European Drag Racing News

Wild Bunch Championship outcomes.
30th September: This weekend's UK National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway will decide the remaining two of this year's four Wild Bunch series, says Race Co-ordinator Claire Meaddows.

"Tony Smith with The Cunning Plan Minivan altered won the Ultimate Power Series at the Allstar Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway", says Claire, "with Joe Stevens with the Back in Black 23T altered runner-up. Joe won the Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series for the third year in a row at the Hot Rod Drags, with newcomer Steve Field in The Black Pig altered finishing runner-up. Many congratulations to all of them (Hear, hear - Ed)! The Hot Rod Drags was a great event for most of the Wild Bunch with ten of the twenty drivers present running Personal Best ETs or Speeds on the Sunday, including Paul Croston posting the first eleven-second pass in the B'Sting Topolino altered and Tony Smith, Tony Wynne-Jones (Welsh Raider 2 Radical) and Steve Field breaking into the low eleven-second range. Joe Stevens posted Fastest mph of the Bunch with a PB of 137.23 mph, and newcomer Neil Ward the Quickest E.T. with a 9.607 in the Andromeda slingshot. For this and other race reports see the Wild Bunch web site, Tony Smith's web site at www.cunningplan.net, Chris Hartnell's web site at www.backdraftdragracing.co.uk, and the Team Twisted web site at www.teamtwisted.co.uk.
©Eurodragster.com
The Wild Bunch will be concluding their two major Series this coming weekend: the Wild Bunch Series and the series backed by our main contingency sponsor, the Real Steel Series. Many thanks to Real Steel once again for all their support and great race parts (which some drivers have made use of several times this year!). There are twelve Wild Bunch cars entered for the National Finals, which include the top seven contenders in each Series.

"The Wild Bunch Series is very finely poised after six of seven events, with the top five drivers all gaining five bonus points for attending all the rounds. Tony Smith goes into the event leading the Series by just one point over Joe Stevens, thirty eight points to thirty seven points. Also close is the race for third and fourth places, with rookie driver Mike Cresswell in the Living the Dream slingshot on thirty one points, veteran team B'Sting on twenty nine points and rookie Helen Smythe in the Hell's Belle 23T altered on twenty eight points. Both of the current top two have won the Wild Bunch Series before, Tony in 1997 and Joe in 2002, and both are hungry to be the first repeat Wild Bunch Champion and have the honour of wearing WB 1 on their car next season!

"The Real Steel Series is equally as close after nine of ten events. Tony Smith is also leading this one with forty two points, with Joe Stevens second by only one point, so the pair have been pretty dominant all round this season. Third and fourth places are also close with Chris Hartnell doing well on thirty four points (despite blowing an engine mid-July!) and Team B'Sting on thirty three points, so there's still a lot to play for! Can Smithy achieve another Perfect ET? He's already done it twice this year! Can Smokin' Joe carry on improving his reaction times? Can 'Crazy' Chris put in some storming runs with Backdraft's new engine in his tenth anniversary season? Can the 'Sting boys repeat their elevens and lower the ET even more? And can the rookies get amongst the top four?

"All of these questions will be answered on Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! Good luck to all the drivers! Can't wait!"

A fix in time.
30th September: UK Super Pro ET racers Roger and Dave Moore will be racing at this weekend's UK National Finals after a lot of work to repair the axle and gearbox on their crowd-pleasing Shakespeare Engineering-backed Triumph Herald.

"The pinion gear was ripped out of the axle in the first round of eliminations at the European Finals, causing the engine to hit the rev limiter which caused a nitrous pop damaging the new scoop and the repainted front (sorry Dave)", says Roger Moore. "The force of the propshaft coming out of the axle also damaged the Lenco transmission.

"A big Thank You to Andy Robinson Race Cars, Paul Letchford, and Dave Milam of She Devil Racing for all their help."

Frost survives nightmare.
30th September: The last few weeks have been frantic at the HQ of Custom Car Street Eliminator racer Andy Frost. Andy tells us that the mid-season engine freshen on his eight-second Red Victor Vauxhall turned into a bit of a nightmare.

"Disaster struck on the very first pass at the Allstar Nationals when it was discovered that we had nipped two pistons", says Andy. "That made a total of one run this season on eight cylinders and that was for an eighth mile! Back in the pits we took the decision to carry on regardless due to our Championship position. After getting knocked out in the semi-final (therefore losing our second place to Splinter) we resolved to get the engine stripped ASAP and get the parts ordered straight away.
©Eurodragster.com
"A call to Peter Knight at Knight Racing Services was all that was needed to get the ball rolling on that score. Unfortunately the US side didn't play ball, causing us to miss the European Finals (sob) and the Webster Race Engineering Test Day.This has cost us valuable track time not only for the Championship but for the World Street Race in Louisiana 2005. Luckily for me Tony Grayston came to the rescue on Sunday, travelling all the way from Preston to get the engine built and fired up ready for the coming battle at the National Finals.

"As I'm lying third, and still with a good chance of winning, our whole team will be pulling out all the available stops. There certainly won't be any pussyfooting around from this side of the fence and as we'll hopefully have eight cylinders for the whole of the meeting (subject to a mistake-free weekend), expect to see PBs aplenty. I'm also sure you'll see exactly the same attitude from all the other contenders this weekend which will make for an exciting finale to the CCSE season...roll on Friday!"

WSR adds sponsor.
30th September: Andy Frost also tells us that a new sponsor has been added to the World Street Race, which takes place at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, next March.

"Jon Aldridge Automotive, a high-class accident repair shop (01902 459549), have signed up to be a part of the World Street Race", says Andy. "Many thanks to them for supporting us."
©Eurodragster.com
The official web site of the World Street Race has moved to www.worldstreetrace.tk and has been given a facelift by Darren James (aka Flapper).

Sheavills' project growing.
30th September: If you were tuned in on 4th September you will have read about the launch of the Fansfueler scheme, which aims to put the UK's Barry Sheavills back in the seat of a Top Fuel Dragster by collecting a large number of small contributions from fans and backers rather than relying on a small number of large sponsors.

Chris Parker of the project team says that the campaign is going very well, with a significant amount of pledges from nitro fans all over the UK and the amount now rising on a daily basis. The project team have also been contacted by a number of corporate sponsors but have stressed that they still need the continued support of drag racing fans to ensure that they reach the minimum required.
©Eurodragster.com
"The Fansfueler team will all be attending the National Finals this weekend, and we will be basing ourselves once again in the hospitality unit", says Chris. "So if anyone wants to make a pledge or just come for a chat with Barry and the team and see how we're doing, we'll be in the pits somewhere...hopefully somewhere near Boaters for a sly toastie when no-one's looking!

"I've also given the official web site at www.fansfueler.co.uk a quick update, and added a progress report page with a dragstrip totaliser so that fans can keep track of how we are doing week by week.

"We'd like to thank everyone who has pledged to date. We will send confirmation of postal and E-Mail pledges to prospective Fansfueler club members as soon as we have the membership database up-to-date."

Swift snippets.
30th September: Gittli Koller of Peter Schöfer Racing has been in touch to thank the all of the Eurodragster readers who sprang to her aid after yesterday's appeal for photographs from Gardermoen. "I got about twenty photos of our truck from readers in five different countries", says Gittli. "I really appreciate the help of Eurodragster and their readers. I know how much work it is to check through lots of photographs to find one you want. I was very pleased to have so much support". We would like to thank our own thanks to our readers for coming up trumps yet again.
©Eurodragster.com
Web site updates.
30th September: Sweden's Anders Envall has updated his Blackout Full Size Racing web site with a report of his trip to the FIA European Finals where he briefly competed in Pro ET in his street-legal SS Impala before suffering crank damage which disrupted his plans to drive back to Sweden. Where the rest of us would take the chance to have a moan, Anders' report (and indeed his whole web site) makes very entertaining reading and is illustrated with some great photographs including Anders' brief stint masquerading as Rob Roy. Check it out at www.blackout.nu.

From photo-journalist Andy Kirk comes a great new internet magazine covering American car culture. Drag, Rod and Classic Review is the name of Andy's thoroughly-professional offering whose first issue offers the race fan features on Andy Carter, Top Fuel and Pro Mod at the FIA European Finals, and a detailed history of the UK's first Pro Fuel Dragster, Commuter. There are also features on the US Echidna sports car, the NSRA Supernationals, Bonneville, and Gary McCormack's five-window Coupe. Check it out at www.drcreview.com.
©Eurodragster.com
The Greek-language Hellenic Dragster web site has moved URLs to www.dragnews.gr. "The ownership of our old address dragster.gr is claimed by someone else", says Elias Vathias, "and until the issue is finally settled we invite you to honor us by visiting our new address, the new home page of Greek Drag Racing."

Eurodragster Photo Editor Sharkman has been burning the midnight oil and has updated his personal web site Sharkman's Top End Tales with no less than 108 Windows wallpaper files from the FIA European Finals. "The wallpaper files are available in both 800x600 and 1024x768", says Sharkman. "They include quite a large number of night shots, particularly of the Pro Mods, Top Fuel Bike and Nitro Harley. I don't normally recommend specific shots, but this time be sure to check out the shot of Charley Karling in the dark, going past the Tree up on the bars, with header flames running half the length of the bike!". You can check out Sharkman's wallpapers at www.topendtales.com.

Hansen grabs last test chance.
29th September: Danish Pro Stock racer Jackie Hansen took the chance for some end-season testing when he contested the Extreme Outlaw class at the Winternationals at Meca Raceway at the weekend.

"We don't have a chance to test when we are out at the FIA races", says team member Henrik Lund. "We wanted to test the motor with VP's C-25 leaded fuel which the motor is designed for, and not the SV-05 which we have to run here in Europe. The car was set up as it was at Gardermoen, where we had a great clutch set-up.

"We went out for the first round at Meca, and totally spun the clutch! We made two more runs in which we gradually added more clutch. We found the right combination on our fourth pass, which was the first round of eliminations against Kent Trenneman on Sunday. The motor made much more power than we thought it would with the C-25 fuel! So that was why we haven't been able to run close to the ETs which Tom Hammonds drove with the car."

Your News Editor was tuned into Meca's excellent webcam on Sunday and spotted Jackie running against Michael Malmgren. Henrik tells us that this was a test pass after Jackie went out to Kent, and Michael had had ignition problems earlier forcing him to miss his second-round race. "We found it natural to have a match race", says Henrik. "We were at Michael's pit helping him out with his ignition problem, as he had only two team members with him. We tried hard to get the car ready for the second round, only to just miss it, and Michael only just made it for the test run against us. I think Micke redlit because he was out of breath, after running to the pairing lanes where we and his two team members had taken his car.

"After the run we could only laugh about it. It is great to have such a good fellowship between teams. That is what makes drag racing such a great sport - the social part of it.

"There is no doubt that we will use Meca Raceway next year to do some pre-season testing, since it is a very good track.

"We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the people who make all the European races happen.Without them none of us would be able to do what we are doing. Thanks also to all the other Pro Stock teams for being such great friends, and so helpful. Thanks to our sponsors Jerry's for all the food we ate this year (burp!), and to Pennzoil and Trim-Line for their support, thank you for a great season.

"We were very pleased to end this season in third place, so next year it will be PRO 3 on the car. We'll be back!"

NAST Championship outcomes.
29th September: With the UK National Finals fast approaching, three of the four Champions are already decided in the UK's National Association of Supertwins Championships, says Championship Co-ordinator Sue Beneke. However, the Champion in Supertwin Top Fuel and the runners-up in all four classes will be decided at Santa Pod Raceway this weekend.

"Mark Earrey is already Champion in Street, Simon Hodgson the Champion in Modified, and George Laycock the Champion in Top Gas", says Sue (Congratulations Mark, Simon and George - Ed).

"Chris Mott is trying to hang on to the number two in Street, but with Ian Radanke hard on his heels and only eighty points behind, he will have to do better than at the last meeting when he was riding a substitute bike. Ian has been improving all season, and even with his own V-rod back in action Chris will have to watch out.

"Modified is even more closely-contested with a mere ten points between Barrie Gregory and Tim Boutle. Dave Bartz is having a season out this year, but did enter the Allstar Nationals having got the taste again after running at the Bulldog Bash, and with his usual style managed to get halfway up the Championship ladder in just one meeting. Another newcomer to watch is Tony Legge whom I can see doing very well indeed next year.
©Eurodragster.com
"Unless there is an upset, Andy Smith should retain the number two plate in Top Gas, with Les Harris trying hard to catch up - I told you that 123 was the plate for you Les, not 12 as you requested, it means you just need to blank out the first two numbers for next year.

"The only Supertwins class still wide open is Top Fuel, with ninety five points between the first and third position. So whoever wins the finals wins the Championship.

"Let's hope that there are no problems at the weekend."

UK National Finals update.
29th September: Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall has been in touch to let racers know that Santa Pod Raceway's gates will be opening at 5:00 pm this Friday (1st October) for this weekend's UK National Finals.
©Eurodragster.com
Update 11:45 We are also indebted to Paula and to Santa Pod's Race Director Darren Prentice for supplying the provisional running order for qualifying on Saturday. As ever, the running order is subject to change due to weather or track conditions, or for any other reason deemed necessary by race officials. You can view Saturday's running order by clicking here, or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page and selecting the UK National Finals link.

Paula has also kindly sent us an updated version of the entry list for this weekend's race, which you can view by clicking here, or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page and selecting the UK National Finals link.

Points update.
29th September: We are indebted to Volkswagen Drag Racing Club Championship Co-ordinator Spencer Tramm for sending us the post-Allstar Nationals points standings in the three VWDRC Championships. You can view the VWDRC standings by clicking here, or by clicking on the Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page.
©Eurodragster.com
We hope to be able to publish the latest UK National Championship standings very shortly.

Ford weekender.
29th September: If you're not headed to this weekend's UK National Finals but you fancy a weekend in the company of Fords then you can make tracks for Shakespeare County Raceway where LA Performance Services are presenting the Fordsport festival, wihch they are billing as "The biggest and fastest Ford event of the year".

Fordsport features a Ford-themed Run What You Brung, a Show and Shine with trophies in several categories, trade stands, evening entertainment and a funfair.

Providing the on-track demo action are the Outlaw Anglias, Neil Townson and Pete Radcliffe in their blown-alcohol altereds, and Roger Goring and Ian Caseley in the Firestorm Jet FC and Roadzombie 2 Jet Dragster respectively.
©Eurodragster.com
The track is open for RWYB between 10:00 am and 6:00 pm on Saturday, and 11:00 am and 5:00 pm on Sunday. Entry is �12 per day or �22 for the weekend. Track fees for the Run What You Brung are �15 per day or �25 for the weekend; a valid DVLC licence must be produced and a crash helmet must be worn (the track has a limited number of crash helmets for hire).

For more details about Fordsport check out the event's web site at www.fordweekender.co.uk or call LA Performance Services on 01803 554308.

Picture sought by PSR.
29th September: Our good friend Gittli Koller of Germany's Peter Schöfer Racing has been in touch to ask if any Eurodragster reader can help with a particular photograph.

"I am hoping that someone has some pictures from Gardermoen, which look back on the line-up", says Gittli. "Our truck was next to the line-up, the Turners' truck was next to ours, so not in front of it. We had the Norfolkline banner on our windscreen of the truck, but I didn't take any pictures, and I need one for Norfolkline."
©Eurodragster.com
If you can help Gittli with a picture of the P-S-R truck with Norfolkline banner, then please drop her a line at dragrace.bdrc@t-online.de.

New management for Fastco-UK.
29th September: UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Smax Smith has announced that Ian Pellant has purchased his company Fastco-UK.

"Fastco-UK has been successfully providing European racers and motorsport enthusiasts with new and used American street and hard core race parts for over five years, and as I am off to Canada I thought that this would be a good time to welcome Ian into the business", says Smax. "Ian is a Top Fuel mechanic who has worked on the heads on my Top Fueller this year, but he knows his way around race cars also having worked for Rune Fjeld in the past. Ian has purchased the Fastco business from me and will continue to provide quality service to europeans boasting a forty eight hour direct service from the USA.
©Eurodragster.com
"I will source the best deals for Ian North America and I hope that this servies UK-based racers etc. in a much better way. Ian is based in Northampton, near Santa Pod Raceway, and can be contacted on 07977 040985 or E-Mail ianpellant@aol.com.

"I would like to thank all Fastco customers for their past business and wish Ian good vibes for the future. Support those who support drag racing"

Birth and Birthdays.
29th September: Many congratulations to UK Pro ET racer Al Didwell and wife Leigh on the birth of their son Bradley who arrived last Thursday. "I am sure that Alan will introduce Bradley to the drag strip very soon" says Paula Garlick, who kindly got in touch with the great news.
©Eurodragster.com
Slightly belated Happy Birthdays to Marcie Motler of the UK's Spellbound Pro ET team, and Santa Pod Raceway's Chief Marshal Steve Horn and timing crew member Andy Marrs, all of whom have celebrated birthdays in the last week.

We're sure that everyone will join Sharkman and Tog in sending their congratulations to Al and Leigh, and best wishes to Marcie, Steve and Andy.

Web site updates.
29th September: The official web site of German Top Methanol Dragster team Peter Schöfer Racing has been updated with an account of the team's weekend at the FIA European Finals. You can reach the report via the Home Page for each language at www.p-s-r.com.
©Eurodragster.com
Our good buddy Patrik Jacobsson has updated the Racebilder web site with more than two hundred pictures from the weekend's Winternationals at Meca Raceway. Check out Patrik's great pictures at www.racebilder.nu.

UK Wild Bunch racer Tony Smith will again be running a Guess Who contest on his web site this year from 9th November to 5th April, with a break from 21st December to 3rd January. "I will keep the same format which has worked so well for the past two years, by posting pictures of parts of race cars and bikes which raced during 2004", says Tony. This year's winner will get a trophy from Paul Bland at Avondale Composites and a ride in John Sleath's Custom Car Street Eliminator Audi Coupe race car during one of next season's Cruises. "If you would like to included in this year's competition then please E-Mail me at cunningplan@btinternet.com", says Tony. "Full rules can be found at www.cunningplan.net/rules.html."

The Feel The Noise web site at www.feel-the-noise.com has been updated with over seven hundred pictures from the FIA European Finals. "As usual, the latest uploads can easily be found by following the red and green dots in the category listing or by clicking on the Recent additions link", says Bob Valder. "Anni would like to say Thanks for all the Get Well messages following her back injury. She's still off work and doing her best to hobble around."

WSR racers in funds Bid.
27th September: Fund-raising efforts are underway to assist the passage of the four UK racers taking part in the World Street Race at Baton Rouge, USA, next March. The WSR will pit street-legal racers from the UK, USA and Canada against one another to decide who has the quickest truly street-legal race car, and Trevor Kitney has written to let us know about the latest scheme to defray the costs for Andy Frost, Steve Pateman, Ian Hook and Steve Kellett.

"We are having a WSR Auction on E-Bay, the world's favourite auction site", says Trev. "We are gathering donations between now and the event, and they will start to be listed on E-Bay towards the end of October, after everyone returns from the Orlando Street Nationals.
©Eurodragster.com
"All donations would be gratefully accepted, and they don't have to be valuable, or even be car or race related. Anything your readers can give will be a real support to the British team. We've already had quite a few donations, from a Haynes Manual for a Ford Transit Diesel, to one of Fatty's front wheels from his accident at the 'Pod, now made into a clock.

"The e-mail for contributions is worldstreetrace@fsmail.net. Please send a photo and/or description of your item with a suggested opening bid, and also say whether you are prepared to sort the posting or shipping, or you would like us to do it.

"If you have nothing to donate, then bid on something which has been donated! I've seen Children In Need, I know how it works! The E-Bay identity is worldstreetrace (original huh?) so keep checking the site for any offerings.

"If the Brits are going to kick butt then they need your help!"

A word to Pro ET's sponsors.
27th September: UK Pro ET racer Carl Burton has been in touch to thank all of the sponsors who have supported Pro ET this season.

"Thanks to WASP, Real Steel, Hauser Race Cars, Black Bear Harley Davidson, Webster Race Engineering and Andy Robinson Race Cars for their support this year", says Carl. "I think I can speak for most, and I say that qualifying has been that much more fun with a trophy up for grabs. Sponsors are lining up nicely for 2005, more stickers to run boys and girls!
©Eurodragster.com
"A few of us have had a costly year, some more than most, but the class has had a great turnout this year and I'm sure that next year will be the same."

Carl asked us to add a big Get Well Soon to his and Ivan Birch's crew member Richard Cawthown, who recently suffered a motor bike crash. We second that, Richard, we look forward to seeing you back at the track very soon.

Swift snippets.
27th September: John Munday writes that Phil Sweeney is the new owner of the Meteor Ford V6-powered nostalgia slingshot. "I know that Phil will get a warm welcome from the Wild Bunch", says John.
©Eurodragster.com
Last weekend for Perfect Awards.
27th September: �125 is up for grabs at this weekend's UK National Finals, which is the last eligible event in the 2004 Eurodragster Perfect Awards scheme. Eurodragster.com and our partners Speedflow and Curbishley Automotive will be posting prize money as follows:

The Eurodragster.com/Speedflow Perfect Light Award: The Perfect Light fund has been reset to �50 after Super Street racer Leigh Morris pulled a 0.000 RT at the FIA European Finals. The money will be awarded to the first racer this weekend to record a perfect Reaction Time of 0.000. The Eurodragster.com/Speedflow Perfect Light Award is open to all classes and is jointly presented by Eurodragster.com and high-performance hose and fitting supplier Speedflow. Speedflow have recently relocated to Bristol and can be contacted on 0870 225 0097, or visit their web site at www.speedflow.co.uk for full contact details and product range.
©Eurodragster.com
The Eurodragster.com/Curbishley Automotive Perfect ET Award: The Perfect ET fund has rolled over to �75 after it was not claimed at the FIA European Finals. The money will be awarded to the first racer this weekend to run to the thousandth on their class index or dial-in. The Eurodragster.com/Curbishley Automotive Award is open to all ET classes, all Super classes, Junior Dragster, all VW classes, the Wild Bunch, 9.90 Bike and 10.90 Bike, and is jointly presented by Eurodragster.com and UK automotive painter and finisher Curbishley Automotive, owned by Martin and Ruth Curbishley. If you would like your race vehicle painted by Curbishley Automotive then contact Martin Curbishley by E-Mail at mcbrogieroadster@aol.com or call him on 07812 942097.

Web site updates.
27th September: Richard Stirling has updated his Top Nitro fan site with a large number of photographs from the Veidec Nitro Festival and the FIA European Finals, together with audio clips of the final rounds at the Veidec Nitro Festival. Check it out at www.topnitro.co.uk.
©Eurodragster.com
CCSE far from finalised.
26th September: The countdown is on for the final round of the Custom Car/Brantwood Auto Breakers Street Eliminator Championship, which takes place at next week's UK National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway. Four racers can take the 2004 Championship, says Co-ordinator Lee Child, and not one of the top ten places is secured so there is still everything to play for.

"Ian Jackson with the Silver Fox Racing Corvette (4300 points) has maintained the points lead since mid-May", says Lee, who jointly sponsors Eurodragster's Links pages through LA Racing Parts. "The victory at the American Car World Nationals boosted the Surrey driver�s Championship hopes when he knocked Andy Frost (3880) off the points lead. But the pressure is on big time, as four drivers can take the title.

"With an outside chance, Colin Lazenby (3125) has got take all his lucky charms to Santa Pod and hope for a no-show from Ian Jackson. Steve Nash, aka Splinter (3930), needs the Corvette and Andy Frost to go out early - but the Red Victor driver is thinking the same but with Splinter.
©Eurodragster.com
"Two hungry wolves, fresh from the European Finals, will be ready to upset everybody�s points: John Sleath who ran an 8.3 and Jerry Charles who ran a 9.0. Ex-Champion John Sleath is one tough racer and may force his opponent to pick a cherry. No nitrous, eight-second zone is on the menu for Jerry Charles and he may take out a few front-runners.

"Trust me, this round will have the biggest tune-ups, the most abuse on a Mickey Thompson Sportsman Pros, and close racing once again."

Racers: Send your UK National Finals previews to us at news@eurodragster.com and we'll publish them here.

From the launch pad.

26th September: If you were tuned in on Friday then you will have read the last-minute snippet that Carolynne Campbell was to test her new Laffin Gas Rocket Dragster at yesterday's Peak Performance day at Santa Pod Raceway (right, click on picture for large version). Carolynne has been in touch to let us know that although the car didn't make it down the track, she is very pleased with her day.

"Well, as I truly expected, we didn't fire properly at the line and went precisely nowhere", says Carolynne. "Apart from that, I was very pleased with how we did. Full system testing is impossible for us anywhere but at a race track, so we all knew that we were going to find out what we'd got wrong. Of course we were hoping for a good four-rocket launch.

We can't fuel the car in the workshop. In a residential area with homes either side, that would be a tad stupid. Whilst we did a full workshop pressure test with nitrogen to full pressure (just for safety checks) we couldn't operate the throttles. They are frightengly loud even without the burn. We get on very well with our neighbours but there are limits!

"We have been very lucky to add two top engineers to our team, Mark Fairhurst (who's a drag racer from way back) and his super lady Sarah. Mark and Sarah both work at BHR Group at Cranfield performing high-pressure testing on all kinds of serious plant for major industry from all over the planet. Mark is one of Europe's foremost test engineers in his field (fluid dynamics and other exotic stuff), Sarah is a chartered Mechanical Engineer. They're both very sharp! They've taken the youngsters on the team under their wing and are ensuring safe handling of some pretty dangerous stuff. The rest of the team - Rachel, Juan-Pablo, Simon and Susie - were brilliant yesterday. They had rehearsed hard and meticulously listed and learnt every phase of race prep. They're all bright and educated but have never raced before. They did everything by the book and worked their socks off. With the bad weather holding things up, our two-launch schedule had to be reduced to one. It was asking a lot to set up, fuel up and run and then repack what is as much kit as most top teams have, all in one day.
©Eurodragster.com
"We did learn a hell of a lot. There were things on the fuelling side which can be improved and all kinds of little niggles were spotted. It's quite a complicated car. At first we thought we simply had put too little nitrous in, as we didn't know how much would be gone before the rockets pressurised. When we had to de-pressurise for transportation, we discovered that the solenoids opening the throttles were really struggling and all of a sudden the throttles opened and out came the gas! Not a lot but at proper rate. I must point out that no ingnition was possible as the starter packs had been consumed at the line. We are sure that we would have had full ingnition has the throttle problem not occurred. Ah well - that's why you test.

"My partner David, who has had seven operations on his brain this year, several long and nasty hospital stays and two 999 admissions, was there to instruct and take note. God he's a tough cookie. It's amazing that we made it out at all with all that going on. Thanks to: Dave next door, Knut Söderquist, Geoff Hauser and Ray Eldred, Jon Webster, Ian Marshall, Kjell Pettersson and David Lloyd-Jones at the Pod, Barry from Cougar Hydraulics, Air Products, Olmes Advanced Materials, Titanium International (Nigel Hoskison), Rushden Graphics, Elite Racewear, John at Armour Fabrications, Rob Inglis and Rocket Ronnie."

Swift snippets.
26th September: We'd like to wish a very Happy Birthday to Santa Pod Raceway's Chief Starter Ian Marshall. Ian reaches "The age at which life begins" today and we are sure that all of Eurodragster's readers will join Tog and Sharkman in sending their best wishes to one of the most widely-respected men in European drag racing.
©Eurodragster.com
Swedish Pro Stock racer Michael Malmgren is having a successful weekend so far at the Winternationals at Meca Raceway. "Our times over the eighth are almost as good as at Santa Pod", says team member Magnus Cato. Magnus also tells us that Roger Johansson and Christer Jacobs have been running mid-fours over the eighth-mile track. The Winternationals continues today and a webcam is active on the SRIF web site at www.srif.se.

On the subject of webcams, Eurodragster's Event Coverage schedule has been updated with a Webster Race Engineering/MPM Oil webcam broadcast from the Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway in November.

UK National Finals update.
26th September: We are as ever indebted to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall for sending us an updated version of the entry list for next weekend's UK National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway. You can view the updated entry list by clicking here, or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page and selecting the UK National Finals link.
©Eurodragster.com
One of the changes in this version of the entry list is the withdrawal of Doug Ripley's CC Racing Top Methanol Funny Car. "We just can't make our new stuff fit in time", says Crew Chief Cliff Gould. "We have changed so much that we can't use our old stuff now. We really wanted to go, but we just can't make it happen."

Web site updates.
26th September: The official web site of the European Pro Mod Association at www.promod.nu has been updated with a new team page for German PM racer Norbert Kuno.
©Eurodragster.com
Blomer eyes record.
24th September: UK VW Pro racer Ken Blomer feared that his season was over when he suffered oil pressure problems at the FIA European Finals after breaking into the eights with his Karmann Ghia. The good news, though, is that the first VW doorslammer to run an eight in the UK will be at next week's UK National Finals.

"All oil pressure disappeared on my last run", says Ken. "I have spent the last two weeks stripping and rebuilding the engine, and I am happy to report that the damage was minor and that the motor is back in the car and all OK!"
©Eurodragster.com
Ken says that he and the Automanics team were more than happy to run eights for the first time of asking. "Our best run was only five tenths off the world record for a full-bodied air-cooled VW", says Ken. "All being well we intend to turn up the power some more at the National Finals.

"All this would not have been possible in our first year with the car if were not for my extremely hard-working crew, and the constant help with chassis set-up which I receive from Andy at Robinson Race Cars, thanks guys! I would also like to thank the guys of Super Pro ET who gave us a very warm welcome, we look forward to racing with you again next year!"

Changes benefit Määttä.
24th September: At the beginning of 2004, Finnish Funny Bike racer Asko Määttä didn't know if he could race because of a top end accident last season. Asko made it onto the track but he soon noticed some differences.

"I noticed that I concentrated more on every pass, and that I got off the throttle earlier in situations like top end wobble and shake", says Asko. "After each pass I decided that I had done the right thing."

