RWYB (Flame and Thunder Show II) gallery. 28th October: After taking a battering from rain and wind on Saturday, Santa Pod Raceway and the racers fought back yesterday with a worthy season-closer in sunny weather. Many of the racers signed up to make exhibition runs on Saturday stayed over and put on a good show for an unusually large Run What You Brung audience courtesy of a free Sunday entry offer announced on Friday. Courtesy of Julian, Diana and Paul Lanyon you can check out our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored RWYB gallery, as well as a small Flame and Thunder Show off-track gallery, by clicking here, or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. This was our last Event Coverage for the 2019 season; thanks to John Woolfe Racing, Webster Race Engineering and Nimbus Motorsport for their backing, to the racers for giving us so much to cover, to race officials and track management and staff for facilities and ready assistance, and to all of our readers for your support. 2020 FIA Championship regulations. 25th October: Many thanks to Technical Delegate Frans Steilberg for letting us know that the 2020 Technical Regulations, Technical Drawings and SFI Specifications for the European FIA Drag Racing Championships can now be found on the FIA web site at www.fia.com/regulation/category/101. Nitro FM on-line this evening. 25th October: Meanwhile at Santa Pod Raceway Nitro FM are broadcasting between 18:00 and 21:00 UK time this evening (Friday). You can tune in at the track on 96.2 FM or on-line everywhere at www.eurodragster.com/nitrofm. Flame and Thunder Show Sunday bonus. 25th October: Santa Pod Raceway have released the following statement about tomorrow's Flame and Thunder Show and Sunday's RWYB: Just to keep everyone up to speed, the Flame and Thunder Show IS still going ahead on Saturday. In light of the rain that is forecast (and it could be heavy at times), we probably won't be able to get much racing action on the track itself but all the other activities should take place.  It's possible that the skies might clear up later in the day so our team will be watching and waiting to get that track dry and some wheels turning! Fingers crossed for the drag strip! The Bonfire and Firework Display will also still take place together with full Live Action Arena shows and attractions as advertised. There are some covered areas but these are limited so remember to come prepared with the right clothing and footwear and bring a brolly! In addition, we will allow all Saturday ticket holders to come back for FREE on Sunday where the weather typically looks sunny and dry! Sunday may only be a Run What Ya Brung track day but there's always a great line up and many of the demo cars will be out again in force PLUS a Top Fuel Dragster demo is on the cards and we've scheduled 3 Jet Car runs at 11:00 am with FireStorm, FireForce and Split Second! We're also pleased to announce that Podzilla the Monster Truck will return on Sunday for an extra show at 11:30 am and the Mini Monster Trucks are staying with us too. Some of our traders and stalls will also open again together with a selection of food outlets and the Santa Pod shop. Whilst all Santa Pod tickets are non-refundable, we have decided to include this event in our ADVERSE WEATHER POLICY and therefore award a credit value to all ticket holders depending on the final outcome. Please keep hold of your tickets and check our web site after the weekend. This means that your ticket will still be worth something to use against another Santa Pod event next year. The value itself will be published after this weekend and will apply whether you actually attend the event or not! Swift snippets. 25th October: We have quite a long birthday list today. Happy Birthday and hugs to Kirsty Giles, a manly handshake to Super Pro ET racer Joe Kellett, and back to the hugs for our good friend Deborah Marrs. Finally, Happy Birthday to Top Fuel Dragster racer Urs Erbacher. Have a great day all. Flame and Thunder Show racer update. 23rd October: Jake Wray of Santa Pod Raceway has been in touch with an update for those racers taking part in the Drag Demos at Saturday's Flame and Thunder Show: Gates will open at 14:00 on Friday and will close at midnight, re-opening at 08:00 on Saturday. Signing On will be open from 08:00 on Saturday. The track will be open from 09:30 until 20:00. There will be no schedules for the Drag Demo sessions, perfect for match racing your friends from different classes! Only Top Fuel and Jets will be scheduled. The racers' pits will be located on the circles where Pro ET are usually pitted (as shown on the map below, click for large version). Please bear in mind that space will be tight this weekend so please only take the necessary space. All entries will receive two pit passes as usual. See you all at the weekend; here's to a good one! Flame and Thunder Show coverage. 