Event entry update. 29th June: Holger Dueholm writes that entry is now open for the Days of Thunder event at Vandel Raceway in Denmark on 3rd-4th August. "Days of Thunder will count for points in the EDRS European Drag Racing Series in several classes, as well as the Euroserie in Supertwin Top Gas, the Danish Biltema Dragracing League, and the Danish Championship for Dragbikes", says Holger. "Registration at the standard entry fee is open until 14th July, and after that there will be a Late Entry fee. Dragracing Club Denmark and Streetfire welcome all racers and fans." You can enter Days of Thunder on-line at www.streetfire.dk. Swift snippets. 29th June: Yesterday's meeting of the FIA's World Motorsports Council at Goodwood House accepted the FIA Drag Racing Commission's recommendation that the commercial rights for the FIA European Drag Racing Championships should be put out to competitive tender commencing with next year's Championship. Expressions of interest will be invited by FIA's commercial department. The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with no words. 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. European fans have someone to cheer on in the USA this weekend as Sweden's Adam Flamholc will be contesting Pro Modified at the ADRL Summer Drags IX in Martin, Michigan. You will be able to stay in touch with Adam's progress this weekend courtesy of Drag Race Central friends at www.dragracecentral.com. Good luck Adam and stay safe. Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 4 of the official entry list for Bug Jam, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 19th-21st July (race days 20th-21st). You can check out the Bug Jam entry list by clicking here. Entry is still open but is now subject to a Late Entry penalty. You can download the Bug Jam entry form from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about Bug Jam entry then please contact Ian Marshall at SPRC at ir.marshall@btconnect.com or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625). Thanks to Yvonne Tramm and our own Simon for supplying us with the post-SPRC Summernationals points standings in the UK National Drag Racing Championships. You can check out the UK National points on our OCS Paint-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the OCS Paint Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Gasser Circus Round 2 review. 29th June: Nervous Nick has been in touch with a review of the Gasser Circus' outing at the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals, the second in this year's series: The weekend for most kicked off on Friday, with Gassers entering the gates at Shakespeare County Raceway at steady rate. The usual suspects were all there with a few notable absentees, with the Roarin' Rat of Ken Brookes and current Championship leader Tim Holmes and his Power Wagon pickup missing from the still-impressive line-up, with twelve Gassers ready for battle. Taking a quick tour amongst the assembled teams, it became clear that there were for some new setups which in the end turned into a weekend proliferated with firsts! In the department labelled new set-ups Lou Noble and her Lou's Cannon '57 Chevy had a freshly rebuilt 460 Big Block Ford sat between its rails and husband Mike had been forced into a rebuild on his fresh Blown Chevy Big Block after discovering metal filings in the oil. The 55 Chevy of John Gibson, Crowd Pleaser, was a welcome returnee to the Circus and was also sporting a freshly built fuel injected Small Block Chevy. Slick Mick Allen was also back in contention, with his Henry J Horrid Henry with a new Ford 9" hung on leaf springs and ladder bars. The weekend of firsts began early on Saturday morning with my daughter Patsy occupying the driver's seat of my Austin Devon Nogbad the Bad. Her first time in the car, her first time on the strip, I couldn't have been more proud or scared all at the same time. Patsy ran a nineteen but by the end of qualifying she had qualified the car fourth with a 13.9 on a 13.86 dial-in! The firsts continued with NPB for Martyn Hallam in his Hallam Hallam & Couch '33 Willys with a 10.83, he also pulled his first wheelie which he carried for at least fifty feet. Mike Noble also pulled his first wheelie in his 57 Chevy Honky Tonkin' and he thought that whilst he was at it he might as well make it a big one, with the back bumper touching the wheelie bars which were busy as they were kissing the track! Qualifying on Saturday had some really close and exhilarating racing and it was a fitting way to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Terry Howarth's brainchild. On Saturday night the Gasser Circus continued the celebrations with another barbecue with Brian Gibson the resident chef. The barbecue had an added bonus as Lilly Pike (Lee and Joanne's daughter) got everyone to wear and have their photo taken in her clown wig, the results will haunt many of us for years! Sunday and it was down to business, and with eliminations underway Gassers losing out were Honky Tonkin 2, Lou's Cannon, Crowd Pleaser, Horrid Henry and Nogbad the Bad. This meant that Ain't Misbehavin, Green Onions, Honky Tonkin' and Identity Crisis were all still in contention. Brian Gibson was especially happy as he had ran new Personal Nest with a stout 11.64 in his Dodge. All weekend those attending had become used to watching heavy black clouds laden with wet stuff drifting diagonally across the track, on a few occasions some decided to deposit a light spray of droplets, and we had thankfully escaped any significant rain fall, that however changed just before two o'clock. The deluge was set to last for the next forty five minutes, by which time many had decided that the day was over. But the Gasser Circus like many of the other racers are a hardy bunch and when we come to race we stay until we are told to go (a bit like the clubhouse) and so it was on Sunday. With the team at Shakey working tirelessly to get the track ready it was just before four when racing got underway again. By the time the semi-finals came round Ray Turner in Green Onions had a bye to the final and his son Harvey stepped into the driving seat and drove the current Champion to the last two. Sean Milsom and Brian Gibson went head to head but Brian broke out by 0.130 handing the win to Sean. Jerry Cookson requested that we turn the Gassers around as quick as possible as we were fast heading towards another downpour and the even faster approaching five o'clock curfew. We obliged and with fifteen minutes to spare Sean and Ray brought their respective green Gassers to line, following strong burnouts. With very close dial-ins this was going to be a very close final, with Sean having the go light fractions before Ray. This always makes it difficult for the driver sat waiting and so it proved for Ray as he left to early and lit up the red bulb that confirmed that Sean had taken his maiden win in the Gasser Circus Showdown. In the process Sean had added to the list of firsts: first time finalist and first time winner. He is the second winner of the year and the threat to Ray's crown continues to grow! It was a sweet victory made all the sweeter as he got to share it with his crew which included his daughter Steph. I am sure it will take a few weeks for the smile to slip from Sean's face! The Big Top is packed and on its way to Santa Pod ready for Round 3 of the Gasser Circus at Dragstalgia. This is an ideal opportunity to say thank you to all our teams, supporters and sponsors, so thank you NSRA, Shakespeare County Raceway, Jack Hammer, Mopar Nationals Committee, Hot Rod Supplies, and Mechanix Limited who handed over £100 for the perfect reaction to a very surprised but happy Slick Mick Allen. See you all at Santa Pod in just under three weeks. A Fancy weekend. 29th June: Joe Bond's Nuthin' Fancy blown-alcohol altered performed well at the SPRC Summernationals, running solid mid six-second runs at over 200 mph all weekend. Joe says that from a team perspective they really could not have asked for more: It was reward for the hard work we all put into the team. Plus the climate at the weekend was good for our new crew shirts, courtesy of Chi Town Racing Products! Last season we were chasing a few gremlins and so we made some changes to the car to remedy them. It's nice to see that the changes we made are starting to turn themselves into solid results, so personally it was a very positive and constructive weekend. We had a Go Pro camera on board the car for one of the qualifying runs, and you can find the video on our Nuthin' Fancy Racing YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut5r775T1iA. I want to say a massive thank you to my crew Martyn, Lawrence, Mike, Mum and Dad and Amy for everything over the weekend! I also want to say a big thank you for all the support from everyone who came and said hello, fans and racers alike, making it a fantastic weekend. Our next event is Dragstalgia in a few weeks' time, and we hope to keep the consistency up. Please visit our racing Facebook page and Like us if you'd like to follow us. Junior Senior. 29th June: John McLeans Junior and Senior contested 8.50 Bike and 9.50 Bike respectively at last weekend's SPRC Summernationals and via Mark Skinner got in touch with their reviews of the weekend: John Jr, 8.50 Bike: With a week to go to the event were unsure whether or not we were going to have to pull out. As this was our first event since Easter we didn't want to miss it. After chasing an intermittent misfire all week it turned out to be the ignition trigger plate. If it wasn't for the help of Stuart Crane at Warpspeed Racing lending me another for the weekend, we would not have had a bike to run. For this reason, we entered the Peak Performance test day on the Friday to make sure that the bike was running fine. The first run out the trailer was a soft checkout pass. We ran a 9.29/140 into a fierce headwind, thus showing the bike was cured. With a tyre on its limits we decided to swap to an old Mickey Thompson which we had kicking about so that we could save the good tyre for the rest of the weekend. Two launches later with wheelspin well past sixty feet the MT got thrown in the bin and the Metzeler put back on. 9.0 and 9.2 passes to finish off the day gave us good hope apart from the tyre, which was now goosed. Big thanks goes to fellow 8.50 Bike racer Steve Ashby for sorting me out one of his old Michelin Power Ones to get us through the weekend. We went into Q1 with no idea how the tyre would hook up as we'd never used one on any of our bikes before, and another fierce headwind. Well, I am now a convert to the Michelin as it hooked up well, too well, the bike bunny hopping off the line due to a combination of too little throttle, too much grip and the motor being bogged down. It was funny looking back on it, 9.0/140 again. Q2 would be the run to make our weekend. We weren't expecting miracles, especially with the wind, but if we could break into the high eights we would be happy. We hoped that a bit more tyre pressure and a shorter burnout would help get the bike off the line and it did, a glimpse into the potential we now have. 1.29 sixty foot, second, third, fourth, go to get fifth gear and nothing, so held it until the 1000 foot marker and shut off. 8.64/132, a new PB and one hell of a run, as straight as a dart. Lucky though, as if I hadn't shut off, I may have broken out. This put us into number seven qualifier and in with a shout in eliminations. In Q3 we were now geared up to run ever closer to that 8.50. Got into stage, up on the two step and wait, wait, wait, Dave next to me had a touch of brain freeze and forgot to fully stage. I was let go on the green, 1.30 sixty foot then no gears, airshifter had failed me again, so aborted the run. Dave came up and apologised after and we laughed about it. Sunday came and I was facing Steve Moore in Round 1, into stage and a bunny hopping launch again (rider error) and then no gears, once again, somehow managed to manually shift it and get it to the end of the track with a 9.67. Although Steve had run a 9.65 I took the holeshot off the line and just scraped through Round 1. Then the rain came and the event was called, but we were more than happy at Saturday's results. There is a lot more left in this bike and, as we are learning run by run, we are confident that by next year we will have some good settings for it. John Sr, 9.50 Bike: Snr decided to sit out the Friday test day as he did not need to do much tweaking on my own bike. As a few weeks previously the bike was running consistent 9.0s/9.1s so was confident he had a good tune. In Q1 he got a good solid launch and went over the line with a 10.1/140, leaning right off the bike to get it away from the wall so not all too bad. Q2 and more of the same, A good launch, but as Snr got on the gas in third, he had a nitrous backfire which toasted his nuts slightly, so did the rest of the run without nitrous, going over the line with a 10.0/140 again. Q3 and Snr now wanted to get down into the mid nines. He launched with a slight wheelie and got on the gas early, a nice straight run, but still only a 10.0 again. A few tweaks back in the pits and we got the bike ready for Sunday Sunday came and with the wind still as strong as ever, Snr was paired up against Ian Crichlow in round 1, As they both went into stage, it was found that Critch had fluid leaking from his bike and was told to shut off, giving Snr a bye run. Snr then went on to run another tentative 10.0/145.30. And then just before round 2, the rain came again and called a hault to the meeting. All in all a pretty good event for the team, with more progress made with both bikes. It would have been nice to go a few more rounds but you can't stop the weather. A very windy weekend but a good one, the only downside was we sadly lost our gazebo to the wind before Q2 on Saturday but we would like to thank Steve Venables for helping to hold it down untill we could get to it and dismantle it. It was great to meet all our friends and to make some new ones as well. Both bikes are now going to have an overhaul before the next round, with Jnr's bike having a new ignition and airshifter set-up fitted, and Snr's bike having Jnr's ignition and a quick engine inspection as it seems lacking in power, Hopefully we will see you all at the end of August. McLean Racing would like to thank our crew Ady Cattell, Sarah Mclean for feeding us, Zac Cattell and Sarah Mclean. All the guys at Warpspeed Racing - Stuart, Dave, Dale, Smiffy, Mark, Brin, Tooky - and also Don Chavous who was over from the States, what a pleasure it was to meet you. And to Steve Ashby for sorting me out a tyre at the last minute. Lastly we thank you all for your support. Web site updates. 29th June: Mark Skinner has updated his Flickr site with three galleries from last weekend's Peak Performance Day and SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out Mark's shots at www.flickr.com/photos/fast_n_bulbous. Allard Chrysler Action Group Chair Brian Taylor sent us a link to a great YouTube video of the Allard Chrysler Dragster leading the cacklefest at the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals. You can take a look at www.youtube.com/embed/hTbBMbdZNJY. Event entry update. 28th June: Today (Friday) is the official closing date for entry to Bug Jam which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 19th-21st July (race days 20th-21st) and which is a Championship round for Sportsman ET, Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator, VW Pro, VW Sportsman, Outlaw Flat Four and Outlaw Anglia. Entry after today, if accepted, will be subject to a Late Entry penalty. You can download the Bug Jam entry form from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc and you can check out the current official entry list by clicking here. If you have any queries about Bug Jam entry then please contact Ian Marshall at SPRC at ir.marshall@btconnect.com or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625). Entry is open for the Open Sport Nationals, the subsequent UK Championship round, which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway on 24th-26th August. Entry forms can be downloaded via the Downloads link of SCR's web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com. If you have any problems downloading the forms or if you have any queries about Open Sport Nationals entry then please call 01789 720180 or 01789 414119. The deadline is fast approaching for entry to the Big MoFo Shootout, an open shootout for race cars running 11.99 and quicker, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on Monday 29th-Tuesday 30th July. The winner will trouser £7000 in cash plus vouchers and a trophy, with £3000 cash plus vouchers and a trophy for the runner-up as well as other prizes. For more details including how to enter check out our news item of 12th June. Entry is also open for the Junior Drag Racing Fun Day presented by Santa Pod Raceway and Eurodragster.com sponsor Alamo Rent-A-Car on Wednesday 21st August. As the name suggests, the day is aimed squarely at those already in, or looking to enter, the sport of Junior Drag Racing. This exclusive day is dedicated to existing Junior drag racers from all over Europe and is the perfect opportunity to focus on the up-and-coming Junior classes of drag racing. Local Junior Drag Racers Paige and Belle Wheeler will be showcasing their own high-powered race cars as well as competing with their fellow racers for the honours. For more details check out our news item of 2nd June or download the entry form from www.eurodragster.com/juniorfunday. Tributes to Paul Mitchell. 27th June: We have received the following tributes to UK racer Paul Mitchell, who died suddenly last week: Russ at Customville: Hey Smokey Mitch, who am I going to phone now when I need help and advice? Rest in peace my mate. Hope they have V8s wherever you are! I will never forget you. Jim, Charlie, Dave and Gladys Draper: What a shocker this news was, my whole family have known Paul since our school years, in fact he only lived five doors away from us but it took till the mid 80s for us to strike up a great friendship. We had some great parties with Paul and family and in all our early days of racing at the Pod we would meet up round a bonfire drinking beer and talking into the early hours. Great guy and our thoughts are with all of his family. Gary Hall, Chair, Damn Yankees: Paul was a friend for thirty years and has probably worked on all of our members' cars in the Damn Yankees American Car Club at some time or another. I was only down the yard on the Monday talking to Paul and Pete at GS.Autos and then bang on Thursday he was gone. Makes you realise how precious life is. Paul will be greatly missed. We always had a good laugh together especially all those weekends at Santa Pod and at Blake Hall. Won't be many of us old car guys left at this rate. We will all miss him. Paul Watson: It's with a very sad heart that I write this. Paul was the centre of all American and drag racing here in Essex back in the 90s. It was Paul who convinced me to buy my Dodge Dart and together with Rob Loaring of ICE designed the 440 ci, a one-off special to run nines with no gas. Rob designed it, Paul built it and it certainly did that. Grumpy's Dodge would never have happened if it wasn't for Paul. He was well-known in the area running GS Autos behind Customville, many a late night on a Wednesday doing race car stuff then off to the burger bar. Happy days indeed with a great bunch of friends and when we were all at the track it was as a big family. My thoughts are with his family, his wife Heather, Anthony (Sid) and Hannah. RIP Paul. Brian Huxley: Nice bloke will be sadly missed. Jeff and Belinda Bull: We were so saddened to hear another one of the good guys has left us too soon.  It was a pleasure to have known Paul.   We will always have the happy memories from the Damn Yankees get-togethers, especially the Blake Hall days.  Our love and sympathy to Hannah and Anthony and to Heather.  Thoughts also to all of Paul's closest friends.  Paul will be remembered fondly and missed by so many. Alan Elliott and family: I would like to extend my condolences to Paul's family and friends, he will be greatly missed by all. Exactly one week to the day before his passing I had Paul give my truck a quick look at, after many brews and a catch up chat we got on to "Why is it that all the nice guys seem to go first and the world's worst live on?". I need not say any more.  With deepest sympathies. We will shortly post a dedicated tribute page for Paul and we will of course include the above tributes on that page. If you would like to send your own tribute to Paul then please E-Mail tributes@eurodragster.com. If anyone has a picture of Paul, either a portrait or an action shot, which we could use on the tribute page then please forward it to the tribute address. Andrews to drive with RFM. 27th June: RF Motorsport is proud to announce that UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Chris Andrews will race with RFM in the third round of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship at Alastaro in Finland next week. Chris is known for racing the Lucas Oils dragster and once again Lucas Oils are on his side and supporting him in taking on a new venture in last year's Championship-winning car. "Driving the car that won the European Championship will be a true test of my driving ability and hopefully I can do the crew and Rune proud by getting a few round wins", says Chris. "I am looking forward to this chapter in my career as a driver, it is going to be interesting to work with RF Motorsport and see how another team manage their programme." "With a Personal Best ET of 4.12 seconds and speed of 287 mph we are sure that Chris is a strong driver with the ability and knowledge to race our dragster fast and hopefully to win some victories" says Polly Magnussen of RF Motorsport. "We are looking forward to working with Chris. "This is a one-off deal in Finland to see how things work out for both parties. After that a decision will be made for the last three rounds of the Championship. Chris will bring his tuner Eddie Corr to Finland, but Eddie will not be tuning the car since this is done by RFM owner Rune Fjeld. Eddie will be working with Chris on driving so that he can fit in as quickly as possible with RFM. The rest of the crew will be the same as always on this car: Steffen Korsmo, Leon Bienek, Luke Shakeshaft , Kevin Bisiker, Lindsey Moles and Rune Fjeld." Flamholc's busy commute. 