Nilsson out after best-ever race.
31st July: Swedish Pro Mod racer Håkan Nilsson and his team have decided to sit out the rest of the 2001 season after borrowing Christer Jacobs' Mustang at Mantorp Park at the weekend. Håkan's 'Vette was destroyed in a top end crash at Pite Dragway in mid-July and he and the team worked very hard to make the Sko Uno event after Christer Jacobs' generous offer.

"We have never been to a better race in Sweden", says Håkan. "Kjell Pettersson the magician and his crew from England lifted the event to a new standard. The track was better than ever, the traction stayed there even though it was a hot 120 degrees!

"We had two busy weeks after the crash in Piteå but managed to get it all together with a two-team effort. The Mustang ran better than expected and we are very pleased with the performance, even if we couldn't compete with Gullquist and Wikström on horsepower. Christer Jacobs is now going to continue with his own team for the rest of the season and the Nilsson Motorsports team is calling it quits. We will be making plans for the future and concentrating on our comeback in 2002.

"We wish Christer and his team the best of luck, and thank everyone who supported us after the crash."

For more news from the Nilsson Motorsports operation, check out the official web site at www.nilssonmotorsports.com.

Callin's six-mile weekend.
31st July: Swedish Super Comp racer Susanne Callin clocked up nearly six miles at the Sko Uno Drag Festival, says her father Gordon. Susanne was racing in the Callin family's own dragster and also taking sponsors and VIPs for rides in the two-seater dragster.

"First of all we want to thank all of the crew at Mantorp Park for a superb weekend", says Gordon. "The track has never been so good, and they did great job during clean-ups (the crew was really busy Sunday!) and towing cars out of the gravel trap.

"Unfortunately Susanne broke out by four thousandths of a second in the first round of Super Comp on Saturday night. But she was really busy piloting the two-seater on Saturday and Sunday. She made twenty three runs over the weekend, six passes with her own car and seventeen with the two-seater. It must be a record for one driver to make that many runs on a FIA race weekend!"

You can find the Callin family web site at www.sc1165.com.

Schöfer gets extension.
31st July: German Top Methanol Dragster racer Peter Schöfer and team have been hard at work lengthening the chassis of the five-second small block-powered dragster. A number of photographs of the operation are now available via the News page of the team's official web site at www.p-s-r.com, together with all of the other latest news.

Returned to sender?
31st July: Apologies to anyone who sent E-Mail to our news@eurodragster.com or webmaster@eurodragster.com addresses yesterday afternoon and had them bounced back. This was due to a mailbox-full condition caused by two readers with the Sircam virus on their computers inadvertently sending us multiple large E-Mails.

We have now instituted a mail rule which will filter out Sircam-infected E-Mails. If you sent us mail yesterday afternoon or evening and had it bounced, or if you are in any doubt about whether we got mail you sent yesterday, then please re-send it.

Hot weekend at Mantorp Park.
30th July: Kim Reymond, Dave Wilson, Leif Andréasson and Niclas Andersson were the FIA-class winners, and Ian King, Anders Karling and Kenneth Strömberg the UEM-class winners, at the Sko Uno Drag Festival at Mantorp Park this weekend.

The race took place in glorious weather and saw new European records set in some classes including Pro Modified, Comp Bike and Supertwin Top Fuel. Micke Gullquist became the first Swedish Pro Mod Champion in Saturday's shoot-out.

You can find full qualifying and elimination details plus pictures on the Svensk Dragracing web site at www.dragracing.se. Our good buddies at Svensk Dragracing did an excellent job of their live updates over the weekend, and we are sure that everyone will want to join us in thanking them for all of their hard work.

You can also find personal updates from Mantorp Park from European Top Fuel Champion Anita Mäkelä at www.anitamakela.com, fellow Top Fuel racer Micke Kågered at www.kagered-racing.com and Pro Mod racer Håkan Nilsson at www.nilssonmotorsports.com.

New facility at SCR.
30th July: The UK's Shakespeare County Raceway has new disabled facilities after the latest work weekend at the track. Ozzy Ewing takes up the story:

"With the Mopar Nationals being cancelled at Shakespeare County Raceway due to the 'Gods Kitchen' rave, it was decided that we would have a work weekend now, as August is one of our busiest months with no free weekends. The only question was what would we build, manufacture paint or destroy!

"Well, it had been decided that it would be nice for all the APIRA and FAST marshals to build a one-off grandstand specifically for the use of wheelchair users and their helpers, and donate this to Shakespeare County Raceway. So with the task set it was like Scrapheap Challenge all over again. A big thank you goes to W R Advertising who donated all the steel work that we would be using to build our new grandstand, another big thank you to Bruno who transported it all down to the track, and a very big thank you to Roy Wilding who donated two days of his time and an arsenal of tools that would look good in any chassis builders workshop.

"So with Roy taking the lead and marking out steel we all set about cutting, grinding, welding, bolstering and doing anything that was required. Jim our trusty fire diver was only staying for twenty minutes but ended up welding most of the day. It was a large group effort that ended with the main platform built, all flooring cut to size, and the two rails for the ramp built, and with that we all called it a night.

"Thanks to Bruno who then improvised with the cold water feed and made us an invigorating shower that was much deserved, before tucking into a cracking barbecue (cooked on Jim's newly fabricated barbecue) and triple birthday celebration for Sophie, Sid (start line fire crew) and Richard Warburton, and not forgetting the rave that was going on in the background.

"With a night's sleep Sunday came very quickly and we started straight away in the morning with fixing the floor to the grandstand and bracing and finishing the ramp. Roy again getting stuck in and not one to let up easily busied himself welding the ramp together and then the hand railing around the grandstand. With all jobs done the next task was to move the ramp to its location, which would be infront of the eighth-mile grandstands. With Bruno at the helm driving the forklift and Wayne (fire marshall) delicately balanced on the edge of the ramp it slowly made its way up to its final resting place, taking out a section of fencing along the way. Next up was the main grandstand, after alot of head scratching about how to move it, we placed the front end on our toilet trolley and lifted the rear with the forklift and slowly pushed it all the way up to meet with the ramp. A lot of brawn and brute force were required but in the end it came to rest where it was intended and the ramp was mated to it.

"Now all we need to do is finish the ramp handrailing and paint the whole grandstand and that's next week. All in all an excellent work weekend, delivering a new grandstand - now our only problem is what do we call it? Again big thanks to W R Advertising, Roy Wilding, Bruno, APIRA and the FAST Marshals who made all this happen in such a short space of time."

Web site updates.
30th July: The Swedish Pro Street News Magazine has been updated with pictures from the recent Nordic Pro Street Cup round at Mantorp Park. Check it out at www.swedishprostreetnews.com.

The UK's Freddy's Revenge Wild Bunch team have updated their web site with the latest news about the popular Topolino, together with some new pictures. You can find the Freddy's Revenge web site at www.freddysrevenge.co.uk.

Save our Strip!
28th July: Racers and fans alike will be horrified to hear that the UK's York Dragway has been hit with a huge rates bill by the local council. Although officials have been able to negotiate the bill downwards, the outstanding amount is still huge and the Yorkshire venue has started fund-raising efforts to guarantee its survival.

The first way in which racers and fans can help is by attending the UK Northern Nationals at the track on Saturday-Sunday 11th-12th August. The race features a round of the Northern Street Car Challenge, a Wild Bunch Shoot-out, racing in many other classes as well as a Run What You Brung on the Saturday. In addition, a number of racers have already pledged to attend the event to put in demonstrations and/or make an attempt to break track records.

Any racers who would like to enter the event or put in demonstrations should contact York Dragway at yorkdragway@btinternet.com for more details.

Companies are being invited to book track-side advertising. Leading the way is Phil Evans of Oil Control Limited who is a long-standing sponsor of UK Drag Racing; any companies who would like to join Phil in helping York Dragway by advertising can again contact York Dragway at yorkdragway@btinternet.com.

An auction is also being held to raise funds. Items such as Hoosier tyres and a set of photographs of the Firestorm Jet Funny Car are already pledged; if you would like to pledge items for the auction then you know the address: yorkdragway@btinternet.com.

For more details on the UK Northern Nationals, and how you can help out, check out the Save our Strip! link on the York Dragway web site at www.yorkdragway.btinternet.co.uk.

Nilsson bounces back.
27th July: The Sko Uno Drag Festival commences at Mantorp Park today, and Swedish Pro Mod racer Håkan Nilsson will be back in competition just two weeks after a crash at Pite Dragway wrecked his 6.4-second 'Vette. Håkan will be back in the Mustang which was his previous, also highly-successful ride, now campaigned by Christer Jacobs and Lars Olsson.

"The Corvette was a total wreck, only the engine and transmission could be salvaged", says crew member Ulf Kajgård. "It looked like we had to call it quits for the rest of the season. But Christer Jacobs and a number of other racers were kind enough to offer the loan of their cars, and as we were familiar with the Mustang we accepted Christer's deal. It required some work as Christer has fabricated a new fibreglass body for the car, but it is now done. So we will be at Mantorp Park, and then after the race the team will discuss whether to carry on for the rest of the season."

The Nilsson Motorsports team will be posting live updates from Mantorp Park this weekend on their web site at www.nilssonmotorsports.com.

Beck alters set-up.
26th July: Swiss Top Fuel Dragster racer Peter Beck and his team have made changes to the setup of the Nitrolympics Top Fueller ahead of this weekend's FIA Championship round at Mantorp Park.

"We made the changes to the set-up to enable us to make safe runs", says Crew Chief Horst Pauli. "We sent the heads to Brad Anderson in the USA to be rebuilt. We have done everything possible to enable us to start finding the right set-up for the track rather than repairing parts and putting the engine back together between runs. I hope that this season's bad luck is behind us, and that we can start racing!"

You can find more details on the work undertaken by Top Fuel Team Switzerland on their web site at www.topfuel.ch.

Larsson finished with testing.
26th July: Swedish Pro Stock Bike racer Anders Larsson made his final test passes last weekend at Mora, and is now ready for the coming double-header of Mantorp Park and Gardermoen.

"We have some devices on the bike which we first tested at Mantorp a couple of weeks ago", says Anders. "After analyzing the data from Mantorp and making some modifications we headed to Mora to sort things out even more. We made ten passes, and went from a 1.28 sixty-foot time to 1.18 - on quite a slippery track. Mora is three hundred metres above sea level which robs the engine of power, and the adjusted altitude swung between twelve hundred and sixteen hundred feet. We managed to get the bike down to the 7.70s at a top speed of 282 kmh. If we had been at sea level the bike would have made high 7.40 runs.

"We have the bike running safe, and with our complete race setup we are ready for the next two rounds of the UEM Championship at Mantorp and Gardermoen. Everything is working at a hundred and ten per cent so we are really looking forward to some tight and hard racing!"

Pro Stock is the only UEM class to be running over the quarter-mile at Mantorp this weekend; because of the short shutdown area, UEM Competition Bike and UEM Supertwin Top Fuel will be contested over the eighth.

Callin also on double duty.
26th July: Following on from yesterday's pair of stories about race teams making two-pronged assualts at Mantorp Park this weekend, we hear that Swedish Super Comp racer Susanne Callin will also be on double duty at the Sko Uno Drag Festival.

"Micke Kågered won't be the only one to drive two cars", says Susanne's father Gordon. "Susanne will drive both her own Super Comp car and Europe's first two-seat Dragster. It won't be as much work with the cars as for Kågered Racing, but it will be quite hectic giving the VIPs a ride down the strip in the low eight-second region and hopefully giving them the ride of their lives!"

Susanne took over the wheel of the two-seater dragster this season and at Alastaro described herself as "very excited" at the prospect. The car reportedly behaves just as well with a passenger as without - how the passengers behave is another matter!

