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Flame and Thunder Show entry list.
30th October: The entry list for this Saturday's Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway is now available on Santa Pod's web site, courtesy of Paula Marshall at Santa Pod Racers Club. You can get to the entry list from the Next Event link of the SPR web site at www.santapod.com.

The Flame and Thunder Show is the traditional end-of-season race at Santa Pod and features just two brackets. All of the cars and all of the bikes race in one bracket each on a dial-your-own-index basis, with a first round buy-back. A sizeable amount of the racers' entry fees plus all of the buy-back money goes into the pot for the winner. Eurodragster is also putting £25 into the prize fund in both the car and bike brackets, plus £10 for the winner of Junior Dragster.

This race also sees the final round of the VWDRC Championships, with the VW Pro and VW Sportsman titles to be decided.

As well as the racing there are the two Fireforce Jet Funny Cars, a jet quad, wacky racers, stunt riders and drivers, a huge bonfire, fireworks, and one or two other surprises. More details and ticket prices are also available on the Next Event page of Santa Pod's web site, or call SPR on 08700 782828.

Eurodragster will not be posting live updates from Santa Pod on Saturday; this race is our traditional day off. If you encounter Tog or Sharkman at Santa Pod then this will be the ideal opportunity to introduce yourself since we won't have to rush off to write reports or take photographs. See you there!

Web site updates.
30th October: Trakbyte's UK Drag Race History at members.aol.com/trakbyte has had the latest of its regular updates including a newly-added history of Dennis Priddle's Mr Revell slingshot, which held the world ET record for front-engined dragsters for more than twenty years. Trakbyte's is one of the reference sites for history buffs and is well worth a long and careful look.

The FB Racing website at www.fbracing.co.uk has been updated with a "long overdue" report on the Custom Car Street Eliminator Outlaw event supplied by guest reporter Paul Webster, an updated news page, and the addition of a new section called Diary of a Street Racer which will be frequently updated with information and pictures of some of the work that goes on in the close season to keep a car competitive in the biggest heads-up class in Europe. "Hope you enjoy it" says Ian Hook. We took a look and we loved it.

Same story, different versions!
29th October: The Pit Lane Gossip page of the King Racing web site is currently carrying an entertaining set of stories about UK Pro Stock Bike racer Dave Beck's latest trip to the USA, at the IDBA Finals at Memphis. You get the choice of Dave's own story or bike owner Jay Regan's not entirely mutually-exclusive version. Check it out at www.kingracing.com.

Nordic Drag Racing Series banquet.
29th October: This tear's Nordic Drag Racing Series banquet and trophy presentation is to be held on Saturday 9th December at the Scandic Infra City which is situated between Stockholm itself and Arlanda airport. A popular event, the banquet sees awards made not just to NDRS winners but to others who have contributed to the sport, and 'special' prizes for outstanding achievement such as issuing rule books full of page 11s.

You can find full details including contact details for attendees on the Svensk Dragracing web site at www.dragracing.se, and you can also relive happy memories of last year's banquet with that evening's photographs which have been re-posted on the web site.

Shell Racing season review.
29th October: UK Top Methanol and Junior Dragster team Shell Racing have published a review of their 2000 season on the News page of their web site at www.eurodragster.com/shellracing. The team have also put their 'old' rail, driven this year by Derek Annable, up for sale on our Swap Meet.

Historic FC for sale.
27th October: Racers and/or fans have the chance to get their hands on a piece of drag racing history as an ex-Don Prudhomme Funny Car which also saw service in the UK has become available. The ex-Army Plymouth Arrow accompanied The Snake on one of his trips to England, and then remained in the UK and became the Cannonball Fuel FC famously shoed by Bill Sherratt, who now works with the Showtime team.

The car's current owner is Chris Kirkby, who also works on the Showtime Fuel FC team. "I acquired the car from Knut Söderquist about fifteen months ago", says Chris. "He had started restoration work with a view to sending it back to the USA, but didn't have the time. I happened to be in Knut's workshop at the time he decided to sell the car to concentrate on his Top Fuellers. I intended to put the car back together as a Nostalgia racer, and I have done a lot of work on it. The rolling chassis is very tidy, but the body needs some work. I am selling the car plus all the parts I have bought for it. It would make a tidy race car or show car."

If you'd like to get your hands on this piece of drag racing history then you can find full details in Chris' classified advertisement in the Cars for sale section of our Swap Meet.

RWYB on Sunday.
27th October: Santa Pod Raceway is holding a Run What You Brung this Sunday (29th October). Entry to the track is £8; a further £10 and the production of a valid DVLC driving licence (Competition licences are not valid for RWYBs) will get you as many passes down the track as you can fit in. Gates are open at 9:00 am and the strip is usually open by 10:00 am. For more details see the Run What You Brung page on Santa Pod Raceway's web site at www.santapod.com, or call Santa Pod on 08700 782828.

Marston leaves C & S Racing.
25th October: Grumpy's Dodge Super Gas racer Paul Marston has announced that he is to leave the C & S Racing Team as his own project for next season comes together.

"When I re-entered this great sport five years ago, I had a five-year plan. I now have another five-year plan". says Paul. "Over the past year I have been getting a team of people together, with expertise in different areas, in readiness for the launch of a brand new Drag Race team. Negotiations have also been underway regarding a brand new race car, concept, design, funding, sponsors, building, materials etc. I have had a rare opportunity, one which comes to a lucky handful only once in their lifetimes, to build a brand new racecar from a clean sheet, to start from scratch. This project has taken nearly two years of careful thought, planning, negotiations, other people's faith and sheer hard work, staying focused on an ideal, sticking to it and seeing it through to the end to get to this stage. For myself and the team involved in this project it is a dream come true, I can scarcely dare to believe we have pulled it off, but we have!"

