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Carter announces retirement.
31st August: UK Top Fuel Dragster racer, multiple FIA European Champion and European record
holder Andy Carter has announced that next week's FIA
European Finals will be his last drag race. After forty years in motorsport, including thirty years in drag racing,
the King of Europe will be directing all of his energies towards the successful karting career of son Albert.
"I started at eleven years old helping a local banger racer named Ken Knight who lived at the top of our road", says Andy. "They were great times for me helping strip out the old P4 Rovers, Mk 2 Jags, Vanden Plas and A60s, getting them prepared for the racing and then loading them up to go to a track somewhere. I learnt a lot from Ken; at fifteen years old I built my first National Hot Rod and competed in my first race at Bovingdon Raceway at just sixteen. "Since those first days I have spent most days thinking about winning, motorsport, and how I could go forward. "The last two years have got even busier with Albert karting at least thirty three weekends of the year, and I could feel in my heart that I was getting distracted and my focus was being pulled. I have to do one or the other and I have decided I want to put one hundred per cent effort into giving Albert the opportunity to make it as a top level racing driver. I need to give him my full focus in training, preparing equipment, and getting him the budget to compete at the top level. "I'm very proud of my career in drag racing and for seven years I have been lucky enough to have been a professional drag racer in the true sense of the word, which I feel is in itself an achievement. "I would like to say Thank You to everyone who has helped, who has been involved and who has stood by me in my racing career over the years, but there are far too many people and companies to list here. So I will just say from the bottom of my heart thanks for helping and for being there. It's been hard work and one hell of a ride. That ride will carry on but now in the form of that little battler Albert Carter." Post-Finals party update. 31st August: Santa Pod Raceway and Speedgroup will jointly be holding a Trophy Presentation and End of Season party after the FIA European Finals on Sunday 11th September, from 9:00 pm until 1:00 am. It is open to teams and officials with any connection to the Championship and as last year will be held in SPR's VIP marquee next to the pairing lanes. Further to feedback from the party in 2010 there will be lots of food along with entertainment. The bar opens before 9:00 pm for anyone wishing to mingle and the awards presentations starts when dinner is concluded. The party goes on with entertainment, bar hanging opportunities and dancing until 1:00 am. A fun and relaxing end to the Championship season which we hope you can join! The Speedgroup Championship Awards will be presented to the top three winners in all FIA and UEM Championship categories at the party. In addition UEM representatives will also bring the official UEM awards. The official FIA trophies will not be delivered on site; stay tuned for more information about that as Speedgroup are awaiting instructions from the FIA. Tickets can be bought from The Pod Shop throughout the FIA European Finals for just £15 per person which includes a free drink on arrival. To reserve your tickets please E-Mail asa.kinnemar@speedgroup.eu by September 5th stating team and class, number of persons, and contact name and mobile phone number. After that all ticket sales and reservations will be handled by the Pod Shop where you can pay for and collect pre-ordered tickets. Anyone wishing to attend just to receive their award without partaking of food and drink or carousing can of course do so at no cost. On the subject of Speedgroup, their latest newsletter is now showing at club.speedgroup.eu/newsletters/2011/edition13_2011/edition13_start.htm. Decals for Persson. 
31st August: Jarmo Pulkkinen says that he has produced a decal in memory of late Top Fuel Dragster racer
Kent Persson which will be available at next week's FIA European Finals:
Kent was one of a kind and there aren't many of them left anymore like him in drag racing. When on tour with him he always wanted to share the money he made with his crew. This goes to show you the generous person he was and why he was so well liked. Most of the time nobody took him up on it and the money went to buy parts for the next race. He will truly be missed by many of us who had known him for a long time. He raced in USA and Europe where he had most of his success early on. First in the Fours in Europe and many other Championships and drag racing achievements. What he left us with was many fond racing memories which will never be forgotten. I have had a decal in memory of Kent printed and it will be available at the Finals. This way he will still be remembered as the Champ he was. Anita Mäkeläa, Peter Svensson and Per Bengtsson will bring them to Santa Pod Raceway. Rainer Zahn writes: I clearly remember that day when Kent wrote speed history in Europe. Sitting on his yellow Top Fuel Dragster he was rolling back to the paddock in Hockenheim after that special run and nearly everybody in the pit lane gave him applause. RIP Kent! Brian Taylor says that he remembers commentating on Kent in Top Fuel many times. "A real nice guy and a key player in spreading the word across Europe", he says. Krister Johansson writes "En god kompis hart gott bort, saknar dig. Villa i frid." Christer Abrahamson has many good memories of Kent. "I will never forget when Kent stepped into Anders Lantz' Pro Comp Funny Car in France in the 1980s", says Christer. "Anders got very ill and the Funny Car had to run to get the money from Citroen who was the sponsor/buyer. I was in the team and we had a rather bad situation, with the car/team owner in hospital, and still had to get the car running. Kent was at Paul Ricard track as a mechanic for another team, but had his helmet and driving suit ready in his bag. He saved a very,very complicated situation with a smile! And that is just one of all the good memories. A true legend and a hero!" The latest from Malta. 
31st August: Jason Camilleri of the Malta Drag Racing
Association writes to thank all those who helped to make the weekend's Night Event at Hal-Far Raceway so successful:
Special thanks go to Lee Child from the UK for the professional track preparation. You gave us a very fast track indeed! Lee was sponsored by Auto Paints Ltd, the local suppliers of VP Racing Fuels and car paint products in Malta. Big thanks also go to Jesmond Mallia who scraped the track for us so that we could have a fresh start with the new treatment. Almost every competitor had new bests this weekend so a big well done to all. They surely enjoyed it! The Island of Malta is to be represented by no less than five teams at next week's FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway. Monty Bugeja and Oliver Azzopardi will be flying the flag in Top Methanol Dragster and Simon Giordmaina on Super Street Bike, whilst Tommy Agius will be driving the record-setting 10.1-second Maksar truck in exhibition. Elsewhere at Santa Pod Mark Galea, Christian Bezzina and Clint Abela of the Maximum Lock drifting display team will be strutting their stuff. No less than three hundred Maltese fans will be attending the FIA European Finals as well as officials of the Malta Motorsport Federation, to whom the MDRA have recently become affiliated. You can find out more at www.sportinmalta.com. Swift snippets. 31st August: The penultimate chance for pre-FIA European Finals testing takes place at Santa Pod Raceway this weekend with a Run What You Brung on Saturday and Peak Performance Day on Sunday (3rd and 4th September). Advance entry for Sunday's PPD is now closed but entry is available on the day. Saturday's RWYB is open to all comers and the weekend also features VW Action with an evening session for VWs on Saturday and off-track attractions. More information about testing at www.rwyb.co.uk or call 01234 782828 (outside the UK +44 1234 782828) and about VW Action at www.vwaction.com. The final chance for pre-FIA European Finals testing is the Pro Peak Performance Day at Santa Pod Raceway next Wednesday (7th). Entry is open to racers in any class who are entered for the FIA European Finals. Pre-entry is open until close of business on Tuesday 6th and also on the day. Again more details are available at www.rwyb.co.uk or call 01234 782828 (outside the UK +44 1234 782828). Malmö Raceway is holding its Winternationals on 9th-11th September featuring the finals of the Scandinavian Dragracing Series including a large entry of Top Doorslammers. "Last time the Series was at our track we has a new track record of 3.944 and we hope to go quicker this time", says Mikael Angelin. "Just to make things a little more exciting SRIF has posted an award of 10,000 SEK to the first driver in any SDS class to record a 3.8 at this event. For more information pleas visit our web site at www.malmoraceway.se and to enter visit www.s-d-a.se and then Registration. If you have any questions then please feel free to E-Mail us at info@srif.se." German Pro Modified racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Marco Maurischat says that if anybody is looking for a company offering very good crankshaft repair then Mile High Crankshafts of Denver. "After we kicked two rods at the Sweden Internationals at Tierp, we had a really bad-looking Briant crank with a big rod journal hole in it", says Marco. "Andy Robinson gave me the contact details for Dave Olsen at Mile High Crank to ask if a repair was possible. After a short conversation with Dave I decided to send the crank over. The crank than was magnafluxed, welded, straightened, nitrided, induction hardened and polished. Dave offered us a very fast turn-round time and a great price. After we got the crank back it looked like a new one. Now, after some runs on it, bearings and journals are still looking perfect. Mile High offers crank repairs from Top Fuel to street cars. For more information go to www.milehighcranks.com or call Dave Olsen on +1 303 781 6764." Not much of an update on Monday for obvious reasons and your News Editor's day job only allowed a brief update late yesterday so today we finally get the chance to wish a belated Happy Birthday for Monday to UK Pro Modified racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Graham Ellis. Hope you had a great day Graham and we'll see you at the weekend. The salutary tale of 682013. 
31st August: Perry Antoniou writes with a warning for the drag racing community:
I've been doing this drag racing lark since 1991 and have raced in other more conventional competition classes since 1987. I have crewed, I have raced my own cars, and now Tim Garlick and I are building a Classic Nitro Funny Car with help and guidance from ICE Automotive. I even had a shop in Athens selling and fitting nitrous kits for many years in the 1990s. Most recently I was made Chairman of the Lotus Owners club. So it's fair to say that I consider myself intelligent and knowledgeable and to have a high understanding of all things automotive and motorsport. I needed two MSD 6ALs - the 'bread and butter' units - for reasons I don't need to go into. I did not want the new model, I wanted the older one they have been selling for years. I rang around and I could not find any left in stock with anyone. But one supplier suggested I just grab a couple off EBay to get my job done. I am a seasoned EBayer, buying and selling, and had a good look into the auction and did my usual suspicious read between the lines before I hit the button. Or so I thought... The auction stated that the units would come from CA, USA. But two days later they arrived from Hong Kong. Now, we all know, things from CA take between five and seven days to arrive and then we get the privilege of paying duty and VAT. Not this time. The package from Hong Kong has a US$40 customs declaration making it exempt, even though I had paid US$400 for the two units. I opened the box, they smelt of factory oil. Everyone reading this will know that when you open a box from MSD it smells like a new TV or new Hi-Fi. The instructions, the fitting kit, the stickers, the wires, clips, box and everything were all present and correct. Just the feel of the box and the smell did not seem right. I grabbed my drill and took out the sealing rivets, and inside was a pile of junk. Nothing like the real MSD 6AL. This junk was clearly from China and was counterfeit. Then the funniest thing of all; see the picture. How many Eurodragster.com readers can see what I am talking about? So this is a warning to drag racers. Stick to our regular suppliers. Buy from reputable dealers and re-sellers. Don't think because you're saving a few bucks you're getting a deal. It's more than likely counterfeit and substandard. EBay does have some benefits, but its of no benefit if your looking for race parts. Don't give in to cheap Far Eastern imports; China is on a mission to destroy the business economy of the Western world – read the news, look at the state of our industries. Do not buy cheap Chinese rubbish! I made an error of judgement due to the need for speediness. But I don't want any fellow drag racers getting injured, killed or losing their money because they inadvertently bought some counterfeit junk from China. You would not want to buy your parachute from EBay would you? I never thought that something like the MSD 6AL would be copied by fakers in the Far East! How many of you have the serial number 682013? On board with the RePlay XD. 31st August: Eurodragster.com sponsor DJ Safety Europe have taken a number of videos on board Dezsoe Krivan's Top Methanol Funny Car to demonstrate the quality of the RePlay XD Action Camera. Steve Wilson writes that the Krivan Drag Racing Movie Division are pleased to bring you the most thrilling rides of your life filmed in 2D live action: Drivers, have you ever wondered what is going on millimetres from your bottom? Then watch the rear wheel action at www.youtube.com/watch?v=unkEys2Mjkk or what's going on at the drive shaft at www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3T5yn848MM. How about what your front wheel goes through at www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO60MLgHF-A or take a ride on the wheelie bars of our TMFC at www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRjfEHdua3g - Dez says never put the brakes on if you want to win a race. Or jump into Dez's office to see him at work at www.youtube.com/watch?v=gC3Jes_F4T4 and www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dem1KFPQFTs. If you're impressed with these movies - or "Fillums" if you are from Newcastle - or if you want to check out certain mechanical areas of your race car then install the RePlay XD Action Camera to monitor your performance from a different perspective. More details at www.djsafety.eu. Eliminator decides the titles. 31st August: As this year's FIA European Finals approach there are several Championships up for grabs, but who will win them? Many scenarios could come into play and you can see them all played out with a quick hand of the Eliminator card game, writes Ian Hart: Urs Erbacher and Anita Mäkelä can both win Top Fuel, but will they qualify number one, and win through? Both drivers are in the Eliminator game. What happens if Al O'Connor drives Timo Habermann's car, against Michael Gullqvist in Danny Bellio's funny car? I can tell you what happened here today when that exact pairing came up. Al got a perfect light against Michael's pretty average one, but the holeshot was not enough, and Michael drove round him for the win. Of course it never happened for real, but that is the joy of Eliminator. All those armchair racing "What if" questions can be answered. To find out for yourself, and to get hold of a truly entertaining and addicitve game, just drop into the Pod Shop and ask them for a pack of Eliminator. The £5 you spend will put at least £2.50 into a fund for racer repairs, and you will have a cool game. Everybody wins. Web site updates. 31st August: The Netherlands' Autosport.nl web site is now showing two AutoMotoShow3 reports by our good buddy Remco Scheelings. The first report and pictures covers what little on-track action took place and can be checked out by clicking here and the second covers other aspects of the event and can can be checked out by clicking here. 
Chris Eyre attended the Open Sport Nationals and enjoyed a great day's racing with a wide variety of vehicles in attendance, and despite freezing his hands off at the top of the
grandstand he has thawed out enough to update his photo site at www.eurodragpics.com with pictures from
Monday's action.
Dave Derry's trophy presentation pictures from the weekend's Open Sport Nationals can be checked out on APIRA's Facebook page by clicking here. Alan Currans has updated his excellent Acceleration Archive with pictures from the Open Sport Nationals. You can take a look at Alan's pictures via the What's New link at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk; Alan says to keep an eye out for the Super Street Bike with both wheels off the ground (Have a wild stab in the dark - Ed). Paul Lister has updated his DragCarAnon web site with pictures from the Ipswich NASC Street Rod Nats. You can check out Paul's pictures at www.dragcaranon.co.uk. Jayne Kay has compiled footage from York Raceway and posted a tribute to Kasey Dixon-Grainger on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/Jaynex14x1993. Jayne has also updated her web site at www.jaynekay.com with pictures of the Hot Rods which attended the weekend's NSRA event at York. All pictures are available for sale to help to finance the Pink Lady Racing Funny Car. Kasey Dixon-Grainger. 
29th August: We were shocked and very sorry to hear of the death of National Street Car Challenge
racer Kasey Dixon-Grainger, popularly known as KC, who died aged 23 in a top end accident at York Raceway
yesterday (Sunday).
We never had the privilege of meeting KC in person but those who knew him, including race officials here at Shakespeare County Raceway, speak of him being a really nice guy who loved his racing and who would help anyone if he was able. KC came from a close-knit racing family and to his family, and to all of KC's friends, we offer our deepest sympathies. A minute's silence is to be held for KC at Shakespeare County Raceway today. Open Sport Nationals results. 29th August: Congratulations to the winners of the weekend's Open Sport Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway: Super Pro ET: Bob Doyle (8.74) 8.834/152.43 def. Barry Giles (7.62) 7.618/171.30 Pro ET: Rick McCann (10.13) 10.179/129.77 def. Tig Napier (9.60) 9.614/141.14 red Sportsman ET: Nicole Parker (13.10) 13.136/96.12 def. Sarah Styles (13.25) 13.137/102.33 b/o Super Comp: Dave Raper 8.882/151.02 b/o def. Brian Pateman 8.876/156.77 b/o Super Gas: Brian Pateman 9.884/144.19 b/o def. Rich Davis 9.876/134.86 b/o Super Street: Leigh Morris 11.039/107.23 def. John Grant 11.343/143.78 Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator: Brian Payne 8.397/171.39 def. Ian Hook 8.385/167.18 Junior Dragster: Zak Johnson (7.96) 7.988/81.82 def. Laura Turburville (8.15) 8.167/81.08 Outlaw Anglia: Colin Millar 7.890/169.33 def. Cliff Griffin 8.302/167.85 Wild Bunch: Terry Clifford (10.35) 10.382/126.60 def. Pete Yates (9.33) 9.342/143.33 VW Pro: Phil Norman (12.10) 12.284/108.30 def. Paul Herbert (11.75) 12.830/92.61 VW Sportsman: James London (19.09) 19.051/72.77 b/o def. Holly Baldwin (15.10) 15.055/85.73 b/o Outlaw Flat Four: James Wotton 10.571/134.22 bye, Phil West broke Super Street Bike: Steve Venables 7.394/192.84 def. Graham Balchin 7.474/196.43 Comp Bike: Stu Crane staged (bye), Mike Chislett no show 8.50 Bike: Pete Austin 9.136/136.10 def. Phil Bloomfield 10.637/97.21 red 9.50 Bike: Andy Burfitt 9.529/149.79 def. Fred Furlong 9.381/145.56 Supertwin Gas: Dave Smart 9.216/147.32 def. Joe Elliott 9.340/143.68 Supertwin ET: Dave Shorthose (10.70) 10.886/118.38 def. Ian Felstead (12.11) 12.308/118.32 Junior Drag Bike: Conor Meehan (10.65) 10.902/58.90 def. Josh Webb (9.70) 9.901/65.50 Congratulations also to Junior Dragster racer Rachel Giles and to Pro ET racer Carla Pittau who won the Eurodragster.com/Cotsweld Race Cars Perfect Light Award and the Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET Award respectively. Both Awards have been reset to £100 for the FIA European Finals. It was a difficult weekend at Shakespeare County Raceway with frequent stops for rain, an underwater drag strip more than once, and the local authority stopping qualifying on Sunday but the track crew never stopped working and it all came together today with a titanic co-operative effort by the APIRA race officials and racers with all eliminations completed at 15:15. You can check our Alamo Rent A Car-sponsored Open Sport Nationals coverage by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. AutoMotoShow3 webcast. 28th August: This weekend's AutoMotoShow 3 at Drachten Airfield will be webcast live by our streaming service provider Doyousee.me. Maikel Gloudemans tells us that the plan is to stream in 720p definition which is a lot of the way towards full HD. You can access the AutoMotoShow 3 webcast at www.doyousee.me/explosion. 
Making its début at this weekend's race is the new the Eurol- and Doyousee.me-backed Junior Funny Car belonging to Ivana van den Berg and Rene van den Berg's new Top Fuel Bike. The new vehicles are on display in the Eurol Hospitality village where Doyousee.me will also be screening on-track footage. Corr's tribute to Persson. 27th August: Top Fuel tuner Eddie Corr, who was on the Peter Lantz Racing team when Kent Persson ran Europe's first four-second pass at the 1997 NitrOlympX, has been in touch with a tribute to Kent: It was sad news indeed to hear that Kent Persson had passed away after a battle with cancer. My mind ran back immediately to the 1997 season and doing some races with Peter Lantz's team, which at the time featured Kent as the driver. It was a fabulous summer and the whole ambience of the team was enhanced by the calm nature of Kent. He just worked away quietly and efficiently getting the clutch done in between the actual runs. Oh yeah, real men can do the clutch as well as the driving! These kind of guys were to be found at the top of the NHRA some years ago, but that era and the men from it are now gone from the sport. In fact when I first met Kent I didn't even know he was the driver, such was his casual way. But after a few days of car prep at the workshop it came out in conversation that he was (!), but certainly there was no pretence about the man. And when at the track he was usually finished before the rest of us and sitting relaxing with a coffee and a cigarette! Driving-wise, Kent was a fine driver, and surely the 4.98 in August 1997 was a great moment, being the first four-second run in Europe. He said afterwards that he knew for certain he was on it during that run, bear in mind it was also almost 300 mph. He said the sensation was one of the car 'running away' from his hands, it was pulling so hard in the second eighth. The checkout run before it had all the right numbers so it was no surprise, a great team effort. It is really a clich&ecaute; to say this, but it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. It may seem a cliché but it is entirely true, Kent was one of those guys who always went out of his way to say Hello to you, no matter where you were. He always took time to come and say Hello even if he was spectating and you were working. That team spirit in 1997 extended to us all having some really good nights in Borås and Gothenburg. Great times. Kent was one of the nice, straight guys, from a different era really, and he'll be sadly missed. Bayer goes 10.5. 
27th August: Germany's Konrad Bayer of Krümel Racing and Malmö Motor Renovation have agreed on a closer
relationship and co-operation for 2012.
"The new business plans of MMR and Flamholc Racing in Malmö are a great opportunity for our team and all of their partners", says Konrad. "So we closed a deal at the NitrOlympX and bought the 10.5 Outlaw Ford Mustang from MMR as our new ride for 2012. My first drive will be this weekend at AutoMotoShow3 at Drachten. We are also looking into the possibility of running at the 2011 Winternationals in Malmö, before we close the season here in Europe. "We plan to race the car in Sweden and want to compete in the NDRS 10.5 class next season. The car will remain at MMR in Malmö which will be our base for the races in the Nordic counties. Our whole Sweden tour in 2012 will be a part of the MMR Road Show and Trackside Service which is currently undergoing detailed planning by Adam and his company. This service will include parts, fuel, oil, Nitrous, all kinds of consumables, machine work and racer service of all variety. A pick up and delivery service of parts, engines, transmission or a whole car will be possible. There is also a good chance for racers and fans to see us all at Drachten Airfield, where this tour will be extended for all three races in 2012. This of course depends on our customers' requirements. "We are all excited about this move and we are looking forward to next season. Our goal is to have a lot of fun but also to learn a lot about the new car and about drag racing in a heads-up class, and we hope to obtain as much tips and tricks as we can, to be successful. Courtesy of MMR we have posted some pictures of the car on our Facebook racing page. "We hope for good racing weather at Drachten this weekend and looking forward to meeting everyone at the track. Feel free to stop by." Lund goes 16K. 27th August: Danish Super Street Bike Champion Mogens Lund is gearing up for the long drive to the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway in a couple of weeks' time. Mogens got in touch to tell us about his well-travelled season so far: 
I started drag racing in 2003 in Street Bike, then up to Super Gas Bike on a 9.50 index then Super Comp Bike on an 8.80 index, and now Super Street Bike.
At Hockenheim in August 2010 I got this bike with a good basic set-up from Rick Stubbins at Protek Racing. I went to four events with a PB of 7.71 at the
Extreme Performance Bike Weekend. Over the winter I put in a new frame for more clearance and a new Hays clutch. I had been using an MTC multi-stage
so I had tp make some changes to the way I ride the bike.
We started this year with the 1786 km drive to Hungary after a single test day in Denmark. Everything went well and we were second qualifier after Dave "The Bounty Hunter" Smith. We were burning clutch plates, though, and losing boost till we found water in the boost sensor. In the semi-finals Graham Dance was our opponent, and with his long years in the sport and our clutch problems he took the win. But third place is not bad and we were very pleased. Back in Denmark we waited for the Main Event, no races in between, and then we once again we took the 1250 km drive to Europe's main track. We got nine qualifying runs but I only managed sixteenth place, still with clutch problems. But we learned a lot and took many experiences back to Denmark after the rest of the event got hit by rain. Back in the workshop I decided to go through it all once again and put in an order for an AMS 1000 boost controller. It took four test sessions at Malmö Raceway to get it right, 700 km each time, but we made it in the end. Meca is the closest thing to home, as we still don't have a track in Denmark, but we are working on it at Korskro Raceway. In this period I also managed to become 2011 Danish Super Street Bike Champion, but as SSB needs well-prepped tracks we held two of our six events at Meca. The NitrOlympX in Hockenheim Germany was the next race, 860 km from home. We were in a pit garage with Team Joker - Thomas and Peter from Germany - Simon Giordmaina from Malta and Rhiannon Bellenie, Steve Woods and Rick Stubbins from England, so a good international mix. Due to weather problems we only got two qualifying runs but an 8.04 got us in eighth spot. On Sunday morning we won in the first round of eliminations (right) and for the third time had to race against Rick Stubbins, but once again rain and the Hockenheim curfew made it impossible for us to race, so we agreed that we would have that race at the European Finals. We travel about 16,000 km or about 10,000 miles in a season to go racing, but we like racing so it is just part of the game. In September we are hoping to get the official word that SSB can go into the UEM European Championships next year, so we need to be prepared. That is what this year has been all about for us. This year has been tough for us with changes on the bike and a lack of funds, but we got through. I would like to say thanks to my sponsors Sunoco Denmark and Aquagain, my mechanic Torsten Riese for taking the time to go on the tour with me this year, and everyone else who made it possible. Winston hitches up. 
27th August: For many years a stalwart of Santa Pod Raceway's Run What You Brung meetings, Chelsea Cruises, custom car gatherings, etc.
Winston Sewell was formally hitched to his longtime partner Sharon last Saturday at St Margaret's Church, High Halstow, near Rochester, Kent. Andy Willsheer writes:
Attended by more than two hundred guests, the wedding ceremony was followed by a reception in the local village hall. Many fellow drag racers and hot rodders were among the assembled throng of family and friends, the latter including John 'Doc' Claydon, whose friendship goes back more than four decades. Flying in especially for the occasion from his home in Western Australia, the genial Doc who, incidentally, was proprietor of Intensive Care Car Repair in Erith before upping sticks and emigrating Down Under, is now showing the Aussies how to build rods limey style. John Price, best known for his baritone Tannoy comments at the Pod for decades, went along to the nuptials and kindly supplied the pics and info for this news piece, including an entertaining tale about how Winston and Doc were almost involved in an altercation during their club dancing days of the Seventies, when some locals jealous of their flamboyant style decided to sort them out. Winston's Bruce Lee-style forward somersault when confronting the assailants was seemingly quite sufficient to change the local lads' intentions of any assault, thereafter garnering the indomitable duo more than a modicum of respect! 
The post-wedding evening went off well by all accounts, as did Winston burning rubber in the infamous red Rover P5 V8-powered coupe that he's owned forever and which was, of course, employed to take bride and groom from church to the nearby reception. Old habits die hard, I guess. Web site updates. 27th August: Video coverage of the NitrOlympX at Hockenheim is now available on the Speedgroup web site at www.speedgroup.eu. Click on the Web TV link to check out the coverage. MTC's Banshee ATV clutch. 
27th August: In the past twelve years, the ATV Drag Racing industry has been growing tremendously with a wide variety of extreme performance
parts being designed and built for two stroke racers. Working closely with major leaders in the sport, MTC Engineering has developed the Gen II Multi-Stage Lockout clutch for the
Yamaha Banshee. "Skip Conder, of the ATV Drag Racing Association, has been very instrumental in the development and testing of the clutch", says Eric Hochstetler, President of
MTC Engineering. The results of testing, tuning and redesigning have shown decreases as much as .12 sec in the 60 foot times.