You can stay in touch with the latest news from the Callin family at their official web site at www.sc1165.com.

Pels out to forget Mantorp 2000.
26th July: Dutch Supertwin Top Fuel Bike racer Ton Pels, who currently leads the European Championship, has some bad memories to exorcise at Mantorp Park this weekend. Last year Ton failed to qualify as the rear tyre repeatedly went up in smoke: this year changes to the ignition and pistons should prevent a repeat.

"We started this season with a new ignition system donated by Accel, the SuperMag V", says Crew Chief Vincent Pels. "After last season we had changed about everything on the bike but we kept running electronic ignition systems from different brands. The only logical step was to put on an ignition system on capable of igniting the vast amounts on Nitro going through the Godfather VI, that system is the SuperMag V. On top of that we changed the primary side to run a 14mm PolyChain, with a new clutch basket to run an extra friction and steel plate."

Ton won the first event of the year, the Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway, but the Zodiac and Accel-sponsored team have been fighting blackened pistons so far this season. "The bike has a set of black pistons every two passes it makes", says Vincent. "During the Finland race we started to think about how to cure the problem. We talked to some Top Fuel and Top Methanol teams, and some motorbike teams, and looked way back in history when we (more Ton than me!) were running the double engine Puma-Triumph. It had the same problem when it started to make serious horsepower, so we did the same thing we did back then in 1980. Put in stronger pistons so there is less deformation, and start lubricating the pistons directly from the rear (where most of the stress is). Hopefully this will cure the problem, but to be on the safe side, we also have three extra sets of pistons and barrels, so we know for sure that we can run both Mantorp and Gardermoen eliminations when we make the field.

"We're very pleased with the performance of the bike thus far, but we need some more track time to set it up properly, which is always a problem in Europe. Also we hope the new launch pad at Mantorp is better than last year, as we were only smoking the tire or clutch each pass, but time will tell..."

The Zodiac Racing web site can be found at www.dragrace.com.au/bikes/vincent.

Karling's busy run-in.
26th July: Swedish Supertwin Top Fuel racer Anders Karling has had a busy few weeks leading up to the Sko Uno Drag Festival, working not only on his own Harley but on the bikes of fellow STTF racers.

"I hit a photocell at the finish line in Västerås on the 16th of June, and got my left foot under the footpeg", says Anders. "It bent and broke one of my toes and damaged the nails. It didn't feel very good but it is almost OK now. So I have repaired the footrest, and we have been working with the clutch and fuel system trying to get rid of the wheelspin we always get at approx 75 meters."

Anders also had a full order book from some of his competitors, including Svein Gottenberg who suffered a bizarre bike-bisecting accident at Alastaro. "Lars Wahlberg picked up a short stroke crank a couple of weeks ago, he will be at Mantorp with a supercharger on his bike. Svein Gottenberg will be ready after his engine explosion in Finland - I've fixed his crank too. I've also rebuilt bottom ends for a couple of other racers, most of them will be in Mantorp."

Somewhere in amongst all this activity Anders also found time to visit the USA on business. "I now know all about the new Harley-Davidson V-Rod and the Buell Firebolt. Nice bikes!", he says. And as if that wasn't enough, he also attended the Press Day for this weekend's race where he fired up his bike.

You can find the Karling Racing web site at www.karlingracing.com.

Swedish Pro Mod Championship.
26th July: Another headliner at Mantorp Park this weekend is the first-ever Swedish Pro Mod Championship. Swedish Pro Mod racer Micke Gullquist writes that the Championship will be decided by a shoot-out, with six places already filled on this season's performances and the remaining two open to all comers in qualifying on Friday. The Shoot-out itself will take place on Saturday with the final in the evening.

You can find out more about the Championship, including the pre-qualifiers, on the Nordic Pro Mod Association web site at www.promod.nu.

Web site updates.
26th July: The UK's Nemesis Top Methanol Dragster team have posted a preview of the races at Mantorp Park and Gardermoen on the News page of their web site at www.eurodragster.com/nemesisracing. The preview, written by Crew Chief Andy Bissett, is the usual highly entertaining and informative fare.

Brian Fawcus has updated his fan site with some excellent photographs and video clips from the recent Cannonball at Santa Pod Raceway. Don't miss the video clip of Urs Erbacher going the long way round! Check it out at drag.fawcus.com/photocd.

Kågered faces frantic weekend.
25th July: Swedish Top Fuel Dragster and Top Methanol FC racer Micke Kågered faces a busy weekend as he drives both race cars in competition at this weekend's Sko Uno Drag Festival at Mantorp Park, which includes the third round of this year's FIA European Championships. To aid him in his task, Micke has collected a large team.

"We will have thirteen mechanics on duty", says team manager Åsa Kinnemar. "Alan Jackson is in charge of the Top Fueller as usual. To help with the tuning this weekend he also has Bill Schultz, who is flying in from the USA. Micke's long-time crew chief Göran 'Emil' Edman will be in charge of the TMFC together with four or five mechanics."

The frantic schedule means that Micke and the team have to plan their game very carefully. "With two cars, it is pretty much impossible to run in all of the scheduled qualifying sessions", says Åsa. "My personal guess is that we will try to qualify both cars as well we we can on Friday, and then we will plan our strategy for Saturday depending on the outcome."

The latest weather forecast for the Mantorp area is dry and warm all weekend. "Team Kgered will have five hundred invited VIPs at the event, and we are very much looking forward to getting started!", says Åsa.

You will be able to stay in touch with the latest from Kågered Racing during the weekend on their official web site at www.kagered-racing.com. Updates are planned at the end of each day and, if time allows, in between qualifying sessions on Friday and Saturday.

Axeldals' two-pronged attack.
25th July: Sweden's Axeldal family and their Little Big Racing operation will be in competition on two fronts at Mantorp Park this weekend.

Linda Axeldal, who previously drove the family's Vopar Volvo 480 Super Gasser, will be taking her first trip out in the Samantha Racing Dodge Daytona in Comp Eliminator. "Linda broke her leg a few weeks ago and so couldn't drive at Västerås as originally planned", says Peter Axeldal. "But the cast has now been removed and Linda flew to the Samantha Racing shop on Tuesday morning. The Samantha team will be trying out their home-built B1 hemi this weekend!"

Meanwhile Jan Palmqvist, sponsor of Snowball Super Comp in the Nordic Drag Racing Series, is to take the wheel of Vopar. "It's probably twenty years since Jan drove a race car!" says Peter. "Vopar has a new front end and suspension, and a completely rebuilt gearbox - but still no throttle stop!"

Vopar is currently up for sale; you can find more details on the Little Big Racing web site at www.netax.se/vopar.html.

Smax's awesome Bug Jam.
25th July: UK Fuel Funny Car racer Smax Smith had an "awesome" weekend at the Bug Jam, despite breaking con rods in the engine of the Mainline Menace.

"Fuel Records set up our pits with stage and a 40K sound system playing through his two '70 Challengers and two two big screens showing my awesome 5.88/251 with four-foot header flames while people danced to the music! Big thanks to Jon Wright and all the team who did a perfect job on the car. A con rod failure didn't dampen our spirits as the tune-up was bang on - there is more to come yet!"

Smax has also announced that two new sponsors have signed up with the team. "Northwest Propshafts Coppull are recutting my discs, but they custom-build and balance propshafts so if any racers need this kind of work doing then please contact me. Also go and see Rydal Motors and Car Range of Preston for cheap used cars in good nick!

"I'm off on Friday for a screen test for BBC's Top Gear! And next, the Bulldog Bash!"

You can stay in touch with all the latest news from Smax and the team on his official web site at www.smax.co.uk.

Doorslammer chassis seminar.
25th July: Hauser Race Cars have been in discussion with Dave Morgan, author of the Doorslammers Chassis Book, regarding a proposed visit to England in October to hold his drag race suspension seminar here. Dave last came to England in 1982 and was very well received, and HRC now have the rare opportunity to have him back. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity which musn't be missed!", says Geof Hauser.

Dave holds a two day course over a weekend. The first day for "Basic Chassis Tuning", and the second day for an "Advanced" course, although it is not necessary to attend both days. Each course lasts six hours and includes lunch.

The "Basic" course includes topics such as adjusting ladder bars and four-links to improve 60ft times, baselining, frame design, shocks and springs, sprung and unsprung weight, suspension design and steering geometry. The "Advanced" course covers roll centres, instant centres, centres of gravity, cornerweights, ballast, ladder bars versus four-links and their effect, tyre selection, preload and torque, aerodynamics and more intricate discussions of all topics.

Prices are likely to be £50-£60 per day, to include coffee and lunch.

Geof Hauser went to Dave's seminar in 1982 and thought it was excellent. "The knowledge gained was certainly worth the attendance fee and even experienced racers are bound to pick up some useful information", says Geof. "Another great benefit is having the opportunity to discuss racers' own situations with Dave to maximise their cars performance."

The number of spaces will be limited and are on a first come, first served basis. Interested parties should call Geof or Ray at Hauser Racing on 01933 312735 or E-Mail info@hauserracing.com for more detailed information.

VWDRC points standings.
25th July: The latest, post-Bug Jam points standings in the Volkswagen Drag Racing Club Championships are now available on our 2001 Points Standings page, courtesy of VWDRC. Many thanks to Spencer Tramm for passing them on.

Paul Venners has asked us to pass on his apologies for the lack of Bug Jam updates on the VWDRC web site: he has had problems FTPing to the server but will of course post details as soon as he can gain access.

Shakespeare County Raceway on-line.
25th July: The UK's Shakespeare County Raceway, home of the Super Series, NSRA events, Bulldog Bash and many other races, has launched an official web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com.

"There is no disputing that Shakespeare County Raceway is one of the premier Drag Strips outside of the USA, with a proven five-second, 281 mph track that just gets quicker and faster each year with every pass - just look at our track records", says webmaster Ozzy Ewing.

"Shakespeare County Raceway - formerly known as Avon Park Raceway and Long Marston Raceway - has a rich history and racing pedigree dating back to the 1960s and with the first Drag Racing event in 1973, Shakespeare County Raceway is firmly here to stay. The track lovingly prepared by Bruno and the FAST/APIRA teams is one of the best tracks outside of the USA, unrivalled for speed and unrivalled for that special atmosphere.

"The new web site has been created with the intention of placing Shakespeare County Raceway firmly on the map in the world of Drag Strips and to share some of that raw emotion and passion for this wonderful sport. The new web site is an information-only site with event listings and pricing, track history, places to visit in Stratford, places to stay in Stratford and most important a map!"

The SCR web site can also be found at www.shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk.

World records in Mora.
25th July: "Lots of locals had made their way to Mora/Siljan Airport for the fourth part of the Nordic Pro Street Cup", says our friend Hasse of the Swedish Pro Street News Magazine. "Not only fans, but several local drivers were in the crowd too. Of course there were the usual Scandinavian élite taking part in the NPSC. Cheered by the fans following the circus, many tight duels were fought and a world record set in Harley Drags!"

You can find full details at www.swedishprostreetnews.com.

Web site updates.
25th July: Our good friends at Svensk Dragracing have updated their web site with reports, results and pictures from the Gold Town Nationals at Skellefteå. Check it out at www.dragracing.se. They have a busy weekend approaching as they will of course be covering the Sko Uno Drag Festival at Mantorp Park - more about that soon.

Photographer Bill Sly has updated his Bad Boys Imagin' web site with 100 photographs from the Test and Tune at Shakespeare County Raceway, plus a special section dedicated to the Wild Bunch. You can find Bill's pictures at www.badboysimagin.com.

