Hockenheim redevelopment.
29th September: Thanks to Peter Wacker of Roofers Toy fame for bringing to our attention the latest news on the redevelopment of Hockenheim. It is now official that there will be a brand new Dragrace track and infrastructure built into the Hockenheimring, Germany. Rico Anthes, promotor and TF pilot describes in his website http://www.dragster.de/home/2002/index.html the new features:
  • Additional 12,684 spectator seats, 12 VIP Lounges (invite your sponsors), 468 buissnes seats, all protected by a roof, good for 60 000+ spectators per day...
  • Start area will be backed up 150m into Motodrom bend
  • There are seats all the way to the finish line
  • A built in Mall with shops, restaurants, catering area, promenade deck and washrooms
  • Part of new Dragstrip will no longer used by Formula one cars
  • Everything should meet Formula One Spec.
  • The cost of the whole rebuild is about 40,000,000 (90 Million DM)!
For official Nitrolympics images visit http://www.dragster.de/home/galeriepicts/index.html or for Peter Wacker's Hockenheim page go to http://www.roofers-toy.ch/Nitro 2001.htm

Test and Tune.
29th September: Shakespeare County Raceway will be opening their drag strip on the Saturday 6th of October to hold a Sprint round for the Vintage Sports Car Club. The sprint will be held from 10.00am until 3.30 pm on the Saturday only and admission for the public will be 5.

After 3.30pm the track will revert to Test and Tune status until 6.00pm that night. Sunday will also be a Test and Tune starting at 11.00am and running until 5.00pm that evening. General admission is 12.00, and an additional Test 'n' Tune track fee of 12.00 for as many runs as you can make in a single day!

Warren's Weekend.
29th September: Rookie bike race David Warren has written us an account of his weekend at Super Series 5 were in the 16 year olds own words he "went from hero to zero in a matter of seconds." after qualifying well and winning the first round before exiting the bike through the backdoor in round 2. Here's how David saw things:

"First of all I would like to thank Annette and Stuart from CompUpay who paid my entry fee to the meeting and if it weren't for their generosity, I would not have had, one of my best racing weekends ever.

The plan for the meeting was just to have a ride out in 9.90 bike, just to see what the competition was like and how I would cope with the faster class, so we could make plans for next year.

My first run was more of a sighting ride so I knew what the track was like as the track is different to Santa Pod with the turn offs and the different track conditions. When the second qualifying round came along there was going to be no holding back. In the pits we had decided to try and use a different starting technique, I was going to hold the front brake on while in stage and let the brake go when the lights burned down, this proved to work and coupled with me sitting more upright and getting my feet up quickly as I left the line settled the front end down more and gave me faster 60ft times The bike was flying all the way down the track with the front wheel pattering against the tarmac and it was my best run ever plus, I knew that this was a quick run and when I got back to the pits the first thing I saw was my mum with the timing ticket in her hand and when I read the ticket it had proved to be new records for me on my dads bike, 10.128 sec at 143.31 mph, which put me fourth in the qualification ladder , which wasn't bad for my first run out in 9.90 bike, I was over the moon with joy.

When Sunday arrived I couldn't wait to get out on the track as I was really looking forward to the first race. It turned out to better than I had ever expected, on the start line there was hardly any mucking about but as I brought up my revs and started to go in to stage the revs dropped so I brought them up again but at the same time my clutch hand went out a fraction and I started to spin the rear tyre with my staged light on, which is unheard of? When the lights burned down I got a hell of a start and pulled a little wheelie in second gear but Paul Morris got the jump on me so I was playing catch up all of the way and just passed Paul after three quarter track, it was a close race, luckily for me I got the win by .117, so I had got my first race win and this brought a smile to all of us and brought tears to my dad (bless his heart). Before I knew it, it was time for us to go out again, I knew this was going to be a trough one as Paul Valentine was number 2 qualifier and was goods on the lights. I put my pre-staged light up and Paul got his and then got his staged light up, I started to get myself sorted and got my revs right and started to edge into full stage. When the staged light came up the lights burned down straight away, so I let the clutch and brake go and the bike hooked up really well pulling a little wheelie out of the box, when the shift light came on I changed into second gear, the bike leapt forward and I could feel the tyre really gripping the track hard and as I glanced over to the other lane I could see I was in front in the race but without warning, the bike whipped up nearly vertical, or so it felt, straight away I rolled the throttle but the front end was still raising so I hit third gear trying to get the front end down, but I knew there was no staying with the wheelie this time, so in the end I had to let go of the bike and throw it away from me and try and relax. Everything was a blur and all I remember is my head hitting the track and my visor tearing off the helmet, but once I had stopped rolling and seeing the ground up close at speed I got up straight away and I was so mad that I took my gloves off and threw them to the ground in disgust, very annoyed with myself. The first person I saw was my dad and my first words to him where 'I am sorry dad, I am sorry' and he said do not worry.

The ambulance arrived very quickly and once I was checked over on the track, I got up and I waved to the crowed, who responded with claps and cheers, which brought a tear to my eye. I was put into the ambulance and taken to the medical centre for a examination, Once I was checked over and given the all clear it was time to face the crowed in the pits and this is when I relised how tight a community drag racing is as I had people coming up to me who I haven't even seen or spoken to before, asking, if I was all right and I would like to say a BIG THANK YOU to you all, this meant a lot to me as I was feeling rather bruised, sore and upset at the time and your kindness cheered me up no end.

When we went up to see how bad the bike was, we were quiet pleased to see that the bike wasn't that bad, but it is still going to need a lot of money spent on it, so if there is any companies or individuals that would like to help us get back on the track you can contact us at shytot@dragbike.com.

I would like to thank my family Stephen (Brother), Angie (mum) and Ian (dad) for still having the trust in me and under standing even through I throw his pride and joy down the track, I would also like to thank Liz for great camera work during the weekend especially when I was sliding down the track. the F.A.S.T crew for their great work, the Ambulance crew that took great care of me and all of the people that took care of my mum and brother as well all of the marshals, a big thank you to all of the people that came up and saw me after my incident to see if is was all right, last but not least Annette and Stuart who would like to sponsor me next year even though I had a crash at the first meeting with their name on the bike and before I sign off, I would like to say sorry for holding up the racing and having to put out the clear up team after my incident. THANKS TO YOU ALL. I will be back racing as soon as possible.

Finally We at Manor racing would like to send a get-well message to Sara Jane Head and hope you quickly recover from your injuries that you sustained at the same meeting."

Pulling Power.
29th September: If you were at Super Series 5 you may have noticed a TV camera crew wandering about filming and you may have heard John Price mention in the commentary that they were filming for a program called pulling power. Well one of the TV Crew, Lucy Merrall, has kindly got in touch with us to confirm the broiadcast times for the program. The segment from SS5 will be featured in the Pulling Power show to be broadcast at 10:30pm on Wednesday 10th October. Unfortunately it will only be available to people in the HTV WEST and Carlton West Country regions. Lucy goes on to say "We had a good day at the track and hope everyone enjoys the piece."

UK National Points updated.
28th September: With the final round of the UK National Championship taking place next weekend at Santa Pod, there is still all to race for in many of the classes. Thanks to a big effort by points co-ordinators Simon Groves, Yvonne Tramm and Spencer Tramm the standings in all the national championship classes have been updated and ratified with Super Series 5 results and are now available from the 2001 Points Standings page available from the menu on the left or you can go direct by clicking here.

I'm sure all racers will join us in saying a big thank you to Yvonne, Spencer and Simon for all the hard work they have put in over the season to keep the points updated.

Jaguar day cancelled.
28th September: Unfortunately this Saturdays proposed Jaguar World Shootout at Santa Pod Raceway has been cancelled.

Its not all bad news though as Kelly from Trakback has also informed us that they have confirmed a booking for the jet car to appear at next weeknds National Finals.

Web site updates.
28th September: Our good friends at Svensk Dragracing have been busy, updating the site with information about the Nordic Drag Racing Series presentation banquet, including a printable form to reserve tickets.

Retiring with Records.
27th September: Many thanks to Neil Smith, one of Brian Johnson's crew men for sending us the following report on the FIA European Finals, an event which was an emotional last meeting in the UK for Brian. It wasn't his last ride though as Brian is heading to Gainsville in November for one last crack at the Americans.

"After what could be described as a less than brilliant year, the last European meeting at Santa Pod was BJ's last competitive race meet. Having changed just about everything in the fuel system on the Imperial Wizard, Brian came out on the Friday for the first qualifier & blasted out a 6.31 second pass at 223.7 mph, breaking the primary belt in the process. Back in the pits, the fuel system was altered again, and the next run went off without incident, running another 6.3 second pass, this time with a 7 on the end.

Over night, Brian decided the fuel system still wasn't right, so a few adjustments were undertaken early on Saturday morning. When we came out to qualify, the resulting run was yet another 6.3, this time 6.33 at 229.75 mph. The second qualifier of the day, and Brian was in his least favourite lane, but still ran 6.19 seconds, ensuring that he was definitely No.1 qualifier. 2nd qualifier was Roel Koedam who's best pass was a 6.42.

Sunday morning saw a spectacular crash by Micke Kagerad in his Top Fuel Dragster, delaying the proceedings by a few hours. When BJ came out for the first round he was paired against Dave Abraham, who broke after the burn out, leaving Brian on a solo that saw him run a 6.28 sec pass at 227.99mph, into the semi-final against Steve Woollatt. Unfortunately Steve broke the bike in the earlier round & gave Brian a bye to the final. As it was his last weekend, BJ was not going to disappoint the fans (or himself) and ran a 6.16 sec pass at 231.96mph in the semi, to set up a final against No.2 qualifier Koedam and backing up the 229.75mph run yesterday for a new European mph record.

The final proved to be an emotional run, everyone and his dog came to wish Brian luck on his last ever run at the Pod. The crowd expected, Brian was up for it, the bike was ready. Roel lit the rear slick up before the 1/8 mile, but by then BJ had passed by running a new European ET record of 6.11 seconds, clicking off early as he was heading into Roel's lane. According to the data the run would have either been a low 6.0 or maybe, just maybe a 5!

As he came back through the pits, crew members, other racers and spectators alike applauded him. The evening was spent with people coming by congratulating him on the records and getting a last chance for autographs & photos. At the end of year party, Brian was handed the Key to Santa Pod by Keith Bartlett (the manager of the track) a sign of the respect felt by everyone in the sport.

Having now retired from competitive racing, Brian is looking forward to one last blast on the bike, this time back in the home of some of his best racing, Gainesville. He is hoping to be at the World Finals to finally see if the bike can get below the 6 second mark, and the way it performed at the European Finals, I wouldn't bet against it!"

You can stay in touch with BJ's plans via his website at www.brianjohnson.co.uk

Andersson heads to the US.
27th September: Reigning FIA Pro Stock champion, Niclas Andersson is anothe rEuropean racer who will be heading over to the USA. niclas is heading out in October to drive the Team Autoshop Racing Engines Competition Eliminator C/A Olds Cutlass.

"We are looking forward to have Niclas drive our car for the IHRA World Finals in Louisiana and then we are going to Dallas, Texas for the NHRA event." say car owners Lennart and Birgitta Bergqvist.

View from the other lane.
27th September: After hearing Anders Larsson's view of the Pro Stock Bike final from the FIA European Finals, the other combatant involved, Chris Hope, has been in touch with his side of things.

"I would just like to say that according to my timing ticket from the Prostock bike final, I was ahead of Anders at half track by 0.001second (including the hole shot on the tree). This then turned in favour of Anders and he was ahead at 990ft by 0.023second. At 330 ft I don't even think he knew where I'd gone!"

Chris reckon's that it was one of the finest races he has ever been in and a great pleasure to take part in. He is also obviously already looking ahead to next year as he says "Consider this one a loan, Anders!"

Chris also wishes to past on his praise to the Santa Pod Rescue teams: "I cannot praise the Santa Pod rescue team enough for the speed in which they acted in the final. I had a 170+ mph head start on them and they still arrived there before me! Many thanks to you all." says Chris.