"I've watched the motorcycle industry very closely, knowing that someone had to have what we needed" said Conder. "A simple request to Eric at MTC resulted in the product that we are testing today. The Gen II Multi-Stage Lockup is user friendly, with its multiple levels of adjustment, allow you to take control of the violent sixty foot charge. Overall, I'm impressed with the tuning capability of the unit and the results speak for themselves." Lightweight, adjustable and resistant to wear the Banshee Gen II will give you the control you need to shave your sixty foot time and put you at the finish line before your competition. MTC's Banshee Gen II Multi-Stage Lockup is now in production and available to ship from MTC dealers worldwide including the UK's Dave Beck whom you can contact via the Dave Beck Racing web site at www.davebeckracing.com. Kent Persson. 
26th August: We were very sorry to hear of the death of Sweden's Kent Persson who passed away last night after
a long illness.
Kent's place in history is assured as he was the first European racer to record a four-second Top Fuel Dragster pass, a 4.897 which he recorded in Peter Lantz' dragster at the NitrOlympX in Hockenheim on 16th August 1997. This was the crowning achievement of a Top Fuel career which started in the late 1970s, and which continued on into the early 2000s with the Swedish Top Fuel Tour and then guest spots in other cars. Our experience of Kent was of a cheerful, friendly and approachable man with a good sense of humour, and his record as a driver speaks for itself. He will be missed and we would like to offer our very deepest sympathies to Kent's family and friends. If you would like to send a tribute to Kent then please write to us at tributes@eurodragster.com. Swift snippets. 
26th August: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words
"Sneak preview". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at
eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.
The organisers of Trax, which takes place at Silverstone on Sunday 4th September, are seeking race cars for static display, burnout shows and sixty foot launches. For more information please contact Darren Prentice at Santa Pod Raceway on 01234 782828 or E-Mail darren@santapod.com. 
25th August: We have just heard from Shakespeare County Raceway that, due to an illness affecting one of the race officials, the start of pitting on Friday may be delayed slightly beyond the published midday opening. In the light of this racers are asked to be patient, and in return the SCR staff and APIRA officials will of course do everything they can to make the pitting process as easy as possible when it gets started. Not Melanie, not Belle, so who? 25th August: Andy Wheeler of Eurodragster.com sponsor Alamo Rent-A-Car is delighted to announce two special guest drivers in one of the Alamo Junior Modified Dragsters at this weekend's Open Sport Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway and at the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway in September. Former UK National Junior Dragster Champion Anna Stanley will drive Paige Wheeler's former ride this weekend and current UK National, SPRC and APIRA Junior Dragster Champion Gabrielle McDonald will take the wheel at the FIA European Finals. "Anna has been helping us out on the team recently and as my other daughter Belle is not old enough to drive until the VP Racing Fuels National Finals we thought we'd give Anna the opportunity to drive at the Open Sport Nationals", says Andy. "We are very grateful for the help which Anna has been giving us on the team recently we hope that she will enjoy being back in the driver's seat again." "It's been great working with Paige and the Alamo Team", says Anna. "I'm very grateful for this opportunity to drive the Alamo dragster. It was great fun testing last weekend, the car is running consistent numbers and I'm really looking forward to racing this weekend." "Gabrielle had a fantastic year in 2010 and we are very pleased she has accepted our invitation to join the team for the FIA European Finals", says Andy. "I'm really excited and really grateful that I get the chance to race at the FIA European Finals", says Gabby. "It will be the last race of my Junior Dragster career and thanks to Andy Wheeler for giving me this chance to race. I've never raced at the European Final's in my five years of drag racing so I'm really excited! Let's hope it will be like last year and another Alamo car will be in the finals, maybe even both! This kind of chance doesn't come very often." "As the slogan says, Go Alamo, Drive Happy" says Andy. Swift snippets. 
25th August: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com
shows, our mole tells us, a Pro Mod headed for the UK. "There's a clue on the front wing", said our mole, but
the picture got very blocky when we tried to enlarge it so we're none the wiser. If you know more, or if you would
like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at
eurodragster.com@btinternet.com.
This weekend's AutoMotoShow3, which starts tomorrow at Drachten Airfield in The Netherlands, will be webcast live by our streaming server provider Doyousee.me. We will post a direct Home Page link to the webcast when it commences but you will be able to view it at www.doyousee.me/explosion. UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Andy Carter is seeking a cylinder head technician, and a "floater" for general duties, to work on the Lucas Oil-sponsored dragster at the FIA European Finals and maybe into the 2012 season. "Experience is not 100% necessary as tuition will be given", says Andy. "You need to be fit and ready to work long hours, and a non-smoker". For more details, or to volunteer, contact Andy on 07860 405060 or E-Mail cartermotorsport@hotmail.co.uk. V8TV Europe, a new web site and YouTube Channel covering drag racing in Europe, has launched at www.v8tv.eu. Regular readers will recall that V8TV were responsible for the excellent video feature including ride-along with Dave Evans in the Doomsday Impala. Current coverage features the recent Mopar EuroNats with more to come very soon. The first NSRA Hot Rod Reunion and Swap Meet takes place at York Raceway on this Sunday and Monday featuring two days of Hot Rods, dragsters, Championship race cars, Jet Dragster and RWYB strip action including two rounds of Europe's largest all-American car drag racing series American Super Stock, final Rounds of Air-Cooled, Hot Rod Sports Car Challenge, Super Cup, Pro ET and Sportsman ET. The event also features the 34th Annual Street Racer Championship, Swap Meet, and much more. More information at www.yorkraceway.org.uk or click below left. 
Peter Calwer tells us that his wife and NitrOlympX Press Officer Christine Calwer is home from hospital after some quite spectacular repairs (above right) to her arm which was broken in a fall at Hockenheim last week. "We now begin with the rebuilding of the old lady... ouch - she can also hit me with her left arm", says Peter. "Kiesi would like to take this opportunity to everyone for the get well E-Mails, texts and calls which contributed greatly to the rapid recovery. The doctors are confident, our rabbit is happy again, and I've finally learned how the dishwasher works (Didn't you say she just returned home? - Ed)". Lots of love and hugs Christine. Further to Tuesday's Swift Snippet, UK Wild Bunch racer Dick Sharp tells us that he is also now home from hospital with, we quote, oil system fixed and better than ever. "I'm not allowed to drive for a week so I'll miss the Open Sport Nationals, but I'll be back as soon as I can or just before!", sayd Dick. "Many thanks to all the racers and my many friends for all their well wishes and words of encouragement, they were much appreciated". Take care Dick and we look forward to seeing you again soon. Congratulations to UK Fuel and Two Seat Dragster pilot Shelley Pearson and Fuel FC pilot-to-be Kevin Kent who have announced their engagement. Our very best wishes for a long and happy life together. Claire, Lee, Sarah, Liam, TJ, Mark, Jade and Ben have asked us to say a big Happy Birthday to UK Wild Bunch racer Crazy Chris Hartnell, and best of luck for the Open Sports Nationals. No sooner said than done, have a great day Chris. A big Well Done to Heaven & Hell Racing Pro ET team member and Honorary Eurodragster.com Staff Member Grace Roaf, and to UK Junior Dragster racer Laura Turburville, who both achieved excellent results in their GCSE exams. Congratulations girls, we're proud of you. Apologies to those of you who found Eurodragster.com unavailable earlier on today. Our ISP Selfnet is in the USA and -6 hours on UK time and so we suspect that the server was down for overnight maintenance. Open Sport Nationals Perfect Awards. 25th August: This weekend's Open Sport Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway is the latest event in the 2011 Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards Scheme. £125 is on offer for perfect performance. 
The Eurodragster.com/Cotsweld Race Cars Perfect Light Award has been increased to £75 after it went unclaimed
at the NitrOlympX. The money will be awarded to the first racer at this weekend's event to record a Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds.
The Perfect Light Award is available all to racers in all classes during qualifying and eliminations, but will only be awarded for the
first Perfect Light of the event. If not won this weekend then the Award will be increased to £100 for the FIA European Finals
at Santa Pod Raceway; if it is won this weekend then it will be reset to £50 for the FIA European Finals. The Perfect
Light Award is presented in association with race car builder Cotsweld Race Cars whose web site you can find at
www.cotsweld.co.uk.
The Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by Super Pro ET racer Marc
Henney at the NitrOlympX. The money will be awarded to the first racer at this weekend's event to run to 0.000 on their
index or dial-in. The money will be available this weekend in
Super Pro ET, Pro ET, Sportsman ET, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street, Lucas Oil Junior Dragster (eliminations), 8.50 Bike, 9.50 Bike,
VW Pro, VW Sportsman, the Wild Bunch, NAST Supertwin ET and Junior Drag Bike but will only be awarded for the first Perfect Run of each
event. If not won this weekend then the Award will be increased to £100 for the FIA European Finals
at Santa Pod Raceway; if it is won this weekend then it will be reset to £50 for the FIA European Finals. The Perfect ET Award is
presented in association with RV sales and service specialists Gold RV whose web site you can
find at www.goldrv.co.uk.
To be eligible to collect the Perfect ET Award, racers are required to carry Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET decals, one on each side of the vehicle. If you pull this weekend's first Perfect ET but are not carrying decals then there will be no discussion; we will not pay out and the next person to pull a Perfect ET will get the money assuming that they are carrying decals. As with all contingency schemes racers are responsible for collecting decals; Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET Award decals are available in the Signing On office. Quarter Mile Club taking Finals bookings. 
25th August: Santa Pod Raceway, the home of European drag racing, has launched an exciting new initiative for racegoers: the new Quarter Mile
Club. With the European Finals not far away, from 8th-11th September, it's the perfect way to enjoy the event in real luxury.
The new hospitality package is one of many offered by Santa Pod for its Blue Riband events. Those looking to spend a little more can enjoy private balcony suites, full seating, breakfast, full hot fork buffet lunch, souvenirs, complimentary earplugs, programmes and paddock tours on top of the already generous QMC package for just £1690 + VAT (for up to twelve people including weekend admission). If you're the kind of enthusiast that likes to get right into the heart of the action, grandstand packages are also available, with all of the same perks as the balcony packages, but enjoying reserved, allocated open air seating for the entire day. This is just £119 + Vat per person and includes weekend admission. For more information on Santa Pod events, please visit www.santapod.com or call the team on 01234 782828 (outside the UK +44 1234 782828). Web site updates. 25th August: Thanks to Leon Bienek for letting us know that the official web site of Rune Fjeld Motorsport has been updated with reports on the Top Fuel team's weekends at the FHRA Nitro Nationals and the NitrOlympX. You can check it out at www.rfmotorsport.com. Open Sport Nationals update. 24th August: Shakespeare County Raceway have been in touch to inform racers that racer tickets have been put in the mail to all those whose entries were received up to and including last Friday (19th). Racer tickets for those entries received from Saturday onwards will be available on the gate. Version 4 of the official entry list can be checked out by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Funny Bike has been cancelled due to a withdrawal which left one FB on the entry list. The provisional running orders for Saturday and Sunday are now available and can be checked out by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Please note that, as ever, these running orders are provisional and subject to change due to weather or track conditions or for any other reason deemed necessary by race officials. If you have any queries about the Open Sport Nationals then please contact Shakespeare County Raceway at enquiries@shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk or call 01789 720180. Eurodragster.com will be reporting live from the Open Sport Nationals in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car. We will be posting regular reports on the on-track action each day and a photo gallery at the end of each day, but unfortunately we can't bring you pit notes this weekend as Simon is away. We will confirm the broadcast schedule of the Webster Race Engineering/Nimbus Motorsport webcam as soon as we determine our level of internet access at SCR at the weekend. Drives like a... 24th August: The WG Racing Outlaw Rolls Royce campaigned by Matthew Wright of Eurodragster.com sponsor WG4 Facilities and Services now has an official Press Officer, namely Matt's long-suffering (Her words - Ed) wife Danielle. Danielle got in touch to introduce herself: 
As well as being a full time manager of the Wright household - mother to Stevie-Jane and Summer-Louise, Hemi the Dog, three cats and two horses - I
am now Press Officer for Matt's latest crazy out-there project...like I've not got enough to do!
For many years Matthew has been muttering dreams of what is his latest project, normally after a quite a few JDs actually. None of us really thought that he was nuts enough see it through! By the sheer imagination of Matt (lets face it, the only man crazy enough to go through with such a project) and the ingenious building capabilities of the one and only Bill Felstead of Fester Race Cars, the two have created this awesome monster machine! 
All jokes aside, it gives me great pleasure in finally introducing this masterpiece to you all! After a few minor set backs during the later stages of the
building processes - namely down to Matthew putting the car through the side of the family garage, through winch failure of course, and not forgetting
almost taking Felstead out in the process! - it's finally running some amazing times. In such a short space of time, the Outlaw is showing great promise
of running in the mid sevens after running an 8.092 on its first full pass at the latest Test Day at Santa Pod. It's the only thing Matt has talked about
since then!
I love it that the car is done now. It means two things: one, my kitchen window is no longer a serving hatch for bacon sarnies and teas and two, it means my weekend lodger for the past year, Bill Felstead, has gone home! Oh, and that smelly pit rat...you know who you are, trouble! Matt will be back out at Santa Pod Raceway's Peak Performance Day on Sunday 4th September. Your News Editor had a quick word with Matt today and, in a blatant pitch for inclusion in Drag Racing Unplugged XIII, he told us that on the Personal Best 8.0-second pass the car "Drove like a Rolls Royce" and that according to engine builder, tuner and sponsor John Sleath this was just the "Get you down the track tune, Matt". More anon. Swift snippets. 24th August: Drag racing artist Paul Whitehouse has been in contact with details of a limited edition print run of four of his Nostalgia Funny Car paintings. The paintings, which feature Wendy Baker and Paul Stubbings' Timewarp, Allan Herridge in the Gladiator, Owen Hayward in Houndog 7 and Dennis Priddle's STP Avenger are available in either A4 or A3 format, printed on heavyweight quality paper and signed by the artist. The original paintings of Houndog 7 and the STP Avenger are for sale. For details please E-Mail Paul at pwhitehouse3@aol.com. 
Sweden's Tierp Arena hosts Bug Run Classic 1 this Saturday. Exactly as it says on the tin this event is for VWs and track action includes three brackets whilst off-track action includes a Show and Shine. You can find out more at www.tierparena.com. We would like to wish a very Happy Birthday to Sharon Williamson of the UK's Stockport Doorslammer Super Gas team. Have a lovely day Sharon. Back-to-back pain. 24th August: Ian King and the Gulf Oil – Grand Prix Originals Top Fuel Bike team embarked on the taxing back-to-back weekend events of the Sunoco Drag Challenge in Norway and NitrOlympX in Germany with determination to put the first round red light in Finland behind them and regain momentum in their championship Chase. 
The team arrived in Oslo for the Sunoco Drag Challenge at Gardermoen to find a country still numb with shock at the terrible events in this very city where 77 people lost their lives
less than two weeks before. In a strangely peaceful moment at the race track next to the main Oslo Airport runway a minute's silence was held in remembrance of those who tragically
lost their lives.
Not for the first time this season the weather was none too kind when the first day of qualifying was cancelled due to heavy rain, but Saturday dawned brighter and the team took to the track for their first qualifier. And what a run it was with an off the trailer best for the all new machine of 6.254 seconds at a fantastic 236.71 mph (380.95 kmh) to zoom straight into number one qualifier position, and despite a roll off the throttle at mid track. The speed was one half of a new European record if backed up within 1% and within the top ten fastest speeds ever recorded in the world. With two more qualifiers and race day eliminations to come it seemed a new record was on the cards. The second and third qualifiers of the day saw the team post the second quickest time of the day with a 6.41 (again with a mid track roll off the throttle) but no new record yet. However, they finished the day in number one qualifier position and were looking good for race day. Alas, it was not to be when the weather conspired to beat them on race day and persistent rain ended the race prematurely without a Top Fuel Bike class wheel turned in anger. The team left the event for the following weekend's event in Germany with a slight improvement in their Championship position, but disappointed at being unable to capitalise on their qualifying performance. 
The NitrOlympX at Hockenheim is a team favourite event, not least of which due to the large crowds, German team fans, luxury pit garages and the presence of an impressive team
garage set up by their German-based co-sponsors Grand Prix Originals.
The team took to the track for their first qualifier to build on their stellar performance in Norway the previous week when disaster struck. A cam chain broke mid track and King coasted to the finish line without power. Back in the pit garage the damage was worse than hoped; a number of valves were badly damaged and required replacing. However, the team did not have enough spares of the type required to completely repair the damage and spent the next hours feverishly scouring the world for replacements. However, the fact that it was Friday afternoon and the only replacements were in the US meant that they could not be delivered in time. Not wishing to disappoint the fans on race day the team decided on the risky option of repairing the inlet valves which were unable to be replaced and sitting out the remaining qualifiers and planned appearance in the impressive Night Show. The vagaries of the elimination ladder meant that the team would meet the veteran multiple British Champion Steve Woollatt in the first round. At the last moment (when in stage) Ian decided to risk complete engine devastation for the show and followed Woollatt up the track on partial throttle before unleashing full power from mid track on. Unfortunately, the bike suffered a steering wobble that necessitated rolling off the throttle before winding the power back on and chasing Steve to the finish. However, it was not to be as Ian just passed his opponent a few inches after the finish of what was a thrilling race. To make matters worse for the team's Championship chances an on-form Peter Svensson and a fortuitous ladder for Petri Paljakka saw both dramatically close the gap on Ian's lead and put them less than one elimination round win behind Ian going into what should be an exciting Championship finale at Santa Pod Raceway from 8th-11th September. The team is extremely proud to be supported by many leaders in their chosen markets in their quest for an unprecedented sixth European Championship title: APE - The world's most innovative manufacturer of aftermarket parts for drag bikes Cometic Gaskets - The premier manufacturer of racing gaskets Bell Helmets - The ultimate iconic helmet brand Gates - The world's most trusted name in drive belts, hoses and hydraulics Goedhals - The name in recision specialist gear cutting and engineering Goodridge - The original and the best in fluid transfer systems Grand Prix Originals - The brand for drive and lifestyle, past and present Gulf Oil International - The world's most iconic brand in automotive fuels and lubricants Hyperpro - The leading producer of progressive suspension products for motor bikes JE Pistons - The world's premier manufacturer of high performance forged pistons Kent Cams - Specialists in motor sport camshaft manufacture, short runs and one-offs Kibblewhite Precision Machining, Inc -The highest quality valve train components on the market King Racing - The most successful Top Fuel Bike team in European drag racing history Mickey Thompson Tyres - Simply the best drag race tyres in the world MRE - Leaders in trackside support for drag race components and air shifting systems MTC ENGINEERING - Manufacturer of clutches for the fastest motorcycles in the world NitroShutter - Europe's leading drag racing photo-journalists NCT Engineering - Manufacturer of the world's leading non contact torque sensors for motorsport Portable Shade - The best custom branded collapsible canopies available Pro Alloy Motorsport - UK's leader in fabrication of alloy racing tanks, intercoolers and radiators PsycleWorkz - The UK's best custom and race fabricators and innovators Puma Engineering - Manufacturers of the world's most powerful motorcycle engines RSG Customize - The UK's most creative website designers and vinyl artists Vanson Leathers - The most iconic brand in motorsport leather goods Worldwide Bearings - The world's leading supplier of ceramic bearings for racing Zodiac - Europe's largest supplier of performance and aftermarket HD parts For more information please visit www.kingracing.com. APIRA Championship outcomes. 23rd August: Regular readers will know that our very own Simon has a number of strings to his bow including Championship Co-ordinator for Avon Park International Racing Association and in that capacity he has written a report on the outcomes in the APIRA Ultimate Power Championships, whose final round takes place at this weekend's Open Sport Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. Championships will be decided for nineteen classes and there will be a 100 point bonus for attending all Championship rounds. Super Modified will not be contested at this event which means that Nigel Payne and Andy Hone are winner and runner-up respectively, these two having spent the season in close contention at both SCR and Santa Pod Raceways. In Super Comp, Jon Morton leads Paul Brown by 210 points. Either of these could win, or if they go out in the first round Brian Pateman could be in with a chance of the title. Jon Morton also leads Super Gas and undoubtedly will be looking for the 'double', a feat which has never been achieved in this Championship's history. Brian Pateman is the only other racer with a realistic chance of taking this title. In Super Street Bristol Doorslammer competitors John Grant and Bob Lees are in main contention, with Harrison Brown's Team Thatadoo a further 180 points in arrears. Super Pro ET has Nigel Turner in the lead by 220 points, but he is not currently entered and so Bob Doyle is in a good position to win, with John Atkinson, Peter Walters and Dave Raper all only 100 points or so behind. Undoubtedly qualifying points will be important as well as round wins. In Pro ET there will be five rounds of racing meaning up to 920 points are available. Dave 'Tig' Napier is in the lead and second placed Terry Robins is not currently entered, so Tig will have a points advantage of 220 over Dan Page who is in third position. Sportsman ET is between two teams, with Team Parker Racing in the lead over Eurodragster.com sponsors Team Jacksons MOT by 220 points. Nicole Parker, in her rookie year of Championship racing, and Jake Handy are the respective drivers. Lucas Oil Junior Dragster will potentially be contested over four rounds of racing and Joe Kellett, who is having a fantastic season both in the UK and on the Continent, is leading second placed Brad Jackson by 230 points. Josh Saunders is another 50 points behind. Either Brad or Josh could be Champions if they win the event and Joe goes out early in elminations. 2010 Outlaw Anglia Champion Cliff Griffin has had another great year in 2011 and leads Scot Colin Millar by 220 points. This means that to win the Championship, Colin will have to win the event and outqualify Cliff by at least three positions, a tall order. The class will as ever provide more than its share of excitement. In the Wild Bunch, Chris Hartnell is leading Terry Clifford by 230 points with Eurodragster.com sponsor Peter Yates a mere 20 points further back. With four rounds of racing in prospect, the Championship could go to any of these three. VW Sportsman is led by Matthew Bennett-Sime with James London 220 points behind and Paul Jackson a further 20 points further back. All three will be in play and there will be four rounds of racing to decide the Championship. VW Pro is led by Phil Norman with a 260 point advantage over Sam Young and his electric Beetle. There are potentially three rounds of racing so Sam will be up against it to move into a Championship winning position. In Pro Stock Bike, Len Paget and Eurodragster.com sponsor Mark Smith (through the support of Draper Tools) are the two riders contesting the race and therefore the Championship. Mark is 260 points behind Len meaning that unless he sets new ACU records the Championship will be Len's for the taking. Competition Bike is led by Harold Wolfenden with Dave Bailey 345 points behind and Stuart Crane a further 45 points behind. Nine bikes entered mean that there will be potentially three rounds of racing and either Dave or Stuart would need to win and have Harold qualify poorly and go out in the first round to have a realistic chance of the title. There are potentially three rounds of racing in Super Street Bike as well. Graham Balchin is 130 points ahead of second placed Chris Reed. Barring any new records, Bois will need to qualify four positions better and go one round further than Graham or go two rounds further, both with the top speed and low ET of the event. 8.50 Bike is led by Peter Austin who is 430 points ahead of second placed Mick Winyard. Mick will need to win the event and Peter qualify worse and go out in the first round to win the Championship. Jake Mechaell is leading 9.50 Bike by 40 points from Eurodragster.com sponsor Fred Furlong and there will be an exciting contest between reigning and previous Champions. In Supertwin Gas, Chris Mott is leading Dave Smart by 145 points and Joe Elliott is another 20 points behind. The Championship is realistically between these three. Supertwin ET has Tara Harris leading by 65 points with Tim Boutle and Simon Clamp 80 and 90 points back. This could be a competition between at least the top four for Championship honours with bonuses for reaction and close to dial (25 for each) coming into play. You can find out more about the Open Sport Nationals on SCR's official web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com and you can check out the official entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Just an eight, and then some. 
23rd August: UK 9.50 Bike racer Jemma Venables had another test outing on her new bike at the Peak Performance Day
at Santa Pod Raceway on Friday. Jemma's dad, Super Street Bike racer Steve Venables, got in touch to let us know how well it went:
We took the bike to the Peak Performance Day to get Jemma used to it for next year when the plan is for her to go into 8.50 Bike. We went hoping to see her just break into the eights. After two passes of 9.4 and 9.0 Jemma was itching to break into the eights and smashed into them next pass with an 8.42. After that I had Jemma on one side asking for more power (don't know where she gets that from) and my wife Jo on the other side saying "No more"! Jem got her way and we tweaked the boost slightly. She went on to run an 8.20 and then a best of a 8.1/181. We decided to call it a day after the 8.1 pass, as Jemma was moving forward on the bike after the finish line to a point where she was losing grip on the bars. We need to modify the tank to hold her on the bike better before she's out on it again, but she's definitely itching for that seven now. We think that Jemma is the quickest female on a non wheelie-barred bike, unless anyone knows otherwise. Manners' invitation. 23rd August: Ex-pat UK Top Alcohol Dragster racer and IHRA Pro Fuel World Champion Mike Manners of Eurodragster.com sponsor Cosmo Residences has been in touch to let us know how he fared in Top Alcohol Dragster at the weekend's NHRA National Event at Brainerd: We ended up qualifying sixth out of fourteen cars and had to race ninth qualifier, Jim Whiteley. Jim picked up in the first round and beat my 5.36 with a 5.34, but one consolation was that we were the fastest A/Fuel car of the round. Jim went on to win the event - I owe him a few now. We thought that we had found some good data at the IHRA event at Martin, MI but it took a few passes to home in on it. We think we will really get it together at our next race. We were intending to go to the NHRA Divisional in Charlotte this week, but as it's in the path of Hurricane Irene that is not looking too likely right now. A couple of Brits stopped by to say Hi at Brainerd, sorry I missed you. Next week is Indy, if anyone is coming over for the race please stop by and say Hi. Swift snippets. 23rd August: Our very best wishes for a rapid recovery to UK Wild Bunch racer Dick Sharp who was taken to hospital after suffering heart problems yesterday morning. Dorset Horn team member Terry Selman tells us that Dick has been tinkered with by the appropriate experts and is as OK as he can be now, but that he has to take some R&R and so will miss this weekend's Open Sport Nationals. Get well soon Dick. Santa Pod Raceway are as ever offering racers portable toilets for hire at the FIA European Finals. portable toilets will be delivered to racers' pits and cleaned and serviced daily. You can hire a portable toilet for £100 plus VAT; for more information or to order yours please contact Darren Prentice at Santa Pod on 01234 782828 (outside the UK +44 1234 782828) or E-Mail darren@santapod.com. Slot drag racers are invited to a race at Mr C Raceway in Kent on Sunday 4th September. If you are interested then please get in touch with Steve Dudley at steven.dudley2@btopenworld.com. Beware a frustrated Beast. 23rd August: Swedish Supertwin racer Per Bengtsson and the Beast team arrived at Hockenheim as UEM Championship points leader and qualified second with a 6.67 right behind Roel Koedam who ran a 6.56. Team member L-O Jonsson writes that it was a busy and frustrating weekend: The team had to work hard between rounds as the pistons were hurt after almost every run. Not a good situation before Sunday's eliminations and with just one more race on the Championship Tour. On Saturday evening we also changed point boxes in the ignition system and the engine responded well to the change. In the first round on Sunday we were up against Joachim 'Acka' Riemer, an alternate for Jan Sturla Hegre who had to withdraw because of a damaged crank. Per left the start line as straight as an arrow but drifted towards the centre line just before half track and had to lift the throttle. Despite going for it one more time Acka was the one crossing the finish line first, just six hundredths of seconds before Per. We were a frustrated team, of course, and to make things even worse the piston problem was still there. 
