Joon looks at options.
31st December: Holland's Lex Joon is still considering his options for 2004. Lex contested Fuel Funny Car in 2003 only to have his season cut short by a devastating top end fire at Shakespeare County Raceway. A return to Fuel FC is by no means definite as Lex and Team Manager Gerda Dijkstra are considering other classes. One piece of good news is that Lex's primary sponsor and one of Eurodragster's webcam sponsors in 2003, MPM International Oil Company, has stayed on board both as a sponsor of Lex's race operation and of the Explosion club's events at Drachten, of which Lex and Gerda are promoters. MPM are again to be title sponsors of the MPM Drachten Internationals on 9th-11th July.

With an increased Pro Mod field a possibility for 2004 and Top Fuel Bikes again invited to Drachten, an extension to three-day events at Drachten on a regular basis is being investigated, as are the options for a permanent track.

You can read Lex's season review as well as more details about plans for Drachten in 2004 on his official web site at www.lexjoonracing.nl.
©Eurodragster.com
SPRC Perpetual Awards vote closing.
31st December: Voting closes at midnight UK tonight (31st December) for this year's Santa Pod Racers Club Perpetual Awards so if you have not already voted then the minutes are ticking away to have your say.
©Eurodragster.com
There are seven Perpetual Awards:
  • Best-Looking Car
  • Best-Looking Bike
  • Most Professional-Appearing Team
  • James Edgar Memorial Trophy
  • Most Promising Newcomer
  • Paul Giddings Memorial Trophy
  • Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy
You can view the shortlists and vote for the first six of the above awards, and submit nominations for the Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy, on the Awards' official web page which you can view by clicking here or by clicking on the 2003 Perpetual Awards vote link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page.

Web site updates.
31st December: A number of sections of the Feel The Noise web site at www.feel-the-noise.com have been updated with new photographs by Anni Valder, and a new section has been added featuring pictures from Run What You Brungs.

All photographs from last season's (2002) Event Coverage have been removed from Eurodragster's server to release disk space; the reports will of course remain. The photographs from this season's (2003) Event Coverage will remain on the server until December 2004.

Maltese Champions crowned.
29th December: The Malta Drag Racing Association presented Malta's National Champions with their trophies and prize money at the MDRA's annual Christmas Dinner Dance at the SAS Radisson Hotel last Wednesday. Congratulations to:
©Eurodragster.com
Street Modified/Super Street Class 1Roger CarabottBest ET 12.2
Street Modified/Super Street Class 2Paul PaceBest ET 11.8
Street Modified/Super Street Class 4Jesmond MalliaBest ET 9.8
Pro-Stock/Classified Altered Class 2Godwin CarabottBest ET 11.1
Pro-Stock/Classified Altered Class 3Rennie ZammitBest ET 10.6
Pro-Stock/Classified Altered Class 4Chris PolidanoBest ET 8.2
Pro-Stock/Classified Altered Class 5Emanuel MangionBest ET 8.1
Pro-Stock/Classified Altered Class 6Alan CamilleriBest ET 8.3
Open Class/D.Class 1Massimo BarbaraBest ET 9.4
Open Class/D.Class 3Emanuel MangionBest ET 8.2
Open Class/D.Class 4Emanuel MangionBest ET 8.2
Open Class/D.Class 6Charles AbelaBest ET 7.6
Open/Handicap Trucks SectionTommy AguisBest ET 11.1
DTA Class 4Charles AbelaBest ET 7.6
DTA Class 6John EllulBest ET 5.8

"The MDRA will be holding their Annual General Meeting on the 25th January and a new committee will be elected for 2004", says MDRA President Anthony Borda, adding "on behalf of the Malta Drag Racing Association, I would like to say Season's Greetings to all the followers of Eurodragster.com and drag racing enthusiasts. Keep up the great work that you do for drag racing in general. Thanks from my heart (Thank you! - Ed)."

Watson's last strike.
29th December: UK Pro Stock Bike racer Paul 'Grumpy' Watson has announced that he is to compete in Pro Stock Bike in 2004, but that it will definitely be his last season. Paul put his PSB up for sale a short while ago but has had no takers, so he has decided to take to the track one last time.
©Eurodragster.com
Paul will not be walking away from the sport, however, as he is to take over from Bradley O'Connor at bike performance supplier Dynospeed Developments. "I will be trading after the New Year", says Paul. You can find the Dynospeed Developments web site at www.dynospeed.co.uk, or you can contact Paul by E-Mail at paul@dynospeed.co.uk or on the phone at 0208 500 5770 (office) or 07711 670197 (mobile).

GoTalk TF colours revealed.
 28th December: UK Top Fuel Dragster racer Andy Carter has revealed his 2004 colours on his 'spare' show/race dragster, which has been rebuilt in record time after a top end crash at Gardermoen in August (right, click on picture for large version). In 2004 Andy will be carrying the colours of phone company GoTalk.

"We got the car back from Webster Race Engineering on 15th November and since then it's been every weekend and a lot of evenings in the workshop getting it ready for its first outing, the Autosport Show at the NEC in January", says Andy. "I was put under a lot of pressure from sponsors to be at this show, so in turn I had to put Jon Webster under a lot of pressure on the timescale and he delivered - not only on time, but on budget! We pushed CM7 out of the workshop on a cold Sunday morning, 21st December (140 days after the accident in Norway), fully painted and signwritten in its new sponsor's colours ready for the first press photos. Jon Webster and his staff have done a fantastic job on the rebuild, although I must add the real proof will be when the dragster gets to the track for testing. I'm really pleased with the car and can highly recommend WRE!
©Eurodragster.com
"To win the FIA European Championship and gain maximum exposure for our sponsors has always been the Carter Motorsport mission statement. Teaming up with Rune Fjeld and having a second car almost ready to go can only strengthen our chances of achieving these goals.

"I would like to say thanks to Wavecrest, GoTalk, Lucas Oil Products, NGK/NTK, Wynn's, Elite, K & N Filters, Global Commercials, Yuasa Battery Europe, Earls Performance Products, Sigma Signs, Specialist In Design, Rainbow Conference Sets, Juice and Binamic for their support up to now and for their continued support during 2004. I can assure you all that I will be doing my best to do better for you all in 2004!"

Carey's exciting return.
28th December: 2003 has been a very exciting return to drag racing for UK Top Fuel Bike racer Steve Carey, he says. "The support, advice, and encouragement from other racers has been invaluable to us, and I am looking forward to 2004 to improve times and speeds as the season progresses and I become more confident with the bike", says Steve. "We are not making any changes until I have made some runs with the throttle open all the time (helpful Datalogger shows that rider is not keeping throttle open, thanks Marius) then we can start to learn the art of tuning Fuel motors. Mmm, do Haynes do a manual?
©Eurodragster.com
"I would like to take this opportunity to thank my crew, sponsors, other racers and people who have helped and given us encouragement and support in making the return to drag racing possible in 2003. Sorry if I have missed anybody off: John Bewick, Paul Webster, Perry Reeves, Graham Banfield, Annette Trangmar (my personal nurse!), Bob Lovett andRobin Read; Rossetts Commercials Eastbourne, Rick at Eastbourne Sign Works, Adam and Liam at Earls Direct, Steve Conway at Bikes of Brighton, Rother Triumph Owners Club, Len at Sussex Auto Services, Sue Clarke for making the leathers fit, Colin Wells for paintwork, Paul Brindley and Miar for artwork, the staff at VOSA, Simon at Autolec in Bexhill; and Roald Dogge for all the work he did in putting the bike together from when we first saw it all in pieces. Thanks to you all.

"So Merry Christmas and a safe, quick and fast New Year to all drag racers, crew, track staff and supporters. And if you are visiting the Autosport Show in January, see you on the Santa Pod stand."

York dates confirmed.
28th December: We are indebted to York Dragway PR Howard Holmes for passing on details of 2004 dates confirmed so far at the Yorkshire track. "Dates for the rest of the season including the UK Northern Nationals, GTi and Hot Hatch Spectacular and Motorcycle Mayhem will be confirmed early in the New Year", says Howard. "Dates or event content may be subject to change without prior notice". Dates confirmed so far are as follow:

21st March: Work Party
4th April: Work Party

"York's Work Parties prepare the track and facilities for the season, warm grubby clothing and doorstep sandwiches are required, all hands welcome!", says Howard. "Please call Steve on 01422 843651."

11th April: Street Fighter Spectacular, York Raceway's Easter Sunday bike bash.

12th April: Super Street Shootout, featuring the 9th Annual Mini v Beetle Shootout, plus first round of the Hot Rod Challenge, Northern Drag Racing Championship bracket series and the Cruise Missile Shootout, including special Ford Sport Club event and car-only Run What You've Brung.

9th May: 2NZ, New event at York, heads-up no-nonsense quick cars with the 0-60 Challenge. Pre-registration is advised, E-Mail howardholmes@btinternet.com.

30th-31st May: UK Open Nationals, Qualifying and first round of American Superstock Series, with second rounds of Northern Drag Racing Championship, Hot Rod Challenge and Cruise Missile Shootout plus RWYB sessions.

20th June: Motor Mayhem, American Superstock Series round 2, and round 3 of the Northern Drag Racing Championship and Hot Rod Challenge and open RWYB.

25th July: Ultimate Road Car Challenge, including 18th Annual Ford Shootout, Cruise Missile Shootout round 4, special Ford vehicle drag racing displays and car-only RWYB.
©Eurodragster.com
Web site updates.
28th December: The official web site of Swedish Top Methanol Funny Car racer Leif Andréasson has been updated with a very stylish calendar for 2004 highlighting all race dates as well as team members' birthdays. "If there is enough interest then we might produce a printed version", says team member Anders Mangusson. Check it out at www.andreassonmotorsports.com.
©Eurodragster.com
Direct from Terri Lee's workshop.
24th December: UK Pro ET racer Terri Lee is suffering problems updating her web site and asked Eurodragster to post her latest workshop report, which we are very pleased to do. We were pleased to hear that it shouldn't be too long before we see her popular blown Escort Van on the track again.
©Eurodragster.com
"Firstly our computer decided to pack up working, and when we did finally get a new one we found for some reason we were still unable to update our web site", says Terri. "Hopefully we will get this sorted in the new year, fingers crossed. The parts have arrived for the engine and we have been busy getting it all back together and hopefully our present on Christmas morning should be the rumbling of a supercharged Chevy V8 firing up again, so sod the nut roast that will do for me. As you might have read on Eurodragster we will be attending the Xtreme Wheels 2004 Show at Alexandra Palace in February, and then we plan to do a test at one of Jon Webster's Test Days, as after going to a Test Day this year with Steve Wells we had a great day and learnt plenty.

"So until later have a Very Merry Crimbo and a Happy New Year from all at Terri Lee Racing. See ya in 2004."

ICE join Xtreme sponsors.
24th December: UK race engine builder and Eurodragster Home and News page sponsor ICE Automotive Racing Engines have become the latest sponsor to sign up for the Xtreme Wheels 2004 show which takes place at Alexandra Palace on 14th-15th February. Silverstone-based ICE Automotive, who supply Championship-winning race engines for every class from Sportsman ET to Pro Modified as well as Custom Car Street Eliminator and more orthodox street use, are to sponsor a number of the Show's trophies.
©Eurodragster.com
"We are very proud to be associated with ICE Automotive Racing Engines", says Xtreme Wheels PR Dan Welberry, "and we are very grateful to Rob Loaring and Nick Davies of ICE for their support. If you want to see the quality of ICE's work, then all you will have to do is walk around Xtreme Wheels and count the number one plates on cars using their engines!"

For more details about the Xtreme Wheels Show including ticket prices check out the Show's official web site at www.xtremewheels2004.com.

Web site updates.
24th December: Thanks to Martin Bøye for letting us know that the official web site of the Danish Street Race Cup has been given a complete makeover by Lars Mller, who competes in the series himself. "The Danish Street Race Cup is a form of 'sister' cup to the Swedish SDC cup", says Martin. The classes are Bracket , Street (10.5" slicks) and Pro Street with a 5.5-second breakout on the eighth-mile. The Cup web site is the most popular drag racing site in Denmark and that will hopefully continue. The site has been on-line for a week now and the racers have already started to place new advertisements on on the Swap Meet page, and each racer will also have his or her own team/car presentation on the site as well. So check it out frequently as it will be updated a lot in the future". You can find the Danish Street Race Cup web site at www.streetlegal.dk.
©Eurodragster.com
Drag Racing Unplugged V.
24th December: As has become traditional on our last pre-Christmas update, we have posted the season's best quotes from Eurodragster's Event Coverage to give you some reading material whilst we are on our Christmas break. We are pleased to present Drag Racing Unplugged V, the 2003 collection.

Click here to view Drag Racing Unplugged V, or click on the Event Coverage link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page. Enjoy!
©Eurodragster.com
Christmas presents from The Staff.
24th December: Tog has updated his personal web site Tog's Drag Racing Page with two collections of off-track photographs grabbed at races in between sessions at the keyboard posting live reports. The first is a set of portraits from the Veidec Nitro Festival at Mantorp Park, and the second - an enlarged version of a collection posted in Eurodragster's Event Coverage - is a mixture of portraits and other candid shots from the week leading up to the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway. You can find Tog's web site at www.togsdragracing.com.
©Eurodragster.com
Sharkman has updated his personal web site Sharkman's Top End Tales with a Christmas present in the form of a screensaver featuring his photographs from the 2003 season. The self-installing screensaver comes in four flavours: full-fat (the entire collection), screensaver lite (selected highlights), Cars and Bikes. You can download Sharkman's screensaver at www.topendtales.com although be warned that Sharkman advises that "The smallest comes in at nine meg and the largest at thirty meg, so if you have 56k dial-up access then either grab them in chunks using a download manager, or a better bet is to find a friend with broadband access and a CD Writer!"