Web site updates.
27th September: Andy Bissett from Nemesis Racing has now updated the teams website with an account of the teams weekend at the FIA European Finals. As usual the report is entertaining and informative and written in Andy's inimitable style. So for tales of suspect pistons, suspect cranks, suspect behaviour and jam donuts amoungst other things, head over to www.eurodragster.com/nemesisracing and click on the news page.

Larsson's Finals.
26th September: As promised last week Anders Larsson has sent us a report on how the FIA European Finals went for him and his Pro Stock Bike Team.

"What started in the worst possible way turned out to be on of the best meetings for the year for us!

We were very confident when we arrived at the Pod. We had done lots of testing and we knew that we had a good setup. But things didn't go according to plan. On the first qualification run the electrical system went dead approx 10 meters after the starting line which caused the engine to cut out and because of that we damaged the gearbox (broken shift forks and so on). We just manage to get it fixed to the next run but in the rush we forgot to tighten a nut so we made that pass with a half preloaded clutch (Not so good if you want to fast).

So on Saturday we thought things could not get worse, but what can we say? One the first pass we had a fairly good 60 foot time but the gearbox would not select 5th gear. Despite this, a 7,80 pass on 4 gears looked promising. We returned to the pits, took the engine apart again and corrected the problem. On the second pass on Saturday the bike wasn't firing on all four cylinder so we shut it off after the burnout (Thanks Jonas, Totalmek Racing, for reminding me to have all ignition cables in). But that was not the problem, it was a broken cam-chain tensioner. After a couple of hours hard work we were back in business, we didn't improve the ET but at least the machine worked.

Click to enlarge So for the eliminations we didn't know the best setup, so we took a couple of chances and they worked, we were back on track. We took out Chris Tombleson in the quarterfinal (a tight one) and in an even tighter semi final we defeat Roger Pettersson. And then it was the final. I think everyone already knows the outcome. You could say we got a reward for all the hard work over the whole season (as we got the win) but it was one of those finals you'll not forget. Chris got me on the tree and I chased him down and passed him somewhere around the 330 foot mark. I was in 5th gear, running hard to the finish and had my eyes on the winner indication lamp and then all of a sudden..... Boom!

I think the timing was pretty good (isn't timing everything?) as the computer print out shows the engine went 0,12 before the finish line and we were still able to take the win.

So for the coming months we will spend most of the time building one or two new engines. There is no plan to fix the broken one or what's left of it!

Finally, a couple of thanks are in order, to Lennart "club-foot" Karlsson, thanks for all the hours you spent, and a special thanks to the guy known as Turbojohn. See you all next year and watch out for the Green Mean Machine!"

 Pro Stock in Paris.
26th September: On Monday we brought you the news that Michael Malmgren and the AC Delco camaro might be heading over to the USA to contest some races there early next year and today we have, thanks to Magnus Cato, news of a chance for fans in Europe to see the team again this year.

Magnus tells us that the AC Delco Racing Team will be participating at the L'equip Auto in Paris 16th-21st Oct, promoting the AC Delco brand. We also understand that after an immensely successful display at the Autosport show in Birmingham, UK, last January the team are planning on returning to the show again next year.

Final CCSE Standings.
26th September: The final standings in the Custom Car Magazine/Brantwood Breakers Street Eliminator championship are now posted on the FB Racing website. Congratulations to Steve Pateman and team for taking this years hard fought championship.

The site also features a report on the weekend's activities. One of the most incident packed meetings the class has seen. Keep clicking on this site over the close season as all the latest news on whats hot in street & strip will be regularly posted. Also there will be an ongoing feature on the building of a new chassis for the FB '34 which was badly damaged earlier in the year.

NAST Championships.
26th September: Thanks to Sue Beneke, the final standings in the National Association of Supertwins championships are now available from the 2001 Points standings page to the left or to go direct, Click here.

Congratulations to the winners of the 2001 championships;

Supertwins Street - Les Harris
Supertwins Modified - Dave Bartz
Supertwins Top Gas - Jerry Collier
Supertwins Fuel - Dave Witts

Fantasy Drag Racing Championship.
26th September: Dave Nelson has produced the final points standings from his Fantast Drag Racing Championship.
  1. sc323 - 453
  2. Hemmingwell Motor Sport - 452
  3. Heads up racing - 431.5
  4. fantasy-sports-web - 415
  5. QuatumLeap - 406
  6. Manor Racing - 394
  7. Team Bangar - 376
  8. Chris69 - 362
  9. Matt05 - 361
"Well done to Dan Bennett, coming from behind to take the championship." says Dave. "This league has been so tight, and so successfull, I am going to run it again next year, along with a possible National Championship. Of course I will let you all know as it happens. The points should are on the website now. I'd like to thank all entrants in the competition for making it fun, and i'd also like to thank all the racers, also for making it so fun, and close. "

 Turbo update.
26th September: UK drag bike photo-journalist Ian Turburville has been in touch to update us on the Vance and Hines scale replica's he had for the European Finals.

"Well, as predicted the Doug Vancil, scale model drag bikes, sold out at the finals and then someone saw a Dutch magazine that said they were only 60!! Well that was a mis-print and the magazine in question has got in big trouble over it. Apparently they are nearly 200 in Holland and Motorcycle Storehouse has now decided not to sell them! I will get a few more in to meet orders from the finals and may get a few extra so if you want one this will be your very last chance before christmas at the usual price of 159 + carriage. E-mail me if you want one, believe me, if you have seen one you will want one:- VANCIL@TURBOVILLE.COM"

 Web site updates.
26th September: Our good friends at Svensk Dragracing have updated the site with a "great cartoon strip from the guys at Gold Town". Unfortunately its only in Swedish, but we are sure someone will translate it for us!

Eurodragster staffer Sharkman has updated his personal website with a selection of photo's from the FIA European Finals. Check it out at www.eurodragster.com/sharkman

Kågered's Plans.
25th September: Swedish Top Fuel Dragster and Top Methanol FC racer Micke Kågered and team have been taking stock of their first season running a top fuel car as well as their methanol funny car and also looking ahead to next year. A big thank you to Team Manager Åsa Kinnemar for the following insight;

"As a summary you could say we are content with what we achieved this season. Our primary goal was to focus on and win the top fuel tour, which we also managed to do. Since one of the FIA events were held on the same dates as one of the top fuel tour events, we knew already from the start we would not stand a chance to win the FIA championship in either of the classes top methanol funny car or top fuel dragster this season. You need to participate in all FIA events to be the champion, that has proved to be the reality the last years.

Having operated the funny car with "the left hand" from time to time this season it felt extra good to be able to set an official E.T. record of 5.79 sec. at Santa Pod. In top fuel I believe Mickes 4.97 sec. run is the quickest or second quickest run in Europe this season under the "90% fuel rules". We have not looked into the statistics but are very pleased anyway. We would of course have liked to be the first European team to run 300 mph as well. We got very close (297 mph) but as they say - close does not count..

We are keeping all options open for next season at the moment. The decisions that are to be taken within the coming months depends on several factors - among them the opinions of our sponsors and the crew. Micke himself has express that he would like to focus on and run the whole FIA series next season. The preliminary schedule for next season (what we know of) make that possible even if we should decide to run top fuel dragster and participate in the top fuel tour.

What I can say is that Micke has stated he will not run two cars during the same event next season. It does not necessarily mean we will not operate two cars, but if we do it will most probably be on separate events - one car at a time. We have proven "the two car circus" can be done this season on three occasions (first and last event at Santa Pod plus the FIA event in Sweden) and with improving results. However, it was very hard on the crew, although we extended the team with extra personnel when operating both cars. The mechanics tasks are specialised and when working under pressure and lack of time, you need to be sure everything is done properly. Micke has full confidence in his crew, but it is a fact that it is harder to do a 100% proper job at all times when the work load is so high as it has been in our team this season. One mistake from any mechanic can be devastating and we can not ignore that the risk of mistakes increases with the work load. It also means a great deal of extra work off the race track with two cars to maintain in the work shop all season. These are factors that have made us believe we can obtain better results by operating one car at a time, no matter if it is a top fueler or a methanol funny car.

If top fuel is the decision, we would of course be keen to continue the collaboration with Knut Sderqvist and crew chief Alan Jackson. Alans clever mind is one of the main reasons for our success in top fuel during Mickes very first season as a top fuel pilot. Another being Mickes extraordinary ability to adjust to the car, at the first event he found it was a bit confusing changing cars, but after that there have been no problems what so ever. If Micke does run a top fueler in 2002 his first choice of tuners would definitely be Alan Jackson. The collaboration with Knut has run smoothly on the whole and we respect the huge effort he personally put in and agree in full with his way of thinking - Knut likes to win as much as we do and is not afraid it will cost him an engine or spare parts. Nevertheless, he keeps the safety of the driver and crew first at all times and does not take dangerous chances.

What happened when Micke crashed at Santa Pod can not be blamed on anyone. What we believe is that the fuel pump cracked first and started a chain reaction. Micke did not realise at first that the engine was on fire, but thought he was only spinning the tires. He tried to pedal the car but at that time the fire got worse and the first rear tire exploded. After having realised what was happening Micke did his upmost to keep the car from smashing into the wall. His efforts together with pure luck made him walk away with practically no injuries. Most of the dragster chassis is being rebuilt at this time, since the car is going to Malta where Micke and Alan Jackson will perform some show racing in connection with the last Maltese event of the season. The race takes place October 6-7th and is the last race for the season for Micke. After that awaits exhibitions in different forms throughout the winter on behalf of and in co-operation with different sponsor companies.

We have got many questions about the methanol funny car recently - yes, it is for sale. It is a winning car, we knew that already from the start and it once and for all proved its capability during the last FIA event at Santa Pod. We have no real need or wish to sell the car and an alternative is of course to keep running it as we have - with or without a top fueler in the team. However, if the right buyer appears selling the funny car is a probable option."

Hockenheim by Coach?
25th September: Richard Warburton is already looking ahead to next years Nitro Olympics event at Hockenheim and wants to know whether there is enough interest among UK race fans to put together a coach trip to the event. At the moment nothing is finalised, but the general idea is that the coach would pick up at Shakespeare County Raceway and Dover/Folkestone, cross the channel and drive through France & Belgium. There would be an overnight stop just into Germany, perhaps the Moselle Valley and then onto Hockenheim for several nights. The return journey would leave Hockenheim on the Monday and return to UK on Tuesday evening. Departure from the UK would be on the Wednesday before to arrive Hockenheim Thursday afternoon.

Richard says "At the moment I have no idea of cost but as I work in the trade I can probably better anyone else's deal. Travel insurance will be included and accommodation will be on a bed and continental breakfast basis. The company I work for is ABTA & ATOL bonded which will safeguard any bookings.

At the moment I am only taking names from interested parties so that I can gauge response."

Anybody interested in this trip should e-mail Richard at Richard.Warburton@travelscope.co.uk

Trakbytes back
25th September: Popular UK nostalgia website Trakbytes is now back in action after a prolonged period of inactivity. Webmaster Chris unfortunately lost some e mails that were 'pending' during his PC crisis so he asks anybody who has not had a reply, or has not seen their contribution yet on the website, to get back in touch with him via trakbyte@aol.com.

Thrills and Spills at SS 5.
24th September: This past weekend saw the finale of the 2001 Super Series with Super Series 5 at Shakespeare County Raceway. It was a weekend of thrills and spills and of championships going down to the wire.

Super Modified but on a great show once again with long smoky burnouts, wheels up launches and great side by side racing. This weekend saw numerous drivers recording new personal bests, Rob Smallworth and Graham Ellis both running down into the 8.10's but once again it was Dan Cockerill who stole the show as he recorded Super Mod's first seven second pass and then stayed in the sevens for the rest of the meeting despite some of the launches being almost reminiscent of Dan's old Pro Mod Ford Pop! With the string of 7.90's Dan took the win and with it Eurodragster's £25 which we put up for the winner of the Super Mod exhibition race.

Unfortunately it wasn't just thrills, but two spills as well, young David Warren walking away from a wheelie that went to far, throwing him off the back of the 9-90 bike just past the sixty foot mark, with just some bumps and bruises. Not quite so lucky was Sarah Jane Head who parted company with her competition bike about half way down the shutdown area after an 8.7, 150mph pass. Sarah was attended to immediately by the safety crews and then transported to hospital with a fractured wrist and some broken ribs. We at Eurodragster are sure you'll all join us in wishing Sarah a speedy recovery.

