Europe in the USA week 2. 30th October: Eurodragster.com sponsors Derek Flynn and Michael Manners will be flying their flags for Europe in today's Top Alcohol Dragster dragster eliminations at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals. Danish Top Fuel Dragster racer Stig Neergard (right) unfortunately failed to qualify for the large and tough TF field. You will be able to stay in touch with Derek's and Mike's progress courtesy of our Drag Race Central colleagues at www.dragracecentral.com. Good luck guys and stay safe. Andersens mull options. 31st October: Danish Top Fuel Dragster team Andersen Racing are currently spending their time evaluating on the 2010 season, as well as preparing for the next season. Karsten Andersen says that at the moment the big challenge is to find the right driver for 2011 both in Europe and in the USA: For Andersen Racing racing it's all about winning and taking the team's performance to the next level. This requires a unique driver. A driver with the right instinct, the right attitude and the right qualifications. Without that kind of driver, Andersen Racing would rather park the car than race at all. These are some of the thoughts of the Andersen Racing team at the moment. Should the car in fact be parked for the 2011 European Championship or will a deal be closed with the right driver? Or will the car simply be shipped to the US for racing over there only, because this is where the right driver wants to race? Remember: anything can happen in racing, so stay tuned for the next Andersen Racing update. You just might be surprised... Flame and Thunder Show gallery. 31st October: In association with American Car Imports we have posted a gallery of shots from yesterday's Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out our F&T gallery by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Many thanks to photographer Julian Hunt for standing in for Roger, who is in Las Vegas. Web site updates. 31st October: In the latest instalment in his exclusive Racer Blog presented in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car, Dutch Top Fuel Dragster racer Lex Joon brings us up to date with his efforts to race in the USA again. As ever you can stay in touch with the latest Blog updates by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Europe in the USA week 2. 30th October: European fans will have plenty to cheer for at this weekend's NHRA Las Vegas Nationals as Stig Neergard will be racing in Top Fuel Dragster and Eurodragster.com sponsors Derek Flynn and Michael Manners will be contesting Top Alcohol Dragster. Roger writes from Las Vegas (Thanks Roger - Ed) that Mike Manners (below left) admitted to having highs and lows this season, the lows included a lot of going into instant smoke recently in his Shredder A/Fuel Top Alcohol Dragster. "I think we have found the problem" he told Roger. "I bought a lot of used Top Fuel clutch discs and they proved too hard, it locked up the clutch and blew the tyres off. I contacted the manufacturer and was told never to use Top Fuel discs in Top Alcohol Dragster, so we have replaced them and now we'll see what it does". It had the desired effect as Mike left the line on the first qualifier in true good style and posted a reasonable 5.57/261, the second qualifier was held as the sun had gone down and a 5.52/258 was the result for Friday's sessions, good for twelfth spot. Derek Flynn is driving Larry Miersch's A/Fueller (above right), completely decked out with the Gold RV signage for this race. Derek's first qualifier on Friday morning ended with a tyre smoking 11.11. A bit of team thrashing on the car earned them a respectable 5.52/261 in the second qualifier held under the track lights which put Derek in eleventh with one more qualifier to go before eliminations start this afternoon. "It's so great to be back racing in Vegas and meeting up with everyone again", Derek writes from Vegas. "Q1 was disappointing, up in smoke after about forty feet and off the throttle, which left us last. After a few adjustments which we thought would calm the car down a little we fared much better in Q2 with a 5.52 which moved us up to eighth but by the end of the session we had been bumped back. But with some heavy hitters behind us we want to try and hop it up a little moore and maybe improve on our eleventh spot. The schedule has us running Q3 around 1:00 pm in the heat of the day; we are not sure but we may even be running against Mike Manners which would be neat, side by side Brits in Vegas, how cool is that? At the moment we have the bragging rights as we pipped mike by a mere 0.003. Eliminations will be late in the day or even night which will be good for the A/Fuellers as it will be a lot cooler. Apart from Mike I have met up with quite a few Brits out here who have come by to say hi and wish us luck which has been great. I am really hoping we can make it through to Sunday, but it will be tough. Special thanks to all the team here and thanks also to my Gold RV partner Gary Jenkins who is covering for both Fiona and I." Today's schedule features more Top Fuel Dragster qualifying and Top Alcohol qualifying and eliminations and you will be able to stay in touch with our heroes' progress courtesy of our Drag Race Central colleagues at www.dragracecentral.com. Good luck guys and stay safe. A classic look for Zed. 30th October: UK HKS Pro and Comp Eliminator racer John Bradshaw is delighted to announce that his Project Zed Nissan 350Z will undergo a substantial makeover in preperation for the 2011 season. "Following discussions with both Motul and Nissan UK I am delighted to show pictures of the car in its new 2011 livery", says John. "The car carries over the famous and traditional livery of many previous and current famous Motul, Nissan/Nismo race cars into the drag racing world and we are absolutely delighted with the new look. Many many thanks to both Motul and Nissan and we hope that we can really produce some fantastic results in 2011, get some fantastic coverage along the way, and reward both accordingly. "2010 was the year when we finally smashed the record books with our Nissan Skyline "Project GTST and we are still over the moon; four years' hard work was finally rewarded and it's the right time to give the car a rest for a while. We will no doubt roll the Skyline back out at some stage in the future as we still think we have a tenth or two left in her, but all focus now has to be on the 350Z." The team is in great shape for 2011 with the 350Z, with no less than three engines ready and waiting for the new season. "The team has really come a long way since 2007 and whilst finances are still a real challenge, we are in a fantastic position now in comparison to the early years", says John. "We have a lot to learn with the car in relation to general chassis and clutch set up, but having the chance to run the car properly towards the back end of 2010 has given us so much datalogging information and initial set up information. We will use exactly the same approach with the 350Z as we used with the Skyline in terms of gentle but constant improvement going forward. Horsepower is not an issue at this stage and rather than overpower the car too early we will walk before we can run. It was great to see sixty foot times tumbling to 1.02 in a short space of time and with more experience and more runs we expect to see that drop below one second. As for ETs - well, we shall see as time goes on but the team is absolutely focused on seeing the car hit regular sixes sooner rather than later. "On a final note a huge personal thank you to Abbey Motorsport who continue to work absolute wonders. Their commitment is just incredible. We also have a very big thank you to say to our sponsors Motul, Nissan UK, Sanyo UK, AET Turbos, Gizzmo, Kelford Cams, Darton, Reggiani and Swedecor, who have been incredible and who are all very excited about 2011. Thanks to everyone for their kind words and support over the last year. We can't wait for the 2011 season which will hopefully include our first trip to Hockenheim. "There will soon be more updates on our web site at www.bramsracing.com, and our Facebook page continues to grow - just enter Brams Racing. "For now it's back to the day job and earning points at home with a huge DIY list!" Jolink's victory lap. 30th October: After celebrating his thirty fifth year in drag racing with the European Top Gas Series title and new PBs over sixty feet (1.185), the eighth (5.162/216.87 kmh) and the quarter (8.275/258.23), Ducati rider Herman Jolink is spending the off-season promoting the sport, most recently at the Intermot Show at Köln in Germany. "At Intermot there were 210,000 visitors, mostly from Germany and The Netherlands but also from Europe and the rest of the world", says Herman. "We had a very nice corner stand of 5 x 7 metres which generated a lot of interest from the presss and the public in the Ducati 1198 RS drag bike. "Between the Wednesday and the Sunday I did daily rolling burnouts preceded by an interview with Thomas Deitenbach who did a very good job. The visitors liked the music and power of the world's quickest Ducati over the quarter mile on high-octane petrol and with four 38 Dell Orto Carburettors." Herman has a very busy promotional schedule over the next few months. You will be able to find him at: 26th-28th November: Motor Event, Hardenberg NL 8th-9th January: Motorcycle Show, Donau Hallen, Ulm D 14th-16th January: Motorcycle Show, Schleyer Halle, Stuttgart D 4th-6th February: Motorcycle Show, Leipzig D (provisional) 24th-27th February: Motorcycle Show, Jaarbeurs, Utrecht NL 4th-6th March: Motorcycle Show, Dublin, Eire 11th-13th March: Motorcycle Show, Freiburg D Swift snippets. 30th October: A day late because we didn't know about it, but now that we do we would like to say a very Happy Birthday for yesterday (Friday) to MSA British Drag Racing Championship PR and gentleman of the old school Robin Jackson. Hope you had a great day Robin. Europe in the USA week 2. 29th October: European fans will have plenty to cheer for at this weekend's NHRA Las Vegas Nationals as Stig Neergard will be racing in Top Fuel Dragster and Eurodragster.com sponsors Derek Flynn and Michael Manners will be contesting Top Alcohol Dragster. Top Fuel Dragster and Top Alcohol qualifying both commence today (Friday) and you will be able to stay in touch with our heroes' progress courtesy of our Drag Race Central colleagues at www.dragracecentral.com. Good luck guys and stay safe. Dutch Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com Blogger Lex Joon has confirmed that he will not be racing in Las Vegas but added that he is working hard on funding the funding for the Finals at Pomona. UK Junior Dragster driver Paige Wheeler together with dad Andy, mum Dionne and younger sister Belle arrived at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals on Thursday and although all suffering jet lag went along to the Fremont Street Experience on the same evening to join In-N-Out Burger Funny Car driver Melanie Troxel and twenty four other top NHRA drivers in an autograph signing session. Paige sat alongside Melanie studiously signing hundreds of her Alamo-sponsored Junior Dragster hero cards, she was also introduced on stage and interviewed by announcer Bob Frey. After a two-hour signing session Paige joined Melanie on a several hundred feet long high wire slide above the huge throng of race fans. "I was a little nervous at first about being on stage and the interview before the signing", Paige said, but after a few minutes she was signing like a Pro driver. What was it like being with Melanie, Eurodragster.com Photo Editor Roger Gorringe asked? "Quite cool - no, brilliant"  Paige replied. Swift snippets. 29th October: We have a birthday on the Eurodragster.com staff today. Please join Kirstie, Tog, Simon and Roger in wishing a big Happy Birthday to US Correspondent, anglophile and all-round good guy Ed O'Connell. Have a great day Ed and we are counting the days until we see you again, assuming that the Swedish police don't get to you first. Santa Pod Raceway are offering 20% discount on spectator tickets for all race and lifestyle events in 2011 if purchased before 31st January 2011. Only Run What You Brung and Drift What You Brung events are excluded. For more information check out www.santapod.com. Some eagle-eyed readers have noticed the disappearance from our Event Coverage list of of Day 2 of this weekend's Halloween Bonfire Burn-up at Shakespeare County Raceway. There is nothing sinister in its removal; Eurodragster.com News Editor Tog was going to photograph the event but has instead decided to take part in the Bracket Gambler race. Web site updates. 29th October: Thanks to Swiss Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Urs Erbacher for alerting us to a feature on one of his Fat Attack custom bikes on Cyril Huze's Blog. You can check out the feature at www.cyrilhuzeblog.com. Urs has also sent a brochure about the latest Open Day and party at his Arlesheim base. The brochure is in PDF format and you can check it out by clicking here. Talking with Micke Gullqvist. 28th October: Swedish Pro Modified racer Micke Gullqvist has been in the spotlight for many reasons this year. He started it all off by finishing runner-up at the NHRA Gatornationals and then, at Atlanta, making history as the first European ever to win an NHRA National event. Later back in Europe he joined the prestigious Five Second Club, won the FHRA Nitro Nationals and the Swedish Championship and just narrowly missed the FIA European Pro Modified Championship, and ended the season by selling his stunning '57 Chevy Bel Air. In an interview for Speedgroup Club Europe, Åsa Kinnemar spoke to Micke about his season and about his plans for 2011. First of all...wow! Can you comment on the season and the "happenings" it produced for you? It was an overwhelming year at times for sure. I learned a lot of things racing in the US, not only the racing itself, but I also got a great inside view on NHRA drag racing and the operation of a professional team. At the Gatornationals in March I red-lit in the final and I was extremely disappointed with myself, thinking I just blew the chance of winning the biggest event of my life. I mean, when would I ever get the chance to win the final of an NHRA National event again? At that point it seemed very distant, but the incredible answer to that was just a few weeks away, when legendary Alcohol F/C racer Bob Newberry called me and asked if I wanted to drive one of R2B2 team owner Roger Burgess' cars in Atlanta. I think Bob had a lot of trust in me as a driver and convinced Roger to bring me over when there was an opening. And then I just had to win when I got that second chance! One thing followed the other and we had one car shipped over to Europe for Melanie Troxel to drive as my R2B2 team-mate. I believe this was a great promotion for European drag racing and it got a lot of attention. Other highlights of the season include winning at Alastaro and the race against my friend Mats Eriksson in the semi-final at Hockenheim, winning an extremely close race. How come you decided to sell the '57 Chevy and do you know what the new owner's plans are for the car? I've raced with the '57 since 2004 and when I was approached by a potential buyer during the season, I thought it was a good time to make some changes. I sold it to a Swedish team and they will run some other classes with it. I don't think it will run in Pro Modified in the near future. What are you plans for the off-season? Right now, I'm on my way to Atlanta for some meetings about next season and to decide what I should drive next. At some point soon, we'd better start working on the next project. Meanwhile we're going through other equipment such as the trailer and other things. Any thoughts you can share looking ahead towards the 2011 season? For instance, any goals you are aiming for performance-wise, will you still be in Pro Mod, and will you run the full Championship season? I'm always excited about running another season in Pro Mod and that's my plan right now. But before everything is in place you never know; before I have another car ready to go, things can change. I'm not too worried about performance, I want to win races. Of course you need performance to win, but it's more important to be consistent than to set records. It's always hard to predict performance, but I'm sure it will be necessary to run 5.9s pretty consistently at some point. I have three Championship runner-ups and one win over the last five years, so I'm getting a bit bored with having a #2 on the car. I think we've done very well in previous years, it's just that things need to progress now and then. Forty three drivers earned Championship points in Pro Mod this season which makes it by far the biggest and also one of the most competitive classes. Any reflections why it is so attractive and what do you think we can expect for the 2011 season? I think that pro Mod in Europe has undergone incredible development and I think the reason is that people really can relate to the cars we run. It's one of few classes where racers can sneak up to it, by firstly racing in other classes with the same car like Comp or Advanced ET until they feel ready to enter an event. And they can actually win races with out-of-the-box equipment if they only learn to tune it for the conditions. Last but not least: is there anyone in particular you wish to thank for contributing to the success you have had this season? I want to thank the great guys in my European team this year like Rickard 'Rille' Lundin, Anders Holm, Fred Westerlind, Peter Kunc, and Leif and Johnny Helander. Then of course big thanks to the American part of our R2B2 team, a bunch of great people. And huge thanks of course to Roger Burgess, who has been instrumental in Pro Mod in the NHRA; without him I would not have had the great opportunity to race in the USA. I also want to thank all the great companies who supported the European Championship contingency programme this year and my personal supporters like Lucas Oil, AirMobile, 7LAB and Kjelland Transport. Edited by Robin Jackson Stig snippet. 28th October: Danish Top Fuel Dragster racer Stig Neergaard is seen here in his pit at The Strip at Las Vegas working on his chassis before the weekend's NHRA Las Vegas Nationals. "My chassis was built too strongly and did not quite meet the up-to-date NHRA specification on one part so I am modifying it to suit", Stig told Eurodragster.com. The team drove their rig the 2300 miles from Virginia to Vegas after landing on Sunday, setting off on Tuesday. The chassis mods were started yesterday and will be completed by lunchtime today well in time for the start of qualifying tomorrow. There is a massive entry of twenty-seven cars vying for the sixteen places on Sunday so it will be a tough time to make the field. "We will do our best to get in", said Stig with his usual grin. Cockerill goes SSB. 28th October: Paul Watson of DynoSpeed Developments is pleased to announce that the new owner of the DSD Super Street Bike is former Pro Modified racer Danny Cockerill. "Danny has run into the 6.1s but has now decided to take a different challenge on two wheels", says Paul. "He has competed at entry level in 9.50 Bike and surprised a few people then. We went to Santa Pod on Sunday so that Danny could try before he bought and he did not disappoint. With base boost only he ran 8.33/166 on his first pass on a cold track. It will be a big learning curve for Danny, and as we speak we are starting to prepare and alter the bike to suit him, but I can't think of anyone jumping on a Super Street Bike and running a low eight on their very first pass. "I'm sure that Danny will be warmly welcomed into the SSB pits. I will be there at the start of next season to make sure that all is well." Who pinched the season then? 28th October: Shakespeare County Raceway's Jerry Cookson is wondering where the year went as he cannot believe that it's the final Public Track Day weekend of the year at SCR this weekend. There is plenty going on at the Halloween Bonfire Burn-Up with a few well-known drag racers paying their last visit to the Warwickshire drag strip this year: Sunday includes the final Monster Month of Junior Madness series of races for the Junior Dragsters and Junior Drag Bikes as the youngsters let it rip one more time in their high powered drag cars and bikes. Practice falls on Saturday for Sunday's five round with trophies and prizes sponsored by Classic Designs. Sunday also features the final race of SCR's Bracket Gamblers series. Two weeks ago twenty one cars lined up to do battle in the Raceway's special ET Bracket race for money and prizes supported by lane sponsors MotorShack and Piston Apparel as well as American Car Magazine. With entries coming in from the Outlaw Street racers, some very special comp dragsters and altereds, and Tog of Eurodragster.com rest assured the racing will be both fast and furious! It's just £10 to enter; two 'Dial for £' qualifiers in the morning and elimination rounds in the afternoon are expected be the order of the day. If there is enough interest we'll run a Trophy Bike Bracket as well! Full details can be found on our SCR ET Bracket Gamblers Race Facebook page. The Volvo Performance Owners Club and the Turbo Diesel Owners Club will be holding ET Shootouts for their club members while other clubs are encouraged to attend. Saturday evening hosts the traditional Halloween Ball, Best Dressed Trailer Competition, bonfire and fireworks. Later in Kenny's Bar the adult and kids fancy dress competitions will be hosted by none other than Woody Stevens and his gang with music from Wendy's Disco and much more besides. Gates open at 6:00 pm on Friday evening. Track will open for RWYB at 10:00 am on both Saturday and Sunday and run until 5:00 pm subject to track and weather conditions. And don't forget to put your clocks back! It's that time of year again. Admission is £12 per person each day of £22 per person for a weekend pass. Track fee is £20 for unlimited runs all day, £35 for the weekend. Don't forget your driver's licence and crash helmet, and hopefully we'll see you at the strip! Full details can be found on our web site at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com and a reminder that Shakespeare County Raceway also has its own Facebook Group page which you can join by typing Shakespeare County Raceway in the search bar of any Facebook page. Or call the track office on 01789 720180. See you there! Gathering winter fuel... 27th October: The Allard Chrysler Action Group has received several requests for a fund-raising Christmas card and after investigation of costs by ACAG member Bob Roberts the Group is pleased to announce that cards are available. Designed by ACAG member Phil Brown, the card is folded A4 size with the front being the Paul Whitehouse painting of the Allard Chrysler and Mooneyes surrounded by a snow design. The title is Gathering Winter Fuel and the greeting inside is Seasonal Greetings. The back of the card features the ACAG logo and the message "A limited-edition card produced by the Allard Chrysler Action Group. Sydney Allard driving the original Allard Chrysler dragster against Mooneyes in 1963. Sales of this card support the restoration of Europe's first dragster, the Allard Chrysler. See www.allardchrysler.org. Image ©2009 Paul Whitehouse. Design and Layout ©2010 Phil Brown". Cards are available in boxed sets of ten for £20 including postage and packing in the UK. Overseas postal costs will be slightly higher and can be quoted on request. Details will shortly be posted on the Merchandise page at www.allardchrysler.org, but in the meantime can be E-Mailed to brian@allardchrysler.org. Swift snippets. 