Asko says that his combination of blow-through turbo, gasoline-powered GSX-EF 1327 with carbs wasn't anywhere near ready after last season. "Early this year I destroyed four turbos due to lubrication problems, but those were solved in two ways", he says. "Either an electric or mechanical oil pump and separate lubrication system for turbo. Now I use the electric ShurFlo pump supplied by Frenna Ab, Sweden.

"Mid-season I switched the turbo from Schwitzer to a Garrett GT-40 modified by ProTurbo Systems, Pori, Finland. It seems to be a step in the right direction but the turbo still needs some modifications to work as I hoped. In the late season the main problem was to get the pressure up right at the start, anyway we're going forwards all the time. When I managed to get the boost up early enough the Baldie's Gun III really picked the front wheel up and it came down in fourth gear! I'm sure that this will be the way to go next season and Sami at ProTurbo Systems can make it happen.
©Eurodragster.com
"The clutch tune-up wasn't that hard for the power produced, I only burned two sets of discs but had to push the limits on both ends of the tune-up. The engine combination proved its reliability, no broken parts in the engine or the five-speed auto transmission. I could use 2.2 bar (over 30 psi) turbo pressures at 30 degrees advance! I have occasionally used 2.5 bar (36 psi) with no damage.

"Thinking about it afterwards I'm sure that we could have had better results with the overall tune-up by making more radical steps throughout the season (fuel, boost, ignition, clutch etc).

"Anyway I made twenty eight passes in seven races and one test session, the best pass being the last one with a speed of well over 280 kph (over 180 mph); no time was recorded on that run, but according to the data logged it was deep in the seven second zone. And more than that: I have now a very good baseline for next season.

"Thanks to all of you supporting me and Baldie Racing this season: ProTurbo Systems, Kopparin Kukka, NeoBest, Orient Express and Baldie Racing and Media Relationships. Special thanks as always to my ever-supportive and patient wife Tepa."

Looking for a Stripper.

24th September: Ex-racer Clive Napier, who last raced about ten years ago, has been in touch to ask if Eurodragster readers can help him to find out what happened to his dragster (right, click on picture for larger colour photo).

"I sold the dragster, tow truck and trailer", says Clive. "The dragster was twenty one feet long, with a 318 ci Chrysler small block with a Predator carb. It had nitrous fitted when I sold it. It has an A904 auto trans modified to shift hard and at higher rpm, 24" slicks, Range Rover calipers and Volvo rear discs, narrowed Austin Westminster axle, Honda 50 rims on custom hubs at the front and a custom narrowed Austin Mini steering rack. The welded alloy fuel tank was under the seat. This dragster was built to be low, in fact it was only about twenty four inches high.
©Eurodragster.com
"It used to carry the number CD42 and then D62, and was signwriten The Stripper Drag Racing Team."

If you can help Clive with information about the Stripper, then please drop him a line at clive@timewarp-disco.co.uk.

Swift snippets.
24th September: Thanks to Rick Cuthbert of Trakbak Racing for letting us know that Carolyn Campbell will be making her first passes in her four-engined Laffin Gas Rocket Dragster at tomorrow's Peak Performance Day at Santa Pod. "No-one knows exactly what sort of performance to expect, but Carolyn has previously not been able to run the car due to the expected reaction from the four monster motors!", says Rick. Spectator entry to tomorrow's Peak Performance Day at Santa Pod is �12 on the gate or �10 advance on 01234 782828. For more information about Carolyn's Rocket Dragster, check our our news item of 7th March.
©Eurodragster.com
York points and positions.
24th September: Going into this weekend's UK Northern Finals at York Raceway, the points and positions are as follows, writes York PR Howard Holmes.

"In the Northern Drag Racing Championship's Pro ET bracket series, Bob Molden's White Noise Peugeot with 383 ci is currently in third place with 1725 points, with Russ Pursley (SB Chevy on nitrous in a Dutton) and Darren Peart (nitrous Rover V8 in a tubed out Manta) heading the field with 2750 and 2400 points respectively.

"In Sportsman ET, Nick France (Trans Am) goes into the finals leading the eighteen contenders, but with David Fox (El Camino 396 ci) snapping at his heels, just 350 points behind and Rick Johnson's Rover V8 Escort getting quicker every meeting and only 325 points behind, it's all there to be raced for on the day.

"There is every indication that Alan Perkins (Danger Zone Racing) will clinch 10.90 Bike again this year. A credit against adversity: one of the years first runs involved Al crossing the line before his bike did. He was on the bike when he left the lights, but left his bike behind in the rush to cross the line first! Earlier this month, Angie Perkins introduced a new crew member when Angie gave birth to an 8 lb 2 oz boy.

"In the Hot Rod Challenge series, the current top three positions are as Pro ET, but in reverse order! So it's Bob Molden leading Darren Peart and then Russ Pursley. This Sunday is important but not the Final, the final round of the Hot Rod Challenge is at York Raceway's next event, Ultimate Run Wot You've Brung, on 10th October.

"After domination by Craig Elliot in the first have of the season, Dave Billadeau is now leader of the pack In American Super Stock. This great series, which is now run as a bracket, has Dave running mid-tens in his Hemi-powered GTX and regularly attracts a diversity of classic American Muscle through to Samantha Carter running her Dodge truck with lightning reactions. Promoter Steve Murty also adds �100 prize money for the fastest reaction time for each round in this series.

"Nothing's in the bag until Sunday and it's all got to be raced and won. Should be a great day. And don't forget we're running the 'Rodders vs. Modders Shootout', so we'll find out who's the best drag racers, let's just beat them off the line okay?"
©Eurodragster.com
An ambition realised.

23rd September: If you were tuned in on Tuesday, you will remember that we promised you Johnny 'Mental' Hall's inside track on the début of the Windridge Hall McKenzie nostalgia Fueller, which was put together by Johnny and Bill Felstead at B + J Nostalgia. Johnny kindly took time out almost as soon as he got home to send us an account of the slingshot's first outing.

"Early last week, the car was still in pieces, the full aluminium bodywork was nearly finished, and we had decided that we would go to the Hot Rod Drags", says Johnny. "In our opinion it is the best meet of the year for nostalgia racing, with more and more people becoming aware of the growing vintage scene, especially from the mainstream car enthusiasts.

"Things came to a head when we couldn't come up trumps for a trailer, when in walked Brian Waskett, he of CCSE OO Camaro fame, and told us we would be welcome to borrow his thorty five foot Hallmark. At first we turned him down and thanked him, as we have never liked borrowing other people's kit. The next day, when Bill and I arrived at the workshop, we had both changed our minds and when Brian popped in later we told him we would take up his offer. Brian then explained that the tow hitch had a US-size ball and we would have to source a tow vehicle with said hitch. Well blow me down, who walked in but Jeff Thurston of Pro Street 66 Mustang fame, and upon hearing our dilemma offered to tow Brian's trailer with his Winnebago rig. There would be a catch, and that was that I would have to tow his 66 Mustang to Shakey. We jumped at the chance.

"We just about got all the mechanicals in by 11:00 on Thursday night, and by this stage Brian, Jeff and our buddy John Dewey where all working on the car. The unflappable Brian Waskett shimmed the on board starter for us (it only took three hours) and we decided to call it a night. Bill in the meantime had been giving the body panels a coat of satin black in another workshop and they would be ready for fitting in the morning. The only thing we didn't have time to make was the wheelie bars. We just plodded on Friday morning as all around us the people who where going to Shakey popped in on their way to wish us luck, and by 4:00 pm Bill and I were ready to give the car a quick fire-up on petrol before we packed it into Brian's trailer. By this stage we where dog tired and grumpy and starting to make mistakes, and couldn't get the thing to fire (basic mistake), and with Brian and Jeff's help packing the trailers during heavy rain we weere ready to leave by 9:00 pm, eventually arriving at the track by 12.30 after stopping on the M40 to change a punctured tyre on the trailer.
©Eurodragster.com
"On Saturday morning we were all doing checks all over the car with Mark Windridge, Fuzzy McKenzie, Nathan and Eddie taking over and then Bill arrived bright and breezy as ever - this guy has nitro in his veins - and by midday we had fired her up and warmed her on petrol, and going over the last details before we fed the nitro into the cylinders. I was looking forward to realising an ambition I had had since I was twelve years old, and that was to be sitting in a nitro slingshot with fire in the pipe. We spun her up on petrol again for a short while and Bill nodded to push the fuel lever and within a few moments there were flames everywhere, and we where all gobsmacked at the sound a 350 ci motor on Fuel made. I had the biggest grin of my life, but no one could see as I had my full firesuit and fuel mask on. Bill gave me the signal to shut the fuel off and then there was silence, and lots of back slapping.

"We spent the rest of the day checking and rechecking then eventually got out on track on Sunday, with strict orders from Bill just to do a burnout and not to back up and go into stage. I told him that I could just do a high gear launch, and he told me to stop being a muppet and do as I was told, OK Bill! We fired her up, blipped it in the water, rolled forward and nailed it, but it didn't seem quite right. I still went up the track even though one of the injectors was covering me in fuel and the engine died when I turned onto the collection area. It turned out that the fuel shutoff had moved on the burnout and starved the engine of fuel. Later that afternoon we had fixed the problems, gave it some more timing and gave Nathan a new job: after we fired it up he had to racer-tape the lever in the open position.

"We went down to the back wall (right) and waited for the very efficient Bev to give us the signal to put fire in the pipe. By this stage we had gained confidence and after Nathan had taped the lever I rolled her through the water and gave it some leg. I could immediately tell that I had loads more power and this time it was stronger all the way on the burnout. I just wish we could have made a pass and if we had made the bars we would have done so.

"I would like to thank Brian Waskett, Jeff Thurston, John and Yvette Dewey, Mark Windridge, Dave 'Fuzzy' McKenzie, Nathan, Eddie, Kev 'Antfood' Bulmer, Jeff, Chris and Bonnie Bennett and a load of other people that I haven't mentioned, but most of all I have to thank Bill 'Fester' Felstead. Thanks Bill."

You shall go to the ball...
23rd September: If you were tuned in last week then you will recall that FIA European Finals Pro ET winner and race car builder Chris Isaacs' season was over after he suffered engine damage at the race. Chris has been in touch to tell us that he has now done a deal to drive another car and that he will be back in competition at next week's UK National Finals at Santa Pod.
©Eurodragster.com
"After confirming our suspected motor damage, I had resigned myself to ending my season and not being able to compete in the Twentieth Anniversary Super Gas shootout at the National Finals", says Chris. "However, in the last few days Jeff Bull and I have got our heads together and hatched a cunning plan, the upshot being that Jeff has offered me a ride in his new '68 Camaro race car for a shot at the prize money. All we have to do now, following Jeff's excellent 8.1-second runs at the Hot Rod Drags, is slow it down enough!

"I would like to say a big thanks to Jeff and Belinda for trusting me with their car, hopefully between us we can win back some of the money we are all putting up! Thanks also to everyone who phoned and faxed with kind words after the European Finals."

WRE Test Day notes.
23rd September: The final Webster Race Engineering Test Day of 2004 took place yesterday at Santa Pod Raceway and saw some very impressive performances despite a cold track and a strong crosswind. Chief Timekeeper and honorary Eurodragster.com staff member Steve Horn kindly gave us a summary of yesterday's action.

Super Modified racer Craig Gibbs quickly recovered from what sounded like a monumental nitrous burp afrer a wheels-up launch to record a personal best (by a country mile) of 8.033/163.66 in the Obsession Camaro. Martin Curbishley made his first outing in a Super Comp rail purchased from Norwegian racer Yngve Solberg; after a number of shakedown passes under the gaze of Jon Webster, Martin recorded passes of 8.463/158 and a personal best of 8.378/158.45. Also clocking a personal best was Super Comp and Super Gas racer Malcolm Francis whose Air Sea Logistics Pontiac Grand Am ran a fine 8.072/168.41 under the eye of car builder Andy Robinson.
©Eurodragster.com
Super Street Bike racer Steve Venables had a new engine in his Kawasaki and was concentrating on the first eighth, running a best of 8.241/180.0. Steve is headed for the USA in a few weeks' time. Custom Car Street Eliminator racers Ian Jackson and Ian Hook were concentrating on the first sixty feet whilst Pro ET racers Carla Pittau and Rick McCann were also in attendance testing their Championship-leading Heaven and Hell Camaro.

Steve also mentions the appearance of a new car, a Ford Pop driven by Richard Colby. "Richard has built the car himself over twelve years", says Steve. "It really looks the part, lowered and with a very nice purple paintjob with flames on the front arches. Richard is taking it very sensibly and got the car down the track which was his aim for the day."

SPRC Dinner Dance now booking.
23rd September: Courtesy of Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall, the official booking form for the 2005 SPRC Dinner Dance is now available on the SPRC web site.

The SPRC Dinner Dance takes place at 7:30 pm on Saturday 5th February 2005 and is again to be held at the Bedford Moat House. Dinner will be followed by the presentation of Championship trophies and Perpetual Awards and a disco.
©Eurodragster.com
Dinner Dance tickets are �25; no disco-only tickets are available. If you are planning to stay overnight then SPRC have negotiated with the Moat House a discounted bed and breakfast rate of �30 per person for double/twin rooms and �35 for single rooms. To book your room call the Bedford Moat House on 01234 799988 quoting Santa Pod.

You can download the SPRC Dinner Dance form (Word format) by clicking here, or via the Entry Forms page of the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.

Flame and Thunder entry forms.
23rd September: Paul Marshall has also forwarded the official entry forms for the Flame and Thunder Show, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway on Saturday 6th November.
©Eurodragster.com
The usual all-in dial-your-own Car and Bike Brackets will be run, the event is also the final round of the 2004 Volkswagen Drag Racing Club Championships, and Junior Dragsters are also invited. Entry forms for these, and for the exhibition classes of Top Fuel Dragster and Jet car, can be found on the the Entry Forms page of the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc.

National Finals entry updated.
23rd September: We are also indebted to Paula Marshall for forwarding an update to the official entry list for next weekend's UK National Finals. Amongst the additions are Antti Kivinummi making the trip from Finland to participate in the Twentieth Anniversary of Super Gas with his pretty Konica-sponsored Anglia, and 2004 FIA European Top Methanol Dragster Champion Dave Wilson making licencing runs in one of Knut Söderquist's Top Fuel Dragsters, as revealed here on Eurodragster on 11th September.
©Eurodragster.com
Click here to see the UK National Finals entry list.

Web site updates.
23rd September: Eurodragster Photo Editor Sharkman has updated his personal web site Sharkman's Top End Tales with a whopping 880 pictures from the FIA European Finals. "Windows wallpapers are coming, but they will probably be posted after the UK National Finals", says Sharkman. You can check out Sharkman's FIA European Finals pictures at www.topendtales.com.
©Eurodragster.com
UK National Finals entry list.
22nd September: We are as ever indebted to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall for forwarding us the official entry list for next weekend's UK National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway.
©Eurodragster.com
The MSA British Drag Racing, UK National, ACU UK Drag Bike, Custom Car Street Eliminator, Wild Bunch, and National Association of Supertwin Championships conclude at the National Finals and there is a healthy entry in most classes with Pro ET again leading the way with twenty six entries. The Twentieth Anniversary Super Gas Eliminator has seventeen entries whilst the Volkswagen Drag Racing Club again bring sizeable fields for their penultimate Championship round. On two wheels we welcome Top Fuel and Funny Bike racers Antonio and Luigi Ferretti from Italy, whilst 9.90 Bike has the biggest entry of nineteen, with Super Street Bike not far behind with twelve.

Click here to see the UK National Finals entry list. For more details about the UK National Finals including ticket prices, check out Santa Pod Raceway's web site at www.santapod.com.

Lazenby shows them how.
22nd September: UK Custom Car Street Eliminator racer Colin Lazenby spent last weekend at Knockhill, where a Hot Hatch weekend took place sponsored by Scottish magazine Fast and Modified and the newspapers Scottish Sun/News of the World.

"Having been invited to this event whilst attending the Aberdeen show, which was likewise sponsored by Fast and Modified, it would have been rude not to attend", says Colin. "Knockhill's motor racing circuit is in Dunfermline, Fife, and it represented a comparatively short forty five minute excursion from our home base in Stirling. We'd arranged to fly Luke Robinson up on the Friday, having forewarned him that he'd need his passport to cross the border into Scotland.

"The organisers' intention was to have a second CCSE car, in the hope that dual burnouts/match racing would result, in any case this never materialised and we remained the only car in attendance which made over 400 hp. Arriving on the Saturday to set up for the noon static display we struggled to find pit space - the place was mobbed. A combination of trade stands, club racers and spectators took up the bulk of the hard standing. With the help of Sasha, one of the Knockhill promotional staff, we were guided to a prime location - which coincidentally was adjacent to the pit garages (and the bar). It's fair to say that the constant flow of inquisitive visitors seemed to be well-impressed with the car.

"As we prepared to fire the motor for the first time we came across a broken water pump stud, frustratingly this also acts as the base for the alternator adjuster. Thankfully Sasha came to our rescue with assistance from the on-site mechanic who effected the repair - a big thanks to Wullie Davidson. The tail end of Hurricane Frances kept us awake most of the Saturday night, and I had some very serious concerns about our race car awning and the car within. I was most relieved to find it all intact on the Sunday morning.

"Interviewed on the Knockhill radio station we told the crowd a little about the car and pledged some on-track action, once the light drizzle had passed. We also mentioned that we had a number of giveaway Pinnacle key fobs featuring Sharkman's wheelie shot, all three hundred of which went in a little over two hours. A model, tastefully but partially dressed, posed for a number of pictures both out and inside the car, and I am told that my crew behaved like gentlemen, not once attempting to look up her skirt or inside her unzipped top. Well done boys, I'm proud of you, really I am.
©Eurodragster.com
"The break in the clouds provided the opportunity to participate in a little track action: a couple of burnouts, a nitrous purge and a short blast up the track, tricky with a five-degree bend, a crown and a fifteen-degree incline, nevertheless we deemed it to be safe enough. First pass with Luke, who normally only gets to feel the awesome power of his 15.45 sec Anglia. Then same again with Rikki from Fast and Modified, who had pre-armed himself with a video camera. So long as he edits out the expletives he used, the video'll turn out just fine. We returned to the pits to more crowds (but no key fobs, we just never do enough) then a return of the rain, and that's pretty much how the afternoon ended. The track action continued, as did the Dave Coates motorcycle wheelie team, the Sumo car tug of war and drifting section, all in a cordoned off area of the paddocks.

"Trophy time: We were awarded Best Modded Car and presented with a huge trophy, also winning an MP3 player to boot - great prizes. As always a big thanks to our principal sponsor and crew, Garry Coull, Luke Robinson and Kevin Lumb (don't forget, Kev, I still owe you some petrol money). Thanks to Sasha at the Knockhill circuit, thanks also to the Fast and Modified team, Eddie, Fraz and Rikki. Who knows, we could make the Knockhill event an annual visit. Hey we could even include the venue in the CCSE points round # 8 for 2005.

"For the Fast and Modified boys, you may want to take us up on the invitation to attend our National Finals at Santa Pod on the weekend of 2nd-3rd October. Boys you know where to find me, just let me know."

European Finals Pro ET report.
22nd September: As mentioned yesterday, UK Pro ET racer Carla Pittau has send us her regular report of the action in the latest Pro ET round, this time a few words about the Allstar Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway, and a full report on the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway:

Brilliant to see Tig Napier win the Allstar Nationals, I heard he was wearing his lucky purple pants - of course us Chevy people are thirsty for revenge, but how nice to see the two beautifully-presented full-size Mopars square up for the final. Congratulations also to Kevin Slyfield for his runner-up place, although a veteran of final rounds in Sportsman, Kevin got to his first final in Pro ET relatively late in the season after suffering from gearbox/torque converter problems early on. Tig had a lucky bye in the first round and proceeded to defeat a red-lighting Ian Brown in the second, then continued his implacable march by disposing of John Morris using another of his very consistent.055 lights, and finally getting past John Atkinson in the semis with a dead-on run with a zero which compensated for the brief snooze on the start line. Kevin, on the other side of the ladder, got past Gino Bernadine in the first round, then defeated the Heaven and Hell Camaro (yours truly at the wheel) when I slowed down by nearly a tenth with a disastrous sixty foot (I guess it was his turn to win, damn) and then the whole thing became a purely Mopar affair, with Kevin putting Keith Herbert's classic Super Stocker on the trailer to get to the finals and meet the 'Purple One'.

Kevin's consistent lights unfortunately abandoned him then, as they did Tig when both racers decided to take it easy leaving the line, but Kev's right boot must have been heavier than Tig's and his 10.24 on a 10.21 dial-in took the win against a breaking out 11.41. Worthy of mention is of course good old Malcolm Motler in the wheelstanding Moggie, who spoilt the suspense in the chase for number one qualifier by running a dead on with a zero off the trailer.

The European Finals started with much enthusiasm and great expectations for a lot of racers: thirty eight entries competing for the privilege of racing in the thirty two car field. The Heaven and Hell team had incredible fun starting on the Press Day when I took my first passenger ride with Rick up the track and discovered to my great surprise that the run seemed lots faster than when I actually drive, a 10.41 run feeling more like a thundering seven-second pass. Being blessed with a number one qualifying position in such a large field also caused great delight in the Heaven and Hell pits, although we trembled in fear at every dead on run, anxiously checking the thousandths on the boards (what a great improvement to be able to see the third digit!). Marius Blackburn matched our three thou, and Carl Burton in the English Rose Sierra, Keith Ridley in the V8 powered white Escort, Brian Huxley in the Top Banana Roadster and Phil Toppin in the My Little Pony Pop all came within a whisker of knocking us off the top of the list. However our luck held and the generous points (360) which resulted helped in maintaining our lead in the National Championship as well as making a second Santa Pod crown very likely for the ecstatic Heaven & Hell team.

Unfortunately things weren't going as well for some of us, among the unfortunate non-qualifiers were our good friends Mike 'god-hates-me' Lacey and Jack Brewster, both suffering from gearbox failure and Gino Bernadine in the bright red Escort who nuked the motor with a serious detonation blowing the head gasket and damaging the block. Mike should also count his blessings, mind. One of the problems he encountered was a pressure fitting on a transmission cooler hose coming apart on the fire-up road just before a qualifying run and spilling a gallon of ATF under the front tyres. A closer look showed that the hose wasn't badly tightened, or incorrectly fitted, the pressure fitting just�came off. Very frustrating, maddening even, but very lucky to happen before the run rather than at 130 mph on the track. Mike will now be buying his new cooler hoses and fittings from Fay Fischer at Speedflow (and so should we all!).

Good mate Anders Envall hit bad luck once again, driving the Full Size Racing Impala all the way from Sweden to Scotland and down to Santa Pod only to break his crank during the fifth qualifying run and then having to try and patch it up as best as he could to be able to limp home. I hope he'll have better luck next year. Other unfortunate first round no-shows were Dave Ward and Andy Raw while Liz Malcolm's pretty Pinto powered dragster, still plagued by problems, did not qualify. Back to the smiles department and it was nice to see renewed enthusiasm in the Zed Case pits where Bob and Tracy Doyle were happily playing with nitrous, going on to prove the reliability of modern systems by running a string of 10.1s. Good to welcome Mark Bracking with his extremely pretty street-legal Pop and see him run mid elevens in street trim with no nitrous and Steve Large with the beautifully detailed black and chrome four door Zodiac. But the heroes of the day proved to be "Wily old fox" Chris Isaacs and relatively new contender Darren Hulkes, as they were the final round survivors at this long and eventful meeting.

Darren, at the wheel of the Close Call Camaro, kept running outside the class bracket by a whisker, with very consistent 12.00. He got a bye in the first round due to Anders Envall's demise, then got past Jon Hollingworth's break out in round two, after which he was rewarded with a win with a breaking out 11.96 against a redlighting Terri Lee, followed by a tree chopping 0.018 reaction against Paul Baynton's Chevy powered Capri which ensured his win on the brakes at the top end. Darren was only stopped in the final round when despite running once again within one hundredth of his dial-in he redlit by the merest margin. On the other side of the ladder, returning veteran Chris Isaacs was driving his brand new Standard Vanguard. The car is beautiful, with a subtle and elegant pale green and chrome colour scheme, a classic-appearing but extremely well-built nine-second car which I saw go up the track straight as a dart. An excellent advert for his race car business. Anyway, Chris enjoyed a bye in the first round, compliments of Dave Ward who did not show, then got past Brian Huxley who was unusually slower than his dial-in, and a red-lighting Rick McCann (hell, if you never pull a red you ain't trying hard enough) in the third round, then went on to defeat an unusually slow on the tree Gary Springford in the semis with a 0.025 reaction.

In the final, both racers pulled a red light, Chris' being the reddest but Darren's being the first and therefore worst giving the win to the veteran over the Pro ET rookie. Congratulations to both, Chris showed that the long track inaction didn't produce any rust and he remembered perfectly well how to run a good race, and Darren finally managed to run close enough to the Pro ET index be competitive and start going rounds. Now I hope Chris sticks with us in Pro ET - anyone remember the very entertaining articles he used to write for the SPRC News? Er.. maybe he could help write interesting and amusing Pro ET reports! Hear that Chris? Did you find that classic article I asked you about?
©Eurodragster.com
PMR's action-packed fortnight.
22nd September: The FIA European Finals at Santa Pod was the culmination of an extremely busy fortnight for Paul Marston Racing.

"The preceding weekend, which hosted a Professional Test Day on Saturday and a Run What You Brung on the Sunday, saw the Paul Marston Racing Drag Race Passenger Ride Experience in full swing", says Paul. "There were plenty of beaming smiles from the Passengers/Victims, especially as the track was a little slick which made it a bit more of a driving job than usual. This of course led onto the Press Day the following Wednesday, where we were joined by Meridian TV presenter and ex-Gladiator Jane (aka Rio) whom I to drive the Insanity Chevy Vega Pick-up. Jane is a great person, very professional and real fun to work with. With limited time due to the natural constraints imposed by having to script and film as well as teaching, this was a challenge I had not faced before as the clock was ticking. The end result speaks for itself and will be aired as part of the six-show Hell for Leather series. We understand that it is being shown on Meridian and has also been taken up by Granada Men and Motors for the South East region. So that was Wednesday, our sincerest thanks go out to the intrepid Dave Gibbons and Peter 'Buddha' Fearn for crewing, a good time was as usual had by all along with getting PMR's three cars pitted for the European Finals.

"The latest Paul Marston Racing Drag Race Driving School graduate to enter the fray was Steve Bolton, competing in Sportsman ET in the Vega. Steve obtained his license earlier this year at a test day, and although there was a problem with the Vega which eventually meant that Steve could not compete in eliminations, the qualifiers which Steve did make were performed flawlessly, which bodes well for the future. Gary Springford made a return after the Summer break competing once again in Pro ET in Grumpy's Dodge in Pro ET. With such a tight field Gary qualified twenty fourth, just three hundredths off of his dial in but with such quality in competition that this margin saw him placed well own. We found a little more performance in Grumpy, which saw Gary with a NPB in Grumpy with a 10.09/132, well done. Gary made it through the required two rounds of eliminations on Saturday, including a real squeaker in the first round, to stay in the show come Sunday. Gary once again came out on top in the third round to make the semi finals for the second consecutive National event running, and this from a guy who up until this year had not had a competition license, a remarkable achievement considering the quality of the opposition. Gary eventually bowed out in the semi-finals against Chris Isaacs in his brand new beautiful Big Block Chevy-powered Vanguard. Chris went on to win the event; our warmest congratulations go to a very worthy winner. The National Finals at Santa Pod will once again see Gary Springford behind the wheel of Grumpy's Dodge, and to say that Gary is looking forward to it is an understatement!

"Lastly I was, after a lot of arm twisting, Chinese burns and dead legs (all performed by the PMR crew), out once again in the PT Bruiser. This was of course after the sensational debut at the Allstar Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway where I won Super Pro. I ended up qualifying #4, which was quite respectable. My goal was to make it through two rounds to make the show on Sunday, which I did. I made it to the last four too, unfortunately John Tebenham was a no-show due to a massive engine failure - sorry to hear that mate. The semis pitted me against Gary Malin and on a tricky track the PT Bruiser exhibited a consistency of which we didn't believe it capable and consequently I broke out by three hundredths! The PT Bruiser taught me a lesson: trust the car, it can and will take care of you. That said I am really pleased for Gary Malin, I believe it was his first final. Gary is a great guy; I hope he and his team savored the moment.

"The tireless crew from PMR are just the best and we could not do anything without you, thank you. Thanks also to all you guys at Eurodragster for all your support, as always we owe you big (Oh, hush - Ed). Thanks also to all the fans who came over during the European Finals to wish us luck and laughed whilst three drivers and one s ole PMR Crew member did the headless chicken dance - trying to run three race cars in three different classes through six rounds of qualifying, with no Crew Chief, in one day. Looking from the outside it must have been some of the best entertainment you could find, I wish we could have videotaped it! Finally a thank you to our sponsors Black Box London, Drag Race Engineering, Disco Equipment Hire and London Road Tyres, and thanks to Santa Pod Raceway for their support of the Paul Marston Drag Race Driving School."

Paul has also exclusively revealed to Eurodragster that he is to race again in the USA this year. "I have been invited to make the trip across the pond to the United States", he says. The details are still to be finalised, but due to the movement of a Divisional Event from Darlington to Gainesville in late October some massive money is on offer from Bracket Race Events. This presents the opportunity to attend both events within the space of a couple of weeks. Bracket racing is the backbone of Drag Racing in America, with some events being held over as many as five days. I have been invited to attend one or two of these events. It is also possible that I will be able to see some more track action whilst there too. Once again I am extremely flattered to be invited back by my good friends Tony Morris and the guys at Bo Laws Performance, at the same time I am excited to have the opportunity of seeing the very best of the best drag race competitors in action at tracks I have never visited before. It is a dream come true to witness this kind of event, which happens nowhere else in the world on this scale. At the same time, as a driver it is a unique opportunity to learn from the very best. My sincerest thanks to Tony Morris and everyone else at BLP.