The team spent the rest of the day troubleshooting and analysing the problems so that the right parts could be ordered in time from the USA. We think that we found the cause of the problems and before the FIA European Finals we will make some test runs at Autoexperten Raceway in Malmö to confirm that everything is in race condition. "The standard of the Championship is very high and the points race is tight with just the Finals left", says Per. "We see several competitors who are able to produce strong runs and I think you need to run 65s times to make it to the final at Santa Pod. And that's the only way to win the Championship: run fast, qualify number one, and hopefully win the final!" The Beast team would like to thank their sponsors Swedcut, Red Line Oil, Gates/Lönne, Autoexperten Växjö, Fanhultstvätten Älmhult, Ulvsgården AB, Bilservice i Åseda, Kalvsviks Bilverkstad, Rävemåla Bilservice, Larssons Bilverkstad Lenhovda, Cemecon Liqui Moly, Bentec Engineering and Flexoart. For more information please visit the team's web site at www.bentec.net. Web site updates. 
23rd August: Chris Eyre has updated his Euro Drag Pics site with pictures from events at Santa Pod over the weekend
including the first outing of the new addition to the Beovax Super Pro ET team, a dragster which was driven at the weekend by Rick Cooke
and which will be piloted this weekend by Dave Catton. You can check out Chris' excellent pictures at
www.eurodragpics.com.
The US' Camp Stanley, considered by an increasing section of the drag racing community to be a rain god but nominally tuner of Marcus Hilt's Pro Mod, has posted a NitrOlympX report on his web site at www.stanleyandweissracing.com. In the latest instalment in his exclusive Racer Blog presented in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car, Luke Bennett of the Bennett Racing blown-alcohol altered team reports upon recent promotional and charity outings. As ever you can stay in touch with the latest Blog updates by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Open Sport Nationals racer update. 22nd August: Many thanks to Shakespeare County Raceway for sending us details of the arrangements for next week's Open Sport Nationals, which takes place between next Saturday and Monday. Pitting commences at 12:00 midday on Friday. Anyone wishing to arrive at SCR earlier and camp on-site is welcome to do so but please do not enter the pit area. Racers will be escorted to their pit spaces once the pits are opened, so please be patient if you are held in a queue for a few minutes. Signing on will be open between 6:00 pm and 8:00 pm on Friday and will then reopen on Saturday morning. Scrutineering for both cars and bikes will commence at 4:00 pm on Friday. For entries received at the end of the week just gone, tickets will be available on the gate. Version 3 of the official entry list can be checked out by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. If you have any queries about the Open Sport Nationals then please contact Shakespeare County Raceway at enquiries@shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk or call 01789 720180. Flamholc heads west. 
22nd August: Next Monday (29th), Swedish Pro Modified racer Adam Flamholc will be loading his blown-alcohol Pro Mod,
spares and support equipment into a container and heading for Miami in Florida. Adam says that he and his crew are very excited:
From the beginning our plan was to stay in the Florida area this year and then to see if we could find some business partners for next season. Well those plans are now gone. If the car gets to Miami in time then we are going to the ADRL Finals in Texas on 21st-23rd October and then the weekend after to the final NHRA Pro Mod round in Las Vegas! But as I said it all depends on whether the car will arrive on time, and we need help from some people. But I have a good feeling about it! We will definitely be at the Citrus Nationals at Palm Beach Raceway on the last weekend in November, and at the Snowbird Nationals at Bradenton Raceway the week after. None of this would have been possible without help from our sponsors Amalie Oil, Autoshop in Florida, Malmö Motorrenovating (MMR), Performance Plus, Classic Graphics, Custom Graphics and Husby Taplatslageri. Thanks also to my wife Anna and my kids who put up with my adventures. We have raced in the US several times before, but this time we are going to ship our own spare parts, tools and so on, and a truck and trailer will be bought as well. This time we want to prepare as well as we can and really be able to compete! Swift snippets. 22nd August: Dutch Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com Blogger Lex Joon will be carrying a tribute to the victims of 9/11 on his dragster at the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway. "We will be really proud to mark the memory of 9/11", says Lex. Click on the picture below for a bigger version. 
Santa Pod Raceway and Speedgroup will jointly be holding a Trophy Presentation and End of Season party after the FIA European Finals on Sunday 11th September from 9:00 pm until 1:00 am. Speedgroup will be notifying all racers and sending out relevant information. Tickets can be bought from The Pod Shop throughout the FIA European Finals for just £15 per person which includes a free drink on arrival. "Further to feedback from 2010's party there will be lots and lots of food along with evening entertainment", says David Lloyd-Jones of Santa Pod Raceway. "Come and let your hair down after a full-on season and enjoy the party!" UK Super Pro ET racer Lee Cohen is urgently seeking a set of BME 6.385 aluminium rods either new, with dyno time, or just a handful of passes on them. If you can help then please drop Lee a line at leecohenblower@aol.co.uk or call him on 07854315503. We have a birthday in the ranks of Top Fuel Dragster today; a very Happy 50th Birthday to Stig Neergaard. Have a great day Stig and we'll see you in a couple of weeks. Giordmaina's trip and a half. 
22nd August: Maltese Super Street Bike racer has had a successful season at home, breaking the
Maltese SSB record four times with his 500+ bhp Turbo Suzuki Hayabusa at Hal Far Raceway with a best of 7.72/194 with the assistance
of Rick Stubbins who flew to Malta to tune the bike and clutch and to make some modifications. The time then came for Simon to make the long trip to
Germany for the NitrOlympX:
We showed up for the NitrOlympX after thorty hours on a very rough sea followed by a seventeen-hour drive of roughly 2200 kilometres which believe me was not an easy task. At Hockenheim we unloaded everything and got everything ready to race. When Super Street Bike were called for their first qualifying session I clocked the first seven-second run of the event with a 7.88/300 kmh. At the end of the session we ended up qualified third and we were extremely happy to do better off the trailer as we did last year on a much smoother setting. On the Saturday, after a lot of time spent waiting to run due to weather and other issues, we didn't improve but it was still worth it as we got a lot of data from that run. It's a different track to ours, in fact it is so different that we need time to tune. On Sunday rain came down and we lost time and the event was not finished again. Officials decided that it would be fairest to give results anyway, and as they did last year they based results on qualifying. I still believe that there must be something which can be done to treat SSB better at Hockenheim. After all that waiting to run and bumped on three occasions you do get disappointed and you lose concentration on the racing. This can be risky because you want to do it all in one run as you might not be called for another. Having said that I still thank all the organisers for such a great event and I am sure they do their best for the event but it is what it is. We expected to finish in the top eight at the NitrOlympX so we are extremely happy with the fourth place, but also slightly disappointed because we know that we have much more to offer. Having said that, we are looking forward to giving it our best at the European Finals at Santa Pod. We're sure that a lot of Maltese will be there supporting us as this is the first time that there will be four Maltese competitors at the European Finals. A big Good Luck to Monti Bugeja, Oliver Azzopardi, and Tommy Agius in the fastest truck in the world which he will try to get into the nines. Anything can happen, we need to keep our foot down and try our best. Thanks to Richard Stubbins of Protek Racing we are analysing the runs and discussing what needs to be done before the European Finals. There is not much to do really, just fine-tuning. The bike will be at Protek to be prepared to its full potential so I am sure that it will be OK. Our expectation is to run a Personal Best and to go in the 7.6s. I would like to thank The Notebook Centre and Linguatime; Eurodragster.com for bringing us the latest news always (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed); my friends Richard and Roswell for the help all year and at the track; my brother George for all the help and suffering all the trips with me; the Malta Drag Racing Association and its Committee members for supporting me in any way - thanks guys, I really appreciate it; the Malta Motorsport Federation for their support; and Rick and Nicola Stubbins for taking good care of us when were there. Also a big thank you goes to my wife Graziella, my family and friends, and to all the people who show appreciation for what we do. Thank you all, and see you at Santa Pod. NitrOlympX Super Pro ET review. 22nd August: Super Pro ET has grown immensly in the last few years in Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands as has the German Super Pro ET Challenge. Last year Super Pro ET and Pro ET were added to the NitrOlympX programme and those who work behind the scenes were very proud of the achievement especially for Super Pro ET since it is the class' only race in Germany as no other tracks are up to hosting the class. Super Pro ET and Pro ET were both invited to the NitrOlympX again this year and Markus Münch has been in touch with a report of Super Pro ET's weekend: This year we had an entry of thirty three cars. If everything turned out right we should have had three qualifiers and then into eliminations with a thirty two-car field starting before the Night Show on Saturday. But, as you know, the schedule is very tight with a full FIA and UEM field and Sportsman classes in just three days of racing with some severe curfews. If something causes a delay, then there will be problems. There were problems for us, but any sensible person expected it. If you want track time, you're doing the wrong thing entering Sportsman competition at the NitrOlympXs. But everyone knows that. So we had two-shot qualifying (one on Friday, one on Saturday) and eliminations were postponed to Sunday morning. The thirty two contestants came from Germany, Switzerland, France and England. Mark Flavell made the trip up from York to Hockenheim and seemed to enjoy his stay. He was qualified sixteenth and lost in round two with a red light against eventual semi-finalist, sixteen year old Carlo Heym from the Mopar Rebellion Team. It was nice to meet your team Mark. Guido Uhlir with his Opel Manta B (Procharged, self-built and with Webster Race Engineering wing) couldn't make a run, which was sad. 
Top qualifier was a lady, Jutta Winter, +0.002 on her 8.60 dial-in. Second was "Hotrod Ove" Kröger +0.004 on his 8.68 dial-in. Third was again a lady, French Christophe Dubois with her Ford Probe + 0.011 on her 8.50 dial-in. Jutta Winter proceed into round two after a re-run against Ingo Ekert who was campaigning the ex-Per Svedberg blown Challenger Top Doorslammer with Marco Maurischat's German Pro Mod record-holding "Chuck Norris" engine (7.1 dial-in). Thomas Haas from Switzerland won over Micha "Bedächtig" Vogt in his street-legal and Street Eliminator Germany-winning '55 Bel Air which runs mid eights. Marc Henney, who later won the Eurodragster.com / Gold RV Perfect ET Award wons over Manuel Kreiter's Bel Air. Pascal Kohler defeated Bernard Saz, who came too late for the re-run. Christophe Dubois lost in round one against Sascha Pretzsch from Switzerland. Champion of the 2010 Super Pro ET Challange Bert Gorselitz with his white Porsche 924 won over Karl Heinz Kleider who couldn't start his engine. Carmen Ritscher with her beautiful Mustang bodied Nostalgia FC won over Swiss Roadster Corvette driver Beat Rechsteiner. "The Schuby" Jürgen Schubert took a bye run win over Swiss Rolf Vogel, who couldn't get a gear in the 7.13 dial-in dragster. Hotrod Ove picked a cherry and lost to Frank Römer in his Procharged 1970 fastback Camaro. Challenge points leader and Nissan Skyline driver Norbert Schneider wons over Henning Blume in his beautiful black Dodge Musclecar. Patrick Dubois had no opponent as Tom Winter couldn't run. Neither did young lady Patrizia Kästner, as Dirk Sommers "Hulk" broke. A Swiss duel between two guys from the same small village: Rene Ehrismann (Challenge winner 2008) and Mike Bruckmüller. Bruckmüller couldn't start the golden Camaro and handed the win to Rene's Orangli (ex-Tony Hodel Camaro which ran Pro Street long ago). Eric Angeloni won over Opel GT driver Rudi Füssel. Rudi broke after the burnout. Young Carlo Heym won over Martin Schlegel and Marc Flavell won over redlighting Andre Müller who was second in the Challange before the NitrOlympX. Round two: a red light festival. Five out of eight pairings were decided at the line. Thomas Haas won with a holeshot over Jutta Winter from the Heartbeat Racing Team. Bert Gorselitz won over Swiss Sascha Pretzsch (Pro ET winner in Bechyne at the Grand Nationals this summer). His car was simply just a bit too slow for Bert in that match up. Frank Römer snoozed on the line big time and handed the victory to France's Patrick Dubois in his mid seven-second dragster. Henney, Schuby, Schneider, Ehrismann and Heym took easy wins, due to red-lighting opponents. Now it is Sunday afternoon at Hockenheim, normally we enjoy some milk (or coffee) with cookies and some delicious Schnitzels, but not today. Black clouds while "my" class is pairing in the staging lanes. A hilarious downpour and "That's it", or so we thought, but this year there was a break in this kind of tradition at the NitrOlympX. After the downpoor the track crew startet to get rid of the flood and succeeded, which no-one expected, indeed none of the Sportsman guys believed they would be turning a wheel at this point. The race wasn't called for us, but we simply didn't believe that we could run another round. The Pros did their semis and then... we did our third round. At this point I have to say a big Thank You to those who are responsible for that. So, round three and again a redlight festival. Thomas Haas won over Marc Henney who won the Perfect ET Award on this run but who snoozed way too long. Bert Gorselitz took a shot at the Eurodragster.com/Perfect Light Award, missed it unfortunately with a -0.003 so Schuby was in the semis against Haas. Patrick Dubois also redlit and Norbert Schneider was through. Carlo Heym also won through a red from Eric Angeloni. So he was up against Norbert Schneider in the semis (now they were number one and two in the Super Pro ET Challenge). 
At that point it was very late and the race was called off shortly after this round, so the semis and the final were not run. The interesting fact is that all four drivers in the semis were participating in the Super Pro ET Challenge. This shows that experience pays off and it makes me a litte proud that "my boys" did so well at this race. Thank you to all thirty three contestants. The Challenge has one round to go, at Drachten this weekend, hopefully with good weather full eliminations. Rankings after Hockenheim:
You can find the Super Pro ET Challenge web site at www.suproet.de, and a video of qualifying can be found on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=f09kEmRu5j4. One weekend, two records. 22nd August: After the rain out at Gardermoen in Norway, where they only qualified fourth due to a problem with their new M/T tyre, Peter and Sören Svensson and the Team Kendall Top Fuel Bike Team were looking forward to going to Hockenheim to run some serious numbers. And run them they did, with new European ET and speed records during the course of NitrOlympX weekend: Track preparation was ongoing when we arrived and after a short discussion with Kjell Pettersson, who was managing the track crew at this event, we decided to try the same set-up as we used at Gardermoen to get a feeling for the traction since we had not been at this track since 1995. 
On Saturday morning we were called to the lanes for Q1 and ready to see what the track could take performance-wise. Peter made a long burnout and staged, on the green light
the bike launched smoothly and ran really straight. The scoreboard showed 6.11 seconds: we had just set a new track record for Top Fuel Bike at Hockenheim and we were number
one qualifier after the first round. What a great way to start a day! After the first round we checked the Racepak and decided to make some minor changes to the bike in order to run
a bit faster since it seemed like almost all of the car classes were running fast in Q1, which always is a good sign.
We were called to the lanes for Q2 and after the burnout we noticed that the start line was a bit stickier than before and we all kept our fingers crossed when Peter got the green light and hit the throttle. The bike did some minor fishtailing around 200 feet but then it got worse and Peter crossed the centre line. We remained number one qualifier after this run with Petri Paljakka number two with a 6.55. On Q3 on Saturday morning we added a bit more power since the Pro Mods ran 6.0s which usually shows us that we can step up a bit. We were called to the lanes and when Peter got the green light and hit the throttle we knew that this was going to be a good run. The scoreboard showed 6.01 seconds which meant that we had a new track record! We remained number one after this run with Petri still number two. The Racepak showed us that the previous run was almost too smooth and since we had already qualified with a low six we decided to step up a bit more to try a five-second run. Q4 late Saturday afternoon was a success as Peter ran a 5.96 which was backed up for a new European ET record by the 6.01 which we ran previously. The crowd went wild and after this run a lot of our new-found fans came over to us in the pits to check out the bike or to have a chat. We remained number one qualifier after this run with Petri still number two. During Saturday evening we ran 6.15 in the Night Show, using a very mild set-up in order not to hurt any parts since this was only a show run for the great crowd at Hockenheim. We got back to the pits and checked everything after the last run and put in a new set-up for the E1 on Sunday. 
Our first elimination run was a bye since we didn't have a full eight-bike field. We were called to the lanes and everything went
as well as we planned the night before when the scoreboard showed a 6.00. Unfortunately it started to rain when we were called
to the lanes for E2 and it kept on raining for about one hour, which delayed the race and cooled down the race track. Once again
we were called to the lanes and knew that we had to hurry because of a lot of clouds hanging over our heads. Peter was supposed
to meet Kai Selkämäa but he was not able to repair his engine damage from the run before and we had another bye run.
The green light came on, and we could all see that this was a nice run. The scoreboard showed 5.99 seconds at 372.78 kmh, which
was good enough to backing up our previous 375.55 kmh on the 5.96 run for to a new European speed record!
Not running the final against our good friend Steve Wollat was an anti-climax since Steve had run some good numbers on his previous two runs, where he first took out Ian King and after that Petri Paljakka, but just before we were called to the lanes the official UEM Co-ordinator came over to our team and told us that the all racing would have to be stopped due to a 6:00 pm curfew at the Hockenheimring. It's always a bad thing not to be able to finish a race but there is nothing anyone could do to prevent it. We could only be satisfied with the weekend: number one qualifier, two new European records, and a semi-final win before the curfew. Our next appearance will be at the FIA/UEM European Finals at Santa Pod on 8th-11th September, be there! A big thank you to everyone who makes this possible: Kendall Motor Oil Sweden, supplied by Sollebrunns Oljeservice Samek Tool AB, who make some of the best moulding tools in the automotive industry in Sweden CemeCon A/S, one of the best coating companies in Europe when it comes to camshaft coating etc Real Form, product development within mechanical design Romnet, consultants with computer network favours AF Konsult AB, consultants within most electrical installation areas PiPPi, Number 1 when it comes to marketing Jonas Alholt, for welding assistance at most of our races Kjell-Owe Andersson, for lending us his motorhome during the whole season as always For more information about our previous achievements and updates during the off season please visit our web site at www.billetracing.se. You can find photos by our good friend Patrik Jacobsson at www.racebilder.nu, RMA's amateur footage archive at www.youtube.com/watch?v=49HorMigYx8 and our good friend and sponsor Tony Zetterstrom's movie at www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaGZZ3BtOAQ. Bradshaw goes index-blasting. 22nd August: UK HKS Pro, Super Pro ET and Comp Eliminator racer John Bradshaw and Abbey Motorsport would like to thank everyone for their kind words following the team's recent success at Hockenheim where they ran in Comp Eliminator. 
"Taking part in NitrOlympx is something that we as a team have been thinking about for some time now", says John. "We heard great things about the event from numerous people and
were absolutely delighted to have been given the chance to run at the event thank you Jerry Lackey
"It was our first time venturing outside of the UK and what an incredible experience. The sheer scale of the event plus the absolutely brilliant atmosphere and crowds made it something very special indeed for us. We were all very very nervous indeed and were overjoyed at the fact that the car and the team did themselves justice. Due to challenging weather conditions we only had one run per day which really means you have to make the most of that limited opportunity and it obviously piles the pressure on to get it right! "We fitted a brand new engine to the car literally twenty four hours before setting off from the UK - huge thanks to Abbey Motorsport for burning the midnight oil - and we put a conservative tune-up in the car to start with. Run one on the Friday was 7.4/194 mph with the car bogging off the line, but it qualified us fifth - a decent start and the new engine looked good. We made a few changes to clutch settings etc and on run two on the Saturday we dropped our time to 6.9/204 (on a 7.95 index - Ed) which jumped us up to number one qualifier which which was great news. "Come elimination day on Sunday the whole team was really excited. In the quarter finals we tweaked the power a touch and it paid off with a 6.80/208 which was great to see. Then the heavens opened, a real shame as we really wanted to get back out since we were very confident of going lower again, but we can't control the weather. "Hockenheim really reiterated to us that Competition Eliminator is where our car feels happiest and certainly that's where we will concentrate going forward. We hope the class may come back to the UK competition schedule, or a similar doorslammer type class. Super Pro is really not our bag unless we strike very lucky in terms of guesswork as these turbo cars can be very very fickle off the line. We will look to see where we can get the most Comp Eliminator type racing in 2012 and I'm sure that will mean that we will certainly look to run the car in Sweden a couple of times, and Hockenheim again as the classes are very large and very competitive and we would love to take part. The car has been brilliantly consistent this year and we are starting to get a real handle on it. At every event this year the car has been into the sixes which is a great move on from last year. "I would like to thank Abbey Motorsport and the crew for a simply brilliant job yet again. A special thank you to our sponsors Motul, Sanyo, Gizzmo, AET Turbos, Autoglym, Bosch, Kelford Cams, Darton, 6 Boost, Nissan and Performance Motorsport as without their support it simply wouldn't happen. Euro Top Gas Round 6 report. 
22nd August: Last weekend's NitrOlympX was the sixth round of the Euro Serie Super Twin Top Gas Championship
and took place in front of 50,000 spectators writes Herman Jolink.
We had some rain on Friday and then Saturday, on Sunday rain also so we just had the quarter finals and at 18:00 the race had to be stopped. Qualifying after two rounds:
Euro Serie Super Twin Top Gas Championship
Web site updates. 22nd August: In association with Alamo Rent-A-Car we have two exclusive Racer Blog updates for you today. First up is Kalle Lyrén who bring us up to date with events in the Team Veidec Pro Stock Bike operation up to and including last weekend's NitrOlympX. The second update is from Top Methanol Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Derek Flynn who recounts an unhappy weekend at Hockenheim. As ever you can stay in touch with the latest Blog updates by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. In our next update we will have another Blog update from Bennett Racing. Event entry update. 20th August: Many thanks to Shakespeare County Raceway for sending us Version 2 of the official entry list for the Open Sport Nationals, which takes place at SCR on August Bank Holiday 27th-29th August. You can check out the Open Sport Nationals entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Swift snippets. 
20th August: Thanks to Ian of Eurodragster.com sponsor Hauser
Race Cars for forwarding us this shot of the latest car to leave the HRC workshops, the Super Pro ET dragster to be driven by
Scott Hauser. The dragster made its first outing at yesterday's Peak Performance Day at Santa Pod Raceway.
Daniele Fassiti writes that Italy has a new permanent race track, Fly Raceway in Udine. The eighth-mile track (which is due to be extended) is fully prepped and all cars and bikes are welcome to the next event on 24th-25th September. Next year's plan is for six race events plus private test days. More information at www.flyraceway.com and on Facebook. Andy Wheeler of Eurodragster.com sponsor Alamo Rent-A-Car tells us that there is currently a problem booking discounted hire cars in in the USA under the special deal for the drag racing community. Alamo are working hard on a solution; stay tuned. Event entry update. 19th August: Many thanks to Shakespeare County Raceway for sending us Version 1 of the official entry list for the Open Sport Nationals, which takes place at SCR on August Bank Holiday 27th-29th August. You can check out the Open Sport Nationals entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. We expect to receive Open Sport Nationals pitting, running order and scrutineering information from Shakespeare County Raceway over the weekend. SCR have asked us to thank everyone who has supported them at both National Championship events and other meetings in 2011; it is much appreciated in these hard times and when there are races back-to-back for some classes. If you have any queries about the Open Sport Nationals then please contact Shakespeare County Raceway at enquiries@shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk or call 01789 720180. Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall has asked us to remind racers that a fortnight tomorrow, Friday 2nd September, is the closing date for both the VP Racing Fuels National Finals on 24th-25th September and the JapShow Finale on 18th September. You can download the official entry forms for all classes from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. Entry is open for the Custom Gang Drag Race, the fourth and last round of the 2011 ATD French Championship, which will take place at Mende-Brenoux airfield on 10th-11th September. Entry at €90 is now open both for the race and for Run What You Brung. Click here for the race entry form (PDF format) and click here for the RWYB entry form (PDF format). Many thanks to Paula Marshall for forwarding us Version 10 of the official entry list for the FIA European Finals which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 8th-11th September. You can check out the FIA European Finals entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Entry is still open although now subject to a Late Entry fee; you can download the official entry forms for all classes from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc and entry forms for Pro classes are also available on the Speedgroup web site at www.speedgroup.eu. The first NSRA Hot Rod Reunion and Swap Meet takes place at York Raceway on 28th-29th August featuring two days of Hot Rods, dragsters, Championship race cars, Jet Dragster and RWYB strip action including two rounds of Europe's largest all-American car drag racing series American Super Stock, final Rounds of Air-Cooled, Hot Rod Sports Car Challenge, Super Cup, Pro ET and Sportsman ET. York Yaceways first Weekend Swapmeet, bring your stuff to sell, no extra charge! Sunday Night drive into Historic York to see the sights then return to York Raceway for live evening entertainment and enjoy a fully licensed bar, Show and Shine, and trophies for class winners. Want to know how fast your ride is over the quarter mile? Then enter the special Hot Rod And Custom RWYB open all weekend, who knows you might just win a trophy! On Sunday evening the 34th Annual Street Racer Championship, the hardest Championship known to the street-legal race cars, takes place. Not only are their wits up against it but so are car designs and set-ups too. Held after a long day's racing, Street Racer Championship has one round of qualifying. The only rest these cars are going to have is whilst the ladder and pairing up is taking place. Once everything is ready the cars race. It's heads-up and once a car wins it's straight round and into the fire up lane immediately ready to go up against the next car in the next race. No cool down time. The engines don't even get turned off. This continues until there is only one car left and is crowned the winner. This is pushing the cars to the limit with the drivers having to use their best drag racing brains to ensure their car reaches the final without cooking, over heating or breaking which regularly happens. More information at www.yorkraceway.co.uk. Europe's World Champion. 
19th August: Congratulations to ex-pat UK Top Alcohol Dragster racer Mike Manners of Eurodragster.com sponsor
Cosmo Residences who clinched the IHRA Pro Fuel World Championship
at the weekend's IHRA Northern Nitro Jam at Martin, Michigan.