Bug Jam the usual success!
24th July: The Bug Jam at Santa Pod Raceway this weekend was the usual crowded and highly-successful affair. Santa Pod Raceway track announcer Paul Venners very kindly sent us this review of the weekend:

"Bug Jam was, as usual a mad one. The site was rammed to capacity, you could not have put up a wendy house on site anywhere as every conceivable space was filled with beetles, campers, tents and, oh yeah, the inevitable hangers on in their 'modern' cars.

"The weekend was split into three days, with many thousands of people turning up on Friday there must have been a lot of holidays and 'sickies' booked off work. The track opened at 1:00 pm on Friday and was full of gnarly old campers through to 12-second street Bugs. With three areas of entertainment (two big tops and outside main stage) and a huge funfair there was plenty to do in the evening with everyone partying hard as usual. The security teams had been specially briefed, and despite the huge number of people on-site it was generally acknowledged that there was less trouble than in a normal town center on a weekend night!

"Saturday saw a mind-boggling number of street, daily driven beetles running down into 14s, 13s and even 12s. And then of course there was Russ Fellows in his daily driver with slicks in the 11's! We lost one of the most popular non-VWDRC race Bugs when Lee Maynard's mad chopped Bug rolled at the top end on a 13-second pass. Lee was badly shaken and had major bruising, the car was wrecked but he walked away. Thankfully the car was fitted with a rollcage and he was wearing a crash helmet (although not required to have either on a RWYB run). A whip round from fellow street racers and the public raised £400 for the rebuild.

"The action on Sunday from the VWDRC was full-on, with personal bests, cracking reaction times and Super Gas-style consistency. Russ Fellows beat Paul Jackson in the 2.8lt turbo chared Proteus dragster in the MOD class and 'Rookie' (although with this many wins he doesn't deserve that title) Neil Robinson in his 1303 beat the other 'rookie' (again he is just too good to be regarded as one eve though it's only his fourth round) Martin Ayton in his Scirroco.

"The Super Mod class was a resounding success (see below - Ed). It was so reminiscent of the Pro Mod class before the sixes, classic side-by-side burnouts and close racing. The class (considering they are all powered with the totally unnecessary extra four cylinders) went down extremely well with the hardcore VW Bug Jam crowd. Brian Johnson ran the Imperial Wizard on a "330 foot maybe an eighth" pass down to a 6.40 on Saturday and backed it up with a 6.48 and the capacity crowd went nuts. And then there was Smax, who backed up the 5.77 from the Cannonball with a 5.88. The thing was that two rods let loose at three-quarter track and the Menace was enveloped in the familiar duvet of flame! Would it have been a 5.6 had it have held together? Oh...and the crowd went double nuts when the figures flashed up on the gantry!

"Your 'roving' reporter was back on familiar ground doing proper commentary, assisted by Kevo Metcalf (Golf Trolly buggey), we managed to work the crowds during down time, I managed not to swear too much when I was catapulted 75 metres into the air on a reverse bungee with the radio mike. 'Jet Ped' Lee Dennik bought along his new jet-powered Maclaren F1 super car radio-controlled model which the crowd really enjoyed. Tony from Corby wheeled his wheelchair up the quarter-mile, cheered and clapped on by the assembled V-Dubbers and we raised over £950 in loose change for one V-Dubber's charity relay (Bingo as he is simply known will be going from Lands End to John O'Groats without spending any money on transport, simply relying on the generosity of VW Club members who will give him lifts from town to town on his way).

"Bug Jam rocked as it always does. A resounding success and a useful top up for the Santa Pod funds! A huge personal thanks from me to Kevo, not only for his sterling efforts in assisting me with the commentary, but also for taking over when I lost my voice completely half way through the eliminations. Also thanks to the invited Super Mods, Smax and BJ and of course the whole Fireforce team who were 'at home' and turning in their best for the Dubbers as usual. To Darren Prentice and Ian Marshall, thanks for being flexible and joining in with the fun. Carol Ishmail and the girls for coping with so many RWYBers, the crews and track staff. A final thanks must go to Ian Whitehorn and Keith Bartlett for putting together one of the most fun packed weekends in Santa Pod's calendar."

Thank you very much Paul. You can stay in touch with all the VW news on the Volkswagen Drag Racing Association web site at www.vwdrc.com.

Cockerill wins Super Modified demo.
24th July: As Paul Venners mentions above, the first demonstration running of the proposed UK Super Modified class took place at the Bug Jam, and returning racer Danny Cockerill won the elimination. We are very grateful to Spencer Tramm for sending us this special report on Super Modified qualifying and eliminations:

The first test round of the proposed Super Modified class saw a bumper eleven entries, even with a couple of cars just missing out on being ready on time.

With new car blues and licencing runs being completed we had eight of those cars ready to do battle after the morning's qualifying session. The number one qualifier was Ian Bishop who was driving the ex-Alan Cook Dodge Avenger to a stellar 8.37/157mph, The Avenger was sporting a 542ci Mopar engine with Lenco but no nitrous. The number two man was Danny Cockerill who had the engine and transmission from his infamous Pop in a new Rover shell, the Rover had quite a few weight bars added by Andy Robinson Race Cars to make it up to his weight requirement. Danny came in with an 8.41, Jon Hogarth followed closely at number three with a 8.50 from his Jeff Bull-powered machine and Andy Hone in the Scorpio rounded out the top half of the field with a 8.55. The rest of the qualifiers were Steve Green (8.87), Ashley Bell (8.99), Ian Marshall (9.26) and Graham Ellis in the ex-Nick Davies Cutlass (9.55).

The three non qualifiers were Nigel Payne who suffered problems in the Sticky Situation '62 Vette, Steve Rawlings who was suffering with transmission woes in his Toyota Supra and didn't make it onto the track all weekend, and Rob Smallworth who had most of Gordon Appleton's crew working on the awesome looking 1955 Chevy Bel Air having new car blues and using the time to get his licensing runs out of the way in preparation for Super Series 4.

Round one saw Danny Cockerill's Rover dispatch Ian Marshall's improving 9.21 with an 8.69, worth of note here was the 168mph speed which Danny carded, if the crew could sort out the 'bog' from the startline this car was gonna fly. Jon Hogarth had a single when Ashley Bell was shut off with a water leak. Ian Bishop ran another fine 8.42 to see of Graham Ellis's 9.28, the final pair wasn't a pair as Steve Green ran a 12.47 solo effort as Andy Hone had suffered engine damage on his last qualifier.

The semi final started off with a blinder of a race as a small four hundreths holeshot to Jon Hogarth wasn't quite enough as Danny Cockerill marched past to record his quickest run of the weekend with a 8.34 and an amazing 170mph to Jon's 8.63. The other semi final had Steve Green stage for the win as Ian Bishop was unable to make the call.

The final saw Steve pull a huge holeshot out of the bag (.509 to .671) but Danny's crew seemed to have cured the bog on the startline and breezed past Steve to run a 8.05/172 to Steve's valiant 8.92 try.

The next demonstration of Super Modified is scheduled to take place at Super Series 4 at Shakespeare County Raceway over the August Bank Holiday. For more details on Super Modified including the draft rules, E-Mail rooster.ice@btinternet.com.

Web site updates.
24th July: FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion Anita Mäkelä has posted a brief preview of this weekend's Sko Uno Drag Festival at Mantorp Park on her web site at www.anitamakela.com.

The official web site of the UK's Fireforce Jet Funny Car team has been updated with news from the recent Cannonball at Santa Pod Raceway and Mini Showdown at Shakespeare County Raceway. Check it out at www.fireforce.co.uk.

The Feel The Noise web site at www.feel-the-noise.com has been updated with Anni Valder's photographs from the recent Mini Showdown at Shakespeare County Raceway. Webmaster Bob Valder tells us that more than 120 pictures have been added or replaced and four new sections added.

Danish Nationals: all welcome.
23rd July: The National Dragracing Club Denmark invites everyone to Vandel Dragway for the fastest weekend in Denmark this year, the Danish Nationals on 10th-12th August, writes Tommy Nilsson.

Race director Gsta Bie says: "We are now in our 5th year at Vandel, and the facility is becoming more and more like a permanent race track with grandstands, Armco barrieres, scoreboards, fences and great traction due to the rubber coated surface."

The race is part of the Nordic Drag Racing Series for Competition, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street and Junior Dragster, and a lot of Scandinavian drivers are expected to participate. Drivers from Germany, Holland and Belgium are expected as well, and the first entry from the UK has already been received. The Danish drivers plan to give the guests a warm welcome...

Due to some generous sponsors the prize money has been doubled, if 16 cars qualify in each class. The amounts (in DKK) are as follows: Comp: 15000, Super Comp and Super Gas: 12000, Super Street 6000, and Junior Dragster 3000. In the national BoXter Cup a total of 15000,- DKK has been posted for the two classes.

Between the rounds of racing a couple of show cars will show how fast it's possible to accelerate on four wheels; Kim Reymond in Top Fuel and Dan Larsen in Top Methanol Funny Car will do some serious battle in a couple of match races. Peter Jensen will likewise test his newly acquired Top Methanol Dragster.

Entries for the Danish Nationals 2001 will be accepted at the track no later than Friday 10th August at 21:00. Entry forms can be downloaded from the NDCD web site at www.ndcd.dk.

Jerry's thanks.
23rd July: APIRA Press Officer Jerry Cookson has written on his father Gerry's behalf to thank everyone for their good wishes after Gerry's minor stroke.

"On behalf of Wild Bunch drag racer Gerald Cookson, I would just like to take this opportunity to say a heart warming big thank you for all the get well messages from fellow racers, SCR track officials and friends following Gerald's minor stroke problems a few weeks ago", says Gerry.

"At the youthful age of 70 years Gerald, the 'Don Garlits Spirit of Drag Racing 2000 Award' winner, is taking it easy at the moment but currently has a head full of plans for the future. From Gerald, wife and crew chief (!) Joan and myself, thanks once again."

Web site updates.
23rd July: UK Top Methanol and Junior Dragster team Shell Racing have updated the For Sale page of their web site. Doug's 'old' TMD and Joe's Junior Dragster are up for grabs (or for hire, too, in the case of the JD), if you are interested then check it out at www.eurodragster.com/shellracing.

German Jet FC racer Roger Kirschner has launched a web site at www.xxx-motorsport.de. The site features video clips, pictures and booking information with more to come.

Eurodragster staffer Tog has posted another update to his personal web site, following on from yesterday's Cannonball pictures are shots of Roger Goring's demonstration in the Firestorm Jet FC at the Performance Bike Show in Sheffield. Check it out at www.togsdragracing.com.

Kalajoki/Skellefteå results.
22nd July: Two Nordic Drag Racing Series events are underway this weekend.

First up is the FHRA Summer Nationals at Kalajoki Airport in Finland. Qualifying is already online at the FHRA web site at www.fhra.fi, and webmaster Hannele Höydén promises results from eliminations at the end of the day.

The Gold Town Nationals are underway at Skellefteå in Sweden. Our good friends at Svensk Dragracing have posted a brief report plus full qualifying details on their web site at www.dragracing.se with eliminations to follow today, and they also have a report and qualifying from Kalajoki.

Web site updates.
22nd July: Eurodragster staffer Tog has updated his personal web site Tog's Drag Racing Page with 113 pictures from the recent Cannonball at Santa Pod Raceway. You can find TDRP at www.togsdragracing.com.

Malmgren to wow circuit crowd.
21st July: Michael Malmgren's AC Delco-sponsored Pro Stock team are appearing at a circuit in Sweden this weekend. "This week we are promoting next weekend's Sko Uno Drag Festival at Knutstorp Ring", says team member Magnus Cato. "It's a circuit used by the Swedish Touring Cars, and it's beatifully placed just twenty kilometres from home."

