Our coverage will consist of an illustrated report and a gallery, both of which will be posted at the end of the day. You will be able to check
out our coverage by clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hans side of any Eurodragster.com page.
There will be no webcam at this event; the next Webster
Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcast will be from
this weekend's VW Action also at Santa Pod Raceway.
Please remember that neither Eurodragster.com nor our sponsors look kindly upon reports, results or pictures being stolen from our Event
Coverage and posted on Facebook or elsewhere. Links and shares: fine. Anything else: not fine. If in doubt then please enquire at
editor@eurodragster.com.
On the subject of Event Coverage a big Thank You to the 90,147 readers of our John Woolfe
Racing-sponsored coverage of the Scandinavian Internationals and APIRA Open Sport Nationals. We have received a lot of positive feedback
about our coverage of these events which is very much appreciated (We'll draw a veil over the 424 attempts to watch webcasts which we clearly
stated were not happening - Ed).
VP Racing Fuels back Lindberg. 31st August: Jonnie Lindberg Motorsports has announced a new alliance with Eurodragster.com sponsor
VP Racing Fuels for the 2016 racing season. Jonnie Lindberg, reigning NHRA Top Alcohol
Funny Car Champion, will rely exclusively on VP's M1 Methanol in his attempt to secure a second Championship this year.
"I switched to VP because it's important for me to know you are getting the best and cleanest methanol on the market to make good horsepower and
stay consistent", said Jonnie.
"Jonnie Lindberg is a young star with an even brighter future ahead of him in drag racing" said Chris Wall, Chief Marketing Officer for VP Racing
Fuels. "He's not only campaigning with the NHRA but makes frequent trips back to Europe to help various Pro Mod teams with tuning. With all his
experience and network of contacts, Jonnie will be a great asset to VP's R&D efforts and will help promote our brand both in the U.S. and across
Europe."
Jonnie will be contesting Top Alcohol FC at this weekend's NHRA US Nationals at Indianapolis Raceway Park together with Ulf Leanders. Qualifying
starts on Friday and you will be able to stay in touch with our heroes' progress courtesy of
Dragracecentral.com.
Swift snippets. 31st August: Thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us a tweaked final version of the official entry list for the FIA / FIM European
Finals which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on Thursday-Sunday of next week (8th-11th September). You can check out the European Finals entry list by
clicking here or
by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Stay tuned as we understand that
there is to be another entry update shortly.
Jan Phersson of Eurodragster.com sponsor Simpson Safety Europe had a successful
weekend at the Scandinavian Internationals supplying trackside service throughout the event and, through the Simpson Motorsport Safety Academy,
hosting a safety seminar for Junior Dragster racers. "Teaching racers about personal safety from their earliest years is paramount", says Jan.
Thanks to Ian King for letting us know that the post-APIRA Open Sport Nationals points standings in the ACU UK Drag Bike Championships are
available on the King Racing web site at www.kingracing.com.
Michel Tooren and the Pro Dutch Racing Pro Modified team have published a
of the NitrOlympX which you can check out by clicking here(Dutch-language PDF).
The King returns. 31st August: Multiple FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion and record holder Andy Carter has been invited to next
week's FIA / FIM European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway to participate in a Meet and Greet celebrating SPR's fiftieth anniversary. Andy is
one of a number of high-profile guests at Meet and Greet on the Saturday of the event and is looking forward to his first trip back to Santa Pod since his
retirement in 2011.
"The venue holds so many amazing memories for me, and the fans are always at the heart of my recollections", says the King of Europe. "It will be great to see so many old faces and catch up,
as well as meeting new fans over the weekend. I will be taking part in the Meet and Greet at 12:00 noon on Saturday and I'm hoping to be able to make my way back on to the start line as I have
a few good memories from there. The view down the famous quarter mile will I'm sure stir a few emotions!"
Andy had an incredible record in his twenty nine year career in drag racing but his most impressive achievements were are at the very top of the sport when he spent seventeen years in FIA European
Top Fuel Dragster competition. Amongst Andy's achievements when he retired were four-time FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion; European quarter mile ET record holder at 4.572 seconds, a
record which will always stand since Top Fuel is now contested over 1000 feet; track record holder at Santa Pod Raceway, Mantorp Park and Shakespeare County Raceway; involvement in the
first 300 mph runs in Europe alongside Barry Sheavills; and leading cumulative points scorer in FIA European Top Fuel Dragster between 2007 and 2013 - it took Andy's rivals two seasons after his retirement
to catch up on his points tally.
Andy was also a pioneer off the track in bringing some of the biggest names into the sport through his partnership programme. His tireless commitment on all fronts resulted in major partnerships with
big brands such as Lucas Oil, B&Q, First National Telecom Services, Wynn's Lubricants, NGK, Go Talk, K&N Filters, Teng Tools, Veidec, Crane Cams and many more. His career was documented in the book
Andy Carter - King of Europe and he was a major contributor to the Haynes Top Fuel Dragster Manual. Andy also played a major part in promoting drag racing to as wide an audience as
possible with appearances at events all over the UK including a dragster at Autosport International twelve years running. Since his retirement from drag racing, Andy has committed his motorsport energies
into helping his son Albert Carter in his own racing career. Albert has already achieved success at the highest level in Karting and is currently
racing Spedeworth Junior Rods.
"I genuinely can't wait to see you all at Santa Pod next week", says Andy.
Web site updates. 31st August: Thanks to Marcus Sjödin for letting us know that the official web site of the Top Doorslammer series has
been updated with next season's race numbers after the conclusion of the 2016 Championship at Tierp Arena on Sunday. You can take a look at
www.topdoorslammer.com.
Leif's race career spanned twelve years in Super Comp Bike and Super Street Bike and he also worked with Pro Stock
Bike racers Robert, Elvira and Ellsa Karlsson driving their truck to races. He raced at tracks all around Europe
and was due to contest next week's FIA / FIM European Finals.
Leif's close friend and crew Jani Ojala writes "Leif was a true gentleman, very kind and always smiling. He was a pleasure to
be around. He will be sorely missed by all of us in European drag racing. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this
time. Rest in peace Leif. God bless."
Speedgroup CEO Åsa Kinnemar says "So sad and way too soon for you to leave Leif. I am happy to have had the chance to meet you at the race tracks over the years.
RIP. You will always be remembered."
Top Fuel Bike racer Ian King writes on behalf of everyone at King Racing "Our deepest condolences to Ann-Christine, his family and close friends.
Godspeed Leif."
Our deepest sympathies to Leif's family and friends. If you would like to send a tribute to Leif then please E-Mail
tributes@eurodragster.com.
2016 APIRA Champions. 30th August: Many thanks to our very own Simon for forwarding the list of Champions in the 2016 APIRA
Ultimate Power Drag Racing Championships. Congratulations to:
Super Pro ET: Brad Jackson
Pro ET: Ethan Lisle
Sportsman ET: Tig Napier
Super Comp: Andy Williams
Super Street: Leigh Morris
Lucas Oil Junior Dragster: Caitlin Wilson
Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator: Stuart Williams
VW Pro: Carl Goldsmith
VW Sportsman: Ross Chisholm-Brown
Wild Bunch: Bob Hawkins
Outlaw Anglia: Cliff Griffin
Funny Bike: Phil Crossley
Super Street Bike: Steve Venables
Comp Bike: Eddy Smiley
8.50 Bike: Jay Roe
9.50 Bike: Brett Cordelle
Junior Drag Bike: Louis Davies
NAST Supertwin Gas: Robbie Dobbie
ET Bike*: Joe Elliott
*For consistency in the points calculation between the two Clubs, the method of calculation of ET Bike points for the season is that stated in the rulebook under Sportsman Championships
rather than that for the ACU UK Drag Bike Championships.
You can check out the full APIRA Championship points on our OCS
Paint-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the OCS
Paint Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
APIRA Open Sport Nationals results. 30th August: Congratulations to the winners at the weekend's APIRA Open Sports Nationals at Shakespeare
County Raceway:
Super Pro ET: Brad Jackson (7.68) 7.759/162.11 def. Bob Doyle (8.58) 8.700/155.98
Pro ET: Ethan Lisle (10.00) 10.163/130.65 def. Brian Huxley (9.40) 9.463/142.78
Sportsman ET: Tig Napier (14.70) 14.665/95.15 def. Andy Dibley (13.65) 13.560/102.53 DQ red
Super Comp: Stuart Doignie 8.933/143.55 def. Andy Williams 8.863/136.92 DQ b/o
Super Street: Leigh Morris 10.911/120.63 def. Dave Cherrett 10.813/84.92 DQ b/o
Lucas Oil Junior Dragster: Caitlin Wilson (8.71) 8.705/73.05 def. Billy Everitt (7.99) 7.979/80.36
Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator: Stuart Williams 7.809/180.71 def. Gary Gooding 8.000/171.87
VW Pro: Sam Chisholm-Brown (12.25) 12.316/114.47 def. Carl Goldsmith (11.00) 11.228/134.39 DQ red
VW Sportsman: Ross Chisholm-Brown (14.10) 14.270/97.09 def. Luke Stevenson (13.00) 12.989/93.45 DQ b/o
Wild Bunch: Bob Hawkins (6.81) 6.810/197.62 def. Alan Loten (9.25) 9.136/137.76 DQ b/o
Outlaw Anglia: Jed Guy 8.225/167.39 def. Phil Middleton 8.539/158.94
Funny Bike: Phil Crossley 7.285/183.60 def. Allan Davies 7.620/174.10 red
Super Street Bike: Steve Venables 7.396/193.16 def. Graham Balchin 7.446/193.90
Comp Bike: Eddy Smiley 7.889/176.71 def. Martin Walker 8.076/183.46
8.50 Bike: Augy Harrison 8.630/161.98 def. Jay Roe 8.463/146.04 DQ b/o
9.50 Bike: Jonathan Kasziba 10.007/137.35 def. Stacey Reed 9.970/139.63
Junior Drag Bike: Louis Davies (8.28) 8.255/81.37 def. Jack Shook (8.85) 8.661/70.53 DQ b/o
ET Bike / NAST: Wayne Bradley (9.00) 9.467/113.29 def. Fiona Moor (11.45) 11.925/114.18
Congratulations also to VW Pro racer Carl Goldsmith and ET Bike / NAST racer Fiona Moor who won the
Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award and Eurodragster.com Perfect ET Award in support of
National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
respectively. Both Awards have been reset to £50 for next week's FIA / FIM European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway.
You can check out our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored APIRA Open Sport Nationals reports and
galleries by clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Lost, found and urgently sought. 30th August: If you got home from the APIRA Open Sports Nationals and found that you were missing an expensive item from your tool kit then
please E-Mail editor@eurodragster.com with details and we will put you in touch with the finder.
UK Super Pro ET racers John and Tom Atkinson urgently require a Barry Grant 280 fuel pump to enable them to compete at the European Finals.
The pump must be in good working order. If you can help then please E-Mail kirstie@eurodragster.com.
You can check out our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored Scandinavian Internationals live
report and galleries by clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Many thanks to Åsa Kinnemar for forwarding us the post-Scandinavian Internationals points standings in the FIA European Drag Racing
Championships. You can check out the FIA points on our OCS
Paint-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the OCS
Paint Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. According to our calculations Johnny Oksa has a sufficient
points lead over Ari Pietilä to have won the 2016 FIA European Top Methanol Funny Car Championship so congratulations to Johnny.
We have a birthday on the Eurodragster.com team today. Please join Kirstie, Simon and Grace in wishing Photographer Julian a
very Happy Birthday.
York's Bank Holiday Nostalgia fun. 27th August:York Raceway's National Hot Rod Reunion
tomorrow (Sunday) and Monday will be a celebration of the earlier days of hot rodding and drag racing with Championship quarter mile action on both days.
Chris Murty writes:
The annual Northern Nostalgia Drag Racing and Hot Rod meet has in a few short years progressed to become the biggest event on the York Raceway calendar.
Two days of non-stop drag racing action will be headlined by Robin Read's historic Daimler-powered nitro-burning dragster match racing against Julian Webb's
Split Second Jet Dragster. This is set to be an awesome spectacle at York Raceway where you can truly get close to the action. The huge fields of American
muscle cars of the American Super Stock Championship will battle it out in two complete Championship rounds over the weekend whilst the dragsters, altereds, hot
rods and doorslammers of the PDRC Bracket classes race for their Championship on Monday.
In a new development for 2016, York Raceway will also be running a Comp Altered Shootout. With Ian Lloyd's Gonzo the Great Topolino and the Hot
Pursuit Jaguar-powered Model T shoed by Ben Rushforth set to be the main protagonists, the Shootout will be open to all altereds (centre drive, under 130"
wheelbase) with or without an MSA tag to join in the nostalgic fun! GSRs and scrutineering apply.
Away from the track, on Sunday we will be holding a Show'n'Shine with some of the North's best hot rods, classics, customs and muscle cars. Monday will be a
more down-home affair with our Rust'n'Grime for rat rods and vehicles which show some real patina or are beautifully a little rough around the edges.
The Sunday evening Cacklefest features every available car in the pits making its way to the track to be fired up for ten very special seconds of noise.
Live entertainment for the evening includes live music and burlesque shows.
If you would like to be a part of the event or would like to know more check out the York Raceway Facebook page or drop me an E-Mail at
info@yorkraceway.org.uk.
Event entry update. 26th August: Many thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 1 of the official entry list for the
UK National Finals, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 24th-25th September and which is the final round of the UK National
Drag Racing Championship in car classes, the final round of Wild Bunch and Volkswagen Drag Racing Club Championships, the final round
of the ACU UK Top Fuel Bike Championship, and the penultimate round of the other ACU UK Drag Bike Championships and UK National Drag
Racing Championships in bike classes. You can check out the UK National Finals entry list by
clicking here.