Pro ET racer Dave Potter won Eurodragster's Perfect Light Award of £75 with a 0.500 in the first round of qualifying, but spare a thought for Anne Peck of Team Rat Rage who also cut a perfect light in eliminations but of course the money only goes to the first person to cut a perfect light and by then the cheque was safely in Dave Potter's hands!

With the final round of the 2001 Super Series Championships now in the books, we will bring you the final points standing for the Super Series Championship as soon as they have been officially ratified. Sharkman and Tog would also like to take the opportunity to thank the following people for all their help throughout the 2001 Super Series events; Wayne, Simon and Ozzy of the tech crew; Richard Warburton; all the APIRA officials; Bruno, Sophie and the FAST team; APIRA Press Officer Jerry Cookson; Terry and Tina Gibbs and track announcer John Price.

With only Sharkman in attendance the race coverage was limited, with morning and evening reports and now pictures which you can view by clicking here, or by clicking on the 2001 Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page.

Web site updates.
24th September: Plenty of websites have been updated over the weekend so if works a little bit slow on Monday morning......

First off, Gareth Evans has updated his uk1320.com website with an in-depth report and 44 photo's from the FIA European finals.

Next up, again with a European Finals report and a report from the Hot Rod Drags, held the weekend before the European Finals at Shakespeare County Raceway is the Bristol Doorslammers website. If that wasn't enough, webmaster Zane Llewellyn has also added pictures to his Euro tour report.

Staying with the European Finals, Magnus Cato has updated the AC Delco Racing website with an insiders view and pictures of the race and also news of the possibility that the team will be returning to the USA early next year to contest some NHRA races. Naturally we here at Eurodragster will keep you up to date with news on the proposed US tour as soon as we get it!

Webmaster Tommy Nilsson has been working hard to bring the extremely useful European Drag Racing Database up to date, with data now available for
  • FIA European Finals, Santa Pod
  • Street Challenge, Gardermoen
  • FHRA Finals, Alastaro
  • Super Series 4, Shakespeare County Raceway
As well as the race data, the Personal Best section and the Records section have also been updated.

Finally for this batch of web site updates, Bob and Anni Valder from Feel-the-noise.com have now completed the uploading of Anni's photographs from the Hot Rod Drags, recently held at Shakespeare County Raceway. This update includes 115 photos spread over 5 sections to be found under "Special Interest Meetings". Viewers will also find a selection of digital snaps from last weekends Super Series 5 - Anni's "proper" photos should appear over the next weekend.

Super Comp at Modena.
21st September: You may remember from our news item back on the 24th August that no decision had yet been made as to whether Super Comp could run at the Italian Drag Racing Association race at Modena over the weekend of the 29th and 30th September. Well Lorenzo Lauro has been back in touch to confirm that having put the necessary safety features in place at the track, Super Comp cars will now definitely be able to take part in the meeting.

The good news doesn't stop there though, Lorenzo goes on to say that "Thanks to a new sponsor, we are now able to offer some small prizes to some categories, so Super Street will have a 500 Euro for the winner and 200 Euro for runner up, Super Gas will have 600 Euro for winner and 300 Euro for runner up, and Super Comp will have 700 Euro for winner and 400 Euro for runner up, plus a 250 Euro each for the two racers (cars and bikes) who will arrive from the farthest location. Also, we received some calls from Competition Bikes racers, so we are opening the bike race to Competition bikes as well."

More woes for Larsson.
21st September: Yesterday we brought you a plea from Anders Larsson for information on his jacket which was lost at the presentation banquet after the FIA European Finals and today Anders has been back in touch with some details of his violent engine explosion in the Pro Stock Bike final. Anders took the win over Chris Hope by 0.04 seconds, but the engine basically ceased to be. Anders takes up the story.

"The engine blow 0.15 seconds before the finish line according to the computer printout. When it blew the rear wheel lost approximately 45 mph although the bike itself didn't lose that much speed.

The crank is broken in two places on the number 1 and 2 cylinders but is intact from cam chain drive to number 3 and 4 cylinders. The engine carried on working for another 10 seconds on two cylinders, amazing after you have a look at the damage. "

Anders isn't finished yet though as he is promising us a full report, including a printout from the computer with more details. Watch out for that early next week.

Final UEM Points.
21st September: The new UEM competition bike champion, Britain's Ian King has been in touch to let us know that his excellent website has now been updated with the final points standings for the UEM bike classes. Head over to www.kingracing.com to see the final standings.

Records updated.
21st September: Andy Marrs of TSI Timers has been on a roll this week. Not only has he supplied us with the timing data from the FIA European Finals and the facts and figures from the event he has now found time to update the unofficial European records database with no fewer than 7 new records that were set at the weekend. To view the updated list, use the European Bests link to the left, or go direct by clicking here. Thanks to Andy for supplying the updated information.

Web site updates.
21st September: Regular readers of Swedish Prostreet News will be pleased to know that the site is now back in operation after a short lay off thanks to a virus attack on the sites server. Webmaster Hasse would like to say a big thank you to Nitroz for their fast action in restoring the server.

Andy Frost has been in touch to let us know that the Red Victor One website has undergone a major overhaul including a photo page with pics of Red Victor 1,the FIA 2000 season,and an artist's impression of Red Victor2.Also added is a latest news page, links page, guestbook, tech page and a history page. Its all at www.redvictor1racing.co.uk.

Lost Jacket.
20th September: Anders Larsson has been in touch with an appeal to anybody that attended the Presentation Banquet at Santa Pod following the FIA European Finals last weekend. At some point during the evenings celebrations Anders and his jacket became seperated and have yet to be reunited. If anybody has woken up the next morning and once the hangover has cleared found that they have an extra jacket, could you please get in touch with Anders via anders.larsson@pcexpress.se

Super Series 5.
20th September: Many thanks go to APIRA's Simon Groves for supplying us not only with the remaining points from Super Series 4 (ACU Classes, 10-90 and 9-90 bike, Junior Dragster and Wildbunch) but also providing us with a class by class breakdown of how things stand going into the final round of this years Super Series, Super Series 5 at Shakespeare County Raceway this weekend. To view the points tables themselves head over to the Super Series Super Series website and click on the results button or for the summary, read on:

Car Classes
MSA Points structure
  1. 100 points for a round win, 100 points bonus for winning the event
  2. 10 points for each further position up the qualifying ladder and 50 points bonus for top qualifier
  3. 50 points for first racer to hit the super index
  4. 100 points bonus for attending all rounds
Super Comp - Phil Bennett leads Tim Adam by 420 points and Tim needs to win the event and have Phil qualify poorly and go out early to have any chance of winning the championship.

Super Gas - Tim Adam leads Frank Mason by 280 points. An early exit for Tim and Frank qualifying better and winning the event is the only chance Frank has for the championship.

Super Street - Team Rat Rage (Anne and Stuart Peck) are provisional Super Series Champions with an 850 point margin over Leigh Morris.

Super Pro ET - Steve Green is provisional Super Series Champion with a 910 point lead over Martyn Jones.

Pro ET - This is very competitive. Any one of Team Top Banana, Team Tokyo Toy and Al Golding could win the championship as they are within 20 points of each other.

Sportsman ET - Al Platt is provisional Super Series Champion with an 800 point margin over Ian Jackson

Junior Dragster - Jonathan Bond is only 40 points ahead of Tom Watts with Phil Cook trailing a further 300 points back. Tom could get the championship by going one round further than Jonathan and having a reasonable qualifying position.

Outlaw Anglia - Rob Stone is 160 points ahead of Jeff Mead. Jeff would have to win the event and Rob lose in the first round to win the championship.

Wild Bunch - Chris Hartnell is 630 points ahead of Tom and Alec Coe. Tom and Alec would need to win the event and have Chris qualify poorly and go out in the first round to get the championship.

Custom Car
Custom Car Street Eliminator points structure
  • 100 points for signing on
  • 50 points for no. 1 qualifier
  • 250 points for a round win
  • 150 points for a round runner-up
  • 500 points for attending all rounds
  • 100 points each for a new record time or speed (backed up to within 1%)
John Sleath leads Steve Pateman by 350 points. Steve needs to finish at least 2 rounds ahead of John to win the championship

ACU Bike Classes
ACU points structure
  • 100 points for passing scrutineering
  • 10 points for each further position up the qualifying ladder
  • 100 points for each round win
  • 25 points for each of event low ET and top speed
  • 100 points for each of championship low ET and top speed
Top Fuel Bike - Steve Wollatt is Super Series Champion

Funny Bike - Tim Blakemore leads Chris Hall by 220 points. Chris needs to qualify at least 3 places higher than and go two rounds further than Tim to win the championship.

Competition Bike - Helen Curran is provisional Super Series Champion with a lead of 1005 points over Andy Newcombe.

Pro Stock Bike - Dave Beck is provisional Super Series Champion with a lead of 960 points over Martin Bishop.

Super Street Bike - Tony Clark is 260 points ahead if Dave Bailey who needs to qualify well, win the event and have Tony go out in the first round to win the championship.

NSA at SPR.
20th September:This Sunday, 23rd September 2001, Santa Pod Raceway is hosting the NSA (National Sprint Association) Motorcycle Sprint. This event is strictly for motorcycles and consists of a sprint over the famous quarter mile. There is a selection of classes, all you have to do is turn up on the gate, and you will be able to buy your one-day NSA licence. There are no requirements except to have the correct equipment, helmet, leathers, etc.

For more information please call (020) 8561 6081.

More Kågered crash pictures.
20th September:Thanks go to Pete Brady and Dave Nelson for supplying us with more pictures of Mikael Kågered's wild ride at the FIA European Finals. We have added them to the photo page, which is available by clicking here.

We are very grateful to everyone that has sent pictures, but due to the limits of time and server space, we will not be publishing any more pictures of the incident.

Web site updates.
20th September: Lex Joon has updated his website with news of the teams new personal best of 5.89 at last weekends FIA European Finals and a selection of photos of the car in its stunning black and gold livery. Lex also touches on the teams plans for next year and the ongoing quest for new sponsors. Its all at www.lexjoonracing.nl.

Bruno's Thanks.
19th September: Fränzi, from Bruno Bader's Golden Vette team has written to us to ask us to pass on Bruno and the team's thanks to everybody involved in the rescue operation following Bruno's horrific looking top end crash at the FIA European finals last weekend (Bruno was checked out by doctors on site and pronounced ok, if a little shaken, a testament to the builder of the Vette - Deputy Ed).

" To all the safety crew, the paramedics and doctor and to the marshals, we would like to say a big thank you. We are all a bit shaken by what happened and unfortunately the car is a write off but Bruno is ok and that is the main thing. Now we are looking forward and hope to come back with a new car." says Fränzi.

Perfect light and more at SS5.
19th September: This weekend sees the culmination of the 2001 Super Series championship with Super Series 5 at Shakespeare County Raceway. After a one off perfect light fund at £100 for the European finals the prize money returns to its normal structure for Super Series 5 with £75 available for the first rider or driver to cut a perfect reaction time (0.400 or 0.500 depending on class) in either qualifying or eliminations.

After a thrilling debut at SS4 the low 8 second doorslammers will be back at Shakespeare County Raceway. In addition to the perfect light fund, Eurodragster will also be posting £25 for the winner of the Super Modified exhibition eliminator at the weekend.

Our coverage from Super Series 5 over the weekend will be of a limited nature as only Sharkman will be attending the race. The plan (phone line dependant!!) is to post end of day summaries and of course photo's.

Best of British?
19th September: Hot on the heels of Andy Carter's dramatic clinching of the FIA European Top Fuel Championship Santa Pod have been in touch with us to announce "The grudge race of the Century". In an effort to establish once and for all who is the best of British, Andy Carter and Barry Sheavills will face off in a match race at this years Flame and Thunder show at Santa Pod Raceway.

We understand that the plan is for another British fuel legend, Gary Page, to put in a pass in one of the Top Fuel Dragster's in the afternoon with the headline race between '98 FIA Champion Barry and 2001 FIA Champion Andy scheduled to take place some time after 4pm.

