hit an eye-watering top speed of 170 mph in just eight seconds. Places are limited, so those interested are advised to book soon.
Stunt bikes, wheelies, burnouts, monster trucks, trade stands and bike displays will provide further interest for all two-wheel enthusiasts. The action will continue in the venue's Fuelers Bar with leading
AC/DC tribute act Live/Wire set to perform as part of live evening entertainment.
Nick added "There are loads of activities for punters of all ages to get involved in. From ogling dream bikes to taking a ride on the Red Dragon Monster Trucks, customers won't
be disappointed. We're sure this will be a festival to remember for all motorcycle enthusiasts, and we certainly can't wait to see Live/Wire top the bill on Saturday night."
One-day advance tickets can be purchased for just £13 for adults – a 35% saving on gate price – or a whole weekend pass which includes camping and entry to the evening entertainment
is just £23. Booking fees apply; advance ticket sales close at 5:00 pm on 13th May.
More information will be announced in the build-up to the event; for more details and to buy tickets visit www.racerockride.com.
Mintex sponsor 2016 Allards.
19th February: The Sydney Allard Media Awards for Written and Photographic Journalism will be presented for the third consecutive year
at the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Gala Awards Dinner at the Sheraton Skyline Hotel,
Heathrow Airport on Saturday 19th November.
The Hall of Fame is delighted to announce that this year's Allard Awards will be sponsored by Mintex,
manufacturers of brake pads since 1908 and one of the sponsors of the 1964 Dragfests. Lawrence Bleasdale from Mintex said "Having been 'in at the start'
supporting Sydney Allard from his very beginnings as a manufacturer, Mintex are delighted to support these awards given by BDRHoF in his name."
Established in 2014 in memory of the founding father of British drag racing, the Allard Awards celebrate the best of the past year's written and photographic drag
racing journalism and salute the vital contribution of the media to the sport's wellbeing and success. Entries are now invited from writers and photographers, amateur
or professional, to reflect coverage of British drag racing and associated activities during the year ending July 2016. Entries will close at the end of July. The winning
entrant in each category will be invited, together with a companion, to attend the Hall of Fame Gala in November and receive a crystal trophy in recognition of his or
her achievement.
The Written Journalism Award will be presented to the author of what is in the judges' opinion the year's best article, feature, book or blog, published or unpublished,
in print or on-line. The Photographic Journalism Award will be presented for the best picture taken during the same period and under the same criteria. The judging
panel will include Guy Loveridge, Chairman of the Guild of Motoring Writers, motoring connoisseur and Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, and the Editor of Octane
Magazine, David Lillywhite. Writers and photographers may make multiple entries but each entry must be accompanied by a separate entry form to enable the judges
to collate them accurately.
Full entry details are available on the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame web site at
www.britishdragracinghof.co.uk/allard-award-entries.
Ticket prices for the 2016 BDRHoF Gala Awards Dinner remain as last year at £60 per person. Corporate tables of 10 are available at £580. For advance booking of tickets contact BritishDRHOF@aol.com or telephone Stu Bradbury on 01933 279102.
SFI Tour change.
18th February: Many thanks to Arnie Kuhns of the SFI Foundation for
letting us know that the venue of the SFI Tour's stop in Finland has changed. The Finland date remains Friday 11th March but the venue is now the
FHRA offices at Helsinki-Malmi airport, 00700 Helsinki (map).
The amended SFI Tour itinerary is as follows:
Thursday 10th March: DHRA, Aambeeld 11, 1969 NC Heemskerk, The Netherlands (08:00-12:00)
Friday 11th March: FHRA office, Helsinki-Malmi Airport, 00700 Helsinki, Finland (08:00-12:00)
Saturday 12th March: Persåkers Speed Shop, Solbergavagen 28, Åkers Styckebruk, Sweden (12:00-17:00)
Monday 14th March: Santa Pod Raceway, Airfield Road, Podington, United Kingdom (10:00-16:00)
Outlaw Anglia honours.
18th February: Paul Wright has been in touch with details of the UK Outlaw Anglia racers' Trophy Evening which took place
in Coventry recently. Thanks to Callum Pudge for the pictures:
Cliff Griffin and team dominated the 2015 Championship, picking up their sixth winner's trophy in as many years
|
Mat Cooper had a great season in the Cooper Brothers' Small Block-powered Anglia, dipping into the sevens and finishing runner-up in the Championship
|
Mat and team were voted winners of the Debbie Hancox Memorial Trophy (left to right Graham Nock, Adam Cooper, Bob Hancox, Mat Cooper, Carole Hancox)
|
This year Penny Bird organised a raffle which raised £425 for the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance (left to right Penny Bird, Martyn Payne, Mat Cooper)
|
Thanks to Gary and Penny Bird for arranging the venue and catering, to Martyn Payne for dishing out the awards, to all those who donated raffle prizes, and to everybody who attended to
make it a great night. The seven-round 2016 Outlaw Anglia Championship kicks off at Big Bang at Santa Pod Raceway on 23rd-24th April.
Web site updates.
18th February: Eurodragster.com Photographer Julian has updated his personal web site with pictures from the
2015 NitrOlympX at Hockenheim. You can check out Julian's shots at
www.julianhunt.net.
Still living the dream!
17th February: Regular readers will recall that UK Outlaw Anglia racer Colin Millar recently took his Flyin' Fyfer
Pop from Scotland to the USA to live the dream. Although the Pop suffered engine damage in Las Vegas Colin and the team had a great time - and
that's just the bits about which he will talk - and he has now revealed that he managed to get through customs with a Top Methanol Funny Car in
his suitcase. Colin takes up the story:
As most people know we had an absolutely fantastic time in America last October and November, racing in five different events and trying to do everything we possibly could in
between each meeting. We initially raced at ANRA in Bakersfield on 16th-18th October. It was a great family event where we ran in B/Gas which allowed us the confidence that
our car and our set up were up to racing alongside others in the field. We were really well looked after and help would come in many forms. A special thanks to Butch Headrick
and his family who run this event and who looked after our every need, also a special thanks to the Guv, aka Paul Wright, for crewing duties that weekend. I was very much
appreciated.
After a quick nip up to San Francisco we returned to Famoso late the following Wednesday to prepare for the California Hot Rod Reunion. We were reunited with our crew Scott
Crookston and Nicole Wardrobe as well as Barnaby Levy, Jim Fairbairn, Sheila Climie and the continued help of Paul Wright as well as many UK friends who gave us so much support
and help. Imagine sitting on the start line on Famoso race track in my own Ford Pop... was this a dream? Yes of course it was, a dream I had for many years, so much emotion and so
many memories, what an event! We ran in Exhibition class and this allowed us to have fun and dial in the car for Super Comp in Vegas, a huge thanks to Big John Howard from
Bakersfield - one of life's true gentlemen - and all the friends we met who looked after us all the time we were there. We never cooked a meal or bought a drink the whole time!
Onwards again with a nice relaxing stop off in Death Valley at Furnace Creek, a treat for the ladies then on to Las Vegas for the Mellow Yellow Toyota Nationals. I couldn't take in
how many cars were racing and how big the fields were, what an experience just to be there let alone race. We rolled up in Super Comp and I think all the 124 cars... well, not cars
but dragsters, I thought I had made a mistake and rolled up in the wrong class! They kept looking for throttle stops and delay boxes, but I managed to persuade them that no. I was
in fact in the right class. Thanks to Jim and Kym Fissel for their crewing duties and again all the loyal UK spectators who came round with words of encouragement. Our crowning
glory was winning a Wally for Best Appearing Crew, a very proud moment indeed for us all.
Back into Vegas and what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Then back to track to the Lucas Oil Divisional Series racing in Top Sportsman. Finally I could run quick with a little help
from some NOS. We started steadily with better times then the red mist came down and I opted for a challenging tune-up which I liked but my pistons did not. So we took out
seven pistons and that was that. We drowned our sorrows back in Vegas before leaving on Wednesday to go to Pomona for the Mellow Yellow Finals, again what an event and what
great people! We stuck the car in the viewing circle where again I met so many great people. We watched some amazing racing, I was so pleased to sit in the stand and watch Jonnie
Lindberg win the final, so well deserved and we wish him the very best for 2016 with a great start at the Winternationals.
I tried to show the trip as it was on a daily Blog on my Facebook page, I did not want to rub it in anyone's face but to let others see what excitement and great times can be had by
taking on this adventure, the only down side is that I am still paying off the three credit card bills!
What made the trip? Most probably the American people who made us so welcome and helped us at every stage. They offered us trailers, tools, houses to stay in and they were so
amazed that a daft boy from Scotland would ship his car all the way to race in their state and in most races beat them, please note no cherries!
So before the trip as - it took a year or more to plan - my thoughts were of course "What's next?". You always dream away to yourself when time allows and I did think there was a
very remote possibility of stumbling across a car when I was over there and maybe, just maybe, bringing it home with me. Thing did progress and I had a number of possible cars in
my sights.