UK National Finals entry at standard rate closes on Friday of next week, 2nd September, after which entry if accepted may be subject
to a Late Entry penalty. You can download the official entry forms from the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at
www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries about UK National Finals entry then please
contact Ian Marshall at ir.marshall@btconnect.com or call 01933 313625
(outside the UK +44 1933 313625).
European Top Gas Round 5 summary. 26th August: Many thanks to Herman Jolink for sending us a summary of the action in
Euro Serie Super Twin Top Gas at last weekend's NitrOlympX at Hockenheim,
the fifth round of the Series.
Qualifying
Schack DK 7.560-278 kmh
Albers D 7.682-273 kmh
Pinet F 8.168-259 kmh
Caspari D 8.443-249 kmh
van Nimmen B 8.783-240 kmh
Jolink NL 8.813-229 kmh leaking seal oil on the dry clutch
Lymant D 8.875-268 kmh
Abraham F 8.985-214 kmh
Dalla-Vecchia F 9.223-228 kmh
Menzi CH 9.363-175 kmh
Birch Andersen DK 9.886-203 kmh with the wrong fuel
Bruhn D 99.920-22 kmh
Buhler CH 10.055-219 kmh
T v d Berg NL 10.187-210 kmh
Waterschoot B 10.455-194 kmh
I v d Berg NL 11.951-199 kmh
There was no qualifying on Saturday because of rain.
Eliminations
E1: Schack 7.507-279 kmh beat Abraham 8.789-194 kmh; Caspari 8.441-245 kmh beat v Nimmen 8.633-246 kmh (new PB for v Nimmen); Albers 7.555-284 kmh beat Lymant 8.670-262 kmh;
Pinet 8.112-267 kmh beat Jolink 8.758-252 kmh (Team Jolink put too large main jets in the in the reserve Ducati 999 RS 1214).
Final: Frederik Schack DK 7.383-290 kmh beat Serge Pinet F 11.560-133 kmh (problems with the gearbox)
Championship Top Five
Schack DK 2470
Jolink NL 1240
Andersen DK 1190
Caspari D 790
Lymant D 690
The final round of the Series takes place at next weekend's Mosten Race Days at Orsted in Denmark.
Bonneville, and no joke. 26th August: At last year's British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Gala Ron Hope of Rat Trap Racing announced on stage that Geoff Stilwell of BDRHoF
sponsor Beech Underwriting Agencies was going to drive at the 2016 Bonneville
Speed Week. At the time Geoff thought that Ron was joking but it turned out that Ron was deadly serious. Geoff writes:
A few E-Mails passed between Ron and I and no, he wasn't joking. This trip came around really very quickly. Firstly I joined the SCTA. Then earlier this year, when I was in the
USA for the Bakersfield March Meet, I was taken by Bob Muravez to see the guys at Simpson. One hour later I walked out with the new firesuit, helmet, boots and gloves at
the spec required by the SCTA.
So fast forward to this month and after two years of rainouts Speed Week was on. I decided to fly into Las Vegas; it was 38° C when we landed at 8:30 at night and it had
cooled down from 40+° the week before. A quick overnight sleep and then a 370 mile drive from Vegas.
Nothing prepares you for the vastness of the flats. We stayed in a small town called Wendover, which is only fifteen mins from the entrance. The pits are located four miles
onto the salt which trust me gets everywhere. It sticks to your shoes, your feet are always wet, but it was dry enough for racing and it was in the best shape for years. It was
compulsory to wear sunglasses to stop the glare. Daytime temps get into the high thirties, with humidity at nothing more than fifteen per cent. Altitude adjustment two thousand
feet above sea level early in the morning going up to seven and a half thousand feet by mid-afternoon.
TV crews from CNN, Fox News, NBC, French TV, Japanese TV all descended on the salt for the week.
This year there were over four hundred entries, with Danny Thompson and the Speed Demon team streamliners plus Hall of Fame member Carl Olson in the Kuhl, Olson and Bowman
Blown Fuel Roadster. The range of cars was mind-blowing as was the age of the drivers: many racers where in their late seventies and still going for that record run.
On day one we set up and checked the cars. On day two we got the cars through tech plus I had to do a bail-out fully suited up and go through rookie induction. Prior to tech and bailout
Chris of the team spent ages teaching me about the Dodge I was about to drive. Medical forms all had to be completed then it was off to the rookie course. Bearing in mind that Speed Week
had been rained off for the past two years the queues to run where horrendous: three to four hours to make a pass. By the time I got to run it was the middle of the afternoon and so hot.
97° F.
I was strapped in when about three cars back and awaited my turn. You are constantly reminded about safety and what to do. The starters checked everything and made sure that I was
OK to run. Started the engine and I was on my way. Ron instructed me to drive the Dodge up to the rev limiter and hold it in fourth gear. My first pass was 122 mph which was good enough
to get my basic licence. I collected my timing slip which had to be signed by the Chief Starters. Then I managed to get another run. We discovered a minor problem with the turbo but Brian
Hope had decided that I could drive his pride and joy, 7551. But firstly I had to go to Tech and redo my bail out and prove to them that I knew what I was doing. It was eventually my turn to run.
Pulling round Brian instructed me to shift to high at 5000 rpm and then hold the revs at around 4500 through the markers. That got me a 149 mph ticket. When they arrived to tow me back
Brian said "Do you want another go right now?". Stupid question! Of course I did. A short wait to let the motor cool then I was strapped in and got the signal to start the engine. This time I
was instructed to shift into high gear at 5500 and hold that through the timers then to use the chute after I went through the two mile marker.
I knew that car was faster but when the guys came to pick me up they had glum faces. "165" they said... then started laughing. I had been through the timers at 180.173 mph. I could not
believe it. I knew it was fast but that surprised me. The Chief Starter who signed my ticket was thrilled for me, and I had earnt my B class licence. We ran out of time as Ron had to be in
Germany and Brian had to be in Canada, so not quite two hundred but close and I have every intention of getting my 200 mph badge.
If anyone thinks that running on the salt is easy, think again. We had to be up at 5:00 am to be at the course by 6:00 am then get the car in line to run by 7:00 am, then not finishing until 7:00
pm. It's a punishing schedule and it is for a week.
I cannot thank Ron and Brian Hope for letting me do this as well as all the team, especially Stu and Josh Bassett, Chris Tomin and Keith for getting me through tech, being patient with me
and helping me to get my licences. I have come back with an acute case of Salt Fever, which Carl Olson tells me is incurable.
Web site updates. 26th August: The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr site with galleries from the Mopar EuroNationals including
sequences of Pete Youhill's Save of the Year and Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson's attempt at same two days later. You can check out
Mad's pictures at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman.
Dick Parnham has also updated his Flickr site with more 1970s pictures including drag bikes, Don Schumacher's Stardust Funny Car,
and Don Garlits in the pits at Santa Pod Raceway. You can take a look at Dick's latest update at
www.flickr.com/photos/dickparnhamdragracing.
Saturday's, Sunday's and Monday's provisional running orders are also now available and can also be checked out by
clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Please note as
ever that running orders are subject to change due to weather or track conditions or for any other reason deemed necessary by race officials.
The weekend's pit plan can be checked out by
clicking
here.
If you have any queries about the APIRA Open Sport Nationals then please contact the Raceway office at
shakespearecountyraceway@gmail.com or between 09:00 and 17:00 call
01789 720180 for general enquiries or for racer entry, payments and advance tickets please call 01789 414119 (outside the UK +44 1789
720180 / 414119).
Our best wishes to our good buddy Jerry for a rapid recovery.
An important win. 25th August: After a five-week break it was time for race number four in the FIA European Pro Stock Championship, the NitrOlympx at the Hockenheimring, Germany.
The race surface was better than ever and made for good performances and racing.
The Jimmy Ålund Pro Stock Racing team ran quick and fast during qualifying, ending up as number one qualifier. On race day Jimmy showed why he is the points leader. Consistency and quick
ETs make for event victories and Jimmy did well on both counts. The spread of his ETs during eliminations was only 0.006 seconds and he also reset the track speed record with a strong run of 341.39
kmh (212.12 mph).
"I'd like to thank the track crew for giving us such a good and solid track" says Jimmy. "We qualified at the top and then we ran about as consistent as we ever have in eliminations and that paid off".
In the final, Jimmy went up against Bengt Ljungdahl who had recorded the quickest time of the event during the quarter finals. Jimmy won the race and thus the event with a slower time but a better
reaction, crossing the finish line 0.04 seconds in front of Bengt. "The competition is fierce to say the least and the final was very important for the points chase with only two races left", says Jimmy.
"We went up against the quickest car of the weekend and although I was not a killer on the tree it was enough this time. Lots of hard work all weekend and we are obviously very happy with the result."
The Jimmy Ålund Pro Stock Racing team left Hockenheim at the top of the points table, extending their lead over Bengt to fifty two points. The next Championship race is at Tierp Arena, Sweden, this
weekend making for a hectic race schedule. Jimmy arrived home on Tuesday and the team leaves for Tierp Arena today.
Jimmy wishes to express his gratitude to his sponsors: Hockenheim event sponsor Exclusive Cars, Summit Racing, Viking Industrimålning, Sverigedemokraterna, KB Racing, Camaroskroten,
Tradepac, POs Harley Davidson, All American AB, CFM, Vadstena Klosterhotel, Stigs Axle and Parts, Hydraulakuten, VP Racing Fuels, and X Parts.
Swift snippets. 25th August: Thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us the final version of the official entry list for the FIA / FIM European
Finals which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 8th-11th September. You can check out the European Finals entry list by
clicking here or
by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. If you have any queries
about FIA / FIM European Final entry then please contact Ian Marshall at
ir.marshall@btconnect.com or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933
313625).
Web site updates. 25th August: Liam Lodge has updated his European Drag Racing Blog with some thoughts on Nostalgia events recetly
attended. You can check out Liam's Blog at liam66europeandragracing.wordpress.com.
Beech Underwriting Agencies' managing director Geoff Stilwell said "There has been tremendous demand and there are not many places left. We have
over fifty already reserved out of a capacity of one hundred, so potential attendees need to get in touch as soon as possible to make sure that they
have a seat."
Last year's Bench Racing session was a major feature of the day of the BDRHoF Gala Dinner with many of the personalities present telling their stories
and anecdotes as well as their current views on the sport. This year's fantastic line-up is bound to move the session to a new level.
The official list of panel members of the Bench Racing session is:
From Great Britain
Dennis Priddle – 'Mr Six', Top Fuel Dragster and Funny Car legend
From USA
Reunited for the first time since 1973's Santa Pod Raceway "Funny Car Summer":
Don Schumacher – former Funny Car star, now NHRA's premier team owner
and
Paula Murphy – 'Miss STP', Funny Car star and round-the-world driver
Carl Olson – former Top Fuel star; ex-NHRA Vice President; founding President, FIA Drag Racing Commission
Graham Light – NHRA Senior Vice-President, Racing Operations; President, FIA Drag Racing Commission
Harry Hibler – former publisher, Hot Rod Magazine and other Petersen publications
'Waterbed' Fred Miller – Co-Crew Chief, Raymond Beadle's Blue Max Funny Car
Bob Muravez – alias 'Floyd Lippencotte Jr', renowned driver of John Peters' Freight Train twin-engined Top Gas Dragster
Ron Hope – owner/driver, Rat Trap Fuel Altered
Tony Thacker – ex-Editor, Custom Car magazine; former Director, NHRA Motorsports Museum
The Bench Racing session will be hosted by Bob McClurg, distinguished US drag racing photo-journalist and author.
The BDRHoF is offering the press the opportunity for individual interviews with panel members during the morning of 19th November, before the
Bench Racing session. There will also be a unique chance to mix with legends socially before, during and after the Gala Dinner being held on the
same evening.
You can register and reserve your place for the BDRHoF Bench Racing session by E-Mailing
geoff@beechunderwriting.co.uk. Admission will be by ticket only.
Ticket prices for the 2016 BDRHoF Gala Awards Dinner remain as last year at £60 per person. Corporate tables of ten are available at £580.
More details are available by clicking
here. For advance booking of tickets contact stuart@britishdragracinghof.co.uk or telephone Stu
Bradbury on 01933 279102.
Grimes lands in Sweden. 24th August: Tommy Grimes is set to make his début on the European drag racing scene at this weekend's Scandinavian Internationals
at Tierp Arena. Having raced for twenty years, Tommy is best-known for riding the late Ray Price's drag bikes during a ten-year period with a lot of victories under his belt,
but now he will contest Supertwin in the EDRS Pro Nordic Motorcycle Championship on Per Bengtsson's parallel twin The Beast.
"I'm really excited", said Tommy after receiving the phone call from Per Bengtsson a couple of weeks ago. "The phone has been absolutely crazy since the news came
out, and I'm flattered that so many keep an eye on my career. My last race was in February at the NHRA Carquest Auto Parts Nationals in Phoenix, Arizona, where I rode
one of Mike Bahnmaier's bikes. After that race I almost given up thinking about racing at a top level again. But now that Per has given me this opportunity, my blood has
really started to pump again! I must say that it's a real honour to be able to ride someone else's bike. My wife told me the other day "You must have made a hell of
an impression to get a phone call all the way from Sweden"! I will do my very best to make the Beast team proud.
Tommy arrives at Stockholm Arlanda airport today (Wednesday) and, after a quick tour of Stockholm, will will join the team at the track next day.
The Scandinavian Internationals has a record-breaking entry with 363 teams attending from thirteen different countries. Supertwin has fourteen entrants fighting for an
eight-bike ladder.
You can follow the race on here on Eurodragster.com and daily reports and pictures of the EDRS Pro Nordic MC will also be available on
Dragracing Europe courtesy of Remco Scheelings.
For more information about The Beast drag bike team, please visit www.bentec.net or search for
The Beast dragbike on Facebook.
Queue here for a track record. 24th August: The roads of the Isle of Man may be dedicated to two-wheeled road racing action this week and next as the Classic TT
and MGP take place, but those of us who prefer straight line action will not be disappointed as the Pokerstars Drag Fest takes place on the weekend of 3rd-4th September.