27th October: Congratulations to Debby Elliott who was the winner of our Flame and Thunder Show contest. As did almost everyone who entered, Debby correctly identified Steph Milam as the quickest and fastest female drag racer in the UK before Shelley Pearson's Top Fuel Dragster licencing passes. Debby wins a family ticket to this Saturday's event. Thanks again to Santa Pod Raceway for putting up the prize and especially to Jo Harris for her help. Following last weekend's fifth and final round of the Pro Street Drag Series at Shakespeare County Raceway, congratulations are in order to Toyota MR2 racer Jonathan Bird who was proclaimed 2010 PSDS Champion following the non appearance of Champion-elect Martyn Jeffery who unfortunately suffered near-terminal engine damage prior to the round. Runner-up was John Stocker with his eleven-second Nissan 200SX above the Nissan Skyline R32 GTR of Steve Lloyd. The Series is set to return to Shakespeare County in 2011 with a revised format. European fans will have plenty to cheer for at this weekend's NHRA Las Vegas Nationals as Stig Neergard will be racing in Top Fuel Dragster and Eurodragster.com sponsors Derek Flynn and Michael Manners will be contesting Top Alcohol Dragster. We've had no word from Eurodragster.com Blogger Lex Joon on his participation but that could just as easily mean that he and Gerda are on the plane. Qualifying commences on Friday and you will be able to stay in touch with their progress courtesy of our Drag Race Central colleagues at www.dragracecentral.com. A six-hour endurance karting race for charity is taking place at Kartsport Caxton in Cambridge starting at 9:00 am on Saturday 20th November, and there is still time and room for two teams to represent drag racing. Teams should have four people and entry is £100 per team. For more information E-Mail jem@teamcbm.co.uk. K&N join the Bennetts. 27th October: UK Top Methanol Funny Car team Bennett Racing are delighted to announce the addition of sponsor K&N Filters. Originally of Riverside, California, K&N Filters are the inventor and leading innovator of reusable cotton gauze filter technology for automotive applications. From humble beginnings as a family run business over forty years ago, K&N Engineering, now a truly global company with offices in the UK and The Netherlands, continues to exist as a family-owned business with an enthusiast mindset and a direct connection with motorsports which carries over throughout all levels of management and manufacturing. Today, K&N exists as both the sales and brand leader for performance filters, and maintains a catalogue of over 3,500 part numbers including an extensive line of both factory replacement drop-in filters, Fuel Injection Performance Kit applications, and its line of innovative Performance Gold oil filters. "We are very happy indeed to be associated with such a huge name in motorsport and look forward to a great future", says Luke Bennett. For all product or distribution-related enquiries to either E-Mail uk.sales@knfilters.com, call +44 (0) 1925 636950, or write to K&N Filters (Europe) Ltd, John Street, Warrington, Cheshire WA2 7UB. Web site updates. 27th October: Thanks to Stefani Robinson for letting us know that the Robinson Race Reports web site at www.robinson-race-reports.co.uk has been updated with a report of UK Pro Modified racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson's weekend at the VP Racing Fuels National Finals at Santa Pod Raceway. Our good buddy Jon Spoard has posted his FIA European Finals photographs on his UK Nostalgia Drag Racing web site at www.ukdrn.co.uk. We've checked out Jon's pictures and they are, as ever, superb. The Photo section of the Avon Park International Racing Association Facebook page has recently been updated with winner and runner-up presentation photos from the recent Open Sport Nationals, along with a nostalgic look racing in the years 1995 to 1997. If you haven't already joined you can find the APIRA Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pages/Avon-Park-International-Racing-Association. Santa Pod Raceway have posted on YouTube and Vimeo a compilation video of highlights of the 2010 season. You can check out Thrills and Spills on YouTube at www.youtube.com/santapodtv or on Vimeo at www.vimeo.com/16210236. Flame and Thunder Show contest. 25th October: Eurodragster.com has teamed up with Santa Pod Raceway to offer one lucky reader a family ticket to this Saturday's Flame and Thunder Show. The family ticket admits two adults and up to three under-sixteens. The Flame and Thunder Show features a Top Fuel Dragster/Fuel Funny Car match race between just-licenced Shelley Pearson in one of Rune Fjeld's Top Fuel Dragsters and Gordon Smith in the Shockwave FC; demonstration passes by National Championship racers; Martin Hill in the Fireforce 3 Jet Funny Car and Julian Webb in the Split Second Jet Dragster; Ronnie Picardo's Jet Truck and Jet Beetle; stunt and aerobatic displays; drifting demos; jet karts; Titan the Robot; monster trucks; movie cars; Black Knights parachute team; ice rink; live bands including a Girl Band tribute; Fun Fair; the traditional bonfire and firework displays; and much more family entertainment. 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 Flame and Thunder Show family ticket, simply answer the question below and get your answer to us before 23:59 UK time tomorrow (Tuesday). The answer can be worked out from Eurodragster.com Event Coverage or other sources if you haven't been paying attention recently. The winner will be chosen at random from all correct entries received. Good luck! ©Eurodragster.com Question: Before Shelley Pearson gained her Top Fuel Dragster licence with her recent 4.982/278.14 pass, who was the quickest and fastest female drag racer in the UK? Fay Fischer Steph Milam Roz Prior How to enter Simply send an E-Mail to eurodragster.win@btinternet.com giving: Your answer to the above question Your name Your E-Mail address A daytime or mobile phone number Any entry without the details listed above will be disqualified. Entry closes at 23:59 UK time tomorrow (Tuesday 26th October), and the winner will be notified by Eurodragster.com on Wednesday. Please note that the winner will be responsible for their own transport to and from Santa Pod Raceway. Many thanks to Jo Harris of Santa Pod Raceway for arranging the prize for this Contest. Flynn checks in. 25th October: UK Top Methanol Dragster racer Derek Flynn of Eurodragster.com sponsor Gold RV has been in touch from Los Angeles where he is preparing to race in Larry Miersch's injected-nitro Top Alcohol Dragster at Las Vegas this weekend. "We are currently at the workshop of Larry's dad Roy", said Derek. "There we met up with Lefty, Roy, Jim and Larry who were all busy preparing the car and spare heads, clutch parts, and a complete spare engine. Larry's car looks real bad-ass as they say here, and with a few more runs on the car now we have high hopes. But the competition here is tough and I am really looking forward to meeting up with all the racers again as they all made me feel very welcome. "We head out to Vegas tomorrow and I am just so excited to be back in the USA racing with Larry and the team. John and Sara Foster of my team will also be joining us from Wednesday and I know that they are just as excited as me." The old dog awaits... 25th October: UK Fuel Funny Car racer Gordon Smith is looking forward to taking on Shelley Pearson in a Top Fuel Dragster v Fuel Funny Car match race at this Saturday's Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway. "Fifteen years ago I was bouncing Shelley on my knee, and I'll bounce her again this weekend!" said Gordon. "Shelley has done very well and proven herself although it's different when you are racing. But it's good to race someone different and if the conditions are OK then we will do what we have to do." Gordon told Eurodragster.com that the Shockwave Fuel FC team have had a good couple of years, with the car running consistent low fives and suffering minimal damage. "We've not hurt it and Dave (Bryant, Crew Chief and co-owner) has done all of this without a computer", said Gordon. "I tell Dave what the car does on each run and he tunes round that. We are planning to step up again next year, we have to move on and push the others in the class. We have already started to take those steps and we are looking at a new car and body next year. I'm not happy to stand still running 5.2s, I want to get into the 5.0s and beyond." Jason Phelps and Kevin Kent have taken the seat of the Shockwave FC to licence this season and in the face of several rumours we asked Gordon what the implications were. "I'm not going to be doing this forever", he said. "We need to find someone to keep it going. When I walk away I want to know that Shockwave is going to go on. Jason and Kevin both have the capability. I am definitely driving next year, but then I'll take it year-by-year. Dave doesn't ever want me to get out of the car but time waits for no man although I still have some goals and I want to see the class build. I feel at one with the car and with the team. You have to look at the big picture but I'm happy to carry on. Look at John Force - he's an old man. And there's life in this old dog yet, as Shelley will find out next weekend!" Gordon said that there are potentially six Fuel FCs waiting to run next season. "We want the competition", he said, "and we need to get them out there. With a decent number of cars there is more chance of a Championship and with a Championship there is more chance of sponsorship." Swift snippets. 25th October: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words "Not a new build". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com. Allard Chrysler Action Group supporter Paul Whitehouse has donated another original painting to raise funds for the restoration of Europe's first dragster. The framed and glazed 26" x 21" painting features Dale Emery and Leon Fitzgerald leaving the line in the Pure Heaven and Pure Hell Fuel Altereds. The revenue generated by the sales of Paul's donated works of art has been a vital part of ACAG fund raising. As well as a painting of Mooneyes and the Allard Chrysler, Paul's paintings of the 1965 Allard Chrysler and Commuter raised substantial funds and limited-edition prints continue to produce revenue. "Thanks to Paul", says ACAG Chair Brian Taylor. A £450 bid has already been received for this picture, but if you would like to bid more then please E-Mail Brian at brian@allardchrysler.org call 01395 579733. We have no less than three birthdays today. First up, a very Happy Birthday to our good friend Gittli Koller. Kirsty Gibb is also celebrating her birthday today. Finally, Happy Birthday to Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com News sponsor Urs Erbacher. We hope that all three of you have great days. Our ISP suffered a server failure over the weekend which affected the Eurodragster.com mailbox. If you have submitted a news item which has not been posted, or if you have written to any member of the Eurodragster.com staff and not had a reply, then please re-send the E-Mail and we will deal with it as soon as possible. Records fall at SCR. 25th October: Using fuel additives produced by lane sponsor MotorShack, first time ET Bracket and Euro Sport Compact racer Glenn Robson recently ran 11.40 seconds at 124 mph, but he bettered that at Shakespeare County Raceway last weekend and a number of other racers also broke records or PBs writes SCR's Jerry Cookson: Glenn beat his previous bests with an 11.220/128, and his is now officially the UK's quickest and fastest Renault 5 turbo. Euro Sport Compact racer and first timer at Shakespeare County was Andy Speck with his RS Tuning two-litre turbo Vauxhall Tigra. On Sunday Andy managed to lower his own PB to 10.147/145.29 which makes his the second quickest FWD car in the UK behind Guy Chamberlain's nine-second Honda Civic. Looking at a comparison chart, the Tigra's time was quicker than a McLaren F1 (11.1/138), Pagani Zonda S (11.7/129) and a Lamborghini Gallardo (11.7/114). Tiff and Jeremy eat your hearts out! Also competing in last weekend's Bracket Gamblers Race was first-time visitor Paul Bargate who in qualifying established a new UK FWD record for normally-aspirated cars on unleaded fuel! Again using one of MotorShack's new octane boosters, Paul ran a new PB of 11.953/115.11 which he later backed up with 11.972/114.03. Mapped at Northants Motorsport, Paul's 16v VW Scirocco is totally road legal but highly tuned for Class A competitions at Santa Pod and now Shakespeare County Raceway. The previous record was held by Guy Chamberlain's Honda Civic. HKS Factory Mod racer Steve Guirey was back out last weekend chasing numbers in his SMG Tuning 2500cc four-cylinder turbo powered Subaru. Although Steve broke his own RWD track record of 9.3, set in 2007, by taking it down to 9.123/154.63 the day didn't go without its problems as the day ended with a broken driveshaft. Better luck next time Steve. Cannon's season. 23rd October: UK Supertwin racer Chris Hannam has been in touch with a review of his season: Easter really seemed to come upon us very early this year, yet we felt we were full of beans and ready to go. The extreme cold of the weekend created our first issue as we were not familiar with the nuances of even being able to light a nitro bike in extreme cold! This proved to be very tough, but my boys overcame the issue and we are now old hat at cold weather firing. The second major issue was a massive engine vibration which effectively ended our event without even being able to go down the track. Upon post race teardown inspection it was found that the brand new race-ready crank I had purchased in good faith from Puma, which they got from the previous owner, had not been balanced!  The crank was returned to Puma, reparations made, but it still wound up costing both Puma and I a lot of time and money. But, as you have heard me say before, that's life and we moved forward. On to the Main Event. By this point I had planned that the team would have had plenty of track time in testing on top of the Easter event, and were hoping to be into the 7.0s. Yet we'd not even turned a wheel on the track so far! Ace Crew Chief Neil Midgley had made some fuel system changes in an attempt to get over our very costly drive belt snapping issues. The stout mid-six second pack of Supertwins which turned up even had me considering - only for a moment though! - putting a nominal-sized rider on the bike in an attempt to run with the pack. In the end, we struggled and did not make even one full pass down the track. On a bright note, Andy Carter and Lucas Oil stepped up to assist, tending to our bearing issues, a big thanks for that. Next up for us was the SPRC Summernationals where SPRC kindly allowed us to run on a demonstration basis as there was not a class for us to run in. Again, the team put in a valiant effort but it was becoming very clear that with the massive load of the bike itself, amplified by me being on top of it, damage was being caused in the form of ongoing and more severe belt and piston damage. It was clear to Neil that a whole new plan of attack with fuel volume was required, which sent him back to the drawing board. After the event I called a team meeting and we discussed all options. The team decision was mad to invest heavily in some new parts. A new Waterman 18 gpm fuel pump was fitted with new style BDK valve controlled by an AMS1000 unit and an MSD Top Fuel Harley ignition. This unplanned mid-season overhaul and enormous expense tested both the mettle of the team and  capacity of my wallet. True to form, the team came through just in time and we were off to the European Finals. Our high spirits were dampened by the fact that we could not test as MSD were not able to send us the required RPM limit patch - as they did not even have one for our software! I could not believe this from a company of the magnitude of MSD and it did not sit well with me at all. We spent the next two days and seventy litres of nitro struggling to adjust the settings in an attempt to get the barrel valve somewhere close, but something just wasn't adding up and the bike's performance showed it. It just would not go down the track cleanly. Our Supertwin friend Lorenz Stäble offered to help by loaning us his MSD timing light, and as luck would have it my nearly new Snap-On timing light was getting spiked by the new MSD ignition and our timing settings were a full ten degrees off all weekend long! Making some adjustments for our next outing, we were cautiously optimistic pulling through the gate at the National Finals. Once again, luck was nowhere to be found as the plug-in for the Racepak dash was not in place and the bike showed no oil pressure, so I shut off in an effort to save parts. Once again a lost run. We made the next two runs creeping up on it and the bike was finally responding to the changes. All ready to go Sunday morning and Mother Nature denied us our much needed track time again! Our last shot of the season was made possible by Trevor inviting us to be able to run with the Straightliners in Comp Bike at the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend. Fortunately it was dry, but it was cold. We made the call for the afternoon session once it had warmed up a bit. Upon fire-up, the bike had a fabulous bark and it felt like never before! Lining up against Rene ven den Berg and his Top Fuel Bike with our usual bet of a beer on the line (I was 1-0 with him at this point ) I focused solely on making a good pass and chose to not focus on the tree. The bike snapped up on the bar and pulled straight as a die, harder than ever before. The bike was hauling, the four-foot header flames proved that! At about the 800 foot mark she dropped a cylinder and I shut off, coasting to a PB for the year of 7.14 at only 175 mph. With a best of 7.12/200 on this bike we were very close to an outright PB and to date we are the quickest and fastest UK twin. Needless to say, the entire team and I was over the moon coming back to the pit area. We serviced the bike and just missed making another lap prior to the track closing for Saturday. Sunday dawned and we felt ready to go. On fire-up, the cam belt jumped timing which caused a thrash just to be able to get on track. The bike did not have the same feel to it as it had the day before but it still powered through  to an early shutoff 7.30 with raw fuel out of the #1 cylinder from 330 feet onward. Pit service found a spun bearing with crank damage so our trying on-track season had come to a close.  Although this was bittersweet, I have every confidence in my team and our collective ability to overcome. This was a very trying season and yet we never quit. Yes, we have an oiling problem to deal with but I am committed to this program. The off-season will provide me the ability to supply new cranks, rods, oil pump, oil filtration system and the all new AMS2000 controller to the program. We ended on a high note with the 7.14 pass which provided awesome video footage and photos of the bike in action, even good enough to make Photo of the Week on Dragbike.com! This past season has been a very hard one and I would be remiss if I did not thank some of those who have made it possible. Thanks to all the photographers taking the awesome shots; to Lucas Oil for stepping up and providing their much needed support; and to Johnny Vickers at Hawaya Racing for his endless advice and the great deals. Special thanks to Jay at MRE, the most English-friendly US parts supplier out there for "Just being Jay" and for always being willing to help out where ever and whenever he can. Can you believe it's been a full decade since I purchased the MRE Funny Bike from Jay? Where does the time go... Finally a heartfelt thanks to my long-suffering crew. The hardest-working crew out there, period! It is very much a privilege to call each and every one of you a great friend and I sincerely thank you for your unselfish efforts. And that's it for the season! It absolutely flew by. I'm now very much looking forward to some R and R courtesy of the team trip to the States. We'll take in the Manufacturers Cup in Valdosta and then turn south to Clearwater for some frolicking beachside, while enjoying shrimp and beer all along the way. Counting the days, we can't wait! Roll on next year! Swift snippets. 23rd October: Helge Myrseth tells us that Top Methanol Dragster racer Paul Ingar Udtian and the Islanders Dragrace Team have put the winter tyres on their coach and ventures out from Frøa to start the sponsorship and promotion work for the 2011 season. The team appear at this weekend's Broom Festival before moving on to next weekend's Olso Motor Show. "In this game there is no time for rest if you want to fight with the best!", says Helge. Ex-pat UK Top Alcohol Dragster racer Michael Manners of Eurodragster.com sponsor Cosmo Residences is due to contest this weekend's NHRA Division 4 Finals in Oklahoma although yesterday's qualifying was rained out and today's proceedings are looking similarly threatened. However this particular race has to be completed even if it means running on Monday. You will be able to stay in touch with events in Oklahoma courtesy of our Drag Race Central colleagues at www.dragracecentral.com. Many thanks to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe for sending us an updated table of UK bests taking account of the records set at the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out the table of UK bests by clicking here or by clicking on the European Bests link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. More Junior Madness. 23rd October: Shakespeare County Raceway recently held the second event in its Monster Month of Junior Madness for the boys and girls of Junior Dragster, reports Daren Brett: As Saturday morning dawned we all woke to bright sunshine despite unpredicted rain Friday evening.  With five Junior Dragsters and their pilots on the complex all was looking good for Sunday's Shootout. Then, as promised, the final few competitors arrived: Rhiannon Bellenie dad Pete and Megan with the Deadly Nightshade, Ian Turburville and Miss Turbo (Laura) with their Help For Heroes/Heart Like A Wheel dragster, Joe Kellett with the Drummin' Man followed by Grant and Tracey Victory with son Russell representing series sponsor GV Motorsport. The Friday evening downpour made track preparation very difficult - we all get really frustrated when Uncle Jon doesn't give us the go-ahead when we want it...but when I say all I mean the adults, the kids take it all in their stride! I think we all forget the power of these machines our children are driving - rapid acceleration twinned with high speeds, not a good recipe without Uncle Jon's green light.  The go-ahead did eventually come along with some very dark clouds which threatened and threatened some more before dumping their contents on the track. Once the rain had abated and the track dried all of the Juniors put in at least one, and some had two before the heavens opened up once again ending the day's play despite the forecasters predicting sunny periods for the County! Racing may have finished, but the day hadn't for the dragsters and their pilots as a very unusual visitor in was awaiting our attendance in Kenny's Bar: Declan Webb's Webb Express II Junior Modified Dragster. Senior MSA official and Scrutineer Paul Satchell called a vehicle safety seminar for the drivers and Crew Chiefs/parents consisting of a lecture on the principles of car scrutineering and the potential problem areas for which he is looking for whilst performing his duties. Also there was a strong emphasis that the drivers should report back to their Crew Chiefs/parents any information relating to their runs such as vibration or vehicle drift, and any other concerns they may have, the watch words being "Don't be shy". The kids were also encouraged to be proactive themselves in maintenance procedures with visual checks of nuts, bolts, and general appearance. Lasting around thirty minutes the seminar was both enjoyable and informative while at the same time demonstrating to the parents how safety conscious we are when our kids are racing. A similar seminar is due to be held at the track's Halloween meeting next week, again in Kenny's Bar, for the riders and parents of Junior Drag Bike. A sharp frost on Sunday morning gave us a slightly delayed start to the day. However, with the Juniors opening the show, qualifying runs began with all of the cars hooking up as expected with good sixty-foot times. We also had to make an allowance for our four fixed dial-in runs knowing how the track condition would change during the day. With all eight Juniors logging their fixed dial-ins, we were off! With the sun blazing and people watching from the stands, this was brilliant. In session one Joe Kellett was straight in with a 0.099 RT. In session two he followed that up with a 0.066 followed by Miss Turbo with a 0.003. This was to be the shootout-winning Reaction Time. It was so close with Alex Brett putting a few hard RTs of his own, -0.025 and -0.023 and the experienced Joe with a -0.001. In the end Alex pulled back with a close third position with a 0.010 and Joe with a 0.066 taking second position for Reaction Time competition.  