Plans are afoot for something spectacular for the team's next visit to Knutstorp. "As you know we didn't make a burnout at Le Mans, but now we have been asked by the Knutstorp promoters to perform a burnout at their season finale on 1st September. Maybe circuit racing is our thing (er, no - Ed)? It will cost them some free laps!"

PT Cruiser club day a success.
21st July: Last weekend's PT Cruiser owners' club day at Santa Pod Raceway was a great success, says Paul Marston whose Super Comp PT Bruiser was one of the main attractions.

"There were well over thirty PT Cruisers in attendance, and the VIP car park was full to capacity", says Paul. "The day was blessed by some bright, warm weather with kept the strip action fast and furious."

Paul was on double duty, introducing novices to drag racing with a tour of the start line before putting in demonstration passes and taking passengers for rides in the race car. "The first passenger behaved very well and didn't throw up!", says Paul. "The second victim - I mean, passenger - was a Chrysler employee who was clapping before we cleared the shutdown area. In the interests of safety I only ran under power to the eighth-mile, but still recorded 8.79, 8.86 and 8.94 over the quarter. We didn't collect any useful data because the track got loose, but the 8.79 was the fastest time of the day."

Paul and the PMR team had a great day, and he has a number of thanks. "On everyone's behalf I must thank Santa Pod Raceway for their co-operation, especially the start line staff and race director Darren Prentice. Everyone had a great time. The food in the hospitality marquee was first class and much appreciated by all. Personal thanks go to the PT Cruiser Owners' Club for inviting us and for making me a lifetime member, they were a great bunch of people whom I look forward to seeing again. A special thanks go to Chrysler UK, their staff and management team for organising such a superb day at the races, and for providing the firesuits and safety equipment for the PT Bruiser passengers/victims."

The PT Bruiser's latest public appearance is today (Saturday) at the showrooms of Chrysler dealer Marshalls of Cambridge. "Look us up if you can!", says Paul.

Sharkman's thanks.
21st July: Eurodragster staffer Sharkman would like to thank everyone who has sent cards and E-Mails wishing him well after his recent stay in hospital. "Thanks very much to all the racers and fans for their best wishes", says Sharkman. "I haven't answered any of the mails or cards because at the moment I cannot physically do it!"

Sharkman is now home and on the mend, we're sure that everyone will want to join Tog in wishing him a rapid return to full fitness.

Web site updates.
21st July: The official web site of the European Top Methanol Racers Association has been updated with timing data from the MSA British Top Methanol Championship round at the Cannonball at Santa Pod. Webmaster and MSA Championshop co-ordinator Dave Alexander has apologised for the delay in updates, which was caused by his local phone company. Check out the ETMRA web site at www.etmra.com.

FIA European Top Methanol FC Champion Leif Andreasson's web site has been updated with the latest news from the Andreasson Motorsports pit, additions to the photo gallery, and a shop offering T-shirts, caps, jackets, accessories and more. You can find Leif's site at www.andreassonmotorsports.com.

Bug Jam entry list.
19th July: This weekend's Bug Jam at Santa Pod Raceway isn't just the UK's biggest VW event, it is also a full-blown Championship round for the Volkswagen Drag Racing Club. Fourteen VWs are entered in Pro and thirteen in Sportsman including overseas visitors.

There is also the first demonstration for the proposed Super Modified class, which has attracted twelve entries, and a small number of exhibition vehicles including both Fireforce Jet FCs and Smax Smith in the Mainline Menace Fuel FC. Smax tells us that he will be making two or three passes in an attempt to better his personal bests of 5.74/265 in the JLS/Teng Tools/Champion machine.

Spencer Tramm has very kindly sent us a copy of this weekend's entry list, which you can view by clicking here.

For more details on the Bug Jam, check out the official web site at www.bugjam.co.uk, and Santa Pod Raceway's web site at www.santapod.com.

Tebenham seeks track hire share.
19th July: UK Super Pro ET racer John Tebenham is looking to hear from racers interested in sharing the cost of a day's hire of Santa Pod Raceway for testing. The booking would be on a Wednesday in the next week to three weeks. Any interested parties are asked to E-Mail tanya.bearham@ntlworld.com, or call 01483 232692.

Nilsson: Nitrous PM here to stay!
18th July: Swedish Pro Mod racer Håkan Nilsson is planning a quick return to competition after a top end crash on at Piteå on Sunday wrecked his 6.4-second 'Vette, thankfully without injury.

"The weekend didn't turn out the way we wanted it to", says Håkan. "We beat Patrik Wikström in Norway and we felt that we were back on track and that the points lead wasn't far away. At Piteå we got one qualifier on Friday and one on Saturday, so we didn't really have a lot to go on when eliminations started."

When those eliminations started, things quickly went wrong for Håkan. "Since lane choice was crucial, we tuned it up pretty good", he says. "It left the line hard but straight, it shook for a fraction in second gear but I drove through it. When I shifted to third, the car hit the bump and got real loose. It shook and moved left. I tried to steer it back into the groove, but it didn't respond and moved over the edge of the asphalt. It hit the sand on the side of the track and made a sharp right turn, back onto the track. I tried to turn 180 degrees to make it roll backwards, but it flipped over and started to roll."

Håkan escaped major injury, which he puts down to the construction of the 'Vette and the rapid reaction of the track crew. "The car was well-built and very strong", he says. "The car rolled between ten and fifteen times, but the roll cage was totally undamaged. The rescue team and the doctor at the track did a great job and got me out of the car quickly and safely. I have a few bruises and a headache but that's all. I was declared OK and allowed to leave Piteå Hospital within an hour."

Håkan and his team are now looking at their options. "We haven't gone through the car yet, but it looks as if the motor and transmission are salvageable", he says. "We presently looking to the future, and planning for a quick return. Nitrous Pro Mod is here to stay!"

You can stay in touch with all the latest news from Nilsson Motorsports on the official web site at www.nilssonmotorsports.com.

Micke's confidence validated, AJ postpones drive.
18th July: In one of our Top Fuel Tour previews last week, we described Sweden's Micke Kågered as being on confident mood going into the weekend's TFT round at Pitea. Micke's confidence paid off as he took the event win and ran the quickest and fastest passes ever seen in Sweden.

Micke's Crew Chief Alan Jackson is very happy indeed with the progress of the Bahco Tools/Quaker State Top Fuel Dragster. "The car has been flying in the last half of the track right out of the box, but we struggled a bit in the first half of the track at Santa Pod and Wittstock", says AJ. "I arrived at Pitea with some ideas on how to tackle this, and put in a completely new fuel, clutch and mag combination - and it really paid off! The CBD-owned dragster's first win of the year, and the top end speed picked up some too, at 294.59 mph. Our new clutch cannon was an integral part of the combination. Since there are no stall springs to coil-bind, it also saved the runs and our clutch when we had some bad discs which broke up on two runs."

Micke's success has persuaded AJ not to drive the second Carbon By Design Top Fueller at Mantorp Park. "Micke will be doing double duty driving the Top Fueller and the Top Methanol Funny Car, but it would be triple duty for me tuning both Fuellers and driving one of them. It's a little too intensive. We have got some good momentum going with Micke's car and we don't want to spoil that, so we have decided to keep the red CBD car parked until the European Finals at Santa Pod. Micke's doing a good job driving the car, and I am enjoying being out of the car more than I expected!"

AJ is taking a realistic approach to the 300 mph barrier, which Micke is now one of the favourites to break. "Everybody is talking about 300mph now", he says. "Five or six miles per hour doesn't sound much to find, but it isn't that easy to do - if it was it would have been done years ago. We are more concerned with getting the ET better and winning rounds, but that doesn't mean we aren't going to try!"

Sko Uno Drag Festival entry list.
18th July: Our good friends at Svensk Dragracing have published the official entry list for the Sko Uno Drag Festival at Mantorp Park at the end of July, which is the next round of the FIA and UEM European Championships. The entry is large in most classes, huge in some, and features contestants not just from Scandinavia but the UK, Germany, Italy, and Malta (guess who - Ed) so this is shaping up into a spectacular event! Check out the entry list at www.dragracing.se.

Web site updates.
18th July: Tommy Nilsson has been very busy again with his European Drag Racing Database, adding race stats from the Midnight Sun Internationals, the two-event weekend at Thunder Valle Dragway in Norway, the Aros Summer Nationals and the Summer Nationals at Gardermoen. You can find the European Drag Racing Database at www.eurodrag.com.

Congratulations to www.uk1320.com, whose webmaster Gareth Evans has announced a sponsorship deal with US Chevrolet engine builder Shafiroff.

Patrik Jacobsson has added some photographs from the Midnight Sun Internationals to his SMK Trollhättan web site. Patrik's site features some excellent pictures from NDRS and NPSC races and is well worth a visit. Check it out at www.smktrollhattan.com/dragrace/racepics.htm.

Finland's Sunrise Cruisers American Car Club have moved URLs to www.qnet.fi/sunrisecruisers. The Sunrise site features news, photographs, swap meet, dates and much more.

Bates vacates FC seat.
17th July: UK Fuel FC pilot Allan Bates has vacated the seat of the North Herts Engineering Fuel Funny Car, which he has driven in the first two rounds of the British Fuel FC Championship this year. He left the team after fellow FC pilot Norm Wilding, who has raced in the USA in recent years, was brought on board.

"Norm will be driving the car in the two remaining rounds of the Championship", Allan told us. "He will be helping to set the car up for Mark Hawkins (car owner - Ed) and of course he wanted to drive it. Mark's made his decision. I couldn't agree with it so I had to quit, but I still hope that the car goes well for them."

Allan has had a long and distinguished career in UK drag racing, driving for Nobby Hills in various incarnations of the Houndog Fuel Funny Cars before piloting the Torco FC and then the North Herts Avenger. He is planning a move to Australia this year, but we have not necessarily heard the last of him. "As soon as I win the lottery I'll be out there again!"; he said.

Annable has Wild TMD ride.
17th July: UK Sportsman ET racer Derek Annable enjoyed a successful weekend in the Shell Racing Top Methanol Dragster at the Mini Showdown at Shakespeare County Raceway. Derek has taken a number of drives in the TMD at non-Championship events, and it all came together in spectacular fashion for him as he drove the car as part of the Wild Bunch.

"Derek had four runs over the weekend, he's starting to get some good times for an old boy!" said Shell Racing Crew Chief Martyn Hannis. "He ran a couple of good straight mid-sevens, 7.5 and 7.7 at speeds of 176 and 177mph. Not bad at all seeing we've still got the throttle stop set up that only gives him half the power. We would like to thank all the Shakespeare County Raceway track crew and of course the Wild Bunch."

You can stay in touch with the latest news from Shell Racing on their official web site at www.eurodragster.com/shellracing.

Points, video, sponsorship at Showtime site.
17th July: The latest provisional points standings in the British Fuel FC Championship are now available on the Championship section of the Showtime Racing web site. Fans can also find a new video gallery featuring five clips of Spuff in action in the FC, and details are also available of sponsorship deals available for future Championship rounds. All this and more can be found at the Showtime web site at www.showtimeracing.co.uk.

Andy says Thanks, updates bests.
17th July: Our good friend Andy Marrs of TSI Timers has asked us to pass on his and wife Debs' thanks to everyone for all the cards and E-Mails congratulating them on the birth of daughter Erin. "It's very much appreciated", said Andy, "although I will of course have my revenge on a certain Top Fuel Bike rider!"

Andy has very kindly updated his list of European best performances, and has added sections for the quickest and fastest side-by-side passes. You can view Andy's list by clicking here, or by clicking on the European Bests link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page.

Record performances at Piteå.
16th July: The Midnight Sun Internationals at Pite Dragway, although slightly rain-affected, saw some record-setting performances and close racing.

