Santa set to Overkill. 30th November: UK Supertwin Fuel racer and photo-journalist Ian Turburville has had an early visit from Father Christmas in the shape of a shiny new Overkill motor (right). "Santa made a special trip from Vancouver for Mr Spokehead!", says Turbo. "Big thanks to Brian Hall (Canadian record holder) and Ron Houniet (ten-time Canadian champion) for all the help and the great service from Fast Lane Racing. These are absolutely top people and they have made my dream come true! "Special thanks must go to Malcolm and Steve Francis at Air Sea Logistics, once again they impressed the hell out of me by flying the motor in and delivering it to my door within the week at an affordable price with absolutely no dramas! Thanks guys, you are the best! "It has been decided to put my Karling motor in a brand new bike, also out of our stable, built and ridden by Ian 'Rush' Carruthers. Roll on '06!" ©Eurodragster.com Xtreme Wheels press release. 30th November: The UK Capital's most awesome display of power and motoring madness, Xtreme Wheels International, will take place at the Alexandra Palace, North London, on 25th-26th February 2006. From the conventional to the collectable, the weird to the wonderful, Xtreme Wheels International is the only show of its kind in London and boasts more horsepower than the Grand National. Some of the world's finest custom cars, drag racers, hot and street rods and the best from the UK's hot hatch and modified scene will once again come together to provide one of Europe's most impressive gatherings of the stylish and the streetwise. 2006 will see displays featuring many new and previously unseen cars and bikes including exhibits from the United States. Début launches are already confirmed for eighteen vehicles, more than the combined total for the past two years! "The 2005 show was a big success with record crowds and over two hundred exhibits", explains show co-ordinator Terry Gibbs. "We received fantastic support from participants and sponsors. There is no other show of its type in London. Everyone who attended this year's event was positive about its future and with firm commitments for 2006 from so many individuals and companies, you could say that we are back by popular demand." Tickets are now on sale: visit www.xwishow.com or for more details call the show organisers on 01483 236363. ©Eurodragster.com Swift snippets. 30th November: Johan Hässler tells us that the Rod and Race two-seater dragster has made its last appearance of the year, and that it made its own way home. "The dragster was on display at Svensk Dragracing's stand at last weekend's Bilsportmässan", says Johan. "The show was only a mile from where the dragster is normally parked, so we drove it back home on the street!". For pictures check out www.rodandrace.com/dragster.htm. ©Eurodragster.com You have until 23:59 UK tonight (Wednesday) to be in with a chance of winning the autographed Bahrain Drag Racing Festival poster which is on offer in Eurodragster.com's current contest. You can take the Challenge and enter the contest by clicking here or by clicking on the Win a Bahrain Festival poster! link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Attention traders, racers, clubs and tracks! If you have any ideas for drag racing fans to put on their Christmas lists then please drop us a line as, subject to sufficient response, we plan to run a one-off special news item of Christmas gift ideas one day next week. Please send a brief paragraph with details to news@eurodragster.com as soon as possible, preferably by the end of this Sunday (4th December), including prices and web site address or other contact information. Eurodragster.com update. 30th November: We are very pleased to announce that Simon Groves has become a full staff member of Eurodragster.com. Simon's name will be familiar to our readers for his work with Yvonne Tramm on the co-ordination of the UK National Championship, the co-ordination of the Ultimate Power Champipnship, and the pit notes which have become a massively-popular part of Eurodragster.com's Event Coverage. ©Eurodragster.com Simon will of course be continuing with the pit notes; he will also be contributing to our news updates (for example he is currently working on the review of this year's PowerPoint Communications DVDs) and will be helping on the reporting side of some of our Event Coverage. We are sure that all of our readers will join Tog and Sharkman in welcoming Simon on board. Web site updates. 30th November: Eurodragster.com Photo Editor Sharkman has updated his personal web site Sharkman's Top End Tales with a set of pictures taken on the digital compact camera which he has carried with him at all times this year. The mainly off-track pictures include grab shots, atmospherics, portraits and more. Check it out at www.topendtales.com. ©Eurodragster.com Super Pro ET racers Drachten-bound. 29th November: UK Super Pro ET racer Mark Flavell tells us that during the frequent rain at the FIA European Finals there was much talk around the pits of putting an event together in July whilst UK drag racing takes a holiday, and that a number of racers are now making firm plans to do just that. "We intend to go to Drachten in Holland for the eXplosion event on 14th-16th July", says Mark. "Kenny Coleman and Ian Tubb with the EDA Dragster and Steve Saunders with his Zephyr intend coming along. ©Eurodragster.com "At the time of the discussion, a lot of other teams showed a great deal of interest. There are lots of different approaches but the main thing will be getting there for three days of great summer fun. It's easy to get to, just outside of Amsterdam: crossing the water through the Channel Tunnel, on ferries, or even sailing from Hull to Rotterdam which is our preferred option. "Initial contact with the eXplosion Club indicates that a very warm welcome will be extended to all. So if you fancy something out of the norm, but not too expensive or intense, please drop me a line or two at mark_flavell@msn.com. I can then forward the Club an indication of the teams taking part and let the guys in Holland know what to expect through the gate. "A response/indication sooner rather than later would be appreciated." UK Dinner Dance hotel update. 29th November: Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall has been in touch regarding hotel arrangements for the joint APIRA/SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy Presentation which takes place at the Northampton Park Inn Hotel on Saturday 4th February 2006. "If you are contacting the Park Inn for the Dinner Dance to try and book rooms, and the hotel do not have the room you require, then you can book rooms at the Ibis Hotel", says Paula. "This hotel is literally right across the road from the Park Inn, so is definitely within staggering distance! "The telephone number for the Ibis Hotel is 01604 608900. Alternatively, if you wish to book online then the web site is www.ibishotel.com and enter the hotel code of 3657 for the Northampton Ibis. ©Eurodragster.com "When you have sorted out your accommodation then please don't forget to send your booking form with menu choices as I still need to know what everyone would like to eat!" You can find the booking form and information on the Entry Forms page of the Santa Pod Racers Club web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc. If you have any queries then please contact Paula Marshall at SPRC on 01933 313625 or E-Mail paula.marshall@btconnect.com. Swift snippets. 29th November: Jan Phersson has been in touch to let us know that his Super Stock Dodge Viper (right) has finally arrived in Sweden. "It has been a frustrating season at the race track without the new Viper", says Jan. You can stay in touch with the latest from the Solifer-sponsored team at www.soliferpolarracing.com. Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association organiser Lawrie Gatehouse tells us that there was a historic moment at the class' trophy presentation at Drayton Manor Park on Saturday evening. "Awards were presented to Clayton Round, Bob Glassup and The Mob", says Lawrie, "plus a special award to Ollie Burn which was engraved Special Award to Ollie Burn who by his enthusiasm, drive and dedication made dreams become reality. This received rapturous applause. For once in his life, the normally loquacious Ollie was somewhat lost for words on being presented with his very well-deserved trophy. The venue was superb and the organisation and layout was done with great attention to detail, thanks to Chris Hartnell and Claire Meaddows." ©Eurodragster.com Graham and Lorri Motler tell us that ACU UK Top Fuel Bike Champion Steve Woollatt's fiftieth birthday party on Saturday was a top time for a top man. "The company was tops, the food was tops, and the band was the dog's nuts", they say. "A good time was had by all, and it did not finish at the pub - there was a short interval while all who could make it made a short journey down the road to Steve's place and then the party carried on until four in the morning...then back up the pub for lunch the next day. This picture of Steve was a candid shot as he was in full speech mode. I think we speak for all who attended when we say it was a great time, thanks Steve." Web site updates. 29th November: Our good buddy Alan Currans has updated his excellent Acceleration Archive web site with a second page of pictures by professional photographer Kelvin Fagan. "This update contains some excellent two- and four-wheeled shots including a portrait of Jay Upton deep in thought", says Alan. "Also included are several pictures of Long Marston (aka Shakespeare County Raceway) under construction by the National Drag Racing Club and some aerial pictures which show just how much the layout has changed over the years". You can check out Kelvin's pictures at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. ©Eurodragster.com Regular readers will recall that earlier this year one of our ISPs deleted some of our web space without warning, causing a significant amount of Eurodragster.com's early live Event Coverage to be lost. We are pleased to announce that courtesy of archive.org (and thanks to Jim Broome for putting us on to that site originally - Ed) we have now managed to recover all of our live reports back to the start of the 2001 season. We are currently working on retrieving our reports from 2000 and have already re-posted that year's FIA European Finals and UK National Finals coverage. You can access our Event Coverage archive, and settle those arguments about qualifying or eliminations, by clicking here or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Tage Pettersson's funeral. 28th November: The arrangements for Tage Pettersson's funeral, which takes place on 9th December, are now available on the Svensk Dragracing web site at www.dragracing.se. ©Eurodragster.com SPRC Perpetual Awards week 2. 28th November: Once again Santa Pod Racers Club and Eurodragster.com are teaming up to give readers the chance of input to the SPRC Perpetual Awards, which will be presented at the joint APIRA/SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy presentation on Saturday 4th February 2006. For each of the 2005 season awards, the SPRC Committee has decided upon a shortlist for which votes can be submitted by E-Mail. There are seven awards in all: voting continues this week with the award for Best-Looking Bike and will continue over the next five weeks as each category is announced. Voting for the Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy will also be open for the whole of this period (see below). The votes of Eurodragster.com readers will be taken into consideration when the SPRC Committee decides upon the winners. Please note that attempts at organising mass votes - for example asking workmates or forum members to vote en masse - are easily identified and all such votes will be disallowed as they have been in previous years. This week's award, Best-Looking Bike, is co-sponsored by Meguiars, manufacturers of automotive care products. As well as the trophy, the winner will be presented with a goodie bag of Meguiars cleaning products. The SPRC Committee's shortlist for Best-Looking Bike is as follows, in alphabetical order: ©Eurodragster.com Tim Blakemore Kawasaki Funny Bike Andy Burfitt AB Racing Suzuki GSXR 9.50 Bike Gary Jones and Dave Friend Jones and Friend Suzuki Katana Comp Bike Chris Mott DHL V-Rod Harley V-Rod Supertwin Modified Richard Stubbins Big CC Racing Suzuki Hayabusa Super Street Bike For a look at larger pictures, and to place your vote, go to the official SPRC Perpetual Awards page which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the SPRC Perpetual Awards vote link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page. Voting is per Award, so if you voted for Best-Looking Car last week then you can of course vote for Best-Looking Bike this week. The Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy, for which votes are also now being taken, was first awarded to Santa Pod Raceway's late Chief Marshal, Alex Brachtvogel, in 2001 to mark his outstanding contribution to Santa Pod Raceway and the sport as a whole. After Alex's death the trophy was named in his memory and continues to be awarded for contribution to drag racing. There is no shortlist for the Alex Brachtvogel award. Nominations are invited for racers, race officials, track and safety crews, club officials, media, or anyone else who has contributed to the sport. Last year the trophy was awarded to UK Tech Inspector Geoff Martin. Again see the official web page for more details or E-Mail your nomination to 2005sprcawards@eurodragster.com specifying SPRC Alex Brachtvogel Trophy as the subject and your nomination in the body of the mail. Next week's category will be Most Professional-Appearing Team. Laurels go to Wild Bunch, NFAA. 28th November: With the race season done and dusted for another year, the trophy season began in earnest last evening at Tamworth's Drayton Manor Park with the Tenth Anniversary Wild Bunch Prize Presentation, writes Jerry Cookson. After a swift introduction to seasons past and present by MCs Barry Bohannon and Jerry Cookson, the evening's festivities kicked off with the announcement of Guests of Honour Roy and Angie Wilding, a very dedicated couple who, ten years ago at Avon Park, started the whole Wild Bunch experience which has grown with every passing year. And in appreciation in forming and presenting the Wild Bunch nostalgia club, 'Little Daddy' Roy and Angie were presented later in the evening with a very special piece of crystal by the Association's Chairman Chris Hartnell. Following numerous awards and commemoratives honouring our Wild Bunch gals in support of their respective teams and services to the Wild Bunch, the 2005 Series Champions were awarded their silverware, and the winners were Smokin' Joe Stevens (Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series), Tony Smith (Real Steel Series), and Mike Cresswell who took number one plate in the Wild Bunch Series. Special mention was also made of Sarah Howells and to Tony Smith for their first and second places respectively in the Ultimate Power Series respectively. Well done to all concerned. The Wild Bunch like to acknowledge personal endeavours from the season. Taking the Fastest MPH and Quickest ET awards was Alec Coe with the Shy Talker slingshot dragster for his achievements at season's end: 166.80 mph at SCR's Halloween Showdown and 8.208 seconds at the Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod. Sponsored by Team Paranoia, the award for Quickest Time achieved by a British-engined dragster award went to Sizzlin' Sid Slattery in recognition for his 10.604 set in his Jaguar-powered Destiny slingshot at September's Hot Rod Drags. The Big Bang trophy was awarded to Darryl Howells who at the beginning of the year on his first run in April decimated the engine on the Chemical Reaction slingshot, only to return four months later with a new set-up lowering his Personal Best numbers with a 10.028. Best Newcomer went to Phil Sweeney who not only won his first MSA event at the Allstar Nationals in August, set numerous Personal Bests, and took the Eurodragster.com/LA Racing Parts Perfect ET Award in the very same final. The Best Of... awards, judged by scrutineer Glenn Stockton, went to Helen and Dean Smythe (Best Altered), Tony Wynne-Jones (Best Radical/RED) and the Mad R's team of Alec, Tom and Kev (Best Slingshot). Best Turned Out Team went to 'purple people eaters' Hell's Belle, Perseverance to Tony Wynne Jones with the Welsh Raider Corvette, Best Achiever to seventeen-year-old apprentice mechanic Mark Hartnell, Personal Achievement (awarded by Sag from Daddy Cool Racing) went to the SNS Racing team led by Sid Slattery who at the beginning of the year lost a very dear friend in former racer Ian Roddy. This was a devastating blow but the team picked themselves up, persevering through breakages to their current position in tribute to their lost friend. C & C Sportsperson went to a true gentleman of the Wild Bunch, owner and Crew Chief of the Destiny's Angel altered, a shocked Bernie Nicholas. The Derek and Brenda Annable Trophy went to the equally-shocked father and son partnership of Gerald and Jeremy Cookson, in recognition for their past achievements both in racing and furthering the sport over more than forty years' participation at Shakespeare County and Santa Pod Raceways. So to the big one! The most prestigious award of them all, the Don Garlits Spirit of Drag Racing Shield. The shield, awarded annually since 1996, is for dedication, enthusiasm, sportsmanship and achievements throughout the year. In 2004, the award went to Team B-Sting. As the list of 2005 contenders was announced, the floor fell silent. This year the Shield was presented to very worthy winners the Mad R's: the Shy Talker team led by Alec and Tom Coe, 'Closet' Kev Mortimer and the ladies of the team Rita, Janet and young Jenny Coe who, along with Tom, couldn't be present to revel in the applause and accept the Shield from Wild Bunch founder Roy Wilding. Sharing the Wild Bunch evening at Drayton Manor Park were the teams and participants of the Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association, led by the group's administrator Laurie Gatehouse. After a short speech about how the NFAA came into existence and comments on the highs and lows of the inaugural season, the NFAA awards were presented to The Mob team led by Ollie Burn for coming third in the points series, to Bob Glassup for his second placing in the points race with the Extreme Racing Fiat Topolino, and to the 2005 Series Champion Clayton Round in recognition for his consistent performances at Santa Pod and Shakespeare County Raceways and for his all-round entertainment value, again a worthy Champion. Leading up to the event, the NFAA announced a special mystery award, which we can now reveal was presented to Lawrence Oliver Burn for his long association with drag racing, dedication and enthusiasm for Altered racing in general, and for being a thoroughly good ambassador for the sport. Congratulations Ollie. ©Eurodragster.com Swift snippets. 