Towards the end it would have taken Tyler Webb, driving the Junior Stock Webb Express, suffering a seriously bad fourth run to knock him out of first position, but in the end it was consistency on young Tyler's part which earned him the winners trophy. Well done Tyler! Kim Kellett, our Timing Officer for the event, said that it would be close going into our last round with four drivers all vying for second position, but it was interesting to note in that session that the three big horsepower-motored dragsters of Joe, Laura, and Alex all put in their worst runs. Huge differences from dial-ins; Joe 0.21 over, while both Laura and Alex both lost by 0.25 over their dial-ins on the final run. It just goes to show that this type of competition is open to anybody. The final results were: Against dial-in Tyler Webb (JS19) 0.05 % difference on dial-in Rhiannon Bellenie (JM10) 0.06 Declan Webb (JMA14) 0.07 Laura Turberville (JMA18) 0.10  Alex Brett (JM25) 0.11 Joe Kellett (JMA3) 0.14 Russell Victory (JS30) 0.50 Joy Brett (JS25) 1.00 RT only     Best Reaction Laura Turberville 0.003 Alex Brett 0.010 Joe Kellett 0.066 Best Trier of the Day Joy Brett I would like to say a huge thank you to our Shootout No. 2 sponsors GV Motorsport (Grant and Tracey Victory), and our Reaction Time and Best Trier sponsors Pete and Kim Kellett. Also thanks to Kim for being Timing Officer, and to Tracey for verifying standings. Feature: CHRR XIX. 21st October: The latest in our occasional series of Features presented in association with Lucas Oil Products and Carter Motorsport is Roger's report and pictures from the weekend's 19th Annual California Hot Rod Reunion at Auto Club Raceway, Bakersfield, California. You can check out Roger's CHRR XIX report by clicking here or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. A big Thank You to Roger who went above and beyond to get the report and pictures to us so quickly after the event. Paige to join In-N-Out team. 21st October: Alamo-sponsored Junior Dragster racer and FIA European Finals winner Paige Wheeler is off to America to watch American drag racer Melanie Troxel race at next week's 10th Annual NHRA Las Vegas Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Paige met her idol earlier this year at Santa Pod Raceway, where Melanie signed Paige's Alamo Rent A Car-sponsored dragster, and she is now to be the guest of Melanie and the In-N-Out Burger Funny Car team in Las Vegas. "I am so excited to meet Melanie again and watch her race in Las Vegas", commented Paige on her impending trip. "I'm really looking forward to attending all the events with Melanie during my stay as well as being part of Melanie's team." "We started a great friendship at Paige's home track of Santa Pod and now I'm really excited to show her one of my favourite drag strips, The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway", said Melanie Troxel. "I always enjoy talking to the youngsters working their way up the ranks, especially the girls, because it's important for them to know they can accomplish anything. There are no boundaries any more. The young people of today have no limits. "It was especially exciting when Paige won her first drag race the day we met and we're all hoping her good luck follows her to the In-N-Out Burger Funny Car pit. She's going to be a part of our team and we're in the big nitro car so it will certainly be exciting. I was joking the other day that if we do really well we may have to keep Paige here for Pomona." Alamo has been sponsoring Paige's season with funding to attend the year's UK events, branding and supporting her dragster, her safety gear and her crew team. Alamo has also been reinforcing its support of this burgeoning motor sport by offering all drag racing fans a 10% discount on worldwide Alamo rentals booked at www.alamo.co.uk/dragster during 2010, helping even more people to experience the thrill and exhilaration of drag racing. If you read this early enough then Paige will be appearing on BBC Radio Northampton between 8:25 am and 8:30 am this morning (Thursday). A sponsor for Top Sportsman. 21st October: Eurodragster.com sponsor Paul Marston is currently in the USA and has just signed the first of what he hopes will be many American contingency sponsors for the trial of UK Top Sportsman in the summer of 2011. "A lot of UK drag racers know Orlando, Florida-based Automotive 1 Speed Parts and its larger-than-life proprietor Robby Gentry", says Paul. "Robby has been serving customers from all over Europe for years. When Robby heard about UK Top Sportsman he wanted in right away. He was one of the founders of Orlando's Worlds Fastest Street Car, so his support for UK Top Sportsman came as no surprise." Robbie will also offer a special discount over and above his already keen pricing policy to anyone travelling over or calling him to order parts who mentions UK Top Sportsman. You can call Automotive One on +1 407 422 6168. The new warehouse address is Automotive One Performance Center, 1019 West Pine Street, Orlando FL32805 For those who know where Tony Morris' employer BLP is situated, Automotive One is one block back. Swift snippets. 21st October: Eagle-eyed readers will have noticed the name of Dutch Top Fuel Dragster racer and Eurodragster.com Blogger Lex Joon on the entry lists for the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals and NHRA Finals at Pomona. Lex, whose Top Fuel operation is still in the USA, told Eurodragster.com that he is still seeking sponsorship to be able to contest the two races but that he submitted his entry in case of a limit on the number of cars. Many thanks to Yvonne Tramm and our very own Simon for forwarding the final standings in the 2010 UK National 9.50 Bike Championship, and to Yvonne for forwarding the final standings in the 2010 Santa Pod Racers Club Championships. You can check out the final UK and SPRC Championship standings on our Speedflow-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the Speedflow Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Harri, as of yesterday UK Super Pro ET racer Ashley Bell's wife, sent this picture of their wedding ceremony. "Note Ashley's outfit", says Harri. "Now you know why I am described as the long-suffering Harri!". Advance ticket booking for next Saturday's (30th) Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway closes tomorrow, Friday. Bookings are also being taken for VIP hospitality for the Flame and Thunder Show. To book your tickets either visit www.santapod.com or call 01234 782828, or to book VIP tickets please call the office. Santa Pod Raceway also tell us that if you fancy a last go at the strip this season then they have two Run What You Brungs left this year, the first this Sunday (24th) and the last Sunday week (31st). For more details check out www.rwyb.com. Four Huxleys beats a Gambler. 21st October: If there was just one driver who was on his game throughout qualifying and eliminations for Shakespeare County Raceway's mid-October ET Bracket Gamblers Race then it was Worcester's Lee Huxley. Right from the get go Lee was on top form by qualifying the Dark Horse '68 Mustang first through to winning the elimination final against Holly Baldwin's VW Beetle last Sunday afternoon, writes SCR's Jerry Cookson: Although twenty one cars had signed up to contest the bracket only nineteen made the first and second round calls. Dialling in a solid 9.50 in the first session gave Lee the perfect edge he was looking for with a near perfect 9.525 which, not only gave him the lucky dog bye into round two, but the honour of taking on his father Brian who was number six qualifier in his Sportsman ET '66 Mustang Can-do. Meanwhile, Holly Baldwin was carving her way through to the second round after qualifying her '68 Beetle seventeenth having taken out the 2.3 litre VW V5 of eighth qualifier Phil Evans with a useful 14.815 to Phil's breakout 16.246 on a 16.25 dial where she would meet Paul Bargate's 16v '86 VW Scirocco. Paul had earlier taken out the Buick Skylark of John Mulligan. Dropping his dial-in by a tenth to 9.60, Lee Huxley still managed to take out his dad with a 9.703 to Brian's game 15.74 on a 15.48 dial. Also in the round, and using his daily driver 1.9 Vauxhall as a race car, Darren Huxley kept ahead of the '51 Austin Devon Pick Up of number two qualifier Ray Irish; 17.143 (17.33) to Ray's storming 10.581 on a 10.50 dial. Ray's first round opponent was Ian Jackson. Number ten qualifier Geoff Cowley used all of his track knowledge to stay ahead of the TVR Tuscan of Ian Brockbank, Nigel Jenkins put himself out after a fine runner-up finish two weeks ago against Vic Fisher with a -0.009 light against the Toyota Corrolla of Marc Huxley. The same fate fell on the shoulders of Paul Bargate with a -0.034 handing the win to Holly. With the track getting colder by the minute, Holly was able to keep the momentum going that she needed to stay ahead of the Geoff's Z28 Camaro even though they had both placed identical 14.75 dial-ins on their back windows, 14.860 to 14.952. With Darren Huxley gifted with the rounds luck dog bye into the semis Lee, on a .088 light, had to fight for his place as Marc gave it his best shot in the Toyota, 9.729 on a 9.60 dial to a losing 13.541 (13.46). With Holly on a bye who was she going to face in the final! All we knew was that it would be a Huxley whatever the outcome as both Lee and Marc gave it their best. At the stripe it was Lee's Mustang, 9.826 (9.63) against Darren's 17.595 (17.12). The final was all about sheer V8 horsepower against the air-cooled VW. In the end after a brave attempt Holly's 14.80 wasn't enough to fend off a fast closing 9.773 as the Dark Horse Mustang chalked up another race winning debut season win. Brian Huxley writes: We went to Shakey last weekend to race the Gamblers Race and I must say what a great time we had.  It was well organised and run smoothly considering they had lots going on and loads of Run What You Brung.  I think Jerry Cookson and his team have a good thing going at this Gamblers race. For a start it's cheap at £10 entry. You need a helmet, DVLA licence, arms and legs covered and a vehicle of some sort - and that's what I like about it, you can run any car you want.   It's run on a Sportsman Tree and properly staggered againt the fastest car.  You also get two qualifiers on a Sportsman tree.   The weather was good to us, and we had twenty one entries, but they cater for a thirty two car field.  Dial-in ranged from 10.6 to 17.12 but it was fantastic racing.  It reminded me of when I first started racing in 1981.  The track is prepped and we had some good racers running, names like John Mulligan of Quarter Pounder fame, Phil Evans' Singer Vogue - these guys haven't raced for twenty years - Ian Jackson and Geoff Cowley plus lots of people who have never raced before.   There were four of us Huxleys, racing: myself, Lee, Darren and Marc, so we had a four-man team.  As it happened Lee won it in the Dark Horse mustang, jammy git, against Holly Baldwin in her and dad's VW Beetle. I wonder whether that would be a first-ever father and three sons racing in the same class? Darren, who has never raced before, came in third place. Well done! Come on lads and lasses you must come and race the Gamblers. I promise you you will have a great time. There are trophies and money to be won too. The organisers would like to extend their gratitude to Brian Huxley and the rest of the racers and RWYB drivers who supported the day's race along with event sponsors MotorShack and Piston Apparel. The next ET Bracket Gamblers Race is on Sunday October 31st at Shakespeare County Raceway (You'll be there if you want to take Tog on - Ed). Full details can be found on the SCR ET Bracket Gamblers Race Facebook page. See you trackside! Web site updates. 21st October: Photographer Julian Hunt has updated his web site with a huge gallery from the SPRC Summernationals at Santa Pod Raceway. "There are 286 pictures, but I only picked what I considered to be the best shots" says Julian, who we are pleased to say will again be on stand-in duty for Eurodragster.com at next week's Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out Julian's SPRC Summernationals pictures at www.julianhunt.net. Ellis on ICE Automotive deal. 20th October: Further to Monday's announcement, UK Pro Modified racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Graham Ellis has given us some more detail about the tie-up between Ellis Motorsport and longtime Eurodragster.com supporter I.C.E. Automotive. "Ellis Motorsport are pleased to be involved again with ICE who brought us numerous Championships in our Super Modified effort", says Graham. "ICE have not been involved with the class for many years, but for the benefit of new fans and those overseas who may not have been involved in Pro Modified ten to fifteen years ago ICE Automotive were the team of engine builders and tuners behind the first-ever six-second doorslammer in Europe: Tony Rose in the Bickel-built Cutlass. They won multiple Championships in British Pro Mod with other drivers, the last of these was ICE partner Nick Davies who was several times British Champion with the Kendall-backed Cutlass. ICE were the first company in Europe to turbocharge a big-cube American engine for drag racing, a car which until recently held the world record for block tread tires. This motor was mapped in-house as the ICE philoshophy is to not depend upon anyone else for their performance. "Moving quickly on to the present day, ICE Automotive are based at Silverstone and are heavily involved in the circuit car industry developing engine packages for many types of race cars. Along with this, as a natural progression, has come some expertise with turbochargers generally, and their in-house dyno gives them a head start with their mapping capabilities. "The decision to go this route was a natural one as it brings my team to the forefront of turbo Pro Mod development. With Brad Personett's performances this year it is obvious that this combination has serious potential. "We will run the Superbird in Pro Mod at all the UK rounds. Nick Davies will be the driver and the car will be crewed exclusively by Nick, Rob Loaring, Gareth Ellis and Kev Perkins. Other crew changes will be announced as they are confirmed. My job next year will be to go fast in the Cuda, which has meant a bit of a team reshuffle, but basically I want to concentrate my efforts where we have the best chance of going fast. "When the turbo car is running well enough that it would qualify for the majority of FIA events, then it will change to the primary race car and I will take over the driving. Development from then on will be on the race track. "The driveline will be the tried and trusted 521 ci BAE Hemi backed by a Leanders clutch and Lenco three-speed transmission. This makes sense as we have all of this already and it is also the most potent brew of parts available for any blown combination. The chassis is proven and it has good down force, and is built in a way conducive to fitting turbochargers easily. "We have agreed a two-year deal after which we which should have us the performance and knowledge to bring the prime development period to a close and to be a contender for Pro Mod honours. Look out for the car in the pre-Easter test sessions. Thanks to everyone involved lets look forward to a fruitful 2011." Another strip in Eire. 20th October: Graham McDonald writes from Eire that, having given the family's Fiat runabout a week to recover from its thrashing at at one Irish drag strip, he had another enjoyable day's racing at another strip at Tullow in County Carlow: This is a newly-built drag strip in an area of farm buildings which a few guys have built to encourage the young lads to drag race off the street in a safe environment. The start line out to about 330 feet is all concrete and has very good traction. There is no Christmas Tree yet, but there is one on the way shortly I'm told. Starting was handled by a portable traffic light system or by a start line marshall dropping his arms like the good old days. Rumors in the pit area were of bigger and better things to come, but I have to hand it to these guys for starting the ball rolling for the lads and ladies in the surrounding areas. I think I can say that drag racing is here to stay in Ireland and can only get better from here on in. The street cars and the guys and girls are there to race them and it only means getting the word out about the various drag strips and we will surely be in for some good times in the years ahead. Thanks to the lads at Tullow for a great day out and I wish you all the best with your drag strip. Swift snippets. 20th October: Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall has been in touch to tell those wishing to book a hotel for the APIRA/SPRC Dinner Dance in Solihull on Saturday 5th February 2011 that the St Johns Hotel is full and has a waiting list, but that the Holiday Inn definitely has rooms available (see news update of 5th October). If you call the Holiday Inn on 0871 226 1953 to book a room you must quote Santa Pod Racers Club 5th February 2011. Speak to Zoltan who is aware of the block booking and he will sort out your room. For more details about the APIRA/SPRC Dinner Dance check out our news update of 27th September. Sweden's Erik Wallinder drove Johnny Nilsson's Tre Kronor Nostalgia Funny Car (below left) at the 19th Annual California Hot Rod Reunion at Auto Club Raceway, Bakersfield, California last weekend. Roger writes that the team had help from American Jeff Gaynor to set up the car which had no data for the event. The first pass of just two qualifiers netted a 6.6 but hurt some pistons and marked the crank; in qualifier number two Erik said the car felt strange thinking it might be shake and eased off to a lowly number and hurt rods, unfortunately not making the field in an extremely tough gathering of thirty-seven floppers. The team did however make a third pass on Sunday as an exhibition run which gave them a 6.70 ticket with a 4.08/193 at half track to give them some data to help with the next outing, which could be the March Meet at Bakersfield if all goes to plan. Newlyweds Mark and Hannah Bishop got in touch to thank us for the wedding day wishes (You are very welcome - Ed) and also to show us that they managed to add a few personal touches to their day (above right, click for large version). Mark adds that, as you might expect with an event connected with racing, everything went OK save for the photographs being rained off. We have another Super Pro ET wedding today (Wednesday); best wishes to Ashley Bell who is marrying long-suffering partner Harri. Best wishes for a long and happy life together guys. The happy couple tell us that they are holding a celebration at their home this Saturday (23rd) to which all who know them are very welcome. For more details drop an E-Mail to marieeparsons@btinternet.com. Tim Blakemore Racing are now selling the Nova Racing three-speed heavy duty auto transmission, the only purpose-built Kawasaki ZZR1400 (ZX14) gearbox available for drag racing anywhere on the planet which was specially commissioned and proven by Tim and Nova Transmissions. The transmission uses high-grade materials, is ultra heat treated and complete with Superfinish. Ratios are first 17-41 2.412:1, second 22-37 1.682:1 and third 23-27 1.174:1. For more details check out www.novaracing.co.uk/kawasaki-zx14-3-speed-drag.htm and for enquiries please contact the team via www.timblakemoreracing.co.uk. Fred Furlong of Eurodragster.com sponsor Furlong Tyres has been in touch to congratulate Super Street Bike riders Steve Venables and Dave Smith on their performances of 7.245 seconds and 203.30 mph respectively at the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway. "Both riders were using the Michelin Power One supplied by Furlong Tyres", says Fred. "As well as Michelin, Furlong Tyres also supplies Mickey Thompson and Shinko Drag Radials both at trackside and by mail order". Brian Huxley tells us that the Huxley family's Dark Horse Pro ET Mustang is headed for a respray at Mustang Restorations in Weston-Super-Mare at the end of November. "We have a great first season with this car, European Finals and taking part in the Gamblers' Race at Shakespeare County Raceway which is great fun and which comes highly recomended - just like the racing was when I first started. Everybody enjoyed it." Allard Chrysler Dragster latest. 20th October: It has taken nearly twelve months to complete, and there have been problems along the way, but Brian Taylor writes that the 354 ci blown and injected Chrysler Hemi engine prepared by Booth-Arons for Europe's first dragster is just about ready for shipping back to the UK: The rocker covers in the photo are not the final units but they show how spectacular the engine will look when the correct covers return from the chrome shop within a day or so. They are the rare plain type as used on the original car. But the Allard Chrysler Action Group will need more funds to cover the cost of the extra work that has been required during the engine build process, plus the cost of transporting it home. Not everything has been donated by suppliers. Our current shortfall is around £3500. I am in contact with two potential sponsors and I am also trying to negotiate a freight sponsorship deal so some of this might be covered. Fortunately the National Motor Museum Trust, Beaulieu has agreed to cover the immediate shortfall in funds and we thank them for this support. But the ACAG will have to pay them back out of donations, sponsorship and merchandise sales profit before we can spend again on the chassis restoration. So for those of you who have yet to donate then your funds would be most welcome now. If you have donated but can afford a little more then thanks from the ACAG in advance. You can donate via the PayPal facility on the Merchandise page at www.allardchrysler.org or by cheque - if you prefer the latter then please contact me at brian@allardchrysler.org. But the shortfall can be covered in other ways. A visit to the Merchandise page at www.allardchrysler.org will give you ideas. There are the limited edition mounted painting prints available; each print has been individually signed by Nick Mason and Alan Allard. There are the two un-signed Mini Prints as well. ACAG member Phil Brown has also designed a new shirt (Polos and Ts) which features the logos of all those companies who have helped so far. It follows the Rock Concert Tour style - showing logos instead of concert tour dates - yet keeps the familiar design. The illustration shows the T-Shirt version (click for larger version). Initial reactions have been very positive. And we have another new item. The Ally Blue tribute song has been available as a download via our web site for some time. But at long last we have an audio CD version. Remember that as well as the Ked Dieter's vocal and wild guitar riff, the track includes the sound of the Allard Chrysler Dragster plus the voices of Sydney Allard, Tommy Ivo and Gerry Belton - all recorded at Blackbushe in 1964. A unique souvenir. The ACAG is also now in the possession of a twenty inch by sixteen inch mounted and glazed colour photo of the car donated by Brian Golder's widow Diane. It is a photo that he proudly had on display in his home after loaning the car to the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu in the early 1980s so it has some history. I'm not sure whether to sell this or save it as a suitable gift for a major sponsor's reception area, so it is not on our Merchandise page. However, if anyone wants to make me an offer then it's brian@allardchrysler.org. And don't forget to vote for Ally on the Top Gear Cool Wall - it all increases awareness. The voting link is www.thecoolwall.com/entry/342. Web site updates. 