Micke Kågered won the second round of the Swedish Top Fuel Tour with a victory over local favourite Monica Öberg. In the course of the weekend Micke ran a new track record of 5.051 and ran one of the fastest terminal speeds ever recorded in Europe at 296 mph (474 kmh), only one mile per hour short of the European record and the fastest terminal speed ever run in Scandinavia. Tommy Möller took the third-fourth place run-off from Pelle Lindelöw after an engine change enforced by an explosion on Saturday.

In Pro Mod, Patrik Wikström tied up the other end of the European record with a pass of 6.463 to add to his speed record set at Alastaro in June, however the class was overshadowed by Håkan Nilsson's top end crash in his 'Vette. We understand that Håkan is quite OK and we are sure that everyone will join us in wishing him a rapid return to racing.

A number of web sites are carrying results and pictures from the race. The SHRA Luleå web site at www.shra-lulea.bd.se is carrying qualifying and elimination results from all three days of the event. The Svensk Dragracing site at www.dragracing.se has Nordic Drag Race Series reports, results and some great pictures, whilst the Results 2001 page of the Kågered Racing site at www.kagered-racing.com contains on-the-spot reports from Micke and the team.

Web site updates.
16th July: Dutch Pro Mod racer Henri Joosten has updated his web site with an account of last week's Drachten 2 race, where he set a new eighth-mile record. Check it out at www.joostenracing.nl.

On the subject of Drachten, results and pictures from last weekend's race are available on the Explosion Drag Racing Club web site at www.explosion.nl.

Swiss Comp Eliminator racer Bruno Bader and the Golden Vette team have had a very successful season with wins at Santa Pod and Wittstock, and final round appearances for the Vette and Junior Dragster at Drachten last weekend. You can find full details on the News page of the Golden Vette web site at www.goldenvette.ch.

Swedish photographer Ulf Nyberg has updated his web site at www.swedishprostreetnews.com/uffe with pictures from the recent NPSC round at Tullinge, to add to a great set of pictures from the inaugural race at Sundsvall.

Hockenheim TMFC Invitational.
15th July: Many thanks to Åsa Kinnemar of Kågered Racing for passing on details of the invitation list for the Top Methanol FC Cannonball at the Nitrolympics in Hockenheim in mid-August. The invited TMFC racers are:
  • Leif Andréasson (Sweden)
  • Micke Kågered (Sweden)
  • Urs Erbacher (Switzerland)
  • Lex Joon (Holland)
  • Urs Embacher (Switzerland)
  • Dezsoe Krivan (Switzerland)
  • Magnus Larsson (Sweden)
  • Jürgen Nagel (Germany)
  • Jörg Johnsson (Sweden)
For more details on the Nitrolympics including entry forms, ticket details and a contest to win a weekend pass, check out the excellent official web site at www.dragster.de.

My first race.
15th July: Second-generation 10.90 Bike racer David Warren competed in his first event at the Cannonball at Santa Pod Raceway recently. At 16, David is one of the youngest bike racers in the UK together with Supertwin Modified racer Dominic Wadkin-Snaith. And maybe one of the youngest in Europe, unless our readers know different?

David sent us an account of his weekend at the Cannonball, which gives an interesting insight into the thoughts and feelings of a first-time racer. You can read David's account by clicking here.

Sheavills crew shirts available.
15th July: UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Barry Sheavills has available a limited number of official crew shirts. The shirts, designed by Ian 'Turbo' Turburville, are identical to those worn by Barry's crew on the start line, come in small, medium, large and extra large sizes, and feature the owner's name embroidered on the front.

The shirts are £99 (deposit £50) and can be ordered from Barry himself in the pits, or via e-mail from Turbo at sales@turboville.com, from whom you can also get more details.

LA Racing parts catalogue.
15th July: One of our Home and News page sponsors via UKracer.com, LA Racing Parts, have issued their new drag racing catalogue for 2001/2. "The catalogue contains 354 pages and features all top American brands from ARP to World Products", says LA Racing Parts' Lee Child. "If we don't have part you want in stock, we have two shipments from America each month so there is no big delay. The catalogue costs £9.99 which includes also two Borla Performance Industries mini catalogues , LA Racing Parts decals and postage."

For more details, or to order a catalogue, E-Mail la.racing@virgin.net or call 01803 554308.

Web site updates.
15th July: Our good friends at Svensk Dragracing have added photographs to their ongoing coverage from the Midnight Sun Internationals at Piteå. Check out the great pictures at www.dragracing.se.

Meanwhile the SHRA Luleå web site is being updated with the latest news from eliminations at Piteå at www.shra-lulea.bd.se/resultat/Fuelsm01/senaste.htm.

Not a European web site, but one which we know is very popular with European visitors; Don Ewald's Fuel Dragsters: We Did It For Love has moved URLS to www.wediditforlove.com. The site which features photographs, information and history about Top Fuel drag racing from 1955 to 1972 is having to be uploaded from scratch in its new location, but Don is hard at work on the site and has asked in the interim that everyone bookmark the new address.

Live updates from Piteå.
14th July: The Midnight Sun Internationals is well underway at Pite Dragway, and a few web sites are being updated on-site with the latest news.

The SHRA Luleå web site is being updated with results from qualifying and eliminations at www.shra-lulea.bd.se.

Next up is Micke Kågered who is participating in the second round of the Swedish Top Fuel Tour. The Results 2001 page of the Kågered Racing web site at www.kagered-racing.com is to be updated at least at the end of each day, and possibly after each Top Fuel session if time allows.

Pro Mod racer Håkan Nilsson's web site is temporarily out of action; however the live reports section of the site is located on a separate server which is up and running. Check out www.erimax.com/gbook/?book=7463 for the latest Pro Mod news from Piteå. Crew member Ulf Kajgård also tells us that you can leave a message for Håkan and the team at Piteå on their guestbook at www.erimax.com/gbook/index.cgi?book=2542.

Our good friends at Svensk Dragracing are also posting end-day results on their web site at www.dragracing.se.

FHRA Night Race now in daylight.
13th July: The Finnish Hot Rod Association have announced that this year's Night Race, at Alastaro on 10th-12th August, is to be run in daylight hours. "The reason for this is the Ministry of Environment's directive to the local authority that they can't allow exceptions to permits for racing hours", says Hannele Höydén of FHRA.

The amended timetable for the FHRA Night Race is now as follows:

Friday 10th August: Inspection 18:00-21:00
Saturday 11th August: Qualifying 12:00-20:00
Sunday 12th August: Eliminations 12:00-17:00

For more details check out the FHRA web site at www.fhra.fi.

Grampa Smax stars at Essential.
13th July: Congratulations to UK Fuel FC racer Smax Smith who has become a grandfather with the birth of Keegan to Smax's daughter. "A bouncing future dragster pilot!" says Smax.

Smax and the Mainline Menace FC will be appearing at this weekend's Essential concert in London, a two-day event featuring sixty DJs. "We are busy!" says Smax.

Smax promises updates soon to his website at www.smax.co.uk.

Mini Max Attack.
13th July: This weekend sees the annual Mini Showdown at Shakespeare County Raceway. Avon Park International Racers Association Press Officer Jerry Cookson writes:

"Now that volume production on the new Mini is underway at BMW's Oxford plant, around 30,000 cars are due to be built this year from a plant which has seen a huge investment of 230 million since July last year. But what of the old Mini?

"Now celebrating a chequered history of 40 years what will happen to the world's most popular small car? Some will end up in private collections or museums. Most will live out there days on the world's super highways. Some will take to the race and rally tracks and some will head this weekend (July 14th/15th) to Stratford-Upon-Avon to the UK's only Mini lead drag racing spectacle; the 7th Annual British Mini Showdown at Long Marston's Shakespeare County Raceway.

"Organised by the British Mini Club, the British Mini Showdown is a cheap and fun way of seeing how much performance Mini owners can gain head-to-head in the safe confines of a quarter mile drag strip and against the clock.

""If you haven't been to this show, it's a bit difficult to explain the weird attraction of sending the district nurse's commuter car up the tarmac strip with a massive engine bolted on," commented Monty Watkins, editor of 'Miniworld' magazine. "But for 10 per day for unlimited track runs, there's a big incentive for Mini-ists to see how their car compares."

"Last year the men to beat included Bill Sargent and his full house nitrous injected street legal A-Series Mini, Steven Hill's mid-engined Alfa Romeo Mini, the awesome V8 powered 'Cunning Plan' Minivan of Tony Smith, and Roy Hill from the 'Italian Job' who will be trying to beat his own record of 27 runs on the race strip. For spectators, the presence of the Wild Bunch Nostalgia Racing Association together with some of the quickest and fastest drag machines on the planet adds a further dimension to the Showdown.

"In addition to Saturday evenings entertainment, everything Mini will be available including a Mini Trade and Auto Jumble area, club displays and a stereo sound off competition complete's a very full weekend of activities.

"Star attraction will be the two 'flame & thunder' jet powered Funny Cars of Martin Hill and Tony Baker. Last year at SCR Hill, driving the Fireforce II Chevy Lumina, set a new European record for the class; 6.26s at 252 mph. This year at Santa Pod, the Jet which produces over 5000 Ibs of pure thrust, has upped the anti and run 5 seconds at 270 mph but has yet to achieve these standards at Shakespeare County Raceway. With a longer run-off area will the record fall once again. Definitely not an event to be missed!

"The British Mini Showdown begins Saturday 14th July at 10.00 am and 11.00 am on Sunday 15th. Shakespeare County Raceway is located 6 miles south of Stratford-Upon-Avon on the B4632. The track is easily accessible from junction 15 of the M42, a primary north-south route through the county of Warwickshire."

Web site updates.
13th July: Holland's Team Pro Street Pro Mod team have launched a web site at www.dutch-dragracing.com. This beautifully-designed site tells you everything you need to know about the Monte Carlo driven by Robert Koper, featuring details on the car, team run-down, photographs, calendar, results, links and more. Don't hesitate to check it out.

www.feel-the-noise.com have posted a large number of Anni Valder's photographs from the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. "In all, 102 pictures have been added or replaced and three new sections added", says webmaster Bob Valder.

Lindelöw looks for balance.
12th July: Swedish Top Fuel Dragster racer Pelle Lindelöw is heading for this weekend's second round of the Swedish Top Fuel Tour at Pite Dragway looking to improve upon his second-place finish in the first round. By his own admission, Pelle was lucky at Wittstock where his best time was a high eight, and he doesn't expect it to fall into his lap again this weekend.

"We cannot say that we were too happy with the results in Wittstock and there is absolutely no one other than ourselves to blame", says Pelle. "The track was surprisingly good - both Tommy Möller's and Micke Kågered's results proved that - and the facility itself has wonderful potential to become a really good race track. There is enough room for a whole bunch of extra cars.

"To see it from an optimistic point of view, we now know exactly where we have the power the day that we need it. Our car makes lots of horsepower, and the problem we've had is to balance it over the track. At Piteå we will slow down everything in order to find the right combination. We will of course run the same nitro load, but we have ordered new pulleys so that we can slow down the blower, and we will take some degrees out of the ignition. Our aim is to find the 'other end' now that we have experienced 'too much'.

"After two races this year, parts consumption has been extremely low. We have looked at the pistons a couple of times since mounting them in May, they all looked good as did the rest of the motor, so we are looking forward to the race in Piteå with great confidence. Last year we ran both 5.19 and 5.15 at Pite Dragway, it's no secret that we are trying to grab the track record this year. All of the cars on the Tour are capable of running Fours, and there is a good chance that it could happen in Pite this weekend - but we intend to do it first! We'll be doing some serious ass-kicking up there.

