Event entry update. 30th June: The official entry form for Round 4 of the 2012 National Association of Supertwins Championship, which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway on 21st-22nd July, is now available for download via the Downloads link at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com. Many thanks to Paula and Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 4 of the official entry list for Bug Jam, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 20th-22nd July (race days 21st-22nd). You can check out the Big Jam entry list by clicking here. Standard-price entry is now closed; entry, if accepted, is subject to a late-entry fee. You can download the Bug Jam entry form from the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. Dragstalgia update II. 30th June: Courtesy of James Forster of Santa Pod Raceway comes news of two of the latest additions to Dragstalgia which takes place on 14th-15th July: Further to an earlier news piece announcing the 1970s Pro Stock Reunion taking place at Dragstalgia, we are pleased to announce that we have acquired a car to take part too! The Money Hungry Camaro will be on display throughout the weekend in the Historic Vehicle Marquee with a host of other period machines. Gary Goggin, Kevin Pilling, Colin Mullan, John Dickson, Sam Connell, Peter Bennett, Peter Crane, Barry George and even Gunne Back are all signed up to come along. This will be the first time some of these guys have seen each other since the 1970s and to have one of the original race cars coming along too is just the icing on the cake! We are also pleased to announce another addition to Dragstalgia in the form of Norm Wheeldon's Two Much twin-engined slingshot. The car itself is a magnificent piece of engineering so it's definitely worth seeking out in the pits throughout the weekend for a close-up look. They will also be running this awesome machine on the strip; the sound alone is enough of a spectacle but if it runs well down the famous quarter mile it will undoubtedly form one of the highlights of the weekend. We have also received a spy picture (left) which came with the words "See you at Dragstalgia!". 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. Chris Emms writes that Cool Green Racing's Mayhem nitro Fuel Altered will now not be appearing at Dragstalgia due to family bereavement. "We are about three weeks behind in preparing the car, it has yet to be painted and the chassis is still at FGR receiving safety updates", says Chris. "We have always had a strong belief that a race car and team should appear professional in appearance at all times. With the car and trailer not yet finished, we have run out of time to complete the work required so have reluctantly withdrawn from displaying the car at Dragstalgia. "We would like to thank James Forster at Santa Pod for all his help during this time and a special thanks to Jason at FGR for being very accommodating during a busy period for FGR and the Shockwave team, and a big thanks to Bob Jarrett and John Spuffard for assisting with parts for the car.    "All being well we hope to display the car later in the year and we would like to wish all at Dragstalgia and safe and enjoyable event." Gleadows need help. 30th June: UK blown-alcohol racer Adam Gleadow writes that their '34 Ford body will be out of action for some time after departing the altered at half track at last weekend's SPRC Summernationals. The Motor Psycho team are also seeking the help of Eurodragster.com readers to get the car ready for Dragstalgia. "We have yet to decide whether to repair or to build a replacement", says Adam. "Completely gutted, but not deterred, we do have a Plan B, or more correctly plan T. We have acquired our old '23 Model T body which was purchased from us twenty years ago by the late John Powis. A huge thank you to his wife Janet for being so helpful. "We will have another busy couple of weeks preparing for Dragstalgia with the NFAA, but there is no way we would miss it. We have everything we need except a rear wing; if there is anyone out there with something suitable to mount on the roll cage please can you get in contact with me on 07887 840497 or at adam@motorpsycho.co.uk. "Another absolutely massive thank you to Scott, Brett and Amy at sponsors Custom Exotics. The work they carried out on the car was nothing short of stunning, and we're so sorry it doesn't look quite so pretty right now. Also thank you for continued support from Lucas Oil, Auto Finesse and Fresh Reflections, and to everyone who wished us well and helped to contribute to getting us back on the track, it is really appreciated. If anyone has any photos or videos from the Summer Nationals can you please either send them via E-Mail or share on our www.facebook.com/motorpsychouk." Swift snippets. 30th June: Quickly responding after we announced that Eurodragster.com will not be attending next week's FHRA Nitro Nationals at Alastaro was our good friend Patrik Larsson who tells us that he and cameraman Petter Grimborg will be posting the usual entertaining updates from Alastaro on the Lindberg Brothers' web site. "We will be concentrating on the Pro Mod scene, but as Jonnie is racing in Top Methanol FC we will cover that also", says Patrik. "Our goal with this is to give our visitors something different. A mix of both high and low such as all the important details from the track and also a personal view from behind the scenes in the pits". You will be able to find all of this next weekend at www.lindbergbros.com. Many thanks to Yvonne Tramm and our very own Simon for passing us the post-SPRC Summernationals points standings in the UK National Drag Racing Championships. Additional thanks to Yvonne for also passing us the latest standings in the Santa Pod Racers Club Championships. You can check out the UK and SPRC points on our Speedflow-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the Speedflow Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. UK Pro Stock Bike racer Mark Smith tells us that Richard Stevens of MPM Oil UK has been in touch with the new Warpspeed team to confirm his ongoing support for the rest of 2012 season and a full sponsorship deal for the 2013 season. "We wish to thank Richard for his ongoing support in the bike classes", says Mark. "It's good to see him in the bike pits. Check out all of MPM's products at www.mpmoil.co.uk." Finnish Top Fuel Dragster racer Jari Halinen is upbeat going into next weekend's FHRA Nitro Nationals after his runner-up spot at the Sweden Internationals, says team member and Fuel legend Gary Page. "Jari definitely wants to win and we think we can do it", says Gary. "We had a great weekend at Tierp Arena and we're going to pick up where we left off. We would like to say a big Thank You to Andy Wheeler of Alamo Rent-A-Car for his help with hire cars." One spy picture and one query for you today. The spy picture below left came with the words "Where do all these bloody pipes go?"... ...whilst the picture above right came with the words "Whatever happened to Captain Sunflower?". If you know more about either, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com. The Netherlands' Frank Eijskoot, whose unique Fierce Fiero Super Comp doorslammer was the subject of a news item here on Eurodragster.com just before the FIA Main Event, suffered an unfortunate crash at Drachten last weekend when a whole lot of nitrous came in and propelled the car into the guardrail. You can find out more on Frank's web site at www.lowlandsxtreme.com. Mum and dad, and sisters Ilona and Freya, asked us to say a big Happy Birthday to UK Junior Dragster racer Jacob Kopasz, who is spending his birthday testing at Santa Pod Raceway. Have a great day Jacob and we hope that your testing goes well. Apologies for the lack of a news update yesterday. There was, and is, plenty to post but after being subjected to yet another volley of abuse, yet again undeserved, your News Editor took some time out to have a serious think about whether to continue. A word from your sponsors. 30th June: MoTeC and Owen Developments have been in touch to congratulate the SPRC Summernationals winners Roger Moore (Pro Modified), Mark Todd (Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator) and Steve Venables (Super Street Bike) who each took the pot in MoTeC's and Owen Developments' 2012 Contingency programme. Owen Developments' Executive Director Christy Harrison says "Owen's, in Partnership with MoTeC, are delighted be involved in the 2012 UK National Drag Racing Championship Contingency Sponsorship programme. There have been some fantastic performances and races so far this season, despite some pretty tough weather conditions. We would like to congratulate all of the winners from the FIA Main Event and the SPRC Summernationals. "We are also very pleased with the positive feedback we have received from the racers, and are very much looking forward to safe, fast and close racing for all of the competitors for the remainder of the season." Going by the numbers. 30th June: Regular readers will know that Honorary Eurodragster.com Staff Member Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe has an enquiring mind and an endless fascination for all things timing. As the result of a comment made by Pro Mod racer Andy Frost at the SPRC Summernationals about second-half speed increases, Marrs has been number-crunching again. "Frosty's comment got my brain ticking, as you all know these things do!", says Andy. "I ran a few numbers and dropped his team member Wil (aka Slinky - Ed) an E-Mail with my findings as I knew he'd be interested, on account of him being a bigger anorak than I am (XXXXL? - Ed). Wil responded with some workings of his own which got my mind going a bit more. "As you know, all cars and bikes have different acceleration curves: some are better over sixty feet, others are better at half track and so on. Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator and Super Street Bike are good examples of this. I used all of the timing data from FIA/UEM events at Santa Pod Raceway going back to 2007, and took the best point-to-point incrementals I could find in each class - 0-60 feet, 60-330 feet and so on - to calculate theoretical best runs. My calculations resulted in the following." Top Fuel Dragster (quarter mile): 4.5437/341.55 Top Fuel (1000 feet): 3.8576/318.90 Top Methanol Dragster: 5.0908/297.67 Top Methanol Funny Car: 5.4379/263.32 Pro Modified: 5.7833/267.73 Pro Stock: 6.5042/253.16 Top Fuel Bike: 5.6376/274.77 Super Twin Top Fuel: 6.2496/266.08 Pro Stock Bike: 6.7768/211.60 Funny Bike: 6.0752/236.63 Web site updates. 30th June: If you like your race cars street-legal and your footage on-board then you're going to love the latest video featuring the UK's FB Racing Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator team. Made by Guy Scofield the long video features fantastic footage of several runs at the SPRC Summernationals as well from the mandatory cruise. You can check it out at www.youtube.com/watch?v=RATVZInpdok. Rampage Super Pro ET team member Dan Holloway has updated the team's official Blog with reports from the Autotrader Easter Thunderball and NSRA Nostalgia Nationals. You can take a look at Dan's reports at rampagefunnycar.blogspot.co.uk. The latest update to the official web site of the UK's Chaos Fuel Altered includes a report and pictures from last weekend's SPRC Summernationals as well as more pictures of the off-season work to repair the car. You can find the Chaos web site at www.chaos-fuel-altered.com. The latest newsletter from American Autoparts consists of a tribute to the late Tony Gransden. You can read the tributes at www.americanautoparts.co.uk/news.htm. Editor's note: We still have a small backlog of news with which we will catch up on the next update. Tune back then for a report of the latest European Top Gas Series round, Kev Charman's SPRC Summernationals, a special deal for Eurodragster.com readers and more, and please keep the news coming to news@eurodragster.com. Dragstalgia update I. 28th June: There will be a strong contingent of bikes at this year's second Dragstalgia event at Santa Pod Raceway. They will be taking part in the NSA eight bike shoot-out, reports Keith Lee who has been busy gathering together some interesting machinery to run on both days of the event. One of the highlights last year was seeing John Hobbs back out again at Santa Pod on board his double-engined Weslake. The Hobbit cranked out an 8.60 pass, which delighted all those watching the historic bike in action. John will be back again this year, riding his recreated Olympus 500 blown Triumph, as well as the Hobbit. Olympus may well be sporting a set of wheelie bars following a big wheelie at Shakey last weekend! A second double-engined bike, which raced against John in competition in the 70s, is the double 500 Triumph of Ray Law. He and Terry Fisher were Pod regulars back then, and shared rides on the bike, which managed high eight-second times. Ray gave this original bike a shakedown at Wroughton a couple of weeks back, in preparation for this event. A very welcome entry this year is something a little different. This fabulous machine is one that took part in the original 1964 Drag Festivals. It is bright red, has three wheels, and a crew of two! Methamon was the creation of Maurice Brierley, and the sidecar outfit is powered by a supercharged 1000 cc Vincent vee-twin. Maurice only had one leg, but it did not deter him from charging up the quarter mile - and often scaring his brave passenger in the process. One famous passenger was TV Tommy Ivo, who has never forgotten his trip on the bike! Riding this historic machine at Santa Pod is Chris Illman, who is Chairman of the sprint section of the Vintage Motor Cycle Club. Chris has lovingly restored the bike to its former glory with the assistance of Colin Jefferies, who gets to get the passenger seat for his pains. Forty years ago it was still possible to see two- and three-wheelers drag racing side-by-side. This time it will be solo runs only, so enjoy the sound of a supercharged Vincent working hard as Chris and John take to the track. More Vincent power comes from the unblown Vinnie of Pegasus star Derek Chinn, and ridden by Graham Martin. This bike is how the historic vee-twin looked in its early unblown days, apart from some essential wheelie bars. NSA Southern section chairman Phil Steele will be riding the ex- Keith Parnell Weslake-Triumph, Rouge et Noir 2, which was the follow-up bike of Europe's first eight-second rider. Using a similar engine in his bike, Justin Newell rides one of the last Hagon framed sprint bikes produced, and he has made his own blower and gearbox in recent months in his quest for ever quicker times. Martin Willmott rides the super-quick 500 Triumph that ran under nine seconds back in the late 1970s when ridden by Peter Wood. Completing the line-up is another 70s bike - The Grenade of Simon Rees, which uses a 750 supercharged Triumph. Off track, Dennis Norman will be in the marquee on Sunday with his double Triumph, while invited guests include two other drag bike legends, Jeff Byne and Brian Johnson. It is shaping up to be a great event on both two wheels and four – and even three! British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Chair Stu Bradbury writes that Nostalgia fans should be ready to get their wallets out at Dragstalgia: Founder member of The Drag Team back in 1966, David Owen, has very kindly donated his collection NHRA drag racing videos, hundreds of Hot Rod magazines, trade only editions of Motors repair manuals, and rare collectible Automobile magazines featuring articles on 1953-66 Cadillac Eldorado, 1955 Lancia Florida, 1961-68 Amphicar, 1985-86 Lincoln Mark VII LSC... and much much more, in fact too much to list here. David has passed on his collection to help with the restoration of Sydney Allard's Fuel Dragster. Some of the videos available are Thrill: The story of Eddie Hill, The Funny Car Experience, Nitro Wars, Fuel Freaks, NHRA Drag Racing reviews 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994,1995, and so on. Get there for the Saturday if you want to purchase any of this memorabilia, Sunday could be too late! Almost the perfect weekend. 28th June: Expectations for the début of UK Super Pro ET racer Scott Hauser's new Unleaded-fuelled 598 ci motor were not that high after Friday's Peak Performance day was shortened by rain to just one and a half hours. Scott's dad Geof, of Eurodragster.com sponsor Hauser Race Cars, writes that it was a great relief to be able to run so consistently over what turned out to be a successful weekend at the SPRC Summernationals: We were really excited about getting the top qualifying slot and to get all the way to the final was a bonus. Unfortunately the 0.005 red light put an end to the dream but it would have been difficult to get past Jack Brewster anyway. His RT / dial-in package was excellent so he deserved the win this time. The new 598 ci motor was assembled with all the best parts, with Dart Eng, GRP Con Rods, Moroso, Total Seal, Crane Cams and ARP all supporting our venture. A huge thank you is due to everyone who helps us. More track time is needed to get everything working together, and it is important not to lose any consistency, but there is definitely more potential so we'll just keep working away at it. Swift snippets. 28th June: Many thanks to Paula and Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 2 of the official entry list for Bug Jam, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 20th-22nd July (race days 21st-22nd). You can check out the Big Jam entry list by clicking here. Standard-price entry closes tomorrow (Friday); You can download the Bug Jam entry form from the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. Steve Saunders and all of the super crew of Super Pro ET 161, the Highspeedgas drag racing team - Pete, Tom, Johnnyboy, Charlybubbles and Gazza - have asked us to say a big Happy Birthday to Babs Saunders. No sooner said than done, have a lovely day Babs. Top Sportsman entry open. 28th June: Entry is now open for Direct Plastics Top Sportsman, which is to be contested at the Mopar Euro Nationals at Santa Pod Raceway on 27th-29th July. Paul Marston writes: Entry forms can be downloaded from the official web site at www.topsportsman.co.uk where you can also find all the relevant information regarding rules, regs and event schedule. There are already officially paid up entries listed on the web site, and you expect to see the list growing virtually daily. Eagle-eyed visitors to the Direct Plastics Top Sportsman web site will notice that we already have our first Pro Modified team entered. You can also check out the promo video at the same time. Please remember that any fast doorslammer which is fast enough can enter... American, European, English or Japanese, even Russian! The Mopar Euro Nationals is only a month away. The track will be prepped to National event standard. This one will separate the men from the boys, the crybabies from the hard-core racers. It's the toughest, meanest, doorslammer event of the year. Be part of it, enter today. Monkeys become Warped. 27th June: After such an awful start to the 2012 season, with major engine problems and finance issues, Mark Smith and the UK's Stunt Monkeys Pro Stock Bike team will be seeing out the rest of this season with the help from Roger Upperton, who has offered to build a new four-valve Pro Stock motor for the 2012 season and in to 2013. A big two-valve 1755 cc motor will be built up slowly as and when money allows in 2013 season. After much talking, ideas being thrown about and many trips to Warpspeed Racing in Norfolk, Stu Crane and Mark are proud to announce that the Stunt Monkeys and Warpspeed Racing will be joining forces and will be racing under the Warpspeed Racing name. The new team will consist of Stu on his new Pro Mod Bike, currently being built at Warpspeed Racing, to run in Funny Bike; Dale Leeks on his Pro Mod Bike to run in Funny Bike; Mark on his Pro Stock Bike; and Mark Green who will be making his first appearance on a new 9.50 Bike currently being fabricated by Warpspeed Racing. "This will be Mark Green's first time on the drag strip, so we wish him all the luck in the world", say the team. "Now, it's OK having four bikes in one team but without the help of our crews none of this would be possible. We thank you all! We plan to share each other's crew depending upon who needs the most help at the time and we will work as a team. We plan to pit as one at the race track, so you won't miss us in the pits. We are all very excited about our new venture and we are always on the lookout for new sponsors. For more information and sponsorship enquiries please E-Mail workshop@drapertools.com or stuart@warpspeedracing.co.uk. French Branches out. 27th June: UK Funny Bike racer Steve French has been in touch to explain his continued absence from the track: I have not even put my Funny Bike together as a different project has taken over my life. Some may know, others mey not, but Dave Branch and I have just completed the build of our Speedflow- and Transdev-sponsored supercharged Triumph 750 twin destined for Bonneville Speed Week in August this year.  The bike features an Opcon blower forcing air through an Ice water intercooler with direct port methanol injection. Ignition is MSD with RacePak data logging.  Drive is through a one-off Dave Branch gearbox case containing a GSX five-speed. Wheelbase is 82" making it longer than my Funny Bike and much heavier as we have added lead to make the most of the limited traction on the salt. The bike is now in transit to the USA where we will collect it in LA and drive the 650 miles to Wendover, Utah.  The complete build to date and entire trip is being filmed by the BBC for a two-hour documentary to be shown in January of next year.  I will, where possible, update you with the good, the bad and the ugly results as and when they happen. Swift snippets. 