20th October: Thanks to our good buddy and Honorary Eurodragster.com Staff Member Christer Abrahamson for alerting us to a site of interest to Nostalgia fans. "Aspbjörn Eriksson has published some photographs from 'The First Go' at Anderstorp - Sweden's first drag race in 1968 - and from some other old races", says Christer. "I had a look and I must say that the pictures bring back a lot of memories! There are also some pictures from the Street scene in Jakobsberg and surrounding area. Have a look for yourself at aspes-bilder.webs.com." Ellis Motorsport/ICE go two-car. 18th October: UK Pro Modified team Ellis Motorsport and engine builder I.C.E. Automotive are pleased to announce a joint development project to be undertaken over the next two years. Eurodragster.com sponsor Graham Ellis will drive his blown-alcohol Barracuda whilst Nick Davies of I.C.E. Automotive will return to Pro Modified to drive Graham's Superbird which Rob Loaring and Nick will use as a testbed for turbo technology. "The 2010 U.S. Racing season has proved to be something of a revelation as far as Pro Modified engine combinations are concerned", says Rob Loaring. "Notably, performances of the likes of Brad Personnett's Camaro have made people sit up and take notice. Included amongst those taking notice are the team principals of Ellis Motorsport who currently campaign the blown-methanol '70 Barracuda. "Having a race-ready rolling spare race car didn't make much sense so, with the Superbird unsold, a partnership has been agreed with Silverstone-based I.C.E. Automotive to build and develop a twin-turbo engine for the Superbird for the the 2011 season. "I.C.E. Automotive haven't competed in Pro Modified for a decade but longtime fans will remember Championship successes in the class with British drivers Tim Cook, Tony Rose, Dave Mingay and Nick Davies. The partners have had a long-term working relationship since Team Ellis' successful Super Modified campaigns and are both looking forward to developing the programme. Roll on 2011!" 2010 European Championships DVD. 18th October: The countdown has started for the release of the 2010 European Drag Racing Championship Review DVD set. The four-disc set is packed with more than seven hours of action from the 2010 FIA and UEM European Drag Racing Championships. Enjoy the sights and sounds of Europe's fastest cars and motorcycles as 120 teams from fourteen countries compete for supremacy in a feast of furious racing action. Classes included are Top Fuel Dragster, Top Methanol Dragster, Top Methanol Funny Car, BILSPORT Pro Modified, Pro Stock, Top Fuel Bike, Supertwin and Pro Stock Bike. The review also features interviews with Europe's most skilled drivers and riders, behind-the-scenes access, and explosive action from five races at four championship venues. There's the legendary Santa Pod Raceway in England where the FIA Main Event and FIA European Finals attract massive crowds; Alastaro in Finland, which traditionally presents the FHRA Nitro Nationals; and Sweden's Mantorp Park, host of the VEIDEC Festival. The Championship Review also includes the 25th NitrOlympX at the Hockenheimring in Germany, where the Night Show alone attracted 34,000 spectators to witness a spectacular show! The DVD set is expected to be available from 29th October in the UK and a few days later in Sweden and Germany. On-line orders are possible to other countries inside or outside Europe via any of the retailers below. You can order from: United Kingdom: order on-line for £24.99 plus p+p at www.santapod.com or in the Pod Shop at the track. Sweden: order on-line for SEK 269 plus p+p at www.summeronwheels.com. Germany: order on-line for €29 plus p+p at www.300mph.de All FIA and UEM racers registered for their 2010 Championship will receive one DVD set without having to order. General queries can be adressed to FIA European Drag Racing Championship administrator Speedgroup at asa.kinnemar@speedgroup.eu. Switzerland's thirty proud years. 18th October: Swiss Top Methanol Funny Car racer Deszoe Krivan is celebrating thirty years of drag racing in Switzerland: It was the sunny Sunday of 5th October when a Swiss Auto Club, the Kick-Down Drivers, organised the first NSK/FIA sanctioned official drag race in Switzerland. Dez was involved as an initiator, organiser and participant. One year later the same group started to organised races at the legendary airport of Münchhouse, on the French/Swiss border, where other famous Swiss drivers including Urs Erbacher, Marcus Hilt, Bruno Bader and Peter Wacker put their first tyre marks on the quarter mile of asphalt. At this year's European Finals at Santa Pod, Switzerland proved that these thirty years of Swiss drag racing experience has paid back as in not less than five of sixteen categories a Swiss participant was on the podium. Swizerland definitely showed that they're not only a tennis and sailing nation but also a drag racing nation as well. Switzerland: let's be proud of it. Ven's twenties. 18th October: UK Super Street Bike racer Steve Venables says that the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway was a great weekend for so many including daughter and 9.50 Bike racer Jemma and himself: I was determined to run a 7.2 before the end of this race year. The first round of qualifying quickly saw some racers pulling out PBs. I qualified number one with a 7.38, in the second round I ran slightly quicker with a 7.34 but Rick Stubbins ran his first thirty with a 7.37 so the pressure was now on. In the third round I watched Rick run slightly quicker with a 7.36 but Dave Smith from nowhere pulled out a huge PB with a 7.315! Knowing he had knocked me from top spot I was determined to get a twenty but run a 7.311 so I got the number one spot back but still no twenty. Sunday brought the sun and one final qualifier. Pete Bellenie and Wayne Saunders ran PBs but no change in the ladder. In the first of eliminations I had Mogens Lund, I took the win and knew the run felt so good but I thought that on Saturday with the 7.311, I couldn't believe it when I was told 7.289! E2 against Stephen Mead, again the run was so smooth and I took the win with a slightly quicker 7.287 which was backed up for a new ACU record. In my data I noticed a slight dip in power as I left the line without which I was I could go even quicker. So after a slight remap of the ignition timing I was ready to go against Wayne Saunders. I thought the bike sounded a bit off on the line but as soon as I launched I knew I was in trouble. It bogged before picking up power, very luckily for me Wayne also had trouble with spinning then a wheelie which meant I scraped through to the final with a 7.97. On the return to the trailer I was puzzled why the bike behaved as it did but looking at the map I realised I had made a dummy error, instead of writing in 30 I wrote 3! As Rick Stubbins had also got into the final he had already retained the ACU Championship so I knew it didn't matter what happened now. After correcting my stupid mistake with the figure I was facing up to Rick and had a very smooth easy to ride run and knew I had the win, but due to Rick spinning badly and shutting off he met me at the top end and told me I ran a 7.245. A great way to end the year and I'm more than happy to come out with the number two plate seeing as I missed a meeting this year due to health problems. A big well done to all those who ran PBs, and to Dave Smith on his new ACU speed record. As if my weekend wasnt enough, Jemma had her best weekend so far. She qualified fifth with a 9.54 but was very consistent through qualifying. In the first round of eliminations she was against Mike Austin and took the win, and the won the second round against Steve Ashby (she'd never got further than this in eliminations before), then the third round against Augy Harrison to go into her first final against Richard Sawatzki. Richard won with a 9.516 against Jemma's 9.511, but she was more than happy as runner-up especially when she picked up her winnings. So all in all a great week-end for father and daughter. A big thank you to Barry Henson for all his help throughout the year, Velocity Racing, Crescent Suzuki and Lee at LA Racing for all their support and Ray at Debben Performance for his quality engine builds, all of your help and support is greatly appreciated. A really big Thank You also to all the guys at Santa Pod who did an awesome job all weekend and always seem to be happy to see us, and also a massive thanks to all the staff at Eurodragster.com because if it wasn't for you no-one would know we existed (Thanks! - Ed). Wowing the Manx drag racers. 18th October: UK Super Pro ET racer Mark Flavell has been in touch to let us know more about the team's appearance on the Isle of Man last month: The Manx Drag Racing Club invited MFR over to the island for the weekend following the Manx GP. Ian Merryweather is a name familiar to many drag racers: he was a founding member of the Super Gas Drag Racers Association, racing his Banzai Cobra and he devised the original points structure for the SGDRA and then the IHRA UK National Championship. I've kept in touch with Ian over the years and when a group of Hot Rodders and Drifting enthusiasts, including Ian, got together and started talking about putting a race day together we were only to pleased to get involved. When Ian asked us if we'd go and give the Jurby Strip a taste of blown methanol we jumped at the chance. We arrived in the early hours of Thursday morning having crossed over on the 02.15 ferry out of Heysham. A quick little detour to show the lads around the island (got lost) and we arrived at Ian's where the welcome smell of sausages for breakfast greeted us. Ian lives near the famous Ballaugh Bridge on the TT course, and as we left we drove down the actual course into Ramsey. We set up in the paddock area of the sprint and were surrounded with all manner of bikes and bikers. I suggested to the MDRC that maybe we could fire her up a couple of times to attract some attention, and hell if we're going that far why not give her a run on the sprint course! Craig and I had a good laugh - we don't do static displays very well we like to make some noise! The eighth mile course on the Prom is a long slow left hander but the initial surface is very good. As 2:00 pm arrived it had been warm and sunny all day and Craig - you don't think I'm daft enough to drive do you - got suited up whilst I considered the what could go wrong / risk assessment with all concerned. Once everybody was happy, or at least as happy as people get who are responsible for a 1800 hp monster tearing down a Victorian sea front, we fired her up. The burnout was wicked and echoed off the hillside behind us. Several of the people I had warned of the noise fell over and all leapt back as Craig disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Mali and I backed Craig up on to his rubber and Craig staged then took off up the track pedalling it two or three times before pulling the chute as he ran down to the hotel. A surreal sight in the Ramsey sun. Big Stevie Metcalfe couldn't make the trip so the press-ganged and newly-promoted golf car driver Frank Mason and I set off after him. As we caught up, we laughed at the Hotel balconies full of people pointing and waving. A brill day. On Friday we watched the Manx GP race. Imagine leaving the front gate at the Pod, travelling through Wollaston, out to Northampton, on to Wellingborough, then Rushden, Bedford, Harold, Bozeat and back over potholes, gas pipes, drain covers, mini roundabouts and planters. Oh and a score of 185 mph bikes. Well, they're all there on the TT course. What a spectacle! On the evening Ian arranged for us to drive around the entire thirty seven mile course which was absolutely brilliant. Saturday was supposed to be a quiet day so we elected to do some car maintenance to be as ready as we could be for Jurby. No sooner had we rolled the car out than what seemed like half the island descended on our pit bay to see the car they'd heard about from Ramsey. Whilst Craig I checked things over, Frank was in charge of handing out flyers and invitations to the Jurby race. A local bobby dropped by and brought his entire family down to see this strange contraption that surely only a lunatic would get in. We took that as a compliment coming from a Manxman who was a TT nut. On Sunday we were up early and made our way to Jurby. What a very pleasant surprise to find the strip was in such good order. The entire facility was smooth and flat with no ridges or pot holes. Green yes but no loose stuff and no bumps. The quarter mile ran into half a mile of shutdown area, every bit as good as the racing surface. The return road which forms part of the Jurby Circuit was just as good as was the pit area. Its only negative point was that it's on an exposed northern plain and the wind was gusting straight across the drag strip at times. The event was run in RWYB format so that everybody could get as much track time as they wanted and it gave the club the freedom to assess the entrants and look how future classea may be organised. The entrants were double the anticipated numbers for both cars and bikes. The machinery was diverse in that there was Mac's slingshot dragster, 60s Camaros, AC Cobras, Street Rods and a healthy turnout of the drifting guys who ran in an additional feature of the day. Our approach was to run as if licensing to get a feel for what the track could hold. The plan was to burn out hard and sixty foot the car for the first run followed by an eighth mile charge and then two quarter mile assaults. All went to plan initially but with the shortage of rubber on the start line area we defeated the track even leaving in high gear and knocked the tyres off at the hit. Craig pedalled it and ran through, much to the delight of the good size crowd. Our second run was pretty much a repeat of the first and by then a much larger crowd was on hand, the car park being reportedly full. As I stood back after the second burnout a rather pleasant-looking young lady leaned over the safety barrier and thanked us for bringing such an exciting car over. That was good enough for me, we'll be back. At this point it was clear that the Isle of Man is a part of the UK because it had been a lovely sunny, if windy, day then out of nowhere heavy rain blew in...a real bummer. But all in all a very good weekend away and hopefully the first of many forays to the Isle of Man. If you're interested in visiting the Isle for TT week or the Manx GP week next year then the Manx Drag Racing Club will be racing the following weekend. I'm sure all will be welcome and I can assure you of a warm and friendly reception! Many thanks to Ian, Mac and the MDRC team. Did I mention the beer? Exceptional. Big times and a big bang. 18th October: UK Funny Bike racer Tim Blakemore and his Kawasaki-sponsored team saw hard work rewarded at the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway when Tim blasted into the 7.6s. Wendy Clutterbuck wrote to tell us how the team's weekend went: We went with the new combination of clutch plates but, as we didn't want to change too many things at once, left the springs and weights alone and see what happened. Result! The bike wouldn't pull a burnout which meant the new plates were holding up. However, there was now too much clutch which bogged the motor and needed backing out. That sorted we went back out to try again. It was better but stalled again in the burnout, we re-fired and Tim took his weight completely off the bike, this was just enough to light the tyre pulling a good clean burnout. Confident now that it should at least launch we went for a pass. The bike launched good and straight and Tim came off the throttle at a thousand feet. Amazingly Tim's first full pass on the ZZR1400 recorded a 6.76 which is a new PB. For the number crunchers out there the ticket read: 60 feet: 1.1287 330 feet-2.8782 Eighth: 4.30/171.5 1000 feet: 5.56/193.7 Quarter mile: 6.76/173 After much celebration it was back to work and see if we could do it again. Tim had come out of the run early as he felt the motor was sounding a bit harsh which was a good call as we have had our fair share of melting motors in the past and this can be somewhat economically trying to say the least. The engine was sound and our new Nova three-speed transmission still looked unused. So after a few check and tweaks we went out again, and aside from replacing the plates we decided to leave the clutch settings the same this time around and go for a full pass. This time around the launch wasn't so good, it seems we still had a little bit too much clutch in there and although the bike launched the clutch pulled the motor down a bit too far and Tim suffered severe tyre shake, causing massive shock loading on the engine, a con rod let go bending an inlet valve, resulting in a cocktail of burning methanol turning the plenum inside out. On hindsight we probably got away with it on the first run as Tim had two attempts at the burnout so this probably gave us just enough slip on the clutch to make it work. Amazingly the rest of the engine and Nova gearbox were still intact and the crank cases and bearings were like new, a real credit to the strength of these Kawasaki engines. We were still very happy with our progress. We had qualified number one so that afforded us more track time on race day. We worked through the evening to get the replacement engine in place and we must give a huge thank you to the  multi-talented Jon Webster of Webster Race Engineering who worked his magic repairing the plenum and Super Woman Lizzy McCarthy for sorting dinner even though she had her own bike to fix!   Unfortunately we were unable to run the first round due to an oil leak on the start line: the cam cover gasket had split due to suspected crankcase pressure. Suspecting the head gasket design  (slightly different on this particular engine) to be the fault we were confident of the solution and we now have the off season to address it. Overall it was a successful weekend and we are over the moon with our progress. We have found a base set up for the GenII clutch with which we can now work and the new three-speed Nova auto  transmission is doing its job. So we end the season on a high, hopefully to progress further with development of the ZZR1400 for 2011. We would like to congratulate all the riders who acheived new PBs at the Bike Weekend and to Ian, Darren and the rest of the Santa Pod crew for an awesome track. Finally a huge thank-you to our sponsors and supporters who make it all happen: Kawasaki Motors UK, Rock Oil, Webster Race Engineering, Avondale Welding, CR Turbo Engineering, TJC Design...and not forgetting Shawn 'Shamus' Rodman for the welder. To follow all the news at Tim Blakemore Racing please visit www.timblakemoreracing.co.uk. Swift snippets. 18th October: Sweden's Jöran Persåker will be driving Barry Paton's Top Fuel Dragster at the NHRA Finals at Pomona on 11th-14th November. Jöran will be one of two European representatives in Top Fuel Dragster at the Finals as Denmark's Stig Neergaard is also contesting the event as well as the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals next week. Eurodragster.com sponsors Derek Flynn and Michael Manners will be contesting Top Alcohol Dragster at both Las Vegas and Pomona. 2010 ACU UK Funny Bike Champion and the UK's latest six-second Funny Bike racer Steve French has been in touch to express heartfelt thanks to all who have helped this year to get the new French Injection bike through the six-second door and to win it the Championship. "They are Chris Hall, Ray Debben, Martin and Cindy Newbury, Sefton Whitlock, Stuart Crane, Dave Beck, Dave Branch, Andy Dawson, Jerry Collier, Lizz McCarthy and last but not least my long-standing crewman, Gordon Smith", says Steve. "Thanks must also go to all the photographers for their skills in capturing the essence of the sport we love." Blue new bike. 18th October: This time last year UK Comp Bike racer Phil Crossley and Team Bopchop embarked on a mission to build a new bike: There was nothing wrong with the old bike, and good progress was just starting to be made on it with a best ET towards the end of the year of 8.33. But an idea had been formed of what we wanted - bigger, longer, lower, faster, more - and so work started on it regardless. By Easter of this year it wasn't quite ready, so the decision was made to run the old bike once again. We didn't improve on last year's times, despite the engine growing over the winter from 1260cc to 1500cc. It wasn't going to be that straightforward. The new bike came out to play at the Springspeed Nationals. It was only just in a state where it was finished enough to run. We still had the wheelie bars left to fit at the track, and were the last bike to be scrutineered. Poor Steve stood waiting patiently whilst wheelie bar mounts were drilled and the bars fitted. The paintwork on the new bike was a temporary - stealth matt black affair (as inspired by Graham Ellis' Pro Mod) and it looked pretty good like that. Most of the event was spent doing observed handling runs, and it was a relief to find that it went in straight-ish lines. We had a problem with the bike bogging down just off the line, it would pick up moments later and then run flawlessly, but by the of course it was all over. The bogging problem was eventually cured at the Summernationals by fitting a second fuel pump to feed the carbs separately. It seems the nitrous system was stealing all the fuel! The results were a few mid to high eights and things seemed to be performing better. However sixty foot times were well off the mark so we knew we could make huge improvements there. On to the Open Sport nationals and the bike finally had some paint and looked a lot more finished. It seemed happier with its new outfit and managed an 8.48 ET before the engine gave up in the final qualifier and split the cases in two. That ended that event prematurely but gave us a chance to relax and watch some of the racing, something which is normally hard to do. Four weeks, one fresh set of engine cases and a complete rebuild later it was National Finals time. We all know the fate of that event, but amazingly that's the first race day that been completely cancelled since we started racing three years ago, as far as I can remember anyway. Not bad really. The new bike was still rubbish off the line but for the first time ever it was being consistent. The two qualifying rounds both produced 8.4s with a best ET for this bike of 8.42. Going into the last race of the year, the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend, there really only was one goal and that was to make this new (and so far slower) bike go faster than we had been before. A scheduled four qualifying rounds offered plenty of opportunity to test things. Sixty foott times were the focus of our attention, firstly a softer clutch setting was used. This didn't work at all and the bike barely moved off the line. Then a stronger base pressure and loads more nitrous off the line, this didn't particularly improve the short times either but in the third round we got incredibly close to a PB with an 8.33 and still with the 1.38 sixty foot times. In the first round of eliminations things didn't go as expected. Stuart Crane in the opposite lane had run a PB of 7.34 in the last session so I didn't think I stood a chance, but we both had poor runs, and incredibly I made it across the line first. The next round was also a big obstacle, Ivan Birch rarely has a poor run, and he didn't have a great one but his 7.58 was going to win regardless. I had a 0.2 holeshot and at nearly half track I still couldn't see Ivan, then I heard him, then he came past on the back wheel. It was the best race I've had all year, being ahead of someone so fast, even for three or four seconds, was nice. My time for that run was an 8.13/158, two tenths better than my PB and finally faster than last year's bike. Also a bonus - it was going home in one piece and with the knowledge that if we can figure out how to make it leave the line properly it will undoubtedly dip into the sevens. Now that's something to look forward to next year! A whole race season didn't happen without a lot of peoples efforts, so thanks go to the Bopchop crew for their help. To my sister for the use of the best cellar-cum-race workshop ever. To Roger Upperton who has provided me with last-minute parts, first class machine work, and endless advice. Plus Bob Brooks, Eurodragster.com for their coverage (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed), and to all the people who make race meetings happen. The Stocker and the dead motor. 