23rd October: Eurodragster.com will be at Santa Pod Raceway on Saturday to bring you the action from the Flame and Thunder Show in association with John Woolfe Racing. We plan to post an end-day gallery courtesy of Julian and Diana, and the Webster Race Engineering/Nimbus Motorsport webcam will be on-line streaming live video with commentary/Nitro FM audio so long as the track is open. Thanks to M@ikel and our friends at Doyousee.me for the provision of streaming services. We will post a direct Home Page link to our coverage as soon as it commences, but in the meantime you can check out our Flame and Thunder Show Event Index, which includes a link to the provisional timetable, by clicking on the picture at right, by clicking here, or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. If you are at Santa Pod on Friday then Nitro FM will be broadcasting between 18:00 and 21:00 on 96.2 FM at the track, and on-line everywhere at www.eurodragster.com/nitrofm. 100E Challenges 2019 and 2020. 21st October: Nigel Taylor has been in touch with the results of the inaugural Modified 100E Challenge, whose final round took place at the NSRA Hot Rod Drags at Santa Pod Raceway: Stephen Brown, winner of 1300-2000 cc Nigel Taylor, winner of 2001-3500 cc Robert White, winner above 3500 cc Paul Lorne, winner of Most Improved Sean Doyle, winner of Best Reaction Garth Wong, winner of Fastest Car Full credit to the organisers Scott Colin - who now has a ten-second car! - and to Sean Doyle for all of their hard work and for keeping everyone together and up to date. The 2020 Challenge is shaping up well with a lot of new cars being built with all sorts of combinations. A new points scheme will be put in place for the new season. All of the rounds will take place at Santa Pod Raceway: Round 1: NSRA Nostalgia Nationals, 7th-10th May Round 2: The Retro Show, 20th-21st June Round 3: The Ford Show, 4th-5th July Round 4: Mopar EuroNationals, 31st July-2nd August Round 5: NSRA Hot Rod Drags, 18th-20th September Other events include a chill-out weekend at the excellent NSRA Supernats at Old Warden Park, and a possible invite to a drag race on the Isle of Man. If you are interested in getting involved with a superb bunch of like-minded 100E lovers then you can contact Scott Colin or Sean Doyle on the Modified 100e Facebook page, or Scott can be contacted at modifiedford100e@gmail.com. If you haven't got the time or skills to build a 100E before the new season then check out the new Facebook site Unusual car sales UK where you can currently find five modified 100Es for sale. Big thanks to Eurodragster.com and Colin Theobald for all of the mentions of the 100E Challenge (Thanks, you're welcome - Ed), and thanks to Callum Pudge, Monika Szilli, Kenzie Taylor and all the others for their photos. Swift snippets. 21st October: Thanks to Mike Collins for sending us the usual preview of his column in the latest issue of Street Machine magazine, including bonus material exclusively for Eurodragster.com readers. You can check it out by clicking on the images below. Many thanks to Bianca Booij for sending us a season review from Michel Tooren and The Netherlands' Pro Dutch Racing Pro Modified team. You can check it out (PDF format) by clicking here. Regular Eurodragster.com contributor and European Top Gas racer Herman Jolink tells us that he is already keeping himself busy in the off-season, taking his "Old lady" Ducati Bevel Mille S 2 to a meeting of the Ducati Club Netherlands and getting to grips with his new milling machine. Editor's note: Apologies for the long break between news updates. Your News Editor has been unwell but as friends and longtime readers can attest he is not normally one for posting private business on social media; you can find plenty of career attention-seekers on Facebook if that's your bag. Many thanks to those who got in touch to express concern. Recovery is continuing, and please be assured that there is very little which could stop this Saturday's Flame and Thunder Show coverage. Web site updates. 