27th June: Eurodragster.com sponsor Phoenix Personnel have places available for their next CPC training course this Saturday (30th) at their new office at the Diamond Centre, Nene Park, Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire NN9 5QF. To book your place call Emma on 01604 889121. Further to two recent Editor's Notes which almost everyone noticed, postings have now fully resumed to the Jeff Bull Race Engines Swap Meet. Thanks to everyone for their patience, and no thanks at all to the person who was evidently unable to read yet was somehow able to write a rather rude E-Mail advancing the most moronic conspiracy theory since those surrounding 9/11. Further to yesterday's Swift Snippet, we can now confirm that we are definitely not attending next week's FHRA Nitro Nationals at Alastaro. With the help of Speedgroup we hope at least to be able to bring you result sheets but the planned live event coverage will not be happening. The last we heard, there will also be no Web TV at Alastaro next week, either, but if we are informed of any changes then we will of course let you know. The race trip, from Hell. 27th June: Carla Pittau of the UK's Heaven & Hell Pro ET and Stock/Super Stock team has been in touch with a report of their recent eventful trip to the Sweden Internationals at Tierp Arena: Would you believe it, after so much struggling to get the engine ready and to get to Tierp for the Sweden Internationals, it bloody rains on us. Stock/Super Stock included a doubled British contingent from last year, and after Dan Williams excellent results at the EDRS Nationals we were full of hope and enthusiasm. Perhaps this year we should have invested in a drag boat. Four events and four rain-offs, it's getting increasingly difficult to see the glass as half full, and in fact at times it really seems that all we do is for nothing. With only a couple of weeks to go before the Sweden Internationals we stopped all work on the Heaven & Hell number three car and jumped on the Super Stock engine, which badly needed repairs to the heads and a general freshen up. Not being over-familiar with the subtleties of Super Stock this was a task we should have undertaken with caution and taking our time, but sadly we ended up leaving it far too late and finishing the job literally just in time not to miss the boat from Harwich to Esbjerg. Super Stock rules dictate that only specific heads are used and, as stock heads are heavily worked on to try to produce the power needed, they become very porous, often developing cracks which then cause all sorts of problems. For this reason most competitors must drain the water from their engines every day after racing, to minimise rust problems which would further damage the fragile iron heads. Despite this, after a season's racing, leakage becomes highly likely and we confirmed this was indeed our case after doing a pressure test which revealed leakage on numbers two, six and eight. We stripped the heads and found that the cracks were dangerously close to the valve seats but, having little to lose, we decided to attempt the repair. On the Tuesday we received the materials, a gooey two pack resin type stuff which is normally used to repair ship hulls and a gas tank sealant, the first one to repair the cracks on the valve side, the second to pour into the water passages. So we got to work each evening until we were too tired to continue, honing the block, cleaning and oiling, changing the rings and bearings, reassembling the engine, dialling in the camshaft, and finally finishing the repairs to the heads and buttoning up the top end on Saturday evening. That night Richard Bell popped in to leave a bag for us to take to Tierp for him and found Rick removing the 407 from the car while I installed the intake manifold and fitted the lifting plate to the SS engine. He expressed some surprise at the state of affairs and he probably expected us to be working into the night. He wasn't far wrong. We finished at twenty to five in the morning, went to bed for a couple of hours then connected everything up, filled it with fluids, set the timing and finally fired her up at 12:00. She sounded sweet, so we rushed the loading up, throwing clothes, tools and spares together, filling the camper with water and supplies, and of course in the rush we left two crucial items behind: spare lifters and spare pushrods. To add to the fun Rick asked long-suffering crew man Dave Buckland, who had joined us in the morning, to check the oil in the camper and top up as necessary, which Dave proceeded to do. You couldn't make it up: Dave poured some oil in and rechecked the level. Mmmmhhh, more oil needed. Dave poured more oil in and checked again. Very strange, the level was still low. With a horrible doubt in his mind he finally bent down to look under the camper, and sure enough, the large oil paddle explained everything: the extension tube into which he had been pouring the oil had come off the valve cover inlet. Dave fixed it while I tried to clean up the soaked driveway and we finally left, hoping we wouldn't find any traffic on the way. We got to Harwich where the Williams Brothers were waiting for us in a car park, and without a minute to spare we got on the ferry, the last ones in, and off to Esbjerg in a eighteen-hour crossing where we could finally relax, have a meal and a drink with our good friends Dan and Nic, and finally sleep. The crossing was uneventful and travelling through Denmark a breeze, with the exception of the toll bridges which we felt we were purchasing again (I'll never, ever moan about the Dartford Crossing toll ever again) and the customary blow-out of one of the trailer tyres. The Williams brothers, travelling with us in convoy, notified us by walkie talkie of the problem and we stopped on the hard shoulder to change the wheel, where we finally discovered that the original tyres on the trailer were obviously all defective and that the last Kings tyre was also just about to blow, with the steel coming through the rubber on the inside. So we needed two trailer tyres, and we needed them urgently. We found them the following morning and they cost more than the bridges, the most expensive tyres in Europe without fail at £248 each. We got to Tierp early and set out in the pit area next to Dan, lots of space and a great position towards the top end of the track, we got scrutineered and were finally ready to race. Qualifying day and the car sounded strangely a bit off, the idle was rough but we didn't pick up on it. We went for a run and to our dismay it was a 10.57, nearly half a second slower than usual and with a flat launch. Back in the pits we tried to reason out what was happening and we spotted a spark plug lead which wasn't quite on properly. It must be the culprit, we thought, even if we knew that the MSD would easily cross that gap. The second run was a 10.59 and it really sounded like a lean misfire, so we started looking at the Rochester Quadrajet carb, with fellow Super Stock racer Mats Backman helping us with metering rods, hangers, explanations and advice. We richened up the carb and tried again, this time it ran 10.50. We kept missing the signs: the engine didn't sound right, and we really should have been checking the valve train first, but we only decided to finally check valve lash just before they called us for a fourth run. This is when we discovered that the tip of number four intake push rod had been ground off by the hammering rocker and the pushrod had slipped into the lifter valley. We took the intake off and saw the dead pushrod laying there, but no other apparent damage. We can fix this, we thought, we have spare lifters and spare push rods. So we looked everywhere in the camper before we accepted the harsh reality: we had left them behind in the rush. This was a real low point. We couldn't fix it, and it was our fault. We put a call out for a 7.70 x 3/8" pushrod, quite a few racers arrived to see if theirs would do the job, but none fit. I put it on Facebook, Tog put it on Eurodragster.com and got the track announcers to read it several times, people shared, we got more offers, but they were too big, too small, too thick. And then... Remember the guy who helped Dan Williams fix his sump at the May meeting? Göran Larsson is his name, and what a fantastic guy he is. He lives five hundred metres from the track and used to breed Quarter Horses, but he is also very much into horsepower. When they were planning the construction of Tierp Arena Leif Andréasson called in to see if the surrounding property owner had any objections to the project. He found Göran in his garage, working on his 30s Plymouth Roadster. He eyed his 1970 Camaro Z28 and his Stingray Corvette, and said "I can tell there will be no objection here!". He was wrong, Göran nearly complained he couldn't see the track because of a line of trees, although he was happy enough that he could hear Top Fuel loud and clear! Göran called Persåker's Speed Shop for us and explained, and when they said they were closing for the day he persuaded them to leave the pushrods in an envelope in their mail box for us, and they agreed that we could leave the money in the same envelope. After this, Göran drove Rick on a five-hour round trip to the shop in his pick up. He had never met us before, but he was prepared to help in any way possible, and without him we would have been simply lost. While Rick was away with Göran Dave and I cleaned up the ground metal bits and replaced the intake after Mikael Sjokvist, Crew Chief for Ulf Wagnhester's Pro Stock team Samantha Racing, straightened the lifters' bent link bar. Despite being very busy with his own team Mikael kept helping us and giving us advice, testing spring pressure with his dial gauge tool (after pooh-poohing our own tool) and explaining a lot of procedures and tuning shortcuts. He did do a lot of pooh-poohing, but in a good natured way, and we learned a lot from him. The Samantha Racing Pro Stock Dodge is a relatively low budget sixteen-year-old race car, but it ran 6.88 in qualifying and an impressive 6.82 in eliminations, unfortunately going out to a 6.74 by Sampsa Palos. The crew were really happy with the performance though, and we were delighted by their success. With the engine patched up we had at least one more qualifier, and this was a 10.10, still a bit disappointing but the quickest the car has so far run in Sweden. Super Stock racer Mats Backman assures us that it is a matter of tuning and that he is convinced there is more power in our 400 ci Small Block, and we were looking forward to doing some more tinkering now that we had eight cylinders to play with. Alas, it wasn't to be, the cruel rain stopped play for all Sportsman classes. But once again it was a great experience, Tierp Arena was fantastic, the Stock/Super Stock racers friendly and helpful, the Williams family (dad Keith also joined the team) good fun to be with, and again we met fantastic people in the drag racing community. Another is Stock racer Thomas Sundström, who is looking after our camper and our race car in his vast property near Uppsala and who was kind enough to take us to Vösterås Airport. On Saturday we're off to Alastaro for the FHRA Internationals, where we hope we won't have to sample any Finnish rain! We would like to thank the following people from the bottom of our hearts: Göran Larsson the Swedish Cowboy par excellence, Mikael Sjokvist the fierce Crew Chief with a heart of gold, Mats Backman the Rochester Quadrajet Veteran who believes even Holley fans can learn something if he's really patient with them, Persåker's Speed Shop, Thomas Sundström and his wife Leanna for their hospitality and help, the Williams family for their support, Eurodragster.com for their help in spreading the word (You're welcome - Ed), and the drag racing community in general for their offers of help in getting the parts we needed and for the encouragement in all their posts on the Facebook pages where I asked for help. King sets new mark in Sweden. 27th June: British rider Ian King and his Gulf Oil Dragracing - Grand Prix Originals Top Fuel Bike team followed their win at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee weekend with another strong showing at the second round of the European Drag Racing Championship at the impressive Tierp facility in Sweden. However, in what is becoming a familiar situation this year, the team were thwarted in their quest for much needed on track experience as they continue the development of their advanced Puma machine. Miserable weather conditions forced the cancellation of day two of qualifying and the team had to settle for number two qualifying position going into eliminations day achieved with a slowing 6.62/201.19 mph on the second run of day one after the powerful machine got somewhat wayward mid track and King sensibly rolled off the throttle. Eliminations day dawned grey and wet. It looked as if the event was going to be cancelled as persistent rain continued until mid afternoon when the hard working track staff's work paid off with breaking sunshine and a dry track. King's first round was against his final round opponent from the previous event, Sweden's Rikard Gustafsson on the impressive Pro1 Puma Suzuki. However, it was not to be for the young Swede when a problem caused him to be dragged through the lights in stage and a resultant red light. King took a lazy green and progressed through to the semi-finals with another slowing 6.66/206.11 and the benefit of a bye run due to the vagaries of the progressive ladder system. King chose what seemed to be the favourable right hand lane for his semi final bye run, and had agreed with Crew Chief Michael Beaumont to make a test launch and shut off at mid track. However, when King launched he sensed the track was up to more than he had previously been able to throw at it and nailed it almost all the way down the track to a crowd pleasing and personal best ever run of 6.10/223.99 to set up an exciting final against local hero Peter Svensson who was on his own record-breaking weekend. Beaumont arrived at the top end all smiles to collect his bike and rider with what seemed a comfortable position going into the finals. However, disaster struck on the tow back when the chain broke and jammed in the chassis, delaying their return to the pits and the looming finals. And matters got worse when the team discovered the tyre had chunked and was missing rubber with no time to change that and the chain. In a frantic turnaround of the bike in the pits Zodiac Racing's Job Heezen, Ton Pels and Vincent Pels helped to remove and replace the chain whilst the team went about their regular servicing duties. But, with no time to replace the ailing tyre the team went to the line with some trepidation. However, despite one great pass in qualifying that assumed his number one position in the ladder (and one half of a potential new European record) Svensson had failed to reproduce in his two rounds of eliminations, and was the beneficiary of a no show from Nils Lagerlöf in the semis in which he shut off when his machine veered towards the centre line in what could have been an upset for the current record holder. King's 6.10 in the semis gave him lane choice and the chance to run in the favourable right hand lane. He had it all to do against the home favourite who was in with a chance of establishing a new record if his form could return for the final and it was a tense affair as King took both pre-stage and stage lights first and waited for Svensson to follow. The Tree ran and King was off and ahead with a substantial hole shot and what seemed could be an unassailable lead for the first 100 metres or so. However, King's machine seemed to be suffering from lack of grip and got into a violent mid track wobble which forced King to get off the throttle as Svensson powered past to take the event win, and to reset the European record. The team next travel to Alastaro, Finland, for the third round of the Championship intent on improving their points lead. For more information on the European Championship visit www.speedgroup.eu, and for more information about King Racing visit www.kingracing.com. The team is extremely proud to be supported by many leaders in their chosen markets in their challenge for the 2012 European Championship: APE - The world's most innovative manufacturer of aftermarket parts for drag bikes Action Cameras - Europe's leading source for action sports cameras Cometic Gaskets - The premier manufacturer of racing gaskets Bell Helmets - The ultimate iconic helmet brand Gates - The world's most trusted name in drive belts, hoses and hydraulics Goodridge - The original and the best in fluid transfer systems Grand Prix Originals - The brand for drive and lifestyle, past and present Gulf Oil International - The world's most iconic brand in automotive fuels and lubricants Hyperpro - The leading producer of progressive suspension products for motor bikes JE Pistons - The world's premier manufacturer of high performance forged pistons Kent Cams - Specialists in motor sport camshaft manufacture, short runs and one-offs Kibblewhite Precision Machining, Inc -The highest quality valve train components on the market King Racing - The most successful Top Fuel Bike team in European drag racing history Mickey Thompson Tyres - Simply the best drag race tyres in the world MRE - Leaders in trackside support for drag race components and air shifting systems MTC Engineering - Manufacturer of clutches for the fastest motorcycles in the world NitroShutter - Europe's leading drag racing photo-journalists NCT Engineering - Manufacturer of the world's leading non contact torque sensors for motorsport NGK Spark Plugs UK - The world's number one spark plug manufacturer Pär Willen - Master webmeister and proprietor of HarleyDrags.com Portable Shade - The best custom branded collapsible canopies available Pro Alloy Motorsport - UK's leader in fabrication of alloy racing tanks, intercoolers and radiators Puma Engineering - Manufacturers of the world's most powerful motorcycle engines RSG Customize - The UK's most creative website designers and vinyl artists Vanson Leathers - The most iconic brand in motorsport leather goods Worldwide Bearings - The world's leading supplier of ceramic bearings for racing Zodiac - Europe's largest supplier of performance and aftermarket HD parts Web site updates. 27th June: In the latest instalment of his exclusive Racer Blog presented in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car, street-legal Pro Modified racer Andy Frost reports upon his recent outings. As ever you can stay in touch with the latest Blog updates by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Jean Salesse has been in touch to announce the launch of www.dragbike.fr which as its address suggests tells you all you need to know about drag bike racing in France. The site contains information about classes, results, records, calendar and much more and is well worth a look. Bug Jam entry update. 26th June: Paula Marshall of Santa Pod Racers Club has been in touch to remind racers that this coming Friday, 29th June, is the deadline for standard-priced entry to Bug Jam, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 20th-22nd July (race days 21st-22nd) and which is a Championship round for Super Modified, Sportsman ET, Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator, VW Pro, VW Sportsman, Outlaw Flat Four and Outlaw Anglia and a non-points event for Lucas Oil Junior Dragster. Entries received after Friday will be subject to a late-entry penalty. You can download the Bug Jam entry form from the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. You can check out Version 1 of the official Bug Jam entry list by clicking here. Ray extends Grumpy's Tour. 26th June: After the perfect start to the FIA European Top Methanol Dragster Championship at the UK's Santa Pod Raceway, Dave Wilson was looking to continue this form at the Sweden Internationals. At last years event held at the stunning Tierp Arena, Dave had set the record as the first European Top Methanol racer into the 5.2 bracket but we all know that records don't win Championships and a repeat of the first round form would be required to keep the lead ahead of Round 3 in Finland. As was the case in England, the weather did its best to spoil the weekend but there were sufficient dry spells to conclude the race and Dave progressed to the final again. This time however, it wasn't to be as simply too much power for the track meant that the tyres went straight up in smoke at the hit. Dave is now really starting to see the off-season's hard work pay off as he pushed the A/Fuel Dragster's ET down to 5.26 but not being able to repeat this in the final meant no official record back-up. Dave now leads the Championship by thirty eight points and he'll be looking to extend that lead in Finland. In all previous PR from Dave Wilson Racing it had been clearly stated that this season would be limited to two FIA races due to a lack of budget. However, we are delighted to announce that Dave will contest at least more race this year in Finland. Funding has been provided by long-time supporter and original Krypton team member Ray Maguire. As a result, the trip to Alastaro will be officially known as 'Ray's Race' where the team hope that they can deliver the kind of performance which his support deserves. "So far so good this year!", Dave commented. "Blowing the tyres off in Tierp wasn't part of the plan but that's racing and we still have a good lead going to Finland. I must thank Chase Knight from Crane Cams for supplying us with a new cam in just four days from my call. Now that's service! Red Line Oil continue to lubricate our motor faultlessly and our new BMRS hoses are working well. I must thank Alamo for hire cars in Sweden too. Thank you all for your support as we couldn't do this without you. Finally, I must thank my old friend Ray for his support which means we can go to Finland. We were resigned to the fact that our season was done until Ray and I spoke before Tierp. I'm so grateful to him and will do my best to make 'Ray's Race' one to remember." Dave Wilson Racing are now looking for funding on a race-by-race basis and would love to hear from businesses or individuals who would like to support the team in Sweden, Germany or the UK. The budget required is less than you might think so please get in touch via the team's web site at www.davewilsonracing.co.uk. FoS tickets to be won. 26th June: Blown alcohol altered team and Eurodragster.com Bloggers Bennett Racing have teamed up with sponsor Powervamp Racing Batteries to offer ten tickets to the Goodwood Festival of Speed this Thursday (28th). If you are free on Thursday and fancy visiting the Festival of Speed then all you have to do is: Like the Facebook pages of both Bennett Racing and Powervamp Racing Batteries. E-Mail info@bennettracing.co.uk or send Bennett Racing a Facebook message confirming that you are free on Thursday. Seems straightforward enough to us. Good luck to everyone who enters. Swift snippets. 26th June: Mike Procureur says that this year's King of Europe commences this weekend at the Night Attack event in Slovakia. You can find out more on the King of Europe web site at www.kingofeurope.net and a video of last year's series can be checked out at www.vimeo.com/31656445. John Davies, who raced the former Torque of the Devil Anglia in the late 1990s, tells us that he is acquiring the immaculate Standard Vanguard from Eurodragster.com sponsor Chris Isaacs to put on the street and also hopefully Outlaw Street. "I can't wait to get behind the wheel again", says John. "Thanks to Chris for being very helpful, and Eurodragster.com for a great site". Thanks John, you are very welcome. Many thanks to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe for forwarding us the official SPRC Summernationals timing data which you can check out by clicking here or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. There is still time to sponsor SPRC marshal Caroline Boncey who is undertaking a walk for charity to aid the Hospice of St Francis in Berkhamsted. For more information check out our news item of 8th June or to sponsor Caroline visit www.justgiving.com/carolineoscarboncey. We have added late July's Mopar Euro Nationals to our roster of Webster Race Engineering/Nimbus Motorsport webcasts. It's not all good news though as, as things stand, we will not be going to Alastaro to cover next week's FHRA Nitro Nationals. Stay tuned and we will bring you an update when there is something to report either way. From the organiser... 