2006 SPRC Championships. 31st October: We are indebted to Santa Pod Racers Club Championship Co-ordinator Yvonne Tramm for sending us the final standings in the 2006 SPRC Championships. Congratulations to the 2006 SPRC Champions: Pro Modified: Urban Johansson Super Modified: Rob Smallworth Super Comp: Pete Creswell Super Gas: Tim Adam Super Street: Bob Lees Super Pro ET: Martyn Jones Pro ET: Lee Huxley Sportsman ET: Brian Huxley Junior Dragster: Scott Hauser ©Eurodragster.com Top Fuel Bike: Roel Koedam Funny Bike: Neil Midgley Pro Stock Bike: Len Paget Comp Bike: Kev Charman Super Street Bike: Jamie Sneddon 9.50 Bike: Andy Bird "My congratulations to all of the Champions and good luck to everyone for the 2007 season", says Yvonne. You can view the full SPRC Championship standings by clicking here, or by clicking on the Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Carter: Make mine a treble! 31st October: After a disappointing 2006, UK Top Fuel Dragster Andy Carter is ready for 2007 and is aiming for a Treble of European Championships. "We have a full FIA European Championship planned for 2007", says Andy. "New car, new sponsor, new colours, but the same professional team. What is certain is the rest better watch out, because we're back! We have a load of things to sort now as you can imagine, but we have not been idle since Mantorp Park in July. The team have been together working on pit drills, getting used to even more pressurised turn-rounds and using world-class training techniques to be at the top of their game. "For now we have to agree the colour scheme and get the car and trailer liveried. Then it's new team uniforms and new merchandise, getting these passed by our sponsors and getting them into manufacture. Then there are the arrangements to get the team around Europe, not to mention a forty two foot lorry with equipment. "So you're probably wondering who is the new sponsor? Well, keep an eye on the web site for the official launch announcement; we are going to keep you in suspense on that one! One thing is certain though, we will be at the Autosport show at Birmingham's NEC in January. Book your tickets now at www.autosport-international.com to see the car and meet the team. We want to see you there." "2007 is going to be a big year for us", says Team PR Derek Todd. "Remember Andy is one of only two Brits in Top Fuel, so let's see you turn out to show the rest of Motorsport what real fans look like! "It just leaves me to say thanks to all our sponsors and fans for their support during 2006 and hopefully their support during 2007." ©Eurodragster.com Swift snippets. 31st October: Further to last Friday's news item, John Everitt has been in touch to ask if any Eurodragster.com reader has pictures of the Hang 'Em High altered which he used to race in the mid-1970s. "I am having a blown altered built and its appearance will be based on the old car", says John. If you can help then you can call John on 07787 746192 or E-Mail him via Eurodragster.com News sponsor Lyn Everitt at lyn@stitchncards.com. ©Eurodragster.com Our best wishes for a very happy future go to Santa Pod Racers' Club Assistant Race Director Robin Shone and Lisa Talbot of UK Super Pro ET team Talbot Racing, who are to be married in Las Vegas this afternoon (Tuesday). "Pat and I wish Robin and Lisa all the best", says Stephen Talbot. "We and a number of other Super Pro racers are attending the wedding - the lengths we elderly people will go to for a free piss-up!" Santa Pod Raceway have confirmed that stunt driver Terry Grant will be appearing at this Saturday's Flame and Thunder Show. "With his wheelspinning and sideways action, he'll be one to watch as it hots up for the final event of the season at Santa Pod Raceway", says Jo Reed. "Tickets are still available to buy at the gate on Saturday; for more details visit www.santapod.com." A number of readers have been in touch to point out that this week's NHRA Drag Racing coverage on the UK's Channel 5 is at 04:30 tomorrow (Wednesday) and not the usual Thursday. Motorshack County Challenge. 31st October: More than 170 amateur riders and drivers took up Shakespeare County Raceway's hospitality on Sunday for the season ending Shakespeare County Street Car/Bike Challenge and Public Track Day, writes SCR's Jerry Cookson: With three time trial challenges for the doorslammers and one open competition for the bikes, all sponsored by Motorshack, the four cylinder trophy was won by Wolverhampton's 'Mad Mick' Rogers after his Cosworth powered '72 Cortina GT topped the timing charts with an 11.343/120.80. Pushing him all the way was the 2.0 Vauxhall XE powered '73 Ford Escort driven by old Skool Ford campaigner Kev Jenkins whose 11.387/117.89 mph was marked up as a PB to his previous 11.50/116 set earlier in the year. Third quickest was Scott Whitehall with a 12.062. The day's quickest six cylinder challenger belonged to the twelve-second turbocharged Fiat Coupe of James Dixon. Packing two litres of Italy's finest, the '99 coupe topped the time sheets with a 12.667 over a BMW M3 Evo driven by UK Street Racer Dave Blowers. Again personal bests prevailed as a 13.118/107.36 dismissed Dave's previous best of 13.3. Third quickest was first time visitor Guy Parfitt whose 2.6 twin turbo Skyline GTR ran a 13.226/106.8. In the eight cylinder category, the title belonged to Street Eliminator racer Al Simms whose 572 ci Chevrolet-powered '66 PC Cresta cruised to a time of 9.268/151.99. Second quickest with an 10.942 was Andy Blackett's American Car World street racing 335ci '68 Chevy Camaro. The bike category eventually became the exclusive property of AJ Gilbert whose 1216 cc Suzuki GSXR 1100 Turbo ran a consistent 9.599/148.72 to beat its pervious best of 9.77. Second quickest was another Suzuki, this time a 1428cc machine ridden by Keith Payne to a 10.122/137.31. With the long winter break fast approaching, Shakespeare County Raceway/APIRA officials would like to take this opportunity to thank all the racers, crews and PTD drivers and riders who have continued to show their support of the track in the last four months. Hopefully this trend will continue into 2007 when the season opens again on 31st March/1st April with a combined Street Car and Bike Challenge Public Track Day. See you then! ©Eurodragster.com Web site updates. 31st October: In the latest entry in his exclusive Racer Blog, Dutch Top Fuel Dragster racer Lex Joon comments on the recent rush of racers announcing plans to race in Fuel Funny Car. You can read Lex's Blog by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blog link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. ©Eurodragster.com The Junior Drag Bike site at www.juniordragbike.co.uk has been updated with a News page which features amongs other things the final standings in the 2006 Championship. "I also have info for anyone who needs a frame or complete bike building for 2007, so would those who made enquiries earlier in the year please get back in touch", says Carl Wadkin Snaith. Lorentzon looks to Fuel FC. 30th October: If you were tuned in to our event coverage from Bahrain then you will have read that Thomas Nataas and Patrik Pers are both actively seeking to race Fuel Funny Cars. Other racers have also touched on this subject here on Eurodragster.com including Knut Söderquist of Carbon by Design and Kenneth Lorentzon of the Lorentzon and Möller Top Fuel Dragster team both of whose Top Fuellers are for sale. Whilst in Bahrain we caught up with Kenneth Lorentzon to ask him if his Fuel FC plans were going to come to fruition. "Tommy wants to race a bike and I'm not into that", said Kenneth. "I want to do something else. I've had the Funny Car dream for a long time. It costs a lot of money to win in Top Fuel, but you could spend that money on a safe tune-up and run 5.3s in a Funny Car. So I've been looking at the different options: to buy a car from the USA or have one built in Sweden. Right now I am awaiting an estimate from Mats Eriksson." ©Eurodragster.com Fuel FC has in recent years been mainly the preserve of the UK but Kenneth said that there is a market for the class elsewhere in Europe. "I think we could run two or three races in Sweden, at Piteå, Sundsvall and Mantorp Park", he said. "Funny Cars have also run at Hockenheim. And it's a completely new deal for sponsors, they like the Funny Cars. We have sponsors interested." Kenneth said that if the dragsters are sold then all well and good, but if not then he will take his running gear and put it in a Funny Car and leave it to Tommy what he does with his own kit. "We've had some interest in the cars but no deals", said Kenneth. "You know what they say - show me the money!" Kenneth added that he has a couple of potential drivers in mind. "I want someone experienced", he said. "That way if there are any mistakes then they will be on my side!" A 'Cuda reborn. 30th October: This beautiful 'Cuda belongs to Anders Holmerg from Umeå, Sweden's City of Stock Superstock, says Jan Phersson. "Anders, who is a Hemi legend in Sweden, has been racing his '68 Cuda in Superstock AA for several years", says Jan. "Inspired by the development in US among the huge Hemi Superstock Class SS/AH, Anders decided to take his Cuda through an ambitious develoment process. In co-operation with Phil Mandella at PMR Race Cars in Los Angeles, Anders has built the "New" Cuda to top notch US Superstock standard. ©Eurodragster.com "After six months of hard work the Hemi Cuda is ready to race again, unfortunately one month after the season ended. But last week Anders made shakedown runs of his reborn SS/AH Superstocker at a local airstrip. You can see more pictures of the build process at www.sssa.se/index.asp?sida=s_10869&hmeny=3&umeny=4." The annual success. 30th October: Our good buddy Christer Abrahamson, who along with Hannele Hoydén hosted the trophy presentations at Saturday's NDRS Banquet, dropped us a line to tell us what a good evening it was at the Scandic Infra City. "It was really fun this year", says Christer. "Spirits were high and almost everything went smoothly. One interesting thing was Janne Ahonen's speech which Hanski read - it had a clear message to the NDRS Sportman community, ending with the words "I do hope to see you all next year even though I will have a different kind of engine behind my back". "The Banquet itself was all in the traditional manner. Good food, the prizegiving for the Swedish Drag Racing League, and the prizegiving for the Swedish Bike Championships presented by Ulla Peterson and Peder Eneroth from the Swedish Bike Sport Federation. SVEMO also paid tribute to the Swedish UEM winners and runners-ups. Then the main attraction, the NDRS prizegiving for NDRS in English. ©Eurodragster.com "The Drivers' Association's "Team Choice" is decided by an internet poll which this year was for the best event in the 2006 NDRS and the winner was was the Veidec Festival. The prestigious Eagle of the Year award was this year presented by Mats "Macka" Eriksson from Svensk Dragracing. There was strong competition for this award but the winners where Jonny and Ulla-Britt Eriksson from SHRA Mantorp, a couple who give all of their spare time to drag racing. "In a good tradition the official part of the evening ends with Sussy Hofbauer handing over some kind of humorous prize. This year it went to Micke Gullquist for "Best athletic feat during the season". Micke had disassembled his engine when a jet dryer blew half of Alastaro's gravel into his pit. Micke jumped the very high fence between pit and track in one go without hesitation. "I'd like to share this prize with Tapio (Chairman of FHRA - Ed)", laughed Micke. "After that the serious discussions about important stuff continued in the Infra City's fantastic bar." Swift snippets. 30th October: Don't forget that 23:59 UK time tomorrow (Tuesday) is the deadline in our contest to win two VIP tickets to this Saturday's Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway. Click here for more details, or click on the Flame and Thunder Contest link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. ©Eurodragster.com Web site updates. 30th October: Our good friend Peter Donaldson has updated his photographic web site with pictures of yesterday's action at the Halloween Test and Tune at Shakespeare County Raceway. You can check out Peter's excellent shots at peterdonaldson5305.fotopic.net. ©Eurodragster.com Eurodragster.com News Editor Tog has posted a temporary gallery of his Bahrain Drag Racing Festival photographs at www.eurodragster.com/downloads/bahrain2006/index.htm. Tog doesn't currently have the time to process the photographs (crop, lighten/darken, sharpen and so on) so they have been posted au-naturel, just as they came from the camera. The official web site of Steve Gwatkin's All Folked Up 9.50 Bike team has been updated with the latest from the team as well as an updated forum. Check it out at www.allfolkedup.co.uk. Dantanus goes Pro Stock. 29th October: 2006 Nordic Drag Racing Series Super Street Champion Jonas Dantanus will be joining the Pro Stock wars in 2007. Jonas has acquired Michael Malmgren's European record-holding Grand Am turn-key with one of Michael's spare engines as well as the Malmgren Racing transporter. Jonas will be tuned by his father-in-law Christer Gustavsson who was formerly a very successful Crew Chief for Malmgren Racing. "After the season we had in Super Street in 2006 it is time to move on", says Jonas. "After Christer and I discussed it we started to look at different cars and eventually we ended up buying Michael's Grand Am." "Jonas wanted to go faster and drive a stickshift car, and I thought that a 500-inch engine was a good choice", says Christer. "That combination led us to look at old Pro Stock cars, and then the idea occurred to try to race Pro Stock. One thing led to another and finally we made a deal with Michael. I know that Jonas will be a good Pro Stock driver, he has it in him and I have seen his progress in the three years he been racing." ©Eurodragster.com "I would not have taken this step if it weren't for I having Christer Gustavsson as a father-in-law", adds Jonas. "If you want to be the best, you've got to go with the best and I want to thank Christer Gustavsson and Michael Malmgren for giving me this oportunity. With Christer taking care of both the team and myself I feel safe and I couldn't get better back-up as he has been in Pro Stock since the 1980s and knows this class more than well. Jonas, Christer and the team will view 2007 as a learning year although they will be contesting the full FIA Championship tour. "We will try to play with the big guys, and when all the knowledge is there and hopefully the support of sponsors we will give this class a new challenger for the title", says Jonas. Jonas' promotion leaves a space in the driving seat of his Super Street Challenger (right), and for such a family-centred team it came as no surprise to us that Christer's daughter, 2005 and 2006 NDRS Junior Dragster Champion Jennifer, will take over the keys of the car in 2007. Jonas' son Pontus Dantanus will race in the Junior Dragster. This deal leaves Michael Malmgren without a race car for 2007 but he naturally has this covered. Stay tuned and we will bring you news on Michael's plans. Swift snippets. 29th October: Dick Koster has written to ask us to say Happy Birthday to Piet Kaptein, Crew Chief on Marc Meihuizen's Pro Mod team. "A very Happy Birthday from all of the crew", says Dick. Have a great day Piet. ©Eurodragster.com Bahrain coverage a hit(s). 29th October: Eurodragster.com received 27785 visits, 112688 page views and 796904 hits during our live coverage of the Top Fuel Exhibition at the Bahrain International Circuit. Your News Editor, back in the UK having been Simon and Roger as well as himself for three days, will never be the same again and currently feels as if he took those three quarters of a million hits in person. Many thanks to all of you for tuning in, to those who have taken the time and trouble to write with compliments, and to American Car Imports and Flint Group Insurance for their sponsorship and support respectively. A huge Thank You also to all of the staff of the Bahrain International Circuit and Bahrain Drag Racing Club without whose help the coverage would not have been possible. Finally a big Thank You to the racers and crews for giving us so much material, and to Knut Söderquist for inviting us along to cover the event. ©Eurodragster.com On the domestic front Tog is sure that everyone will join him in giving a big pat on the back to Simon for running Eurodragster.com single-handedly whilst your usual News Editor took the sunshine. Coming soon: FIA/UEM DVD with bonus offer. 28th October: The 2-disc DVD box set of this year's FIA/UEM European Drag Racing Championships will available for shipping mid-November 2006. The Official Season Review will features all 8 televised classes of Drag Racing as they campaigned across Europe. Nearly 5 hours of race action are shown, with heaps of unseen footage plus detailed interviews with the top riders and drivers. An extra is 2 complete sections of exclusive out-takes. Disc 1 includes the car classes of the FIA European Drag Racing Championships including qualifying highlights and eliminations of Top Fuel Dragster, Top Methanol Dragster, Top Methanol Funny Car, Pro Modified and Pro Stock with a running time of 200 mins. Disc 2 features the UEM European Drag Bike Championships with action from Super Twin Bike, Pro Stock Bike and Top Fuel Bike and a running time of 90 mins. As a limited bonus offer, the first 500 people to order the 2006 Season Review DVD will also receive a free 2006 Santa Pod Fan Guide (normally £5) with plenty of information about the sport, with class by class detail on racers and records, plus plenty of pictures. Priced at £24.99, plus postage and packaging, the DVD box set is available to order by phoning +44 1234 782828 or see a preview and print an order form by clicking here. Magazine update. 28th October: With the current interest in nostalgia Funny Car teams competing in England in a year or so, fans of these classic nitro burners should get hold of a copy of the latest anniversary edition of Vintage Fuel magazine, writes Jerry Cookson. Featured flyers include the rebirth of the Rollin' Stoned '72 Barracuda owned and raced by Joe Jacono and Bob Rasety, Chris Massarella's Total Insanity Monza out of New Jersey, Randy Walls' Super Nova and Steve Nichols' Mill Road Boys Camaro, both from 1970 vintage, and the Back in Black '69 Corvette of Dennis and Ed LaCharite. Race coverage is provided of the AC Delco Slingshot Nationals from Cordova and the York US30 Muscle Car Madness event. There's an explanation about fuel injection from Spud Miller, an interview with the legendary Don Garlits and a photo of Wendy Baker's firey incident at Santa Pod. Issue 5 of Vintage Fuel magazine is now available from Graham Rennie's American Auto Mags priced £4.25 along with Gasser Wars and Drag Racing Action. Swift snippets. 28th October: Our good friend Pat Ginn says she has now finished her latest course of treatment. "Hi guys and girls, sorry for not keeping in contact but feeling really drained at the moment – my chemo and radio therapy finished this week so I'm free from the daily trips to the hospital for a few weeks. I have my MRI scan on the 16th November then get the results on the 20th then we will know what's next. Thank You everyone for the phone calls and all the lovely wishes and presents you have given, they are so appreciated and really helping me keep my mind on good things. "Best wishes to Ron Haslett - keep looking ahead, my thoughts are with you and your family. May I wish the guys who are doing the run in Regent's Park this Sunday for the rain forest Good Luck. Hope the guys and girls in America are having fun watching the racing and don't forget some photos please." Bahrain TF Exhibition coverage – Day 2. 27th October: Eurodragster.com is in place to bring you all the news from Day 2 of the Top Fuel Exhibition at the Bahrain Drag Racing Festival in association with American Car Imports. Race results will be posted from the Cannonball-style Exhibition as quickly as we can after they happen, as well as end-day photo galleries and pit notes. You can view our Top Fuel Exhibition coverage by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Hang 'em even Higher! 27th October: Nick Davies says that another new project at Eurodragster.com home and news sponsors I.C.E. Automotive will stir some memories. Cast your mind back, all those who have been racing a bit longer than they would readily admit to. 1970's anyone? Comp Altereds anyone? Small blocks and 4-speeds? Those were the days! – or were they really? Some people had so much fun back in the seventies that the resurgence in global nostalgia racing has made them look at what they really want to be doing in a race car. One of those people is Super Pro racer John Everitt, driver of the big block Chevy powered Alien altered. John used to race the famous 'Hang 'Em High!' T-bucket in the golden days of Comp Altered and ran a quickest time in the 10.30's at over 140mph (remember, this in the days when fuel dragsters were just into the 7's and one-handed driving was the norm), before selling the car in 1979 and serving his doorslammer time through Super Gas and the early days of Pro Modified development. Nearly thirty years on and John's interest has been renewed (it never really went away...) in the 'altereds of old', particularly the metalflake green altered of King, Loaring and Davies, namely Havoc. The Bantam got John thinking. Perhaps a modern day version of 'Hang 'Em High!' in a similar style might be fun. 200 mph, 6-second runs out in the elements in a short wheelbase milk crate? Fun? It didn't take John long to decide. After a lengthy discussion with the 'chassis department' at I.C.E. Automotive at Silverstone, John has commissioned the guys to start building. "Base it on Havoc, make it fast and make it fun." 'Hang 'Em High' will return – who's next? Picture courtesy and ©Alan Currans Max Power Fireshow at Crail. 27th October: Max Power is heading to ">Crail Raceway for the final time this year (Sunday 29th October) to view one of the UK's fastest dragsters as it makes a star appearance in the run up to the end of the season for Scotland's drag strip. The event is sponsored by Blackcircles.com. There will be an interactive fire show for the crowds, performed by the 10,000 hp, jet powered, Mustang bodied Fireforce 1, which has 5000lbs of thrust and can deliver blistering speeds of over 270mph. Hitting 250mph in just six seconds, the jet engine was originally fitted to an F2 Banshee. You can now be timed over 1/8 of a mile as well as the standing ¼. This allows faster cars, including dragsters, to run at full power, while leaving them enough room to brake. Now drivers can take on the ultimate performers and we'll see how the piston faces up to the might of the jet machines. It's definitely going to be an exciting event for competitors and spectators. The Max Power events are the busiest of the season and we're expecting large crowds, so make sure you're in early. Look out for the seasonal extra - specially constructed Crail Raceway bonfire. Helping to raise the temperature for spectators, the jet-powered machine will ignite the bonfire as part of the huge pyro display. Fireworks will be blasting off the control tower. As well as the Run What You Brung action on the drag strip, you can take part on the drift/sprint track for some sideways action. Static shows, stalls and trade stands. The search for the best 'Show & Shine' motors will continue as part of the day's line-up, along with girls from Heels on Wheels. On the main stage - Wave 102's Dave Moran, Viki Devine, Judgement Sunday, Ibiza / Galaxy FM/ KISS FM, Cohn O'Dea and a breakdance competition. The only requirement to take part at Crail is a valid UK driving licence and a £15 signing-on fee, which entitles participants to unlimited runs and the new drift/sprint track. At the end of the day personal performance print-outs showing reaction times to the start lights, 60', 1/4 mile times, and top speed will be given out – personal times can also be easily accessed through the track's website. Gates open at 9am. £10.00 per adult, under 16's £5.00. The1/4-mile and the drift/sprint track open at 9.30am till 5:00pm. Gates shut after fireworks and there will be an on site car valet station for those needing cars washed. Haslett on the mend. 27th October: Our best wishes go to Street Eliminator racer Ron Haslett, who is recovering from an operation following the recurrence of cancer. He says "The op went and I have a manky headache and that's before the drugs wear off. I'm a little deaf in my right ear and Sandra is softly spoken, so she think I'm ignoring her again. . The lads were all taking the pee about getting a job in a call centre.(nice to see they let me recover before starting). I've got to stay in bed for a couple of days, so no workshop - I'm going to pull the rest of my hair out (day time TV here I come!)." We're sure that everyone will join us in wishing Ron a speedy recovery. Swift snippets. 27th October: Further to yesterday's preview to the weekend's Bonfire Burn-Up Test & Tune meet at Shakespeare County Raceway, Jerry Cookson has told us that Carolyn Campbell's rocket assisted dragster Laffin Gas will be making its final appearance of the year, again under test conditions, on Saturday. You can follow the Laffin Gas blog from the team's official web site, www.laffin-gas.com. Web site updates. 27th October: Rune Fjeld, team owner for Siw Nystad and Thomas Nataas, launched a new web site at through www.rfmotorsport.com . On it you will see some interesting facts as well as photos of Siw and Thomas. Bahrain TF Exhibition coverage. 26th October: After several miniature hells including a cancelled flight, air conditioner flooding our hotel room, no Orange mobile phone access anywhere in the country and a non-functioning internet connection in the hotel, we are now all set up to bring you all the news from the Top Fuel Exhibition at the Bahrain Drag Racing Festival in association with American Car Imports. Photographs and pit notes from yesterday's set-up day, which also featured test launches from Ali Aryan and Harlan Thompson, are now available. The plan for today and tomorrow is for race results from the Cannonball-style Exhibition as quickly as we can post them after they happen, as well as end-day photo galleries and pit notes. You can view our Top Fuel Exhibition coverage by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. We must say a big Thank You to Shereen Bushehri of the Bahrain International Circuit for going out of her way to help us to post yesterday's pictures last night. B&B in Vegas. 