21st October: We were very pleased to hear from our good buddy Alan Currans of a welcome update to his excellent Acceleration Archive, namely a new photo page featuring Mark Gredzinski's unique combination of artwork, model making and photography. You can take a look via the What's New link at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. Hall of Fame Bench Race line-up. 14th October: The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Gala, to be held on 23rd November at the Oatlands Park Hotel, Weybridge, Surrey, will again be preceded by the popular Bench Racing session, starting at 12:30pm lasting for two hours, and sponsored by US Automotive and Kelsey Media, publisher of Custom Car magazine. In the four previous years, a varied panel of US and European legends entertained a packed audience with their stories and views on the sport in the afternoon prior to the main Gala dinner and presentations in the evening. The BDRHoF is delighted to announce that the Bench Racing session will again be held in the Terrazza at Oatlands Park Hotel and will mark the presentation of the Mopar Performance Lifetime Achievement Award to Bill Simpson, who has done so much to improve safety in drag racing. Bill's companies have introduced many innovations in the sport to safeguard racers, officials and spectators. This year's Bench Race will contain many hair-raising tales of the exploits of members of the panel and include discussion of safety in the sport. The Bench Race panel will be chaired by broadcaster, announcer and writer Bob Beck, who has been at the mic for a wide variety of motor sport disciplines, but is best known for announcing at Famoso, Los Angeles County and Irwindale Raceways. The panel members include individuals from the US who have had a huge amount of drag racing experience over the last sixty years: Steve Gibbs, who as Vice President, Competition, with the NHRA organised the Safety Safari and over 400 NHRA National Events; Doug Herbert, four time IHRA Top Fuel Dragster Champion and 10 time NHRA event winner; Ron Hope, owner and driver of the Rat Trap Fuel Altered which has raced around the world; 'Waterbed' Fred Miller, one of the most respected tuners in drag racing who was a key member of Raymond Beadle's Blue Max Funny Car team; Dan Richins, who in 1973 was the eighth Top Fuel Dragster racer to join the prestigious Cragar Five Second Club; and Bill Simpson, founder of Simpson Performance Products and of Impact! Racing, who introduced many innovative products such as the modern fire suit, driver restraint systems and helmets, and the drag racing parachute. BDRHoF Chairman Stuart Bradbury said "Many thanks go to our main supporter Geoff Stilwell for putting together this year's panel, which I am sure will include some tremendous stories and highlight the achievements made by Bill Simpson and others to progress safety in the sport." Pre-booking is not necessary for the Bench Racing session is necessary, and attendance is not restricted to those coming to the Gala Awards Dinner. In view of the limited time available, we would appreciate attendees remaining in their seats for the duration of the Bench Racing session. The 2018 Gala Awards Dinner is almost sold out but you can make a reservation by E-Mail at stuart@britishdragracinghof.co.uk or by telephone on 01933 279102. Tickets, which include table wine, are priced competitively at £70 each. The rates for hotel rooms are £115 for double rooms and £94 single which includes breakfast and VAT as well as parking. On receiving your reservation you will be given the procedure to book rooms. Ongoing news about the Gala, sponsors and other events in which the BDRHoF is involved is regularly published on the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame web site www.britishdragracinghof.co.uk, here on Eurodragster.com, and on Facebook and Twitter. Swift snippets. 14th October: To facilitate weekend events, Street Fighter Productions have moved their no-prep runway events from Tibenham Airfield in Norfolk to Deenthorpe Airfield in Northamptonshire, with the first event scheduled for Saturday-Sunday 2nd-3rd November. You can find out more including entry fees and how to enter on the Street Fighter Productions Facebook page. Web site updates. 14th October: Our good friend Steve Moxley has had STP Green Light Nationals and FIA/FIM European Finals reports published on the ACU web site at www.acu.org.uk. At their end-of-season party, Motorsport UK British Drag Racing Champion Marck Harteveld and The Netherlands' Voodoo Hemi Pro Modified team announced that they will contest the full FIA European Championship tour in 2020. You can read more courtesy of our good friend Remco Scheelings on the Drag Racing Europe Blog by clicking here. Catch trays for VW Pro in 2020. 