28th November: Helen Smythe has been in touch as ask us to wish a very Happy Fiftieth Birthday to Kevin Mortimer of the UK's Mad R's Wild Bunch team. "We put together a little limerick for Kev:", says Helen: ©Eurodragster.com There once was a slingshot quite nifty, But the fuel that it used was quite wifty, It was maintained well by Kevin, But then Alec started revvin', And with fright, the poor sod, he turned fifty!" Have a good day Kev. More training on offer from PMR. 28th November: Paul Marston tells us that his Driving School and Passenger Ride operation will be expanding to four cars in 2006 but that interested parties should get in touch as soon as possible to make bookings. Paul has also announced that the PMR Drag Racing School is diversifying with a new course available in the New Year. "Our new course is aimed at either existing racers looking at changing to a Super Class or to rookie drivers", says Paul. "It's essentially a burnout, start line and launch class along with tuition on throttle stop setting and calibration. Pupils can use either their own or a PMR School car. Hopefully it will give drivers a stepping stone from, for example, Pro ET to Super Street, Super Gas or even Super Comp. It will probably be run at a Test Day and will be either a half or full day depending on what the driver wants to achieve. "PMR School graduate and National event contestant Dave Catton had a similar course along with Mick Howling and both commented that the results were very positive, as they could concentrate and focus solely on the start line procedure and get comfortable with staging and hitting the Tree, essential for Super class racing. Both racers ran low 9.9s and pulled competitive Reaction Times at the Flame and Thunder Show, which were very respectable indeed considering the time of year and the rapidly-changing track conditions. ©Eurodragster.com "There is also of course that perfect Christmas present for the confirmed drag race fan, one of our of our infamous Drag Race Passenger Ride Experiences, held at Santa Pod Raceway. Now firmly in the nine-second zone, track conditions allowing, it's that once-in-a-lifetime experience and not to be missed. Ask anyone who has had one, then try to stop them talking about it! "Lastly look out for some ground-breaking news regarding the PMR Drag Race Driving School. Stay tuned, it's a biggie!" For more information on the School or Passenger Rides, or to make a booking, contact Paul Marston either at the office on 0208 597 4575 or on his mobile on 07831 650230, or E-Mail office@pmracing.fsnet.co.uk. eXplosion 2006 calendar update. 27th November: Henriette Selles of the Netherlands' eXplosion Club says that although the 2005 season has ended, the Club doesn't yet have time to relax. ©Eurodragster.com "As soon as the 2006 race dates were published it became clear that Drachten III clashed with the Nitrolympx at Hockenheim", says Henriette. "In Europe there are just too few races to attend to have two races in the same weekend! With the input of eXplosion members the decision has been made to alter our race dates. They are now: 16th-18th June 2006 14th-16th July 2006 18th-20th August 2006 "Further good news is that all of our races races are three-day events, which is a perfect opportunity for the foreign racers to make the trip to Holland and race at Drachten. There has already been contact with English racers. More about that soon..." You can find the eXplosion web site at www.explosion.nl. Web site updates. 27th November: The official web site of the UK's Showtime Racing Fuel Funny Car has moved to a new address. The site, now at www.showtimeracinguk.com, features a review of the latter half of the 2005 season, including the team's trip to Hockenheim and a Run What You Brung experience. There are also details of the FC's winter exhibition schedule. ©Eurodragster.com The Bahrain Racing web site at www.bahrainracing.com has been updated with a large number of photographs from the recent Bahrain Drag Racing Festival. The photo galleries cover the pre-event press conference, Test and Tune, qualifying, eliminations, trophy ceremony and pitside and people and can be accessed via the Drag Racing link on the Home Page. Swift snippets. 26th November: UK Tech Inspector Geoff Martin says that the UK Tech Crew have been sponsored by performance supplier Nimbus Motorsport. "Nimbus have most generously supplied the Tech Crew with a pair of Ringers Gloves each", says Geoff. "This will save many 'barked knuckles' on the weighbridge. These gloves, by the way, are the official gloves of the NHRA, and are available in UK". For more details check out the Nimbus Motorsport web site at www.nimbusmotorsport.com. ©Eurodragster.com Further to our news item of 14th November, Tony Byng has been in touch to let us know that Straightliners and the army are to take over the running of the Thorney Island Show including Run What You Brung next year. Trevor Duckworth and the Straightliners crew will be holding the event on 15th-16th July 2006. Yesterday's tribute to the late Tage Pettersson, which was sent to us by Lars Andersson, is available in Swedish on the Svensk Dragracing web site at www.dragracing.se. Very best wishes to multiple ACU UK Top Fuel Bike Champion Steve Woollatt who is celebrating his fiftieth birthday with a party in Abbots Langley this evening. We're sure that Steve's many fans and sponsors and all of Eurodragster's readers will join Tog and Sharkman in wishing Steve a very happy fiftieth. There are only a few days left if you want to be in with a chance of winning the autographed Bahrain Drag Racing Festival poster which is on offer in Eurodragster.com's latest contest. Entries must be in by 23:59 UK next Wednesday (30th). You can take the Challenge and enter the contest by clicking here or by clicking on the Win a Bahrain Festival poster! link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Tribute to Tage Pettersson. 25th November: FIM/UEM Championship Co-ordinator Lars Andersson has send a tribute to his close friend, Swedish Drag Bike pioneer Tage Pettersson of whose death we learned yesterday: Our dear friend and grand old man in Swedish motorcycle drag racing has left us. He turned 75 this year, most of the years filled with different motorsport. He was involved in his hometown club Nyköpings MS. We will all remember him putting his hand behind the ear and thinking. Tage started with drag racing at Mantorp in 1978 then he joined several other sidecars in a race. Next year he arrived on his first solo motorcycle, a 350cc two-stroke Kawasaki. He built that bike from spare parts in his basement. He had earlier been doing road racing mostly on a 50cc bike which was a separate class. Tage's body was almost perfect for this, and in later days when he had stopped drag racing he put together the 50 cc machine again and did a lot of vintage racing. Tage become a great fan of drag racing and in 1979 he raced at Santa Pod. This was followed by several races outside Sweden, many of them in Holland where he raced a lot at sprint races on smaller tracks. In 1980 Tage managed to win the Swedish championship on his small 350 bike due to the handicapping system. Not only the system, it did run fast for such a small bike. Times down to 12.0 seconds were good at that time and with a handicap system today they would still be very good. In 1984 he built a 1000 cc two-stroke Rotax machine and did some racing. He was experimenting both with a turbo and nitrous oxide, with problems but he was always happy. In the beginning of the 1980s he joined the Swedish Federation's Drag Racing Commission and was Chairman for many years. In 1988 Tage and I were in the USA at the same time as Stefan Reisten and we did some racing. The weather was not on our side but we learned a lot. Maybe everything in the USA was not as good as everyone had told us. Tage had arranged a SAAB in the USA because he worked for SAAB at that time and was involved in the traction tester for airfields. Even after he had retired from work he was involved in the friction tester and visited everywhere from China to Swedish airports. He was always interested in anything mechanical as long as it moved. In his later years he still took care of education for drag bike racing and also gave out race numbers for bikes in Sweden. Tage will leave a big hole. I have many memories with him, together we actually built up Swedish drag racing to where it is today. I hope that you all remember Tage in the same bright way as I do. Just off to powder my chassis... 25th November: Martyn Hannis has been in touch to let us know that Joe Bond's blown-alcohol altered chassis was tagged by UK Tech Inspector Geoff Martin last week and has now been sent for powder coating and the attachment the body. In the meantime the team are looking for a supercharger to aid their entry into NFAA competition in 2006. "We are after a good Roots 10.71 Supercharger, so if you have one you want to sell then please call Doug Bond on 01242 513100 during the day", says Martyn. ©Eurodragster.com Martyn adds that the chassis of the Shell Racing Top Methanol Dragster has been tagged for three years' Sportsman use. "If anybody out there is after a rolling chassis then it is for sale cheap", he says. "Please call me on my mobile on 07702 115548." Swift snippets. 25th November: Duke Video are now offering DVDs of the classic US programmes Decade of Thrills 1 and 2 as well as Top Fuel Sense-ations. You can order these and other drag racing DVDs on-line at www.dukevideo.com. ©Eurodragster.com Also on the subject of drag racing DVDs, stay tuned to Eurodragster.com for our review of the latest offerings from PowerPoint Communications, which will be published in the next week or so. Congratulations to Pro Mod racer Bader Ahli of the United Arab Emirates who clocked a superb 6.392/346.40 kmh in his Willys Pro Mod in the UAE on Wednesday to set a new Middle Eastern best. The focus is on the Orange Pop. 25th November: UK Outlaw Anglia racer Simon Barlow's Orange Pop is to be the subject of a photo shoot this weekend, says team member Jason Yates. "Richard Stirling of the Top Nitro web site only lives down the road from us so I E-Mailed him to see if he would like to do a piece of work on the car and he said he would be delighted", says Jay. "It will be an early morning for Simon, Phill and I on Sunday. The photos and interview should be on the web site at the beginning of next week. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Richard for his time and effort. ©Eurodragster.com "Thanks also to everyone who has E-Mailed asking how our engine rebuild is going. We haven't yet started it due to the photo shoot but we should get the engine out pretty soon and get it sorted in time for the Easter Thunderball. If anyone wants to E-Mail me then you can do so at fordpop@hotmail.com." Swift snippets. 24th November: We were very sorry to hear from Erik Zettervall that Swedish Drag Bike pioneer Tage Pettersson has died. You can read a tribute on the Svensk Dragracing web site at www.dragracing.se. We would like to send our deepest condolences to Tage's family and friends. Rick Cuthbert of Trakbak Racing tells us that there are two additional dates on Santa Pod Raceway's 2006 calendar. First is the Auto Italia Show on Saturday 12th August, which is for fans of classic and modern Italian cars from Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Lancias through to Alfas and other exotica, and is in association with Auto Italia magazine. The track will be open for Run What You Brung. The Ultimate BMW Show takes place on Saturday 23rd September and is a RWYB for BMW cars and bikes only plus car club displays, show car competition and traders. ©Eurodragster.com If you fancy going to see drag racing in the USA next year then we understand that a major UK travel company is planning to enter the drag racing market in 2006. We hear that the company is collaborating with a drag racing specialist to develop a USA holiday in October and November around NHRA's season-ending races at Las Vegas and Pomona and the SEMA Show. We think that this is the first tour of its kind to be arranged in the UK for a number of years, and the first time that a prominent travel company has catered for the sport. Stay tuned as we expect more news soon. Remaining on the US theme, Tog and Sharkman would like to wish a Happy Thanksgiving to all of our readers in the USA. Have a great day, guys. NFAA set to honour winners. 23rd November: The UK's Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association will be holding their trophy presentation at this Saturday's Tenth Anniversary Wild Bunch awards night at Drayton Manor Park, says promoter Lawrie Gatehouse. "Chris Hartnell and Claire Meaddows graciously invited us to take part", says Lawrie. "The following awards will be presented: Winner: Clayton Round, Rebel 'T', 990 points. Trophy and £3000 Runner-up: Bob Glassup, Extreme Racing, 650 points. Trophy and £2000 Third place: The Mob, 570 points. Trophy and £1000 "There is also a Mystery Award to be presented, but we are keeping schtum about that, lest it spoils the surprise." ©Eurodragster.com Lawrie also tells us that he was very impressed by the latest DVD from PowerPoint Communications: Nitro Warriors which documents the birth of the NFAA, reviews the NFAA's first season including the heartaches caused by damage, and features interviews and the history which led to the birth of the new class. "Compiled by David and Helen of Powerpoint, with commentary by Jerry Cookson, it really is a superb piece of work, including great sound and vision", says Lawrie. "It's nearly as good as being there - if only we could capture the smell of nitro wafting in the air! "Roll on the 2006 Season with ten Altereds pounding the tracks." Swift snippets. 23rd November: Santa Pod Racers Club have announced that the 2005 Best-Looking Car and Best-Looking Bike Perpetual Awards are to be co-sponsored by automotive care product manufacturer Meguiars. As well as the trophy, the winner will be presented with a goodie bag of Meguiars cleaning products. You can check out the Best-Looking Car candidates and place your vote on the official SPRC Perpetual Awards page, which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the SPRC Perpetual Awards vote link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Swedish Top Methanol Funny Car racer Leif Andréasson's five-second Dodge Stratus FC is for sale turn-key. For more details check out Leif's web site at www.andreassonmotorsports.com. ©Eurodragster.com We're sure that all of our readers will join Sharkman and Tog in congratulating former APIRA Chief Starter Scott Talbot and wife Michelle on the birth of their twins Caitlin and Callum. Proud grandparents Wendy and Dick Talbot tell us that the twins signed on on 17th November. This week's issue of UK motorsport newspaper Motorsport News includes a brief season review of NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified in its last year before becoming an FIA class. As a bonus, Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Andy Robinson's Pro Mod is included amongst the pictures on the front page. MN is available from all good newsagents at £1.99. Web site updates. 23rd November: With Christmas approaching quicker than we want to admit, Santa Pod Raceway have updated the Merchandise page of their web site. "Whether you're looking for a woolly hat for that up-coming ski-trip, a toy for your car-mad kids, or a Christmas present for the hard-to-buy-for drag fan in your life, you can browse for presents at www.santapod.co.uk/m_categories.php", says Rick Cuthbert of Trakbak Racing. "If you want gifts in time for Christmas, order now to avoid disappointment. Some stocks are limited and delivery times in December can be longer." Dirk Behlau has added to his excellent Speed Brygade on-line pictorial magazine a new project named Raceblog. The German-language blog at www.raceblog.de features updates on drag racing, Mopars, hot rodding and more. We've got nitro to burn! 22nd November: Johnny Hall and Bill Felstead will be taking the B+J Nostalgia fuel slingshot to London's Ace Café for a night-time fire-up on Wednesday 7th December. The six-second team wowed the Ace customers with a fire-up last year and so Johnny and Bill have been invited back by the Executioner for their December Hot Rod Night. "A lot of people said we didn't give enough notice last time so put 7th December in your diaries now", says Johnny Mental. "We will be starting our nitro disposal routine with a warm-up between 7:30 and 8:30 pm on petrol and then a few seconds of nitro. ©Eurodragster.com "The big fire-up will be at 9:30 pm when we will keep going on 85% pop until it runs out. We have eleven gallons left..." For more information about the Ace Café including location check out its official web site at www.ace-cafe-london.com. Swift snippets. 