This is of course in addition to to the usual invitational drag racing, exhibition vehicles and of course the firework display. More details, including ticket prices can be found on the website at www.santapod.com.

Web site updates.
19th September: We are indebted once again to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers. Following on from yesterdays facts and figures from the FIA European Finals Andy has followed up today with all the timing data from the event. The data is available from the Timing Data link on the left or directly by clicking here.

Hasse, webmaster for the Swedish Prostreet News website has been in touch to let us know that thanks to a virus attack on the server hosting the site, the website will be unavailable for the time being.

Smax pleads Not Guilty.
18th September: If you were at Santa Pod Raceway or following our live coverage on Sunday, you will remember that only one Top Methanol Dragster, Manty Bugeja's, made it to the line for the TMD semi-finals. At the time everyone assumed that breakages were the reason, but it transpired that in the case of at least one racer the throng in the pits was responsible. UK Fuel Funny Car racer Smax Smith tells us that he has found the finger of blame pointed at him and wrote to us asking to set the record straight.

"First of all I want to apologise to Dave Wilson and his crew for peeing on his chips", says Smax. "Seriously though, Dave is a great racer and has helped me out so I want to make things clear. On Sunday whilst I was loading parts into my van, David asked if I could move as they wanted to get to the start line. I said no problem but didn't realise he was on a last call for his run. The crowd was dense so I couldn't hurry backwards. I was there but a couple of minutes - Dave apparently was upset, but as I was reversing Manty was running down the track on a bye! I was told that he was fifteen minutes late so he couldn't have made the call even if there were no spectators!

"This rumour then spread to me holding up three teams! This wasn't so. It wasn't my fault that people were parked both sides and that there were hundreds of people milling around. I was there but a few minutes and I am sorry that Dave was caught up in this!"

European Finals statistics.
18th September: We are grateful to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers for sending us this fascinating analysis of the weekend's events at Santa Pod Raceway or, as he terms it, "the anorak stuff!"

720 Blue Lights (track clear and tower ready - Ed)
623 Pairs
97 Singles
1343 vehicles entered on the system
1267 made it to the finish line, 86 of them Junior Dragsters
Average ET (not including Junior Dragsters): 10.211 seconds
Average MPH (not including Junior Dragsters): 136.52
Low ET: 4.977 by Micke Kågered
Highest MPH: 296.22 by Micke Kågered
Closest race in eliminations: Paul Watson (Win) v Matt Nixon (9.90 Bike) - 0.18 Seconds or 2.16 Inches
Closest to dial-in: Chris Hodgkins (Sportsman ET), Ashley Bell (Super Pro ET), both +0.000
Total run time (all cars reaching finish line including Junior Dragsters) 3 hours, 38 minutes, 57.957 seconds
Runs under 5.000 seconds: 2 (Micke Kågered and Anita Mäkelä)
Runs under 5.500 seconds: 9 (Andy Carter x 4, Micke Kågered x 2, Anita Mäkelä x 2, Kim Reymond x 1)
Runs under 6.000 seconds: 37
Runs over 250 mph: 10 (Andy Carter x 4, Micke Kågered x 2, Martin Hill x 2, Kim Reymond x 1, Anita Mäkelä x 1)
Runs over 200 mph: 83

Runs quicker than pre-race records (* denotes a new post-race record):

Pro Stock
ET: Michael Malmgren 6.940*, 6.956, 6.967
MPH: Malmgren 198.99*, 198.67, 198.36, 198.26, 197.86, 197.77

Top Methanol Funny Car
ET: Micke Kågered 5.799*,5.820; Ulf Leanders 5.816

Pro Modified
ET: Patrik Wikstrom 6.323
MPH: Patrik Wikstrom 221.45

UEM Comp Bike
ET: Brian Johnson 6.119*, 6.160
MPH: Brian Johnson 231.96, 229.20*, 227.99, 223.75, 223.70; Roel Koedam 224.25

UEM Supertwin Top Fuel Bike
ET: Anders Karling 6.590*, 6.632
MPH: Karling 210.28, 206.54*

"As far as I am aware the run in qualifications by Lex Joon (5.892) and Ulf Leanders (5.897) was the fastest side by side TMFC run in Europe.", adds Andy. "What an excellent weekend!"

Bruiser to miss Super Series 5.
18th September: Paul Marston Racing have announced that the PT Bruiser will not be attending this weekend's Super Series Finals at Shakespeare County Raceway. Paul made it to the second round of eliminations at the FIA European Finals, but could not make it due to breakage. "This was our third race in three weekends, and a small part that never breaks has stopped us", said Paul. "We have enjoyed an unprecedented run of reliability with the Bruiser and took top honours last weekend at the Frosts Brighton Speed Trials, you simply cannot win them all, this one beat us. We were desperately disappointed, but it is the first time we have been unable to make the call in what has been a very long season for us. It does look unlikely that we will be able to make the Super Series Finals due to the short time to order parts from the States, with the current situation with air travel we cannot be sure of their arrival time."

Paul and the Marston Racing team had a thoroughly enjoyable weekend at Santa Pod Raceway. "I thought that last year's European Finals was something special, a landmark, but this year was even better!" he said. "We achieved personal bests in both sixty-foot times and in elapsed time - by mistake! Two runs in the 8.30s, not that we are complaining! I must thank all the fans and friends who visited us in the pits over the weekend, it was great to see all you guys. I nearly wore my arm out giving autographs. I must also thank and congratulate everyone involved with the European Finals. I thought last year's European Finals was something special, a landmark, but this year was even better!"

Paul is very grateful to his team and backers. "The whole crew at Paul Marston Racing have done a fantastic job this year", he said. "We started with a brand new race car, a brand new team, and are consistently starting to go rounds. I must also thank Chrysler UK, Mac Tools, ATI Transmissions, and all the usual suspects. I can only apologise to everyone who was expecting to see us at the Super Series Finals, but none of you are more disappointed than we are. The Bruiser will be there in spirit, and the crew in person, for another action-packed weekend at Shakespeare County Raceway."

Naylor adds sponsor.
18th September: UK Supertwin Gas Racer Ric Naylor has announced the addition of a new sponsor to Team RNR.

"We are proud to announce a new sponsorship deal with Bright Sparks", says Ric. "Bright Sparks will be supplying us with NGK sparkplugs for our RD430 race bike and helping us with our goal of being the first street-tyred RD into the nines. Bright Sparks is a mail order company set up by bikers who were fed up with being ripped off with extortionate plug prices. If at all possible they will be cheaper than others on NGK plug prices. They also offer trade quotes on bulk buys for mechanics. For further info please visit their web site at www.brightsparks.fslife.co.uk."

You can read more from Team RNR on the official web site at www.teamrnr.co.uk.

Racers' Finals reports.
18th September: The first race reports from the weekend's FIA European Finals are now being posted on racers' web sites.

First up is 2001 FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion Andy Carter, whose Crew Chief Eddie Corr has posted his account of the weekend on Andy's web site at www.andycarter.net.

Fellow Top Fuel Dragster racer Barry Sheavills' web site has been updated with a brief report from the weekend, which you can find on the Press Release page at www.topfuel.co.uk.

UK Top Methanol Dragster racer Lyndsay Deuchar has updated the LA Racing web site with his own account of events at the Finals, plus photographs. You can find Lyndsay's report on the News page at www.laracing.co.uk.

UK Super Comp racer Phil Bennett's web site at www.supercomp323.8k.com has been updated with Phil and son Dan's report from the European Finals.

Kågered crash pictures.
18th September: Many thanks to Ian Spencelayh, Steve Adams and Steve Hiatt who have sent us photographs of Micke Kågered's mishap in the first round of Top Fuel Dragster on Sunday. We have put together a page with their photographs, which you can view by clicking here.

Web site updates.
18th September: The official web site of the UK's Showtime Racing Fuel Funny Car team has been updated with a report from Super Series 4 at Shakespeare County Raceway, where they secured the 2001 British Fuel FC Championship. Crew member Chris Dossetts' report is as ever detailed and informative and includes timing data from each run.

Popular US site Competition Plus is currently carrying an article about European Top Fuel written by UK fan Jon Crawford. Although in the way of a preview of the FIA European Finals, the article stands up very well in its own right and is well worth a look in. Check it out at www.competitionplus.com.

Feel-the-noise.com have now completed the uploading of Anni's photographs from Super Series Round 4, recently held at Shakespeare County Raceway. Many Pro ET, Sportsman ET and Custom Car SE teams now have their own pages and a new Site Map has been added to provide a quicker route around the site, which webmaster Bob Valder tells us has grown considerably this year.

FIA, UEM Champions crowned at Finals.
17th September: This year's FIA and UEM European Drag Racing Champions were crowned at the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway this weekend. After a drama-filled weekend which saw a number of Championships go down to the final race of the season, the European Champions were confirmed as follows:
  • FIA Top Fuel Dragster: Andy Carter (UK)
  • FIA Top Methanol Dragster: Rob Turner (UK)
  • FIA Top Methanol Funny Car: Leif Andréasson (Sweden)
  • FIA Pro Stock: Niclas Andersson (Sweden)
  • UEM Comp Bike: Ian King (UK)
  • UEM Supertwin Top Fuel Bike: Anders Karling (Sweden)
  • UEM Pro Stock Bike: Roger Petterson (Sweden)
Proof of the level of competition over the weekend was the number of new European records set for both ET and speed, including Top Methanol Funny Car (Micke Kagered), Pro Stock (Michael Malmgren), UEM Comp Bike (Brian Johnson) and UEM Supertwin Top Fuel (Anders Karling).

The event winners were:

FIA Top Fuel Dragster: Andy Carter 5.01/292.98 def. Anita Makela 10.42/69.37
FIA Top Methanol Dragster: Manty Bugeja 5.80/241.83 was unopposed
FIA Top Methanol Funny Car: Ulf Leanders 5.81/238.60 def. Micke Kagered 6.10/232.79
FIA Pro Stock: Niclas Andersson 7.00/195.46 def. Michael Malmgren 6.95/198.26
Pro Mod: Lars Olsson 9.39/91.24 was unopposed
Super Pro ET: Susanne Callin 7.97/155.94 (7.93) def. Paula Atkin 7.61/179.61 (7.60)
Pro ET: Bob Doyle 10.96/120.01 (10.87) def. Aidan Kenny 11.591/113.01 (11.42)
Sportsman ET: Chevy Llewellyn 13.35/95.60 (13.25) def. Darren Hulkes 13.34/89.57 (13.25)
Super Comp: Martin Moore 9.00/145.60 def. Mark Fairhurst 8.89/153.36 breakout
Super Gas: Dave Townsend 9.96/135.24 def. Kev Moore 9.96/135.14
Super Street: Leigh Morris 10.98/123.93 def. Bob Lees 11.00/115.55
Comp Eliminator: Gerd Habermann 7.90/126.47 (7.62) def. John Tebenham 8.82/156.31 (8.58)
Junior Dragster: Phil Cook 8.51/65.71 (8.30) def. Joe Bond 15.28/38.72 (15.20)
UEM Comp Bike: Brian Johnson 6.11/218.50 def. Roel Koedam 13.10/69.74
UEM Supertwin Top Fuel Bike: Anders Karling 6.63/194.14 def. Willem Been 7.36/181.05
UEM Pro Stock Bike: Anders Larsson 7.52/176.43 def. Chris Hope 7.58/172.78
9.90 Bike: Paul Watson 10.09/125.05 def. Paul Hambidge 10.30/138.47
10.90 Bike: Lewis Honey 11/01/119.69 def. Steve Templeman 11.00/123.29

You can find full reports and pictures in our raceday coverage, which you can view by clicking here.

Tog and Sharkman would like to thank everyone who approached or e-mailed us over the weekend to compliment us on our race reports and on Eurodragster.com generally. We couldn't do it without you, so the credit is all yours.

Kågered a passenger in TF mishap.
17th September: Swedish Top Fuel Dragster and Top Methanol FC racer Micke Kågered was one of yesterday's headliners for all the wrong reasons when he rode out a frightening engine explosion in the Bahco Tools/Quaker State Top Fueller in the first round of eliminations. In a race against Pelle Lindelöw, Micke's tyres went up in smoke then a huge fire erupted at the back of the engine. Shrapnel burst both of the rear slicks, sending the car sliding down the track and spinning through two revolutions before grinding to a halt at the finish line.

