30th April: Congratulations to Aleksandr Gerasickin for going four rounds of tough competition and taking the victory in the final of the AWD heads up category at Dakota Raceway Southwest's Drag Race Cash Day/Straightliners NSA event last Saturday. Aleksandr drove his Audi S8 all the way from Hull to take part and beat everyone in the category, which is really impressive.

Pete Lane with killer reaction times and a tune up dialled into the track won four rounds of competition and took the victory for the rear wheel drive category. Aaron Holford won the 1/8 mile heads up no time cash day drag race front wheel drive category in his street sleeper Fiesta. You can see video from the event at this link with a video of the racing posted at this link on Youtube. Cudos to @dayprojectsltd for a great production.

The next Dakota Raceway Southwest event is on Saturday 17th July, including once again, drag race cash day, the NSA motorcycle championship and Drifting. See you there.

30th April: Nitro Revival Eurodragster.com sponsor Geoff Stilwell has made progress towards his dream of hitting 300mph at Bonneville during Speed Week. We reported on 15th April that Lucas Oil Products had renewed their sponsorship of Geoff's 7707 Lucas Oil Landspeed Team. Lucas have now added to their support by supplying a special oil that can withstand the unique challenge of running a nitro fuelled Hemi continuously for a significantly longer period than it would on a drag strip.

In preparation for Speed Week, Geoff's team will be firing the engine up next week. Team PR Tony Thacker will be on hand to supply images and, we hope, video of the event.

The team have now got their air tickets to Los Angeles – in the expectation that flights will recommence in June, well before the August date for Speed Week. The plan is to then tow the car from Los Angeles all the way to Bonneville, which we can imagine will be a sweet trip for the UK members of the team, unable to have made the journey in 2020.

To show your support of Geoff and his 300mph Speed Record attempt, the 7707 Lucas Oil Landspeed Team have had new T-shirts designed by “Got Salt Racer” Frank Silva who himself has driven his “Got Salt” Landspeed car at over 350mph. These fantastic T-shirts will be available in the U.K. shortly, available only on white T-shirts at the moment (we understand a hoodie is in the works) and sizes are Medium, Large, XL and 2XL . Cost will be £25 incl packaging and post to mainland U.K. only. This is a limited run so message Geoff on Facebook to reserve your T-shirt(s).

Geoff's rival to achieve 300mph at Bonneville Ron Hope of Rat Trap Racing will be testing this weekend at Blytheville International Airport, Arkansas, under the East Coast Timing Association. The airport with its paved mile has become a pre-eminent Midwest/Southeast speed venue following Wilmington Ohio sadly having become an Amazon distribution centre.

30th April: Dave Turner, founder of the Facebook UK & European drag racing photos group, has been in touch to tell us about a milestone achieved:

After a little over 6 years and 10,000 members, I would just like to say a massive thanks to all the members and admin who help the UK & European drag racing photos group - my favourite place on Facebook.

I set up the group a little over 5 years ago. I was having a scan through some of the old drag racing photos taken by my brother and myself (using his old Praktica 35mm) and thought it would be nice to share these with the wider world but there didn't seem to be any groups or pages that fit the bill, most being about the US scene. I felt that these pictures that were not strictly pro shots would get lost in the myriad of American pro cars. I felt that the UK and European scenes weren't being represented. The group was simple enough to set up and I invited some of my Facebook friends and family who seem to like the idea. I shared the group on some of the other groups I was a member of. It took a couple of weeks for things to really start moving but before long we had a couple of hundred members and other people were sharing their personal shots. I was loving it and we were seeing pics that people had never shared. It initially started with me and my brothers Paul and Mark as admins but then Jerry Cookson offered to help administrate, followed soon after by Andrew Green and finally Chris Hobson, who are all still admins.

The group is about sharing pictures - we don't care if they aren't pin sharp pro shot (which are amazing by the way) - we want the pictures people have in their lofts and garages, the ones you took on your old Instamatic or Polaroid, and, more recently your phones. It's the content we are looking for- pictures that stir memories or hold a moment in time that will never be repeated.

So if your old drag racing pictures from Santa Pod, Avon park, Mantorp Park or Hockenheim are gathering dust in a box why not share them with like minded people on the UK & European drag racing photos Facebook group?

Would that work? Well, it worked back in the sixties as a formula for AA/fuel altered, so why not again?

It was this conversation over a prolonged period of time that has resulted in the start of 5 new cars being built (to date - and more being talked about….!). In order of the build commencement (and in order of above photos) they are: Martin Baldwin (427 Chevy Model ’T’), Nick Davies (417 Donovan Fiat Topolino), Rob Loaring (427 Chevy Model ‘T’), Jon Webster (354 Chevy Morris Minor) and Tim Garlick (426 Austin Bantam). Exciting? You’d better believe it...

It is early days yet and, owing to other commitments, the debut of the first car is not planned until 2023, but they will all follow soon after. Too early for an announcement? Maybe, but people talk and anyone who wants to get involved should understand this is no new ‘heads-up’ arms-race class, just a bunch of old racers looking to the future. It’s suddenly looking much brighter...

29th April: Funny car restorer extraordinaire from Sweden Johnny Nilsson has written to tell us about his 17th Funny Car project:

"The car is the Tony Casarez built Blue Max Funny Car from 1978 ( the yellow and blue Plymouth Arrow) which Raymond Beadle brought to Santa Pod in 1979 and raced it. The car stayed at the pod until 1980 when Tom Hoover drove it. Beadle was back in the seat at Mantorp Park in 1981, then the car was sold to different people and has been in Finland for many years.


"My plan is to make a complete restoration down to every bolt and nut, and I have most of the parts in my Autoart Racing Shop. The car will of course have the same paint scheme livery and be driveable with my youngest son Teddy behind the wheel.

"I would also like to say a BIG THANKS to Risto Poutiainen for making this possible for me.

"To all Eurodragster readers, I am searching for some parts like Water Necks for Hemi Heads, Milodon single plug valve covers and an old style bellhousing, and also if somebody has good pictures of the car, I will really appreciate them. Please send them to info@autoart.net.

29th April: A reminder first that there are still a few places available at the private test organised by the VW Drag Racing Club on 4th May which can be entered by clicking on this link. And now...

The VWDRC are happy to announce that White Label Business Consulting will be sponsoring the club for the 2021 season.

Tom and Jamie designed White Label Business Consulting as a ‘One Stop Shop’ for all your business’s needs. From a new company start-up and registration to advertisement, marketing campaigns and techniques to continued business management and advisory on any ongoing or new projects with their clients. Perhaps you are an independent sole trader looking to transition into a registered limited company? Or you might be an established company looking to gain an edge on competitors in your field and expand current business and profit margins.

As well sponsoring the 2021 championship, the White Label team are offering several discounts for club member including:

Website Design – 20% Discount
From standalone design of the website to design, hosting, domains and content management, White Label are sure to have an offering to suit your requirements. Websites starting from £499!

Start Up Package – 20% Discount
White Label Offer professional and affordable start up packages for new businesses and entrepreneurs looking to make a statement with all the necessities every business needs to thrive. Whether you are looking to set up a limited company or start out on your own, White Label has a package tailored to all needs. Packages starting from £299!