From a very early age I fancied campaigning a Fuel Altered and I was very close to buying a Nostalgia Fuel Altered but in the end I flew to Reno where I met up again with a real
gentleman named Ricky Ruiz aka the Nevada Rattler who has raced at every level for the past fifty one years. He had a possible opportunity, we did a deal, and then I then became
the proud owner of a Top Methanol Funny Car. There were the logistics of getting it back to Grangemouth and it seemed to take forever, but last week the Pop and the Funny Car
eventually landed and the waiting was over!
The car is a 125" wheelbase 1999 Pontiac Trans Am built by Chuck Worsham with 500 inch KB block with dry sump, Dart Billet Heads, Kobelco 14-71 blower, dual Mallory mags, titanium
bellhousing, B&J three-speed trans, and Chrisman 10½" rear. The car has run 6.09/229 on a soft tune and the Flyin' Fyfer Drag Racing Team have high hopes with for new addition
to the stable.
We need to carry out a complete stripdown and rebuild as well as certification and all the required logistics that goes with it and being realistic we are hoping to début this
Funny Car in 2017.
We will be continuing to race the Pop in Outlaw Anglia and don't see this changing, however there will be a new face in the driving seat this year. Our crew chief Scott Crookston will be
taking the wheel as I will be taking a step back and crew for Scott.
What we will need going forward is a new, dynamic crew. We have no real experience with this type of car and are looking for people who are willing to join us and make this a winning
formula going forward. We have not bought this car to go out and drive it slowly, we want to push the boundaries but with knowledgeable heads around us. You all know where we are
located and anyone interested can either contact me on Facebook or by E-Mail at cmillar@dp-sgroup.co.uk.
We have a strong brand with the Flyin' Fyfer Drag Racing Team and we are looking for a number of sponsors to allow this dream to become reality. There are many ways we can market
and promote this partnership going forward. All of these opportunities can be real something you can be involved in directly and be a part of, whether it's a staff engagement reward,
a corporate facility or a marketing opportunity. There are many ways to get involved but also get something real back, we want to campaign this new opportunity and with your help we
can make it happen.
I hope you like the proposed new look of the Funny Car. We do not want to drift away from our strong brand. A special thanks for all the hard work from a very talented Callum Pudge
who pulled this together for us.
Again a huge thanks from all at The Flyin Fyfer Drag Racing Team and we will hopefully see you all very soon at the track.
Preparing the next step...
16th February: Finland's Petteri Liimatainen has big plans for his ongoing drag racing career. Now sixteen, Petteri started racing when he was
only seven and finished his Junior Dragster career with a third place trophy in the 2016 EDRS Series. Leena of the PL-Power Racing Team writes:
In March Petteri will be attending Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School in Gainesville, USA. He will drive one of the Hawley School dragsters, and hopes to come back
home with an NHRA licence in his pocket.
"I'm really excited, this is a great opportunity for me", says Petteri. "It's fantastic to be able to get to the Hawley School. So many of the best drag racers attended Frank
Hawley's courses in the early days of their careers. I'm really looking forward to driving a full-sized dragster and also getting to see world-class racing at the Gatornationals!"
Leena says that you will be able to stay in touch with Petteri's trip on Facebook at Boy Racer Finland and that the team will keep us posted with their dragster
project.
Miss STP and The Shoe attend HoF Gala.
15th February: To any UK drag racing enthusiast of a certain age, the names Paula Murphy and Don Schumacher conjure
a special moment in time: the Summer of '73. Heading a band of American racers attending that year's July Internationals at Santa Pod Raceway,
the pair unleashed the first full-tilt American Fuel Funny Cars seen on these shores and seared the occasion into the minds of all who witnessed
it. The spectacular, ground-shaking Funnies were all the rage across the Atlantic, drawing huge crowds to America's dragstrips. Paula and Don
together created a seminal moment in the sport's British history.
The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame is therefore proud to announce that
Paula Murphy and Don Schumacher will be reunited on UK soil for the first time as honoured guests at its 2016 Gala Awards Dinner, to be held on
Saturday 19th November at the Sheraton Skyline Hotel at London's Heathrow Airport.
To a modern drag racing audience, Don Schumacher is proprietor of the most powerful team in America's NHRA Drag Racing Championship. Since its
foundation in 1997, Don Schumacher Racing's drivers have won no fewer than fourteen NHRA Championships in the Top Fuel Dragster and Funny Car
divisions, including eight Top Fuel titles for Don's son, Tony, at the wheel of the US Army dragster. Yet Don once had an illustrious driving
career of his own.
Having set out as a Sportsman racer in 1963 he switched to the new, professional Funny Car class in 1966 and became one of its greatest stars
as the class took drag racing by storm. A year after his Santa Pod visit in 1973, he retired to lead his family's Schumacher Electric Corporation
and develop the company into the world's foremost manufacturer of battery chargers.
Paula Murphy, now 87, has been retired from professional driving for forty years. Her time in drag racing was just one element of a career remarkable
for its diversity. She began as an amateur sports car circuit racer in the late 1950s and decided to go full-time in 1963. There followed an
extraordinary litany of accomplishments. She set new records for US transcontinental driving, both east-west from coast to coast and north-south from
border to border. She set land speed records at Bonneville and became the first woman to drive a jet-engined car on the Salt Flats. She became the
first woman to lap the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at speed during a 1963 test session and set subsequent women's records in NASCAR machinery.
Paula was the first woman to be granted an NHRA Funny Car licence. She enjoyed a long association with Andy Granatelli's STP Corporation and it was
in the guise of Miss STP that she made her trip to England. On her return, she took the tiller of the STP Rocket Dragster and survived a near-fatal
crash, breaking her neck. Once recovered, she returned to drag racing before driving right around the world on the US Bicentennial Global Record Run.
Unable to top that experience, she chose to call an end to her professional driving career.
Following their 1973 appearances in England, both star drivers returned home but their respective Funny Cars – Don's Stardust Barracuda and
Paula's Miss STP Plymouth Duster – remained here to form the keystone of a class which would become the most popular attraction in British
drag racing for many seasons to come.
Don Schumacher said "I remember the warm reception Paula and I received in 1973 and I think we put on a pretty good show. I love drag racing, it is
a unique family atmosphere, not just my personal family but all the other competitors in racing."
Paula Murphy said "I am very happy to be able to return to England after a thrilling time we had over forty years ago match racing Funny Cars for
the first time in front of European fans."
BDRHoF Chair Stu Bradbury said "It is fantastic news that after more than forty years Paula and Don, who were key players in the 1973 International,
both plan to join us at our Gala Dinner at the Sheraton Skyline on 19th November."
Ticket prices for the 2016 BDRHoF Gala Awards Dinner remain as last year at £60 per person. Corporate tables of 10 are available at £580. You can book your tickets for the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Gala Dinner by E-Mailing
stuart@britishdragracinghof.co.uk or by telephone on 01933 279102.
A Gala booking also allows access to a special web link to book hotel rooms at the Sheraton Skyline at a concessionary rate.
Photos courtesy and ©Roger Phillips and The Acceleration Archive
(car shots) and Mark Rebilas (Don Schumacher portrait)
Swift snippets.
12th February: Congratulations to Sweden's Jonnie Lindberg who started as he means to go on in the defence of his
NHRA Lucas Oil Top Alcohol FC Championship with victory in the Circle K NHRA Winternationals at Pomona. Jonnie qualified #1 and bested
the sixteen-car field taking the win over John Lombardo Jr, also taking Low ET of the event. You can check out results on
Drag Race Central at www.dragracecentral.com and the weekend's pitside
coverage at www.lindbergbros.com.
Tony Froome.
14th February: We were sorry to hear of the death of Tony 'Cobra' Froome who raced Pro Fuel Dragsters and Funny Cars from the mid 1970s and appeared with the
Wild Bunch and Supercharged Outlaws in the 2000s.
Many of Tony's cars included Sun in their title. Sundowner was the 1976 Pro Fuel Dragster with the then-fashionable wheel fairings that qualified at the legendary Garlits meeting. Tony
also raced Funny Cars called Sundance, the first being a radically-altered and rear engined Vauxhall VX4/90, previously owned by Ed Shaver and Peter Barnett. Then there was an A/Modified
Corvette called Sunray and raced by wife Carol.
Following a spell in stock cars, Tony's drag racing career started by entering his street 'Vette in a 1974 Long Marston meeting which he won. He then bought the ex-Benbow & Fullerton injected Pontiac
Top Dragster dubbed Nitromania, before moving up to the premier class. His team, including brother Trace and Chief Mechanic Graham Swan, were based in Hockley, Birmingham. After another
spell in Brisca F1 Stock Cars, he came back in an altered in 2000. His cars were always immaculately prepared with distinctive Stars and Stripes-themed paint jobs. As recently as
2009 Tony made an appearance at SCR with a Beretta bodied methanol Funny Car.
Our condolences to Tony's family, to members of his team, and to his friends.
UK Riders' and Drivers' Meeting report.
14th February: The 2016 UK Riders' and Drivers' meeting took place this afternoon (Sunday)
at the Hilton Hotel in Northampton. The official minutes of the meeting will be published in due course but
these are the main points:
The dates of this year's UK Championship rounds are listed below.