"I felt the tyres go up in smoke so I pedalled, and then the throttle stuck open", Micke told us at last night's post-race banquet. "After that I was a passenger. But I am fine."

A fuel pump failure is thought to have been the root cause, followed by a lifted blower pulling the throttle cable to the full-on position. The accident took the shine off Micke's 4.977/296.22 in qualifying, but the unflappable Swede bounced back to set a new European TMFC ET record of 5.799 in eliminations.

You can read more on the Kågered Racing web site at www.kagered-racing.com.

Will work for food?
13th September: Swiss Top Methanol Funny Car racer Dezsoe Krivan has put out an emergency call for crew at this weekend's FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway after two of his team had to stay at home for family reasons.

"We are looking for at least one person with knowledge of a TMFC bottom end or clutch"; says Dezsoe. "If there is anyone out there with the experience to help, we are offering food and accommodation for the weekend as well as a lot of work! We will be setting up our pit on Thursday afternoon, so please show up and tell us that you are the person we're looking for!"

Lantz's last weekend.
13th September: Swedish ex-Top Fuel Dragster racer Peter Lantz ends his association with the Lorentzon and Möller Top Fuel team at this weekend's FIA European Finals, and he is hoping to go out on a high note after a season spent as consultant.

"I'm sure that this year's winner will have more 'traffic' on the way to the final round than we had last year", says Peter. "It musn't be forgotten that we still ran low ET and were number one qualifier at the event, and that we ran the low ET in a solo final. Whatever happens, I can't remember if a Top Fuel field has ever looked more promising than it does now. Looking at the numbers which some of the cars have run this year (see below - Ed) it will take a four or regular 5.0s with good lights to win this event. The track at Santa Pod always serves us racers with great traction, so we just have to throw whatever horsepower we have at it. We are very much looking forward to this event, we have finally come to a point where the car starts to react to our tuning, but these cars can get round you whenever they want to!"

Tommy Möller won the last round of the Swedish Top Fuel Tour at Landskrona, and came runner-up in the TFT Championship. "We ran the car like a bracket car at Landskrona, I hope that will continue", says Peter. "Kenneth and Tommy have also made the necessary investment to step up in performance for this weekend's race, and that's what's needed. The team has now come to a stage where everyone is working really well together, and doing great work, so this race is a great challenge for us."

Peter is unsure of what he will be doing after this weekend, although the Lantz family's Junior Dragster will probably play a part. "My commitment to Kenneth and Tommy ends after this race", he says. "It might end up that I have some fun with my kids with the Junior Dragster next year, so it would be nice to end my Top Fuel career in the winners' circle at Santa Pod Raceway this weekend."

FIA Championship outcomes.
13th September: The FIA European Drag Racing Championships come to an end at this weekend's European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway. We are indebted to Kjell Petterson for helping us to describe the possible outcomes.

FIA Top Fuel Dragster: The UK's Barry Sheavills is about one and a half rounds ahead of Finland's Anita Mkel going into the Finals. If Barry goes further than Anita in eliminations then he secures the Championship; however qualifying and low ET of the event in Anita's favour could set the scene for a very close finish and even tip the balance to her. Denmark's Kim Reymond and the UK's Andy Carter are not entirely out of the running - it's going to be a very close thing.

FIA Top Methanol Dragster: The UK's Rob Turner is eighty points ahead of fellow UK racer Dave Wilson. If Rob qualifies this weekend then he will earn at least thirty four points, and Dave Wilson can earn a maximum of one hundred and three points if he qualifies number one, wins the event and sets low ET. Qualifying for the race should clinch the Championship for Rob Turner.

FIA Top Methanol Funny Car: A similar situation to TMD with a diffence of ninety four points between Sweden's Leif Andrasson and Ulf Leanders. If Leif Andrasson qualifies he will earn at least twelve points, and Ulf Leanders can earn a maximum of one hundred and three points if he qualifies number one, wins the event and sets low ET. Again, qualifying for the race should secure Leif Andrasson the number one plate for another season.

FIA Pro Stock: This is the closest of the FIA classes. With four points separating Swedish racers Michael Malmgren and Niclas Andersson, in Michael's favour, this could be as easy as who goes the furthest in eliminations. If both racers went out in the same round then qualifying position, low ET of the event, and record setting could make the difference.

Top Fuel performance.
13th September: We are also indebted to Kjell Petterson for sending us this performance analysis of the eight contestants in Top Fuel Dragster at this weekend's FIA Europen Finals. "It is fairly tight with six of the drivers having done 5.0 or better, and the rest in the 5.1s", says Kjell. "If you look at these facts then this will be one of the best Top Fuel races ever in Europe."

DriverCurrentlyPersonal
Best		Best in
current car
Barry Sheavills1st4.944.98
Kim Reymond3rd5.015.01
Anita Mäkelä2nd5.025.09
Mikael Kågered6th5.055.05
Alan Jackson 5.075.07
Andy Carter4th5.085.08
Tommy Möller8th5.135.13
Pelle Lindelöw7th5.155.15

More Finals snippets.
13th September: 2001 ACU Top Fuel Bike Champion and current UEM Comp Bike Championship leader Ian King is playing down his chances of winning the UEM Championship at Santa Pod this weekend. "Since the final round of the UK Championship, we've been working on a new 14mm primary drive system for the Finals, after our temporary repair for SS4 proved to be unsuitable for belt longevity", says Ian. "Chris 'Cannon' Hannam at Cannon Engineering made the bulk of the pulley system, whilst Mark Hawkins at North Herts Engineering provided the finishing engineering and the idler pulley system. The problem for us at the European Finals will be that we took advantage of the possibility to speed the clutch up and give us more control on its capabilities. However, this will mean that we will lose all of our settings with the 'old' ratio, and could prove a problem with only qualifying available to change arm weights and timer settings. In addition, the fuel pump speed will also be increased which could mean that our fuel system will need adjusting. Looks like the Championship's Roel Koedam's for this year..."

Paul Marston Racing will have a very special guest crewing on the PT Bruiser this weekend in the form of German Pro Mod driver Stephan Probst. Paul and Steve Brennan know Stephan through EuroDragster and invited him to the European Finals. "Luckily he found time in his busy schedule", says Paul Marston. "His experience in chassis set-up will help us in our next stage of development. Besides, any excuse will do! It's great seeing him again. Hockenheim is Stephan's home track, this is his first visit to Santa Pod. Hopefully the crew will be on better night-time behaviour than usual, but unfortunately Steve Brennan is bringing a go-ped, need I say more?"

Swiss Comp Eliminator racer Bruno Bader is looking forward to a good weekend's racing at Santa Pod Raceway after a few problems recently. "Ten days before the Nitrolympics, the Golden Vette had a crash at a sprint at Mossling in Germany", says Fränzi. "We spent a day and a night repairing the car for the biggest drag race in Germany. At Hockenheim the car went very fast and we got to the final round, but there was a problem with the timing system and we ran out of time for a re-run. We hope for a fast weekend at Santa Pod and maybe we'll have a replay of the Hockenheim final against Gerd Habermann!"

UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Barry Sheavills and Swedish Top Methanol Funny Car racer Leif Andréasson have posted European Finals previews on their web sites. You can find Barry Sheavills' preview on the Press Release page of his web site at www.topfuel.co.uk, and Leif Andréasson's preview on his web site at www.andreassonmotorsports.com. Leif's site also includes an update on the Booze Moose!

UK drag bike photo-journalist, designer and entrepreneur Ian Turburville has arranged for a few Vance and Hines Top-Fuel Harley replicas to to be delivered to him at the European Finals. "If it's a Christmas present you're after then you'd better see me at Santa Pod this weekend", says Turbo. "I will be at the Hot Rod Ts stand in the trading area, together with lots of other lovely goodies including the very last Jim McClure print! If you want team uniforms for next season then come and see me there also."

Moström impresses in the USA.
13th September: Swedish Pro Mod racer Kjell-Håkan Moström impressed the locals whilst racing at the North American Nationals at Epping, New Hampshire last weekend, says Lonnie Houde.

Kjell-Håkan made one full pass in the blown-alcohol 'Vette at 6.422/217, with a 1.02 sixty-foot and 4.120 at the eighth. "This is a new engine combination which nobody else has yet used in Pro Modified", said Crew Chief and engine builder Mike Faucher. "We had the motor so calmed down that it was actually putting out three cylinders at different times during the run. We are probably up 125 to 150 hp over the best cars out there. Wait till we get a few laps on it and really hop it up! The chassis and suspension on this car is awesome, Kjell-Hakan did a great building job."

Lonnie also tells us that Kjell-Håkan won Best Engineered Pro Car at Epping, adding "Stay tuned - Kjell-Håkan and the Quest Racing team are setting their sights on the six-teens!"

Sid's thanks.
13th September: UK Super Pro ET racer Martyn Jones, aka Sid, writes to thank everyone who made his recent visit to Drachten on his No Red Lights - Honest mini-tour such a pleasure.

"From the moment that we pulled into the gate to be greeted by a smiling face and a 'Welcome to Drachten Mr Jones!' (thanks Gerda - I hope I got your name right), to the sad end of the event when they even imported Santa Pod weather just to make us feel at home, we couldn't have been made to feel more welcome by both officials and fellow racers", says Martyn. "We're hoping that the DHRA and Explosion can update the timing system to run a bracket or two next year and we'll do our damndest to get back - and I hope that we can drag a few Brits with us."

Web site updates.
13th September: The King Racing web site at www.kingracing.com has been updated with the latest (post-Super Series 4) standings in the ACU UK Drag Bike Championships.

The UK1320 web site at www.uk1320.com has been updated with a large number of great photographs from last weekend's NSRA Hot Rod Drags at Shakespeare County Raceway.

To our American readers.
12th September: It is difficult to find words to express our horror at yesterday's events. You know that all of us here in Europe have a special place in our hearts for you, please be assured that we are thinking of you at this difficult time.

European Finals Press Day coverage.
12th September: Because of events elsewhere, today's FIA European Finals Press Day at Santa Pod Raceway was a very low-key affair, but we were there to report on what took place. Click here to see our Press Day coverage.

Reymond aims for 2002 title.
11th September: Danish Top Fuel Dragster pilot Kim Reymond has already made his plans for the 2002 season - and they include the FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Championship.

Kim moved up to Top Fuel Dragster this year after racing everything from Street to Competition from 1986 to 1992, and driving the USA Autodele Top Methanol Dragster from 1999 to 2000. "I would have had to have made a big investment in the Top Methanol Dragster to run faster than my personal best of 5.91, so I decided that it made more sense to sell the TMD and put the money into a Top Fueller", he says.

Kim blew his PB away with a pass of 5.01 earlier this season. "The first time I got in the car, I was nervous, but it was fast as hell!", he says. "It is very different from the Top Methanol Dragster, and feels a lot faster. It is a lot more work for my crew, that's for sure, but they are very happy with the step up."

Kim's sponsors are also happy with his move. "They think I'm crazy, but they support me anyway", he says.

Kim goes into this weekend's FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway knocking on the door of both a four-second pass and three hundred miles per hour, and he has already decided what he will be doing next season. "We will do the FIA Tour - and win it - and we will do two or three other dates", he says.

For more from the USA Autodele team, check out the official web site at www.usa-autodele.dk.

UEM Championship outcomes.
11th September: The UEM European Drag Bike Championships come to an end at this weekend's European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway. We are indebted to UEM Championship co-ordinator Lars Andersson for writing, and Kjell Petterson for passing on, this analysis of the possible outcomes.

UEM Competition Bike: The UK's Ian King has twenty eight points more than Holland's Roel Koedam, and forty five points more than Norway's Sverre Dahl. Roel Koedam has to win the event, and Ian has to lose in the first round of eliminations, to change the standings. Sverre Dahl has a theoretical chance but he must set new records and qualify more than five places above Ian King. Roel Koedam should take runner-up if he makes it to the second round.