27th June: Sweden Internationals Top Methanol Funny Car winner Adam Flamholc is on his way to the USA for his latest ADRL Pro Mod race, ADRL Summer Drags IX in Martin, Michigan. No sooner will Adam complete this race than he has to return to Europe for his next TMFC gig. Adam writes: It's time to head over to the airport in Copenhagen. This time I'm flying over on my own to meet up with John and Mike. It's a busy schedule for all of us in the team running the Funny Car in Europe and the Pro Mod in the USA. But if nothing major happens then we should be able to handle the car with just the three of us. I hope we can keep the momentum from our win in Tierp two weeks ago! After the race we are parking the rig at Joe Peters' Race Cars Specialities shop in Detroit. Mike Canter and I are then flying back to Sweden and we arrive on Tuesday. On Wednesday we are getting in the bus for a twenty four-hour trip to Alastaro for round three of the FIA European Championship! Qualifying commences on Saturday. You will be able to stay in touch with Adam's progress this weekend courtesy of Drag Race Central friends at www.dragracecentral.com. Drachten fights the rain. 27th June: Maikel Gloudemans of our streaming service provider Doyousee.me says that the track crew had a very hard time at last weekend's Quartermile Drachten Nationals due to the weather: The rain dominated most of Friday, but Saturday was supposed to have some very acceptable weather so these unstoppable enthusiasts started at 06:00 with their equipment to give the racers a track which would hold their power. And they succeeded too, as we managed to put some times on the clocks on Saturday morning. Unfortunately the clouds decided that enough was enough and what was supposed to be a shower went on into Sunday morning. After another frantic session of drying, sweeping, sledding and spraying we had no idea about the time left until the next shower so Race Director Marc Vergunst made the wise decision to skip eliminations and run only qualifying, avoiding a half-finished event and allowing as much track time as possible for those teams who stayed and waited patiently. Several runs were possible after which the following were top of their respective classes: JD: Janita Kempenaar 0.067 SP/ET: Misha Willer 13.011/167.44 (dial-in 12.92) SSC: Gerjan Wolbers 11.278/199.45 SG: Cas van de Mosselaar 10.015/217.52 PRO ET: Gerjan Wolbers 10.781/203.39 (dial-in 10.70) SC: Tom van der Wijden  9.423/225 SUP/ET: Tom van der Wijden: 9.244/233.01 (dial-in 8.97) JDB: Cooper van de Mosselaar 0.203 SB/ET: Hannes Burgering: 11.809/193.03 SB: Ferry Driehuijs USB: Vincent Driehuijs 10.199/221.54 SSB: Jeroen van den Belt: 8.335/270.68 STTG: Herman Jolink 8.654/236.84 All in all Quartermile and DHRA's timing crew proved to be a very good team and we're looking forward to the Drachten Internationals in July. Doyousee.me had a very nice weekend in Drachten, but we were troubled by bandwidth issues preventing us to bring the top class quality people expect from us. To add insult to injury we couldn't connect to the audio booth and timing equipment due to the simple lack of an adapter cable. We're sorry for that and will be back in July with our regular quality as well as timing data. We had 13547 player downloads from 2062 individuals. We would like to thank Electronicastunter for their support this weekend. Our good buddy, photo-journalist Remco Scheelings has had two Quartermile Nationals race reports posted on the Autosport.nl. As ever there is a race report which you can check out by clicking here and an off-track report which you can check out by clicking here. Impressed and impressive. 27th June: John Davies, the new owner of the Standard Vanguard originally built and raced by Eurodragster.com sponsor Chris Isaacs, made his first outing in the car, now street-legal, at Shakespeare County Raceay last weekend and he tells us that it was a successful weekend: I ran a best of 9.64 on the motor, I can't belive how straight the car runs. I hope to be out again soon and maybe have a go at opening the bottle. Thanks to all the start line crew for their patience and support, to everone at Shakespeare County Raceway, and to Chris Issacs for all the help. Rob Slater writes weather aside it was a great weeekend. "After his nervous first passes John was soon back to his old ways", he says. "After running 9.6 on the motor on Sunday, John stated that the car was a tribute to builder Chris Isaacs. It was great to be crewing for John, my engine isn't ready yet but I should be back out with my '57 soon." Confidence regained. 27th June: UK Comp Bike racer Lizz McCarthy writes that the SPRC Summernationals was a race of ups and downs: Firstly big thanks to Richard Gipp and Nigel for the huge amount of help in getting both awnings up, tool boxes sorted, and Jake's and my bikes set up ready for scrutineering, whilst Kevin went off to fetch aforementioned Junior Drag Bike racer from Southampton. When they arrived back, all they had to do was get Jake signed on and scrutineered, so happy days. Kevin had done quite a bit of work on my bike since the last meeting, where I unfortunately made contact with the wall. I was therefore feeling quite positive that I could bury demons, have some quite quick runs, and try to keep my lead in the Championship. Saturday came, so did the most ferocious headwind, and so did the crew, Chris Pyke and Julie Moxley. Sarah (Minx) would be arriving Sunday. All knew all too well how I would be feeling, so the mood was quite serious. I on the other hand let it all get to me, and was very apprehensive on how the bike would behave. Q1: I'd never raced against Jemma Venables in qualifying, and I think we were both looking forward to it. Good burnout, up to the line, and that's where it all went a bit wrong. As I paddled in, I felt that I wasn't straight, and when I launched, I realised that I was right. Launched very hard, big tyre shake, and shot to the left and with the wind as well as the swiftness of the launch, my brain didn't have time to react as well as I would have liked and I was heading toward the centre line. Before I knew it I had crossed lanes. "Where is Jemma" I thought, so stayed as close to the centre line as I could before she skipped past me, apparently a superb riding job anticipating my move. Jemma ran a 7.72, and run one of a National speed record! I was mortified. I have been taught it's bad manners to cross lanes, but I went exactly the direction I was facing. The general consensus of opinion was that when I paddled into pre-stage, I moved the bars to the left, and once it was in my head that I wasn't straight it was game over. My fault entirely. I went to see Jemma and apologised, she was very cool about it all. The only upside was a 1.13 sixty foot! Q2: Minor adjustments to make sure that the bike could go a straight as it could possibly could. Both Chris and Kev at separate times gave me a bit of a talking to. Concentrate on the end of the track, let nothing take your eyes from the end. The throttle does turn both ways! I am blessed with some amazing crew, with a wealth of experience, and will always appreciate how lucky I am. Next run against Phil Crossley, and what a run. Remembering everything that Chris and Kev had told me, and really concentrating hard – burnout, launch run, I could see Phil all the way up the track out of the corner of my eye, thinking "I wish he would go away!". Turned off at the top end, very happy to have: 1. Got to the top in my own lane, 2. Forgotten about the headwind, and 3. Nothing messing with my head. I looked at Phil, thanked him for a great race and neither had a clue who had got there first. It was me! 1.14 sixty foot and 7.82/160 to Phil's 7.99/157 which gave me the number two position. Jemma at number one, with a new record to boot. Many congratulations to her! Q3: Bike and rider all ready to go. Went through all my checks, and down to the pairing lanes, this time against great mate Allan Davies. Had a giggle in the fire up road. I love Comp Bike, we are by far this season's most impressive bike class, in my opinion, with such a mixture of bikes plus we all get on so well. No clue what happened to Allan, until the end, where I found he never got off the line. Meanwhile I ran a 1.13 sixty foot and a 7.72/160mph, keeping the number two spot. Minx, Jedi Master to Julie's Grasshopper, eventually turned up! E1: Up against Kevin Osman. He was still getting to grips with his new bike, but what a lovely fella. He had problems off the line, which was bad for him, good for me 1.14 sixty foot, 7.74/161. Next round I would have had Tony Clark. Unfortunately after a brave effort from the track crew, who dried the track after a deluge only have have the rain come down in earnest after we were called, the meeting was called off. Then the sun, just to be a tease, decided to come out! A marvellous weekend as always. Big thanks as always, in no particular order: Super Crew and associates, Kevin Charman, Jake Charman, Chris Pyke, Julie and Steve Moxley, Sarah Chapman, Richard Gipp, Nigel Sadler, Tony Gillam at Abbey Motorsports - thanks is not sufficient, but thanks, Doug at Ensys, Jay Regan at MRE Florida who got clutch plates to me super quick, and everyone at Eurodragster.com and Dragbike.com (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed). Our next outing is demo passes at the Retro Show. Hope to see some of you there. Swift snippets. 27th June: 19:55 Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 3 of the official entry list for Bug Jam, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 19th-21st July (race days 20th-21st). You can check out the Bug Jam entry list by clicking here. Tomorrow (Friday) is the official closing date for Bug Jam; entry after tomorrow, if accepted, will be subject to a Late Entry penalty. You can download the Bug Jam entry form from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about Bug Jam entry then please contact Ian Marshall at SPRC at ir.marshall@btconnect.com or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625). Allard Chrysler Action Group Chair Brian Taylor writes that ACAG were enrolled as Honorary Life Members of the Wild Bunch at the weekend's NSRA Nostalgia Nationals. "As you know Chris Hartnell and Claire Meaddows have been big supporters of the project and continue to be so", says Brian. "I've often thought that the family atmosphere of the Wild Bunch is akin to the ACAG and it's good to be with others who like messing about with old cars. They are always very helpful and Mark Coulsell became a guest member of our team at Shakey." UK Junior Drag Bike racer Scott Collier was driven to last night's school prom in true style by Col Law in his beautiful 624 bhp Ford Pop. "Col drove the Pop up from Derby especially for this evening and we would like to give him a huge thank you for making Scott's prom so memorable", says Sharron Collier. "For the past two years Scott has been studying for a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering,  during which time he even made his own lock-up clutch and cover.  He has secured a place at college to continue his learning in  this field.  This is Scott's final year in Junior Drag Bike after which we will be taking the KTM 200 engine out of the chassis and replacing it with Jerry's World Record-holding RD400 motor. We couldn't be more proud of his achievements, well done Scott we love you tons." SPR add Web TV episodes. 27th June: DJ of Santa Pod Raceway writes that the latest Web TV Show on Santa Pod Raceway's YouTube channel SantaPodTV is coverage of Round 2 of the 2013 European Funny Car Series from the FIA Main Event. The show at youtu.be/SAGd4flU8r8 is packed full of race footage and interviews. The full broadcast TV Show from the FIA Main Event featuring all the Pro Classes and more is also available to watch on-line at youtu.be/JG-_D311FSw. There have also been several other WebTV shows released this year which you may have missed including coverage of the Festival of Power at youtu.be/V8fJlbyBbNE . The cameras will be following two race classes their inaugural seasons; the first round of the 2013 European Funny Car Series is available to view at youtu.be/3eVT27hhghg and the second round of the Front Wheel Drive Drag Series, the result of the merger of JDS FWD, ESC FWD Street and ESC FWD Pro, can be viewed at youtu.be/lYrA0mPyXPY. Web site updates. 27th June: In the latest instalment of his exclusive Racer Blog presented in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car, Pro Stock Bike racer Kalle Lyrén reports upon a good weekend at Tierp Arena. 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 edition of the Speedgroup Newsletter is now available and includes class-by-class Sweden Internationals reviews, racer features, Eurodragster.com Editor's Diary and more. You can check it all out at club.speedgroup.eu. Our good buddy Alan Currans has updated his excellent Acceleration Archive with pictures of Saturday's action at the SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out Alan's shots via the What's New link at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. Eurodragster.com News Editor Tog took the opportunity to give his cameras an airing at last Friday's Peak Performance Day at Santa Pod and although a number of pictures made it into our Alamo Rent A Car-sponsored Event Coverage the complete gallery is now available at eurodragster.smugmug.com or www.togsdragracing.com. Paul Mitchell. 25th June: We were sorry to hear of the sudden death of UK racer Paul Mitchell at the end of last week. Paul's close friend Colin Humphries writes: Paul was a serious racer back in the 1990s competing in the 11.90 Street classes. He owned and co ran an American car auto garage called GS Autos. His passing will have a huge impact on the scene here. We'd like to extend our condolences to his family, his wife Heather and children Anthony and Hannah. Paul's funeral will take place at 10:00 am next Monday, 1st July, at South Essex Crematorium, Ockendon Road, Corbets Tey, Upminster RM14 2UY (map). Donations to Help for Heroes or the British Heart Foundation. Our own deepest sympathies to Paul's family and friends. If you would like to send a tribute to Paul then please E-Mail us at tributes@eurodragster.com. Goodwood's most powerful visitor? 25th June: Goodwood Festival of Speed's celebrated spirit of adventure will be pushed to new limits when the fastest, loudest, most powerful racing machine ever unleashed on Lord March's driveway takes to the track at this year's Twentieth Anniversary Festival. The Marshall Amplification Mustang Funny Car driven by Jason Phelps is supercharged, burns exotic racing fuel and kicks out 8,000 horsepower – yes, that's three noughts – not for long, mind, but when it's doing it, no one sleeps. Phelps will perform demonstration burnouts twice daily on lower stretches of the hillclimb track. Drag racing's power output and sheer singularity of purpose usually come with a specialised terrain – a smooth, flat, two-lane expanse, carefully manicured and treated with grip juice. Piloting the thunderous Mustang through Goodwood's sylvan parkland will be a very different experience, but Phelps has done this kind of thing before and relishes the opportunity. A myth abounds that drag racers blow up their engines willy-nilly – not at £50,000 apiece, they don't. However, it is standard practice to strip the motor to its bare bones after each run, service it and repair any damage, then rebuild it ready for the car's next trip down the track. The team's pit crew, led by Dave Bryant, will carry out this process twice a day before each of the Marshall Amplification Mustang's outings, in full view of spectators as at any drag race. It's quite a show in itself, topped by an engine warm-up with a couple of throttle whacks to startle the unwary who haven't bothered to cover their ears. Funny Cars came by their name in 1960s America when Factory Experimentals – an emerging class formed by mating supercharged dragster powertrains to production-car bodies with altered wheelbases and sprouting engine parts – were deemed to look "Kinda funny". The description stuck, but owes its provenance to peculiarity rather than humour. Today's composite-material Funnies bear scant resemblance to the vehicles they are meant to represent, but production-car bodies are not designed to carve through the air at 300 miles per hour. The Twentieth Anniversary Goodwood Festival of Speed takes place from 11th-14th July and you can find out more at www.goodwood.co.uk/festival-of-speed. For its next appearances, the Marshall Amplification Mustang returns to more familiar territory. After displaying to the thousands of Volkswagen enthusiasts attending Santa Pod Raceway's 27th Annual Bug Jam later in July, Jason Phelps and the team head to Germany in August to race on the newly-repaved drag strip at the famous Hockenheim circuit where they will contest Round 3 of the European Funny Car Series during Hockenheim's NitrOlympX event. The Series' fourth and concluding round takes place at Santa Pod Raceay's FIA European Finals from 5th-8th September. Swift snippets. 25th June: 18:55 Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 2 of the official entry list for Bug Jam, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 19th-21st July (race days 20th-21st). You can check out the Bug Jam entry list by clicking here. This Friday (28th) is the official closing date for Bug Jam; entry after Friday, if accepted, will be subject to a Late Entry penalty. You can download the Bug Jam entry form from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about Bug Jam entry then please contact Ian Marshall at SPRC at ir.marshall@btconnect.com or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625). Allard Chrysler Action Group Chair Brian Taylor send us the front cover of the latest edition of Motor Industry Magazine which features this great shot of the Allard Chrysler Dragster taken by ACAG member and our good friend Bob Roberts. Many thanks to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe for forwarding us an updated table of UK Bests including the Comp Bike speed record set by Jemma Venables at the SPRC Summernationals. You can check out the new record table by clicking here or by clicking on the European Bests link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Thanks also to Andy Marrs for forwarding us the official timing data from the SPRC Summernationals 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. Simon Dodds of Surry Muscle is hosting a Muscle Car Revival at the Chelsea Cruise this Saturday (29th). "We meet in Battersea Park from 7:00 pm before cruising the Kings Road and local area", says Simon. "With some heavy duty muscle due to attend, the sight and sound of them rumbling through the streets of London should create quite a spectacle and we want to attract as many as possible", says Simon. "All you muscle car owners out there, fire 'em up and head for Chelsea on Saturday. And we dont to hear any excuses from those who reckon their car is too much for the street as we have one well-known  character who is bringing his low eigtht-second car all the way from Esssex, so if your muscle car really is a street car then let's see it there." Editor's note: We have a small backlog of news and a Blog update with which we will catch up on tomorrow's update. We still have room for more so kee the news, race reviews and previews and anything else coming to us at news@eurodragster.com. SPRC Summernationals rained out. 24th June: Yesterday's eliminations at the SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway were rained out. The first rounds of all classes and the second rounds of a couple of classes were run before the rain came and then after a false dawn, with classes called to the lanes, the rain fell down again leaving Race Director Carole Ismail with no option but to call the event. Congratulations to Comp Bike racer Jemma Venables who subject to official ratification set a new Comp Bike speed record of 188.92 mph. Congratulations also to Junior Dragster racer Paige Wheeler and Pro ET racer Mike Lacey who won the Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award and Eurodragster.com / Gold RV Perfect ET Award respectively. Both awards have been reset to £50 for Bug Jam in July. You can check out our Alamo Rent A Car-sponsored SPRC Summernationals 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. 24th June: Peter Walton writes with news of sponsorship for the Superstock Shootout at Dragstalgia at Santa Pod Raceway on 13th-14th July. "Andy Robinson Race Cars have kindly offered a £100 voucher to the winner of Saturday's heads-up race", says Peter. "There will be another £100 voucher for the winner of the dial in race on Sunday kindly donated by Wisbech American Street and Performance. I would like to personally thank Andy of ARRC and Chris WASP for all their support so far." You can help the Naughty Schoolgirl. 24th June: SPRC marshal Caroline Boncey will again be undertaking a sponsored walk for The Hospice of St Francis in Berkhamsted this year and Eurodragster.com readers can help her to bust last year's total. "I will be walking eleven miles at midnight on 29th June", says Oscar. "Last year I raised £721 and I would love to match that again this year. I was the first to register this year! It's ten years ago this August that they looked after my nan before she passed away and I would like to make this year my best possible. Also it's a special birthday for me this year and they say life begins at forty so I would like to do my best for them. I will be dressing up as a naughty schoolgirl (yes, Oscar does sometimes act girlie)." If you would like to sponsor Oscar then you can find her Justgiving site at www.justgiving.com/carolinebonceyoscar. Swift snippets. 23rd June: Dawn Balzaretti and the whole of Andy Robinson's Pro Mod team asked us to say a big Happy Birthday to Mark Balzaretti, aka Bowser. No sooner said than done, have a great day Bowser. Bartlett on Tierp FIM coverage. 