22nd November: UK Outlaw Anglia racer Pete Ashworth has shipped his beautiful new Dayglo Twister to Malta to make test passes at this weekend's event at Hal-Far Raceway. Many thanks to Paul Wright for letting us know that there is an excellent preview feature by Holger Camilleri about Pete and the Twisters to be found on the Greek Dragster web site at www.greekdragster.com/present/present051121_PeteAshworthsOutlawAnglia.htm. ©Eurodragster.com SPRC Perpetual Awards week 1. 21st November: Once again Santa Pod Racers Club and Eurodragster.com are teaming up to give readers the chance of input to the SPRC Perpetual Awards, which will be presented at the joint APIRA/SPRC Dinner Dance and Trophy presentation on Saturday 4th February 2006. For each of the 2005 season awards, the SPRC Committee has decided upon a shortlist for which votes can be submitted by E-Mail. There are seven awards in all: voting commences this week with the award for Best-Looking Car and will continue over the next six weeks as each category is announced. Voting for the Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy will also be open for the whole of this period (see below). The votes of Eurodragster.com readers will be taken into consideration when the SPRC Committee decides upon the winners. Please note that attempts at organising mass votes - for example asking workmates or forum members to vote en masse - are easily identified and all such votes will be disallowed as they have been in previous years. This week's award, Best-Looking Car, is co-sponsored by Meguiars, manufacturers of automotive care products. As well as the trophy, the winner will be presented with a goodie bag of Meguiars cleaning products. The SPRC Committee's shortlist for Best-Looking Car is as follows, in alphabetical order: ©Eurodragster.com Danny Cockerill '57 Chevy Pro Mod Lee Darby DKM Construction Pro ET Chevy pick-up Steve Johnson Motor Mouse Racing Super Pro ET dragster Mark Pointer Hooligan Super Pro ET Fordson van Travis Rider Inch Pincher VW Pro Beetle For a look at larger pictures, and to place your vote, go to the official SPRC Perpetual Awards page which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the SPRC Perpetual Awards vote link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page. The Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy, for which votes are also now being taken, was first awarded to Santa Pod Raceway's late Chief Marshal, Alex Brachtvogel, in 2001 to mark his outstanding contribution to Santa Pod Raceway and the sport as a whole. After Alex's death the trophy was named in his memory and continues to be awarded for contribution to drag racing. There is no shortlist for the Alex Brachtvogel award. Nominations are invited for racers, race officials, track and safety crews, club officials, media, or anyone else who has contributed to the sport. Last year the trophy was awarded to UK Tech Inspector Geoff Martin. Again see the official web page for more details or E-Mail your nomination to 2005sprcawards@eurodragster.com specifying SPRC Alex Brachtvogel Trophy as the subject and your nomination in the body of the mail. Next week's category will be Best-Looking Bike. Frost starts the switch. 21st November: UK Street Eliminator racer Andy Frost has started work on the turbocharged set-up which he will be campaigning in 2006. Andy has up to now run a nitrous-assisted set-up in the street-legal Red Victor 2, recording times in the low eights at over 170 mph. "Red Victor 2 is now at residing at my number one sponsor Altiss Engineering's headquarters in Leicester for the new twin turbo installation", says Andy. Altiss approached me at the end of the season wanting to do all the fabrication work on the turbos - how could I say no to one of the best fabricators around? Anyway,having raced successfully with nitrous for a number of years and having garnered my best Street Eliminator Championship result ever in 2005 I felt it was time for a new challenge." There were two options open to Andy: supercharging or turbocharging and the hairdryer won out over the blower for one reason. "A lot of the companies we deal with in the UK and North America are much more familiar with the turbo route", says Andy. "Being relatively new to this form of power I felt it would be silly to go blindly into what could be a very expensive learning curve! This is why people like Webster Race Engineering, Knight Racing Engines, MPS Systems of Canada, Holset/Martin Taylor and Neal Chance Racing Converters are all on board to develop the combination to the max. ©Eurodragster.com "Most of the parts are on order or here in the UK and will be hopefully be fitted by Nigel Colwell and I at Altiss Engineering by the end of January in time to go on Knight Racing Engines' superflow dyno in February. Make no mistake, there is a ton of work to be done but we are all confident that the car will début at the Easter Thunderball for the first round of the 2006 Street Eliminator Championship. "Obviously the whole idea of this is to run into the sevens, a goal which has eluded all of the Street Eliminator teams so far. I've no doubt that 2006 will be a breakthrough year for a number of teams, and we would like to be one of those breakthrough teams. If expertise is the way to do it then we are on the way." Swift snippets. 21st November: This beautiful Top Alcohol FC belongs to Chris Bennett who asked us to tell his friends in the UK that that the Cheeky Monkey name lives on in the Northwest of the USA. "I raced the Cheeky Monkey (formerly Baron Sharpe Rutland Rebel) dragster in 2000-2001 as a Wild Bunch car and then sold it to Kevin Mortimer who with Alec Coe raced it as the Shy Torque machine", says Chris. "I then purchased, built and made one appearance with my second dragster which is now owned and driven by my good friend Johnny Hall. Of course he has built the car into everything it always should have been". ©Eurodragster.com Making the move from regular Run What You Brungs to UK competition are Jerry and Marc Smith of Jerryatric Drag Racing who having run a nine-second Plymouth Belvedere for three years have purchased a 1968 Roadrunner from the USA. Marc tells us that the Roadrunner sports a 493 ci Keith Black which has so far made four runs, one with 175 hp of nitrous, and has run 8.90. "We intend to run in either Pro ET or Super Pro ET, depending upon how consistent the car is", says Marc. Our good buddy Patrik Jacobsson has been in touch to ask European Pro Mod Association teams to send him their gossip over the off-season for the EPMA web site. "Nothing is too small to publish", says Patrik. You can send your Pro Mod gossip to Patrik at webmaster@promod.nu. TV update. 21st November: This week's episode of The British Biker Build Off the UK's Discovery Real Time channel will be featuring an unusual drag race filmed earlier this year at Shakespeare County Raceway, writes SCR Press Officer Jerry Cookson. The six-week competition features six teams competing for the Pro Custom Bike Challenge and the prestigious title of Best in Britain whose team will automatically gain entry into the European and World Championships. Last week's show featured UK Supertwin Fuel rider Jamie Millership of Nottingham's Classic and Custom trying his hand at Banger Racing in between working on his show-stopping entry. All credit here for Jamie as his car not only survived three heats of smashing and crashing but narrowly missed out on become the last man standing in the demolition derby. This week's show, featuring the team lead by Stez from Polar Cycles, takes to the quarter mile in a race with a supercar and a well known NAST Supertwin Modified racer whose identity Jerry says he'll leave us to guess. ©Eurodragster.com Hosted by Steve Berry, The British Biker Build Off breaks loose this Tuesday, 22nd November, at 22.00 and is repeated at 03:00 on Wednesday 23rd, and again on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th. Discovery Real Time can be found at 113 on Sky Digital, 304 on NTL and 271 on TeleWest. Jerry also tells us that this weeks edition of Rome is Burning on the North American Sports Network (NASN) features a segment about NHRA Pro Stock racer Erica Enders. Not only will host Jim Rome and viewers be able to see what it is really like to get behind the wheel of a 500 ci Pro Stocker, but you will experience Erica's preparation for a race and get a special behind the scenes look before she pulls up to the start line. Airing this Tuesday, 22nd November, at 07:30 and 18:30, Rome is Burning can be found at NASN on 417 Sky Digital, 917/420 on NTL, and 533 on TeleWest. Web site updates. 21st November: The official web site of 2005 FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion Lex Joon has been updated with photographs of the MPM Top Fuel Team's end-season party on Saturday. You can check out the pictures at www.lexjoonracing.nl. ©Eurodragster.com Win a signed Bahrain Festival poster! 19th November: Eurodragster.com's latest contest is offering one lucky winner the chance to own a rare souvenir of last week's Drag Racing Festival in Bahrain. ©Eurodragster.com An autograph session was held shortly before eliminations commenced at the Bahrain International Circuit last Friday at which event posters were signed by members of Team Europe as well as a number of the racers from Bahrain and neighbouring countries. Eurodragster.com was lucky enough to secure one of the posters (right, picture courtesy and ©Rick Cuthbert) and we are now offering it as a contest prize. The poster has been signed by the Team Europe racers, track announcer John Price, and the Bahraini and other local racers who attended the signing including local heroes Ali Aryan and Bader Ahli. For your chance to win the signed Drag Racing Festival poster check out our Contest page which you can view by clicking here, or by clicking on the Win a Bahrain Festival poster! link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Entry closes on 30th November. Good luck! Swift snippets. 19th November: Dickman has been in touch to ask us to wish a very Happy Birthday to Dutch Pro Mod racer Marc Meihuizen. "We will see you tonight for a beer Marc!", says Dickman. We're sure that everyone will join Tog and Sharkman in wishing Marc a very Happy Birthday. ©Eurodragster.com A close encounter of the PMR kind. 19th November: Paul Marston has been in touch to let us know that UK Super Pro ET racer John Everitt has purchased the Alien altered from Paul Marston Racing. John took to the altered like a duck to water, winning the 2005 Ultimate Power Super Pro ET Championship and finishing third in the UK National Championship. "We all know that John had a great season with the Alien in 2005, and told me at the end of the season that he would like to own it outright", says Paul Marston. "We sat down and worked out a deal and here we are. I was sorry to see the Alien go, especially as I never did get to drive it, I guess some things are never meant to be. But hey, under the right circumstances everything is for sale, right? John had become very attached to the Alien, it suited his driving style and experience to wrestle our awesome altered down the quarter. ©Eurodragster.com "Owning and running the Alien has been a fantastic experience. I got to meet Bertrand Dubet and Thierry at Odyssey Performance in Toulouse, where the Alien came from. PMR have developed the Alien into a competitive Championship-winning race car, it's now time for John and his new team to carry on where we left off and we wish them all every success in 2006. "When I first started the Drag Race Driving School and Passenger Ride Experiences I had a three year plan. I felt it needed three years to see if it could grow into anything. In those three years we have seen growth on an unprecedented scale. I have been very careful to keep the growth at a sustainable level, you need to make sure you are not feeding a monster too much of your time. A healthy balance has to be maintained between work, paying the bills and of course our beloved sport. The Drag Race Driving School is now entering its second three year period - I wonder where we will be in another three years? Watch this space for news over the next few months. Once again big thanks to everyone who supports us and believes in us. Your kind words, hard work and encouragement are never taken for granted." Cross the rope at John Force Racing. 18th November: The UK's Andy Bissett moved to the USA in 2004 to seek a career in US drag racing after spending seven years, ultimately as Crew Chief, on the Redstone and Gleadow, Team Nemesis and American Car Imports Racing Top Methanol Dragsters. After starting with Darryl Hitchman's team Andy was offered a job with John Force Racing, working as clutch technician on the Darien and Meadows A/Fuel Dragster which is driven by Ashley Force, daughter of the legendary John Force. A few days after the 2005 NHRA season ended at Pomona, Andy had a couple of days off and kindly offered Eurodragster.com's readers an insight into life in the John Force Racing pit by answering the twenty questions he is most asked by fans on the other side of the rope. ©Eurodragster.com If you want to know what John and Ashley Force are really like, what it's like to work for John Force Racing, how you get a job on an NHRA team or whether Andy is actually Canadian on the QT, amongst other fascinating questions, then check out Andy's entertaining Q & A by clicking here, or by clicking on the Features link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Santa heads for Arlesheim. 18th November: If you were tuned in to Eurodragster.com News immediately after this year's Veidec Festival and FIA European Finals, and again on 6th November, then you will have read that 2005 FIA European Top Methanol FC Champion, Switzerland's Urs Erbacher, announced his intention to race in Top Fuel Dragster in 2006 and then that he had acquired a car from Doug Herbert. Team member Andrea Wucher has been in touch with all the latest news from the Fat Attack Top Fuel Dragster and Supertwin pit. "The off-season is no time to hang around and just do nothing", says Andrea. "After unloading the whole trailer and completing the twelve-page part list for the Funny Car we had a full agenda for the whole of October. Our trailer has been sold and we are looking for a new one. The deadline to have the trailer in Arlesheim is the end of December: everybody knows that to fix up the interior of a trailer is a lot of work, and you never finish it on time. "But we also needed something new to put in the trailer. As Urs announced at the European Finals we want to race in Top Fuel in 2006, so we had to find Urs a Fueller. There are not many Top Fuel cars which will easily fit a tall guy like Urs. We could either buy any dragster and adjust the chassis, or look for a dragster from someone of the same size as Urs. We found another tall guy driving in the NHRA: Doug Herbert is even taller than Urs and he offered us his 2005 McKinney spare chassis. "After two days in Las Vegas - visiting the SEMA Show and not gambling! - we were on our way to Pomona to meet all the European drag racers and to see our future car. Once Urs got behind the wheel he wouldn't get out. The cockpit was a perfect length and height, and it felt good. We put together a long parts list with Doug Herbert and his Crew Chief Wayne Dupuy." Urs' first experience of Top Fuel Dragster will be in the USA at the start of the New Year. "In January, five team members will have a week's training with Doug Herbert's crew", says Andrea. "Doug and his crew are really great. They are supporting us with all their know-how and will try to get us settled in Top Fuel racing as quickly as possible. After the training session Urs and the crew will make some test runs either at the track next to Doug Herbert's shop or at the official test session in Las Vegas. Then everything goes in the container and will be shipped to Europe." Andrea says that Urs is lucky enough to have five crew members who already have Top Fuel experience, either with Peter Beck or Rune Fjeld Motorsports. "The know-how of our clutch man Robin Grice was useful on the TMFC but will be even be more valuable on the Top Fuel Dragster", says Andrea. "The engine mechanics are used to fast teardowns and the whole crew is highly motivated to start the Top Fuel project. In the meantime we will need the time to build the trailer, allocate the jobs in the team and get ready for our first Top Fuel season. We hope to have the same sponsors on board as we had with the Funny Car." ©Eurodragster.com In the meantime the Fat Attack team will be holding their annual Championship party at the Fat Inn in Arlesheim on 17th December, and they have a TMFC to sell. "We hope that all the Swiss drag racers and maybe even some European racers will find their way to the party in Arlesheim", says Andrea. "The Championship Funny Car is still for sale and you can find the part list and the price list on our webpage at www.fatattack.ch - just click on TMFC For Sale. Whoever buys the Funny Car will get the support of the team, mechanics training, set-up data and tuning support at the track and driving tips and tricks from the Champion. We would like to have a guy jumping out of this car with a big smile on the face and a crew who love to work on the Funny Car. It is so consistent and safe to run that you just don't have to worry. The goal is that you have as much fun as we had running the Funny Car. So don't hesitate to send us an E-Mail." Andrea adds that Supertwin racer Lorenz Stäuble and his crew are already preparing for 2006. "They will try to step up next year and continue with the progress the made in 2005", says Andrea. Going consistently fast is the goal. Wini, one of the bike mechanics, will switch to the Top Fuel team. We will be working between races to prepare the parts, heads, rods, pistons, clutch discs etc for the next race so Wini he will be our first full time mechanic next season." Web site updates. 