26th June: UK Pro ET racer, Eurodragster.com sponsor and Pro ET Party in the Pits organiser Mike Lacey has been in touch with matters arising from the weekend's SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway: Big congratulations to Charlotte Bradford for winning the Eurodragster.com/ModUrStang Perfect Light Award. Well done to you. Secondly, a big Thank You to all the people who suffered the rain and the music in the Pro ET pits on Saturday night. Shred did a great job under the circumstances and I think most had a really good time but went back to their abodes quite wet! Possibly alcohol helped with that, one way or the other. Thirdly, a big Thank You to Santa Pod - Darren, Ian and James to name but a few - for helping me to organise this regular event. Nice to see an event reach its conclusion this weekend. We all needed it! Web site updates. 26th June: In the latest instalment of his exclusive Racer Blog presented in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car, Kalle Lyrén reports back from Tierp Area where the Veidec Pro Stock Bike team took runner-up spot. As ever you can stay in touch with the latest Blog updates by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Our good friend Remco Scheelings has posted two Drachten Nationals reports on The Netherlands' Autosport web site. First up is the race report which you can check out by clicking here and second is a report of events out and about around the track which you can check out by clicking here. Two updates for the price of one on Alan Currans' excellent Acceleration Archive. First up is an update on the restoration of Veney's Vega being carried out by Pat Neal. Alan's piece majors on the replacement brakes needed because the car is for go not just show, but other aspects of the build are also covered. Second is a gallery of shots from the weekend's NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. As ever you can stay in touch with the latest updates via the What's New link at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. Also updating from the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals is The Mad Welshman, whose gallery of Saturday's action you can check out at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman. First with the SPRC Summernationals photo updates is Chris Eyre who was as pleased as the rest of us that we got an event finished. You can take a look at Chris' pictures at www.eurodragpics.com. Chris' next outing is at Dragstalgia at Santa Pod Raceway in mid-July where he will be working on the Timewarp Nostalgia Funny Car. Chris invites everyone to visit the pit and whilst there to purchase a Timewarp T-Shirt. Our good buddy and occasional stand-in photographer Julian Hunt has updated his gallery site with pictures from April's Autotrader Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway. As ever the apparent delay is due to publishing lead times for magazines which Julian supplies. You can check out Julian's shots at www.julianhunt.net. A veritable cornucopia of photo updates today the last of which is Eurodragster.com Photo Editor Roger Gorringe's pictures from last week's Sweden Internationals at Tierp Arena. Roger's gallery includes shots which were not used in Eurodragster.com's coverage of the event and can be found at www.nitroexposure.co.uk. Roger has also had race summaries and photos published at competitionplus.com and dragracecanada.com. Ellis, Kirk part. 25th June: UK Pro Modified racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Graham Ellis has announced that Crew Chief Andy Kirk has left the team. Graham explained to Eurodragster.com that the split was due to differences of opinion: Andy has given five years' service and has been a dedicated and conscientious crew member and later Crew Chief. People change, goals change, and the changes to the car have strained our relationship. Both Andy and I knew that, in Andy's words, we had "Lost our mojo" and those words were very apt. We have had good and fun times during those five years, and we have experienced bad times together too. Andy is a soldier and has been an asset since joining me in 2008. I wish Andy and Lee all the best in whatever they choose to do, and with whichever team they choose to work. Whoever that team is will be getting some good and dedicated guys. From me personally to Andy and Lee Kirk, thank you. SPRC Summernationals results. 25th June: Congratulations to the winners of the weekend's SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway: MSA Pro Modified: Roger Moore 6.7425/208.88 bye, Andy Frost no show Super Modified: Belinda Bull 7.4586/183.54 def. Andy Hone 7.8655/178.54 Super Pro ET: Jack Brewster (8.44) 8.4961/152.06 def. Scott Hauser (7.84) 8.0438/166.64 red Pro ET: Dave Cherrett (10.30) 10.9742/85.35 def. Lee Huxley (9.72) 9.7738/137.25 red Sportsman ET: Tethys (18.10) 18.4342/66.11 def. Nick Hale (12.90) 13.0334/102.54 Super Comp: Brian Pateman 8.9026/149.14 def. Noah Stutz 8.8780/169.81 b/o Super Gas: Pete Creswell 9.8880/146.69 b/o def. Stuart Morrice 9.8506/145.34 b/o Super Street: Leigh Morris 11.0019/119.33 def. Dave Cherrett 10.8700/105.03 b/o Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator: Mark Todd 7.7849/188.15 def. Jon Webster 8.2825/168.54 red Junior Dragster: Stacey Reed (7.92) 7.9249/81.36 def. Joe Kellett (8.07) 8.0683/78.81 red VW Pro: James Hodson (10.50) 10.6129/117.93 def. Sam Young (10.10) 9.9571/127.29 b/o VW Sportsman: James London (15.44) 15.7720/87.31 def. Dean Clatworthy (16.20) 16.6945/78.27 Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association: Nick Davies 6.6401/207.21 def. Terri-Anne White 7.0938/197.99 Bike classes were run over the eighth-mile due to a strong crosswind. Pro Stock Bike: Len Paget 4.8199/143.41 def. Kev Charman 4.9323/142.04 Funny Bike: Maarten Zijlstra 5.3915/130.16 def. Richard Stubbins 5.3764/131.79 Super Street Bike: Steve Venables 4.8060/157.37 def. Graham Balchin 5.1317/147.17 red Comp Bike: Phil Leamon 5.2730/129.78 def. Harold Wolfenden 5.2510/144.36 9.50 Bike: Fred Furlong 6.3043/118.85 def. Stewart Ashby no time 8.50 Bike: Mick Winyard 5.6204/138.21 def. Martin Wilson 5.7308/134.42 NAST Supertwin Gas: Joe Elliott 6.0722/118.39 def. Chris Mott 6.8100/90.68 NAST Supertwin ET: Pete Harrison (7.40) 7.7138/93.53 bye, Mike Nelthorpe no show Congratulations to Junior Dragster racer Charlotte Bradford and VW Sportsman racer Martin Ayton who won the Eurodragster.com/ModUrStang Perfect Light Award and Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET Award respectively. Torrential overnight rain delayed the start of proceedings yesterday and then held up racing briefly during the day but thanks to a lot of hard work by the track crew, race officials and racers we finally got a UK National Championship event finished this season. Super Gas racer Steve Dunn got in touch to point out a spooky coincidence in Super Gas qualifying after Q2. "After the second session number one was 9.91, number two was 9.92, number three was 9.93, number four was 9.94, number five was 9.95, number six was 9.96, and number seven was 9.97", he says. You can check out our Alamo Rent A Car-sponsored SPRC Summernationals reports and pictures by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Many thanks to Paula Marshall for sending us the post-SPRC Summernationals points standings in the MSA British Pro Modified Championship which you can check out on our Speedflow-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the Speedflow Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Thanks also to all those who sent positive feedback on the new timing data overlays on the The Webster Race Engineering/Nimbus Motorsport webcam. The thanks are due to Maikel, Pelle and Erwin at our streaming service provider Doyousee.me and David Anniwell of Santa Pod Racers Club's timing crew for their hard work to bring you the timing overlays. Olsson's best. 24th June: Swedish Competition Eliminator racer Stig Olsson had a very successful weekend at the Sweden Internationals at Tierp Arena. Not only was his 6.93/193 mph run the first European C/Dragster into the sixes, but Stig believes that his may be the quickest normally-aspirated Small Block in Europe. "It's the same ET as the NHRA C/DA record, not exactly the same rules but close", says Stig. Stig, who helps a lot of other racers with racing PowerGlides through his company StigO Transmissions, is not a newbie as he started drag racing in 1977. The engine which powers his Neil and Parks front-engined dragster is a ten-year-old Jenkins 358" former Pro Stock Truck bullet, which he and former Pro Stock Crew Chief Tor-Öyvin Skinne has made a little hotter. On the work bench just now is a Schmidt 358" which has had the same treatment. "Theoretically it's going to make more power, but we'll see as soon it's ready to be tested", says Stig. "The perfect run does not exist. It's going to be difficult to top the 6.93 run but the goal is always to go faster. We have high hopes about the race in Tierp in August." A nightmare start. 24th June: After a long winter building a new chassis and engine, Mark Smith and the UK's Stunt Monkeys Pro Stock Bike team were excited about the first round at the Autotrader Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway. But that race and Mark's season has assumed nightmare proportions: We spent the Friday of the Thunderball applying finishing touches and giving the bike the once-over ready for racing. We missed the first round of qualifying but made the second round. Mark had to make three observed runs due to the new chassis, so we had a bye run. The burnout was fine and the bike sounded sweet until pulling up to the start line, when the motor was shut off due to a rattling noise. The Punisher was pushed back and returned to the pits. Unfortunately the cam shaft had snapped, no more racing for us. We were happy we had turned the bike off and stopped any further damage. We left the Pod optimistic for the next meeting at Shakespeare County Raceway. The bike was taken to Debben Performance to repair the broken camshaft. Ray Debben worked so hard to get us ready for the Springspeed Nationals and we would like to thank him for all the long hours he has put in throughout the winter and between races. Ray you are a star. The bike was all ready for the Voltz Energy Shots Springspeed Nationals. We pulled up on Friday night to a very wet boggy Shakespeare County Raceway. Saturday had better weather, slightly overcast and a head wind but no rain (yet). We missed the first round, but we came out full of excitement ready to ride in the next session. Again we had a bye run. Burnout went OK and pulled up to the start line. Green light, throttle open and dropped the clutch then bang! We had blown the motor up straight off the line. Mark made the quarter mile in 20.500/28.81 (hangs head in shame) and oiled the whole track in the process. Things were not good, not good at all: a massive hole in the engine. After mopping up tears from the crew, we pulled apart what was left of the motor, so we could see the whole damage. No crank, no head, no block, no gearbox, no pistons... no engine! And damage to the chassis. We spent Sunday totally stripping her down and left the track very depressed. After two weeks of Mark feeling lost, depressed and quite suicidal and almost throwing in the towel, we decided to give it another shot after all the hard work and money invested. We are now looking at trying to get out after the summer break. We will keep you updated. Attention to detail. 24th June: UK photo-journalist, graphic designer and modelmaker Mark Gredzinski has been in touch with an update on his latest work, a stunning 1/25 scale Fuel Altered: The model is around six inches long. The bare bones of it are based on kit parts from a Mickey Thompson Funny Car kit and a 392 Chrysler power plant from various other part sources. Most of the detail parts I made myself and there are over four hundred of these in all. The picture below right shows the one-piece moulded Enderle bug catcher mounted on a cocktail stick to which seventy parts have been added including scratch-built early block style barrel valve, fittings, linkages and fuel lines. The chassis will be fitted with an already-sprayed resin Topolino shell that has been modifed to fit so that it hinges perfectly onto the firewall above the cluch can. There is just the tricky lettering to apply and it will be completed. It was made as an exercise in early nitro cars to see how all the control systems and fuel lines would fit as a basis for later models which will be highly accurate. I have developed many new techniques for myself to aid the accuracy of these replicas and I am producing my own engines and rear axles among other parts. Together with supercharged cars, I'm working on some early Pro Stock machines which are progressing well. These have their own difficulties like scratch-building entire front suspension units for Mopars as an example. I have had a lot of interest in these models from the USA as in some cases they surpass what has been produced over there. I had one ex-Donovan employee, Mike D'Addario, tell me that he wished that Ed Donovan was alive to have seen my scratchbuilt Donovan blocks which was a lovely compliment. There are a lot more things that are in development that I hope to show you soon. Hope you like them (Oh yes - Ed). See Temair for Koultools. 24th June: Eurodragster.com sponsor Temair Motor Sport are pleased to announce that they are new European Distributor for the full range of Koultools LLC: Koultools make it simple to fit a steel braided hose into a hose fitting. Kits to suit every need are in stock and ready to rock. Koultools are previous runners-up at SEMA for Tools and Equipment – as one guy said "Best tool since the hammer!". You will wonder how you ever managed without a Koultool kit. Please address questions or queries to info@temairmotorsport.com. Trade enquiries are very welcome. Dragstalgia VIP. 24th June: Kelly Dormer of Santa Pod Raceway sayd that you still have two more weeks to book your VIP Experience at Santa Pod Raceway's adrenaline-fuelled blast from the past, Dragstalgia on 14th-15th July: Teamed with great hospitality this package is fantastic value for money at only £79 + VAT per person. The packages include admission to the event, privilege viewing in the new bankside VIP suite, refreshments throughout the day, finger buffet lunch, VIP toilets, souvenir of the day and privilege parking. To make your day extra special, why not add a ride in our two-seater Thrill Ride Dragster? This is truly an amazing experience not be missed! The whole package costs just £395 + VAT. For more information, please call the office on 01234 782828 or send an E-Mail info@santapod.com. SPRC notice to racers. 22nd June: Ian and Paula Marshall have been in touch on behalf of the Committee of Santa Pod Racers Club with details of changes to be made at the FIA European Finals as well as related matters: Some of our members have expressed the need for a solution to Sportsman eliminations, or earlier notification that eliminations may not go ahead due to weather and Pro eliminations. Therefore at the FIA European Finals we will endeavour to have all of the Sportsman classes down to eight-car fields prior to finals day, weather and track conditions permitting, so that not only will some rounds of eliminations have been completed but it will also be easier to run classes between Pro sessions where appropriate. We will also instigate a 6:00 pm curfew for the Sportsman racers so that those wishing to pack up and start their journey home can do so at a more convenient time. This curfew will only be used if Sportsman eliminations have not begun on finals day; if we are mid-way through the day's eliminations at 6:00 pm then they will continue to completion or until we hit the 9:00 pm track curfew. We would also like to apologise to the Sportsman racers for running the Fuel car so late on finals day. This was due to a communication error. Race Director Robin Shone has stated that this should not happen again and has put procedures in place so that it does not recur. After the weather problems this year racers have also been enquiring about rain-off values and prize funds. We did issue a press release through Eurodragster.com earlier this year, however for those who have missed it the details are as follow. The prize fund from the Easter Thunderball has been carried over to this weekend's SPRC Summernationals for all of those Sportsman which contested the Easter Thunderball. After Big Bang details were issued of percentage refunds which most racers have either used or are in the process of using. Finally the prize fund which was not paid out from the FIA Main Event will roll over to the FIA European Finals. The rollover of funds has also been applied to the Engine Data Analysis Super Pro ET prize fund, and £150 will be paid out to the winner of Super Pro ET this weekend. At the FIA Main Event MoTec and Owen Developments' cash was paid to Pro Modified winner Bruno Bader (£500) and Super Street Bike winner Graham Balchin (£750). Congratulations to both competitors on their wins. The MoTec / Owen Developments sponsorship is reset to £250 for Pro Modified and Super Street Bike this weekend, however the really big money still awaits a winner in Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator where the racers are vying for a massive £1000 cash at the SPRC Summernationals this weekend. Just a quick reminder, if you run in any of these three classes don't forget to carry the MoTec decals on your vehicle, one on each side. Decals are available from Signing On from Saturday. No decals, no money! On a final note the SPRC will launch a new on-line race entry system later this year. This will make it much easier for racers in the UK or or anywhere else in the world to enter any permit event at Santa Pod Raceway. The system will allow you to enter electronically at any time and once your details are on the system you won't need to input all of that data again unless there are any changes of course. You will be able to pay electronically if you wish by Bacs, debit and credit cards, but you will also be able to pay by cheque if you prefer. We are currently negotiating better rates for card payments and will post further details once we have them. This system will be linked to our Club web site which will also have a minor makeover to add items requested by members. We hope that this answers some of the questions which have been raised by members and we look forward to catching up with a few of you this weekend. NitrOlympX entry opening. 22nd June: Race Director Jerry Lackey has been in touch with the arrangements for entry to the NitrOlympX, which takes place at Hockenheim on 10th-12th August: Entry will be activated under Events at www.dragracing.eu next Monday, 25th June. All official entry forms must be filled out and all fees paid in accordance with the guidelines listed on the site by the official closing date. Payment may be made by International Visa or Mastercard; Swedish entrants may use national Visa or Mastercard, and Maestro may also be used. Confirmation will be sent by E-Mail when payment has been accepted and entry approved. Racers should visit www.dragracing.eu to assure that their entry has been correctly posted; the entry list will be updated on a regular basis. Should your name be missing or if you have other questions regarding your entry, please contact the BMC at bmc@hockenheimring.eu  or by phone on +49 6205 101816. Straightliners run Dakota events. 22nd June: Trevor Duckworth has announced that Straightliners have taken over the running of drag racing events at the UK's Dakota Raceway in Smeatharpe, Devon. "Lee Child of LA Racing Parts is now very busy with the track prep side of his business and did not have time to run any events this year", says Trevor. "Straightliners have reached an agreement with the land owner to run these events in 2012 with an option on 2013. This year's dates are: 4th August 13th October 17th November "Let's hope we have an Indian summer! "These events will be on a Run What You Brung basis for both cars and bikes. Entry is on the day". The new Dakota Raceway web site can be found at www.dakotaraceway.co.uk. Stef's Super Gas bits. 22nd June: Stef Pateman has been in touch with her regular update from the Super Gas pits going into this weekend's SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway: Pete Creswell has now slipped into the lead of the UK National Super Gas Championships with a number one qualifier at the FIA Main Event backed up with a fifty point bonus for running a perfect 9.900. Stuart Doignie follows Pete closely in second place so watch this space! Chalky White is looking to do two-wheel burnouts now that the broken half-shaft has been replaced. We have two very welcome new contenders this meeting. I am pleased to introduce James Wotton and Bernard Newbury both running their VWs. Bernard has a lot of drag racing experience and is also a renowned trimmer. You can find his web site at www.bernardnewbury.co.uk. I know the weather hasn't been as we have hoped the last few meetings so let's hope that the weather forecast picks up when we need it for this weekend! Good luck everyone. Swift snippets. 22nd June: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words "Coming very soon, 2012 Camaro SS". 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. Santa Pod Raceway are currently seeking sub eleven-second vehicles to make demonstration passes at the Retro Show on Sunday week, 1st July. If you're interested in the track time and a great Retro day out, please contact James Forster at james@santapod.com or call him on 01234 782828. The latest points standings in the 2012 ACU UK Drag Bike Championships are now available on the King Racing web site at www.kingracing.com. Ian says a big Thank you to Pär Willen, aka PiPPi, for his help in sorting a problem with the web site. Web site updates. 22nd June: The latest issue of the Speedgroup newsletter has been published and includes Sweden Internationals reviews, race calendar, Eurodragster.com Editor's Diary and a lot more. You can check it out at club.speedgroup.eu. Dick Parnham has posted an FIA Main Event gallery on his Flickr site at www.flickr.com/photos/dickparnhamdragracing. Editor's note: Your News Editor has run out of lunch hour so we have a small backlog of news which we shall post on tomorrow's update. Tune back tomorrow for news of a new record in Comp Eliminator, Mark Smith's season so far in Pro Stock Bike and more plus of course coverage of the SPRC Summernationals, and please keep the news items coming to news@eurodragster.com. Read returns to the track. 