Entry forms for events at Santa Pod Raceway will shortly be available on Santa Pod Racers Club
web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc and forms for events at Shakespeare County
Raceway will shortly be available on the Shakespeare County Raceway web site at
www.shakespearecountyraceway.com.
Closing dates are listed on the entry forms and reminders will of course be posted here on Eurodragster.com.
All teams intending to field more than one driver or rider for the same vehicle must send a list of the
season's drivers to Ian Marshall or Yvonne Tramm at SPRC before the Festival of Power.
| Cars |
Top
Methanol |
MSA Pro
Modified |
Comp
Eliminator |
Super Pro
ET |
Pro ET |
Sportsman
ET |
Super
Comp |
Super
Gas |
Super
Street |
Street
Eliminator |
Junior
Dragster |
Festival of Power
Santa Pod Raceway
25th-27th March |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
Big Bang
Santa Pod Raceway
22nd-24th April |
|
|
|
|
|
✔ |
|
|
|
|
✔ |
Springspeed Nationals
Shakespeare County Raceway
30th April-2nd May |
|
|
|
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
FIA/FIM European Championships - The Main Event
Santa Pod Raceway
27th-30th May |
✔
FIA |
✔
FIA & MSA |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
|
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
SPRC Summernationals
Santa Pod Raceway
25th-26th June |
|
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
Bug Jam
Santa Pod Raceway
22nd-24th July |
|
|
|
|
|
✔ |
|
|
|
✔ |
✔
non-points |
Mopar Euronationals
Santa Pod Raceway
29th-31st July |
|
✔ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Open Sport Nationals
Shakespeare County Raceway
27th-29th August |
|
|
|
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
FIA/FIM European Championships - The Finals
Santa Pod Raceway
8th-11th September |
✔
FIA |
✔
FIA & MSA |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
|
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
UK National Finals
Santa Pod Raceway
24th-25th September |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
ET Bike has been introduced this season as two Club Championships but not a UK National Championship.
It is for bikes running 8.70 seconds or slower and will run off a Sportsman Tree and an ET ladder.
Rules can be found on page 354 of the 2016
ACU Handbook (PDF format).
Supertwin ET will run with ET Bike and the National Association of Supertwins Co-ordinator will extract NAST points from the class
results.
Big Bang is again not a UK National Championship round for 8.50 Bike and 9.50 Bike but is a round of the
SPRC Championships for 8.50 Bike and 9.50 Bike.
Shakespeare County Raceway are hosting additional UK National Championship rounds for 8.50 Bike and 9.50 Bike and rounds for ET Bike on
11th-12th June and 23rd-24th July.
| Bikes |
Top Fuel
Bike |
Pro Stock
Bike |
Funny
Bike |
Super Street
Bike |
Comp
Bike |
8.50
Bike |
9.50
Bike |
Junior Drag
Bike |
ACU Supertwin Top Gas /
NAST Supertwin Gas |
ACU ET Bike /
NAST Supertwin ET |
Festival of Power
Santa Pod Raceway
25th-27th March |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
Springspeed Nationals
Shakespeare County Raceway
30th April-2nd May |
|
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔
NAST |
✔ |
FIA/FIM European Championships - The Main Event
Santa Pod Raceway
27th-30th May |
✔
FIM |
✔
FIM |
|
✔
FIM |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Public Track Weekend
Shakespeare County Raceway
11th-12th June |
|
|
|
|
|
✔ |
✔ |
|
✔
NAST |
✔ |
SPRC Summernationals
Santa Pod Raceway
25th-26th June |
|
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
Public Track Weekend
Shakespeare County Raceway
23rd-24th July |
|
|
|
|
|
✔ |
✔ |
|
✔
NAST |
✔ |
Open Sport Nationals
Shakespeare County Raceway
27th-29th August |
|
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔
NAST |
✔ |
FIA/FIM European Championships - The Finals
Santa Pod Raceway
8th-11th September |
✔
FIM |
✔
FIM |
|
✔
FIM |
|
|
|
|
|
|
UK National Finals
Santa Pod Raceway
24th-25th September |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
Extreme Performance Bike Weekend
Santa Pod Raceway
15th-16th October |
|
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
This season's Entry Fees are as below. APIRA entry fees remain as they were last season.
Prize money has again been increased by 2% this season. SPRC will not be paying prize
money by cheque but will pay by BACS immediately after an event.
2015 Santa Pod Racers Club Champions will again receive free entry to rounds at
Santa Pod Raceway in 2016. Free entry applies even if you change classes.
At FIA and FIM events SPRC will cover the equivalent of the National
Championship entry fee for Pro Modified, Pro Stock Bike and Super Street Bike. In the case of teams
with more than one driver, one team driver per event will receive the free entry. Pitside power must
still be paid for. The free entry must be used during 2016.
Super Pro ET (Santa Pod and Shakespeare County Raceways) and Comp Eliminator (Santa Pod Raceway)
will receive five crew tickets starting this season, up from four. Super Pro ET will now also receive
four start line passes, up from three.
The late entry deadline for the Festival of Power is two weeks before the event rather than the
usual three weeks. The late entry deadline for all other events remains at three weeks before the event.
The cancellation deadline for all events remains at 48 hours but starting this season SPRC will
return entry fees immediately if cancellation is received in time.
| Class |
Two-day event |
Three-day event |
Four-day event |
| MSA British Pro Modified; Top Fuel Dragster; Fuel Funny Car; Top Methanol; Nostalgia Funny Car |
£160 |
£170 |
n/a
NB FIA classes pay FIA fees for FIA European Championship
events |
| ET classes; Super classes; Junior Dragster; Comp Eliminator;
Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator; VW classes; Outlaw Flat Four; Wild Bunch; Outlaw Anglia; Nostalgia Super Stock; other Sportsman car classes |
£130 |
SPRC: £145
APIRA: £130 |
£170 |
| ACU Top Fuel Bike |
£165 |
£170 |
n/a
NB FIM classes pay FIM fees for FIM European
Championship events |
| ACU Funny Bike; ACU Pro Stock Bike; ACU Comp Bike; ACU Super
Street Bike; 9.50 Bike; 8.50 Bike; ACU Supertwin Gas; NAST Supertwin Gas; ACU ET Bike / NAST Supertwin ET; Junior
Drag Bike |
SPRC: £135
APIRA: £130 |
SPRC: £150
APIRA: £135
APIRA JDB: £105 |
n/a |
| Jet Car |
£155 |
£170 |
TBC |
| Exhibition |
£165 |
£170 |
TBC |
Fees for pitside power supply at Santa Pod Raceway have again been frozen this season.
It was again stressed that the power fee is for one hook-up for the racer.
| Event duration |
Single phase |
Three phase |
| 2 days |
£45 |
£145 |
| 3 days |
£55 |
£155 |
| 4 days |
£65 |
£170 |
Other business
A statement was read from the management of Shakespeare County Raceway that it is business
as usual in 2016 (see below). A further statement will be made about the future when the situation
becomes more clear.
The 2016 UK rule book is being printed at present and will be available from 24th February.
The rules will again be distributed on USB memory sticks but printed versions will be available from
the Clubs.
Starting this season throttle stops will be permitted in all classes with the exception of
Comp Eliminator. Delay boxes are still banned in ET classes and Comp Eliminator and if a delay box-equipped
car runs in a Super class then it must still be proven that the delay box is disabled. The Tech Committee
have been investigating a method of wiring transbrake buttons to demonstrably bypass the delay box and an
addendum showing this method will be included with the 2016 rule book.
Traction control is now permitted in all Sportsman car classes. It is not permitted in ACU bike
classes.
Junior Modified Dragster and Junior Modified Advanced Dragster chassis need to be certified
starting this season. The chassis inspectors will be at the SFI Day at Santa Pod Raceway on Monday 14th March
and course at race events. SPRC will pay for the inspections this season; the tag will last for three years
and the inspection fee will be £15 thereafter.
A prototype silencer for JM and JMA Junior dragsters will shortly be tested and will then be
made available. These will become mandatory in 2017. More details will be released once
testing has been completed and it is hoped that examples will be available for inspection at the
Festival of Power.
Santa Pod Raceway and SPRC propose to introduce specific pit bay sizes at Santa Pod
Raceway from 2017.
Santa Pod Racers Club will be running a Top Fuel Bike Championship at the Festival of Power,
FIA/FIM Main Event, FIA/FIM European Finals and UK National Finals.
Nostalgia Funny Car will run at Big Bang, the Festival of Power, SPRC Summernationals and UK National Finals.
Super Stock (as run at NSRA events, Dragstalgia and Mopar Euronats) will run on a demonstration basis at Big
Bang (tech and licencing, not a competitive round), SPRC Summernationals and Dragstalgia. This is not a precursor to
the class being introduced as a National Championship class.
SPRC are investigating holding rounds of the UK National Championship outside the UK, for example at Drachten,
in the event that Shakespeare County Raceway closes. In addition temporary venues in the UK are being investigated for
some classes. Any suggestions for viable venues would be welcomed by SPRC.