18th October: After his last news item, in which UK Funny Bike racer Kev Charman said that he may ride Jake's Junior Bike in the absence of time to sort out the crank and motor on the Pro 1 bike, he got a call from longtime friend Richard Gipp, who offered to lend Kev his Pro Stock bike to contest the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend: Such an opportunity does not present itself very often, so after thinking about it for a couple of days I decided to accept his phenomenally kind offer. Riding Pro stock is something that I have wanted to have a go at. Years ago when Paul Rose had his Pro Stock for sale I was interested in buying that, but Paul said "I'm not going to sell it to you Kev, the expense will break you!". So here I was wondering just how much this loan would cost me. Gippy and I sat down the evening of the Friday. I had a sit on the bike, and he talked me though how to ride it, the revs, what to do after the run, I learned a lot. Riding one of these is completely different to anything I had ridden before, and it was a lot to take on board. These guys make it look easy! For the first run I was very apprehensive. Gippy told me it was all set up OK, and he told me he would "do" the gears for me which was a big help, knowing I was in charge of Gippy's baby and a big responsibility. Ride it right I would break nothing, ride it wrong and ? $$$$! Burnout OK, pre-stage, stage, and launch. Jeez! These things launch, made me sit up and take notice! Didn't see the light for second gear, or come to that any of the others! First time on a Pro Stock bike 7.88/173 and number two qualifier! On investigation, we found out that the shift light didn't actually work. I didn't do the next two qualifying sessions as we weren't going to change the ladder, so went out for the last session of the day. The last run of the day was an 8.0. Gippy told me that my shift points were pretty good on the last run with no light, so just do it again this time. That messed with my head, and in Gippy's words I tagged the limiter twice! This run felt a bit messier, as shown in the ET. The following day we decided again that we weren't going to do the last qualifier, so straight into eliminations against Steve French. He had run a 6.99 the day before, and well done to him, but I could take him on the tree! Poor Steve the bike dragged him through, and he redlit. I ran a 7.66/169 and was very happy with that one! The bike is so light after the Funny Bike, and keeps straight unlike the Funny Bike. I think I was over compensating, so if I leaned one way or the other the little bike did it straight away, rather than battle like the other one. Because of this, I had a couple of interesting moments. Through another round by way of a bye and breaking the beam and then up against Dave Bailey in the final. 7.63/173 to Dave's 7.10/183! Runner-up on the stocker! Huge thanks go to Gippy for the loan of his bike, and I managed not to break it ! What a mate, thanks so much. It was an interesting experience and something I won't forget in a hurry. Now, what to do next year... Meanwhile team-mate Lizz McCarthy was completely relaxed and planned to have some fun at the Bike Weekend after DNQing at her previous event: It didn't really matter what I did this weekend, it would change nothing! With super crew of Nick Holland (the temp!), Lisa Ambler and Graham Considine, we muddled through. The thing which has been more unnerving for me is that I haven't really had a constant. Each meeting one of my crew is doing something different, so we tried and succeeded in keeping a routine going, and it worked! My first run was in the second qualifying session. I had two-step issues again in the pits, and thought I would give the first one a miss and I could watch Kev's first run on the Stocker. Towed down to the fire up road and sat on the bike, practising the run in my head, before being pushed into the burnout box. Nice burnout, staged, and left the line eventually. It seemed very slow, and I was waiting for the light to change gear. 9.01/148 and sixth qualifier. I wasn't completely convinced that the nitrous came in. It would appear that this in fact was the case. When we changed the carbs on the bike at the last meeting, we didn't adjust the switch on the throttle, so even though I was on full throttle, I had to be hard on it or it would turn the gas off. Absolutely no margin for error, until we re adjusted it. Next run the bike still seemed a bit sluggish, and I'm pretty sure it dropped a cylinder again, but she ran 8.90/143...at last in the eights! When I got back to the pits, Kev was grinning and said "That bike sounds terrible!". Took it to Dave Beck to have a listen, re-did the clutch, and ready for the following day. This is where it all went terribly wrong. Got to the top end in a cloud of white smoke, ran a ten and back in the pits checked the plugs to find one had been chewed. Took the carbs off to find a lot of swarf in them. I had hurt the bike quite badly. Back at home Kev took the head off, and sent me some pretty horrific pictures of the damage. I have damaged the head and piston, caused by a by a broken valve, and other theories! This year has certainly been a frustrating one for me but I have learned a lot, one thing especially: that going in a straight line as fast as possible is really, really difficult. If anyone says it's easy, they are more than likely a spectator! Big thanks to Kev for being so understanding when I trashed his motor, and to John Austin for the use of the chassis. Thanks to my crew Lisa, Graham, and Nick, and my sponsors Uncle Steve at Motorshack, Rich at Stovepuppet, John Hall at Stamford Speed Shop, Juke at Blackline Fever, and Si at Mitchville Hot rods. If at first you don't succeed...roll on 2011! AFB Racing's Bike Weekend. 18th October: Nick Saunders says that UK Supertwin Fuel Shawn Rodman and the AFB Drag Racing team came to the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend, at which they ran in Comp Bike, in an optimistic frame of mind after a positive signs at the previous event: We came away from the National Finals with a PB and were hoping for much of the same. In qualifying on the Saturday Shamus was fighting to keep the bike in a straight line resulting in a 9.09, back to back 8.26s, and finally an 8.18. Out of these runs we did manage to achieve a best terminal speed of 175 mph, and looking at the timing slips we are still losing the majority of our time in the first three hundred feet. Despite some disappointing ETs we still qualified fifth in a very experienced Competition Bike field. Unfortunately we didn't get the opportunity to run our first elimination as the rubber seal on the oil filter failed on the approach to the burnout box. The resulting oil leak forced us to shut off and hand the win to Dave Peters, who ran a stout 7.64. This weekend did allow us to find the cause of a few issues with the bike, but unfortunately we now face the prospect of a long winter and a wait to get some more track time. Another positive from the weekend was the fantastic 6.76 from Tim Blakemore, well done to Tim and Wendy on a fantastic run. Please see our web site www.afbdragracing.co.uk for event pictures (thanks to Mark Skinner) and video. Web site updates. 18th October: The end of this year's California Hot Rod Reunion and the excellent Bangshift.com webcast is a good opportunity to remind Nostalgia fans about Jon Spoard's UK Drag Racing Nostalgia Forum. If you want to know what happened to a particular vehicle or to a particular person, if you need your memory refreshing on something, if you want to discuss days gone by, or if you want to talk to some of the stars of yesteryear then join the web's best-behaved and most expert community at www.ukdrn.co.uk/forum. Europe in the USA week 1. 17th October: Although the 2010 IHRA Nitro Jam series finished yesterday, with ex-pat UK Top Alcohol Dragster racer Michael Manners of Eurodragster.com sponsor Cosmo Residences taking runner-up spot in the Pro Fuel Championship for which congratulations to Mike, European fans still have someone to cheer on in the USA today. Over in California, Erik Wallinder is driving Johnny Nilsson's Tre Kronor Nostalgia Funny Car at the California Hot Rod Reunion at Bakersfield. Eliminations take place today and the great news about this race is that our friends at Bangshift.com are again providing their excellent live webcast, which is free courtesy of their sponsors Aeromotive Fuel Systems and Cherry Bomb. Action officially commences at 08:30 local which is 16:30 UK / 17:30 European although Brian at Bangshift recommends that you start to check the webcast page at 10:00 local / 18:00 UK / 19:00 European. You will be able to watch the Bangshift.com webcast by clicking here. Swift snippets. 17th October: Thanks to ACU UK Drag Bike Championship Co-ordinator Ian King for letting us know that the final standings in the 2010 ACU UK Drag Bike Championships are now available on the King Racing web site at www.kingracing.com. The second 2011 calendar to declare is Dominic Romney's Hot Rod now in its third year. "The calendar is better than ever printed on the finest 300 gsm paper I can find and finished to the highest quality", says Dom. "As always its rammed full of some of the coolest images this time from the 62nd Annual Speed Week at Bonneville.  Printed in a very limited run of one hundred they are bound to run out fast, so grab yours now and have the coolest calendar in the office. Because of the demand they are currently on pre order, but don't fear currently as I am expecting to ship by 23rd or as soon as I can get them finished off. Either way they are going to be very much worth the wait!". the calendars cost £10 plus p+p and can be ordered at www.modernpics.co.uk. British Hall of Fame update. 17th October: With nominations now in for the next intake to the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame, the Board of Selectors' meeting in November looks as though it might well go well into the night, says BDRHoF Chair Stu Bradbury. "There are some clear favorites for discussion, but that in no way ensures automatic membership into the Hall Of Fame", says Stu. "The Board of Selectors has a comprehensive list of candidates for induction into the Hall of Fame, and this list is constantly added to as time goes by. The BDRHoF welcomes suggestions for candidates for the list, but there is absolutely no point in lobbying any individual member of the board in the hope that your suggestion will receive preferential treatment.   "As you can appreciate, the Hall of Fame has only been in existence since 2006, so we have large backlog of eligible candidates. The induction is based on a majority vote by the Board for each of the candidates on the list. Because a person is not inducted in a particular year is in no way a suggestion by the HoF that their contribution is not recognised nor that they never will be inducted." Shelley: It's a date. 17th October: Santa Pod Raceway's local golden girl Shelley Pearson has confirmed that she will race at the Flame and Thunder Show on Saturday 30th October. The 27-year-old Northamptonshire racer recently joined the ranks of the Top Fuel élite, securing her licence with a show-stopping 4.98 second pass, instantly catapulting her into the record books as the fastest female driver in the UK and the second quickest licencing run ever in Europe. Clearly elated with her time, Shelley was quick to praise her supporting cast and thank them all for their efforts. "I'm delighted for everyone in the team that we got such a great final run", she said. "Obviously drag racing is in the family DNA, so I'm really pleased to return all the hard work that my Dad and our team have put in to get us here. I'll try and back that performance up at Flame and Thunder - and if it's at all possible, I'll try and run even quicker!" Shelley's 8,000 horsepower Top Fuel Dragster will also be joined by a Nitro-fuelled Funny Car, and they will both be firing off exhibition passes throughout the day, as well as the world's fastest Jet-powered race cars. These brave souls strap themselves to over 10,000 horsepower of afterburning jet engine to cover the quarter mile in just over five seconds, at a shade under 300 mph. Not for the faint hearted! It's not all drag racing however. An incredibly diverse range of acts and attractions means that throughout the day a non-stop mix of action and amusement showcases some of the most prodigious talent and potent machinery ever to be gathered in one place. Equally impressive and almost as loud is the Live Action Arena where the car-crushing talents of Santa Pod's resident Monster Truck Podzilla vies for attention alongside multiple Guinness World Record holder Terry Grant and his incredible stunt show. Mix in UKFMX, Britain's best Freestyle Motocross team and leading quad bike showman Jason Smythe - and you've got the ingredients for a superb show. Music fans will delight at the headline signing of Here Come The Girls! This superb tribute act tips its hat at acts like Lady Gaga, Cheryl Cole and The Saturdays. As easy on the eye as they are on the ear, this is one superb show that ticks all the boxes for fans of all ages. One for the ladies, James Sutton, better known as Ryan from Emmerdale, will also be at the show, meeting his fans and signing autographs. From the sublime to the ridiculous, ace car builder Perry Watkins will also be showcasing the Flatmobile - the World's lowest car - and Wind Up, the world's smallest vehicle. His 130 mph table and chairs, better known as Fast Food, will also be gracing the strip. Titan, the amazing eighth foot tall interactive robot will be walking amongst the crowd, delighting and terrifying in equal measure. The Black Knights Parachute Display Team will also be quite literally dropping in later in the day with their unique display of skill and control, and if that wasn't enough, Mark Jefferies will be putting on a stunning aerobatic display. But there's still more! Drifting demos, Kids Entertainers and even a full funfair. Or why not take a pleasure flight in a helicopter and see the whole lot from the air? Or strap yourself into a genuine two seater dragster and blast up the quarter mile in a shade over seven seconds! But of course, it wouldn't be Flame and Thunder without a spectacular firework display and huge bonfire. This year, the Santa Pod team has really pulled out the stops to create a memorable evening. As the light dims, a fully sequenced firework display will delight the crowd. With under-16s getting in for free, advance tickets starting at just £17 and more acts and attractions in one day than most showgoers see in a whole year, it's the essential family day out of 2010! Just don't forget your hat and coat! For more details visit www.santapod.com or call the team on 01234 782828. SPR offer VP Racing Fuel deals. 17th October: Santa Pod Raceway, the home of European Drag Racing, is offering racers the chance to fuel up for less with new, lower prices on its wide range of VP Racing Fuels including C12, C14, C16, C23, Q16, Import and SV05. The FIA venue signed VP as its exclusive fuelling partner earlier in the year and, throughout the season, racers of all levels and abilities have enjoyed the convenient service of being able to buy the highest-quality fuels at the strip. Both parties are so happy with the partnership that they have re-signed for 2011 and to celebrate, a brand new lower price structure has been put in to place to offer even better value to all competitors. These promotional prices will remain in place throughout 2011 and Santa Pod will continue to offer a delivery service to have drums brought to your paddock for the ultimate in hassle-free race-day planning. With the racing season now winding down but with RWYB and test days left on the calendar, Santa Pod are offering the entire range of VP fuels at a substantial discount with savings of up to 32% making it an ideal way maximise test budget this year and race budget in the next. The new prices for five US gallons are (including VAT): C12 Leaded 108 Octane £94 C14 Leaded 114 Octane £104 C16 Leaded 117 Octane £107 C23 Leaded 120+ Octane £128 Q16 Leaded/Oxygenated 116 Octane £107 Import Leaded/Oxygenated 120+ Octane £154 SVO5 Unleaded/Oxygenated 98 Octane £106 Upon announcing the move, Santa Pod General Manager David Lloyd-Jones commented "Both Santa Pod and our partners at VP wanted to give something back to our committed racers and we felt that genuine discounts would be the perfect way to do it. We have been extremely impressed with VP fuels in our own machinery this season. We have been using it in our own two-seater experience car as well as in Podzilla, our resident monster truck, and they have been running superbly with our drivers reporting real performance gains. Walking the paddock and speaking to the competitors, it's been a great success across a wide range of Championships too - from Top Fuel all the way down to Sportsman and club-level racing. For more information on the VP Racing Fuels range and to buy on line, please visit www.santapod.com and click on Pod Shop or call the team on 01234 782828. 3t creative fuel NFAA web site. 17th October: Eurodragster.com sponsor 3t creative are delighted to announce the launch of the new Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association web site. The site contains full details about the class and the incredible collection of vehicles that compete in the NFAA. 3t were approached by Bob Glassup and Lawrie Gatehouse to bring the class' web presence up-to-date, a job which the 3t team jumped at. "I love this class!", said Dan Welberry of 3t creative. "The cars are some of the most exciting on the scene and some of the performances achieved by a number of the teams has been outstanding. With a huge resurgence in nostalgia racing in the UK, we hope that we have delivered a site that truly reflects the classes reputation amongst racers and fans alike. We'd like to thank the NFAA for considering 3t for this job. We look forward to working with other classes, racers and sponsors in the future. Remember, we're still offering sites from just £250!". A full 3t portfolio can be found at www.3tcreative.com/web-portfolio.html. Matt Glassup of the NFAA commented "Thanks to 3t creative, Lawrie Gatehouse, many photographers (both professional and amateur) and the teams themselves, I think we have a web site with fabulous visual impact site. We hope the fans will appreciate the comprehensive driver/teams section, and potential teams can review the rules and regulations and download an application to join the class.  There is a results/reports section which fans to can follow throughout the season and read the inside story to the action on the track and in the pits.  There is a flickr gallery which will be updated throughout 2011, and fans are welcome to email photos they would like added to info@nfaa.co.uk.  Thanks to Dan, Stu and Simon of 3t for all their hard work in making this site possible." You can view the new NFAA web site at www.nfaa.co.uk. Web site updates. 17th October: In the latest instalment in his exclusive Racer Blog presented in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car, Luke Bennett of the Bennett Racing Top Methanol FC team is taken in for questioning. As ever you can stay in touch with the latest Blog updates by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Swift snippets. 16th October: Congratulations to UK Super Pro ET racer Mark Bishop and his bride Hannah Smallman who are to be married today. Jemma Harrison tells us that the lucky pair are honeymooning at the NHRA race in Las Vegas. Have a great day guys, and a very happy life together. Swift snippets. 14th October: Thanks to Lena Perés for letting us know that this year's Nordic Drag Racing Series Banquet and Prizegiving takes place on at 18:00 Saturday 27th November at the Scandic Hotel at Upplands Väsby, Stockholm. Adult tickets which include meal and one drink at the table are 495 SEK and child tickets (up to 13 years) are 295 SEK. The prizegiving ceremony will follow dinner. For full details visit the Svensk Dragracing web site at www.dragracing.se. DJ of Santa Pod Raceway writes that this weekend's Ten of the Best has been cancelled. "The organisers would like to apologise for any inconvenience", says DJ. "Please direct all enquiries to the organisers via their web site at www.totb.co.uk. The next Run What You Brung at Santa Pod is on Sunday 24th October and the last RWYB of 2010 will be on Sunday 31st October." CBM Motorsport, who are organising a drag racers v circuit racers charity kart race in Cambridge on Saturday 20th November would be pleased to hear from any racer who would like to bring their race car along for static display and fire-up. If you would like to take your race car along then please E-Mail Jemma Harrison at jem.lou@hotmail.co.uk. Straightliners competitor, NSA sprinter and Brighton Speed Trials winner Steve Walton invites bikers to the opening of the new North City Triumph at 249 London Road, Romford, Essex RM7 9NB this Saturday (08:30-20:00) and Sunday (09:00-14:00). Motorcycle News will be in attendance. More information at www.northcitytriumph.co.uk and thanks to Brian Nixon for passing on the news. We have started to replace the pictures on the Home Page randomiser. We are about half way through the process but if you encounter any blank picture boxes on the Home Page then please send details, such as the caption displayed beneath the picture box, to editor@eurodragster.com. Web site updates. 14th October: Brian Lohnes has been in touch with the great news that Bangshift.com will as hoped be broadcasting streaming video and audio from this weekend's California Hot Rod Reunion at Bakersfield, at which Johnny Nilsson's Tre Kronor reproduction will be racing as part of a huge field of Nostalgia Funny Cars and Top Fuellers together with other Nostalgia classes. You will be able to tune in to the CHRR by clicking here. In the latest instalment in his exclusive Racer Blog presented in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car, Pro Stock Bike racer Karl Lyrén speaks of his off-season plans. As ever you can stay in touch with the latest Blog updates by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. UK Tech Committee meeting. 13th October: Phil Evans writes that the UK's Technical Committee, which he chairs, is to meet at 8:00 pm next Wednesday, 20th October, at the Elstree Holiday Inn: I invite everyone who has a question about the 2010 rules, or who wants something to be considered for the 2011 rules, to E-Mail their question to Paula Marshall at paula.marshall@btconnect.com so that we can discuss it. If anyone wants to attend the meeting then you are welcome but please let us know beforehand so that we can make sure that we have room for everyone. Apart from updates on safety rules, SFI amendments and particular class rules we will be discussing the results of our noise testing programme (see Monday's news update) and how we intend to deal with the issue next year. I believe that the sound level limits are quite easily achievable and  are in line with the Scandinavian limits. I presented the proposed limits to the RAC MSA during various meetings in 2009 and 2010 and they are content for us to police the situation from within the sport but at the same time they are appreciative that we have moved into line with the overall MSA policy of reducing noise impact on the environment. Mum and dad have a go. 13th October: Graham McDonald came up with a cunning plan whilst his daughter, UK National Junior Dragster Champion Gabrielle, was off racing in the USA: We got hold of the wife's old shopping trolley, a Fiat Cinquecento, stripped out all the interior seats etc and headed up to Bishops Court King of the Court Drift and Drag Championship finale in Northern Ireland. Now with an 899 cc or 54 ci engine we weren't going to break any sort of records but hey, we were certainly going to have some fun. When we arrived we were greeted with a nice warm welcome at the gate: the lady even allowed us race for free as we were displaying Gabrielle's Junior Dragster, which I thought was a nice gesture. After unloading everything we brought our trusty little car down for scrutineering and got our signing on slips after being checked over thoroughly and producing a crash helmet. The guys actually allowed us to double drive after we paid for a second driver, but at £20 for three runs each it was a bargain. The signing on office guy asked what bhp the car was. "Thirty nine" I said and he just looked at me, I think he expected me to  correct myself and say 139, but I explained it was only the small pushrod engine version. So first run in a 39 bhp car at my very first drag race and I drew a 330 bhp latest version Golf. I could hear the track announcer say "39 bhp against 330 bhp place your bets on who will take this one" so I slowly drove up to the staging beams trying not to do anything stupid (like bringing a standard Cinquecento to a drag race) and waited for the lights to go down. It was a heads-up race and you guessed it the Golf won, but did I roast that little Fiat for all it was worth. I think I even got a few feet head start on him...OK, maybe a few inches...but that's the great thing about this sport. I have been bringing Gabrielle up to the start line for the last four years and like most crew members I wanted to have a go myself, but you are either too busy working on the car or just working in general, so this was our pay back and I loved it, all twenty one seconds of it. It's funny how you think of a car and say "Oh that should do a sixteen-second time or so" and when you actually put a car to the test you can be surprised what it actually takes to run it down the track in a reasonable time. I actually thought this little car would do at least a nineteen, just to get under the twenty-second barrier, but that's physics and driving style for you. Also on the cards was the old debate of "Who's the better driver - husband or wife" as we were both driving the same car in turn, and the answer was the wife. The rest of the cunning plan is that I'm trying to get my wife interested in driving in Sportsman ET next year, and because I let her beat me she will now think she's a natural and we'll race our little Fiat. So a final thanks to all the lads and ladies who made the finals at Bishops Court 2010 a very enjoyable day out and all I can say now is I'm hooked on drag racing even more after your event. My mind is now filling with all sorts of improvements that I'm going to carry out on our little car so watch out, I may be packing 40 bhp the next time you see me. So get out there yourself and have a blast. You never know you too may get hooked on drag racing. Swift snippets. 