22nd June: FIM European Drag Bike Championship promoter and commercial rights holder Keith Bartlett has been in touch with a statement about the lack of FIM European Drag Bike Championship coverage in last week's Web TV broadcast from the Sweden Internationals at Tierp Arena. The statement below is reproduced verbatim: Dear drag racing fans, I believe it is important that the drag racing community is made aware of the full facts of the web broadcast cancellation of the FIM European Drag Bike Championship from Tierp Arena last weekend. Tierp Arena made the decision in 2012 that they did not wish to pay for a TV production and did not sign a contract with Keith Bartlett, the FIM Europe Commercial Rights holder, due to insufficient budget available. It is a condition of holding a round of the FIM European Drag Bike Championship for all tracks to sign this contract. The reason for such commercial rights contracts is to be certain that the level and quality of all TV broadcasts remains constant and in the same format for all tracks that hold rounds of the FIM European Bike Championship. The result was that there was no contract in place with the FIM Europe commercial rights holder for the Tierp Arena event, as is required by the FIM Europe. In order to allow the event to take place, the Commercial Rights holder permitted the round to stand since cancelling it would only hurt the riders and teams. This was made on the understanding that there would be no television broadcast of the event in any format, including web broadcasts. The teams were made aware in writing, long before the event, by Trakbak Racing Ltd Commercial manager Geoff Myers, that there was to be no TV production at the first round of the FIM Championship at Tierp Arena. This information was communicated by Mr Myers to the class representatives for the Pro Stock Bike, Super Twin Bike and Top Fuel Bike classes. Upon arrival at Tierp Arena it was discovered that Mr Robert Karströmm of the Swedish production company Smart TV, in conjunction with Tierp Arena, had set up a Web TV broadcast of the event without the formal agreement of the Commercial Rights holder. The situation was then discussed with Mr Karströmm, who confirmed his view that there was indeed no agreement in place between Mr Karströmm and the Commercial Rights holder. Furthermore it was discovered that Mr Karströmm was transmitting a web broadcast which he and Tierp Arena had absolutely no right to be making or transmitting and also charging the public on a pay per view basis. This is the third occasion of which Mr Karströmm and his company have completely disregarded the rules and conventions of International commercial copyright, despite being told on two previous occasions that he may not film and transmit without an agreement being in place. The Commercial Rights holder pays a considerable sum of money each year to own the commercial rights to the FIM Championship and was left in a position where there was no alternative than to take action to protect the commercial rights ownership. Regrettably the only course of action left was to instruct Mr Karströmm to cease the transmission. We understand that this was not a popular decision, but after discussion with Mr Karströmm this was the only route left for the rights holder to go. The highly accusatory screen banner put in place during the bike race sections of Mr Karströmm's web broadcast only told one small part of the story; you are now in possession of a fuller picture of the matter relating to the Tierp Arena round of the FIM European Drag Bike Championship. In 2012 we had a similar situation where one track operator cancelled the whole TV broadcast of their round with just 10 days' notice, losing us the complete broadcast package that was in place with various International broadcasters, due to the production company not being able to supply the complete Championship with all rounds. The loss of confidence with TV broadcasters is very difficult to rebuild. Please be assured that this is the very last occasion that something of this nature will occur. In the future when a Web TV show is advertised, it will be delivered with the full agreement of the Commercial Rights holder. The whole basis for such commercial rights ownerships and contracts is to be able to produce a consistent Championship with rounds that all are run, operated and administered to the same standard including all media coverage. This is the basis on which all other FIM and FIA Championships are run and administered and that needs to apply to drag racing too, if we are to move forward and secure new partners and sponsorships to the benefit of the whole sport. Big John's motor for sale. 21st June: Sue Byrne writes that the late Big John Byrne's motor and gearbox are for sale with money raised to be put away for the future of his daughter Harri. "The motors are sitting at my house, wrapped in a duvet, and have been since John got them from Peter Knight which was some time ago", says Sue. "They have never been used. Joe Williams gave me the following information about the motor and gearbox: "The motor is Chevrolet based, Peter Knight, 605 cubic inch (9.9 litre) tall-deck 10.2" Merlin block, Brodix 3 ally cylinder heads / intake manifold with 1050 cfm Holley Dominator carb. The valve springs will need checking and possibly replacing. Full roller valve train. Forged pistons, steel H-beam con rods and moly crank. All ARP bolts / studs throughout. The engine made 750 hp and 750 ft/lbs torque on Knight Racing Services' dyno. "The gearbox reads Transmission Specialties and has two serialised identifiers on it SFI Spec 30.1 silver with red writing and SFI Spec 4.1 silver with black writing." If you are interested then you can contact Sue via her advertisement in the Car Parts For Sale section of our Jeff Bull Race Engines-sponsored Swap Meet. Intercontinental Outlaws. 21st June: Dave McKenzie says that the season is passing very quickly as the Supercharged Outlaws round at this weekend's NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway is the halfway point of the class' season. Fuzzie thinks that this could be the Supercharged Outlaws' best show of the season so far: To spice up the Outlaw show we have two new outlaw members coming all the way from Germany. They are Jurgen Schoman with his blown Pro Mod Willys Master of Disaster which has aleady run in the six second 200 mph bracket, and Rudi Fussel with his Opel GT which sports a Small Block Chevy - blown of course! Regular runners with the Outlaws will be Lee Gallimore, the entertainer, driving the Red Mist altered. Lee is leading the points after the first two rounds. Another regular is Steve Goode with the Plymouth altered body which makes teh car look look wicked. Steve is slowly increasing the power of the car and hopes to be able to run consistently and fast rather than sustaining engine damage by going too quick to soon. Plenty of new teams from last year also attending: Ian Kerr with the Firebird, Simon Boot with the Bootlegger Camaro, and Simon Cooper in his Chevy Nova. Charlie Chivers has repaired his gearbox and will be out to try again with the big truck. Another big hitter for the UK will be Ian Hanson with the Stars and Stripes Corvette. Ian is closing in on the six second zone doing double duty this year, also running in Super Pro ET and planning to step up to Pro Mod. next year. Another great inclusion in the Supercharged Outlaws is Rockin' Ramon with the Wild'r At Heart Funny Car. Ramon really enjoyed himself at the Hot Rod Drags in 2012 and went away with a trophy. This time he is also bringing over the Susy Q Cuda for Kirstin to drive.With four Continental teams and nine UK teams it promises to be a great weekend. Start your season happy. 21st June: Karsten Andersen of Eurodragster.com photographic kit sponsor Landmeco has been in touch with a review of the Andersen Racing Top Fuel Dragster team's season so far: It was really great to start the season in England knowing that we were going all the way, doing all six races in the European tour. It took us a round or two to get into the game again, but after that we were really tuned in, which our Q3 and Q4 runs clearly showed. We ended up being the fastest car all weekend. The first round on Monday was also fine, but in the second round eagerness took over. We wanted to run under 4.00 so bad, but unfortunately the track didn't agree with us. Anyway, it was great to be on the track again; there was extremely good energy among our driver Thomas Nataas and the team, and there was really good support from the crowd. There was also good support from the other teams - a special thanks to Chris Andrews and Rune Fjeld for loaning us parts when our own delivery failed. Really good sportsmanship! Then on to Sweden Internationals on the great track at Tierp Arena. The weather forecast was definitely not looking good, but luckily most of the rain decided to come at night. We must say that we were taken by surprise as the track conditions were a lot better than we expected. We had ignition issues on most of the runs and never really got a good hit at it and ended up as number two in qualifying. On Sunday we were a little nervous as we did not really know how the car would perform. Luckily it ran really well in E1 and we took out Micke Kågered with 4.08 to his 4.15. E2 and E3 would not have been won but for Thomas' great driving. The car hit bad tyre shake on both runs and Thomas had to pedal it six times in one of the runs. In E3 he almost hit the wall going 400+ kmh – the car was not easy to handle. Anyway we won the event, and we are very happy. We are now leading the FIA Top Fuel Dragster Championship A huge thanks to our amazing loyal sponsors: Landmeco, Else-Marie, Biltema, Teslak Transport, Veidec, Pack Plast, Sunoco, Nybo Rod and ABCSkilte. Our next race is in Finland on 4th-7th July. We have fixed the issues we had in Sweden, so Finland: bring it on... More Fives, more PBs. 21st June: Peter and Sören Svensson and Sweden's Team Starta Top Fuel Bike team took their latest win at the Sweden Internationals with more five-second runs and Personal Bests. Sören Svensson writes: We ran very well in testing four weeks ago. When we prepared for Q1 we decided to change to a softer set-up in order to get a good qualifying run, but we misjudged the new power produced by our new supercharger and when the green light came on Peter had to shut off after a great 1.00 sixty foot time and an amazing 160 mph at the 330 feet mark (new Personal Best), passing the quarter mile in only 6.40 seconds but still good enough for number two behind Ian King's 6.38 seconds. We prepared the bike for Q2, making some minor changes since we thought that the track would improve after all the cars had made their second qualifying attempt. We were called to the lanes but we could see that the rain clouds were getting closer and it started to rain just before it was time for us to make the run. Qualifying for rest of the day was cancelled. Saturday morning came around and the sun was shining bright early in the morning. We kept the same set-up for Q3 as we would have had for Q2. Peter made a great burn out but just after stopping he wasn't able to keep the engine on idle so he had to shut off and the reason for this was later found to be a broken bearing in the fuel pump. In Q4 we again kept the same tune-up, and we only made Q4 in time due to an oil down - we had been replacing the bearing in the fuel pump. Ian had the right lane and Peter the left lane, the green light came on and everyone could see that Peter was on a storming run having to click off the throttle two times but still running 5.98 seconds on the quarter mile and getting number one qualifying position ahead of Ian whose tyre went up in smoke. The weather forecast for Sunday didn't look too good and the whole team decided to get up early in order to be ready for E1. At around 10:00 the sun found its way through the clouds starting to heat the track. We were paired with our good friend Sverre Dahl, who has been away for a while to prepare himself for this season. Peter made a strong burnout as always and when he hit the throttle we could all see that the bike was fish tailing really bad and he was off the throttle just after the eighth running a 6.74/139 taking the win since Sverre went up in smoke. After the round we found out that we had run a new Personal Best by running an amazing 2.49 at the 330 foot mark! Back in the pits we heard that Ian King had run a new Personal Best of 5.98 seconds which made him the second rider outside the USA to run a five-second time over the quarter mile. Great achievement by Ian and his team! In E2 had a bye run and we decided to soften the clutch a bit. We decided to try the right lane again with the same set up as in the previous run. When the green light came on the motor misfired and Peter had to shut down due to a broken supercharger belt, running only 6.34/158. We were as ready as we could be for the final knowing that Rikard Gustafsson had beaten Ian in the semi final. Both Rikard and Peter made great burnouts, when the green light came on Rikard had a much better Reaction Time but everyone could see that Peter was on a storming run passing Rikard at around 400 feet and taking the win, running a weekend best in our class at 5.95/201 after clicking off the throttle a bit before the 1000 feet mark. Even by the prizegiving ceremony we knew that we will have to run a lot quicker than this weekend in order to have a chance to qualify at the Manufacturers World Cup in November at Bradenton and that's what we plan to do at Scandinavian Internationals at Tierp in August, to sort out the last gremlins before we can really go quick. We really would like to take the opportunity to thank both the organisers of the race and the track crew who did incredible work creating the very best traction possible. Thanks everyone! Please join us tour this year at the following events: 23rd-26th August: FIA Scandinavian Internationals, Tierp Arena, Sweden 2nd-3rd November: Art Malone Memorial Southern Nostalgia and Muscle Car Shootout, Bradenton, USA* 8th-10th November: Manufacturers World Cup, Bradenton, USA* *Depending upon funding A big Thank You to those who make this possible: STARTA Produkter, supplied by Sollebrunns Oljeservice PR Husbilar, one of the largest companies in the western region of Sweden selling RVs HPS Supechargers, number one when it comes to superchargers Samek Tool AB, who make some of the best moulding tools in the automotive industry in Sweden Real Form, product development within mechanical design Goproactive, supplier of PC and network solutions, outsourcing, on-line services, communication systems, security and more Swecomposite, number one when it comes to bodywork for drag racing and many other areas using the same technique Temec, one of Sweden's leading companies selling hot runner systems and much more for moulding tools Pippi, number one when it comes to marketing All our fans and family members who support us towards new achievements every year! For more information about our previous achievements and updates please visit www.billetracing.se (in English). Flamholc first and second. 21st June: Swedish Top Methanol Funny Car and ADRL Pro Modified racer Adam Flamholc had a tough but ultimately successful weekend at the Sweden Nationals: In a really tough field we qualified number three. In the first round of eliminations I was up against Micke Larsson, but he had some technical issues so I got a bye run. In the secound round I faced the European Champion Leif Andréasson. He ran 5.57 seconds and I ran 5.68, but with a better Reaction Time Flamholc Racing took the win. In the final it was time to face Jonnie Lindberg for the first time. I ran 5.71 to his 5.80s and we won our first European Championship event in our second race! I am really happy for everyone who is involved in this - my family, our sponsors and of course the guys in the team who always perform at the highest level! Now we are number one in the FIA European Championship with the Funny Car, and number two in ADRL with the Pro Mod car. This upcoming weekend we are in Orsa displaying the Funny Car at Tallhed Raceway, and spending time with family and friends. Next weekend it's time for round five in the ADRL Championship in Michigan. Please support our sponsors Hurst Boiler and Welding, Amalie Oil, Cleanpipe, Malmo Motor Renovering AB, Autoshop, JA IT Hjalp, Performance Plus, Leanders Clutch, Custom Graphics and Magnus Elservice. UK Top Sportsman update. 21st June: Paul Marston writes that entries are coming in nicely for the third running of UK Top Sportsman which takes place during the Mopar Euronats at Santa Pod Raceway on 26th-28th July but that there is room for more: If your team is coming then send in your entry as soon as you can. The clock is ticking, there is only a month to go now. By all accounts if everyone who says they are coming shows up then this is going to be a really interesting and hard fought event. The UK Top Sportsman race takes place over three days and is a Doorslammer-only event. Other than safety, there are no rules - please check out the web site at www.topsportsman.co.uk for full details but we start with a heads-up bracket race at 1:00 pm sharp on the Friday, one time trial run then straight into first round, random pairing, no qualifying, everybody runs. If you lose first round then you can buy back into second round giving you a second chance. From second round no buy backs, run to the conclusion of the race Friday. Late afternoon Saturday is the one shot qualifier for the heads-up race, there will be a sixteen-car field with no alternates and eliminations take place on Sunday. Everything is run on a 0.400 Pro Tree and the Tree is blinkered. The prize fund is huge - after paying track fees, all the entry fees go into the prize purse. The payout is massive, it's the richest Sportsman race on the calandar. It's not a winner take all, the money is shared all the way down to quarter finals in the bracket race on Friday and all qualifiers are paid in the heads-up race. In addition to the race cars being built to début at UK Top Sportsman there has been a lot of interest from people and race teams whom we have not seen for a while so be prepared for the return of some familiar faces. UK Top Sportsman 2012 was a landmark event, the TV show really gave you a flavour of just how intense and hard fought the track action was. For 2013 this is simply the most talked about, highly anticipated, Sportsman Doorslammer event of the year. The event will again be televised by our friends at Zeon TV, so tell your sponsors. In addition this is at the 20th Mighty Mopar Euronationals, with all the usual features and attractions you would expect from such a legendary event, please check out their web site at www.moparnats.co.uk for more details. It's a great event to come and watch and it's the best Muscle Car event of the year, so book your tickets early and witness it in person. Our sincere thanks to the guys at the Mopar Euronationals for hosting UK Top Sportsman again in 2013. So get those entries in! You can now download the entry form from the web site at www.topsportsman.co.uk or E-Mail pmracing@fsmail.net and we will put a form in the post. We will be accepting entries at this weekend's SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway and we will have blank forms, come and see us in the Paul Marston Racing pit. If you have any questions then please E-Mail or come to see us this weekend. PMR take second North Weald win. 21st June: Paul Marston took away a very nice trophy after winning the year's second Quick 8 at North Weald Airfield, London's own drag strip. Driving the Whoopass Monza, Paul Marston again defeated all comers to lift the silverware although he says that the opposition was a little more stiff this time: Billy Gane was thete with his beautiful Super Pro ET Big Block alcohol-injected Ford-powered Vauxhall Victor as well as Glen Pallant with his Pro ET Big Block Chevy-powered Consul Capri and a strong showing from some Nissan Skylines running in the tens. It looked like it might not happen at one point when a brief shower lasted a little longer than expected. It's a tough race in which to compete, unprepared concrete track and a very fast turn-round, drag racing as it used to be, this is hardcore. For me this was home territory, North Weald is where it all started back in 1987 competing in the NDRC racing a 1967 Camaro in Street against the likes of Andy Robinson, Gordon Appleton and Dave Mingay. Can Paul Marston Racing make it three in a row and a clean sweep of the 2013 season? The next Public Test and Tune RWYB for cars and bikes at North Weald is 14th July. The Quick 8 is open to anyone and is free to enter, just go down to signing on at 1:00 pm (lunch break) and put your name down then eliminations start at around 3:00 pm. There is also a bike Quick 8 which runs the same deal. Many thanks go to Maitland Racing who organise and run events at North Weald. Thanks also to the PMR crew, the Crewchief and Funsize from PMR and from DRE The Razmus and Arron Springford. Event entry update. 20th June: Ian Marshall has been in touch to remind racers that next Friday, 28th June, is the official closing date for Bug Jam which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 19th-21st July (racing takes place on 20th-21st). Entry after next Friday, if accepted, will be subject to a Late Entry penalty. You can download the official Bug Jam entry form from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc and you can check out Version 1 of the Big Jam entry list by clicking here. If you have any queries about Bug Jam entry then please contact Ian Marshall at SPRC at ir.marshall@btconnect.com or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625). Entry forms are available for the National Association of Supertwins round which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway's Public Track Weekend on 20th-21st July and for all classes for the Open Sport Nationals, a UK Championship round, which takes place at SCR on 24th-26th August. Entry forms can be downloaded via the Downloads link of SCR's web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com. If you have any problems downloading the forms then please call 01789 720180 or 01789 414119. Millar's double Outlaw. 20th June: UK Outlaw Anglia racer Colin Millar and the Flyin' Fyfer Drag Racing Team will be in true NSRA Nostalgia Nationals spirit by attending this weekend's event at Shakespeare County Raceway with their Outlaw Anglia OA2 and the most recent addition to the family - their new tow car. "It's a bit bare just now but with a few selected stickers this week it will become part of the family and very shortly both cars will be loaded up and we will set off on our wee round trip of 800 miles", says Colin. "We are hoping to send the original Anglia up the track and get a benchmark time and then set up a handicap race against The Flyin' Fyfer. If we get it right it should be a close race but we'd better not sit on the trans brake as by the time the green light comes on the trans will have exploded !! "As always we are all very excited and look forward to getting there sometime of Friday evening and having a great time at a great event with great people. If we don't see you this weekend we look forward to seeing you all at Dragstalgia. Wishing everyone a fast and safe weekend whether you're at Shakey or at the Pod, from all at the Flyin Fyfer Drag Racing Team." Anita: Problems still. 20th June: Finnish Top Fuel Dragster racer Anita Mäkelä says that lack of power was still her team's biggest problem at the weekend's Sweden Internationals at Tierp Arena: In Friday's Q1 we held number four spot with 4.292/445 kmh, but the car didn't launch hard or run strongly all the way. Unfortunately the rain took our second opportunity away. Saturday improved a bit with a 4.204/446 and gave us some hope that we were going in the right direction. The second round was ruined after the burnout, when number eight cylinder was out due to a push rod failure. I had instant smoke at the hit. There wasn't much information for tuning for Sunday's first round of eliminations against Jari Halinen. After launch hard tyre shake hit and because of that I lost traction. When the car calmed down, I saw the fastest timber truck driver happily running with high flames strongly over the finish line, and I knew my race was done. I'd rather not have made any changes done for elimination day, but my HANS device broke on Saturday. Luckily Jan Phersson was there with his Simpson trailer and I got a new Simpson Hybrid device. It was different compared with the old one, but thinking about it afterwards my vision was clearer during the shake. It held my head more steadily and due to that I noticed the loss of the traction more clearly. That was a nice improvment. Alastaro soon and that means that we are at the midway point of the season. Now we need to solve the problems if we want to save any hope for the Championship. FHRA is offering a Test and Tune opportunity for FIA teams a week before the race so we are studying the possibility to take up that kind offer. Top Fuel racing is difficult and every run counts now to take our car back to a fast level. We didn't hurt any parts at TIerp, so there is still a lot of hope resting on the car. Drachten's 2013 kick-off. 20th June: The fastest stretch of asphalt in the Netherlands is back: This Friday to Sunday Quartermile Events will host their first race meeting of 2013 at Drachten Airfield. The race incorporates the first round of the Open Dutch Drag Racing Championship for both cars and bikes as well as an EDRS Series round for several classes. Thanks to its terrific track crew and its elevation below sea level Drachten Airfield is one of the fastest tracks in Europe , so  good racing and amazing times can be expected. The price of spectator admission has been lowered to €9 for Friday qualifying, €19 for Saturday qualifying which includes a big party with live music after racing has ended, and €15 for Sunday's eliminations. A three-day weekend ticket is €34 . Grandstand access is free but subject to availability. Racing will commence at 09:30 on Friday and at 09:00 on Saturday and Sunday and will continue for as long as the track conditions allow. Drachten Airfield is located at De Knobben 100A, 9202 XJ Drachten, The Netherlands. You can get more information on the Quartermile Nationals at www.quartermile.nl. Swift snippets. 