Crew chief Dave Kalisz and Paul Watson, both of C & S, will be working with Paul on his new car. "There will also be some new faces which will surprise people", says Paul.

Although Paul Marston has left C & S Racing, it is on the friendliest of terms and is a case of necessity rather than choice. "With Paul's sponsorship commitments and need for a separate identity, it became unavoidable really" says John Ellis, proprietor of C & S Racing Engines. "We are still affiliated and will continue to work together on many things."

Paul is a great believer in following a dream. "Let me say that in Drag Racing, like most other things, anything is possible. If you believe in something strongly enough, you can make things happen, you can make a difference. Let our new, yet-to-be-named team and as yet un-named racecar be an example. You can live the dream, but you have to want it so bad you can taste it. It can be yours, be a Jedi!"

Paul is being very coy about his new vehicle, and although we have heard some pretty authoritative stories here at Eurodragster, we couldn't possibly blow the surprise ahead of Paul's official announcement. Stay tuned because as soon as we know for sure, we'll let you know.

CBD TF Team seek crew.
25th October: The Carbon By Design Top Fuel Dragster team is seeking three new crew members for next season, to work on the dragster driven by Alan Jackson. "We are looking for crew to work on the cylinder heads and on the motor", says team owner Knut Söderquist. "They can be beginners or experienced crew, and we will gladly accept crew with experience in any form of motorsport, not just Drag Racing. We're not looking for people who just want free tickets to Santa Pod!"

If you are interested in joining the CBD team then check out the Drivers/Crew required section in our Swap Meet for contact details.

Web site updates.
23rd October: 2000 FIA European Top Methanol Funny Car Champion Leif Andreasson's web site has been updated with news of the Green Machine's return to the USA (although not to race) and a report and pictures from the Bilsport Performance Show, at which the team were presented with golden toolkits by grateful sponsors Kamasa to celebrate the Championship win. Leif's web site can be found at www.andreassonmotorsports.com.

Fellow Swedish TMFC racer Micke Kågered has also updated his web site with a report and pictures from the Bilsport Show. Check it out at www.kagered-racing.com.

The web site of UK Super Comp Racer Phil Bennett has upped sticks and moved URLs to www.supercomp323.co.uk. Phil's site, maintained by his son Dan, has been updated with a brief report from the National Finals, and also contains information about the car, Photo Galleries, links and more.

Eurodragster staffer Sharkman has updated his personal web site Sharkman's Top End Tales with a batch of pictures from the recent UK National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway, and some new Windows Wallpaper. Sharkman's site can be found at www.btinternet.com/~sharkman.

Final UK Championship standings.
21st October: The final UK National Championship standings for the 2000 season are now available on our Points standings page.

We are sure that racers and fans alike will want to join Eurodragster in thanking Points Co-ordinators Yvonne Tramm (Santa Pod Racers Club) and Simon Groves (Avon Park International Racers Association) for their hard work in collating and the points this season, and for sending them to us for publication.

Eurodragster is also indebted to Paula Marshall, Spencer Tramm and Tina Gibbs for additional help and advice with points matters during this season.

SPR seek Christmas card designer.
20th October: Santa Pod Raceway are looking for a design for this year's Christmas card and have asked us to put out a call to find an artist amongst our readers.

"We were hoping for something a little different such as a caricature or a cartoon relating to drag racing or Santa Pod itself", says Santa Pod's Kelly Ingall. "We are open to any ideas but would need to choose something fairly soon. If anyone can come up with something, then we would be pleased to offer some Santa Pod goodies and of course credit them on the card".

Budding designers can contact Kelly at Santa Pod on 08700 782828, or by E-Mail at kelly@santapod.fsnet.co.uk.

Web site updates.
20th October: Racer, journalist and photographer Ian Turburville (aka Turbo) is offering a Classified Advertisement service on his Turboville web site at www.turboville.com. "I've got loads of serious drag bikes including both Hewitt bikes for sale on my site at the moment", says Turbo. You can also find some pretty serious drag racing photography and artwork on Turbo's site; if you are into two-wheeled drag racing then it's got to be one of your first stops.

Draft UEM rules for 2001.
19th October: Draft UEM rules for the 2001 season are have been made available for viewing and comment on the King Racing web site at www.kingracing.com, via the FIM Championship link.

Report and pictures from Hal Far.
18th October: We are indebted to Paul Galea and Bernie Hepworth for sending us details of the weekend's events on Malta.

Last weekend's was the fifth race of the year organised by the Malta Drag Racing Association, and will go down as one of the best ever on the island. There were some 120 entries overall in the car, bike and truck classes.

Headlining the event was the Top Methanol Dragster match-up between European Finals winner John Ellul and Mario Borg. Manty Bugeja was not present as his TMD had not made it back to Malta in time. The race was on between John and Mario to be the first to run a Five on the island, John being a proven five-second runner and Mario not far behind with a best of 6.04. John Ellul was first up in qualifying and a banzai (©Eurodragster staff reporters) pass saw him clock the quickest ever ET on Malta, 6.01 at 233 mph, and this with tyre shake in both first and second gear. Unfortunately the tyre shake caused damage which prevented John from making another pass all weekend. Mario Borg had to shut off on his qualifying run when the front wheels wouldn't come down, but a 0.92 sixty-foot time showed promise. Mario won TMD on Sunday when John couldn't make the call.