"I think that this is at least the fifteenth time that we've been to Piteå and I always liked the environment, the people and the track. I could care for a few less mosquitos though, but as always there is a cure for everything, (rain is one and in that case I prefer the B52's). Last year the race was cancelled after a rain on Sunday, let's hope that the weather will stay as nice as it has been in Scandinavia in the last few weeks, and there will be a race to remember!"

You can stay in touch with all the news from P & G Racing on their official web site at www.pgracing.nu.

Marathon effort fixes Öberg's car.
12th July: Fellow Top Fuel Tour contestant Monica Öberg's attendance at Piteå this weekend has been assured thanks to a marathon effort by chassis builder Peter Lantz and fellow Top Fuel personnel. The rear of the chassis of Monica's car broke under power at Wittstock, thankfully only a few feet off the start line, and the car went straight from the German track to Peter Lantz's workshop.

"I finished Monica's car tonight" said Peter, writing late last night (Wednesday). "We had to back-half the chassis including new wing supports, so the car is really updated now. I did in four days and nights a job which would normally take at least two weeks. I had great help from 'Ollis', my former clutch mechanic, and fellow former crew member Manne as well, and Morgan Svensson also helped out on one day. It also helped a lot that Ulf Schill from Pelle Lindelöw's team, and Monica's Crew Chief Dan Söderberg, came down on Tuesday and helped out as well. So the good news is that Monica will make the race in Piteå!"

Midnight Sun Internationals preview.
12th July: The Midnight Sun Internationals is of course also a round of the Nordic Drag Racing Series, for all classes except Street Bike, and the Nordic Pro Street Cup. Our good friends at Svensk Dragracing have posted a race preview on their web site at www.dragracing.se including an up-to-date mosquito forecast (which you'll like when you read it, Pelle - Ed) and details of a barbecue to be held in the Nordstrom Brothers' pit on Monday night.

Cruise along to Sunday's RWYB.
12th July: This Sunday's Run What You Brung at Santa Pod Raceway is also a PT Cruiser Owners Club day, and one lucky Cruiser owner is in for a surprise.

Paul Marston Racing will be attending the event to put in demo runs with the eight-second PT Bruiser. "Its going to be a great day", says Paul. "Its probably going to be the biggest gathering of PT Cruisers ever in England. PT Cruisers are also going to take to the track to find the fastest road-legal Cruiser, the winner of which will, conditions permitting, get the ride of his or her life - need I say more? All the crew are really looking forward to the weekend, meeting Cruiser owners and enjoying a day away from the pressures of National Event qualifying and eliminations. Weather permitting, we will be unleashing the Bruiser on the hallowed strip. Some go to Church on Sunday, we go Drag Racing. Same planet, different world - see you there!"

Sunday's RWYB is of course open to all. Entry to Santa Pod Raceway is £8, and a further £10 and the production of a valid DVLC licence buys you as many runs as you can fit in on the track. Gates open at 8:00 am and the strip is usually open at 10:00 am.

For more details check out Santa Pod's web site at www.santapod.com, or call SPR on 08700 782828.

Shockwave stars in Danson show.
12th July: The Shockwave Fuel Funny Car is starring at this weekend's East of England Car Show at Danson Park in Welling, on the outskirts of London. The car will be representing Santa Pod Raceway, and will be on display on both Saturday and Sunday. Gates open at 10:00; Danson Park is situated just off the A2, and is a few miles from the M25 in the direction of London.

For the latest news from the Shockwave camp, check out their web site at www.funnycar.uk.com.

Kågered's Piteå confidence...
11th July: Swedish Top Fuel Dragster racer Micke Kågered is in confident mood heading for this weekend's Midnight Sun Internationals at Pite Dragway, which is the second round of this year's Swedish Top Fuel Tour. Micke took third place at the first TFT round at Eco Raceway in Germany last week and is determined to do even better in the Bahco Tools/Quaker State machine this weekend.

"Micke hopes to improve on his performance of 5.21/288 mph at Wittstock", says team administrator Åsa Kinnemar. "He feels very confident driving the dragster now and thinks that it feels even safer than to drive the Funny Car. Micke is also reflecting on the fact that, so far, his team is closest to running 300 mph so improving the speed further is a goal in itself - besides trying to win the event in Piteå of course! Knut Sderqvist (car owner - Ed) has said that he is very satisfied with the way that Micke drives the car, and that the team hope to get the combination right in Pite. The performance should be in the 5.0-second range if everything goes well."

Åsa tells us that the Kågered Racing web site at www.kagered-racing.com will be updated from Pite Dragway on both Saturday and Sunday evenings this weekend, and that if time allows then results will be posted after each session.

For more details on the Swedish Top Fuel Tour check out the official web site at www.topfueltour.com, and for more information on the Midnight Sun Internationals, check out the web site of organisers SHRA Luleå at www.shra-lulea.bd.se.

...as Mantorp double drive confirmed.
11th July: Kågered Racing have also announced that Micke will be racing both the Top Fuel Dragster and the Top Methanol Funny Car at the Sko Uno Drag Festival at Mantorp Park at the end of this month. The Sko Uno event is the third of this year's five FIA European Championship dates.

"It was the strong wish of our major sponsors that Micke racers both cars", says Åsa. "We intended to run only the Funny Car, but will try and make the best of it with two cars although it will be tough both on Micke and the crew. Alan Jackson is driving Knut Söderqvist's other Top Fueller at Mantorp Park, so Micke will have his own crew working on both of 'his' cars, and has signed up a couple more experienced mechanics for the event."

Web site updates.
11th July: UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Barry Sheavills' web site has been updated with a preview of the Sko Uno Drag Festival, an account of Barry's weekend at the Max Power show in Birmingham, and a review of the Cannonball at which Barry whipped a Formula 1 car. You can find the latest news on the Press Release page of Barry's web site at www.topfuel.co.uk.

Our good friend, photographer Bill Sly has updated his Bad Boys Imagin' web site with pictures from last week's Cannonball at Santa Pod Raceway. Bill is a long-established drag racing photographer who has recently returned to the side of UK tracks, and his web site contains shots from events at Santa Pod and Sheakespeare County Raceway from the 2001 season, plus pictures from days gone by, Windows wallpaper and more. Bill's web site can be found at www.badboysimagin.com.

The Swedish Pro Street News magazine at www.swedishprostreetnews.com has been updated with pictures from the recent Nordic Pro Street Cup round at Mantopr Park.

A Happy Birthday from the Eurodragster staff to Gary Cottingham of Dragster World, who is 18 today. Have a good day, Gary.

Bug Jam racer arrangements.
10th July: We've heard from Paula Marshall of Santa Pod Racers Club regarding arrangements for racers attending next weekend's Bug Jam at Santa Pod Raceway.

"Santa Pod's gates will be open from 10:00 am to 9:00 pm Thursday, 19th July, for racers only", says Paula. "The gates will then be open to racers and public alike from 9:00 am on Friday, 20th July. All racer tickets will be on the gate since we will not have time to send them out."

SPRC's office will be unmanned for the next week; however Spencer Tramm will be available to take urgent enquiries including sending out entry forms. Any racers who want to enter the Bug Jam, or who have any other queries about racing at the event, should phone SPRC's office on 01933 313625 and follow the instructions on the recorded message.

Ladies first!
10th July: European Top Fuel Dragster Champion Anita Mäkelä has revealed her new crash helmet design. The crash helmet, painted by Evgraphics in Finland, contains on its back side a special message for Anita's male competitors! You can find out more on the Photos page of Anita's web site at www.anitamakela.com.

Anita is to be visited this week by a film crew from the UK's Record Breakers TV programme, which is broadcast on BBC1. They carried out some filming at the Main Event at Santa Pod but are now going to visit Anita, her family, and her chickens at home in Vilppula. We'll let you know when the feature goes to screen.

Grumpy's comeback.
10th July: UK 9.90 Bike racer Paul 'Grumpy' Watson saw his pre-Cannonball testing pay off as he won the event.

"I went testing on the sunday before the Cannonball", says Paul. "The heat was unbelievable and affected my performance, but I still managed a couple of 10.00s, a 9.95 and 9.86, it helped me sort out the clutch and gain consistency.

"So when it came to Friday's qualifying at the Cannonball, I hadn't planned for the strong headwind. I started off with a 10.1, then slowly dialled in to 9.98 only to be pipped by my nemesis Jamie Sneddon (Grumpy and Nemesis? Have we got the right class here? -Ed)! The battle between us has been growing all year - the bike pits seem electric with the rivalry! On Saturday I ran 9.94 to take the number one spot,then ran a 9.891 - oh so close!

"I had promised my crew - Kev,Martin and Jo - that I would run my own race, no looking over my shoulder. The bike was dialled-in, after a 9.94 bye in the first round I was up against Rachel Pattison - the battle of the Bandits! This was going to be hard as Rachel has big mph - we both knew how the race would go apart from the last ten feet but my 9.86 beat her personal best 9.66, well done girl! Next up was Paul Newman the wheelie man, another hard one as he had just run 9.95 with a good reaction. However he broke out, a 9.86 personal best to my 10.00. So to the final - who else but Jamie! We were both looking forward to this, and the pressure was really on me as I badly needed the points if I was to have any chance of closing the points gap after my last three disasterous meetings. A slight advantage off the line helped me to a 9.93 to Jamie's 9.87. What a race, Jamie wasn't last year's number one for nothing.

"I must thank all my sponsors especially Kathy Taylor, thanks to Paul Marston Racing for the use of their weather station, and thanks to my crew Kev, Martin and Jo."

Web site updates.
10th July: The UK's Shockwave Fuel FC team have updated their web site with an in-depth account of their weekend at the Cannonball, where Gordon Smith ran a new personal best of 5.67 before suffering terminal clutch damage which kept him out of the Fuel FC final. Check it out at www.funnycar.uk.com.

European Drag Racing Database webmaster Tommy Nilsson has been very busy indeed on his superb web site, adding results from the FHRA Drag and Rock Festival, the Motorsports Against Racism Festival at Wittstock, the Cannonball, the FHRA Spring Nats and Super Series 3, together with a large number of pictures from Wittstock. You can find the European Drag Racing Database at www.eurodrag.com.

Sweden's Fredric Carlsson has updated his personal web site with pictures from the weekend's Summer Nats at Gardermoen. Fredric's site features extensive photo galleries containing some great photographs, and can be found at freepages.autos.rootsweb.com/~fred79/gallerian.

Grateful Hook plans return.
9th July: We've heard from Custom Car Street Eliminator racer Ian Hook, who unfortunately crashed his FB Racing '34 Ford at the Cannonball last week. Ian was unhurt, but the same couldn't be said for the car. The team have now sat down to decide what to do next, and the good news is that they will be back. Firstly, though, Ian asked us to pass on his thanks:

"I would like to say a big thank you to the safety guys and medical staff who took care of me after my top end accident at last week's Cannonball. I'd also like to thank the many well-wishers (racers and spectators) who visited the FB Racing pit after the car was dragged back. There are some very generous people in drag racing. We received donations of over £600 to help with repairs, half of which came from the CCSE pits alone, and also had lots of offers of physical help come rebuild time. Fast cars and big hearts! Thank you all.

"FB Racing will return and we will be running a Ford-powered '34. Despite the fact that only the front end of the chassis is damaged (along with lots of bodywork, suspension, exhaust, sump wheels, etc.) we have decided to take the plunge and to build a new chassis, as we had thought about doing this at the end of next season already. Hopefully we'll be quicker, faster and lighter (the last refers to the car not the crew!). Current plans are for a mid-2002 return although this will depend heavily on raising the required finance.

"In the meantime we will be keeping our web site going. It has now been updated with the latest CCSE and NSCC points tables. My race report from the Cannonball will be a little delayed as Yoda (Trev) our webmaster has selfishly gone on holiday for a few weeks! In the meantime check us out at www.fbracing.co.uk.