18th November: Eurodragster.com Photo Editor Sharkman has updated his personal web site Sharkman's Top End Tales with a large number of pictures from last week's Drag Racing Festival at the Bahrain International Circuit. You can check out Sharkman's pictures at www.topendtales.com. ©Eurodragster.com Thanks to our good buddy Patrik Jacobsson for letting us know that the official web site of the European Pro Mod Association at www.promod.nu has been updated with a team page for Dutch Pro Mod entrant Robert Joosten. Our good buddies at Svensk Dragracing have posted on their web site an interview with 2005 NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified Champion Patrick Wikström, which you can find at www.dragracing.se. Anything left to go wrong? 17th November: Luke Bennett says that the Bennett Racing blown-alcohol altered team's weekend at Santa Pod Raceway was their worst weekend since 1982. "And that's no exaggeration", says Luke. "Things started off sweet as a nut, we had a very nice nice journey to Santa Pod on the Friday", says Luke. "It was a very windy day at the track and by luck a couple of our old neighbours were there and were a massive help putting up the gazebo in the weather - thanks if you read this! We then did the usual stuff such as getting the car on the stands and sheeted up for the evening, we were then bored so we had a big sort out of the inside of the lorry to pass the time. All looked good and a lot tidier. "The rest of the crew arrived in the morning, we then got the car ready to fire and I did the lash, set the timing, made a change to the fuel system and cleaned up. We were due to run at 1:30 pm so at 12:30 we got ready to fire the car: put the starter on, bit of petrol in the hat, turned the car over and it was dead as a doornail, no spark at all. We tried and checked everything and it turned out to be the MSD control box. We borrowed Ollie's to check this and the car fired first time. "We were now stuck as we didn't have a spare control box. We asked about in the pits and were given John Wright's phone number. John very kindly lent us his control box from his Top Fueller, thanks very much John. We then towed the car down ready for a run. Everything seemed all right, the starter was on the car, and me old man (Frank Bennett, driver - Ed) was strapped in. The signal came to fire the car and then another big problem, the dog on the starter was not throwing out. I must have put the starter on and taken it off a thousand times then at the last minute it engaged and we fired the car. An eighth mile burnout although the track was very slick by this time, pulled back and then one of the start line crew started looking on the car. I thought there was a problem but it seemed not as we staged the car, then when the fully staged he stood in front of the slick. Now, to me this is not the best place to stand when a car is fully staged, he is braver than I am! ©Eurodragster.com "We were shut down for no arm restraints - we had forgotten them in the rush. We pushed the car back, and my old man was ready to go home, a little bit annoyed to say the least, but I told him to chill out and I would go back to the pits and get more fuel and let the motor cool down. Fuelled the car up and were ready for another try, a short burnout this time as there was still heat in the motor, then came back ready to run. Then one of the parachutes fell out so had to shut down. We were gutted big time, we were asked to push the car to the front front of the grandstand and out of the way, which we did. We were talking to the start line crew and they said we could run again, which we were happy about, then I heard a weird noise. I looked round and dad had caught his fire boot on the fire bottles. I walked over as calmly as I could and bent the nozzles away from car and motor to stop it getting covered. "We were now a tad annoyed and towed the car back to the pits. The old man went for a walk to chill out and I went through the car, cleaning from front to back and doing the lash etc. as normal. The next day we got up to see it was raining, so we went home. "The worst weekend's racing ever. No more please..." Boman's future hopes. 17th November: Continuing this week's theme of gratitude to our Bahraini hosts at last week's Drag Racing Festival, Swedish photo-journalist Stefan Boman has been in touch to express his appreciation of the welcome he received and his hopes for the future. "I would like to take the opportunity to thank all of the Bahrain International Circuit crew, the Bahrain Drag Racing Club and Trakbak Racing for letting me be present when drag racing history was made", says Stefan. "I think the European Drag Racing Festival in Bahrain was the first small step in a big development for our sport. ©Eurodragster.com "I do not see the European Championship appearance at the Bahrain International Circuit as a road show for the Middle East; we are now offering the hundreds of addicted drag racers who already exist in the region a higher level to step up to: FIA and UEM classes. I hope to see many local racers entering these classes in the future and have them racing in Europe as well. Together we can all make this sport grow and with a large international spread the market value of the sport will go up and benefit all of us regardless of class. "In the long run I also see the potential for BIC to be the platform where Americans, Europeans and racers from the Middle East will participate and we will have World Championship drag racing in Bahrain. It would be very sad if the traction problems which appeared during this first event blinded people to the possibilities for our sport at BIC. "Both I and the Swedish racers with whom I travelled hope to return for the next race in Bahrain soon." Web site updates. 17th November: The latest update to Alan Currans' excellent Acceleration Archive is a fourth page by Mark Gredzinski. "This page concentrates largely on a brief episode in the late 1980s concerning the life of a Funny Car", says Alan. "The car in question was a Toyota Supra - or was it? - campaigned by Gary Willy and Bill Felstead and there are pictures of its various guises together with Mark's designs for the paintwork. There are also a couple of shots of Geof Hauser's Pro Modified Sierra and the Top Fuel Bikes of Brian Johnson and Steve Woollatt". Check it out at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. ©Eurodragster.com Dahl's diary. 16th November: Norwegian Top Fuel Bike racer Sverre Dahl has been in touch with an account of his week in Bahrain, which culminated in a tremendous 6.8-second pass at the Drag Racing Festival. "After a long flight from Oslo to Amsterdam to Bahrain, we and all the other teams were met by representatives from the Bahrain International Circuit", says Sverre. "They made our arrival go very smoothly, no problems whatsoever. They transported us to the hotel, and made sure that everyone checked in. "On Tuesday we went to the track to unpack. When we arrived at the track we were amazed by the BIC. The facilities and everything around the track is like nothing we had ever seen before, great! After unpacking the bike and the tools, we started to service the bike: changed pistons, rings and some minor work on the cylinder head. We wanted to be well-prepared for the race. A lot of local people stopped by the pit to have a chat and to take pictures. We enjoyed this a lot since we got to talk to the local racers. ©Eurodragster.com "On Wednesday we sat in the grandstand and observed the Test and Tune session, and we could see that the track was slippery. Thursday was race day and the track still was slippery, after waiting for a while in the start area we were sent back to the pits because it was too slippery to run a bike. That also happened the second time. It was a wise decision in our opinion. "The track crew worked hard all night and Friday morning to make the track better, and it certainly looked better on Friday. On the first trip down the track we had a lot of wheel spin and tried to feather the throttle on and off several times, but it did not hook up. The second time out was about the same, we could not get the bike to hook up. Before the third run we backed off a lot on clutch and power. This time we wanted to make sure we could do a decent run. The bike hooked up this time, but drifted and shook a lot but the run was 6.86/340 Kmh. "We were happy with the run, and there was a lot of cheering from the grandstand too, so the crowd sounded happy as well. We really wanted to lay down some low six-second passes during this event, but the track would not let us do it this time. Maybe next time. "To sum it up, we had a great time. The friendliness, hospitality and interest in drag racing of the people of Bahrain and Kuwait, Saudi and Dubai is exceptional. We want to thank everybody who made it happen." Nataas' winter tour. 16th November: Norwegian Top Fuel Dragster racer Thomas Nataas is set for a winter tour in the Middle East after the Batmobil wowed the fans at the Bahrain Drag Racing Festival last week. "The facilities at the Bahrain International Circuit were unbelievable - I've never seen a track that beautiful!", says Thomas. "I am sorry that the track prep was not right, I felt really sorry for them. The track was coming along on Friday and we would have been guaranteed a five-second run if we were in the right lane for the final run. But we flipped a coin with Susanne Callin and it was her turn in the better lane. ©Eurodragster.com "We are going back in December and they wanted us to run at many events during the winter in Dubai, Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain. The last will be the Formula 1 race in Bahrain in March. So we're going to have a winter season - it couldn't be better!" Bahrain thanks. 16th November: Darren West of Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Power Race Graphics has been in touch to say a big Thank You to Trevor and Esta Capewell for their invitation to join the Southern Rebel Top Methanol Funny Car team for the trip to Bahrain. "I jumped at the opportunity and had a fantastic and truly memorable time with the team at the mind-blowing BIC facility!", says Darren. "The crowd went wild following every one of Trev's five runs in the Funny Car. The atmosphere was amazing and I felt privileged to be in the company of such a well-organised and highly-skilled team. "Many thanks also to Crew Chief Bob Capewell and crew Matt, Len and Tony for making me feel so welcome and part of the set-up. I'm sure we all felt the same, that to be part of such an exciting event in such an exotic setting, and to be the first Funny Car to run at the BIC drag strip was something which none of us will ever forget!" Photo-journalist Ian Turburville is similarly grateful to 2005 FIM/UEM Supertwin Champion Ronny Aasen and to Trakbak Racing, BIC, and the Bahrain Drag Racing Club for the trip of a lifetime. "It was a triumph of organisation and so valuable in working out the logistics for next year", says Turbo. "The Bahrainis were fantastically friendly as were the Kuwaitis and Saudis we made friends with. What an amazing country, and the BIC facility is just awesome - pictures don't do it justice. The state of the first sixty feet of the track was frustrating but I think they made the right decision in moving the start line back, it just needed some serious rubber down it so we did our best. "It is early days for the track and I am sure it is the start of something big in the Gulf as the other tracks open up there. I would definitely like to go back and I think the sight and sound of Ronny and Per thundering into the night on cushions of flame has left the fans with something to remember. Judging by the reaction we got from them back in the pits, and the fact that Ronny got through a thousand hero cards in two days, I think we will be welcomed!" We have received many appreciative E-Mails and phone calls about our Event Coverage of the Bahrain Drag Racing Festival, for which we are very grateful. UK Pro ET racer Tethys tells us that his cat Loki is every inch the drag racing fan and spent the end of last week keeping up to date with the latest news from the BIC (right, pointing out a factual inaccuracy). As both Tog and Sharkman are animal lovers we were very pleased to hear about that. Keep on tuning in, Loki. Swift snippets. 16th November: UK Street Eliminator racer Ron Haslett is auctioning a passenger ride in his Cortina as part of his drive to raise money for the Macmillan Cancer Fund. For more details or to place a bid check out www.buysellcortina.co.uk/auction/index.php then click on A ride in a drag car. ©Eurodragster.com Voting for the 2005 Santa Pod Racers Club Perpetual Awards commences here on Eurodragster.com next Monday (21st November) with Best-Looking Car. Also stay tuned for our next contest which will be offering a unique memento of last week's Bahrain Drag Racing Festival. UK Wild Bunch racers Chris Hartnell and Claire Meaddows write to wish son and fellow WB racer Mark Hartnell a very Happy eighteenth Birthday for today (Wednesday). "Congratulations Mark and all the very best from all of the Wild Bunch!", says Chris and Claire. Sharkman and Tog and, we're sure, all of our readers would like to add their best wishes, have a great day Mark. Apologies for the lack of a news update yesterday (Tuesday), which was due to pressure of work in News Editor Tog's day job. Gibbs planning for 2006. 16th November: Andrew and Sandie Gibb of UK Sportsman ET and Junior Dragster team Lil Ole 38 Drag Racing have been in touch to let us know the latest from their workshop. "As you know we have purchased the ex-Jayne Kay Junior Stock Dragster for both Kirsty and Annalieze to drive next season", say Andrew and Sandie. "Hopefully they will both have completed their licencing runs early in the New Year. The plan is that they will contest all rounds at both Santa Pod and Shakespeare County Raceways. Sponsorship will be from BTC Vehicle Movements (07765 0351049) and the newly-formed MPM Oil UK. "Sandie will be again racing the Lil Ole 38 Opel in Sportsman ET at both track next season. Hopefully by then we will have rid ourselves of that gremlin which keeps appearing just when you think you've got rid of it! We will pulling the engine down over the next few weeks just to freshen it up in preparation for, hopefully, a full season's racing. ©Eurodragster.com "As you know, we are in the process of completing a deal with the MPM Oil Company NL. We have secured the status of UK distributors for their vast range of products. This venture is still in its infancy but we aim to make the MPM brand as well-known in the UK as it is in the Netherlands. We would like to take this opportunity to invite anyone who is interested in wholesale orders of MPM products or a catalogue to contact us on 07900 551929. "There are also plans for Andrew to join the MPM Top Fuel Team again next season, but at this stage nothing is set in stone so watch this space. Other offers have been made by UK racers but the whole situation has to be assessed. We are also looking for some additional help for the Opel team in order for our programme to develop. So if you fancy helping out at the track drop us a line at s.barham2@btinternet.com. Remember it's not brain surgery!" DSD love BIC. 14th November: A great time was had in Bahrain by the DSD Racing Pro Stock team, says Paul Watson of Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor DynoSpeed Developments: Marc Dresser, Mark King, Ray White, Kim and I arrived on Monday and were met at the airport by the people from the Bahrain International Circuit, taken to the hotel and supplied with hire cars, cool! Tuesday was unpacking day, Wednesday was scrutineering and a Test and Tune day but due to the problems with the track I opted to give it a miss. ©Eurodragster.com Thursday was the first day to show what we could do, with show time at about 20:00 and 23:30. We were a bit apprehensive but we were so looking forward to it. We spent some time with a few bike teams from Kuwait and Bahrain, there was some very impressive machinery there both cars and bikes I can see drag racing getting really big there with talk of setting up drag racing schools too. Unfortunately both show sessions were marred by track problems so we decided that we would try to make three runs on Friday. My thanks go to Keith Bartlet and all at Trakbak, to everyone at the BIC for the chance to be part of a very unique event, to all the people who came to see us in the pits - such enthusiasm - and a big Thank You to all the FIM/UEM track people who worked so so hard to put on a good show. And once again a very Happy Birthday to our very own Tog (Thanks! - Ed). Friends reunited. 14th November: It's not often one gets to meet a hero, let alone two but our good buddy and photo-journalist Roger Gorringe had just that experience at the end of October at a get-together arranged by John Woolfe Racing's Dave Riswick in his suite at the Flamingo Hilton in Las Vegas prior to the SEMA Show. ©Eurodragster.com "After thirty years I met my first drag racing hero - Clive Skilton", says Roger. "He was not alone as seated talking to him after their last meeting twenty-six years ago was another legend, Dennis Priddle. Pictured (right, picture courtesy and ©Roger Gorringe) for the first time in decades are the ‘old' rivals squaring up to one another as they did for thousands of race fans in the seventies across Europe, then in their respective Top Fuellers. There were many hilarious tales from either side of the Atlantic from both ex-racers. "Dennis still operates his AJ6 Superchargers business in Yeovil, Somerset whilst Clive having built up then sold the world's largest Jeep dealership resides in California and although officially retired is heavily involved along with his sons in Off Road Racing." European Championship TV dates III. 14th November: Our good buddy and honorary Eurodragster.com staff member Simon Groves has sent us the third tranche of TV broadcast dates for the 2005 FIA, FIM/UEM and NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified Championships on the UK's Sky satellite network: Programme 11: Veidec Nitro Festival Top Fuel Bike and Pro Stock Bike Monday 14th November on Sky Sports Xtra at 23:30 Tuesday 15th November on Sky Sports Xtra at 04:30 Programme 12: Veidec Nitro Festival Supertwin and Pro Modified Tuesday 15th November on Sky Sports Xtra at 23:00 Wednesday 16th November on Sky Sports Xtra at 02:30 Programme 13: FIA European Finals Top Fuel and Pro Stock Wednesday 16th November on Sky Sports Xtra at 23:00 Thursday 17th November on Sky Sports Xtra at 02:30 ©Eurodragster.com Programme 14: FIA European Finals Top Methanol Dragster and Top Methanol Funny Car Thursday 17th November on Sky Sports Xtra at 23:00 Friday 18th November on Sky Sports Xtra at 04:30 Programme 15: FIA European Finals Top Fuel Bike and Pro Stock Bike Friday 18th November on Sky Sports Xtra at 23:30 Saturday 19th November on Sky Sports Xtra at 05:30 As ever, we recommend that you keep a close eye on TV listings and Electronic Programme Guides as satellite channels are particularly prone to last-minute schedule changes. The TV broadcast dates are also available on Santa Pod Raceway's web site at www.santapod.com. Swift snippets. 