Logo Design – 30% Discount
Whether you are looking to spruce up your business or race team’s logo, White Label can provide you with an unlimited edit logo that will stand out from the crowd. Logos starting from £150!

Stickers – 25% Discount
Once you have your design ready, White Label can provide high quality stickers whether you are a new club sponsor or business who wants to promote your business at the track. A set of 200 printed and cut stickers for £250!

This is just the tip of the iceberg of services that White Label Business Consulting can provide so head over to their page and give them a follow for all the latest updates today.

Furthermore, Tom and Jamie will be at the track this season and will be more than happy to sit down and discuss any interest or enquiries you may have.

With great sadness, we learned that UK Drag Racing legend Dennis Priddle passed away yesterday evening at the age of 75. Keith Lee, author of Dennis's biography, writes:

This is so hard to write; having been asked by his long time friend Phil Pead to break the news that the drag racing family has sadly lost one of it’s truly legendary figures, with the passing of Dennis Priddle. Breathing complications, caused by a fall, resulted in an emergency trip to Yeovil Hospital, where he ultimately lost his final battle peacefully last night. To drag racing fans he will always be remembered as Mister Six, after recording Europe’s first 6 second pass back in May, 1972. There were so many highlights for this fascinating character, as he played such a major part in those early years of the sport’s history.

A member of both the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame, and also the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame, Dennis was known for his driving, and equally for the standard of the machines he built. An apprenticeship at Westland Helicopters instilled in him an attention to detail, which he applied to everything in life. It was a pleasure to be able to spend so much time with him, while working on the Mister Six book. He had a wicked sense of humour, and a way of telling stories that was not to be missed. He could be a difficult character to get to know, as he was essentially a very private character at heart - but one who enjoyed good company. Those who knew him well will all have tales to tell about this colourful character.

Dennis was someone whose exploits on track were not to be missed during the two decades he raced. With success in Top Fuel and Funny Car, Dennis was a firm favourite with the race fans, and he also inspired many to compete themselves. He was someone who was never afraid to speak his mind, and could be quite intimidating with just his stare, especially if he thought you were talking rubbish! What he respected was engineering excellence, which he always strived for himself - while always taking a keen interest in new technology advances. Away from the track, he produced and fitted screw blowers to road vehicles, which attracted interest from car manufacturers. He also enjoyed working on his own model railway engineering projects in his spare time.

One thing that the Covid situation sadly robbed Dennis of was the opportunity of seeing the finished tribute Monza Funny Car of Paul Harris in action last year, following the cancellation of Dragstalgia. Paul had for some time wanted to run a car in honour of his drag racing hero. Dennis himself was involved in mounting and fitting out the body shell, helping old crew member Brian ‘Star’ Savidge. Despite his debilitating health conditions, Dennis was so tickled that Paul and his crew were undertaking this project, and wanted to help out where he could. Watching him working in the pits at Santa Pod, when the car was run in Chi-Town Hustler trim, it was like the years were stripped away. Hopefully, a suitable tribute will be paid to honour the legend that is Dennis Priddle, when this stunning car finally hits the track, some 44 years after the original one made it’s impressive Santa Pod debut.

Our thoughts and prayers at this sad time go out to Sandra, his wife of 50 years, along with their daughter Nicola, and two grandchildren.

RIP old friend.

Editor's note: Please send your memories of Dennis to tributes@eurodragster.com and we will publish them.

Robinson Race Cars provided the team carrying out inspections, Andy and Luke Robinson testing parts for compliance and Kate Robinson handling the corresponding paperwork. Further inspections will take place at Robinson Race Cars over the next two days (Luke Robinson pictured right).

Andy told us that the new Anger Management Camaro will most likely be making its debut at June's Festival of Power. "It's got a slightly shorter wheelbase than the previous car, many new features on the chassis and will be a rolling shop window for the business".

Mark Norton of the UK Drag Racing Tech team also attended to inspect a new build chassis and answer racers' queries. Mark said that to obtain a prompt response queries should go to the central e-mail address drtukq@aol.com, whilst queries submitted at the stage of planning a new race build will be appreciated even if specific details are not yet decided.

Eurodragster.com attended the inspection, editor Simon taking a number of pictures and talking to racers attending. A fair number of racers took part in the inspection, possibly reduced from last year by travel restrictions affecting racers from the EU who had instead sent their parts to Sweden for testing at ME Racing. Fees for inspection have been discounted for 2021 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic reducing racing activity in 2020, the SFI's insurers being unable to cover an extension of the certification period.

Our notes from racers follow in the order that we spoke to them:

Steve and Babs Saunders, formerly known as team Hi-Speed Gas but now renamed Rusty Dog in memory of late and much-missed team member Pete Nee (we'll leave it to Steve and Babs to describe at a later stage the exact provenance of the name), brought along a new build altered chassis.

Steve and Babs said "We were thinking of retiring when we put the Zephyr up for sale but thought is taking our new hot rod to picnics going to be enough for us? No! So the '32 Ford hot rod build spawned …a '32 Ford Super Pro altered.

"The body and chassis of the Zephyr was stripped of all running gear and sold to Sportsman ET racer Nathan Hulkes - who we suspect will be fitting a SBC. We then obtained some chassis plans from Mark Williams for a 120" altered and once we got the chrome moly tubing, asked Dave McCallan to weld it together for us. We bought some new front wheels, installed some front brakes and then mounted our new CNC Motorsports 632ci BBF short motor with all our old ancillaries and heads, our JW gearbox and spragless converter and 9" Chassisworks rear end.

"Babs then created a fibreglass '32 Ford bodyshell which will be going to Dave McCallan to be finished and painted.

Mark Norton inspected the chassis which passed for the 7.50 tag subject to a minor tweak.

Steve and Babs are behind the title sponsorship of Pete Nee Super Pro ET, Pete's work mates having generously stepped in to contribute towards the cost of supporting the class.

Competition Eliminator racer Robin Orthodoxou (pictured right) brought the clutch from his A/Altered entry for inspection. When we spoke to Robin at the 4th April RWYB, Robin was getting ready for a test run, the timing ticket reading 7.3358/175.77. He said "We were testing settings with the new wheelie bars, and ran with more air in the tyres, a lot of clutch, a low wheelie bar position and leaving with lower revs than usual. We had also changed the fuel bypass so more went into the engine. The car went straight even with an uneven chassis load but I had to shut off early with the sun in my eyes, with the run being made late afternoon".

Robin explained the wheelie bars have got a trick Neal & Parks wheel with some travel and sensors for data collection. Another development is the future installation of a lithium battery (with appropriate precautions such as removal between runs and not using a jump pack) to replace the heavy, currently front-mounted lead-zinc battery.

Super Pro ET racer Alan Didwell made the 90 minute trip from Wisbech for his Powerglide gearbox to be certified. He said "The dragster has ran well with no real issues, I imported it in 2011 from the US and the only major change I made was addition of a wing in 2020 to help the car's stability on the concrete track. The 555ci Dart-engined dragster has run a best of 7.52/179.