"The only downside is the strange looks I get when I go to Asdas (American readers read Wal-Mart) and empty their entire stock of English tea, Toffee Crisps, Cadburys Flakes, Fry�s Turkish Delight and all the other things I get asked to bring. The staff in the supermarket know me now, nod to one another knowingly and whisper quietly 'That crazy guy in the Drag Race T-shirt is back again'!"

SFI firesuits advisory.
21st September: UK Tech Inspector Geoff Martin has been in touch again with a heads-up for racers with SFI Spec 3.2A/10, 3.2A/15 and 3.2A/20 firesuits. Racers with firesuits of these Specs should check the patches on the suit or paperwork to ascertain its year of manufacture and whether or not the suit needs recertification:
©Eurodragster.com

Year of manufacture	Certification expires
None	31/12/04
2001	31/12/05
2002	31/12/06
2003	31/12/07
2004	31/12/08

The September 2004 SFI Newsletter states that if recertification is necessary, owners of firesuits should contact the original manufacturer to find out their procedures for returning the suits for inspection and recertification.

If you have any queries then please contact Geoff Martin by E-Mail at geoffrey.martin4@btopenworld.com.

Thunderbolts and light foot.
21st September: Paul and Terry Wratten took their Top Methanol Funny Car to the Hot Rod Drags at Shakspeare County Raceway, where they joined the Supercharged Outlaws for the weekend to make shakedown passes to ensure that they had their blower burst-panel problems covered. Tuner Charlie Draper let us know how it went for Wratten Brothers Racing.

"Although all was good at North Weald, we needed to put the car under load", says Charlie. "Alas the track was to say the least far too marginal for us to use the car's full potential. The first run on Saturday was a half-pass and was as good as you could expect running soon after the rain and with no track dryer or track prep crew on hand. The car launched OK but then started to turn the tyres and moved to the left. Paul drove it back and all was satisfactory. On the first pass on Sunday we didn't get past sixty feet as the car broke loose and hooked violently left, but through some great driving Paul missed the wall (but it was damn close).
©Eurodragster.com
"After a chat in the pits it was decided that we would go down again later. We would have less clutch and Paul would drive the car more moderately (which is hard for Paul, as his valve springs testified after Saturday's burnout!). We knew that we weren't going to achieve great things, but after a damp weekend we wanted to make a run just because!

"So that's pretty much what we did - a low rpm launch and a pedalling job, and a sort-of full pass was put to rest. I would like to say that the call-up staff on the start line and the NSRA guys were all doing a good job making the most of what they had, but I do feel that a meeting of this size warrants proper track drying and prep equipment. It affects all cars that run if the track has to dry out naturally, and with the dreaded curfew time is paramount. I have attended the Hot Rod and Nostalgia meets for a long long time, and if at some normal drag events at any track they can have the equipment on hand with only a handful of spectators then surely these events which attract a good crowd could have similar arrangements. The track-drying time affects everyone so let's hope that it is put in place for next year."

Hot Rod Drags report.
21st September: Following neatly on from the above, Jon Best kindly sent us a short report of the weekend's action at the Hot Rod Drags.

"Outlaw Anglia was again excellent, with some amazing times being run by many, particularly Paul 'Guv' Wright who reset the track record for the class with a stunning 8.23/176. Paul took the event win over Paul Hensher in the Gas Attack, who ran a great 8.6 despite the car getting out of shape.

"In Supercharged Outlaws we saw problems galore for everyone, especially on Sunday when Roy Wilding and the track crew were becoming very adept at pushing cars back! But fear not, those awesome methanol-burning, blown altereds will be back!
©Eurodragster.com
"Johnny Hall débuted the awesome nitro-burning slingshot at the weekend. Saturday was spent making final checks on the car, before the moment of truth when the 350 Small Block Chevy-powered monster was fired up for the very first time, on petrol to prepare it, before having the heads re-torqued and mag checked. It sounded unbelievable on petrol, so when it was fired up on Nitro, everyone in the vicinity was in for a treat! Running on a 60% mix of fuel and alky, with an Enderle-supplied tune, the car sounded ferocious; in the fading light everyone could see the pulsing header flames from the car. Sunday saw the car make its first on-track appearance, Johnny putting in two awesome rolling burnouts in front a packed grandstand.

"You can read about it all in more detail on my web site at www.nitrohemi.co.uk."

Stay tuned for Johnny Hall's own account of his first outing.

Still they don't say "Never Again".
21st September: 2004 has had many ups and downs for the UK's Never Again Racing team, says Andy Bennett, especially for Dave Evans and his historic Coco Connection Camaro.

"The start of the year heralded the Tech Inspection and the 'Coco out in a blizzard' escapade written about here at Eurodragster at the time", says Andy. "Unfortunately the roll cage was out of spec, this led to the cage being removed and a new full spec roll cage put in its place. The next was the purchase of some nice Air Flow Research aluminium cylinder heads from Jeff Bull, these were going to give us a better ET or Jeff would "hang up his boots".

"It then turned into a constant tail-chasing exercise for the rest of the year: new cylinder heads means more power, more power means need for a better spark. The ignition system, whilst having all the right bits (MSD 7AL-2), didn't seem to be giving the heads enough of a crack to give a full burn. Dave Evans still pulled a new personal best with a 9.41 but running on six cylinders with two cylinders not burning sufficiently. The only way to get a full eight-cylinder burn was to lean out the engine. Lean out the engine and it bogs, fatten up the engine and it puts the flame out. Ignition problem woes. Many head scratching exercises and calls to The Guru Bull and we are back on track. Or so it seems.
©Eurodragster.com
"You like wheels-in-the-air launches? So do I. What about a torque converter, how do you think it likes being hit with 5000 rpm so hard it lifts itself up off the floor? Ever been using a pistol drill and the drill bit grabs, the drill turns you instead of turning the bit almost ripping your arms off, well I guess that's what a torque converter feels like...We found out at the Mopar Nationals. It didn't rip our arms off, but it did rip the guts out of the converter and it let go in a glorious manner. Back on the trailer. The devil farts in the face of stonemason Dave Evans, as Beelzebub drinks our blood sweat and tears from the chalice, he recites the incantation "You wanna go faster boys, you gonna pay" and pay we have.

2004 saw a heavy dent in the wallet for Dave, but we are already looking for 2005 to be better, a new air shifter arrived in-camp after the Hot Rod Drags and a new converter is already installed awaiting a mid-motor plate for completion. After the 8.1 by Jeff at the Hot Rod Drags in his stunning Camaro, how can anyone not be inspired to go on?"

King Racing Press Release.
21st September: It had been five long months since the UK's King Racing Top Fuel Bike team had last raced at Santa Pod, England, location of the tremendous engine explosion at the Easter meeting which would see the team sit out most of the European Championship season whilst repairs were effected.

However, it was with a certain degree of optimism that the team made only their second outing in European competition this year following their semi final placing in last months NitrOlympx in Germany. A brand new engine had been prepared in the last few weeks, and new rotors and bearings were in hand for the Autorotor supercharger that had identified as the root of problems experienced at recent meetings.

The weather forecast did not look good, however, for a full complement of qualifying runs with an untried combination, so a decision was made to put in the first qualifier with the un - repaired supercharger to get in the field. Lack of boost, and a commensurate lack of clutch saw King run a slow cylinder dropping seven second run, but enough to get within the top eight qualifiers.

The team toiled that evening with the tricky task of installing and timing the new rotors. Valuable advice was provided by Gerhard Willemse along with some brute force from `The Godfather�, Ton Pels, and the team successfully completed the task in time for Saturday qualifying.

The first run out with the new parts saw a huge cloud of dust emanating from the clutch of the King Racing machine on the launch as the previous soft setting struggled to cope with the new found power provided by properly sealing supercharger rotors. A quicker time of 7.02 was the result, enough for the fourth place in a class of 19 machines struggling with a fierce headwind, but way off the low six-second potential of the Puma machine.

Crew chief Mick Beaumont made the call to load the clutch with much more weight on both primary and the six separate timed stages. It was clear that the excellent track preparation provided by what is one of the best teams in the business would hold anything we could throw at it. The result was a credible 6.6 second pass with a 1.09 second 60 foot, enough to put the team firmly and finally into the number two qualifying spot, and a great chance of making Sunday�s final. Despite the respectable ET in the wind conditions, the relatively low speed of 189 mph was a result of a dropped cylinder at the 1000ft mark and an early click off for King.

Despite a fully functional engine, the team decided to freshen the cylinder head during the evening�s dreadful rain and windstorm to give the best possible chance for event success in eliminations. Sunday dawned bright and dry, and the team went into the first round to take on the `Purple Princess� Top Fuel Puma of fellow countryman Steve Carey. However, during a storming burnout from the newly revitalised King, disaster struck when a blower belt was thrown from the machine, leaving Carey to take a grateful solo run into the semi finals.

Despite the setback, King remained pragmatic. �I am extremely happy that we have at last identified the problems haunting us for the last months. A malfunctioning datalogger has played havoc with our tuning calls over the last two years and left us unable to see that the blower had gone off to the extent that it had. Taking clutch out compounded the problem and we damaged many parts as a result, severely limiting our racing program and putting us back years in terms of performance. However, the relatively easy 6.6 second pass showed that we have the equipment to challenge back at the top again, a nd it has given the team added motivation to seek partners to invest in our program over the coming months in our attempts to regain the European Championship crown in 2005.

Ian continued "I�d like to thank the crew at Santa Pod for providing world class track preparation, the backroom staff (especially Kath Carter, Steve Johnson and Paula Marshall) for their help and attention, and the start crew for knowing exactly what to do and when. We sometimes forget how lucky we really are in the UK to have such a great setup - having raced across Europe and in the US I do know! The guys in the media, especially those at Eurodragster, must also take a bow for keeping our sport in the headlines and providing us with a springboard to communicate our efforts across the globe (Thanks! - Ed). My team of Michael Beaumont, Debbie King, Martin Brookman, Nick Pepper, Marc Fossey and Mark King have provided first class race support, and a very special thanks must go to the team engineers - Mark Hawkins and Martin Brookman who have stepped up and beyond the call of duty in repairing, fabricating and toiling away in what should be their free time to ensure we made the track each and every time. Finally, I must once again thank our many supporters and sponsors without whom we would not be at the track. Year in, year out, despite our many trials and too few tribulations they continue to support us. Thanks all!�

King Racing were proud to be supported in their 2004 campaign by: Obsession Motorsports, Mickey Thompson Tires, Gates Performance Belts, Performance Machine, Wackyshack Paintshop, Turboville.com, RSG Customize, House of Kolor UK, Murdoch Racing Enterprises, Goodridge UK, Vanson Leathers, White Line Cycles (Athens), Cometic Gaskets UK, Aerotek Fasteners, Straightline Racing, Mark and Jackie Hawkins, Ivan Sansom and Rose Hughes.

Any companies or individuals who wish to be involved in the King Racing 2005 race effort can contact us at admin@kingracing.com, by telephone on +44 (0) 7785 341099 or by fax on +44 (0) 1763 852707.
©Eurodragster.com
Swift snippets.
21st September: Following on from the above, UK ACU Championship Co-ordinator Ian King has updated his web site with the points standings in the ACU Championships with one round left to contest, next week's UK National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway. You can find the points update at www.kingracing.com.
©Eurodragster.com
Sharkman and Tog and, we're sure, all of our readers would like to wish a very Happy Birthday to UK Pro ET racer Carla Pittau. Carla has celebrated her birthday by sending us one of her inimitable Pro ET reports from the FIA European Finals, which arrived a few minutes after our 'print' deadline, so we'll be running that tomorrow. You are under orders to relax and enjoy the rest of your day, Carla.

Rick Cuthbert of Santa Pod Raceway has been in touch to remind racers that if they need last-minute Test and Tune time before the UK National Finals then SPR are holding a Peak Performance day this Saturday (25th September). "Peak Performance days are just like Run What You Brung, but with a fully-prepped track and a very limited number of sign-ons", says Rick, "so there is loads of track time and pit space. Call Santa Pod on 01234 782828 for advance tickets and discounted sign-on fee.�

York set for scorcher.
21st September: With the Met Office's predictions looking very good for this weekend at York Raceway, the UK Northern Finals to be held this Sunday features Round 6 of the Hot Rod Challenge, York's heads-up drag racing series for the hottest rods and diverse street cars running anything that lets you go faster and quicker, writes York Raceway PR Howard Holmes.

"We also have the welcome return of the NSCC (National Street Car Challenge) for Round 7, the penultimate round in the series, will the title get clinched this round?", says Howard. "Plus the Finals for Northern Drag Racing Championship bracket series, with battles still to be fought and won in Pro ET and Sportsman ET. Who's going to be cutting the tree down? The wild, powerful and the beautiful: the American Super Stock series, running this season's Finals in this exciting Pro Tree bracket series, which continues to attract great crowd-pleasing cars and close racing action, who will take the title this season?

"And as if that weren't enough we have the inaugural Rodders vs. Modders Shootout, reported earlier by Eurodragster. The format for the Shootout will use York Raceway's tried and trusted formula used for the Mini vs. Beetle Shootout, which has been a tremendous success over the last nine years. Cars are matched on their qualifying times and will be paired to race an opponent who ran within 0.5 of a second of their time.

"And for the modified and tuners, we have Round 6 of the 2NZ shootout' from retro to supercars, there's something there for everybody to test and tune their skill and power, plus Run What You've Brung sessions.

"If you wanna race (or spectate) York Raceway is the place, hope we see you at the UK Northern Finals for another great day at York Raceway. Check out www.york-raceway.co.uk for other details."
©Eurodragster.com
2.3K chassis update II.
20th September: We are indebted to Dave Alexander of the European Top Methanol Racers Association for passing us an update to last week's news item about the latest dragster chassis update which we mentioned last Wednesday. It transpires that there is an error on the SFI web site which came to light as a result of discussions between UK TMD racer Lindsay Deuchar, chassis builder Bob Meyer, and the SFI.
©Eurodragster.com
"Too much info was gathered together into one statement when SFI 'killed' the word "chassis" in the sentence "main strut to chassis" to read "main strut to rear end".", says Bob Meyer. "They keep forgetting that there are still a lot of alky cars with steel rear housings. The rules for TMD with a wing under 1000 sq. in. are not changed in any way.
©Eurodragster.com
"The bracing bar is for the T/F aluminium rear end mounting plates which have a tab hanging back on which to mount the main strut. To keep these 'ears' from wiggling, a separate cross bar can be added behind the housing between the two together."

If you have any queries then please contact UK Tech Inspector Geoff Martin by E-Mail at geoffrey.martin4@btopenworld.com.

Terri's eventful weekend.
20th September: UK Pro ET racer Terri Lee went to the European Finals full of enthusiasm and hopes, she she says. "Over the last two months Ian (husband and Crew Chief - Ed) has been working feverishly to complete what should have been a winter project on the van. The chassis under the cab has been redesigned and we now have the floor running underneath this and right through to the new bulkhead. A new high stall torque converter and transbrake have been acquired and installed. We had no time to test, and even less time to prepare.

"Wednesday started off badly, as we were on our second journey to the Pod with the van on the trailer (having already delivered the caravan earlier in the morning), we received a most unwanted telephone call from Helen to tell us that Richard had been involved in a head-on collision on the way home from work. Thankfully he came out of it with some very attractive bruises and lots of sore bits and that's all, but it put us in a somewhat sombre mood. Thanks to everyone who came and enquired about Richard's health over the meeting. Therefore thanks to John Pickering for stepping in to help us over this four day event. In the evening Ian was just finishing off some last-minute jobs when he put a screw through the fuel line whilst securing the back panel of the floor. Something else we could have done without.

"Pro ET were down for five qualifying runs on Thursday. The first pass did not go well for us, I had trouble getting it through the gears and ran a 12.512 - this turned out just to be a case of the trans fluid needing a top up. On the second run the line lock stayed on after the burnout which meant we could not move the van and it had to be trolley jacked out of the way. On the third run we tried a run without the line lock and therefore did no burnout, we ran a 10.717 but we were told that we were not allowed to do this as we were dragging stones onto the start line. So we missed the next three runs trying to rectify the line lock problem. At first we could not see a problem with it, so we phoned a local firm and went and bought a new one which we fitted and it leaked like a sieve! So we took another look at our old unit and Ian realized he had put it on upside down!

"We only had on run on Friday. The line lock now released correctly, but the run was like driving on marbles at the top end and I let off the gas before the finish line where the van then decided to die and I coasted off the track with a tow back to the pits and a pitiful 11.496. After checking that we had fuel pressure and a spark, and had had a good look round the carburettors, we fired it up again and there were no problems at all. One of those head-scratching moments. Saturday was eliminations day and we had just made it into the qualifications in last place, number thirty two. There was a very strong head wind so we would not be running personal bests. We were grateful to be able to have another run, though. The van ran well, I had a good reaction time of 0.037 and won by two tenths of a second. This was just great. The second and last round of eliminations for Saturday, and again a good reaction of 0.045 and my opponent broke out which put us through to finals day on Sunday and into the quarter finals.

"We had a long wait until Sunday afternoon for the next round and unfortunately this time I redlit, but I know what I did wrong and can only learn the hard way by my mistake. We did however run a personal best of 10.630, still with a strong gusting wind, and our best sixty foot of 1.529. There�s more to come from us yet!
©Eurodragster.com
"Thanks go to: John Pickering for becoming a fully fledged member of our crew in double quick time; Mark Ramplee for his industrial battery charger to recharge our Jeep which was dead as a dodo on Sunday morning; Malc and Marcie of Spellbound Racing for the constant help and encouragement throughout the event; Steve and Jayne Wells, the Southern branch of Team Orange Racing; the sponsorship from my employers, Empire World Trade, for our very smart team shirts, fleeces and baseball caps that we now have; to all the Pro ET drivers and crew who came and offered us help and advice again with our many problems; to all the people at Santa Pod who made the weekend possible and to all at Eurodragster for their outstanding contribution to our sport (Thanks! - Ed). Thank you all.

"Finally our love and best wishes go to Richard and hope that he has a speedy recovery and can join us at the National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway on 2nd-3rd October."

We're sure that everyone will join Sharkman and Tog in wishing Richard all the very best for a rapid return to the track. Terri's web site at www.terrileeracing.co.uk has been updated with this report and photographs from the European Finals.

Racers: It's not too late to send your European Finals reviews, nor too early for your UK National Finals previews. Drop us a line at news@eurodragster.com and we'll publish your news here.

Another inside view.
20th September: Earlier in the year, Eurodragster reader Mike Haynes successfully bid for a number of items in the auction to benefit UK Funny Bike racer Sarah Jane Head. Mike joined Pro Stock Bike racer Richard Gipp at the SPRC Summernationals, and spent the FIA European Finals with Pro Mod racer Andy Robinson.
©Eurodragster.com
"I would like to say Hello and Thank You to all the members of Andy Robinson's crew for their time and generosity", says Mike. "I can honestly say that sitting in the grandstand will never be quite the same again, as a spectator you only get to see part of the story. Quite often you hear commentators talk of teams working hard to prepare for the next round, but it is only when you see it first hand that you begin to appreciate the number of man-hours that go into each of the precious seconds of activity on the strip.

"On a different note, I was very relieved that the parachutes that I had helped to pack worked as they should! I think that it was the American Car Imports team who referred to a parachute malfunction at 200+ mph as "Character building" in one of their race reports."

A big Thank You to Andy and all of the other racers who donated time with their teams to benefit Scary, and to Mike and everyone who bid.

That teddy: now we know.
20th September: Going all Oscars Night on us is European Finals Super Pro ET runner-up Gary Malin, who has a fair list of colleagues to thank for his successful weekend.

"It all started with Al Golding and then Paul Harvey (very close race!)", says Gary. "Then onto Paul Marston, again, very close (too close!). The final was left to Barry Giles and myself. Barry murdered me on the lights which, looking at the time ticket, won the race. Well done Barry and crew. Also thanks to Al Golding, Paul Harvey and team, and Paul Marston and team.

"Thanks to Kev (Kiwi) Taylor for lending us his trans cooler off his eight-second Capri which had unfortunately dumped the convertor to force him out of the race - thank you so much Kev and team! This enabled us to carry on racing and run through to the finals. I was advised that it would not be a problem joining the lines, but when Kev and his crew came up with the trans cooler I became a much happier man. Again, thanks to Jon Webster and Graham at Webster Race Engineeing for their good advice and offers of parts to use as a back up plan. We hope that we have made WRE proud of their first new-born dragster to make the finals. Well done to the WRE team and thanks.
©Eurodragster.com
"Thanks to Ian Marshall and the Pod for a safe ride. You are a credit. Thanks to Martyn Jones and crew including Crunch for your good advice and the loan of your generator. Sorry about your T-shirt Crunch (new one on its way)! Also thanks to George Chiarella and his team for the lending of bits and pieces including the wing degree gauge, and of course for making us laugh untill our ribs collapsed! Thanks to all of the Super Pro bunch for your encouregement. It's a great class.

"Thanks also to Jeff Bull (Jeff Bull Race Engines and Performance Parts) for creating a monster and reliable motor, not to mention the T/S transmission and the TSI eight-inch converter which Jeff also orchestrated and supplied. Well done Jeff, couldn't have done it without ya, cheers Jeff and Belinda.

"The last Thank You goes to John Everitt whos drag racing knowledge and skill go back many years. We can't thank him enough for his free knowledge and advice at a time when we needed it most. Cheers John. I've also been asked to thank Teddy. When the kids come round the pit and ask what Teddy's job is, it is of course pulling the 'chute for me at just at the right time! Good old Ted! Thanks again to Al Golding and Phill for feeding us when the storm struck Sunday night! Thanks to all including my crew Linda Malin - super crew."

Swift snippets.
20th September: Our Swift Snippet on Friday regarding the number of visits to our European Finals Event Coverage attracted the following response from Stephen Moon, PR for UK Pro Stock Bike racer Dave Beck. Modesty would normally forbid, but Stephen challenged us to publish it and, as some have found to their cost, one should never dare your News Editor. "Never mind thanking the 57,197 people who visited the reports and the 71,599 people who looked at the webcam.", says Stephen, "you�re too modest. Thank you guys for the dedication and hard work you put into the weekend. And thank you for everything you do for the sport. There is no doubt in my mind that a great deal of the success enjoyed by the UK and particularly the European scene is down to the awareness and news flow you generate. So stop being so modest. Take a bow!". Thanks very much, Stephen, and thanks to the racers for giving us the action to report upon!
©Eurodragster.com
Web site updates.
20th September: UK Custom Car Street Eliminator racer Andy Frost has been in touch to let us know that the official web site has now been launched for the World Street Race, which takes place in Louisiana on 11th-13th March 2005 and which pits street-legal racers from the UK, USA and Canada against one another to decide who has the quickest truly street-legal race car. The very well-designed web site features the latest news on the event, rules, travel and hotel information for racers and spectators, a run-down of the competitors, sponsor page and more. Check it out at www.worldstreetrace.20m.com.

UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Smax Smith's web site has been updated with team member Tet's report from the FIA European Finals. As ever, Tet's report makes excellent reading giving a real insight into the running of a Top Fueller, and the report is illustrated with a large number of on- and off-track pictures. You can read the European Finals report by following the Race Reports link at www.smax.co.uk and then clicking on the link below the timing data.
©Eurodragster.com
The Bootsoop web site at www.bootsoop.freeserve.co.uk has been updated with what Anne Peck describes as "Heavily Bristol-biased" reports on the Allstar Nationals and FIA European Finals. Anne adds that Super Comp racer Zane Llewellyn will be contesting the UK National Finals with his dragster.

Pels dedicates win to McClure.
19th September: 2004 FIM/UEM Supertwin Champion Ton Pels and his team are very happy to win the title again after eight years, says Monique Pels.

"Going into the Finals we had a good lead, but Charley Karling still had a slim chance of winning the title as well", says Monique. "Unfortunately, as we all know, Charley had a run-in with the concrete wall, so that ended his chances of trying to catch up with Ton in the points standings. We'd like to wish Charley all the best for a speedy recovery!

"On Sunday Ton ran some really good numbers and after taking out three Norwegians (Rolfstad, Olstad and Aasen) he won the event, which was a great way for us to end the 2004 season.
©Eurodragster.com
"The Zodiac team would like to express their thanks to:

Our main sponsor Zodiac Performance products for Harley Davidson, as well as our other sponsors Supertrapp, Accel and Spectro
The start crews, track crews and class hosts at all the venues for doing such a great job
The Supertwin competitors for making it the most exciting and close competition in UEM Drag Racing.

"Finally, we would like to dedicate this title to the memory of our very dear friend Jim McClure."

For the complete story with photographs, check out the News page at www.zodiacracing.com.

Smax signs off.
19th September: UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Smax Smith is all set for his move to Canada after finishing his racing season at last weekend's FIA European Finals. The 2003 FIA European Champion says that his season ended on a low, but he has a long list of people to thank.

"I want to start by thanking Al Jackson, Knut Söderquist and especially my crew of Stuart and Richard McDonald, Ian Pellant, Scotch Rob, Paul Townsend, Belfast Ray, Wee Al and 'The Hippies' for giving me a car worthy of retaining my Championship", says Smax.

"We had by far the strongest car at the European Finals but we struggled with tyres in qualifying leaving us #8. As a precaution we also changed the clutch, believing Andy Carter would run his record 4.83 again. Alan stepped up the car and we were on just that, we ran 3.22 to the eighth - quicker than Micke Kågered's 4.84 - a snapped blower belt at 3.9 seconds robbed us of Low ET and top speed of the meet. It was all academic as knowing andy to be capable of running 4.83 I wasn't giving anything on the Tree but I ended up giving the lot with a big fat Cherry! So sorry to Micke as he gave me set of good tyres and as a teammate he needed me to take Andy out to win the Title. It was a really disappointing end to my season in the UK but we were trying hard!

"Looking back over the season, we struggled at Main Event as getting sponsorship so late in the season meant that we had to build a complete car from scratch at the track, missing out on proper qualifying then again drawing Andy first round to set the quickest side-by-side run in Europe and the first four-second run for that car, also the second-fastest car of the weekend, losing by 0.07 seconds with a 4.96 beating Andy off the line. Off to Finland, we ran a 5.03 - second fastest again - also in the semis after a massive lead we hit a bump and the engine hit only 8500 rpm but a rod strangely exited the block. Arguably I should have pedalled it but damned if you do and damned if you don't sometimes. I don't think the motor should have expired anyhow but we coasted to a 0.06 defeat!
©Eurodragster.com
"In Sweden we were part of the quickest qualifying field in European history but redlit any chances of strutting our stuff! In Norway we were awesome - #1 qualifier, new Personal Best of 4.88 - but in the semis again with a massive lead and on another 4.8 run the blower belt snapped and we coasted to a loss by 0.03. At Hockenheim we were #1 qualifier with one session to go, which we had to sit out with limited funds, getting down that tricky track with no damage was a feat in itself. However it transpires that the tyres were going away and they 'lit on the hit' even with the brakes on so points weren't forthcoming there either.

"The European Finals was awesome. We could have set new record had things been different but I'm not taking anything away from Andy Carter - his crew did a fine job and we wish them well, and hope that they enjoy Monaco.

"My final tribute is to the fans. Thanks for all of your support throughout my twelve years racing in the UK. We made �1150 for Promise Dreams with fans signing the car. You were there with me when I ran my '35 Chevy altered to Europe's fastest 6.92/203. Running my Nitro Funny Car to Europe's second fastest speed of 265 mph, and of course my Championship win in my rookie year last year, 4.89/303.14 - thanks gang, You are the best. We were gonna try the Fans Fueller idea at the start of season when Promise came on board at the eleventh hour, so good luck to Barry Sheavills on his quest. We may follow suit - you never know.

"But whatever you all do, be happy and support the sport we all love."

Nilsson's fifth #1.
19th September: 2004 NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified Champion Håkan Nilsson and the Veidec team went to the FIA European Finals a very good chance of taking the Championship home, and when the weekend was over he was Champion once again, says team member Ulf Stadig. "This is the fifth time that the team have brought home the biggest trophy for the fastest doorslammers in Europe, and it is always as sweet as you can imagine", says Ulf. "This year has been tough as there have been thirty one drivers from seven countries in Pro Mod this season, trying to knock us down.

"Our team have worked hard since the first weekend in May when our first test session started. After that the season has just passed by and we have been in a good hunt for our goals for this year. When we discussed 2004 last winter our only thought was to come back hard from last year's second place and work hard to make our sponsors, fans and families proud of us. The discussions we had were about whether we wanted to go out there and make a half-hearted effort and risk ending up way down in the Championship points, but that wasn�t even a possibility for a team out for revenge, and we can now enjoy the awesome feeling of what good work and some luck can do.

"Last weekend we qualified second with a personal best time for the year of 6.394, and we secured the Championship win when we took out Robert Koper in the first round of the sixteen-car field. Bert Englefield was waiting for us in the next round and that also worked out well with a 6.47, and in the semis we had our close friend and fast nitrous brother Christer Jacobs.Christer got his car sorted out and ran good at the weekend, and it was a really close race in which H�kan took the victory with a 6.45 to Christer's 6.47 (candidate for Race of the Weekend - Ed).

"The final was then set up between Patrik Wikstr�m and the OFAB Camaro against H�kan in his Veidec Camaro. We made some changes to our Veidec Rocket as we wanted to win the event but we lost traction off the startline and Patrik won the event. That didn�t bother us too much as we could start to celebrate our Championship win.

"Thanks for help this weekend have to go to Markus' partner Marie and H�kan's father Bertil who helped us out with good food this weekend, and thanks to our families who are back home when we are out at races. Last weekend we also had help from ex-Pro Stock racer Jari Konola, he has worked professionally in drag racing on both sides of the Atlantic, and it was a real education for us to have someone from the outside looking over our teamwork, big Thanks! The biggest Thanks goes of course to our sponsor and partners, first of all Rickard P�lsson at Veidec, our long-time main sponsor. Without all the help from Veidec, 76 Oils, Paras Bygg, J Nilssons �keri AB, Falu Bildemontering, VP Racing Fuels, IPAB, EMEK, MMR Malm� Motorrenoveringar, Felestad Trading, and Joship we wouldn't have ended up a five�time European Champion in the awesome and competitive Pro Mod class!"