26th October: Peter Kellett, of news page sponsors B&B Motors, arrived in Las Vegas yesterday with daughter Leah. Peter says "We are on the Trip to America holiday put together by Trailfinders and Robin Jackson. All the people on the Trip were entered into a draw for the prize of a day in the Don Schumacher pits, one in Vegas and the other in Pomona and, guess what, we won the Vegas deal and Pro ET racer Neil Hunter won the Pomona deal." Peter has promised to try to get pictures of him with Don Schumacher and Pro Stock Bike rider Angelle Sampay. "Can you say Happy Birthday to Joe - he is 10 on the 25th October - his new Lightning Junior Modified dragster has just arrived at Geoff Hauser's from the States, so we will collect it on our return. The body of the car is being custom painted with a new design by JW Automotive of Richard Walters who will pick up the body at the Flame and Thunder." Many Happy Returns, Joe, we hope you had a great day. SCR's Halloween Bonfire Burn-Up. 26th October: The traditional end-of-season Halloween Bonfire Burn-Up brings the curtain down on the 2006 season at Stratford-Upon-Avon's Shakespeare County Raceway this weekend, writes SCR's Jerry Cookson. Attending for a late season blow out are the ACW Street Racers who, on the Sunday, will be presenting various awards and trophies at their drivers meeting; the Old Skool Ford Club are expecting a bumper turnout of period sixties and seventies Escort's and Cortinas; and the Peugeot Sport Official Owners Club will be finishing off their Autumn show season with a members blast up the quarter mile. The race track's Jap Racer Day series of events, backed for this event by Japanese Performance magazine, reaches its conclusion for both Unlimited Drive and Front Wheel Drive competitions. On the race car front, teams from the Wild Bunch and Outlaw Anglias are expected to put down their final laps of the year while Fuel Altered jockey Jim Usher will be strapping himself into The Mob Model T for one final time this season as well as setting up their market stall for those great pre-Christmas Mob souvenirs. As usual there will be the usual Saturday night party atmosphere including a bonfire, fireworks, kids and big kids fancy dress competitions together with the final appearance of the season by drag racing rockers Straight-Up. Sunday is set aside for the annual Shakespeare County Street Car Challenge to find the quickest four, six and eight cylinder street legal cars sponsored by Motorshack and trophies from Shakespeare County. The Challenge also applies for the expanding support from motorcycle boys as well. Admission to the raceway is £10 Sat, £12 Sun or £20 buys you a weekend ticket. The RWYB Track fee is £20 per day or £35 for the weekend for unlimited runs without the fuss. Remember to bring a licence, MOT, Insurance and a crash helmet if your vehicle runs over 100 mph or goes quicker than 11 seconds. Shakespeare County Raceway is situated 6 miles south of Stratford on the B4632, J15 off the M40. For further information call 01789 720180. Swift snippets. 26th October: Santa Pod Raceway has announced that Dave Bryant and Gordon Smith will appear at Santa Pod Raceway's Flame & Thunder event with the Shockwave Funny Car to give the guys of the Showtime Funny Car team a run for their money. Marketing & Sponsorship Executive Jo Harris also reminds us that all advance ticket bookings for admission and grandstand seats closes this Friday at 5pm, 27th October. So ensure you give Santa Pod a call on 01234 782828 or visit www.santapod.com to get your tickets at the reduced rate. As mentioned above, Tog has no mobile phone access in Bahrain so if you have sent him a text or left a voicemail in the last couple of days and have had no response then please be assured that he is not ignoring you. If you wish to get in touch then please E-Mail Tog at tog@eurodragster.com and he will pick it up as soon as he can. Pixeleye update. 26th October: Graphic Designer & Photographer Dirk Behlau, best known for his www.pixeleye-racing.com website, has written with details of two new projects. He says, "I have just launched the new Website for Germany's fastest brothers (Top Methanol & Competition Dragster) at www.werner-habermann-racing.com with team and crew information as well as wallpaper and videos. "And I am working on a book called "The Speed Kings" which will feature my Hot Rod, Mopar, Dragster and pin-up.photography. A preview is available by clicking here. Dirk is also selling Dragster, Hot Rods, Mopar, Pin-Up high quality prints in three different sizes here with worldwide shipping available. Web site updates. 26th October: Our good friend Stefan Boman has sent us the link to some NHRA dragracing launches filmed with 1000 frames per second hi-speed camera. Stefan says, "It's amazing how much the tires can spin without going up in smoke". Nick Pettitt of www.timetraveldvds.co.uk has updated his Photo Gallery with more pics from 1980 including the September World Series meet at the Pod which attracted 20 Nitro burning Funny Cars including Don 'The Snake' Prudhomme, Tom Hoover and Gene Snow. Completely I.C.E.'d up over winter. 25th October: Paul Brooks, who has been missing from Super Modified action with his rapid Sierra over the last couple of seasons has nevertheless been hatching a plan with Eurodragster.com home and news sponsors I.C.E. Automotive for his return. Paul has sent us this progress report. After a virtual 2 year absence of the Brooks Motorsport Out-A-Time Sierra (due to fatal engine damage during the first round of eliminations at the Easter Thunderball 2005), we are now thrilled to announce that I.C.E. Automotive has well and truly started on a total rebuild. It's not only our B1 engine, but, as you can see from the photo, they are also updating the chassis. Not just a few mods to the chassis to keep it to the 7.50 second spec, but a Chrome Moly upgrade hopefully to 25.1E (legal to 6.00 – stand-in News Ed) and Lenco compatible. We were devastated when the crank decided to split in two during the first round in 2005, especially after the Dyno figures ICE managed to get out of the 461 c.i. B1 Chrysler. Only the heads, intake and sump were salvageable from the carnage. No one could have known or forecast the crank's failure, as a further investigation showed the fault to be with the consistency of the metal, which would not have shown up on any x-ray or crack test. We decided that we were going to go the "whole hog" the next time and get a Sonny Bryant crank to hopefully buy us some peace of mind, a lighter rotating mass and enable us to use readily-available rods instead of custom everything. A long wait, which is customary with these cranks, ensued, but then the realisation dawned that the chassis rule changes were going to give us another financial headache. Being mostly the original "Mean as Hell" 1 ¾" chassis meant we were nailed well and truly by the rule changes and at one point I thought that would be it for us for good. Rob Loaring however came to the rescue with a plan, and a complete package deal for the chassis and the engine. So, thanks to Rob, Nick Davies and Steve Green at I.C.E. Automotive, we are now firing back on all 8 cylinders, and can't wait for next season, to get back with the best bunch of guys you could ever want to race against, Super Modified. Racers: if you're rebuilding over winter, we'd love to hear from you. Get in touch at news@eurodragster.com. Penultimate RWYB this Sunday. 25th October: Jo Harris of Santa Pod Raceway has written with a reminder regarding the Run What Ya Brung this Sunday. "Just a reminder to all you hardened racers that this Sunday, 29th October, is the penultimate RWYB, one of the last chances to get the best out of your vehicle this season. All the usual rules apply; a full valid driving licence is required suitable for the type of vehicle you are driving/riding, a crash helmet for open or soft top vehicles or those going over 100mph, and bikers need suitable protective clothing and an approved helmet. "Admission is £10 per person, under 16's are free, and it's £20 per person to sign-on for unlimited use of the track After each run you'll receive a personal performance print-out showing your reaction times. The venue opens at 8.00am with the track open from 9.30-10am - 5pm, depending on weather conditions. "For more information make sure you check out www.rwyb.com now for full details, or call 01234 782828." Quarter Mile Highs on their way. 25th October: Helen Todd of Quarter Mile High says the 2006 Mopar EuroNats DVD is available as of today. Two other season reviews in the series, Super Mod Wars and Ultimate Power, will also be ready around the first week in November and Hardcore Street (Street Eliminator) and Nitro Warriors (Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association) will be ready in stock and ready to send out about a week later. Pre-ordering is available on the Quarter Mile High website for most 2006 DVDs, and the remaining titles will be added shortly. Stay tuned for reviews of season highlight and other racing-related DVDs in Eurodragster.com over the next few weeks. Swift snippets. 25th October: We have two birthdays today: firstly Happy Birthday to our good friend Gittli Koller of Peter Schöfer Racing, and Happy Birthday too to Switzerland's European Top Fuel Dragster ET and speed record holder Urs Erbacher. We hope that you both have a great day, guys. Andy Vallance of Eurodragster.com News sponsor Adoorablehandles.com has given us an update on UK Junior Dragster racer Michael Herron, who, as we reported yesterday, is in hospital for an operation on his leg. "After spending five hours waiting at the hospital they decided to postpone the operation; thanks to all the well wishers and we shall keep you updated." Classic Juniors. 24th October: Capitalising on Saturday's TV stardom the Collier family, along with Shakespeare County Raceway's Marketing and Promotions man Jerry Cookson, were on hand to promote Junior Drag Bike at last weekend's thirteenth annual Classic Mechanics Motorcycle Show at the Stafford County Showground, writes Sharron Collier. The stand featured the Junior Bikes of current number one Scott Collier, Jake Carruthers, Andrew Irvine and Michael Rowe alongside a full-size Practice Tree with a reaction tester which as you can imagine generated lots of interest. Many people had not seen Junior Drag Bikes before and were keen to come along to the Raceway and to see them in action. We also met Supertwin racers from previous years, keen contenders hoping to take up the sport in the future, and interested onlookers who just wanted to come along to watch the racing from the grandstands. The general feeling after the show was one of achievement and success with lots of our literature and information sheets being handed out. Indeed, so much was the demand that we had to enlisted Baz and Scott in search of a photocopier on Sunday morning. The highlight of the weekend came when we found we had won the award for Best Trade Stand, and Scott was presented with a plaque by eleven times British Road Racing Champion, Roger Marshall. A great end to an enjoyable and hopefully fruitful event. Many thanks to Classic Bike Shows, the organisers of the show, for again inviting us along, and thanks also to Baz of Jade Racing, Don and Andrew Irvine and Julie from Shakespeare County Raceway who all did a stint on the stand at various times during the two days. Pictures courtesy and ©Jerry Cookson ©Eurodragster.com Swift snippets. 24th October: Very best wishes to UK Junior Dragster racer Michael Herron who is going into hospital today (Tuesday) for an operation on his leg. "If all goes well Michael should be out on Wednesday, but will probably be in plaster for six to eight weeks", says Andy Vallance of Eurodragster.com News sponsor Adoorablehandles.com. "Mum, Dad, brother Andrew and all at adoorablehandles.com wish him well and a speedy recovery. Any well-wishers can E-Mail Michael at mickey@adoorablehandles.com." ©Eurodragster.com Don't forget that there is the chance to win £50 by taking part in the on-line survey currently being undertaken by high performance hose and fittings manufacturer and Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Speedflow. For more details see the news item of 16th October or go direct to the survey at www.speedflow.co.uk. No Top Fuel nerves for Ali. 23rd October: Bahrain's, and the Middle East's, first Top Fuel Dragster racer Ali Aryan says that he is not nervous about getting into a Top Fuel Dragster for the first time at this week's Top Fuel Exhibition at the Bahrain International Circuit. Although his Top Fuel experience is so far limited to a fitting and a warm-up in one of Knut Söderquist's dragsters at the BIC, Ali is no stranger to speed having run as quickly as 6.51/354 kmh in his Pro Mod Camaro. ©Eurodragster.com "I am looking forward to the challenge and after a few runs I might switch to Top Fuel...just joking", the 1997-1999 and 2005-2006 Bahrain Champion told Eurodragster.com. Despite the joke, Ali has not ruled out further Top Fuel drives. "You never know, and I would love to come and race in Europe", he said. "But to be honest I don't think that the local racers will go into Top Fuel due to the high running costs and lack of sponsors. The local racers are gradually investing more and more into their door cars. Inshallah (God willing) I will also be racing my Camaro this week as we're working on the car, getting it prepped and tuned to win once again. "I would like to thank my team Popeye Racing, the Bahrain International Circuit, and the Bahrain Drag Racing Club for making this dream come true." Kågered's pleasure. 23rd October: Swedish Top Fuel Dragster racer Micke Kågered is making his second visit of the year to Bahrain for this week's Top Fuel Exhibition at the Bahrain International Circuit. Micke and Thomas Nataas made demonstration burnouts and short passes at the BIC during the Formula 1 race in March, and Micke says that it is a pleasure to be invited back. "Everything in Bahrain is first class, not only the facilities but also the organisation and hospitality", says Micke. "Last time I was there it was to race drive one of Knut Söderqvist's cars which had been shipped there for the occasion. This time is quite different as I will pilot the Bahco Express Top Fuel Dragster which I usually drive. ©Eurodragster.com "We prepared what we could at Santa Pod in September after the European Finals and shortly after that the car, parts and tools were shipped to Bahrain. We arrive in Bahrain on Tuesday, which means that we will have two days to assemble and make final preparations to the car before the show. "I also get to bring part of my crew, which of course means a lot. I am bringing three of the most skilled all-round mechanics in the team: Mika ,who does the bottom of the engine; Thomas, who is in charge of the clutch; and Emil who is involved in both the engine and the tuning. I am also taking my girlfriend Åsa, who is our Team Co-ordinator. She does a little of everything around the car and helps me to handle all contacts. "I will participate a great deal in the mechanical work in Bahrain, and together with Alan Jackson who is in charge of tuning we will all solve all of the tasks in the best way we can to put on a good show. We are all looking forward to it!" The Kågered Racing web site at www.kagered-racing.com is one of the most frequently-updated drag racing sites in Europe and as well as information about the trip to Bahrain currently features news about the work on Micke's new workshop facility and a team diary. Top Fuel Exhibition coverage. 23rd October: Eurodragster.com will be reporting on this week's Top Fuel Exhibition live from the Bahrain International Circuit in association with American Car Imports. Our coverage is planned to commence with pit notes and an off-track Photo Gallery on Wednesday, and then on Thursday and Friday reports on each session of the Top Fuel Exhibition, which is to run in Cannonball format, as well as pit notes and end-day Photo Galleries. We also plan to post a Photo Gallery of local racers. Tog is flying solo at this event but the race reports will be posted as soon as possible after each Exhibition session takes place. Please note that in Bahrain racing takes place in the evening, and that Bahrain is currently two hours ahead of UK time and one hour ahead of European time. ©Eurodragster.com We will post a direct Home Page link to our coverage as soon as it commences, but in the meantime you can check out the Top Fuel Exhibition coverage index by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. As well as American Car Imports we would like to thank Shereen Bushehri of the Bahrain International Circuit and Bahrain Drag Racing Club President Fahad Taqi for their assistance so far, and David Taylor of Flint Group Insurance for providing Tog's travel insurance. Swift snippets. 23rd October: Thanks to Jerry Cookson for letting us know that UK satellite and cable TV channel Five US will be screening an hour's worth of NHRA drag racing highlights on Monday evenings starting at 7:00 pm tonight with a replay of the Carquest Auto Parts Winternationals from Pomona. Five US is available on Sky 207, Freeview 35, TeleWest and NTL 185. ©Eurodragster.com Stardust memories sought. 23rd October: Mike L'Alouette has sent some more information regarding the recreation of Don Schumacher's Stardust 'Cuda which was mentioned in last week's issue of Drag, Rod and Classic Review magazine: Nostalgia Fuel Funny Car owner Justin Alexander-Grant of Bloomington, Indiana is recreating the famed Don Schumacher Funny Car with Don's blessing. Unable to obtain the original body, which is still held at Santa Pod Raceway, Justin will be using a new 'Cuda body, painted in the original paint scheme. As technology has moved on somewhat in the past thirty years, the chassis and engine will be more modern pieces, with the engine a TFX Hemi running 85% nitro and a two-speed Lenco transmission. ©Eurodragster.com Justin will be campaigning the car alongside his own blue 'Cuda in the Nostalgia Pro Comp Association race series, driven by Joe Haas of Findlay, Illinois and the legendary Dale Pulde appointed as Technical Advisor and "Remote Crew Chief". Justin is currently researching the history of the car and would welcome information from racers or spectators about the time Stardust spent in the UK, with a view to creating a dedicated web site. If anyone has information, photographs or even film footage of Stardust then please contact Mike L'Alouette at stardustfc@yahoo.co.uk. Mike is in regular contact with Justin and all information will be passed on. Win VIP Flame and Thunder tickets! 22nd October: Eurodragster.com has teamed up with Santa Pod Raceway to offer one lucky reader a pair of VIP tickets to the Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway on Saturday 4th November. The Flame and Thunder Show features Fuel action from Tommy Möller in the Lorentzon and Möller Top Fuel Dragster and John Spuffard in the Showtime Fuel Funny Car, demonstration passes by racers, the Fireforce and Firestorm Jet Funny Cars, Ronny Picardo's jet-powered truck and Volkswagen Beetle, Michel Kooy's Pyromania jet quad, Paul Bailey's Jet Trike, stunt displays, drifting demos, Denny Dobson's aerobatic show, Hot Air Balloon Glow, the traditional bonfire and two huge firework displays, and more. Santa Pod Raceway's own radio station Nitro FM will also be making their last broadcast of the season. You can find out more about the Flame and Thunder Show on Santa Pod Raceway's web site at www.santapod.com. For your chance to win the pair of Flame and Thunder Show tickets, simply answer the three questions below. The answers can all be found somewhere on Eurodragster.com if you don't know them already. The winner will be chosen at random from all correct entries received. ©Eurodragster.com Question A: What was Tommy Möller's race number in 2006? TF 2 TF 111 TF 1049 Question B: Who was inducted into the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame as member 0001? Allan Herridge Dennis Priddle Clive Skilton Question C: Which duo usually race the car recently driven by a member of the Eurodragster.com staff? Steve Dunn and Jon Evans Paula and Ian Marshall Carla Pittau and Rick McCann To enter, simply send an E-Mail to eurodragster.win@btinternet.com giving: Your answers to Questions A, B and C Your name Your E-Mail address A daytime or mobile phone number Entry closes at 23:59 UK on Tuesday 31st October, and the winner will be notified by Eurodragster.com on Wednesday 1st November. For full terms and conditions check out the Contest page which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the Flame and Thunder Contest link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Many thanks to Jo Reed and Kelly Dormer of Santa Pod Raceway for posting an excellent Contest prize. Can Nataas resist the beach? 22nd October: Norwegian Top Fuel Dragster racer Thomas Nataas is already out in Bahrain with the advance party preparing the eight Top Fuel Dragsters for this week's Exhibition. Thomas says that he is looking forward to his third event at the Bahrain International Circuit. "It's going to be a lot of fun with eight cars", Thomas told Eurodragster.com. "The facility is so good and they've told us that the track is better. We made a half-track demonstration run during the Formula 1 race, and the track was much better than last year. We still had to calm it down but the track was good. It would be excellent to run a four this week, the fans would go bananas!" ©Eurodragster.com Rune Fjeld Motorsport is taking three Top Fuellers to Bahrain, with Siw Nystad and Barry Sheavills driving the other two cars. "The cars went into the container complete", sais Thomas. "We went out on Friday to get everything finished, if we don't end up on the beach - it is very, very hot here! We have a large crew coming out for the race but each crew member will be able to work on any of the cars." Thomas also said that he is looking forward to the chance to face off against Barry Sheavills for the first time in his Top Fuel career. "Barry's a great guy", he said. "It will be fun to race a legend. For me Barry is one of the biggest names in Top Fuel, I'm really pleased to be racing him and I look forward to beating him!" Tune in to tomorrow's (Monday's) Eurodragster.com News for details of our live coverage from Bahrain. Dream fulfilled first time out. 21st October: In December of last year Per and Karsten Andersen said to each other "We have a dream". That dream came true big time in 2006 as the Håkan Nilsson, Per and Karsten, and the Veidec/Landmeco team won the FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Championship in their first year together. "After being involved in Top Fuel drag racing for more than ten years with several different teams, the next step seemed so obvious to us: we wanted to have our own Top Fuel team and win the European Championship", say Karsten and Per. We therefore started to do a little research about how and where to get a driver, a car, a trailer, and last but not least – a lot of money. It didn't take us long to find a car and a trailer, but who was going to drive? We both had one special driver in our minds; a person who we knew could drive the car successfully, work with us professionally to reach our goal, and who at the same time could support us with the best possible crew, as we at that time only had four Danish crew members who were right for the team. That special driver was Håkan Nilsson. "We knew that Håkan wanted to step up, so we gave him a call. He really liked the idea, but wanted to discuss it with his crew (and probabaly his wife too) before taking any decisions! However, it didn't take long before we all met in Sweden, and without further discussion decided to go ahead. "At that time we still didn't have enough money, but luckily our two main sponsors believed in us and funded us in a way that made it possible for us to carry out our project. Thank you so much to Veidec and Landmeco! "Our trailer arrived late in February. Unfortunately, we didn't have a workshop or anywhere else to store it, so we started rebuilding the trailer outside in the open, in -20 C and fifty centimetres of snow. We worked day and night, 24/7, and it was no fun at all. We will never do that again! Thanks a lot to Jes for helping us out. Our race car arrived from US in April. We bought the car turn-key, but we soon discovered that that was certainly not the case. It was kind of a setback for us, as we had to buy a lot of parts to make it turn-key. We also had to figure out the whole tuning/setup combination ourselves, as we didn't get any information. We found out that buying parts is not so easy. One thing is the money issue, but finding the right parts and getting them in time is another story! We learned the hard way that there is only one person in this world who can support you with the right parts! Thanks to Gary Burgin Enterprises for always finding the parts for us. We don't know how Gary does it, but it never takes more than a couple of days before we have them! "The season didn't start out as planed. We made the number two qualifying spot at the Main Event, but we went out in the first round, overpowering the track. In Finland we did much better, and from that point it all just got better and better. Winning at the Veidec Festival at Mantorp Park in Sweden was awsome, in front of Veidec and Landmeco and on our home track. ©Eurodragster.com "Half of our runs this year have been in the mid to low 4.8s, and on all of these runs we have been spinning the wheels from around 2.8 seconds onwards, resulting in a wheel speed of around 330 mph/530 kmh over the finish line. We are now trying to solve that problem. We are using a test centre which can simulate our clutch/cannon setup. Actually, we think that we might already have solved the problem, however we have to wait until May to find out for sure. Hopefully we are right, so we can be in the mid to low 4.6s in 2007. We have to be in the 4.6s in 2007 because we know that our friends from Switzerland, Urs Erbacher's Fat Attack team, will probably be there. What a fighting spirit that team has! "It will also be very interesting to see Fuel Funny Cars next year. It seems that the English teams will get quite a bit of competition from Scandinavia. Maybe Andersen Racing should start to produce repair kits for Funny Car bodies, as we think that there will be a huge market for that kind of product in 2007. As a final remark, we would like say that it's a shame that our off season is so long, and that would certainly be nice to have more races. It is hard to understand how we can have a European Championship without racing in some of the largest countries in Europe. We hear that there is big potential in Germany, Spain, Italy, France etc. People have been talking about it for years, but it hasn't happened - what are we waiting for? "Once again, a huge thanks to our sponsors – we couldn't have done it without you: Veidec, Landmeco, Kamasa Tools, Sunoco, USA Autodele, Jerry's and Multicut. The same goes for our new friends, and absolutely the best crew ever: Martin Lundkvist, Markus Larsson, Conny "Hans" Johansson, Ulf Stadig, Henrik Lund, Morten Poulsen, Flemming Nielsen, and our great partner and driver Håkan Nilsson! "See you all next year, for another exciting Championship. And let there be no doubt about it: we will do all we can to win the European Championship again in 2007." My turn for some fun! 21st October: Following the example of Whit Bazemore and Darryl Bradford, UK photographer Nigel Holland has had enough of watching the racers having all the fun and has decided to move to the other side of the guardrail. "If you don't know who I am then look out for me trackside or in the pits", says Nigel. "I'm the photographer in the wheelchair trying not to run people over. I am freelance but also report for a local paper so if there's a big event on I'll be at the Pod. "For the last three months I have been thinking about racing at Santa Pod. I've been behind the camera for just over a year now and I felt that I needed to be on the other side of the lens. After my rides in Vic Amato's Pro ET car and Nev Mottershead's Super Pro ET car at the European Finals Press Day the decision wasn't difficult. "I have been involved with motorsport in one way or another since I was seven years old. My uncle owned a gold top Stock Car that I saw race many times up and down the country. Up until two years ago I was competing in offroad 4x4 Land Rover trials and came second in my first competition. Carla Pittau said to me at the National Finals "Life is not a rehearsal, you must follow your dreams". Well Carla, hopefully it won't be a dream for too long. ©Eurodragster.com "This project, which I entitled, Project 'Ave A go was supposed to be a two-year plan as I was working on the assumption that I would need to raise a ton of cash to get a car sourced, taken apart, rebuilt and prepared. But after so many discussions with some very helpful racers it has become clear to me that buying a car ready to run would be cheaper, much cheaper. I went to have a look at a street-legal seven-litre V8 muscle car that had recently been given a good overall. Even though the MOT had recently run out I was still very interested in it but in the end decided against it as it was a little too much than I wanted to pay and it was also very noisy and I don't think the neighbours would have been too happy. One thing that I had to check was the safety aspect. In the event of an accident could I extract myself from a car with a roll cage? The answer was yes, and in well under fifteen seconds. "Later that evening, I spoke to Vic Amato to get his advice on what to do next. Vic owns and runs a Japanese Car Import business, JRH Imports, but it was when he mentioned that he could get a Ford Mustang five-litre V8 Coupe that my ears pricked up. It wasn't too long before a deal was struck. "The intention is to get a roll cage put in the car along with seats and harnesses, put an appropriate set of soft compound treaded tyres on it and try it out on the track. If all goes well and I get my MSA racing license I'll get Jon Webster to work on the engine to see how many more horses we can get out of it, funds permitting. "I must say a big thank you to Vic Amato for his help and advice over the last couple of weeks, it's been invaluable. I'll be updating my web site at www.nigelholland.co.uk at every major milestone to keep you informed. The JRH-sponsored Mustang will be ready for business soon!" UK National Championship standings. 