"I runnered-up in the Jeg's Allstars at Chicago", Mike told Eurodragster.com. "We were a little inconsistent but it seemed like everyone other than Jim Whiteley (who won) was. This weekend I won the IHRA Championship by thirteen points over Bill Evans in the Black Pearl. We did not win any additional Ironmen but had a couple of good runs. "The Saturday race was rain-delayed until Sunday. We had a good run and made the final but burned a head a little. Our right side engine/clutch guy was taken to hospital on Saturday night with a kidney stone and without him we were concerned we would not be able to strip and rebuild the motor in time to make it back for the final. IHRA only allocates points after a run so a No Show in the final would have meant no points and no World Championship, so we just gently ran the car as it was. It ran an eight flat at 158 mph on the throttle stop. "This week we go to Brainerd for the NHRA National event. We think we have got good data on the car and hope to have a good weekend." You will be able to stay in touch with Mike's progress courtesy of our Drag Race Central colleagues at www.dragracecentral.com. Erbacher's NitrOlympX. 19th August: The NitrOlympX is always the biggest race of the season for Swiss Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Urs Erbacher as Hockenheim is only two hours from Urs' base in Arlesheim. A lot of Swiss fans were there to watch Urs in his Top Fueller, Lorenz Stäuble in Supertwin, and Noah Stutz in Super Comp and Urs and his thirty five-strong crew had their hands full with two hundred guests in hospitality. Urs has been in touch to let us know how the weekend went for Team Erbacher: We didn't do that well in qualifying. The Top Fueller ran like an ET bracket car but the times was the same, 5.19, 5.18 and 5.16. The car wasn't moving right and we couldn't find a set-up to get down the track as normal. So we qualified number seven. Saturday evening we were happy to have an extra test in the Night Show. We swapped the engine and it all looked good at the Night Show before the car went up in smoke after two seconds. On Sunday morning I knew I needed to cut a very good light. Stig put us in the right lane. The engine was back on the old horsepower and the car left well but went up in smoke really early so we lost against Stig. I found out that in the Night Show the big Jet Truck burned oil on the track and it wasn't just a little. So in mitigation all the cars in the right lane had the same problem as us. Luckily for us Risto pulled a red light and Anita lost in the first round. Only Timo got through the first round. After the race was cut short it doesn't look that bad for the Championship because TJ Jr is out of the Championship at the moment. So the whole Championship is still open and we plan to do it like last year, win the Championship in the very last race in the very last event. Lorenz had the same problem, he was not able to find the right set-up and lost in the first round. Only one of our Erbacher Racing Team was really good, Noah Stutz was top qualifier in Super Comp and won in the first round. We are already at home in the shop. The best thing about the whole weekend was no damage! We will take everything apart and try to find our horsepower. We will go to Santa Pod very well-prepared and maybe we will test before the race. We had a team talk today and we realised that whoever won the Main Event always wins the Championship. But this year the Main Event was rained out so it looked open. But the next thing is that if you look at our team, when we have won the Championship we have always won the first race in England. This year our first race in England was the Easter Thunderball and we won that one! So it all looks positive, and it is still possible. We'll see you at Santa Pod. Hanssen's broken bolt. 19th August: If you were tuned in to our coverage of the weekend's NitrOlympX you will recall that then-leader in the FIA European Top Methanol Dragster Championship Fred Hanssen appeared to have problems staging and then launching in his first round race against Dennis Habermann. Fred's tuner Will Hanna got in touch to enlarge upon the pit note which Fred subsequently gave to Simon: We bent the bolt on which the clutch linkage bellcrank pivots. It bent in such a way that it closed the airgap on the clutch significantly. So the car pushed Fred through the beams once he brought it up to the stage RPM. While he did have a bad light, given the situation, he actually did a good job of giving us a chance to win by not red-lighting. When you reach that situation where you are trying to keep from rolling through, there isn't much you can do besides take the green. The culprit appears to be a worn bellcrank, which sideloaded the bolt, hence bending it. Rest assured the assembly will be all new for the finals. With Dave Wilson going to another final, he has taken a nine-point lead over us. Basically what that means is that it's a sprint to the finish for the Championship. We have to go one more round than him. Conceivably we could qualify number one and Dave would have to qualify no better than sixth, but anyone who wants to place a bet on him qualifying that far down the field come see me on Thursday, because I'm surely not counting on it. Timo has an outside chance, but is mathematically eliminated from the Championship if Dave qualifies any higher than sixth. He could still catch us if he runs the table of top qualifier, Low ET and win and we lose first round. The class is so tough that any one of the eight qualifiers can step up at any time. Hopefully we will get some good weather because the Championship chases in both of the Methanol categories should provide a great show for the fans at the European Finals! Hats off to Dave Wilson and the rest of the Top Methanol Dragster class for a great year of competition. As I said in an E-Mail to him yesterday, may the best man be the last man standing on Sunday. From race fan to Top Fuel crew. 19th August: Eurodragster.com reader Mick Elshaw has been a drag racing fan for thirty five years - the kind of fan who is on the spectator bank from the first pair of Pro ET on day one to the last final. Mick had never given much thought to becoming involved either as a racer or as crew because it would necessarily limit his spectating. However, that all changed when Mick saw Andy Carter's plea here on Eurodragster.com for a truck driver to take the Lucas Oil Team West-Tec Top Fuel Dragster operation to Hockenheim. Mick got in touch to tell us about his weekend: I have always wanted to go to a European round of racing, and Hockenheim was at the top of my list because of the legendary Night Show. Next thing I knew, I was on the phone with Andy sorting out with insurance for the truck, ferries, booking nights off work, and planning my trip. I went to collect the truck, met a couple of the crew who were to travel with me, and set off. We arrived late Wednesday night but were unable to get into the track until Thursday morning. I got the truck parked up and thought that was my job done until the long drive back, but oh how wrong I was! We started to get all the equipment out of the trailer and I couldn't believe the amount of stuff there was. I helped where I could setting up the awning, getting tool boxes out, generally getting the garage organised. I had been told that the car had been fired up before the journey so was ready to go, but still the crew worked all day getting everything ready. The clutch man was grinding clutches all day, the bottom end man was preparing the spare engine, sorting pistons etc, the top end men were getting lots of plugs gapped and ready, sorting fuel systems...they worked all day long on a car which was "ready"! I was then told about the trailer. They had spent many weekends travelling to the workshop to build the trailer which has sleeping room for six crew upstairs, a lounge with TV and sofa bed, work tops, cupboards downstairs, they built all their tool cabinets, just too much to mention. I realised that just getting a car to a track and getting it ready to race was an immense amount of work. Then came the big news. They needed someone to drive the tow car, and they were looking at me! Standing on the start line while a couple of Top Fuel cars launched has always been a dream of mine, but one I never thought I would achieve. And now here I was, in Germany, with a Top Fuel team, and the job of tow car driver! I couldn't believe it. 
The time came for Q1 and we were ready. It's no secret that this team has struggled this year, but optimism was high. I was ready, but having not even seen the track yet I was very
nervous, but the team were ace - very reassuring, and telling me it would all be fine. We got the call and towed down to the right lane. I pulled forward, then reversed so the car could
be started, the tension was almost unbearable. Stig was to my left, both cars pulled forward and did side-by side burnouts, it was unreal, the car I was in shook so much. I pulled the
car to the side, and got out to watch the run. Then it happened, a big one ticked off my bucket list. Andy launched well but then smoked the tyres, bugger. The power of these cars when
they launch is unreal. There are no words to describe it, I was in complete awe. Then I remembered that I was to go and get the car from the top end and I didn't know the way! Again,
the crew who came with me were ace, very calming and reassuring. We went and got Andy, then towed back to the pits. I must have done OK as they were OK with me doing it again!
The crew got the car prepared but didn't make Q2, so we would have to wait for the next day to see if they had got the problems sorted. After a night of relaxing, having a laugh with the crew, Saturday came, and again, I towed the car down. A little more confident this time as I knew what to expect. The car again launched well, but then dropped a couple of cylinders, started to smoke the tyres, then a flash of fire. Bugger. So lots more work for the crew, but we were in the show, qualified eighth so up against Thomas Nataas driving the unbeaten Andersen car. No pressure, but we were all very confident that the crew had got to the bottom of the problems and could take them out. This is drag racing, anything can happen. We towed round to the right hand lane, where everyone before us had smoked the tyres. We did the same, so that was it. Out. Time to service the car, pack up, and go home. All that work and the car was on the throttle for a total of around twelve seconds. I know people know that getting a car ready to race is hard, any race car or bike, but just how hard? It takes over your life. I saw the other side this weekend, just how hard all these racers work for just a few seconds. How much time and money goes in to getting to the track before even turning a wheel and you may not even get down the track: you might travel hundreds or even thousands of miles, to just sit in the rain. So why do they do it? God knows. I guess the same reason I carry my chair and box of beer to the bank to sit there for as long as it takes to watch every race. The same reason the Eurodragster.com staff work so hard to bring us all the news we need and the commentators sit in the tower all day long. This sport gets under your skin, and once you're hooked, you're hooked. I would like to thank Andy for this opportunity, and I would also like to thank the crew, Ben (you can have a point for that) Allum, Neil (the naked monkey boy) Collins, Richard (don't kneel on his mat) Bruton, Gareth (don't try and give him vegatables) Robinson, Roger (he can reach really high things) Neil, Sarah and Tina for feeding me, and Eurodragster.com for existing: if it wasn't for you I wouldn't have done it (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed). I had the best time of my life, and even if I never do it again I have made some really good friends. This could be you as Andy Carter tells us that he needs a crew member for the FIA European Finals: check out Swift snippets below. FB racing pumped up. 
19th August: It's been all go in the camp of UK Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer Ian Hook and the FB Racing team since they issued an appeal
for the loan of a fuel pump to enable them to run at next week's Open Sport Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway:
Firstly I must say a massive thank you to all those in Eurodragster.com Land who offered us the loan of a fuel pump. We had so many offers that I won't list them, as I'm bound to miss someone out, but I must single out Nev Mottershead who contacted me soon after the appeal went out and was even happy to get the pump delivered to us! It just goes to show that whilst some communities are tearing themselves apart the camaraderie and generosity amongst drag racers remains second to none. As it turned out we didn't have to take up any of the offers as our new pump turned up in plenty of time thanks to some superb service from Jegs. Surprisingly, this is the first time I have used the company and I must say it has been a very pleasant experience, apart from paying the bill of course! They kept me informed of the status of my order every step of the way including updates on postage costs and delivery and the parts arrived very quickly and with the minimum of fuss. As soon as the pump was here FB crewmen Martin (Brain) and Paul set to and the '34 now has a new pump and regulator fitted, wired and plumbed. Now we have no excuse not to go quick and we are looking forward to trying out our new-found horsepower at Shakey in two weeks' time. Once again, thanks to all those who offered pumps and to Eurodragster.com for publishing our appeal (You're welcome - Ed). Swift snippets. 19th August: UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Andy Carter is seeking a cylinder head technician to work on the Lucas Oil-sponsored dragster at the FIA European Finals and maybe into the 2012 season. "Experience is not 100% necessary as tuition will be given", says Andy. "You need to be fit and ready to work long hours, and a non-smoker". For more details, or to volunteer, contact Andy on 07860 405060 or E-Mail cartermotorsport@hotmail.co.uk. 
UK Super Modified team Sticky Situation Racing was proud to support Camauto Developments and Goodridge Ltd at last weekend's Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, says Sarah Payne.
"Nigel Payne's Corvette stood proudly outside the 100 Club marquee showcasing its Goodridge hosing for all to see", says Sarah. "The very popular event also included a hot air balloon mass ascent
of over eighty balloons which produced an amazing spectacle in the Bristol sky. Later in the evening the superb Nightglow sponsored by Goodridge took place. Over twenty balloons
glowed in time to music which was an unforgettable sight. Thank you to Camauto Developments and
Goodridge Ltd for giving us the opportunity to join them at this spectacular event."
Andy B writes that the Doomsday Impala has become a video star courtesy of Jay of V8TV. "Jay runs a multimedia web site and made a kick-butt feature of the Doomsday Impala along with footage from the Mopar Euronats and our photos", says Andy. "The car was teetering on the 9.0 mark all weekend with a weekend best of 8.94/147. Jay uploaded the feature to Streetfire.net which made it a Spotlight Video and it has had nearly 46,000 views so far. Jay has done some really nice video work on other projects too, well worth a look". You can check out the Doomsday feature, which includes in-car footage, by clicking here. We are very pleased to be able to confirm that Eurodragster.com's US Correspondent, the popular and currently un-fired Ed O'Connell, will again be joining our Alamo Rent A Car-sponsored Event Coverage team at the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway. Carey's best weekend. 19th August: UK Top Fuel Bike racer Steve Carey had a very successful weekend at the weekend's Bulldog Bash at Shakespeare County Raceway and got in touch to tell us all about it: Firstly we would like to say thanks to Dicko, Sarah, Chris and all the HA involved in Bulldog Bash 25. We all had a great time, and the fireworks must be the best I've seen. Thanks also to the track crew for the prep which enabled us to run a new Personal Best ET of 6.593, and a speed two miles per hour below my PB of 205 mph. The half-track time was 4.294/174.25. This was done on our last run on Saturday. The other runs were a 7.6, 7.4, and a shredded primary belt so it was good to show the crowd what a Top Fuel bike is capable of. I'd run two 1.08 sixty foots on the two seven-second runs, and the sixty for this run was 1.103. Having run a 1.04 sixty foot time at the Main event, I'm quite looking forward to the European Finals, where we can aim to better the 6.59 and 207, but as always it's what happens on the day that counts so we will just try our best and see what happens. The Phil Baimbridge Racing / Pete Davies Pumas both did well last weekend, Steve Woollatt in Germany, and us in England, taking into account that the engines are twenty one years old this year, it's a credit to Phil and Pete for their designs and all the work they have done over the years. Thanks must go to my crew of Paul Kennard, Bob Lovett, and Annette Trangmar for all their help and support. Thanks also to NGK Spark Plugs UK Ltd, Fred Furlong at Furlong Tyres, Earls Performance, John Torring, Weruwise Bexhill, Kent Bearings, Phoenix Motorcycles, Top Gear Motorsport Bexhill, and to everybody else who helps or supports us. The Junkies do the Bulldog. 
19th August: UK Top Fuel Bike racer Kev Charman, Funny Bike racer Lizz McCarthy, and Junior Drag Bike racer Jake
Charman were also invited to make demonstration passes at the Bulldog Bash and had a great weekend. Kev writes:
Jake and I went up on Wednesday, the two bikes already polished and checked over, whilst the Fuel bike was arriving with Rene van den Berg on the Thursday. Once Rene arrived we set up, wheelie bars on, and just waited for the arrival of various crew and rider, Binzi, Bryony, Chris, Klaus and Lizzy on Thursday evening. Friday came, the weather was on side, and the RWYB started. We started up the all bikes, checked for leaks, and waited until demo time. I had really wanted Lizzy to do a test run, to iron out any gremlins before the demos, as we had had issues again with the nitrous not working, but this was not to be. The stunt riders started their routine, which was our cue to get lined up in front of the wall, and ready for racing. Jake was racing against Scott Collier, Lizzy against Ken Cooper, which she found too funny for words - something to do with him being a bit of a hero! - and I would be doing a pass on my own. Jake's run was OK, but we were trying to find a clutch set up as the track was very sticky which was causing problems, but overall he was happy. Lizz was going to do a normally aspirated pass, and did a stonking burnout to a big cheer from the crowd. Ken being very gentlemanly let her go first, a .2 reaction, a 1.20 sixty foot, not too shabby for a normally aspirated run, and then hit the rev limiter. The bike just wasn't changing gear, so she shut off, and coasted up the track whilst Ken stormed past, and took the win, leaving her to push the bike to the end before someone came to rescue her. Lizz managed to hobble back to the start line to start me up, and see me back! My run was good, strong burnout, and good and straight, pushed back , launched, and ran a 7.0/196, good start, but we had to find the 6 second passes again! Back to the pits, did the usual maintenance on my bike and Jake's, then onto Lizzy's. Took the clutch out, and then Klaus discovered that the reason the bike wasn't changing gear was because the shifter had detached itself from the ram! Relief that we didn't have to drop the sump and change gear selectors. The bike was happily going through all the gears so we got ready for the second run of the day. Again Jake's run was OK, still struggling a bit with a very sticky track, but got to the other end. Lizzy got to the other end, but still had big problems with shifting, or not as the case may be. After one more attempt at getting up the track, and locking the gearbox up, and having to take the chain off to get towed back, she sulkily agreed that this was no place to be attempting to repair it. I had problems of my own, I broke the drive chain last run so we checked the engine and found a problem with the valves not sealing. Again, my amazing crew came up trumps time and time again. Rene asked if we were here to race, or here to party, so we took the head off lapped the valves (fortunately none were damaged) and re-did the clearances eventually getting finished at about 3:00 am, to be continued after a bit of sleep. My proudest moment of the weekend, not only having the whole of the Nitrous Junkie riders racing at the Bulldog, but coming back down the strip after my last run 7.0/197) with my son Jake. We have some work to do on Lizzy's bike before the National Finals, and we are both hoping to get to test before the European and National Finals. We would all like to wish Lizzy all the best for her knee operation, and hope this one is a success. Big thanks to all our Super Crew. You guys and girls are all totally awesome - front man Rene Van den Berg, Chris Pyke, Binzi, Lizzy's new International crew "Yellow" Klaus Brinkman, and new team member Bryony Wadkin-Snaith. A mention must also go to the Hell's Angels for organizing another superb bash, Status Quo, Bad Manners and The Dammed are still great showmen! Big thanks too to Chris, Dicko and Sarah for the invite, and hope we will get invited again! Outlaws at the Bash. 19th August: The UK's Supercharged Outlaws also had a great weekend at the Bulldog Bash, approving of the good weather, great bands on stage, and some awesome track action. Dave McKenzie writes: The Outlaws rolled up on Friday for the first showcase with four cars belonging to Lee Gallimore, Alec and Tom Coe, Steve Goode and Dave Mckenzie. The first drama of the weekend soon happened. Eddie Fryer, Lee's crewman - on permanent loan from Team Thing, he is never with us! - managed to slice his thumb while fitting the wing on the Red Mist car, it was a trip to the medical center for Eddie. First match-up was Lee versus Dave. Both cars pulled big smoky burnouts to delight the crowd then reversed up and chirped to the line. It was Lee away first then Dave made a move towards the right hand barrier and had to lift but Lee stormed through at 7.6 seconds.Next pair out was Alec Coe in the slingshot versus Steve Goode in the Funny Car, both cars sounded strong on the burnouts and it was Alec who took the win with Steve lifting of the throttle after the launch. Steve was happy because after all the bad luck he has had this last two years the engine held out on this run. Back into the pits and another drama started to unfold. Lee found the chassis had split near the front right wheel. Steve Goode said "Get it onto your trailer and take it to my workshop, I will weld it up for you" - Steve's workshop is about six mile from SCR. The other three teams did their between-rounds maintenance and were waiting for the call for the second showcase when more drama, Dave McKenzie got a wasp in his mouth and was stung near his tonsil, running to the Medical Centre frightened that his throat would swell up cutting of his airways. After being checked out and observed for half an hour Dave was discharged and told to think about not racing his car that evening, and to drink plenty of water and no alcohol. This being the Bulldog Bash Dave totally disregarded their advice and did both the next run and drank beer in the evening (you just have to at the Bulldog). Dave got back to the pits just in time to suit up and tow down for the second showcase. Just when we were about to tow down Lee arrived back in the pits with his chassis welded up and repainted around the welds. As the car was being unloaded from the trailer Lee was putting in the spark plugs while the crew refitted the fuel tank. Lee made the call, a big Supercharged Outlaw thanks goes to Steve Goode. This round we ran singles with Dave going out first. Dave launched on the transbrake wheels up and into second gear the car the started to move about so Dave played safe and lifted. Lee then came round in the repaired Red Mist car and the now-normal Gallimore burnout and run. Lee said the tyres were spinning all the way down the track but still managed to run a seven. Steve did not come out due to helping Lee. Finally it was Alec's turn and a flame burnout was the card Alec played Tom poured the petrol and then ignited it. It did seem an age before both wheels were on fire and Alec eventually did his burnout out much to the delight of the packed grandstands. What a great way to close the outlaws show on day one of Bulldog Bash 25. Day two of the Bulldog and the third showcase with Paul Watts turning up from the Isle of Wight with the No Easy Pick at midnight on Friday to keep the Outlaws to four cars as Steve Goode had to replace all the valves and sort out the cylinder heads - not damaged on his first run it was new ones which arrived while at the track and he decided to fit them. He then decided to wait to the next Outlaws points round before running again. This round saw Tom up against Dave, another couple of side by side burnouts and Dave was signaled by the start line crew that it was a bye run. Dave ran his first nine-second pass of the weekend with a high gear-only run just to get the car down the track and managed a straight run all the way down to the finish line. More drama though, when Dave returned to the pits he found he had broken the wheelie bar mount. It was all happening this weekend! Tom had been shut down because a Dzus fastener had come out and the belly pan was hanging down. The crew soon refitted and Tom made his run, again down in the sevens. Next pair was Lee against Paul Watts, boys against men. Lee was long gone but Paul chased him hard running a PB in the No Easy Pick Up. The final show case was at 5:00 pm Saturday evening. The first pair out were Paul and Dave, Paul did his rolling burnout while Dave did his now usual long smoky burnout hugging the left barrier for a while and stopping near the eighth mile marker. This turned out to be a great side by side race with both cars neck and neck to the finish line, Dave ran a quicker but losing time of 9.2 at 149 mph while Paul ran a 9.3, another PB. With Tom's and Lee's planned side-by-side fire burnouts called off at the last minute the two cars pulled round for conventional burnouts. More drama (does it never end?) as Lee got his burn out a bit screwed up and ended up in front of Tom in Tom's lane. Lee calmly drove back into his own lane and reversed back to the start line (Lee missed all the timing blocks, great driving job), backed up and into stage both cars side by side all the way to the finish line and both cars running sevens with Tom taking the win over Lee. This closed the Supercharged Outlaws show for the 2011 25th Anniversary Bulldog Bash. The Supercharged Outlaws would like to say a really big thank you to Dicko and Sarah for inviting them to the Bulldog for the fourth year in a row. We are really looking forward to being invited back in 2012. Also a big thank you to the track crew and marshals who again did a fantastic job with the track, especially on Saturday when the track was brilliant. Well done guys. Well done to the HA for putting on a great event and long may the Bash continue. UK Outlaw Street Round 6. 19th August: The sixth round of the UK's Outlaw Street was held over the legendary Mopar EuroNats at Santa Pod Raceway, the must-attend event for any American Muscle car fan and a long standing firm favourite for all Outlaw Street members. Mark Wallington writes: Over the course of the three days over twenty five members attended putting their cars through their paces down the track with another ten or more members who came along, minus cars either due to breakages or to ongoing restoration projects, to simply soak up the atmosphere and enjoy the racing. Clearly the sun gods are muscle car fans as the weather was glorious all weekend and made for some great track conditions (and suntans). There was plenty of track time all weekend with many members racking runs up into double figures, trying to chase that elusive new PB or Reaction Trophy. For several members the Mopar EuroNatrs was their first outing for the 2011 Outlaw Street season and they couldn't have picked a better weekend to shake off the racing cobwebs. First-time shows included Allan Matthews in his stunning '69 Fastback Mustang, Spencer Chittenden in his equally amazing '69 Fastback, Andy Bond in his Street Eliminator-prepped Mustang, Chris Richards in his long-awaited twin-turbo Mustang, and Phil Davey in his truly unique Morris. The American Car magazine year's free subscription was won by Ian Mather in his Apple Pro Street Escort with 221 points for the weekend. This was a fitting win for Ian who was in his final outing in the car before it passes on to new owners. Everyone was seriously competing to try to win one of the Joe & Co-sponsored RT Trophies over the weekend with only 0.0674 splitting first and sixth places. The trophy in the end was split by a truly amazing 0.0095 between second place contender Trudy Slater in her Cosworth-powered Morris Minor and winner Rob Slater in his ProD treet '57 Chevy. Yes that's right, Trudy and Rob are a husband and wife team who both run their own cars in the series. Not sure I'd want to be in Rob's shoes when Trudy finds out he's stolen the trophy from under her nose. Reaction Times OS-21 Rob Slater in his 1957 Chevy 0.0328 OS-27 Trudy Slater in her Morris Minor 0.0423 OS-42 Nigel Jenkins in his supercharged Mustang 0.0461 OS-50 Roy Collins in his big block 1970s Camaro 0.0563 OS-33 Jeff Thurston in his pro street Mustang 0.0811 OS-18 Vic Fisher in his supercharged Mustang 0.1002 2011 Outlaw Street Points Table as of Round 6 OS-26 Steve Adams in his 1999 Mustang 1072 points OS-18 Vic Fisher in his Supercharged Mustang 1056 OS-07 Andrew Murton in his 1968 Camaro 906 OS-42 Nigel Jenkins in his Supercharged Mustang 853 OS-13 Stuart Ramsay in his 1967 Camaro 694 OS-46 Phil in his Fox body Mustang 668 With only 404 points separating the top six, and 200+ points available at each of the three rounds left this season, there is everything to race for. The next round of Outlaw Street OS-7 is at Santa Pod Raceway on 3rd-4th September. Allard Chrysler catch-up. 19th August: Cases of the Allard Celebration Ale launched at Dragstalgia are now available by post from the award-winning Hogs Back Brewery at £50 per case of twelve 500 ml bottles including postage and packing in UK. Allard Chrysler Action Group Chair Brian Taylor writes: 
This is a very limited production run so each bottle is a collector's item as well as a great chilled drink. Of most importance
is the fact that the Allard Chrysler dragster restoration fund receives a sizeable percentage of all sales revenue. Contact
brian@allardchrysler.org and I will put you in direct contact
with the brewery shop. But act swiftly before stocks of the first batch are depleted.
The Allard Chrysler Action Group is organising a tour of Hogs Back Brewery for its supporters and this includes generous sampling with hot food after the tour provided by John Hunt. Each tour group can accommodate up to fourteen people and the tour takes around an hour and a half with start times of 1:00 pm, 3:30 pm or 6:00 pm. The first available date is Saturday 3rd September. The Hogs Back Brewery is based in a Sixteenth Century farmhouse building in Tongham, Surrey and has been brewing beers since 1992. It now supplies in excess of 57,000 pints of beer every week to over 1,000 outlets. Those interested in a tour should immediately ll select the most convenient times to keep our groups together. If the numbers do not stack up for this date we will have to go for a day in October. Don't forget the closing date for bids on the latest original Paul Whitehouse painting of the 1961 Allard Chrysler dragster is at the end of this month. The painting shows the car at Silverstone in 1963 and is signed by Nick Mason and Alan Allard. It is also mounted, glazed and framed. Visit www.allardchrysler.org, select merchandise and the Allardart-prints tab. It is Print 3 but remember you are bidding for the original painting. We have already received two healthy bids and if you are interested contact brian@allardchrysler.org and he will give you the latest information on the highest bid so far. Finally, Australian ACAG supporter Murray Roberts has entered an ACAG shirt signed by Nick Mason in the Motor Classica Show auction organised by Bonhams in Melbourne, Australia during October. Hopefully it will raise a few funds. Adaptive Technology from ARRC. 
19th August: While engine power and clutch tuning are the keys to success in many classes of racing they are only effective if the
underlying chassis set-up has been optimised.
Two new products from Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson Race Cars offer the opportunity
for improved suspension adjustment compared with conventional offerings.