The Nilsson Motorsports web site at www.nilssonmotorsports.com has been updated with a longer version of this report and photographs from last weekend.
©Eurodragster.com
Web site updates.
19th September: Eurodragster News Editor Tog has updated his personal web site Tog's Drag Racing Page with pictures of Ian Caseley's Roadzombie 2 Jet Dragster testing at Santa Pod during the pre-European Finals test weekend, and a set of pictures from the European Finals Press Day. You can check out Tog's pictures at www.togsdragracing.com.
©Eurodragster.com
Karling hails the wall.
17th September: Swedish Supertwin racer Anders 'Charley' Karling has been in touch to thank all of the Santa Pod safety crew and staff for their efforts after he sideswiped the guardrail in qualifying last Saturday.

"I�ve said it before and I must say it again, many thanks to all the crew at Santa Pod who took care of my team and I in such a professional manner after the accident last Saturday", says Anders. "They know what they should do and they do it.

"We are not sure what caused the accident but as far as we can see it I slid with the left side of the motorcycle's frame and outer support plate on the ground and the front wheel just touching the ground for about two hundred metres before I hit the concrete wall at about a ten- to fifteen-degree angle. I was lucky to stay on the motorcycle and stop it approximately three hundred metres from the first hit.

"The wall really did its job. The feeling I got last year after the our race tour in USA was just that the tracks on which we raced over there not only feel safe, they also are safe with full length concrete walls on both sides, smooth surface and good traction. There are many factors that make drag racing a safe sport and these are three important ingredients for a safe track.
©Eurodragster.com
"I would not like to think what would have happened if the wall hadn't been there at Santa Pod. There was only minor damage to the bike, if you think that this happened at 180 mph and all that happened to me was an ankle fracture and minor internal bleeding in the right foot. If everything goes right I should be OK after six weeks on the crutches.

"All of us in the team would be very interested to hear from anyone who has pictures or film from the accident, so that we can do some studies to find out what caused it. If you have anything, or know anyone who does, then please E-Mail temp@karlingracing.com or call +46 708 11 21 90."

TF1, by the Crew Chief.
17th September: We are indebted to Eddie Corr, Crew Chief for 2004 FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion Andy Carter, for sending us his personal view of the GoTalk-sponsored racer's Championship season.

2004 European Champions! There haven't been any reports for a while as we didn't want to talk about iwinning the Championship, we wanted to just do it. So forgetting the rest of the year, which had many ups and downs, and looking just at the Finals I can tell you that of all I've learned about running a race car, particularly a Fuel car, I never learned so much as I did last weekend.

Is it possible? Andy's red light early in the year was good 'cos it was gone! So driver error was unlikely in the Finals. We're a strong team, I wouldn't want to race us, 'cos anything is likely to happen! People were asking me "#1 qualifier, low ET, and win the event and Micke go out by round 2? Surely this is not going to happen?". Well, as long as you think you won't do it, then you won't do it. You must believe you can do it, otherwise you'll never win. Anyway out of the four things that had to happen we could control three of them, and that would have to be enough until we figured something else out. The run at the 2004 Finals really began on the Sunday night after Hockenheim, when we examined the idea of placement strategy.

Strategy All season we were building up to try and take the Championship, but we needed an event-specific strategy to deliver it at the Finals, as the laws of probability were stacked against us! Micke Kågered had a strong lead going into the Finals, having had excellent results in Sweden, Norway and particularly Hockenheim. So what is placement strategy? It's placing the car where you need it in the last qualifying session, so that you draw your most dangerous opponent in round 1 yourself. The advantage is you don't leave it up to luck or any other competitor to take out your rival. The disadvantage is if the rest of the field run have aborted/slow runs you may have to give up all your tuning runs to run dog slow and stay as the slowest qualifier. Furthermore you will have to run in front of your rival in the last session, and therefore you won't actually know their ultimate qualifying position at the point you have to make your final move. Difficult! So obviously, we wanted to try and get Micke in round 1. We'd start by being number eight qualifier, wait and see if Micke got the number one slot, and if not move our car into the position it needed to be during the last qualifying session to ensure we still meet him Sunday morning. We are supposedly invincible at Santa Pod, but this time the track wasn't there for us, it was only there in round 1 for the Fuellers, but we weren't looking for anything big in round 1, more later...

The 2001 Championship The 2001 season wasn't as tough as 2004. Back then we learned the new car, had our first ever FIA win in Finland and realised well before the Finals that we could win the Championship. Even though we went into the meeting as number four in the hunt, the strategy was simpler in 2001, we didn't have to qualify anywhere in particular, we just had to win the event. Well you're trying to win the event anyway so it was less pressure to go for a Championship, it felt more like the Championship was a bonus. So our strategy was that we'd rely on the good track to run fast and try and win, simple compared to 2004! Remember that Hockenheim was a brilliant track at that time, so we did the race with Gordie Bonin in August purely so that we could tune up some 3.30 eighth-miles etc. in preparation for the Finals.

Focus Let me start by saying, you won't get a driver more focussed than Andy and he really is at his best when his under big pressure. So we were focussed on winning in 2001, whereas in 2004 we were obsessed. I was still struggling with the car since Hockenheim, whereas in 2001 Hockenheim helped the Championship, in 2004 it hindered it. Funny when you consider that in 2001 it wasn't part of the Championship yet in 2004 it was. This year it was too far away from Santa Pod's traction level to be of any use in recalibrating the car (new motor after Norway). 2001 was a different sequence of events, we just did our own thing, I never even watched another car. In 2004 I was watching the other cars like a hawk to see where they were shaking, who was clicking off early, etc and why.

Competition Much tougher than 2001. There was a the big charge from Micke mid season, there's AJ's tuning, the strength of the four-car CBD team etc. The capability of other cars pulling one out of nowhere is much higher now than before.

Qualifying In Q1, Andy idled down the track, twenty one seconds, firmly #8 position! Unfortunately Micke wasn't looking like being number one qualifier, so our number eight position was no use to us. There was a so-called Q2 session on Friday night but Andy had left, and we decided it would either never happen or would be of no consequence even if it did with that amount of rain to dry off the track, the time of the evening and the track temperature. So we no showed, right decision! The strategy for Q3 Saturday then, we wanted to either go straight to number one qualifier position, but if not to stay at number eight. Therefore it was set on the 4.76 tune-up, so that if it went up in smoke early we would learn the traction limit for the weekend and stay in the number eight position. It shook like hell so Andy was out of it and had the brakes on to make sure it still ran slower than eleven seconds and maintained #8 position! You could actually hear the motor working against the brakes. Somebody said it was a 'stroke of genius' (it was Ed, it was! - Andy Carter) but it was just common sense really, and it was close, a 10.94 to stay behind Smax's 10.90! Anyway we still didn't have Micke in round 1 so we had to get #1 in the fourth session. Bit of a difficult tune up to find as the car's base engine power level had changed so much since Sweden due to a new motor (new blower, new heads, and four lower piston stand outs than normal). Q3 did prove that the car was down on power compared to the old engine, so I finally had my calibration for the 'new' engine power level, stuck the 4.98 tune up from May into the car, had a quick look at Thomas' ignition strategy on his 4.99, and we were ready!

I had a qualifying list scribbled in my notes, with AC provisionally scribbled in at the top as 4.95/295. Rune nearly peed himself laughing when I showed it to him on the startline after running 4.98 at 295. The car was suffering alternately from high and low power tyre shake throughout the weekend, so it was hard to get it right. Anyway, it shook all the way to half-track then sorted itself out and went.
©Eurodragster.com
Eliminations The track was brilliant in round 1, and only round 1! There was a lot of screaming about pairings for round 1, and although we were somewhat coaxed into making a quick decision, which was the second pair, if Lex Joon hadn't made a full pass in right lane I would have changed again! I had the rule book with me, and you can't argue with it, and anyway you can't let the Championship be influenced by who is the loudest on the startline, can you? But the tension was such that weekend that there were a lot of people who weren't on their best behaviours, myself included, ah well! Now you don't get past Alan Jackson very easily, four cars' worth of info every round, and he is a good strategist as well as tuner, but there's an advantage in the Fjeld camp too, we may only have two cars but there are two brains. Well that ole dog AJ had tuned Smax's car for round 1, I knew he would but suspected that the car would never made it all the way so I didn't tune our car for round 1. Smax didn't make it all the way and even before all that I heard one of the cars grinding forward against the brake, good driving by Andy to not leave (too!) early.

I suspected Alan would jack Lex's car up for round 2 as they had everything to lose as a four-car team, so ours was on a big one too for round 2, but the track wouldn't take it - the track had been detuned due to there being six sets of TF tyres delaminated in round 1! They sledded to remove the excess glue, and between that and the temperture the track was just not there at 200 feet, luckily Andy's driving saved it and we were through to the final. The good thing about Smax nearly laying one on us in round 1 was that it led us to trying too hard in round 2, and our tyre shake in round 2 helped Rune. I had a word in the ear on the startline and Thomas' clutch management was opened and adjusted, so Thomas smoked to another 5.00. Even though the track wasn't there due to the detuning and the low temperature, that was the best ET of that round. Maybe Micke would have gone by if he didn't have a problem, but there are a lot of maybes in drag racing, eliminating them is the key to success. We would have ran the first 4.50 in Europe in Q1 at the 2001 Finals if the car had gone past fifty feet, and Peter Lantz was running even faster sixty foots than us around that time! Maybes just don't matter.

"By round 3 a compromise tune up was used but still the track was away, track temperature! Both cars shook but Andy pedalled it twice, did a better job of pedalling than Thomas, and we were through! I was disappointed that it shook again but the potential was clear in round 3, as the car ran the highest speed of the whole event, but still - that's a maybe isn't it?

This year's experience This year we had to arrive focussed right from Q1, it was harder, we wanted it badly, because no-one had done it twice yet in Europe. The year up to the 2004 Finals was far tougher then the run up to the 2001 Finals. At the 2001 Finals Andy's driving in Q2 got me the tuning info I needed, then all we needed was a tune up on Saturday night and we were away. In 2004, I'm real proud of Q3 but in rounds 1, 2, and 3 the driver saved it.

Crew A US crew chief who is too far above me to put his name here said something like 'my job is easy, these guys give me a car that is the same every time, I just have the easy job of making it run'. Well, I find tuning on European tracks hard enough (!) but you've no excuse but to get it right when your crew give you a car that never leaks, never needs restarting, or re-checking of anything, it just works every time. Whenever I put the starter motor on it, everything works. They're so good I just take it for granted that the car will be right 'first time and every time'. I've worked with a lot of people in motor racing worldwide: professional, semi-professional and customer, and our guys are as good or better than any of them. Andy was saying how hungry the crew were to win even from the start of the year when he redlit at the Main Event and everyone blanked him in the shutdown area! I noticed myself too at the Finals, normally when you make a blower overdrive change at the last minute the guys might ask why or give me some crap about making my mind up(!), this weekend I got as far as 'Guys can you just...', and they nearly pulled the pullies out of my hands, no talk, they were just on! So thanks again to John, Ben, Rog, Kim, Neill, Paul, Guv, Simon, Scoot, Alec, and Andy B.

Looking back After 2001 we relaxed about Championships and all, and looked at setting records, we were part of the first 300 mph runs, first side by side Fours and were the first team in the 4.8s etc, etc. And now we've two Championships, all the ET records since 2002, the speed record since 2004, have held the outright unofficial (4.88 at the Main 03) record too, except for Kims 4.64. We've run more Fours, and more plus 300 mph runs, and have more track records than anyone else in the sport. If the track had been there last weekend I wanted to try and take the 4.64 but it wasn't there when I needed it! So we've done a bit, we'll take a little time off now, and a well deserved break!

Enjoy Monte Carlo Andy! Watch this space...

We did it again...

17th September: 2004 FIA European Top Methanol Funny Car Champion Urs Erbacher and his team are back at home in Switzerland, answering all the congratulatory E-Mails and fulfilling all the needs of the media and their sponsors, says team member Andrea Wucher. "All of our friends and sponsors were sitting in front of their PCs or didn�t leave their mobile phones alone, their nerves tense until the final run of the day", says Andrea. "It is great to come home with another Championship title in your bag.

"This season was very different and quite tough for the whole team. With the new fuel system, the new supercharger, new heads and a lot of other stuff, we needed every qualifying round to find a new set-up for each track. Sometimes it worked really well, sometimes it was very tricky. The engine in our car is now two years old: I think it is 'The Beast' as we have sold 'Godzilla' to Rolf Ammann. The brand new Brad Anderson block is still sitting in the trailer, untouched. We ran smooth and without any big damage. Just the usual drain in parts as bearings, rods, pistons had to be replaced. The picture (right) is a clear indication that the season is over. The tracks are no longer as consistent as they were last year but the tight fight with our fellow racers was more fun this year than the dominance of our team during the last season. As we said in our press release: �There is no true winner without true competitors�.
©Eurodragster.com
"The most impressive moment and the biggest honour for us was not the cup we got on Sunday evening. It was the respect and the acknowledgement we got from the other teams for our work. If the team who just lost the fight for the Championship against you appears at the Banquet with your crew shirt it makes you feel very grateful. Ulf Leanders, you can be sure if you have any fan or team shirts for sale our team members would wear them with pride.

"During the last season we had a lot of support from every member of the team, their families, friends, fans, our sponsors Midland Oil, SCS IT Procurement and Techno AG, the Swiss media, various TV crews and many other race teams in all the other Pro and Sportsman classes. Thank you very much, without the 150% commitment from everybody out there, it wouldn�t be possible.

"Our speed and time records are still unbeaten. Due to the strong headwind (Thank you, Francis) even we couldn�t improve it. Next season maybe? As every year we will decide in the next weeks what the next season will bring.

"On the 2nd October we will celebrate our second European Championship title at the Fat Inn in Arlesheim. The party starts at 11:00 am and will end around 3:00 am the next day. So if you would like to join us...just drop in!"

Schöfer the stopout.
17th September: 2004 FIA European Top Methanol Dragster Championship runner-up, Germany's Peter Schöfer and his team are away from home for the third weekend in a row, says team member Gittli Koller.

"On 3rd- 5th September we went to the Werner event, which was our main sponsor in 2004", says Gittli. "The event was a great success as Marius already said in Roel Koedam's report. We all enjoyed it a lot. After one day at home we left last Tuesday to go to the European Finals. It was an exciting weekend, all three cars in our class ran very good numbers again and we were qualified within 0.08 seconds. We all think that shows how close it is in TMD. After a good reaction in the semi-final where Peter raced with Rob Turner, he met Dave Wilson in the final again. Peter has a red light, but that's racing (grr) but we are very happy that we ended as the runner-up in 2004. Congratulaition to Dave Wilson and team for winning the Championship, and to the Turners for a great season.

"I have not finished the race report from the Finals because we are now on our way to Modena, Italy, where the last race of the Italian Championship takes place. This will be the third year that we have been there and it has always been a very nice end to the season.

"As soon as we come home, you will be able to find the race report from the FIA European Finals at www.p-s-r.com.

"Finally, a big thank you to all the people who are involved in the sport, and who are making drag racing what it is today."

Koedam Racing Finals report.
17th September: 2004 FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike Champion Roel Koedam went to last weekend's FIA European Finals still having to fix the damage from the breakage of the cam timing chain at the previous weekend�s demo on the Lausitzring in Germany, writes Crew Chief Marius van der Zijden in his latest team report:

Once again we could rely on Zodiac�s Ton Pels workshop to fix the cylinder head. As we left home we only had the cylinder head fixed and had to deal with the rest once we got at Santa Pod Raceway. When we arrived at the track we were surprised twice. The first time by the record number of entries in the pits and for the second time by the extended tarmac surface in the pits (good job guys!). When we had set up our pit area, we could start to assemble our engine. The bike was finally ready by midnight.

It was a bright sunny and warm day on Thursday, but it was much cooler and cloudy on Friday and looking not too bright for the rest of the weekend. For the first time this year at Santa Pod Raceway there were some problems with the track preparation (see our Main Event Team Report). This time however the track looked superb again. Thanks to Kjell Pettersson, Ian Marshall and the rest of the track crew for their splendid work.

As we had already captured the European Championship title, we had our focus for this last race on two things. Firstly try to win the event and secondly to try to improve our personal best ET of 6.04. I guess we all can imagine what that means. To achieve this we need the combination of a few things. First of all a capable bike. We think the bike is this year more powerful then last year (despite the little gremlins that plagued us throughout the season). The track looked in perfect condition again. Still needed was good weather conditions. This was the unsure factor over the whole weekend as it remained windy, cool and cloudy. On Saturday night it even rained very heavily and gale wind forces hit the venue (Tell us about it - Race Control-based Ed). During qualifying and race days there was a persistent strong headwind. This affects merely the terminal speed and is in itself not too bad for us. The rain that came down a number of times during qualifying and racing had its influence on the time schedule and also had an effect on the track conditions. I think that�s why ETs in most car and bike classes were a little down on average.

On Friday we made our first qualifying pass and set a solid 6.26 at only 206 mph. The relatively �low� speed trough the speed traps was caused by an early click off (at 5.7 seconds) and because of the headwind. Ours was the quickest ET of the first session. The second session of the day had to be cancelled because of a rain shower which mixed up the time schedule. To compensate for this, there were three qualifying rounds scheduled for Saturday. On Saturday the weather was pretty much the same. Though not too bad, it was not 100% ideal for a record run. Because our next goal was to better our own personal best ET, we needed good conditions and decided to skip the first round as that would not match our demands. In the meantime it gave us a little more time to concentrate on this run. We very seldom play around with our fuel system set-up, we rather concentrate on the clutch as the engine runs just fine to our opinion. This time however we felt it was time to step up the fuel system a bit. After some calculating we increased the nitro percentage a bit to a level never run before with this cylinder head and also increased the amount of fuel to the engine. For the clutch management, we went back to our 6.04 set-up and made a little change over the control from the clutch release bearing.

When we warmed up the bike in the pit area the difference was very much noticeable to say the least. It became even more clear when we made the burnout for our run. The increase in power seemed tremendous (not only by judging the smile on Roel�s face). He was shaking his head explaining that he never ever felt this before. This looked very promising for the upcoming run. If only... The outcome unfortunately was different than we expected. It was 'only' a 6.61 pass with a whole lot more clutch dust than normal. While the engine produced massive power during the full quarter mile, it didn�t result in a low ET as the clutch came in much too slowly, in fact it didn�t lock up at all. We clearly made a misjudgment over that. The plugs came out unhurt again, indicating that we are still not on the limit of it�s full potential. Though the run result might not be what we expected, this set-up will definitely be our �big pony� set up for the future.

As in our opinion the last qualifying session of that day would not create ideal conditions to try it again, we decided to sit this one out again and start preparing the engine for race day. Our initial 6.26 remained untouched and we stayed the #1 qualifier. While rain and storm hit the pit area during Saturday night we were taking the engine apart to make sure that it was in good condition. No serious damage, just enough work to keep is awake till well past midnight. On Sunday the weather didn�t improve either. It remained a cool and windy day, not perfect for setting �news breaking� records. So we stepped back to our usual set up and started focusing on an event win.

We won the first round from Funny Bike rider TJ O�Brien at 6.36/208. For the semi�s we were be matched up against Italy�s Antonio Ferretti. However Antonio was out of spare primary drive belts and (humble) Antonio didn�t want to ask around for a belt at his fellow racers. One of the race fans noticed this and started a tour through the pit area. Coincidentally enough his survey ended in our pit area when he find out that we were running the same type of drive belt. We find it only natural to give him one of our (used) Gates Polychain spare belts. In the semi finals the number one and number two of the championship met at the Christmas Tree. Surprisingly our bike left real slowly from the line and was misfiring a bit. Meanwhile Antonio was ahead of us but throwing some oil on the track and drifting sideways. Our engine started to pick up somewhere after the 330 foot mark and looked to catch up on Antonio. However our bike drifted to the centre line and Roel decided that it was no longer safe and clicked it off, handing the round win to Antonio.

When we were back in the pit area and examining the data of that run, we discovered that the entire run was done in high gear! Looking back on what happened Roel remembered that he repositioned himself on the bike (because he was not too comfortable) just before pulling into stage. He then must have hit the gear switch and accidentally plugged it in high gear without realizing it. Here our run for an event win stopped. We got beaten by our own parts, but such is life and Antonio�s round win was well deserved.

Though the end result of this last event was a little different than we hoped for, we cannot express how glad we are about what we have learned regarding our fuel system. This is even more encouraging then had we hoped for.

A word also about fellow racer Ton Pels. Not only does his company give us a very good support, he also grabbed the European Championship title himself in Supertwin on his Zodiac-backed Harley Davidson during this weekend in brilliant style. Congratulations to the whole team! Team Zodiac ruled the European championship in two of the three major bike classes by taking no less than two titles!

This coming Sunday we will be present to display the four-time European Championship bike at Jan Smit�s Power Parts during his promotional day on nitrous and turbo charging.
©Eurodragster.com
Eastern Thunder imminent.
17th September: If you have been tuned in over the last three weeks you will recall that UK Supertwin Gas Les Harris is organising a show at the King Edward VII pub in Norwich. Eastern Thunder takes place between 12:00 and 22:00 this Sunday, 19th September, and Beardy Bloke has been in touch with a final update.

"Blue from Backstreet Heroes magazine is coming along to the show", says Les. "She has been saying how much she would like to come to the show and now she can make it and we're all well chufed about that.
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"It now turns out that Mark Pointer can't bring his 'Bread Van' because he is running it on Sunday. What a guy, though - he has donated �50 to the Air Ambulance which is the beneficiary of Sunday's show. That's a class act, paying not to come along!

"Finally, Lou the landlady is raffling her VTR1000 Honda Firestorm. It's a nice bit of kit! The tickets go on sale on Sunday at �5, and the draw will be in December."

Eastern Thunder takes place this Sunday at the King Edward VII pub, which is just north of Norwich city centre at 63 Aylsham Road (the A140, click here for a map). The show is open from 12:00 to 22:00. Entry is a mere £2 with all proceeds going to the East Anglia Air Ambulance.

Meanwhile Les tells us that he had a great time at the Wattisham Sprint. "It was like Last of the Summer Wine on wheels!", he says. "It was very grass-roots and laid-back, with lots of old codgers on all sorts of bikes in different combinations. I managed seven runs, all in 10.0s or 10.1s with a 10.000 - so we're improving!"

TV schedules updated.
17th September: We are indebted to Santa Pod Raceway PR Caroline Day for sending us updated TV schedules for the broadcast of FIA and FIM/UEM European Championships and NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified on UK satellite channels Sky Sports, Granada Men and Motors and new addition Extreme Sports. "Extreme Sports satellite channel is now the only 24/7 channel bringing skate, surf, snow and bike action and attitude direct to your TV in over fifty countries and fifteen million homes around the world", says Caroline.
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The TV schedules are available in both Word and PDF format; you can view them by clicking here, or by clicking on the 2004 FIA/FIM TV Schedules link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page.

TV schedules, especially on satellite channels, are subject to late change. Check with your TV listings magazine, Electronic Programme Guide or Teletext to confirm broadcast dates and times.

Swift snippets.
17th September: Swedish Pro Stock racer Michael Malmgren is headed to next week's Winternationals at Meca Raceway to put in one more test session before the season ends. "We still need to sort some things out on our car, and we need to have a good plan for next season", says team member Magnus Cato.
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Meanwhile Christer Håård of SRIF tells us that Tommy Möller will be attending next weekend's Winternationals at Meca in the Lorentzon and Möller Top Fuel Dragster, and that he is awaiting a decision from Micke Kågered Racing on their attendance next weekend. "We will soon be reaching 50.000 SEK in contingency money across all classes, and it looks like we are going to have more teams coming than ever before!", adds Christer. "We already have sixty teams and usually a hundred register in the last two days."

UK Custom Car Street Eliminator racer Ian Hook has announced that he has committed the FB Racing team to taking part in the World Street Race, which pits UK racers against their American and Canadian counterparts in Louisiana next March. Stay tuned for more details.

We are indebted to FIA European Championship Co-ordinator Kjell Pettersson for sending us the final points standings in the 2004 FIA European Championships. You can view the 2004 FIA points by clicking here, or by clicking on the Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page.

Our good buddy Patrik Jacobsson, webmaster of the European Pro Mod Racers Association web site, has asked Pro Mod racers to drop him a line at webmaster@promod.nu if there are any updates for their team pages on the site, such as best ET and speed, best sixty foot time, sponsors etc. "I like to keep the web site up to date", says Patrik.

Huge thanks to the 57,197 visitors who viewed our American Car Imports-sponsored Event Coverage from the FIA European Finals. Thanks also to the 71,599 who viewed the Webster Race Engineering/MPM Oil webcam. We're sure that everyone will join us in thanking American Car Imports, Webster Race Engineering and MPM Oil for their support of our coverage.

Web site updates.
17th September: Many thanks to Bob Roberts for letting us know that the official web site of UK race car builder Andy Robinson Race Cars is now back on-line after a switch of hosts. "Apologies to all those who have tried to use the site over the last three days", says Bob. You can find the ARRC web site at www.robinson-race-cars.co.uk.
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The Feel The Noise web site has been updated with over three hundred photographs from the Allstar Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. "As usual, the latest uploads can easily be found by following the 'red and green dots' in the category listing or by clicking on the Recent additions link", says webmaster Bob Valder.

Patrik Ritseson.
16th September: Our good friend Patrik Jacobsson has been in touch with the sad news that Swedish racer Patrik Ritseson passed away last week, at the age of thirty eight.

"Patrik had a big profile in the Westswedish ET-racing series", says Patrik. "He was a good friend and will be missed by many people. The last car which Patrik drove was the former Super Small Block Volvo which Nicke Svensson drove in SDC. Patrik also drove a lot of Bracket races in the former Sydcupen in the south of Sweden, now known as Toyo Tyres Cup."

We are sure that everyone will join Sharkman and Tog in sending Patrik's family and friends our deepest sympathies on their loss.

Woollatt's thrash rewarded.
16th September: FIA European Finals FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike winner Steve Woollatt tells us that he and his team had a real thrash last weekend.

"I think we could do with an aluminium welder on our team!", says Steve. "We damaged our fuel tank and Gunnar of Bl�kulla Frames was kind enough to borrow Ton Pels' welder and mended it for us. Then the next day a sump weld cracked and we got Gunnar out again. On Saturday we had a valvie out with a stress crack, so the team worked really hard. In the middle of all of this it was Jackie's birthday and Monique and Roel Koedam invited us to their barbecue to celebrate."

Steve and his team had faced some work after the ACU Championship round at Shakespeare County Raceway as a small stone damaged the crank and another damaged a pulley. "The crank had to be reground and the pulley repaired", he says. "That was a lot of additional work."
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There were some raised eyebrows at Santa Pod on Sunday when Steve staged for the semi-final win rather than running. Steve is well-known for not being keen on taking wins in this way but a several hundred-yard oildown on the track meant that the Dealer team would have been pushed to turn the bike round for the final had Steve waited. "Firstly it was a relief to get round my first-round jinx at the FIM events!", says Steve. "It went against the grain a bit staging for the next round, but the crew talked me into it. It did make sense in that case."

Steve had some special guests at the weekend as he was joined on Sunday by Andrew Grenside of sponsor G and S Valves and his wife and family. "Andrew came along to see at first hand what we do", says Steve. "He was blown away and said that he will be attending more races in the future."

Steve asked us to thank Ton and Gunnar for their help and Roel and Monique for their hospitality at the weekend, and to give a big Thank you to his crew of Phil Reynolds, Pete Janko, Mark Powell and Phil Baimbridge. "They were just magnificent, they worked so hard", he says.

Final WRE Test Day.
16th September: Entry is still open for the final Webster Race Engineering Test Day of 2004, which takes place at Santa Pod Raceway next Wednesday (22nd September). Entry closes on Saturday after which a late entry fee will be levied if entry is accepted. WRE Test Days are open to both cars and bikes and feature a fully-prepped track along with full marshal and paramedic cover. Gates will open at 9:00 am and the will be track open from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, with a half hour break for lunch. Mobile catering will also be on-site at each event.

"If you are intending to take advantage of your 50% discount from March's rainout, or your Championship free entry, on 22nd September then please note you should still send an entry form", says Ian Marshall of Webster Race Engineering, who jointly sponsor Eurodragster's webcam. "A number of last year's Champions have not yet taken up their free entry and it will expire after Wednesday's test."
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Entry to WRE Test Days is �125 plus VAT. You can download a WRE Test Day entry form (Word format) by clicking here, or from the Entry Forms page of the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries then please call Webster Race Engineeering on 01933 315236.

Thanks from...
16th September: UK Tech Inspector Geoff Martin and his wife Pauline have been in touch to ask us to thank everyone who came to their aid when their camper was stolen in Wellingborough last week. "We would like to thank everyone out there who expressed support and concern, and offered help and encouragement to us, over the past ten days", says Geoff. "It came from top to bottom, home and abroad. It really confirms our belief that drag racing is the fastest, safest and friendliest sport to be involved with. Thank you drag racing."
©Eurodragster.com
Director Miland Suman and everyone at Sunspot Productions, who have produced this year's European Championships TV coverage, want to say a big Thank You to all those people involved in the European Drag Racing Championships, especially to all the teams for their co-operation and to all the internal staff from every European country. "To all those who helped us (you know who you are) once again a big thank you for making this season so successful and making our jobs that little bit more easier", says Isabel Randisek of Sunspot. "Although we worked very hard we wanted to let everyone know how much we enjoyed it."

Tog and Sharkman would like to thank everyone who has written and called with kind comments about our Event Coverage from the FIA European Finals. As well as on our own behalf we will accept the compliments on behalf of Simon Groves, Christer Abrahamson, Hannele Höydén and Erik Zettervall who contributed in various ways to our reports. We would also like to thank everyone who enquired after our weather station sensor, which was stolen last weekend. "I can get another sensor for twenty pounds, but it's the principle", says Tog. "Thanks to everyone who showed concern and kept an eye out. If you happen to know who took it then don't hesitate to shop them to us."