21st October: We are indebted to Yvonne Tramm and our very own Simon for sending us the final standings in the 2006 UK National Drag Racing Championships. You can view the UK Championship standings by clicking here or by clicking on the Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. If you don't see the final points standings on any page then all you need to do is to click on your Browser's Refresh key. ©Eurodragster.com We're sure that everyone will join us in thanking Yvonne and Simon for their work on the UK National Championships again this season. Swift snippets. 21st October: Santa Pod Raceway have confirmed that John Spuffard will be joining Tommy Möller to provide the Fuel action at the Flame and Thunder Show on Saturday 4th November. Spuff and Tommy will each take a bye before pairing up for a match race in the afternoon. For the day's running order, ticket information and more check out Santa Pod's web site at www.santapod.com and tune in to Eurodragster.com News tomorrow for our traditional Flame and Thunder Show contest. ©Eurodragster.com Swedish Supertwin racer Anders Karling is selling a large number of parts to make more room in his workshop. There are some great deals to be had if you check out the Bike Parts For Sale section of our Jeff Bull Race Engines and Performance Parts-sponsored Swap Meet. Congratulations to Street Eliminator racer Andy Frost who is the winner of the 2006 Castrol Challenge for the quickest street-legal car at a Run What You Brung at Santa Pod Raceway. Andy has received two VIP tickets to the Flame and Thunder Show at which he will be presented with a cheque for £500 by a Castrol representative. Taylor making history again. 20th October: Haynes Publishing has confirmed that it is to publish a history of British Drag Racing with the working title of Crazy Horses – British Drag Racing's Heritage. It will be a quality hard back (80,000 words and 220 pages), printed in colour throughout and sold across the world. The text will be authored by Brian Taylor, Member of the Guild of Motoring Writers and a pioneer of drag racing in the United Kingdom. Haynes Publishing is one of the most respected publishers of automotive topics in the world, well-known for its series of maintenance manuals and motor sport titles. Its Drive It series included a book entitled The Complete Book of British Drag Racing was published in 1981 and although now out of print it is still used by many as the definitive guide to the sport's roots. A past chairman of the British Drag Racing and Hot Rod Association and sponsorship gatherer extraordinaire, Brian Taylor started commentating on drag racing in 1968 and became the voice of the sport at Custom Car Shows and Santa Pod Raceway throughout the 1970s. With business partner Mike Startup, he created Taylor-Startup International (TSI) and acted as the sponsorship agent for The Stones Racing Team, Roz Prior, John Whitmore, John Hobbs and Mick Butler. During this period he regularly wrote articles on drag racing for magazines in the UK, the USA and Sweden, voiced-over several films on the sport, and in 1977 launched British drag racing's first contingency sponsorship scheme, in the process changing the eliminations structure to more closely reflect that promoted by the NHRA. Along with radio commercials, TSI published event programmes for drag race meetings and custom show promoters. It was also instrumental in involving Dave Lee Travis and Radio One in the sport. A division of TSI was Quarter Mile Machine, which produced and marketed a series of stereo recordings of drag race meetings during the 1970s. In 1979 Brian joined John Woolfe Racing Limited as Publicity Manager. This meant his link with drag racing continued as a major sponsor rather than a race commentator and support sub-contractor for racers and organisers. And he was able to provide extensive assistance during the research stages of the Drive It book. He moved on in 1984, building a career in marketing with major automotive businesses such as the Dutton-Forshaw Motor Group and Central Tyre Company - becoming Marketing Director for both businesses. He commenced a full-time writing career in 1990 and has become one of the most respected authorities on the UK automotive aftermarket, with many published reports and articles, plus appearances at conferences across Europe, in the USA and in the UK. He returned to his drag racing roots during the 1990s when, employed as a consultant, he created and launched the AMPAR Network programme for John Woolfe Racing Limited – using the drag racing contingency schemes to help build brand awareness. During this period he also helped organise the 1998 California Dreaming car show at Knebworth. More recently he has attended Santa Pod Raceway as an invited 'Pioneer' of the sport. "Writing Crazy Horses is something I've wanted to do since I took up journalism full time in 1990", says Brian Taylor." I'm so looking forward to getting to grips with the task. It brings together all my skills and experiences and will be my legacy to a sport that has played such an important part in my life. "Over recent years many people have asked me to take up the challenge of writing the sport's history, but the timing and conditions had to be right to take on such a time-consuming and important commitment. I now have the time to do it, but I was determined to get the right publishing deal in place before really getting to work. This has taken more time than I anticipated. But it is important because so many have started writing about the sport without backing, and a lot of work has just been left on laptops or in files somewhere. With Haynes Publishing as a partner I am confident the conditions are now in place to do the task justice. "The project will take around twenty four months to complete and will include mini-biographies of many of the key players over the last fifty years or so – racers and organisers. What fired their enthusiasm in the first instance? What personal challenges did they overcome? What were the key motivators of change in the sport's development? These will be interwoven into the history, forming an integral part of a very exciting, sometimes controversial and often dramatic story. "As well as drag racing, there will also be a feature on the Chelsea Cruise and the Custom Car Shows. These very important occasions brought awareness to many people who then went on to become enthusiasts. They represented the cultural link between street and strip and provided a shop window on the scene "I hope to include a bibliography of music linked to drag racing and street cruising down the years, plus a list of films and TV programmes featuring the scene. Celebrity drag racing and street roddin' fans will be hunted down for their experiences and views. "The plan is to also log strip record breakers and champions, along with winners of the major custom shows. And I will be asking the sport's top photographers to submit photos they believe really show the spirit of each decade.  "In a similar vein I will be searching out short anecdotal stories from each decade. Those 'on-the-road' stories that have often been told after a few glasses of wine - but never published. These stories will be captured at confidential evening gatherings of invited key people involved with the sport during a certain period of its development – organisers, racers, mechanics, journalists, photographers, etc. "And these 'talking about old times' sessions will provide a sponsorship opportunity to those companies involved in the sport and interested in being part of this historic published reference. The way I see it working is more or less the same as contingency sponsorship on race cars. In return for sponsoring a gathering of eight to twelve racers (food, wine and hotels), each sponsor will get a logo printed on the outside back cover of the book, their name directly linked to that particular meeting (e.g. the ABC company '60s session), and their logo on a special commemorative and very limited edition T-shirt only supplied to those attending. This shirt features one of the seminal 1963 UK duels between Dante Duce in Mooneyes and Mickey Thompson in The Harvey Aluminum Special. Already one company has agreed to sponsor one or more of these occasions. "Crazy Horses will certainly not just be a list of dates and events. Its analytical approach to detail will really get under the skin of the sport's history since the late 1950s right through to the present day. But its focus will always be on the personal experiences of the key players in each decade. These mini-biographies and anecdotes will enable readers to experience the excitement, tension and satisfaction attainable from achieving constant improvement. If the reader can't smell the nitro and that burning rubber after all that then I will have failed." Crazy Horses will be a fitting tribute to the sport, and a comprehensive reference to its heritage and personalities. The research starts now. Those with a story to tell or references they believe to be unique (particularly any colour photos taken before 1970), should contact Brian Taylor on 01395 579733 or E-Mail crazyhorses@petrolhead.vianw.co.uk. ©Eurodragster.com Faster Harry. 20th October: UK 9.50 Bike racer Julian Harris, aka Fast Harry, says that he has had some cracking race meetings this year for a variety of reasons, but that last weekend's Saturday Night Special and RWYB at Santa Pod Raceway topped them all. After Harry clocked a PB on his Bandit, Paul Watson of Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor DynoSpeed Developments sprung a big surprise on him. "It's been a catch-up year as I missed 9.50's first round, but with a lot of help from Paul Watson Dynospeed developement, the Bandit is really flying now.", says Fast Harry. "The weekend was all about flat-out runs and trying to break Personal Bests now that the 9.50 season was over. The first run on Saturday was a 9.38 and I was well pleased. This was promptly beaten by Andy Haley's 9.37, and Jason Macan was straight into the nines on his first shakedown pass. As we are all DSD riders, it was always gonna get a bit competitive! The rest of the day saw us all trying things, but no improvements for Andy and me, Jason was ironing out the creases and into the 9.6s. "Then it got dark. I had always wanted to race at night, and this was perfect. The track crew had done an excellent job as usual so there was plenty of grip and the air was cold. Although the track is quite well-lit, having no headlights made it seem a lot faster and the return road and pits had their moments. I made three passes finishing with a 9.44 at 140+ mph into complete darkness. That was enough, so I called it a day. Sunday was a cold start, but the afternoon brought the sun out and we all beat our PBs: 9.55 for Jason, 9.36 for Andy and 9.29 for me. ©Eurodragster.com "I didn't think things could get any better, until Grumpy said "Right, you've done enough on that bike, now you can ride the Pro Stocker"! I thought he was joking, but half an hour later I'm kitted up on the bike being towed flat out by Jason on a slowped in and out of the oil drums at the top of the pits, trying to work out how you're supposed to steer one of these things.When it was time to run I just tried to focus on what Grumpy had told me. I pushed into stage, took a deep breath, gritted my teeth and nailed it.The bike left before I did, but I just stayed with it enough to get it up the track the right way up. I was still a gibbering wreck when Grumpy got to the top end to tow me back! What an experience to round off a top weekend. "Biggest thanks have to go to Grumpy of DynoSpeed Developments for the time he has put into these three bikes at the track, as well as on the dyno and on the phone. Thanks also my daughter Leanne who crews as much as her job allows and supports me 24/7. As for the Pro Stocker, I'm definitely going to ride it again when the Drag School gets started. Next year it's a full-on season in 9.50 Bike, and I cant wait for the banter and wind-ups. It really is a competitive class and the people involved in it are diamonds." Swift snippets. 20th October: Proving yet again that if you need help you need only ask the readers of Eurodragster.com, UK Super Pro ET racer Sam Freeman has himself a carb courtesy of Pro ET racer Mike Lacey after his plea in yesterday's news update. "A big thanks to Mike, and thanks also to Ian Hook who got in touch to offer his carb", says Sam. ©Eurodragster.com Teaching the TV crew. 20th October: Sharron Collier of the UK's Jade Racing Supertwin and Junior Drag Bike team says that son Scott had a lot of fun learning to be a TV star at Shakespeare County Raceway last weekend (See yesterday's news for broadcast details - Ed). "Scott wasn't too sure about having to say the lines, and he had to explain to them that it is actually called a burnout not a rev-up!", says Sharron. "Producer Abi and cameraman Jim had a really good day, and said they enjoyed it very much. They may do a follow-up piece next year. Jerry was riding the RD, because the BBC wanted him to ride the matching bike. Unfortunately he didn't get a clean run, we were chasing an electrical fault causing a misfire, and then nipped up a piston, after replacing piston and rings and cleaning up the bore it sounded very strong, but on the next pass we suffered some gearbox damage so decided to leave it there for the weekend. ©Eurodragster.com "However some of the guys from the Kawasaki Triples Club were there with their H2s, and Jerry managed to get a ride on Rick Brett's monster street H2. He ran 11.1 (after the first run, when he launched in second), going quicker than Rick's own 11.2 second pass. George Laycock was there to take his TL home, big thanks to George and Lorraine for letting Jerry ride it for the season, we really appreciate it. George let Jerry have one last go on it, thanks George. "Neither Scott, Jerry, nor the 9.04/157 street-legal Nissan Skyline had a problem with the track, which is good as it's Scott's favourite and he says he wants one! Thanks to Jerry, Julie and all the staff at Shakespeare County Raceway, we know you work wonders. The new fence looks good by the way. See you at Halloween!" Web site updates. 20th October: Our good buddy Carl Wadkin-Snaith tells us that the UK Junior Drag Bike web site at www.juniordragbike.co.uk is back and that over the next few months there will be lots of updates and additions as the class gears up for the 2007 season. UK Rocket Dragster pilot Carolynne Cambpell has updated her Laffin-Gas web site with a Blog which you can check out on the Diary and Events link at www.laffin-gas.com. ©Eurodragster.com This week's edition of Drag, Rod and Classic Review magazine at www.drcreview.com features an exclusive interview with Ian Callum, Jaguar Director of Design, about his just completed Deuce Coupe. As well as spilling the beans on the car, Ian provides an insight to automotive design from his personal point of view. The second feature this week looks at prolific illustrator and renowned artist Chris Froggett, who talks candidly about his subject. Chris has a love of drag racing and this shows through in some of his most recent commissions for Weiand and Hooker Headers. Additionally, there's lots of other previously unseen artwork for you to enjoy. The third feature previews the Classic Car Show at the NEC next weekend from an American car interest point of view, while the News section contains details of the rebirth of the infamous Stardust Funny Car, which is being lovingly recreated in the US. "Best of all, there's all of this and more, and it's all for free!", says Editor Andy Kirk. Congratulations to Norway's Ronny Aasen and the UK's Ian Turburville on their appearance in the Kinsler Hall of Fame, which you can view at www.kinsler.com/dragracing.html. Freeman cadging a carb. 19th October: UK Super Pro ET racer Sam Freeman will be making demonstration passes in his Double Density altered at the Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway, but if he is to achieve his goal of getting into the sevens then he will need help from a fellow racer. "I'm in quite bad need of a 1050-1150 gas Dominator for the event", says Sam, "so if anyone who has finished racing for the year has one that I could rent off them could they please contact me ASAP on 07919 282887. Antony Wilkins kindly offered me his carb but it is not compatible. I've decided to shelve my alky carb until next year as I don't have time to tune it in the few runs we have left." At the Flame and Thunder Show Sam is planning to match up against fellow Super Pro ET racer John Everitt in the Alien altered. "Racing is something we have not managed to do this year", says Sam. "John and I have been pitting together for the last few meetings, something that makes sense to us. We get along well, have similar cars and probably most importantly we have some fun times, as well as being able to help each other out with parts and advice when needed. It is my birthday that day so I'll be bringing enough cake for all the competitors and crew and the Santa Pod crew - thanks to them for all the effort they have put in this year. Please all come round to the pit and help yourselves (That's it Malcolm, you'll have to postpone the wedding - Ed). I'd offer to drop some off for the top end crew but I can't guarantee what state it will be in and I'd hate a cake-down if it fell out of the car!" ©Eurodragster.com Sam has most of next year's engine sitting in the USA. "I'm switching from Chevy to Oldsmobile in the shape of a 540 Keith Black block, along with some other nice parts", he says. "My intention is to try and run in the sevens with a single four-barrel carb (it could be at the Flame and Thunder Show if I can get a suitable carb). It would be interesting to find out what the quickest single four-barrel carbed altered has run? This year's engine might be up for sale after the Flame and Thunder Show, as soon as I know I'll post it here. "I'll be putting my Rushden house up for sale shortly. It's a three-bedroom semi five minutes from the Pod but has the advantage of a large workshop in the garden (about 600 square feet) with gas, electric and water. I can do a deal on the house alone, or with an F1 car left in the workshop or with an F1 car, Super Pro altered, van, trailer, spares etc." Lots of Fun. 19th October: Liz and Iain Malcolm say that they have had a great first full season in Pro ET with their methanol-burning Pinto-powered Jus '4' Fun dragster. "After getting my race licence at the Pre Thunderball test day with a 11.77, I went on to dial in 11.70 at the Thunderball and ran 11.703 which made me number one qualifier for one round in my first side by side run", says driver Liz. "That left me buzzing all weekend, even after going out in round one! For the Main Event Iain had fitted a new Hilborn billet fuel pump and I ran half a second quicker, with a red light, 11.26 going out in round two. The Summernationals was a beautiful weekend, a little too hot to sit in a race suit in the fire-up road but I managed to qualify number five, only to go out in round one. Unfortunately the starter motor broke for the fifth round of qualifying at the European Finals, putting us on the trailer early, but we were still pleased to run 11.10/118. Sadly the UK National Finals were curtailed by rain after a valiant effort by the track crew to keep the meeting going. ©Eurodragster.com "We would like to thank the track crew and marshalls for all their hard work thoughout the season and also the racers for all the help and advice. Finally we would like to thank Sharkman for the photographs which we always look forward to seeing, good luck for the future. We are now looking forward to the annual Dinner Dance." Swift snippets. 19th October: Jason Rowat would be pleased to hear from any reader who has information, photographs or video clips of the Emmerson, Rowat and Smith dragster which his father James drove in the 1970s and which was written off in a crash at the 1977 Easter Springnationals at Santa Pod Raceway. "I don't know anything about the crash or what happened to the car afterwards, so I'd love to hear from anyone who has any information", says Jason. If you can help then please drop Jason a line at jasonrowat@hotmail.com. ©Eurodragster.com Junior Showtime. 19th October: Junior Jade rider and APIRA Ultimate Power Junior Drag Bike Champion Scott Collier features on the CBBC Sportsround show this Saturday (21st). The show was filmed at the Test and Tune at Shakespeare County Raceway last weekend (right, picture courtesy and ©Dave Derry) and SCR's Jerry Cookson says to watch out for a special TV duel between Scott's 50 cc Junior Drag Bike and dad Jerry's rebuilt Jade Racing RD400, still officially the world's quickest and fastest. "Bet you can't guess who won!", says Jerry. CBBC Sportsround airs this Saturday at 11.45 am on BBC2, digital Freeview channel 70 and 616 on Sky. ©Eurodragster.com Magazine update. 19th October: It's a double treat for Mustang lovers as the November issue of Custom Car magazine features John Atkinson's reworked 1970 Mustang Jumpin Black Flash, writes Jerry Cookson: ©Eurodragster.com Four pages and a lift out centre spread takes you under the skin of John's immaculate eight-second doorslammer. Also on the feature side is a great technical article on restoring and painting a body of a vintage American nitro Funny car, Fred and Phil Castronovo's Custom Body Enterprises '70 Dodge Challenger, and a '36 Ford three window coupe owned by Metallica's Kirk Hammett. Reports tell it how it was at Shakespeare Countys Open Sports Nationals, the 32nd running of the NASC Street Rod Nationals, and the Hot Rod Hayride. Former editor Kev Elliott visits the dry lakes of El Mirage and Shaun Wilson checks out the Kyle Rod Run. The November issue of Custom Car is now on sale at all high street shops priced at £3.30. Racing and banter in Bahrain. 18th October: UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Gary Page is looking forward to racing in next week's Top Fuel Exhibition at the Bahrain International Circuit, but he is also planning to have some fun. Gary will be driving one of Knut Söderquist's Carbon By Design Top Fuellers which was previously campaigned by Jöran Persåker. "I'm particularly looking forward to renewing the rivalry with Harlan Thompson", says Gary. "We always used to have hard races. I'm in a good car. Hopefully the track will be good and we can put on a good show and promote the sport which is what iot's about. We know the weather will be OK - I think that the forecast is for no rain for the next six months, until Rune and Thomas turn up towing their cloud!" ©Eurodragster.com Although the racing will be deadly serious, Gary says that he is looking forward to some merriment off-track and the banter has already started. "They want us to wear England shirts for the photo session", he says. "We're trying to find two shirts to stitch together for Dave to wear. When we get out there I don't know if we'll be able to find Leon from Rune's team in his Dakota camouflage jacket and shades. He's never taken that jacket off since we gave it to him! "As for Barry, I think Rune does OAP Specials on Thursdays and Fridays!" Pop goes the Fireworks. 18th October: The UK's Simon Barlow and the Orange Pop Outlaw Anglia team have booked in to make demonstration passes at the Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway on 4th November. ©Eurodragster.com "The nine-second street car is well and has been on the street quite a lot since the fantastic weekend at the Hot Rod Drags", says team member Jason Yates. "We haven't had any problems since the last race and we just can't wait for the Flame and Thunder Show. We did enter last year but were unable to attend due to engine damage, but this year we will definitely be there. "Simon has always wanted to race in the dark with the headlamps on! "We would like to thank Darren Prentice for letting us run. We will post a report after the event." DSD repeat Drag Racing School. 18th October: Paul Watson tells us that Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor DynoSpeed Developments will be running another Drag Bike Racing Class again in 2007 after the success of this year's course. ©Eurodragster.com "Part 1 will be in the classroom and will run along the lines of the first course, but slightly revised after my time at the Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School", says Grumpy. "Hopefully Part 2 will be on our Pro Stock Bike with a new Roger Upperton motor designed specificaly for the School bike. Pupils will have the opportunity to put what they have learned from the class into practice on the track, with full datalogger facilities for a full learning experience. Prices will be announced as soon as possible but in the meantime you can apply by calling Paul at DynoSpeed Developments on 0208 500 5770 or E-Mail paul@dynospeed.co.uk. Swift snippets. 18th October: Street Eliminator racer Ron Haslett asked us to say a big Thank You to Jerry Cookson and everyone else at Shakespeare County Raceway for allowing him to give a passenger ride to one of his crew and to APIRA marshal Bev on Saturday. "We all had a great day and it was a good way to start our break from the sport which all at Insanecreations love", says Ron. ©Eurodragster.com Brian Huxley tells us that seven Super Street racers and crew held a Challenge at SCR on Sunday. "It was Dave Cherrett's idea but we used Huxley rules", says Brian. "We used our street cars, one practice run and then dial in and the closest to dial-in at the end of the day won the kitty, but had to use it to buy drinks for the others". Leigh Morris took the win with his street Jaguar. "Thanks to Leigh for the beer", says Brian. "A great time was had by all and let's do it again". Still on the subject of Shakespeare County Raceway, SCR's Jerry Cookson expressed himself disappointed to read comments about the track in yesterday's Swift Snippet from Ian Turburville. "Not everyone went up in smoke past sixty feet", says Jerry. "Tim hit tyre spin twice just before the eighth but everyone else, Rush and Wendy included, hooked up fine". We weren't there, and we've now told both sides, so that's an end to it. A big Get Well Soon to Ian Warren who is recovering from major back surgery. "The operation went A-OK and now he is in a period of recovery, which could take up to a year, but hopefully he will be out soon", says David Warren. "Thanks to everyone who has already sent their best". We're sure that that will now also include all of our readers. Hot Flame and Thunder. 