Eurodragster's Christmas break.
24th December: We will now be taking our Christmas break, although we will only be gone until Sunday (28th December). Keep those news items coming in to news@eurodragster.com and we will post them on Sunday.

Some readers have again asked what Sharkman and Tog put on their Christmas lists:

Top of Sharkman's Christmas list: Seeing as Santa didn't bring it last year I'll try again for a '69 Cuda or Challenger with a 383 in it. Again, if it happened to have a 440 and six pack or a Hemi then I wouldn't say no!

Top of Tog's Christmas list: Gift vouchers from British Telecom, any petrol company, and Travel Inn.

Our New Year resolutions:

Sharkman: To keep trying to take the best pictures possible and to continue to experiment with different techniques to capture some more unusual types of pictures.

Tog: To drive more race cars.

Sharkman and Tog would like to wish all Eurodragster readers and their families the very Happiest of Christmases. See you on Sunday!
©Eurodragster.com
SPRC Awards vote closing soon.
22nd December: Thank you to everyone who has voted so far for this year's Santa Pod Racers Club Perpetual Awards. Voting is still open in all seven categories until midnight UK on Wednesday of next week, 31st December.

This week's featured category is the Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy. This trophy 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 from Eurodragster's readers 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 Phil Evans, Chair of the UK Tech Committee.
©Eurodragster.com
For more details see the official SPRC Perpetual Awards web 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. Alternately E-Mail your nomination direct to sprcawards@eurodragster.com specifying SPRC Alex Brachtvogel Trophy as the subject, and your nomination in the body of the mail.

Voting is per category, so if you have not already voted for some or any of the six previous awards then you still have a week and a half to place your vote as well as submitting your nomination for the Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy.

A real Pro Mod Bike.
22nd December: Proving that the off-season may already have gone on too long, UK Super Pro ET racer Roger Moore has been in touch with a design for the ultimate Pro Mod Bike.

"Chris Isaacs and I were having a laugh about what to do with the ex-BA Racing 706 ci Pro Mod engine which I own", says Roger. "As I haven't yet got the budget together to build a car, we came up with the idea of a bike! Chris has done some drawings (right, click on picture to see larger diagram with bodywork) and came up with the name Sudden Death, which is what would happen if you ever tried to ride it.
©Eurodragster.com
"We thought that you might like to put the pictures on your site to give the racers something to have a laugh at whilst they try to get rid of the in-laws so they can get down the garage to do some work on their vehicles.

"The strange thing is, the more I think of the idea the more I think it could be possible!"

Web site updates.
22nd December: Eurodragster staffer Sharkman has updated his personal web site Sharkman's Top End Tales with his 2003 School of Excellence, which features photographs which didn't quite work out. As well as a large contribution from Sharkman himself, the School features pictures from our good friends at Svensk Dragracing and the Finnish Hot Rod Association as well as two new graduates. Check it out at www.topendtales.com. Tune back on Wednesday for news of Sharkman's traditional Christmas present to his viewers.
©Eurodragster.com
Team Feature: OPM Racing.
21st December: This week's Team Feature remains on two wheels and features OPM Racing, the team of UK Funny Bike racer and second-quickest female drag bike racer on Earth, Sarah Jane Head. In a very entertaining interview, Scarey tells us about herself and her career including an indirect warning to male racers not to call her a slapper.
©Eurodragster.com
Click here to read the Team Feature, or click on the Team Features link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page.

This is Eurodragster's last Team Feature of 2003. We have a couple of workshop visits lined up the other side of the Christmas/New Year break, but if you would like to volunteer to be the subject of a Team Feature then please E-Mail features@eurodragster.com.

Web site updates.
21st December: The official web site of German Top Methanol Dragster racer Peter Schöfer at www.p-s-r.com has been updated with a number of photographs from the ADAC prize ceremony in Munich, where Peter was honoured as one of Bavaria's most successful motorsport personalities. Congratulations, Peter!
©Eurodragster.com
2004 UK Championship update.
20th December: Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall has been in touch with important news of administrative changes to the UK National Championship in 2004.
©Eurodragster.com
Entry Forms: Entry forms will no longer be sent out by mail but must be downloaded from the SPRC and APIRA websites. The Vehicle Registration document, which placed racers on the list for mailings of event entry forms, will no longer need to be completed. The season's entry forms will be available in the early part of 2004, so that anyone wishing to enter for the whole season or a couple of events at a time can do so. However, a Press/Commentator form will be produced and Clubs will be requesting racers to complete them as it is in their interest to provide media and track announcers with information. If you are unable to access a computer to download entry forms then contact either Paula Marshall at SPRC or Wendy Talbot at APIRA as detailed below to have entry forms posted or faxed. Alternatively Paula suggests that if you are unable to download entry forms then you can liaise with a fellow racer with a computer to download and print forms for you.
©Eurodragster.com
Event Closing Dates: The closing date before each race event at both Santa Pod and Shakespeare County Raceways will be three weeks before the event. The closing date for professional racers before the FIA Main Event and FIA European Finals is four weeks before the event. Late entries by Sportsman racers will incur a late entry fee of £40 in addition to the entry fee for that event. Late entries will be accepted, subject to late-entry fee, at the Clubs' discretion and will be dependent upon the number of entries already in that class. Late entry will be closed one week before each event to allow paperwork to be processed.
©Eurodragster.com
Junior Dragster Race Numbers: Racers who competed in 2003 will use their Championship position as a race number. So for example if you finished fifteenth in the 2003 Junior Dragster Championship, then your race number will be JS, JM or JMa15. Numbers one to nineteen are therefore allocated. Anyone wishing to start competing in Junior Dragster in 2004 must contact either Paula Marshall or Wendy Talbot as detailed below to be allocated a race number.
©Eurodragster.com
Confirmed 2004 UK National Championship Dates:
  1. Easter Thunderball, Santa Pod Raceway, 10th-12th April
  2. Excitement Nationals, Shakespeare County Raceway, 1st-3rd May
  3. FIA Main Event, Santa Pod Raceway, 28th-31st May
  4. Power Nationals, Shakespeare County Raceway, 12th-13th June
  5. SPRC Summer Nationals, Santa Pod Raceway, 26th-27th June
  6. Allstar Nationals, Shakespeare County Raceway, 28th-30th August
  7. FIA European Finals, Santa Pod Raceway, 9th-12th September
  8. UK National Finals, Santa Pod Raceway, 2nd-3rd October
Meetings: As previously notified the 2004 UK Riders' and Drivers' Meeting will be held at 1:00 pm on Sunday 1st February 2004, in the Kimberley Suite of the Diamonds Centre, otherwise known as Rushden and Diamonds' football ground, in Nene Way in Irthlingborough. Items to be discussed include the 2004 UK National Championship, event entry fees and prize funds, as well as Any Other Business. Racers are invited to submit items for the agenda but please note that your item will only be discussed if you actually attend the meeting.
©Eurodragster.com
If you have any items for the agenda of the 2004 Riders' and Drivers' Meeting then please send them either to Paula Marshall or to APIRA Club Secretary Wendy Talbot at the following addresses by 21st January 2004:
©Eurodragster.com
Paula Marshall
Santa Pod Racers Club
PO Box 12
Rushden
Northamptonshire
NN10 0ZU

E-Mail: paula.marshall@btconnect.com
Phone: 01933 313625
Fax: 01933 355558
©Eurodragster.com
Wendy Talbot
Avon Park International Racers Association
121 High Road
Wortwell
Harleston
Norfolk
IP20 0E
©Eurodragster.com
E-Mail: wendy@apira.org.uk
Phone and Fax: 01379 740100
©Eurodragster.com
Santa Pod Racers Club's Annual General Meeting takes place at 8:30 pm on Wednesday 4th February 2004 at the Ibis Hotel, Wellingborough.

Ultimate Championship Dinner Dance.
20th December: Lee Child of LA Racing Services has announced details of the Ultimate Power Drag Racing Championship Dinner Dance and trophy presentation to 2003 Champions of the Shakespeare County Raceway-based series.
©Eurodragster.com
The Ultimate Power Dinner Dance takes place on Saturday 20th March 2004 at the Hilton Hotel in Coventry, which is located right on Junction 2 of the M6 at:
©Eurodragster.com
Paradise Way
Walsgrave Triangle
Coventry
CV2 2ST
©Eurodragster.com
Telephone: 02476 841007
©Eurodragster.com
Click here for a map of the Hilton's location.
©Eurodragster.com
Tickets are £25 per person. No disco-only tickets will be available. A booking form and menu can be obtained from LA Performance Services either by E-Mail at la.racing@virgin.net, by phone on 01803 554308, or by mail at:
©Eurodragster.com
60 Berry Road
Paignton
Devon
TQ3 3QJ
©Eurodragster.com
Rooms at the Hilton are £80 for a double room or £60 for a single room; call Manjit on 02476 841007 and quote Shakespeare County Raceway.

RRC presents Xtreme trophies.
20th December: UK race car builder Robinson Race Cars has become a trophy sponsor for the Xtreme Wheels 2004 show which takes place at London's Alexandra Palace on 14th-15th February.

"Obsession Motorsports would like to thank Andy Robinson for his continued support", says Xtreme Wheels PR Dan Welberry. "An example of one of Andy's newest creations, Al Bishop's Astro Van with mid-mounted Chevy ZR1 power will be on display at the show.

"If you would like to be involved in the show as a trophy sponsor, please contact Obsession on 01483 236262. This is a very cost effective way of gaining extra exposure for you company. We are also taking bookings for advertising within the show guide and would love to hear from companies who would like to take advantage of this opportunity."
©Eurodragster.com
Media accreditation is now open for Xtreme Wheels 2004. The media application form can be downloaded from the Show's official web site at www.xtremewheels2004.com and should then be mailed to Obsession Motorsports.

SPRC Dinner Dance update.
20th December: Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall has been in touch with the latest news on the SPRC Dinner Dance and UK National/SPRC Championship trophy presentation which takes place at the Moat House Hotel in Bedford on Saturday 21st February 2004; tickets are £25.

"The number attending now stands at over two hundred", says Paula. "We do not want to turn anyone away so racers need to get booked in. If we reach a higher number than in previous years then we may have to re-look at the overall layout of the seating arrangements in order to accommodate everyone, but where possible, please be assured we will endeavour to keep party bookings together, just as a different layout. It is also possible that the Moat House Hotel may be close to being fully booked. I have spoken to the Bedford Swan Hotel (just a couple of minutes walk away over the bridge) and they have provisionally held some of their rooms cheaper than their normal rates. If anyone is unsuccessful at the Bedford Moat House they can contact the Bedford Swan Hotel on 01234 346565), ask for Reservations and quote reference SPRC2102 to get the discount rate on booking.
©Eurodragster.com
You can download the Dinner Dance booking form from the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc, or call Paula on 01933 313625, fax her on 01933 355558, or E-Mail paula.marshall@btconnect.com.

Swift snippets.
20th December: Congratulations to UK Wild Bunch racer Gareth 'Granville' Kent on the birth of his son and 2004 crew member Marcus Scott, who was born at 3:17 pm last Sunday and weighed in at 7 lbs 1 oz. Gareth tells us that mother and baby and healthy and well but doesn't say anything about his own condition. We are sure that everyone will join Sharkman and Tog in sending their congratulations to Gareth.
©Eurodragster.com
Eurodragster nominated in poll.
19th December: For the third year running, Eurodragster.com is on the shortlist for Internet Site of the Year on the influential US Competition Plus web site. Eurodragster came third in this poll in 2001 and second in 2002 - can we get to the finish line first this year? If every one of our three thousand-plus daily readers voted then we would have a good chance.
©Eurodragster.com
You can get to the Competition Plus poll by clicking here, scroll down and the Internet Site of the Year vote is on the second row. You know what to do...

0-60 Challenge at York.
19th December: The UK's York Dragway is to host a 0-60 Challenge on 9th May 2004, writes PR Howard Holmes. A 0-60 challenge, not organised by York, took place in Derbyshire early in 2003 in far-from-perfect conditions for any of the contestants, although a number of drag racers put up a good showing.

"This new gig code-named 2NZ will take place on 9th May", says Howard. "It will include a proper 0-60 Challenge using all the appropriate radar and satellite technology. And of course, you will be able to run the quarter mile with all the times and speeds that the SPI timing system provides.
©Eurodragster.com
"Needless to say, this Challenge will be taking place at a proper IOPD-sanctioned event, on a race track, with marshalling, fire and ambulance crews. Competing cars will have to have tax, MoT and street trim, other details will be finalised in due course.

"This event will be oversubscribed, so please E-Mail me at howardholmes@btinternet.com to register your interest, please include car and contact details."