Catch the pigeon!
16th September: UK Super Gas racer Nev 'The Rev' Mottershead and his partner Lib have been in touch to let readers know that they have worked out how Eurodragster manages to keep up to speed with the news. We'll let Nev and Lib take up the story...

"With regards to Roger Gorringe's Interview with Tog and Sharkman The www.eurodragster.com Guys in the FIA European Finals official programme, when Tog was asked what he likes best about his involvement he said "I love it that we are able to get the news out to the fans, or important notices out to the racers, on a regular basis and at a moments notice".", say Nev and Lib. "Too right he does! However, where Roger failed in his endeavours to glean the real truth on the speediness of news of this awesome sport to our web pages, is where the eagle-eyed crew members of Nev (the Rev) Mottershead's Team Awesome Racing come in. On Saturday afternoon, 11th September 2004, they witnessed Tog with his arms outstretched in pre-stage, launching one of his many race pigeons from the Boost lane of the Tower, hoping no-one would notice as he tried to bring us up to date news on Eurodragster. Well done all at Eurodragster.com. If anyone decides to present you with a Trophy at the Banquet next year, Lib says that she wants to be the one to present it to you. Awesome!"
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"If any of our readers are wondering what on earth this is about, what happened was that a pigeon flew in through the door of race control on Saturday" says Tog, who as some of our readers know is an animal lover (Shut it, Marrs - Ed). "Initially I thought he had been sent by Mrs Tog with a message reading "Do you remember me?". But he hadn't, and as he wasn't wearing a Race Control pass he had to leave. Because everyone else had scattered as if a grenade and not a pigeon had come through the door I took him in hand and escorted him outside."

The pigeon is now believed to be receiving counselling, and Tog and Sharkman are bathing in the glow of Nev and Lib's very kind comments, which are much appreciated.

Web site updates.
16th September: Our good buddies at Svensk Dragracing have updated their web site with the final points standings in the NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified Series, as well as a short feature on Champion Håkan Nilsson and the full Pro Mod results from Santa Pod. Check it out at www.dragracing.se.
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Also posting results is our good friend Erwin Raets who has updated the European Drag Racing Database with the timing data from last weekend's FIA European Finals. Check it out at www.eurodrag.com.

Andrew Bamford has updated his Racing Green web site at www.racing-green.co.uk with a number of great photographs from the FIA European Finals.

Pete Roberts has added some new 360-degree panoramas of Santa Pod to his web site at myweb.tiscali.co.uk/lithopa/SPpanos.html. Our particular favourite is "The Yellow Stuff" but every one of Pete's panoramas makes fascinating viewing. Pete has also updated the History page of the site with some more background on Santa Pod's past.

Alan Currans has posted what he says is a final set of his own Fuel Funny car pictures on his excellent Acceleration Archive web site at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. "There are three galleries containing pictures of the Brits, the Yanks and the Swedes", says Alan, "sixty nine pictures in all forming a veritable Who's Who of European and US drag racers of the 1970s and 1980s. You can find the galleries under The Alan Currans Collection."

2.3K chassis update.
15th September: UK Tech Inspector Geoff Martin has been in touch to advise Top Fuel Dragster and Top Methanol Dragster teams to take a look at the SFI web site at www.sfifoundation.com.
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"There are detailed changes to the rear wing mountings", says Geoff. "These will be required for recertification for the 2005 season, and as you can see, a lot of engineering is required. If you look now then that will give plenty of time to carry out the modification required."

If you have any queries then please contact Geoff by E-Mail at geoffrey.martin4@btopenworld.com.

Carter's dramatic win.
15th September: In what can only be described as the most dramatic climax to any FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Championship, British drag racing hero Andy Carter powered the GoTalk team to victory, took the crown, and carved his name in the history books by becoming the first ever driver to win the Championship for the second time at the weekend�s European Finals held at Santa Pod Raceway, writes Team PR John Andrews. The classic battle of tactics, strategy, and raw power was fought out in front of a cheering 40,000 capacity crowd and the international media, gaining maximum exposure for the team�s sponsors.

Having triumphed with a well documented and unprecedented number of European Championship and track records throughout the six-round contest, Carter Motorsport were the team to watch, and the entire operation moved into the facility just forty seven points down, and with four objectives in mind�beat Micke K�gered, and win, win, win!

Friday�s first round of qualifying definitely set the cat amongst the pigeons. A twenty one-second, 62 mph pass got the pundits and statisticians at one another�s throats. Fuel system failure? Clutch problems? Blackened crank? No way�it was just tactics. "Our strategy this weekend was to be number eight qualifier and hope that Micke was number one", said Andy Carter. "We had no problems in that qualifying session; we just wanted it to look that way. It didn't work out of course because Micke wasn't number one�.

With the next round of qualifying rained out, it was down to Plan B with a bye run on Saturday morning. Despite a tremendous effort from Andy and the team, the car hit shake right off the line and recorded a disappointing 10.9/59 dribble down the track, leaving the team at the bottom of the qualifying ladder once again. Game on! A quick turn-round and the team�s cool professionalism resulted in Andy facing fellow Brit Jon Webster in the last round of qualifying. With Webster shut off, it was left to Andy to thrill the fans with a blistering 4.9/295 pass, the fastest and quickest drive of the weekend. Carter Motorsport and the GoTalk team were back where they belong�Number One Qualifier!

By Sunday morning the gloves were off in more ways than one. The fans were crowding the pit, shaking hands and getting ready to rock�n�roll for the first round of eliminations. As usual, Copeland's Fanfare for the Common Man heralded the arrival of Top Fuel. Nitro thunder filled the air, and Andy took the win from former champion Smax Smith and moved into the semis to face Lex Joon. Round two saw Andy blast Lex back into his trailer in the first pairing, but the real money was on the next race. Micke K�gered had to lose, and sure enough he did. With Micke out, it was down to the wire in the final round with Andy facing Thomas Nataas for the ultimate showdown. It was a close call, but Andy recorded a 5.2/296 to beat Thomas� 5.5/264 attempt, and took the Championship.

In European drag racing, TF1 is the ultimate goal and the ultimate accolade. Carter Motorsport could not have achieved anything without the support of our fans and our sponsors Gotalk, Wavecrest, NGK, Wynn�s, Lucas, Binamic, Sigma, K&N, Elite, Yuasa, Gold RV, Rainbow, Pioneer, Shipleys, and Mike Shorer. Thank you everyone.
©Eurodragster.com
TF on the roller coaster.
15th September: An "Emotional roller-coaster" is the best way to describe European Finals weekend for the Canto Racing Top Fuel team, says Crew Chief Peter Knight.

"After the Main Event, I realised how little I knew about Nitro racing, and set about to put the situation right to some degree", says Peter. "The result was many phone calls, asking of questions, and getting Alan Jackson down for a couple of days to run through the systems on the car, and rig up the six shooter. We discovered a major problem with the clutch management system; whilst it worked on the bench, it didn't work the clutch cannon properly, so we took the whole system off between the two and replaced it all.

"We then took the car, and Alan, to one of Jon Webster's test days to do a couple of launches...and it rained. So it was off to the European Finals with everything untested, which was not the original plan. We decided to use the Press Day for a practice launch, and try to shake the tyres, as the car always seemed to have a lazy launch. We ran a 0.893 sixty foot time, which showed we were going the right way, and then shook the tyres. Mission accomplished! On to the first qualifier on Friday, Jon shook the tyres good style - and got a headache to remember it by - and then lit them up when he pedalled it. The clutch system was re-adjusted and we went to run the car again.

"Unfortunately what then followed was a bizarre sequence of events caused by the tyre shake damage. We lost fire due to the fact that the fuel pressure gauge (used to set the fuel system for the burnout) packed up; it showed way too much pressure, so Jon trimmed the pumps, and the engine cut out...when we checked the gauge it now read 80 psi instead of zero. Next time around, we started the car, and when Jon pulled the reverser lever the retaining clip had shaken loose and chose that moment to let go of the cable! We didn't spot it, and so we ended up going up the return road yet again, all feeling pretty fed up and sheepish by now! When we got back, we found that the shake had even split the fuel tank, so Jon and the WRE guys went back to the workshop to fix it.
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"On return to the trailer, I decided to concentrate on the clutch system, which was causing us grief because the cannon had started to stick. During one of our tyre shake sessions, we managed to distort the back of the clutch can, causing a mis-alignment of the drive train. Jon figured out that if he shimmed the cannon about a bit, we could get it to move freely, so that evening a solution had been found to get us to the first round! We really went through the car with a fine toothcomb, and, knowing that we had no good info on which to set the timers, I had a stab at setting them up based on our couple of short passes. I wanted the car to really slip the clutch and wear a lot off the pack; i.e. to go to the other extreme from tyre shake, so I gave that my best shot.

"The next morning, we warmed the car, everything seemed to be working OK, and I personally felt quite optimistic about the whole affair. I am capable of truly staggering feats of self deception at times! So when we arrived in the pairing lanes to run against Thomas, Jon and I discussed what we were going to do; try to beat him! The cars staged and left, and the run seemed to take an eternity. When our car looked to be ahead and started smoking, I thought "Don't lift!". When the 5.05 ET came up, I have to say I was elated, despite the fact that we didn't win, and it looked like we had torched the motor. Beside ourselves when we got to Jon, past a great reception from the crowd it has to be said, we were so elated that poor Jon thought he had won, and it dawned on us that he didn't know that Thomas had just beaten us. He was disappointed, but we had to concede that we had given him a run for his money!

"On returning to the trailer Dave Milam, whose team was helping us out for the weekend, asked if we wanted to check the engine; I laughed and said, if he thought it was worth it, take a look! As the crew stripped it down, we realised that there was no damage to the engine at all! It had breathed heavily and lost a load of oil. I had tried some different piston rings, and they hadn't held up to the abuse! So what looked like being our worst weekend to date turned out to be our best by far!

"Many people helped us out at the weekend, but the person I would like to thank the most is the one and only Alan Jackson. To Jon and the crew, I thank you all for your hard work, determination and for maintaining your faith! To the She Devil team for crewing for us this year, bon voyage and good luck for next season. Thanks to John and Lesley Wright for the loan of the blower, and for helping out at the weekend, your advice and help was right on the money. To Knut for being Knut, to Dave Bryant who always has time for on-the-spot advice! Thank you to my new bride Caroline, who seems to have had her honeymoon delayed for this event to take place. Finally thanks to all the people who have offered support and encouragement in our attempts to run one of these complex machines.

"Plans for next year are still being hatched, but suffice to say that this year ended encouragingly, and the potential of the car and team have been demonstrated. Canto Racing will, as ever, give Eurodragster the news for next season as soon as we know it."

Of banners and whips.
15th September: 2004 FIA European Top Methanol Dragster Champion and European Finals TMD winner Dave 'Grumpy' Wilson says that last weekend was the best he has had "Since I got married, or since my kids were born".

Grumpy says that this year's Championship comes on the back of changes within the American Car Imports Racing team. "We have had a change of personnel, responsibilities and organisation", he says. "Everyone stepped up to the plate, and everyone hit a home run! It just doesn't get any better than this."
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Grumpy is quick to acknowledge the contribution of the team's sponsors. "No-one has better sponsors than this team", he says. "In one hand they are holding your banner, and in the other they are holding a whip, which makes you want to deliver! Needless to say, Team Principal Anthony Cohen has been a tower of strength. And I'll give you an example of how deeply-in our sponsors are: Ray Maguire of Sony Playstation Europe has been to every race this year apart from Hockenheim, and at the Finals this weekend he was talking to anyone who was interested in sponsorship to tell them just how much it is worth doing."

Grumpy asked us to say a big Get Well Soon to Talia, daughter of American Car Imports Joint MD Jon Cohen. Talia was taken ill at the track at the weekend and is currently in hospital in Northampton. Consider it done, Grumpy: we're sure that everyone will join Tog and Sharkman in sending their love and best wishes to Talia for a very quick recovery.

Racers: Send your European Finals reviews to us at news@eurodragster.com and we'll publish them here.

If woulds and shoulds...
15th September: The 2004 British Nitro Funny Car Championship has come to an end and it has been a season of What-ifs and a But, says Championship Co-ordinator Jim Broome.

What if John Spuffard hadn't had trouble with the fuel levers at the first round and he had managed to stage the car? Result - qualifying points and the Championship win by a very small margin.
What if Gordon Smith had won the coasting battle with Leif Helander in the semi-finals at the Main Event? Result - a larger difference in the final points standings.
What if John hadn't red-lit at the penultimate round? Result - twenty more points for John, twenty less for Gordon and John all but guarantees winning the Championship again.
But those things didn't happen and they went into the final round where Gordon ran a Personal Best of 5.493 seconds at only 234.47 MPH against a clutch destroying run from John. In the process of the weekend the Shockwave team seemed to find a cure to the problems they have had for most of the season with some stout sixty-foot times whilst the Showtime team found a cure for some only to find other problems. Meanwhile Leif gains more experience in what is a tremendous learning curve on his transition from the Methanol car to one running Nitromethane.

The Final points standings are:

Gordon Smith 329
John Spuffard 313
Leif Helander 173

...and therefore Congratulations to Gordon, Dave Bryant (Co-owner and Crew Chief) and the whole of the Shockwave team.
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Pro ET: pleasure and pain.
15th September: European Finals Pro ET winner Chris Isaacs says that it felt good to come out on top of such a big and hard-hitting field at the weekend. Chris says that his victory over a thirty two-car field (with thirty six in all attempting to qualify) exceeded all expectations at what what his second race with his pretty new Standard Vanguard.

"I was fortunate enough to find a good spot on the Tree all weekend", says Chris. "Because of the two-second handicap I saw Darren Hulkes' red light before my first amber came up, but my average RT for the first four rounds was 0.0325. However, working on the pleasure/pain theory, we had had a small problem with the engine for some time and a stripdown after the race showed a crack in number six cylinder bore. Oops!
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"I am hoping that the problem can be cured with a new liner, but that is my season over as I am unlikely to be ready for the Super Gas Anniversary race at the National Finals, in which I had intended to run. Being the tightwad that I am, I had pledged sponsorship for the Anniversary Race partly in the hope that I might win some of my money back! But good luck to everybody who enters, it should be a good one.

"I need to say thanks to my 'loan' crew (poached from Spencer Tramm's team for this weekend) of George and Rachel Georgiou, who stepped in and did a great job when my regular help couldn't make the four day meet, and thanks to all the Pro ET racers for making the class what it is. Thirty six cars, what next? And of course thanks to Eurodragster for the excellent event coverage plus everything else (Thanks - Ed)."

Grateful Malins set PBs.
15th September: Gary and Lin Malin of the UK's Serious Playtime Super Pro ET team have asked us to say a big Thank You to all of the Santa Pod crew for their tireless work over the weekend. "They worked so hard and kept the track up and running despite the weather having its usual game with us!", says Lin. "The downtime was minimal and the track was good, and safe for driver and riders alike. The only thing they couldn't do anything about was the headwind.
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"The six qualifiers on Thusday were excellent, all the Sportsman classes had a fantastic day. We got to the final, and despite missing out on the number one spot, we are as pleased as can be. Gary ran a PB of 7.633/175.15, and in the final a best sixty foot of 1.078. We know that we can build on this, and with the great combination of Jeff Bull motor, car and driver hopefully a number one spot will not be too long coming. All of the Super Pro drivers run so well to their dial-ins that it's a very competitive class, but really friendly. The part we liked most was two dragsters in the finals...you might not want to print that (Oops, sorry - Ed)! It was the best racing we have had, despite having to turn the cars around within an hour a few times, and being really knackered at the end of the day, we all enjoyed it.

"Thanks to the Shillingford crew for the loudest cheering of the weekend! See you at the National Finals."

More money from Bull.
15th September: Jeff Bull of Jeff Bull Racing Engines and Performance Products has been in touch to congratulate Gary Malin and Malcolm Francis on making it to the finals in Super Pro ET and Super Comp at the weekend.
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"Both had very stiff competition to get through this weekend, well done to them" says Jeff, who sponsors Eurodragster's Swap Meet classified ads service. "Both qualified for the JBRE / Transmission Specialities Racers Bonus as they both run TSI Pro-line 5000 transmissions and Super 8" converters, and are powered by JBRE motors.

"We are also pleased to announce that JBRE, Transmission Specialties and Doug Herbert Performance Centre will be adding money to the Super Gas Anniversary prize fund at Santa Pod in October."

Flymo trims times.
15th September: UK Super Pro ET racer Paul 'Flymo' Harvey says that he has finished for the year, although the FIA European Finals was a good weekend to go out on.

"Finances are low after the melt down of one of our turned-out-to-be-free sponsors who were also my late employers", says Paul. "We have decided to end on a good and positive note. The Finals almost proved to be the magic event for us. On Thursday after unexpectedly finding quite serious damage to the rear axle of the Porting Dynamics/PSPSolutions dragster we thought that the season was over right then without turning a wheel, and you can imagine the mood in the team was quite low, but enter Geof Hauser and his Team of engineers at Hauser Race Cars and the day was saved. We recalled how when we ran in Mod ET in at the 1995 Easter Thunderball we had a rear axle brake mount failure and Geof Hauser saved the day for us then, in return for us delivering Anita Mäkelä�s damaged chassis to his workshop. Our thanks to all at Hauser�s for the help and repairs.

"After missing Thursday�s excellent six qualifying sessions in good weather, we had one chance to dial in and qualify on Friday. Using some of what we had learned the previous week at the Allstar Nationals, and for all our patience and hard work we ran an 8.703/151 on an 8.70 dial in, number four qualifier and a PB for ET and speed at the Pod, smiles and cheers? You bet. Round one beckoned, so far in 2004 we had not been able to progress beyond the first round, and in a great pairing between good friend Jon Sleath and ourselves, a Manchester Derby, we broke our duck in what turned out to be a superb close fought drag race. Then to round two and another win against great and fair competitors Derek Flynn and Gold RV in another very close drag race. There is nothing more exciting and satisfying in winning or losing for that matter when it is decided by a good race.
©Eurodragster.com
"The quarter finals beckoned on Sunday, with crowds of spectators lining the banks and stands at Santa Pod (what a sight and feeling), with another tight race in prospect with Gary Malin, for both drivers this was a point in eliminations and racing that we had not seen in a very long time, and what better way to decide it than the race that was seen, to our disappointment we lost but in what way, a classic drag race where we both crossed the finish line together, we broke out by four thousands of a second, 8.70 dial in, and ran 8.696 - how close? Another PB for the team though. Thanks to Gary Malin and Team for an excellent race and also for the good spirit, hand shakes, hugs congratulations at the return road, just shows how friendly drag racing really is. Congratulations to Gary Malin and team for their progress to the final round.

"In view of good spirit we would like to voice our appreciation to the rest of the teams in Super Pro, the officials at Santa Pod and Shakespeare County Raceway, Tog, Sharkman, John Price and Graham Beckwith who all made us feel welcome. Again it is a testament to all those involved in the sport of drag racing that it is so friendly. We would also like to say a big thanks to all in the Wild Bunch especially Chris, Claire and Roy, for putting up with us rear-engined cars for the past few years and all their support and enthusiasm. I would like to thank my long suffering Crew Brian Phil and Mark, who have worked so hard this last eighteen months in preparing and supporting the race car.

"Watch this space as the Engine Masters Challenge 2004 is just round the corner. Applied Dyno technology, Porting Dynamics and CHIheads who supported us this year with a 385 ci Cleveland Engine are entered in the final fifty competitors, and we are sure that we will have some interesting news from the Big Apple for Ford Cleveland fans."

Dodging the centre line.
15th September: After a long couple of weeks repairing the car from the last outing, UK Super Pro ET racer Mick Payne's Artful Dodger was set to run again at the European Finals, armed with a new Neal Chance converter and She Devil Racing's twelve-amp electronic mags, says Andy Thetford.

"Mick took the car to the start line hoping for a nice steady run....how wrong could he have been", says Andy. "Great crisp sound, strong burnout, strong launch, and then...wow,wheels in the air! This surprised not only the crew but Mick as well, as the car came down it veered off to the left, towards the centre line. Mick hit the throttle again, and veered left as before, so he eased off and trundled through to the finsh line.
©Eurodragster.com
"It was clear to everyone that the engine and transmission was working fine, but that the chassis was a different matter. With help and guidance from Andy Robinson, a number of changes were made, and off we went again. Unfortunately, it was the same as before, strong burnout, wheels in the air, veer left, not as much as the previous runs, but enough. More changes were, but still the same result, after a few more runs, it was clear that work has to be done to the chassis back at the workshop.

"But it was not all bad, Mick got through the first round, only to be beaten in the second. His best ET was 9.1 backing off the throttle twice and cruising through the finish, and nothing was broken. After all the scratching of heads, and not putting in a straight run, Mick and the 'Dodger' seemed to have made an impression with some of the higher classes, which was well received.

"Thanks once again to Dave Milam and Andy Robinson for all their help and support, and to everyone else who came to see us. See you all at the National Finals in October."

European Finals FIM/UEM report.
15th September: We are as ever indebted to FIM/UEM European Championship Co-ordinator Lars Andersson for sending us his regular post-race report, this time from the weekend's European Finals at Santa Pod.

We managed to finish all the races even if we were scared about the wind sometimes. But a straight headwind was not a big problem for the race. It was a problem for all tents in the paddock, and all people standing out side in the wind. It's been a long time since I met so many with a cold and runny nose. This includes me! Arriving on Wednesday on the Press Day was it warm and sunny. Roger Pettersson went out and made a 7.27 run. Then I thought that this would be a record breaking event. I have never in my life seen a better-prepared track in my life. I got a little bit worried on the evening when Kjell and Darren and the rest of the team started to dig up the start line and replace it that evening.

Even on Thursday it was sunny and nice. But then the Pro categories started to qualify on Friday and the nice weather finished. It was cooler with a risk of rain and wind. We had to cancel one run on Friday due to rain but managed to do three qualifying runs on Saturday instead. The track was in excellent condition. I personally think that many riders were having problems underestimating the track.

First a little about Top Fuel Bike. Roel Koedam showed once again that he is the Champ. He had almost promised me that there would be a five-second run this weekend. And I know that he can do it. The bike was ready and the track was ready for it. But the weather was not ready for it. I will have to wait to next year for it. Roel was number one qualifying from Ian King and Steve Wollatt. But some small problems in the semi against Italy's Antonio Ferretti gave the win to Antonio. He is the number two in the Championship and has really shown this year that he belongs at the top. So Antonio was in the final against Steve Woollatt who defeated Steve Carey in the semi. Well almost not. Since Steve Carey had broken and the track crew were doing a quick clean-up of the track after Antonio, Darren really scared me when Steve fired up and headed headed to the start line with a lot of people on the track. But since Steve, according to the rules, just had to start by himself to get the win, they started him and then he shut down. This gave Steve more time to be prepared for the final against Antonio, and Steve turned out to be the winner. It is a pity that many British Top Fuel bikes can't go outside England. We would love them. What I really missed this time was all the Norwegians. Due to accidents and other problems did they not come.

In Pro Stock there were also good times and hard qualifying. The fastest in qualifying was Roger Pettersson who was already Champion for this year. Roger made it to the final as usual and won that one over Chris Hope. The most exciting thing was that Anders Abramhamsson was the number two qualifier. He lost in the semi to Chris Hope. Maybe next year the two Swedish Anders (Larsson and Abrahamsson) can create a lot of problem for all the others. When they just find the last bit they will really be hunting. Next year will be very exciting.

Supertwin turned out to be a thriller. Ton Pels was leading the Championship with fourteen points over Anders Karling before this race so it would go to the very last run. But in the last qualifying run Charley hit the wall in the braking area. The bike just turned and Charley was soon into the wall, scratching the bike and causing problems with his foot. He had to go to hospital for an x-ray and to get some cover over it. So Charley could not run. But he was able to come down to the starting area to receive the applause for the best qualifiers in the presentation before the race. The new wall which was ready just before the Main Event has really paid back. If there had not been a wall, much more would have happened, and I am sure that Charley would not have been back on the track on Sunday morning. Ton Pels made it all the way to the final and was running some really good times. Nice work Ton, you deserve it after so many years. Ton defeated Hans Olav Olstad in the semi and Ronny Aassen in the final. Ronny has had problems all the year but he has not found them. Ronny will come next year with a new bike. One other thing that makes me very glad was to see Svein Gottenberg after his "explosion" in Norway. They had fixed the bike and Svein was running low seven-second runs all the time. Svein has been riding many years and now is he starting to go fast and everything is working very well.

We really have to watch out next year for all the Norwegians who are coming. I think that they all will be chasing Ton and Charley next year for the Championship. Maybe is it time for an Norwegian next year. Gunnar from Bl�kulla frames ( Hunnebostrand Sweden) who is the frame wizard will have a hard winter making all the new frames.

This was the last race for the season, everything worked out very well. I only hope that we will have more riders who can make more events next year. I think if we could be a little like the cars with travel money for foreign racers, that could make the Championship even more exciting than it is today. We have also seen riders from some new countries on new bikes. We also have seen that we can make good parts here in Europe and that you do not have to buy every thing from the States.

Thank you very much to all the officials who have been working during the year. I cannot name them all but they have done a very good job. The standard is growing all the time, more professionalism and better races. Taking care of the track before and during an event is hard work. We had also seen that a good starter (Ian Marshall) and those around him now have more power and can make the right decisions in a stressful situation. Thank you also to Keith Bartlett and Kjell Pettersson who have also made it work. I hope that some of your plans will work out and that we will have a really nice year in 2005. The new broadcasting company Sunspot has made huge impression on me also. I'm just waiting to see the results on television. They have been working hard and I have a feeling that we will see a very different and better show this year.

You can view the final FIM/UEM Championship standings on the King Racing web site at www.kingracing.com; incidentally, a Happy Birthday to Ian King.
©Eurodragster.com
One-armed bandit.
15th September: Courtesy of photo-journalist Mark Gredzinski comes news that UK Fuel Altered pilot Mickey Moore will not be competing at this weekend's Hot Rod Drags at Shakespeare County Raceway.

"Two Saturdays ago, Mickey fell sideways off his ladder whilst plastering a ceiling and in doing so dislocated his shoulder with his arm ending up behind his back (ulp!)", says Mark. "The paramedics were called to try and reinstall the limb, but the air was probably blue as Mickey used his equivalent of 'Ooh, that smarts a little'. So the Fuel Altered pilot had to be taken to hospital for an operation, as he has no desire to drive like Wild Willie Borsch just yet!

"The good news is that Mickey is fine, just sore around the shoulder area as everything gets back in place with his arm in plaster, but he's driving around in his van which has an automatic 'box. "I'm alright, but I'm a bit of a one-armed bandit at the moment" says Mick, but he assures me that he will be back behind the wheel soon, even if realistically it may be next year before the car gets an airing."

We are sure that everyone will join Sharkman and Tog in wishing Mickey a very rapid recovery and a swift return to the track, both literally and figuratively.
©Eurodragster.com
Super Gas fund rises again.
15th September: The SGDRA are pleased to announce that Belmont Auto Services and Day's Volkswagen are new additions to the ever-growing list of sponsors for the Twentieth Anniversary Shootout, writes Spencer Tramm. "Belmont Auto Services is run by former Super Gas racer and current Super Mod racer Simon Farmer", says Spencer. "Belmont Autos specialise in servicing, repair and MOT preparation and have a new diagnostic system for American cars.
©Eurodragster.com
"Day's Volkswagen is owned and run by Dave and Sarah Day of Double Trouble fame. Dave and Sarah have been Super-class racers for the past 4 years and although they are unable to compete due to the impending arrival of 'baby Day' (does this mean it will have to be called Treble Trouble?) they are still supporting the anniversary celebration.

"The SGDRA would like to thank these and all of the other sponsors already signed up, taking the prize fund to around the �3,000 mark, so there is still time to get your entry in!"

Mods and Rodders.
15th September: The inaugural Rodders vs. Modders Shootout will be staged at this year�s UK Northern Finals at York Raceway on Sunday 26th September, writes York PR Howard Holmes.

"York Raceway has to be receptive to the new; it needs to be innovative to ensure its continuation as the North's drag racing facility", says Howard. "And as times move on, York and its traditional drag racing fraternity has been grateful for the success of its events aimed at the modern, modified car scene. Of course, whilst we scoff at some of the cars we may typically see at McDonalds on a Saturday night (Hello? Weren't our jacked up Cortina�s with a hubcap on the diff scoffed at in their time?), some of these guys are building and tuning cars (dare we say hot rodding cars?) to enhance performance, as well as looks (albeit that beauty is in the eye of the beholder). So before I die and they dig a big hole and throw me and a pile of unfinished projects -and my hobby/sport into that hole and bury it forever, it might be worth a look at those who may become the custodians of our sport.

"There used to be a bit of an atmosphere between the two tribes; us the rodders with uggins (Yorkshire word) of power off of a big motor in a rod, Yank or classic. Then we got turbochargers, nitrous and other stuff to upset the traditional culture of drag racing. Then came EFI and all levels of sophistication us old skool couldn't relate to. So today, there are many high profile cars depending on high technology as well as the power from displacement, and hybrids of old and new.

"York Raceway has been nurturing the new culture and this has made an important contribution to assure the continuation of traditional drag racing in the north of England.

"Anyway, before we all get too serious and anthropological, York Raceway is all about participation, getting involved, having a go; having some competition and youll wind up having a great time along the way. The inaugural Rodders vs. Modders Shootout will be staged at this year's UK Northern Finals on Sunday 26th September 2004. The format for the shootout will use York Raceway's tried and trusted formula which has been used for the Mini vs. Beetle Shootout, which has been a tremendous success over the last nine years.

"One-shot qualifying will commence at 10am, when the track opens, rodders in the left lane, modders in the right lane. Cars will then be matched on their qualifying times and will be paired to race an opponent who ran within 0.5 second of their time. If there is no opposing car available to race within this time frame, then the car runs a bye. However, this must be within.5 second of the qualifying time in order to count as a win for the group, this rule also assures minimal carpet bagging. There is a qualifying bump stop or cut-off two positions after the last pair of matched cars; this gives a little bonus to the group with the larger turnout, whilst still retaining a competitive element to the Shootout.

