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29th June: Congratulations to the winners of the weekend's UK Truck Show at Santa Pod Raceway:
Super Modified: Belinda Bull 7.6509/179.15 def. Nigel Payne 8.084/146.65
Supertwin Gas: Dave Jones 10.371/129.00 def. Ric Naylor 10.642/133.54
Supertwin ET: Joe Elliott (10.02) 10.373/133.04 def. Damian Waterhouse (11.55) 12.015/120.26
BTRA Sprint Cup: James Jenkins 14.346/101.86 def. Dave Jenkins broke
Super Street Bike Cannonball: Rich Stubbins 7.516/192.30 def. Dave Smith 7.771/190.73
You can check out our American Car Imports-sponsored UK Truck Show coverage by clicking here, or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page and selecting the UK Truck Show.
©Eurodragster.com
A big Thank You to Spencer Tramm who E-Mailed results to Tog who had to leave the track very early yesterday morning to deal with an emergency at home. Big thanks also to Roger and Kirstie who carried on without turning a hair in the face of yesterday morning's bombshell, to David Anniwell for his help, and to Colin Theobald for commentating in Tog's stead at no notice at all.
Jon and Sharon Hogarth and all at Specialist In Design have been in touch to send their congratulations to Belinda and Jeff Bull and their awesome S10 truck for another superb show and win at the UK Truck Show. "Not only was it absolutely spot on that the gorgeous Bull-powered Chevy Truck should win the Truck Show, but how great to see Belinda not only lighting the fire of all the truck fans in attendance but also lighting up her tyres in a way to cause real nervousness amongst the guys and teams in Super Modified", says Sharon Hogarth. "That's two wins in a row for Belinda and she is looking good for a hat trick. Go girl, we are cheering you all the way."
Swift snippets.
29th June: Many thanks to Eurodragster.com Reserve Photographer Peter Donaldson for sending us a gallery from the weekend's NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. You can check out our NSRA Nostalgia Nationals gallery, which is presented in association with American Car Imports, by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page and selecting the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals.
The famous Phelps name will be returning to Santa Pod Raceway on Saturday as Jason Phelps is to take the seat of the Shockwave Fuel Funny Car at that day's Run What You Brung. "As you may know Jason has now become a full partner in the Shockwave team and this is sort of part of the deal", says usual driver Gordon Smith. "Jason is just seeing if he likes it. I will hopefully be driving the car as a demo at the GTi show on Sunday. Don't panic, I am not yet ready to step aside for any other driver but the car is available to anyone who has always hankered after a go in a nitro Funny Car - at the right price of course."
©Eurodragster.com
Congratulations to ex-pat UK Top Alcohol Dragster racer Michael Manners of Eurodragster.com News sponsor Cosmo Residences on making his first NHRA National Event final at the weekend's Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio. Mike was runner-up to Bill Reichert but had the honour of setting the event Low ET and high speed. You can read more on the Drag Race Central web site at www.dragracecentral.com.
Deciding the winner of last week's spy picture contest was easy since only one of the answers received was correct. "The answer was Jari Halinen's Top Fuel car from Finland", says team member Risto. "You can see the car and driver in action in their new colours at this weekend's FHRA Nitro Nationals. The winner of the quiz is Joni Ripatti of Finland who will get the sponsor's cap from Stirwell Automaalikaupan, the team's paint and non-paint supplier. Thanks for everyone taking part for the guessing, and see you at Alastaro."
Mrs Tog aka Kay has asked us to thank everyone for their concern and good wishes after she was taken ill and shipped off to hospital early yesterday morning (Copycat - Ed). She is particularly touched that so much support has come from a racing community almost all of whom have never met her. Mrs Tog is now back at home and at time of writing is flat out on the sofa watching Wimbledon.
The noisy, violent ride of your life...
29th June: Helen and Dean Smythe of the UK's Hell's Belle Wild Bunch team have been in touch to let us know that Helen is quite OK after their very pretty altered crashed at Shakespeare County Raceway on Saturday, and to thank all those who helped and offered support:
On our last pass on Saturday afternoon Hell's Belle got out of shape just before the eighth mile, flipped, rolled and then slid an eighth of a mile on her side and pretty much went through the finish line on her roof. Thankfully the cage, restraints, neck brace and arm restraints all did their job and Helen is perfectly OK with maybe one small bruise coming on her elbow.
Of course we've got to send a massive thank you to the track staff, safety crews and medical folks for responding to the situation so promptly and so well. We've never doubted their ability and they showed us what professionalism means at the times when you need it most. We'd also like to thank the whole of the Wild Bunch, the dozens of other racers, spectators and new-found friends who came by last night to check on Helen and offer support. Unfortunately it seems that more than one family on the spectator bank had crying children to cope with at the sight of the "purple car" bouncing down the track. Apologies to all those whom we scared or upset and apologies again for messing up the Jet Car finale which had to be forgotten due to our oiling the track (our first time).
©Eurodragster.com
As the car spent so much time on it's cage it's worn a very interesting corner out of the front hoop, the top of the motor has been wiped out, and the first flip smashed off the front left corner. So the Belle is in a pretty sorry state. We had a few people ask about a collection bin for rebuild funds but to be honest we didn't put one out because we don't know what our next move is, and we're going to take a couple of weeks to think things through. Helen would get back in a car tomorrow, but Dean's heart probably needs a rest!. The chassis is an older one-piece design and the cage damage, front end work, and overall twisting which we've found since getting home would mean we'd need to back half it and front half it if you know what we mean (You mean it would be Trigger's broom - Ed).
So, thanks a lot to everyone for their support. We've had some photographs and videos kindly given to us by some of the press so we can try and dissect what went wrong, and we would be glad to hear from anyone else who has footage which may be of use to us.
Swift snippets.
27th June: Many thanks to Tomas Pettersson of Svensk Dragracing for passing on a link to the official entry list for the Veidec Festival, which takes place at Sweden's Mantorp Park on 23rd-26th July. You can check out the PDF-format Veidec Festival entry list, which has got to be one of the biggest event entries we have ever seen, by clicking here. Don't forget that you can also check out the entry list for next weekend's FHRA Nitro Nationals, which has a similarly large entry, by clicking on Osallistujalista at the bottom of the Nitro Nationals page on the FHRA web site at www.fhra.fi/info/2009070205_nitro.html.
©Eurodragster.com
Thanks also to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall for sending us Version 4 of the official entry list for Bug Jam, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 18th-19th July and which is a Championship round for Super Modified, B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Street Eliminator, Sportsman ET, VWDRC, Outlaw Flat Four and Outlaw Anglia and a non-points round for Junior Dragster. You can check out the entry list by clicking here. Entry is still open but is subject to a late entry fee; you can download the entry form from the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
Following their ratification by the World Motorsport Council on Wednesday, the supercharger overdrive rules for FIA Top Methanol Dragster have been updated and can be found in the Technical Regulations and Race Procedures document under Sport / Regulations on the FIA's web site at www.fia.com. The new rules come into force on Wednesday (1st July) and will be applicable at next weekend's FHRA Nitro Nationals at Alastaro.
All invited to Earls Barton Show.
27th June: The fourth running of the Earls Barton Motor Show, in aid of the local Air Ambulance, takes place on Sunday 19th
July. All are welcome to attend and to bring their vehicles with them, writes Ray Eldred:
The show is open to all types of cars, dragsters, hot rods, classic cars, bikes and modified vehicles. It's a great family day out and features entertainments, stalls, bouncy castles etc and of course a licensed club bar.
©Eurodragster.com
It's free to enter, you just have to turn up and bring along your ride. We have seen every kind of vehicle at the Show including vintage Aston Martins, classic American cars, fire engines , tanks, etc. Team Nosferatu will be waking up the sleepy village when we fire up the freshly-rebuilt 572ci Pontiac Firebird. We would like to invite fellow drag racers and rodders to the show to make it the biggest and best event so far. Lets face it, there is not a lot else to do between now and the next race meeting so why not join in the fun?
For more information contact Team Nosferatu on their official web site at www.nosferatu-racing.co.uk.
Jolink's Top Gas 3 win.
26th June: The third round of the 2009 Euro Serie
Super Twin Top Gas Championship took place over the quarter mile at Drachten last weekend and in a big surprise
for everyone The Netherlands' Herman Jolink took the win on his Ducati 999 RS (1214) from the favourite and also local boy
Gert Jan Laseur NL on his new and very fast 2622 V-Twin. Herman writes:
The weather in Drachten on Friday was five minutes of sun then rain and then sun and rain again, but it was possible to make two qualifying runs. Rain on Saturday morning but after midday it was dry. We had one qualifying run and then a pick-up lost control and hit the guardrail so then it was over for Saturday. We had rain on Sunday morning but after 14:00 there was nice sunny weather so the 220 car and bke competitors started eliminations and the finals were at 19:00.
Qualifying:
- Ramus Olesen DK on 3000 V-Twin 7.722/252 kmh
- Gert Jan Laseur NL on 2622 V-Twin 7.793/285. Gert Jan bought the engine and the frame in the USA and put them together where most other riders would buy a complete bike. He did very well the first time with his new bike.
- Bernd Niessen D on 2240 V-Twin
- Cord Albers D on 2622 V-Twin 8.321/250
- Herman Jolink NL on Ducati 999 RS (1214) 8.627/245. Herman started with 8.924, 8.627 Friday evening at 19.00 with a personal best sixty foot time of 1.213 seconds (previously 1.242) and on Saturday 8.637.
- Frank Heitmann D on 2622 V-Twin 8.910/233
- Harry v Schie NL on 1966 blower V-twin 8.976/204
- John Geytenbeek on 2800 V-Twin 9.205/217
- Marc v d Boer B on 2660 V-Twin 9.391/220
- Peter Niklas D on 1000 SP turbo Honda 10.701/211
- Ronald v d Werken NL on 2622 V-Twin. He broke a camshaft but repaired it.
- Ludo Scheepers B on 2600 V-Twin 12.703/127
- Jesper Thiel DK on 2622 V-Twin the winner from Malmö having problems making a straight run.
©Eurodragster.com
Round 2: Olesen 7.923 winning from Geytenbeek 9.493; Jolink 8.650/247 winning from Albers 9.945/157 red light; Laseur 7.634 bye run; Niessen 8.231 winning from Heitmann 10.171. Semi finals: Jolink 8.562/252 bye run (Olesen engine stopped in the burnout); Laseur 7.627 winning from Niessen. Laseur's 7.627 is now the new Euro Serie Super Twin Top Gas record, with a back up of 7.634 in round 2 (previously 7.890, Ricardo Giliberto I).
Final: Herman Jolink NL on Ducati 999 RS (1214) 8.642/245 winning from Gert Jan Laseur NL on 2622 V-Twin 18.366/64. Reaction Jolink 0.108 and Laseur 0.363. After sixty feet Laseur's chain broke.
Euro Serie Super Twin Top Gas points after three races:
- Bernd Niessen D 1340
- Herman Jolink NL 1260
- Frank Heitmann D 980
- Jesper Thiel DK 935
- Rasmus Olesen DK 865
- Ronald v d Werken NL 830
- Gerd Jan Laseur NL 675
- Peter Niklas D 580
- Cord Albers D 530
- Marc v d Boer B 510
- Ludo Scheepers B 450
- Harry v Schie NL 340
- Simon Hofmann D 320
- Peter Marz D 200
- Uwe Kahmann D 200
3rd-5th July: Luckau D
10th-12th July: Drachten NL
14th-16th August: Hockenheim D
21st-23rd August: Finals Drachten NL
Parnell does his Sprint proud.
26th June: The National Sprint Association's Keith Parnell Tribute Sprint was held at Weston Zoyland, near Bridgwater in Somerset, writes Phil Steele:
A large crowd and excellent entry witnessed some of the best sprinting ever seen at WZ with Keith, the man himself, taking Fastest Time of Day on both days. During the course of the weekend 'Mr 8' was presented with a copy of Crazy Horses signed by all the NSA riders present.
Following on from this successful event the NSA proudly announce the next in their themed days for this great venue: the Summer Sprint Festival, to be held over the weekend 8th-9th August. Is your Fireblade fast? Does your R1 rock? What about unleashing your Hayabusa in a safe and controlled enviroment? And it's not just for Hyperbikes. Bring your Triumph, your Ducati, even your HD, your old or new bike - whatever you have you are assured of a warm welcome and a great day out.
Quarter mile sprinting is extremely addictive and so easy to get into. Entry cost for one day, to include NSA and ACU day membership, is £55 or £75 for two days All you need is an ACU approved helmet and one or two piece leathers (as long as they join with a zip), boots and gloves. For more info please contact paso@littlecherubracing.com or take a look at the NSA's web site at www.sprinting.org.uk.
Swift snippets.
26th June: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall for sending us Version 3 of the official entry list for Bug Jam, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 18th-19th July and which is a Championship round for Super Modified, B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Street Eliminator, Sportsman ET, VWDRC, Outlaw Flat Four and Outlaw Anglia and a non-points round for Junior Dragster. You can check out the entry list by clicking here. Normal-price entry closes today (Friday); you can download the entry form from the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. Entry after today, if accepted, will be subject to a late entry fee.
Many thanks to our very own Simon for supplying the post-Springspeed Nationals points standings in the 2009 APIRA Ultimate Power Championships. You can check out the APIRA points on our Speedflow-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
©Eurodragster.com
In association with a mystery team we are pleased to bring you another spy picture contest. Take a look at the pictures below (click on any picture for large version) and then if you think you know the driver, the car's class and the driver's country of origin then send an E-Mail to bigblockmontecarlo71@gmail.com by midday European time today. The organiser has bottled it and asked us to give you a clue, which is: it's obviously a Top Fuel dragster and the driver and car are Scandinavian. The first correct answer drawn from the hat wins a cap of their own from the team's new paint sponsor. The winner will be announced on Monday.
Ex-pat UK Top Alcohol Dragster racer Michael Manners of Eurodragster.com News sponsor Cosmo Residences is competing in this weekend's Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio. The event starts today and you will be able to stay in touch with Mike's progress on the peerless Drag Race Central web site at www.dragracecentral.com.
Udtian's Main Event.
26th June: Frøya's Islanders Drag Racing Team started their 2009 season a week before the FIA Main Event as they had two drivers to licence. The third driver, Top Methanol Dragster racer Paul Ingar Udtian, needed no introduction writes team member Konrad Ree:
The two new drivers are Fred Hanssen and Per Håkon Trøa, both from Norway. Fred, who bought a Top Methanol Dragster from the States, did well and got his licence after two runs in the new car. Per Håkon's Top Methanol Funny Car suffered an engine explosion and he had no chance to get his licence during the pre-event weekend.
We decided to rent the track for testing on Wednesday. We were excited about how Paul Ingar's dragster would run, because we have a completely new set-up this season. We decided to do it step-by-step and started with an eighth mile run, so that we could get some more data from the computer before we made a full pass. In the second round of testing, Paul Ingar rolled the beams, which means that his car moved forward off the start line before he hit the throttle. The time you get after a run like that won't be correct, but the computer on the dragster showed a run of around 5.66 seconds. We were already close to a Personal Best and we were still driving on the safe side regarding to the amount of power we put in the engine.
We went through the computer log on Wednesday evening, and decided to take some power out of first gear and just continue the step-by-step improvement, without damaging any part of the engine. In the first round of testing on Thursday, Paul had a 0.072 reaction time, 0.95 to sixty feet before some hard tyre shake at 300 feet and 5.805/180.57 at the finish line. We took out too much power from the first gear, so we decided to put it back. The next pass went well, and Paul Ingar left the start line like a rocket with 0.95 to sixty feet, 3.684/202.49 to half track and 5.625/249.61 at the finish line.
We were not racing on Friday, so we checked the dragster and prepared it for the first round of qualifying in the FIA European Championship. There were still no damaged parts after days of testing!
©Eurodragster.com
Paul Ingar redlit in the first run on Saturday, but it was no big deal since it was qualifying. He ran 0.96 to sixty feet, 3.6076/204.7 half track and 5.6110/252.17 at the finish line. We had to put more power into the engine, since the previous pass only qualified us at number five. In the second run Paul had 0.95 to sixty feet and was only 0,008 seconds from a new personal best! In the third qualifying round the new Personal Best finally came, 5.5692/254.74! It was a good run and there was still more power to be found in the engine. Last year this elapsed time would have made us #1 qualifier, but this year it was only good for #7. We put too much power into the engine in the next round so the tyres spun, and no improved time for Paul Ingar, 5.57/253.10. The computer showed that the transmission had slipped, so we overhauled it for the next day's eliminations.
Paul Ingar was up against Dave Wilson in the first round of eliminations. Unfortunately, Paul Ingar redlit and the win was automatically given to Dave. The dragster got into tyre shake at 100 feet so Paul Ingar got off the throttle so that the engine wouldn’t get damaged.
A first round loss is never a good thing, but we're happy with the weekend's results. We got a a new Personal Best of 5.56 seconds, we qualified #7 in the fastest TMD field ever in Europe, we didn't break any parts during the weekend, and we have a nice set-up for the dragster.
Thanks Frosty!
26th June: Former Super Street racer Paul Spiers has been in touch to thank street-legal racer Andy Frost for an excellent rebuild of the automatic gearbox on Paul's Fleetwood Flair RV.
©Eurodragster.com
"I took the RV up to Penn Autos in Wolverhampton with an overdrive fault", says Paul. "Andy removed the gearbox and found that the overdrive clutch pack had decided to destroy itself. Andy quickly sourced the new parts and rebuilt the gearbox with the same care and attention as if it were a race box, and adding some trick bits along the way. The only thing missing was a transbrake; although Andy did say that he could fit one we decided that we are not starting to race RVs yet! But maybe something to think about for the future.
"Our RV was finished and back on the road in a week. Thanks Andy!"
Web site updates.
26th June: Julian Hunt has updated his web site with pictures from the FIA Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out Julian's pictures at www.julianhunt.net.
©Eurodragster.com
UK Truck Show racer update.
25th June: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall for forwarding information for racers contesting this weekend's UK Truck Show at Santa Pod Raceway.
Santa Pod Raceway's gates will be open between 12:00 and 21:00 tomorrow (Friday), and will then re-open at 07:00 on Saturday.
Signing on opens at 08:00 on Saturday.
©Eurodragster.com
Bike scrutineering commences at 08:15 on Saturday and car scrutineering at 08:30 on Saturday.
Please remember that there is no pitside power this weekend.
You can check out the official entry list for the UK Truck Show by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page and selecting the UK Truck Show, and for more information about the event check out its official web site at www.uktruckshow.co.uk.
FIA TMD overdrive rule ratified.
25th June: As reported here on Eurodragster.com on 16th June, the FIA Drag Racing Commission proposed a change in overdrive limits for supercharged entries in FIA Top Methanol Dragsters. The clarification and adjustment were ratified by the FIA World Motorsports Council yesterday (Wednesday) and the new rule will become effective on 1st July.
©Eurodragster.com
"The adjustment is 2.25 overdrive for PSI superchargers, and the overdrive limits are 1.70 for Whipple superchargers and 1.70 for Roots superchargers", says FIA European Drag Racing Sub Committee Chairman Lars Pettersson. "This restores the balance between different types of superchargers and engine combinations in Top Methanol Dragster, and clarifies that the Whipple supercharger is is permitted in TMD.
"The FIA European Drag Racing Sub Committee is going to follow every round of TMD in the 2009 FIA European Drag Racing Championship so that we have a good record to look at when we make new decisions on this matter for the 2010 season. We also ask drivers and teams to submit proposals through their FIA Drag Racing Commission member."
Public Race Days are go.
25th June: Thanks to our good buddy Mattias Wienand for passing on the news that the Public Race Days, which traditionally take place at Hockenheim on the weekend before the NitrOlympX, are definitely taking place this year, on 8th-9th August:
©Eurodragster.com
Despite the rumours that there is no Test and Tune allowed for race cars due to noise restrictions, official word from the Hockenheimring GmbH is now that cars with mufflers not louder than 98 dB are very welcome to the Public Race Days. Official information is now posted at www.hockenheimring.com.
Die, Skyline!
25th June: UK Pro Mod racer Ray White, having hopefully found the cause of his oiling problem at the FIA Main Event, is taking his wild Zephyr to Brands Hatch on Sunday to show the Modified Live visitors what a blown-alcohol race car is all about:
We needed to test the car, but we only needed to do a couple of burnouts. I thought we would have to take it to a Run What You Brung but then I saw on Eurodragster that a car was needed for burnouts at Brands Hatch, twenty minutes down the road. All my crew are going to the Nostalgia Nationals at Shakespeare County with big Chris' '57 for another round of Scrapheap Challange. So I got on the bat phone to the dynamic duo, Adrian Spencer and Danny Cockerill. Adrian was already booked for the Truck Show with Craig Gibbs but good old Danny rose to the occation - yes, he could make it.
©Eurodragster.com
Straight on the phone to Darren Prentice and we're in. If there's still a problem then let's oil Brands not the Pod. The organiser of the show phoned to let me know the brief for the day. Can I drive the car all the way around the Indy Circuit? Yes, only if we do four fuel stops on the way round. Will I do a rolling burnout next to a Skyline on a narrow part of the circuit? Yes, no problems as long as the Skyline driver is willing to die. I asked if Darren had explained about the car. "Not really", said the organiser. I told him "Have you got a surprise coming".
If you have nothing to do on Sunday come on down and see what the hooray Henrys make of a blown-alky Pro Mod.
Outlaws savour welcome
25th June: The UK Truck show is a favourite event for the Supercharged Outlaws and they are all looking forward to a cracking weekend, says Dave McKenzie:
Last year we were made really welcome by all the truckers and they appreciated the show we put on for them. The Outlaws are looking at fielding at least eleven teams this weekend. Alec Coe returns to the track in the Shy Talker slingshot after a major engine rebuild by Norm Wheeldon. Also returning to the track for the first time in twenty months is the methanol-burning altered of Dave (fuzzie) McKenzie and Mark Windridge. Dave and Mark suffered severe engine woes at the Halloween Showdown Oct 2007 and it has taken this long to sort out the car. Major improvements include a new front discharge stage 4 four blower, new Dart Pro 1 cylinder heads, new rubber all round, and a lot of work. The team would like to thank Johnny Hall, Bill Felstead, Brian Gandy, and Bill Todd at Gary Burgin's for making this all possible. Also a big thank you to all of the Supercharged Outlaws for the encouragement to our team.