Ian Merryweather writes:
The event is grass-roots drag racing at its best with the emphasis on having a good time and entertaining the Manx public with something different. The
Manx Drag Racing Association, in partnership with Straightliners, have been running this event since 2010
with many of the UK teams making the trip over in previous years.
In previous years Mark Flavell, Andy Fadster, Pel Norman, Ben Rushforth, Spencer and Jean Tidswell and the Patvan racing teams have thoroughly enjoyed racing on the Island much
to the appreciation of the Manxies. This year Mark Flavell, Spencer Tidswell and Ben Rushforth are returning along with the current Supercharged Outlaws champion Paul Watts. All
are out to crack the track record which is currently held by Mark Flavell at 9.41 seconds. To throw a spanner in the works, Julian Webb is also booked on the ferry with the Split
Second Jet Dragster, so if track records are going to be broken then our money is on Julian although this has to be the equivalent of a Russia athlete so may not be eligible (Ian's
thought - Ed).
The locals are not to be underestimated either with Malcolm Forbes along his Small Block Chevy slingshot dragster and Ian Merryweather with his 392 Hemi Topolino Banzai. It all
makes for a cracking weekends racing, and it's free to all spectators! So why not get on the ferry and head up to Jurby Airfield, Isle of Man. For more check out the Manx Drag Racing
Association web site at www.manxdragracing.com or search Pokerstars Drag Fest on Facebook.
APIRA Championship outcomes. 24th August: This coming weekend's APIRA Open Sport Nationals is the final round in the APIRA Ultimate Power Drag Racing
Championship held at Shakespeare County Raceway. There is a healthy entry and Championship trophies to be decided upon. So it's time to review
the contenders, with the caveat that there may yet be a further version of the entry list. Simon, who as well as doing a bang-up job on Eurodragster.com
is also APIRA Championship Co-ordinator, writes:
In Super Pro ET Chris Parker in the Windscreen Wizards dragster run by Nick Good Motorsport is leading and he is followed by
Eurodragster.com sponsor Peter Walters 90 points behind, Jack Brewster a further 30 points back and Peter Lane another 20 back. There are up
to 790 points available plus 100 points for attending all rounds. In Pro ET, Paul Baynton is in the points lead followed by Geoff Cowley
10 points back, Leigh Morris a further 10 back and James Forster another 10 back. There are up to 800 points available. Sportsman ET has
an entry of 10 so far and Elaine Hancock has a 60 point margin over second-placed Alan Medley. Ricky Hale is a further 20 points behind and Jemma
Hale 10 points in arrears.
Super Comp is a shootout between points leader Paul Brown, Andy Williams 30 points further back, and Conrad Stanley 120 points adrift.
Stuart Doignie is also entered but Paul Hudson is still nursing a broken car after his incident at the Main Event. There are up to 480 points
available. Super Gas was not contested at the Springspeed Nationals despite two cars being entered, and there is also only one entered
for the Open Sport Nationals, so unless more vehicles are entered it looks as though this class will be void. Super Street looks like
a straight contest between Dave Cherrett and Leigh Morris who is 60 points in arrears, as these are the only two entered so far.
Lucas Oil Junior Dragster has a field of eighteen which means up to 920 points available. Lottie Bradford is 50 points ahead of Holley
Marshall who is in turn 20 points ahead of Aaron Fensome.
Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator is headed by Matt Smith who is 60 points ahead of Alan Williamson who is 10 points ahead of Martin
Smith in the Bentley, and Stuart Williams is a further 10 points back.
Outlaw Anglia is led by multi-time champion winning Cliff Griffin who is fifty points ahead of Mat Cooper, and Mat is 10 points ahead of
Phil Middleton. Five cars are entered. The Wild Bunch is headed by Phil James in the Rampage Funny Car, who has a 50 point lead
over Dan Sharp in the Austin Ruby. Dan has a 10 point advantage over Bob Hawkins who has a 50 point lead over fourth placed Alan Loten.
VW Pro has an entry of eight so far and Carl Goldsmith has a 60 point lead over Sam Young, who has a 20 point lead over Paul Herbert.
VW Sportsman with an entry of thirteen is led by Dave Lea who has a 60 point advantage over Ryan McGrath. Ryan has a 20 point lead over
Adrian Solly who has a 20 point lead over Russell Weir.
Funny Bike is led by Phil Crossley who has a 60 point lead over Eric Richard and Allan Davies is a further 10 points back. Eric is not yet
entered in the field of five bikes. 400 points are available plus record bonuses (100 for each of ET and Speed). Comp Bike has an eight
bike field and Mick Winyard has a 10 point advantage over Eddie Smiley who in turn has a 5 point lead over Mark Hope. Kevin Osman in fourth is
thirty points further back. There are up to 430 points available. Super Street Bike has an entry of five with Steve Venables 10 points ahead
of Nigel Barker who is another 45 points ahead of Graham Balchin.
8.50 Bike has four bikes so far, with Andy Haley 70 points ahead of Dave Thomas and Jay Roe another 10 points further back. 9.50 Bike
has five bikes so far and Brett Cordelle has a lead of 150 points over Rick Sawatzki; the Championship will most likely be one of these two with 480
points available. NAST Supertwin Gas is led by Robbie Dobbie who is 10 points ahead of Alfie Udall. Alfie is the only entry so far; if no
further bikes are entered then the Championship will default to Robbie. ET Bike, which has a points series for the first time this year, is
led by Joe Elliott who has an advantage over Wayne Bradley of 280 points with Peter Austin a further 110 points back. With eleven bikes entered, Joe
is looking reasonable for the Championship.
Finally, Junior Drag Bike has five entries and Louis Davies has an advantage over Liam Holgate of 10 points with Blade Dummmer anoher 30 points
in arrears and Jordan Kenway a further 10 points back.
Swift snippets. 24th August: Brian Burrows writes that racers wishing to test cars before the FIA / FIM European Finals are welcome
to attend VW Action at Santa Pod Raceway the weekend before the event, saturday-Sunday 3rd-4th September. "Sunday 4th is a Peak
Performance Day, but VW Action are happy to have Pro cars test during Saturday's RWYB sessions which include an evening session", says
Brian. "The event is a great family weekend in its own right. Any racers wishing to attend should please contact NAS Events at
nasevents@orange.fr or call 01279 725252 (outside the UK +44 1279 725252)".
More about VW Action at www.vwaction.com.
Further to last Thursday's Lucas Oil Products-sponsored Feature with
Graham Warley's inside story of Peter Crane's five-second pass,
Antony Billinton of G Max Research calculates that removing one gallon of
89% nitro from a seven-gallon tank and replacing it with one gallon of 100% nitro would make the final percentage in the tank very close
to 90.5%.
Further to yesterday's news item about this weekend's Nitro v Avgas match race between
Robin Read's blown-nitro Daimler-powered dragster and Julian Webb's Split Second Jet Dragster, Ian Hart got in touch to let us
know that Mark Fairhurst's Super Comp dragster was pitted against the Vampire Jet Dragster at Santa Pod Raceway as part of a feature
in Autocar magazine in 2001.
Fuse for the Finals. 24th August: Steve Clark writes that Eurodragster.com sponsor Nimbus
Motorsport currently hold good stocks of Fuse Unleaded Race Fuel which is available for
the FIA / FIM European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway:
These fuels are being used in many FIA / FIM classes in which unleaded fuels are required. This includes the unique Fuse HF125 which was designed
specifically for the big-inch nitrous motors used in Pro Modified. We also have available from Fuse their E85R, created from the purest grade chemical
ethanols and racing gasoline and also containing a corrosion inhibitor package for additional component protection.
To discuss your requirements and delivery please E-Mail Nimbus Motorsport at
sales@nimbusmotorsport.com or call on our new number 01759 322100 (outside the UK
+44 1759 322100); our old number will also be operational for the next few months.
Open Sport Nationals Perfect Awards. 21st July: This weekend's APIRA Open Sport Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway is the latest event in the 2016 Eurodragster.com
Perfect Awards Scheme. £125 is on offer for perfect performance.
This weekend's Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award has been increased to £75 after it went unclaimed
at the Mopar EuroNationals. The money will be paid in cash to the first racer this weekend to record a Reaction Time of 0.000
seconds. The Perfect Light Award is available to racers in all classes during qualifying and eliminations, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect
Light of the event. If not won this weekend then the Award will be increased to £100 for the FIA / FIM European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway; if it
is won then it will be reset to £50 for the FIA / FIM European Finals. The Perfect Light Award is presented in association with Bad
Habit Racing (Cath and Tig Napier, Pro ET).
Decals are not mandatory for the Perfect Light Award but we would appreciate it if Eurodragster.com decals are carried. Eurodragster.com
decals are available from the Signing On office.
This weekend's Eurodragster.com Perfect ET Award supporting the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children has been reset to
£50 after it was won by Sportsman ET racer Elaine Hancock at Bug Jam. The money will be paid in cash to the first racer this weekend
to run an ET to the thousandth of a second on dial-in or index. The Perfect ET Award is available this weekend during qualifying or eliminations in
Super Pro ET, Pro ET, Sportsman ET, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street, Lucas Oil Junior Dragster (eliminations only), the Wild Bunch, VW Pro,
VW Sportsman, 8.50 Bike, 9.50 Bike, ET Bike / NAST and Junior Drag Bike, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect ET of the event. If not won
this weekend then the Award will be increased to £75 for the FIA / FIM European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway; if it is won then it will be reset
to £50 for the FIA / FIM European Finals. The Perfect ET Award is presented by Derek and Fiona Flynn of Eurodragster.com sponsor
Gold RV in support of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children; you can
donate to the NSPCC at www.nspcc.org.uk.
To be eligible to collect the Perfect ET Award, racers are required to carry Eurodragster.com / NSPCC decals(right), one on each side of
the vehicle. If you pull this weekend's first Perfect ET but are not carrying decals when the run is made then there will be no discussion; we will not
pay out and the next person to record a Perfect ET will get the money assuming that they are carrying decals. Eurodragster.com / NSPCC decals will be
available from the Signing On office first thing tomorrow (Friday) morning.
Event Coverage at the double. 24th August: Eurodragster.com will be posting live coverage of two events this weekend in association with
John Woolfe Racing.
Tog, Julian and Grace will be at Tierp Arena to cover the Scandinavian Internationals, which commences tomorrow (Thursday). Our
coverage will consist of real-time reports and results on the on-track action throughout each day and a photo gallery at the end of each
day. There will be no pit notes as Simon will be at Shakespeare County Raceway (see below). As full qualifying standings and
ladders will be posted on-line courtesy of Time-Tree we will be using the popular
split-screen format for our reports; we will post commentaries of Sportsman qualifying sessions and then round winners in Sportsman
eliminations but we will of course continue to post the full reports and results in Pro classes. We will post a direct Home Page link
to our coverage when it commences tomorrow, but in the meantime you can check out our Scandinavian Internationals event index, which
includes a link to the official entry list, by
clicking here
or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Simon will be at Shakespeare County Raceway to cover the APIRA Open Sport Nationals, which commences on Saturday. The coverage
will consist of regularly-updated reports and results on the on-track action (manual reporting so top five qualifiers during the day)
and a photo gallery at the end of each day. Eurodragster.com Photographer Kirstie is racing in Sportsman ET the event (Good luck and
stay safe Kirstie - Tog, Simon, Julian and Grace) so Callum Pudge
has kindly agreed to supply pictures for our coverage this weekend. Again we will post a direct Home Page link to our coverage when it
commences on Saturday, but in the meantime you can check out our APIRA Open Sport Nationals event index, which includes a link to the
official entry list, by
clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Neither the Scandinavian Internationals nor the APIRA Open Sport Nationals are scheduled to be webcast.
Please remember that neither Eurodragster.com nor our sponsors look kindly upon reports, results or pictures being stolen from our Event
Coverage and posted on Facebook or elsewhere. Links and shares: fine. Anything else: not fine. If in doubt then please enquire at
editor@eurodragster.com.
Racer tickets, final instructions, vehicle passes and scrutineering slips have now been sent out to every racer who submitted their entries before the close of play last Friday. Anyone who has submitted
their entry since last Friday will be able to collect their tickets on arrival at the main gate. If any crew member arrives before their racer then they must either notify the track beforehand or wait to gain
entry until their driver or rider arrives at the track.
Entry to the pits will commence at 12:00 midday this Friday. If racers wish to arrive on Friday morning, before the pit gate opens, then they are more than welcome to park up and wait. Please note that
pit marshals will escort all racers to their designated pit, so please be patient if a queue develops on the entrance road into the pits. Anyone who pits incorrectly will be politely asked to move to their
allocated pit space. Please note that Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator will now be pitted in the main pit area and not behind the wall as in previous occasions. VW classes' pitting will remain the
same. A pit plan will be published on Wednesday or Thursday.
Scrutineering will commence for both cars and bikes at approximately 17:00 on Friday. Scrutineering will resume at 08:00 on Saturday.
Saturday's running order will be posted here on Eurodragster.com later this week. Copies will be available in the Signing On office which will be open between 18:00 and 20:00-21:00 on Friday.
Shakespeare County Raceway would also like to remind everyone of safety requirements in the Staging and Fire Up lanes. No crew members under the age of seventeen may enter these areas.
Under-age Junior crew members can still watch their respective teams race from the grandstands. The grandstands can be accessed from the top of the lanes by the Signing On office. We
understand that this may upset some of the Junior crews, however your safety is paramount and must be considered at all times. These rules obviously do not apply to under-seventeens who
are riding or driving a race vehicle which is in the pairing lanes (for which you must be a holder of an MSA / ACU licence or be participating in observed runs). All children remain the responsibility
of their parent or guardian at all times. Thank you for your co-operation.
If you have any queries about the APIRA Open Sport Nationals then please contact the Raceway office at
shakespearecountyraceway@gmail.com or between 09:00 and 17:00 call 01789 720180 for general enquiries or for
racer entry, payments and advance tickets please call 01789 414119 (outside the UK +44 1789 720180 / 414119).