A proposal from the floor to run two sets of qualifying and eliminations for Sportsman classes at the FIA
events at Santa Pod Raceway is to be investigated further.
A proposal from the floor that Junior Dragsters and Junior Drag Bikes are pushed or towed back to the pits
after passing through the scrutineering tunnel at Santa Pod Raceway is to be investigated further.
Shakespeare County Raceway statement.
14th February: The following statement from Shakespeare County Raceway's management
was read out at today's Riders' and Drivers' Meeting:
As you are aware, the land owners H G Hodges and Sons are in advanced talks with Cala Homes and Stratford
District Council, after planning permission was granted on part of the site for 400 homes.
We would like to take this opportunity to reassure drivers, riders and supporters that for 2016, it is
business as usual and we look forward to your continued support to make the season a success.
As and when Shakespeare County Raceway have any further information on the development, a further
statement will be made.
UK Top Sportsman entry open.
14th February: Paul Marston writes that entry is now open for UK Top Sportsman which takes place at the
Mopar Euronats at Santa Pod Raceway on 29th-31st July:
UK Top Sportsman is open to any doorslammer. Other than safety there are no rules. There are two races within the one event, the Fast Bracket race and the Heads-Up sixteen-car
eliminator, so there is something for everyone. The real fast teams duke it out in the Heads-Up race but still compete in the Fast Bracket, and the hot favourites in the Fast Bracket
have the opportunity to take some big scalps in the Heads-Up race.
Who can win? Well, just ask the past winners how many have of them have won twice? No-one has ever win twice! In 2015 the winner of the Heads-Up race at Back With Mods
did not even qualify for the Heads-Up race at the Mopar Euronationals. You will see simply the very fastest doorslammers in the country competing for a very coveted prize, plus
the biggest cash prize fund in Sportsman drag racing. International teams from Europe always receive a very warm welcome when competing with us in UK Top Sportsman.
There are still some very attractive sponsorship opportunities available with UK Top Sportsman including the main title, so if you are interested in enjoying some very nice coverage
and helping to support what is currently the fastest-growing event, please contact us for prices and packages.
This season Paul Marston Racing are potentially entering up to three cars to make a serious assault on both the Fast Bracket and Heads-Up races. There are also a lot of very seriously
quick race cars beginning to surface here in the UK and in Europe so it will be very interesting to see who shows up.
Entry forms are available on request to pmracing@fsmail.net and we will have entry forms with us at the FIA Main Event
at Santa Pod Raceway. Please also E-Mail us for more information about the event.
Big thanks go to the organisers of the Mopar Euronats for inviting us back, to Santa Pod Raceway for all their support, to Eurodragster.com for first class coverage (Thanks, you're
welcome - Ed), to all the UK Top Sportsman competitors and teams and to the PMR crew who run the whole show – you are the best.
Calling all slingshots...
12th February: If you have a slingshot dragster capable of 8.50 seconds or quicker then James Forster of
Santa Pod Raceway says that not only a warm welcome but the inaugural Slingshot Showdown await you at Dragstalgia on 15th-17th July:
There's been a resurgence of quick front-engine dragsters in recent years and many of the quick cars don't really have a class they
can call home and where they're competitive. As a result, we'll be putting on a small heads-up shootout with qualifying and eliminations,
open to front engine dragsters proven to have ran quicker than 8.50.
To enter, or for more information, please see www.dragstalgia.co.uk or contact me at
2016@dragstalgia.co.uk or call 01234 782828 (outside the UK +44 1234 782828).
...calling all Tri-Chevys.
12th February: In 2014 Shakespeare County Raceway played host
to 57 @ 57, a weekend celebration to commemorate the 57th Anniversary of the iconic '57 Chevrolet. Although there wasn't any racing that day, this year there will be racing
from some of the quickest Chevys in the land for the Tri-Chevy Shootout as part of the line-up of the ever-popular NSRA Nostalgia Nationals on 24th-26th June. Jerry
Cookson writes:
The Shootout is the brainchild of Graham Smith, owner of Roger Butterworths legendary Snow White Tri-Chevy and a Raceway lane sponsor under the Serck Motorsport banner.
Graham's love and passion for all things Chevrolet has led him to organise this straight forward, heads up from the Tree eliminator to find the quickest and fastest Tri of the weekend
for the Roger Butterworth Trophy.
How many make the call will determine the field but so far it looks like we're heading for a sixteen-car field featuring tube cars, Gassers and street racers all mixed in one eliminator.
So if you're thinking about it Chevy owners you had better bring your A game to the race track!
"Having seen so many superb examples in all forms and not to mention fast Tri-Chevys out there I just imagined what it would be like if they raced each other, and wondered
has this been done before?" said Graham. "After further pondering I put a Facebook page together and asked the question of everyone I could think of with a Tri Chevy, including
the Owners' Club. The response was overwhelming so I made it a much more realistic proposition and started to investigate what needs to happen to make this dreamscape a reality."
At time of writing and in between his day job Graham is busy preparing Snow White, as is his racing buddy Adam Sayers with his street-legal Finger of God ProCharged
'57. "Heroes of mine like Ken Brookes in his stunning nine-second Gasser Roarin' Rat and Mike Noble, another legend with Honky Tonkin' plus Paul Watts in the
Agamemnon '57 Supercharged Outlaw, Chris Hill in his stunning '56 Gasser, Bryan Whitfield in his '55 and Rob Slater in his recently-completed Twin Turbo 540 BBC '57 are
a few of the leading names in the thirteen-car entry so far", said Graham. "We are awaiting confirmation from others such as Marc Lemude, who has shown great interest, and Andy Bond with
his '56 Monster if race-ready and if time allows."
The entry list keeps growing so don't be shy, get stuck in. It doesn't matter if you run elevens, just simply have a go. There are sixteen places available for the fastest sixteen cars.
So qualify all you want to get on the list because come Sunday 26th this will the first ever Tri-Chevy Shootout in the UK and the Roger Butterworth Trophy is what's up for grabs, as
well as the official title of the fastest Tri-Chevy in the UK. Dare you miss out! See you at the Drags.
Swift snippets.
12th February: 2015 UK National Super Pro ET Champion Simon Gough has put his eight-second Camaro up for sale.
"I can't and won't go into too much detail", Simon told Eurodragster.com. "Things have been put in place with Woody Mayes who built the Camaro, and the next step is funding it. The sale of the
Camaro will start what we are aiming for. This car is the best Super Pro bracket car for the past two years. It comes with everything you need, oils, filters, even five drums of fuel. Buy it and go
out there and win". More details under Cars For Sale on our Jeff Bull Race Engines-sponsored
Swap Meet.
Good luck and stay safe to NHRA Lucas Oil Top Alcohol FC Champion Jonnie Lindberg and Ulf Leanders in
Top Alcohol FC, and to Markus Svensson and multiple FIA European Pro Stock Champion Jimmy Ålund in Stock Eliminator who are contesting
this weekend's Circle K NHRA Winternationals at Pomona. Qualifying continues today (Friday) and you will be able to stay in touch courtesy of
Drag Race Central at www.dragracecentral.com. The Lindbergs'
Facebook page will also be the usual great source of information
and entertainment.
Ruth, Lee, Darren and Marc asked us to say a big Happy 50th Wedding Anniversary for today (Friday) to Jean and Brian Huxley. Our pleasure "kids",
very hearty congratulations to Jean and Brian and here's to many more years together. Have a great day guys.
Serck extend SCR support.
11th February: Shakespeare County Raceway are extremely
pleased to confirm that Serck Motorsport will be extending its association as a Lane Sponsor at the Warwickshire drag strip.
The deal was confirmed with the company's Racing Manager Graham Smith during last month's Autosport International Show.
The Serck Motorsport brand is synonymous with cooling systems catering for a world of motor sporting applications which includes drag racing and hot rodding. The company has separated its
business in to four main key streams; Cooling Systems, Racing Services, Classic and Historic and Power and Performance, giving the customer a much clearer view to the categories which focus
on specialist areas within the brand.
"I'm a strong believer in two things - good business and supporting the industry", said Graham Smith. "Shakespeare County Raceway is a prime example of both as we continue to develop our range
of products and services for our customers and measure up for many a new radiator at the track. So personally I am thrilled for Serck Motorsport to continue our support for what is a great track
with amazing people with a passion and dedication to this amazing sport."
Leading lights of Street Eliminator and street racing are very pleased with their cars' applications as well as the after-sales technical back-up. "A massive thanks to the guys at Serck Motorsport for
supplying a fantastic great big triple pass radiator which completely solved the cooling problems on my '65 Pontiac GTO", said 2015 UK National Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator Champion Mark Todd.
The same was said by Adam Sayers, owner of a 540 ci F2 Pro Charger Street Legal '57 Chevy. "I rebuilt the car with double the BHP the previous engine had", said Adam. "Apart from a clean the car's
radiator was as good as the day it was built ten years ago. I have also swapped to running a Serck transmission cooler and will be working closely with the team to fine-tune my cooling package for
both street and race duty with our addition of a nitrous package for the 2016 season."