Emanual Mangion clocked the quickest ever ET for a four-cylinder engine with a pass of 8.53/158.9 in his Cosworth-powered Ford Escort. Emanuel ended up winning in three separate classes with his car. Alan Zammit also shone with his turbocharged Cosworth Escort.

Noel Vella recorded a best-ever pass for a truck at 11.9 seconds in his Cummins-powered Sisu, running on diesel, dominating the truck class. On two wheels, Patrick Pace recorded the best time of 9.1 seconds with his 1300cc Hayabusa.

The next race on Malta is to be held on 2nd/3rd December.

Paul Galea has kindly forwarded us a number of photographs from the race, which you can view by clicking here. Thanks again to Paul and Bernie for their race reports.

Holland to concentrate on new bike.
18th October: 1997 and 1998 ACU UK Super Street Bike Champion Dave Holland is to concentrate on riding his ex-Jay Regan Pro Mod Bike next season, and is offering his mid eight-second Championship-winning SSB for sale or hire.

"The Pro Mod Bike is a lot different to ride than the Super Street Bike", says crew chief Brian Jolley, "and Dave feels that the learning curve on the new bike could be compromised by continuing to ride in Super Street Bike".

Meanwhile Dave's latest acquisition is "in a thousand bits" undergoing a serious off-season rebuild including new electronics and other parts.

Exhastive details of Dave's Super Street Bike can be found in the Bikes For Sale section of our Swap Meet. Brian tells us that Dave would also be willing to hire the bike out. "This would be an all-in-one package, with full trackside support and crew backup", he says. Anyone interested in either purchasing or hiring Dave's SSB for a race weekend can contact him at hunters@btclick.com or on 07860 839055.

Konola Mechanic of the Year.
17th October: Following on from Sunday's news about Niclas Andersson's award, we've now heard the equally welcome news that Pro Stock Racer Jari Konola was awarded the Mechanic of the Year prize at the Bilsport Performance Show. The Mechanic of the Year award covers all forms of motorsport, not just drag racing, which shows in just how high a regard Jari is held by his motorsport peers in Sweden. Congratulations Jari!

You can find more details on Jari's award, Kristina Hagglund's award for Best Junior, and some great pictures from the Bilsport Performance Show on the Svensk Dragracing web site at www.dragracing.se.

Gary and Phil seek fans' votes.
17th October: Gary and Phil Cottingham are working on a UK Drag Racing History section on their web site at www.dragracing.atfreeweb.com, and have asked for fans' help. They are asking for race fans to submit their nominations in four categories covering UK drag racing:
  • Best side-by-side race
  • Best individual run
  • Best drag race meeting
  • Worst drag race meeting
You can get to the voting form in the Drag Racing History paragraph on the Home Page.

Andersson Drag Racer of the Year.
15th October: Sweden's Niclas Andersson, the 2000 FIA European Pro Stock Champion, has been named Drag Racer of the Year at the Bilsport Performance Show in Jönköping, Sweden. Niclas was nominated alongside retiring Top Fuel Dragster pilot Peter Lantz and Competition racer Sören Andersson.

Christina Lidström of Svensk Dragracing tells that Niclas was chosen because of his third straight win in the FIA Championship, adding that the citation read that Niclas "has got all it takes to be a good drag racer. He is humble, he has a desire to win, and he has nerves of steel"

Congratulations to Niclas, and thanks to Christina for letting us know.

Web site updates.
15th October: The new issue of the Swedish Pro Street News Magazine at www.swedishprostreetnews.com has been posted in both Swedish and English. Webmaster Hasse tells us that some new Windows wallpaper is also available on the updated site.

UK1320 at www.uk1320.com has been updated with a report and a small number of pictrues from last weekend's UK National Finals.

Bob and Anni Valder's Feel The Noise web site has been updated with more pictures from Santa Pod Raceway and Shakespeare County Raceway. Bob tells us that every time they get hold of additional web space, it rapidly fills up with more pictures, which is what we like to hear. Check it out at www.feel-the-noise.com.

Eurodragster staffer Tog has staggered away from his PC after a few days spent in marathon scanning sessions. His personal web site Tog's Drag Racing Page has in the last few days been updated with the remaining pictures from Super Series 4; extra pictures from the FIA European Finals including a launch sequence of the Fireforce 2 Jet FC; pictures from the Run What You Brung before the European Finals (at which Tommy Moller completed his licence); pictures of the Firestorm Jet FC making demonstration passes at North Weald Airfield; and pictures from last weekend's UK National Finals. TDRP can be found at www.togsdragracing.com.

McDonald brothers buy Top Fuel car.
13th October: Brothers Stuart and Richard McDonald have completed a deal with Tommy Möller and Kenneth Lorenzon to buy the ex-Peter Lantz Top Fuel car. Stuart McDonald writes:

"The 1995 car is remembered for the first European 4 second run at Hockenheim in 1997. It became available when it was decided that a new car would be built for its current driver Tommy Möller by Peter Lantz Racing. It is planned that the car will be competing in the 2001 season and the brothers would like to hear from any interested drivers and sponsors. Contact them on Tel/Fax 01709 874555 (UK), E-Mail smc@mach2.freeserve.co.uk."