9th October: Thanks to Paul Jackson of the Volkswagen Drag Racing Club for letting us know of a rule change for VW Pro starting next season: It has been decided that it will be mandatory for all cars in VW Pro to be equipped with an underbody catch tray to minimise oil downs, and speed up track clean ups. Whilst this isn't a Motorsport UK rule requirement, the VWDRC feel that we should be making all endeavours to assist Santa Pod Racers Club with the running of events, and we hope that other Clubs will follow our lead. If you have any queries then you can contact VWDRC via their web site at www.vwdrc.com or via the Club's Facebook page. British Junior Club formed. 9th October: Graham McDonald writes that a British Junior Dragster Club has been formed: The main reason for existing is to bring together what was normally just thirty-plus individual teams, and that's fine if that's your preferred way, but in gauging interest forming a Club we have had discussions with different Crew Chiefs and teams in general about the possibility of group purchases of fuel and oil, setting up Club-owned race wear which could be loaned out to kids... the list goes on but in general we could do so much more as a group of like-minded racers, and the sky's the limit. We have yet to write a mission statement but I'm sure that it will include the prospect of bringing the British Junior Dragster Club to a worldwide audience, both in the media and by racing around the world as much as possible. I personally see the British Club being just one part of a wider network which will start in England but which will encompass the surrounding countries to be part of one big Junior drag racing community: after all we are all about drag racing and we need to push the Juniors more because, as everyone rightly says, they are our future. You only have to look at our young Junior racers who have gone on to kick ass in the bigger classes - I don't mean any disrespect to the more experienced drivers out there, but I think you'll agree that good things are ahead for drag racing in general if the ex-Junior racers in the bigger classes are anything to go by. We are building our future right here, right now, and long may it succeed as we are going forward and not backwards. So it is a perfect time to create a Club for the Junior drag racers. Already we are organising off-season events to bring the racing teams together over the winter months. Hopefully we will create mentors to help the younger teams and drivers to get through their first years in the sport. I would also like to invite all Eurodragster.com readers to come on board to help promote Junior drag racing, both cars and bikes, to a wider audience. If you have any expertise in any aspect of the media or have a skill or product which would fit into the overall promotion of Junior racing then I would ask that you contact the Club through the British Junior Dragster Club Facebook page.We have had very positive comments and we are open to any suggestions both positive or negative as we can all learn from mistakes. In the end we are going to progress and bring through this new breed of drag racers to be the future stars of tomorrow both in England,Europe and elsewhere. Linda Miller to attend BDRHoF Gala. 9th October: The British Drag Racing Hall of Fame is pleased to announce that Linda Miller, daughter of Rocket Funny Car legend Slam'n Sammy Miller, will attend the BDRHoF Gala at the Oatlands Park Hotel, Weybridge, Surrey on Saturday 23rd November. Linda has been eager to make the trip for a couple of years and has at last been able to reorganise her schedule to make it possible. Europe became the beneficiary of the NHRA clampdown on rocket-propelled vehicles and Santa Pod's fans in particular took Sammy Miller to their collective hearts. He made his UK début in the Vanishing Point Vega in 1978 and ran the first four-second and 300 mph passes outside the USA in 1978 and 1979. Although she never saw her father race the cars which made Sammy such a legend in the UK Linda remembers him as a great father, cooking food his children loved, watching the movies they chose, and doing anything to make the ones he loved happy. And when they weren't happy he was able to bring a smile back to their faces with his inimitable Donald Duck impressions. Linda was thirteen when Sammy was taken from us and she strives to keep his memory alive, helped by his many fans. Linda is very much looking forward to meeting some of those fans first-hand in November. Web site updates. 