Starting at the front of the car ARRC can now provide adjustable top mounts for the strut suspension which is used on many tube-framed cars. The normal way of adjusting front ride height is to move the coil-over spring platform on the strut. While this does change the ride height it also moves the spring relative to the shock and may limit travel in compression or rebound away from the optimum. This new top mount allows the travel to remain unchanged while still varying the ride height. At the back of the car it's four-link adjustments which are key. However many holes are provided on the chassis plates it seems that there isn't an option which gives the perfect relationship between tyre contact patch, instant centre and centre of gravity. ARRC's new double adjustable four-link plates offer a wider choice of angles and the opportunity to get closer to the perfect set-up. This arrangement gives around nine hundred possible combinations as compared to fifty with conventional plates. Whilst not all of these are sensible it gives some idea of the scale of the improvement. Both these products have been designed in-house by Luke and Andy Robinson using their Ironcad system and CNC machined from chromoly based on an exported 3D model. They will be offered as options on all new ARRC chassis; they can also be retrofitted to most existing chassis or can be purchased as a stand-alone item. Although the pictures are of a Pro Mod chassis these enhanced suspension components can be fitted to almost any car with a strut front or four-link rear including Sportsman classes. You can contact Andy Robinson Race Cars through their web site at www.robinson-race-cars.co.uk. Web site updates. 19th August: Our good buddy Anders Envall has updated his Team Blackout Fullsize Racing web site with a report of his weekend at the NDRS Nationals II. You can check out Bostic's characteristically-entertaining report via the News link at www.blackout.nu. Now showing on the US' Drag Racing Online site is the third instalment in Mike Collins' biography of Harlan Thompson. You can take a look at the fruits of Mike's labours at www.dragracingonline.com. Our good buddy Alan Currans has updated his excellent Acceleration Archive with a thirteenth page of his own motorcycle pictures which focuses on the Street and Pro Street classes from way back when. There are thirty nine images in all and many of the big hitters of the day are featured including Chris Russell, Terry Revill, Mick Carter, Les Armes, Brian Johnson and many more. Alan's pictures can be viewed via the What's New link at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. Event entry update. 18th August: Entry is still open for the Open Sport Nationals, which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway on August Bank Holiday 27th-29th August. Racers are reminded that the Pit Allocation form must be completed and returned with their entry for this event even if they attended the Springspeed Nationals earlier in the year. Racers not completing the form will get the standard pit space allocation and no more. You can download the entry form from the Downloads page at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com. We expect to receive the first version of the official entry list later on today (Thursday). Entry is open for the Custom Gang Drag Race, the fourth and last round of the 2011 ATD French Championship, which will take place at Mende-Brenoux airfield on 10th-11th September. Entry at €90 is now open both for the race and for Run What You Brung. Click here for the race entry form (PDF format) and click here for the RWYB entry form (PDF format). Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall for forwarding us Version 9 of the official entry list for the FIA European Finals which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 8th-11th September. You can check out the FIA European Finals entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Entry is still open although now subject to a Late Entry fee; you can download the official entry forms for all classes from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc and entry forms for Pro classes are also available on the Speedgroup web site at www.speedgroup.eu. Editor's note. 18th August: Piling Pelion upon Ossa, not only is your News Editor still weary from the weekend but he is also snowed under in his day job. We will try to post a further news update at lunchtime but if not then it's going to be a late evening. Please keep the NitrOlympX reviews and other news coming to news@eurodragster.com and we'll post it here. Thiel our first European Champion. 17th August: It's not often that your News Editor gets his maths right but Palle Lind has kindly confirmed our belief that Danish Pro Stock Bike racer Jesper Thiel has become the first European Champion of 2011. Jesper's post-NitrOlympX lead of 135 points is enough to clinch the UEM Pro Stock Bike title as a total of 126 points will be available at the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway in a few weeks' time. Our congratulations to Jesper and the Sovereign-backed team. You can check out the current UEM European Drag Bike Championships points standings on our Speedflow-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the Speedflow Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Event entry update. 17th August: Entry is still open for the Open Sport Nationals, which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway on August Bank Holiday 27th-29th August. Racers are reminded that the Pit Allocation form must be completed and returned with their entry for this event even if they attended the Springspeed Nationals earlier in the year. Racers not completing the form will get the standard pit space allocation and no more. You can download the entry form from the Downloads page at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com. Entry is open for the Custom Gang Drag Race, the fourth and last round of the 2011 ATD French Championship, which will take place at Mende-Brenoux airfield on 10th-11th September. Entry at €90 is now open both for the race and for Run What You Brung. Click here for the race entry form (PDF format) and click here for the RWYB entry form (PDF format). Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall for forwarding us Version 8 of the official entry list for the FIA European Finals which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 8th-11th September. You can check out the FIA European Finals entry list by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Entry is still open although now subject to a Late Entry fee; you can download the official entry forms for all classes from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc and entry forms for Pro classes are also available on the Speedgroup web site at www.speedgroup.eu. Anita takes up smoking. 
17th August: Finnish Top Fuel Dragster racer Anita Mäkelä says that after high hopes the NitrOlympX
at Hockenheim didn't turn our quite as she thought it would:
Qualifying with a 4.926 gave us the third place and we had a lot of confindence in our car. But the Nigh Show gave us a hint that even when you put in your best effort it isn't enough. I did a looooooooong burnout just to show how girls can have fun and I got ready to run even quicker into the Hockenheim night. Suddenly, just before pre-stage, the car started to sound as if there was no fuel (For those who weren't there it sounded like "Ba-lub-lub-lub-lub...lub" - Ed). I didn't get the signal from Crew Chief Sami to go into pre-stage, only to shut it off. What a disappointment! Afterwards we found out that the barrel valve had broken. Up against Micke Kågered on Sunday morning and our hopes were high again. Instant tyre smoke didn't give any chance to run at all. Instant smoke has been so rare, I couldn't believe that it happened. And I know I held the pedal down for too long wondering "What?" and that must mean that the engine over-revved. A quick pedal wouldn't have given us much more than more smoke and pieces of engine everywhere. I had a word with Tommy Johnson Jr and asked what he would do in that situation. He said that a soft half-pedal would move the car, so that will be the case next time, if it ever happens again. But how so you soft-pedal a Top Fuel Dragster? I need more practice! I always enjoy being at Hockenheim. And thank you Jerry Lackey for your kind words at Sunday evening's banquet. I can't make any promises to run better next year, but I hope that the target is obvious even without any words. Top Fuellers are just so difficult! Swift snippets. 
17th August: Regular readers of our Alamo Rent A Car-sponsored
Event Coverage will know that we have a bit of a habit of posting end-day galleries from eateries as diverse as Wellingborough Pizza Hut and an Indian
restaurant in Uppsala. Just to prove we don't make this stuff up the picture at right, kindly sent by Pete Bellenie, shows your team working on Sunday's
NitrOlympX gallery at the post-race trophy presentation and dinner.
Our best wishes for a rapid recovery to NitrOlympX media rep Christine Calwer who suffered a badly broken arm in a fall at the NitrOlympX on Sunday. Husband Peter Calwer tells us that Christine tripped whilst sprinting to the Media Centre (She heard that one of the Eurodragster.com Editors had opened their wallet - Ed). Christine has already had one operation on what is a complicated fracture with more to come. Lots of hugs and love Kiesi and maybe now you'll believe that exercise is intrinsically evil. Santa Pod Raceway still have places left for this Friday's (19th) Peak Performance Day which James Foster says offers an ideal opportunity to test before Saturday's Rotorstock and which is one of the few chances left to test before the FIA European Finals. For more details check out www.rwyb.com. No news update yesterday which meant that we were unfortunately unable to wish Leah Hinchcliffe a Happy Birthday on the day. So we'll do it now: Happy Birthday for yesterday Leah and hope you had a lovely day. Web site updates. 17th August: Our good buddy Remco Scheelings has posted NitrOlympX reports and pictures on the Autosport.nl web site. Remco has posted two updates: a race report and pictures which you can view by clicking here, and a photo report of more off-beat events which you can view by clicking here. Both are well worth a look even if you can't read Dutch. Another chum, Wolfgang Shick, has posted sets of Hockenheim Public Race Day and NitrOlympX pictures on his web site at www.ws-foto.eu. Editor's note: Your News Editor is still wiped out from the weekend and needs sleep so there is a small backlog of news which we shall clear on the next news update. Please keep the NitrOlympX reviews and other news coming to news@eurodragster.com and we'll post it here. NitrOlympX curtailed. 15th August: The weekend's NitrOlympX at Hockenheim could not be completed after heavy rain hit the track mid-afternoon. Although the track crew got the strip dry and eliminations recommenced, and although the organisers negotiated a curfew extension, Pro classes could only complete their semi-finals and a number of Sportsman classes were not able to get that far. Rain had also caused considerable delays on both Friday and Saturday with the inevitable deleterious effects upon the running orders. The following European records were set, subject to official ratification: UEM Top Fuel Bike ET: 5.964 seconds, Peter Svensson UEM Top Fuel Bike speed: 375.55 kmh / 233.36 mph, Peter Svensson Jesper Thiel recorded the fastest-ever terminal speed in European Pro Stock Bike with a 309.44 kmh (192.28 mph) in qualifying but ran out of chances to back it up. On our understanding of the UEM points system Jesper has actually clinched the 2011 UEM European Pro Stock Bike Championship but we shall await official word on that. Congratulations to Super Pro ET racer Marc Henney who won the €60 Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET Award with a 7.660 on 7.66 dial-in during the last round of Super Pro ET which was able to run. During the course of the race, Supertwin racer Roel Koedam and Pro Modified racer Rolf Ammann announced their retirements from the sport. You can check out our Alamo Rent-A-Car sponsored NitrOlympX reports, pictures and pit notes by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Our good buddy Mathias Schneider has posted some great shots on his Facebook page. Many thanks to Kjell Pettersson, Åsa Kinnemar and Peder Eneroth for forwarding us the post-NitrOlympX points standings in FIA European Drag Racing Championships and UEM European Drag Bike Championships, which you can check out on our Speedflow-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the Speedflow Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. For their assistance at Hockenheim we must say a big thank you to Jerry Lackey, Christine and Peter Calwer, Yvonne Blaull, Benni Voss, and Wolfgang Schick all of whom went out of their way to help us, to Yas and the timing crew who got your News Editor out of a tight spot more than once and kept the information coming, and to all of the race officials and Hockenheim staff. We would also like to thank our sponsor Alamo Rent-A-Car, particularly Andy Wheeler, without whom we would still have been walking from Frankfurt Main airport. Editor's note: We are now on our way home from Hockenheim. The next news update on Eurodragster.com will be posted on Wednesday. Please keep the news coming to news@eurodragster.com and we'll post it then. Swift snippets. 15th August: Donna and Jon Giles have asked us to say a big Congratulations to Heide and Rob Stanley on the birth of Alice Daisy on 5th August and to Mark 'Chalky' White and Rita on the birth of Tony Joe on 6th August. "Born less than a day apart - expect close competiton in Junior Dragster in a few years' time!", they say. MTC's Hard Chrome clutch steels. 
15th August: MTC Engineering are offering bike racers Hard Chrome Plated Clutch Steels for greater performance and longer wear. Hard Chrome,
also known as Industrial Chrome plating, is applied thicker than decorative chrome and is harder (65-70 Rockwell). The Hard Chrome coating is porous, providing better lubricating
action which helps avoid warping due to high temperatures. The coating also offers greater wear resistance than standard steels.
Racers achieve consistent clutch slipping by using MTC's Hard Chrome Plated Steels. High Performance Racing puts tremendous stress on engine components. MTC's Chrome Plated Clutch Steels help relieve that stress and provides smooth starts with consistent slipping. MTC's Hard Chrome Plated steels are available for the following models: Suzuki GSXR 1000, GSXR 1100, GS 1100/1150, Hayabusa; Kawasaki KZ 900/1000, ZX14, ZX10. Extend your clutch life and increase your performance with MTC Engineering's exclusive Hard Chrome Plated Clutch Steels. Hard Chrome Plated Clutch Steels are available from MTC dealers worldwide including the UK's Dave Beck whom you can contact via the Dave Beck Racing web site at www.davebeckracing.com. Swift snippets. 12th August: Our very best wishes to UK Super Pro ET racer and recent Eurodragster.com News contributor Andy Raw who had to be taken to hospital with a badly-injured hand after an accident in the UK at the start of his journey to Hockenheim. Charlie Draper tells us that Andy is awaiting grafts to repair his hand. Get Well Soon Andy and hope to see you back on track as soon as is sensible. Bulldog 25 barks to life. 12th August: Bulldog 25 is revving up and firing on all cylinders as thousands of bikers and music fans streamed through the gates of Shakespeare County Raceway following the opening ceremony at 2:00 pm yesterday afternoon (Thursday). Very few visitors were affected by Warwickshire Constabulary's much reduced police operation. The organisers have welcomed this return to low-key Policing. Bash organiser Bilbo commented "I am happy to see the reduction in Police activity for the twenty fifth anniversary. We don't have exact figures yet, but it's fair to say that I have never seen so many bikes queuing at the main gate; we are pleased that so many have chosen to support us in celebrating the twenty fifth year of the Bulldog." Upon opening the event, along side his wife Maggie, Stratford District Council Chair Eric Payne addressed the gathered crowds saying "It is a pleasure to be here today, as the Bulldog Bash celebrates twenty five years on the world map. Personally, I would like to thank the event organisers for their generous support of a number of worthy charities. Now, in the words of Bilbo, it's time to enjoy the party." As night fell over the event, the Bulldog's brand new sound stage was blasting out tunes from live acts Blizzard of Oz, followed by Jilted Generation and Guns 2 Roses. DJs were warming up the decks in the dance tent ready for a big E:VOLVE club night which was sure to get the crowds jumping until the early hours ahead of the Main Stage sets tonight from Bad Manners and The Damned – a spectacle not to be missed. The Bulldog Bash Custom Show, presented in association with Victory Motorcycles, will open its doors to the public today (Friday). One of Europe's largest ride-in custom shows, the Bulldog sets the standard for builders of extreme creations all of which are looking forward to the new public vote system, putting the choice of winner in the hands of the Bulldog faithful. The Bulldog Bash takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway, near Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, with non-stop entertainment right through to midday on Sunday. Tickets are still available on the gate at £70 for the entire weekend, including camping and live entertainment. More information at www.bulldogbash.eu. TJ Jr out of FIA competition. 11th August: From Hockenheim comes the sensational news that FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Championship points leader and 2011 Champion-elect Tommy Johnson Jr, who was due to drive the Andersen Racing Top Fuel Dragster at this weekend's NitrOlympX, has had his FIA Competition Licence suspended after inadvertently falling foul of FIA's anti-doping legislation. Tommy uses a prescribed medication which is perfectly legal for NHRA competition but which is on FIA's proscribed list and so needs specific approval for use. "Tommy was tested at Alastaro then received the results of the test two weeks after the event and his licence was suspended", said joint team owner and tuner Karsten Andersen. "It's a failure in procedure but we didn't know the procedure. You have to fill in an exclusion form thirty days before competition and Tommy only got his FIA licence two weeks before the FIA Main Event. The FIA Drag Racing Commission have spoken to FIA but it's out of their hands - FIA have anti-doping legislation and won't change it even though that medication is legal in NHRA. There is an appeal hearing at the end of August, but Hockenheim would have been our last race this season anyway because our budget only stretched as far as this event." Norway's Thomas Nataas will be driving the Andersen Racing Top Fuel Dragster at Hockenheim this weekend. "We are fortunate to have a good friend such as Thomas who is ready to help", said Karsten. "He has driven the car before and we are very lucky to have another good driver." Tommy is at Hockenheim but is currently off-site; we will of course talk to him over course of the weekend. Event entry update. 11th August: Entry is still open for the Open Sport Nationals, which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway on August Bank Holiday 27th-29th August. Racers are reminded that the Pit Allocation form must be completed and returned with their entry for this event even if they attended the Springspeed Nationals earlier in the year. Racers not completing the form will get the standard pit space allocation and no more. You can download the entry form from the Downloads page at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com. Tomorrow, Friday 12th, is the official closing date for entry to the FIA European Finals which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 8th-11th September. You can check out Version 7 of the official entry list for the FIA European Finals by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. You can download the official entry forms for all classes from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc and entry forms for Pro classes are also available on the Speedgroup web site at www.speedgroup.eu. SPRC Club Secretary Paula Marshall tells us that she and husband and SPRC Chief Starter Ian Marshall will be at this weekend's NitrOlympX at Hockenheim and that racers can hand their FIA European Finals entry forms to Paula there. Paula will also have blank forms with her and has confirmed that any entries handed to her at this weekend's race will be treated as on-time entries and not late entries. Cut off in his prime. 11th August: The UEM Supertwins produced an all six-second ladder at Gardermoen Raceway for the third UEM round running with a bump spot of 6.94 seconds. After Fridays qualifying was rained out the three rounds on Saturday included several upsets with Jan Sturla Hegre, Hans Olav Olstad and Christian Jäger outside the ladder. 
Per Bengtsson ended qualifying with a 6.60 second pass which was good enough for the number one spot. This was achieved after a massive team effort between the
second and third sessions as the team had to change pistons and cylinder head, grind the cylinder sleeves, change the fuel set up and adjust the tune up just in time for
the last round. The result was some very important Championship points to bring back home. As you know, Sunday's eliminations were washed out.
"One of our goals for the weekend was to aim for number one qualifier which we accomplished with some excellent teamwork", says Per. "It was frustrating to see the Sunday go away as the air was very good and the bike was running so well. "But now we focus on this weekend at Hockenheim Ring, an event we really are looking forward to, and it pleases us to see Hockenheim on the Championship tour again. Both FIA and UEM classes guarantee a good quality event and we hope to continue our performance where we finished last weekend." The Beast team wants to thank the following partners for their support: Swedcut, Gates/Lönne, Red Line Oil, Fanhultstvätten Älmhult, Ulvsgården AB, Cemecon, Liqui Moly, Autoexperten Växjö, Bilservice i Åseda, Larssons Bilverkstad Lenhovda, Kalvsviks Bilverkstad, Rävemåla Bilservice, Bentec Engineering and Flexoart. For more information please visit www.bentec.net. Cohen's true colours. 
11th August: Having purchased the wild Zephyr from Ray White, UK Super Pro ET racer Lee Cohen needed a
wild design and Darren West of Eurodragster.com sponsor Power
Race Graphics has come up with the goods.
"We are going to stay with the same colours as the Pop was", Lee told Eurodragster.com. "I'm not sure if the car will be painted before our planned début at Easter in 2012 but it will be painted for 2013 - it all depends upon funds. If there is company out there who wish to paint the body and advertise their company name on the car then please E-Mail me at leecohenblower@aol.co.uk. "We are all really looking foward to getting the car to the track for some testing before 2012 if we can. I'm waiting on all of the engine parts to arrive from Gary Burgin's. As soon as they are here then the motor can be built up and fitted. Then it's off to Chris Isaacs Race Cars for the zoomies to be made then the big fire-up - fingers crossed." Smax: Still not boring. 11th August: Ex-pat UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Smax Smith has been in touch from Canada to thank Eurodragster.com readers for the birthday wishes and to reassure everyone that he is not getting boring (As if - Ed). "We took our Top Fuel car to Grand Bend at the weekend and ran 5.73", says Smax, "quickest car there shutting off early and on only 80% nitro! We also ran a 6.1 in the dark shutting off early with only 72%! I've been busy helping Aidee to get his altered rippin and get him licenced. His first pass was 7.68 and the second a 7.33. "Last year we just had one test session with the Top Fueller, a 300 foot squirt, then drove all the way to Texas to do an eighth-mile match race only to encounter problems. Seems a long way off our 2009 season where we did every IHRA Top Fuel race and were amongst the USA's finest resulting in seventh in overall points. If you've not seen the videos of our scary stuck throttle run then you can see them on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaEIe0Zl6P8 and www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nvRsVlGAoA. "Hope everyone has fun at the Bulldog with Dicko and Sara. Full revs" We remembered the push rods! 11th August: Charlie Draper says that the Draper Brothers Racing blown-alcohol altered team made it to the Damn Yankees' 25th Summer Slam car show complete with push rods: 
We went to North Weald thanks to Ian and Rhodar. We have known many of the guys andg irls in the Club for a long long time so it was a good feeling being part of
their last North Weald show. In addition, it gave us a chance to start the car and run through a few gremlins. Shame we didn't get to see much of the show or catch up
with anyone but gremlin-tracking takes time. We had an air leak which took a little bit of hunting down but no big deal in the scheme of things.
As brother Jim was away on holiday it gave us a chance to sit my son Dean and two of the crew, Andy and Lynne, in the seat while trying to get the car sorted. We are all very happy with the way the car has turned out and the look is exactly what we were trying to achieve, although we might make some new stainless zoomie headers so we that can get it in and out of the trailer with ease, but the jury is still out on that one. We should be going to the Hot Rod Drags at Shakespeare County Raceway in September but we have a busy month with work and the European Finals to do first. But the Hot Rod Drags is a great meeting and one we go to with or without a car, so we will definitely give it a go at making it. SCR Junior League Round 4. 11th August: Shakespeare County Raceway Junior Dragster League competitors arrived on the Friday evening of their latest event to the echo of rain, rain, and even more rain into the very early hours of the morning. The forecasters had certainly called the morning wrong! Fortunately this didn't dampen big Al's spirits as the track was opened shortly after the scheduled 10:00 am start, and boy was that track sticky for practice day of the Webb Express Couriers/Classic Designs round of the SCR Junior Dragster League, writes Daren Brett: Saturday was brilliant both on and off the track. Nice warm weather and bundles of track time for the offering although a couple of the cars were certainly not enjoying the air quality by being down by two tenths. After Saturday's racing was complete we were treated to a VIP trip to Tesco's in Tracey Victory's new(-ish) Suzuki Beleno Bracket Gambler contender. Some hard launches from the lights and we were at Tesco's before we had even left! With meat, salad and rolls purchased and loaded and we were on our way back for our scheduled barbecue. The parents and kids all seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves, and we were kindly joined by Ian and Dorothy Connop and Jane Read of CC Medical Services. Simon Cardwell and Sandra Lamberth from Claron Graphics, our League sponsors, supporters and great friends, also came over. Thanks for coming guys. 
The barbecue was followed by the League's first ever Fancy Dress Competition. Judging was a tough one to call between Spiderman, Sir Alan Sugar, a gangster, ghoul, the 118 Twins,
Harry Potter, The Vicar of Dibley, a window cleaner and race car driver! Ian Connop awarded the first prize of an on-board camera to Dec Webb for being himself, basically! All other
participants received treats from Ian and Dorothy.
Sunday was Judgement Day! We awoke to bright blue skies and red hot sunshine. The Junior contingent pushed down to open the show bang on ten. We also had an additional round participant with Georgia Watts (daughter of Supercharged Outlaw racer Paul ) putting her '34 Ford replica Tot Rod through its paces to see if she could bag a trophy. With all the practice runs completed and dial-ins logged with our League timing officer Joanne Kopasz, a time schedule was agreed but we had to change it quickly because of the overwhelming demand for RWYB track time. On top of the rubber laid down with a vengeance by our League sponsors the Supercharged Outlaws the day quickly went and by 4.15 pm we found ourselves pushing down for the final round, and with all the rounds complete the results were duly announced. First place went to Declan Webb with an average difference over four rounds of 0.0357 followed by Jacob Kopasz with the Hyperactive Modified at 0.0445. Third place went to Joy Brett with 0.0532 in her Mr Magoo petrol stock car. Fourth was Alex Brett on 0.0587, Tyler Webb was fifth with 0.082 and Russell Victory was sixth with 0.1435. Finally the two Tot Rods of Callum Swinchatt and Georgia Watts were classed seventh and eighth with 0.2805 and 0.8287 respectively. The Grant Victory Motorsports Reaction Time award went to Joy Brett with a 0.009 achieved in the second round. Our thanks go to Carl Webb (Webb Express Couriers) and Julie Brett (Classic Designs) for sponsoring the League's penultimate round, and to Julie Willcox for presenting the trophies. Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars SCR Junior Dragster League Points Standings 1.= Alex Brett - 28 points 1.= Declan Webb - 28 points 3.= Joy Brett - 20 points 3.= Tyler Webb - 20 points 5. Jacob Kapasz - 15 points 6. Russell Victory - 12 points 7.= Callum Swinchat - 8 points 7.= Paige Wheeler - 8 points Grant Victory Motorsport Reaction Time Contest 1. Alex Brett - 20 points 2. Joy Brett - 17 points 3. Declan Webb 15 points Now it's on to the last round in October. All will be decided on the last round! The 2011 SCR Junior Dragster League is proudly supported by Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars, Peter Walters Race Design, CC Medical Services, the Supercharged Outlaws, Turboville.com, Motorshack, Fester Race Cars, Claron Graphics, Webb Express Couriers, Classic Designs, Alamo Car Rental, Tailor-Made Webs, LessTax2Pay, WG4, Team Just Smoky, Midland Tractor Pulling Club, Opie Oils, and GV Motorsport. Alamo sponsor European Finals. 11th August: Santa Pod Raceway has announced that it has signed an additional agreement with global car-rental giant and Eurodragster.com sponsor Alamo Rent a Car to act as a major sponsor for the forthcoming FIA/UEM European Finals on 8th-11th September. The deal sees Alamo taking a high-profile lane sponsorship slot opposite long-term sponsors Autoglym. This is in addition to the prominent branding that the well-known brand has already taken around the Northamptonshire venue throughout the 2011 season. With branding covering both the start and finish gantry, Alamo will benefit from over 25,000 race fans over the four days of the event, in addition to a sizeable TV audience, thanks to the event being beamed out across eleven different sport channels that transmit the programme to a global fan base. With over 1200 paired races set to run over the entire event, action is bound to be non-stop, raising the profile of Alamo's UK car rental operation and creating a real buzz around their brand. As well as entertaining guests in Santa Pod's all-new VIP enclosure, Alamo is tipping its hat to all of the Pod's loyal race-goers, by offering up to 30% off their standard rental rates to all drag race fans at www.alamo.co.uk/dragster. Commenting on the partnership Caroline Day, Santa Pod's Commercial Manager said "We are delighted to extend our agreement with Alamo. It's a great platform for their brand and with our new VIP facilities, we know that we can offer their guests a superb day out amongst the quickest race cars in Europe." Andy Wheeler, International Business Services Director, adds "We're delighted to have the opportunity to sponsor Santa Pod's FIA European Finals. This follows Alamo's successful sponsorship of twelve-year-old Paige Wheeler, Junior Dragster winner at the 2010 FIA European Finals. We have a great relationship with Santa Pod and look forward to what will be a great weekend. To further reinforce our support of drag racing Alamo is offering up to 30% discount for drag racing afficionados, giving them great rates for car rental worldwide. So whether they're travelling to and from races or just going on holiday, they can enjoy the comfort and convenience of an Alamo car for less." Swift snippets. 11th August: European fans have someone to cheer on in the USA tomorrow and Saturday as ex-pat Top Alcohol Dragster racer Michael Manners of Eurodragster.com sponsor Cosmo Residences is contesting Pro Fuel at the IHRA Northern Nitro Jam at Martin, Michigan. You will be able to stay in touch with Mike's progress courtesy of our Drag Race Central colleagues at www.dragracecentral.com. VP hook up with SuperFlow. 
11th August: SuperFlow Technologies Group has announced a multi-year agreement with Eurodragster.com sponsor
VP Racing Fuels whereby SuperFlow factory technicians will test all new engine dynamometers prior
to shipment exclusively with VP's C12 racing fuel. "The partnership with VP is very exciting because although we sell very different products, our goal is the same - to
produce repeatable products with optimum performance" said Scott Giles, CEO of SuperFlow. "For us, it's all about repeatability, which means controlling variables.
We know that each barrel of C12 that goes into our test engines is going to perform exactly like the last."