20th May: We were sorry to hear from UK 8.50 Bike racer Paul Watson that he has had to withdraw from this weekend's SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway. "A lot of effort has gone into the new bike and it has to be right", says Grumps. "Thanks to Andy Haley and Dan De Ath for their help - at least we got Andy's bike ready. Good luck to everyone at the weekend." Drag racing fans will have the choice of no less than three webcasts from the UK this weekend. Our streaming service provider Doyousee.me plan to broadcast the Quartermile Nationals, which commences tomorrow, from Drachten Airfield whilst our own Webster Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcast of SPRC Summernationals weekend commences with tomorrow's Peak Performance Day and Shakespeare County Raceway plan to broadcast the weekend's NSRA Nostalgia Nationals which also commences tomorrow. We will post direct Home Page links to all three webcasts when they commence. UK blown-alcohol altered team and Eurodragster.com Bloggers Bennett Racing are delighted to welcome their latest sponsor Bossdog Wraps and Vehicle Graphics. "Whether you want to give your car a sleek new look with stealth black and carbon fibre finish or add specially designed car graphics you can expect nothing less than the best in customised vehicle wraps", says Luke Bennett. From custom-designed logos to bespoke graphics, you can be sure of a quality service with their 3M certified installers who only use the highest quality materials. Bossdog aim to meet and surpass all expectations and offer the best value for money in specialist car graphics and vehicle wraps. If you are looking for high quality van branding, vehicle wraps or graphics and signage; then check out Bossdog at www.bossdog.co.uk or head over to their Facebook page." The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame in association with main sponsor US Automotive Ltd has been given Paul Whitehouse's original painting of Don Schumacher's Stardust Funny Car launching at Santa Pod in 1973. On this occasion it was driven by BDRHoF member and the man after whom the award is named, Allan 'Bootsie' Herridge. BDRHoF Chair Stu Bradbury is putting up the painting for auction, with all proceeds to go to the Hall of Fame. Bidding will finish on the last day of Dragstalgia, Sunday 14th July - listen to Nitro FM on how to bid on the day. You can put a bid in through the BDRHoF web site contact page at www.britishdragracinghof.co.uk/contact but think of three figures. As the racing season is full swing several Allard Chrysler Action Group crew members are involved with other race cars so ACAG are still looking to expand their pool of people willing to work on the Allard Chrysler Dragster. Involvement in running a blown fuel engine would be useful but not mandatory. Willingness to get stuck in and work within a team probably more important, along with the ability not to spill Sydburger juice down your white overalls and a tie in public. If you are interested then please contact ACAG Chair Brian Taylor at brian@allardchrysler.org. Thanks to our own Simon for posting the post-Dynodaze Track Weekend points standings in the APIRA Ultimate Power Championships. You can check out the APIRA points on our OCS Paint-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the OCS Paint 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 updated tables of European bests updated with the several records set at the Sweden Internationals at Tierp Arena. You can check out the new records sheets by clicking here or by clicking on the European Bests link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Paige and Belle go East. 20th June: UK Junior Dragster racers Paige and Belle Wheeler will head to the United States to race their Alamo Rent A Car-branded Junior Dragsters at the NHRA Junior Drag Racing League Eastern Conference Finals at Bristol Dragway in Eastern Tennessee on 25th-27th July. Paige will race in the 14-year-old division and Belle, age 9, will compete in the 8-9 year old class. The event awards a Wally and $2,500 to the winner in each of eight categories. Tripling their chances of winning while they're in the States, the girls will start their trip by competing in the Huddleston Performance Junior Dragster Nationals at Bristol Dragway on 20th-21st July. The first warm-up race to the Eastern Conference Finals will showcase Paige driving two different dragsters - a new car built by Half Scale Dragsters which her family will pick up at the company's shop in Phillipsburg, NJ, when they arrive and a special 330 Outlaw rail. Half Scale also is lending a car for Belle to use while she's here. During the week, the talented duo will then race their regular dragsters in the Thunder Valley Challenge to hone their skills for the main event. "I really want to win one of these races, especially the Eastern Conference Finals because you get a Wally for that one, but it'll be very hard to win any of these events because there will be so many good racers there", Paige said. "At home we'll have maybe twenty five to thirty drivers, but there will be several hundred at the Eastern Conference Finals and probably just as many at the Nationals and the Challenge. It's unbelievable to see the staging lanes so full of Junior Dragsters for as far as you can see. It's just a massive amount of competitors." Paige, who usually records eighth-mile passes of 8.2 seconds at 86 mph, will be making her third appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals. "I'll have to get used to the new dragsters rather quickly" Paige said, "but their (Half Scale Dragsters) cars are so nice it shouldn't be a problem. Having the extra race to prepare will help." Younger sister Belle will be racing at all three events for the first time. She drives a twelve-second dragster at 50 mph. "I love racing; it's all I think about" Belle said. "The speed and acceleration of my dragster is just amazing. I can't wait to race in Bristol. I've been there before but wasn't old enough to race. This time I can, so I'm really excited. It shouldn't be a problem borrowing a car. They're really nice to let me have a go. As long as it's fast and safe, I'll be happy." Paige and Belle receive sponsorship support from Alamo Rent-A-Car, Half Scale Dragsters, Lucas Oil, Oakley, JEGS, VP Racing Fuels and GK Motorsports. Paige and Belle Wheeler also have a new-look web site designed by 3T Creative. The web site aims to keep all young (and old) drag racing fans up-to-date on what the girls are getting up to. Team Alamo now have the ability to update the web site instantly so please keep checking back for up-to-date snippets, information, photos and appearances. Fans can follow the girls on their Twitter page @Alamodragster or @Bellewheeler and Facebook page at Paige & Belle Wheeler with the links also available from their web site at www.paigewheeler.co.uk or www.bellewheeler.co.uk. New blood at North Weald. 20th May: The second event of the year at the UK's North Weald Airfield took place last Sunday, a Test and Tune event featuring both car and bike Quick Eight eliminators, club areas and a well attended Show'n'Shine. Damian Burke writes: The event was problem free with only a short shower to hold up action on the track,and we would like to thank all those who attended for their support, in particular Glenn Pallant, Billy Gane and Paul Marston who brought along their cars and gave the spectators a taste of purpose-built drag racing machinery, great to see them. The bike eliminator was taken by Mark Patman on his rapid Kawasaki. He was the class of the field running down into the mid-nines consistently with terminals of over 150 mph. He took out Zac Holt on his 1200 Bandit. Mark also took the honours at the previous meeting. The car eliminator was an entertaining affair with Paul Marston prevailing in the final showing all his experience to cope with the track and drive away from the very quick Nissan Skyline GTR of Iqbal Hussein,who looked as surprised as anybody to be there as he and his friends had never been to a drag race before! That is the beauty of this type of event: it introduces people to this great sport, Iqbal and his buddies had a ball and hopefully will come back and bring more new people who will hopefully catch the bug.                           Thanks must go to the Renegade, Extreme Scene, Japworks, Volvo Performance and EA Modified Clubs for coming along and displaying and racing their cars. Next up at North Weald is another Test and Tune on 14th July, so come along and have some fun. For more details visit www.maitlandracing.com or phone Tony or Richard on 0207 485 0473. Summernationals Perfect Awards. 20th May: This weekend's SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway is the latest event in the 2013 Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards Scheme. £100 is on offer for perfect performance. This weekend's Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by Pro ET racer Nigel Green 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 UK Pro ET team Bad Habit Racing (Tig and Cath Napier). Decals are not mandatory for the Perfect Light Award but we would appreciate it if Eurodragster.com decals are carried; these are available in the Signing On office or from the Eurodragster.com staff. This weekend's Eurodragster.com / Gold RV Perfect ET Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by Super Pro ET racer Vince Gibbs at the FIA Main Event. The Perfect ET Award is available this weekend during qualifying or eliminations in Super Pro ET, Pro ET, Sportsman ET, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street, Lucas Oil Junior Dragster (eliminations only), VW Pro, VW Sportsman, 8.50 Bike, 9.50 Bike, Supertwin ET and Junior Drag Bike 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 or visit www.goldrv.co.uk. To be eligible to collect the Perfect ET Award, racers are required to carry decals, one on each side of the vehicle. If you pull this weekend's first Perfect ET but are not carrying decals then there will be no discussion; we will not pay out and the next person to pull a Perfect ET will get the money assuming that they are carrying decals. Eurodragster.com / Gold RV Perfect ET Award decals will be available in the Signing On office. Web site updates. 20th June: Our good buddy, photo-journalist Remco Scheelings has had two Sweden Internationals race reports posted on the Autosport.nl. As ever there is a race report which you can check out by clicking here and an off-track report which you can check out by clicking here. Summernationals racer update. 18th June: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us details of the arrangements for this weekend's SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway: Santa Pod Raceway's gates will open at 08:00 on Friday for those booked for the Peak Performance Day only. Gates will open for all other racers at 12:00 midday on Friday. Signing on will be open on Friday from 10:00 until 20:00 and will then reopen on Saturday morning. You can check out Saturday's car signing on order by clicking here. You can check out Saturday's bike signing on order by clicking here. Car scrutineering will begin at 11:00 am on Friday until scrutineer Amos Meekins is finished. You can check out Saturday's scrutineering order by clicking here. Bike scrutineering will commence at 18:00 on Friday and go on until late. You can check out Saturday's bike scrutineering order by clicking here. The final instructions are available (PDF format) by clicking here. 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. Please note that this running order is provisional and is subject to change due to weather or track conditions or for any other reason deemed necessary by race officials. NitrOlympX entry open. 18th June: NitrOlympX Race Director Jerry Lackey has been in touch to announce that entry is open for this year's event at Hockenheim on 9th-11th August. You will have to move quick if you wish to take part, though: All the final invitations and necessary paperwork to enter the 28th NitrOlympX can now be found on the Racers' page section of our web site at www.nitrolympx.com. Due to the very tight schedule at the NitrOlympX we are forced to set a maximum of thirty racers in each class so it is recommended that racers move quickly to submit their entries. Sweden Internationals results. 17th June: Congratulations to the winners of this weekend's Sweden Internationals at Tierp Arena: FIA Top Fuel Dragster: Thomas Nataas 4.2003/417.31 def. Stig Neergard 4.2709/352.71 FIA Top Methanol Funny Car: Adam Flamholc 5.7117/412.21 def. Jonnie Lindberg 5.8442/421.88 FIA Pro Modified: Urban Johansson 5.9910/385.71 def. Micke Gullqvist 5.9563/396.18 FIA Pro Stock: Thomas Lindström 6.6257/335.82 def. Jimmy Ålund 7.3689/204.39 FIM Europe Top Fuel Bike: Peter Svensson 5.9534/323.55 def. Rikard Gustafsson 8.5562/262.39 FIM Europe Supertwin: Ulf Ledström 10.5333/140.11 bye, Vesa Lipponen did not start FIM Europe Pro Stock Bike: Karl-Heinz Weikum 7.2113/296.05 def. Ulf Ögge 7.1959/296.70 Comp Eliminator: Andreas Arthursson (6.97) 6.6743/355.26 def. Odd Erik Fossum (7.26) 6.9682/252.93 DQ red Super Comp: Micke Nilsson 9.0354/241.29 def. Leif Andersson 11.6917/174.14 Super Gas: Bosse Hall 10.0933/195.79 def. Jan Hallman 9.9855/206.11 Super Street: Christer Gustafsson 10.8957/213.78 b/o def. Mauri Kamppinen 10.8101/198.46 DQ b/o Stock / Superstock: Per Fagerström (11.58) 11.5760/178.81 def. Dan Williams (10.08) 10.1734/207.29 DQ red Junior Dragster: Tobias Björnsson (8.02) 8.0720.121.32 def. Marcus Back Andersson (7.96) 7.9858/32.03 Super Street Bike: Jesper Johansson 7.8613/293.64 def. Björn Friström 8.2899/206.58 Super Comp Bike: Bert Nilsen 8.5750/252.57 def. Peter Svensson 8.9188/248.96 Super Gas Bike: Jarkko Niemi 9.5527/214.97 def. Carl Fodor 9.3798/215.65 DQ b/o Subject to official ratification the following records were set: Top Methanol Funny Car speed: 421.88 kmh / 262.14 mph, Jonnie Lindberg Pro Modified ET: 5.882 seconds, Urban Johansson Pro Modified speed: 399.11 kmh / 248.00 mph, Martin Lundkvist Pro Stock ET: 6.552 seconds, Jimmy Alund Pro Stock speed: 341.34 kmh / 212.10 mph, Jimmy Alund You can check out our Alamo Rent A Car-sponsored Sweden Internationals 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 and to Palle Lind for forwarding us the post-Sweden Internationals points standings in the FIA European Championships and the FIM European Drag Bike Championships, including the European Super Street Bike Cup, respectively. You can check out the European Championship points on our OCS Paint-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the OCS Paint Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Gassers' double trouble. 17th June: Round 2 of the UK's Gasser Circus takes part at this weekend's NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. The twentieth anniversary of the Nostalgia Nationals is also the tenth anniversary of the Gasser Circus, writes Nervous Nick: All the Gasser teams will be celebrating the anniversary the best way they know how, and that is by putting on a great show of Gasser drag racing. If you are not already going be sure to change your plans and go. With fourteen Gassers already confirming their attendance the racing will be close and exciting, with several teams looking to put right the problems that arose during Round 1. Mike and Lou Noble returned to their Plymouth home with double trouble. Lou had damaged the engine in her 1957 Chevy Handyman Lou's Cannon and Mike discovered metal filings in the oil of his new Blown Chevy Honky Tonkin'. One Gasser requiring repair is quite daunting, but Mike had two. However Mike, with the never-ending help of his good friend Mike Couch, soon had both engines out and stripped down awaiting new parts. The two Mikes have worked tirelessly not only to get the two Chevys back together but also onto a rolling road for setting up. In the true spirit of the Gasser Circus they have achieved it, and that is another reason to come along to check out their and all the Gasser Circus teams' handiwork. If you are interested in Gassers be sure and stop by the pits for a chat, you won't find a friendlier and welcoming group of guys and girls. Editor's note: The next news update will be posted during the day on Wednesday. Please keep the news coming to news@eurodragster.com and we'll publish it then. Elisha's Experience. 15th June: Nigel Taylor writes that his daughter Elisha enjoyed the Shakespeare County Raceway Junior Dragster Experience last weekend: At the start of the day we met with Andy Willcox. Elisha was supplied a firesuit, gloves, neck brace, crash helmet, arm restraints and, the most important bit, the dragster. Andy then towed Elisha down to the lower end of the track where there was a lot more space so that she could get used to the car and all the controls. When Andy and Elisha were both confident with the car they came back, signed on, and went to the start line to be taught the Christmas Tree and staging skills. The first run was a 0.70 Reaction Time, 17.2 seconds at 37.5 mph... not bad for a first time. Then four runs with a 0.10 reaction and one with a 0.01 reaction time. She was having great fun! Thanks to the whole SCR Junior Dragster experience, and to Andy Willcox for his professional tuition and for letting Elisha continue all day to get her eight runs in. I can highly recommend anyone with children eight years and up to give Andy's set-up a go, you will not be disappointed and it's a lot cheaper than people think. Thanks to all the other drag racers for their support for Elisha including C and C Racing, Tiki Munki Racing, the Thatadoo team, the Outlaw Anglias, Roy Wilding, Mark Blackmore, Steve and Pam Dale, Brian Huxley, Ian Turburville for the chat in the C and C Winnebago which made me do it, and all the other regular faces at Shakespeare County Raceway who make it such a great place! You can find out more about the SCR Junior Dragster Experience at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com. Web site updates. 15th June: Chris Dossett has updates his Trakbyte's UK Drag Racing History site with no less than forty seven new entries spread across a period of fourteen years from 1965 to 1979. "Among details from Santa Pod, Long Marston, North Luffenham, Martlesham Brighton and other venues are new car débuts, failed strip re-surfacings, the introduction of Pro Comp, wind, rain, snow and an exploding slick. And more besides! There's also a new question on the Help Us Find page regarding a Hobbs-built engine in a Triumph Metisse". You can check out Chris' extensive UK drag racing history at www.trakbytes.co.uk. NHRR webcast. 15th June: Our good buddies at Bangshift.com are webcasting the NHRA's National Hot Rod Reunion which concludes in Kentucky today. The free broadcast commences at 16:00 UK / 17:00 European and you can look in at www.bangshift.com. Ladies That Launch for Paula. 14th June: Angie Woods and Jerry Cookson, who organise Shakespeare County Raceway's For Ladies That Launch weekend on 20th-21st July, are pleased to announce that this year's chosen charity will be Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research in memory of the late Paula Marshall. All monies raised will be presented to Wild Bunch and Pro ET racer Sarah Howells before the challenging Great North Run on 15th September, in which Sarah is taking part in Paula's memory. The Great North Run is the biggest half-marathon on the planet and its runners have raised millions of pounds for charity during its lifetime. Sarah is aiming to get around the thirteen miles in two hours and twenty minutes. "The dedication, commitment and determination I will need to do this doesn't compare to that shown and given by Paula in the recent years but I'll hopefully do her memory justice and would appreciate support to raise as much money as possible", she says. Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research is the only UK charity solely dedicated to research into blood cancers, including Leukaemia, Lymphoma and Myeloma. Your contribution really will make a difference to the lives of the 30,000 people diagnosed every year with a blood cancer. You can find its web site at www.beatingbloodcancers.org.uk. "This was an opportunity we couldn't miss", says SCR's Jerry Cookson. "We all knew Paula, and many of us were lucky enough to work alongside this amazing woman. This is a fitting tribute indeed, especially as it is one of our own who was involved in the sport we all love and care about. "It's great to hear of Sarah's challenge on the Great North Run and we at Shakespeare County Raceway wish Sarah all the best. So we hope that at the end of For Ladies That Launch we can make a big contribution towards Sarah's and boost the figure over Sarah's target of £2000. You know what to do. Dig deep and give generously, people." In the meantime, if you would like to sponsor Sarah in Paula's memory to raise funds for this very deserving cause then please visit her Just Giving page at www.justgiving.com/dashracinguk. Further details about the 4th annual For Ladies That Launch Public Track Weekend can be found on the Events page of the web site  www.shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk or on the event's Facebook page. Event entry update. 13th June: Thanks to Jerry Cookson of Shakespeare County Raceway for letting us know that entry forms are now available for the National Association of Supertwins round which takes place at the Public Track Weekend on 20th-21st July and for all classes for the Open Sport Nationals, a UK Championship round, which takes place on 24th-26th August. Entry forms can be downloaded via the Downloads link of SCR's web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com. If you have any problems downloading the forms then please call 01789 720180 or 01789 414119. Look out for further updates in the coming weeks. Retro demo vehicles sought. 13th June: Santa Pod Raceway are seeking sub ten-second Retro vehicles to make demonstration runs at the Retro Show on Sunday 7th July. For more information, or to apply, please contact James Forster at Santa Pod at james@santapod.com or call 01234 782828. Swift snippets. 