Nitro v Avgas. 23rd August: The UK's Robin Read will take part in a unique match race when he takes his blown-nitro Daimler V8-powered
dragster to the National Hot Rod Reunion at York Raceway this Sunday and Monday:
It's always good to support York Raceway, England's only track in the north. There had been some discussion about my runs and there were a few suggestions. One of which was that I
could run against Julian Webb in the Split Second Jet Dragster.
I didn't have any objection in principle so long as it was over the eigith mile. I've observed Julian to be a skilled and intelligent driver. After a phone call he felt the say way as I did, that it
would be a very interesting match up. I do know that piston-engined cars running against jet cars is an incredibly rare thing in Europe and the UK and maybe even in the world. To my knowledge,
and according to Google, the last time this happened in the UK was a Funny Car against the Scorpion Jet Dragster in the early 1980s, unless Eurodragster.com readers know differently?
The stage is set! If anybody wants to see the world's quickest British-engined car run heads-up against Jet Dragster then the National Hot Rod Reunion at York Raceway is the place to be this
weekend.
European Finals racer VIP offer. 23rd August: Nicola Hart writes that Santa Pod Raceway are again offering racers a special deal for VIP hospitality for
their sponsors and supporters on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the FIA / FIM European Finals:
Your guests can enjoy balcony viewing from one of our exclusive mid-track hospitality suites conveniently located near the race paddock.
The ticket includes day admission, refreshments throughout the day, complimentary programme, ear plugs, and use of the VIP shuttle bus service.
These VIP tickets are available for the Friday, Saturday and Sunnday of the event are on sale now on a first-come
first-served basis. Adult tickets are £45 and child tickets £22.50. To book your tickets, or if you have
any queries, then please call us on 01234 782828 (outside the UK +44 1234 782828). Tickets can be collected on arrival
and proof of race entry must be provided.
Records and stats updated. 23rd August: Many thanks to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe
for forwarding us a new table of European and UK Bests now including the European record set by Garry Bowe at the NitrOlympX. You can
take a look at the table by clicking here or by clicking on the European
and UK Bests link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
Thanks also to Marrs for sending us an updated version of his 'Spreadsheetosauruses' showing qualifying positions, results and round wins
for all FIA Championship events after the NitrOlympX. Marrs' tables are available on the Champions' Champions page which you can check out by
clicking here or by clicking on the Champions' Champions link on
the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
You can check out our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored
NitrOlympX live reports, pit notes and galleries by
clicking here
or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com
page.
Thanks to Åsa Kinnemar for forwarding us the post-NitrOlympX points standings in the FIA European Drag
Racing Championships. You can check out the FIA points on our
OCS Paint-sponsored Points
Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the OCS Paint
Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page.
It was a clean sweep for the Lindberg family this weekend as reigning NHRA Lucas Oil Top Alcohol FC Champion
Jonnie Lindberg took the event win at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway. Jonnie
qualified #3 at 5.495/269.13 and beat Annie Whiteley in the final with a storming 5.443/270.54. You can read more
on the Lindberg Brothers' web site at www.lindbergbros.com
and on Drag Race Central at www.dragracecentral.com.
Tierp Racepak / MSD support. 22nd August: Dick Koster of Eurodragster.com sponsor Post
en Dros tells us that he will be providing trackside Racepak and MSD support at this week's Scandinavian Internationals
at Tierp Arena.
Dick is flying to Sweden on Thursday and can be found in the Top Doorslammer pit, specifically Mats Brag's trailer.
Dick also recommends that you Like the Racepak
EU Facebook page for tips and tricks, answers to queries, and details about new items.
Feature: Inside the first Five. 18th August: Forty years ago, during the Easter of the long, hot Summer of 1976, an event took place at
Santa Pod Raceway which still ranks as one of the most significant moments in the history of UK and European drag racing.
For the first time since the Dragfest of 1964 Don Garlits, a legend and then current World Champion, was coming over from
the USA to take on the best of the European drag racers, bringing with him his Swamp Rat dragster.
Taking him on and trying to defeat this king of the quarter mile was a contingent of primarily UK-based Top Fuel dragsters.
Among these, and potentially one of the leading challengers, was Peter Crane and his Stormbringer Pro Fuel rail.
Graham Warley was one of the crew on this legendary car, and in the latest in our occasional series of Features presented
in association with Lucas Oil Products he takes us behind the
scenes with his account of the UK and Europe's first five-second pass, a seminal moment in the sport outside the USA.
You can check out Graham's inside story of the First Five by clicking
here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com
page.
European Finals Prizegiving Banquet. 18th August: Trakbak Racing Ltd are pleased to announce that they shall once again be hosting the FIA / FIM
European Finals Championship Prizegiving Banquet.
The event is free of charge for the first-, second- and third-placed FIA / FIM Championship racers to celebrate with their teams and
collect their trophies. The Prizegiving Banquet will take place in the VIP Hospitality Village; doors will open approximately two hours
after the close of racing. A self-service buffet meal and musical entertainment are included.
Each team finishing in the top three Championship positions of the following classes will be given ten wristbands to attend the event:
Top Fuel Dragster
Nitro Funny Car (Champion only)
Top Methanol Dragster
Top Methanol Funny Car
Pro Stock
Pro Mod
Pro Stock Bike
Super Twin Bike
Top Fuel Bike
Super Street Bike
All trophies are provided by Trakbak Racing Ltd.
Please note that admittance is strictly by wristband only: due to space and safety restrictions Trakbak Racing Ltd are
sadly unable to accommodate more teams than those listed above. Teams unable, or not wishing, to attend the Prizegiving Banquet may
donate their tickets to other FIA / FIM Championship teams if they wish.
Trakbak Racing Ltd wish all riders and drivers good luck in the coming rounds of their respective Championships.
Vegter makes his name in Russia. 18th August: In an unforgettable week, the Netherlands' David Vegter and the Vegter Pro Mod Racing team impressed with a runner-up
position in the second and third rounds of the Russian Drag Racing Championship on the last two weekends. Remco Scheelings writes:
Both races were at the Autodrom Nizegorodskoye Koltco, a track located four hundred kilometres east of Moscow. "It was a unique adventure", said David Vegter, "not
only the races, but everything. Dragtimes did an amazing job, and all the people involved did their very best to make it as comfortable as possible for us".
With his performance and presentation, the Dutch drag racer has many fans in Russia now too.
Vegter Pro Mod Racing travelled to Nizhny Novgorod after being invited by Dragtimes, the driving force behind the Russian Drag Racing Championship.
The NRIng is a state-of-the-art race track with a fully equipped pits complex whose drag strip is created by extending the straight end of the track on both sides.
David in his Pro Modified '67 Camaro had to take part in the Rear Wheel Drive category and had to face competitors such as Andrey Kravchenko in his imported American turbo
Nissan, and the two Dodge Vipers of Dmitry Samorukov and Oleg Kondakov.
Due to delays on his journey from Finland, the Vegter Pro Racing Camaro arrived at the track late on the first Saturday afternoon, but Dragtimes adjusted the schedule so that it was
still possible for the Dutch drag racer to take part in qualifying. As expected, David had no problems qualifying for eliminations and advanced to the final. But the track at the NRIng
was too short for the 3,000 bhp Camaro, forcing David to lift before two hundred metres or the car would have ended up in the gravel trap at the end of the track. Although the Dutch
drag racer was way in front at half-track, he had to pull his chutes in the final against Dmitry Samorukov. At the finish line the Russian Viper passed David to take the win by a split second.
One week later the RDRC competitors came back to the NRing for round three of their Championship. After defeating Andrey Kravchenko in the quarter final, David had to face Oleg
Kondakov and his nitrous Viper in the final. With a good start, the Vegter Pro Mod Racing Camaro was way in front once again, but David again had to lift otherwise the speed of the
car would have resulted in serious problems at the top end of the track. Oleg's win margin was only 0.03 seconds and for the second consecutive race David was a great runner-up.
"If you lift a split second late, the speed is too great and you can't stop the Camaro in time",said David. "With less than a week to go to the next race of the FIA European Championship
I can't take the risk of any damage". For the second time in one week the Dutchman was treated to a champagne shower on the podium.
David and his team were very impressed by the Russian adventure. "I'm impressed by the way Dragtimes arranged everything", he said. " From the live stream with all the on- and off-track
action, and the autograph sessions for the fans, to the catering for the team, everything was great. Even in the time between the races they organised some activities so that we could see
something more of the area. There was always an interpreter and someone from Dragtimes with us to answer our questions or to solve possible problems. It takes many hours to get there,
but it was worth it and something you will never forget. When you see how Dragtimes tackle everything, don't be surprised to see Russian drag racing making big steps very quickly."
Vegter Pro Mod Racing also have some new fans after the two Russian races. Apart from the power, speed and sound of the Camaro which impressed, some young fans were able to take
a seat in the car, and team T-Shirts and Playboy Energy Drink cans were hot items for the Russian drag race fans.
Vegter Pro Mod Racing are supported by Playboy Energy Drink, HKR Techniek, WVB Holland, PedalToTheMetal Musclecar Performance, DutchBoxx Golfkarton and Sonic Equipment.
Web site updates. 18th August: Next week's Scandinavian Internationals is the fourth and final round of the EDRS Pro Nordic Motorcycle
Championship. Two and a half months after the Championship kicked off at Tierp Arena, the EDRS Pro Nordic MC is back at the state-of-the-art
drag racing facility north of Stockholm. Samu Kemppainen (Supertwin), Kalle Lyrén (Pro Stock Motorcycle), Henri Kolehmainen (Super
Street Bike) and Rikard Gustafsson (Top Fuel Motorcycle) enter the final round as leaders in their respective categories. Bianca Nilsson is
the favourite to become the first EDRS Pro Nordic Super Comp Bike Champion and you don't have to be a fortune-teller to see that Janne
Koskinen will be crowned Champion in Super Gas Bike at the Scandinavian Internationals. You can read more courtesy of our good buddy Remco
Scheelings on the
Drag
Racing Europe Blog.
RV3 shall go to the ball... 17th August: The UK's Andy Frost has received confirmation that he can race his six-second (So far - Ed) street-legal
Vauxhall Victor in the Bahrain Drag Racing Club's 2016-17 race series. Frosty has booked tickets for himself and Red Victor 3 and plans
are well advanced:
For a couple of months we have been raising funds on the Red Victor 5 Second Club page,
including a huge prize draw and various auctions of RV memorabilia. This was was enough for Frosty to take the decision to go, and we have raised enough to be able to ship
and return the car and truck, and to contest the first BDRC meeting on 8th-11th November.
Big thanks to Martin Smith at Coastal Global Logistics Ltd for planning and organising the complete shipping
schedule for the trip. His expertise in logistics were just what we were looking for!
We are still raising funds to contest the rest of the BDRC season, and we have set up a public crowdfunding page set up to try to raise get the remaining funds we need.
You can find the page at www.igg.me/at/red-victor.
If you can donate to help us get the record back then that would be great. If not, then no problem! Just share it around and let others know.
As always this is a team effort, and there are a lot of people to thank when a small team from the UK attempt something on this scale. Thanks to all of our sponsors from around
the world including Precision Turbo and Engine, Lamude Racing engines, Steve Morris Engines, Race flow Developments, Kustom Konsulting, ST Consulting, Goodridge UK, Cam
Auto Developments, Airservices Hellas, Trackstuff UK / VP Racing fuels, Turbosmart UK, Turbowerx, Zircotec, KA Sensors, Old Hall Performance / Red Line Oil, Pro Torque, Hutch
Transmissions, Super Power Unlimited, Total Seal Piston Rings, PE Composites, Pro Alloy Motorsport, Diamond Pistons, Victory Performance, New Century Performance, Protec
Fuel Systems, Activ8, Plastics4Performance, Magnecor, Browell Bellhousings, Wilson Manifolds, Powerlite Performance Electrics, Cartek Motorsport Electronics, Precision Shaft
Technologies, PTP Turbo Blankets, Prestige Group, Club Calibra.net, and Hard Knock Speed Shop.
Of course none of this would have happened if it hadn't have been for the moral and monetary support from the Red Victor 5 Second Club members, supporters and our own team.
A huge thanks to them that we are in this position today.
Finally, thanks to the people who are ably assisting us in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and are making living the dream a whole lot easier.
See you in Bahrain!
Russian Championships Round 3. 17th August: The third and penultimate round of the Russian Drag Racing Championship
took place this past weekend at Nizhny Novgorod together with a local "Battle of the Engines ET" contest. Forty or so cars turned out from VAZ 2108s to
Lamborghini Huracans and Pro Mods.
Qualifying was cut short on Saturday due to heavy rain. The track was dry by noon on Sunday and the organisers continued qualifying and then eliminations.
Mainly due to the weather Dmitry Samorukov's track record of 6.708 seconds, set at last week's race, was not beaten.
In Front Wheel Drive Oksana Yakovleva (Honda Civic), who outran Kirill Morozov (VAZ 2109) and Yana Kholodkovskaya (Honda Civic), became the main
contender after the breakage of Artem Demikhov's VAZ 2108. In the final she was 0.6 seconds faster than her opponent Georgy Garakishiev (Mitsubishi
Mirage). The second win in a row gave her the Championship lead. "As we expected, everything was great", said Oksana. "I was in a combative mood on
my way here. Smoothly, easily, improving the result in every run I achieved my goal and now I am close to winning the Championship. In Grozny we will
try to set a record and we will fire on all cylinders. There will be a battle not only with my opponents, but also with myself, because I want my car
to be the fastest Honda in Russia. As of now, we have realised only seventy per cent of its potential. We have the extra thirty per cent, and as soon
as I stop making mistakes, we will break nine seconds. The only question is in me, but I will do it: I will study and achieve the desired goal. Even
now, we are improving our results and being consistent like this is very important for me."