Sheavills pulls off Motor Show coup.
13th October: UK Top Fuel racer Barry Sheavills has pulled off quite a coup at the British International Motorsport Show at the NEC, Birmingham, on 19th-29th October. Barry's Top Fueller will be on display at the NGK Spark Plugs stand, taking a position traditionally reserved for Formula One cars. "As far as I know it'll be the only Top Fueller at the show!", joked Barry. "If anyone wants to pop by and say hello they will be very welcome, I will be at the NGK stand with the car."

The British International Motor Show is open to the public on 20th-29th October. You can find more details including opening times and ticket prices on the official Show web site at www.motorshow.co.uk, and all the latest news from Barry's Top Fuel operation on his web site at www.topfuel.co.uk.

RWYB on Sunday.
13th October: Santa Pod Raceway is holding a Run What You Brung this Sunday (15th October). Entry to the track is £8; a further £10 and the production of a valid DVLC driving licence (Competition licences are not valid for RWYBs) will get you as many passes down the track as you can fit in. Gates are open at 9:00 am and the strip is usually open by 10:00 am. For more details see the Run What You Brung page on Santa Pod Raceway's web site at www.santapod.com, or call Santa Pod on 08700 782828.

Final ACU Championship standings.
11th October: Full final points standings in the 2000 ACU UK Drag Bike Championships have been ratified by ACU Championship Co-ordinator Ian King, and are now available on the King Racing web site at www.kingracing.com.

We stressed on Monday that our post-National Finals standings were subject to ratification and it turns out that after this ratification Barry Holland is in fact the ACU Competition Bike Champion for the 2000 season, by five points! Congratulations to Barry and to all of the 2000 ACU Champions, now official:
  • Top Fuel Bike: Steve Woollatt
  • Funny Bike: Chris Hall
  • Pro Stock Bike: Len Paget
  • Competition Bike: Barry Holland
  • Super Street Bike: Graham Dance
Web site updates.
11th October: A new issue of the Swedish Pro Street News Magazine is available at www.swedishprostreetnews.com. The site is available in both Swedish and English and is well worth a look with news, pictures, results, and a special page for gossip.

October Event on Malta.
10th October: This weekend sees the October Event at Hal Far Raceway on the island of Malta. Paul Galea of John Ellul's TMD crew kindly wrote with some details of the race.

"Hal Far Raceway is ten minutes from the Airport. The event starts at midday on Saturday and ands at about 7:30 in the evening, then starts again at 10:00 on Sunday ending at about 6:00. This looks to be a very interesting race because there should be three Top Methanol Dragsters: John Ellul, Manty Bugeja and Mario Borg (tuned by Bernie Hepworth).

"There should be about eighty other entries. They start with the Open 3 class, which is very interesting because there are three Escorts and a T-Bucket all powered with four-cylinder Cosworths which run low eights to low nines. The Super Street 4 class is open to four-cylinder engines which run with nitrous oxide, and all run very low 10s; there are about fifteen cars in this class. Super Series 2 is a class with two-litre engines but without nitrous, there are about seventeen cars in this class.

"There are other classes including bracket racers. Another interesting thing is our trucks with diesel-powered engines which run very low 12s."

Paul tells us that there are several flights to Malta between now and the weekend; the weather looks great so if you fancy a break then this could be the perfect tonic after our rain-soaked season. Paul has promised to let us know how the race goes.

Obsession join King Racing sponsor roll.
10th October: UK Top Fuel Bike team King Racing have announced that the latest participants in support of their trip to the Prostar Finals in Gainesville this November are the organisers of the famed Super Series events, Obsession Motorsports.

"Obsession, who have asked that the jacket supplied in return for their support to be donated to the raffle at the Super Series Dinner Dance, have once again shown their unmitigated support for drag racers in the UK.", says Ian King.

Any individuals or companies who wish to support King Racing's endeavours at motorcycle drag racing's premier event should contact sponsorship@kingracing.com. Essentially, in return for a donation of £100 ($150 US), the sponsor's name will be displayed prominently on the machine at the Finals and will also be featured heavily in the media and on the Net prior to the meeting. The sponsor will also receive an exclusive King Racing team jacket worth £55 ($80 US) at the end of the year. There may also be some other benefits to partners in the venture, depending on the level of support.

Andy and Deborah: thanks!
10th October: Andy Marrs of TSI Timers and his new wife Deborah have asked us to thank everyone who sent messages of congratulations after we mentioned their marriage on our raceday update on Sunday.

"People read the raceday updates and emailed us from around the globe congratulating us", says Andy. "Saturday was quite overwhelming. Aside from it being a fantastic day in its own right, everyone's generosity and happiness for us was incredible, and it's still going on thanks to the E-Mails. Thanks to everyone who has written, we will be writing to them all when we return from honeymoon".

2000 UK National Champions.
9th October: Subject to ratification, this season's UK National Champions are as follows. Congratulations to:
  • MSA Top Methanol: Rob Turner
  • Pro Mod: Nick Davies
  • Super Comp: Alex Nicol
  • Super Gas: Tim Adam
  • Super Street: Team Rat Rage (Stuart and Anne Peck)
  • Super Pro ET: Steve Green
  • Pro ET: Dave Potter
  • Sportsman ET: Neil L'Alouette
  • Junior Dragster: Paul Lindley-Allen
  • ACU Top Fuel Bike: Steve Woollatt
  • ACU Funny Bike: Chris Hall
  • ACU Pro Stock Bike: Len Paget
  • ACU Competition Bike: Barry Holland
  • ACU Super Street Bike: Graham Dance
  • 9.90 Bike: Jamie Sneddon
  • 10.90 Bike: Paul Hambidge
Thanks to Paula Marshall at Santa Pod Racers Club for calculating the outcomes so quickly, and also to ACU Championship Co-ordinator Ian King at www.kingracing.com for posting provisional outcomes on his own web site.