18th October: The Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway got a mention above and Jo Reed of Santa Pod tells us that things are really hotting up for the annual end-of-season bash. "You read yesterday that Tommy Möller will be making demonstration passes in his Top Fuel Dragster, this will be your last chance this season to watch these amazing beasts power down the quarter mile", says Jo. "We've got an action packed line-up on and off track, ensuring there's something for everyone! There will be massive fireworks displays at 5.30 pm and 7:00 pm and a 70s disco to get on down to in the bar, to keep you all warm! ©Eurodragster.com "VIP Hospitality tickets are still available for £79 + VAT per person, with kids under twelve half price." For more information including ticket prices and ticket bookings, check out Santa Pod Raceway's web site at www.santapod.com or call 01234 782828. Magazine update. 18th October: The latest issue of Ed Gasket's Hot Rod Gazette features what's best in the world of hot rods and drag racing with an in-depth feature about John and Christine Osborne's seven-litre Ford 100E, 'When Little Fords Go Bad!', writes Jerry Cookson. The V8, which often thinks it's a rat instead of a mouse, frequently powers the Osbornes' Ford into the top points-earning position in its regular haunt of the National Street Car Challenge. And if that's not enough NSCC coverage, rounds 5 and 6 from York Dragway are treated to triple coverage this issue along with the Kyle Rod Run, Riverside Cruise and all the good things which went into the mix for the NASC Street Rod Nationals. Even Project Thames gets an airing. You won't find the Hot Rod Gazette on the high street shelves, but you will be able to buy (£2.50) or subscribe to this long running grass roots rodding publication by either getting in touch with Editor-at-large Shaun Wilson at shaun@wilson5083.fsnet.co.uk or at www.hotrodgazette.com. ©Eurodragster.com PMR crossing the Pond. 18th October: Paul Marston Racing are once again off to the United States after nearing the end of a very busy and successful UK season for both the Drag Race Driving School and the race team by attending both last weekend's Saturday Night Special and the preceding weekend's Jap Show at Santa Pod training new drivers and giving more passenger rides. Paul Marston explains: Our UK season is nearly done, so Gary Springford of Drag Race Engineering, one of PMR's principal sponsors, and I are sneaking off to the States but will be back in time for our very last 2006 event, the Flame and Thunder Event at Santa Pod Raceway. The purpose of the Stateside trip is firstly to crew for Tony Morris and Tim Hutcherson with their BLP backed Super Comp dragsters as they attend the last in the NHRA 2006 Division 2 series at Silver Dollar Raceway in Georgia. We're taking a quick trip up to Rockingham to take in the IHRA World Finals, then it's just a short 600 mile trip back to Orlando for the Fastest Streetcar Lunacy at Speedworld. Gary and I are honoured to have been invited to crew on Larry Nadeau's awesome Pro Modified PT Supercharged PT Cruiser at Orlando Speedworld's Fastest Streetcar event, something we are both very much looking forward to. ©Eurodragster.com Before anyone asks, Gary has not seen the map and has no idea how far I've got us travelling or how much we will be doing (Until now - Ed). All Gary knows is that it's too far to walk and that he thinks it's going to be a break by the pool for three weeks to work on his tan. It's a major achievement to actually get Gary Springford on a plane, anyone who is old enough to remember the A-Team will remember BA Barakas and the immortal line "Ain't getting on no plane fool". Just seeing the look on Gary's face when they close the door on the plane makes the trip worthwhile and the expression on Gary's face as the plane takes off is actual proof that Gary is indeed the offspring of Spitting Image puppets (Be fair Paul, Gary's not frightened of flying, he's frightened of crashing - Ed). There will also be a trip up to Valdosta to take in a Nostalgia Event, this is also out of state but we don't have to fly! As usual I will be on the usual parts buying mission and checking out the latest Sportsman racing technology. There is also the possibility that I will be competing out there, I will keep you up to date. This visit to the Land of the Brave sees more progress with an ongoing project on which PMR have been working on for some time now. I will be attending various meetings whilst in the States and it is potentially one of the most exciting things that Paul Marston Racing have ever been involved in so watch this space, as soon as we have any news we will let you know. Once again Gary and I would like to express our deepest gratitude to their families for allowing them the freedom and support required to embark on this trip, you truly are special people. We would also like to personally thank all the crew at Paul Marston Racing who work so hard throughout the season. Without you guys we are nothing, absolutely nothing. The six Flavell wanted, but... 17th October: Big congratulations to UK Super Pro ET team Mark Flavell Racing on achieving their goal of a six-second pass, at the Run What You Brung at Santa Pod Raceway on Sunday. However Mark tells us that he was not the lucky recipient of the team's first six-second timing slip, and nor was usual second driver Craig Owen. "I'm still laid up and unable to drive after my freak accident at the National Finals", says Mark, "so Craig stepped up to the plate and took on the driving duties. We'd changed a lot on the car to pick up the pace prior to the Finals and felt cheated by circumstances, so our only remaining opportunity to run this year was last weekend, "On a difficult track Craig went 7.060/194.17 bettering my best ever 7.063/190.66. This was after he'd slid all over the lane, got out of the throttle, pulled it straight and hit it again so we were looking good for that elusive six. Unfortunately with anti-freeze in both lanes the track was going away from us. Craig almost changed lanes and coasted through on the second pass. On his third run he hit horrendous tyre shake and nearly tagged the wall so we decided that enough was enough and that we'd park it up for 2006 as a seven-second car but in one piece. ©Eurodragster.com "Des Taylor had been good enough to help us out of a jam earlier in the year when our blower let go. He lent us his blower, and as a bit of a thank you I'd offered him a run out in our dragster. I explained to Des that I was concerned about the track going away so we were going to take some power out of the car by retarding the ignition by six degrees. I should point out that Des is no slouch having run an 8.22 in my old car when we ran as a team, but he had never run a seven. After what seemed like forever in the lanes, with the light fading and the ground fog starting to rise, we lit the blue touch paper and Des brought the car into stage. 6.980 seconds and 195.59 mph later he tripped the finish line beams. We all shot off to greet him at the top end, and I apologised as he hadn't run a seven but he jumped for joy when we told him that it had been the team's first six. "The only down side of all this is how many other people that run a drag racing team have two team members who have gone quicker and faster than you! "It's come together on the last run at the last meeting of the year for us, but what a great season. The social side of drag racing is as important to me as the racing. I do it because I love engineering, I'm a horsepower junkie and I love the people. Taking a crowd of your best mates and the people you'd prefer to spend your time with to the Total Seal Drachten Internationals is a career high for me. I race with some of my best friends that are my crew, Craig 'Coil' Owen, Big Steve Metcalf, Mali Rigg and Sam the buggy man, not to mention Andy Flav and all the other folk who have contributed and supported us this year." Fellow Super Pro ET racer Derek Flynn of Eurodragster.com News sponsor Gold RV asked us to congratulate the MFR team on the six-second pass. "We knew you would do it!", says Derek. Champion after all. 17th October: Graham Bell has emerged victorious as this year's National Street Car Challenge Champion following an eleventh-hour race to get a new gearbox fitted, writes HotRod Gazette Editor Shaun Wilson: With only 300 points in it as we approached the finals at Shakespeare County Raceway this weekend, Graham was dealt a bitter blow when the t5 gearbox in his '67 Mustang convertible let go. Following some frantic phone calls Pete Ruston came to the rescue and actually pulled the box out of his '88 Mustang GT to loan to Graham for the weekend! John Sleath gave a day out of his schedule to help Graham to fit the new box and have the car race ready the day before qualifying. The 427 ci Windsor-powered Mustang qualified fifth in a nine-car field with a 12.99 second run. On Sunday, although not placed as highly as Championship rival Steve Stringfellow - driving the ex-Ian Jackson CCSE Herald - Graham accrued enough points to maintain his position and take the title. This year's series has been run at the three main drag strips across the country, with points also awarded at cruises and shows across the UK to make this a true street car event. Once again it has also shown that you can have the height of competition along with the greatest sportsmanship, a factor of NSCC which all those associated with it are very proud. This year's sponsors, John Sleath Race Cars and HotRod Gazette, are both delighted with the turnout and spirit of the event, and not least the climactic finish! Full event coverage can be found in HotRod Gazette. The top three places will each receive an allocation of the prize money and trophies, with Graham receiving the covetted Boyds trophy. Congratulations to Graham - check out the NSCC web site www.nscc.info for final points standings. ©Eurodragster.com Swift snippets. 17th October: Albinsson & Sjöberg, publisher of Bilsport and several other magazines, has bought a fifty per cent stake in Sweden's Mantorp Park. In a news item on the Bilsport web site Stig Sjöberg says that the deal will allow the company to develop new projects as they not only publish magazines but organise special events. Fredrik Bernshed of Mantorp Park says that the partnership will allow for new investment both in facilities and products (Thanks to Erik Zettervall for translation - Ed). Santa Pod Raceway have confirmed that Tommy Möller will be making demonstration passes in the Lorentzon and Möller Top Fuel Dragster at the Flame and Thunder Show on Saturday 4th November. One other Top Fueller is yet to be confirmed and we understand that the Showtime Fuel FC will also appear. ©Eurodragster.com Ian Turburville tells us that Ian 'Rush' Carruthers tested at Shakespeare County Raceway on Sunday and clocked "A good sixty foot time with his front wheel up in the clouds, but the track wasn't there and everyone went up in smoke past that point so he only recorded 8.6/150". Turbo adds that Erik Frank of Lorentzon and Möller Racing has bought Ulf 'Skutt' Nylen's old Fastcat Top Fuel Supertwin to race Scandinavia. Turbo himself says that he will be taking a consignment of Simpson pit shows to the Flame and Thunder Show and that if anyone would like him to bring anything else then he can be contacted via his web site at www.turboville.com. Stephen Dallimore of Manx Yanks Auto Club has been in touch to let us know that the Jurby Auto Mayhem will take place at Jurby Airfield on the Isle of Man on 21st-22nd July 2007. Drag racing will be organised by the Straightliners and there will also be a car and bike show and more. You can find the Manx Yanks web site at www.manxyanks.com. A very Happy Birthday to Turner Motorsport Crew Chief Steve Turner. Have a great day, Steve. Not quite an eight! 17th October: Although not quite the result he was looking for after a 950-mile round trip, but import racer Keith Cowie rewrote his own Shakespeare County Raceway track record at the weekend not once but on five separate occasions, resulting in a 9.046 with a terminal speed of 157.9 mph to make his 1200 bhp Nissan R32 Skyline the sevenths quickest in the world on street tyres, writes SCR's Jerry Cookson. Keith spent most of Saturday's Test and Tune mapping the RB Motorsport/OS Giken RB30's ECU system for a change in fuel. Although a little rich, there was plenty more left to come at 2.3 bar boost pressure. "On Sunday we were happy with the way the car was running", said Keith. "The best sixty foot time on Saturday was a 1.56. When we changed the damper settings and played with the tyre pressures to get the car to squat off the line the sixty foot times came down to 1.489, 1.486, 1.440, and then the best 1.439." The next time the car will be run is at Millbrook Proving Ground where Keith and his RB crew will be pushing for several full power runs where they hope to find that extra 200 bhp needed to crack the nine-second barrier. The outright international record stands at 8.555/169.5 mph set in New Zealand by the Croydon Wholesalers R32 GTR. Making up for a non-qualification at the previous weekend's Jap Show Finale, Mick Begley became the eventual winner of the Motorshack vouchers for the quickest street-legal car of the weekend when his 2.7 Nissan GTR R33 Jun Super Lemon recorded an unbeatable time of 10.254 before shearing the diff drive later in the day. Picture courtesy and ©Dave Derry. ©Eurodragster.com Some Greek statistics. 17th October: Our good buddy Elias Vathias has become Greece's answer to Andy Marrs having worked out a veritable cornucopia of statistics for the 2006 Greek Championship. "Firstly we have some photographs and video clips of September's Championship race at Serres on the Greek Dragster web site", says Elias. "We worked on the results of the race and we produced some detailed statistics. In these statistics, you can see the final classification per class, and for each racer their best Reaction Time, best 18m time, best 100m time, best 200m, 300m 400m time, best 200m and 400m speed etc. Our racers found this statistic very useful, so we expanded the statistics to also cover the first three races of 2006: Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 "Later on, they asked us for unified statistics for all four races of 2006. "Finally, we were asked for the twenty best records per class for 2006: Best twenty Reaction Times Best twenty 18m times Best twenty 100m times Best twenty 200m times Best twenty 200m speeds Best twenty 300m times Best twenty 400m times Best twenty 400m speeds Best twenty 200m to 400m times Best twenty 200m to 400m speeds "We are currently working on many more statistics which we will publish later on this year. We believe that this information will help racers and drag race fans to understand drag racing better." ©Eurodragster.com Sheavills: The spark has re-lit. 16th October: UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Barry Sheavills says that he was over the moon to be asked to go to Bahrain for next week's eight-car Top Fuel Exhibition. Barry will be driving one of Rune Fjeld's dragsters in the Cannonball-style event and says that as well as getting back into the seat of a Top Fueller he sees it as a chance to return to the European Tour. "I was going, and then I wasn't, and then I was going again - that was back in August and now it's only a week away!", says Barry. "I've not been to Bahrain myself but everyone who went last year had a brilliant time and they all said how good the facility is. It's a major step forward and a big achievement." It has been a long haul for Barry to get back on the track since a 277 mph crash at the 2002 FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway, and he says that he almost gave up. "The Fansfueler project was a success but we never got the corporate backing to add to it and believe me I've been working on it since September 2002", he says. "I read what Knut Söderquist said on Eurodragster the other day and he was absolutely right: it takes serious money now. To travel Europe and contest the Tour you are looking at relatively the same money as a top-flight NHRA team. It's not much in motorsport terms, but it's still a lot of money. "When you've raced for half of your life it's difficult not to be racing. It's not at all easy to go to the track when there are twelve or thirteen Top Fuellers running and you're not one of them. If you stop going to the track then that's the end of it, so I have been making myself go. I really want to thank all the friends and fans who have kept on at me to keep going. I was starting to think I didn't want to carry on but this has re-lit the spark." ©Eurodragster.com Barry says that he is looking forward to his traditional pre-event walk along the track. "I like to see what's going on, especially at the top end", he says. "The first quarter mile is the same everywhere but the shutdown area is different everywhere you go. My test pass in the car will be the first run in the competition, I did ask Rune if there was any chance of a test run, but he said "You'll be alright". Anyway it's like getting back on a bike only quicker! Rune also puts everything in the same position in all of his cars so when you have driven one then you know where everything is even with a blindfold on and that's a good thing from the driver's point of view." Barry is determined that he and his team should put on a professional show both in terms of performance and appearance. "It would be good to win", he says. "I will have to do a familiarisation run to begin with but then it would be great to blast one off at the end. Some of the other Top Fuel racers haven't raced against me so they don't know who I am. Yet! I've got hero cards and posters for the fans, so hopefully by the end of the meeting they will know who I am too!" Bary is naturally grateful to Rune Fjeld for the offer to drive the dragster. "I really appreciate it than Rune thought of me and made the offer", he says. "Also I would like to thank the crew who are coming over with me, they do it for love and I really appreciate it, and Mark and Brian from Sign Style who spent the whole of European Finals weekend putting the graphics on the race car." Eurodragster.com will be reporting on the Top Fuel Exhibition live from the Bahrain International Circuit; stay tuned for more news about that. Success for the DSD gang. 16th October: Paul Watson of Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor DynoSpeed Developments took a small team to Santa Pod Raceway this weekend to have a little fun and to put together some of the things he has been teaching this season. The team comprised Andy Haley on his stock-motored Hayabusa, Jason Macan - who has been crewing on Grumpy's Pro Stock Bike this season - on his 1340 Bandit, and Julian Harris, aka Fast Harry on his 1186 Bandit. "I have had the pleasure of helping these three riders all season but most of it was theory until this weekend for Jason because he has been helping me so much", says Paul. "He managed a 9.68 off the trailer then dropped off a little, but on Sunday after a little help managed new consistency and a PB of 9.55. Well done, a great effort for the first outing. ©Eurodragster.com "Andy Haley on his Busa has been getting quicker and quicker each time he rides. He has been number one qualifier in 9.50 Bike a couple of times with more to come as he showed managing a PB of 9.36 aspirated. Finally Fast Harry has been with me from the begining learning and helping, this year he changed a couple of things and has not looked back since. Now, to look at his Bandit you may not see the work that's been put into it but the set-up has taken some time to get to where it is. This weekend at Santa Pod he ran an awesome PB of 9.2 aspirated, almost as fast as some turbo bikes, truly amazing. "Now I had promised Harry that if he achieved certain goals this season he could have a ride on my Pro Stock Bike when it gets the new motor in and I use it for the DSD Drag School. But when he ran the 9.2 I felt this was the time to let him have a go on a full Roger Upperton-prepped 1640 motor. I had just gone a 1.16 sixty foot so nothing was touched. I knew this was a life-changing moment for him and he stepped up and rode the bike, only a 9.7 but the launch was awesome, a big well done. "Watch out for these boys next year in 9.50 Bike." Win £50 from Speedflow Products. 16th October: Eurodragster.com Home and News and Perfect Light Award sponsor, hose and fitting manufacturer Speedflow Products are striving to move even further forward in the marketplace and are running an on-line customer survey to help them find out what their customers want. All completed surveys will be entered into a prize draw and the winner will receive £50. "Our aim is to expand Speedflow and further enhance the service and product range we currently offer to our customers", says Speedflow MD Fay Fischer. "In order to achieve this we need to focus our future efforts and investment to ensure we do not exclude, overlook or even alienate our customers or their requirements. Our plans to develop the business rely heavily on knowing more about the market place we are in and who we sell to. We don't want to put people into a box or be blinkered with what we perceive as our audience, quite the opposite. From talking with our customers we know we have a wide and varied audience. ©Eurodragster.com "Customers and the service we give to them is what really matters to us at Speedflow - we value customers' thoughts and opinions and want to know how we can keep them happy in the future." For the chance to win £50 visit the Speedflow Products web site at www.speedflow.co.uk, or click on the logo at left, then click on the link on the Home Page. The survey is live now and will run until Friday 10th November. The prize draw winner will be published on the Speedflow Products web site at the end of November. Little introduction necessary... 16th October: We are very pleased to welcome photo-journalist Roger Gorringe onto the staff of Eurodragster.com as Photo Editor and News Reporter. Roger's name will be familiar to anyone who has followed European drag racing for more than a few minutes. He is the longest-standing drag racing journalist in Europe having gained media accreditation in 1972 and having started to work for the legendary Drag Racing News in 1973 before serving as Editor between 1978 and 1988. Nowadays Roger produces Santa Pod Raceway's highly-regarded event programmes and race reports on Santa Pod's web site as well as freelancing for National Dragster in the USA, Motorsport News in the UK, New Zealand Hot Rod and Finland's V8 Magazine amongst others. Roger is also no stranger to the pages of Eurodragster.com having provided a number of NHRA and European race reports as well photographs and news items. He is the current holder of the SPRC Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy which is awarded for service to the sport. ©Eurodragster.com If you would like to read more about Roger and his work we have posted a feature which was originally commissioned by the now-folded 440 Magazine. Roger was asked to pick just five photographs from a library of more than seventy five thousand taken over his thirty six years behind the lens. As well as the photographs the article contains a lot of biographical detail and a couple of humorous anecdotes including one which proves that your News Editor was not the first to stand in front of a jet car. You can check out Roger's feature by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Swift snippets. 16th October: A very Happy Birthday for yesterday (Sunday) to Santa Pod Racers Club official Carole Ismail, and for today to Santa Pod Raceway marshal Barry Halliwell. Hope that you had a good day Carole, and that you are having a good day Barry. ©Eurodragster.com Web site updates. 16th October: Our good buddy Peter Donaldson has updated his photo site with pictures from Saturday's Test and Tune action at Shakespeare County Raceway. "I hope I haven't missed anyone this time!", says Peter. You can check out Peter's pictures at peterdonaldson5305.fotopic.net. ©Eurodragster.com Turners load for another shot. 15th October: The UK's Turner Motorsport are pleased to announce that they will be running their Top Methanol Dragster at the Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway on Saturday 4th November. "We hope to make two exhibition runs, giving people the chance to see what Methanol dragsters can do" say Rob, Steve and Carmel Turner. "We are all looking forward to running the dragster once more after the disappointment of the National Finals being rained off and some unusual issues on the one run we did make. ©Eurodragster.com "On that run some racer tape got stuck to the front tyre while Rob was reversing back from the burnout. This in turn threw Steve and Rob's start line routine due to Steve having to remove the tape and so on. Rob followed the normal routine, said he was in first gear, staged, and left in second! The clutch didn't like it too much and Rob clicked it off by half track, hence the 7.20. "This has been said hundreds of times before, but we'd like to add our thanks to all the track crews this year, your hard work is very much appreciated, even if we racers don't always show it! Thanks also to all of our sponsors for their ongoing support. "Hope to see you all at the Flame and Thunder Show." Coming soon, a fight for the keys... 15th October: Gary Kay of Eurodragster.com News sponsor B & B Motors and daughter and Junior Dragster racer Jayne are to spend this off-season working on Gary's blown-alcohol slingshot. "We did have the car up for sale but thought better of it", says Gary. "At the moment we are having an alignment bar made up so that we can fit the JP1 Hemi into the car, which is the ex-Norm Wilding Plan X and B & J Nostalgia slingshot. It is now totally striped ready for some chassis modifications, and as you can see from the picture Jayne is a perfect fit and cannot wait to pilot a fuel motor - but she will just have to wait and crew! ©Eurodragster.com "We have now made the car into a two-piece chassis, and we are quite happy with the job. The plan is to build a good methanol motor and see how it works, if all goes well then a new car will be built to run nitro hopefully alongside Besty and the Old Git Alec Coe. The engine is the ex-Burning Desire altered engine fully rebuilt with new pistons and rods, and the rest is as it ran with Pete Radcliffe. If all goes well then we shall be running the Nostalgia meets next year. "On another note Jayne would like to say thanks to Gordon Smith for letting her sit in the Shockwave Funny Car (that's the car she wants) and to Crazy Chris Hartnell for suiting Jayne up and firing the Backdraft injected digger. If anyone can help out with parts for our motor KB and JP1, or would like to sponsor the next female Fuel Funny Car driver, then please get in touch." The latest from Pat. 15th October: Pat Ginn has been in touch to let us know the latest about her treatment. "I have one week and three days left of Chemo and Radiotherapy and it has knocked me for six", says Pat. "I'm sure a lot of you know the tiredness it brings on and I hate wasting time sleeping and snoozing when there is so little time and so much to do. "Unfortunately the doctors have told me no flying this side of Christmas so sorry guys we will not be in Gainesville in November. Please behave and Neil don't crash Jay's Hummer. Bring me back some good pictures guys. ©Eurodragster.com "We should get some results back form the MRI scan in the week commencing 23rd November. This will put us better in the picture then I will know what other options there are available. We might make Flame and Thunder Show - it just depends on how I am, as one minute I'm fine the next I'm sick, it's so inconvenient. I can't remember the last time I saw racing in the dark at the Flame and Thunder, I love it. "Well done to Matthew Wright on running a 9.5 at Shakespeare County Raceway yesterday and thank you to Gary Gleeson for keeping me informed and well done on your big achievement, keep it up. Have fun all the guys and girls going to Gainesville next week and in November, we will miss you." Web site updates. 