21st June: The long saga of the re-commissioning of Robin Tead's Bad Habit Daimler-powered dragster continues, with a successful test at Santa Pod Raceway at the weekend. Robin takes up the story: When the car was running I had noticed that number five cylinder was flaming from the header. I had thought that this was due to being lean, but checking through the injection system proved negative for a blocked nozzle etc. I decided that I would look further and take out the exhaust valve on that cylinder. Ah! The exhaust valve was not seated correctly. So the heads were stripped again and all the valves lapped in again. While I was into the engine I had the lifter gallery out and checked that over and seven of the lifters were not rotating. Oh well, no time to sort that one out before the Test and Tune so I replaced the gallery with a new gasket, heads reassembled and installed on the engine. "How much more gasket goop did you use?", Mark asked. "Well", I said, "I hope it still turns over and doesn't hydraulic on it." Upon replacing the intake manifold, having sourced new gasket material (thank you Bert), I uncovered another major drama. The manifold to head faces were not parallel to the mating faces on the heads. What to do? There is no time and not enough material to allow a re-machining job. Rubber gasket material is the only game in town, being compliant enough to take up the discrepancy. I immersed some in nitro for twenty four hours with no discernible effect. So new gaskets were again made and fitted. There were concerns that the blower pressure might displace them but we we would keep a close eye on that. The rest of the build was straightforward. Time to load the car, get my mate Nic to come with the short Pajero and get the trailer out. We had to load the car out in the street, but all went well and so off to Santa Pod where James Forster had kindly allowed us complimentary use of the track. Fire up, warm up and down for the first run in nearly thirteen years in the Daimler and about ten years since I was last in Knut Söderqvist's car. Nervous? Well, sort of. I just wanted everything to go right for everyone and I didn't want to mess up. Fired up and burned out, all OK. Motor sounded happy, however the vigilant start line crew had seen a leak from the oil filter and we had to shut down. Absolutely the correct call too. Mark and the boys sorted that with a new element, re-fired and burned out again, all good... no! Another oil leak from the rocker feed pipe so shut down again, also the correct call, thank you track crew. Mark again sorted that while I stayed in the car. Fired up again, burnout, this time no problems. Into stage, amber... wow! Nothing prepares you for just how quick these cars are. First gear shift, second gear shift, under the gantry, chute out, roll down the shutdown area. Damn! I missed the turn-off and stopped on the track. The top end crew came to check that I was OK, then my own crew arrived and took me back to the pits. 7.45/180 and we were all happy with that one as a marker. The car and motor checked out and so we made a few changes and upped the percentage in the tank and towed down again. Burnout good, run good and I got the turn-off this time too. 7.09/190, wow! This little hot rod is really ready to play and we can't wait for Dragstalgia. We headed for home tired on a post-adrenaline dip but good. The long hours and trials and tribulations are already slipping from our memories and we are already discussing the next tuning moves. It is customary to thank people who have helped so a big thank you to everyone, I couldn't have done it without y'all. See you at Dragstalgia! Editor's note: Thanks to Mark Skinner for pictures. You can check out a full gallery of shots of Robin's testing at www.flickr.com/photos/fast_n_bulbous. New Virginia. 21st June: Swedish Pro Modified racer Adam Flamholc is now almost half way into the ADRL season in the USA and is all set for US Drags V at Virginia Motorsports Park tomorrow and Saturday. Adam didn't qualify at the first event in Houston in March but says that he thinks that he has made great progress since then: At the last race in St. Louis we ran a Personal Best of 3.88 seconds at 311.50 kmh / 193.50 mph and qualified number three. We made it to the semis where a bad ignition box ended the weekend a little to early for us. At this point we sit at number six in the Championship, which I think is OK, but I also think that we can improve even more. Almost every track we go to is new to us, but as I said before we are learning fast! On Monday my family and I flew out to New York and we will take some time off before and after the Richmond race. The last time that my family came with me to an event we made it all the way to the final round, so I have a good feeling about this! You can follow us on the Flamholc/MMR Racing Facebook page and ADRL are webcasting at www.livestream.com/adrllive. Results will also be available at www.dragracecentral.com. A world-class weekend. 21st June: A day before leaving for the Sweden Internationals, the Swedish Motorcycle and Snowmobile Federation formed a National team from in which Peter and Sören Svensson and Team Starta Racing will represent Top Fuel Bike alongside Per Bengtsson in Supertwin and Kalle Lyrén in Pro Stock Bike. Sören Svensson writes that the pride of officially representing their country encouraged the team to run some great numbers, and run great numbers they did: We packed the bike and all our spares on Wednesday and got to the race track in Tierp during Thursday afternoon to set up our pit in good time for qualifying which would commence on Friday morning. We got ready for Q1 keeping in mind that we ran very well three weeks ago. We decided to change to a softer set-up in order to get a good qualifying run but unfortunately we misjudged the traction and when the green light came on Peter had to shut off after a great 1.01 sixty foot time. We got back to the pits and prepared the bike for Q2, making some minor changes since we thought that the track would improve after all the cars had made their first qualifying attempt. After a strong burnout Peter staged and hit the throttle when the green light came on running a strong 5.92 second run at only 324 kmh after getting off the throttle before the 1000 foot mark. We were number one qualifier in Top Fuel Bike and we were all very pleased knowing that this run was quicker than our own European ET record of 5.96 seconds. Saturday morning came around and unfortunately the weather forecast for the day didn't look good but despite this we were called to the lanes for Q3. After watching Pro Stock Bike and some Super Twin Bikes the rain started to fall and we were sent back to the pits to wait for a dry track. That was the end of qualifying of that day since it kept on raining the whole day. The most important thing was that we were still number one and would have a bye run in the first round of eliminations on Sunday, and that we could keep our set up from Saturday and try to improve upon our previous run in order to be able to back up our new European ET record. The weather forecast for Sunday didn't look too bad and the whole team decided to get up early in order to be ready for eliminations only to see the rain starting to fall half an hour later. It kept on raining until early afternoon. The track crew worked extremely hard to get the track ready and the organisers extended the permit for the race until 10:00 pm. Everyone were ready to race at about 4:00 pm. We were called to the lanes and got ready for E1. Peter made a strong burnout and pushed him back as always. I immediately noticed that the track didn't have the same high standard to which we were used because of all the rain. When Peter hit the throttle he moved out of his rubber track and he was off the throttle and on/off again in order to get lane choice in the next run, running a poor 7.47/201. Our E2 opponent Nils Lagerlöf had unfortunately broken his gearbox in E1 and we had a walkover. We were called to the lanes and decided to try the right lane with the same set-up as on the previous run. As soon as the green light came on Peter hit some really bad tyre shakes getting off the throttle early on in the run, running a poor 11.68/110. Back in the pits we heard that Ian King had run a new Personal Best at 6.10 in his run which was close to what we thought that the track could take at that time. Because of this we decided to step back on our set-up for the finals against Ian in order not to run in to any problems. We were as ready as we could be and knowing that Ian had lane choice we lined up in the left lane which had a bit less traction. Both Ian and Peter made great burnouts and were ready to go. The green light came on and Ian had a much better reaction time, but everyone could see that Peter was on a storming run passing Ian at around 450 feet and taking the win, running a great 5.82/370 after clicking off the throttle a little after the 1000 foot mark. This run is as far as we know the second quickest run in the world this year on the quarter mile and only 0.03 seconds slower than the world record! It also backed up our previous 5.92 for a new European ET record and the back half of this great run was a new Personal Best of 1.96 seconds with an early shut off! We packed the bike and all our stuff in to the trailer heading towards our hometown Sollebrunn, knowing that we had a new European ET record which wa a great feeling. Our next race will be the NitrOlympX in Hockenheim, Germany, later this summer and we hope to see as many as possible of our fans there. Our aim is to run at least one new European record if the circumstances are right ones. We really would like to take the opportunity to thank both the organisers of the race and the track crew who did an incredible job, not giving up during the long-lasting rain which fell for more or less a day and a half. Thanks guys! A big Thank You to all those who make this possible: Starta Produkter, supplied by Sollebrunns Oljeservice HRM Engineering AB, skilled engineers within mechanical engineering, mechatronics, electronics and software development Samek Tool AB, who makessome of the best moulding tools in the automotive industry in Sweden CemeCon A/S, one of the best companies in Europe when it comes to camshaft coating etc Real Form, product development within mechanical design Romnet, computer network etc consultants AF Konsult AB, consultants within most electrical installation areas JJ Ventservice, solve all your problems when it comes to ait conditioning and ventilation Pippi, No. 1 when it comes to marketing For more information about our previous achievements and updates, please visit www.billetracing.se. More bests for Bradshaw. 21st June: Brams Racing's Project Zed Nissan rewrote JDS Pro records again at the weekend's Jap Show at Santa Pod Raceway with a new ET record of 6.635 seconds and speed of 209.12 mph. "We are absolutely delighted and over the moon to have been so consistent at Japshow" says driver and Eurodragster.com Blogger John Bradshaw. "At the weekend there was a fairly horrendous headwind which was challenging. Coupled with recent awful weather the team's performance at the event was really something to be very, very proud of. "We also recorded our quickest ever sixty foot time with a 1.01 and this was followed by 1.02s. So all of the testing carries out at the FIA Main Event has certainly proven very worthwhile and benefited us greatly with immediate results. "I would like to take the opportunity to thank the many people who have offered their congratulations and best wishes. I need to thank my amazing team. Brams Racing is supported by Abbey Motorsport Limited who continue to prove that they are quite simply the most experienced and talented Japanese car tuners in Europe. Our crew is absolutely incredible and my thanks to all of them as without them it would not happen. "A final thank you to our sponsors who continue to show amazing support and encouragement: Motul, Autoglym, AET Motorsport,Sanyo, Kelford Cams, Bosch, Darton Sleeves, Ferrea, Headworks, 6 Boost, Turbosmart and Nissan. "At the weekend we ran last year's best ET several times and this shows just how much the team has moved on yet again - with more to come." You can read more in John's latest exclusive Racer Blog presented in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Outlaws mass for Round 3. 21st June: Round 3 of the UK's Supercharged Outlaw series takes place at this weekend's NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. Dave McKenzie writes that with eleven entries so far it is shaping up into a great weekend: Leading the series after two rounds is the Speed Demon team of Vic Hammond and Sam Freeman. The Small Block slingshot has already run PBs this year and Sam's consistency on the track has given them the lead. Defending Champion Paul Watts will again make the long trek from the Isle of Wight. Paul is chasing a third straight Championship but is currently in third spot. Paul deserves a medal for effort as he hardly ever misses a meeting including the Bulldog Bash which is non-points for the Outlaws. In second spot going into the Nostalgia Nationals is the Mad Rs team of Tom and Alec Coe who share the driving of the Shy Talker slingshot. The team is now consistently running in the mid sevens and is a force to be reckoned with. We have three teams tied for fourth spot: Andy Fadster with the Twister, Dave McKenzie and Mark Windridge with The Thing and Steve Goode in the Ghost Train Funny Car. Steve seems to have at last got a handle of this potentially quick Funny Car and if my source of information is correct Steve will be going for it this weekend. Team Thing also seem to have sorted out the wild antics of their altered with Mark laying down consistent 8.5 second runs at the Yanks Weekend at terminal speeds of 154 mph in a straight line! Mark was not flat out in the lights so there is more to come from this team. Andy Hadfield with The Twister is the last one tied in fourth position and after a break in the Greek Islands will be raring to resume his antics. I am sure that Andy will be looking for the elusive seven-second pass this weekend. Lee Gallimore with the Red Mist altered is down on his luck this year. Lee damaged his engine in round one and missed round two. Lee then had some medical problems so we all wish him the best and hope to see the Red Mist altered doing what it does best. Richard Davis with the ever-consistent Willys will be looking for a win this weekend after suffering a rare breakage after round one. Clive Bush will resume shaking down the Crazy Horse altered. Clive did really well at round one but a foot injury caused him to miss round two. He will be looking to put some good times on the car this weekend. Racing with the Outlaws for the first time in 2012 will be Joe Bond in the Nuthin Fancy altered. Joe can run down into the low sixes at over 200 mph and we welcome him. Last but not least is Ian Kerr with his doorslammer. Ian joined us this season and is looking forward to the Nostalgia Nationals to get the car performing. Ian imported this car from the States and is getting to grips with it. This event is being sponsored by Good Vibrations of California. Jim Maher has put up $100 for the Racers' Choice of the Outlaws team of the weekend which will be decided by a vote of all of the other racers at the track (no Outlaw team can vote). Voting forms will be distributed around the pits and can be handed in at Alec Coe's pit, the Team Thing pit, or Lee Gallimore's pit. We ask that all racers please participate and support a company which is supporting racing here in the UK On the home front Johnny Hall is sponsoring the winner of the event via his company Stamford Speed Shop. The Supercharged Outlaws would like to thank both of these companies for their support. Be sure to drop into the Supercharged Outlaw pits and have a chat with the friendliest group of racers at the track. Top Sportsman goes international. 21st June: The second annual UK Top Sportsman event is a few weeks away, hosted at the Mopar Euronats at Santa Pod Raceway on 27th-29th July. Paul Marston writes: Top Sportsman is open to any fast doorslammer; the only rules are safety rules, other than that anything goes! UK Top Sportsman is two races over three days. The first race on Friday is heads-up bracket racing, 0.400 Pro tree, everyone runs and first round buy-backs are available. Both qualifying and eliminations for the first race will be completed on the Friday. One-shot qualifying for the heads-up sixteen-car eliminator takes place late on Saturday afternoon with the eliminator running on Sunday. The organisers can confirm that there have been some very interesting enquiries and that some mouth-watering machinery will be seen this year. The UK Top Sportsman promo video generated amazing interest with close to a thousand views on YouTube alone. The enquiries have been coming in thick and fast including European competitors. We know of at least two teams coming from Europe who have the ferry already booked. One of them is even bringing a Mopar! Neither race car has been seen over here so both Jeff Bull and I feel honoured that they are coming all this way to attend our event. There have also been firm enquiries from another half-dozen teams who did not race at the 2011 event. I must emphasise that anyone with a fast doorslammer can race in Top Sportsman. English, American, Japanese, European - as long as it's fast enough it can race. For full details and to download your entry form please visit our web site at www.topsportsman.co.uk. See Sjödin for Butler Built. 21st June: Andreas Sjödin writes that Sjödin Motorsport is now European dealer for Butler Built Pro Seat Systems: First of all for we can supply drag racing safety kit such as helmet pads (lateral head supports) and the seat insert kits, but of course if someone needs anything else which Butler Built manufacture then we can help you to get it. Go to www.butlerbuilt.net to find out what we can help you to get. Right now we have a couple of the large E-Z Sert Pour-in-place urethane kits. These are easy to use, complete with instructions, and you don't need any special tools or a vacuum pump to get this kit in your car. The helmet pads are especially made for your car and will have a delivery time of two to three weeks after ordering or maybe quicker depending on the time of the year. Interested? Send an E-Mail to andreas@sjodinmotorsport.comto get more information. Summernationals Perfect Awards. 21st June: This weekend's SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway is the fifth event in the 2012 Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards scheme. £100 is on offer for perfect performance. Racers please note that decals are mandatory for both Perfect Awards this season. This weekend's Eurodragster.com/ModUrStang Perfect Light Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by Suepr Pro ET racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Peter Walters at the FIA Main Event. The money will be awarded to the first racer this weekend to record a Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds. The Perfect Light Award is available to racers in all classes during qualifying and eliminations, 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 vehicle modification specialist ModUrStang. For more details about the services which ModUrStang can provide see Mike Lacey in the Pro ET pits at any race or visit www.modurstang.co.uk. This weekend's Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by Super Pro ET racer Marc Henney at the FIA Main Event. The Perfect ET Award is available this weekend in Super Pro ET, Pro ET, Sportsman ET, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street, Lucas Oil Junior Dragster (eliminations only), 9.50 Bike, 8.50 Bike, VW Pro, VW Sportsman and Supertwin ET, 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. For more details about the services which Gold RV can provide see Derek Flynn in the Top Methanol pits at any race or visit www.goldrv.co.uk. To be eligible to collect either Perfect Award, racers are required to carry decals, one on each side of the vehicle. If you pull this weekend's first Perfect Light or 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 Light or Perfect ET will get the money assuming that they are carrying decals. ModUrStang and Gold RV decals are available in Signing On. Weekend event coverage. 21st June: Eurodragster.com will be at Santa Pod Raceway this weekend to bring you all the news from the SPRC Summernationals in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car. Our coverage will consist of frequently-updated reports on qualifying and eliminations throughout each day together with a photo gallery at the end of each day. Unfortunately there will be no pit notes this weekend as Simon is unable to attend. The Webster Race Engineering/Nimbus Motorsport webcam will be on-line so long as the track is open each day and will broadcast live video and commentary/Nitro FM audio. Thanks to our good buddies at Doyousee.me for streaming services. We will post a direct Home Page link to our coverage as soon as it commences but in the meantime you can check out our SPRC Summernationals Event Index, which includes the official entry list and Saturday's provisional running order, by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Drachten Airfield hosts the Drachten Nationals between tomorrow and Sunday. Our good buddies at Doyousee.me will be webcasting the event at www.doyousee.me/explosion. Don't mess with Chicken Power! 20th June: Finnish Top Fuel Dragster racer Anita Mäkelä has always said that Top Fuel racing is difficult and that she is still saying the same after her weekend at the Sweden Internationals: We started Friday's qualifying with high hopes we started Friday qualifying. We ran 4.8 seconds and one intake valve obviously had some trouble, because we had to change the engine after that. In the next round the car only ran for half a second and then silence behind me: the blower belt was broken. After Saturday was lost to rain we were #6 in qualifying list. Janne Ahonen was up against us on the first round. I saw his red light, so when the tyre shake hit I just let it go. But Janne's run looked pretty fast and I'm sure there is more to come than that 4.12. Anyway, that win meant that we would meet Risto in semi-finals. Tyre shake, back pedal, lost traction: Risto was long gone and I felt like a milk shake. I keep saying how good and fast a car I've got and how proud I am of my hard-working crew. I haven't lost confidence in them. I am pleased to say that we still have a good and happy spirit under our awning. My exercise programme has worked well out, too. Just to keep Risto and Jari on their toes, and so that they don't get too confident about the Championship, here is evidence of Chicken Power. Just wait: we will get into the front row sooner or later! Swift snippets. 20th June: There's a treat in store for those attending Bug Jam at Santa Pod Raceway on 20th-22nd July as for the first time the Showtime Fuel Funny Car team will be making demonstration runs at the famous VW festival. This is a new car with new technology and a new colour scheme. Don't miss out on what this incredible machine can do. Feel free to visit the Showtime team in the pits and to have a look at the car. Nigel Fitzmaurice tells us that Santa Pod Raceway's own radio station Nitro FM will commence its SPRC Summernationals broadcasts at 07:00 this Saturday. You can pick Nitro FM up at the track on 96.2 FM or via the internet at www.eurodragster.com/nitrofm with streaming provided by Doyousee.me. Staying with the SPRC Summernationals Mike Lacey of Eurodragster.com sponsor ModUrStang says that the Pro ET racers are holding their traditional Summernationals party in the pits on Saturday evening. "A fantastic band called Shred are playing for us", says Mike. "All are welcome, racers and fans. Come down and have a great night with us." SPR welcome Lucas Oil. 20th June: Marketing Manager Caroline Day and General Manager David Lloyd-Jones give a warm welcome to a big name brand which is really going places at Santa Pod Raceway. The Lucas Oil name is already seen on flags, trailers, cars, motorcycles, trackside hoardings and above the racing lanes at Sana Pod, but now the Lucas Oil brand name can be found on sale in the Santa Pod shop. "We are a major sponsor of drag racing and there's a Lucas Oil logo on a car in almost every category at Santa Pod" says Les Downey, Managing Director at Lucas Oil Products (UK). "It's a great showcase for our product range." Santa Pod Raceway is the home of drag racing in the UK and features some of the fastest and loudest vehicles competing in key rounds of the European Drag Racing Championships. Lucas Oil has a full range of Racing Only oils for cars and motorcycles. An additive range for gearboxes, fuel systems, cooling systems and power steering systems is complemented by a host of exterior vehicle care and professional workshop products. Web site updates. 