13th June: Mike Cailloux says that drag racing is returning to France's Paul Ricard Circuit after thirty years. The 2013 Castellet Dragrace takes place on 20th-21st July. You can find out more at www.castellet-drag-race.com, read the flyer by clicking here, and read a general information sheet by clicking here. Gulf Oil team's winning ways. 13th June: The Gulf Oil Dragracing – Grand Prix Originals Top Fuel Bike team made a great start to their 2013 season with an event win trophy at the FIM European Championship Invitational at the FIA Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway, UK. Sporting a radical set of geometry and seating changes in their quest to improve on their previous short times the team left the event happy with a brace of Personal Best sixty foot times of 1.02 seconds, an event win, and some interesting results from their innovative collaboration with world leading torque sensor designers NCTE of Germany which showed a true peak of 1440 HP on one of their runs. Unfortunately the great new track surface at Santa Pod still requires some more rubber to be laid over the season before the bike can exploit its full potential with the team overpowering the track on each run despite taking power out. A slow motion video of tyre shake and loss of traction experienced on a typical run at the event can be seen on YouTube. In addition the bike was sporting its new livery courtesy of the new Aston Martin Flugplatz Blue supplied by new partners Spies Hecker and applied by artist Knud Tiroch of Hotrod Hangar, painter of the impressive Red Bull and Toro Rosso Formula One cars. The team also launched their 2013 range of team clothing, available at all events across Europe this season. Their new Classic Graphix-designed T-shirts proved to be a great hit with their home fans, along with bespoke baseball caps, team fleece jackets and neck lanyard pass holders that are offered to fans at half shop prices. All these products and great offers will be available at events attended by the team in 2013, and mail order is an option – contact admin@kingracing.com for details. The team has already departed for the first race of the FIM European Championship at the impressive Tierp Arena in Sweden in defence of their Number 1 plate for the 2013 season. They will also attend other selected invited events across Europe in 2013: FIM European Drag Bike Championship Round 1 - Tierp Arena  (Sweden), 13th-16th June Round 2 - Alastaro (Finland), 4th-7th July Round 3 - Hockenheimring (Germany), 9th-11th August Round 4 - Santa Pod Raceway (UK), 5th-8th September Goodwood Festival of Speed Goodwood (UK) 12th-14th July The team is extremely proud to be supported by many leaders in their chosen markets in their successful challenges for the 2013 European and UK Championships: 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 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 Hotrod Hangar– Home of the world renowned custom artist Knud Tiroch Hyperpro - The leading producer of progressive suspension products for motor bikes JE Pistons - The world's premier manufacturer of high performance forged pistons 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 Nexus Underwriting Management - First class support services to underwriting subsidiaries 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 Supertough - Custom cases and covers for the Film, TV, Music and Motorsports Industries Spies Hecker - the world's leading supplier of paint for car, commercial and industrial finishing Vanson Leathers - The most iconic brand in motorsport leather goods Web Camshafts Inc - Simply the company for Top Fuel Bike camshafts Worldwide Bearings - The world's leading supplier of ceramic bearings for racing Zodiac - Europe's largest supplier of performance and aftermarket HD parts Pro ET party, and party again. 13th June: UK Pro ET racer Mike Lacey writes that Pro ET will be hosting a live band in the pits at next week's SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway: It's a real good rock band called Cold Steel who will be kicking off the music at 9:00 pm. If you have not been to this event, then make sure you do this year. One not to be missed. Continuing Pro ET's basic need to party, our End of Year Bash will once again be held at, The Lansdowne Strand Hotel in Calne, Wiltshire, on Saturday 16th November. This is also a party not to be missed and all are invited. Tickets are on sale at the Summernationals from Yours Truly in the Team Metamorphosis Racing pit at £10 a ticket. Thanks to all our wonderful sponsors, as none of this would be possible without them. Web site updates. 13th June: Benoit Pigeon has been in touch to let us know that a gallery of his shots (Which are excellent - Ed) from ADRL Drags VI is now showing on Bangshift com. You can check out Benoit's pictures by clicking here. The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr gallery with a set of shots from the Monday of Yanks Weekend at Shakespeare County Raceway. You can check out Mad's shots by clicking on Sets then Yanks Weekend at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman. Tierp Arena Press Call gallery. 12th June: Tierp Arena held a Press Call this afternoon to promote the Sweden Internationals. As well as journalists and photographers a TV crew was present and the results of their filming will be shown on breakfast TV tomorrow morning. FIA European Pro Stock Champion Thomas Lindström and Top Methanol FC racer Johan Lindberg pulled burnouts for the cameras as did Pro Stock Bike racer and Eurodragster.com Blogger Kalle Lyrén who also made an untimed test launch. Jan Gunnarsson's Pro Mod and Patrik Pers' Top Fuel Dragster in its fine new colours were on static display for the cameras. We have uploaded a small gallery from the Press Call which you can check out via our Alamo Rent A Car-sponsored Sweden Internationals Event Index by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Stung for a second time. 12th June: Austria's Mike Mugrauer, aka Doc Stinger, is familiar to European fans for his mean 1966 Dodge Coronet The Stinger. However Team Mopargarage Dragracing now have bigger fish to fry as Doc sold the Coronet and started to live his dream of owning and racing a Nostalgia Funny Car. Doc takes up the story: At last year's NitrOlympX I met Richard Bruton, who had a chassis for sale at that time: the old Showtime Corvette chassis which Tom Hoover brought over from the States in the 1980s. Two weeks later I booked a flight to UK and checked out the chassis and all the parts that would go with it. Richard and I agreed on a price and the deal was done. With the help of Paul Stubbings and Wendy Baker the chassis and all the parts were shipped to Paul's shop to make all the necessary updates to the chassis and to fit me into the car, as I was too tall for it. Paul did an incredible job. In December I made the trip to Paul's shop to pick up the chassis and take it to my own workshop. For the next six months my team and I worked together to build our dream. Because of our limited budget, the only new parts on it (beside the safety equipment) are the tyres and the body. The engine is my old blown-alcohol Hemi from the Coronet, the trans is a two-speed Lenco, the clutch a Crowerglide three disc pedal. The Challenger Body was fabricated by Bob Rosetty of Funny Farm Fabrications, he made an awesome job. I think he sold only three or four of these bodies, with mine being the only one in Europe. To make a long story short, our Funny Car is now ready to go. It's named The Stinger II and has an outstanding period-correct paintjob by Tom Toxic, who is a well-known custom painter over here in Austria. The very first presentation was at our Moparty at my workshop Doc Stingers Mopargarage (check out a YouTube clip). The very first outing of the car will be at Dragstalgia. I hope that all goes well and that we can put on a good show. Vik rides with Sovereign-Star Racing. 12th June: Norwegian Pro Stock Bike racer Kenneth Vik will seek the 2013 FIM Europe Drag Bike Championship title aboard his new Sovereign-Star Racing Suzuki motorcycle featuring the recently approved MonStar cylinder head technology. This Star Racing-built Suzuki will be sponsored by Jenõ Rujp's Sovereign Racing, the 2011 UEM European Championship team. The motorcycle features the new MonStar four-valve billet cylinder head, designed by Star Racing and Monster Race Products. With his new Sovereign-Star Racing Suzuki, Vik will be the first European racer to run this new MonStar cylinder head in competition. This state-of-the-art product was officially approved for Pro Stock Bike competition in the FIM Europe Drag Bike Championship in April 2012. "It will be an exciting season", said Vik. "After the test sessions at Gainesville, Florida, we are sure this will be a strong competitor for the FIM title this year." The GS-style heads are custom machined by Monster Race Products in Clearwater, Kansas. After Star Racing owner George Bryce drew the initial design for the cylinder head on a napkin, Monster Race Products owner, Mitch Brown, brought Bryce's idea to life by producing the heads. "The Star Racing team is so proud that our new MonStar heads have been approved to race in the European series", said Bryce. "This really shows the world that our new product is worthy of international recognition and is something that will greatly improve the racing competition in Europe. We are excited for Kenneth to be the first to show just how much power the engine has after all of our development and testing." Brown was instrumental in the production process for these heads as the team adjusted and improved the original design over the past couple of years. Monster Race Products also completed all of the CNC machining for the new product. "We've been working tirelessly to improve and perfect these new MonStar heads ever since George sketched that first design on a napkin", said Brown. "It's been a long process, but we're confident that this product is the absolute best it can be. The billet aluminum that we've machined them from is an aircraft proprietary alloy and is about 10 times stronger than your standard cylinder head." The possibility of new products and parts for Vik's motorcycle is what originally brought this team together for the 2013 season. Vik had originally met Bryce and Rujp when their Sovereign Racing team was competing for the 2011 European Championship title, and Vik later began to discuss the option of partnering with them for his future racing needs. "After using Vance & Hines for my engines for some years, I was at the point where I wanted to try something new, and Star Racing had some products that were very interesting", said Vik. "The new head looks very exciting." Vik's colorful, newly-painted Sovereign-Star Racing Suzuki will début 13th-16th June at the Sweden Internationals at Tierp Arena. His crew members include Atle Snapa; Jostein Christoffersen; his wife, Reidun; and his children, Theodor and Victoria. Tor Erik Westbye will also assist the crew at a couple of races during the season. Vik, who has been racing since 2000, won the Nordic Championship for Funny Bike in 2005 and has been racing Pro Stock Bike since 2006. He is self-employed and lives in Skarnes, Norway. Star Racing is based in Americus, Georgia, United States. The company's owners, George and Jackie Bryce, have been involved in professional motorcycle drag racing for more than thirty years. Star Racing has won six National Hot Rod Association Championships and seventy NHRA National Events with 10 different riders. Vik's European Sovereign-Star Racing team would like to thank the following sponsors: Sovereign, Star Racing, Tanko AS, Småbåthavner AS and Veflen Entreprenør. Norwegian team wrap up testing. 12th June: Last weekend's first round of the Norwegian Drag Bike Championship was also the last chance for the members of Norway's National Drag Bike Team to test before this week's first FIM European Championship round at Tierp Arena. Lin Granlund and Tor Erik Westbye got in touch to let us know how it went for the National Team: Trond Høiberget (Supertwin) was satisfied with his passes this weekend, no full passes but the team got a lot of answers and are ready for Sweden Internationals. Svein Olav Rolfstad (Supertwin) made full passes and ran a 6.768 in qualifying. He ran a 1.09 sixty foot and the weekend's best eighth mile with 4.24. The team is not really satisfied with the bike from the eighth onwards but will sort things out before the race in Sweden. Svein Olav's time 330 foot time is better than his European record run last year. Hans Olav Olstad's bike (Supertwin) was finished just in time to get in to the last qualifying round. He ran 6.69 with a soft set-up which was a new best for this bike. The bike went straight without problems and the team are looking forward to Sweden Internationals. Kenneth Vik (Pro Stock Bike) made some test rounds and was very pleased after the last one. Kenneth had some minor bugs in the first rounds but the team found them and said that they will be a strong contender at Tierp. Bengtsson's first outing. 12th June: Sweden's four-time European Supertwin Champion and current European speed record holder Per Bengtsson will make his season début during this week's Sweden Internationals at Tierp Arena: After the bike and equipment returned home from the USA in January the team have, as always, come up with some new ideas for the coming season. Changes have been made to the clutch as well as to the fuel system. "We learned a lot during the race at Valdosta and we hope that the experience from the US trip will help us in our tuning decisions this season", says Per. "The whole team is anxious to return to the United States for more racing in the near future, and we know that the performance needs to improve even further to be competitive. Our ambition for the 2013 season is definitely to come down in to the 6.20 zone." The Beast drag bike team are looking forward to an exciting weekend with seventeen Super Twins on the start line but just eight spots in the ladder. That means big entertainment for the crowd! If you're at the track then please stop by our pit area for a chat. A big thank you to all of our partners, who make it possible for us to compete at this level: Red Line Oil, Liqui Moly, Persåkers Speedshop, Swedcut, Gates / Lönne, Ulvsgården Ab, Fanhultstvätten Älmhult, Autoexperten Växjö, Larssons Bilverkstad Lenhovda, Bilservice i Åseda, Kalvsviks Bilverkstad, Rävemåla Bilservice, MMR, Bentec Engineering and Flexoart. For more information please visit the Beast web site at www.bentec.net. Kågered to race with RFM. 12th June: Swedish Top Fuel Dragster racer Micke Kågered will be racing out of the Rune Fjeld Motorsport stable at this week's Sweden Internationals at Tierp Arena. A press release courtesy of RFM PR Polly Magnussen explains: With Championship leader Antti Horto leading the way we are running three Top Tuel Dragsters this weekend. Antti, with the support of his Eagle Motorsport Racing crew from Finland, is keen to prove that he has got what it takes to be at the top. But as we all know this is not an easy task because behind him he has fellow racer Jari Halinen, also in an RFM Top Fuel Dragster, and Lady Anita Mäkelä who are both determined to settle the score. Since the retirement of former Champion Risto Poutiainen left us with a spare race car, and not just any race car, we were approached by Swedish Top Fuel competitor Mikael Kågered enquiring about the possibility of driving our spare dragster in the round two of the Championship. Team Owner Rune Fjeld did not hesitate to answering Yes since Mikael is an experienced and good driver with above average skills. Rune will tune the car and the RFM crew will keep it running fast as always. Another good piece of news this weekend is that NHRA tuner and Crew Chief Jim Walsh is coming over to tune Jari Halinen's car. This leaves Jari with a very strong team as he already has a very experienced RFM crew with Gary Page and Lawrie Bamford in charge. Tierp Arena has proven to be a very fast track, with a lot of new records, and RF Motorsport is ready to hit the throttle and make some noise for all the Swedish racing fans. Our pits are always open so please stop by for a chat. The Outlaw: To Hell with ACDC. 12th June: Many people have been eagerly awaiting the return of Eurodragster.com sponsor Matt Wright's monster Rolls Royce The Outlaw after it first appeared at Santa Pod in 2011. After running his quickest time with the Outlaw in late 2011, just into the sevens, it was time to go back to the drawing board. "Let's face it, race cars are never quite finished are they?", says Danielle Wright: Matt took a year out to build up our latest venture www.wemoveyourcar.com and taking time out to make changes to the Outlaw to get its 6.00 tag. This involved stripping the car and putting another twenty six bars into its cage. Work then really took over for Matthew so he left Bill Felstead working away behind the scenes on the Rolls Royce. Matt and Bill wanted to give the car better driveability on the street, making it more suitable to both track and road. Changes included an all-aluminiun Donovan engine, Foulton ported heads made by John Ellis and a clutch system. After fitting the monster with a clutch, Matthew has been getting as much track time as possible to get a new feel for the machine, tuning and testing in preparation for last Saturday's Run What You Brung at Santa Pod. A few months back Matthew was approached by Back to Back Productions, a company who film for the Discovery Channel among many others, about featuring his car in the Discovery Channel's program Pedal to the Metal starring ACDC lead singer and true car fanatic Brian Johnson! Of course Matthew accepted, however we all knew that a lot of careful and precise preparation had to take place prior the big day and the filming so it was all hands on deck. When the big day finally came, it was a very proud moment to see the car back out again and Matthew firmly back in the driving seat. Brian Johnson came over to the pits at about 3:00 pm and spent some time getting to know the crew and preparing for the ride of his life, at one point saying his prayers before climbing into what he referred to as "The fire-breathing dragon" after witnessing Matthew's last run from the gantry. Because of a technicality earlier on during one of the runs, Matthew and friend John Sleath decided to turn down the car's power to only five pounds of boost. We wanted a fast, fun but safe run for Brian, and trust me it paid off! We all stood with bated breath as Matthew approached the start line with the legendary rock star at his side. Having any passenger in a car like this is daunting for a driver, however one so famous really is a very big responsibility both for crew and driver. As ever, Matthew kept his cool and concentrated on the task ahead. The car did its signature burnout, last safety checks were made and the doors slammed shut! Looking down from the stands I couldn't breathe by this point, a feeling of great pride as my husband sat at the start line with his wife and two daughters looking on. The anti-lag kicked in, the lights counted down, the Outlaw was crackling and sounded awesome, and then Matt really pulled it out the bag for WG Racing. The car launched as it always does, hard, fast and firm and stayed steady right down the track, pulling a respectable 8.6/176 - Brian got what he was after! Returning to the pits, a shaking and overwhelmed Brian Johnson thanked Matthew for what he described as "One of the best things I have ever done". A fantastic day was had by all, including the ACDC fans who hijacked the pit area! It was a surreal day and one to tell the grandkids about. Thanks go to crew Bill, Steve and Luke, Fred 'Andy' Hone, John Sleath for giving up his day to assist, Santa Pod Raceway, and Jon at AET for helping us urgently with a great deal on larger (and much needed) waste gates. Dynodaze Weekend results. 12th June: Many thanks to Jerry Cookson for passing us the results of the UK National and National Association of Supertwins Championship rounds which took place at the weekend's Shakey Super Pull / Dynodaze Public Track Weekend at Shakespeare County Raceway. Congratulations to: 8.50 Bike #1 qualifier: Mick Winyard 8.542 Final result: Mick Winyard 8.452/154.42 b/o def. Kevin Osman 8.330/173.96 b/o 9.50 Bike #1 qualifier: Richard Sawatzki 9.517 Final result: Richard Sawatzki 9.533/137.19 def. Alex Hope 9.645/145.58 NAST Supertwin Comp #1 qualifier: Terry Green 9.411 Final results: Terry Green 9.470/135.91 def. Robbie Dobbie 10.348/136.89 NAST Supertwin ET #1 qualifier: Top Qualifier: Peter Harrison 11.216 Final result: Peter Harrison (11.10) 11.221/105.63 def. Carey Wadey (10.90) 10.985/122.83 All welcome at North Weald. 12th June: North Weald Airfield hosts its second event of the year this Sunday (16th), a Test and Tune for both cars and bikes. Damian Burke writes: The event is open to any vehicle and attracts a huge variety of participants from all out drag racers, hot hatches, American muscle cars, modified, import, hot rods, Junior Dragsters, VWs, sports cars, and all manner of bikes and trikes. You name it we've got it! Clubs are welcome - this weekend we have the Renegade, Xtreme Scene, Japworks and hopefully EA modified clubs. We have plenty of catering on site, a bar, trade stands and children's rides. All our events feature the familiar tones of a certain Mr John Price to oversee the activities and to keep everyone informed as only he can. Entrance to the event is £10 and under 14s are free. The signing on fee to run on the track is £25. Signing on opens at 8:30, sign on and get scrutineered and then get in the queue and make as many runs as you can. There is a signing on limit of 200, first-come first-served. Helmets can be obtained from the track crew if needed, for motorcycle riders a jacket with armour and boots are required. North Weald is easy to find, in very close proximity to Junction 7 of the M11, just off the A414 and clearly signposted. Post code is CM16 6HR (map). Further events this year are another Test and Tune on 14th July; 28th July is Bikefest featuring Classic Bikes, parades of classic racers, and a special celebration of the 30th anniversary of the first Ultimate Streetbike series event so we hope to see a few old faces from what was a very successful race series; 18th August is the Outlaws Picnic with rods and all manner of American machinery,Show and Shine, and racing on the quarter mile. North Weald has a really friendly grass-roots feel and a welcoming crew to help both newcomers and older hands. So if you've always fancied a go at drag racing come along and have some fun in a laid-back atmosphere For further information call Tony or Richard on 0207 4850473. Announcing the Big MoFo Shootout. 12th June: UK Super Pro ET racer Simon Gough has been in touch to announce the Big MoFo Shootout, an open shootout for race cars running 11.99 and quicker, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on Monday 29th-Tuesday 30th July. The winner will trouser £7000 in cash plus vouchers and a trophy, with £3000 cash plus vouchers and a trophy for the runner-up as well as other prizes. The rules and arrangements are as follow: Entries will be accepted from Pro Mod to cars which can run 11.99. No slower cars will be able to enter due to terminal speeds in eliminations and safety equipment inside slower cars. Providing your car is tagged to meet criteria you can race at this event. No throttle stops, no delay boxes. If you are found to be using either you will be eliminated from the event. The entry fee of £160 including electical hook-up is for the car and driver. Other entrants / team members will be charged £10 per person which will be added to the final prize fund. Entry forms can be filled out in our pit at the SPRC Summernationals; only cheques will be accepted, please make payable to Mrs S Gough. We need a minimum of 90 cars and drivers. All entries need to be paid before the end of June. If you don't pay before the end of June then you're simply not in. Come 1st July if we have enough entries we will bank the cheques and every driver entered will receive an event T-Shirt and a plaque. If we don't get enough entries then the event will not take place and your cheque will not be cashed. Tickets for the event will be given out at Santa Pod Raceway after 3:00 pm on Sunday 28th July. On Monday there will be two rounds of qualifying for everyone, and maybe start eliminations - there will be no buybacks. When this is completed the track is yours for the rest of the day to get as many runs as you like, remember you have got to qualify in the top 64 if not you're out. On Tuesday we complete eliminations. If we get more than 100 entries then we will turn it into a 96 car elimination and eliminations will start on Monday and roll in to Tuesday. If we get 100 cars that also means £12k in prize money. I know it's two days off work but this is two days of money-making and racing at the same time. The prizes so far are as follow: Winner: £7,000 in cash, a one-off five-foot trophy, £250 to spend with Jeff Bull Race Engines, $500 to spend at FTI Converters and Transmission, £1000 towards a complete chassis build at Hauser Race Cars, £500 off your total respray at OCS Paint, £150 of fuel at the BP garage in Olney, £75 to spend at Halfords in Wellingborough, free dyno run at Power Engineering (car only), £200 of VP Racing Fuels of your choice. More to be added when confirmed. Runner-up: £3,000 in cash, a one-off three-foot trophy, $250 to spend at FTI Converters and Transmissions, free baseline for your car at Hauser Race Cars, £100 at Wild Bean Café at the BP Garage in Olney, £25 to spend at Halfords in Wellingborough, £100 of VP Racing Fuels of your choice. More to be added when confirmed. The winner and runner up vouchers will be named and are not transferable. We will also be picking someone out the hat who runs on unleaded fuel, they will be supplied a new unleaded race fuel courtesy of VP Racing Fuels. If weather doesn't play ball and the event is called off then you will only lose £23 of the car and driver entry fee. All crew / support entry fees will be refunded in full. If you have any queries then see Simon in the Super Pro ET pits at the SPRC Summernationals, or E-Mail gough5@aol.com. Street Eliminator Round 3 review. 