Borgs victorious.
19th December: The Borg Brothers Racing Team's small-block Top Methanol Dragster, with Mario Borg at the wheel, ended the Maltese season with a win, writes Malta Drag Racing Association President Anthony Borda.

"Tuner Bernie Hepworth wasn't with the team at this event", says Anthony. "I would like to say hi Bernie Hepworth and wish him all the best. If I am correct, this time the engine was tuned by Paul and Victor, two of the brothers, who work very hard on this impeccable dragster (Bernie tells us he was providing input by phone - Ed). I think that they did a great job on it since the dragster was roaring better than ever.

"During this event the dragster sounded great as usual, but had a few problems with tyre shake during qualifying and eliminations. Although it shook in every run, they still managed to clock a 0.93 sixty foot: this dragster has bests of 0.87 sixty foot and 5.8 ET. This team still holds the National Record of 5.9 seconds, which wasn't beaten this year since Mario Borg and John Ellul never backed up their better times.
©Eurodragster.com
"During the Final, which was run solo since the Elbros dragster stalled during the burnout, I saw Mario Borg coming on very strong from the top end, since I was assisting the safety crew at the finish line during this run. He took off the start line like a rocket but unfortunately one of the burst plates blew at half track, and the run had to be aborted. Mario still managed an incredible 6.2-second run at just 150 mph. I think that if he had kept going all the way, Mario could easily have run 5.8 seconds again and it would have been a nice Christmas present for the whole team.

"This won't end here for sure, because this team is full of surprises when they are competing at the track. I personally and on behalf of Malta Drag Racing Association would like to congratulate the Borg Brothers Racing Team for their participation and I wish them all the best for the coming year."

Swift snippets.
19th December: Our good friend, race car builder Bob Meyer has been in touch from the USA with news of his latest project for a European racer. "This is the new Volkswagen Funny Car (right, click on picture for larger version) for Ronald Jutting from Ahlen, Germany", says Bob. "The car will be run here in the States before leaving for home. I have built the chassis, and the power will come from VW Paradise right up the road in San Marcos, California. These are the same people who run the world's fastest VW-powered dragster which has run 6.68/202! Pretty strong for a four cylinder flat motor! You will be seeing this car in Europe soon."
©Eurodragster.com
Santa Pod Racers Club Press Officer Jon Crawford has asked us to pass on his appreciation for the messages of support which he and wife Jane have received from the Drag Racing community after tyhe death of their son Benjamin. "Please pass on our thanks to all the Eurodragster readers who have sent messages and donations already", says Jon.

Persåker's novel promotion.
18th December: If you were tuned in to Eurodragster News last Friday you will have read the Carbon By Design Top Fuel Dragster team owner Knut Söderquist promised to reveal the identity of Sweden's newest Top Fuel driver. Today we are pleased to reveal that the newest recruit to European Top Fuel is former Pro Stock racer Jöran Persåker, owner of the very successful Persåker's Speed Shop in Stockholm.

Jöran currently holds a Top Methanol Funny Car licence and although he has raced in Pro Stock this year he is probably just as familiar to fans for his very popular and very rapid twin-turbo Comp Eliminator Pontiac. Knut tells us that Jöran will be upgrading his licence at the Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway next April.

We worked on this story together with our good friends at Svensk Dragracing; Christer Abrahamson spoke to Jöran last night and he gave us his thoughts.
©Eurodragster.com
"I have been talking to both Micke Kgered and Gordon Callin about the class for quite a long while now", said Jöran. "I guess every drag racer dreams about going in the Top Fuel category and I have got the chance now. Since I am moving my shop next year I thought I would need some extra marketing, and what can be a better way to market a Speed Shop than on a Top Fuel car? With my deal with Knut it actually becomes less expensive for me than going Pro Stock!

"I will bring two guys from my own team, Per Olofsson and Erik Mark, to support Knut Sderquist's fabulous team, with Alan Jackson as master tuner.

"The car is at the moment in Mats Eriksson's chassis shop and will come to my Speed Shop in February. I will then update my licence at Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod in England and hopefully be ready to race at the first FIA round, the Main Event."

Editor's note: Rapport på Svenska hos Svensk Dragracing.

Leanders' brains trust.
18th December: Sweden's Leanders Brothers Racing Top Methanol Funny Car team have added more brainpower for the 2004 season in the form of Jonny Frnlund, a friend of the family who has a lot of experience in drag racing, other motorsports and most of all his work, says Ulf Leanders.

"Jonny is now running Rototest, who have developed a revolutionary chassis dynamometer, as co-owner", says Ulf. "Before that, he worked in Scania's motor laboratory for many years and it was during this time that he helped Svempa with his famous 'slingshot', a drag race truck with a 14.2 litre diesel V8 with six turbos and 3000 horsepower! He also was deeply involved in Ronnie Bergstrms race-winning Camaro in the early nineties."
©Eurodragster.com
"Im very glad that Jonny has joined our team", says Crew Chief Jrgen Leanders. "We couldnt be happier, I know Jonny will be a great addition overall, but when it comes to analysing data and find those small things, this guy is hard to beat. We have high expectations for this upcoming season and with Jonny on board, I know the goal will be easier to achieve."

Ulf says that the team are working hard on new sponsorship deals. He has been working full-time on sponsorship after the European Finals and it appears to be paying off. "I worked on some deals which are 99% set", says Ulf. "If everything falls into place we will be happy to announce these new companies right after the New Year. I would also say to the companies who were with us this season, we started with a lot of testing during the first races and was pretty slow, but we held your banner high the whole time and we ended the year as the quickest team outside the US with a phenomenal race car."

You can find the Leanders Brothers Racing web site at www.leandersbros.com.

Eco drag racing.
18th December: UK Sportsman ET racer Keith Crampton will have his 'recycled' Wizards Groove Anglia on display in Stevenage Town Centre today (Thursday). In an unusual tie-up Keith is working with the local Council to promote recycling over Christmas.
©Eurodragster.com
"The opportunity arose because they have the 'Waste Wizard' as their logo", says Keith. "I thought it would be a good opportunity to promote drag racing. It's going to be cold so pop over and see us if you are in the area."

Web site updates.
18th December: Alan Currans has updated his excellent Acceleration Archive with the fourth page of the Peter Jones Collection. "There are pictures of Svante Ericsson's awesome Jeep-bodied competition altered, the late Slam'n Sammy Miller and his Vanishing Point rocket-powered funny car, jets of various descriptions, some great bike shots, a rare view inside the Santa Pod tower twenty-odd years ago and much more of interest", says Alan. "In addition to this page there are seventy other pages of photographs on the site". Check it out at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk.
©Eurodragster.com
Agius sets truck best.
17th December: During the Malta Drag Racing Association's last event at Hal Far a couple of weekends ago, Tommy Agius of the Maksar Racing team set another Elapsed Time record for the Diesel Truck class, writes MDRA President Anthony Borda.
©Eurodragster.com
"Tommy, with the help of his brothers - Paul, the brains behind the team and Martin who never stops working on the truck- and the rest of the crew, set an incredible time of 11.1 seconds, with a terminal speed of 123 mph", says Anthony. "It's not easy to set an ET like this in such a short time since Truck Racing was introduced in Malta about six years ago and the teams are not yet at their peak souping up the trucks. This impeccable Volvo Truck (right) with a twelve-litre home-made twin-turbo nitrous-assisted engine, always surprises everyone. It weighs four tons and it's all modified and tuned in Malta by the Maksar Team themselves. I've researched other websites to see if there is a faster truck in the world, and I didn't find any truck with its own chassis which has run as quickly as Tommy's. I, and all of Malta, are very proud of the Maksar Racing Team for achieving this incredible time with this incredible Volvo Truck."

SPR JD for hire.
17th December: Santa Pod Raceway's own Junior Dragster will again be available for hire in 2004, writes David Lloyd-Jones. "If you are aged between eight and seventeen years old and want to try out driving a Junior Stock Dragster, then Santa Pod's JD can be hired for a day at a Run What You Brung with full tuition from the Emms family", says david, "or for two or three days for a Championship event. To enter a race meeting, you must have completed your tuition and obtained your competition licence at a RWYB.
©Eurodragster.com
"A single day RWYB costs £99 which includes all equipment and attire, admission, sign on fee and tuition. Early-season available dates are 25th January, 1st February, 15 February, 22nd February, 14th March, and 27 March. The fee for a race meeting is £199 including all equipment, attire, admission and race entry fee. Race meetings start with the Easter Thunderball on 10th-12th April 2004."

For more details or to book Santa Pod's Junior Dragster then contact David Lloyd-Jones by E-Mail at david@santapod.fsnet.co.uk or call 01234 782828.

Swedish TV broadcast.
17th December: Kågered Racing Team Manager Åsa Kinnemar has been in touch to pass on more details about TV coverage of drag racing in Sweden.

"The Swedish channel TV4 will broadcast three thirty-minute programs about FIA drag racing starting on December 26th or 28th (we could not get the date confirmed 100%). One show will cover FIA Top Fuel from all FIA events, another show will cover FIA Top Methanol Funny Car from all events and the last show covers FIM Pro Stock Bike. I have no information on why they have chosen not to cover PS and TMD.

"I have spoken with Christer Abrahamson (track announcer at Mantorp Park and one of the minds behind the Svensk Dragracing web site). Christer finished laying down the Swedish soundtrack on the TV4 shows yesterday and he says that the programmes look good."

TV4 can be received by most households within Scandinavia, so this definitely feels like a step in the right direction."

Stay tuned to the Svensk Dragracing web site at www.dragracing.se for the latest updates about TV broadcasts in Scandinavia.
©Eurodragster.com
Xtreme Wheels field growing.
17th December: Many thanks to Dan Welberry who has been in touch with the latest news about the Xtreme Wheels show which takes place at London's Alexandra Palace on 14th-15th February.

"There will be unveilings of new machinery. From the world of drag racing, Bob Glassup with his all-new altered, Craig Gibbs' Pro Mod '69 Camaro, Gary Malin's dragster, and Ian Aspley's slingshot. From the world of hot rods Dan Boon's 32 Ford Roadster and new from Home Grown Hot Rods a '34 Ford Three Window and an all-steel '32 Three Window Coupe. Imports will be represented with two new cars from Kream Developments.

"Further displays will include Andy Carter's Top Fuel Dragster in its all-new colours, Doug Ripley's new Top Methanol Funny Car, Ian King's Top Fuel Bike and Nobby Hills' new Houndog Fuel Funny car. The NSRA will be well represented with their top cars from 2003. Included in their display will be cars built by Nick Butler, Nykilodeon and Andromeda. Creations of Andy Saunders The Boat - Runnerground and the Mini Claustrophobia will be seen again.

"A model Drag Strip will also be available for visitors to test their reactions and nerve! Special guests Race Tin will be in attendance with their fantastic radio controlled cars which literally come in a tin. Their race track we believe will be a firm favourite for both young and old!"

You can find out more including ticket prices on the official Xtreme Wheels 2004 web site at www.xtremewheels2004.com.
©Eurodragster.com
Paging Gary Belchers.
17th December: Meanwhile Tina Gibbs of Xtreme Wheels organisers Obsession Motorsports has been in touch asking if any Eurodragster readers can help to put her in touch with Gary Belchers concerning his V12 Model T. If you are reading this, Gary, or if you know where Gary is then please get in touch with Tina Gibbs by E-Mail at tinag@gibbs.llp.co.uk.
©Eurodragster.com
Grumpy in for surgery.
17th December: Paul Marston Racing have brought bought forward plans to update of Grumpy's Dodge, one of the Paul Marston Racing School race cars. The upgrade will be carried out by John Sleath.

"Dont worry", says Paul, "from the outside this famous Super Gas Championship-winning doorslammer will look no different, all the changes are inside. In competition during the season we started to develop a few ideas and eventually by the end of the season had Grumpy's Dodge running around sixth tenths with a best of 10.17/128mph. We also saw an improvement in the sixty foot times; the Reaction Times which Grumpy was recording started to get some attention too. By the end of the season, not only did we have a list of the refinements we wanted, but we also started a wish list of what we would really like to do without changing Grumpy's character, given a free hand. With all the small jobs we wanted to do, the wish list was not much more really. It was initially intended that Grumpy would run the 2004 season as is then get a facelift, but we just decided we could not wait that long!

"Modifications for both Drag Race Driving School pupils and performance upgrades are incorporated in this project. It means that with the upgrades, none of which are engine-related, Grumpy will quite possibly have the power to enter the Super Gas wars. Not bad for a 454 on Super Unleaded! Super Gas will be especially fierce during 2004, with quite a few race teams returning, plus a healthy injection of new blood to join the swelling ranks. With the current form of Grumpy's Dodge, the refinements and upgrades can only improve what is already a Championship-winning package. We decided that with so much on the books at the PMR workshop it was actually more cost-effective to contract the job out. As I am an ex-Custom Car Street Eliminator competitor it gave me great pleasure to award the contract to John Sleath Race Car Fabrications.
©Eurodragster.com
"John really understands what we want to do with Grumpy's Dodge and we are both looking forward to working on this project. John, who towards the end of 2003 completed a new front end on Matthew Wright's Super Street Chevy pick-up, is starting to build a reputation for no-nonsense well-built race cars. This was exactly what we wanted with Grumpys Dodge. We talked, John listened and made a few practical suggestions and an in-principle deal was done, simple as that. With the race season never too far away, it was also good to hear that Grumpy's Dodge should be done and dusted just after Christmas, what a great present!