©Eurodragster.com
Jon Best will be continuing his licence passes at this event with the Felstead, Best and Lotsabeera Fuel Altered. This has to be the most wicked-sounding fuel engine we have heard in a long while. Out on the track for the first time this season will be Ian Hanson in the immaculate Corvette - Ian is renowned for his big smokey burnouts. Débuting with the Outlaws will be Trace Froome with a methanol-burning Dodge Avenger Funny Car running a big block chevy motor. Trace will be putting in some shakedown passes to get accustomed to the new car. Also entered Tony Froome with the Sundancer Funny Car. Tony is looking to get the car down the track after testing at Shakespeare County Raceway a couple of weeks ago.
The regular runners for this season will also be present including Roy Wilding with the Hemi Hunter slingshot, Lee Gallimore in the Red Mist altered, Steve Goode with Wobble, Clayton Round with the Rebel T altered, Paul Watts all the way from the Isle of Wight with the No Easy Pick-Up and Richard Davis very well turned out '41 Willys.
So for some supercharged Nostagia racing the UK Truck Show is the place to be this weekend. See you all at the track.
Swift snippets.
25th June: Many thanks to Yvonne Tramm and our very own Simon for sending us the post-SPRC Summernationals points standings in the 2009 UK National Drag Racing Championships and Santa Pod Racers Club Championships. You can check out the points on our Speedflow-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
©Eurodragster.com
In association with a mystery team we are pleased to bring you another spy picture contest. Take a look at the pictures below (click on any picture for large version) and then if you think you know the driver, the car's class and the driver's country of origin then send an E-Mail to bigblockmontecarlo71@gmail.com by midday European time tomorrow (Friday). The organiser has bottled it and asked us to give you a clue, which is: it's obviously a Top Fuel dragster and the driver and car are Scandinavian. The first correct answer drawn from the hat wins a cap of their own from the team's new paint sponsor. The winner will be announced on Monday.
Here come the FBs...maybe.
25th June: UK B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Street Eliminator racer Ian Hook and the Cheltenham Fat Boys have entered their first event of the year, next month's Bug Jam at Santa Pod Raceway, although Ian himself says that there is no more than a fifty-fifty chance of the team actually getting to the event:
Problems with the build of the team's new all-aluminium 598 cubic inch big block continue to plague the FBs' efforts to get back on the track, the latest being a crank that refused to balance. The offending article had to be returned to Cheltenham (thanks are due to Clive Bond for the running around) to check for clearance in the block before undergoing welding work to facilitate adding the required weight. Of course there is still a lot of other work to do and with just a bare block still sat our caution can be understood.
The Bug Jam may be a bit more than even we can achieve although if we think there's any chance that the car will run we will be there as insurance, MoT test and tax are all in place ensuring the car's legality to run. Even if we don't make round five I am supremely confident that we will at least make the final three SE events of the year and probably a couple of others if possible.
©Eurodragster.com
Congratulations from all the FBs to Matts Anderson for his first win in SE and for flying the flag for Cheltenham...oh, and Sweden too I guess - hurdy, gurdy, wurdy - chop, chop, chop!
Lamb Bash for charity.
25th June: All are welcome to the 4th annual Hot Rodders Bash at The Lamb public house, in Theale near Reading from 12:00 pm on Sunday 5th July, writes Gina Rumble:
We have a rod and custom show, two rockabilly bands playing in the garden, BBQ and bar all day, dragsters from the Wild Bunch and hopefully (fingers crossed!) a couple of other dragsters, including one from the Gasser Circus. We will be having a raffle in aid of The Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance, which we and our friends and associates believe to be an extremely worthy cause.
©Eurodragster.com
Last year we raised over £700, and it seemed that everyone had a whale of a time, so we would really love to do this all again, and hopefully be able to host a fifth bash next year, too! We would very much appreciate help with the raffle and would like to ask for donations of a raffle prizes, however small or large. If you are able to donate a prize then we will be racing at the Nostalgia Nationals, where you can hand them over to us. Alternately, please post to Gina and Scottie, 17 Myton Walk, Theale, Reading RG7 5EW.
UK Truck Show Perfect Awards.
25th June: This weekend's UK Truck Show at Santa Pod Raceway is the the fourth event in the 2009 Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards scheme. £100 is on offer for perfect performance.
The Eurodragster.com/Speedflow Perfect Light Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by Pro ET
racer Chris Hodgkins at the SPRC Summernationals. The money will be presented to the first racer this weekend to record a Reaction Time of
0.000 seconds. The Perfect Light Award is available this weekend in Super Modified, Supertwin Fuel, Supertwin Gas, Supertwin ET, Super Street Bike
Shoot-out, Supercharged Outlaws and to demonstration runners, but will only be awarded for the first perfect light of the event. If not won this weekend
then the Award will be increased to £75 for Bug Jam; if it is won then it will be reset to £50 for Bug Jam. The Perfect
Light Award is presented in association with performance hose and fitting manufacturer Speedflow
whose web site you can find at www.speedflow.co.uk.
Although the Perfect Light Award goes to three places, we will not pay out for red lights with zeroes in the first three decimals since a foul is a foul however far in the first non-zero digit may be. So a reaction time of 0.0001 will win you the money (if you're first to do it), but a reaction time of -0.0001 will not.
Decals are not formally required for the Perfect Light Award but of course we appreciate it: you can get Eurodragster.com decals at the track from any Eurodragster.com staff member.
©Eurodragster.com
The Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by Super Pro ET
racer John Everitt at the SPRC Summernationals. The money will be presented to the first racer this weekend to run to the thousandth on
their dial-in or index. The Perfect ET Award is available this weekend in Supertwin ET qualifying and eliminations, but will only be awarded for the first
perfect run of the event. If not won this weekend then the Award will be increased to £75 for Bug Jam; if it is won then it will be reset to £50
for Bug Jam. The Perfect ET Award is presented in association with RV sales and service specialists Gold RV whose web
site you can find at www.goldrv.co.uk.
To be eligible to collect the Perfect ET Award, racers are required to carry Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET decals, one on each side of the bike. If you pull this weekend's first Perfect ET but are not carrying decals then there will be no discussion; we will not pay out and the next person to pull a Perfect ET will get the money assuming that they are carrying decals. The decals will be available from the Signing On office as soon as it opens on Saturday morning; please note that, as is usual with contingency schemes, racers are responsible for requesting or picking up decals when signing on. A list of required decals per class is always on display in the Signing On office.
Web site updates.
25th June: Swedish Top Methanol Funny Car racer Mikael Larsson's web site is now being run by one of his team and has been updated with new information for the 2009 season. Check it out at www.mlarssonracing.com.
©Eurodragster.com
Photo-journalist Dick Parnham has updated his Fotpic site with shots from the SPRC Summernationals. You can take a look at Dick's work at dickparnham.fotopic.net.
Hanssen, Hanna and Hanna.
24th June: Will Hanna, who tuned Frøya's Fred Hanssen to a new European Top Methanol Dragster speed record at the FIA Main Event, says that his father Rick will be joining him to work with the Islanders team at next week's FHRA Nitro Nationals at Alastaro in Finland. Rick will also be Fred's interim Crew Chief at the Veidec Festival at Mantorp Park as Will is unable to attend.
"Dad brings a wealth of experience to the team as he has been driving and crewing on alcohol cars for over thirty years", Wil told Eurodragster.com. "He campaigned an A/Fuel dragster in Pro Comp in the late 1970s in Pro Comp, and has driven a variety of cars since including winning several Texas mud drag championships behind the wheel of a blow- alcohol truck. He taught me a lot of what I know about these cars, and has worked with me on several teams for the past few years, including Fred's car when it was in the States. He did clutch on the car back in the States and is very familiar with the car. That is why he was the natural choice to run the car while I am racing in Columbus, Ohio, with Chris Foster's Top Alcohol Funny Car team the same weekend as the Veidec Festival. That should be interesting because, with the time difference, about the time I should be sleeping I will be up on the phone with Dad and Fred helping tune the car.
©Eurodragster.com
"We've been doing well here in the States as well. We reached the semi-finals at the NHRA National in Topeka, Kansas. We fought some parts issues at the next race in Chicago and had to run Steve Harker first round, but managed a then career best 5.65 to almost beat his 5.60 on a holeshot. We stayed in Chicago for the following week's Division 3 race and scored our first win. We ran new career bests of 5.64 at 255 mph with virtually no computer data all weekend.
"We race in Norwalk, Ohio this weekend for the NHRA Nationals there, I fly back Sunday night, then get on a plane Monday afternoon for Finland. I have two solid days of work to get the car serviced for the event, then I will stay two days after the even to service the car for Mantorp Park. I will be back with the team for the Hockenheim race.
"I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again at the track. I've really enjoyed meeting and racing with the Euro crowd."
Swift snippets.
24th June: In association with a mystery team we are pleased to bring you another spy picture contest. Take a look at the pictures below (click on any picture for large version) and then if you think you know the driver, the car's class and the driver's country of origin then send an E-Mail to bigblockmontecarlo71@gmail.com by midday European time this Friday. The first correct answer drawn from the hat wins a cap of their own from the team's new paint sponsor. The winner will be announced on Monday.
Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall for sending us Version 2 of the official entry list for Bug Jam, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 18th-19th July and which is a Championship round for Super Modified, B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Street Eliminator, Sportsman ET, VWDRC, Outlaw Flat Four and Outlaw Anglia and a non-points round for Junior Dragster. You can check out the entry list by clicking here. Entry closes this Friday (23rd); you can download the entry form from the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
Further to yesterday's news item, entry is still open for July's Veidec Festival at Mantorp Park, but may now be subject to a late entry fee. For on-line entry or form download, check out yesterday's news item.
Des Taylor has asked us to thank everyone who has been in touch with Mark Flavell and himself with offers of help and donations to help get Mark back on track following the fire which wrecked his race car (see news update of 16th June. "I have been overwhelmed with the response", says Des. "Myself and a number of other racers are organising a collection at the next York Raceway event on 4th-5th July. If anyone can't make that event but would like details on how to contribute, then please E-Mail me at des1954@supanet.com."
UK Pro Stock Bike racer and contingency sponsor Dave Beck has been in touch to say a very big Well Done to Kev Charman for his first ever Funny Bike win at the SPRC Summernationals. "As Kev purchased his MTC pistons though Dave Beck Racing Ltd he will of course be paid contingency money for the win", says Dave.
©Eurodragster.com
UK Supertwin racer Ian Turburville and Mister Spokehead will be amongst the headliners at the Vintage Motorcycle Club's Festival of 1000 Bikes at Mallory Park on 11th-12th July. You can find out more at www.vmccsprint.co.uk and be sure to click through to Turbo's excellent description of riding his mean-sounding Harley.
Discount dyno.
24th June: UK Pro ET racer Keith Herbert, aka Mr Furyous, is pleased to announce that his rolling road dyno is now open at Power Engineering and that a discount is available for fellow racers.
"We have built and installed a state of the art rolling road dyno capable of handling rear wheel drive up to 1400 bhp and 2400 bhp four wheel drive", says Keith. "We can cater for race cars with slicks or treads, hot rods, American cars and trucks, and 4WD and FWD cars. Our motorbike harness fitting is coming soon.
"We have a tariff for power runs, dyno tuning at an hourly rate, and remap. A 10% discount is offered to all racers. We also service, repair and MoT cars and vans. Look out for our open day and dyno shoot out nights.
©Eurodragster.com
"Just by performing two power runs on the dyno my Sport Fury showed that max hp at 5400 rpm was the optimum shift point, which netted us a 10.94 to a previous 10.97 at the Summernationals - just by changing the shift point."
You can find Power Engineering at 53 Union Buildings, Wallingford Road, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 2RW or for more details call 01895 255699.
What's on this weekend.
24th June: This Saturday and Sunday SMF-Västerås are holding the Aros Nats at Västerås, Sweden. Classes involved include Top Doorslammer, Super Street, Super Gas, Super Comp, Stock/Super Stock, Competition, Super Gas Bike, Street Bike, Sportsman and Junior Dragster. More details on the club's web site at www.smf-vasteras.se.
Also on Saturday at Messini in Greece the third race in the 2009 Hellenic Dragster Championship will be taking place. More details are available at www.greekdragster.com.
On Saturday a quarter mile race will take place at Piestany, Slovakia, comprising Round 2 of the Slovak Drag Bike Series and Carat Tuning Party. Capacity-restricted and Special Car and Bike classes organised by the HNAA and MNASZ will be racing. For further details and results see www.dragracing.ro or www.dragracing.hu.
A round of the Croatian 402SR National Championship is taking place on Saturday at Cepin, Osijek, Croatia. General details on racing in Central Europe can be found at www.cedrag.com.
Saturday and Sunday's UK Truck Show at Santa Pod Raceway incorporates a UK National Championship round of Super Modified, a round of the 2009 National Association of Supertwins Championship, a round of the Supercharged Outlaws series, and a Super Street Bike shoot-out as well as exhibitions including Martin Hill in the Fireforce 3 Jet FC. For more details about the UK Truck Show check out the event's web site at www.uktruckshow.co.uk.
Ex-pat UK Top Alcohol Dragster racer Michael Manners of Eurodragster.com News sponsor Cosmo Residences will be competing in this weekend's Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio. Qualifying starts on Friday and you will be able to stay in touch with Mike's progress on the peerless Drag Race Central web site at www.dragracecentral.com.
©Eurodragster.com
This Saturday's Ironhorse MC Show at Nyköping Harbour is primarily a motorcycle show but includes fire-ups by Micke Kågered's Top Fuel Dragster and Greger Johansson's Supertwin. A packed programme also includes show and shine including a visitors' choice tropjy, live band and more. Find out more at www.ironhorsemcshow.com.
For this weekend's 17th annual running of the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals more than two hundred show-quality
Street Rods and American muscle cars are expected to converge on the UK's historic Shakespeare County
Raceway drag strip for two action-packed days of street legal drag racing for pre-73 high-dollar hot rods and
big block custom cars. Where else will you expect to find period antique flathead roadsters,
methanol-burning supercharged altereds, Chrysler, Chevy and Ford
powered coupes, classic blown Willys hot rods and ground-thumping
dragsters all with unbridled glitz, chrome and horsepower.
Drag strip entertainment comes courtesy of Neil Townson's blown '32 three-window Coupe hot rod Northern Spirit and Wendy Baker and Paul Stubbings' Time Warp Mustang-bodied Nostalgia Funny Car. Dedicated to nostalgia drag racing in every sense of the words, the Wild Bunch will be on hand with their collection of front-engined slingshot dragsters and altereds where Jaguar straight sixes rub shoulders with Buick 'nailed', Fords, Chryslers and of course the trusty ol' Chevrolet. Equally the racers of the Flathead Meltdown, where sidevalve engines still reign supreme, may look like antique museum pieces but once on a drag strip the pudding basin racers are not a group to be trifled with!
Adding colour and a bit of high rise madness to the mix will be the Gasser Circus, featuring full-bodied doorslammer cars from the pioneering days of hot rodding, like the Roaring Rat Chevy stirred but not tamed by its master Kenny Brookes. The Outlaw Flat Four VWs will be looking for some more wheels-up action with their VW Gassers. There may even be a few fast Fords on the property too from the Old Skool Ford club, including Kev 'The Caveman' Jenkins with his all-new MK 1 Escort. There could even be a series of David and Goliath shootouts planned between the three groups for Sunday too!
And last, but by no means least, the Outlaw Anglias - a class dedicated to one of Dagenham's finest examples, the humble Ford Pop, while modern-day jet action is provided by the flame and thunder show of Roger Goring's Pontiac-bodied Jet Funny Car Firestorm.
There will be a full trade village selling everything from T-Shirts, books, DVD, hot rod models and stickers plus the popular Rumble & Jumble where you will find that much sought after part to complete your hot rod! Evening entertainment includes a disco both nights in the bar and the band Swing Bin in the marquee on Saturday night.
Further info about the event and admission details can be found at www.shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk.
Web site updates.
24th June: In the latest update in his exclusive Racer Blog, Luke Bennett hands over the keyboard to a couple of the crew of the Bennett Racing blown-alcohol altered team, who recount their successful weekends at the SPRC Summernationals. As ever you can check out the latest Blog update by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
©Eurodragster.com
Our good buddy Markus Ek has updated his web site with pictures from the recent Deep Forest Nats at Sundsvall Raceway. You can check out Markus' shots at www.mek.nu.
Julian Hunt has posted nearly four hundred pictures from May's Big Bang at Santa Pod Raceway on his web site at www.julianhunt.net.
Event entry update.
23rd June: Today (Tuesday) is the official closing date for entry to the Veidec Festival, which takes place at Sweden's Mantorp Park on 23rd-26th July. You can enter on-line at www.motorevents.com/motorevents/signup. Alternately you can enter on paper, or order power or extra tickets, by downloading any of the following PDF documents:
FIA classes invitation and entry form
FIM/UEM classes invitation and entry form
NDRS classes invitation and entry form
Power and extra tickets order form
Media accreditation form
The downloadable invitations, entry and order forms are also available at www.dragracing.se and www.motorevents.com.
©Eurodragster.com
Out of the fire...
22nd June: The SPRC Summernationals got off to a cracking start for the Team Nosferatu Super Pro ET team as the Dark and Evil Pontiac Firebird laid down a 7.15/192. Driver Vince Gibbs tells us that when the car returned to the pits the weekend unfortunately had a cracking finish:
We discovered that we had cracked three main caps right through which put us out of competition very early on. The good news is that the damage is easily repairable and the block is already being sorted by The Mysterious Count at Hauser Racing's engine building department. New billet steel Pro-Gram main caps will resolve this problem and we hope to have the engine back and running in time for the Earls Barton Motor Show on 19th July. We will release details of that nearer the time.
©Eurodragster.com
But that's not the only good news. We are proud to announce that we have a new sponsor and would like to thank Chris Butcher of the Fiery Furnace for joining us. Chris is a talented and artistic local blacksmith from Earls Barton and the quality of his work needs to be seen to be believed. Chris likes to be challenged by his work and is always willing to accept the "impossible" so if you are looking for anything from artwork in forged steel, bespoke furniture, railings, gates and stairs, or have an idea but can't find the design or quality you desire then it is time to make contact.
We would also like to thank our other loyal sponsors for their help and support this year, with a special thanks to Wipac, The Gothic Shop, Dark Cult and of course Torco Racing Oils. We couldn't do it without you!
Swift snippets.
22nd June: We have two spy pictures for you today. The first (below left) arrived with the words "What have I found here?". Well, even your News Editor knows a PSI blower when he sees one but we see the point our mole is making.
The second picture (above right) was signed "With love from the shadows", or we guess it could have been "The Shadows"; either way we are none the wiser. 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.
©Eurodragster.com
If anyone from the Bedford area is attending this weekend's NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway and would be willing to take a small box of videos with them to SCR for delivery to a Wild Bunch pit then please drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.
Web site updates.
22nd June: Eurodragster.com News Editor Tog spent a rare day behind the camera at the pre-SPRC Summernationals Peak Performance Day, and has now posted his pictures on his Fotopic gallery which is available at both eurodragster.fotopic.net and www.togsdragracing.com.
©Eurodragster.com
Erbacher heading for Europe.
21st June: Wayne Dupuy, Crew Chief for the Top Fuel Dragster team of Eurodragster.com News sponsor
Urs Erbacher, has been in touch with news
about Scott Weis' weekend in Urs' car at Tulsa and Urs' plans for a return to racing in Europe:
Well our Tulsa Oklahoma IHRA race was not as good as the previous Crandall TX Win. The weekend was filled with bad weather and strong winds. Team Erbacher managed to qualify with a tyre smoking 5.31 on the quarter, so after just trying to get the power down on the tricky track we took even more power out and lightened up the clutch even more.
For the first round, Team Erbacher had to race Bobby Lagana. It was a good ole drag race. Scott had a better reaction time but at the stripe Bobby ran 4.90 to our 4.98 so we got beat. All in all, Team Erbacher had two parts-free weekends and a good showing for the IHRA.
So look out Europe, here comes Team Erbacher, with four time European Champ Urs Erbacher at the wheel of his 2007 Championship-winning Top Fuel Dragster. We still have room for more sponsors; who wants to be with winners? Join in with the best!
If you are interested in getting involved then you can contact Urs via his web site at www.erbacher.biz or Wayne at wdupuy@digitalpassage.com.
SPR Event entry update.
20th June: We are indebted to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall for forwarding us Version 1 of the official entry list for Bug Jam, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 18th-19th July. The entry list for Championship rounds of Super Modified, Sportsman ET, B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Street Eliminator, Outlaw Anglia, VW Pro, VW Sportsman and VW Alternate Engine, and the non-championship Junior Dragster round: racers please remember that the official closing date for Bug Jam entry is Friday, 26th June, after which entry (if accepted) will be subject to a 100% penalty fee.
You can check out the official Bug Jam entry list by clicking here, and you can download entry forms from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about Bug Jam entry then please contact SPRC Club Secretary Paula Marshall on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or by E-Mail at paula.marshall@btconnect.com.
Thanks also to Paula for forwarding Final Version of the entry list for the UK Truck Show. which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 27th-28th June and which is a Championship round for Super Modified and the National Association of Supertwins. You can check out the entry list by clicking here.
Billy Gane's prize.
20th June: Thanks to Pro ET class sponsorship co-ordinator Neil Hunter for sending this picture of Billy Gane receiving his £100, £60 Hauser race cars voucher and event trophy from Summer Nationals event sponsor Steve Hudson (PRO ET 314) in memory of Anthony Trevean.
Neil said "A big well done to Billy and team for the last shot qualifying session from all in Pro ET. Thanks to all our Sponsorship Scheme sponsors: Motorshack, Toxico Clothing, Brize Norton Hot Rod And American, Real Steel, LA Racing Parts, Performance Unlimited, Cometic Gaskets, Total Seal Rings, Engine Data Analysis, Hauser Race Cars, A1 Motor Stores and Inkwell Printing.
Cool Green Racing's thanks.
20th June: Cool Green Racing (Emms Family) would like to say a very big thank you to all the racers that waved to summer our daughter when they passed our caravan parked next to the return road. Summer a very keen drag racing enthusiast has been attending drag races since was 3 weeks old and never misses a meeting. So suffered from chicken pox the day before the meeting and had to spend most of the meeting stuck by our caravan watching the cars and bike pass and gave everyone a wave and most responded it really cheered her up many thanks again.