14th November: Lee Kirk tells us that the Annual General Meeting of the UK's Super Modified Racers Association has been confirmed for 10:30 am on Sunday 11th December at Tewin Memorial Hall. "For further information, please either E-Mail myself, SMRA Secretary Tina Gibbs, or SMRA Chairman Tim Garlick", says Lee. "All contact information is available through the Contact section of the Super Modified web site at www.supermodified.co.uk. Claire Meaddows, Co-ordinator of the UK's Wild Bunch, says that there are still some tickets left for the tenth Wild Bunch Prize Presentation and Dinner at Drayton Manor Park, Tamworth on Saturday 26th November. The Nostalgia Fuel Altered Association are also sharing the evening and presenting the awards for their inaugural season. The deadline for ticket purchases is this Friday, 18th November; tickets are priced at £22. "It is sure to be another great evening and all are welcome!", says Claire. For details either E-Mail Claire at claire@backdraftdragracing.co.uk or call 01454 773350. Mark Bishop of the 1320 Rushden Rebels is hoping that Eurodragster.com readers can help him with information about a Topolino altered which he is currently building. "I am building a Topolino altered which I believe used to be called Texas Boogie around 1986 and then Future Force (driven by Karl Wilkinson) in the early 1990s. Any information or photographs of the Topolino's history over the years would be greatfully appreciated". If you can help then please drop Mark a line at mark.rocky_bishop@btinternet.com. ©Eurodragster.com Whilst we were on the flight home from Bahrain Jay Regan of MRE dropped us a line with the latest news of Dave Beck's progress in Pro Mod Bike at the AMA Prostar World Finals in Gainesville. "It took a 7.02 to make it into the record Pro Mod field", says Jay. "We improved to a 6.98 but managed to slide all the way to thirteenth position and have drawn Charlie Farrar in the first round. We've installed a brand new Upperton-assembled bullet and are going to throw the kitchen sink at it". Jay adds that having seen Chris Hand's condition with his own eyes he still finds it difficult to believe that Chris came off his Top Fuel Bike at 218 mph, and congratulations to Jimmy Brantley on his 5.99 on his TFB. End of an era. 14th November: Tony Byng has been in touch with the sad news that that the Victory Wheelers will no longer be holding their legendary South Coast Internationals at Thorney Island. Tony quotes a statement from outgoing Victory Wheelers Chair Mark Mears in which Mark cites site rent, Health and Safety, and organisational issues involved with an event which has become almost too big to handle. ©Eurodragster.com "I find it very sad as, apart from the car show, the Straightliners set-up bought drag racing to the masses here in the South, and I was pleased to have been part of it all as guest starter over a number of years", says Tony. "It has been a lot of fun and even the Pro boys who ventured down loved the fact that the cars and bikes really had to be 'driven' on the untreated runway. "It is certainly the end of an era, hopefully one day we may see it back?" Web site updates. 14th November: Jon Best has given his Best Intentions Racing web site a facelift to go with a change of plan which now involves running a blown-alcohol slingshot. Besty tells us that the site now loads more quickly and no longer features Flash Macromedia. Check it out at www.bestintentions.co.uk. ©Eurodragster.com Bahrain Festival results. 12th November: Congratulations to the winners at the Bahrain Drag Racing Festival at the Bahrain International Circuit: Pro: Ali Aryan 6.69/347.67 bye def. Khaled Bloushi DQ Pro Street: Mustafa Al Atat 8.67/267.72 def. Abdulla Al Shati 15.90/73.83 red V8 Super Street: Sulyiman Al Qurashi 9.79/225.84 def. Thamer Salaheddin 10.04/220.92 V8 Street: Jamal Ebrahim 10.93/192.97 def. Mohammed Al Shomely 11.27/195.23 4/6 RWD Super Street: Sameer Abdulhadi 11.97/193.62 def. Saad Al Mooran 16.60/140.47 4/6 FWD Super Street: Bader Jenahi 11.538/174.71 def. Ahmed Aryan 11.792/206.77 4/6 RWD Street: Jameel Hallal 13.56/163.98 def. Amer Al Khan 13.42/171.65 4/6 FWD Street: Mohammed Saleh 12.55/177.70 def. Hisham Al Othman 17.94/74.47 Pro Bike: Meashal Al Saber 8.51/210.58 def. Mohammed Al Zankawi 8.96/227.68 Super Street Bike: Adel Karam 8.47/269.52 def. Abdulla Al Harbi 9.55/246.35 Street Bike: Mohammed Al Badah 10.19/225.18 def. Moftah Al Kawari 10.19/230.17 ©Eurodragster.com The thirteen racers of Team Europe put up a good showing in difficult track conditions and proved very popular with the enthusiastic Bahraini crowd. You can view full details of the European racers' performances together with the Bahrain National Championship qualifying and elimination details in our American Car Imports-sponsored Event coverage, which you can view by clicking here, or by clicking on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster.com page and click on the Bahrain Drag Racing Festival link. We would like to thank Bahrain Drag Racing Club President Isa Al Kooheji, Shereen Bushehri, Fahad Taqi and Maya Al-Baradie for their practical help at BIC without which our event coverage would not have been possible, and Andy Willsheer for helping us out with pit notes. UK Top Fuel Bike racer Ian King has also been posting reports and pictures from Bahrain on his web site at www.kingracing.com. Flynn strips down. 12th November: UK Super Pro ET racer Derek Flynn and the Gold RV Racing team have started on the off-season maintenance of his six-second dragster. "We have ordered our spares and started the strip down of our chassis, and we are freshening up our engine with new rods bearings etc in preparation for next year", says Derek. "We would like to thank Dave Wilson for all his assistance and advice recently, and for agreeing to help us rebuild our heads. We have also booked in our car with Andy Robinson - builders of the fastest Pro Mod in Europe and our local drag race supplier - for some chassis modifications which will take the chassis to the new 2.3K SFI specifications along with a freshen-up of our transmission and rear end. "Whilst in the US it was great to meet up with a few of our fellow UK drag racers, and we would like to thank the Turner Motorsport team for all their help to date, for showing us around Pomona Raceway, and the numerous introductions to team owners and trade suppliers. Something I noticed whilst there is that if you are a racer in the US and you had a problem with your MSD device or the like, you could just take it to the MSD trailer in the pits and they would test it for you and supply a replacement if it was stuffed or, if you wanted a new tyre, no problem sir! Take your wheel to one of the several suppliers at the event and they will put it on for you and then balance it, as if it were a wheel from a Ford Fiesta at your local tyre shop - or should that be tire shop?" Swift snippets. 12th November: Eurodragster.com Swap Meet sponsor Jeff Bull has been in touch to thank everyone who enquired after Belinda Bull following her wild ride at the Flame and Thunder last Saturday. "Belinda was fine after her little trip across the track", says Jeff. "The car suffered minor damage to one wing and scuffed paint. Thanks also to the Santa Pod team who quickly came to Belinda's aid and got the car off the track. We have ordered all the necessary parts so that Martin at Curbishley Automotive can do his magic on the car again ready for next year. A big thanks to all of you who supported Belinda in her first season's racing." ©Eurodragster.com Jay Regan of MRE has again been in touch to tell us that the UK's Dave Beck is in seventh place with a 7.00/174 in Pro Mod Bike at the AMA Prostar World Finals at Gainesville. "We need to figure out how to battle this headwind", says Jay. Look for a six-second bump spot tomorrow". UK Super Street Bike racer Steve Venables is tenth at 9.28 but Jay says that Steve will be getting tuning advice from Paul Rose at the Alehouse. "The Clearwater brigade has showed up some twenty strong and it's already starting to smell a bit ugly", adds Jay. "Oh, and Cannon's shopping." Jay Regan also tells us that ex-pat Brit Top Fuel Bike racer Chris Hand parted company with his bike after a Personal Best 6.04/218. "The good news: Chris slid down the track and suffered only minor road rash, and was transported to a local hospital", says Jay. "Latest reports have him released and heading back to the track as we were pulling out. Details on the condition of the bike were unavailable at press time, but who cares: Chris is OK!" Ever-expanding PMR. 12th November: Paul Marston says that his Drag Race Driving School has expanded rapidly this season. "The increase was mainly in the number of drivers competing in National events, which was exactly what the School hoped for when it first started back in 2002", says Paul. "At the UK National Finals the PMR entry made up twenty five per cent of the Super Street entry and ten per cent of the Pro ET entry. A consequence of this was that I had to hang up my race suit, only donning it to act as test driver for any race car which needed testing in National event conditions. Otherwise I planned and coached our drivers for most of the 2005 season. "It was a sacrifice to drop my Super Pro ET National Championship bid in 2005, a driver wants to drive right? That's what we do, but I could contribute so much more to PMR in 2005 by not driving, so it was a no-brainer really. It was important for everyone to get John Everitt comfortable in the Alien altered as soon as possible. The doorslammer drivers Gary Springford of Drag Race Engineering, Tethys, Michael Howling, Dave Catton, Eurodragster's very own Togmeister, Steve Bolton and our VIP from across the sea Tony Morris had some great personal and National results. All of our drivers made huge progress: National event competition is the School of Hard Knocks and Tony Morris' visit at the FIA Main Event really showed everyone a good example of how to get it on. Two runners-up, three pole positions, winning our first National event and the Ultimate Power Super Pro ET Championship. Not bad at all, well worth my not driving! ©Eurodragster.com "A massive thank you goes out to all the Paul Marston Racing crew: Michael Pusey, Anthony Middleton, our #1 mechanic/driver Gary Springford, Sefton Whitlock, Lizz McCarthy, Darren Barthell, Dave Gibbons, Dean of DRE and Mark of DRE who share in our victories and achievements. Without their hard work none of this would be possible. "So what about the 2006 season? At the moment we plan to five competitive entries. Stay tuned to find out more detail on what's coming up, paint jobs, sponsors, events which Paul Marston Racing will be attending and so on. "Once again our thanks for all who support Paul Marston Racing: Santa Pod Raceway, Shakespeare County Raceway, Eurodragster.com, track commentators John Price, Graham Beckwith, Jerry Cookson, Paul Venners and of course Tog of Eurodragster.com who did a sterling job at the Flame and Thunder (Thanks! - Ed). We owe all of the above and many more a real big thank you for believing in us." Swift snippets. 11th November: MSA British Drag Racing Championship Co-ordinator Dave Alexander has asked Top Methanol racers considering entering the 2006 MSA British Drag Racing Championship (for Top Methanol Dragster and Funny Car) to contact him by E-Mail at dave_ale@etmra.com. ©Eurodragster.com Jay Regan of MRE has been in touch from Gainesville to let us know that 2005 ACU UK Pro Stock Bike Champion Dave Beck clocked a season best of 6.92 on Jay's Pro Mod Bike in testing for the AMA Prostar World Finals. "We're ready for tomorrow", says Jay. "I saw the Venable Snake go a seven-something at better than 194 mph on a run that really didn't look that good, so be ready for a stout showing from him!. TJ O'Brien, Pat, Gunster and Frankie C were all reported to be first in the queue at the Cabot bar at 5:25 for their first of many in a Thursday Happy Hour which turned out to be pretty tame." Carry on guessing. 11th November: UK Wild Bunch racer Tony Smith will again be running his highly-popular Guess Who photo contest over the off-season. "The contest will start next Tuesday (15th November) and will be in the same format as the last two years", says Tony. "This time the photos are taken from UK1320 with the kind permission of Gareth Evans. The prize is a family weekend ticket for any meeting held at Shakespeare County Raceway during the 2006 season, with thanks to LA Racing Parts. I am also sorting out another great prize and will have more details soon. If anyone would like to enter then please E-Mail me at cunningplan@btinternet.com with Guess Who as the subject. ©Eurodragster.com "I would like to thank my sponsors, Newgate (Newark) Ltd, Tonypandy Motor Co, Tune-up Autospares and Sovereign Steel Services for their continued support. I would also like to thank Dave Williams and the two Lindas for all their hard work (and Dave's driving) during this season. Pity we had to settle for second in the Wild Bunch Series and the Ultimate Power Series, but great to get first place in the Real Steel Championship." Tony has updated his web site at www.cunningplan.net with a report on the altered's last on-track appearance of the year at the Halloween Showdown and its latest exhibition appearance at last weekend's Classic Car Show at the NEC. The Curse of Envall...again. 10th November: Regular readers will know that our good friend Anders Envall shipped his ten-second street-legal Impala SS to the USA to compete in the weekend's Southern Super Heavyweight Shootout in Atlanta. The container was delayed because of Hurricane Wilma and Anders didn't get to race, but he says that he still managed to enjoy himself even though his curse struck again. "We went to the Shootout and had a blast", says Anders. "We met people that we only knew via their nicknames on the Impala SS forum. But we also had withdrawal symptoms among all these Impala SS and Lincolns! The American SS community treated us like royalty and they gave us lot of gifts as well as the Long Distance award - while my car was still locked in a container in Miami Harbour! ©Eurodragster.com "My friend Stumpy Koenig 'forced' me to take a run in Snowflake, a 10.5-second B-body on nitrous, at the end of the day. But then of course it spat radiator coolant on the track from the start to the end so the NHRA Safety Safari had to work because of The Guy With The Curse. It was great fun anyway. "We'll try to be there with the car again next year, as a matter of fact we're leaving the car over here in Orlando at Autoshop Racing Engines. We'll be back in January to wrench it and tune it both on the chassis dyno and on the strip. Our SS friends over here found out about that and are now planning to rent a local drag strip for a day to arrange the SMS - the Swedish Meatball Shooutout - sometime in January or February. "As of today, the container has still not been shipped from Miami to Orlando. Thanks a lot Wilma!" Swift snippets. 10th November: If you were tuned in to yesterday's Test and Tune coverage you may have picked up that all was not well with the track surface here at the BIC. In the absence of expert information from the track crew, who were all outside working very hard to rectify the situation, we were not in a position to say what was wrong and as regular readers are aware we try not to speculate since we inevitably end up looking like idiots when we do. We have spoken to the race officials this morning and you can find out what the problem was and how they have solved it in today's pit notes or on today's live report. ©Eurodragster.com David Lloyd-Jones of Santa Pod Raceway has been in touch to thank ELP who provided the additional lighting on the start line (right) at Saturday's Flame and Thunder Show. "Ronan Wilson, the owner of ELP, is hooked on drag racing which will be very beneficial to the sport", says David. "He has loads of equipment which will benefit racers at Santa Pod. He can provide lighting, power, hospitality units, stages, rigging etc. Ronan's contact number is 0208 236 1300 or see his web site at www.elp.tv. Web site updates. 10th November: UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Andy Carter's web site has been updated with a news item about last week's Classic Car Show from Lucas Oils PR Steve McQueen. You can check out Steve's piece at www.andycarter.net. ©Eurodragster.com Our good buddy Pete Roberts has posted two start line panoramas from Saturday's Flame and Thunder Show on his web site The Pod - A Look Around at myweb.tiscali.co.uk/lithopa/panos.html. Pete braved the centre-track refuge during Saturday's first Top Fuel match race and has produced a stunning panorama featuring both Andy Carter and Jon Webster as well as another panorama of Ronnie Picardo doing his thing in front of a full house. Shipping can be arranged... 