"In addition" says Steve Murty, York's promoter, "the modders will use the Midway Pits, so they can pair off with the rodders at the top of the fire-up lane, likewise the modders fans can cheer on their guys from the banking whilst the rodders are in the main pit area, so the rodders will be all on the left lane and grandstand, the modders to the right". Spectate or participate: if you want to prove the point, or find out which group is the better drag racers or just have a great day out, get to York Raceway's UK Northern Finals on 26th September 2004. The event won't however be taking itself TOO seriously, and the organisers may need to adjust the regulations on the day to reflect, for example the need to accommodate faster cars.

"The UK Northern Finals also includes Hot Rod Challenge round 6, National Street Car Challenge round 7, plus the finals of the Northern Drag Racing Championship Sportsman and Pro ET bracket series and the final of the American Super Stock series."
©Eurodragster.com
Swift snippets.
15th September: We are again indebted to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe for sending us updated versions of his European Bests tables. The 2004 and Chronological tables have been updated to take into account Dave Wilson's new Top Methanol Dragster ET record, and Andy has also provided two new tables of closest and quickest races. You can view the European Bests by clicking here, or by clicking on the European Bests link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page.
©Eurodragster.com
Guardian looks over ACI.
14th September: Today's issue of the Guardian newspaper in the UK includes a feature on 2004 FIA European Top Methanol Dragster Champion Dave 'Grumpy' Wilson and the American Car Imports Racing TMD. The article, by Giles Smith, makes interesting reading and includes a large photograph: an on-line version is available by clicking here.

"We had a fantastic weekend at the European Finals", says ACI Racing Team Principal Anthony Cohen, who sponsors Eurodragster's Home and News pages and Event Coverage through American Car Imports. "We made four runs in the 5.4s, won the meeting and got a new European record to boot! We just went for broke, treating the meeting as the ultimate Test and Tune weekend - it was just amazing. I want to thank all of our sponsors, in particular Ray Maguire from Playstation 2 and James Goddard-Watts from Silverline Tools for helping to make our season in 2004 so successful.
©Eurodragster.com
"I also want to thank all the staff from Trackbak Racing and SPRC for making the event a 'blast' and for preparing the track to such a high standard. Running our 5.436 semi-final, we were only seventeen hundredths of a second behind Duane Shield's quickest-ever pass in a blown-alcohol car!"

European Finals stats, timing.
14th September: We are as ever indebted to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers for sending us the statistics of the weekend's FIA European Finals.

Blue lights: 891
Pairs: 698
Single runs: 176
Byes: 17
Total vehicles entered in PC: 1589
Made it to the finish line: 1561 (including 114 Junior Dragsters)
Made it to the quarter mile: 1447

Average ET (not including JDs): 9.763
Average MPH (not including JDs): 140.94
Low ET: 4.983, Andy Carter
High MPH: 296.13, Andy Carter

Closest races (Eliminations):
FIA Pro Stock Round 1, Ulf Jonsson (win) v Michael Malgren 0.000076 seconds = 0.022 feet / 0.261 inches
FIA Top Fuel Round 1, Jon Webster v Thomas Nataas (win) 0.000556 seconds = 0.229 feet, / 2.746 inches
©Eurodragster.com
Closest to dial in:
John Everitt (Super Pro ET) +0.001 8.881 (09:35 on Thursday)
John Tebenham (Super Pro ET) +0.001 8.101 (11:13 on Thursday)
Mark Flavell (Super Pro ET) +0.001 7.571 (12:15 on Thursday)
Malcolm Francis (Super Comp) +0.001 8.901 (16:49 on Thursday)

Best reaction time:
Leigh Morris (Super Street) 0.000 14:50 on Thursday

Total run time (all cars to reach finish line including JDs): 4 hours 16 minutes 37.422 seconds

Runs under 5.000 seconds: 3 (Andy Carter, Thomas Nataas, Smax Smith)
Runs under 5.500 seconds: 23
Runs under 6.000 seconds: 53
Runs over 250 mph: 13
Runs over 200 mph: 117

We are also indebted to Andy for sending us the timing data from the FIA European Finals, which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the left hand side of any Eurodragster page.

"I must thank my wife Debbie for letting me out for all four days to be at the Finals, something I have not been able to do for a couple of years", says Andy. "Having to put up with a three year old and a rather boisterous one year old on her own for that amount of time isn't easy and I've absolutely no doubt as to who worked harder over those four days. I hope that now we have finished our breeding programme, and as the kids get older, I'll be able to put a bit more track time in in future!

"As usual thanks must go to Steve Talbot and Pete Thornton who wrote the two extraction programmes for me, as they provide slightly different results it allows me to combine them to produce what I think is a very nice layout. I've changed the layout slightly to what I think will read easier, let me know what you think. Thanks to Ozzy Ewing for his help with the Pro qualifying pairings, and for putting my mistakes right ! Thanks to Chris Hope for his coffee and humour, and for letting me squash my (now redundant) testicles on his bike, how people ride those things is beyond me. Dave, you still owe me a bottle of JD."

Swift snippets.
14th September: Swedish Top Methanol Funny Car racer Leif Andréasson plans to compete in Fuel Funny Car at the NHRA Finals at Pomona in November. Leif will be licencing in Fuel FC at Las Vegas in October preparatory to contesting the event which will also be attended by fellow Swede, Top Fuel racer Tommy Möller. "It's a serious change", Leif told Eurodragster at the post-European Finals Banquet. Stay tuned for official word on Leif's plans for 2005.
©Eurodragster.com
Gary Page has been in touch to congratulate Andy Carter and his crew on Andy's FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Championship. "Well done to Andy and his crew, they did what they had to do" says Gary, who has been working with Championship rival Jöran Persåker this season. Gary also asked Smax Smith to pack the throttle fairy in his suitcase when he moves to Canada.

Jenni Day of Meridian Television has asked us to pass on her thanks to all of the racers who participated in filming for the programme Hell for Leather last week. "It was a great day and good to put names to faces", says Jenni. "I shall let you know when the programme goes out so that people can tune in."

Web site updates.

14th September: The official web site for next year's Xtreme Wheels International has been launched at www.xwishow.comp. The second Xtreme Wheels show is to be held at Alexandra Palace on 19th-20th February 2005 and again features a mixture of drag racing machinery, hot rods, street rods, custom cars, imports, modifieds, live action and trade stands, and the well-designed web site features news, ticketing details, show preview, information for traders and exhibitors, mailing list sign-up and more.
©Eurodragster.com

2004 European Champions.
13th September: The remaining European Championships were decided at the FIA European Finals. Congratulations to:

FIA Top Fuel Dragster: Andy Carter
FIA Top Methanol Dragster: Dave Wilson
FIA Top Methanol Funny Car: Urs Erbacher
FIA Pro Stock: Jimmy Ålund
©Eurodragster.com
FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike: Roel Koedam
FIM/UEM Supertwin: Ton Pels
FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike: Roger Pettersson

NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified: Håkan Nilsson
MSA British Nitro Funny Car Championship: Gordon Smith

FIA European Finals results.
13th September: Congratulations to the winners of this weekend's FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway:

FIA Top Fuel Dragster: Andy Carter 5.236/296.13 def. Thomas Nataas 5.539/264.79
FIA Top Methanol Dragster: Dave Wilson 5.457/255.34 def. Peter Schöfer 5.594/245.84
FIA Top Methanol Funny Car: Ulf Leanders 5.753/246.08 def. Urs Erbacher 5.828/247.45
FIA Pro Stock: Jimmy Ålund 6.974/196.44 def. Ulf Jonsson 7.126/191.46
NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified: Patrick Wikström 6.331/221.81 def. Håkan Nilsson 7.191/205.60

Comp Eliminator: Torben Stenström (8.40) 8.490/158.35 def. George Chiarella (8.40) 8.520/143.71
Super Pro ET: Barry Giles (7.90) 7.997/159.60 def. Gary Malin (7.70) 7.719/171.76
Pro ET: Chris Isaacs (9.97) 10.013/132.04 def. Darren Hulkes (11.99) 12.035/111.94
Sportsman ET: Martin Lewis (15.77) 16.811/73.16 def. Mark Anderson (13.00) 12.918/103.48
Super Comp: Phil Bennett 8.992/136.73 def. Malcolm Francis 9.062/155.72
Super Gas: Frank Mason 9.941/135.11 def. Conrad Stanley 9.886/131.61
Super Street: Mark Watkins 10.882/122.69 def. John Grant 10.834/122.68
Junior Dragster: Nick Mugridge (8.23) 8.323/73.88 def. Tom Watts (11.28) 11.314/54.40
©Eurodragster.com
FIM/UEM Top Fuel Bike: Steve Woollatt 6.655/200.08 def. Antonio Ferretti 7.127/198.20
FIM/UEM Supertwin: Ton Pels 6.638/203.50 def. Ronny Aasen 9.784/89.12
FIM/UEM Pro Stock Bike: Roger Pettersson 7.451/177.13 def. Chris Hope 9.394/88.41

9.90 Bike: Andy Burfitt 10.141/122.59 def. Julian Harris 10.192/130.82
10.90 Bike: Dave Burfitt 11.086/118.52 def. Phil Pratt 11.037/115.55

We had one new European record set despite very unfavourable conditions, particularly a vicious headwind: Dave Wilson set a new European Top Methanol Dragster ET record of 5.436. Not so good were accidents involving Supertwin racer Anders Karling and Pro Stock racer Kenneth Soderström: Charley broke an ankle after sideswiping the shutdown area guardrail in qualifying, and Kenneth escaped unhurt after his Firebird turned left and hit the guardrail almost head-on at half-track.

Super Street racer Leigh Morris went home �50 richer after winning the Eurodragster.com/Speedflow Perfect Light Award with a 0.000 Reaction Time in qualifying.

You can view our American Car Imports-sponsored Event Coverage by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page.

Joon goes solo.
13th September: Dutch Top Fuel Dragster racer Lex Joon will be campaigning his own Top Fueller in 2005. Lex has hired a car from Knut Söderquist this season but with a year's experience on his belt will be striking out on his own next year.

"We had a meeting with our sponsor MPM Oil yesterday, and they told us that they wanted us to own our own car", Lex told Eurodragster last night. "We are looking at options, I have already had people try to sell me their cars! We want to buy a complete operation with up-to-date parts and tune-up. We aim to get the car in January which gives us plenty of time to get car and a crew together in time for the season."
©Eurodragster.com
Lex said that he and partner and Team Manager Gerda Dijkstra would be looking for an operation when they go to the USA in a few weeks' time, but Gerda added that they already have a mole on the other side of the Pond. "Tom Hoover has already been looking around for us", said Gerda.

Söderquist on the move.
12th September: Carbon By Design Top Fuel Dragster team owner Knut Söderquist is moving Knut Söderquist Enterprises back to Sweden after thirty years away from home, twenty of those years in England. Knut is setting up Sweden's biggest motor centre with Johnny Nilsson with the opening set for November.

"I've had twenty fantastic years in England", Knut told Eurodragster last night. "It's a sad moment to leave my friends in England, but it has been absolutely superb. I will still be available at Pig Farm International during the race season."
©Eurodragster.com
Knut said that one of the reasons for the move to Sweden is to build upon his Top Fuel rental business. "I want to step up the business by fifty to seventy five per cent in quality", he said. "I'm also planning to hire Chris Andrews to work for me in my workshop in Sweden. As thanks to my fantastic crew for all of their work I will be flying them all to the opening of the new business - and I've booked the best strippers from Copenhagen to perform for them!"

Knut also confirmed that Dave Wilson will be making licencing passes in one of his Top Fuellers at the UK National Finals in a few weeks' time, and he added that that the CBD Top Fuel team's year is not ending there. "If Dave comes into Top Fuel then we at CBD are looking forward to beating the hell out of him!", said Knut. "If it all goes well then I want to put Dave in a car at the Flame and Thunder Show, I also want to run a car there with Barry Sheavills. If they can't make it then I will put the superb talent Chris Andrews in a car."

Swift snippets.
12th September: A very Happy Birthday to Junior Dragster racer Holly Mitchell, who has celebrated her birthday by qualifying number one in Junior Dragster at the FIA European Finals. Hope you have a very happy day, Holly.
©Eurodragster.com
Swift snippets.
11th September: 2004 FIA European Top Methanol Dragster Champion Dave Wilson is to upgrade his licence to Top Fuel at the UK National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway at the start of October. Dave will be driving one of Knut Söderquist's cars, but tells us that this is not indicative of any definite plan for 2005. "It's an option, but it is one of many and right now we're just having a play", he says.

Adam Flamholc is the new owner of Micke Callin's 2000 Monte Carlo, and tells us that he plans to run it in F/A in Comp Eliminator next year. "We are hoping to get it together in time for the Winternationals at Meca Raceway on 24th-26th September", says Adam.

Steve Woollatt's partner Jackie Jones has been in touch via Graham Motler to ask us to thank Super Pro ET racer Al Golding for taking her and her daughter Sarah for passenger rides at the European Finals Press Day. "Jackie got on the phone to Steve and asked him if he would consider selling the Dealer and getting a race car instead, so that she could go up the track more often as a Team - you know, togetherness and all that", says Graham. "All joking apart Jackie is gobsmacked and would again like to thank Tog for photos, Al for the thrill, and Malcolm and Marcia for the loan of the Fashion accessory."
©Eurodragster.com
Terry Ward has been in touch to tell us that he recorded four sub-fourteen second times on his Lambretta 250 cc sprinter at the Motorsports 250 Classic Championship at RAF Honington. Terry's bests were 13.79 seconds and 94.6 mph for the standing quarter. You can read more at mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/dragster_lambretta.

Brian Nixon was very pleased to receive a new Speedglas welding helmet which he won in last month's competition on the Kågered Racing web site. "How chuffed am I?", says Brian. "I supposed like a lot of people that only Scandinavians would win but no, first prize to me here in England. And what a nice bit of kit,although not a professional I know a man who is. The Speedglas 9002 is regarded as the best welding helmet you can get. So don't forget enter those competitions, somebody's got to win". The prize for this month's contest on the Kågered Racing web site at www.kagered-racing.com is donated by sponsor CRC.

Web site updates.
11th September: The Dragsterworld web site at www.dragsterworld.com has been updated with thirty photos from Wednesday's European Finals Press Day.
©Eurodragster.com
Capewell's season done.
10th September: Eagle-eyed readers will have noticed the disappearance of UK Top Methanol Funny Car racer Trevor Capewell's name from the FIA European Finals entry list after his rough ride in the final of Top Methanol at last week's Allstar Nationals. Trevor's wife Esta has been in touch to let us know that Trevor and the Southern Rebel team have called an early end to their season with all goals achieved.

"Upon purchasing our Top Methanol Funny Car in October 2003, we had several goals to achieve for our first season", says Esta. "These were for Trevor to obtain the license for the TMFC class, for the team to gain experience of setting up all aspects of the new car, to be able to turn the car round in the timescales between runs, and to run fast times and show that we are in the running to become the current fastest TMFC.

"This year was always going to be a huge learning curve for us all and has provided us with plenty of pressure, stress and financial drain but it has all paid off since we achieved all our goals. We were able to licence the car at Santa Pod Raceway during the SPRC Summernationals event running 6.582/161.80. During the Allstar Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway Trevor was able to set new PB ET and speed of 6.261/218.39, beating Doug Bond at the semi-finals after Doug unfortunately damaged his engine. Unfortunately Trevor experienced another big dose of tyre shake during the final run and lost against Lindsay Deuchar. Well done to Lindsay and the team.

"Trevor has had an issue with the limited head cage space in the car since the beginning, and this was the cause of big problems in the last run at Shakespeare County Raceway. Due to the need to alter this and also to repair damage already sustained in the previous runs there wasn�t enough time to do the essential work necessary before the FIA event. Therefore, the sad decision has been made to end the season for safety reasons and to concentrate getting the car ready for the next year. It was a hard decision to make, but necessary, and we are already making plans for the work and changes which need to be done on the car. Overall the Southern Rebel Racing Team has done exceptionally well, stepping from Super Pro ET to TMFC, and achieving so much in fewer than eleven months.

"Trevor, Crew Chief Bob and I would like to express our gratitude and sheer appreciation to our fantastic team for their commitment, hard work and enthusiasm they have shown for this season. Thank you to Dennis who joined our team for the Allstar Nationals and fitted in very well. Thank you to our sponsor Prolong for providing a fantastic speedy service in time of need at the last meeting. Thank you also to all our friends, neighbours and fans for all their help and support. Thank you to the paramedic team and the fire brigade who attended to my husband so well after the last run. This is not the end but the beginning of the Southern Rebel Racing Team, so watch this space.

"Our web site at www.southernrebel.co.uk has recently be redesigned and built by Kevin Close of Cambius, so feel free to browse and give us your views."

Junerud misses Finals.
10th September: Swedish Supertwin racer Stefan Junerud is also missing this weekend's FIA European Finals although the bike was ready to go.

"We have swapped engines since Gardermoen. It is Ulla-Bella now, she is much wilder and stronger, instead of Ulla-Greta who always broke apart! Unfortunately we have not been able to find a second truck driver for our team bus, so we have to stand by this time. Instead we will possibly go to Malm� for the Winternationals on 25th-29th September.

"Good luck to you and to all the all the teams, I wish and hope it will be a nice and fast weekend."

Feature: SPR getting ready.
8th September: If you were tuned into our Event Coverage of the pre-FIA European Finals testing at Santa Pod Raceway, you will recall that we promised that our next Finals update would be a special feature on the work which goes into preparing Santa Pod for an event of the size of the European Finals.
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Event reporter Tog spent yesterday at Santa Pod to get an idea of the type and amount of work carried out by the track staff in preparation for this weekend's race. You can check out our illustrated report by clicking here, or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page and selecting the FIA European Finals.

FIA European Finals Awards.
8th September: �100 is up for grabs in Eurodragster's Perfect Award scheme at this weekend's FIA European Finals. Eurodragster.com and our partners Speedflow and Curbishley automotive will be posting prize money as follows:

The Eurodragster.com/Speedflow Perfect Light Award: �50 will be awarded to the first racer this weekend to record a perfect Reaction Time of 0.000. The Eurodragster.com/Speedflow Perfect Light Award is open to all classes and is jointly presented by Eurodragster.com and high-performance hose and fitting supplier Speedflow. Speedflow have recently relocated to Bristol and can be contacted on 0870 225 0097, or visit their web site at www.speedflow.co.uk for full contact details and product range. If the Award is not won at Santa Pod then it will be increased to �75 for the UK National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway in October; if it is won then the UK National Finals prize fund will be �50.
©Eurodragster.com
The Eurodragster.com/Curbishley Automotive Perfect ET Award: �50 will be awarded to the first racer this weekend to run to the thousandth on their class index or dial-in. The Eurodragster.com/Curbishley Automotive Award is open to all ET classes, all Super classes, Junior Dragster, 9.90 Bike and 10.90 Bike, and is jointly presented by Eurodragster.com and UK automotive painter and finisher Curbishley Automotive, owned by Martin and Ruth Curbishley. If the Award is not won at Santa Pod then it will be increased to �75 for the UK National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway in October; if it is won then the UK National Finals prize fund will be �50. If you would like your race vehicle painted by Curbishley Automotive then contact Martin Curbishley by E-Mail at mcbrogieroadster@aol.com or call him on 07812 942097.

Dunn and Evans' thanks.
8th September: UK Super Gas racers Steve Dunn and Jon Evans have been in touch to thank Eurodragster readers for their concern after Steve's top end crash at Shakespeare County Raceway last week.

"We'd like to say thank you to your for all the cards, phone calls and messages sent through the chronicles of Eurodragster wishing me a speedy recovery", says Steve Dunn. "Thankfully I look and feel much better - eyes still a little scary and bruises still appearing daily. The double vision is not resolved despite a visit to the specialist yesterday, but my sight is improving. Jon and I are hoping to recover the car from SCR in the next few days, and we plan to attend the European Finals for at least one day.

"Congratulations to Spencer on his Super Gas win - didn't mean to scare you, mate - and to Conrad on clinching the Ultimate Power Championship.

"Thanks again for all the good wishes, and we look forward to seeing all our friends and fellow racers soon."

Ålund: I think I'll stay.
8th September: 2004 FIA European Pro Stock Champion Jimmy Ålund tells us that he will be racing in Pro Stock again next year. "We were second last year, and we added more horsepower this year and took the Championship", says Jimmy. "I am very happy with the way things have gone. My team have done just great, they are all racers so they know what they are doing, and this is the most fun I've had driving a race car, so I think I'll stay in the class!".

Jimmy contested the last two events, at Gardermoen and Hockenheim, on his spare engine after suffering engine damage early in the Norwegian race but the primary piece is now in place for this weekend's FIA European Finals at Santa Pod. "We have some new parts on the car including something on the roof for the spectators to look at!", says Jimmy. "I always look forward to coming to Santa Pod, especially for the European Finals because the track is at its best. I want to lower my European records further, I know that Michael Malmgren said that he is going to take the records back - he is a great guy and we are good friends off the track - but I've taken them off him and I am going to keep them!
©Eurodragster.com
Jimmy is very quick to credit all of his competitors and he has a tip for next season. "There are a lot of good teams", he says. "I think Jackie Hansen will be the one to watch next year. But every team is very strong, there are no free rounds."

Jimmy also says that he has a number of people to thank for his success this season. "Without my sponsors I couldn't do this, and I must thank everyone who has helped me this year", he says. "Not all of my crew have been able to make all of the rounds so people have been jumping in and out. It would be impossible for me without my Crew Chief Petter, if he quit then I would have to quit! Christer has helped me with the heads, he was with me all of last season too. Some of my other crew are racers from the north of Sweden, Benni and Pelle win the Scandinavian Dragracing Championship with their Volvo which runs 7.50 with a Big Block Chevy on nitrous. I'm trying to get them interested in running Pro Stock! I am also very grateful for the support I get from the fans, from my fellow racers, and from racers in other classes. It really helps."

Everything must go!
8th September: Courtesy of Anders Magnusson of Swedish Top Methanol Funny Car team Andréasson Motorsports comes the news that Leif Andréasson is putting his entire operation up for sale after this weekend's FIA European Finals.
©Eurodragster.com
"Everything goes", says Anders. "The TMFC Dodge Stratus complete with spares...the fancy Wilson trailer with the Volvo FH12...the Volvo BM 10 motor home bus with the Reco 6.5 meter trailer...it's all for sale.

"OK, time for wild speculations. Will Leif quit racing? Did he get bored with his old stuff and buy a whole new operation for TMFC? Maybe he's going for a new class? Drag racing? Super Touring Cars? Maybe someone can figure it out..."

Hersland goes to ground.
8th September: Europe's newest Top Fuel Dragster racer, Denmark's Rene Hersland, has been in touch to explain why we have not seen more of him in his ex-Kim Reymond Top Fueller. Rene has had one outing so far, at last weekend's Mosten Race Day in Denmark, but he has a pretty good reason for his non-appearance otherwise.

"I have loved Top Fuellers since 1997 and 1998 when I was clutch man on Jens Nybo's Top Fueller", says Rene. "Actually it is basically the same car I have bought, except for the back and front halves. When Kim wanted to sell it was a little to early for me. Beside my car accessories shops in Denmark - at the time I had four of these but now two have been sold - I also have a holiday center with fifty apartments and swimming pools and a restaurant. Running a restaurant is very time-consuming, so I was late getting started on collecting parts for the season. I ordered a new front wing at the end of February, only to discover that the delivery time was six months. Bad luck. I later found that Rune Fjeld had a 2002 car with a wing like mine.

"We had set a goal to go to Mantorp Park and to drive for my licence before the race. I had it arranged with the DASU, our organisation in Denmark, to take officials to Mantorp to confirm my licence runs. Unfortunately fourteen days before Mantorp I decided to go for an evening ride on my Yamaha 600 on the beach at my holiday center. It's a totally wonderful experience, running at full speed at sunset with the sea and the beach (don't tell the police). I had the misfortune to hit a big hole in the sand - I think somebody tried to reach China that way - and took a flight across the handlebars.
©Eurodragster.com
"I got the bike back on both wheels but felt pretty bad in my body. I headed home, which was about ten kilometres away, and went to bed for a rest but after some hours my fiancée (we will be married on 25th September) called an ambulance. I went to the hospital and they discovered six broken ribs, and of course a lot of other injuries. But it was the ribs which bothered me most. Oh boy that hurts.

"What hurt even more was that the season was over before it started. After three days in hospital I went home, but I was in serious pain. After three weeks I quit the medication and decided to master the pain, instead of being its slave. I have raced motocross, gokarts, jet ski, water ski and powerboats for several years, but never hurt myself so bad.

"Last weekend was exactly six weeks since I broke my ribs, and we had a contract to make exhibition runs at the famous Drag Race at Mosten MC. I was excited about trying the car, so even though Kim Reymond was present to take the driving job I decided to go for it.

"And oh boy what an experience. Even though I have raced my 1970 Challenger with 557 Hemi and a lot of nitrous for many years - best ET 8.40 and 275 kmh - this was totally different. The acceleration is tremendous. I hit the throttle for about one second and still went faster than most of the bikes. I felt comfortable in the car, as if I was wearing a pair of my oldest jeans. And the best part was that my ribs didn�t hurt at all. After only six weeks - boy, am I the lucky one. Nobody will ever understand what's it like to drive a Top Fuel car without trying it - believe me.

"Since I'm unable to race, my many years in racing told me to help the other guys. The Danish task force - Per, Carsten, Ole and Morten are already helping Tommy Möller's team so we have taken several parts from my car to put them on Tommy's car for this weekend. The injector, blower, fuel pump and some small parts have found their way onto the SweDane car. Tommy borrowed my fuel pump at Hockenheim, but I had forgotten to send the drive shaft along with the pump. He called and told me on Friday when I was 500 km into Germany. I called home to my shop Autobremsen and asked my folks there to send it UPS. Two of my guys said straight away "Give us the UPS fee, and we will take it to Hockenheim". A couple of hours later Ole and 'Trolle' were on their way with the drive shaft.

"I could continue for hours - but now you know a little bit about why the quickest Top Fueller in Europe is grounded."

Swift snippets.
8th September: Lena of ME Racing Services tells us that Swedish Pro Modified racer and race car builder Mats Eriksson and his Green Goblin team have repaired damage caused by tyre shake at Mantorp Park last week and are looking forward to making some good passes at Santa Pod this weekend.

Meanwhile our good buddy Patrik Jacobsson tells us that fellow Pro Mod racer Micke Lindahl and his team have also repaired damage suffered at Mantorp Park and will be at SPR this weekend, and that he spotted Håkan Fallström heading for the ferry at what he describes as "Good speed".
©Eurodragster.com
If you were tuned in to our pre-FIA European Finals testing reports at the weekend you will remember that we promised to find out the story behind the appearance of some large Powerade signs at Santa Pod Raceway. SPR's Marketing Manager Caroline Day told us that a new deal has been done through Coca Cola to market Powerade at SPR. Representatives of the company will be at this weekend's race and we understand that Powerade vending machines will also be in place.

A very Happy Birthday to Darren Gould, brother of CC Racing Top Methanol FC Crew Chief Cliff Gould. Hope you have a good day, Darren.

Julie Willcox has been in touch with an update on the condition of Shakespeare County Raceway Press Officer Jerry Cookson, who was taken into hospital at the weekend. "Jerry was discharged from hospital on Monday, but is still not too well", says Julie. "We have to have further tests done, to find out what has happened. It would appear that Jerry has a problem with his kidneys which will involve investigations at his local hospital. In the meantime he will have to take life easy and wait for the outcome (don't think that will happen!)."

Help us find...
7th September: We've had an urgent call for help from UK Tech Inspector Geoff Martin whose camper was stolen between 12:10 and 12:50 this afternoon from Tescos car park in Wellingborough.
©Eurodragster.com
The camper is a Talbot Swift Kon-Tiki, registration L474 LRP. The camper is white and has a rear roofbox and a towball-mounted bike rack. All of Geoff's tech kit is inside the camper.

If you are in the Wellingborough area and you happen to see the camper then please call Mark Norton on 07881 456314.

Svenska Bilsportförbundet, Webster Race Engineering, Andy Robinson Race Cars and G-Max Fuels have come to the rescue with replacement tech kit for this weekend but we could really do with finding Geoff's camper so be sure to keep your eyes open.

Olstad still learning.
7th September: Norwegian Supertwin racer Hans Olav Olstad says that his goals this season were to stay safe and to learn the class. "I consider myself a schoolboy in this field", he says. "But so far this has been an incredible season. We started with the win at the Main Event at Santa Pod. After a hydraulic in the last qualifying run, five people worked the whole night to get the bike ready for eliminations next day, and we did it. Thanks to Team Hansa, Charley, Gotten, Akka, and everyone else who helped us out.

"After that we went to the Swedish Championship at V�ster�s, also the first round of the Nordic Supertwin Cup, and got a strong second place behind Charley Karling. We have qualified at all of the FIM/UEM events so far: fourth at ALastaro, fifth at Mantorp Parl, eighth at Gardermoen, fifth at Hockenheim, and we are currently fourth in the FIM/UEM Championship. We also won the local Race and Rock event and won the 2004 Nordic Super Twin Cup 2004. So this is a very good place to be for next season.

"I only ran a best of 7.48 in 2003, during this season I lowered my best ET to 7.02. I started to lower it at the Main Event, down to 7.26. After ran 7.21 on Mantorp, 7.03 at Gardermoen during the European Championship round, where I also ran my speed of 326.97 kmh (203.17 mph). A Race and Rock I ran 7.02. So at the moment my Personal Bests are:

60 feet: 1.11
Eighth mile ET: 4.53
Eighth mile speed: 266 kmh (165 mph)
ET: 7.02
Speed: 326.97 kmh (203.17 mph)

6th September: The UK's Barry Sheavills is launching a project in which fans can play an active role in his return to Top Fuel Dragster. The Fansfueller scheme invites pledges starting at �50, with benefits including the contributor's name on the Top Fuel Dragster which, if the project is successful, the 1998 FIA Top Fuel Dragster Champion will be campaigning in 2005.