"This gives us plenty of time to evaluate the effect of the updates and set up the race car accordingly. Without doubt this is a win-win situation, we simply cannot wait to get back out on the drag strip!"

Web site updates.
17th December: The Dragsterworld forum at forum.dragsterworld.com has launched a Christmas competition for forum members who have made at least one post, with scale models of Nitro Coupes up for grabs. For more details including how to join the forum check out the contest page at www.dragsterworld.com/features/christmascomp2003.htm.
©Eurodragster.com
Pro Mod joins FIA rule book.
16th December: Pro Modified will be in the FIA Rule Book starting with the 2004 edition, says Lars Pettersson, FIA Drag Racing Commission member and Chairman of the Drag Racing Committee of the Swedish Automobile Sport Federation. The long-expected inclusion is designed to harmonise the Swedish, English and other European rules and is the result of wide-ranging discussions with Pro Mod racers.

"We started to work on this a year ago", says Lars. "We discussed the rules with the European Pro Mod Association, and worked closely with Micke Gullquist, Andy Robinson and UK Tech Inspector Geoff Martin. The proposal went to the FIA Commission and they said yes, so it went to the World Motorsport Council last Friday. I expect to see the rules in the updated FIA rule book shortly."
©Eurodragster.com
The FIA rules are based on the Swedish and English rule books, which themselves were very close. "The FIA rules are very similar to the IHRA and NHRA rules but in Europe we do not have the same commercial considerations", says Lars. "So for example if after a couple of events the overdrive rules were not working out then we could change them if we had to."

Lars says that Swedish Pro Mod racers will be following the FIA rule book in 2004, and he expects that Norway, Finland and other Scandinavian countries will follow suit. "I hope that the rest of Europe will follow the rules too", says Lars. "There are issues with the English racers, for example the rules regarding beadlock wheels, but we think that we can work out any problems."
©Eurodragster.com
Lars is keen to stress that the inclusion of Pro Mod in the FIA rule book does not mean that the class will be included in the FIA Championship, at least in the immediate short term. "An FIA European Pro Mod Championship is the eventual aim", says Lars, "but the idea to begin with is that everyone in Europe runs to the same rules. So for example when NDRS Bilsport Pro Mod racers go to England there will be no question that everyone is running the same weight breaks, and so performances will be consistent and unquestioned at whichever track."

Racers, Clubs and promoters will continue to be consulted as the season goes on and the rules bed-in, continuing the theme of co-operation. "I think it's a good thing that all of the racers have been involved from the start", says Lars. "I hope that it will be a good Christmas present for Pro Mod!"

Stars come out in Monaco.
16th December: 2003 FIA European Champions Smax Smith, Dave Wilson (right), Urs Erbacher and Michael Malmgren attended the FIA Banquet in Monaco on Friday night where they joined the cream of world motorsport as they received their Championship trophies. Drag racing was especially well-represented on the night as the immaculately-turned-out American Car Imports Racing Top Methanol Dragster was on display at the entrance to the Monaco Sporting Club to greet the five hundred guests as they arrived.

ACI Racing Team Principal Anthony Cohen and his wife Rhonda joined Dave and Linda Wilson in Monaco, and on his return Anthony contacted Eurodragster to tell us what a great night everyone had.

"It was a tremendous honour for drag racing to be able to attend the Banquet" said Anthony, who sponsors Eurodragster's Home and News pages and Event Coverage through American Car Imports. "I would like to congratulate Keith Bartlett for arranging for us all to be there, and to everyone else who worked hard to get drag racing there.

"It was fantastic to see our four Champions on stage. Drag racing was the second class to be presented, after Karts; the announcer said 'From the smallest to the fastest' and it was good to hear it emphasised that drag racing is the fastest of the FIA motorsports. It was just great to see the sport elevated to the same level as the other disciplines, it was a good night for drag racing and I was very proud to see Dave, Smax, Urs and Michael standing there with the likes of Michael Schumacher."
©Eurodragster.com
After the ceremony, Anthony and Dave networked with the likes of Bernie Ecclestone and Michael Schumacher. "I talked to Bernie Ecclestone about what we as a team had been doing especially to put drag racing on the map even more. I told him how hard we had been working to improve our performance, to bring more sponsors into the sport, and to look after the sponsors. I also managed to speak to Michael Schumacher and I took great pleasure in telling him how much faster our car is than his! The Managing Director of BAR spent quite some time looking at the dragster and was obviously fascinated - Dave and I spent a long time telling him all about it and he was very impressed. I was also pleased to talk to Damon Hill as we were at school together. I invited him to visit a race next season and spend some time in our pit."

The ACI Racing Top Methanol Dragster made a great conversation piece throughout the evening. "The car really caught everyone's attention", said Anthony. "It really brought home to everyone the extreme nature of the sport to those who didn't know anything about drag racing. Dave had done a terrific job of preparing the car, it looked smashing and professional. We had brought our Weld wheels and blower back from the USA to complete the car and the effort paid off - it was immaculate and everyone stopped to look. And Dave was the only Champion who had personally brought his race car!"

Dave Wilson already has designs on next year's ceremony. "Dave is determined to drive the car onto the stage in 2004!", said Anthony.

FIA European Top Fuel Dragster Champion Smax Smith also had a stellar evening in Monaco, and kindly got in touch to tell us all about it.

"We arrived at the venue to dozens of flashbulbs like something from the film awards and were escorted inside to collect our Champers and find our table", says Smax. "The celebrities were everywhere and the food was to die for! After the meal short, videos were played from each category and as they played the drag video Urs Erbacher, Dave Wilson, Michael Malmgren and I were taken onto the dark stage which was then illuminated after the video. We were presented with huge crystal trophies - it was amazing to see Michael Schumacher stood in front of me clapping like mad!
©Eurodragster.com
"After all the proceedings, the winners all went back on stage and I was stood with Montoya, Kimi Raikkonen and Michael Schumacher! Afterwards we went partying at Jimmy's Bar until 4:00 am, the drinks were outragously priced but still it was superb. We toured Monaco next day then went back to Nice to sample the strange French cuisine!

"I really want to thank Knut Söderquist and all the team for all their hard work in getting us here and making me Top Fuel Champion. You know it wasn't possible without you. To all my friends and fans out there, have a full revs Xmas and New Year and I hope that 2004 brings forth your dreams (and ETs). I hope I may have been some kind of inspiration to all the budget racers out there - we all put in the same effort!"

Anthony Cohen kindly sent us a number of other pictures from the FIA Banquet, which you can view by clicking on the links below.

Dave Wilson prepares the ACI Racing TMD
The ACI Racing TMD and an FIA vehicle
Dave and Linda Wilson
The FIA European Drag Racing Champions are presented
The FIA Champions on stage together
Dave Wilson, Michael Malmgren and trophies
Urs Erbacher and trophy
Jean Todt wheels in the Ferrari cake

Web site updates.
16th December: Our good friend Erwin Raets has updated his European Drag Racing Database at www.eurodrag.com with the first full calendar for the 2004 season. In the absence of official information about 2004 NEAFP events, Erwin has assumed that the same events as in the 2003 season will be NEAFPs and will update the calendar as soon as he has firm information.
©Eurodragster.com
SPRC Perpetual Awards week 6.
15th December: Once again Santa Pod Racers Club and Eurodragster.com are teaming up to give readers the chance to have input to the SPRC Perpetual Awards, which will be presented at the SPRC Dinner Dance on Saturday 21st February 2004.

For each of the 2003 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: this week's vote, the sixth and final, is for Paul Giddings Memorial Trophy. Voting for the Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy is also open (see below).

The SPRC Committee's shortlist for Paul Giddings Memorial Trophy, in alphabetical order, is as follows. The Paul Giddings Memorial Trophy is a bike-only award named for late racer Paul Giddings, and is presented for overcoming adversity. Nominees have typically had to endure personal problems, severe or prolonged mechanical trouble, an accident or other such troubles, but have faced those problems head-on and come out on top.
©Eurodragster.com
Sarah Jane Head, OPM Racing Funny Bike

Ian King, Top Fuel Bike

Len Paget, White Lightning Pro Stock Bike

Ian Turburville, S and S Sure Shot Supertwin Fuel Bike

Paul Watson, Grumpy's Busa Pro Stock Bike

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 category, so if you have already voted for any of the five previous awards then you may of course vote for the Paul Giddings Memorial Trophy 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 Phil Evans, Chair of the UK Tech Committee. Again see the official web page for more details or E-Mail your nomination to sprcawards@eurodragster.com specifying SPRC Alex Brachtvogel Trophy as the subject and your nomination in the body of the mail.

Christmas catalogue.
15th December: Just in time for Christmas, Ian 'Turbo' Turburville has announced that his shop in Nottingham has become the first Santa Pod shop on the high street, now carrying all of Santa Pod's branded merchandise alongside the existing range of parts and accessories for Harley Davidsons from 'Baggy' and textiles, drag die-casts, helmets, bike lifts, videos, CDs, awnings and more from Turbo Ville'. SPR's range includes jackets, shirts, caps, die-casts, posters, gifts, novelties and the 2003 FIM/ UEM season review videos.

"This is the merchandise you can normally only buy at the track or on Santa Pod's web site, and the shop now looks like an Aladdin's Cave for drag fans", says Turbo. "I am about to receive a shipment from the USA of over forty different Top Fuel Dragsters, Funny Cars, Pro Stock cars and Drag Bikes as well as the new 'Gassers' from Muscle Machines and West Coast Choppers. My favourites amongst this lot are the beautiful front-engine dragsters from 1320 Collectables including Don Garlits, Tom McEwen and TV Tommy Ivo's famous cars! E-mail me for all stock enquiries as it changes all the time - or better still, pop in for a cuppa and a mince pie!"

You can find Turbo's shop at:

Baggy's Hog Shop
308 Carlton Hill
Carlton
Nottingham
NG4 1GD

Telephone: 0115 940 1140 (outside the UK +44 115 940 1140)

For more details, or to contact Turbo, visit his web site at www.turboville.com.
©Eurodragster.com
Showtime ready for paint shop.
14th December: If you were at the FIA European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway back in September, or if you were tuned into Eurodragster's Event Coverage, you will remember that the final of Fuel Funny Car was a dramatic affair as the Showtime FC suffered a backfire and blew its ex-John Force Racing Mustang body into the air. The body was only slightly damaged, and Crew Chief Bob Jarrett has been in touch to let us that it is quite healthy again and ready to be painted.

"John Spuffard, Carlo Gandolfi and the guys on our team have done a stellar job with the repairs after our unfortunate episode", says Bob. "The backfire has been traced to an ignition problem which has now been rectified, so we are looking forward to making some good runs in 2004.
©Eurodragster.com
"We would now like to hear from anyone who would be willing to repaint the Mustang body. We can talk over the details later but we would be very very appreciative if someone could help."

If anyone would be able to help Bob and the Showtime team with new paintwork then please contact Bob by E-Mail at nitro1471@cox.net. You can stay in touch with events in the Showtime pit on the team's official web site at www.showtimeracing.co.uk.

Koedam Racing season review.
14th December: We are indebted to Marius van der Zijden, Crew Chief for FIM/UEM European Top Fuel Bike Champion Roel Koedam, for sending us a review of the Dutch team's astounding season:

Another year is about to end and what a year it was! Apart from our results, one thing which immediately comes to mind is the excellent weather conditions that we were blessed with. As you know, this is a main ingredient for a successful drag race event. The only exception was the Veidec Nitro Festival at Mantorp Park in Sweden, which came to a sudden halt just before the final rounds because the rain set in just a few hours too soon.

This year we attended a record number of nine events. Allow me to give a brief summary of our race schedule:
  • Speedfreaks Ball, Santa Pod Raceway, England. Season opener. Qualified #1, won the event, the bike already displaying its real potential.

  • FIA Main Event, Santa Pod Raceway, England. First round of the FIM European Championship. Qualified #1, won the event, reset personal best to 6.23.

  • Fast and Furious, Drachten, Holland). Entered as a demo on this eighth-mile track, reset the all-time national record to a 4.18/185 (295 km/h).

  • Nitro Nationals, Alastaro, Finland. Second round of the FIM European Championship. Qualified #1, stranded in the semi-finals with a broken primary drive belt.

  • Drachten Internationals, Drachten, Holland. Spectacular runs again, no track records this time.

  • Veidec Nitro Festival, Mantorp Park, Sweden. Third round of the FIM European Championship. Qualified #1 with a new track record of 6.29 right off the trailer, despite an early shut-off. Though we went through to the final, a winner was never decided because rain set in just before the final rounds.

  • Drag Challenge, Gardermoen, Norway. Fourth round of the FIM European Championship. Qualified #1, dived into the teens for the first time, reset personal and track records, won the event.

  • Nitrolympics, Hockenheim, Germany. Fifth round of the FIM European Championship. Qualified #1, won the event, reset the track record, clinched the European Top Fuel Bike Championship title with one more round to go.