15th October: In the latest entry in his exclusive Racer Blog, Dutch Top Fuel Dragster racer Lex Joon describes some of the developments in Top Fuel in 2006 and his decision that he and tuner Sebastian should call the shots on the MPM Oil dragster when Eddie Corr departed the team. You can read Lex's Blog by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blog link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. ©Eurodragster.com Welcome on board to DS Racewear. 14th October: We are very pleased to welcome DS Racewear as the latest sponsor of Eurodragster.com News. DS Racewear is a relatively new company run by Pete Yates, more commonly known as Eddie in drag racing circles. "The rest of the team and I race the Wild Bunch Methanol Slingshot Dragster RamRaider which has been back on the track this season after a two-year absence for a complete rebuild", says Pete. "One of the things I noticed when I needed to upgrade my race suit was how difficult and expensive it was to find SFI spec equipment in this country, which started me thinking. I found myself a supplier in the States, one of the largest agents for RJS racewear in the US and began offering a custom race suit service to the UK. "I can now offer the full range of RJS suits, gloves, boots, hoods, underwear, harnesses and accessories via my web site at www.dsracewear.co.uk or click on the logo on the right. I import to order and my turnaround time is pretty quick as most of the products I sell are 'dated' and I have developed a good working relationship with my suppliers. ©Eurodragster.com Unlike many of the off-the-peg sales in the UK, my race suits are custom made to your specific measurements by RJS so you get a perfect fit. This is especially good for the -15 and -20 suits which are very thick indeed. My prices, even with this custom service are still very competitive. Being custom-made, turnaround time is a little longer especially at the beginning of the season, so ordering early during the off-season is always recommended. "Orders can me made completely on-line, or by calling me to chat about requirements. "I am a drag racer and I run my business for racers with that in mind and the extra mile is never too far to go. I have even lent my own race suit to a client who had ordered very close to his first meeting. My prices are amongst the lowers, if not the lowest in the UK for fully certified SFI spec safety equipment so it is always worth dropping me an E-Mail at info@dsracewear.co.uk or giving me a call on 01454 857328." We are very grateful indeed to both Pete and Eddie for DS Racewear's support of Eurodragster.com and we are pleased to welcome DS Racewear on board. Courtesy of our sponsors Eurodragster.com continues to offer a one-stop service for goods and services for racers and fans alike; please be sure to show your appreciation of DS Racewear and all of our sponsors by using their services whenever possible. NSCC: It's down to the wire. 14th October: The finals of the National Street Car Challenge will be held at Shakespeare County Raceway this weekend at Shakespeare County Raceway, with the drama ongoing right up until the last minute, writes Hot Rod Gazette Editor Shaun Wilson: Leader Graham Bell, goes into the last round just 300 points clear of Steve Stringfellow. However, during testing on Thursday, Graham's '67 Mustang lunched its gearbox and he has been frantically trying to source a new one in time for the event. His 427-Windsor powered Mustang has run consistently all year, to overtake Neil Martin's 5.0 GT which suffered engine damage at Santa Pod. Steve Stringfellow has really been getting to grips with the Pro Street Herald over the last few meets, with a new Personal Best of 10.98. He poses a very real threat to Graham, even if the Mustang is repaired in time. Third place is also in the balance as James Murray is desperately defending his position from John Osborne. James' Pro Street Cortina dropped a valve at round six, but came back out fighting again at the last round with a fresh 3.9-litre Rover motor which he is still fine-tuning. John Osborne's 427 Chevy-powered 100E, featured in this month's HotRod Gazette, is within striking distance and John plans to turn the bottle on for the first time this weekend. The series, sponsored by John Sleath Race Cars, has gone from strength to strength this year with Russ Pursley setting a new class record of 9.6 earlier this season. The forecast for the weekend is good so why not come and take in the action? ©Eurodragster.com Swift snippets. 14th October: Dave McKenzie would be pleased to hear from any racer interested in racing in the UK Supercharged Outlaws in 2007. The SOs welcome front- and rear-engined dragsters, altereds and Funny Cars on any engine and fuel set-up so long as they have a blower. "I would like to hear from interested racers, from anyone with thoughts on rules and regulations and events we could attend, and from anyone who would like to help with the day-to-day running of the class", says Fuzzie. If you are interested then you can contact Fuzzie through the new Supercharged Outlaws web site at www.outlawsuk.bravehost.com. ©Eurodragster.com Editor's note: Thanks to all those who got in touch to offer their services after we announced Sharkman's departure last week. If you have not already received a reply then you will hear from us very shortly. Our new staff member will be introduced on Monday's news update. Magazine update. 14th October: This month's issue of American Car World magazine is a must for all Mustang Owners with an exclusive Shelby Snake GT500 road test, writes Jerry Cookson. ©Eurodragster.com For drag racing fans Ian Hook's report of Round 5 of the Real Steel Street Eliminator Championship at Santa Pod gets the full colour treatment along with a profile on 'Hairy' John Walden's Supernatural Ford Cortina. The final round of the in-house ACW Street Racers Series receives a full review and the Damn Yankees Summer Slam and the Corvette Club shows are also features along with a special thirty-page Mustang special. The November issue of American Car World is available now priced at £3.60. Big Jam 20 now on DVD. 14th October: Bug Jam 20 will be remembered not only for the fantastic weekend festivities and the sheer number of you who converged on Santa Pod for a weekend of pure fun, but also for the electrifying storm on the Saturday! As ever the Bug Jam was simply amazing, in terms of the entertainment, the racing, and you, the festivalgoer. Never before have we had such a warm "thank you" from people who attended the event, and we would like to take this opportunity to return the thanks to those who make the show what it is today. We need to say a few thank yous. We would like to thank those who keep the air-cooled scene alive: those people who cherish their old Vee-Dubs, those who restore them, and those that come to events like Bug Jam to appreciate them. It was great to see so many beautiful cars make the often long journey to Santa Pod, and to see that enthusiasm for a fifty year old design is as strong as ever. There is a huge team behind Bug Jam, and a million thank yous cannot go far enough. We hope you enjoyed yourself at Bug Jam 20, and we can't wait for our 21st Birthday next year! We promise we won't disappoint you in 2007 when Bug Jam comes of age! In the mean time, the Bug Jam 20 DVD is now available for just £14.99 from Santa Pod Raceway. The DVD contains all the action from the Bug Jam 20 weekend, from start to finish, and is filmed and edited to a professional level. Call 01234 782828 for details on how to get your hands on this and other Bug Jam merchandise. See also www.bugjam.co.uk for a full report, loads of pictures, and more Bug Jam info. ©Eurodragster.com Web site updates. 14th October: Dean White has been in touch to tell us that a discussion forum has been added to the UK Outlaw Anglia web site at www.outlaw-anglia.co.uk. "Racers and fans are welcome to join", says Dean. Sharkman has updated his Top End Tales web site with pictures from the UK National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway as well as a large number of Windows wallpaper files from Gary's Picnic, the Veidec Festival, Open Sports Nationals, FIA European Finals, UK National Finals, and assorted test days. You can check it all out at www.topendtales.com. ©Eurodragster.com This week's edition of Drag, Rod and Classic Review at www.drcreview.com contains a wrap-up from last weekend's NHRA California Hot Rod Reunion, where Nostalgia Funny Cars played a major part in Sunday's racing activities. In addition, there's a report from the recent NASC Nationals, which attracted a bumper number of entrants, plus some good insurance advice for owners of Classics, Rods and Customs from Classiline Insurance Brokers. Haslett's revelation. 12th October: UK Street Eliminator racer Ron Haslett tells us that he has been keeping a secret this season. "I've had conformation tonight that I have cancer again", says Ron. "I'm going in for an operation to have it cut out, possibly this week so I might look like a Cherokee for the presentation night so no taking the pee. I'd like to let everyone know the details so it will put a stop to rumours. "I've had this twice before, in the head. I had the symptoms around May but I decided to carry on what I set out to do for the season before going to see the specialists. I did this for two reasons: one, I don't like people to feel sorry for me and two, I didn't want anyone thinking "Should you be doing this". I see it as in inconvience that I have to live with...oh, and a free facelift. ©Eurodragster.com "Those of you who have got to know me over the last couple of years, and I have made a lot of friends, will know that I'm a happy go lucky person. I'm not giving up racing, just taking a break to spend time with my partner and friends and possibly doing a little crewing if anyone will have me. "All I'm saying in my good English is that I'm the same person you all knew before so if I make an arse of myself feel free to take the pee." Hopefully Ron, one of the most selfless people in racing, will take some time to look after number one for a change and we look forward to taking the rise some time soon. How selfless? Well, how about a total of £2404 raised for the Macmillan Cancer fund this season including £772 at the Coffe Morning and £500 in the collection boxes at the UK National Finals. We're sure that everyone will join us in wishing Ron the very best. Swift snippets. 12th October: UK Street Eliminator racer Andy Frost's seven-second Vauxhall Victor will be featured on Fifth Gear on Channel 5 at 8:00 pm on Monday. "Filming was on Monday and they were really happy with what they had in the can", says Frosty. "I'll be interested to see if it stirs some interest in street-legal drag racing and Street Eliminator. We have also done a day's photo work for Max Power magazine to be published early next year, as well as features in Street Racing Mania mag in France and RPM Street Shootout mag in Canada." UK Super Pro ET racer Steve Saunders is making an honest woman of Babs at Preston Hall in Cleveland today, says Mark Flavell. "The couple are then off to Vero Beach in Florida and on to Las Vegas. I'm sure I speak on everyone's behalf wishing them a successful future together on and off the drag strip (Hear, hear - Ed). Steve has sat out the 2006 season rebuilding the original unpredictable 10.90 chassis which now runs well into the eights. Hopefully he will run in the right direction when he lets go of the button of the big Ford's 777 hp." ©Eurodragster.com Eurodragster.com reader Abby has asked if any readers have pictures of a Ford Pop named Proteus which used to run in the UK in 1970s. "The name Proteus is now on Paul Jackson's VW Pro dragster and I am trying to build him a web site with the history of Proteus drag racing". If you can help then please drop Abby a line at hbracingv8@blueyonder.co.uk. Editor's note: The Eurodragster.com web server has come very close to filling its disk allocation so we have had to remove the Photo Galleries from our 2005 event coverage. The thumbnails are still visible but will not lead to the full-sized pictures. You can of course find all of the original shots on Sharkman's web site at www.topendtales.com. Web site updates. 12th October: Ian Turburville has updated his web site at www.turboville.com with end-of-season shots and video clips which he says are worth a look if you are on Broadband. "You can while away your winter evenings with the sights and sounds of nitro!", says Turbo. "We ran out of Simpson pit shoes at the National Finals but have just had a partial delivery in from Carolina, so if you were disappointed then contact us with your order now, either through the web site or by phone." ©Eurodragster.com The eight-second Culture. 11th October: Team GTC joined forces with their Japanese partners Duke Racing to help break the European record for a Four Wheel Drive car at Santa Pod Raceway at the weekend, says Ben Linney of GT Culture (click on any link for a picture): The Santa Pod Pro class event was certainly a weekend to remember, with over fifteen thousand spectators and hundreds of racers coming together to witness a weekend of amazing engine throbbing drag strip action. The queues to Santa Pod were steady throughout the morning and afternoon, packing the facility with lots of eager faces ready to enjoy the best show of its kind, and the last major show of the year. The weekend was a real treat for everyone who attended, as we saw GTC driver Tim Webster break the European quarter mile record for a four wheel drive car no fewer than four times in his GTC-Duke Racing Skyline. Saturday saw the record expectedly knocked down to 9.159 seconds, and then 9.0 later on in the day with Japanese driver Nomura San of GTC Duke Racing at the wheel. Everybody was rooting for the Skyline R33 GTR to finally break the eight-second barrier. The Skyline is powered by the high-power short-burst HKS method of RB 2.8 hi-deck engine, an incredibly strong engine built for extreme power and torque. An HKS air shifter box allows for super fast super smooth gear changes and the car runs super grippy Mickey Thompson tyres (distributed by Cooper Tyres), the always-superb Castrol Edge oil, brake fluid and gear box oils. On Sunday it was time for the big Pro Shootout event, with twenty two of the finest examples of race machinery going head to head in a fast and furious battle to see who would be crowned the Pro Shootout Champion for both the 4WD/RWD and FWD Pro classes. Some of these machines are worth in access of £150,000 in build which is more than some BTCC cars. The competition ran strong throughout the day, with some upsets and lots of hard work from the teams to prepare the cars for the track. After a couple of runs the record was broken once again by Tim Webster, this time with a shocking 8.890-second pass. The final of the 4WD/RWD class saw the giant Tim Webster and the underdog Steve Whittaker head-to-head on the strip. Whittaker had the faster reaction time in his DJ Craig-sponsored Supra, but Webster's beastly Skyline had already taken the lead by the sixty foot mark, and then the gap just increased and the win was easily taken by Webster, who also racked up his fourth new European record of the weekend with an absolutely amazing 8.808 second pass. We are pleased with a good result, but we also know the machine is capable of so much more. I would have been happier to have seen a lower eight. The key was good set-up and reliability. We could easily have lost out to a much slower car had something broken, putting down so much power on the line. However, she remained consistent and reliable throughout, she didn't miss a beat. After set-up and troubleshooting on the Saturday she was untouchable on the Sunday main day. The experience and knowledge from Koichi San and Nomura san of Duke and also Katsu Hibio of HKS USA research and development was priceless. We would like to thank our Sponsors, supporters and friends Castrol Edge, Motor Addicts, Cooper Tyres, EA Games, Need For Speed Carbon, YA Logistics, Lovell, Spiderzone, Cubix, BP Ultimate 102, Blaupunkt, Duke Racing, HKS Europe, HKS USA, HKS Japan, Garrett Honeywell, Bosch, and Cobra Seats. ©Eurodragster.com Swift snippets. 11th October: Further to last Thursday's snippet about family members who have all won Championships, UK Supertwin Gas racer Jerry Collier has been in touch to say that he, his wife Sharron and their son Scott have all won Championships, Jerry and Sharron on two-strokes and Scott on his Junior Drag Bike. ©Eurodragster.com A big Happy Birthday to German Top Methanol Dragster racer Timo Habermann. Hope you have a great day Timo. All welcome at SCR. 11th October: Shakespeare County Raceway together with APIRA officials will be looking towards a rain-free weekend as the Warwickshire quarter mile gears up for the second of its autumn scheduled Public Track Day Test and Tunes on Saturday and Sunday, writes SCR's Jerry Cookson The weekend has already received plenty of interest from some of the country's leading Sportsman racers as well as members of the Outlaw Flat Four club who will be at the strip in force to take on all comers whether it's an imported rice rocket or a tamed Euro box. All are welcome to join the fun. The Junior Drag Bikes will also be on hand to cap their season off at Shakey in grand style especially as the eyes and ears of CBBC TV's Sportsround programme will be on hand on Saturday to film a segment with APIRA champion Scotty Collier and dad Jerry who will be riding his former record-holding RD400 especially for the occasion. The National Street Car Challenge one of the UK's premier street and strip series, backed by the guys at the Hot Rod Gazette, reaches its season's conclusion. Following a change at the top of the points chart with a late season burst from Graham Bell's 351 ci Windsor powered '67 ragtop Mustang, overhauling Neil Martin's 5.0 Mustang, the 400 ci Chevy motivated '65 Triumph Herald of Scott Stringfellow has a mathematical change of stealing the title on the day! Bikers from the Kawasaki 750 cc Triple Club will also be on hand to sample the Shakespeare County racing surface for the first time, and Roger Goring will be in test mode with the popular Firestorm Jet Funny Car. Lane sponsor Motorshack has put up a fistful of product vouchers for the quickest street-legal car and motorcycle over the course of the two days. Admission to the Raceway is £10 Saturday, £12 Sunday or £20 for a weekend pass. The Run What You Brung track fee is £20 or £35 for the weekend for unlimited runs. Overnight camping is available for weekend ticket holders. For further information call 01789 720180 or visit www.shakespearecountyraceway.co.uk. ©Eurodragster.com Thanks all round. 11th October: Luke Bennett of the UK's Bennett Racing NFAA and Wild Bunch team says that he and dad Frank have a lot to be grateful for this year. "First things first, we'd like to thank all the sponsors of Bennett Racing for their support over 2006 and previous years", says Luke. "Without their help the car would not be on the track. Also a massive thank you to all those who have supported us with E-Mails and kind words at the track, to anyone who lent us tools and nuts and bolts (normally Roy Wilding!), and to our crew who have worked their nuts off this year, mainly at the Open Sports Nationals where we had the heads off and on about eight times. What a nightmare, all down to an American company which made the pistons completely wrong even though they had the job card and details. Finally thanks to Ian Turburville for the fantastic job on our team shirts. He only had a week to do them, and he came up trumps - they looked very sharp and we won Best Appearing Team for our efforts. ©Eurodragster.com "As you can imagine we were gutted to come second in the NFAA Championship. Believe me, next year will be a different story. We wanted to be consistent this year and not put a rod out the side trying to go fast, but as of next year we will have a datalogger so not only will we tune safer but we will be faster too. We have a nice sponsor which has come up trumps for next year and I will release details of that shortly. "We will be making demonstration passes with the Topolino at the Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod on 4th November." Web site updates. 11th October: Our good buddy Anders Envall has updated his Blackout Fullsize Racing web site with the first part of his FIA European Finals report including a short video clip. You can check out Bostic's humorous account of his trials and tribulations on the way to Santa Pod and his first nine-second passes in his Impala on the Races link at www.blackout.nu. ©Eurodragster.com The eleventh gallery of Peter Jones' pictures is the latest update to Alan Currans' excellent Acceleration Archive. "The gallery contains images of several of the modified cars of yesteryear which have morphed into the mighty doorslammers which compete across the classes today", says Alan. "Also included is a selection of pictures of Pro Comp (Top Methanol), Fuel Funny Cars, and the massive Scorpion jet car". Check it out at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. The ten-second Mini. 10th October: If you were tuned in to Eurodragster.com News on 26th September you will remember that UK Sportsman ET racer Paul Webster was headed for the USA to join the Fireballed Racing team who were aiming for a new record for a Mini. Paul says that his trip was a success and that he is already making plans to return. "It had every ingredient to make it a perfect drama and culminated in a perfect ending!", says Paul. "It started well when the Fireballed Racing Mini USA M600 Mini was collected from Mini USA HQ in New Jersey. We were met by Jeff Stracco, USA Mini Product Manager and a drag racer's dream: someone who works at a corporate level and has the vision to support and promote a drag racing programme. After collecting the M600 we headed to Englishtown for the NHRA X-plod Sport Compact racing event. "The weekend's racing started on Friday night with a Test and Tune. Not everything went to plan as on the first pass the Mini dropped a valve. So what do you do when you're three thousand miles from the workshop and have a bent valve and a cracked guide? You go to your father-in-law's house in New Jersey where your show car is sitting and rip the head off that. Saturday morning was spent replacing the M600's CNC'd head with a stock head from the Mini show car. The first pass netted a 13.2/112, a quick re-flash of the ECU resulted in an 11.4/122, and that was Saturday done and dusted. Unfortunately we hadn't qualified for the Quick16 as the bump spot was a 10.54. ©Eurodragster.com "On Sunday the M600 entered Bracket 2 which meant one open practice but that's all that was needed. With the adjustments the team had decided to make the Mini left wheel-spinning for the first twenty feet and then hooked. As the car hooked Hubie hit the nitrous and rowed those gears, unfortunately missing the fourth to fifth gear change, but the scoreboard lit up with a record-breaking 10.629/128. An awesome time considering this was with a stock block, crank, rods, head and valve-train. As if a new world record wasn't enough to top the weekend off the M600 won Best Appearing Car, an obvious testament to the design vision of Fireball Tim. "Was I excited? You bet I was, this was history in the making and will go down as one of the highlights of my twenty two-year drag racing career alongside memories of being on the startline and witnessing the legendary Super Gas race between Gordon Appleton and Steve Green, and Jeff Meads running an 8.3 in that old street rod Pop. So will the Fireballed Racing team miss me at Pomona on 21st-22nd October? Of course not, because the flight is booked and as an added bonus I get to visit the launch party of the Fireballed Hollywood-themed collectable Minis Oddjob and the Nexus Interceptor." Still keeping Saturday special. 10th October: Racers wanting more track time after being rained out at the UK National Finals have the ideal opportunity at the Saturday Night Special at Santa Pod Raceway this Saturday (14th), says Jo Reed. ©Eurodragster.com "The track is open from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm, weather and track conditions permitting, with the additional attraction of demo runs by the Fireforce 3 Jet Funny Car", says Jo. "As usual there will be full catering and bar facilities as well as evening entertainment on Saturday. There is also free camping for those wishing to stay over for the Sunday Run What You Brung. Gates open at 8:00 am, entry is £10 for a one-day ticket or £20 for a two-day ticket. Sign-on is the normal £20 per driver per day for unlimited runs - just don't forget to bring your driving licence!" For more information check out www.rwyb.com or call 01234 782828. Introducing The Mob winter collection. 10th October: UK Fuel Altered racer Jim Usher is not the first to send us Christmas gift ideas but he has still got his pitch in nice and early as The Mob AA/FA team has opened a web shop offering several items bearing the team's new logo. "The web shop at www.cafepress.com/mobuk is in the first steps of development, but is ready for customers", says Jim. "This is all going to make the 2007 just that much easier with a little extra cash which will all go into the race car and making the Mob team a strong contender for 2007. ©Eurodragster.com "The Mob will be flying with the new 2007 logo to lighten the mood at the track showing that you can be serious but have fun. My crash helmet is already flying the new design and the car will be redesigned and repainted ready for next season." Jim says that the team have one more outing planned this year, at the Test and Tune at Shakespeare County Raceway on 28th-29th October, and that when he has a little more time to spare he will write a report of his first season in the car. Söderquist plans FC return. 9th October: Regular visitors to our Jeff Bull Race Engines and Performance Parts-sponsored Swap Meet can't have failed to notice three of Knut Söderquist's Carbon By Design Top Fuel Dragsters in the Cars For Sale section. Knut told Eurodragster.com that he is not getting out of Top Fuel but that due to demand he plans to return to Fuel Funny Car racing with at least one car to be added to his operation. "I have too many Top Fuellers", said Knut. "Some of the Top Fuel teams are putting in as much money as it takes: we can compete in racing terms but not with that level of expenditure. Everyone knows that if you don't put in a hundred thousand pounds then you can't compete. It doesn't matter how good your Crew Chief is, it's the money that's important." ©Eurodragster.com Knut said that he has had a lot of interest from racers wanting to drive a Fuel FC and that he already has a car. "I have had five drivers talk to me about a Funny Car and none about Top Fuel", he said. "The Pro Mod guys are used to sitting behind the engine. I have a car and I am doing a deal on a body. A couple of racers want Top Fuel show cars so that they don't have to use their race cars for exhibitions, so I can strip a car and use all the running gear in a Funny Car and it should work out. I don't know what the level of competition will be but I know that a lot of racers are interested in Funny Car." Meanwhile the arrangements are coming together for the eight-car Top Fuel Exhibition which takes place at the Bahrain International Circuit on Thursday-Friday 26th-27th October. "The cars should be there next week", said Knut. "Rune Fjeld, Thomas Nataas, Harlan Thompson and I will fly out on Friday 20th. Harlan is already on this side of the Atlantic because he is in Germany with the Budweiser Funny Car. Harlan plans to take one of the Fuellers to a US base in Bahrain, and the other thing we have planned is a fire-up of all eight cars at the event itself. "We have a few things going in Bahrain. If the race is good then we'd leave the cars there until January for another event, and other countries in that area are interested too." Importing an eight. 