20th June: Our good friend Remco Scheelings has posted two Sweden Internationals reports on The Netherlands' Autosport web site. First up is the race report which you can check out by clicking here and second is a report of events out and about around the track which you can check out by clicking here. Another good buddy updating from Tierp Arena is Patrik Jacobsson whose excellent Sweden Internationals shots you can find at www.speedgroup.eu. We were pleased to hear from Chris Gadney of the return next season of the DNC Racing Super Gas team. In advance of the team's return Chris ha slaunched a web site at www.dncracing.co.uk. The nicely-designed web site includes details on the car and team, gallery, blog, sponsors, links and more. Eurodragster.com US Correspondent Ed O'Connell attended a Nostalgia event at New England Dragway last weekend and has posted a small gallery of shots on his personal web site at www.surfphotonh.com. Editor's note: A triple whammy of shagged out, under the weather and busy in his day job has limited your News Editor's options for today's news update. Tune back tomorrow for news of Adam Flamholc's ADRL tour, Robin Read's successful return to the track, a Top Sportsman update and more, and please keep those news items coming to news@eurodragster.com. Swap Meet postings will also continue to be delayed but we will resume as soon as possible. Summernationals racer update. 18th June: Many thanks to Ian and Paula Marshall for forwarding us the arrangements for this weekend's SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway: Santa Pod Raceway's gates will open at 12:00 noon on Friday. Obviously if you are booked in for Friday's Peak Performance Day then you will be allowed in earlier. The signing-on office will open at 14:00 on Friday. Car scrutineering will commence at 14:30 on Friday. Bike scrutineering will commence at 17:00 on Friday. Both will recommence at 07:00 on Saturday. Click here for Saturday's car scrutineering order Click here for Saturday's bike scrutineering order Saturday's provisional running order is now available and can be checked out 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. Please note that this running order is provisional and subject to change due to weather or track conditions or for any other reason deemed necessary by race officials. Sweden Internationals results. 18th June: Congratulations to the winners of the weekend's Sweden Internationals at Tierp Arena. The event was severely disrupted by the weather but it all finally came right yesterday as the rain cleared and the organisers, race officials, track crew and racers put in a titanic effort to complete Pro eliminations. FIA Top Fuel Dragster: Risto Poutiainen 4.1850/454.93 def. Jari Halinen 4.2899/445.18 FIA Top Methanol Dragster: Chris Polidano 6.3205/359.76 def. Dave Wilson 21.4735/53.43 FIA Top Methanol Funny Car: Leif Andréasson 5.5607/416.35 def. Danny Bellio 5.9171/397.94 FIA Pro Modified: Micke Gullqvist 6.0136/391.02 def. Niclas Andersson 9.2041/149.75 FIA Pro Stock: Thomas Lindström 6.7041/334.37 def. Jimmy Ålund 6.7010/334.37 UEM Top Fuel Bike: Peter Svensson 5.8269/370.88 def. Ian King 6.9576/236.74 UEM Supertwin: Per Bengtsson 15.6032/83.55 bye, Nate Gagnon shut off UEM Pro Stock Bike: Ulf Ögge 7.0934/300.50 def. Kalle Lyrén 7.2326/294.76 red light Subject to ratification the following records were set. Congratulations to: Top Methanol Dragster speed: 437.96 kmh / 272.14 mph, Chris Polidano Top Methanol Funny Car ET: 5.558 seconds, Leif Andréasson Top Methanol Funny Car speed: 417.96 kmh / 259.71 mph, Leif Andréasson Pro Modified ET: 5.949 seconds, Micke Gullqvist Top Fuel Bike ET: 5.923 seconds, Peter Svensson Supertwin speed: 360.00 kmh / 223.69 mph, Per Bengtsson You can check out our Alamo Rent A Car-sponsored event coverage by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Many thanks to Kjell Pettersson for sending us the post-Sweden Internationals standings in the 2012 FIA European Drag Racing Championships and to Palle Lind for sending us the post-Sweden Internationals standings in the 2012 UEM European Drag Bike Championships; you can check out both sets of points on our Speedflow-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the Speedflow Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Thanks also to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe for forwarding us an updated European Bests sheet now including all of the above records set at the Sweden Internationals. You can check out the updated sheet of European Bests by clicking here or by clicking on the European Bests link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Swift snippets. 18th June: The Huxley family asked us to say a big Happy 70th Birthday to UK Pro ET racer Brian Huxley. "Still competing and enjoying his drag racing, Happy Birthday Dad" they say. Have a great day Brian. To give us time to get home from Sweden and a few hours of rest, the next news update will be posted on Wednesday. Tune back then; send those Sweden Internationals reviews, SPRC Summernationals previews and all of your other news to us at news@eurodragster.com and we'll post them on the next update. SVEMO selects Team Sweden. 15th June: On 1st June the Swedish Motorcycle and Snowmobile Federation (SVEMO) formed a national drag racing team. The aim is to support the riders in their racing and to raise their profile in their quest for sponsors. "It's first and foremost support for the riders in their international ventures. A national team spot brings status and gives them greater opportunities in their hunt for sponsors" says Peder Eneroth, Chairman of SVEMO's drag racing section. The selected riders are: Per Bengtsson, Supertwin Peter Svensson, Top Fuel Bike Ulf Ögge, Pro Stock Bike Kalle Lyrén, Pro Stock Bike Rickard Gustafsson, Funny Bike The riders compete in four different classes but will be traveling together. Per Bengtsson and Peter Svensson will travel to Valdosta, USA. Ulf Ögge and Kalle Lyrén will compete in Pomona and Las Vegas. These riders together with Rickard Gustafsson are competing in this year's European Championships. "The objective of the national team is World Cup medals", says Peder. "Today there is no World Cup in drag racing but we are working on having one in a few years. These gentlemen will then be medal candidates of very high rank." This weekend the second race of six in the 2012 European Championship takes place at Tierp Arena. All five riders have a chance of victory in their class. X-Parts start with Ålund. 15th June: Multiple FIA European Pro Stock Champion Jimmy Ålund has announced a new sponsorship deak with X-Parts. X-Parts is Sweden's most comprehensive supplier of specialtiy starters and generators for enthusiast vehicles. X-Parts supplies high torque mini starters which deliver more torque than OEM starters whilst consuming less energy. X-Parts will be represented by Jimmy Ålund for the whole season. The team will carry a selection of high-torque starters for GM, Ford and Mopar for direct sales at all 2012 European Championship races. The target audience is racers and anyone else who needs high torque starters for their cars. Feel free to visit the pit area of Jimmy Ålund during this weekend's Sweden Internationals for more information, or visit X Parts' web site at www.x-parts.se. Swift snippets. 15th June: Many thanks to Paula and Ian Marshall for forwarding us the final version of the official entry list for the SPRC Summernationals, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 23rd-24th June. You can check out the entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Super Pull NAST update. 15th June: Belated congratulations to National Association of Supertwins class winners Joe Elliott (Supertwin Gas) and Peter Harrison (Supertwin ET) and to runners-up Terry Green and Ian Felstead at last weekend's Shakey Super Pull Public Track Weekend at Shakespeare County Raceway. Joe was in fine form, taking his Little But Quick Buell 1125R to top qualifying honours and the event win over the all black Harley drag bike of Terry Green in a close run final 9.431/143.36 to 9.699/131.57. In the Supertwin ET category top qualifier and event winner Peter Harrison on his distinctive red 944cc Ducati dialled in 11.60 and ran 11.671 despite playing catch up on the Tree to the 1200cc Kawasaki of Ian Felstead whose 12.61 dial was a little off pace at the finish, resulting in a losing 14.218. With round two complete the points in Suertwin Gas stands with Joe Elliott on 740 points followed by Terry Green (520), Chris Mott (380), Dave Smart (300) and Nigel Batsford rounding out the top five (260). In Supertwin ET the points lead is now with Peter Harrison on 475, Ian Felstead ten points behind on 465 followed by Tim Boutle (340), Giselle Moor (300) and Mike Nelthorpe on (120). Round three is at next week's SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod. Powervamp back Bennetts. 15th June: UK blown-alcohol altered team Bennett Racing are very pleased to announce their latest sponsor, Powervamp Racing Batteries. Over the past six years Powervamp Racing has evolved into a one-stop shop for a full range of racing batteries and related accessories. Through the massive buying power of  Powervamp Ltd, Powervamp Racing can offer highly competitive prices on its batteries and accessories with the majority of products available for next day delivery by their courier service. Transactions are fast and efficient. Powervamp Racing is now one of the fastest-growing suppliers of batteries to the motorsport industry, providing the very best and highest-discharge fully-plated batteries available. "We are very happy to have Powervamp Racing Batteries join Bennett Racing as a sponsor", says Luke Bennett. "With their huge product knowledge we're in good hands and look forward to a long and successful partnership." For all of your battery needs, visit the Powervamp web site at www.powervampracing.com, contact them by E-Mail at  or call 01934 643000. You can follow Powervamp Racing Batteries on Twitter @Powervamp and follow them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Powervamp. Web site updates. 15th June: In the latest instalment of his exclusive Racer Blog presented in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car, UK JDS Pro racer John Bradshaw reports upon his testing at the FIA Main Event and looks forward to the forthcoming Jap Show at Santa Pod Raceway. As ever you can stay in touch with the latest Blog updates by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Ålund's eventful début. 14th June: Having been flown from the US to Europe in the excellent care of new sponsor Geodis, multiple FIA European Pro Stock Champion Jimmy Ålund's brand new Pro Stock Camaro was immediately prepared for the 2012 season at the J&J Performance shop at their home base of Norrköping before the first race of the season at the FIA Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway: FIA Main Event weekend was touch and go as regards to the weather which included both rain and cold temperatures, not good circumstances to run a brand new car. At the test session on Friday evening, disaster struck. The car hardly left the line due to poor traction with the engine over-revving which resuted in damage. The team worked well into the night to change to a spare engine and got it done in time for the first qualifying run on Saturday morning where things repeated themselves - the tyres did not hook and the engine hit the rev limiter again. The team could not take a chance on the condition of the spare after this as it needed a teardown, service and rebuild which could not be done at the track so unfortunately Jimmy's weekend was over. Not the perfect way to start the season. "No, obviously not, that was a nightmare", says Jimmy. "We simply do not have enough track time with the new car. It is a whole new product in every single detail and it takes many runs down the race track to get it to work". After the car was serviced back home in Sweden, it was taken to Kjula Raceway, near the city of Eskilstuna, for testing. "We needed to regroup and we feel good about the test day at Kjula Raceway", says Jimmy. Wwe made solid progress and we are very confident about bringing a good car to the next round of the Championship, the Sweden Internationals at Tierp Arena". The competition? "Yes, we lost the European speed record to Thomas Lindström, that record is from 2009 and it was about time, but we're glad that they left us the ET record", smiles Jimmy. "But seriously, it had to happen. The competition in this class is second to none which is why we have invested the time and money in a brand new car." The second race in the 2012 European FIA Pro Stock Championship series is this weekend's Sweden Internationals at the fantastic race track of Tierp Arena. Qualifying starts tomorrow morning (Friday). For more information including current videos please visit www.jimmyalund.com. MBE back Malmgren. 14th June: Swedish Pro Stock racer Michael Malmgren is very pleased to announce sponsorship from MBE LLC, who produce cylinder heads and manifolds. This is MBE's first project with a racer outside the USA. Matt Bieneman, CEO of MBE, founded MBE heads 1997. He has handpicked his crew from the best in the industry giving MBE almost four decades of combined experience. MBE specializes in NHRA, NMCA, Dirt/ Asphalt late models, USAR Pro Cup series, ARCA Racing Series, truck pulling etc. MBE is a trusted choice for leading teams and engine builders in the USA, Australia and Canada. In drag racing, names such as Tony Schumacher, Antron Brown, Jack Beckham, and Matt Hagan. MBE also provides winning combinations for many Sportsman teams. "We are very proud to get the support of MBE heads, and to be able to work close with Matt Bieneman", says Michael Malmgren. "Michael's decision to switch to MBE will prove to be a winning combination", says Matt Bieneman. "Just like the majority of professional race teams in the States, Michael has decided to take his team to the next level." You can find MBE's web site at www.mbellc.com. APIRA class proposal. 14th June: A proposal has been put forward by Glenn Stockton of Avon Park International Racing Association to run an Open Pro Class at Shakespeare County Raceway's APIRA Open Sport Nationals on August 25th-27th. The class is designed to cater for blown or normally-aspirated front- or rear-engine dragsters, Funny Cars, altereds and doorslammers capable of running between 6.00 and 8.49 seconds, running heads-up on a Pro Tree. Since discussions at an MSA Sub Committee meeting just a few weeks ago there has been a tremendous amount of feedback and interest expressed from teams wishing to race who would not normally be competitive in the ET or Super class categories of the UK National Drag Racing Championships. Opening up a class such as Open Pro could provide teams with an equal chance of racing at a UK National event so long as their cars comply with current MSA Drag Race Rulebook GSRs, carry an MSA tag and logbook, and have all the driver safety standards appropriate to the speed of the vehicle. If the trial in August is successful then the Open Pro class may well be run as an APIRA Championship in 2013 with further thought to adding the class to the UK National Championships in 2013-14. Any team or driver wishing to know more about the proposed Open Pro Class concept can call Glenn Stockton on 01159 817701 or E-Mail glennstockton@123thedowns.fsnet.co.uk. Swift snippets. 14th June: Santa Pod Raceway are seeking a race car to represent drag racing on their stand at this weekend's (Saturday-Sunday) Beaulieu Custom and Hot Rod Show "If anyone is local to the show and could help out we'd love to hear from them", says James Forster of Santa Pod Raceway. If you can help then please contact James on 01234 782828 or E-Mail james@santapod.com. European Top Gas Round 1. 14th June: The first round of the 2012 European Top Gas Series took place over the quarter mile at Hoskovice in the Czech Republic on a fine concrete track and in a very good atmosphere, writes reigning Champion Herman Jolink: We had four qualifying runs on Saturday and a fifth on Sunday morning. Qualifying finished as follows: Herman Jolink NL 8.356/258.81 kmh. In the third round Herman ran a new personal best speed of 260.64 kmh (previously 258.30). Herman made runs between 8.3 and 8.5 in the left lane and an 8.6 in the right lane. The left lane was the best. Harry van Schie NL 8.434/238. Simon Lewis D on 2100 V-Twin 10.024/186 oil problems and after the 10.024 run had gearbox damage. Peter Niklas D Turbo Honda 1000 SP 12.662/142. Two pistons broke into pieces in the burnout in the final qualifying session. Bernd Niessen D on 2400 Mechanical Turbo V-Twin had problems with his Hestec injection so did not run. Milan Kolacny of the Czech Republic was there but didn't had a good rear tyre so he did not run. Frank Heitmann D was not ready with his 2622 V-Twin not ready. Chris van Nimmen B was also having problems with his 2600 V-Twin with Motec Fuel Injektion and Dyna ignition and so was not present. Herman Jolink had a bye run in the semi-final and ran 8.401/254. Harry van Schie also had a bye in the semi-final and ran 9.927/226. It started to rain after the semi-finals and the race was called off. Top Gas points after the first race: Herman Jolink NL 465 points Harry van Schie NL 430 Peter Niklas D 320 Simon Lewis D 310 Bernd Niessen D 300 You can find the European Top Gas Series web site at www.topgas.com. DHRA becomes SFI member. 12th June: The Dutch Hot Rod Association has been added to the list of sanctioning member bodies of the SFI Foundation. Courtesy of this status, DHRA can now officially use the services offered to its members by the SFI Foundation. "The first Tech Inspectors have been trained and are prepared for the official SFI exams" says Gerard Roelofsen, Head of Technical Inspection for the DHRA, who has successfully completed the first SFI exam himself. "This means that DHRA will soon have a number of SFI-accedited officials in-house for scrutineering." For more information about the SFI Foundation check out www.sfifoundation.com. Crackling back to life. 12th June: Robin Read says that so much has gone on in the last few days to prepare his Bad Habit blown-Daimler dragster to return to the track that he doesn't know where to start on his latest update. He starts with getting the motor finished so that it could be fired up for the first time in many years, prior to its appearance at Dragstalgia at Santa Pod Raceway in July: There have been problems with the cylinder heads - those which were on the car were scrap! So did we make another pair from scratch, or fettle a pair of heads which were sort of spares but which had problems? Well, we took the second option because of the timescale. We checked the heads, cleaned threads, and all looked good until final assembly when some of the bolts pulled the threads out. So we stripped those down and repaired them. The intake manifold gaskets, which in common with most gaskets on the engine were hand made, had seen better days. But we had no raw material left and no time, so they were put on with gasket goop in the bad areas. The rest of the motor went back together in a reasonably straight forward manner, although we had to modify the new push rods as the top cup was contacting the rockers at rest and full lift. The head gaskets are also home made from sheet copper and these had to be annealed, i.e. heat to cherry red, the plunge edgeways-on into cold clean water, to make them soft. This takes a lot of heat so we went off to the builders' merchant for some firebricks on which to lay the gaskets on. Mark Evans provided the large oxyacetylene pepperpot torch and Brian Thomas the place and the gas. Then I noticed that the two pairs of gaskets didn't have the water transfer holes in them; they must have either been left over from when we ran alcohol and no water, or simply didn't get finished. Brian's son Gareth rescued me and set up the punching machine and soon had them finished - the anneal was straightforward. Sunday came and we sorted out the starter motor and batteries which we borrowed from Rob Sellar, and turned the motor over to check that all was well. Disaster! The fuel pump was moving around! There was a misalignment in the drive somewhere; we had made a new drive to fix an issue which hadn't been a problem but wasn't right, but in doing that we had created another problem. We ended up reverting to the old drive but with the new mount. Bill Mears, another long standing team member in attendance for the weekend, poured the coolant into the motor and we had another disaster - it was pouring out of the head joint! We decided that with the new head gaskets we had been too sparing with the gasket goop. We had no time to fix it as to remedy it all of the top end of the motor had to come off again, but we thought that the cylinder sealing was unaffected so we decided to start the car with no water and to monitor the engine temperature closely. So on went the warm-up can with methanol in, and 85% nitro in the tank, and there were Mark, Bill and I looking at each other. I said "Well, let's do it". In went the squeeze of petrol from the bottle, motor cranking, I flicked the switch and the motor just fired cleanly, picked up and just sat there running sweet as a nut. We couldn't go onto nitro though - the dodgy intake gaskets were leaking. There was no alternative but to shut the motor off and to try to tighten the bolts. We then fired up the motor again, this time going on to nitro and running the transmission and gears etc. Wow, what a lovely sound after twelve years dormant! "Shall we drain that 85% and run it again on 89%?", I asked. Much grinning and nodding of heads confirmed that we must! There the car sat on the stand, idling, crackling, spitting the odd flame and vapour from unburnt fuel. We were back! The motor is already stopped down again and the proposed Test and Tune this Saturday is still on! Enter the new Joker. 