2000 SPRC Champions.
9th October: Subject to ratification, this season's Santa Pod Racers Club Champions are as follows. Congratulations to:
  • Pro Mod: Nick Davies
  • Super Comp: Alex Nicol
  • Super Gas: Pete Creswell
  • Super Street: Team Rat Rage (Stuart and Anne Peck)
  • Super Pro ET: Steve Green
  • Pro ET: Simon Farmer
  • Sportsman ET: Ian Turnbull
  • Junior Dragster: Paul Lindley-Allen
  • Top Fuel Bike: Steve Woollatt
  • Funny Bike: Chris Hall
  • Pro Stock Bike: Len Paget
  • Competition Bike: Tim Whetton
  • Super Street Bike: Graham Dance
  • 9.90 Bike: Pete Cameron
  • 10.90 Bike: Darren Winnard
Thanks, again, to Paula Marshall at Santa Pod Racers Club for calculating the SPRC outcomes so quickly.

Linda takes on Samantha.
9th October: It has been announced that Swedish Super Gas racer Linda Axeldal is to drive Mikael Sjökvist's Samantha Racing Comp Eliminator Daytona at selected races next season. Twenty-year-old Linda, who drives the Vopar Volvo in the Nordic Drag Racing Series, will be wheeling the Comp Eliminator car at FIA rounds with a view to an eventual move to Pro Stock. Linda's brother Conny will stand in as driver of Vopar when Linda is driving the Samantha Racing car. More news on the Vopar web site at www.netax.se/vopar.html.

UK National Finals: so close.
9th October: This weekend's UK National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway came to the brink of completion before rain washed out the last few final rounds. Saturday was completely lost to the weather, but yesterday was a dramatic day with one-shot qualifying and fast and furious eliminations. Nine of the sixteen finals were completed. You can see our live coverage from Santa Pod by clicking here, or by clicking on the Race coverage link on the left hand side of any Eurodragster page.

We will bring you the 2000 UK National Champions as soon as the final points standings are ratified: stay tuned.

Live updates finished for this season.
9th October: The UK National Finals was the last race this season in Eurodragster's live update programme. In addition to the individual thanks in the closing paragraphs for each race, we would like to thank:
  • Our live update sponsors E-Manumit.com and High Perfomance Heaven for the financial support and the regular loan of a laptop;
  • The racers for giving us the action upon which to report, and for their willingness to be interviewed and quoted;
  • All of you for continuing to tune in in such large numbers.
We are of course planning to post live updates from races next season, and possibly expand our coverage further into Europe. Watch this space!

2001-season FIA race numbers.
6th October: Many thanks to Kjell Petterson for sending us a list of next season's FIA race numbers, which you can read by clicking here.

UK Championship points.
6th October: We are indebted to UK National Championship Co-ordinator Simon Groves for forwarding us the UK National Championship standings going into this weekend's race at Santa Pod. They are now available on our Points Standings page.

Last Perfect Light, but not the last prize.
6th October: This weekend's UK National Finals will be the last race this season at which Eurodragster's Perfect Light Award will be up for grabs. Regular readers will remember that Super Street racer Dave Billadeau won the first Perfect Light Award of £70 at Super Series 5, with a 0.500 in qualifying.

The prize fund has now been reset to £50, which will be awarded to the first racer at the event to record a perfect Reaction Time (0.400 or 0.500), during either qualifying or eliminations.

Although this is the last race this season for the Perfect Light Award, it is not the last race this season at which Eurodragster will be posting prize money. We are very pleased to announce that we will be contributing £25 to the prize fund for the Car bracket, £25 to the prize fund for the Bike bracket, and £10 to the Junior Dragster prize fund, at the season-closing Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway on November 4th.

Hogarth passes scrutineering.
5th October: Regular readers will remember that on September 21st we revealed that Super Comp racers (and masters of extended metaphors) Jon and Sharon Hogarth would have to miss Super Series 5 after Jon suffered a collapsed lung. The good news is that Jon is has been cleared to return to racing. Jon and Sharon take up the story:

"Jon is firing on all cylinders again, his compression is up, and he is pleased to announce he has passed scrutineering and been declared as 'licensed to thrill' for this weekends National finals.

"Jon will be back behind the wheel of his freshly-built '63 Split Window Corvette and is hungry to put the might of his 532ci Alky-burning Jeff Bull Race Engine back where it belongs on the track. Drag Racing Videos and Practice Trees have kept Jon from insanity over the last couple of weeks but he has to admit life has been 'a drag'.

"Jon with the help of Jeff Bull, Crew Chief and Mentor will be using the six qualifying sessions to not only harness the horsepower and dial in the 'Vette, but also to pursue that first 7 second pass.

"Jon and Sharon would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their cards, support and good wishes over recent weeks and look forward to seeing you all again at the track."

Excellent news, Jon and Sharon, we'll see you at Santa Pod.

UK National Championship outcomes.
5th October: Following on from yesterday's news item about the possible outcomes in the ACU UK Drag Bike Championships, today we are indebted to Spencer Tramm for providing the following analysis of this weekend's possible outcomes in the UK National Drag Racing Championships, which cover all car classes and 9.90 and 10.90 Bike.