12th June: Round 3 of the Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator Championship took place at Santa Pod Raceway and was another thrilling weekend of trials and tribulations. Street Eliminator Chair and colour commentator Matt Atkinson writes: It was great to see a strong contingent of ten entries in the class, and it was also great to welcome Rich Merriman and the team. Making a return to the class was Alan Williamson in his Chevy 3100 Pick up following an extensive rebuild by Chris Issacs Race Cars and sporting a fresh new paint job. Among the usual suspects we also had the return of previous ET record holder and multiple Champion Colin Lazenby with the immaculate-looking '56 Chevy Sedan, all be it with a slight change only evident on the second look! Colin had made the switch to Drag Radials following years of using the Block Treaded tyres. I know this was a big change for the team and a military operation to keep it a secret! Unfortunately the Friday, our most valuable day of qualifying, wasn't to be. The rain came down and not a wheel turned at the track all day, thankfully the outlook for the remainder of the weekend looked much better. Onto Saturday and the first round of qualifying, a great session to commentate on with Al Williamson's first full run in the track and straight into the nines with a 9.312 and new PB. Mark Todd in the stunning GTO also made his first pass of the year with a 9.234/148.15 just to check everything out. The last car out was Brian Payne's and although we have seen the Mustang run deep into the sevens nobody expected what we were about to see. Following the normal staging routine and the drop of the lights the Mustang just hooked up straight off the line and went, from the tower the run looked effortless and straight as you like. Watching the increments come up on the screen we quickly realised just how fast the pass was, stopping the clock at 7.474 seconds and 191.25 mph to a huge round of applause and shouting on the startline. The first half of a new ET record was set! Following our first session of the day we faced a patient wait to get out for the next run. Unfortunately due to the curfew we just missed our chance but that meant that we would be first out on Sunday morning. This did however give Stu Williams and the Carmasupra team the chance to get the car fully ready for the first run of the year; following a good spot in the pairing lanes of the first qualifier it was evident that the tyres were not safe to run and needed changing after the dyno session on the previous day. It was worth the wait though as Stu went straight in at number four with an 8.207/168.53. Big improvement also for Colin up to number three with an 8.203/182.84 despite lighting the tyres off the line! Jon Webster cemented number two spot with an 8.019. Unfortunately problems for Al on that run as the pick up hooked off the line only to dismantle the rear axle and put an end to the weekend. Brian last out again and had to run quicker than 7.540 to back up the record, running through with a 7.487. Huge congratulations to Brian and the team, well-deserved. Following the first qualifier it was clear that we had a small window to go on the Cruise. Following a discussion and vote it was decided that the possibility of an extra qualifying run followed by the queues at the gate would have caused a major problem. Therefore the Cruise was eliminated. This did however mean that we were straight out after the first Pro session of the day for our third qualifier. Jon Webster went straight into the sevens on this run with a 7.982 to improve on his number two spot. Andy Bond in the silver Mustang improved with an 8.996 good enough for number eight. Great run for Mark Todd with an 8.010 but this did come at a cost as the inlet manifold began to pull away. The guys did manage to get the car fixed after a great effort but with water still clearly pouring out it was an unfortunate end to Mark's weekend. Onto the last round of qualifying and Martin Smith and Team Extreme continued to impress with the Nissan GTR35 gradually chipping away towards that seven second pass a superb looking 8.163/172 Personal Best met with cheers on the start line. Great effort from the team and up to number six in qualifying. The excitement however was short lived as problems with the parachute on the return road left the car damaged beyond repair - bodywork damage, parachute straps frayed, handbrake cable bent - and with such a short amount of time to eliminations the guys weren't able to gun down that seven second pass. In the first round of eliminations there were unfortunately a number of casualties. First to take advantage of that was Stu Williams in the Supra and the team were really starting to get a hold on the car, with Martin Smith in the opposite lane just staging for points Stu flew through with 7.773 new Personal Best (Stu was grinning like the Cheshire cat when I returned to congratulate him!). Next up was Jon Webster in the Comet, number two qualifier and a bye run due to Al Williamson's diff problems, Jon running through with a 7.920 reeling 7.9s out like a bracket car! Our third pair was an interesting pairing with Mats Andersson in the little yellow Opel and Colin in the big '56 Chevy. With Colin struggling to get away from the line Mats knew his best chance would be to pull a good light and get out in front! Unfortunately Mats pulled too good a light with a -0.005 and Colin took the win with a very impressive 7.666, safe to say it looked like Team 56 had got a handle on those Drag Radials! The David and Goliath match up of the round was Rich Merriman in the lovely looking VW, who had been running consistent low twelves on his first appearance in the class, up against defending Champion and new ET record holder Brian Payne. Despite Rich's best efforts, a big start line advantage and a new PB of 12.179 (well done guys!) was not enough to halt Brian who ran through with a 7.533 to take the win light. Last out was Andy Bond in the Mustang, qualified at number eight and due to Mark Todd's problems the beneficiary of a bye run. It had been a bit of a thrash to get the car down in time but there was no hanging around as Andy stormed to an 8.773/163, a new Personal Best speed. Great effort guys. Onto Monday and our quarter finals, it had been a long wait in the pits but we got the call and were out with some fantastic match ups. First out was Stu Williams fresh off the back of the new PB against Jon Webster newly named "Mr Consistent". Both cars followed their normal routines and as Jon upped the RPM and pulled into stage, Stu began to do the same, Stu pulled in but Jon couldn't hold it any longer and unfortunately went before the green, problems for Stu as he cruised through. Next up were Andy Bond and Colin Lazenby, Andy knowing he had to pull out something special following Colin's 7.66. As Colin pulled into stage Andy sat in pre-stage for what seemed like an eternity readying himself, then just as Andy nudged into stage he was bulbed and Colin took the green light running through with a 7.782 setting up a mouth-watering semi final against Brian Payne who followed with a 7.553 bye run. On my return to the pits it was apparent that despite Stu's victory there were serious problems. On initial inspection it appeared that he may have had time to turn the car around and get out for the bye run into the final, however after a conversation with the engine tuner it was deemed a no go andthey decided to put the car away for another day (hopefully the Summernationals!), a real shame as it had been a great first meeting for the team. The semi-finals and a winner-takes-all affair. With Brian's and Colin's cars both capable of running deep into the sevens it was sure to be a closely matched race. Both cars pulled round, short burnouts and up to the line with less than two tenths between the two Colin looked to knock this out on the tree with a 0.014 light to Brian's 0.030. As Colin's 56 Chevy really started to dig in the front wheels came up and up... and up! A bumper scraping 45-degree wheelie from Colin from which he had to lift bringing the car back down with an almighty thud. Problems in the other lane for Brian as well as he struggled for traction running through with an 8.236. An outstanding show and effort from both drivers and I am pleased to say that the damage does not look as bad as first anticipated for Colin so hopefully that means he will return for the European Finals. Brian secured the win with a bye run in the final to take his third victory out of three for the year, idling through with a 12.380. A great effort by all of the racers and superb to see so many PBs across the whole class. Well done to Brian Payne and the team on yet another win and a storming run to secure the new ET record. On to the Summernationals on 22nd-23rd June where we hope to put on another great performance! A big thank you to our class sponsors to whom we are very grateful: Topspeed Automotive, Custom Car magazine, RPM magazine, Webster Race Engineering, Doctor Flock, Quartermile High / Zeon TV, Matt Woods Photography and Eurodragster.com, all of whom can be found on our web site at www.streeteliminator.com. Finally thanks to all at Santa Pod Raceway for a great effort and preparing the track so well, allowing us to set records and new PBs! Team STARTA ready for launch. 11th June: Less than four weeks after our testing at the EDRS Nationals at Tierp Arena, Peter and Sören Svensson and the Team STARTA Racing Top Fuel Bike team are ready for their first and only FIM Europe race of the year, the Sweden Internationals at Tierp Arena this Thursday-Sunday. This week's race will be the twentieth anniversary of the bike's first competitive outing at Orsa Airport in 1993. Sören Svensson writes: Four weeks ago at Tierp Arena we made some major progress towards resetting our own European records running a best of 3.7472/195 mph over the eighth mile and Personal Bests of 0.97 over sixty feet and 2.51/157 at 330 feet, clicking off the throttle at about 550 feet. The performance level of this run was by far our best ever and it was achieved with the new HPS 2.1 blower which we added for this season, supplied by HPS Superchargers in Sweden. Let's hope that we can keep this performance level throughout the whole season and use all the torque/power which our engine produces to establish new records when conditions are perfect. The above times speak for themselves and show what a remarkable track Tierp Arena is, and what a fantastic job Kjell Pettersson and his track preparation crew do not only for this event, but for every drag racing event at Tierp Arena. One thing is sure and that is that records will be falling in many classes if we can get close to the same conditions at the Sweden Internationals this weekend. We have a new STARTA look on our Top Fuel Bike, with a new lower fairing as you can see in the photograph, this will hopefully help us in our goal of running quicker and faster. We would like to take the opportunity to welcome our new associate sponsors PR Husbilar, HPS Supechargers, Goproactiv, Temec and Swecomposite to our Top Fuel Bike team for 2013 and hope for a long-lasting relationship. We will put all possible efforts to help to market their and all of our sponsors' names in all different the media which cover Top Fuel Bike racing in Europe and the rest of the world. Please join us tour this year at the following events: 13th-16th June: FIM Europe Sweden Internationals, Tierp Arena, Sweden 23rd-26th August: FIA Scandinavian Internationals, Tierp Arena, Sweden 2nd-3rd November: Art Malone Memorial Southern Nostalgia and Muscle Car Shootout, Bradenton, USA* 8th-10th November: Manufacturers World Cup, Bradenton, USA* *Depending upon funding A big Thank You to those who make this possible: STARTA Produkter, supplied by Sollebrunns Oljeservice PR Husbilar, one of the largest companies in the western region of Sweden selling RVs HPS Supechargers, number one when it comes to superchargers Samek Tool AB, who make some of the best moulding tools in the automotive industry in Sweden Real Form, product development within mechanical design Goproactive, supplier of PC and network solutions, outsourcing, on-line services, communication systems, security and more Swecomposite, number one when it comes to bodywork for drag racing and many other areas using the same technique Temec, one of Sweden's leading companies selling hot runner systems and much more for moulding tools Pippi, number one when it comes to marketing All our fans and family members who support us towards new achievements every year! For more information about our previous achievements and updates please visit www.billetracing.se (in English). Doing the Wright thing. 11th June: Reigning UK National Sportsman ET Champion Craig Wright will be racing for charity at the SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway on 22nd-23rd June. Craig, a Retained Fire Fighter at Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service, will be collecting for the Fire Fighters Charity, a charity close to his heart and to those of many of his colleagues. Every year, thousands of fire fighters are injured whilst protecting the public. Fire fighters are called to an incident in the UK every thorty seconds, putting their lives on the line and often sustaining physical injuries whilst carrying out their duties. The Fire Fighters Charity is here for fire fighters during their times of need, and assists over seventeen thousand individuals every year by providing pioneering treatment and support services. It costs over nine million pounds every year to keep the Charity running, and with no government funding it is completely reliant upon donations from the general public and fire community. You can find out more at www.firefighterscharity.org.uk. Craig will be sporting the Charity's decals on his Honda Civic and the Wrighty's Wagon Drag Racing Team will have a money box set up in his pit area. All donations will be very much appreciated. "Good luck to all competitors for the remaining season, see you all soon" says Craig and team. Swift snippets. 11th June: Many thanks to Yvonne Tram and our own Simon for forwarding us the post-FIA Main Event and Yanks Weekend points standings in the UK National Drag Racing Championships and APIRA Ultimate Power Championships. You can check out the UK and APIRA points on our OCS Paint-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the OCS Paint Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Simon tells us that UK National and APIRA points from the Dynodaze Track Weekend are being worked on right now. Bob Roberts of Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson Race Cars says that they have both ends of the evolutionary scale in the ARRC workshop this week. "Sydney Allard's original dragster is side-by-side with one of this year's new race cars, Andy Robinson's Camaro which is under repair", says Bob. "They are sharing a workshop for the last time as we prepare for the handback at Beaulieu next weekend." Please note that due to travelling and pressure of work covering the Sweden Internationals (see below) we will be suspending postings to our Jeff Bull Race Engines-sponsored Swap Meet between tomorrow (Wednesday) and the middle of next week. Please continue to send in your classified ads and if we get the chance we will post them, otherwise we will catch up as soon as we can upon resumption. Sweden Internationals coverage. 11th June: Eurodragster.com will be at Tierp Arena from Thursday to bring you all the news from the Sweden Internationals in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car. Our coverage will consist of frequently-updated reports on the on-track action together with pit notes updated throughout each day and a photo gallery at the end of each day. We will post a direct Home Page link as soon as our coverage commences but in the meantime you can check out our Sweden Internationals Event Index by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Our good friends at Smart TV will be webcasting the complete event; Thursday's webcast is free whilst €10 will buy you Friday to Sunday inclusive. Please note that registration is necessary even for Thursday's free webcast. For more details check out www.smarttv.se. For more information about the Sweden Internationals check out www.tierparena.com or click on Events at www.dragracing.eu. Jolink's week of woes. 10th June: Top Gas racer and regular Eurodragster.com contributor Herman Jolink went through the wars to make it to the latest European Top Gas Series round at Bechyne in the Czech Republic, and all for naught: There was no-one other than me to drive the team van and I was very tired after the round at Shakespeare County Raceway. At 08:30 on 28th May the van's engine broke near Doetinchem. I called a Mercedes scrap yard, van Schoten in Oldebroek, who could put together a good used Mercedes 213 CDI for the Sprinter. On the Wednesday I rode 200 kilometres to Oldebroek on my Mille S2 a Bevel Ducati which has done 200,000 km with the original pistons. Van Schoten started to build the engine on Thursday morning and it would be running on Friday afternoon. That would be too late so I rented a car on Thursday evening and I needed three and a half hours to get the Ducati Drag Bike and most of the other stuff into the other Sprinter. I left Oldebroek and got to my girlfriend's home near Braunschweig in Germany at one in the morning. I got to bed at two and was up at six, picked up a German friend near Oschersleben, and then I drove to Bechyne. The total distance was 1000 kilometres. I did all the driving - the plan was that a friend of mine from the Netherlands would drive with me but he travelled with another team. We arrived at Bechyne at 17:00. There were a lot of racers there, more than a hundred I think. At 07:30 on Saturday the water had all been cleared from the track and we were ready for the first qualifying runs at 08:00 but first there was a meeting, and then at 10:15 it started to rain and didn't stop for the whole weekend. There were six Top Gas racers at Bechyne: Frederik Schack DK on a 2750 V-Twin, Peter Niklas D on a Turbo Honda 1000 SP,  Chris van Nimmen B on a 2600 V-Twin,  Harry van Schie NL on a 1966  Blower V-Twin,  Herman Jolink NL on a Ducati 1198 RS (1266), and Frank Heitmann D on a 2622 V-Twin. Milan Kolacny CZ was there but not on his blown Honda 1000 SP, he had his HD V-Rod street bike. Top Gas Championship after three rounds: Herman Jolink NL 895 points Frederik Schack DK 685 Frank Heitmann D 430 Harry van Schie NL 420 Chris van Nimmen B 410 Peter Niklas D 400 Milan Kolacny CZ 300 We left Bechyne at 16:00 on Sunday  and after a lot of problems with the rental car we where back in Doetinchem at 09:00 on Wednesday. On Wednesday evening we collected the the team's Mercedes Sprinter 213 CDI with a good used motor. I would like to say a big Thank You to Gerhard Werner from Ausleben Germany. He rides a Honda Streetfighter bike and helps Dragracing Team Herman Jolink a lot even though his wife is ill and he has to take care of her. But one phone call from me asking Gerhard if he wanted to go to Bechyne was enough and he did a great job. Thanks again Gerhard. The remaining European Top Gas Series calendar is as follows: 21st-23rd  June Dutch Open Drachten NL 11th-13th July Dutch Open Drachten NL 3rd-4th August  Vandel DK 9th-11th August NitrOlympX  Hockenheim D 16th-18th August Drachten  NL 30th August-1st September Mosten Race Days Randers DK Swift snippets. 10th June: Terje Håkkensbakken tells us that Norwegian Supertwin racer Hans Olav Olstad clocked 6.69 seconds and 339 kmh in testing at Gardermoen yesterday (Sunday). "Hans Olav was very pleased with this since it was very soft", says Terje. "The 6.69 was right off the trailer and without damage to the engine. Svein Olav Rolfstad ran two 6.7s which shows that he is on track for Tierp next weekend." The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com (above right) came with some indication of its origin: "The boys at Team Topspeed have been real busy at the track lately but on return from the Main Event these bad boys had appeared! Unfortunately,  information relating to their next appearance is highly classified!". Gerrit van Donkelaar writes that Frank Eijskoot's Fierce Fiero Super Comp 'slammer has been rebuilt with a longer wheelbase after last year's crash at Drachten. You can take a look at the finished item in a great piece by our good friend Remco Scheelings at www.autosport.nl. Gerrit adds that we will see Frank and the Fiero at the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway. The UK's Plum Crazy Pro ET team have been in touch to ask us to congratulate team members Chris and Claire Innes on the arrival of their beautiful daughter Amelia Grace Innes, who was born at 10:18 on Friday weighing in at 7 lb 1 oz. "We would like to wish them lots of love and all the best for the future", they say. UK Top Sportsman entry open. 10th June: Paul Marston writes that entry is now open for UK Top Sportsman, the roughest toughest, heads-up, no holds barred, doorslammer event of the year which takes place at the Mopar Euronationals at Santa Pod Raceway on 26th-28th July. This will be the only UK Top Sportsman event of 2013. Remember anyone can enter, there are no rules other than safety, and you do not need an MSA licence just your normal driving licence. The first race is on Friday at 1:00pm so make sure you get there nice and early. Friday's race is a Pro Tree heads-up bracket race with first round buy-backs, everybody runs and the pairings are random until the third round of eliminations. This race is scheduled to be completed on Friday. Late in the afternoon on Saturday there is one-shot qualifying for the sixteen-car heads-up eliminations which take place on Sunday. There will be a huge prize fund: this is the richest Sportsman Doorslammer race of the year. Yes we share the wealth, we pay all the way back to quarter finals in the Bracket Race. Everyone who qualifies for the Heads Up Eliminations gets paid, plus there are some nice trophies up for grabs. International entrants are more than welcome. We had entries from Holland last year, anyone and everyone is welcome. There were a huge number of Personal Bests set and records broken in 2012, expect more in 2013. When the dust settles on the Unfinished Business 3, we will know who really does have the Baddest Doorslammer in the Country. UK Top Sportsman will again be televised in the UK and throughout Europe, so tell your sponsors to get ready for those phones to ring. There are still some sponsorship opportunities for companies who want to be involved with this exciting and growing event. Please contact us if you are interested, we have packages to suit all pockets and we would be very happy to talk to you. Please check out the promo video on YouTube or you can simply visit us on the UK Top Sportsman Facebook page, Like us, and watch the promo. Entry forms and full details of eligibility and how it works are available at www.topsportsman.co.uk, visit the Facebook page, E-Mail me at pmracing@fsmail.net, or call me on 07831 650230. Please spread the word far and wide that entry is now open for UK Top Sportsman. Unfinished Business 3 is shaping up to be bigger, faster and tougher than the last one, everyone will want to be there, so help us make sure that they know about it. We do not want anyone saying "I coulda won that if I had known". No excuses, no whining, no BS Just be there. Dynodaze Track Weekend webcast. 