Cool Green Racing will have news soon on their return to competitive drag racing, in the mean time Ricky continues to crew with Tim Mugridge Sumo and Chris continues to crew with the Shockwave team by learning as we go.
Swift snippets.
20th June: Colin Stevens' newest tee shirt (pictured) is available in XXL, XL, L, M and Small and is £15 plus £2.50 p&p from UK Nitro colinhotrodts@btinternet.com or call 07903313384.Twenty-two hours from Tulsa.
20th June: Ex-pat UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Smax Smith who races the Leverich Family's Top Fuel Dragster has been in touch with an account of last weekend's IHRA Sooner Nationals at Tulsa, Oklahoma.
As flights are too expensive, it was either drive or miss, so Aidee and I jumped in a Ford Escape with the Paton team and set off on the eighteen hour drive to Tulsa.
We are excited about running our first four second pass as we are so close to it. Well, we had a bit of work to do on Friday but, unusually, there was no Friday qualifying leaving three attempts on the Saturday.
We were the first pair on Saturday morning, so we were more than ready. However, when the marshal signalled to us to fire, we whizzed the motor over, only to break the starter bracket off blower. Wah!Wah! We have never made a run in the first qualifying session all season for one stupid reason or another. It was back to the pits for a quick fix then back out in the heat for the second session.
We were to race Scott Palmer again - a true pro and nutcase - he has run 4.50s but parties more than me and it was a pleasure to meet him. We had nice burnouts together but our reverser cable fell off so we had to push back and hurried into stage so as not to burn Scott down. I had a slight jump on him but before the 330 ft mark, we struck the tyres which I had never done before, but after a lazy 60 ft and under power for only two seconds we still did a 2.6 to 330 ft. As the motor revved up, we banged the burst panel, so the new safety equipment meant chutes came out and fuel shut off and I coasted the rest of the quarter, still recording an amazing 7.9 sec 1/4 mile ET (I used to dream of 7.90s!) Meanwhile Scott had other motor problems, only recording a 7.2.
Charging back to the pits, we ripped the car apart to find a torched head and piston and rotor damage to blower, intake blower studs etc. This was all fixable but when Aidee took the bell housing off we discovered five broken fingers on the clutch which was the reason why we struck the tyres. Even if we had spares, setting up the clutch is a long job, so we were done for the event.
I was number ten and we were in the money, but Fred Farndon could have bumped us in the last session. You think a Top Fuel car could easily manage a 7.90 but it ain't that easy and Fred only made a 10.20 pass. Yahoo, we had some funds to buy another clutch and scored a beautiful titanium fifteen finger for reasonable money from Todd Simpson.
We decided to skip the Edmonton race and go through the entire car and get ready for our home track at Grand Bend on the weekend of July 17th-19th. Hopefully Father Ted from our Knut days will make it over...
Later, we went to help the Paton team as they qualified number two but snapped the end off the crank in the quarter finals. It was a mad thrash to change motors, so Aidee, our Dutch friend Peter and I pitched in and helped him made the call. We then saw Tim (Barry's driver) take out Bobby Lagana Jnr but pitched rods in doing so. Again we had a mad thrash to get the motor changed for the final but we made it.
Tim took out points leader Bruce Litton on a holeshot, a 4.92 to a 4.91 and an awesome end to the weekend. We now had to service the car and help the guys load for the trip to edmonton, so it was midnight before we set off home. It took us 22 hours to drive back and was toughest part of the w/end
A quick congratulations to Frank Bennett's amazing 6.42 - I'm proud of you, man!
Web site updates.
20th June: Eurodragster.com Photo Editor Roger Gorringe has had his Summer Nationals race summary and photos published on www.competitionplus.com. You can check out this U.S. web site for all up to the minute American drag racing.
Our good buddy Jon Spoard has posted pictures from Shakespeare County Raceway's Yanks/Gary's picnic meeting a few weeks ago at www.ukdrn.co.uk, which features extensive nostalgia galleries, video clips, an excellent discussion forum and more.
Exhaust Coating PM Challenge latest.
19th June: The
2009 Exhaust Coating.de Pro Mod Challenge
is underway and organiser and Eurodragster.com News sponsor Marco Maurischat has been in touch with an update:
Congratulations to 2008 Winner Bruno Bader (6.135) and runner-up Andy Robinson (6.272) for a superb final at the FIA Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway, and good luck to everybody who is joining the show this year.
There will be five qualifying rounds for the 2009 Exhaust Coating.de Pro Mod Challenge. The first round was held last year at the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod, followed by the FIA Main Event at Santa Pod in May. The next rounds are at Alastaro on 2nd-5th July, Mantorp Park on 23rd-26th July, and finally Hockenheim on 14th-16th August.
©Eurodragster.com
After two rounds of the Challenge the standings are as follow:
- Roger Johnsson 300
- Micke Gullquist 300
- Urban Johansson 280
- Robert Joosten 280
- Bruno Bader 280
- Patrik Wikström 275
- Rolf Ammann 245
- Mats Eriksson 225
- Micke Lindahl 225
- Bert Englefield 200
- Andy Robinson 175
- Danny Cockerill 140
- Norbert Kuno 130
- Johan Lindberg 120
- Terje Håkonsen 120
- Micke Nord 105
- Marc Meihuizen 105
- Roger Moore 100
- Graham Ellis 100
- Kristian Nyström 95
- Ingo Rolla 90
- Wayne Nicholson 90
The Challenge is open for the top eight drivers as determined by qualifying points earned by top sixteen qualifiers at previous FIA European Championship rounds. The winner will be awarded €2000 Euros with €500 for the runner-up. The points system and standings are available at www.pulver-nord.de.
To earn points and prize money, one decal on each side of the race car is all that is necessary. Any driver without decals please contact me at pulvernordgmbh@t-online.de.
Niessen takes Top Gas round 2.
19th June: The second round of the Euro Series Super Twin Top Gas Championship took place at the weekend at Hoskovice in the Czech Republic, writes Herman Jolink:
The quarter mile track is situated forty kilometres north east of Prague. The track is an airfield, concrete with very good traction. On Friday we had stormy weather with rain and some sun, on Saturday and Sunday the sun shone with temperatures up to 30 C. We had three qualifying runs on Saturday and one on Sunday morning.
Qualifying:
- Rasmus Olesen DK on 3000 V-Twin 7.590/282 kmh. This was the first time for Olesen on the big 3000
V-Twin from the Brian Gleasner Team. He has ridden a four-cylinder Pro Stock Bike but the brutal 3000
V-Twin is very different but he did well and on Sunday morning set a new track record
- Bernd Niessen D on 2240 V-Twin 8.239/252
- Frank Heitmann D on 2622 V-Twin 8.241/253, new Personal Best time after Frank broke his rockerarms
and gearbox at Malmö
- Ronald v d Werken NL on 2622 V-Twin 8.440/225
- Herman Jolink NL on Ducati 999 RS (1214) 8.502/257. First run was 9.055/250 with traction problems,
the second run was 8.530/251, third run 8.502/257 and the fourth run 8.587/257. Herman ran a Personal
Best speed on the eighth of 214 kmh and on for the quarter mile 257 kmh (previously 211 kmh and 251 kmh)
- Marc v d Boer B on 2660 V-Twin 9.085/233
- Simon Hofmann D on 2000 V-Twin 9.259/229. Simon's first time on the Knightriders drag bike, he did well
- Peter Niklas D on Turbo Honda 1000 SP 10.080/217. Also Peter's first drag race
- Ludo Scheepers B on 2600 V-Twin 12.442/137 DNQ
©Eurodragster.com
Semi finals: v d Werken 8.672/236 bye run, Niklas had his engine out; Niessen 8.349/255 beating Heitmann 8.626/255 red light with a slipping clutch.
Final: Bernd Niessen 8.259/254 beat Ronald van de Werken 8.322/249, reaction 0.102 for Niessen and 0.259 for v d Werken. The 8.322 was a Personal Best for v d Werken.
The points in the Euro Series Super Twin Top Gas are:
- Bernd Niessen D 900
- Jesper Jensen Thiel DK 795
- Frank Heitmann D 670
- Ronald v d Werken NL 670
- Herman Jolink NL 540
- Peter Niklas D 410
- Rasmus Olesen DK 405
- Marc v d Boer B 330
- Simon Hofmann D 320
- Ludo Scheepers B 300
19th-21st June: Drachten NL
3rd-5th July: Luckau D
10th-12th July: Drachten NL
14th-16th August: Hockenheim D
21st-23rd August: Finals Drachten NL
Well done TJH Racing!
19th June: Norwegian Supertwin racer Hans Olav Olstad writes to
congratulate Trond J Høgberget, winner
of the 2009 Norwegian Super Twin Top Fuel Championship:
This was his first event and his first victory in the Super Twin Circus. He took out Matti Vahasaari in the quarter final; Matti was sixth qualifier at the FIA Main Event. Then Trond was supposed to meet Svein Olav Rolfstad in the semi final, but Svein Olav was prevented from running because his bike's crank had a damaged pinion shaft. Then Trond was a Norwegian Champion. There was one more to meet, Lorenz Stäble, but Trond had a bearing problem on the rear wheel and Lorenz had a by in the final for the event victory.
Trond was also was number one qualifier in the first round of the Nordic Series at Sundsvall Raceway in Sweden at the weekend. Congratulations again. It's a pity that the event was cancelled because of rain.
Trond bought the Supertwin from Trond Alm in winter 2008. The bike was built in 2003 but hadn't been used for a while. Trond dusted it down and gained his licence in May 2009. We know that the bike runs well, it got down to 6.83 seconds in 2004. The bike won at the UEM Championship round at Gardermoen in 2004 and was also the winner of the Norwegian Championship and Nordic series.
Olstad Racing Team would like to welcome TJH Racing Team to the UEM Championship as soon as possible. Well done Trond!
©Eurodragster.com
Swift snippets.
19th June: German Pro Mod racer and Eurodragster.com News sponsor Marco Maurischat is having to miss the second FIA European Championshop round at Alastaro. "After the FIA Main Event we found out that we had a cracked engine block", says Marco. "For this reason we decided not to go to Finland. Some new parts are on the way from the USA right now. The engine block will be repaired here in Germany, so we will be ready for Mantorp Park."
Dave Beck writes to congratulate SPRC Summernationals Comp Bike winner Ivan Birch who is this season's first MTC contingency money winner. The MTC scheme is run by Dave Beck Racing whose web site you can find at www.davebeckracing.com.
©Eurodragster.com
Sarah, Zak, Chevy and Louie Johnson have asked us to wish a very Happy Birthday to Rick Johnson. "A special thank you from Zak for his new engine and all the hard work his dad does", adds Sarah. Have a great day Rick. Also celebrating a birthday albeit last Saturday was Lyn Harris who was presented with the very pretty cake pictured below left (None of which we got - starved Ed). Hope you had a great day Lyn.
Tuesday's spy picture turns out to be of a Tot Rod due to make its début at next week's NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway (above right, click on picture for large version). "The Tot Rod was built by Paul 'Guv' Wright's crew", says Chris Swinchatt. "It was painted by the brilliant custom painter Andy Przbyl with graphics by his son Paul Przbyl. It is to be driven by an upcoming driver, Callum Swinchatt."
Yvonne Tramm has been in touch on behalf of Santa Pod Racers Club to thank everyone who supported the sale of SPRC merchandise at the SPRC Summernationals. "We now have £345 in the kitty", says Yvonne. "However, we still have more items to sell including Large, X-Large and XX-Large white T-Shirts, white children's T-Shirts in 5-6, 7-8, 9-11 and 12-13 and also Black Polo shirts in 9-11 children's size only. The sale will continue until the National Finals, stock permitting, and we will present Human Touch with the proceeds at the end of the event."
We would like to wish all of our readers in the north of Europe a very enjoyable midsummer. Eat, drink, be merry, and any ladies of pulchritude who dreamt about Tog, Simon or Roger know our E-Mail addresses.
Nothing special, just a PB...
19th June: UK Outlaw Anglia racer Simon Barlow and the Orange Pop Racing Team had a fantastic weekend at the SPRC Summernationals, writes team member Jason Yates:
On Friday we got set up and met Crunch, our stand-in Crew Chief for the weekend. We were pretty confident about the weekend ahead. On the first qualifier on Saturday we ran a 9.5 and we were pleased to get a number on the board. On the second qualifier we improved with a 9.4 but the car was misfiring as it went through the top end so we knew something wasnt quite right. We messed with a few bits such as changing fuel jets and checking fuel pressure and all the general mainetance work. For the last run of the day we were pretty confident we had solved the problem. As the car left the lights the wheels were right up in the air and as it went through the top end it looked a fantastic run. The outcome was a 9.3 but there was still a misfire. Back in the pits we discussed the issues again and Crunch said "I think the scoop might be taking in too much air and causing it to missfire, so we said we would give it a try in round one of eliminations.
On Sunday morning we were ready for race day, the team was very confident that we had sorted the problems. Simon pulled a huge smoky burnout, and I brought him to the lights. As both cars launched a saw a big cherry in Dave Sidaway's lane so we knew the race was over, but Simon never came of it as it was on one this run. The lit up with a 9.2/145, new Personal Best. Whilst I was going wild on the start line, Mark the other crew lad had walked away beacause he knew we had gone through and I was shouting to him look at the board. Then we were both celebrating on the startline!
©Eurodragster.com
As we went to fetch Simon at the top end of the track I said "How did that feel?". He said "OK, it didn't seem to be going that fast really". I replied "Well we've just run a new PB of 9.2!" and as I said it the other Outlaw Anglia racers and crew clapped and cheered in the shutdown area. Unfortunatly were were eliminated by event winner Richard Colby in the semi finals.
For those who don't know, all we are running is a 434 Small Block Chevy on C16 race fuel and strert tyres - there is no nitrous going through the motor. On behalf of Simon I would like to say a massive thank you to Crunch for his help and advice over the weekend, you are a top bloke Crunch you sure are coming to help us again. Thanks to the Santa Pod crew, and to all track crew for their hard work over the weekend - the track was awesome. We will be back at Pod for the Bug Jam in July, but we are now looking to next weekend's NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. Come and say hi if you're there!
Web site updates.
19th June: Eurodragster.com Photo Editor Roger Gorringe has updated his Nitro Exposure web site with pictures from the SPRC Summernationals, including a number not featured in last weekend's Eurodragster.com Event Coverage, as well as a couple of vintage shots on the Home and News pages. Check it out at www.nitroexposure.co.uk.
Also posting pictures from the SPRC Summernationals is Jamie Dyks whose shots you can find at topnitro.fotopic.net.
©Eurodragster.com
Pictures and slow motion video from the Peak Performance Day and SPRC Summernationals are also now showing on the Blackett Photography site at www.blackettphotography.com. Contact Ian via the web site about money saving deals on pictures and video clips.
Finally for today's web site updates, Paul Lister has posted more FIA Main Event pictures on his Drag Car Anon web site at www.dragcaranon.co.uk.
Event entry update.
18th June: Next Friday, 26th June, is the official closing date for Bug Jam, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 18th-19th July and which is a Championship round for Super Modified, B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Street Eliminator, Sportsman ET, VWDRC, Outlaw Flat Four and Outlaw Anglia and a non-points round for Junior Dragster. You can download the entry form from the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
Friday 26th June is also the official closing date for Rotorstock, the HKS Drag Series round at Santa Pod Raceway on Sunday 11th July. Again you can download the entry form from the SPRC web site as above.
©Eurodragster.com
Entry forms for the NitrOlympX, which takes place at Hockenheim on 14th-16th August, are on the way to every racer who took part in the event in 2008. Any other racer wishing to compete at the Nitrolympx can get more information at www.nitrolympx-racer.de and should E-Mail the organisers for an entry form. Click on Drivers Info on the NitrOlympX site for information about classes, entry fee, prize money and pitting.
Project Zed aims for Pro Mod.
18th June: The UK's John Bradshaw and Abbey Motorsport intend to run their
V6-powered Nissan 350Z in FIA and MSA British Pro Modified. The Project Zed Nissan is to
be shipped from the USA this Friday and is expected to arrive in the UK on 7th July.
"Following various conversations we are over the moon to announce that it is the team's intention to run the car in Pro Mod", says John. "As the car is turbo-assisted, under current rules we will have to run additional weight in comparison to other cars so it will be a very very tough task but we are absolutely committed to the car and its future potential and we will develop it as far and as fast as possible."
©Eurodragster.com
The sister car to Project Zed ran in the 6.6s in 2005 although at a lighter weight. "We know the potential is there", says John. "We will have to find more power to offset the weight and to develop the car to set faster times. We will test the car in July and August, and if everything goes to plan and we are on track then we are looking to run the car in Pro Mod at both the FIA European Finals and the UK National Finals in September.
"We face a massive challenge, and we know it will take a long time to get to where we need, but at the same time we are looking forward to it. There has never been a six-second Japanese-powered car in Europe and it would be fantastic to get there first and then to then challenge other times set elsewhere in the world, and to to become more competitive in Pro Mod.
"We really hope that everyone enjoys seeing something different, and maybe a V6 can be competitive one day!"
The girl who needs no more.18th June: After spending the last three years dreaming and saving, and two out of the three years building their car, UK Outlaw Flat Four racers Adele and Steve Woodbridge have now achieved their three goals: a Top 20 Volksworld Show trophy, a Volksworld studio photoshoot (due out soon) and an eleven-second quarter mile. What more could a girl ask for, asks Adele:
It will take a lot to beat last weekend as I managed to run a Personal Best for both the car and myself, 11.92/111, and also join the Outlaw Flat Fours, but unfortunately the orange car distracted me too much in the first round on Sunday and I redlit against Paul Bate. However the whole weekend was awesome from start to finish!
©Eurodragster.com
I have a huge number of Thank Yous for the recent help and encouragement to Wayne Allman (Intergalactic Custom Shop), Chris Issacs, Stoo Simpson, Richie Webb, Martin Greaves, Spencer Tramm and the Outlaw Flat Four Drag Racing Club. Finally I also need to say a massive thank you to my husband Steve. We use the term 'debating' when we argue about the car, but if it was not for Steve and all the tantrums the car would not have been finished. Steve has done the majority of the work and it took until 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning in the garage every day for weeks to get the car finished - on top of his usual twelve-hour shifts at work. Steve just now needs to get his backside in the driving seat and give it a go!
Heres to the rest of 2009 for O/FF 621.
Swift snippets.
18th June: The UK's Never Again Racing have moved to a 'bomb shelter'
in a far nicer and more suitable industrial unit. "It's so nice in fact that some have said it's better than our houses", says Andy Bennett.
"The Impala chassis is painted and rolling again with the engine and box in the frame rails. The body has been prepared and is here
it is in primer with a guide coat. The body was prepared remote to the rest of the car to try and avoid the dusty mess. Even with all the
effort so far, and continuing, she will not be ready for this year. 2010 will be the unveiling at which time we will be three years into it."
Further to Monday's news item about Mark Flavell's garage fire, Des Taylor has started a recovery fund to help Mark rebuild his garage and to get back on track. If you would like to donate then drop Des a line at des1954@supanet.com.
©Eurodragster.com
Psycle Workz have unveiled
their latest new product, a super-light race lithium-ion battery system. The superlight battery weighs
in at less than 2 lbs ready run, a 40% weight saving over other systems and 80%weight save on traditional
batteries. 2x18 volt 3 amp lithium-ion are included. A battery fuel gauge displays remaining run-time and
the battery offers increased run-time with 40% less weight than an 18v NiCd battery.
The battery system can be mounted anywhere to power on-board electronics, vacuum pumps, or cameras on all
race vehicles. A battery charger is included and 12v and 14.4 v options are also available. For information
or prices call Psycleworkz on 01733 248500.
The third annual FHRA Nitro Nationals golf tournament takes place at Alastaro Golf Club at 19:00 on 2nd July. Individual 9/18 holes stroke play competition, scratch and Stableford are the forms of competition on offer. An official handicap is required. Entry is free to FIA and FIM/UEM participants and golf coaching is on offer to non-playing guests. Please register with the Finnish Hot Rod Association at fhra@fhra.fi by 24th June.
What's on this weekend.
18th June: The Netherlands' Drachten Airfield hosts the Drachten Nationals starting tomorrow (Friday). The event features a huge Sportsman field as well as Nitro Bike shootout and Pro Modified demos. You can find out more and take a look at the entry list on the eXplosion web site at www.explosion.nl.
The JapShow takes place this Sunday at Santa Pod Raceway, with a Japanese car only test day on Saturday says Rick Cuthbert. This event is half race-meet, half enthusiast event, and an interesting day out for anyone who wants to see some quick drag cars and stunning show cars. With the HKS Drag Series Pro class growing mid-season after a somewhat stalling start back at the Easter Thunderball, expect to see some fierce competition between the seven-second runners and plenty of close racing lower down the scale. For general JapShow event info, take a look at www.japjhow.com.
A round of the Biltema Cup will be taking place at Denmark's Thisted Raceway on Saturday. Cars will be running in Real Street (an index of 12.00), True Street (9.50) Pro Street (7.50) and Bracket (7.50). More detail can be found at www.ndcd.dk.
The 14th International VW Meeting at Luckau will be faster then ever as more than one VW is able to zoom into the tens now, writes Benni Voss. "This is a livestyle event with Show and Shine, party etc but the fully-prepped quarter mile is the attraction which separates this meeting from others", says Benni.
©Eurodragster.com
The Nürburgring is offering an eighth-mile Run What You Brung and race for street cars of all types at the Recaro Days. The event also features round of Street Eliminator Germany, Pro ET Challenge and the Junior Dragster Junior Nationals. There are also activities on the circuit, party, shows etc. For an entry form check out Achtelmeile Rennen on the German version of the site.
In Hungary there is a race at Meidl Airport Kft., Fertoszentmiklós comprising a round of the Red Bull Hungarian Championship organised by MNASZ. Racing starts at 17:00 on Saturday for night racing and 9:00 on Sunday. More details can be found at www.dragrace.atw.hu and www.v8cars.hu.
Thank you, all!