UEM Supertwin Top Fuel: Sweden's Anders Karling is in the lead, but the points gap to Sweden's Per Bengtsson and Holland's Ton Pels in second and third places is very small. If Anders wins in the first round of eliminations then he is Champion. However, if he goes out in the first round of eliminations then either Per Bengtsson or Ton Pels will be Champion if they win the race. One way for Anders Karling to secure the Championship is to set new records and also be the number one qualifier. Per Bengtsson and Ton Pels are guaranteed second and third places between them, but which way round depends upon qualifying position and progress in eliminations - whoever goes out first will be third.

UEM Pro Stock Bike: Sweden's Roger Pettersson becomes Champion as soon as he passes tech, as his points lead over Kenneth Strömberg is sufficiently large. Similarly, Kenneth Strömberg will take runer-up spot as soon as he passes tech, with Anders Larsson likewise guaranteed third place. So it is literally a case of only having to turn up - but if they don't turn up then things could change.

You can see the current Championship standings in detail on the King Racing web site at www.kingracing.com and on the Svensk Dragracing web site at www.dragracing.se.

We will publish the equivalent analysis for the FIA classes later on this week.

Two-wheeled Finals snippets.
11th September: Supertwin Top Fuel Bike Championship leader (see above) Anders 'Charley' Karling is aiming for a new European record at this weekend's FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway. "We have already parked our stuff in England, and we are flying in on Thursday evening", says Charley. "After the 6.48 in Norway we know that there is potential in the bike under the right conditions. If we can set a record during qualifying the other guys will have great difficulty in taking the Championship from us. But this will the best field ever - there will be at least seven Super Twins that can run in the sixes. We hope for a good weather, good conditions and for a exciting race this weekend!"

Funny Bike racer Ken Cooper writes with news of a return to the Cooperized Racing team. "Brian 'Biffa' Bowen will be coming out of retirement for the Finals, riding the Hirebusa in 9.90 Bike", says Ken. "Helen Curran is not racing, she will be on the start line making sure I get it right. After an awful Super Series 4 I should hopefully have an engine together in time, but we won't have a spare. So fingers crossed, let's hope its a good one, and we look forward to some decent times and good racing."

Llewellyn gives in to tempation.
11th September: UK Super Comp racer Zane Llewellyn has given in to the temptation of running his own dragster as well as son Chevy's Sportsman ET Skoda at this weekend's FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway. The original plan was for Chevy to represent the Llewellyns at the Finals, but Zane just couldn't stay away.

"After running the dragster for four meetings in as many weekends during our European tour, I found it very difficult to put it down", says Zane. "I have therefore committed to run both cars at the last few meetings of the year. We would like to offer our great thanks to 'Hoch' Grant who has agreed to transport Chevy's Skoda to meetings to enable me to take the dragster. My wife Wendy will again be doing the crew duties for both cars, we have greased up the team pushbike ready for another busy weekend for her!"

Zane is looking forward to running in the huge Super Comp field this weekend, although there is one less car than he would like. "We would like to offer our sympathies to Susan Callin after her crash at the Pod this weekend, I was looking forward to racing against her again", he says. "It is very encouraging to see more teams travelling around Europe, I hope that the large entry of European teams in Super Comp at the European Finals is the first sign of the true European Sportsman championship that I have dreamed of for the last few years. We look forward to seeing all our friends from Scandinavia, Germany and France this weekend, maybe we'll find time to race the cars too!"

The Bristol Doorslammers will be out in force this weekend, fielding six cars in four classes. "We'll be aiming for the 'quadruple'!", says Zane.

You can stay in touch with all of the news from Zane and the Bristol Doorslammers, including Zane's excellent report of his European Tour, on his web site at www.bootsoop.freeserve.co.uk.

Erik surpasses Mister Eight.
11th September: This time yesterday we said that we thought that Tog was Europe's quickest and fastest drag racing web journalist after his eight-second passenger ride in the two-seater dragster, "unless any of our readers know different".

It's not often that we're happy to be wrong, but we're very pleased indeed to give a tip of the hat to our very good friend Erik Zettervall, Editor of the Svensk Dragracing web site, who has clocked 7.70/172 licencing in a dragster at Mantorp Park. Congratulations to our buddy Erik - and has anyone got a Super Pro ET dragster we can borrow?

Web site updates.
11th September: The AC Delco Racing web site at www.acdracing.net has been updated with a number of photographs from yesterday's Run What You Brung at Santa Pod Raceway, at which a couple of competition winners were given the rides of their lives in the two-seater dragster.

The UK's Super Comp 323 web site at www.supercomp323.8k.com has been updated with Phil and Dan Bennett's report from the recent Super Series 4 at Shakespeare County Raceway. Dan tells us that the site will be undergoing major changes after the FIA European Finals.

Callin OK after RWYB crash.
10th September: Swedish Super Comp racer Susanne Callin is fine after a horrifying top end crash at yesterday's Run What You Brung at Santa Pod Raceway. The popular young racer who had spent most of the day giving passenger rides in her other ride, the two-seater dragster, appeared to have a slight twitch at the top end covered before her Super Comp rail suddenly turned hard left after an 8.92/163 pass. The dragster then flipped over, went vertical and hit the guardrail before catching fire. Susanne released herself from the car as soon as it came to rest and ran into the arms of the safety crew. She was completely uninjured and after being checked over by the paramedics was straight on her mobile phone to call home to reassure the rest of her family.

Susanne's passenger rides in the two-seater dragster were one of the highlights of a busy day at Santa Pod. The final passenger ride of the day was for none other than Eurodragster staffer Tog whom Susanne piloted to an 8.129/165.31, her fastest run of the day. We think that, thanks to Susanne, Tog is now the quickest and fastest drag racing web journalist in Europe, unless any of our readers know different! Many thanks to Susanne, her father Gordon, and car owner Johan Hässler for the offer of the passenger ride.

Top Fuel Dragster racer Anita Mäkelä had a frustrating day with two runs curtailed by tyre shake off the start line, robbing her of the chance to test her brand new three-element rear wing. "We're disappointed, but at least we haven't wasted two qualifying runs next weekend", she said.

You can view our live reports and pictures from yesterday's Run What You Brung by clicking here, or via the 2001 Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page.

Carter offers Finals bonus.
10th September: UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Andy Carter has offered Crew Chief Eddie Corr a performance bonus with a difference in the run-up to the FIA European Finals.

"If I run a four-second pass next weekend, I'm going to give Eddie a Rolls Royce as a bonus!", said Andy. "Eddie knows about it and is very excited. He used Hockenheim as a test and we'll be going out next weekend with all guns blazing!"

"I wanted a Corvette!", joked Eddie. "I took two tune-ups to Hockenheim. Gordie Bonin ran a 5.009 pass on the 'little' tune-up - and he shut off at a thousand feet. It's going to be set up harder than that next week."

On the subject of performance bonuses Antony Billinton, Managing Director of G-Max Chemical and Research, still has a drum of 100% nitromethane on offer to the first racer to run a four-second pass at Santa Pod Raceway this season. "It's still sitting there with a bow tied around it!", he said. Racers are required to carry two G-Max stickers - one on either side of the vehicle - to be eligible to win the drum of Nitro. "All you need to do is run a couple of G-Max decals and go below five seconds, and it's yours", says Antony. G-Max stickers will be available next weekend from the G-Max Fuels truck, or from Lisa in Race Control at Santa Pod.

Drag racers take Brighton trophies.
10th September: Saturday's Brighton Speed Trials saw drag racers take top honours on both two and four wheels.

On four wheels, Paul Marston won a number of trophies with the PT Bruiser:
  • The Brighton and Hove Sprint Club Trophy for Fastest Time of the Day.
  • The Forrest Lycett Trophy for winner of Class 8.
  • The Les Edmunds Memorial Trophy for Fastest Pushrod V8
  • Winner of Double Six Runoff for cars
"We knew we were in for a tough weekend", says Paul. "We suspected that we were going to have to use speed to make the Bruiser ET on such a marginal surface and we were right. The Bruiser performed faultlessly all weekend, not missing a beat, the crowds were massive, the atmosphere electric, this is just such a great event! We came from behind on this one and had to push really hard, but the whole team rose to the ocassion. I am very proud of them. We clinched the title with our last run. It took a while to sink in but I am told the crew made up for that with the startline celebrations! Just to add the icing to the cake we won the Double Six Runoff which is immediately after our last run, the crew had the Bruiser turned round with a full service in fifteen minutes to make the call, absolutely astonishing considering what has to be done. Our name now goes on the Club Trophy alongside the likes of Sir Malcolm Campbell, a prevoius winner of the event, it does not get better than this. We left nothing on the table at our first attempt with Bruiser but it was achieved through the hard work of a lot of people. I must thank everyone at Chrysler UK for inviting us to represent them, Brighton and Hove Sprint Club for holding the event, everyone at Paul Marston Racing - they really earned this one. A special thanks to all the companies involved with the development and fabrication work needed to make the Bruiser legal for Sprinting, and of course to all our sponsors."

Meanwhile on two wheels, Funny Bike racer Dave Holland borrowed his old Super Street Bike from its current owner and represented drag racing with as much success. Nigel Hoskinson of Dave's primary sponsor Titanium International Limited very kindly sent us this first-hand report:

"After a damp start in which Dave chose not to race, in the weather brightened up considerably in the afternoon. Dave's first pass was 9.6 at 153mph, followed by 9.2 at 167, finally in the Super Six run off a 9.3.The final pass was only good enough for second, as the winner is the rider with the biggest improvement. The 9.2 pass however yielded Dave two trophies, Fastest Time by a Bike and Fastest Time by a Suzuki. As a matter of interest the 9.2 was the Fastest Time of the Day, bike or car.

"Dave won another trophy which was awarded on the day by the local radio station Southern FM for the best turned-out bike. A possible slot on the station may follow.

"Other regulars from the drag bike scene were Pete Belline, Dave Knight and Dave Hughes who were racing, and Neil Diggens as a spectator."

Many thanks Nigel, and congratulations to Paul Marston and Dave Holland for covering themselves in glory on drag racing's behalf.

Moström misses the cut.
10th September: Sweden's Kjell-Håkan Moström missed out on qualifying at the IHRA North American Nationals at New England Dragway at Epping, USA, at the weekend. Having run a best of 6.422/217.63 on Friday, Kjell-Håkan had a less successful day on Saturday being shut off on the line and rolling through the beams.

Our thanks to Eurodragster's US correspondent Ed O'Connell who kindly sent us this picture of Kjell-Håkan qualifying under the lights at New England Dragway.

European Finals running orders.
10th September: Courtesy of Santa Pod Raceway's International Race Director Darren Prentice, we have now posted provisional running orders for Friday and Saturday of this weekend's FIA European Finals. Darren has asked us to remind readers that the running orders are provisional and are subject to change due to weather, track conditions etc.

You can find Friday and Saturday's running orders on our FIA European Finals race update index.

Canto team not finished yet!
8th September: The UK's Canto Consultancy Top Methanol Dragster team have bounced back from what seemed a certain end to their season after severe tyre shake wrecked the engine and damaged the chassis of their dragster at Super Series 4 at Shakespeare County Raceway last week. The team are, quote, "hiring/borrowing" Bill Stubbs' ex-Turner Racing TMD and will be back on track at next weekend's FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway.

"We're not finished yet!", says driver Darryl Bradford. "We had a long-standing arrangment for potential sponsors to come and see us in action at the Finals and we couldn't let the chance go."

After the problems at Super Series 4, the Canto team appeared to be done for the year, but then Turner Racing Crew Chief Steve Turner stepped in. "Steve organised the deal with Bill Stubbs", says Darryl. "I can't thank him enough. When you get problems like we had at Shakespeare County Raceway you really find out what people are about. Steve and his team have helped us so much. They have gone above and beyond, especially if you consider that they also did an engine at Super Series 4 and so had quite enough to contend with themselves."

The Canto Consultancy/Wildside-backed team are now working to get the dragster together in time for the Finals. "The team are doing an entire off-season's work in two days", says Darryl. "I must say thanks to them and of course big thanks to Bill Stubbs."

You can find more information on the Canto Consultancy dragster on the Canto web site at www.canto.co.uk.