The company's parts and services supply is growing extensively with Setrab Oil Coolers and Spal Performance Fans joining the list. "Drag racing is a big part of our business supplying custom-built
cooling systems as well as Sunoco Race Fuels directly to racers at the track", said Graham Smith. "The Setrab Oil Cooler Quality and Performance has also been a big hit with drag and street-legal
racers all through awareness via supporting SCR. As we have now set up to be a distributor for Goodridge Hose and Fittings, AEM Gauges and Meth Kits, Coil Packs etc... we are growing from strength
to strength in our supply."
And it's not just drag racing as there are a whole bunch of Historic and Classic racers using Serck products as well as some of the world' greatest Formula One teams. "In the last year many drag racers
have sent their coolers to us to service, clean and test in our F1 facility with great success and little cost, and it's this kind of awareness that has been achieved via supporting the track directly so our
customers feel the benefit", added Graham Smith.
Catch the brand if you can at Shakespeare County Raceway this season. For more information check out the Serck Motorsport web site at
www.serckmotorpsort.co.uk or their Facebook
page.
Swift snippets.
11th February: Åby Motorklubb's Drag Racing Swap Meet takes place this Saturday (13th) at the Norrköpings Mässhallar, close to the E4 motorway about
sixty kilometres north of Mantorp Park
(map).
This event is the major winter drag racing event in Scandinavia. All categories of race parts can be found from new to used, from Pro classes to street racing.
The main entrance opens at 09:00 and gates close at approximately 16:00. Entry is 100 SEK and under-15s go free. For sales pitch reservations, directions or
more information please contact Åby Motorklubb via their web site at www.abymotorklubb.se.
Lee Huxley writes with an invitation to all petrolheads to attend the pre-season Dark Horse Drag Racing Party which takes place at 20:00 on Saturday 5th March at the Royal Oak
pub in Broadwas on Teme, Worcestershire (postcode WR6 5NE, map).
Lee says that there will be race cars on show, live music and great food. Tickets are a mere £5. Lee warns that it may get noisy.
A reminder that the 2016 UK Riders' and Drivers' Meeting takes place at midday this Sunday (14th) at the Hilton Hotel, Northampton(postcode
NN4 0XW, map). Items to be discussed include the 2016
UK National Championships, event entry fees and pitside electrical supply, prize funds and more. If you have any items for the meeting agenda - if so
then you must attend the meeting - then please send them either to Santa Pod Racers Club at
ir.marshall@btconnect.com or to Shakespeare County Raceway at
shakespearecountyraceway@gmail.com by close of office hours tomorrow (Friday).
Whilst we're doing reminders, voting for the APIRA Perpetual Awards closes at 23:59 UK time tomorrow. To check out the shortlists and to place
your votes, go to the official APIRA Perpetual Awards voting page which you can view by clicking
here or by clicking on the APIRA Perpetual Awards vote link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Holmberg gets set.
9th February: Swedish Pro Stock Bike racer Kenneth Holmberg and the Swecomposite
team are working hard on their preparations for a busy 2016:
We are concentrating on updating the bike and on appearing at partner / company events during the Spring.
There is a lot of planning to be done for 20,000 kilometres of travel during the race season.
We will run all the races in the European and Nordic Series this year but the priority is the FIM European
Championship. Some of the highlights will of course be the races at our home track Tierp Arena on 16th-19th
June and 25th-28th August where we have the chance to meet our Swedish friends and partners. The goal is of
course top position in the FIM European Championship. We have finished fifth and sixth in recent years.
The season begins with some test runs at Tierp Arena in early May, or the Test Day before the FIA Main Event
at Santa Pod Raceway. Then it's the first European Championship race of the year at Santa Pod.
We are really looking forward to this season because we have made many engine and chassis modifications, and we
have a number of new partners who make it possible for us to race in this class.
Not going to the APIRA bash?
9th February: Jerry Cookson of Shakespeare County Raceway has been in touch with an
important message for trophy-winning racers not attending the joint APIRA / Supercharged Outlaws Trophy
Presentation on Saturday 5th March:
If you are a winner or runner-up in the APIRA Championships but know that you won't be attending the Presentation Night then please drop me an
E-Mail at shakespearecountyraceway@gmail.com or call 01789 720180
so that alternative arrangements can be made, or to let me know if someone who is going can accept on your behalf. As usual we appear to be a little bit
one-sided in favour of the car classes!
If you are planning to attend the APIRA / Supercharged Outlaws do then the closing date for ticket bookings is next Wednesday, 17th February.
Warning: TRS lever latch harness.
8th February: Geoff Martin of the UK's Tech Crew has been in touch to flag up an MSA
warning about the TRS SFI 16.1 lever latch NASCAR-type harness:
This warning regards the TRS SFI 16.1, 3" Lever Latch NASCAR-type driver restraint. It would seem that there
is a potential fault with the over-centre latch being loose. The harness is non-FIA so it is unlikely that
drag racers would have a set, but just in case please contact TRS.
Jackson's new livery.
8th February: UK Super Pro ET team Brad Jackson Racing are pleased to announce continued
support for 2016 from Lucas Oil USA, Lucas Oil UK, Pentagon Group, D&S Signs, Martin Williams Hull, HRX, Torq
Racewear and Six B Apparel. Wayne Jackson writes:
Pete Walters has produced another fantastic design and Kris Boesen from Six B Apparel in the USA designed the
new team shirts to match the new livery for 2016.
Brad will again be campaigning a Nick Good Motorsport-prepared car. Nick has always delivered Brad a really
well-prepared car which allows Brad and I the best possible opportunity for Brad to be competitive in this
fantastic class.
We are looking forward to competing in all the 2016 Championship rounds. We are also really pleased that
Cristiann Carlo and Natalie Cooper continue to be key elements of our team, and of course a big thank you to
Brad's mum Alison for keeping the team fed and watered.
BDRHoF Gala hotel booking open.
8th February: The British
Drag Racing Hall of Fame has announced that on-line booking of discounted rooms is now available at the Sheraton
Skyline Hotel to those who have booked their place at the prestigious 2016 Gala, to be held on Saturday 19th November.
BDRHoF Chairman Stuart Bradbury said "We have been fortunate enough to secure rooms at the heavily discounted rates
of £115 per night single and £125 double including full English breakfast and complimentary use of Sky
Garden pool and Fitness Gym. We have had around fifty bookings already, so anyone attending the 2016 Gala will need
to book their place soon. It will be a fantastic occasion which will build on last year's Gala with some very special
guests and iconic exhibits."
Guests can access a special web link to book, modify, or cancel a reservation at any time until 6th November. The
link will be sent to those who have made a Gala booking by contacting the BDRHoF by E-Mail at
stuart@britishdragracinghof.co.uk or by
telephone on 01933 279102.
The system will only allow guests to book bedrooms for 18th and 19th November. If you wish to book bedrooms
for a longer period then please call Emily Banks or Julie Martel at the Sheraton Skyline Hotel on 0208 564 3356,
and they will be able to assist you.
SPRC Presentation gallery.
7th February: The official Trophy Presentation pictures from last night's SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy Presentation
are now available. The gallery, which is presented in association with Lucas Oil Products,
can be checked out by clicking
here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Copies of any picture are free and can be obtained by E-Mailing tog@eurodragster.com
with the image number.
Many thanks to photographer Grace Roaf for her hard work last night.
SPRC Perpetual Award winners.
7th February: The winners and runners-up in the 2015 UK National Championships, MSA
British Drag Racing Championship, and Santa Pod Racers Club Championships were presented with their trophies
at the SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy Presentation in Daventry last night (Saturday). The winners of SPRC's Perpetual
Awards, for whom Eurodragster.com readers had the chance to vote, were also presented with their trophies.
Congratulations to the SPRC Perpetual Award winners:
Most Promising Newcomer: Laura Baynton (Pro ET)
Best Appearing Car: Phil Middleton (Outlaw Anglia)
Best Appearing Bike: Dale Leeks (Funny Bike)
Most Professional Appearing Team: Przym Paintworks (Super Pro ET)
James Edgar Memorial Trophy: Rob Loaring (Nostalgia Funny Car)
Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy: Luke Stevenson (VWDRC Chair)
John Ledster Memorial Trophy: Mark Norton
Obsession Motorsports Sportsman of the Year Trophy: Simon Gough
A big Thank You to everyone who submitted votes for the SPRC Perpetual Awards.
Vegter's energetic sponsor.
6th February: Remco Scheelings writes that The Netherlands' Vegter Pro Mod Racing is to get an extra energy injection
as they are proud to announce Playboy Energy Drink as a new partner. The world-famous logo will be seen on the Vegter Pro Mod Racing '67 Camaro.
"It's a great name and a world-famous logo, of course I'm very proud and happy to represent Playboy", said David Vegter.
Playboy Energy Drink is a relatively new and not so well-known name on the European market. But if David Vegter and the energy drink distributor have anything to do
with it, that will change very soon. Playboy Energy Drink was introduced into the USA in 2008, followed shortly afterwards by Canada, South America and the Middle East.