18th June: Steve Wilson of the UK's Slack Hoor Racing Outlaw Anglia has asked us to say a
big Thank You to the Human Touch medical crew and to the Santa Pod Racers Club officials for their help at the SPRC Summernationals:
On Sunday afternoon one of our party broke their ankle at the track and the response and treatment by the medical crew was both prompt and professional. Mark was particularly attentive in treating Sophie and keeping her spirits up until she was admitted to hospital. Sophie was taken by ambulance to Bedford Hospital to get her cast and crutches and is making a good recovery.
©Eurodragster.com
When we approached Santa Pod's Signing On office team, initially to find out to which hospital Sophie had been taken and how to get there Kathy Taylor not only got us the required information but also organised directions to get us there and, realising that we wouldn't get easy access to A&E with our truck and trailer, even gave us the keys to her car to go and bring Sophie back for the four hundred-mile trek home.
We are all very grateful for the professionalism and level of service shown to us by the staff at Santa Pod and we are happy to be associated with an interest / hobby / lifestyle in which there is such great camaraderie. Thanks again and we'll see you all trackside soon.
Exit the Las Vegas Kid.
18th June: Over the years a number of crew members have worked with reigning FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion Andy Carter. Andy says that some simply don't cut it, and that others find the pace just that little bit too much, but that there are those who are fiercely loyal and do a great job:
Once the crew had got the ears around his Geordie tones, Rich settled quickly and became a valued member of the team. Sadly however, Rich has decided to step down due to family and business commitments and Andy says he will be greatly missed.
©Eurodragster.com
"Rich is a great bloke and I've really enjoyed having him around", says Andy. "I've always felt safe with Rich strapping me into the car, backing me up, packing my parachutes etc and I was delighted to have him join me in the States earlier this year. Obviously work and family are important and I'd just like to wish him every success in the future and thank him for all his efforts on the team."
Those of you who know Rich will know that he will be back at the track in the future with his own car on which he is working on steadily. "We'll miss him and his hair dryer!", says Andy. "Thanks Rich and good luck!"
PMR's trio of trophies.
18th June: Despite some heavy attrition Paul Marston Racing will chalk up the 2009 SPRC Summernationals as a new standard of success, with three current and ex PMR drivers reaching their respective finals. Two of these were Tethys who was a finalist in Sportsman ET, where he collected his first trophy of the 2009 season and John Everitt who collected his second winner's trophy of the 2009 season in Super Pro ET with the ex-PMR Alien Altered. Heartfelt congratulations to both of them from everyone at Paul Marston Racing.
For current Paul Marston Racing Drag Race Driving School instructor Mick Howling, who originally appeared on the entry list with Grumpys Dodge in Pro ET, the weekend actually started at Friday's Peak Performance Day with two new drivers on a School course. Unfortunately on the very last pass of the day the motor of Grumpy's Dodge the motor broke in the burnout (My car! - Ed). "When I heard the motor stop in the burnout, the first thought that crossed my mind was that sounds expensive", says Paul Marston, "closely followed by it's 5:30 pm a Friday, the Summernationals is a one-day qualifier, so there is not enough time to replace the motor in Grumpy even though we always have a spare motor ready to go for all the Paul Marston Racing race cars. So let's get the spare turn-key car out instead! My last thought was I wonder how Mad Mick is going to be and has he already got the shovel out to dig a hole to bury the driver of Grumpy?"
Luckily Mick was as gutted as the rest of us, especially poor old Mike Lovell who was driving Grumpy when the motor, we suspect, broke the timing chain. But looking on the positive side it broke at the right time, we had the whole evening to go get the Insanity Vega and prep her for Pro ET on Saturday. Mick Howling likes to call it our Loony Tunes race car as it can be a real handful. Mick loves it to death, it's a great car to teach in. Off the trailer Mick was on pole with a racecar he had not driven for two years, just eight thousandths off a perfect ET. This lasted until the third round when young Billy Gane booked his spot on top of the pile and took the Pro ET Sponsorship Scheme dosh and trophy. Mick said that he had left Billy enough room to get in as the Vega did not have the contingency stickers on to be eligible for the prizes! "I love driving the Vega", said Mick. "It's so much fun and makes me laugh so much that I have tears running down my face. But when you need to get serious and want to go rounds it is deadly consistent. You can potentially go a lot of rounds with this race car". How right he was!
Come Sunday and who does Mick, at that time fourth in the National Championship, but the current leader Neil Hunter. If Neil advanced it could have been the Championship wrapped up there and then, but no! Mick not only advanced but then calmly went about dismantling the whole field, reaching the final only to lose by 2.3 inches! What a player and what a weekend, a richly-deserved runner-up trophy for a man who Friday night did not even have a race car and who now is in all probability leading the National Championship with three rounds to go.
Paul Marston, who was driving the PiranaZ-backed dragster in Super Comp, had a challenging time still chasing gremlins. Paul and the PMR crew did not give up and although Paul qualified last and went out first round no-one gives up and no-one quits. After analysing the data and going through a process of elimination, they found that the performance-robbing problem was the torque convertor. So a spare will now be flown over from JW Performance Transmissions and fitted ready for the next event, whilst Al O'Conner will work his magic and check out the transmission.
A huge thank you to all the Paul Marston Racing crew who really do showcase the professional standards which now prevail in UK Sportsman racing; Santa Pod Racers Club for putting on such a great event, as usual but not ever taken for granted; all the Santa Pod management, track crew, fire crew and Human Touch Resources for looking after us all; all our fans who came to see us and the PMR Drag Race School graduates new and old who make us so proud. Finally Eurodragster.com, you guys and gal are the best, and Nitro FM for all the tireless work and for putting up with Paul Marston on the airwaves. A special mention to Colin and Darryl who did an effortless sterling commentary job over the two days.
©Eurodragster.com
Web site updates.
18th June: Santa Pod Raceway's web site has been updated with an SPRC Summernationals report by our very own Photo Editor Roger Gorringe and pictures by SPR webmaster DJ. You can check it out at www.santapod.co.uk/e_summer_nat.php.
©Eurodragster.com
Friends reunited.
17th June: Fuel FC fan favourite Harlan Thompson and team owner Knut Söderqvist are
to be reunited with the Tre Kronor Fuel FC at next month's Veidec Festival at Mantorp Park.
Harlan will be celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of his and Knut's first European
appearance by getting behind the wheel of Johnny Nilsson's recreation of the legendary Arrow for
demonstration passes.
"We brought the car back to Sweden after the race at Bakersfield in March", says Johnny. "We planned to do something together with Mantorp Park to celebrate thirty years since King Knut brought Harlan and the Tre Kronor to Europe after buying the car from Ed 'The Ace' McCulloch.
©Eurodragster.com
"That was Knut and Harlan's start in Europe and anyone who knows anything about drag racing knows that without King Knut drag racing in Europe would be different to what it is today.
"It is going to be a great party at Mantorp with exhibition runs every day. My two sons and I will be there with Harlan and Knut and all the crew from the old days.
"After the Veidec Festival we will ship the car back to the States and run some more races over there in 2009 and2010."
SPR seek demo vehicles.
17th June: Santa Pod Raceway are seeking vehicles to make demonstrations at this weekend's JapShow and at a Modified event at Brands Hatch on Sunday week.
"We have space for a handful of demos at the JapShow", says Rick Cuthbert. "Any racers with relevant machinery who are looking for some track time are invited to volunteer. We are looking for Japanese-bodied doorslammers and sub eight-second Japanese bikes (Super Street Bike etc). But if anything mega-quick comes forward it will be considered too. Tickets and sign-on will be free for invited demo vehicles. If you would like to come along then please contact me at rick@santapod.com."
©Eurodragster.com
Darren Prentice of Santa Pod is also seeking volunteers to pull a couple of burnouts and also to appear on static display at the Modified Live event at Brand's Hatch on Sunday week, 28th June. If you would like to know more, or if you would like to volunteer, then please drop Darren a line at darren@santapod.com.
Editor's note: A rushed news update today as your News Editor's day job is getting in the way of the important business. Tune back tomorrow for a look at progress on Never Again Racing's Impala, an invitation to the FHRA Nitro Nationals golf tournament, a paean to Santa Pod's race officials and the Human Touch medical team, what's on this weekend, and more, and please keep those news items coming to news@eurodragster.com.
FIA TMD rule adjustment.
16th June: FIA European Sub Committee Chairman Lars Pettersson has been in touch to let us know of a proposed change in overdrive limits for blown Top Methanol Dragsters.
"The suggested change is 2.25 overdrive for PSI superchargers and 1.70 for Whipple superchargers", says Lars. "This change is to be ratified by the FIA World Motorsports Council on 24th June.
©Eurodragster.com
"We have to make this adjustment to restore the balance between different types of superchargers and engine combinations in Top Methanol Dragster."
SE go to European Finals.
16th June: It's been a great number of years since the UK's B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Street Eliminator appeared at FIA events at Santa Pod Raceway, but a chance phone call between Darren Prentice of Santa Pod and SE Chair Colin Lazenby changed that, as Street Eliminator is to contest a round of its 2009 Championship at the FIA European Finals on 10th-13th September.
"We've been lobbying the Santa Pod track management for years to get Street Eliminator back at the FIA Main Event or the FIA European Finals", says Colin Lazenby. "In fact we had only recently circulated a class E-Mail removing both these dates from our race calendar as they were listed as potential demo events. Even so you will often see a number of SE cars competing in either Pro ET, Super Pro ET or Comp Eliminator just so that they can add valuable seat time or try out their killer tunes on what are regarded as the best two tracks of the racing calendar.
©Eurodragster.com
"Street Eliminator looks forward to supporting the FIA European Finals and you can be rest assured that we will put on a show worthy of our inclusion at this high profile event. We also know that we'll find ourselves in some of the best company that Europe has to offer amongst a full complement of FIA classes. So, to all Eurodragster.com visitors and to race fans intending to come along to the European Finals please come over and introduce yourselves to some the Street Eliminator teams."
"Santa Pod Raceway is pleased to invite back Street Eliminator as an added bonus to the FIA European Finals", said a track spokesman. "Street Eliminator is a street-legal class, which all drag racing fans can relate to. See them reach high sevens to low nines on the track and then take to the road for their all-important street cruise."
You can find out more about Europe's leading street-legal race series at www.streeteliminator.com.
Allard Chrysler gets the air.
16th June: The Allard Chrysler dragster will be taken out of the museum and displayed near the arena at this weekend's South Coast Internationals Hot Rod and Custom event at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu. Brian Taylor tells us that members of the Allard Chrysler Action Group will be on hand to talk about the restoration project including Brian himself, Steve Young and Tony Beadle. Alan Allard will be spending time with the car during the event which also features a cacklefest organised by the Wild Bunch who are members and keen supporters of the ACAG.
©Eurodragster.com
Brian will be signing copies of his book Crazy Horses, with £5 per copy going towards the dragster restoration fund. He will also be looking for a good price for a set of four rare stereo long playing albums: The Big Sound of the Drags circa 1965; the 1964 Winternationals; The British International Drag Festival 1964 with a cover signed by Bob Keith, Alan Allard and Gerry Belton; Drag Racing at Santa Pod - the 1976 Whitsun Big Go with a cover signed by Brian Taylor. They will be sold as a complete lot with the proceeds going towards the restoration fund. The condition of all four is 'honest'. If the undisclosed reserve price is not reached - Brian has a figure he thinks represents their true value - they will be offered by Nitro FM during the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod in September.
Frightening...
16th June: "How was your weekend?", asks UK Super Pro ET racer Mark Flavell. "Mine was frightening.
"We set up at Santa Pod early on Friday morning for the Peak Performance Day with my new driver Steve Saunders raring to go. On the warm-up we lost the blower front drive front gears, fortunately picked up quickly by Craig who shut the motor down immediately so minimising the damage. An own-goal by me. Our spare gears were still in Yarm but we intercepted Ian Kerr who was coming down for the weekend who brought them with him. It took ten minutes to fit them but an hour and a half to source replacement bolts as the hub drive was UNC instead of the original UNF fixings. We missed the last call by fifteen minutes. So had managed to achieve nothing, zero, zip all day except to spend money and the whole crew are now a day's holiday worse off.
©Eurodragster.com
"Saturday loomed and our expectations are high. The warm-through went to plan ready for the first qualifying round and Steve strapped in. It started on the button but then threw the rods out in the burn out. Very disheartened we loaded up and went home.
"On Sunday we unloaded then set out to enjoy the sun with our families. Ann and I went to a barbecue. Meanwhile in my garage an electrical fault shorted a cable and started a fire which quickly developed and caused substantial damage to the Funny Car and workshop. I got home as soon as I could following a call from a neighbour. The Fire Brigade where there with all the doors and windows ripped out and what looked like the River Tees running down my driveway. The damage is bad but could have been a lot worse. Fortunately we had put the body and rear wheels back into the truck, if that had gone up it could have taken the house with it.
"I think it's safe to say we will come back from this, but when I don't know. 2009 wasn't shaping up to be a good year for MFR but it's sure come to an abrupt end now. Thankfully nobody was hurt but it's going to take a good few pop bottles back to the shop to recover from this one. Word spreads fast and I've received many calls making sure we are all right. We are OK thanks, just a bit numb."
Beck achieves points aim.
16th June: The SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway is the halfway point
in the 2009 ACU Championship calendar and UK Pro Stock Bike team
Dave Beck Racing came to the meeting
needing to win in order to retake the points lead.
With a lot of new components on the bike, the strategy for the weekend was to lay down a strong early run and then gradually turn things up for the eliminations. A first qualifying pass of 7.37/175 was good enough for the number one slot on Saturday morning and this mark remained at the top of the pile at the end of the qualifying day. Dave also stayed sharp on the lights, with a 0.009 light in the second qualifying run.
Race day brought hot weather, but very poor air. Round one saw Dave despatch Paul King with an improved 7.32/180. By the time the final came round, the air was even worse at 2100 feet adjusted altitude. Nevertheless, in the race against long-time adversary Len Paget, the Beck Racing Suzuki clocked its best ET of the weekend with a winning 7.29 at 179.8mph to take the win against Len's red light run.
The rest of the season is focused on retaining the ACU Championship, although the possibility of racing in the FIA European Finals still remains if sponsorship can be found. "I was impressed by Ulf Ogge's performance at the FIA Main Event and it would be great to line up against him and the other European contenders. I also want my track record back off Ulf, so am looking to better our 7.16 run from 2008!"
While taking a break from US racing this season, Dave did speculate that some US races may be on the cards for next season.
Dave Beck would like to thank Eric at MTC Engineering for the Gen 2 clutch, billet block, pistons and other parts in addition to technical expertise; Rick Ward at Ward Performance for his constant updates to the motor and support for the tune-up; Paul and Kevin at Fast by Gast; and Steve at Nimbus Motorsports. Last and definitely not least, thanks to the super team of Charlotte, Ric and Tom for preparing and getting the bike down the track.
©Eurodragster.com
Swift snippets.
16th June: Despite his injected-nitro dragster not being quite right, Michael
Manners of Eurodragster.com News sponsor
Cosmo Residences
qualified #1 both for the Jegs Allstars and Top Alcohol Dragster at Chicago last week.
"Our 5.22/277 was the lowest ET and second highest speed since reducing nitro to 94%", says Mike. "Unfortunately the car got
progressively worse and we went out in the second round of both races. Back in Chicago we still had problems, but despite
running on seven cylinders we qualified seventh of nineteen but went out in round one. We hope to figure out the problems pretty soon
and hope to go to the National event in Norwalk."
UK Super Pro ET racer Sam Freeman is asking for readers' help in tracing his trailer which was stolen from St Marys Avenue in Rushden between 10:00 and 10:30 on Friday morning. "The trailer is twin axle, bed length fifteen feet, painted mid blue with alloy wheels and aluminium mudguards", says Sam. "There was more than one person and vehicle involved. One person was male weighing about twenty stone who was driving a white pick up truck, details of others are not known. It would have taken two people to manhandle it out on to the road, and although I had removed the tow hitch they still managed to take it away. Any information to Northants Police or direct to me at mastsaf@aol.com."
Steve Carey (Top Fuel Bike), Steph and Dave Milam (Top Methanol FC), Gary Jones and Dave Friend (Funny Bike) and Ivan Birch (Comp Bike) flew the flag for drag racing with a presentation to Motorsport Engineering students at Northbrook College last Thursday. After a talk from Eurodragster.com News Editor Tog the students spoke to the racers in the college workshop and then the car and bikes were taken outside and fired up (below left). Another presentation was given to the Institute of the Motor Industry in the evening. You can see pictures from both presentations at eurodragster.fotopic.net.
The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com (above right) came with no words at all. If you know any more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.
©Eurodragster.com
Congratulations to Swedish Pro Mod racer Adam Flamholc on a new Personal Best of 6.298 in his blown-alcohol Camaro Pro Mod. Adam set his new best, also a new track record, at Sundsvall at the weekend.
Thanks to Mike L'Alouette for letting us know that the August 2009 issue of Car Craft magazine includes a two-page feature on Swiss Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com News sponsor Urs Erbacher. You can get your copy from American Auto Mags at www.americanautomags.com.
On a not-unrelated subject, we understand that Urs Erbacher will be contesting July's Veidec Festival at Mantorp Park in his second Top Fuel Dragster which was recently driven to an IHRA event victory by Scott Weis. We will bring you more about this as we receive it.
The latest offering from Eurodragster.com News sponsor Tireshake.com is this polo shirt (below) which is on offer for €20. The shirt comes in sizes from XS to XXL in black, white, navy or red. For more details or to order your shirt check out www.tireshake.com.
Photo-journalist and graphic designer Mark Gredzinski sent us this picture of his latest work, the chassis of a 1/25th scale 1950 Austin Gasser powered by a DOHC Ford 'cammer' engine. "The bodywork is prepared and painted and the whole thing will be finished next week", says Gredzo. "The chassis features a full braking and fuel system which has been scratch built along with the steering box and drag link etc and modifed five-spoke wheels". You can see more of Mark's work at www.gredzo.com.
Congratulations from Watson.
16th June: Paul Watson of Dynospeed Developments has been in touch to congratulate some of the racers who excelled at the SPRC Summernationals:
Congratulations to Paul Hambidge on running his first seven-second run on his Kawasaki ZXR12 SSB, backed with another 7.98. It has been a long road for Paul and Tina but hopefully now will have a great baseline to tune from.
Also to Stefan Schnarwiler on the ex-Dynospeed Turbo Hayabusa. This was only his second time on the bike. I delivered it at Easter where Stefan ran an 8.6 getting used to the bike. We tested at the Peak Performance Day on Friday and ran another 8.6 with base boost but on the last run Stefan forgot to switch the boost controller on. Saturday we had a small electrical problem but Stefan managed a new PB of 8.1 with a 1.34 sixty foot time on soft boost settings. Unfortunatley coming from Switzerland Stefan doesn't get enough seat time but I'm sure we will see a seven-second run at Hockenhiem. We wish Stefan and Caroline a safe trip home.
©Eurodragster.com
We would also like to say congrats to Dave Hall in 9.50 Bike. Dave lost in the final with a 9.4988, so close and all this when his mother was taken to hospital Sunday lunchtime. We all wish Dave's mother a speedy recovery.
I was only intending to be there for the Friday to help Brad O'Connor with the BTC Super Street Bike, Paul and Stefan but the weekend looked too good to miss. It was nice to see everyone again - we had a great time.
To all at Santa Pod, it was another great event. We watched Ian, Bobby and the boys scrape the track again putting in the hours to make it the best it could be, well done. To the Eurodragster team Tog, Simon, Roger and Kirstie who put in long hours to keep us informed (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed).
On a final note, on Saturday evening we walked to the top of the track to lay Paul Rose's ashes. A true legend of British drag racing. Well done Santa Pod for the minute's silence on Sunday although maybe the timing could have been better as some of the riders were still on there way back from their runs. But overall a fantastic weekend.
Web site updates.
16th June: Kåre Ravnsborg has been in touch to let us know that a race report from the 2009 NDRG Summer Nats is available on the Hawgs Racing web site at www.hawgsracing.com.
It's been a busy few weeks for the UK's Outlaw Flat Four racers and their web site has been updated with news and galleries from the Yanks Weekend/Gary's Picnic which you can find at www.offdrc.co.uk/news.htm, www.offdrc.co.uk/files/pages/gallery_2009_003.htm and www.offdrc.co.uk/files/pages/gallery_2009_004.htm. A gallery of SPRC Summernationals pictures is also available at www.offdrc.co.uk/files/pages/gallery_2009_005.htm.
Dom Romney has posted SPRC pictures at
archive.modernpics.co.uk where you
can also find details about revised prices for prints, canvas prints, and Dom's Facebook area.
©Eurodragster.com
Next up with SPRC Summernationals pictures is John Seymour whose shots you can check out at www.TheBaldPhotographer.com.
Alan Currans spent the day trackside at Santa Pod Raceway on Saturday and his pictures can be found via the What's New? link at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk.
Tim Lockyer's SPRC Summernationals shots are now showing at www.dragster-photography.com.
Nigel Holland has posted his SPRC Summernationals pictures at www.nigelholland.co.uk. Nigel asked us to add his congratulations to Roy Walker for winning Pro ET at only his second competitive event.
Finally for today's web site updates, the official web site of the UK's Chaos Fuel Altered team has been updated with an SPRC Summernationals repots and pictures. Check it out at www.chaos-fuel-altered.com.
SPRC Summernationals results.