Moström shines in Epping.
8th September: Thanks to our US correspondent Ed O'Connell for alerting us to the presence of Swedish Pro Mod racer Kjell-Håkan Moström at this weekend's IHRA event at Ed's local track in Epping, New Hampshire, USA. After two sessions of qualifying, Kjell-Håkan stands at fifteenth with a 6.422/217.63 with his blown-alcohol 'Vette, which would be good for a European record if run on this side of the Pond.

You can stay in touch with Kjell-Håkan's progress over the weekend on the Summit Racing web site at www.summitracing.com/stories/index.htm.

Selkämaa wins NPSC title.
8th September: Finland's Kai Selkämaa has become the first ever Finnish Champion in the Nordic Pro Street Cup after securing the Super Pro Street Bike title at Landskrona two weekends back.

"The Cup was very tight, and the winner couldn't be crowned until the last race at Landskrona was over", says Kaija Kohtala. "As a result we won the Cup by 180 points. Everything went just like a dream in Landskrona and we managed to run the three quickest passes and the best speed."

Kai then went to last weekend's Finnish Hot Rod Association Finals at Alastaro, where he broke his own record, recording bests of 7.908 seconds and 304.6 kmh. "Kai still remains the only SSB/SPSB rider who has managed to top 300 kmh", says Kaija.

Kai and his team have one more race this season, this weekend's Stockholm Open, before preparing for the move up to Supertwin Top Fuel in 2002.

Web site updates.
8th September: UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Andy Carter's web site at www.andycarter.net has been updated with Crew Chief Eddie Corr's preview of next weekend's FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway. You can find Eddie's preview on the News page of Andy's web site.

Lindelöw packs three cars.
7th September: Swedish Top Fuel Dragster racer Pelle Lindelöw's trailer departs for England today with no less than three cars on board. "There will be my Top Fueller, Susanne Callin's Super Comp Dragster, and the two-seater dragster - the 'Taxi' - owned by Johan Hässler and driven by Susanne", says Pelle.

Pelle's workload at TNT in Sweden means that he is not able to bring the rig over himself, but it is in good hands. "I have to thank Gordon Callin who made this trip possible", says Pelle. "Gordon will drive the rig both to and from the track and will also be working with all three cars during the races. He has loads of energy, a truck driving licence, and is a very good buddy: a very useful combination in our sport. In every event at which we have done this, it has worked perfectly for us, and has been an ideal solution. I can recommend that others try the same thing in order to both save bucks and time."

Next weekend's FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway will be Pelle's last race, and he intends to go out on a high. "This summer, we have found out a lot of the problems which we've been struggling with, and the last runs at Tullinge showed that we are going in the right direction", he says. "If we can keep the bodywork on the race car all the way, not break any more blower belts, and fulfil some other minor wishes then it will be a very interesting weekend! When was the last time we had eight Top Fuel cars at a race? This promises to be a worthy final to our career, and we will do our best to stay in competition as long as possible. I was looking at the ETs run this year and discovered that our 5.25 from Tullinge was the slowest among next weekend's Top Fuel contestants. We know that we can, and will, run a very low five-second run, so this race will be most exiting. The outcome of this race is totally unpredictable as all of the drivers' personal bests are within two tenths of a second, so the winner of the race will really have to work hard for the victory. My advice to all the fans in the UK is: come and see the action, we will guarantee value for money! Of course there is also the weather situation, but being the optimist I am, I'm expecting good British late-summer conditions."

Pelle's operation is for sale and he thinks that any potential purchaser will get a good deal. "We have talked to several interested buyers, but we have told all of them that there will be no negotiations until the end of the season as we want to concentrate on the races", he says. "We will then sit down and discuss what we will do in the future. We would like to see somebody take over from here as we know that we have a good working set up. It is a turn-key operation and the buyer will get a car with a lot of potential."

Pelle's rig will arrive at Santa Pod Raceway in time for this Sunday's Run What You Brung, at which Susanne Callin will be giving passenger rides in the two-seater dragster. "Susanne won't be able to run the two-seater car at the Finals, but it will be on display in my pit - come and take a look!", he says.

Stay tuned to the P & G Racing web site at www.pgracing.nu for all of the latest news from Pelle and the team.

Hot Rod Drags this weekend.
7th September: Fans of blown Altereds, Outlaw Anglias, nostalgia racing and street rods can't do any better than to head for this weekend's 13th Annual National Street Rod Association Hot Rod Drags at Shakespeare County Raceway.

The Hot Rod Drags, which starts tonight, opens the Warwickshire strip to pre-1969 cars and also features the Custom Car Flathead Meltdown, the ever-popular Tot Rods, a drive-in movie, trade stands, live bands, and much more.

Jim Seward, Mickey Moore and Neil Townson will be gunning for Smax Smith's 6.92/203 record in their blown altereds, whilst no less than fourteen cars will be racing in the Outlaw Anglia class. The Wild Bunch also have one of their largest-ever turnouts, keeping the past alive with their varied collection of Nostalgia race cars.

Gates open at 4:00 pm this afternoon (Friday), and the on-track action runs from 10:00-6:00 on Saturday and 11:00-5:00 on Sunday. For mre details check out the NSRA web site at www.nsra.org.uk and the News page of the APIRA web site at www.eurodragster.com/apira.

Which Bike off, but SCR open.
7th September: Still on the subject of Shakespeare County Raceway, APIRA Press Officer Jerry Cookson informs us that the Which Bike weekend, scheduled for 6th-7th October, has been cancelled. However, the date has been converted to an APIRA Test and Tune and so the track will still be open on this weekend.

Web site updates.
7th September: The AC Delco Racing web site at www.acdracing.net has been updated with photographs of Michael Malmgren and the team's visit to Le Mans with their Camaro Pro Stock. Team member Magnus Cato tells us that the set of pictures contains a candidate for worst picture of the year. It would of course be improper of us to comment.

PT Bruiser heads for Brighton.
6th September: Paul Marston Racing and the PT Bruiser are headed for Brighton this weekend, where Paul Marston will be fulfilling his usual date at Saturday's Brighton Speed Trials on Madeira Drive.

"We had our asses kicked last year", says Paul Marston. "We only won the Double Six run-off, even though we were half a second quicker with the Grumpy's Dodge Super Gasser than the previous year. The competition was fierce, but we were pretty certain that the Bruiser was going to be ready for 2001, so you could say we are Here on business! This really is the grandaddy of them all and stands testament that the 'Mad Dogs and Englishmen' spirit of courage and determination against the odds is alive and very well."

Paul and the PT Bruiser are in very good company. "In the past, such names as Dennis Priddle and the Mr Six Dragster have raced here, it is full of history", he says. "Jim Tillar makes a welcome return after narrowly missing 200 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats in his Allard last year. Jim has been racing for over 50 years! Dave Holland, the current bike track record holder, is reported to be bringing his Suzuki Funny Bike. Previous winners of the Event Trophy is a Who's Who of British motorsport over the last century, so to get our name on it would be a lifetime achievement."

As we have reported previously, the PT Bruiser has undergone some changes to be legal to race in Brighton. "Because the event is held under MSA sprint rules, the Bruiser must be silenced to under 113 decibels at one metre's distance at two-thirds rpm", says Paul. "Not easy and probably the first time that someone has tried to do this in sprint racing with a Pro Stock motor, no parachute, no wheelie bars and on an unprepared public road."

Paul and the team will be representing Chrysler as their official entry, and will be based in the pit area adjacent to the Frosts Hospitality area near the start line. "Why not come and witness the spectacle?", says Paul. "Entry to the pits is £10 and is limited in numbers so get there early. Otherwise the promenade, on two levels, overlooks the whole of the track and is free. Action starts at 9:00 am and goes on to 5:00 pm"

Paul has asked us to thank principal sponsor Chrysler UK, associate sponsors ATI, Mac Tools, Red Line Oils, Individual, 5-Oakes, and all of the team at Paul Marston Racing.

Grumpy does the two-step.
6th September: UK 9.90 Bike racer Paul 'Grumpy' Watson took the chance for some Comp Bike action last weekend when he spent the day with Paul Rose Racing at a Run What You Brung at Santa Pod Raceway.

"I spent the day with Paul Rose and his crew Richie, Kim, Lee and not forgetting Baldrick", says Paul. "As a treat to myself I wanted to have a try on a Comp Bike - you know slicks and wheelie bars - and thanks to Paul Rose Racing I got my chance.

"Paul started me off on a small seven-inch slick bike, no two-step and no wheelie bars. I managed 10.3 then 9.96, so different from my street bike. Later on we progressed to Richie's 10-inch slick Comp Bike including two-step and wheelie bars. After completing my burnout I nervously approached the lights wondering what it was going to be like launching off a two-step. The launch was an experience I won't forget in a hurry, then trying to steer as Paul had instructed me. Apart from a couple of missed shifts I made a run of 11.4 followed by a 9.95 then 9.71.

"This was a fantastic day! I learned so much. My thanks to all at Paul Rose Racing, if anyone is interested in hiring any of Paul's bikes they can contact him on 01784 251941."

Cooper's Pro Mod Bike for sale.
6th September: UK Pro Mod Bike racer Ken Cooper has put his Pro Mod Bike up for sale to finance a replacement upon which he plans to race in the USA.

"I am trying to sell my complete Pro Mod rolling chassis, so that I can go to the States and buy and build one of the new Koenig low boy chassis", says Ken. "If I sell my chassis then I will ship my engines and electrics to the US and build, test and race the World Finals at Gainesville. If I don't sell my chassis I will probably not go to Gainsville with my existing set-up, unless I find a sponsor to pay for the trip or win the lottery!"

If you are interested in buying Ken's Pro Mod Bike then you can contact him through the Cooperized Racing web site at www.cooperizedracing.com.

Finals run-up starts at RWYB.
6th September: The run-up to the FIA European Finals, to be held at Santa Pod Raceway on 14th-16th September, starts in earnest this weekend with Sunday's Run What You Brung providing the last chance for racers to test before the big day. One racer already signed up to test at Santa Pod on Sunday is Finland's Anita Mäkelä who has a three-element rear wing and other changes to test on her Top Fuel Dragster.

Sweden's Susanne Callin will also be taking some lucky contest winners on passenger rides in the two-seater dragster, in a promotion backed by Halfords and AC Delco.

Sunday's RWYB is of course a public test day which means that you could find yourself sharing the staging lanes with a Top Fuel Dragster. Entry to the track on Sunday is £8, a further £10 and the production of a valid DVLC licence gets you as many passes as you can fit in down the track. Racers please note that competition licences are not valid for RWYBs, and that safety equipment appropriate to your class must be used. Gates open at 8:00 and the track will be open at about 10:00. For more details check out the Run What You Brung page of Santa Pod Raceway's web site at www.santapod.com.

We will be starting Eurodragster's FIA European Finals build-up by reporting live from the RWYB on Sunday.

Racers: If you're attending the RWYB on Sunday then why not drop us a line at news@eurodragster.com and we'll let your fans know.

Super Series points standings.
6th September: Post-Super Series 4 points standings in all classes except ACU are now available, courtesy of points co-ordinator Simon Groves, on the Results page of the Super Series web site at www.eurodragster.com/superseries.

Raiski on Alastaro crash.
5th September: We are indebted to Hannele Höydén of the Finnish Hot Rod Association for passing on NDRS Super Gas Champion Vesa Raiski's dramatic personal account of his top end crash at Alastaro on Sunday. Here's what Vesa had to say:

"Although my car crashed and looks now pretty pathetic (pictures at www.raiski.com) it feels good to be alive! There was nothing wrong with the track.

"Preliminary research showed that a front axle attachment bolt broke when I braked, and the axle was able to turn. And the spinning started and it went on and on and...

"I was conscious all the time. When I realized that the car was going to the right, I tried to correct it, but noticed right away that it was now going down. When the car was spinning sideways on asphalt, I thought that everything was going to be alright, but when it got impulse from the sand and started to spin front to back, the car just sped up!

"The first jump was about 35 metres and car was about 6 metres aloft, the marks from the second jump were 20 metres away, and car finally stopped 250 metres away from the finish line.