Several Funny Car racers were at the certification, all looking forward to the Festival of Power as the first competition for them in 2021 and anticipating with enthusiasm putting on a great show.

Funny Car racer Kevin Chapman (pictured right) is looking forward to having crew chief Terry Haddock in the UK, and hoping Covid-19 travel restrictions allow this without quarantine being necessary. Kevin, having his clutch and bellhousing certified mentioned Terry has had a busy season so far running his FC at the NHRA Gainesville and Las Vegas events, also at the Texas Motorplex Funny Car Chaos competition. He's also bought a racing wheel manufacturing business.

Nostalgia Funny Car racer Paul Harris (pictured left with Andy Robinson) brought his clutch, blower bag and bellhousing for certification. Despite earlier concerns about the delivery of the blower bag, it arrived in good time which means the team will be ready to compete at the Springspeed Nationals. Paul said "We'll be running the Ch-Town Hustler Dodge Omni body at first and then the Dennis Priddle tribute Chevy Monza body at Dragstalgia.

"We've been working through the issues we inherited from the car having a large capacity fuel pump outlaw setup to one within NFC rules. This was causing problems in running the engine on track and the clutch dragging me through the startline beams. The six at 212 on our third run shows the potential. Although crew chief Herb Andrews wasn't able to attend the SFI day, he messaged us to say "I've spent 100's of hours working out what the car needs so we're looking forward to see what the improvements I've introduced make to the car's performance." No-one ever said it was easy…

NFC Nitro Bug racer Andy Raw (pictured right) revealed a cunning two engine plan to us whilst his clutch was being certified. "I've got a spare engine and it's in outlaw spec with a bigger fuel pump and MSD Powergrid and we'll run it at the demo events such as VW Breakout. I got the idea from watching Outlaw NFC racing in Australia, the cars run really quick and you don't see the smoke from burning pistons at the end of each run which is a regular feature of NHRA Hot Rod Heritage NFC racing. The game is about getting more longevity of parts (with rods costing $220 each after duty and aluminium in short supply). Karl (crew chief Karl Harrison) is chomping at the bit". Due to late arrival of pistons, VW Breakout on the Spring Bank Holiday weekend will be the car's first appearance this season but if all goes to plan we should see it more often this season.

Funny Car racer Jason Phelps (pictured left) is in the process of rebuilding the Gladiator Funny Car which suffered such a huge fireball last September. He said "FGR Motorsport is repairing the chassis damage to the rear "tree" and wheelie bar. The new carbon fibre Toyota Camry body has arrived from the US and paint will be applied by a team of five people". The theme will be the next reincarnation of Gladiator and you can bet it will look as amazing as its predecessor. Dates for the car will be the Festival of Power (definite), Bug Jam and the Euro Finals (both to be confirmed) and some show dates in between".

Comp Eliminator racer Andy "Fred" Hone (pictured right) will be changing classes within the category by installing a bigger 530ci Chevy engine with two stages of nitrous and going into the BN/A (nitrous altered) class. "I've had the car since 1998 having bought it from Alan Packman who ran it in Pro Mod. The first mods made were Andy Robinson adding a FC-style cage, and then in 2013 Gary Layton and I strengthened the centre chassis. I ran it until 2019 in the SM class with a best of 7.302. Although the 7.99 SM index was seen as soft, the BN/A index was 7.86 (since reduced to 7.68) and the car should run substantially quicker". Fred welcomed the addition of Stock/Super Stock into the category and hoped the indexes work out to create a competitive playing field.

Comp Eliminator racer and Covid Cup winner Kev Perkins (pictured left) will be racing his Oldsmobile Cutlass in the SM (Super Modified) class again, with son Lloyd Perkins driving twice in this year's championship. "I've known the car ever since Tony Rose brought it into the country in 1993", said Kev, "and worked on it with Rob Loaring at I.C.E. Engineering. The car came through a few owners after Tony sold it, Nick Davies, Graham Ellis and Rob Elsom taking it down the track". The current spec is a 468ci BBC with twin carbs and a SM-legal nitrous kit, with the power going through a clutch and four speed Lenco.

As well as freshening the engine, Kev has made a new front end from the car based on the old panels, but in much lighter fibreglass. Kev continued "The old front end had become heavy with repairs being needed. The new front has a revised hood scoop design and is more aerodynamic. It's 35 years since I last worked with fibreglass and I'm pleased it came out ok".

Funny Car crew chief for the Shockwave/Undertaker car Dave Bryant (pictured right) is aiming for a Festival of Power entry into competition for 2021. He said "It's the same car, same driver (Steve Ashdown) and same ugly crew. The car has a new fuel system – we ideally would have tested it but it won't be possible, the system was flowed by Don Schumacher Racing. But the real deal is the numbers you get on track. We've got plenty of spares, two spare engines, two blowers, ten heads, but it's never enough. We're up for competition and racing against other classes as well".

Dave's wife Marie Mills who works on the FC's clutch along with Grace Roaf, has developed a taste for racing and will be licensing in the ex-Elaine Hancock 23T altered, then racing in Pro ET in non-FC events to start with, before moving to Super Comp.

Another member of the team Lee Webb will be working in the US with Scott Palmer's NHRA Top Fuel team this year, a great way to get key experience in the sport even if the team loses his services for a period.

Kevin Kent confirmed what had been announced last April, that he and wife Shelley Pearson will be running a two funny car team. He said "Shelley's car's ready and we're working to complete my new Chevy Monte Carlo so that we can both race at the Festival of Power". Kevin mentioned that whilst parts are more expensive this is partly tariffs and carrier fees which hopefully will reduce.

We also saw Bobby Wallace (pictured left) who said he is "99.9% sure" he will be at the season-opening Springspeed Nationals with the ex-Khalid Al-Balooshi/Ricky Smith Camaro that ran a five last September, and is currently being put back together. Bobby's garage still has his Willys Pro Mod and an ex-Roger Johansson Mustang in it but his choice of weapon for this year's Championship seems obvious. Meanwhile sister Annie Wallace is "undecided" about driving but remains an active member of the team.

Nostalgia Funny Car racer Rob Elsom confirmed he is aiming for the Festival of Power as his first meeting in 2021. He said "I would be up for another Big Show vs Nostalgia FC Cannonball". Rob's business of supplying equipment for online sales warehouses has gone through a very busy time over the last year, but his team including John Wright have given him much support in fitting the new swoopy Gen1 Camaro body, unique outside the US and one of only six created.

Competition Eliminator racer Paul Brooks, pictured with daughter Georgi, lovingly restored the ex-Dave Warne Mean As Hell Sierra, however on a test run the car lifted its front left wheel more than it had even done for its previous owner, the immaculately turned car getting up on one rear wheel and knocking a couple of reflectors for six. "I knew after that it needed a rear anti-roll bar so bought one from Mark Williams and Andy Robinson installed it and modified the rear end four link. The engine is still a B-1, a good nitrous engine and whilst the gearbox is currently a Ultra Glide, I have a CS3 five speed in the garage which I want to install at the end of the year."

Thanks to all the racers we buttonholed during a most enjoyable day and to Darren Prentice of Santa Pod Raceway for supplying hospitality and facilities.