In All Wheel Drive, most competitors faced technical problems. The Mitsubishi Mirage of Yan Bazhenov broke at the start. The Nissan Skyline GT-R of
Dmitry Kapustin lost the actuator and the car stopped on the track. The Subaru Impreza of Dmitry Mandrikov suffered a rear suspension failure and
lost the rear right wheel – the car was thrown on to the grass just few metres after the start line. In the semi-finals and final there were four
different Nissan GT-Rs of Stanislav Lunev, Vladislav Kasheev, Konstantin Katynkin and Dimtry Matveev. The third place went to Lunev, the second to
Kasheev, and Dmitry Makeev was the winner. Dmitry said "It's great to win after you lost before: your feelings from the win are even stronger. Last
season everybody thought that first places were very easy for me. The previous weekend showed that it's not that easy. Fortunately, this weekend we
were stable and fast, we are happy with the car and we will do our best in Grozny. Technically, we have all a chance. I am many points behind my
opponents, but it the next round is successful for us I will be able to catch them up."
Rear Wheel Drive is full of very powerful cars this season. Four Pro Mods with over 1000 hp started this weekend. However, such cars can be rather
capricious, as happened with the Dodge Viper DT of Dmitry Samorukov. Andrey Kravchenko's Pro Mod took third place in his run. The 1400 hp Dodge
Viper DT of Olae Kondakov (Moscow) and 3000hp Chevrolet Camaro SS of David Vegter (Netherlands) met in the final. Oleg was 0.092 seconds quicker
than his opponent. "I think I really lucked out, because this is sport, different things happen here" said Oleg. "Mistakes and faults lead to bad
luck, while if you do everything well then it leads to a good result – it's normal. That is why I am not overestimating myself, have no euphoria.
First of all, my team deserves credit for this result. I've already thanked Andrey Veremeev (CEO of
Dragtimes, the organiser of the Russian Drag Racing
Championship), because it was his idea to bring one more Pro Mod and it was he who persuaded me to drive the Dodge Viper DT. Thanks to him and to the
whole Dragtimes team for the preparation of the car and for all work they've done."
The final round of the Russian Drag Racing Championship will take place in Grozny on the Fortress Groznaya race track.
Our good buddy Remco Scheelings was in Nizhny Novgorod and you can check out his excellent illustrated report at
www.autosport.nl.
HoFtalk II released. 17th August: The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame has
published the second issue of its on-line magazine HOFtalk which is designed to facilitate communications with members and supporters of the
BDRHoF and which is edited by Simon Groves, member of the BDRHoF Management Board and Eurodragster.com 's very own Pit Reporter.
"There have been many exciting developments for this year's Hall of Fame Gala to be held on 19th November at the Sheraton Skyline Hotel, Heathrow",
says Simon. "The guest list is already looking spectacular. The BDRHoF is being showcased at more events around the UK and many members of the
Hall of Fame are coming to nostalgia drag racing events such as Dragstalgia and staying in contact with the sport. The new issue of HOFtalk
is about celebrating these achievements and honouring those inducted this year: Paula Marshall, Rob Loaring, Bob Keith and Santa Pod Raceway."
Web site updates. 17th August: Dick Parnham has as promised updated his Flickr site with 1970s pictures of UK legend Dennis Priddle. You can take
a look at Dick's latest update at
www.flickr.com/photos/dickparnhamdragracing.
Editor's note. 17th August: News updates may be sporadic over the next few days as we concentrate on covering the NitrOlympX, although if you
like your Nostalgia then be sure to tune in to tomorrow's (Thursday's) update as we have something very special lined up for you to keep you
going whilst we are travelling. Please do continue to send your news to news@eurodragster.com,
though, and we will post it as soon as we are able.
We will of course be able to pick up all E-Mail sent to Eurodragster.com and personal addresses although replies may take longer than usual.
The family would be very pleased if any hot rodders would like to join the procession from their house to
the crematorium. Departure time is 11:15 and you can get the address from Christopher by E-Mail to
chrispop271@hotmail.co.uk, via Facebook or by phone.
Dress code for the funeral is hot rod or drag racing TShirts, Rockabilly, 1950s or party clothes as Aidan would have wanted.
After the funeral all are welcome to a celebration of Aidan's life at the Bristol Imperial Sports Club, West Town Lane, Bristol BS14 9EA
(map).
The family ask that, if you wish, rather than flowers please make a donation in Aidan's name to Macmillan Cancer Relief. You can do this though
Thomas Davis Funeral Directors of Sandy
Park, Bristol.
"Again we all would like to thank you all for the kind messages, tributes, cards, flowers and phone calls", says Christopher. "It really has helped
us all get to through this difficult time knowing that Dad was so very well thought-of."
APIRA Open Sport Nationals update. 16th August: Many thanks to Jerry Cookson for forwarding us Version 1 of the official
entry list for the APIRA Open Sport Nationals, which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway on 27th-29th
August. You can check out the entry list by
clicking
here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any
Eurodragster.com page. Jerry tells us that entry is still open and that more list updates will follow.
Tickets, passes and paperwork are now on their way to those racers who enclosed SAEs with their entries. Tickets, passes and
paperwork for all others will be held at the gate for collection on arrival. Jerry adds that images taken by camera phones cannot
be accepted as official entry forms; those which have been received have been rejected and returned.
Further APIRA Open Sport Nationals racer updates will be published in due course.
First of all, the track. It looks pretty good right now. Of course there will be further track prep throughout the week, but we had a track to race on so it looks very promising for next weekend.
The action included Test and Tune runs for race teams alternating with Run What You Brung sessions. Street bikes, street cars, both in stock as well as hopped-up style. Participants came
mainly from Germany but also from Switzerland, Austria, Italy, France, Bulgaria, Poland, Slovenia and The Netherlands. On Saturday there was a packed house both on-track and in the
grandstands.
It's hard to pick something out of the many good performances, but if had to choose one I would nominate name the NitroHunter, Christian Jäger, on Thomas Joswig's Funny Bike.
Christian made four or five stout passes, culminating in a new best for the bike of 7.5 seconds. "Christian weighs like thirty kilogrammes less than me, so he managed to squeeze a bit more
out of the bike than I have", said Thomas.
So, bring on the NitrOlympX.
You can check out Markus' full Public Race Days gallery at www.dragmag.de.
Although the office is unmanned SPRC business is still being transacted. E-Mails, event entries etc are being
attended to in the evenings and Ian will return any missed calls when he can.
Habit at home. 14th August: UK Pro ET racers and Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award
sponsors Tig and Cath Napier welcomed their beloved Challenger home after its repaint by Bryan of Roberts
Motor Bodies. Cath Napier writes:
Bryan delivered her yesterday (Saturday) morning and now Tig has his work cut out to get her ready for the European
Finals. There's only all the exterior and interior trim to put on, engine and box to put in, complete rewire, and
some general maintenance, updates and fabrication to do... should be a doddle. Bad Habit will be running the
last two meetings this year with the 572 ci motor, as the 655 is going to Eric of Northern Speed Engineering for
"A good fettling".
The pictures are obviously from Bryan's workshop, so all the chrome and the engine are not installed, but you can
see just how stunning the paint job is. The colour is House of Kolor purple with a magenta stripe, and a few little
sparkly bits that Bry added, including the name being a bit more in your face than it used to be. We want to say a
massive thank you to Bryan of Roberts Motor Bodies for the awesome work he's produced. We thought she looked good
before, but now: just WOW.
Swift snippets. 14th August: Many thanks to Palle Lind for forwarding us the points standings in the FIM European
Drag Bike Championships after this weekend's FIM European Super Street Bike Cup round at Kunmadaras, which was
won by Malta's Shawn Buttigieg. You can check out the FIM points on our OCS
Paint-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here
or by clicking on the OCS Paint Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any
Eurodragster.com page.
Further to the above, you can check out qualifying standings and elimination ladders from the
Premium Energy Drink Extreme Bike Festival on the Kunmadaras Motorsport web site by
clicking
here.
RDRC Round 3. 14th August: After one week the Russian Drag Racing Championship returns to the Nizhegorodskoe Ring
and you can tune in at www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-8j_O_10xo.
Spectators will see a new round of the battle for time and for the the first place in the Championship in Front Wheel Drive, Rear Wheel Drive and All Wheel
Drive. There is the possibility of a new track ET record after Dmitry Samorukov reset it to 6.708 seconds in his 4000hp Dodge Viper DT.
Once again four Pro Mods will compete in RWD. At last week's round, two newcomers lost to their experienced opponents due to different technical problems.
During the upcoming weekend, Oleg Kondakov (Dodge Viper DT) and Andrey Kravchenko (Topspeed Promod Outlaw) will try to win and to remove Dmitry
Samorukov and David Vegter from the podium.
We will also see an interesting duel between two women in FWD: the Honda Civics of Oksana Yakovleva and Yana Kholodkovskaya often meet on the
track. Oksana won the second round but Yana Kholodkovskaya's team promised to prepare her car as well as possible to help her fight for the prize.
The real intrigue is in AWD: Championship leader Dmitry Mandrikov (Subaru Impreza) has only three points more than last week's winner Alexey
Krivolapov (Nissan Skyline). Stanislav Lunev (Nissan Skyline GT-R Kiwamaru) is not far behind them, just twenty seven points off. But don't forget about
the rapid Dmitry Kapustin (Nissan Skyline GT-R) and Vladislav Kasheev (Nissan Skyline GT-R), season débutant, who won fifteen points at his
first race last week.
The fight at the Nizhegorodskoe Ring will be even more spectacular than last week because the identities of potential Champions can emerge now.
After Nizhny Novgorod the competition will go to Grozny, where the final stage of RDRC will take place at Fortress Groznaya.
There will be also a local "Battle of Engines" ET competition during this weekend's event, in which many noted drivers of the Nizhny Novgorod region
will compete with each other.
We have to be in line by 7:00 am. Yesterday I was doing fully-suited practice bail-outs and getting to know the car.
I'm driving the little 1200 bhp turbo car for my rookie passes so that I get to understand the salt. I have to run
between 130 mph and 150 mph on the first pass, then 175 mph, and then it gets serious.
The other big news is that Ron Hope has his twin-turbo car here and they really think that they have a shot at 300
mph to set a new record.
I cannot thank all team enough for their patience, their help and their guidance.
Unfortunately Ramon Van Der Weurf is unable to come back out to play again but fear not, because Tim Garlick has fixed the Apache
Firebird after axle damage earlier in the year and will be stepping up to the plate in what promises to be the ultimate UK v USA showdown.
At Dragstalgia, the final score was Europe 2, America 2 so it's all to play for. No pressure boys!
You can fid out more about the FIA / FIM European Finals and book your tickets at www.santapod.com.
Swift snippets. 12th August: Thanks to Ian Marshall for forwarding us Version 5 of the official entry list for the FIA / FIM European
Finals which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on 8th-11th September. You can check out the European Finals entry list by
clicking here or
by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. If you have any queries
about FIA / FIM European Final entry then please contact Ian Marshall at
ir.marshall@btconnect.com or call 01933 313625 (outside the UK +44 1933
313625).
Dan Page asked us to wish a big Happy Birthday to UK Super Comp and Super Gas racer Jon Morton. Our pleasure
Dan, have a great day Mort.
Tributes to Aidan Kenny. 12th August: We have received the following tributes to the late Aidan Kenny:
Rick and I were very sorry to hear the news of Aidan's passing. We will
always remember his smile, his promptness to help anybody at any time, his happy and generous nature.
We will always treasure the times we spent drinking and laughing with him at the Pro ET dos or in the pits,
always value his sportsmanship and fairness. "A lovely bloke and great drinking buddy" Rick said of him,
and this photo says it without words. He will be sadly missed by the whole drag racing community.
Our heartfelt condolences to Jan and Chris (Carla Pittau and Rick McCann).
Gutted to hear about Aidan. Will never forget his sportsmanship in the first round at the National
Finals all those years ago. Always smiling, always positive, nothing seemed to get him down. Love to
Jan and Chris. The pits wont be the same without him and that old Transit van (Keith Herbert)
A true friend and best mate Aid. The Pod and the world of racing won't be the same without you. RIP.
We had great times together! (Iffy aka Gerry)
We are so very very sad to hear this news - another great guy from our drag racing community taken away.
We will fondly remember our fun Pro ET pit days with Aidan Kenny... a fun, easy going and so very accommodating, true gentleman loved
by us all. He even made the journey to Reading on a Saturday night just to celebrate our wedding with us (I literally screamed when I saw
his beaming face coming through the door). A top bloke who always looked on the bright side... we will so miss our chats at the Pod.
Race in Peace Aidan and love to Jan, Chris, all your family and friends xxx (Pam,Wayne and Samuel Hiscock, Sam Jackson, Andy
Hill, Chevyhelle Racing)
So sad today, yet another true gent taken from our community... you will be sadly missed mate. Our condolences go out to his family (Matt Eley)
I was saddened to hear of the passing of Aidan. Like a lot of other people say what a great guy with a big heart and willing to help anyone.
When I rolled my Pop in 2009 he offered to travel all the way down to mine in Essex and help weld a complete new roof on the Pop. Top
guy, RIP Aidan (Lee Cohen)
If you would like to send your own tribute to Aidan then please E-Mail us at
tributes@eurodragster.com.
Grimes keeps Bengtsson's seat warm. 11th August: Tommy Grimes, a sixteen-time NHRA Wally winner and four-time Champion in Nitro Harley, will take over the riding duties of Per Bengtsson's
The Beast Supertwin at the Scandinavian Internationals, as the four-time European Champion will not be able to ride himself at Tierp Arena.
Per, owner and rider of The Beast and current speed record holder with 223.70 mph, had to withdraw from the Alastaro and Gardermoen EDRS Pro Nordic Motorcycle Championship
races after suffering a stroke during a business trip in Germany (Ouch, get well soon Per - Ed). After two weeks of treatment at a state-of-the-art hospital in Hamburg Per returned home to Sweden and is now working
on the rehab process.