9th June: This weekend's Dynodaze Track Weekend at Shakespeare County Raceway is being broadcast live on the web at www.justin.tv/shakeytv. You can communicate with Barry and Shakeysound DJ Paul Wright via the Shakeysound Facebook page. ADRL US Drags VI webcast. 9th June: Our good buddies at Bangshift.com are broadcasting this weekend's ADRL US Drags VI at Virginia Motorsports Park, where Sweden's Adam Flamholc is contesting Pro Modified. You can tune in to the webcast by clicking here. Benoit Pigeon got in touch from VMP to let us know that Saturday's qualifying was delayed by rain but that the car was out of the trailer early and that Pro Modified racers were finally called to the lanes at 17:30 local. Adam qualified sixth with a 3.963/189.63 but made a first round exit on a holeshot to third qualifier Tim Savell. You can find out more courtesy of our Drag Race Central colleagues at www.dragracecentral.com and on the Flamholc / MMR Racing Facebook page. Swift snippets. 7th June: Tim Anderson of Racepak writes that he and Joe Pando will be on-site to provide support to racers at next week's Sweden Internationals at Tierp Arena. NitrolympX Race Director Jerry Lackey, Hockenheimring Director of Logistics Klaus Schwenninger and NitrolympX Chief Starter Erich Schenkenberger welcomed Ian Marshall and Darren Prentice of Santa Pod Racers Club and Santa Pod Raceway to Hockenheim earlier this week. The two experts will provide guidance in preparing Hockenheim's recently-resurfaced quarter mile for the 28th NitrolympX on 9th-11th August.  Good luck and stay safe to Swedish Pro Modified racer Adam Flamholc who is contesting this weekend's ADRL US Drags VI at Virginia Motorsports Park. Qualifying commences tomorrow; you will be able to stay in touch with Adam's progress courtesy of our Drag Race Central colleagues at www.dragracecentral.com and on the Flamholc / MMR Racing Facebook page. Update 16:15: our buddies at Bangshift.com have just this moment told us that a deal has been done to webcast the event. You will be able to tune in by clicking here. Many thanks to 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 22nd-23rd June. You can check out the Summernationals entry list by clicking here. If you have any queries about SPRC Summernationals entry then please get in touch with Ian at SPRC on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail ir.marshall@btconnect.com. Track Announcer Barry Bohannon tells us that there will be a webcast of this weekend's Dynodaze Public Track Weekend at Shakespeare County Raceway. The webcast will be available at www.justin.tv/shakeytv and you will be able to communicate with Barry and Shakeysound DJ Paul Wright via the Shakeysound Facebook page. Web site updates. 7th June: The latest issue of the Allarch Chrysler Action Group newsletter ACAG Update includes reports on the work carried out since March this year along with appearance dates and other information about the project. ACAG Chair Brian Taylor says that the completed restoration project will be handed back to the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu at a ceremony on 16th June but that ACAG continues with responsiblity for manning appearances during the year and developing the dragster so that it can parade as well as cackle. You can read all about it at www.drceurope.co.uk/acag/jun2013. The Mad Welshman has updated his Flick site with pictures of Saturday's action at the FIA Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway. "Due to a stupid Flickr layout change, to see the pictures in the correct order you now have to click on Sets and then select Main Event", says Mad whose shots you can check out at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman. Grumpy returns. 5th June: Some time back the UK's Paul Watson, who long ago competed in Pro Stock Bike and Super Street Bike amongst other classes and who was also instrumental in the introduction of the 8.50 Bike class in the UK, told us that he was building an 8.50 Bike of his own. Grumpy has been in touch to tell us that we should see him on track very soon: The bike should be back soon from Brad at BTC who has installed the new Motec M84 with a BTC new generation custom loom. The bike will be on the dyno next week and I will hopefully test before the Summernationals, it has been a while since I have ridden a bike so I'm looking forward to it. I would like to thank Psycleworkz for their support with quality billet yokes and rear sets etc, Danny Cockerill for all his help, Steve Mead for supplying the Hayes clutch, Steve Venables for coming to the rescue with a DME swing arm, Rob at Mistral for another quality engine build and finally Brad at BTC for all his support throughout. My aim with this bike is to achieve 8.50 with just base boost, 7 psi at around 250 bhp instead concentrating on the chassis and clutch set-up. With the addition of some rods and a boost controller this bike could go into Super Street: the turbo is from my last bike which Danny campaigned and ran 7.52 but for now it's 8.50. It will be great to see all the boys and girls in 8.50 Bike which has come a long way in such a short time, a credit to them (Hear hear - Ed). See you all at the track. What hath Elvis wrought? 5th June: When we last heard from UK Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer Colin Lazenby he had not yet inspected his formidable '56 Chevy for damage sustained upon landing from a huge wheelie at the FIA Main Event (see Grace Roaf's fantastic picture). The glorious Scottish weather allowed Colin and Team 56 to roll the car off the trailer and he has been in touch with an update: We firstly drained (and weighed) the fuel but also removed the rear bumper which is the damaged beyond repair. Then we surveyed what was damaged, or not as the case may have turned out to be. It was packed up and away late on Saturday night. On Sunday we set about stripping both front legs to find no damage whatsoever. The same couldn't quite be said for the new dent in the rear of the oil pan, the bow in the radiator - no leaks, though - and the passenger side exhaust header which is clearly flattened and carries a fair bit of the new Pod surface; see E-Bay for the scrapings. The faulty fuel solenoids were removed and will go off to Clive Bond for testing or replacement. We're absolutely determined to run with two systems at the next outing. Nitrous versus Turdos – I can't wait. If anyone could help out with a replacement carbon bumper we'd be delighted (well, as delighted as I ever get). Demo cars sought for Mini festival. 5th June: Russ Harman of Event Developments Ltd tells us that he is seeking race cars to make exhibition runs at Mini in the Park at Santa Pod Raceway on Sunday 11th August: "Each year we usually showcase four or five nice dragsters as part of a Santa Pod Showcase", says Russ. "These are usually teams which need a bit of free track time for testing etc. We have some spaces left for demo racers at this event. "Mini in the Park is now the largest Classic and Modern Mini event in Europe and this year has won UK's Best Event award for the second time! It attracts almost 10,000 visitors and features some amazing track action including, this year, the public début of the world's first Jet Mini. Although most visitors are predominantly Mini enthusiasts, the Santa Pod Showcase gives them an insight into real drag racing and what the big boys are capable of." Russ tells us that vehicles quicker than ten seconds are preferred but that all volunteers will be considered. If you are interested then please get in touch with Russ at russ@eventdevelopments.co.uk or call 01775 723723. Not long 'til Dragstalgia. 5th June: James Forster of Santa Pod Raceway writes that the third running of Dragstalgia is rapidly approaching and that there is room for more entrants: We have another stunning line up of race cars already signed up for 13th-14th July and there are certainly still more to come, check out the current entry list at www.santapod.co.uk/e_entrylist_dragstalgia13.php. There are a number of trophies up for grabs which are open to anyone taking to the track throughout the weekend, and they're not all about getting from A to B in the quickest time: these classes are about showmanship, something in which the sport of drag racing excels so we want to see an extra special effort from everyone. Classes include Best Back Up Girl / Guy, Burnout of the Weekend, Wheelstand of the Weekend, Best Appearing Team and more! On the subject of showmanship the show highlights will be taking place on the Saturday evening including the Cacklefest and spectacular fire burnouts, if you'd like to take part in either of these then please let me know when booking. Aside from the line-up of classic machinery on-track you can see or enter the annual Show and Shine competition which grows in size and quality year on year, it really will take something special to win a trophy in 2013. There will be plenty more to see and do including Jet Cars, static displays, live bands and burlesque shows, flypasts, historic stock cars, beer festival and more! Discounted advance entry is open until Friday 5th July. As it is an open Run What You Brung event for pre-1980s vehicles you can buy your entry tickets at the gate and sign on on arrival, but this would be at full price. To pre-book please call me on 01234 782828 (outside the UK +44 1234 782828). For the full Dragstalgia line-up and information check out www.dragstalgia.co.uk. Swift snippets. 5th June: Our good buddy Remco Scheelings writes that Suzy Q, Dutch drag racing's latest addition, was unveiled on Sunday at Priceless Paint in Asperen. The 1970 Plymouth Barracuda will be driven by Kirsten van Croonenborgh and can be seen on track for the first time at Shakespeare County Raceway in a couple of weeks. "With its literally glistering '70 look, the Cuda will be in the middle of the spotlight", says Remco. You can find out more at www.autosport.nl. Thanks to our good buddy Anders '¿Que?' Envall for confirming that Smart TV will be providing a free High Definition webcast of next week's Sweden Internationals at Tierp Arena. The webcast is free on the Thursday and then €10 buys you coverage of Friday-Sunday inclusive. Viewers are required to register even for Thursday's free broadcast and you can do that right now; for more details check out www.smarttv.se and then reserve the channel for the duration of this televisual feast. Trevor Langfield of Eurodragster.com sponsor Wizards of NOS says that Cecil Towner wanted to demonstrate how accurately and precisely he could use the revolutionary WON REVO system, so he entered his Pro Mod and Pro Extreme Bikes, fitted with the REVO system for the first time, in the 4.60 Bracket class at Budds Creek this past weekend. "Unfortunately one of the bikes suffered an electrical issue (unrelated to the nitrous system) but that was more than eclipsed by the success of Cecil's second bike ridden by Jeremy Teasley", says Trevor. "Runs of 4.60, 4.61, 4.61 and 4.60, using the REVO set at just 14% power delivery, took him through to win the class in convincing style. Both bikes are now being prepared to race in the next round of the ADRL series, with the intention of using most (if not all) of the 350 REVO HP in anger for the first time." Wild Bunch kick off Season 18. 5th June: Wild Bunch Race Co-ordinator Claire Meaddows writes with news of the beginning of the Club's eighteenth season: The Wild Bunch have started the season well with three closely-contested events so far, all of which were completed in dry weather. We had a nine-car field at the freezing Festival of Power at Santa Pod. The Top Four included two first-time finalists, with young Sean Law in the Wicked Lady rear-engined dragster running PBs and taking the win over Keith Crampton's Soultown Shaker slingshot. Crazy Chris Hartnell was third in the Backdraft slingshot, whilst Darryl Howells was fourth in his Chemical Reaction slingshot. Bob Hawkins was quickest of the Bunch with a new Personal Best ET of 8.151, and top speed of the Bunch for the event at 163.65 mph, in his Time Traveller slingshot. He had also been #1 qualifier 0.001 off dial-in. Only engine damage prevented him from going further than the first round. The next event was the Springspeed Nationals at Shakespeare County where we also had a field of nine cars. Bob Hawkins had rebuilt his engine between events and earned the win over Adam Price, who broke out by just one thousandth in the final in the Go Hard or Go Home Topolino altered. Keith Crampton and Darryl Howells were third and fourth respectively. Top Speed and ET of the event again went to Bob, who ran another fantastic PB of 8.067, and a speed of 165.66 mph. And celebrating their fortieth anniversary this year are the Dorset Horn team who débuted the first Horn in 1973, and are now running the seventh incarnation of the car. Congratulations to them on this special anniversary! The event also saw Terry Clifford's first ever nine-second passes in the Ratcatcher Resurrection slingshot with a best of 9.482/149.98. Darryl Howells was #1 qualifier 0.001 off dial-in. There was a lot of close competition in the first two MSA events! Our third event of the year was also our first Wild Bunch Series Round, and we had twelve teams entered at our Spring Nationals at the 35th Gary's Picnic RWYB at Shakespeare County Raceway, with two other teams testing and tuning. No less than ten of these teams ran PBs over the weekend: Tom Larman in The Ferret 123.60 mph, Andrew Murphy in B-Sting 10.359/133.21, Chris Hartnell in Backdraft 152.25 mph, Gina Durrant in Tiki Munki 12.847/103.85, Terry Clifford in Ratcatcher Resurrection 9.077/152.00 - his first time over 150 mph - Mark Mills in his debut in Xenomorph 14.596/52.75 (début checkout pass – way more to come from this awesome looking new altered!), John Dalrymple in his slingshot 11.7/107.56, Alan Loten in Paranoia 9.363141.03, Dave 'Sag' Southworth in Daddy Cool 9.131 seconds, and Mike Couch in Flat Frenzy 10.10/135 (a new Flathead record). The basis for our RWYB-format events is to run four rounds in a day on one dial-in, declared before the first round, and the winner is the racer with the lowest average difference to dial-in. The close competition resulted in the first ever event win for Tom Larman and Team Ferret. Second-placed Adam Price was just one thousandth closer over the total of the four rounds than third-placed Chris Hartnell so, overall, an average of 0.00025 in it! In fourth place was the ever-improving Keith Crampton, and Keith is still leading our Real Steel Series after this event.  It was a great event for the Wild Bunch with some excellent personal performances and early consistency this year. It is already shaping up to be a close-run contest for the Series title! Our next event is at the Shakey Super Pull at Shakespeare County Raceay this coming weekend. We can't wait for this one, as there should be more than fifteen teams competing! Full results and news from all the events can be found on the Club's web site at www.the-wild-bunch.co.uk. The Wild Bunch would like to say many thanks to sponsors Real Steel Performance Automotive Products, Springbridge Direct Ltd and Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars. European Top Gas Round 2 report. 5th June: Herman Jolink writes that the second round of this year's European Top Gas Series, which took place at Shakespeare County Raceway over the weekend 25th-27th May, was a very good event held in nice weather: After six qualifying runs the qualifying was as follows: Frederik Schack DK on 2750 V-Twin 7.788/267 kmh. A new Personal Best time. Frederik and his dad Rene were very happy with that. Two days working on the clutch and the right set up in the fuel injection and he ran the 7.788 in the fifth qualifying session. In the sixth session he ran 7.815 at 271 kmh. Herman Jolink NL on Ducati 1198 RS (1266) 8.319/250. On Friday Herman put a fresh Mickey Thompson tyre on a magnesium rim in a tyre shop in Stratford-upon-Avon. On Saturday he made two runs in the 8.5s and on Sunday two runs, 8.3 and 8.4. Harry van Schie NL on 1966 Blower V-Twin 8.507/238. Over the winter Crew Chief Jaap Duin did a lot of work onthe bike and it is all going well now. Chris van Nimmen B on 2600 V-Twin 8.660/238. A new Personal Best for van Nimmen, but because of the bumps in the shutdown area his gearbox broke. 2012 Champion Milan Kolacny CZ with his Blower Honda 1000 SP ran 8.716/235 but broke his new slider clutch and also the crankshaft. On Saturday evening the team put in a fresh engine but in the fifth qualifier on Sunday he crossed lanes and then broke his gearbox in the sixth qualifier so did not qualify. Frank Heitmann's Dodge car broke down on the way back home from Hoskovice and he didn't have another car to get to Shakespeare County Raceway. Simon Lewis still had his engine apart, and Peter Niklas was also not there. Semi-finals: Schack 7.815/271 beat van Nimmen, the gearbox was okay but his throttle cable broke, 34.517 seconds. Jolink 8.345/244 beat van Schie 8.566/248, van Schie pulled a 0.053 red light. Final: Frederik Schack DK 7.866/268 beat Herman Jolink NL 8.391/244. Reactions Jolink 0.076 and Schack 0.510, Jolink lost by 0.09 seconds. Top Gas Championship after two rounds: Herman Jolink NL 795 points Frederik Schack DK 585 Frank Heitmann D 330 Harry van Schie NL 320 Chris van Nimmen B 310 Peter Niklas D The third European Top Gas Series round took place this past weekend at Bechyne, stay tuned for results. Vegter's trio of Bests. 5th June: The Netherlands' MPM Oil-sponsored Pro Mod racer David Vegter had the best possible start of the new season at the FIA Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway. David reset his Personal Best twice to bring it down to a stunning 6.093 seconds and made the final where he recorded another great 6.10 seconds which was not enough to beat reigning FIA European champion Michael Gullqvist. But the runner-up position and Personal Best made David a star of the competition in Pro Modified at the Main Event and as a result of his great performance the racer holds second position in the FIA European Championship.  David and the Vegter Pro Mod Racing team have good memories of their last visit to Santa Pod Raceway as in September's European Finals the MPM-driver finished in a surprising runner-up position. Last winter the team improved the '67 MPM Camaro again but because it was not possible to test the car the team had to wait until the first run at Santa Pod to see how the car would react. A 6.59 in the first round of qualifying gave the Vegter Pro Mod Racing crew a good feeling and at that time put the MPM driver in second position. But in the other three qualifying runs David was hit by problems, could not improve his time and was back in ninth position at the end of qualifying. In the evening the crew made some major changes to the MPM Camaro's set-up. That immediately paid off in the first round of eliminations as David improved to 6.388 to leave Swedish front-runner Mats Eriksson far behind. In the quarter final David had to face MPM colleague Marc Meihuizen, but as the Pontiac was leaking liquid Marc had to shut off and David had a bye run. But even without an opponent David made a stunning run and improved his Personal Best from 6.114 seconds, set at last year's FIA European Finals, to 6.101 seconds. But there was more to come. As at last year's European Finals David had to face Bruno Bader, runner-up in the 2011 and 2012 FIA European Championships, in the semi-finals. And again in a great 6.093 seconds David set a new Personal Best, left the Swiss racer behind, and was in the final. Even the final was the same as at last year's European Finals as David had to race against Michael Gullqvist, the reigning European Champion. With a slightly better reaction time David was in front but a third consecutive Personal Best of 6.106 seconds was not enough to beat Micke's 5.98. But to start the new season with a runner-up position was a dream come true for Vegter Pro Mod Racing, especially after the problems in qualifying. The MPM racer is also second in the FIA European Championship. Apart from the new Personal Best the team was even happier with the consistency as they ran two 6.1s and a 6.09 in three consecutive runs. Vegter Pro Mod Racing will face their next challenge next week as they go to Tierp Arena in Sweden for the second round of the FIA European Championship. Words and pictures courtesy and ©Remco Scheelings Howling beats PMR boss. 5th June: Paul Marston Racing bid welcome to returning Paul Marston Drag Race Driving School instructor and former UK National Champion Mick Howling at the FIA Main Event. Mick has been out of the office and on the PMR crew at PMR for the past three years but, competing in Grumpy's Dodge, he showed that he has lost none of his edge when it came to driving the mighty Dart despite not having raced in competition for so long. Mick qualified well and was very comfortable in Grumpy's Dodge which is the car in which he won the 2009 UK National Pro ET Championship. When the dust settled and qualifying was done, Mick missed a perfect ET by 0.0003 and ended up seventeenth, none too shabby. Come round one who does Mick get? None other than the number one qualifier, who just happened to be his team mate Paul Marston who did get a Perfect ET and grabbed pole in the last qualifier. As far as the team can remember this was the first time that Mick and Paul had met in competition. It's always a little strange to race someone who you know so well, so the PMR crew split themselves into two and each worked out their game plan. The tension was mounting as going into this race Paul had never been beaten by a pupil of the Paul Marston Drag Race Driving School. Both drivers played clean, they have the utmost respect for each other's abilities, no funny business, both cars staged quickly. Mick's plan was simple, as Grumpy's Dodge was so consistent he was going to wreck the tree and run it out, don't lift, trust the car. Paul's plan was cut a good light, use the Monza's superior top end speed and just take the stripe. This of course all depended upon how the race unfolded. Well Mick did indeed wreck the tree with a 0.007 reaction time, Paul had a good but safe .05 reaction time. Mick never lifted and drove it out the back door, Paul caught Mick just before the stripe and took the stripe by one hundredth of a second, two feet and half an inch at that speed. Unfortunately for Paul he broke out by 0.004 leaving Mick to savour the moment as his win light came on. A well-deserved win and a very close race that in this case was won on the start line with that telepathic 0.007 Reaction Time. Congratulations were expressed all round by the crew and of course by Paul himself. In the second round Mick took out Carla Pitau and then lost a squeaker to Mark Watkins in the semis. All in all not a bad weekend for a guy and a car who have not raced for three years, and a testament to Mick and to the PMR crew who did an outstanding job keeping both cars running so well and so competitive. Many, many thanks to all the PMR crew, The Crew Chief, Funsize, Sefton Whitlock, Lisa Farmer, Keith Bick and the lovely Jane, Mick The Pie Pusey, and special guest appearance by the Rasmus and Arron. Last but by no means least Mad Mick Howling, a great drive by a great driver. Thanks also to Santa Pod Raceway for an awesome racing surface, Ian Marshall and track crew for doing such a great job, all our supporters and associate partners, Drag Race Engineering, Mac Tools, JW Performance, London Road Tyres, BLP Performance Products, Geddex (Dial-in, Burnout Gard, Wheels Up, Slick Air), and all the rest of our great sponsors. Last but by no means least thanks to Eurodragster.com for excellent event coverage (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed, for the team). Coast to Coast - you can help. 5th June: Matthew Atkinson, who chairs and colour-commentates for the UK's Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator class, has been selected to form part of the 2013 Lloyds Banking Group Coast to Coast Challenge and is seeking sponsorship in aid of The Alzheimer's Society and Alzheimer's Scotland: We will be cycling over 500 km from Costa Rica's Pacific Coast to the Caribbean Coast over seven days in November. Whilst a fundamental part of the challenge for me will be fitness levels and getting used to a saddle, we all have individual fundraising targets of £4,000 to help meet the combined target of £140,000. All money raised goes towards the Bank's charities of the year which are The Alzheimer's Society and Alzheimer's Scotland. I will be carrying out a range of different fundraising activities over the coming months - from dress down days to cake sales, football tournament and quiz evenings - but my first challenge is the thirteen-mile Southend Half Marathon this Sunday (9th). I am hoping to raise as much money as possible with your help. Whilst I fully understand the pressures on your pockets from other requests, I would be extremely grateful for any donations which you are willing to make to help this worthy cause. If you can help then please donate through JistGiving at www.justgiving.com/Matt-Atkinson-Coast2Coast or alternately you can donate by texting MALH70 £10 to 70070. Scooters for Heroes. 