9th November: Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Air Sea Logistics were chosen to transport the UK contingent of racers' bikes, cars and equipment from the UK to Frankfurt in Germany before then being on-forwarded to Bahrain on a special charter flight. "The initial contact came from Ian King who had previously used us to arrange transportation of his race rig to the FIA/UEM rounds in Finland and Sweden" explains Managing Director Malcolm Francis. "Ian called to enquire if we could arrange crating and shipping to Germany of his Top Fuel bike plus the Pro Stock bikes of Paul Watson and Ray Debben. After providing costs to Ian he then put us in touch with Geoff Myers of Trakbak Racing who asked if we could also arrange transportation of Trevor Capewell's Top Methanol Funny Car, spares and pit equipment. ©Eurodragster.com "In the case of Trevor's race car it was not feasible to pack in a crate so we arranged for an enclosed car transporter to collect the race car and transport it directly to the cargo terminal at Frankfurt Airport for onward flight to Bahrain. We arranged for all of the racers to deliver their bikes, spares and tools either to our London Heathrow or Andover facilities to arrange crating in re-usable packing crates and arrange packing of any items classed as dangerous goods under IATA airfreight regulations such as CO2 bottles, batteries and fire extinguishers. The race bikes and crates containing spares and tools were then transported to Frankfurt Airport on a separate dedicated forty-foot trailer. "From our point of view everything went smoothly and efficiently and I would like to express our thanks to Ian King and Geoff Myers for using Air Sea Logistics. Hopefully they will use us again for the FIA Championship round next year." Bahrain snippets. 9th November: Swedish Supertwin racer Per Bengtsson says that he is very much looking forward to come to a new part of the world and to a new track. "The whole team are very excited and we want to thank Power Racong Promotions and Bahrain International Circuit for giving us and European drag racing this great opportunity to take a new step forward", says Per. Even though it is an exhibition race we are going to face Ronny Aasen, this year's Champion, in a match race series which means that we have to do everything we can to show that 'The Beast' was the Champion last time we competed." ©Eurodragster.com A season of bests. 8th November: After all the problems in 2004 with a nitrous motor which never delivered the horsepower it should have, and a clutch which never responded to tuning, it was time for a radical re-think for UK Pro Mod racer, European speed record holder and Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Andy Robinson, says team member Bob Roberts: All the analysis seemed to lead towards the switch to a blown engine so that decision was made towards the end of the year. In many ways this was a leap into the dark, we had never run any kind of hemi, never run a blown engine and never run a methanol car. Faced with all these unknowns we looked around for advice and got it from the man who has run these engines more successfully than anybody else in Europe: Dave Wilson. Although the spec for a Pro Mod motor is different to Top Methanol Dragster the fundamentals remain the same so we followed Dave's advice and built a Brad, that is block and heads by Brad Anderson. The results more than justify our decision, although we only competed in four races and three of them were affected by rain we managed to improve our personal best by three tenths, a huge improvement when we had been scrambling for hundredths. FIA Main Event, Santa Pod Raceway: Andy ran a Personal Best (6.54) straight off the trailer and improved that by two tenths to 6.39 on the fourth pass. Eliminated in the second round when the tyres shook. ©Eurodragster.com Veidec Festival, Mantorp Park: #1 qualifier straight off the trailer, low ET of the meeting and Personal Best at 6.34. Eliminated in the first round. Nitrolympx, Hockenheim: #1 qualifier, new track record at 6.42. Rain-out, no eliminations. FIA European Finals, Santa Pod: #1 qualifier off trailer, low ET of the meeting and personal best at 6.28, top speed of the meeting and European record at 227 mph. Won the meeting. The excitement hasn't quite worn off yet but now the car is packed away for winter it's time to look forward to next year, but not before recognising the achievements of the team: Andy, Jerry, Bowser, Luke, this year's new recruit Tom, Kate and Stefani. Of course I'm sure all the improvement has been down to on-track IT support. Many thanks to our sponsors Norfolk Line, Poole Clayton Automotive, Hylomar and BMRS. And finally thanks to those who gave us advice, Dave Wilson who shared much of his experience of how to run and maintain blown engines, Les Davenport (Acceleration Enterprises) who helped us use his fuel system to good effect, and Darren Mayer (Darren Mayer Performance Engineering) who supplied the Kobelco blower and gave us good feedback at the FIA European Finals. Here's hoping that we can run the full FIA series next year, at whichever tracks are included, and give all those Scandinavian Pro Mods a run for their money. Swift snippets. 8th November: Congratulations to Vincent Pels (right) of Holland's Zodiac Racing Supertwin team who has been awarded 2005 Crew Chief of the Year Award by the eXplosion club. "The judging committee said that the team has been known for its outstanding performance for many years, and this couldn't have been achieved without a great Crew Chief", says our good friend Monique Pels. "Although Vincent couldn't attend in person, he is very pleased with the Award and wants to express his thanks to the Committee for this honour." ©Eurodragster.com Eurodragster.com News Editor Tog and Photo Editor Sharkman would like to thank everyone who sent birthday greetings by E-Mail and text on Saturday and yesterday (Monday). We both had great birthdays and everyone's good wishes - in fact so many that we couldn't possibly answer them all before we head off to Bahrain - made our days even more special. Thank you all very much! Tog would also like to add a big Thank You to everyone who has been in touch with compliments on his commentary at Santa Pod on Saturday. Web site updates. 8th November: UK Top Fuel Bike racer Ian King, one of Team Europe, has made landfall in Bahrain and is posting pre-race updates on the Pit Lane Gossip page of his web site at www.kingracing.com. Many thanks to Rick Cuthbert of Trakbak Racing for letting us know that Santa Pod Raceway's official web site has been updated with a report and pictures from Saturday's Flame and Thunder Show. Check it out at www.santapod.co.uk/e_flame.php. Pete Roberts, who spent Saturday trackside at Santa Pod standing in for Eurodragster.com Photo Editor Sharkman, has posted the first tranche of pictures on his web site The Pod - A Look Around. You can view Pete's pictures under Halfway Views at myweb.tiscali.co.uk/lithopa/SPpanos.html. Pete is working on his trademark panorama shots and promises to let us know when those are ready. ©Eurodragster.com Next up with a Flame and Thunder Show update is John Seymour who has posted a number of excellent shots on his Bald Photographer web site at www.thebaldphotographer.com. You can find John's shots by clicking on the Flame and Thunder album. Finally, Richard Stirling has posted a Flame and Thunder Show update on his Top Nitro fan site at www.topnitro.co.uk. Richard's gallery includes both on-track and pitside shots. On the road at 36,000 feet. 8th November: Tog and Sharkman are now on their way to Bahrain to bring you all the news from the Drag Racing Festival and the preceding build-up. Stay tuned and keep on sending the news items and we will start to post updates as soon as we're settled in. ©Eurodragster.com Postcard from Bahrain. 7th November: Santa Pod Raceway's Race Director Darren Prentice has been in touch from the Bahrain International Circuit, where he is part of the advance party preparing the facility for the Drag Racing Festival which takes place on Thursday and Friday of this week (10th-11th November). "Upon arrival at the BIC we were immediately blown away by the size of the facility and by the iconic grandeur of the buildings", says Darren. "We felt very honoured to given the grand tour of the whole facility, including a high speed lap of the F1 track, and to be honest we found it very hard to take everything in. The tour itself was overwhelming. "We have been made to feel very welcome by all the BIC staff and in particular Mark Hughes who invited us around to his home for some food and a little get-together with some of his staff and a few ex-pat Brits, and by Kareem Jawad who has not only been working alongside us in the preparation of the track but has also taken very good care of us on our "extra-curricular" activities. He has shown us some excellent places to eat and a few tucked-away establishments to take in the local scene and culture. ©Eurodragster.com "It has all the makings of a truly international team with Jon Cross and myself from England, Michael (Holger) Dueholm from Denmark, Carl (Kalle) Magnus from Sweden, and Kareem Jawad and Fahad Shafea and their team from Bahrain. The team is headed up by Kjell Pettersson from Sweden. "The days are hot and sunny, sometimes feeling very long with temperatures not dropping below thirty degrees. Night draws in very quickly here and it is dark by six o'clock. We can't wait to see the cars and bikes light up the start line as they leave. The track is very well-lit and you can see the whole of the shutdown area, even when standing on the startline. Everybody who is coming over, either to watch or to take part, is going to have a great time. "The track surface is coming around very well, but has been very hard work. Due to the relocation of the start line and the grinding work which has been done, our task was always going to be challenging. The Gold Dust and White Spot have been flying and a nice cloud of dust hovers above the track, but the team have pulled out all the stops and we have probably broken the back of it now. The track still needs a lot more glueing, dusting and sledding but every time we return to the track it seems to look better and better. It shows all the signs of being really quick. "Today Kareem sprung a treat on us when he took us for a circuit in a Hummer H2 around the BIC off-road course. The course has seventy five-degree climbs and even steeper descents over a feature aptly named "the Camel Humps". The course, which is still under construction, took twenty minutes to complete and is just one more of the state-of-the-art features which this magnificent facility has to offer. They were running Formula BMW single seaters around the track today and we were hoping for a go. Sadly they did not make us any offers, perhaps they have seen us punishing their tractor, or one of the fifty eight scooters which we use to get around the site." Capewell can't wait! 7th November: The UK's Southern Rebel Top Methanol Funny Car team are on their way to Bahrain today and driver Trev Capewell tells us that they are all very excited and can't wait to get out on the track. "After the UK National Finals I didn't touch the car until we received the invite for Bahrain", says Trevor. "Only then did we realise the damage caused to the engine following the last pass. At such short notice we had a major rebuild on our hands and the team have all worked extremely hard to all hours of the night to prep the car. "Esta and I would like to thank our team, most of whom have taken unpaid time off work to help us; Bob, Matt, Len, Uncle Tony and Darren from Power Race Graphics. Also Chris who cannot make it to Bahrain as his baby is due any day now, and Dean who already had booked a holiday to Las Vegas and couldn't change it. ©Eurodragster.com "We hope to put on a good show for the crowd, get more much-needed track time for the team and be part of the launch of an exciting new FIA drag racing facility. We are still looking for a five-second run this year, conditions permitting. "Thank you to Malcolm Francis of Air Sea Logistics Ltd and Geoff Myers of Trakbak Racing for their efficiency; shipping a Funny Car and all that goes with it is not an easy task." Ready to put on a show... 7th November: Norwegian Top Fuel Dragster racer Thomas Nataas is also excited about his appearance at the Bahrain Drag Racing Festival. "It will be the experience of a lifetime to be the first to race a Top Fuel Dragster in that part of the world, and it's good for the sport", says Thomas. "We really need more events and more venues for the Championship, so it will be great if they can manage to have an annual event in Bahrain. We need at least seven or eight events so we are ready to go to Bahrain several times. Everyone who is going is going to put on a good show and we are one of them." Swedish Pro Stock racer Michael Malmgren tells is that he will be giving passenger rides on Press Day at the Bahrain International Circuit. "Rumour has it that the Crown Prince will go in a car", says Michael. "I think it will boost the image of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship to get a round at the state of the art track in Bahrain." Swift snippets. 7th November: Many thanks to Kathy Taylor who won the race to tell us that UK Pro Mod racer Danny Cockerill and wife Dee have become parents again with the birth of their son Archie, a brother for Maisie. Archie arrived at 3:11 this morning (Monday), weighing in at 6 lb 5 oz, and we hear that both he and Dee are just fine. We're sure that everyone will join us in congratulating Danny and Dee on their new arival. UK Super Pro ET racer Mark Flavell has been in touch to tell us that despite appearances to the contrary his dragster came down pretty hard from its wheelie at Santa Pod on Saturday. Mark says that the chassis has been damaged and that he will let us know more when he stops hurting. UK Nostalgia Fuel Slingshot racer Johnny Hall has been in touch to explain why the B+J Nostalgia car "only" ran a mid-seven and not a six at Saturday's Flame and Thunder Show. "When we tried to start her up in the pits to put some heat into it, we had to back the timing off by fifteen degrees and guess what timing it had on the run?", says Johnny. "The run sounded flat as a fart. Mr Felstead and McKenzie have had one week's beer ration taken away." ©Eurodragster.com Many thanks to Jerry Cookson for letting us know that the latest issue of American Car World magazine carries a feature about Carla Pittau and Rick McCann's UK Championship-winning '70 Camaro RS Heaven & Hell. The December issue also features reports from the ACW UK Street Racers round at Santa Pod, a photo report from the FIA European Finals and more including the NASC Street Rod Nationals. ACW costs £3.50 and is available from WH Smiths and all good high street newsagents. The annual vote for the Santa Pod Racers Club Perpetual Awards will be starting here on Eurodragster.com on Monday 21st November. It would appear that our esteemed News Editor Tog has overlooked one small item of news for today, that being that it is his birthday! I am sure all our readers will join Sharkman in wishing Tog a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY for today! Hope you enjoy your day buddy. Web site updates. 7th November: Our good buddy Alan Currans has added a 123rd page of photographs to his excellent Acceleration Archive web site. "Peter Jones Gallery #9 includes pictures of Gene Snow, Raymond Beadle, Ron Picardo and Peter Crane in their Fuel Funny Cars, a fine portrait of the late Jim Read, a car with a full body which belonged to Knut Söderquist, a very rapid district nurse, Al's Gasser and lots, lots more", says Alan. Check it out at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. ©Eurodragster.com Roadzombie 2 season review. 