He then bought a 496ci Chevy from Jedd Guy which he then had drag racing legend John Wright rebuild. This is mated to a two speed Powerglide from Jeff at Jeff Bull Race Engines. Wanting to put his own stamp on the cars appearance but with an eye to the cars history, Mark had Chris Picken of Paint Palace lay down the two tone paint scheme and with vinyl designed by Chris Parker and applied by Scope Automotive to complete the look, we were then ready to hit the track for some testing. With support from John and Lesley not only tuning but showing a virgin crew the ropes, we managed to check out the cars systems and get Mark the first part of his licence.

The plan now is to complete licencing and qualify for Super Pro ET at the STP Springspeed Nationals at Santa Pod 21st-23rd May.

Mark would like to thank everyone who has helped him achieve his dream of racing his own car his wife Michelle who has supported him through his years crewing and now as team manager for M&M Racing. John and Lesley Wright, Tony Betts, John Rathbone, his crew Dave, Paul and Chris, AD coach systems for their support.

If you would like to partner this new team as they start there journey please get in touch at mandmracing308@gmail.com. You can follow M&M Racing on their Facebook page and mandmracing308 on Instagram.

25th April: Thanks to Outlaw Street and RWYB racer Simon Paul who has been in touch to let us know he had passed a milestone in his racing career. Simon writes:

"28th March 2021 was the 45th Anniversary of my 1st run down a drag strip on 28 March 1976; 45 years ago it was a RWYB event at Santa Pod and I was driving a 1965 MkIII Ford Zephyr 6 which ran 19.44 at 68mph, I was hooked!

"Over the following four seasons (1977-1980) I competed with the Zephyr in the British Drag Racing & Hot Rod Association (BDR&HRA) Production classes at Santa Pod. I eventually got the Zephyr to run a best ET of 16.97 and a best Terminal Speed of 80.45mph. The Terminal Speed was the M/Production class record which stands in perpetuity.



"The Zephyr has long gone and was replaced with various cars over the intervening years that I have run at Santa Pod. I am now running a Nissan GT-R.

To celebrate my 45th anniversary I attended a Private Test Day at Santa Pod on Monday 19th April with my GT-R and ran a new personal best of 10.0056 @ 143.92mph - so close to the 9's, and a great way to celebrate!"

As a category, Outlaw Street is celebrating over 100 members with street legal fast cars. The six race dates for 2021, all at Santa Pod Raceway, with a Prize Night on Saturday 13th November are:

1. 28th-30th May, VW Breakout
2. 19th-20th June, Retro Show Lite
3. 30th July-1st August, 27th Mopar Euro Nationals
4. 3rd-5th September, VW Action
5. 17th-19th September, NSRA Hot Rod Drags
6. 23rd-24th October, Saturday Night Special RWYB

You can see photos of many Outlaw Street competitors on the Facebook page.

Fueltech Nitrobike Showdown 2021.
23rd April: News comes from Finland of the Fueltech Nitrobike Showdown 2021, a five round championship series organised by nitro bike legend Jaska Salakari. The series is open to all nitro bikes, and the first round is on 11th-13th June at Motopark Raceway, Pielsämäki.

An impressive eighteen riders from Scandinavia and the Netherlands have signed up, including many regulars in the FIM-E and EDRS Pro championships. The

The Petrolheadonism Club, established by the Sharnbrook Hotel to offer events in the Bedfordshire area to petrolheads from any part of the UK, hired Santa Pod Raceway for a private test day on Sunday 18th April titled Breakfast Meeting & Driveout.

Organised with Covid-19 safety requirements in mind, the behind-closed-doors event offered members breakfast at the Sharnbrook Hotel followed by a choice of unlimited runs at SPR or a single run, depending on the price paid. The official photographer was Simon Letkey of VeeDubRacing who has posted Facebook galleries of track side pics and pit side pics.

Picture courtesy of and © Simon Letkey, Veedubracing.

John Woolfe Racing, we have posted a gallery of 120 of his photos which you can see by clicking on this link. The day was successful with over 450 timed runs possible on the prepped surface.

Streaming video and commentary from the startline tower were made possible by European FWD organiser Luke Stevenson who posted the footage on its FB page. Trackside video footage by Kieran is in preparation and will be posted to the Mk1Kieran Youtube page shortly.

We analysed the timing data and entry lists and came up with the Top 20 times recorded during the day (see left). It was the first time out in 2021 for many of the over 80 entrants and some were on their best times straight off the bat, such as the Outlaw Anglias of Colin Millar and Jedd Guy, the latter being a new build.

Andy Bond was there with his U6ly Sister Chevrolet 210 which took part in an informal Quick 8 competion and won the trophy in the competition, defeating Colin Millar in the final. Lee Huxley's Nova, first seen last September, attended and there was a new car debut for Marc Huxley (Toyota Corolla KE20, reminiscent of the Huxleys' Cando from the 1980s), the latter running a new PB of 10.3403/125.46.

VW Pro racer James Gould ran a new PB of 10.5434/134.82 whilst Jose Leite ran his diesel VW Polo to a 10.9237/131.05, his first ten. Helder Pereira got very close to running his first nine in his Seat Ibiza, scoring a 10.0101/142.91 best. Several other PBs were scored during the day, Craig Evans' 9.898@149.59mph being his best in his Vauxhall Nova.

VAG drivers have the opportunity to attend a private test organised by the VWDRC on 4th May which can be entered by clicking on this link.

Jürgen leaves behind his wife Daniela and son Steven. On April 10th his funeral took place at his home town in the Frankfurt area. Family and friends, as well as some race teams and HARA members attended the ceremony (see picture).

Jürgen, keep an eye on our sport from wherever you are.

There are stickers available (for free) to carry him on your race car/trailer. If interested, e-mail Markus at info@ dragstripper.de.

19th April: The latest update in our weekly Pioneers of UK drag racing series, told in the original words of the racers, and accompanied by photos and images from their collections, covers the period 1969-1986 for Surrey dragster racers Richard and Martin Jarman.

Richard Jarman was first involved by watching the sport at Santa Pod, buying the Harold Bull-built Strip Star dragster from Derek Metcalf in 1969. Richard first ran the car with a 2-litre Ford V4 engine; with the involvement of his brother Martin, the engine was changed to a 3-litre V6 and times came down, with sponsorship coming on board. After running Strip Star for 14 years, Strip Star 2 came along in 1983, the chassis having been built by Tony Anderson and times reducing to mid eights.

Many thanks to Richard and Martin for telling their story to Eurodragster.com and to John Hunt for transcribing it. You can see Richard and Martin's story by going to this link, or via the index page for the pioneers' stories, which shows links to the UK drag racing history web sites that provide the wider story and context for the story of the sport.

Eurodragster.com thanks racers for providing their stories, and John Hunt and drag racing historian Nick Pettitt for help with editing and proof reading the feature.

"Big thanks go out to Roger Luty for building a fantastic race engine, and Darryl Setchell for fitting it and generally getting it all up and running again. Last but not least my glam crew Yvonne O'Rourke and Grace Roaf for all the support and encouragement.

"Basically now the whole drive train has been rebuilt so we're looking forward to (hopefully) a full season of racing in Nostalgia Superstock. See you all at the track".