9th October: A packed Jap Show Finale in fine weather at Santa Pod Raceway saw records broken and many wrecked parts, as cars suffered due to underestimating the excellent track conditions making many clean up forays for the busy track crew writes Roger Gorringe of Nitro Exposure: ©Eurodragster.com The Pro Front Wheel Drive class had six runners with Guy Chamberlain in his Honda Civic take pole with a 12.100/129, over five hundredths in front of the others. Guy carried on to take the final chasing down Peter Cattell's similar ride with an 11.800/129 win to the 12.729/106 lose. The large Pro 4WD/Rear Wheel Drive class had Tim Webster dominate in his 2800 cc R33GTR (right, click on picture for large version) running a top qualifier of 9.159/161 which set his best ever, only to blow that away with a first round 8.890/164.29 defeat of Tony Charles then back up the eight with a record 8.808 at 162.88mph to down the 11.342/126 try from Steve Whittaker's Supra in the final. A full report and photographs will shortly be posted on Santa Pod Raceway's web site at www.santapod.com. You can also find some great photographs of Saturday's action on Peter Donaldson's web site at peterdonaldson5305.fotopic.net. Return of the Psycho. 9th October: Second-generation drag racer Adam Gleadow made his first outing in Super Pro ET at last week's UK National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway in the Motor Psycho Coupe, resurrecting a historic race car name. Adam dropped us a line to let us know how it felt: After scrutineering and firing the car in the pits came the moment I've been looking forward to for so long. We towed down with Super Pro ET to tag on to the end of their first qualifying round for my first observed run, and my first pass in anything since Junior Dragster nearly four years ago. ©Eurodragster.com Everything went perfectly and I pulled a 0.022 light to boot. As the Tree came flashing past in the side window I clicked it off, recording 1.458 to sixty feet at half throttle which looks promising for the future. Apart from the rain which unfortunately halted any further licencing passes - not without trying on the part of the track crew who must be thanked for their dedication and effort - we are all very happy with the weekend and I'm itching to go again! Thanks must go to Doug Ripley, Bob Glassup and Xtreme Racing and the Bond family and Nuthin' Fancy crew. Also a quick thank you to Peter Donaldson who kindly brought round a printout of a photo he took on Saturday. Finally thanks to the crew for their work, especially Darren. Without him we wouldn't have been there. We are still running under the name Time Machine Racing, but we have decided to bring back the Motor Psycho name for this car as a tribute to Bob, Mick and Brian Gleadow's Gasser Pop of the same name from the late '190s. More details of the new car and team history can be found on our made-over web site at www.timemachine.co.uk. The car will be will be receiving a new paintjob over the winter break (right, template by Chris Parker and design by Adam Gleadow). Swift snippets. 9th October: Ian Turburville has been in touch to remind us that Ronny Aasen's European Championship-winning Supertwin is for sale. "Ronny is building a bigger, even more powerful (if that's possible) Supertwin so is selling off his fantastic Bahco Bullitt as a turn-key operation with fresh motor,full back-up, spares and tuning advice", says Turbo. "For more details check out www.turboville.com/turbo-7/classifieds.htm. ©Eurodragster.com TV and magazine update. 9th October: This evening's (Monday's) Gadget Show on the UK's Channel 5 includes a segment filmed at Shakespeare County Raceway, writes Jerry Cookson. The piece features a race between a Lotus Elise, driven by Fifth Gear's John Bentley and a Shumacher radio. Guess which won. The Gadget Show airs on Channel 5 at 7.15 pm. This month's issue of custom bike magazine Back Street Heroes features a twelve-page report from the Twentieth Anniversary Bulldog Bash at Shakespeare County Raceway. The all colour report takes the reader on a tour round the event together with an in-depth look at the winners and the bikes which made up this year's Custom Bike Show. Featured racers include The Mob, Ian King, Vaughan Foster, Eric Teboul, Stefan Iwanowitsch and Scott Collier. The November issue of BSH is out now priced £3.60. Web site updates. 9th October: In the latest entry in his exclusive Racer Blog, Dutch Top Fuel Dragster racer Lex Joon pays tribute to Monique Pels, who passed away last week. You can read Lex's Blog by clicking here or by clicking on the Racer Blog link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. ©Eurodragster.com UK National Finals 9.50 Bike review. 8th October: UK 9.50 Bike racer Chris Jones has been in touch with his regular post-event report, this time from last weekend's UK National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway: It's the last one of the season, everyone turned up prepared for this final joust with bikes prepped and animals standing by two by two, arks at the ready, the weather of course reciprocated. Yes we were rained off! The 9.50 Bike contingent did of course get a shakedown first round, with the usual suspects topping the field. Andy Haley was setting up his weekend for another perfect pass coming in #1 with a 9.6/142 tailed by now-Champion Andy Bird 9.61/141, Phil Pratt (Melvin) and Richard Hann (Boss) dropped into #3 and #5 respectively with Shaun Spiers now figuring again in the field at #4, obviously getting the hang of a modern machine and reluctantly dispatching the loyal Katana to the garden shed. The weather of course had different ideas for the weekend and that was that, no more runs. The Championship, if there ever could be any upsets, was cast. So it's a big well done to Andy Bird, who mercilessly pursued and of course got all three titles on offer: SPRC and APIRA Championships and the hotly-contested UK National 9.50 Bike Championship. It seems like only yesterday when an innocent young gun (Andy Bird) turned up for drag school, not quite understanding what it meant (at this point there should be a picture of Andy in a dress, but being a family site we couldn't publish it because of what else was in shot - Ed). With the introduction of Pukka Pies and a large appetite for cider he soon mastered the true power of the dark side, Obi Geoff Connobi - Team Breakout's flagship - had taught him well. Andy comments that the tail end of the season didn't run as smooth as it had started with a mid-season gearbox fix and a few stuttering engine gremlins, though we all believe stemming the dress-wearing habit may really have taken its toll. ©Eurodragster.com It's been a really good season in the 9.50 Bike camp, and everyone you speak to comments that rather than a loose group of bikers looking for a casual pastime everyone really gelled to form a real set of good mates. Richard Sawatzki came in at #2 in the Championship, he has run almost Steve Davies-like in his pursuit of the title with a relatively problem-free season. Julian Harris (aka Fast Harry) brings up the rear in #3 spot, despite his and Phil Pratt's (#5 in the Championship) pre disposition for carburettor juggling. Sitting in the #4 spot is Richard Hann (Boss) who has every conceivable bell, shiny whistle and button, the bigger the better. He had a good season with a few clutch and turning on the gas bottle problems but came good. So it's a well-deserved congratulation to these guys and all who took part. I am well aware of all the cunning plans already being hatched as everyone now turns their attention to next year, my own included...Dr Evil laughs all round. Though being described as an entry class to the sport it most certainly is not easy and running to a pre-defined means that the most powerful or technologically advanced machines are not guaranteed to win. All are welcome and anyone reading this who may be considering having a go at 9.50 Bike should feel free to come join in. Give any one of the camp a shout, we would be more than happy to advise and continue to swell the ranks of this ever-increasing and popular sport. So here's looking forward to the next season's racing. A big thanks to the organisers, spectators and all concerned whose continued efforts make it all possible. Swift snippets. 8th October: A large number of mourners filled the Crematorium Bouwens in Uithoorn yesterday to pay their respects and to say farewell to Monique Pels. In an emotional and beautiful service, planned by Monique, Monique's friends and family made speeches of tribute and played her favourite music before the service ended with an address written by Monique herself. We'll always remember you Monique. Booking is still open for the Nordic Drag Racing Series Banquet and Prizegiving which takes place at the Scandic Infra City in Upplands Väsby just north of Stockholm on Saturday 28th October. "There will be trophies for first through third places in the NDRS and SDL and diplomas for the rest of the NDRS top tens", says Tomas Pettersson. "The Banquet will also host the Swedish Motorcycle Federation's prizegiving ceremony for the Swedish Drag Bike Championship. Booking closes this Friday (13th); for more details check out www.dragracing.se or click on the logo at right. ©Eurodragster.com UK NFAA racer Joe Bond has asked us to say a big No Thanks At All to whoever it was who interfered with the air system on his altered at Santa Pod in the early hours of last Sunday morning. "Not only is it dangerous to be tampering with pressurised air containers, but there is also the blatantly obvious fact hat if isn't yours you should leave it alone!", says Joe. "Luckily Steve and Rob Turner kindly refilled the bottle free, thanks for all the help guys". Joe has updated his web site at www.nuthinfancy.150m.com with compilation galleries from the season and would be pleased to hear from anyone who could send any more pictures. John Hackney has asked us to say a big Happy Birthday to his wife Alison Hackney. "Happy Birthday and thank you for letting me go to my other home nearly every weekend!", says John. Have a great day Alison. Web site updates. 8th October: Nigel Holland has updated his photographic web site with pictures from what there was of last weekend's UK National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out Nigel's shots at www.nigelholland.co.uk. The Paul Marston Racing web site has a new temporary home at paulmarstonracing.blogspot.com. Richard Stirling has updated his Topnitro web site at www.topnitro.co.uk with a report and picture gallery from the UK National Finals. "This is in addition to the gallery of the action at the recent Hot Rod Drags at Shakespeare County Raceway and, of course, bumper reports and picture galleries posted following the FIA European Finals." Sharkman steps down. 6th October: We are sorry to announce that Eurodragster.com's Photo Editor Sharkman has decided to step down after more than seven years. Sharkman joined Eurodragster.com in early 1999 and quickly made the photographic side of Europe's leading drag racing web site all his own. "When I was approached by Tog and TonyB about joining the staff of a young web site called Eurodragster.com I jumped at the chance to join the fledgling site, and what an awesome decision that turned out to be", says Sharkman. "With TonyB leaving soon after I joined it was left to Tog and I to run and develop the site (with Simon joining us a couple of years ago), and looking back on it now I am immensely proud of what we have achieved. Eurodragster has developed into one of the main focal points for racers and fans involved with European drag racing. "As the site has grown and developed over the years so has the amount of work involved in maintaining and evolving it. Tog has done a wonderful job of running the news side of the site often at the expense of his social life, whilst for myself the biggest strain has always been the live coverage, where eight, nine or on some days twelve hours trackside with the cameras would be followed by another three or four hours in race control building the galleries. As the 2006 season has progressed I have become more and more aware I was not enjoying it any more. "For Eurodragster to continue to set the standard as it has done for so long there is no room for any passengers on the staff and everyone has to be running on all eight cylinders all the time. I simply don't have the energy, enthusiasm and commitment required to give Eurodragster what it needs any more and I certainly don't want to compromise the quality of the site in any way, so after thinking things through very carefully several times in the past months I have made one of the most difficult decisions I have ever had to face and decided that it is for the best if I stand down from the staff of Eurodragster. "I want to thank Tog and Simon for everything over the past seven years, and I wish them all the very best for the future. They already know that if there is anything I can do to help, they only have to shout. Thanks as well to the racers, marshals, officials and crew who have done so much to help and support us as a web site and me personally during that time. "So what now for me? Well I hope I will still be trackside with the trusty Canons next season. I will still be running my own photo gallery based web site over at www.topendtales.com which will continue on exactly has it always has done. The guys have kindly allowed me to keep my sharkman@eurodragster.com so I will still be contactable on that or, of course say hello at the track. The big difference I guess is that instead of knowing the news before it gets posted I will be joining the seven thousand of you out there eagerly clicking the refresh button to get the latest news every day!" ©Eurodragster.com Tog writes: One of the great things about working with Sharkman was that we seemed to be able to read each other's minds. Whenever there was a question to be discussed - from what approach Eurodragster.com should take with a contentious piece of news, through how to report something in the event coverage, down to what a particular page should look like - we almost always found that our views coincided. Sharkman quite often came at things from a different angle but this ensured that everything was properly discussed before ending in solid agreement, and that has always benefited the site. There are probably more disagreements in one week of an average marriage than there have been during Sharkman's entire tenure at Eurodragster.com. Everyone knows about Sharkman's prowess with the camera, and that is a renown he deserves, but he is also a good ideas man. One example is when we were being approached by potential sponsors even though we had no advertising slots left. Sharkman suggested the Perfect Light Award, which then grew into the Perfect Awards Scheme. We have had a good time just about all of the time. At any number of race events we have all been working our fingers to the bone and our brains to jelly on our respective parts of the coverage, but we have had some hysterical conversations at the end of the day. More than once I have been on the verge of calling a paramedic to bring me oxygen because I couldn't breathe for laughing and it might only have been over one or two words of Sharkman's, or no words at all, just a face pulled. One typically-Sharkman moment was a few years ago when a singer had been asked to sing the National Anthem at the start of the FIA European Finals, and she rehearsed at the Press Day. She was, shall we say, a little highly strung and it got to the point where she was throwing a tantrum clearly audible to anyone between Santa Pod and, oh, Edinburgh courtesy of her radio microphone. Sharkman stopped work on that day's gallery, leaned down, picked up his ear defenders, put them on, and carried on working - all without a word. To return to the marriage metaphor - and at the risk of disappointing people probably even now reaching for their forum logins - this is not a divorce. It is not as if we will neither see nor speak to Sharkman ever again and we will continue to swap stories, take the p*** out of fake tans, and admire his pictures, just as we always have done. The guy has given Eurodragster everything he's had - physically, mentally, and financially - for seven and a half years and no-one can argue the fact that he has earned the right to do his own thing and to do it with all good fortune and for as many years as he cares to. Simon writes: I will miss Sharkman's dry humour built up over many years of experience of race events and his unerring judgment surrounding the issues that arise in both reporting the news and race coverage. His ability as a photographer often takes me aback, as he is a leading innovator in capturing images of our sport. He has always kept me abreast of developments on and off the track as they occur, which has been a great help in tracking down new stories. I appreciated his support too when I stood in as race reporter and news editor earlier in the year. Whilst I will miss his direct contribution I know that he will be at the track and be glad to pass on his knowledge to us to keep Eurodragster.com at the forefront. With Sharkman's departure Eurodragster.com will be recruiting another staff member, so stay tuned and we will bring you news about that in due course. Arlesheim gets ready to party. 6th October: We have not heard from Switzerland's Fat Attack Racing since the FIA European Finals, but team member Andrea Wucher says that this is because they have still been up in the air after their spectacular weekend in wihc Urs Erbacher set new European Top Fuel ET and speed records and Lorenz Stäuble took #3 spot in the FIM/UEM European Supertwin Championship. "We were all sorry for Lorenz and the Supertwin Team", says Andrea. "They had a great season but had to give way to Charley Karling for the number two spot in the Championship. Congratulation to Ronny Aasen and his team, a true Champion and a team which deserved the Championship title. But Lorenz and his team will be even more motivated to get that number one on the bike next year. "Urs had his first Top Fuel victory of his first Top Fuel season and set a new ET and speed record on the same weekend. Wow! You need some time to calm down and realise what happened. We had a great time at the Banquet and enjoyed the celebration with Håkan Nilsson's team. It is great to see a rookie on top again. Urs finished on the third place in the Championship. Nobody would have bet on us after the Main Event, but we knew that we needed some time to get into the Top Fuel operation and finally we managed to run fast, consistent and trouble free. ©Eurodragster.com "On 14th October we celebrate at our shop at the Fat Inn in Arlesheim. Three teams and three great Championships. Urs, Lo and Sascha and all three teams will party the whole night. So if you don't know what to do on next Saturday evening, just come down to Basle and be part of the great season-end party of the Erbacher Top Fuel Racing team. "By the way, if you don't know what to put under your Christmas tree, then next to the fastest Top Fuel Dragster you will see the fastest Top Methanol Funny Car. Have a look at it, take a seat, go to the cashiers and we will even put a gift wrap around it so that you can take it home immediately. The Fat Attack TMFC is still for sale and Urs has some very interesting and special deals ready for you. Just contact him at urs@fatattack.ch." Swift snippets. 6th October: Santa Pod Raceway would be pleased to hear from racers who would like to make exhibition passes at the Flame and Thunder Show on Saturday 4th November. If you are interested then please contact Darren Prentice at darren@santapod.com. If you have already volunteered then Darren says that he will be in touch next week. UK National Junior Dragster Champion Scott Hauser has asked us to thank G-Max Racing Fuels, Stitchncards.com, Adoorable Handles and Simpon for their support this year. "We were quite pleased to take some money from Eurodragster earlier this year too!", says Geof Hauser, "We're looking forward to 2007. The car is virtually maintenance-free so there is nothing to do. We might put a new chain on it!" ©Eurodragster.com It occurs that Scott's win means that he, brother Jay (Junior Dragster), Geof Hauser (Pro Modified) and Sylvia Hauser (Super Gas) have all won National Championships. There can't be many racing families whose members have all won titles at one time or another; if you know more then drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com. UK Super Gas racer Matt Gatland would like to thank his crew Louise, Andy, Tash and Little Josh for their support this season. "We have had an excellent first season with our newly-built Firenza", says Matt. "We won a meeting and came runner-up. I would also like to thank Tim Adam for all his help and, if you like, showing me the ropes. Thanks Tim." Don't forget that if you would like to send a tribute to Monique Pels then Ian King is hosting a tribute page at www.moniquetribute.blogspot.com. You can send your tribute to ian@kingracing.com. Editor's note: The next Eurodragster.com News update will be on Sunday, as we will be attending Monique Pels' funeral tomorrow. Please keep the news coming to news@eurodragster.com and we will publish it on our return. Web site updates. 6th October: This week's edition of Drag, Rod and Classic Review magazine at www.drcreview.com contains a feature story on the Junior Fueller recently built by Paul Bambrick, and designed to run at nostalgia drag races. "The car has been created in the spirit of the sixties but uses a completely new chassis sympathetically constructed: read our report in Top Stories", says Editor Andrew Kirk. "In our news section this week are pictures of an interesting Hemi-powered street rod taking shape, and a sneak preview of a "just finished" street rod built for a well-known automotive designer. Finally, if you are into nostalgia drag racing, then you'll no doubt want to read why Goodguys may be pulling out of drag racing in the USA." ©Eurodragster.com The spy pictures start... 5th October: The first spy photos of the off-season reached the offices of Eurodragster.com on Tuesday evening. The yellow seat in the picture at right gave us a clue to the car's identity but then a second picture arrived putting us in no doubt that the chassis in question belonged to UK Street Eliminator racer Pete Smith's Just Mental Corvette. We immediately contacted Pete and through a careful combination of blandishments and blackmail persuaded him to spill the beans. "Half a dozen Street Eliminator guys came up to me at Santa Pod last weekend and told me they'd seen my chassis, which was great because I hadn't seen it yet!", Pete told Eurodragster.com. "I went up to Webster Race Engineering on Tuesday for a fitting and now that I've had a chance to look at my own car it's looking really good." ©Eurodragster.com Pete's new car will be lighter than its predecessor and there should be some performance gains without making any other changes. "We've got the only original Corvette pull-off front in the UK", said Pete. "We've taken a hundred and ten pounds of fibreglass just out of the front end and Jon said that the total weight saving with the new chassis will be nearer a thousand pounds. Jon reckons that if I just put the blown engine straight back in it the car will run eights." Editor's note: As the off-season starts to kick in we will of course be receptive to spy pictures so long as no laws have been broken in their acquisition. Send pictures and details to us at news@eurodragster.com and we'll do the rest. Let us know if you wish to remain anonymous. Light those candles! 5th October: Rocket Dragster pilot Carolynne Campbell lit the candles at Shakespeare County Raceway at the weekend as her Laffin Gas dragster made its first pass down the track under power. Carolynne told us how her weekend went: Despite the fact that we know we are welcome at Shakespeare, I thought it best to E-Mail in advance. With all the hoo-ha following Richard Hammond's unfortunate accident in Vampire, we were all very much aware that thrust cars would be very much in the spotlight. So, back came the request for a risk assessment on the car and a run-down of our operating procedures. I expected nothing less. In our experience the folks at Shakespeare have always taken safety very seriously and we are 100% behind them on that. So with hub-caps off, we awaited the arrival of Glenn Stockton and his safety crew. As you can see from the picture, they were all there! Glenn gave the car the most thorough inspection it has ever undergone. With body work off, everything was checked and double-checked from stem to stern, with Glenn asking frequent questions such as "How does this work" and "Why have you done it this way?". The fire crew were asking safety questions too and we were more than happy to answer them all. Laffin-gas is experimental and very different to anything else commonly found at a drag strip and we can't simply expect people to fully understand everything without answering a lot of questions. Glenn and his team pronounced themselves happy with both the quality of the car's construction and the operating procedures we were using. Now...would the weather hold up? We had promised there'd be no silly heroics, just a gentle half-pass to test the handling and how well the rocket construction holds up in the car as it goes. We were confident that, after the lessons learnt at the Bulldog Bash, the car would leave the line. It did...slowly! In hindsight, I was probably a little too careful with the throttle. I opened it only partially at first and probably not by enough, meaning that the rockets struggled to get up to operating pressure. I let the car cruise for a few seconds to see how she felt, and she felt fine: stable and easy to steer. Then I pushed the lever full-forward at about half track, the note from the rockets changed and she started to push pretty hard (right, picture courtesy and ©Dave Derry). I'm pretty sure that at least one rocket tube was not running by then, but still the push I got was impressive. Then, mindful of the fact that I had promised to be very cautious, I shut her down. There have been lots of questions about the service braking on the car, so I went for a stop using only the brakes. She pulled up smartly and in a straight line. ©Eurodragster.com I coasted to a halt and leapt out of her to see how she'd held up. Apart from a little smoke coming from the rockets, there was no outward sign that she'd even been down the track. Everything was clean and intact. Panic arose when I heard "Nuts and bolts all over the place" come over the safety crews' radio. I couldn't find anything loose or missing...it was a wind-up! Bless! After six very, very expensive track tests, we'd finally got her fired and down the track! Were we happy? Absolutely delighted! We'd shown that the car really works, that our standards of quality of engineering were up to the job, and that our perseverance was justified. What next? Well slowly but surely, we will now explore higher speeds and harder starts. Our goal this year was always to get in a couple of good runs, so we're still going to try for one more before the tracks shut down. Next year we'll start really exploring her performance and continue applying everything we learn from each run. By the end of next year, we expect to have Laffin-gas showing her full potential. Her full potential? Very very quick! I really want to thank our friends at Shakespeare County Raceway for their hospitality, their thorough and dogged attention to safety, and their willingness to keep an open mind and give us the chance to prove what we can do. Nitro-fuelled rumour mill. 5th October: It has come to Ian Turburville's attention that European Top Gas Serie racer, the Nertherlands' Harry van Schie has purchased Job Heezen's legendary blower bike. "So what is Job up to?", says Turbo. "Rumour has it that he is off to the AHDRA season-end races to buy a Top Fuel Harley so things are going to get interesting next season. This is good news for the UEM series as some of the Norwegian racers are planning to skip to the States to run the last half of the AHDRA season if all goes to plan. "There are moves afoot for other new racers to enter the fray however so the numbers should remain good in this exciting class. Hansa Christian should be racing UEM with his new Overkill bike and Charley Karling will be out with his blown Overkill to play with the PRP powered bikes. We also await the return of Rob Van Geffen on his blower 'V-Rod' Fuel bike but it looks like 2008 for the début of Gerard Willemse's new monster 'Triumph'. It would also seem that Tommy Möller is keen to go the same route as Urs Erbacher and swap one of his Fuellers for a Supertwin. So could this be a new trend, and if so does this mean I have to buy a Top Fuel Dragster and will Baz drive for me? Welcome to the twilight zone! "In Canada, eleven-time Champion and record holder Ron Houniet is selling his 'Fast Lane' bike and has already ordered two rollers from Weekend Frame Company. Will Job do lunch with Ron in Vegas, we will see!" ©Eurodragster.com Cannon's brace for sale. 5th October: The UK's Chris Hannam has put his two race bikes up for sale, as the trip to Gainesville is looming and he says that he is a dangerous man with cash in his pocket. "First up is my brand new turbo Hayabusa débuted at the all-bike meeting two weeks ago", says Cannon. "This bike went from the bench to the track, ran consistent low 8.0s, and won the Top Bike eliminations, with only 1.46 sixty foots due to having the boost controller working on manifold pressure and not air tank pressure. Thus 6 psi boost and first gear for 2.9 seconds, not good if you want to run good sevens. Anyway the bike has about ten passes and is a full-spec motor and transmission. It has a GT35 turbo with the lastest high tucked in headers so no smoky turbos, full pullback front end with sixteen inch front wheel and Spondon arm allowing 68" max wheelbase, shortened forks and shock, AMS 1000 in carbon dash, full Motec M400 with datalogging and bespoke one-off racing loom. This bike is ready to rock and roll next year in the mid sevens no problem, this bike can be sold with the assistance of Holeshot Racing if required, and the price is £18500. ©Eurodragster.com "I have also decided to test the water with the ex-Perry Funny Bike, as if I could get a good bid then I would sell it and pursue the Fuel bike. This was only meant to be for one year anyway, shame we only did two meets but there ya go. This bike has run 6.61/212 and makes big horsepower. I am now in the process of rebuilding four motors to go with the bike if required. One motor is brand new and three are as-new, we also have spare everything else, the list is massive so you would be better off E-Mailing me for details. Note that this bike also has the state of the art Dave Branch air slider clutch and the MTC multi stage MTC lever clutch. It has two bodies - should you be of big or small build we can accomodate both. It even has brand new unused ally wheelie bars. The price for the bike starts at £25000 and all spares are negotiable. We have also just completed an upgrade to run double bearings on the output end of the gearbox and machine a double bearing outrigger support plate for the gearbox bearings which mounts to the case, thus making it harder to break the gearbox and cases. "Enquires for either bike should be sent to me at info@cannon-engineering.co.uk or contact me on my mobile 07775 501371." Swift snippets. 