"Ever since I crashed in 2002, I have been actively seeking enough corporate sponsorship to return", Barry told Eurodragster on Saturday. "I have not been able to raise any large sponsorships but I have a number of smaller deals. At the same time, I have been approached by fans asking when I will be coming back and saying that they wished that they had the money to get me back on the track. We have been thinking about this for more than a year and now that we are ready to launch the scheme I am very excited about it, and very interested to see how it works out! We already have a number of benefits worked out for members such as exclusive clothing, and we are working on other benefits such as discounts which will allow members to recoup their outlay."

The Fansfueller project will be launched officially at this weekend's FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway. Barry has the use of a small trailer in the pits, opposite the Café and Shop, where you can speak to him about the scheme or collect flyers and pledge forms.
©Eurodragster.com
"We have a minimum amount which we need to raise", said Barry. "In late October we will sit down and see how much we have been pledged. If there is enough then we shall write to those who have pledged money to make sure that they wish to continue and ask for their contribution. If the pledges do not come to enough then we will not take the scheme forward."

For more details including the different pledge amounts and benefits for club members, check out the Fansfueller project web site at www.fansfueler.co.uk (not my spelling - Ed) or click on the logo at right, or call 01332 746476.

Swift snippets.
6th September: FIA Top Fuel Dragster Championship leader Micke Kågered is still battling to rid himself of a bad cold before this weekend's FIA European Finals. "Micke is taking nothing for granted, as the competition is so tough", says Team Manager Åsa Kinnemar. "He hopes that the crew will continue to work in the same spirit they have up to now, and that his health will be back to normal, so that he can perform well as a driver. Both the Top Fuel and Top Methanol cars and transporters are on site at Santa Pod, and some of the crew are flying in early this week to start preparing them."

Thanks as ever to SPRC Club Secretary Paula Marshall for forwarding us the very latest version of the official FIA European Finals entry list which now includes additional demonstration vehicles - two nine-second snowmobiles from Sweden! You can see the current Finals entry by clicking here.
©Eurodragster.com
Thanks also to National Association of Supertwins Championship Co-ordinator Sue Beneke for sending us the post-Allstar Nationals standings in the 2004 NAST Championships. "I must apologise to George Laycock for missing his speed record points in the last update", says Sue. You can see the latest NAST points by clicking here, or by clicking on the Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page.

Koedam meets Werner.
6th September: On the last weekend before the FIA European Finals, 2004 FIM/UEM European Top Fuel Bike Champion Roel Koedam and his team attended the Werner das Rennen festival in Germany. The primary sponsor of German Top Methanol Dragster racer Peter Schöfer, the Festival is a weekend of live bands and all kind of motorcycle madness says Roel's Crew Chief Marius van der Zijden.

What about an attempt to set a world record burnout contest? About a hundred bikes were lined up in the pit lane and lit up their tyres at the same moment. We have seen the most unusual and crazy kind of vehicles ever during this weekend including a bike driven by twenty four chainsaw engines. It all was held at the Euro Speedway at the Lausitzring, which is some 100 km south-east of Berlin in the former eastern part of Germany. We were told that this is the world�s most expensive Motorsports facility, costing over �300.000.000 (and it shows!) paid for by the German tax payer. This is a facility you have to see it to believe. It has every thing including a full Champ Car track, but not a drag strip.

One part of the festivities was a drag race demo from some bikes and cars. This was held both on Saturday and on Sunday and took place over an eighth mile course on the start/finish straight in front of a huge grandstand. Though the calendar said that the summer was over, this was not the case as it was very warm and sunny all weekend. The unprepared track had reasonable grip but was slightly off camber. On both days the start of the drag race activities was given by a "Gentlemen start your engines" through the PA system followed by all cars and bikes, which were parked in front of their pit boxes right across from the main grandstand, firing up their engines simultaneously.

We were invited together with Ton Pels to highlight the drag race demo. We both made one pass on Saturday and on Sunday and the crowd loved it. On Sunday we warmed up our engines at the same moment, Ton and Roel blipping their throttles one after each other. Just imagine the reflected sound of these barking bikes between the pit boxes and the covered grandstand! As the say in Germany �das war supergeil�. Unfortunately on our Sunday pass our engine all of a sudden died some fifty metres into the run with a small pop. Later in the pit box it turned out that it had snapped the cam timing chain and bent three exhaust valves in the process.

With just three days to go before we have to leave for Santa Pod, I'm afraid it will be even more hectic than in recent weeks. Any way we will do the best we can to fix it for this last meeting.
©Eurodragster.com
Smith gets the call.
6th September: It didn't take long for 2004 Ultimate Power Wild Bunch Champion Tony Smith to hear that he had won this year's title. "Whilst I did think that I had won the Championship at the weekend, it was nice to have it confirmed on Eurodragster (Fair play - Ed), and thanks for the phone call Crazy Chris", says Tony.

"The first round was a washout, but the other two were great with two perfect (and personal best) ETs. The first was at the Power Nationals racing Crazy Chris Hartnell and the second last weekend earned me #1 qualifier. The car is getting more consistent without the bounce which was cured by the new converter. I would like to say I had won an event but two seconds and the Championship is good enough. Whilst being towed back from the final at the last meeting, Dave found that one of the drive shaft joints on the back axle had broken, I have some spares in the van and hopefully this will be fixed in the week, unless the shaft has been damaged.
©Eurodragster.com
"I would like to thank my crew, Dave and Linda and my wife Linda for all their help and support, my sponsors Alan from Newgate (Newark) Ltd for the new converter, Les from Tonypandy Motor Co for the new Micky Ts, and Tuneup Auto Spares for all the parts which they have supplied for the car.

"With only one point between Joe Stevens and myself the in the Wild Bunch Series, we have it all to play for at the National Finals at the Pod, all I have to hope for is another good meeting."

Web site updates.
6th September: The official web site of Sweden's Nilsson Motorsports Pro Mod team has been updated with an interesting report and some great pictures from last week's NDRS Finals at Mantorp Park, together with a tremendous video from the Veidec Nitro Festival which includes in-car footage. Check it out at www.nilssonmotorsports.com.
©Eurodragster.com
UK Top Methanol Dragster racer Lindsay Deuchar has updated his LA Racing web site with the inside story on his first-ever event victory, at last week's Allstar Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. You can find Lindsay's report on the News page at www.laracing.co.uk.

Pro ET, nothing special.
5th September: The UK Pro ET racers have announced No Special Occasion, and have amassed no less than thirty eight entries to mark the event, to be held at next weekend's FIA European Finals.

"All Pro ET racers are invited to parties and barbecues taking place at various Pro ET pits next weekend", says Pro ET racer Carla Pittau. "Due to the expected high demand, it is highly advisable to bring your own food and drink, or to organise dinner in the food court. Drinking and merriment will be plentiful - as at all other No Special Occasion events during the season - and tight qualifying, close racing, and great fun are expected as always for this very exciting class."

Jones and Friend done.
5th September: From Dave Friend of the UK's Jones and Friend Funny Bike team comes the sad news that their season has been curtailed.
©Eurodragster.com
"The reason that we have not been at recent meetings is that rider Gary Jones suffered a back injury two months ago, and is awaiting his scan results this week", says Dave. "I'm sure that like myself everyone wishes Gary a speedy recovery from this injury (Absolutely, very best wishes Gary - Ed). Hopefully we will return to the track in 2005 to continue the development of our Funny Bike programme.

"We would like to thank all the sponsors who have supported us with the development of our bike: Universal Turbos, Extreme Electrical, BEK Wholesale, World Wide Bearings, and Ian Carver."

Goring still tweaking.
5th September: UK Jet Funny Car pilot Roger Goring says that the engine of his Firestorm FC is responding well to the tweaks which the team have been applying. "It sounds different and is going better", says Roger. "The improvements have allowed us to go quicker and faster but more importantly it is more consistent - we are going over 250 miles per hour each time. We'll continue with our programme of small adjustments each time."

Roger says that he enjoyed himself at last weekend's Allstar Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. "Full marks to Lee Child for having two jets there", he says. "Martin Hill put in a stormer and the fans loved seeing two jets. I only hope that next time there won't be such a sidewind and we can run more full passes!"

As well as continuing to adjust the jet, Roger was also testing parachutes last week. "As we get faster the chute gets more violent", he says. "We need to calm that down but not so much that it can't stop. I have got a bigger chute but it is very powerful - I guess I will have to go even faster so I can use that!"
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Roger's partner Helen Rusling has taken over as Crew Chief after Ian Blaylock left to pursue his business interests. "I am very grateful to Ian for all of his help during his time with the team", says Roger, "and I wish him every success in the future". Roger says that Helen is getting used to the duties and the increased responsibility. "It is not as easy as you would think", he says. "You've got to make sure that everything is safe, conduct the fire show, get the car into stage, all the time keeping an eye on things. You've got one shot to get it right because you can't reverse a jet car!

"You've got to be on the ball at the top end as well and Helen's getting it right. You need to get the car off the track as soon as possible so that racing can continue, so I stay in the car whilst Helen clips on the tow rope and the other team member - last week it was Colin Fallows - rolls up the chute. Helen is very knowledgeable about most aspects of the car, but she's been there getting her hands dirty right from the start."

Swift snippets.
5th September: Best wishes for a rapid recovery to Shakespeare County Raceway Press Officer Jerry Cookson who was admitted to hospital yesterday after collapsing with stomach and back pain. We understand that Jerry is currently comfortable after being filled with painkillers.
©Eurodragster.com
Web site updates.
5th September: Our good buddies at Svensk Dragracing have updated their web site with two galleries of excellent photographs from last weekend's NDRS Finals at Mantorp Park, and details of the NDRS Banquet which takes place in Stockholm at the end of October. You can check it all out at www.dragracing.se.
©Eurodragster.com
A new web site for Run What You Brung participants has been approved by Santa Pod Raceway. The Speedtable web site at www.speedtable.com offers members the opportunity to post their best Run What You Brung times onto a virtual leader board, and to compare their times against other cars and bikes whose times can be sorted by make, model, engine size and other parameters. "We recommend that you visit the web site now and sign-up for the no-obligation mailing list to be kept up to date with developments", says a spokesman for Santa Pod. "Free subscriptions are up for grabs too!"

2004 Ultimate Power Champions.
4th September: We are indebted to Simon Groves for forwarding us the list of the 2004 Champions in the Ultimate Power Championship which has been contested at LA Performance Services' three Championship events at Shakespeare County Raceway. Congratulations to:
©Eurodragster.com
Fuel Funny Car: Gordon Smith
Top Methanol: Lindsay Deuchar
Super Modified: Andrew Hone
Super Pro ET: Barry Giles
Super Comp: Shaun Lathan
Super Gas: Conrad Stanley
Super Street: Mike Bentley
Pro ET: Team Top Banana
Sportsman ET: Team Rainy City Lighting
Junior Dragster: Jay Hauser
Custom Car Street Eliminator: Steve Nash
Wild Bunch: Tony Smith
Outlaw Anglia: Pete Ashworth
VW Pro: Russ Fellows
VW Sportsman: Michael Geraghty
VW Alternate Engine: Spencer Tramm
Top Fuel Bike: Steve Woollatt
Funny Bike: Neil Midgley
Pro Stock Bike: Tony Clark
Competition Bike: T J O'Brien
Super Street Bike: Graham Dance
9.90 Bike: Richard Sawatzki
10.90 Bike: John Hackney
Junior Drag Bike: Harry Steadman
Supertwin Fuel: Chris Stebbings
Supertwin Gas: George Laycock
Supertwin Modified: Simon Hodgson
Supertwin Street: Mark Earrey

"One point of note is in 10.90 Bike, where both Dave Burfitt and John Hackney have 980 points", says Simon. "The Championship has been awarded, using the procedure set out in the rule book, to John as he has more runner-up points than Dave. They both have 500 win points, but John has 300 runner-up points from the Allstar Nationals and Dave 200 runner-up points from the Excitement Nationals."

You can view the final standings in the 2004 Ultimate Power Championships by clicking here, or by clicking on the Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page.

A big grin from Splinter.
4th September: Allstar Nationals Custom Car Street Eliminator racer Steve 'Splinter' Nash was indeed grinning like a Cheshire Cat after his victory at the Allstar Nationals, says Crew Chief Mick Franklin.
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"It's not the way to win, but it's still a win" says Mick, referring to runner-up Colin Lazenby's red light. "Colin was a gentleman after the race, I know how it feels when you see that red light and how Splinter has been after pulling them. How Colin handled the track I don't know as we had problems, something we haven't suffered all year, so well done Colin.

"Splinter and I owe our win to Tim Garlick and his team for the great help they gave us in such a short time before the first round, in which Mr Nice Guy Tony Hill very nearly got a bye. Thanks Tony for the support, and Gerry for the enthusiasm even after his own problems. It was good to see Splinter's face, as Colin said he was smiling like a Cheshire Cat."

Swift snippets.

4th September: Part of Santa Pod Raceway's start line has been resurfaced. A narrow strip of asphalt, from the pre-stage beam to the guard beam, has been relaid to remove the grooves left by front wheel drive cars at Run What You Brung events. In addition, more tarmac has been laid in the pits.

Santa Pod Raceway's Track Manager Kjell Pettersson was surprised by the track crew this morning with a refurbished Tennant Scrubber (right). The track cleaning device (aka Davros), which was tested by Kjell at the SPRC Summernationals, has been rebuilt and repainted into Santa Pod's corporate colours by our joint webcam sponsor Webster Race Engineering and carries Kjell's name and the Swedish flag required by FIA rules.

Andy Carter in the GoTalk dragster and Thomas Nataas in the Batmobile dragster will be contesting what has become the traditional Top Fuel Dragster match race at the Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway on Saturday 6th November.
©Eurodragster.com
French Top Fuel Bike racer Eric Teboul tells us that his MSD mag is on its way back from the USA and will be in place in time for next weekend's FIA European Finals. "I want to run the bike again before the end of the season so that I can work out what I have to do to it over the winter", he says. Eric also tells us that he is working on his own machine to distil Hydrogen Peroxide for his five-second Rocket Bike.

The UK's Top Banana Pro ET and Super Street team have asked us to pass on their best wishes to Steve Dunn, who was involved in a top end crash at Shakespeare County Raceway on Monday. "Also, well done to Tig Napier on winning Pro ET and Dave Cherrett on winning Super Street, awesome!" says Brian Huxley.

FBs more down than up.

4th September: UK Custom Car Street Eliminator team FB Racing have had a season with many lows and only a few highs, says driver Ian Hook.

"The year started at the Easter Thunderball with the �34 Coupe suffering fuel starvation problems due to a relocated fuel cell and a broken gearbox input shaft", says Fatty. "The fuel problem was easily sorted - put more in! - but the trans plagued us for another two rounds, eating nearly a grand�s worth of input shafts on the way. It was finally traced to an assembly problem from the manufacturer. It�s been said before but just because something�s from a �professional� source it doesn�t guarantee that it�s right. This was the second fault found in the same trans. Massive thanks to Andy Frost for helping us solve this one.

"With the trans now working properly round four was our highlight. After repairing a nipped piston and valve new personal bests of 8.67 and 167 mph were topped off with a victory over the high tech twin-turbo Cougar of Steve 'Splinter' Nash. Probably our most rewarding result ever. But tyre shake in the semi-final gave a hint of problems to come.

"Round five saw us back at the Pod. Bad weather limited qualifying and despite producing our best sixty foot of the year, severe tyre shake meant pedalling just to get a low nine. Round one of eliminations saw the shake hit really hard causing the driver�s door to fly open. Being a suicide door it also wrecked the left hand rear wing. With a new wing, repaired door and Bear Jaw latches installed we turned up at Shakey for round six, the Allstar Nationals. We�d fitted new tyres and changed the four-link settings so were surprised when tyre shake hit again. Further changes for the second session didn�t help. Input from Jon Webster led us to a radical change in four-link and shock settings for our third pass and despite big wheelspin we still ran a very low nine and a personal best speed of 168.36 mph. Perhaps we were getting somewhere at last.

"For eliminations our number five qualifying slot meant we had to face the number one again! We�d put a little more power in for the race against Colin Lazenby and wheelspin was followed by huge tyre shake. It was so bad that it rattled the door handles up and down to the extent that the passenger door opened itself! Far worse damage this time. The door is seriously cracked, the rear wing wrecked, the body tub itself damaged, hinges and bracket work destroyed and bent and my pride seriously hurt!

"To say I couldn�t believe it is a major understatement. To make matters worse the result dropped us to fifth in the Championship with little chance of catching Colin. It would have been very easy at this point to say nuts to it all and finish the season now. But, if nothing else, this sport of ours teaches you to roll with it when required (or you would pack it all in) and try to move on.

"Over the next three weeks I�ll be making with the Wookie impressions (hairy hands!) as I �glass repairs into both the wing and the door. I�ll also fit some stronger return springs on the latches! At the same time we plan to change the axle ratio and soften up our Neal Chance converter in an attempt to get rid of the tyre shake. The target is to complete this in time to test at the Webster Race Engineering session on 22nd September. If the car still shakes and you want to speak to me about it I�ll be easy to find � I�ll be the one tying one end of the noose to the finish line gantry!

"If you�d like the full illustrated story on our trials, tribulations and occasional triumphs then why not join our �supporters club�. The FB Associates are a group who support us with sponsorship of �25 or �30 (personal or business) per year. In return you get your name on the coupe, regular updates on our activities via E-Mail including the full inside story on all the work that goes on away from the track, and an FB freebie. For more info please mail me at ian.hook@blueyonder.co.uk. I need the cash to buy job lot of doors!"

PMR's day at the office.
4th September: Allstar Nationals Super Pro ET winner Paul Marston says that he was just having another day in the office. What made last weekend special was that Paul was driving the PT Bruiser, in which he had not made a full pass in competition for two years. Paul takes up the story.

"What a great return to competition", he says. "Qualify well and go all the way, it�s just fantastic. Everyone in the team had high hopes but to be truthful all we were realistically looking for were some good numbers, no major engine problems and perhaps some consistency. No way did we actually have any plans to be competitive. My time on a Sportsman tree is very limited and I would be the first to admit that it is tricky to perfect, which is why the veteran teams in Super Pro are so tough to beat.

"It really was touch and go as to whether or not the PT Bruiser would be ready in time, but we made it. On Saturday I stepped into the unknown, our first full pass with the new motor combination. The first thing I had to get used to was how fast the PT Bruiser accelerates. i.e. incredibly, also to get re-acclimatised with how much this kind of race car moves about, control it and handle everything else involved in driving a fast doorslammer. The first lap netted an 8.58/160 so the mph had not slowed much at all, just a loss in torque really, which we had expected. The second pass netted a 8.54/161, this was with a harder launch and a higher shift point, the motor was thoroughly checked after the second lap and a small problem was found, the usual fifty cent part problem, the spares I had were also wrong! At one stage it looked like we were on the trailer but after a lot of searching other teams' spare parts boxes (thanks guys) and still not finding anything suitable It looked like that two hundred-plus mile trip back to the workshop was the only solution, so I got up at 6.00 am Sunday morning. I had one last look at my spares, going through them very carefully, just in case I had missed anything...yes you guessed it I found an old one!

"So we were back in the game, with the spare fitted and the motor carefully checked over, one other repair was needed. This time I had a spare, the crew did a great job of spotting that one, well done, the systems we put into place do work. With all that done and dusted, our only qualifier on Sunday was an 8.51 on an 8.50 dial-in, this netted us number three qualifier. Were we pleased? I should Buffalo!
©Eurodragster.com
"Monday dawned, we were definitely the underdogs for sure: new combination, still learning, a rusty driver, remember driving Grumpy`s Dodge in Super Street is nearly two and a half seconds slower, the PT Bruiser is doing Grumpy`s terminal before the eighth mile marker! The first round was against Steve Saunders in his mighty Zephyr, I took a little off of Steve on the start line and closed it up at the top end and was lucky enough to come away with the win, how close? Steve was only three thousandths off of his dial-in, a real "it was anybody's" drag race. The second round was delayed due to Steve Dunn's crash, we all wish Steve and Jon all the very best - the race car was destroyed but the driver is still intact, which is the important thing. Well done Andy Robinson for building another safe race car, it did its job when Steve needed it most.

The second round drew us against John Everitt in the Sanity Assassin, John is killer on the lights, deadly consistent ETs too, but I just managed to stay in front where it mattered, great competitive close drag racing, thanks John. The key race was the semi-final, things got serious, with one of Super Pro's heavy hitters, the Giles and Hartley Team with their 175 mph dragster, this time I was being chased. I knew he was going to be there and I had to step it up to run with one of the top guys. Again another really close race, I just managed to keep my nose in front at the finish. We dialled it really close that time and were rewarded with a 8.476 on an 8.470 dial-in, one heck of a drag race. I must congratulate my team for making that call; I owe you guys for that one.

"A really fast turn-round was now required as the finals were run straight away, the curfew was already upon us. This is where a really good crew shines through, as the PT Bruiser with its new motor gave us no problems and we turned it around really quickly, with the motor still a little warm. I must also thank Steve Wells for helping push the PT Bruiser all the way to the staging lanes, a selfless act, thanks mate. My opponent was Steve Johnson in the Motor Mouse dragster, another 175 mph player; once again I would be chased. I must thank Steve for displaying good sportsmanship and waiting in the staging lanes for me to join him when he did not have to Burnouts completed, I cut a reasonable light, but just as I reached the stripe along came Steve who took the lead as we crossed the finish.

"It was not until I had come all the way back down the return road, and PMR Crewman Mick Pusey greeted me jumping up and down doing a dance reminiscent of the Gopher in Caddyshack, that I realised that I had actually won it! Paul Marston Racing would like to thank all our fellow Super Pro Competitors for making us feel so welcome over the weekend. I had intended not to run the PT Bruiser at the European Finals but when we looked at the logistics, even though we are now running the Insanity Vega, Grumpy's Dodge and the PT Bruiser, it's not a problem...plus the crew at PMR would lynch me if I withdrew the entry after last weekend! I really cannot thank everyone enough, it�s a team effort and everyone played their part. Credit must go to Gary Springford at Drag Race Engineering for building one bad-ass motor with me. This is a really big win for us and we are very much looking forward to the European Finals."

Web site updates.
4th September: Our good buddy Christer Abrahamson has kindly sent us a number of off-track photographs from the recent Nitrolympics at Hockenheim. You can check out Christer's great photographs by clicking here, or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page.
©Eurodragster.com
Aldert Tjoelker has updated his Fast Frisian web site with a number of great video clips from last weekend's Dutch Finals at Drachten. You can check out Aldert's videos at www.fastfrisian.nl.

TF25 headed west.
3rd September: The 2004 season won't be ending with next week's FIA European Finals for Sweden's Lorentzon and Möller Top Fuel Dragster team. Crew Chief Kenneth Lorentzon has revealed to Eurodragster that after the Finals the team will be leaving for the USA, where Tommy Möller will be taking on the NHRA's finest at the National events in Las Vegas or Pomona. Before giving us the details of the US trip, Kenneth brought us up to date with the team's season since Alastaro.

"We didn't perform very well at Mantorp Park", says Kenneth. "We had a minor problem with fuel delivery, and unreadable fuel flow readings. We lost in the first round due to an 'f-word' throttle cable linkage, Lex Joon had a flying blower belt, we really needed that round. Trailer time! Both Andy Carter and Micke Kågered showed great performance. To be honest Micke really earned that win, Mantorp has not been good to him the last couple of years.

"Gardermoen: different track, same problem. No performance at all due to a fuel related problem, gave up on Edelbrock logger. Out in first round, my fault: too eager to speed up the clutch cannon, I could see in Per's eys that he was not quite with me. Slap my face! Up in smoke at 330 feet, trailer time! Smax and Kågered performed great and so did Thomas Naatas but he hurt the engine. Ouch! Second to fourth in the points, in a blink.
©Eurodragster.com
"The next race was the Nitrolympics at Hockenheim. I guess I was the only optimistic one in the team, I said it had to be better than last year, boy was I wrong. In the first round of qualifying we had the car detuned to leave like a three legged horse. Great racing! Heard a bang after the finish line, just the burst panel. Wrong again, the burst panel was the only thing we could re-use, excuse me and the heads too. Time to change the motor and send this donkey to the graveyard. There were rumours that some intelligent person came up with the idea to cancel the whole seasion due to an oildown, so the last pair could not run in time to close the day. They told us that they had spoken to NHRA. But I wonder if they told NHRA about the Jet car they hade time for. Hmmmm, more show less race.

"I never thought I could be so happy about a 5.50, a 5.35 and a 5.45 through a Top Fuel field. On the other hand Micke Kågered had bye runs to the Finals, where he forgot to bring lane choice with him. Yes, we nailed him, back in the points chase. This win was really a team effort together with the new Racepak Pro II computer. Thanks Per, Karsten, Morten, Ole, Mickael, �ke, Tommy, H�kan and the two chefs.

"It is almost the end of the race season, the European Finals is coming close - time to perform big time. The only thing that can bring us down now is the weather, sorry guys.

"On the Friday after the European Finals, the forty-footer is leaving Sweden to go west. Our intention is to make it in time for the Las Vegas race. There are still a lot of questions but they are there to be solved. Some good friends are trying to help out so maybe we can make it. If not then Pomona is right behind it. We will leave the car until early spring, so there are more races. There are quite a few new rule changes, but we are working on them."

Persåker: I have a chance.
3rd September: Fellow Top Fuel Dragster racer Jöran Persåker has a lot on his mind right now as he moves his business Persåker's Speed Shop to a new location at the same time as preparing for next week's FIA European Finals. Jöran, currently fourth in the FIA Championship, took last weekend's match race against Chris Andrews at Tullinge with a 5.08 and a 5.15. He says that he is now aiming for his first four-second pass at the Finals and that the Championship is not out of reach.

"I've started moving everything I have to �kers Styckebruk", says Jöran, "so I think it will be a relaxing vacation at Santa Pod next weekend, but it's also a race. Four of us could win, I am number four, although Micke K�gered needs to lose in the first round. It can happen, but you never know. It's like a lottery."
©Eurodragster.com
Jöran's Crew Chief Gary Page agrees. "We're going to the Finals with every intention of winning, just like everyone else!", says Gary. "I'm very happy with the performances at Tullinge. The incrementals looked good on the 5.08, better than Micke's 4.88 at Mantorp Park."

"My crew is the best", says Jöran. "We have fun. I did say that the race in Sweden and the European Finals are important races for me. I thought it would be easy to run a four after my first licencing run with a sixty foot of 0.87. But not yet, we've a lot of 5.0s so far. I'm sure I will run the four at Santa Pod. We are changing engines from Ermintrude to George. George is harder, and has more power."

Jöran tells us that he wants to race Top Fuel again in 2005, and to keep his crew. Stay tuned for news of Jöran's plans for next year.

Better news on APIRA Marianne.
3rd September: As some racers will be aware, APIRA pairing lane marshal Marianne Evans collapsed and was taken to hospital before Sunday's qualifying started at the Allstar Nationals. APIRA Chief Marshal Bev Batsford has been in touch to let us know that after spending a couple of days in Warwick Hospital Marianne has now been transfered to a hospital nearer home where she is up and about and in good spirits and just waiting on a final batch of test results. Bev said that Marianne asked us to say a big Thank You for all the get well wishes and to everyone who had asked after her.
©Eurodragster.com
Bev also asked us to say a big Thank You from herself to everyone who made her feel so welcome on her return to her position at the head of the pairing lanes, particularly the Outlaw Anglias who presented her with a bouquet of flowers as she called them down.

We're sure that everyone will join Sharkman and Tog in sending Marianne their love and best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Joe Bond, sprinter.
3rd September: Joe Bond of the UK's Shell Racing Top Methanol Dragster and Junior Dragster team says that they had a great weekend at the Allstar Nationals. Doug Bond qualified #1 in Top Methanol but Joe tells us that qualifying wasn't without drama.

"During the cleanup after the TMFCs raced, dad found that the electronic wire connecting one of the shift buttons had completely frayed off", says Joe. "The meant that we had no third gear and that could have got very messy unless we did something.

"Being the youngest on the team I was ordered by Crew Chief Martyn Hannis to run back to the trailer and fetch some racers' tape to repair the shifter for the race, so if anyone reading this saw someone running up the middle of the fire-up road like a bat out of hell during the clean up it was me! Although exhausted from my own race against the clock it was worth it when dad drove the dragster to the number one spot with the 6.24/226.
©Eurodragster.com
"We found some damage to the bottom end caused during the qualifier. The team aren't normally one to pray but we were praying for safe passage through the first round, but it came to no avail when a rod failed causing dad's car to slow and Trevor Capewell to fly past to take the win and his new PB. So after packing the dragster and the kit away we watched out the rest of the eliminations from the grandstands...can't be bad for a summer's evening!"

Napier on first win.
3rd September: Allstar Nationals Pro ET winner Tig Napier has been in touch to thank the Shakespeare County Raceway staff and his fellow competitors for his weekend.

"I had some good lights, a consistent car, excellent judgement on the dial ins (thanks Cath, Neil and Dan) and, of course, a little luck!", says Tig. "All this helped us to win our first ever Pro ET meeting. We had some tough, close races, I ran a personal best sixty foot, and managing to run exactly to the dial-in is a first. An all-Mopar final too - is that a first?
©Eurodragster.com
"Anyway, cheers to Kev Slyfield for making it a good one. It's nice to finish our season on a high! Now it's time to regroup and plan the closed-season maintenance and mods.

"Once again thanks to all the SCR crew, staff, competitors, and best wishes to Steve Dunn. See you all next year."

M��tt� races, but doesn't.

3rd September: Finnish Funny Bike racer Asko M��tt� tells us that next weekend's FHRA Finals is a "Race of no races" for the Funny Bikes. "This is due to the rule that there should be a minimuum of three races a year for a Finnish Championship", says Asko. "I think that this rule was made before FHRA knew that this situation would happen. So, anyway I've been (can't stand this) crap!