"Once again, thanks to all for the support and encouragement. It does make a real difference."

NDRG Summer Nats results.
9th July: Our good friends at Svensk Dragracing were in action again at the weekend, reporting from Norsk Dragracing Gardermoen's Summer Nats which saw some great racing including a new European best in Pro Mod from Håkan Nilsson.

You can find results on the Svensk Dragracing site at www.dragracing.se, and more details on the Norsk Dragracing Gardermoen site at www.norskdragracing.com.

Smax in Jam session.
9th July: UK Fuel FC racer Smax Smith, who featured at the Max Power show at the weekend, has announced that the Mainline Menace Achieva will be in action at the Bug Jam at Santa Pod Raceway on July 20th-22nd.

"The car will be making two runs, hopefully chasing Spuff's bests of 5.33/281!", says Smax. "The Fuel Records stand and loud cars will be there too, so be there or be square!"

Smax also asked us to pass on his thanks to Frank Westerby of TFC Promotions for sorting out his appearance at Max Power. You can stay in touch with the latest news from Smax on his official web site at www.smax.co.uk.

Playstation success for Nemesis.
9th July: The UK's Nemesis Racing are the latest team to post a Cannonball report on the Web. Written by Crew Chief Andy Bissett, the account gives an insight into what started as a disastrous weekend but which had an element of victory as driver Dave Wilson was involved in one of the closest TMD races ever against event winner Rob Turner.

Andy tells us that the Playstation 2 consoles, provided by sponsors Sony Computer Entertainment UK Limited and installed by Rod George, proved an instant success in the Sub 5 Shop at Santa Pod last weekend. "Judging by the 'Maximum Playing Time 15 minutes' signs that soon appeared the consoles were popular! The normal PlayStation 2 Roadshow by the entrance to the trading area was packed all weekend too as always. I'm sure some of the kids in there don't even pause for a drink or food all day", says Andy.

To read Andy's account from the Cannonball, and for all the latest news from the Nemesis pit, check out the Nemesis Racing web site at www.eurodragster.com/nemesisracing.

USC web site online.
9th July: The Ultimate Street Car event, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway every August, has established itself as the UK's largest modified car festival. "USC is the first step on the drag racing ladder for many, and offers the chance for non-racers to pit themselves against the lights and fellow amateurs", says Rick Cuthbert of Trakback Racing.

The web site for this year's USC, which takes place at Santa Pod on 10th-12th August, is now on-line and features ticket details, gig guide, survival guide, RWYB details and much more. Check it out at www.ultimatestreetcar.co.uk.

Picture updates.
9th July: UK1320 webmaster Gareth Evans has, as promised, updated his web site with some great photographs from last weekend's Cannonball at Santa Pod Raceway. Check it out at www.uk1320.com.

Eurodragster staffer Sharkman has also posted a large number of Cannonball photographs on his personal web site Sharkman's Top End Tales at www.eurodragster.com/sharkman. Sharkman has also added video clips and new Windows wallpaper.

Fellow Eurodragster staffer Tog has staggered bug-eyed from a marathon nine and a half-hour scanning session and updated his personal web site Tog's Drag Racing Page with 195 pictures from the recent FHRA Nitro Nationals at Alastaro. Most classes are covered, several exhaustively! Check it out at www.togsdragracing.com.

Finnish Forum invites input.
9th July: Finnish Drag Racing web site Paalupaikka at www.paalupaikka.com, which is one of Anita Mäkelä's favourite sites, is inviting English-speaking contributors to its Forum. "Everyone is welcome, especially racers and fans from England where the rules and the classes are a little bit different to the rest of Europe", says regular contributor Mikko Niemi. The direct URL to the Forum is pub11.ezboard.com/fpaalupaikkadragracing.

Super Modified is go.
6th July: With a couple of weeks to go before the Bug Jam at Santa Pod Raceway, a number of racers are lining up to take part in the first running of the prospective Super Modified class which will be in demonstration at that event.

Super Modified is a limited-tuning, weight-per-cubic-inch and performance factor class for doorslammers. It is designed to fill a gap in the market for racers who want to run heads-up on slicks but who can't make the necessary investment to move into Pro Mod. Super Modified was originally suggested last season by Rob Loaring and Nick Davies of our sponsors ICE Automotive, but has been refined during long discussions with fellow racers and race officials with a view to introducing it to the UK in 2002.

We understand that the entry for the Bug Jam is into double figures, including Steve Green, Jon Hogarth, Nigel Payne and Tim Garlick together with Rob Smallworth's new '55 Chevy and up to half a dozen ex-Pro Mod cars. The entry for the second demonstration, Super Series 4 at Shakespeare County Raceway over the August Bank Holiday, is expected to be bigger still.

For more information on Super Modified, or for the latest copy of the rules, E-Mail rooster.ice@btinternet.com.

Bruiser in bits stuns Chrysler boss.
6th July: UK Super Comp racer Paul Marston is very pleased with the progress of the PT Bruiser after the modifications made prior to last weekend's Cannonball. Paul had been experiencing handling problems in the Bruiser earlier on this season but time spent in the MIRA wind tunnel recently, which led to the addition of a rear wing, appears to have done the trick although he now has to work on the launch.

"The Bruiser is spinning the tyres real bad off of the start line, so slowing down my reaction times - she makes me look asleep!" says Paul. "But I forgive her for that as the aero package we ran over the weekend works really well. The Bruiser is now the stable platform we need to go forward to our next stage of development. You can really feel the downforce kick in from the eighth."

The PMR team had a busy weekend which started with a gearbox change. "We had to refit our number two gearbox, as there was a small problem with number one, which we had fitted just prior to the event", says Paul. "It cost us valuable qualifying time, but without fitting it we would have never known until we needed it. Changing gearboxes is a cinch thanks to the way that Jon Webster at Hauser Race Cars built the car; nearly all of the floor is removable which makes the job really simple - if we had had to rush then I figure we could have it done within an hour."

The gearbox changed, the Bruiser got into serious race mode, clocking 8.73, qualifying fourth with an 8.98, and running 8.91 in eliminations in losing to Phil Bennett. "Full credit goes to the crew", says Paul. "Crew Chief Dave Kalisz and Steve Brennan worked particularly hard over the weekend and the credit for the 8.91 should go to them. Having to change the gearbox Saturday during qualifying meant we had very little data but they made it happen. We are still far from being competitive yet, there is some serious work needed in the rear end which is still running the baseline setting. Thanks to Phil Bennett for giving us a storming race, he was the better man on the day - two and a half feet better to be exact - but as I said before, here we come!"

An impressed onlooker at the weekend was the Managing Director of Chrysler Europe, who was reportedly amazed into how many parts a race car could be stripped down. "We hope to see him at the track again soon, as we have a litle surprise for him", says Paul. "Together with Chrysler UK I must thank my other sponsors Mac Tools, ATI Transmissions, Individual, and Red Line Oils - thanks guys."

Smax Power.
6th July: UK Fuel FC racer Smax Smith has announced that this Mainline Menace Achieva will be on display at the Max Power Show at the NEC this weekend, joining Barry Sheavills, Lex Joon and Tony Betts whose vehicles will also be appearing.

"The Menace will be in Hall 5 together with Robin Moore's Road Rage blown-alky Mustang and the Fuel Records set-up. We look forward to seeing all of the fans who supported us to our 5.74 last Sunday!", says Smax.

Cannonball reports.
6th July: Swiss TMFC racer Dezsoe Krivan is the latest racer to post a Cannonball report on the Web. Dezsoe's report is very informative and highly entertaining (thanks for the thanks, Dezsoe - Ed), the passing comment about the fillings in his teeth had us rolling on the floor. Check it out on the News page of Dezsoe's web site at www.dragracing.ch. Dezsoe promises some photographs shortly.

VWDRC points standings.
6th July: Post-Cannonball points standings in the UK's VWDRC Championships are now available on our 2001 Points Standings page, courtesy of VWDRC. Thanks to Spencer Tramm for passing them on.

Erin's RT shatters records.
5th July: Congratulations to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers and his wife Deborah on the birth of their daughter Erin, who arrived yesterday afternoon a mere fifteen days late (with those sort of Reaction Times, she'd better stick to Tech Crew - Ed). Erin weighed in at eight pounds and six ounces, prompting Andy to comment that "it wasn't a 'bloody great pie' in there after all!". Both Erin and Debs are fine, Andy is "shattered".

SPR offer Cannonball ticket credit.
5th July: Santa Pod Raceway are offering race fans a credit on tickets for a future race event after the Celebrity Race Challenge and Captain Gumball's bike jump didn't turn out as planned last weekend. We received the following statement from Santa Pod which is presented verbatim:

We would like to apologise to all of our spectators for the disappointment caused by a lack of the advertised celebrities on Saturday 30th June. The Celebrity Race Challenge along with the Captain Gumball motorcycle jump were elements of the event contracted to Maximillion Cooper of London based Gumball 3000 Ltd. A list of celebrity guests and racers was presented to Santa Pod Raceway prior to the event as an added attraction.

"The Celebrity Race Challenge was a great idea and created lots of interest with our fans", said a spokesperson for the venue.

"We were led to believe that all of these celebrities would attend the event right up to the week prior. As it became clear that this was not the case, we made several efforts to amend the advertising wherever we could including the internet, radio and signs outside the venue.

"Although the situation arose due to reasons beyond our control, we regret the fact that some of our visitors felt let down as we do. This must have been made worse by the bike jump also having to be cancelled although there were genuine reasons for this. The ramps used for the jump suffered damage to the wheels whilst being transported and repairs would have taken several hours."

As a gesture of goodwill, Santa Pod Raceway is to offer back the increase in ticket price over last year's event. This will be in the form of a ticket credit of £6. In order to claim your credit for a future event, return the tickets to Santa Pod Raceway for advance bookings or present your tickets at the gate when you next visit. The credit will be valid until 30th June 2002.

For the latest news from Santa Pod, check out their web site at www.santapod.com.

Get Cooperized online.
5th July: The UK's Team Cooperized drag bike team have launched a web site at www.cooperizedracing.com. The nicely-designed and fast-loading site features all of the bikes in the Cooperized operation from Ken Cooper's Pro Mod Bike to the Hirebusa, biographies of the team riders, photo gallery, race calendar, results and links. There is also a page featuring services on offer from Cooperized Race Products. Drag bike fans could do a lot worse than check this site out.

Cannonball reports.
5th July: Although not competing at the Cannonball, UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Andy Carter and his team found plenty to do at Santa Pod, and an account of is now available on the What's New page of the Carter Motorsport web site at www.andycarter.net. The Sponsorship Opportunities page has also been updated with details of Andy's plans for next year and how you can become involved.

The UK1320 web site has been updated with a report from the Cannonball. Webmaster Gareth Evans promises photographs very shortly. Check it out at www.uk1320.com.

Larsson's successful testing.
4th July: Swedish Pro Stock Bike racer Anders Larsson is happy with last weekend's test session on his Hayabusa, which took place at Mantorp Park.

"The plan was to sort out this year's new Kosman chassis", says Anders. "Mantorp is a rather tricky track, the grip is not the best, and after half-track it's uphill - on a Pro Stocker you'll lose approximately five to eight kilometres per hour.

"We had the repaired head on, which still hasn't been tuned on the dyno, and we ran a safe engine setup. In the first two days we broke two gearboxes, so we were quite busy on Friday and Saturday night fixing it. On Sunday, everything worked out fine and we made three passes: steady 7.70 runs with 1.18 60-foot times. We had fairly good grip on the first gear, then spun the tire in second and third, and got the grip back in fourth and fifth. It looks promising, and with better track preparation and a full race setup it will hopefully go even faster.