"In addition to consistency, VP's fuels have a well-earned reputation for power and performance while SuperFlow is recognized as one of the leading manufacturers of dynamometers and flow benches in the country", said Steve Scheidker, VP's Director of Marketing. "With SuperFlow's endorsement, engine builders among its customers will be reminded that the combination of SuperFlow equipment and VP Racing Fuels will yield not only the most consistent data, but also the optimum performance that can be achieved with an engine." SuperFlow's Dirt Late Model Team will also use C12 exclusively to ensure maximum power and consistent performance. "We've had troubles with other fuels in the past gumming up our carburetors and providing inconsistent power", explained Mike Giles, SuperFlow's Marketing Manager. "Our in-house testing on both the engine and chassis dynamometers with C12 in both of our cars produced more power, but most importantly the power was there consistently across our entire test procedure from multiple barrels of fuel." 
VP Racing Fuels has been leading the field in race fuel technology for more than thirty five years. Offering maximum power and torque, consistency and top quality, VP is generally
acknowledged as preferred by sportsman, professional racers and engine builders alike when they're given a choice. VP is the Official Fuel of NHRA Championship Drag Racing,
American Le Mans, and World of Outlaws Sprint Car and Late Model Series, among nearly sixty VP-sponsored racing series across North America and around the world.
In addition to racing fuels, VP's product line includes performance chemicals, lubricants, traction compounds, fuel containers and SEF Small Engine Fuels – each designed to produce optimum performance in their respective applications. More information can be obtained online at VPRacingFuels.com and SEFfuels.com. NitrOlympX coverage. 11th August: The Eurodragster.com team are on their way to Hockenheim to bring you live coverage of this weekend's NitrOlympX in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car. Our coverage will consist of frequently-updated reports on the on-track action throughout each day as well as pit notes updated throughout each day and end-day photo galleries. We will get back to you on the webcam service once we have spoken to the organisers on our arrival at Hockenheim. We will post a direct Home Page link to our coverage as soon as it commences tomorrow but in the meantime you can check out our NitrOlympX event index page, which includes a link to the official entry list, by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Event entry update. 9th August: Entry is still open for the Open Sport Nationals, which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway on August Bank Holiday 27th-29th August. Racers are reminded that the Pit Allocation form must be completed and returned with their entry for this event even if they attended the Springspeed Nationals earlier in the year. Racers not completing the form will get the standard pit space allocation and no more. You can download the entry form from the Downloads page at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com. Friday of this week, 12th August, is the official closing date for entry to the FIA European Finals which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 8th-11th September. You can check out Version 5 of the official entry list for the FIA European Finals by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. You can download the official entry forms for all classes from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc and entry forms for Pro classes are also available on the Speedgroup web site at www.speedgroup.eu. SPRC Club Secretary Paula Marshall tells us that she and husband and SPRC Chief Starter Ian Marshall will be at this weekend's NitrOlympX at Hockenheim and that racers can hand their FIA European Finals entry forms to Paula there. Paula will also have blank forms with her and has confirmed that any entries handed to her at this weekend's race will be treated as on-time entries and not late entries. Thanks to Paula Marshall for forwarding us Version 7 of the official entry list for Rotorstock, a Jap Drag Series round which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on Saturday 20th August. You can check out the official entry list for Rotorstock by clicking here. Swift snippets. 
9th August: Team Gridlock driver Adam Price married his fiancée Lorraine last Saturday at Felsted Church in
Essex, writes Dexter Price. Many of Adam's Wild Bunch fellows were at the ceremony and reception to celebrate their marriage. In his speech Adam had several
Thank Yous one of which was to York Raceway for not having the Wild Bunch's annual trip north on his wedding day. He also cited the best thing which had ever happened
to him, choosing between meeting his new wife, the birth of their baby girl Hollie, his wedding day, and his first nine-second pass! Congratulations Lorraine and
Adam, may you have lifelong happiness. We're sure that all of our readers will join Dexter in that sentiment.
Many thanks to Jari Halonen for forwarding us the post-Sunoco Drag Challenge points standings in the UEM European Drag Bike Championships, which you can check out on our Speedflow-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the Speedflow Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Thanks to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe for forwarding us an updated table of European Bests now including the new UEM Funny Bike Cup records set by Rikard Gustafsson at Gardermoen at the weekend. You can check out the European Bests table by clicking here or by clicking on the European Bests link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall tells us that due to production problems the 2011 UK National Championships Yearbook (aka UK rule book) will not be printed. In any case the book does not contain any significant changes from 2010, but it is available for download as a PDF via the Entry Forms link on the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. Aidan Smith and the Ant Hill Mob have asked us to say a big Happy Birthday to ex-pat UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Smax Smith. No sooner said than done, have a great day Smax. Happy Birthday also to UK Fuel racing legend and British Drag Racing Hall of fame member Gary Page. Have a great day Gary. Bulldog 25 preview. 9th August: The Bulldog Bash, which takes place this Thursay to Sunday at Shakespeare County Raceway, Warwickshire, looks set to smash attendance records as pre-event ticket sales hit an all time high for the Silver Jubilee. 
Bulldog Bash Organiser Bilbo commented "It's great to see the Biking community and music lovers supporting the event in such numbers; we have fought hard to keep the
event in Warwickshire and won thanks to an open minded and forward thinking local Council. Now its time for the people that have supported us to enjoy the party – we will
continue to support Warwickshire, charities such as Stratford Rotary Club and Help For Heroes, the people of Stratford and communities surrounding the site who have all
rallied behind us to keep the event at Long Marston."
This year's annual Bulldog Bash sees three of the biggest names in British musical history set to rock the festival to its very foundations, as Status Quo line up along side the inimitable Bad Manners and The Damned. Quo front man Rossi said of their forthcoming return to the Bash's main stage "We love playing the Bulldog and it's fair to say that we are delighted to be back. It's one of the liveliest shows that the band play anywhere on the circuit and we're looking forward to giving the crowd a serious Quo rocking!" There are loads more bands to see over the weekend of the Bulldog Bash. Live entertainment is one of the festival's cornerstones, and this year won't disappoint on that front. More than 35 live bands are set to appear, over two stages. If you thought the Bulldog Bash was all about booze, long hair and live rock music, you'd be wrong - This year there's a major-league line-up of DJs rocking the dance tent once the sun goes down, including none other than Lady Ga-Ga's best friend and DJ, Lady Starlight. Lady Starlight's rare UK appearance in her own right is bound to be a roof-lifting set, full of hard rock and glamour. She's been voted New York's best female hard rock DJ, and now she's coming to a field in Warwickshire. It's time to leave your preconceptions at the gate and immerse yourself in a set from one of the biggest rock DJs in the world. The dance tent will be heaving and bouncing all weekend, with a full list of DJs too long to mention here. However, highlights include a set from organiser Jock Dreadstar; who's calling the shots from Birmingham based dance promoters E:VOLVE, the return of Bulldog favourite Riggsy, dark beats from Shenton, plus big beats from Strange Dave and Livewire. The Bulldog Bash's indoor custom show is always a treat for visitors to Warwickshire's enormous biking festival which celebrates its Silver Jubilee this year. The variety of custom creations on display is expected to be as wide as usual, with anything from bobbers, trikes, streetfighters, and choppers taking on stunning classic bikes vying for the coveted Best in Show award. 
One of the true joys of the Bulldog Bash is enjoying a cold beer while breathing in the stench of burnt rubber drifting across the Shakespeare County Raceway's drag strip on a
hot summer's day. This year's annual celebration of all that's good about bikes, bands, beer and babes, will be bringing the glory of drag racing to the masses – and the true
beauty is that you can get involved! The Run Wot You Brung (RWYB) competition takes place all weekend, giving you the perfect opportunity to prove that your bike will
crack a sub-ten quarter-mile, or that your clutch really was on the way out, as the unusual aroma of scorched clutch plates rises from your engine… The superbly surfaced
Raceway is open for RWYB runs between 9:30 am and 5:00 pm on Friday and Saturday, and between 9.30 am and 1:00 pm on Sunday.
There's also a whole weekend of action and entertainment to look forward to on the drag strip - Midlands based British stunt ace Craig Jones will be attending to wow the crowds, with his own mental stunt show and an attempt to beat his own world record (set in 2006) for the longest two-man stoppie, which currently stands at 305 metres. The drag strip is also hosting some top displays from professional stunters Terry Grant and the Vertical Trix Team over the weekend. Add to that the Pro Stock Drag racing, Top Fuel Bikes and Cars, the Outlaw Anglias, jet cars, and much more hurtling up the strip. Put aside a few hours to soak up the atmosphere and breathe in the fumes… then rock the night away in the music tents. Sprinkle in some must-see attractions, like Saturday night's huge anniversary firework display, the Ken Fox 'Wall of Death' show, live Strongman competition and an extreme fairground full of white knuckle rides, an adult entertainment zone and a massive village of trade stalls selling all kinds of biking and alternative lifestyle kit. If you had plans for the weekend of 11th-14th August, cancel them now. The Bulldog Bash takes place annually at Shakespeare County Raceway, near Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, gates open at 2:00 pm Thursday 11th August and it's non-stop entertainment right through to noon on Sunday 14th. Tickets will be available on the gate at £70 for the entire weekend, including camping and live entertainment – you just need to bring your beer money! More information at www.bulldogbash.eu. Web site updates. 
9th August: Richard Smith has updated his photographic site with a gallery of shots from the UK Northern Nationals
at York Raceway. You can check out Richard's pictures at rdsmith.zenfolio.com.
Our good buddy Patrik Jacobsson kindly kept us supplied us with pictures from the weekend's Sunoco Drag Challenge at Gardermoen, and has now posted his complete set of shots from the race on the Racebilder web site at www.racebilder.nu. A successful dress rehearsal. 8th August: The Public Race Days, traditionally held on the weekend prior to the NitrOlympX, is a welcome rehearsal every year for racers and crew at Hockenheim. Our good buddy Mathias Schneider of der Beschleuinger writes: This weekend hundreds of Street Car racers checked what their cars could do over the quarter mile. Teams from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and France took part and got some decent track time during the two days of testing. Among those private racers was a whole bunch of impressive vehicles. several VW Golfs of all ages performed 9.7 second runs as well as the Dutter Racing Audi from Austria which ran into the 9.2s. Among the Test and Tune Teams were several very nice premieres as well as several Personal Bests. 
The final round of German Street Eliminator took place with a very bizarre end to the season. As expected Micha Vogt in his 1955 Pro Charged Chevy Bel Air went to the final with consistent mild-tuned 8.5-second runs. But both cars broke on the start line in the final and, as the rules say that staging alone isn't enough but that cars have to drive back to their pit space under their own power, there was no winner in this race. 
Everyone should be well-prepared for this week's NitrOlympX when Germany awaits the finest in European drag racing. Pictures can be found at the Sideview Inn Facebook page, and a report and pictures including shots by another good buddy, Markus Münch, can be found at www.derbeschleuniger.de. Editor's note: Racers, it's not too late to send your NitrOlympX previews. Drop us a line at news@eurodragster.com and we'll post it here. All invited to French Finals. 8th August: The Custom Gang Drag Race, the fourth and last round of the 2011 ATD French Championship, will take place at Mende-Brenoux airfield on 10th-11th September. A round of the French Drag Bike Championship will also be contested. Our good friend Pascal Thébault has been in touch with details. Entry at €90 is now open both for the race and for Run What You Brung:
Mende is located between Clermont-Ferrand and Montpellier, near the scenic A75 highway and two and a half hours from the Mediterranean Sea. This race is nicknamed "Top of the hill" owing to the location of the track which is wild and amazing: look at the picture by ATD's Phil Berté. Pascal is ready to help English-speaking racers or visitors both about entering the event and about the facility itself. You can contact Pascal at tbo@interpc.fr and you can find out more about the event (French language) at www.francedrag.com. Dakota Drag'n'Drift 2. 8th August: The UK's Dakota Drag Strip hosts its second event of the year this coming Saturday (13th), writes promoter and Eurodragster.com sponsor Lee Child: 
The eighth-mile track will be open for Test and Tune for competition cars, competition bikes and street-legal cars and bikes. Like any Test and Tune there will be a wide range of different vehicles
with a blown and injected methanol burning hemi-powered dragster, a bunch of grass track racers, and some very quick-street legal cars and bikes already pre-booked.
One the highlights on the day will be the title of the South West's Quickest Street-Legal Car which is up for grabs with a nice trophy and £250 cash for the winner. A trophy and £250 cash will also be up for grabs for the South West's Quickest Street-Legal Bike. Trophies will also up for grabs on the drag strip for Quickest Competition car, Quickest Competition Bike, Best Burnout, Best Appearing Car On Track and Best Appearing Bike On Track. 
Dakota Drag Strip also boasts the largest drift area in the south west, and round two of the ODC Regional Drift Championship will be taking place on Saturday. The first round at the March Meet had
sixty entries putting a spectacular show, and with the entries flowing in round two will be just as good.
Another regular at all events at Dakota Drag Strip is the Show and Shine area, all on hard standing. There are trophies for Best of Show, Best Club Stand and Best Hunk of Junk. Entry and fees remain the same: Advance entry Adults £5 Under 16's £2 Drag strip per driver or rider unlimited runs £20 Drifting per driver Unlimited runs £45 All advance ticket sales close at 9:00 pm this Wednesday; for your advance entry PayPal lee@ultimatepowerracing.com. 
Gate pricesAdults £10 Under 16s £4 Drag strip per driver or rider unlimited runs £25 Drifting per driver unlimited runs £50 For more information contact Lee on 07771 590176 or visit www.dragndrift.co.uk. Swift snippets. 8th August: Pennine Drag Racing Club Chair Al Perkins writes that the UK's York Raceway hosted a string of eight-second doorslammer runs this weekend with the highlight being the finals of Super Cup in which Darren Peart in the ex-Tim Garlick Cortina took the win against Des Taylor in Mopar Murder, 8.39 for Darren to Des' 8.97. "We also had an ever-growing list of Personal Bests, will update later", says Al. "The weather tried its best to spoil the event, however we ran finals in glorious sunshine. Next meeting August Bank Holiday - counting down now!" Congratulations to Jim Smith of Eurodragster.com Perfect Light Award sponsor Cotsweld Race Cars and his wife Sharon on the birth of their son Harvey William. Spencer Tramm tells us that Harvey William arrived at 4:00 am on Friday and weighed in at 7 lb 8 oz. NitrOlympX Perfect Awards. 8th August: This weekend's NitrOlympX at Hockenheim is the latest event in the 2011 Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards scheme. €120 is on offer for perfect performance.
The Eurodragster.com/Cotsweld Race Cars Perfect Light Award has been reset to €60 after it was won by Sportsman ET racer Sean Armstrong
at Bug Jam. The money will be awarded to the first racer this weekend to record a Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds. The Perfect
Light Award is available all to racers in all classes during qualifying and eliminations, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect Light of the event.
If the Award is not won this weekend then it will be increased to £75 for the Open Sport Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway at the end of this
month; if it is won then it will be reset to £50 for the Open Sport Nationals. The Perfect Light Award is presented in association with race car
builder Cotsweld Race Cars whose web site you can find at www.cotsweld.co.uk.
The Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET Award has been reset to €60 after it was won by VW Sportsman racer Paul Day at Bug Jam.
The money will be awarded to the first racer this weekend to run to the thousandth on their dial-in or index during qualifying or
eliminations. The Perfect ET Award is available this weekend in Super Pro ET, Pro ET, Super Gas and Junior Dragster (eliminations only),
but will only be awarded for the first Perfect Run at each event. If the Award is not won this weekend then it will be increased to £75
for the Open Sport Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway at the end of this month; if it is won then it will be reset to £50 for the
Open Sport Nationals. The Perfect ET Award is presented in association with RV sales and service specialists Gold RV whose web site you can
find at www.goldrv.co.uk.
To be eligible to collect the Perfect ET Award, racers are required to carry Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET decals, one on each side of the vehicle. If you pull this weekend's first Perfect ET but are not carrying decals then there will be no discussion; we will not pay out and the next person to pull a Perfect ET will get the money assuming that they are carrying decals. As with all contingency schemes racers are responsible for collecting decals; Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET Award decals will be available in in Signing On. Ally on the fund-raising tour. 8th August: The recent tour of Northamptonshire by the Allard Chrysler dragster has helped raise awareness in the restoration project and swell the funds required to complete the task. Allard Chrysler Action Group Chairman Brian Taylor reports "The ACAG account is now back in credit after being supported by a loan from the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu since the engine arrived from the USA last December. A big thank you to Phil Johnson at Beaulieu for supporting us this way." 
The tour took in two events at Santa Pod and one at Silverstone plus appearances at Westaway Motors Chrysler Jeep in Northampton.
The Silverstone and Santa Pod events provided great opportunities to raise funds from enthusiasts and the appearance of the car at a
Chrysler dealership – the first time ever for the car – has given the ACAG another leg up the credibility ladder as far as the car's value
in promotional terms is concerned. Its appearance at the Silverstone Classic as guests of the Allard Owners Club gave us an opportunity
to broadcast details of our project over Silverstone Classic Radio. And it was neat to be next to the old Club Straight, the piece of tarmac
where exactly fifty years ago to the day Sydney Allard first showed the car to the press. Interviews over Nitro FM at Santa Pod helped spread
the word as did local press coverage with more local, national consumer and trade press coverage to come.
None of this would have been possible without the support of Doug Hill at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, for entrusting the car to our care for two weeks or to Santa Pod Raceway who, along with the museum, paid for the car to be transported to and from Beaulieu to Northamptonshire. Santa Pod also funded all the car transfers while the car was in the county and provided display marquees at Santa Pod. Brian Taylor adds "Not only that, but David Jones and James Forster made a donation to our restoration fund on behalf of Santa Pod to the tune of £500. Huge thanks guys it is much appreciated. And someone else who made a big personal donation is Stuart Bradbury. He has previously given us generous donations and added a further £250 during the tour. Thanks Stu. I know it is much to ask in these tough times but this level of donation really makes a big difference to the timescale for completing the restoration." 
In a further opportunity for fund-raising the original and the latest gouache painting by Paul Whitehouse has now been mounted, framed, glazed
and signed by Nick Mason and Alan Allard. It is based on a photo taken at Silverstone in 1963 and many think it is Paul's best yet. He has really
captured the excitement of the occasion and the car is quite three-dimensional. In the background you can see the empty grandstand at Woodcote
Corner where the old Club Straight met the circuit. The painting also shows Allan Herridge's Straight 8 Buick and the Worden dragster.
The full size of the painting including the frame is 30" by 23" with the painting itself measuring 22" by 15" and is it very striking. It is suitable for a Reception Area, Board Room, study or lounge. Those interested in making an offer should contact brian@allardchrysler.org or phone 01395 579733 (outside the UK +44 1395 579733). Remember that this is the original and that all proceeds go to the Allard Chrysler dragster restoration fund. Web site updates. 
8th August: Our good buddy Jon Spoard has updated his UK Drag Racing Nostalgia site with a gallery of excellent
shots from the recent Dragstalgia at Santa Pod Raceway. You can have a look at Jon's gallery at
www.ukdrn.co.uk and whilst on the site check out the cornucopia of nostalgia-themed
content such as video clips, historical event entry lists and results, the most well-behaved and best-managed discussion forum you will ever
encounter, and more.
The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr site with pictures from the Mopar EuroNats at Santa Pod Raceway. You can take a look at Mad's pictures at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman. Sunoco Drag Challenge rained out. 7th August: Yesterday's eliminations at the Sunoco Drag Challenge at Gardermoen were rained out about an hour and a half after racing commenced. Rounds of Junior Dragster and Top Sportsman and three of four pairs of Pro Stock Bikes ran before light rain turned into a persistent downpour and the event was called mid-afternoon. Number one qualifiers in UEM classes were as follow: UEM Top Fuel Bike: Ian King 6.254/380.95 kmh UEM Supertwin: Per Bengtsson 6.602/322.87 UEM Pro Stock Bike: Fredrik Fredlund 7.099/305.08 UEM Funny Bike Cup: Rikard Gustafsson 6.466/346.15 Subject to ratification Rikard Gustafsson set new UEM Funny Bike Cup records of 6.545 seconds and 341.23 kmh (212.03 mph), the rain robbing him of the chance to back up his qualifying performances for new records. Similarly the rain put paid to Ian King's 380.95 (236.71 mph) in Top Fuel Bike and a contest between Jesper Thiel and Rasmus Olesen to back up new UEM Pro Stock Bike speed records of 307.69 kmh (191.19 mph) or 306.38 kmh (190.38 mph) respectively. Next time, guys. Eurodragster.com and Speedgroup co-operated on coverage of this weekend's event; a big Thank You to Åsa Kinnemar and Aila Striem of Speedgroup for reports, pit notes and pictures, to Patrik Jacobsson for end-day galleries, and to the NDRG timekeepers for results. You can check out our Alamo Rent A Car-sponsored Sunoco Drag Challenge coverage by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Event entry update. 5th August: Entry is still open for the Open Sport Nationals, which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway on August Bank Holiday 27th-29th August. Racers are reminded that the Pit Allocation form must be completed and returned with their entry for this event even if they attended the Springspeed Nationals earlier in the year. Racers not completing the form will get the standard pit space allocation and no more. You can download the entry form from the Downloads page at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com. Friday of next week, 12th August, is the official closing date for entry to the FIA European Finals which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 8th-11th September. You can check out Version 4 of the official entry list for the FIA European Finals by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. You can download the official entry forms for all classes from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc and entry forms for Pro classes are also available on the Speedgroup web site at www.speedgroup.eu. Many thanks to SPRC Club Secretary Paula Marshall for forwarding us Version 6 of the official entry list for Rotorstock, a Jap Drag Series round which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on Saturday 20th August. You can check out the official entry list for Rotorstock by clicking here. This one's for Stig. 
5th August: Current FIA Top Methanol Dragster points leader Fred Hanssen and his Islanders Black & White team will have added motivation
to win as they enter next weekend's FIA NitrOlympX at Hockenheimring in Hockenheim, Germany. Fred has dedicated the weekend to the memory of fellow Islanders
Top Methanol Dragster teammate Paul Ingar Udtian's brother Stig Udtian, who recently passed away.
Fred, a commercial fisherman from Afjord, Norway, reflects on the loss of his teammate and friend. "All of us at Islanders Drag Racing are very sad to hear the passing of Stig", commented Fred. "He was a big man with an even bigger heart. He will be missed. Hopefully we can go and win one for Stig. That would be a great honour to give to his memory." With two races remaining in the FIA European Championship, Fred is locked in a tight battle with five-time FIA European Champion Dave Wilson. Although Fred won the last two events in Sweden and Finland, Dave has runner-upped to him at both of those, leaving Fred little margin for error. Fred enters Hockenheim with a slim 38 point lead. "Hockenheim has been a good track for me", stated Fred. "I won my first European race here in 2008 with my Super Comp dragster. We were running very well here last year before the rain came. The class is so tough right now; you must always push the edge. I have a great team behind me, so that helps. Dave has been doing this a long time, so he will be very tough ar the next two races, and so will the rest of the guys in the class. Hopefully we can get another win for VSP, Fosen Tools, Brad Penn Oil/Tore Grannegen, Hansson Fishing A/S, VP Race Fuels, Victory Valves and RS Bilpleie." Swift snippets. 5th August: We have two birthdays today. First up is a very Happy Birthday to our good friend Libby Mottershead of the UK's Stockport Doorslammer Super Gas team. Have a lovely day Libby and lots of hugs from the Eurodragster.com team. Dickman, Nikman, G-Ice, Jos, Egbert and the (little) ladies of the Vegter Pro Mod Racing crew would like to say a very Happy Birthday to driver David Vegter who is almost an adult having now reached his 37th year on this planet. "We are proud to say that we are one happy crew working on a car with a driver with his talent, which makes tuning it a lot easier", they say. "But most of all his aim to go fast and have as much fun as we can. He always says "Guys, don't forget we do it for fun, let's keep this a hobby". For this year we have two more meetings to get as much seat time as possible before we go playing with the real guys next year. They will be the Drachten Finals and the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod. David, have a great party with your friends tonight (which will include us)". Have a great day David. An Allard in the showroom. 
5th August: Westaway Motors Chrysler Jeep in Northampton became the home for a very special visitor during July:
Europe's first dragster - Sydney Allard's 1961 Allard Chrysler owned by the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu.
It was the car's first appearance at a Chrysler dealership anywhere in the world and provided a unique opportunity for showroom visitors and those booking in their cars for service or picking up parts to get close and personal to the iconic machine that spawned a whole new motor sport that has since spread across Europe. Representatives of the Allard Chrysler Action Group were on hand to explain the importance of the machine to European motorsport history and update them regarding the car's restoration. These included the group's Chairman, motoring writer Brian Taylor. Derek Westaway said "We were proud to host such an iconic Chrysler vehicle during its tour in Northamptonshire and we thank the National Motor Museum and the ACAG for entrusting it to our care. The Chrysler Jeep brand is very much about heritage and tradition, so sharing our showroom with such a wonderful machine was most fitting." The Chrysler brand has been at the forefront of providing drag racing with its power units for more than fifty years and Brian Taylor sums things up. "Chrysler is a brand with a long and revered association with the sport of drag racing and I'd like to thank Derek for looking after our car during its appearances at Santa Pod and Silverstone. My belief is that the car would make a very interesting feature for showroom events and model launches, particularly next year when we will be able to fire up the engine." Web site updates. 5th August: Our good buddy and occasional stand-in photographer Markus Ek (Currently not fired - Ed) has set up a Tierp Arena photo group on Flickr and is inviting fellow members of Fickr to submit pictures taken at the new Swedish facility whether on-track or off-track, drag racing events or not. For more information check out www.flickr.com/groups/tierparena. Another good buddy, Alan Currans, has updated his excellent Acceleration Archive with a twelfth page of motorcycle pictures. "This page features bikes powered by car engines and there is everything from rotary engines to a Rover V8", says Alan. You can take a look at the new update via the What's New link at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. Event entry update. 4th August: Corina van den Berg of The Netherlands' eXplosion Dragracing Club has asked us to remind racers that the grace period for entering the Automotoshow Drachten Finals 2011, which takes place at Drachten Raceway on 26th-28th August, ends tomorrow, Friday 5th. Entries received after tomorrow will be subject to a late entry fee. More information at www.explosiondragracingclub.com. Entry is still open for the Open Sport Nationals, which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway on August Bank Holiday 27th-29th August. Racers are reminded that the Pit Allocation form must be completed and returned with their entry for this event even if they attended the Springspeed Nationals earlier in the year. Racers not completing the form will get the standard pit space allocation and no more. You can download the entry form from the Downloads page at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com. Friday of next week, 12th August, is the official closing date for entry to the FIA European Finals which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 8th-11th September. You can check out Version 3 of the official entry list for the FIA European Finals by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. You can download the official entry forms for all classes from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc and entry forms for Pro classes are also available on the Speedgroup web site at www.speedgroup.eu. Many thanks to SPRC Club Secretary Paula Marshall for forwarding us Version 5 of the official entry list for Rotorstock, a Jap Drag Series round which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on Saturday 20th August. You can check out the official entry list for Rotorstock by clicking here. Pro Stock for hire. 
4th August: Sweden's Jan Palmqvist is offering his current six-second Pro Stock for hire in 2012. The
Snowball Racing team will be running a new car next season giving an opportunity to run the 2010 runner-up car as part of
a two-vehicle team.