In 2014, it was Europe's turn when Playboy Energy Drink was introduced in the Netherlands, and a Dutch company acquired the rights to market Playboy Energy Drink in
Europe. More and more people are getting familiar with the name and the energy drink at the moment, and the partnership with Vegter Pro Mod Racing will give their brand
awareness an enormous boost. The world famous Playboy Energy Drink logo will cover the roof of the Vegter Pro Mod Racing '67 Camaro.
"The partnership goes even further, as Playboy Energy Drink will also be for sale with our team at the track", said a very happy David Vegter. "Energy to play? Playboy
Energy Drink! will be in the spotlight many times this season!"
There is also more good news from Vegter Pro Mod Racing. After last week's announcement that Sonic Equipment and WVB Holland extended their partnership with
the team, longtime partner HKR Techniek will also support the Dutch Pro Modified team again in 2016: The best possible sign that the co-operation is to everyone's
satisfaction.
Swift snippets.
6th February: Further to Thursday's news item about Pro Modified converters
Eurodragster.com reader Dave Challis, who works in fasteners, writes that it may be useful to point out that Grade 8 bolts are American spec for UNF / UNC
not to be mixed up with 8.8 which is a metric strength. "I know the threads are different but if this is just going through a hole and someone uses metric the strength is going to fall way short
unless they use 10.9 metric, which is the equivalent to Grade 8", says Dave. If you have any qeuries then Dave is happy to help on 01268 244134 (business hours).
NHRA have announced that their events will be streamed worldwide on NHRA All Access, a new subscription service which will commence broadcast in March.
At the same time Greenlight International have been engaged to organise TV broadcasts of NHRA events globally including Europe. You can read full details at
www.nhra.com.
APIRA Perpetual Awards vote 6.
5th February: Avon Park International Racing Association and Eurodragster.com are again teaming up to give readers the chance of
input to the APIRA Perpetual Awards, which will be presented at the joint APIRA / Supercharged Outlaws Trophy Presentation on Saturday 5th March 2016.
The votes of Eurodragster.com readers will be taken into consideration when the APIRA selection panel decides upon its winners.
For six of the 2015 season awards, shortlists have been decided for which votes can be submitted by E-Mail. We are up against quite a tight
deadline so two shortlists will be published each week, on Monday and Friday.
The final shortlist is the McDonald Racing Ireland Best Newcomer Trophy. The McDonald Racing Ireland Best Newcomer trophy, for the most promising
newcomer to contest events at Shakespeare County Raceway, was presented for the first time in 2012 and is posted by Graham, Edel and Gabrielle McDonald.
Last year's recipient was Junior Drag Bike racer Blade Dummer, whose entry fees to the Springspeed Nationals and Open Sport Nationals were paid by McDonald
Racing in addition to the trophy. The shortlist for the McDonald Racing Ireland Best Newcomer trophy, in alphabetical order, is as follows:
John Dalrymple, Pro ET
Vote for John Dalrymple
Andy Dibley, Sportsman ET
Vote for Andy Dibley
Jemma Hale, Sportsman ET
Vote for Jemma Hale
Gill and Alan Medley, Sportsman ET
Vote for Gill and Alan Medley
Will Pickering, Junior Drag Bike
Vote for Will Pickering
Holly Sanders, VW Sportsman
Vote for Holly Sanders
James Woodsford, Sportsman ET
Vote for James Woodsford
To place your vote, either use the links above or go to the official APIRA Perpetual Awards voting page which you can view by
clicking here or by clicking on the APIRA Perpetual Awards vote
link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Voting closes at 23:59 UK time next Friday (12th February).
For each of the Awards, one vote per E-Mail address per nominee will be accepted: multiple votes for the same nominee from the same E-Mail address will
all be disqualified. And every year we say this, but every year someone tries it on: please note that blatant attempts at organising mass votes - for
example asking workmates, forum members or Facebook friends to vote en masse - are easily identified and all such votes will be disallowed as they have been in
previous years. Concerted attempts at vote-rigging will result in the nominee being removed from the shortlist whether or not that nominee knows what was
going on. We know all the dodges so it's just not worth trying. If in any doubt about what constitutes canvassing then please drop us a line at
editor@eurodragster.com.
Additionally, if anyone should have issues with the content of any of the shortlists then please have the courtesy to contact APIRA direct rather than contacting
Eurodragster.com or posting comments on Facebook. E-Mails to Eurodragster.com regarding the content of the shortlists will receive neither a reply nor any other
acknowledgement.
Pro Modified converter update.
4th February: Further to Tuesday's news item,
Geoff Martin of the UK's Tech Crew has been in touch with NHRA to clarify the bolt regulation for torque converters. The clarification
which Geoff received from NHRA is as follows:
As Chance converters are made from an aluminium alloy, it would then follow from an engineering point of view that it is difficult to maintain a constant torque
when the component is subjected to a fluctuating temperature of up to 400° C. A sealing compound such as Loctite is not effective at these temperatures,
therefore the NHRA have permitted a longer Grade 8 bolt, screwed through the female half of the converter, which is then secured with a locking nut.
Neal Chance Racing Converters are able to supply sets of these nuts and bolts.
SFI Tour Sweden details.
4th February: Further to yesterday's news item,
Lena Perés writes that ME Racing Service AB invite racers from Sweden, Norway and Denmark to the Swedish stop of the SFI Tour.
Please note that registration is necessary if you are taking parts to be inspected:
12th March is the date for the inspection this year and we welcome each and every person who needs their gear checked. As usual we meet at
Persåkers Speed Shop in Åkers Styckebruk. You can download the invitation and fill in the registration form by clicking the SFI REG
button at www.meracing.com.
It's an upbeat day before the approaching season. Have a coffee and a chat with friends whom you haven't seen all winter, whilst getting your equipment
inspected (Long time since I've had that kind of invitation - Ed).
Swift snippets.
4th February: If you are going to the SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy Presentation this
Saturday then please note that presentations start at 6:00 pm, so please be in your seats for that time.
If you are late and miss your presentation then the MC will not be going back. SPRC would also appreciate it if
the noise could be kept down during the presentations; it is only common courtesy both to the trophy winners and
to MC Colin Theobald. If you wish to hold conversations then please remain in the bar.
Best wishes for a rapid recovery to SPRC marshal Richard Bell who is in hospital following a motorcycle
accident. Get well soon Richard and we hope to see you back at the track in double quick time.
SFI Tour venues confirmed.
3rd February: Many thanks to Arnie Kuhns of the SFI Foundation for
confirming the venues of the 2016 European SFI Recertification Tour:
Thursday 10th March: DHRA, Aambeeld 11, 1969 NC Heemskerk, The Netherlands (08:00-12:00)
Friday 11th March: FHRA office, Helsinki-Malmi Airport, 00700 Helsinki, Finland (08:00-12:00)
Saturday 12th March: Persåkers Speed Shop, Solbergavagen 28, Åkers Styckebruk, Sweden (12:00-17:00)
Monday 14th March: Santa Pod Raceway, Airfield Road, Podington, United Kingdom (10:00-16:00)
Oscar's annual Hospice help.
3rd February: Longtime Eurodragster.com readers will know that Santa Pod Racers Club marshal Caroline Boncey raises money
annually for The Hospice of St Francis in Berkhamsted. Oscar will again be raising funds for the Hospice this year, but instead of the usual
eleven-mile Midnight Walk coinciding with the SPRC Summernationals she and goddaughter Chloe are trying something different.
"It's that time of year for me to dress up and raise as much money as I can for The Hospice of St Francis", says Oscar. "On 17th April Chloe and I are going to walk, run,
skip and slide through five kilometres of bubbles! I have walked many miles and thrown myself out of a perfectly good plane to raise money for the Hospice, so this year
the Bubble Rush seemed perfect.
"The money raised goes to help residents and their families when they are going through a difficult time, and it helps them so much: I know, as my family and I benefited from
the care they gave when my Nan was a resident at the Hospice. I would like to give something back to them and would be grateful if anyone would like to sponsor us. Thank
you!"
If you would like to help Oscar with this very worthy cause then please visit her JustGiving page at
www.justgiving.com/caroline-bonceyoscar.
Swift snippets.
3rd February: German Pro Modified racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Marco Maurischat tells us that he plans
to contest all rounds of the 2016 MSA British Drag Racing Championship. Marco's first outing will be at the Festival of Power at Santa
Pod Raceway on 25th-27th March.
Santa Pod extend VP contingency.
3rd February: Santa Pod Raceway are proud to announce that they have renewed their partnership with Eurodragster.com sponsor
VP Racing Fuels and that they have now been designated as an Official Authorised Distributor.
"We are delighted to have confirmed our Official status with VP Racing Fuels", says Darren Prentice (Track and Race Operations) of Santa Pod Raceway. "Having worked
with them for several years now, we'll continue to offer a fully comprehensive range of their popular race fuel products with direct stock support throughout the season.