16th April: The VW Drag Racing Club's season kicks off on Tuesday 4th May with a pre-season test day at Santa Pod Raceway. Chairman Luke Stevenson says "The club has exclusive use of the track that day. It's open to anyone who wants to come join in whatever car you have, picture short waiting times, multiple runs, fully prepped strip. Entry including two crew will cost £100 with additional crew members for £10 each, all pre-booked on the VWDRC Shop.

"The test day will be for 100 cars maximum and is expected to be packed with a record number of new members".

The season will consist of six championship rounds for VW Sportsman and VW Pro, and three rounds of VW Heads Up racing. The full calendar is:

• 4th May – Pre season testing (all cars)
• 22nd-23rd May – STP Springspeed Nationals (VW Sportsman and VW Pro)
• 28th-30th May – VW Breakout (VW Heads Up)
• 25th-27th June – Festival of Power Unlocked (VW Sportsman and VW Pro)
• 17th-18th July – STP Summer Nationals (VW Sportsman and VW Pro)
• 23rd-25th July – Bug Jam 34 (VW Sportsman and VW Pro)
• 21st-22nd August – STP Greenlight Nationals (VW Sportsman and VW Pro)
• 3rd – 5th September - VW Action (VW Heads Up)
• 25th-26th September - STP National Finals (VW Sportsman and VW Pro)
• 10th October – GTI Festival (VW Heads Up)

There will be some of the largest prizes in UK Sportsman Drag Racing Championships with a championship prize fund of £1000 for the Champion, £500 for the runner up and £150 for third place in each of VW Sportsman and VW Pro. Other cash prizes will be awarded at VW Action with £2000 generously funded by A-Plan Insurance to be split amongst the quickest 5 aircooled VW cars, quickest 5 watercooled VW cars, quickest 5 VW buses and quickest 5 A/E VWs on Saturday evening's (4th September) session.

Thanks go to sponsors Hangar 30, The Car Kitchen, EST Performance, BJ Bates Electrical, Pro-Race Engineering, Volks Workshop, CG Motorsport Clutch Specialists, 32 SpeedShop, Track Ready, WRP Paint & Restoration and R-Tech Performance.

We'll shortly run a piece on the new cars expected out in 2021.

Picture: Carl Goldsmith ran a 10.84/129 in the £2000-to-build Loaner Golf at last October's GTI Festival.

Geoff Stilwell, owner/driver of the record-holding 7707 Lucas Oil Land Speed Racecar, and sponsor of Eurodragster.com through Nitro Revival, is very proud to announce the continuation of Lucas Oil’s sponsorship of the team for 2021: "We were unable to race at all in 2020 due to the Covid crisis,” said Geoff, CEO and MD of Beech Underwriting Agencies, "however, that did not stop us from supporting Lucas Oil whenever possible with the Blown Fuel Roadster on display at the Grand National Roadster Show at the world famous Pomona Country Fairgrounds in Los Angeles, so we are extremely grateful that they remain on board for 2021.

"Assuming travel restrictions are lifted, the team plan to be on the Bonneville Salt Flats for Speed Week, August 7-13, when we hope for some favourable racing conditions. I still hold the A/BFRMR class record but there’s always somebody trying to better it".

"Besides sponsorship from Lucas Oil the racecar is also supported by our UK crew Nick Davies, Rob Loaring and Scott Barnes of ICEAutomotive.co.uk, Ron Hope's RatTrapRacing.com, and CARS Recon Inc. www.capautorecon.com, and the builder/painter of the car award winning Micks Paint www.mickspaint.com".

Based on a highly modified 1927 Ford Roadster, 7707 is a purpose-built land speed racer that currently holds the A/Blown Fuel Rear-engine Modified Roadster record at 258.569 mph. 7707 was built entirely at Mick’s Paint, Pomona, CA, and features a 494 ci Brad Anderson-based engine built by John Beck of Vintage Hot Rod Design & Fabrication, Chico, CA. The 5,000 hp engine features Bill Miller pistons and rods, a Blower Shop 14-71 supercharger and Enderle injector with MSD ignition and Racepak data acquisition. The transmission is a B&J 2-speed and the rear end a Winters quick-change.

Many thanks to Gasser Circus co-ordinator Nick Brooke-Langham for sending dates for the 2021 Gasser Circus Showdown:

The Gasser Circus are getting ready for our first round of racing and below are the details of our slightly amended season.

Thanks to the excellent work by the team at Santa Pod, the Gasser Circus will once again contest our race series at the legendary race track in 2021. The Gasser Circus is also delighted to confirm the continued sponsorship of Melliards Modern Pinstriping & Lettering at neilmelliard@gmail.com and on Instagram, and the National Street Rod Association at nsra.org.uk and also on Instagram.

• Round 1 – VW Breakout 28th–30th May, Santa Pod
• Round 2 – RWYB/Retro weekend 19th–20th June, Santa Pod
• Round 3 – Dragstalgia 9th–11th Jul, Santa Pod
• Round 4 – Mopar Nationals – 30th July–1st August, Santa Pod
• Round 5 – Hot Rod Drags -17th–19th September, Santa Pod

The Gasser Circus - Racing the Dream.

Photo credit: Stuart Mitchell

14th April: Thanks to Jack Petley for sending us a preview of his new race car, the ex-Super Modified / Pro ET car owned by David James and then Peter Thompson:

Since myself and Dad bought the Chevelle around a year ago, and due to building a new house, we haven't had much of a chance to look at it, over the last few months we have nevertheless made a plan - we are building Maliboost". It will be a Twin Turbo 427 LS built to be a street/strip car. It's going to be built to run in Street Eliminator UK however we will probably also give Pro/Super Pro a go depending on its ETs.

The engine will be built by Stefan Rossi in California, who's spec'd us a turnkey street strip beast! The chassis work is being competed by Chris Isaacs Racecars. The car was dropped off this weekend (10th April) with a lot of ideas being thrown his way; nothing was a problem and Chris has been great so far! Thank you to Dave Gane for the transport.

The paint design was done by Przym Paintworks, who have absolutely killed it, and with a few pics and some ideas, have got the design spot on.

As always, thank you to dad for all his support, mentally and financially, and to some of friends and family who've given us advice along the way! 52 weeks till Easter 2022!

14th April: Swedish racer Jonnie Lindberg has got a seat in the new NHRA Funny Car team of Jason Rupert, in time for the team to make its debut at this coming weekend's Denso Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip, Las Vegas.

The team's 2017 Ford Mustang is painted with matching Bays & Rupert lettering to Jason's Nostalgia Funny Car which ran in the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series, winning three championships with Jason driving. The lettering is in tribute to Jason's father former Top Fuel dragster and Funny Car racer Frank Rupert who passed away in January 2019.

Jonnie's drive will be short-lived as Jason will be making licensing passes during test runs after the Las Vegas event.