The MSA British Top Methanol Championship was decided back at the August Bank Holiday at Shakespeare County Raceway, with Netcall Telecom-sponsored Rob Turner taking the win in dramatic style over the Lucas Oils/Express Freight entry of Dave Wilson.

Pro Modified was decided at its last round at the European Finals, even with the eventual champion not in attendance. Nick Davies retained his National Championship title, even having time to take up Super Gas/Super Comp racing mid-season. Holland's Henri Joosten was runner-up.

Steve Green in the Ampar Cortina has an unassailable lead in Super Pro ET going into the final round. Second place will be Talbot Racing's as long as they are scrutineered, as this then entitles them to their 200-point bonus for attending all rounds. The only team which may be able to stop them are Dave and Roger Moore in the Shakespeare Engineering Triumph Herald.

With a thirty two-car field this weekend, Pro ET is surely the most open of all of the classes, with no less than five teams having a mathematical chance of taking the title. Dave Potter leads the way with 3510 points, closely followed by Chris Johnson (3320), Mark Ramplee (3180), David Ward (3110) and Steve Wells (2910). Of these only David Ward has not competed in all rounds of the championship making his job just that bit harder, but with points scores of 700+ per meeting to be awarded, this one is just too complex to call.

It's a straight two way fight in Sportsman ET for the title between Neil L'Alouette in the big Chevy truck and Chris Hodgkins in the Audi 80. Neil has a 500 point lead which means that he must lose in round one and Chris must win to take the title away. Chris must be careful, however, as if he were to lose early then Scotland's Bob Main is only 340 points behind him in third place.

Alex Nicol needs only to show up at the National Finals to ensure his first Super Comp title. In second place Tim Adam is 320 points in front of Phil Bennett, but Tim has the luxury of a 200-point bonus for competing in all rounds. However Phil Bennett has a very good record this year in the five meetings at which he has competed.

Super Gas always goes down to the wire, and this year is no exception with a possibility of four drivers snatching the win. In the number one spot is Brendan Clancy in the Dublin Up Nova; he leads the way with 3460 points, 270 points ahead of his nearest rival Tim Adam. In third spot is Pete Creswell in the Full Monty Mustang; Pete is only 260 points behind Tim. In fourth spot and with a very remote chance of the title, but well in with a shout for second, is Andy Kirk in the Ratfink '67 Camaro. Andy is only 180 points behind Pete Creswell. If Brendan Clancy goes out in round one, a late-round finish from Tim or Pete may be enough to take the title.

Team Rat Rage have already clinched the Super Street title, but the fight for second is on as the Flying Doctor Team of Bob and Stuart Doignie need to go one round more than the Huxleys' Team Top Banana to take second place.

Junior Dragster was all but over by August Bank Holiday, with Paul Lindley-Allen amassing a huge lead by virtue of winning three of the first six races, and making the final of the Main Event (which was not contested due to the curfew). Second spot is far from decided, with Phill Cook in his Junior Modified car and Jonathon Bond in his Junior Stock entry only 140 points (or just over one round) apart.

Four riders come to the National Finals with aspirations of the 9.90 Bike. Jamie Sneddon holds a slight lead with 3630 points, and he is followed by four riders covered by only 110 points. Geof Connor is second with 3390, then Pete Cameron on 3300, and fourth is Paul Ellingham on 3280. With thirteen bikes entered there are over 700 points up for grabs so Jamie still has to reach the semi-finals and qualify well to be sure of maintaining his lead. Pete Cameron has a harder job than the others as he has not competed at all rounds of the championship, and therefore has a 200-point disadvantage going into this weekend's action.

10.90 Bike is well and truly over with Paul Hambidge having a huge 1110-point lead. In second place is Darren Winnard, who holds a 330 point lead over Sandra Chaplain. Darren will have to get to the semi-finals to be guaranteed the second place.

We hope to have the current UK National Championship points tables in time for tomorrow's news update.

SPRC Championship standings.
5th October: We are also indebted to Spencer Tramm for forwarding us the latest (post-European Finals) standings in the Santa Pod Racers Club Championships, which are available on our Points Standings page.

National Finals coverage.
5th October: "If you ever leave me to do another race on my own, I'll kill you!". So said Eurodragster staffer Sharkman after raceday reporter Tog was unable to attend Super Series 2 earlier this season, leaving Sharkman to produce both Eurodragster's live reports and photographs from the race.

Unfortunately Tog is unable to make the first day of this weekend's UK National Finals, so Eurodragster's reports from Santa Pod on Saturday will be limited. Normal reporting service will resume on Sunday - if Sharkman hasn't killed Tog.

Web site updates.
5th October: The European Drag Racing Database at www.eurodrag.com has been updated with results and photographs from Super Series 5, and results from the Taffel Finals at Alastaro (Finland) which, as webmaster Tommy Nilsson incredulously notes, "wasn't a rainout!".

ACU Championship outcomes.
4th October: We are indebted to ACU Championship Co-ordinator Ian King for sending us the following run-down on the possible outcomes of the ACU Drag Bike Championships, which will be decided at this weekend's UK National Finals at Santa Pod.

"This weekend is the climax to what has been a fantastic season's racing for the biggest Drag Bike competition outside the USA, the ACU/UK Drag Racing Championship.