"We are scheduled on the dyno next week, and on the weekend before the FIM/UEM Event at Mantorp we are off to Mora for a final test and tune."

Mellan Svenska Streetrace Cupen.
4th July: ntligen

Efter mnga turer s fick vi klart fr att kra vr streetracetvling uppe p Idre flygplats den 14 juli. In i det sista var vi oskra men kan nu meddela er att tvlinge blir av och ni r alla varmt vlko'mna upp som tvlande eller publik.

Du som kommer upp fr att titta fr din entr betald av Fliesbergs och Sderbyn i idre. Det r med andra ord fritt intrde den 14 juli fr publiken.

Peter Norling (mssr@telia.com) 0730 437 307

Cannonball stats, timing data.
4th July: We are indebted to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers for sending us the usual post-race statistical breakdown from Santa Pod, this time from the Cannonball:
  • 677 blue lights (track clear and tower ready - Ed)
  • 544 pairs
  • 133 singles
  • 1221 vehicles entered into system
  • 1169 made it to the finish line, including 62 Junior Dragsters to the eighth
  • 1107 made it to the end of the quarter mile
  • Average ET (not including Junior Dragsters) 10.613 seconds
  • Average Terminal Speed (not including Junior Dragsters) - 130.66
  • Lowest ET 5.339, John Spuffard
  • Highest Terminal Speed 275.28, John Spuffard
  • Closest Race - Robert Doyle v David Ward (Pro ET) 0.003 secs approx 3.12 inches
  • Total run time (all cars that reached finish line including Junior Dragsters) 3 hours 29 minutes 42.474 seconds
Andy has also very kindly sent us the timing data from the Cannonball, which you can view by clicking here, or by following the Timing Data link on the left hand side of any Eurodragster page.

Splitfire TMFC at Max Power.
4th July: Dutch TMFC racer Lex Joon is the latest drag racer to announce that his vehicle will be on display at this weekend's Max Power show at the NEC in Birmingham. Lex's Camaro can be found at the stand of his primary sponsor Splitfire.

Deuchar's Cannonball.
4th July: UK Top Methanol Dragster racer Lyndsay Deuchar is the latest to post a Cannonball report on a personal web site. Lyndsay was overjoyed with his weekend, not least since the car didn't suffer any damage. Check out Lyndsay's account on the LA Racer web site at www.laracing.co.uk.

Web site updates.
4th July: Our good buddies at Svensk Dragracing have updated their web site with some great photographs from last weekend's Aros Nats. Check it out at www.dragracing.se.

Last weekend's race at Eco Raceway in Wittstock was the second round of the German Super Street Bike Championship. You can find qualifying and elimination results plus points standings on the Cleber Turbo Team Berlin web site at www.dragbike.de - click on the Rennplatz button.

Brian Fawcus has started to update his fan site with video clips from the Cannonball. The first clips feature Smax Smith's Fuel FC, Steve Woollatt's Top Fuel Bike, and Martin Hill's Fireforce 2 Jet Funny Car. Check it out at drag.fawcus.com/movies2001.

Busy time for Lantz.
3rd July: Peter Lantz, Swedish Top Fuel racer Tommy Möller's team manager, was very happy with his weekend spent overseeing the Lorentzon and Möller operation at Wittstock, where they won the first round of this year's Swedish Top Fuel Tour with Tommy's new Lantz-built dragster.

"We've taken up where we left off last season", said Peter. "Tommy and Kenneth are very pleased with the car. Tommy ran 5.20 on an 800-foot pass in the final round. We're all looking forward to the next round at Piteå, where we'll try to run better numbers."

Peter was impressed with the track at Eco Raceway. "The track has great potential", he said. "We didn't have a lot of time to prepare it. We got some good times and speeds but it can be a lot faster, no problem. We were taking power out because we wanted to get down the track. But next year we'll have more time to prepare the surface."

Peter has a busy week ahead of him when he gets home, as Monica Öberg's Top Fuel Dragster is on its way to his workshop for repairs. "Monica's chassis broke", said Peter. "The top two tubes above the rear end broke off the start line. Monica felt it and got off the throttle - luckily it didn't happen further down the track or there would have been a terrible accident. So we have to build a new rear end - there go my holidays!"

Less than twelve months after retiring from driving, Peter is a car owner again. "My son Robin raced in Junior Dragster at Wittstock and came third", he said. "We borrowed the Hagglunds' Junior Stock Dragster, but now I have bought it!"

Kågered's account.
3rd July: Fellow Swedish Top Fuel Tour racer Micke Kågered came third in his first TFT event. A full account of his weekend at Wittstock, including pictures, is available on the Kagered Racing web site at www.kagered-racing.com.

Smax over the moon.
3rd July: UK Fuel FC racer Smax Smith is over the moon with his 5.74/265 pass, which smashed his personal best out of sight, at the Cannonball on Sunday, and he is very grateful to his crew and sponsors for getting him there.

"I want to say a humungous thanks to Fuel Records along with my sponsors Champion, Teng Tools and James Lister Hoses for our first (of many) five second pass", says Smax. "James Lister Hoses gave me special help by making special new oil lines after the hose failure on press day. They made them up and got them down to me in a day - cheers guys. Their excellent products are on our car as well as the Mercedes McLaren Formula One!"

"Of course I want to thank the team without whom this stuff doesn't exist! Combining the efforts of Mad Mark Needham of the Chain Reaction blown alky altered and Robin Moore of Bad Attitude Racing's 'Road Rage' blown alky Mustang; Rob Lim; with Shaz Harding, young Rick Davey Urquart, Steve Stringfellow, Andy Short and Awdey who pitched in - we have a fine team shaping up. And a big thanks to all the fans who stayed with me when we were on fire or out of shape. We love you!"

"Big thanks to Al Jackson, top tuner whose talents were instrumental to our first five-second pass - Al came to Preston to help me sort the car then came to Press Day only to see me fight to keep the car off the barrier when an oil line exploded! Also big thanks to John Wright - chin stroker!"

Smax tells us that he knew that the car was on a charge. "When I buried the throttle and left on Spuff I discovered that the butterflies weren't fully open but I knew I'd run a five as I was catching Spuff at the top end! When the crew said 5.74/265 we were ecstatic as it's finally come together - this is only our first full run so we have now collected crucial data to chase Spuff's excellent new record of 5.33 - well done guys!"

Smax is on the lookout for more sponsorship, any interested parties can contact him via his web site at www.smax.co.uk, where you can also find the latest news from the team.

Showtime add speed record.
3rd July: Courtesy of Andy Marrs of TSI Timers we hear that not only did the Cannonball-winning Showtime Fuel FC team set a new European best ET of 5.339 at the weekend, but that Spuff ran and backed up a new European best speed of 259.12 mph. Spuff's 275 mph clocking in the final round was not backed up, but under the rule where a faster speed backs up a lower speed it covered all of Spuff's other terminals during the race.

The Showtime web site at www.showtimeracing.co.uk has now been updated with an illustrated report of their highly successful weekend at Santa Pod Raceway. The report by crew member Chris Dossett is very detailed and makes great reading, as usual giving fans a great insight into the workings of a Fuel FC team.

Fuel FC on display at Max Power.
3rd July: On the subject of Fuel FCs, Tony Betts' Jungle.com, Teng Tools, GTA Oils and Toxico-sponsored Funny Car will be joining Barry Sheavills' Top Fuel Dragster on display at the Max Power Show at Birmingham this weekend. "We appeared there last year and have been asked back", says Tony Betts. "If anyone is interested in advertising on the car, please contact me on 01268 680105."

MSA Top Methanol Championship clarified.
3rd July: If you were with us yesterday you may have read our first edition, which said that Turner Racing had clinched this year's MSA British Top Methanol Championship. This has turned out not to be the case just yet; Championship co-ordinator Dave Alexander has double-checked the numbers and has very kindly written with an analysis of the possible outcomes.

"After clinching yet another round win at the weekend in the Netcall Telecom sponsored TMD, Rob Turner looks set to win his fifth consecutive and sixth overall MSA British Drag Racing Championship title. Round three of the Championship saw Turner defeat Lindsay Deuchar in the final. Technical trouble for main rival Dave Wilson of the American Car Imports/Air Sea Logistics/Playstation 2-sponsored Nemesis TMD meant he didn't score enough points to stay in close contention.

"Mathematically it is possible for Rob to lose - if he doesn't turn up and Dave Wilson sets a new British Record while winning the meeting and qualifying number one. Rob only has to qualify and get a green light in the first round of eliminations to put the title beyond doubt.

"The race for second place is much more interesting, with Doug Bond only two points behind Dave Wilson."

The post-Cannonball points standings in the MSA British Top Methanol Championship are now available on the European Top Methanol Racers Association web site at www.etmra.com.

Spuff's Cannonball, Turner Championship near.
2nd July: John Spuffard won this year's Cannonball at Santa Pod Raceway, in a very successful weekend for the Showtime team which saw them dominate the Fuel FC field from start to finish, setting a new European best ET of 5.339. Holland's Lex Joon won the TMFC element of the Cannonball, getting back into the fives and putting up a good showing against Spuff in the Cannonball final. Gordon Smith and Smax Smith set new personal bests during Fuel FC eliminations in what was a superb weekend's FC action.

MSA Top Methanol saw one of the closest races of this or any season as Rob Turner and Dave Wilson duked it out in a first-round race which saw a 0.002 difference at the start line extended to a 0.004 difference at the finish line, both racers running 5.85 but Rob just edging it. The Turners' win in Top Methanol all but assures them the 2001 MSA Top Methanol Championship, Rob merely having to qualify and then take a green light in eliminations at Super Series 4 in August.

Custom Car Street Eliminator was a race of thrills and spills as the class welcomed its third 8 second runner as Jeff Meads continued the form showed at Super Series 3 as he recorded a 9.000 before cracking off a string of 8 second runs, including the classes first side by side 8 second runs as Jeff ran next to Steve Pateman in qualifying. Unfortunately it wasn't all good news as Ian Hook had a nasty top end incident when a transmission hose exploded and dumped fluid under the left rear tyre at 130mph, sending the FB Racing 34 Coupe into the wall. Thankfully Ian exited the badly damaged car with no injuries.

On Saturday, Tim Adam and Barry Sheavills both showed Matthew Mortlock in the Tyrrell F1 a clean pair of wheels. Barry took his win in spectacular fashion as his tyres went up in smoke but he still got there first, whilst Tim - with his roadster in Super Comp trim - backed out of the throttle long before the finish line but still cleaned the clock of the F1 car.

On two wheels, Ian King extended his lead in the ACU UK Top Fuel Bike Championship with a solo in the final after Brian Johnson was unable to start his bike. Nick Pepper returned to Pro Stock Bike and immediately ran into the sevens, whilst Super Street Bike saw a return to the Clark/Dance duel with a 0.01 difference in ETs going in to the final which was then repeated, in Tony Clark's favour.

You can find out about these and much more, and see pictures of the weekend's action, by checking out our race coverage, which you can view by clicking here, or on the 2001 Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page.

Our good friends Gary and Phil Cottingham have also posted end-day reports and pictures on their Dragster World web site at www.dragsterworld.com.

Aros Nats results.
2nd July: Our good buddies at Svensk Dragracing have updated their web site with a report and full results of the weekend's Aros Nats at Västerås, which was the latest round of the Nordic Drag Racing Series. Check it out at www.dragracing.se.

Möller wins first TFT round.
2nd July: Tommy Möller took the win in the first round of this year's Swedish Top Fuel Tour, which took place at the Motorsport Against Racism Festival at Eco Raceway in Germany. You can find qualifying and elimination results on the European Drag Racing Database at www.eurodrag.com.

Earlier news


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