Since we are celebrating our Fiftieth Anniversary, we have decided to celebrate this partnership with a pre-season sale on all of our race fuel product lines. To see these
great offers check out our on-line shop at www.santapod.co.uk.
"We are also pleased to announce that not only will we be carrying on with our highly successful VP Racing Fuels contingency sponsorship programme but that we will also
be extending it to other classes. Santa Pod Raceway will be offering one nineteen-litre pail of any of its VP Racing Fuels to the winner in the following classes at our five
UK National Championship and ACU UK Drag Bike Championship rounds (Festival of Power, FIA/FIM Main Event, SPRC Summernationals, FIA/FIM European Finals and the
UK National Finals):
- Super Pro ET
- Super Comp
- Super Gas
- Junior Dragster
- Super Street Bike
"This offer is also now extended to the Pro ET Sponsorship Scheme.
"You are only three steps away to a chance of winning with this fantastic offer:
- Teams must purchase their VP Racing Fuels from the Pod Shop or from Santa Pod's on-line store;
- Teams must display two VP Racing Fuels decals on their race vehicle (collect from Signing On or from the Pod Shop / Garage);
- And, of course, the team must have won their class at any of the events mentioned above.
"Teams should take their VP Racing Fuels voucher and proof of purchase to the Santa Pod Shop to claim their prize."
Slyfield honoured.
3rd February: Kevin Slyfield was honoured as 2015's MSA British Drag Racing Champion on Saturday night at a
national awards ceremony in London's West End.
The Motor Sports Association, official governing body of UK motorsport, salutes its national title winners at the annual Night Of
Champions at the Royal Automobile Club, Pall Mall. Kev, from Verwood in Dorset, was presented with the Championship trophy by motorcycling
and Formula One legend John Surtees, the only racer to win world championships on two and four wheels.
Kev began 2015 with victory at the season-opening race, won again at the third round and maintained his points lead throughout the six-race
series to secure the crown. For the Dorset driver, it was a case of 'Change your car, change your luck'. Kev had entered the Championship
class, Pro Modified, in 2007 with a car that offered more style than substance. The 1941 Willys Sedan-bodied machine won awards for its
appearance but proved hard to handle on track in the searing, 200mph-plus Pro Mod wars. Kev managed to steer the car to a solitary race win
in 2010 but the handsome but unruly machine never looked a long-term challenger.
In 2014, Kev débuted a 1957 Ford Thunderbird – sleek, low and aerodynamic in appearance, no-nonsense matte black in colour and a much
more effective conveyance for the team's proven mechanical abilities. In 2015 the new car showed its worth, transforming Slyfield and his team
from journeyman competitors into champions. Along with the two race wins, the 3,000-horsepower T-Bird clocked career-best performance figures
of 6.349/223.30.
Both cars were built by leading Hampshire constructor Andy Robinson Race Cars.
Team Slyfield is at heart a family affair. Twin sisters Elaine Slyfield (Kevin's wife) and Angela Cooper are the fulcrum, with Angela's husband
Brian taking charge of technical matters. James Woodsford oversees the engine. Tuning decisions are considered jointly by the three men with Kev,
as the owner/driver, having the final say. Clive Phayer, Paul Morton and Bert Nutland complete the crew.
Kev, proprietor of a Verwood precision engineering company, will launch the defence of his crown at Easter's Festival Of Power event at Santa Pod
Raceway on 25th-27th March.
Attention Pro Modified racers.
2nd February: Ian Marshall of Santa Pod Racers Club has been in touch to remind
Pro Modified racers of the recently-published amendments to the class rules, which must be actioned in time by those planning to participate
in the first MSA British Drag Racing Championship round.
"As two of the six rounds of the MSA Championship take place at FIA European Championship rounds at Santa Pod, it is important that your car is legal for the first round at the Festival of Power
in March", says Ian. "The UK rulebook has gone to print, but to give racers as much notice as possible of the changes they are detailed in red below."
Intake Manifold 1.5.2: Manifold burst panel mandatory on all entries. Supercharged and turbocharged entries must have a manifold burst panel meeting SFI Spec 23.1.
Nitrous-assisted entries must have an FIA-accepted intake restraint system. A current list of FIA accepted intake restraint systems is available on NHRARacer.com/engine
PM 1.9 Supercharger: Standard or high helix Roots types are mandatory, maximum size 14-71. Screw and Centrifugal Type superchargers prohibited. The maximum
length from the front of the supercharger drive pulley to the leading edge of the rotor is 15 inches (381mm). Offset drive pulleys may not be used to add to the accepted measurement. All manifold configurations
and supercharger locations must be accepted prior to competition. The use of spacers, modified cases or attaching methods to move the supercharger rearward in excess of the specified amount is prohibited.
Manifold burst panel meeting SFI spec 23.1 plus a restraint system meeting SFI spec 14.2 mandatory, including injector restraint straps. Supercharger belt guard mandatory and must shield both oil and fuel
lines. Maximum supercharger overdrive on all combinations is 20%. Manufacturers' identification must be clearly visible on all drive pulleys. Intercoolers, variable multi-speed supercharger devices are prohibited.
Nitrous oxide injection with supercharged engines prohibited. Cast or billet cases are permitted and must be FIA Drag Racing Commission accepted prior to competition. The top opening of the case may not
exceed 12 inches (305mm) in length and 5 inches (127mm) in width. See FIA general regulations 1.10, 1.11.
Turbocharger 1.9.1: A single 120mm (4.72 inches) or a maximum of twin 91mm (2.57 inches) turbochargers allowed. Air to air or water to air intercoolers permitted. Turbocharger size will be verified
by measuring the housing bore at the leading edge of the impeller wheel. The maximum diameter of the housing bore at the leading edge of the wheel may not exceed 2mm more than the maximum allowable
turbocharger size permitted. Nitrous oxide injection with turbocharged engines is prohibited. From 1st of January 2017, all turbochargers must meet SFI Spec. 61.1. Nitrous oxide injection
with turbocharged engines prohibited.
PM 2.4 Transmission: Aftermarket planetary, Clutchless, OEM or aftermarket automatic transmission permitted with a maximum of 5 forward speeds plus reverse for nitrous and turbocharged cars;
3 forward speeds plus reverse for supercharged cars. For supercharged entries overdrive or underdrive units are prohibited in any part of the drive train. 2 forward shifts maximum (split shifting prohibited). Final
gear ratio may not exceed 1:1 on supercharged cars. Aftermarket planetary converter drive units accepted. Billet torque converters mandatory. SFI spec 6.2 or 6.3 bellhousing mandatory. Lock-up converters or
overdrive units prohibited. All entries utilising a converter must be equipped with a neutral safety switch and a reverse lockout. Bolt together torque converters must be through bolt design
using as minimum grade 8 bolts with locking nut. Transmission brake permitted on all converter equipped entries. All entries using an OEM or aftermarket automatic transmission see PM 7.0 Body.
All components and their proposed use must be FIA Drag Racing Commission accepted prior to competition. Transmission brake release must be a function of the driver's left foot. Automated, timer type with
pneumatic, electric, electronic, hydraulic, etc. shifting mechanism prohibited; each individual shift must be a function of the driver and controlled manually. Transmission shield meeting SFI spec 4.1 mandatory.
See also FIA General Regulations 2.12, 2.13.
PM 3.1 Brakes: Automated brakes prohibited; application and release of brakes must be a function of the driver. Four wheel hydraulic brakes mandatory. Carbon-fibre brake rotors used in conjunction
with carbon-fibre specific brake pads mandatory on the rear wheels for vehicles constructed in January 2012 or later. Brake lines must be out of the flywheel and driveline area. Dual master cylinders are
mandatory and must be mounted above the frame rails. Steel brake lines are mandatory. Line-loc is permitted. One line-loc solenoid allowed. Any other electrical, pneumatic, hydraulic, etc. switch prohibited
in the brake system. See FIA General Regulations 3.1. Two (2) line-loc solenoids and one (1) button permissible. Using the line-loc for traction control is prohibited. Any other electrical,
pneumatic, hydraulic, etc. switch prohibited in brake system. See FIA General Regulations 3.1.
PM 4.3 Parachute: 2 parachutes are mandatory. Parachute packs and unpacked shroud lines must be protected with fire-resistant material from the mounting point to the pack.
Separate shroud line mounting points with ½" (13 mm) sleeved 12.9 (grade 8) bolts. See FIA General Regulations 4.8.
PM 4.4 Roll Cage: Chassis must have manufacturer's name, serial number and date of manufacture. Chassis must meet SFI Spec 25.1E or 25.1G Upper rear engine mounting, minimum O.D. 1.250" x 0.058"
(32mm x 1.5mm), mandatory on cars without double frame rails. Plating of chassis prohibited, painting is permitted. Chassis must be inspected yearly by the ASN and have serialised SFI sticker affixed to the roll cage
before participation in an event. An additional panel(s) of .032-inch (0.8 mm) aluminium, .024-inch (0.6 mm) steel or carbon fibre must be installed in the roll cage roof area. The panel(s) must, at
a minimum, extend from the driver's side roof bar to the centreline of the vehicle. The panel(s) in the Funny Car cage area must be removable for proper chassis certification inspection.