5th October: Monique Pels' funeral will take place at 10:00 am this Saturday (7th) at Crematorium Bouwens, Noordammerlaan 40, Uithoorn. Congratulations and thank you to UK Super Pro ET racer Ian Tubb who won the 1999 Ford Ranger Truck in the auction to benefit the Pat Ginn Appeal. Now, what we want to know is that with the seven-second EDA dragster up for sale (see Swap Meet), will the truck be used to tow the dragster's replacement, and what might that replacement be? Congratulations also to Scott Hauser who has won the Junior Dragster League organised by Eurodragster.com News sponsor Adoorable Handles. You can check out the full results on Adoorable Handles' web site at www.adoorablehandles.com where you can also find a large selection of very stylish door handles and cabinet furniture. Congratulations, too, to UK Junior Dragster racer Zak Johnson on qualifying #1 at the European Finals and #2 at the UK National Finals in his last two races in Junior Stock. "Hopefully we will take delivery of his new Modified very soon and continue next year running 8.90", says Sarah Johnson. "Zak's dragster The Pups Nutz is for sale on the Swap Meet, this is one of the nicest Stocks available and is ready to run, I guarantee it's the cheapest. If you're interested see the Swap Meet or call Rick on 01977 730378 or 07985 624911." ©Eurodragster.com Ian Messenger has accepted an invitation to join the UK Hall of Fame selection panel and represent the interests of motorcycle competitors. "Ian and Derek Chinn campaigned, amongst others, the beautiful Pegasus twin-supercharged double Norton, which now has pride of place in the National Motorcycle Museum", says Stu. "Ian has been an avid supporter of drag racing for many years and has raced in Europe and the USA. His knowledge and enthusiasm especially on the motorcycle side of the sport will be of great assistance to the Hall Of Fame selection panel. We look forward to Ian's valued comments and input." Santa Pod Raceway's Track Manager Kjell Pettersson has confirmed to Eurodragster.com that the apparent five-day FIA Main Event in the 2007 calendar, as published on the back of the National Finals programme, was a misprint and that the event is still four days. Luke Bennett has asked us to thank Helen Todd, Phil Cottingham, Peter Donaldson, Bill Felstead, Adam Gleadow, Dave Grabham, Chunky Morris, Ivan Sansom, Sid Slattery and Richard Stirling for the use of pictures on the Bennett Racing web site this season. "Thanks also to everyone at Eurodragster for all the news and event coverage", adds Luke (You're welcome - Ed). "If there is anyone else I have forgotten I apologise, but I get sent a lot of photos over the season." SCR takes on the Old Skool. 5th October: With most of the country under attack from severe bouts of stormy weather Saturday's Public Track Day Test and Tune at Shakespeare County Raceway got off lightly with only ninety minutes of track time being lost to the wet stuff, writes Jerry Cookson. Paying their first visit to the Raceway, the Old Skool Ford Drag Challenge fielded sixteen cars and did they have a ball! Playing to a very enthusiastic Ford-oriented audience, former nineties Rover V8 Championship standout Kev 'The Caveman' Jenkins squeezed every inch of horsepower from his XE Mk1 Ford Escort to end up as the quickest Old Skool racer with a personal best of 11.635/113.30 to his credit. Some of you may remember Kev from his racing days in a dealer supported 'Capitol Rover' 200 Coupe! Second quickest, and beating his previous best time of 11.8 set recently at Santa Pod, was Andy Harris with his 2.2 litre Pinto-powered Escort with a time of 11.674, followed by Jayson Elvy in another Escort at 11.933. However, once all the handicapping had been applied by the Old Skool administrators the trophies for the day were handed out to Retro Ford's photographer Tricky in a black RS2000, Ray White (100E) and Barry Payne's Mk1 Escort. Trophies were also awarded to Jayson Elvy for the day's Best Burnout, Hard Luck Award went to the legendary Ford engine specialist Ron Harris, Retro Ford's Editor Ben Morley picked up the 'Must Try Harder' trophy and Bob Wiggins the trophy for the most Outstanding Commitment to the day. "We had a blinding round of the Old Skool Ford Drag Challenge", said organiser Jo Peters. "Everyone really enjoyed themselves and we'll be back for more." Other highlights from the day included import racer James Rumsey in his Mitsubishi Evo 8 – the fastest in Europe – preparing for this weekend's Jap Show at Santa Pod. Although a faulty transmission oil seal halted the Evo's activities later in the day, while revving at 10,500 rpm James set a top time of 9.756 at 157.17 mph from the four consecutive sub ten-second runs. James was also on call with Japanese Performance magazine for an eight-page photo shoot later this year. Also seen practicing her moves on a Junior Drag Bike was Giselle Moor, daughter of Super Street Bike racer Fiona Moor. Riding a 125 cc machine constructed by dad Steve, Giselle ran a creditable eighth mile time of 12.506/52.69 on her third pass. Three-peat Wild Bunch champion Tony Smith run a new personal best with the 'Cunning Plan' Altered. Minus the body Tony ran 11.262. APIRA Clerk of the Course Richard Warburton also took a turn at the wheel of the 'Plan altered to finish of the day with a noteworthy 12.791 at 102.68 mph (See below - Ed). Unfortunately, as with the National Finals Sunday was a complete wash out as thunder and lightning struck the area mid-morning. However, the track's second Autumn scheduled Public Track Day Test and Tune takes place next weekend, about which more later. ©Eurodragster.com Turbo happy with it all. 5th October: UK Top Fuel Bike racer Ian Turburville says that although the UK National Finals was rained out, his one and only qualifying pass was a Personal Best and that the White Punks on Nitro achieved everything thye set out to do in their first year in ACU Top Fuel: We knew from the outset it would be difficult to find the perfect settings for our Pro Fuel set-up (no transmission, small slick) amongst the Top Fuel bikes and that it would be almost impossible for us to beat the blown four-cylinder Pumas. It was however fun trying and we had an exciting series of close match races with Steve Carey all year. Steve was the eventual winner of the coveted #1 plate in ACU Top Fuel Bike so we would like to congratulate him and his team on their achievement and thank them for a great season of racing. Team Turboville ended the 2006 season as ACU Top Fuel runner-up so proudly wear the TF2 plate next year. We also won the much prized Santa Pod Racers Club and the Avon Park International Racers Club Championships which makes us very proud. We would like to thank the staff and management at both tracks for the fantastic amount of hard work and effort they put into running these championships and for all the help they gave us at every race. I would like to thank the Crew Chief of the Year, Brum, for all his help and knowledge which was absolutely invaluable to me, and Carl for his support. Brum will be racing his own Triumph next season and we wish him and Carl every success. Special mention must go to Ian 'Rush' Carruthers for all his hard work in machining parts for the bike and helping out almost every day in the workshops, and to Ronny Aasen for all the input and advice for the past few seasons. I must also thank all the UK, drag racing paparazzi for all their beautiful contributions this year, there are too many to mention but their images are all important to us as is their friendship and, often, unpaid hard work (Such as our good friend Peter Donaldson, picture courtesy and © right). Our meagre achievements are of course dedicated to the late Jim McClure and Svein Gottenberg whom we hope are watching over us. They are our inspiration. The White Punks on Nitro team are looking forward to quicker times and faster racing next year in ACU Top Fuel with the continued support of our fantastic team members Custom Chrome, Red Line Oil, S&S Cycles, Gates Belts, Arias Pistons, Simpson, Jims, Sprint Dampers, Zodiac, Curbishley Automotive, Fast Lane Racing, Rush Racing, King Racing, PSI Lts, RST Wheels and any new sponsors that want to join the fun in 2007! Turbo adds that he has already been auditioning crew to replace Brum and Carl in 2007 (right, picture courtesy and ©Reuters/Stedman News). "It is going well and these two prospectives made the short list as they brought some valuable assets to the team with them", says Turbo. "It is felt that further in-depth training may be needed during the off-season one-to-one basis. Ian told us that candidates of similar calibre may still apply and that there is more to crewing than just spanners and oil so don't be put off if you are not an expert in nitro Harleys!" ©Eurodragster.com Cunning Plan runs Wild. 5th October: As many readers know from experience, running a race car is a huge effort, but Tony Smith of Team Cunning Plan has managed to combine a Championship-winning performance this season with training to become a race official. Here are Tony's thoughts on winning his third Wild Bunch Championship: Winning the Wild Bunch series twice was great, but to win it for the third time is unbelievable. This year has been a Team Cunning Plan effort, with Dave Williams helping out with the driving. My intention was to concentrate on training to be a MSA scrutineer and just enjoying myself with running the car at non-MSA meetings. This idea seemed to work for the first points round when I came fifth, then it all started to happen at the next event when I came first, with Dave also getting a first at the next event. We were never out of the top four for my last three rounds and ended up one point in front of Roy Wilding after six rounds. Roy had a extra chance with on the National Finals where if he got into the final, he would have beaten me, but as you know it was rained out. I would like to congratulate Roy on his Real Steel Series win and his second place in the Wild Bunch Series, well done. I would like to thank my crew Dave and Linda for their help during this year, which has been harder than normal, as they have had to prepare the car for most meetings while I have been scrutineering. I would also like to thank my sponsors for their help over the last few years, Alan from Newgate (Newark) Ltd, Les from Tonypandy Motor Co, Mike and Ian from Tuneup Autospares and also welcome a new sponsor for 2007, Gavin from Motorsport And Performance Solutions (MAPS) who make stainless steel exhausts for Competition and Performance use. They are based in Tonypandy in the heart of the South Wales Valleys and can be contacted on 01443 439771. ©Eurodragster.com For next year, I have put the new chassis on hold as I hope to have become a fully accredited scrutineer by next season. I have had to also cover other events including rallies, sprints and have a truck race meeting to do in a couple of weeks. So I have another iron in the fire to concentrate on for next year, but will still be doing as many rounds as I can with the old trusted car. I would also like to congratulate Richard Warburton for doing so well in my car at the weekend. Until the weekend he has never sat in the car, so we took the body off and gave him a few lessons. On his first run he clocked a tentative 17.60/70.58, but the next was a really good 12.79/102.68 mph. We asked if he wanted to have a go with the body on, but he declined, so I went out without the bidy for the first time in ages and ran a Personal Best time of 11.26/116.32 (previously 11.32). Well done Richard, a bit tight wasn't it? Pro ET: It's a lot of fun. 5th October: UK Pro ET racer Carla Pittau says that she can't believe that the season is over. "It's gone so fast but it's been so much fun", says Carla. "Congratulations to Top Banana Lee Huxley in the very consistent '32 Ford for conquering the triple crown this year: Pod, APIRA and National. Lee is a well-respected, experienced racer and an opponent never to be taken lightly, but always showing sportsmanship and fairness. A well-deserved win which I admit we would have preferred taking away from him, alas the rain and engine gods weren't with us this year, or that is our excuse and we are sticking to it. Dad Brian also managed a runner up in Sportsman ET in his very pretty blue Mustang (can this be considered his rookie year?) which will add to the weight of the silverware being collected in February. "Well done to Kevin Slyfield in the Yellow Belly Plymouth Belvedere too for taking away the runner up trophy from us (grrr) and doing it with so much humour. Kevin qualified number one during the first session on Saturday only to be ousted by John Atkinson, dangerously close behind in the race for number two, in the second session. However as the second session was not completed, with the last four cars stopped by rain including our own, John's second effort may well have been scrapped as a result. So Kevin rain-danced with vigour (yes, you can all blame him), whilst during the night John Atkinson was out mopping up the track with his handkerchief and sending Crew Chief Tom out for more toilet paper. "Kevin's prayers were not answered and the session was completed in the morning, but as the rain gods decided to finally quench his thirst we found ourselves cemented in the pre-race positions. So we stayed at number three - well at least we don't have to peel the number off the car - and John lost his shiny number one slipping to number four. Not to be sneezed at in a competitive, tough class like Pro ET. "Kevin also walked away with a considerable amount of money in his pocket, although this meant he had to part with the trusted Belvedere, having sold it to a German lady who will bring it back to race in Pro ET next year. So we all looked on whilst the old girl was loaded onto the new owner's trailer, and it was an emotional moment, for sure wife and Crew Chief Elaine was not happy to see it go, I understand the feeling completely. Kevin is now building something faster and hopefully we'll see it making its début next year, which should be some consolation for the loss of the old friend. "Looking at the big picture, Pro ET really has grown like a big family and it's always fun to be with our fellow racers, rain or shine. There were several emotional farewells in the pits and if Mike Lacey and Anna Metcalfe are really selfish and do not organise another Pro ET do soon (the last one being disguised as Anna's birthday party) we'll have to invent some other bench racing event - in the meantime we look forward to seeing you again at the Dinner Dance! "We would like to pass heartfelt thanks to the Santa Pod crew for the excellent efforts in drying the track at the National Finals and their hard work during the whole season, the whole Pro ET class for making racing so much fun, Bob Regis for generously building and running the Pro ET web site, and Carl Burton for organising the sponsorship deal for all of us. Remember to support the companies who support your racing: Inkwell Printers, Penn Autos, Psycle Workz, Sandy Scooters, A1 Motor Stores, WASP Webster Race Engineering, Toxico Clothing, Black Bear Harley Davidson, Alley Jax. "Thanks to Tog, Sharkman and Simon for the great gift to all of us of Eurodragster (You're too kind, and you're welcome - Ed) - and to Tog for test-driving the Heaven & Hell Camaro when we thought it may be too dangerous for us (Hang on a minute - Ed)." Rat Fink's year. 5th October: Lee Kirk, Crew Chief of the UK's Rat Fink Super Modified team, has been in touch with a review of the 7.6-second team's season: At the culmination of last years National Finals, we came to the decision that the cowl induction scoop setup was costing us a lot of power at the top end. Step forward number one winter project and a trip to Andy Robinson Race Cars for a new bonnet and Pro Stock scoop to be fitted. This was in February and with the early start to the season time was very much against us! After collecting the car from ARRC we were faced with a little over five weeks until the start of the season and needing a complete respray! After much deliberation I came up with a design and now we had the challenge of finding a local spray shop willing to tackle the job. Luckily a local body shop came up trumps and the car was hastily whisked round for her new clothes. During this madness, the engine had been removed and sent down to Clive Bond at Ultimate Race Cars for a freshen up and tickle over. Enter next headache! Now with only four weeks until the opening round, Clive discovered that the crankshaft had cracked and we were in need of a replacement! Now all we could do was sit back and wait for the new crank, rods, sump pan and external oil pump to arrive as time ticked away. By now we were less than a fortnight away, and the basic paint job was finished. Enter stage left Mark Gredzinski, who spent some eighteen hours without a break to stripe and detail the rest of the car, and she was ready for the rebuild! With time very much against us now, every night was spent reassembling the Camaro with new windows (twice! don't ask!), decals, trim and wiring. With a week to go she was finally together, sitting patiently in the workshop waiting for her rebuilt 509. Yeah, you guessed it...major problem! With the engine collected from URC on that evening, Tuesday's task was simply to fit the engine and give it a try. At 1:00 am Wednesday , two days before the first meeting, it happened; the new external oil pump fouled the steering rack, radiator and chassis and the engine refused to fit! A last minute manufacturing problem in the States meant that our first choice wasn't available, and the new pro pump was twice the size. As we stood there staring in disbelief, we were demoralised to say the least, and our initial thoughts were to give up. At this point team manager and SMRA track rep Barbara insisted that giving up was just not an option, so with next to no notice Clive Bond was winging his way up from Cheltenham with a hired tig welder in hand! Another eighteen-hour day ensued and after altering the chassis, steering rack and radiator mounts as well as getting a new pump bracket CNC'd, at around midnight on Wednesday the engine was in place! Thursday was spent wiring up and plumbing the nitrous system, plumbing in the lubrication system, fitting the transmission, adjusting the throttle linkage, setting up the clutch, topping up all the levels and charging the batteries. Oh yeah, and in between we found time to fit new rear slicks and rim screws! Thursday night was soon upon us and with another full day under our belts she was finished! As we unloaded Friday evening, the engine hadn't even been fired so apprehension was again at a high! After a pre-season from hell and a six-month layoff the motor burst into action and life was good once more! Now it was time to see if she went as good as she looked and with next to no clutch and a basic tune-up, 7.916 seconds later we had a new PB speed of 177.44. Mission accomplished! Sunday and eliminations were upon us, a no fuss 7.791 was the result at another PB speed of 178.48 as we advanced to round two . To set the tone for the year, weather curtailed any further proceedings but at least now we could finally relax! Next up was Easter at Santa Pod and after an opening pass of 7.837 at a low 171.66 mph, qualifying culminated Sunday night as Rat Fink disappeared off in to the twilight to record a new best ET of 7.709/177.13. Eliminations were once again a one round wonder affair, with a 7.721 taking us through to the semis before rain again halted play. At the Power Nationals, an off the trailer 7.728 at 177 was all we could muster throughout the day. Despite our best efforts, the year old clutch plates were crying foul and five sessions of qualifying were taking their toll. Still, another second place effort gave us plenty of encouragement. After advancing to round two with a 7.749 we decided that something had to be done if we were to stand a chance of winning. Cue a bellhousing removal and a last ditch effort to add every bit of weight we could to the worn clutch. Despite pulling to the line not really knowing what was going to happen, the Camaro leapt off the line like never before and suddenly we had the second quickest car ever under the current rules; 7.661/179.64...we'd arrived! For the final we were loaded up with every last ounce of Clive Bond Chevy power as we were desperate for a 7.5-second pass. Unfortunately for us, running behind the jet car had rendered our lane a skating rink; cue the worst tyre shake this side of Pro Modified! As the car coasted through the traps and Dad regained his sight, the full force of the shake became apparent. The tyres had ripped their way through the original '67 sills and torn the rear arches open like a tin of beans! The violence also tore out the wheel tubs and damaged the boot floor. Not the result we were after, and the Camaro was left needing some fairly major surgery. Whilst the car was being repaired, a new clutch was purchased and sent to Clive Bond for machining and assembly. A Hays Mark XII was chosen as it offered twice as much adjustment as the 3-fingered Ram design we were using previously. Not wanting to turn up to a Championship round with an untested clutch we entered into the dark depths of bracket racing and competed in Super Pro ET at The Main Event. With no idea what the clutch would respond like we put a light setting in and ran a 7.790 fresh off the trailer. Further passes yielded a 7.69, 7.67 and then finally another personal best of 7.653! Clutch worked then! After lucking through the first round we came unstuck in the second, largely due to being unable to see the bottom bulb from the left lane, not exactly ideal on a Sportsman tree! Next up was Santa Pod's Summernationals, and the thin summer air was testing everyone's tune up to the maximum. On Saturday night we were able to round out the show with another second place, our 7.747 only just being overcome by Rob Smallworth's 7.741! Sunday brought more warm weather and we were pleased to advance to the semis with a 7.754. The semis turned out to be our undoing this time around, as we were caught out by the weather. The weather conditions had improved quite significantly and our tune up just wasn't adjusted enough. As the Camaro shifted into high gear, there just wasn't enough fuel to support the oxygen enriched air and she started to stumble; our slowing 7.76 effort just couldn't handle the Ellis machine's 7.66 this time. ©Eurodragster.com At this stage we should have been loading up for the Bug Jam, but Dad slipped a disc playing golf and was left bed-bound for quite some time, which also left us with no chance of making the Hockenheim demo either. Some light relief presented itself at the European Finals as we were given the opportunity to crew for Danny Cockerill (well done Dan!), although it may turn out to have been a bad idea, as we have now decided we have to move into Pro Modified in the near future (keep 'em peeled, you never know...). This brings us to last weekend and Santa Pod's National Finals. After so much time away it was like new season again, and a 7.76 straight off the trailer provided us with plenty of promise and data. Back to the pits and we geared her up for another onslaught on the 7.50 zone, but I guess that'll have to wait until next year, as 2006 truly was the rainy season! After reflecting on the season, it's time to turn our thoughts to 2007 and how to improve. Despite wanting the number one plate this year, we're fairly happy with our third place finish in the points, especially after missing an event. Due to the new chassis regs, Rat Fink will once again be visiting Andy Robinson's shop over the winter to have a shiny funny car cage installed, as well as a few other bars. As the body will be removed we may also be taking the opportunity to cut some more '67 steel out of the shell in an attempt to remain on the Super Mod weight limit. Due to our engine size we are some two hundred pounds heavier than most anyway and the increased chassis weight will have to be offset somewhere else, besides 2820+ lbs is a big lump to be propelling at 180 mph! The only other major change for the coming season is that in a few weeks time I shall be emigrating to Bahrain to start a new job, so I'll have less time to spend working on the car, although I'm planning to travel back home for next year's events. It'll be a big change but I certainly won't miss the weather! So that was our year, and now it's time for the Thank Yous. Firstly to Clive Bond at Ultimate Race Cars, for not only providing the horsepower and all the help and advice throughout the year, but also for dropping everything and helping us in our time of need! Secondly, to Andy and Kate Robinson, plus all the staff at ARRC. Their service and support is second to none and as ever has been of tremendous help this year. A big thanks to Mark Gredzinski too, as he worked tirelessly to stripe the car and get it finished as soon as possible. A huge amount of gratitude must also go to the staff and crew at both tracks this year, I can't begin to imagine how demoralising it must be to keep working against the weather all year, many thanks guys, we literally can't do it without you. A final thanks has to go to all the guys and girls that make Super Modified such a great class to be a part of, especially those who have given Leanne and I such kind words about our impending adventure, it's greatly appreciated people. However, team owner and driver (my Dad) Andy says that the biggest thanks have to go to Mum Barbara as "If it wasn't for her support and endless sacrifice there wouldn't be a team at all. She makes it all possible and even finds time to cater for us at the track, work on the car and act as SMRA track rep as well". Well done once more to Team Ellis on their title defence, no mean feat in Super Modified! Here's to next year. Betts' thanks. 