12th June: Germany's Team Joker Super Street Bike team spent some long winter nights working on their beautiful new bike and brought it to the Pro Racer Test and Tune Day at Santa Pod Raceway for its first outing. Peter Granica writes: On the Tuesday before the Test Day we picked up the bike from Brad O'Connor of BTC Motronics who did a stunning wiring job on the bike. After that we went to Paul 'Grumpy' Watson of DSD Developments who dyno'd the bike. It was very impressive how sensibly but straight he did that job, only doing the necessary work to map the bike. Now it runs very smoothly at every level. The paintjob was designed and applied by Jennifer Reinold, daughter of fellow racer Thomas Reinold, and the intercoolers where designed and built by Christian Beger of Beger-Engeneering. We went to the Test Day to try the bike out, and it performed very well except of some little gremlins. Only the rain stopped us from going faster. I was very proud and overwhelmed how many friends came by and said "Well done". A big Thank You to all the people who made this dream come true: Our sponsor Ernst Transport and Logistik GmbH, Brad O Connor at BTC Motronics for electrical work, Klaus Blatt for engines, Jennifer Reinold for painting, graphics and lacquer work, Christian Beger for the intercooler, Paul Watson at DynoSpeed Developments, Martin Klug for Suzuki Parts, and Sean at Big CC Racing. We started the FIA Main Event with three test runs on the Friday afternoon. The first was a bit lazy as the rider forgot to set the boost controller to on. The next runs was better, but we were still tuning as we fitted some intercoolers on the bike which rendered last year's settings rubbish. On Saturday we had our first qualifying run which was very smooth with a 7.8 and we were very happy with that. The field was very strong this time, as you can imagine when after the first heat sixteen bikes were in the sevens! We thought that in the next session we could turn it up to go quicker as our goal was to be in the top ten in qualifying, which means that you get travel money. But the rain and the curfew stoped us. So we went directly into eliminations where Chris Reed (Boisy) awaited. We struggled a bit with the set-up because we didn't want a bucking bronco, but we still wanted to be quick enough because Boisy is no easy fix - he is very fast and consistent at the moment. Peter was in front at sixty feet but the rest was all Boisy. So after one week in England we were on our way home, but still happy as we think that the intercoolers worked very well and we had no damage like at the last two Main Events at which we destroyed two engines. We are now looking forward to our next race, the SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod. Big thanks to everyone at Santa Pod Raceway and Eurodragster.com, your work is second to none (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed). There are new pictures, videos and Super Street Bike-related material on our web site at www.teamjoker.de and on our Blog at www.superstreetbike.beeplog.de. Belle wins the race against time. 12th June: After the sale of UK Junior Dragster racer Belle Wheeler's car at Big Bang, the race was on to have a new dragster ready for the FIA Main Event. The Alamo Rent A Car-sponsored dragster made it in time, as Belle's dad Andy Wheeler writes: After speaking to Geof at Hauser Racing and Malcolm at Air Sea Logistics we had fourteen days to get the car built ready for shipping by sea freight. Half Scale Dragsters Inc managed to build the dragster in just ten days. Pete Walters produced an awesome design which was printed in Denver by Steve at Fineline and then wrapped over a weekend by Hank at Awesome Signs in Pennsylvania. Craig at Serra MotorSport picked up the body from Half Scale Dragsters and got it from New Jersey to Pennsylvania and back again just in time for the pick-up by Air Sea Logistics for the Atlantic crossing. The car was then delivered in record time by the team at Air Sea Logistics and with some help from Dave and his forklift at Masters Vehicle Storage the car was off the artic and ready for unpacking. Two hundred screws later and with help from James Ingram the car was out of the box and the engine change was underway. An excited Belle arrived and we set up the pedals, seat and steering wheel. Paige and Dionne (Mum - Ed) were on polishing duty and Spencer Tramm was busy adding sponsor decals. Geof of Hauser Racing was on hand to make up the stainless breathers and to help to check that we'd fitted the motor correctly! We then got the car over to Santa Pod for the Run What You Brung on the Saturday before the FIA Main Event and Belle ran a 13.2 straight out of the trailer. It has been a stressful few weeks but the end result more than made up for it. We had a very tight deadline and if wasn't for all of the companies involved being flexible and going the extra mile we would never have pulled it off! Thank you all. A special Thank You to Kirstie and Tog for the great pictures of Paige, Belle and of both of the cars (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed). Swift snippets. 12th June: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words "Upgraded VW Pro car, new turbo system, roll on 2013!". 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. Danish Top Fuel Dragster racer Stig Neergaard has put one of this three cars, a state-of-the-art dragster which took runner-up spot at the FIA Main Event, up for sale citing stress and the need to ease off a bit. If you are interested in buying Stig's dragster then you can get in touch with him at info@topfuel.eu. Look after yourself Stig and hope you feel better very soon. Many thanks to Paula and Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 4 of the official entry list for the SPRC Summernationals, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 23rd-24th June. You can check out the entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Standard-fee entry has now closed; entry if accepted is now subject to late-entry penalty. You can download the entry form via the Entry Forms link of the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. Our good friends at Bangshift.com will be webcasting this weekend's NHRA Hot Rod Reunion at Bowling Green in Kentucky. Broadcast commences on Thursday; we will post a direct Home Page link to the webcast when it commences but in the meantime you can read more on Bangshift.com by clicking here. We will shortly be heading for Tierp Arena to cover the Sweden Internationals in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car. Whilst we are on detached duty news items and postings to the Jeff Bull Race Engines Swap Meet are likely to be delayed. There are only so many hours in a day but we will do what we can when we can; to those who enjoy writing moaning E-Mails and postings about things over which we have no control, please save your energy this time. King's Jubilee weekend. 12th June: British rider Ian King and his Gulf Oil Dragracing – Grand Prix Originals Top Fuel Bike team celebrated the Queen's Diamond Jubilee weekend in style at the opening round of the UEM European Drag Racing Championship at Santa Pod Raceway, England. The team arrived early at the venue to take advantage of the Professional test session scheduled to gain much needed on track experience as they continue the development of their advanced Puma machine. However, the weather thwarted this plan, and a practice launch on the morning was all they had to show when rain ended the day early. The long range weather forecast was unusually (and unfortunately) accurate for the next few days with rain and cold conditions casting gloom over the assembled riders from across Europe and Canada. However, the two qualifying sessions scheduled for the first day were run as planned, and despite a rapidly dampening track and fading light the team assumed their number one qualifying position with a tricky 4.00/186.49 at the eighth and a 6.41/173.06 quarter, the low mph testament to an early shut off before the finish line. King retained his number one position going into eliminations on Monday after persistent rain led to the cancellation of day two of qualifying. Round one saw King paired with Czech Republic rookie Otto Knebl on the former Brian Johnson Puma Yamaha as the final run of the round. However, loss of fire caused Knebl to be held at the line, and when King approached stage drops of rain started falling. Following hasty discussion with Chief Starter Ian Marshall, King took the green light and left the line for a short distance under power (as required by the rules) to take the win light and finish off the round. Round two would see King on a bye run to the final, but the rain closed in and it looked as if the event would be called. However, after many hours of delay the weather brightened and the extra hardworking track crew's efforts to dry the track paid off with the semis run at 20.00, just one hour before the track curfew. Despite the bye King was eager to get as much track time as possible, and carded his best time of the weekend, a 6.27/196.40, again clicking early as he drifted towards the centreline on the slick and cold track surface. Once the bike was back in the team pit there was some doubt that the hot bike could be turned around in time for the final, but King's superlative and experienced crew achieved the amazing feat of preparing the bike and getting it to the line in less than thirty minutes, an astonishing achievement. However, King's opponent for the final, Sweden's Rikard Gustafsson on the Pro 1 Puma Suzuki Funny Bike, was struggling to make the line in time, but a hasty agreement was made with the track crew to change the running order to ensure Rikard was given enough time to make the final. Five minutes before track close time Gustafsson joined King on the line. However a classic it was not, and despite King pulling a huge holeshot on the usually lightning quick Swede a pedalfest ensued with King fighting to keep the powerful Puma on the straight and narrow. King prevailed, however, to follow up his Championship lead in the British Championship with an early lead in the European. The team next travel to the great new facility at Tierp, Sweden for the second round, home track of the current European Top Fuel Bike Champion Peter Svensson and round one opponent Rikard Gustafsson for an all new challenge. The team are to contest all rounds of the premier international Championship in motorcycle drag racing, the UEM Drag Racing Championship: 2nd-4th June - FIA Main Event, Santa Pod, England 14th-17th June - Sweden Internationals, Tierp Arena, Sweden 5th-8th July - FHRA Nitro Nationals, Alastaro, Finland 10th-12th August - NitrOlympx, HockenheimRing, Germany 23rd-26th August - Scandinavian Internationals, Tierp Arena, Sweden 6th-9th September - FIA European Finals, Santa Pod, England For more information on the European Championships visit www.speedgroup.eu. The team is extremely proud to be supported by many leaders in their chosen markets in their challenge for the 2012 European Championship: APE - The world's most innovative manufacturer of aftermarket parts for drag bikes Action Cameras - Europe's leading source for action sports cameras Cometic Gaskets - The premier manufacturer of racing gaskets Bell Helmets - The ultimate iconic helmet brand Gates - The world's most trusted name in drive belts, hoses and hydraulics Goodridge - The original and the best in fluid transfer systems Grand Prix Originals - The brand for drive and lifestyle, past and present Gulf Oil International - The world's most iconic brand in automotive fuels and lubricants Hyperpro - The leading producer of progressive suspension products for motor bikes JE Pistons - The world's premier manufacturer of high performance forged pistons Kent Cams - Specialists in motor sport camshaft manufacture, short runs and one-offs Kibblewhite Precision Machining, Inc -The highest quality valve train components on the market King Racing - The most successful Top Fuel Bike team in European drag racing history Mickey Thompson Tyres - Simply the best drag race tyres in the world MRE - Leaders in trackside support for drag race components and air shifting systems MTC Engineering - Manufacturer of clutches for the fastest motorcycles in the world NitroShutter - Europe's leading drag racing photo-journalists NCT Engineering - Manufacturer of the world's leading non contact torque sensors for motorsport NGK Spark Plugs UK - The world's number one spark plug manufacturer Pär Willen - Master webmeister and proprietor of HarleyDrags.com Portable Shade - The best custom branded collapsible canopies available Pro Alloy Motorsport - UK's leader in fabrication of alloy racing tanks, intercoolers and radiators Puma Engineering - Manufacturers of the world's most powerful motorcycle engines RSG Customize - The UK's most creative website designers and vinyl artists Vanson Leathers - The most iconic brand in motorsport leather goods Worldwide Bearings - The world's leading supplier of ceramic bearings for racing Zodiac - Europe's largest supplier of performance and aftermarket HD parts For more information please visit www.kingracing.com. Outlaw Street Round 3 review. 12th June: The NASC Yanks and Gary's Picnic weekend at Shakespeare County Raceway has always been a firm favourite in the calendar with members of Outlaw Street, writes Mark Wallington: We had twenty seven cars racing over the weekend and a massive forty members in attendance, including new member Martin Green in Outlaw Street for the first time. Big thanks to Jerry Cookson and the track staff who as always made us welcome and kept the track running around the clock despite a number of oildowns over the weekend. We were blessed yet again with the sun which saw many people running for the shade and sun cream. Although the sunshine was a very welcome visitor, the heat and lack of breeze didn't help with the PBs over the weekend, or at least that was the excuse which many members were using. Regardless of the heat and excuses, many members were keeping on the pace and running as close as possible to their existing PBs, one being Rob Slater in his '57 Chevy who was well pleased to be running 10.1s again. The 'in-house' friendly challenge between Vic Fisher and Dave Taylor, who both own supercharged late-model V6 Mustangs, to see who could be the first to run a twelve looks set to continue through the 2012 season, maybe at OS-4 one of them will break the twelves. At each points round the highest points scorer wins a year's subscription to American Car magazine and a unique one-of-a-kind engraved tankard by MissB Engraving. The OS-3 winner of the year's subscription and engraved tankard went to Rob Slater in his '57 Chevy who scored 222 points for the round, not bad for his first outing this season. The top six points scorers for OS-3 were: 222 points: OS-21 Rob Slater in his '57 Chevy 216 points: OS-42 Nigel Jenkins in his supercharged Mustang 214 points: OS-31 Nick Rose in his convertible Mustang 214 points: OS-7 Andy Murton in his '68 Camaro 212 points: OS-16 John Edwards in his 347 powered notchback Mustang 209 points: OS-13 Stuart Ramsay in his '67 Camaro The Joe & Co sponsored RT Trophy for the fastest Reaction Time of the weekend was, as always, being chased by everyone wanting to add one to their trophy cabinets. Only 0.061 seconds separated first and second place, with the win going to seasoned RT winner Vic Fisher in his V6 Mustang with a 0.089. This secured Vic his first RT trophy for 2012. The top six RTs for OS-3 were: OS-18 Vic Fisher with a 0.089 OS-42 Nigel Jenkins with a 0.150 OS-15 Dave Taylor with a 0.218 OS-40 66 Steve Newport Hall with a 0.235 OS-53 Chris Antell with a 0.246 OS-50 Roy Collins with a 0.303 After OS-3 the top twelve in the 2012 league table looks like this: 462 points: OS-7 Andy Murton 455 points: OS-42 Nigel Jenkins 452 points: OS-31 Nick Rose 449 points: OS-13 Stuart Ramsay 447 points: OS-19 Stephen Moisey 440 points: OS-15 Dave Taylor 439 points: OS-16 John Edwards 439 points: OS-53 Chris Antell 437 points: OS-18 Vic Fisher 426 points: OS-50 Roy Collins 247 points: OS-21 Rob Slater 244 points: OS-11 Joe Mills That's 182 points between the top twelve, only twenty two points between the top six, and ten points separating the top three! Remember that this picture will change dramatically as the season progresses, especially if members near the top of the table miss a round. You also have to remember that at the end of the season members drop their lowest scoring round of points and the twenty five attendance points from the first round they attend. So three rounds into the 2012 season and there's everything to play for. If you'd like to learn more about Outlaw Street check out the forum at www.outlawstreet.co.uk. Web site updates. 12th June: In the latest instalment of his exclusive Racer Blog presented in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car, Luke Bennett of the Bennett Racing blown-alcohol altered team brings us up-to-date on the latest jobs in the workshop. As ever you can stay in touch with the latest Blog updates by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Our good buddy and stand-in photographer Julian Hunt has updated his gallery site with pictures from the Pre-Auto Trader Easter Thunderball Run What You Brung and Peak Performance Days, which also incorporated the Cal Look Drag Day. "I know what you are thinking and you would be right, it has been forever, but as usual I was waiting for Volksworld to publish their coverage before making my gallery available", says Julian. "There are pictures of everyone, not just VWs, and I hope you think they are worth the wait (Hell, yes - Ed)!". You can check out Julian's shots at www.julianhunt.net. As promised, hot on the heels of Speedgroup Newsletter 5 is Speedgroup Newsletter 6 which is a preview of this week's Sweden Internationals at Tierp Arena. You can check out the Newsletter at club.speedgroup.eu/newsletters/2012/edition6_2012/edition6_start.htm. Another good buddy, Alan Currans, has updated his excellent Acceleration Archive with pictures from the weekend's Public Test and Tune at Shakespeare County Raceway, which as well as a RWYB was attended by the Supercharged Outlaws, Outlaw Anglias and the Wild Bunch. As ever you can stay in touch with the latest updates via the What's New link at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. Starta Racing set for Tierp. 11th June: Less than three weeks after testing at Tierp Arena in Sweden at the Spring Wheels motorcycle event, Peter and Sören Svensson are ready for their first UEM Top Fuel Bike race of the season at this week's Sweden Internationals at Tierp Arena: Three weeks ago at Tierp Arena we made some major progress towards resetting of our own European records running a best of 3.74/210 on the eighth-mile and on the same run a new Personal Best on the quarter mile running 5.814 seconds after clicking off the throttle before the 1000-foot mark. This run is as far as we know the world's second quickest run ever over the eighth, only 0.02 seconds slower than the existing World Record on the quarter mile, and the quickest run in the world this year! These times speak for themselves and show what a remarkable race track Tierp Arena is and what a fantastic job Kjell Pettersson and his track preparation crew did for this event. If we can get close to the same conditions at the upcoming Sweden Internationals, records will be falling in many classes. We would like to take the opportunity to welcome our new associate sponsors HRM Engineering and JJ Ventservice on to our Top Fuel Bike team for 2012 and hope for a long-lasting relationship. We will make every possible effort into helping to market both your and all of our sponsors' names in all the different media which cover Top Fuel Bike racing in Europe. As our main sponsor Sollebrunns Oljeservice would like to start marketing their own brand Starta, our team will from now on be known as Team Starta Racing but we will still use Kendall Motor Oil which is one of the different brands which Sollebrunns Oljeservice provides to the Swedish market together with others such as Amoil, Micro and Starta Marin. We also have a new Starta look on our Top Fuel Bike, our trailer and on our new crew shirts and jacket. Please join us on our 2012 race tour at the following race events: 13th-17th June: FIM/UEM Tierp Arena, Sweden 10th-12th August: FIM/UEM Hockenheim, Germany 23rd-26th August: FIM/UEM Tierp Arena, Sweden 6th-9th September: FIM/UEM Santa Pod, England 1st-3rd November: Super Buck Blast Valdosta, USA (dependent upon funding) 9th-11th November: Manufacturers Cup Valdosta, USA (dependent upon funding) A big Thank You to all those who make this possible: Starta Produkter, supplied by Sollebrunns Oljeservice HRM Engineering AB, skilled engineers within mechanical engineering, mechatronics, electronics and software development Samek Tool AB, who makessome of the best moulding tools in the automotive industry in Sweden CemeCon A/S, one of the best companies in Europe when it comes to camshaft coating etc Real Form, product development within mechanical design Romnet, computer network etc consultants AF Konsult AB, consultants within most electrical installation areas JJ Ventservice, solve all your problems when it comes to ait conditioning and ventilation Pippi, No. 1 when it comes to marketing All our fans and family members that are supporting us towards new achievements every year! For more information about our previous achievements and updates, please visit www.billetracing.se. Wilson's perfect start. 11th June: UK Top Methanol Dragster racer Dave made a perfect start to the 2012 FIA European drag racing season with a win at the FIA Main Event. As everyone knows these are tough economic times so Dave Wilson Racing will only be contesting two rounds this season, unless additional backing can be found. He now heads to the fantastic Tierp Arena in Sweden as points leader and will be looking to maintain that advantage at the track where he enjoyed record-breaking performance in 2011. "What a weekend that was for us!", said Dave. "Believe it or not, that's our first FIA race win in five years and the first in our A/Fuel dragster. It was a very difficult weekend for everyone as the weather did its best to ruin the race, but the racers never gave up and the track crew never gave up and between us we got it done!  "I must congratulate the Mr Whippy team on their new best ET with Norm Grimes tuning. He really is one of the best Alky tuners in the world and got a handle on the car very quickly! "Special thanks for support and encouragement have to go to Linda (we celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary at the track on Sunday) and to Crew Chief and number one son David whose inspiration and support over the winter helped to get the level of performance we have. "The win for us was very much a team win , my crew is the best in the pits. Their ability to service the car both efficiently and safely in time to beat the curfew won us the race and made all the practice worthwhile. So thanks to all the crew -  Ricki, Harry, Nick and Katherine,  you know you're the best, I just don't tell you often!" Dave Wilson Racing are keen to hear from anyone who would like to be associated with a winning team as a marketing partner. If you're interested, then please contact us via our web site at www.davewilsonracing.co.uk as we know you'll be pleasantly surprised at the level of outlay required in return for massive exposure all over Europe. Gulf TFB welcomes new sponsors. 