"I got hit pretty hard and from that lost my sight, but luckily it came back in the hospital. I talked myself out of the hospital at evening, so I got in to the final party, even though I couldn't party the way I planned. Thank you to everybody involved for the great 'welcome home' party you had planned for me. Even the big man couldnt hold back the tears.

"I'll stay in bed this week but then I'll start to rebuild the car. I'm not going to be racing the car anymore, but we'll try to renovate it to its old racing state. Olli Salmi came to look at the carcass and didn't rule out the plan because he thinks that there is a lot of the cage left.

WANTED: '34 Ford metal parts! Roof parts, window frames, front doors, corrupt cages, Coupe rear end metalwork and so on...we need all of that to complete our project!"

FIA European Finals entry list.
5th September: The official entry list for the FIA European Finals, to be held at Santa Pod Raceway on 14th-16th September, is now available courtesy of Paula Marshall of Santa Pod Racers Club.

The entry list has come on some since its last mention here last week; Top Methanol Funny Car now has ten entries, Top Methanol Dragster is up to seven, and Pro Mod nine. In Sportsman classes, Super Comp is a standout at nineteen and Pro ET at twenty seven.

On two wheels, all of the UEM classes are well-subscribed with Comp Bike showing fifteen entries, Supertwin Top Fuel fourteen, and Pro Stock Bike ten. 9.90 Bike has a huge twenty entries.

The list contains a few surprises, not least the appearance of Custom Car Street Eliminator racers in Super Comp, Super Pro ET and Pro ET!

Entries have come from all over Europe with Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Germany, France, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia and Holland all represented in strength.

You can view the Eurppean Finals entry list by clicking here. For more details on the race itself including ticket prices, check out the Santa Pod Raceway web site at www.santapod.com.

Flavell/Taylor go Super Comp.
5th September: One of the surprises mentioned above is the return of Super Pro ET racers Mark Flavell and Des Taylor to Super Comp. Mark Flavell explains:

"After the team's 496 Chevrolet exploded all over Warwickshire during a test day, we thought that was that, for the forseeable future. With Des driving we'd been trying out a new set-up, but number three and four pistons didn't approve and decided to go and visit Warwick Castle at around eleven hundred feet!

"Super Gas racer and no mean spanner man, Frankie Mason stepped in and quickly freshened up a 427 motor which had been laying around in bits for some time. So with a few changes to the car, in she went and at Santa Pod last weekend it ran well into the 8.90s. So 'Goodbye Super Pro' for the time being and a return to Super Comp for the European Finals."

Mark and Des' dragster is now for sale turn-key as they want to pursue a new project. "Has anyone got a Alcohol Funny Car for sale to run in Super Pro?", asks Mark.

Whipple discussion forum opens.
5th September: The European Top Methanol Racers Association web site is now host to a special discussion forum designed to bring racers together to debate the subject of Whipple superchargers. Whipple chargers will no longer be certified after the end of this season, which leaves racers with the choice between buying a PSI at huge additional expense, or going back to a roots design and losing performance.

"I think it important that we should debate this issue and try to decide on a plan of action to find a solution to the problem", says Dave Alexander of ETMRA. "If you go to the ETMRA site at www.etmra.com you will see a title Whipple Supercharger Forum and a blue button below it. Click on the button to enter the Forum, read the messages and add your own.

"It would be good to get as many of the 280 or so owners of Whipples around the world to contribute, and to build up a list to help apply pressure to the NHRA and FIA. Please spread the message to any other racer, web site or magazine you know to get the message out that this Forum exists."

Web site updates.
5th September: Dutch TMFC racer Lex Joon has updated the News page of his web site with a preview of the FIA European Finals (thanks for the plug, Lex - Ed). Check it out at www.lexjoonracing.nl.

The UK1320 web site at www.uk1320.com has been updated with a detailed report and some great photographs from last week's Super Series 4 at Shakespeare County Raceway.

Konola: we're not quitting.
4th September: Swedish Pro Stock racer Jari Konola has reassured his fans that he is not retiring from drag racing even though he has not entered next week's FIA European Finals and has put his car up for sale.

"We are not planning to quit racing", say Jari and Crew Chief Sussie Bjorkman. "We were a bit disappointed after the race at Alastaro this year, and since we can't improve anything by going to Santa Pod, we decided to stay at home."

Jari will shortly be leaving for Houston to work with Nickens Racing. In the meantime, the current Avenger rolling chassis is for sale, and Jari and Sussie tell us that they are are aiming to get a new car for the 2002 season. Interested parties can find details on the Konola Racing web site at www.exder.se/konolaracing.

Larsson heads for 7.4s.
4th September: Swedish Pro Stock Bike racer Anders Larsson feels that he should break into the 7.4s at the European Finals, after going very close with a new personal best of 7.51 in testing at Alastaro at the weekend. "It's now only a matter of time", says Anders.

Anders and his team had made several changes to the bike and made five runs at the weekend, each quicker than the last. "The engine was fitted with new sleeves and piston rings, so the first two passes were 'break-in' runs. The off-the-trailer run was a 7.62, using break-in oil - compared to race oil it's like glue! We worked down to 7.51/178 mph with steady 1.14 sixty-foot times."

Anders has also worked on clutch settings. "We have found a set-up which works very well", he says. "We are not stuck on 1.14 sixty-foot times but as you know the event was cancelled on Sunday so we didn't get the chance to find the perfect set-up. But we are really close to sixty-foot times of 1.10 to 1.12."

For Anders, it is now a case of waiting patiently for the European Finals. "The bike is in the garage for its regular after-race service, and it will be ready for shipping this weekend.", he says.

Final NDRS standings.
4th September: Our good friends at Svensk Dragracing have now posted on their web site the preliminary final points standings in the Nordic Drag Racing Series, which finished at the weekend. Congratulations to all of the winners!

You can find the NDRS points standing on the Svensk Dragracing web site at www.dragracing.se.

Web site updates.
4th September: The FB Racing website at www.fbracing.co.uk has been updated with the latest Custom Car Street Eliminator points standings and a report from last weekend's round at Shakespeare County Raceway. "I'd like to take this opportunity to apologise for the lack of updates on the site recently", says webmaster and CCSE racer Ian Hook. "Holidays, work commitments and a state of depression over the bent '34 have all played their part. We are back on the case now so things will improve!"

NDRS decided by track.
3rd September: This year's Finnish Hot Rod Association Finals, which was the final round of the Nordic Drag Racing Series for all classes except Junior Dragster, was ended prematurely after traction problems with one lane of the strip at Alastaro. The FHRA track crew did everything they could but the race eventually had to be called when time ran out to complete eliminations.

We were sorry to hear that Finnish Super Gas racer Vesa Raiski had a top end crash in his Championship-winning '34 Ford yesterday, but glad to learn that he escaped with only minor injuries. Here's hoping that Vesa returns to the track very soon.

You can find a Finnish-language report and qualifying on the Finnish Hot Rod Association web site at www.fhra.fi, and Swedish and English reports and qualifying on the Svensk Dragracing web site at www.dragracing.se. The Svensk Dragracing web site will also post the final NDRS standings when the points have been ratified.

The NDRS Junior Dragster title was decided at a separate event at Mantorp Park, Christoffer Jädersten taking the win. Congratulations Christoffer! Again, you can find more details on the Svensk Dragracing web site.

Halinen into the Fives.
3rd September: Congratulations to Finland's recently-licenced Mad Bomber TMD driver Jari Halinen on making it into the Fives at Alastaro on Saturday on what was only his third full pass. Jari recorded a best of 5.92; Crew Chief Simo Patoharju and the team had the car set up for a 5.8 yesterday but didn't get the chance to run.

You can read more details on the official Mad Bomber web site at www.madbomberracing.fi.

Drachten pictures.
3rd September: The Explosion Drag Racing Club web site at www.explosion.nl has been updated with a large number of pictures from the weekend's Dragten Finals at Drachten in Holland. There is a wide range of high-quality shots from pitside to on-track and everything in between - don't miss them.

Web site updates.
3rd September: The UK's Time Machine race team have moved web site addresses to www.eurodragster.com/timemachineracing. The Gleadow Family web site covers the team's current Junior Dragster, a history of previous race cars, news, photo gallery, links, and much more.

Shell Racing take paired win.
2nd September: UK Top Methanol and Junior Dragster team Shell Racing had a very successful weekend at Super Series 4 last week, winning both of their classes and taking second place in the MSA British Top Methanol Championship. Crew Chief Martyn Hannis writes with some details of a very busy weekend:

"Many of you may know that we have been working with HTV Television on a programme featuring drag racing, to be shown sometime in October. Last weekend HTV were with Shell Racing to conclude the filming. After two qualifying sessions, one with an onboard camera, we were in third spot. Fuel pump pressure was giving us some problems, so we decided to change the fuel pump overnight to a bigger 22 gpm pump. To accommodate this bigger pump a relief system had to be made up to relieve approximately ten gallons of fuel away and back to the tank.

"A no show from Darryl Bradford in round one of eliminations gave us the chance to do a test launch to see if our fuel adjustments were somewhere near - and they certainly were, straight on with the Pro Light at 8600 and a recall on the rev counter of 9800 rpm. Dougs comment was I think weve got ourselves a race car!

"Round two, and we couldnt believe our luck with another no-show, this time from Rob Turner. As this run would guarantee us a place in the final, we were taking no chances. No burn out, straight into stage to take the green light and the win, then down to be weighed. If Doug had done a burn out he would have been told to shut it off because, as he launched the car, a spark plug shot out the head into the air.

"What more could we ask for, both Doug and Joe in the Finals. There was one concern; by now it was getting very close to the track curfew time! A quick word in the Race Director's ear and we were told to tow down the centre of the fire-up road to the front and they would fit us in as soon as possible. Dave Wilson had broken, so we were asked just to stage and take a green to take the win to save time. We took the green and the win, and this gave us the points we needed for Doug to finish runner up in the MSA British Top Methanol Championship. Joe also won his final to take Junior Dragster.

"As John Price commented: 'Shell Racing have now left the arena'."

You can find more details on the Shell Racing web site at www.eurodragster.com/shellracing.

More Super Series 4 reports.
2nd September: The official web site of the UK's Nemesis Top Methanol Dragster team has been updated with Crew Chief (and drag racing's latest TV star) Andy Bissett's inside account of their weekend at Super Series 4. After every race we think that Andy has surpassed himself with his report, and every race he comes back and posts an even better account - and he's done it again this time. Don't miss it at www.eurodragster.com/nemesisracing.

Web site updates.
2nd September: UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Andy Carter's official web site has had a complete makeover. The new version of the site looks very professional indeed and includes news, a biography of Andy, photo gallery, team run-down, details on the car, and a lot more. Check it out at www.andycarter.net. Webmaster Dan Welberry promises more updates to the site as the FIA European Finals approach.

The official web site of Swedish Pro Stock team AC Delco Racing has been updated with a number of crew member Magnus Cato's photographs from Michael Malmgren and the team's tour in the USA in 2000. There are pictures both at and away from the track making a very interesting collection. You can find the AC Delco Racing web site at www.acdracing.net.

Sweden's Markus Ek has a great photographic web site at ek.nitrodox.net. Markus' pictures are very good indeed, and his site is currently home to more than one thousand photographs from the 2001 season in Sweden. Don't miss it.

The Feel The Noise web site at www.feel-the-noise.com has been updated with a number of digital photographs and video grabs from last weekend's Super Series 4 at Shakespeare County Raceway, including pictures of Smax Smith's double fireball in his Mainline Menace Fuel FC.

News from www.dragracing.de:

Achtung - wir haben ab sofort einen neuen Market auf der Drag Racing Seite. Solltest Du Anzeigen im alten Markt haben bertrage Sie bitte in den neuen Market wenn sie noch aktuell sind. Der alte Store wird am 15.09.01 gelscht. Alle alten Anzeigen sind dann auch futsch.

Der neue Market bietet mehr Vorteile:
  • Anzeigen selber modifizieren und lschen
  • Fotos hinzufgen
  • Direkt beantworten
  • Suchfunktionen
  • mehr Kategorien
  • direktes Antworten auf Anzeigen
Also nicht wie ndern. Ihr braucht die alten Anzeigen nicht lschen. Das machen wir fr Euch!

Earlier news


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