"Last weekend I tested my Funny Bike at the Finnish West Coast Cup meet on the Pori Airport track. The track was excellent, I got some important information, but I should have made more radical changes to the tune-up. Due to the sidewind I couldn't run any good numbers at the top end, but at least I didn't destroy any cells (because they were lined up with the normal airport blue landing lights, and I think they are fastened tight).

"At next weekend's Finnish Finals my only goal is to test if the GSX engine will keep anything inside, or I'll blow it up. At my age (turning fifty next Spring) I'm willing anyway to do anything. Maybe next weekend, maybe next year on the NDRS. But I'm alive and well (as J. Winter says)."

King in Mosten.
3rd September: After a hard slog to get his bike back together after suffering a twisted crank in Hockenheim, the UK's King Racing Top Fuel Bike team have just arrived in Denmark for the annual Mosten Race Day.

A bike-only rally, the Race Day features an eighth-mile sprint race for motorcycles on Mosten MC's very own drag strip next to their impressive clubhouse. Ian says that the crew have been working hard sledding and spraying the track for Saturday's race and it is looking very good.

Alongside the King Racing Top Fuel Bike, other Nitro machines such as those of Peter Ström, Sverre Dahl, Ronny Aasen and Charley Karling are scheduled to appear.

"Our posts may be limited over the next few days due to the race, but tune in to www.kingracing.com and we'll see what we can do!", says Ian King.
©Eurodragster.com
Meca set for Winternationals.
3rd September: Sweden's newest drag strip, the eighth-mile Meca Raceway in Malmö, has a busy month lined up with a Test and Tune next weekend and the Swedish Winternationals on 24th-26th September.

"Meca Raceway has good traction and you see a lot of front wheels in the air", says Jan Ekstr�m of Sk�ne Racers Ideella F�rening. "We are running a Test'n'Tune day next Saturday, 11th September, between 13:00 and 17:00. All are welcome and it's only €7 to come and test your car or bike.

"At the Swedish Winternationals we are running nearly the same classes as the Scandinavian Dragracing Series, plus we are also running the official international classes Junior Dragster, Stock/Super Stock and Competition, and on two wheels we are running Street Bike, Pro Street Bike, Harley (same as Harley Drags) and MC Outlaw.
©Eurodragster.com
"The entry fees are very low, we charge no entry fee at all for Junior Dragster. The two street car classes are only €12; Standard Street, Bracket, Street and Stock/Super Stock are €55; Competition, Extreme Street, Extreme Small Block and Extreme Outlaw (Nearly the same as Pro Mod) are only €108.

"The prize money is based on the number of paying visitors. If there are over 3000 visitors we will pay out a total of €10800 in prize money, and if there are less than 2000 paying visitors we will not pay out any prize money.

"If you would like to come and race, just visit us at www.streetrace.com/srif/Anmalan%20formular.htm and you will find the official entry form. For more information in English,or if you have any questions, just send us an E-Mail at ekstrom.racing@telia.com.

Swift snippets.
3rd September: The usual thanks to SPRC Club Secretary Paula Marshall for forwarding us the very latest version of the official FIA European Finals entry list. Eagle-eyed readers will spot withdrawals and additions in Pro Modified, as well another increase in the FIM/UEM entry, enough entries to run Comp Eliminator, and some huge Sportsman classes. You can see the current Finals entry by clicking here.

A slightly modified version of the Dragsterworld report on Andy Carter's weekend in Top Fuel at Hockenheim has been posted on Bill Pratt's excellent Draglist web site at www.draglist.com. Meanwhile, Andy doesn't have a lot to say about next weekend's FIA European Finals. "The time for talking is over!", says the GoTalk-sponsored racer.
©Eurodragster.com
UK Wild Bunch racer Martin Holgate tells us that his historic Paranoia will be running at the NSRA Hot Rod Drags at Shakespeare County Raceway in two weekends' time. "After a few disappointing meetings we found that a brand-new fuel pump had the wrong flow rate causing all the performance problems of late", says Martin. "The pump has ow been now replaced with a Kinsler item and things are looking and sounding good again. The old B and J gearbox needed a major rebuild, now complete, and we will be giving it our all. On a different note the car is still for sale and due to serious health problems I will listen to any genuine offers". If you are interested then please drop Martin a line at nitroslick@ntlworld.com.

Also for sale on Eurodragster's Jeff Bull-sponsored Swap Meet is Håkan Nilsson's 6.3-second Pro Mod Camaro. "There's not much more to tell than that everything is for sale for a resonable price", says team member Ulf Stadig. "Since we think that we need a bigger engine for next year to pick up some speed, we could start with a new car. If someone steps up and buy it, it won't get us too much "off the pace" since the Camaro was so nice and we ran a 6.48 on its third run". You can find the Veidec Camaro on the Cars For Sale section of the Swap Meet.

An All-American Weekend is taking place at Maatheide Lommel in Belgium on 17th-19th September. As the title implies the festival is open only to American cars and features Run What You Brung, drive-in movies, monster trucks and much more. For more information including entry fees check out the event's excellent web site at www.allamericanweekend.be.

Web site updates.
3rd September: UK Wild Bunch racer Tony Smith has updated the News and Reviews page of his Cunning Plan web site with a report from last weekend's Allstar Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. Check it out at www.cunningplan.net.
©Eurodragster.com
Alan Currans has added an eighth page of Funny Car pictures to his excellent Acceleration Archive web site at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. "The update contains galleries of the various Houndog cars, Clive Skilton's Vauxhall VX/490- and Cavalier-bodied floppers, the two Blue Max cars driven by World Funny Car Champion Raymond Beadle, and ten pictures of rear-engined Funny Cars", says Alan.

Serious numbers, serious money.
2nd September: Outgoing FIA Top Fuel Dragster Champion Smax Smith hopes to end the season by running serious numbers at the FIA European Finals, and by raising some serious money for charity at the race. "The car is now back in England and the crew are giving up yet another weekend to make sure that it is 100% ready for the Finals", says Team Manager Paul Townsend. "Thanks as always to them."

As mentioned on Saturday, Smax is holding an event at the Finals in aid of the team's chosen charity Promise Dreams. Promise Dreams was set up by loan house Promise Finance of Wolverhampton to make the wishes of very ill children come true. Swiming with dolphins in Florida is still the main wish but the charity have managed to accommodate some more obscure wishes recently. To help the charity, the team hope to cover the entire body of Smax's dragster with autographs from the crowd at the final - in exchange for a £5 donation.
©Eurodragster.com
"The car should look quite cool adorned with autographs", says Paul, "and each person will hopefully be able to say that they went over 300 mph at the meeting! We will be over badgering all the other drivers and teams to sign the car, as this charitable event is something we hope will show the unity of all the race teams involved in our sport. Please help Smax and the guys in their quest to try to raise �5000."

We'll certainly be doing our bit and we are sure that all of our readers will join in too.

Nicholson posts brass.
2nd September: It hardly seems possible, but it has been a year since we got the shocking news of UK Super Pro ET racer Wayne Nicholson's accident on the way to compete at the 2003 FIA European Finals. Wayne says that as a thank you to all of his fellow competitors for the get well wishes and support after his accident, he has decided to put up a little prize money for next week's FIA European Finals.
©Eurodragster.com
"The first racer to achieve a perfect Reaction Time or a perfect dial-in during Super Pro ET eliminations at the European Finals will be awarded �75 out of my own pocket", says Wayne. "Dont forget I am from Yorkshire! This is just my little way of saying thank you. Obviously an enormous number of other racers and fans passed on their good wishes, and I thank them for that."

Swift snippets.
2nd September: The Canto Consultancy Top Fuel Dragster will be running at next Wednesday's FIA European Finals Press Day in the hands of Jon Webster. Crew Chief Peter Knight tells us that the team will be continuing their problem-finding mission and testing a revised clutch management system and six shooter amongst other changes. 2003 and 2004 FIA European Top Methanol Dragster Champion Dave Wilson will also be running at Press Day in the American Car Imports dragster.
©Eurodragster.com
Sweden's Mats Appelgren made licencing passes in one of Knut Söderquist's Top Fuel Dragsters at Tullinge at the weekend. Mats' last drive was the two-seater dragster.

Pat Ginn, partner of Allstar Nationals Comp Bike winner TJ O'Brien, tells us that TJ just wants to go quicker having gone from the 8.2s to the 7.6s this year. "My life expectancy just gets shorter and I drink more at race weekends than I drink all year", says Pat. "I would like to wish Wendy Talbot all the best and thank all the staff at Shakespeare County Raceway for all their help through the season."

Many thanks to Ozzy Ewing for sending us the Allstar Nationals timing data. The Allstars timing data comes in Excel spreadsheet format and can be viewed by clicking here or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page.

Another run, another PB.
2nd September: UK Pro ET racer Malcolm Motler and the Spellbound team had a fantastic weekend at the Allstar Nationals, qualifying #1, taking the Eurodragster.com/Curbishley Automotive Perfect ET Award in the process, and setting new personal bests with the wheelstanding Morris Minor pick-up.

"What a weekend!", says Malcolm. "Number one qualifier first pass off the trailer, 10.35 (big thanks to Gary for calling the shots with the dial-in), then on Sunday a 10.32. We also ran a new best of 130.08 mph. In the first round of eliminations we dialled 10.32 and ran 10.29, another PB, but we were lucky and broke out less than Paul Baynton. Come round two we dialled 10.29 thinking we were safe, but oh no we broke out again by four thousandths with another PB 10.286. That was us out but we came away really happy with the car and all our milestones.
©Eurodragster.com
"We are now looking forward to the European Finals and will be attending the Press Day again this year.

"Can you also pass on our regards and best wishes to Steve Dunn and Jon Evans. Hope you get well soon Steve and we look forward to seeing you back at the track soon."

The team's web site at www.spellbounddragraceteam.co.uk has been updated with a report and pictures of Spellbound's appearance at the recent Dorset Morris Minor Owners' Club Day.

Lazenby sets it straight.
2nd September: Custom Car Street Eliminator racer Colin Lazenby, who set a new class speed record in taking runner-up spot at the weekend's Allstar Nationals, says that the Pinnacle-sponsored team had a handle on the track and tune-up at Shakespeare County Raceway.

"Having taken #1 qualifying spot we knew that a fuel check was probably in order", says Colin. "Assistant CCSE organiser Sue Jackson handled the supervision of the exchange. This meant swapping five gallons of our regular unleaded fuel for the organisers' 'questionable' blend. Well, I don't know what was in the stuff Sue gave us, but I wonder if she'd mind bring some more to the UK National Finals in October - thanks Sue.

"The qualifying sessions brought about the return of a recurring problem with the 'Jones' drive system: an alternator belt on the Saturday, followed by another on the Sunday. Sharky knows exactly where to call first whenever he finds one now! In the semi finals on race day I couldn't see for engine oil smoke, and in the shutdown area - sorry Frosty but someone has to lose - I sensibly shut the motor off and waited to be towed back, I waited, then I waited a bit more. Anyhow, having been unceremoniously towed back to the pits and fearing the worst we noticed that the vacuum pump belt had broken, caused by the pump seizing; one of the carbon vanes had shattered. Anyhow the resulting increase in back pressure where it wouldn't normally be meant that oil was sprayed out of the rocker cover gaskets. Finding a replacement proved to be difficult, so I really do need to pass on a huge thanks to Super Mod racer Steve Rawlings for the loan of his. I don't even know if he's realised that we've removed it yet, but thanks again Steve. Thankfully we had the time to mop up the mess before the final round.
©Eurodragster.com
"In spite of the speculative reports (I don't know why no one bothers to check the facts) when I started the burnout for the final, usually a lazy 5,000 to 5,500 rpm, the throttle stuck open. I only realised this when I came off it and the old girl continued to push forward. Goodness knows how Jerry Charles got the Capri stopped when the same thing happened to him at 150 mph! Anyhow having locked up the front wheels, I reached up and shut the motor off. By now the water temperature was 240. Luke caught me up (having covered the eighth in around 5.65 seconds) and opened the door, and realising what was wrong reached in and gave it a yank (and not for the first time, I bet eh Luke). I fired it again and bingo. By now sensing that Splinter would have been getting a little excitable, I reversed pronto and went through the normal pre-stage and stage procedure. The water temperature was 255. Unusally, I even saw the cherry when I left, and whilst not unimportant we were on a mission for the speed record and 8.5 seconds later, we achieved it - 178.47 mph - but the water temp was 275. The oil pump belt had snapped, so no oil pressure, and the damage at this stage is not known. Well done Splinter on the milestone win - I don't think I've ever seen that boy smile so much at trophy presentation.

"A big thanks to my hard-working crew, especially Luke, Garry and Kevin for their efforts over the weekend, here's to the UK National Finals. Thanks to my extended family (this weekend) for their continued spiritual support."

Flynn has a little tinkle.

2nd September: UK Super Pro ET racer Derek Flynn's Shakespeare County Raceway début, at the Allstar Nationals, lasted all of about three seconds. "I finally stumped my excellent Go Gold crew and Steve (the stores), and for once Lady Luck deserted us, or did she?", says Derek.

"The warm-up went well, and apparently the burnout looked good (It did - Ed), but as I came to a stop I heard this 'tinkle-tinkle'. I felt it was not right and shut her off for another embarrassing push back, sorry to John Everitt who had to wait patiently for my rescue.

"Once back at the pits I explained the tinkle tinkle and when the crew took the heads off we found that the valve keeper had failed and dropped the valve, but amazingly it just jammed it in the seat sideways, took out the piston but the bore and the rest of the engine looks good, so perhaps Lady Luck was still keeping an eye out for us after all. We still seemed to keep the crowd happy who wandered around the pits as they were all very impressed with my first engine blow up, bits put proudly out on display (right).
©Eurodragster.com
"Of course I got the various amounts of ribbing from my team, once they had the heads off: "If this is a tinkle-tinkle, what is the engine going to look like after he hears a knocking"!

"Sorry to our supporters who came along at the weekend and did not see us run! To be honest we are still very upbeat and enjoyed our weekend, and glad that we went to SCR, or this would have happened at the European Finals (I guess it still could!).

"Thanks to Richard and Lee of J and W (Bob Glassup's Xtreme Wheels Crew) who have taken our heads for a quick repair job. All we need now is an Oliver rod and we should still make it for the Finals, but the clock is definitely ticking. Also thanks for all the commiserations from our fellow Super Pro teams and the many well-wishers who visited us in the pits."

Web site updates.
2nd September: The official web site of 2003 and 2004 FIA European Top Methanol Dragster team American Car Imports Racing has been updated with the latest of team member Phil James' race reports, this time from the Nitrolympics at Hockenheim. Phil's report is as usual very entertaining and can be found on the Race Reports page at www.americancarimportsracing.com.
©Eurodragster.com
Dunn at home.
1st September: We were very pleased to hear from UK Super Gas racer Steve Dunn, who suffered a huge top end crash in his and Jon Evans' Tokyo Toy Toyota at the Allstar Nationals on Monday, that he has been allowed home from hospital.

"I was discharged from Warwick Hospital just after 5.00 yesterday (Tuesday)", says Steve. "I am typing this with a left eye continually watering and partly closed. Jon's impression of my injuries when he left the hospital and reported back to the track were purely visible. Since then I have had seven x-rays and a CT scan to try to find a problem I still have with double vision. My face is now mostly bruised - picture available on request (We'll pass thanks - Ed) - with two shiners and a conjunctival haemorrhage on the previously-mentioned left eye.

"I also have excessive bruising to most parts of the body especially shoulders, upper arms and wrists. I will need to see a maxillo-facial specialist in the next few days to further investigate the double vision.
©Eurodragster.com
"I know that Jon has already asked for our thanks to be expressed to the safety crew, paramedics and everyone who helped to get me out of the car and to Andy Robinson Race Cars (cheers Andy) for building a car which along with the safety clothing enables me to write this now. Can someone please pass on my express thanks to the paramedic (Baz or Daz I think) who spent a seriously long time in a very uncomfortable position inside the car keeping me still until I was cut out - thanks mate.

"Thanks also to the staff at Warwick Hospital who were excellent - I didn't even mind being woken every two hours through the night for observation knowing that it was in my best interest.

"I can't possibly thank all the people individually who enquired of Jon as to my well-being so I will just say thanks to you all. Last but not least - thanks Jon!"

We're sure that everyone will join Tog and Sharkman in wishing Steve a very rapid recovery, and we look forward to seeing Steve and Jon back at the track very soon.

Carey spills about spill.
1st September: UK Top Fuel Bike racer Steve Carey has been in touch to thank everyone who helped him after his start line spill at Shakespeare County Raceway on Monday.

"A big thank you to all the start line crew, Bev, and the medical team for their help and the support after my little mishap", says Steve. "I'd also like to give a big thank you to my crew, Jeb and Paul, for their help, and not forgetting all the other racers who helped and wished me well.
©Eurodragster.com
"I dislocated the little finger on my right hand, and split open the finger next to it. I have had a couple of stitches put in the finger, and I may have to have a small skin graft to replace the skin cut off. Luckily the bike escaped with relatively minor damage; it looks like one fuel fitting, and a small repair to the air filter, will be all that is needed.

"I learnt another step in Fuel Bike riding the hard way, an embarrassing but valuable lesson in not using the front brake too hard. Do I remember something in my past about crowds, pub car parks and loose gravel? Anyway big thanks, and if I can, I will be out at the European Finals."

Editor's note: It's not often that we comment on anything here at Eurodragster, but a big thumbs-up to Steve for his candour when he could quite easily have said "Something went wrong with the bike" and none of us would have been any the wiser. Nice one Steve!

SFI 16.1 belts update.
1st September: UK tech Inspector Geoff Martin has been in touch with an addition to yesterday's news item about SFI 16.1 seatbelts.

"I have had a chat with Arnie Kuhns (SFI President)", says Geoff, "and the bottom line on the seat belts is that the Y-style seat belts can be purchased until 31/12/04, and used with a two-year certification. All Y-style seat belt SFI certs expire by 31/12/06.
©Eurodragster.com
"The MSA allow Drag Race Sportsman classes to use their seat belts for four years, but this allowance is unique amongst MSNs."

If you have any queries then please contact Geoff on 01608 674121 or E-Mail geoffrey.martin4@btopenworld.com.

Good, better, great!
1st September: After an early exit at Gardermoen, Swedish Pro Mod racer Patrick Wikström had just the weekend he needed to feel good again - and then some, writes team member Krister Peterson. Patrick won NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified at the NDRS Finals at Mantorp Park, taking the Swedish Open Pro Mod Championship and new ET and speed records as well.
©Eurodragster.com
"After being number one qualifier and taking back the ET record in the quarter finals we felt good, but after the final when we won the race, became Swedish champions and set two new records in the same run we felt great!", says Krister "6.325 seconds is a good ET but we are more happy with 226.46 mph.

"We have been working on a new set-up since the Veidec Nitro Festival, and we are now very excited to see what our new set-up can do on the always-good Santa Pod track."

Hal Far ready to light up.

1st September: The Malta Drag Racing Association will be organising its third and final Night Drag Race at Hal-Far Raceway on the 2nd-4th September, again under artificial lighting.

"For this coming three-day event we should again see over 160 who will race their vehicles with no limits at all", says MDRA President Anthony Borda. "During the Night Event, we will be seeing the well-known English racer and tuner for Borg Bros Racing Team, Bernie Hepworth. Bernie and his team will be testing his Harley Supertwin Bike here in Malta. The bike is remaining here till the end of the season. This is the Supertwin to test at Hal-Far Raceway and I hope that Bernie will be satisfied with his testing. Bernie will be a bit busier this time, since he will have Mario Borg's Top Methanol Dragster to tune as well as his bike: the Borg Bros racing Team will be taking part in this event with their slick Small Block Methanol Dragster. They intend to break some National records once again.
©Eurodragster.com
"Sadly, the Greek competitors we had last time, Fil Papafillippou and Eythimios Nefraim, couldn�t make it over here again for this event but we will be seeing them back here in Malta for the October Event, to compete with our Maltese competitors once again. They really liked the whole situation over here.

"For this coming event we expected that there will be more National records broken. This means that the track has to be well-prepared as usual, and the competitors will still be doing their utmost to run better every time. Maltese people should be very proud of what certain competitors do for drag racing. We can praise lots of things which others racers in Europe haven't yet done. I guess we'll have to see what happens when racing commences. This event should be one of the best Night Events and shouldn�t be missed!

"For all spectators coming to Hal-Far Raceway, please obey the Track Marshals' orders. We give orders for the sake of the safety of the spectators. See you guys at the track."

First Jeff Bull/TSI winners.
1st September: UK engine builder and parts supplier Jeff Bull has congratulated Shaun Lathan (Super Comp) and Spencer Tramm (Super Gas) on their event wins at the weekend's Allstar Nationals. "Their well-deserved wins this weekend also mean that they are the first UK racers to be awarded the Transmission Specialties sponsored Racer's Bonus, congratulations to them both!", says Jeff, who sponsors Eurodragster's Swap Meet classified ads service.
©Eurodragster.com
"Shaun runs a Pro-Line 4000 with a super 8" spragless race converter and a JBRE 461 cu in BBC whilst Spencer runs a Pro-Line 2000 with an 8" Race converter and a JBRE 468 cu in BBC - both winning combinations.

"The TSI Racer's Bonus is available to UK racers who purchase TSI Converters/Transmissions through JBRE and will be up for grabs at the FIA European Finals and UK National Finals. We already have a bonus package set for 2005, so consider TSI if you are looking to purchase a superior converter or transmission in the future. For competitive prices on any TSI race product please call me on 07834 381804."

A weekend of bests.
1st September: After a disappointing end to the SPRC Summernationals, whose bike eliminations were curtailed by the wind, UK Pro Stock Bike racer Paul Watson says that he stepped things up for the Allstar Nationals

"With a first run of 7.63 and only a 1.27 sixty foot, we knew that it was going to improve", says Paul. "However SCR can be tricky, with slight adjustments here and there to get a better base setting we ran a personal best of 7.45/177 then backed it up with a 7.47, but the sixty foots were only 1.16. With a little work on the clutch we were hoping for better things to come, however due to rain we never ran on Sunday so we stayed second qualifier with Dave Beck in his usual number one spot and a close 7.44.

"Monday's eliminations were frantic as the weather kept threatning again, and there were a few hicups on the track; one of them was Steve Dunn, my old adversary in 12.90 Street Car whose Super Gas Toyota crashed at the top end. Hope that both Steve and Jon get back racing soon.
©Eurodragster.com
"Due to the crosswinds they decided to run all bikes over the eighth. This made things a little tougher but the bike was being very consistent. My first run was against Len Paget but he broke on the line, I ran 4.74 but a 1.13 sixty foot with a bit of tyre shake. In the semis we had Ray Debben, still managed a 1.13 sixty foot and a slower 4.79 against Ray's 5.26 but again suffering tyre shake wich this time resultied in a broken bracket. With a quick repair we headed off to the finals against the man set to make a great début in Pro Stock Bike this year, Tony Clark on the Paul Rose Motorsports bike. We both knew it was going to be close and a.429 to Tony's.434 reaction helped me to take the win, 4.73 to a 5.05. We found out later that Tony could not shift into fourth, but they are surely a team to be reckoned with next season.

"Thank you to all the people who have supported me: my crew Kim and Kev, Dave and Charlotte Beck, and Roger Upperton. This weekend was for Scary Jane - we miss you and can't wait to see you at the track soon."

From Shack to track.
1st September: UK VW Sportsman racer James Lake tells us that he has now fully tested the changes made to his Team Botch Fugitive, both on the track and the Race Shack dyno. James has been in touch to bring us up to date with all the developments from his pit.

"To cut a long story short, the week before Bug Jam was a bit of a mad one", says James. "With the fabrication assistance of Paul 'Botch' Venners, whom we all know very well, I removed the more traditional twin carb arrangement on my VW to replace it with a home-brewed scrapyard special turbo and fuel injection conversion! We worked through the night on Wednesday and our efforts were well-rewarded when the engine fired and ran on the Friday afternoon. Initial testing at Bug Jam showed that the system was fundamentally sound and ready for some more serious abuse on the Race Shack rolling road dyno facility before the Allstar Nationals.

"It is therefore with huge gratitude that I mention the following efforts made by Conor LaGrue of Race Shack and Kevo Metcalfe last Thursday afternoon, evening and early Friday morning! Having tested the engine on carbs at the Race Shack Open Day in July, I had a baseline to work from so I could really see the true increase in power with the Turbo and injection system fitted. A new baseline power pull was made with the boost pressure set at a conservative 5 psi. This netted a modest 10 bhp increase, but more importantly the diagnostics showed that the air fuel ratio was good - a critical indicator for a turbo motor. Next it was time to tweak the fuel pressure and turn up the boost. However, with only a couple of psi increase the standard VW clutch gave up. No surprise there then! So we changed the clutch for an uprated Stage 1 with four puck friction disc and strapped the car down to the rollers again. What ensued was a very frustrating evening trying to iron out problems with the hydraulic clutch mechanism. After several hours trying different solutions, the flexible hose failed twice and identified itself as the weak link. So we fitted a solid line which was 'borrowed' from Kevo's dragster which itself is awaiting rebuild.
©Eurodragster.com
"With the clutch sorted, the car was once more strapped down to the rollers and the motor fired and warmed through. This time we set the boost to 15 psi, confident that the mixture was well on the safe side of rich - thanks to the data previously recorded on the Mustang Dyno. Having suffered from clutch slip on the previous power pulls, I was a little apprehensive when I buried the throttle in third gear, saw the revs rise rapidly and suddenly hitting my shift point a hell of a lot earlier than ever before! However, perhaps more off-putting were the screams and yelps coming from Kevo and Conor beside the car watching the diagnostic display. Their grins, or should that be gurns, confirmed it. The clutch was fine and I had just near doubled my power output! Final figures consistently repeated were 120 bhp at 4800 rpm and a peak torque around 125 ft/lbs. Now remember, these are figures at the wheels - not bad for a scrapyard special 1800cc flat-four VW engine.

"I really cannot stress just how useful and impressive the Race Shack facility is - I would probably have spent two or three weekends' racing to get anywhere near the same results, yet alone have the precise knowledge that all systems are working OK. If anyone has even briefly considered using a rolling road dyno, I would strongly urge them to call Conor on 07786 336327 and have a chat - I can personally testify that you will not be disappointed with his level of customer commitment to assist and consummate professionalism, let alone his enthusiasm for power and speed!

"Anyway, numbers are meaningless without success at the track and this weekend I recorded a best terminal speed of 101 mph. Unfortunately my ETs, although a good half second quicker, are not yet where they perhaps should be. However, I suspect that may have more to do with me than the car, so I have more changes and improvements to try in order to rectify this. I hope to be booked into Race Shack to monitor the benefits of ignition upgrades, different gearing and to try some race fuel from Klotz.

"Finally, I would especially like to thank Paul, Conor and Kevo for their efforts to help me fulfill my dreams and realise some very high expectations that I set for myself - thanks guys you are a special bunch of friends and I look forward to being able to return the favours..."

Karling still aims for gold.
1st September: Swedish Supertwin racer Anders Karling is still going for gold in the FIM/UEM European Championships with one round left to contest, he says in the latest press release from the team.

Charley set a new European record of 6.463 at Hockenheim against a personal best of 6.361, which he ran in 2003 but did not back up. It looked as if the Karling Racing Team were on their way to a points lead in the Championship at Hockenheim, with consistent runs in the 6.7s or better all weekend and the closest competitor in the 6.9s because of a very tricky track. Almost all the Pro teams had problems making consistent runs. But as we all know, anything can happen in drag racing, and in the finals against Championship leader Ton Pels a rocker arm broke and Charley could only watch Ton pull away from him and take the win.
©Eurodragster.com
With only one race left Ton Pels is still in the points lead, fourteen points ahead of Charley. With ten points for a round win and five for a record the team's goal is clear: to qualify number one, set a new record and take the win over Ton Pels in the final. A dream? The team did at Hockenheim in 1994 and won the first-ever Supertwin Top Fuel Championship ever, against Adam Hewitt.

Swift snippets.
1st September: UK Super Street racer Nick Curtis has been in touch to thank his colleagues for making him feel welcome in his first competitive outing at the Allstar Nationals. "It was my first time out with the Chevy", says Nick. "I only got three runs, and I bit a huge cherry in round one, but I still had the best time. Thanks for making us feel welcome, see you at the Pod!"
©Eurodragster.com
We are as ever indebted to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall for sending us another update to the official FIA European Finals entry list. Amongst the additions are three more Pro Mods taking the total to nineteen. You can see the current Finals entry by clicking here.

We are indebted to SPRC Points Co-ordinator Yvonne Tramm for passing us the latest car-class standings in the SPRC Club Championships. Bikes will be added very shortly after the On2Wheels results have been checked. You can see the SPRC points by clicking here, or by clicking on the Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page.

Thanks, too, to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe for sending us a new version of his European Bests table updated with the new Pro Mod ET and speed records set by Patrick Wikström at the NDRS Finals. You can view the updated bests by clicking here, or by clicking on the European Bests link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page.

Terry Homan of Motorsports Promotions, who organised the highly-successful London City Airport Bike Drags in July, has been in touch to ask if any readers have photographs of the revolutionary Dragwaye bike, which ran in the early 1970s. Terry is involved in restoring the machine to running order so would be pleased to hear from anyone with photographs at homantj@aol.com.

Web site updates.
1st September: The official web site of Nobby Hills Racing has been updated with a report and photographs of the Houndog Fuel Funny Car's latest appearance, the NSRA Supernationals. You can check it out at www.nhracing.com.
©Eurodragster.com
'Slim Boy Fat' has updated his personal web site with a set of excellent trackside pictures from the weekend's Allstar Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. Slim's web site features photographs from a number of drag racing and other events and are well worth a look especially if you are a VW fan. Check it out at www.pbase.com/slimboyfat/wheels.

Thanks to our good buddy Patrik Jacobsson for letting us know that the Mölndals Dragracing Förening web site has been updated with a Pro Mod pitside report and photographs from the weekend's NDRS Finals at Mantorp Park. Check it out at home.swipnet.se/~w-86996/webbsida/mdrf-18.htm.

Earlier news

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