Jonnie, a two-time NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Top Alcohol Funny Car champion, drove the Head Racing Funny Car from 2017 through 2019 and was selected to substitute for Bob Tasca III in the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang last summer when Tasca was sidelined with COVID-19. Jonnie reached the final round four times while driving for Head with two occurring at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“I’m happy to get behind the wheel of a nitro car again,” said Jonnie. "It is always an honour to be trusted with someone’s equipment. Rupert and I talked about this possibility going back to last year. They are a new, part-time team who took the time and effort to put together a good car."

The 32-year-old Swedish driver will also be tuning Brian Hough’s Top Alcohol Funny Car that was recently built at Jonnie Lindberg Motorsports. This event marks the first time that the Top Alcohol categories will compete in the four-wide format.

Nitro veteran Johnny West will serve as crew chief.

Photo courtesy NHRA.com

Straightliners Dakota Raceway opens to competitors and pit crew only. The day is going to be like a two for one kind of deal where the main feature of the day is going to be a 1/8 mile no time, no prep, heads up eliminator with six categories to make it a real level playing field.

There is a prize fund for each 16 car category of £400, winner takes all. Competitors will have the option to run the 1/4 mile at no extra charge before the eliminator starts, and if they get eliminated. The drag strip will have the National Sprint Association Portatree timing system in place for the day. We have teams hauling from the north, midlands, south east and just around the corner. We can still take more entries but you only have until 20th April when entries close at 9pm.


Entry fee: Driver and one crew member entry is £100. If you get eliminated from the 1/8 mile no time drag race, you then can do timed 1/4 mile test runs at no extra charge; passengers have an additional charge.

All categories will have the 16 car pairings decided from an out-of-the-hat selection until the final two race for the money.

Categories:

Pro AWD: Modified, competition tyres, interior removed.
Street AWD: Factory appearance, full interior.
Pro Rear Wheel Drive: Modified, competition tyres, interior removed
Street Rear Wheel Drive: Factory appearance, full interior
Pro Front Wheel Drive: Modified, competition tyres, interior removed
Street Front Wheel Drive: Factory appearance, full interior


Pre entry is required and you can enter via this page on the Straightliners web site. This is a non-spectator event.

Dakota Raceway is situated at Smeatharpe Airfield, Devon EX14 9RF. For daily updates check the Dakota Raceway Southwest Facebook page. If you want to test and not be part of the eliminator please contact Lee on 07771 590176.

12th April: Wild Bunch co-ordinator Clare Meaddows has announced that, following cancellation of events at Santa Pod Raceway until the fourth weekend of May, a revised calendar for the nostalgia dragster, funny car and altered category has been released.

The revised calendar, together with the respective class championships, The Wild Bunch Championship (WB), Spirit of Nostalgia Championship (SN), Springbridge Direct/Motorsports UK Championship (MSUK) and Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Championship (RW) is below. Mandatory pre-entry is via SPRC or Santa Pod Raceway ticketing as indicated for each event:

• 22nd-23rd May – Springspeed Nationals (SN, MSUK) – SPRC entry
• 28th-30th May – Spring Nationals @ VW Breakout (WB, SN, RW)– SPR entry
• 10th-11th July – Dragstalgia (WB, SN, RW) – SPR entry
• 17th-18th July – Summer Nationals (SN, MSUK) – SPRC entry
• 30th July – 1st August – Summer Showdown @ Mopar Euro Nationals (WB, SN) – SPR entry
• 21st-22nd August – Greenlight Nationals (SN, MSUK) – SPRC entry
• 17th-19th September – NSRA Hot Rod Drags (WB, SN, RW)– SPR entry
• 25th – 26th September – National Finals (WB, SN, MSUK) – SPRC entry

Additional information for pre-entry and event conditions for each event will be made available to all WB competitors.

Picture: Ian Wild's new WildCat Jaguar engined Wild Bunch altered.

Editor's note: the end of May VW Breakout meeting will now include, as well as a full field of VAG cars, the Wild Bunch, Outlaw Anglia, Supercharged Outlaws, Gasser Circus and UK Nostalgia Superstock, making for a great weekend's racing.

John has kindly given permission for us to publish his photo collection taken at Santa Pod Raceway between 1967 and 1971 which can be seen at this page, with captions included.

Many thanks to John for telling his story to Eurodragster.com and to John Hunt for transcribing it. You can see John's story by going to this link, or via the index page for the pioneers' stories, which shows links to the UK drag racing history web sites that provide the wider story and context for the story of the sport. Eurodragster.com thanks racers for providing their stories, and John Hunt and drag racing historian Nick Pettitt for help with editing and proof reading the feature.

Trakbytes updated.
12th April: Many thanks to Trakbytes webmaster Chris Dossett for letting us know that the latest update to his great web site has just been posted:

There are somewhere in the region of 28 new entries, including some personal bests, some record performances, some full meeting results, three major event re-writes and plenty more. The earliest entry this time is from 1963, the most recent, 1995.

I've started to add a few more programme covers alongside their corresponding events too. If anyone has any scans of covers that I don't yet have (and there are quite a few), and you have time to send them to me, I would be most grateful.

Trakbytes provides an easy-to-navigate chronicle of British drag racing history with the timeline for legends of the sport and results of many major meetings with records set.

Run What Ya Brung gallery.
10th April: Courtesy of John Woolfe Racing, we have posted coverage of today's Run What Ya Brung at Santa Pod Raceway. Julian and Kieran took photos and we have published a gallery which currently includes Julian's pictures; Kieran's will follow and will be linked to in the same page.

Please do write to simon@eurodragster.com with your news about the day's activities and we'll publish it in the next news update.

Swift snippets.
10th April: Mark Cook-Abbott has asked us to wish son Thomas Cook-Abbott, aka The Tominator, a very Happy 18th Birthday today. Have a great day Thomas from all of us at Eurodragster.com.

Also enjoying a special day today are former Comp Bike champion and Junior Drag Bike supporter Lizz McCarthy-Charman and Santa Pod Raceway announcer and co-presenter of the Santa Podcast Colin Theobald. Happy Birthday and have a great day both from all of us.

SFI UK Day 2021.
9th April: Thanks to Jennifer Faye, President of the SFI Foundation, who has announced the 2021 parts inspections in the UK:

As COVID gathering restrictions improve in the UK, SFI is happy to announce they will be providing the annual safety inspections and recertifications at Santa Pod Raceway on Monday, 26th April. Racers and team personnel may begin bringing parts at 09:00. Distancing measures will be employed such as dropping parts at the door, queueing in vehicles, etc. to avoid gathering in groups. Further details for the UK SFI Day 2021 will be posted to the Santa Pod Racers’ Facebook page shortly.

If you are unable to attend inspections on 26th April, there is also the opportunity to send or bring your parts to Robinson Racecars that week, 27th-29th April, by appointment only. Please contact Robinson Race Cars at info@robinsonracecars.com to make arrangements.

As a reminder, there will also be SFI inspection services available at ME Racing in Borlange Sweden on 26th-28th April. Parts must be registered and sent to ME Racing prior to those dates to minimize contact. Further details about inspections in Sweden may be found at the ME Racing Service web site.