6th November: Ian Caseley and the Roadzombie 2 Jet Dragster team of Fay, Hugh, Chris and Kate had a season of highs and lows but things started to come together, says Chris George: We had a chilly start to 2005 at the Run What You Brung at Santa Pod on 19th-20th February trying various fuel pressure and hot shot permutations, but we suffered a lot of afterburner lighting and fuel feed problems. Frustratingly our eighth-mile times stayed obstinately low. Ian's final run of the day with no afterburner resulted in a 9.32/171. We are using the same valves and burner configuration as the other jet cars around so we scratched our heads and said "Why us?". There was some small nuance which was holding us up. Before the next outing, a Test and Tune weekend at Santa Pod on 19th-20th March, a neat modification was carried out on the control valves to make them open cleanly and stay open. This was on advice from Paul McRitchie, an Australian Jet Car pilot who also runs a Viper powered machine and had experienced instability of the pilot operated valves. This created the sharpest burner pops which Ian had ever produced prior to the run, as a means to amuse the fans and to bleed any air which may be in the fuel system - a flame show to be proud of! The first run out of the box gave us an eighth time of 5.435/145 and quarter 8.018/199.17 on relatively low fuel pressures. Spurred on by the general good behaviour of the Roadzombie, Ian made a second pass and recorded the best quarter times to date of 7.222/230.73. The elation of clean runs was dashed on this second run when Ian popped the chute, which also cuts the fuel from engine and burner, the engine run-down torqued the chassis over and this brought the offside tyre into contact with a chassis bracket. This resulted with a high-speed tyre failure which Ian did not appreciate until stopped. The fire marshals, who had a much better view, were in attendance immediately but all was well apart from damaged tyre and rear axle assembly, this curtailed any further runs until a new, widerrear axle assembly was fabricated. Our next outing was to Shakespeare County Raceway on 30th April with a rebuilt machine with some fresh larger fuel valves loaned to Ian by Martin Hill of Fireforce fame. Ian felt that we were getting valve stalling and that a larger unit migh be the answer, but our valve stalling remained and resulted in runs of 214 mph and 209 mph. We attended the Whitsun weekend event at SCR and turned in runs of 230 mph and 225 mph. This event was also attended by Roger Goring with his popular Firestorm Jet Funny Car and the Split Second Jet Dragster of Colin Fallows and Mark Newby. Split Second is very similar to the 'Zombie which gave us a good comparison. We managed to run quicker than Split Second which was satisfying. We had our first and only six-second pass of the season with a 6.91/229. One problem which arose was a crack in the weld of the afterburner tube on the second day (right) and this curtailed further runs that weekend. ©Eurodragster.com We also mounted a digital camera on the car to give us various views requiring observation, one of the interesting videos can be seen on Eurodragster.com (click here to see 230 mph on-board video). We encountered afterburner 'screech' for the first time, instability in the flame which is undesirable to say the least and probably assisted the cracking of the afterburner. We attended the Webster Race Engineering Test Day at Santa Pod on 24th June, but after a 4:00 am start from Somerset the heavens opened and and stopped the proceedings as we rolled into the staging area. We returned home without making a run - some days you're the dog and some days you're the lamp post. Last but not least was the Mini Showdown at SCR on 16th-17th July. We made four runs on Saturday and three on Sunday, trying a methanol injection system to make the engine compressor more efficient and increase the engine mass flow, and a double burner ring set up to try to get a better burn in the afterburner and other configuration changes. We still suffered flame instability, Ian having to relight the afterburner three times on a couple of runs but still putting in runs of 7.51/210, 8.34/196, 7.96/200, 7.91/211, 7.66/214, 7.59/210, and 8.34/192 showing that we can run consistently although not as quick as we would like. Since then we have been off the scene as Ian, Fay and Grace have moved into an old farmhouse which is going to take a considerable amount of time to make cosy. Ian is now getting quite proficient at the controls of a JCB! Winter jobs on the Zombie will be the simplifying of valve system and pipework and making sure that the valves work obediently and are not pressure sensitive. We also plan are some tethered tests with a dynamometer to give direct thrust figures. Swift snippets. 6th November: 2005 FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion Lex Joon was interviewed on the PA at Pomona yesterday by legendary track announcer and broadcaster Bob Frey. "We did some good work for European drag racing and of course for our team", Lex told Eurodragster.com. "We had a lot of questions about MPM Oil after the interview. Getting this kind of attention is great and will benefit our future plans". Lex has also secured a sponsorship deal with Crane Cams for the 2006 season, stay tuned for details. ©Eurodragster.com UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Andy Carter clocked 4.899/302.16 in the Persåker Speed Shop Top Fueller owned by Knut Söderquist at yesterday's Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway. Jon Webster clocked 5.801/173.00 in the Canto Consultancy/Webster Race Engineering Top Fueller in the second session, recording 227.43 at half track before clicking off. Other Flame and Thunder Show highlights included seven-second passes by Super Street Bike racers Jamie Sneddon and Mark Fisher, new personal bests for Alec Coe in his blown-alcohol slingshot, a 7.541/186.79 by Johnny Hall in the B+J Nostalgia nitro slingshot, a brace of five-second passes by Martin Hill in the Fireforce 2 Jet FC, and a 9.465-second pass by Ron Kiddell in his Nissan Skyline. Belinda Bull did a great driving job to save her Super Comp Camaro from serious damage after tagging the left guardrail then heading towards the right-hand guardrail, and Mark Flavell similarly put his Super Pro ET dragster down gently from a forty five-degree wheelie (right, picture courtesy and ©Paul Bryan) after putting 20% nitro in the normally alcohol-fuelled car. We understand that 2005 FIA European Top Methanol Funny Car Champion Urs Erbacher has acquired a Top Fuel Dragster from US racer Doug Herbert. This is Doug's second sale to a European racer in two seasons as he sold last year's spare to Lorentzon and Möler Racing. Snell helmets reminder. 5th November: UK Tech Inspector Geoff Martin has been in touch with a reminder to racers about the validity of Snell helmets. "I again remind all racers that if you are purchasing a new Snell Helmet, ensure that you get one with SA2005 on the label inside", says Geoff. "Do not buy one with SA90 or SA95 (obsolete), and try not to buy one with SA2000 otherwise you will only get five years' use from it. ©Eurodragster.com "Other FIA-acceptable helmet specs are in FIA Technical List number 25." If you have any queries then you can contact Geoff at chassis1@onetel.com. Swift snippets. 5th November: Kathy Taylor has been in touch to thank everyone who has sent cards, flowers and good wishes after her recent hospital visit. "It's like a florist in my house now", says Kathy. "I've had loads of cards, flowers and phone calls. Thanks everybody." ©Eurodragster.com Neil Marks of Nitro Junkie fame tells us that he has two desirable and hard-to-find drag racing books for sale on E-Bay. "Due to impending move I am having a clear-out and I am selling Drive It! - The Complete Book of British Drag Racing which I believe is the only proper hardback ever written about the British racing scene. It is in very good condition. I have also placed on E-Bay Petersen's History of Drag Racing, another rare book written by Dave Wallace, former editor of Hot Rod." We're sure that all of our readers will join Tog in wishing a very Happy Birthday to Eurodragster.com Photo Editor Sharkman. Happy Birthday, too, to Nikki and Crispin of Santa Pod's safety crew who are spending their birthdays on duty at the Flame and Thunder Show. Hope you have a great day, guys. Out of the blue, two legends. 4th November: Running a low-buck Nitro Nostalgia race team is hard work, especially when you are trying to get a Chassis shop up and running, says Johnny Hall of B+J Nostalgia. "After seeing Santa Pod put out a call for demo cars for the Flame and Thunder Show we decided to see if they would like to have our Fuel Slingshot there, which would benefit them and us", says Johnny. "We felt certain that the racegoers at the historic race track would love to have a look at how it was in the sixties and seventies. "Many phone calls had to be made, and most of them were made by our lucky mascot 'Mad Matt' Wright of Gleeson Wright Security - this guy has more contacts than anyone we know. He sourced some nitro from Peter Knight and Jon Webster (which is on loan), arranged the loan of a tow car from our buddy John Dewey as our van has bitten the dust and even had some new crew shirts made up. Thanks Matt. ©Eurodragster.com "We will be match racing Alec Coe in the Shy Talker blown-alky slingshot and we are particularly looking forward to making a run in the dark. Header flames anyone? "We are even more up for it after we had a visit on Sunday from a couple of legends from the past who have both driven nitro slingshots: Roz Prior and Gerry Andrews (right). They just turned up out of the blue as they heard about our nostalgia workshop just up the road from where they live, and wanted to see what it was all about. Roz and Gerry stayed for ages bench racing with some pricless stories, and Roz couldn't resist sitting in a digger again. Bill Felstead and I are still reeling!" More Bahrain excitement. 4th November: The DynoSpeed Developments Pro Stock Bike team are very excited to be a part of a unique opportunity, says rider and Eurodragster.com Home and News sponsor Paul Watson. "We worked for a week solid to prep the bike for Bahrain", says Paul. "After all the bike has only been out once this year, at the UK National Finals, so everything was gone through and checked and then dropped off to Malcom Francis of Air Sea Logistics for packing and transporting. The crew is Pixie (Kim Sawle); Egg (Marc Dresser, the man behind 200mph.org); Raging Ray White, formerly Crew Chief on the C&S Lethal Pro Mod Calibra; and Mark King. Along with Ray Debben I hope we will fly the flag for Britain and put on a great show. "My thanks to Trakbak Racing and to the Bahrain International Circuit for this awesome opportunity." ©Eurodragster.com Boörn Anderberg of Freddy Fagerström's Pro Mod team says that Freddy and the guys did not have to do much to the 6.2-second pick-up before shipping it to Bahrain. "We have put on new tires so we can do longer burnouts than ever!", says Björn. "We think it's going to be a lot of fun to test something new, and to be able to race even in the winter." Get Inside Top Fuel! 4th November: UK Top Fuel Dragster pilot Andy Carter has announced a new hospitality package. The two-time FIA European Champion says that Inside Top Fuel is as close as you can get to Top Fuel without putting on a firesuit. "This has to be the most fascinating and thrilling way to spend a day at Europe's premier drag racing events!", says team PR Dan Welberry. "During 2006, you will have an opportunity to join us in the Carter pit and enjoy a full days hospitality. The day includes: Admission to the event Access to the Carter Motorsport Pit and Hospitality Area Refreshments throughout the day Cold buffet lunch Souvenir Carter Motorsport T-shirt Signed Andy Carter poster Complimentary ear plugs "Once at the pit, the Carter Motorsport hospitality team will be on hand to serve refreshment and spend time with you answering any questions you may have about drag racing in general, the format for the day or our team and the work that they are carrying out. You will be given a VIP pass, which will get you right up alongside our B&Q backed 6000 bhp monster. Where possible, the 'Super Crew' will be able to comment on the work they are undertaking and give you a bit more of an insight into a day in the life of a Top Fuel crew member. ©Eurodragster.com "Andy Carter will be on hand to spend time answering the questions you've always wanted to ask a modern-day Fuel pilot, as well as offering his views on the days progress. He will also be available for photograph opportunities where possible. "Our 2005 guests tell us there is no other way to see Top Fuel, that's why in 2006 Carter Motorsport look forward to welcoming you...Inside Top Fuel! "Inside Top Fuel will be operating at The Main Event and the European Finals. Priced at just £99.95, we promise you a day you will never forget! Book now and save: as an introductory offer, we are releasing this sensational package at the price of just £89.95 if you book before 31st December 2005. This experience is available in limited numbers, therefore early booking is advised. To register your interest, please dan@3tcreative.com and we will contact you to arrange your day with us as soon as we can." Castrol Challenge result. 4th November: The Castrol Challenge Run What You Brung competition, which has been running most of the year at Santa Pod Raceway, has now reached its conclusion and the winner will be presented with their trophy at the Flame and Thunder Show this Saturday, writes Rick Cuthbert of Trakbak Racing. "The top three runners were separated by just 0.047 of a second, and the winning time was posted in the last hour of RWYB at the last eligible event!", says Rick. "Incredibly close stuff, but the final order is as follows: ©Eurodragster.com Winner: Nick Evans, Nissan Skyline R33, 11.917/112.51 Second: John Dean, Fiat Coupe, 11.949/120.62 Third: Bob Dha, Subaru Impreza, 11.964/114.25 "Winner Nick Evans (right) made it to the finals of the Redline Rumble God of the Pod competition earlier in the year and now has a real taste for drag racing. The big shock of the competition was the John Dean's Fiat Coupe which pumps out over five hundred horsepower through an original Fiat gearbox and front-drive layout!" European Championship TV dates II. 4th November: Our good buddy and honorary Eurodragster.com staff member Simon Groves has sent us the second tranche of TV broadcast dates for the 2005 FIA, FIM/UEM and NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified Championships on the UK's Sky satellite network: Programme 6: FHRA Nitro Nationals Top Methanol Dragster and Top Methanol Monday 7th November on Sky Sports Xtra at 23:00 Tuesday 8th November on Sky Sports Xtra at 02:00 Programme 7: FHRA Nitro Nationals Top Fuel Bike and Pro Stock Bike Tuesday 8th November on Sky Sports Xtra at 23:00 Wednesday 9th November on Sky Sports Xtra at 02:00 ©Eurodragster.com Programme 8: FHRA Nitro Nationals Supertwin and Pro Modified Wednesday 9th November on Sky Sports Xtra at 23:00 Thursday 10th November on Sky Sports Xtra at 02:00 Programme 9: Veidec Nitro Festival Top Fuel and Pro Stock Friday 10th November on Sky Sports Xtra at 23:00 Friday 11th November on Sky Sports Xtra at 02:00 Programme 10: Veidec Nitro Festival Top Methanol Dragster and Top Methanol Friday 11th November on Sky Sports Xtra at 23:30 Saturday 12th November on Sky Sports Xtra at 01:30 As ever, we recommend that you keep a close eye on TV listings and Electronic Programme Guides as satellite channels are particularly prone to last-minute schedule changes. The TV broadcast dates are now also available on Santa Pod Raceway's web site at www.santapod.com. Aasen aims for good show. 3rd November: 2005 FIM/UEM Supertwin Champion Ronny Aasen says that he is very much looking forward to next week's Invitational at the Bahrain International Circuit. "The weather seems to be nice,and best of all the season getting longer!", says Ronny. "Our goal will be to try to put down good times and put on a good show. Rumour has it that the concrete strip in Bahrain has very good traction, that's great news especially for a low-rpm running Supertwin bike." ©Eurodragster.com Ronny says that it has been a lot of work preparing to go to Bahrain, but that it has been easy when he thinks why he is doing it. "We are going to race at a track with perfect facilities, lots of spectators, and a great opportunity to promote the sport outside Europe. And we get more tracktime!" Lazenby signs off for 2005. 3rd November: 2005 UK Street Eliminator Champion Colin Lazenby has been in touch to bring us up to date with the end of his season: Simply signing on at the Allstar Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway secured us both the Ultimate Power Championship and the National Championship. In fact the weekend just went from strength to strength right from the get go, with both the class speed and ET records falling to us by the time it was all over. And don't forget that this is with a car which is still a genuine 1956 street-legal and VIN-plated steel-bodied car, taxed, MOT'd and with Classic car insurance. The official records of 8.120/183.37 now stand as testament to our achievements this year In between events we undertook maintenance tasks, including the renewal of all the plug leads. We also had an ageing misalignment problem to sort out with the front pulleys, which necessitated a degree of engineering work (though Team Manager Garry Coull's engineer handled this). This meant that the car couldn't be run. In fact, the first chance we had to run the engine again was at the UK National Finals when crew Chief Luke Robinson arrived at the track with all the spares - we finished that night just before 1:00 am and of course by this time we couldn't fire the motor until the next morning and just before qualifying was about to commence. During our normal start-up procedure that it quickly became evident that something was wrong. Thankfully Clive Bond from Ultimate Race Cars was there, fully intending to do double duty both on the '56 and on Andy Kirk's Rat Fink Super Modified Camaro. Observed by Clive we checked the lash before tearing down the top end of the motor to look into the apparent problem in greater detail. What we found was a broken lifter whose failure had taken a lobe off the cam, the damaged lifter then went on to score the lifter bore. Not bad, but bad enough to put us out of competition. ©Eurodragster.com Clive had aired his concerns regarding the condition of the lifters at the start of the season. We of course chose to completely ignore his views...OK we didn't, but none of us were in the slightest bit surprised to be faced with the failure. I suppose we could have replaced, or at least serviced the bulk of the damage, although it was our joint belief that if fatigue had set in to one lifter, the rest weren't going to be far behind. It was deemed to be a much more sensible option at that point to call it a day, especially having already secured the championship. Clive, kindly agreed to swap his car for the van and return the next day from Cheltenham taking the engine back with him to the workshop. The complete teardown back in Clive's shop highlighted damage to the skirt of two pistons. It seems that the lifter wheel bearing had seized and the cam lobe had then bashed (rather than gently brushed) the bottom of the lifter wheel as it spun. The resulting break-up scattered bits everywhere. Thankfully the mesh screens in the block had saved the motor from much more extensive damage. Aside from the frustration of the minor parts failure, our success this year can be attributed to our ever improving racecraft and the general consistency and reliability of our URC engine and our ROSSLER 210 TH400 three-speed trans, both lubricated by our TORCO oils and lubricants, this deal courtesy of Steve Clark from Nimbus Motorsports. The team now rate all of these suppliers as the very best there is. Together we intend to continue to move forward, firstly to 8.0s with speeds approaching 185 mph, and maybe even on to a seven. Certainly our Andy Robinson Race Cars chassis is good for these performance figures and far beyond. Luke's dad certainly knows what it takes to build such a safe car - and still I maintain that we have one of the best-constructed cars in the class thanks to Andy Robinson, as always. All of this would be useless without our own efforts and the combined ability of all team members. It was this that afforded us the opportunity to compete so well in the 2005 race season and that makes me especially proud to be a part of the team. A special thanks go out to all of my competitors and class sponsors alike, no need to mention any specific names here although I would like to thank our friends at Eurodragster.com for posting all of our news updates, and indeed for all the class postings we've contributed to throughout the year (Thanks - Ed). To those who showed a passing interest, or provided us with an element of spiritual support, thank you. To those who have provided feedback, or a genuine understanding of what it takes to make a 3000lb car run these times and speeds on treaded tyres, again I thank you. Without which I might add we wouldn't be racing at all and we certainly wouldn't be anything like as successful. Our 2005 Championship DVDs are now available at www.quartermilehigh.com and priced sensibly. The sale of these will go towards supporting both the team and the class. Obviously the '56 is featured heavily this year, and my witty comments can only serve to make the DVD more entertaining... Swift snippets. 