"After some discussions with my wife Christina, who is in charge, and my team members we decided that despite the circumstances we would participate in the Scandinavian Internationals
on 25th-28th August", said Per. "We needed a new rider for the race and one who could do The Beast justice. We came down to a few options. On top of the list was one name, Tommy Grimes.
I gave him a call and explained the situation, and he said "I will come over"!"
Tommy is best known for riding the late Ray Price's drag bikes for ten years. With Championships and records in twenty race seasons he is one of the quickest drag bike riders of all time.
"We hope to give the race fans and our sponsors a good show at Tierp Arena", said Per. "Tommy's experience together with the knowledge of our team members, and the support from our
longtime sponsors will guarantee an exciting weekend, and I don't mind seeing some records fall even if I am standing by the side of the track. I'll just have to repeat the performance when
I'm back next year! The team and I are looking forward to see you all at Tierp Arena."
Special thanks go to Red Line Oil Scandinavia, Brammer, Liqui Moly, Autoexperten Växjö, Fanhultstvätten Älmhult, Bilservice I Åseda , Bentec Engineering,
Rävemåla Bilservice , MarineDiesel Sweden, Swedcut, Per Andersens Restauranger, Bengtssons Sågverk AB, Flexoart, Ulvsgården AB and Persåkers Speed
Shop.
For more information please visit the team's web site at www.bentec.net or their Facebook page at
The Beast Dragbike.
Jäger keeps Joswig's seat warm. 11th August: From German Funny Bike racer Thomas
Joswig comes news of another rider substitution as Supertwin racer
Christian Jäger will take the seat of
Thomas' bike at Hockenheim this weekend and next.
Thomas was a no-show at the SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway in June but what we didn't know at the time
was that Thomas' non-appearance was due to a heart attack a few days before the event (Get well soon Thomas - Ed).
Thomas tells us that he is in good shape and that will he will coach Christian on his return to Funny Bike.
"The bike is ready and I don't want to let it sit in a dark garage for the remainder of the season", Thomas told
Eurodragstercom. "Hockenheim is my home track and I desperately want to participate there."
The Funnybike.de / Nitrohunter.com
team's first outing will be during the Dragster Test and Tune sessions at this weekend's Public Race Weekend at
Hockenheim where they will work on a good set-up for next week's
Nitrolympx.
Swift snippets. 11th August: Our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of the UK's Aidan Kenny who died on Tuesday night
after a short illness. Cheerful, down-to-earth and popular in the pits, Aidan was a proud member of the legendary Bristol contingent and raced
in several classes including Outlaw Anglia, Pro ET, Super Street and Sportsman ET. He will be sadly missed and not forgotten. If you would
like to send a tribute to Aidan then please E-Mail us at tributes@eurodragster.com.
The first of two rounds on consecutive weekends of the FIM Europe Super Street Bike Cup takes place at Kunmadaras in Hungary this
weekend. Qualifying commences tomorrow (Friday) and you can find out more about SSB and all other classes running, and keep up with results,
on the Kunmadaras Motorsport web site at www.kunmadarasmotorsport.hu.
Many thanks to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe for sending us the official
timing data from the Mopar EuroNationals and Ultimate Street Car. You can check out the Mopars and USC timing data by
clicking here or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the left-hand side of any
Eurodragster.com page.
Web site updates. 11th August: Thanks to Robin Jackson for letting us know that a report of Round 4 of the MSA British Drag Racing Championship,
which took place at the Mopar EuroNationals at Santa Pod Raceway, is now available on the Championship's official web site at
www.msadragracing.co.uk.
Mother Nature is not always as co-operative as you would like when you have something to celebrate. Rain played far too important a role in the opening of the new Gardermoen Raceway.
Not only was the official part of the ceremony disturbed by rain, but round three of the EDRS Pro Nordic Motorcycle Championship was also cut short to one qualifying round on Friday and
one on Saturday before rain also brought an early end after one round of eliminations. You can read more courtesy of Remco Scheelings on the
Drag Racing Europe
Blog.
Paul Lister has updated his Dragcar Anon web site with pictures from Dragstalgia. You can check out
Paul's pictures at www.dragcaranon.co.uk.
Mark Cook-Abbott and the Tominator Junior Dragster team asked us to say a big Happy 16th Birthday for today (Wednesday) to
tyre tech and team member responsible for driver safety Charlotte Cook-Abbott. Our pleasure Mark, have a lovely day Charlotte. Mark adds Good Luck to Charlotte
and to all of those Juniors who get GSCE results on 25th of this month.
Payback at the Mopars. 9th August: UK Pro Modified racer Bert Englefield and the BA Racing team came to the Mopar EuroNationals on the back
of a disappointing SPRC Summernationals at which a problem with the two-step caused the motor to cut out. But things turned right round for
BA Racing this time out:
We knew that we would have to be aggressive from the start if we were to catch up with Andy Robinson in the points. Our plan was to make a half pass on Friday to see what the track
could hold, and the data we got from that run showed that Ian Marshall and the SPRC track crew had done an excellent job. For the first qualifier on Saturday we put in our Main Event
tune-up and to our suprise the old Hot Rod ran a 0.972 sixty foot, 4.02 at the eighth and 6.203 at the quarter to give us the number one spot.
Back in the pits the Racepak data showed that the clutch had never really fully locked up in top gear. We missed the second session feeling that we couldn't improve but decided to do
the last session when the track had cooled down a bit. This gave us a 6.284 and we ended up third.
On Sunday we decided to calm it down a little as we didn't have the power to outrun Michel Tooren or Andy Robinson. The first round against Wayne Nicholson was a repeat match
from the Summernationals only this time the car didn't let us down and we won with a 6.24. Although the crew were worried the driver would let them down the semi-final against Roger
Moore was going to going to be tricky as he always runs as hard as he can and will never hand it to you on a plate. Roger ran an excellent 6.39 but we had the extra power for the win.
The final was to be against the Pro Dutch guys who had been running fast all weekend, but as is often the case with finals it didn't live up to expectations. Michel redlit and our 6.28 gave
us the win, and kept us in the title chase. With a few updates due for the European Finals hopefully we can squeeze a six-teen out of the old Hot Rod.
Swift snippets. 9th August: We have two birthdays today. First up a very Happy Birthday to UK Fuel legend Gary Page; have a
great day Gary. On behalf of the whole family and the Leverich Racing team Aidan Heatley Smith asked us to say a big Happy Birthday to
ex-pat UK Top Fuel Dragster racer, "The man who makes it all possible", Smax Smith. Our pleasure Aidan, have a great day Smax.
Web site updates. 9th August: We don't know where he finds the time but our good buddy Remco Scheelings has posted an article about the weekend's
NDRG Drag Challenge at Gardermoen on the Netherlands' Autosport site; you can check it out at
www.autosport.nl.
Remco also tells us that the latest EDRS Pro Motorcycle points are now available in PDF format on the
Drag Racing Europe Blog.
The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr site with four galleries from Dragstalgia. You can check out Mad's pictures at
www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman.
Work started in earnest last Monday (1st) with the German crew being joined by a three-man team from Santa Pod Raceway and Santa Pod Racers Club.
Both crews worked hard all day and into the night grinding the track to ensure that the base surface of the track was at its best.
With the grinding finished and the track cleaned it was on to laying rubber on the track surface, and again the Hockenheim team has not held back.
With three tractors and track groomers continually applying rubber to the ground surface, and more plant and equipment en route (more on this later),
things are shaping up nicely. As ever, no expense has been spared.
With the Public Test Days fast approaching, we are going full steam ahead with the glue trailer and more rubber. Anyway, enough typing I am going
to get back to sledding the track and will send another update in a few days' time.
Event entry update. 8th August: Entry closes this Friday (12th) for the Junior Drag Racing Fun Day which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on
Wednesday 31st August. For 2016 there is a sign-on fee of £20 so Junior racers wishing to take part in the Junior Fun Day need to telephone the
Santa Pod office on 01234 782828 (outside the UK +44 1234 782828) to book their race voucher. Entry forms (PDF format) can be downloaded by
clicking here. Forms submitted without payment will result in the
racer not being entered for the event. For more information about the Junior Fun Day, please visit
www.santapod.co.uk/e_junior_day.php.
Entry is still open for the APIRA Open Sport Nationals, a round of the UK National Drag Racing Championships and ACU UK Drag Bike Championships
and other series, which takes place at Shakespeare County Raceway on 27th-29th August. The entry forms can be downloaded from the track's web site
at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com. Racers are
encouraged to pay their entry fee by Bacs rather than credit card or cheque, as this cuts down on administrative charges and time.
Shakespeare County Raceway's account details can be found on the entry forms.
Swift snippets. 8th August: Congratulations to Donna Shah of London, UK and Markus Stoller of Ried, Switzerland who have each
won a pair of weekend tickets to the NitrOlympX in Eurodragster.com's contest. 97% of entrants correctly answered that Liam Jones' 11.3 gallons of nitro
is 51.37 litres in imperial gallons or 42.77 litres in US gallons. Many thanks to the management of Hockenheimring Gmbh for putting up the prize
and to our dear friend and NitrOlympX PR Christine Calwer for arranging it.
The rain finally got the upper hand yesterday after one round of eliminations at the Grand Reopening Drag Challenge
at Norway's refettled Gardermoen Raceway. You can check out qualifying and results of those eliminations which took place at
www.ndrg.no and an EDRS Pro Bike summary by
clicking
here. Photo galleries are available by clicking here
(EDRS classes) and by clicking here (EDRS Pro MC
classes).
UK Wild Bunch racer Mark Coulsell has asked us to say a big Happy 12th Wedding Anniversary for today (Monday) to his
wife Lynne Coulsell. "Lynne is my rock, soulmate and best friend", says Mark. "Thank you for everything you do for us boys Mark, Josh and
Harley."
Russia's double-header underway. 7th August: The second rounds of the Russian Drag Racing Championship and the local Drag Racing
Cup are taking place this weekend in Nizhny Novgorod. The event is the first of a double-header with the third rounds next weekend. Amongst the more than sixty racers are for the first time three purpose-built
race cars joining the local Nissan Skylines, Nissan GT-Rs, Chevrolet Corvettes, Toyota Soarers and more. The three pure race cars will compete in Rear Wheel Drive and comprise two Dodge Vipers and a
1967 Chevrolet Camaro driven by Oleg Kondakov, Dmitry Samorukov and David Vegter respectively.
Also of interest is Maria Panova, a well-known racer from Nakhodka, winner of different Russian and international drag racing competitions. Maria usually drives a Toyota Soarer but it suffered a fire last season and has not yet
been rebuilt. After receiving many offers of help from fellow racers Maris settles on the VAZ 2108 of Team Clubturbo's Vladimir Tretyak. "A few months ago, after I realised that the Soarer would not be ready for this season, I
announced my search for a new car for the 2016 Russian Drag Racing Championship. Vladimir's offer was the most viable for various reasons. We decided that it will be fun and interesting because I have no idea how to race
in a left-hand drive car with manual transmission, and moreover I am a lefty!"
Tickets are on sale for next week's event at Nizhny Novgorod either on the track's official site at www.nring.ru
or at Kassir.ru. Entry is free for under-fives.
Robinson goes Top Fuel. 7th August: Luke Robinson has been in touch to bring us up to date with the last couple of MSA British Championship
events contested by UK Pro Modified racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy
Robinson:
After the letdown which was the first round of competition at the FIA / FIM Main Event, where a faulty mag changeover switch caused a huge misfire, it was decided that
it would be prudent to test before the SPRC Summernationals. Unfortunately Mother Nature soon put paid to that idea so it was straight into qualifying for us. We opened
our account with a great 6.15 to put us in the number one spot. We then managed to improve to a 6.11 in Q2, but in the final qualifying session we lost the run due to the
parachutes falling out on the way up to pre stage! I happened to be behind the car at the time, unfortunately rugby was never my sport so despite flapping my arms and
legs about, the parachutes landed unceremoniously on the track. We were able to make a run out of session after repacking the chutes and we improved to a 6.08. Despite
it not counting it provided us with some valuable data.
Qualifying top meant that we had a bye run in the first round and another opportunity to test. Just as well we had a bye run as the car traveled approximately ten feet
before going in to violent tyre shake! Time to change gear ratios and calm it all down a bit. In the second round we faced Wayne Nicholson and made we no mistake with
a 6.14. Michel Tooren and the Pro Dutch team, on the other side of the ladder, ran a 6.15 so we knew the final was going to be a tough race. We made some small changes
to the set-up to hopefully improve our ET and Dad felt confident as the car was behaving well, the track conditions were great and so everything looked good. Dad managed
to cut a great 0.05 reaction time and stayed ahead of Michel for the whole run, 6.09 to a losing 6.14. All in all it was one of our best meetings with only one bad run and more
importantly a win and as a bonus, no broken parts!
So on to the Mopar EuroNationals. We arrived at the track feeling confident after our great performance at the Summernationals. Unfortunately our luck was due to run out! In the
first session of qualifying we couldn't start the car due to an issue with the mandated shut down device. Okay, we knocked a plug off when fitting the diaper... After reconnecting
the plug which took all of thirty seconds, we were left twiddling our thumbs for a couple of hours until it was time for Q2. The good news was that the car started! The bad news
was that we identified yet another misfire in the burnout. We made the decision to run anyway, after all we needed to get a time on the board and most misfires are electrical, right?
Well not all of them, it would seem. We managed to destroy an inlet rocker adjuster, causing the pushrod to come out, and somehow the exhaust pushrod also made a break for freedom.
In doing this our boost pressure rose to unseen levels due to both valves being shut on that cylinder, and of course we did not have the correct amount of fuel to support such elevated
boost levels in the remaining seven cylinders! The outcome wasn't pretty, we torched yet another cylinder head and damaged the deck face of the block. Luckily we have become experts
at trackside engine block repairs so out came the welder. With the motor patched up it was time for a well earned barbecue.