9th October: The Mad Welshman has updated his Flickr gallery with a gallery from the Hot Rod Drags at Santa Pod Raceway. You can check out Mad's shots at www.flickr.com/photos/the_madwelshman. Eagle-eyed readers will have noticed a change to our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored Event Coverage schedule, namely the addition of a Webster Race Engineering/Nimbus Motorsport webcast from the Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway on Saturday 26th October. This is in addition to the end-day gallery planned for that event. VWDRC Heads-Up 3 result. 6th October: Congratulations to Diogo Inacio who took the win in VWDRC Heads-Up 3 at today's GTi Festival at Santa Pod Raceway: Diogo Inacio 9.6475/139.97 def. Luis Silva 10.8597/124.76 Congratulations also to Sam Chisholm-Brown who desite being put out of competition with severe engine damage yesterday took the VWDRC Heads-Up title for 2019. You can check out out our John Woolfe Racing-sponsored VWDRC Heads-Up 3 qualifying and elimination results by clicking here or by clicking on the John Woolfe Racing Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. SPRC Dinner Dance hotel update II. 5th October: Further to our news item of 20th September, Yvonne Tramm has been in touch with another update about room bookings for the Santa Pod Racers Club Dinner Dance and Trophy Night which takes place in Milton Keynes on Saturday 1st February 2020: I understand that a lot of attendees have been experiencing problems using the web site to book rooms and some have been told that all the rooms at the preferential price have gone. We had an allocation and they have allowed us to go over that figure, however it appears that there is a big event on the same night and a number of rooms have been allocated there.  If there are any rooms left they will, unfortunately, be at a higher price, I am sorry that I cannot push it further and increase our allocation. I have just been on the hotel's web site, put in the preferential code GSPRC2 and was offered double rooms at £109/110 so give it a try As an alternative there are several Premier Inn hotels a couple of miles away, with rooms from £35. If you have any queries then please get in touch with Yvonne at trammyd5@gmail.com. 2020 FIA Championship calendar. 4th October: Many thanks to Lars Pettersson of the FIA Drag Racing Commission and Drag Racing Europe AB for letting us know that the FIA's World Motor Sport Council has confirmed the 2020 FIA European Drag Racing Championship calendar. Note the change of order of rounds: 22nd-25th May: FIA/FIM Main Event, Santa Pod Raceway, UK 4th-7th June: Tierp Internationals, Tierp Arena, Sweden 13th-16th August: Summit Internationals, Tierp Arena, Sweden 28th-30th August*: NitrOlympX, Hockenheim, Germany 10th-13th September: FIA/FIM European Finals, Santa Pod Raceway, UK Drag Racing Europe AB say that the Finnish Hot Rod Association have decided not to hold an FIA Championship round in 2020. "In 2019, the move to the new track in Kauhava took a lot of effort and we need some time to make sure we can be a successful part of the FIA Championship again in 2021", said FHRA Chairman Lasse Koskinen. "This will give us the opportunity to improve the Kauhava facilities to better meet the needs of the European Championships. We look forward to getting back to calendar on 2021." The board of Drag Racing Europe will continue to communicate with the FHRA to look towards the future and the return of Finland to the FIA European Drag Racing Championship. *FIA have the NitrOlympX listed as a four-day event; it is in fact three days VWDRC Heads-Up 3 coverage. 4th October: Eurodragster.com will be at Santa Pod Raceway on Sunday to bring you the results from the final round of VWDRC Heads-Up in association with John Woolfe Racing. Our coverage will consist of reports and results updated after each qualifying and elimination round, and the Webster Race Engineering/Nimbus Motorsport webcam will be on-line broadcasting video and commentaryt/trackside audio so long as the track is open. We will post a direct Home Page link to our coverage as soon as it commences, but you can bookmark and/or share the webcast landing page by clicking here or by clicking on the WRE/Nimbus webcam link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Hall of Fame fête Junior Champions. 