15th June: Congratulations to the winners of the SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway:
MSA Pro Modified: Andy Robinson 6.1561/230.08 def. Graham Ellis 6.7528/217.10
Super Modified: Belinda Bull 7.5828/179.80 def. Nigel Payne 7.6810/180.54
Super Pro ET: John Everitt (7.89) 7.9298/164.02 def. Jack Brewster (8.60) 8.6446./151.46
Pro ET: Roy Walker (10.55) 10.5812/125.39 def. Mick Howling (10.70) 10.7594/120.67
Sportsman ET: Spencer Tramm (15.93) 16.2050/78.72 def. Tethys (17.48) 17.3295/74.34 breakout
Super Comp: Paul Letchford 8.8704/157.99 bye, Frank Mason no show
Super Gas: Stuart Morrice 10.9098/147.11 def. Frank Mason no time DQ
Super Street: Martyn Sanger 11.1992/95.45 def. Leigh Morris 23.7875/83.89
Junior Dragster: Joe Kellett (8.94) 8.9840/70.85 def. Anna Stanley (8.02) 8.0429/81.11 red
Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association: Frank Bennett 6.5718/196.09 def. Dave Grabham 7.1720/178.48
B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Street Eliminator: Mats Andersson 9.6117/138.93 def. David Murdoch 9.9913/120.82
Wild Bunch: Pete Yates (9.33) 9.3710/138.20 def. Dave Rowlands (9.76) no time DQ
VW Pro: James Hodson (10.90) 11.1810/93.43 def. Richard Merriman (12.80) 13.0654/100.36
VW Sportsman: Lucy Matthews (23.98) 24.0681/52.15 def. Russ Weir (16.29) 16.9921/78.35
Outlaw Anglia: Richard Colby 8.6013/156.72 def. Cliff Griffin 8.7650/152.56
Outlaw Flat Four: Paul Bate 14.9327/70.88 def. Bernie Newbury 10.7947/127.64 DQ boundary
HKS FWD: Guy Chamberlain 10.9278/141.13 def. Neil Knight 13.6925/104.53
©Eurodragster.com
Top Fuel Bike: Steve Woollatt 6/4840/210.05 def. Rene van den Berg 7.1578/199.63
Pro Stock Bike: Dave Beck 7.2990/179.81 def. Len Paget 12.3672/62.28 DQ red
Funny Bike: Kev Charman 7.3843/178.48 def. Chris Hall no time
Comp Bike: Ivan Birch 7.5398/174.22 def. Dave Peters 8.4794/129.37
Super Street Bike: Steve Venables 7.4663/185.07 def. Rich Stubbins 7.6488/188.03
9.50 Bike: Richard Sawatzki 9.6188/125.48 def. Dave Hall 9.4988/146.60
Supertwin Gas: Les Harris 9.8919/128.63 def. Andy Watson 9.9425/131.69
Supertwin ET: Dave Smart (10.00) 10.0911/131.97 def. Steve Partridge (11.00) 11.0155/118.80
Congratulations also to Chris Hodgkins (Pro ET) and John Everitt (Super Pro ET) who won the Eurodragster.com/Speedflow Perfect Light Award and Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET Award respectively. Both Awards have been reset to £50 for the UK Truck Show.
You can check out our American Car Imports-sponsored SPRC Summernationals coverage by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page and selecting the SPRC Summernationals.
Event entry update.
12th June: Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall has been in touch to remind racers that Friday 26th June is the official closing date for Bug Jam, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 18th-19th July and which is a Championship round for Super Modified, B&H Automotive/LA Racing Parts Street Eliminator, Sportsman ET, Junior Dragster, VWDRC, Outlaw Flat Four and Outlaw Anglia. You can download the entry form from the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
Friday 26th June is also the official closing date for Rotorstock, the HKS Drag Series round at Santa Pod Raceway on Sunday 11th July. Again you can download the entry form from the SPRC web site as above.
©Eurodragster.com
Thanks also to Paula for forwarding Version 3 of the official entry list for the UK Truck Show, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 27th-28th June and which is a Championship round for Super Modified and the National Association of Supertwins. You can check out the entry list by clicking here. Entry is still open but subject to a late entry fee; again you can download the entry form from the SPRC web site as above.
Thanks again to Paula for forwarding Version 3 of the official entry list for the JapShow, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on Sunday 21st June. You can check out the entry list by clicking here and again you can download the entry form from the SPRC web site as above.
What's on this weekend.
12th June: Santa Pod Raceway is hosting the SPRC Summernationals on Saturday and Sunday of this weekend. The event is a round of the UK National Drag Racing and ACU UK Drag Bike Championships, MSA British Drag Racing Championship, Nolstalgia Fuel Altered Association Championship, Volkswagen Drag Racing Club Championships, Outlaw Flat Four Championship, Outlaw Anglia Championship, the Wild Bunch Series, the National Association of Supertwins Championships and HKS Drag Series FWD. Action starts at 9:00 each morning. Tickets for Saturday are £17, £17 for Sunday, and £30 for the weekend. Under-16s go free. You can check out the entry list and provisional running orders by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page and selecting the SPRC Summernationals. Alternately check out Santa Pod Raceway's web site at www.santapod.co.uk/e_summer_nat.php.
The main race in Scandinavia this weekend is the Deep Forest Nationals at Sundsvall Raceway taking place from today (Friday) to Sunday. The race is a round of the Toyo Scandinavian Drag Series and includes a round of the Top Doorslammer Championship. The race is organised by SHRA Sundsvall.
Also taking place from today until Sunday at Bitburg Airport, Germany is Bitbug #1, a VW event organised by Flugplatz Bitburg which also includes a round of the German Street Eliminator championship and the German Street Rod Association. Scrutineering takes place from 14:00 to 20:00 on Friday with free practice from 15:00 to 18:00. On Saturday racing takes place from 10:00 to 18:00 and on Sunday from 10:00 to 16:00. There is a paddock party on Friday and Saturday evenings. Entrance is €15 with €35 registration per car and driver (no electricity supplied) and free to under 18s. More information is available at www.bitbug.eu (organisers) and www.1on1-motorsports.de (track).
©Eurodragster.com
Further east an event organised by the Hungarian National Automobile Association (HNAA) and MNASZ is taking place at Nyiregyháza Airport, Hungary (about two and a half hours east of Budapest) tomorrow. Classes are based on capacity as shown in the rules at www.dragracing.hu/english/mnasz_drag_2009_en.pdf and results will be posted at www.dragracing.hu/usr_idoeredmenyek.php. More details about the event at www.dragracing.hu.
On Sunday at Satu Mare Airport in Romania the Chevrolet Drag Racing event takes place organised by the National Federation of Hungarian Autosport (MNASZ). This is sponsored by Chevrolet West Satu Mare and the event includes showcasing of the new model of Chevrolet. The event runs from 09:00 to 21:00 and is promoted in conjunction with the Hungarian event. More information can be seen at www.dragracing.ro.
Ex-pat UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Smax Smith will be racing the Leverich Family's Top Fuel Dragster at this weekend's IHRA Sooner Nationals at Tulsa, Oklahoma. You will be able to stay in touch with Smax's progress on the Drag Race Central web site at www.dragracecentral.com.
SSB Sprouts a special guest.
11th June: Walter Sprout, the AMA World #2 plate holder in Pro Street who holds the world mph record
at 206.5 mph and has run into the 7.20s, will be competing at the SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway this weekend.
©Eurodragster.com
Walter will be riding Steve 'Copperhead' Mead's new Super Street Bike (right) this weekend and will then contest next week's NSA Keith Parnell sprint at Weston Zoyland. Steve and Phil Steele, aka Paso, of Little Cherub Racing will be crewing for Walter at both events.
"Walter has been enjoying England's summer over the last few days, having left ninety degree temperatures in Florida on Sunday", says Phil Steele. "The team would like to thank all those involved at SPRC and the ACU in obtaining the correct permissions for Walter to race in the UK."
A disappointed rider.11th June: Last weekend's Norwegian Championship at Gardermoen did not go how Supertwin racer Hans Olav Olstad would have liked, but Hans Olav said that it was a learning experience:
A small problem with the rider's memory, when he forgot to turn on the ignition and fuel curve, give us only a 7.04 on the first qualifying run. The second qualifying run was nice and straight with an easy clutch, then the engine dropped a cylinder at the top end, giving us a disappointed 7.09. On the third qualifying run, the rider cured his Alzheimer Light, but the bike was very strong and pulled to the centre line and he had to shut off, rolled from 150 metres to the finish line, 8.47. We were the quickest Norwegian team, only beaten by Lorenz Stäuble's 6.89. Lorenz came a long way from Switzerland for a test weekend.
©Eurodragster.com
Our quarter final was against Svein Olav Rolfstad and his new blower bike. Svein Olav struggled to find the power in the bike this weekend and and was only sixth qualifier. Then he called back some horses and ran a 7.07 to our 7.17. I had 0.02 second better reaction time and was by his side for the whole race, ready to pass him at the top end when the engine dropped a cylinder again. Svein Olav was half a bike ahead of me on the finish line.
The disappointed rider started brainstorming back in the pits and then we found the reason for all the dropped cylinders at the top end. It was only a matter of how the fuel curve was programmed. We also had some minor problems with the idle, caused by a crack in the inlet. The bike is under repair and will be ready for the next UEM event at Alastaro, Finland on 5th-7th July. We know the bike is super strong and if the rider manages to do his brainwork we look forward to nice passes in Finland.
Swift snippets.
11th June: UK Junior Dragster racer Matthew Seamarks is looking for a bottle of Royal Purple XRP oil for this weekend's SPRC Summernationals. "Royal Purple XRP is used by a good percentage of Junior dragster teams", says Matthew. "We have secured one bottle thanks to Peter Kellett, but we would like another bottle in case we need it". If you can help then please drop Matthew a line at gingermanracing@hotmail.co.uk.
©Eurodragster.com
King Racing win in the Main.
11th June: Following the sad but not wholly unexpected news that due to the current economic
downturn Portable Shade would be unable to extend their primary support into the new season
it seemed that the current European Top Fuel Bike Champions King
Racing would struggle to make sense of the budget for their 2009 race plans. However, Portable Shade kindly
agreed to remain as associates and the team was overwhelmed by the renewal of all their 2008 team partners and
associates and the extension of the scope of the agreement for 2009 by Kibblewhite Precision Machining, Inc.
King Racing have benefited from an extremely strong and loyal team of associates whilst winning their four previous European Championships and are extremely proud that these associates are to remain on the team in their quest for an unprecedented fifth European Championship title. The icing on the cake was the news that one of the UK's top custom paint companies would join the team effort in 2009 – Image Design Custom. Although a young company they have already made a mark in the world of custom paint with commissions from blue chip brands such as Harley Davidson, Suzuki, Triumph, Arai, Relentless and Monster Energy. Their art can also be found gracing machines such as those from world renowned custom builders such as Roland Sands.
With the faith shown in the team by its associate partners in this testing economic climate it was important that the team display their appreciation with a strong showing at the European season opening Main Event at Santa Pod, England. However, this was easier said than done with the team hampered by a lack of testing with their all new 2009 set-up. New design of clutch arms and primary drive, alternative style of fuel injectors, new fuel management system and a new state of the art HPS 2.1 RC supercharger from Puma Engineering would mean that their successful base settings from 2008 were all but out of the window.
And the challenges faced by the team were not just those posed by the new set-up – the biggest field of Top Fuel Bikes ever entered for a season opener saw no less than thirteen bikes, eight of those of the supercharged Nitro variety. It was going to be tough!
After the rain soaked season opener in 2008 this year's version was sublime – warm and sunny with just enough
wind to keep the temperature to a comfortable level without affecting on track performance.
The first qualifier took place on Saturday morning and saw the King team straight into a lazy and cylinder dropping second place with a 6.797/188.03. The team had deliberately set the fuel system on the overly rich side to ensure that the new set-up would not suffer from a lean condition and therefore was confident that some adjustments to the injector sizes and returns would step the performance up a notch. However, qualifier number two was a non event for the team when a needle roller bearing in the newly installed primary drive pulley came adrift and friction welded itself to the clutch shaft on start-up. The other teams took advantage of the King Racing no show and pushed them down into fourth place going into the second and final day of qualifying.
Sunday dawned into another beautiful day. The third qualifying round was staged in hotter conditions than the previous two, and negated some of the team's overnight fuel changes and resulted in a further over rich cylinder dropping lazy run. Still, the team stepped up to a 6.454/202.44 and regained their second position behind the storming Swede Peter Svensson who had made his mark with a fantastic 6.225/202.21 the previous day. The final round saw the bikes having to cope with a track temperature over 40 C – unusual for these shores and time of year. The team leaned the fuel system further and saw another steady improvement in performance to a 6.330/203.32, but not enough to claim number one qualifying position.
The number two position attained by the team should have put them against a less onerous competitor than
that they faced for round one – the quick Frenchman Eric Teboul. Despite a less than perfect qualifying
performance the amiable Cannes resident was buoyed by the presence and support of his brother, erstwhile
Pop Star, Methanol Dragster racer and fellow Rocket vehicle pilot Bobby Feeler. However King was on his
game and got a good jump on the lights and never looked back, away first 0.143 to 0.184, sixty foot time
of 1.047 to Eric's 1.237, 4.010/187.76 at half track to Eric's 4.692/166.01 and what was to be Ian's best
ET of the weekend 6.240/204.13 to Eric's 7.244/166.62.
King's semi-final opponent was to be his fellow countryman and multi UK Champion Steve Woollatt, noted for his quick-leaving bike. King was again focussed on the job in hand, first away with a 0.136 to 0.141, 1.126 to sixty feet to Woollatt's 1.164, and a 4.199/186.99 at half track to take the win and a place in the final with another cylinder dropping 6.369/212.67 to Woollatt's 6.547/198.94.
In an attempt to clean up the combustion the team decided to increase the nitro percentage by two per cent and seek their best pass of the weekend. However the final matchup was somewhat of an anti-climax after King's opponent, Holland's Rene van den Berg lost fire in the burnout whilst down track. Van den Berg was instructed to leave his bike leaning against the wall at the sixty foot mark as King was already positioned in stage. Although he could have taken the green light for the win and saved parts King was cognisant of the expectation of the large crowd and gave it the best shot he could culminating in a 1.139 to sixty feet, 4.291/183.52 to half track, a cylinder out in the middle third and laboured final numbers of 6.477/210.78. Despite the fact the nitro percentage increase did not do the trick the team had taken the event win and an early points lead!
The team rely on only the best parts and services from leading companies in their chosen markets:
Image Design Custom The UK's leading custom paint shop
Kibblewhite Precision Machining, Inc The highest quality valves and components for motorsport
Gates The world's most trusted name in drive belts, hoses and hydraulics
JE Pistons The world's premier manufacturer of high performance forged pistons
Mickey Thompson Tyres The best drag race tyres in the world bar none
Goedhals Precision specialist gear cutting and engineering
Performance Machine The leader in aftermarket custom wheels, brakes and components
Goodridge UK The original and the best in fluid transfer systems
PsycleWorkz The UK's most innovative custom and race fabricators
Pro Alloy UK's leader in fabrication of alloy racing tanks, intercoolers and radiators
Torco Oils The only oil recommended by engine manufacturers Puma Engineering
Craft Safety Helmets The ultimate in safety and unique in design
Del West Engineering Inc, Pioneers in valve train design
Vanson Leathers Thirty years producing the best quality track tested motorcycle apparel
Kent Cams Specialists in motor sport camshaft manufacture, short runs and one-offs
House of Kolor Manufacturers of the world's most stunning specialist paints
Sprint Dampers the UK's leading manufacturer of steering dampers
Kershaw & Co The UK's leading manufacturer of turned parts
Cannon Engineering Gear cutting and precision engineering services
Zodiac Europe's largest supplier of performance and aftermarket HD parts
Pixeleye Innovative graphic and web site design
MRE Leaders in trackside support for drag race components and air shifting systems
Portable Shade The world's premier awning and modular exhibition Product Company
Customize Premier sign makers and vinyl sign and design services
Turboville Your one stop drag racing resource
NitroShutter The combined efforts of ace photo-journalists Ivan Sansom and Rose Hughes
The King Racing Top Fuel Bike can be seen competing at the following events in 2009:
3rd–5th July: Alastaro, Finland
24th–26th July: Mantorp Park, Sweden
14th–16th August: Hockenheim, Germany
21st–23rd August: Kunmadaras, Hungary
4th–5th September: Mosten Race Day, Denmark
11th–13th September: Santa Pod, England
©Eurodragster.com
Brownhill Motorhomes sponsor SPR.
11th June: Santa Pod Raceway have announced that Brownhill Motorhomes have signed up as a sponsor of the facility.
Brownhills Motorhomes is proud to represent seventeen of the world's top motorhome manufacturers. Established in 1972, Brownhills has four branches nationwide including its flagship branch in Newark, Nottinghamshire. Brownhills not only stock a vast range of large motorhomes - perfect for the needs of racing teams - but also offer second hand and European motorhomes ideal for a weekend's camping at Santa Pod Raceway and other drag racing events throughout Europe.
As Europe's largest motorhome retailer and the official Hymer supplier in the UK, Brownhills work hard to continually offer award winning vehicles at the most competitive prices and, with a nationwide network, you're never far away from a Brownhills site.
Brownhills is the only motorhome retailer in the country to offer a loyalty scheme, which has already attracted over 9,000 members. By joining Club Brownhills, customers are given free overnight accommodation and access to the swimming pool, sauna and jacuzzi at its Newark-based leisure centre. The group has also set up a unique Ask the Directors E-Mail facility, allowing customers to put questions directly to the board members.
The group is Europe's largest motorhome retailer. With over 2,000 vehicles in group stock across the UK and a team of dedicated staff at each site offering expert advice seven days a week, Brownhills is the first place to visit when looking for a motorhome.
Brownhills is offering customers the opportunity to see the quality of its vehicles first hand by bringing a selection of its new and used motorhomes to the SPRC Summernationals, UK National Finals and Flame and Thunder Show. If you can't wait until then, head over to Brownhills flagship branch just a short distance away to browse around the indoor showroom and enjoy a coffee in the on-site Bistro.
To be in with a chance of winning tickets to the Flame and Thunder Show, visit the Brownhills web site at www.brownhills.co.uk.
©Eurodragster.com
Web site updates.
11th June: In the latest update in his exclusive Racer Blog, Luke Bennett describes a mix of emotions in the Bennett Racing blown-alcohol altered team. As ever you can check out the latest Blog update by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
©Eurodragster.com
Eurodragster.com's US correspondent Ed O'Connell took a huge number of photographs during his visit to Santa Pod Raceway for FIA Main Event week, and after a lot of midnight oil and eye strain he has now posted his favourite shots on his Picasa site at picasaweb.google.com/surfphoto1/SantaPodMainEvent2009.
Trøa's thanks.
10th June: Frøya's Per Håkon Trøa would like to thank everyone who helped to get his Top Methanol Funny Car ready for the FIA Main Event after he suffered engine damage at the preceding test weekend.
"A rod went through the block and damaged the crankshaft", says Konrad Ree. "Per Håkon wants to send his grateful thanks to the whole Islanders Team, Dan Larsen, Hans Olav Olstad, Steve Turner, Lorenz Stäuble, Jon Webster and Will Hanna for all their help and advice. Without all this help it wouldn't have been possible to race at the Main Event. Per Håkon also wants to thank Darren Prentice for all the good advice and direction during his licencing. Last but not least he wants to say a big thanks to his team for not giving up after the hard start at the test weekend.
©Eurodragster.com
"Per Håkon's next event will be at Mantorp Park, but he will be at the FHRA event in Alastaro helping out Fred Hansen with his dragster, and he is looking forward to the event and to seing everybody there."
Swift snippets.
10th June: Many thanks to Yvonne Tramm for sending us the post-FIA Main Event points standings in the 2009 Santa Pod Racers Club Championships. You can check out the SPRC points on our Speedflow-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Eurodragster.com Site Search sponsor Hauser Racing is offering a special deal on Go Pro Wide cameras which the Nosferatu Super Pro ET team have used in-car to great effect. "This camera is just brilliant", says Ray Eldred. "We learned so much from reviewing the runs that it paid for itself already. It's so simple to use, takes very good pictures, records sound, has no wires and records up to 56 minutes of track time - all at the push of one button". For more information check out www.hauserracing.com/news/Go-Pro-Wide-.aspx or call Ray at Hauser Racing on 01933 682500. For sample footage visit the Nosferatu web site at www.nosferatu-racing.co.uk.
©Eurodragster.com
Congratulations to UK Super Pro ET racer Nigel Turner and his wife Emma who were married in Minster Abbey on the Isle of
Sheppey last Saturday. "To be honest I've never seen Nigel so smart (or nervous)!", says Kirstie. "Emma was a vision as always and the day was
topped off perfectly by sunny drag racing weather! From all of Super Pro ET, we send you the warmest of congratulations guys! Believe it or not we
will see you at the track at the Summer Nationals this weekend to give you another round of congratulations!"
Our good buddy Benni Voss tells us that a new German best for a front wheel drive car was set at the Powerfest at Luckau last weekend. "Mario from Saxonia in east Germany ran 10:61/131 mph with his VR6 Turbo Polo", says Benni. Mario built the car himself to German DMSB safety standards, and runs it at VW tuning events and in also Pro ET."
Santa Pod Raceway's radio station Nitro FM will be broadcasting for an extra hour this Saturday evening with a Chill Out hour from 10:00 pm to 11:00 pm. "The lady concerned thought it would be a great idea and so did we", says Nigel Fitzmaurice. "Can you guess who the new mystery presenter is? Tune in to find out, plus of course all the other features you have come to expect (I expect no more Diana bloody Ross - Ed). We are also pleased to announce that the live commentary broadcast on Nitro FM is supported by LA Racing Parts. For all types of drag racing tyres and all your performance needs contact Lee at LA Racing Parts on 01803 554308."
Central Europe update.
10th June: Paul Fischer tells us that something big could be going down in central Europe after a meeting last night.
"The three big movers and shakers in central European drag racing all came together at a Tesco's car park in southern Hungary", says Paul. "Brokered by cedrag.com, hence the cheap location, the meeting worked through the thorny subject of international relations and, despite huge problems, the future may bring a more international flavour to events in the region."
"We have updated cedrag.com with reports on eight of the races in May: these were at Kunmadaras and the Hungaroring (Hungary), Baia Mare and Tulcea (Romania), Bol'kovce (Slovakia), Hoškovice (Czech Rep), and Rijeka and Zagreb (Croatia) where 8,800 spectators bought tickets for the event in the capital. The reports are less about who won and who didn't, more about the general feel of these events.
©Eurodragster.com
This month also includes a few racer profiles. Ten-second doorslammers are the feature classes in these parts, one Hungarian guy even gets into the tens with a 1.9Tdi VW Polo. There's an interview with the Croatian drag race head honcho who explain why he elects to run index racing exclusively at his events despite being the only one to do so in the entire region.
The web site also has the latest race calendar which shows that forty two events will have been run by the end of the season - weather permitting of course. Speaking of which, we've had a bit of rain lately but every race, nineteen so far, has been completed. We're gearing up for the long trip to Nyiregyháza in eastern Hungary for the race on Saturday before moving further east into Romania for the next day's big event at Satu Mare. There will be reports from both days in next week's news at cedrag.com."