Due to qualifying in the bottom half of the ladder, we knew we had a tough first round against Kev Slyfield. He posted a great 6.45 but our luck seemed to temporarily turn around and
we netted a great 6.12. Michel and the Pro Dutch guys were the class of the field in the first round with an amazing 6.07! We knew we had our work cut out as we faced him in the next
round, it was time to start turning screws as on performance we were fivehundredths behind. I was confident that we could close the performance gap and give them a run for their money.
Unfortunately no amount of confidence will change the limits of tyre adhesion, to say we overstepped the mark would be an understatement! The car 'Top Fuelled' the tyres and shot across
the track, fortunately behind Michel who also struggled for traction. A heart-stopping moment for the crew, we all had our hearts in our mouths stood on the start line, but thankfully Dad
did a great job of bringing the car back under control and avoiding the barrier. I think it's safe to say that raised a few pulse rates amongst the team, however Dad was positively nonchalant
about the run!
We now have a short break before the European Finals. Unfortunately we are unable to race in mainland Europe this year but it gives us some time to check the car thoroughly for any damage
and freshen the motor. Our focus at the European Finals will be performance with consistency: we aim to get back in to the 6.0s again as I believe it will take a 6.1 to qualify in the top half of
the field. So we will have to lean on it!
Swift snippets. 7th August: The weather has tried hard to spoil this weekend's Grand Reopening Drag Challenge at Norway's refettled Gardermoen
Raceway but NDRG and the racers have still managed to put on an impressive show when Mother Nature has allowed. You can check out qualifying
results at www.ndrg.no and an EDRS Pro Bike summary by
clicking
here. Photo galleries are available by clicking here
(EDRS classes) and by clicking here (EDRS
Pro MC classes).
23:59 UK time tonight (Sunday) is the deadline for entry to our NitrOlympX contest with two pairs of weekend tickets up for grabs. We have had
entries from all over Europe with answers in both UK and US units (For the record, both are acceptable - Ed) but we have plenty of room in our
mailbox for more. For details, and to enter, see our news item of 27th July.
Impressive key-borrowing. 7th August: Geoff Stilwell, principal of Beech Underwriting
Agencies, Official Sponsorship Partner of the British Drag Racing Hall
of Fame, has announced that he will be racing at the 2016 Bonneville Speed Week on the famous Utah salt flats on 13th-19th August.
Geoff will be driving one of Rat Trap Fuel Altered driver Ron Hope's land speed cars, initially making licensing runs. "I want to thank
Ron and Brian Hope of Rat Trap Racing, Stewart Bassett and everyone at US Automotive, Sharon and Bob Muravez (Floyd Lippencotte Jr) and
Tony Thacker for making this all possible", says Geoff. "My aim is to licence and then run as quick as Ron will let me". Ron's daughter Victoria
set a speed record of 216.552 mph in his roadster in August 2012.
Conditions at Bonneville are looking to be the best in some years. Events in 2014 and 2015 had to be cancelled due to rain causing the natural
salt crust to weaken and shrink. Southern California Timing Association, the organising body for the event, has liaised with US government
agencies and local racing organisations about repairs to parts of the surface and the SCTA is confident that the courses are in good shape.
BDRHoF Chairman Stu Bradbury said "We are thrilled that Geoff is able to take part in Speed Week thanks to Ron, whom we also thank as a
major sponsor of the BDRHoF. We wish Geoff all the best and will be crossing our fingers that he will achieve the dream of running 200 mph
at Bonneville."
Geoff also asked us to wish a safe and fast Speed Week to his friend and BDRHoF member Carl Olson who is aiming for 300
mph.
UK Top Sportsman review. 7th August: Paul Marston writes that as the weather played ball at last weekend's Mopar EuroNats the Gearhead Garage
UK Top Sportsman racers took it from there, producing the best event yet with some of the hardest-fought and closest Sportsman Doorslammer
racing you could hope to see:
It's difficult to know where to start, but let's go with the programme and Friday's Bracket race. It's fair to say that the track conditions were at times tricky, but right from the
start the Huxleys had it covered. With Lee Huxley in the driver's seat and Brian Huxley as Crew Chief they really bought their A Game with them. Going through five rounds of
competition they never missed a beat, laying waste to all before them. In the first round they took out Darren Peart, in the second round they were up against Kev Perkins who
had to shut off handing them a bye run. In round three Lee was up against Peter Lane, one of the most experienced Super Gas / Super Pro ET drivers out there, but he again took
the win being closer to his dial-in.
In the semi-final Lee was bang on his dial-in, 9.34 on a 9.33, to take out Nick Curtis in Jack Brewster's Just Mustard Pontiac Firebird. The final, run as first pair Saturday morning,
was a rematch of his first round match-up against Darren Peart, who had bought back after his first round defeat. But the result was the same with Lee showing all his expertise
by taking the advantage at the start line and dumping Darren's hard-charging nitrous-equipped Mk 3 Cortina, leaving Darren with a commendable 8.09/163.65 breakout to Lee's
winning 9.48/131.02 on a 9.40 dial.
Next up was Saturday night's one-shot qualifier for Sunday's Heads-Up Eliminator. With £250 cash up for grabs courtesy of John Tebenham, it was hard-fought but Belinda Bull
in her Jeff Bull Racing Engines Chevy S10 laid down a 7.06/192.11 to take pole. There was a fair gap to numbr two held by Rene Ehrismann's Shoebox '55 Chevy nitrous-assisted entry
at 7.52/178.51. In third spot was a returning Dave Townsend who had really pulled out all the stops and burnt a lot of midnight oil just to make it to the track with his 666 ci nitrous-assisted
2007 Ford Mustang. Dave ran a safe 7.58/179.96.
Come round one on Sunday morning, you just kinda sensed it was gonna get ugly and it lived up to all the hype and expectation which Gearhead Garage UK Top Sportsman had promised.
There were at least six, that's right six, Personal Bests including first-ever seven-second passes for Darren Peart and Paul Letchford, Darren with a 7.9942/169.80 and Paul with a simply
awesome 7.9439/170.42. But both of those were eclipsed by Dave Townsend with a jaw-dropping 7.0018/195.46. Not only was this nearly a six-second pass, but also near 200 mph and
over half a second quicker than his qualifying time, and quicker than Belinda who backed up her pole time with another 7.04. All the first round encounters went the way of their
qualifying times with the top eight going through. Come the second round the gloves were most certainly off!
In the second round Rene Ehrismann enjoyed a bye when Tim Mugridge could not make the call with head gasket woes; the team had been up all night replacing the same offending item
on Saturday. Belinda Bull disposed of Bob Doyle with a 7.03.16/190.53 to book her semi final slot. The pairing of this round, hands down, was our two seven-second doorslammers: Darren
Peart's nitrous-assisted manually-shifted five-litre Rover Mk3 Cortina and Paul Letchford with his Steve Schmidt 582 ci BBC naturally-aspirated, two-speed Powerglide 1968 Camaro.
Paul took 0.03 at the tree and Darren fought hard but could not quite manage to back up his earlier PB, but Darren never lifted and he made Paul earn it with an 8.1206/169.17 to a winning
7.9554/169.83. Dave Townsend went into shake just off of the start line then kicked the tyres loose and his day was done against Nick Curtis who booked a spot in the semi-finals with a fine
8.2717/166.07.
In the semi-finals Belinda Bull and Paul Letchford were up first and Belinda had it all the way, 0.01 at the start line and her first six of the day sealed the deal 6.9912/193.76 to Paul's game
8.0510/171.74 which was a new PB speed. In the second pairing Rene Ehrismann was up against Nick Curtis, who was eyeing up another giant-killing opportunity. Well Rene was having
none of that this time, and dispatched Nick with a 7.4182/177.81, just as well as Nick had 0.15 in his pocket on the start line and ran his quickest time at 8.2032/167.29.
So the numbers one and two qualifiers faced off: Rene all the way from Switzerland with his seven-eighth scale nitrous-assisted Shoebox and Belinda with her monster-motored 760 ci
naturally-aspirated Bob Panella-built Chevy S10. Rene, knowing he was the underdog, leaned a little harder and upped his nitrous tune as you would expect with £1250 cash on
the table for the winner. Alas it was too much and Rene hit shake pretty hard, by the time he had pedalled and recovered it was done and Belinda took the deserved win with a
7.0295/190.53 to Rene's game 8.3695/155.22. Belinda is our first repeat winner in the Heads Up category.
All in all a great example of the very best in Sportsman doorslammer racing in both Fast Bracket and Heads Up.
Gearhead Garage UK Top Sportsman simply could not do this without the help of a lot of people, so in no specific order we would like to acknowledge the following: Gearhead Garage,
John Tebenham, all of the Top Sportsman officials, crew and pit Runners, all the Gearhead Garage UK Top Sportsman teams who compete with us, Kenny Coleman at EDA, Jeff Bull Racing
Engines, Damn Yankees ACC, Rough Diamond Engineering, Drag Race Engineering, Eurodragster.com, the Mopar EuroNationals Committee, Santa Pod Raceway management and SPRC
track crew, Gary at London Road Tyres, Romford, Dave and Helen at Zeon TV, and everyone else who helped, you know who you are and we are forever in your debt. Roll on 2017.
Swift snippets. 5th August: We would like to say a big Happy Birthday with added hugs to Libby Mottershead. Have a lovely day Lady Lib.
Editor's note: Full news service will be resumed the next news update with a review of Gearhead Garage UK Top Sportsman,
an update from Russia, an invitation to Drachten and more. Please keep the news coming to
news@eurodragster.com.
Web site updates. 5th August: Nostalgia fans could again do a lot worse than to check out the latest update on Dick Parnham's Flickr site which
features pictures of 1970s Comp Altereds. Dick says that more Nostalgia pictures are to follow including shots of 1970s Doorslammers, Paula Murphy,
Allan Herridge and Dennis Priddle. You can take a look at Dick's latest update at
www.flickr.com/photos/dickparnhamdragracing.
Race cars are invited to the first-ever car show presented by American Autoparts which is to be held on
Sunday 4th September at the Gatwick Aviation Museum in Charlwood, Surrey, adjacent to
Gatwick Airport. The Great Gatwick Hot Rod and Custom Show is an all-charity project in aid of the Museum, the Royal Air Force Cadets charity and a Local Council
appeal to finish interior work at the village's new recreational pavilion. With the Gatwick Museum having recently undergone a major re-configuration, including the erection of
a state-of-the-art hangar housing renovated classic British military aircraft, the aviation aspect of the show is reflected in its theme of Hot Cars, Cool Rides and Cold War Jets.
Resident aircraft on show include a supersonic Lightning interceptor, a Buccaneer naval bomber and a Shackleton maritime patrol aircraft, all Cold War veterans.
The full content of the show is still being put together, but expect to see street muscle machines, Jason Phelps' FGR Motorsport Gladiator Mustang Fuel Funny
Car, dragsters (including a Junior), altereds, street rods, American showcars, custom cars and bikes, pickups, NASCAR racers, Legends grass track racing and
classic US military vehicles. There will be music from Radio Redhill, and automotive-orientated trade stands. Dodgems and kiddies' rides plus a "Stick and rudder"
three-quarter scale Spitfire mechanical simulator are among planned amusements. And negotiations are in hand with the CAA for helicopter rides .
Adding a little spice to the day will be the glamorous girls from the Heels for Combat Boots charity, happy to drape themselves over the cars and pose for photos,
all in aid of servicemen and women with post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Disorder.
If you would like to bring your race car - Mike Lintern mentions that there is plenty of room but that the entry is a little light on Gassers - then please get in touch at
sales@americanautoparts.co.uk.
If you don't have a race car but would like to attend as a visitor then tickets can be purchased on-line from
www.ticketsource.co.uk/americanautoparts, by phone on 0333 6663366 (small
booking fee applies) or in cash on the day. Meantime details about the Museum can be found at
www.gatwick-aviation-museum.co.uk.
Priddle to attend Bench Race. 4th August: The British
Drag Racing Hall of Fame is delighted to announce that member and European drag racing legend Dennis Priddle
will be attending the BDRHoF Bench Racing session sponsored by Beech
Underwriting Agencies, to be held on 19th November 2016 at the Sheraton Skyline Hotel, Heathrow.
Between the 1960s and 1980s, Dennis campaigned a series of Top Fuel and Funny Cars, and was the first driver into the six-second range
outside of North America with a 6.995-second pass at Santa Pod Raceway in 1972. This earned him his Mr Six nickname. During his
career Dennis and Clive Skilton, another noted British drag racer, engaged in quarter mile battles across Britain and Europe, helping build
drag racing across the Atlantic.
Dennis, who will be presented with his International Drag Racing Hall of Fame award during the gala dinner in the evening, will be present
on the panel at the session to be held between 13:00 and 15:00 in the hotel's Atlantic Suite. The session will be hosted by Bob McClurg and
includes Don Schumacher, Bob Muravez, Fred Miller, Harry Hibler, Paula Murphy, Carl Olson and other racing legends.
Admission to the BDRHoF Bench Racing session sponsored by Beech
Underwriting Agencies will be by ticket only. You can apply for tickets by sending an email to
geoff@beechunderwriting.co.uk to register your place. Tickets
are going quickly.
Ticket prices for the 2016 BDRHoF Gala Awards Dinner remain as last year at £60 per person. Corporate tables of ten are available at £580.
More details are available by clicking
here. For advance booking of tickets contact britishdrhof@aol.com or telephone Stu
Bradbury on 01933 279102.
Of pistons, curry and PBs. 4th August: Lucy Moore of the UK's Shakespeare Engineering / Challenger Solutions-sponsored Viper Pro Mod team
writes with a tale of pistons and curry with Swedes at the Mopar EuroNationals:
Back at the SPRC Summernationals the pistons were all removed, several times. The crew love doing it, especially late at night! In an attempt to learn more about the
recurring damage, the pistons were left out at the end of the meeting so that was the first job for the Mopars. I think Dad was too lazy to put them back in. After Dad
and some crew arrived on Thursday they set up the pit and rebuilt the engine with refurbished pistons and new rings.