5th October: UK Fuel Altered pilot Tony Betts has asked us to say a big Thank You to the members of the Venom Racing team for their work in 2006. "This was the first year back for about five years for some of the team, and a whole new ball game for others", says Tony. "We always knew this would be our learning year, and it proved to be a very good one with Venom making the quickest Fuel Altered run ever in the NFAA with a 6.7-second timing slip and plenty more to come. We have been plagued with faulty parts all year even down to new parts being supplied with the wrong spec even though we stated what we wanted. ©Eurodragster.com "Still, the morale in the team has been excellent with the catering being the finest in pit row thanks to the efforts of Elaine and Kim. So that just leaves a team roll call and a massive thank you to Kevin, Steve, John, Nick, David, Mick, Barry, Andy and Stuart. I would also like to say a big thanks to all their other halves for letting them come out to play. Finally a big thanks to Lawrie and Judith for all their work in getting this great series off the ground. Next year can't come quick enough." Monique Pels. 4th October: We were very sorry to learn of the death early this morning of Monique Pels of the Zodiac Racing Supertwin team, after a long battle with cancer which she bore with exemplary courage. The Zodiac Racing team has always been a family affair and Monique attended the track with parents Ton and Marianne and brother Vincent from a very early age: she once told us that one of her favourite drag racing memories was being presented with flowers by Sammy Miller at Zandvoort at the age of fifteen. Monique and partner Bert added to the family with two dear children, Nikita and Indy. Even after Monique fell ill she could still be found at the track on occasion, and when absent was more concerned about others than herself. An example of this was when your News Editor was released from hospital in May and found upon opening his E-Mail that the first message in his mailbox was from Monique telling him to look after himself. The thought that we will never again see Monique's beautiful smile, be lifted off the ground by one of her hugs, or be cheered up by one of her E-Mails is hard to bear. European drag racing has developed a void which will be impossible to fill. We would like to send our love and sympathies to Ton and Marianne; to Bert, Nikita and Indy; to Vincent, Annemieke and Jaimey; and to all of Monique's family and friends. Ian King has posted a tribute page for Monique at www.moniquetribute.blogspot.com. If you would like to send your own tribute then please E-Mail ian@kingracing.com. UK National Finals NFAA review. 3rd October: The UK National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway was eagerly awaited by all of the Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association teams and the adrenalin was pumping as they looked forward to rounding off the 2006 season in style, says Series Promoter Lawrie Gatehouse: Inevitably there were some notable non-runners due to damage or awaiting parts. These included The Mob, Time Warp, Freddy's Revenge, Burning Desire and Dirty Harry IV - but they will be back for 2007. Saturday's first round showed promise as the teams dialled into the well-prepared track hoping for some new PBs. First up was Xtreme Bob Glassup paired with Joe (007) Bond in Nuthin' Fancy. Both launched well but Bob had to shut off at half track with transmission woes, handing the 8.33/160.65 win to the continually improving Joe. Next we had Venom versus Bennett Racing, Frank Bennett needing the points to close the gap on Clayton Round, the points being very close at this stage. On the green, Tony Betts cut a slightly better light and recorded 1.058 at sixty feet and 4.33 at the eighth. Frank was chasing hard as the big mill churned out the HP, with a 1.139 at sixty feet and 4.772 at half track. Unfortunately for Tony, a valve seat dropped, taking a valve head and piston with it amidst much smoke at a thousand feet. A great shame because Venom was charging - probably a low six at around 220 mph was on the cards. Frank Bennett meanwhile steamed by the stricken Nitro car to a 7.46/181.36 to take the win and the points. A good side-by-side pairing was judged by all. ©Eurodragster.com The final pair was series leader and defending champion Clayton Round in Rebel 'T', matched against John Wright in Chaos. Clayton laid down a stormin' burnout to around half track, reminiscent of Wild Willy, which ultimately earned him valuable points. Chaos wasn't sounding quite right on the burnout and on the back-up the headers were starting to glow, so John actuated the high side lever to put more fuel in, hoping to cool the motor. At the hit, Clayton pulled a holeshot, with 1.046 at sixty feet, 4.576 at the eighth, culminating in almost a PB, 7.202/183.65. Chaos, meantime, launched hard and just past the tree, popped with a little flame out of the left-hand cylinder bank and then died. First examination in the pits revealed very little oil in the diaper, but big splits in the girdle and top to bottom in the block. It looked like #1 and #2 rods had departed, possibly caused by a hydraulic moment in #1 cylinder, the nitro burning in the headers, rather that the combustion chambers...time to raid the piggy bank again! The heavens opened around the time for round two, so it was finis for the day. Sunday dawned with reasonable weather after a stormy night and the four remaining BBFAs were in the staging lanes ready to run when the wet stuff came down again and again. The track crew toiled ceaselessly, but to no avail, so the meeting had to be called. Clayton Round successfully defended his 2005 title - congratulations to him and all his crew. Commiserations go to Bennett Racing, who tried so hard and kept Clayton honest all year, and to all of Frank's team. Third place goes to Bob Glassup and well-deserved too. In my book, all NFAA members are winners and have put on a very good show all season long, with good co-ordination, superb side-by-side passes and many personal bests. Hopefully we will be judged by others to have been entertaining - we have all enjoyed the season tremendously. It is expected that the NFAA will be able to field an additional four to six cars for 2007. We can hardly wait. Now it's time to regroup and plan to be better and faster for next year, but we can't guarantee to be any straighter down the quarter mile! Japs head for the eights. 3rd October: This Sunday's JapShow Finale at Santa Pod Raceway features an impressive entry list of over thirty competitors in the Do-Luck Pro Shootout competition, says Jo Reed of Santa Pod. "These are the quickest import street cars and are heading towards the eights!", says Jo. "We've also got plenty of Run What You Brung track time on Sunday for Jap cars only, but the track will be open to everyone on Saturday for you to test yourself and see what your car can do! ©Eurodragster.com "At the JapShow Finale we will have the Fireforce 3 Jet Funny Car along with drag racing demos by Nev Mottershead in his Team Valvoline Super Pro ET Toyota Supra and six Super Street Bikes including Jamie Sneddon on his Honda Blackbird and Graham Dance on his Suzuki TL. Along with the 1900+ club cars on display there are sure to be some amazing Japanese machines proving that the Beasts from the East are just as popular over here than they are in their home country!" Tickets will be available on the gate. For more information check out www.japshow.co.uk or call 01234 782828. Swift snippets. 3rd October: Don't forget that 19:00 this evening (Tuesday) is the deadline for bids for the Ford Ranger truck auction to benefit the Pat Ginn Appeal. The high bid is currently £2400; if you would like to send in your own bid then please E-Mail eurodragster.com@btinternet.com. Matthew Wright has asked us to add a big Thank You to Perry Antoniou for his donation to the Appeal. We are very sorry to have to say farewell to Jo Holland of Eurodragster.com news sponsor Motorsport News, who is moving from the Sporting Scene desk to the National Rallying desk. MN's drag racing coverage thrived under Jo's stewardship. She never stopped thinking of ideas to cover the sport and we were very pleased to work closely with her on a weekly basis. We never managed to get Jo into a race car but we hold onto the hope that she will tire of getting muddy and cold and come back to us, and then we can strap her struggling into the Two Seat Dragster. Good luck and thank you Jo. ©Eurodragster.com UK Super Mod racer Andy Kirk says that despite suffering his back injury on the golf course he would like to start a Drag Racing Golf Society as he did not realise how many of his fellow racers enjoy spoiling a good walk. "It would provide an opportunity for like-minded people to get together, have a laugh and an enjoyable round whilst at the same time raising a few quid for racing-related charity", says Andy. "If you have any tie-in to racing at all and can find your way around a golf course, E-Mail your contact details to me at kirk.family@ntlworld.com and let me know how you are associated with drag racing and your handicap, if you have one". Stay tuned for Andy's season review. Fatty's new outlook. 3rd October: Whilst over the moon with the team's Championship win, 2006 Real Steel Street Eliminator UK Champion Ian Hook says that Saturday night helped put things in perspective. ©Eurodragster.com "I had the honour of having Pat Ginn as my passenger for the second leg of the very wet and very dark Street Eliminator cruise", says Fatty. "What a friendly, happy and incredibly brave lady - and brave on more than one count. Not just in the way she is dealing with her illness but also the fact the she didn't seem at all fazed with the constant misting up of the windscreen, and she even remained in high spirits when the wiper packed up. We ended up just trying to follow the lights of the car in front and hoping that they could see the road ahead (So that's how you ended up on some guy's front driveway - Ed)! Arriving back at our pit once it had all finished I fell out of the car, totally stressed out, whilst Pat was as bubbly as when we'd set out from the fuel stop. "Pat, it was an honour to have you in the car and I wish you and TJ all the best. Our hearts are with you and hope that the possibility of alternative medication, reported on Eurodragster last week, works out well for you." It's Thank You from me... 3rd October: Pat Ginn has been in touch to thank Santa Pod Raceway's crew, staff, security, racers, riders, spectators, fans and everyone else for another great weekend. "It was a shame about the weather but it gave me a chance to catch up with a few people", says Pat. "A big thank you to Matthew Wright and his lovely partner Sue for all their help at the weekend, their hard work with the truck auction and arranging for me to go on the Cruise. That was fantastic, a bit hairy, but great. Thank you to the guys who let me go on the Cruise with you, it was great and I don't know how you manage to control those cars. You are brilliant. ©Eurodragster.com "Thank you Charles from 51st State Autos for donating the truck, it's lovely and very generous. Thank you Ron Haslett for holding the Coffee Morning and organising a band. That was great, hope you got some good donations for Macmillan nurses. They deserve it, they are gems of the earth. We met Debbie Hancox' mum and dad at the weekend. I would just like to say what a lovely couple and you know where we are if you need to talk or meet up - please call. "Thank you Neil Midgley and Cannon for letting us crew with you all season, it was real good fun and sorry for making you wear wings. Thank you everyone for all your kind donations, hopefully you will all benefit from this Appeal one way or another. If I have missed anyone I'm sorry, but I'm very forgetful lately. Anyway stay in touch all of you, I will hopefully see you in Gainesville (doctors' decision), if not it will be at the Dinner and Dance. Look out for the new hairstyle." ...and it's Thank You from him. 3rd October: Ron Haslett, who was also raising money for charity last weekend, says that he has had a great season with his wild Cortina, but that things might not be lookign so good for next year. "With a new set-up in the car we were just looking to move on bit by bit and not worry about being reliable yet", says Ron. "Apart from the dizzy drive breaking in round three it's been ultra reliable and the new spider system from the Wizard of Nos has been amazing. I set set our goals around the 10.6 mark so to run 9.90 was a year ahead of where I thought we would be. On the down side we have lost our sponsors who have been really good to us over the last three to four years, so I'd like to thank them for their help and support. Unless we can find another sponsor I don't feel we can run next season so a few tough decisions need to be made. It's even more difficult when we look at the performance levels we are now getting from the car. "Anyway that's enough of the bad stuff. I cannot thank enough the people who helped me raise raise so much money for Macmillan this year. Our Coffee Morning on Saturday wasn't dampened by the weather. We raised £772 on the day of which I had great pleasure in donating £200 to the Patt Ginn Appeal. That's a running total of £1984, plus the collection pots which have yet to be counted. ©Eurodragster.com "All that's left is to say a massive thank you for my crew who did a superb job in making tea and coffee all day, and to Redcoat Racing and the Lazenbys for lending me members of their crews. I've also got to thank the people who donated all the prizes, and the band who I thought were fantastic for keeping you all entertained on Saturday evening. Thank you to Speedflow, Comet Clothing, Chris Johnson and team, Wizard of Nos, Brian Anker, American Car World, Oaktree Property Management, Hairy John, Insane Creations, Power Point Communications, Santa Pod, the Wild Bunch, Paul Marston, Roger Goring and the Firestorm team, Dave Wilson, Shakespeare County Raceway, and Eurodragster.com. "And finally thank you to John Price for plugging the Coffee Morning all day - I think the cake we sent up helped." Web site updates. 3rd October: Markus Münch of Eurodragster.com news sponsor Dragracer.de magazine has been in touch to let us know that the new issue is now available. "There are reports from the Nitrolympx, Veidec Festival, Alastaro Nitro Nationals, Street Eliminator in Germany and UK, Das Drag Day, and an incredible amount of words (sorry, only in German ) and Pictures", says Markus. For detals on how to buy your copy, or how to subscribe, check out www.dragracer.de. Our good friend Peter Donaldson has updated his photographic site with pictures from the weekend's UK National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out Peter's excellent shots at peterdonaldson5305.fotopic.net. ©Eurodragster.com Santa Pod Raceway's web site has been updated with Roger Gorringe's report and pictures from the UK National Finals, which you can find at www.santapod.co.uk/e_nat_finals.php. Feature: Dave Newbery's Top Fuel Bike. 2nd October: For the latest in Eurodragster.com's occasional series of features we caught up with the UK's Dave Newbery to check out his progress preparing his Top Fuel Bike for competition. We spoke to Dave about his racing history, the work to rebuild the bike since its acquisition, his plans for the bike's début, and his thoughts about getting on such a machine. ©Eurodragster.com Click here view the feature, or click on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Editor's note: As the closed season is upon us we would be glad to hear from any racers who would like to be the subject of a feature on Eurodragster.com. Distance is not a problem, we can either visit or carry out the interview by E-Mail. If you are interested then drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com and we'll make the arrangements. Seeing where you're going is for wimps. 2nd October: Matthew Wright of Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Gleeson Wright Security made his first outing in Real Steel Street Eliminator at the UK National Finals this weekend and has been in touch to let us know how it went, as well as bringing us up to date on the Pat Ginn Appeal including the Ford Ranger auction: We went to the event with the intention of running some numbers on treads. After spending Friday at Webster Race Engineering making some major changes to the set-up of the truck we were all fired up to run in the nines. Our one and only run of the weekend only netted a 10.2 but we did get some info out of the run. We were then robbed by the good old British weather, so we sat and pondered wtehre we would make it through the Cruise. Since the new chassis and rebuild by B + J Race Cars I have never run the truck on the street, only down to the MoT station which did involve a trailer, so we had no idea what was going to happen. We made some inprovments to the water system with the purchase of the biggest radiator in the world from Steve Nash, aka Splinter, at a very far price I must add. We also added a new header tank and during a trip to Halfords for a rear number plate which I had left at home I grabbed a thermostat with the hope that it might slow the flow from the electric water pump. We fitted it at the last minute and only tested it ten minutes before the dreaded cruise. The truck sat in the pits on 200 degrees, with an untested alternator we didn't hold out much hope of completing. Off we went with Bill Felstead by my side and Sue in the Pat Ginn Appeal auction truck behind, with tow rope ready. All went OK down to the gate and then heavens opened up. Wipers on...no wipers. 1000 hp in the rain no wipers and a very nervous passenger - do we give up or do we try? We didn't give up. I drove to the fuel stop by focusing on the car lights in front, then on to the hot start in Wellingborough with a new style of heads-out-of-the-window driving (Originally pioneered by Colin Lazenby listening out for an odd noise - Ed) and Bill giving me Golden Shot-style instructions - "Left a bit, right a bit, sh*t that was close". At the hot start, Bill was frantically trying to make a wiper from the blade and an aerial. We did the hot start no problem, then as we pulled off the rain stopped, oh there is a god, with a big sigh of relief from both of us we cruised back with a temperature of 190 degrees and the alternater doing its job. We made it back, as did all the mad bunch of mega horsepower SE cars. What an experience. As for the rest of the weekend, a wet time was had by all. On Saturday night we all enjoyed the band in Ron Haslett's pit and few drinks in the bar. As for Sunday, well we all know the rain dogged the day. The Pod crew just don't give up do they, but unfortunately the weather beat us. ©Eurodragster.com I need to thank an awful lot of people. Firstly Ron Haslett and all the generous people who either donated or bought tickets for the Macmillan Trust raffle, Ron split the proceeds and handed me £200 for Pat's appeal, thank you so much mate. Thanks to the legend John Rrice for the donation of some real nice autographed framed photos of famous bike racers. As for the Ford Ranger auction, the bid so far stands at £2000 so come on guys. This is a very kind donation from Charles at 51st State Autos, which we used the truck at the weekend and she's a good little truck with a year's MoT, some tax and a year's warranty. Get bidding, the auction ends at 19:00 tomorrow (Tuesday), just E-Mail eurodragster.com@btinternet.com. Thanks also to my crew Sue and Bill, and to all the SE racers for welcoming us into their mad world of road-legal race cars. A big thank you to Andy Frost and Ian Hook who ticked off a wish on Pat's list by taking her on the Cruise. Not bad, hey a ride out in the world's quickest street car and the ride back in the 2006 Champion's car, fantastic, thanks guys. Last but not least thanks to Tog of Eurodragster for the help in setting up Pats appeal (You're welcome - Ed) and please, please keep the donations coming. Thank You to one and all. If you want to contribute to the Pat Ginn Appeal then the bank is Barclays, the account name is The Pat Ginn Appeal, the sort code is 20-20-37 and the account number is 23409724. Pat's sister Liza has set up a web site for Pat which includes a biography, wish list and updates on the latest events to aid Pat's appeal. You can find the Potty Pat web site at www.pottypat.me.uk. Swift snippets. 2nd October: Congratulations to Clayton Round and the Rebel T team who have won the Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association Championship for the second year in succession. "Clayton and Frank Bennett swapped the lead all through the year", Series Promoter Lawrie Gatehouse told Eurodragster.com. "Clayton won by five hundred points last year but it was a lot closer this time." NFAA racer John Wright asked us to pass on his thanks to Sean, Danny, Tush, Tony and Les for helping him through his first season in the Chaos Fuel Altered. "Thanks also to Lawrie Gatehouse for putting me back in the seat and for an excellent NFAA series", says John, "it's great to have so many events to run at right here in the UK. Thanks also to our sponsors PSIL, Lucas Oil and Flint Insurance. All of my Top Fuel stuff has got to go (see Swap Meet) to make room for Chaos for some winter time refinement and refurbishment. We hope to be out early next season for some pre-series testing, weather permitting!" ©Eurodragster.com Also in grateful mood is Collin Morrice who asked us to thank Geof Hauser for the opportunity to race in Jay Hauser's Junior Dragster at the National Finals. "I greatly appreciated it", says Collin. "It's just a shame the event could not be finished, but still a big well done and thanks to the track crew who didn't give up! Also a big well done to Scott Hauser for winning the National Championship. I would also like to say a big thanks to Eurodragster for the great reports and pictures for the past year!". Thanks very much Collin. Andy of the UK's Artful Dodger Super Pro ET team has been in touch to send his best wishes to Mark Flavell who was injured when the MFR dragster ran him over at Santa Pod on Saturday. "We would like to wish Mark a speedy recovery, and hope to see him in our rear view mirror next season!", says Andy. Also staying with Mark Flavell Racing, we would like to thank Mark's crewman Steve for a great evening to celebrate his fortieth birthday at the weekend". We're sure that everyone will join us in sending their own best wishes to Mark. Our best wishes also to SPRC Race Official Phil Brown who is in hospital following a bad accident at work. "Phil and his wife Avril have always been great to all the racers and we wish him all the best in his recovery", says Andy of the Artful Dodger team. As the Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards were not won at the UK National Finals at the weekend, we will be donating the unclaimed prize money to the Pat Ginn Appeal and the Macmillan Cancer Fund. The UK National Finals was the last event in the 2006 Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards Scheme and we are sure that everyone will join us in thanking Fay Fischer at Speedflow and Lee Child at LA Racing Parts for supporting the Scheme again this year. As the Bahrain Drag Racing Club International Drag Festival approaches, a new motorsport site has been launched in the Kingdom. Motorox.net went on-line on 15th September and BDRC President Fahad Taqi tells us that it is all set to be one of the best web sites in the Kingdom and that it has already been giving the BDRC good coverage. Motorox.net President Hamed Almahari recently presented Fahad with a crystal trophy in recognition of the co-operation between the Club and the web site. Web site updates. 2nd October: Jamie Dyls has updated his web site with photographs of Saturday's action at the UK National Finals. You can check out Jamie's pictures at www.freewebscom/topnitro. ©Eurodragster.com 2006 UK Champions. 1st October: Subject to ratification the 2006 UK Champions are as follow. Congratulations to: MSA British Drag Racing Championship: Rob Turner, runner-up Dave Wilson Super Modified: Team Ellis, runner-up Rob Smallworth Super Pro ET: Martyn Jones, runner-up Nick Spence Pro ET: Lee Huxley, runner-up Kev Slyfield Sportsman ET: Geoff Cowley, runner-up Brian Huxley Super Comp: Chris Johnson, runner-up Shaun Lathan Super Gas: Tim Adam, runners-up Steve Dunn/Jon Evans Super Street: Bob Lees, runner-up John Grant Junior Dragster: Scott Hauser, runner-up Nick Mugridge 9.50 Bike: Andy Bird, runner-up Richard Sawatzki Street Eliminator: Ian Hook, runner-up TBC Sportsman ET had to go to a tie-breaker as Geoff Cowley and Brian Huxley ended up on equal points. Geoff has won three events this year and Brian one, so Geoff takes the title. ©Eurodragster.com ACU Top Fuel Bike: Steve Carey, runner-up Ian Turburville ACU Funny Bike: Neil Midgley, runner-up Tim Blakemore ACU Pro Stock Bike: Dave Beck, runner-up Len Paget ACU Comp Bike: Kev Charman, runner-up Phil Leamon ACU Super Street Bike: Jamie Sneddon, runner-up Steve Venables Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association: Clayton Round, runner-up Frank Bennett Wild Bunch Real Steel Series: Roy Wilding, runner-up TBC VW Pro: Glynn Morgan, runner-up Martin Charles VW Sportsman: Paul Herbert, runner-up Graham Fairhead VW Alternate Engine: Matt Finney, runner-up Mark Skeen NAST Supertwin Fuel: Wendy Clutterbuck, runner-up Duncan Hocking NAST Supertwin Gas: John Floyd, runner-up Jerry Collier NAST Supertwin Street: Dave Jones, runner-up Steve Folds NAST Supertwin Modified TBC UK National Finals rained out. 1st October: This weekend's UK National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway was called off after persistent rain started almost as soon as eliminations commenced. Rain also affected Saturday's qualifying as only one complete cycle was completed. ©Eurodragster.com You can view our American Car Imports-sponsored reports and pictures by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Our good friend Gareth Evans has also updated his UK1320 web site with end-day galleries, which you can view at www.uk1320.com. The 2006 UK National Champions will be posted here very shortly. Earlier news