4th October: This year's UK Junior Dragster and Junior Drag Bike Champions will be celebrated at the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Gala Awards Dinner at the Oatlands Park Hotel, Weybridge, Surrey on Saturday, November 23rd. Santa Pod Racers Club, Atlantic Fluid Tech, Mopar Muscle Association, US Automotive, and the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame will sponsor two tables for the top three on four wheels and two, who will be guests along with their parents. It is an occasion they all look forward to and we must thank our sponsors for supporting the event and the Junior drag racing classes in this unique way. Before the evening dinner they will be introduced to many of the drag racing legends at their own reception and later inviyed on to the stage to receive the applause of the audience attending the event. The Champions of Junior Dragster and Junior Bike will each presented with a cheque for £100 donated by the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame. Voodoo Hemi's Championship season. 2nd October: The Netherlands' Marck Harteveld and the Voodoo Hemi Pro Modified team took the 2019 Motorsport UK British Drag Racing Championship after a year of ups and downs. The team got in with a review of a varied but ultimately successful season: We started the our first race at Santa Pod, the Festival of Power, with mixed feelings. After more than a year of hard work to fix the Superbird after last year's crash at the Dooslammers, it was kind of weird again to be at the start (line) of a new season. And what a season it was! Together with Pro Dutch Racing we got in touch with Adam Lambert from the USA to help us tune the updated chassis and shocks, which gave us a good start of the season. At the Festival of Power we ran a best of a 6.07 and ended second in the Motorsport UK Pro Modified Championship after the weekend. Not a bad way to start the season after a year of working our butts off. During the FIA Main Event we finally got our first five-second run, something we were aiming for of course. This 5.95 got us in the #8 spot for the weekend. At the SPRC Summernationals we qualifieid #1 with another five-second run, 5.97 this time. We got into the final with some good runs and won it as well with a 6.04, a good weekend for Championship points. Next on to the Mopar EuroNats where we took the #2 spot during qualifying, Sunday's elimination day was good for us taking another win in the final. The next stop was the NitrOlympX at Hockenheim. We went there with the idea of doing some more testing with the chassis/suspension adjustments to see if we could improve again, and to see what worked best for us. All went well and got us #6 spot during qualifying with a 6.0 run. We won the first round but lost in the second round against David Vegter in a nice close run. We learned a lot that weekend which we brought along to the European Finals at Santa Pod. The European Finals went a bit differently than we expected as we couldn't get the power to the ground. Despite some changes we repeatedly hit tyre shake, whatever adjustments we madeo we couldn't beat the fantastic air and bite of the track. We couldn't manage better then #17 in qualifying so no racing for us in eliminations. That was a bummer for all of us! Clearly something had to be changed for the STP UK National Finals at Santa Pod, and after some drastic changes in the suspension with the help of Yoeri Woudenberg we got it going again! Number one spot in qualifying so that was a good start to the weekend improving our points lead over Kev Slyfield. It would have been a thriller of a Sunday to see who became the Motorsport UK Pro Modified Champion in 2019, but during the first round of eliminations, right before it was our turn, rain started to pour down and didn't stop. After a couple of hours it became clear that the rain wouldn't stop in time, so the event got called off. This made us the 2019 Champion, but it's a weird way to become Champion without a real race day, and without the tension and adrenaline of eliminations. In the end we had our ups and downs, and did what we could, and it was a great challenge with Kev Slyfield chasing us time after time. But we stayed ahead and this won us the 2019 trophy. We would like to say a big Thank You to everybody who helped us out, sponsored our team and cheered for us, as well as the whole team and the ladies behind them making this year possible. We couldn't do it without you all, so thank you! Web site updates. 2nd October: The seventh issue of the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame's on-line magazine HoFTalk, and its first from new Editor Jerry Cookson, is now available. HoFTalk 7 covers this year's Hall of Fame intake, events, news and updates from inductees. You can check it out by clicking here, by clicking on the picture at right, or by clicking on the Features, Interviews, Tributes link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Earlier news