Summernationals Perfect Awards.
10th June: This weekend's Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway is the latest event in the 2009 Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards scheme. £100 is on offer for perfect performance.
The Eurodragster.com/Speedflow Perfect Light Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by Super Street racer John
Grant at the FIA Main Event. The money will be presented to the first racer this weekend to record a Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds. The Perfect Light
Award is available to all racers in all classes during qualifying and eliminations, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect Light of the event.
The Perfect Light Award is presented in association with performance hose and fitting manufacturer Speedflow
whose web site you can find at www.speedflow.co.uk.
Although the Perfect Light Award goes to three places, we will not pay out for red lights with zeroes in the first three decimals since a foul is a foul however far in the first non-zero digit may be. So a reaction time of 0.0001 will win you the money (if you're first to do it), but a reaction time of -0.0001 will not.
Decals are not formally required for the Perfect Light Award but of course we appreciate it: you can get Eurodragster.com decals at the track from any Eurodragster.com staff member.
©Eurodragster.com
The Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by Pro ET racer Mark Bailey at
the FIA Main Event. The money will be paid in cash to the first racer this weekend to run to the thousandth on their dial-in or index during qualifying
or eliminations. The Perfect ET Award is available this weekend in Super Pro ET, Pro ET, Sportsman ET, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street, Junior
Dragster (eliminations only), 9.50 Bike, VW Pro, VW Sportsman, The Wild Bunch, and NAST Supertwin ET, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect
Run of the event. The Perfect ET Award is presented in association with RV sales and service specialists Gold RV whose web
site you can find at www.goldrv.co.uk.
To be eligible to collect the Perfect ET Award, racers are required to carry Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET decals, one on each side of the vehicle whether car or bike. If you pull this weekend's first Perfect ET but are not carrying decals then there will be no discussion; we will not pay out and the next person to pull a Perfect ET will get the money assuming that they are carrying decals. The decals will be available from the Signing On office as soon as it opens on Saturday morning; please note that, as is usual with contingency schemes, racers are responsible for requesting or picking up decals when signing on. A list of required decals per class is always on display in the Signing On office.
Web site updates.
10th June: The official web site of the UK's Showtime Fuel Funny Car team has been updated with an FIA Main Event report and a gallery of images from behind the scenes as well as on-track shots. Check it out at www.showtimeracinguk.com. "We would also like to remind Showtime fans that if they have any images of the Funny Car they would like to have posted on the web site then visit www.showtimeracinguk.com/gallerychoice.asp where they will be able to upload images to the fans gallery" says webmaster Nigel Holland.
The official web site of the UK's Silverline Drag Racing team has been updated with driver Dave Wilson's report of the Top Methanol Dragster team's record-setting FIA Main Event. Check it out at www.silverlinedragracing.com.
©Eurodragster.com
Our good buddy Sharkman has updated his Top End Tales web site with pictures from the FIA Main Event. The gallery includes both start line and top end parachute shots so there is something for everyone. You can find Sharkman's shots at www.topendtales.com.
The Bristol Hot Rods web site at www.bristolhotrods.co.uk now features a drag racing news page, compiled by Chris Kenny, with all the latest from the sizeable drag racing team from Planet Bristol. The Bristol Hot Rod site also features Bristol hot rod news past, present and future in Bristol. Zane Llewellyn's ZaNNetec web site at www.zannetec.com which used to host the Bristol drag racing news now concentrates on Zane's workshop which is currently hosting no less than five cars. "Please check out both sites as there are some interesting cars being built and rebuilt at the moment", says Chris Kenny.
1000-foot Top Fuel at Alastaro.
9th June: The Finnish Hot Rod Association have announced that Top Fuel Dragster is to be contested over 1000 feet at the FHRA Nitro Nationals, the next round of the FIA European Championships, which takes place at Alastaro on 2nd-5th July. The Nitro Nationals is the second European Top Fuel round to be contested over the shortened distance, following the Veidec Festival at Mantorp Park which switched last season and will remain at 1000 feet this year.
"The decision was made together with the Top Fuel racers", Tapio Väljä of FHRA explained to Eurodragster.com. "The drivers asked if we could go for a thousand feet instead of the quarter mile. The FHRA board decided that we could do it do it if our timing system supported it.
©Eurodragster.com
"We thought that our timing system supported 1000 feet because we have the same system as NHRA. But when we did some testing we discovered that our system doesn't support it as we have an old software version. We have requested the new version from Compulink, but there is always a risk to upgrading a system, so we must test the new version before we can use it. But luckily our technical team has found another solution, so it looks like we can commit to 1000 feet for Top Fuel."
We understand that the Top Fuel racers asked for the reduced distance because the guardrails do not extend for the length of the shutdown area at Alastaro. FHRA do not own the Alastaro facility and so, much as they would wish to extend the guardrails, they have no power to do so. We further understand that users of the circuit alongside which the strip runs also have objections to the introduction of the guardrails in what is currently a run-off area.
Event entry update.
9th June: On-line entry is now available for the Veidec Festival, which takes place at Sweden's Mantorp Park on 23rd-26th July. You can enter on-line at www.motorevents.com/motorevents/signup. Alternately you can enter on paper, or order power or extra tickets, by downloading any of the following PDF documents:
FIA classes invitation and entry form
FIM/UEM classes invitation and entry form
NDRS classes invitation and entry form
Power and extra tickets order form
Media accreditation form
The downloadable invitations, entry and order forms are also available at www.dragracing.se and www.motorevents.com.
©Eurodragster.com
Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall for forwarding Version 2 of the official entry list for the UK Truck Show, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 27th-28th June and which is a Championship round for Super Modified and the National Association of Supertwins. You can check out the entry list by clicking here. Entry is still open but subject to a late entry fee; you can download the entry form from the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.
Thanks also to Paula Marshall for forwarding Version 2 of the official entry list for the JapShow, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on Sunday 21st June. You can check out the entry list by clicking here and again you can download the entry form from the SPRC web site as above.
Swift snippets.
9th June: Thanks very much to Hans Olav Olstad and Lars Andersson for forwarding the news that that those lucky enough to receive Viasat Sport or Viasat Sport N will be able to see coverage of the FIA Main Event tomorrow (Wednesday 10th). The FIA Main Event will be broadcast at 18:30 on Viasat Sport and at 1930 on Viasat Sport N.
©Eurodragster.com
Editor's note: Your News Editor's day job is getting in the way again so we have a small backlog of news for the next update. Tune back tomorrow for that, and please keep those news items coming to news@eurodragster.com.
SPRC Summernationals update.
8th June: Many thanks to this weekend's Race Director Robin Shone and SPRC Club Secretary Paula Marshall for forwarding the provisional running orders for this weekend's SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out the running orders by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Please note that as ever the running orders are subject to change due to weather or track conditions or for any other reason deemed necessary by race officials.
Santa Pod Raceway's gates will open at 12:00 noon this Friday (12th); racers booked in for Friday's Peak Performance Day will of course be allowed in earlier. If you would like to run at Friday's Peak Performance Day then check out www.rwyb.com.
©Eurodragster.com
Signing-on will be open between 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm on Friday and will then re-open on Saturday morning.
Car scrutineering will commence at 3:00 pm on Friday and Bike scrutineering at approximately 5:00 pm on Friday.
You can check out the final version of the official SPRC Summernationals entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
White out.
8th June: UK Pod racer Ray White has been in touch to let us know that with great regret he has had to withdraw his wild blown-alcohol Zephyr from this weekend's SPRC Summernationals:
We have an ongoing problem with what looks like the breathing system on the car, which has been causing oil to spewing from the motor, and as we all know the only place for the oil is in the motor not out of it. I had a bit of a moment after half track at the Main Event, I can only say that the car certainly got my attension. I would like to apologise to Ian Marshall and the clean up-crew.
We are trying to find the problem, but it only happens when the motor is under power then when I back off out it comes but we don't know from where which poses a bit of a problem. So if we come to the Summernationals not knowing if we have cured the problem then we could find out in an expensive way.
©Eurodragster.com
As for the Main Event, the new fuel system is amazing - the engine now is like day and night and it surprised no one more than me when I let the clutch up for the first time and it blew our old sixty foot time out of the water. The new body is 220 lbs lighter which puts the weight of the car right were it should be, so that was money well spent. I would like to thank all the crew for working their socks off: big and little Steve, stand-in Crew Chief Adrian Spencer, Danny Cockerill, Rob Smallworth (sorry about the Slowmod jibe) and of course young Danny from the flats. You are all stars, well to me anyway.
The plan is to do some testing first then be ready for the European Finals. If anyone has any ideas what my problem might be then please get in touch - any help will be much appreciated. I will be at the Summernationals but just as a spectator. See you there.
Bader's Challenge.
8th June: After a terrific race weekend at the FIA Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway with perfect weather and track conditions, Eurodragster.com News sponsor Marco Maurischat is proud to announce that Switzerland's Bruno Bader is the winner of the 2008 Exhaust-Coating Pro Mod Challenge.
"In a great side-by-side run in classic drag racing fashion Bruno defeated Andy Robinson with a 6.135/226.49 to Andy's 6.272/199.80", says Marco. "It was great to present the €2000 winner cheque to Bruno and his team who run the full FIA season on a small budget as well as to give the €500 runner up money to Andy and his team.
©Eurodragster.com
"We would like to say a very big Thank You to Keith Bartlett, Race Director Darren Prentice, and our pit marshal Spencer Tramm for giving the opportunity to run the final of our Exhaust-Coating Challenge at this race weekend. We hope that everybody enjoyed this extra entertainment and we are looking forward to the 2009 Exhaust-Coating Challenge finals at the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod in September."
Good's longest weekend.
8th June: UK Super Pro ET racer Nick Good says that the FIA Main Event was one of the most enjoyable weekends the NG Motorsport have had in their three and a half years in the sport:
It certainly was our longest weekend at the Pod. Darren and I arrived at the track mid afternoon Wednesday and got the car together and awning up ready for an early start on the Peak Performance Day. The rest of our crew arrived early Thursday and we were ready to go. The main objective of the day was to put Crew Chief Simon Rowland through his familiarisation runs in the car in readiness for his entry at the Summernationals and also to see how we would get on with the larger 34.5" Hoosiers which we didn't really get a handle on at Easter. I took first run of the day with the 33" Goodyears on and dialled in a 6.96. We were really on the limit with these tyres but an expected 6.98 ET showed how good and predictable our tune-up has been.
Next into the hot seat was Simon to complete his two familiarisation passes under the watchful eye of Darren Prentice. Before the run I was more
nervous about performing my start line duties correctly than how Simon would get on in the dragster. Although more powerful than Simon's last ride,
the layout of the cockpit and design of the chassis is nearly identical to the Formula Tanker Rental dragster which he campaigned last year. His first,
early shut off pass, was a 7.63/124.39, a new PB. After a short break for rain Simon came round again for his full pass, another PB, 7.02/185.08,
not quite a six but I'm sure we can get that at the Summernationals. It was great to see the car run from the outside, and I'm sure the experience will
help both Simon and I in the future.
©Eurodragster.com
Next it was on with the Double Beadlock SpinWerkes wheels and 34.5" Hoosiers. These are a very different tyre to what we were used to before: not only do they launch differently, but the gearing was also increased by nearly ten per cent. We set the motor a little richer and were pleased with a 7.10/184.44, giving us a good baseline to work from for the rest of the weekend. At the end of the day we bought one of Ian Blackett's superb super slow motion DVDs. I would recommend any racer to get one, as they give you an opportunity to see exactly what's going on when launching: we discovered a couple of issues which would have otherwise gone unnoticed.
We had a meeting with the paramedics and fire crew to demonstrate the new SFI Leatt Moto R Head and Neck Restraint. It's vitally important that the safety crew know the ins and outs of any new safety device and we were very pleased with the feedback from them regarding its protection and accessibility compared to other products.
On Friday we only made two qualifiers of the seven available, as a cylinder leakdown after the first run of the day revealed a leaking head gasket. The hot weather for our other five qualifiers of the weekend along with the tyres was also something new for us. Although we only qualified twenty fourth, we were pretty happy with were we were going into the first round of eliminations on Monday, and after getting past Vince Gibbs and Bob Doyle a red light against John Everitt put us out of competition.
A big Thank You goes out to our crew of Simon, Darren, William, Mikey, Bob and Hester and to our sponsors Beovax Computer Services, Focal Point Digital, HRG Ltd, Chris Brown Body Repairs, BGC Motorsport Components and Morris Armitage. Thanks also to all the Santa Pod staff for putting on a stunning event.
Swift snippets.
8th June: UK Pro ET racer Charlie Chivers' Taxi Express will be on show at the Witney Motor Show, near Oxford, on the evening of Thursday 2nd July and Charlie is inviting other racers to join him. "If others are interested in bringing their cars along then we could do a drag racing stand", says Charlie. "The show starts at 6:00 pm but show vehicles can arrive during the afternoon to set up. If any one is interested then please contact me at charliestaxis@aol.com so that we can book some space for the cars."
©Eurodragster.com
Adam Gleadow tells us that that the new Motor Psycho, which was due to make its début in Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association competition at this weekend's SPRC Summernationals, will not be ready in time and so the team have had to withdraw from the event. "A few drivetrain problems, both direct and indirect, mean that we've run out of time but the car is now very close", says Adam. "Thanks to the hard work of Bill Felstead it is looking absolutely fantastic."
A Happy 17th Birthday for last Friday to UK Junior Dragster racer Becky Evans, who dad Phil tells us has now been let loose on the roads of England. "Bex is doing very well and is delighted that on the highway, no matter how hard she tries, she always gets a green light after the yellow (and red!)", says Phil. Hope you had a great birthday Becky.
On fire, but we got paid!
8th June: Ex-pat UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Smax Smith has been in touch with an account of last weekend's IHRA Amalie Oil Texas Nationals in Dallas, where he was again driving the Leverich family's Top Fuel Dragster:
After brutal drives to Louisiana and Carolina me and Aidee decided to fly to Dallas - OK we wimped out! This was a brand new facility and it was great to be part of the first meeting. We felt more than ready and come Friday night we felt confident that we were gonna post our first four-second run.
After a strong burnout and a sexy sounding motor with fresh blower we backed up only to have the start line crew shut us off with a minor fuel leak! We had spanners ready to tighten a loose port nozzle, of course it didn't leak on the warm-up but hey, safety first, so back to the pits with tails dragging!
Finally on Saturday afternoon with a 140 degree track temperature we did a fine burnout but a slight hiccup diverted my attention. After we both pre staged I high sided to move into stage but heard the motor revs go up so I yanked the fuel lever after realising I shut the fuel off rather than high siding it. I caught the motor and waited for it to catch properly. I did a crappy 0.387 light but obviously not long enough because the supercharger backfired big time into a huge ball of fire. With the new safety device the chutes automatically deployed but faced with a similar situation before I decided I must cross the finish line to qualify so I trundled down the track in twenty three seconds, dragging the chutes and totally on fire but I got #10 qualifying money. If you can't be fast be spectacular!
©Eurodragster.com
We tried to turn car around for the last session. We had torched a head but arran from Paton's team swapped over to our only spare part, one bare head. We had a ton of burned stuff which proved too much to fix in one hour: chute cable, reverser cable, throttle cable, burst panel, pilot chutes, all air lines, port nozzles and lines, hat lines, blower studs and gasket, all the wiring, computer lines, diaper and blower bag...bummer. We got some money so we decided to leave car there and we are going to Tulsa, Olklahoma for next weekend's race. We've gotta drive that one.
Congrats to Paton Racing, #1 qualifier and quickest car of the weekend, lost in the semis when a dead cylinder mysteriously stared firing again! You gotta understand Top Fuel to figure this! Keep the good wishes flowing.
Polo Shirt Contest winner.
8th June: Congratulations to ten-year-old Danny Griffiths who has won our
contest for a replica Eurodragster.com staff shirt.
©Eurodragster.com
Danny told us that his favourite racer is Pro Mod's Andy Robinson: "At Easter I asked his wife what the fin sticking from front of the car was for, it breaks the finish line beam, and she gave me a nice picture of the car. During the Main Event Luke and Andy were changing the gear ratio, they happily explained what the bits of 'meccano' did to me and my dad, and why they were changing it, because he had too much tyre shake. We also watched him collect his trophy. Finally Andy's team is only four miles from my house!".
Thanks to everyone who entered, and a special Thank You to Callum Pudge who gave us the original idea for the contest.
Quick, change rear end.
7th June: UK Pro Mod racer Graham Ellis' Superbird is currently at the workshops of Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson Race Cars having some updates put in place before next weekend's SPRC Summernationals. Graham says that one of the changes is pretty major.
"We have been using a 4.30 rear end gear as the axle was ordered with this ratio in preparation to follow the IHRA rules which in 2007 mandated a 4.30 gear", says Graham. "And as the European Pro Mods follow all rules one year behind it was expected to be the rule for 2008. At some point it was decided not to use the IHRA rule and everyone stayed on 4.56. I was stuck with the 4.30 as with the MW 11" I had the gear set cost very near $2000 and having just built the car I had no money to change it. The rule was made by the IHRA as a way to slow down the blower cars as at that point the nitrous cars were suffering badly. The smart Americans figured a way round it and still run fast, but the cars are more prone to shake.
©Eurodragster.com
"We have proven that we have big power as we are only the second ever and the only current UK Pro Mod to run 230 mph, and looking at the EGTs and plugs it was really safe and there was more in the kitty. We blew the tyres off in an attempt to stop the first gear shake which ruined our Main Event weekend. But we are confident that with the 4.56 gears which are being fitted as I write we can eventually be a serious threat to anyone in Europe.
"We will be going to Finland and Sweden and we are looking at the Summernationals as a stepping stone to big numbers. So far the motor has been bulletproof and has held together through some late shifts which have seen better than 10,200 rpm. Nothing has broken or melted so far, so we are happy although I bet that saying that will come back to haunt me. Thanks to everyone at ARRC and all my really great crew who really do me proud."
Swift snippets.
7th June: Brief live reports and results from this weekend's FHRA Kamasa Tools Nats are available on the Finnish Hot Rod Association web site at www.fhra.fi.
Thanks to Lars Andersson for passing on Palle Lind's update about the possession of nitromethane in Denmark: On 2nd June the Danish Motor Union (DMU) received a letter from the Minister of Justice with some small changes from the first hearing about nitromethane possession in Denmark. The hearing has passed, and will be law from 1st of September 2009. It doesn't look too good, but the good thing is that it will be possible to get a permit from the Chief Constable of the Police to import, acquire, possess and use nitromethane above 40% in Denmark.
Many thanks to Championship Points Co-ordinator Kjell Pettersson for sending us the post-FIA Main Event points standings in the FIA European Drag Racing Championships. You can check out the FIA points on our Speedflow-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words "Almost
ready for Andy Marrs, have you got your leathers ready?". If you were tuned in to Eurodragster.com News
in April then you will know what this is about. If you would lke to send your own spy picture then drop
us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.
©Eurodragster.com
UK Supertwin Gas racer Les Harris will be looking for new Personal Bests at next week's SPRC Summernationals after breaking into the twelves...twelve stone. "I was nearly fourteen stone after Christmas!", says Beardy. "Today I am twelve stone thirteen and I feel much better for it. It's got to help, and it doesn't cost anything."
If you fancy testing for the SPRC Summernationals then Santa Pod Raceway are hosting a Peak Performance Day this Friday (12th), the day before the race. Peak Performance Days feature limited entry to optimise track time, a track prepped to event standard, and full track and safety crew cover. For more details and to book your place check out www.rwyb.com.
Joint Eurodragster.com webcam sponsor Webster Race Engineering are hosting their next WRE Test Day at Santa Pod Raceway on Friday 19th June. "The Test Days are specifically aimed quality testing and verification of results", says Ian Marshall. "If you have specific requirements, then let us know and we can accommodate you. For example a launch, back up, adjustments and repeat launch - these days are put on specifically for these reasons. Advice and set-up equipment will be on hand and personal attention can be pre-arranged. The last Test Day was well-attended, but remember that entry is limited and spaces are at a premium. For full information and for the dates of the other WRE Test Days please visit our web site at www.webster-race-engineering.co.uk."
A slightly belated Happy 21st Birthday for Wednesday 3rd to John Saunders, son and heir to Steve Saunders of the UK's Hi-Speed-Gas Super Pro ET team, from Steve, Babs and rest of the team. "The first photo shows Johnny ten years ago when the Zephyr was first built", says Steve "Dave Macallam did the original paint job and is now just finishing an up to date paint scheme. The second photo shows that Johnny has grown and the Zephyr has shrunk! Can I also forward a big thank you to Kate Robinson of Andy Robinson Race Cars and Bob Stroud of Stroud Safety Products. We ordered a new firesuit and really appreciate the excellent service and extremely quick turnround for our tight deadline of the Summernationals."
The commentary team at next weekend's SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway will be Darryl Bradford and Eurodragster.com News Editor Tog. If any racer competing next weekend would like to send comentators' notes then they would be much appreciated: please drop your notes to tog@eurodragster.com.
Class filling up at PMR.
6th June: Eurodragster.com News sponsor Paul Marston Racing's Drag Race Driving School is pleased to report that, despite the economic downturn, the School now only has a couple of vacant dates left for the 2009 season. "The bookings started off a little slow this year but have picked up very well as the season has got underway", says Paul Marston. " This is great news for our sport of drag racing and very encouraging. Everyone at Paul Marston Racing is looking forward to helping our new crop of drivers learn the craft and hopefully see them progress and become competitors themselves in the future, either with the School or with their own mounts. The 2009 season has seen on average a good half a dozen Drag Race Driving School graduates competing. From our perspective this is very gratifying, particularly as you can count one National Championship, three track Championships and now nearly a dozen National event winners amongst them. Pretty impressive stats, something which makes everyone at Paul Marston Racing very proud of their achievements.
"Paul Marston Racing attended the FIA Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway. This prompted the very welcome return of Dave Gibbons the ex-Alien shoe and famed Rough Diamond altered pilot to assist in crewing. Entry-wise PMR fielded the mighty Grumpy's Dodge in Pro ET in the very capable hands of Drag Race School instructor 'Mad Mick' Howling. After an incredibly satisfying outing at the Springspeed Nationals, Mick was looking to continue where he left off and did, qualifying top six and progressing three rounds to the quarter finals. A solid and productive event, and on top of that Mick also missed a number of qualifying sessions to help out fixing the motor on the PiranaZ Dragster (more on that further down). That, my friends, is a real team player, thanks mate.