Motorsport UK requires team details.
9th April: Thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for drawing to our attention the importance of completing the new Motorsport UK part of the entry form for car classes:

Car racers entering the Springspeed Nationals please note, this is very important, when you get to the new added Motorsport UK form at the back of the entry form, it is vital that you complete the last section. This requires you to fill in the details of all crew or family members that will be using your crew tickets to enter the event. These forms are to be sent to Motorsport UK and used as track and trace for the event, and is part of the permit restriction to allow us to run the event. If you only complete the Drivers name and one crew member you will only receive a ticket for those persons, Sportsman Racers have four tickets one for the driver and three for their crew, if you intend using all of your entitlement of tickets (a list is in an earlier news item per class), then you must enter all of the names with a contact phone number for each individual. I have received many entry forms with just the drivers name added.

So if you have already entered and not completed the form correctly, please follow this link and complete the form. Without the necessary information, one of three things will happen, you will either not get your ticket entitlement, your entry may have to be refused, or in the worst case Motorsport UK can take the permit away. Please help us to help you and fill the form in correctly.

If you are yet to enter, please make sure the form is completed correctly. Thank you in advance for your help.

Delayed start for FIA Championship.
9th April: Remco Scheelings has passed to us an announcement of the delayed start of the FIA Championship that has been released by championship promoter Drag Racing Europe:

The continued coronavirus related restrictions create challenges for the first events on the FIA European Championship Drag Racing tour. This has led to that the organizers have been forced to confirm the cancellation of the first three events, Santa Pod Raceway, England in May and the Swedish event at Tierp Arena in June, and Kauhava in Finland in July. The vaccinations have had a good progress in England, but restrictions will likely apply into, at least, June.

In Sweden the vaccination process has been relatively slow so far and it does not look possible to run a major event in June. "We need at least three months of preparation for a big event like this and the forecast for June is just too bad in terms of restriction levels. There is unfortunately no way we can start full activities now in working with the event in June at the moment," said Christopher Hamilton, CEO of Tierp Arena. Also the Finnish organizer FHRA have been forced to cancel the championship round in Kauhava in July, which was planned for Top Fuel and Pro Modified only this year. "We had to work with a very limited staff for the last couple of months and we simply cannot prepare good enough to hold the round in July," said Jarmo Grönman, president of the FHRA.

Right now we have a 3-round FIA Championship with a start at Tierp Arena and Hockenheim in August, followed by Santa Pod in September. "We are monitoring the situation closely for the upcoming events, as it's important for us to be able to create and communicate a plan when decisions are made. It's not easy as the conditions are unique in the different countries. After this long break from major championship Drag Racing events in Europe, the events that are run later in the season will most likely be great. We are really looking forward to get it going again and get some exciting racing in the late summer!" said Michael Gullqvist of DRE, the promoter company of the championship, jointly owned by the organisers and Speedgroup.

Editor's note: following this announcement, DRE have emphasised that the Tierp August race and NitrOlympX in August are still not confirmed. So we urge readers to stay tuned for a future announcement regarding these dates.

Greenlight for class racing.
8th April: Thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Ian Marshall for the club's latest announcement on the 2021 race season:

Due to the loss of the 2021 Main Event, many of the Sportsman classes will have lost a round of competition; Santa Pod Raceway and Santa Pod Racers Club have now taken the decision to move the lost round to the STP Greenlight Nationals on 21st-22nd August. What does that mean? The Green Light Pro and Big Bracket will no longer happen, however we will be adding the Sportsman Classes who lost the round at the Main Event.

Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Pro, Pro ET, Street Eliminator and Junior Dragster will now all run at the this event.

There will also be a decision made later in the year regarding the Double Header for the ACU classes at this event; we will publish details if, and it is an if, there is any change.

Trouble in store.
8th April: Thanks to all those who gave positive feedback and memories following our publication of British drag racer and engineer Tony Anderson's story and the recollections of Keith Stacey as part of our series about pioneer racers in the UK.

Fellow dragster racer and former announcer Steve Young remarked "I had the honour of being the custodian of this fabulous car for a while, the trick engineering parts were stunning". In between a lot of gremlins getting in the way, Steve's best times were in the ex-Tony Anderson/Keith Stacey slingshot were 10.3/138mph; he and wife Jacky recall:

In about May 1976 I spotted an advert for a dragster for sale near Guildford and rang the guy who turned out to Keith Stacey and arranged to view the car the next day.

We arrived at a large garage/workshop and we were shown the bare chassis and a stack of Sunblest bread baskets which was apparently the dragster, just needed putting together! We agreed on a sum of about £500 which meant I needed help with finances and a local American car guy agreed to come in and help with the cost.

We got the car into my lock up garage and tried to make sense of it all and after a lot of head scratching found Tony Anderson’s phone number and rang him to pick his brains. These phone calls could go on for a very long time as Tony had a severe stammer and when he got animated the stammer could take an age to overcome to get the info from him!

We eventually got it put together and headed to the pod at the next meeting.

That first fire up on the rollers was a shock I can tell you! And we seemed to leak so much fuel we spent most of the meeting making gaskets from Weetabix packets to sort the leaks. I think we were taken pity on and were allowed one run after all the work.

That first push start was also an eye opener as the trusty Ford Mk4 Zephyr pushed me forward to about 30 mph I flicked the ignition switch and the bloody thing took off like a rocket!

We staged and ran a pretty steady 12 sec run at about 95mph but it was incredible! My experience was heightened by the fact I need to wear glasses but I could not get them on under the face mask so left them off and peered vaguely towards the finish line.

We ran a few meetings normally getting beaten by Russ Carpenter or Ian Fraser, who both knew how heavy my clutch pedal was and used to take an age to stage while I was developing a severe knee tremor trying to hold the bloody clutch pedal down!

We were always plagued with fuel leaks, not Tony’s engineering, my lack of skill! A newish substance came to my attention, black silicone sealer, I decided to use this liberally on the gasket surfaces of the Wade blower in the hope of finally putting these leaks to bed.

We fired the car on the rollers, all good! No leaks, down to the fire up road, started, all good, came round into stage and set off a blistering run but rather worryingly it was getting prematurely dark for me! Unbeknown to me methanol dissolves silicone so by 1/2 track I was getting a bath from the shoulders up in black tinted methanol which covered my goggles in a black sticky mess! Remember my shortsightedness and lack of glasses? Made it very interesting at the top end!

Another take off track I went to the lock up to do some work on the car only to find the doors swinging open and no car! I was beside myself! I went round everywhere and finally found my partner that had helped me buy the thing in the first place had done a runner with it and stashed it miles away. I tracked him down and we had a Frank exchange of views and I agreed to buy his share and in return I was told where the car was hidden. Car retrieved and readied for 1977, with new paint, and freshened parts.

At the first 1977 meeting I towed to the rollers and tried to fire it up and the blower destroyed itself!

I was devastated as I thought I had the blower sorted. I was sat on the slick feeling pretty sorry for myself when Roland Chaplain wandered over and asked if I fancied a deal with him for his ex Rich Fielding Imagination Fiat Topolino? We haggled and the following weekend we drove to Blackpool to deliver the slingshot and collect the Fiat which was named Harum Scarum when we got it. That of course became Autocat and is a whole different story!