3rd November: Rick Cuthbert of Trakbak Racing has asked us to remind those racers making demonstration passes at the Flame and Thunder Show on Saturday that they will need to bring their DVLC licence to sign on as the event is non-permit and therefore Run What You Brung arrangements apply. ©Eurodragster.com Outlaw Anglia racer Simon Barlow and Super Street Bike racer Pete Bellenie have both had to withdraw from the Flame and Thunder Show. Simon damaged his engine at the Halloween Showdown last weekend and with other commitments Pete has run out of time to get his bike ready. Ex-pat UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Steve Read will be contesting the second round of the ANDRA Top Fuel Championship at Brisbane's Willowbank Raceway this weekend. You can stay in touch with Steve's progress and watch the webcam at www.willowbank-raceway.com.au. "It's a three-day meeting running from Friday through to Sunday", says our good buddy Heather Bond. "The weather should be OK with temperatures around thirty degrees - and it's only spring!" Bennetts work the problems. 3rd November: Luke Bennett says that the Bennett Racing blown-alcohol team are ready for the Flame and Thunder Show unusually early. "We were ready a week early - normally we have a mad rush", says Luke. "We have totally sorted the mag base problem so the car can't retard itself under load any more. We also found and sorted out a few other things. So now we hope that we can finish this year with a nice clean full pass, and if it runs a number then it's a bonus. At the moment we just need to keep getting all the problems out the way. "As for my Wild Bunch car, the headers are nearly finished now and as soon as they are done I'm going to go pick up the car and get on with finishing it off. There are only a few bits left to do such as loom, dash clocks, and cosmetics. But I will definitely be out next year and I can't wait. ©Eurodragster.com "At some meetings next year we will take both cars and maybe only run the Topolino, but it will be mainly for sponsor exposure for RPI Engineering." The team now have their own URL at www.bennettracing.co.uk. Racers for Charity. 2nd November: UK Street Eliminator racer Ron Haslett has announced that his Insane Creations team is to work with Macmillan Cancer Relief. "This is a cause very close to us as I have have had cancer twice and we lost the mother of a crew member just before the UK National Finals", says Ron. "We had a very good meeting with Connie Carrol to sort out the finer points and I can now explain the deal. "First is our comminment to advertise by having Macmillan Cancer Relief stickers on our race car. We will also have their banner over our pit, and we will be distributing flyers and newsletters. We will have collection pots in our pit, and our team shirts will also have the Macmillan logo in addition to our own. "We will also be raffling a seat in the car on a Cruise as well as a seat on a run at some of the local shows and Classic Ford days. "From Macmillan we will receive advertising in the local press and radio. Connie is to try to arrange a feature in local papers nearer to Easter and then throughout the season. We will also keep Connie up to date with bulletins which will then go into the news letter which is sent to around nine thousand companies and indivduals. "If any other team, whether Street Eliminator or any class, would like to become involved please feel free to contact me on 07710 403378 or E-Mail me at ron_haslett@hotmail.com and I will help with the collection pots. "I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my crew for all of their hard work, and my sponsors FG Wilsons (the generator people), Paul's Place and Express Gearboxes, and to welcome Dave from Performance Unlimited. One last Thank You must go to Ian Hook of FB Racing for his kind donation - hopefully the first of many." Helen and Dean Smythe of the UK's Team Twisted Wild Bunch team have been in touch to thank everyone who contributed to the team's charity collection at the weekend's Halloween Showdown at Shakespeare County Raceway. "We had a great weekend and really appreciated the contributions we received in return for our spooky bat cookies, witches' fingers and pumpkin buns", say Helen and Dean. "We collected nearly £80 for the Royal National Institute for the Blind and I'm sure they will be delighted with this donation as they continue to support those with sight problems. So thank you all once again, we hope you enjoyed the tasty treats and joined in with the event as much as we did." On a personal note Helen adds that Dean ran four Personal Bests in a row in the Hell's Belle altered at Shakespeare County Raceway at the weekend, ending with a best of 11.11/117 after not having driven the car for a year and never having run with the stronger motor. Määttä's nightmare. 2nd November: Finish Funny Bike racer Asko Määttä says that he would never have thought at the start of this year that his Fiftieth Anniversary Tour would have been the nightmare it was. "At the Finnish Finals I won the first round of the sixteen-bike NDRS Funny Bike field, and by that win took first place in the Finnish Championship!", says Asko. "That pass was done plain and simple without all my ignition, engine or turbo tuning systems because we had electrical problems we couldn't solve before the pass. In the next round I had to race against 'Kalix' Kalttonen with his Top Fuel Express blown Harley V-Rod. The pass (right) began better than ever, with the front wheel up all the way to four hundred feet until that old gremlin, the fuel system malfunction, stopped me. ©Eurodragster.com "That's the way it's been all season. Just seeing the light from the end of the tunnel and then something happens. But actually I've learned a lot again! "There is always the future, and my crew of Jani, Siikki (Junior), Rutanen and Tepa have done a fantastic job as well as my sponsors who will be there again: thanks to Pro Turbo Systems, JAO, JMK, and Kopparin Kukka." You can read more about Asko and his bike on the Dragrace.fi web site at www.dragrace.fi which has also recently launched a discussion forum. "Drag Bike fans all over the world are welcome", says webmaster Jouni Vesterlund. "The basic language of the forum is English, because most Finnish people can read English and I think that Finnish is too complicated for foreigners!", says Jouni. Swift snippets. 2nd November: Zane Llewellyn says that he thinks that UK Supertwin Fuel racer Wendy Clutterbuck has made history. "We believe that Wendy is only the second female Fuel Harley rider on the planet and certainly the first in this country", says Zane. "Couple that with the fact that Wendy put her own bike together, and did all the tuning, it made for quite an impressive début". You can read more on Zane's new ZaNNetec Motorsports web site at www.zannetec.com. ©Eurodragster.com Rick Cuthbert of Trakbak racing has been in touch to thank all the racers who volunteered to make demonstration runs at Saturday's Flame and Thunder Show at Santa Pod Raceway. "We had a great response and now have racers from a superb cross-section of classes", says Rick. "We are sorry that we had to turn a few people away - the day is simply too packed with track action to be able to support any more racers. However, it's not too late to run your cars or bikes this season: Sunday's Run What You Brung is the final RWYB of the year and always attracts a large number of spectators too. All racers and spectators are welcome!" Hauser launches import service. 2nd November: UK race car builder and parts supplier Hauser Race Cars has launched a new service to source and import race cars and rigs from the USA. "With the Dollar rate still fairly advantageous, and the ready availability of ready-to-run race cars in the USA, building top quality cars here can sometimes be a tough comparison", says Geof Hauser. "So I am going to start sourcing and importing race cars and rigs to add to our existing services. Obviously I have a lot of experience and contacts and can offer prospective customers the right cars at very competitive prices." ©Eurodragster.com Geof recently took a trip to the USA to collect seven Junior Dragsters (right), a Chevy Silverado and a 24' trailer, all of which is now homebound. ""I initially went to Cecil County in Maryland then Raceway Park, New Jersey", says Geof. "Both tracks were running Junior Dragster-only events, with about 120 cars each day. It was impressive to see how they run their races, and the quality not only of the cars but also the tow rigs and the general encouragement they give to their future drag racing stars. I bought some cars to order, but I also got more engines of various outputs plus a load of extra spares so if anyone is looking to upgrade then please get in touch. "Pete Kellett came with me, initially to look at a Pro Mod and then a Super Comp dragster, neither of which totally met his requirements (I know a short person with a race licence Pete, get in touch - Ed), but we're still looking for the right car for him." If you are interested in sourcing or importing a race car or rig from the USA then you can contact Hauser Race Cars on 01933 312735 (outside the UK +44 1933 312735) or via their web site at www.hauserracing.com. Flame and Thunder Contest winner. 2nd November: Congratulations to Tim Fountain, who is the winner of Eurodragster's Flame and Thunder Show Contest. Tim wins a Family ticket to Santa Pod for this weekend as well as a Santa Pod goodie bag. The correct answers were as follow: ©Eurodragster.com A: What has been the highest terminal speed at Santa Pod Raceway in 2005? 3. 336.10 mph (Martin Hill, Fireforce 3 Jet FC, Easter Thunderball) B: What are the names of the Nitro FM presenters? 2. Nigel and Julian C: Which companies sponsor the Eurodragster.com webcam? 3. Webster Race Engineering and MPM Oil Thanks to everyone who entered, and a big Shame On You to those who got the answer to Question C wrong! We would like to say a big Thank You to Kelly Ingall of Santa Pod Raceway for posting the prize. Joosten impressed by bad purchase. 1st November: If you were tuned in on 10th October you will recall that the Netherlands' Robert Joosten has acquired the ex-Jim Oddy Corvette C5 Pro Mod imported to Europe by Filippos Papafilippou. Robert has been in touch to say that he and the Pro Dutch team are now back at home with "one bad race car". "Last weekend we were guests at the International Motorsport and Tuning Show in Athens, where our 'new' car was waiting at us", says Robert. "We also had to deliver our trusty Pro Truck to Phil. Of course the weather was good, with five million people living in Athens there were no complaints about visitors, and the girls are nice too - we really need an FIA race there! Phil made some passes with the Pro Truck, which went very well after some chassis adjustments. ©Eurodragster.com "On Sunday we took the Corvette out of the show and took it to its new home, the Pro Dutch racing tent. We started up the engine, so that people could hear and feel what a blown Pro Mod engine is like. I can tell you, they liked it and of course we had no complaints... "On Monday we said goodbye to Fil and his crew, loaded the Corvette in the trailer and started the 1800 km trip back home. Maybe some day we will go back and have a race, wouldn't that be nice?" From Dorset to the NEC. 1st November: Malcolm and Marcie Motler of the UK's Spellbound Pro ET team will be displaying their immaculate Morris Minor pick-up at the Classic Car Show at Birmingham's NEC this weekend, 4th-6th November. "Back in July we received an invitation from the secretary of the Morris Minor Owners' Cclub asking us if we would display our car on their stand at the NEC along with eleven other modified Minors", says Malcolm. "They have a display every year with a different theme and this year for the first time the theme is 'Modified Minors'. This all came about after we took the car to the Dorset branch show last year as a guest of Marcia's father, and the secretary of that branch forwarded to the main Club a wheels-up picture which we were giving away. ©Eurodragster.com "We couldn't turn this offer down so we're off to fly the flag for British drag racing before I take the car apart and get to the bottom of its ill-handling start line antics! Stirling Moss is opening the show and much to Marcia's father's delight he is coming to visit the Morris Minor display at 12:20 on Saturday." Malcolm and Marcie have promised to get back to us with pictures from the weekend. SE winners honoured. 1st November: The Real Steel Street Eliminator UK 2005 awards evening was held on Saturday night at the Thistle Hotel, Cheltenham, writes Ian Hook. Fatty's eight-second '34 Ford was parked alongside the hotel entrance to greet visitors as they arrived and inside the function room partygoers were greeted with scenes from this year's Championship courtesy of Dave and Helen from Quartermilehigh.com and the Hardcore Street 2005 DVD - another excellent production, probably the best Street Eliminator DVD yet. Paul Venners provided MC duties and a good turnout of racers, crew, family and fans ensured a good night was had by all. Special guests of the evening were Andy Lerry and Teresa Dodds co-directors of Freedom Motorhomes, sponsors of the Hardest Launching Street Car award and associate sponsors of the class, and Jon, Jeanette and Shelby Webster who via Jon's business Webster Race Engineering, supplied the class trophies. Their support for this year's Championship, along with that of Class sponsors Real Steel as well as Associate sponsors Finch's Fleet services and Eurodragster.com, was applauded by all those present. On behalf of all the drivers and teams involved, class organiser Dale Reardon thanked all of this year's sponsors for their generous support. Colin Lazenby (right) collected a hatful of prizes. As I'm sure you are all aware Colin and crew put in a strong performance this year to take the Championship win. The professionalism shown in all aspects of the Pinnacle team's attitude to racing was further reflected in the award of Best Presented Team of 2005. Colin was also runner-up in the Freedom Motorhomes Hardest Launching Street Car award. Championship runner-up Andy Frost was still looking stunned as he collected his trophy and prize money. Despite having missed several meetings this year making the final at all his appearances and setting new Personal Best times ensured the Wolverhampton Warrior his best-ever Championship finish. As well as taking second place in the Championship Andy was runner-up in the Street Eliminator Perfect Light Standings. In third place Steve 'Splinter' Nash was also celebrating his best Championship placing. The awesome performance of his twin-turbo Cougar was reflected in his taking the Freedom Motorhomes Hardest Launching Street Car award with a 1.357 sixty-foot time. Hopefully the prize money (along with two trophies and a bottle of bubbly) will help offset some of Splinter's costs in what has been a torrid season of breakages for the Wildcat team. Having organised the evening's festivities, Ian 'Fatty' Hook's stress meter was set on high when he arrived - but a couple of beers, fourth place prize money and the Perfect Light award for the fourth year running certainly helped him relax. Prize money was awarded down to tenth place in the Championship. All of the final placings are available on the Street Eliminator web site at www.streeteliminatoruk.com along with a history of the class and the latest news from Europe's premier street-legal drag racing series. ©Eurodragster.com Swift snippets. 1st November: Many congratulations to Jack and Jacquie Brewster of the UK's Just Mustard Pro ET team who were married in Bournemouth on Saturday. Carla Pittau, who sent the picture at right as well as pictures of Jack and Jacquie scrubbed-up, as well as a shot of the wedding cake, asked us to wish Jack and Jacquie the very best for the future both at home and racing, which we are very pleased to do. ©Eurodragster.com 23:59 UK tonight (Tuesday) is the deadline for entries to our Flame and Thunder Show Contest, with a family weekend pass to Santa Pod as well as an SPR goodie bag up for grabs to the lucky winner. You can enter our Flame and Thunder Show contest by clicking here or by clicking on the Flame & Thunder Show Contest link on the left hand side of any Eurodragster.com page. Web site updates. 1st November: Ex-pat UK Top Fuel Dragster Smax Smith's web site at www.smaxsmith.com has been updated with son Ronan's account of his first outing in Smax's altered, as well as new pictures in the Photo Gallery. ©Eurodragster.com Earlier news

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