"So far a vintage season has seen Steve Woollatt crowned Top Fuel Bike Champion already, and new records set and re-set in Top Fuel, Superstreet and Pro Stock Bike.

"Chris Hall has established an unassailable lead in Funny Bike on his large capacity Nitrous Suzuki with some stunning performances culminating in his seven teen mark set at Shakespeare County Raceway. However, it's all to play for in the race for second and third positions with less than one round win covering Chris Hannam (Turbo Nitrous Suzuki), Paul Knapp (Turbo Alcohol Suzuki) and Steve French (Nitrous Kawasaki).

"Chris Hope leads Pro Stock Bike going into the final round, with Len Paget hot on his heels. If Hope goes out in the first round without setting highest ET or MPH, and Paget wins the meet, then the crown will be Paget's. However, if this is not the case, then even Dave Beck could overhaul Paget in second place. Hypothetically, Richard Gipp could take third from Beck, but he would have to win the meet, reset the records, and out-qualify Beck by at least two places, with Beck out in the first round (i.e. tough!).

"Barry Holland leads Competition Bike, but Tim Whetton, Dave Wells and Ireland's finest 'Fast' Eddie Galvin could all take the Championship crown depending on the outcome of the meeting. Despite poor fields early in the season, entries have picked up, and commitments by current, past and new riders to this class should sustain its position in next year's season. Watch out for the stunning new Puma machine of Martin Peck - is it a Top Fuel bike, is it a Funnybike, is it a Pro Mod? - Only time will tell...

"What more could be said about Superstreet Bike again this season? Exceptional performances from Graham Dance and Tony Clark have seen the ET record fall to Dance with an impressive 8.161 sec mark. Speed performances from Clark have been class, with him being unlucky to steal the seven year old mark set in the 'glory days' of Superstreet Bike. Current performances throughout this year have proven that this class is back with a vengeance. However, this round is a formality for the top three positions, with Messrs. Dance, Clark and Watkins all cementing their final positions after the last round at Shakespeare County Raceway."

Thanks again, Ian.

Svensk Dragracing interview Vesa Raiski.
4th October: our good friends at Svensk Dragracing have posted an interview with repeat NDRS Super Gas Champion, Finland's Vesa Raiski. The interview in both Swedish and English makes interesting reading and is well worth a look in.

The update to the Svensk Dragracing site also includes news of a Swap Meet in Västerås. Check it out at www.dragracing.se.

Grumpy turns to Alcohol.
4th October: On 27th September we revealed that UK Super Gas racer Paul Marston is planning to park his Grumpy's Dodge after this weekend's UK National Finals. However, Paul has something special planned for Grumpy's last hurrah as he has announced a switch to alcohol power.

"Although the National Finals will be defending event champion Grumpy's last outing for a while, a development plan for the famous Dodge will still continue" says Paul. "The switch to alcohol was scheduled for mid-season but due to other developments the plans got put back a bit! This is just a borrowed system, courtesy of Pro ET racer Mick Smith, which is intended to evaluate its effect on the Dodge.

"With the help and expert guidance of Alcohol Wizard Jeff Bull, of Jeff Bull Racing Engines, we are intending to give it all we can to retain our event title from last year. The Barry Grant King Demon 1195 cfm Carb fitted earlier this year, which helped us to achieve the number one qualifying spot at Super Series 2, is easily converted to Alcohol.

"We are also going to have Harvey Engineering Super Gas Cosworth driver Chris Bates on our crew this weekend, a welcome return to the track in an official capacity. There are about nine months' more development work and testing slated for Grumpy's Dodge, which will still be done but it will probably take a little longer now. But most importantly, we are going have a lot of fun!"

Turbo-Art!
4th October: Another good buddy, Ian Turburville, has been in touch with another great idea fr those who want to get their Christmas shopping out of the way early.

"The creator of www.turboville.com Ian Turboville is, as you probably know by now, a freelance photo-journalist and racer. What you probably don't know is that he has a BA Hons degree in fine art! In time for this christmas he has issued a series of 8x12 fine art prints based on his photographs of some of the legends of motorcycle drag racing. These stunning images are printed in full colour on expensive canvas textured card and will fit any standard A4 frame. Go on, take that old poster of the tennis player scratching her ass off the wall and turn your home/office/workshop into an art gallery for racers. These will also be available at the Prostar World Finals in Florida this November.

"This collection will be an on-going series but initially there are these to choose from :-

Elmer Trett, Bill Furr, Bob Spina, Tony Lang, Willem Been, Larry McBride, Jim McClure, Mark Revels, John Myers, Adam Hewitt, Job Heezen, Chris Hampson, Paul Willis, Ray Price, Per bengtsson, Ton Pels, Terry Kizer, Jay Turner, Phil Brachtvogel, Wayne Pollack, Tom Perry, Mike Romine, Bruno van Sant, Brian Johnson, Werner Sohm, Karl Thieke, Jaaka Salakari, Charley Karling, Nick Daniels and Sam Wills. All these collectible prints are signed by the artist.

"They are an absolute bargain at only $9 US/£6 UK each including postage and can be ordered by e-mailing sales@turboville.co.uk, or see the STOP PRESS page at WWW.TURBOVILLE.COM! Commissions undertaken!"