13th October: Thanks to Andy Marrs of TSI Timers Europe for sending us the official timing data from the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend, "Brought to you in record time thanks to the efforts of Tethys once again". You can check out the timing data by clicking here or by clicking on the Timing Data link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Congratulations to former Street Eliminator racer, longtime hot rodder and Andy Parsons lookalike Pete Smith who was married to Barbara in St Albans last weekend. "Transport to and from the ceremony was by ex-London Transport Routemaster bus which at least went quicker than Pete's Corvette race car!", says John Price. The registrar's office was in fact the old 'Slade Prison' where they used to film Porridge...Pete wore pretty purple handcuffs and manacles! Ray Tucker was Best Man and they were adorned in Scottish Regalia as a dedication to Pete's Dad who served in the Black Watch. A great time was had by one and all with attendees from as far away as Australia and California." UK Super Street Bike racer Dave Smith says that he can't remember an event which had so many PBs, twists and surprises as the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend. "The wind was in the best possible place, the track was awesome, the stage was set for what was to be the best ever SSB round. I set the speed record only for Wayne Saunders to take it, I reset it again, and then the conditions were set and 203.3 mph was the result. It's a shame it spun off the line against Rick Stubbins because it would have run the same again, but it still managed 199.1 mph. Congrats to Steve Venables on an outstanding 7.24, my 203.30 mph and a 7.31, Rick on the Championship and a 7.32, Wayne on his 7.37, Dave Holland on his 7.44, Garry Bowe on his 7.47, Graham Dance on his 7.5, Bois on his 7.5...I just can't remember them all. A fantastic finale to the year, a big thumbs up to everybody. A big thank you to Eurodragster.com (Thanks! - Ed) and to all the Santa Pod staff for a super track to race on." A big Happy Birthday for yesterday (Tuesday) to Eurodragster.com US Correspondent Kathy Hileman. Hope you had a great day Kathy. Racing for charity. 13th October: Luke Matthews writes about Project Gengar, a 1993 Subaru Legacy turbo being built to have fun but also to raise money for the Childrens' Trust, a charity for children with multiple disabilities and brain injury. "We intend to start by space framing the front and rear ends of the car along with a general programme of drastic weight reduction", says Luke. "The engine is to undergo some drastic alterations although contrary to friends' insistence to fit a V8 we are staying with the Flat Four albeit with a larger turbo, forged internals, and various other mods. The car will be closer to a Pro Drag than the usual converted road car but is being built by two dads on a very tight budget. "If anyone has any bits or bobs to help us along the way they would be gratefully received, or if any companies have room to sponsor us even with little bits of parts or safety gear it would be fantastic. My number is 07561 441559 and E-Mail dragracing4kids@hotmail.co.uk." Packed weekend at SCR. 13th October: It's the penultimate RWYB/TNT Public Track Day of the season at Shakespeare County Raceway this weekend featuring RWYB series finals and a whole lot more, writes SCR's Jerry Cookson. Rounding out the season are the boys and a few girls who make up the Pro Street Drag Series for Japanese and European imports and the Old Skool Ford Drag Challenge. In the five round PSDS challenge it's a three way fight between the Subaru Impreza of Martyn Jeffery, the MR2 GTS Turbo of Jonathan Bird and 200SX Nissan of John Stocker. Naomi Booker has an outside chance in her MR2 Turbo if the top three doesn't break or not turn up. It's a different story in the six-round OSF Challenge as Gary Aldershot in his two-litre Capri leads with a comfortable margin over the Escort of former Rover racer Kev Jenkins and the 100E of Martin Sutton. The Southern Section of the National Sprint Association and the riders of the inaugural Twins Cup wind up their season with two days of old time sprinting against the clock. With another round of the Monster Month of Junior Madness for the youngsters with their dragsters and drag bikes competing in their own dial-in brackets plus the popular ET Bracket Race Series backed by lane sponsors Motorshack and Piston Apparel, it's going to be a cracking weekend of quarter mile action. Former Jap Series frontrunner Steve Guirey is bringing along his 2500cc HKS Drag Series Factory Mod Subaru Impreza with a view to braking a few records at the weekend. Steve still holds the FWD record at Shakey at 9.3/151 mph but now the car sorted he's quietly confident that he'll be dipping well under these times by a long way! Car clubs will be represented by the Crusie-Mids v Streetrace Club Thrash-Out, the Supra MKVI Owners Shootout and Scooby clubs all making for a healthy club atmosphere. Gates open late Friday while the track action commences at 10:00 am both days. Driving licences and crash helmets are the order of the day because without them you won't get on the track. £12 entry fee (£22 weekend) and £20 track fee (£35 weekend) all adds up to be a cracking weekend's sport, and the weather's looking half decent too! Further details can be found at www.shakespearecountyraceway.com or the Raceway's official Facebook page. 2010 UK Bike Champions. 11th October: Subject to official ratification the UK's Bike Champions for 2010 are as follow. Congratulations to: ACU Top Fuel Bike: Rene van den Berg ACU Pro Stock Bike: Dave Beck ACU Funny Bike: Steve French ACU Super Street Bike: Richard Stubbins ACU Comp Bike: Ivan Birch 9.50 Bike: Jake Mechaell NAST Supertwin Fuel: Shawn Rodman NAST Supertwin Gas: Chris Mott NAST Supertwin ET: Pete Harrison Junior Drag Bike: Jorden Bissell Bike Weekend results. 11th October: Congratulations to the winners at the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway: Funny Bike: Dave Bailey 7.1010/183.57 def. Kev Charman 7.6318/173.73 Super Street Bike: Steve Venables 7.2454/197.24 def. Richard Stubbins 11.6084/80.38 Comp Bike: Dave Peters 8.1628/157.38 bye, Ivan Birch shut off 9.50 Bike: Richard Sawatzki 9.5169/132.45 def. Jemma Venables 9.5118/148.15 8.50 Bike: Andy Haley 8.7875/160.17 def. Mark Winder 16.9975/154.27 Supertwin Gas: Chris Mott 9.1096/145.82 def. Dave Smart 9.4120/148.58 Supertwin ET: Pete Harrison (11.70) 11.8825/93.88 def. Tim Boutle (13.10) 13.3948/105.41 Subject to ratification the following records were set: Super Street Bike ET: 7.245 seconds, Steve Venables Super Street Bike speed: 199.68 mph, Dave Smith Comp Bike speed: 185.88 mph, Ivan Birch Supertwin Gas speed: 149.14 mph, Dave Smart The Super Street Bike speed record was ready to go as high as 203.30 mph courtesy of Dave Smith but he was unable to back it up; it was a similar story for Bob Brooks with his Comp Bike best of 189.00 mph. Congratulations to the weekend's Straightliners winners, with thanks to Straightliners timekeeper Martyn Greathead for the information: European Top Bike: Mogens Lund 8.90/178 Wheelie: Shane Egan 10.68/135 Ultimate Streetbike Unlimited cc: Terry Smith 10.10/143 Ultimate Streetbike Up to 1175cc: Steve Walton 10.06/143 Ultimate Streetbike Up to 750cc: Andrew Storrie 10.71/131 Street Scooter up to 260cc: Keith Hudson 14.14/97 Street Scooter up to 210cc: Russell Milnes 15.64/83 Competition Scooter: Jamie Newbold 14.27/86 Top Scooter: Pete Newbold 12.56/103 11.10: Richard Ward 11.53/123 10.10: Gary Philpott 10.17/126 9.10: Mark Patman 9.33/129 Pro Ultimate Streetbike: Mick Winyard 8.47/171 Top Bike: Phil Wood 7.71/188 Competition: Harold Wolfenden 7.99/176 You can check out our American Car Imports-sponsored Extreme Performance Bike Weekend reports and pictures by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. What's all the noise about noise? 11th October: Mark Norton of the UK Tech Crew has been in touch to explain what was with all the sound checks taking place at UK races this season: This is the Tech Committee being a little proactive and trying to get ahead of things. The idea is for drag racing to put some form of sound checking protocol in place before it could be forced on us by the MSA. That way we have a chance to set our own parameters and not have them forced upon us. To this end the Tech Committee published a set of guidelines in this year's rule book, with the Tech Crew carrying out sound checks at both Shakespeare County Raceway and Santa Pod and keeping records of all the measurements. At the moment we are just collecting data but by the end of next season all vehicles in Junior Dragster, Street Eliminator, Sportsman ET, and VW Sportsman will be required to comply with the 113 dBa limit and all vehicles in Pro ET, Super Gas, Super Street and VW Pro will be required to comply with the 120 dBA limit. By adopting this softly softly approach we hope to make this move as painless as possible. If you have been tested and have not asked about your results feel free to call us on the numbers in the rule book. Thanks to Tig Napier we were able to carry out some experiments at Shakespeare County Raceway over the Bank Holiday weekend. Tig kindly brought along some exhaust components for us to test on his car. We had previously tested Tig at Santa Pod and found his car to measure 124 dBa which was over the 120 dBa limit. Since then Tig has added an extension pipe with a bend in it to accommodate the Lambda sensors he is now running. This alone reduced the noise level by 1 dBa. After this we carried out some experiments with the ninety-degree outlet pipes. These were tried facing outward, inward, and straight down. None of these reduced the noise level - in fact pointing the outlets straight down actually increased the noise by 2 dBa! Finally we installed the mufflers which are less than an inch bigger than the original collector pipe. These reduced the noise level by the required 4 dBa. These mufflers are made by Dynamax and cost around $50 each. Other mufflers are available too. Tig ran these mufflers in eliminations and reported no major change in ET or speed. Tig also ran the mufflers at the National Finals and ran 9.60 at 141 mph. This is very close to his best of 9.57 which was run in much better conditions. So that is as far have we have got. We would like to thank Tig and his crew for their help with our testing. We would be very interested to talk to any racers who have experience running in-collector cones so that we can report findings to other racers. Pictures courtesy and ©www.digifishphotography.co.uk UK Top Sportsman update. 11th October: Racers interested in running in the trial of the Top Sportsman class proposed by Eurodragster.com sponsors Jeff Bull Racing Engines and Paul Marston Racing will recall that the trial was provisionally set to run at the 2011 UK Truck Show at Santa Pod Raceway. However the UK Truck Show will not be taking place in 2011 so Jeff and Paul have been in touch with details of the updated plan: There has been much interest shown in this exciting new class which essentially is two races in one over the same weekend: the first day being heads-up no-breakout, Pro Tree, one-shot qualifier and straight into sixteen-car eliminations, and the second day a Sportsman Tree bracket race, based on the qualifying times from day one. After some negotiations the new provisional date for the Top Sportsman trial is 16th-17th July 2011 at Santa Pod Raceway. It's the weekend before Bug Jam, so right in the middle of the summer break and thus a perfect date. Exact details of what else will take place that weekend are to be confirmed but Top Sportsman will feature as one of the main attractions. Paul Marston would be interested in hearing from any more doorslammer teams who have not yet registered their interest in this exciting new development in UK drag racing, and from any dragster teams interested in running Top Dragster in the UK. The format would be the same as that of Top Sportsman. You can contact Paul on 07831 650230 or at pmracing@fsmail.net. Swift snippets. 11th October: The latest spy picture to arrive at the offices of Eurodragster.com came with the words "To feed the mouse". If you know more, or if you would like to send your own spy picture, then drop us a line at eurodragster.com@btinternet.com. Santa Pod Raceway are offering a special package for their Two Seat Dragster over the weekend of the Flame and Thunder Show. "The package includes the full hospitality day at the Flame and Thunder Show on Saturday 30th October, plus a free overnight stay at local hotel, then your Two Seat Dragster ride at our Run What You Bring on Sunday 31st October", says James of Santa Pod. For further information, or to book your seat, contact Santa Pod Raceway's office on 01234 782828. DMV appeals for help. 11th October: Andrea Kloss writes from Germany that that DMV Deutsche Motorsport Bund has had to start an appeal for funds due to substantial financial problems. "The DMV is the motorsport organisation in Germany which supports drag racing the most", says Andrea. "Licences, training and the officials are provided both by the DMV and DMSB. Without organisations like the DMV promoting motorsports events in Germany would be difficult. The DMV has appealed to their members to help them raise €300,000 by the end of the year, and numerous DMV Clubs and associations have already promised their support to help save the organisation. The DMV has issued a statement on their web page at www.dmv-motorsport.de. We find it it sad that the DMV is in this situation. In our opinion they may not have done a lot for drag racing in Germany but they did do something (e.g. Drag Racing Masters, German Drag Racing Championship title etc.) and that is more than nothing - especially considering the size of the German drag racing community compared to other types of motorsports in Germany! Web site updates. 11th October: In the latest instalment in his exclusive Racer Blog presented in association with Alamo Rent-A-Car, Luke Bennett of the Bennett Racing Top Methanol FC team reports on the joys of parenthood and brings us up to date with the work to make a Funny Car out of their Championship-winning altered. As ever you can stay in touch with the latest Blog updates by clicking here or by clicking on the Alamo Blogs link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Our good buddy Jon Spoard has updated his UK Drag Racing Nostalgia site with a set of excellent pictures from the Open Sport Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. You can check out Jon's pictures at www.ukdrn.co.uk. Bike Weekend coverage. 9th October: The Eurodragster.com team is at Santa Pod Raceway to bring you all the news from the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend in association with American Car Imports. Our coverage will consist of frequently-updated reports on the on-track action throughout each day together with a photo gallery at the end of each day. There will be no pit notes as Simon will be working on the Championship points in real time to bring you the updates as quickly as possible. As Roger is away, photographer Julian Hunt will be working with the Eurodragster.com team this weekend. The Webster Race Engineering/Nimbus Motorsport webcam will be streaming live video and audio whilst the track is open. We will again try to add the commentary feed to the webcam but if it doesn't work out then we will broadcast trackside audio. Click here to check out our Bike Weekend coverage, or click on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. All welcome for Last Blast. 8th October: Pennine Drag Racing Club Chair Al Perkins writes that the UK's York Raceway hosts its final event of the year this Sunday: With all the Championships settled, this weekend we turn our attention to settling any of those grudge matches. We traditionally get a large turnout, with many crew getting their hands on race cars to experience driving. A lot of racers use the event to turn everything up for a last banzai run before retiring to their garages and planning for next season. Everyone welcome. Al also says that a number of Junior Dragsters are making their début at York Raceway this weekend and Wayne Jackson says that all Juniors are welcome to join in. "There is a barbecue at my house in York on Friday night, all Juniors welcome", says Wayne. "You can camp at my place on Friday night, and then a lot of teams are camping at the track on Saturday night. The weather forecast for Sunday is perfect." You can find York Raceway's web site at www.york-raceway.co.uk. Greek Championship Round 5. 8th October: The fifth Greek Championship Drag Race of 2010 at Polykastro was a success as expected, although rained out just before the finals, writes Elias Vathias: The competition was very high and the grip better than ever although that had the drawback of causing many broken transmissions. Many fans came over this weekend and enjoyed the race. A summary of the most important results: Moto - Super Pro Petridis Demitrios - Suzuki GS - 7.316/286.38 kmh Bousinis Charalambos - Suzuki Pro Stock - 7.581/273.72 kmh Papafilippou Filippos - Suzuki Koening: 7.675/267.40 kmh Zafeiriadis Antonis - Gabriel: 7.652/274.59 kmh Moto - Pro Street 2 Agapidis Christos - Suzuki 1300: 8.354/266.01 kmh Tilsisoglou Savvas - Suzuki Top Gas: 8.599/273.99 kmh Dotsikas Yannis - Busa Turbo: 8.722/247.28 kmh Dogan Kirbas - Hayabusa: 8.845/268.66 kmh Auto - AT 2 Zagaris Christos - Subaru: 9.286/247.83 kmh Barbaris Demitris - Toyota Celica GT: 9.260/248.90 kmh Koutris Michalis - Toyota Celica: 10.820/163.98 kmh Tzambazoglou Giorgos - VW Beetle: 11.515/211.43 kmh Auto - BT 2 Theodorou Vlassis - Nissan Sunny Gti-R: 9.692/239.55 kmh Moraitis Tasos - Honda S2000: 10.136/228.96 kmh Kakarakis Antonis - Subaru: 10.154/239.07 kmh Detorakis Pavlos - Lancia Deltona: 10.654/217.45 kmh Gikourias Christos - Mitsubichi EV07: 10.745/212.34 kmh Auto - AT 1 Gasparatos Nikos - Honda Civic: 9.812/233.41 kmh Tzanetis Vagelis - Peugeot 106 Rally: 10.009/221.06 kmh Panitsas Demitris - Golf 2 1800 20VT: 10.211/224.05 kmh Tsikis Demitris - Honda Civic: 10.224/224.16 kmh Karafoulidis Dimitris - Toyota Starlet: 10.326/229.38 kmh Auto - AA 1 Chatzipantelis Simos - Honda CRX: 10.785/200.56 kmh Mitroudis Tasos - Alfa Romeo Alfet: 12.752/174.47 kmh Race photos at www.greekdragster.com and videos at www.youtube.com/my_playlists?p=7844C99EF8538744; we will continue to upload video for many days. The next race will be held in Tympaki, Creta at the end of October. This will be the sixth and last Championship drag race for 2010. A season's Dealing. 8th October: After a disappointing 2009 in which UK Top Fuel Bike racer Steve Woollatt and the Dealer team struggled with the clutch all season, the team approached 2010 with a bunch of new parts and high hopes writes Phil Baimbridge: Over the close season we had fitted a new larger diameter gearbox input shaft, totally rebuilt the clutch and invested in new friction plates of a different grade of friction material. After not insignificant persuasion from the Dealer crew, Steve finally came up with a MSD Pro Mag 44 magneto, which replaced the twin Mallory Supermags we had been running. After making the biggest single change to the fuel system that I had made in twenty five years of Fuel bike racing and reducing the nitro load substantially the team prepared for our first pass at the Easter Thunderball. The bike fired up easily, sounded strong and burned out without any problems. Steve hit the throttle and the back tyre lit up immediately. Well, at least the clutch worked (and I was happy to get through the burnout!). We changed the overall gear ratio clutch settings and after a few more attempts finally got down the track and posted our best ever times of 1.05 sixty foot, 330 foot of 2.71 and eighth mile of 4.09. The bike ran through at 6.66/159mph following a shutdown after 4.7 seconds. We suffered an early exit from the meeting when the blower belt tensioner idler came lose during the burn out and we had to shut down. This left the team with a number of unanswered questions regarding the new set-up with the big mag, so we decided to take the Dealer to the Run What You Brung at Santa Pod on 2nd May. On arrival at Santa Pod there was a strong crosswind, but at least the track was dry. Then it rained. Then it hailed. Then it hailed again. The weather cleared and the track crew worked hard to get the surface dry. The Dealer team prepped and test fired the race bike. Everything was OK and the bike sounded strong. At the start line the track officials fitted us in amongst the RWYBers. Steve went through his normal routine; the bike launched well and ran fast and straight until Steve shut down after 4.7seconds, running through at 6.50/170mph. Blew away the RWYB spectators in the grandstand, which gives a really good view - I've never watched from there before...well, you do have to pay normally. Back in the pits the timing ticket showed that Steve had reset all his first half Personal Bests: 60 feet: 1.040 330 feet: 2.701 Eighth: 4.050/182.70 The gear shift was still a little early, but the clutch stayed pretty well engaged. An added bonus was that the blower idler pulley was still attached to the bike! On to the FIA Main Event. The 2010 season rule changes resulted in a disappointingly small field of only five Fuel bikes; at least this meant that there were no concerns regarding qualifying for the top eight slots. The Dealer ran consistently quickly over the first part of the track, but we couldn't keep all of the cylinders firing at the top end of the rev range. This really hurt our quarter mile times, running a best of 6.60s at 175 (shut down at 5.5 seconds after dropping a cylinder at 5.1). We won the race meeting, which offset the team's disappointment over the relatively poor overall performance. In the absence of any UK race meetings for Top Fuel Bike at Santa Pod between the Main Event and the FIA European Finals the Dealer team attended several RWYBs to try to sort the fuel system and clutch. We learned a lot, particularly about how we were operating the clutch, but still struggled with dropping cylinders at high revs. The Dealer team were really looking forward to the European Finals. A nine-bike Top Fuel field, with the best in Europe present, and the anticipation of excellent traction and big air – September in the UK. Besides, we hadn't been to a race meeting since the Main Event in May! Qualifying turned out to be "One of those days"... Q1: The bike launched OK (1.06), but things went downhill from there, with an ET of 9.30 seconds. Steve got back to the pits reporting a seized engine. The datalogger showed that we dropped two cylinders after two seconds and, unusually, they didn't come back in on the gear change. We tried to turn the crank, but it was locked virtually solid. We removed all the drives - engine still locked solid. Top end off, sump off, rods out - everything perfect, but the engine still wouldn't turn. Convinced we'd 'run' the main bearing we started to pull the bottom end out of the chassis, as we loosened the blower drive pulley all of a sudden the engine turned normally. On close inspection we could see that the pulley inner guard (which houses the crank trigger magnets) had picked up on the crankshaft oil seal cover, trying to weld the two components together. Also, one of the magneto crack trigger magnets was missing. I guess these two problems were linked. Q2: Uncharacteristically, Steve lost balance immediately before the launch (apparently he'd dressed to the wrong side); this resulted in the bike drifting left, forcing a shutdown after just under three seconds. 