11th June: On the eve of the opening round of the 2012 European Dragracing Championship the UK's Gulf Oil Dragracing- Grand Prix Originals Top Fuel Bike team announced that they are proud to welcome two new partners to their team of blue-chip associates. Action Cameras are Europe's leading specialist action sports camera retailer. They stock a range of action cameras, mounts and accessories including brands such as Contour, Drift, GoPro, Liquid Image, Midland, Replay XD, Veho and more. They pride themselves on being able to offer well informed, appropriate advice and service to customers so they can enjoy recording, watching and sharing their experiences as much as they do themselves. The Action Cameras team are a committed bunch of action sports enthusiasts who love nothing more than getting out, filming their own adventures and sharing them with their friends and families and want you to be able to do the same. Action camera technology just gets better and better, which makes it easier than ever to capture your skills, spills and memories. The dramatic growth of NGK Spark Plugs (UK) Ltd represents one of the greatest success stories in the UK automotive market over the past decade. Starting in the 1960s, initially to serve the motorcycle market, NGK entered the UK automotive market in the early 1970s. In twenty five years it has advanced from a market share of under 6% to one of over 50% and increasing. NGK has become the brand leader in the UK spark plug market and the number one choice of the professional as a result of its quality, technical excellence and total commitment to Research and Development. This has led to major successes with vehicle manufacturers worldwide who are increasingly specifying bespoke plugs so as to achieve maximum efficiency from their new engines including Puma Engineering manufacturers of the most powerful motorcycle engines in the world. The Gulf Oil Dragracing team are excited at their prospects for the new season with the first track appearance of the year at the opening round of the British Championship over Easter showing early promise. However, despite qualifying in number one position at that event in very cold and damp conditions bad weather saw eliminations cancelled. Their second on track appearance, at the opening round of the European Championships was equally as promising with another number one qualifying position and an overall Championship win. The team are to contest all rounds of the premier international championship in motorcycle drag racing, the UEM Drag Racing Championship: 2nd-4th June - FIA Main Event, Santa Pod, England 14th-17th June - Sweden Internationals, Tierp Arena, Sweden 5th-8th July - FHRA Nitro Nationals, Alastaro, Finland 10th-12th August - NitrOlympx, HockenheimRing, Germany 23rd-26th August - Scandinavian Internationals, Tierp Arena, Sweden 6th-9th September - FIA European Finals, Santa Pod, England For more information on the European Championships visit www.speedgroup.eu. The team is extremely proud to be supported by many leaders in their chosen markets in their challenge for the 2012 European Championship: APE - The world's most innovative manufacturer of aftermarket parts for drag bikes Action Cameras - Europe's leading source for action sports cameras Cometic Gaskets - The premier manufacturer of racing gaskets Bell Helmets - The ultimate iconic helmet brand Gates - The world's most trusted name in drive belts, hoses and hydraulics Goodridge - The original and the best in fluid transfer systems Grand Prix Originals - The brand for drive and lifestyle, past and present Gulf Oil International - The world's most iconic brand in automotive fuels and lubricants Hyperpro - The leading producer of progressive suspension products for motor bikes JE Pistons - The world's premier manufacturer of high performance forged pistons Kent Cams - Specialists in motor sport camshaft manufacture, short runs and one-offs Kibblewhite Precision Machining, Inc -The highest quality valve train components on the market King Racing - The most successful Top Fuel Bike team in European drag racing history Mickey Thompson Tyres - Simply the best drag race tyres in the world MRE - Leaders in trackside support for drag race components and air shifting systems MTC Engineering - Manufacturer of clutches for the fastest motorcycles in the world NitroShutter - Europe's leading drag racing photo-journalists NCT Engineering - Manufacturer of the world's leading non contact torque sensors for motorsport NGK Spark Plugs UK - The world's number one spark plug manufacturer Pär Willen - Master webmeister and proprietor of HarleyDrags.com Portable Shade - The best custom branded collapsible canopies available Pro Alloy Motorsport - UK's leader in fabrication of alloy racing tanks, intercoolers and radiators Puma Engineering - Manufacturers of the world's most powerful motorcycle engines RSG Customize - The UK's most creative website designers and vinyl artists Vanson Leathers - The most iconic brand in motorsport leather goods Worldwide Bearings - The world's leading supplier of ceramic bearings for racing Zodiac - Europe's largest supplier of performance and aftermarket HD parts For more information please visit www.kingracing.com. Greek Championship Round 3. 11th June: Our good friend Elias Vathias writes that the third Greek Championship Drag Race of 2012 took place at Lamia Military Airfield in mid-May: The event, which was organised by Pro Action, was really a great success. More than 170 racers, just cars, attended and more than 5,500 enthousiastic spectators enjoyed a fine two-day race. Lamia hosted drag races for many years in 1990 - 1999. Moreover, people in Lamia are well-known motorists. Another RWYB will be held in Lamia in the Autumn and we hope that after relaying track surface a Championship drag race will be organised in 2013. More information on this race at: www.greekdragster.com/database/events.php?RaceID=201203 Race results in Excel format Photos at www.greekdragster.com/database/multimedia_play.php?galleryId=2012051301 Videos at www.greekdragster.com/database/multimedia_play.php?galleryId=2012051302 Thursday, Friday, happy days. 11th June: UK Super Comp racer Malcolm Motler started his FIA Main Event one day early with an outing in the Spellbound Morris Minor pick-up at the Pro Racer Test Day: It was so worthwhile settling me into the car for the first run of the season with zero pressure.  Having made a few small changes from last year, fitting new slicks and having the TH400 gearbox sorted out it was time to start tuning. On the first launch I pressed the transbrake button, up on the chip, foot to the floor and it didn't creep at all!  Looks like my staging woes of last year are behind me.  I must thank Andy Frost at Penn Autos for doing a great job of the gearbox, supplying the Neal Chance converter and advising me that I should have a Hutch transbrake fitted. His words were "It won't move mate" - how right he was. On to tuning. Having Sir Stevie 'Wheels-up' Wells with us was a real help and after watching the video of the tyres he started to drop the tyre pressures run by run.  That sorted, we upped the boost a little and he made a small four-link adjustment to correct the drifting left then we were off. Now feeling like I was back in my favourite armchair we came home with three Personal Bests. Firstly 9.10, then 9.05 and 148.6 mph and getting very close to my personal goals. Happy Days! I have posted a slow motion run from the Main Event, courtesy of Blackett Photography, on YouTube and you can find it by searching for Spellbound drag race. I would like to thank Bill and Vinnie at Topspeed Automotive for getting me in some parts from the USA. Great service, a decent price, and generally top blokes. Thanks to Eurodragster.com for their excellent coverage as usual (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed), and finally (phew!) my crew Steve and Jayne Wells, Harry Potter, Marcie and Callum. Thanks, you are the best Goddamm crew in town! Can't wait till the next one! A second rookie year. 11th June: UK Pro Stock Bike racer Kev Charman and bike owner Richard Gipp travelled to the FIA Main Event from two different directions: Richard, Lizzy and I arrived Thursday and set up ready for Friday evening, where we hoped to test in the Pro Test session. I needed more seat time, and this was the perfect opportunity.  We fitted a new exhaust and did a few other little jobs, warmed the bike up and found we had a small leak on the head gasket.  That scuppered our plans to test, as we had to fit a new head gasket - but hey, better now than on race day! On Saturday, due to the on and off weather, our first session got called down at 4:00 pm. I was in the right hand lane, on a bye run. Gippy, Chris and crew did a sterling job of getting me settled, and lining me up. Got a good 0.09 reaction and ran 7.87/167.  We were not too sure if this was going to be enough to qualify. Racing against Europe's best Pro Stock Bike riders, and again another rookie season, I was very happy to have qualified sixth in the first session. Second session - again the rain had held the track up, so it was 8:30 pm when we go to race again!  The track was going cold, and Gippy asked me if I still wanted to take the run. I decided I needed the practice.  7.95/153, shut off before the 1000 feet as the bike would not change into top gear because of wheelspin. The result of this was damaging the fifth gear shift fork and shaft.  After checking the weather and seeing 100% chance of rain on Sunday, we decided to repair when we had more time the following day. On Sunday rain totally stopped play. Thanks to Dale Leeks, Alan Young, Klaus Brinkmann and Allan Davies for being the 'bailing the water out of the awning' team, while Gippy, Chris and I repaired the bike.  All done, all happy and praying for good weather Monday.  I had Ulf Ögge in the first round, that was going to be tough. Ulf had already run a 7.4 so we had to find four tenths from somewhere. It's not like we haven't been the underdog before!  I had a 0.1 reaction to Ulf's 0.2, that's where the advantage stopped!  Ran our best for the weekend with a 7.77 chasing his 7.20! Still pleased to be racing the best in Europe and having improved all the way. Not too bad a result for keen amateurs on a practice motor!  I don't feel that we embarrassed ourselves at all (Totally agree - Ed). Big thanks to Gippy, to my crew Chief Chris, to Nigel who although unable to make it this time sent a marvellous food parcel, Bryony for the biscotti and Lizzy for her help as her wrists are still healing. Thanks to Eurodragster.com for the live reports, as we can never remember what we have done once home (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed)! Thanks also for the support from Richard Stevens from MPM Oil UK, and to my sponsors Doug at Ensys and Steve at Motorshack. Web site updates. 11th June: In the latest instalment of his exclusive Racer Blog presented in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car, Kalle Lyrén reflects upon the Veidec Pro Stock Bike team's FIA Main Event weekend. As ever you can stay in touch with the latest Blog updates by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. The latest issue of the Speedgroup newsletter has been published and includes FIA Main Event reviews, race calendar, Eurodragster.com Editor's Diary and more. You can check it out at club.speedgroup.eu/newsletters/2012/edition5_2012/edition5_start.htm. Another Newsletter is imminent previewing this week's Sweden Internationals at Tierp Arena. Eurodragster.com Photo Editor Roger Gorringe has updated his personal web site at www.nitroexposure.co.uk with a gallery of winners, runners-up and a few interesting shots from the FIA Main Event including many shots which did not appear on our event coverage. There are also a couple of nostalgia shots on the Home and News pages. Roger has also had race summaries and photos published at competitionplus.com and dragracecanada.com. Mark Skinner has updated his Flickr gallery with FIA Main Event shots which you can check out at www.flickr.com/photos/fast_n_bulbous. Also updating from the FIA Main Event is The Mad Welshman whose Saturday gallery is now showing at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman. Paul Lister was also at the FIA Main Event on the Saturday and his pictures can be found at www.dragcaranon.co.uk. SPR offer racers grandstand deal. 10th June: After listening to recent feedback from race teams with the particular focus on a lack of viewing access, Santa Pod Raceway are to offer half-price grandstand tickets to racers, subject to limits and conditions. All teams entered at an event will be entitled to buy half-price grandstand tickets which can be purchased by the racer at the grandstand kiosk at the event. Each crew member must show their racer ticket (included with their entry) at the time of purchase.  Seats will be subject to availability. "We hope that this goodwill gesture will go some way to assisting the needs of the teams", says Donna Finnegan of SPR. Swift snippets. 10th June: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words "Way more work than I expected!". 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. Many thanks to Yvonne Tramm and our very own Simon for passing us the post-FIA Main Event points standings in the UK National Drag Racing Championships. SPRC points will be available shortly. You can check out the UK points on our Speedflow-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the Speedflow Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. We will shortly be heading for Tierp Arena to cover the Sweden Internationals in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car. Whilst we are away, postings to the Jeff Bull Race Engines Swap Meet are likely to be delayed but we will do what we can when we can. Editor's note: We are working on our backlog of news and will post it in a few hours' time although likely with tomorrow's date. We always have room for more, though, so send your news to news@eurodragster.com and we'll post it here. Pistonhead Open 2 webcast. 8th June: The second Swedish drag race to be covered by Robert Karström's Smart TV is this weekend's Pistonhead Open 2 at Kjula Dragway near Eskilstuna, a couple of hours west of Stockholm. Round two of Top Doorslammer will be among the highlights of this SDS series race. Our good buddy Anders Envall writes: Since the successful show from Malmö in May, Robert has invested in a satellite link which will help Smart TV to send live streaming from any drag strip with a poor internet connection, such as Kjula. He has also invested in a graphic programme which will display both names and incrementals such as sixty foot time, ET, speed etc and this will be embedded in the High Definition video feed if he gets the time. Robert still works with only his family as crew since this is still regarded as a test, and there is no great income to be had from this work, so the idea is to use stationary cameras to keep costs down. Robert will still will have Eurodragsterholic Ulf 'Totte' Lindqvist as commentator and he will sometimes switch from Swedish to English. There will be interviews including at the end of the track. However, most of the time they will try to use the track announcer. High Definition means that you can fill your computer screen or large TV with this stream in good quality. The broadcast is real HD due to Robert's own work to optimise the signal, at least 720p depending upon the satellite link. The race starts today and goes on until Sunday and you can find details at www.dragracing.eu/events.asp. You will find the free webcast at www.smarttv.se. MSD, Racepak on site at Tierp. 8th June: MSD and Racepak will be providing on-site technical support and holding a seminar at next week's Sweden Internationals Tierp Arena. Joe Pando of MSD and Tim Anderson and Todd Paton of Racepak will be on the grounds at Tierp Arena to provide technical support and sales of MSD and Racepak components during the entire event. The MSD / Racepak technical support team can be found at the Hansen tent in Manufacturers' Row. Two MSD / Racepak seminars will be conducted in the Guldladan (Golden Barn) at Tierp Arena at 19:00 on Wednesday 13th and at 19:00 on Thursday 14th. Each seminar will provide the opportunity to review the latest products and technology from MSD and Racepak, along with software and product training. These seminars will provide the best opportunity to receive product training, away from the racing environment. A raffle will be held during Thursday's seminar with two prizes, $300 MSD and $300 Racepak product certificates. First fire-up approaching... 8th June: The UK's Robin Read says that his Bad Habit Daimler-powered dragster is due to be fired up this Sunday as part of preparation work for an appearance at July's Dragstalgia at Santa Pod Raceway. The motor still had a surprise for Robin, though: One of the exhaust valves was cracked 40% of the way around - so the head of the valve was about to pull off! What to do? I had these valves made for me so they were not a stock item. However , while searching in the trailer for something else (something I've done a lot of recently) I came across a box... Lo and behold! A full set of brand new exhaust valves which I didn't know I had. They are slightly shorter than the originals but we can engineer around that. This brings me to mention Bert Hopkinson who many years ago made a set of connecting rods for the car... well, actually not for me but for the old Beautiful Noise. One day, out of the blue and after we started to run quickly, Bert rang me up. That phone call has led to a relationship which has been a pleasure to me and crucial to the Daimler. Over the years Bert has manufactured many parts for the car and engine which just aren't available. Bert has long retired but has been so keen to see the Daimler run again that he has been working to produce parts and engineering solutions. This rebuild would have been harder and more expensive without his input. We need Bert again! We found a set of titanium pushrods which Bert made long ago and we decided to run them, as we have long suffered valve gear problems and didn't have enough chromoly rods left. Well, the pushrods must have been made for a earlier camshaft and follower variant as the inlet pushrods are an eighth of an inch too short and the exhaust an eighth of an inch too long! So we have to make new rods. A phone call to Bert and he will rescue us again! There have been other issues such as the camshaft which is a great job but which was forty thou too long, the fuel pump drive which wouldn't fit, and so on. There are three scenarios in my life at the moment: work, shed, sleep and not much work or sleep. There are others who need mentioning too: Mark Evans (finance, help and support), Rob Sellar (day-to-day assistance and trailer restoration), Demis Lowery (rewiring the car, removing my trackside repairs of dubious quality), Brian Thomas (use of equipment, supply of metal), Ella Chapman (my girlfriend, not complaining and support). The cylinder heads are now on the engine but there is still a lot to do before Sunday's fire up! Anita misses her friends. 8th June: Finnish Top Fuel Dragster racer Anita Mäkelä had a lot of hope resting on the FIA Main Event after a long Winter break. All of the off-season work had been done and the Tommy & Anita Top Fuel Racing team felt confident in the car: Due to the bad weather we had only two qualifying runs. On the both runs I lost a cylinder at the hit. However, I was able to run a bit faster in the first round and our time of 4.4 gave us #4 in qualifying. Monday morning was wet, but the sky became clear enough for racing. After three hours in the pairing lanes we got on the track. There isn't much to tell, but again one cylinder was missing. The run ended with a broken blower belt after one second and there was nothing more to do. The automatic shut-off system puts the chutes out and kills the power after the finish line. That's why even though I was rolling slowly my chutes came out and I stopped in the middle of the track. I spent the whole weekend trying to get to the far end of the shutdown area to see my friends there, but I never made it. But next time I'm going to go fast enough to get there! It suits me fine to have the next race in Sweden after a week. No long wait, and we are ready for Tierp. A Bishop in distress. 8th June: After a promising start in pre-testing and first qualifying, UK Pro Stock Bike racer Martin Bishop's weekend ended with unpredictable weather and getting knocked out in the first round: With the bike putting a 7.41 straight off the bat in testing, things were looking good. First qualifying on Saturday run finished with MB Motorsport in third position with a 7.43/180. Delays through the day meant that the second run took place late in the evening. We considered playing safe and skipping the run but decided to go for it to get the sixty foot data, we had a wild run but an improvement to 1.12. Martin stayed in third at the end of the day. In a patriotic British trend the Sunday was a complete washout with rain halting play consistently all day, with the Union Jack flying upside down to show the team's distress! Monday started off dry but with completely unpredictable weather of wet and dry and good and bad air throughout making it difficult to fine tune the Pro Stock Bike. The first eliminations didn't take place till past 16:00. Paired with Elvira Karlsson, Martin lost with an eight-second time to Elvira's 7.4. Not bitter about losing Martin light-heartedly confessed "We had problems with the run and the better man won, so to speak. "As always, a big thanks to all at Eurodragster.com (Thank you! - Ed)." Greek Championship Round 2. 8th June: Our good friend Elias Vathias writes that the second Greek Championship Drag Race of 2012 took place at Polykastro at the end of April: LEMAK completed the event facing several problems and delays, according to the opinion of many competitors with whom we talked. The good news was the number of racers who attended and the encouraging presence of the spectators. More information on this race at www.greekdragster.com/database/events.php?RaceID=201202 Entries and classification at www.greekdragster.com/database/db_classification.php?race=201202 Timing data by class at www.greekdragster.com/database/db_RaceTimingData.php?race=201202 Photos at www.greekdragster.com/images/Shows_Races/20120429Polykastro/index.htm Videos from spectators at www.greekdragster.com/database/multimedia_play.php?galleryId=2012042902 Next we will send information on the Drag Day at Lamia and the third Championship Drag Day at Polykastro. Swift snippets. 