Super Series Championships.
3rd October: Many thanks to Super Series Points Co-ordinator Simon Groves for sending us the final standings in the 2000 Super Series Championships, which are now available on the Results page of the Super Series web site at www.eurodragster.com/superseries. Congratulations to the 2000 Super Series Champions:
  • Pro Mod: Nick Davies, John Ellis, Gordon Appleton (joint Champions)
  • Super Comp: Alex Nicol
  • Super Gas: Tim Adam
  • Super Street: Team Top Banana
  • Super Pro ET: Andrew Hone
  • Pro ET: Mark Ramplee
  • Sportsman ET: Chris Hodgkins
  • Junior Dragster: Phill Cook
  • Custom Car Street Eliminator: Jeff Meads
  • Outlaw Anglia: Rob Stone
  • Super Street Rover: Steve Good
  • Wild Bunch: Chris Hartnell
  • Top Fuel Bike: Steve Woollatt
  • Funny Bike: Chris Hall
  • Pro Stock Bike: Chris Hope
  • Competition Bike: Barry Holland
  • Super Street Bike: Graham Dance
  • 9.90 Bike: Jamie Sneddon
  • 10.90 Bike: Paul Hambidge
Ton Pels at National Finals.
3rd October: Supertwin Top Fuel fans will get a final blast of Nitro at this weekend's National Finals at Santa Pod as Ton Pels will be attending, to put in what we guess will be test runs on his Zodiac Harley after what has been at times a nightmare season. Ton is listed as an exhibition vehicle along with Paul Willis on the Pro Stock Bike recently purchased by ex-Pro Mod racer Al Cook.

This weekend's entry list is looking healthy overall, with Pro ET (23 entries) and Super Street Bike (17 entries) the current standouts. The latest version of the National Finals entry list is available on the Next Event page of Santa Pod's web site at www.santapod.com, together with ticket prices and other information.

Web site updates.
3rd October: Eurodragster staffer Tog has updated his personal web site Tog's Drag Racing Page with his remaining photographs from the FIA European Finals; a complete set of pictures from the European Finals Press Call which took place at Marble Arch, London, two days before the race; and a repeat outing for an entire event's worth of pictures on the One from the TDRP Archive page. Tog has now almost caught up on his huge backlog of scanning and plans to post the balance of his Super Series 4 pictures within the next week (at the latest). TDRP can be found at www.togsdragracing.com.

NAST Championships.
2nd October: Many thanks to Sue Beneke for sending us the final positions in the UK National Association of Supertwins Championships, which you can reach from our Points Standings page. Congratulations to the 2000 NAST Champions:
  • Supertwin Fuel: John Williamson
  • Supertwin Gas: Jerry Collier
  • Supertwin Modified: Wayne Larsen
  • Supertwin Street: Steve Piper
Web site updates.
2nd October: The Vopar page of the Little Big Racing web site has been updated with the latest news and some new photographs of Linda Axeldal's Volvo Super Gasser. Team boss Peter Axeldal says that there is some big news in the offing; stay tuned for details. The Vopar page can be found at www.netax.se/vopar.html.

2000 Super Series Super Street Champions Team Top Banana have updated their web site with a report from Super Series 5. Check it out at www.topbanana.home-page.org.

The Photo Gallery of the Swedish Pro Street News Magazine has been updated with photographs from Landskrona. The direct link to the Gallery is www.swedishprostreetnews.com/foto.htm, and the Home Page itself can be found at www.swedishprostreetnews.com.

Custom Car Street Eliminator racer Allen Curtis has updated his No Manners Racing web site with reports from Super Series 4 and the FIA European Finals, and has changed URLs to www.nomannersracing.co.uk.

.50 proposal for 9.90, 10.90 Bike.
1st October: Darren Winnard, on behalf of the Team Breakout UK Drag Bike operation, writes to propose a change to the 9.90 and 10.90 Bike classes, to 9.50 and 10.50 respectively. Darren writes:

"It is generally acknowledged that the 10.90 bike class is at least twenty years out of date and may even be referred to as mundane, as is the 9.90 bike class to a lesser extent.

"In the 1970s a bike running a 10.90-second pass was considered to be special. The entrant had obviously spent time developing or tuning the machine from standard. Both spectators and competitors from other classes alike showed interest in this class as it was faster and more exciting than virtually every other road bike.

"As time passed and technology advanced and bikes became faster it soon became possible to run a 10.90 on a completely standard 1100cc machine until the present day when the majority of bikes form middle weight upwards are able to compete in this class.

"Darren Winnard rides a completely standard GSXR 750 SRAD in the UK National Championships and has completed a 10.4-second pass, and we are aware of completely standard bikes of 600cc that run in the 10.90 class with ease.

"As the majority of standard bikes are easily capable of running a standing quarter in 10.90 seconds we feel this class would receive more interest and credibility if the index were reduced to 10.50 seconds.

"If the 9.90 class was reduced to 9.50 the less competitive super street bikes could also run in this index rather than being scrapped."

Darren would welcome comments from interested parties at darren@battandbrown.fsnet.co.uk, and discussion on the proposal will likely take place on the Pit Lane Gossip page of the King Racing web site at www.kingracing.com.

Steve Turner to pilot TMD.
1st October: Following on from Friday's news (below), the entry list has been updated for next weekend's UK National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway and a notable addition is Turner Racing Crew Chief Steve Turner making observed runs in a Top Methanol Dragster. We understand that Steve will be taking a turn in Turner Racing's old TMD for its new owners. We will bring you more news on this as we receive it.

In the meantime, the current version of the National Finals entry list is available on the Next Event page of Santa Pod's web site at www.santapod.com, together with ticket prices and other information.


Earlier news


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