PM 7.4 Floor: Drivers side floor pan must be a minimum of .024-inch (.6 mm) steel and must be welded in place. Remainder of stock floors may be replaced by 0.024" (0.6mm)
steel, 0.032" (0.8mm) aluminium or Tech Inspector accepted carbon fibre. See FIA General Regulations 7.5
PM 7.5 Hood and Hood Scoop: Permitted, one opening only. Scoop may not extend above the roof line. Must be finished and painted to follow body paint scheme. Sensors, transducers, vents, wiring hoses,
etc. prohibited inside the hood scoop. A minimum of 4 fasteners must be used on the leading edge of all lift-off hoods. Burst panel on top of the hood scoop is permitted. Nitrous-assisted entries
must utilize either a hood scoop or cowl hood to completely cover carburetors or throttle bodies. On supercharged entries, injector scoop may not extend more than 16 inches (406 mm) forward of the center of the
forward engine cylinder, may not extend more than 10 inches (254 mm) behind the centre of the rear engine cylinder, and the top of the injector scoop may not be more than 1.50 inches (38 mm) above the roof.
See FIA General Regulation 7.6.
PM 8.1 Batteries: Maximum two (2) total weight wet, fully charged, including battery box: 46.7 kg (100 lbs). If mounted inside driver compartment, battery must be located in a sealed
.024-inch (.6 mm) steel or titanium, or .032-inch (.8 mm) aluminum box. The use of remote-mounted battery packs permitted for starting purposes only. Onboard starter optional. See General Regulations 8.1.
PM 10.5 Helmet: For all cars a full face Snell SA2005, SA2010, SAH2010, SA2015, SAH2015 of full face SFI 31.1/2005, 31.1/2010, 31.1/2015 helmet and visor mandatory, (goggles prohibited). Alternatively
any helmet in conformity with the current FIA Technical List number 25 and not noted as being for Autocross only is accepted. Eject Helmet Removal System (Part # SDR 890-01-30) mandatory and must be installed
per manufacturer's instructions. See FIA General Regulation 10.7. A Stand 21 Lid Lifter head sock meeting SFI 3.3 may be used in lieu of the Eject Helmet Removal System. See General Regulations
10.7.
If you have any queries then please contact Ian Marshall at ir.marshall@btconnect.com or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625).
APIRA Trophy Evening reminder.
2nd February: Jerry Cookson writes with a reminder that Wednesday 17th February is the closing date for ticket bookings for
the joint APIRA / Shakespeare County Raceway and Supercharged Outlaws Trophy Presentation Evening which takes place at 6:00 pm on Saturday 5th March at the Hilton
Warwick, Stratford Upon Avon:
If you have not already booked then it is recommended that you send off your ticket form as soon as possible. You can download the booking form (PDF format) from the Download
page of the Shakespeare County Raceway web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com. Payment and
address details can be found towards the bottom of the form.
The hotel still have rooms available at the negotiated preferential rate of £91 for a double room or £81 for a single including breakfast, car parking and VAT. To book your room,
please call the hotel's reservations team on 08008 568000 or visit their web site at www.hilton.com/warwick quoting reference
AWED15. Please remember that the cut-off for hotel bookings at the special rate is twenty eight days prior to arrival (i.e. the end of this working week - Ed).
If any 2015 APIRA Champions or runners-up know that they will not be attending then please E-Mail
shakespearecountyraceway@gmail.com so that alternative arrangements can be made to get your trophy
to you.
For full details about the 2016 APIRA / SCR / Supercharged Outlaws Trophy Presentation Evening please see the Eurodragster.com news item of
6th January. If you require any further information then please E-Mail
shakespearecountyraceway@gmail.com.
APIRA Perpetual Awards vote 5.
1st February: Avon Park International Racing Association and Eurodragster.com are again teaming up to give readers the chance of
input to the APIRA Perpetual Awards, which will be presented at the joint APIRA / Supercharged Outlaws Trophy Presentation on Saturday 5th March 2016.
The votes of Eurodragster.com readers will be taken into consideration when the APIRA selection panel decides upon its winners.
For six of the 2015 season awards, shortlists have been decided for which votes can be submitted by E-Mail. We are up against quite a tight
deadline so two shortlists will be published each week, on Monday and Friday.
Today's shortlist is the APIRA Alan Wigmore Memorial Trophy. The founder of the National Drag Racing Club, Alan Wigmore was dedicated to every
aspect of the sport at home as well as in America. As Chairman of the NDRC Alan got to do just about every job there was to organise as well as run race
events. This Award is presented in Alan's memory to the chosen individual who has shown the same dedication, spirit and enthusiasm for the sport which Alan
showed in his years in drag racing.
The APIRA selection panel's shortlist, in alphabetical order, is as follows:
Nick Brooke-Langham, Gasser Circus
Vote for Nick Brooke-Langham
Andy 'Fadster' Hadfield, Supercharged Outlaws
Vote for Andy Hadfield
Brian and Lee Huxley, Super Gambler organisers
Vote for Brian and Lee Huxley
Mark 'Nipper' Stevens, Kawasaki Triples Challenge
Vote for Mark Stevens
Paul Wright, Outlaw Anglia
Vote for Paul Wright
To place your vote, either use the links above or go to the official APIRA Perpetual Awards voting page which you can view by
clicking here or by clicking on the APIRA Perpetual Awards vote
link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
For each of the Awards, one vote per E-Mail address per nominee will be accepted: multiple votes for the same nominee from the same E-Mail address will
all be disqualified. And every year we say this, but every year someone tries it on: please note that blatant attempts at organising mass votes - for
example asking workmates, forum members or Facebook friends to vote en masse - are easily identified and all such votes will be disallowed as they have been in
previous years. Concerted attempts at vote-rigging will result in the nominee being removed from the shortlist whether or not that nominee knows what was
going on. We know all the dodges so it's just not worth trying. If in any doubt about what constitutes canvassing then please drop us a line at
editor@eurodragster.com.
Additionally, if anyone should have issues with the content of any of the shortlists then please have the courtesy to contact APIRA direct rather than contacting
Eurodragster.com or posting comments on Facebook. E-Mails to Eurodragster.com regarding the content of the shortlists will receive neither a reply nor any other
acknowledgement.
The award for ingenuity and service...
1st February: Lee Child of Eurodragster.com sponsor LA Racing Parts writes
that fellow Eurodragster.com sponsor VP Racing Fuels held a get-together and presentation evening on
the Thursday of Autosport International:
The get-together discussed the growth of the VP range followed by an awards ceremony for achievements with the VP Racing Fuels range. Freddie Turza, in charge of Research and Development for
VP Racing Fuels, presented the 2015 VP Racing Fuels Strongest Technical Support award to LA Racing Parts. I was really happy with the award from VP Racing Fuels and it's a great reward for all the hours
I spend making sure that the customer has the correct fuel.
Freddie Turza described me as "Very creative" for LA Racing Parts' many achievements with products from VP Racing Fuels. Outside of drag racing, LA Racing Parts have been involved with many Championship
victories from rally to sprinting and circuit racing for both cars and bikes. The sweetest victory was my first fuel spec with a powerboat combination. After with some careful calculation working with all the
information, I got fuel ready to go. The result was a world water speed record on my first attempt.
Back to drag racing and, like other motorsports, I don't promote the fuels which team run without their permission. Drag racing is no different to the other motorsports with which I am involved as victories
are not uncommon from Sportsman classes to FIA European Championships.
LA Racing Parts have added fuel outlets to Dakota Raceway in Devon and Spitfire Raceway in Cornwall, and York Raceway will also be confirmed very soon as another fuel outlet.
Any racer who wants to run quicker times, to go faster, or to make the most out of their combination without spending thousands should just call LA Racing Parts on 01803 391740 or
E-Mail me at lee@laracingparts.com and I will be happy to advise and supply the best race fuel for you.
Swift snippets.
1st February: Best wishes to Eurodragster.com sponsor Webster Race Engineering who suffered a small, but bad enough, fire last
week. No-one was hurt which is the main thing. At time of writing Jon Webster was still assessing damage but customers' cars were unaffected; should WRE's
phone number and other details change as a result then he will post information on Facebook and here on Eurodragster.com.
Luke Bennett tells us that it's not just Eurodragster.com who have been the target of E-Mail weirdness
recently as people have been receiving E-Mails from bennett418@divelys.com purporting to be from the Bennett Racing team. Luke asked
us to assure readers that these E-Mails are not coming from him, as Bennett Racing's official E-Mail address is on GMail. As this is a family
site we can't repeat the word which Luke used to describe those responsible although we wholeheartedly agree with him.
A word to our sponsors.
1st February: Eurodragster.com sponsors please note that this year's sponsorship renewals have now been sent out. If your renewal
has not arrived and it is not in your Spam folder then please get in touch with Tog at
tog@eurodragster.com.
If you are interested in sponsoring Eurodragster.com then please get in touch with Tog at the same address.
Earlier news
|
|