8th June: Many thanks to Paula and Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 3 of the official entry list for the SPRC Summernationals, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 23rd-24th June. You can check out the entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Standard-fee entry closes on Monday; you can download the entry form via the Entry Forms link of the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. Thanks also to Paula and Ian Marshall for letting us know that the post-FIA Main Event points standings in the MSA British Pro Modified Championship are now available. You can check out the Pro Mod points on the official MSA Championship web site at www.msadragracing.co.uk. The UK's Tony Smith is urgently seeking a single wheel nut to fit the rear axle of his new race car. "The axle is a fabricated 9" with floating hubs", says Tony. "I was sent a 5/8 nut by Phil Sweeney but it's too small, also a 3/4 nut is too big, so it looks like it's a 11/16  16 (tpi) UNS. I am hoping to get the car out for the Nostalgia Nationals in two weeks". If you can help then please call Tony on 07787 398614 or E-Mail cunningplan@btinternet.com. Santa Pod Raceway have been in touch with a reminder that the facility is available for hire. "From motorsports testing to film or photo shoots, or just getting together with all your mates to have the quarter mile to yourselves all day, we can cater to all your needs", they say. "Contact neale@santapod.com or just call our offices on 01234 782828." This weekend's Victory Wheelers Southcoast Internationals at Pylewell Park has been postponed. "The decision was not taken lightly, but we received strong advice from the Health & Safety consultant", says a statement forwarded by our friends at RodsnSods. "The weather was of course the reason for these actions, quite frankly it would have been dangerous to proceed with the forecast high winds this weekend. We trust you can imagine the enormous disappointment of the Committee who have put so much effort into this event. However, we will reschedule this show for later in the year. The date is yet to be decided, and we hope you all join us for a fantastic show." For the first time in the fourteen-year history of Eurodragster.com we have blocked the E-Mail address of a reader for repeated argumentative and ultimately abusive E-Mails. We can do constructive criticism, we can do lively debate, we can do frank and honest exchanges of opinion, but we can't and won't do baseless accusation or argumentative and abusive behaviour. As most readers appreciate we like to keep things upbeat here at Eurodragster.com but we have the right to expect courtesy and we will not hesitate to block, and if necessary name, anyone who behaves in an abusive manner. Of course, we know that 99.99% of you love us as much as we love you and would not dream of such behaviour so you're all safe. Caroline seeks Hospice support. 8th June: Santa Pod Racers Club marshal Caroline Boncey, aka Oscar, who looks after the Pro ET racers at Santa Pod Raceway, is undertaking a walk for charity and is asking for the support of Eurodragster.com readers to aid a very worthy cause, the Hospice of St Francis in Berkhamsted. Caroline explains: My Nan died in 2003 from multiple cancers. None of my family had never had any dealings with a hospice before and were very adamant that Nan was staying at home with us.  We were unable to give her the medication she needed to be comfortable and we were told of The Hospice of St Francis. Walking into the Hospice was like walking into a big comforting hug. My whole family, especially my grandad, was put at ease and we knew that Nan was going to be in good hands.  The care they gave Nan, and the care and thoughtfulness they showed to my family was overwhelming and I decided then I was going to try and raise as much as I could for them. Since 2004 I have participated in the Midnight Walk, walking thirteen miles dressed in pink - and you know I don't do girlie! - dressed as Santa and done a Santa Dash, and even a sponsored sky dive from 14,000 feet. I was planning to do the walk last year, but as I had a major operation I was unable to do it. So this year I want to make up for last year and raise as much as I can. I have already had drivers and crew sponsor me for this year, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart.  Every penny raised can and does make a difference to everyone at the Hospice. Any donation is very gratefully received. My sponsorship page can be found at www.justgiving.com/carolineoscarboncey. Read returns to action. 8th June: Multiple Australian Top Fuel Dragster Champion Steve Read will make a return to racing at this weekend's (today to Monday) 45th annual Fuchs Winternationals at Willowbank Raceway, Ipswich, after a twelve-month absence. Despite not racing since last year's Winternationals, Brisbane-based Read is confident he will be more than competitive and can win his second Winternationals title. Read won Top Fuel at the 2001 Winternationals. Read, who runs his own transport business, said a hectic business schedule and a lack of marketing partners had kept him out of the sport over the past 12 months. However, the popular veteran drag racer, affectionately known as 'The Pom' after migrating to Australia in 1993 from Britain, has always found time to compete at Australia's most prestigious drag race event. In a career spanning 43 years, which has included racing in Britain, Europe, America and Australia, Read has won two Australian Top Fuel Championships, an Australia Top Alcohol Championship and seven Australia Nationals titles, including five in Top Fuel and two in Top Alcohol. "Because of business commitments and the fact that it is hard to get a serious sponsorship budget needed to run a Top Fuel operation for a full season, I have not raced as much as I would have liked over the past 12 months", Read said. "However, the Winternationals is the one event everyone associated with Read Speed Racing; my wife Heather, race team partner, Dwayne Riley and our dedicated and hard-working crew, really look forward to racing at. "RSR have a lot of fans who only go to one drag race event every year, the Winternationals. They look forward to seeing us race and we enjoy meeting them each year." Read said that in order to get to this year's Winternationals, his volunteer crew has worked every weekend and sometimes two nights a week preparing the Top Fuel car and transporter for the Winternationals. "The crew has really worked hard getting the car and transporter ready for this event. When we last raced, we had problems with tyre shake. We have put a new clutch system in the car and I am confident we will do well despite the lack of racing." You will be able to stay in touch with Steve's progress via his official Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/readspeedracing. Pull a RWYB at SCR. 8th June: This weekend's Shakey Super Pull Public Track Day at Shakespeare County Raceway offers a mix of drag racing and tractor pulling. SCR's Jerry Cookson writes that the Super Pull is definitely going ahead as the weather forecast is getting better all the time and that the SCR team are looking forward to a good weekend's drag racing and tractor pulling. The drag strip will open at 10:00 am both days for RWYB and feature drag racing from the Supercharged Outlaws, Outlaw Anglias, Wild Bunch, Junior Dragster League and a whole host of extra hot cars and bikes. There are seven confirmed Supercharged Outlaw entries for Round 2 of the Good Vibrations Series: Dave McKenzie, Alec Coe, Lee Gallimore, Steve Goode, Sam Freeman, Paul Watts and Richard Davis. So prepare for some hot and heavy action. Outlaw Anglia racer Paul Wright has confirmed an eleven-car entry for the Shakey Super Pull round of the series: Gary Bird, Richard Colby, Cliff Griffin, Paul Hensher, Colin Millar, Michelle Mockford, Rob Stone, Spencer Tidswell, Steve Wells Barry Woodford and of course 'The Guv' himself Paul Wright. Beside all the four-wheel action taking place on the drag strip and the pulling track, the weekend will also feature the second round of the National Association of Supertwins Championship as well as the AMC Coating Street Bike Challenge for RWYB motorcycles as well as the Shakey Super Pull Bracket Gambler and the opening round of the Pro Street Drag Series on Sunday. It's going to be a great weekend for all drag racing and tractor pulling enthusiasts and fans everywhere. Admission is £12 each on Saturday and Sunday or £22 for the weekend (£20 advance). Track fees for unlimited runs are £20 per day or £35 for the weekend. Don't forget your DVLC licence and a crash helmet. For more information check out www.shakespearecountyraceway.com. Web site updates. 8th June: Our good friend Remco Scheelings has posted two FIA Main Event reports on The Netherlands' Autosport web site. The race report can be checked out by clicking here and the off-track report by clicking here. Colin Donisthorpe has updated his Flickr gallery with shots from the FIA Main Event. You can take a look at Colin's pictures at www.flickr.com/photos/colin_donisthorpe. Editor's note: We have a small backlog of news with which we will catch up on the next update. Tune back then for news from Super Comp, Top Fuel Bike and Pro Stock Bike and racers please keep those FIA Main Event reviews and Sweden Internationals previews coming to news@eurodragster.com. Event entry update. 6th June: Paula and Ian Marshall of Santa Pod Racers Club have been in touch to let racers know that, due to the tying-up of administrative work for the FIA Main Event, the closing date for normal-price entry to the SPRC Summernationals has been extended to next Monday, 11th June. The SPRC Summernationals takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 23rd-24th June and you can download the entry form from the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. The event is preceded by a Peak Performance Day on Friday 22nd, about which more at www.rwyb.com. You can check out Version 1 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 and selecting the SPRC Summernationals. Drachten Nationals definitely on. 6th June: The Netherlands' Explosion Drag Racing Club have asked us to confirm that the Drachten Nationals, which takes place at Drachten Airfield on 22nd-24th June, is taking place as planned. The event will also be an EDRS Drag Racing Series round. We understand from Explosion that at Santa Pod at the weekend rumours were circulating that the event had been cancelled and that as a result of the rumours they have had a withdrawal from the entry list. "These rumours are not true so don't hesitate to enter or to attend the race, of any of our other events", say the Club. "It is too bad that someone has seen fit to talk Drachten down, harming other racers in and fans of the sport, but don't let it get you down as we will be there!" Entry is still open for the Drachten Nationals; to enter or for more information about the event check out www.explosion.nl. Malmgren rings the changes. 6th June: Swedish Pro Stock racer Michael Malmgren has made some changes to his team. Michael tells us that some team members have left and new members have joined: I want to have as tight a group as possible with high skill levels for every team member. There is no room for mistakes in Pro Stock as the competition has gone killer tight. We need to be on the edge all the time if we want to be among the top dogs, and that is main target. Erland Cox has joined Malmgren Racing for 2012. I am very happy to have Erland on board and responsible for my Bob Ingles bullets. He is known for his skill when it comes to engines, but he also brings a lot of experience to Malmgren Racing. He will bring his son Bjarne to races with him, and Bjarne is on the learning curve on clutch duties as Jerry Hagman will move over doing rear end stuff. So far, in testing at Malmö Raceway, Bjarne has showed good potential so it looks real good. I feel I now have a good group of people in which, if someone is sick or can't attend, others can fill in the gap. Returning for 2012 is Emil Lundgren who was a team member in 2008-2010 but had to step aside in 2011 as he started his own business. Emil has great skills when it comes to computer stuff but can also do engine duties if necessary and can also assist in other areas which is very important. Some young guys mixed with old foxes will I hope be the key to success. Lahega's five-year contract has ended and was not renewed so we are running on a slim budget this year. However Oakley is still a strong supporter of Malmgren Racing together with all the USA performance parts manufacturers who supply all the good stuff which makes it possible to run with the best. Also for this year we have signed Europa Flyer who are assisting with ferry tickets, so that really helps. It will be a tough year as all of the teams have stepped up with new engines , new cars etc but we will be right there! Swift snippets. 6th June: In loving memory of King Knut Söderqvist a decal is to be distributed at next week's Sweden Internationals at Tierp Arena. Designed by Swedish artist Löörs, the decal will be supplied to all teams by Johnny and Dennis Nilsson. We have two spy pictures for you today. The first shows a Mrs Backfire who visited the FIA Main Event at the weekend... ...whilst the second came with the words "I'm going back to old school, ditching the turbo, fuel injection and ECU. Sticking an MSD remote dizzy on, Eaton supercharger and a 600CFM Holley carb is the plan, now that hasn't been done". If you know more about either spy picture, or if you would like to send your own picture, then drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com. Best wishes and a necessarily-gentle hug to UK Top Methanol FC racer Steph Milam who tells us that she suffered a cracked vertebra during a bumpy ride in qualifying at the FIA Main Event. "I have to go for more X-rays and tests but I should mend OK", she says. Get well soon Steph. Many thanks to FIA European Drag Racing Championships Points Co-ordinator Kjell Pettersson for sending us the post-FIA Main Event points standings in the FIA European Championships. You can check out the FIA points on our Speedflow-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the Speedflow Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Many thanks to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe for forwarding us the official FIA Main Event timing data which you can check out by clicking here or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Thanks also to Andy for forwarding us an updated European Bests sheet now including records set at the FiA Main Event by Thomas Lindström, Graham Balchin and Dave Holland. You can check out the updated sheet by clicking here or by clicking on the European Bests link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. IMI Youth Day at Santa Pod. 6th June: The Friday of the FIA Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway was also the first Institute of the Motor Industry automotive industry Youth Day. Thanks to Caroline Day of Santa Pod in association with Emily Harkansson, Careers Development Manager at the IMI, invites were sent to schools and colleges on IMI programmes and around 700 students attended with their teachers/lecturers. As a result the pitside VIP car park was full of coaches. Allard Chrysler Action Group Chair Brian Taylor writes: The concept of the day was a spin off from the IMI's involvement and support of the Allard Chrysler Action Group's work in restoring Europe's first dragster owned by the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu. Regular reports about the work are published in the IMI Magazine and on the IMI's web sites. At the Main Event the young VIPs were given exclusive tours round the pits, with many drivers spending time with the groups which were led by Stuart Bradbury and Syd McDonald. One of the high points was visiting the pit of the UK's new Top Fuel Dragster star, and major sponsor of the Allard Chrysler dragster restoration project, the Lucas Oil-backed F&A Racing's Chris Andrews. A similar day is scheduled for Thursday 6th September, the first day of the FIA European Finals and already over 300 students have put their names on the list. The link between the IMI and the Allard Chrysler Action Group is to enliven the interest of those young people thinking about, or just starting, a career in the motor industry. It is to make apprenticeships sexy and show that you don't necessarily need a degree to be part of a fantastic industry. So many young people have never heard about drag racing and this is an exciting way of exposing them to a sport that takes automotive engineering to extreme levels. The young are not only the future of the automotive industry – they are also the future of our sport. IMI Careers Development Manager Emily Hakansson said "I want to thank Caroline and Brian for enabling these two days. The feed-back has been very positive and we can build on this for our second day in September. I particularly want to thank Syd McDonald and Stuart Bradbury for accompanying the groups. Their knowledge added much to the enjoyment of those in their company. And a special thanks to all those racers who took time out of a very busy day to engage with the groups and answer their questions. All of you are stars." Legends reunited at Billing. 6th June: The National Street Rod Association, Rods 'n' Sods and Custom Car magazine have joined forces in organising a unique display of show cars from the '70s and '80s at this weekend's 40th Billing Fun Run which promises to be a real trip down memory lane - back to a time when hair was long, flares were wide, and indoor custom shows were the place to be seen: The organisers are delighted to announce that one of the stars of the show will be appearing in public for the first time in over twenty years, and will actually be in the UK for the first time in nigh-on ten years. Originally built by Nick Butler in 1975-76, and now owned and fully rebuilt by Spanish resident Roger Fulker, Revenge has rightfully achieved iconic status in the hot rodding world, and was voted Hot Rod of the Century by NSRA members in the year 2000. Okay, so the colour has changed and the gold lettering isn't there (at least not yet that is), but the rest is the real deal. Nick Butler himself actually describes the rebuilt Revenge as being better than it was originally, as Roger has completed some of the detailing which Nick never got round to doing. We are also thrilled to announce that Nykilodeon will be on show at Billing 2012. Now owned and being re-commissioned by Chris Rowe, Nykilodeon was also built by Nick Butler and this could well be the only time that this old legend will be seen sat at the side of its sister cars Revenge and Andromeda: never have the three been seen together, a true moment in time and a photo opportunity second to none  Nykilodeon, Revenge and Andromeda will be on display inside the NSRA hospitality marquee along with many other blasts from the past at Billing Aquadrome this Friday to Sunday (8th-10th). As well as all the feature cars, Kenny Youngblood will be attending the Fun Run on Saturday and Sunday. Famed drag racing and hot rod artist Kenny is someone who has influenced the artistic appeal of drag racing, so why not come and meet him - Kenny will be actually giving away personalized Blood Did It' drawings to every guest he meets. These one-of-a-kind artworks will not only make a unique souvenir, but a personal reminder of the Fun Run.  Take a step back in time, and join us in remembering the way it was. Web site updates. 6th June: Chris Eyre has updated his Eurodragpics photography site with pictures of Friday's action at the FIA Main Event. "I was crewing over the event With Martyn Jones' Another Small Fortune Super Pro ET dragster so not as many shots as usual", says Chris. "I would like to add a thank you to Syd and Crunch for bringing me in for the event and to congratulate them on the PBs: 6.134 seconds at 225.74 mph, well done guys! A big thank you again goes to the track crew for their tireless efforts over the weekend, a Herculean effort! An equally big thank you to the Eurodragster.com family, you guys are the best (Thanks - Ed)2. You can check out Chris' great shots at www.eurodragpics.com. Also updating from the FIA Main Event is John Przybyl whose superb pictures you can find at multicapturephotography.zenfolio.com. FIA Main Event results. 4th June: Congratulations to the winners at the FIA Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway: FIA Top Fuel Dragster: Risto Poutiainen 4.2151/277.10 bye, Stig Neergaard no show FIA Top Methanol Dragster: Dave Wilson 5.3398/262.67 bye, Manty Bugeja no show FIA Top Methanol Funny Car: Danny Bellio 5.9120/234.98 def. Rob Turner no time DQ FIA Pro Modified: Bruno Bader 12.1811/108.72 bye FIA Pro Stock: Thomas Lindström 6.7169/206.01 def. Micke Callin 15.0461/56.39 UEM Top Fuel Bike: Ian King 6.9484/188.20 def. Rikard Gustafsson 7.1419/173.05 UEM Supertwin: Nate Gagnon 6.6852/215.12 bye, Job Heezen no show UEM Pro Stock Bike: Kalle Lyrén 7.1634/183.63 bye, Ulf Ögge no show UEM Super Street Bike Cup: Graham Balchin 7.3436/198.88 def. Chris Reed 7.8165/198.88 Congratulations also to the following who set new records, subject to official ratification: FIA Pro Stock speed: 207.95 mph, Thomas Lindström UEM Super Street Bike Cup ET: 7.261 seconds, Graham Balchin UEM Super Street Bike Cup speed: 201.50 mph, Dave Holland Finally congratulations to Super Pro ET racers Pete Walters and Marc Henney who won the Eurodragster.com/ModUrStang Perfect Light Award and Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET Award respectively. The FIA Main Event was very badly affected by the weather and a number of incidents but as usual the race officials, track crew and racers worked together to get the best outcome possible under the circumstances. You can check out our Alamo Rent A Car-sponsired FIA Main Event coverage by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Swift snippets. 1st June: European fans have someone to cheer on at the ADRL Gateway Drags IV in St Louis as Swedish Pro Modified racer Adam Flamholc is contesting his fourth ARDL event of the season. A webcast is available at www.adrl.us, results will be available courtesy of our Drag Race Central colleagues at www.dragracecentral.com, and Adam will be updating from the track on the Flamholc Racing Facebook page. Good luck Adam and stay safe. Regular readers will recall that Honorary Eurodragster.com Staff Member Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe was to take part in a London to Brighton bike ride last week in aid of the British Heart Foundation and in memory of his father. A number of Eurodragster.com readers generously sponsored Andy and helped him to surpass his target of £1000 and then £1500 for the BHF. We are pleased to report that Andy made it to Brighton and he has written an entertaining account which you can check out by clicking here or by clicking on the picture at right. Well done Marrs! Andy's Just Giving account is still open so if you wish to donate to the BHF you can do so at www.justgiving.com/andymarrs. Matt Glassup has been in touch to let us know that the UK's Xtreme Racing blown-altered team will henceforth be burning nitro in Bob's Topolino altered, having bought an engine and transmission from Tony Betts of Venom Fuel Altered renown. With help from team members Rich Walters, Lee Johnstone and Steve Wright among others, the motor and trans are already in the car. There is still a lot of work to do but we have already got the combination in the car and are looking to fire it up soon. You can find out a lot more in the Xtreme Racing Blog at www.xtremewheelsracing.com/blogs. Matt also tells us that when the the Xtreme Racing Facebook page gets to 1000 Likes (currently 889) then a prize will be posted. Many thanks to Helen Todd and Belinda Bull for sending us a direct link to the Top Sportsman promotional video mentioned in Wednesday's news. You can check out the Top Sportsman video at youtu.be/DLoCAbaqXYI. Web site updates. 1st June: Our good buddy Alan Currans has updated his Acceleration Archive with a gallery of shots from the Yanks Weekend/Gary's Picnic at Shakespeare County Raceway. As ever you can stay in touch with the latest updates via the What's New link at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. Earlier news