"Paul Marston once again returned in the PiranaZ backed Super Comp dragster, having reached the final at Shakespeare County Raceway. Paul is beginning to feel at home in a race car with no doors and no windscreen, a bit of an alien environment, but thanks to our Florida-based branch of PMR aka ex-pat Tony Morris, not entirely unfamiliar territory. Paul was also looking forward to a successful outing. Unfortunalely events conspired against that, with the motor being broken quite badly on Paul's first qualifying pass on Friday's Sportsman qualifying day. Once again Paul would like to personally thank all of the PMR crew for once again going above and beyond to get the PiranaZ backed 2008 Championship-winning dragster back in one piece for Saturday's second qualifying session. By this time the damage was done as Paul never quite got a handle on the weather and went out round one to Pete Creswell. When asked Paul said "I only got two more qualifiers, the first was used to confirm the motor was fixed so the tune was left exactly the same as when we broke it. On the remaining run we were still too slow as the weather was real hot and we just had no data on those kind of temperatures. Consequently first round was a guess really and I got it wrong, simple as that, I just could not catch Pete Creswell - again! A huge thank you to Mick Howling for all the behind the scenes prior to the Main Event and during, plus all the hard work put in by everyone else in PMR, the hardest-working crew in Sportsman Drag Racing".
"Everyone at PMR always looks forward to meeting and greeting all our fans and visiting sponsors at the Main Event, and there certainly were plenty this year. Special mention in dispatches going out to all the hardworking guys and gal at Eurodragster.com for all the stellar work put in at this history-making event, you make such a difference (Thanks! - Ed).
"If you want to learn more about either the Paul Marston Racing Drag Race Driving School or the infamous Drag Race Passenger Rides, please stop by for more information at the forthcoming SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway, visit www.paulmarstonracing.com, E-Mail office@pmracing.fsnet.co.uk, or call Paul on 07831 650230.
"Lastly yes Paul and the PMR crew were honoured to have been invited back to Nitro FM for some morning set-the-scene slots and some wrap-up from a Sportsman racing perspective, plus an evening show over the weekend. Stay tuned to Nitro FM at the Summernationals and enjoy."
©Eurodragster.com
Web site updates.
6th June: The latest entry in FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion Andy Carter's Race Blog has been written by Carter Motorsport's Marketing and PR Manager and Eurodragster.com sponsor Dan Welberry. Dan tells us the inside story of the Lucas Oil-sponsored team's FIA Main Even including some special guests in the Carter Motorsport / Andersen Racing pit during the launch of the book Crazy Horses. As ever you can check out the latest Blog update by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
©Eurodragster.com
Our good buddy Jon Spoard has updated his UKDRN web site with pictures from the FIA Main Event, which you can check out at www.ukdrn.co.uk. Whilst there take the time to have a good look around Jon's site which features extensive nostalgia galleries, video clips, an excellent discussion forum and more.
Having provided us with a gallery from last weekend's Yank's Weekend/Gary's Picnic at Shakespeare County Raceway, Eurodragster.com Reserve Photographer Peter Donaldson has now updated his Fotopic site with the full set of pictures from the event. You can find Peter's shots at peterdonaldson5305.fotopic.net.
Kids: Win a Eurodragster.com shirt!
7th June: In association with our sponsor
Tireshake.com we are pleased to
present a contest for our younger readers.
Up for grabs is a small Eurodragster.com FIA Main Event 2009 polo shirt (right), the same as those worn by the Eurodragster.com staff at last week's FIA Main Event. Only ten of these shirts were made by Tireshake.com so the winner will be the proud owner of a collector's item!
©Eurodragster.com
The contest is open to kids up to and including the age of 12. For your chance to win the Eurodragster.com polo shirt, write to eurodragster.win@btinternet.com and tell us who is your favourite drag racer and why in 100 words or less. Please also give your name, your age, and a phone number where we can contact your mum or dad.
Entry is open to all Eurodragster.com readers aged twelve and below in whichever country you live. If you cannot write in English then don't worry, send it in your own language and we will get one of our buddies to translate it. Entry closes at 23:59 UK tonight (Sunday). Only one entry per E-Mail address please, and be sure to tell us why you like your favourite racer as just naming them with no reason will disqualify your entry. Good luck!
Don't forget that Tireshake.com produces a big range of drag racing T-Shirts, sweatshirts, hoods, caps and more so be sure to check out their web site.
You can get it on the web...
7th June: Mike Lacey tells us that a friend of his is giving away his life, which he says is worth nearly £2 million. "He's selling 200,000 tickets and so the odds are a damn site better than the lottery and most other gambles", says Mike. "He also bought my Mustang after doing the 2008 Cannonball with me, so he's a Mustang man to boot. Give it a go. You could be a millionaire in a few weeks' time". For more information check out www.winanewlife.com.
Two names which will be familiar to many of you through this great sport of ours are long-time racer Mike Kason and PR man Dan Welberry. The two first met a number of years ago through Andy Carter as part of a brainstorming meeting, as the proactive Carter Motorsport team looked to increase sponsorship.
Having not spoken to each other for some time, a news article on Eurodragster prompted Mike to get in touch with Dan to discuss a new web concept, which he had been developing for some time but which he needed someone to build. 3t creative specialise in both design for print and the web and Mike was keen to see if the company could bring his concept to life. The pair met soon after their initial phone conversation and within six weeks, the first part of the requirement was live: the Zubedo.com registration portal.
Zubedo is the next generation social networking portal. It was conceived and designed with its user base in mind and as such, it is unlike any other existing global social-media-networking site. Owned, developed and managed by its user base, Zubedo aims to radically alter the social media landscape, enfranchising its users.
"We now want to offer our friends the chance to benefit from this new site" said Dan Welberry of Eurodragster.com News sponsor 3t creative. "This site is predicted to be massive but in order for us to fulfill the potential, we need to increase the sites user base. This is where you come in! We're offering free shares to all those who subscribe to Zubedo, and if you get in quick there are thousands to be had. The Early Bird scheme means that you could currently receive up 60,000 shares, depending on how quickly you register, instead of the standard 3,000 under normal terms. This offer is limited and the number reduces for each person who registers.
"We need this site to go viral as swiftly as possible and it's in everyone's interest to help this process. Once registered, you can recommend friends and family and receive further shares for each person who signs up! You can monitor your share count by clicking the My Shares link, with 500 extra shares being issued for each person you recommend who then subscribes.
"You can find out more about Zubedo and what the site will be capable of upon the official main site launch, as well as full terms and conditions, by following the About Us link from the home page. The main site is now being built by 3t creative and is due to go live at the end of August. We hope that our many friends in the drag racing world will take advantage of this fantastic and very genuine offer. You can register for your free shares at www.zubedo.com/content/welcome.php?&linkno=S170."
©Eurodragster.com
Smiling all the way home.
5th June: For the first time in many events Norwegian Supertwin racer
Hans Olav Olstad and his team travelled back
from the FIA Main Event with big smiles on their faces:
We started to test the bike on 16th-17th May with the new heads and new front steering fairing. It was very windy on the first run and the wind forced the bike over to the right after the finish line, 7.09. The second test run was nice and straight and another 7.09. We discovered a stuck throttle cable and the ignition curve hadn't been activated at all. The throttle was only three quarters open. On the third test run, the new steering fairing was in place and all wires greased, everything worked perfectly, 6.83 with an early shut-off. We knew we were on to something promising.
For the first qualifying run at the Main Event, the track was slippery and we spun the wheel for the length of the track, 7.07, but we managed to run the best time and we were number one qualifier. On the second qualifying run, the bike didn't stay straight on the start line and move hard for the right wall, so there was nothing to do except get off the throttle, 7.98. Dropped to number two qualifier when Job Heezen ran a nice 6.92. On the third qualifiying, 6.80, the bike was in the mood but dropped a cylinder at 5.8 seconds and we ran a super-one for the last 100 metres, not a supertwin. Back to number one qualifier for a few minutes then Per Bengtsson ran a nice 6.68. We had a very nice fourth qualifying run and I expected a good time but still only 6.88. I blame the bad air quality for that time, the air altitude dropped from 1300 feet to 2020 feet.
Lots of the bikes had problems on the start-line on race day. Lorenz Stäuble got a solo run in the quarter final and semi final. Svein Olav
Rolfstad's bike stopped, Matti Vahasaari had to shut off because of a leaking steering dampener, Per Bengtsson lost a clutch spring and blew
the blower burst-panel, and Tommy Möller blew a head. I had the first challenge against Chris Cannon, a big man with even bigger heart, who
was on Rob Geffen's old bike. We ran a winning 6.78 and I was ready to challenge Job Heezen in the semi-final. The bike dropped a cylinder again
forty metres before finish line. Then the data logger gave us a nightmare reading no oil pressure. The cam cover was removed and we discovered a
bushing out of line, and the oil went in a wrong direction. We worked it out just in time to reach the semi-final.
Small adjustments and the bike was ready again. Job Heezen had a reaction time of 0.04 to my 0.19 but at 100 metres I almost caught him up, then the primary belt broke and I had to watch Job crossing the finish line in front of me far away. Bad luck, but nothing happened to the engine, and we know our bike Lightning works better than ever.
Our next event is this weekend's Norwegian Championship. Watch out folks, we will be there to test out new settings for the next UEM event in Finland.
Seven point zero two...
5th June: So close to that elusive six second barrier, so close in fact that a sneeze could have made the difference, writes driver Vince Gibbs of the UK's Team Nosferatu Super Pro ET team:
Team Nosferatu arrived bright and early on Friday morning and added the final replacement parts to the motor, following our blower belt breakage at the Easter Thunderball. Then our special tow car arrived in the pits in the shape of a 7.7 ltr 1972 Cadillac Deville Hearse owned by our very good buddy Leigh. This custom machine was commissioned as a mobile promotional vehicle for a Rob Zombie film some time ago. It seemed to go down well as more pictures were taken of this machine than our race car!
The first qualifier went to plan with a nice rolling burnout followed by a 7.17/188. Back in the pits we checked out the motor, had a look at the data from the logger and everything was fine. Friday was a busy day as there were seven qualifiers. We opted to do five and finished up at number eight from a thirty car field. Saturday we did two runs and didn't manage to improve. Sunday came and we decided to add a bit more boost and went from 12% overdrive to 18%. We made a calculated guess at the dial in, put 7.08 on the rear window and broke out with a 7.06, this was with a slight lift as Nosferatu shook its tail at about 300 feet. For our final qualifier of the event we dialled a 7.04 to compensate for the lift and ran a new Personal Best of 7.02, another breakout but we were happy.
Monday eliminations saw us drawn against Nick Good, as we were running almost identical times this was going to be practically a heads-up race. We dialled 7.01 and Nick dialled 7.09 and after a good tyre warming we were ready for a close race. The lights came down and on came the cherry. 0.02 seconds too soon and we handed the win to Nick. Although we bowed out in the first round we were over the moon with the weekend. Fantastic weather (not so good for the vampires in the team), new Personal Best, quickest pass in Super Pro ET, great reception from the crowd and a damage-free event. Nice.
©Eurodragster.com
Please visit our website at www.nosferatu-racing.co.uk for pictures, in-car video, blogs, latest news, links to our sponsors and friends plus much more.
Thanks to our friends at The Dark Cult for our fantastic Nosferatu shirts and to Leigh at Gothic Limousines for our creepy tow car. A massive thank you to our sponsors Torco Advanced Lubricants, Wipac, Hauser Race Cars and The Gothic Shop . We are greatly thankful of their support and confidence in us.
Here's to finding that six at the SPRC Summernationals.
A recovery from 15,000 RPM.
5th June: Peter and Sören Svensson's Top Fuel Bike was awaiting them when they
arrived at Santa Pod Raceway for the FIA Main Event courtesy of the Team Kendall Racing Pro Mod coach. The team
probably didn't realise just how busy they would be during the event:
Early on Friday we started the day with preparations for the upcoming first qualifying round on Saturday, and after we heard that Pro Mod racer Patrick Wikström had run 6.12 on a test run we decided to step up our combination from our last run at the European Finals 2008.
The decision to step up our combination for round one turned out to be a mistake since the bike lost traction about one hundred feet in to the run resulting in a second burnout and four bent exhaust valves. For the second qualifying round we put in a real mild set-up and since it was a test run Peter decided to release the throttle about 1000 feet in to the run resulting in a 6.22/202 which was good for no1 qualifying spot. Encouraged by the previous run we decided to add some more power to the bike for the third qualifying round and just after the green light came on the bike started to shake real bad. Peter quickly shifted to second gear, still with bad shake, and then the drive chain suddenly broke resulting in more than 15,000 rpm and a lot of broken parts.
After getting the bike back to the pits we analysed the damage and after taking the engine apart we started to rebuild the engine, supercharger, chassis, catch tank, rear wheel axle, wheelie bars and all of the other small parts that had been damaged during the run, with a lot of help from other race teams. At around two o'clock in the morning we were finally finished for the first elimination round on Monday against Christian Jäger from Germany.
We started the bike early Monday morning just to see if everything was OK with the bike, and we were ready for the elimination still as number one qualifier. Eliminations started in a very good way for us with a smooth test run against Christian resulting in a win light in our lane on a 6.34/197 after Peter released the throttle at about 1100 feet. On our side of the ladder Rene van den Berg from Holland took out Steve Carey from England which meant that we should race Rene in the next run. Getting back to the pits after the first elimination run we discovered that we had a leak down on cylinder number four and we had to lift the cylinder head once again to fix the problem. Unfortunately there was not enough time in between runs to fix the problem, even though we worked very hard, but the whole team kept on working like maniacs to get ready. After an oil down, we gained an additional thirty minutes and we were ready and started to run to the starting area with the bike just in time to see Rene pre staged when we arrived. Rene soloed for the win which meant that we were out of the race.
In the final we watched Rene suffering problems just after the burnout and Ian King had a solo run towards the win. Congratulations on the win Ian, well done!
A big Thank You to all the other teams who helped us to fix our bike after the 15,000 rpm breekdown: the Team Kendall Racing Pro Mod Team for helping us with tools and a new rear wheel axle; the Carter Motorsport/Andersen Racing Top Fuel Dragster team for letting us use their lathe to finish the rear wheel axle; Andy Robinson for welding our catch tank, wheelie bars and chain guard; Mikael Kågered, for lending us a bearing for our rear axle; Ian Turburville for supplying us with a new drive chain.
©Eurodragster.com
Special thanks to our sponsors who makes all this possible:
Kendall Motor Oil in Sweden, supplied by Sollebrunns Oljeservice
Samek Tool AB, who make some of the best moulding tools in the automotive industry in Sweden
CemeCon A/S, one of the best coating companies in Europe when it comes to camshaft coating etc.
Endorf, manufacturer of the new top of the line Swedish acupressure mat
Spikmattan.nu, retailer of Swedish acupressure mats
Uddeholm, manufacturer of the best aluminium you can get
We would also like to say big Thank You to our team-mates at Team Kendall Racing, 2008 FIA Pro Modified Champions Mikael and Magnus Lindahl, for helping us with the transportation of our Top Fuel Bike and all of our equipment in their coach to/from Santa Pod for the weekend.
A win in Erbacher's absence.
5th June: Eurodragster.com News sponsor Urs
Erbacher's Top Fuel Dragster was in the winners' circle again last weekend as Scott Weis rented the car to
keep his licence current and took the IHRA event win in Crandall, Texas with Wayne Dupuy calling the tuning shots.
Wayne tells us that Scott took the event title with a European tune-up:
With the regular Erbacher team at home in Switzerland I put together a crew with Brian Weis and longtime sponsor Johnny Bang Bang and Bump Shop, engine man Steve Prince and four first-timers. Together we formed a winning Erbacher Racing team.
On Friday we accomplished Scott's licence reneweal with a 4.81/295 which placed him second on the sheet. We skipped the first qualifying session on Saturday to save money and the temperature was hotter than hot. On the second qualifying run we smoked the tyres at half track and ran 5.02/257. So into to first round, it was 95 degrees and the track temperature was 140. We still ran a tyre smoking 5.23 throwing the blower belt off. So how was I going to get this car down a hot greasy track?
So I put in a set-up I had from Hockenheim last year and the car ran 4.89/295 in the second round with Scott doing a driving job against Del Cox in the car which won last year's IHRA Championship. In the final we ran low ET of the day, 4.83/298, to win the race against the event sponsor's car.
©Eurodragster.com
This was Scott's first nitro win of his career and with a made up crew. One of the first timers had trouble with heat exaustion and rode to the final by ambulance as he told them he couldn't miss this one. They fixed him after the win and he's OK. Another crew guy had a tool break and injure his hand but he is OK. After the win they admitted they didn't realise how tough it was to win with a great car on a great day. We made it through the weekend with no damage other than a thrown blower belt in the first round. Urs Erbacher will get his first US victory real soon, when time and sponsors permit.
It was a lot of fun doing this. I really need to thank each and everyone who made this happen: Urs Erbacher, Oivind Dahl, Johnny Bang, Sammy Mahan, Bob Mungle, The Sammy and Bob Show, Mike's Marathon, Fat Attack Custom Bikes, Midland Oil, SCS, Gonrand, and my dad and my wife for letting me do it. Urs and I took a gamble and have a great programme to offer anyone. If anyone wants to live their dream and drive a Top Fueller give eather one of us a call. Scott Weis did.
There is a plan to take the #2 car to Mantorp Park and Hockenheim, and maybe more, in 2009. If anyone wants to sponsor a winning team then Erbacher Racing is the one in Europe or the USA. Contact either Urs or myself.
Swift snippets.
5th June: Finnish Top Fuel Dragster racer Anita Mäkelä will be testing her Top Fueller at this weekend's FHRA Kamasa Tools Nats at Alastaro. You can find out more in Anita's Blog on her web site at www.anitamakela.com and Anita will endeavour to post updates from the track.
Many thanks to Yvonne Tramm and our very own Simon for producing the post-FIA Main Event standings in the UK National Drag Racing Championships. You can check out the UK National points on our Speedflow-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Crew Chief Andrew Wright tells us that UK Pro Mod racer Bert Englefield is OK but for a bruised wallet after his crash at the FIA Main Event. "The car is already coming along", says Andrew. "The body is repaired and the chassis only suffered minor damage to some cosmetic tubes. It appears that the rear track locator broke causing the car to turn hard right after launch, which was a real bummer because the trace shows that is was going to be the run we have been searching for. We will be back for the Summernationals and hopefully we will get the old battleaxe down the track."
Crazy Horses author Brian Taylor tells us that Drag Fests legend Bob Keith found his trip to the FIA Main Event a fantastic experience. "Keith Bartlett really knows how to put on a show", said Bob. "We could learn a few things from him. I met up with a lot of guys who were around when I was there in 1964 and 1965 and it was great fun telling stories of the good old days. I am really glad I went and shall always remember the warm welcome I received. Memories like that money can't buy. Please give my thanks to all of the guys I met."
©Eurodragster.com
Santa Pod Racers Club will be having a sale of their entire merchandise range at next week's SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway. Yvonne Tramm tells us that on offer are T-Shirts in sizes M/L/XL/XXL, mugs and hats at £1 each, also a limited number of children's T-Shirts in sizes 5-6/7-8/9-11/12-13, sew-on badges, epoxy badges, keyrings and inside/outside stickers at 50p each. All proceeds from the sale will be presented to the medical team at Santa Pod to purchase equipment for the Medical Centre. If you would like to reserve any items please E-Mail Yvonne at ytramm@africonnect.com by close next Thursday (11th).
Craftaholic Yvonne Tramm also tells us that she will be selling handmade cards with stitched pink ribbons to raise funds for Race for Life at the SPRC Summernationals meeting. If you would like to support this worthy cause and buy cards then you can find Yvonne in the signing on office throughout the event. There will be a limited number of cards available so if you would like to reserve any then please E-Mail Yvonne at ytramm@africonnect.com by close next Thursday (11th).
Ex-pat UK Top Alcohol Dragster racer Michael Manners of Eurodragster.com News sponsor Cosmo Residences is contesting Top Alcohol Dragster in the prestigious Jegs Allstars which is included in this weekend's United Association Route 66 NHRA Nationals in Chicago. You will be able to stay in touch with Mike's progress on the Drag Race Central web site at www.dragracecentral.com.
Yanks Weekend reviews.
5th June: This year's final of the NASC/Gary's Picnic Shootout at Shakespeare County Raceway's
Yanks Weekend was an absolute corker from beginning to end featuring Surrey Muscle's Roger Luty in his trusty 442
Olds against the 400-cubed Pontiac-powered GM Viva Estate belonging to Shakespeare County Racer Paul Evans.
Throughout the day Paul's wheelstanding Viva Estate ran a bunch of consistent high nine second times which could have been considered beneficial to any bracket racer's repertoire. Meanwhile Roger Luty was in pretty much the same mood as his big yellow Olds began walking a bigger tight rope being a couple of tenths behind in the ten zeros.
With a partisan crowd on hand in both the staging lanes and the grandstands there was a huge cheer when the winner's light was displayed in Paul's lane. From start line to finish line it was Paul's race all the way with the margin of victory too close for the commentators to call so it was up to the scoreboards to tell all: 10.001 to 10.059. That's five thousandths of a second between victory and defeat. The Shakespeare County Racers had triumphed yet again over the guys from Surrey Muscle.
After both cars paraded down the strip and both drivers acknowledged the congratulations from the crowd on their efforts, the trophies and cheques were handed out by event sponsor Gary Healey and by Mark Ashman who organised the whole weekend on behalf of the NASC.
©Eurodragster.com
With eight cars rolling through SCR's gates on a lovely sunny weekend it promised to be a good event for round two of the Supercharged Outlaws series, writes Dave McKenzie:
With all the teams from round one plus Richard Davis returning from Super Gas action and new members Clayton Round with the Rebel T altered and Tony Froome with his hemi-powered funny car the Sundancer the Outlaws were primed for action. Two teams were missing from the line up, one being event sponsor Bill Felstead and Jon Best's new nitro altered - they just ran out of time to complete everything needed - and also missing due to reasons beyond his control was Andy Hadfield whose Model T was due to make its début with the Outlaws. We look forward to seeing both of these teams at a later event.