7th April: The number of competitors in Junior Drag Bike looks to be on the increase as new racers come into the class for 2021 (the photo shows the class back in October 2015). As well as our title sponsorship of the class, a new prize fund sponsored by Jerry Collier's Pro Joint Fabrication and Lizz and Kev Charman's Nitro Junkie Racing was announced last week.

Hollie King, eleven year old sister of former Champion Blade King and daughter of class co-ordinator Ollie King, will be riding a brand new bike built by other class co-ordinator Simon Holgate, with bodywork sponsored by Rukus Customs, sporting a 150cc engine and automatic gearshift. Holley will be aiming to license at the Santa Pod Raceway Run What Ya Brung on 10th April in good time for the first championship round at the STP Springspeed Nationals on 22nd-23rd May.

Hollie will be joining Casey Holgate and Richard Willcox who raced last year. Megan Talbot (now on the ex-Blade King Aprilia bike) who raced in 2019 but took last year out, return to the class this year.

Other new riders for the class comprise Grace Pollen, who will be riding an ex-Blade King KTM 125cc machine, Simon Holgate's granddaughter Lyla Humber (who is a member of Rugrat Racing, and John McLean Jr's son John, making a third generation of the motorcycle drag racing family with the same name.

On building the new bike for Hollie, Ollie said "With frames being allowed to be used in ET Bike with engines of up to 500cc, there is a continual need for new bikes. Production frames are allowed with rigid rear ends and wheelie bars, and Pro Joint Fabrication and Simon Holgate can make frames; Simon is getting a jig to increase the number he can produce. A from scratch new bike can cost £2,500 which is a competitive price, a lot of the cost savings being factory OEM engines being used.

"Engines for junior drag bike vary in size from 50cc two stroke engines from a pit bike or scooter to a Suzuki GS 500cc motorcycle engine, the size being determined by the rule book (page 181). The other main mechanical component is the lock-up clutch which Simon also makes.

"The main thing is everyone helps everyone else in the class to develop their knowledge of running Junior Drag Bikes, and the additional support from Pro Joint Fabrication and Nitro Junkies with class sponsorship from Eurodragster.com will mean a revitalised class in 2021".

6th April: With several Junior Dragster racers reaching the maximum age during the last year, but lockdown restricting the opportunities for marketing their cars, there are now several cars for sale at different price points. Four are illustrated below with full details being included in our Jeff Bull Race Engines-sponsored Swap Meet is, all at comparable prices.

First on the list is the Banshee Junior dragster raced by Frankie Taylor (pictured left below). Frankie's Dad Joe says "No expense has been spared and the car has been well maintained and is a complete setup. You can buy it and just go racing." The Half Scale car, complete with box trailer and quad bike, was tagged in 2019 with the engine refreshed in that year. It will be available after the 2021 National Finals but can be viewed at any Championship event this year. Price all-in is £10,000.


Our next car is the machine raced by Thomas Cook Abbott to a runner-up position in the 2017 Championship and at several events (pictured right above). It has only been raced by 2 people and is a championship contender, comes with plenty of spares, and is available at the end of the season. The price for the car is £8,000.

Frankie Fordham's Junior Dragster (pictured left below) is available immediately and is a Half Scale Junior Modified Advanced dragster, the same category as the two above. The car was 2019 UK Championship runner-up and also Championship winner and runner-up with its previous owners. Parent Matt Fordham says "It has a wide chassis, so there is plenty of room for a child to grow in. It's a very consistent car and comes with plenty of spares". The price for this car is £7,500. Matt adds "Frankie will be making the next step into Super Comp in his new dragster in the 2022 season".


Finally we have the distinctive looking JM car of Freddie Taylor, named Outlaw Angria (pictured right above). Dad Lee Taylor says "It's a perfect starter car in Junior Dragster, will suit a driver from 8 to 13 in Junior Stock or Junior Modified and is available now. The car is currently set up for Junior Modified with the 8.90 limit but has run as quick as 8.45. We are prepared to split the car if there is enough interest in doing so. The rolling Chilton chassis is £3500 (just add a cheap as chips 5 horsepower Briggs & Stratton l206 engine and clutch for a rookie to go Junior Stock racing without a Mychron data logger). Surrey Customs completed the distinctive paintwork. The JR Race Cars Stage 9 motor and clutch cost £2500 and the complete car can be yours for £6,000.

For contact details go to the cars for sale page of our Swap Meet.

We have published our pit notes and gallery from yesterday's Run What Ya Brung at Santa Pod Raceway which you can see at our coverage page. Thanks to our sponsor John Woolfe Racing for their support of event coverage.

As one might expect, it was a busy day with new or returning racers trying their vehicles out after the extended break, and a large number of street vehicles that made full bore runs within the safe confines of the race track.

There were relatively few incidents, however we were sorry to see multiple Super Comp and Super Gas champion Stuart Doignie in an incident at close quarters to no-prep organiser Paul Marston, who made an effective avoiding manoevure when, from our photo sequence, a collision appeared imminent. Thankfully both emerged unhurt and Stuart said this morning "I was very lucky to come out without a scratch and will be at the track later this year in the '63 Vette we have been building up over the last couple of years".

Our next coverage will be photo galleries from the Saturday 10th April Run What Ya Brung, courtesy of Julian and Kieran.

3rd April: Thanks to former Santa Pod owner and promoter Roy Phelps for passing on the news that the Vampire jet dragster from the 1980s, restored by FGR Motorsport, will be attending a hill climbing event at Shelsley Walsh on 1st August.

The Bromyard Speed Festival will be themed "Altitude with Attitude" and will be a celebration of motoring history and traditionally welcomes in excess of 140 road and race vehicles including historic, classic, prestige, racing cars, road cars, super cars and motorcycles. The event is open to Entrants and the Public.

The event format enables each Entrant to run their vehicle up the historic Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb in a morning and afternoon individual, non-competitive, non-timed, public display run. Whether this includes the Vampire jet dragster, is not known.

2nd April: Thanks to Ian Hart for news about supply of Docol R8 roll cage and chassis tubing in the UK:

RH Weldfab Ltd, Based in Northamptonshire have agreed a deal with ME Racing Service AB in Sweden (Mats and L.G. Eriksson) to supply Docol R8 tube in the UK. Docol R8 is a product range of welded cold formed circular tubes in high strength steel, specifically targeted at the requirements of the Motor Sport industry and similar producers, and approved for use in the SFI specifications for roll cages and chassis in different types of drag racing vehicles. Using Docol racing tubes allows the development of new designs, with more weight reduction or increased strength for chosen parts of the structure. In comparison to traditional Chrome Moly 4130 Docol Tube exhibits higher tensile and yield strength in combination with excellent bending and welding properties. In direct comparison of cost, Docol R8 tube is around 20% cheaper than 4130 Chrome Moly, which allows more budget to spend on the shiny bits.

RH Weldfab can supply Docol R8 Tube in full lengths or cut to size. Tube can be supplied pre-cut and bent to your requirements, or we can build your chassis or cage to the required SFI spec. Docol R8 tube is approved for SFI specifications for front and rear engine dragsters, door cars and bike frames from sportsman classes through to top fuel. Contact us on 07740 338990, email rh.weldfab@gmail.com, or check out our Facebook page.