5th June: Continuing the charity theme, when Santa Pod Raceway's inaugural Back With Mods event brings motor scooters and their riders from around the country on 14th-16th June, scootering action will not be confined to the racetrack. A highlight of the brand new three-day scooter rally and Ska festival will be the Sunday Morning Ride-Out in aid of the charity Help For Heroes. At 11:00 am locally-based Doughboys Scooter Club will lead out a scooter convoy on an eight-mile ride along country roads to Grendon Lakes. The Ride-Out will be fully marshalled with a Help For Heroes bike in attendance and a discreet police presence to ensure that all goes smoothly. There will be time for a quick coffee at Grendon Lakes' clubhouse café and the convoy will return to Santa Pod at 12:00 noon. Scooterists wishing to take part in the Ride-Out are requested to make a donation for their official Ride-Out wristband, available from the Help For Heroes pop-up stand on-site. A pre-ride briefing will be held in Santa Pod's Fuelers Bar at 10:00 am when Help For Heroes will give details of the itinerary and safety matters.  The Back With Mods festival also features Run What You Brung track activity for scooter riders on the drag strip, Show'n'Shine competitions with an array of prize categories, great Mod music with live DJs and top bands, and a host of other entertainments, with free overnight camping included. For more information, please visit www.backwithmods.co.uk. MPM launch bike oil range. 5th June: After supplying motorcycle teams in the UK and across Europe over the years and having been asked "Can we get some of your Oil for our bikes?", Eurodragster.com sponsor MPM Oil has released a full range of current manufacturer latest specification oils to meet bikers' specific needs: MPM Oil can supply a complete line of latest specification mineral and synthetic lubricants which cover from Hi-Tec competition engines, karts, quads, road, drag or track bikes, to modern or classic mopeds and scooters. The oils are now available through our distributor and factor networks across the UK and Northern Ireland. The unique features and benefits of MPM motorcycle oils are that they have been developed according to the highest standards of motorcycle manufacturers and offers exceptional anti-wear/anti–friction additive combinations blends which not only enhances performance, but the high lubricity effect of the MPM blends on the internal engine components reduces oil consumption and gives maximum protection against component wear, allowing the engine to run as it was designed without compromising power output. The MPM blend also ensures smoother gear changes, even from cold start. MPM Oil products are formulated following extensive R&D and are only produced from premium base lubricants for the end user who not only wants, but demands, the best lubrication product to protect their assets. Regardless of the application, the MPM products are designed to allow the engine to perform highly not only at very high speed, but also under very heavy load conditions, resulting in sustained maximum performance at all levels. Our MPM Harley-Davidson specially formulated fully synthetic 20W-50 engine oil has been developed for use in most of the Harley-Davidson models. The viscosity is guaranteed not to be less than 20 centistokes as required and stipulated by the manufacturer. This not only means a guaranteed lubricity with reduced engine noise on a cold start, but even ensures smoother gear shifting when the engine is at its optimal operating temperature. The new optimal boundary lubrication has been specially developed for competition engines. The MPM fully synthetic 15W-50 four-stroke oil with synthetic esters can be used for water-cooled or air-cooled competition engines, and is currently being used by a numerous teams not only in drag racing, but road and super-moto teams in the UK and across Europe. The exceptional anti-wear/anti–friction Ester based additive combination not only enhances performance, but the high lubricity effect of the blend also reduces oil consumption and extends engine lifetime. The fully synthetic oil with synthetic esters is also compatible for two-stroke competition engines. Mixed Fuels Oils have also been currently incorporated into the range. The MPM-quality synthetic two-stroke oil is designed for use in modern air-and water-cooled two-stroke engines. The oil is self-mixing and is ideal for engines with oil injection systems. Fork oil for all uses: MPM high quality Fork Oils have been specially developed for use in telescopic forks and shock absorbers of road/off-road motorcycles and mopeds. This fork oil is produced with high quality mineral oils with a high viscosity index. This gives optimal performance and stability not only for normal day to day use, but will maintain optimal performance under extreme road/off-road conditions. MPM Fork Oil products offer excellent protection against component wear and seal corrosion, thus resulting in increased longevity of the components. The fork oils are available in SAE 5W, 10W, 15W and 20W! For specific motorcycle product recommendations visit www.mpmoil.co.uk and within four clicks of the mouse you will find the products to meet your requirements, specific to your vehicle. Or just visit the MPM web page to see the full OEM approved ranges. Editor's note. 4th June: If you are a subscriber, or if you read the news, then you will know that there are problems with the Three mobile broadband network today (Tuesday); this has impacted upon today's news update since Eurodragster.com's mobile access uses this network. We have had to find ways and means to post even this short update, but when we get back to base this evening we have a mammoth update for you so tune back for that. Swift snippets. 4th June: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 4 of the official entry list for the SPRC Summernationals, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 22nd-23rd June. You can check out the Summernationals entry list by clicking here. If you have any queries about SPRC Summernationals entry then please get in touch with Ian at SPRC on 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933 313625) or E-Mail ir.marshall@btconnect.com. UK blown-alcohol altered racer Joe Bond has asked us to say a big Happy Birthday to his dad, former Top Methanol Dragster racer and all-round good bloke Doug Bond. Our pleasure, have a great day Doug. Web site updates. 4th June: Colin Donisthorpe has updated his Flickr site with a small collection of pictures from the FIA Main Event. You can take a look at www.flickr.com/photos/colin_donisthorpe. Also updating from the FIA Main Event is Paul Lister whose Sunday shots you can check out at www.dragcaranon.co.uk. Taking the prize for the biggest FIA Main Event update is Mark Skinner who has posted no less than three galleries of shots on his Flickr site at www.flickr.com/photos/fast_n_bulbous. The new issue of the Speedgroup newsletter includes FIA Main Event class reviews, Sweden Internationals preview, chats with Stig Neergaard, Adam Flamholc and Marc Meihuizen, Eurodragster.com Editor's Diary and more. You can take a look at club.speedgroup.eu. Thanks to Allard Chrysler Action Group Chair Brian Taylor for sending us a link to a YouTube clip of the Allard Chrysler Dragster's first run of the year with all panels on. "Tick over is now quite stable and we will soon be able to find a large area to practice driving the dragster", says Brian. "Another challenge no doubt". You can take a look at the video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jpR-u4Oack. Event entry update. 2nd June: Entry is still open for the UK National 8.50 Bike and 9.50 Bike and NAST Supertwin Comp and Supertwin ET Championship rounds which take place at the Dynodaze Public Track Weekend at Shakespeare County Raceway next weekend (8th-9th June). The official entry form can be downloaded from SCR's web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk. Entry is now open for the Junior Drag Racing Fun Day presented by Santa Pod Raceway and Eurodragster.com sponsor Alamo Rent-A-Car on Wednesday 21st August. As the name suggests, the day is aimed squarely at those already in, or looking to enter, the sport of Junior Drag Racing. This exclusive day is dedicated to existing Junior drag racers from all over Europe and is the perfect opportunity to focus on the up-and-coming Junior classes of drag racing. Local Junior Drag Racers Paige and Belle Wheeler will be showcasing their own high-powered race cars as well as competing with their fellow racers for the honours. During a fun-filled day, a variety of free competitions will be running in which all Junior racers can get involved. Classes include Junior Dragsters, Funny Cars and Bikes, giving entrants of all ages and abilities their chance to shine. Parents and pit crews of the Junior racers will also have their chance to compete for a bit of fun by using their own cars on the hallowed quarter mile, so long they are over the age of sixteen and bring a valid driving licence with them. Spectators under this age can still try their luck over a slightly shorter distance by making a small donation to the NC TLC trust and powering their way over a sixty foot track in one of Santa Pod's pedal karts. If you would like to compete in any of the races then please download the official entry form (PDF format) from www.eurodragster.com/juniorfunday, complete it and return to Darren Prentice, Junior Fun Day, Santa Pod Raceway, Airfield Road, Podington, Wellingborough, NN29 7XA by Friday 2nd August. The day is also open to families from Northamptonshire and the surrounding counties and all are welcome to come down and sample the drag racing lifestyle with completely free admission for both adults and children, although donations to the NC TLC Trust would be greatly appreciated. In-keeping with the family-friendly theme, impressive static displays will be on site featuring the world record breaking FireForce 3 Jet Funny Car, Podzilla Monster Truck, Lightning McQueen style cars plus numerous sports cars and hot rods. The Red Dragon Monster Truck will also be performing passenger rides to scare and impress in equal measure - and the on-site funfair, face-painting, trampolines, bouncy castle and special appearances by Nitro the Dragon mascot will ensure your day is fun-filled, no matter what your age and interests. To book your free spectator ticket and to find out more about this brand new event, visit www.santapod.com. Gibb's enforced break. 2nd June: UK Super Pro ET racer Dave Gibbons says that having made a late start to the season the Rough Diamond team didn't get the start for which they were hoping: After one run on Thursday's Pro Racer test day, which did nothing but reveal a shifter malfunction, and the incessant rain on Friday, the team eventually got on the staging lane queue early Saturday, and as some of you will know, Dave suffered an unfortunate accident. "It was one of those things", Dave explained. "No-one to blame, just dumb luck. We only had to move the car some twenty feet so I didn't bother getting back in, just walked beside the car chatting with a friend and guiding it with the butterfly as Maurice towed it along – it wasn't even walking pace. The next thing I knew the rear slick caught my heel, and in an effort to get that out my other foot also went under the tyre. By the time Maurice was alerted and stopped the tyre was squarely on both my feet". The medics were quickly on the scene, Dave received excellent treatment from them, and subsequently went to Bedford A&E where he was patched up to get to his local hospital for a full assessment. The logistics of getting home were a bit of an issue. As the team were using the new race truck for the first time no-one but Dave knew where everything went or how to pack it! Maurice and Alli managed the task well with Dave offering instructions (barking orders) from a deck chair. Having the insurance broker as a good friend paid dividends when, out of business hours, Flint Insurance arranged cover for Maurice to drive the truck back to base. This does unfortunately mean that Rough Diamond will not appear at the SPRC Summernationals nor Dragstalgia. "We did consider putting Alli in the car", said Dave. "She fits, she has driven race cars and she has an MSA licence, but as I'd need to be on my feet to crew the car and teach her that wasn't the best solution. In fact the remainder of the season is now under review." Dave was due to undergo surgery at The Chaucer Hospital yesterday to screw the navicular in his right foot back together; the two metatarsals and the cracked heel in the left foot will heal naturally. He will be unable to drive anything for at least eight weeks. "I'd like to thank everyone who came to the pit to offer help and good wishes, including those that came by to actually take the piss!", Dave said. "And subsequently all those who have phoned and messaged me. At least I didn't do the damage coming off the wall in a ball of flame at 150 miles per hour, although I'm happy for that rumour to be perpetuated! "Finally, we now have a new team rule: the car doesn't move on the rope unless someone is in the seat. It may be an idea for other race teams to take note." Ward tries hard enough. 2nd June: Team member Dan Holloway has been in touch with a review of Dave Ward and the Rampage Super Pro ET team's weekend at the FIA Main Event: Let's be honest, Easter was bloody freezing and we couldn't wait to see a warmer Santa Pod. In some ways we got what we wished for and in some ways we didn't! It all started with taking the dragster over on Thursday afternoon, where the weather was as usual all over the place, one minute the sun was shining and the next there were hail stones. Unfortunately due to lack of availability in Team Rampage that day, it was just the case of leaving the truck and trailer where it was and having to set up and take the car to scrutineering the following day. We got to the track as early as we could on Friday morning knowing that we would potentially be starting just after Pro ET at 9:00 am. The forecast looked dreadful for the day but at around 8:00 am the Sun was just peeping through the clouds, which was a bit of a tease and gave us false hope really! It wasn't long after we had got the car back from scrutineering that it started to drizzle, which then turned to rain, which then turned to heavy rain before eventually becoming stormy weather. Cold. Wet. Windy. It was on and off all day before it got to around 3:00 pm when the Race Director decided to call it and so we looked to Saturday with more promise. Saturday was a vast improvement. It was almost like being in a different country how the weather had changed. For the first run, we had all mutually decided to whack a number on the board and go from there, so an 8.00 dial in was the target. Running an 8.06 left us in third place after the first session, knowing full well that that number wasn't going to keep us there long! After the two scheduled Pro sessions, it was already quite late in the day but either way we thought that leaving the dial in where it was would be a good move. We ran an 8.02, narrowing down the gap however we weren't the only ones nailing our dial ins. Pair after pair and numbers were flying left right and centre eventually leaving us in the number four position. Not too shabby. It was already Sunday and it had been rumoured the night before that we would have just one more qualifier in the morning before going into eliminations. This proved to be the case and so with that in mind we went for the same 8.00 dial in hoping to narrow it down just a little more. Unfortunately, we ended up waiting on the line for longer than usual and the car had got hot enough that the temperature had gone off of the gauge. In the past the car had shown to run quicker when hot and this wasn't about to change, running through with a 7.97 breakout. Not improving on our time meant that we were going into eliminations in ninth place, which out of forty-odd cars could still be seen as fairly decent! In round one we were paired to race Noah Stutz from Switzerland in his gorgeous looking dragster. He had dialed in a 7.84 and we an 8.00 so we would marginally be leaving first. As all racers will know, they say that if you never red light you're not trying hard enough and on this occasion Dave tried a bit too hard, cutting a -0.007 red to Noah's -0.003 red which was a little aggravating considering we ran through with another 8.02, proving the car was running consistently. Never mind! This meant that our weekend had come to a premature end but it did mean that we could return Monday to watch all the brilliant racing from the Pro classes which ended up being worth it. Despite going out early, Team Rampage can look forward to the Summernationals, especially with the dragster running its numbers. Congratulations to eventual winner Barry Giles and Vince Gibbs for running the perfect number, top stuff guys! As always massive thanks to our sponsors for this year: Mini Gears UK, who provide a wide range of CNC machining and CNC gear grinding services; Payday Loans UK, who can offer quick and hassle-free loans; and All Aces Couriers who can provide super-quick and efficient delivery services at a fair price. Swift snippets. 2nd June: Further to Anita Mäkelä's comments about web access at Santa Pod Raceway, Rob Inglis of Micke Kågered's Top Fuel Dragster team writes that he has been in touch with Vodafone about what is a pretty much non-existent mobile broadband signal in the area, and that Vodafone have responded that given the demand they may install temporary masts for major events. However the demand has to be there so if you would to lobby Vodafone then check out Rob's forum entry by clicking here then sign up and add your support. The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com (below left) came with the words "That's gone 6.7, that bonnet". 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. Peter Walton writes that the Superstock Shootout at July's Dragstalgia at Santa Pod Raceway is getting closer. "If you are thinking about entering then get your car registered with James at the Pod", says Peter (james@santapod.com - Ed). "We have managed to find some money for some T-Shirts so if you fancy one then let me know at peterwalton2ph@btinternet.com. I would like to thank everyone for their support so far, especially Chris of WASP. Simon Innes, Gawain, Simon Parker, Nick Woods, Dave B, Jerry and all you other closet Stockers get to it... it's going to be emotional." It has been a while since we saw UK Funny Bike racer Tim Blakemore and Wendy Clutterbuck has been in touch with news of a sighting which looks to us as if it was taken on the Friday of last week's FIA Main Event: click here and scroll down to the bottom of the page. WON's Pro Mod success. 2nd June: Trevor Langfield writes that by now most people will be aware that Eurodragster.com sponsor Wizards of NOS is now a dominant force in US drag bike racing but that they have their successes on the car side also: Cecil Towner of HTP Performance was wise enough to make the move from US brand kits and in so doing posted the first sub eight-second Real Street Bike run of 7.81, followed soon after by posting the first ever sub seven-second Pro Street bike run of 6.90 and, most recently, posted the first sub 4.1-second injected Busa Pro Mod Bike run of 4.09 seconds. However, what few people will be aware of is that WON has started to become a dominant force on four wheels in US drag racing. Last weekend Luis Hidalgo ran his WON assisted Pro Mod car to a historic first ever win for himself and for WON, at this level of drag racing. Luis runs in the Texas Automatic Pro Mod class and races against turbo and blown cars, so we're exceptionally proud to see a WON-assisted nitrous car become top dog in the class. Now that we have a growing number of American racers using our products in both bike and car classes, we're totally confident that this win will be the first of many and hope to be reporting on these over the coming months. Earlier news