"We are offering for hire a complete car with a mechanic, transport, and full support for a year of five or six FIA rounds and one or two test weekends", says Jan. "The car is a Haas -built Pontiac GTO 2006, which was runner-up in the FIA European Championship in 2010. We will be sharing the trailer and transport which means that we will travel as a two-car team. "We intend to run a Pontiac GXP next year." For further information call Jan on Snowball Racing at +46 (0) 70 667 4849. Bengtsson aims to step up. 4th August: Swedish Supertwin racer Per Bengtsson is in the points lead as the UEM Championship moves on to Gardemoen Raceway in Norway, one of the fastest tracks on the tour. The competition is very tight with just fourteen points between the top four riders and entrylist is again an impressive nineteen bikes. "I'm really looking forward to running on my number one favourite track", says Per. "I feel very safe when I run at Gardermoen Raceway and the track always produces good numbers as the air usually is very good. 
"The entry list inspires us to run really fast and I certainly think we'll see another all six-second ladder. Our Crew Chief Putte expects that both Lorenz Stäuble and Christian
Jäger will be a lot more succesful than in Finland, and the Zodiac team with the Pels family and Roel Koedam have already shown that they are on the move. Australian racer
Mark Ashelford delivers every time so it will be a very tough contest!
"After the Alastaro race we have manufactured two new headers since we destroyed three of them in Finland as they melted down completely. The team has gone through the engine and transmission and everything is ready to go. "So far this season we have not been able to qualify number one and that is our first target this weekend. Then we hope to continue from last year's race when we ran a 6.47 second run. The ambition is of course to improve our performance even further and to collect some very important Championship points." The Beast team wants to thank the following partners for their support: Swedcut, Gates/Lönne, Red Line Oil, Fanhultstvätten Älmhult, Ulvsgården AB, Cemecon, Liqui Moly, Autoexperten Växjö, Bilservice i Åseda, Larssons Bilverkstad Lenhovda, Kalvsviks Bilverkstad, Rävemåla Bilservice, Bentec Engineering and Flexoart. For more information please visit the team's web site at www.bentec.net. Riding a Lady in Holland. 4th August: UK Top Fuel Bike racer Kev Charman has been in touch with a report of his latest outing on Rene van den Berg's Top Fuel Bike, this time at the Drachten Internationals in The Netherlands: When we left the ferry at Calais to head on to Drachten, it was raining. By the time we got to Drachten, five hours on, it was still raining. We fleetingly had one of those awful "We could have stayed home for this weather, moments" but this soon passed when we got settled, met all the gang, the Family Van den Berg "Shark Attack Drag Race Team", and from the English contingent, Binzi, Les Harris and Tara Reeve. After setting up, and chewing the cud, we did some routine maintenance on the fuel bike, ready to fire up the following day. Friday the weather was still overcast with intermittent showers, but the bike had also decided to develop a leak from the head gasket overnight, so the head had to come off (Kev means the cylinder head - Ed). Myself and Binz, under the close supervision of Rene, set about repairing it. It was a very frustrating day, and thanks to Binz for his relentless "Sigh, let's get the head off" lament as another problem reared its ugly head, once we warmed it up. The rest of the day was spent repairing that problem, so we didn't get out all all. We used the time wisely, and went over the bike totally. It was a strange experience for me being in a foreign place, using foreign tools which weren't mine, very alien! 
On Saturday the weather had cleared up, and we had a chat about the track. I asked Rene where I had to slow down and turn off, and he replied "You don't turn off, you just stop
and pull to the side". So, a little apprehensive about an unknown track, with a short run off, on a Top Fuel Bike we set off to do my first eighth-mile pass of the weekend.
After the burnout, the wind was blowing all over the place, and the fumes were getting into my helmet. I didn't realize that I had lifted my head so high to try to get away from
them, so Lizzy was on tip toes with her arm stretched high in the air, and 'Pet' Binzi was struggling to see over the top of me to see her! Binzi has since been told to slap me on
the head next time, and tell me to get my fat head out of the way!
The bike launched OK, felt a little squirmy, shifted gear, but I don't think I was on full throttle all the way, resulting in a 4.8 second pass. I slowed down, pulled over, and sat chatting to the Funny Bike guys who were already at the top end waiting for their tows. I was quite happy with the first run, the first one on an unknown track can be daunting. Back to pits, serviced the bike, moved the foot pegs forward as Rene was missing his lady! Changed my leathers for a crew shirt, to find I had nothing to do! Lizzy was starting the bike, taking it off the stands (I never realized she did all of that!) and directing back, and Binzi was pushing Rene back from the burnout. So in my new supervisory role, we went to do the run. Watching Rene riding was interesting, to see a totally different riding style. Considering it had been nearly a year since he last raced, we will let him off for being slower than me - 4.9 seconds, good effort Boss! Went and collected the man to see a big grin! He was very happy to have been back on the bike. Back to pits, foot pegs moved back, usual servicing and ready for the next one. The next pass storming burnout, and had to brake so that poor Binz didn't have to run after me too much! I remembered to keep my head out of the way so he could see Lizzy and all was well. Launched, the bike very squirmy, but I determined to keep it nailed until after the chequered flag at thee eighth and was rewarded with a 4.6/255 kmh, and stopped at the other end with no mishaps. All sorted for the following day, and we all went off to enjoy the hospitality at the track. On Sunday the weather didn't look like it was going to be on our side. I got one chance of a run after the Funny Bikes. Nice strong burnout again, but the ever-vigilant Rene spotted a small leak and shut me down, which was kind of strange, as I didn't see him pull the lanyard and couldn't figure out why the engine was dying! Binzi and Rene pushed the bike back to pits and we decided to call it a day, so the bike could have the maintenance done in a workshop instead of trackside. As always I must thank Rene, Corina, Ivana, Reintsje, Karim and Pops for the backup, fantastic hospitality and taxi service, the irrepressible Binzi for coming over to crew, what a star and all round team player, everyone should have one! Les and Tara for the help and entertainment, and Lizzy for the behind the scenes organization for the trip, and the quick learning and getting to grips with the crewing side of things. And Drachten? Hope to see you again, maybe racing side by side against Rene... Our next venture out is the Bulldog Bash at Shakespeare County Raceway on 11th-14th August: myself on the Fuel bike, Jake on his Junior Drag Bike, and Lizzy on her Comp Bike will all be making demo runs. Gambling Globally. 
4th August: With the Big Bucks Gambler and Super Pull Gambler events lost due to the intervention of the wet stuff
in May and June, it was good to get the Shakespeare County
Raceway Gamblers Race schedule back on track again for last month's end of July Global Gambler sponsored by
Piston Apparel, writes SCR's Jerry Cookson.
Although the place had a festival flavour about it with the construction of four very large marquees for the following weekend's Global Gathering Music Festival, the aptly named Global Gambler attracted its biggest turnout to date with over twenty drivers signing up for Sunday's race day. With so much happening at one time on the strip the series' Dial For Pounds qualifier was just that; a one-shot deal for a place in the elimination ladder. Taking top qualifying honours with a 13.221 on a 13.20 dial was Nicole Parker driving her dad John 'Billy Boy' Parker's Sportsman ET 1989 5.0 Mustang. Second was Neil Bell's daily driven Ford Mondeo with a 16.836 on a 16.80 dial, while completing the top three was Simon Parker's 383ci Nightmare 1967 Camaro, 10.745 on a 10.69 dial. The top ten qualifiers were as follow:
Holly Baldwin took the Lucky Dog Bye into the next round while the VW Golf of gentleman Phil Evans lost out to the 1994 Mustang
of Outlaw Street racer Nigel Jenkins 13.183 (13.14) to Phil's 16.594 on a 15.50 dial. Conrad, meanwhile, took a huge win over the
Renault Megane of Joe Richards 11.788 (11.10) to Joe's game 17.124, while taking another win in his classic 1966 Mustang was Brian
Huxley who took out son Darren's 2008 Vauxhall Vectra 15.959 (15.90) to Darren's 17.413 on a 17.40. Last to take a win was Claire
Johnson in the American Super Stock 1976 Oldsmobile Omega against the classic Ford 307E Thames Van of Old Skool Ford racer Dean
Murrells 13.304 (13.20) over Dean's 14.435. Despite cutting a 0.014 light Conrad Stanley couldn't bridge the gap created by Nigel
Jenkins on the handicapped start as the Chevy Vega ran out of race track, 13.243 on the Mustang's 13.14 dial to Conrad's losing
12.025 on a 11.70 dial. Holly Baldwin strapped another of her customary 0.04 lights over Brian Huxley to claim her place in the
semis 15.504 on a 15.40 dial to Brian's game 16.123. This left Claire Johnson to book her place in the next round with the round's
Lucky Dog Bye.
With time creeping on the semis and finals failed to be run conclusions but in true sportsmanlike fashion all three drivers agreed to split the prize money with each driver taking home £70. With another break in the series until October, the next Gamblers race is the Autumn Fall Gambler scheduled to take place at Shakespeare County Raceway on Sunday 2nd October. See you there! Full details can be found on the Shakespeare County Raceway web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk or on the SCR ET Bracket Gamblers Facebook page. Swift snippets. 4th August: Many thanks to Yvonne Tramm and our very own Simon for forwarding us the official points standings in the 2011 UK National Drag Racing Championships after Bug Jam at Santa Pod Raceway and the 8.50 Bike and 9.50 Bike round held at Shakespeare County Raceway's Public Track Weekend. You can check out the UK National points on our Speedflow-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the Speedflow Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. A very Happy Birthday to UK Junior Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com Blogger Paige Wheeler. Have a lovely day Paige. Web site updates. 4th August: The latest edition of the Speedgroup newsletter contains a preview of next week's NitrOlympX at Hockenheim and a review of the NDRS Nationals II. You can check it out at club.speedgroup.eu/newsletters/2011/edition12_2011/edition12_start.htm. Sunoco Drag Challenge coverage. 4th August: Eurodragster.com and Speedgroup will be co-operating on coverage of this weekend's Sunoco Drag Challenge, which commences tomorrow. Similarly to our joint coverage of the UEM round at Kunmadaras and the FHRA Nitro Nationals the hard-working ladies and gentlemen of Speedgroup will be forwarding reports and results from the track and we will be posting them here on Eurodragster.com together with photo galleries kindly supplied by Patrik Jacobsson. Courtesy of Robert Karström and Smart TV there will be a live webcam broadcasting in HD from this weekend's race and you can read more about that below. We will post a direct Home Page link to the coverage as soon as it commences, but in the meantime you can check out our Alamo Rent A Car-sponsored Sunoco Drag Challenge event index page, which includes a link to the official entry list and Smart TV webcam, by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. The Web TV revolution. 4th August: A live High Definition webcast will be available from this weekend's Sunoco Drag Challenge. Our good buddy Anders Envall spoke to Robert Karström, the man behind Smart TV. 
Robert Karström from Möndal, Gothenburg, Sweden can't find time to finish his Pro Mod/Top Doorslammer Mustang project based on a Vanishing Point chassis,
welded and reworked by Robert, and a 521 blower engine... or was it a twin turbo engine? He hasn't decided yet, as he has been "Interrupted by his work" as a technical consultant
at the TV company Eyeworks in Gothenburg. As an offshoot he has also been doing small live multicamera shows with his own company HqTec / SmartTV for local sport events
such as horse jumping, figure skating and other smaller youth clubs which haven't got so much money to pay for such coverage. Robert's vision is that a sponsor could pay for it
and not the viewers. "Viewers must have easy access or else you can lose them, if they even come to you", says Robert, "and if you have the viewers you have all the opportunities
to fund it with a good sponsor".
This year Robert wanted to demonstrate this project within the sport he loves most - drag racing. And Highest Quality is the name of the game. "It must absolutely be in HD, since we have that quality in our hands today", says Robert. "You can't cover a race with surveillance cameras anymore. I'd rather turn that off and listens to birds in our garden. Many call their video HD just because the picture format is 16:9 but we provide real HD with 1920 x 1080 pixel video signals and we are feeding out 1280 x 720 at this stage. We can and will deliver full HD signal when the net and the receiver can swallow it, which people are working on as we speak." Robert was recently at the drag race at Moholmsstrippen in Sweden to prove his point and showed what can be done with five HD cameras, some static installations and some with cameramen. All directed from his giant bus which was originally built for his racíng but now looks more like a TV studio! Robert got a lot of credit for this show which viewers at home by their computers around the world could stream in both HD picture and sound, at quality never before seen. 
"Molholmsstrippen was actually first in the world with real HD live Web TV coverage", says Robert. "Every day the technique is getting better and faster; this wasn't possible
to do last year, and the cost has come down for streaming too. So if you're smart you can really find a fast and cheap way to go". Robert's company HqTec / SmartTV have
the streaming servers in-house so he is self-contained to get a live event on-line.
We asked Robert's view regarding the issue of organisers who want people to come to the event when they could stay at home watching free web TV. "If one stays at home, then I believe four others will come!", he says. "If not that weekend, maybe next time or next year. Drag racing is selling itself so showing it is promoting it. And as everyone knows, nothing compares to the real-life experience at the drag strip with all the sound, smoke, fumes, people, vibrations and all that explosive stuff! The guy who stays at home watching Web TV misses a lot, and he knows that, but maybe he can't go because he's ill, can't afford it, or whatever? "Those who really can't come to your race, and that is people all over the world actually, they must enjoy the best quality! When we aired Moholmsstrippen we had people on the net discussing not only where the heck this drag strip was because they wanted to drive there, but they also had discussions more around the track preparations and traction and so on because they really had the track up close on their computer screens, loud and clear! "It will hopefully be even better at Gardermoen this weekend, since I have prepared better and we have more staff, and we have a solution to get the HD feed from as far away as the finish line!". HD signals will also be transferred with radio waves locally, which is a brand new technique too. "And this time it will be eight cameras!", says Robert. "If all this works I certainly hope that people will love it. "If no problems arise then we will be broadcasting following the NDRG schedule, Friday to Sunday from 9:00 in the morning to the end of the day. If it starts to rain we may come up with interviews or something, I don't know yet." Race fans are welcome to www.smarttv.se - click it and enjoy! Event entry update. 3rd August: Entry is still open for the Open Sport Nationals, which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway on August Bank Holiday 27th-29th August. Racers are reminded that the Pit Allocation form must be completed and returned with their entry for this event even if they attended the Springspeed Nationals earlier in the year. Racers not completing the form will get the standard pit space allocation and no more. You can download the entry form from the Downloads page at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com. Friday of next week, 12th August, is the official closing date for entry to the FIA European Finals which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 8th-11th September. You can check out Version 2 of the official entry list for the FIA European Finals by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. You can download the official entry forms for all classes from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc and entry forms for Pro classes are also available on the Speedgroup web site at www.speedgroup.eu. Many thanks to SPRC Club Secretary Paula Marshall for forwarding us Version 4 of the official entry list for Rotorstock, a Jap Drag Series round which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on Saturday 20th August. You can check out the official entry list for Rotorstock by clicking here. We're the quickest! 3rd August: Patrik Larsson writes that Sweden's Tierp Arena has shown its class as the new Swedish Pro Modified ET record set at the NDRS Nationals II is better than the FIA European record: The new Swedish record is 5.922 seconds set by the Lindberg Brothers. As the point standings in the Swedish Pro Modified Championship were so close, the final of the weekend's race turned out to be the actual final for the Championship itself. The race, and therefore the Championship, was won by Michael Gullqvist. Michael ran 5.926 in the final and Johan 5.942 - 5.942 is obviously not enough to win a Swedish Championship race these days! 
The top threes in the Swedish Championships are as follow. Junior Dragster has one more race to go, at Lindesberg on 13th-14th August. Pro Modified 1. Michael Gullqvist 341 points 2. Johan Lindberg 321 3. Mats Eriksson 304 Competition Eliminator 1. Per-Erik Lindgren 391 2. Stig Olsson 340 3. Mattias Stenström 283 Stock/Superstock 1. Per Fagerström 331 2. Ulf Edvardsson 330 3. Per-Anders Lindström 326 An eventful weekend. 
3rd August: Richard Billings and Al Cook of UK Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator team Owen Developments Stang Racing Team have
been in touch with an update from their rather eventful outing at the Bug Jam:
At the end of our last piece on Eurodragster.com it was mentioned that we were chasing an ignition misfire. Owen Developments found that the MSD coils were not ideally suited to our twin turbo Big Block E85 set up. Mark Harrison, head of Technical Development from Owens, had suspected this for some time and he pinpointed the problem by reprogramming the ignition dwell to the coil through the Motec Engine Management System. This didn't cure the problem but left Mark in no doubt that it wasn't the power of the spark that was the issue, but the duration of the spark which was causing the misfire. This is due to the burn characteristics of the E85 Fuel, and the size of the bore in our big inch set-up. After identifying the problem, Owens set about rectifying it. They sourced two types of coils: one in the US, and a Bosch unit from both of which would do the job. It was decided that we would use the 034 Motor Sport coil as it had the edge over the Bosch unit and was more suited to our application. The parts were ordered on a Monday lunchtime and dispatched on a forty eight hour service from the US. In the meantime Owens had commissioned Steve Hirst of GWR Motorsports, who are based in Swindon, to manufacture and deliver the loom in two days, which of course he did in timely fashion. The new set-up meant we needed to replace our CDI unit with a Motec Ignition Expander, supplied by Owens from their extensive Motec stock. The loom was ready to fit to the car late Wednesday afternoon, the coils also arrived Wednesday, the hardware was mounted to the car on Thursday, the installation was completed and the car fired first thing Friday morning. That's five days from placing an order in the US for the coils to commissioning the car and getting it onto the race track, no mean feat at all. We had planned for the Friday at the Bug Jam to be a test session: as the entire ignition system had been changed we needed to re-evaluate the set-up. We took the car out and it ran a check-out pass of 8.76/182. More testing in public...we hate that! On the return road we noticed a problem with the front suspension of the car, and saw a wisp of smoke. We swung off the return road and borrowed a fire extinguisher, pulled off the bonnet and there was a small fire around the front right strut. Thanks to Amos at the MSA scrutineering baythe the flames were quickly extinguished. Back at the pits the clean-up began. We washed off the powder residue from the extinguisher and a couple of hours later we started to repair the damage. The front strut has a remote gas/oil canister and it appears that the hose developed a pin hole and the oil was sprayed out in a fine jet onto the headers. The subsequent fire had burnt through part of the wiring loom and damaged a switch, these items were replaced at the track. Unfortunately the burnt switch and loom had also led to damage to the Motec ECU and a blown internal circuit and fuse. Mark re programed both ECUs so that the damaged part of the main ECU wasn't being used, and the slave ECU took over the duties of the damaged Master unit. The next problem was a burst hose on the front strut. Fortunately we had a spare, so Owens rebuilt the strut over night, filled it with oil and recharged the gas canister with nitrogen, and we were up and running again ready for testing Saturday morning. We had a base tune in the car so everything was set for us to qualify, with one more checkout pass all appeared to be well and the team qualified in fifth place with an 8.58/182. After our qualifying pass on Sunday morning we faced a problem with the rear beadlocks. The tyre pressure in the staging lanes was proving tricky to maintain and was getting worse, and the idea of losing tyre pressure at 180+ mph wasn't that appealing to us. So the team decided not to run the car any further at this meeting - we figured we had already used up all our good luck at Bug Jam! The suspension data from the car has indicated a couple of things we would like to investigate further, with this in mind both the front struts and rear shocks will go on the suspension dyno. With information acquired from the Motec datalogging system we can use the dynamic, speed and velocity data from the car to custom match the front struts and rear shocks to suit our specific application. Richard and Al would like to take this opportunity to thank a few people for their help so far this season: Mark at Owen Developments for invaluable tech support and help running the car, O34 Motor Sports for their forty eight-hour delivery of the coils and after-sales service, Steve Hirst of GWR Motorsports for his help with the loom and for fitting us into his busy work load, Mickey Thompson and Weld Wheels for their advice, Amos for the help with the fire, and last but not least Rob Loaring at ICE Autmotive for specifying and building us our awesome engine and turbo package and Nick Davies at Rooster Racing for the race support and parts service. Without Rob and Nick's profesional approach, dedication, and passion for our sport our season would have been over a month ago! The Owen Developments Stang Racing Street Eliminator team have another exciting announcement to make in the near future, so watch this space. Bug at the Jam. 3rd August: UK Super Pro ET racer Andy Raw has been in touch with an update from what sounds like the busy workshop of his blown-alcohol VW Beetle Funny Car: 
After a great time at the Main Event, with the performance of the new blown motor and getting through the first round, we went went home with big smiles all round even though the rain came down
and stopped play. It wasn't until a couple of days later that we discovered that we had some damage in the engine: it had dropped a lifter which then had killed a new camshaft and marked the main
and big end bearings.
So out came the engine. It was stripped down and sent back to Mark Pace who had just given it back to us! After he had checked it out and replaced the damaged parts he proceeded to tell us to purchase a new set of lifters - which were the only parts we didn't replace in the first place! We returned the engine to Karl Harrison to fit it all back in then he found all the gear oil had leaked out of the rear axle! When we had had a better look we discovered that the ring and pinion had been damaged so the axle came out and sent to Chris Isaacs so that he could install the new gear set for us. Because we had to wait for the gear set to come from America we missed the Summernationals which we had been hoping to make. Everybody in the crew had worked so hard to get the car to this point so it was such a shame. In the meantime, I had been contacted by the people at Hockenheim and arranged to run at the NitrOlympX .This came out of the blue and it has been on my bucket list. When we got the rear end back from Chris it was installed along with the engine in one night. It's funny the people who turn up at eleven at night to see how you are getting on and sometimes bring gifts of beer! Thanks for that Nick! And what can I say - even a trick fuel return system with a tune from Charlie Draper. The Bug Jam at Santa Pod Raceway was the next port of call so off we went. As we are booked in at the NitrOlympX and money is a bit tight we couldn't afford to race in the VWDRC Championship round so we entered as an exhibition car. That way we could get some track time and make sure that we didn't uncover any last-minute problems before we were off to Germany. On the Saturday we ran twice and on both occasions the car hooked up off the line and lifted the front wheels higher than it had ever done before. A bit scary in fact, and at the top end it was very loose so I got of it at 1000 feet and it still ran an 8.80! We made a decision not to run anymore over the weekend and save it for the NitrOlympX. I would like to thank the VWDRC for having us - sorry we took up so much space in the pits; the Harrison family for the loan of their very nice artic lorry and once again for all the help; Mark Pace for the bottom end build; Chris Isaacs for the rear end build; Webster Race Engineering and Ian Marshall; and my crew Karl Harrison, Lee Darby, Chunky and Glen Crowe. Now we are ready for Germany. I can't wait! I'm just sorry that my Crew Chief can't make it but don't worry Karl, I will try to bring it back in one piece and I will listen to Darby! Flamholc gets lane choice. 3rd August: Swedish Pro Modified racer Adam Flamholc likes Drachten Raceway so much that he bought a lane, writes Maikel Gloudemans of our webcam streaming server provider Doyousee.me: During his visit to Drachten at the MPM Internationals Adam told me that he really liked the atmosphere and the people at Drachten Raceway and that he would try to come back some time. "People here put their whole hearts into providing all the help they can", Adam said. After some thought Adam decided to do more for the eXplosion Drag Racing Club than just to improve his track record. His company Malmö Motor Renovation will be one of the sponsors for Automotoshow 3 and will give its name to one of the lanes. "Malmö Motor Renovation has been in business since 1990", said Adam. "We do all kind of engine building and engine works. In 2003 we bought Motorenova, another engine shop in Helsingborg an hour away from Malmö and in 2005 we bought the remains of the driveshaft company Unicardan. We have a lot of drag racing and circuit teams as customers, as well as most of the big car dealers and auto repair shops such as BMW, Volvo, Mercedes, GM and more. We think there's a market for us in Europe, and we are trying to reach out to racers across Europe." eXplosion and Automotoshow are pleased that MMR chose our event to promote its European ambitions. Doyousee.me has already offered to help the team during its stay in the Netherlands: the Flamholc racing team made us feel as welcome in their pit area as they were on our track - that's the beauty of drag racing! Swift snippets. 3rd August: Shawn Rodman and UK Supertwin Fuel team AFB Racing are delighted to welcome J W Hinchliffe (Tanks) Ltd as a sponsor for the rest of the 2011 season. With a wide range of services in the Fuel Tank Cleaning and Removal industry, Hinchliffes are proud to offer a professional yet personal service to both domestic and commercial customers. Covering all of the UK, Hinchliffes can help to resolve many common problems including water in fuel, and can even offer a fuel polishing service to ensure that even the dirtiest tanks can be cleaned without the loss of the contents inside. For further information on the services offered by J W Hinchliffe (Tanks) Ltd, check out www.jwhinchliffetanks.co.uk or feel free to call John Hinchliffe on 01132 635163; Eurodragster.com readers can expect a preferential rate. Nick Saunders writes that the bike is coming back together after a few problems with parts, and that the team hopes to be back out towards the back end of August. "We must say good luck to all of those racing at Gardermoen and everywhere else at the weekend", says Nick. Now that the Bug Jam timing data is in we are pleased to confirm Sportsman ET racer Sean Armstrong as the winner of the Eurodragster.com/Cotsweld Race Cars Perfect Light Award and VW Sportsman racer Paul Day as the winner of the Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET Award at that event. If Sean and Paul would like to get in touch we will arrange their respective £50 payments. Many thanks to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe for forwarding us the abovementioned timing data from Bug Jam. You can check out the Bug Jam timing data by clicking here or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. We are in possession of the 8.50 Bike and 9.50 Bike timing data from the Public Test Weekend at Shakespeare County Raceway and will post it very shortly; the delay is down to us as we have to construct a database query. With thirty two Junior Dragsters entered for the NDRS Nationals II, the UK's Joe Kellett faced stiff competition says dad Pete. "The Tierp track and facility were awesome as usual. We had three qualifiers on Friday and Joe finished up fifth with a 0.0038. The car is very consistent and Joe pulled good lights in eliminations, which was a complete package to take him to his third win in Sweden. Joe now leads the NDRS Series by 58 points with one round to go, and is second in the Swedish Dragracing League with two rounds to go which we will contest. Thanks for all the congratulations from our friends in the UK. We really are living the dream." Andy Wheeler of Eurodragster.com sponsor Alamo Rent-A-Car writes from the USA that UK Junior Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com Blogger Paige Wheeler is having a fantastic time in the USA. "Paige got to the second round in the Mike Boss Nationals, third round in the Thunder Valley Challenge, and second round in the Eastern Conference Finals", says Andy. "The Finals is the largest event in the world with over 800 children entered. Paige has been driving a dragster provided by Halfscale Dragsters Inc of New Jersey. She was interviewed for the USA news twice and made it into the press too. We are in Florida for some rest before heading up to Atlanta to see R2B2 RacingTeam owner Roger Burgess and USA Pro driver Melanie Troxel". You can check out some pictures at gallery.me.com/andwheeler/100263. 