Saturday meant the beginning of qualifying. After tweaking some fuel maps and other settings it was time to see how the car would perform. A 6.88/164.87 was a steady
start putting us in third place. As Q1 appeared quite strong we decided to up our game a little in Q2 and see what we could do. Although the car drifted a little, the run
was a good one! 6.395/218.13 was a new PB speed for us and very close to our PB ET! Finally it felt like a little reward for everyone's hard work. The decision was made
that it would be best to check pistons again rather than risk doing more damage in Q3. We finished qualifying third.
Elimination day arrived and the first round was against a fellow nitrous car: Bobby Wallace, supported by the formidable duo of Roger Johansson and Alex Olsson, the best
to come from Sweden since Abba. Dad was away first and took the win with a solid 6.557/213.88. Round two would be a tough one against Bert Englefield and Andy Wright
as they had been running consistent 6.2s. It's really good to see them doing so well after years of taking the micky about the fact that they should have stayed with a Nitrous
engine. Trying to render the opposition senseless with a toxic gas cloud, after a team trip to the local Indian, was maybe a little underhand.
We altered some things to try to improve the car's performance, and took some settings from our PB fuel map, and it worked! It was a fantastic nail biting-race. Dad was
away first, it was side by side until the eighth but Bert pulled away as the extra power of the blown engine (or an extra boost from that curry) came in and clinched the win
by 0.1148. However a loss couldn't taint our happiness at a new ET PB, 6.3904/214.93.
A huge Thank You to all the crew who worked exceptionally hard: Lamb Shank Dave, Prosecco Jane, Slim Martin, Chesty Chris, Legless Gary, and Lucy the
Boss.
Withington's dynamic class change. 4th August: The UK's David Withington went into Bug Jam at Santa Pod Raceway with an untried Sportsman ET car and left
with a Pro ET car. David writes:
Bug Jam 30 was my first outing in four years; the last time was in my Nirvara. Since then I have been trying to build a Opel Manta, however time and funds have always escaped me and
nearly becoming bankrupt in 2013 nearly saw the end of the car altogether. In October 2015 searching round eBay (creating wish lists) I spotted a part project Manta with the back axle I
needed for my own Manta. So off to Manchester I went, feeling hopeful that this car had all the spares that I needed to finish my Manta, and six hours later I returned with the complete car.
Two weeks later we decided to go to a Public Test Weekend at Shakespeare County Raceway just to test what we had bought. To cut a long story short, I had to shut the car down at the
eighth mile and had to be towed back to the pits. I was not impressed with the car, and it took me two hours to stop shaking.
Winter arrived and it was time to make one good car out of the two. We based the build on the part-project Manta as the paintwork and cage were in better condition. The old Manta
donated its gearbox, shifter, brakes and a whole other bunch of parts. The suspension front and back were rebuilt with new rose joints and bearings. New parts were made where old
Ford bits were used. Needless to say if it moved, or didn't look right, it was fixed or rebuilt.
We entered Bug Jam 30 as it is a good event at which to shake down cars. When we arrived on Thursday the car was still in bits but we soon got it finished and entered the RWYB. A soft
launch was in order after the last time the car ran. It felt great! Fourteen seconds, good and straight, a different car. Through the weekend we set the car up getting more and more out
of it, finally coming away from Santa Pod with a new PB of 11.35 seconds at 120.1 mph, and a Pro ET car.
We will be back at the European Finals and hopefully going quicker again.
Swift snippets. 4th August: We would like to say a big Happy 18th Birthday to former Junior Dragster racer Paige Wheeler.
Have a lovely day Paige.
Allard Chrysler returns to Brighton. 4th August: The Allard Chrysler Dragster is to make a static return to the Brighton Speed Trials in September.
ACAG Chair Brian Taylor sets the scene:
Back in 1960-61 Johnny Tillotson was high in the Pop Music charts with Poetry in Motion.
The Beatles were yet to be discovered and traditional jazz was popular with bands like Acker Bilk and Kenny Ball competing for chart success in the UK. It
was the time when Jaguar launched their first E-Type.
But in a small workshop situated in Clapham, South London something else was taking place; something which would change the face of British motorsport
for ever. British sports car manufacturers and multi-motorsports champion Sydney Allard set his team the task to build Europe's first dragster – the Mk I
Allard Chrysler. Powered by a blown 354 cubic inch Chrysler Hemi engine, it was for several years Europe's only dragster, appearing at the Brighton Speed
Trials in 1961, 1962 and 1963. It was retired at the end of 1964 with the engine being used in a replacement dragster which was still racing in the late 1960s.
The original Mk I Allard Chrysler was then stored in several workshops and barns and went through a partial restoration carried out by Brian Golder in 1979.
Upon Brian's death in 1992 it was bequeathed to the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, still without an engine and many key running gear components.
Early in 2008 a group of drag racing enthusiasts got together and approached the National Motor Museum with a plan to complete Brian Golder's restoration
and turn the static exhibit into a dragster which could be fired up and driven under its own power again – not to race but to parade. The
Allard Chrysler Action Group (ACAG) was formed under the Chairmanship of Brian Taylor,
with Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason and American drag racing historian Traci Hrudka as its Patrons, and for the last eight years they have raised funds and
carried out the work to achieve this aim. This July the dragster was driven under its own power for the first time since 1964 – a truly historic and emotional
occasion for all those involved.
ACAG Chairman Brian Taylor said "Back in 2009 Tony Johnstone of the Brighton and Hove Motor Club donated the SEMA Trophy to the National Motor Museum
so that it could be with the dragster which first won it back in 1963. For many years it had resided in the Madeira Drive Club House but it now forms part of the
Museum's trophy display. At that time we promised that we would bring the dragster back to Brighton once the restoration had been completed and, with the
help of Lucas Oil Products UK Limited, who provide most of the lube requirements for the dragster, we are pleased to be able to honour that promise on 3rd
September. Unfortunately local noise restrictions will prevent us firing up the dragster and parading but hopefully just the sight of it in Brighton will bring back
a few memories – its first appearance there since 1963."
The following weekend the Allard Chrysler Dragster will be at Santa Pod Raceway for the FIA / FIM European Finals where it will be fired up and paraded. Once
again people will be able to see and hear the sound which launched drag racing into Europe all those years ago.
PWRD was founded ten years ago with the aim of providing a range of high-quality graphic design services to the automotive and motorsport industries. Spearheaded by Peter Walters,
a highly skilled graphic designer and UK drag racer, PWRD has grown into one of the world's leading motorsport design agencies. With Peter's first-hand and in-depth knowledge of
motorsport marketing, creative design and brand identity, PWRD has gone on to receive numerous accolades for its trademark eye-catching designs, including multiple wins and nominations
for SPRC's Best Appearing Car and Most Professional Appearing Team awards.
The new web site is fully responsive to adapt with many mobile devices and desktops, therefore giving a more beneficial browsing experience. A selection of work from all the design services
we offer is presented, but if you are looking for something more bespoke, do not hesitate to get in touch: our possibilities are endless.
From a full-blown team branding package to a simple logo design, attention to detail is the highest of priorities for PWRD. With established links in the motorsport industry and many high-profile
clients, PWRD can help you win both on and off the track. #WINwithPWRD
Web site updates. 4th August: Colin Donisthorpe has updated his Flickr site with pictures from last weekend's Mopar EuroNationals
at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out Colin's great shots at
www.flickr.com/photos/colin_donisthorpe.
Nostalgia fans could do a lot worse than to check out the latest update on Dick Parnham's Flickr site which features pictures of 1970s and 1980s Funny Cars kindly
scanned for Dick by Sue Fordham. You can take a look at Dick's shots at
www.flickr.com/photos/dickparnhamdragracing.
As always, testing revealed little things which needed tweaking, but our data and performance bode well for the next step in the development
of the car.
Our plans are to test again at the FIA / FIM European Finals at Santa Pod then, funds permitting, to ship the car to Bahrain in October for
the whole of the BDRC drag race season (subject to BDRC confirmation). Of course doing this properly comes at a big cost for a privateer
team, but our supporters have already raised 25% towards the total!
Included in this total is our newest sponsor Airservices Hellas, who have agreed a two-year deal to support Red Victor 3 in its efforts
to regain the title of World's Fastest Street-Legal Car over the quarter mile. A big thank you to David Greenhalgh for brokering this deal for the team!
As usual a big thank you to all of the Red Victor team of Deb, Gary, Jan, Badger, Shane T and Nik Wadsworth, all the Red Victor 5 Second Club
members, the team's supporters and great sponsors, and our loyal fans, for their support so far.
As mentioned above, to get the car to Bahrain to claw back the record is a costly business for a small team and we are looking for support from
individuals or companies to take us that final step. You can join the Red
Victor 5 Second Club and become a Full or Associate member. Joining the page is as simple as clicking the link to join; it's a closed group, but you
will be accepted into the group and then you can ask how you can become a member. Or just E-Mail me at
redvictor1@hotmail.com to get involved in a World Record attempt, with all the publicity
which will come with it.
See you at the Euros!
Swift snippets. 2nd August: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com
came with the words "How much do you like Pro Mods?" and a web address. 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.
Brian Burrows writes that racers wishing to test cars before the FIA / FIM European Finals are welcome to attend VW Action
at Santa Pod Raceway the weekend before the event, saturday-Sunday 3rd-4th September. "Sunday 4th is a Peak Performance Day, but VW
Action are happy to have Pro cars test during Saturday's RWYB sessions which include an evening session", says Brian. "The event is a great
family weekend in its own right (We can attest to that - Ed). Any racers wishing to attend should please contact NAS Events at
nasevents@orange.fr or call 01279 725252 (outside the UK +44 1279 725252)".
More about VW Action at www.vwaction.com.
23:59 UK time this coming Sunday (7th) is the deadline for entry to our
NitrOlympX contest with two pairs of weekend tickets up for grabs. We have had entries from all
over Europe with answers in both UK and US units (For the record, both are acceptable - Ed) but we
have plenty of room in our mailbox for more. For details, and to enter, see our news item of
27th July.
Regular readers of our John Woolfe
Racing-sponsored Event Coverage will know that it has some
very faithful fans and we are very pleased to say Happy Birthday to one of those today. James Humphreys, a
particular fan of our Webster
Race Engineering / Nimbus Motorsport webcasts,
is sixteen years old today and Tog, Kirstie, Simon and Julian would like to wish James the very happiest of
birthdays.
You can check out our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored Mopar EuroNationals reports,
galleries and pit notes, including a chat with recovering Pro Mod racer Roger Johansson about his future plans, by
clicking here or
by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. It was the usual
pleasure seeing the fruits of our hard work scrumped and posted elsewhere. The thieves we would ask what you would do for validation
from fawning acolytes if we were to stop covering events; feel free to write and tell us.
31st August: Jonnie Lindberg Motorsports has announced a new alliance with Eurodragster.com sponsor
This weekend's Eurodragster.com / Bad Habit Racing Perfect Light Award has been increased to £75 after it went unclaimed
at the Mopar EuroNationals. The money will be paid in cash to the first racer this weekend to record a Reaction Time of 0.000
seconds. The Perfect Light Award is available to racers in all classes during qualifying and eliminations, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect
Light of the event. If not won this weekend then the Award will be increased to £100 for the FIA / FIM European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway; if it
is won then it will be reset to £50 for the FIA / FIM European Finals. The Perfect Light Award is presented in association with Bad
Habit Racing (Cath and Tig Napier, Pro ET).
23rd August: Nicola Hart writes that Santa Pod Raceway are again offering racers a special deal for VIP hospitality for
their sponsors and supporters on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the FIA / FIM European Finals:
"The NitrOlympx is always an exciting event and we're looking forward to racing in front of the biggest crowds on the circuit", says Jimmy. "We're more than ready to go and if the conditions
are as we expect then we just might break our own tracks record for Elapsed Time and speed, 6.653 seconds and 336.2 km/hour (208.9 mph)".
11th August: Our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of the UK's Aidan Kenny who died on Tuesday night
after a short illness. Cheerful, down-to-earth and popular in the pits, Aidan was a proud member of the legendary Bristol contingent and raced
in several classes including Outlaw Anglia, Pro ET, Super Street and Sportsman ET. He will be sadly missed and not forgotten. If you would
like to send a tribute to Aidan then please E-Mail us at 
7th August: The second rounds of the 
In the semi-final Lee was bang on his dial-in, 9.34 on a 9.33, to take out Nick Curtis in Jack Brewster's Just Mustard Pontiac Firebird. The final, run as first pair Saturday morning,
was a rematch of his first round match-up against Darren Peart, who had bought back after his first round defeat. But the result was the same with Lee showing all his expertise
by taking the advantage at the start line and dumping Darren's hard-charging nitrous-equipped Mk 3 Cortina, leaving Darren with a commendable 8.09/163.65 breakout to Lee's
winning 9.48/131.02 on a 9.40 dial.
In the second round Rene Ehrismann enjoyed a bye when Tim Mugridge could not make the call with head gasket woes; the team had been up all night replacing the same offending item
on Saturday. Belinda Bull disposed of Bob Doyle with a 7.03.16/190.53 to book her semi final slot. The pairing of this round, hands down, was our two seven-second doorslammers: Darren
Peart's nitrous-assisted manually-shifted five-litre Rover Mk3 Cortina and Paul Letchford with his Steve Schmidt 582 ci BBC naturally-aspirated, two-speed Powerglide 1968 Camaro.
Paul took 0.03 at the tree and Darren fought hard but could not quite manage to back up his earlier PB, but Darren never lifted and he made Paul earn it with an 8.1206/169.17 to a winning
7.9554/169.83. Dave Townsend went into shake just off of the start line then kicked the tyres loose and his day was done against Nick Curtis who booked a spot in the semi-finals with a fine
8.2717/166.07.
2nd August: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com
came with the words "How much do you like Pro Mods?" and a web address. If you know more, or if you would like
to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at