  • FIA European Finals, Santa Pod Raceway, England. Sixth and final round of the FIM European Championship. Qualified #1, reset personal, track and European records (both ET and speed), became the quickest and fastest bike outside the USA, stranded in the semi-finals when a con rod let go in a big ball of fire.
This year we were pleased with the growing interest in our renamed Top Fuel Bike class. It resulted in a record number of entries by no less than twelve Top Fuel Bikes at some events. Despite this strong field we clinched the FIM Championship title for the third time and we did so with a record lead of 313 points over 159 points for the Championship runner-up.

From the media side we can inform you that the both the FIM and the FIA European Championship rounds were broadcast by an increased number of satellite TV stations. These images were broadcast all over Europe and as far as the Middle East and the USA, however unfortunately not yet shown on Dutch national TV. We understand that they are trying to work out a deal for next year.

A few words from the technical side. Part of our performance gains have to be credited to the new Mickey Thompson tyre. As another first for a Top Fuel Bike team in Europe, we started using this all-new tyre which was developed specially for Top Fuel motorcycles. Our efforts paid off. We improved our sixty foot times and added more consistency.

On the down side we had three 'small' technical problems which plagued us now and then during the season. These items therefore are the major things on which we will be focused during this winter break. In the first place we broke the primary drive belt twice at critical points in an race. We are converting the primary drive from an 8 mm to a 14 mm pitch belt. This will give us a much stronger and more reliable primary drive. Another technical aspect which didnt work flawlessly each time was the clutch release bearing system. This system is undergoing a redesign as well. The most important thing which that led to a lot of extra maintenance work during the season was the new material cylinder liners that we experimented with. Though the themselves worked fine, this could not be said for the piston rings. The liners were simply too tough for any type of ring. The rings couldnt seal as they should. We experienced more blow-by than normal, causing loss of power and oil dilution which led to a lot more maintenance of the bearing shelves and the piston rings. At the last event this led to our infamous spectacular engine explosion when we blew the complete bottom end to pieces. A new bottom end is already under construction.

On the positive side we know the reasons for these three troublemakers. But more important, we also know how to fix them. Therefore we are more than confident that we can solve these problems and expect that we can create a reliable and consistent bike for next year.

Our record 6.04-second run was performed without pushing the engine to its limits (still low on nitro percentage). Because of the aforementioned blow-by of the piston rings we were loosing more power on each run. Given that we will be able to solve this, we are confident that we should be able to improve these numbers next year (of course given good track and weather conditions).

For the near future we are also investigating the possibility of taking the bike over to the USA again for a number of races. This could be a combined deal with a few other European Top Fuel bike teams.

All of the results that we achieved this year would not have been possible without the input from all the team members. On top of all the awards that we received this season we are very proud that our Crew Chief was elected as Crew Chief of the Year in Holland, and yours truly also very honored to be nominated by the Santa Pod Racers Club for the James Edgar Memorial Award (presented to a Crew Chief for outstanding performance).

Koedam Racing would once again like to say that all of this would not be possible without the help from the following companies, and to thank them for their support. At the same time we are looking forward to another (possibly an even more spectacular) race season in 2004!

Zodiac International, Mijdrecht, Holland: Performance products for Harley Davidson
Torco International Corporation, Santa Fe Springs, USA: Torco Racing Oils
Nimbus Motorsports, Baiton, GB: European Torco Oils distributor
Dakota-Industry, Ettlingen, Germany: Dakota fashion and team wear
Arai Helmet (Europe) BV, Hoevelaken, Holland: Helmet Products
Flexion bv, Roermond, Holland: Gates distributor and service centre
Goodridge Benelux BV, Delft, Holland: Fuel, brake, oil lines and fittings
Goedhals Machinefabriek, Amersfoort, Holland: Gear specialists
Jan Smits Power Parts, Wormerveer, Holland: Workshop facilities and Dynatek distributor
Jan Roelofs Race Service, Valkenswaard, Holland: Cylinder head preparations
Motorparadijs, Eindhoven, Holland: Workshop facilities
Roestvrijstaal Montfoort, Montfoort, Holland: Non-ferrous metals specialists

A final word goes out to Marco and Stefan Ruf of Dakota Industry. This year was the final year of our three-year contract. We are proud that we were part of the Dakota Team and would like to say a special thank you for your support over these years.
©Eurodragster.com
New Swap Meet category open.
14th December: After a number of suggestions, most recently from Custom Car Street Eliminator racer Tony Hill, we have today opened a new category on Eurodragster's Jeff Bull Race Engines-sponsored Swap Meet, our free classified advertisement service.
©Eurodragster.com
The new category is Drag Racing Memorabilia, both for sale and wanted. Fittingly, Tony Hill has placed the first For Sale advertisement! To place your free classified advertisement go to the Swap Meet by clicking here or by clicking on the Swap Meet link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page, and click on the link at the top of the Swap Meet home page.

As with classified advertisements in any medium, please bear in mind the usual caveats about the exchange of money and confirmation of ownership of items on offer. As with our other Swap Meet categories we will keep a close eye on advertisements placed and reserve the right to amend or remove advertisements for any reason.

Santa Pod pile on the power.
13th December: Thanks to Rick Cuthbert of Santa Pod Raceway for giving us the first details of the track's impressive showing at Autosport International at Birmingham's NEC in January.

"Some vehicles are fresh from the strip, and some will be fresh from the crate", says Rick. "Andy Carter's newly-sponsored Top Fuel Dragster will be present, as will Santa Pod's very own Top Fuel dragster, making its first ever public outing (as mentioned in yesterday's news item from Knut Söderquist - Ed). Alongside the Top Fuel cars will be Martin Hill's popular and awesomely powerful Fireforce 2 Jet Funny Car, after an eventful year for both car and driver Martin Hill. Martin is looking forward to exhibiting at the show, which will be a great place to inspect this monster at close quarters.

"Fuel bikes are represented by the machines of Steve Carey and Ian Turburville. Steve is likely to be displaying his 2004 bike for the first time at the show. To show the variety of vehicles represented on the famous quarter mile, the Santa Pod Junior Dragster will also be present, providing approximately one thousandth of the power of its Top Fuel stablematesthe kids still all want one though!
©Eurodragster.com
"Santa Pod are likely to have the most horsepower of any stand at the whole show by quite a margin. A quick estimate puts the total Santa Pod horsepower at around 22,000 just for this show! This is equivalent to more than twenty seven Formula 1 cars, and if that doesnt blow away the circuit racing enthusiasts, then they should really see a doctor (wrong tense - Ed)!"

For information about Autosport International, which takes place on Saturday-Sunday 10th-11th January, including ticket prices and bookings, check out the Show's official web site at www.autosportinternational.co.uk.

Team Feature: Dave Beck.
13th December: The latest of Eurodragster's Team Features switches to two wheels as we talk to multiple ACU UK Pro Stock Bike Champion, UK record holder and frequent Stateside racer Dave Beck. Dave gives us the lowdown on his bike, the edge which Roger Upperton gives him and much more, although Dave's recent marriage appears to have induced amnesia when asked about amusing stories from the pits.
©Eurodragster.com
Click here to read Dave Beck's Team Feature, or click on the Team Features link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page.

If you would like to volunteer to be the subject of a Eurodragster Team Feature, then drop an E-Mail to features@eurodragster.com and we'll be straight back in touch.

Christmas Card opened.
13th December: Today we are very pleased to open Eurodragster's annual Christmas Card. We have already received some Christmas greetings from racers and fans, which you can view by clicking here, or by clicking on the 2003 Christmas Card link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page.
©Eurodragster.com
If you would like to send a Christmas message to fellow racers, officials, fans, sponsors or customers then drop us an E-Mail at christmas@eurodragster.com and we will include it on the Christmas Card as soon as we can.

Web site updates.
13th December: Our good buddies at Svensk Dragracing have updated their official web site at www.dragracing.se with the latest broadcast details for drag racing on TV4, and a very interesting report by Christer Abrahamson of his visit to the workshop of Mats Eriksson, with a first look at the Top Fuel Dragster which Mats is building for Knut Söderquist.
©Eurodragster.com
Malmgren's Grand new ride.
12th December: If you were tuned in to Eurodragster News on 4th December you will have read that 2003 FIA European Pro Stock Champion, Sweden's Michael Malmgren, has been in the USA to discuss his 2004 ride with race car builder Jerry Bickel. Magnus Cato of AC Delco Racing has been in touch to let us know that the decision has been made.
©Eurodragster.com
"Michael had very useful meetings with, amongst others, Jerry Bickel, and the decision is a brand new Pontiac Grand Am", says Magnus. "This will be a first, as we never raced with a Pontiac before, but we are very excited by this opportunity. The saga began in 1977 with a long line of Oldsmobiles. There has been a dragster, and a Fiat Topolino, otherwise more or less only Oldsmobiles. The 2000 Camaro was a step forward, as it was a state-of-the-art car, now the Pontiac will be a true jewel.

"We couldn't do this without all our good sponsors and suppliers and, of course, the man himself, Jerry Bickel. He was keen to build us another new car, and our faithful suppliers rose to the occasion to make it possible."

Magnus tells us that amongst Michael Malmgren's many meetings in the USA was a night out with American Pro Stock racers. "The American racers were anxious to read an article about Michael in a certain Swedish "men's" magazine", says Magnus. "This particular magazine was the talk of the town next day, but I guess they had a hard time as the article was in Swedish Maybe the pictures told the story."

Curran tests at Hal Far.
12th December: Further to yesterday's news item from Malta, we are indebted to Malta Drag Racing Association President Anthony Borda for letting us know how UK Pro Stock Bike racer Helen Curran has fared testing Italian Davide Ricci's Pro Stock Bike over the last couple of days, and for sending us some pictures of Helen in action.

"On Wednesday, I left home early to go the track", says Anthony. "It was around 7:00 in the morning, and I was still half-asleep. I knew that the track surface would be wet, because it had rained during the night, so as soon as I arrived I grabbed the sweeper and started drying out the track for our Italian friend, Davide Ricci. This Pro Stock Bike Team consists of four fantastic people: Carlo, who is the brain man and Chief Mechanic of the team; his fiancée Nicoletta, who takes care of the cleaning and assists the guys in the pits; Martino, another great guy who helps to fix things on the bike; Fabiano, young and always energetic, who does all the last checks on the bike; and the owner of the team, Davide Ricci. He is a great guy who knows a lot about bikes, owns three Pro Stock bikes, and loves this kind of racing.

"It took us about an hour to dry the track for the guys and for Helen Curran to try out Davide's impeccable Suzuki 1570cc Pro Stock Bike. After drying the track, we sprayed it with track-kote again since it wasnt that sticky, so that Helen would have no problems going down the track as fast as she wanted to. At around 9:00 am, Helen and Ken Cooper arrived at Hal Far Raceway and I got to talk with them for the first time. I knew who they were, as I saw them racing at Santa Pod Raceway a couple of years ago. They are a great couple to talk to. The first thing they did was to inspect the track. They walked the whole 402 metres on a track inspection before anything else and they couldn't believe what they saw, that we have a track like this here in Malta. They were expecting that it would be something very different, not as good as the track is today.

"Carlo and the rest of the crew had prepared the bike for testing and were ready for the first run. Helen got on the bike and was ready to make a half-track run. She seemed to know the bike well. The bike itself sounded great when it started. Helen did her burnout and prepared to launch, it wasn't a good launch since the clutch slipped a lot, and Helen had to abort the run.

"As soon as Helen arrived back in the pits the team worked real hard to get the bike ready again for the second run. After a bigger burnout, Helen staged and had a fantastic launch this time, 1.2 seconds to sixty feet, but as soon as she shifted to the second gear something wasnt functioning right in the gearbox and she had to abort the run again. When the bike was inspected in the pits, they found that there was a problem with the gearbox: from first gear it shifted to the fifth and sixth gear instead of second, third and so on. That was it for the day, since it was 5.30 pm. and was getting real dark. So the crew left everything for Thursday.
©Eurodragster.com
"Yesterday was a lousy day for testing. It was raining all morning and nobody could do anything about it except wait. The crew had almost taken the bike apart and made some modifications inside the gearbox, since they had the problem on Wednesday. They thought that the problem was sorted out having changed the shafts inside the gearbox to chromoly shafts. They also shortened the chain down, since it was a bit loose, and they made some more modifications to give it more clutch since it was slipping during the runs which Helen made on Wednesday.

"Apart from that, nothing was happening except for me drying out the track. I got it all dry in a jiffy, since it stopped raining in the afternoon, but then the wind picked up, and it was very strong headwind. I had a talk with Helen about the wind and she told me that she wouldn't be able to test the bike in this kind of wind, since it would be very dangerous. The crew had the bike ready but decided to give it another try today (Friday) since the wind was picking up. They left the track and went to visit our capital city, Valletta.

"Hopefully it will be a nicer day today and everyone will be able to try the bike out."

Stay tuned and we will let you know how Helen gets on today.

2004 UEM rule changes.
12th December: Ian King has updated the Pit Lane Gossip page of his web site with a summary of the changes in the 2004 UEM rule book. Ian will be posting the rulebook complete during today but in the meantime you can find the change summary at www.kingracing.com.
©Eurodragster.com
Söderquist filling seats.
12th December: Carbon By Design Top Fuel Dragster team owner Knut Söderquist has returned from a trip to Sweden in high spirits after paying a visit to the workshop of Mats Eriksson, who is building Knut a new Top Fuel Dragster.