This Sunday's Damn Yankees 25th Annual Show at North Weald Airfield is to be the last such event. "It is always a good day out and they have had cars from the drag racing fraternity at all of them", says Charlie Draper, "so it's no surprise that this year won't be any exception. Along side all the American muscle cars, Hot Rods, Harleys and Customs they have three blown Altereds - Clive Michael's nitro burner, the Bennetts' blown-alcohol altered and our own Draper Brothers car. If you fancy a walk round and a chat about the cars come along and say Hi. There is music all day and the usual beer tent, side stalls and auto jumble. Gary Hall and the rest of the Damn Yankees do a good job at North Weald so it's a shame to see another event go from the calendar. Take the kids, have a look round, and hear some noise as it won't be there next year." Effective July 1, 2011, SFI Foundation, Inc President and CEO Arnie Kuhns announced the promotion of Jennifer Faye to the Position of Vice President of SFI. Kuhns said "Jennifer has shown substantial growth during her sixteen years with SFI and has proven herself extremely capable of assuming additional duties within the company. She will be responsible for essentially all facets of SFI and will be instrumental in moving SFI forward in the field of Motorsports Safety." Appearing now in your local... 
3rd August: A set of headers from Sydney Allard's 1961 Allard Chrysler dragster has been found in the Dog and Duck
in Wellingborough. They were discovered by Allard Chrysler Action Group
Chairman Brian Taylor during the dragster's recent two-week tour of Northamptonshire.
"I was amazed when I first spotted the headers", says Brian. "I had called in for a quick sandwich and to catch the news about who had been the latest to resign from the News of the World when I noticed this art picture on the wall next to the large TV screen. It was of the Allard Chrysler headers taken at Beaulieu. I was so gobsmacked that I needed an extra drink. I pointed out the significance to the staff and they had no idea of the importance. They just thought it was a neat image. This was particularly disappointing as the Dog and Duck is a regular drag racers' haunt being close to Santa Pod." The Dog and Duck is part of the Beefeater chain owned by Whitbreads, as is the Premier Inn next door. It is more than likely that this picture is hung at other Beefeater outlets and ACAG is trying to get people to have their picture taken when they spot one and either post it on the Allard Dragster Facebook Page or E-Mail it as a .JPG to brian@allardchrysler.org. If they get enough responses they might be able to prompt Whitbreads to look at drag racing as a promotional tool. Who knows, they might even think about stocking Allard Celebration Ale. The sky's the limit! 3rd August: Vom 12. bis zum 14. August 2011 heißt es für alle Drag Racing-Fans: "Welcome to the Powerdome"! Traditionell trifft sich die europäische Elite des schnellsten Motorsports der Welt wieder dort, wo die Geschwindigkeit zuhause ist: bei den FIA/UEM-Europameisterschaftsläufen der 26. NitrOlympX auf der "Rico Anthes Quartermile" des Hockenheimrings Baden-Württemberg. 
Dass beim größten Drag Racing Event Europas jedoch nicht zwangsläufig die 8.000 PS eines Top Fuel Dragsters notwendig sind, um das Publikum von den Sitzen zu reißen,
zeigt an diesem Wochenende der KunstflugChampion- und Air-Race-Pilot Matthias Dolderer im Rahmenprogramm der Veranstaltung auf faszinierende Art und Weise.
Mit mehr als 350 PS im Rumpf seiner einmotorigen Zivko Edge 540 reichen dem Himmelsstürmer, um jedem Besucher der NitrOlympX den Kopf in den Nacken zu zwingen und ihn mit offenem Mund in den Himmel starren zu lassen. Nicht nur im Motodrom geht also die sprichwörtliche Post ab - dieses Jahr wird auch der dazugehörige Luftraum in das Highspeed-Action-Areal integriert, wenn Dolderer mit bis zu 426 Stundenkilometern Top Speed seine genau geplanten und professionell geflogenen Figuren in den Himmel zeichnet. Eingebettet zwischen den spektakulären Wettkämpfen um die Drag Racing Europameisterschaft der Cars (FIA) und Bikes (UEM) wird der Ausnahmepilot jeweils am Samstag und Sonntag Versionen seiner atemberaubenden Show fliegen. Dolderer, dessen atemberaubende Kunststücke man als "Aerobatics" bezeichnet, war 2008 deutscher Meister in der unlimited Klasse, und ist einer der besten Kunstflugpiloten der Welt. Beim Red Bull Air Race in Spanien belegte er 2009 einen hervorragenden 3. Platz. In der Luft pflegt er einen aggressiven Flugstil, sein Ehrgeiz ist immer das Limit. Hochkonzentriert setzt er alles daran, stets das Optimale aus seiner Maschine herauszuholen, ohne aber dabei jemals den Sicherheitsgedanken aus den Augen zu verlieren. Insgesamt 7.500 Flugstunden im Cockpit von mehr als 120 verschiedenen Flugzeugtypen, dazu 25.000 Landungen weltweit und die zahlreichen erfolgreichen Teilnahmen an verschiedenen internationalen Meisterschaften und Airshows zeichnen ein klares Bild von seinen Qualitäten. Der Ausnahme-Pilot, dessen private Leidenschaft schnelle Autos sind, nutzt die einjährige Pause der Red Bull Air-Race-Serie, um seine Fans wieder mit spektakulären Flugshows rund um den Globus - und nun auch bei den NitrOlympX - zu begeistern. Die Veranstalter freuen sich, alles getan zu haben, um den Adrenalinspiegel auch dieses Jahr wieder auf Höchstniveau zu halten, und den rund 50.000 Fans diesen spektakulären, absolut neuen Programmpunkt im Rahmen des diesjährigen Events präsentieren zu können. Fazit: Das volle FIA- und UEM-Starterfeld, die bunte Vielfalt der zahlreichen Sportsman-Klassen, das wie immer offene Fahrerlager sowie die, in Europa unerreichte Nightshow am Samstag mit dem atemberaubenden Top Fuel Night Race und natürlich auch die Airshow, werden auch dieses Jahr die NitrOlympX auf dem Hockenheimring zu einem der absoluten Highlights im europäischen, ja sogar weltweiten Drag Racing-Kalender machen. Mehr Informationen unter www.nitrolympx.de. Web site updates. 
3rd August: Our good buddy and occasional stand-in photographer Julian Hunt has updated his gallery site with a set of
pictures from Big Bang at Santa Pod Raceway earlier this season. As ever Julian has to wait for his work to be used in publications before
he can make it more widely available but, also as ever, the pictures were worth the wait. You can check out Julian's Big Bang pictures at
www.julianhunt.net.Event entry update. 2nd August: Entry is still open for the Open Sport Nationals, which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway on August Bank Holiday 27th-29th August. Racers are reminded that the Pit Allocation form must be completed and returned with their entry for this event even if they attended the Springspeed Nationals earlier in the year. Racers not completing the form will get the standard pit space allocation and no more. You can download the entry form from the Downloads page at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com. Friday 12th August is the official closing date for entry to the FIA European Finals which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 8th-11th September. You can check out Version 1 of the official entry list for the FIA European Finals by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. You can download the official entry forms for all classes from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc and entry forms for Pro classes are also available on the Speedgroup web site at www.speedgroup.eu. The latest version of the official entry list for next week's NitrOlympX at Hockenheim, which includes rounds of the FIA and UEM European Championships, can be found via the Racers Page link on the NitrOlympX web site at www.nitrolympx.de. Eurodragster.com will be reporting live from Hockenheim next week in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car. Gabby in Conference. 2nd August: 2010 UK National, SPRC and APIRA Junior Dragster Champion, Eire's Gabrielle McDonald turned her considerable talents back to the USA as she spent an exciting and eventful fortnight in Bristol where she contested the Eastern Conference Finals: 
As I had expected there were a lot of people who attended both the Mike Bos race and the Eastern Conference Finals. Altogether 600 kids from the East Coast attended this event together
with Paige Wheeler and I. There were 150 kids in the 16-17 class alone! As I expected it rained a lot while we were there, but the sun did shine and the heat was unbearable in a black car and
three-layer suit. I had changed teams at the end of the Mike Bos race and I raced with Half Scale who gladly helped us out, as did Steve from Junior Specialties.
I found out I was quite good when it came to a Pro Tree, getting reactions of 0.029 and 0.014 in qualifying and 0.007 in eliminations. Because of rain our first round of eliminations was postponed until Saturday morning. Unsure what to dial in we had all agreed on 7.90 but then as we got to the pairing lanes my dad decided to change it to a 7.95 with encouragement from Craig, who was helping us out. Unfortunately I then broke out. It was a pain but it still was a lot of fun and a great experience, as all my trips to race in the US have been. I met up with the Wheelers who had been on the line cheering me on every run; I was on the line cheering for Paige, who did brilliantly! We also met Mike Bos who invited us to his workshop to see what he was building, while there we met his two sons Mikey and Jim and their cat Miss Kitty. I got to see chassis built for a full sized dragster as well as Juniors. It was a great experience to visit a workshop and see how dragsters are made in the flesh. 
Whilst we were waiting to leave Bob Bode, his wife Alice and his son Bobby dropped by the Half Scale pit to congratulate Owen Roth who beat them in the second round. Bob saw me as he was
leaving on his golf cart and told his mechanic to stop. He had stopped the cart to find out how I had done, which I found sweet and surprising and I was honoured to have Bob Bode himself interested
in my racing. He signed my helmet and posed for a picture with me as a memory for me to keep. As he was leaving he said to me "I expect to see you make it big in years to come. I will be watching
for you." He had to have been one of the most sweetest people I have met, it meant a lot to me for him to say that.
This trip is definitely unforgettable. I hope to return to Bristol to race in a bigger class in a few years' time. I would also like to congratulate Joe Kellett who has won three events in Sweden. I'm very proud of him, he's like my little brother and I've seen him grow up over the last five years. Good luck in races to come to friends and to fellow racers new and old. I really hope to see you all very soon. It's not over yet! 2nd August: Beth Satchell has been in touch with a report on the second running of the second running of the For Ladies That Launch event at Shakespeare County Raceway: 
The original date of 11th-12th June turned out to be wet and cold. I know a lot of you turned up and raced in the RWYB on the Saturday. Liz Malcolm ran a Personal Best
in her Pro ET dragster and Lorna Barter took to the track for the first time in her Suzuki Wagon R which she drives from her wheelchair. Sunday, though, was not meant to be
as it rained from the outset and didn't stop. On the Saturday evening we valiantly trooped up to the top end of the Raceway to take the photo of the girls with their racing machines,
but again the rain meant that a lot stayed in the pits in the dry. We tried to get the photo done as quickly as we could as we were all getting soaked, as was the camera. We got it
done and I want to thank everyone who braved the rain for sticking with it.
As we were all so disappointed it was decided that we would move the Ladies' Bracket Race to 24th July so we had For Ladies that Launch Part 2. Thank you to all the ladies who came and took part in the bracket on Sunday 24th. The sun was out and the track was busy. We didn't realise how competitive you girls are! Half the field signed up for the Ladies' Bracket and the Gamblers' Bracket and two of those made it to the semi-finals of the Gamblers' Bracket and went on to share the pot, as it couldn't be completed because we ran out of time. Well done to Claire Johnson and Holly Baldwin. The Ladies' Bracket had twelve sign up for cars and six sign up for bikes: Car bracket: Claire Johnson - Oldsmobile Omega; Nicole Parker - Ford Mustang; Tracy Victory - Suzuki; Linda Stanley - Chevy Vega; Cath Napier - BMW 635; Dawn Watson - Dragster; Ronee Gillett - Renault Clio; Lorna Barter - Suzuki Wagon R; Helen Loefler - Ford Focus' Holly Baldwin - VW Beetle; Gaenor Clarke - Subaru. Bike bracket: Lizz McCarthy - Suzuki GSX Funny Bike; Bryony Wadkin-Snaith - Honda Blackbird; Megan Douglas - Kawasaki ER; Roxanne Richards - based on Honda Blackbird; Bev Batsford - Triumph Bonneville. Sadly due to "Crew problems", as she put it, Lorna Barter was not able to make it for the qualifying in her Suzuki Wagon R. In the end ten ladies in their cars lined up for the qualifying session, six of whom had to come straight back round to join the qualifying session for the Gamblers' Bracket. Number 1 qualifier in the Car Bracket went to Dawn Watson (aka MissB) in the Claustrophobia rear-engined dragster while Number 1 qualifier in the bike bracket went to Bev Batsford - the Vice Chair of the National Association of Supertwins - on her Triumph Bonneville. Lizz McCarthy, who entered the bike bracket on her Funny Bike, said to me that it still isn't possible to dial in a Funny Bike for bracket racing but I think she enjoyed herself all the same. Bryony Wadkin-Snaith, who entered the Bike Bracket, pulled out after qualifying as they weren't staying until the end of the day and decided to RWYB instead. Bryony of Queenie's Cup Cakes made the Ladies that Launch cake which was devoured over the weekend by staff and racers and was enjoyed immensely by all, so a big thank you to Bryony for making it for us. The Ladies' Bike Bracket was hotly contested by those left in and the semi-finals found Bev Batsford up against Megan Douglas and Roxanne Richards on a bye run. Bev broke out in the semi finals but she was delighted to have run her fastest time of the day. Megan and Roxanne, who both race for Team Joker, met in the final and it was Megan who won the trophy for the Ladies' Bike Bracket. She was delighted when we presented her with the trophy, the whole team was very proud and they had enjoyed the day immensely. The Car Bracket was contested down to the quarter-finals in which Dawn went through on bye run and Claire Johnson in her Oldsmobile was defeated by Holly Baldwin in her beetle and Linda Stanley in her Chevy Vega was defeated by Nicole Parker in her Mustang. Unfortunately due to the number of racers who had turned out that day and the few stoppages we had we were unable to complete the bracket as we ran out of time, so this bracket will be continued at the Public Track Weekend in October. I have my fingers crossed that all three can attend that weekend and that we can have a well-deserved winner for the Ladies That Launch Car Cracket. I think everyone enjoyed the weekend and although Ladies that Launch has been very fragmented this year due to weather and track conditions I think it has been enjoyed by all who attended. I look forward to seeing you all on 1st-2nd October for the conclusion of For Ladies that Launch 2011...Part 3! Swift snippets. 
2nd August: Simon 'Guns' Brown and his partner Jade Gregory would like to announce the birth of their son Bailey 'Mini Guns' Stuart Brown
on 28th July weighing in at 6 lbs 2 oz. Bailey has just been measured up for his firesuit and his extinguisher is on its way. Many thanks from his proud parents and now grandparents
Phil (Ripple) and Avril Brown.Web site updates. 2nd August: Our good buddy Patrik Jacobsson has updated his Racebilder web site with pictures from the weekend's NDRS Nationals II at Tierp Arena. You can check out Patrik's great pictures at www.racebilder.nu. Euros on the rise in France. 1st August: Twenty years ago, tuning expanded strongly in France with the problematic consequence of street racing. The Fédération Française du Sport Automobile, the authority for all forms of car racing, offered a nationwide solution with eighth-mile Runs FFSA arranged on Sundays in deserted industrial estates with a very basic Christmas Tree. At that moment, real drag racing was at its lowest point in France but kept the US addicts close to its heart. Times changed, the Association Trophée Dragster is now well-established and welcomes any sort of correctly-built racer. Pascal Thébault writes: At Lurcy-Lévis, 100 cars were listed, including fifteen Euro Compacts machines from Street Run C (14.00 index) to Pro ET. This number outmatches the Flat Four VW squad. ATD Technical Marshal and 1980s Comp Bike racer Phil Berté has his own point of view. "Five years ago, clean Euro cars were the exception. Now the opposite is true. In France, we have a phrase "You could eat in the engine bay" and that's accurate. These guys are young, learn quick, and are really hungry! A future force, you'll see." 
No decoration or shiny paint, just resolute sleepers. And it works. Italian Robert Del Rio was Pro ET #4 qualifier with his Lancia turbo-engined Fiat Uno. Christophe Rousselet was class winner with his Golf Mk2 with VR32 power. He runs to an 11.60 index and ran times between 11.906 and 11.638 and amassed an incredible 133 points at Lurcy. Second at the moment in Pro ET, this cheerful man will be one of the main contenders against Sylvain Novak and his fabulous C3 Corvette (to be seen soon on Eurodragster.com). 
For the finals at Mende on 10th-11th September, we'll have a look at for Béranger Pudil and his anonymous thirteen-second Opel Speedster. He's second in Street Run B, just five points behind leader Eric Galuppo (C6). You can stay in touch with the French scene at www.francedrag.com. Stef heads for the track. 
1st August: The UK's Stefani Robinson has been working hard to get things sorted and to get out on the track after gaining a competition licence
at Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School in March. Stef is pleased to tell us that she has plans in ptogress and hopes to be testing soon.
"Once I'm back on the track I will update everyone on the car, team and what we're planning to do", says Stef. "In the meantime I would like to take this opportunity to thank the people who have helped me so far. This includes my sponsor Dance2Fitness whose support has enabled me to move my plans forward. Dance2Fitness is a studio based in Andover that specialise in fitness dancing such as Zumba and Fitness Pole Dancing. I can personally recommend the studio as I go there myself and am very proud to be representing them. I would also like to thank my amazing family for the support they've given me personally and from the business Andy Robinson Race Cars. "For the moment that's all I can say but I look forward to announcing more the details soon!" Euro Top Gas Round 4. 1st August: The fourth round of the 2011 Euro Serie Supertwin Top Gas Championship took place over the quarter mile at the Drachten Internationals in The Netherlands on 15th-17th July. Herman Jolink writes: Again it rained, but there was qualifying between showers on Friday and Saturday and Lex Joon did show runs with his Top Fuel Dragster. There were 3000 spectators. Qualifying:
Not qualified Herman Jolink on Ducati 1198 RS (1266) problems with his crew after Top Gas qualifying, ran 8.6/249. Marc van den Boer B ran 8.7 with his blower bike in the Czech Republic
but with too little piston play for the blower so he bent the pistons and was not ready for Drachten.
Sunday Top Gas waited for three hours to run during show runs from the Top Fueller and other fast cars. In the quarter finals Kolacny 8.649 beat van Schie 8.555, van Schie 0.400 red light and Kolacny 0.139 red light. Beugelsdijk 8.591 bye run, Bruhn again had engine problems. Caspari 8.890 beat van Nimmen 9.462 then it rained again and the race was cancelled. Top Gas Championship after four rounds:
Going spare with Team Zodiac. 1st August: After the rainout of round two of the UEM European Drag Bike Championships in England, and missing round three in Sweden due to personal commitments, The Netherlands' Team Zodiac Supertwin team knew that they had big task in front of them for the remainder of the season if they wanted to stay in the Championship points chase. Vincent Pels writes: 
One thing which helped was the huge competition in the class this year and riders who win races or qualify pole position
at one race could fail to qualify at the next. However, this high level of competition also makes it even more difficult
to win those valuable Championship points.
"Hot", "humid" and "tricky track conditions" were the keywords during qualifying at the Finish Moottoriurheilukeskus, or race track as we refer to it. With these conditions it was hard for the bikes (or any fuel burning vehicle) to get decent performance out of their power plants, but that didn't stop the Supertwin class fromhaving its second all six-second field. The Zodiac supercharged Harley was in a comfortable second qualifying spot with a 6.72 second pass, just behind Finland's Jaska Salakari's 6.69 second number one spot. The team had to miss the last qualifying session, because they had to change an engine after the third session. A connecting rod had a black bearing, which damaged the crank to such an extent that it was beyond track repair. With a maiden engine which had never run in the bike before the first round of eliminations, Ton and Vincent decided to set the tune-up a little softer to get some data and hoped it that would be enough against current European Champion Lorenz Stäuble of the Fat Attack team, who had run a respectable 6.90 in qualifying. Roel was a little late on the tree, but the bike made a solid 6.81 second pass, enough to beat the 7.07 second run of Lo. With some data from the new engine the team was able to step it up against new Championship points leader Per Bengtsson who had advanced to the second round with a 6.82 run. Roel cut a great light on the tree and with a very good 6.65 second pass it was handlebar to handlebar to the finish line against Per Bengtsson's losing 6.74 effort. 
In the final the team was up against Jaska Salakari, who ran a tremendous 6.39 second pass in the first round, but had a lot of issues
in the second round. This time team Zodiac got lucky, as when the lights went green the Zodiac Nitro Harley left with massive header
flames, but moved very sluggishly and made it to the finish line in an off pace 7.77 seconds. Jaska had even more issues and didn't
even make it to the finish line, which gave us our very first event win with the new supercharged bike. Ton, Vincent and current European
Champion Lorenz Stauble give Roel the traditional Alastaro head-first dip into the water barrel.
Back in the pits, the datalogger showed that a faulty operating micro switch activated the timers before the run, messing up the clutch, fuel and ignition management systems, but a well-known saying in racing says "To finish first, you first have to finish"! The Zodiac team is now in third place in the Championship and the top four racers are all within one round of eliminations, so the Championship is wide open. The next race is next weekend's Sunoco Drag Festifal on the always-quick Gardermoen track in Norway and then the NitrOlympX at the famous German Hockenheimring one week later. A tight schedule, but with both engines ready to race Team Zodiac feels a lot more confident taking on the fierce competition. See you at the track! Hook brings home the report. 1st August: UK Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer Ian Hook says that his half-term report could be summed up with the words "Tries hard but could do better": Despite missing round one of the Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator Championship, 2011 is proving to be another good year for FB Racing. Even before the season kicked off we had the great news that both of our prime sponsors were renewing their support for this year and I'd like to say a huge thank you to Rob and Roy of RS Auto Services and to Graham Smith of Serck Services Motorsport. I'm not overstating the situation when I say that without the help of these guys we would not have been competing this year. And they are not alone, completing the roster of support for the 2011 series are associate sponsors the famous Everest Balti Restaurant,Webster Race Engineering via Power Pour, our wonderful FB Associates, and Messier-Bugatti-Dowty We also have help on the nitrous front from Trevor Langfield at Wizards of NOS and with the transmission from Andy Frost at Penn Autos. Sadly the financial situation has meant that we say good bye to Sanco Badsey Spar and our longest-serving sponsor A&E Fire Equipment. We'd especially like to thank the latter (in particular Roy Amphlett) for their fantastic support over the years and hope that we may be able to renew our association at some time in the future. Those who have followed our season to date will be aware that the extensive winter chassis rebuild which caused us to miss round one of the SE Championship was worthwhile as the car now runs very straight and is far more predictable. And, whilst performance has not been stunning, we bagged our first number one qualifier slot in over four years and took the win at the SPRC Summernationals. However, we have been unable to get anywhere near the 7.80 which we ran back in 2009 with a quickest pass to date of 8.08. We arrived at Bug Jam knowing we had to strip the trans out to replace gaskets in the 'Glide and the stator support in the converter. However, once the converter was pulled apart it was obvious it needed some expert attention so crew members Spud and Brain made the trip to Wolverhampton on Friday for Andy Frost to take a look. Some new parts, some fettling and modding all topped off with a re-shim and the converter was once again ready for action. We have to say a big thanks to Frosty for his work and technical expertise, plus dropping everything on a Friday morning to work his magic for us. With the converter back in one piece the lads returned to the Pod and by Friday night it was all back together. We didn't want to run on the RWYB track as results can be misleading so waited until the race meeting proper began before making our first pass. An 8.49 put us in P2 but we were surprised when analysis of the data from our first qualifying pass revealed that we were suffering from very low fuel pressure - how we hadn't melted anything was a mystery although it probably helped that we always run with Power Pour in the tank! It all pointed to pump issues. We had already been looking to upgrade the fuel system and in preparation had moved the battery and installed a pump for the nitrous system (up to now we had used just one pump). Martin (Brain) checked through what fittings we had and that, plus the generous offers of parts from other SE racers, was enough for him to decide to try and commission it at the track. A long job was made tougher as he and the crew had to wait whilst the car featured in an SE photoshoot on the track! But they worked through the night and at 2:00 am on Sunday morning we had a working dual pump system. The carb pump was still iffy but we reckoned it would hold up for a while at least. Now with a richer mixture the car performed a lot better and Sunday morning's Q4 pass produced an 8.13 and improved to an 8.09 in Q5 which got us back from P4 to secure P2 on the ladder. But the ETs still weren't what we hoped for so investigations continued along with some experimentation. A popped connector that switched off the nitrous system but left in all the ignition retards almost cost us dear in round two where we narrowly got past Bill MacDermid 9.4 to 9.6. Further adjustments and disconnection of some electronics Brain deemed as "dodgy" finally got us where we hoped to be as in R2 (a bye for us) the ;34 climbed skywards with power aplenty. I had to come out of it to get the front back down yet we still went 8.60. The next round, the semi-final against Davey Murdoch, was a thriller. On a rapidly overheating and deteriorating track I won through with a tyre-spinning 8.44 against the Willys' arrow-straight 8.43 thanks only to a quicker RT. In the final we took a chance and chose the left lane putting Championship leader Brian Payne in the right. It didn't work as the '34 spun the tyres and had a bit of a tankslapper moment causing me to back off mid-track although none of that mattered as I'd gone 0.004 too early anyway! Jeanette Webster didn't have any cherry bakewells for me on this occasion but has promised me the recipe! We were very please with the result of the weekend as runner up at any SE meet these days is a real achievement and we had two very exciting and close races. Plus we have sorted several issues with the car and strongly believe we can go on from here with a view to getting back in the sevens at the Euros. A new pump is on order but we are concerned that it won't be here in time for the August Bank Holiday meeting at Shakey. Therefore I'd like to ask if there is anybody out there in Eurodragster.com land who could lend us, for that meeting only, a BG400 or A2000 fuel pump. I would be very, very grateful if you can help us. We'll run at the meeting anyway (in the hope that our current pump keeps going!) but I'd feel a lot more relaxed if we had something in the boot we could rely on a little more! If you feel you could help out please drop me a mail at ian.hook@blueyonder.co.uk. VW Action prize fund. 1st August: Santa Pod Raceway hosts VW Action event alongside the pre-FIA European Finals Test Weekend with a special VW Night Racing session on the evening of Saturday 3rd September. Brian Burrows has been in touch with an update for those planning to run at VW Action: The prize money for the VW Night Racing session at VW Action is as follows: Top 10 quickest cars 1. £500 2. £330 3. £250 4. £200 5. £150 6. £140 7. £130 8. £120 9. £100 10. £80 Top 10 quickest buses 1. £190 2. £130 3. £120 4. £110 5. £100 6. £90 7. £80 8. £70 9. £60 10. £50 All times must be run in the three-hour night session to receive prize money. There are Speed Club trophies for sub-thirteen second cars (i.e. 12.99 or quicker) and sub-fourteen second buses (13.99 or quicker). To become a member of a Speed Club, times can be run at any time during the weekend; please see www.vwaction.com. As always, we have several 'hot' European cars attending, it'd be nice to see some Brits giving them some competition! The VW Action Night Racing prize fund is kindly sponsored by Brian Burrows, VZi, NAS Events, Stateside Tuning, SSP/VW Heritage, Rennwagens, Daz Chandler/Aircooled Performance, RNJ Motorsport, John.Stone/BD Print, Volksbolts, Autohausdolby, SSE/Steve Strong Engines, GSF, Diddyvans, Madmatz, VW-Perforfance-Imports, Nefarious Pinstriping, Ezee Canvas, Dubluv Graphics, Roadcow, Prosign, Mega Bug, Kingfisher Kustoms, Low'n'Loud/Wolfspeed Designs, Retro Performance and Volkswagensforsale.co.uk. Please remember those who give something back. Earlier news |
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