The first round saw seven cars round to the staging lanes. The missing car was Tony Froome's as he had found some valvetrain problems which would side line him for the weekend. The fastest car down the quarter in the first session was Sam Freeman in Vic Hammond's Speed Demon front-engined dragster, 7.89/168, second was Lee Gallimore in the Red Mist altered 8.0/133, third Roy Wilding 8.57/161, fourth Clayton Round in the Rebel T altered 9.0/109, fifth Steve Goode in Wobble 9.9/86, sixth Paul Watts in the No Easy Pick Up 10.0/134, and seventh Richard Davis' 1941 Willys 10.15/133. Paul Watts blew a head gasket, which kept him out of the next round on Saturday afternoon. Paul and his team worked till midnight fitting new head gaskets on the No Easy Pick Up to be out on Sunday morning, well done guys.
Round 2, under a clear blue sky in very hot conditions, saw six cars out to entertain the crowd and the fastest car with an early chutes out was Lee Gallimore with 7.6 at a slowing 143 mph Second quickest was the consistent Sam Freeman with an improving 7.94/154, third Roy Wilding 8.411/163, fourth Steve Goode 9.5/109, fifth Richard Davis 10.32/132. Clayton broke on the line. For round three at noon on Sunday the hot sunny weather was again with us and seven cars came round to do battle. Again it was Lee Gallimore leading the way 7.88/151, second Sam Freeman 8.031/157, third Clayton Round 8.135/163, fourth Roy Wilding 8.53/156, fifth Steve Goode 9.2/102, sixth Paul Watts 9.582/136 (a PB for Paul), and seventh Richard Davis 10.3/131.
The final round of the weekend at 3.30 Sunday afternoon saw six cars come round and the quickest was Sam Freeman 7.858/167, second Steve Goode with an improving 8.42/116, third Roy Wilding 8.52/160, fourth Lee Gallimore 8.99/97, fifth Richard Davis 10.39/130. Clayton Round broke on the line and Paul Watts was a no show with another blown head gasket.
When the dial in figures were totalled up and the average worked out Steve Goode took home the Bill Felstead winner trophy with Sam Freeman coming a very close second. Third place went to Roy Wilding. Our thanks go to Shakepeare County Raceway and all the track crew and marshals for giving us an excellent track to run on all weekend. The points table after two rounds of the Supercharged Outlaws series shows Sam Freeman and Vic Hammond sharing top spot with Roy Wilding, both teams on 67 points.
The show now moves to Santa Pod for the UK Truck Show on 27th/28th June. This event proved our best event in 2008 and again we have a healthy entry list with a new team coming in for the first time in Trace Froome with a Dodge Avenger Methanol Funny Car, Alec Coe returning with the Shy Talker slingshot, also Dave McKenzie and Mark Windridge returning with the Plymouth-bodied small block Chevy altered. The Outlaws are expecting around tweve teams for this event; keep up to date on the Supercharged Outlaws web site at www.supercharged-outlaws.co.uk.
Web site updates.
5th June: UK Top Methanol Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Derek Flynn this week hands over his Blog to team-mate Henriette Selles whose daughter Lisa Selles was runner-up in Junior Dragster at the FIA Main Event. As ever you can check out the latest Blog update by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
©Eurodragster.com
Neil Marks has updated his photo gallery with pictures from the FIA Main Event. "I like to do something a little different and so I have treated the images to a combined black and white/colour effect", says Neil. "This is designed to really emphasise the cars and bikes and make them stand out from the background. If any Eurodragster.com readers are interested, they are available as numbered gallery-style prints on high-quality paper, limited to twenty five copies each. You can find Neil's Main Event pictures at www.neilmarksphotography.com/gallery_241204.html.
Our good buddy Anders Envall recommends a film made by Jonas "Impalakungen" Alholt during qualifying at the recent MMR Nationals in Malmö. "Jonas has made another epic story from details he found interesting", says Bostic. "This time we see a lot of ultra-rapid close ups on injectors. Very interesting! And very well-presented. Jonas is as good film maker as he is a welder! He has made many top notch films which can be found on his Impalakungen list on YouTube". Check it out at www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDNSRxoajSA.
Also updating from the MMR Nationals at Meca Raceway is our good buddy Markus Ek whose photographs you can find at www.mek.nu.
What's on this weekend.
3rd June: In France the Association Trophée Dragster has a Championship event titled the H-D Family Dragrace at the Aerodrome Aubenas, Lanas on Saturday and Sunday. Admission for spectators is €15 per day or €20 for the weekend with free entry for children agred twelve or younger. More details at promotop.org/francedrag.
At Gardermoen in Norway the Summer Nats are taking place, organised by the NDRG. This race is part of the Toyo Scandinavian Dragracing Series High Five Points Championship (in which teams score at a maximum of five races). The wide range of sportsman classes will be supplemented by Super Twin Top Fuel bikes of Svein Olav Rolfstad, Matti Vahasaari, Ronny Aasen, Hans Olav Olstad, Vidar Ravmnsborg and Trond Jostein Høiberget.
Another round of the TSDS High Five Points Championship is being held at Pite Dragway, Sweden, the Spring Championship organised by SHRA Luleå. The event is being organised for the fifth year in conjunction with Bilsport magazine including a special Day on the Strip event. Full rules are available at www.shralulea.se where you can also find results after the race.
Also on Saturday and Sunday, at Alastaro in Finland there is the FHRA Kamasa Tools Nats including Super Gas, Super Comp, Stock/Super Stock, Comp, Super Comp Bike Super Gas Bike racing for the Nordic Drag Racing Series. The event, supported by V8 Magazine, is the run-up to the FIA Nitro Nationals at the start of July and some seven Pro Mod and Top Methanol teams are expected to be testing at the event. Also returning to the track after a long layoff is Pro Stock Bike racer Vesa Rautio. The racing schedule is 10:00 am to 6:00 pm on Saturday and 11:00 am to 5:00 pm on Sunday. Weekend tickets are €20 or €15 for day entry on either day. Children under twelve years are admitted free with their parents. More details and results at www.fhra.fi.
©Eurodragster.com
On the other side of the Pond, ex-pat UK Top Alcohol Dragster racer Michael Manners of Eurodragster.com News sponsor Cosmo Residences is contesting Top Alcohol Dragster in the prestigious Jegs Allstars which is included in this weekend's United Association Route 66 NHRA Nationals in Chicago. You will be able to stay in touch with Mike's progress on the Drag Race Central web site at www.dragracecentral.com.
At Santa Pod Raceway the Performance Vauxhall Show takes place on Saturday and Sunday. Gates will be open for campers from 5:00 pm on Friday, with both Saturday and Sunday featuring all-day Vauxhall-only Run What You Brung action. Saturday tickets are £15 in advance (£18 on the gate), Sunday tickets are£15 in advance (£18 on the gate), and weekend tickets (including Friday and Saturday camping) are £33 in advance (£40 on the gate). Under-14s go free with an accompanying adult.
Race organisers: We plan to run What's on this weekend every week throughout the season. Simon is co-ordinating this feature so if you would like your event to be included then please send details to him at simon@eurodragster.com.
Swift snippets.
3rd June: The results of the 2009 Malmö Motor Renovering Nationals, held at Meca Raceway last weekend, are available at www.srif.se. Niclas Andersson qualifyied #1 in a tough twenty three car field of Top Doorslammers with a 4.079/281.93 kph at the eighth mile track. In eliminations Niclas was dominant, defeating Rimbert Vahlström, Patrik Jonsson, Adam Flamholc and, in the final, Jan Gunnarson with ETs of 4.159, 4.086, 4.113 and 4.060. The event comprises the first round of the Toyo Scandinavian Dragracing Series which runs through to 4th-6th September. Photos can be found at www.cruzing.just.nu, www.racebilder.nu, www.fredriksfoto.net and www.jekstrom.se/bildindex.htm.
Congratulations to the guys of TDR Scooters who set a new world record for scooters at Santa Pod Raceway on Saturday. The team broke the previous world bests of 11.976 seconds and 105.73 mph with passes of 11.903 seconds and 108.27 mph with their single-cylinder fully-automatic 178 cc twist and go scooter named Red Dwarf. "We know we can do better because we had massive wheelspin", says David Hoy.
©Eurodragster.com
Eurodragster.com News sponsor Tireshake.com is offering a special deal of a hood and a T-Shirt for €29. Four combinations are available via June sale at www.tireshake.com.
Dutch Top Fuel Dragster racer and joint Eurodragster.com webcam sponsor Lex Joon has asked us to say a big Happy Birthday to his son Ruben Joon. No sooner said than done Lex, have a great day Ruben. We would also like to say a big Happy Birthday to our good friend Kjell Pettersson. Have a good day Kjell, have lots of fun, and we won't expect the points until tomorrow.
Nick Pettitt tells us that two more of his excellent Time Travel DVDs are now available. "Time Travel 71 is made up from Phil Herrick and Jim Whiting's cine film, mainly from the late 1970s, including shots of their own cars Muscle Sprout and Silent Knight plus all the other cars running at the time", says Nick. "There is even a shot of Dave Lee Travis blasting out the hole on his motorized bar stool! Time Travel 72 is made up from video footage taken at Santa Pod in 1981 and 1982 and includes Bootsie blowing the blower off Asphalt Alleygator in a burnout (no restraints back then), Dennis Priddle running the first five since Peter Crane did it in 1976, huge fields of UK and Scandinavian Pro Comps plus most other classes including a pair of Jag powered Mini vans racing as Stripteaser takes on Seconds Out. Both DVDs described on my site www.timetraveldvds.co.uk along with an ever-expanding photo gallery from 1958-1989, currently up to 8895 images."
Web site updates.
3rd June: Today's web updates start with galleries from the Yanks Weekend / Gary's Picnic at Shakespeare County Raceway. First up is Jeni Long whose Fotopic gallery you can find at www.jenilong.fotopic.net.
Our good buddy Alan Currans was at SCR on Saturday and has posted a gallery on his excellent Acceleration Archive. You can check out Alan's pictures via the What's New link at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk.
Tubby Evans has updated the Shakespeare County Racers site with a large number of pictures from the weekend at SCR. You can find Tubby's pictures at www.shakespearecountyracers.com.
First up with an FIA Main Event gallery today is Nigel Holland, whose shots you can find at www.nigelholland.co.uk.
Colin Donisthorpe has updated his Fotopic gallery with FIA Main Event pictures which you can check out at colindonisthorpe.fotopic.net.
Finally for today, photo-journalist Dick Parnham has also posted an FIA Main Event Fotopic gallery at dickparnham.fotopic.net.
Editor's note: Another very rapid update today - the pieces have been picked up from the office power failure but your News Editor has a pretty serious dental appointment to get to this afternoon. Tune back to the next news update for event reviews from Hans Olav Olstad, the UK's Nosferatu Super Pro ET team, Wayne Dupuy's inside view on Scott Weis' IHRA event victory, Yanks Weekend reviews, hopefully a big announcement, and more, and please keep those news items coming to news@eurodragster.com.
Event entry update.
2nd June: The official invitations and entry forms for the Veidec Festival, which takes place at Mantorp Park on 23rd-26th July, have now been joined by the forms for ordering power and extra tickets, and media accreditation. The forms are in Adobe PDF format:
FIA classes invitation and entry form
FIM/UEM classes invitation and entry form
NDRS classes invitation and entry form
Power and extra tickets order form
Media accreditation form
The invitations and entry forms are also available at www.dragracing.se and www.motorevents.com.
Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall for forwarding us Version 4 of the official entry list for the SPRC Summernationals, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 13th-14th June. You can check out the entry list by clicking here. Entry is still jus about open but is now subject to a late entry fee; you can download the entry form from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you fancy a day's testing for the SPRC Summernationals then Santa Pod Raceway are hosting a Peak Performance Day the day before the race, Friday 12th June; for more details check out www.rwyb.com.
©Eurodragster.com
Super Modified and National Association of Supertwins racers please note that this Friday, 5th June, is the deadline for entry to the UK Truck Show, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on Saturday-Sunday 27th-28th June and which is a Championship round for Super Modified, Supertwin Fuel, Supertwin Gas and Supertwin ET. You can check out Version 1 of the official entry list by clicking here. Again you can download the entry form from the SPRC web site as above.
This Friday is also the official closing date for the HKS Series round at the Jap Show which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on Sunday 21st June. You can check out Version 1 of the official entry list by clicking here and again you can download the entry form from the SPRC web site as above.
Euro Serie Top Gas Round 1.
1st June: The first round of the 2009
Euro Serie Super Twin Top Gas Championship took place
over the eighth mile at Malmö's Meca Raceway on 15th-17th May, writes Herman Jolink:
There was a surprising second place for Herman on his Ducati 999 RS (1214). Herman qualified with 5.516/212 kmh in ninth place in an eight-bike field. The Netherlands' Harry van Schie on a 1966 Blower V-Twin overbraked on Saturday morning after the third qualifying run with 5.064/212 kmh; his front wheel locked and he fell off his bike and was very lucky that Ronald v d Werken in the other lane didn't hit him. Harry was okay but his bike has a lot damage, the team think they will have it ready again before Drachten on 19th-21st June. Because Harry was out, first reserve Herman got his place in the ladder.
Qualifying started on Friday evening and continued on Saturday morning, but then it started to rain until late into the night. The fourth qualifying session took place at 10:00 on Sunday morning with nice sunny weather.
Qualifying: 1. Ulf Ögge (Sweden) on 2622 V-Twin 4.602/242. On the first qualifying run his foot came off the footpeg, 7.032/105, traction problems on the second run, 5.230/242 and then in the fourth run a 4.602/242. 2. Jesper Jensen (Denmark) on 2622 V-Twin 4.718-236. First run 4.764 and the second run the 4.718. 3. Andre Stefan (Sweden) V-Twin 5.004/209. First run on Friday 5.186 gearbox broke, Stefan repaired it and it broke again in the run on Sunday morning. 4. Anna Lena Asplund (Sweden) V-Twin 5.020-215. Anna Lena also broke her gearbox on Sunday morning. 5. Harry van Schie (Netherlands) 5.064/212. Friday he crossed the centre line and Saturday morning he fell off his bike so he was out. 6. Bernd Niessen (Germany) on 2200 homemade V-Twin 5.118/210. The 5.118 was a personal best. 7. Ronald v d Werken (The Netherlands) 2622 V-Twin 5.314/204. Ronald had some problems with his starter motor. 8. Frank Heitmann (Germany) 2622 V-Twin 5.327/203 also had electrical problems. 9. Herman Jolink (The Netherlands) Ducati 999 RS (1214) 5.516/212. 10. Matz Larsson (Denmark) on V-Twin 8.089. Gearbox broke on Saturday but they repaired it. 11. Lars Malmberg (Sweden) V-Twin with two blowers 8.095. Four bolts broke on the front cylinder.
Eliminations: Heitmann 5.402/200 beat Ögge 6.944/107 crossed the centre line; Jolink 5.313/213 bye run, Larsson engine out after the start. Jolink ran a Personal Best time with the 5.313 (previously 5.365); Anna Lena Asplund broke her gearbox so she was also out; Jensen Thiel 5.068/213 beat v d Werken 5.336/206; Niessen 5.142-211 bye run because Andre's gearbox was broken. Semi-finals: Jolink 5.737/205 beat Heitmann 5.690/193, Jolink's reaction was 0.110 and Heitmann 0.176. Final: Jesper Jensen Thiel beat Herman Jolink 5.665/205. Jolink's reaction 0.284 and Thiel 0.410. Jolink had traction problems, the 4.687 sec by Jesper Jensen Thiel is the new Euro Serie Super Twin Top Gas record backed up by the 4.718. The previous record was Brian Gleasner's 4.797.
Championship points:
- Jesper Jensen Thiel DK 795
- Herman Jolink NL 500
- Bernd Niessen D 430
- Frank Heitmann D 410
- Ronald v d Werken NL 320
- Harry v Schie NL 140
13th-14th June Hoskovice CZ
19th-21st June Drachten NL
3rd-5th July Luckau D
10th-12th July Drachten NL
14th-16th August Hockenheim D
21st-23rd August Drachten NL
Swift snippets.
1st June: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com
came with no words at all. 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.
©Eurodragster.com
Swiss Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Urs Erbacher has redoubled his efforts to find a sponsor to bring his second Top Fueller back to Europe. "The race in England was hard for me", says Urs. "Lo won Supertwin but I stayed at home because I have no car here in Europe and we are short on money. It was hard for me and I was in shock when I saw Andy Carter in his king costume. Now I'm working very hard to bring the old car to Europe for the rest of the races here, the new car is almost fixed and I will leave that in the USA". If you have any ideas about sponsorship for Urs then give him a call on +41 61 743 0400.
Dutch Pro Modified racer Robert Joosten says that he is fine after his crash at Santa Pod Raceway last Monday and is only suffering wounded pride. "The car is damaged, but at first look it seems that the main tubing is not hurt", says Robert. "The body is mostly a write-off. It's a shame because we already had a new nose and doors, and later this year the plan was to make a mould for the rear part. Now we have to see how and when we can fix the car". Robert has promised to keep us posted.
Fat Attack FIA Main Event report.
1st June: Die Rennpause ist vorbei und der Kampf um den Meistertitel in der UEM / FIM Super Twin Klasse ist schon wieder in vollem Gang. 12 Teams sind am letzten Wochenende nach England aufgebrochen um die ersten wertvollen Punkte nach Hause zu fahren und um zuoberst auf dem Treppchen zu stehen. Da die Winterpause vielfach für diverse Umbauten der Rennmaschinen genutzt wird, sehen die meisten Teams dem ersten Rennen mit einem etwas mulmigen Bauchgefühl gegenüber. Wird die Theorie in der Praxis funktionieren, waren die Überlegungen am Reissbrett richtig und wie gross wird die Verbesserung des ganzen Feldes gegenüber der letzten Saison sein? Fragen über Fragen.
Auch Lorenz Stäuble und sein Team waren im Winter nicht untätig. Diverse technische Modifikationen sollten einerseits das Handling des Bikes verbessern und andererseits die Leistung steigern, so dass Lo auch in der kommenden Saison an der Spitze mitmischen kann.
Qualifikation Leider hat es zeitlich nicht gereicht vor dem Rennwochenende noch ein paar Testläufe zu absolvieren. Das Wetter in Santa Pod zeigte sich aber von seiner sonnigsten Seite und die 4 Qualifikationsläufe konnten ohne Probleme absolviert werden. Lo verbesserte sich kontinuierlich und landete am Ende der Qualifikation mit einer Zeit von 7.0725 auf Platz 5. Natürlich war das Ergebnis nicht berauschend aber Lo sass schon mal sicher im Teilnehmerfeld für das Rennen.
Elimination Im Rennen zeigten die ersten Teams Verschleisserscheinungen und vielen reihenweise wegen technischen Defekten aus dem Rennen. Was nützt das schnellste Bike wenn man es damit nicht mal bis an die Startlinie schafft. Lo gewann Runde um Runde nur wollte die Zeit einfach nicht unter 7 Sekunden fallen. Trotzdem stand er am Abend im Final gegen Job Heezen aus Holland. Auch Job Heezen hatte das ganze Wochenende eine beeindruckend und gute Leistung gezeigt. Im Durchschnitt war Job 2 Zehntelsekunden schnell als Lo. Die Aufgabe war schwierig. Am Start machte Lo dank seiner guten Reaktionszeit schon ein paar Hundertstelsekunden gut. Ein Kopf an Kopf Rennen bis zur Streckenmitte. Aber auch das Material von Job versagte und seine Super Twin mutierte zum Einzylinder-Motorrad.
Lo Stäuble fuhr den Sieg im ersten Rennen der Saison nach Hause und die von 6.96 Sekunden zeigte, dass das Team auf dem Weg zu alten Bestleistungen war.
Nächster Termin
FHRA Nitro Nationals
2. – 5. Juli 2009
Alastaro Finnland
Veidec Festival
23. – 26. Juli 2009
Mantorp Schweden
Weitere News www.erbacher.biz.
Im Juli geht es in Finnland zu Runde 2 an den Start. In der Zwischenzeit wird weiter getestet, optimiert und abgestimmt um die Leaderposition in der aktuellen Meisterschaft erfolgreich verteidigen zu können.
Wir danken allen Sponsoren und Freunden des Erbacher Super Twin Teams für die Unterstützung auf dem Weg zum Sieg!
©Eurodragster.com
Web site updates.
1st June: 8:00 Eurodragster.com Reserve Photographer Peter Donaldson has produced us a gallery of shots from the weekend's Yanks Weekend / Gary's Picnic at Shakespeare County Raceway. You can check out the Yanks weekend gallery, which is presented in association with American Car Imports, by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
We have a number of FIA Main Event updates today, which are presented in the order in which they arrived. First up is Jamie Dyks whose FIA Main Event Fotopic gallery you can find at topnitro.fotopic.net.
Santa Pod Raceway's resident RWYB photographer Ian Blackett has updated his web site with photographs and slow motion video clips from the Pro Peak Performance Day and Friday's first day of qualifying. You can check out Ian's work at www.blackettphotography.com.
Eurodragster.com Photo Editor Roger Gorringe has updated his Nitro Exposure site with FIA Main Event pictures including several not included in Eurodragster.com's Event Coverage. Roger's web site can be found at www.nitroexposure.co.uk.
©Eurodragster.com
You can also check out Roger's work in his FIA Main Event report and pictures just posted on the US' Competition Plus web site at www.competitionplus.com.
Tim Lockyer has posted his FIA Main Event pictures at www.dragster-photography.com.
The official web site of the UK's Chaos Fuel Altered team has been updated with an FIA Main Event report and pictures which you can find at www.chaos-fuel-altered.com.
Paul Lister's Drag Car Anon web site has been updated with FIA Main Event pictures. You can check out Paul's pictures at www.dragcaranon.co.uk.
Back a few weeks and Julian Hunt's Auto Trader Easter Thunderball pictures are now showing at www.julianhunt.net.
Finally for this update Lizz McCarthy has updated the web site of the UK's Nitrous Junkie Funny Bike team with the latest news, race results and team photographs. You can find the team's web site at www.nitrous-junkie.co.uk.
Earlier news