"The new car is absolutely beautiful", says Knut. "I am super pleased with it. Mats has done an excellent job and I would compare his workshop to the Schumachers' shop in the USA. This place is absolutely top-notch! I was stunned."
©Eurodragster.com
Knut plans to run four Top Fuellers next season including the new car, and it would appear that he is on course for a full house. Micke Kågered will be racing the Bahco Tools Top Fueller, which Knut owns, again next season and more racers are signing up. "Next week I will announce on Eurodragster the name of a new Swedish Top Fuel racer on the Carbon By Design team", says Knut. "Also there is a good chance of a deal with an American racer next year. Right now it is fifty-fifty, we are just waiting on the Yes from a sponsor."

Knut's 'white' Top Fuel Dragster, which has not been raced for a few years, is being converted into a show car for display on Santa Pod Raceway's stand at Autosport International at Birmingham's NEC in January. "The car will be painted in Santa Pod's metallic blue, and it will look very good with its Carbon By Design injector and wing!", says Knut.

Knut asked us to let racers know that he can offer container space to anyone wanting to bring parts or anything else in from the USA. "I have a container leaving North Carolina on Monday 5th January", he says. "If you want to ship anything - big or small, it doesn't matter - then please call me evenings on 01933 385090."

Stay tuned to Eurodragster News next week for Knut's announcement of the new Carbon By Design team member.

Malta done, but not quite finished.
11th December: The Malta Drag Racing Association organised its last event of this year last weekend, writes MDRA President Anthony Borda. Things haven't quite finished, though, as testing is still taking place at Hal Far Raceway this week.

"This event was packed with competitors, since it was the last one and everybody competing needed points for the National Championship", says Anthony. "The weather held up well, although it is December everything went fine. Thank God there were no major incidents, except for a few broken engines and a little work for the track helpers cleaning oil downs. We had three full days of great racing with lots of competitors achieving their best ever elapsed times. There were a lot of happy people after everything finished. You can view the event results on our web site at www.maltadragracing.com.
©Eurodragster.com
"During this event, we had with us FIM Pro Stock Bike Champion Roger Petterson and Roger Lyrén, who were here testing Davide Ricci's Pro Stock Bike. Sadly they had to leave for home a bit early because of work commitments and only made two runs with the bike. The best run they made was an elapsed time of 7.6 seconds, with a 1.1 sixty foot and a terminal speed of 172 mph. They were very grateful with what they achieved, since this is the best-ever elapsed for this bike. Theyre one bunch of happy people, with nice grins on their faces. The bike and all the Italian crew are still at the track, preparing the bike for more runs as today the bike will be tested by another rider, Helen Curran, before they go home on Friday. Roger Pettersson says that Helen is a great rider who listens and does what she is told. I hope that Helen can do as well as Roger did.

"On behalf of the Malta Drag Racing Association I would like to say, Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year to everybody involved in Drag Racing."

.and neither is SCR.
11th December: Shakespeare County Raceway isn't quite finished for 2003, either, as Glenn Ramsden of UK Event Safety explains. "I just got back from SCR after the attempted filming of the latest edition of Monster Garage for Granada Media", says Glenn. "It features a racing milk float modestly powered by a Small Block motor (that'll make your bottles rattle!)
©Eurodragster.com
"Sadly the gig was postponed due to ice and fog, but the crew promised to return in the near future to complete the project. It's a damn shame as there were a couple of decent motors there to perform demos and ultimately a side-by-side run. We blew into the ear of the organiser recommending that 'You might need a dryer at this time of year?'. The advice was taken on board and hopefully they will return in a couple of days."

Swift snippets.
11th December: Many thanks to Stellan Åberg for letting us know that Sweden is to have a new drag strip in 2004. The eighth-mile track is to be named Meca Raceway, and will be situated in Malmö. "The track is situated in the town harbour (not literally - Ed)", says Stellan. The new track is scheduled for eleven events in 2004. You can read more (Swedish-language) on the Sknes Racers Ideella Frening web site at www.srif.se.
©Eurodragster.com
UK Pro ET racer Steve Wells is working on the chassis of his popular wheelstanding Ford Pop pick-up so that he can fit longer double adjustable rear shocks. "I am also changing from a hydrolic cam shaft to solid", says Steve. "A new charge cooler is in production, and the floor has been removed and will be re-positioned under the chassis to help the air flow. Whilst I am at it I am shortening the wheelbase by three inches so that we can compete with the Outlaw Anglias, this could make it even harder to keep those front wheels down. Hopefully this will be enough to keep the pesky Motlers where they belong, i.e. behind me. Rovers Rule!". Steve has updated his web site at www.teamorange.org.uk with pictures from the workshop.

Christmas catalogue.
11th December: Lee Child of Eurodragster Links sponsor LA Racing Parts has been in touch offering perfect Christmas presents for a loved one working on their transmission over the off-season.

LA Racing Parts are now selling two guides, the Powerglide Transmission Handbook, and the Torqueflite A727 Transmission Handbook (right). Both books are written by Carl Munroe, proprietor of Custom Car Street Eliminator sponsor TSR Racing Products, for whom LA Racing Parts are a dealer.

The Powerglide and Torqueflite transmission guides are £18.95 each, and postage and packing is £3.00 for each. For more details or to order the books, call LA Racing Parts on 01803 554308 or E-Mail info@laracingparts.com.
©Eurodragster.com
Kelly Ingall of Santa Pod Raceway has been in touch to let us know that Santa Pod Raceway have now taken delivery of the 2003 FIA European Championship and 2003 FIM/UEM European Championship and NDRS Bilsport Pro Modified Championship season review videos.

The FIA video is priced at £16.99 plus £2.00 postage and packing, and the FIM/UEM and Pro Mod video is priced at £14.99 plus £2.00 postage and packing. A special Super Saver deal offers both videos for £27.00 plus £3.99 postage and packing.

You can order the videos from Santa Pod Raceway on 01234 782828 (outside the UK +44 1234 782828), or download an order form from Santa Pod's web site at www.santapod.com.

Benjamin Crawford.
11th December: As some Eurodragster readers will have been aware, Santa Pod Racers Club Press Officer Jon Crawford and his wife Jane have been expecting a very special new arrival, a new baby brother for James and Dominic. After a long (fourteen-hour) and difficult labour, Benjamin Alfred Crawford came into the world at eight minutes past five in the early evening of Tuesday, 9th December. He was five weeks early, but still weighed in at four pounds ten ounces, an exceptionally good size for his condition.

It is with the deepest regret that we have to inform you that Benjamin's problems were just too much for his body to deal with, and he lost his short, valiant and spirited battle for life just a few minutes later at 5.12 pm. During his time, he felt no pain and did not suffer at all. Throughout his entire life, he was surrounded by love and warmth, and he has bought Jon, Jane, James and Dominic nothing but joy.

A funeral service for Benjamin will be held on Monday 15th December at 1:30 pm, at St Mary's Church, Little Harrowden, Northamptonshire. Jane and Jon have requested that only family send flowers, but if anyone wishes to make a donation to the St Mary's Heritage Trust in Benjamin's name, then please let them know either by E-Mail or at the below address and they will forward details by return.

Jon, Jane, James, Dominic and Benjamin Crawford
38 Kings Lane
Little Harrowden
Wellingborough
NN9 5BL

We are sure that everyone will join Tog and Sharkman in sending Jon, Jane, James and Dominic our very deepest sympathy.

Web site updates.
11th December: The News page of Dutch Supertwin racer Ton Pels' web site at www.zodiacracing.nl has been updated by Monique Pels with computer-generated diagrams of the new chassis which Ton and Crew Chief Vincent Pels are currently building for European competition next season.
©Eurodragster.com
SFI 15.3 Wheels update.
10th December: We are grateful to UK Tech Inspector Geoff Martin for sending us a further update on SFI 15.3 rear wheels for Top Fuel Dragster and Funny Car. In our news item of 28th November Geoff mentioned that it was possible that certain wheels may be upgraded to 15.3, and he now has more details.

"I have been in contact with Centerline Wheels, and the required wheel is part number 0861655552 Convo Pro Double Beadlock", says Geoff. "If you have these wheels in SFI 15.1 spec, they can be recertified to SFI 15.3 Spec during the 2004 SFI European Tour.

"I have also contacted Weld Wheels, and although their older SFI 15.1 wheels cannot be upgraded, they now make a new Pro Wheel which exceeds the SFI 15.3 spec.
©Eurodragster.com
"I realise that this is not a lot of comfort to many teams, but I do not make up the rules or move the goalposts. I do my best to ensure a level playing field, and that everyone has the right kit."

If you have any queries then you can contact Geoff by E-Mail at geoffrey.martin4@btopenworld.com.

Grumpy by the sea.
10th December: 2003 FIA European Top Methanol Dragster Champion Dave 'Grumpy' Wilson is already taking the sea air in Monaco as he looks forward to this weekend's FIA Banquet, at which he is to receive his Championship trophy won in the American Car Imports Racing dragster. Dave will stand on the stage alongside Smax Smith (Top Fuel Dragster), Urs Erbacher (Top Methanol Funny Car) and Michael Malmgren (Pro Stock), together with Champions in other forms of FIA motorsport. Team Principal Anthony Cohen, who sponsors Eurodragster's Home and News pages and Event Coverage through his company American Car Imports, will be joining Dave this weekend and says that he never imagined himself at the Monte Carlo Sporting Club.

"I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would be going!", says Anthony. "We are delighted that all four FIA Champions will be there; it was thanks to the hard work of Keith Bartlett and everyone else involved that the FIA allowed us all in. It is very good for European drag racing that the racers will be there interacting with the other FIA Champions, and it is a real honour and a privilege for our sport to be included."
©Eurodragster.com
Drag racing took its turn not to be represented at last year's FIA Banquet, but Anthony says that last year's Top Methanol Dragster Champion Peter Schöfer will not be forgotten. "Peter and his team will be be there with us in spirit", he says. "They will be in our thoughts and we will be representing all of the Top Methanol Dragster racers and I am sure that the other class winners will feel the same. We will be holding drag racing up high and people will know that we are there!"

Anthony told us that Dave Wilson is "About as un-grumpy as a person can be!", and Dave didn't let us down when we got through to him in Monaco. "I'm looking forward to being back here next year!", he said.

The ACI team hosted a sponsor evening in North London last week, at which team sponsors were treated to dinner, trophies and DVDs containing footage of the team's successful season, and team members were also presented with trophies and other goodies. One of the team's sponsors, Silverline Tools, have already increased their involvement significantly for 2004 with half of the top of the car already reserved for their logo.

It's going to be a far from quiet 'off-season' for the team as they return to the USA in the New Year for two test weekends, four NHRA National events and two NHRA Divisional events before the 5.3-second dragster is returned to Europe for Dave Wilson to defend his European title. You will be able to stay in touch with the latest from the American Car Imports Racing pit on the team's official web site at www.americancarimportsracing.com.

Ultimate Volkswagens.
10th December: The UK's Volkswagen Drag Racing Club has announced that two rounds of its 2004 Championship are to be contested at Shakespeare County Raceway. VW Pro, VW Sportsman and VW Alternate Engine will be appearing at the Power Nationals on 12th-13th June and Allstar Nationals on 28th-30th August, which are two of LA Performance Services' three Ultimate Power Drag Racing Championship rounds at SCR.
©Eurodragster.com
"Over the past few seasons we have organised a group of racers to attend the August meetings at Shakespeare County Raceway to compete in the brackets", says Spencer Tramm of VWDRC. "However, we always wanted to return there as part of our own Championship and thanks to Lee Child that has now happened."
©Eurodragster.com
"It is great to give the Volkswagens the opportunity to run at both tracks", says Lee Child of LA Performance Services, who sponsors Eurodragster's Links pages through his company LA Racing Parts. "I am pleased to welcome the VWDRC which is a prime example of just how strong an enthusiasts' club can be."
©Eurodragster.com
The 2004 VWDRC Championship has eight rounds, starting with the Easter Thunderball at Santa Pod Raceway on 10th-12th April. You can find out more about the Volkswgen Drag Racing Club on its official web site at www.vwdrc.com.

2004 UK Riders' and Drivers' meeting.
9th December: Many thanks to Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall for letting us know that the joint SPRC/APIRA 2004 UK Riders' and Drivers' Meeting will be held on Sunday 1st February 2004 in the Kimberley Suite of the Diamonds Centre, otherwise known as Rushden and Diamonds' football ground, in Nene Way in Irthlingborough (click here for a map). The meeting will commence at 1:00 pm with a break at approximately 3:00 during which tea and coffee will be available for a small fee.

Items to be discussed include the 2004 UK National Championship (ratification of dates as well as Championship matters), event entry fees and prize funds, as well as Any Other Business.
©Eurodragster.com
"Racers are invited to submit items for the agenda", says Paula, "but please note that your item will only be discussed if you actually attend the meeting."

If you have any items for the agenda of the 2004 Riders' and Drivers' Meeting then please send them either to Paula Marshall or to APIRA Club Secretary Wendy Talbot at the following addresses by 21st January 2004:

Paula Marshall
Santa Pod Racers Club
PO Box 12
Rushden
Northamptonshire
NN10 0ZU

E-Mail: paula.marshall@btconnect.com
Phone: 01933 313625
Fax: 01933 355558

Wendy Talbot
Avon Park International Racers Association
121 High Road
Wortwell
Harleston
Norfolk
IP20 0E

E-Mail: wendy@apira.org.uk
Phone and Fax: 01379 740100

Workshops wooden do the trick.
8th December: Swiss Top Methanol Funny Car racer Dezsoe Krivan would like to thank everyone for their kind messages after he lost his operation in a workshop fire, about which we wrote on 18th November.