1.09 sixty foot, 2.79 at 330 feet, running through at 8.61. Q3: Final qualifier - surely nothing else could go wrong. The bike launched, but looked very sedate, and ran through at 6.85 seconds and 192 mph. The datalogger showed that the clutch hadn't operated correctly and the fire had gone out in #3 cylinder at 2.5 seconds and stayed out for the rest of the pass. The team traced the problem to a seized throttle switch, meaning that all the timers had operated before Steve launched the bike, and hence the clutch didn't engage. Everything fixed (?) for the first round of eliminations, racing our good friend Rene Van Den Berg. The bike launched well and ran the fastest sixty foot (1.052) and 330 foot (2.72) of any bike at the meeting, despite dropping two cylinders before 330 feet - unfortunately we don't race over 330; 6.449/198 at the finish gave the Dealer the win. In the semi-final against Peter Svensson we were well beaten, but made a good race of it up to 330' when the bikes were neck and neck - Steve's faster 330 foot time offsetting Peter's better reaction time. Steve ran through the finish at 6.442/212 with all four cylinders firing, although we had again dropped a cylinder just before 330 feet. The Dealer team set out for the UK National Finals knowing that it would be a tall order to win the ACU Top Fuel Bike Championship for another year. We trailed Rene van den Berg by 190 points, which meant we needed to qualify higher and run two rounds more than Rene to take the Championship. If we didn't want to rely on Rene being beaten by somebody else we would have to reset one of the Championship records (ET or terminal speed). Knowing we had to run some good numbers the team decided to try a different clutch set-up with which we had been experimenting at RWYBs; this would allow extra weight to be applied to the clutch in a more controllable manner. We'd avoided this approach at the European Finals as we knew we might not even get down the track. Everything prepared we went to the pairing lanes for the first qualifying session. Steve hit the throttle and the bike launched hard, but span the tyre as the first stage clutch arms engaged. We returned to the pits, completed the routine between run maintenance and adjusted the clutch. On the second qualifier the bike launched hard (1.052 to sixty feet) and the rear tyre stayed stuck to the track. Steve had been instructed to shift gear early, but on his first attempt got it a little too early, responding to some tyre shake; the clutch didn't fully engage until quite late on the run and this hurt the bike's performance. 6.43/195 following an early shutdown due to the strong cross wind. We made some small clutch and fuel system adjustments and eagerly waited for the final qualifying session. It had got a little colder (54F) and was still very windy. Steve hit the throttle and the rear end of the bike stepped out to the right and then the rear tyre started to shake (and kept shaking – look at the tyre track on the photo); Steve kept on the throttle, clearly on a mission, got the shift near perfect and ran through the top end in 6.265 seconds at 217 mph. Back in the pits the timing ticket showed: 60 feet: 1.054 330 feet: 2.735 594 feet: 3.837 660 feet: 4.082/184.1 (PB) 1000 feet: 5.252/207 (PBs) 1320 feet: 6.265/216.9 (PB ET) To top it all we had four good spark plugs and for the first time in 2010 had completed a quarter mile without dropping a cylinder. Finally a 20 - it had taken a long time coming, we set our previous quarter mile PB of 6.31 in April 2007. Everybody was really pleased, says the master of understatement. The ACU records and another ACU Championship appeared to be potentially in our grasp. However, in the end we were thwarted by the weather with the race day being rained off. Overall I have mixed feelings about the Dealer's 2010 season. The positives are a working clutch, which we now understand much better, and that Steve has reset every PB throughout the run, with the exception of quarter mile terminal speed, without leaning on the motor hard. However, the early season eighth-mile times and general talk about the Pro Mag 44 had increased the team's (my?) expectations beyond the level actually achieved. In addition, the struggle to keep all four cylinders firing for the entire quarter mile means I haven't really provided Steve with a competitive race bike. The team would like to extend our congratulations to Rene for winning the ACU Championship and Petri the European Championship, in his first season! And now the Thank Yous. The long suffering Jackie, for looking after us all and keeping us in check. The Dealer crew - Jackie, Mark, Phil and Dave - who have worked tirelessly and efficiently throughout the season, particularly at RWYBs where we were turning the race bike around in about an hour and have put up with Steve and I during our sense of humour breakdowns. We miss Wilf who can't make it so regularly now due to poor health. Steve, for giving me the opportunity to stay involved. The management, staff and track crew at Santa Pod for providing the team with an excellent venue to run the Dealer. Particular thanks for their help, support and understanding at RWYB events. Ivan Sansom and Rose Hughes for terrific photos from each race meeting and for their supportive words in their race reports. Eurodragster.com for the general information, race reports and timing data (Thanks! - Ed). The live webcam is great! All the other racers and enthusiasts who have helped the Dealer team during the season. Last but not least, thanks to our sponsors Motorcycles Unlimited, G&S Valves, G-Max Racing Fuels, Mickey Thompson Tyres, PreTech Engineering, ACL Bearings, NGK Europe, Bikes of Brighton, Richa, Shoei, Rebore Rod...and me! See you in 2011. A change of heart(beat). 8th October: History was in the making for Chris Gray and Marius Blackburn and their Escape from Reality Pro ET altered at the VP Racing Fuels National Finals: After running a 351 Cleveland since our début in 1986 we finally bit the bullet in late August and purchased an ICE-prepared 468 ci Chevy from Phil Sweeney with the hope of being ready for next Easter (Thanks for the info Rob). The plan suddenly changed when our good friend 'Gangmaster' Carl Burton announced that he would be retiring from racing after the Finals: the race was on to get the car ready as soon as possible! We couldn't have done it without the help of Geof, Ray and the guys at Hauser Race Cars who fabricated all the necessary hardware and mountings , then dropped the motor and transmission in our chassis so that we could collect it before the end of August because our transporter MOT was about to expire. Back home and the thrash began to tie up all the loose ends - re- wiring, plumbing , cooling, scoop - and to get the truck tested. A big Thank You to our long suffering crewman Bob Regis for giving up his weekends so we could get it nailed together, and to long suffering fiancée Rachel who for a month just saw me at strange meal times and bedtimes! We arrived at the Pod and began final assembly on Friday and reached a successful conclusion when the car fired up. Relief and celebrations all round and a phone call back home to Rachel so that she could hear the car running. She cried with relief and she now knew it was safe to continue to the Pod. No pressure there then! A first pass of 8.83 was certainly not expected as we had the car set up with a little over half throttle; 9.312 was the best with the Ford in it. Pro ET, Super Pro, Super Comp? Pro ET of course! Another 8.8 followed by a high nine showed us which way we needed to be going to run the mid to low nines we were keen to run. Sunday dawned and we had a undesired first round appointment with...Gangmaster Burton. I went out on a red light but for the first time in my driving career I was nearly able to cope with going out on a cherry, maybe it was because we ran a 9.16 which was right where we wanted to be. Rain stopped play later in the day so Carl went out a winner! Thanks to all of the above for their help and also to Blackett Photography for the great shots of the car and also the super slo-mo film which shows you things you wouldn't believe. Check it out at www.gb-racing.co.uk. Web site updates. 8th October: Our good buddy Alan Currans has updated his excellent Acceleration Archive with a review of Keith Lee's superb new book Drag Bike Racing in Britain. You can check out Alan's review via the What's New page at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. Our own review will follow here on Eurodragster.com shortly but don't wait for us: check out Alan's review and then just order the book. Carter named Team West-Tec driver. 7th October: Team West-Tec's recently-announced Top Fuel Dragster team have signed Andy Carter as their driver for the 2011 FIA European Championship with backing from Lucas Oil. "This is perfect for our team", said team manager Gavin Wills. "From the outset we were determined to put together the best possible combination of crew and driver. To sign Andy Carter, the most successful driver in European Top Fuel is a real coup. "We are thrilled that Andy brings along with him Lucas Oil and they will be the team's primary sponsor, their involvement in motorsport is huge and we will be very proud to carry their brand on our Top Fuel race car and associated equipment." "I am delighted to be driving for Team West-Tec in their Top Fuel team", said Andy Carter. "I've known Gavin Wills for some time now and I'm elated to be driving for such a successful and well-respected team. We are not moving in to drag racing to simply make up the numbers. I believe the team will be one of - if not the - most professional set-ups on the European circuit and I can't wait to begin our working relationship. Ben Allum and I have had some great times in the past and I know there are many more to come." Gavin Wills continued "Our Crew Chief, Ben Allum, has a long and successful history with Andy and the pair have an outstanding working relationship. We see the reformation of this partnership as a very strong core to our team. Andy Carter has won the FIA Top Fuel Championship four times and this along with his many other unparalleled achievements have rightly earned him the title 'King of Europe'. Everyone at Team West-Tec is totally committed to bringing him another crown." Bike Weekend racer update. 7th October: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall for passing on the arrangments for this weekend's Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway. Santa Pod Raceway's gates open at 5:00 pm on Friday. Signing-on will be open between 5:00 pm and 8:00 pm on Friday, and will then open again at 7:00 am on Saturday. Straightliners has its own signing on office in the marshals' room immediately to the left of the main Signing On office. Scrutineering commences at 6:00 pm on Friday and at 7:00 am on Saturday. The weekend's provisional running orders are now available by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Please note that as ever these running orders are provisional and are subject to change due to weather or track conditions, or for any other reason deemed necessary by race officials. UK Bike Championship outcomes. 7th October: The UK's Drag Bike classes reach the finale of the 2010 season at the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend. Simon took a look at the Championship standings and here is his summary of the possible outcomes: Rene van den Berg became ACU Top Fuel Bike Champion at the VP Racing Fuels National Finals, and Jordon Bissell became Junior Drag Bike Champion at a soggy Shakespeare County Raceway last weekend. ACU Funny Bike has five bikes entered for a four bike field with up to 300 points available including quickest ET and top speed (this increases to 500 points if a rider gets a new record). So Steve French, with a 300-point lead over Kev Charman and 310 over Dave Bailey and Gary Jones, is all but mathematically certain of the championship leaving the other three to battle for runner-up honours. In ACU Pro Stock Bike, multiple Champion and Eurodragster.com blogger Dave Beck is now 390 points clear of Len Paget, with Len having a mountain to climb to pass Dave in the points standings with three bikes entered. Ivan Birch has clinched the Championship in ACU Comp Bike and second placed Dave Peters is only ten points ahead of third placed Stuart Crane, so there will be an interesting battle for the runner-up trophy. ACU Super Street Bike has an entry of nineteen and therefore there are at least 740 points to play for. Richard Stubbins and Steve Venables are so far out in the front that it would be difficult for other riders to catch either, although Dave Holland has a mathematical chance. To become Champion, Steve has to qualify better and go three rounds further than Dave - or two rounds further and nine qualifying positions better. The UK National Championship for 9.50 Bike has been led by Jake Mechaell for the season, and he is 880 points ahead of second placed Richard Sawatzki. So it is almost certain that second-generation racer Jake will be picking up his first Championship in the same week as announcing his first 2011 sponsorship deal. Richard will have to fend off Richard Beck, Shaun Spiers and Eurodragster.com sponsor Jon Webster to claim runner-up spot. In NAST Supertwin Fuel Shawn Rodman has been the sole attendee so and congratulations to him on the Championship. The good news at this event, and hopefully for the 2011 Championship, is that Shamus has racing competition from John Hunt and Jason Milne but neither of these are in the hunt for the Championship and they will be racing for runner-up honours. Even though NAST racers are able to drop their worst event Chris Mott has an unassailable lead over Andy Watson in NAST Supertwin Gas so congratulations to Chris on another championship. Andy however can be caught by Joe Elliott who could take second place by qualifying better and going a round of racing further than Andy. NAST Supertwin ET is also done and dusted and congratulations to Peter Harrison who has a lead of 665 points over Damian Waterhouse. Damian is 300 points ahead of David Shorthose. In association with American Car Imports Eurodragster.com will be reporting live from the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend; Simon will be strapped to a seat in Race Control to provide you with real-time Championship updates. More about our coverage in tomorrow's news update. Swift snippets. 7th October: 2010 UK National, APIRA and SPRC Junior Dragster Champion Gabrielle McDonald is off to the USA on Thursday to compete at the I57 drag strip in Benton, Illinois, where she will be competing against around four hundred other Juniors at their End of Season Bash. "Gabby hopes to do well and to represent her fellow racers back in the UK, and also may pick up valuable driving experience and car set-up information as she did in 2008 on her trip to Thunder Valley Raceway in Tennessee", says dad Graham. "So all the best to Gabby and the Irish Junior Dragster team. Gabby got to the fourth round at the Eastern Conference Finals in 2008 so she can at least match that!". Santa Pod Raceway will be pleased to hear from car and bike racers who would like to make demonstration runs at the Flame and Thunder Show on Saturday 30th October. Free tickets and track time are on offer. If you are interested then please contact Chris Dredge at chris@santapod.com or call him on 01234 782828. UK Top Fuel Dragster racer and joint Eurodragster.com Features sponsor Andy Carter and the Lucas Oil exhibition Top Fuel Dragster will be attending the Cancerwise Soapbox Derby at Goodwood on Sunday to support the very worthy cause. Now that the racing season is all but finished, Eurodragster.com sponsor Topspeed Automotive can help to bridge the gap over the winter as they now stock both the current and back issues of the excellent RPM magazine. You can banish those drag racing blues for £6.50 including p+p to the UK, or for £9 to Europe, and as if that's not enough you get a free magazine for every order over £50. To order your RPMs call 01932 341700, E-Mail info@topspeedparts.co.uk or visit www.topspeedparts.co.uk. PMR get into Fifth Gear. 7th October: Paul Marston's Drag Race Driving School was again in action at Santa Pod Raceway at the weekend. The weather was a little challenging, but PMR got the job done as none other than Ben Collins (aka The Stig) was filming in his new rôle as a presenter for Channel 5#s Fifth Gear team: Ben was learning to drive our 2010 UK National Super Comp Championship-winning dragster as part of the first show which will be screened on Channel 5 at 7:30 pm tomorrow (Friday). Ben was great to work with. As The Stig, Ben drove more than three different road cars and two hundred different race cars, but this was his first time in a dragster. Ben Collins is by profession a racing driver, he has tested for Formula 1, competed in the top category at the 24 heures du Mans, currently drives in British Touring Car and has experience in Indy Car and Nascar. So it was interesting to see what he made of drag racing altough as you would expect he had some pre-conceived ideas. We did the installation day and seat fitting on Thursday. Thankfully it was dry and all went smoothly, Ben drove the dragster and we taught him how all the systems worked including the transbrake. Come Saturday thankfully the weather behaved, the film crew got all of their cameras attached to the dragster and we got it done. Everyone was very happy with the end result. How did Ben get on? Well that would be telling, watch the show! All I will say is that Ben was impressed by just how sophisticated the dragster was and the precise parameters in which the driver has to work to be competitive in modern drag racing. How that translates in the show remains to be seen, so we also will be watching. Special thanks must go to all the staff and management at Santa Pod Raceway for their co-operation and understanding, to the Fifth Gear film crew who were great people to work with, and to the Paul Marston Racing crew who were highly complimented by both Ben and the Fifth Gear film crew for their professional conduct. The PMR crew who were just attending another day in the office were Dave Gibbons, Keith Bick, Ian Hart, Wing Commander Dave Catton (aka Plaything of a wealthy woman - Ed), Mad Mick Howling and Paul Marston. On another note, PMR's National Championship-winning four-link dragster currently has a seat available for hire in 2011, in both Super Comp and Super Pro ET and at some very competitive package prices for the UK National Championships. So if you want a competitive ride in 2011 contact us at pmracing@fsmail.net or call Paul Marston on 07831 650230. "Be quick, I have a feeling this situation will not last for long!" says Paul. 2011 Bechyne, Hockenheim dates. 6th October: MSTO Race Director Jerry Lackey writes from Germany with some dates for your 2011 diary. Bechyne, Czech Republic 28th-30th April: Test and Tune 1st-3rd July: Bechyne CZ Grand National (International Open Event) BMC Hockenheimring 5th-7th August: Public Race and Test and Tune 12th-14th August: NitrOlympX (Sportsman, FIA and "surprise classes") A Junior outing. 6th October: Following its recent static exhibition displays, the Shakespeare County Raceway Junior Dragster was back on track last Saturday. Taking the wheel this time was Siobhan Moor (right), daughter of Derbyshire-based drag bike racers Fiona and Steve Moor, and younger sister of Giselle of Junior Drag Bike fame writes SCR's Jerry Cookson. "This was the first time that Siobhan had driven anything under power and I must say that she drove the dragster very well after overcoming her initial nerves on her first run", commented Daren Brett. "After that there was no stopping her. Perfect staging, arrow straight runs all added up to a day's best of 17.238/34.94 as her confidence in the car grew and grew along with the smiles." Siobhan is no stranger to the drag strips having grown up with the sport with mum and dad and with sister Giselle who after several years in Junior Drag Bike bowed out from the class to move up to Supertwin ET in 2011. Mum Fiona took it all in her stride and ended up crewing for all three including dad Steve's 8.50 Bike. Siobhan had several outings in the dragster and all were observed by SCR's Senior MSA Scrutineer Paul Satchell who was more than happy with her performance and signed her off for her Junior Dragster licence. Siobhan was also interviewed by Dave Coleman from Quartermilehigh.com/Zeon TV for a segment towards the track's Junior Dragster promotional video along with Junior rookies Russell Victory and Joy Brett who were both present for the weekend's Monster Month of Junior Madness. The raffle to win a day's tuition behind the wheel of Shakespeare County Raceway's Junior Dragster Experience car came to a conclusion at last Sunday's soggy Family Fun Day. Tickets had been on sale during the Raceway's recent Hot Rod Drags, on-line from associate sponsor Claron Graphics, and at the Leamington 100 Car and Bike Show. The draw took place in the VIP area and in front of Raceway officials Tony Smith, Andrew and Julie Willcox, Jerry Cookson and resident photographer Steve Wexler. After a very firm shake of the bag the winning ticket was drawn by Simon Cardwell of Claron Graphics and handed to Jerry. There was an apprehensive smile as the winning ticket was handed to Tony and Andrew and verified as 142 in the name of...S Wexler. A surprised photographer said "Is that right? Have we won?!". Now all Steve has to do is choose which of his two kids, Rachel or Thomas, will take the prize ride down the quarter mile next season. "The raffle was a huge success", commented organiser Daren Brett afterwards. "The monies raised will now go into further upkeep of the dragster over the winter period, as several show appearances are planned before the start of the 2011 season. I would like to thank Simon, Steve Wood of MotorShack and Ed Yates of DS Racewear for their continued support and enthusiasm for the SCR Junior Dragster Experience. Long may it continue." Web site updates. 6th October: Further to yesterday's web site update which turned out to have come from UK Super Street Bike racer Pete Bellenie, Clever Capture have posted another excellent High Definition video from the VP Racing Fuels National Finals, this time of the car classes. You can check out the video at www.clevercaptures.com. UK Dinner Dance hotel update. 5th October: Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall has been in touch with news for those trying to book a hotel room for the joint APIRA/SPRC Dinner Dance in Solihull on Saturday 5th February 2011: If you have been unable to get in at the St Johns Hotel then you can book at the Holiday Inn in Solihull which is ten to fifteen minutes' walk from the St Johns. The Holiday Inn has confirmed the same room rate as the St Johns Hotel for the evening of the Dinner Dance. The direct telephone number for the Holiday Inn is 0121 623 9900 and quote Santa Pod Racers Club function 5th February 2011.  