"We have had a couple of offers from the States, which we are looking into, and we have sent a letter to Santa just in case", says team member Steve Wilson. "One of our biggest problems is finding a new location to operate from, something fireproof would be nice but as most buildings in Switzerland are made of wood it is proving difficult!
©Eurodragster.com
"We would like to wish everyone in quarter mile land a happy Christmas and a splendid New Year and we look forward to seeing everyone next year!"

Editor's note: We will be opening Eurodragster's Christmas Greetings page next weekend. If you would like to send a Christmas greeting to your fellow racers, officials, fans or sponsors then send us an E-Mail at christmas@eurodragster.com and we will include it on the page.

VWDRC Champions presented.
8th December: The UK's Volkswagen Drag Racing Club presented this year's Champions and Runners-up with their trophies at their Annual General Meeting in Northampton yesterday (Sunday). The Club's two Perpetual Awards, voted by the membership, were also presented. Congratulations to (right, click on picture for larger version):

Jon Rathbone Race Cars VW Pro: Champion Russ Fellows, Runner-up Justin Aldred

Beetlemania VW Sportsman: Champion Stuart Hinds, Runner-up Graham Fairhead

AMR Motors VW Alternate Engine: Champion Matt Attwood, Runner-up Darryn Coleman

Wagenmaster (Driver of the Year): Graham Fairhead

Becky Sutton Memorial Trophy (for furthering the cause of VW drag racing): Spencer Tramm

Brian Burrows Rookie of the Year Trophy: Graham Fairhead
©Eurodragster.com
SPRC Perpetual Awards week 5.
8th December: Once again Santa Pod Racers Club and Eurodragster.com are teaming up to give readers the chance to have input to the SPRC Perpetual Awards, which will be presented at the SPRC Dinner Dance on Saturday 21st February 2004.

For each of the 2003 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: this week's vote, the fifth, is for Most Promising Newcomer. Voting for the Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy will also be open for the whole of this period (see below).

The SPRC Committee's shortlist for Most Promising Newcomer, in alphabetical order, is as follows. The nominees have all contested their first full season in 2003, and the list includes UK National and Series Champions and Runners-up as well as racers who have impressed for other achievement within their chosen classes.
©Eurodragster.com
Justin Aldred, VW Pro

Andy Burfitt, 10.90 Bike

Jerry Charles, Custom Car Street Eliminator and Pro ET

Steve Knapp, 10.90 Bike

Kev Slyfield, Sportsman ET

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 category, so if you have already voted for any of the four previous awards then you may of course vote for Most Promising Newcomer 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 Phil Evans, Chair of the UK Tech Committee. Again see the official web page for more details or E-Mail your nomination to sprcawards@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 the Paul Giddings Memorial Trophy.

Web site updates.
8th December: Our good friend Chris Dossett has been hard at work on his Trakbyte's UK Drag Racing History which you can find at www.trakbytes.com. "The update features new details in the 1973 section, four meetings in the 1975 section, the latest photo gallery from Tim Claxton and a new entry in the Hall Of Fame, which has been voted for by visitors to the site", says Chris. "There is also the first instalment from a genuine 1960s drag racing diary of a vehicle which should be quite familiar to regular visitors to the site. Finally the Hall Of Fame files of the Stones, John Hobbs, Clive Skilton, Dennis Priddle, Peter Crane and Tony Dickson have been updated with new additions, whilst Sammy Miller's file sees the addition of some photos from the lens of Dick Thompson."
©Eurodragster.com
The official web site of the UK's Supercharged Outlaws at www.superchargedoutlawsuk.com has been updated with a new discussion forum, and a For Sale page. Webmaster Dave 'Fuzzie' Mackenzie promises that items for sale will be posted quickly, and Fuzzie also welcomes comments on the forum or on the web site generally.

Darrell Gwynn biography reviewed.
7th December: Longtime Eurodragster readers will be familiar with the name of Erik Arneson. We were contacted by Erik whilst he was researching his new book, which was to be an official biography of US racer Darrell Gwynn, as he was keen to speak to those who were involved in Darrell's terrible crash at Santa Pod Raceway and its aftermath. As ever, our readers delivered.

Erik's book Darrell Gwynn At Full Throttle - Triumphs And Tragedies From A Life Lived At Speed was published a short while ago and is now available on-line from Amazon and other book sellers. Erik kindly sent us a copy to review, and Eurodragster's News Editor Tog got the plum assignment.

The softback version of the book is some ten inches square and contains one hundred and sixty pages, each of which contains at least one picture in addition to closely-packed text. A foreword by Don Garlits opens the book, as well as a list of acknowledgements which includes Eurodragster.com - thanks Erik!

The book proper starts with an account of the pivotal moment in Darrell's life - the crash at Santa Pod Raceway in 1990. Erik and the Gwynns have been remarkably frank about the work done to the chassis in the area of its failure, as well as the fact that Darrell chose not to wait for the return of a set of arm restraints before embarking on the fateful run. The account of the crash still makes uncomfortable reading even after thirteen years and is accompanied by photographs by UK photo-journalists Roger Gorringe, Dick Parnham and an uncredited Steve Moxley. I must say that I find some of Jerry Gwynn's comments about the lack of appropriate medical equipment at SPR difficult to believe, but I was not there. Nigel Anniwell of SPR's safety crew was, however, there and recalls the scene when he and his colleagues got to the car and the actions which they took to rescue Darrell. Darrell's crew and family also add their own recollections of the scene in the shutdown area, but it is Darrell's own memories of the accident which are the most chilling because it is clear from his recounted thoughts that he did not realise just how badly he was hurt.

The accident and its after-effects are revisited later in the book, but the first chapter neatly puts the rest of the book in context. Chapters two to five retell Darrell's life from childhood with a drag racing father, through his initial trips down the drag strip, Pro Comp and Top Fuel where he quickly became a force to be reckoned with, worrying even Don Garlits.

One of the most interesting revelations in the account of Darrell's childhood is that he was the driver of what must have been the world's first Junior Dragster - a small-scale slingshot built by his father Jerry in which Darrell ran a forty two-second pass. These first chapters describe a childhood immersed in drag racing, the likes of Garlits and Jungle Jim passing through the family home, travelling with his parents to match races at some primitive race tracks, becoming involved in the running of the family's race car and deciding that he was going to become "the best drag racer out there". What shines through, from the earliest chapters to the last, is the strong sense of family.

The details of Darrell's career are well-known and in Erik's book very well-documented. From licencing in a badly-handling blown-alcohol altered, through a Pro Comp dragster in which he had his first accident but also won the 1983 NHRA Championship, to the decision in 1984 to move up to Top Fuel in the following season, each episode is described in detail with on-track, off-track and family photographs as well as copies of timing tickets and a famous letter granting Darrell a licence citing his father's reputation as part of the decision. Darrell's future wife Lisa makes her first appearance just as Darrell makes the switch to Top Fuel; Darrell didn't at the time realise that his family were setting him up with Lisa, but it was a conspiracy for which he would live to be grateful.

Darrell won his first Top Fuel event title in 1986 after scoring a number of runner-up finishes, most notably against Don Garlits at Indy in 1985. A chat with legendary tuner Dale Armstrong, who put his Budweiser King tune-up into the Gwynns' dragster, laid the foundation for Darrell's meteoric career. Sponsorships from Budweiser and Coors followed as the victories and national records continued and Darrell earned the fear and respect of his peers, from whom Erik has included quotes and pictures. Darrell and Lisa's relationship strengthened, culminating in the setting of a wedding date of November 1990, which all changed when Darrell made his trip to England.

The aftermath of Darrell's crash is recounted in chapters six and seven. I for one did not realise how close we came to losing Darrell as setback followed setback in Stoke Mandeville hospital. Darrell being a strong character fought back every time but as is well-known he lost a forearm and has been paralysed ever since the crash. The bad news is neatly contrasted by the overwhelming tidal wave of help and support which Darrell and his family received, with the exception of Darrell's insurance company who with appalling timing decided that they would no longer cover him. Darrell was insistent that the family should continue to campaign a race car, and the second part of Darrell's life story commenced. These for me were the most powerful chapters of the book; as chapter six starts, no-one is even sure that Darrell will live, but the tone of hopelessness becomes ever more optimistic as the drag racing world rallies around the Gwynns, Darrell is taken back to the USA for more intensive treatment, Frank Hawley wins his first race after being named driver of the Gwynns' Top Fuel Dragster, and Darrell makes a triumphant return to the track.
©Eurodragster.com
The remainder of the book contrasts Darrell's personal life against mixed fortunes on the track. Darrell and Lisa were married in 1993 and set up home in Florida, intending to start a family. Meanwhile Darrell was working as Crew Chief for his race operation, the dragster now driven by Mike Dunn, until he decided that he may have been holding the team back. Frank Bradley was hired as Crew Chief, and this is one of many episodes in the book where Erik and the Gwynns are to be lauded for their honesty. In such a litigious society as America, Erik could easily have glossed over Frank Bradley's tenure, which ended in tears, with the type of platitude-plagued prose which one routinely sees when a racer and Crew Chief or sponsor part company these days.

Darrell and Lisa's ultimately-successful struggle to have a child is detailed in chapter nine. Darrell must have found some of the process humiliating but the stress and heartache was worth it as Lisa fell pregnant and presented Darrell with a daughter, Katie. On-track, things were going equally well for the team under Crew Chief Ken Veney until Mopar withdrew their sponsorship by fax at the end of 1999. Again, this episode is presented very frankly and is all the more laudable given the legal strength which Mopar could have brought to bear if they did not like what they read. Matters looked to be settled in the Gwynns' favour when the Steinbrenners came on board and sponsored the team in the name of the New York Yankees but as Erik recounts, again very frankly, it did not take long for things to go sour.

The book ends on a high note, with Darrell's surprise birthday present of an electric dragster built by his friends, in which he took a trip down the track at Indy in August 2001.

The subtitle of Darrell Gwynn At Full Throttle is 'Triumphs And Tragedies From A Life Lived At Speed' and Erik Arneson has done an excellent job of describing both the ups and downs of Darrell's career. Erik's writing style is very easy to read and the extent of his research jumps from every page, not just with quotes from Darrell and Jerry Gwynn and everyone else who was present at each stage of Darrell's life, and with a huge collection of public and private photographs, but with unexpected extras such as the aforementioned licencing letter, timing tickets, press cuttings and much more of interest to the race fan.

This book is not a typical PR spin job: the Gwynns have been frank and open with Erik Arneson, and he has repaid that trust by telling not just the good stories but the less savoury tales - which, let's be honest, we all lap up - with equal frankness. Erik is also to be praised for the almost complete lack of treacle and endless mentions of God which tend to spoil official biographies in the USA.

After reading Darrell Gwynn At Full Throttle - Triumphs And Tragedies From A Life Lived At Speed I felt as if I knew everything there is to know about Darrell's racing career, and about as much as I wanted to know about his private life. Erik has done a superb job of balancing public and private and has produced an official biography which other biographers should be made to read, as an example of how it can, and should, be done.

You can order a copy of the book from Amazon in the UK by clicking here.

Team Feature: FB Racing.
5th December: For the latest in Eurodragster's occasional series of exclusive Team Features we headed westwards to speak to one of Cheltenham's finest, Custom Car Street Eliminator racer Ian Hook and his merry band of 'Fat Boys'. In a very interesting and detailed feature, Ian tells us about his drag racing career including the history of his eight-second '34 Ford, his future plans, a very gross-sounding story from the pits, and much more.
©Eurodragster.com
Click here to read the FB Racing Team Feature, or click on the Team Features link on the left-hand side of any Eurodragster page.

Kalisz on PMR expansion.
5th December: The UK's Paul Marston Racing has made some major acquisitions and undergone major expansion recently. PMR's Operations Manager David Kalisz brought us up-to-date with the view from the workshop.

"Two years ago I put into practice a servicing and procedures system which would streamline the operation, so that expansion could be achieved naturally without the need for restructuring if, for example, we wanted to run another race car. This system was used to run the Paul Marston Racing Drag Race Driving School during 2003, quite often Paul Marston Racing would be attending up to three different venues, with any of four different race cars with up to six different drivers, in a one-week period. The system worked without any real glitches, I have been happy with the way it ran and towards the end of the season it actually performed better than I had expected, even the weather was good.
©Eurodragster.com
"One key to this was the appointment of a full-time technician to oversee the day-to-day running of the team. This addition to the team was always planned, the timing worked well and has been most successful! David Corrigan - yes, another Dave - came to us as raw talent; this is exactly how we prefer it, so that we could train him to do things our way. To work in such a small tightly-knit team, a personality which fits in is of paramount importance. This is not a nine-to-five job; there are no set hours as such, everyone helps everyone else to do whatever is needed, it is a really thorough grounding and David learnt alot crewing with PMR during the summer. We were impressed enough by Davids commitment, enthusiasm and love of this great sport to offer him a full-time position on the team, and we are thankful that he accepted. David will now grow within our organization, becoming a valuable asset over the next couple of seasons. David is employed through PMR's equal opportunities policy, and in his case being the subject of quite complex medical experiments from a young age was just the kind of credentials we were looking for! On behalf of everyone at PMR I would like to take this opportunity to welcome David on board officially. The initiation ceremony is nothing to be too worried about.I am sure none of the marks will scar too badly, but playing the bagpipes professionally afterwards may present a few problems! In fact looking at Dave's past history and real enthusiasm/stupidity we rather suspect that he will be looking forward to it, or not see it coming!

"Back to more normal things, with the next phase of Paul Marston Racing Drag Race Driving School development due to come on-stream during 2004 I will be very happy to be as pleased with 2004 as I have been with 2003. The only other thing I want to see is some more silverware to replace the Brighton Speed Trial Trophies which they banned us from winning again in 2003. I am looking forward to attending National events in a consultant capacity more regularly next season, there is nothing like competition to get the blood running."

Paul Marston added a quick update on the progress on various fronts. "We recently announced that the PT Bruiser would be competing in the National Championship. No change there, that is cast in stone, the crew would lynch me if I tried changing that one! The whole team is very excited about competing once again next season, everyone simply cannot wait. Developments are moving so fast that there are sure to be some announcements which will redefine our goals and objectives for 2004 with the Bruiser. Current R and D both here and in the States will bear fruit, and of course current sponsor negotiations will all have an influence. Time will tell, rest assured that we will keep you informed as it happens. It's simply too early to break the news of some of the things we are working very hard on, just watch this space."

Web site updates.
5th December: Alan Currans has posted the seventieth update to his excellent Acceleration Archive web site at www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk. "This is the fourth instalment of the Long Lost John Woolfe Racing Archives", says Alan. "This page continues with JWR-sponsored cars in the form of the 1990s Beretta Funny Car and Steve Green's incredible V8-powered Mark I Cortina, but there are several pictures of other race cars as well. These include an incredible shot of Houndog 7 with all four wheels off the ground, Tony Nancy, Ed Shaver at work in his rear engined funny car and relaxing elsewhere, plus some great old Competition Altereds. Whilst writing, can I put out an appeal on behalf of Dave Riswick? He is keen to make contact with long-time photographers Hugh Rhodes and Alan Holland-Avery. Dave can be contacted at david@woolfe.com.
©Eurodragster.com
Eurodragster staffer Sharkman has updated his personal web site Sharkman's Top End Tales with the second of his off-season updates, this time a large selection of off-track pictures taken on this season's travels. The off-track collection includes pitside, portraits, landscape, candid, humourous and and grab shots, although be warned that one picture features fellow Eurodragster staffer Tog wearing shorts. Check out Sharkman's latest update at www.topendtales.com.

Malmgren discussing new ride.
4th December: 2003 FIA European Pro Stock Champion, Sweden's Michael Malmgren, is in the USA this week and amongst his appointments is a meeting with Jerry Bickel to discuss the AC Delco team's 2004 ride. Michael's European record-holding 2000 Camaro, also built by Jerry Bickel Race Cars, has been sold (to Tommy Leindahl, we understand) and team member Magnus Cato tells us that he has decided to purchase a new race car to defend his title, instead of buying a used model.

"Michael is at the IRP show in Indianapolis", says Magnus. "According to the Americans it is the place to be, racewise. All of the major companies in the business are there, and Michael has scheduled a lot of meetings, one of which is with Jerry Bickel to discuss our plans for a new ride. We also looked into buying an old car, but it seems like Michael wants to buy a brand new car."
©Eurodragster.com
Magnus tells us that Michael is having a busy off-season. "Firstly Michael won Bilsport's Drag Racer of the Year, then he attended the Swedish FIA prizegiving dinner, this week he is in the USA, and the next stop is the FIA awards ceremony in Monaco next week. Michael was also nominated for Bilsport's Driver of the Year but that trophy went to Formula 3000 winner Björn Wirdheim."

The rest of the AC Delco team are working on the bus in case they have to go to the USA in the New Year to pick up a new car, and if so then some races in the USA are on the cards. "Nothing is settled yet, but we will be ready to go if the chance arises", says Magnus. "Keep your fingers crossed - everybody knows that we have a score to settle at the American tracks, and this may be our best shot. Some things are going to happen in the engine compartment as well, so the first stop in the USA will be Bob Ingles' shop. Next season promises to be even tighter than last year in Pro Stock. Rumour has it that a couple of old and new names are interested in racing in the closest class."

The AC Delco crew are also finding time to let their hair down. "We met up in Denmark last weekend, with invited guests from Christer Andersson's Pro Stock team and Tommy Möller's Top Fuel team", says Magnus. "It was time for the annual release of the Christmas beer. After a long day testing different combinations (thoroughly done in the Pro Stock manner) we announced the winner.and if they supported us with free beer then I would give you their full name, no free advertising! This was the eighth year in a row that this has happened and we had a great weekend."

Racers: It's not too early to drop us a line with news of your 2004 plans. Send an E-Mail to news@eurodragster.com and we'll post your news here.

SPRC Dinner Dance update.
4th December: Santa Pod Racers Club Secretary Paula Marshall has been in touch to advise anyone planning to attend the SPRC Dinner Dance to send in their bookings soon. The Dinner Dance and UK National/SPRC Championship trophy presentation takes place at the Moat House Hotel in Bedford on Saturday 21st February 2004; tickets are £25.

"We already have over one hundred, which is very good for this time of year", says Paula. "If you are intending to come then I would advise you to get your forms off to me as soon as possible. Obviously I can accept post-dated cheques, or take credit card payments after Christmas! I don't want UK National and SPRC Champions and runners-up to miss out on attending - you know who you are, but if you want to make sure then you can check the points standings on Eurodragster's Points Standings page."
©Eurodragster.com
Paula tells us that she has has a number of enquiries about table sizes, and has asked us to confirm that tables can accommodate ten diners, or eleven at a push.

You can download the Dinner Dance booking form from the SPRC web site at www.eurodragster.com/sprc, or call Paula on 01933 313625, fax her on 01933 355558, or E-Mail paula.marshall@btconnect.com.

Web site updates.
4th December: Our good friend Christer Abrahamson has been busy updating the Svensk Dragracing web site with news of Thomas Nataas and the Batmobile's appearance at the Essen Motor Show in Germany, updated TV schedules, and the detailed class-by-class Racers' Calendar for the 2004 Nordic Drag Racing Series. Check it out at www.dragracing.se.
©Eurodragster.com
Ultimate Power video available.
 3rd December: Hot on the heels of the FIA, FIM/UEM and NDRS/Bilsport Pro Modified reviews, the latest Christmas present idea for the drag racing fan in your life is the official season review of this year's Ultimate Power Drag Racing Championship, which is now available on DVD and video (cover, right, click on picture for larger version).

The ninety-minute review covers the Excitement Nationals, Power Nationals and Allstar Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway and features Top Fuel Dragster and Fuel Altered match races, the British Nitro Funny Car and MSA British Drag Racing (for Top Methanol) Championships, Pro Modified, and the ACU Top Fuel Bike Championship as well as UK National, ACU UK, NAST, Custom Car Street Eliminator, Outlaw Anglia, Wild Bunch, and Ultimate Power Championship classes, Jet Funny Car exhibitions, and European Top Gas Series.
©Eurodragster.com
The DVD is priced at £16.99 and the video at £14.99, with £2.00 postage and packing per order, and can be purchased from the Quarter Mile High web site at www.quartermilehigh.com.

Quarter Mile High are also selling Hardcore Street, the official season review of the 2003 Custom Car Street Eliminator Championship, which has gained rave reviews for the extent of its coverage, picture quality and informed commentary. Hardcore Street is similarly priced at £16.99 for DVD and £14.99 for video, with £2.00 postage and packing per order. For the large number of our American friends who are into street-legal drag racing, Hardcore Street is also available on NTSC VHS video especially for you at £17.95 plus £2.50 postage.

Swift snippets.
3rd December: Esta Capewell of the UK's newest Top Methanol Funny Car team Southern Rebel Racing has asked us to thank Charlie and Jim Draper and friends for coming to the team's aid when they had a mishap after collecting their transporter from Tony Betts. "The trailer came away from the transporter in the middle of the road, and we were stuck without the necessary tools to get out of that situation", says Esta. "We would like to wish all TMFC teams a good Christmas and a revving 2004."
©Eurodragster.com
Room for racers at Xtreme Wheels.
2nd December: There is still room, and time, for drag racers to display their cars or bikes at Xtreme Wheels 2004, says PR Dan Welberry. The Xtreme Wheels show, which takes place at London's Alexandra Palace on 14th-15th February, already has a number of race vehicles signed up but more can be accommodated.

"We already have Roger Goring's Firestorm Jet Funny Car booked for display, as well as Bert Englefield and Andy Robinson's Pro Mods, Steve Pateman and Ian Hook's Custom Car Street Eliminator cars, and Terri Lee's blown Escort van", says Dan, "and the Gleadows' altered is to appear on the Lucas Oils display. On two wheels we have Ian King's Top Fuel Bike.

"However, we have room for more drag racing exhibits. We would be interested to hear from racers in all classes, car and bike, including anyone who has a new vehicle which they would like to unveil at the show.
©Eurodragster.com
"There will be a lot of companies at the show to whom you will be able to talk about sponsorship so this could be your chance to clinch a deal! You can find exhibitor forms for download on the web site at www.xtremewheels2004.com - it's closer than you think so get those forms in!"

Dan tells us that the National Street Rod Association are holding a large display at Xtreme Wheels. "We are very grateful to the NSRA for their support", he says. "They are putting together a stand featuring twelve of the best Street Rods in the country together with the public début of some new cars. As if that wasn't enough, a couple of 1970s Street Rods have been restored and will be unveiled at the show. I'm not going to tell you which cars they are, though - you will have to come along to find out!"

Trade space is still available starting at fifty five pounds per square metre, but Dan tells us that deals are available. For details about trade stands, exhibiting your race vehicle, or any other queries about Xtreme Wheels 2004 then call Obsession Motorsports on 01483 236262 or E-Mail info@xtremewheels2004.com.

Keep an eye on the show's official web site at www.xtremewheels2004.com for the latest news including exhibitor and trade details, details of ticket prices including family deals and concessionary prices on Alexandra Palace's adjoining ice rink, and downloadable forms. The web site will shortly be updated with information about applying for media accreditation.

Web site updates.
2nd December: Dennis Kieselhorst has posted the new issue of his excellent Dragracer.de on-line magazine. Issue number eight of the German-language magazine contains the usual mix of news, features and pictures centred on the German scene but also including news from elsewhere around Europe. You can find the magazine (which comes in PDF format) at www.dragracer.de.
©Eurodragster.com
SPRC Perpetual Awards week 4.
1st December: Once again Santa Pod Racers Club and Eurodragster.com are teaming up to give readers the chance to have input to the SPRC Perpetual Awards, which will be presented at the SPRC Dinner Dance on Saturday 21st February 2004.

For each of the 2003 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: this week's vote, the fourth, is for the James Edgar Memorial Trophy. Voting for the Alex Brachtvogel Memorial Trophy will also be open for the whole of this period (see below).

The SPRC Committee's shortlist for the James Edgar Memorial Trophy, in alphabetical order, is as follows. The James Edgar Memorial Trophy is awarded for outstanding performance by a Crew Chief. This year's shortlist includes the Crew Chiefs of FIA and FIM European Champions, UK National and Club Champions, and European and Series ET and speed record holders.
©Eurodragster.com
Matt Gatlin, Blitzkrieg Super Comp/Super Gas Roadster (driver Tim Adam)

Alan Jackson, Carbon By Design Top Fuel Dragster team (drivers Smax Smith, Micke Kågered, Susanne Callin and Gary Page)

Jon Webster, John Hales' Custom Car Street Eliminator '56 Chevy

Roger Yelland, Team Krazy Kat Super Street Bike (rider Karl Larcombe)

Marius van der Zijden, Roel Koedam's Top Fuel Bike

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 category, so if you have already voted for Best-Looking Car or Bike or Most Professional-Appearing Team then you may of course vote for the James Edgar Memorial Trophy 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 Phil Evans, Chair of the UK Tech Committee. Again see the official web page for more details or E-Mail your nomination to sprcawards@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 Promising Newcomer.

Swift snippets.
1st December: UK Funny Bike racer Neil Diggens didn't make it out onto the track in 2003 because of finance, or a lack of it, but his 2004 preparations are well underway. "I visited the Dave Branch emporium today for a fitting of the foot pegs, so I took my camera so that you can see the bodywork", says Neil. You can click on the picture on the right for a different and larger picture. Neil's web site can be found at www.gn-racing.co.uk.
©Eurodragster.com
Web site updates.
1st December: UK Custom Car Street Eliminator racer Andy Frost has updated his Red Victor web site with the latest news from the workshops of his eight-second street-legal Vauxhall. Check it out at www.redvictor1racing.co.uk. Andy has also launched a new discussion forum which you can find at members5.boardhost.com/REDVICTOR.
©Eurodragster.com
John Williamson, aka Burgerman, has updated his DIY Nitrous web site which tells you everything you could possibly want to know about adding nitrous to your engine. You can find John's very well-designed web site at www.nitrous.info.


Earlier news


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