For more details about the APIRA/SPRC Dinner Dance check out our news update of 27th September. Back in six seconds? 5th October: UK Funny Bike racer Steve French has particular reason to look forward to this weekend's Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway. "I have been trying to break into the sixes all year with the new bike", says Steve. "I am tired of knocking on the door with broken bits. However, it does look good for this weekend. The problems with munching gearboxes every meeting was finally traced, only to suffer the return of an old clutch-hat grabbing problem which made me fail on the first two qualifiers at the National Finals. "The third and last qualifier was do or die to get in the field. With the motor set conservatively, not a word normally associated with nitrous, we went for the last run and were pleasantly surprised with another 7.0-second run. For those who heard it, I shifted for fourth and got fourth-fifth. So if we get all five gears in the right order at the right time we may finally open that door." Hanna: I'll be back. 5th October: Top Methanol Dragster tuner and Eurodragster.com Blogger Will Hanna writes from the USA that he will again be working with Frøya's Fred Hanssen in 2011. "The way the year finished left us with a sour taste in our mouths, so we will be back with a vengeance next year to go after the FIA Championship", says Fred.  "We made a lot of progress this year, both with the tune-up and with Fred as a driver. Fred hopes to take the car to the States at the conclusion of next season.   The 5.2s are still out there, and we hope to be the first blown car in Europe to go 270 mph.  "While the focus of my attention next year will be Fred's car next year, I would welcome the opportunity to work with any of the Top Methanol Funny Car or Pro Mod teams as a consultant. I am also open to doing some engine building over the winter for any team which would like me to service their existing combination or supply a new combination ready-assembled.  Anyone interested can drop me a line at will.hanna@insidetopalcohol.com. "I hope that everyone has a great off-season and I'm sure I'll see some of you at the IMIS show in Indy and the PRI Show in Orlando in December." Central European update. 5th October: Paul Fischer of CeDrag.com has been in touch with an update on the Central European scene now that the season is winding down: The Hungarian track at Kiskunlacháza, about twenty minutes south of Budapest, was the scene last Saturday where our regional ET record was knocked into next week. Not a paid-for visiting Pro team, not a dragster, but a regular doorslammer racer in the shape of Austria's Heinz Schenk (right) who took his blown Camaro to run at the Budapest track and returned figures of 8.31 seconds at 160 mph. This beat the previous best of Hungarian and fellow  Big Dogs racer Csaba Erdos who had held the regional record with an 8.60 in his Morris Minor panel van. The point here is that the crew at Dragracing.hu had put together another well-prepared track - not easy on an airport you have to give back on Monday morning - and the guys are starting to learn how to set up their cars to take advantage of levels of traction not previously available. The Central European region now has four regular eight-second door slammer teams: Heinz Scenk (Aus), Csaba Erdos and Peter Kaldy (Hun) and Greg Staszewski (Pol), plus several low nine-second runners who all have the clear potential to get that precious eight. These include Mike 'Doc Stinger' Mugruaer, Walter Pulko, Walter Filla (Aus), Csaba Tuboly, Istvan Boldizar (Hun), Igor Vrabie (Blr) plus numerous others who will be rightly annoyed I didn't mention them here. The scene in Central Europe has developed rapidly over the past two seasons but this just creates an even bigger challenge for the organisers, racers, promoters etc to get everything together in 2011 to make the best drag racing season ever seen in the region. Let's hope we have the people, both leaders and followers, to make it happen. Don't forget that you can stay in touch with the Central European scene on the CeDrag web site at www.cedrag.com. Mechaell adds sponsor. 5th October: UK 9.50 Bike racer Jake Mechaell is pleased to announce a new sponsorship deal with Bedford and Sons Motorcycles located in Far Cotton, Northampton: Bedford and Sons Motorcycles is a family owned business who pride themselves on offering a honest and friendly service to all customers. They offer a wide range of services such as new and used motorcycles, insurance estimates and repairs, spares and accessories, scheduled maintenance, engine rebuilds, collection and delivery, clothing and helmets, road and off road tyres, MoTs and monthly special offers. For more details check out their web site at www.bedfordandsonsmotorcycles.co.uk  or give them a call on 01604 700 664. I would also like to say a big thank you to my current sponsors Webster Race Engineering and Portfolio Property Management for the support they've given me in my first full season of 9.50 Bike.  I am currently number one in the UK National Championship with the final round this weekend at Santa Pod's Extreme Performance Bike Weekend. I'll be updating my portfolio with this year's achievements ready to send out in the hope of finding more sponsors to come on board for a full season of 9.50 Bike in 2011. If any companies are interested in supporting me next season then please contact me at jake_mechaell@yahoo.co.uk for a portfolio and sponsorship deals. A damp end to the HKS Series. 5th October: Rick Cuthbert says that the weekend of the JapShow Finale started well but went downhill: The Test Day on Saturday started off foggy but quickly made way for bright and sunny conditions ideal for drag racing. Aware that there might not be a chance to run on Sunday, the track was very busy with Run What You Brungers and racers eager to hit the strip hard whilst they could. With track conditions so perfect, it was no surprise that even top race teams were getting one last racing hit in their dragsters. Shelly Pearson ran a 4.982/278.14 in her Top Fuel Dragster, making her the fastest female in the UK (Read that somewhere before - Ed)! Jon Webster was out joyriding John Bradshaw's Nissan 350Z, and managed a 1.0-second sixty foot time, which could translate into a six-second run if only he hadn't shut off due to some instability. Aside from the impressive test session on Saturday, the HKS Drag Series didn't turn a wheel in anger at the JapShow Finale 2010. There were no rounds of qualifying or eliminations on Sunday due to persistent rain. It was a massive disappointment for racers, organisers and of course fans of the Series, who had all been looking forward to a spectacular end to the season. Racers had to console themselves with a handful of bonus points from attendance, and the positions going into the event were unchanged to decide the Championship. The Champions for the 2010 HKS Drag Series are: Pro: Leon Green, runner-up Chris Impey Factory Modified: Mark Moseley, runner-up Stuart Taylor Street: James Willday, runner-up Malcolm Thomas FWD: Guy Chamberlain, runner-up Paul Cresswell The presentation ceremony was a friendly affair with shouts and cheers for each racer from Championship rivals who so bitterly fought on track at previous rounds. The anticlimactic end to the season did nothing to dampen enthusiasm for next year's Championships, and the new season cannot come soon enough. Stay tuned to www.japdragseries.co.uk for news on the 2011 rounds shortly. Bike Weekend Perfect Awards. 5th October: This weekend's Extreme Performance Bike Weekend is the last event in the 2010 Eurodragster.com Perfect Awards scheme. £100 is on offer for perfect performance. The Eurodragster.com/Speedflow Perfect Light Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer Brian Payne at the VP Racing Fuels National Finals. The money will be awarded to the first racer this weekend to record a Reaction Time of 0.000 seconds. The Perfect Light Award is available to all ACU classes, 9.50 Bike, 8.50 Bike, all NAST classes and all Straightliners, but will only be awarded for the first perfect light of the event. The Perfect Light Award is presented in association with performance hose and fitting manufacturer Speedflow whose web site you can find at www.speedflow.co.uk. The Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET Award has been reset to £50 after it was won by Super Pro ET racer Dave Catton at the VP Racing Fuels National Finals. The money will be awarded to the first racer this weekend to run to the thousandth on their dial-in or index during qualifying or eliminations. The Perfect ET Award is available this weekend in 9.50 Bike, 8.50 Bike, NAST Supertwin ET and those Straightliners classes with an index, but will only be awarded for the first Perfect Run of the event. The Perfect ET Award is presented in association with RV sales and service specialists Gold RV whose web site you can find at www.goldrv.co.uk. To be eligible to collect the Perfect ET Award, racers are required to carry Eurodragster.com/Gold RV Perfect ET decals, one on each side of the bike. If you pull this weekend's first Perfect ET but are not carrying decals then there will be no discussion; we will not pay out and the next person to pull a Perfect ET will get the money assuming that they are carrying decals. Top of the Wall, but... 5th October: Further to Sunday's news item, the team at the Rods'n'Sods Forum say that thanks to everyone's support Henry Hirise made it to the top of Top Gear's Cool Wall and won the weekly competition. Their delight is however tempered slightly. "Sadly, in achieving that goal we kept a very worthy cause from reaching that top spot but all is not over", they say. "The T4 Forums guys are raising money for the Help for Heroes charity. Their aim is to get a T4 van, which they are converting into a camper via donated parts and volunteer work, up into the top spot on the Cool Wall and keep it there to get the full achievement of the Sub Zero position. Once finished the camper is being raffled off and the hope is that with the additional exposure of winning the competition and taking it round the Top Gear test track it should be able to achieve an even higher amount as a result. "If you wouldn't mind we've got one further request. We'd appreciate it if you could get behind the T4 guys in the same way you backed Henry and add a vote for their van at www.thecoolwall.com/entry/247. It takes no time at all - let's help them raise some money towards Help for Heroes." Web site updates. 5th October: Thanks to Su of no surname for alerting us to a tremendous High Definition video of the bike action at the VP Racing Fuels National Finals. The video was put together by the aptly-named Clever Capture and can be checked out at www.clevercaptures.com. UK, SPRC Championships update. 4th October: Many thanks to Yvonne Tramm and our very own Simon for forwarding the final standings in the UK National Drag Racing Championships, with the exception of 9.50 Bike which has one more round yet to run. You can check out the UK National Championship standings on our Speedflow-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the Speedflow Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Courtesy of Yvonne Tramm, congratulations to the following on winning the 2010 Santa Pod Racers Club Championships: Top Methanol: Dennis Habermann Pro Modified: Andy Robinson Comp Eliminator: John Bradshaw Super Modified: Andy Hone Super Pro ET: John Atkinson Pro ET: Paul Brown Sportsman ET: Geoff Cowley Super Comp: Paul Marston Racing Super Gas: Dan Page Super Street: Mark Watkins Junior Dragster: Gabrielle McDonald Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator: Ian Hook Top Fuel Bike: Rene van den Berg The remaining ACU UK Drag Bike, UK National and Santa Pod Racers Club Championships will be completed at this weekend's Extreme Performance Bike Weekend at Santa Pod Raceway. Again you can check out the SPRC Championship standings on our Speedflow-sponsored Points Standings page by clicking here or by clicking on the Speedflow Points Standings link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Whilst we're on the subject of Championships, congratulations to Joe Bond on winning the 2010 Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association Championship. Thanks also to Matt Glassup for letting us know. Belt up, run a seven. 4th October: UK Supertwin Fuel racer Shaun Rodman went into last weekend's VP Racing Fuels National Finals with a degree of optimism after showing promise at the Open Sport Nationals, and team member Nick Saunders says that despite some lingering issues the AFB Racing team are pleased to report a positive weekend: Shamus took the decision to enter into Top Fuel bike to allow himself and the team to gain some experience in running alongside other nitro bikes. Our aim for the weekend was to qualify and hopefully dip into the seven-second bracket for the first time. For our first qualifying run we opted to keep the soft settings from Shakey to ensure that the bike got down the track and to get an idea of conditions. This resulted in a steady 8.50/159. Unfortunately even with this soft set up, the bike returned with a broken primary belt. With an idea of the track conditions it was decided to add just a little more clutch to the set-up to try to bring down the sixty foot, but unfortunately we ended up with another destroyed belt. An 8.13/142 indicated that the bike was on a promising run until shortly before the thousand foot mark. After much deliberation it was decided to revert to an older belt and keep the settings from the previous run to see if our theory was correct. A personal best 7.96/170 was the result, with the belt remaining intact and qualifying us in third place. Unfortunately the rain prevailed on Sunday denying us the chance to up the power even further and make use of the excellent track conditions at Santa Pod. We did manage to achieve our goals at the event so we left pleased with our efforts, but also wondering how much quicker we could have gone given the tracktime. We'll be back out again at the Extreme Performance Bike Weekend, and hopefully we can pick up from where we left off. Please take a look at www.afbdragracing.co.uk to see pictures and video from the event. Charman to ride Junior Bike? 4th October: After the fun and games of trying to get the Whiterace Funny bike up the track at the European Finals only to damage the hearbox, the VP Racing Fuels National Finals was really going to be a last minute.com effort to get the bike ready in time, says Kev Charman: Gears up to Dave Branch on the Wednesday, and got a call on the Thursday evening. He had magically got them finished and sorted before he went away for the weekend. My workload was really getting in the way of the rebuild of the bike. Early starts and late finishes, and then working in the garage until silly o'clock, took its toll and I was about to pull out of the meeting. But we had come so far, and the bike had been going so well. There was a possibility that if I ran to form, it would be very good to give the bike back to Italy with a decent setting, seeing how much trouble I have had with the bike. I couldn't have done half of it without the back up of Lizzy trooping into the garage with endless cups of coffee, coping with my absence, and generally doing the rest of the stuff which goes with getting ready for a race meeting. Thanks Lizz, you are a star! So Friday I managed to wangle a day off work and got both bikes loaded and up to the Pod. I didn't do the first run as I wanted to see Lizzy's run, her first ever go at nitrous. We figured that the bike was running so badly and that the leak down was still there she may as well s**t or bust, and just relax and enjoy. That didn't work either. The only thing we hadn't changed on the bike was the carbs, so we did that, and the bike sounded as sweet as anything. We would have to see if that made any difference on the next run. In the next round both of us went down to the pairing lanes. I went first, it sounded OK in the burnout, but on launch the bike went sluggish, slow and not very well at all. 11.73/83 – big loss of power. Next Lizz. Nice burnout, the launch was awesome, on the bars, hardly moving about, bit of tyre shake but rode through it. Then bang! Some useless mechanic who shall remain nameless left a spring off the headers, so it blew off! It was a real shame as the sixty foot time was 1.17, the second quickest in the class. It would have been good to see what had happened. Lizzy's bike is still being a pig to get off the line, and we still have the leakdown issue, but we'll get the last meeting out of the way and concentrate on next season and which direction we'll take. My last run never happened. Started it up in the fire up road to warm it up, and it sounded as if the whole engine was in a cardboard box being shaken about. On further checking the crank was damaged, and lots of gold in the oil. The question is whether to rebuild the bike for next weekend or ride Jake's Junior Drag Bike! Watch this space! We both need to say big thanks to our crew, Dave Branch, and Nick Holland who stepped in in the absence of Chris, my Crew Chief, Lizzy's Crew Lisa Ambler and Graham Considine, Richard Gipp and Nigel. Thanks also for the support we get from our sponsors Davide Ricci of Whiterace, Steve at Motorshack, Rich at Stovepuppet, Simon at Mitchville Autobodies, Juke at Blackline Fever, John at Stamford Speed Shop and Doug at Ensys. Thank you so much. Just in time for the end of the season we have a new web site at www.nitrousjunkie.com. On board with Gleadow. 4th October: The season ended on the best possible high for blown-alcohol altered racer Adam Gleadow at the VP Racing Fuels National Finals: After being shut off with a small oil leak in the first qualifier I lined up against fellow ex-Junior Dragster driver and best mate Joe Bond in the Nuthin' Fancy Topolino for the second session of NFAA qualifying. After getting a good feel for the car and controlled burnouts I was starting to feel a lot more confident, and thought it was about time I tried for a burnout which Fast Freddy would be hopefully proud of. It seemed to go down quite well! After bringing the revs up into stage and launching, the car pulled harder than I've felt before and I held the shifts longer. At around 330 feet I saw Joe out the corner of my eye but I wasn't all that far behind so I thought it must have been on for a semi decent pass. In the second eighth it was really pulling until I felt it nose over at a thousand feet. I coasted over the line and popped the chutes. After turning off at the top end I waited for the crew to arrive, not really sure what time to expect until Martin announced it was a 7.60. I was over the moon, nothing like diving straight into the sevens! Upon inspection in the pits it turned out that the burst panel on the blower had gone, and the on-board video (Which is well worth a look - Ed) confirmed that it blew as we went through a thousand feet. Clocking 172 mph at the thousand and 173 mph at the quarter it would surely have been on for a low 7.5 at 180 mph so plenty more to come next year. Unfortunately we found an air leak on the blower manifold on Sunday morning; we think the aluminium plate on top of the manifold had warped so we were out for the rest of the weekend, which was then lost to rain. Over the winter we've got plenty of improvements and changes to make. We will be putting a set of 4.56 gears in the rear axle to get the sixty foot times down, also a magnesium buzzard catcher injector will be replacing the nostalgia ribbed Enderle injector which is just not big enough to supply the air required. If time permits there will be a few aero tricks on the body as well. I'd like to congratulate Joe Bond, the whole Bond family and the Nuthin' Fancy team on their NFAA Championship win, there's not a more deserving team out there. I'd also like to thank everyone who has helped and supported us this year, you know who you are - it wouldn't be possible without you all. Once again a massive thank you to sponsors Lucas Oil and Dodo Juice. Now, how long is it until Easter? In the meantime I'm off to the California Hot Rod Reunion in Bakersfield to finish off the season with some sun and nitro. Swift snippets. 4th October: France's Eric Monsenego is to have his Plymouth Barracuda upgraded to Pro Modified spec by Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson Race Cars. "I already have a nice 521 ci blown-alcohol Keith Black engine in a corner of my shop", says Eric. "Thousands of thanks to all the British guys and girls who were so friendly to me". You can find out more about the Vantastic operation at www.vantastic-racing.com. The organisers of the Cancerwise Soapbox Derby, which takes place at Goodwood Motor Circuit next Sunday (10th), would be pleased from any racer who would be interested in taking their race car along to display. The more exotic and unusual the car, the more pleased the organisers would be. If you are interested then please get in touch with Guy Burtenshaw at guy@uniqueventsltd.com or call him on 07767 382795. Thanks to those readers who submitted nominations for the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame. There were clear leaders in the nominations for both UK and Overseas candidates but all nominations received have been passed to BDRHoF Chair Stu Bradbury. Web site updates. 4th October: Team Punisher Pro Stock Bike team member Georgina Green has posted some excellent VP Racing Fuels National Finals pictures on Flickr at www.flickr.com/photos/greeno298. The pictures can also be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=279179&id=582627541&l=4321a0167d and at www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30609&id=100000402721296&l=0dd6e642fc. Paul Lister has posted a second set of FIA European Finals photographs on his Drag Car Anon web site at www.dragracanon.co.uk. Fifth Greek round underway. 3rd October: Our good friend Elias Vathias writes that the fifth Greek Championship Drag Race of 2010 is taking place at Polykastro this weekend. "It is expected to be an exciting race, mainly due to the hot competition in AT2 class", says Elias. "There you can see Mitsubishi Evos, Subaru Imprezas, and Toyota Celicas running 8.8 to 9.2. Last year, competitors and spectators preferred the drag races at Polykastro because of the excellent preparation of the track by George Tzampazoglou (LEMAK) which resulted in many Personal Bests and Hellenic records. and the many personal bests and hellenic records that the good grip brings. "You can see the official entry list (PDF format) at www.greekdragster.com/images/Shows_Races/101003Polykastro/Symmetoxes.pdf and you can read updates from the track at www.greekdragster.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=41;t=12102;st=40. Finally we have to mention the prize of a can of VP Racing Fuel for the best Reaction Time by a car and a bike. The prize is offered by Evangelos Paspalas' company Valtiotis which is is the official distributor of VP Racing Fuels in Greece." Swift snippets. 3rd October: Congratulations to Europe's newest-licenced Top Fuel Dragster racer Shelley Pearson who completed last week's unfinished business and reset her own record as the UK's quickest and fastest female drag racer with a 4.982/278.14 pass in one of Rune Fjeld's Top Fuellers at Santa Pod Raceway yesterday (Saturday). This is only the second four-second final licencing pass we can remember, the other being by Timo Lehtimäki. Two classic race cars are vying for readers' votes on the Top Gear Cool Wall. One is the Allard Chrysler Dragster for which you can vote at www.thecoolwall.com/entry/342, and the other is Henry Hirise for which you can vote at at www.thecoolwall.com/entry/315. Fred Furlong of Eurodragster.com sponsor Furlong Tyres says that after the rainout of the VP Racing Fuels National Finals fairest way to award the Michelin Power One tyres to Super Street Bike racers was on qualifying positions. "Number one qualifier was Steve Venables with a fine 7.356, he wins the Michelin tyre", says Fred. "Number three qualifier was team mate Graham Balchin with a 7.470 and he wins the front Michelin tyre. The ladder consisted of eleven riders opting for the Michelin and five riders using the Mickey Thompson product. Thanks to Michelin for supplying the pair of Power One tyres, T-shirts, key rings and tread depth gauges." Earlier news